43 files changed, 68833 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/20668-8.txt b/20668-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27e7e72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-8.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: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** 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 é in _écarté_ or ai in _maid_.
+    i   has the sound of i in _bit_, or (as a final letter) of y
+        in _sulky_.
+    i   has the sound of ee in _beet_.
+    o   has the sound of o in _bore_ or _bowl_.
+    u   has the sound of u in _put_ or _bull_.
+    u   has the sound of oo in _poor_ or _boot_
+
+
+The plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words is formed
+by adding _s_ in the English manner according to ordinary usage,
+though this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural.
+
+Note.--The rupee contains 16 annas, and an anna is of the same value
+as a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing. Rs. 1-8
+signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred thousand,
+and a krore ten million.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                            PART II
+
+                 ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES
+
+                        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 Abbé 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 ŕ 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
+Abbé 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, Tüar, Püar, 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 _régime_ 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 Ł9000!"
+
+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 Ł240,000.
+
+
+
+
+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 éclat. 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, _traînant
+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 employés 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'ętre_ 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
+_protégés_. 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] _Orphčus_, 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] Schröder, _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 Cité 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 Blümners, _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). Dajíanashnaku, 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] _Orphéus_, 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] _Orphéus_ (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. Russell
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIBES AND CASTES OF INDIA ***
+
+***** This file should be named 20668-8.txt or 20668-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/6/6/20668/
+
+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)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/20668-8.zip b/20668-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a09197c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-8.zip
diff --git a/20668-h.zip b/20668-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5490e30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h.zip
diff --git a/20668-h/20668-h.htm b/20668-h/20668-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..989c379
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/20668-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,17661 @@
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
+
+<!-- This HTML file has been automatically generated from an XML source, using XSLT. If you find any mistakes, please edit the XML source. -->
+<html   lang="en-uk">
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+
+<title>The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India&#8212;Volume IV</title>
+<link rel="schema.DC" href="http://dublincore.org/documents/1998/09/dces/">
+<meta name="author" content="R.V. Russell">
+<meta name="DC.Creator" content="R.V. Russell">
+<meta name="DC.Title" content="The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India&#8212;Volume IV">
+<meta name="DC.Date" content="##### 2007">
+<meta name="DC.Language" content="en-uk"><style type="text/css">
+
+
+body
+{
+font: 100%/1.2em "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
+margin: 1.58em 16%;
+text-align: left;
+}
+
+.titlePage
+{
+border: #DDDDDD 2px solid;
+margin: 3em 0% 7em 0%;
+padding: 5em 10% 6em 10%;
+}
+
+h1.docTitle
+{
+font-size:1.6em;
+line-height:2em;
+}
+
+h2.byline
+{
+font-size:1.1em;
+font-weight:normal;
+line-height:1.44em;
+}
+
+span.docAuthor
+{
+font-size:1.2em;
+font-weight:bold;
+}
+
+h2.docImprint
+{
+font-size:1.2em;
+font-weight:normal;
+}
+
+.transcribernote
+{
+background-color:#DDE;
+border:black 1px dotted;
+color:#000;
+font-family:sans-serif;
+font-size:80%;
+margin:2em 5%;
+padding:1em;
+}
+
+.div0
+{
+padding-top: 5.6em;
+}
+
+.div1
+{
+padding-top: 4.8em;
+}
+
+.index
+{
+font-size: 80%;
+}
+
+.div2
+{
+padding-top: 3.6em;
+}
+
+.div3, .div4, .div5
+{
+padding-top: 2.4em;
+}
+
+.footnotes .body,
+.footnotes .div1
+{
+padding: 0;
+}
+
+h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6
+{
+clear: both;
+font-style: normal;
+text-transform: none;
+}
+
+h3
+{
+font-size:1.2em;
+line-height:1.2em;
+}
+
+h3.label
+{
+font-size:1em;
+line-height:1.2em;
+margin-bottom:0;
+}
+
+h4
+{
+font-size:1em;
+line-height:1.2em;
+}
+
+h4.lghead
+{
+margin-left:10%;
+margin-right:10%;
+}
+
+.alignleft
+{
+text-align:left;
+}
+
+.alignright
+{
+text-align:right;
+}
+
+.alignblock
+{
+text-align:justify;
+}
+
+p.tb, hr.tb
+{
+margin-top: 1.6em;
+margin-bottom: 1.6em;
+margin-left: auto;
+margin-right: auto;
+text-align: center;
+}
+
+p.poetry
+{
+margin:0 10% 1.58em;
+}
+
+p.line
+{
+margin:0 10%;
+}
+
+p.argument,p.note
+{
+font-size:0.9em;
+line-height:1.2em;
+text-indent:0;
+}
+
+p.argument
+{
+margin:1.58em 10%;
+}
+
+div.epigraph
+{
+font-size:0.9em;
+line-height:1.2em;
+width: 60%;
+margin-left: auto;
+}
+
+.epigraph .bibl
+{
+text-align: right;
+}
+
+.epigraph .poem
+{
+margin-left: 0;
+}
+
+.epigraph .line
+{
+margin-left: 0;
+text-indent: 0;
+}
+
+.trailer
+{
+clear: both;
+padding-top: 2.4em;
+padding-bottom: 1.6em;
+}
+
+.floatLeft
+{
+float:left;
+margin:10px 10px 10px 0;
+}
+
+.floatRight
+{
+float:right;
+margin:10px 0 10px 10px;
+}
+
+p.figureHead
+{
+font-size:100%;
+text-align:center;
+}
+
+.figure p
+{
+font-size:80%;
+margin-top:0;
+text-align:center;
+}
+
+p.smallprint,li.smallprint
+{
+color:#666666;
+font-size:80%;
+}
+
+p.question
+{
+margin-bottom:0;
+text-align:left;
+}
+
+p.answer
+{
+margin-top:0;
+text-align:right;
+}
+
+p.explanation
+{
+font-size:smaller;
+margin-left:0.9em;
+margin-right:0.9em;
+}
+
+.leftnote
+{
+font-size:0.8em;
+height:0;
+left:1%;
+line-height:1.2em;
+position:absolute;
+text-indent:0;
+width:14%;
+}
+
+.pagenum
+{
+display:inline;
+font-size:70%;
+font-style:normal;
+margin:0;
+padding:0;
+position:absolute;
+right:1%;
+text-align:right;
+}
+
+a.noteref
+{
+font-size: 80%;
+text-decoration: none;
+vertical-align: 0.25em;
+}
+
+div.footnotes
+{
+margin-top: 1em;
+padding: 0;
+}
+
+hr.fnsep
+{
+margin-left: 0;
+margin-right: 0;
+text-align: left;
+width: 25%;
+}
+
+p.footnote
+{
+font-size: 80%;
+margin-bottom: 0.5em;
+margin-top: 0.5em;
+}
+
+p.footnote .label
+{
+float: left;
+text-align:left;
+width:2em;
+}
+
+.footnotes td, .footnotes th, .footnotes .tablecaption
+{
+font-size: 80%;
+}
+
+
+.poem
+{
+margin-left:5%;
+position:relative;
+text-align:left;
+width:90%;
+}
+
+.poem h4
+{
+font-weight:normal;
+margin-left:5em;
+text-decoration:underline;
+}
+
+.poem .linenum
+{
+color:#777;
+font-size:90%;
+left:-2.5em;
+margin:0;
+position:absolute;
+text-align:center;
+text-indent:0;
+top:auto;
+width:1.75em;
+}
+
+.versenum
+{
+font-weight:bold;
+}
+
+.footnotes .line
+{
+font-size:80%;
+margin:0 5%;
+}
+
+.poem .i0
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:2em;
+}
+
+.poem .i1
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:3em;
+}
+
+.poem .i2
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:4em;
+}
+
+.poem .i3
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:5em;
+}
+
+.poem .i4
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:6em;
+}
+
+.poem .i5
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:7em;
+}
+
+.poem .i6
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:8em;
+}
+
+.poem .i7
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:9em;
+}
+
+.poem .i8
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:10em;
+}
+
+.poem .i9
+{
+display:block;
+margin-left:11em;
+}
+
+span.corr
+{
+border-bottom:1px dotted red;
+}
+
+span.abbr
+{
+border-bottom:1px dotted gray;
+}
+
+span.measure
+{
+border-bottom:1px dotted green;
+}
+
+.letterspaced
+{
+letter-spacing:0.2em;
+}
+
+.smallcaps
+{
+font-variant:small-caps;
+}
+
+hr
+{
+clear:both;
+height:1px;
+margin-left:auto;
+margin-right:auto;
+margin-top:1em;
+text-align:center;
+width:45%;
+}
+
+h2.docImprint,h1.docTitle,h2.byline,h2.docTitle,.aligncenter,div.figure
+{
+text-align:center;
+}
+
+h1,h2
+{
+font-size:1.44em;
+line-height:1.5em;
+}
+
+h1.label,h2.label
+{
+font-size:1.2em;
+line-height:1.2em;
+margin-bottom:0;
+}
+
+h5,h6
+{
+font-size:1em;
+font-style:italic;
+line-height:1em;
+}
+
+p,p.initial
+{
+text-indent:0;
+}
+
+.poem .stanza
+{
+padding: .5em 0% .5em 0%;
+}
+
+p.quote,div.blockquote,div.argument
+{
+font-size:0.9em;
+line-height:1.2em;
+margin:1.58em 5%;
+}
+
+.pagenum a, a.noteref:hover, a.hidden:hover, a.hidden
+{
+text-decoration:none;
+}
+
+
+
+
+
+body
+{
+background: #FFFFFF;
+font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
+}
+
+body, a.hidden
+{
+color: black;
+}
+
+h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6
+{
+color: #001FA4;
+font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
+}
+
+p.byline
+{
+font-style: italic;
+margin-bottom: 2em;
+}
+
+.figureHead, .noteref, span.leftnote, p.legend, .versenum
+{
+color: #001FA4;
+}
+
+.rightnote, .pagenum, .linenum, .pagenum a
+{
+color: #AAAAAA;
+}
+
+a.hidden:hover, a.noteref:hover
+{
+color: red;
+}
+
+
+</style></head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+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: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** 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)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="front">
+<div class="titlePage">
+<h1 class="docTitle">The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India</h1>
+<h2 class="byline">By
+<br>
+<span class="docAuthor">R.V. Russell</span><br>
+Of the Indian Civil Service Superintendent of Ethnography, Central Provinces<br>
+Assisted by<br>
+<span class="docAuthor">Rai Bahadur Hira L&#257;l</span><br>
+Extra Assistant Commissioner
+</h2>
+<h2 class="docImprint"><i>Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration</i>
+<br>
+In Four Volumes<br>
+Vol. IV.
+<br>
+Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin&#8217;s Street, London.
+<br>
+1916
+</h2>
+</div><a id="d0e106"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e106">v</a>]</span><div id="d0e107" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Contents of Volume IV</h2>
+<h2>Articles on Castes and Tribes of the Central Provinces in Alphabetical Order</h2>
+<p><i>The articles which are considered to be of most general interest are shown in capitals</i>
+
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e1057"><span class="smallcaps">Kumh&#257;r</span></a> (<i>Potter</i>) 3
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1323"><span class="smallcaps">Kunbi</span></a> (<i>Cultivator</i>) 16
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2065">Kunjra</a> (<i>Greengrocer</i>) 50
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2128">Kuramw&#257;r</a> (<i>Shepherd</i>) 52
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2166"><span class="smallcaps">Kurmi</span></a> (<i>Cultivator</i>) 55
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4395">Lakhera</a> (<i>Worker in lac</i>) 104
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4630">Lodhi</a> (<i>Landowner and cultivator</i>) 112
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4877">Loh&#257;r</a> (<i>Blacksmith</i>) 120
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5006">Lorha</a> (<i>Growers of</i> san-<i>hemp</i>) 126
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5059">Mah&#257;r</a> (<i>Weaver and labourer</i>) 129
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5485">Mahli</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 146
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5528">Majhwar</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 149
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5687">M&#257;l</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 153
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5739">M&#257;la</a> (<i>Cotton-weaver and labourer</i>) 156
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5778"><span class="smallcaps">M&#257;li</span></a> (<i>Gardener and vegetable-grower</i>) 159
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6161">Mall&#257;h</a> (<i>Boatman and fisherman</i>) 171
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6189">M&#257;na</a> (<i>Forest tribe, cultivator</i>) 172
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6233">M&#257;nbhao</a> (<i>Religious mendicant</i>) 176
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6370">M&#257;ng</a> (<i>Labourer and village musician</i>) 184
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6536">M&#257;ng-Garori</a> (<i>Criminal caste</i>) 189
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6603">Manih&#257;r</a> (<i>Pedlar</i>) 193
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6646">Mannew&#257;r</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 195
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6680"><span class="smallcaps">Mar&#257;tha</span></a> (<i>Soldier, cultivator and service</i>) 198
+<a id="d0e286"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e286">vi</a>]</span></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7136"><span class="smallcaps">Mehtar</span></a> (<i>Sweeper and scavenge</i>) 215
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7658">Meo</a> (<i>Tribe</i>) 233
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7706">M&#299;na or Desw&#257;li</a> (<i>Non-Aryan tribe, cultivator</i>) 235
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7863">Mir&#257;si</a> (<i>Bard and genealogist</i>) 242
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7925"><span class="smallcaps">Mochi</span></a> (<i>Shoemaker</i>) 244
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8101">Mow&#257;r</a> (<i>Cultivator</i>) 250
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8125">Murha</a> (<i>Digger and navvy</i>) 252
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8290">Nagasia</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 257
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8318">N&#257;hal</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 259
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8396"><span class="smallcaps">Nai</span></a> (Barber) 262
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9022">Naoda</a> (<i>Boatman and fisherman</i>) 283
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9044">Nat</a> (<i>Acrobat</i>) 286
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9249">Nunia</a> (<i>Salt-refiner; digger and navvy</i>) 294
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9296">Ojha</a> (<i>Augur and soothsayer</i>) 296
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9360"><span class="smallcaps">Oraon</span></a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 299
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9971">P&#257;ik</a> (<i>Soldier, cultivator</i>) 321
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9995">Panka</a> (<i>Labourer and village watchman</i>) 324
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10157"><span class="smallcaps">Panw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;t</span></a> (<i>Landowner and cultivator</i>) 330
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10677">Pardh&#257;n</a> (<i>Minstrel and priest</i>) 352
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10839">P&#257;rdhi</a> (<i>Hunter and fowler</i>) 359
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11089">Parja</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 371
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11278">P&#257;si</a> (<i>Toddy-drawer and labourer</i>) 380
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11467">Patwa</a> (<i>Maker of silk braid and thread</i>) 385
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11506"><span class="smallcaps">Pind&#257;ri</span></a> (<i>Freebooter</i>) 388
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11771">Prabhu</a> (<i>Writer and clerk</i>) 399
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11861">R&#257;ghuvansi</a> (<i>Cultivator</i>) 403
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11917">R&#257;jjhar</a> (<i>Agricultural labourer</i>) 405
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11992"><span class="smallcaps">R&#257;jp&#363;t</span></a> (<i>Soldier and landowner</i>) 410
+
+</li>
+<li><span class="smallcaps">R&#257;jp&#363;t Clans</span>
+
+<table>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e12656">Baghel</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12694">B&#257;gri</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12711">Bais</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12722">Baksaria</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12731">Ban&#257;phar</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12744">Bhadauria</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12768">Bisen</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12776">Bundela</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12820">Chandel</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12891">Chauh&#257;n</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12931">Dh&#257;kar</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12946">Gaharw&#257;r</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12998">Gaur</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13023">Haihaya</a>.
+
+</li>
+</ul>
+</td>
+<td>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e13076">H&#363;na</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13091">Kachhw&#257;ha</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13127">N&#257;gvansi</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13152">Nikumbh</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13176">P&#257;ik</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13188">Parih&#257;r</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13227">R&#257;thor</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13285">Sesodia</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13348">Solankhi</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13371">Somvansi</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13384">S&#363;rajvansi</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13397">Tomara</a>.
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13430">Y&#257;du</a>.
+
+</li>
+</ul>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<a id="d0e601"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e601">vii</a>]</span></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13448">Rajw&#257;r</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 470
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13463">R&#257;mosi</a> (<i>Village watchmen and labourers, formerly thieves</i>) 472
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13565">Rangrez</a> (<i>Dyer</i>) 477
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13631">Rautia</a> (<i>Forest tribe and cultivators, formerly soldiers</i>) 479
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13705">Sanaurhia</a> (<i>Criminal thieving caste</i>) 483
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13802">S&#257;nsia</a> (<i>Vagrant criminal tribe</i>) 488
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13999">S&#257;nsia (Uria)</a> (<i>Mason and digger</i>) 496
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14054">Savar</a> (<i>Forest tribe</i>) 500
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14306">Sonjhara</a> (<i>Gold-washer</i>) 509
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14451">Sudh</a> (<i>Cultivator</i>) 514
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14481"><span class="smallcaps">Sun&#257;r</span></a> (<i>Goldsmith and silversmith</i>) 517
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15117">Sundi</a> (<i>Liquor distiller</i>) 534
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15147">Tamera</a> (<i>Coppersmith</i>) 536
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15196">Taonla</a> (<i>Soldier and labourer</i>) 539
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15229"><span class="smallcaps">Teli</span></a> (<i>Oilman</i>) 542
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15595"><span class="smallcaps">Thug</span></a> (<i>Criminal community of murderers by strangulation</i>) 558
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16246">Turi</a> (<i>Bamboo-worker</i>) 588
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16460">Velama</a> (<i>Cultivator</i>) 593
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16523"><span class="smallcaps">Vidur</span></a> (<i>Village accountant, clerk and writer</i>) 596
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16655">W&#257;ghya</a> (<i>Religious mendicant</i>) 603
+
+</li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16728">Yer&#363;kala</a> (<i>Criminal thieving caste</i>) 606
+</li>
+</ul><p>
+<a id="d0e754"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e754">ix</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Illustrations in Volume IV</h2>
+<ul>
+<li>97. <a href="#d0e1146">Potter and his wheel</a> 4
+
+</li>
+<li>98. <a href="#d0e1505">Group of Kunbis</a> 16
+
+</li>
+<li>99. <a href="#d0e1884">Figures of animals made for Pola festival</a> 40
+
+</li>
+<li>100. <a href="#d0e1927">Hindu boys on stilts</a> 42
+
+</li>
+<li>101. <a href="#d0e1997">Throwing stilts into the water at the Pola festival</a> 46
+
+</li>
+<li>102. <a href="#d0e2039">Carrying out the dead</a> 48
+
+</li>
+<li>103. <a href="#d0e2519">Pounding rice</a> 60
+
+</li>
+<li>104. <a href="#d0e2951">Sowing</a> 84
+
+</li>
+<li>105. <a href="#d0e2994">Threshing</a> 86
+
+</li>
+<li>106. <a href="#d0e3038">Winnowing</a> 88
+
+</li>
+<li>107. <a href="#d0e3088">Women grinding wheat and husking rice</a> 90
+
+</li>
+<li>108. <a href="#d0e3164">Group of women in Hindust&#257;ni dress</a> 92
+
+</li>
+<li>109. <i>Coloured Plate</i>: <a href="#d0e4489">Examples of spangles worn by women on the forehead</a> 106
+
+</li>
+<li>110. <a href="#d0e5391">Weaving: sizing the warp</a> 142
+
+</li>
+<li>111. <a href="#d0e5437">Winding thread</a> 144
+
+</li>
+<li>112. <a href="#d0e6034">Bride and bridegroom with marriage crowns</a> 166
+
+</li>
+<li>113. <a href="#d0e6129">Bullocks drawing water with <i>mot</i></a> 170
+
+</li>
+<li>114. <a href="#d0e6440">M&#257;ng musicians with drums</a> 186
+
+</li>
+<li>115. <a href="#d0e6862">Statue of Mar&#257;tha leader, B&#299;mb&#257;ji Bhonsla, in armour</a> 200
+
+</li>
+<li>116. <a href="#d0e8030">Image of the god Vishnu as Vithoba</a> 248
+
+</li>
+<li>117. <a href="#d0e8198">Coolie women with babies slung at the side</a> 256
+
+</li>
+<li>118. <a href="#d0e8783">Hindu men showing the <i>choti</i> or scalp-lock</a> 272
+
+</li>
+<li>119. <a href="#d0e9237">Snake-charmer with cobras</a> 292
+
+</li>
+<li>120. <a href="#d0e10416">Transplanting rice</a> 340
+
+</li>
+<li>121. <a href="#d0e10742">Group of Pardh&#257;ns</a> 352
+
+</li>
+<li>122. <a href="#d0e11785">Little girls playing</a> 400
+<a id="d0e897"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e897">x</a>]</span></li>
+<li>123. <a href="#d0e11834">Gujarati girls doing figures with strings and sticks</a> 402
+
+</li>
+<li>124. <a href="#d0e14704">Ornaments</a> 524
+
+</li>
+<li>125. <a href="#d0e15365">Teli&#8217;s oil-press</a> 544
+
+</li>
+<li>126. <a href="#d0e16019">The Goddess K&#257;li</a> 574
+
+</li>
+<li>127. <a href="#d0e16676">W&#257;ghya mendicants</a> 604
+</li>
+</ul><a id="d0e923"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e923">xi</a>]</span></div>
+<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Pronunciation</h2>
+<p>
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">a, has the sound of </td>
+<td valign="top">u in <i>but</i> or <i>murmur</i>.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">&#257; has the sound of </td>
+<td valign="top">a in <i>bath</i> or <i>tar</i>.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">e has the sound of </td>
+<td valign="top">&eacute; in <i>&eacute;cart&eacute;</i> or ai in <i>maid</i>.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">i has the sound of </td>
+<td valign="top">i in <i>bit</i>, or (as a final letter) of y in <i>sulky</i>.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">&#299; has the sound of </td>
+<td valign="top">ee in <i>beet</i>.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">o has the sound of </td>
+<td valign="top">o in <i>bore</i> or <i>bowl</i>.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">u has the sound of </td>
+<td valign="top">u in <i>put</i> or <i>bull</i>.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top">&#363; has the sound of </td>
+<td valign="top">oo in <i>poor</i> or <i>boot</i></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>The plural of caste names and a few common Hindust&#257;ni words is formed by adding <i>s</i> in the English manner according to ordinary usage, though this is not, of course, the Hindust&#257;ni plural.
+
+</p>
+<p><span class="smallcaps">Note</span>.&#8212;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&#8211;8 signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred thousand, and a krore ten million.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+</div><div class="body">
+<div class="div0">
+<h2 class="label">Part II</h2>
+<h2>Articles on Castes and Tribes</h2>
+<h2>Kumh&#257;r&#8212;Yemkala</h2>
+<h2 class="label">Vol. IV</h2><a id="d0e1056"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1056">3</a>]</span><div id="d0e1057" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Kumh&#257;r</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e1119">1. Traditions of origin</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1150">2. Caste sub-divisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1179">3. Social Customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1188">4. The Kumh&#257;r as a village menial</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1204">5. Occupation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1236">6. Breeding pigs for sacrifices</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1243">7. The goddess Demeter</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1264">8. Estimation of the pig in India</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1281">9. The buffalo as a corn-god</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1291">10. The Dasahra festival</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1302">11. The goddess Devi</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1119">
+<h3>1. Traditions of origin</h3>
+<p><b>Kumh&#257;r, Kumbh&#257;r</b>.&#8212;The caste of potters, the name being derived from the Sanskrit <i>kumbh</i>, a water-pot. The Kumh&#257;rs numbered nearly 120,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911 and were most numerous in the
+northern and eastern or Hindust&#257;ni-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. &#8220;Concerning
+the traditional parentage of the caste,&#8221; Sir H. Risley writes,<a id="d0e1129src" href="#d0e1129" class="noteref">1</a> &#8220;there seems to be a wide difference of opinion among the recognised authorities on the subject. Thus the Brahma Vaiv&#257;rtta
+Pur&#257;na says that the Kumbhak&#257;r or maker of water-jars (<i>kumbka</i>), is born of a Vaishya woman by a Br&#257;hman father; the Par&#257;sara Samhita makes the father a M&#257;l&#257;k&#257;r (gardener) and the mother
+a Cham&#257;r; while the Par&#257;sara Padhati holds that the ancestor of the caste was begotten of a Tili woman by a Pattik&#257;r or weaver
+of silk cloth.<span id="d0e1137" class="corr" title="Source: ">&#8221;</span> Sir Monier Williams again, in his Sanskrit Dictionary, describes them as the offspring of a Kshatriya woman by a Br&#257;hman.
+No importance can of course be attached to <a id="d0e1140"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1140">4</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hman writers, and also the position given to the Kumh&#257;r 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 Br&#257;hmanical type: &#8220;In the Kritayuga, when Maheshwar (Siva) intended to marry the daughter
+of Hemvanta, the Devas and Asuras<a id="d0e1142src" href="#d0e1142" class="noteref">2</a> assembled at Kail&#257;s (Heaven). Then a question arose as to who should furnish the vessels required for the ceremony, and one
+Kul&#257;laka, a Br&#257;hman, was ordered to make them. Then Kul&#257;laka 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 Mand&#257;ra was fixed as a pivot beneath it to hold it up. The scraper was Adi K&#363;rma the tortoise, and a rain-cloud
+was used for the water-tub. So Kul&#257;laka made the pots and gave them to Maheshwar for his marriage, and ever since his descendants
+have been known as Kumbhak&#257;r or maker of water-jars.&#8221;
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e1146" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p097.jpg" alt="Potter and his wheel" width="720" height="407"><p class="figureHead">Potter and his wheel</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1150">
+<h3>2. Caste sub-divisions</h3>
+<p>The Kumh&#257;rs 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 M&#257;lwi from M&#257;lwa, the Telenga from the
+Telugu country in Hyder&#257;b&#257;d, the Pardeshi from northern India and the Mar&#257;tha from the Mar&#257;tha Districts. Other divisions
+are the Ling&#257;yats who belong to the sect of this name, the Gadhew&#257;l or Gadhere who make tiles and carry them about on donkeys
+(<i>gadha</i>), the Bardia who use bullocks for transport and the Sungaria who keep pigs (<i>suar</i>). Certain endogamous groups have arisen simply from differences in the method of working. Thus the H&#257;thgarhia<a id="d0e1161src" href="#d0e1161" class="noteref">3</a> mould vessels with their hands only without using the wheel; the Goria<a id="d0e1169src" href="#d0e1169" class="noteref">4</a> 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 Kumh&#257;rs who use the wheel (<i>ch&#257;k</i>) in <a id="d0e1177"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1177">5</a>]</span>localities where other Kumh&#257;rs do not use it. The Chhutakia and Rakhotia are illegitimate sections, being the offspring of
+kept women.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1179">
+<h3>3. Social Customs</h3>
+<p>Girls are married at an early age when their parents can afford it, the matches being usually arranged at caste feasts. In
+Ch&#257;nda 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 Br&#257;hman usually officiates, but in Bet&#363;l it is performed by
+the Saw&#257;sa or husband of the bride&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Kumh&#257;rs 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&#8211;4 and five locks of her hair are also cut
+off by way of purification. The caste usually burn the dead, but the Ling&#257;yat Kumh&#257;rs 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 Deoth&#257;n Ig&#257;ras. The village Br&#257;hman serves as their priest. In B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t a Kumh&#257;r is put out of caste if
+a dead cat is found in his house. At the census of 1901 the Kumh&#257;r was ranked with the impure castes, but his status is not
+really so low. Sir D. Ibbetson said of him: &#8220;He is a true village menial; his social standing is very low, far below that
+of the Loh&#257;r and not much above the Cham&#257;r. 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.&#8221; 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 Kumh&#257;r ranks not much below the Barhai and Loh&#257;r, that is in what I have designated the grade of village menials
+above the impure and below the cultivating castes. In Bengal the Kumh&#257;rs have a much higher status and Br&#257;hmans will <a id="d0e1186"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1186">6</a>]</span>take water from their hands. But the gradation of caste in Bengal differs very greatly from that of other parts of India.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1188">
+<h3>4. The Kumh&#257;r as a village menial</h3>
+<p>The Kumh&#257;r 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 Kumh&#257;r
+of Saugor presents five pots with covers on them to each cultivator and receives 2&frac12; lbs. of grain in exchange. One of these
+the tenant fills with water and presents to a Br&#257;hman and the rest he reserves for his own purposes. On the occasion of a
+wedding also the bridegroom&#8217;s party take the bride to the Kumh&#257;rin&#8217;s house as part of the <i>soh&#257;g</i> ceremony for making the marriage propitious. The Kumh&#257;r seats the bride on his wheel and turns it round with her seven times.
+The Kumh&#257;rin 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 Kumh&#257;rin receives a present of
+clothes. At a funeral also the Kumh&#257;r must supply thirteen vessels which are known as <i>gh&#257;ts</i>, 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 Mar&#257;tha villages.<a id="d0e1199src" href="#d0e1199" class="noteref">5</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1204">
+<h3>5. Occupation</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e1209"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1209">7</a>]</span>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 <i>chakrait</i> 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.<a id="d0e1214src" href="#d0e1214" class="noteref">6</a> The articles made by the potter are ordinary circular vessels or <i>gharas</i> used for storing and collecting water, larger ones for keeping grain, flour and vegetables, and <i>sur&#257;his</i> 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 Mar&#257;thas, and, as already noticed, the Kumh&#257;r 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
+<a id="d0e1226"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1226">8</a>]</span>no opening for the Kumh&#257;r to improve his art. Another product of the Kumh&#257;r&#8217;s industry is the <i>chilam</i> 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 <i>chilam</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 Pr&#257;japati or the &#8216;The Creator,&#8217; 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&#8217;s creating hands.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1236">
+<h3>6. Breeding pigs for sacrifices</h3>
+<p>Certain Kumh&#257;rs as well as the Dh&#299;mars 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 Bhains&#257;sur, or the buffalo demon, for the protection of the crops. Bhains&#257;sur is represented by a stone in the
+fields, and when crops are beaten down at night by the wind it is supposed that Bhains&#257;sur has passed over them and trampled
+them down. Hindus, usually of the lower castes, offer pigs to Bhains&#257;sur 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 Kumh&#257;r the price
+of the pig and get him to offer it to Bhains&#257;sur on their behalf. The Kumh&#257;r 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
+<a id="d0e1241"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1241">9</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1243">
+<h3>7. The goddess Demeter</h3>
+<p>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<a id="d0e1248src" href="#d0e1248" class="noteref">7</a>: &#8220;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 <a id="d0e1253"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1253">10</a>]</span>from the dead. Hence the name Descent or Ascent variously applied to the first, and the name <i>Kalligeneia</i> (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 &#8216;the chasms of Demeter and Proserpine,&#8217; which appear to have been sacred caverns or vaults.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8212;apparently at the next annual festival&#8212;the decayed remains of the pigs,
+the cakes, and the pine-branches were fetched by women called &#8216;drawers,&#8217; 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;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, <a id="d0e1262"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1262">11</a>]</span>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&#8217;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1264">
+<h3>8. Estimation of the pig in India</h3>
+<p>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 Bhains&#257;sur 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 R&#257;jput&#257;na 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.<a id="d0e1269src" href="#d0e1269" class="noteref">8</a> 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 <a id="d0e1274"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1274">12</a>]</span>supposing that the pig was once worshipped, and the R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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,<a id="d0e1276src" href="#d0e1276" class="noteref">9</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1281">
+<h3>9. The buffalo as a corn-god</h3>
+<p>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 Bhains&#257;sur, 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 Bet&#363;l and other districts the procedure is that on the Dasahra day, or a day before, the M&#257;ng and Kotw&#257;r,
+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 <a id="d0e1286"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1286">13</a>]</span>the gods, and in the evening it is killed and the M&#257;ng and Kotw&#257;r 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.<a id="d0e1288src" href="#d0e1288" class="noteref">10</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1291">
+<h3>10. The Dasahra festival</h3>
+<p>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 Mahis&#257;sur or Bhains&#257;sur, 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.<a id="d0e1296src" href="#d0e1296" class="noteref">11</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1302">
+<h3>11. The goddess Devi</h3>
+<p>Devi signifies &#8216;<i>the</i> goddess&#8217; <i>par excellence</i>. 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
+P&#363;rna, the corn-goddess of the Telugu country; and in her form of Gauri or &#8216;the Yellow One&#8217; 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 <a id="d0e1313"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1313">14</a>]</span>their weddings and consider it lucky. A Brahman also prefers to wear yellow when eating his food. It has been seen<a id="d0e1315src" href="#d0e1315" class="noteref">12</a> 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 R&#257;mtek 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 P&#257;rvati, 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 K&#257;li, 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 <a id="d0e1320"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1320">15</a>]</span>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 Desw&#257;li, their forest god, in the sacred grove; and the Korwas of Sarg&#363;ja nave
+periodical sacrifices to K&#257;li in which many buffaloes are slaughtered. In the pictures of her fight with Bhains&#257;sur, 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&#8217;s
+friend. But in the rural tracts Bhains&#257;sur 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.
+<a id="d0e1322"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1322">16</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1129" href="#d0e1129src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Kumh&#257;r.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1142" href="#d0e1142src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Gods and demons.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1161" href="#d0e1161src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>H&#257;th</i>, hand and <i>garhna</i> to make or mould.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1169" href="#d0e1169src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Gora</i>, white or red, applied to Europeans.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1199" href="#d0e1199src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>History of the Mar&#257;thas</i>, edition 1878, vol. i. p. 26.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1214" href="#d0e1214src" class="noteref">6</a></span> The above description is taken from the Central Provinces <i>Monograph on Pottery and Glassware</i> by Mr. Jowers, p. 4.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1248" href="#d0e1248src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Golden Bough,</i> ii. pp. 299, 301.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1269" href="#d0e1269src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 524.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1276" href="#d0e1276src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Orph&egrave;us</i>, p. 152.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1288" href="#d0e1288src" class="noteref">10</a></span> The sacrifice is now falling into abeyance, as landowners refuse to supply the buffalo.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1296" href="#d0e1296src" class="noteref">11</a></span> Dr. Jevons, <i>Introduction to the History of Religion</i>, p. 368.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1315" href="#d0e1315src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>Vide</i> article on Lakhera.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e1323" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Kunbi</h2>
+<p>[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 Py&#257;re L&#257;l Misra and Munshi Kanhya L&#257;l. The Kunbis are treated
+in the <i>Poona</i> and <i>Kh&#257;ndesh</i> volumes of the <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>. The caste has been taken as typical of the Mar&#257;thi-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 <i>Wardha</i> and <i>Yeotmal District Gazetteers</i>.]
+
+
+</p>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e1467">1. Distribution of the caste and origin of name</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1509">2. Settlement in the Central Provinces</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1529">3. Subcastes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1593">4. The cultivating status</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1614">5. Exogamus septs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1634">6. Restrictions on marriage of relatives</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1647">7. Betrothal and marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1703">8. Polygamy and divorce</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1713">9. Widow-marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1732">10. Customs at birth</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1752">11. Sixth and twelfth day ceremonies</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1759">12. Devices for procuring children</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1792">13. Love charms</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1807">14. Disposal of the dead</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1839">15. Mourning</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1851">16. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1869">17. The Pola festival</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1888">18. Muhammadan tendencies of Ber&#257;r Kunbis</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1931">19. Villages and houses</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1953">20. Furniture</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e1966">21. Food</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2001">22. Clothes and ornaments</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2020">23. The Kunbi as cultivator</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2043">24. Social and moral characteristics</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1467">
+<h3>1. Distribution of the caste and origin of name</h3>
+<p><b>Kunbi</b>&#8212;The great agricultural caste of the Mar&#257;tha country. In the Central Provinces and Ber&#257;r the Kunbis numbered nearly 1,400,000
+persons in 1911; they belong to the N&#257;gpur, Ch&#257;nda, Bhand&#257;ra, Wardha, Nim&#257;r and Bet&#363;l Districts of the Central Provinces.
+In Ber&#257;r 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 Buld&#257;na District to the
+west, where in some t&#257;luks nearly half the population <a id="d0e1474"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1474">17</a>]</span>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, Kulw&#257;di in the south Konkan, Kanbi in Gujar&#257;t, and Kulbi in Belgaum.
+In Sanskrit inscriptions it is given as Kutumbika (householder), and hence it has been derived from <i>kutumba</i>, a family. A chronicle of the eleventh century quoted by Forbes speaks of the Kutumbiks or cultivators of the <i>gr&#257;ms,</i> or small villages.<a id="d0e1482src" href="#d0e1482" class="noteref">1</a> Another writer describing the early R&#257;jp&#363;t dynasties says:<a id="d0e1487src" href="#d0e1487" class="noteref">2</a> &#8220;The villagers were Koutombiks (householders) or husbandmen (Karshuks); the village headmen were Putkeels (patels).&#8221; Another
+suggested derivation is from a Dravidian root <i>kul</i> a husbandman or labourer; while that favoured by the caste and their neighbours is from <i>kun</i>, a root, or <i>kan</i> grain, and <i>bi</i>, seed; but this is too ingenious to be probable.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e1505" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p098.jpg" alt="Group of Kunbis" width="715" height="547"><p class="figureHead">Group of Kunbis</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1509">
+<h3>2. Settlement in the Central Provinces</h3>
+<p>It is stated that the Kunbis entered Kh&#257;ndesh from Gujar&#257;t in the eleventh century, being forced to leave Gujar&#257;t by the encroachments
+of R&#257;jp&#363;t tribes, driven south before the early Muhammadan invaders of northern India.<a id="d0e1514src" href="#d0e1514" class="noteref">3</a> From Kh&#257;ndesh they probably spread into Ber&#257;r and the adjoining N&#257;gpur and Wardha Districts. It seems probable that their
+first settlement in N&#257;gpur 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 Deshp&#257;ndia 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 Deshp&#257;ndia was a head
+<i>patwari</i> or accountant. The Deshmukhs were usually the leading Kunbis, and the titles are still borne by many families in Wardha and
+N&#257;gpur. These offices<a id="d0e1522src" href="#d0e1522" class="noteref">4</a> belong to the Mar&#257;tha country, and it seems necessary to suppose that their introduction into Wardha and Ber&#257;r 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 B&#299;japur. A subsequent large influx of Kunbis into Wardha <a id="d0e1527"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1527">18</a>]</span>and N&#257;gpur took place in the eighteenth century with the conquest of Ragh&#363;ji Bhonsla and the establishment of the Mar&#257;tha
+kingdom of N&#257;gpur. Traces of these separate immigrations survive in the subdivisions of the caste, which will now be mentioned.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1529">
+<h3>3. Subcastes</h3>
+<p>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 Jh&#257;re or jungly<a id="d0e1534src" href="#d0e1534" class="noteref">5</a> 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 M&#257;nwa Kunbis of the N&#257;gpur District; these appear to be a group recruited
+from the M&#257;nas, a primitive tribe who were dominant in Ch&#257;nda perhaps even before the advent of the Gonds. The M&#257;nwa 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 Br&#257;hmans at their marriages, but consult a Mah&#257;r Moht&#363;ria or soothsayer to fix the date of the ceremony. Other
+Kunbis will not eat with the M&#257;nwas, 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 <i>kha&#299;r</i><a id="d0e1542src" href="#d0e1542" class="noteref">6</a> 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 <i>dhan</i><a id="d0e1549src" href="#d0e1549" class="noteref">7</a> 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 M&#257;nwa Kunbis also do this; these bangles are not broken when a
+child is born, and hence the Dhanojes and M&#257;nwas are looked down on by the other subcastes, who refuse to remove their leaf-plates
+after a feast. The name of the <a id="d0e1557"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1557">19</a>]</span>Khedule subcaste may be derived from <i>kheda</i> a village, while another version given by Mr. Kitts<a id="d0e1562src" href="#d0e1562" class="noteref">8</a> is that it signifies &#8216;A beardless youth.&#8217; The highest subcaste in the Central Provinces are the Tirole or Tilole, who now
+claim to be R&#257;jp&#363;ts. They say that their ancestors came from Therol in R&#257;jput&#257;na, and, taking to agriculture, gradually became
+merged with the Kunbis. Another more probable derivation of the name is from the <i>til</i> 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 W&#257;ndhekars 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 Ber&#257;r.<a id="d0e1570src" href="#d0e1570" class="noteref">9</a> Among them are some groups from northern India, as the Hindust&#257;ni, Pardesi, Dholew&#257;r, Jaisw&#257;r and Singrore; these are probably
+Kurmis who have settled in Ber&#257;r and become amalgamated with the Kunbis. Similarly the Tailanges and Munurw&#257;rs appear to be
+an offshoot of the great K&#257;pu caste of cultivators in the Telugu country. The Wanj&#257;ri subcaste is a fairly large one and almost
+certainly represents a branch of the Banj&#257;ra caste of carriers, who have taken to agriculture and been promoted into the Kunbi
+community. The Lonh&#257;re take their name from Lon&#257;r Mehkar, the well-known bitter lake of the Buld&#257;na District, whose salt they
+may formerly have refined. The Gh&#257;tole are those who dwelt above the <i>gh&#257;ts</i> or passes of the Saihadri range to the south of the Ber&#257;r plain. The Baone are an important subcaste both in Ber&#257;r and the
+Central Provinces, and take their name from the phrase B&#257;wan Ber&#257;r,<a id="d0e1578src" href="#d0e1578" class="noteref">10</a> 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 Jh&#257;di or hill country in the Central Provinces. In Chhindw&#257;ra is found a small local <a id="d0e1583"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1583">20</a>]</span>subcaste called G&#257;dhao 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 Nim&#257;r is a group of Gujar&#257;ti Kunbis who are considered to have been originally
+G&#363;jars.<a id="d0e1585src" href="#d0e1585" class="noteref">11</a> Their local subdivisions are Leve and Karwa and many of them are also known as D&#257;lia, because they made the <i>d&#257;l</i> or pulse of Burh&#257;npur, which had a great reputation under native rule. It is said that it was formerly despatched daily to
+Sindhia&#8217;s kitchen.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1593">
+<h3>4. The cultivating status</h3>
+<p>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
+Mah&#257;rs 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&#8217;s house the impurity is not removed until the barber and washerman have eaten in it. At a Kunbi&#8217;s wedding the Gurao
+or village priest brings the leafy branches of five trees, the mango, <i>j&#257;mun</i><a id="d0e1600src" href="#d0e1600" class="noteref">12</a> <i>umar</i><a id="d0e1607src" href="#d0e1607" class="noteref">13</a> and two others and deposits them at M&#257;roti&#8217;s temple, whence they are removed by the parents of the bride. Before a wedding
+again a Kunbi bride must go to the potter&#8217;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&#8217;s field and present him with a specimen of their
+wares or make obeisance to him, receiving in return a small present of <a id="d0e1612"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1612">21</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1614">
+<h3>5. Exogamus septs</h3>
+<p>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 <i>kul</i>. 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; W&#257;nkhede, a village; Kadu, bitter; Jagth&#257;p, 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; Agl&#257;we, an incendiary;
+Kalamk&#257;r, a writer; W&#257;ni (Bania), a caste; Sut&#257;r, a carpenter, and so on, A few of the groups of the B&#257;one subcaste are:&#8212;K&#257;ntode,
+one with a torn ear; Dokarm&#257;re, a killer of pigs; L&#363;te, a plunderer; Titarm&#257;re, a pigeon-killer; and of the Khedule: Patre,
+a leaf-plate; Ghorem&#257;re, one who killed a horse; B&#257;gmare, a tiger-slayer; Gadhe, a donkey; Bur&#257;de, one of the Burud or Basor
+caste; N&#257;ktode, 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 <i>A Naturalist on the Prowl</i><a id="d0e1624src" href="#d0e1624" class="noteref">14</a> 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 N&#257;sik it is stated that a large proportion of the Kunbi <a id="d0e1627"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1627">22</a>]</span>caste are probably derived from the primitive tribes<a id="d0e1629src" href="#d0e1629" class="noteref">15</a>. 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 Hindust&#257;n, who in theory at any rate are of Aryan origin and of so high a grade of social purity that Br&#257;hmans 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 Wanj&#257;ri Kunbis of Ber&#257;r, who, being as already seen Banj&#257;ras,
+are of R&#257;jp&#363;t descent at any rate, now strenuously disclaim all connection with the Banj&#257;ra caste and regard their reception
+into the Kunbi community as a gain in status. At the same time the refusal of the Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1634">
+<h3>6. Restrictions on marriage of relatives</h3>
+<p>A man is forbidden to marry within his own sept or <i>kul</i>, or in that of his mother or either of his grandmothers. He may marry his wife&#8217;s younger sister but not her elder sister.
+Alliances between first and second cousins are also prohibited except that a sister&#8217;s son may be married to a brother&#8217;s daughter.
+Such marriages are also favoured by the Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans and other castes, and the suitability of the match is expressed in
+the saying <i>Ato ghari bh&#257;si s&#363;n</i>, or &#8216;At a sister&#8217;s house her brother&#8217;s daughter is a daughter-in-law.&#8217; 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&#8217;s property would pass to his sister&#8217;s son. Under such a law of inheritance <a id="d0e1645"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1645">23</a>]</span>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&#8217;s
+labour is a valuable asset, girls are expensive and a considerable price has to be paid for a bride.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1647">
+<h3>7. Betrothal and marriage</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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 M&#257;ngni or betrothal takes place. In the first place
+the boy&#8217;s father proceeds to his future daughter-in-law&#8217;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&#8217;s father to the boy&#8217;s house where a similar ceremony is enacted and the boy is presented with a cocoanut, a <i>pagri</i> and cloth, and a silver or gold ring. Again the boy&#8217;s relatives go to the girl&#8217;s house and give her more valuable presents
+of jewellery and clothing. A Br&#257;hman 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 <i>s&#257;leh</i> (<i>Boswellia serrata</i>) or <i>umar</i> (<i>Ficus glomerata</i>) tree, one longer than the other, to represent the bride and bridegroom. Two jars <a id="d0e1667"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1667">24</a>]</span>filled with water are set near the posts, and a small earthen platform called <i>baola</i> 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 <i>b&#257;sing</i> and is a substitute for the <i>maur</i> or marriage-crown of the Hindust&#257;ni 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&#8217;
+ceremonies the members of the families eat the dried cakes with milk, no outsider being allowed to participate. The <i>bar&#257;t</i> or wedding procession sets out for the bride&#8217;s village, the women of the bridegroom&#8217;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&#8217;s village by her father and his friends and relatives, and conducted to the <i>janw&#257;sa</i> or temporary lodging prepared for it, with the exception of the bridegroom, who is left alone before the shrine of M&#257;roti
+or Hanum&#257;n. The bridegroom&#8217;s father goes to the marriage-shed where he washes the bride&#8217;s feet and gives her another present
+of clothes, and her relatives then proceed to M&#257;roti&#8217;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&#8217;s brother who
+is seated above the shed pours down some water and is given a present of money by the bridegroom. The bridegroom&#8217;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 Br&#257;hman 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 Br&#257;hman marks their
+foreheads with rice and turmeric and presses them together. He then seats them on the earthen platform or <i>baola</i>, and ties their <a id="d0e1687"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1687">25</a>]</span>clothes together, this being known as the Brahma G&#257;nthi or Br&#257;hman&#8217;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&#8217;s family may vary from Rs. 60 to Rs. 100 and those of the bridegroom&#8217;s from Rs. 160 to Rs. 600.
+A wedding carried out on a lavish scale by a well-to-do man is known as L&#257;l Bi&#257;h or a red marriage, but when the parties are
+poor the expenses are curtailed and it is then called Safed Bi&#257;h or a white marriage. In this case the bridegroom&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s house, this occasion being known as Bolvan (the calling). The Karwa Kunbis of Nim&#257;r have
+a peculiar rule for the celebration of marriages. They have a <i>guru</i> or priest in Gujar&#257;t who sends them a notice once in every ten or twelve years, and in this year only marriages can be performed.
+It is called <i>Singhast ki s&#257;l</i> 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 Gujar&#257;t 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 M&#257;ndo R&#257;t, and on this <a id="d0e1695"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1695">26</a>]</span>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 <i>contretemps</i> and also insures that every girl shall be married before she is fully twelve years old. Rather than not marry their daughter
+in the <i>Singhast ki s&#257;l</i> 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 As&#257;rh Sudi (June) to the 11th K&#257;rtik 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 K&#257;rtik the marriage of Tulsi or the basil plant with
+the S&#257;ligr&#257;m 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 K&#257;rtik, comes the Diw&#257;li festival. In Bet&#363;l the bridal couple are
+seated in the centre of a square made of four plough yokes, while a leaf of the p&#299;pal tree and a piece of turmeric are tied
+by a string round both their wrists. The untying of the string by the local Br&#257;hman constitutes the essential and binding
+portion of the marriage. Among the Lonh&#257;re 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1703">
+<h3>8. Polygamy and divorce</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e1708"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1708">27</a>]</span>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 W&#257;ndhekar, the highest subcastes, the keeping of a
+woman is not an offence entailing temporary exclusion from caste, whereas among the lower subcastes it is.<a id="d0e1710src" href="#d0e1710" class="noteref">16</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1713">
+<h3>9. Widow-marriage</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s husband dies she returns to her father&#8217;s house and he arranges her second marriage, which is called <i>choli-p&#257;tal,</i> 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 Hindust&#257;ni castes is looked upon as most suitable if not obligatory, is strictly
+forbidden among the Mar&#257;tha castes, the reason assigned being that a wife stands in the position of a mother to her husband&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s
+spirit and prevent his interference with the new union. <a id="d0e1721"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1721">28</a>]</span>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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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 <i>&#257;kra</i> 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 <i>&#257;kra</i> or swallow-wort (<i>Calotropis gigantea</i>) 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1732">
+<h3>10. Customs at birth</h3>
+<p>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.<a id="d0e1737src" href="#d0e1737" class="noteref">17</a> Similarly she must not sleep on <a id="d0e1740"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1740">29</a>]</span>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
+M&#257;ng or Mah&#257;r 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&#8217;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 Sulaim&#257;ni onyx or a rupee of Akbar&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e1742"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1742">30</a>]</span>learning to speak they give it leaves of the p&#299;pal 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&#8217;s throat. And the water which made her hands clean and smooth will similarly clear the
+child&#8217;s throat of the obstruction which prevented it from speaking. If a child&#8217;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&#8217;s. If he cannot walk they
+make a little triangle on wheels with a pole called <i>ghurghuri</i>, 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&#8217;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, <i>kani</i>, 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&#8217;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&#8217;s body will dry up in a similar manner.
+In order to avert the evil eye they burn some turmeric and ju&#257;ri 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e1750"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1750">31</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1752">
+<h3>11. Sixth and twelfth day ceremonies</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s forehead its fate in life, which writing, it is said, may be seen on a man&#8217;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&#8217;s bed. The door of the birth-room is left open, and at
+midnight she comes. Sometimes a Sun&#257;r is employed to make a small image of Chhathi Devi, for which he is paid Rs. 1&#8211;4, and
+it is hung round the child&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e1757"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1757">32</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1759">
+<h3>12. Devices for procuring children</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s
+house so as to obtain the spirit of one of the family&#8217;s dead children, which may be supposed to have entered the insects dwelling
+on the house. Some years ago at Bh&#257;ndak in Ch&#257;nda complaints were made of houses being set on fire. The police officer<a id="d0e1764src" href="#d0e1764" class="noteref">18</a> 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&#8217;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&#8217;s feet a stain of the juice of the <i>bhilawa</i><a id="d0e1769src" href="#d0e1769" class="noteref">19</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>Another device is to make a <i>pradakshana</i> or pilgrimage round a p&#299;pal tree, going naked at midnight after worshipping M&#257;roti or Hanum&#257;n, and holding a necklace of
+<i>tulsi</i> beads in the hand. The p&#299;pal is of course a sacred tree, and is the abode of Brahma, the original creator of the world. <a id="d0e1782"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1782">33</a>]</span>Brahma has no consort, and it is believed that while all other trees are both male and female the p&#299;pal is only male, and
+is capable of impregnating a woman and rendering her fertile. A variation of this belief is that p&#299;pal trees are inhabited
+by the spirits of unmarried Br&#257;hman 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&#8217;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 p&#299;pal 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, &#8216;Full measure and flowing over,&#8217; like the customary present of Rs. 1&#8211;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
+Hanum&#257;n or Mah&#257;bir. 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: &#8216;<i>Oh, Mah&#257;b&#299;r, Mah&#257;r&#257;j! hamko ek batcha do, sirf ek batcha do</i>.&#8217;<a id="d0e1787src" href="#d0e1787" class="noteref">20</a> Then, after many days, Mah&#257;bir, 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
+<a id="d0e1790"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1790">34</a>]</span>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&#8217;s cloth and a lock of her hair and some earth which her feet have
+pressed and bury these in a pot before Devi&#8217;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&#8217;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).
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1792">
+<h3>13. Love charms</h3>
+<p>If a woman&#8217;s husband is not in love with her, a prescription of a <i>Mohani</i> 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.
+&#8220;It has not occurred,&#8221; Mr. Kipling writes, &#8220;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&#8217;s flesh to eat.&#8221;<a id="d0e1800src" href="#d0e1800" class="noteref">21</a> 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, &#8216;I am giving a dinner tomorrow night, and I invite you all to attend.&#8217; 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, &#8216;Will you go with me and do what I ask you.&#8217; 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&#8217;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&#8217;s inclination <a id="d0e1805"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1805">35</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1807">
+<h3>14. Disposal of the dead</h3>
+<p>The Kunbis either bury or burn the dead. In Ber&#257;r 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 Smash&#257;n. 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 <i>san-</i>hemp.<a id="d0e1815src" href="#d0e1815" class="noteref">22</a> 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 Mah&#257;rs 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 Kurnh&#257;r; 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 <a id="d0e1820"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1820">36</a>]</span>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 <i>pindas</i> 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 Mah&#257;deo. 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&#8217;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 <i>kusha</i> 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&#8217;s urine on their bodies, and dip ten times in the water or throw it over them. The officiating Br&#257;hman sprinkles
+them with holy water in which he has dipped the toe of his right foot, and they present to the Br&#257;hman 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 <i>pagri</i> on the chief mourner&#8217;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&#8217;s spirit from the house. Finally, the
+chief mourner goes to worship at Maroti&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e1831"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1831">37</a>]</span>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 <i>mangals&#363;tram</i> or marriage necklace, and wipes off the <i>kunku</i> 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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1839">
+<h3>15. Mourning</h3>
+<p>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 Bais&#257;kh (June) and on the last day of Bh&#257;drapad (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 <i>contretemps</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217;s &#8216;many-wintered crow&#8217; may indicate some similar <a id="d0e1847"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1847">38</a>]</span>idea in Europe. Similarly if the Gonds find a crow&#8217;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&#8217;s husband or other relative is away, she says,
+&#8216;Fly away, crow; fly away and I will feed you&#8217;; 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s own spirit would pass into
+the young crow.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1851">
+<h3>16. Religion</h3>
+<p>The principal deities of the caste are M&#257;roti or Hanum&#257;n, Mah&#257;deo or Siva, Devi, Satwai and Khandoba. M&#257;roti 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 M&#257;roti must first be brought and placed in the village and worshipped, and after this houses are built.
+The name M&#257;roti is derived from Marut, the Vedic god of the wind, and he is considered to be the son of V&#257;yu, the wind, and
+Anjini. Khandoba is an incarnation of Siva as a warrior, and is the favourite deity of the Mar&#257;thas. Devi is usually venerated
+in her Incarnation of Marhai M&#257;ta, the goddess of smallpox and cholera&#8212;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 <a id="d0e1856"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1856">39</a>]</span>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 N&#257;goba 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 B&#257;ghoba 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,<a id="d0e1858src" href="#d0e1858" class="noteref">23</a> 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 <i>v&#257;han</i> (conveyance). But the <i>v&#257;han</i> 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&#8217;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, &#8216;Thy face shall be black for laughing at
+me.&#8217; 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&#8217;s face should be blackened in revenge for the insult. This happened on the fourth day
+of the bright fortnight of Bh&#257;don (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 <a id="d0e1867"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1867">40</a>]</span>libel being promulgated against him. As already stated, the Kunbi firmly believes in the influence exercised by spirits, and
+a proverb has it, &#8216;Br&#257;hmans die of indigestion, Sun&#257;rs from bile, and Kunbis from ghosts&#8217;; because the Br&#257;hman is always feasted
+as an act of charity and given the best food, so that he over-eats himself, while the Sun&#257;r gets bilious from sitting all
+day before a furnace. When somebody falls ill his family get a Br&#257;hman&#8217;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 Br&#257;hmans, 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 G&#257;yatri or sacred prayer is transferred to the sick Kunbi. They therefore tear up their cast-off threads or sew them
+into clothes.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1869">
+<h3>17. The Pola festival</h3>
+<p>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 <i>makhar</i>, a wooden frame with pegs to which torches are affixed. They make a rope of mango-leaves stretched between two posts, and
+the <i>makhar</i> bullock is made to break this and stampede back to the village, followed by all the other cattle. It is said that the <i>makhar</i> 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 Mar&#257;tha people
+as anywhere in the world.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e1884" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p099.jpg" alt="Figures of animals made for Pola festival" width="720" height="524"><p class="figureHead">Figures of animals made for Pola festival</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1888">
+<h3>18. Muhammadan tendencies of Ber&#257;r Kunbis</h3>
+<p>In Wardha and Ber&#257;r the customs of the Kunbis show in several respects the influence of Isl&#257;m, due no doubt to the long period
+of Muhammadan dominance in the country. To this may perhaps be attributed the prevalence of burial <a id="d0e1893"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1893">41</a>]</span>of the dead instead of cremation, the more respectable method according to Hindu ideas. The Dhanoje Kunbis commonly revere
+D&#257;wal M&#257;lik, a Muhammadan saint, whose tomb is at Uprai in Amraoti District. An <i>urus</i> 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 <i>al&#257;wa</i>, a small hole in which fire is kindled in front of the <i>t&#257;sias</i> or tombs of Hussain. At the Muharram<a id="d0e1904src" href="#d0e1904" class="noteref">24</a> they also carry horseshoes of silver or gilt tinsel on the top of a stick decorated with peacock&#8217;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
+Khw&#257;ja Sheikh Far&#299;d of Girar, and occasionally Sheikh Far&#299;d appears to a Kunbi in a dream and places him under a vow. Then
+he and all his household make little imitation beggars&#8217; wallets of cloth and dye them with red ochre, and little hoes on the
+model of those which saises use to drag out horses&#8217; dung, this hoe being the badge of Sheikh Far&#299;d. Then they go round begging
+to all the houses in the village, saying, &#8216;<i>Dam</i>,<a id="d0e1910src" href="#d0e1910" class="noteref">25</a> <i>S&#257;hib</i>, <i>dam</i>.&#8217; With the alms given them they make cakes of <i>mal&#299;da</i>, wheat, sugar and butter, and give them to the priest of the shrine. Sometimes Sheikh Far&#299;d 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 <a id="d0e1924"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1924">42</a>]</span>be received back into the community. The water of the well at Sheikh Far&#299;d&#8217;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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e1927" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p100.jpg" alt="Hindu boys on stilts" width="720" height="483"><p class="figureHead">Hindu boys on stilts</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1931">
+<h3>19. Villages and houses</h3>
+<p>An ordinary Kunbi village<a id="d0e1936src" href="#d0e1936" class="noteref">26</a> contains between 70 and 80 houses or some 400 souls. The village generally lies on a slight eminence near a <i>nullah</i> or stream, and is often nicely planted with tamarind or p&#299;pal 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 Pind&#257;ri raids, when, on the first
+alarm of the approach of these marauding bands, the whole population hurried within its walls. The village proprietor&#8217;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,
+chupr&#257;ssies and others are lodged when they stay at night in the village. <i>Kothas</i> 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&#8217;s, of well-laid mud, whitewashed and with tiled roof; but the ordinary cultivator&#8217;s house
+is one-roomed, with an <i>angan</i> 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 p&#299;pal 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 <a id="d0e1948"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1948">43</a>]</span>night to smoke and chat. The blacksmith&#8217;s and carpenter&#8217;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&#8217;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 M&#257;roti or Mah&#257;deo. The stones which do duty for the images are daily oiled with butter or <i>gh&#299;</i>, and a miscellaneous store of offerings will accumulate round the buildings. Outside the village will be a temple of Devi
+or M&#257;ta Mai (Smallpox Goddess) with a heap of little earthen horses and a string of hens&#8217; 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 M&#257;roti&#8217;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 Shr&#257;wan (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 ju&#257;ri 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&#8217;s grain. This system of camping out is mainly adopted for fear of fire in the
+village, when the cultivator&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1953">
+<h3>20. Furniture</h3>
+<p>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, <a id="d0e1958"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1958">44</a>]</span>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 <i>pal&#257;s</i> tree (<i>Butea frondosa</i>). 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 Jh&#257;war. 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e1966">
+<h3>21. Food</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;clock he goes again to the fields, if the crops are on the ground, and sleeps on the <i>mara</i> 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. Ju&#257;ri is the staple
+food of the caste, and is eaten both raw and cooked. The raw pods of ju&#257;ri were the provision carried with them on their saddles
+by the marauding Mar&#257;tha 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 Niz&#257;m. It is a common custom among well-to-do <a id="d0e1974"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1974">45</a>]</span>tenants and proprietors to invite their friends to a picnic in the fields when the crop is ripe to eat <i>hurda</i> or the pods of ju&#257;ri roasted in hot ashes. For cooking purposes ju&#257;ri 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 <i>chap&#257;tis</i> or cakes, weighing more than half a pound each; while the coarse flour is boiled in water like rice. The boiled pulse of
+<i>arhar</i> (<i>Cajanus indicus</i>) is commonly eaten with ju&#257;ri, and the <i>chap&#257;tis</i> 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&#8217;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 ju&#257;ri 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 <i>chilams</i> 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 Ber&#257;r, whereas in the
+Central Provinces they refuse to do so. The more liberal usage in Ber&#257;r 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 D&#257;lia Kunbis of Nim&#257;r, 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 <a id="d0e1994"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e1994">46</a>]</span>of goats, sheep and deer, all kinds of fish and fowls, and will drink liquor. In Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Nim&#257;r the higher subcastes
+abstain from flesh and wine. The caste will take food cooked without water from Br&#257;hmans, Banias and Sun&#257;rs, and that mixed
+with water only from Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans. All castes except Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans will take water from the hands of a Kunbi.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e1997" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p101.jpg" alt="Throwing stilts into the water at the Pola festival" width="720" height="417"><p class="figureHead">Throwing stilts into the water at the Pola festival</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2001">
+<h3>22. Clothes and ornaments</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s everyday attire, but the
+gala dress for holidays consists of a red <i>pagri</i> 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 <i>lugras</i>, or a single long cloth of red, blue or black cotton, and under this the <i>choli</i>, 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 <a id="d0e2015"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2015">47</a>]</span>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 <i>pagri</i> or turban formerly distinctive of Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2020">
+<h3>23. The Kunbi as cultivator</h3>
+<p>The Kunbi has the stolidity, conservative instincts, dulness and patience of the typical agriculturist. Sir R. Craddock describes
+him as follows<a id="d0e2025src" href="#d0e2025" class="noteref">27</a>: &#8220;Of the purely agricultural classes the Kunbis claim first notice. They are divided into several sections or classes, and
+are of Mar&#257;tha origin, the Jh&#257;ri 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 Kir&#257;r, the R&#257;ghvi 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 <a id="d0e2030"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2030">48</a>]</span>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.&#8221; The feeling<a id="d0e2032src" href="#d0e2032" class="noteref">28</a> of the Kunbi towards agricultural improvements has hitherto probably been something the same as that of the Sussex farmer
+who said, &#8216;Our old land, it likes our old ploughs&#8217; 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&#8212;a pig couchant
+with the motto &#8216;I wun&#8217;t be druv&#8217;&#8212;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 &#8220;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.&#8221;
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e2039" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p102.jpg" alt="Carrying out the dead" width="720" height="530"><p class="figureHead">Carrying out the dead</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2043">
+<h3>24. Social and moral characteristics</h3>
+<p>Some characteristics of the Mar&#257;tha people are noticed by Sir R. Jenkins as follows<a id="d0e2048src" href="#d0e2048" class="noteref">29</a>: &#8220;The most remarkable feature perhaps in the character of the Mar&#257;thas 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 <a id="d0e2053"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2053">49</a>]</span>language, and many of the proverbs, which they are fond of introducing into conversation, are extremely gross. In general
+the Mar&#257;thas, 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
+Br&#257;hmans.&#8221; &#8220;The Kunbi,&#8221; Mr. Forbes remarks,<a id="d0e2055src" href="#d0e2055" class="noteref">30</a> &#8220;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: &#8216;Wherever it thunders there the Kunbi is a landholder,&#8217; and &#8216;Tens of millions are dependent on
+the Kunbi, but the Kunbi depends on no man.&#8217;&#8221; This sense of his own importance, which has also been noticed among the J&#257;ts,
+may perhaps be ascribed to the Kunbi&#8217;s ancient status as a free and full member of the village community. &#8220;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. &#8216;May the
+K&#257;this<a id="d0e2060src" href="#d0e2060" class="noteref">31</a> seize you!&#8217; is his objurgation if in the peninsula of Surat; if in the Idar district or among the mountains it is there &#8216;May
+the tiger kill you!&#8217; and all over Gujar&#257;t, &#8216;May your master die!&#8217; However, he means by this the animal&#8217;s former owner, not
+himself; and when more than usually cautious he will word his chiding thus&#8212;&#8216;May the fellow that sold you to me perish.&#8217;&#8221; But
+now the K&#257;this 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e2063"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2063">50</a>]</span>moist grass in the rains; and when therefore the Kunbi&#8217;s patience is exhausted by these aggravating animals, his favourite
+threat at present is, &#8216;I will sell you to the Kasais&#8217; (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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1482" href="#d0e1482src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>R&#257;sm&#257;la</i>, i. p. 100.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1487" href="#d0e1487src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 241.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1514" href="#d0e1514src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Kh&#257;ndesh Gazetteer</i>, p. 62.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1522" href="#d0e1522src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. i. part ii. p. 34.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1534" href="#d0e1534src" class="noteref">5</a></span> From <i>jih&#257;r</i>, a tree or shrub.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1542" href="#d0e1542src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Acacia catechu</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1549" href="#d0e1549src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Dhan</i> properly means wealth, <i>cf.</i> the two meanings of the word stock in English.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1562" href="#d0e1562src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), para. 180.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1570" href="#d0e1570src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1578" href="#d0e1578src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>B&#257;wan</i> = fifty-two.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1585" href="#d0e1585src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujar&#257;t</i> p. 490, App. B, G&#363;jar.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1600" href="#d0e1600src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>Eugenia jambolana</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1607" href="#d0e1607src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>Ficus glomerata</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1624" href="#d0e1624src" class="noteref">14</a></span> See the article entitled &#8216;An Anthropoid.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1629" href="#d0e1629src" class="noteref">15</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer; N&#257;sik</i> p. 26.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1710" href="#d0e1710src" class="noteref">16</a></span> This is the rule in the N&#257;gpur District.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1737" href="#d0e1737src" class="noteref">17</a></span> From a note by Mr. A. K. Smith, C.S.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1764" href="#d0e1764src" class="noteref">18</a></span> Circle Inspector Ganesh Pras&#257;d.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1769" href="#d0e1769src" class="noteref">19</a></span> <i>Semicarpus anacardium</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1787" href="#d0e1787src" class="noteref">20</a></span> &#8216;Oh, Lord Mah&#257;b&#299;r, give me a child, only one child.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1800" href="#d0e1800src" class="noteref">21</a></span> <i>Beast and Man in India</i>, p. 44. But, according to the same writer, the Hindus do say, &#8216;Drunk as an owl&#8217; and also &#8216;Stupid as an owl.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1815" href="#d0e1815src" class="noteref">22</a></span> <i>Crotalaria juncea</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1858" href="#d0e1858src" class="noteref">23</a></span> The 3rd Bais&#257;kh (May) Sudi, the commencement of the agricultural year. The name means, &#8216;The day of immortality.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1904" href="#d0e1904src" class="noteref">24</a></span> Furnished by Inspector Ganesh Pras&#257;d.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1910" href="#d0e1910src" class="noteref">25</a></span> <i>Dam</i>: breath or life.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e1936" href="#d0e1936src" class="noteref">26</a></span> These paragraphs are largely based on a description of a Wardha village by Mr. A.K. Smith, C.S.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2025" href="#d0e2025src" class="noteref">27</a></span> <i>N&#257;gpur Settlement Report</i>, para. 45.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2032" href="#d0e2032src" class="noteref">28</a></span> The references to English farming in this paragraph are taken from an article in the <i>Saturday Review</i> of 22nd August 1908.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2048" href="#d0e2048src" class="noteref">29</a></span> <i>Report on the Territories of the R&#257;ja of N&#257;gpur</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2055" href="#d0e2055src" class="noteref">30</a></span> <i>R&#257;sm&#257;l&#257;</i>, ii. 242.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2060" href="#d0e2060src" class="noteref">31</a></span> A freebooting tribe who gave their name to K&#257;thiaw&#257;r.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e2065" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Kunjra</h2>
+<p><b>Kunjra</b>.<a id="d0e2072src" href="#d0e2072" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A caste of greengrocers, who sell country vegetables and fruit and are classed as Muhammadans. Mr. Crooke derives the name
+from the Sanskrit <i>kunj</i>, &#8216;a bower or arbour.&#8217; 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 <i>Dudh bach&#257;na</i>, or &#8216;Observing the tie of the milk.&#8217; 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&#8217;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 K&#257;zi according
+to the Nik&#257;h ceremony by the repetition of verses from the Kor&#257;n. The wedding is held at four o&#8217;clock in the morning, and
+as a preliminary to it the bride is presented with some money by the boy&#8217;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 <a id="d0e2081"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2081">51</a>]</span>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 K&#257;zi 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 <i>tal&#257;q</i>. The caste observe the Muhammadan festivals, and have some favourite saints of their own to whom they make offerings of <i>gulgula</i> 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 K&#257;zi or a Hindu Br&#257;hman 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 <i>choti</i> or scalp-lock to grow on their heads in the Hindu fashion, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan saints. Others will put
+a <i>hasli</i> 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 <i>T&#299;ja</i> and <i>Ch&#257;lisa</i>, 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 <i>T&#299;ja</i> the Kor&#257;n 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-Bar&#257;t or
+the fifteenth day of the month Shab&#257;n,<a id="d0e2104src" href="#d0e2104" class="noteref">2</a> which is observed as a vigil with prayer, feasts <a id="d0e2110"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2110">52</a>]</span>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,<a id="d0e2112src" href="#d0e2112" class="noteref">3</a> 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<a id="d0e2117src" href="#d0e2117" class="noteref">4</a> 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 Bep&#257;ri. 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 <i>p&#299;rhis</i>. The Kunjras belong chiefly to the north of the Province, and in the south their place is taken by the Mar&#257;rs and M&#257;lis 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 K&#257;buli merchants.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2072" href="#d0e2072src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is partly based on papers by Nanhe Kh&#257;n, Sub-Inspector of Police, Khurai, Saugor, and Kesho Rao, Headmaster,
+Middle School, Seoni-Chhap&#257;ra.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2104" href="#d0e2104src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Literally &#8216;The Month of Separatica.&#8217; 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-Bar&#257;t 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&#8217;
+<i>Dictionary of Islam</i>, p. 570.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2112" href="#d0e2112src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P.,</i> art. Kunjra.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2117" href="#d0e2117src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, <i>ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e2128" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Kuramw&#257;r</h2>
+<p><b>Kuramw&#257;r</b>.<a id="d0e2135src" href="#d0e2135" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;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 Ch&#257;nda District where it numbered some 4000 persons in 1911.
+The Kuramw&#257;rs are considered to be the modern representatives of the ancient Pallava tribe whose kings were powerful in southern
+India in the seventh century.<a id="d0e2138src" href="#d0e2138" class="noteref">2</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>The marriage rules of the Kuramw&#257;rs 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 <a id="d0e2145"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2145">53</a>]</span>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&#8217;s father
+observes certain marks or &#8216;curls&#8217; 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 (<i>s&#363;li</i>) of good fortune. The writer of the <i>North Arcot Manual</i><a id="d0e2152src" href="#d0e2152" class="noteref">3</a> after recording the above particulars, remarks: &#8220;This curious custom obtaining among this primitive tribe is observed by
+others only in the case of the purchase of cows, bulls and horses.&#8221; 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 Kuramw&#257;rs marriages can be celebrated
+only on four days in the year, the fifth day of both fortnights of Ph&#257;gun (February), the tenth day of the second fortnight
+of the same month and the third day of Bais&#257;kh (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: &#8216;Here, take care of it, I am now going to cook food&#8217;; while
+after a time the boy returns the doll to the girl, saying, &#8216;I must now weave the blanket and go to tend the flock.&#8217; 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&#8217;s house her husband cannot use force to bring her back if she refuses to <a id="d0e2155"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2155">54</a>]</span>return to him. The Kuramw&#257;rs 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 Abb&eacute; Dubois<a id="d0e2157src" href="#d0e2157" class="noteref">4</a> says of them: &#8220;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.&#8221; Hence the proverbial comparison &#8216;As stupid as a Kuramw&#257;r.&#8217; When
+out of doors the Kuramw&#257;r 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 Kuramw&#257;rs is imagined on the principle that god made
+man in his own image. Or, as a Frenchman has expressed the idea, &#8216;<i>Dieu a fait l&#8217;homme &agrave; son image, mais l&#8217;homme le lui a bein rendu.</i>&#8217; 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.
+<a id="d0e2165"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2165">55</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2135" href="#d0e2135src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is compiled from notes taken by Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l and by Py&#257;re L&#257;l Misra, Ethnographic clerk.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2138" href="#d0e2138src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>North Arcot Manual</i>, vol. i. p. 220.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2152" href="#d0e2152src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Vol. i. p. 224.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2157" href="#d0e2157src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e2166" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Kurmi</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e2406">1. Numbers and derivation of name</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2439">2. Functional character of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2451">3. Subcastes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2499">4. Exogamous groups</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2523">5. Marriage rules. Betrothal</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2542">6. The marriage-shed or pavilion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2573">7. The marriage-cakes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2583">8. Customs at the wedding</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2592">9. Walking round the sacred post</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2597">10. Other ceremonies</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2621">11. Polygamy widow-marriage and divorce</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2641">12. Impurity of women</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2662">13. Pregnancy rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2685">14. Earth-eating</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2692">15. Customs at birth</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2713">16. Treatment of mother and child</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2735">17. Ceremonies after birth</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2753">18. Suckling children</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2763">19. Beliefs about twins</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2776">20. Disposal of the dead</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2795">21. Funeral rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2802">22. Burning the dead</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2829">23. Burial</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2839">24. Return of the soul</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2857">25. Mourning</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2862">26. Shaving, and presents to Brahmans</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2872">27. End of mourning</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2883">28. Anniversaries of the dead</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2890">29. Beliefs in the hereafter</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2900">30. Religion. Village gods</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2912">31. Sowing the <i>Jawaras</i> or Gardens of Adonis</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2957">32. Rites connected with the crops. Customs of cultivation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e2998">33. Agricultural superstitions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3016">34. Houses</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3042">35. Superstitions about houses</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3092">36. Furniture</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3120">37. Clothes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3168">38. Women&#8217;s clothes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3190">39. Bathing</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3207">40. Food</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3335">41. Caste-feasts</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3378">42. Hospitality</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3388">43. Social customs. Tattooing</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3409">44. Caste penalties</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3420">45. The cultivating status</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3447">46. Occupation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e3452">Appendix: List of Exogamous Clans</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2406">
+<h3>1. Numbers and derivation of name</h3>
+<p><b>Kurmi</b>.<a id="d0e2413src" href="#d0e2413" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;The representative cultivating caste of Hindust&#257;n or the country comprised roughly in the United Provinces, Bih&#257;r arid the
+Central Provinces north of the <a id="d0e2416"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2416">56</a>]</span>Nerbudda. In 1911 the Kurmis numbered about 300,000 persons in the Central Provinces, of whom half belonged to the Chhatt&#299;sgarh
+Division and a third to the Jubbulpore Division; the Districts in which they were most numerous being Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore,
+Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d, Raipur, Bil&#257;spur and Dr&#363;g. The name is considered to be derived from the Sanskrit <i>krishi</i>, cultivation, or from <i>kurma</i>, 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 <i>gotra</i>, Kashyap being the name of a Rishi, which seems to have been derived from <i>kachhap</i>, the tortoise; but many other castes also say they belong to the Kashyap <i>gotra</i> 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 <i>gotra</i>-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 <i>krishi</i>, cultivation, or from some other unknown source.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2439">
+<h3>2. Functional character of the caste</h3>
+<p>There seems little reason to doubt that the Kurmis, like the Kunbis, are a functional caste. In Bih&#257;r they show traces of
+Aryan blood, and are a fine-looking race. But in Chota N&#257;gpur Sir H. Risley states: &#8220;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 Sant&#257;l, and the Sant&#257;ls will take cooked food from them.&#8221;<a id="d0e2444src" href="#d0e2444" class="noteref">2</a> 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 Mar&#257;tha 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 <a id="d0e2449"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2449">57</a>]</span>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, Gaharw&#257;r, J&#257;don and Chandel are the names of R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Lonh&#257;re or
+salt-refiners, and the Khaira or catechu-collectors indicate that these Kurmis are derived from low Hindu castes or the aboriginal
+tribes.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2451">
+<h3>3. Subcastes</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s
+establishment and household troops. Thus in Jubbulpore, Mandia and Bet&#363;l 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 <i>a-sreshtha,</i> 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 Chandn&#257;hes of Jubbulpore or Chandn&#257;hus of Chhatt&#299;sgarh are another
+large subdivision. The name may be derived from the village Chandnoha in Bundelkhand, but the Chandn&#257;hus of Chhatt&#299;sgarh say
+that three or four centuries ago a R&#257;jp&#363;t general of the R&#257;ja of Ratanpur had been so successful in war that the king allowed
+him to appear in Durb&#257;r in his uniform with his forehead marked with sandalwood, as a special honour. <a id="d0e2459"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2459">58</a>]</span>When he died his son continued to do the same, and on the king&#8217;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 Durb&#257;r. 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
+<i>chandan</i>, sandalwood; and his descendants are the Chandn&#257;hu Kurmis. Another derivation is from Chandra, the moon. In Jubbulpore these
+Chandn&#257;hes sometimes kill a pig under the palanquin of a newly married bride. In Bil&#257;spur 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 Chandr&#257;ha Kurmis of Raipur are probably
+a branch of the Chandn&#257;hus. 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 <i>chauka</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Singrore Kurmis derive their name from Singror, a place near Allah&#257;b&#257;d. 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 tahs&#299;l of
+Bil&#257;spur. Desh means one&#8217;s native country, but in this case the name probably refers to Bundelkhand. Mr. Gordon states<a id="d0e2469src" href="#d0e2469" class="noteref">3</a> 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 <i>san</i>-hemp,<a id="d0e2477src" href="#d0e2477" class="noteref">4</a> and are hence looked down upon by the remainder of the caste. In Raipur the M&#257;nwa Kurmis will also do this; M&#257;na is a word
+sometimes applied to a loom, and the M&#257;nwa Kurmis may be so called because they grow hemp and weave sacking from the fibres.
+The <a id="d0e2482"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2482">59</a>]</span>Pataria are an inferior group in Bil&#257;spur, who are similarly despised because they grow hemp and will take their food in the
+fields in <i>patris</i> or leaf-plates. The Gohbaiy&#257;n are considered to be an illegitimate group; the name is said to signify &#8216;holding the arm.&#8217;
+The B&#257;hargaiyan, or &#8216;those who live outside the town,&#8217; 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 R&#257;ja and
+spread his bedding for him; hence they are somewhat looked down on by the others. The name may really be derived from <i>palal</i>, 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 Mas&#363;ria take their name from the <i>mas&#363;r</i> 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 Lonh&#257;re or salt-makers, have already been mentioned.
+There are also numerous local or territorial subcastes, as the Chaurasia or those living in a Chaur&#257;si<a id="d0e2493src" href="#d0e2493" class="noteref">5</a> 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 Mar&#257;the and Telenge or Mar&#257;thas 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 <i>san</i>-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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2499">
+<h3>4. Exogamous groups</h3>
+<p>Each subcaste has a number of exogamous divisions and these present a large variety of all types. Some groups have <a id="d0e2504"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2504">60</a>]</span>the names of Br&#257;hman saints as S&#257;ndil, Bh&#257;radwaj, Kausil and Kashyap; others are called after R&#257;jp&#363;t septs, as Chauh&#257;n, R&#257;thor,
+Panw&#257;r 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, Bhand&#257;ri, a store-keeper, Kumaria, a potter, and Shikaria, a hunter; and a large number are
+totemistic, named after plants, animals or natural objects, as Sad&#257;phal, a fruit; Kathail from <i>kath</i> or catechu; Dhorha, from <i>dhor</i>, cattle; K&#257;nsia, the <i>k&#257;ns</i> grass; Karaiya, a frying-pan; Sarang, a peacock; Samundha, the ocean; Sindia, the date-palm tree; Dudhua from <i>dudh</i>, 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,
+Majhgaw&#257;n 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e2519" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p103.jpg" alt="Pounding rice" width="498" height="720"><p class="figureHead">Pounding rice</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2523">
+<h3>5. Marriage rules. Betrothal</h3>
+<p>Marriage is prohibited between members of the same section and between first and second cousins on the mother&#8217;s side. But
+the Chandn&#257;he Kurmis permit the wedding of a brother&#8217;s daughter to a sister&#8217;s son. Most Kurmis forbid a man to marry his wife&#8217;s
+sister during her lifetime. The Chhatt&#299;sgarh 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:
+<a id="d0e2528"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2528">61</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Vaishnava purush avaishnava n&#257;ri
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Unt beil ki jot bich&#257;ri,</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or &#8216;A Vaishnava husband with a non-Vaishnava wife is like a camel yoked with a bullock.&#8217; 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&#8217;s father goes and asks for a bride and says to the girl&#8217;s father, &#8216;I
+have placed my son with you,&#8217; that is, given him in adoption; if the match be acceptable the girl&#8217;s father replies, &#8216;Yes,
+I will give my daughter to collect cowdung for you&#8217;; to which the boy&#8217;s father responds, &#8216;I will hold her as the apple of
+my eye.&#8217; Then the girl&#8217;s father sends the barber and the Br&#257;hman to the boy&#8217;s house, carrying a rupee and a cocoanut. The
+boy&#8217;s relatives return the visit and perform the &#8216;<i>God bharna</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;Filling the lap of the girl.&#8217; They take some sweetmeats, a rupee and a cocoanut, and place them in the girl&#8217;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 Br&#257;hman
+and intimation is given to the boy&#8217;s family through the <i>lagan</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2542">
+<h3>6. The marriage-shed or pavilion</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e2547"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2547">62</a>]</span>flowers and rice. The marriage-shed is made of the wood of the <i>s&#257;leh</i> tree,<a id="d0e2552src" href="#d0e2552" class="noteref">6</a> because this wood is considered to be alive. If a pole of <i>s&#257;leh</i> is cut and planted in the ground it takes root and sprouts, though otherwise the wood is quite useless. The wood of the <i>kekar</i> tree has similar properties and may also be used. The shed is covered with leaves of the mango or <i>j&#257;mun</i><a id="d0e2565src" href="#d0e2565" class="noteref">7</a> trees, because these trees are evergreen and hence typify perpetual life. The marriage-post in the centre of the shed is
+called Magrohan or Kh&#257;m; the women go and worship it at the carpenter&#8217;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 <i>toran</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2573">
+<h3>7. The marriage-cakes</h3>
+<p>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<a id="d0e2578src" href="#d0e2578" class="noteref">8</a> 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 <a id="d0e2581"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2581">63</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2583">
+<h3>8. Customs at the wedding</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s village and conducted to his lodging, he proceeds
+to the bride&#8217;s house and strikes a grass mat hung before the house seven times with a reed-stick. On entering the bride&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s shoes which he has left <a id="d0e2588"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2588">64</a>]</span>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, &#8216;Come and worship our household god&#8217;; 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&#8217;s younger brother steals the bridegroom&#8217;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 Br&#257;hman 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 Sh&#257;stras 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 <a id="d0e2590"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2590">65</a>]</span>not to visit his wife at this time is as great a sin as murder.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2592">
+<h3>9. Walking round the sacred post</h3>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2597">
+<h3>10. Other ceremonies</h3>
+<p>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 Chandn&#257;hu Kurmis then have a ceremony known as <i>palkach&#257;r</i>. The bride&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s <a id="d0e2605"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2605">66</a>]</span>relations. This is perhaps meant to mark her admission into her husband&#8217;s clan. After the wedding the Br&#257;hmans 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The expenses of an ordinary wedding on the bridegroom&#8217;s side may be Rs. 100 in addition to the bride-price, and on the bride&#8217;s
+Rs. 200. The bride goes home for a day or two with the bridegroom&#8217;s party in Chhatt&#299;sgarh 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 <i>chauk</i> or <i>gauna</i> 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 <i>jhanpi</i> or <i>tipara</i> specially prepared for the occasion.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2621">
+<h3>11. Polygamy widow-marriage and divorce</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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 <i>liaison</i> with an outsider she is usually discarded, but the offence may be condoned should the man be a Br&#257;hman. And one instance
+is mentioned of a m&#257;lguz&#257;r&#8217;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 Ah&#299;r. Polygamy is usual with those who can afford to pay
+for several wives, as a wife&#8217;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 <a id="d0e2629"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2629">67</a>]</span>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&#8217;s wife. She then fills a pitcher with water and
+takes it to her new husband&#8217;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:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e2633src" href="#d0e2633" class="noteref">9</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2641">
+<h3>12. Impurity of women</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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.<a id="d0e2646src" href="#d0e2646" class="noteref">10</a> These strings, being cotton, have become <a id="d0e2649"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2649">68</a>]</span>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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>If a woman desires to procure a miscarriage she eats a raw <i>pap&#257;ya</i> fruit, and drinks a mixture of ginger, sugar, bamboo leaves and milk boiled together. She then has her abdomen well rubbed
+by a professional <i>masseuse</i>, 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 <i>pap&#257;ya</i>, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2662">
+<h3>13. Pregnancy rites</h3>
+<p>As regards pregnancy Mr. Marten writes as follows:<a id="d0e2667src" href="#d0e2667" class="noteref">11</a> &#8220;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e2672"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2672">69</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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 <i>pakw&#257;n</i> made of cocoanut. A similar ceremony called Boha Jewan is sometimes performed in the seventh or eighth month, when a new
+<i>s&#257;ri</i> is given to her and grain is thrown into her lap. Another special rite is the <i>Pansavan</i> 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2685">
+<h3>14. Earth-eating</h3>
+<p>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 B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t eat red and <a id="d0e2690"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2690">70</a>]</span>white clay in order that their children may be born with red and white complexions.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2692">
+<h3>15. Customs at birth</h3>
+<p>During the period of labour the barber&#8217;s wife watches over the case, but as delivery approaches hands it over to a recognised
+midwife, usually the Basorin or Cham&#257;rin, who remains in the lying-in room till about the tenth day after delivery. &#8220;If delivery
+is retarded,&#8221; Mr. Marten continues,<a id="d0e2697src" href="#d0e2697" class="noteref">12</a> &#8220;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<a id="d0e2702src" href="#d0e2702" class="noteref">13</a> or her mother-in-law or a young unmarried girl have been dipped, or she is shown the <i>swastik</i> or some other lucky sign, or the <i>chakra-vyuha</i>, a spiral figure showing the arrangement of the armies of the P&#257;ndavas and Kauravas which resembles the intestines with the
+exit at the lower end.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>The menstrual blood of the mother during child-birth is efficacious as a charm for fertility. The N&#257;in 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, &#8216;You have eaten of our salt and will you play us this trick&#8217;; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2713">
+<h3>16. Treatment of mother and child</h3>
+<p>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 <i>sanp&#257;t</i>, to the prevention of which their efforts are directed. A <i>sigri</i> or stove is kept alight under the bed, and in this the seeds of <i>ajw&#257;in</i> or coriander are <a id="d0e2727"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2727">71</a>]</span>burnt. The mother eats the seeds, and the child is waved over the stove in the smoke of the burning <i>ajw&#257;in</i>. Raw asafoetida is put in the woman&#8217;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&#8217;s urine
+mixed. If the child coughs it is given <i>bans-lochan</i>, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2735">
+<h3>17. Ceremonies after birth</h3>
+<p>When a boy is born the father&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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 <i>chauk</i> or space marked out <a id="d0e2743"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2743">72</a>]</span>for worship with cowdung and flour; the woman is on the man&#8217;s left side, a woman being known as B&#257;mangi or the left limb,
+either because the left limb is weak or because woman is supposed to have been made from man&#8217;s left side, as in Genesis. The
+household god is brought into the <i>chauk</i> and they worship it. The Bua or husband&#8217;s sister brings presents to the mother known as <i>bharti</i>, 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&#8217;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&#8217;s head and gives them to the barber&#8217;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&#8217;s body is believed to have the power of rendering a barren woman fertile,
+and is also intimately connected with the child&#8217;s destiny. It is therefore carefully preserved and buried in some auspicious
+place, as by the bank of a river.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the sixth month the Pasni ceremony is performed, when the child is given grain for the first time, consisting of rice and
+milk. Br&#257;hmans or religious mendicants are invited and fed. The child&#8217;s hair and nails are cut for the first time on the Shivr&#257;tri
+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&#8217;s neck, and this is supposed to preserve it from harm.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2753">
+<h3>18. Suckling children</h3>
+<p>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, <a id="d0e2758"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2758">73</a>]</span>she will wean the child by putting <i>n&#299;m</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2763">
+<h3>19. Beliefs about twins</h3>
+<p>Twins, Mr. Marten states, are not usually considered to be inauspicious.<a id="d0e2768src" href="#d0e2768" class="noteref">14</a> &#8220;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 R&#257;ma and Lachhman, a boy and a girl Mah&#257;deo and P&#257;rvati, and two girls Ganga and Jamuni or S&#299;ta 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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh, when the twins are of different sex,
+they are considered to be <i>p&#257;p</i> (sinful) and are called P&#257;pi and P&#257;pin, an allusion to the horror of a brother and sister sharing the same bed (the mother&#8217;s
+womb).&#8221; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2776">
+<h3>20. Disposal of the dead</h3>
+<p>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 <i>hom</i> sacrifice is performed subsequently to the cremation. Those who live near the Nerbudda and Mah&#257;nadi sometimes throw the bodies
+of the dead into these rivers and think that this will make them go to heaven. <a id="d0e2784"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2784">74</a>]</span>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:<a id="d0e2786src" href="#d0e2786" class="noteref">15</a> &#8220;When a man is near his end, gifts to Br&#257;hmans 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&#8211;4, Rs. 1&#8211;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 S&#257;nkal or &#8216;the chain-calf,&#8217; 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 <i>tulsi</i> or basil plant, or Ganges water, or rice cooked in Jagann&#257;th&#8217;s temple. The dying man keeps on repeating &#8216;R&#257;m, R&#257;m, Sit&#257;r&#257;m.&#8217;&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2795">
+<h3>21. Funeral rites</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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
+<a id="d0e2800"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2800">75</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2802">
+<h3>22. Burning the dead</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s course and stands facing to the south, and dashes the pot on the
+ground, crying out in his grief, &#8216;Oh, my father.&#8217; While this is going on <i>mantras</i> or <a id="d0e2810"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2810">76</a>]</span>sacred verses are recited by the officiating Br&#257;hman. When the corpse is partly consumed each member of the assembly throws
+the <i>P&#257;nch lakariya</i> (five pieces of wood or sprigs of basil) on to the pyre, making obeisance to the deceased and saying, &#8216;<i>Swarg ko jao</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;Ascend to heaven.&#8217; Or they may say, &#8216;Go, become incarnate in some human being.&#8217; They stay by the corpse for 1&frac14; <i>pahars</i> 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 <i>n&#299;m</i> 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&#8217;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 (<i>tikli</i>) on her forehead are removed, and she is clad in white clothing of coarse texture to show that henceforth she is only a widow.
+
+</p>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2829">
+<h3>23. Burial</h3>
+<p>Graves are always dug from north to south. Some people say that heaven is to the north, being situated in the <a id="d0e2834"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2834">77</a>]</span>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 R&#257;ja 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 <i>P&#257;nch lakariya</i>, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2839">
+<h3>24. Return of the soul</h3>
+<p>On the third day the <i>pindas</i> or sacrificial cakes are offered and this goes on till the tenth day. These cakes are not eaten by the priest or Mah&#257;-Br&#257;hman,
+but are thrown into a river. On the evening of the third day the son goes, accompanied by a Br&#257;hman and a barber, and carrying
+a key to avert evil, to a p&#299;pal<a id="d0e2847src" href="#d0e2847" class="noteref">16</a> 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&#8217;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 id="d0e2852"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2852">78</a>]</span>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 <i>Churels</i>. Thorns are also placed over her grave for the same purpose.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2857">
+<h3>25. Mourning</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2862">
+<h3>26. Shaving, and presents to Brahmans</h3>
+<p>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 Mah&#257;-Br&#257;hman 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 P&#257;rvati or the wife of Siva, and Ganesh the god of good fortune. On the occasion the
+family give to the Mah&#257;-Br&#257;hman<a id="d0e2867src" href="#d0e2867" class="noteref">17</a> a new cot and bedding with a cloth, an umbrella to shield the spirit from the sun&#8217;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 <a id="d0e2870"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2870">79</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hman&#8217;s
+business to eat a quantity of cooked food, which will form the dead man&#8217;s food. It is of great spiritual importance to the
+dead man&#8217;s soul that the Br&#257;hman 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 Mah&#257;-Br&#257;hmans are utterly
+despised and looked down on by all other Br&#257;hmans 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&#8217;s soul in the next world; but no disgrace attaches to the acceptance of these.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2872">
+<h3>27. End of mourning</h3>
+<p>When the mourning is complete on the Gauri-Ganesh day all the relatives take their food at the chief mourner&#8217;s house, and
+afterwards the <i>panch&#257;yat</i> invest him with a new turban provided by a relative. On the next baz&#257;r day the members of the <i>panch&#257;yat</i> take him to the baz&#257;r 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2883">
+<h3>28. Anniversaries of the dead</h3>
+<p>Three months, six months and twelve months after the death presents are made to a Br&#257;hman, consisting of S&#299;dha, or butter,
+wheat and rice for a day&#8217;s food. The anniversaries of the dead are celebrated during Pitripaksh or the dark fortnight of Kunw&#257;r
+(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 <a id="d0e2888"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2888">80</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2890">
+<h3>29. Beliefs in the hereafter</h3>
+<p>As regards the belief in the hereafter Mr. Gordon writes:<a id="d0e2895src" href="#d0e2895" class="noteref">18</a> &#8220;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 P&#257;t&#257;l 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.&#8221; 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 Br&#257;hmans 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2900">
+<h3>30. Religion. Village gods</h3>
+<p>The caste worship the principal Hindu deities. Either Bhagw&#257;n or Parmeshwar is usually referred to as the supreme deity, as
+we speak of God. Bhagw&#257;n appears to be Vishnu or the Sun, and Parmeshwar is Siva or Mah&#257;deo. There are few temples to Vishnu
+in villages, but none are required as the sun is daily visible. Sunday or Raviw&#257;r 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e2905"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2905">81</a>]</span>corn and other products of the earth grow. In his incarnations of R&#257;ma and Krishna there are temples to Vishnu in large villages
+and towns. Kherm&#257;ta, 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 Kherm&#257;ta. 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 Jujh&#257;r Singh, R&#257;ja of Orchha, and was suspected by Jujh&#257;r Singh of loving the latter&#8217;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 <a id="d0e2907"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2907">82</a>]</span>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 R&#257;jp&#363;t
+horseman. Hanum&#257;n or Mah&#257;b&#299;r 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 <i>gugal</i> 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 R&#257;ma&#8217;s invasion of Ceylon. D&#363;lha 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 D&#363;lha Deo and offer a pair of shoes and a miniature post and marriage-crown. On their return they offer
+a cocoanut. D&#363;lha 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2912">
+<h3>31. Sowing the <i>Jawaras</i> or Gardens of Adonis
+</h3>
+<p>The sowing of the Jawaras, corresponding to the gardens of Adonis, takes place during the first nine days of the months of
+Kunw&#257;r and Chait (September and March). The former is a nine days&#8217; fast preceding the Dasahra festival, and it is supposed
+that the goddess Devi was during this time employed In fighting the buffalo-demon (Bhains&#257;sur), whom she slew on the tenth
+day. The latter is a nine days&#8217; fast at the new year, preceding <a id="d0e2920"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2920">83</a>]</span>the triumphant entry of R&#257;ma 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 ju&#257;ri sowings,<a id="d0e2922src" href="#d0e2922" class="noteref">19</a> as ju&#257;ri is planted in the baskets or &#8216;gardens&#8217; at this time. On the first day a small room is cleared and whitewashed, and
+is known as the <i>diw&#257;la</i> 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 <i>diw&#257;la</i> 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&#8217; fast was observed by the Eleusinians before the sacramental eating of corn and the worship of the Corn Goddess,
+which constituted the Eleusinian mysteries.<a id="d0e2933src" href="#d0e2933" class="noteref">20</a> During the period of nine days, called the Naor&#257;tra, the plants are watered, and long stalks spring up. On the eighth day
+the <i>hom</i> 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&#8217;s or waterman&#8217;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 Kunw&#257;r 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 <i>m&#257;ni</i>.<a id="d0e2945src" href="#d0e2945" class="noteref">21</a> 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 <a id="d0e2948"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2948">84</a>]</span>harvest thanksgiving. On the ninth day of the autumn ceremony another celebration called &#8216;Jhinjhia&#8217; or &#8216;Norta&#8217; 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e2951" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p104.jpg" alt="Sowing" width="720" height="405"><p class="figureHead">Sowing</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>The following observances in connection with the crops are practised by the agricultural castes in Chhatt&#299;sgarh:
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2957">
+<h3>32. Rites connected with the crops. Customs of cultivation</h3>
+<p>The agricultural year begins on Akti or the 3rd day of Bais&#257;kh (April-May). On that day a cup made of <i>pal&#257;s</i><a id="d0e2964src" href="#d0e2964" class="noteref">22</a> leaves and filled with rice is offered to Th&#257;kur Deo. In some villages the boys sow rice seeds before Th&#257;kur Deo&#8217;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 m&#257;lguz&#257;r takes five handfuls of the seed consecrated to Th&#257;kur 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 Shr&#257;wan (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 Th&#257;kur 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 <a id="d0e2969"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2969">85</a>]</span>offering has been made to Th&#257;kur Deo is fined the price of a goat by the village community. Before threshing his corn each
+cultivator offers a separate sacrifice to Th&#257;kur Deo of a goat, a fowl or a broken cocoanut. Each evening, on the conclusion
+of a day&#8217;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, &#8216;O God of plenty!
+enter here full and go out empty.&#8217; 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 <i>anjan chadh&#257;na</i> 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 <i>kalara</i> or hook, a winnowing-fan, the <i>dauri</i>, a rope by which the bullocks are tied to the threshing-pole, one or three branches of the <i>ber</i> 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 <i>hom</i> or fire sacrifice is offered to it. The first <i>k&#257;tha</i><a id="d0e2988src" href="#d0e2988" class="noteref">23</a> 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 <a id="d0e2991"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e2991">86</a>]</span>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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e2994" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p105.jpg" alt="Threshing" width="720" height="461"><p class="figureHead">Threshing</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e2998">
+<h3>33. Agricultural superstitions</h3>
+<p>The cultivators think that each grain should bear a hundredfold, but they do not get this as Kuvera, the treasurer of the
+gods, or Bhains&#257;sur, the buffalo demon who lives in the fields, takes it. Bhains&#257;sur 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 Bhains&#257;sur has been passing over it. He also steals the
+crop while it is being cut and is lying on the ground. Once Bhains&#257;sur 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 <i>barhona</i> 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 <i>barhona</i> has been torn up all the labourers fall on their faces to the ground and worship the field. In other places the <i>barhona</i> is left standing for the birds to eat. This custom, arises from the belief demonstrated by Sir J. G. Frazer in <i>The Golden Bough</i> 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.
+<a id="d0e3015"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3015">87</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3016">
+<h3>34. Houses</h3>
+<p>The house of a m&#257;lguz&#257;r or good tenant stands in a courtyard or <i>angan</i> 45 to 60 feet square and surrounded by a brick or mud wall. The plan of a typical house is shown below:&#8212;
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/fig087.gif" alt="" width="565" height="431"></div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>The <i>d&#257;l&#257;n</i> 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 <i>chauk</i> 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 m&#257;lguz&#257;r 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 <a id="d0e3035"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3035">88</a>]</span>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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e3038" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p106.jpg" alt="Winnowing" width="720" height="458"><p class="figureHead">Winnowing</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3042">
+<h3>35. Superstitions about houses</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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 <i>gai-mukh</i> or cow-mouthed, and not higher than the back, which is <i>singh-mukh</i> 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 <i>angan</i> 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 N&#257;g,
+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 N&#257;g&#8217;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 <a id="d0e3056"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3056">89</a>]</span>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 p&#299;pal 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 <i>n&#299;m</i> tree, because the <i>n&#299;m</i> 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 <i>gular</i><a id="d0e3066src" href="#d0e3066" class="noteref">24</a> 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 <i>tulsi</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e3076"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3076">90</a>]</span>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 <i>San&#299;char ke b&#257;s</i>. No one must step on the <i>ch&#363;lka</i> 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
+<i>gh&#299;</i> 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e3088" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p107.jpg" alt="Women grinding wheat and husking rice" width="720" height="509"><p class="figureHead">Women grinding wheat and husking rice</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3092">
+<h3>36. Furniture</h3>
+<p>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 <i>ch&#363;lhas</i> 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e3100"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3100">91</a>]</span>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 <i>gudri</i> 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. M&#257;lguz&#257;rs have
+a <i>razai</i> or quilt, and a <i>doria</i> or thick cloth like those used for covering carts. Clothes and other things are kept in <i>jh&#257;mpis</i> or round bamboo baskets. For sitting on there are <i>machn&#299;s</i> or four-legged stools about a foot high with seats of grass rope or <i>p&#299;rhis</i>, little wooden stools only an inch or two from the ground. For lighting, wicks are set afloat in little earthen saucers filled
+with oil.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3120">
+<h3>37. Clothes</h3>
+<p>Landowners usually have a long coat known as <i>angarkha</i> reaching to the knees, with flaps folding over the breasts and tied with strings. The <i>bandi</i> 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 <i>paij&#257;mas</i> are kept, but otherwise the <i>dhoti</i> or loin-cloth is commonly worn. Wearing the <i>dhoti</i> pulled half-way up to the thighs is called &#8216;cultivator&#8217;s fashion.&#8217; 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 <i>pagri</i>, 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 <i>pagri</i> is an art, and a man is usually hired to do it and paid four annas. The <i>pagris</i> have different shapes in different parts of the country, and a Hindu can tell by the shape of a man&#8217;s <i>pagri</i> where he comes from. But nowadays cultivators usually wear a <i>dupatta</i> 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 <i>chilam</i> or pipe-bowl, and also small quantities of vegetables, salt or condiments purchased at the baz&#257;r. In case of necessity he
+can transform it into a loin-cloth, or tie up a bundle of grass with it, or tie his <i>lota</i> to it to draw water from a well. <a id="d0e3161"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3161">92</a>]</span>&#8216;What can the washerman do in a village where the people live naked?&#8217; is a Chhatt&#299;sgarhi 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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh. Some sanctity attaches to the turban, probably
+because it is the covering of the head. To knock off a man&#8217;s turban is a great insult, and if it drops off or he lets it fall,
+it is a very bad omen.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e3164" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p108.jpg" alt="Group of women in Hindust&#257;ni dress" width="720" height="399"><p class="figureHead">Group of women in Hindust&#257;ni dress</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3168">
+<h3>38. Women&#8217;s clothes</h3>
+<p>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 <i>kachhota</i>. On the upper part of the body they wear an <i>angia</i> or breast-cloth, that is a short, tight, sleeveless jacket reaching only to below the breasts. The <i>angia</i> is tied behind, while the Mar&#257;tha <i>choli</i>, 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 <i>pichhora</i>. In Chhatt&#299;sgarh 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, <a id="d0e3188"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3188">93</a>]</span>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&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3190">
+<h3>39. Bathing</h3>
+<p>Hot water is not used for bathing in Saugor, except by invalids, but is customary in Bet&#363;l 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
+<i>gang&#257;l</i>,<a id="d0e3198src" href="#d0e3198" class="noteref">25</a> 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&#8212;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 <i>gh&#257;t</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3207">
+<h3>40. Food</h3>
+<p>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
+ju&#257;ri 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 <i>chap&#257;tis</i> or <a id="d0e3215"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3215">94</a>]</span>cakes, their flour not being sufficiently adhesive for thin ones, and are eaten with the pulses, lentils, arhar,<a id="d0e3217src" href="#d0e3217" class="noteref">26</a> mung<a id="d0e3222src" href="#d0e3222" class="noteref">27</a> and urad.<a id="d0e3227src" href="#d0e3227" class="noteref">28</a> 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 <i>chap&#257;ti</i> are broken off and dipped into this mixture. Various vegetables are also eaten. When pulse is not available the <i>chap&#257;tis</i> are simply dipped into buttermilk. If <i>chap&#257;tis</i> cannot be afforded at both meals, <i>ghorna</i> or the flour of kodon or ju&#257;r 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 <i>gh&#299;</i> (clarified butter) as a luxury, and at other times in sesamum oil. Rice or ground gram boiled in buttermilk are other favourite
+foods.
+
+</p>
+<p>In Chhatt&#299;sgarh rice is the common food: it is eaten with pulses at midday and with vegetables cooked in <i>gh&#299;</i> in the evening. In the morning they drink a rice-gruel, called <i>b&#257;si&gt;</i> which consists of the previous night&#8217;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, &#8220;He who drinks water in the morning and milk at night and takes <i>harra</i> before he sleeps will never need a doctor.&#8221; A little powdered <i>harra</i> 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, &#8216;<i>R&#257;ja praja ka ekhi kh&#257;na</i>&#8217; or &#8216;The king and peasant eat the same food.&#8217; 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 <i>chap&#257;tis</i> 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 <i>semar</i> tree,<a id="d0e3270src" href="#d0e3270" class="noteref">29</a> the fruit of the <i>bab&#363;l</i>,<a id="d0e3278src" href="#d0e3278" class="noteref">30</a> and other articles. A <a id="d0e3283"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3283">95</a>]</span>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 <i>chirota</i> or <i>chakora</i> a little plant<a id="d0e3291src" href="#d0e3291" class="noteref">31</a> 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 &#8216;<i>Gaon ka th&#257;kur</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;lord of the village,&#8217; and have a saying:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Amarbel aur kamalgata,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Gaon ka th&#257;kur, gai ka matha,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Nagar sow&#257;san, unmen milai,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Kh&#257;j, d&#257;d, sehua m&#299;t j&#257;we.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p><i>Amarbel</i> is an endless creeper, with long yellow strings like stalks, which infests and destroys trees; it is called <i>amarbel</i> or the immortal, because it has no visible root. <i>Kamalgata</i> is the seed of the lotus; <i>gai ka matha</i> is buttermilk; <i>nagar sow&#257;san</i>, &#8216;the happiness of the town,&#8217; is turmeric, because married women whose husbands are alive put turmeric on their foreheads
+every day; <i>kh&#257;j, d&#257;d</i> and <i>sehua</i> are itch, ringworm and some kind of rash, perhaps measles; and the verse therefore means:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eat <i>amarbel</i>, lotus seeds, chirota, buttermilk and turmeric mixed together, and you will keep off itch, ringworm and measles.&#8221; Chirota
+is good for the itch.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3335">
+<h3>41. Caste-feasts</h3>
+<p>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 <i>baithkis</i> 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 <a id="d0e3343"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3343">96</a>]</span>from getting wet. The guests sit in the <i>chauk</i> or yard of the house inside, or in the <i>angan</i> 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&#8212;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 <i>donas</i> 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, <i>gh&#299;</i>, <i>dahi</i> or curded milk, various vegetables, pumpkins, and <i>besin</i> or ground gram cooked with buttermilk. All the male members of the host&#8217;s family serve the food and they take it round, heaping
+and pouring it into each man&#8217;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 <i>lota</i> 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 <i>chilams</i> and <i>chongis</i> (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 <i>angan</i> or inner court, which is behind the <i>purda</i>.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3378">
+<h3>42. Hospitality</h3>
+<p>The people still show great hospitality, and it is the custom of many m&#257;lguz&#257;rs, at least in Chhatt&#299;sgarh, to afford food
+and a night&#8217;s rest to all travellers who may require it. When a Br&#257;hman comes to the village such m&#257;lguz&#257;rs 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 <a id="d0e3383"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3383">97</a>]</span>cup of milk and told to drink it or throw it away. But this custom has died out in Chhatt&#299;sgarh, 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 m&#257;lguz&#257;rs in villages
+near the Nerbudda sometimes undertake to give a pound of grain to every <i>parikramaw&#257;si</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3388">
+<h3>43. Social customs. Tattooing</h3>
+<p>The Kurmis employ Br&#257;hmans for their ceremonies. They have <i>gurus</i> or spiritual preceptors who may be Br&#257;hmans or Bair&#257;gis; the <i>guru</i> is given from 8 annas to Rs. 5 when he initiates a neophyte, as well as his food and a new white cloth. The <i>guru</i> 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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh 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 Br&#257;hmans, and that cooked without water from R&#257;jp&#363;ts, Banias and K&#257;yasths as well. Br&#257;hmans and
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts will take water from Kurmis in the northern Districts though not in Chhatt&#299;sgarh. Here the Kurmis do not object to
+eating cooked food which has been carried from the house to the fields. This is called <i>rengai roti</i>, and castes which will eat it are considered inferior to those who always take their food in the <i>chauka</i> or purified place in the house. They say &#8216;R&#257;m, R&#257;m&#8217; 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.
+<a id="d0e3408"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3408">98</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3409">
+<h3>44. Caste penalties</h3>
+<p>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 Allah&#257;b&#257;d or Ben&#257;res and giving a feast to the caste. It will be seen
+that all these are domestic animals except the monkey, who is the god Hanum&#257;n. 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 Mah&#257;nadi, 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 <i>liaison</i> 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 <i>panch&#257;yat</i> he is fined.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3420">
+<h3>45. The cultivating status</h3>
+<p>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 Sun&#257;r or goldsmith and Kas&#257;r 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&#8217;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.<a id="d0e3425src" href="#d0e3425" class="noteref">32</a> Here their status is necessarily very low as they follow the occupations of the impure castes. The reason why the <a id="d0e3430"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3430">99</a>]</span>Kurmi as cultivator ranks above the village handicraftsmen may perhaps be that industrial pursuits were despised in early
+times and left to the impure S&#363;dras 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 Br&#257;hmans, though even with them the rule partly applies. Of these two reasons for the cultivator&#8217;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 Sun&#257;r and Kas&#257;r, 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 <i>B&#299;jphuti</i>, or &#8216;the breaking of the seed,&#8217; and the latter as <i>Khanv&#257;r</i>, or &#8216;that which is left.&#8217; In Bil&#257;spur the Kamias or village menials also receive as much grain as will fill a winnowing-fan
+when it has been threshed. When the <a id="d0e3438"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3438">100</a>]</span>peasant has harvested his grain all come and beg from him. The Dh&#299;mar brings waternut, the K&#257;chhi or market-gardener some
+chillies, the Teli oil and tobacco, the Kal&#257;r 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 Br&#257;hman, the Nat or acrobat,
+the Gosain or religious mendicant, and the Fak&#299;r 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:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Uttam kheti, madhyam b&#257;n,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Kanisht ch&#257;kri, bh&#299;k nid&#257;n,</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or &#8216;Cultivation is the best calling, trade is respectable, service is menial, and begging is degraded.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3447">
+<h3>46. Occupation</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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, &#8220;Good
+is the caste of the Kurmin; with a hoe in her hand she goes to the fields and works with her husband.&#8221; The Chandn&#257;hu 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e3452">
+<h3>Appendix</h3>
+<h3>List of Exogamous Clans</h3>
+<p>Sections of the Chandn&#257;hu subcaste:
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Ch&#257;nwar bambar</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Fly fan.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sandil</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Name of a Rishi.<a id="d0e3474"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3474">101</a>]</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Gaind</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Ball.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sad&#257;phal</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A fruit.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sondeha</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Gold-bodied.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sonkharchi</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Spender of gold.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Kathail</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Kath</i>, wood, or <i>kaththa</i>, catechu.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>K&#257;shi</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Benares. The Desha Kurmis are all of this <i>gotra</i>. It may also be a corruption of Kachhap, tortoise.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Dhorha</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Dhor</i>, cattle.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sumer</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A mountain.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Chatur Midalia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Chatur</i>, clever.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Bh&#257;radw&#257;j</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">After the Rishi of that name; also a bird.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Kousil</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Name of a Rishi.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Ishwar</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">God.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Samund Karkari</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A particle in an ocean.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Ak&#257;lchuwa </i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Ak&#257;l</i>, famine.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Padel</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Fallow.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>B&#257;ghm&#257;r</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Tiger-slayer.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Hard&#363;ba</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Green grass.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>K&#257;nsia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>K&#257;ns</i>, a kind of grass.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Ghiu S&#257;gar</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Ocean of <i>gh&#299;</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Dharam Dhurandar</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Most charitable.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Singn&#257;ha</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Singh</i>, a lion.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Chimangarhia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Belonging to Chimangarh.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Khairagarhia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Belonging to Khairagarh.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Gotam</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A Rishi.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>K&#257;skyap</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A Rishi.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Pandariha</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">From Pandaria, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Paipakh&#257;r</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">One who washes feet.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>B&#257;nhpakh&#257;r</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">One who washes arms.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Chauria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Chaurai, a vegetable.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>S&#257;nd Sathi</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>S&#257;nd</i>, bullock.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Singhi</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Singh</i>, lion or horn.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Agra&#8212;Chandan</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Sandalwood.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Tek Sanichar</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Saturday.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Karaiya</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Frying-pan.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Pukharia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Pond.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Dhubinha</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Dhobi, a caste.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>P&#257;wanbare</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>P&#257;wan</i>, air.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Modganga</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Ganges.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Sections of the Gabel subcaste:
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Gangajal</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Ganges water.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Bimba Lohir</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Bearer of a <i>l&#257;thi</i> (stick).
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sarang</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Peacock.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>R&#257;ja R&#257;wat</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Royal prince.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sing&#363;r</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Beauty.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>B&#257;nk pagar</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">With a thread on the arm.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Samundha</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Ocean.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Parasr&#257;m,</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Rishi<a id="d0e3830"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e3830">102</a>]</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Kat&#257;rmal</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Kat&#257;r</i>, dagger.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Chault&#257;n</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Sept of R&#257;jp&#363;ts.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>P&#257;tan </i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Gajmani</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Elephant.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Deori Sumer</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Lahura Samudra</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Small sea.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Hansbimbraon</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Hans</i>, goose.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sunw&#257;ni</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Purifier.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Sections of the Santora subcaste:
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Narvaria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Narwar, a town in Gwalior State.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Mundharia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Mundhra, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Naigaiyan</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Naogaon, a town in Bundelkhand.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Pipraiya</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Piparia, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Dindoria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Dindori, a village in Mandla District.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Baheria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>B&#257;ndha</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>B&#257;ndh</i>, embankment.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Ktm&#363;sar</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Wooden pestle.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Sections of the Tirole subcaste:
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Baghele</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>B&#257;gh</i>, tiger, or a sept of R&#257;jp&#363;ts.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>R&#257;thor</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Panw&#257;r</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Solanki</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Aulia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Aonla</i>, a fruit-bearing tree.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sindia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Sindi</i>, date-palm tree.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Khusia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Khusi</i>, happiness.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sanoria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>San</i>, hemp.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Gora</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Fair-coloured.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Bh&#257;krya</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Bh&#257;kar</i>, a thick bread.
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Sections of the Gaur subcaste:
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Bhand&#257;ri</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Storekeeper.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Dudhua</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>D&#363;dh</i>, milk.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Patele</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A headman.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Lonia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Salt-maker.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Kumaria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A potter.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sionia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Seoni town.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Chhaparia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Chhap&#257;ra, a town.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Bijoria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A tree.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Simra</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Ketharia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Keth</i>, a fruit.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Usarguiyan</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Perhaps a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Bhadoria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Rurgaiyan</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Musrele</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>M&#363;sar</i>, a pestle.
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Sections of the Usrete subcaste:
+
+</p>
+<div class="table">
+<table style="font-size: 80%;" width="100%">
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Shik&#257;re</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Hunter.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>N&#257;har</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Tiger.<a id="d0e4165"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4165">103</a>]</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Gursaraiyan</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Gursarai, a town.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Bardia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sandia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>S&#257;nd</i>, a bull.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sirwaiyan</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Sirwai, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Itguh&#257;n</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">A village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Sengaiyan</i> or <i>Singaiyan</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Sengai, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Harkotia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Harkoti, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Noria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Norai, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Larent</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Lareti, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Rabia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Rabai, a village.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Lakhauria</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">(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.)
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Dhandkonya</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Dhandakna,</i> to roll.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Badgaiyan</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Badagaon</i>, a large village.
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Kotia</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Kot</i>, a fort
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Bilw&#257;r</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top"><i>Billi</i>, cat
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<td valign="top"><i>Thutha</i>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">Stump of a tree.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Sections of the Kanaujia subcaste:
+
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li><i>Tidha</i>.&#8212;From Tidha, a village. This section is subdivided into (<i>a</i>) <i>Ghureparke</i> (of the cow-dung hill); (<i>b</i>) <i>Dw&#257;rparke</i> (of the door); and (<i>c</i>) <i>Jangi</i> (warrior).
+
+
+</li>
+<li><i>Chamania</i>&#8212;From Chamyani (village). This is also subdivided into:
+
+
+<ul>
+<li>(<i>a</i>) <i>Gomarkya</i>
+
+</li>
+<li>(<i>b</i>) <i>Mathuria</i> (Muttra town).
+
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+
+</li>
+<li><i>Chaudhri</i> (caste headman). This is divided as follows:
+
+
+<ul>
+<li>(<i>a</i>) <i>Majhgaw&#257;n</i> A village.
+
+</li>
+<li>(<i>b</i>) <i>Purva thok</i> Eastern group.
+
+</li>
+<li>(<i>c</i>) <i>Pashchim thok</i> Western group.
+
+</li>
+<li>(<i>d</i>) <i>Bamurya</i> A village.
+
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+
+</li>
+<li><i>R&#257;wat</i> Title.
+
+
+</li>
+<li><i>Malha</i> Perhaps sailor or wrestler.
+
+
+</li>
+<li><i>Chiloli&#257;n</i> Chiloli, a village.
+
+
+</li>
+<li><i>Dhanuiyan</i> Dhanu Kheda, a village.
+</li>
+</ul><p>
+<a id="d0e4394"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4394">104</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2413" href="#d0e2413src" class="noteref">1</a></span> 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.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2444" href="#d0e2444src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Kurmi.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2469" href="#d0e2469src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Indian Folk Tales</i>, p. 8.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2477" href="#d0e2477src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Crotalaria juncea</i>. See article on Lorha for a discussion of the Hindus&#8217; prejudice against this crop.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2493" href="#d0e2493src" class="noteref">5</a></span> There are several Chaur&#257;sis, a grant of an estate of this special size being common under native rule.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2552" href="#d0e2552src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Boswellia serrata</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2565" href="#d0e2565src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Eugenia Jambolana</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2578" href="#d0e2578src" class="noteref">8</a></span> 2 lbs.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2633" href="#d0e2633src" class="noteref">9</a></span> Elliot, <i>Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Settlement Report</i>, p. 115.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2646" href="#d0e2646src" class="noteref">10</a></span> The custom is pointed out by Mr. A. K. Smith, C.S.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2667" href="#d0e2667src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Central Provinces Census Report</i> (1911), p. 153.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2697" href="#d0e2697src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>C.P. Census Report</i> (1911), p. 153.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2702" href="#d0e2702src" class="noteref">13</a></span> Or his big toe.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2768" href="#d0e2768src" class="noteref">14</a></span> <i>C.P. Census Report</i> (1911), p. 158.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2786" href="#d0e2786src" class="noteref">15</a></span> In <i>Indian Folk Tales</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2847" href="#d0e2847src" class="noteref">16</a></span> <i>Ficus R</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2867" href="#d0e2867src" class="noteref">17</a></span> He is also known as Katia or Kattaha Br&#257;hman and as Mah&#257;p&#257;tra.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2895" href="#d0e2895src" class="noteref">18</a></span> <i>Indian Folk Tales</i>, p. 54.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2922" href="#d0e2922src" class="noteref">19</a></span> <i>Sorghum vulgare</i>, a large millet.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2933" href="#d0e2933src" class="noteref">20</a></span> Dr. Jevons, <i>Introduction to the History of Religion</i>, p. 365.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2945" href="#d0e2945src" class="noteref">21</a></span> A measure of 400 lbs.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2964" href="#d0e2964src" class="noteref">22</a></span> <i>Butea frondosa</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e2988" href="#d0e2988src" class="noteref">23</a></span> A measure containing 9 lb. 2 oz. of rice.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3066" href="#d0e3066src" class="noteref">24</a></span> <i>Ficus glomerata</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3198" href="#d0e3198src" class="noteref">25</a></span> From Ganga, or the Ganges, and <i>&#257;la</i> a pot.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3217" href="#d0e3217src" class="noteref">26</a></span> <i>Cajanus indicus</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3222" href="#d0e3222src" class="noteref">27</a></span> <i>Phaseolus mungo</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3227" href="#d0e3227src" class="noteref">28</a></span> <i>Phaseolus radiatus</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3270" href="#d0e3270src" class="noteref">29</a></span> <i>Bombax malabaricum</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3278" href="#d0e3278src" class="noteref">30</a></span> <i>Acacia arabica</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3291" href="#d0e3291src" class="noteref">31</a></span> <i>Cassia tora</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e3425" href="#d0e3425src" class="noteref">32</a></span> <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), p. 340.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e4395" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Lakhera</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e4447">1. General notice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4462">2. Social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4470">3. The lac industry</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4493">4. Lac bangles</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4500">5. Red, a lucky colour</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4525">6. Vermilion and spangles</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4579">7. Red dye on the feet</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4602">8. Red threads</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4613">9. Lac toys</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4447">
+<h3>1. General notice</h3>
+<p><b>Lakhera, Laheri.</b>&#8212;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, Chh&#299;ndw&#257;ra and Bet&#363;l Districts. From Ber&#257;r 150 persons
+were returned, chiefly from Amraoti. The name is derived from the Sanskrit <i>laksha-kara</i>, 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 <i>Census Report of the North-Western Provinces</i> (1891): &#8220;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 K&#257;yasths. According to another account they were
+made from the dirt washed from P&#257;rvati 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 Y&#257;duvansi R&#257;jp&#363;ts, who assisted the Kurus to make a fort of lac, in which
+the P&#257;ndavas were to be treacherously burned. For this <a id="d0e4460"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4460">105</a>]</span>traitorous conduct they were degraded and compelled eternally to work in lac or glass.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4462">
+<h3>2. Social customs</h3>
+<p>The bulk of these artisan and manufacturing castes tell stories showing that their ancestors were K&#257;yasths and R&#257;jp&#363;ts, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts into the S&#363;rajvansi
+and Somvansi subcastes or those who belong to the Solar and Lunar races. Other subdivisions are the M&#257;rw&#257;ri or those coming
+from M&#257;rw&#257;r in R&#257;jp&#363;tana, 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 <i>amb&#257;ri</i> 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 Hindust&#257;ni 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. R&#257;jp&#363;ts and Banias will take water from them, but not Br&#257;hmans. In Bombay, however,
+they are considered to rank above Kunbis.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4470">
+<h3>3. The lac industry</h3>
+<p>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 Kunw&#257;r (September)
+and <a id="d0e4475"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4475">106</a>]</span>always by men, the insects being carried in a leaf-cup and placed on a branch of an uninfected tree, usually the <i>kusum</i>.<a id="d0e4480src" href="#d0e4480" class="noteref">1</a> 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 <i>chapra</i>, 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e4489" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p109.jpg" alt="Examples of spangles worn by women on the forehead" width="720" height="402"><p class="figureHead">Examples of spangles worn by women on the forehead</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4493">
+<h3>4. Lac bangles</h3>
+<p>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 Banj&#257;ra 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 Shr&#257;wan (July), when the Hindus observe a fast on behalf
+of the growing crops and the women wear bangles of lac. For these customs Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l suggests the explanation that lac bangles
+were at one time generally worn by the <a id="d0e4498"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4498">107</a>]</span>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 Turk&#257;ri or S&#299;sgar, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4500">
+<h3>5. Red, a lucky colour</h3>
+<p>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 <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i><a id="d0e4507src" href="#d0e4507" class="noteref">2</a> 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,<a id="d0e4512src" href="#d0e4512" class="noteref">3</a> 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 <a id="d0e4517"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4517">108</a>]</span>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
+Mah&#257;deo and Vishnu, to whom animal sacrifices would be abhorrent. It is offered to Hanum&#257;n, 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 Hanum&#257;n, this is highly probable, as he is the
+god of strength and a mighty warrior. The M&#257;nbhao 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.<a id="d0e4519src" href="#d0e4519" class="noteref">4</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4525">
+<h3>6. Vermilion and spangles</h3>
+<p>Among the constituents of the Soh&#257;g or lucky <i>trousseau</i> without which no Hindu girl of good caste can be married are <i>sendur</i> or vermilion, <i>kunku</i> or red powder or a spangle (<i>tikli</i>), and <i>mah&#257;war</i> or red balls of cotton-wool. In Chhatt&#299;sgarh and Bengal the principal marriage rite is usually the smearing of vermilion
+by the bridegroom on the parting of the bride&#8217;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.<a id="d0e4545src" href="#d0e4545" class="noteref">5</a> 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 <a id="d0e4548"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4548">109</a>]</span>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&#8217;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. <i>Kunku</i> is a pink powder made of turmeric, lime-juice and borax, which last is called by the Hindus &#8216;the milk of Anjini,&#8217; the mother
+of Hanum&#257;n. It seems to be a more agreeable substitute for vermilion, whose constant use has probably an injurious effect
+on the skin and hair. <i>Kunku</i> is used in the Mar&#257;tha 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
+<i>tikli</i> or spangle is worn in the Hindust&#257;ni 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
+R&#257;jput&#257;na, such as the M&#257;rw&#257;ri Banias and Banj&#257;ras, 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 Soh&#257;g at marriages and is affixed to the girl&#8217;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 <i>tikli</i> is simply a corruption of <i>t&#299;ka</i>, which means a mark of anointing or initiation on the forehead; as has been seen, the basis of the <i>tikli</i> 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&#8217;s clan. At her marriage a bride must always receive the glass bangles and the vermilion, <i>kunku</i>, or spangle from her husband, the other ornaments of the Soh&#257;g being usually given to her by her parents. Unmarried girls
+now also sometimes wear small ornamental spangles, and put <i>kunku</i> on their foreheads. <a id="d0e4574"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4574">110</a>]</span>But before marriage it is optional and afterwards compulsory. A widow may not wear vermilion, <i>kunku</i>, or spangles.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4579">
+<h3>7. Red dye on the feet</h3>
+<p>The Lakheras also sell balls of red cotton-wool known as <i>m&#257;hur ki guleli</i> or <i>mah&#257;war</i>. 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&#8217;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 <i>mah&#257;war</i> is also an essential part of the Soh&#257;g of marriage. Instead of lac the Muhammadans use <i>mehndi</i> 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 &#8216;rosy-fingered Aurora.&#8217; The Hindus use henna dye only in the month Shr&#257;wan (July),
+which is a period of fasting; the auspicious <i>kunku</i> and <i>mah&#257;war</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4602">
+<h3>8. Red threads</h3>
+<p>The Lakheras and Patwas also make the <i>kardora</i> or waist-band of red thread. This is worn by Hindu men and women, except Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans. 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 <i>r&#257;khis</i> tied round the wrists for protection against evil spirits on the day of Raksh&#257;bandhan, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4613">
+<h3>9. Lac toys</h3>
+<p>Toys of lac are especially made during the fast of Shr&#257;wan (July). At this time for five years after her marriage a Hindu
+bride receives annually from her husband a <a id="d0e4618"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4618">111</a>]</span>present called Shr&#257;oni, or that which is given in Shr&#257;wan. It consists of a <i>chakri</i> 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 <i>bhora</i> or wooden top spun by a string; a <i>bansuli</i> 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.
+<a id="d0e4629"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4629">112</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4480" href="#d0e4480src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Schleichera trijuga</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4507" href="#d0e4507src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Hindus of Gujarat</i>, App., art. Vaghri, footnote.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4512" href="#d0e4512src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Religion of the Semites</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4519" href="#d0e4519src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Mackintosh, <i>Report on the M&#257;nbhaos.</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4545" href="#d0e4545src" class="noteref">5</a></span> See articles on Khairw&#257;r and Kewat.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e4630" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Lodhi</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e4692">1. Origin and traditions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4732">2. Position in the central Provinces</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4752">3. Sub-divisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4769">4. Exogamous groups</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4777">5. Marriage customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4806">6. The gauna ceremoney. Fertility rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4825">7. Widow-marriage and puberty rite</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4832">8. Mourning impurity</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4846">9. Social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4859">10. Greetings and method of address</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e4872">11. Sacred thread and social status</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4692">
+<h3>1. Origin and traditions</h3>
+<p><b>Lodhi, Lodha.</b>&#8212;An important agricultural caste residing principally in the Vindhyan Districts and Nerbudda valley, whence they have spread
+to the Wainganga valley and the Khair&#257;garh State of Chhatt&#299;sgarh. 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
+Ludhi&#257;na 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 tahs&#299;l of Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d 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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Bet&#363;l Districts in the fifteenth
+century. They spoke a different dialect of the group known as Rajasth&#257;ni, 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-R&#257;jp&#363;t dynasty of Garha-Mandla in the seventeenth <a id="d0e4699"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4699">113</a>]</span>century, and they were given large grants of the waste land in the interior in order that they might clear it of forest.<a id="d0e4701src" href="#d0e4701" class="noteref">1</a> 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 <i>lod</i>, a clod, according to which Lodhi would mean clodhopper.<a id="d0e4710src" href="#d0e4710" class="noteref">2</a> Another suggestion is that the name is derived from the bark of the <i>lodh</i> tree,<a id="d0e4718src" href="#d0e4718" class="noteref">3</a> which is collected by the Lodhas in northern India and sold for use as a dyeing agent. In Bulandshahr they are described
+as &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e4723src" href="#d0e4723" class="noteref">4</a> In Ham&#299;rpur 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 Mah&#257;deo from a scarecrow in a Kurmi woman&#8217;s field and given the vocation of a farmservant But the Lodhis themselves
+claim R&#257;jp&#363;t ancestry and say that they are descended from Lava, the eldest of the two sons of R&#257;ja R&#257;mchandra of Ajodhya.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4732">
+<h3>2. Position in the central Provinces</h3>
+<p>In the Central Provinces they have become landholders and are addressed by the honorific title of Th&#257;kur, 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 R&#257;ja and Diw&#257;n. 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. &#8220;It would be difficult,&#8221; says Grant,<a id="d0e4737src" href="#d0e4737" class="noteref">5</a> &#8220;to recognise the descendants of the <a id="d0e4742"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4742">114</a>]</span>peaceful cultivators of northern India in the strangely accoutred R&#257;jas who support their style and title by a score of ragged
+matchlock-men and a ruined mud fort on a hill-side.&#8221; Sir B. Fuller&#8217;s <i>Damoh Settlement Report</i> says of them: &#8220;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 T&#257;lukd&#257;r of Hindoria, marched on the
+District headquarters and looted the treasury.&#8221; 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 m&#257;lguz&#257;r was gallantly
+defended against a band of marauding rebels from Saugor. Sir R. Craddock describes them as follows: &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e4747src" href="#d0e4747" class="noteref">6</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4752">
+<h3>3. Sub-divisions</h3>
+<p>In the northern Districts the landholding Lodhis are divided into a number of exogamous clans who marry with each other in
+imitation of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts. 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 B&#257;l&#257;kote family of that District are the <a id="d0e4757"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4757">115</a>]</span>head of the clan. The Mahdeles are the highest clan and have the titles of R&#257;ja and Diw&#257;n, while the others hold those of
+Rao and Kunwar, the terms Diw&#257;n and Kunwar being always applied to the younger brother of the head of the house. These titles
+are still occasionally conferred by the R&#257;ja of Panna, whom the Lodhi clans looked on as their suzerain. The name of the Mahdeles
+is said to be derived from the <i>mehndi</i> 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, J&#257;ngra and Mah&#257;lodhi. 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 Singr&#257;m Ghat or
+ferry of the Ganges in Allah&#257;b&#257;d District, and the title of R&#257;wat 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 J&#257;ngra Lodhis are
+of Chhatt&#299;sgarh, and the Mah&#257;lodhis or &#8216;Great Lodhis&#8217; 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 (<i>haldi</i>), and the Gw&#257;lhare or cowherds. The Lodhas of Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts <a id="d0e4767"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4767">116</a>]</span>and one or two landholding castes who have imitated them. Its origin is discussed in the Introduction.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4769">
+<h3>4. Exogamous groups</h3>
+<p>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 Ch&#257;ndpuria from Ch&#257;ndpur, the Kharpuria from Kharpur, and the N&#257;gpuriha, Raipuria,
+Dhamonia, Damauha and Sh&#257;hgariha from N&#257;gpur, Raipur, Dhamoni, Damoh and Sh&#257;hgarh. Two-thirds of the sections have the names
+of towns or villages. Among titular names are Saul&#257;khia, owner of 100 lakhs, Bhainsm&#257;r, one who killed a buffalo, Kodonchor,
+one who stole kodon,<a id="d0e4774src" href="#d0e4774" class="noteref">7</a> Kumharha perhaps from Kumh&#257;r a potter, and R&#257;jbhar and Barhai (carpenter), names of castes. Among totemistic names are Baghela,
+tiger, also the name of a R&#257;jp&#363;t sept; Kutria, a dog; Khaj&#363;ria, the date-palm tree; Mirchaunia, chillies; Andw&#257;r, from the
+castor-oil plant; Bhainsaiya, a buffalo; and N&#257;k, the nose.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4777">
+<h3>5. Marriage customs</h3>
+<p>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 Bil&#257;spur Lodhis, who say, &#8216;Eat with those who have eaten with you and marry with those
+who have married with you.&#8217; 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 <i>partis</i>, with the result that one of them went and lived with a man and he then married off the other in the Singhast<a id="d0e4785src" href="#d0e4785" class="noteref">8</a> 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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh where the Mar&#257;tha 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 <a id="d0e4788"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4788">117</a>]</span>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:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8216;Are the king and queen here?&#8217; And a man below answers, &#8216;Yes.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8216;Have they shoes on their feet?&#8217; &#8216;Yes.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8216;Have they bracelets on their hands?&#8217; &#8216;Yes.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8216;Have they rings in their ears?&#8217; &#8216;Yes.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8216;Have they crowns on their heads?&#8217; &#8216;Yes.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8216;Has she glass beads round her neck?&#8217; &#8216;Yes.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8216;Have they the doll in their hands?&#8217; &#8216;Yes.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>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&#8217;s party. Before doing so he requires a valuable present, such as a buffalo.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4806">
+<h3>6. The gauna ceremoney. Fertility rites</h3>
+<p>When the girl becomes mature the Gauna or going-away ceremony is performed. In Chhatt&#299;sgarh before leaving her home the bride
+goes out with her sister and worships a <i>pal&#257;s</i> tree.<a id="d0e4814src" href="#d0e4814" class="noteref">9</a> 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&#8217;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<a id="d0e4819src" href="#d0e4819" class="noteref">10</a> 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&#8217;s lap saying, &#8216;Take this and give it milk.&#8217; The bride is abashed and throws it aside. The old woman picks it
+up and shows it to the assembled women saying, &#8216;The bride has just had a baby,&#8217; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4825">
+<h3>7. Widow-marriage and puberty rite</h3>
+<p>The higher clans of Lodhis in Damoh and Saugor prohibit <a id="d0e4830"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4830">118</a>]</span>the remarriage of widows, but instances of it occur. It is said that a man who marries a widow is relegated to the Mah&#257;lodhi
+subcaste or the Lahuri Sen, an illegitimate group, and the Lodhis of his clan no longer acknowledge his family. But if a girl&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4832">
+<h3>8. Mourning impurity</h3>
+<p>The higher clans consider themselves impure for a period of 12 days after a birth, and if the birth falls in the M&#363;l asterism
+or Nakshatra, for 27 days. After death they observe mourning for 10 days; on the 10th day they offer ten <i>pindas</i> or funeral cakes, and on the 11th day make one large <i>pinda</i> or cake and divide it into eleven parts; on the 12th day they make sixteen <i>pindas</i> and unite the spirit of the dead man with the ancestors; and on the 13th day they give a feast and feed Br&#257;hmans 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4846">
+<h3>9. Social customs</h3>
+<p>The caste employ Br&#257;hmans 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 Br&#257;hmans, and that cooked without water also from R&#257;jp&#363;ts, K&#257;yasths and Sun&#257;rs. In Narsinghpur they also accept
+cooked food from such a low caste as R&#257;jjahrs,<a id="d0e4851src" href="#d0e4851" class="noteref">11</a> probably because the R&#257;jjhars are commonly employed by them as farmservants, and hence have been accustomed to carry their
+master&#8217;s food. A similar relation has been found to exist between the Panw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;ts and their Gond farmservants. The higher
+class Lodhis make an inordinate show of hospitality at their <a id="d0e4854"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4854">119</a>]</span>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 Mah&#257;lodhis 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 <i>s&#257;ri</i> drawn through the legs and knotted behind according to the Maratha fashion, but whenever they meet their husband&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4859">
+<h3>10. Greetings and method of address</h3>
+<p>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
+<a id="d0e4864"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4864">120</a>]</span>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 <i>guna</i> or ring of baked gram-flour. A man meeting his father or elder brother will touch his feet in silence. One meeting his sister&#8217;s
+husband, sister&#8217;s son or son-in-law, will touch his feet and say, &#8216;<i>S&#257;hib, salaam</i>.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e4872">
+<h3>11. Sacred thread and social status</h3>
+<p>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 Br&#257;hman 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts whose ancestors
+threw away their sacred threads in order to escape the vengeance of Parasur&#257;ma. 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 &#8216;A Lodhi&#8217;s temper is as crooked as the stream
+of a bullock&#8217;s urine.&#8217; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4701" href="#d0e4701src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Colonel Ward&#8217;s <i>Mandia Settlement Report</i> p. 29.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4710" href="#d0e4710src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Brief View of the Caste System</i>, p. 14.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4718" href="#d0e4718src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Symplocos racemosa</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4723" href="#d0e4723src" class="noteref">4</a></span> R&#257;ja Lachman Singh&#8217;s <i>Bulandshahr Memo,</i> p. 182, quoted in Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Lodha.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4737" href="#d0e4737src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Narsinghpur Settlement Report</i> (1866), p. 28.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4747" href="#d0e4747src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Nagpur Settlement Report</i>, p. 24.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4774" href="#d0e4774src" class="noteref">7</a></span> A small millet.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4785" href="#d0e4785src" class="noteref">8</a></span> Every twelfth year when the planet Jupiter is in conjunction with the constellation Sinh (Leo).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4814" href="#d0e4814src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Butea Frondosa</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4819" href="#d0e4819src" class="noteref">10</a></span> This is known as <i>lodha</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4851" href="#d0e4851src" class="noteref">11</a></span> The R&#257;jjhars are a low caste of farmservants and labourers, probably an offshoot of the Bhar tribe.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e4877" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Lohar</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. Legends of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>Lohar</b>, <b>Khati</b>, <b>Ghantra</b>, <b>Ghis&#257;ri</b>, <b>Panch&#257;l.</b>&#8212;The occupational caste of blacksmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit <i>Lauha-kara&gt;</i>, 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 Kh&#257;ti. The honorific designations applied to the caste are Kar&#299;gar, which
+means skilful, and <a id="d0e4902"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4902">121</a>]</span>Mistri, a corruption of the English &#8216;Master&#8217; or &#8216;Mister.&#8217; In 1911 the Loh&#257;rs numbered about 180,000 persons in the Central
+Provinces and Ber&#257;r. The Loh&#257;r is indispensable to the village economy, and the caste is found over the whole rural area of
+the Province.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Practically all the Loh&#257;rs,&#8221; Mr. Crooke writes<a id="d0e4906src" href="#d0e4906" class="noteref">1</a>, &#8220;trace their origin to Visvakarma, who is the later representative of the Vedic Twashtri, the architect and handicraftsman
+of the gods, &#8216;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,&#8217; One<a id="d0e4911src" href="#d0e4911" class="noteref">2</a> tradition tells that Visvakarma was a Br&#257;hman and married the daughter of an Ah&#299;r, 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 Loh&#257;r, Barhai, Sun&#257;r,
+and Kasera.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>The Loh&#257;rs 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 (Mah&#257;rana), the fourth learnt the science of vaccination
+and medicine and became a vaccinator (Suthi&#257;r), 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.<a id="d0e4918src" href="#d0e4918" class="noteref">3</a> The Ghantras are an inferior class of blacksmiths, <a id="d0e4924"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4924">122</a>]</span>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 Loh&#257;rs have no objection to eating the leavings of food of their wives, whom they regard as their eldest sisters.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Social position of the Lohar</h3>
+<p>The above story is noticeable as indicating that the social position of the Loh&#257;r 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: &#8220;His social position is low even for a menial, and he
+is classed as an impure caste, in so far that J&#257;ts 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,&#8221;<a id="d0e4931src" href="#d0e4931" class="noteref">4</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Nesfield also says: &#8220;It is owing to the ubiquitous industry of the Loh&#257;r 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 Loh&#257;r has not been able to raise itself to the same social level as the three metallurgic castes which follow.&#8221; The
+following saying also indicates that the Loh&#257;r is of evil omen:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Ar, Dh&#257;r, Chuchk&#257;r
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>In tinon se bach&#257;we Kart&#257;r.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Here <i>Ar</i> means an iron goad and signifies the Loh&#257;r; <i>Dh&#257;r</i> represents the sound of the oil falling from the press and means a Teli or oilman; <i>Chuchk&#257;r</i> is an imitation of the sound of clothes being beaten against a stone and denotes the Dhobi or washerman; and the phrase thus
+runs, &#8216;My Friend, beware of the Loh&#257;r, Teli, and Dhobi, for they <a id="d0e4954"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4954">123</a>]</span>are of evil omen.&#8217; It is not quite clear why this disrepute should attach to the Loh&#257;r, because iron itself is lucky, though
+its colour, black, may be of bad omen. But the low status of the Loh&#257;r 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&#8217;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 Loh&#257;r 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 Loh&#257;r ranks as the equal of Koiris and Kurmis, and Br&#257;hmans will take water
+from his hands;<a id="d0e4956src" href="#d0e4956" class="noteref">5</a> and this somewhat favours the argument that his lower status elsewhere is not due to incidents of his occupation.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Caste subdivisions</h3>
+<p>The constitution of the Loh&#257;r 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 Loh&#257;rs. 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 Satp&#363;ra hills. The Panch&#257;ls are a class of itinerant smiths in Ber&#257;r. The Ghantras or inferior blacksmiths of
+the Uriya country have already been noticed. The Ghis&#257;ris are a similar low class of smiths in the southern Districts who
+do rough work only, but sometimes claim R&#257;jp&#363;t origin. Other subcastes are of the usual local or territorial type, as Mah&#363;lia,
+from M&#257;hul in Ber&#257;r; Jh&#257;de or Jh&#257;dia, those living in the jungles; Ojha, or those professing a Br&#257;hmanical origin; Mar&#257;tha,
+Kanaujia, Mathuria, and so on.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Marriage and other customs</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e4971"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4971">124</a>]</span>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&#8217;s house, and never from that of her deceased husband. The first husband&#8217;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&#8217;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, &#8216;Go and become incarnate in some human being,&#8217; 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, &#8216;Come, come,&#8217; 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 <a id="d0e4973"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4973">125</a>]</span>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 Loh&#257;rs are D&#363;lha 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>5. Occupation</h3>
+<p>In the rural area of the Province the Loh&#257;r 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<a id="d0e4980src" href="#d0e4980" class="noteref">6</a> 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 Loh&#257;r 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 Loh&#257;rs 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 Bh&#257;tia or Bohra merchant, who acts as the capitalist and employs
+the Loh&#257;rs as his workmen. The women help their husbands by blowing the bellows and dragging the hot iron <a id="d0e4983"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e4983">126</a>]</span>from the furnace, while the men wield the hammer. The Panch&#257;ls of Ber&#257;r 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.<a id="d0e4985src" href="#d0e4985" class="noteref">7</a> Another class of wandering smiths, the Ghis&#257;ris, are described by Mr. Crooke as follows: &#8220;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 Loh&#257;r, their services are in demand for the making of tools for carpenters,
+weavers and other craftsmen. They are known in the Punjab as G&#257;diya or those who have carts (<i>g&#257;di, g&#257;ri</i>). Sir D. Ibbetson<a id="d0e4993src" href="#d0e4993" class="noteref">8</a> says that they come up from R&#257;jput&#257;na 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<a id="d0e4998src" href="#d0e4998" class="noteref">9</a> this class of wandering blacksmiths are called Saiqalgar, or knife-grinders, or Ghis&#257;ra, or grinders (Hindi, <i>ghis&#257;na</i> &#8216;to rub&#8217;). They wander about grinding knives and tools.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4906" href="#d0e4906src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P. and Oudh</i>, art. Loh&#257;r.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4911" href="#d0e4911src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Dowson, <i>Classical Dictionary, s.v.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4918" href="#d0e4918src" class="noteref">3</a></span> In Uriya the term, <i>Ghantrabela</i> means a person who has illicit intercourse with another. The Ghantra Loh&#257;rs are thus probably of bastard origin, like the
+groups known as half-castes and others which are frequently found.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4931" href="#d0e4931src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), para. 624. (Ibbetson.)
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4956" href="#d0e4956src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal,</i> art. Loh&#257;r
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4980" href="#d0e4980src" class="noteref">6</a></span> About 15 acres.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4985" href="#d0e4985src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i>, 1881 (Kitts).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4993" href="#d0e4993src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Punj&#257;b Ethnography</i>, para. 624.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e4998" href="#d0e4998src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, xvi. 82.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e5006" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Lorha</h2>
+<p><b>Lorha.</b><a id="d0e5012src" href="#d0e5012" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A small caste of cultivators in the Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Nim&#257;r Districts, whose distinctive occupation is to grow <i>san</i>-hemp (<i>Crotalaria juncea</i>) 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 Kumr&#257;wat, Patb&#299;na and D&#257;ngur 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 Bil&#257;spur the <a id="d0e5021"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5021">127</a>]</span>Path&#257;ria Kurmis will grow <i>san</i>-hemp and ret it, but will not spin or weave the fibre; while the Ath&#257;ria Kurmis will not grow the crop, but will spin the
+fibre and make sacking. The Saugor Kewats grow this fibre, and here Br&#257;hmans and other high castes will not take water from
+Kewats, though in the eastern Districts they will do so. The Narsinghpur Mall&#257;hs, a branch of the Kewats, have also adopted
+the cultivation of <i>san</i>-hemp as a regular profession. The basis of the prejudice against the <i>san</i>-hemp plant is not altogether clear. The Lorhas themselves say that they are looked down upon because they use wheat-starch
+(<i>lapsi</i>) 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 <i>san</i>-hemp lest they should lose their tempers in the same manner. This story makes a somewhat excessive demand on the hearer&#8217;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 <a id="d0e5038"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5038">128</a>]</span>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 <i>&#257;l</i> or Indian madder (<i>Morinda citrifolia</i>), while onions and garlic are generally eschewed by Hindu cultivators. For growing turmeric and <i>&#257;l</i> special subcastes have been formed, as the Alia Kunbis and the Hardia M&#257;lis and K&#257;chhis (from <i>haldi</i>, turmeric), just as in the case of <i>san</i>-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
+R&#257;jp&#363;t blood in them, perhaps an offshoot of the Kir&#257;rs, 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 Nim&#257;r G&#363;jars have a subcaste named Lorha, and the Lorhas of Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d may be connected with
+these. They live in the Seoni and Harda tahs&#299;ls of Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d, the <i>san</i>-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 Banj&#257;ras and Bh&#257;mtas, who formerly required the bags for carrying their goods and possessions about
+with them.
+<a id="d0e5058"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5058">129</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5012" href="#d0e5012src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is partly based on papers by Mr. P.B. Telang, Munsiff Seoni-M&#257;lwa, and Mr. W&#257;man Rao Mandloi, n&#257;ib-tahs&#299;ld&#257;r,
+Harda.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e5059" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mah&#257;r</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e5141">1. General Notice. </a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5188">2. Length of residence in the Central Provinces</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5210">3. Legend of origin</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5220">4. Sub-castes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5233">5. Exogamous groups and marriage customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5270">6. Funeral rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5289">7. Childbirth</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5297">8. Names</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5310">9. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5315">10. Adoption of foreign religions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5355">11. Superstitions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5370">12. Social rules</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5395">13. Social subjection</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5441">14. Their position improving</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5446">15. Occupation</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5141">
+<h3>1. General Notice. </h3>
+<p><b>Mah&#257;r, Mehra, Dhed.</b>&#8212;The impure caste of menials, labourers and village watchmen of the Mar&#257;tha country, corresponding to the Cham&#257;rs and Koris
+of northern India. They numbered nearly 1,200,000 persons in the combined Province in 1911, and are most numerous in the N&#257;gpur,
+Bhand&#257;ra, Ch&#257;nda and Wardha Districts of the Central Provinces, while considerable colonies are also found in B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t, Chhindw&#257;ra
+and Bet&#363;l. Their distribution thus follows largely that of the Mar&#257;thi language and the castes speaking it. Ber&#257;r contained
+400,000, distributed over the four Districts. In the whole Province this caste is third in point of numerical strength. In
+India the Mah&#257;rs number about three million persons, of whom a half belong to Bombay. I am not aware of any accepted derivation
+for the word Mah&#257;r, but the balance of opinion seems to be that the native name of Bombay, Mah&#257;r&#257;shtra, is derived from that
+of the caste, as suggested by Wilson. Another derivation which holds it to be a corruption of Maha R&#257;strak&#363;ta, and to be so
+called after the R&#257;shtrak&#363;ta R&#257;jp&#363;t dynasty of the eighth and ninth centuries, seems less probable because countries are very
+seldom named after ruling <a id="d0e5148"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5148">130</a>]</span>dynasties.<a id="d0e5150src" href="#d0e5150" class="noteref">1</a> Whereas in support of Mah&#257;r&#257;shtra as &#8216;The country of the Mah&#257;rs,&#8217; we have Gujar&#257;shtra or Gujar&#257;t, &#8216;the country of the G&#363;jars,&#8217;
+and Saur&#257;shtra or Surat, &#8216;the country of the Sauras.&#8217; According to Platts&#8217; Dictionary, however, Mah&#257;r&#257;shtra means &#8216;the great
+country,&#8217; and this is what the Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans themselves say. Mehra appears to be a variant of the name current in the Hindust&#257;ni
+Districts, while Dheda, or Dhada, is said to be a corruption of Dharadas or billmen.<a id="d0e5153src" href="#d0e5153" class="noteref">2</a> In the Punjab it is said to be a general term of contempt meaning &#8216;Any low fellow.&#8217;<a id="d0e5158src" href="#d0e5158" class="noteref">3</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>Wilson considers the Mah&#257;rs 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 <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i> the writer of the interesting Gujar&#257;t volume suggests that the Mah&#257;rs are fallen R&#257;jp&#363;ts; but there seems little to support
+this opinion except their appearance and countenance, which is of the Hindu rather than the Dravidian type. In Gujar&#257;t they
+have also some R&#257;jp&#363;t surnames, as Chauh&#257;n, Panw&#257;r, R&#257;thor, Solanki and so on, but these may have been adopted by imitation
+or may indicate a mixture of R&#257;jp&#363;t blood. Again, the Mah&#257;rs of Gujar&#257;t are the farmservants and serfs of the Kunbis. &#8220;Each
+family is closely connected with the house of some landholder or <i>pattid&#257;r</i> (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 <i>pattid&#257;rs</i> have always a certain number of Dheda families whom they speak of as ours (<i>ham&#257;ra</i>) 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.&#8221; <a id="d0e5178src" href="#d0e5178" class="noteref">4</a> Such a relation as this <a id="d0e5183"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5183">131</a>]</span>in Hindu society would imply that many Mah&#257;r women held the position of concubines to their Kunbi masters, and would therefore
+account for the resemblance of the Mah&#257;r to Hindus rather than the forest tribes. But if this is to be regarded as evidence
+of R&#257;jp&#363;t descent, a similar claim would have to be allowed to many of the Cham&#257;rs and sweepers. Others of the lowest castes
+also have R&#257;jp&#363;t sept names, as the P&#257;rdhis and Bh&#299;ls; but the fact can at most be taken, I venture to think, to indicate
+a connection of the &#8216;Droit de Seigneur&#8217; type. On the other hand, the Mah&#257;rs 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5188">
+<h3>2. Length of residence in the Central Provinces</h3>
+<p>Several circumstances indicate that the Mah&#257;r is recognised as the oldest resident of the plain country of Ber&#257;r and N&#257;gpur.
+In Ber&#257;r 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 Mah&#257;rs is kindled first and that of the Kunbis is set alight
+from it. The K&#257;md&#257;r Mah&#257;r, who acts as village watchman, also has the right of bringing the <i>toran</i> 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 Bhandr&#257; the Telis, Loh&#257;rs, Dhim&#257;rs and several other castes employ a Mah&#257;r <i>Mohturia</i> or wise man to fix the date of their weddings. And most curious of all, when the Panw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;ts of this tract celebrate the
+festival of N&#257;r&#257;yan Deo, they call a Mah&#257;r to their house and make him the first partaker of the feast before beginning to
+eat themselves. Again in Ber&#257;r<a id="d0e5199src" href="#d0e5199" class="noteref">5</a> the Mah&#257;r officiates at the killing of the buffalo on Dasahra. On the day before the festival the chief Mah&#257;r 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 <a id="d0e5205"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5205">132</a>]</span>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 Mah&#257;r, 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
+Mah&#257;rs were the earliest immigrants from Bombay into the Ber&#257;r and N&#257;gpur plain, excluding of course the Gonds and other tribes,
+who have practically been ousted from this tract. And if it is supposed that the Panw&#257;rs came here in the tenth century, as
+seems not improbable,<a id="d0e5207src" href="#d0e5207" class="noteref">6</a> the Mah&#257;rs, whom the Panw&#257;rs recognise as older residents than themselves, must have been earlier still, and were probably
+numbered among the subjects of the old Hindu kingdoms of Bh&#257;ndak and Nagardhan.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5210">
+<h3>3. Legend of origin</h3>
+<p>The Mah&#257;rs say they are descended from Mah&#257;muni, who was a foundling picked up by the goddess P&#257;rvati on the banks of the
+Ganges. At this time beef had not become a forbidden food; and when the divine cow, Trip&#257;d Gayatri, died, the gods determined
+to cook and eat her body and Mah&#257;muni 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 Mah&#257;muni ate it; but the gods discovered the
+delinquency, and doomed him and his descendants to live on the flesh of dead cows.<a id="d0e5215src" href="#d0e5215" class="noteref">7</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5220">
+<h3>4. Sub-castes</h3>
+<p>The caste have a number of subdivisions, generally of a local or territorial type, as Daharia, the residents of D&#257;har or the
+Jubbulpore country, Baonia (52) of Ber&#257;r, Nem&#257;dya or from Nimar, Kh&#257;ndeshi from Kh&#257;ndesh, and so on; the Katia group are probably
+derived from that caste, Kat&#299;a meaning a spinner; the B&#257;rkias are another group whose name is supposed to mean spinners of
+fine thread; while the Lon&#257;rias are salt-makers. The highest division are the Somvansis or children of the moon; these claim
+to have taken part with the P&#257;ndavas against the Kauravas in the <a id="d0e5225"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5225">133</a>]</span>war of the Mah&#257;bh&#257;rata, and subsequently to have settled in Mah&#257;r&#257;shtra.<a id="d0e5227src" href="#d0e5227" class="noteref">8</a> But the Somvansi Mah&#257;rs consent to groom horses, which the Baone and Kosaria subcastes will not do. Baone and Somvansi Mah&#257;rs
+will take food together, but will not intermarry. The Ladw&#257;n subcaste are supposed to be the offspring of kept women of the
+Somvansi Mah&#257;rs; and in Wardha the Dh&#257;rmik group are also the descendants of illicit unions and their name is satirical, meaning
+&#8216;virtuous.&#8217; As has been seen, the caste have a subdivision named Katia, which is the name of a separate Hindust&#257;ni caste;
+and other subcastes have names belonging to northern India, as the Mahobia, from Mahoba in the United Provinces, the Kosaria
+or those from Chhatt&#299;sgarh, 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 Mah&#257;rs in Districts where they have come together along
+the Satp&#363;ra Hills and Nerbudda Valley.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5233">
+<h3>5. Exogamous groups and marriage customs</h3>
+<p>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&#8212;Darpan, a mirror; Kh&#257;nda Phari, sword and shield;
+Undrim&#257;ria, a rat-killer; Agl&#257;vi, an incendiary; Andh&#257;re, a blind man; Kutram&#257;ria, a dog-killer; Kodu D&#363;dh, sour milk; Khobrag&#257;de,
+cocoanut-kernel; Bh&#257;jikhai, a vegetable eater, and so on.
+
+</p>
+<p>A man must not marry in his own sept, but may take a wife from his mother&#8217;s or grandmother&#8217;s. A sister&#8217;s son may marry a brother&#8217;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
+<i>Lamjhana</i> 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 <a id="d0e5243"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5243">134</a>]</span>varying from one to five years. The marriage ceremony follows the customary Hindust&#257;ni or Mar&#257;tha ritual<a id="d0e5245src" href="#d0e5245" class="noteref">9</a> 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&#8217;s foot; at the end he catches the girl by the finger
+and the marriage is complete. In the Central Provinces the Moht&#363;ria or caste priest officiates at weddings, but in Ber&#257;r,
+Mr. Kitts states<a id="d0e5248src" href="#d0e5248" class="noteref">10</a> the caste employ the Br&#257;hman 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 Mah&#257;rs to see him. In Mandla some of the lower class of Br&#257;hmans will officiate at the weddings of Mah&#257;rs.
+In Chhindw&#257;ra the Mah&#257;rs 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>In Mandla at a wedding the barber comes and cuts the bride&#8217;s nails, and the cuttings are rolled up in dough and placed in
+a little earthen pot beside the marriage-post. The bridegroom&#8217;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&#8217;s party about Rs. 40 or Rs. 50 and the bride&#8217;s about Rs. 25. <a id="d0e5255"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5255">135</a>]</span>They have no going-away ceremony, but the occasion of a girl&#8217;s coming to maturity is known as Bol&#257;wan. She is kept apart for
+six days and given new clothes, and the caste-people are invited to a meal. When a woman&#8217;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 <i>patelas</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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 <i>sing&#257;ra</i>. 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 <i>panch&#257;yat</i> or committee, and if a divorced woman marries again, her first husband performs funeral and mourning ceremonies as if she
+were dead. In Gujar&#257;t the practice is much more lax and &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e5266src" href="#d0e5266" class="noteref">11</a> But here also, before the change takes place, there must be a formal divorce recognised by the caste.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5270">
+<h3>6. Funeral rites</h3>
+<p>The caste either burn or bury the dead and observe mourning for three days,<a id="d0e5275src" href="#d0e5275" class="noteref">12</a> having their houses whitewashed and their faces shaved. On the tenth day they give a feast <a id="d0e5280"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5280">136</a>]</span>to the caste-fellows. On the Akshaya Tritia <a id="d0e5282src" href="#d0e5282" class="noteref">13</a> and the 30th day of Kunw&#257;r (September) they offer rice and cakes to the crows in the names of their ancestors. In Ber&#257;r Mr.
+Kitts writes:<a id="d0e5285src" href="#d0e5285" class="noteref">14</a> &#8220;If a Mah&#257;r&#8217;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5289">
+<h3>7. Childbirth</h3>
+<p>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 <i>mahur</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5297">
+<h3>8. Names</h3>
+<p>A child is named on the seventh or twelfth day after its birth, the name being chosen by the Moht&#363;ria 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, God&#257;vari, Jamuna, S&#299;ta, Laxmi and R&#257;dha. Opprobrious names are sometimes given to avert ill-luck,
+as Damdya (purchased for eight cowries), Kauria (a cowrie), Bhik&#257;ria (a beggar), Ghusia (from <i>ghus</i>, a mallet for stamping earth), Harchatt (refuse), Ak&#257;li (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 <a id="d0e5305"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5305">137</a>]</span>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), San&#299;chra (born on Saturday). One boy was called Mulua or
+&#8216;Sold&#8217; (<i>mol-dena</i>). 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 &#8216;lean,&#8217; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5310">
+<h3>9. Religion</h3>
+<p>The great body of the caste worship the ordinary deities Devi, Hanum&#257;n, D&#363;lha 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 N&#257;g-Panchmi they make an image of a snake with flour and sugar and eat it. At the sacred Amb&#257;la tank at
+R&#257;mtek the Mah&#257;rs have a special bathing-gh&#257;t 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 Mah&#257;rs may not touch the shrines of
+Mah&#257;deo, but must stand before them with their hands joined. They may sometimes deposit offerings with their own hands on
+those of Bh&#299;msen, originally a Gond god, and M&#257;ta Devi, the goddess of smallpox.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5315">
+<h3>10. Adoption of foreign religions</h3>
+<p>In Ber&#257;r and Bombay the Mah&#257;rs have some curious forms of belief. &#8220;Of the confusion which obtains in the Mah&#257;r theogony the
+names of six of their gods will afford a striking example. While some Mah&#257;rs worship Vithoba, the god of Pandharpur, others
+revere Varuna&#8217;s twin sons, Meghoni and Deghoni, and his four messengers, Gabriel, Azrael, Michael and An&#257;din, all of whom
+they say hail from Pandharpur.&#8221;<a id="d0e5320src" href="#d0e5320" class="noteref">15</a> The names of archangels thus mixed up with Hindu deities may most probably have been obtained from the Muhammadans, as they
+include Azrael; <a id="d0e5324"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5324">138</a>]</span>but in Gujar&#257;t their religion appears to have been borrowed from Christianity. &#8220;The Karia Dhedas have some rather remarkable
+beliefs. In the Satya Yug the Dhedas say they were called Satyas; in the Dv&#257;par Yug they were called Meghas; in the Treta
+Yug, Elias; and in the K&#257;li 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, Kuy&#257;m Rai by name, will marry a Dheda woman and will raise the caste to the position of Br&#257;hmans.
+They hold religious meetings or <i>ochhavas</i>, 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 <i>ochhava</i> 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 &#8216;<i>Avore Kuy&#257;m Rai R&#257;ja</i>&#8217;, &#8216;Oh! come Kuy&#257;m Rai, our king.&#8217;&#8221;<a id="d0e5335src" href="#d0e5335" class="noteref">16</a> It seems that the attraction which outside faiths exercise on the Mah&#257;rs 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 Isl&#257;m, 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 Mah&#257;r 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 Mah&#257;rs are the warmest adherents of the Muhammadan saint
+Sheikh Far&#299;d, and flock to the fairs held in his honour at Girar in Wardha and Part&#257;pgarh in Bhand&#257;ra, where he is supposed
+to have slain a couple of giants.<a id="d0e5340src" href="#d0e5340" class="noteref">17</a> <a id="d0e5345"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5345">139</a>]</span>In Ber&#257;r<a id="d0e5347src" href="#d0e5347" class="noteref">18</a> also they revere Muhammadan tombs. The remains of the Muhammadan fort and tank on Pimpardol hill in Jalgaon t&#257;luk are now
+one of the sacred places of the Mah&#257;rs, though to the Muhammadans they have no religious associations. Even at present Mah&#257;rs
+are inclined to adopt Isl&#257;m, 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.<a id="d0e5350src" href="#d0e5350" class="noteref">19</a> A large proportion of the Mah&#257;rs are also adherents of the Kab&#299;rpanthi 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 Mah&#257;rs is not one of unmixed intolerance.
+Once in three or four years in the southern Districts, the Panw&#257;rs, Mah&#257;rs, Pankas and other castes celebrate the worship
+of N&#257;r&#257;yan Deo or Vishnu, the officiating priest being a Mah&#257;r. Members of all castes come to the Panw&#257;r&#8217;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 Br&#257;hmans recognise fully the social evils resulting from the degraded position of the Mah&#257;rs, and
+are doing their best to remove the caste prejudices against them.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5355">
+<h3>11. Superstitions</h3>
+<p>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 t&#257;luk of Ber&#257;r it is stated that they so greatly fear the effect of an enemy <a id="d0e5360"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5360">140</a>]</span>writing their name on a piece of paper and tying it to a sweeper&#8217;s broom that the threat to do this can be used with great
+effect by their creditors.<a id="d0e5362src" href="#d0e5362" class="noteref">20</a> 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 Mah&#257;r&#8217;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 Malk&#257;pur of Ber&#257;r the Mah&#257;rs 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 <i>pari</i> or fairies, small creatures in human form, but with the power of changing their appearance, who do no harm to any one.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5370">
+<h3>12. Social rules</h3>
+<p>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. Mah&#257;rs 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.<a id="d0e5375src" href="#d0e5375" class="noteref">21</a> The women may be recognised by their bold carriage, the <a id="d0e5380"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5380">141</a>]</span>absence of nose-rings and the large irregular dabs of vermilion on the forehead. Mah&#257;r women do not, as a rule, wear the <i>choli</i> 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&#8217;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, &#8216;My mother or father-in-law
+had this done,&#8217; 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 Mah&#257;r caste or any higher one she is subjected after delivery to a semblance
+of the purification by fire known as Agnik&#257;sht. She is taken to the bank of a river and there five stalks of ju&#257;ri 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 M&#257;ng or Cham&#257;r or for being imprisoned in jail, or on a Mah&#257;r man if he lives with a woman of any higher caste;
+the penalty being the shaving of a man&#8217;s face or cutting off a lock of a woman&#8217;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 Mah&#257;r is by a cat or dog and in Yeotm&#257;l by a black dog.<a id="d0e5385src" href="#d0e5385" class="noteref">22</a> In Ber&#257;r, 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 Mah&#257;r can commit is to get vermin in a wound, which
+is <a id="d0e5388"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5388">142</a>]</span>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 Mah&#257;rs 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e5391" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p110.jpg" alt="Weaving: sizing the warp" width="548" height="674"><p class="figureHead">Weaving: sizing the warp</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5395">
+<h3>13. Social subjection</h3>
+<p>The social position of the Mah&#257;rs 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 Mah&#257;rs and Hindus take water from different sides of it. Mah&#257;r 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 Ch&#257;nda High
+School a mutiny took place and the school was boycotted for some time. The people say, &#8216;<i>Mah&#257;r sarva j&#257;t&#299;cha b&#257;har</i>&#8217; or &#8216;The Mah&#257;r is outside all castes.&#8217; Having a bad name, they are also given unwarrantably a bad character; and &#8216;<i>Mah&#257;r j&#257;t&#299;ch&#257;</i>&#8217; 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 R&#257;sm&#257;la:<a id="d0e5406src" href="#d0e5406" class="noteref">23</a> 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: &#8220;You have given offence to the P&#257;dish&#257;h. It
+is his intention to deprive you of caste and make you Muhammadans.&#8221; The Dhedas, in the greatest terror, pushed off in a body
+to the sovereign&#8217;s palace, and standing at a respectful distance shouted at the top of their lungs: &#8220;If we&#8217;ve offended your
+majesty, punish us in some other way than that. Beat us, fine us, hang us if you like, but don&#8217;t make us Muhammadans.&#8221; The
+P&#257;dish&#257;h smiled, and turning to his minister who sat by him affecting to hear <a id="d0e5409"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5409">143</a>]</span>nothing, said, &#8216;So the lowest caste is that to which I belong.&#8217; 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 Br&#257;hmans or at least R&#257;jp&#363;ts. A repartee of a Mah&#257;r to
+a Br&#257;hman abusing him is: The Br&#257;hman, &#8216;<i>J&#257;re Mah&#257;rya</i>&#8217; or &#8216;Avaunt, ye Mah&#257;r&#8217;; the Mah&#257;r, &#8216;<i>Kona d&#299;ushi ne&#299;n tumchi goburya</i>&#8217; or &#8216;Some day I shall carry cowdung cakes for you (at his funeral)&#8217;; as in the Mar&#257;tha Districts the Mah&#257;r is commonly engaged
+for carrying fuel to the funeral pyre. Under native rule the Mah&#257;r 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.<a id="d0e5417src" href="#d0e5417" class="noteref">24</a> 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 Br&#257;hman. In Gujar&#257;t<a id="d0e5422src" href="#d0e5422" class="noteref">25</a> they were not allowed to tuck up the loin-cloth but had to trail it along the ground. Even quite recently in Bombay a Mah&#257;r
+was not allowed to talk loudly in the street while a well-to-do Br&#257;hman or his wife was dining in one of the houses. In the
+reign of Sidhr&#257;j, the great Solanki R&#257;ja of Gujar&#257;t, the Dheras were for a time at any rate freed from such disabilities by
+the sacrifice of one of their number.<a id="d0e5428src" href="#d0e5428" class="noteref">26</a> The great tank at Anhilv&#257;da P&#257;tan in Gujar&#257;t had been built by the Ods (navvies), but Sidhr&#257;j 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 Sidhr&#257;j and saying that his tank should never hold water. The R&#257;ja, returning to Anhilvada, found the tank dry, and
+asked his minister what should be done that water might remain in the tank. The Pardh&#257;n, after consulting the astrologers,
+said that if a man&#8217;s life were sacrificed the curse might be removed. At that time the Dhers or outcastes were compelled to
+live at a distance from <a id="d0e5434"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5434">144</a>]</span>the towns; they wore untwisted cotton round their heads and a stag&#8217;s horn as a mark hanging from their waists so that people
+might be able to avoid touching them. The R&#257;ja commanded that a Dher named M&#257;yo should be beheaded in the tank that water
+might remain. M&#257;yo died, singing the praises of Vishnu, and the water after that began to remain in the tank. At the time
+of his death M&#257;yo 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 R&#257;ja assented and these privileges were afterwards permitted to the Dhers
+for the sake of M&#257;yo.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e5437" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p111.jpg" alt="Winding thread" width="720" height="484"><p class="figureHead">Winding thread</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5441">
+<h3>14. Their position improving</h3>
+<p>From the painful state of degradation described above the Mah&#257;rs 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 Br&#257;hman who cannot afford a second-class fare must either not travel or take the risk of rubbing shoulders
+with a Mah&#257;r 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&#8217;s end. The observance of the rules of impurity thus becomes so irksome that
+they are gradually falling into abeyance.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5446">
+<h3>15. Occupation</h3>
+<p>The principal occupations of the Mah&#257;rs 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 Mah&#257;rs 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.<a id="d0e5451src" href="#d0e5451" class="noteref">27</a> They are usually the village watchmen of the Mar&#257;tha 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 <a id="d0e5456"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5456">145</a>]</span>the Central Provinces a cash payment fixed by Government. In Ber&#257;r the corresponding official is known as the K&#257;md&#257;r Mah&#257;r.
+Mr. Kitts writes of him:<a id="d0e5458src" href="#d0e5458" class="noteref">28</a> As fourth <i>baluted&#257;r</i> on the village establishment the Mah&#257;r holds a post of great importance to himself and convenience to the village. To the
+patel (headman), patw&#257;ri 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.<a id="d0e5466src" href="#d0e5466" class="noteref">29</a> For the services which he thus renders as <i>p&#257;ndhew&#257;r</i> the Mah&#257;r receives from the cultivators certain grain-dues. When the cut ju&#257;ri is lying in the field the Mah&#257;rs go round
+and beg for a measure of the ears (<i>bh&#299;k pay&#257;li</i>). But the regular payment is made when the grain has been threshed. Another duty performed by the Mah&#257;r 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 Mah&#257;rs 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 Mah&#257;rs 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 N&#257;gpur country show that the position of the Mah&#257;rs is improving. In N&#257;gpur it is stated:<a id="d0e5478src" href="#d0e5478" class="noteref">30</a> &#8220;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 Mah&#257;r 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 <a id="d0e5483"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5483">146</a>]</span>the schoolmaster, if not superior to caste prejudices, discourages their attendance. Nevertheless, Mah&#257;rs 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 N&#257;gpur have opened a school for members of their own community. Occasionally a Mah&#257;r
+is the most prosperous man in the village. Several of them are moneylenders in a small way, and a few are m&#257;lguz&#257;rs.&#8221; Similarly
+in Bhand&#257;ra Mr. Napier writes that a new class of small creditors has arisen from the Mah&#257;r caste. These people have given
+up drinking, and lead an abstemious life, wishing to raise themselves in social estimation. Twenty or more village kotw&#257;rs
+were found to be carrying on moneylending transactions on a small scale, and in addition many of the Mah&#257;rs in towns were
+exceedingly well off.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5150" href="#d0e5150src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This derivation is also negatived by the fact that the name Mah&#257;ratta was known in the third century B.C., or long before
+the R&#257;strak&#363;tas became prominent.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5153" href="#d0e5153src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer; Gujar&#257;t Hindus</i>, p. 338.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5158" href="#d0e5158src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Ibbetson, <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5178" href="#d0e5178src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer, l.c.</i> text and footnote by R. v. J. S. Taylor.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5199" href="#d0e5199src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Kitts&#8217; <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), p. 143.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5207" href="#d0e5207src" class="noteref">6</a></span> See article on Panw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;t.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5215" href="#d0e5215src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), p. 144.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5227" href="#d0e5227src" class="noteref">8</a></span> Kitts&#8217; <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> p. 144.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5245" href="#d0e5245src" class="noteref">9</a></span> Described in the articles on Kurmi and Kunbi.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5248" href="#d0e5248src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>Loc. cit</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5266" href="#d0e5266src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer, Gujar&#257;t Hindus, loc. cit.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5275" href="#d0e5275src" class="noteref">12</a></span> In Ber&#257;r for ten days&#8212;Kitts&#8217; <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report, l.c.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5282" href="#d0e5282src" class="noteref">13</a></span> 3rd Bais&#257;kh (April) Sudi, commencement of agricultural year.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5285" href="#d0e5285src" class="noteref">14</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report, l.c.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5320" href="#d0e5320src" class="noteref">15</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report, l.c.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5335" href="#d0e5335src" class="noteref">16</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hindus</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5340" href="#d0e5340src" class="noteref">17</a></span> It was formerly suggested that the fact of the Mahars being the chief worshippers at the shrines of Sheikh Far&#299;d 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 <a id="d0e5342"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5342">148n</a>]</span>view of the way in which the Mehtars worship Musalm&#257;n saints, it seems quite likely that the Mah&#257;rs might do so for the same
+reason, that is, because Isl&#257;m 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.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5347" href="#d0e5347src" class="noteref">18</a></span> From Mr. C. Brown&#8217;s notes.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5350" href="#d0e5350src" class="noteref">19</a></span> <i>C.P. Police Gazette</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5362" href="#d0e5362src" class="noteref">20</a></span> Kitts, <i>l.c.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5375" href="#d0e5375src" class="noteref">21</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5385" href="#d0e5385src" class="noteref">22</a></span> Stated by Mr. C. Brown.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5406" href="#d0e5406src" class="noteref">23</a></span> Vol. ii. p. 237.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5417" href="#d0e5417src" class="noteref">24</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xii. p. 175.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5422" href="#d0e5422src" class="noteref">25</a></span> Rev. A. Taylor in <i>Bombay Gazetteer, Gujar&#257;t Hindus</i>, p. 341 f.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5428" href="#d0e5428src" class="noteref">26</a></span> The following passage is taken from Forbes, <i>R&#257;sm&#257;la</i>, i. p. 112.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5451" href="#d0e5451src" class="noteref">27</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xi p. 73.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5458" href="#d0e5458src" class="noteref">28</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xi. p. 73.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5466" href="#d0e5466src" class="noteref">29</a></span> Grant Duff; <i>History of the Mar&#257;thas</i>, vol. i. p. 24.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5478" href="#d0e5478src" class="noteref">30</a></span> <i>N&#257;gpur Settlement Report</i> (1899), p. 29.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e5485" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mahli</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. Origin of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>Mahli, Mahili</b>.<a id="d0e5495src" href="#d0e5495" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A small caste of labourers, palanquin-bearers and workers in bamboo belonging to Chota N&#257;gpur. In 1911 about 300 Mahlis were
+returned from the Feudatory States in this tract. They are divided into five subcastes: the B&#257;nsphor-Mahli, who make baskets
+and do all kinds of bamboo-work; the P&#257;har-Mahli, basket-makers and cultivators; the Sulunkhi, cultivators and labourers;
+the T&#257;nti 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 <i>Tribes and Castes</i> with those of the Sant&#257;ls seems to warrant the conjecture that the main body of the caste are merely a branch of the Sant&#257;ls.
+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, Dumri&#257;r
+the wild fig, Gundli a kind of grain, Kerketa a bird, Mahukal a bird (long-tail), Tirki, Tundu&#257;r and Turu are also Munda septs;
+and the three septs given of the Mahli-Munda subcaste, Bhuktu&#257;r, L&#257;ng Chenre, and S&#257;nga are all found <a id="d0e5504"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5504">147</a>]</span>among the Mundas; while four septs, Hansda a wild goose, Indu&#257;r 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.<a id="d0e5506src" href="#d0e5506" class="noteref">2</a> The Sant&#257;ls 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<a id="d0e5512src" href="#d0e5512" class="noteref">3</a> that the gipsy Berias use M&#257;njhi and Mahali as titles, and it is possible that some of the Mahlis may have joined the Beria
+community.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Social customs</h3>
+<p>Only a very few points from Sir H. Risley&#8217;s account of the caste need be recorded here, and for further details the reader
+may be referred to his article in the <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>. 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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s brother, equipped in similar fashion,
+and the two cavaliers sprinkle one another with water. At the wedding the bridegroom touches the bride&#8217;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
+<a id="d0e5525"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5525">148</a>]</span>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.
+<a id="d0e5527"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5527">149</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5495" href="#d0e5495src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article consists of extracts from Sir H. Risley&#8217;s account of the caste in the <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5506" href="#d0e5506src" class="noteref">2</a></span> See lists of exogamous septs of Mahli, Sand&#257;l, Munda and Puri in Appendix to <i>Tribes and Castes cf Bengal</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5512" href="#d0e5512src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Ethnology of Bengal</i>, p. 326.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e5528" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Majhw&#257;r</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e5570">1. Origin of the tribe</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5599">2. The M&#299;rz&#257;pur Majhw&#257;rs derived from the Gonds</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5612">3. Connection with the Kawars</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5628">4. Exogamy and totemism</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5652">5. Marriage customs. </a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5662">6. Birth and funeral rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5667">7. Religious dance</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5570">
+<h3>1. Origin of the tribe</h3>
+<p><b>Majhw&#257;r, M&#257;njhi, M&#257;jhia</b>.<a id="d0e5577src" href="#d0e5577" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A small mixed tribe who have apparently originated from the Gonds, Mundas and Kawars. About 14,000 Majhw&#257;rs were returned
+in 1911 from the Raigarh, Sarg&#363;ja and Udaipur States. The word M&#257;njhi means the headman of a tribal subdivision, being derived
+from the Sanskrit <i>madhya</i>, or he who is in the centre.<a id="d0e5586src" href="#d0e5586" class="noteref">2</a> In Bengal M&#257;njhi 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.<a id="d0e5589src" href="#d0e5589" class="noteref">3</a> 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 M&#257;njhi 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 Sant&#257;ls, and whether this meaning is derived from the prior signification
+of steersman or is of independent origin is, uncertain. In Raigarh Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l states that the M&#257;njhis or M&#257;jhias are fishermen
+and are sometimes classed, with the Kewats. They appear to be Kols who <a id="d0e5594"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5594">150</a>]</span>have taken to fishing and, being looked down on by the other Kols on this account, took the name of M&#257;jhia or M&#257;njhi, which
+they now derive from Machh, a fish. &#8220;The appearance of the M&#257;jhias whom I saw and examined was typically aboriginal and their
+language was a curious mixture of Mund&#257;ri, Sant&#257;l 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 Sant&#257;l words <i>mit, baria, pia</i>. Most of their terms for parts of the body were derived from Mund&#257;ri, but they also used some Sant&#257;li and Korwa words. In
+their own language they called themselves Hor, which means a man, and is the tribal name of the Mundas.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5599">
+<h3>2. The M&#299;rz&#257;pur Majhw&#257;rs derived from the Gonds</h3>
+<p>On the other hand the Majhw&#257;rs of M&#299;rz&#257;pur, 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, Tek&#257;m, 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 Mark&#257;m,
+Net&#257;m, Tek&#257;m, Mash&#257;m, Sindr&#257;m and so on. The Majhw&#257;rs of M&#299;rz&#257;pur also, like the Gonds, employ Path&#257;ris or Pardh&#257;ns 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 M&#299;rz&#257;pur
+from Sarg&#363;ja and the Vindhyan and Satp&#363;ra hills, as they say that their ancestors ruled from the forts of Mandla, Garha in
+Jubbulpore, S&#257;rangarh, Raigarh and other places in the Central Provinces.<a id="d0e5604src" href="#d0e5604" class="noteref">4</a> They worship a deified Ah&#299;r, whose legs were cut off in a fight with some R&#257;ja, since when he has become a troublesome ghost.
+&#8220;He now lives on the Ahlor hill in Sarg&#363;ja, where his petrified body may still be seen, and the M&#257;njhis go there to worship
+him. His wife lives on the Jhoba hill in Sarg&#363;ja. Nobody but a Baiga dares to ascend the hill, and even the R&#257;ja of Sarg&#363;ja
+when he visits the neighbourhood sacrifices a black goat. M&#257;njhis believe that if these two deities are duly propitiated they
+can give anything they need.&#8221; The story makes it <a id="d0e5610"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5610">151</a>]</span>probable that the ancestors of these M&#257;njhis dwelt in Sarg&#363;ja. The M&#257;njhis of M&#299;rz&#257;pur 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 Sant&#257;ls 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 N&#257;gpur.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5612">
+<h3>3. Connection with the Kawars</h3>
+<p>Again the M&#257;njhis appear to be connected with the Kawar tribe. Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l states that in Raigarh they will take food with
+Kewats, Gonds, Kawars and R&#257;wats or Ah&#299;rs, 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 Mirz&#257;pur the Kaurai Ahirs will take food and water from the Majhw&#257;rs, and these Ah&#299;rs are not improbably derived from the
+Kawars.<a id="d0e5617src" href="#d0e5617" class="noteref">5</a> Here the Majhw&#257;rs 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.<a id="d0e5623src" href="#d0e5623" class="noteref">6</a> Not improbably the M&#257;njhis may include some Kewats, as this caste also use M&#257;njhi for a title; and M&#257;njhi is both a subcaste
+and title of the Khairw&#257;rs. 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, Sant&#257;l and Kawar tribes. Whether the original bond of connection
+among the various people who call themselves M&#257;njhi was the common occupation of boating and fishing is a doubtful point.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5628">
+<h3>4. Exogamy and totemism</h3>
+<p>The M&#257;njhis of Sarg&#363;ja, like those of Raigarh, appear to be of Munda and Sant&#257;l 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, <i>lotan</i> meaning a place where buffaloes <a id="d0e5636"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5636">152</a>]</span>wallow and <i>singh</i> 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 B&#257;ghani Majhw&#257;rs, named after the <i>b&#257;gh</i> 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 B&#257;ghani sept hear that any Majhw&#257;r 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
+D&#363;mar<a id="d0e5644src" href="#d0e5644" class="noteref">7</a> 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 <i>shiroti</i> tree worship the tree every Sunday.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5652">
+<h3>5. Marriage customs. </h3>
+<p>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 <i>cheora</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e5660"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5660">153</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5662">
+<h3>6. Birth and funeral rites</h3>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5667">
+<h3>7. Religious dance</h3>
+<p>The tribe worship D&#363;lha 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 <i>karma</i> dance in the months of As&#257;rh and Kunw&#257;r 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 <i>karma</i> 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 M&#257;ndar. The dancing continues
+all night, and in the morning the host plucks up the branch of the <i>karma</i> 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 R&#257;ja, 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 <i>tulsi</i> or basil, four arrow-heads in the form of a cross, and the foot-ornament known as <i>pairi</i>.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5577" href="#d0e5577src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based on papers by Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l and Suraj Baksh Singh, Assistant Superintendent, Udaipur State, with references
+to Mr. Crooke&#8217;s exhaustive article on the Majhw&#257;rs in his <i>Tribes and Castes</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5586" href="#d0e5586src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Crooke, art Majhw&#257;r, para. 1.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5589" href="#d0e5589src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. M&#257;njhi.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5604" href="#d0e5604src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Crooke, <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. M&#257;njhi, para. 4.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5617" href="#d0e5617src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Crooke, <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal,</i> art. M&#257;njhi, para. 63.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5623" href="#d0e5623src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Ibidem,</i> para. 54.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5644" href="#d0e5644src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Ficus glomerata</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e5687" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>M&#257;l</h2>
+<p><b>M&#257;l, M&#257;le, M&#257;ler, M&#257;l Pah&#257;ria.</b><a id="d0e5693src" href="#d0e5693" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A tribe of the R&#257;jmahal hills, who may be an isolated branch of the <a id="d0e5702"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5702">154</a>]</span>Savars. In 1911 about 1700 M&#257;ls were returned from the Chota N&#257;gpur Feudatory States recently transferred to the Central Provinces.
+The customs of the M&#257;ls resemble those of the other hill tribes of Chota N&#257;gpur. 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&#8217;s
+account of the tribe:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The hill lads and lasses are represented as forming very romantic attachments, exhibiting the spectacle of real lovers &#8216;sighing
+like furnaces,&#8217; and the cockney expression of &#8216;keeping company&#8217; 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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the day fixed for a marriage the bridegroom with his relations proceeds to the bride&#8217;s father&#8217;s house, where they are
+seated on cots and mats, and after a repast the bride&#8217;s father takes his daughter&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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 M&#257;lers, 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 <a id="d0e5710"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5710">155</a>]</span>fine. The M&#257;njhi 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 M&#257;lers 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;I nowhere find any description of the dances and songs of the Pah&#257;rias. Mr. Atkinson found the M&#257;lers 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 Pah&#257;rias 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 <i>pachwai</i>, that is, fermented grain. The grain, either maize, rice or <i>janera</i> (<i>Holcus sorghum</i>), is boiled and spread out on a mat to cool. It is then mixed with a ferment of vegetables called <i>takar</i>, 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>When the attention of English officers was first drawn to them in 1770 the M&#257;les of the R&#257;jmahal 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 Bh&#257;galpur, 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 <a id="d0e5728"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5728">156</a>]</span>and jurisdiction, and enrolling a corps of M&#257;les, which became the Bh&#257;galpur 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 <i>The Tomb of his Ancestors</i>, though the character of the first John Chinn in the story was copied from Outram.<a id="d0e5733src" href="#d0e5733" class="noteref">2</a>
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5693" href="#d0e5693src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Based entirely on Colonel Dalton&#8217;s account in the <i>Ethnology of Bengal</i>, and Sir H. Risley&#8217;s in the <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5733" href="#d0e5733src" class="noteref">2</a></span> See <i>The Kh&#257;ndesh Bh&#299;l Corps</i>, by Mr. A. H. A. Simcox, p. 62.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e5739" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mala</h2>
+<p><b>Mala.</b>&#8212;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 Ch&#257;nda, N&#257;gpur, Jubbulpore, and Yeotm&#257;l Districts, and the Bastar State. The Mar&#257;thas commonly call
+them Telugu Dhers, but they themselves prefer to be known as &#8216;Telangi Sadar Bhoi,&#8217; which sounds a more respectable designation.
+They are also known as Mannepuw&#257;r and Netk&#257;ni. 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 Narsinghsw&#257;mi, the man-lion incarnation of Vishnu, are called
+Namadd&#257;r, while the followers of Mah&#257;deo are known as Lingad&#257;rs. The former paint their foreheads with vertical lines of sandal-paste,
+and the latter with horizontal ones. The M&#257;las were formerly zealous partisans of the right-handed sect in Madras, and the
+description of this curious system of faction given by the Abb&eacute; Dubois more than a century ago may be reproduced:<a id="d0e5746src" href="#d0e5746" class="noteref">1</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Most castes belong either to the left-hand or right-hand faction. The former comprises the Vaishyas or trading classes, the
+Panch&#257;las or artisan classes and some of the low S&#363;dra 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 S&#363;dras. The Pariahs
+(M&#257;las) are also its <a id="d0e5753"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5753">157</a>]</span>great support, as a proof of which they glory in the title of <i>Valangai Maugattar</i> 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 Br&#257;hmans, R&#257;jas and several classes of S&#363;dras 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.&#8221; The writer of the <i>Madras Census Report</i> of 1871 states:<a id="d0e5761src" href="#d0e5761" class="noteref">2</a> &#8220;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&#8217; 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 <a id="d0e5764"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5764">158</a>]</span>of the connubial state.&#8221; 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 S&#257;kta sect or the worshippers of
+Sakti as the female principle of life in nature. Dr. L. D. Barnett writes:<a id="d0e5766src" href="#d0e5766" class="noteref">3</a>&#8212;&#8220;The followers of the sect are of two schools. The &#8216;Walkers in the Right Way&#8217; (<i>Dakshin&#257;ch&#257;ri</i>) 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 K&#257;li, Durga, etc.), they differ little from ordinary Saivas and Vaishnavas.
+The &#8216;Walkers in the Left Way&#8217; (<i>V&#257;mach&#257;ri</i>), on the other hand, concentrate their thought upon the godhead in its sexually maternal aspect, and follow rites of senseless
+magic and&#8212;theoretically at least&#8212;promiscuous debauchery.&#8221; As has been seen, the religious differences subsequently gave rise
+to political factions.
+<a id="d0e5777"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5777">159</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5746" href="#d0e5746src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies</i>, ed. 1897, pp. 25, 26.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5761" href="#d0e5761src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Page 130.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5766" href="#d0e5766src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Hinduism</i>, in &#8216;Religions Ancient and Modern&#8217; Series, p. 26.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e5778" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>M&#257;li</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e5850">1. General notice of the caste, and its social position</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5913">2. Caste legend</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5943">3. Flowers offered to the gods</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e5989">4. Custom of wearing garlands</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6011">5. Sub-castes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6038">6. Marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6068">7. Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6079">8. Disposal of the dead</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6084">9. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6094">10. Occupation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6135">11. Traits and character</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6146">12. Other functions of the M&#257;li</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6156">13. Physical appearance</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5850">
+<h3>1. General notice of the caste, and its social position</h3>
+<p><b>M&#257;li, Mar&#257;r, Mar&#257;l</b>.<a id="d0e5857src" href="#d0e5857" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;The functional caste of vegetable and flower-gardeners. The terms M&#257;li and Mar&#257;r 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 Satp&#363;ra Districts and the
+Chhatt&#299;sgarh plain. In the Nerbudda valley and on the Vindhyan plateau the place of both M&#257;li and Mar&#257;r is taken by the K&#257;chhi
+of Upper India.<a id="d0e5863src" href="#d0e5863" class="noteref">2</a> Mar&#257;r appears to be a Mar&#257;thi name, the original term, as pointed out by Mr. Hira L&#257;l, being Mal&#257;l, or one who grows garden-crops
+in a field; but the caste is often called M&#257;li in the Mar&#257;tha country and Mar&#257;r in the Hindi Districts. The word M&#257;li is derived
+from the Sanskrit <i>m&#257;la</i>, a garland. In 1911 the M&#257;lis numbered nearly 360,000 persons in the present area of the Central Provinces, and 200,000 in
+Ber&#257;r. A German writer remarks of the caste<a id="d0e5871src" href="#d0e5871" class="noteref">3</a> that: &#8220;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 <a id="d0e5880"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5880">160</a>]</span>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.&#8221; It seems probable that the first M&#257;lis 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<a id="d0e5882src" href="#d0e5882" class="noteref">4</a> of the gardening castes: &#8220;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 R&#257;jp&#363;t would say: &#8216;What! Do you take me for an Ar&#257;in?&#8217; if anything was proposed which he considered
+derogatory.&#8221; But since most M&#257;lis 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 Br&#257;hmans would not take water from
+their hands as they do. Elsewhere Sir D. Ibbetson remarks:<a id="d0e5887src" href="#d0e5887" class="noteref">5</a> &#8220;The M&#257;lis 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 M&#257;lis.&#8221; Here is given what may perhaps be the true reason for the status of the M&#257;li caste as
+a whole. Again Sir C. Elliot wrote in the <i>Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Settlement Report</i>: &#8220;Garden crops are considered as a kind of fancy agriculture and the true cultivator, the Kis&#257;n, looks on them with <a id="d0e5895"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5895">161</a>]</span>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.&#8221; Similarly Mr. Low<a id="d0e5897src" href="#d0e5897" class="noteref">6</a> states that in B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t the Panw&#257;rs, the principal agricultural caste, look down on the Mar&#257;rs as growers of petty crops
+like <i>sama</i> and kutki. In Wardha the D&#257;ngris, 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 Bhand&#257;ra, 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.<a id="d0e5905src" href="#d0e5905" class="noteref">7</a> In Nim&#257;r the M&#257;lis rank below the Kunbis and G&#363;jars, the good agricultural castes, and it is said that they grow the crops
+which the cultivators proper do not care to grow. The K&#257;chhis, 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 Dh&#299;mars. Similarly,
+as will be seen later, the Mar&#257;rs themselves have customs pointing clearly to a non-Aryan origin. The Bhoyars of Bet&#363;l, who
+grow sugarcane, are probably of mixed origin from R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 M&#257;lis and the cultivating castes, as Br&#257;hmans will take water from both. It
+may be surmised that this privilege has been given to the M&#257;lis because they grow the flowers required for offerings to the
+gods, and <a id="d0e5911"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5911">162</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hmans will take water from them does not place the M&#257;lis on an equality with the
+cultivating castes, any more than it does the Nais (barbers) and Dh&#299;mars (watermen), the condemned menial servants of the
+cultivators, from whom Br&#257;hmans will also take water from motives of convenience.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5913">
+<h3>2. Caste legend</h3>
+<p>The M&#257;lis have a Br&#257;hmanical legend of the usual type indicating that their hereditary calling was conferred and ratified
+by divine authority.<a id="d0e5918src" href="#d0e5918" class="noteref">8</a> This is to the effect that the first M&#257;li was a garland-maker attached to the household of R&#257;ja K&#257;nsa 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 <i>pa&#299;ta</i>, and announced that for the future his caste would be ranked among the S&#363;dras.
+
+</p>
+<p>The above story, combined with the derivation of M&#257;li from <i>m&#257;la</i>, a garland, makes it a plausible hypothesis that the calling of the first M&#257;lis 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 M&#257;lis 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 M&#257;li:<a id="d0e5931src" href="#d0e5931" class="noteref">9</a> &#8220;To Hindus of all ranks, including even the Br&#257;hmans, he acts as a priest of Mah&#257;deo in places where no Gosain is to be found,
+and lays the flower offerings on the <i>lingam</i> by which the deity is symbolised. As the M&#257;li 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 Br&#257;hmans disdain to recognise and whom the Gosain is not permitted to honour the M&#257;li is sometimes employed
+to present the offering. He <a id="d0e5939"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5939">163</a>]</span>is thus the recognised hereditary priest of the lower and more ignorant classes of the population.&#8221; In the Central Provinces
+M&#257;lis are commonly employed in the temples of Devi because goats are offered to the goddess and hence the worship cannot be
+conducted by Br&#257;hmans. 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 M&#257;li 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 Mah&#257;deo in the
+Mar&#257;tha 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 M&#257;li the uses of irrigation.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5943">
+<h3>3. Flowers offered to the gods</h3>
+<p>Flowers are <i>par excellence</i> 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 <i>tulsi</i> 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 Br&#257;hman 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:
+<a id="d0e5954"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5954">164</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style="text-indent: 1em; "><span>To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Lead&#8217;st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style="text-indent: 1em; "><span>And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>And,
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style="text-indent: 1em; "><span>Nor altar decked with flowers,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Nor virgin choir to make delicious moan
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style="text-indent: 1em; "><span>Upon the midnight hours.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>M. Fustel de Coulanges describes the custom of wearing crowns or garlands of flowers in ancient Rome and Greece as follows:
+&#8220;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.&#8221; &#8220;The more a man is adorned with flowers,&#8221; they said,
+&#8220;the more pleasing he is to the gods; but they turn away from him who wears no crown at his sacrifice.&#8221; And again, &#8216;A crown
+is the auspicious herald which announces a prayer to the gods.&#8217;<a id="d0e5977src" href="#d0e5977" class="noteref">10</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>Among the Persians the flowers themselves are worshipped:<a id="d0e5984src" href="#d0e5984" class="noteref">11</a> &#8220;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&#8212;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e5989">
+<h3>4. Custom of wearing garlands</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e5994"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e5994">165</a>]</span>Rome and probably in other countries. The word &#8216;chaplet&#8217;<a id="d0e5996src" href="#d0e5996" class="noteref">12</a> 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, &#8216;With chaplets green upon their foreheads placed.&#8217; The word <i>m&#257;la</i> 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 &#8216;telling one&#8217;s beads.&#8217;
+Like the Sanskrit <i>m&#257;la</i>, 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 <i>m&#257;la</i>. If the rose was a sacred flower we can more easily understand its importance as a badge in the Wars of the Roses.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6011">
+<h3>5. Sub-castes</h3>
+<p>The caste has numerous endogamous groups, varying in different localities. The Ph&#363;lm&#257;lis, who derive their name from their
+occupation of growing and selling flowers (<i>ph&#363;l</i>), usually rank as the highest. The Gh&#257;se M&#257;lis 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 Ph&#363;lm&#257;lis, though the highest subcaste, have no objection. In
+Ch&#257;nda the Kosaria M&#257;lis, who take their name from Kosala, the classical designation of the Chhatt&#299;sgarh country, are the
+sole growers of turmeric, while in Ber&#257;r 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 <a id="d0e6019"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6019">166</a>]</span>destroyed; but the other M&#257;lis relate that one of the ancestors of the caste had a calf called Hardulia, and one day he said
+to his daughter, <i>Haldi pak&#257;</i>, or &#8216;Cook turmeric.&#8217; But the daughter thought that he said &#8216;cook Hardulia,&#8217; so she killed and roasted the calf, and in consequence
+of this her father was expelled from the caste, and his descendants are the Gh&#257;se 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 <i>Indian Folk-Tales</i>: &#8220;I was once speaking to a Hindu gardener of the possibility of turmeric and garlic being stolen from his garden. &#8216;These
+two vegetables are never stolen,&#8217; he replied, &#8216;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.&#8217;&#8221; The J&#299;re M&#257;lis are so
+named because they were formerly the only subcaste who would grow cumin (<i>jira</i>), but this distinction no longer exists as other M&#257;lis, except perhaps the Ph&#363;lm&#257;lis, now grow it. Other subcastes have territorial
+names, as Baone from Ber&#257;r, Jaipuria, Kanaujia, and so on. The caste have also exogamous septs or <i>bargas</i>, with designations taken from villages, titles or nicknames or inanimate objects.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e6034" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p112.jpg" alt="Bride and bridegroom with marriage crowns" width="720" height="434"><p class="figureHead">Bride and bridegroom with marriage crowns</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6038">
+<h3>6. Marriage</h3>
+<p>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 Mar&#257;rs of B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t and Bhand&#257;ra have the <i>lamjhana</i> 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 <a id="d0e6046"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6046">167</a>]</span>the locality. In Bet&#363;l 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.
+&#8220;Among the Mar&#257;rs of B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t<a id="d0e6048src" href="#d0e6048" class="noteref">13</a> the maternal uncle of the bridegroom goes to the village of the bride and brings back with him the bridal party. The bride&#8217;s
+party do not at once cross the boundary of the bridegroom&#8217;s village, but will stay outside it for a few hours. Word is sent
+and the bridegroom&#8217;s party will bring out cooked food, which they eat with the bride&#8217;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 <i>ralla-palla</i> or exchanging sisters in marriage. They are said to have a custom at weddings known as <i>kondia</i>, according to which a young man of the bridegroom&#8217;s party, called the <i>S&#257;nd</i> or bull, is shut up in a house at night with all the women of the bride&#8217;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.&#8221; But the caste have now become ashamed of this custom and it is being abandoned. In Chhatt&#299;sgarh
+the Mar&#257;rs, like other castes, have the forms of marriage known as the <i>Badi Sh&#257;di</i> and <i>Chhoti Sh&#257;di</i> 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 &#8216;Small Wedding&#8217; at the house of the bridegroom, at which the rites are curtailed
+and the expenditure considerably reduced.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6068">
+<h3>7. Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy</h3>
+<p>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 B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t<a id="d0e6073src" href="#d0e6073" class="noteref">14</a> the bridegroom and bride <a id="d0e6077"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6077">168</a>]</span>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 M&#257;lis 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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6079">
+<h3>8. Disposal of the dead</h3>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6084">
+<h3>9. Religion</h3>
+<p>Devi is the principal deity of the M&#257;lis. Weddings are celebrated before her temple and large numbers of goats are sacrificed
+to the favourite goddess at her festival in the month of M&#257;gh (January). Many of the Mar&#257;rs of B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t are Kab&#299;rpanthis and
+wear the necklace of that sect; but they appear none the less to intermarry freely with their Hindu caste-fellows.<a id="d0e6089src" href="#d0e6089" class="noteref">15</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6094">
+<h3>10. Occupation</h3>
+<p>The M&#257;li combines the callings of a gardener and nurseryman. &#8220;In laying out a flower-garden and in arranging beds,&#8221; Mr. Shearing
+remarks,<a id="d0e6099src" href="#d0e6099" class="noteref">16</a> &#8220;the M&#257;li is exceedingly <a id="d0e6104"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6104">169</a>]</span>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.&#8221; They are excellent and very laborious cultivators, and show much
+skill in intensive cultivation and the use of water. M&#257;lis are the best sugarcane growers of Bet&#363;l and their holdings usually
+pay a higher rental than those of other castes. &#8220;In B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t,&#8221; Mr. Low remarks,<a id="d0e6106src" href="#d0e6106" class="noteref">17</a> &#8220;they are great growers of tobacco and sugarcane, favouring the alluvial land on the banks of rivers. They mostly irrigate
+by a <i>dhekli</i> 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 Mar&#257;rs do general cultivation as well; but as a class are not considered skilled agriculturists.
+The proverb about their cultivating status is:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Mar&#257;r, M&#257;li jote t&#257;li
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>T&#257;li margayi, dhare kud&#257;li</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or, &#8216;The Mar&#257;r yokes cows; if the cow dies he takes to the pickaxe&#8217;; implying that he is not usually rich enough to keep bullocks.&#8221;
+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
+K&#257;chhis 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 id="d0e6120"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6120">170</a>]</span>a day. The common lift for gardens is the <i>mot</i> 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 <i>mot</i> from the well and backwards up the slope to let it down when empty.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e6129" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p113.jpg" alt="Bullocks drawing water with mot" width="720" height="402"><p class="figureHead">Bullocks drawing water with <i>mot</i></p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6135">
+<h3>11. Traits and character</h3>
+<p>&#8220;It is necessary,&#8221; the account continues, &#8220;for the Mar&#257;r&#8217;s business for one member at least of his family to go to market
+with his vegetables; and the Mar&#257;rin is a noteworthy feature in all baz&#257;rs, 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 Mar&#257;rin 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: &#8216;Jump from roof to roof, Monkey. Pull the tail of the Mar&#257;rin, Monkey,&#8217; She also rejoices in a very
+large <i>tikli</i> or spangle on her forehead and in a peculiar kind of <i>angia</i> (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 Mar&#257;rs 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6146">
+<h3>12. Other functions of the M&#257;li</h3>
+<p>Many M&#257;lis live in the towns and keep vegetable- or flower-gardens just outside. They sell flowers, and the M&#257;li girls are
+very good flower-sellers, Major Sutherland says, being famous for their coquetry. A saying about them is: &#8220;The crow among
+birds, the jackal among beasts, the barber among men and the M&#257;lin among women; all these are much too clever.&#8221; The M&#257;li also
+prepares the <i>maur</i> 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e6154"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6154">171</a>]</span>Mah&#257;deo. The M&#257;li keeps garlands for sale in the baz&#257;r, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6156">
+<h3>13. Physical appearance</h3>
+<p>&#8220;Physically,&#8221; Mr. Low states, &#8220;the Mar&#257;r 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 Mar&#257;r
+is to call him Patel.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5857" href="#d0e5857src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based principally on Mr. Low&#8217;s description of the Mar&#257;rs in the <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t District Gazetteer</i> and on a paper by Major Sutherland, I.M.S.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5863" href="#d0e5863src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>C.P. Census Report</i> (1891), para. 180.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5871" href="#d0e5871src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Schr&ouml;der, <i>Prehistoric Antiquities</i>, 121, quoted in Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. M&#257;li.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5882" href="#d0e5882src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), para. 483.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5887" href="#d0e5887src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, para. 484.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5897" href="#d0e5897src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t District Gazetteer</i>, para. 59.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5905" href="#d0e5905src" class="noteref">7</a></span> Mr. Napier&#8217;s <i>Bhandara Settlement Report</i>, quoted in article on Kohli.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5918" href="#d0e5918src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. M&#257;li.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5931" href="#d0e5931src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Brief View of the Caste System</i>, p. 15.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5977" href="#d0e5977src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>La Cit&eacute; antique</i>, 21st ed., p. 181.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5984" href="#d0e5984src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>The Antiquity of Oriental Carpets</i>, Sir G. Birdwood (Society of Arts, 6th November 1908).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e5996" href="#d0e5996src" class="noteref">12</a></span> The derivations of chaplet and rosary are taken from Ogilvy&#8217;s <i>Dictionary</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6048" href="#d0e6048src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t District Gazetteer</i> (C.E. Low), para. 59.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6073" href="#d0e6073src" class="noteref">14</a></span> <i>Ibidem, loc. cit.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6089" href="#d0e6089src" class="noteref">15</a></span> <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t District Gazetteer</i>, para. 59.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6099" href="#d0e6099src" class="noteref">16</a></span> <i>Hindu Castes</i>, vol. i. p. 327.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6106" href="#d0e6106src" class="noteref">17</a></span> <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t District Gazetteer, loc. cit.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e6161" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mall&#257;h</h2>
+<p><b>Mall&#257;h, Malha</b>.<a id="d0e6168src" href="#d0e6168" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;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 Mall&#257;hs as a distinct caste, as in both these Districts it appears from inquiry
+that the term is synonymous with Kewat. Apparently, however, the Mall&#257;hs 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 Mall&#257;hs, though, as their Arabic name indicates, of recent origin, have matured into a definite social
+group, including a number of endogamous tribes. The term Mall&#257;h has nothing to do with the Mulla or Muhammadan priest among
+the frontier tribes, but comes from an Arabic word meaning &#8216;to be salt,&#8217; or, according to another derivation, &#8216;to move the
+wings as a bird.&#8217;<a id="d0e6171src" href="#d0e6171" class="noteref">2</a> The Mall&#257;hs 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 Balir&#257;m, 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 R&#257;ma across the Ganges in Ben&#257;res, and it is said <a id="d0e6177"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6177">172</a>]</span>that R&#257;ma gave him a horse to show his gratitude; but Balir&#257;m was so ignorant that he placed the bridle on the horse&#8217;s tail
+instead of the head. And from this act of Balir&#257;m&#8217;s arose the custom of having the rudder of a boat at the stern instead of
+at the bow. The Mall&#257;hs 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 <i>panch&#257;yat</i> 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:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Jah&#257;n bethen Malao
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Tahan lage alao,</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or, &#8216;Where Mall&#257;hs sit, there is always a fire.&#8217; This refers to their custom of kindling fires on the river-bank to protect
+themselves from cold. In Narsinghpur the Mall&#257;hs 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 Mall&#257;hs are poor and illiterate, but rank with Dh&#299;mars and Kewats, and Br&#257;hmans will
+take water from their hands.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6168" href="#d0e6168src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based on papers by Mr. Shy&#257;m&#257;charan, B.A., B.L., Pleader, Narsinghpur, and Py&#257;re L&#257;l Misra, Ethnographic clerk.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6171" href="#d0e6171src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes of the N. W. P. and Oudh</i>, art. Mall&#257;h.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e6189" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>M&#257;na</h2>
+<p><b>M&#257;na</b>.<a id="d0e6196src" href="#d0e6196" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A Dravidian caste of cultivators and labourers belonging to the Ch&#257;nda District, from which they have spread to N&#257;gpur, Bhand&#257;ra
+and B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t. In 1911 they numbered nearly 50,000 persons, of whom 34,000 belonged to Ch&#257;nda. The origin of the caste is obscure.
+In the <i>Ch&#257;nda Settlement Report</i> of 1869 Major Lucie Smith wrote of them: &#8220;Tradition asserts that prior to the Gond <a id="d0e6202"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6202">173</a>]</span>conquest the M&#257;nas reigned over the country, having their strongholds at Surajgarh in Ahiri and at M&#257;nikgarh in the M&#257;nikgarh
+hills, now of Hyder&#257;b&#257;d, 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 Ch&#257;nda.&#8221; Another local tradition states
+that a line of M&#257;na princes ruled at Wair&#257;garh. The names of three princes are remembered: Kurumpruhoda, the founder of the
+line; Surj&#257;t Badw&#257;ik, who fortified Surj&#257;garh; and Gahilu, who built M&#257;nikgarh. As regards the name M&#257;nikgarh, it may be mentioned
+that the tutelary deity of the N&#257;gvansi kings of Bastar, who ruled there before the accession of the present R&#257;j-Gond dynasty
+in the fourteenth century, was M&#257;nikya Devi, and it is possible that the chiefs of Wair&#257;garh were connected with the Bastar
+kings. Some of the M&#257;nas say that they, as well as the Gow&#257;ris, are offshoots of the Gond tribe; and a local saying to the
+effect that &#8216;The Gond, the Gow&#257;ri and the M&#257;na eat boiled ju&#257;ri or beans on leaf-plates&#8217; 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 M&#257;na Ojhas,
+who lay claim to special sanctity, refusing to take food from any other caste.<a id="d0e6204src" href="#d0e6204" class="noteref">2</a> The Gonds have a subdivision called Mannew&#257;r, and as <i>w&#257;r</i> is only a Telugu suffix for the plural, the proper name Manne closely resembles M&#257;na. 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 M&#257;nas is
+that they were also the rulers of some tracts of Ch&#257;nda, and were displaced like the Parjas by a Gond invasion from the south.
+
+</p>
+<p>In Bhand&#257;ra, where the M&#257;nas hold land, it is related <a id="d0e6214"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6214">174</a>]</span>that in former times a gigantic kite lived on the hill of Ghurkundi, near S&#257;koli, and devoured the crops of the surrounding
+country by whole fields at a time. The king of Ch&#257;nda proclaimed that whoever killed the kite would be granted the adjoining
+lands. A M&#257;na shot the kite with an arrow and its remains were taken to Ch&#257;nda in eight carts, and as his reward he received
+the grant of a zam&#299;nd&#257;ri. In appearance the M&#257;nas, 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 Ch&#257;nda
+and Bastar, the M&#257;ria 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 K&#257;tol and other towns below the Satp&#363;ra hills, M&#257;nas were regularly enlisted as a town guard for repelling the
+Pind&#257;ri raids. Their descendants still retain the ancestral matchlocks, and several of them make good use of these as professional
+<i>shik&#257;ris</i> 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. M&#257;nas hold
+three zam&#299;nd&#257;ri estates in Bhand&#257;ra and a few villages in Ch&#257;nda; 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.<a id="d0e6219src" href="#d0e6219" class="noteref">3</a> The M&#257;na women are proverbial for the assistance which they render to their husbands in the work of cultivation.
+
+</p>
+<p>Owing to their general adoption of Mar&#257;tha customs, the M&#257;nas are now commonly regarded as a caste and not a forest tribe,
+and this view may be accepted. They have two subcastes, the Badw&#257;ik M&#257;nas, or soldiers, and the Kh&#257;d M&#257;nas, who live in the
+plains and are considered to be of impure descent. Badw&#257;ik or &#8216;The Great Ones&#8217; is a titular term applied to a person carrying
+arms, and assumed by certain R&#257;jp&#363;ts and also by some of the lower castes. <a id="d0e6227"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6227">175</a>]</span>A third group of M&#257;nas 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 Mar&#257;thi. It is worth noticing that several pairs of these septs, as Jam&#257;re and Gazbe, Narnari
+and Chudri, W&#257;gh and R&#257;wat, 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 M&#257;nas are the same as those of the
+other lower Mar&#257;tha castes, as described in the articles on Kunbi, Kohli and Mah&#257;r. A bride-price of Rs. 12&#8211;8 is usually paid,
+and if the bridegroom&#8217;s father has the money, he takes it with him on going to arrange for the match. Only one married woman
+of the bridegroom&#8217;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 Shivr&#257;tri and of Akh&#257;tij, and a day each in the months of
+M&#257;gh (January) and Ph&#257;gun (February). This rule, however, is not universal. Br&#257;hmans do not usually officiate at their ceremonies,
+but they employ a Br&#257;hman 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&#8217;s daughter to a sister&#8217;s son is a
+very favourite one, being known as M&#257;hunch&#257;r, and in this respect the M&#257;nas 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&#8217;s house, and here her clothes are taken
+off and buried by an exorcist with a view to laying the first husband&#8217;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 <a id="d0e6229"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6229">176</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The M&#257;nas have Bh&#257;ts or genealogists of their own caste, a separate one being appointed for each sept. The Bh&#257;t of any sept
+can only accept gifts from members of that sept, though he may take food from any one of the caste. The Bh&#257;ts are in the position
+of beggars, and the other M&#257;nas will not take food from them. Every man must have a Bh&#257;t for his family under penalty of being
+temporarily put out of caste. It is said that the Bh&#257;ts 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 M&#257;nas, 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 M&#257;na
+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 Bh&#257;ts have to address the M&#257;nas as &#8216;Brahma,&#8217; to show their respect, the M&#257;na replying &#8216;R&#257;m, R&#257;m.&#8217;
+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 Br&#257;hmans.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6196" href="#d0e6196src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based on papers by Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l and G. Padaya Naidu of the Gazetteer Office.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6204" href="#d0e6204src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Papers on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces</i>, p. 6.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6219" href="#d0e6219src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Rev. A. Wood in <i>Ch&#257;nda District Gazetteer</i>, para. 96.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e6233" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>M&#257;nbhao</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. History and nature of the sect</h3>
+<p><b>M&#257;nbhao</b>.<a id="d0e6243src" href="#d0e6243" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A religious sect or order, which has now become a caste, belonging to the Mar&#257;tha Districts of the Central Provinces and
+to Ber&#257;r. Their total strength in India in 1911 was 10,000 persons, of whom the Central Provinces and Ber&#257;r contained 4000.
+The name would appear to have some such meaning as &#8216;The reverend brothers.&#8217; The M&#257;nbhaos are stated to be a Vaishnavite <a id="d0e6252"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6252">177</a>]</span>order founded in Ber&#257;r some two centuries ago.<a id="d0e6254src" href="#d0e6254" class="noteref">2</a> 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 Ber&#257;r, is the present headquarters of the order, and contains a monastery and three temples, dedicated
+to Krishna and Datt&#257;treya,<a id="d0e6259src" href="#d0e6259" class="noteref">3</a> the only deities recognised by the M&#257;nbhaos. Each temple is named after a village, and is presided over by a Mahant elected
+from the celibate M&#257;nbhaos. 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 Ch&#257;ndur in Amraoti District; Akulne, a
+village near Ahmadnagar; L&#257;sorkar, from L&#257;sor, near Aurang&#257;b&#257;d; Mehkarkar, from Mehkar in Buld&#257;na; and others. The order thus
+belongs to Ber&#257;r and the adjoining parts of India. Colonel Mackenzie describes Ridhpur as follows: &#8220;The name is said to be
+derived from <i>ridh</i>, meaning blood, a R&#257;kshas or demon having been killed there by Parasur&#257;ma, and it owes its sanctity to the fact that the
+god lived there. Black stones innumerable scattered about the town show where the god&#8217;s footsteps became visible. At Ridhpur
+Krishna is represented by an ever-open, sleeplessly watching eye, and some M&#257;nbhaos carry about a small black stone disk with
+an eye painted on it as an amulet.&#8221; Frequently their shrines contain no images, but are simply <i>chabutras</i> or platforms built over the place where Krishna or Datt&#257;treya left marks of their footprints. Over the platform is a small
+veranda, which the M&#257;nbhaos kiss, calling upon the name of the god. Sukli, in Bhand&#257;ra, is also a headquarters of the caste,
+and contains many M&#257;nbhao tombs. Here they burn camphor in honour of Datt&#257;treya and make offerings of cocoanuts. They make
+pilgrimages to the different shrines at the full moons of Chait (March) and K&#257;rtik (October). They pay reverence to no deities
+except Krishna and Datt&#257;treya, and observe <a id="d0e6268"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6268">178</a>]</span>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 Bh&#257;gavat-G&#299;ta. 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 Bh&#257;gavat-G&#299;ta as follows: &#8220;&#8216;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.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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. &#8216;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.&#8217;&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>Again: &#8220;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Divisions of the order</h3>
+<p>The M&#257;nbhaos are now divided into three classes: the Brahmach&#257;ri; the Gharb&#257;ri; and the Bhope. The Brahmach&#257;ri are the ascetic
+members of the sect who subsist by begging and devote their lives to meditation, prayer and spiritual instruction. The Gharb&#257;ri
+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 <i>guru</i>. The ceremony is performed in strict privacy inside a temple. A man sometimes signifies his choice of a spouse by putting
+his <i>jholi</i> or beggar&#8217;s wallet upon hers; if she lets it remain <a id="d0e6285"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6285">179</a>]</span>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 <i>choli</i> 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 Ber&#257;r they are divided into thirteen <i>bas</i> or orders, named after the disciples of Arjun Bhat, who founded the various shrines. The M&#257;nbhaos 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 <i>guru mantra</i> or sacred verse into her ear. She addresses her preceptress as mother and the other women as sisters. The M&#257;nbhaos are intelligent
+and generally literate, and they lead a simple and pure life. They are respectable and are respected by the people, and a
+<i>guru</i> or spiritual teacher is often taken from them in place of a Br&#257;hman or Gosain. They often act as priests or <i>gurus</i> to the Mah&#257;rs, for whom Br&#257;hmans 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 Bh&#257;gavat-G&#299;ta 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.
+<a id="d0e6302"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6302">180</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Religious observances and customs</h3>
+<p>One of the leading tenets of the M&#257;nbhaos 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
+M&#257;nbhaos 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 <i>sendhi</i> or scalp-lock and moustaches of the novice must be cut off by his <i>guru</i>, 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e6314"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6314">181</a>]</span>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&#8217;s names have the
+suffix <i>Boa</i>, as Datto Boa, Kesho Boa, while those of boys end in <i>da</i>, as Manoda, Raoj&#299;da, and those of women in <i>Bai</i>, 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 M&#257;nbhao 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Hostility between M&#257;nbhaos and Br&#257;hmans</h3>
+<p>The M&#257;nbhaos are dissenters from orthodox Hinduism, and have thus naturally incurred the hostility of the Br&#257;hmans. Mr. Kitts
+remarks of them:<a id="d0e6330src" href="#d0e6330" class="noteref">4</a> &#8220;The Br&#257;hmans hate the M&#257;nbhaos, who have not only thrown off the Br&#257;hmanical yoke themselves, but do much to oppose the
+influence of Br&#257;hmans among the agriculturists. The Br&#257;hmans represent them as descended from one Krishna Bhat, a Br&#257;hman
+who was outcasted for keeping a beautiful M&#257;ng woman as his mistress. His four sons were called the <i>M&#257;ng-bhaos</i> or M&#257;ng brothers.&#8221; This is an excellent instance of the Br&#257;hman talent for pressing etymology into their service as an argument,
+in which respect they resemble the Jesuits. By asserting that the M&#257;nbhaos are descended from a M&#257;ng woman, one of the most
+despised castes, they attempt to dispose of these enemies of a Br&#257;hman hegemony without further ado.
+
+</p>
+<p>Another story about their wearing black or ashen-coloured clothes related by Colonel Mackenzie is that Krishna Bhat&#8217;s followers,
+refusing to believe the aspersions cast on their leader by the Br&#257;hmans, but knowing that <a id="d0e6340"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6340">182</a>]</span>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 <i>guru</i>, 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 <i>guru</i> 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&#8217;s precepts as good and worthy of being followed, only stipulating that for all time M&#257;nbhaos should
+wear clothes the colour of ashes, in memory of the sacred fire which had disclosed to them their <i>guru&#8217;s</i> sin.
+
+</p>
+<p>Captain Mackintosh also relates that &#8220;About A.D. 1780, a Br&#257;hman named Anand Rishi, an inhabitant of Paithan on the God&#257;vari,
+maltreated a M&#257;nbhao, who came to ask for alms at his door. This M&#257;nbhao, after being beaten, proceeded to his friends in
+the vicinity, and they collected a large number of brethren and went to the Br&#257;hman to demand satisfaction; Anand Rishi assembled
+a number of Gosains and his friends, and pursued and attacked the M&#257;nbhaos, who fled and asked Ahalya Bai, R&#257;ni of Indore,
+to protect them; she endeavoured to pacify Anand Rishi by telling him that the M&#257;nbhaos were her <i>gurus</i>; he said that they were M&#257;ngs, 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 Br&#257;hman&#8217;s house to ask for alms, and another that if any Br&#257;hman repeated Anand Rishi&#8217;s name and
+drew a line across the road when a M&#257;nbhao was advancing, the M&#257;nbhao, without saying a word, must return the road he came.
+Notwithstanding this attempt to prevent their approaching a Br&#257;hman&#8217;s house, they continue to ask alms of the Br&#257;hmans, and
+some Br&#257;hmans make a point of supplying them with provisions.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>This story endeavours to explain a superstition still observed by the caste. This is that when a M&#257;nbhao is proceeding along
+a road, if any one draws a line across the road with a stick in front of him the M&#257;nbhao will wait <a id="d0e6358"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6358">183</a>]</span>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:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>M&#257;nbhao hokar k&#257;le kapre d&#257;rhi m&#363;chi mundh&#257;ta hai,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Ulti lakri h&#257;th men pakri woh kya S&#257;hib milta hai;</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or, &#8220;The M&#257;nbhao wears black clothes, shaves his face and holds his stick upside down, and thinks he will find God that way.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>This saying is attributed to Kab&#299;r.
+<a id="d0e6369"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6369">184</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6243" href="#d0e6243src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is compiled from notes on the caste drawn up by Colonel Mackenzie and contributed to the <i>Pioneer</i> newspaper by Mrs. Horsburgh; Captain Mackintosh&#8217;s <i>Account of the Manbhaos</i> (India Office Tracts); and a paper by Py&#257;re L&#257;l Misra, Ethnographic clerk.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6254" href="#d0e6254src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), p. 62.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6259" href="#d0e6259src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Datt&#257;treya was a celebrated Sivite devotee who has been deified as an incarnation of Siva.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6330" href="#d0e6330src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), p. 62.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e6370" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>M&#257;ng</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e6412">1. Origin and traditions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6429">2. Subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6444">3. Marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6459">4. Widow marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6464">5. Burial</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6475">6. Occupation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6493">7. Religion and social status</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6412">
+<h3>1. Origin and traditions</h3>
+<p><b>M&#257;ng.</b><a id="d0e6418src" href="#d0e6418" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A low impure caste of the Mar&#257;tha Districts, who act as village musicians and castrate bullocks, while their women serve
+as midwives. The M&#257;ngs are also sometimes known as V&#257;jantri or musician. They numbered more than 90,000 persons in 1911, of
+whom 30,000 belonged to the N&#257;gpur and Nerbudda Divisions of the Central Provinces, and 60,000 to Ber&#257;r. The real origin of
+the M&#257;ngs 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 Mar&#257;tha book called the Sh&#363;dra Kaml&#257;kar<a id="d0e6421src" href="#d0e6421" class="noteref">2</a>, it is stated that the M&#257;ng 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 Br&#257;hman mother, and an Ambashtha of a Br&#257;hman father and a Vaishya mother. The business of
+the M&#257;ng was to play on the flute and to make known the wishes of the R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;ja&#8217;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 M&#257;ngs themselves
+relate the following legend of their origin as given by Mr. S&#257;the: Long ago before cattle were used for <a id="d0e6424"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6424">185</a>]</span>ploughing, there was so terrible a famine upon the earth that all the grain was eaten up, and there was none left for seed.
+Mah&#257;deo 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 Mah&#257;deo 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 Mah&#257;deo to give him some further assistance, and Mah&#257;deo 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 Mah&#257;deo 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 Mah&#257;deo, 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 Mah&#257;deo&#8217;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 M&#257;ng, are employed in the office for which
+he was created. It is further related that Nandi, the bull, cursed the M&#257;ng in his pain, saying that he and his descendants
+should never derive any profit from ploughing with cattle. And the M&#257;ngs say that to this day none of them prosper by taking
+to cultivation, and quote the following proverb: &#8216;<i>Keli kheti, Zh&#257;li mati</i>,&#8217; or, &#8216;If a M&#257;ng sows grain he will only reap dust.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6429">
+<h3>2. Subdivisions</h3>
+<p>The caste is divided into the following subcastes: Dakhne, Kh&#257;ndeshe and Ber&#257;rya, or those belonging to the Deccan, Kh&#257;ndesh
+and Ber&#257;r; Ghodke, those who tend horses; Dafle, tom-tom players; Uchle, pickpockets; Pind&#257;ri, descendants of the old freebooters;
+Kakark&#257;dhe, stone-diggers; Holer, hide-curers; and Garori. The Garoris<a id="d0e6434src" href="#d0e6434" class="noteref">3</a> <a id="d0e6437"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6437">186</a>]</span>are a sept of vagrant snake-charmers and jugglers. Many are professional criminals.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e6440" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p114.jpg" alt="M&#257;ng musicians with drums" width="720" height="401"><p class="figureHead">M&#257;ng musicians with drums</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6444">
+<h3>3. Marriage</h3>
+<p>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. S&#257;the 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&#8217;s face before marriage. The wedding
+is held at the bride&#8217;s house, but if it is more convenient that it should be in the bridegroom&#8217;s village, a temporary house
+is found for the bride&#8217;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&#8217;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 <i>mangal-s&#363;tram</i> or holy thread, which her husband ties on her neck at marriage; the <i>garsoli</i> 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 M&#257;ng wedding that the bridegroom
+should go to it riding on a horse. The Mah&#257;rs, another low caste of the Mar&#257;tha Districts, worship the horse, and between
+them and the M&#257;ngs 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 M&#257;ng riding on a horse is thus gall and wormwood to the Mah&#257;rs, who consider it a terrible degradation to the noble
+animal, and this fact <a id="d0e6455"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6455">187</a>]</span>inflaming their natural enmity, formerly led to riots between the castes. Under native rule the M&#257;ngs were public executioners,
+and it was said to be the proudest moment of M&#257;ng&#8217;s life when he could perform his office on a Mah&#257;r.
+
+</p>
+<p>The bride proceeds to her husband&#8217;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&#8217;s training for married life, she makes the girl come more frequently and stay longer.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6459">
+<h3>4. Widow marriage</h3>
+<p>The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow may marry any one except persons of her own family group or her husband&#8217;s
+elder brother, who stands to her in the light of a father. She is permitted, but not obliged, to marry her husband&#8217;s younger
+brother, but if he has performed the dead man&#8217;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&#8217;s family. Divorce is said to be
+permitted only for persistent misconduct on the part of the wife.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6464">
+<h3>5. Burial</h3>
+<p>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 <i>n&#299;m</i> tree (<i>Melia indica</i>). These they then spit out of their mouths to indicate their complete severance from the dead man.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6475">
+<h3>6. Occupation</h3>
+<p>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, <a id="d0e6480"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6480">188</a>]</span>ears and nose in order to clear them of any impediments. When a man is initiated by a <i>guru</i> or spiritual preceptor, the latter blows into his ear, and the M&#257;ngs therefore say that on account of this act of the midwife
+they are the <i>gurus</i> of all Hindus. During an eclipse the M&#257;ngs beg, because the demons R&#257;hu and Ketu, who are believed to swallow the sun and
+moon on such occasions, were both M&#257;ngs, 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 Ling&#257;yat M&#257;li or another M&#257;ng.<a id="d0e6488src" href="#d0e6488" class="noteref">4</a> In Mar&#257;tha villages they sometimes take the place of Cham&#257;rs, and work in leather, and one writer says of them: &#8220;The M&#257;ng
+is a village menial in the Mar&#257;tha 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.&#8221; In his menial capacity he receives presents at seed-time and harvest,
+and it is said that the Kunbi will never send the M&#257;ng empty away, because he represents the wrath of Mah&#257;deo, being made
+from the god&#8217;s sweat when he was angry.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6493">
+<h3>7. Religion and social status</h3>
+<p>The caste especially venerate the goddess Devi. They apparently identify Devi with S&#257;raswati, the goddess of wisdom, and they
+have a story to the effect that once Brahma wished to ravish his daughter S&#257;raswati. 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 M&#257;ng&#8217;s house, and the M&#257;ng stood
+in the door and kept off Brahma with a wooden club. In return for this S&#257;raswati blessed him and said that he and his descendants
+should never lack for food. They also revere Mah&#257;deo, 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 M&#257;ng&#8217;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 <a id="d0e6498"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6498">189</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hman, or if he is struck with the <i>kathri</i> or mattress made of rags which the villagers put on their sleeping-cots. Mr. Gayer remarks<a id="d0e6503src" href="#d0e6503" class="noteref">5</a> that &#8220;The M&#257;ngs 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 <i>n&#299;m</i> tree, and the M&#257;ngs of Sholapur spread <i>hari&#257;li</i><a id="d0e6513src" href="#d0e6513" class="noteref">6</a> grass and <i>n&#299;m</i> leaves on the spot where one of their caste dies.&#8221; The social status of the M&#257;ngs 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 Mah&#257;rs and M&#257;ngs 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 Br&#257;hman 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 Mah&#257;r or M&#257;ng.<a id="d0e6521src" href="#d0e6521" class="noteref">7</a> 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 <i>senai</i> flute which they carry and by a large ring of gold or brass worn in the lobe of the ear. A M&#257;ng&#8217;s sign-manual is a representation
+of his <i>bhall-sing&#257;ra</i> 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, &#8216;<i>M&#257;ng-Nirdayi</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;Hardhearted as a M&#257;ng.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6418" href="#d0e6418src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based partly on a paper by Mr. Achyut Sit&#257;r&#257;m S&#257;the, Extra Assistant Commissioner.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6421" href="#d0e6421src" class="noteref">2</a></span> P. 389.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6434" href="#d0e6434src" class="noteref">3</a></span> See also separate article M&#257;ng-Garori.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6488" href="#d0e6488src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), p. 147.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6503" href="#d0e6503src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Lectures on the Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces</i>, p. 79.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6513" href="#d0e6513src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Cynodon dactylon</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6521" href="#d0e6521src" class="noteref">7</a></span> Dr, Murray Mitchell&#8217;s <i>Great Religions of India</i>, p. 63.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e6536" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>M&#257;ng-Garori</h2>
+<p><b>M&#257;ng-Garori.</b>&#8212;This is a criminal subdivision of the M&#257;ng caste, residing principally in Ber&#257;r. They were not <a id="d0e6543"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6543">190</a>]</span>separately recorded at the census. The name Garori appears to be a corruption of Gar&#363;di, and signifies a snake-charmer.<a id="d0e6545src" href="#d0e6545" class="noteref">1</a> Gar&#363;da, the Brahminy kite, the bird on which Vishnu rides, was the great subduer of snakes, and hence probably snake-charmers
+are called Gar&#363;di. Some of the M&#257;ng-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&#8217;s <i>Notes on Criminal Tribes</i>.<a id="d0e6551src" href="#d0e6551" class="noteref">2</a> They usually travel about with small <i>p&#257;ls</i> 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 (<i>chaddi</i>), a waistband with fringe at either end (<i>katchhe</i>), and a sheet thrown over the shoulders. The N&#257;ik 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 <i>s&#257;ris</i> (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&#8217;s back is turned, <a id="d0e6566"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6566">191</a>]</span>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&#8217;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 M&#257;ng-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.<a id="d0e6568src" href="#d0e6568" class="noteref">3</a> Like the Bh&#257;mtas, the M&#257;ng-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<a id="d0e6574src" href="#d0e6574" class="noteref">4</a> writes as follows of the caste: &#8220;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 &#8216;wanderers, showmen, jugglers and conjurors,&#8217; and describes them as robbers
+who get their information by performing before the houses of rich bankers and others. M&#257;ng-G&#257;rori<a id="d0e6579src" href="#d0e6579" class="noteref">5</a> 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 <a id="d0e6582"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6582">192</a>]</span>another on to it saying, &#8216;If the obstacle is removed, break&#8217;; 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 Kal&#257;rs act as receivers of stolen property for the M&#257;ng-G&#257;roris.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>The following are some particulars taken from an old account of the criminal M&#257;ngs;<a id="d0e6586src" href="#d0e6586" class="noteref">6</a> Their leader or headman was called the <i>n&#257;ik</i> and was elected by a majority of votes, though considerable regard was paid to heredity. The <i>n&#257;ik&#8217;s</i> person and property were alike inviolable; after a successful foray each of the gang contributed a quarter of his share to
+the <i>n&#257;ik</i>, 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 Br&#257;hman 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&#8217;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 M&#257;ngs 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 Gop&#257;l, and
+waited to receive it back in like manner in the name of Jai Govind. Both Gop&#257;l and Govind are names of Krishna, The M&#257;ngs
+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 <a id="d0e6601"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6601">193</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6545" href="#d0e6545src" class="noteref">1</a></span> From a note by Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6551" href="#d0e6551src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Times Press, Bombay, 1882.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6568" href="#d0e6568src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Kennedy, <i>Criminal Classes of the Bombay Presidency</i>, p. 122.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6574" href="#d0e6574src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Lectures on some Criminal Tribes of India</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6579" href="#d0e6579src" class="noteref">5</a></span> This passage is quoted by Mr. Gayer from the Supplement to the Central Provinces Police Gazette of 24th January 1905.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6586" href="#d0e6586src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Hutton&#8217;s <i>Thugs, Dacoits and Gang-robbers of India</i> (1857), pp. 164&#8211;168, quoting an account by Captain Barr.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e6603" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Manih&#257;r</h2>
+<p><b>Manih&#257;r.</b><a id="d0e6609src" href="#d0e6609" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A small caste of pedlars and hawkers. In northern India the Manih&#257;rs are makers of glass bangles, and correspond to the Kachera
+caste of the Central Provinces. Mr. Nesfield remarks<a id="d0e6612src" href="#d0e6612" class="noteref">2</a> that the special industry of the Manih&#257;rs 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 Turk&#257;ris or S&#299;sgars, and the Manih&#257;rs 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 Manih&#257;r. In 1911 nearly 700 persons
+belonging to the caste were returned from the northern Districts of the Central Provinces. The Manih&#257;rs 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 <i>kankan</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217;s father thereupon makes a present of a
+rupee <a id="d0e6620"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6620">194</a>]</span>to the village <i>panch&#257;yat</i>, and his people are allowed to proceed. When the bridegroom reaches the bride&#8217;s house he finds her younger sister carrying
+a <i>kal&#257;s</i> or pot of water on her head; he drops a rupee into it and enters the house. The bride&#8217;s sister then comes holding above her
+head a small frame like a <i>t&#257;zia</i><a id="d0e6630src" href="#d0e6630" class="noteref">3</a> 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 <i>mehndi</i> or henna to the little finger of the boy&#8217;s right hand, in return for which she receives a rupee and a piece of cloth. The
+K&#257;zi then recites verses from the Kor&#257;n which the bridegroom repeats after him, and the bride does the same in her turn. This
+is the Nik&#257;h or marriage proper, and before it takes place the bridegroom&#8217;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 Nik&#257;h 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 <i>jan&#257;za</i> 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 Fak&#299;r 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
+Manih&#257;rs observe the Shabr&#257;t festival by distributing to the caste-fellows <a id="d0e6642"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6642">195</a>]</span><i>halua</i> or a mixture of melted butter and flour. The Shabr&#257;t is the middle night of the month Shab&#257;n, 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 Manih&#257;r women break their bangles when their husband&#8217;s corpse
+is removed to the burial-ground. The Manih&#257;rs 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&#8217;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 Nik&#257;h or marriage verses, omitting all other ceremonies. The Manih&#257;rs will admit into their community converted
+Hindus belonging even to the lowest castes.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6609" href="#d0e6609src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based on papers by Rai S&#257;hib N&#257;nakchand, B.A., Headmaster, Saugor High School, and Munshi Py&#257;re L&#257;l Misra
+of the Gazetteer office.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6612" href="#d0e6612src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Brief View</i>, p. 30.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6630" href="#d0e6630src" class="noteref">3</a></span> The <i>t&#257;zias</i> are ornamental representations of the tomb of Hussain, which the Muhammadans make at the Muharram festival.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e6646" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mannew&#257;r</h2>
+<p><b>Mannew&#257;r.</b><a id="d0e6652src" href="#d0e6652" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A small tribe belonging to the south or Telugu-speaking portion of the Ch&#257;nda District, where they mustered about 1600 persons
+in 1911. The home of the tribe is the Hyder&#257;b&#257;d State, where it numbers 22,000 persons, and the Mannew&#257;rs are said to have
+once been dominant over a part of that territory. The name is derived from a Telugu word <i>mannem</i>, meaning forest, while <i>w&#257;r</i> is the plural termination in Telugu, Mannew&#257;r thus signifying &#8216;the people of the forest.&#8217; The tribe appear to be the inferior
+branch of the Koya Gonds, and they are commonly called Mannew&#257;r Koyas as opposed to the Koya Doras or the superior branch,
+Dora meaning &#8216;lord&#8217; or master. The Koya Doras thus correspond to the R&#257;j-Gonds of the north of the Province and the Mannew&#257;r
+Koyas to the Dhur or &#8216;dust&#8217; Gonds.<a id="d0e6661src" href="#d0e6661" class="noteref">2</a> 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 <a id="d0e6664"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6664">196</a>]</span>own, but the Mannew&#257;rs 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&#8217;s village. Here they are met by the Pes&#257;muda 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 <i>mangalya</i> 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<a id="d0e6669src" href="#d0e6669" class="noteref">3</a> 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&#8217;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 Mannew&#257;rs
+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<a id="d0e6672src" href="#d0e6672" class="noteref">4</a> 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 Mannew&#257;rs make two human figures to represent K&#257;mi and Rati, or the god
+of <a id="d0e6677"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6677">197</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hmans 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.
+<a id="d0e6679"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6679">198</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6652" href="#d0e6652src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based on a note furnished by Mr. M. Aziz, Officiating N&#257;ib-Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r, Sironcha.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6661" href="#d0e6661src" class="noteref">2</a></span> From a glossary published by Mr. Gupta, Assistant Director of Ethnology for India.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6669" href="#d0e6669src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Generally the paternal aunt&#8217;s son.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6672" href="#d0e6672src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Bassia latifolia</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e6680" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mar&#257;tha</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e6767">1. Numerical statistics</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6774">2. Double meaning of the term Mar&#257;tha</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6803">3. Origin and position of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6873">4. Exogamous clans</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6914">5. Other subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6931">6. Social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6952">7. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e6988">8. Present position of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7013">9. Nature of the Mar&#257;tha insurrection</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7021">10. Mar&#257;tha women in past times</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7029">11. The Mar&#257;tha horseman</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7037">12. Cavalry in the field</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7071">13. Military administration</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7101">14. Sitting Dharna</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7110">15. The infantry</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7115">16. Character of the Mar&#257;tha armies</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6767">
+<h3>1. Numerical statistics</h3>
+<p><b>Mar&#257;tha, Mahr&#257;tta.</b>&#8212;The military caste of southern India which manned the armies of Sivaji, and of the Peshwa and other princes of the Mar&#257;tha
+confederacy. In the Central Provinces the Mar&#257;thas numbered 34,000 persons in 1911, of whom N&#257;gpur contained 9000 and Wardha
+8000, while the remainder were distributed over Raipur, Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Nim&#257;r. In Ber&#257;r 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 Hyder&#257;b&#257;d, and in
+1901 the India Census tables show a total of not less than five million persons belonging to it.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6774">
+<h3>2. Double meaning of the term Mar&#257;tha</h3>
+<p>It is difficult to avoid confusion in the use of the term Mar&#257;tha, which signifies both an inhabitant of the area in which
+the Mar&#257;thi 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 Mar&#257;thi-speaking country is Mah&#257;r&#257;shtra, which has been variously interpreted
+as &#8216;The great country&#8217; or &#8216;The country of the Mah&#257;rs.&#8217;<a id="d0e6779src" href="#d0e6779" class="noteref">1</a> A third explanation of the name <a id="d0e6785"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6785">199</a>]</span>is from the R&#257;shtrak&#363;ta dynasty which was dominant in this area for some centuries after A.D. 750. The name R&#257;shtrak&#363;ta was
+contracted into Rattha, and with the prefix of Mah&#257; or Great might evolve into the term Mar&#257;tha. The R&#257;shtrak&#363;tas have been
+conjecturally identified with the R&#257;thor R&#257;jp&#363;ts. The <i>N&#257;sik Gazetteer</i><a id="d0e6789src" href="#d0e6789" class="noteref">2</a> states that in 246 B.C. Mah&#257;ratta is mentioned as one of the places to which Asoka sent an embassy, and Mah&#257;rashtraka is
+recorded in a Ch&#257;lukyan inscription of A.D. 580 as including three provinces and 99,000 villages. Several other references
+are given in Sir J. Campbell&#8217;s erudite note, and the name is therefore without doubt ancient. But the Mar&#257;thas as a people
+do not seem to be mentioned before the thirteenth or fourteenth century.<a id="d0e6792src" href="#d0e6792" class="noteref">3</a> The antiquity of the name would appear to militate against the derivation from the R&#257;shtrak&#363;ta dynasty, which did not become
+prominent till much later, and the most probable meaning of Mah&#257;r&#257;shtra would therefore seem to be &#8216;The country of the Mah&#257;rs.&#8217;
+Mah&#257;ratta and Mar&#257;tha are presumably derivatives from Mah&#257;r&#257;shtra.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6803">
+<h3>3. Origin and position of the caste</h3>
+<p>The Mar&#257;thas 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 B&#299;japur and Ahmadnagar in the fifteenth and sixteenth
+centuries, as the Nimbh&#257;lkar, Gh&#257;rpure and Bhonsla;<a id="d0e6808src" href="#d0e6808" class="noteref">4</a> and presumably their clansmen served in the armies of those states. But whether or no the designation of Mar&#257;tha had been
+previously used by them, it first became prominent during the period of Sivaji&#8217;s guerilla warfare against Aur&#257;ngzeb. The Mar&#257;thas
+claim a R&#257;jp&#363;t origin, and several of their clans have the names of R&#257;jp&#363;t tribes, as Chauh&#257;n, Panw&#257;r, Solanki and Suryavansi.
+In 1836 Mr. Enthoven states,<a id="d0e6811src" href="#d0e6811" class="noteref">5</a> the Sesodia R&#257;na of Udaipur, the head of the purest R&#257;jp&#363;t house, was satisfied from inquiries conducted by an <a id="d0e6816"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6816">200</a>]</span>agent that the Bhonslas and certain other families had a right to be recognised as R&#257;jp&#363;ts. Colonel Tod states that Sivaji
+was descended from a R&#257;jp&#363;t prince Sujunsi, who was expelled from Mew&#257;r to avoid a dispute about the succession about A.D.
+1300. Sivaji is shown as 13th in descent from Sujunsi. Similarly the Bhonslas of N&#257;gpur were said to derive their origin from
+one Bunbir, who was expelled from Udaipur about 1541, having attempted to usurp the kingdom.<a id="d0e6818src" href="#d0e6818" class="noteref">6</a> As R&#257;jp&#363;t dynasties ruled in the Deccan for some centuries before the Muhammadan conquest, it seems reasonable to suppose
+that a R&#257;jp&#363;t aristocracy may have taken root there. This was Colonel Tod&#8217;s opinion, who wrote: &#8220;These kingdoms of the south
+as well as the north were held by R&#257;jp&#363;t sovereigns, whose offspring, blending with the original population, produced that
+mixed race of Mar&#257;thas 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 J&#257;don, T&uuml;&#257;r, P&uuml;&#257;r, etc.&#8221;<a id="d0e6823src" href="#d0e6823" class="noteref">7</a> This statement would, however, apply only to the leading houses and not to the bulk of the Mar&#257;tha caste, who appear to be
+mainly derived from the Kunbis. In Shol&#257;pur the Mar&#257;thas and Kunbis eat together, and the Kunbis are said to be bastard Mar&#257;thas.<a id="d0e6828src" href="#d0e6828" class="noteref">8</a> In Sat&#257;ra the Kunbis have the same division into 96 clans as the Mar&#257;thas have, and many of the same surnames.<a id="d0e6833src" href="#d0e6833" class="noteref">9</a> The writer of the <i>Satara Gazetteer</i> says:<a id="d0e6841src" href="#d0e6841" class="noteref">10</a> &#8220;The census of 1851 included the Mar&#257;thas with the Kunbis, from whom they do not form a separate caste. Some Mar&#257;tha families
+may have a larger strain of northern or R&#257;jp&#363;t blood than the Kunbis, but this is not always the case. The distinction between
+Kunbis and Mar&#257;thas is almost entirely social, the Mar&#257;thas as a rule being better off, and preferring even service as a constable
+or messenger to husbandry.&#8221; Exactly the same state of affairs prevails in the Central Provinces and Ber&#257;r, where the body
+of the caste are commonly known as Mar&#257;tha Kunbis. In Bombay the Mar&#257;thas will take daughters from the Kunbis in marriage
+for their sons, though they will not give their daughters <a id="d0e6846"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6846">201</a>]</span>in return. But a Kunbi who has got on in the world and become wealthy may by sufficient payment get his sons married into
+Mar&#257;tha families, and even be adopted as a member of the caste.<a id="d0e6848src" href="#d0e6848" class="noteref">11</a> In 1798 Colonel Tone, who commanded a regiment of the Peshwa&#8217;s army, wrote<a id="d0e6856src" href="#d0e6856" class="noteref">12</a> of the Mar&#257;thas: &#8220;The three great tribes which compose the Mar&#257;tha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd,
+and the Go&#257;la or cowherd; to this original cause may perhaps be ascribed that great simplicity of manner which distinguishes
+the Mar&#257;tha people.&#8221;
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e6862" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p115.jpg" alt="Statue of Mar&#257;tha leader, B&#299;mb&#257;ji Bhonsla, in armour" width="480" height="720"><p class="figureHead">Statue of Mar&#257;tha leader, B&#299;mb&#257;ji Bhonsla, in armour</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>It seems then most probable that, as already stated, the Mar&#257;tha caste was of purely military origin, constituted from the
+various castes of Mah&#257;r&#257;shtra who adopted military service, though some of the leading families may have had R&#257;jp&#363;ts for their
+ancestors. Sir D. Ibbetson thought that a similar relation existed in past times between the R&#257;jp&#363;ts and J&#257;ts, the landed
+aristocracy of the J&#257;t caste being gradually admitted to R&#257;jp&#363;t rank. The Khandaits or swordsmen of Orissa are a caste formed
+in the same manner from military service. In the <i>Imperial Gazetteer</i> Sir H. Risley suggests that the Mar&#257;tha people were of Scythian origin:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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 Mar&#257;thas, 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6873">
+<h3>4. Exogamous clans</h3>
+<p>In the Central Provinces the Mar&#257;thas are divided into 96 exogamous clans, known as the Chh&#257;nava Kule, which marry with one
+another. During the period when the Bhonsla family were rulers of N&#257;gpur they constituted a sort of inner circle, consisting
+of seven of the leading clans, with whom alone they intermarried; these are known as the S&#257;tghare or Seven Houses, and consist
+of the Bhonsla, G&#363;jar, Ahirrao, Mah&#257;dik, Sirke, Palke and Mohte clans. <a id="d0e6878"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6878">202</a>]</span>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 Mar&#257;tha families. It may be noted that the present representatives of
+the Bhonsla family are of the G&#363;jar clan to which the last R&#257;ja of N&#257;gpur, Ragh&#363;ji III., belonged prior to his adoption. Several
+of the clans, as already noted, have R&#257;jp&#363;t sept names; and some are considered to be derived from those of former ruling
+dynasties; as Ch&#257;lke, from the Ch&#257;lukya R&#257;jp&#363;t kings of the Deccan and Carnatic; More, who may represent a branch of the great
+Maurya dynasty of northern India; S&#257;lunke, perhaps derived from the Solanki kings of Gujar&#257;t; and Y&#257;dav, the name of the kings
+of Deogiri or Daulat&#257;b&#257;d.<a id="d0e6880src" href="#d0e6880" class="noteref">13</a> Others appear to be named after animals or natural objects, as Sinde from <i>sindi</i> the date-palm tree, Ghorpade from <i>ghorpad</i> the iguana; or to be of a titular nature, as K&#257;le black, P&#257;ndhre white, Bh&#257;gore a renegade, Jagth&#257;p renowned, and so on.
+The More, Nimbh&#257;lkar, Gh&#257;tge, M&#257;ne, Ghorpade, Dafle, J&#257;dav and Bhonsla clans are the oldest, and held prominent positions
+in the old Muhammadan kingdoms of B&#299;japur and Ahmadnagar. The Nimbh&#257;lkar family were formerly Panw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and took the
+name of Nimbh&#257;lkar from their ancestral village Nimb&#257;lik. 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 <i>ghorpad</i> or iguana.<a id="d0e6894src" href="#d0e6894" class="noteref">14</a> A noticeable trait of these Mar&#257;tha 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 <i>watan</i> or hereditary right, even after they had carved out for themselves principalities and states in other parts of India. The
+present Bhonsla R&#257;ja takes his title from the village of Deor in the Poona country. In former times we read of the R&#257;ja of
+Sat&#257;ra clinging to the <i>watans</i> he had inherited from Sivaji after he had lost his crown in all but the name; Sindhia was always termed <a id="d0e6903"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6903">203</a>]</span>patel or village headman in the revenue accounts of the villages he acquired in Nim&#257;r; while it is said that Holkar and the
+Panw&#257;r of Dh&#257;r fought desperately after the British conquest to recover the <i>pateli</i> rights of Deccan villages which had belonged to their ancestors.<a id="d0e6908src" href="#d0e6908" class="noteref">15</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6914">
+<h3>5. Other subdivisions</h3>
+<p>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 Mar&#257;thas proper. Among these are the Deshkar or &#8216;Residents of the country&#8217;; the Waindesha or those of Ber&#257;r and Kh&#257;ndesh;
+the Gangthade or those dwelling on the banks of the God&#257;vari and Wainganga; and the Gh&#257;tm&#257;the or residents of the Mah&#257;deo
+plateau in Ber&#257;r. It is also stated that the Mar&#257;thas are divided into the <i>Kh&#257;si</i> or &#8216;pure&#8217; and the <i>Kharchi</i> or the descendants of handmaids. In Bombay the latter are known as the Akarm&#257;shes or 11 <i>m&#257;shas</i>, meaning that as twelve <i>m&#257;shas</i> make a tola, a twelfth part of them is alloy.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6931">
+<h3>6. Social customs</h3>
+<p>A man must not marry in his own clan or that of his mother. A sister&#8217;s son may be married to a brother&#8217;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&#8217;s house riding on horseback and covered with a black blanket When a girl first becomes mature,
+usually after marriage, the Marathas perform the Sh&#257;ntik 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 Mar&#257;thas 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 <a id="d0e6936"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6936">204</a>]</span>dead when they can afford it and perform the <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> ceremony in the month of <i>Kunw&#257;r</i> (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 Mah&#257;deo. 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts,
+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 Br&#257;hman, R&#257;jp&#363;t, Tirole Kunbi, Ling&#257;yat Bania or
+Ph&#363;lm&#257;li.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Mar&#257;thas proper observe the <i>parda</i> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 <i>choti</i> or scalp-lock grow at the back. In appearance the men are often tall and well-built and of a light wheat-coloured complexion.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6952">
+<h3>7. Religion</h3>
+<p>The principal deity of the Mar&#257;thas is Khandoba, a warrior incarnation of Mah&#257;deo. 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 <i>khanda</i> or sword which he always carried. In Bombay<a id="d0e6960src" href="#d0e6960" class="noteref">16</a> he is represented on horseback with <a id="d0e6965"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6965">205</a>]</span>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 Mar&#257;tha country, and his symbol is a bag of turmeric powder known as <i>bhand&#257;r</i>. The caste worship Khandoba on Sundays with rice, flowers and incense, and also on the 21st day of M&#257;gh (January), which
+is called <i>Champa Sashthi</i> 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 Mar&#257;thas 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 Mar&#257;tha marauding expeditions started on Dasahra. On coming back they distribute to each other leaves of the <i>shami</i> tree (<i>Bauhinia racemosa</i>) 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 zam&#299;nd&#257;r 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 <i>Kunw&#257;r</i> (September), while the cultivators held their festival and worshipped their mares on the ninth day. It is recorded that the
+great R&#257;ghuji Bhonsla, the first R&#257;ja of N&#257;gpur, 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.<a id="d0e6982src" href="#d0e6982" class="noteref">17</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e6988">
+<h3>8. Present position of the caste</h3>
+<p>The Mar&#257;thas 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 N&#257;gpur:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Among the Mar&#257;thas 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 Mar&#257;thas. <a id="d0e6995"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e6995">206</a>]</span>Many of them own villages or hold tenant land, but as a rule they are extravagant in their living; and several of the old
+Mar&#257;tha 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, <i>sow&#257;rs</i> and hangers-on in the retinue of the more important families.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;What<a id="d0e7002src" href="#d0e7002" class="noteref">18</a> little display his means afford a Mar&#257;tha 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&#8217;s house and hold them before him when he
+comes out. Well-to-do Mar&#257;thas have usually in their service a Br&#257;hman clerk known as <i>div&#257;nji</i> or minister, who often takes advantage of his master&#8217;s want of education to defraud him. A Mar&#257;tha seldom rises early or
+goes out in the morning. He will get up at seven or eight o&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e7011"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7011">207</a>]</span>pay a visit to a friend. He will come back at eight or nine and go to bed at ten or eleven. But Mar&#257;thas who have estates
+to manage lead regular, fairly busy lives.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7013">
+<h3>9. Nature of the Mar&#257;tha insurrection</h3>
+<p>Sir D. Ibbetson drew attention to the fact that the rising of the Mar&#257;thas 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 <i>gurus</i> 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 Mar&#257;thas, for the rising was from its inception largely engineered by the Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans, 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 Br&#257;hmans and cows.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7021">
+<h3>10. Mar&#257;tha women in past times</h3>
+<p>Although the Mar&#257;thas have now in imitation of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts and Muhammadans adopted the <i>parda</i> 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 B&#257;ka
+B&#257;i, widow of Ragh&#363;ji II., is a conspicuous instance, while the famous or notorious R&#257;ni of Jh&#257;nsi is another case of a Mar&#257;tha
+lady who led her troops in person, and was called the best man on the native side in the Mutiny.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7029">
+<h3>11. The Mar&#257;tha horseman</h3>
+<p>This article may conclude with one or two extracts to give an idea of the way in which the Mar&#257;tha soldiery took the field.
+Grant Duff describes the troopers as follows:
+<a id="d0e7034"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7034">208</a>]</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;The Mar&#257;tha 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 Br&#257;hmans ride very short and ungracefully.
+The bridle consists of a single headstall of cotton-rope, with a small but very severe flexible bit&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7037">
+<h3>12. Cavalry in the field</h3>
+<p>The following account of the Mar&#257;tha cavalry is given in General Hislop&#8217;s <i>Summary of the Mar&#257;tha and Pind&#257;ri Campaigns</i> of 1817&#8211;1819:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Mar&#257;thas 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
+Mar&#257;tha 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 Mar&#257;thas would dishearten the bravest, actually darkening the
+plains with their numbers and clouding the horizon with <a id="d0e7047"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7047">209</a>]</span>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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>On this account the Mar&#257;thas were called <i>raz&#257;h-baz&#257;n</i> or lance-wielders. One Muhammadan historian says: &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e7054src" href="#d0e7054" class="noteref">19</a> The battle-cries of the Mar&#257;thas were, &#8216;<i>Har, Har Mah&#257;deo</i>,&#8217; and &#8216;<i>Gop&#257;l, Gop&#257;l</i>.&#8217;<a id="d0e7066src" href="#d0e7066" class="noteref">20</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7071">
+<h3>13. Military administration</h3>
+<p>An interesting description of the internal administration of the Mar&#257;tha cavalry is contained in the letter on the Mar&#257;thas
+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:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the great scale of rank and eminence which is one peculiar feature of Hindu institutions the Mar&#257;tha 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 Mar&#257;tha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd and the Go&#257;la or cowherd; to
+this original cause may perhaps be ascribed that great simplicity of manner which distinguishes the Mar&#257;tha 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, <a id="d0e7078"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7078">210</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The chief military force of the Mar&#257;thas consists in their cavalry, which may be divided into four distinct classes: First
+the Kh&#257;si Pagah or household forces of the prince; these are always a fine well-appointed body, the horses excellent, being
+the property of the Sirk&#257;r, who gives a monthly allowance to each trooper of the value of about eight rupees. The second class
+are the cavalry furnished by the Sill&#257;d&#257;rs,<a id="d0e7082src" href="#d0e7082" class="noteref">21</a> who contract to supply a certain number of horse on specified terms, generally about Rs. 35 a month, including the trooper&#8217;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 Pind&#257;ris, who are mere marauders, serve without any pay and subsist but by plunder, a fourth part of
+which they give to the Sirk&#257;r; but these are so very licentious a body that they are not employed but in one or two of the
+Mar&#257;tha services.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Mar&#257;tha 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 baz&#257;r which just enable them to exist. The Sill&#257;d&#257;r
+is very nearly as badly <a id="d0e7092"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7092">211</a>]</span>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 Mar&#257;tha 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 Mar&#257;thas. It is by no means uncommon for a Sill&#257;d&#257;r 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;When called upon for actual service the Sill&#257;d&#257;r is obliged to give muster. Upon this occasion it is always necessary that
+the Br&#257;hman who takes it should have a bribe; and indeed the H&#257;zri, 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 <i>tattus</i> 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 Sirk&#257;r, which in
+turn reimburses itself by irregular and bad payments; for it is always considered if the Sill&#257;d&#257;rs receive six months&#8217; 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 Mar&#257;tha 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 Mar&#257;tha 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 <a id="d0e7099"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7099">212</a>]</span>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 Sill&#257;d&#257;r 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 Sill&#257;d&#257;rs have troops in the pay of two or three chiefs at
+the same time, who are frequently at open war with each other.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7101">
+<h3>14. Sitting Dharna</h3>
+<p>&#8220;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 Mar&#257;tha; this is called Dharna,<a id="d0e7106src" href="#d0e7106" class="noteref">22</a> 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 Sirk&#257;r&#8217;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 Diw&#257;n 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 Mar&#257;tha Chiefs may be said to be nearly one-half
+of their time in a state of Dharna.
+<a id="d0e7109"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7109">213</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7110">
+<h3>15. The infantry</h3>
+<p>&#8220;In the various Mar&#257;tha services there are very little more than a bare majority who are Mar&#257;thas 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 Hindust&#257;n,
+and principally of the R&#257;jp&#363;t and P&#363;rbia 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 Musalm&#257;ns who serve in the different
+Mar&#257;tha armies, some of whom have very great commands.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7115">
+<h3>16. Character of the Mar&#257;tha armies</h3>
+<p>&#8220;The Mar&#257;tha 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 Mar&#257;tha 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 ju&#257;ri, 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 Mar&#257;thas frequently administer
+to their cattle, is enabled to perform incredible marches.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>The above analysis of the Mar&#257;tha 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 Pind&#257;ris. Like them they lived by plundering
+the country. &#8220;The Mar&#257;thas,&#8221; Elphinstone remarked, &#8220;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 <a id="d0e7122"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7122">214</a>]</span>larger supplies of the same kind.&#8221;<a id="d0e7124src" href="#d0e7124" class="noteref">23</a> 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 P&#257;n&#299;pat
+where their largest regular force took the field under Sad&#257;sheo 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 Mar&#257;thas 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 P&#257;n&#299;pat they lost the day by a
+sudden panic and flight after Ibrah&#299;m Kh&#257;n G&#257;rdi had obtained for them a decided advantage; while at Argaon and Assaye their
+performances were contemptible. After the recovery from P&#257;n&#299;pat and the rise of the independent Mar&#257;tha states, the assistance
+of European officers was invoked to discipline and train the soldiery.<a id="d0e7130src" href="#d0e7130" class="noteref">24</a>
+<a id="d0e7135"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7135">215</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6779" href="#d0e6779src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Sir H. Risley&#8217;s <i>India Census Report</i> (1901), Ethnographic Appendices, p. 93.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6789" href="#d0e6789src" class="noteref">2</a></span> P. 48, footnote.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6792" href="#d0e6792src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>N&#257;sik Gazetteer</i>, <i>ibidem</i>. Elphinstone&#8217;s <i>History</i>, p. 246.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6808" href="#d0e6808src" class="noteref">4</a></span> The proper spelling is Bhosle, but Bhonsla is adopted in deference to established usage.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6811" href="#d0e6811src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Bombay Census Report</i> (1901), pp. 184&#8211;185.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6818" href="#d0e6818src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. 269.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6823" href="#d0e6823src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, ii. 420.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6828" href="#d0e6828src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Sholapur Gazetteer</i>, p. 87.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6833" href="#d0e6833src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Sat&#257;ra Gazetteer</i>, p. 64.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6841" href="#d0e6841src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 75.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6848" href="#d0e6848src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Bombay Census Report</i> (1907), <i>ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6856" href="#d0e6856src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>Letter on the Mar&#257;thas</i> (India Office Tracts).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6880" href="#d0e6880src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>Sat&#257;ra Gazetteer</i>, p. 75.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6894" href="#d0e6894src" class="noteref">14</a></span> Grant-Duff, 4th edition (1878), vol. i. pp. 70&#8211;72.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6908" href="#d0e6908src" class="noteref">15</a></span> Forsyth, <i>Nim&#257;r Settlement Report</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6960" href="#d0e6960src" class="noteref">16</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xviii. part i. pp. 413&#8211;414.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e6982" href="#d0e6982src" class="noteref">17</a></span> Elliott, <i>Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Settlement Report</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7002" href="#d0e7002src" class="noteref">18</a></span> The following description is taken from the Ethnographic Appendices to Sir H.H. Risley&#8217;s <i>India Census Report</i> of 1901.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7054" href="#d0e7054src" class="noteref">19</a></span> Irvine&#8217;s <i>Army of the Mughals</i>, p. 82.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7066" href="#d0e7066src" class="noteref">20</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 232. Gop&#257;l is a name of Krishna.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7082" href="#d0e7082src" class="noteref">21</a></span> Lit. armour-bearers. Colonel Tone writes: &#8220;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 Mar&#257;tha
+horsemen, known as a <i>beuta</i>, 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.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7106" href="#d0e7106src" class="noteref">22</a></span> In order to obtain redress by Dharna the creditor or injured person would sit starving himself outside his debtor&#8217;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 Bh&#257;t. The account here given must be exaggerated.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7124" href="#d0e7124src" class="noteref">23</a></span> Elphinstone&#8217;s <i>History</i>, 7th ed. p. 748.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7130" href="#d0e7130src" class="noteref">24</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 753.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e7136" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mehtar</h2>
+<p>[<i>Bibliography</i>: Mr. R. Greeven&#8217;s <i>Knights of the Broom, Ben&#257;res</i> 1894 (pamphlet); Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Bhangi; Sir H. Risley&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Hari; Sir E. Maclagan&#8217;s <i>Punjab Census Report</i>, 1891 (Sweeper Sects); Sir D. Ibbetson&#8217;s <i>Punjab Census Report</i>, 1881 (art. Chuhra); <i>Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujar&#257;t</i>, Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam.]
+
+</p>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e7264">1. Introductory notice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7302">2. Caste subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7315">3. Social organisation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7325">4. Caste punishments</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7332">5. Admission of outsiders</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7339">6. Marriage customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7357">7. Disposal of the dead</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7374">8. Devices for procuring children</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7384">9. Divination of sex</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7389">10. Childbirth</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7396">11. Treatment of the mother</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7437">12. Protecting the lives of children</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7447">13. Infantile diseases</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7461">14. Religion. V&#257;lm&#299;ki</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7480">15. L&#257;lbeg</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7499">16. Adoption of foreign religions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7520">17. Social status</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7556">18. Occupation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e7619">19. Occupation (continued)</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7264">
+<h3>1. Introductory notice</h3>
+<p><b>Mehtar, Bhangi, Hari,<a id="d0e7270src" href="#d0e7270" class="noteref">1</a> Dom, L&#257;lbegi.</b>&#8212;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&#8212;the Chuhra in the Punjab, the
+Bhangi in the United Provinces and the Dom in Bengal&#8212;are all of them of great numerical strength. With these castes only a
+small proportion are employed on scavengers&#8217; work and the rest are labourers <a id="d0e7274"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7274">216</a>]</span>like the Cham&#257;rs and Mah&#257;rs 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 <i>bhanga,</i> 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.<a id="d0e7279src" href="#d0e7279" class="noteref">2</a> In Mr. Greeven&#8217;s account also, L&#257;lbeg, the patron saint of the sweepers, is described as intoxicated with the hemp drug on
+two occasions.<a id="d0e7282src" href="#d0e7282" class="noteref">3</a> Mr. Bh&#299;mbhai Kirp&#257;r&#257;m suggests<a id="d0e7285src" href="#d0e7285" class="noteref">4</a> 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 Gujar&#257;t if a Koli is asked
+to split a bamboo he will say, &#8216;Am I to do Bhangia&#8217;s work?&#8217; 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 (<i>ch&#363;ra-jh&#257;rna</i>) Similarly, in Bombay they are known as Olganas or scrap-eaters. The Bengal name H&#257;ri is supposed to come from <i>haddi</i>, a bone; the H&#257;ri is the bone-gatherer, and was familiar to early settlers of Calcutta under the quaint designation of the
+&#8216;harry-wench,&#8217;<a id="d0e7294src" href="#d0e7294" class="noteref">5</a> In the Central Provinces sections of the Ghasia, Mah&#257;r and Dom castes will do sweepers&#8217; 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, <a id="d0e7300"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7300">217</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7302">
+<h3>2. Caste subdivisions</h3>
+<p>Mr. Greeven gives seven main subdivisions, of which the L&#257;lbegis or the followers of L&#257;lbeg, the patron saint of sweepers,
+are the most important. The R&#257;wats appear to be an aristocratic subdivision of the L&#257;lbegis, their name being a corruption
+of the Sanskrit R&#257;jp&#363;tra, a prince. The Shaikh Mehtars are the only real Muhammadan branch, for though the L&#257;lbegis worship
+a Musalm&#257;n saint they remain Hindus. The H&#257;ris 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 <i>hela</i>, 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<a id="d0e7310src" href="#d0e7310" class="noteref">6</a>. The other subcastes in his list are the Dh&#257;nuks or bowmen and the B&#257;nsphors or cleavers of bamboos. In the Central Provinces
+the Shaikh Mehtars belong principally to N&#257;gpur, and another subcaste, the Makhia, is also found in the Mar&#257;tha Districts
+and in Berar; those branches of the Ghasia and Dom castes who consent to do scavengers&#8217; 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 L&#257;lbegis are often considered here as Muhammadans rather than Hindus, and bury their dead. In Saugor the
+sweepers are said to be divided into L&#257;lbegis or Muhammadans and Doms or Hindus. The L&#257;lbegi, Dom or Dumar and the Hela are
+the principal subcastes of the north of the Province, and Chuhra Mehtars are found in Chhatt&#299;sgarh. Each subcaste is divided
+into a number of exogamous sections named after plants and animals.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7315">
+<h3>3. Social organisation</h3>
+<p>In Ben&#257;res each subdivision, Mr. Greeven states, has an elaborate and quasi-military organisation. Thus the L&#257;lbegi sweepers
+have eight companies or <i>berhas</i>, consisting of the sweepers working in different localities; these are the Sadar, or those employed by private residents
+in cantonments; <a id="d0e7323"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7323">218</a>]</span>the K&#257;li Paltan, who serve the Bengal Infantry; the L&#257;l 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 R&#257;mnagar,
+taking their name from the residence of the Mah&#257;r&#257;ja of Ben&#257;res, whom they serve; the Koth&#299;w&#257;l, 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 Ben&#257;res 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&#8212;a Jam&#257;d&#257;r
+or president, a Munsif or spokesman, a Chaudhari or treasurer and a N&#257;ib 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 Sip&#257;his 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 Sip&#257;his in his company.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7325">
+<h3>4. Caste punishments</h3>
+<p>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 id="d0e7330"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7330">219</a>]</span>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 Cham&#257;rs (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 Sip&#257;his in turn. The messenger repeats to the culprit the council&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7332">
+<h3>5. Admission of outsiders</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e7337"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7337">220</a>]</span>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 L&#257;lbeg 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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7339">
+<h3>6. Marriage customs</h3>
+<p>The marriage ceremony in the Central Provinces follows the ordinary Hindu ritual. The <i>lagan</i> or paper fixing the date of the wedding is written by a Br&#257;hman, who seats himself at some distance from the sweeper&#8217;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&#8217;s house without looking
+behind him. The <i>saw&#257;sas</i> or relatives of the parties usually officiate at the ceremony, but the well-to-do sometimes engage a Br&#257;hman, 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 L&#257;lbegis, when a man wishes to get rid of
+his wife he assembles the brethren and in their presence says to her, &#8216;You are as my sister,&#8217; and she answers, &#8216;You are as
+my father and brother.&#8217;<a id="d0e7350src" href="#d0e7350" class="noteref">7</a>
+<a id="d0e7356"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7356">221</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7357">
+<h3>7. Disposal of the dead</h3>
+<p>The dead are usually buried, but the well-to-do sometimes cremate them. In Ben&#257;res 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.<a id="d0e7362src" href="#d0e7362" class="noteref">8</a> In Ben&#257;res 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.<a id="d0e7368src" href="#d0e7368" class="noteref">9</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7374">
+<h3>8. Devices for procuring children</h3>
+<p>If a woman greatly desires a child she will go to a shrine and lay a stone on it which she calls the <i>dharna</i> 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&#8217;s soiled swaddling clothes or
+a <a id="d0e7382"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7382">222</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7384">
+<h3>9. Divination of sex</h3>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7389">
+<h3>10. Childbirth</h3>
+<p>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, &#8216;Take my name,&#8217; and the daughter repeats her mother&#8217;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 <a id="d0e7394"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7394">223</a>]</span>become responsible. The mother&#8217;s name exerts pressure or influence on the goddess who is at the time occupied with the daughter
+or perhaps sojourning in her body.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7396">
+<h3>11. Treatment of the mother</h3>
+<p>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, <i>azgan</i> (a condiment), turmeric, nutmeg, <i>ajw&#257;in</i> (aniseed), dates, almonds, raisins, cocoanut, wild <i>sing&#257;ra</i> or water-nut, cumin, <i>chironji</i>,<a id="d0e7413src" href="#d0e7413" class="noteref">10</a> the gum of the <i>bab&#363;l</i><a id="d0e7424src" href="#d0e7424" class="noteref">11</a> or <i>khair</i>,<a id="d0e7432src" href="#d0e7432" class="noteref">12</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7437">
+<h3>12. Protecting the lives of children</h3>
+<p>If the mother&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e7442"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7442">224</a>]</span>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&#8217;s throat by the
+<i>hal&#257;l</i> rite and bury it with the after-birth. The idea is thus that the goat&#8217;s life is a substitute for that of the child. By being
+passed over the child it takes the child&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7447">
+<h3>13. Infantile diseases</h3>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+<p>If a child&#8217;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&#8217;s neck.
+
+</p>
+<p>For jaundice they get the flesh of a yellow snake which appears in the rains, and of the <i>rohu</i> fish which has yellowish scales, and hang them to its neck; or they get a verse of the Kor&#257;n 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&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e7459"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7459">225</a>]</span>round the child&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s claws set in silver, or the tail of a lizard enclosed in lac
+and made into a ring.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7461">
+<h3>14. Religion. V&#257;lm&#299;ki</h3>
+<p>The religion of the sweepers has been described at length by Mr. Greeven and Mr. Crooke. It centres round the worship of two
+saints, L&#257;lbeg or Bale Sh&#257;h and B&#257;lnek or B&#257;lm&#299;k, who is really the huntsman V&#257;lm&#299;ki, the reputed author of the R&#257;m&#257;yana.
+B&#257;lm&#299;k was originally a low-caste hunter called Ratnak&#257;r, 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 R&#257;ma until he should be purified of them. But the
+hunter&#8217;s heart was so evil that he could not pronounce the divine name, and instead he repeated &#8216;<i>M&#257;ra, M&#257;ra</i>&#8217; (<i>struck, struck</i>), but in the end by repetition this came to the same thing. Mr. Greeven&#8217;s account continues: &#8220;As a small spark of fire burneth
+up a heap of cotton, so the word R&#257;ma cleaneth a man of all his sins. So the words &#8216;R&#257;m, R&#257;m,&#8217; were taught unto Ratnak&#257;r 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 R&#257;ma. After sixty thousand years Brahma returned. No man could he see, yet he heard
+the voice of R&#257;m, R&#257;m, 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 <a id="d0e7472"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7472">226</a>]</span>bones remained. Brahma called aloud to the saint. When the saint beheld him he prostrated himself and spake: &#8216;Thou hast taught
+me the words &#8220;R&#257;m, R&#257;m,&#8221; which have cleansed away all my sins.&#8217; Then spake Brahma: &#8216;Hitherto thou wast Ratnak&#257;r. From to-day
+thy name shall be V&#257;lm&#299;ki (from <i>valm&#299;k</i>, an ant-hill). Now do thou compose a R&#257;m&#257;yana in seven parts, containing the deeds and exploits of R&#257;ma.&#8217;&#8221; V&#257;lm&#299;ki had been
+or afterwards became a sweeper and was known as &#8216;cooker of dog&#8217;s food&#8217; (Swapach), a name applied to sweepers<a id="d0e7477src" href="#d0e7477" class="noteref">13</a>, who have adopted him as their eponymous ancestor and patron saint.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7480">
+<h3>15. L&#257;lbeg</h3>
+<p>L&#257;lbeg, who is still more widely venerated, is considered to have been Gh&#257;zi Miy&#257;n, the nephew of Sult&#257;n Muhammad of Ghazni,
+and a saint much worshipped in the Punjab. Many legends are told of L&#257;lbeg, and his worship is described by Mr. Greeven as
+follows:<a id="d0e7485src" href="#d0e7485" class="noteref">14</a> &#8220;The ritual of L&#257;lbeg is conducted in the presence of the whole brotherhood, as a rule at the festival of the Diw&#257;li 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.&#8221; A cock is offered to L&#257;lbeg 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 <i>guru</i> or priest who is the successor of L&#257;lbeg 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 L&#257;lbegi can go to heaven, but
+those on whom the dust raised by a L&#257;lbegi sweeping settles acquire some modicum of virtue. Similarly Mr. Greeven <a id="d0e7491"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7491">227</a>]</span>remarks:<a id="d0e7493src" href="#d0e7493" class="noteref">15</a> &#8220;Sweepers by no means endorse the humble opinion entertained with respect to them; for they allude to castes such as Kunbis
+and Cham&#257;rs as petty (<i>chhota</i>), while a common anecdote is related to the effect that a L&#257;lbegi, when asked whether Muhammadans could obtain salvation,
+replied: &#8216;I never heard of it, but perhaps they might slip in behind L&#257;lbeg.&#8217;&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7499">
+<h3>16. Adoption of foreign religions</h3>
+<p>On the whole the religion of the L&#257;lbegis appears to be monotheistic and of a sufficiently elevated character, resembling
+that of the Kab&#299;rpanthis 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:<a id="d0e7504src" href="#d0e7504" class="noteref">16</a> &#8220;As may be readily imagined, the scavengers are merely in name the disciples of N&#257;nak Sh&#257;h, professing in fact to be his
+followers just as they are prepared at a moment&#8217;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 N&#257;nak Sh&#257;h 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 Ben&#257;res no more becomes a Sikh by
+taking N&#257;nak Sh&#257;h&#8217;s motto than he becomes a Christian by wearing a round hat and a pair of trousers.&#8221; It was probably with
+a similar leaning towards the more liberal religion that the L&#257;lbegis, 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.<a id="d0e7507src" href="#d0e7507" class="noteref">17</a> 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, &#8220;The Dom is regarded with both disgust and fear by all classes
+of Hindus, not only on <a id="d0e7512"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7512">228</a>]</span>account of his habits being abhorrent and abominable, but also because he is believed to have no humane or kindly feelings&#8221;;
+and further, &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e7514src" href="#d0e7514" class="noteref">18</a> 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 Z&#257;hir P&#299;r. At the fasts in Chait and Kunw&#257;r (March and September) they tie
+cocoanuts wrapped in cloth to the top of a long bamboo, and marching to the tomb of Z&#257;hir P&#299;r make offerings of cakes and
+sweetmeats. Before starting for his day&#8217;s work the sweeper does obeisance to his basket and broom.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7520">
+<h3>17. Social status</h3>
+<p>The sweeper stands at the very bottom of the social ladder of Hinduism. He is considered to be the representative of the Chand&#257;la
+of Manu,<a id="d0e7525src" href="#d0e7525" class="noteref">19</a> who was said to be descended of a S&#363;dra father and a Br&#257;hman woman. &#8220;It was ordained that the Chand&#257;la 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 Chand&#257;las 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 R&#257;ja, 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.&#8221; Elsewhere the Chand&#257;la 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 Br&#257;hman allow to see him when eating.<a id="d0e7530src" href="#d0e7530" class="noteref">20</a> Like the Chand&#257;la, the sweeper cannot be touched, and he <a id="d0e7535"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7535">229</a>]</span>himself acquiesces in this and walks apart. In large towns he sometimes carries a kite&#8217;s wing in his turban to show his caste,
+or goes aloof saying <i>pois</i>, 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&#8217;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 <span id="d0e7540" class="corr" title="Source: Lakshhmi">Lakshmi</span> used in cleaning the house. No one should tread upon or touch it with his foot. The sweeper&#8217;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 Gujar&#257;t Mr. Bh&#299;mbhai Kirp&#257;r&#257;m writes
+of him: &#8220;Though he is held to be lower and more unclean, the Bhangia is viewed with kindlier feelings than the Dhed (Mah&#257;r).
+To meet the basket-bearing Bhangia is lucky, and the Bhangia&#8217;s blessing is valued. Even now if a Government officer goes into
+a Bhangia hamlet the men with hands raised in blessing say: &#8216;May your rule last for ever.&#8217;&#8221; 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;<a id="d0e7543src" href="#d0e7543" class="noteref">21</a> 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 Cham&#257;r (tanner) will take a <i>chilam</i> 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:<a id="d0e7549src" href="#d0e7549" class="noteref">22</a> &#8220;Only <a id="d0e7554"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7554">230</a>]</span>L&#257;lbegis and R&#257;wats 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&#8217;s flesh. Each subcaste eats uncooked food with all the others, but cooked
+food alone.&#8221; From Bet&#363;l it is reported that the Mehtars there will not accept food, water or tobacco from a K&#257;yasth, and will
+not allow one to enter their houses.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7556">
+<h3>18. Occupation</h3>
+<p>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 M&#299;rz&#257;pur when a Dom hangman is tying a rope round the neck of a criminal he shouts out,
+&#8216;<i>Dohai Mah&#257;r&#257;ni, Dohai Sark&#257;r, Dohai Judge S&#257;hib</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;Hail Great Queen! Hail Government! Hail Judge Sahib!&#8217; in order to shelter himself under their authority and escape
+any guilt attaching to the death.<a id="d0e7564src" href="#d0e7564" class="noteref">23</a> In the Central Provinces the hangman was accompanied by four or five other sweepers of the caste <i>panch&#257;yat</i> 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: &#8220;<i>Dohai Sarkar ke, Dohai Kampani ke; jaisa maine kh&#363;n kiya waisa apne kh&#363;n ko pahunchha</i>&#8221; or &#8220;Hail to the Government and the Company; since I caused the death of another, now I am come to my own death&#8221;; and all
+the <i>Panches</i> said, &#8216;<i>R&#257;m, R&#257;m</i>.&#8217; 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 L&#257;lbeg 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 <i>shahnai</i> 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 <a id="d0e7585"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7585">231</a>]</span>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 Cham&#257;rs 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 Cham&#257;r also refuses to touch the corpse of a donkey, but a
+Kumh&#257;r (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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d 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.<a id="d0e7587src" href="#d0e7587" class="noteref">24</a> When a Hindu widow breaks her bangles after her husband&#8217;s death, she gives them, including one or two whole ones, to a Bhangia
+woman.<a id="d0e7594src" href="#d0e7594" class="noteref">25</a> A letter announcing a death is always carried by a sweeper.<a id="d0e7599src" href="#d0e7599" class="noteref">26</a> In Bengal a funeral could not be held without the presence of a Dom, whose functions are described by Mr. Sherring<a id="d0e7609src" href="#d0e7609" class="noteref">27</a> as follows: &#8220;On the arrival of the dead body at the place of cremation, which in Ben&#257;res is at the basis of one of the steep
+stairs or <i>gh&#257;ts</i>, called the Burning-Gh&#257;t, 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 <a id="d0e7617"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7617">232</a>]</span>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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7619">
+<h3>19. Occupation (continued)</h3>
+<p>During an eclipse the sweepers reap a good harvest; for it is believed that R&#257;hu, 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 R&#257;hu&#8217;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 Gujar&#257;t as
+soon as the darkening sets in the Bhangis go about shouting, &#8216;<i>Garhand&#257;n, Vastrad&#257;n, Rup&#257;d&#257;n</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;Gifts for the eclipse, gifts of clothes, gifts of silver.&#8217;<a id="d0e7627src" href="#d0e7627" class="noteref">28</a> 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 B&#257;nsphor in Bombay on this account. In the Punjab the Chuhras are a very
+numerous caste, being exceeded only by the J&#257;ts, R&#257;jp&#363;ts and Br&#257;hmans. 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.<a id="d0e7634src" href="#d0e7634" class="noteref">29</a> They are closely connected with the Dh&#257;nuks, a caste of hunters, fowlers and village watchmen, being of nearly the same status.<a id="d0e7640src" href="#d0e7640" class="noteref">30</a> And Dh&#257;nuk, again, is in some localities a complimentary term for a Basor or bamboo-worker. It has been seen that V&#257;lm&#299;ki,
+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 Ch&#363;hras and Bhangis were hunting and working in grass and bamboo. In one of the legends of the sweeper
+saint B&#257;lm&#299;k or V&#257;lm&#299;ki given by Mr. Greeven,<a id="d0e7645src" href="#d0e7645" class="noteref">31</a> B&#257;lm&#299;k was the youngest of the five P&#257;ndava brothers, and <a id="d0e7650"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7650">233</a>]</span>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. B&#257;lm&#299;k burst into tears,
+not knowing how he was to live henceforward, but a voice cried from heaven saying, &#8220;Of the sinews (of the calf&#8217;s body) do
+thou tie winnows (<i>s&#363;p</i>), and of the caul do thou plait sieves (<i>chalni</i>).&#8221; B&#257;lm&#299;k obeyed, and by his handiwork gained the name of S&#363;paj or the maker of winnowing-fans. These are natural occupations
+of the non-Aryan forest tribes, and are now practised by the Gonds.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7270" href="#d0e7270src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Some information has been obtained from a paper by Mr. Harbans Rai, Clerk of Court, Damoh.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7279" href="#d0e7279src" class="noteref">2</a></span> R&#257;jendr&#257; L&#257;l Mitra, quoted in art. on Beria.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7282" href="#d0e7282src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Greeven, op. cit. pp. 29, 33.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7285" href="#d0e7285src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Op. cit p. 334.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7294" href="#d0e7294src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Greeven, p. 66, quoting from <i>Echoes of Old Calcutta</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7310" href="#d0e7310src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Crooke, <i>op. cit.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7350" href="#d0e7350src" class="noteref">7</a></span> Crooke, <i>op. cit.</i> para. 52.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7362" href="#d0e7362src" class="noteref">8</a></span> Ibbetson, <i>op. cit.</i> para. 227.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7368" href="#d0e7368src" class="noteref">9</a></span> Greeven, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 21.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7413" href="#d0e7413src" class="noteref">10</a></span> The fruit of the <i>ach&#257;r</i> (<i>Buchanamia latifolia</i>).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7424" href="#d0e7424src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Acacia arabica</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7432" href="#d0e7432src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>Acacia catechu</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7477" href="#d0e7477src" class="noteref">13</a></span> Some writers consider that B&#257;lmik, the sweeper-saint, and V&#257;lm&#299;ki, the author of the R&#257;m&#257;yana, are not identical.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7485" href="#d0e7485src" class="noteref">14</a></span> Page 38.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7493" href="#d0e7493src" class="noteref">15</a></span> Page 8.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7504" href="#d0e7504src" class="noteref">16</a></span> Page 54.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7507" href="#d0e7507src" class="noteref">17</a></span> <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), para. 599.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7514" href="#d0e7514src" class="noteref">18</a></span> Sir H. Risley, <i>l.c.</i>, art. Dom.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7525" href="#d0e7525src" class="noteref">19</a></span> <i>Institutes</i>, x. 12&#8211;29&#8211;30.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7530" href="#d0e7530src" class="noteref">20</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, iv. 239, quoted by Mr. Crooke, art. Dom.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7543" href="#d0e7543src" class="noteref">21</a></span> Probably not within the house but in the veranda or courtyard.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7549" href="#d0e7549src" class="noteref">22</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7564" href="#d0e7564src" class="noteref">23</a></span> Crooke, <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Dom, para. 34.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7587" href="#d0e7587src" class="noteref">24</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>l.c.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7594" href="#d0e7594src" class="noteref">25</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7599" href="#d0e7599src" class="noteref">26</a></span> <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), and <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>l.c.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7609" href="#d0e7609src" class="noteref">27</a></span> <i>Hindu Tribes and Castes</i>, quoted by Sir H. Risley, art. Dom.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7627" href="#d0e7627src" class="noteref">28</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>l.c.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7634" href="#d0e7634src" class="noteref">29</a></span> Ibbetson, <i>l.c.</i> para. 596.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7640" href="#d0e7640src" class="noteref">30</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, para. 601.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7645" href="#d0e7645src" class="noteref">31</a></span> <i>L.c.</i> pp. 25, 26.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e7658" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Meo</h2>
+<p><b>Meo, Mew&#257;ti.</b>&#8212;The Muhammadan branch of the M&#299;na tribe belonging to the country of Mew&#257;t in R&#257;jput&#257;na which is comprised in the Alwar, Bharatpur
+and Jaipur States and the British District of Gurgaon. A few Meos were returned from the Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Nim&#257;r 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 M&#299;na tribe, but some interesting remarks on them by Mr. Channing and Major Powlett in the <i>R&#257;jput&#257;na Gazetteer</i> may be reproduced here. Mr. Channing writes:<a id="d0e7668src" href="#d0e7668" class="noteref">1</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The tribe, which has been known in Hindust&#257;n according to the Kutub Taw&#257;r&#299;kh for 850 years, was originally Hindu and became
+Muhammadan. Their origin is obscure. They themselves claim descent from the R&#257;jp&#363;t races of J&#257;don, Kachhw&#257;ha and Tuar, and
+they may possibly have some R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 M&#299;nas, who
+are certainly a tribe of the same structure and species. The Meos have twelve clans or <i>p&#257;ls</i>, the first six of which are identical in name and claim the same descent as the first six clans of the M&#299;nas. Intermarriage
+between them both was <a id="d0e7678"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7678">234</a>]</span>the rule until the time of Akbar, when owing to an affray at the marriage of a Meo with a M&#299;na 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 Isl&#257;m from other castes. It is said that the tribe were conquered and converted in the
+eleventh century by M&#257;s&#363;d, son of Am&#299;r S&#257;l&#257;r and grandson of Sult&#257;n Mahm&#363;d Subaktagin on the mother&#8217;s side, the general of
+the forces of Mahm&#363;d of Ghazni. M&#257;s&#363;d is still venerated by the Meos, and they swear by his name. They have a mixture of Hindu
+and Muhammadan customs. They practise circumcision, <i>nik&#257;h</i><a id="d0e7682src" href="#d0e7682" class="noteref">2</a> and the burial of the dead. They make pilgrimages to the tomb of M&#257;s&#363;d 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 <i>Haj</i>. Of Hindu customs they observe the Holi or Diw&#257;li; their marriages are never arranged in the same <i>got</i> 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 R&#257;twai, 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>In another description of them by Major Powlett it is stated that, besides worshipping Hindu gods and keeping Hindu festivals,
+they employ a Br&#257;hman to write the P&#299;li Chhitthi or yellow note fixing the date of a marriage. They call themselves by Hindu
+names with the exception of R&#257;m; and Singh is a frequent affix, though not so common as Kh&#257;n. On the Am&#257;was or monthly conjunction
+of the sun and moon, Meos, in common with Hindu Ah&#299;rs and G&#363;jars, cease from labour; and when they make a well the first proceeding
+<a id="d0e7693"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7693">235</a>]</span>is to erect a <i>chab&#363;tra</i> (platform) to Bhaironji or Hanum&#257;n. 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, &#8216;<i>Tum to Deo, Ham Meo</i>&#8217; or &#8216;You may be a Deo (God), but I am a Meo.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>Meos do not marry in their <i>p&#257;l</i> or clan, but they are lax about forming connections with women of other castes, whose children they receive into the community.
+As already stated, Br&#257;hmans take part in the formalities preceding a marriage, but the ceremony itself is performed by a K&#257;zi.
+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 Musalm&#257;ns 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.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7668" href="#d0e7668src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>R&#257;jput&#257;na Gazetteer</i>, vol. i. p. 165.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7682" href="#d0e7682src" class="noteref">2</a></span> A Muhammadan form of marriage.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e7706" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>M&#299;na</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. The M&#299;nas locally termed Desw&#257;</h3>
+<p><b>M&#299;na, Desw&#257;li, Maina.</b>&#8212;A well-known caste of R&#257;jput&#257;na which is found in the Central Provinces in the Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d, Nim&#257;r and Saugor Districts. About
+8000 persons of the caste were returned in 1911. The proper name for them is M&#299;na, but here they are generally known as Desw&#257;li,
+a term which they probably prefer, as that of M&#299;na is too notorious. A large part of the population of the northern Districts
+is recruited from Bundelkhand and M&#257;rw&#257;r, and these tracts are therefore often known among them as &#8216;Desh&#8217; or native country.
+The term Desw&#257;li is applied to groups of many castes coming from Bundelkhand, and has apparently been specially appropriated
+as an <i>alias</i> by the M&#299;nas. The caste are sometimes known in Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d as Maina, which Colonel Tod states to be the name of the highest
+division of the M&#299;nas. The designation of Pardeshi or &#8216;foreigner&#8217; is also given to them in some localities. The Desw&#257;lis came
+to Harda about A.D. 1750, being invited by the Mar&#257;tha Am&#299;l or governor, who gave one family a grant of three <a id="d0e7719"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7719">236</a>]</span>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.<a id="d0e7721src" href="#d0e7721" class="noteref">1</a> In view of the history and character of the M&#299;nas, of which some account will be given, it should be first stated that under
+the <i>r&eacute;gime</i> of British law and order most of the Desw&#257;lis of Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d have settled down into steady and honest agriculturists.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Historical notice of the M&#299;na tribe</h3>
+<p>The M&#299;nas were a famous robber tribe of the country of Mew&#257;t in R&#257;jput&#257;na, comprised in the Alwar and Bharatpur States and
+the British District of Gurgaon.<a id="d0e7735src" href="#d0e7735" class="noteref">2</a> They are also found in large numbers in Jaipur State, which was formerly held by them. The Meos and M&#299;nas 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 Kh&#257;n Meo and Sasib&#257;dani M&#299;ni, 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 M&#299;nas which had formerly obtained. Both the Meos and M&#299;nas are divided into twelve large
+clans called <i>p&#257;l</i>, the word <i>p&#257;l</i> meaning, according to Colonel Tod, &#8216;a defile in a valley suitable for cultivation or defence.&#8217; In a sandy desert like R&#257;jput&#257;na
+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 M&#299;nas in these isolated patches of culturable land developed into exogamous
+clans marrying with each other. The Meos have similarly twelve <i>p&#257;ls</i>, and the names of six of these are identical with those of the M&#299;nas.<a id="d0e7750src" href="#d0e7750" class="noteref">3</a> The names of the <i>p&#257;ls</i> are taken from those of R&#257;jp&#363;t clans,<a id="d0e7758src" href="#d0e7758" class="noteref">4</a> but the recorded lists differ, and there are now many other <i>gots</i> or septs outside the <i>p&#257;ls</i>. The M&#299;nas seem originally to have been an aboriginal or pre-Aryan tribe of R&#257;jput&#257;na, where they <a id="d0e7770"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7770">237</a>]</span>are still found in considerable numbers. The R&#257;ja of Jaipur was formerly marked on the forehead with blood taken from the
+great toe of a M&#299;na 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 M&#299;nas by treachery. And in his time the M&#299;nas still
+possessed large immunities and privileges in the Jaipur State. When the R&#257;jp&#363;ts settled in force in R&#257;jput&#257;na, reducing the
+M&#299;nas 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 M&#299;nas are a caste of the most mixed and impure descent, and it has sometimes
+been supposed that they were themselves a branch of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts. In the Punjab when one woman accuses another of illicit intercourse
+she is said &#8216;<i>M&#299;na dena</i>,&#8217; or to designate her as a M&#299;na.<a id="d0e7775src" href="#d0e7775" class="noteref">5</a> Further it is stated<a id="d0e7781src" href="#d0e7781" class="noteref">6</a> that &#8220;The M&#299;nas are of two classes, the Zam&#299;nd&#257;ri or agricultural and the Chauk&#299;d&#257;ri or watchmen. These Chauk&#299;d&#257;ri M&#299;nas
+are the famous marauders.&#8221; 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 M&#299;nas who do not refuse to eat cow&#8217;s flesh. The Chauk&#299;d&#257;ri M&#299;nas, 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<a id="d0e7787src" href="#d0e7787" class="noteref">7</a> of the caste as &#8220;a Cave of Adullam which has stood open for centuries. With them a captured woman is solemnly admitted by
+a form of adoption <a id="d0e7792"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7792">238</a>]</span>into one circle of affinity, in order that she may be lawfully married into another.&#8221; With the conquest of northern India
+by the Muhammadans, many of the M&#299;nas, 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 Musalm&#257;n branch of the community, who afterwards became separately designated as the Meos. As already seen, the Meos
+and M&#299;nas intermarried for a time, but subsequently ceased to do so. As might be expected, the form of Isl&#257;m professed by
+the Meos is of a very bastard order, and Major Powlett&#8217;s account of it is reproduced in a short separate notice of that tribe.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Their robberies</h3>
+<p>The crimes and daring of the M&#299;nas have obtained for them a considerable place in history. A Muhammadan historian, Zia-ud-d&#299;n
+B&#257;mi, wrote of the tribe:<a id="d0e7799src" href="#d0e7799" class="noteref">8</a> &#8220;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.&#8221; Regular campaigns against them were undertaken
+by the Muhammadans,<a id="d0e7805src" href="#d0e7805" class="noteref">9</a> as in later times British forces had to be despatched to subdue the Pind&#257;ris. B&#257;bar on his arrival at Agra described the
+Mew&#257;ti leader R&#257;ja Hasan Kh&#257;n as &#8216;the chief agitator in all these confusions and insurrections&#8217;; and Firishta mentions two
+terrible slaughters of Mew&#257;tis in <a id="d0e7814"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7814">239</a>]</span>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:<a id="d0e7816src" href="#d0e7816" class="noteref">10</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The M&#299;nas are the boldest of our criminal classes. Their headquarters so far as the Punjab is concerned are in the village
+of Sh&#257;hjah&#257;npur, attached to the Gurgaon District but surrounded on all sides by R&#257;jput&#257;na 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 M&#257;rw&#257;r 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 Diw&#257;li feast and often remain absent the whole year. They have agents in all the large cities
+of R&#257;jput&#257;na and the Deccan who give them information, and they are in league with the carrying castes of M&#257;rw&#257;r. After a
+successful foray they offer one-tenth of the proceeds at the shrine of K&#257;li Devi.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>Like other criminals they were very superstitious, and Colonel Tod records that the partridge and the <i>maloli</i> 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 M&#299;na. 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 M&#299;na, the flesh of the goat&#8217;s
+tongue being indispensable in connection with the taking of omens. In Jaipur the M&#299;nas 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 R&#257;ja&#8217;s servants. It is
+related <a id="d0e7828"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7828">240</a>]</span>that on one occasion a M&#299;na 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 M&#299;na said that he had been
+made to betray his trust and had become dishonoured, and drawing his sword cut off his friend&#8217;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 M&#299;na 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 R&#257;ja 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 M&#299;nas are said to inhabit a tract of country
+about sixty-five miles long and forty broad, stretching from Sh&#257;hpur forty miles north of Jaipur to Guraora in Gurgaon on
+the Rohtak border. The popular idea of the M&#299;na, Mr. Crooke remarks,<a id="d0e7830src" href="#d0e7830" class="noteref">11</a> is quite in accordance with his historical character; his niggardliness is shown in the saying, &#8216;The Meo will not give his
+daughter in marriage till he gets a mortar full of silver&#8217;; his pugnacity is expressed in, &#8216;The Meo&#8217;s son begins to avenge
+his feuds when he is twelve years old&#8217;; and his toughness in, &#8216;Never be sure that a Meo is dead till you see the third-day
+funeral ceremony performed.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. The Desw&#257;lis of the Central Provinces</h3>
+<p>As already stated, the Desw&#257;lis 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 <a id="d0e7840"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7840">241</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hman is employed to celebrate
+the marriage. A widow is usually taken by her late husband&#8217;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 R&#257;jput&#257;na 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.
+&#8216;<i>Jehur nik&#257;la</i>,&#8217; &#8216;Took the jar and went forth,&#8217; is a common saying among the mountaineers of Merwara.<a id="d0e7845src" href="#d0e7845" class="noteref">12</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>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
+<i>shr&#257;ddh</i> ceremony, but mourn for the dead only on the last day of K&#257;rtik (October), when they offer water and burn incense. Desw&#257;lis
+employ the Parsai or village Br&#257;hman to officiate at their ceremonies, but owing to their mixed origin they rank below the
+cultivating castes, and Br&#257;hmans 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 Panw&#257;rs and Gonds in the Central Provinces. The Desw&#257;lis 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 <a id="d0e7855"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7855">242</a>]</span>poured on to their hands held to the mouth to avoid actual contact with the vessel. This is a M&#257;rw&#257;ri custom and the J&#257;ts
+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 M&#299;na
+will not eat salt in the house of another man, because he considers that to do so would establish the bond of <i>Nimak-khai</i> 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 Desw&#257;lis 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 <i>r&#257;khdi</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7721" href="#d0e7721src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Elliott&#8217;s <i>Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Settlement Report</i>, p. 63.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7735" href="#d0e7735src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Cunningham&#8217;s <i>Archaeological Survey Reports</i>, xx. p. 24.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7750" href="#d0e7750src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7758" href="#d0e7758src" class="noteref">4</a></span> General Cunningham&#8217;s enumeration of the <i>p&#257;ls</i> is as follows: Five J&#257;don clans&#8212;Chhirkilta, Dal&#257;t, Dermot, Nai, Pundelot; five Tuar clans&#8212;Balot, Darw&#257;r, Kalesa, Lund&#257;vat,
+Ratt&#257;wat; one Kachhw&#257;ha clan&#8212;Ding&#257;l; one Bargj&#363;ar clan&#8212;Sing&#257;l. Besides these there is one miscellaneous or half-blood clan,
+Palakra, making up the common total of 12&frac12; clans.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7775" href="#d0e7775src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Ibbetson&#8217;s <i>Punjab Census Report</i>, para. 582. Sir D. Ibbetson considered it doubtful, however, whether the expression referred to the M&#299;na caste.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7781" href="#d0e7781src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Major Powlett, <i>Gazetteer of Alwar</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7787" href="#d0e7787src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Asiatic Studies</i>, vol. i. p. 162.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7799" href="#d0e7799src" class="noteref">8</a></span> Quoted in Dowson&#8217;s <i>Elliott&#8217;s History of India</i>, iii. p. 103.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7805" href="#d0e7805src" class="noteref">9</a></span> Dowson&#8217;s <i>Elliott</i>, iv. pp. 60, 75, 283, quoted in Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7816" href="#d0e7816src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>Census Report</i> (1881), para. 582.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7830" href="#d0e7830src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P.</i> art. Meo.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7845" href="#d0e7845src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 589.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e7863" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mir&#257;si</h2>
+<p><b>Mir&#257;si.</b>&#8212;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 Mew&#257;tis at all their marriages and festivals.<a id="d0e7870src" href="#d0e7870" class="noteref">1</a> Mr. Crooke is of opinion that they are undoubtedly an offshoot of the great Dom caste who are little better than sweepers.<a id="d0e7875src" href="#d0e7875" class="noteref">2</a> The word Mir&#257;si is derived from the Arabic <i>mir&#257;s</i>, inheritance, and its signification is supposed to be that the Mir&#257;sis are the hereditary bards and singers <a id="d0e7883"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7883">243</a>]</span>of the lower castes, as the Bh&#257;t is of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts. <i>Mir&#257;s</i> 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 <i>mir&#257;si</i> right to fees or perquisites or plots of land held as remuneration for service.<a id="d0e7891src" href="#d0e7891" class="noteref">3</a> The Mir&#257;sis are also known as Pakh&#257;waji, from the <i>pakh&#257;waj</i> or timbrel which they play; as Kaww&#257;l or one who speaks fluently, that is a professional, story-teller; and as Kal&#257;want or
+one possessed of art or skill. The Mir&#257;sis are most numerous in the Punjab, where they number a quarter of a million. Sir
+D. Ibbetson says of them:<a id="d0e7900src" href="#d0e7900" class="noteref">4</a> &#8220;The social position of the Mir&#257;si 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 Mir&#257;sis. The outcaste tribes have their Mir&#257;sis, who though they
+do not eat with their clients and merely render their professional services are considered impure by the Mir&#257;sis of the higher
+castes. The Mir&#257;si is generally a hereditary servant like the Bh&#257;t, and is notorious for his exactions, which he makes under
+the threat of lampooning the ancestors of him from whom he demands fees. The Mir&#257;si is almost always a Muhammadan.&#8221; They are
+said to have been converted to Isl&#257;m in response to the request of the poet Am&#299;r Khusru, who lived in the reign of Ala-ud-d&#299;n
+Khilji (A.D. 1295). The Mir&#257;si has two functions, the men being musicians, storytellers and genealogists, while the women
+dance and sing, but only before the ladies of the zen&#257;na. Mr. Nesfield<a id="d0e7905src" href="#d0e7905" class="noteref">5</a> 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 Mir&#257;sis are generally
+the small drum (<i>dholak</i>), the cymbals (<i>maj&#299;ra</i>) and the gourd lute (<i>kingri</i>).<a id="d0e7919src" href="#d0e7919" class="noteref">6</a>
+<a id="d0e7924"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7924">244</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7870" href="#d0e7870src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Archaeological Reports</i>. vol. xx. p. 26.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7875" href="#d0e7875src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces</i>, vol. iii. p. 496.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7891" href="#d0e7891src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Baden Powell&#8217;s <i>Land Systems of British India</i>, vol. iii. p. 116.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7900" href="#d0e7900src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Punjab Ethnography</i>, p. 289.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7905" href="#d0e7905src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Brief View</i>, p. 43.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7919" href="#d0e7919src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Crooke, <i>loc. cit.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e7925" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mochi<a id="d0e7928src" href="#d0e7928" class="noteref">1</a></h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e7969">1. General notice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8000">2. Legends of origin</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8015">3. Art among the Hindus</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8036">4. Antagonism of Mochis and Cham&#257;rs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8044">5. Exogamous groups</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8069">6. Social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8083">7. Shoes</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e7969">
+<h3>1. General notice</h3>
+<p><b>Mochi, Muchi, J&#299;ngar, Jirayat, J&#299;ldgar, Chitrak&#257;r, Chitevari, Musabir.</b>&#8212;The occupational caste of saddlers and cobblers. In 1911 about 4000 Mochis and 2000 J&#299;ngars were returned from the Central
+Provinces and Ber&#257;r, the former residing principally in the Hindust&#257;ni and the latter in the Mar&#257;thi-speaking Districts. The
+name is derived from the Sanskrit <i>mochika</i> and the Hindust&#257;ni <i>mojna</i>, to fold, and the common name <i>mojah</i> for socks and stockings is from the same root (Platts). By origin the Mochis are no doubt an offshoot of the Cham&#257;r caste,
+but they now generally disclaim the connection. Mr. Nesfield observes<a id="d0e7985src" href="#d0e7985" class="noteref">2</a> that, &#8220;The industry of tanning is preparatory to and lower than that of cobblery, and hence the caste of Cham&#257;r ranks decidedly
+below that of Mochi. The ordinary Hindu does not consider the touch of a Mochi so impure as that of the Cham&#257;r, and there
+is a Hindu proverb to the effect that &#8216;Dried or prepared hide is the same thing as cloth,&#8217; whereas the touch of the raw hide
+before it has been tanned by the Cham&#257;r is considered a pollution. The Mochi does not eat carrion like the Cham&#257;r, nor does
+he eat swine&#8217;s flesh; nor does his wife ever practise the much-loathed art of midwifery.&#8221; In the Central Provinces, as in
+northern India, the caste may be considered to <a id="d0e7990"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e7990">245</a>]</span>have two branches, the lower one consisting of the Mochis who make and cobble shoes and are admittedly descended from Cham&#257;rs;
+while the better-class men either make saddles and harness, when they are known as J&#299;ngar; or bind books, when they are called
+J&#299;ldgar; or paint and make clay idols, when they are given the designation either of Chitrak&#257;r, Chitevari or Murtik&#257;r. In
+Ber&#257;r some J&#299;ngars have taken up the finer kinds of iron-work, such as mending guns, and are known as Jir&#257;yat. All these are
+at great pains to dissociate themselves from the Cham&#257;r caste. They call themselves Th&#257;kur or R&#257;jp&#363;t and have exogamous sections
+the names of which are identical with those of the R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Br&#257;hmans; while in the United Provinces Mr. Crooke
+considers them to be connected with the Sriv&#257;stab K&#257;yasths, 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 Cham&#257;rs. In Bombay,
+again, Mr. Enthoven<a id="d0e7992src" href="#d0e7992" class="noteref">3</a> writes that the caste prefers to style itself Arya Somavansi Kshatriya or Aryan Kshatriyas of the Moon division; while they
+have all the regular Br&#257;hmanical <i>gotras</i> as Bh&#257;radw&#257;ja, Vasishtha, Gautam and so on.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8000">
+<h3>2. Legends of origin</h3>
+<p>The following interesting legends as to the origin of the caste adduced by them in support of their Br&#257;hmanical descent are
+related<a id="d0e8005src" href="#d0e8005" class="noteref">4</a> by Sir H. Risley: &#8220;One of the Praj&#257;-pati, or mind-born sons of Brahma, was in the habit of providing the flesh of cows and
+clarified butter as a burnt-offering (<i>Ahuti</i>) 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 Praj&#257;-pati failed to resuscitate the sacrificial animal, owing to his wife, who was pregnant at
+the time, having clandestinely made away with a portion. <a id="d0e8013"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8013">246</a>]</span>Alarmed at this he summoned all the other Praj&#257;-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 Muchir&#257;m,
+the ancestor of the caste, was born from the sweat of Brahma while dancing. He chanced to offend the irritable sage Durv&#257;sa,
+who sent a pretty Br&#257;hman widow to allure him into a breach of chastity. Muchir&#257;m accosted the widow as mother, and refused
+to have anything to do with her; but Durv&#257;sa used the miraculous power he had acquired by penance to render the widow pregnant
+so that the innocent Muchir&#257;m was made an outcaste on suspicion. From her two sons are descended the two main branches of
+the caste in Bengal.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8015">
+<h3>3. Art among the Hindus</h3>
+<p>In the Central Provinces the term Mochi is often used for the whole caste in the northern Districts, and J&#299;ngar in the Mar&#257;tha
+country; while the Chitrak&#257;rs 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 <a id="d0e8020"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8020">247</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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
+<i>murti</i>, an image or idol; and the pictures of the Chitrak&#257;rs 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: &#8220;Woe to him <a id="d0e8027"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8027">248</a>]</span>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.&#8221;
+And in Judaism the familiar prohibition of the Second Commandment appears to be directed to the same end.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e8030" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p116.jpg" alt="Image of the god Vishnu as Vithoba" width="407" height="720"><p class="figureHead">Image of the god Vishnu as Vithoba</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8036">
+<h3>4. Antagonism of Mochis and Cham&#257;rs</h3>
+<p>As a natural result of the pretensions to nobility made by the Mochis, there is no love lost between them and the Cham&#257;rs;
+and the latter allege that the Mochis have stolen their <i>r&#257;mpi</i>, the knife with which they cut leather. On this account the Cham&#257;rs 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 Cham&#257;rs and therefore cannot be permitted to defile the shoes of a true Cham&#257;r
+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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8044">
+<h3>5. Exogamous groups</h3>
+<p>In the Central Provinces the Mochis are said to have forty exogamous sections or <i>gotras</i>, of which the bulk are named after all the well-known R&#257;jp&#363;t clans, while two agree with those of the Cham&#257;rs. And they have
+also an equal number of <i>kheras</i> or groups named after villages. The limits of the two groups seem to be identical; thus members of the sept named after the
+Kachhw&#257;ha R&#257;jp&#363;ts say that their <i>khera</i> or village name is Mung&#257;vali in Gw&#257;lior; those of <a id="d0e8058"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8058">249</a>]</span>the Ghangere sept give Chanderi as their <i>khera</i>, the Sit&#257;wat sept Dh&#257;moni 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t sept
+names; but it seems probable that the <i>kheras</i> were the original divisions and the R&#257;jp&#363;t <i>gotras</i> have been more recently adopted in support of the claims already noticed.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8069">
+<h3>6. Social customs</h3>
+<p>The Mochis have adopted the customs of the higher Hindu castes. A man may not take a wife from his own <i>gotra</i>, his mother&#8217;s <i>gotra</i> or from a family into which a girl from his own family has married. They usually marry their daughters in childhood and employ
+Br&#257;hmans in their ceremonies, and no degradation attaches to these latter for serving as their priests. In minor domestic
+ceremonies for which the Br&#257;hman is not engaged his place is taken by a relative, who is called <i>saw&#257;sa</i>, and is either the sister&#8217;s husband, daughter&#8217;s husband, or father&#8217;s sister&#8217;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 Cham&#257;rs 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 Cham&#257;rs; 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&#8217;s court. In northern India about half the Mochis are Muhammadans, but in the Central
+Provinces they are all Hindus.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8083">
+<h3>7. Shoes</h3>
+<p>In view of the fact that many of the Mochis were <a id="d0e8088"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8088">250</a>]</span>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: &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e8090src" href="#d0e8090" class="noteref">5</a> It is certain, however, that leather shoes and slippers were known to the Hindus from a fairly early period: &#8220;The episode
+related in the R&#257;m&#257;yana of Bh&#257;rata placing on the vacant throne of Ajodhya a pair of R&#257;ma&#8217;s slippers, which he worshipped
+during the latter&#8217;s protracted exile, shows that shoes were important articles of wear and worthy of attention. In Manu and
+the Mah&#257;bh&#257;rata slippers are also mentioned and the time and mode of putting them on pointed out. The Vishnu Pur&#257;na 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&#8217;s shoes and peremptorily forbids it, and the Pur&#257;nas recommend the use of shoes when walking out of the house,
+particularly in thorny places and on hot sand.&#8221;<a id="d0e8095src" href="#d0e8095" class="noteref">6</a> 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 Isl&#257;m, 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 Cham&#257;rs.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7928" href="#d0e7928src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is partly based on papers by Mr. Gopal Parmanand, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Saugor, and Mr. Shamsudd&#299;n, Sub-Inspector,
+City Police, Saugor.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7985" href="#d0e7985src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Brief View</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e7992" href="#d0e7992src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Bombay Ethnographic Survey Draft Monograph on J&#299;ngar</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8005" href="#d0e8005src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Mochi.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8090" href="#d0e8090src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Eastern India</i>, vol. iii. p. 105.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8095" href="#d0e8095src" class="noteref">6</a></span> R&#257;jendra L&#257;l Mitra, <i>Indo-Aryans</i>, vol. i. pp. 222, 223.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e8101" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Mow&#257;r</h2>
+<p><b>Mow&#257;r.</b>&#8212;A small caste of cultivators found in the Chhatt&#299;sgarh country, in the Raipur and Bil&#257;spur 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 id="d0e8108"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8108">251</a>]</span>a town in the Jh&#257;nsi District of the United Provinces, and they also call themselves Mahuw&#257;r or the inhabitants of Mow. They
+say that the R&#257;ja of Mowagarh, under whom they were serving, desired to marry the daughter of one of their Sird&#257;rs (headmen),
+because she was extremely beautiful, but her father refused, and when the R&#257;ja persisted in his desire they left the place
+in a body and came to Ratanpur in the time of R&#257;ja B&#299;mbaji, in A.D. 1770. A Bil&#257;spur writer states that the Mow&#257;rs are an
+offshoot from the Rajw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;ts of Sarg&#363;ja State. Colonel Dalton writes<a id="d0e8110src" href="#d0e8110" class="noteref">1</a> of the Rajw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;ts of Sarg&#363;ja 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 Rajw&#257;rs of Bengal admit that they are derived from the miscegenation of Kurmis and Kols. The fact that the Mow&#257;rs of S&#257;rangarh
+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 <i>mowa</i>, a radish, as the Mow&#257;rs of Bil&#257;spur are engaged principally in garden cultivation.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Mow&#257;rs have no subcastes, but are divided into a number of exogamous groups, principally of a totemistic nature. Those
+of the S&#363;rajha 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 <a id="d0e8120"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8120">252</a>]</span>out. The marriage and other social customs resemble those of the Kurmis. The caste employ Br&#257;hmans at their ceremonies and
+have a great regard for them. Their <i>gurus</i> or spiritual preceptors are Bair&#257;gis 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.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8110" href="#d0e8110src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Ethnology of Bengal</i>, p. 326.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e8125" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Murha</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. Origin of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>Murha.</b>&#8212;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<a id="d0e8135src" href="#d0e8135" class="noteref">1</a> 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.<a id="d0e8140src" href="#d0e8140" class="noteref">2</a> And the Murhas of <a id="d0e8146"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8146">253</a>]</span>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. H&#299;ra L&#257;l 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.<a id="d0e8148src" href="#d0e8148" class="noteref">3</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Marriage customs</h3>
+<p>In Narsinghpur the Murhas appear to have no regular exogamous divisions. Some of them remember the names of their <i>kheros</i> or ancestral villages and do not marry with families belonging to the same <i>khero</i>, 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 <a id="d0e8166"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8166">254</a>]</span>have five divisions, of which the highest is P&#363;rbia. The name P&#363;rbia (Eastern) is commonly applied in the Central Provinces
+to persons coming from Oudh, and in this case the P&#363;rbia 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 S&#257;nta or the exchange of girls between two families is permitted. The bridegroom&#8217;s
+father has to pay from five to twenty rupees as a <i>chari</i> or bride-price to the girl&#8217;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&#8217;s party give a ram or he-goat to the bride&#8217;s party and these take it to their shed, cut
+its head off and hang it by the side of the <i>kh&#257;m</i> 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&#8217;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 <i>bh&#257;nwar</i> or walking round the sacred post. When the bride is leaving for her husband&#8217;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&#8217;s head and
+then throw the balls and after them the fan over the litter in which the bride is seated. The bridegroom&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e8177"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8177">255</a>]</span>bridegroom must keep pace with her, picking up the burning flour balls as he goes. When the pair arrive at the house the bridegroom&#8217;s
+sister shuts the door and will not open it until she is given a present. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Funeral rites</h3>
+<p>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-<i>gh&#257;t</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Occupation</h3>
+<p>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: &#8220;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!&#8221; The Murhas are strict in their rules about food and will not accept cooked food
+even from a Br&#257;hman, 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 Br&#257;hmans 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&#8217;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&#8217;s house, and that the cost of the operation
+must always be paid for by her own family, seems <a id="d0e8192"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8192">256</a>]</span>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 <i>panch&#257;yat</i> 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e8198" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p117.jpg" alt="Coolie women with babies slung at the side" width="720" height="403"><p class="figureHead">Coolie women with babies slung at the side</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>5. Women&#8217;s song</h3>
+<p>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:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Our mother Nerbudda is very kind; blow, wind, we are hot with labour.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>He said to the Maina: Go, carry my message to my love.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The red ants climb up the mango-tree; and the daughter follows her mother&#8217;s way.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>I have no money to give her even lime and tobacco; I am poor, so how can I tell her of my love.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The boat has gone down on the flood of the Nerbudda; the fisherwoman is weeping for her husband.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>She has no bangles on her arm nor necklace on her neck; she has no beauty, but seeks her lovers throughout the village.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Bread from the girdle, curry from the <i>lota</i>; let us go, beloved, the moon is shining.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The leaves of gram have been plucked from the plants; I think much on Dadaria, but she does not come.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The love of a stranger is as a dream; think not of him, beloved, he cannot be yours.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Twelve has struck and it is thirteen time (past the time of labour); oh, overseer, let your poor labourers go.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The betel-leaf is pressed in the mouth (and gives pleasure); attractive eyes delight the heart.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Catechu, areca and black cloves; my heart&#8217;s secret troubles me in my dreams.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The Nerbudda came and swept away the rubbish (from the works); fly away, bees, do not perch on my cloth.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The colour does not come on the wheat; her youth is passing, but she cannot yet drape her cloth on her body.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Like the sight of rain-drops splashing on the ground; so beautiful is she to look upon.
+<a id="d0e8241"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8241">257</a>]</span></span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>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.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The mahua flowers are falling from the trees on the hill; leave me your cloth so that I may know you will return.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>He went to the baz&#257;r and brought back a cocoanut; it is green without, but insects are eating the core.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>He went to the hill and cut strings of bamboo; you cannot drape your cloth, you have wound it round your body.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The coral necklace hangs on the peg; if you become the second wife of my husband I shall give you clothes.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>She put on her clothes and went to the forest; she met her lover and said you are welcome to me.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>He went to the baz&#257;r and bought potatoes; but if he had loved me he would have brought me liquor.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The fish in the river are on the look-out; the Br&#257;hman&#8217;s daughter is bathing with her hair down.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The arhar-stumps stand in the field; I loved one of another caste, but must give him up.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>He ate betel and coloured his teeth; his beloved came from without and knew him.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The ploughmen are gone to the field; my clever writer is gone to the court-house.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The Nerbudda flows like a bent bow; a beautiful youth is standing in court.<a id="d0e8266src" href="#d0e8266" class="noteref">4</a>
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The broken areca-nuts lie in the forest; when a man comes to misfortune no one will help him.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The broken areca-nuts cannot be mended; and two hearts which are sundered cannot be joined.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Ask me for five rupees and I will give you twenty-five; but I will not give my lover for the whole world.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>I will put bangles on my arm; when the other wife sees me she will die of jealousy.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Break the bangles which your husband gave you; and put others on your wrists in my name.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>O my lover, give me bangles; make me armlets, for I am content with you.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>My lover went to the baz&#257;r at Lakhanpur; but he has not brought me even a <i>choli</i><a id="d0e8285src" href="#d0e8285" class="noteref">5</a> that I liked.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>I had gone to the baz&#257;r and bought fish; she is so ugly that the flies would not settle on her.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8135" href="#d0e8135src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Bind.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8140" href="#d0e8140src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Bind.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8148" href="#d0e8148src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, <i>loc. cit.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8266" href="#d0e8266src" class="noteref">4</a></span> The clever writer referred to in the preceding line.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8285" href="#d0e8285src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Breast-cloth.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e8290" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Nagasia</h2>
+<p><b>Nagasia, Naksia.</b>&#8212;A primitive tribe found principally in the Chota N&#257;gpur States. They now number 16,000 persons in the Central Provinces,
+being returned almost entirely from Jashpur and Sarg&#363;ja. The census returns are, however, liable to be inaccurate as the Nagasias
+frequently call themselves Kis&#257;n, a term which is also applied to the <a id="d0e8297"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8297">258</a>]</span>Oraons. The Nagasias say that they are the true Kis&#257;ns whereas the Oraons are only so by occupation. The Oraons, on the other
+hand, call the Nagasias Kis&#257;da. The tribe derive their name from the N&#257;g 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 N&#257;gbasia is often used as an alternative name for the
+Mundas by their Hindu neighbours. The term N&#257;gbasia is supposed to mean the original settlers (<i>basia</i>) in N&#257;g (Chota N&#257;gpur).
+
+</p>
+<p>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 <i>tel</i> (oil), while the Dhurias instead of oil use dust (<i>dhur</i>) taken from the sole of the bridegroom&#8217;s foot, and the Sendurias like most Hindu castes employ vermilion (<i>sendur</i>) for this purpose. The Telhas and Dhurias marry with each other, but not with the Send&#363;rias, who consider themselves to be
+superior to the others and use the term N&#257;gbansia or &#8216;Descendants of the Snake&#8217; 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 Send&#363;rias do both. The Telhas
+say that the tattooing needle and vermilion, which they formerly employed in their marriages, were stolen from them by W&#257;gdeo
+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. H&#299;ra L&#257;l remarks, merely the primitive method of extracting
+oil, prior to the invention of the Teli&#8217;s <i>gh&#257;ni</i> or oil-press; and the practice is an instance of the common <a id="d0e8316"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8316">259</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e8318" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>N&#257;hal</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. The tribe and its subdivisions</h3>
+<p><b>N&#257;hal, Nih&#257;l.</b><a id="d0e8327src" href="#d0e8327" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A forest tribe who are probably a mixture of Bh&#299;ls and Korkus. In 1911 they numbered 12,000 persons, of whom 8000 belonged
+to the Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d, Nim&#257;r and Bet&#363;l Districts, and nearly 4000 to Ber&#257;r. They were classed at the census as a subtribe of
+Korkus. According to one story they are descended from a Bh&#299;l father and a Korku mother, and the writer of the <i>Kh&#257;ndesh Gazetteer</i> calls them the most savage of the Bh&#299;ls. 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<a id="d0e8333src" href="#d0e8333" class="noteref">2</a> says that the Korkus who first went to Ber&#257;r found the N&#257;hals in possession of the Melgh&#257;t hills. Gradually the latter caste
+lost their power and became the village drudges of the former. He adds that the N&#257;hals were fast losing their language, and
+the younger generation spoke only Korku. The two tribes were very friendly, and the N&#257;hals 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&#8217; observations were made, would tend to show that the N&#257;hals 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 N&#257;hal 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 N&#257;hals 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, <a id="d0e8338"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8338">260</a>]</span>two subdivisions of the caste called Korku and Mar&#257;thi N&#257;hals respectively. The latter are more Hinduised than the former
+and disclaim any connection with the Korkus. The N&#257;hals have totemistic exogamous septs. Those of the K&#257;sa 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 M&#257;gh (January), when they worship it. The members of the N&#257;gbel sept worship the betel-vine or &#8216;snake-creeper,&#8217;
+and refrain from chewing betel-leaves, and they also worship the N&#257;g or cobra and do not kill it, thus having a sort of double
+totem. The Bhawaria sept, named after the <i>bhaunr</i> 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 (<i>khad</i>), or according to another account they worship a snake which sits on a heap of pebbles. The Surja sept worship S&#363;rya or the
+sun by offering him a fowl in the month of P&#363;s (December-January), and some members of the sept keep a fast every Sunday.
+The Saoner sept worship the <i>san</i> or flax plant.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Marriage</h3>
+<p>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 Br&#257;hman is employed only for fixing
+the date of the ceremony. The principal part of the marriage is the knotting together of the bride&#8217;s and bridegroom&#8217;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&#8211;4 to Rs. 5 in cash, some grain and a piece of cloth for the bride&#8217;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 <i>barchhi se bh&#257;nwar phirna</i> or the marriage of the spear.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Religion</h3>
+<p>The N&#257;hals worship the forest god called Jh&#257;rkhandi in the month of Chait, and until this rite has been performed they do
+not use the leaves or fruits of the <i>pal&#257;s</i>,<a id="d0e8365src" href="#d0e8365" class="noteref">3</a> <i>aonl&#257;</i><a id="d0e8372src" href="#d0e8372" class="noteref">4</a> or <a id="d0e8377"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8377">261</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Occupation</h3>
+<p>The N&#257;hals were formerly a community of hill-robbers, &#8216;N&#257;hal, Bh&#299;l, Koli&#8217; being the phrase generally used in old documents
+to designate the marauding bands of the western Satp&#363;ra hills. The R&#257;ja of J&#299;tgarh and Mohkot in Nim&#257;r has a long account
+in his genealogy of a treacherous massacre of a whole tribe of N&#257;hals by his ancestor in Akbar&#8217;s time, in recognition of which
+the J&#299;tgarh pargana was granted to the family. Mr. Kitts speaks of the N&#257;hals of Ber&#257;r 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 N&#257;hals 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 (<i>Semecarpus anacardium</i>). 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&#8217;s
+work powdered tamarind and <i>gh&#299;</i> are rubbed on the whole body. The oil is a stimulant, and is given to women after delivery and to persons suffering from
+rheumatism.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>5. Social status</h3>
+<p>The social status of the N&#257;hals 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.
+<a id="d0e8395"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8395">262</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8327" href="#d0e8327src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is mainly compiled from papers by Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l and B&#257;bu Gul&#257;b Singh, Superintendent of Land Records, Bet&#363;l.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8333" href="#d0e8333src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), p. 158.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8365" href="#d0e8365src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Butea frondosa</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8372" href="#d0e8372src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Phyllanthus emiblica</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e8396" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Nai</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e8492">1. Structure of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8519">2. Marriage and other customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8532">3. Occupation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8555">4. Other services</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8563">5. Duties at weddings</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8579">6. The barber-surgeon</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8594">7. A barber at the court of Oudh</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8632">8. Character and position of the barber</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8669">9. Beliefs about hair</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8798">10. Hair of kings and priests</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8842">11. The beard</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8858">12. Significance of removal of the hair and shaving the head</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8891">13. Shaving the head by mourners</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8909">14. Hair offerings</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8919">15. Keeping hair unshorn during a vow</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8941">16. Disposal of cut hair and nails</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e8980">17. Superstitions about shaving the hair</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9000">18. Reasons why the hair was considered the source of strength</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8492">
+<h3>1. Structure of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>Nai, Nao, Mh&#257;li, Hajj&#257;m, Bhan&#257;ri, Mangala</b>.<a id="d0e8499src" href="#d0e8499" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;The occupational caste of barbers. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit <i>n&#257;pita</i> according to some a corruption of <i>sn&#257;pitri</i>, one who bathes. In Bundelkhand he is also known as Khaw&#257;s, which was a title for the attendant on a grandee; and Birtiya,
+or &#8216;He that gets his maintenance (<i>vritti</i>) from his constituents.&#8217;<a id="d0e8511src" href="#d0e8511" class="noteref">2</a> Mh&#257;li is the Mar&#257;thi name for the caste, Bhand&#257;ri 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 <a id="d0e8517"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8517">263</a>]</span>very numerous and principally of the territorial type: Telange of the Telugu country, Mar&#257;the, Pardeshi or northerners, Jh&#257;ria
+or those of the forest country of the Wainganga Valley, Bandhaiya or those of B&#257;ndhogarh, Bar&#257;de of Ber&#257;r, Bundelkhandi, M&#257;rw&#257;ri,
+Mathuria from Mathura, Gadhwar&#299;a from Garha near Jubbulpore, L&#257;njia from L&#257;nji in B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t, M&#257;lwi from M&#257;lwa, Nim&#257;ri from
+Nim&#257;r, Deccane, Gujar&#257;ti, and so on. Twenty-six divisions in all are given. The exogamous groups are also of different types,
+some of them being named after Br&#257;hman saints, as Gautam, Kashyap, Kosil, Sandil and Bh&#257;radw&#257;j; others after R&#257;jp&#363;t clans
+as S&#363;rajvansi, J&#257;duvansi, Solanki and Panw&#257;r; while others are titular or totemistic, as N&#257;ik, leader; Seth, banker; R&#257;wat,
+chief; N&#257;gesh, cobra; B&#257;gh, a tiger; Bh&#257;drawa, a fish.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8519">
+<h3>2. Marriage and other customs</h3>
+<p>The exogamous groups are known as <i>khero</i> or <i>kul</i>, 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&#8217;s side amount to about Rs. 150, and on the boy&#8217;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 Mar&#257;tha 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 Diw&#257;li
+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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh the poor throw the corpses of their dead into the Mah&#257;nadi, and the bodies of children
+<a id="d0e8530"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8530">264</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8532">
+<h3>3. Occupation</h3>
+<p>&#8220;The barber&#8217;s trade,&#8221; Mr. Crooke states,<a id="d0e8537src" href="#d0e8537" class="noteref">3</a> &#8220;is undoubtedly of great antiquity. In the Veda we read, &#8216;Sharpen us like the razor in the hands of the barber&#8217;; and again,
+&#8216;Driven by the wind, Agni shaves the hair of the earth like the barber shaving a beard.&#8217;&#8221; 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&#8217;s leather
+bag contains a small mirror (<i>&#257;rsi</i>), a pair of iron pincers (<i>chimta</i>), a leather strap, a comb (<i>kanghi</i>), 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 &#8216;<i>as&#363;dhal</i>&#8217; or a &#8216;tearful shave,&#8217; 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, &#8216;The barber&#8217;s son learns his trade on the heads
+of fools.&#8217; 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&frac12; 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&#8217;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 Ber&#257;r 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.
+<a id="d0e8554"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8554">265</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8555">
+<h3>4. Other services</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s <i>chilam</i> (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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8563">
+<h3>5. Duties at weddings</h3>
+<p>The barber has also numerous and important duties<a id="d0e8568src" href="#d0e8568" class="noteref">4</a> in connection with marriages and other festival occasions. He acts as the Br&#257;hman&#8217;s assistant, and to the lower castes, who
+cannot employ a Br&#257;hman, 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&#8217;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 <i>torans</i> or strings of leaves which are hung over the door of <a id="d0e8577"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8577">266</a>]</span>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 Mas&#257;lchi 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&#8217;s house, as on the latter&#8217;s arrival he is always presented
+with new clothes by the bride&#8217;s father. As the bridegroom&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8579">
+<h3>6. The barber-surgeon</h3>
+<p>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 Br&#257;hmans. 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 <a id="d0e8584"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8584">267</a>]</span>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.<a id="d0e8586src" href="#d0e8586" class="noteref">5</a> 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&#8217;s window may have been derived from this. It is also said that the barber&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8594">
+<h3>7. A barber at the court of Oudh</h3>
+<p>Perhaps the most successful barber known to Indian history was not a Hindu at all, but a Peninsular and Oriental Company&#8217;s
+cabin-boy, who became the barber of one of the last kings of Oudh, Nas&#299;r-ud-D&#299;n, 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&#8217;s.<a id="d0e8599src" href="#d0e8599" class="noteref">6</a> 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&#8217;s monthly
+bill of expenses:<a id="d0e8604src" href="#d0e8604" class="noteref">7</a> &#8220;It was after tiffin, or lunch, when we usually retired from the palace until dinner-time at nine o&#8217;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 <a id="d0e8609"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8609">268</a>]</span>being joined to strip for that purpose, and the whole rolled up like a map.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Ha, Khan!&#8217; said the king, observing him; &#8216;the monthly bill, is it?&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;It is, your majesty,&#8217; was the smiling reply.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;Come, out with it; let us see the extent. <span id="d0e8617" class="corr" title="Source: Unrol">Unroll</span> it, Khan.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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 <span id="d0e8622" class="corr" title="Source: unrol">unroll</span> itself as it retreated. It reached to the other side of the long apartment&#8212;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 &pound;9000!&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>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.<a id="d0e8627src" href="#d0e8627" class="noteref">8</a> He retired, it was said, with a fortune of &pound;240,000.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8632">
+<h3>8. Character and position of the barber</h3>
+<p>The barber is also, Mr. Low writes,<a id="d0e8637src" href="#d0e8637" class="noteref">9</a> the scandal-bearer and gossip-monger of the village. His cunning is proverbial, and he is known as <i>Chhatt&#299;sa</i> from the saying&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Nai hai chhatt&#299;sa
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Khai an ka p&#299;sa,</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or &#8216;A barber has thirty-six talents by which he eats at the expense of others.&#8217; His loquacity is shown in the proverb, &#8216;As
+the crow among birds so the barber among men.&#8217; The barber and the professional Br&#257;hman are considered to be jealous of their
+perquisites and unwilling to share with their caste-fellows, and this is exemplified in the proverb, &#8220;The barber, the dog
+and the Br&#257;hman, these three snarl at meeting one of their own kind.&#8221; The joint association of the Br&#257;hman priest and the
+barber with marriages and other ceremonies has led to the saying, &#8220;As there are <a id="d0e8653"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8653">269</a>]</span>always reeds in a river so there is always a barber with a Br&#257;hman.&#8221; The barber&#8217;s astuteness is alluded to in the saying,
+&#8216;Nine barbers are equal to seventy-two tailors.&#8217; The fact that it is the barber&#8217;s duty to carry the lights in marriage processions
+has led to the proverb, &#8220;At the barber&#8217;s wedding all are gentlemen and it is awkward to have to ask somebody to carry the
+torch.&#8221; The point of this is clear, though no English equivalent occurs to the mind. And a similar idea is expressed by &#8216;The
+barber washes the feet of others but is ashamed to wash his own.&#8217; 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 Br&#257;hmans 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 Br&#257;hmans put them
+on the same level of ceremonial purity by taking water from both. The barber&#8217;s loquacity and assurance have been made famous
+by the <i>Arabian Nights</i>, 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. Pandi&#257;n 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<span id="d0e8658" class="corr" title="Source: ">,</span> 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, <a id="d0e8661"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8661">270</a>]</span>leaving his enemy to proceed home with half his head shaved and thus exposed to general ridicule.<a id="d0e8663src" href="#d0e8663" class="noteref">10</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8669">
+<h3>9. Beliefs about hair</h3>
+<p>Numerous customs appear to indicate that the hair was regarded as the special seat of bodily strength. The R&#257;jp&#363;t warriors
+formerly wore their hair long and never cut it, but trained it in locks over their shoulders. Similarly the Mar&#257;tha soldiers
+wore their hair long. The Hatkars, a class of Mar&#257;tha 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: &#8220;He appeared as the tenth Avat&#257;r (incarnation
+of Vishnu). He established the Kh&#257;lsa, his own sect, and by exhibiting singular energy, leaving the hair on his head, and
+seizing the scimitar, he smote every wicked person.&#8221;<a id="d0e8674src" href="#d0e8674" class="noteref">11</a> As is well known, no Sikh may cut his hair, and one of the five marks of the Sikh is the <i>kanga</i> or comb, which he must always carry in order to keep his hair in proper order. A proverb states that &#8216;The origin of a Sikh
+is in his hair.&#8217;<a id="d0e8683src" href="#d0e8683" class="noteref">12</a> The following story, related by Sir J. Malcolm, shows the vital importance attached by the Sikh to his hair and beard: &#8220;Three
+inferior agents of Sikh chiefs were one day in my tent. I was laughing and joking with one of them, a Kh&#257;lsa 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. &#8216;Why, what is the worst,&#8217; he said, &#8216;that you can do to me?&#8217; I passed my hand across my chin, imitating the act
+of shaving. The man&#8217;s face was in an instant distorted with rage and his sword half-drawn. &#8216;You are ignorant,&#8217; he said to
+me, &#8216;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,&#8217; he added, indicating the Kh&#257;lsa Sikhs, &#8216;shall save these fellows who dared to smile at your action.&#8217; 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.&#8221;<a id="d0e8689src" href="#d0e8689" class="noteref">13</a> These instances appear to show <a id="d0e8697"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8697">271</a>]</span>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.<a id="d0e8699src" href="#d0e8699" class="noteref">14</a> 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. &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e8705src" href="#d0e8705" class="noteref">15</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>When the Bh&#299;ls turned out to fight they let down their long hair prior to beginning the conflict with their bows and arrows.<a id="d0e8712src" href="#d0e8712" class="noteref">16</a> The pirates of Surat, before boarding a ship, drank <i>bh&#257;ng</i> and hemp-liquor, and when they wore their long hair loose they gave no quarter.<a id="d0e8724src" href="#d0e8724" class="noteref">17</a> 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 <i>chundi</i> or pigtail. If the <i>chundi</i> is very long it is sometimes tied up in a knot.<a id="d0e8738src" href="#d0e8738" class="noteref">18</a> 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 P&#257;rdhi 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 <a id="d0e8744"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8744">272</a>]</span><i>choti</i> or scalp-lock, which should theoretically be as long as a cow&#8217;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 <i>choti</i> 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 M&#257;na 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 <i>choti</i> behind. When M&#257;na started forward his <i>choti</i> was thus left in the wrestler&#8217;s hands, and though he conquered the other wrestler, showing him the sky as it is said, the
+loss of his <i>choti</i> deprived him for ever after of his virtue as a Hindu and in no small degree of his renown as an ancestor.<a id="d0e8760src" href="#d0e8760" class="noteref">19</a> Thus it seems clear that a special virtue attaches to the <i>choti</i>. 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.<a id="d0e8769src" href="#d0e8769" class="noteref">20</a> In a modern Greek folk-tale a man&#8217;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.<a id="d0e8774src" href="#d0e8774" class="noteref">21</a> 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e8783" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p118.jpg" alt="Hindu men showing the choti or scalp-lock" width="720" height="513"><p class="figureHead">Hindu men showing the <i>choti</i> or scalp-lock
+</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>In Ceram the hair might not be cut because it was the seat of a man&#8217;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.<a id="d0e8792src" href="#d0e8792" class="noteref">22</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8798">
+<h3>10. Hair of kings and priests</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e8803"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8803">273</a>]</span>own communal life to be bound up, would naturally be a matter of peculiar concern. That it was so has been shown in the <i>Golden Bough</i>. Two hundred years ago the hair and nails of the Mik&#257;do of Japan could only be cut when he was asleep.<a id="d0e8808src" href="#d0e8808" class="noteref">23</a> 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.<a id="d0e8813src" href="#d0e8813" class="noteref">24</a> 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.<a id="d0e8818src" href="#d0e8818" class="noteref">25</a> In the M&#257;le Pah&#257;ria 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.<a id="d0e8823src" href="#d0e8823" class="noteref">26</a> 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.<a id="d0e8829src" href="#d0e8829" class="noteref">27</a> Professor Robertson Smith states: &#8220;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&#8217;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&#8217;s hair was cut annually
+at the end of the year, in the sacred season of pilgrimage, and that it was collected and weighed.&#8221;<a id="d0e8837src" href="#d0e8837" class="noteref">28</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8842">
+<h3>11. The beard</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e8847"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8847">274</a>]</span>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, &#8216;Change the whiteness of your hair, but not with anything
+black.&#8217; 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.<a id="d0e8849src" href="#d0e8849" class="noteref">29</a> 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, &#8216;By the beard of the Prophet&#8217;; and in Persia if a man thinks another is mocking
+him he says, &#8216;Do you laugh at my beard?&#8217; 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, R&#257;jp&#363;ts and Mar&#257;thas, 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
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 K&#257;z&#299;
+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.
+<a id="d0e8857"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8857">275</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8858">
+<h3>12. Significance of removal of the hair and shaving the head</h3>
+<p>If the hair was considered to be the source of a man&#8217;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 <i>Golden Bough</i> 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:
+&#8220;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&#8217;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e8866src" href="#d0e8866" class="noteref">30</a> 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.<a id="d0e8871src" href="#d0e8871" class="noteref">31</a> When a member of the religious order of the M&#257;nbhaos is initiated his head is shaved clean by the village barber, and the
+scalp-lock and moustache must be cut off by his <i>guru</i> 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 M&#257;nbhaos. 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 <a id="d0e8883"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8883">276</a>]</span>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&#8217;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 Br&#257;hmans. 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&#8217;s hair, a penalty regarded as specially infamous.<a id="d0e8885src" href="#d0e8885" class="noteref">32</a> 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 Cham&#257;r man and woman are detected in the same offence,
+the heads of both are shaved clean of hair. A Dh&#299;mar 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8891">
+<h3>13. Shaving the head by mourners</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e8896"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8896">277</a>]</span>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<a id="d0e8898src" href="#d0e8898" class="noteref">33</a> 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.<a id="d0e8903src" href="#d0e8903" class="noteref">34</a> 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 Mah&#257;-Br&#257;hman, 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 <i>choti</i> or scalp-lock, the chin and upper lip. Often the corpse is also shaved after death.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8909">
+<h3>14. Hair offerings</h3>
+<p>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, <a id="d0e8914"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8914">278</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hman is invited at the first cutting of a child&#8217;s hair, and he repeats texts and blesses the child; the first lock of
+hair is then cut by the child&#8217;s maternal uncle, and its head is shaved by the barber. A child&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s hair to some god or temple. A small patch known as <i>chench</i> is then left unshorn on the child&#8217;s head until it can be taken to the temple.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8919">
+<h3>15. Keeping hair unshorn during a vow</h3>
+<p>It was also the custom to keep the hair unshorn during the performance of a vow. &#8220;While his vow lasted a Nazarite might not
+have his hair cut: &#8216;All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head.&#8217;<a id="d0e8924src" href="#d0e8924" class="noteref">35</a> The Egyptians on a journey kept their hair uncut till they returned home.<a id="d0e8929src" href="#d0e8929" class="noteref">36</a> 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.&#8221;<a id="d0e8934src" href="#d0e8934" class="noteref">37</a> 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 <a id="d0e8939"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8939">279</a>]</span>meant to support and increase the wearer&#8217;s strength for the accomplishment of his purpose.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8941">
+<h3>16. Disposal of cut hair and nails</h3>
+<p>If the hair contained a part of the wearer&#8217;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&#8217;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 Ber&#257;r when the Hindus cut a child&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s first hair and wears it round her waist the fertility of the child&#8217;s
+mother will be transferred to her. The Sarwaria Br&#257;hmans shave a child&#8217;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&#8217;s hair with this and then
+shaves it ceremoniously with his own razor.<a id="d0e8946src" href="#d0e8946" class="noteref">38</a> 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&#8217;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&#8217;s and requesting the barber to procure for
+him a piece of a certain customer&#8217;s hair. When asked the reason for this curious demand, he <a id="d0e8952"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8952">280</a>]</span>stated that the customer had injured him and he wished to &#8216;work a spell&#8217; against him.<a id="d0e8954src" href="#d0e8954" class="noteref">39</a> In the P&#257;rsi 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 P&#257;rsis 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 <i>baresm&#257;n</i>. Texts should be said over them and the hole filled in. Many P&#257;rsis still bury their cut hair and nails four inches under
+ground, and an extracted tooth is disposed of in the same manner.<a id="d0e8962src" href="#d0e8962" class="noteref">40</a> 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 N&#257;gpur 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:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Cut no horn
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>On the Sabbath morn.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e8980">
+<h3>17. Superstitions about shaving the hair</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e8985"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8985">281</a>]</span>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 <i>guru</i> or preceptor. Tuesday is Devi&#8217;s day, and a man will not get shaved on that day; nor on Saturday, because it is Hanum&#257;n&#8217;s
+day.<a id="d0e8990src" href="#d0e8990" class="noteref">41</a> 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
+Br&#257;hmans are not shaved during the month of Shr&#257;wan (July), when the crops are growing, nor during the nine days of the months
+of Kunw&#257;r (September) and Chait (March), when a fast is observed and the <i>jawaras</i><a id="d0e8995src" href="#d0e8995" class="noteref">42</a> 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 <a id="d0e8998"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e8998">282</a>]</span>girl&#8217;s hair may be cut with scissors, but not after she is ten years old or is married. Sometimes a girl&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9000">
+<h3>18. Reasons why the hair was considered the source of strength</h3>
+<p>The above evidence appears to indicate that the belief of a man&#8217;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,<a id="d0e9005src" href="#d0e9005" class="noteref">43</a> Professor Wilken and others. Sir J.G. Frazer also adduces several instances in the <i>Golden Bough</i> 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e9013"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9013">283</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+<p>Finally, it may be suggested as a possibility that the Roundheads cut their hair short as a protest against the superstition
+that a soldier&#8217;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,<a id="d0e9017src" href="#d0e9017" class="noteref">44</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8499" href="#d0e8499src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Chatterji, retired E.A.C., Jubbulpore; Professor Sad&#257;shiva Jair&#257;m, M.A., Hislop
+College, Nagpur; and Mr. C. Shrinivas Naidu, First Assistant Master, Sironcha, Ch&#257;nda; and from the Central Provinces District
+Gazetteers.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8511" href="#d0e8511src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes,</i> art. Nai.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8537" href="#d0e8537src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Nai, para. 5.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8568" href="#d0e8568src" class="noteref">4</a></span> The following account is largely taken from Mr. Nesfield&#8217;s <i>Brief View of the Caste System</i>, pp. 42, 43.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8586" href="#d0e8586src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Eighteenth Century Middle-Class Life</i>, by C.S. Torres, in the <i>Nineteenth Century and After</i>, Sept. 1910.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8599" href="#d0e8599src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Private Life of an Eastern King</i>, p. 17.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8604" href="#d0e8604src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 107.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8627" href="#d0e8627src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Private Life of an Eastern King</i>, p. 330.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8637" href="#d0e8637src" class="noteref">9</a></span> In the <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t District Gazetteer</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8663" href="#d0e8663src" class="noteref">10</a></span> D.B. Pandi&#257;n, <i>Indian Village Life</i>, under Barber.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8674" href="#d0e8674src" class="noteref">11</a></span> Quoted in Malcolm&#8217;s <i>Sketch of the Sikhs, Asiatic Researches</i>, vol. xi., 1810, p. 289.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8683" href="#d0e8683src" class="noteref">12</a></span> Quoted in Sir D. Ibbetson&#8217;s account of the Sikhs in <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8689" href="#d0e8689src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>Sketch of the Sikhs</i>, <i>ibidem</i>, pp. 284, 285.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8699" href="#d0e8699src" class="noteref">14</a></span> Professor Bl&uuml;mners, <i>Home Life of the Ancient Greeks</i>, translation, p. 455.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8705" href="#d0e8705src" class="noteref">15</a></span> <i>Golden Bough</i>, 2nd ed. vol. iii. p. 370.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8712" href="#d0e8712src" class="noteref">16</a></span> Hendley, <i>Account of the Bh&#299;ls</i>, <i>J.A.S.B.</i> vol. xxxiv., 1875, p. 360.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8724" href="#d0e8724src" class="noteref">17</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>Hindus of Gujar&#257;t</i>, p. 528.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8738" href="#d0e8738src" class="noteref">18</a></span> S.C. Roy, <i>The Mundas and their Country</i>, p. 369.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8760" href="#d0e8760src" class="noteref">19</a></span> W. Kirkpatrick in <i>J.A.S.B.</i>, July 1911, p. 438.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8769" href="#d0e8769src" class="noteref">20</a></span> <i>Golden Bough</i>, 3rd ed. vol. viii. p. 153.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8774" href="#d0e8774src" class="noteref">21</a></span> <i>G.B.</i>, 3rd ed., <i>Balder the Beautiful</i>, vol. ii. p. 103.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8792" href="#d0e8792src" class="noteref">22</a></span> Dr. Jevons, <i>Introduction to the History of Religion</i>, p. 45.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8808" href="#d0e8808src" class="noteref">23</a></span> <i>Golden Bough</i>, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 234.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8813" href="#d0e8813src" class="noteref">24</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, vol. i. p. 242.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8818" href="#d0e8818src" class="noteref">25</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, vol. i. pp. 368, 369.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8823" href="#d0e8823src" class="noteref">26</a></span> Dalton, <i>Ethnology of Bengal</i>, p. 270.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8829" href="#d0e8829src" class="noteref">27</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>Parsis of Gujar&#257;t</i>, p. 226.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8837" href="#d0e8837src" class="noteref">28</a></span> <i>Religion of the Semites</i>, note i. pp. 483, 484.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8849" href="#d0e8849src" class="noteref">29</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>Muhammadans of Gujar&#257;t</i>, p. 52.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8866" href="#d0e8866src" class="noteref">30</a></span> <i>Golden Bough</i>, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 368.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8871" href="#d0e8871src" class="noteref">31</a></span> Yule&#8217;s ed. i. 50, quoted in <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>Hindus of Gujar&#257;t</i>, p. 470.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8885" href="#d0e8885src" class="noteref">32</a></span> Mr. V.A. Smith, <i>Early History of India</i>, 2nd ed. p. 128.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8898" href="#d0e8898src" class="noteref">33</a></span> <i>Religion of the Semites</i>, p. 33.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8903" href="#d0e8903src" class="noteref">34</a></span> Lev. xiv. 9 and Deut. xxi. 12.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8924" href="#d0e8924src" class="noteref">35</a></span> <i>Golden Bough</i>, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 371.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8929" href="#d0e8929src" class="noteref">36</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 370.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8934" href="#d0e8934src" class="noteref">37</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 371.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8946" href="#d0e8946src" class="noteref">38</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Sarwaria.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8954" href="#d0e8954src" class="noteref">39</a></span> <i>Occult Review</i>, October 1909.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8962" href="#d0e8962src" class="noteref">40</a></span> <i>Orpheus</i>, p. 99, and <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>P&#257;rsis of Gujar&#257;t</i>; p. 220.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8990" href="#d0e8990src" class="noteref">41</a></span> Hanum&#257;n is worshipped on this day in order to counteract the evil influence of the planet Saturn, whose day it really is.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e8995" href="#d0e8995src" class="noteref">42</a></span> Pots in which wheat-stalks are sown and tended for nine days, corresponding to the Gardens of Adonis.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9005" href="#d0e9005src" class="noteref">43</a></span> <i>Religion of the Semites</i> p. 324.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9017" href="#d0e9017src" class="noteref">44</a></span> <i>Golden Bough</i>, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 203.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e9022" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Naoda</h2>
+<p><b>Naoda.</b><a id="d0e9028src" href="#d0e9028" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A small caste found in the Nim&#257;r District and in Central India. The name means a rower and is derived from <i>nao</i>, a boat. The caste are closely connected with the Mall&#257;hs 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&#8217;s temple on the island of Mandh&#257;ta. They say that
+their ancestors were R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and some of their family names, as Solanki, R&#257;wat and Mori, are derived from those of R&#257;jp&#363;t
+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&#8217;s daughter, who had drowned <a id="d0e9034"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9034">284</a>]</span>herself in the river wearing costly jewels, and the king as a reward granted them the right of ferrying pilgrims at Mandh&#257;ta,
+which they still continue to enjoy, keeping their earnings for themselves. They have a division of impure blood called the
+G&#257;te 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 p&#299;pal 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 <i>r&#363;sa</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The caste worship the ordinary Hindu deities and especially Bhairon, the guardian of the gate of Mah&#257;deo&#8217;s temple. They have
+a nail driven into the bow of their boat which is called &#8216;Bhairon&#8217;s nail,&#8217; 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. <a id="d0e9041"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9041">285</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hmans will take water from their hands.
+<a id="d0e9043"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9043">286</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9028" href="#d0e9028src" class="noteref">1</a></span> 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 Mall&#257;hs or Kewats. This article is based on a paper by Mr. P.R. Kaipitia, Forest Ranger.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e9044" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Nat</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e9084">1. The Nats not a proper caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9132">2. Muhammadan Nats</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9142">3. Social customs of the Nats. Their low status</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9158">4. Acrobatic performances</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9174">5. Sliding or walking on ropes as a charm for the crops</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9207">6. Snake-charmers</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9084">
+<h3>1. The Nats not a proper caste</h3>
+<p><b>Nat,<a id="d0e9090src" href="#d0e9090" class="noteref">1</a> B&#257;di, Dang-Charha, Karnati, B&#257;zigar, Sapera.</b>&#8212;The term Nat (Sanskrit Nata&#8212;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.
+B&#257;di and B&#257;zigar mean a rope-walker, Dang-Charha a rope-climber, and Sapera a snake-charmer. In the Central Provinces the
+Gar&#363;dis or snake-charmers, and the Kolh&#257;tis, 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.<a id="d0e9094src" href="#d0e9094" class="noteref">2</a> Sir D. Ibbetson says: &#8220;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
+Mir&#257;sis, though this is perhaps doubtful. They often practise surgery and physic in a small way and <a id="d0e9097"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9097">287</a>]</span>are not free from suspicion of sorcery.&#8221;<a id="d0e9099src" href="#d0e9099" class="noteref">3</a> 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 B&#257;zigar and Kab&#363;tari as groups of the Berias of Bengal, and states that these are closely
+akin to the Nats and Kanjars of Hindust&#257;n.<a id="d0e9104src" href="#d0e9104" class="noteref">4</a> An old account of the Nats or B&#257;zigars<a id="d0e9109src" href="#d0e9109" class="noteref">5</a> would equally well apply to the Kanjars; and in Mr. Crooke&#8217;s detailed article on the Nats several connecting links are noticed.
+The Nat women are sometimes known as Kab&#363;tari 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.<a id="d0e9114src" href="#d0e9114" class="noteref">6</a> In the Central Provinces the women of the small Gop&#257;l caste of acrobats are called Kab&#363;tari, 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 B&#257;di 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, Net&#257;m, W&#299;ka,<a id="d0e9119src" href="#d0e9119" class="noteref">7</a> and they have the <i>damru</i> or drum used by the Gaurias or snake-charmers and jugglers of Chhatt&#299;sgarh, who are also derived from the Gonds. The Chhatt&#299;sgarhi
+Dang-Charhas are Gonds who say they formerly belonged to Panna State and were supported by R&#257;ja Am&#257;n 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 Khushh&#257;liya or &#8216;Those in prosperous circumstances.&#8217;<a id="d0e9128src" href="#d0e9128" class="noteref">8</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9132">
+<h3>2. Muhammadan Nats</h3>
+<p>One division of the Nats are Muhammadans and seem to <a id="d0e9137"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9137">288</a>]</span>be to some extent a distinctive group. They have seven <i>gotras</i>&#8212;Chicharia, Damaria, Dhalbalki, P&#363;rbia, Dhondabalki, Karimki and Kalasia. They worship two Birs or spirits, Halaila Bir and
+Sheikh Saddu, to whom they sacrifice fowls in the months of Bh&#257;don (August) and Bais&#257;kh (April). Hindus of any caste are freely
+admitted into their community, and they can marry Hindu girls.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9142">
+<h3>3. Social customs of the Nats. Their low status</h3>
+<p>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<a id="d0e9147src" href="#d0e9147" class="noteref">9</a> when a Nat woman marries, the first child is either given to the grandmother as compensation for the loss of the mother&#8217;s
+gains as a prostitute, or is redeemed by a payment of Rs. 30. Among the Chhatt&#299;sgarhi Dang-Charhas a bride-price of Rs. 40
+is paid, of which the girl&#8217;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 Kolh&#257;tis of Ber&#257;r. 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 Hanum&#257;n, 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.<a id="d0e9153src" href="#d0e9153" class="noteref">10</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9158">
+<h3>4. Acrobatic performances</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e9163"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9163">289</a>]</span>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&#8217;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: <i>Nat ka bachcha to kal&#257;bazi hi karega</i>; or &#8216;The rope-dancer&#8217;s son is always turning somersaults.&#8217;<a id="d0e9168src" href="#d0e9168" class="noteref">11</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9174">
+<h3>5. Sliding or walking on ropes as a charm for the crops</h3>
+<p>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 B&#257;ba 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 <a id="d0e9179"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9179">290</a>]</span>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&#8217;s
+account of Kumaon<a id="d0e9181src" href="#d0e9181" class="noteref">12</a> seems clearly to refer to some such rite:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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 Garhw&#257;l the measures pursued with the same view are of a peculiar
+nature, deserving of more particular notice. In villages dedicated to the protection of Mah&#257;deva propitiatory festivals are
+held in his honour. At these B&#257;dis 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 B&#257;di sits astride
+on a wooden saddle, to which he is tied by thongs; the saddle is similarly secured to the <i>bast</i> or sliding cable, along which it runs, by means of a deep groove; sandbags are tied to the B&#257;di&#8217;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 <i>bast</i> necessarily vary with the nature of the cliff, but as the B&#257;di is remunerated at the rate of a rupee for every hundred cubits,
+hence termed a tola, a correct measurement always takes place; the longest <i>bast</i> 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 B&#257;di 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 <a id="d0e9197"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9197">291</a>]</span><i>bh&#257;bar</i> grass. Formerly, if a B&#257;di 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 <i>bast</i> 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 B&#257;di is also taken and preserved as possessing similar virtues. He being thus made the organ to obtain
+fertility for the lands of others, the B&#257;di 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 B&#257;di, who is supported by annual contributions
+of grain from the inhabitants.&#8221; 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
+<i>Attis, Adonis, Osiris</i>. 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9207">
+<h3>6. Snake-charmers</h3>
+<p>The groups who practise snake-charming are known as Sapera or Gar&#363;di and in the Mar&#257;tha Districts as Mad&#257;ri. Another name
+for them is N&#257;g-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 <a id="d0e9212"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9212">292</a>]</span>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&#8217;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 <i>kalip&#257;r</i> and the bark of the <i>karheya</i> 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&frac12; leaves of the <i>n&#299;m</i> tree<a id="d0e9223src" href="#d0e9223" class="noteref">13</a> which is sacred to Devi. On the festival of N&#257;g-Panchmi (Cobra&#8217;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 N&#257;g-B&#257;ba or Father Cobra is worshipped for a month before the festival of N&#257;g-Panchmi.
+During this period one man from every house in the village must go to N&#257;g-B&#257;ba&#8217;s shrine outside and take food there and come
+back. And on N&#257;g-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:<a id="d0e9228src" href="#d0e9228" class="noteref">14</a>
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e9237" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p119.jpg" alt="Snake-charmer with cobras" width="540" height="720"><p class="figureHead">Snake-charmer with cobras</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hence, on many occasions throughout the year, the <a id="d0e9243"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9243">293</a>]</span>dread Manasa Devi, the queen of snakes, is propitiated by presents, vows and religious rites. In the month of Shr&#257;bana the
+worship of the snake goddess is celebrated with great &eacute;clat. 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 M&#257;ls 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 M&#257;ls, 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 M&#257;ls 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 M&#257;ls are the chosen servants of Siva and the favourites of Manasa. Although their supernatural pretensions
+are ridiculous, yet it must be confessed that the M&#257;ls 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 M&#257;l. When in the act
+of bringing out snakes from their subterranean holes, the M&#257;ls are in the habit of muttering charms, in which the names of
+Manasa and Mah&#257;deva 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 id="d0e9245"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9245">294</a>]</span>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 M&#257;l 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>These M&#257;ls appear to have been members of the aboriginal M&#257;le or M&#257;le Pah&#257;ria tribe of Bengal.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9090" href="#d0e9090src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is partly compiled from notes furnished by Mr. Adur&#257;m Chaudhri and Mr. Jagann&#257;th Prasad, Naib-Tahs&#299;ld&#257;rs.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9094" href="#d0e9094src" class="noteref">2</a></span> See art. Kanjar.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9099" href="#d0e9099src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), para. 588.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9104" href="#d0e9104src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Beria.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9109" href="#d0e9109src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Asiatic Researches</i>, vol. vii., 1803, by Captain Richardson.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9114" href="#d0e9114src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Nat.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9119" href="#d0e9119src" class="noteref">7</a></span> Crooke, <i>l.c.</i>, art. Nat.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9128" href="#d0e9128src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Ibidem.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9147" href="#d0e9147src" class="noteref">9</a></span> Ibbetson, <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1886), para. 588.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9153" href="#d0e9153src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xx. p. 186, quoted in Mr. Crooke&#8217;s article.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9168" href="#d0e9168src" class="noteref">11</a></span> Temple and Fallon&#8217;s <i>Hindust&#257;ni Proverbs</i>, p. 171.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9181" href="#d0e9181src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>As. Res.</i> vol. xvi., 1828, p. 213.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9223" href="#d0e9223src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>Melia indica</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9228" href="#d0e9228src" class="noteref">14</a></span> <i>Bengali Festivals and Holidays</i>, by the Rev. Bih&#257;ri L&#257;l De, <i>Calcutta Review</i>, vol. v. pp. 59, 60.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e9249" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Nunia</h2>
+<p><b>Nunia, Lunia.</b><a id="d0e9255src" href="#d0e9255" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;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 <i>non</i> means salt, and is a corruption of the Sanskrit <i>lavana</i>, &#8216;the moist,&#8217; which first occurs as a name for sea-salt in the Atharva Veda.<a id="d0e9264src" href="#d0e9264" class="noteref">2</a> In the oldest prose writings salt is known as Saindhava or &#8216;that which is brought from the Indus,&#8217; 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 Ber&#257;r 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 Mall&#257;h, Kewat, K&#363;chbandhia,
+Bind, Musah&#257;r, Bhuinh&#257;r 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&#8217;s families, and the unwillingness to contract alliances with those whose social position may turn out to be
+not wholly satisfactory. &#8220;The internal structure of the caste,&#8221; Mr. Crooke remarks, &#8220;is far from clear; it would appear that
+<a id="d0e9270"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9270">295</a>]</span>they are still in a state of transition, and the different endogamous subcastes are not as yet fully recognised.&#8221; In Bil&#257;spur
+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 Bil&#257;spur, 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 B&#257;ndhogarh, confine themselves to the excavation of tanks
+and wells. The exogamous divisions of the caste are also by no means clearly defined; in M&#299;rz&#257;pur they have a system of local
+subdivisions called <i>d&#299;h</i>, each subdivision being named after the village which is supposed to be its home. The word <i>d&#299;h</i> itself means a site or village. Those who have a common <i>d&#299;h</i> do not intermarry.<a id="d0e9281src" href="#d0e9281" class="noteref">3</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The caste have a legend which shows their mixed origin. Some centuries ago, they say, a marriage procession consisting of
+Br&#257;hmans, R&#257;jp&#363;ts, Banias and Gosains went to a place near Ajodhya. After the ceremony was over the bride, on being taken
+to the bridegroom&#8217;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&#8217;s descendants should excavate salt in atonement; and thus the caste arose.
+
+</p>
+<p>In Bil&#257;spur 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 Mah&#257;rs.
+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 <a id="d0e9291"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9291">296</a>]</span>white clothes, which is rather peculiar, as white is not a lucky colour among the Hindus. The Nunias employ Br&#257;hmans at their
+ceremonies, and they have a caste <i>panch&#257;yat</i> or committee, whose headman is known as Kurha. The Bil&#257;spur section of the caste has two Kurhas. Here Br&#257;hmans 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.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9255" href="#d0e9255src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Based on papers by Munshi Kanhya L&#257;l of the Gazetteer Office, and Mr. M&#299;r Patcha, Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r, Bil&#257;spur.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9264" href="#d0e9264src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Lunia.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9281" href="#d0e9281src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Lunia.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e9296" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Ojha</h2>
+<p><b>Ojha.</b>&#8212;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 <i>ojh</i> meaning &#8216;entrail,&#8217; 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 Br&#257;hmans 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 Satp&#363;ras they are also the
+minstrels of the Korkus. Those who beg from the Korkus play on a kind of drum called <i>dh&#257;nk</i> while the Gond Ojhas use the <i>kingri</i> or lyre. Some of them also catch birds and are therefore known as Moghia. Mr. Hislop<a id="d0e9312src" href="#d0e9312" class="noteref">1</a> remarks of them: &#8220;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 <a id="d0e9317"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9317">297</a>]</span>quails and the skins of a species of Buceros named Dhan-ch&#299;ria; these are used for making caps and for hanging up in houses
+in order to secure wealth (<i>dhan</i>), 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 M&#257;na Ojhas, who rank higher than the others. Laying claim to unusual sanctity, they refuse
+to eat with any one, Gonds, R&#257;jp&#363;ts or even Br&#257;hmans, and devote themselves to the manufacture of rings and bells which are
+in request among their own race, and even of <i>lingas</i> (phallic emblems) and <i>nandis</i> (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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>Mr. Tawney wrote of the Ojhas as follows:<a id="d0e9330src" href="#d0e9330" class="noteref">2</a> &#8220;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 <i>gots</i> (classes or septs), and those with the same number of gods cannot intermarry. They worship at the same Deokhala (god&#8217;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>The customs of the Ojhas resemble those of the Gonds. <a id="d0e9341"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9341">298</a>]</span>They take the bride to the bridegroom&#8217;s house to be married, and a widow among them is expected, though not obliged, to wed
+her late husband&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 <i>s&#363;tak</i> 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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d District which he had obtained as follows:<a id="d0e9348src" href="#d0e9348" class="noteref">3</a> &#8220;He was singing and dancing before R&#257;ja R&#257;ghuji, when the R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;ja) had had in his mouth and had spat out. The Ojha did this and got
+the village.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>The Maithil or Tirh&#363;t Br&#257;hmans who are especially learned in T&#257;ntric 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&#8217;s success when he was engaged in any battle,
+and to sit outside the rooms of sick persons repeating the sacred G&#257;yatri 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 <i>Jap</i>. When it is repeated a larger number of times, as 54 or 108, a rosary is used.
+<a id="d0e9359"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9359">299</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9312" href="#d0e9312src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Papers relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of the C.P.</i>, p. 6.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9330" href="#d0e9330src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Note by Mr. Tawney as Deputy Commissioner of Chhindw&#257;ra, quoted in <i>Central Provinces Census Report</i> of 1881 (Mr. Drysdale).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9348" href="#d0e9348src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Sir C.A. Elliott&#8217;s <i>Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Settlement Report</i>, p. 70.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e9360" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Oraon</h2>
+<p>[<i>Authorities</i>: The most complete account of the Oraons is a monograph entitled, <i>The Religion and Customs of the Oraons</i>, by the late Rev. Father P. Dehon, published in 1906 in the <i>Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal</i>, vol. i. No. 9. The tribe is also described at length by Colonel Dalton in <i>The Ethnography of Bengal</i>, and an article on it is included in Mr. (Sir H.) Risley&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>. References to the Oraons are contained in Mr. Bradley-Birt&#8217;s <i>Chota N&#257;gpur</i>, and Mr. Ball&#8217;s <i>Jungle Life in India</i>. The Kurukh language is treated by Dr. Grierson in the volume of the Linguistic Survey on <i>Munda and Dravidian Languages</i>. 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. H&#299;ra L&#257;l, Mr. Bal&#257;r&#257;m Nand, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Sambalpur, Mr. Jeor&#257;khan L&#257;l, Deputy
+Inspector of Schools, Bil&#257;spur, and Munshi Kanhya L&#257;l of the Gazetteer Office.]
+
+</p>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e9544">1. General notice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9584">2. Settlement in Chota N&#257;gpur</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9605">3. Subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9611">4. Pre-nuptial licence</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9631">5. Betrothal</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9653">6. Marriage ceremony</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9662">7. Special Customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9679">8. Widow-remarriage and divorce</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9686">9. Customs at birth</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9694">10. Naming a child</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9700">11. Branding and tattooing</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9710">12. Dormitory discipline</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9715">13. Disposal of the dead</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9729">14. Worship of ancestors</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9739">15. Religion. The supreme deity</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9764">16. Minor godlings</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9796">17. Human sacrifice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9802">18. Christianity</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9807">19. Festivals. The Karma or May-day</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9831">20. The <i>s&#257;l</i> flower festival</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9856">21. The harvest festival</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9863">22. Fast for the crops</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9871">23. Physical appearance and costume of the Oraons</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9887">24. Dress of women</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9897">25. Dances</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9916">26. Social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9949">27. Social rules</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9959">28. Character</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e9966">29. Language</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9544">
+<h3>1. General notice</h3>
+<p><b>Oraon, Uraon, Kurukh, Dhangar, K&#363;da, Kis&#257;n.</b>&#8212;The Oraons are an important Dravidian tribe of the Chota N&#257;gpur plateau, numbering altogether about 750,000 persons, of whom
+85,000 now belong to the Central Provinces, being residents of the Jashpur and Sarg&#363;ja States and the neighbouring <a id="d0e9551"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9551">300</a>]</span>tracts. They are commonly known in the Central Provinces as Dh&#257;ngar or Dh&#257;ngar-Oraon. In Chota N&#257;gpur the word Dh&#257;ngar 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. K&#363;da means a digger or navvy in Uriya, and enquiries made by Mr. B.C. Mazumdar and Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l
+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 Kis&#257;n 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<a id="d0e9553src" href="#d0e9553" class="noteref">1</a> was of opinion that the word <i>kurukh</i> might be identified with the Kolarian <i>horo</i>, 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 <i>orgor&#257;n</i>, hawk or cunny bird, used as the name of a totemistic sept. Sir G. Grierson, however, suggested a connection with the Kaik&#257;ri,
+<i>ur&#363;pai</i>, man; Burgandi <i>ur&#257;po</i>, man; <i>ur&#257;ng</i>, men. The Kaik&#257;ris 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 <i>kur&#363;gu</i>, an eagle, and be the name of a totemistic clan. Compare also names, such as Korava, Kurru, a dialect of Tamil, and Kud&#257;gu.
+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 <i>&#363;rna</i> to pour, and means &#8216;one who pours.&#8217; 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 Dh&#257;ngar means a farmservant, K&#363;da a digger, and Kis&#257;n 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 <a id="d0e9582"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9582">301</a>]</span>be often added or omitted in this part of the country, as Kurukh or Kurunkh.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9584">
+<h3>2. Settlement in Chota N&#257;gpur</h3>
+<p>According to their own traditions, Mr. Gait writes,<a id="d0e9589src" href="#d0e9589" class="noteref">2</a> &#8220;The Kurukh tribe originally lived in the Carnatic, whence they went up the Nerbudda river and settled in Bih&#257;r 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 R&#257;jmah&#257;l hills: while the other went up the Son and occupied the north-western portion of the Chota
+N&#257;gpur plateau, where many of the villages they occupy are still known by Mund&#257;ri names. The latter were the ancestors of
+the Oraons or Kurukhs, while the former were the progenitors of the M&#257;le or Saonria as they often call themselves.&#8221; Towards
+Lohardaga the Oraons found themselves among the Mundas or Kols, who probably retired by degrees and left them in possession
+of the country. &#8220;The Oraons,&#8221; Father Dehon states, &#8220;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
+zam&#299;nd&#257;rs, 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 zam&#299;nd&#257;rs 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.&#8221; 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 Mund&#257;ri 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 P&#257;han or priest of the village gods, the Oraons always employ a Munda if available, and it is one of the P&#257;han&#8217;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 <a id="d0e9594"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9594">302</a>]</span>the Oraons found the Mundas settled in Chota N&#257;gpur 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 P&#257;han or village priest takes his name from the P&#257;ns or Gandas. Dalton says that the P&#257;ns 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 <i>kh&#363;nts</i> 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 <i>got</i>. Each <i>kh&#363;nt</i> has a share of the village lands.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9605">
+<h3>3. Subdivisions</h3>
+<p>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, Dh&#257;nka, Kharia, Khendro and Munda; of these Kharia and Munda are the names of other tribes, and Dh&#257;nka
+may be a variant for Dh&#257;ngar. 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&#8217;s side.
+<a id="d0e9610"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9610">303</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9611">
+<h3>4. Pre-nuptial licence</h3>
+<p>Marriage is adult and pre-nuptial unchastity appears to be tacitly recognised. Oraon villages have the institution of the
+Dh&#363;mkuria or Bachelors&#8217; dormitory, which Dalton describes as follows:<a id="d0e9616src" href="#d0e9616" class="noteref">3</a> &#8220;In all the older Oraon villages when there is any conservation of ancient customs, there is a house called the Dh&#363;mkuria
+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 Dh&#363;mkuria, 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&#8217; hall, and in some villages actually
+sleep there. I not long ago saw a Dh&#363;mkuria in a Sarg&#363;ja village in which the boys and girls all slept every night.&#8221; 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. &#8220;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, <a id="d0e9621"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9621">304</a>]</span>and she is then expected to lead a virtuous life.&#8221;<a id="d0e9623src" href="#d0e9623" class="noteref">4</a> According to Dalton, however, <i>liaisons</i> 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 Dh&#363;mkuria life before they are settled.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9631">
+<h3>5. Betrothal</h3>
+<p>The first ceremony for a marriage is known as <i>p&#257;n bandhi</i> or the settling of the price; for which the boy&#8217;s father, accompanied by some men of his village to represent <i>the panch</i> or elders, goes to the girl&#8217;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. &#8220;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 <i>handia</i> 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 <i>handia</i> 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 <i>handia</i> 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 <a id="d0e9651"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9651">305</a>]</span>bridegroom. They all look like old witches, and in their drunken state are very mischievous.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9653">
+<h3>6. Marriage ceremony</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s house. Most of the males have warlike
+weapons, real or sham, and as they approach the village of the bride&#8217;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&#8217;s mother is taken to the <i>dari</i> 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. &#8220;When this is complete,&#8221; Dalton states, &#8220;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, &#8216;The marriage is done, the marriage is done.&#8217; 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.&#8221;
+<a id="d0e9661"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9661">306</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9662">
+<h3>7. Special Customs</h3>
+<p>Meanwhile the guests sit round drinking <i>handias</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217;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. &#8220;Then,&#8221;
+Father Dehon continues, &#8220;comes the last ceremony, which is called <i>khir&#299;tengna handia</i> or the <i>handia</i> 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: &#8216;If your wife goes to fetch <i>s&#257;g</i> 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.&#8217;
+Then turning to the girl: &#8216;When your husband goes hunting, if his arm or leg is broken, do not say, &#8220;He is a cripple, I won&#8217;t
+live with him.&#8221; 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.&#8217; A feast follows, and at night the girl is brought to
+the boy by her mother, who says to him, &#8216;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.&#8217; A companion of the bridegroom&#8217;s then seizes the girl in his arms and carries her inside the house.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9679">
+<h3>8. Widow-remarriage and divorce</h3>
+<p>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 Du&#257;rs or Assam. Widow-remarriage is a regular practice. The first time a widow marries again, Father Dehon states,
+the bridegroom must pay Rs. 3&#8211;8 for her; if successive husbands die her price goes down by a <a id="d0e9684"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9684">307</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9686">
+<h3>9. Customs at birth</h3>
+<p>&#8220;The Oraons,&#8221; Father Dehon continues, &#8220;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: &#8216;Thou shalt bring forth, etc.&#8217; 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.&#8221; 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 Bil&#257;spur,<a id="d0e9691src" href="#d0e9691" class="noteref">5</a> but so far without confirmation.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9694">
+<h3>10. Naming a child</h3>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217; 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.&#8221;
+<a id="d0e9699"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9699">308</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9700">
+<h3>11. Branding and tattooing</h3>
+<p>&#8220;When a boy is six or seven years old it is time for him to become a member of the Dh&#363;mkuria 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.&#8221; 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:
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/fig308.gif" alt="" width="172" height="170"></div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9710">
+<h3>12. Dormitory discipline</h3>
+<p>The Dh&#363;mkuria 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9715">
+<h3>13. Disposal of the dead</h3>
+<p>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. <a id="d0e9720"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9720">309</a>]</span>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 <i>orai</i><a id="d0e9724src" href="#d0e9724" class="noteref">6</a> 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&#8217;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, &#8216;Come, your house is being burnt,&#8217; 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, &#8216;Who are you?&#8217; and they answer,
+&#8216;It is we.&#8217; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9729">
+<h3>14. Worship of ancestors</h3>
+<p>The <i>pitras</i> 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 <a id="d0e9737"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9737">310</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9739">
+<h3>15. Religion. The supreme deity</h3>
+<p>The following account of the tribal religion is abridged from Father Dehon&#8217;s full and interesting description:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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, &#8216;Now we have tried everything, but
+we have still you who can help us.&#8217; 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 <i>merkha</i> 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 zam&#299;nd&#257;r or landowner, who does nothing himself, but keeps a <i>chapr&#257;si</i> as an agent or debt-collector; and they conceive the latter as having all the defects so common to his profession. Baranda,
+the <i>chapr&#257;si</i>, exacts tribute from them mercilessly, not exactly out of zeal for the service of his master, but out of greed for his <i>talb&#257;na</i> or perquisites. When making a sacrifice to Dharmes they pray: &#8216;O god, from to-day do not send any more your <i>chapr&#257;si</i> to punish us. You see we have paid our respects to you, and we are going to give him his <i>dast&#363;ri</i> (tip).&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9764">
+<h3>16. Minor godlings</h3>
+<p>&#8220;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 <i>bh&#363;ts</i> or spirits of the <a id="d0e9772"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9772">311</a>]</span>household, the sept, the village, and common deities, such as the earth and sun. Chola P&#257;cho or the lady of the grove lives
+in the <i>sarna</i> 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. Bh&#363;la 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 Bh&#363;la has appeared in the light
+of his lamp he shows a disappointed face, and says: &#8216;Pshaw, only Bh&#363;la!&#8217; 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, &#8216;Take this,
+Bh&#363;la, and go away.&#8217; M&#363;rkuri is the thumping <i>bh&#363;t</i>. 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 M&#363;rkuri from the body of the European into the body of the native.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;<i>Chordewa</i> is a witch rather than a <i>bh&#363;t</i>. 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 <a id="d0e9788"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9788">312</a>]</span>nature and the cleverness of a <i>bh&#363;t</i>. 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 <i>Chordewa</i>.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9796">
+<h3>17. Human sacrifice</h3>
+<p>&#8220;There is also Anna Ku&#257;ri or Mah&#257;dhani, 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 N&#257;gpur. 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. Do&#299;sa, Pan&#257;ri, K&#363;kra and Sarg&#363;ja 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 Ku&#257;ri finds votaries not only among the Oraons,
+but especially among the big zam&#299;nd&#257;rs and R&#257;jas of the Native States. When a man has offered a sacrifice to Anna Ku&#257;ri 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 Ku&#257;ri 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.&#8221;
+<a id="d0e9801"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9801">313</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9802">
+<h3>18. Christianity</h3>
+<p>In Jashpur State where the Oraons number 47,000 about half the total number have become Christians. The non-Christians call
+themselves Sans&#257;r, and the principal difference between them is that the Christians have cut off the pigtail, while the Sans&#257;r
+retain it. In some families the father may be a Sans&#257;r and the son a Kirist&#257;n, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9807">
+<h3>19. Festivals. The Karma or May-day</h3>
+<p>The principal festivals are the S&#257;rh&#363;l, celebrated when the <i>s&#257;l</i> tree<a id="d0e9815src" href="#d0e9815" class="noteref">7</a> flowers, the Karma or May-day when the rice is ready for planting out, and the Kanih&#257;ri or harvest celebration.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;At the Karma festival a party of young people of both sexes,&#8221; says Colonel Dalton, &#8220;proceed to the forest and cut a young
+<i>karma</i> tree (<i>Nauclea parvifolia</i>) or the branch of one; they bear this home in triumph and plant it in the centre of the Akh&#257;ra 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 Akh&#257;ra, and the youth of both sexes, arm-linked in a huge circle, dancing round the <i>karma</i> 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.&#8221; The tree, however, probably corresponds to the English Maypole, and the festival
+celebrates the renewal of vegetation.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9831">
+<h3>20. The <i>s&#257;l</i> flower festival
+</h3>
+<p>At the S&#257;rh&#363;l festival the marriage of the sun-god and earth-mother is celebrated, and this cannot be done till the <i>s&#257;l</i> 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 P&#257;han or Baiga, the village priest, to the <i>sarna</i> or sacred grove, a remnant of the old <i>s&#257;l</i> forest in <a id="d0e9848"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9848">314</a>]</span>which is located Sarna Burhi or &#8216;The old women of the grove.&#8217; &#8220;To this dryad,&#8221; writes Colonel Dalton, &#8220;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 <i>s&#257;l</i> 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, &#8216;May your rooms
+and granary be filled with paddy that the Baiga&#8217;s name may be great.&#8217; 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 <i>s&#257;l</i> 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 Akh&#257;ra and dance all night.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9856">
+<h3>21. The harvest festival</h3>
+<p>The Kanih&#257;ri, 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 Mah&#257;deo 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 <a id="d0e9861"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9861">315</a>]</span>songs and give vent to all their passions. On that day no one is responsible for any breach of morality.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9863">
+<h3>22. Fast for the crops</h3>
+<p>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 <i>As&#257;rh</i> (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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9871">
+<h3>23. Physical appearance and costume of the Oraons</h3>
+<p>&#8220;The colour of most Oraons,&#8221; Sir H. Risley states, &#8220;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Oraon youths,&#8221; Dalton states, &#8220;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 Dh&#363;mkuria community,
+and generally <a id="d0e9878"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9878">316</a>]</span>his first youth is passed before he resigns his decorative propensities.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.<a id="d0e9882src" href="#d0e9882" class="noteref">8</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9887">
+<h3>24. Dress of women</h3>
+<p>&#8220;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 <i>torque</i> 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.&#8221; The women wear only <a id="d0e9895"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9895">317</a>]</span>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. &#8220;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.&#8221; Rings are worn in the lobes of the ear, but not other
+ornaments. &#8220;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9897">
+<h3>25. Dances</h3>
+<p>&#8220;The tribe I am treating of are seen to best advantage at the great national dance meetings called J&#257;tras, 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&#8217;s work and look up their <i>j&#257;tra</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217; 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
+R&#257;ja, and others assume the form of or paint themselves up to represent certain beasts of prey. Behind this motley group the
+main body <a id="d0e9905"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9905">318</a>]</span>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 <i>kharia</i>, 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 <i>kharia</i> 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 <i>hur&#363;ru</i>, which reminds one of Paddy&#8217;s &#8216;huroosh&#8217; as he &#8216;welts the floor,&#8217; 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9916">
+<h3>26. Social customs</h3>
+<p>But more often they go on all night. Mr. Ball mentions their dance as follows:<a id="d0e9921src" href="#d0e9921" class="noteref">9</a> &#8220;The Oraon dance was distinct from any I had seen by the Sant&#257;ls 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&#8217;s hands, and the whole movements
+are so perfectly in concert that they spring about with as much agility as could a single individual.&#8221; Father Dehon gives
+the following interesting notice of their social customs: &#8220;The Oraons are very sociable beings, and like to enjoy life together.
+They are paying visits or <i>pahis</i> to one another nearly the whole year round. In these the <i>handia</i> (beer-jar) always plays a great part. Any man who would presume to receive visitors without offering them a <i>handia</i> would be <a id="d0e9935"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9935">319</a>]</span>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 <i>handias</i> are prepared by the groom&#8217;s father, and all the people of the village who can afford it supply one also. Each <i>handia</i> 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 &#8216;<i>L&#8217;aurore avec ses doigts de rose entr&#8217;ouvre les portes de l&#8217;orient,</i>&#8217; she finds the girls straggling home one by one, dishevelled, <i>tra&icirc;nant l&#8217;aile</i>, 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&#8217;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9949">
+<h3>27. Social rules</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e9954"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9954">320</a>]</span>Oraon is so expelled. Temporary expulsion is awarded for the usual offences. The head of the caste <i>panch&#257;yat</i> 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&#8217;s transgression. For this he usually receives a fee of five rupees, and in some States the appointment
+is in the hands of the R&#257;ja, 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 R&#257;wan, 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 Hanum&#257;n in the shape of a giant monkey came
+to the assistance of R&#257;ma, their king R&#257;wan tried to destroy Hanum&#257;n by taking all the loin-cloths of his subjects and tying
+them soaked in oil to the monkey&#8217;s tail with a view to setting them on fire and burning him to death. The device was unsuccessful
+and Hanum&#257;n escaped, but since then the subjects of R&#257;wan and their descendants have never had a sufficient allowance of cloth
+to cover them properly.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9959">
+<h3>28. Character</h3>
+<p>&#8220;The Oraons,&#8221; Colonel Dalton says, &#8220;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 <a id="d0e9964"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9964">321</a>]</span>in flower-decked groups holding each other by the hand or round the waist and singing.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e9966">
+<h3>29. Language</h3>
+<p>The Kurukh language, Dr. Grierson states, has no written character, but the gospels have been printed in it in the Devan&#257;gri
+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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9553" href="#d0e9553src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Linguistic Survey</i>, vol. iv. p. 406.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9589" href="#d0e9589src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Bengal Census Report</i> (1901).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9616" href="#d0e9616src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Ethnography</i>, p. 248.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9623" href="#d0e9623src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, vol. ii. p. 141.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9691" href="#d0e9691src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Panna L&#257;l, Revenue Inspector.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9724" href="#d0e9724src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Sorghum halepense</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9815" href="#d0e9815src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Shorea robusta</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9882" href="#d0e9882src" class="noteref">8</a></span> In Bil&#257;spur the men have an iron comb in the hair with a circular end and two prongs like a fork. Women do not wear this.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e9921" href="#d0e9921src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Jungle Life in India</i>, p. 134.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e9971" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>P&#257;ik</h2>
+<p><b>P&#257;ik.</b>&#8212;A small caste of the Uriya country formed from military service, the term <i>p&#257;ik</i> meaning &#8216;a foot-soldier.&#8217; In 1901 the P&#257;iks numbered 19,000 persons in the K&#257;l&#257;handi 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 K&#257;l&#257;handi, where the
+bulk of them reside, they are called Nalia Sip&#257;his from the fact that they were formerly armed with <i>nalis</i> or matchlocks by the State. After the Khond rising of 1882 in K&#257;l&#257;handi these were confiscated and bows and arrows given
+in lieu of them. The P&#257;iks say that they were the followers of two warriors, K&#257;lm&#299;r and Jaim&#299;r, who conquered the K&#257;l&#257;handi
+and Jaipur States from the Khonds about a thousand years ago. There is no doubt that they formed the rough militia of the
+Uriya R&#257;jas, 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 P&#257;iks and in Orissa rank next to the R&#257;jp&#363;ts. The P&#257;iks 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts. In Sambalpur it is said
+that R&#257;jp&#363;ts, Sudhs, Bhuiyas and Gonds are called P&#257;iks. In K&#257;l&#257;handi they wear the sacred thread, being invested with it
+by a Br&#257;hman at the time of their marriage, and they say that this privilege was conferred on them by the R&#257;ja. 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 <a id="d0e9984"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9984">322</a>]</span>observed wearing the sacred thread, and, on being questioned, stated that his grandfather had purchased the right from the
+R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;ja 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 P&#257;iks is to be found who also claim to be R&#257;jp&#363;ts,
+and are commonly so called, though true R&#257;jp&#363;ts will not eat or intermarry with them. These are quite distinct from the Sambalpur
+P&#257;iks, but have probably been formed into a caste in exactly the same manner. The sept or family names of the Uriya P&#257;iks
+sufficiently indicate their mixed descent. Some of them are as follows: Dube (a Br&#257;hman title), Ch&#257;lak Bansi (of the Chalukya
+royal family), Chhit Karan (belonging to the Karans or Uriya K&#257;yasths), Sah&#257;ni (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 P&#257;iks 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 P&#257;iks have totemistic <i>gots</i> 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 N&#257;gesh or cobra as their sept name. It is said that anybody who does not know his sept
+considers himself to be a N&#257;gesh, and if he does not know his clan, he calls himself a Mahanti. Each family among the P&#257;iks
+has also a Sainga or title, of a high-sounding nature, as N&#257;ik (lord), Puj&#257;ri (worshipper), Baidya <a id="d0e9989"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9989">323</a>]</span>(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 <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> 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 P&#257;iks eat flesh and fish, but abstain from fowls and other unclean animals and
+from liquor. Br&#257;hmans 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.
+<a id="d0e9994"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e9994">324</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e9995" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Panka</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e10036">1. Origin of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10057">2. Caste subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10062">3. Endogamous divisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10069">4. Marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10094">5. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10130">6. Other customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10137">7. Occupation</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10036">
+<h3>1. Origin of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>Panka.</b><a id="d0e10042src" href="#d0e10042" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A Dravidian caste of weavers and labourers found in Mandla, Raipur and Bil&#257;spur, and numbering 215,000 persons in 1911. The
+name is a variant on that of the P&#257;n tribe of Orissa and Chota N&#257;gpur, who are also known as Panika, Ch&#299;k, G&#257;nda and by various
+other designations. In the Central Provinces it has, however, a peculiar application; for while the Pan tribe proper is called
+G&#257;nda in Chhatt&#299;sgarh and the Uriya country, the Pankas form a separate division of the G&#257;ndas, consisting of those who have
+become members of the Kab&#299;rpanthi sect. In this way the name has been found very convenient, for since Kab&#299;r, 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 <i>p&#257;ni ka</i> or &#8216;from water.&#8217; As far as possible then they disown their connection with the G&#257;ndas, one of the most despised castes, and
+say that they are a separate caste consisting of the disciples of Kab&#299;r. This has given rise to the following doggerel rhyme
+about them:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>P&#257;ni se Panka bhae, bundan r&#257;che shar&#299;r,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Age age Panka bhae, p&#257;chhe D&#257;s Kab&#299;r.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Which may be rendered, &#8216;The Panka indeed is born of <a id="d0e10055"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10055">325</a>]</span>water, and his body is made of drops of water, but there were Pankas before Kab&#299;r.&#8217; Or another rendering of the second line
+is, &#8216;First he was a Panka, and afterwards he became a disciple of Kab&#299;r,&#8217; Nevertheless the Pankas have been successful in
+obtaining a somewhat higher position than the G&#257;ndas, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10057">
+<h3>2. Caste subdivisions</h3>
+<p>Of the whole caste 84 per cent are Kab&#299;rpanthis and these form one subcaste; but there are a few others. The M&#257;nikpuria say
+that their ancestors came from M&#257;nikpur 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 Kab&#299;rpanthis; 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 Kab&#299;rpanthis. 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10062">
+<h3>3. Endogamous divisions</h3>
+<p>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, Kuld&#299;p
+the lamp-lighter, Pandw&#257;r the washer of feet, Ghughua one who eats the leavings of the <a id="d0e10067"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10067">326</a>]</span>assembly, and Khetgarhia, one who watches the fields during religious worship. The Sonw&#257;nia or &#8216;Gold-water&#8217; 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 Bh&#257;t or genealogist who begs only from members of the sept and takes food from them.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10069">
+<h3>4. Marriage</h3>
+<p>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 D&#363;lha Deo, the young bridegroom god, whose
+shrine is in the cook-room, and prays to him saying, &#8216;I am going to such and such a village to ask for a wife; give me good
+fortune.&#8217; 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 Ch&#257;nda a <i>chauka</i> 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 Pandw&#257;r sept cries out the names of the <i>gotras</i> 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 Mah&#257;deo and P&#257;rvati under the direction
+of a Br&#257;hman, who also fixes the date of the wedding. This is the only purpose for which a Br&#257;hman 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 <a id="d0e10080"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10080">327</a>]</span>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 <span id="d0e10082" class="corr" title="Source: to">as</span> wife without any ceremony. Before the marriage seven small pitchers full of water are placed in a bamboo basket and shaken
+over the bride&#8217;s head so that the water may fall on her. The principal ceremony consists in walking round the sacred pole
+called <i>magrohan</i>, the skirts of the pair being knotted together. In some localities this is done twice, a first set of perambulations being
+called the Kunw&#257;ri (maiden) Bh&#257;nwar, and the second one of seven, the By&#257;hi (married) Bh&#257;nwar. 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 <i>gauna</i> 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 <i>Marti j&#299;ti ka bh&#257;t</i>, to the castefellows. Usually a man gives several warnings to his wife to amend her bad conduct before he finally casts her
+off.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10094">
+<h3>5. Religion</h3>
+<p>The Pankas worship only Kab&#299;r. They prepare a <i>chauka</i> 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 <i>chauka</i> is prepared by his subordinate called the D&#299;w&#257;n. The offices of Mahant and D&#299;w&#257;n 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 M&#257;gh
+(January), Ph&#257;gun (February) and K&#257;rtik (October) as fasts in honour of Kab&#299;r. 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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh 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 <a id="d0e10105"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10105">328</a>]</span>invested with a necklace of <i>tulsi</i><a id="d0e10109src" href="#d0e10109" class="noteref">2</a> 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 <i>tulsi</i> 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 <i>chauk</i> and sip the urine of a calf. The <i>chauk</i> is then washed out and a fresh one made with lines of flour, and standing in this the convert receives to drink the <i>dal</i>, 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&#8217;s house, while he eats outside it at a distance. Then he again sips the <i>dal</i>, and the Mahant or priest takes him on his lap and a cloth is put over them both; the Mahant whispers the <i>mantra</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10130">
+<h3>6. Other customs</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e10135"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10135">329</a>]</span>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&#8217;s presence in the room.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10137">
+<h3>7. Occupation</h3>
+<p>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 <i>s&#257;n</i>-hemp nor breed tasar silk cocoons. They are somewhat poorly esteemed by their neighbours, who say of them, &#8216;Where a Panka
+can get a little boiled rice and a pumpkin, he will stay for ever,&#8217; meaning that he is satisfied with this and will not work
+to get more. Another saying is, &#8216;The Panka felt brave and thought he would go to war; but he set out to fight a frog and was
+beaten&#8217;; and another, &#8216;Every man tells one lie a day; but the Ah&#299;r tells sixteen, the Cham&#257;r twenty, and the lies of the Panka
+cannot be counted.&#8217; Such gibes, however, do not really mean much. Owing to the abstinence of the Pankas from flesh and liquor
+they rank above the G&#257;ndas and other impure castes. In Bil&#257;spur they are generally held to be quiet and industrious.<a id="d0e10145src" href="#d0e10145" class="noteref">3</a> In Chhatt&#299;sgarh the Pankas are considered above the average in intelligence and sometimes act as spokesmen for the village
+people and as advisers to zam&#299;nd&#257;rs and village proprietors. Some of them become religious mendicants and act as <i>gurus</i> or preceptors to Kab&#299;rpanthis.<a id="d0e10153src" href="#d0e10153" class="noteref">4</a>
+
+
+<a id="d0e10156"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10156">330</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10042" href="#d0e10042src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is compiled from papers by Py&#257;re L&#257;l Misra, Ethnographic clerk, and Hazari L&#257;l, Manager, Court of Wards, Ch&#257;nda.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10109" href="#d0e10109src" class="noteref">2</a></span> The basil plant.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10145" href="#d0e10145src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Bilaspur Settlement Report</i> (1868), p. 49.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10153" href="#d0e10153src" class="noteref">4</a></span> From a note by Mr. Gauri Shankar, Manager, Court of Wards, Dr&#363;g.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e10157" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Panw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;t</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e10229">1. Historical notice. The Agnikula clans and the slaughter of the Kshatriyas by Parasur&#257;ma</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10298">2. The legend of Parasur&#257;ma</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10315">3. The Panw&#257;r dynasty of Dh&#257;r and Ujjain</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10369">4. Diffusion of the Panw&#257;rs over India</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10397">5. The N&#257;gpur Panw&#257;rs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10420">6. Subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10425">7. Marriage customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10530">8. Widow-marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10582">9. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10587">10. Worship of the spirits of those dying a violent death</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10610">11. Funeral rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10627">12. Caste discipline</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10662">13. Social customs</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10229">
+<h3>1. Historical notice. The Agnikula clans and the slaughter of the Kshatriyas by Parasur&#257;ma</h3>
+<p><b>Panw&#257;r</b>,<a id="d0e10236src" href="#d0e10236" class="noteref">1</a> <b>Puar</b>, <b>Ponw&#257;r</b>, <b>Pr&#257;mara R&#257;jp&#363;t</b>.&#8212;The Panw&#257;r or Pram&#257;ra is one of the most ancient and famous of the R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Parasur&#257;ma the
+Br&#257;hman. &#8220;The fire-fountain was lustrated with the waters of the Ganges;<a id="d0e10248src" href="#d0e10248" class="noteref">2</a> 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 <i>d&#363;ba</i> grass he sprinkled it with the water of life and threw it into the fire-fountain. Thence on pronouncing the <i>saj&#299;van mantra</i> (incantation to give life) a figure slowly emerged from the flame, bearing in the right hand a mace and exclaiming, &#8216;<i>M&#257;r, M&#257;r!</i>&#8217; (Slay, slay). He was called Pram&#257;r; and Abu, Dh&#257;r, and Ujjain were assigned to him as a territory.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>The four clans known as Agnikula, or born from the fire-pit, were the Panw&#257;r, the Chauh&#257;n, the Parih&#257;r and <a id="d0e10265"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10265">331</a>]</span>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 G&#363;jars or other Scythian or Hun tribes.<a id="d0e10267src" href="#d0e10267" class="noteref">3</a> 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 Parasur&#257;ma the Br&#257;hman. A great number of Indian castes
+date their origin from the traditional massacre of the Kshatriyas by Parasur&#257;ma, saying that their ancestors were R&#257;jp&#363;ts
+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. &#8220;The restoration
+of the Br&#257;hmanical 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 Gujar&#257;t and Sur&#257;shtra during the third, and made a success by the Gupta
+emperors in the fourth century.<a id="d0e10273src" href="#d0e10273" class="noteref">4</a> 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 Br&#257;hman.<a id="d0e10278src" href="#d0e10278" class="noteref">5</a> The Gupta dynasty as an important power ended about A.D. 490 and was overthrown by the Huns, whose leader Toram&#257;na was established
+at M&#257;lwa in Central India prior to A.D. 500.&#8221;<a id="d0e10283src" href="#d0e10283" class="noteref">6</a> The revival of Br&#257;hmanism and the Hun supremacy were therefore nearly contemporaneous. Moreover one of the Hun leaders, Mihiragula,
+was a strong supporter of Br&#257;hmanism and an opponent of the Buddhists. Mr. V.A. Smith writes: &#8220;The savage invader, who worshipped
+as his patron deity Siva, the god of destruction, exhibited ferocious hostility <a id="d0e10288"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10288">332</a>]</span>against the peaceful Buddhist cult, and remorselessly overthrew the <i>st&#363;pas</i> and monasteries, which he plundered of their treasures.&#8221;<a id="d0e10293src" href="#d0e10293" class="noteref">7</a> This warrior might therefore well be venerated by the Br&#257;hmans as the great restorer of their faith and would easily obtain
+divine honours. The Huns also subdued R&#257;jput&#257;na 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t clans fits in well with the legend. The stories told by many Indian castes of their
+first ancestors having been R&#257;jp&#363;ts who escaped from the massacre of Parasur&#257;ma would then have some historical value as indicating
+that the existing occupational grouping of castes dates from the period of the revival of the Br&#257;hman cult after a long interval
+of Buddhist supremacy. It is however an objection to the identification of Parasur&#257;ma with the Huns that he is the sixth incarnation
+of Vishnu, coming before R&#257;ma and being mentioned in the Mah&#257;bh&#257;rata, 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 Br&#257;hmans 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
+R&#257;jp&#363;t clans has only been established quite recently by modern historical and archaeological research. The name Parasur&#257;ma
+signifies &#8216;R&#257;ma with the axe&#8217; and seems to indicate that this hero came after the original R&#257;ma. 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 Parasur&#257;ma,
+R&#257;ma nor Krishna appear.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10298">
+<h3>2. The legend of Parasur&#257;ma</h3>
+<p>The legend of Parasur&#257;ma is not altogether opposed to this view in itself.<a id="d0e10303src" href="#d0e10303" class="noteref">8</a> He was the son of a Br&#257;hman Muni or hermit, named Jamadagni, by a lady, Renuka, of the Kshatriya caste. He is therefore not
+held to have been a Br&#257;hman and neither was he a true Kshatriya. This might <a id="d0e10311"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10311">333</a>]</span>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, Parasur&#257;ma, at his father&#8217;s bidding, struck off his mother&#8217;s head
+with a blow of his axe. Jamadagni thereupon was very pleased and promised to give Parasur&#257;ma whatever he might desire. On
+which Parasur&#257;ma 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 Br&#257;hman
+priesthood, and his wife Renuka might be India, unfaithful to the Br&#257;hmans and turning towards the Buddhist heresy. The four
+elder sons would typify the princes of India refusing to respond to the exhortations of the Br&#257;hmans for the suppression of
+Buddhism, and hence themselves made blind to the true faith and their understandings darkened with Buddhist falsehood. But
+Parasur&#257;ma, 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 Br&#257;hman faith. Afterwards, the legend proceeds, the king K&#257;rrtav&#299;rya, the
+head of the Haihaya tribe of Kshatriyas, stole the calf of the sacred cow Kamdhenu from Jamadagni&#8217;s hermitage and cut down
+the trees surrounding it. When Parasur&#257;ma returned, his father told him what had happened, and he followed K&#257;rrtav&#299;rya and
+killed him in battle. But in revenge for this the sons of the king, when Parasur&#257;ma was away, returned to the hermitage and
+slew the pious and unresisting sage Jamadagni, who called fruitlessly for succour on his valiant son. When Parasur&#257;ma returned
+and found his father dead he vowed to extirpate the whole Kshatriya race. &#8216;Thrice times seven did he clear the earth of the
+Kshatriya caste,&#8217; says the Mah&#257;bh&#257;rata. If the first part of the story refers to the Hun conquest of northern <a id="d0e10313"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10313">334</a>]</span>India and the overthrow of the Gupta dynasty, the second may similarly portray their invasion of R&#257;jput&#257;na. The theft of the
+cow and desecration of Jamadagni&#8217;s hermitage by the Haihaya R&#257;jp&#363;ts would represent the apostasy of the R&#257;jp&#363;t princes to
+Buddhist monotheism, the consequent abandonment of the veneration of the cow and the spoliation of the Br&#257;hman shrines; while
+the Hun invasions of R&#257;jput&#257;na and the accompanying slaughter of R&#257;jp&#363;ts would be Parasur&#257;ma&#8217;s terrible revenge.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10315">
+<h3>3. The Panw&#257;r dynasty of Dh&#257;r and Ujjain</h3>
+<p>The Kings of M&#257;lwa or Ujjain who reigned at Dh&#257;r and flourished from the ninth to the twelfth centuries were of the Panw&#257;r
+clan. The seventh and ninth kings of this dynasty rendered it famous.<a id="d0e10320src" href="#d0e10320" class="noteref">9</a> &#8220;R&#257;ja Munja, the seventh king (974&#8211;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 God&#257;vari, but was finally defeated and executed there by the Chalukya king. His nephew, the famous
+Bhoja, ascended the throne of Dh&#257;ra 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 Mahm&#363;d of Ghazn&#299;, 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 Gujar&#257;t and Chedi, and the Panw&#257;r kingdom was reduced to a petty local dynasty until the thirteenth
+century. It was finally superseded by the chiefs of the Tomara and Chauh&#257;n clans, who in their turn succumbed to the Muhammadans
+in 1401.&#8221; The city of Ujjain was at this time a centre of Indian intellectual life. Some celebrated astronomers made it <a id="d0e10326"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10326">335</a>]</span>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 Dh&#257;r or Dh&#257;ran&#257;gra by the R&#257;ja Bhoja already mentioned;<a id="d0e10328src" href="#d0e10328" class="noteref">10</a> and the name of Dh&#257;r is better remembered in connection with the Panw&#257;rs than Ujjain.
+
+</p>
+<p>A saying about it quoted by Colonel Tod was:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Jah&#257;n Pu&#257;r tah&#257;n Dh&#257;r hai;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Aur Dh&#257;r jah&#257;n Pu&#257;r;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Dh&#257;r bina Pu&#257;r nahin;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Aur nahin Pu&#257;r bina Dh&#257;r:</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or, &#8220;Where the Panw&#257;r is there is Dh&#257;r, and Dh&#257;r is where the Panw&#257;r is; without the Panw&#257;rs Dh&#257;r cannot stand, nor the Panw&#257;rs
+without Dh&#257;r.&#8221; It is related that in consequence of one of his merchants having been held to ransom by the ruler of Dh&#257;r,
+the Bhatti R&#257;ja 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 Panw&#257;rs in his army, and
+they stood out to defend their mock capital, repeating as their reason the above lines; and in resisting the R&#257;ja were cut
+to pieces to the number of a hundred and twenty.<a id="d0e10344src" href="#d0e10344" class="noteref">11</a> There is little reason to doubt that the incident, if historical, was produced by the belief in sympathetic magic; the Panw&#257;rs
+really thought that by destroying its image the Raja could effect injury to the capital itself,<a id="d0e10349src" href="#d0e10349" class="noteref">12</a> 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 ju&#257;ri stalks and
+<a id="d0e10355"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10355">336</a>]</span>cut off the heads, when the heads of their enemies flew off in unison.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Panw&#257;rs were held to have ruled from nine castles over the Marusthali or &#8216;Region of death,&#8217; the name given to the great
+desert of R&#257;jput&#257;na, 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.<a id="d0e10359src" href="#d0e10359" class="noteref">13</a> And, &#8216;The world is the Pr&#257;mara&#8217;s,&#8217; was another saying expressive of the resplendent position of Dh&#257;ran&#257;gra or Ujjain at this
+epoch. The siege and capture of the town by the Muhammadans and consequent expulsion of the Panw&#257;rs 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 Satp&#363;ra hills after the fall of Dh&#257;ran&#257;gra. Mr. Crooke<a id="d0e10364src" href="#d0e10364" class="noteref">14</a> states that the expulsion of the Panw&#257;rs from Ujjain under their leader Mitra Sen is ascribed to the attack of the Muhammadans
+under Sh&#257;hab-ud-d&#299;n Ghori about A.D. 1190.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10369">
+<h3>4. Diffusion of the Panw&#257;rs over India</h3>
+<p>After this they spread to various places in northern India, and to the Central Provinces and Bombay. The modern state of Dh&#257;r
+is or was recently still held by a Panw&#257;r family, who had attained high rank under the Mar&#257;thas and received it as a grant
+from the Peshwa. Malcolm considered them to be the descendants of R&#257;jp&#363;t emigrants to the Deccan. He wrote of them:<a id="d0e10374src" href="#d0e10374" class="noteref">15</a> &#8220;In the early period of Mar&#257;tha history the family of Pu&#257;r appears to have been one of the most distinguished. They were
+of the R&#257;jp&#363;t tribe, numbers of which had been settled in M&#257;lwa at a remote era; from whence this branch had migrated to the
+Deccan. Sivaji Pu&#257;r, the first of the family that can be traced in the latter country, was a landholder; and his grandsons,
+Sambaji and K&#257;loji, were military commanders in the service of the celebrated Sivaji. Anand Rao Pu&#257;r was vested with authority
+to collect the Mar&#257;tha share of the revenue of M&#257;lwa and Gujar&#257;t in 1734, and he soon afterwards settled at Dh&#257;r, which province,
+<a id="d0e10379"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10379">337</a>]</span>with the adjoining districts and the tributes of some neighbouring R&#257;jp&#363;t chiefs, was assigned for the support of himself
+and his adherents. It is a curious coincidence that the success of the Mar&#257;thas should, by making Dh&#257;r the capital of Anand
+R&#257;o 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 (Pu&#257;r), claim no descent from the ancient Hindu
+princes of M&#257;lwa. They have, like all the Kshatriya tribes who became incorporated with the Mar&#257;thas, 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
+R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Mar&#257;thas, they still claim, both on account of their
+high birth and of being officers of the R&#257;ja of Sat&#257;ra (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.&#8221; The great Mar&#257;tha house of Nimbh&#257;lkar is believed to have originated from ancestors of the Panw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;t
+clan. While one branch of the Panw&#257;rs went to the Deccan after the fall of Dh&#257;r and marrying with the people there became
+a leading military family of the Mar&#257;thas, 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:<a id="d0e10381src" href="#d0e10381" class="noteref">16</a> &#8220;The Khidmati&#257;, Barw&#257;r or Chobd&#257;r are said to be an inferior branch of the Panw&#257;rs, descended from a low-caste woman. No
+high-caste Hindu eats food or drinks water touched by them.&#8221; According to the Ain-i-Akbari<a id="d0e10386src" href="#d0e10386" class="noteref">17</a> a thousand men of the sept guarded the environs of the palace of Akbar, and Abul Fazl says of them: &#8220;The caste to which they
+<a id="d0e10389"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10389">338</a>]</span>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 <i>M&#257;wis</i>. 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.&#8221; Thus another body of Panw&#257;rs 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 Panw&#257;r dynasty ruled for a considerable period over the territory of Sh&#257;hab&#257;d
+in Bengal. And Jagdeo Panw&#257;r was the trusted minister of Sidhr&#257;j, the great Solanki R&#257;ja of Gujar&#257;t. 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 R&#257;sm&#257;la. In the Punjab
+the Panw&#257;rs are found settled up the whole course of the Sutlej and along the lower Indus, and have also spread up the Bi&#257;s
+into Jalandhar and Gurd&#257;spur.<a id="d0e10394src" href="#d0e10394" class="noteref">18</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10397">
+<h3>5. The N&#257;gpur Panw&#257;rs</h3>
+<p>While the above extracts have been given to show how the Panw&#257;rs migrated from Dh&#257;r to different parts of India in search
+of fortune, this article is mainly concerned with a branch of the clan who came to N&#257;gpur, and subsequently settled in the
+rice country of the Wainganga Valley. At the end of the eleventh century N&#257;gpur appears to have been held by a Panw&#257;r ruler
+as an appanage of the kingdom of M&#257;lwa.<a id="d0e10402src" href="#d0e10402" class="noteref">19</a> It has already been seen how the kings of M&#257;lwa penetrated to Ber&#257;r and the God&#257;vari, and N&#257;gpur may well also have fallen
+to them. Mr. Muhammad Y&#363;suf quotes an inscription as existing at Bh&#257;ndak in Ch&#257;nda of the year A.D. 1326, in which it is mentioned
+that the Panw&#257;r of Dh&#257;r <a id="d0e10405"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10405">339</a>]</span>repaired a statue of Jag N&#257;r&#257;yan in that place.<a id="d0e10407src" href="#d0e10407" class="noteref">20</a> Nothing more is heard of them in N&#257;gpur, and their rule probably came to an end with the subversion of the kingdom of M&#257;lwa
+in the thirteenth century. But there remain in N&#257;gpur and in the districts of Bhand&#257;ra, B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t and Seoni to the north and
+east of it a large number of Panw&#257;rs, 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 N&#257;gpur was held by their clan, and a second influx may have taken
+place after the fall of Dh&#257;r. According to their own account, they first came to Nagardhan, an older town than N&#257;gpur, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t strain is still perfectly apparent in their fair complexions, high foreheads and in many
+cases grey eyes. The Panw&#257;rs 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 Dh&#257;kar, a name having
+the sense of illegitimacy. Though they have lived for centuries among a Mar&#257;thi-speaking people, the Panw&#257;rs retain a dialect
+of their own, the basis of which is Bagheli or eastern Hindi. When the Mar&#257;thas established themselves at N&#257;gpur in the eighteenth
+century some of the Panw&#257;rs 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 <a id="d0e10410"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10410">340</a>]</span>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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts. It is to this
+group of Panw&#257;rs<a id="d0e10412src" href="#d0e10412" class="noteref">21</a> settled in the Mar&#257;tha rice country of the Wainganga Valley that the remainder of this article is devoted.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e10416" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p120.jpg" alt="Transplanting rice" width="720" height="405"><p class="figureHead">Transplanting rice</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10420">
+<h3>6. Subdivisions</h3>
+<p>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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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
+R&#257;jp&#363;t blood and took to themselves wives from the women of the country as they could get them. The Panw&#257;rs 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Sonw&#257;nia (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), P&#257;rdhi (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 Bet&#363;l both say that their ancestors were
+Panw&#257;rs of Dh&#257;r, and the occurrence of both names among the Panw&#257;rs of B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t may indicate that these castes also have some
+Panw&#257;r blood. Three names, Rahmat (kind), Turukh or Turk, and Far&#299;d (a well-known saint), are of Muhammadan origin, and indicate
+intermarriage in that quarter.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10425">
+<h3>7. Marriage customs</h3>
+<p>Girls are usually, but not necessarily, wedded before adolescence. Occasionally a Panw&#257;r boy who cannot afford a regular marriage
+will enter his prospective father-in-law&#8217;s <a id="d0e10430"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10430">341</a>]</span>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&#8217;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 <i>gotra</i> or section is appointed as her guardian and she can be married from his house.
+
+</p>
+<p>The ceremonies of a Panw&#257;r 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 <i>toran</i> 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:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The mother of the bride grew angry and went away to the mango grove.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Come soon, come quickly, Mother, it is the time for giving clothes.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The father of the bridegroom has sent the bride a fold of cloth from his house,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The fold of it is like the curve of the winnowing-fan, and there is a bodice decked with coral and pearls.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Before the actual wedding the father of the bridegroom goes to the bride&#8217;s house and gives her clothes and other presents,
+and the following is a specimen given by Mr. Muhammad Y&#363;suf of the songs sung on this occasion:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Five years old to-day is B&#257;ja Bai the bride;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Send word to the mother of the bridegroom;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Her dress is too short, send for the Koshta, Husband;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The Koshta came and wove a border to the dress.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Afterwards the girl&#8217;s father goes and makes similar presents to the bridegroom. After many preliminary ceremonies <a id="d0e10462"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10462">342</a>]</span>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:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The linseed and gram are in flower in Chait.<a id="d0e10467src" href="#d0e10467" class="noteref">22</a>
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>O! the boy bridegroom is going to another country;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>O Mother! how may he go to another country?
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Make payment before he enters another country;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>O Mother! how may he cross the border of another country?
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Make payment before he crosses the border of another country;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>O Mother! how may he touch another&#8217;s bower?
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Make payment before he touches another&#8217;s bower;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>O Mother! how shall he bathe with strange water?
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Make payment before he bathes with strange water;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>O Mother! how may he eat another&#8217;s <i>banwat</i>?<a id="d0e10493src" href="#d0e10493" class="noteref">23</a>
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Make payment before he eats another&#8217;s <i>banwat</i>;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>O Mother! how shall he marry another woman?
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>He shall wed her holding the little finger of her left hand.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>The bridegroom&#8217;s party are always driven to the wedding in bullock-carts, and when they approach the bride&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s shrine in a man&#8217;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&#8217;s party go to the bride&#8217;s house carrying salt, and here their feet are washed and the <i>t&#299;ka</i> 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-g&#257;th. Before sunset the bridegroom goes to the bride&#8217;s house for the
+wedding. Two baskets are hung before Dulha Deo&#8217;s shrine inside the house, and the couple are seated in these with a cloth
+between them. The ends of their clothes are knotted, <a id="d0e10510"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10510">343</a>]</span>each places the right foot on the left foot of the other and holds the other&#8217;s ear with the hand. Meanwhile a Br&#257;hman has
+climbed on to the roof of the house, and after saying the names of the bride and bridegroom shouts loudly, &#8216;<i>R&#257;m nawara, S&#299;ta nawari, Saodh&#257;n</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;R&#257;m, the Bridegroom, and S&#299;ta, the Bride, pay heed,&#8217; 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&#8217;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&#8217;s dowry is given and her relatives make
+presents to her. This property is known as <i>khamora</i>, 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 <i>gul&#257;l</i> or red powder to the fathers of the bride and bridegroom, who sprinkle it over each other. The bridegroom&#8217;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 Bh&#257;t 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:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style="text-indent: 1em; "><span>Let us go to the basket-maker
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style="text-indent: 1em; "><span>And buy a costly pair of fans;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style="text-indent: 1em; "><span>Fans worth a lot of money;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Let us praise the mother of the bride.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10530">
+<h3>8. Widow-marriage</h3>
+<p>After a few days at her husband&#8217;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 <i>pathoni</i> or going-away <a id="d0e10538"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10538">344</a>]</span>ceremony is performed to celebrate the event. The people repeat a set of verses containing advice which the bride&#8217;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: &#8220;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 (<i>khamora</i>) by selling rice and sugar; abuse your sisters-in-law to your husband&#8217;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<a id="d0e10543src" href="#d0e10543" class="noteref">24</a> and P&#257;ndia<a id="d0e10546src" href="#d0e10546" class="noteref">25</a> and ask them to arrange your quarrel.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>It is not intended to imply that Panw&#257;r 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 Kar&#363;n Panw&#257;r of
+Tumsar, who was empowered by the Bhonsla R&#257;ja of N&#257;gpur 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 Dh&#299;mar woman as a mistress, and he had no successor. A Panw&#257;r widow must
+not marry again <a id="d0e10551"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10551">345</a>]</span>until the expiry of six months after her husband&#8217;s death. The stool on which a widow sits for her second marriage is afterwards
+stolen by her husband&#8217;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 <i>tendu</i> 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. H&#299;ra L&#257;l 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<a id="d0e10556src" href="#d0e10556" class="noteref">26</a> 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 <i>tendu</i> or ebony tree<a id="d0e10564src" href="#d0e10564" class="noteref">27</a> 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&#8217;s village. The reason for the ebony-wood being a spirit-scarer seems to lie in its property of giving out sparks when
+burnt. &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e10569src" href="#d0e10569" class="noteref">28</a> 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 Panw&#257;rs seldom
+resort to divorce, except in the case of open and flagrant immorality on the part of a wife. &#8220;They are not strict,&#8221; Mr. Low
+writes,<a id="d0e10575src" href="#d0e10575" class="noteref">29</a> &#8220;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 <a id="d0e10580"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10580">346</a>]</span>other hand somewhat notorious for the freedom with which they enter into relations with the women of other castes.&#8221; They not
+infrequently have Gond and Ah&#299;r girls from the families of their farmservants as members of their households.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10582">
+<h3>9. Religion</h3>
+<p>The caste worship the ordinary Hindu divinities, and their household god is D&#363;lha 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 D&#363;lha 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. N&#257;r&#257;yan Deo or Vishnu or the Sun is represented by a bunch of peacock&#8217;s feathers. He is generally kept in
+the house of a Mah&#257;r, and when his worship is to be celebrated he is brought thence in a gourd to the Panw&#257;r&#8217;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 Mah&#257;r sings
+and dances, and when the flesh of the goat is eaten he is permitted to sit inside the Panw&#257;r&#8217;s house and begin the feast,
+the Panw&#257;rs eating after him. On ordinary occasions a Mah&#257;r is not allowed to come inside the house, and any Panw&#257;r who took
+food with him would be put out of caste; and this rite is no doubt a recognition of the position of the Mah&#257;rs as the earlier
+residents of the country before the Panw&#257;rs came to it. The Turukh or Turk sept of Panw&#257;rs pay a similar worship to B&#257;ba Far&#299;d,
+the Muhammadan saint of Girar. He is also represented by a bundle of peacock&#8217;s feathers, and when a goat is sacrificed to
+him a Muhammadan kills it and is the first to partake of its flesh.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10587">
+<h3>10. Worship of the spirits of those dying a violent death</h3>
+<p>When a man has been killed by a tiger (<i>b&#257;gh</i>) he is deified and worshipped as B&#257;gh 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&#8217;s death. <a id="d0e10595"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10595">347</a>]</span>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 (<i>n&#257;g</i>) and dies is similarly worshipped as N&#257;g 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 <i>Psyche&#8217;s Task</i><a id="d0e10602src" href="#d0e10602" class="noteref">30</a> as found among the Karens of Burma: &#8220;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&#8217;s
+tooth or the serpent&#8217;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10610">
+<h3>11. Funeral rites</h3>
+<p>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 Kh&#299;r Chatai ceremony has not <a id="d0e10615"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10615">348</a>]</span>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 Diw&#257;li day and given to eat some Kh&#299;r 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 p&#299;pal 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 <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> ceremony is performed every year in the month of Kunw&#257;r (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
+<i>kusa</i> 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 <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> ceremony is being performed, and after this the whole party take their dinner.
+<a id="d0e10626"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10626">349</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10627">
+<h3>12. Caste discipline</h3>
+<p>As has been shown, the Panw&#257;rs have abandoned most of the distinctive R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 N&#257;r&#257;yan Deo, when every one must partake of it. Mr. Low states
+that the injurious habit of smoking <i>madak</i> (a preparation of opium) is growing in the caste. They will take water to drink from a Gond&#8217;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 Panw&#257;r cultivators. A Br&#257;hman usually officiates at their ceremonies, but his presence is not essential and
+his duties may be performed by a member of the caste. Every Panw&#257;r male or female has a <i>guru</i> or spiritual preceptor, who is either a Br&#257;hman, a Gosain or a Bair&#257;gi. From time to time the <i>guru</i> comes to visit his <i>chela</i> or disciple, and on such occasions the <i>chauk</i> or sacred place is prepared with lines of wheat-flour. Two wooden stools are set within it and the <i>guru</i> and his <i>chela</i> take their seats on these. Their heads are covered with a new piece of cloth and the <i>guru</i> whispers some text into the ear of the disciple. Sweetmeats and other delicacies are then offered to the <i>guru</i>, and the disciple makes him a present of one to five rupees. When a Panw&#257;r 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&#8217;s head and face are shaved, and he prays, &#8216;God forgive me the sin, it will never be repeated.&#8217; The Chokhi
+Roti is held in the evening at the offender&#8217;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 <i>douceur</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10662">
+<h3>13. Social customs</h3>
+<p>The Panw&#257;r women wear their clothes tied in the <a id="d0e10667"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10667">350</a>]</span>Hindust&#257;ni and not in the Mar&#257;tha 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. Padm&#257;kar, the
+Saugor poet, Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l remarks, compared the dot on a woman&#8217;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 Panw&#257;rs 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 Panw&#257;rs as follows: &#8220;The Panw&#257;r is to B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t
+what the Kunbi is to Ber&#257;r or the G&#363;jar to Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d, 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 Panw&#257;r, and several members of the caste have made large sums as forest and railway contractors in this District;
+Panw&#257;r <i>shik&#257;ris</i> 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 patw&#257;ris, 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 Panw&#257;rs are concerned,
+and in a Panw&#257;r 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 <a id="d0e10672"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10672">351</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;In the art of rice cultivation they are past masters. They are skilled tank-builders, though perhaps hardly equal to the
+Kohlis of Ch&#257;nda. 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.&#8221;
+<a id="d0e10676"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10676">352</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10236" href="#d0e10236src" class="noteref">1</a></span> 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 B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10248" href="#d0e10248src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Tod&#8217;s <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 407.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10267" href="#d0e10267src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Foreign elements in the Hindu population, <i>Ind. Ant.</i> (January 1911), vol. xl.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10273" href="#d0e10273src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i> (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd ed., p. 303.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10278" href="#d0e10278src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, 2nd ed., p. 288.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10283" href="#d0e10283src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 316.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10293" href="#d0e10293src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i> (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd ed., p. 319.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10303" href="#d0e10303src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Garret&#8217;s Classical Dictionary of Hinduism</i>, <i>s.v.</i> Jamadagni and R&#257;ma.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10320" href="#d0e10320src" class="noteref">9</a></span> The following extract is taken from Mr. V.A. Smith&#8217;s <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd ed. pp. 395, 396. The passage has been somewhat abridged in reproduction.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10328" href="#d0e10328src" class="noteref">10</a></span> Malcolm, i. p. 26.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10344" href="#d0e10344src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 215.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10349" href="#d0e10349src" class="noteref">12</a></span> 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. (<i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 428.)
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10359" href="#d0e10359src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. pp. 264, 265.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10364" href="#d0e10364src" class="noteref">14</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Panw&#257;r.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10374" href="#d0e10374src" class="noteref">15</a></span> <i>Memoir of Central India</i>, i. 96.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10381" href="#d0e10381src" class="noteref">16</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Panw&#257;r.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10386" href="#d0e10386src" class="noteref">17</a></span> Blockmann, i. 252, quoted by Crooke.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10394" href="#d0e10394src" class="noteref">18</a></span> Ibbetson, P.C.R., para. 448.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10402" href="#d0e10402src" class="noteref">19</a></span> His name, Lakshma Deva, is given in a stone inscription dated A.D. 1104&#8211;1105.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10407" href="#d0e10407src" class="noteref">20</a></span> The inscription is said to be in one of the temples in Winj B&#257;sini, near Bh&#257;ndak, in the Devan&#257;gri character in Mar&#257;thi, and
+to run as follows: &#8220;Consecration of Jagn&#257;r&#257;yan (the serpent of the world). Daj&iacute;anashnaku, the son of Chogneka, he it was who
+consecrated the god. The Panw&#257;r, the ruler of Dh&#257;r, was the third repairer of the statue. The image was carved by Gopin&#257;th
+Pandit, inhabitant of Lon&#257;r Mehkar. Let this shrine be the pride of all the citizens, and let this religious act be notified
+to the chief and other officers.&#8221;
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10412" href="#d0e10412src" class="noteref">21</a></span> A few Panw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;ts are found in the Saugor District, but they are quite distinct from those of the Mar&#257;tha country, and
+marry with the Bundelas. They are mentioned in the article on that clan.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10467" href="#d0e10467src" class="noteref">22</a></span> March.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10493" href="#d0e10493src" class="noteref">23</a></span> Rice boiled with milk and sugar.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10543" href="#d0e10543src" class="noteref">24</a></span> Village headman.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10546" href="#d0e10546src" class="noteref">25</a></span> Patw&#257;ri or village accountant.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10556" href="#d0e10556src" class="noteref">26</a></span> <i>Introduction to the History of Religion</i>, p. 59.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10564" href="#d0e10564src" class="noteref">27</a></span> <i>Diospyros tomentosa</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10569" href="#d0e10569src" class="noteref">28</a></span> Gamble, <i>Manual of Indian Timbers</i>, p. 461.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10575" href="#d0e10575src" class="noteref">29</a></span> <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t District Gazetteer</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10602" href="#d0e10602src" class="noteref">30</a></span> P. 62, quoting from Bringand, <i>Les Karens de la Birmanie, Les Missions Catholiques</i>, xx. (1888), p. 208.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e10677" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Pardh&#257;n</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e10719">1. General notice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10746">2. Tribal Subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10757">3. Marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10764">4. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10775">5. Social Customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10787">6. Methods of cheating among Path&#257;ris</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10822">7. Musicians and priests</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10719">
+<h3>1. General notice</h3>
+<p><b>Pardh&#257;n, Path&#257;ri, Pan&#257;l.</b>&#8212;An inferior branch of the Gond tribe whose occupation is to act as the priests and minstrels of the Gonds. In 1911 the Pardh&#257;ns
+numbered nearly 120,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Ber&#257;r. The only other locality where they are found is Hyder&#257;b&#257;d,
+which returned 8000. The name Pardh&#257;n is of Sanskrit origin and signifies a minister or agent. It is the regular designation
+of the principal minister of a R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Diw&#257;n, which has the same meaning. There is a
+tradition that the Gond kings employed Pardh&#257;ns as their ministers, and as the Pardh&#257;ns 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 Pardh&#257;ns are frequently not known by that name, which has been given to them by the Hindus, but as Pan&#257;l. Other names
+for the tribe are Parganiha, Desai and Path&#257;ri. Parganiha is a title signifying the head of a <i>pargana</i>, and is now applied by courtesy to some families in Chhatt&#299;sgarh. Desai has the same signification, being a variant of Deshmukh
+or the Mar&#257;tha revenue officer in charge of a circle of villages. Path&#257;ri means a bard or genealogist, or according to another
+derivation a hillman. On the Satp&#363;ra plateau and <a id="d0e10729"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10729">353</a>]</span>in Chhatt&#299;sgarh the tribe is known as Pardh&#257;n Path&#257;ria. In B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t they are also called Mok&#257;si. The Gonds themselves look
+down on the Pardh&#257;ns and say that the word Path&#257;ria 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 Pardh&#257;ns or Path&#257;rias are the descendants of the youngest brother and they accost the Gonds with the greeting
+&#8216;B&#257;bu Joh&#257;r,&#8217; or &#8216;Good luck, sir.&#8217; The Gonds return the greeting by saying &#8216;Path&#257;ri Joh&#257;r,&#8217; or &#8216;How do you do, Path&#257;ri.&#8217; Curiously
+enough Joh&#257;r is also the salutation sent by a R&#257;jp&#363;t chief to an inferior landholder,<a id="d0e10731src" href="#d0e10731" class="noteref">1</a> 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 Pardh&#257;ns as the descendants of the youngest brother continue to play on the <i>kingri</i> or lyre, which is their distinctive instrument. The above stories have been invented to account for the social inferiority
+of the Pardh&#257;ns 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
+<a id="d0e10739"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10739">354</a>]</span>of the bard, which at any rate obtains generally among the Hindu castes.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e10742" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p121.jpg" alt="Group of Pardh&#257;ns" width="541" height="720"><p class="figureHead">Group of Pardh&#257;ns</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10746">
+<h3>2. Tribal Subdivisions</h3>
+<p>The tribe have several endogamous divisions, of which the principal are the R&#257;j Pardh&#257;ns, the G&#257;nda Pardh&#257;ns and the Thothia
+Pardh&#257;ns. The R&#257;j Pardh&#257;ns appear to be the descendants of alliances between Raj Gonds and Pardh&#257;n 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 <i>kingri</i> (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 R&#257;j Pardh&#257;ns; and since this <i>contretemps</i> 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 &#8216;maimed&#8217;; while the G&#257;ndas are the offspring of
+intermarriages between the Pardh&#257;ns and members of that degraded caste. Other groups are the M&#257;des or those of the M&#257;d country
+in Ch&#257;nda and Bastar, the Khalotias or those of the Chhatt&#299;sgarh plain, and the Deogarhias of Deogarh in Chhindw&#257;ra; and there
+are also some occupational divisions, as the Kandres or bamboo-workers, the Gaitas who act as priests in Chhatt&#299;sgarh, and
+the Arakhs who engage in service and sell old clothes. A curious grouping is found in Ch&#257;nda, where the tribe are divided
+into the Gond Path&#257;ris and Chor or &#8216;Thief&#8217; Path&#257;ris. 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 Path&#257;ri.
+In Raipur the Path&#257;ris are said to be the offspring of Gonds by women of other castes, and the descendants of such unions.
+The exogamous divisions of the Pardh&#257;ns 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10757">
+<h3>3. Marriage</h3>
+<p>A Pardh&#257;n wedding is usually held in the bridegroom&#8217;s <a id="d0e10762"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10762">355</a>]</span>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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s younger brother.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10764">
+<h3>4. Religion</h3>
+<p>As the priests of the Gonds, the Pardh&#257;ns 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 Bais&#257;kh (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 <i>s&#257;j</i> (<i>Terminalia tomentosa</i>) varieties. In Chhatt&#299;sgarh the Gonds say that the origin of Bura Deo was from a child born of an illicit union between a
+Gond and a R&#257;wat 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10775">
+<h3>5. Social Customs</h3>
+<p>Like the Gonds, the Pardh&#257;ns 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 Pardh&#257;ns are much despised, and their touch conveys impurity while that of a Gond does not.
+Every Pardh&#257;n 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 <a id="d0e10780"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10780">356</a>]</span>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 Path&#257;rias of Chhatt&#299;sgarh are especially noted for cattle-lifting and thieving. Writing forty years ago Captain Thomson<a id="d0e10782src" href="#d0e10782" class="noteref">2</a> described the Pardh&#257;ns 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 Pardh&#257;ns have become quite peaceable, but they still
+have a bad reputation for petty thieving.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10787">
+<h3>6. Methods of cheating among Path&#257;ris</h3>
+<p>In Chhatt&#299;sgarh one subdivision is said to be known as Sonthaga (<i>sona</i>, gold, and <i>thag</i>, 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:<a id="d0e10798src" href="#d0e10798" class="noteref">3</a> &#8220;They procure a quantity of the dry bark of the p&#299;pal,<a id="d0e10801src" href="#d0e10801" class="noteref">4</a> mahua,<a id="d0e10805src" href="#d0e10805" class="noteref">5</a> tamarind or <i>gular</i><a id="d0e10812src" href="#d0e10812" class="noteref">6</a> 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. <a id="d0e10817"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10817">357</a>]</span>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.&#8221; It would appear that the Path&#257;ris 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 &#8220;All the property acquired
+is taken back to the village and there distributed by a <i>panch&#257;yat</i> or committee, whose head is known as Mok&#257;si. The Mok&#257;si 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 Mok&#257;si one should have wealth and experience
+and it is not a disadvantage to have been in jail. The Mok&#257;si superintends the internal affairs of the community and maintains
+good relations with the proprietor and village watchman by means of gifts.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10822">
+<h3>7. Musicians and priests</h3>
+<p>The Pardh&#257;ns and Path&#257;ris are also, as already stated, village musicians, and their distinctive instrument the <i>kingri</i> or <i>kingadi</i> 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 G&#257;nda Pardh&#257;n subtribe act as midwives. Mr. Tawney wrote of the Pardh&#257;ns of Chhindw&#257;ra:<a id="d0e10833src" href="#d0e10833" class="noteref">7</a> &#8220;The R&#257;j-Pardh&#257;ns are the bards of the Gonds and they can also officiate as priests, but the Bhumka generally acts in the
+latter capacity and the Pardh&#257;ns 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 Pardh&#257;n, and great men use them on less important occasions.
+They cannot even worship their household gods or be married without the Pardh&#257;ns. The R&#257;j-Pardh&#257;ns are looked down on by the
+Gonds, and considered as somewhat inferior, seeing that they take the <a id="d0e10836"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10836">358</a>]</span>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 Pardh&#257;ns to distinguish them from the Gonds.&#8221;
+<a id="d0e10838"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10838">359</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10731" href="#d0e10731src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Tod&#8217;s R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 165. But Joh&#257;r is a common term of salutation among the Hindus.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10782" href="#d0e10782src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Seoni Settlement Report</i> (1867), p. 43.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10798" href="#d0e10798src" class="noteref">3</a></span> From a collection of notes on Path&#257;ris by various police officers. The passage is somewhat abridged in reproduction.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10801" href="#d0e10801src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Ficus R.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10805" href="#d0e10805src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Bassia latifolia</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10812" href="#d0e10812src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Ficus glomerata</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10833" href="#d0e10833src" class="noteref">7</a></span> Note already quoted.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e10839" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>P&#257;rdhi</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e10906">1. General notice of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10930">2. Subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10935">3. Marriage and funeral customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10945">4. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10962">5. Dress, food and social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10982">6. Ordeals</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e10989">7. Methods of catching birds</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11015">8. Hunting with leopards</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11044">9. Decoy stags</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11056">10. Hawks</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11068">11. Crocodile fishing</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11073">12. Other occupations and criminal practices</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10906">
+<h3>1. General notice of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>P&#257;rdhi,<a id="d0e10912src" href="#d0e10912" class="noteref">1</a> Bahelia, M&#299;rshik&#257;r, Moghia, Shik&#257;ri, T&#257;kankar.</b>&#8212;A low caste of wandering fowlers and hunters. They numbered about 15,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Ber&#257;r in 1911,
+and are found scattered over several Districts. These figures include about 2000 Bahelias. The word P&#257;rdhi is derived from
+the Mar&#257;thi <i>paradh</i>, hunting. Shik&#257;ri, the common term for a native hunter, is an alternative name for the caste, but particularly applied to
+those who use firearms, which most P&#257;rdhis refuse to do. Moghia is the Hindust&#257;ni word for fowler, and T&#257;kankar is the name
+of a small occupational offshoot of the P&#257;rdhis in Ber&#257;r, who travel from village to village and roughen the household grinding-mills
+when they have worn smooth. The word is derived from <i>t&#257;kna</i>, to tap or chisel. The caste appears to be a mixed group made up of B&#257;warias or other R&#257;jp&#363;t outcastes, Gonds and social
+derelicts from all sources. The P&#257;rdhis perhaps belong more especially to the Mar&#257;tha country, as they are numerous in Kh&#257;ndesh,
+and many of them talk a dialect of Gujar&#257;ti. In the <a id="d0e10928"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10928">360</a>]</span>northern Districts their speech is a mixture of M&#257;rw&#257;ri and Hindi, while they often know Mar&#257;thi 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 P&#257;rdhis 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 P&#257;rdhis was a Gond, to whom Mah&#257;deo taught the art of
+snaring game so that he might avoid the sin of shooting it; and hence the ordinary P&#257;rdhis never use a gun.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10930">
+<h3>2. Subdivisions</h3>
+<p>Like other wandering castes the P&#257;rdhis have a large number of endogamous groups, varying lists being often given in different
+areas. The principal subcastes appear to be the Shik&#257;ri or Bh&#299;l P&#257;rdhis, who use firearms; the Ph&#257;nse P&#257;rdhis, who hunt with
+traps and snares; the Langoti P&#257;rdhis, so called because they wear only a narrow strip of cloth round the loins; and the T&#257;kankars.
+Both the T&#257;kankars and Langotis have strong criminal tendencies. Several other groups are recorded in different Districts,
+as the Chitew&#257;le, who hunt with a tame leopard; the G&#257;yake, who stalk their prey behind a bullock; the Gosain P&#257;rdhis, who
+dress like religious mendicants in ochre-coloured clothes and do not kill deer, but only hares, jackals and foxes; the Sh&#299;shi
+ke Telw&#257;le, who sell crocodile&#8217;s oil; and the Bandarw&#257;le who go about with performing monkeys. The Bahelias have a subcaste
+known as K&#257;rij&#257;t, the members of which only kill birds of a black colour. Their exogamous groups are nearly all those of R&#257;jp&#363;t
+tribes, as Sesodia, Panw&#257;r, Solanki, Chauh&#257;n, R&#257;thor, and soon; it is probable that these have been adopted through imitation
+by vagrant B&#257;warias and others sojourning in R&#257;jput&#257;na. There are also a few groups with titular or other names, and it is
+stated that members of clans bearing R&#257;jp&#363;t names will take daughters from the others in marriage, but will not give their
+daughters to them.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10935">
+<h3>3. Marriage and funeral customs</h3>
+<p>Girls appear to be somewhat scarce in the caste and a bride-price is usually paid, which is given as Rs. 9 in <a id="d0e10940"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10940">361</a>]</span>Ch&#257;nda, Rs. 35 in Bil&#257;spur, and Rs. 60 or more in Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d 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&#8217;s marriage: but her family will require a bride from her husband&#8217;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 P&#257;rdhis. 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 <i>t&#257;nda</i> or collection of their small mat tents. In Ber&#257;r 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10945">
+<h3>4. Religion</h3>
+<p>In Ber&#257;r their principal deity is the goddess Devi, who is known by different names. Every family of Langoti P&#257;rdhis has,
+Mr. Gayer states,<a id="d0e10950src" href="#d0e10950" class="noteref">2</a> its image in silver of the goddess, and because of this no Langoti P&#257;rdhi woman will wear silver below the waist or hang
+her <i>s&#257;ri</i> 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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d 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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d they sacrifice a fowl to the ropes of their tents at the Dasahra and Diw&#257;li festivals, and on
+the former <a id="d0e10958"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10958">362</a>]</span>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&#8217;s calling is one largely dependent on luck or chance, and, as might
+be expected, the P&#257;rdhis 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 ju&#257;ri 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&#8217;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&#8211;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 P&#257;rdhi,
+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 P&#257;rdhis
+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 P&#257;rdhi 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 P&#257;rdhi has also theoretically a care for the preservation of game. When he has caught a number of birds in his <a id="d0e10960"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10960">363</a>]</span>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&#8217;s stick is fined Rs. 2&#8211;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 P&#257;rdhi 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 Ph&#257;ns P&#257;rdhis may not travel in a railway train, and some of them are forbidden even to use a cart or
+other conveyance.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10962">
+<h3>5. Dress, food and social customs</h3>
+<p>In dress and appearance the P&#257;rdhis 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 P&#257;rdhis 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,<a id="d0e10967src" href="#d0e10967" class="noteref">3</a> a somewhat curious one in view of their appearance, is that an ordinary <i>dhoti</i> 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 P&#257;rdhis 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 <a id="d0e10975"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10975">364</a>]</span>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.<a id="d0e10977src" href="#d0e10977" class="noteref">4</a> 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. Br&#257;hmans do not officiate at their ceremonies, though the P&#257;rdhis 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 Br&#257;hmans
+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 P&#257;rdhis 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 Deok&#257;ria or &#8216;An act performed in honour of God&#8217;; 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 P&#257;rdhi women are said to be virtuous.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10982">
+<h3>6. Ordeals</h3>
+<p>The P&#257;rdhis 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 p&#299;pal 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 <a id="d0e10987"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e10987">365</a>]</span>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 Nim&#257;r, 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 P&#257;rdhi or
+an outsider.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e10989">
+<h3>7. Methods of catching birds</h3>
+<p>The Ph&#257;ns P&#257;rdhis hunt all kinds of birds and the smaller animals with the <i>ph&#257;nda</i> or snare. Mr. Ball describes their procedure as follows:<a id="d0e10997src" href="#d0e10997" class="noteref">5</a> &#8220;For peacock, s&#257;ras 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&#8217;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&#8217;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.&#8221; Deer,
+hares and even pig are also caught by a strong rope with running nooses. For smaller birds the <a id="d0e11002"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11002">366</a>]</span>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 P&#257;rdhi 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.<a id="d0e11004src" href="#d0e11004" class="noteref">6</a> The Bahelia has several long shafts of bamboos called <i>n&#257;l</i> or <i>n&#257;r</i>, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11015">
+<h3>8. Hunting with leopards</h3>
+<p>The manner in which the Chita P&#257;rdhis use the hunting leopard (<i>Felis jubata</i>) for catching deer has often been described.<a id="d0e11023src" href="#d0e11023" class="noteref">7</a> 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 <a id="d0e11032"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11032">367</a>]</span>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 P&#257;rdhis 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 <span id="d0e11034" class="corr" title="Source: kepeer">keeper</span> then comes up, and cutting the animal&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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.<a id="d0e11039src" href="#d0e11039" class="noteref">8</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11044">
+<h3>9. Decoy stags</h3>
+<p>For hunting stags, tame stags were formerly used as decoys according to the method described as follows: &#8220;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 <a id="d0e11049"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11049">368</a>]</span>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.&#8221;<a id="d0e11051src" href="#d0e11051" class="noteref">9</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11056">
+<h3>10. Hawks</h3>
+<p>Hawks were also used in a very ingenious fashion to prevent duck from flying away when put upon water: &#8220;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&#8212;thousands of birds&#8212;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 <a id="d0e11061"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11061">369</a>]</span>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&#8217;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e11063src" href="#d0e11063" class="noteref">10</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11068">
+<h3>11. Crocodile fishing</h3>
+<p>For catching crocodile, a method by which as already stated one group of the P&#257;rdhis earn their livelihood, a large double
+hook is used, baited with a piece of putrid deer&#8217;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 P&#363;s (December), M&#257;gh (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 P&#257;rdhis
+do not eat crocodile&#8217;s flesh.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11073">
+<h3>12. Other occupations and criminal practices</h3>
+<p>A body of P&#257;rdhis 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 T&#257;kankars are regularly employed as village servants in Ber&#257;r 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 &#8220;The Langoti P&#257;rdhis and T&#257;kankars
+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 <a id="d0e11078"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11078">370</a>]</span>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.&#8221; 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.<a id="d0e11080src" href="#d0e11080" class="noteref">11</a>
+<a id="d0e11088"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11088">371</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10912" href="#d0e10912src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is partly compiled from papers by Mr. Adur&#257;m Chaudhri and Pandit Py&#257;re L&#257;l Misra of the Gazetteer Office, and
+extracts from Mr. Kitts&#8217; <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), and Mr. Sewell&#8217;s note on the caste quoted in Mr. Gayer&#8217;s <i>Lectures on the Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10950" href="#d0e10950src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the C.P.</i>, p. 19.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10967" href="#d0e10967src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), p. 135.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10977" href="#d0e10977src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Bombay Ethnographic Survey</i>, art. P&#257;rdhi.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e10997" href="#d0e10997src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Jungle Life in India</i>, pp. 586&#8211;587.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11004" href="#d0e11004src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Peasant Life in Bih&#257;r</i>, p. 80.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11023" href="#d0e11023src" class="noteref">7</a></span> See Jerdon&#8217;s <i>Mammals of India</i>, p, 97. The account there given is quoted in the <i>Chhindw&#257;ra District Gazetteer</i>, pp. 16&#8211;17.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11039" href="#d0e11039src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Private Life of an Eastern King</i>, p. 75.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11051" href="#d0e11051src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Private Life of an Eastern King</i>, pp. 69, 71.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11063" href="#d0e11063src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>Private Life of an Eastern King</i>, pp. 39&#8211;40.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11080" href="#d0e11080src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Bombay Ethnographic Survey</i>, <i>ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e11089" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Parja</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e11141">1. General notice of the tribe</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11173">2. Exogamous septs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11187">3. Kinship and marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11194">4. Marriage dance</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11219">5. Nuptial ceremony</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11226">6. Widow-marriage and divorce</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11234">7. Religion and festivals</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11253">8. Disposal of the dead</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11267">9. Occupation and social customs</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11141">
+<h3>1. General notice of the tribe</h3>
+<p><b>Parja.</b>&#8212;A small tribe,<a id="d0e11148src" href="#d0e11148" class="noteref">1</a> originally an offshoot of the Gonds, who reside in the centre and east of the Bastar State and the adjoining Jaipur zam&#299;nd&#257;ri
+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 <i>Madras Census Report</i><a id="d0e11153src" href="#d0e11153" class="noteref">2</a> of 1871: &#8220;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, R&#257;jas and Parjas were brothers, but the R&#257;jas 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 Mali&#257;hs. They
+are thrifty, hardworking cultivators, undisturbed by the intestinal broils which their cousins in the north engage in, <a id="d0e11156"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11156">372</a>]</span>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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>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 R&#257;j-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 Th&#257;kur, 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
+R&#257;ja 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 D&#257;nteshwari, the tutelary deity of the R&#257;jas of Bastar. In accordance with
+the command of the goddess the younger brother was considered as the R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;ja 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 <a id="d0e11160"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11160">373</a>]</span>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 R&#257;j-Gonds. Possibly the first transfer
+of power was effected by the marriage of an immigrant into a Parja R&#257;ja&#8217;s family, as so often happened with these old dynasties.
+The Parjas still talk about the R&#257;ni of Bastar as their <i>Bohu</i> or &#8216;younger brother&#8217;s wife,&#8217; 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<a id="d0e11165src" href="#d0e11165" class="noteref">3</a> has now classified the latter as a dialect of the Uriya language, while Parji remains &#8216;A local and very corrupt variation
+of Gondi, considerably mixed with Hindi forms.&#8217; 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.<a id="d0e11170src" href="#d0e11170" class="noteref">4</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11173">
+<h3>2. Exogamous septs</h3>
+<p>The tribe have exogamous totemistic septs, as B&#257;gh a tiger, Kachhim a tortoise, Bokda a goat, Net&#257;m 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 <i>j&#257;mun</i><a id="d0e11180src" href="#d0e11180" class="noteref">5</a> 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&#8217;s flesh, it is thought that
+he will <a id="d0e11185"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11185">374</a>]</span>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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11187">
+<h3>3. Kinship and marriage</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s father, who first offers
+a cup of liquor to the girl&#8217;s father in the baz&#257;r, and subsequently explains his errand. If the girl&#8217;s father, after consulting
+with his family, disapproves of the match, he returns an equal quantity of liquor to the boy&#8217;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&#8217;s daughter,
+even though <a id="d0e11192"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11192">375</a>]</span>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&#8217;s father sends a considerable quantity of rice to the girl&#8217;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&#8217;s expenses are about
+Rs. 50, and the bride&#8217;s about Rs. 10.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11194">
+<h3>4. Marriage dance</h3>
+<p>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:&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p><i>Man</i>. If you are willing to go with me we will both follow the officer&#8217;s elephant. If I go back without you my heart can have
+no rest.
+
+</p>
+<p><i>Woman</i>. 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?
+
+</p>
+<p><i>Man</i>. 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.
+
+</p>
+<p><i>Woman</i>. Very well, I will make ready some food, and will run away with you in the next bright fortnight.
+</p>
+</div><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11219">
+<h3>5. Nuptial ceremony</h3>
+<p>The marriage takes place at the boy&#8217;s house, where two marriage-sheds are made. It is noticeable that the bride on going to
+the bridegroom&#8217;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 <a id="d0e11224"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11224">376</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11226">
+<h3>6. Widow-marriage and divorce</h3>
+<p>The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow is practically compelled to marry her late husband&#8217;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&#8217;s house with some friends; they sit together on the ground, and the friends
+apply the <i>t&#299;ka</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11234">
+<h3>7. Religion and festivals</h3>
+<p>The Parjas worship the class of divinities of the hills and forests usually revered among primitive tribes, as well as D&#257;nteshwari,
+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 R&#257;m&#257;nandi 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 Kab&#299;rpanthi,
+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 &#8216;The Counter of posts.&#8217; 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 <a id="d0e11239"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11239">377</a>]</span>by numbering posts or trees. When rain is wanted the people fix a piece of wood into the ground, calling it Bh&#299;msen 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<a id="d0e11241src" href="#d0e11241" class="noteref">6</a> or feast of the new vegetation in July, the Naw&#257;kh&#257;ni<a id="d0e11247src" href="#d0e11247" class="noteref">7</a> or feast of the new rice crop in August or September, and the Am Naw&#257;kh&#257;ni or that of the new mango crop in April or May.
+At the feasts the new season&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11253">
+<h3>8. Disposal of the dead</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e11258"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11258">378</a>]</span>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&#8217;s Folklore: &#8220;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, &#8216;Well, poor Joe, God rest his soul! He has at least gone to
+his long rest wi&#8217; a belly full o&#8217; good meat, and that&#8217;s some consolation!&#8217; 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.&#8221;<a id="d0e11260src" href="#d0e11260" class="noteref">8</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>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 baz&#257;r, and there offer liquor and sweets in the name of the dead
+man, who upon this becomes ranked among the ancestors.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11267">
+<h3>9. Occupation and social customs</h3>
+<p>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 <i>liaison</i> with a Parja, and is on that <a id="d0e11275"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11275">379</a>]</span>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.
+<a id="d0e11277"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11277">380</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11148" href="#d0e11148src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based on papers by Mr. Panda Baijn&#257;th and other officers of the Bastar State.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11153" href="#d0e11153src" class="noteref">2</a></span> By Dr. Cornish.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11165" href="#d0e11165src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Linguistic Survey</i>; vol. ix, p. 554; vol. ii. part ii. pp. 434 ff.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11170" href="#d0e11170src" class="noteref">4</a></span> 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.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11180" href="#d0e11180src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Eugenia jambolana</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11241" href="#d0e11241src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Hareli, <i>lit.</i> &#8216;the season of greenness.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11247" href="#d0e11247src" class="noteref">7</a></span> Naw&#257;kh&#257;ni, <i>lit.</i> &#8216;the new eating.&#8217;
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11260" href="#d0e11260src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Folklore as a Historical Science</i> (G.L. Gomme), pp. 191, 192.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e11278" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>P&#257;si</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e11320">1. The nature and origin of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11357">2. Br&#257;hmanical legends</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11370">3. Its mixed composition</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11380">4. Marriage and other customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11397">5. Religion, superstitions and social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11410">6. Occupation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11446">7. Criminal tendencies</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11320">
+<h3>1. The nature and origin of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>P&#257;si, Passi.</b><a id="d0e11326src" href="#d0e11326" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;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 <i>p&#257;shika</i>, &#8216;One who uses a noose,&#8217; and the Hindi, <i>p&#257;s</i> or <i>p&#257;sa</i>, a noose. It is a curious fact that when the first immigrant Parsis from Persia landed in Gujar&#257;t 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 P&#257;sis in India is about a million and a half persons, nearly all of whom
+belong to the United Provinces and Bih&#257;r. In the Central Provinces they number 3500, and reside principally in the Jubbulpore
+and Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Districts. The caste is now largely occupational, and is connected with the Bhars, Arakhs, Khat&#299;ks and other
+Dravidian groups of low status. But in the past they seem to have been of some importance in Oudh. &#8220;All through Oudh,&#8221; Mr.
+Crooke states, &#8220;they have traditions that they were lords of the country, and that their kings reigned in the Districts of
+Kheri, Hardoi and Unao. R&#257;mkot, where the town of B&#257;ngarmau in Unao now stands, is said to have been one of their chief strongholds.
+The last of the P&#257;si lords of <a id="d0e11341"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11341">381</a>]</span>R&#257;mkot, R&#257;ja Santhar, threw off his allegiance to Kanauj and refused to pay tribute. On this R&#257;ja Jaichand gave his country
+to the Ban&#257;phar heroes Alha and Udal, and they attacked and destroyed R&#257;mkot, leaving it the shapeless mass of ruins which
+it now is.&#8221; Similar traditions prevail in other parts of Oudh. It is also recorded that the R&#257;jp&#257;sis, the highest division
+of the caste, claim descent from Tilokchand, the eponymous hero of the Bais R&#257;jp&#363;ts. It would appear then that the P&#257;sis were
+a Dravidian tribe who held a part of Oudh before it was conquered by the R&#257;jp&#363;ts. As the designation of P&#257;si 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 <i>Chronicles of Unao</i><a id="d0e11345src" href="#d0e11345" class="noteref">2</a> that after the close of the heroic age, when Ajodhya was held by the S&#363;rajvansi R&#257;jp&#363;ts under the great R&#257;ma, we find after
+an interval of historic darkness that Ajodhya has been destroyed, the S&#363;rajvansis 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 R&#257;jp&#257;sis in the west. Again,
+in Kheri the P&#257;sis always claim kindred with the Bhars,<a id="d0e11351src" href="#d0e11351" class="noteref">3</a> and in M&#299;rz&#257;pur<a id="d0e11354src" href="#d0e11354" class="noteref">4</a> the local P&#257;sis 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 P&#257;sis 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&#8217;s excellent article.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11357">
+<h3>2. Br&#257;hmanical legends</h3>
+<p>The following tradition is related by the P&#257;sis themselves in M&#299;rz&#257;pur and the Central Provinces: One day a man was going
+to kill a number of cows. Parasur&#257;ma 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 <a id="d0e11362"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11362">382</a>]</span>Parasur&#257;ma made five men out of <i>kusha</i> grass and brought them to life by letting drops of his perspiration fall upon them. Hence arose the name P&#257;si, from the Hindi
+<i>pas&#299;na</i>, sweat. The men thus created rescued the cows. Then they returned to Parasur&#257;ma and asked him to provide them with a wife.
+Just at that moment a K&#257;yasth girl was passing by, and her Parasur&#257;ma seized and made over to the P&#257;sis. From them sprang
+the Kaithw&#257;s subcaste. Another legend related by Mr. Crooke tells that during the time Parasur&#257;ma 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&#8212;M&#257;ya (illusion), Nidra (sleep), and Mohani (enchantment)&#8212;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 P&#257;sis 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11370">
+<h3>3. Its mixed composition</h3>
+<p>Whatever their origin may have been the composition of the caste is now of a very mixed nature. Several names of other castes,
+as G&#363;jar, Gu&#257;l or Ah&#299;r, Arakh, Khat&#299;k, Bahelia, Bh&#299;l and Bania, are returned as divisions of the P&#257;sis 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 R&#257;jp&#257;sis or highest class, who probably were at one time landowners;
+the Kaithw&#257;s or Kaithm&#257;s, supposed to be descended from a K&#257;yasth, as already related; the Tirsulia, who take their name from
+the <i>tris&#363;la</i> or three-bladed knife used to pierce the stem of the palm tree; the Bahelia or hunters, and Chiriyam&#257;r or fowlers; the Ghudchadha
+or those who ride on ponies, these being probably saises or horse-keepers; the Khat&#299;k or <a id="d0e11378"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11378">383</a>]</span>butchers and G&#363;jar or graziers; and the M&#257;ngta 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 P&#257;sis.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11380">
+<h3>4. Marriage and other customs</h3>
+<p>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 <i>sr&#257;wan</i> 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 P&#257;sis should impart a distinctively agricultural
+implement into their marriage ceremony is not clear. Like the Gonds, the P&#257;sis celebrate their weddings at the bridegroom&#8217;s
+house and not at the bride&#8217;s. Before the wedding the bridegroom&#8217;s mother goes and sits over a well, taking with her seven
+<i>urad</i> cakes<a id="d0e11391src" href="#d0e11391" class="noteref">5</a> 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 Pert&#257;bgarh 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 P&#257;si 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11397">
+<h3>5. Religion, superstitions and social customs</h3>
+<p>The P&#257;sis worship all the ordinary Hindu deities. All classes of Br&#257;hmans 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 Br&#257;hmans <a id="d0e11402"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11402">384</a>]</span>for the performance of ceremonies appears to be a very recent reform for, as a rule, in sacrifices and funeral ceremonies,
+the worshipper&#8217;s sister&#8217;s son performs the functions of a priest. &#8220;Among the P&#257;sis of Monghyr this ancient custom, which admits
+of being plausibly interpreted as a survival of female kinship, still prevails generally.&#8221; The social status of the P&#257;sis
+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 (<i>Chaudhri</i>) 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 (<i>k&#257;la p&#257;ni</i>) which the criminal pursuits of the tribe occasionally necessitate.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11410">
+<h3>6. Occupation</h3>
+<p>The traditional occupation of the P&#257;sis, as already stated, is the extraction of the sap of palm trees. But some of them are
+hunters and fowlers like the P&#257;rdhis, 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
+N&#257;gpur mills and others have taken small building contracts. P&#257;sis are generally illiterate and in poor circumstances, and
+are much addicted to drink. In climbing<a id="d0e11415src" href="#d0e11415" class="noteref">6</a> 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 (<i>t&#257;r</i>) and the date palm (<i>khaj&#363;r</i>) is extracted by the P&#257;si. The <i>t&#257;r</i> trees, Sir H. Risley states,<a id="d0e11430src" href="#d0e11430" class="noteref">7</a> are tapped from March to May, and the date palm in the cold season. The juice of the former, known as <i>t&#257;ri</i> or <a id="d0e11438"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11438">385</a>]</span>toddy, is used in the manufacture of bread, and an intoxicating liquor is obtained from it by adding sugar and grains of rice.
+Hindust&#257;ni drunkards often mix <i>dhat&#363;ra</i> with the toddy to increase its intoxicating properties. The quantity of juice extracted from one tree varies from five to
+ten pounds. Date palm <i>t&#257;ri</i> is less commonly drunk, being popularly believed to cause rheumatism, but is extensively used in preparing sugar.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11446">
+<h3>7. Criminal tendencies</h3>
+<p>Eighty years ago, when General Sleeman wrote, the P&#257;sis were noted thieves. In his <i>Journey through Oudh</i><a id="d0e11453src" href="#d0e11453" class="noteref">8</a> he states that in Oudh there were then supposed to be one hundred thousand families of P&#257;sis, 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, &#8220;who keep P&#257;sis 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 employ&eacute;s keep the
+country in a perpetual state of disorder.&#8221; Mr. Gayer notes<a id="d0e11462src" href="#d0e11462" class="noteref">9</a> 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 baz&#257;r, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11326" href="#d0e11326src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Based principally on Mr. Crooke&#8217;s article on the caste in his <i>Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11345" href="#d0e11345src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Quoted in Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Bhar.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11351" href="#d0e11351src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Art. P&#257;si, para. 3.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11354" href="#d0e11354src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Art. Bhar, para. 4.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11391" href="#d0e11391src" class="noteref">5</a></span> A pulse of a black colour (<i>Phaseolus radiatus</i>).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11415" href="#d0e11415src" class="noteref">6</a></span> These sentences are taken from Dr. Grierson&#8217;s <i>Peasant Life in Beh&#257;r</i>, p. 79.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11430" href="#d0e11430src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. P&#257;si.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11453" href="#d0e11453src" class="noteref">8</a></span> The following passage is taken from Mr. Crooke&#8217;s article on P&#257;si, and includes quotations from the <i>Sit&#257;pur</i> and <i>Hardoi Settlement Reports</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11462" href="#d0e11462src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e11467" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Patwa</h2>
+<p><b>Patwa, Patwi, Patra, Il&#257;kelband.</b>&#8212;The occupational caste of weavers of fancy silk braid and thread. In 1911 the Patwas numbered nearly 6000 persons in the
+Central <a id="d0e11474"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11474">386</a>]</span>Provinces, being returned principally from the Narsinghpur, Raipur, Saugor, Jubbulpore and Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Districts. About 800
+were resident in Ber&#257;r. The name is derived from the Sanskrit <i>pata</i>, woven cloth, or Hindi <i>p&#257;t</i>, silk. The principal subcastes of the Patwas are the Naraina; the Kanaujia, also known as Chhipi, because they sew marriage
+robes; the Deobansi or &#8216;descendants of a god,&#8217; 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t and
+K&#257;yastha 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 <i>r&#257;khis</i>, used on the Raksh&#257;bandhan festival,<a id="d0e11485src" href="#d0e11485" class="noteref">1</a> when the Br&#257;hmans go round in the morning tying them on to the wrists of all Hindus as a protection against evil spirits.
+For this the Br&#257;hman receives a present of one or two pice. The <i>r&#257;khi</i> 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&#8217; wrists and are given a present. The Patwas
+make the <i>phundri</i> threads for tying up the hair of women, whether of silk or cotton, and various threads used as amulets, such as the <i>janj&#299;ra</i>, worn by men round the neck, and the <i>ganda</i> or wizard&#8217;s thread, which is tied round the arm after incantations have been said over it; and the <a id="d0e11500"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11500">387</a>]</span>necklets of silk or cotton thread bound with thin silver wire which the Hindus wear at Anant Chaudas, a sort of All Saints&#8217;
+Day, when all the gods are worshipped. In this various knots are made by the Br&#257;hmans, 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&#8217;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 Br&#257;hmans in the Central
+Provinces. Some of the Patwas wander about hawking their wares from village to village. Besides the silk threads they sell
+the <i>tiklis</i> 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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh. A Patwa must not rear the tasar silkworm nor boil the
+cocoons on pain of expulsion from caste.
+<a id="d0e11505"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11505">388</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11485" href="#d0e11485src" class="noteref">1</a></span> The word Raksh&#257;bandhan is said to mean literally, &#8216;the bond of protection.&#8217; Another suggested derivation, &#8216;binding the devil,&#8217;
+is perhaps incorrect.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e11506" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Pind&#257;ri</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e11561">1. Origin of the name</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11614">2. Rise of the Pind&#257;ris</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11638">3. Their strength and sphere of operations</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11660">4. Pind&#257;ri expeditions and methods</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11673">5. Return from an expedition</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11686">6. Suppression of the Pind&#257;ris. Death of Chitu</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11699">7. Character of the Pind&#257;ris</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11718">8. The existing Pind&#257;ris</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e11729">9. Attractions of a Pind&#257;ri&#8217;s life</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11561">
+<h3>1. Origin of the name</h3>
+<p><b>Pind&#257;ri, Pind&#257;ra, Pendh&#257;ri.</b><a id="d0e11567src" href="#d0e11567" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;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 Pind&#257;ris of the Central Provinces are for the most part the descendants of Gonds, Korkus and Bh&#299;ls whose children
+were carried off in the course of raids, circumcised, and brought up to follow the profession of a Pind&#257;ri. When the bands
+were dispersed many of them returned to their native villages and settled down. Malcolm considered that the name Pind&#257;ri was
+derived from <i>pinda</i>, an intoxicating drink, and was given to them on account of their dissolute habits. He adds that Kar&#299;m Kh&#257;n, a famous Pind&#257;ri
+leader, had never heard of any other reason for the name, and Major Henley had the etymology confirmed by the most intelligent
+of the Pind&#257;ris of whom he inquired.<a id="d0e11582src" href="#d0e11582" class="noteref">2</a> In support of this may be adduced the name of Bhangi, given to the sweeper caste on account of their drinking <i>bhang</i> or hemp. Wilson <a id="d0e11590"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11590">389</a>]</span>again held the most probable derivation to be from the Mar&#257;thi <i>pendha</i>, in the sense of a bundle of rice-straw, and <i>hara</i> 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 Pind&#257;ris 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 <i>Hobson-Jobson</i>, after citing these derivations, continue: &#8220;We cannot think any of the etymologies very satisfactory. We venture another
+as a plausible suggestion merely. Both <i>pind-parna</i> in Hindi and <i>pindas-basnen</i> in Mar&#257;thi signify &#8216;to follow,&#8217; the latter being defined as &#8216;to stick closely; to follow to the death; used of the adherence
+of a disagreeable fellow.&#8217; Such phrases could apply to these hangers-on of an army in the field looking out for prey.&#8221; Mr.
+W. Irvine<a id="d0e11607src" href="#d0e11607" class="noteref">3</a> has suggested that the word comes from a place or region called Pandh&#257;r, which is referred to by native historians and seems
+to have been situated between Burh&#257;npur and Handia on the Nerbudda; and states that there is good evidence to prove that a
+large number of Pind&#257;ris were settled in this part of the country. Mr. D. Chisholm reports from Nim&#257;r that &#8220;Pandh&#257;r or P&#257;ndhar
+is the name given to a stream which rises in the Gulargh&#257;t hills of the As&#299;r 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 As&#299;r hills were
+the haunts of the Pind&#257;ris, and the country about these, especially by the banks of the Pandh&#257;r, is very wild; but it is not
+commonly known that the Pind&#257;ris derived their name from this stream.&#8221; And as the Pind&#257;ris are first heard of as hangers-on
+of the Mar&#257;tha armies in the Deccan prior to A.D. 1700, it seems unlikely also that their name can be taken from a place in
+the Nim&#257;r District, where it is not recorded that they were settled before 1794. Nor does the Pandh&#257;r itself seem sufficiently
+important to have given a name to the whole body of freebooters. Malcolm&#8217;s or Wilson&#8217;s derivations are perhaps on the whole
+the most probable. Prinsep writes: &#8220;Pind&#257;ra seems to have the same <a id="d0e11612"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11612">390</a>]</span>reference to Pandour that Kuz&#257;k has to Cossack. The latter word is of Turkish origin but is commonly used to express a mounted
+robber in Hindust&#257;n.&#8221; Though the Pandours were the predatory light cavalry of the Austrian army, and had considerable resemblance
+to the Pind&#257;ris, it does not seem possible to suppose that there is any connection between the two words. The Pendra zam&#299;nd&#257;ri
+in Bil&#257;spur is named after the Pind&#257;ris, the dense forests of the Rewah plateau which includes Pendra having been one of their
+favourite asylums of refuge.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11614">
+<h3>2. Rise of the Pind&#257;ris</h3>
+<p>The Pind&#257;ri 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 Mar&#257;thas in their revolt against Aur&#257;ngzeb. The
+first mention of the name occurs at this time. During and after the Mar&#257;tha wars many of the Pind&#257;ri 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 Sh&#257;hi and Holkar Sh&#257;hi. 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 Gujar&#257;t.
+
+</p>
+<p>When attached to the Mar&#257;tha armies, Malcolm states, the Pind&#257;ris always camped separately and were not permitted to plunder
+in the Mar&#257;tha 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 Pind&#257;ri baz&#257;r was
+the great mart. When let loose to pillage, which was always the case some days before the army entered an enemy&#8217;s country,
+all allowances stopped; no restraint whatever was put upon these freebooters till the campaign was over, when the Mar&#257;tha
+commander, if he had the power, generally seized the Pind&#257;ri chiefs or surrounded their camps and forced them to yield up
+the greater part of their booty. A knowledge of this practice led the Pind&#257;ris to redouble their excesses, that they might
+be <a id="d0e11621"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11621">391</a>]</span>able to satisfy without ruin the expected rapacity of their employers.
+
+</p>
+<p>In 1794, Grant-Duff writes, Sindhia assigned some lands to the Pind&#257;ris 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 R&#257;ghuji Bhonsla. The sons of Hiru and Burun became Pind&#257;ri chiefs; but Kar&#299;m Kh&#257;n, a Pind&#257;ra who had acquired
+great booty at the plunder of the Niz&#257;m&#8217;s troops after the battle of Hurdla, and was distinguished by superior cunning and
+enterprise, was the principal leader of this refuse of the Mar&#257;tha armies. Kar&#299;m got the district of Shujahalpur from Umar
+Kh&#257;n which, with some additions, was afterwards confirmed to him by Sindhia. During the war of 1803 and the subsequent disturbed
+state of the country Kar&#299;m contrived to obtain possession of several districts in M&#257;lwa belonging to Sindhia&#8217;s j&#257;gird&#257;rs;
+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 Naw&#257;b of Bhop&#257;l on which he built a fort as a place of security for his family and of deposit for his plunder. Kar&#299;m
+was originally a Sindhia Sh&#257;hi, but like most of the Pind&#257;ris, except about 5000 of the Holkar Sh&#257;his 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 Kar&#299;m in the fort of Gwalior.
+
+</p>
+<p>A number of leaders started up after the confinement of Kar&#299;m, of whom Chitu, Dost Muhammad, Namd&#257;r Kh&#257;n and Sheikh Dullah
+became the most conspicuous. They associated themselves with Am&#299;r Kh&#257;n in 1809 during his expedition to Ber&#257;r; and in 1810,
+when Kar&#299;m Kh&#257;n 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 Ber&#257;r; but Chitu, always jealous of Kar&#299;m&#8217;s ascendency,
+<a id="d0e11627"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11627">392</a>]</span>was detached by R&#257;ghuji Bhonsla from the alliance, and afterwards co-operated with Sindhia in attacking him; Kar&#299;m was in
+consequence driven to seek an asylum with his old patron Am&#299;r Kh&#257;n, but by the influence of Sindhia Am&#299;r Kh&#257;n kept him in
+a state of confinement until 1816.
+
+</p>
+<p>When the Mar&#257;thas ceased to spread themselves over India, the Pind&#257;ris 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 Pind&#257;ra had many allurements; but the Mar&#257;tha 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 Pind&#257;ris had been dispersed, and he is still remembered in Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Nim&#257;r in the following saying:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Niche zam&#299;n aur upar Allah,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Aur b&#299;ch men phiren Sheikh Dullah,</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or &#8216;God is above and the earth beneath, and Sheikh Dullah ranges at his will between.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11638">
+<h3>3. Their strength and sphere of operations</h3>
+<p>In 1814, Prinsep states,<a id="d0e11643src" href="#d0e11643" class="noteref">4</a> the actual military force at the disposal of the Pind&#257;ris amounted to 40,000 horse, inclusive of the Path&#257;ns, who though
+more orderly and better disciplined than the Pind&#257;ris 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e11648"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11648">393</a>]</span>when they entered Gujar&#257;t in 1808&#8211;9 and again in 1812 when the Bengal provinces of Mirz&#257;pur and Shah&#257;b&#257;d 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:<a id="d0e11650src" href="#d0e11650" class="noteref">5</a> &#8220;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 Pind&#257;ris, 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&#8217;s invasion. It was about this period that an idle rumour reached Madras of the arrival of the Pind&#257;ris 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 <i>tattus</i> and, in mock imitation of the Pind&#257;ris, 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 <a id="d0e11658"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11658">394</a>]</span>look back and then discovered in the old officer a face which he had before seen; when turning back again he exclaimed, &#8216;Upon
+my word, sir, I was so frightened I took you for a Pind&#257;ri.&#8217;&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11660">
+<h3>4. Pind&#257;ri expeditions and methods</h3>
+<p>A Pind&#257;ri expedition<a id="d0e11665src" href="#d0e11665" class="noteref">6</a> 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 Pind&#257;ri nomenclature, the strength of the party often amounting to several thousands. In every thousand Pind&#257;ris 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 Mar&#257;thas, 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 <i>tattus</i> 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 <a id="d0e11671"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11671">395</a>]</span>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 Pind&#257;ri 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&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11673">
+<h3>5. Return from an expedition</h3>
+<p>The return of the Pind&#257;ris 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&#8217; 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 <a id="d0e11678"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11678">396</a>]</span>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.<a id="d0e11680src" href="#d0e11680" class="noteref">7</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11686">
+<h3>6. Suppression of the Pind&#257;ris. Death of Chitu</h3>
+<p>The result of the Pind&#257;ri 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 Pind&#257;ris 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 Bh&#299;l 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
+S&#257;hib, who had then escaped from N&#257;gpur and was in hiding in the Pachmarhi hills. Being expelled from there in February 1819
+he proceeded to the fort of As&#299;rgarh in Nim&#257;r, but was refused admittance by Sindhia&#8217;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. <a id="d0e11691"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11691">397</a>]</span>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 S&#257;hib, promising future reward, served more completely to fix the identity of the horse&#8217;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 Pind&#257;ri&#8217;s head entire with features
+in a state to be recognised, were successively discovered. The chief&#8217;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.<a id="d0e11693src" href="#d0e11693" class="noteref">8</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11699">
+<h3>7. Character of the Pind&#257;ris</h3>
+<p>The Pind&#257;ris, 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. &#8220;Those born in the Durrahs or camps,&#8221; Malcolm states,<a id="d0e11704src" href="#d0e11704" class="noteref">9</a> &#8220;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 Pind&#257;ris 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.&#8221; Colonel Tod notes that the Pind&#257;ris, like other
+Indian robbers, were devout in the observance of their religion:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;A short distance to the west of the Regent&#8217;s (Kot&#257;h) camp is the Pind&#257;ri-ka-chhaoni, where the sons of Kar&#299;m Kh&#257;n, the chief
+leader of those hordes, resided; for in <a id="d0e11711"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11711">398</a>]</span>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-G&#257;h or place of prayer; for the villains, while they robbed and murdered
+even defenceless women, prayed five times a day!&#8221;<a id="d0e11713src" href="#d0e11713" class="noteref">10</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11718">
+<h3>8. The existing Pind&#257;ris</h3>
+<p>While the freebooting Pind&#257;ris 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 Pind&#257;ris 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 Pind&#257;ris
+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 Pind&#257;ris did not carry on like the Banj&#257;ras a traffic
+in slaves.<a id="d0e11723src" href="#d0e11723" class="noteref">11</a> The Muhammadan Pind&#257;ris 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 Bhand&#257;ra the Hindu Pind&#257;ris are Garoris or Gow&#257;ris, They say
+that the ancestors of the Pind&#257;ris and Gow&#257;ris were two brothers, the business of the Pind&#257;ri brother being to tend buffaloes
+and that of the Gow&#257;ri brother to herd cows. These Pind&#257;ris 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 <i>jholi</i> or wallet, and bury them in the same position. They wear their beards and do not shave. Some of these Pind&#257;ris are personal
+servants, others cultivators and labourers, and others snake-charmers and jugglers.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e11729">
+<h3>9. Attractions of a Pind&#257;ri&#8217;s life</h3>
+<p>The freebooting life of the Pind&#257;ris, unmitigated scoundrels though they were, no doubt had great charms, and must often have
+been recalled with regret by those who <a id="d0e11734"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11734">399</a>]</span>settled down to the quiet humdrum existence of a cultivator. This feeling has been admirably depicted in Sir Alfred Lyall&#8217;s
+well-known poem, of which it will be permissible to quote a short extract:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>When I rode a Dekhani charger with the saddle-cloth gold-laced,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>And a Persian sword and a twelve-foot spear and a pistol at my waist.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>It&#8217;s many a year gone by now; and yet I often dream
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Of a long dark march to the Jumna, of splashing across the stream,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Of the waning moon on the water and the spears in the dim starlight
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>As I rode in front of my mother<a id="d0e11749src" href="#d0e11749" class="noteref">12</a> and wondered at all the sight.
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Then the streak of the pearly dawn&#8212;the flash of a sentinel&#8217;s gun,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The gallop and glint of horsemen who wheeled in the level sun,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>The shots in the clear still morning, the white smoke&#8217;s eddying wreath,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Is this the same land that I live in, the dull dank air that I breathe?
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>And if I were forty years younger, with my life before me to choose,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>I wouldn&#8217;t be lectured by Kafirs or bullied by fat Hindoos;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>But I&#8217;d go to some far-off country where Musalm&#257;ns still are men,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Or take to the jungle like Chetoo, and die in the tiger&#8217;s den.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11567" href="#d0e11567src" class="noteref">1</a></span> The historical account of the Pind&#257;ris is compiled from Malcolm&#8217;s <i>Memoir of Central India</i>, Grant-Duff&#8217;s <i>History of the Mar&#257;thas</i>, and Prinsep&#8217;s <i>Transactions in India</i> (1825). Some notes on the modern Pind&#257;ris have been furnished by Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l, and Mr. Waman Rustom Mandloi, Naib-Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r,
+Harda.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11582" href="#d0e11582src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Memoir of Central India</i>, i, p. 433.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11607" href="#d0e11607src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Indian Antiquary</i>, 1900.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11643" href="#d0e11643src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Transactions in India</i>, 1813&#8211;23, by H.T. Prinsep.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11650" href="#d0e11650src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Mar&#257;tha and Pind&#257;ri Campaigns</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11665" href="#d0e11665src" class="noteref">6</a></span> The above is compiled from the accounts given by Prinsep and Malcolm.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11680" href="#d0e11680src" class="noteref">7</a></span> That is when Malcolm wrote his <i>Memoir</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11693" href="#d0e11693src" class="noteref">8</a></span> This account is copied from Prinsep&#8217;s <i>Transactions</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11704" href="#d0e11704src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Memoir</i>, ii. p. 177.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11713" href="#d0e11713src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 674.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11723" href="#d0e11723src" class="noteref">11</a></span> Malcolm, ii. p. 177.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11749" href="#d0e11749src" class="noteref">12</a></span> The Pind&#257;ri&#8217;s childhood is recalled here, <i>vide</i> poem.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e11771" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Prabhu</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. Historical notice</h3>
+<p><b>Prabhu, Parbhu.</b>&#8212;The Mar&#257;tha caste of clerks, accountants and patw&#257;ris corresponding to the K&#257;yasths. They numbered about 1400 persons in
+the southern Districts of the Central Provinces and Ber&#257;r in 1911. The Prabhus, like the K&#257;yasths, claim to be descendants
+of a child of Chandra Sena, a Kshatriya king and himself a son of Arjun, one of the five P&#257;ndava brothers. Chandra Sena was
+slain by Parasur&#257;ma, the Br&#257;hman 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 Somr&#257;j and was married to the daughter of Chitra Gupta, the recorder of the dead.
+The caste thus claim Kshatriya origin. The name Prabhu signifies &#8216;lord,&#8217; but the Br&#257;hmans 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 <i>gotras</i> of the Prabhus are eponymous, the names being the same as those of Br&#257;hmans. In the Central Provinces many of them have the
+surname of Chitnav&#299;s or Secretary. Child-marriage is in vogue and widow-remarriage is forbidden. The wedding ceremony resembles
+that of the Br&#257;hmans.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e11785" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p122.jpg" alt="Little girls playing" width="720" height="400"><p class="figureHead">Little girls playing</p>
+</div><p>
+
+<a id="d0e11789"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11789">400</a>]</span></p>
+<p>In his <i>Description of a Prabhu marriage</i><a id="d0e11794src" href="#d0e11794" class="noteref">1</a> Rai Bah&#257;dur 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:
+&#8220;The next step<a id="d0e11797src" href="#d0e11797" class="noteref">2</a> 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.&#8221; Similarly in her case: &#8220;The girl has no direct voice, but her likes and dislikes are carefully
+fathomed through her girl friends. If she says, &#8216;Why is papa in such a hurry to get rid of me,&#8217; 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.&#8221; Similarly the educated
+Prabhus are beginning to dispense with the astrologer&#8217;s calculations showing the agreement of the horoscopes of the couple,
+which are too often made a cloak for the extortion of large presents. &#8220;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&#8212;for names are presumably
+selected <a id="d0e11804"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11804">401</a>]</span>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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>According to custom the bridegroom should go to the bride&#8217;s house to be married, but if it is more convenient to have the
+wedding at the bridegroom&#8217;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: &#8220;But there comes an urgent telegram. The bride and her mother are expected and
+information is given to the bridegroom&#8217;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 S&#363;na 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 &#8216;take off&#8217; the effects of evil eyes and they start amid admiring
+eyes of the passengers and onlookers. As soon as the bride reaches her father&#8217;s temporary residence another girl waves rice
+and water and throws it away. The girls of the bridegroom&#8217;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
+<i>Sakhar p&#257;ni</i>, 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: &#8216;Oh, she is a Rati, the goddess of beauty,&#8217; says one,
+and another, &#8216;How delicate,&#8217; &#8216;What a fine <a id="d0e11811"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11811">402</a>]</span>nose&#8217; from a third, and &#8216;Look at her eyes&#8217; from a fourth. All complimentary and comforting. &#8216;We are glad it is our house you
+are coming to,&#8217; says a sister-in-law in prospect. &#8216;We are happy you are going to be our <i>m&#257;likin</i> (mistress),&#8217; adds a maidservant. As soon as the elder ladies have completed their courteous inquiries <i>p&#257;n-sup&#257;ri</i> and <i>attar</i> are distributed and the party returns home. But on arrival the girls gather round the bridegroom to tease him. &#8216;Oh, you Sudh&#257;rak
+(reformer),&#8217; &#8216;Oh, you S&#257;hib (European), <i>you</i> have selected your bride.&#8217; &#8216;You have seen her <i>before</i> marriage. You have broken the rule of the society. You ought to be excommunicated.&#8217; &#8216;But,&#8217; says another, &#8216;he will now have
+no time to speak to us. His Rati (goddess of beauty) and he! The S&#257;hib and the Mems&#257;hib! We shall all be forgotten now. Who
+cares for sisters and cousins in these days of civilisation?&#8217; But all these little jokes of the little girls are meant as
+congratulations to him for having secured a good girl.&#8221; 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.<a id="d0e11828src" href="#d0e11828" class="noteref">3</a>
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e11834" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p123.jpg" alt="Gujarati girls doing figures with strings and sticks" width="720" height="456"><p class="figureHead">Gujarati girls doing figures with strings and sticks</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. General Customs</h3>
+<p>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 Br&#257;hman 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.<a id="d0e11843src" href="#d0e11843" class="noteref">4</a> 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 <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> ceremony is performed on an extensive scale on the anniversary of <a id="d0e11851"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11851">403</a>]</span>the death. Most of the Prabhus are in Government service and others are landowners. In the Bombay Presidency<a id="d0e11853src" href="#d0e11853" class="noteref">5</a> 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 Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans. The taste of the women in dress is proverbial, and when a Sun&#257;r, Sut&#257;r or Kas&#257;r woman has dressed herself
+in her best for some family festival, she will ask her friends, &#8216;<i>Prabhuin disto</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;Do I look like a Prabhu?&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11794" href="#d0e11794src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Pamphlet published in connection with the Ethnographic Survey.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11797" href="#d0e11797src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>A Prabhu Marriage</i>, p. 3 <i>et seq.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11828" href="#d0e11828src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>A Prabhu Marriage</i>, pp. 26&#8211;27.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11843" href="#d0e11843src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Bombay Ethnographic Survey</i>, art. Prabhu.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11853" href="#d0e11853src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, ix. p. 68, footnotes.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e11861" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;ghuvansi</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. Historical notice</h3>
+<p><b>R&#257;ghuvansi, R&#257;ghvi.</b>&#8212;A class of R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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:<a id="d0e11871src" href="#d0e11871" class="noteref">1</a> &#8220;They are a queer class, all professing to be R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 G&#363;jars and Kir&#257;rs (with whom they are accustomed to smoke the huqqa and to take water) and
+profess to be very high-caste R&#257;jp&#363;ts indeed.&#8221; From Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d they have spread to Bet&#363;l, Chhindw&#257;ra and N&#257;gpur and now number
+24,000 persons in all in the Central Provinces. Chhindw&#257;ra, on the Satp&#363;ra plateau, is supposed to have been founded by one
+Ratan R&#257;ghuvansi, 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 R&#257;ghuvansi is derived from R&#257;ja R&#257;ghu, king of Ajodhia and ancestor of the great
+R&#257;ma, the hero of the R&#257;m&#257;yana. In N&#257;gpur the name has been shortened to R&#257;ghvi, and the branch of the caste settled here
+is somewhat looked down upon by their fellows in Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d. <a id="d0e11876"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11876">404</a>]</span>Sir R. Craddock<a id="d0e11878src" href="#d0e11878" class="noteref">2</a> states that their religion is unorthodox and they have <i>gurus</i> or priests of their own caste, discarding Br&#257;hmans. Their names end in Deo. Their origin, however, is still plainly discernible
+in their height, strength of body and fair complexion. The notice continues: &#8220;Whatever may happen to other classes the R&#257;ghvi
+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 R&#257;ghvi tenants by a landlord or moneylender of their own body.&#8221; In Chhindw&#257;ra,
+Mr. Montgomerie states,<a id="d0e11886src" href="#d0e11886" class="noteref">3</a> they rank among the best cultivators, and formerly lived in clans, holding villages on <i>bhaiach&#257;ri</i> or communal tenure. As m&#257;lguz&#257;rs or village proprietors, they are very prone to absorb tenant land into their home-farms.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Social customs</h3>
+<p>The R&#257;ghuvansis 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 R&#257;ghuvansis of Chhindwara and N&#257;gpur combine
+the Hindust&#257;ni custom of walking round the sacred pole with the Mar&#257;tha one of throwing coloured rice on the bridal couple.
+Sometimes they have what is known as a <i>g&#257;nkar</i> wedding. At this, flour, sugar and <i>gh&#299;</i><a id="d0e11904src" href="#d0e11904" class="noteref">4</a> are the only kinds of food permissible, large cakes of flour and sugar being boiled in pitchers full of <i>gh&#299;</i>, 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 R&#257;ghuvansis 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&#8217;s party attack those of the bridegroom&#8217;s with
+bamboo sticks, while these retaliate by throwing red powder on them. The remarriage of widows is freely permitted, but <a id="d0e11910"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11910">405</a>]</span>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&#8217;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&#8217;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<a id="d0e11912src" href="#d0e11912" class="noteref">5</a> that &#8220;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.&#8221; These superstitions do not appear to be known at all in the Central Provinces.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11871" href="#d0e11871src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Settlement Report</i> (1807), p. 60.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11878" href="#d0e11878src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>N&#257;gpur Settlement Report</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11886" href="#d0e11886src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Settlement Report</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11904" href="#d0e11904src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Preserved butter.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11912" href="#d0e11912src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Ragh&#363;vansi.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e11917" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jjhar</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. General notice</h3>
+<p><b>R&#257;jjhar, R&#257;jbhar, Lajjhar.</b>&#8212;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 Satp&#363;ra plateau. The names R&#257;jjhar and R&#257;jbhar 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 R&#257;j
+Bhar, which signifies a landowning Bhar, like R&#257;j-Gond, R&#257;j-Korku and so on. In Mandla all the members of the caste were shown
+as R&#257;jbhar in 1891, and R&#257;jjhar 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
+R&#257;jjhar and R&#257;jbhar. But, though practically the same <a id="d0e11927"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11927">406</a>]</span>caste, the R&#257;jjhars seem, in some localities, to be more backward and primitive than the R&#257;jbhars. This is also the case in
+Ber&#257;r, 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.<a id="d0e11929src" href="#d0e11929" class="noteref">1</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Origin and subdivisions</h3>
+<p>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 Br&#257;hman), Sun&#257;rya (from Sun&#257;r), Baksaria (a
+R&#257;jp&#363;t sept), Ah&#299;riya (an Ah&#299;r or cowherd), and Bis&#257;tia from Bis&#257;ti (a hawker). Other names are after plants or animals, as
+Baslya from the <i>b&#257;ns</i> or bamboo, Mohanya from the <i>mohin</i> tree, Chhitkaria from the <i>s&#299;taphal</i> or custard-apple tree, Hardaya from the banyan tree, R&#299;chhya from the bear, and Dukhania from the buffalo. Members of this
+last sept will not drink buffalo&#8217;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 Sun&#257;rya sept worship
+gold as being the metal with which the Sun&#257;r is associated. Those of the Bamhania sept revere the banyan and pipal trees,
+as these are held sacred by Br&#257;hmans. The Bakraria or Bagsaria sept believe their name to be derived from that of the <i>b&#257;gh</i> or tiger, and they worship this animal&#8217;s footprints by tying a thread round them.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Marriage</h3>
+<p>The marriage of members of the same sept, and also that of first cousins, is forbidden. The caste do not employ Br&#257;hmans 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 Br&#257;hman priests; but many marriages which the Br&#257;hman foretold as auspicious
+turned out very much the reverse; and on this account they have discarded the Br&#257;hman, and now determine the suitability or
+otherwise of a projected union by the common primitive custom of <a id="d0e11957"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11957">407</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hman 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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d the bride still goes to the bridegroom&#8217;s house to be married as among the Gonds. A bride-price is paid,
+which consists of four rupees, a <i>khandi</i><a id="d0e11961src" href="#d0e11961" class="noteref">2</a> of ju&#257;ri or wheat, and two pieces of cloth. This is received by the bride&#8217;s father, who, however, has in turn to pay seven
+rupees eight annas and a goat to the caste <i>panch&#257;yat</i> or committee for the arrangement and sanction of the match. This last payment is known as <i>Skar&#257;b-ka-rupaya</i> 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&#8217;s
+shoulders as it is cut. When the bridegroom arrives at the marriage-shed he is met by the bride&#8217;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 <i>chauk</i> 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&#8217;s house, and on arriving at his door the boy&#8217;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&#8217;s house they are drenched with water
+<a id="d0e11973"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11973">408</a>]</span>by a man sitting on the roof, and when they come to the door of the house the bridegroom&#8217;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&#8217;s younger brother, but is not
+compelled to do so. Divorce is permitted for adultery on the part of the wife.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Social Customs</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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 Ah&#299;rs, from whom they will take cooked food, while they say that the Ah&#299;rs will also eat from their hands. In Narsinghpur
+a similar connection has been observed between the R&#257;jjhars 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 Ah&#299;r 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 Panw&#257;rs and Gonds, and other castes who stand in this relation to each other. The R&#257;jjhars
+will also eat <i>katcha</i> food (cooked with water) from Kunbis and Kah&#257;rs. But in <a id="d0e11983"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11983">409</a>]</span>Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d some of them will not take food from any caste, even from Br&#257;hmans. Their women wear glass bangles only on the
+right hand, and a brass ornament known as <i>m&#257;thi</i> 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 <i>liaison</i> 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.
+<a id="d0e11991"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e11991">410</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11929" href="#d0e11929src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Kitts&#8217; <i>Ber&#257;r Census Report</i> (1881), p. 157.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e11961" href="#d0e11961src" class="noteref">2</a></span> About 400 lbs.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e11992" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t</h2>
+<p>[The following article is based mainly on Colonel Tod&#8217;s classical <i>Annals and Antiquities of R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, 2nd ed., Madras, Higginbotham, 1873, and Mr. Crooke&#8217;s articles on the R&#257;jp&#363;t clans in his <i>Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh</i>. Much information as to the origin of the R&#257;jp&#363;t 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&#8217;s <i>Early History of India</i>, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t caste, on however limited a scale, and has therefore been included. In four cases, Panw&#257;r, J&#257;dum, R&#257;ghuvansi
+and Daharia, the original R&#257;jp&#363;t clans have now developed into separate cultivating castes, ranking well below the R&#257;jp&#363;ts;
+separate articles have been written on these as for independent castes.]
+
+</p>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e12144">1. Introductory notice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12158">2. The thirty-six royal races</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12246">3. The origin of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12307">4. Subdivisions of the clans</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12337">5. Marriage customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12380">6. Funeral rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12394">7. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12427">8. Food</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12449">9. Opium</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12500">10. Improved training of R&#257;jp&#363;t chiefs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12505">11. Dress</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12527">12. Social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12552">13. Seclusion of women</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12566">14. Traditional character of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e12633">15. Occupation</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12144">
+<h3>1. Introductory notice</h3>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Kshatriya, Chhatri, Th&#257;kur.</b>&#8212;The R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t, or son of a king, has now superseded it as the standard
+name of the caste. Th&#257;kur, or lord, is the common R&#257;jp&#363;t title, and that by which they are generally addressed. The total
+number of persons returned as R&#257;jp&#363;ts in the Province in 1911 was about 440,000. India has about nine million R&#257;jp&#363;ts in all,
+and they are most numerous in the Punjab, the United Provinces, and Bih&#257;r and Orissa, R&#257;jput&#257;na returning under 700,000 and
+Central India about 800,000.
+
+</p>
+<p>The bulk of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts in the Central Provinces are of very impure blood. Several groups, such as the Panw&#257;rs of the Wainganga
+Valley, the R&#257;ghuvansis of Chhindw&#257;ra and N&#257;gpur, the J&#257;dams of Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and the Daharias of Chhatt&#299;sgarh, have developed
+into separate castes and marry among themselves, though a true R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 S&#363;rajvansi, Gaur or Gorai, Chauh&#257;n, and B&#257;gri 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t
+in all parts of India. If the definition of a proper R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Dh&#257;kar, also shown as
+a R&#257;jp&#363;t clan, is applied to a person of illegitimate birth, like Vid&#363;r. Over 100,000 persons, or nearly a quarter of the
+total, did not return the name of any clan in 1911, and <a id="d0e12153"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12153">412</a>]</span>these are all of mixed or illegitimate descent. They are numerous in Nim&#257;r, and are there known as <i>chhoti-tur</i> or low-class R&#257;jp&#363;ts. The B&#257;gri R&#257;jp&#363;ts of Seoni and the S&#363;rajvansis of Betal marry among themselves, while the Bundelas
+of Saugor intermarry with two other local groups, the Panw&#257;r and Dhundhele, all the three being of impure blood. In Jubbulpore
+a small clan of persons known as P&#257;ik or foot-soldier return themselves as R&#257;jp&#363;ts, but are no doubt a mixed low-caste group.
+Again, some landholding sections of the primitive tribes have assumed the names of R&#257;jp&#363;t clans. Thus the zam&#299;nd&#257;rs of Bil&#257;spur,
+who originally belonged to the Kawar tribe, call themselves Tuar or Tomara R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and the landholding section of the Mundas
+in Chota N&#257;gpur say that they are of the N&#257;gvansi clan. Other names are returned which are not those of R&#257;jp&#363;t clans or their
+offshoots at all. If these subdivisions, which cannot be considered as proper R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and all those who have returned no
+clan be deducted, there remain not more than 100,000 who might be admitted to be pure R&#257;jp&#363;ts in R&#257;jput&#257;na. 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t
+of really pure family and descent is in fact a person of some consideration in most parts of the Central Provinces.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12158">
+<h3>2. The thirty-six royal races</h3>
+<p>Traditionally the R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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):
+
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li> 1. Ikshwaka or S&#363;rajvansi.
+
+</li>
+<li> 2. Indu, Somvansi or Chandravansi.
+
+</li>
+<li> 3. Gahlot or Sesodia (R&#257;ghuvansi).
+
+</li>
+<li> 4. Y&#257;du (Bhatti, Jareja, J&#257;don, Ban&#257;phar).
+
+</li>
+<li> 5. Tuar or Tomara.
+
+</li>
+<li> 6. R&#257;thor.
+
+</li>
+<li> 7. Kachhw&#257;ha (Cutchw&#257;ha).
+
+</li>
+<li> 8. Pr&#257;mara or Panw&#257;r (Mori).
+
+</li>
+<li> 9. Chauh&#257;n (H&#257;ra, Khichi, Nikumbh, Bhadauria).
+
+</li>
+<li>10. Chalukya or Solankhi (Baghel).
+
+</li>
+<li>11. Parih&#257;r.
+
+</li>
+<li>12. Chawara or Chaura.
+
+</li>
+<li>13. T&#257;k or Takshac (N&#257;gvansi, Mori).
+<a id="d0e12190"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12190">413</a>]</span></li>
+<li>14. Jit or Gete.
+
+</li>
+<li>15. H&#363;na.
+
+</li>
+<li>16. K&#257;thi.
+
+</li>
+<li>17. Balla.
+
+</li>
+<li>18. Jhalla.
+
+</li>
+<li>19. Jaitwa or Kamari.
+
+</li>
+<li>20. Gohil.
+
+</li>
+<li>21. Sarweya.
+
+</li>
+<li>22. Silar.
+
+</li>
+<li>23. Dh&#257;bi.
+
+</li>
+<li>24. Gaur.
+
+</li>
+<li>25. Doda or Dor.
+
+</li>
+<li>26. Gherw&#257;l or Gaharw&#257;r (Bundela).
+
+</li>
+<li>27. Badg&#363;jar.
+
+</li>
+<li>28. Sengar.
+
+</li>
+<li>29. Sikarw&#257;l.
+
+</li>
+<li>30. Bais.
+
+</li>
+<li>31. Dahia.
+
+</li>
+<li>32. Johia.
+
+</li>
+<li>33. Mohil.
+
+</li>
+<li>34. Nikumbh.
+
+</li>
+<li>35. R&#257;jpali.
+
+</li>
+<li>36. Dahima.</li>
+</ul><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>And two extra, Hul and Daharia.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 S&#363;rajvansi
+and Chandra or Somvansi, are named after the sun and moon respectively; and a few others, as the Sesodia, Kachhw&#257;ha, Gohil,
+Bais and Badg&#363;jar, are recorded as being of the solar race, descended from Vishnu through his incarnation as R&#257;ma. The R&#257;thors
+also claimed solar lineage, but this was not wholly conceded by the Bh&#257;ts, and the Dikhits are assigned to the solar branch
+by their legends. The great clan of the Y&#257;davas, of whom the present J&#257;don or J&#257;dum and Bhatti R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t section of the modern J&#257;ts, who were considered
+to be branches of the Y&#257;davas, 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 Panw&#257;r, Chauh&#257;n, Chalukya or Solankhi, and Parih&#257;r, 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 <a id="d0e12242"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12242">414</a>]</span>T&#257;k or Takshac, the H&#363;na 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>At least six of the thirty-six royal races, the Sarweya, Silar, Doda or Dor, Dahia, Johia and Mohil, were extinct in Colonel
+Tod&#8217;s time, and others were represented only by small settlements in R&#257;jput&#257;na 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12246">
+<h3>3. The origin of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts</h3>
+<p>It was for long the custom to regard the R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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:<a id="d0e12251src" href="#d0e12251" class="noteref">1</a> &#8220;The main points to remember are that the Kshatriya or R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts, 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.&#8221; Colonel Tod held three
+clans, the T&#257;k or Takshac, the H&#363;na and the Chaura, to be descended from Scythian or nomad Central Asian immigrants, and the
+same origin has been given for the Haihaya. The H&#363;na 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 Y&#257;davas, are said to have
+first settled in Delhi and at Dw&#257;rka in Gujar&#257;t. But on the death of Krishna, who was their prince, they were expelled from
+<a id="d0e12256"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12256">415</a>]</span>these places, and retired across the Indus, settling in Afgh&#257;nistan. 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 R&#257;jput&#257;na. The Jit or J&#257;t
+and the Tomara clans were branches of the Y&#257;davas, and it is supposed that the Jits or J&#257;ts 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.<a id="d0e12258src" href="#d0e12258" class="noteref">2</a> The legend of the Y&#257;davas, who lived in Gujar&#257;t 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 S&#257;ka invasion of the second century
+B.C. which penetrated to K&#257;thi&#257;w&#257;r and founded a dynasty there. In A.D. 124 the second S&#257;ka king was defeated by the Andhra
+king Viliv&#257;yakura II. and his kingdom destroyed.<a id="d0e12263src" href="#d0e12263" class="noteref">3</a> But at about the same period, the close of the first century, a fresh horde of the S&#257;kas came to Gujar&#257;t from Central Asia
+and founded another kingdom, which lasted until it was subverted by Chandragupta Vikramaditya about A.D. 390.<a id="d0e12268src" href="#d0e12268" class="noteref">4</a> The historical facts about the S&#257;kas, as given on the authority of Mr. V.A. Smith, thus correspond fairly closely with the
+Y&#257;dava legend. And the later Yueh-chi immigrants might well be connected by the Bh&#257;ts with the S&#257;ka hordes who had come at
+an earlier date from the same direction, and so the J&#257;ts<a id="d0e12273src" href="#d0e12273" class="noteref">5</a> might be held to be an offshoot of the Y&#257;davas. This connection of the Y&#257;dava and J&#257;t legends with the facts of the immigration
+of the S&#257;kas 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts with the early Scythian immigrants
+of the first and second centuries. Another point is that Buddha is said to be the progenitor <a id="d0e12279"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12279">416</a>]</span>of the whole Indu or lunar race.<a id="d0e12281src" href="#d0e12281" class="noteref">6</a> 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 Kush&#257;n 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 Y&#257;dus or J&#257;ts and other lunar clans
+were descended from the S&#257;ka 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 S&#257;kas of western
+India, on the other hand, who it is suggested may be represented by the Y&#257;davas, 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 Gujar&#257;t, 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 Kush&#257;ns might have been extended to them. Again, the four Agnikula or fire-born clans, the Parih&#257;r,
+Chalukya or Solankhi, Panw&#257;r and Chauh&#257;n, are considered to be the descendants of the White Hun and G&#363;jar 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 Parasur&#257;ma the Br&#257;hman. 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 G&#363;jars, one at least of whose leaders was a fervent adherent of Br&#257;hmanism
+and slaughtered the Buddhists of the Punjab, became the new fire-born clans on being absorbed into Hinduism.<a id="d0e12286src" href="#d0e12286" class="noteref">7</a> The name of the Huns is still retained in the H&#363;na clan, now almost extinct. There remain the clans descended from the sun
+through R&#257;ma, and it would be <a id="d0e12289"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12289">417</a>]</span>tempting to suppose that these are the representatives of the old Aryan Kshatriyas. But Mr. Bhandarkar has shown<a id="d0e12291src" href="#d0e12291" class="noteref">8</a> that the Sesodias, the premier clan of the solar race and of all R&#257;jp&#363;ts, are probably sprung from N&#257;gar Br&#257;hmans of Gujar&#257;t,
+and hence from the G&#363;jar tribes; and it must therefore be supposed that the story of solar origin and divine ancestry was
+devised because they were once Br&#257;hmans, and hence, in the view of the bards, of more honourable origin than the other clans.
+Similarly the Badg&#363;jar clan, also of solar descent, is shown by its name of <i>bara</i> or great G&#363;jar to have been simply an aristocratic section of the G&#363;jars; while the pedigree of the R&#257;thors, another solar
+clan, and one of those who have shed most lustre on the R&#257;jp&#363;t name, was held to be somewhat doubtful by the Bh&#257;ts, and their
+solar origin was not fully admitted. Mr. Smith gives two great clans as very probably of aboriginal or Dravidian origin, the
+Gaharw&#257;r or Gherw&#257;l, 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, K&#257;lanjar and Khajar&#257;ho as well as making many great tanks. This corresponds
+with Colonel Tod&#8217;s account, which gives no place to the Chandels among the thirty-six royal races, and states that the Gherw&#257;l
+R&#257;jp&#363;t is scarcely known to his brethren in R&#257;jasth&#257;n, who will not admit his contaminated blood to mix with theirs, though
+as a brave warrior he is entitled to their fellowship.<a id="d0e12302src" href="#d0e12302" class="noteref">9</a> Similarly the K&#257;thi clan may be derived from the indigenous K&#257;thi tribe who gave their name to K&#257;thi&#257;w&#257;r. And the S&#363;rajvansi,
+Somvansi and N&#257;gvansi clans, or descendants of the sun, moon and snake, which are scarcely known in R&#257;jput&#257;na, may represent
+landholding sections of lower castes or non-Aryan tribes who have been admitted to R&#257;jp&#363;t rank. But even though it be found
+that the majority of the R&#257;jp&#363;t 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12307">
+<h3>4. Subdivisions of the clans</h3>
+<p>Many of the great clans are now split up into a number <a id="d0e12312"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12312">418</a>]</span>of branches. The most important of these were according to locality, the different <i>sachae</i> 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 Panw&#257;rs 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 Cham&#257;r-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 Cham&#257;r 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts have <i>gotras</i>, named after eponymous saints exactly like the Br&#257;hman <i>gotras</i>, and probably adopted in imitation of the Br&#257;hmans. Since, theoretically, marriage is prohibited in the whole clan, the <i>gotra</i> divisions would appear to be useless, but Sir H. Risley states that persons of the same clan but with different <i>gotras</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217;s clan. Thus many groups of varying status arise, and one of the principal rules
+of a R&#257;jp&#363;t&#8217;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 <a id="d0e12329"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12329">419</a>]</span>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 Bh&#257;ts and avoid their sarcasm, lavish expenditure had to be incurred by the bride&#8217;s father on presents to
+these rapacious mendicants.<a id="d0e12331src" href="#d0e12331" class="noteref">10</a> Thus a daughter became in a R&#257;jp&#363;t&#8217;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&#8217;s neck was placed under one leg of its mother&#8217;s cot, or it was poisoned with opium or by placing the juice of the
+<i>&#257;kra</i> or swallow-wort plant on the mother&#8217;s nipple.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12337">
+<h3>5. Marriage customs</h3>
+<p>Properly the proposal for a R&#257;jp&#363;t marriage should emanate from the bride&#8217;s side, and the customary method of making it was
+to send a cocoanut to the bridegroom. &#8216;The cocoanut came,&#8217; was the phrase used to intimate that a proposal of marriage had
+been made.<a id="d0e12342src" href="#d0e12342" class="noteref">11</a> It is possible that the bride&#8217;s initiative was a relic of the Swayamw&#257;ra or maiden&#8217;s choice, when a king&#8217;s daughter placed
+a garland on the neck of the youth she preferred among the competitors in a tournament, and among some R&#257;jp&#363;ts the J&#257;yam&#257;la
+or garland of victory is still hung round the bridegroom&#8217;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&#8217;s party could not then recede from it. At the entrance of the marriage-shed was hung the <i>toran</i>, 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 <i>toran</i>, 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 <i>pal&#257;s</i><a id="d0e12355src" href="#d0e12355" class="noteref">12</a> tree, at the same time singing songs full of immoral allusions. At length the <a id="d0e12360"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12360">420</a>]</span><i>toran</i> 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 <i>h&#257;tleva</i> or joining the hands of the couple it was customary that any request made by the bridegroom to the bride&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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 <i>golas</i> 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 Mew&#257;r, 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&#8217;s person. A former chief of Deogarh would appear at court with three hundred <i>golas</i> or slaves on horseback in his train, men whose lives were his own.<a id="d0e12373src" href="#d0e12373" class="noteref">13</a> These special customs have now generally been abandoned by the R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t 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. <a id="d0e12378"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12378">421</a>]</span>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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts, as with Br&#257;hmans, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12380">
+<h3>6. Funeral rites</h3>
+<p>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 <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> ceremony or offering of sacrificial cakes to the spirit is performed either during the usual period in the month of Kunw&#257;r
+(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 <i>sati</i>. 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 <i>gaddi</i> or cushion and begin to discharge the public business of government.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12394">
+<h3>7. Religion</h3>
+<p>The principal deity of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 <a id="d0e12399"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12399">422</a>]</span>they worshipped their swords and other weapons of war and their horses. The dreadful goddess also protected the virtue of
+the R&#257;jp&#363;t women and caused to be enacted the terrible holocausts, not infrequent in R&#257;jp&#363;t 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&#8217; swords, while the men, drunk with <i>bh&#257;ng</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 <i>kadamb</i> tree, the Panw&#257;rs the <i>n&#299;m</i><a id="d0e12411src" href="#d0e12411" class="noteref">14</a> tree, the R&#257;thors the p&#299;pal<a id="d0e12416src" href="#d0e12416" class="noteref">15</a> 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. &#8220;Every royal
+house has its palladium, which is frequently borne to battle at the saddle-bow of the prince. Rao Bhima H&#257;ra of Kotah lost
+his life and protecting deity together. The celebrated Kh&#299;chi (Chauh&#257;n) leader Jai Singh never took the field without the
+god before him. &#8216;Victory to Bujrung&#8217; was his signal for the charge so dreaded by the Mar&#257;tha, and often has the deity been
+sprinkled with his blood and that of the foe.&#8221;<a id="d0e12420src" href="#d0e12420" class="noteref">16</a> It is said that a R&#257;jp&#363;t should always kill a snake if he sees one, because the snake, though a prince among R&#257;jp&#363;ts, is
+an enemy, <a id="d0e12425"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12425">423</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12427">
+<h3>8. Food</h3>
+<p>The R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 <i>jatka</i> 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 <i>n&#299;lgai</i> or blue bull as being an animal of the cow tribe. Among the Br&#257;hmans and R&#257;jp&#363;ts food cooked with water must not be placed
+in bamboo baskets, nor must anything made of bamboo be brought into the <i>rasoya</i> or cooking-place, or the <i>chauka</i>, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t 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
+Mew&#257;r the test of legitimacy in a prince of the royal house was the permission to eat from the chief&#8217;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.<a id="d0e12444src" href="#d0e12444" class="noteref">17</a> This custom indicates the importance attached to the taking of food together as a covenant or sacrament.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12449">
+<h3>9. Opium</h3>
+<p>The R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 Br&#257;hmans on high-caste
+Hindus. In lieu of liquor they became much addicted to the noxious drugs, opium and g&#257;nja or Indian hemp, drinking the latter
+in the form of the intoxicating liquid known as <i>bh&#257;ngs</i>, which is prepared <a id="d0e12457"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12457">424</a>]</span>from its leaves. <i>Bh&#257;ng</i> was as a rule drunk by the R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t&#8217;s daily life well illustrates the
+slothful effeminacy caused by the drug:<a id="d0e12462src" href="#d0e12462" class="noteref">18</a> &#8220;In times of peace and ease the R&#257;jp&#363;t 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, <i>kusumba</i> 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&#8217;s hand. One after the other the guests now come up, each protesting that <i>kusumba</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e12473"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12473">425</a>]</span>exhibit their monotonous measures, or musicians and singers, or the never-failing favourites, the Bh&#257;ts and Ch&#257;rans. 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&#8217;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.&#8221; There is little reason to doubt
+that the R&#257;jp&#363;ts ascribed a divine character to opium and the mental exaltation produced by it, as suggested in the article
+on Kal&#257;r in reference to the Hindus generally. Opium was commonly offered at the shrines of deified R&#257;jp&#363;t heroes. Colonel
+Tod states: &#8220;<i>Umul l&#257;r kh&#257;na</i>, to eat opium together, is the most inviolable, pledge, and an agreement ratified by this ceremony is stronger than any adjuration.&#8221;<a id="d0e12478src" href="#d0e12478" class="noteref">19</a> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts attached the most solemn meaning and virtue to the act of partaking
+of the chief&#8217;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<a id="d0e12483src" href="#d0e12483" class="noteref">20</a> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t chief: &#8220;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&#8212;the better sort in French claret, the lower class in
+husky (whisky).&#8221; Here also the drinking of wine together perhaps implied the renewal of a pledge of fealty and protection
+between the chief and his clansmen, <a id="d0e12488"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12488">426</a>]</span>all of whom were held to be of his kin. The belief in the kinship of the whole clan existed among the R&#257;jp&#363;ts exactly as in
+the Scotch clans. In speaking of the R&#257;thors Colonel Tod states that they brought into the field fifty thousand men, <i>Ek b&#257;p ka beta</i>, the sons of one father, to combat with the emperor of Delhi; and remarks: &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e12493src" href="#d0e12493" class="noteref">21</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12500">
+<h3>10. Improved training of R&#257;jp&#363;t chiefs</h3>
+<p>The temptations to a life of idleness and debauchery to which R&#257;jp&#363;t 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&#8217;
+colleges and schools, and by the fostering of their taste for polo and other games. There is every reason to hope that a R&#257;jp&#363;t
+prince&#8217;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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12505">
+<h3>11. Dress</h3>
+<p>The most distinctive feature of a R&#257;jp&#363;t&#8217;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, &#8216;Oh, this is nothing, it only weighs fifteen pounds.&#8217;<a id="d0e12510src" href="#d0e12510" class="noteref">22</a> A considerable reverence attached to the turban, probably because it was the covering of the head, the seat of life, and
+<a id="d0e12516"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12516">427</a>]</span>the exchanging of turbans was the mark of the closest friendship. On one occasion Sh&#257;h Jah&#257;n, before he came to the throne
+of Delhi, changed turbans with the R&#257;na of Mew&#257;r as a mark of amity. Sh&#257;h Jah&#257;n&#8217;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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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.<a id="d0e12518src" href="#d0e12518" class="noteref">23</a> During the Muhammadan wars, however, the R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts wore saffron-coloured robes as at a wedding. At the same time
+their wives frequently performed <i>sati</i>, and the idea was perhaps that they looked on their deaths as the occasion of a fresh bridal in the warrior&#8217;s Valhalla. Women
+wear skirts and shoulder-cloths, and in R&#257;jput&#257;na 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12527">
+<h3>12. Social customs</h3>
+<p>The R&#257;jp&#363;ts wear the sacred thread, but many of them have abandoned the proper <i>upanayana</i> 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 <i>kharg bandai</i>, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts take food cooked with water (<i>katchi</i>) <a id="d0e12541"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12541">428</a>]</span>only from Br&#257;hmans, and that cooked without water (<i>pakki</i>) from Banias, and sometimes from Lodhis and Dh&#299;mars. Br&#257;hmans will take <i>pakki</i> food from R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and Nais and Dh&#299;mars <i>katchi</i> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 R&#257;j-Gonds who aspire to rank as R&#257;jp&#363;ts. A R&#257;jp&#363;t is
+usually addressed as Th&#257;kur or lord, a title which properly applies only to a R&#257;jp&#363;t landholder, but has now come into general
+use. The head of a state has the designation of R&#257;ja or R&#257;na, and those of the leading states of Mah&#257;r&#257;ja or Mah&#257;r&#257;na, that
+is, great king. Mah&#257;r&#257;na, which appears to be a Gujar&#257;ti form, is used by the Sesodia family of Udaipur. The sons of a R&#257;ja
+are called Kunwar or prince. The title Rao appears to be a Mar&#257;thi form of R&#257;j or R&#257;ja; it is retained by one or two chiefs,
+but has now been generally adopted as an honorific suffix by Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans. Rawat appears to have been originally equivalent
+to R&#257;jp&#363;t, being simply a diminutive of R&#257;jp&#363;tra, the Sanskrit form of the latter. It is the name of a clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts in
+the Punjab, and is used as an honorific designation by Ah&#299;rs, Saonrs, Kols and others.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12552">
+<h3>13. Seclusion of women</h3>
+<p>Women are strictly secluded by the R&#257;jp&#363;ts, 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
+R&#257;jp&#363;t in the Central Provinces must not drive the plough, his wife must not use the <i>rehnta</i> or spinning-wheel, and his household may not have the <i>kathri</i> or <i>gudri</i>, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12566">
+<h3>14. Traditional character of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts</h3>
+<p>The R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 <a id="d0e12571"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12571">429</a>]</span>R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Mew&#257;r
+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: &#8220;The R&#257;jp&#363;t 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, &#8216;Make thy mother&#8217;s milk resplendent.&#8217; One need not reason
+on the intensity of sentiment thus implanted in the infant R&#257;jp&#363;t, of whom we may say without metaphor the shield is his cradle
+and daggers his playthings, and with whom the first commandment is &#8216;Avenge thy father&#8217;s feud.&#8217;<a id="d0e12573src" href="#d0e12573" class="noteref">24</a> A R&#257;jp&#363;t 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.&#8221;<a id="d0e12578src" href="#d0e12578" class="noteref">25</a> And of their desire for fame: &#8220;This sacrifice (of the Johar) accomplished, their sole thought was to secure a niche in that
+immortal temple of fame, which the R&#257;jp&#363;t bard, as well as the great minstrel of the West peoples &#8216;with youths who died to
+be by poets sung.&#8217; For this the R&#257;jp&#363;t&#8217;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e12583src" href="#d0e12583" class="noteref">26</a> He sums up their character in the following terms: &#8220;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 <a id="d0e12588"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12588">430</a>]</span>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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts, though some tribes
+may have been obliged from position to use these shields of the weak against continuous oppression.&#8221;<a id="d0e12590src" href="#d0e12590" class="noteref">27</a> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t 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:<a id="d0e12595src" href="#d0e12595" class="noteref">28</a> &#8220;The chiefs were assembled; all were unanimous to make Jaisalmer resplendent by their deeds and preserve the honour of the
+Y&#257;du race. Muh&#257;j thus addressed them: &#8216;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&#8217;s path? For the maintenance of my honour the sword is in your hands; let Jaisalmer
+be illumined by its blows upon the foe.&#8217; Having thus inspired the chiefs and men, Muh&#257;j and Ratan repaired to the palace of
+their queens. They told them to take the <i>soh&#257;g</i><a id="d0e12600src" href="#d0e12600" class="noteref">29</a> and prepare to meet in heaven, while they gave up their lives in defence of their honour and their faith. Smiling the R&#257;ni
+replied, &#8216;This night we shall prepare, and by the morning&#8217;s light we shall be inhabitants of heaven&#8217;; 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 <a id="d0e12603"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12603">431</a>]</span>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 <i>tulsi</i><a id="d0e12607src" href="#d0e12607" class="noteref">30</a> in their casques, the <i>s&#257;ligr&#257;m</i><a id="d0e12612src" href="#d0e12612" class="noteref">31</a> 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.&#8221; 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>Colonel Tod gives the following account of a R&#257;jp&#363;t&#8217;s arms:<a id="d0e12617src" href="#d0e12617" class="noteref">32</a> &#8220;No prince or chief is without his <i>silla-kh&#257;na</i> 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 <i>sirohi</i> or slightly curved blade is formed like that of Damascus, and is the greatest favourite of all the variety of weapons throughout
+R&#257;jput&#257;na. The long cut-and-thrust sword is not uncommon, and also the <i>khanda</i> 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 <a id="d0e12631"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12631">432</a>]</span>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&#8217;s tongue, and other fanciful forms.&#8221; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e12633">
+<h3>15. Occupation</h3>
+<p>The traditional occupation of a R&#257;jp&#363;t was that of a warrior and landholder. Their high-flown titles, Bhup&#257;l (Protector of
+the earth), Bhupati (Lord of the earth), Bhusur (God of the earth), Bahuja (Born from the arms), indicate, Sir H. Risley says,<a id="d0e12638src" href="#d0e12638" class="noteref">33</a> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t must not touch the plough was until recently very strictly observed in the more conservative centres,
+and the poorer R&#257;jp&#363;ts were reduced by it to pathetic straits for a livelihood, as is excellently shown by Mr. Barnes in the
+<i>K&#257;ngra Settlement Report</i>:<a id="d0e12646src" href="#d0e12646" class="noteref">34</a> &#8220;A Mi&#257;n or well-known R&#257;jp&#363;t, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts;
+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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts undefiled by the plough
+will refuse to sit at meals with the Hal B&#257;h or plough-driver as he is <a id="d0e12652"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12652">433</a>]</span>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 R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t 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.&#8221; 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 <a id="d0e12654"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12654">434</a>]</span>in pasture and agriculture, one-tenth of the R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12251" href="#d0e12251src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i> (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd edition, p. 414.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12258" href="#d0e12258src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, pp. 252, 254.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12263" href="#d0e12263src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 210.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12268" href="#d0e12268src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 227.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12273" href="#d0e12273src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Colonel Tod states that, the proper name of the caste was Jit or Jat, and was changed to J&#257;t 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 (<i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 97).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12281" href="#d0e12281src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, 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.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12286" href="#d0e12286src" class="noteref">7</a></span> See also separate articles on Panw&#257;r, R&#257;jp&#363;t and G&#363;jar.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12291" href="#d0e12291src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>J.A.S.B.</i>, 1909, p. 167, <i>Guhilots</i>. See also annexed article on R&#257;jp&#363;t Sesodia.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12302" href="#d0e12302src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, i. p. 105.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12331" href="#d0e12331src" class="noteref">10</a></span> See also article Bh&#257;t.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12342" href="#d0e12342src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. pp. 231, 232.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12355" href="#d0e12355src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>Butea frondosa</i>. This powder is also used at the Holi festival and has some sexual significance.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12373" href="#d0e12373src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 159.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12411" href="#d0e12411src" class="noteref">14</a></span> <i>Melia indica</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12416" href="#d0e12416src" class="noteref">15</a></span> <i>Ficus R.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12420" href="#d0e12420src" class="noteref">16</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 123.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12444" href="#d0e12444src" class="noteref">17</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. pp. 267, 268.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12462" href="#d0e12462src" class="noteref">18</a></span> <i>R&#257;sm&#257;la</i>, ii. p. 261.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12478" href="#d0e12478src" class="noteref">19</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 553.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12483" href="#d0e12483src" class="noteref">20</a></span> <i>Reminiscences of Lady Dorothy Nevill</i>, Nelson&#8217;s edition, p. 367.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12493" href="#d0e12493src" class="noteref">21</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 3.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12510" href="#d0e12510src" class="noteref">22</a></span> Mrs. Postans, <i>Cutch</i>, p. 35.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12518" href="#d0e12518src" class="noteref">23</a></span> Mrs. Postans, <i>Cutch</i>, p. 138.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12573" href="#d0e12573src" class="noteref">24</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. pp. 543, 544.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12578" href="#d0e12578src" class="noteref">25</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, i. p. 125.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12583" href="#d0e12583src" class="noteref">26</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, ii. p. 52.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12590" href="#d0e12590src" class="noteref">27</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 552.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12595" href="#d0e12595src" class="noteref">28</a></span> Vol. ii. p. 227.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12600" href="#d0e12600src" class="noteref">29</a></span> A ceremony of smearing vermilion on the bride before a wedding, which is believed to bring good fortune.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12607" href="#d0e12607src" class="noteref">30</a></span> The basil plant, sacred to Vishnu.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12612" href="#d0e12612src" class="noteref">31</a></span> A round black stone, considered to be a form of Vishnu.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12617" href="#d0e12617src" class="noteref">32</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 555.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12638" href="#d0e12638src" class="noteref">33</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>. art. R&#257;jp&#363;t.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12646" href="#d0e12646src" class="noteref">34</a></span> Quoted in Sir D. Ibbetson&#8217;s <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), para. 456.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12656" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Baghel</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Baghel.</b>&#8212;The Baghel R&#257;jp&#363;ts, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and the late Mah&#257;r&#257;ja Raghur&#257;j Singh has written a traditional history of the sept in a book called the
+<i>Bhakt M&#257;la</i>.<a id="d0e12666src" href="#d0e12666" class="noteref">1</a> He derives their origin from a child, having the form of a tiger (<i>b&#257;gh</i>) who was born to the Solankhi R&#257;ja of Gujar&#257;t at the intercession of the famous saint Kab&#299;r. One of the headquarters of the
+Kab&#299;rpanthi 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 <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i><a id="d0e12677src" href="#d0e12677" class="noteref">2</a> states that the founder of the clan was one Anoka, a nephew of the Solankhi king of Gujar&#257;t, Kumarp&#257;l (A.D. 1143&#8211;1174). He
+obtained a grant of the village Vaghela, the tiger&#8217;s lair, about ten miles from Anhilv&#257;da, 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 Gujar&#257;t,
+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&#8217;s harem. Karnadeva and his daughter fled and hid themselves near N&#257;sik, but the daughter was subsequently
+also taken, while it is not stated what became of Karnadeva. Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l suggests that he fled towards Rewah, and that he
+is the Karnadeva of the list of Rewah R&#257;jas, who married a daughter of the Gond-R&#257;jp&#363;t dynasty of Garha-Mandla.<a id="d0e12680src" href="#d0e12680" class="noteref">3</a> At any rate the Baghel branch of the Solankhis apparently migrated to Rewah from Gujar&#257;t and founded that State <a id="d0e12686"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12686">435</a>]</span>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,<a id="d0e12688src" href="#d0e12688" class="noteref">4</a> 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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d District, and in Mandla and Chhatt&#299;sgarh
+which are close to Rewah. Amarkantak, at the source of the Nerbudda, is the sepulchre of the Mah&#257;r&#257;jas of Rewah, and was ceded
+to them with the Soh&#257;gpur tahs&#299;l of Mandla after the Mutiny, in consideration of their loyalty and services during that period.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12666" href="#d0e12666src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Baghel.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12677" href="#d0e12677src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Vol. i. part i. p. 198.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12680" href="#d0e12680src" class="noteref">3</a></span> See also a history of the Baghels, called <i>Prat&#257;p Vinod</i>, written by Kh&#257;n Bah&#257;dur Rahmat Ali Kh&#257;n, and translated by Th&#257;kur Prat&#257;p Singh, Revenue Commissioner of Rewah.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12688" href="#d0e12688src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Article Baghel, quoting Forsyth&#8217;s <i>Highlands of Central India</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12694" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, B&#257;gri</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, B&#257;gri.</b>&#8212;This clan is found in small numbers in the Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Seoni Districts. The name B&#257;gri, Malcolm says,<a id="d0e12701src" href="#d0e12701" class="noteref">1</a> is derived from that large tract of plain called B&#257;gar or &#8216;hedge of thorns,&#8217; the B&#257;gar being surrounded by ridges of wooded
+hills on all sides as if by a hedge. The B&#257;gar is the plain country of the Bikaner State, and any J&#257;t or R&#257;jp&#363;t coming from
+this tract is called B&#257;gri.<a id="d0e12706src" href="#d0e12706" class="noteref">2</a> The R&#257;jp&#363;ts of Bikaner are R&#257;thors, but they are not numerous, and the great bulk of the people are J&#257;ts. Hence it is probable
+that the B&#257;gris of the Central Provinces were originally J&#257;ts. In Seoni they say that they are Baghel R&#257;jp&#363;ts, but this claim
+is unsupported by any tradition or evidence. In Central India the B&#257;gris are professed robbers and thieves, but these seem
+to be a separate group, a section of the Badhak or B&#257;waria dacoits, and derived from the aboriginal population of Central
+India. The B&#257;gris of Seoni are respectable cultivators and own a number of villages. They rank higher than the local Panw&#257;rs
+and wear the sacred thread, but will remove dead cattle with their own hands. They marry among themselves.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12701" href="#d0e12701src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Memoir of Central India</i>, vol. ii. p. 479.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12706" href="#d0e12706src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), para. 445.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12711" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bais</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bais.</b><a id="d0e12717src" href="#d0e12717" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;The Bais are one of the thirty-six royal <a id="d0e12720"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12720">436</a>]</span>races. Colonel Tod considered them a branch of the S&#363;rajvansi, but according to their own account their eponymous ancestor
+was S&#257;liv&#257;hana, the mythic son of a snake, who conquered the great R&#257;ja Vikramaditya of Ujjain and fixed his own era in A.D.
+55. This is the S&#257;ka era, and S&#257;liv&#257;hana was the leader of the S&#257;ka nomads who invaded Gujar&#257;t on two occasions, before and
+shortly after the beginning of the Christian era. It is suggested in the article on R&#257;jp&#363;t that the Y&#257;dava lunar clan are
+the representatives of these S&#257;kas, 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 Y&#257;davas 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 R&#257;ja of Oudh. He extended his dominions over
+all the tract known as Baisw&#257;ra, which comprises the bulk of the Rai Bareli and Unao Districts, and is the home of the Bais
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts. 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts are found all over the United Provinces. In the Central Provinces they
+have settled in small numbers in the northern and eastern Districts.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12717" href="#d0e12717src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article consists entirely of extracts from Mr. Crooke&#8217;s article on the Bais R&#257;jp&#363;ts.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12722" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Baksaria</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Baksaria.</b>&#8212;A small clan found principally in the Bil&#257;spur District, who derive their name from Bax&#257;r 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, <a id="d0e12729"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12729">437</a>]</span>and do not wear the sacred thread. It is probable that they marry among themselves, as other R&#257;jp&#363;ts do not intermarry with
+them, and they are no doubt an impure group with little pretension to be R&#257;jp&#363;ts. The name Baksaria is found in the United
+Provinces as a territorial subcaste of several castes.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12731" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Ban&#257;phar</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Ban&#257;phar.</b>&#8212;Mr. Crooke states that this sept is a branch of the Y&#257;davas, 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 Khajur&#257;ha
+in their wars against Prithwi R&#257;j Chauh&#257;n, 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 Ban&#257;phars have only a moderately respectable rank among
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts.<a id="d0e12738src" href="#d0e12738" class="noteref">1</a>
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12738" href="#d0e12738src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Ban&#257;phar.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12744" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bhadauria</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bhadauria.</b>&#8212;An important clan who take their name from the village of Bhad&#257;war near Ater, south of the Jumna. They are probably a branch
+of the Chauh&#257;ns, being given as such by Colonel Tod and Sir H.M. Elliot.<a id="d0e12751src" href="#d0e12751" class="noteref">1</a> Mr. Crooke remarks<a id="d0e12761src" href="#d0e12761" class="noteref">2</a> that the Chauh&#257;ns 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 Chauh&#257;ns, 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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d District.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12751" href="#d0e12751src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 88, and <i>Supplementary Glossary</i>, <i>s.v.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12761" href="#d0e12761src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, <i>s.v.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12768" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bisen</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bisen.</b>&#8212;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 Br&#257;hman saint and a woman of the S&#363;rajvansi R&#257;jp&#363;ts whom he married. The Bisens occupy a respectable position
+among R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and intermarry with other good clans.
+<a id="d0e12775"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12775">438</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12776" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bundela</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bundela.</b>&#8212;A well-known clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts of somewhat inferior position, who have given their name to Bundelkhand, or the tract comprised
+principally in the Districts of Saugor, Damoh, Jh&#257;nsi, Ham&#299;rpur and B&#257;nda, and the Panna, Orchha, Datia and other States.
+The Bundelas are held to be derived from the Gaharw&#257;r or Gherw&#257;l R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and there is some reason for supposing that these
+latter were originally an aristocratic section of the Bhar tribe with some infusion of R&#257;jp&#363;t blood. But the Gaharw&#257;rs now
+rank almost with the highest clans. According to tradition one of the Gaharw&#257;r R&#257;jas offered a sacrifice of his own head to
+the Vindhya-basini Devi or the goddess of the Vindhya hills, and out of the drops (<i>bund</i>) 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 <i>bund</i>, a drop.<a id="d0e12789src" href="#d0e12789" class="noteref">1</a> 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. &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e12795src" href="#d0e12795" class="noteref">2</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>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 Satp&#363;ras, and reduced the Nerbudda valley to subjection. The most successful
+chieftain of the tribe was Chhatars&#257;l, the R&#257;ja of Panna, in the eighteenth century, who was virtually ruler of all Bundelkhand;
+his dominions extending from B&#257;nda in the north to Jubbulpore in the <a id="d0e12802"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12802">439</a>]</span>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 Mar&#257;thas. Chhatars&#257;l 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts.<a id="d0e12804src" href="#d0e12804" class="noteref">3</a> The Bundelas of Saugor do not intermarry with the good R&#257;jp&#363;t clans, but with an inferior group of Panw&#257;rs and another clan
+called Dhundhele, perhaps an offshoot of the Panw&#257;rs, 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 <i>shik&#257;ris</i> 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: &#8220;The Bundelas salute each other from miles apart, their <i>pagris</i> 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 Sard&#257;rs of Government.&#8221; No Bania could go past a Bundela&#8217;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, <i>Diw&#257;n ji ko R&#257;m R&#257;m</i>. 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 tahs&#299;l 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 &#8220;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.&#8221; Another story is that there was once a very overbearing Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r, who had a <a id="d0e12818"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12818">440</a>]</span>shoe 2&frac12; feet long with which he used to collect the land revenue. One day a Bundela m&#257;lguz&#257;r appeared before him on some business.
+The Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r kept his seat. The Bundela walked quietly up to the table and said, &#8220;Will the Sirk&#257;r step aside with me for
+a moment, as I have something private to say.&#8221; The Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r got up and walked aside with him, on which the Bundela said,
+&#8216;That is sufficient, I only wished to tell you that you should rise to receive me.&#8217; 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, &#8216;Enough,&#8217; 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.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12789" href="#d0e12789src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Bundela.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12795" href="#d0e12795src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 106.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12804" href="#d0e12804src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Imperial Gazetteer</i>, articles Bundelkhand and Panna.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12820" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Chandel</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Chandel.</b>&#8212;An important clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts, of which a small number reside in the northern Districts of Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore, and
+also in Chhatt&#299;sgarh. The name is derived by Mr. Crooke from the Sanskrit <i>chandra</i>, 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 Parih&#257;r chieftain and became lord
+of the southern parts of Jej&#257;kabhukti or Bundelkhand. Their chief towns were Mahoba and K&#257;lanjar in Bundelkhand, and they
+gradually advanced northwards till the Jumna became the frontier between their dominions and those of Kanauj. They fought
+with the G&#363;jar-Parih&#257;r kings of Kanauj and the K&#257;lachuris of Chedi, who had their capital at Tewar in Jubbulpore, and joined
+in resisting the incursions of the Muhammadans. In A.D. 1182 Parm&#257;l, the Chandel king, was defeated by Prithwi R&#257;ja, the <a id="d0e12830"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12830">441</a>]</span>Chauh&#257;n king of Delhi, after the latter had abducted the Chandel&#8217;s daughter. This was the war in which Alha and Udal, the
+famous Ban&#257;phar 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 K&#257;lanjar was taken by the Muhammadan Kutb-ud-D&#299;n 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, K&#257;lanjar and Khajur&#257;ho with many magnificent temples and lovely
+lakes, formed by throwing massive dams across the openings between the hills.<a id="d0e12832src" href="#d0e12832" class="noteref">1</a> Among these were great irrigation works in the Ham&#299;rpur District, the forts of K&#257;lanjar and Ajaighar, and the noble temples
+at Khajur&#257;ho and Mahoba.<a id="d0e12837src" href="#d0e12837" class="noteref">2</a> 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 K&#257;lachuris of Chedi.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 Khajur&#257;ho, whilst the Bhars were famous
+builders. &#8220;In M&#299;rz&#257;pur traces of the Bhars abound on all sides in the shape of old tanks and village forts. The bricks found
+in the Bhar-d&#299;hs or forts are of enormous dimensions, and frequently measure 19 by 11 inches, and <a id="d0e12845"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12845">442</a>]</span>are 2&frac14; 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 M&#299;rz&#257;pur, is said to have had 150 temples.&#8221;<a id="d0e12847src" href="#d0e12847" class="noteref">3</a> Elliot remarks<a id="d0e12853src" href="#d0e12853" class="noteref">4</a> that &#8220;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, M&#299;rz&#257;pur and Allah&#257;b&#257;d, which
+are ascribed to them, would seem to indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation.&#8221; Though there are few or no Bhars
+now in Bundelkhand, there are a large number of P&#257;sis in Allah&#257;b&#257;d which partly belongs to it, and small numbers in Bundelkhand;
+and the P&#257;si caste is mainly derived from the Bhars;<a id="d0e12858src" href="#d0e12858" class="noteref">5</a> while a Gaharw&#257;r 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 Gaharw&#257;r R&#257;ja Indraj&#299;t of Ben&#257;res or of Indraj&#299;t himself.<a id="d0e12861src" href="#d0e12861" class="noteref">6</a> As will be seen, the Gaharw&#257;rs 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 Br&#257;hman Pandit of Kalanjar.<a id="d0e12867src" href="#d0e12867" class="noteref">7</a> In his <i>Notes on the Bhars of Bundelkhand</i><a id="d0e12874src" href="#d0e12874" class="noteref">8</a> Mr. Smith argues that the Bhars adopted the Jain religion, and also states that several of the temples at Khajur&#257;ho 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 Ham&#299;rpur District was in a village reputed formerly to have been held by the Bhars.<a id="d0e12879src" href="#d0e12879" class="noteref">9</a> Two instances of intercourse between the Chandels and Gonds are given, but <a id="d0e12884"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12884">443</a>]</span>the second of them, that the R&#257;ni D&#363;rgavati 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 R&#257;ja K&#299;rat Singh hunting at Maniagarh with
+the Gond R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;ja of Garha-Mandla till after the fall of the K&#257;lachuri 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.<a id="d0e12886src" href="#d0e12886" class="noteref">10</a> Finally, the Chandels are numerous in M&#299;rz&#257;pur, which was formerly the chief seat of the Bhars, while the Gonds have never
+been either numerous or important in M&#299;rz&#257;pur. 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 Khajur&#257;ho and Mahoba. The Chandels may have simply been a local branch of the Gaharw&#257;rs, who obtained a territorial
+designation from Chanderi, or in some other manner, as has continually happened in the case of other clans. The Gaharw&#257;rs
+were probably derived from the Bhars. The Chandels now rank as a good R&#257;jp&#363;t clan, and intermarry with the other leading clans.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12832" href="#d0e12832src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd edition, pp. 390&#8211;394.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12837" href="#d0e12837src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Chandel.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12847" href="#d0e12847src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Sherring&#8217;s <i>Castes and Tribes</i>, i. pp. 359, 360.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12853" href="#d0e12853src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Supplemental Glossary</i>, art. Bhar.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12858" href="#d0e12858src" class="noteref">5</a></span> See art. P&#257;si.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12861" href="#d0e12861src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Chandel.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12867" href="#d0e12867src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12874" href="#d0e12874src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>J.A.S.B.</i> vol. xlvi. (1877), p. 232.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12879" href="#d0e12879src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 233.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12886" href="#d0e12886src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>J.A.S.B.</i> vol. xlvi. (1877), p. 233.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12891" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Chauh&#257;n</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Chauh&#257;n</b>.&#8212;The Chauh&#257;n was the last of the Agnikula or fire-born clans, According to the legend: &#8220;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 Chauh&#257;n.&#8221; This account makes the
+Chauh&#257;n 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 <a id="d0e12898"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12898">444</a>]</span>the whole R&#257;jp&#363;t race; and though the swords of the R&#257;htors would be ready to contest the point, impartial decision must assign
+to the Chauh&#257;n the van in the long career of arms.<a id="d0e12900src" href="#d0e12900" class="noteref">1</a> General Cunningham shows that even so late as the time of Prithwi R&#257;j in the twelfth century the Chauh&#257;ns had no claim to
+be sprung from fire, but were content to be considered descendants of a Br&#257;hman sage Bhrigu.<a id="d0e12905src" href="#d0e12905" class="noteref">2</a> Like the other Agnikula clans the Chauh&#257;ns 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. S&#257;mbhar and Ajmer
+in R&#257;jput&#257;na 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 Chauh&#257;n. The last but one of them, Vigraha R&#257;ja or Bis&#257;l 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
+Chauh&#257;ns, according to their own bards, held the line of the Nerbudda from Garha-Mandla to Maheshwar and also As&#299;rgarh, while
+their dominions extended north to Hissar and south to the Aravalli hills.<a id="d0e12910src" href="#d0e12910" class="noteref">3</a> The nephew of Bis&#257;l Deo was Prithwi R&#257;j, the most famous Chauh&#257;n hero, who ruled at S&#257;mbhar, Ajmer and Delhi. His first exploit
+was the abduction of the daughter of Jaichand, the Gaharw&#257;r R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;j 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 R&#257;j dashed in with a few companions, and catching her
+up, escaped with <a id="d0e12915"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12915">445</a>]</span>her from her father&#8217;s court.<a id="d0e12917src" href="#d0e12917" class="noteref">4</a> Afterwards, in 1182, Prithwi R&#257;j defeated the Chandel R&#257;ja Parm&#257;l and captured Mahoba. In 1191 Prithwi R&#257;j was the head of
+a confederacy of Hindu princes in combating the invasion of Muhammad Ghori. He repelled the Muhammadans at Tar&#257;in 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 Chauh&#257;n kingdom was broken up, but scattered parts of it remained, and about A.D. 1307
+As&#299;rgarh in Nim&#257;r, which continued to be held by the Chauh&#257;ns, was taken by Ala-ud-D&#299;n Khilji and the whole garrison put to
+the sword except one boy. This boy, Raisi Chauh&#257;n, escaped to R&#257;jput&#257;na, and according to the bardic chronicle his descendants
+formed the H&#257;ra branch of the Chauh&#257;ns and conquered from the M&#299;nas the tract known as H&#257;ravati, from which they perhaps took
+their name.<a id="d0e12924src" href="#d0e12924" class="noteref">5</a> This is now comprised in the Kotah and Bundi states, ruled by H&#257;ra chiefs. Another well-known offshoot from the Chauh&#257;ns
+are the Kh&#299;chi clan, who belong to the Sind-S&#257;gar Do&#257;b; and the Nikumbh and Bhadauria clans are also derived from them. The
+Chauh&#257;ns are numerous in the Punjab and United Provinces and rank as one of the highest R&#257;jp&#363;t clans. In the Central Provinces
+they are found principally in the Narsinghpur and Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Districts, and also in Mandla. The Chauh&#257;n R&#257;jp&#363;ts of Mandla
+marry among themselves, with other Chauh&#257;ns of Mandla, Seoni and B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t 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&#8217;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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts and low Hindu castes who have no
+right to it. Thus in the Punjab a large subcaste of Cham&#257;rs call themselves Chauh&#257;n, and in the Bil&#257;spur District a low caste
+<a id="d0e12929"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12929">446</a>]</span>of village watchmen go by this name. These latter may be descendants of the illegitimate offspring of Chauh&#257;n R&#257;jp&#363;ts by low-caste
+women.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12900" href="#d0e12900src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. pp. 86, 87.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12905" href="#d0e12905src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Archaeological Reports</i>, ii. 255, quoted in Mr. Crooke&#8217;s art. Chauh&#257;n.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12910" href="#d0e12910src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Imperial Gazetteer, India</i>, vol. ii, p. 312.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12917" href="#d0e12917src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i> and <i>Imperial Gazetteer, loc. cit.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12924" href="#d0e12924src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 419.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12931" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Dh&#257;kar</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Dh&#257;kar</b>.&#8212;In the Central Provinces this term has the meaning of one of illegitimate descent, and it is often used by the Kir&#257;rs, who
+are probably of mixed descent from R&#257;jp&#363;ts. In northern India, however, the Dh&#257;kars are a clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts, who claim S&#363;rajvansi
+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 Et&#257;wah 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts of good position and
+intermarry with the best clans.<a id="d0e12938src" href="#d0e12938" class="noteref">1</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>In the Central Provinces the Dh&#257;kars are found principally in Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d, and it is doubtful if they are proper R&#257;jp&#363;ts.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12938" href="#d0e12938src" class="noteref">1</a></span> The above particulars are taken from Mr. Crooke&#8217;s article Dh&#257;kara in his <i>Tribes and Castes</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12946" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Gaharw&#257;r</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Gaharw&#257;r, Gherw&#257;l</b>.&#8212;This is an old clan. Mr. V.A. Smith states that they had been dominant in Central India about Nowgong and Chhatarpur before
+the Parih&#257;rs in the eighth century. The Parih&#257;r kings were subsequently overthrown by the Chandels of Mahoba. In their practice
+of building embankments and constructing lakes the Chandels were imitators of the Gaharw&#257;rs, who are credited with the formation
+of some of the most charming lakes in Bundelkhand.<a id="d0e12953src" href="#d0e12953" class="noteref">1</a> And in A.D. 1090 a R&#257;ja of the Gaharw&#257;r clan called Chandradeva seized Kanauj (on the Ganges north-west of Lucknow), and
+established his <a id="d0e12958"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12958">447</a>]</span>authority certainly over Ben&#257;res 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 R&#257;ja Jaichand,
+whose daughter was carried off by the gallant Rai Pithora or Prithwi R&#257;j of Ajmer. Kanauj was finally captured and destroyed
+by Shih&#257;b-ud-D&#299;n in 1193, when Jaichand retired towards Ben&#257;res but was overtaken and slain.<a id="d0e12960src" href="#d0e12960" class="noteref">2</a> His grandson, Mr. Crooke says,<a id="d0e12965src" href="#d0e12965" class="noteref">3</a> afterwards fled to Kantit in the M&#299;rz&#257;pur District and, overcoming the Bhar R&#257;ja of that place, founded the family of the
+Gaharw&#257;r R&#257;jas of Kant&#299;t Bijaypur, which was recently still in existence. All the other Gaharw&#257;rs trace their lineage to Ben&#257;res
+or Bijaypur. The predecessors of the Gaharw&#257;rs 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.<a id="d0e12970src" href="#d0e12970" class="noteref">4</a> Similarly Elliot says of the Bhars: &#8220;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 Ben&#257;res is called after their name. Many old stone forts,
+embankments and subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, M&#299;rz&#257;pur and Allah&#257;b&#257;d, which are ascribed to them,
+would seem to indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation.&#8221;<a id="d0e12975src" href="#d0e12975" class="noteref">5</a> Colonel Tod says of the Gaharw&#257;rs: &#8220;The Gherw&#257;l R&#257;jp&#363;t is scarcely known to his brethren in R&#257;jasth&#257;n, who will not admit
+his contaminated blood to mix with theirs, though as a brave warrior he is entitled to their fellowship.&#8221;<a id="d0e12980src" href="#d0e12980" class="noteref">6</a> It is thus curious that the Gaharw&#257;rs, who are one of the oldest clans <a id="d0e12985"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e12985">448</a>]</span>to appear in authentic history, if they ruled Central India in the eighth century before the Parih&#257;rs, should be considered
+to be of very impure origin. And as they are subsequently found in M&#299;rz&#257;pur, a backward forest tract which is also the home
+of the Bhars, and both the Gaharw&#257;rs and Bhars have a reputation as builders of tanks and forts, it seems likely that the
+Gaharw&#257;rs were really, as suggested by Mr. V.A. Smith, the aristocratic branch of the Bhars, probably with a considerable
+mixture of R&#257;jp&#363;t blood. Elliot states that the Bhars formerly occupied the whole of Azamgarh, the pargana of Bara in Allah&#257;b&#257;d
+and Khariagarh in the Kanauj tract. This widespread dominance corresponds with what has been already stated as regards the
+Gaharw&#257;rs, who, according to Mr. V.A. Smith, ruled in Central India, Kanauj, Oudh, Ben&#257;res and M&#299;rz&#257;pur. And the name Gaharw&#257;r,
+according to Dr. Hoernle, is connected with the Sanskrit root <i>gah</i>, and has the sense of &#8216;dwellers in caves or deep jungle.&#8217;<a id="d0e12990src" href="#d0e12990" class="noteref">7</a> The origin of the Gaharw&#257;rs is of interest in the Central Provinces, because it is from them that the Bundela clan of Saugor
+and Bundelkhand is probably descended.<a id="d0e12993src" href="#d0e12993" class="noteref">8</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>The Gaharw&#257;rs, Mr. Crooke states, now hold a high rank among R&#257;jp&#363;t septs; they give daughters to the Baghel, Chandel and
+Bisen, and take brides of the Bais, Gautam, Chauh&#257;n, Parih&#257;r and other clans. The Gaharw&#257;rs are found in small numbers in
+the Central Provinces, chiefly in the Chhatt&#299;sgarh Districts and Feudatory States.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12953" href="#d0e12953src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd edition, p. 391.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12960" href="#d0e12960src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd edition, p. 385.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12965" href="#d0e12965src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Gaharw&#257;r.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12970" href="#d0e12970src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, i. p. 75.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12975" href="#d0e12975src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Supplementary Glossary</i>, p. 33.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12980" href="#d0e12980src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 105.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12990" href="#d0e12990src" class="noteref">7</a></span> Quoted in Mr. Crooke&#8217;s article on Gaharw&#257;r.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e12993" href="#d0e12993src" class="noteref">8</a></span> See art. R&#257;jp&#363;t, Bundela.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e12998" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Gaur</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Gaur, Chamar Gaur</b>.&#8212;Colonel Tod remarks of this tribe: &#8220;The Gaur tribe was once respected in R&#257;jasth&#257;n, 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.&#8221; 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
+Br&#257;hmans and R&#257;jp&#363;ts were named after it. Sir H.M. Elliot and Mr. Crooke, however, point out that the home of the Gaur Br&#257;hmans
+and R&#257;jp&#363;ts and a cultivating caste, <a id="d0e13005"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13005">449</a>]</span>the Gaur T&#257;gas, is in the centre and west of the United Provinces, far removed from Bengal; the Gaur Br&#257;hmans now reside principally
+in the Meerut Division, and between them and Bengal is the home of the Kanaujia Br&#257;hmans. General Cunningham suggests that
+the country comprised in the present Gonda District round the old town of Srav&#257;sti, was formerly known as Gauda, and was hence
+the origin of the caste name.<a id="d0e13007src" href="#d0e13007" class="noteref">1</a> The derivation from Gaur in Bengal is perhaps, however, more probable, as the name was best known in connection with this
+tract. The Gaur R&#257;jp&#363;ts do not make much figure in history. &#8220;Repeated mention of them is found in the wars of Prithwi R&#257;j
+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 Mar&#257;thas, when Sindhia
+in 1809 annihilated the power of the Gaur and took possession of his capital, Supur.&#8221;<a id="d0e13010src" href="#d0e13010" class="noteref">2</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>In the United Provinces the Gaur R&#257;jp&#363;ts are divided into three groups, the B&#257;hman, or Br&#257;hman, the Bh&#257;t, and the Cham&#257;r Gaur.
+Of these the Cham&#257;r 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 Cham&#257;r&#8217;s house, and was
+so grateful to him for his disinterested protection that she promised to call her child by his name. The Bh&#257;ts and Br&#257;hmans,
+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 Cham&#257;r Gaur.<a id="d0e13017src" href="#d0e13017" class="noteref">3</a> The names of the subsepts indicate that this clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts is probably of mixed origin. If the Br&#257;hman subsept is descended
+from Br&#257;hmans, it would be only one of several probable cases of R&#257;jp&#363;t clans originating from this caste. As regards the
+Bh&#257;t subcaste, the Ch&#257;rans or Bh&#257;ts of R&#257;jput&#257;na are admittedly R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and there is therefore nothing curious in finding
+a Bh&#257;t subsection in a R&#257;jp&#363;t clan. What the real origin of the Cham&#257;r Gaurs was is difficult to surmise. <a id="d0e13021"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13021">450</a>]</span>The Cham&#257;r Gaur is now a separate clan, and its members intermarry with the other Gaur R&#257;jp&#363;ts, affording an instance of the
+subdivision of clans. In the Central Provinces the greater number of the persons returned as Gaur R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t caste proper. In the
+United Provinces the Gaurs rank with the good R&#257;jp&#363;t clans. In the Central Provinces the Gaur and Cham&#257;r-Gaur clans are returned
+from most Districts of the Jubbulpore and Nerbudda divisions, and also in considerable numbers from Bhand&#257;ra.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13007" href="#d0e13007src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Quoted in Mr. Crooke&#8217;s article Gaur Br&#257;hman.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13010" href="#d0e13010src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Rajasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 105.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13017" href="#d0e13017src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Supplemental Glossary, s.v.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13023" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Haihaya</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Haihaya, Haihaivansi, K&#257;laehuri</b>.&#8212;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.<a id="d0e13030src" href="#d0e13030" class="noteref">1</a> This Arjuna of the thousand arms was one of the P&#257;ndava 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 S&#257;kas or Yueh-chi, who invaded India shortly after the
+commencement of the Christian era, as it has been conjectured that the other lunar R&#257;jp&#363;t clans worshipping or claiming descent
+from a snake originated from these tribes. The Haihaivansis or K&#257;lachuris became dominant in the Nerbudda valley about the
+sixth century, their earliest <a id="d0e13035"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13035">451</a>]</span>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 Panw&#257;rs of M&#257;lwa, 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 Tirh&#363;t. Gangeyadeva
+was fond of residing at the foot of the holy fig-tree of Pray&#257;ga (Allah&#257;b&#257;d), and eventually found salvation there with his
+hundred wives. From about A.D. 1100 the power of the K&#257;lachuri 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 K&#257;lachuri king, and subsequently with the aid of a dismissed minister to have supplanted
+his former-master.<a id="d0e13037src" href="#d0e13037" class="noteref">2</a> The kingdom of the K&#257;lachuri 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.<a id="d0e13043src" href="#d0e13043" class="noteref">3</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>In about the tenth century a member of the reigning family of Tripura was appointed viceroy of some territories in Chhatt&#299;sgarh,
+and two or three generations afterwards his family became practically independent of the parent house, and established their
+own capital at Ratanpur in Bil&#257;spur District (A.D. 1050). This state was known as Dakshin or southern Kos&#257;la. 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 God&#257;vari,
+and from the confines of Ber&#257;r in the west to <a id="d0e13050"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13050">452</a>]</span>the boundaries of Orissa in the east.<a id="d0e13052src" href="#d0e13052" class="noteref">4</a> The Ratanpur kingdom of Chedi or Dakshin Kos&#257;la was the only one of the R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Mar&#257;thas
+almost without striking a blow. &#8220;The only surviving representative of the Haihayas of Ratanpur,&#8221; Mr. Wills states,<a id="d0e13057src" href="#d0e13057" class="noteref">5</a> &#8220;is a quite simple-minded R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Mar&#257;thas for his maintenance. The m&#257;lguz&#257;r of Senduras
+claims descent from the Ratanpur family, but his pretensions are doubtful. He enjoys no privileges such as those of the Bargaon
+Th&#257;kur, to whom presents are still made when he visits the chiefs who were once subordinate to his ancient house.&#8221; In the
+Ballia District of the United Provinces<a id="d0e13062src" href="#d0e13062" class="noteref">6</a> are some Hayobans R&#257;jp&#363;ts who claim descent from the Ratanpur kings. Chandra Got, a cadet of this house, is said to have
+migrated northwards in A.D. 850<a id="d0e13068src" href="#d0e13068" class="noteref">7</a> and settled in the S&#257;ran District on the Ganges, where he waged successful war with the aboriginal Cheros. Subsequently one
+of his descendants violated a Br&#257;hman 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts left S&#257;ran and settled in Ballia. Colonel
+Tod states that, &#8220;A small branch of these ancient Haihayas yet exist in the country of the Nerbudda, near the very top of
+the valley, at Soh&#257;gpur in Baghelkhand, aware of their ancient lineage, and, though few in number, are still celebrated for
+their valour.&#8221;<a id="d0e13071src" href="#d0e13071" class="noteref">8</a> This Soh&#257;gpur must apparently be the Soh&#257;gpur tahs&#299;l of Rewah, ceded from Mandla after the Mutiny.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13030" href="#d0e13030src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Rajasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 36.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13037" href="#d0e13037src" class="noteref">2</a></span> The above notice of the K&#257;lachuri or Haihaya dynasty of Tripura is taken from the detailed account in the <i>Jubbulpore District Gazetteer</i>, pp. 42&#8211;47, compiled by Mr. A.E. Nelson, C.S., and Rai Bah&#257;dur H&#299;ra L&#257;l.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13043" href="#d0e13043src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 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.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13052" href="#d0e13052src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Bil&#257;spur District Gazetteer</i>, chap. ii., in which a full and interesting account of the Ratanpur kingdom is given by Mr. C.U. Wills, C.S.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13057" href="#d0e13057src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 49.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13062" href="#d0e13062src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Hayobans.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13068" href="#d0e13068src" class="noteref">7</a></span> 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.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13071" href="#d0e13071src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Rajasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 36.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13076" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, H&#363;na</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, H&#363;na, Hoon</b>.&#8212;This clan retains the name and <a id="d0e13083"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13083">453</a>]</span>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 <i>Western India</i> Colonel Tod records the discovery of a few families of H&#363;nas in Baroda State: &#8220;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 <i>kos</i> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t
+population as to obtain a place among the thirty-six royal races of India, together with the Gete, the K&#257;thi, 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13091" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Kachhw&#257;ha</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Kachhw&#257;ha, Cutchw&#257;ha</b>&#8212;A celebrated clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts included among the thirty-six royal races, to which the Mah&#257;r&#257;jas 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
+R&#257;ma of Ajodhia, the incarnation of Vishnu. Their original seat, according to tradition, was Roht&#257;s on the Son river, and
+another of their famous progenitors was R&#257;ja Nal, who migrated from Roht&#257;s and founded Narwar.<a id="d0e13098src" href="#d0e13098" class="noteref">1</a> The town of Damoh in the Central Provinces is supposed to be named after Damyanti, R&#257;ja Nal&#8217;s wife. According to General
+Cunningham the name Kachhw&#257;ha is an abbreviation of Kachhaha-gh&#257;ta or tortoise-killer. The earliest appearance of the Kachhw&#257;ha
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts in authentic history is in the tenth century, when a chief of the clan captured Gwalior from the Parih&#257;r-G&#363;jar kings
+of Kanauj and established himself there. His dynasty had an independent existence till A.D. 1128, when it became tributary
+<a id="d0e13103"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13103">454</a>]</span>to the Chandel kings of Mahoba.<a id="d0e13105src" href="#d0e13105" class="noteref">2</a> The last prince of Gwalior was Tejkaran, called D&#363;lha 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
+M&#299;nas 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&#8217;s son, Bhagw&#257;n D&#257;s, is said to have saved Akbar&#8217;s life at
+the battle of Sarn&#257;l. Bhagw&#257;n D&#257;s gave a daughter to Jah&#257;ng&#299;r, and his adopted son, M&#257;n Singh, the next chief, was one of
+the most conspicuous of the Mughal Generals, and at different periods was governor of K&#257;bul, Bengal, Bih&#257;r and the Deccan.
+The next chief of note, Jai Singh I., appears in all the wars of Aur&#257;ngzeb in the Deccan. He was commander of 6000 horse,
+and captured Sivaji, the celebrated founder of the Mar&#257;tha power. The present city of Jaipur was founded by a subsequent chief,
+Jai Singh II., in 1728. During the Mutiny the Mah&#257;r&#257;ja 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 R&#257;jput&#257;na, has an area of nearly 16,000 square miles, and a population of 2&frac12; million persons. The
+Alwar State was founded about 1776 by Prat&#257;p 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.<a id="d0e13110src" href="#d0e13110" class="noteref">3</a> In Colonel Tod&#8217;s time the Kachhw&#257;ha chiefs in memory of their descent from R&#257;ma, 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
+R&#257;ma&#8217;s temple, and the Mah&#257;r&#257;ja ascending into it perambulated his capital. The images of R&#257;ma and Siva were carried with
+the army both in Alwar and Jaipur. The banner of Amber was always called the <i>P&#257;nchranga</i> <a id="d0e13119"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13119">455</a>]</span>or five-coloured flag, and is frequently mentioned in the traditions of the R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Kachhw&#257;ha R&#257;jp&#363;ts. The Kachhw&#257;has are fairly
+numerous in the United Provinces and rank with the highest R&#257;jp&#363;t clans.<a id="d0e13121src" href="#d0e13121" class="noteref">4</a> In the Central Provinces they are found principally in the Saugor, Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Nim&#257;r Districts.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13098" href="#d0e13098src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Rajasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 319.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13105" href="#d0e13105src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd edition, p. 381.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13110" href="#d0e13110src" class="noteref">3</a></span> The above information is taken from the new <i>Imperial Gazetteer</i>, articles Jaipur and Alwar States.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13121" href="#d0e13121src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Kachhw&#257;ha.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13127" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, N&#257;gvansi</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, N&#257;gvansi</b>.&#8212;This clan are considered to be the descendants of the T&#257;k 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. &#8220;N&#257;ga and Takshac are synonymous
+appellations in Sanskrit for the snake, and the Takshac is the celebrated N&#257;gvansa of the early heroic history of India. The
+Mah&#257;bh&#257;rat describes in its usual allegorical style the war between the P&#257;ndus of Indraprestha and the Takshacs of the north.
+Parikh&#299;ta, a prince on the P&#257;ndu side, was assassinated by the Takshac, and his son and successor, Janamejaya, avenged his
+death and made a bonfire of 20,000 snakes.&#8221;<a id="d0e13134src" href="#d0e13134" class="noteref">1</a> This allegory is supposed to have represented the warfare of the Aryan races against the S&#257;kas or Scythians. The T&#257;k 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
+T&#257;k are scarcely known in authentic history, but the poet Chand mentions the T&#257;k from Aser or As&#299;rgarh as one of the princes
+who assembled at the summons of Prithwi R&#257;j of Delhi to fight against the Muhammadans. In another place he is called Chatto
+the T&#257;k. Nothing more is known of the T&#257;k clan unless the cultivating T&#257;ga caste of northern India is derived from them. But
+the N&#257;gvansi clan of R&#257;jp&#363;ts, who profess to be descended from them, is fairly numerous. Most of the N&#257;gvansis, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts. The change is rendered more easy by <a id="d0e13142"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13142">456</a>]</span>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 N&#257;gpur have a long legend<a id="d0e13144src" href="#d0e13144" class="noteref">2</a> of their descent from a princess who married a snake in human form, and hence call themselves N&#257;gvansi R&#257;jp&#363;ts; and Dr. Buchanan
+states that the N&#257;gvansi clan of Gorakhpur is similarly derived from the Chero tribe.<a id="d0e13147src" href="#d0e13147" class="noteref">3</a> In the Central Provinces the N&#257;gvansi R&#257;jp&#363;ts number about 400 persons, nearly all of whom are found in the Chhatt&#299;sgarh
+Districts and Feudatory States, and are probably descendants of Kol or Munda landholding families.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13134" href="#d0e13134src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 94; Elliot&#8217;s <i>Supplemental Glossary</i>, art. Gaur T&#257;ga.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13144" href="#d0e13144src" class="noteref">2</a></span> See article on Kol.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13147" href="#d0e13147src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Eastern India</i>, ii. 461, quoted in Mr. Crooke&#8217;s art. N&#257;gvansi.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13152" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Nikumbh</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Nikumbh</b>.&#8212;The Nikumbh is given as one of the thirty-six royal races, but it is also the name of a branch of the Chauh&#257;ns, and it seems
+that, as suggested by Sherring,<a id="d0e13159src" href="#d0e13159" class="noteref">1</a> it may be an offshoot from the great Chauh&#257;n 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 Chauh&#257;n column with an inscription of R&#257;ja 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.<a id="d0e13164src" href="#d0e13164" class="noteref">2</a> 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 Kh&#257;ndesh. In northern India some of them are now known as R&#257;ghuvansi.<a id="d0e13169src" href="#d0e13169" class="noteref">3</a> They are chiefly found in the Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Nim&#257;r Districts, and may be connected with the R&#257;ghuvansi or R&#257;ghwi caste of
+these Provinces.
+<a id="d0e13175"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13175">457</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13159" href="#d0e13159src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, vol. i. art. Nikumbh.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13164" href="#d0e13164src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, ii. p. 417.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13169" href="#d0e13169src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Nikumbh.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13176" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, P&#257;ik</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, P&#257;ik</b>.&#8212;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 zam&#299;nd&#257;rs 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:<a id="d0e13183src" href="#d0e13183" class="noteref">1</a> &#8220;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 Burkand&#257;z, commanded by Duffad&#257;rs and Jem&#257;d&#257;rs, seems to be a more recent establishment
+The other called P&#257;ik, commanded by M&#299;rdhas and Sird&#257;rs, 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 zam&#299;nd&#257;rs, 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 zam&#299;nd&#257;r did not bring to account.&#8221; The P&#257;iks 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13183" href="#d0e13183src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Eastern India</i>, ii. p. 919.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13188" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Parih&#257;r</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Parih&#257;r</b>.&#8212;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&#8217;s mien. The Br&#257;hmans placed him as guardian of the gate, and hence his name, <i>Prithi-ha-dw&#257;ra</i> of which Parih&#257;r is supposed to be a corruption<a id="d0e13198src" href="#d0e13198" class="noteref">1</a>. Like the Chauh&#257;ns and Solankis the Parih&#257;r clan is held to have originated from the Gurjara or G&#363;jar invaders who came with
+the white Huns in the <a id="d0e13203"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13203">458</a>]</span>fifth and sixth centuries, and they were one of the first of the G&#363;jar R&#257;jp&#363;t 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<a id="d0e13205src" href="#d0e13205" class="noteref">2</a>. A Parih&#257;r-G&#363;jar chieftain, whose capital was at Bhinm&#257;l in R&#257;jput&#257;na, conquered the king of Kanauj, the ruler of what remained
+of the dominions of the great Harsha V&#257;rdhana, and established himself there about A.D. 816<a id="d0e13210src" href="#d0e13210" class="noteref">3</a>. Kanauj was then held by G&#363;jar-Parih&#257;r kings till about 1090, when it was seized by Chandradeva of the Gaharw&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;t clan.
+The Parih&#257;r rulers were thus subverted by the Gaharw&#257;rs 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 G&#363;jar rulers, by whom they had been conquered and perhaps taught the trade of arms. After
+this period the Parih&#257;rs are of little importance. They appear to have retired to R&#257;jput&#257;na, as Colonel Tod states that Mundore,
+five miles north of Jodhpur, was their headquarters until it was taken by the R&#257;htors. 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<a id="d0e13213src" href="#d0e13213" class="noteref">4</a>. The Parih&#257;rs are scattered over R&#257;jput&#257;na, and a colony of them on the Chambal was characterised as the most notorious body
+of thieves in the annals of Thug history<a id="d0e13218src" href="#d0e13218" class="noteref">5</a>. Similarly in Et&#257;wah they are said to be a peculiarly lawless and desperate community<a id="d0e13221src" href="#d0e13221" class="noteref">6</a>. The Parih&#257;r R&#257;jp&#363;ts rank with the leading clans and intermarry with them. In the Central Provinces they are found principally
+in Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13198" href="#d0e13198src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 86.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13205" href="#d0e13205src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd edition, p. 390.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13210" href="#d0e13210src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Ibidem, pp. 378, 379.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13213" href="#d0e13213src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, i. p. 91.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13218" href="#d0e13218src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Ibidem.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13221" href="#d0e13221src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Parih&#257;r.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13227" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, R&#257;thor</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, R&#257;thor, R&#257;thaur.</b>&#8212;The R&#257;thor of Jodhpur or M&#257;rw&#257;r is one of the most famous clans of R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and that which is most widely dominant at the
+present time, including as it does the R&#257;jas of Jodhpur, Bikaner, Ratl&#257;m, Kishengarh and Idar, as well as several smaller
+states. The <a id="d0e13234"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13234">459</a>]</span>origin of the R&#257;thor 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 R&#257;ma, 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 V&#257;rdhana, and held it from A.D. 810 to 1090, until subverted by the Gaharw&#257;rs, were R&#257;thors,
+but proof has now been obtained that they were really Parih&#257;r-G&#363;jars. Mr. Smith suggests that after the destruction of Kanauj
+by the Muhammadans under Shih&#257;b-ud-D&#299;n Ghori in A.D. 1193 the Gaharw&#257;r clan, whose kings had conquered it in 1090 and reigned
+there for a century, migrated to the deserts of M&#257;rw&#257;r in R&#257;jput&#257;na, where they settled and became known as R&#257;thors.<a id="d0e13236src" href="#d0e13236" class="noteref">1</a> It has also been generally held that the R&#257;shtrak&#363;ta dynasty of N&#257;sik and M&#257;lkhed in the Deccan which reigned from A.D. 753
+to 973, and built the Kail&#257;sa temples at Ellora were R&#257;thors, but Mr. Smith states that there is no evidence of any social
+connection between the R&#257;shtrak&#363;tas and R&#257;thors.<a id="d0e13241src" href="#d0e13241" class="noteref">2</a> At any rate Si&#257;hji, 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&#8212;the wreck of his vassalage&#8212;the pilgrimage to Dw&#257;rka in Gujar&#257;t.
+He then sought in the sands and deserts of R&#257;jput&#257;na a second line of defence against the advancing wave of Muhammadan invasion,
+and planted the standard of the R&#257;thors among the sandhills of the Luni in 1212. This, however, was not the first settlement
+of the R&#257;thors in R&#257;jput&#257;na, for an inscription, dated A.D. 997, among the ruins of the ancient city of Hath&#363;ndi or Hastik&#363;ndi,
+near B&#257;li in Jodhpur State, tells of five R&#257;thor R&#257;jas who ruled there early in the tenth century, and this fact shows that
+the name R&#257;thor is really much older than the date of the fall of Kanauj.<a id="d0e13246src" href="#d0e13246" class="noteref">3</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>In 1381 Si&#257;hji&#8217;s tenth successor, Rao Chonda, took Mundore from a Parih&#257;r chief, and made his possession secure by marrying
+the latter&#8217;s daughter. A subsequent <a id="d0e13253"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13253">460</a>]</span>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-g&#299;r, or the hill of strife, four miles distant from Mundore on a crest of the range overlooking
+the expanse of the desert plains of M&#257;rw&#257;r. 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.<a id="d0e13255src" href="#d0e13255" class="noteref">4</a> Joda had fourteen sons, of whom the sixth, B&#299;ka, was the founder of the Bikaner state. R&#257;ja Sur Singh (1595&#8211;1620) was one
+of Akbar&#8217;s greatest generals, and the emperor Jah&#257;ng&#299;r buckled the sword on to his son Gaj Singh with his own hands. Gaj Singh,
+the next R&#257;ja (1620&#8211;1635), was appointed viceroy of the Deccan, as was his successor, Jaswant Singh, under Aur&#257;ngzeb. The
+Mughal Emperors, Colonel Tod remarks, were indebted for half their conquests to the L&#257;kh Tulw&#257;r R&#257;htor&#257;n, the hundred thousand
+swords which the <span id="d0e13260" class="corr" title="Source: R&#257;htors">R&#257;thors</span> boasted that they could muster.<a id="d0e13263src" href="#d0e13263" class="noteref">5</a> On another occasion, when Jah&#257;ng&#299;r successfully appealed to the R&#257;jp&#363;ts for support against his rebel son Khusru, he was
+so pleased with the zeal of the R&#257;thor prince, R&#257;ja Gaj Singh, that he not only took the latter&#8217;s hand, but kissed it,<a id="d0e13268src" href="#d0e13268" class="noteref">6</a> perhaps an unprecedented honour. But the constant absence from his home on service in distant parts of the empire was so
+distasteful to R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;thor 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 R&#257;thor 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 <i>rabi</i> or maize porridge, the prime dish of the R&#257;thor.<a id="d0e13276src" href="#d0e13276" class="noteref">7</a> The R&#257;thor 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 <a id="d0e13281"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13281">461</a>]</span>brilliant example of their loyalty occurred during 1914, when the veteran Sir Part&#257;p 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Ratl&#257;m State was founded by Ratan Singh, a grandson of R&#257;ja Udai Singh of Jodhpur, who was born about 1618, and obtained
+it as a grant for good service against the Usbegs at Kandah&#257;r and the Persians in Khoras&#257;n about 1651&#8211;52. Kishangarh was founded
+by Kishan Singh, a son of the same R&#257;ja Udai Singh, who obtained a grant of territory from Akbar about 1611. Idar State in
+Gujar&#257;t has, according to its traditions, been held by R&#257;thor princes from a very early period. Jodhpur State is the largest
+in R&#257;jput&#257;na, with an area of 35,000 square miles, and a population of two million. The Mah&#257;r&#257;ja is entitled to a salute of
+twenty-one guns. A great part of the State is a sandy desert, and its older name of M&#257;rw&#257;r is, according to Colonel Tod, a
+corruption of M&#257;rusth&#257;n, or the region of death. In the Central Provinces the R&#257;thor R&#257;jp&#363;ts number about 6000 persons, and
+are found mainly in the Saugor, Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur and Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d Districts. The census statistics include about 5000
+persons enumerated in Mandla and Bilaspur, nearly all of whom are really R&#257;thor Telis.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13236" href="#d0e13236src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd edition, p. 389.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13241" href="#d0e13241src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 413.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13246" href="#d0e13246src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Imperial Gazetteer</i>, art. Bali.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13255" href="#d0e13255src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Rajasth&#257;n</i>, ii. pp. 16, 17.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13263" href="#d0e13263src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, i. p. 81.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13268" href="#d0e13268src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, ii. p. 37.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13276" href="#d0e13276src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, ii. p. 35.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13285" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Sesodia</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Sesodia, Gahlot, Ah&#257;ria</b>.&#8212;The Gahlot or Sesodia is generally admitted to be the premier R&#257;jp&#363;t clan. Their chief is described by the bards as &#8220;The
+S&#363;ryav&#257;nsi R&#257;na, of royal race, Lord of Chitor, the ornament of the thirty-six royal races.&#8221; The Sesodias claim descent from
+the sun, through Loh, the eldest son of the divine R&#257;ma of Ajodhia. In token of their ancestry the royal banner of Mew&#257;r consisted
+of a golden sun on a crimson field. Loh is supposed to have founded Lahore. His descendants migrated to Saur&#257;shtra or K&#257;thi&#257;w&#257;r,
+where they settled at Vidurbha or Balabhi, the capital of the Valabhi dynasty. The last king of Valabhi was Sil&#257;ditya, who
+was killed by an invasion of barbarians, and his posthumous son, Goh&#257;ditya, ruled in Idar and the hilly country in the south-west
+<a id="d0e13292"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13292">462</a>]</span>of Mew&#257;r. 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 N&#257;gar Br&#257;hmans
+from Vadnagar in Gujar&#257;t, the first of the line being one Guhadatta, from which the clan takes its name of Gahlot<a id="d0e13294src" href="#d0e13294" class="noteref">1</a> The family were also connected with the ruling princes of Valabhi. Mr. Bhandarkar thinks that the Valabhi princes, and also
+the N&#257;gar Br&#257;hmans, belonged to the Maitraka tribe, who, like the G&#363;jars, were allied to the Huns, and entered India in the
+fifth or sixth century. Mr. Bhandarkar&#8217;s account really agrees quite closely with the traditions of the Sesodia bards themselves,
+except that he considers Guhadatta to have been a N&#257;gar Br&#257;hman 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 S&#299;la, A.D. 646, and he
+was fifth in descent from Guhadatta, who may therefore be placed in the first part of the sixth century. B&#257;pa, the founder
+of the Gahlot clan in Mew&#257;r, was, according to tradition, sixth in descent from Goh&#257;ditya, and he had his capital at N&#257;gda,
+a few miles to the north of Udaipur city.<a id="d0e13299src" href="#d0e13299" class="noteref">2</a> A tradition quoted by Mr. Bhandarkar states that B&#257;pa was the son of Grahad&#257;ta. 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. B&#257;pa was present on the occasion, and the elephant put the garland round his neck
+not only once, but thrice. B&#257;pa 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. B&#257;pa afterwards inquired
+what the medicine was, and learnt the truth. He trembled like a reed and said, &#8220;I am a Br&#257;hman, and you have given me medicine
+mixed in liquor. I have lost my caste,&#8221; So saying he drank molten lead (<i>s&#299;sa</i>), and forthwith <a id="d0e13307"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13307">463</a>]</span>died, and hence arose the family name Sesodia.<a id="d0e13309src" href="#d0e13309" class="noteref">3</a> This story, current in R&#257;jput&#257;na, supports Mr. Bhandarkar&#8217;s view of the Br&#257;hman origin of the clan. According to tradition
+B&#257;pa went to Chitor, then held by the Mori or Pr&#257;mara R&#257;jp&#363;ts, to seek his fortune, and was appointed to lead the Chitor forces
+against the Muhammadans on their first invasion of India.<a id="d0e13315src" href="#d0e13315" class="noteref">4</a> 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 R&#257;hup, who captured Mundore
+and was the first to bear the title of R&#257;na of Mew&#257;r. Similarly Ah&#257;ria is another local name from Ah&#257;r, a place in Mew&#257;r,
+which was given to the clan. They were also known as R&#257;ghuvansi, or of the race of king R&#257;ghu, the ancestor of the divine
+R&#257;ma. The R&#257;ghuvansis of the Central Provinces, an impure caste of R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t 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 Bah&#257;dur Sh&#257;h, the Muhammadan king of Gujar&#257;t in 1534, and lastly by Akbar in 1567. These
+events were known as S&#257;ka 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 <i>bh&#257;ng</i>, to die sword in hand against the foe. At the first sack the goddess of the clan appeared in a dream to the R&#257;na 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.<a id="d0e13324src" href="#d0e13324" class="noteref">5</a> Lastly, the R&#257;na 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 Aur&#257;ngzeb destroyed the <a id="d0e13329"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13329">464</a>]</span>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 R&#257;nas 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 r&#257;jas and chiefs had perished in the struggle, and the R&#257;na
+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 R&#257;na&#8217;s bed, and his head
+remains unshaven and baked beans are daily laid upon his plate.<a id="d0e13331src" href="#d0e13331" class="noteref">6</a> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>In 1614 R&#257;na 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 Jah&#257;ng&#299;r 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 Musalm&#257;n emperors, and for many years ceased to intermarry with other R&#257;jp&#363;t families who had formed such alliances.
+But Amar Singh II. (1698&#8211;1710) made a league with the Mah&#257;r&#257;jas of Jodhpur and Jaipur for mutual protection against the Muhammadans;
+and it <a id="d0e13339"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13339">465</a>]</span>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 R&#257;na 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 Mar&#257;thas, at whose hands
+Mew&#257;r 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 Kum&#257;ri at the time when R&#257;jput&#257;na was being devastated
+by the Mar&#257;thas and Pind&#257;ris; 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.<a id="d0e13341src" href="#d0e13341" class="noteref">7</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>The Mah&#257;r&#257;na 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, Part&#257;bgarh, Dungarpur and Bansw&#257;ra, 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.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13294" href="#d0e13294src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>J.A.S.B.</i> (1909), vol. v. p. 167.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13299" href="#d0e13299src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Imperial Gazetteer, loc. cit</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13309" href="#d0e13309src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Bhandarkar, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 180.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13315" href="#d0e13315src" class="noteref">4</a></span> The following extracts from the history of the clan are mainly taken from the article on Udaipur State in the <i>Imperial Gazetteer</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13324" href="#d0e13324src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, pp. 222, 223.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13331" href="#d0e13331src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Forbes, <i>R&#257;smala</i> i. p. 400.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13341" href="#d0e13341src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Rajasth&#257;n</i> i. pp, 398, 399. The death of the young princess was mainly the work of Am&#299;r Kh&#257;n Pind&#257;ri who brought pressure on the R&#257;na
+to consent to it in order to save his state.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13348" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Solankhi</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Solankhi, Solanki, Chalukya.</b>&#8212;This clan was one of the Agnikula or fire-born, and are hence considered to have probably been Gurjaras or G&#363;jars. Their
+original name is said to have been Chaluka, because they were formed in the palm (<i>chalu</i>) of the hand. They were not much known in R&#257;jput&#257;na, 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 <a id="d0e13358"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13358">466</a>]</span>of Vatapi, the modern B&#257;d&#257;mi In the Bij&#257;pur 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 R&#257;shtrak&#363;tas<a id="d0e13360src" href="#d0e13360" class="noteref">1</a>. Pul&#257;kesin 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 R&#257;shtrak&#363;ta 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 Kaly&#257;n, 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 R&#257;jput&#257;na into
+Gujar&#257;t and established a new dynasty there, owing to which Gujar&#257;t, which had formerly been known as L&#257;ta, obtained its present
+name<a id="d0e13363src" href="#d0e13363" class="noteref">2</a>. The principal king of this line was Sidh R&#257;j 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 Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d and Nim&#257;r.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13360" href="#d0e13360src" class="noteref">1</a></span> If the Chalukyas were in the Deccan in the fourth century they could not have originated from the Hun and G&#363;jar invaders of
+the fifth and sixth centuries, but must have belonged to an earlier horde.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13363" href="#d0e13363src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Some Problems of Ancient Indian History</i>, by Dr. Rudolf Hoernle, <i>J.R.A.S.</i> (1905) pp. 1&#8211;14.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13371" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Somvansi</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Somvansi, Chandravansi.</b>&#8212;These two are returned as separate septs, though both names mean &#8216;Descendants of the moon.&#8217; Colonel Tod considers S&#363;rajvansi
+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 R&#257;jput&#257;na.
+It is probable that both Somvansi and Chandravansi, as well as S&#363;rajvansi and perhaps N&#257;gvansi (Descendants of the snake)
+have served as convenient designations for R&#257;jp&#363;ts of illegitimate birth, or for <a id="d0e13378"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13378">467</a>]</span>landholding sections of the cultivating castes and indigenous tribes when they aspired to become R&#257;jp&#363;ts. Thus the S&#363;rajvansis,
+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;<a id="d0e13380src" href="#d0e13380" class="noteref">1</a> 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts, but he was of inferior status on account of his mother being a remarried
+widow, or something of the kind.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13380" href="#d0e13380src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes, s.v.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13384" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, S&#363;rajvansi</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, S&#363;rajvansi.</b>&#8212;The S&#363;rajvansi (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 S&#363;rajvansis migrated from Ajodhia to Gujar&#257;t 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 R&#257;jp&#363;t clans. S&#363;rajvansi should properly be a generic term denoting
+any R&#257;jp&#363;t belonging to a clan of the solar race, and it seems likely that it may at different times have been adopted by
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts who were no longer recognised in their own clan, or by families of the cultivating castes or indigenous tribes who
+aspired to become R&#257;jp&#363;ts. Thus Mr. Crooke notes that a large section of the Soiris (Savaras or Saonrs) have entirely abandoned
+their own tribal name and call themselves S&#363;rajvansi R&#257;jp&#363;ts;<a id="d0e13391src" href="#d0e13391" class="noteref">1</a> and the same thing has probably happened in other cases. In the Central Provinces the S&#363;rajvansis belong mainly to Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d,
+and here they form a separate caste, marrying among themselves and not with other R&#257;jp&#363;t clans. Hence they would not be recognised
+as proper R&#257;jp&#363;ts, and are probably a promoted group of some cultivating caste.
+<a id="d0e13396"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13396">468</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13391" href="#d0e13391src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, art. Soiri.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13397" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Tomara</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t, Tomara, Tuar, Turtwar</b>.&#8212;This clan is an ancient one, supposed by Colonel Tod to be derived from the Y&#257;davas or lunar race. The name is said to come
+from <i>tomar</i> a club.<a id="d0e13407src" href="#d0e13407" class="noteref">1</a> The Tomara clan was considered to be a very ancient one, and the great king Vikram&#257;ditya, 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 P&#257;l I., in A.D. 733. Mr. V.A. Smith states that Delhi was founded in 993&#8211;994, and Anangap&#257;la,
+a Tomara king, built the Red Fort about 1050. In 1052 he removed the celebrated iron pillar, on which the eulogy of Chandragupta
+Vikram&#257;ditya 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.<a id="d0e13413src" href="#d0e13413" class="noteref">2</a> This act apparently led to the tradition that Vikram&#257;ditya 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 Bis&#257;l Deo, the Chauh&#257;n chieftain of Ajmer, whose successor, Prithwi R&#257;j, reigned
+at Delhi, but was defeated and killed by the Muhammadans in A.D. 1192. Subsequently, perhaps in the reign of Ala-ud-D&#299;n Khilji,
+a Tomara dynasty established itself at Gwalior, and one of their kings, Dungara Singh (1425&#8211;1454), had executed the celebrated
+rock-sculptures of Gwalior.<a id="d0e13418src" href="#d0e13418" class="noteref">3</a> In 1518 Gwalior was taken by the Muhammadans, and the last Tomara king reduced to the status of an ordinary j&#257;g&#299;rd&#257;r. 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.<a id="d0e13423src" href="#d0e13423" class="noteref">4</a> No ruling chief now belongs to this clan. In the Central Provinces the Tomaras or Tunwars belong principally to the Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d
+District The zam&#299;nd&#257;rs of Bil&#257;spur, who were originally of the Tawar subcaste of the Kawar tribe, now also claim to be Tomara
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts on the strength of the similarity of the name.
+<a id="d0e13429"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13429">469</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13407" href="#d0e13407src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Mr Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Tomara.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13413" href="#d0e13413src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd edition, p. 386.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13418" href="#d0e13418src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Elliot, <i>Supplemental Glossary, s.v.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13423" href="#d0e13423src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes, and Castes,</i> art. Tomara.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13430" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;jp&#363;t; Y&#257;du</h2>
+<p><b>R&#257;jp&#363;t; Y&#257;du, Y&#257;dava, Y&#257;du-Bhatti, J&#257;don.</b><a id="d0e13436src" href="#d0e13436" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;The Y&#257;dus are a well-known historical clan. Colonel Tod says that the Y&#257;du 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 Y&#257;dus had with Buddha, but Krishna is held to have been a prince of this
+tribe and founded Dw&#257;rka in Gujar&#257;t with them, in which locality he is afterwards supposed to have been killed. Colonel Tod
+states that the Y&#257;du after the death of Krishna, and their expulsion from Dw&#257;rka and Delhi, the last stronghold of their power,
+retired by Mult&#257;n across the Indus, founded Ghazni in Afgh&#257;nist&#257;n, and peopled these countries even to Sam&#257;rcand. Again driven
+back on the Indus they obtained possession of the Punjab and founded Salbh&#257;npur. Thence expelled they retired across the Sutlej
+and G&#257;ra into the Indian deserts, where they founded Tannote, Deraw&#257;l and Jaisalmer, the last in A.D. 1157. It has been suggested
+in the main article on R&#257;jp&#363;t that the Y&#257;dus might have been the S&#257;kas, who invaded India in the second century A.D. This
+is only a speculation. At a later date a Y&#257;dava kingdom existed in the Deccan, with its capital at Deogiri or Daulat&#257;b&#257;d and
+its territory lying between that place and N&#257;sik.<a id="d0e13439src" href="#d0e13439" class="noteref">2</a> Mr. Smith states that these Y&#257;dava kings were descendants of feudatory nobles of the Chalukya kingdom, which embraced parts
+of western India and also Gujar&#257;t. The Y&#257;du 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 Y&#257;dava dynasty only lasted from A.D.
+1150 to 1318, when the last prince of the line, Har&#257;pala, 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 Y&#257;du-Bhatti
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts of Jaisalmer claim descent from S&#257;liv&#257;hana, who founded the S&#257;ka era in A.D. 78, and it is believed that this era
+belonged to the S&#257;ka dynasty of Gujar&#257;t, where, according <a id="d0e13444"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13444">470</a>]</span>to the tradition given above, the Y&#257;dus also settled. This point is not important, but so far as it goes would favour the
+identification of the S&#257;kas with the Y&#257;davas.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Bhatti branch of the Y&#257;dus claim descent from Bh&#257;ti, the grandson of S&#257;liv&#257;hana. They have no legend of having come from
+Gujar&#257;t, but they had the title of R&#257;wal, which is used in Gujar&#257;t, 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 R&#257;jput&#257;na, 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 Mah&#257;r&#257;wal and receives a salute of fifteen guns. The Jareja
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts of Sind and Cutch are another branch of the Y&#257;dus who have largely intermarried with Muhammadans. They now claim descent
+from J&#257;msh&#299;d, the Persian hero, and on this account, Colonel Tod states, the title of their rulers is J&#257;m. They were formerly
+much addicted to female infanticide. The name Y&#257;du has in other parts of India been corrupted into J&#257;don, and the class of
+J&#257;don R&#257;jp&#363;ts 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 J&#257;dum, and have been treated under
+that name in a separate article. The small State of Karauli in R&#257;jput&#257;na is held by a J&#257;don chief.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13436" href="#d0e13436src" class="noteref">1</a></span> See also article J&#257;dum for a separate account of the local caste in the Central Provinces.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13439" href="#d0e13439src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Early History of India</i>, 3rd edition, p. 434.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13448" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Rajw&#257;r</h2>
+<p><b>Rajw&#257;r.</b><a id="d0e13454src" href="#d0e13454" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A low cultivating caste of Bih&#257;r and Chota N&#257;gpur, who are probably an offshoot of the Bhuiyas. In 1911 a total of 25,000
+Rajw&#257;rs were returned in the Central Provinces, of whom 22,000 belong to the Sarg&#363;ja State recently transferred from Bengal.
+Another 2000 persons are shown in Bil&#257;spur, but these are Mow&#257;rs, an offshoot of the Rajw&#257;rs, who have taken to the profession
+of gardening and have changed their name. They probably rank a little higher than the bulk of the Rajw&#257;rs. &#8220;Traditionally,&#8221;
+Colonel Dalton states, &#8220;the Rajw&#257;rs appear <a id="d0e13457"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13457">471</a>]</span>to connect themselves with the Bhuiyas; but this is only in Bih&#257;r. The Rajw&#257;rs in Sarg&#363;ja 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 Rajw&#257;rs 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.&#8221; The Rajw&#257;rs of Bih&#257;r told Buchanan that their ancestor was a certain Rishi, who had two sons.
+From the elder were descended the Rajw&#257;rs, who became soldiers and obtained their noble title; and from the younger the Mus&#257;hars,
+who were so called from their practice of eating rats, which the Rajw&#257;rs rejected. The Mus&#257;hars, as shown by Sir H. Risley,
+are probably Bhuiyas degraded to servitude in Hindu villages, and this story confirms the Bhuiya origin of the Rajw&#257;rs. In
+the Central Provinces the Bhuiyas have a subcaste called Rajw&#257;r, which further supports this hypothesis, and in the absence
+of evidence to the contrary it is reasonable to suppose that the Rajw&#257;rs are an offshoot of the Bhuiyas, as they themselves
+say, in Bih&#257;r. 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 N&#257;gpur 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 Mus&#257;hars, the Rajw&#257;rs have shared their fate, and are also looked upon as impure. But in Chota N&#257;gpur the Bhuiyas
+have their own villages and live apart from the Hindus, and here the Rajw&#257;rs, like the landholding branches of other forest
+tribes, claim to be an inferior class of R&#257;jp&#363;ts.
+
+</p>
+<p>In Sarg&#363;ja the caste have largely adopted Hindu customs. They abstain from liquor, employ low-class Br&#257;hmans 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&#8217;s father sets them down outside. If the match is acceptable the <a id="d0e13461"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13461">472</a>]</span>girl&#8217;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&#8217;s hair, and the bride&#8217;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&#8217;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
+Rajw&#257;rs believe that every man has a soul or Pr&#257;n, 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.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13454" href="#d0e13454src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Based on the accounts of Sir H. Risley and Colonel Dalton and a paper by Pandit G.L. P&#257;thak, Superintendent, Korea State.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13463" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>R&#257;mosi</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. General notice</h3>
+<p><b>R&#257;mosi, R&#257;moshi.</b>&#8212;A criminal tribe of the Bombay Presidency, of which about 150 persons were returned from the Central Provinces and Ber&#257;r
+in 1911. They belong to the western tract of the Satp&#363;ras adjoining Kh&#257;ndesh. The name is supposed to be a corruption of R&#257;mvansi,
+meaning &#8216;The descendants of R&#257;ma.&#8217; They say<a id="d0e13473src" href="#d0e13473" class="noteref">1</a> that when R&#257;ma, the hero of the R&#257;m&#257;yana, was driven from his kingdom by his step-mother Kaikeyi, he went to the forest land
+south <a id="d0e13478"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13478">473</a>]</span>of the Nerbudda. His brother Bharat, who had been raised to the throne, could not bear to part with R&#257;ma, so he followed him
+to the forest, began to do penance, and made friends with a rough but kindly forest tribe. After R&#257;ma&#8217;s restoration Bharat
+took two foresters with him to Ajodhia (Oudh) and brought them to the notice of R&#257;ma, 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 R&#257;wanvansi or Children
+of R&#257;wan, the opponent of R&#257;ma, which is applied to the Gonds of the Central Provinces. The R&#257;mosis appear to be a Hinduised
+caste derived from the Bh&#299;ls 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 Gh&#257;ts, and an interesting description of their methods
+is given by Captain Mackintosh in his account of the tribe.<a id="d0e13480src" href="#d0e13480" class="noteref">2</a> Some extracts from this are here reproduced.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Methods of robbery</h3>
+<p>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 <i>gh&#299;</i> or clarified butter in it, to moisten their torches with before they commenced their operations. The R&#257;mosis 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 <a id="d0e13496"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13496">474</a>]</span>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 <i>durrowa</i> 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 Bhaw&#257;ni in fulfilment
+of a vow. All the spoil was then deposited before their N&#257;ik or headman, who divided it into equal shares for members of the
+gang, keeping a double share for himself.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. R&#257;mosis employed as village watchmen</h3>
+<p>In order to protect themselves from the depredations of these gangs the villagers adopted a system of hiring a R&#257;mosi as a
+surety to be responsible for their property, and this man gradually became a Rakhw&#257;ld&#257;r 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 R&#257;mosi was held responsible
+to the owner for <a id="d0e13506"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13506">475</a>]</span>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 R&#257;mosi, 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 R&#257;mosi. 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 R&#257;mosi 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 R&#257;mosis of Poona became very troublesome and constantly committed robberies in the houses of Europeans. As a consequence
+a custom grew up of employing a R&#257;mosi as chaukid&#257;r 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 R&#257;mosi watchman to prevent other R&#257;mosis 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 <a id="d0e13508"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13508">476</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Social customs</h3>
+<p>The principal deity of the R&#257;mosis is Khandoba, the Mar&#257;tha god of war.<a id="d0e13515src" href="#d0e13515" class="noteref">3</a> He is the deified sword, the name being <i>khanda-aba</i> 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 R&#257;mosi will break this oath. Every R&#257;mosi 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, <i>umar</i>,<a id="d0e13533src" href="#d0e13533" class="noteref">4</a> <i>j&#257;mun</i><a id="d0e13540src" href="#d0e13540" class="noteref">5</a> and of the <i>rui</i><a id="d0e13547src" href="#d0e13547" class="noteref">6</a> and <i>shami</i><a id="d0e13554src" href="#d0e13554" class="noteref">7</a> shrubs and a few stalks of grass and sets them in Hanum&#257;n&#8217;s temple. From here the bridegroom&#8217;s parents, after worshipping
+Hanum&#257;n 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 R&#257;mosis rank a little above the Mah&#257;rs and M&#257;ngs, not
+being impure. They speak Mar&#257;thi but have also a separate thieves&#8217; jargon of their own, of which a vocabulary is given in
+the account of Captain Mackintosh. When a R&#257;mosi 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.<a id="d0e13559src" href="#d0e13559" class="noteref">8</a> It is doubtful whether these practices obtain in the Central Provinces, and as the R&#257;mosis are not usually reckoned here
+among the notorious criminal tribes they may probably have taken to more honest pursuits.
+<a id="d0e13564"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13564">477</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13473" href="#d0e13473src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>B. G. Poona</i>, Part I., p. 409.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13480" href="#d0e13480src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>An Account of the Origin and Present Condition of the Tribe of R&#257;mosis</i> (Bombay, 1833; India Office Tracts. Also published in the <i>Madras Journal of Literature and Science</i>.)
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13515" href="#d0e13515src" class="noteref">3</a></span> This paragraph is mainly compiled from the <i>N&#257;sik</i> and <i>Poona</i> volumes of the <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13533" href="#d0e13533src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Ficus glomerata</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13540" href="#d0e13540src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Eugenia jambolana</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13547" href="#d0e13547src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Calotropis gigantea</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13554" href="#d0e13554src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Bauhinia racemosa</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13559" href="#d0e13559src" class="noteref">8</a></span> <i>Poona Gazetteer</i>, part i. p. 425.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13565" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Rangrez</h2>
+<p><b>Rangrez.</b>&#8212;The Muhammadan caste of dyers. The caste is found generally in the northern Districts, and in 1901 its members were included
+with the Chh&#299;pas, 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 Soh&#257;gpur town of Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d this is divided into two branches, the Kher&#257;law&#257;las or immigrants
+from Kher&#257;la in M&#257;lwa and the local Rangrezes. These two groups will take food together but will not intermarry. Kher&#257;law&#257;la
+women commonly wear a skirt like Hindu women and not Muhammadan pyjamas. In Jubbulpore the Rangrez community employ Br&#257;hmans
+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<a id="d0e13572src" href="#d0e13572" class="noteref">1</a> they hold themselves to be the descendants of one Khw&#257;ja Bali, a very pious man, about whom the following verse is current:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Khw&#257;ja Bali Rangrez
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Range Khuda ki sez:</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>&#8216;Khw&#257;ja Bali dyes the bed of God.&#8217; The name is derived from <i>rang</i>, colour, and <i>rez, rekht&#257;n</i>, to pour. In Bih&#257;r, Sir G. Grierson states<a id="d0e13590src" href="#d0e13590" class="noteref">2</a> the word Rangrez is often confounded <a id="d0e13595"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13595">478</a>]</span>with &#8216;Angrezi&#8217; or &#8216;English&#8217;; and the English are sometimes nicknamed facetiously Rangrez or &#8216;dyers,&#8217; The saying, &#8216;Were I a
+dyer I would dye my own beard first,&#8217; in reference to the Muhammadan custom of dyeing the beard, has the meaning of &#8216;Charity
+begins at home,&#8217;<a id="d0e13597src" href="#d0e13597" class="noteref">3</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>The art of the Rangrez differs considerably from that of the Chh&#299;pa or Rang&#257;ri, the Hindu dyer, and he produces a much greater
+variety of colours. His principal agents were formerly the safflower (<i>Carthamus tinctorius</i>), 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 R&#257;jput&#257;na than in those of the Mar&#257;tha 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 <i>haldi</i> or turmeric, green from a mixture of indigo and turmeric, purple from indigo and safflower, <i>kh&#257;ki</i> or dust-colour from myrobalans and iron filings, orange from turmeric and safflower, and <i>bad&#257;mi</i> or almond-colour from turmeric and two wild plants <i>kachora</i> and <i>n&#257;garmothi</i>, the former of which gives a scent. Cloths dyed in the <i>bad&#257;mi</i> 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. Fak&#299;rs or Muhammadan beggars wear light green. M&#257;rw&#257;ri Banias and others from R&#257;jput&#257;na 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 Br&#257;hmans 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 <a id="d0e13626"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13626">479</a>]</span>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 baz&#257;r and dye their own cloths. But men will only wear cloths dyed in this manner, and known as <i>katcha kapra</i>, 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.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13572" href="#d0e13572src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Rangrez.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13590" href="#d0e13590src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Peasant Life in Bih&#257;r</i>, p. 101, footnote.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13597" href="#d0e13597src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Temple and Fallon&#8217;s <i>Hindustani Proverbs</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13631" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Rautia</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. Origin of the tribe</h3>
+<p><b>Rautia.</b><a id="d0e13640src" href="#d0e13640" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A cultivating caste of the Chota N&#257;gpur 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 Sarg&#363;ja. 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&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>. He describes the caste as, &#8220;refined in features and complexion by a large infusion of Aryan blood. Their chief men hold
+estates on quit-rent from the Mah&#257;r&#257;ja of Chota N&#257;gpur, and the bulk of the remainder are tenants with occupancy right and
+often paying only a low quit-rent or half the normal assessment.&#8221; 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 N&#257;gpur. The name Rautia is a form of R&#257;wat, and
+this latter word signifies a prince and is a title borne by relatives of a R&#257;ja. It may be noticed <a id="d0e13649"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13649">480</a>]</span>that R&#257;wat is the ordinary name by which the Ah&#299;r caste is known in Chhatt&#299;sgarh, the neighbouring country to Chota N&#257;gpur
+in the Central Provinces; and further that the Rautias will take food from a Chhatt&#299;sgarhi R&#257;wat. 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&#8217;s list of the sept-names of the Rautias<a id="d0e13651src" href="#d0e13651" class="noteref">2</a> we find two names, Aind the eel, and Rukhi a squirrel, which are also the names of Munda septs, and one, Kars&#257;yal or deer,
+which is the name of a Kawar sept. They have also a name Sanw&#257;ni, which is probably Sonw&#257;ni or &#8216;gold-water,&#8217; 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 N&#257;gpur, the leaders being Ah&#299;rs or R&#257;wats with possibly a sprinkling of the local
+R&#257;jp&#363;ts, 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts. They also have obtained possession of the land, and in Orissa
+the Sresta or good Khandaits rank next to the R&#257;jp&#363;ts. 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 R&#257;jas 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. H&#299;ra L&#257;l, be due to the fact that they served a Gond
+R&#257;ja.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Subdivisions</h3>
+<p>The Rautias had formerly three subdivisions, the Barki, Majhli and Chhotki Bh&#299;r or Gorhi, or the high, middle and low class
+Rautias. But it is related that the Barki group <a id="d0e13661"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13661">481</a>]</span>found that they could not obtain girls in marriage for their sons, so they extended the privileges of the <i>connubium</i> 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 G&#257;nda 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 Pur&#257;it or pure Halbas, and the Sur&#257;it 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The tribe have totemistic septs, and retain some veneration for their totems. Those of the B&#257;gh or tiger sept throw away their
+earthen pots on hearing of the death of a tiger. Those of the S&#257;nd or bull sept will not castrate bullocks themselves, and
+must have this operation performed on their plough-bullocks by others. Those of the K&#257;nsi sept formerly, according to their
+own account, would not root up the <i>k&#257;ns</i> grass<a id="d0e13671src" href="#d0e13671" class="noteref">3</a> growing in their fields, but now they no longer object to do so. Other septs are Tithi a bird, B&#299;ra a hawk, Barwan a wild
+dog, and so on.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Marriage</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e13681"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13681">482</a>]</span>usual bride-price is four rupees with six or seven pieces of cloth and some grain. When the procession arrives at the bride&#8217;s
+village her party go out to meet it, and the G&#257;ndas or musicians on each side try to break each other&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Funeral rites</h3>
+<p>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 <i>Chhed viv&#257;h</i> or marriage to the grave. The Kab&#299;rpanthi 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 Br&#257;hmans to perform the <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> ceremony.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>5. Inheritance</h3>
+<p>The tribe have some special rules of inheritance. In Bengal<a id="d0e13699src" href="#d0e13699" class="noteref">4</a> the eldest son of the legitimate wife inherits the whole of the father&#8217;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.
+<a id="d0e13704"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13704">483</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13640" href="#d0e13640src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Based on Sir H. Risley&#8217;s account of the tribe in the <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, and on notes taken by Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l at Raigarh.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13651" href="#d0e13651src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, vol. ii. App. I.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13671" href="#d0e13671src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Saccharum spontaneum</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13699" href="#d0e13699src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Rautia.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13705" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Sanaurhia</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. A band of criminals</h3>
+<p><b>Sanaurhia, Chandravedi.</b><a id="d0e13714src" href="#d0e13714" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A small but well-known community of criminals in Bundelkhand. They claim to be derived from the San&#257;dhya Br&#257;hmans, 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 Cham&#257;rs;<a id="d0e13720src" href="#d0e13720" class="noteref">2</a> and a census taken of them in northern India in 1872 showed that they included members of the following castes: Br&#257;hman,
+R&#257;jp&#363;t, Teli, Kurmi, Ah&#299;r, Kanjar, Nai, Dhobi, Dh&#299;mar, Sun&#257;r 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, &#8216;Once
+a Sanaurhia always a Sanaurhia&#8217;; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Traditions of origin</h3>
+<p>Mr. Seagrim<a id="d0e13731src" href="#d0e13731" class="noteref">3</a> 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<a id="d0e13736src" href="#d0e13736" class="noteref">4</a> in their sole occupation, with colonies in other villages. In 1857 it was estimated that the Tehri State contained 4000 Sanaurhias,
+B&#257;npur 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 San&#257;dhya Br&#257;hmans <a id="d0e13742"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13742">484</a>]</span>of the village of R&#257;mra 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 Jagann&#257;th. As they were drinking water a crow sitting on a tree commenced cawing, and the San&#257;dhya heard him say that whoever
+got hold of the merchant&#8217;s walking-stick would be rich. The two Br&#257;hmans 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 Br&#257;hmans 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 &#8216;Those who observe the moon.&#8217; In Bombay and Central India this name is more commonly used than
+Sanaurhia. Another name for them is Uthaig&#299;ra or &#8216;A picker-up of that which has fallen,&#8217; corresponding to the nickname of
+Uchla or &#8216;Lifter&#8217; applied to the Bh&#257;mtas. 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 N&#257;lband. The other men are called Upard&#257;r, and each of these
+has with him one or two boys of between eight and twelve years old, who are known as <i>Chauwa</i> (chicks) and do the actual stealing. The N&#257;lband or leader trains these boys to their work, and also teaches them a code
+vocabulary (<i>P&#257;rsi</i>) and a set of signals (<i>teni</i>) by which the Upard&#257;r 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 N&#257;lband 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Methods of stealing</h3>
+<p>The methods of the Sanaurhias as described by Mr. Seagrim show considerable ingenuity. When they desire to <a id="d0e13758"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13758">485</a>]</span>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 <i>Chauwa</i> 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 <i>Chauwa</i>, 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 <i>Chauwas</i> 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
+<i>Chauwa</i> 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 <i>Chauwa</i> 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.<a id="d0e13775src" href="#d0e13775" class="noteref">5</a> Colonel Sleeman relates the following case of such a theft:<a id="d0e13781src" href="#d0e13781" class="noteref">6</a> &#8220;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 S&#363;bahd&#257;r 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 S&#363;bahd&#257;r brought the note, and stated that he had undressed at the brook near
+the <a id="d0e13786"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13786">486</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hmans of Bundelkhand. As the old S&#363;bahd&#257;r 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 S&#363;bahd&#257;r 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 S&#363;bahd&#257;r 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.&#8221;
+Another device which they have is to beat the <i>Chauwa</i> 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 Br&#257;hmans, 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 R&#257;ja of B&#257;npur wrote:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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 <a id="d0e13793"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13793">487</a>]</span>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.&#8221;<a id="d0e13795src" href="#d0e13795" class="noteref">7</a> This recalls another famous excuse.
+<a id="d0e13801"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13801">488</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13714" href="#d0e13714src" class="noteref">1</a></span> 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&#8217;s <i>Criminal Classes of Bombay</i> (1908).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13720" href="#d0e13720src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Sanaurhia.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13731" href="#d0e13731src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Criminal Classes of Bombay Presidency</i>, pp. 296, 297.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13736" href="#d0e13736src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Sleeman&#8217;s <i>Reports on the Badhaks</i>, p. 327.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13775" href="#d0e13775src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Mr. Gayer&#8217;s <i>Lectures on some Criminal Tribes</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13781" href="#d0e13781src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Report on the Badhak or B&#257;gri Dacoits</i> (1849), p. 328.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13795" href="#d0e13795src" class="noteref">7</a></span> J. Hutton, <i>A Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits and Gang-robbers of India</i> (London, 1857).
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13802" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>S&#257;nsia</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e13849">1. Historical notice of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13877">2. Social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13890">3. Taboos of relationship</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13900">4. Organisation for dacoity</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13905">5. Description of a dacoity</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13931">6. Omens</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13946">7. Ordeals</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e13983">8. S&#257;nsias at the present time</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e13849">
+<h3>1. Historical notice of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>S&#257;nsia</b>.<a id="d0e13856src" href="#d0e13856" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;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 S&#257;nsia 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 S&#257;nsias of Central India and are noticed
+in another short article. Separate statistics of the two groups were not obtained at the census. The S&#257;nsias are closely connected
+with the Berias, and say that their ancestors were two brothers Sains M&#363;l and S&#257;nsi, and that the Berias are descended from
+the former and the S&#257;nsias from the latter. They were the bards of the J&#257;t caste, and it was their custom to chronicle the
+names of the J&#257;ts and their ancestors, and when they begged from J&#257;t families to recite their praises. The S&#257;nsias, Colonel
+Sleeman states, had particular families (of the J&#257;ts) 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&#8217;s food. When the J&#257;ts celebrated their marriages they were <a id="d0e13862"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13862">489</a>]</span>accustomed to invite the S&#257;nsias, who as their minstrels recited the praises of the ancestors of the J&#257;ts, tracing them up
+to the time of Punya J&#257;t; and for this they received presents, according to the means of the parties, of cows, ponies or buffaloes.
+Should any J&#257;t demur to paying the customary dues the S&#257;nsias 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.<a id="d0e13864src" href="#d0e13864" class="noteref">2</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>The S&#257;nsias say that their ancestors have always resided in M&#257;rw&#257;r and Ajmer. About twenty-four miles distant from Ajmer are
+two towns, P&#299;sang&#257;n and Sagun; on their eastern side is a large tank, and the bones of all persons of the S&#257;nsia tribe who
+died in any part of the country were formerly buried there, being covered by a wooden platform with four pillars.<a id="d0e13872src" href="#d0e13872" class="noteref">3</a> On one occasion a quarrel had arisen over a S&#257;nsia woman, and a large number of the caste were killed in this place. So they
+left M&#257;rw&#257;r, and some of them came to the Deccan, where they took to house-breaking and dacoity; and so successful were they
+that the other S&#257;nsias followed them and gave up all their former customs, even those of reciting the praises of and begging
+from the J&#257;ts.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e13877">
+<h3>2. Social customs</h3>
+<p>The S&#257;nsias 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.<a id="d0e13882src" href="#d0e13882" class="noteref">4</a> 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, <a id="d0e13888"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13888">490</a>]</span>which may amount to as much as Rs. 2000. When this is settled some liquor is spilt on the ground in the name of Bhagw&#257;n 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 Bhagw&#257;n;
+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&#8217;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 S&#257;nsia 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e13890">
+<h3>3. Taboos of relationship</h3>
+<p>Colonel Sleeman records some curious taboos among relations.<a id="d0e13895src" href="#d0e13895" class="noteref">5</a> A man cannot go into the hut of his mother-in-law or of his son&#8217;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. &#8220;If we quarrel with a woman,&#8221;
+said a S&#257;nsia, &#8220;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 <a id="d0e13898"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13898">491</a>]</span>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, &#8216;This disgrace fell upon your ancestors for seven generations back,&#8217; both are immediately expelled
+from our caste, and cannot return to it until they have paid a large sum of money.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e13900">
+<h3>4. Organisation for dacoity</h3>
+<p>As in the case of the Badhaks the arrangements for a dacoity were carefully organised. Each band had a Jem&#257;d&#257;r or leader,
+while the others were called Sip&#257;his or soldiers. A tenth of all the booty taken was given to the Jem&#257;d&#257;r in return for the
+provision of the spears, torches and other articles, and of the remainder the Jem&#257;d&#257;r received two shares and the Sip&#257;his
+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 M&#257;ngs, were freely admitted to the S&#257;nsia
+community in return for a small money payment, some such apprenticeship as this was no doubt necessary. If a Sip&#257;hi 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 S&#257;nsias 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e13905">
+<h3>5. Description of a dacoity</h3>
+<p>The scouts,<a id="d0e13910src" href="#d0e13910" class="noteref">6</a> 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 <a id="d0e13916"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13916">492</a>]</span>of <i>karbi</i> or the long thick stalks of the large millet, ju&#257;ri.<a id="d0e13921src" href="#d0e13921" class="noteref">7</a> One man was appointed to carry the torch,<a id="d0e13926src" href="#d0e13926" class="noteref">8</a> 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;r
+invoked Khandoba, an incarnation of Mah&#257;deo, 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;r, accompanied by four or five
+men and the torch-bearer, rushed into the shop crying D&#299;n, D&#299;n. 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;r called out to the god Bhagw&#257;n 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, <a id="d0e13929"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13929">493</a>]</span>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 &#8216;Cuckoo&#8217; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e13931">
+<h3>6. Omens</h3>
+<p>The S&#257;nsias 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:<a id="d0e13936src" href="#d0e13936" class="noteref">9</a> &#8220;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&#8217;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 Jem&#257;d&#257;r 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&#8217;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 Bhagw&#257;n.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>It would appear that the explanation of this curious <a id="d0e13941"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13941">494</a>]</span>ceremony must be that the S&#257;nsias 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.<a id="d0e13943src" href="#d0e13943" class="noteref">10</a> The passage continues: &#8220;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 Fak&#299;r begs from us while we are on our way to the place of dacoity we cannot give him anything.&#8221; Another
+S&#257;nsia said: &#8220;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e13946">
+<h3>7. Ordeals</h3>
+<p>The following is a description given by a S&#257;nsia of their ordeals:<a id="d0e13951src" href="#d0e13951" class="noteref">11</a> If a Jem&#257;d&#257;r suspects a Sip&#257;hi of secreting plunder a <i>panch&#257;yat</i> is assembled,<a id="d0e13957src" href="#d0e13957" class="noteref">12</a> the members of which <a id="d0e13960"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13960">495</a>]</span>receive five rupees from both parties. Seven p&#299;pal<a id="d0e13962src" href="#d0e13962" class="noteref">13</a> leaves are laid upon his hand and bound round with thread, and upon these a heated iron <i>tawa</i> 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 Bhagw&#257;n (god), and the other in the name
+of the <i>panch&#257;yat</i>; 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
+<i>panch&#257;yat</i> 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;r and the gang assemble under a p&#299;pal 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&frac14; seers<a id="d0e13976src" href="#d0e13976" class="noteref">14</a> of <i>gur</i> (sugar) are tied up in a piece of cloth 1&frac14; cubits in length and hung on to a branch of the tree. The Jem&#257;d&#257;r then says, &#8216;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.&#8217; The Jem&#257;d&#257;r dips his finger in the pitcher of blood, and afterwards touches the sugar and calls out loudly,
+&#8216;If I have embezzled any money may Bhagw&#257;n punish me&#8217;; 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&frac14; seers of sugar tied up in 1&frac14; cubits of cloth
+was considered the most solemn and binding which a S&#257;nsia could take.
+<a id="d0e13982"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e13982">496</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e13983">
+<h3>8. S&#257;nsias at the present time</h3>
+<p>At present, Mr. Kennedy states,<a id="d0e13988src" href="#d0e13988" class="noteref">15</a> the S&#257;nsias 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 R&#257;mdeo P&#299;r or one of the wearer&#8217;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.<a id="d0e13993src" href="#d0e13993" class="noteref">16</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13856" href="#d0e13856src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based almost entirely on a description of the S&#257;nsias contained in Colonel Sleeman&#8217;s <i>Report on the Badhak or B&#257;gri Dacoits</i> (1849). Most of the material belongs to a report drawn up at N&#257;gpur by Mr. C. Ramsay, Assistant Resident, in 1845.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13864" href="#d0e13864src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Sleeman&#8217;s <i>Report on the Badhaks</i>, p. 253.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13872" href="#d0e13872src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 254.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13882" href="#d0e13882src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Sir D. Ibbetson, <i>Punjab Census Report</i> (1881), para. 577.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13895" href="#d0e13895src" class="noteref">5</a></span> P. 259.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13910" href="#d0e13910src" class="noteref">6</a></span> The description of a dacoity is combined from two accounts given at pp. 257, 273 of Colonel Sleeman&#8217;s <i>Report</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13921" href="#d0e13921src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Sorghum vulgare</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13926" href="#d0e13926src" class="noteref">8</a></span> Made of the bark of the date-palm tied with strips of cloth round some inflammable wood.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13936" href="#d0e13936src" class="noteref">9</a></span> Sleeman, p. 263.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13943" href="#d0e13943src" class="noteref">10</a></span> But it is unlucky for a snake to cross one&#8217;s path in front.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13951" href="#d0e13951src" class="noteref">11</a></span> Sleeman, pp. 261, 262.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13957" href="#d0e13957src" class="noteref">12</a></span> Committee of five persons.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13962" href="#d0e13962src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>Ficus religiosa</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13976" href="#d0e13976src" class="noteref">14</a></span> The seer = 2 lbs.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13988" href="#d0e13988src" class="noteref">15</a></span> <i>Criminal Classes in the Bombay Presidency</i>; S&#257;nsias and Berias.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e13993" href="#d0e13993src" class="noteref">16</a></span> Mr. Gayer, <i>Central Provinces Police Lectures</i>; p. 68.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e13999" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>S&#257;nsia, Uria</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. The caste and its subdivisions</h3>
+<p><b>S&#257;nsia, Uria</b>.<a id="d0e14009src" href="#d0e14009" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;A caste of masons and navvies of the Uriya country. The S&#257;nsias are really a branch of the great migratory Ud or Odde caste
+of earth-workers, whose name has been corrupted into various forms.<a id="d0e14012src" href="#d0e14012" class="noteref">2</a> Thus in Ch&#257;nda they are known as Wadew&#257;r 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 S&#257;nsia by outsiders. The caste sometimes class the S&#257;nsias as
+a subcaste of Urias, the others being Ben&#257;tia Urias and Khandait Urias. Since the Uriya tract has been transferred to Bengal,
+and subsequently to Bih&#257;r and Orissa, there remain only about 1000 S&#257;nsias in the Chhatt&#299;sgarh Districts and States. Although
+it is possible that the name <a id="d0e14015"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14015">497</a>]</span>of the caste may have been derived from some past connection, the S&#257;nsias of the Uriya country have at present no affinities
+with the outcaste and criminal tribe of S&#257;nsis or S&#257;nsias of northern India. They enjoy a fairly high position in Sarnbalpur,
+and Br&#257;hmans will take water from them.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 R&#257;jas 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts.
+The Benetia S&#257;nsias 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&#8217;s relatives, but only partake
+of some sugar and curds and depart with the bride. The S&#257;nsias have totemistic exogamous septs, usually derived from the names
+of sacred objects, as Kachhap, tortoise, Sankh, the conch-shell, Tulsi, basil, and so on.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Marriage customs</h3>
+<p>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. R&#257;ma Pras&#257;d Bohid&#257;r, is a gorgeous affair: &#8220;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. <a id="d0e14024"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14024">498</a>]</span>His head carries a crown of palm-leaves overlaid with bright paper of various colours. A network of <i>m&#257;lti</i> 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.&#8221; Here the red colour which
+predominates in the bridegroom&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s family, probably as a sign of her admission to their clan,
+and returns home. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Religion and worship of ancestors</h3>
+<p>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 <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> 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 <i>pindas</i> or sacrificial cakes are offered to three male and three female ancestors both on <a id="d0e14040"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14040">499</a>]</span>the father&#8217;s and mother&#8217;s side, twelve cakes being offered in all. The S&#257;nsias eat the flesh of clean animals, but the consumption
+of liquor is strictly forbidden, on pain, it is said, of permanent exclusion from caste.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Occupation</h3>
+<p>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 Dr&#363;g, and the R&#257;ja 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 R&#257;ja
+persisted in his demand, on which the whole body of S&#257;nsias from Chhatt&#299;sgarh, numbering, it is said, nine lakhs of persons,
+left their work and proceeded to War&#257;rb&#257;ndh, near R&#257;j-N&#257;ndgaon. Here they dug the great tank of War&#257;rb&#257;ndh<a id="d0e14047src" href="#d0e14047" class="noteref">3</a> 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 G&#299;t, a popular folk-song in Chhatt&#299;sgarh. But it is a traditional story of the S&#257;nsias in connection with large
+tanks, and in another version the scene is laid in Gujar&#257;t.<a id="d0e14050src" href="#d0e14050" class="noteref">4</a>
+<a id="d0e14053"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14053">500</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14009" href="#d0e14009src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is mainly based on a paper by Mr. R&#257;ma Pras&#257;d Bohid&#257;r, Assistant Master, Sambalpur High School.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14012" href="#d0e14012src" class="noteref">2</a></span> See article Beld&#257;r for a notice of the different groups of earth-workers.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14047" href="#d0e14047src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Said to be derived from their name Waddar.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14050" href="#d0e14050src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Story of Jasma Odni in Sati Charita Sangrah.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e14054" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Savar</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e14096">1. Distribution and historical notices</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14166">2. Tribal legends</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14185">3. Tribal subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14240">4. Marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14258">5. Death ceremonies</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14272">6. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14288">7. Occupation</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14096">
+<h3>1. Distribution and historical notices</h3>
+<p><b>Savar,<a id="d0e14102src" href="#d0e14102" class="noteref">1</a> Sawara, Savara, Saonr, Sahra</b> (and several other variations. In Bundelkhand the Savars, there called Saonrs, are frequently known by the honorific title
+of R&#257;wat).&#8212;A primitive tribe numbering about 70,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, and principally found in the
+Chhatt&#299;sgarh 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 Ganj&#257;m 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: &#8220;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 <a id="d0e14106"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14106">501</a>]</span>I was informed that the Savaras had formerly fought with the Gonds and that the latter had conquered them by treacherously
+making them drunk.&#8221;<a id="d0e14108src" href="#d0e14108" class="noteref">2</a> Similarly Cunningham notices that the zam&#299;nd&#257;r of Suarm&#257;r 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 Mund&#257;ri or Kolarian. He says: &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e14113src" href="#d0e14113" class="noteref">3</a> As to the origin of the name Savar, General Cunningham says that it must be sought for outside the language of the Aryans.
+&#8220;In Sanskrit <i>savara</i> simply means &#8216;a corpse.&#8217; From Herodotus, however, we learn that the Scythian word for an axe was <i>sagaris</i>, and as &#8216;g&#8217; and &#8216;v&#8217; are interchangeable letters <i>savar</i> is the same word as <i>sagar</i>. 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.&#8221;<a id="d0e14130src" href="#d0e14130" class="noteref">4</a> The above opinion of Cunningham, which is of course highly speculative, is disputed by Mr. Crooke, who says that &#8220;The word
+Savara, if it be, as some believe, derived from <i>sava</i> a corpse, comes from the root <i>sav</i> &#8216;to cause to decay,&#8217; and need not necessarily therefore be of non-Aryan origin, while on the other hand no distinct <a id="d0e14141"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14141">502</a>]</span>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.&#8221;<a id="d0e14143src" href="#d0e14143" class="noteref">5</a> In the classical stories of their origin the first ancestor of the Savars is sometimes described as a Bh&#299;l. 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 &#8216;<i>ava</i>&#8217; changes into &#8216;<i>au</i>&#8217; and a nasal is sometimes interpolated. <i>Savar</i> has here become Saunr or Saonr. The addition of &#8216;a&#8217; at the end of the word sometimes expresses contempt, and Savar becomes
+Savara as Cham&#257;r is corrupted into <i>Chamra</i>. In the Uriya country &#8216;v&#8217; is changed into &#8216;b&#8217; and an aspirate is interpolated, and thus Savara became Sabra or Sahara, as
+Gaur has become Gahra. The word Sahara, Mr. Crooke remarks,<a id="d0e14161src" href="#d0e14161" class="noteref">6</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14166">
+<h3>2. Tribal legends</h3>
+<p>Various stories of the origin of the Savars are given in Sanskrit literature. In the Aitareya Br&#257;hmana they are spoken of
+as the descendants of Vishw&#257;mitra, while in the Mah&#257;bh&#257;rat they are said to have been created by K&#257;mdhenu, Vasishtha&#8217;s wonder-working
+cow, in order to repel the aggression of Vishw&#257;mitra. Local tradition traces their origin to the celebrated Seor&#299; of the R&#257;m&#257;yana,
+who is supposed to have lived somewhere near the present Seor&#299;n&#257;r&#257;yan in the Bil&#257;spur District and to have given her name
+to this place. R&#257;mchandra 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 N&#257;r&#257;yan in that given to the locality.
+Another story makes one Jara Savar their original ancestor, who was said to have shot <a id="d0e14171"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14171">503</a>]</span>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 Jagann&#257;th, which they still do at the present time. Yet another connecting them
+with the temple of Jagann&#257;th states that their ancestor was an old Bh&#299;l hermit called Sawar, who lived in Karod, two miles
+from Seor&#299;n&#257;r&#257;yan. The god Jagann&#257;th had at this time appeared in Seor&#299;n&#257;r&#257;yan and the old Sawar used to worship him. The
+king of Orissa had built the great temple at Puri and wished to install Jagann&#257;th in it, and he sent a Br&#257;hman to fetch him
+from Seor&#299;n&#257;r&#257;yan, but nobody knew where he was except the old hermit Sawar. The Br&#257;hman 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 Br&#257;hman, 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 Br&#257;hman then went to Seor&#299;n&#257;r&#257;yan alone and begged the god to go
+to Puri. Jagann&#257;th consented, and assuming the form of a log of wood floated down the Mah&#257;nadi to Puri, where he was taken
+out and placed in the temple. A carpenter agreed to carve the god&#8217;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&#8217;s name before his own as Seor&#299;n&#257;r&#257;yan. Lastly
+the Saonrs of Bundelkhand have the following tradition. In the beginning of creation Mah&#257;deo 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 Mah&#257;deo went away
+to get another bullock. The Savar after clearing the forest felt <a id="d0e14173"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14173">504</a>]</span>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 Mah&#257;deo 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 Mah&#257;deo sprinkled a little nectar on Nandi, who came to life again and told what had
+happened. Then Mah&#257;deo was enraged with the Savar and said, &#8216;You shall remain a barbarian and dwell for ever in poverty in
+the jungles without enough to eat.&#8217; And accordingly this has always been the condition of the Savar&#8217;s descendants.
+
+</p>
+<p>Other old authors speak of the Parna or leaf-clad Savars; and a Savar messenger is described as carrying a bow in his hand
+&#8220;with his hair tied up in a knot behind with a creeper, black himself, and wearing a loin-cloth of <i>bhilaw&#257;n</i> leaves&#8221;;<a id="d0e14180src" href="#d0e14180" class="noteref">7</a> an excellent example of &#8216;a leaf-fringed legend.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14185">
+<h3>3. Tribal subdivisions</h3>
+<p>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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh and Sambalpur
+respectively. A third division known as the K&#257;l&#257;pithia or &#8216;Black Backs&#8217; are found in Orissa, and are employed to drag the
+car of Jagann&#257;th. 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 <i>bargas</i>. 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 <a id="d0e14193"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14193">505</a>]</span>Uriya Savars say they have 80 <i>bargas</i>. Besides the prohibition of marriage within the same <i>barga</i>, the union of first cousins is sometimes forbidden. Among the Uriya Savars each <i>barga</i> has the two further divisions of Joria and Khuntia, the Jorias being those who bury or burn their dead near a <i>jor</i> or brook, and the Khuntias those who bury or burn them near a <i>khunt</i> or old tree. Jorias and Khuntias of the same <i>barga</i> cannot intermarry, but in the case of some other subdivisions of the <i>barga</i>, 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 <i>bargas</i> are usually totemistic, and the following are some examples: Badaiya, the carpenter bird; B&#257;gh, the tiger; Bagula, the heron;
+Bahra, a cook; Bhatia, a <i>brinjal</i> or egg-plant; B&#299;si, the scorpion; Basantia, the trunk of the cotton tree; Hathia, an elephant; Jancher, a tree (this <i>barga</i> 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 <i>barga</i> keeps a lock of a child&#8217;s hair unshaved for four or five years after its birth); Juadi, a gambler; Karsa, a deer; Khairaiya,
+the <i>khair</i> or catechu tree; Lodhi, born from the caste of that name (in Saugor); Mark&#257;m, the name of a Gond sept; R&#257;jhans, a swan; Suriya
+Bansia, from the sun (members of this <i>barga</i> feed the caste-fellows on the occasion of a solar eclipse and throw away their earthen pots); Silgainya from <i>sil</i>, a slate; and Tiparia from <i>tipari</i>, 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).
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14240">
+<h3>4. Marriage</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s house to the bridegroom&#8217;s. If they are grown up, this part of the ceremony entails no
+inconsiderable labour on the <a id="d0e14245"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14245">506</a>]</span>relatives. In the Uriya country, while the Khuntia subdivision of each <i>barga</i> 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 <i>gh&#299;</i> 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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s family. Divorce is permitted on the husband&#8217;s initiative for adultery or serious disagreement. If
+the wife wishes for a divorce <a id="d0e14253"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14253">507</a>]</span>she simply runs away from her husband. The Laria Savars must give a <i>m&#257;rti-j&#299;ti k&#257; bh&#257;t</i> or death-feast on the occasion of a divorce. The Uriyas simply pay a rupee to the headman of the caste.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14258">
+<h3>5. Death ceremonies</h3>
+<p>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 <i>s&#257;j</i> 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 Baghiap&#257;t
+(tiger-eaten) or Mas&#257;n (serpent-bitten). In such cases a <i>gunia</i> or sorcerer is consulted, and such measures as he prescribes are taken to appease the dead man&#8217;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 <i>gunia</i>. 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14272">
+<h3>6. Religion</h3>
+<p>The Savars worship Bhaw&#257;ni under various names and also D&#363;lha 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, &#8216;<i>Jai ch&#363;lha, tai D&#363;lha</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;There is a D&#363;lha Deo to every hearth.&#8217; The Savars are considered to be great sorcerers. &#8216;<i>Sawara ke p&#257;nge, R&#257;wat ke b&#257;ndhe</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;The man bewitched by a Savar and the bullock tied up by a R&#257;wat (grazier) cannot escape&#8217;; and again, &#8216;Verily the Saonr
+is a cup of poison.&#8217; Their charms, called Sabari <i>mantras</i>, are especially intended <a id="d0e14286"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14286">508</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14288">
+<h3>7. Occupation</h3>
+<p>The dress of the Savars is of the scantiest. The women wear <i>khilw&#257;n</i> 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, &#8216;The ornaments of the Sawara are <i>gumchi</i> seeds.&#8217; These are the red and black seeds of <i>Abrus precatorius</i> which are used in weighing gold and silver and are called <i>rati</i>. 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: &#8216;It is the Savar who can drive the black bees
+from their hive.&#8217; The eastern branch of the caste is more civilised than the Saonras of Bundelkhand, who still sow ju&#257;ri with
+a pointed stick, saying that it was the implement given to them by Mah&#257;deo for this purpose. In Saugor and Damoh they employ
+Br&#257;hmans 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.
+<a id="d0e14305"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14305">509</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14102" href="#d0e14102src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is principally based on papers by Munshi Gop&#299;n&#257;th, Naib-Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r, Sonpur, Mr. K&#257;l&#363;r&#257;m Pachor&#275;, Assistant Settlement
+Officer, Sambalpur, and Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l, Assistant Gazetteer Superintendent.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14108" href="#d0e14108src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Archaeological Reports</i>, vol. xvii. pp. 120, 122.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14113" href="#d0e14113src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>India Census Report</i> (1901), p. 283.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14130" href="#d0e14130src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Archaeological Reports</i>, vol. xvii. p. 113.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14143" href="#d0e14143src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes of N.W.P.</i>, art Savara.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14161" href="#d0e14161src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of N.W.P.</i>, art. Savara.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14180" href="#d0e14180src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Savar.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e14306" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Sonjhara</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e14353">1. Origin and constitution of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14371">2. Totemism</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14379">3. Marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14386">4. Customs at birth</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14392">5. Funeral rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14397">6. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14417">7. Social customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14424">8. Occupation</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14353">
+<h3>1. Origin and constitution of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>Sonjhara, Jhara, Jhora, Jhira.</b>&#8212;A small occupational caste who wash for gold in river-beds, belonging to the Sambalpur, Mandla, B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t and Ch&#257;nda Districts
+and the Chota N&#257;gpur Feudatory States. In 1911 they numbered about 1500 persons. The name probably comes from <i>sona</i>, gold, and <i>jh&#257;rna</i>, to sweep or wash, though, when the term Jhara only is used, some derive it from <i>jhori</i> 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 Mar&#257;bi, Tek&#257;m, Net&#257;m, Dhurwa and Madao.
+The Sonjharas of Bil&#257;spur say that their ancestors were Gonds who dwelt at L&#257;nji in B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t. The caste relate the tradition
+that they were condemned by Mah&#257;deo to perpetual poverty because their first ancestor stole a little gold from P&#257;rvatis crown
+when it fell into the river Jamuna (in Chota N&#257;gpur) 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 Ban&#257;phar heroes Alha and
+Udal were fighting their great battle with Prithvi R&#257;j, king of Delhi. The caste is partly occupational, and recruited from
+different sources. This is shown by the fact that in Ch&#257;nda members of different septs <a id="d0e14369"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14369">510</a>]</span>will not eat together, though they are obliged to intermarry. In Sambalpur the Behra, P&#257;tar, N&#257;ik and Padh&#257;n 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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh, the Uriya belonging
+to the Uriya country, and the Bhuinh&#257;r, who may be an offshoot from the Bhuiya tribe.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14371">
+<h3>2. Totemism</h3>
+<p>They have one recorded instance of totemism, which is of some interest. Members of the sept named after a tree called <i>kausa</i> 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 N&#257;g or cobra sept will
+not mention the name of this snake aloud, just as they refrain from speaking the names of male relatives.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14379">
+<h3>3. Marriage</h3>
+<p>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 Chhindw&#257;ra 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 Dh&#299;mars 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 <a id="d0e14384"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14384">511</a>]</span>in the house of her husband&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s parents.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14386">
+<h3>4. Customs at birth</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s name. In Bil&#257;spur 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.
+<a id="d0e14391"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14391">512</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14392">
+<h3>5. Funeral rites</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14397">
+<h3>6. Religion</h3>
+<p>Their principal deities are D&#363;lha Deo, the boy bridegroom, Nira his servant, and Kauria a form of Devi. Nira lives under an
+<i>&#363;mar</i><a id="d0e14404src" href="#d0e14404" class="noteref">1</a> tree and he and D&#363;lha Deo his master are worshipped every third year in the month of M&#257;gh (January). Kauria is also worshipped
+once in three years on a Sunday in the month of M&#257;gh 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 Banj&#257;ras. They also revere the spirit
+of one of their female ancestors who became a Sati. They sacrifice a goat to the <i>genius loci</i> 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.<a id="d0e14412src" href="#d0e14412" class="noteref">2</a> 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 Diw&#257;l&#299; day they wash their implements, and setting them up near the huts worship them with offerings
+of a cocoanut and vermilion.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14417">
+<h3>7. Social customs</h3>
+<p>Their rule is always to camp outside a village at a <a id="d0e14422"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14422">513</a>]</span>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&#8217;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&#8217;s well; if he should do so or if any water from his well gets into his neighbour&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14424">
+<h3>8. Occupation</h3>
+<p>The traditional occupation of the caste is to wash gold from the sandy beds of streams, while they formerly also washed for
+diamonds at Hir&#257;kud on the Mah&#257;nadi near Sambalpur and at Wair&#257;garh 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 Sun&#257;rs. The Mah&#257;nadi and Jonk rivers in Sambalpur, the Banjar In Mandla, the Son
+and other rivers in B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t, and the Wainganga and the eastern streams of Ch&#257;nda contain minute particles of gold. The washers
+earn a miserable and uncertain livelihood, and indeed appear not to desire <a id="d0e14429"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14429">514</a>]</span>anything beyond a bare subsistence. In Bhand&#257;ra<a id="d0e14431src" href="#d0e14431" class="noteref">3</a> it is said that they avoid any spot where they have previously been lucky, while in Ch&#257;nda they have a superstition that
+a person making a good find of gold will be childless, and hence many dread the search.<a id="d0e14436src" href="#d0e14436" class="noteref">4</a> 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<a id="d0e14442src" href="#d0e14442" class="noteref">5</a> 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 <i>ghariya</i> by which the mercury is got rid of and the gold left behind.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14404" href="#d0e14404src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>F. glomerata</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14412" href="#d0e14412src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t Gazetteer</i>, C.E. Low, p. 207.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14431" href="#d0e14431src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Bhand&#257;ra Settlement Report</i> (A.J. Lawrence), p. 49.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14436" href="#d0e14436src" class="noteref">4</a></span> Major Lucie Smith&#8217;s <i>Ch&#257;nda Settlement Report</i> (1869), p. 105.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14442" href="#d0e14442src" class="noteref">5</a></span> The following account of the process of gold-washing is taken from Mr. Low&#8217;s <i>B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t Gazetteer</i>, p. 201.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e14451" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Sudh</h2>
+<p><b>Sudh,<a id="d0e14457src" href="#d0e14457" class="noteref">1</a> Sudha, Sudho, Suda</b>.&#8212;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&#8212;the Bada or high Sudhs, the Dehri or worshippers, the Kab&#257;t-konia or those
+holding the corners of the gate, and the Butka. These last are the most primitive and think that Rair&#257;khol is their first
+home. They relate that they were born of the P&#257;ndava hero Bh&#299;msen and the female demon Hedembiki, and were originally occupied
+in supplying leaves for the funeral ceremonies <a id="d0e14461"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14461">515</a>]</span>of the P&#257;ndava brothers, from which business they obtained their name of Butka or &#8216;one who brings leaves.&#8217; 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 Rair&#257;khol 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 Rair&#257;khol. In former times there was constant war between B&#257;mra and Rair&#257;khol,
+and on one occasion the whole of the Rair&#257;khol 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 B&#257;mra R&#257;ja&#8217;s soldiers came to seek
+for him the Sudhs swore, &#8220;If we have kept him either in heaven or earth may our god destroy us.&#8221; The B&#257;mra 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 Jan&#257;mani
+or &#8216;Jewel among men,&#8217; which the family still bear. In consequence of this incident, the Butka Sudhs are considered by the
+Rair&#257;khol house as relations on their mother&#8217;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 <i>gotras</i> as Bhall&#363;ka (bear), B&#257;gh (tiger), Ull&#363;ka (owl), and others. They also have <i>bargas</i> or family names as Th&#257;kur (lord), D&#257;naik, Am&#257;yat and B&#299;shi. The Th&#257;kur clan say that they used to hold the Baud kings in
+their lap for their coronation, and the D&#257;naik used to tie the king&#8217;s turban. The B&#299;shi were so named because of their skill
+in arms, and the Am&#257;yat collected materials for the worship of the P&#257;nch Khanda or five swords. The <i>bargas</i> are much more numerous than the totemistic septs, and marriage either within the <i>barga</i> or within the sept is forbidden. Girls <a id="d0e14475"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14475">516</a>]</span>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&#8217;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 P&#257;nch Khanda or five
+swords, and in the Central Provinces they say that these are a representation of the five P&#257;ndava brothers, in whose service
+their first ancestors were engaged. Their tutelary goddess is Khambeshwari, represented by a wooden peg (<i>khamba</i>). 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 Kandr&#257;pat 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.
+<a id="d0e14480"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14480">517</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14457" href="#d0e14457src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is compiled from a paper by Mr. Bh&#257;girath Patn&#257;ik, Diw&#257;n of Rair&#257;khol, and from notes taken by Mr. H&#299;ra L&#257;l at
+Rair&#257;khol.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e14481" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Sun&#257;r</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e14563">1. General notice of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14593">2. Internal structure</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14615">3. Marriage and other customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14623">4. Religion</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14635">5. Social position</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14640">6. Manufacture of ornaments</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14667">7. The sanctity of gold</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14813">8. Ornaments. The marriage ornaments</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14878">9. Beads and other ornaments</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14959">10. Ear-piercing</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e14996">11. Origin of ear-piercing</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15008">12. Ornaments worn as amulets</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15015">13. Audhia Sun&#257;rs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15033">14. The Sun&#257;r as money-changer</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15073">15. Malpractices of lower-class Sum&#257;rs</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14563">
+<h3>1. General notice of the caste</h3>
+<p>Sun&#257;r,<a id="d0e14568src" href="#d0e14568" class="noteref">1</a> Son&#257;r, Soni, Hon-Potd&#257;r, Sar&#257;f.&#8212;The occupational caste of goldsmiths and silversmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit
+<i>Suvarna k&#257;r</i>, a worker in gold. In 1911 the Sun&#257;rs numbered 96,000 persons in the Central Provinces and 30,000 in Ber&#257;r. 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 Br&#257;hmanical legends of the usual type.
+The most interesting of these as related by Sir H. Risley is as follows:<a id="d0e14574src" href="#d0e14574" class="noteref">2</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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. <a id="d0e14581"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14581">518</a>]</span>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.&#8221; The Sun&#257;rs also have a story that they are the descendants of
+one of two R&#257;jp&#363;t brothers, who were saved as boys by a S&#257;raswat Br&#257;hman from the wrath of Parasur&#257;ma 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 Sun&#257;rs, nor can the Sun&#257;rs allege that S&#257;raswat Br&#257;hmans
+eat with them as they do with Khatris. In Gujar&#257;t they have a similar legend connecting them with Banias. In Bombay they also
+claim to be Br&#257;hmans, and in the Central Provinces a caste of goldsmiths akin to the Sun&#257;rs call themselves Vishwa Br&#257;hmans.
+On the other hand, before and during the time of the Peshwas, Sun&#257;rs 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 Sun&#257;r bridegroom. Sun&#257;r 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 Mah&#257;rs were free.<a id="d0e14583src" href="#d0e14583" class="noteref">3</a> Their <i>raison d&#8217;&ecirc;tre</i> may possibly be found in the fact that the Br&#257;hmans, all-powerful in the Poona state, were jealous of the pretensions of
+the Sun&#257;rs, and devised these rules as a means of suppressing them. It may be suggested that the Sun&#257;rs, being workers at
+an important urban <a id="d0e14591"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14591">519</a>]</span>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 Sun&#257;r is included in Grant-Duff&#8217;s list of the twenty-four village menials of a Mar&#257;tha village, and
+consequently he would in past times have ranked below the cultivators, from whom he must have accepted the annual presents
+of grain.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14593">
+<h3>2. Internal structure</h3>
+<p>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
+Pur&#257;nia or old settlers; the Bundelkhandi from Bundelkhand; the M&#257;lwi from M&#257;lwa; the L&#257;d from L&#257;t, the old name for the southern
+portion of Gujar&#257;t; 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 P&#257;tkars, so called because they allow
+<i>p&#257;t</i> or widow-marriage, though, as a matter of fact, it is permitted by the great majority of the caste; the P&#257;ndhare or &#8216;White
+Sun&#257;rs&#8217;; and the Ah&#299;r Sun&#257;rs, whose ancestors must presumably have belonged to the caste whose name they bear. The caste have
+also numerous <i>bainks</i> 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&#8217;s founder, are: Dantele, one who has projecting teeth; K&#257;le, black; Munde, bald; Kolh&#299;m&#257;re, a killer of jackals;
+and Ladaiya, a jackal or a quarrelsome person. Among the territorial names are Narwaria from Narwar; Bhilsainy&#257;n from Bhilsa;
+Kanaujia from Kanauj; Dill&#299;w&#257;l from Delhi; K&#257;lpiw&#257;l from K&#257;lpi. Besides the <i>bainks</i> or septs by which marriage is regulated, they have adopted the Br&#257;hmanical eponymous <i>gotra</i>-names as Kashyap, Garg, S&#257;ndilya, and so on. These are employed on ceremonial occasions as when a gift is made <a id="d0e14610"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14610">520</a>]</span>for the purpose of obtaining religious merit, and the <i>gotra-</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14615">
+<h3>3. Marriage and other customs</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s daughter may be wedded to a sister&#8217;s son. A man is forbidden to marry two sisters
+while both are alive, and after his wife&#8217;s death he may espouse her younger sister, but not her elder one. Girls are usually
+wedded at a tender age, but some Sun&#257;rs 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 Sun&#257;rs are giving up this custom. The marriage ceremony
+follows the Hindust&#257;ni or Mar&#257;tha ritual according to locality.<a id="d0e14620src" href="#d0e14620" class="noteref">4</a> In Bet&#363;l 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&#8217;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&#8217;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
+Sun&#257;rs who desire increased social distinction prohibit the marriage of widows, but the caste generally allow it.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14623">
+<h3>4. Religion</h3>
+<p>The caste venerate the ordinary Hindu deities, and many of them have sects and return themselves as Vaishnavas, Saivas or
+S&#257;ktas. 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 D&#363;lha Deo, the marriage-god, on the following Dasahra festival,
+and the body of this must be <a id="d0e14628"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14628">521</a>]</span>eaten by the family only, no outsider being allowed to participate. In Hoshang&#257;b&#257;d it is stated that on the night before the
+Dasahra festival all the Sun&#257;rs 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 Sun&#257;r who violates this agreement is put out of caste. On the 15th day of Jeth (May) the village Sun&#257;r 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 <i>shr&#257;ddh</i> 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 Kunw&#257;r (September).
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14635">
+<h3>5. Social position</h3>
+<p>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 Br&#257;hman. Others do not observe these restrictions. Br&#257;hmans will usually take water from Sun&#257;rs, 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 Sun&#257;rs 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 Mar&#257;tha villages,
+and Sir D. Ibbetson thinks that the Jat really considers the Sun&#257;r to be distinctly inferior to himself.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14640">
+<h3>6. Manufacture of ornaments</h3>
+<p>The Sun&#257;r makes all kinds of ornaments of gold and silver, being usually supplied with the metal by his <a id="d0e14645"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14645">522</a>]</span>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.<a id="d0e14647src" href="#d0e14647" class="noteref">5</a> 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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;Crindle&#8217;s <i>Ancient India</i> that any one who caused an artisan to lose the use of an eye or a hand was put to death.<a id="d0e14653src" href="#d0e14653" class="noteref">6</a> In England the jeweller&#8217;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 Sun&#257;r 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 Sun&#257;r&#8217;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 Sun&#257;rs make small articles of brass,
+such as chains, bells and little boxes. Others have become cultivators and drive the <a id="d0e14658"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14658">523</a>]</span>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 Sun&#257;r the hands must be trained from early youth to acquire the necessary delicacy of touch.
+The Sun&#257;r&#8217;s son sits all day with his father watching him work and handling the ornaments. Formerly the Sun&#257;r never touched
+a plough. Like the Pekin ivory painter&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>From early dawn he works;
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>And all day long, and when night comes the lamp
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Lights up his studious forehead and thin hands.</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14667">
+<h3>7. The sanctity of gold</h3>
+<p>As already stated, the Sun&#257;r 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. Mar&#257;tha and Khed&#257;w&#257;l Br&#257;hman 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 <i>tulsi</i> 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.<a id="d0e14675src" href="#d0e14675" class="noteref">7</a> A similar idea was prevalent in Europe. <i>Aurum potabile</i><a id="d0e14680src" href="#d0e14680" class="noteref">8</a> or drinkable gold was a favourite nostrum of the Middle Ages, because gold being perfect should produce perfect health; and
+patients when <i>in extremis</i> were commonly given water in which gold had been washed. And the belief is referred to by Shakespeare:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Therefore, thou best of gold art worst of gold:
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Other, less fine in carat, is more precious,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Preserving life in medicine potable.<a id="d0e14696src" href="#d0e14696" class="noteref">9</a></span></p>
+</div>
+</div><a id="d0e14700"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14700">524</a>]</span><p>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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e14704" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p124.jpg" alt="Ornaments" width="648" height="546"><p class="figureHead">Ornaments</p>
+<p>List of Ornaments, from Left to Right.
+
+</p>
+<p>Three bracelets on top of board, from left to right:&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li>1.&#8212;Anklet, with links like coils of a snake.
+
+</li>
+<li>2.&#8212;<i>Tora</i>, or solid anklet.
+
+</li>
+<li>3.&#8212;<i>Naugrihi</i>, or wristlet of nine planets.
+</li>
+</ul><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Second row, from left to right:&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li>4.&#8212;Large <i>nathni</i>, or nose-ring.
+
+</li>
+<li>5.&#8212;Another <i>naugrihi</i>.
+
+</li>
+<li>6.&#8212;<i>B&#299;ja,</i> or custard apple worn on head above <i>bindia</i>.
+
+</li>
+<li>7.&#8212;<i>Bindia</i>, or ornament worn on head.
+
+</li>
+<li>8.&#8212;<i>Haniel</i>, or necklace of rupees with betel-leaf pendant.
+</li>
+</ul><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Third row, from left to right:&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li>9.&#8212;Small <i>nathni</i>, or nose-ring.
+
+</li>
+<li>10.&#8212;<i>Bora</i>, or waistband with beads like smallpox postules.
+
+</li>
+<li>11.&#8212;<i>Kantha</i>, or gold necklace.
+
+</li>
+<li>12.&#8212;<i>Bohta,</i> or circlet for upper arm.
+
+</li>
+<li>13.&#8212;<i>Hasli</i>, or necklet like collar-bone.
+</li>
+</ul><p>
+
+</p>
+<p>Fourth row, from left to right:&#8212;
+
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li>14.&#8212;<i>Karanph&#363;l</i> or earring like marigold.
+
+</li>
+<li>15.&#8212;<i>Paijan</i>, or hollow tinkling anklet.
+
+</li>
+<li>16.&#8212;<i>Dhara</i>, or earring like shield.
+
+</li>
+<li>17.&#8212;Another anklet.
+
+</li>
+<li>18.&#8212;Another armlet, called &#8220;<i>koparbela</i>.&#8221;
+</li>
+</ul><p>
+
+</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14813">
+<h3>8. Ornaments. The marriage ornaments</h3>
+<p>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:<a id="d0e14818src" href="#d0e14818" class="noteref">10</a> &#8220;Jewels, too, such as women wore in the sanctuary, had a sacred character; the Syriac word for an earring is <i>c&#8217; d&#257;sha</i>, &#8216;the holy thing,&#8217; 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.&#8221; 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<a id="d0e14826src" href="#d0e14826" class="noteref">11</a> 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 <i>bindia</i> or head ornament of a Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hman woman consists of two chains of silver or gold and in the centre an image of a cobra
+erect. This is Shesh-N&#257;g, the sacred snake, who spreads his hood over all the <i>lingas</i> of Mah&#257;deo and is placed on the woman&#8217;s head to guard her in the same way. The Kurmis and other castes do not have Shesh-N&#257;g,
+but instead the centre of the <i>bindia</i> consists of an ornament known as <i>b&#299;ja</i>, which represents the custard-apple, the sacred fruit of Sita. The <i>nathni</i> 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 <a id="d0e14849"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14849">525</a>]</span>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 <i>nathni</i> has some mysterious connection with a woman&#8217;s virtue, and to take off her nose-ring&#8212;<i>nathni utd&#257;rna</i>&#8212;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 <i>parda</i>. 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 <i>bichhia</i> and it represents a scorpion (<i>bichhu</i>). A ring on the big toe stands for the scorpion&#8217;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 <i>bindia</i>, the <i>nathni</i> and the <i>bichhia</i>, must form part of the Soh&#257;g 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 <i>laong</i> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14878">
+<h3>9. Beads and other ornaments</h3>
+<p>In the Mar&#257;tha Districts an essential feature of a wedding is the hanging of the <i>mangal-s&#363;tram</i> or necklace of black beads round the bride&#8217;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 <i>mangals&#363;tram</i> <a id="d0e14889"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14889">526</a>]</span>or marriage string of beads all her life, and considers that her husband&#8217;s life is to some extent bound up in it. If she breaks
+the thread she will not say &#8216;my thread is broken,&#8217; but &#8216;my thread has increased&#8217;; 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 Madr&#257;sis 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 <i>kantha</i> worn on the neck has carvings of the flowers of the <i>sing&#257;ra</i> 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 <i>hamel</i> 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 Isl&#257;m and worn by Muhammadans as a charm. Suspended to the <i>hamel</i> 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 Hanum&#257;n, the god of strength, or a peacock&#8217;s feather as a symbol of K&#257;rtikeya, the
+god of war. The silver bar necklet known as <i>hasli</i> is intended to resemble the collar-bone. Children carried in their mother&#8217;s <a id="d0e14906"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14906">527</a>]</span>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&#8217;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 <i>bora</i>; these beads are meant to resemble the smallpox pustules and the <i>bora</i> 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 <i>kalas</i> or pinnacle of a temple. This is called <i>nau-graha</i> or <i>nau-giri</i> and represents the nine planets which are worshipped at weddings&#8212;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 <i>bonhta</i> or <i>b&#257;nkra</i>, the rigid circular bangle on the upper arm, is supposed to make a woman&#8217;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 <i>chutka</i>, 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.
+
+</p>
+<p>On their feet children and young girls wear the <i>paijan</i> or hollow anklet with tinkling balls inside. But when a married woman has had two or three children she leaves off the <i>paijan</i> and wears a solid anklet like the <i>tora</i> or <i>kasa</i>. 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 <a id="d0e14946"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14946">528</a>]</span>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 <i>jins</i> or <i>genii</i> of Arabia were really wild animals.<a id="d0e14954src" href="#d0e14954" class="noteref">12</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14959">
+<h3>10. Ear-piercing</h3>
+<p>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 Sun&#257;r. 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 R&#257;j-Gonds will not have the ears of their children pierced by any one but a Sun&#257;r; and for this they give him
+<i>s&#299;dha</i> or a seer<a id="d0e14967src" href="#d0e14967" class="noteref">13</a> of wheat, a seer of rice and an anna. Hindus employ a Sun&#257;r when one is available, but if not, an old man of the family may
+act. After the piercing a peacock&#8217;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 Bhop&#257;l, 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 <i>genda</i> 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 <a id="d0e14973"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e14973">529</a>]</span>is greatly distended among the lower castes. The <i>tarkhi</i> or Gond ear-ornament consists of a glass plate fixed on to a stem of <i>amb&#257;ri</i> 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 Sun&#257;r is sometimes called in who stitches up the ear with silver thread.<a id="d0e14981src" href="#d0e14981" class="noteref">14</a> Low-caste Hindu and Gond women often wear a large circular embossed silver ornament over the ear which is known as <i>dh&#257;ra</i> 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 <i>dhenri</i> and consists of a shield-shaped disk of gold, worn on the lobe of the ear, sometimes with and sometimes without a pendant.<a id="d0e14990src" href="#d0e14990" class="noteref">15</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e14996">
+<h3>11. Origin of ear-piercing</h3>
+<p>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. &#8220;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
+<a id="d0e15001"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15001">530</a>]</span>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.&#8221;<a id="d0e15003src" href="#d0e15003" class="noteref">16</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15008">
+<h3>12. Ornaments worn as amulets</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e15013"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15013">531</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15015">
+<h3>13. Audhia Sun&#257;rs</h3>
+<p>The Audhia Sun&#257;rs 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 Mar&#257;tha and Khed&#257;w&#257;l Br&#257;hmans may not wear them at
+all. In consequence of having adopted this derogatory occupation, as it is considered, the Audhia Sun&#257;rs 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 <i>kara</i> or curved bar anklets, which the Audhia works on to the purchaser&#8217;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 <i>kara</i> as they object to having their foot grasped by the Sun&#257;r. They wear instead a chain anklet which they can work on themselves.
+The Sun&#257;rs 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 Ni&#257;r&#299;as, who take the ashes and sweepings from the goldsmith&#8217;s
+shop, paying a sum of <a id="d0e15026"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15026">532</a>]</span>ten or twenty rupees annually for them.<a id="d0e15028src" href="#d0e15028" class="noteref">17</a> They wash away the refuse and separate the grains of gold and silver, which they sell back to the Sun&#257;rs. Ni&#257;ria also appears
+to be an occupational term, and not a caste.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15033">
+<h3>14. The Sun&#257;r as money-changer</h3>
+<p>Formerly Sun&#257;rs were employed for counting and testing money in the public treasuries, and in this capacity they were designated
+as Potd&#257;r and Sar&#257;f or Shroff. Before the introduction of the standard English coinage the money-changer&#8217;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&frac12; annas in the baz&#257;r. In Bengal,<a id="d0e15038src" href="#d0e15038" class="noteref">18</a> 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 <i>kald&#257;r</i> 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 <i>kald&#257;r</i> rupee was thus one thirty-sixth on the two transactions, while all old rupees, and every kind of rupee but the <i>kald&#257;r</i>, paid various rates of exchange or <i>batta</i>, according to the will of the money-changers, who made a higher profit on all other kinds of money than the <i>kald&#257;r</i>. 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 <i>batta</i>, 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 <i>batta</i> or exchange rather than suffer delay. This was apparently the origin of the &#8216;Shroff-marked rupees,&#8217; familiar to readers of
+the <i>Treasury Manual</i>; and the line in a Bh&#257;t song, &#8216;The <a id="d0e15068"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15068">533</a>]</span>English have made current the <i>kald&#257;r</i> (milled) rupee,&#8217; is thus seen to be no empty praise.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15073">
+<h3>15. Malpractices of lower-class Sum&#257;rs</h3>
+<p>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 Sun&#257;r 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
+Sun&#257;r 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 Shr&#257;wan (July) and make it into a luck-penny.<a id="d0e15078src" href="#d0e15078" class="noteref">19</a> This has given rise to the saying, &#8216;The Sun&#257;r will not respect even his mother&#8217;s gold&#8217;; but the implication appears to be
+unjust. Another saying is: <i>&#8216;Sona Sun&#257;r k&#257;, abharan sans&#257;r ka,&#8217;</i> or, &#8216;The ornament is the customer&#8217;s, but the gold remains with the Sun&#257;r.&#8217;<a id="d0e15086src" href="#d0e15086" class="noteref">20</a> Gold is usually melted in the employer&#8217;s presence, who, to guard against fraud, keeps a small piece of the metal called <i>ch&#257;sn&#299;</i> or <i>m&#257;slo</i>, that is a sample, and when the ornament is ready sends it with the sample to an assayer or <i>Chokshi</i> 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 Sun&#257;r while the ornament is being made or sends one of his family to watch. In spite
+of these precautions the Sun&#257;r seldom fails to filch some of the gold while the spy&#8217;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.<a id="d0e15100src" href="#d0e15100" class="noteref">21</a> 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.<a id="d0e15105src" href="#d0e15105" class="noteref">22</a> The account must, however, be taken to apply only to the small artisans, <a id="d0e15111"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15111">534</a>]</span>and well-to-do reputable Sun&#257;rs would be above such practices.
+
+</p>
+<p>The goldsmith&#8217;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 Sun&#257;r continues to prosper.
+
+</p>
+<p>A Persian couplet said by a lover to his mistress is, &#8216;Gold has no scent and in the scent of flowers there is no gold; but
+thou both art gold and hast scent.&#8217;
+
+</p>
+<p id="d0e15117"><b>Sundi, Sundhi, Sunri or Sondhi.</b><a id="d0e15120src" href="#d0e15120" class="noteref">23</a>&#8212;The liquor-distilling caste of the Uriya country. The transfer of Sambalpur and the Uriya States to Bih&#257;r and Orissa has
+reduced their strength in the Central Provinces to about 5000, found in the Raipur District and the Bastar and Chota N&#257;gpur
+Feudatory States. The caste is an important one in Bengal, numbering more than six lakhs of persons and being found in western
+Bengal and Bih&#257;r 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 Br&#257;hmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas. The following story is told of them in Madras.<a id="d0e15123src" href="#d0e15123" class="noteref">24</a> In ancient times a certain Br&#257;hman 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 Br&#257;hman 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 Br&#257;hman told his story the distiller
+promised to cause the water to burn on condition that the Br&#257;hman gave him his daughter in marriage. This the Br&#257;hman 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 Br&#257;hman 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
+<a id="d0e15128"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15128">535</a>]</span>recollection of their Br&#257;hman ancestors by refusing to eat fowls or the remains of their husbands&#8217; 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: &#8220;According to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink rank among the most degraded castes,
+and a curious story in the Vaivarta Pur&#257;na keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is said that when Sani, the Hindu
+Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant&#8217;s head to the mutilated trunk of Ganesh who had been accidentally slain by Siva, Visw&#257;karma,
+the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous parts together,
+and made a man called Ked&#257;ra Sena from the slices cut off in fashioning his work. This Ked&#257;ra Sena was ordered to fetch a
+drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding on the river&#8217;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.&#8221; Like other castes in Sambalpur the Sundis have two subcastes, the Jh&#257;rua and the
+Utkal or Uriya, of whom the Jh&#257;ruas 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 N&#257;gas or snake gotra, because they consider themselves to be descended from B&#257;suki, the serpent with a thousand heads
+who formed a canopy for Vishnu. They also have <i>bargas</i> 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 <i>sapindas</i> 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 <i>bargas</i> or exogamous groups are still in existence is <a id="d0e15139"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15139">536</a>]</span>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 S&#257;hu (lord) group has split into the Gaj S&#257;hu (lord of the elephant), Dhavila S&#257;hu (white lord),
+and Amila S&#257;hu sub-groups, and it need not be doubted that this was a convenient method adopted for splitting up the S&#257;hu
+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 <i>pitripaksh</i> or worship of ancestors is as follows: A human figure is made of <i>kusha</i> 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 Sur&#257;devi 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14568" href="#d0e14568src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is partly based on an article by Mr. Raghun&#257;th Pras&#257;d, E.A.C., formerly Deputy Superintendent of Census, with
+extracts from the late Mr. Nunn&#8217;s Monograph on the Gold and Silver Industries, and on information furnished by Krishna Rao,
+Revenue Inspector, Mandla.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14574" href="#d0e14574src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Sun&#257;r.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14583" href="#d0e14583src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xvii. p. 134.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14620" href="#d0e14620src" class="noteref">4</a></span> See articles on Kunbi and Kurmi.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14647" href="#d0e14647src" class="noteref">5</a></span> Monograph on the Gold and Silverware of the Central Provinces (Mr. H. Nunn, I.C.S.), 1904. The tola is a rupee&#8217;s weight, or
+two-fifths of an ounce.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14653" href="#d0e14653src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Journal of Indian Art</i>, July 1909, p. 172.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14675" href="#d0e14675src" class="noteref">7</a></span> From a monograph on rural customs in Saugor, by Major W.D. Sutherland, I.M.S.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14680" href="#d0e14680src" class="noteref">8</a></span> Lang, <i>Myth, Ritual and Religion</i>, i. p. 98.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14696" href="#d0e14696src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i>2 King Henry IV.</i> Act IV. Sc. 4.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14818" href="#d0e14818src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>Religion of the Semites</i>, note B., p. 453.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14826" href="#d0e14826src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, <i>Poona</i>, App. D., Ornaments.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14954" href="#d0e14954src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>Religion of the Semites</i>, Lecture III.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14967" href="#d0e14967src" class="noteref">13</a></span> 2 lbs.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14981" href="#d0e14981src" class="noteref">14</a></span> From a paper on Caste Panch&#257;yats, by the Rev. Failbus, C.M.S. Mission, Mandla.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e14990" href="#d0e14990src" class="noteref">15</a></span> R&#257;jendra L&#257;l Mitra, <i>Indo-Aryans</i> vol. i. p. 231.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15003" href="#d0e15003src" class="noteref">16</a></span> <i>Introduction to the History of Religion</i>, 3rd ed. p. 172.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15028" href="#d0e15028src" class="noteref">17</a></span> Monograph, <i>loc. cit.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15038" href="#d0e15038src" class="noteref">18</a></span> This account is taken from Buchanan&#8217;s <i>Eastern India</i>, vol. ii. p. 100.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15078" href="#d0e15078src" class="noteref">19</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xii. p. 71.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15086" href="#d0e15086src" class="noteref">20</a></span> Temple and Fallon&#8217;s <i>Hindust&#257;ni Proverbs.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15100" href="#d0e15100src" class="noteref">21</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujar&#257;t,</i> pp. 199, 200.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15105" href="#d0e15105src" class="noteref">22</a></span> Pand&#299;an&#8217;s <i>Indian Village Folk</i>, p. 41.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15120" href="#d0e15120src" class="noteref">23</a></span> This article is compiled from a paper by Mr. D. Mitra, pleader, Sambalpur.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15123" href="#d0e15123src" class="noteref">24</a></span> <i>Madras Census Report</i>, 1891, p. 301.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e15147" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Tamera</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. The Tamera and Kas&#257;r</h3>
+<p><b>Tamera, Tambatkar</b>.<a id="d0e15157src" href="#d0e15157" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;The professional caste of coppersmiths, the name being derived from <i>t&#257;mba</i>, copper. The <a id="d0e15163"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15163">537</a>]</span>Tameras, however, like the Kas&#257;rs or brass-workers, use copper, brass and bell-metal indifferently, and in the northern Districts
+the castes are not really distinguished, Tamera and Kas&#257;r being almost interchangeable terms. In the Mar&#257;tha country, however,
+and other localities they are considered as distinct castes. Copper is a sacred metal, and the copper-smith&#8217;s calling would
+be considered somewhat more respectable than that of the worker in brass or bell-metal, just as the Sun&#257;r or goldsmith ranks
+above both; and probably, therefore, the Tameras may consider themselves a little better than the Kas&#257;rs. 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 Kas&#257;r caste came into being before the adoption of brass as
+a convenient material for the household pots and pans.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Social traditions and customs</h3>
+<p>In 1911 the Tameras numbered about 5000 persons in the Central Provinces and Ber&#257;r. They tell the same story of their origin
+which has already been related in the article on the Kas&#257;r caste, and trace their descent from the Haihaya R&#257;jp&#363;t dynasty
+of Ratanpur. They say that when the king Dharamp&#257;l, 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 <i>Anta s&#257;nta</i> or the practice of exchanging girls between families, the reason alleged being that after the bride&#8217;s father has acknowledged
+the superiority of the bridegroom&#8217;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 <a id="d0e15173"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15173">538</a>]</span>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 <i>kankan</i> 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 <i>choti</i> 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 <i>choti</i> has been discussed in the article on Nai.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>3. Disposal of the dead</h3>
+<p>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 &#8216;S&#257;ttiho J&#257;t&#8217; 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>4. Religion</h3>
+<p>The caste worship the goddess Singhb&#257;hani. 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 <a id="d0e15194"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15194">539</a>]</span>their trade implements on the day of the new moon in Chait (March) and Bh&#257;don (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 R&#257;mnaomi and Durgap&#363;ja or nine days&#8217; fasts in the months of Chait and Kunw&#257;r, and for the
+two days following the Diw&#257;li 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 Br&#257;hmans for their priests, and the Br&#257;hmans will take food from them which
+has been cooked without water and salt. On this account other Kanaujia Br&#257;hmans 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. Br&#257;hmans 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 Kas&#257;rs, and
+have an equivalent social position.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15157" href="#d0e15157src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based on information: contributed by Nand Kishore, N&#257;zir of the Deputy Commissioner&#8217;s Office, Damoh; Mr. T&#257;r&#257;chand
+Dube, Municipal Member, Bil&#257;spur; and Mr. Adur&#257;m Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e15196" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Taonla</h2>
+<p><b>Taonla</b>.&#8212;A small non-Aryan caste of the Uriya States. They reside principally in B&#257;mra 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 T&#257;lm&#363;l, a village in the Angul District of Orissa, and they came to B&#257;mra 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 P&#257;iks they formed the levies of some
+of the Uriya R&#257;jas, 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 N&#257;ik (leader),
+Padh&#257;n (chief), Khandait (swordsman), and Behra <a id="d0e15203"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15203">540</a>]</span>(master of the kitchen) indicate their ancestral profession. The other subcastes are called D&#257;ngua and Khond; the D&#257;nguas,
+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 B&#257;mra. The candidate has simply to worship K&#257;lap&#257;t, 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 <i>liaison</i> 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 Panw&#257;rs and Gonds and the R&#257;jbhars and Lodhis.
+
+</p>
+<p>The Taonlas have no exogamous divisions as they all belong to the same <i>gotra</i>, that of the N&#257;g 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 <i>chhor-chitthi</i> or letter severing connection. Then she goes before the caste <a id="d0e15216"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15216">541</a>]</span><i>panch&#257;yat</i> and pronounces her husband&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>The tutelary deity of the caste is K&#257;lap&#257;t, who resides at T&#257;lm&#363;l in Angul District. They offer him a goat at the festival
+of Naw&#257;khai 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&#8217;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 <i>j&#257;mun</i> tree (<i>Eugenia jambolana</i>) 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&#8217;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.
+<a id="d0e15228"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15228">542</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e15229" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Teli</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e15320">1. Strength and distribution of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15340">2. Origin and traditions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15369">3. Endogamous subcastes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15406">4. Exogamous divisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15413">5. Marriage customs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15426">6. Widow-remarriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15436">7. Religion: Caste deities</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15443">8. Driving out evil</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15462">9. Customs at birth and death</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15467">10. Social status</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15474">11. Social customs and caste penalties</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15490">12. The R&#257;thor Telis</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15498">13. Gujar&#257;ti Telis of Nim&#257;r</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15505">14. The Teli an unlucky caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15538">15. Occupation. Oil-pressing</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15566">16. Trade and agriculture</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15576">17. Teli beneficence</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15320">
+<h3>1. Strength and distribution of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>Teli.</b><a id="d0e15326src" href="#d0e15326" class="noteref">1</a>&#8212;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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh and N&#257;gpur Divisions, nearly 400,000 belonging
+to the former and 200,000 to the latter tract; while in Ber&#257;r 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 N&#257;gpur and Chhatt&#299;sgarh it gives
+no reason to account for their small numbers in Ber&#257;r. In Chhatt&#299;sgarh again nearly all the Telis are cultivators, and it
+may be supposed that, like the Cham&#257;rs, 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 N&#257;gpur Division, with the exception of part of Wardha, the Telis
+have had no such opening and are not <a id="d0e15329"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15329">543</a>]</span>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 <i>tailika</i> or <i>taila</i>, oil, and this word, is derived from the <i>tilli</i> or sesamum plant.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15340">
+<h3>2. Origin and traditions</h3>
+<p>The caste have few traditions of origin. Their usual story is that during Siva&#8217;s absence the goddess P&#257;rvati 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 P&#257;rvati, 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&#8217;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 P&#257;rvati. This last statement affords some support to Mr. Marten&#8217;s suggestion<a id="d0e15345src" href="#d0e15345" class="noteref">2</a> that a certain veneration attaching to the pestle and mortar and their use in marriage ceremonies may be due to the idea
+of their <a id="d0e15353"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15353">544</a>]</span>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 Kail&#257;s or Siva&#8217;s heaven, the whole of India would be to the south. Another story related
+by Mr. Crooke<a id="d0e15355src" href="#d0e15355" class="noteref">3</a> from M&#299;rz&#257;pur is that a certain man had three sons and owned fifty-two mahua<a id="d0e15360src" href="#d0e15360" class="noteref">4</a> 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 Bharbh&#363;njas
+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 Kal&#257;r; 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 Kal&#257;rs 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 R&#257;thor Telis of Mandla
+say that they were R&#257;thor R&#257;jp&#363;ts who fled from the Muhammadans and threw away their swords and sacred threads; and the Telis
+of Nim&#257;r, several of whom are wealthy merchants, give out that their ancestors were Modh Banias from Gujar&#257;t 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e15365" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p125.jpg" alt="Teli&#8217;s oil-press" width="720" height="540"><p class="figureHead">Teli&#8217;s oil-press</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15369">
+<h3>3. Endogamous subcastes</h3>
+<p>The caste has a large number of subdivisions. The principal groups in Chhatt&#299;sgarh are the Halia, Jharia and Ekbahia Telis.
+The Halias, who perhaps take their name from <i>hal</i>, a plough, are considered to be the best cultivators, and are said to have immigrated from Mandla some generations <a id="d0e15377"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15377">545</a>]</span>ago. Probably the bulk of the Hindu population of Chhatt&#299;sgarh 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 Br&#257;hman 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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh, and the Chhote or Little Telis, who are of illegitimate
+descent. Children born out of wedlock are relegated to this group.
+
+</p>
+<p>In the N&#257;gpur 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 Tar&#257;ne. 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&#8217;s part and a degrading incident of
+his profession; the Teli&#8217;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 <i>erandi</i> or castor-oil seed, but the rule is no longer maintained. The Yerande women leave <a id="d0e15384"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15384">546</a>]</span>off wearing the <i>choli</i> or breast-cloth after they have had one child, and have nothing under the <i>s&#257;ri</i> or body-cloth, but they wear this folded double. The Ruthia group are said to be so called from the noise <i>rut, rut</i> made by the oil-mill in turning. They say they are descended from the N&#257;g 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 S&#257;hu is the title of a moneylender, but they are usually cultivators or village proprietors. A Br&#257;hman will
+enter a Sao Teli&#8217;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 <i>batar</i>, a kind of pea, and the Hardia from raising the <i>haldi</i> or turmeric. The Teli-Kal&#257;rs appear to be a mixed group of Kal&#257;rs who have taken to the oilman&#8217;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 Nim&#257;r the Gujar&#257;ti 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 Gujar&#257;t itself. &#8220;The large
+class of oilmen known in Gujar&#257;t as Modh-Ghanelis were originally Modh Banias, who by taking to making and selling oil lost
+their position as Banias&#8221;;<a id="d0e15401src" href="#d0e15401" class="noteref">5</a> 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 R&#257;thor Telis of Mandla, who now claim to be R&#257;thor R&#257;jp&#363;ts, will be more fully noticed
+later. There are also several local subcastes, as the Mattha or Mar&#257;tha Telis, who say they came from P&#257;tan in Gujar&#257;t, the
+Sirwas from the ancient city of Sr&#257;vasti in Gonda District, and the Kanaujia from Oudh.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15406">
+<h3>4. Exogamous divisions</h3>
+<p>Each subcaste is divided into a number of exogamous groups for the regulation of marriages. The names of the <a id="d0e15411"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15411">547</a>]</span>groups appear to be taken either from villages or titles or nicknames. Most of them cannot be recognised, but the following
+are a few: B&#257;ghm&#257;re, a tiger-killer; Deshmukh, a village officer; Vaidya, a physician; B&#257;wankule, the fifty-two septs; Badw&#257;ik,
+the great ones; Satpute, seven sons; Bh&#257;jikh&#257;ya, an eater of vegetables; Satapaise, seven pice; Ghorem&#257;dia, a horse-killer;
+Chaudhri, a caste headman; Ardona, a kind of gram; Malgh&#257;ti, a valley; Chandan-mal&#257;gar, one who presented sandalwood; and
+Sanichara, born on Saturday. Three septs, Dhurwa, Besr&#257;m, a hawk, and Sonw&#257;ni, gold-water, belong to the Gonds or other tribes.
+The clans of the R&#257;thor Telis of Mandla are said to be named after villages in Jubbulpore and Maihar State.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15413">
+<h3>5. Marriage customs</h3>
+<p>The marriage of persons of the same sept and of first cousins is usually forbidden. A man may marry his wife&#8217;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 <i>liaison</i> with an outsider among most Telis. In Ch&#257;nda the parents of a girl who is not married before puberty are fined. The proposal
+comes from the boy&#8217;s side and a bride-price is usually paid, though not of large amount. The Halia Telis of Chhatt&#299;sgarh,
+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&#8217; 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&#8217;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 Br&#257;hman at the wedding, but not the <a id="d0e15421"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15421">548</a>]</span>Jharias. In Wardha the bridegroom&#8217;s head is covered with a blanket, over which is placed the marriage-crown. On the arrival
+of the bridegroom&#8217;s party they are regaled with <i>sherbet</i> or sugar and water by the bride&#8217;s relatives, and sometimes red pepper is mixed with this by way of a joke. At a wedding of
+the Gujar&#257;ti Tells in Nim&#257;r the caste-priest carries the tutelary goddess K&#257;li 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. R&#257;thor 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&#8217;s house.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15426">
+<h3>6. Widow-remarriage</h3>
+<p>Divorce and widow-marriage are permitted. In Chhatt&#299;sgarh a widow is always kept in the family if possible, and if her late
+husband&#8217;s brother be only a boy she is sometimes induced to put on the bangles and wait for him. If a <i>barandi</i> 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 Ch&#257;nda, on the other hand, some Telis do not
+permit a widow to marry her late husband&#8217;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&#8217;s death is one month. The engagement with a widow
+is arranged by the suitor&#8217;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&#8217;s house, and from there to the baz&#257;r, 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 baz&#257;r 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 <a id="d0e15434"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15434">549</a>]</span>as possible from her old home and prevent her from being accompanied to the new one by the first husband&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15436">
+<h3>7. Religion: Caste deities</h3>
+<p>The caste especially revere Mah&#257;deo or Siva, who gave them the oil-mill. In the N&#257;gpur country they do not work the mill on
+Monday, because it is Mah&#257;deo&#8217;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 Mas&#257;n B&#257;ba, 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 Mas&#257;n B&#257;ba 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 M&#257;san must go to one who has and hire him for Rs. 1&#8211;4 a night. They then both
+go to the owner&#8217;s oil-press, and the hirer says, &#8216;I have hired you to-night,&#8217; and the owner says, &#8216;Yes, I have let you for
+to-night&#8217;; and then the hirer goes away, and Mas&#257;n B&#257;ba follows him and will turn the oil-mill all night. A Teli who has not
+got Mas&#257;n B&#257;ba puts a stone on the oil-mill, and then the bullock thinks that his master Mas&#257;n is sitting on it, and will
+go on turning the press; but this is not so good as having Mas&#257;n B&#257;ba. <a id="d0e15441"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15441">550</a>]</span>Some say that he will repay his hirer the sum of Rs. 1&#8211;4 by stealing something during the year and giving it to him. Mas&#257;n
+may perhaps be considered as a divine personification of the oil-press, and as being the Teli&#8217;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&#8217;s docility. In
+Chhatt&#299;sgarh D&#363;lha 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 D&#363;lha Deo is angry, and a
+goat is offered to appease him. Like the other low castes the Telis of the N&#257;gpur country make the sacrifice of a pig to N&#257;r&#257;yan
+Deo or the Sun at intervals.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15443">
+<h3>8. Driving out evil</h3>
+<p>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 M&#257;rbod, and sweep out the whole house with it, saying:
+
+</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="line" style=""><span>&#8216;Ira, p&#299;ra, kh&#257;tka, khatk&#299;ra,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Kh&#257;nsi, kokhala, rai, rog,
+</span></p>
+<p class="line" style=""><span>Murkuto gheunja ga M&#257;rbod,&#8217;</span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>or, &#8216;Oh M&#257;rbod! sweep away all diseases, pains, coughs, bugs, flies and mosquitoes.&#8217; And then they take the pot of sweepings
+and throw it outside the village. M&#257;rbod 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: &#8220;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 <i>dharna</i> at the Sun&#8217;s door; you can see his shadow across the Sun&#8217;s threshold. Presently the debt will be paid and the sweeper will
+go away.&#8221; The Telis of Nim&#257;r observe various Muhammadan practices. They fast during the month of Ramaz&#257;n, 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 <a id="d0e15460"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15460">551</a>]</span>Arabian desert. Such customs are a relic of the long period of Muhammadan dominance in Nim&#257;r, when the Hindus conformed partly
+to the religion of their masters. Many Telis are also members of the Sw&#257;mi-N&#257;r&#257;yan 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15462">
+<h3>9. Customs at birth and death</h3>
+<p>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 Chhatt&#299;sgarh, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15467">
+<h3>10. Social status</h3>
+<p>The social status of the Telis is low, in the group of castes from which Br&#257;hmans will not take water, and below such menials
+as the blacksmith and carpenter. Manu classes them with butchers and liquor-vendors: &#8220;From a king not born in the military
+class let a Br&#257;hman accept no gift nor from such as keep a slaughter-house, or an oil-press, or put out a vintner&#8217;s flag or
+subsist by the gains of prostitutes.&#8221; This is much about the position which the Telis have occupied till recently. Br&#257;hmans
+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: &#8220;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.&#8221; 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 <a id="d0e15472"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15472">552</a>]</span>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 Gujar&#257;ti Telis are now doing in Burh&#257;npur, 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&#8217;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&#8217;s calling seems somewhat doubtful. That generally
+given is his sinful conduct in harnessing the sacred ox and blindfolding the animal&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15474">
+<h3>11. Social customs and caste penalties</h3>
+<p>The Telis will take cooked food from Kurmis and Kunbis, and in some localities from a Loh&#257;r or Barhai. Dh&#299;mars are the highest
+caste which will take food from them. In Mandla <a id="d0e15479"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15479">553</a>]</span>if a man does not attend the meeting of the <i>panch&#257;yat</i> when summoned for some special purpose, he is fined. In Ch&#257;nda 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 <i>puris</i> or wheat-cakes fried in butter<a id="d0e15487src" href="#d0e15487" class="noteref">6</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15490">
+<h3>12. The R&#257;thor Telis</h3>
+<p>The R&#257;thor Telis of Mandla hold a number of villages. They now call themselves R&#257;thor, 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 <i>mahat</i>, great, which is borne by the leading men of the caste, was conferred on them by the R&#257;ja of Maihar. Another story is that,
+as already related, they are debased R&#257;thor R&#257;jp&#363;ts. 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15498">
+<h3>13. Gujar&#257;ti Telis of Nim&#257;r</h3>
+<p>Again, as has been seen, the Gujar&#257;ti Telis of Burh&#257;npur have taken to trade, and some of them have become wealthy merchants
+and capitalists from their dealings in cotton. The position of Telis in Burh&#257;npur 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&#8217;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 Gujar&#257;t and when they came to Burh&#257;npur adopted the occupation of oil-pressing, which is also countenanced by the
+Sh&#257;stras for a Vaishya. They say that formerly they did not permit widow-marriage, but when living under Muhammadan <a id="d0e15503"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15503">554</a>]</span>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 Br&#257;hmans of sums of Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 to come and take their food in the verandas of
+the Telis&#8217; houses, but hitherto these have not been accepted.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15505">
+<h3>14. The Teli an unlucky caste</h3>
+<p>The Teli is considered a caste of bad omen. The proverb says, &#8216;God protect me from a Teli, a Cham&#257;r and a Dhobi&#8217;; and the
+Teli is considered the most unlucky of the three. He is also talkative: &#8216;Where there is a Teli there is sure to be contention.&#8217;
+The Teli is thought to be very close-fisted, but occasionally his cunning overreaches itself: &#8216;The Teli counts every drop
+of oil as it issues from the press, but sometimes he upsets the whole pot.&#8217; The reason given for his being unlucky is his
+practice of harnessing and blindfolding bullocks already mentioned, and also that he presses <i>urad</i><a id="d0e15512src" href="#d0e15512" class="noteref">7</a> a black-coloured pulse, the oil from which is offered to the unlucky planet Saturn on Saturdays. &#8216;<i>Teli ka bail</i>,&#8217; or &#8216;A Teli&#8217;s bullock,&#8217; is a proverbial expression for a man who has to slave very hard for small pay.<a id="d0e15519src" href="#d0e15519" class="noteref">8</a> 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-<i>gh&#257;t</i> 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&#8217;s service so long as the latter may desire. The following prescription is given for
+a love-charm: take the skull of a Teli&#8217;s wife and cook some rice in it under a <i>bab&#363;l</i><a id="d0e15530src" href="#d0e15530" class="noteref">9</a> 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.
+<a id="d0e15537"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15537">555</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15538">
+<h3>15. Occupation. Oil-pressing</h3>
+<p>The Teli&#8217;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&#8217;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 <i>ramtilli</i> or <i>jagni</i> 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 Mar&#257;tha 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 <i>D&#299;pabans</i>, or &#8216;Sons of the lamp.&#8217; Tilli or sesamum is called sweet oil; it is much eaten by Br&#257;hmans and others in the Mar&#257;tha country,
+and is always used for rubbing on the hair and body. On the festivals of Diw&#257;li and Til Sankr&#257;nt 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 <a id="d0e15552"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15552">556</a>]</span>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 <i>n&#299;m</i><a id="d0e15556src" href="#d0e15556" class="noteref">10</a> tree. The Teli&#8217;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.<a id="d0e15561src" href="#d0e15561" class="noteref">11</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15566">
+<h3>16. Trade and agriculture</h3>
+<p>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 Kal&#257;r, 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 Bil&#257;spur 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 Banj&#257;ras. Mr. A. K. Smith notes that formerly the Teli hired Banj&#257;ras 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; K&#257;waji Teli was sutler to the Imperial army, and obtained
+from the Emperor Jah&#257;ng&#299;r 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 K&#257;nta Nandi or K&#257;nta B&#257;bu, the Banyan of Warren Hastings, was a Teli by caste and did much to raise their position
+among the Hindus.<a id="d0e15571src" href="#d0e15571" class="noteref">12</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15576">
+<h3>17. Teli beneficence</h3>
+<p>Colonel Tod gives instances in Udaipur of works of <a id="d0e15581"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15581">557</a>]</span>beneficence executed by Telis. &#8220;The <i>Teli-ki-Sarai</i> or oilman&#8217;s caravanserai is not conspicuous for magnitude; but it is remarkable not merely for its utility but even for its
+elegance of design. The <i>Teli-ka-P&#363;l</i> or Oilman&#8217;s Bridge at N&#363;rab&#257;d 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.&#8221;<a id="d0e15589src" href="#d0e15589" class="noteref">13</a> Similarly the temple of Vishnu at R&#257;jim is said to be named after one R&#257;jan 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 Mah&#257;deo at P&#299;thampur in Bil&#257;spur 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.
+<a id="d0e15594"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15594">558</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15326" href="#d0e15326src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is based on papers by Mr. Prem N&#257;r&#257;yan, Extra Assistant Commissioner, Ch&#257;nda; Mr. M&#299;r Pacha, Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r, Seoni;
+Mr. Chint&#257;man Rao, Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r, Chanda; and Mr. K.G. Vaidya, Ch&#257;nda.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15345" href="#d0e15345src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>C.P. Census Report</i> (1911), p. 147, referring to Professor Karl Pearson&#8217;s <i>Chances of Death</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15355" href="#d0e15355src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Teli.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15360" href="#d0e15360src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Bassia latifolia.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15401" href="#d0e15401src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Hindus of Gujar&#257;t</i>, p. 72.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15487" href="#d0e15487src" class="noteref">6</a></span> Weighing. 2 oz. each.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15512" href="#d0e15512src" class="noteref">7</a></span> <i>Phaseolus radiatas.</i></p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15519" href="#d0e15519src" class="noteref">8</a></span> Mr. Crooke&#8217;s <i>Tribes and Castes</i>, art. Teli.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15530" href="#d0e15530src" class="noteref">9</a></span> <i><span id="d0e15532" class="corr" title="Source: Acacta">Acacia</span> arabica</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15556" href="#d0e15556src" class="noteref">10</a></span> <i>Melia indica</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15561" href="#d0e15561src" class="noteref">11</a></span> <i>Indian Folk Tales</i>, p. 10.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15571" href="#d0e15571src" class="noteref">12</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Teli.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15589" href="#d0e15589src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>R&#257;jasth&#257;n</i>, vol. ii. pp. 678, 679.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e15595" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Thug</h2>
+<p>[This article is based almost entirely on Colonel (Sir William) Sleeman&#8217;s <i>R&#257;masee&#257;na or Vocabulary of the Thugs</i> (1835). A small work, Hutton&#8217;s <i>Thugs and Dacoits</i>, has been quoted for convenience, but it is compiled entirely from Colonel Sleeman&#8217;s Reports. Another book by Colonel Sleeman,
+<i>Reports on the Depredations of the Thug Gangs</i>, is mainly a series of accounts of the journeys of different gangs and contains only a very brief general notice.]
+
+</p>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e15738">1. Historical notice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15765">2. Thuggees depicted in the caves of Ellora</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15777">3. Origin of the Thugs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15804">4. Methods of assassination</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15851">5. Account of certain murders</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15878">6. Special incidents (continued)</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15902">7. Disguises of the Thugs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15929">8. Secrecy of their operations</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15948">9. Support of landholders and villagers</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15973">10. Murder of sepoys</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15984">11. Callous nature of the Thugs</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e15998">12. Belief in divine support</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16007">13. Theory of Thuggee as a religious sect</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16027">14. Worship of K&#257;li</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16032">15. The sacred pickaxe</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16047">16. The sacred <i>gur</i> (sugar)</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16092">17. Worship of ancestors</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16097">18. Fasting</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16107">19. Initiation of a novice</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16147">20. Prohibition of murder of women</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16157">21. Other classes of persons not killed</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16164">22. Belief in omens</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16198">23. Omens and taboos</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16222">24. Nature of the belief in omens</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16237">25. Suppression of Thuggee</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15738">
+<h3>1. Historical notice</h3>
+<p><b>Thug, Ph&#257;nsigar.</b>&#8212;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 <a id="d0e15745"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15745">559</a>]</span>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 Ph&#257;nsigar, which was the name used in southern India, is derived from <i>ph&#257;nsi</i>, 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:
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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&#8217;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e15752src" href="#d0e15752" class="noteref">1</a>
+
+</p>
+<p>This passage seems to demonstrate an antiquity of <a id="d0e15763"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15763">560</a>]</span>three centuries for the Thugs down to 1850. But during the period over which Sir William Sleeman&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15765">
+<h3>2. Thuggees depicted in the caves of Ellora</h3>
+<p>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: &#8220;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>Another Thug: &#8220;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 <i>r&#363;m&#257;l</i> (handkerchief) over his neck and is strangling him; while another, the Chamochi, is holding him by the legs.&#8221; I do not think
+there is any reason to suppose that these carvings really have anything to do with the Thugs.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15777">
+<h3>3. Origin of the Thugs</h3>
+<p>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 R&#257;thur: &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e15782src" href="#d0e15782" class="noteref">2</a> These names, <a id="d0e15785"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15785">561</a>]</span>however, are of Hindu and not of Muhammadan origin; and it seems probable that many of the Thugs were originally Banj&#257;ras
+or cattle-dealers and Kanjars or gipsies. One of the Muhammadan Thugs told Colonel Sleeman that, &#8220;The Arcot gangs will never
+intermarry with our families, saying that we once drove bullocks and were itinerant tradesmen, and consequently of lower caste.&#8221;<a id="d0e15787src" href="#d0e15787" class="noteref">3</a> Another man said<a id="d0e15790src" href="#d0e15790" class="noteref">4</a> that at their marriages an old matron would sometimes repeat as she threw down the <i>tulsi</i> or basil, &#8220;Here&#8217;s to the spirits of those who once led bears and monkeys; to those who drove bullocks and marked with the
+<i>godini</i> (tattooing-needle); and those who made baskets for the head.&#8221; 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 <a id="d0e15799"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15799">562</a>]</span>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
+K&#257;li. 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 R&#257;jp&#363;ts, Br&#257;hmans, T&#257;ntis or weavers, Go&#257;las or cowherds, Mult&#257;nis or Muhammadan Banj&#257;ras,
+as well as the S&#257;nsias 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<a id="d0e15801src" href="#d0e15801" class="noteref">5</a> 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15804">
+<h3>4. Methods of assassination</h3>
+<p>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 Bil&#257;spur.<a id="d0e15809src" href="#d0e15809" class="noteref">6</a> 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 <a id="d0e15812"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15812">563</a>]</span>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.<a id="d0e15814src" href="#d0e15814" class="noteref">7</a> 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 <i>r&#363;m&#257;l</i> over his head and tightened it round his neck, forcing the victim backwards and not relaxing his hold till life was extinct.
+The <i>r&#363;m&#257;l</i> or &#8216;handkerchief,&#8217; 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 <i>sikka</i> or &#8216;ensign,&#8217; 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 <i>jhirni</i> or signal for the murder, by saying either &#8216;<i>Tam&#257;khu kh&#257; lo</i>,&#8217; &#8216;Begin chewing tobacco&#8217;; &#8216;<i>Bh&#257;nja ko p&#257;n do</i>,&#8217; &#8216;Give betel to my nephew&#8217;; or &#8216;<i>Ayi ho to ghiri chalo</i>,&#8217; &#8216;If you are come, pray descend.&#8217; 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
+<a id="d0e15841"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15841">564</a>]</span>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&#8217;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 <i>belhas</i> or scouts were sent on ahead to choose a <i>beil</i> or suitable place for the business, and see that no one was coming in the opposite direction; and when the leader said, &#8216;Wash
+the cup,&#8217; 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&#8217;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 <a id="d0e15849"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15849">565</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15851">
+<h3>5. Account of certain murders</h3>
+<p>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 Lakhn&#257;don in Seoni as given by one of the gang:<a id="d0e15856src" href="#d0e15856" class="noteref">8</a> &#8220;We fell in with the Munshi and his family at Chhap&#257;ra between N&#257;gpur and Jubbulpore; and they came on with us to Lakhn&#257;don,
+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&#8217;s tent was pitched close to us. In the afternoon some of the officers&#8217; tents came on in advance and were pitched
+on the other side, leaving us between them and the village. The <i>khal&#257;sis</i> were all busily occupied in pitching them. N&#363;r Kh&#257;n and his son S&#257;di Kh&#257;n and a few others went as soon as it became dark
+to the Munshi&#8217;s tent, and began to play and sing upon a <i>sit&#257;r</i> as they had been accustomed to do. During this time some of them took up the Munshi&#8217;s sword on pretence of wishing to look
+at it. His wife and children were inside listening to the music. The <i>jhirni</i> 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 Kh&#257;n, who strangled
+her and took the infant. The other daughter was strangled in the tent. The <i>saises</i> (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&#8217;
+tents from hearing the disturbance, as soon as the signal was given those of the gang who were idle began <a id="d0e15871"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15871">566</a>]</span>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.&#8221; 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.<a id="d0e15873src" href="#d0e15873" class="noteref">9</a> The Thugs were travelling from N&#257;gpur toward Jubbulpore with a party consisting of Newal Singh, a Jem&#257;d&#257;r (petty officer)
+in the Niz&#257;m&#8217;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 Dh&#363;rna 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
+N&#257;gpur and found that it had not arrived, induced the Kotw&#257;l 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, <a id="d0e15876"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15876">567</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15878">
+<h3>6. Special incidents (continued)</h3>
+<p>These murderers looked on all travellers as their legitimate prey, as sportsmen regard game. On one occasion the noted Thug,
+Feringia,<a id="d0e15883src" href="#d0e15883" class="noteref">10</a> 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 Banj&#257;ras (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 Banj&#257;ras, &#8220;What have you done
+with the five travellers, my good friends? You have taken from us our <i>banij</i> (merchandise).&#8221; 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 <i>loading.</i> 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 &#8216;S&#257;thrup,&#8217; or &#8216;Sixty soul affair,&#8217; and another in Bil&#257;spur as the &#8216;Ch&#257;lisrup,&#8217;
+or &#8216;Murder of forty.&#8217; 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 Pind&#257;ris that travellers preferred to go through Chhatt&#299;sgarh and Sambalpur to
+the Ganges. This route, passing for long distances through dense forest, offered great advantages to the Thugs, and was soon
+infested <a id="d0e15892"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15892">568</a>]</span>by them. In 1806, owing to the success<a id="d0e15894src" href="#d0e15894" class="noteref">11</a> 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;rs or leaders of note, set out from their homes, and having worshipped
+in the temple of Devi at Bindhy&#257;chal, met at Ratanpur in Bil&#257;spur. The gangs split up, and after several murders sixty of
+them came to L&#257;nji in B&#257;l&#257;gh&#257;t, and here in two days&#8217; time fell in with a party of thirty-one men, seven women and two girls
+on their way to the Ganges. The Jem&#257;d&#257;rs 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 N&#257;gpur also came up, but all the different bodies pretended to be strangers to each other. They detached
+sixty men to return to N&#257;gpur, 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;r,
+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 <a id="d0e15897"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15897">569</a>]</span>all to no effect. She continued to scream, and at last Pancham put the <i>r&#363;m&#257;l</i> (handkerchief) round her neck and strangled her. One little girl of three years old was preserved by another Jem&#257;d&#257;r 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;r,
+Pancham, died on the way.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15902">
+<h3>7. Disguises of the Thugs</h3>
+<p>They were not particular, however, to ascertain that their victims carried valuable property before disposing of them. Eight
+annas (8d.), one of them said,<a id="d0e15907src" href="#d0e15907" class="noteref">12</a> was sufficient remuneration for murdering a man. On another occasion two river Thugs killed two old men and obtained only
+a rupee&#8217;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.<a id="d0e15910src" href="#d0e15910" class="noteref">13</a> 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:<a id="d0e15915src" href="#d0e15915" class="noteref">14</a> &#8220;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 Jaw&#257;hir Sukul, S&#363;bahd&#257;r 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 Baz&#257;r, 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 <a id="d0e15918"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15918">570</a>]</span>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 Hindust&#257;n 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.&#8221; Another case is quoted by Mr.
+Oman from Taylor&#8217;s <i>Thirty-eight Years in India</i>.<a id="d0e15923src" href="#d0e15923" class="noteref">15</a> &#8220;Dr. Cheek had a child&#8217;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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15929">
+<h3>8. Secrecy of their operations</h3>
+<p>Again, as regards the secrecy with which murders were perpetrated and all traces of them hidden, Sir W. Sleeman writes:<a id="d0e15934src" href="#d0e15934" class="noteref">16</a> &#8220;While I was in civil charge of the District of Narsinghpur, in the valley of the Nerbudda, in the years 1822&#8211;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,<a id="d0e15937src" href="#d0e15937" class="noteref">17</a> 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 Bhop&#257;l, were one of the greatest <i>beles</i> or places of murder in all India, and that large gangs from Hindust&#257;n and the Deccan used to <i>rendezvous</i> in these groves, remain in them for many days every year, and carry on their dreadful trade along all the lines of road that
+<a id="d0e15946"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15946">571</a>]</span>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 Hyder&#257;b&#257;d.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15948">
+<h3>9. Support of landholders and villagers</h3>
+<p>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<a id="d0e15953src" href="#d0e15953" class="noteref">18</a> that, &#8220;The zam&#299;nd&#257;rs 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.&#8221; 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 Th&#257;kur of Powai<a id="d0e15956src" href="#d0e15956" class="noteref">19</a> 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:<a id="d0e15959src" href="#d0e15959" class="noteref">20</a> &#8220;To conclude, there seems no doubt but that this horrid crime has been fostered by all classes in the community&#8212;the landholders,
+the native <a id="d0e15965"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15965">572</a>]</span>officers of our courts, the police and village authorities&#8212;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 <i>practising Thugs</i>, and the <i>chauk&#299;d&#257;rs</i> or village watchmen frequently so.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15973">
+<h3>10. Murder of sepoys</h3>
+<p>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.<a id="d0e15978src" href="#d0e15978" class="noteref">21</a> In this order it is stated that the Thugs were accustomed first to stupefy their victim by surreptitiously administering
+the common narcotic <i>dhat&#363;ra</i>, still a familiar method of highway robbery.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15984">
+<h3>11. Callous nature of the Thugs</h3>
+<p>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,<a id="d0e15989src" href="#d0e15989" class="noteref">22</a> who doubted the divine origin of Thuggee: &#8220;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, K&#257;li
+or Bhaw&#257;ni, 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.&#8221;
+<a id="d0e15992"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e15992">573</a>]</span></p>
+<p>And again: &#8220;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.<span id="d0e15995" class="corr" title="Source: ">&#8221;</span>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e15998">
+<h3>12. Belief in divine support</h3>
+<p>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:<a id="d0e16003src" href="#d0e16003" class="noteref">23</a> &#8220;Was not Nanha, the R&#257;ja of J&#257;lon,&#8221; said one of them, &#8220;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 M&#363;dhaji 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?&#8221; 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.
+<a id="d0e16006"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16006">574</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16007">
+<h3>13. Theory of Thuggee as a religious sect</h3>
+<p>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.<a id="d0e16012src" href="#d0e16012" class="noteref">24</a> Other instances are given in Colonel Sleeman&#8217;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
+S&#257;nsias. 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.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e16019" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p126.jpg" alt="The Goddess K&#257;li" width="549" height="651"><p class="figureHead">The Goddess K&#257;li</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>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, &#8216;The pestilence that walketh in the darkness and <a id="d0e16025"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16025">575</a>]</span>the arrow that flieth by noonday&#8217;; where the writer intended no metaphor but actually thought that the pestilence walked and
+the arrow flew of their own volition.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16027">
+<h3>14. Worship of K&#257;li</h3>
+<p>K&#257;li or Bhaw&#257;ni 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 F&#257;tima, 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 K&#257;li 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16032">
+<h3>15. The sacred pickaxe</h3>
+<p>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 id="d0e16037"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16037">576</a>]</span>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,
+&#8216;Shall I strike?&#8217; The others replied yes, and striking the cocoanut with the butt end he broke it in pieces, upon which all
+exclaimed, &#8216;All hail, Devi, and prosper the Thugs.&#8217; 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&#8217;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 <i>kud&#257;li</i> 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 K&#257;li it had lost that virtue. Many Thugs told Colonel Sleeman<a id="d0e16042src" href="#d0e16042" class="noteref">25</a> 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 Kor&#257;n, 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 <a id="d0e16045"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16045">577</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16047">
+<h3>16. The sacred <i>gur</i> (sugar)
+</h3>
+<p>After each murder they had a sacrificial feast of <i>gur</i> or unrefined sugar. This was purchased to the value of Rs. 1&#8211;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 <i>jhirni</i> 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 <i>gur</i> 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<a id="d0e16064src" href="#d0e16064" class="noteref">26</a> 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: &#8220;We all feel pity sometimes, but the <i>gur</i> of the Tuponi (sacrifice) changes our nature. It would change the nature of a horse. Let any man once taste of that <i>gur</i> 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&#8217;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 <i>gur</i> 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<p>The eating of this <i>gur</i> 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 K&#257;li is the deified tiger, they should have eaten tiger&#8217;s flesh.
+This custom, if it ever existed, had <a id="d0e16081"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16081">578</a>]</span>been abandoned, and the <i>gur</i> would in that case be a substitute; and as has been seen the eating of the <i>gur</i> was held to confer on them the same cruelty, callousness and desire to kill which might be expected to follow from eating
+tiger&#8217;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&#8217;s flesh, except by the rarest accident;
+and the <i>gur</i> might be considered a suitable substitute, since its yellow colour would be held to make it resemble the tiger.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16092">
+<h3>17. Worship of ancestors</h3>
+<p>The Thugs also worshipped the spirits of their ancestors. One of these was D&#257;du 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 N&#257;ik, 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 Niz&#257;m-ud-d&#299;n 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 Gh&#299;b or supernatural purse; and they supposed that he obtained it by the practice of Thuggee.
+Orthodox Muhammadans would, however, no doubt indignantly repudiate this.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16097">
+<h3>18. Fasting</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e16102"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16102">579</a>]</span>expedition ate no animal food except fish and nothing cooked with <i>gh&#299;</i> (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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16107">
+<h3>19. Initiation of a novice</h3>
+<p>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 <i>chela</i> 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 <i>guru</i> 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 <i>guru</i> said, &#8220;<i>Oh K&#257;li, Kunk&#257;li, Bhudk&#257;li,<a id="d0e16123src" href="#d0e16123" class="noteref">27</a> Oh K&#257;li, Mah&#257; K&#257;li, Kalkat&#257;w&#257;li!</i> 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.&#8221; 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 <i>guru</i> 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 <a id="d0e16130"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16130">580</a>]</span>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 <i>guru</i> 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 <i>guru</i>, and with this sugar or sweetmeats were bought and the <i>gur</i> 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 <i>guru</i> 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<a id="d0e16144src" href="#d0e16144" class="noteref">28</a> was that the Sourka or first victim must not be a Br&#257;hman, 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 Bh&#257;t (bard),
+nor a K&#257;yasth (writer), nor a leper, dancing-woman, pilgrim or devotee. The reason for some of these exemptions is obvious:
+Br&#257;hmans, 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 K&#257;yasths are often considered as unlucky castes, and even in the capacity of victims might be held to bring an evil
+fortune on their murderers.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16147">
+<h3>20. Prohibition of murder of women</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e16152"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16152">581</a>]</span>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 Bhaw&#257;ni;
+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,<a id="d0e16154src" href="#d0e16154" class="noteref">29</a> narrated by one of the Thugs as follows: &#8220;I remember the murder of K&#257;li B&#299;bi 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 Musalm&#257;ns and Hindus before and after
+the murder. The Musalm&#257;ns 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&#8217;s father, Parasr&#257;m Br&#257;hman, was there,
+and when they came home Parasr&#257;m&#8217;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 R&#257;jp&#363;t and a Br&#257;hman, gave a feast which cost them a thousand
+rupees each. Four or five thousand Br&#257;hmans 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16157">
+<h3>21. Other classes of persons not killed</h3>
+<p>Another rule was that a man having a cow with him <a id="d0e16162"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16162">582</a>]</span>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 Sh&#257;hpur lying on their road and persuaded the cow&#8217;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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16164">
+<h3>22. Belief in omens</h3>
+<p>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 <a id="d0e16169"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16169">583</a>]</span>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&#8217;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 <i>s&#257;ras</i> 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&#8217;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 <i>chiraiya</i> 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, <a id="d0e16177"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16177">584</a>]</span>that they would perish in the jungles, and the hare or some other animal of the forest would drink water from their skulls.
+&#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e16179src" href="#d0e16179" class="noteref">30</a> 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 S&#299;tala, the goddess of smallpox, who is a form of K&#257;li. The ears and also the bray of the ass would give it importance.
+
+</p>
+<p>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 &#8216;<i>K&#257;li ki mauj</i>&#8217; or &#8216;K&#257;li&#8217;s temper,&#8217; and threatened evil, and if during the daytime as &#8216;<i>Dh&#257;moni<a id="d0e16191src" href="#d0e16191" class="noteref">31</a> ki mauj</i>,&#8217; 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 K&#257;li 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.<a id="d0e16195src" href="#d0e16195" class="noteref">32</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16198">
+<h3>23. Omens and taboos</h3>
+<p>If a mare dropped a foal in their camp while they were travelling, they were all contaminated or came under the Itak; <a id="d0e16203"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16203">585</a>]</span>and the only remedy for this was to return home and start the journey afresh. Various other events<a id="d0e16205src" href="#d0e16205" class="noteref">33</a> 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&#8217;s daughter; a marriage in a Thug&#8217;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&#8217;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.<a id="d0e16208src" href="#d0e16208" class="noteref">34</a> 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 <i>gur</i> (sugar) was made, and the owner of the turban alone returned home. If a man&#8217;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 (<i>Golden Bough</i>). 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<a id="d0e16217src" href="#d0e16217" class="noteref">35</a> of an expedition a Br&#257;hman 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 <a id="d0e16220"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16220">586</a>]</span>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 Fak&#299;r (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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16222">
+<h3>24. Nature of the belief in omens</h3>
+<p>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. &#8220;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e16227src" href="#d0e16227" class="noteref">36</a> 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 <a id="d0e16232"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16232">587</a>]</span>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 <i>prot&eacute;g&eacute;s</i>. The pseudo-science of omens is thus seen to be a natural corollary of the veneration of animals and inanimate objects.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16237">
+<h3>25. Suppression of Thuggee</h3>
+<p>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 <i>dossier</i> 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.
+<a id="d0e16245"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16245">588</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15752" href="#d0e15752src" class="noteref">1</a></span> Thevenot&#8217;s <i>Travels</i>, Part III. p. 41, quoted in Dr. Sherwood&#8217;s account, <i>R&#257;masee&#257;na</i>, p. 359.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15782" href="#d0e15782src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Sleeman, p. 11.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15787" href="#d0e15787src" class="noteref">3</a></span> P. 144.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15790" href="#d0e15790src" class="noteref">4</a></span> P. 162.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15801" href="#d0e15801src" class="noteref">5</a></span> P. 147.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15809" href="#d0e15809src" class="noteref">6</a></span> P. 205.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15814" href="#d0e15814src" class="noteref">7</a></span> Hutton&#8217;s <i>Thugs and Dacoits</i>.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15856" href="#d0e15856src" class="noteref">8</a></span> Sleeman, p. 170.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15873" href="#d0e15873src" class="noteref">9</a></span> Sleeman, p. 168.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15883" href="#d0e15883src" class="noteref">10</a></span> 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).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15894" href="#d0e15894src" class="noteref">11</a></span> Sleeman, p. 205.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15907" href="#d0e15907src" class="noteref">12</a></span> Hutton, p. 70.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15910" href="#d0e15910src" class="noteref">13</a></span> <i>Ibidem</i>, p. 71.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15915" href="#d0e15915src" class="noteref">14</a></span> Pp. 34, 35.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15923" href="#d0e15923src" class="noteref">15</a></span> See <i>Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India</i>, p. 249.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15934" href="#d0e15934src" class="noteref">16</a></span> Pp. 32, 33.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15937" href="#d0e15937src" class="noteref">17</a></span> Kandeli adjoins the headquarters station of Narsinghpur, the two towns being divided only by a stream.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15953" href="#d0e15953src" class="noteref">18</a></span> P. 23.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15956" href="#d0e15956src" class="noteref">19</a></span> Near Bilehri in Jubbulpore.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15959" href="#d0e15959src" class="noteref">20</a></span> Captain Lowis in Sleeman&#8217;s <i>Report on the Thug Gangs</i> (1840).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15978" href="#d0e15978src" class="noteref">21</a></span> Pp. 15, 16.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e15989" href="#d0e15989src" class="noteref">22</a></span> P. 7.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16003" href="#d0e16003src" class="noteref">23</a></span> P. 150.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16012" href="#d0e16012src" class="noteref">24</a></span> Sleeman&#8217;s <i>Report on the Thug Gangs</i>, Introduction, p. vi.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16042" href="#d0e16042src" class="noteref">25</a></span> P. 142.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16064" href="#d0e16064src" class="noteref">26</a></span> P. 216.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16123" href="#d0e16123src" class="noteref">27</a></span> &#8216;Oh K&#257;li, Eater of Men, Oh great K&#257;li of Calcutta.&#8217; The name Calcutta signifies K&#257;li-gh&#257;t or K&#257;li-kota, that is K&#257;li&#8217;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 K&#257;li. He rescued her, married her, and founded a settlement on the site, which grew into the town of Calcutta.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16144" href="#d0e16144src" class="noteref">28</a></span> P. 133.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16154" href="#d0e16154src" class="noteref">29</a></span> P. 173.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16179" href="#d0e16179src" class="noteref">30</a></span> <i>Orph&eacute;us</i>, p. 170.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16191" href="#d0e16191src" class="noteref">31</a></span> Dh&#257;moni 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.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16195" href="#d0e16195src" class="noteref">32</a></span> Sleeman, p. 196.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16205" href="#d0e16205src" class="noteref">33</a></span> P. 91.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16208" href="#d0e16208src" class="noteref">34</a></span> P. 67.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16217" href="#d0e16217src" class="noteref">35</a></span> P. 100.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16227" href="#d0e16227src" class="noteref">36</a></span> <i>Orph&eacute;us</i> (M. Salomon Reinach), p. 316.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e16246" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Turi</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e16283">1. Origin of the caste</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16354">2. Subdivisions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16361">3. Marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16368">4. Funeral rites</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16377">5. Occupation</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16453">6. Social status</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16283">
+<h3>1. Origin of the caste</h3>
+<p><b>Turi.</b>&#8212;A non-Aryan caste of cultivators, workers in bamboo, and basket-makers, belonging to the Chota N&#257;gpur plateau. They number
+about 4000 persons in Raigarh, S&#257;rangarh 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 Mund&#257;ri, and their principal deity is Singbonga or the sun, the great god of
+the Mundas: &#8220;In Lohardaga, where the caste is most numerous, it is divided into four subcastes&#8212;Turi or Kis&#257;n-Turi, Or, Dom,
+and Domra&#8212;distinguished by the particular modes of basket and bamboo-work which they practise. Thus the Turi or Kis&#257;n-Turi,
+who are also cultivators and hold <i>bhuinh&#257;ri</i> land, make the <i>s&#363;p</i>, a winnowing sieve made of <i>sirki</i>, the upper joint of <i>Saccharum procerum</i>; the <i>tokri</i> or <i>tokiya</i>, a large open basket of split bamboo twigs woven up with the fibre of the leaves of the <i>t&#257;l</i> palm; the <i>sair</i> and <i>nadua</i>, used for catching fish. The Ors are said to take their name from the <i>oriya</i> basket used by the sower, and made of split bamboo, sometimes helped out with <i>t&#257;l</i> fibre. They also make umbrellas, and the <i>chhota dali</i> or <i>d&#257;la</i>, a flat basket with vertical sides used for handling grain in small quantities. Doms make the <i>harka</i> and scale-pans (<i>tar&#257;ju</i>). Domras make the <i>peti</i> and fans. Turis frequently reckon in as a fifth subcaste the Birhors, who <a id="d0e16338"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16338">589</a>]</span>cut bamboos and make the <i>s&#299;kas</i> used for carrying loads slung on a shoulder-yoke (<i>bhangi</i>), and a kind of basket called <i>phanda</i>. Doms and Domras speak Hindi; Turis, Ors and Birhors use among themselves a dialect of Mund&#257;ri.&#8221;<a id="d0e16349src" href="#d0e16349" class="noteref">1</a>
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16354">
+<h3>2. Subdivisions</h3>
+<p>In Raigarh and S&#257;rangarh 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 Barpah&#257;ri hill in Chota N&#257;gpur. This image was adopted as their family deity, and is revered to the present day as Barpah&#257;ri
+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 Mailu&#257;r, 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 Surenn&#257;r, while those of the fourth son bring water for the ceremony and are called T&#299;rku&#257;r. 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 M&#257;dalw&#257;r and Surinw&#257;r sections, who are known respectively as R&#257;ja and Th&#257;kur, is obtained, while <a id="d0e16359"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16359">590</a>]</span>the head of the Charch&#257;giya 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16361">
+<h3>3. Marriage</h3>
+<p>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&#8217;s father. As in the case of some other Uriya castes the
+proposal for a marriage is couched in poetic phraseology, the Turi bridegroom&#8217;s ambassador announcing his business with the
+phrase: &#8216;I hear that a sweet-scented flower has blossomed in your house and I have come to gather it&#8217;; to which the bride&#8217;s
+father, if the match be acceptable, replies: &#8216;You may take away my flower if you will not throw it away when its sweet scent
+has gone.&#8217; The girl then appears, and the boy&#8217;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, &#8216;You will
+preserve my lineage.&#8217; 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&#8217;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&#8217;s forehead. At this moment the bride&#8217;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, <a id="d0e16366"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16366">591</a>]</span>but he feigns displeasure, and refuses to eat them. The bride&#8217;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&#8217;s family usually spend some twenty
+or more rupees on her wedding, and the bridegroom&#8217;s family about fifty rupees. A widow is expected to marry her Dewar or deceased
+husband&#8217;s younger brother, and if she takes somebody else he must repay to the Dewar the expenditure incurred by the latter&#8217;s
+family on her first marriage. Divorce is permitted for misconduct on the part of the wife or for incompatibility of temper.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16368">
+<h3>4. Funeral rites</h3>
+<p>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 Ph&#257;gun (February), and not during the fortnight of Pitripaksh in Kunw&#257;r (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 <i>handi</i> or earthen pot. When the sun missed her sister&#8217;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&#8217;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.
+<a id="d0e16376"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16376">592</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16377">
+<h3>5. Occupation</h3>
+<p>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: <i>Tukna</i>, an ordinary basket; <i>dauri</i>, a basket for washing rice in a stream; <i>lodhar</i>, a large basket for carrying grain on carts; <i>chuki</i>, a small basket for measuring grain; <i>garni</i> and <i>sikosi</i>, a small basket for holding betel-leaf and a box for carrying it in the pocket; <i>dhitori</i>, a fish-basket; <i>dholi</i>, a large bamboo shed for storing grain; <i>ghurki</i> and <i>paili</i>, grain measures; <i>chhanni</i>, a sieve; <i>taji</i>) a balance; <i>pankha</i> and <i>bijna</i>, fans; <i>pelna</i>, a triangular frame for a fishing-net; <i>choniya</i>, a cage for catching fish; <i>chatai</i>) matting; <i>chh&#257;ta</i>, an umbrella; <i>chhitori</i>, a leaf hat for protecting the body from rain; <i>pinjra</i>, a cage; <i>khunkhuna</i>, a rattle; and <i>guna</i>, a muzzle for bullocks.
+
+</p>
+<p>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, &#8216;<i>Khasar, khasar, t&#299;n pasar</i>,&#8217; which meant that, however hard they should work, they would never earn more than three handfuls of grain a day.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16453">
+<h3>6. Social status</h3>
+<p>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 Br&#257;hmans, 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&#8217;s father is expended in the same manner.
+Members of Hindu castes and Gonds may be admitted into the community, <a id="d0e16458"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16458">593</a>]</span>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 N&#257;gpur 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16349" href="#d0e16349src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Bengal</i>, art. Turi.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e16460" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Velama</h2>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>1. Origin and social status</h3>
+<p><b>Velama, Elama, Yelama.</b>&#8212;A Telugu cultivating caste found in large numbers in Vizagapatam and Ganj&#257;m, while in 1911 about 700 persons were returned
+from Ch&#257;nda 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 <i>parda</i> or <i>gosha</i> which they had borrowed from the Muhammadans. The Kammas abandoned <i>parda</i>, and, signing a bond written on palm-leaf to this effect, obtained their name from <i>kamma</i>, 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 zam&#299;nd&#257;r 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 G&#363;ni Sakalv&#257;ndlu or hunchbacked washermen, because some of them print chintz and
+carry their goods in a bundle on their backs.<a id="d0e16482src" href="#d0e16482" class="noteref">1</a> According to another derivation <i>g&#363;na</i> is the large pot in which they dye their cloth. Another story is that the name of the caste is Velim&#257;la, meaning those who
+are above or better than the <a id="d0e16490"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16490">594</a>]</span>Dhers, and was a title conferred on them by the R&#257;ja 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 Dh&#299;mars, 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&#8217;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 R&#257;cha or royal Velamas, to whom the chiefs and zam&#299;nd&#257;rs belong, are the highest. While others are the G&#363;na Velamas
+or those who use a dyer&#8217;s pot, the Eku or &#8216;Cotton-skein&#8217; who are weavers and carders, and the Tell&#257;ku 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
+K&#257;pu 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 K&#257;pus. 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2">
+<h3>2. Marriage and social customs</h3>
+<p>The caste are said to have 77 exogamous groups descended from the 77 followers or spearsmen who attended R&#257;ja Rudra Prat&#257;p
+of Bastar when he was ousted from <a id="d0e16497"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16497">595</a>]</span>W&#257;rangal. These section names are eponymous, territorial and totemistic, instances of the last kind being Cherukun&#363;la from
+<i>cheruku</i>, sugarcane, and Pasapun&#363;la from <i>pasapu</i>, turmeric, and <i>n&#363;la</i>, thread. Marriage within the section or <i>gotra</i> is prohibited, but first cousins may intermarry. Marriage is usually adult, and the binding portion of the ceremony consists
+in the tying of the <i>mangal-s&#363;tram</i> or happy thread by the bridegroom round the bride&#8217;s neck. At the end of the marriage the <i>kankans</i> 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 G&#363;na 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 G&#363;na 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 G&#363;na Velamas is being celebrated.<a id="d0e16517src" href="#d0e16517" class="noteref">2</a> 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 Br&#257;hmans 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.
+<a id="d0e16522"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16522">596</a>]</span></p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16482" href="#d0e16482src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>North Arcot Manual</i>, i. p. 216.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16517" href="#d0e16517src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Indian Antiquary</i> (1879), p. 216.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e16523" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Vidur</h2>
+<h3>List of Paragraphs</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#d0e16560">1. Origin and traditions</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16578">2. The Purads, Golaks and Borals</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16591">3. Illegitimacy among Hindust&#257;ni castes</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16606">4. Legend of origin</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16611">5. Marriage</a></li>
+<li><a href="#d0e16630">6. Social rules and occupation</a></li>
+</ul>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16560">
+<h3>1. Origin and traditions</h3>
+<p><b>Vidur,<a id="d0e16566src" href="#d0e16566" class="noteref">1</a> Bidur</b>.&#8212;A Mar&#257;tha caste numbering 21,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, and found in the N&#257;gpur Division and Ber&#257;r. They
+are also returned from Hyder&#257;b&#257;d and Bombay. Vidur means a wise or intelligent man, and was the name of the younger brother
+of P&#257;ndu, the father of the P&#257;ndava brothers. The Vidurs are a caste of mixed descent, principally formed from the offspring
+of Br&#257;hman fathers with women of other castes. But the descendants of Panch&#257;ls, Kunbis, M&#257;lis 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 Kh&#257;lt&#257;tya, meaning &#8216;Below
+the plate&#8217; or &#8216;Below the salt,&#8217; 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 Br&#257;hman fathers,
+and they are also known as Br&#257;hmanja or &#8216;Born from Br&#257;hmans.&#8217; Elsewhere the Br&#257;hman Vidurs are designated especially as Krishnapakshi,
+which means <a id="d0e16570"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16570">597</a>]</span>&#8216;One born during the dark fortnight,&#8217; The term Krishnapakshi is or was also used in Bengal, and Buchanan defined it as follows:
+&#8220;Men of the R&#257;jp&#363;t, Khatri and K&#257;yasth 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.&#8221;<a id="d0e16572src" href="#d0e16572" class="noteref">2</a> 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 Dh&#257;kar, and as their
+status and customs are quite different from those of the Mar&#257;tha Vidurs they are treated in a short separate article.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16578">
+<h3>2. The Purads, Golaks and Borals</h3>
+<p>Another small group related to the Vidurs are the Pur&#257;ds of N&#257;gpur; they say that their ancestor was a Br&#257;hman 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
+Pur&#257;ds, the name being derived from <i>p&#363;r</i>, a flood. These people are mainly shopkeepers. In Ber&#257;r two other groups are found, the Golaks and Borals. The Golaks are
+the illegitimate offspring of a Br&#257;hman widow; if after her husband&#8217;s decease she did not shave her head, her illegitimate
+children are known as Rand<a id="d0e16586src" href="#d0e16586" class="noteref">3</a> 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 Malk&#257;pur and B&#257;l&#257;pur 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 Br&#257;hmans, rarely shave their heads in the Central Provinces, and it would therefore
+appear, if Mr. Kitts&#8217; 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 <a id="d0e16589"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16589">598</a>]</span>as the Pur&#257;ds. In 1881 they numbered only 163 persons and were found in D&#257;rhwa, Mehkar and Chikhli t&#257;luks.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16591">
+<h3>3. Illegitimacy among Hindust&#257;ni castes</h3>
+<p>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&frac12; 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 N&#299;che P&#257;t Bundelas of Saugor and Chhoti Tar R&#257;jp&#363;ts of Nim&#257;r are the
+offspring of fathers of the Bundela and other R&#257;jp&#363;t 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) Ah&#299;rs are the offspring of Bundela fathers
+and the Ah&#299;r women who act as nurses in their households. In Saugor is found a class of persons called Kunwar<a id="d0e16596src" href="#d0e16596" class="noteref">4</a> who are descended from the offspring of the Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hman rulers of Saugor and their kept women. They now form a separate
+caste and Hindust&#257;ni Br&#257;hmans will take water from them. They refuse to accept <i>katcha</i> food (cooked with water) from Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans, which all other castes will do. Another class of bastard children of Br&#257;hmans
+are called Dogle, and such people commonly act as servants of Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans; as these Br&#257;hmans 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 K&#257;yasths 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 D&#363;sre Sriv&#257;stab K&#257;yasths
+and <a id="d0e16602"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16602">599</a>]</span>the Dasa and B&#299;sa Agarw&#257;la 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 P&#257;rw&#257;r 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&#8217;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 M&#257;li or gardener, may be quoted. He always called himself a Br&#257;hman, and though thinking it somewhat curious that
+a Br&#257;hman 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 Agarw&#257;la Bania. It was then discovered that he was the son of a Br&#257;hman landowner by a mistress
+of the K&#257;chhi 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
+Agarw&#257;la Bania, who said his own family was legitimate and he had been deceived about the girl. The marriage of one of this
+latter couple&#8217;s daughters was being arranged with the son of a Br&#257;hman, 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. <a id="d0e16604"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16604">600</a>]</span>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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16606">
+<h3>4. Legend of origin</h3>
+<p>The Vidurs say that they are the descendants of a son who was born to a slave girl by the sage Vy&#257;s, the celebrated compiler
+of the Mah&#257;bh&#257;rata, to whom the girl was sent to provide an heir to the kingdom of Hastin&#257;pur. This son was named Vidur and
+was remarkable for his great wisdom, being one of the leading characters in the Mah&#257;bh&#257;rata and giving advice both to the
+P&#257;ndavas and the Kauravas.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16611">
+<h3>5. Marriage</h3>
+<p>As already stated, the Vidurs who are sprung from fathers of different castes form subcastes marrying among themselves. Among
+the Br&#257;hman 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 Br&#257;hman fathers from recent illicit
+unions, the former considering themselves to be superior and avoiding intermarriage with the latter as far as possible. The
+Br&#257;hman 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; Chaurik&#257;r, a whisk-maker;
+Ach&#257;rya and P&#257;nde, a priest; Menjokhe, a measurer of wax; M&#299;ne, a fish; D&#363;dhm&#257;nde, one who makes wheaten cakes with milk;
+Goihe, a lizard; Wad&#257;bh&#257;t, a ball of pulse and cooked rice; Diw&#257;le, bankrupt; and Joshi, an astrologer. The Br&#257;hman Vidurs
+have the same sect groups as the Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans, 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 Ch&#257;nda, 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, <a id="d0e16616"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16616">601</a>]</span>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 Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans, except that Pur&#257;nic instead of Vedic
+<i>mantras</i> 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 Br&#257;hmans it is the girl&#8217;s father who makes the proposal. When the bridegroom arrives he is conducted to the inner room
+of the bride&#8217;s house; Mr. Tucker states that this is known as the <i>Gaurighar</i> because it contains the shrine of Gauri or P&#257;rvati, wife of Mah&#257;deo; 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&#8217;s family to Rs. 300 on an average, and for the bride&#8217;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 <i>p&#257;t</i> ceremony of the Mar&#257;tha 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 <i>p&#257;t</i> ceremony. In Ch&#257;nda 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="div2" id="d0e16630">
+<h3>6. Social rules and occupation</h3>
+<p>The Vidurs employ Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans for religious and ceremonial purposes, while their <i>gurus</i> are either Br&#257;hmans <a id="d0e16638"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16638">602</a>]</span>or Bair&#257;gis. 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, &#8216;Take the child named R&#257;mchandra&#8217; 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 Br&#257;hman to read the Garud Pur&#257;n 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 Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans and water from R&#257;jp&#363;ts and
+Kunbis. Br&#257;hmans will, as a rule, not take anything from a Vidur&#8217;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 Br&#257;hman Vidurs
+did not eat in kitchens in the famine. Their dress resembles that of Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hmans. 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.<a id="d0e16640src" href="#d0e16640" class="noteref">5</a> In N&#257;gpur it is stated that the Vidurs like to be regarded as Br&#257;hmans.<a id="d0e16645src" href="#d0e16645" class="noteref">6</a> 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, patw&#257;ris and shopkeepers. The Vidurs are the best educated
+caste with the exception of Br&#257;hmans, K&#257;yasths 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 Br&#257;hman parentage, while in some cases Vidurs have probably
+been given an education by their Br&#257;hman relatives. Their correct position should be a low one, distinctly beneath that of
+the good cultivating castes. A saying has it, &#8216;As the <i>amarbel</i> creeper has no roots, so the Vidur has no ancestry.&#8217; But owing to <a id="d0e16653"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16653">603</a>]</span>their education and official position the higher classes of Vidurs have obtained a social status not much below that of K&#257;yasths.
+This rise in position is assisted by their adherence in matters of dress, food and social practice to the customs of Mar&#257;tha
+Br&#257;hmans, so that many of them are scarcely distinguishable from a Br&#257;hman. A story is told of a Vidur Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r or Naib-Tahs&#299;ld&#257;r
+who was transferred to a District at some distance from his home, and on his arrival there pretended to be a Mar&#257;tha Br&#257;hman.
+He was duly accepted by the other Br&#257;hmans, 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.
+
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16566" href="#d0e16566src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is compiled from papers by Mr. W.A. Tucker, Extra Assistant Commissioner, Bhand&#257;ra, and Mr. B.M. Deshmukh, Pleader,
+Ch&#257;nda.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16572" href="#d0e16572src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Buchanan, <i>Eastern India</i>, i. p. 186.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16586" href="#d0e16586src" class="noteref">3</a></span> Rand = widow or prostitute.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16596" href="#d0e16596src" class="noteref">4</a></span> The term Kunwar is a title applied to the eldest son of a chief.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16640" href="#d0e16640src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xviii. p. 185.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16645" href="#d0e16645src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Nagpur Settlement Report</i>, p. 27.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e16655" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>W&#257;ghya</h2>
+<p><b>W&#257;ghya,</b><a id="d0e16661src" href="#d0e16661" class="noteref">1</a> <b>V&#257;ghe, Murli.</b>&#8212;An order of mendicant devotees of the god Khandoba, an incarnation of Siva; they belong to the Mar&#257;tha Districts and Bombay
+where Khandoba is worshipped. The term W&#257;ghya is derived from <i>v&#257;gh</i>, a tiger, and has been given to the order on account of the small bag of tiger-skin, containing <i>bhand&#257;r</i>, 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 &#8216;a flute&#8217; is the name given to female devotees. W&#257;ghya
+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 W&#257;ghya 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 W&#257;ghya Telis in Wardha, who marry with
+other Telis. The child might also <a id="d0e16673"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16673">604</a>]</span>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 W&#257;ghya child to Mah&#257;deo&#8217;s cave
+in Pachmarhi and let it fall from the top of a high tree. If it lived it was considered to be a R&#257;ja of Mah&#257;deo, 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 W&#257;ghya 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 W&#257;ghyas 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 W&#257;ghyas who have no other caste.
+
+
+</p>
+<p></p>
+<div id="d0e16676" class="figure"><img border="0" src="images/p127.jpg" alt="W&#257;ghya mendicants" width="471" height="720"><p class="figureHead">W&#257;ghya mendicants</p>
+</div><p>
+
+
+</p>
+<p>The following description of the dedication of children to Khandoba is taken from the <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i><a id="d0e16684src" href="#d0e16684" class="noteref">2</a>. 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&#8217;s house and tell him the object of their visit. The boy&#8217;s father brings offerings and
+they go in procession to Khandoba&#8217;s temple. There the Gurao marks the boy&#8217;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, <a id="d0e16687"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16687">605</a>]</span>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 <i>guru</i> taking a necklace of nine cowries (shells) fastens it round the girl&#8217;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 W&#257;ghyas, and in their presence the patron says, &#8216;I will fill the Murli&#8217;s lap.&#8217;
+The W&#257;ghyas 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.&nbsp;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>A man who takes a vow to become a W&#257;ghya must be initiated by a <i>guru</i>, 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 <i>guru</i> 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 <i>guru</i>, and invokes him with the exclamation, &#8216;Jai Guru,&#8217; before starting out to beg in the morning. The following articles are
+carried by the W&#257;ghyas when begging. The <i>dapdi</i> a circular single drum of wood, covered with goat-skin, and suspended to the shoulder. The <i>chouka</i> 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 <i>gh&#257;ti</i> is an ordinary temple bell; and the <i>kutumba</i> is a metal saucer which serves for a begging-bowl. This is considered sacred, <a id="d0e16715"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16715">606</a>]</span>and sandalwood is applied to it before starting out in the morning. The W&#257;ghyas 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 W&#257;ghya has also the bag made of tiger-skin, or, if this cannot be had, of deer-skin, and the cowrie necklace,
+and a <i>seli</i> or string of goat-hair round the neck. Alms, after being received in the <i>kutumba</i> 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. Mar&#257;thas, Murlis and Telis are the castes who revere Khandoba, and they invite the W&#257;ghyas to sing
+on the Dasahra and also at their marriages. In Bombay the W&#257;ghyas 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 W&#257;ghya waves them about on his hand before the god.<a id="d0e16723src" href="#d0e16723" class="noteref">3</a> Once in three years each W&#257;ghya makes a pilgrimage to Khandoba&#8217;s chief temple at Jejuri near Poona, and there are also local
+temples to this deity at Hingangh&#257;t and N&#257;gpur. The W&#257;ghyas eat flesh and drink liquor, and their social and religious customs
+resemble those of the Mar&#257;thas and Kunbis.
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16661" href="#d0e16661src" class="noteref">1</a></span> This article is partly based on a paper by Pandit Py&#257;re L&#257;l Misra, ethnographic clerk.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16684" href="#d0e16684src" class="noteref">2</a></span> Vol. xx. pp. 189&#8211;190.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16723" href="#d0e16723src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>; vol. xxii. p. 212.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="d0e16728" class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><h2>Yer&#363;kala</h2>
+<p><b>Yer&#363;kala.</b>&#8212;A vagrant gipsy tribe of Madras of whom a small number are returned from the Ch&#257;nda 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 Yer&#363;kalas 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 Yerukalav&#257;ndlu or fortune-teller. Mr. (Sir H.) Stewart thought there
+could be no doubt of the identity of the two castes,<a id="d0e16735src" href="#d0e16735" class="noteref">1</a> though Mr. Francis points out differences <a id="d0e16740"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16740">607</a>]</span>between them.<a id="d0e16742src" href="#d0e16742" class="noteref">2</a> The Yer&#363;kalas 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;rin. 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 Jem&#257;d&#257;rin 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&#8217;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&#8217;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.<a id="d0e16747src" href="#d0e16747" class="noteref">3</a> 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 <a id="d0e16752"></a><span class="pagenum">[<a href="#d0e16752">608</a>]</span>of her husband&#8217;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 Yer&#363;kalas in Tinnevelly: &#8220;One morning, in Tinnevelly, while the butler in
+a missionary&#8217;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.&#8221;<a id="d0e16754src" href="#d0e16754" class="noteref">4</a> 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.<a id="d0e16759src" href="#d0e16759" class="noteref">5</a> The Yer&#363;kalas practised the custom of the Couvade as described by the Rev. John Cain, of Dumagudem:<a id="d0e16764src" href="#d0e16764" class="noteref">6</a> &#8220;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.
+
+</p>
+<p>&#8220;The Yer&#363;kalas 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.&#8221;
+
+</p>
+<div class="footnotes">
+<hr class="fnsep">
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16735" href="#d0e16735src" class="noteref">1</a></span> <i>Madras Census Report</i> (1891).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16742" href="#d0e16742src" class="noteref">2</a></span> <i>Madras Census Report</i> (1901).
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16747" href="#d0e16747src" class="noteref">3</a></span> <i>Bombay Gazetteer</i>, vol. xxi. pp. 170, 171.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16754" href="#d0e16754src" class="noteref">4</a></span> <i>Tribes and Castes of Southern India</i>, art. Korava.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16759" href="#d0e16759src" class="noteref">5</a></span> <i>North Arcot Manual</i>, p. 247.
+</p>
+<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a id="d0e16764" href="#d0e16764src" class="noteref">6</a></span> <i>Ind. Ant.</i> vol. iii., 1874, p. 157.
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="back">
+<div class="div1"><span class="pagenum">
+[<a href="#d0e107">Contents</a>]
+</span><p class="aligncenter">The End
+
+</p>
+<p class="aligncenter"><i>Printed by</i> R. &amp; R. Clark, Limited, <i>Edinburgh</i>.
+
+
+</p>
+<div class="transcribernote">
+<h2>Colophon</h2>
+<h3>Availability</h3>
+<p>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 <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">www.gutenberg.org</a>.
+
+</p>
+<p>This eBook is produced by Jeroen Hellingman and and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at <a href="http://www.pgdp.net/">www.pgdp.net</a> from page images provided by the Million Books Project, supplemented with scans of the illustrations from original copies.
+
+</p>
+<h3>Encoding</h3>
+<h3>Revision History</h3>
+<ul>
+<li>19-FEB-2004 Added TEI tagging.
+
+</li>
+</ul>
+<h3>Corrections</h3>
+<p>The following corrections have been applied to the text:</p>
+<table width="75%">
+<tr>
+<th>Location</th>
+<th>Source</th>
+<th>Correction</th>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e1137">Page 3</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">&#8221;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e7540">Page 229</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Lakshhmi</td>
+<td width="40%">Lakshmi</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e8617">Page 268</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Unrol</td>
+<td width="40%">Unroll</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e8622">Page 268</a></td>
+<td width="40%">unrol</td>
+<td width="40%">unroll</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e8658">Page 269</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e10082">Page 327</a></td>
+<td width="40%">to</td>
+<td width="40%">as</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e11034">Page 367</a></td>
+<td width="40%">kepeer</td>
+<td width="40%">keeper</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e13260">Page 460</a></td>
+<td width="40%">R&#257;htors</td>
+<td width="40%">R&#257;thors</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e15532">Page 554</a></td>
+<td width="40%">Acacta</td>
+<td width="40%">Acacia</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td width="20%"><a href="#d0e15995">Page 573</a></td>
+<td width="40%">
+[<i>Not in source</i>]
+
+</td>
+<td width="40%">&#8221;</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tribes and Castes of the Central
+Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV, by R.V. Russell
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIBES AND CASTES OF INDIA ***
+
+***** This file should be named 20668-h.htm or 20668-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/6/6/20668/
+
+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)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/20668-h/images/fig087.gif b/20668-h/images/fig087.gif
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6deaf5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/fig087.gif
diff --git a/20668-h/images/fig308.gif b/20668-h/images/fig308.gif
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b9d813
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/fig308.gif
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p097.jpg b/20668-h/images/p097.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6952c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p097.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p098.jpg b/20668-h/images/p098.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..261f0bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p098.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p099.jpg b/20668-h/images/p099.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e932f59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p099.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p100.jpg b/20668-h/images/p100.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99f1da1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p100.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p101.jpg b/20668-h/images/p101.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e00134d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p101.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p102.jpg b/20668-h/images/p102.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99eb888
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p102.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p103.jpg b/20668-h/images/p103.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8527a03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p103.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p104.jpg b/20668-h/images/p104.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a2e617
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p104.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p105.jpg b/20668-h/images/p105.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8abcf51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p105.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p106.jpg b/20668-h/images/p106.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a97abe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p106.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p107.jpg b/20668-h/images/p107.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e547d5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p107.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p108.jpg b/20668-h/images/p108.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64ba8d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p108.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p109.jpg b/20668-h/images/p109.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2f0d7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p109.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p110.jpg b/20668-h/images/p110.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7513c76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p110.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p111.jpg b/20668-h/images/p111.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d53f46f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p111.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p112.jpg b/20668-h/images/p112.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75f5230
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p112.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p113.jpg b/20668-h/images/p113.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fd2f5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p113.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p114.jpg b/20668-h/images/p114.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6e1b23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p114.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p115.jpg b/20668-h/images/p115.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0cba3be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p115.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p116.jpg b/20668-h/images/p116.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae68904
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p116.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p117.jpg b/20668-h/images/p117.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f1a905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p117.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p118.jpg b/20668-h/images/p118.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c66839c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p118.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p119.jpg b/20668-h/images/p119.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e155534
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p119.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p120.jpg b/20668-h/images/p120.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..add1c13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p120.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p121.jpg b/20668-h/images/p121.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d0829b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p121.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p122.jpg b/20668-h/images/p122.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..131a3dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p122.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p123.jpg b/20668-h/images/p123.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e485ceb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p123.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p124.jpg b/20668-h/images/p124.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58853e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p124.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p125.jpg b/20668-h/images/p125.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4446679
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p125.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p126.jpg b/20668-h/images/p126.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e828bc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p126.jpg
diff --git a/20668-h/images/p127.jpg b/20668-h/images/p127.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f28534
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-h/images/p127.jpg
diff --git a/20668-page-images.zip b/20668-page-images.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59f830c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668-page-images.zip
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. Russell
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIBES AND CASTES OF INDIA ***
+
+***** This file should be named 20668.txt or 20668.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/6/6/20668/
+
+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)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/20668.zip b/20668.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22f5eea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20668.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..25d94bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #20668 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20668)