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 AlphabeticalOrder

The articles which are considered to be of most general interestare 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 formedby 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 valueas a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing. Rs. 1-8signifies 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 derivedfrom the Sanskrit _kumbh_, a water-pot. The Kumhars numberednearly 120, 000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911 and weremost numerous in the northern and eastern or Hindustani-speakingDistricts, where earthen vessels have a greater vogue than in thesouth. The caste is of course an ancient one, vessels of earthenwarehaving probably been in use at a very early period, and the oldHindu scriptures consequently give various accounts of its originfrom mixed marriages between the four classical castes. "Concerningthe traditional parentage of the caste, " Sir H. Risley writes, [1]"there seems to be a wide difference of opinion among the recognisedauthorities on the subject. Thus the Brahma Vaivartta Purana saysthat the Kumbhakar or maker of water-jars (_kumbka_), is born ofa Vaishya woman by a Brahman father; the Parasara Samhita makesthe father a Malakar (gardener) and the mother a Chamar; while theParasara Padhati holds that the ancestor of the caste was begottenof a Tili woman by a Pattikar or weaver of silk cloth. " Sir MonierWilliams again, in his Sanskrit Dictionary, describes them as theoffspring of a Kshatriya woman by a Brahman. No importance can ofcourse be attached to such statements as the above from the point ofview of actual fact, but they are interesting as showing the view takenof the formation of castes by the old Brahman writers, and also theposition given to the Kumhar at the time when they wrote. This variesfrom a moderately respectable to a very humble one according to thedifferent accounts of his lineage. The caste themselves have a legendof 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 shouldfurnish the vessels required for the ceremony, and one Kulalaka, a Brahman, was ordered to make them. Then Kulalaka stood before theassembly with folded hands, and prayed that materials might be givento him for making the pots. So Vishnu gave his Sudarsana (discus) tobe used as a wheel, and the mountain of Mandara was fixed as a pivotbeneath 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 thepots and gave them to Maheshwar for his marriage, and ever since hisdescendants 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 mightbe expected, are of the territorial type and indicate the differentlocalities from which they migrated to the Central Provinces. Such arethe Malwi from Malwa, the Telenga from the Telugu country in Hyderabad, the Pardeshi from northern India and the Maratha from the MarathaDistricts. Other divisions are the Lingayats who belong to the sect ofthis name, the Gadhewal or Gadhere who make tiles and carry them abouton donkeys (_gadha_), the Bardia who use bullocks for transport and theSungaria who keep pigs (_suar_). Certain endogamous groups have arisensimply from differences in the method of working. Thus the Hathgarhia[3] mould vessels with their hands only without using the wheel; theGoria [4] make white or red pots only and not black ones; the Kureremould their vessels on a stone slab revolving on a stick and not ona wheel; while the Chakere are Kumhars who use the wheel (_chak_)in localities where other Kumhars do not use it. The Chhutakia andRakhotia 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 parentswho allow a daughter to become adolescent while still unwed are putout of caste, but elsewhere the rule is by no means so strict. Theceremony is of the normal type and a Brahman usually officiates, but in Betul it is performed by the Sawasa or husband of the bride'spaternal aunt. After the wedding the couple are given kneaded flourto hold in their hands and snatch from each other as an emblem oftheir trade. In Mandla a bride price of Rs. 50 is paid. 

The Kumhars recognise divorce and the remarriage of widows. If anunmarried girl is detected in criminal intimacy with a member ofthe caste, she has to give a feast to the caste-fellows and pay afine of Rs. 1-4 and five locks of her hair are also cut off by wayof purification. The caste usually burn the dead, but the LingayatKumhars always bury them in accordance with the practice of theirsect. They worship the ordinary Hindu deities and make an offering tothe implements of their trade on the festival of Deothan Igaras. Thevillage Brahman serves as their priest. In Balaghat a Kumhar is putout of caste if a dead cat is found in his house. At the census of1901 the Kumhar was ranked with the impure castes, but his status isnot really so low. Sir D. Ibbetson said of him: "He is a true villagemenial; his social standing is very low, far below that of the Loharand not much above the Chamar. His association with that impure beast, the donkey, the animal sacred to Sitala, the smallpox goddess, polluteshim and also his readiness to carry manure and sweepings. " As alreadyseen there are in the Central Provinces Sungaria and Gadheria subcasteswhich keep donkeys and pigs, and these are regarded as impure. But inmost Districts the Kumhar ranks not much below the Barhai and Lohar, that is in what I have designated the grade of village menials abovethe impure and below the cultivating castes. In Bengal the Kumharshave a much higher status and Brahmans will take water from theirhands. But the gradation of caste in Bengal differs very greatly fromthat of other parts of India. 

4. The Kumhar as a village menial

The Kumhar is not now paid regularly by dues from the cultivatorslike other village menials, as the ordinary system of sale has nodoubt been found more convenient in his case. But he sometimes takesthe soiled grass from the stalls of the cattle and gives pots freeto the cultivator in exchange. On Akti day, at the beginning of theagricultural year, the village Kumhar of Saugor presents five pots withcovers on them to each cultivator and receives 2 1/2 lbs. Of grainin exchange. One of these the tenant fills with water and presentsto a Brahman and the rest he reserves for his own purposes. On theoccasion of a wedding also the bridegroom's party take the bride tothe Kumharin's house as part of the _sohag_ ceremony for making themarriage propitious. The Kumhar seats the bride on his wheel and turnsit round with her seven times. The Kumharin presents her with seven newpots, which are taken back to the house and used at the wedding. Theyare filled with water and are supposed to represent the seven seas. Ifany two of these pots accidentally clash together it is supposed thatthe bride and bridegroom will quarrel during their married life. Inreturn for this the Kumharin receives a present of clothes. At afuneral also the Kumhar must supply thirteen vessels which are known as_ghats_, and must also replace the broken earthenware. Like the othervillage menials at the harvest he takes a new vessel to the cultivatorin his field and receives a present of grain. These customs appear toindicate his old position as one of the menials or general servantsof the village ranking below the cultivators. Grant-Duff also includesthe 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 gofar afield for the finer qualities, but digs it from the nearest placein the neighbourhood where he can get it free of cost. Red and blackclay are employed, the former being obtained near the base of hillsor on high-lying land, probably of the laterite formation, and thelatter in the beds of tanks or streams. When the clay is thoroughlykneaded and ready for use a lump of it is placed on the centre of thewheel. The potter seats himself in front of the wheel and fixes hisstick or _chakrait_ into the slanting hole in its upper surface. Withthis stick the wheel is made to revolve very rapidly, and sufficientimpetus is given to it to keep it in motion for several minutes. Thepotter then lays aside the stick and with his hands moulds the lumpof clay into the shape required, stopping every now and then to givethe wheel a fresh spin as it loses its momentum. When satisfied withthe shape of his vessel he separates it from the lump with a piece ofstring, and places it on a bed of ashes to prevent it sticking to theground. The wheel is either a circular disc cut out of a single pieceof stone about a yard in diameter, or an ordinary wooden wheel withspokes forming two diameters at right angles. The rim is then thickenedwith the addition of a coating of mud strengthened with fibre. [6] Thearticles 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. Inthe manufacture of these last salt and saltpetre are mixed with theclay to make them more porous and so increase their cooling capacity. Avery useful thing is the small saucer which serves as a lamp, beingfilled with oil on which a lighted wick is floated. These saucersresemble those found in the excavations of Roman remains. Earthenvessels are more commonly used, both for cooking and eating purposesamong the people of northern India, and especially by Muhammadans, thanamong the Marathas, and, as already noticed, the Kumhar caste mustersstrong in the north of the Province. An earthen vessel is polluted ifany one of another caste takes food or drink from it and is at oncediscarded. On the occasion of a death all the vessels in the house arethrown away and a new set obtained, and the same measure is adopted atthe Holi festival and on the occasion of an eclipse, and at variousother ceremonial purifications, such as that entailed if a member ofthe household has had maggots in a wound. On this account cheapness isan indispensable quality in pottery, and there is no opening for theKumhar to improve his art. Another product of the Kumhar's industryis the _chilam_ or pipe-bowl. This has the usual opening for inhalingthe smoke but no stem, an impromptu stem being made by the hands andthe smoke inhaled through it. As the _chilam_ is not touched by themouth, 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 andplastered over, the rains will stop until it is opened. This device isadopted when the fall is excessive, but, on the other hand, if thereis drought, the people sometimes think that the potter has used itto keep off the rain, because he cannot pursue his calling when theclay 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 vesselsunder the influence of this belief. The potter is sometimes knownas Prajapati or the 'The Creator, ' in accordance with the favouritecomparison made by ancient writers of the moulding of his pots withthe creation of human beings, the justice of which will be recognisedby any one who watches the masses of mud on a whirling wheel growinginto 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 ameans of subsistence, and they sell these pigs for sacrifices at pricesvarying from eight annas (8d. ) to a rupee. The pigs are sacrificed bythe Gonds to their god Bura Deo and by Hindus to the deity Bhainsasur, or the buffalo demon, for the protection of the crops. Bhainsasur isrepresented by a stone in the fields, and when crops are beaten downat night by the wind it is supposed that Bhainsasur has passed overthem and trampled them down. Hindus, usually of the lower castes, offerpigs to Bhainsasur to propitiate him and preserve their crops from hisravages, but they cannot touch the impure pig themselves. What theyhave to do, therefore, is to pay the Kumhar the price of the pig andget him to offer it to Bhainsasur on their behalf. The Kumhar goesto the god and sacrifices the pig and then takes the body home andeats it, so that his trade is a profitable one, while conversely tosacrifice a pig without partaking of its flesh must necessarily bebitter to the frugal Hindu mind, and this indicates the importanceof the deity who is to be propitiated by the offering. The firstquestion which arises in connection with this curious custom iswhy 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 supposethat the conceptions of Demeter herself and the lovely Proserpinegrew out of the worship of the pig, and that both goddesses werein the beginning merely the deified pig. The highly instructivepassage in which Sir J. G. Frazer advances this theory is reproducedalmost in full [7]: "Passing next to the corn-goddess Demeter, andremembering that in European folklore the pig is a common embodimentof the corn-spirit, we may now ask whether the pig, which was soclosely associated with Demeter, may not originally have been thegoddess herself in animal form? The pig was sacred to her; in artshe was portrayed carrying or accompanied by a pig; and the pig wasregularly sacrificed in her mysteries, the reason assigned being thatthe pig injures the corn and is therefore an enemy of the goddess. Butafter 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 hisanimal form and becomes purely anthropomorphic; and that then theanimal 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 itshostility to the deity; in short, that the god is sacrificed to himselfon the ground that he is his own enemy. This happened to Dionysus andit may have happened to Demeter also. And in fact the rites of one ofher festivals, the Thesmophoria, bear out the view that originally thepig was an embodiment of the corn-goddess herself, either Demeter orher daughter and double Proserpine. The Thesmophoria was an autumnfestival celebrated by women alone in October, and appears to haverepresented with mourning rites the descent of Proserpine (or Demeter)into the lower world, and with joy her return from the dead. Hence thename Descent or Ascent variously applied to the first, and the name_Kalligeneia_ (fair-born) applied to the third day of the festival. Nowfrom an old scholium on Lucian we learn some details about the modeof celebrating the Thesmophoria, which shed important light on thepart of the festival called the Descent or the Ascent. The scholiasttells us that it was customary at the Thesmophoria to throw pigs, cakes of dough, and branches of pine-trees into 'the chasms of Demeterand Proserpine, ' which appear to have been sacred caverns or vaults. 

"In these caverns or vaults there were said to be serpents, whichguarded the caverns and consumed most of the flesh of the pigs anddough-cakes which were thrown in. Afterwards--apparently at thenext 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, descendedinto the caverns, and, frightening away the serpents by clapping theirhands, brought up the remains and placed them on the altar. Whoevergot a piece of the decayed flesh and cakes, and sowed it with theseed-corn in his field, was believed to be sure of a good crop. 

"To explain this rude and ancient rite the following legend wastold. At the moment when Pluto carried off Proserpine, a swineherdcalled Eubuleus chanced to be herding his swine on the spot, andhis herd was engulfed in the chasm down which Pluto vanished withProserpine. Accordingly, at the Thesmophoria pigs were annuallythrown into caverns to commemorate the disappearance of the swineof Eubuleus. It follows from this that the casting of the pigsinto the vaults at the Thesmophoria formed part of the dramaticrepresentation of Proserpine's descent into the lower world; andas no image of Proserpine appears to have been thrown in, we mayinfer that the descent of the pigs was not so much an accompanimentof her descent as the descent itself, in short, that the pigs wereProserpine. Afterwards, when Proserpine or Demeter (for the two areequivalent) became anthropomorphic, a reason had to be found for thecustom of throwing pigs into caverns at her festival; and this wasdone by saying that when Pluto carried off Proserpine, there happenedto be some swine browsing near, which were swallowed up along withher. The story is obviously a forced and awkward attempt to bridgeover the gulf between the old conception of the corn-spirit as apig and the new conception of her as an anthropomorphic goddess. Atrace of the older conception survived in the legend that when thesad mother was searching for traces of the vanished Proserpine, thefootprints of the lost one were obliterated by the footprints of apig; originally, we may conjecture, the footprints of the pig were thefootprints of Proserpine and of Demeter herself. A consciousness ofthe intimate connection of the pig with the corn lurks in the legendthat the swineherd Eubuleus was a brother of Triptolemus, to whomDemeter first imparted the secret of the corn. Indeed, according toone version of the story, Eubuleus himself received, jointly with hisbrother Triptolemus, the gift of the corn from Demeter as a rewardfor revealing to her the fate of Proserpine. Further, it is to benoted that at the Thesmophoria the women appear to have eaten swine'sflesh. The meal, if I am right, must have been a solemn sacrament orcommunion, 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 acorn-deity because it damaged the crops and subsequently becamean anthropomorphic goddess. It is suggested that pigs are offeredto Bhainsasur by the Hindus for the same reason. But there is noHindu deity representing the pig, this animal on the contrary beingregarded as impure. It seems doubtful, however, whether this wasalways so. In Rajputana on the stone which the Regent of Kotah set upto commemorate the abolition of forced taxes were carved the effigiesof the sun, the moon, the cow and the hog, with an imprecation onwhoever should revoke the edict. [8] Colonel Tod says that the pigwas included as being execrated by all classes, but this seems verydoubtful. It would scarcely occur to any Hindu nowadays to associatethe image of the impure pig with those of the sun, moon and cow, the representations of three of his greatest deities. Rather itgives some reason for supposing that the pig was once worshipped, and the Rajputs still do not hold the wild boar impure, as they huntit and eat its flesh. Moreover, Vishnu in his fourth incarnation wasa 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 laterinnovation. The principal sacrifice of the early Romans was theSuovetaurilia or the sacrifice of a pig, a ram and a bull. The orderof the words, M. Reinach remarks, [9] is significant as showing theimportance formerly attached to the pig or boar. Since the pig wasthe principal sacrificial animal of the primitive tribes, the Gondsand Baigas, its connection with the ritual of an alien and at onetime hostile religion may have strengthened the feeling of aversionfor it among the Hindus, which would naturally be engendered by itsown dirty habits. 

9. The buffalo as a corn-god

It seems possible then that the Hindus reverenced the wild boar inthe past as one of the strongest and fiercest animals of the forestand also as a destroyer of the crops. And they still make sacrificesof the pig to guard their fields from his ravages. These sacrifices, however, are not offered to any deity who can represent a deifiedpig but to Bhainsasur, the deified buffalo. The explanation seemsto be that in former times, when forests extended over most ofthe country, the cultivator had in the wild buffalo a direr foethan 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 herdof these great brutes against whom his puny weapons were powerless, looked on them as terrible and malignant deities. The sacrifice of abuffalo would be beyond the means of a single man, and the animal isnow more or less sacred as one of the cow tribe. But the annual jointsacrifice of one or more buffaloes is a regular feature of the Dasahrafestival and extends over a great part of India. In Betul and otherdistricts the procedure is that on the Dasahra day, or a day before, the Mang and Kotwar, two of the lowest village menials, take a buffalobull and bring it to the village proprietor, who makes a cut on itsnose and draws blood. Then it is taken all round the village andto the shrines of the gods, and in the evening it is killed and theMang and Kotwar eat the flesh. It is now believed that if the bloodof a buffalo does not fall at Dasahra some epidemic will attack thevillage, but as there are no longer any wild buffaloes except in thedenser forests of one or two Districts, the original meaning of therite might naturally have been forgotten. [10]

10. The Dasahra festival

The Dasahra festival probably marks the autumnal equinox and also thetime when the sowing of wheat and other spring crops begins. ManyHindus still postpone sowing the wheat until after Dasahra, eventhough it might be convenient to begin before, especially as thefestival goes by the lunar month and its date varies in differentyears by more than a fortnight. The name signifies the tenth day, and prior to the festival a fast of nine days is observed, when thepots of wheat corresponding to the gardens of Adonis are sown andquickly sprout up. This is an imitation of the sowing and growth ofthe real crop and is meant to ensure its success. During these ninedays it is said that the goddess Devi was engaged in mortal combatwith the buffalo demon Mahisasur or Bhainsasur, and on the tenth dayor the Dasahra she slew him. The fast is explained as being observedin order to help her to victory, but it is really perhaps a fast inconnection with the growing of the crops. A similar nine daysfastfor the crops was observed by the Greeks. [11]

11. The goddess Devi

Devi signifies '_the_ goddess' _par excellence_. She is often thetutelary goddess of the village and of the family, and is held to havebeen originally Mother Earth, which may be supposed to be correct. Intracts where the people of northern and southern India meet she isidentified with Anna Purna, the corn-goddess of the Telugu country;and in her form of Gauri or 'the Yellow One' she is perhaps herselfthe yellow corn. As Gauri she is worshipped at weddings in conjunctionwith Ganesh or Ganpati, the god of Good Fortune; and it is probablyin honour of the harvest colour that Hindus of the upper casteswear yellow at their weddings and consider it lucky. A Brahman alsoprefers 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 thereason probably is that the shrines of their gods are stained red withthe blood of the animals sacrificed. High-caste Hindus no longer makeanimal sacrifices, and their offerings to Siva, Vishnu and Devi consistof food, flowers and blades of corn. Thus yellow would be similarlyassociated with the shrines of the gods. All Hindu brides have theirbodies rubbed with yellow turmeric, and the principal religious flower, the marigold, is orange-yellow. Yellow is, however, also lucky as beingthe colour of Vishnu or the Sun, and a yellow flag is waved abovehis great temple at Ramtek on the occasion of the fair. Thus Devias the corn-goddess perhaps corresponds to Demeter, but she is notin this form an animal goddess. The Hindus worshipping Mother Earth, as all races do in the early stage of religion, may by a natural andproper analogy have ascribed the gift of the corn to her from whomit really comes, and have identified her with the corn-goddess. Thisis by no means a full explanation of the goddess Devi, who has manyforms. As Parvati, the hill-maiden, and Durga, the inaccessible one, she is the consort of Siva in his character of the mountain-god ofthe Himalayas; as Kali, the devourer of human flesh, she is perhapsthe deified tiger; and she may have assimilated yet more objects ofworship into her wide divinity. But there seems no special reasonto hold that she is anywhere believed to be the deified buffalo; andthe probable explanation of the Dasahra rite would therefore seem tobe that the buffalo was at first venerated as the corn-god because, like the pig in Greece, he was most destructive to the crops, anda buffalo was originally slaughtered and eaten sacramentally as anact of worship. At a later period the divinity attaching to the cornwas transferred to Devi, an anthropomorphic deity of a higher class, and in order to explain the customary slaughter of the buffalo, whichhad to be retained, the story became current that the beneficentgoddess fought and slew the buffalo-demon which injured the crops, for the benefit of her worshippers, and the fast was observed andthe buffalo sacrificed in commemoration of this event. It is possiblethat the sacrifice of the buffalo may have been a non-Aryan rite, asthe Mundas still offer a buffalo to Deswali, their forest god, in thesacred grove; and the Korwas of Sarguja nave periodical sacrifices toKali in which many buffaloes are slaughtered. In the pictures of herfight with Bhainsasur, Devi is shown as riding on a tiger, and theuneducated might imagine the struggle to have resembled that betweena tiger and a buffalo. As the destroyer of buffaloes and deer whichgraze on the crops the tiger may even be considered the cultivator'sfriend. But in the rural tracts Bhainsasur himself is still veneratedin the guise of a corn-deity, and pig are perhaps offered to him asthe animals which nowadays do most harm to the crops. 

Kunbi

[This article is based on the information collected for the DistrictGazetteers of the Central Provinces, manuscript notes furnished byMr. A. K. Smith, C. S. , and from papers by Pandit Pyare Lal Misra andMunshi Kanhya Lal. The Kunbis are treated in the _Poona_ and _Khandesh_volumes of the _Bombay Gazetteer_. The caste has been taken as typicalof the Marathi-speaking Districts, and a fairly full descriptionof the marriage and other ceremonies has therefore been given, someinformation 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. Inthe Central Provinces and Berar the Kunbis numbered nearly 1, 400, 000persons in 1911; they belong to the Nagpur, Chanda, Bhandara, Wardha, Nimar and Betul Districts of the Central Provinces. In Berar theirstrength was 800, 000, or nearly a third of the total population. Herethey form the principal cultivating class over the whole area exceptin the jungles of the north and south, but muster most strongly inthe Buldana District to the west, where in some taluks nearly half thepopulation belongs to the Kunbi caste. In the combined Province theyare the most numerous caste except the Gonds. The name has variousforms in Bombay, being Kunbi or Kulambi in the Deccan, Kulwadi inthe south Konkan, Kanbi in Gujarat, and Kulbi in Belgaum. In Sanskritinscriptions it is given as Kutumbika (householder), and hence it hasbeen derived from _kutumba_, a family. A chronicle of the eleventhcentury quoted by Forbes speaks of the Kutumbiks or cultivators ofthe _grams, _ or small villages. [13] Another writer describing theearly Rajput dynasties says: [14] "The villagers were Koutombiks(householders) or husbandmen (Karshuks); the village headmen werePutkeels (patels). " Another suggested derivation is from a Dravidianroot _kul_ a husbandman or labourer; while that favoured by the casteand 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 theeleventh century, being forced to leave Gujarat by the encroachmentsof Rajput tribes, driven south before the early Muhammadan invadersof northern India. [15] From Khandesh they probably spread into Berarand the adjoining Nagpur and Wardha Districts. It seems probable thattheir first settlement in Nagpur and Wardha took place not later thanthe fourteenth century, because during the subsequent period of Gondrule we find the offices of Deshmukh and Deshpandia in existence inthis area. The Deshmukh was the manager or headman of a circle ofvillages and was responsible for apportioning and collecting the landrevenue, while the Deshpandia was a head _patwari_ or accountant. TheDeshmukhs were usually the leading Kunbis, and the titles are stillborne by many families in Wardha and Nagpur. These offices [16] belongto the Maratha country, and it seems necessary to suppose that theirintroduction into Wardha and Berar dates from a period at least asearly as the fourteenth century, when these territories were includedin the dominions of the Bahmani kings of Bijapur. A subsequent largeinflux of Kunbis into Wardha and Nagpur took place in the eighteenthcentury with the conquest of Raghuji Bhonsla and the establishment ofthe Maratha kingdom of Nagpur. Traces of these separate immigrationssurvive in the subdivisions of the caste, which will now be mentioned. 

3. Subcastes

The internal structure of the Kunbi caste in the Central Provincesshows that it is a mixed occupational body recruited from differentclasses of the population. The Jhare or jungly [17] Kunbis arethe oldest immigrants and have no doubt an admixture of Gondblood. They do not break their earthen vessels after a death inthe house. With them may be classed the Manwa Kunbis of the NagpurDistrict; these appear to be a group recruited from the Manas, aprimitive tribe who were dominant in Chanda perhaps even before theadvent of the Gonds. The Manwa Kunbi women wear their cloths drawnup so as to expose the thigh like the Gonds, and have some otherprimitive practices. They do not employ Brahmans at their marriages, but consult a Mahar Mohturia or soothsayer to fix the date of theceremony. Other Kunbis will not eat with the Manwas, and the latterretaliate in the usual manner by refusing to accept food from them;and say that they are superior to other Kunbis because they alwaysuse brass vessels for cooking and not earthen ones. Among the othersubcastes in the Central Provinces are the Khaire, who take their namefrom the _khair_ [18] or catechu tree, presumably because they formerlyprepared catechu; this is a regular occupation of the forest tribes, with whom it may be supposed that the Khaire have some affinity. TheDhanoje are those who took to the occupation of tending _dhan_ [19]or small stock, and they are probably an offshoot of the Dhangaror shepherd caste whose name is similarly derived. Like the Dhangarwomen they wear cocoanut-shell bangles, and the Manwa Kunbis also dothis; these bangles are not broken when a child is born, and hencethe Dhanojes and Manwas are looked down on by the other subcastes, who refuse to remove their leaf-plates after a feast. The name of theKhedule subcaste may be derived from _kheda_ a village, while anotherversion given by Mr. Kitts [20] is that it signifies 'A beardlessyouth. ' The highest subcaste in the Central Provinces are the Tiroleor Tilole, who now claim to be Rajputs. They say that their ancestorscame from Therol in Rajputana, and, taking to agriculture, graduallybecame merged with the Kunbis. Another more probable derivation ofthe name is from the _til_ or sesamum plant. The families who heldthe hereditary office of Deshmukh, which conferred a considerablelocal position, were usually members of the Tirole subcaste, and theyhave now developed into a sort of aristocratic branch of the caste, and marry among themselves when matches can be arranged. They do notallow the remarriage of widows nor permit their women to accompanythe wedding procession. The Wandhekars are another group which alsoincludes some Deshmukh families, and ranks next to the Tiroles inposition. 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 whohave settled in Berar and become amalgamated with the Kunbis. Similarlythe Tailanges and Munurwars appear to be an offshoot of the great Kapucaste of cultivators in the Telugu country. The Wanjari subcaste isa fairly large one and almost certainly represents a branch of theBanjara caste of carriers, who have taken to agriculture and beenpromoted into the Kunbi community. The Lonhare take their name fromLonar Mehkar, the well-known bitter lake of the Buldana District, whose salt they may formerly have refined. The Ghatole are those whodwelt above the _ghats_ or passes of the Saihadri range to the southof the Berar plain. The Baone are an important subcaste both in Berarand the Central Provinces, and take their name from the phrase BawanBerar, [22] a term applied to the province by the Mughals because itpaid fifty-two lakhs of revenue, as against only eight lakhs realisedfrom the adjoining Jhadi or hill country in the Central Provinces. InChhindwara is found a small local subcaste called Gadhao because theyformerly kept donkeys, though they no longer do so; they are lookeddown on by the others who will not even take water from their hands. InNimar is a group of Gujarati Kunbis who are considered to have beenoriginally Gujars. [23] Their local subdivisions are Leve and Karwa andmany of them are also known as Dalia, because they made the _dal_ orpulse of Burhanpur, which had a great reputation under native rule. Itis 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 witha cultivator, and that large groups from other castes have taken toagriculture, have been admitted into the community and usually obtaineda rise in rank. In many villages Kunbis are the only ryots, while belowthem are the village menials and artisans, several of whom performfunctions at weddings or on other occasions denoting their recognitionof the Kunbi as their master or employer; and beneath these again arethe impure Mahars or labourers. Thus at a Kunbi betrothal the servicesof the barber and washerman must be requisitioned; the barber washesthe feet of the boy and girl and places vermilion on the foreheads ofthe guests. The washerman spreads a sheet on the ground on which theboy and girl sit. At the end of the ceremony the barber and washermantake the bride and bridegroom on their shoulders and dance to musicin the marriage-shed; for this they receive small presents. Aftera death has occurred at a Kunbi's house the impurity is not removeduntil the barber and washerman have eaten in it. At a Kunbi's weddingthe Gurao or village priest brings the leafy branches of five trees, the mango, _jamun_ [24] _umar_ [25] and two others and deposits themat Maroti's temple, whence they are removed by the parents of thebride. Before a wedding again a Kunbi bride must go to the potter'shouse and be seated on his wheel while it is turned round seven timesfor good luck. At seed-time and harvest all the village menials goto the cultivator's field and present him with a specimen of theirwares or make obeisance to him, receiving in return a small presentof grain. This state of things seems to represent the primitive formof Hindu society from which the present widely ramified system, ofcastes may have expanded, and even now the outlines of the originalstructure may be discernible under all subsequent accretions. 

5. Exogamus septs

Each subcaste has a number of exogamous septs or clans which serveas a table of affinities in regulating marriage. The vernacularterm for these is _kul_. Some of the septs are named after naturalobjects or animals, others from titles or nicknames borne by thereputed founder of the group, or from some other caste to which hemay have belonged, while others again are derived from the namesof villages which maybe taken to have been the original home of thesept 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 atorn 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 brokennose, and so on. Each subcaste has a number of septs, a total of 66being recorded for the Tiroles alone. The names of the septs confirmthe hypothesis arrived at from a scrutiny of the subcastes thatthe Kunbis are largely recruited from the pre-Aryan or aboriginaltribes. Conclusions as to the origin of the caste can better bemade 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 fewyears back lived by scattering his seed on patches of land burnt clearof vegetation, collecting myrobalans and other fruits, and snaringand trapping animals exactly like the Gonds and Baigas of the CentralProvinces. Similarly in Nasik it is stated that a large proportionof 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 cultivatingcastes of Hindustan, who in theory at any rate are of Aryan origin andof so high a grade of social purity that Brahmans will take water fromthem. The only reasonable explanation of this rise in status appears tobe that the Kunbi has taken possession of the land and has obtained therank which from time immemorial belongs to the hereditary cultivatoras a member and citizen of the village community. It is interestingto note that the Wanjari Kunbis of Berar, who, being as already seenBanjaras, are of Rajput descent at any rate, now strenuously disclaimall connection with the Banjara caste and regard their reception intothe Kunbi community as a gain in status. At the same time the refusalof the Maratha Brahmans to take water to drink from Kunbis may perhapshave been due to the recognition of their non-Aryan origin. Most ofthe Kunbis also eat fowls, which the cultivating castes of northernIndia would not usually do. 

6. Restrictions on marriage of relatives

A man is forbidden to marry within his own sept or _kul_, or in thatof his mother or either of his grandmothers. He may marry his wife'syounger sister but not her elder sister. Alliances between first andsecond cousins are also prohibited except that a sister's son may bemarried to a brother's daughter. Such marriages are also favouredby the Maratha Brahmans and other castes, and the suitability ofthe match is expressed in the saying _Ato ghari bhasi sun_, or 'Ata sister's house her brother's daughter is a daughter-in-law. ' Thesister claims it as a right and not unfrequently there are quarrelsif the brother decides to give his daughter to somebody else, whilethe general feeling is so strongly in favour of these marriages thatthe caste committee sometimes imposes a fine on fathers who wish tobreak through the rule. The fact that in this single case the marriageof near relatives is not only permitted but considered almost as anobligation, while in all other instances it is strictly prohibited, probably points to the conclusion that the custom is a survival of thematriarchate, when a brother's property would pass to his sister'sson. Under such a law of inheritance he would naturally desire thathis heir should be united to his own daughter, and this union mightgradually become customary and at length almost obligatory. Thecustom in this case may survive when the reasons which justified ithave entirely vanished. And while formerly it was the brother whowould have had reason to desire the match for his daughter, it is nowthe sister who insists on it for her son, the explanation being thatamong the Kunbis as with other agricultural castes, to whom a wife'slabour is a valuable asset, girls are expensive and a considerableprice has to be paid for a bride. 

7. Betrothal and marriage

Girls are usually married between the ages of five and eleven and boysbetween ten and twenty. The Kunbis still think it a mark of socialdistinction to have their daughters married as young as possible. Therecognised bride-price is about twenty rupees, but much larger sums areoften paid. The boy's father goes in search of a girl to be marriedto his son, and when the bride-price has been settled and the matcharranged the ceremony of Mangni or betrothal takes place. In the firstplace the boy's father proceeds to his future daughter-in-law's house, where he washes her feet, smears her forehead with red powder andgives her a present of a rupee and some sweetmeats. All the partythen eat together. This is followed by a visit of the girl's fatherto the boy's house where a similar ceremony is enacted and the boyis presented with a cocoanut, a _pagri_ and cloth, and a silveror gold ring. Again the boy's relatives go to the girl's houseand give her more valuable presents of jewellery and clothing. ABrahman is afterwards consulted to fix the date of the marriage, but the poorer Kunbis dispense with his services as he charges twoor three rupees. Prior to the ceremony the bodies of the bride andbridegroom are well massaged with vegetable oil and turmeric in theirrespective houses, partly with a view to enhance their beauty and alsoperhaps to protect them during the trying period of the ceremony whenmaleficent spirits are particularly on the alert. The marriage-shed ismade of eleven poles festooned with leaves, and inside it are placedtwo posts of the _saleh_ (_Boswellia serrata_) or _umar_ (_Ficusglomerata_) tree, one longer than the other, to represent the brideand bridegroom. Two jars filled with water are set near the posts, and a small earthen platform called _baola_ is made. The bridegroomwears a yellow or white dress, and has a triangular frame of bamboocovered with tinsel over his forehead, which is known as _basing_and is a substitute for the _maur_ or marriage-crown of the Hindustanicastes. Over his shoulder he carries a pickaxe as the representativeimplement of husbandry with one or two wheaten cakes tied to it. Thisis placed on the top of the marriage-shed and at the end of the fivedays' ceremonies the members of the families eat the dried cakeswith milk, no outsider being allowed to participate. The _barat_or wedding procession sets out for the bride's village, the womenof the bridegroom's family accompanying it except among the TiroleKunbis, who forbid the practice in order to demonstrate their highersocial position. It is received on the border of the girl's villageby her father and his friends and relatives, and conducted to the_janwasa_ or temporary lodging prepared for it, with the exceptionof the bridegroom, who is left alone before the shrine of Maroti orHanuman. The bridegroom's father goes to the marriage-shed where hewashes the bride's feet and gives her another present of clothes, and her relatives then proceed to Maroti's temple where they worshipand make offerings, and return bringing the bridegroom with them. Ashe arrives at the marriage pavilion he touches it with a stick, onwhich the bride's brother who is seated above the shed pours downsome water and is given a present of money by the bridegroom. Thebridegroom's feet are then washed by his father-in-law and he isgiven a yellow cloth which he wears. The couple are made to stand ontwo wooden planks opposite each other with a curtain between them, the bridegroom facing east and the bride west, holding some Akshataor rice covered with saffron in their hands. As the sun sets theofficiating Brahman gets on to the roof of the house and repeats themarriage texts from there. At his signal the couple throw the rice overeach other, the curtain between them is withdrawn, and they changetheir seats. The assembled party applaud and the marriage proper isover. The Brahman marks their foreheads with rice and turmeric andpresses them together. He then seats them on the earthen platformor _baola_, and ties their clothes together, this being known as theBrahma Ganthi or Brahman's knot. The wedding usually takes place on theday after the arrival of the marriage procession and another two daysare consumed in feasting and worshipping the deities. When the brideand bridegroom return home after the wedding one of the party waves apot of water round their heads and throws it away at a little distanceon the ground, and after this some grain in the same manner. This isa provision of food and drink to any evil spirits who may be hoveringround the couple, so that they may stop to consume it and refrainfrom entering the house. The expenses of the bride's family may varyfrom Rs. 60 to Rs. 100 and those of the bridegroom's from Rs. 160 toRs. 600. A wedding carried out on a lavish scale by a well-to-do manis known as Lal Biah or a red marriage, but when the parties are poorthe expenses are curtailed and it is then called Safed Biah or a whitemarriage. In this case the bridegroom's mother does not accompany thewedding procession and the proceedings last only two days. The bridegoes back with the wedding procession for a few days to her husband'shouse and then returns home. When she arrives at maturity her parentsgive a feast to the caste and send her to her husband's house, thisoccasion being known as Bolvan (the calling). The Karwa Kunbis ofNimar have a peculiar rule for the celebration of marriages. Theyhave a _guru_ or priest in Gujarat who sends them a notice once inevery ten or twelve years, and in this year only marriages can beperformed. It is called _Singhast ki sal_ and is the year in which theplanet Guru (Jupiter) comes into conjunction with the constellationSinh (Leo). But the Karwas themselves think that there is a largetemple in Gujarat with a locked door to which there is no key. Butonce in ten or twelve years the door unlocks of itself, and in thatyear their marriages are celebrated. A certain day is fixed and allthe weddings are held on it together. On this occasion children frominfants in arms to ten or twelve years are married, and if a matchcannot be arranged for them they will have to wait another ten ortwelve years. A girl child who is born on the day fixed for weddingsmay, however, be married twelve days afterwards, the twelfth nightbeing called Mando Rat, and on this occasion any other weddings whichmay have been unavoidably postponed owing to a death or illness inthe families may also be completed. The rule affords a loophole ofescape for the victims of any such _contretemps_ and also insuresthat every girl shall be married before she is fully twelve yearsold. Rather than not marry their daughter in the _Singhast ki sal_before she is twelve the parents will accept any bridegroom, eventhough he be very poor or younger than the bride. This is the same yearin which the celebration of marriages is forbidden among the Hindusgenerally. The other Kunbis have the general Hindu rule that weddingsare 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, andit is observed more or less as a time of abstinence and fasting. TheHindus should properly abstain from eating sugarcane, brinjals, onions, garlic and other vegetables for the whole four months. Onthe 12th of Kartik the marriage of Tulsi or the basil plant with theSaligram or ammonite representing Vishnu is performed and all thesevegetables are offered to her and afterwards generally consumed. Twodays afterwards, beginning from the 14th of Kartik, comes the Diwalifestival. In Betul the bridal couple are seated in the centre of asquare made of four plough yokes, while a leaf of the pipal tree anda piece of turmeric are tied by a string round both their wrists. Theuntying of the string by the local Brahman constitutes the essentialand binding portion of the marriage. Among the Lonhare subcaste acurious ceremony is performed after the wedding. A swing is made, anda round pestle, which is supposed to represent a child, is placed onit and swung to and fro. It is then taken off and placed in the lapof the bride, and the effect of performing this symbolical ceremonyis supposed to be that she will soon become a mother. 

8. Polygamy and divorce

Polygamy is permitted but rarely practised, a second wife being onlytaken if the first be childless or of bad character, or destitute ofattractions. Divorce is allowed, but in some localities at any ratea divorced woman cannot marry again unless she is permitted to do soin writing by her first husband. If a girl be seduced before marriagea fine is imposed on both parties and they are readmitted to socialintercourse, but are not married to each other. Curiously enough, in the Tirole and Wandhekar, the highest subcastes, the keeping ofa 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 theDeshmukh families of the Tirole subcaste who have forbidden it. If awoman's husband dies she returns to her father's house and he arrangesher second marriage, which is called _choli-patal, _ or giving her newclothes. He takes a price for her which may vary from twenty-fiveto five hundred rupees according to the age and attractions of thewoman. A widow may marry any one outside the family of her deceasedhusband, but she may not marry his younger brother. This union, which among the Hindustani castes is looked upon as most suitableif not obligatory, is strictly forbidden among the Maratha castes, the reason assigned being that a wife stands in the position of amother to her husband's younger brothers. The contrast is curious. Theceremony of widow-marriage is largely governed by the idea of escapingor placating the wrath of the first husband's ghost, and also of itsbeing something to be ashamed of and contrary to orthodox Hinduism. Italways takes place in the dark fortnight of the month and always atnight. Sometimes no women are present, and if any do attend they mustbe widows, as it would be the worst of omens for a married woman orunmarried girl to witness the ceremony. This, it is thought, wouldlead to her shortly becoming a widow herself. The bridegroom goes tothe widow's house with his male friends and two wooden seats are setside by side. On one of these a betel-nut is placed which representsthe deceased husband of the widow. The new bridegroom advances witha small wooden sword, touches the nut with its tip, and then kicks itoff the seat with his right toe. The barber picks up the nut and burnsit. This is supposed to lay the deceased husband's spirit and preventhis interference with the new union. The bridegroom then takes the seatfrom which the nut has been displaced and the woman sits on the otherside to his left. He puts a necklace of beads round her neck and thecouple leave the house in a stealthy fashion and go to the husband'svillage. It is considered unlucky to see them as they go away becausethe second husband is regarded in the light of a robber. Sometimesthey stop by a stream on the way home, and, taking off the woman'sclothes and bangles, bury them by the side of the stream. An exorcistmay also be called in, who will confine the late husband's spirit ina horn by putting in some grains of wheat, and after sealing up thehorn deposit it with the clothes. When a widower or widow marries asecond time and is afterwards attacked by illness, it is ascribed tothe illwill of their former partner's spirit. The metal image of thefirst husband or wife is then made and worn as an amulet on the arm orround the neck. A bachelor who wishes to marry a widow must first gothrough a mock ceremony with an _akra_ or swallow-wort plant, as thewidow-marriage is not considered a real one, and it is inauspicious forany one to die without having been properly married once. A similarceremony must be gone through when a man is married for the thirdtime, as it is held that if he marries a woman for the third time hewill quickly die. The _akra_ or swallow-wort (_Calotropis gigantea_)is a very common plant growing on waste land with mauve or purpleflowers. When cut or broken a copious milky juice exudes from thestem, and in some places parents are said to poison children whomthey 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 cookfor herself nor touch anybody nor sleep on a bed made of cottonthread. As soon as she is in this condition she will untie the cottonthreads confining her hair and throw them away, letting her hair hangdown. This is because they have become impure. But if there is noother woman in the house and she must continue to do the householdwork herself, she does not throw them away until the last day. [29]Similarly she must not sleep on a cotton sheet or mattress duringthis time because she would defile it, but she may sleep on a woollenblanket as wool is a holy material and is not defiled. At the end ofthe period she proceeds to a stream and purifies herself by bathingand washing her head with earth. When a woman is with child for thefirst time her women friends come and give her new green clothes andbangles in the seventh month; they then put her into a swing and singsongs. While she is pregnant she is made to work in the house so asnot to be inactive. After the birth of a child the mother remainsimpure for twelve days. A woman of the Mang or Mahar caste acts asmidwife, and always breaks her bangles and puts on new ones after shehas assisted at a birth. If delivery is prolonged the woman is givenhot water and sugar or camphor wrapped in a betel-leaf, or they puta few grains of gram into her hand and then someone takes and feedsthem to a mare, as it is thought that the woman's pregnancy has beenprolonged by her having walked behind the tethering-ropes of a mare, which is twelve months in foal. Or she is given water to drink inwhich 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 madefor the child like the hole through the bead, while the virtue of therupee probably consists in its being a silver coin and having the imageor device of a powerful king like Akbar. Or it may be thought that asthe coin has passed from hand to hand for so long, it will facilitatethe passage of the child from the womb. A pregnant woman must notlook on a dead body or her child may be still-born, and she must notsee an eclipse or the child may be born maimed. Some believe that ifa 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 andhang it round the child's neck as a charm. Sometimes when deliveryis delayed they take a folded flower and place it in a pot of waterand believe that as its petals unfold so the womb will be openedand the child born; or they seat the woman on a wooden bench andpour oil on her head, her forehead being afterwards rubbed with itin the belief that as the oil falls so the child will be born. If achild is a long time before learning to speak they give it leaves ofthe pipal tree to eat, because the leaves of this tree make a noiseby rustling in the wind; or a root which is very light in weight, because they think that the tongue is heavy and the quality oflightness will thus be communicated to it. Or the mother, when shehas kneaded dough and washed her hands afterwards, will pour a dropor two of the water down the child's throat. And the water whichmade her hands clean and smooth will similarly clear the child'sthroat of the obstruction which prevented it from speaking. If achild's neck is weak and its head rolls about they make it look at acrow perching on the house and think this will make its neck stronglike the crow's. If he cannot walk they make a little triangle onwheels with a pole called _ghurghuri_, and make him walk holding onto the pole. The first teeth of the child are thrown on to the roofof the house, because the rats, who have especially good and sharpteeth, live there, and it is hoped that the child's second teeth maygrow like theirs. A few grains of rice are also thrown so that theteeth 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. Orthe teeth are placed under a water-pot in the hope that the child'ssecond teeth may grow as fast as the grass does under water-pots. Ifa child is lean some people take it to a place where asses have laindown and rolled in ashes; they roll the child in the ashes similarlyand believe that it will get fat like the asses are. Or they may laythe child in a pigsty with the same idea. People who want to injurea child get hold of its coat and lay it out in the sun to dry, inthe belief that the child's body will dry up in a similar manner. Inorder to avert the evil eye they burn some turmeric and juari flourand hold the newly-born child in the smoke. It is also branded onthe stomach with a burning piece of turmeric, perhaps to keep offcold. For the first day or two after birth a child is given cow'smilk mixed with water or honey and a little castor oil, and afterthis it is suckled by the mother. But if she is unable to nourish ita wet-nurse is called in, who may be a woman of low caste or even aMuhammadan. 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 itshead and body are oiled every second or third day and the body is wellhand-rubbed and bathed. The rubbing is meant to make the limbs suppleand the oil to render the child less susceptible to cold. If a childwhen sitting soon after birth looks down through its legs they thinkit is looking for its companions whom it has left behind and that morechildren will be born. It is considered a bad sign if a child bitesits upper teeth on its underlip; this is thought to prognosticateillness 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'sforehead its fate in life, which writing, it is said, may be seenon a man's skull when the flesh has come off it after death. On thisnight the women of the family stay awake all night singing songs andeating sweetmeats. A picture of the goddess is drawn with turmericand vermilion over the mother's bed. The door of the birth-room isleft open, and at midnight she comes. Sometimes a Sunar is employedto 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 isgiven to eat all kinds of grain, and among flesh-eating castes thesoup of fish and meat, because it is thought that every kind of foodwhich the mother eats this day will be easily digested by the childthroughout 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 inbetween. Sometimes after childbirth a woman buys several bottles ofliquor and has a bath in it; the stimulating effect of the spirit issupposed to remedy the distension of the body caused by the birth. Ifthe child is a boy it is named on the twelfth and if a girl on thethirteenth day. On the twelfth day the mother's bangles are thrownaway 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 dueto their constitutional lethargy. They seldom refuse a child anything, but taking advantage of its innocence will by dissimulation make itforget what it wanted. The time arrives when this course of conductis useless, and then the child learns to mistrust the word of itsparents. Minute quantities of opium are generally administered tochildren as a narcotic. 

12. Devices for procuring children

If a woman is barren and has no children one of the remedies prescribedby the Sarodis or wandering soothsayers is that she should set fireto somebody's house, going alone and at night to perform the deed. Solong as some small part of the house is burnt it does not matter ifthe fire be extinguished, but the woman should not give the alarmherself. It is supposed that the spirit of some insect which is burntwill enter her womb and be born as a child. Perhaps she sets fireto someone else's house so as to obtain the spirit of one of thefamily's dead children, which may be supposed to have entered theinsects dwelling on the house. Some years ago at Bhandak in Chandacomplaints were made of houses being set on fire. The police officer[30] sent to investigate found that other small fires continuedto occur. He searched the roofs of the houses, and on two or threefound little smouldering balls of rolled-up cloth. Knowing of thesuperstition he called all the childless married women of the placetogether and admonished them severely, and the fires stopped. Onanother occasion the same officer's wife was ill, and his little son, having fever, was sent daily to the dispensary for medicine in chargeof a maid. One morning he noticed on one of the soles of the boy'sfeet 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 hefound six similar marks, and on inquiry he learned that these weremade by a childless woman in the expectation that the boy would soondie and be born again as her child. The boy suffered no harm, but hismother, being in bad health, nearly died of shock on learning of themagic practised against her son. 

Another device is to make a _pradakshana_ or pilgrimage round a pipaltree, going naked at midnight after worshipping Maroti or Hanuman, andholding a necklace of _tulsi_ beads in the hand. The pipal is of coursea sacred tree, and is the abode of Brahma, the original creator of theworld. Brahma has no consort, and it is believed that while all othertrees are both male and female the pipal is only male, and is capableof impregnating a woman and rendering her fertile. A variation of thisbelief is that pipal trees are inhabited by the spirits of unmarriedBrahman boys, and hence a woman sometimes takes a piece of new threadand winds it round the tree, perhaps with the idea of investing thespirit of the boy with the sacred thread. She will then walk round thetree as a symbol of the wedding ceremony of walking round the sacredpost, and hopes that the boy, being thus brought to man's estateand married, will cause her to bear a son. But modest women do notgo naked round the tree. The Amawas or New Moon day, if it falls ona Monday, is specially observed by married women. On this day theywill walk 108 times round a pipal tree, and then give 108 mangoes orother fruits to a Brahman, choosing a different fruit every time. Thenumber 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. 1-4instead of a rupee. This is also no doubt a birth-charm, fruit beinggiven so that the woman may become fruitful. Or a childless woman willpray to Hanuman or Mahabir. Every morning she will go to his shrinewith an offering of fruit or flowers, and every evening will set alamp burning there; and morning and evening, prostrating herself, shemakes her continuous prayer to the god: '_Oh, Mahabir, Maharaj! hamkoek 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 achild. It does not seem that they believe that Mahabir himself directlyrenders the woman fertile, because similar prayers are made to theRiver Nerbudda, a goddess. But perhaps he, being the god of strength, lends virile power to her husband. Another prescription is to go tothe burying-ground, and, after worshipping it, to take some of thebone-ash of a burnt corpse and wear this wrapped up in an amulet onthe body. Occasionally, if a woman can get no children she will goto 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 moreimmodest women do this. Or she cuts a piece off the breast-cloth ofa woman who has children, and, after burning incense on it, wearsit as an amulet For a stronger charm she will take a piece of sucha woman's cloth and a lock of her hair and some earth which her feethave pressed and bury these in a pot before Devi's shrine, sometimesfashioning an image of the woman out of them. Then, as they rot away, the child-bearing power of the fertile woman will be transferred toher. If a woman's first children have died and she wishes to preserve alater one, she sometimes weighs the child against sugar or copper anddistributes 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 killan owl and serve some of its flesh to her husband as a charm. "It hasnot occurred, " Mr. Kipling writes, "to the oriental jester to speakof a boiled owl in connection with intoxication, but when a husbandis abjectly submissive to his wife her friends say that she has givenhim boiled owl's flesh to eat. " [33] If a man is in love with somewoman and wishes to kindle a similar sentiment in her the followingmethod is given: On a Saturday night he should go to a graveyard andcall out, 'I am giving a dinner tomorrow night, and I invite you allto attend. ' Then on the Sunday night he takes cocoanuts, sweetmeats, liquor and flowers to the cemetery and sets them all out, and all thespirits or Shaitans come and partake. The host chooses a particularlybig Shaitan and calls to him to come near and says to him, 'Will yougo with me and do what I ask you. ' If the spirit assents he followsthe man home. Next night the man again offers cocoanuts and incenseto the Shaitan, whom he can see by night but not by day, and tellshim to go to the woman's house and call her. Then the spirit goesand troubles her heart, so that she falls in love with the man andhas no rest till she goes to him. If the man afterwards gets tired ofher he will again secretly worship and call up the Shaitan and orderhim to turn the woman's inclination away. Another method is to fetcha skull from a graveyard and go to a banyan tree at midnight. There, divesting himself of his clothes, the operator partially cooks somerice in the skull, and then throws it against the tree; he gathersall the grains that stick to the trunk in one box and those that fallto the ground in another box, and the first rice given to the womanto eat will turn her inclination towards him, while the second willturn it away from him. This is a sympathetic charm, the rice whichsticks 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 isthe more common method of disposal, perhaps in imitation of theMuhammadans. Here the village has usually a field set apart forthe disposal of corpses, which is known as Smashan. Hindus fillup the earth practically level with the ground after burial anderect no monument, so that after a few years another corpse can beburied in the same place. When a Kunbi dies the body is washed inwarm 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 takeit to the grave, scattering almonds, sandalwood, dates, betel-leafand small coins as they go. These are picked up by the menial Maharsor labourers. Halfway to the grave the corpse is set down and thebearers change their positions, those behind going in front. Herea little wheat and pulse which have been tied in the cloth coveringthe corpse are left by the way. On the journey to the grave the bodyis covered with a new unwashed cloth. The grave is dug three or fourfeet deep, and the corpse is buried naked, lying on its back with thehead to the south. After the burial one of the mourners is sent toget an earthen pot from the Kurnhar; this is filled with water at ariver 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 corpsewith 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. Thestone with which the hole has been made in the earthen pot is held torepresent the spirit of the deceased. It is placed under a tree or onthe 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 lastday a little mound of earth is made, which is considered to representMahadeo. Four miniature flags are planted round, and three cakes ofrice are laid on it; and all the mourners sit round the mound untila crow comes and eats some of the cake. Then they say that the deadman's spirit has been freed from troubling about his household andmundane affairs and has departed to the other world. But if no realcrow comes to eat the cake, they make a representation of one outof the sacred _kusha_ grass, and touch the cake with it and considerthat a crow has eaten it. After this the mourners go to a stream andput a little cow's urine on their bodies, and dip ten times in thewater or throw it over them. The officiating Brahman sprinkles themwith 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 cakeshave been cooked and the clothes which the chief mourner has worn forten 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 inthe next world. On the thirteenth day they feed the caste-fellows andthe head of the caste ties a new _pagri_ on the chief mourner's headbackside foremost; and the chief mourner breaking an areca-nut onthe threshold places it in his mouth and spits it out of the door, signifying the final ejectment of the deceased's spirit from thehouse. Finally, the chief mourner goes to worship at Maroti's shrine, and the household resumes its ordinary life. The different relativesof the deceased man usually invite the bereaved family to their housefor a day and give them a feast, and if they have many relations thismay go on for a considerable time. The complete procedure as detailedabove is observed only in the case of the head of the household, andfor less important members is considerably abbreviated. The positionof chief mourner is occupied by a man's eldest son, or in the absenceof sons by his younger brother, or failing him by the eldest son ofan elder brother, or failing male relations by the widow. The chiefmourner is considered to have a special claim to the property. He hasthe whole of his head and face shaved, and the hair is tied up in acorner of the grave-cloth. If the widow is chief mourner a small lockof her hair is cut off and tied up in the cloth. When the corpse isbeing carried out for burial the widow breaks her _mangalsutram_ ormarriage necklace, and wipes off the _kunku_ or vermilion from herforehead. This necklace consists of a string of black glass beadswith a piece of gold, and is always placed on the bride's neck atthe 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, andfor children three, while in the case of distant relatives it issufficient to take a bath as a mark of respect for them. The malemourners shave their heads, the walls of the house are whitewashedand the floor spread with cowdung. The chief mourner avoids socialintercourse and abstains from ordinary work and from all kinds ofamusements. He debars himself from such luxuries as betel-leaf andfrom visiting his wife. Oblations are offered to the dead on thethird day of the light fortnight of Baisakh (June) and on the lastday of Bhadrapad (September). The Kunbi is a firm believer in theaction of ghosts and spirits, and never omits the attentions due tohis ancestors. On the appointed day he diligently calls on the crows, who represent the spirits of ancestors, to come and eat the food whichhe places ready for them; and if no crow turns up, he is disturbed athaving incurred the displeasure of the dead. He changes the food andgoes on calling until a crow comes, and then concludes that theirprevious failure to appear was due to the fact that his ancestorswere not pleased with the kind of food he first offered. In futureyears, therefore, he changes it, and puts out that which was eaten, until a similar _contretemps_ of the non-appearance of crows againoccurs. The belief that the spirits of the dead pass into crows is nodoubt connected with that of the crow's longevity. Many Hindus thinkthat a crow lives a thousand years, and others that it never dies ofdisease, but only when killed by violence. Tennyson's 'many-winteredcrow' may indicate some similar idea in Europe. Similarly if the Gondsfind 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 inthe 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 thenflies away she thinks that the absent one will return. Here the ideais no doubt that if he had been killed his spirit might have come homein the shape of the crow perching on the house. If a married womansees two crows breeding it is considered a very bad omen, the effectbeing that her husband will soon die. It is probably supposed thathis spirit will pass into the young crow which is born as a resultof the meeting which she has seen. 

Mr. A. K. Smith states that the omen applies to men also, andrelates a story of a young advocate who saw two crows thus engagedon alighting from the train at some station. In order to avert theconsequences he ran to the telegraph office and sent messages to allhis relatives and friends announcing his own death, the idea beingthat this fictitious death would fulfil the omen, and the real deathwould thus become unnecessary. In this case the belief would be thatthe man's own spirit would pass into the young crow. 

16. Religion

The principal deities of the caste are Maroti or Hanuman, Mahadeo orSiva, Devi, Satwai and Khandoba. Maroti is worshipped principally onSaturdays, so that he may counteract the evil influences exercised bythe planet Saturn on that day. When a new village is founded Marotimust first be brought and placed in the village and worshipped, andafter 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 ofVayu, the wind, and Anjini. Khandoba is an incarnation of Siva as awarrior, and is the favourite deity of the Marathas. Devi is usuallyvenerated in her Incarnation of Marhai Mata, the goddess of smallpoxand cholera--the most dreaded scourges of the Hindu villager. Theyoffer goats and fowls to Marhai Devi, cutting the throat of theanimal and letting its blood drop over the stone, which representsthe goddess; after this they cut off a leg and hang it to the treeabove her shrine, and eat the remainder. Sometimes also they offerwooden images of human beings, which are buried before the shrineof the goddess and are obviously substitutes for a human sacrifice;and the lower castes offer pigs. If a man dies of snake-bite theymake 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 mayperhaps think that the spirit of the snake which is killed passesinto the silver image. Somebody afterwards steals the image, butthis does not matter. Similarly if a man is killed by a tiger heis deified and worshipped as Baghoba Deo, though they cannot kill atiger as a preliminary. The Kunbis make images of their ancestors insilver or brass, and keep them in a basket with their other householddeities. But when these get too numerous they take them on a pilgrimageto some sacred river and deposit them in it. A man who has lostboth parents will invite some man and woman on Akshaya Tritiya, [35] and call them by the names of his parents, and give them afeast. Among the mythological stories known to the caste is one ofsome interest, explaining how the dark spots came on the face of themoon. They say that once all the gods were going to a dinner-party, each riding on his favourite animal or _vahan_ (conveyance). Butthe _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 otheranimals, 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 moonturned quite black; but the other gods interfered, and said that thecurse was too hard, so Ganpati agreed that only a part of the moon'sface should be blackened in revenge for the insult. This happenedon the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadon (September), and on that day it is said that nobody should look at the moon, asif he does, his reputation will probably be lowered by some falsecharge or libel being promulgated against him. As already stated, the Kunbi firmly believes in the influence exercised by spirits, anda proverb has it, 'Brahmans die of indigestion, Sunars from bile, andKunbis from ghosts'; because the Brahman is always feasted as an act ofcharity and given the best food, so that he over-eats himself, whilethe Sunar gets bilious from sitting all day before a furnace. Whensomebody 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. Ifit moves in a straight line they say that the patient is possessedby a spirit, but if in a circle that his illness is due to naturalcauses. In the former case they promise an offering to the spiritto 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 virtuewhich they have obtained by their repetitions of the Gayatri or sacredprayer is transferred to the sick Kunbi. They therefore tear up theircast-off threads or sew them into clothes. 

17. The Pola festival

The principal festival of the Kunbis is the Pola, falling at aboutthe middle of the rainy season, when they have a procession ofplough-bullocks. An old bullock goes first, and on his horns istied the _makhar_, a wooden frame with pegs to which torches areaffixed. They make a rope of mango-leaves stretched between two posts, and the _makhar_ bullock is made to break this and stampede back tothe village, followed by all the other cattle. It is said that the_makhar_ bullock will die within three years. Behind him come thebullocks 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 andof the traditional position held by their families. A Kunbi feels itvery bitterly if he is not given what he considers to be his properrank in this procession. It has often been remarked that the feudalfeeling of reverence for hereditary rights and position is as strongamong 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 severalrespects the influence of Islam, due no doubt to the long periodof Muhammadan dominance in the country. To this may perhaps beattributed the prevalence of burial of the dead instead of cremation, the more respectable method according to Hindu ideas. The DhanojeKunbis commonly revere Dawal Malik, a Muhammadan saint, whose tombis at Uprai in Amraoti District. An _urus_ or fair is held here onThursdays, the day commonly sacred to Muhammadan saints, and on thisaccount the Kunbis will not be shaved on Thursdays. They also makevows of mendicancy at the Muharram festival, and go round begging forrice and pulse; they give a little of what they obtain to Muhammadanbeggars and eat the rest. At the Muharram they tie a red threadon their necks and dance round the _alawa_, a small hole in whichfire is kindled in front of the _tasias_ or tombs of Hussain. At theMuharram [36] they also carry horseshoes of silver or gilt tinsel onthe top of a stick decorated with peacock's feathers. The horseshoeis a model of that of the horse of Hussain. The men who carry thesehorseshoes are supposed to be possessed by the spirit of the saint, and people make prayers to them for anything they want. If one ofthe horseshoes is dropped the finder will keep it in his house, and next year if he feels that the spirit moves him will carry ithimself. In Wardha the Kunbis worship Khwaja Sheikh Farid of Girar, and occasionally Sheikh Farid appears to a Kunbi in a dream andplaces him under a vow. Then he and all his household make littleimitation beggars' wallets of cloth and dye them with red ochre, and little hoes on the model of those which saises use to drag outhorses' dung, this hoe being the badge of Sheikh Farid. Then theygo 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 theshrine. Sometimes Sheikh Farid tells the Kunbi in the dream that hemust 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 tothe caste-fellows in order to be received back into the community. Thewater of the well at Sheikh Farid's shrine at Girar is consideredto preserve the crops against insects, and for this purpose it iscarried to considerable distances to be sprinkled on them. 

19. Villages and houses

An ordinary Kunbi village [38] contains between 70 and 80 houses orsome 400 souls. The village generally lies on a slight eminence near a_nullah_ or stream, and is often nicely planted with tamarind or pipaltrees. The houses are now generally tiled for fear of fire, and theirred roofs may be seen from a distance forming a little cluster on highlying ground, an elevated site being selected so as to keep the roadsfairly dry, as the surface tracks in black-soil country become almostimpassable sloughs of mud as soon as the rains have broken. The betterhouses stand round an old mud fort, a relic of the Pindari raids, when, on the first alarm of the approach of these marauding bands, thewhole population hurried within its walls. The village proprietor'shouse is now often built inside the fort. It is an oblong buildingsurrounded by a compound wall of unbaked bricks, and with a gatewaythrough which a cart can drive. Adjoining the entrance on each sideare rooms for the reception of guests, in which constables, chuprassiesand others are lodged when they stay at night in the village. _Kothas_or sheds for keeping cattle and grain stand against the walls, and thedwelling-house is at the back. Substantial tenants have a house likethe 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, inwhich vegetables are grown during the rains. The walls are of bamboomatting plastered over with mud. The married couples sleep inside, the room being partitioned off if there are two or more in thefamily, and the older persons sleep in the verandahs. In the middleof the village by the biggest temple will be an old pipal tree, thetrunk encircled by an earthen or stone platform, which answers tothe village club. The respectable inhabitants will meet here whilethe lower classes go to the liquor-shop nearly every night to smokeand chat. The blacksmith's and carpenter's shops are also places ofcommon resort for the cultivators. Hither they wend in the morningand evening, often taking with them some implement which has to bemended, and stay to talk. The blacksmith in particular is said tobe 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 backthe tool brought to him. The village is sure to contain two or threelittle temples of Maroti or Mahadeo. The stones which do duty for theimages are daily oiled with butter or _ghi_, and a miscellaneous storeof offerings will accumulate round the buildings. Outside the villagewill be a temple of Devi or Mata Mai (Smallpox Goddess) with a heap oflittle earthen horses and a string of hens' feet and feathers hung upon the wall. The little platforms which are the shrines of the othervillage gods will be found in the fields or near groves. In the eveningthe elders often meet at Maroti's temple and pay their respects tothe deity, bowing or prostrating themselves before him. A lamp beforethe temple is fed by contributions of oil from the women, and is keptburning usually up to midnight. Once a year in the month, of Shrawan(July) the villagers subscribe and have a feast, the Kunbis eatingfirst and the menial and labouring castes after them. In this monthalso all the village deities are worshipped by the Joshi or priest andthe villagers. In summer the cultivators usually live in their fields, where they erect temporary sheds of bamboo matting roofed with juaristalks. In these most of the household furniture is stored, while at alittle distance in another funnel-shaped erection of bamboo matting iskept the owner's grain. This system of camping out is mainly adoptedfor fear of fire in the village, when the cultivator's whole stockof grain and his household goods might be destroyed in a few minuteswithout 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 brassones for eating from, while the well-to-do have all their vessels ofbrass. The furniture consists of a few stools and cots. No Kunbi willlie on the ground, probably because a dying man is always laid on theground to breathe his last; and so every one has a cot consisting ofa wooden frame with a bed made of hempen string or of the root-fibresof the _palas_ tree (_Butea frondosa_). These cots are always tooshort for a man to lie on them at full length, and are in consequencesupremely uncomfortable. The reason may perhaps be found in thebelief that a man should always lie on a bed a little shorter thanhimself so that his feet project over the end. Because if the bed islonger than he is, it resembles a bier, and if he lies on a bier oncehe may soon die and lie on it a second time. For bathing they make alittle enclosure in the compound with mats, and place two or three flatstones in it. Hot water is generally used and they rub the perspirationoff their bodies with a flat stone called Jhawar. Most Kunbis bathedaily. On days when they are shaved they plaster the head with softblack earth, and then wash it off and rub their bodies with a littlelinseed 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 thefield and the two others at home. At midday the cultivator comes homefrom work, bathes and takes his meal, having a rest for about twohours in all. After finishing work he again comes home and has hisevening meal, and then, after a rest, at about ten o'clock he goesagain 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 thegrain from birds and wild animals; occasionally waking and emittinglong-drawn howls or pulling the strings which connect with clappersin various parts of the field. Thus for nearly eight months of theyear the Kunbi sleeps in his fields, and only during the remainingperiod at home. Juari is the staple food of the caste, and is eatenboth raw and cooked. The raw pods of juari were the provision carriedwith them on their saddles by the marauding Maratha horsemen, and thedescription of Sivaji getting his sustenance from gnawing at one ofthese as he rode along is said to have struck fear into the heartof the Nizam. It is a common custom among well-to-do tenants andproprietors to invite their friends to a picnic in the fields whenthe crop is ripe to eat _hurda_ or the pods of juari roasted in hotashes. For cooking purposes juari is ground in an ordinary handmilland then passed through a sieve, which separates the finer from thecoarser particles. The finer flour is made into dough with hot waterand baked into thick flat _chapatis_ or cakes, weighing more than halfa pound each; while the coarse flour is boiled in water like rice. Theboiled pulse of _arhar_ (_Cajanus indicus_) is commonly eaten withjuari, and the _chapatis_ are either dipped into cold linseed oilor consumed dry. The sameness of this diet is varied by a number ofgreen vegetables, generally with very little savour to a Europeanpalate. These are usually boiled and then mixed into a salad withlinseed or sesamum oil and flavoured with salt or powdered chillies, these last being the Kunbi's indispensable condiment. He is alsovery fond of onions and garlic, which are either chopped and boiled, or eaten raw. Butter-milk when available is mixed with the boiledjuari after it is cooked, while wheat and rice, butter and sugar aredelicacies reserved for festivals. As a rule only water is drunk, but the caste indulge in country liquor on festive occasions. Tobaccois commonly chewed after each meal or smoked in leaf cigarettes, or in _chilams_ or clay pipe-bowls without a stem. Men also takesnuff, and a few women chew tobacco and take snuff, though theydo not smoke. It is noticeable that different subdivisions of thecaste will commonly take food from each other in Berar, whereas inthe Central Provinces they refuse to do so. The more liberal usagein Berar is possibly another case of Muhammadan influence. Smallchildren eat with their father and brothers, but the women alwayswait on the men, and take their own food afterwards. Among the DaliaKunbis of Nimar, however, women eat before men at caste feasts inopposition to the usual practice. It is stated in explanation thaton one occasion when the men had finished their meal first and gonehome, the women on returning were waylaid in the dark and robbed oftheir ornaments. And hence it was decided that they should always eatfirst and go home before nightfall. The Kunbi is fairly liberal inthe matter of food. He will eat the flesh of goats, sheep and deer, all kinds of fish and fowls, and will drink liquor. In Hoshangabadand Nimar the higher subcastes abstain from flesh and wine. The castewill take food cooked without water from Brahmans, Banias and Sunars, and that mixed with water only from Maratha Brahmans. All castesexcept 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 consistsonly of a loin-cloth, another cloth thrown over the shoulders andupper part of the body, which except for this is often bare, and athird rough cloth wound loosely round the head. All these, originallywhite, soon assume a very dingy hue. There is thus no colour in aman's everyday attire, but the gala dress for holidays consists of ared _pagri_ or turban, a black, coloured or white coat, and a whiteloin-cloth with red silk borders if he can afford it. The Kunbi isseldom or never seen with his head bare; this being considered abad omen because every one bares his head when a death occurs. Womenwear _lugras_, or a single long cloth of red, blue or black cotton, and under this the _choli_, or small breast-cloth. They have onesilk-bordered cloth for special occasions. A woman having a husbandalive must not wear a white cloth with no colour in it, as this isthe dress of widows. A white cloth with a coloured border may beworn. The men generally wear shoes which are open at the back ofthe 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 goout just after their confinement. But they have now begun to do soin towns. Women have the usual collection of ornaments on all partsof the person. The head ornaments should be of gold when this metalcan be afforded. On the finger they have a miniature mirror set in aring; as a rule not more than one ring is worn, so that the hands maybe 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 theDhanoje Kunbis, as already stated, have cocoanut shell bangles onboth wrists. They smear a mark of red powder on the forehead or havea spangle there. Girls are generally tattooed in childhood when theskin is tender, and the operation is consequently less painful. Theyusually have a small crescent and circle between the brows, smallcircles or dots on each temple and on the nose, cheeks and chin, andfive small marks on the back of the hands to represent flies. Someof the Deshmukh families have now adopted the sacred thread; theyalso 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 andpatience of the typical agriculturist. Sir R. Craddock describeshim as follows [39]: "Of the purely agricultural classes the Kunbisclaim first notice. They are divided into several sections or classes, and are of Maratha origin, the Jhari Kunbis (the Kunbis of the wildcountry) being the oldest settlers, and the Deshkar (the Kunbisfrom the Deccan) the most recent. The Kunbi is certainly a mostplodding, patient mortal, with a cat-like affection for his land, and the proprietary and cultivating communities, of both of whichKunbis are the most numerous members, are unlikely to fail so longas he keeps these characteristics. Some of the more intelligent andaffluent of the caste, who have risen to be among the most prosperousmembers of the community, are as shrewd men of business in their wayas any section of the people, though lacking in education. I rememberone of these, a member of the Local Board, who believed that the landrevenue of the country was remitted to England annually to form partof the private purse of the Queen Empress. But of the general body ofthe Kunbi caste it is true to say that in the matter of enterprise, capacity to hold their own with the moneylender, determination toimprove their standard of comfort, or their style of agriculture, they lag far behind such cultivating classes as the Kirar, the Raghviand the Lodhi. While, however, the Kunbi yields to these classesin some of the more showy attributes which lead to success in life, he is much their superior in endurance under adversity, he is morelaw-abiding, and he commands, both by reason of his character and hiscaste, greater social respect among the people at large. The wealthyKunbi proprietor is occasionally rather spoilt by good fortune, or, if he continues a keen cultivator, is apt to be too fond ofland-grabbing. But these are the exceptional cases, and there isgenerally no such pleasing spectacle as that afforded by a villagein which the cultivators and the proprietors are all Kunbis living inharmony together. " The feeling [40] of the Kunbi towards agriculturalimprovements has hitherto probably been something the same as that ofthe Sussex farmer who said, 'Our old land, it likes our old ploughs'to the agent who was vainly trying to demonstrate to him the advantagesof 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 pleasureof the simple outdoor life, the fresh smell of the soil after rain, the joy of the yearly miracle when the earth is again carpeted withgreen from the bursting into life of the seed which he has sown, and the pleasure of watching the harvest of his labours come tofruition. He, too, as has been seen, feels something corresponding to"That inarticulate love of the English farmer for his land, his muteenjoyment of the furrow crumbling from the ploughshare or the elastictread of his best pastures under his heel, his ever-fresh satisfactionat the sight of the bullocks stretching themselves as they rise fromthe soft grass. "

24. Social and moral characteristics

Some characteristics of the Maratha people are noticed by SirR. Jenkins as follows [41]: "The most remarkable feature perhaps in thecharacter of the Marathas of all descriptions is the little regard theypay to show or ceremony in the common intercourse of life. A peasantor 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 apetition he talks in a loud and boisterous tone and fearlessly setsforth his claims. Both the peasantry and the better classes are oftencoarse and indelicate in their language, and many of the proverbs, which they are fond of introducing into conversation, are extremelygross. In general the Marathas, and particularly the cultivators, are not possessed of much activity or energy of character, but theyhave quick perception of their own interest, though their ignoranceof writing and accounts often renders them the dupes of the artfulBrahmans. " "The Kunbi, " Mr. Forbes remarks, [42] "though frequently allsubmission and prostration when he makes his appearance in a revenueoffice, is sturdy and bold enough among his own people. He is fondof asserting his independence and the helplessness of others withouthis aid, on which subject he has several proverbs, as: 'Wherever itthunders there the Kunbi is a landholder, ' and 'Tens of millions aredependent on the Kunbi, but the Kunbi depends on no man. '" This senseof his own importance, which has also been noticed among the Jats, may perhaps be ascribed to the Kunbi's ancient status as a free andfull member of the village community. "The Kunbi and his bullocks areinseparable, and in speaking of the one it is difficult to dissociatethe other. His pride in these animals is excusable, for they are mostadmirably suited to the circumstances in which nature has placed them, and possess a very wide-extended fame. But the Kunbi frequentlyexhibits his fondness for them in the somewhat peculiar form ofunmeasured abuse. 'May the Kathis [43] seize you!' is his objurgationif in the peninsula of Surat; if in the Idar district or among themountains it is there 'May the tiger kill you!' and all over Gujarat, 'May your master die!' However, he means by this the animal's formerowner, not himself; and when more than usually cautious he will wordhis chiding thus--'May the fellow that sold you to me perish. '" But nowthe Kathis raid no more and the tiger, though still taking good tollof cattle in the Central Provinces, is not the ever-present terrorthat once he was. But the bullock himself is no longer so sacrosanctin the Kunbi's eyes, and cannot look forward with the same certaintyto an old age of idleness, threatened only by starvation in the hotweather or death by surfeit of the new moist grass in the rains; andwhen therefore the Kunbi's patience is exhausted by these aggravatinganimals, his favourite threat at present is, 'I will sell you to theKasais' (butchers); and not so very infrequently he ends by doingso. It may be noted that with the development of the cotton industrythe Kunbi of Wardha is becoming much sharper and more capable ofprotecting his own interests, while with the assistance and teachingwhich he now receives from the Agricultural Department, a rapid anddecided improvement is taking place in his skill as a cultivator. 

Kunjra

_Kunjra_. [44]--A caste of greengrocers, who sell country vegetablesand fruit and are classed as Muhammadans. Mr. Crooke derives thename from the Sanskrit _kunj_, 'a bower or arbour. ' They numberedabout 1600 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, principally inthe Jubbulpore Division. The customs of the Kunjras appear to combineHindu and Muhammadan rites in an indiscriminate medley. It is reportedthat marriage is barred only between real brothers and sisters andfoster brothers and sisters, the latter rule being known as _Dudhbachana_, or 'Observing the tie of the milk. ' At their betrothalpresents are given to the parties, and after this a powder of hennaleaves is sent to the boy, who rubs it on his fingers and returnsit to the girl that she may do the same. As among the Hindus, thebodies of the bridal couple are anointed with oil and turmeric attheir respective houses before the wedding. A marriage-shed is madeand the bridegroom goes to the bride's house wearing a cotton quiltand riding on a bullock. The barber holds the umbrella over hishead and must be given a present before he will fold it, but thewedding is performed by the Kazi according to the Nikah ceremonyby the repetition of verses from the Koran. The wedding is held atfour o'clock in the morning, and as a preliminary to it the brideis presented with some money by the boy's father, which is known asthe Meher or dowry. On its conclusion a cup of sherbet is given tothe bridegroom, of which he drinks half and hands the remainder tothe bride. The gift of the Meher is considered to seal the marriagecontract. When a widow is married the Kazi is also employed, and hesimply recites the Kalama or Muhammadan profession of belief, and theceremony is completed by the distribution of dates to the elders ofthe caste. Divorce is permitted and is known as _talaq_. The casteobserve the Muhammadan festivals, and have some favourite saints oftheir own to whom they make offerings of _gulgula_ a kind of pudding, with sacrifices of goats and fowls. Participation in these rites isconfined to members of the family. Children are named on the day oftheir birth, the Muhammadan Kazi or a Hindu Brahman being employedindifferently to select the name. If the parents lose one or morechildren, in order to preserve the lives of those subsequently born, they will allow the _choti_ or scalp-lock to grow on their heads in theHindu fashion, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan saints. Otherswill put a _hasli_ or silver circlet round the neck of the childand add a ring to this every year; a strip of leather is sometimesalso tied round the neck. When the child reaches the age of twelveyears the scalp-lock is shaved, the leather band thrown into a riverand the silver necklet sold. Offerings are made to the saints anda 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 isgiven to the caste-fellows, but no mourning is observed, neitherdo the mourners bathe nor perform ceremonies of purification. Onthe _Tija_ the Koran is also read and fried grain is distributed tochildren. For the death of a child the ordinary feasts need not begiven, but prayers are offered for their souls with those of the otherdead once a year on the night of Shab-i-Barat or the fifteenth dayof the month Shaban, [45] which is observed as a vigil with prayer, feasts and illuminations and offerings to the ancestors. Kunjra menare usually clean-shaven with the exception of the beard, which isallowed to grow long below the chin. Their women are not tattooed. Inthe cities, Mr. Crooke remarks, [46] their women have an equivocalreputation, as the better-looking girls who sit in the shops are saidto use considerable freedom of manners to attract customers. They arealso very quarrelsome and abusive when bargaining for the sale of theirwares or arguing with each other. This is so much the case that menwho become very abusive are said to be behaving like Kunjras; whilein Dacca Sir H. Risley states [47] that the word Kunjra has become aterm of abuse, so that the caste are ashamed to be known by it, andcall themselves Mewa-farosh, Sabzi-farosh or Bepari. When two womenare having an altercation, their husbands and other male relativesare forbidden to interfere on pain of social degradation. The womennever sit on the ground, but on small wooden stools or _pirhis_. TheKunjras belong chiefly to the north of the Province, and in thesouth their place is taken by the Marars and Malis who carry theirown produce for sale to the markets. The Kunjras sell sugarcane, potatoes, onions and all kinds of vegetables, and others deal in thedried fruits imported by Kabuli merchants. 

Kuramwar

_Kuramwar_. [48]--The shepherd caste of southern India, who areidentical with the Tamil Kurumba and the Telugu Kuruba. The caste is animportant one in Madras, but in the Central Provinces is confined tothe Chanda District where it numbered some 4000 persons in 1911. TheKuramwars are considered to be the modern representatives of theancient Pallava tribe whose kings were powerful in southern India inthe seventh century. [49]

The marriage rules of the Kuramwars are interesting. If a girlreaches adolescence while still single, she is finally expelledfrom the caste, her parents being also subjected to a penalty forreadmission. Formerly it is said that such a girl was sacrificed tothe river-goddess by being placed in a small hut on the river-banktill a flood came and swept her away. Now she is taken to the riverand 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 ofcaste. In Madras, as a preliminary to the marriage, the bridegroom'sfather observes certain marks or 'curls' on the head or hair of thebride proposed. Some of these are believed to forecast prosperityand others misery to the family into which she enters. They aretherefore 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 customobtaining among this primitive tribe is observed by others only inthe case of the purchase of cows, bulls and horses. " In the CentralProvinces, however, at least one parallel instance can be given fromthe northern Districts where any mark resembling the V on the headof a cobra is considered to be very inauspicious. And it is toldthat a girl who married into one well-known family bore it, and tothis fact the remarkable succession of misfortunes which has attendedthe family is locally attributed. Among the Kuramwars marriages canbe celebrated only on four days in the year, the fifth day of bothfortnights of Phagun (February), the tenth day of the second fortnightof the same month and the third day of Baisakh (April). At the marriagethe bride and bridegroom are seated together under the canopy, withthe shuttle which is used for weaving blankets between them, and theythrow coloured rice at each other. After this a miniature swing is putup and a doll is placed in it in imitation of a child and swung to andfro. 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'; whileafter a time the boy returns the doll to the girl, saying, 'I mustnow weave the blanket and go to tend the flock. ' The proceedingseems a symbolic enactment of the cares of married life and thejoint tending of the baby, this sort of symbolism being particularlynoticeable in the marriage ceremonies of the people of Madras. Divorceis not permitted even though the wife be guilty of adultery, and ifshe runs away to her father's house her husband cannot use force tobring her back if she refuses to return to him. The Kuramwars worshipthe 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 alsorevere annually Mallana Deva and Mallani Devi who guard their flocksrespectively from attacks of tigers and epidemics of murrain. Theshrines of these deities are generally built under a banyan treeand open to the east. The caste are shepherds and graziers and alsomake 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 fromthe rudeness of their nature they are as much beneath the other castesof Hindus as the sheep by their simplicity and imperfect instructionare beneath the other quadrupeds. " Hence the proverbial comparison'As stupid as a Kuramwar. ' When out of doors the Kuramwar retains themost primitive method of eating and drinking; he takes his food in aleaf and licks it up with his tongue, and sucks up water from a tankor river with his mouth. They justify this custom by saying that on oneoccasion their god had taken his food out of the house on a leaf-plateand was proceeding to eat it with his hands when his sheep ran awayand he had to go and fetch them back. In the meantime a crow came andpecked at the food and so spoilt it. It was therefore ordained thatall the caste should eat their food straight off the leaf, in orderto do which they would have to take it from the cooking-pot in smallquantities and there would be no chance of leaving any for the crowsto spoil. The story is interesting as showing how very completelythe deity of the Kuramwars is imagined on the principle that godmade man in his own image. Or, as a Frenchman has expressed the idea, '_Dieu a fait l'homme à son image, mais l'homme le lui a bein rendu. _'The caste are dark in colour and may be distinguished by their capsmade from pieces of blankets, and by their wearing a woollen cordround 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 orthe country comprised roughly in the United Provinces, Bihar arid theCentral Provinces north of the Nerbudda. In 1911 the Kurmis numberedabout 300, 000 persons in the Central Provinces, of whom half belongedto 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 isconsidered to be derived from the Sanskrit _krishi_, cultivation, or from _kurma_, the tortoise incarnation of Vishnu, whether becauseit is the totem of the caste or because, as suggested by one writer, the Kurmi supports the population of India as the tortoise supportsthe 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 beenderived from _kachhap_, the tortoise; but many other castes alsosay they belong to the Kashyap _gotra_ or worship the tortoise, and if this has any connection with the name of the caste it isprobable that the caste-name suggested the _gotra_-name and not thereverse. It is highly improbable that a large occupational caste shouldbe named after an animal, and the metaphorical similitude can safelybe 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. Risleystates: "Short, sturdy and of very dark complexion, the Kurmisclosely resemble in feature the Dravidian tribes around them. Itis difficult to distinguish a Kurmi from a Bhumij or Santal, andthe Santals will take cooked food from them. " [53] In the CentralProvinces they are fairly dark in complexion and of moderate height, and no doubt of very mixed blood. Where the Kurmis and Kunbis meet thecastes sometimes amalgamate, and there is little doubt that variousgroups of Kurmis settling in the Maratha country have become Kunbis, and Kunbis migrating to northern India have become Kurmis. Each castehas certain subdivisions whose names belong to the other. It hasbeen seen in the article on Kunbi that this caste is of very diverseorigin, having assimilated large bodies of persons from several othercastes, and is probably to a considerable extent recruited from thelocal non-Aryan tribes; if then the Kurmis mix so readily with theKunbis, the presumption is that they are of a similar mixed origin, as otherwise they should consider themselves superior. Mr. Crookegives several names of subcastes showing the diverse constitution ofthe Kurmis. Thus three, Gaharwar, Jadon and Chandel are the names ofRajput clans; the Kori subcaste must be a branch of the low weavercaste of that name; and in the Central Provinces the names of suchsubcastes as the Agaria or iron-workers, the Lonhare or salt-refiners, and the Khaira or catechu-collectors indicate that these Kurmis arederived from low Hindu castes or the aboriginal tribes. 

3. Subcastes

The caste has a large number of subdivisions. The Usrete belongedto Bundelkhand, where this name is found in several castes; they arealso known as Havelia, because they live in the rich level tract ofthe Jubbulpore Haveli, covered like a chessboard with large embankedwheat-fields. The name Haveli seems to have signified a palace orheadquarters of a ruler, and hence was applied to the tract surroundingit, which was usually of special fertility, and provided for themaintenance of the chief's establishment and household troops. Thus inJubbulpore, Mandia and Betul we find the forts of the old Gond rulersdominating an expanse of rich plain-country. The Usrete Kurmis abstainfrom meat and liquor, and may be considered as one of the highestsubcastes. Their name may be derived from _a-sreshtha, _ or not thebest, and its significance would be that formerly they were consideredto be of mixed origin, like most castes in Bundelkhand. The group ofSreshtha or best-born Kurmis has now, however, died out if it everexisted, and the Usretes have succeeded in establishing themselves inits place. The Chandnahes of Jubbulpore or Chandnahus of Chhattisgarhare another large subdivision. The name may be derived from the villageChandnoha in Bundelkhand, but the Chandnahus of Chhattisgarh say thatthree or four centuries ago a Rajput general of the Raja of Ratanpurhad been so successful in war that the king allowed him to appearin 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. Butthe son did not obey, and hence the king ordered the sandalwood to berubbed from his forehead in open Durbar. But when this was done themark miraculously reappeared through the agency of the goddess Devi, whose favourite he was. Three times the king had the mark rubbedout and three times it came again. So he was allowed to wear itthereafter, and was called Chandan Singh from _chandan_, sandalwood;and his descendants are the Chandnahu Kurmis. Another derivation isfrom Chandra, the moon. In Jubbulpore these Chandnahes sometimes killa pig under the palanquin of a newly married bride. In Bilaspur theyare prosperous and capable cultivators, but are generally reputed tobe stingy, and therefore are not very popular. Here they are dividedinto the Ekbahinyas and Dobahinyas, or those who wear glass bangleson one or both arms respectively. The Chandraha Kurmis of Raipurare probably a branch of the Chandnahus. They sprinkle with waterthe wood with which they are about to cook their food in order topurify it, and will eat food only in the _chauka_ or sanctified placein 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 nearAllahabad. Singror is said to have once been a very important town, and the Lodhis and other castes have subdivisions of this name. TheDesha Kurmis are a group of the Mungeli tahsil of Bilaspur. Deshmeans one's native country, but in this case the name probablyrefers to Bundelkhand. Mr. Gordon states [54] that they do not rearpoultry and avoid residing in villages in which their neighbours keeppoultry. The Santore Kurmis are a group found in several Districts, who grow _san_-hemp, [55] and are hence looked down upon by theremainder of the caste. In Raipur the Manwa Kurmis will also dothis; Mana is a word sometimes applied to a loom, and the ManwaKurmis may be so called because they grow hemp and weave sackingfrom the fibres. The Pataria are an inferior group in Bilaspur, whoare similarly despised because they grow hemp and will take theirfood in the fields in _patris_ or leaf-plates. The Gohbaiyan areconsidered to be an illegitimate group; the name is said to signify'holding the arm. ' The Bahargaiyan, or 'those who live outside thetown, ' are another subcaste to which children born out of wedlockare relegated. The Palkiha subcaste of Jubbulpore are said to beso named because their ancestors were in the service of a certainRaja and spread his bedding for him; hence they are somewhat lookeddown on by the others. The name may really be derived from _palal_, a kind of vegetable, and they may originally have been despised forgrowing this vegetable, and thus placing themselves on a level withthe 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 theAgaria or iron-workers, the Kharia or catechu-makers, and the Lonhareor salt-makers, have already been mentioned. There are also numerouslocal or territorial subcastes, as the Chaurasia or those livingin a Chaurasi [56] estate of eighty-four villages, the Pardeshi orforeigners, the Bundelkhandi or those who came from Bundelkhand, theKanaujias from Oudh, the Gaur from northern India, and the Marathe andTelenge or Marathas and Telugus; these are probably Kunbis who havebeen taken into the caste. The Gabel are a small subcaste in SaktiState, who now prefer to drop the name Kurmi and call themselves simplyGabel. The reason apparently is that the other Kurmis about them sow_san_-hemp, and as they have ceased doing this they try to separatethemselves and rank above the rest. But they call the bastard groupof their community Rakhaut Kurmis, and other people speak of all ofthem as Gabel Kurmis, so that there is no doubt that they belong tothe caste. It is said that formerly they were pack-carriers, but havenow abandoned this calling in favour of cultivation. 

4. Exogamous groups

Each subcaste has a number of exogamous divisions and these presenta large variety of all types. Some groups have the names of Brahmansaints as Sandil, Bharadwaj, Kausil and Kashyap; others are calledafter Rajput septs, as Chauhan, Rathor, Panwar and Solanki; othernames are of villages, as Khairagarhi from Khairagarh, Pandariha fromPandaria, 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 alarge number are totemistic, named after plants, animals or naturalobjects, 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, isdivided into three subsections named Ghurepake, a mound of cowdung, Dwarparke, door-jamb, and Jangi, a warrior, which are themselvesexogamous. Similarly the Chaudhri section, named after the title ofthe caste headman, is divided into four subsections, two, MajhgawanBamuria, named after villages, and two, Purwa Thok and Pascham Thok, signifying the eastern and western groups. Presumably when sectionsget so large as to bar the marriage of persons not really related toeach other at all, relief is obtained by subdividing them in thismanner. A list of the sections of certain subcastes so far as theyhave been obtained is given at the end of the article. 

5. Marriage rules. Betrothal

Marriage is prohibited between members of the same section and betweenfirst and second cousins on the mother's side. But the ChandnaheKurmis permit the wedding of a brother's daughter to a sister'sson. Most Kurmis forbid a man to marry his wife's sister during herlifetime. The Chhattisgarh Kurmis have the practice of exchanginggirls between two families. There is usually no objection to marriageon account of religious differences within the pale of Hinduism, but the difficulty of a union between a member of a Vaishnava sectwho 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 camelyoked with a bullock. ' Muhammadans and Christians are not retainedin the caste. Girls are usually wedded between nine and eleven, butwell-to-do Kurmis like other agriculturists, sometimes marry theirdaughters when only a few months old. The people say that when aKurmi gets rich he will do three things: marry his daughters veryyoung and with great display, build a fine house, and buy the bestbullocks he can afford. The second and third methods of spending hismoney are very sensible, whatever may be thought of the first. Nopenalty is imposed for allowing a girl to exceed the age of pubertybefore marriage. Boys are married between nine and fifteen years, but the tendency is towards the postponement of the ceremony. Theboy'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 willgive my daughter to collect cowdung for you'; to which the boy'sfather responds, 'I will hold her as the apple of my eye. ' Then thegirl's father sends the barber and the Brahman to the boy's house, carrying a rupee and a cocoanut. The boy's relatives return thevisit and perform the '_God bharna_, ' or 'Filling the lap of thegirl. ' They take some sweetmeats, a rupee and a cocoanut, and placethem in the girl's lap, this being meant to induce fertility. Theceremony of betrothal succeeds, when the couple are seated togetheron a wooden plank and touch the feet of the guests and are blessedby them. The auspicious date of the wedding is fixed by the Brahmanand intimation is given to the boy's family through the _lagan_or formal invitation, which is sent on a paper coloured yellow withpowdered rice and turmeric. A bride-price is paid, which in the caseof 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 earthfor making the stoves on which the marriage feast will be cooked. Whenabout to dig they worship the earth by sprinkling water over it andoffering flowers and rice. The marriage-shed is made of the wood ofthe _saleh_ tree, [57] because this wood is considered to be alive. Ifa pole of _saleh_ is cut and planted in the ground it takes root andsprouts, though otherwise the wood is quite useless. The wood of the_kekar_ tree has similar properties and may also be used. The shed iscovered with leaves of the mango or _jamun_ [58] trees, because thesetrees are evergreen and hence typify perpetual life. The marriage-postin the centre of the shed is called Magrohan or Kham; the women go andworship it at the carpenter's house; two pice, a piece of turmeric andan 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 turmericare also rubbed on the marriage-post at the same time as on the brideand bridegroom. In Saugor the marriage-post is often a four-sidedwooden frame or a pillar with four pieces of wood suspended fromit. The larger the marriage-shed is made the greater honour accrues tothe host, even though the guests may be insufficient to fill it. Intowns it has often to be made in the street and is an obstacle totraffic. 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 ormarriage-cakes. Small balls of wheat-flour are kneaded and fried inan earthen pan with sesamum oil by the eldest woman of the family. Nometal vessel may be used to hold the water, flour or oil required forthese cakes, probably because earthen vessels were employed beforemetal ones and are therefore considered more sacred. In measuring theingredients a quarter of a measure is always taken in excess, suchas a seer [59] and a quarter for a seer of wheat, to foreshadow theperpetual increase of the family. When made the cakes are offered tothe Kul Deo or household god. The god is worshipped and the bride andbridegroom then first partake of the cakes and after them all membersof the family and relatives. Married daughters and daughters-in-lawmay eat of the cakes, but not widows, who are probably too impureto join in a sacred sacrament Every person admitted to partake ofthe marriage-cakes is held to belong to the family, so that allother members of it have to observe impurity for ten days after abirth or death has occurred in his house and shave their heads fora death. When the family is so large that this becomes irksome it iscut down by not inviting persons beyond seven degrees of relationshipto the Meher sacrament This exclusion has sometimes led to bitterquarrels and actions for defamation. It seems likely that the Mehermay be a kind of substitute for the sacrificial meal, at which allthe members of the clan ate the body of the totem or divine animal, and some similar significance perhaps once attached to the wedding-cakein England, pieces of which are sent to relatives unable to be presentat the wedding. 

8. Customs at the wedding

Before the wedding the women of each party go and anoint the villagegods with oil and turmeric, worshipping them, and then similarlyanoint the bride and bridegroom at their respective houses for threedays. 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 goesround and worships all the village gods and visits the houses of hisrelatives and friends, who mark his forehead with rice and turmericand give him a silver piece. A list of the money thus received ismade and similar presents are returned to the donors when they haveweddings. The bridegroom goes to the wedding either in a litter oron a horse, and must not look behind him. After being received atthe bride's village and conducted to his lodging, he proceeds to thebride's house and strikes a grass mat hung before the house seventimes with a reed-stick. On entering the bride's house the bridegroomis taken to worship her family gods, the men of the party usuallyremaining outside. Then, as he goes through the room, one of thewomen who has tied a long thread round her toe gets behind him andmeasures his height with the thread without his seeing. She breaksoff the thread at his height and doubling it once or twice sews itround the top of the bride's skirt, and they think that as long asthe bride wears this thread she will be able to make her husband doas she likes. If the girls wish to have a joke they take one of thebridegroom's shoes which he has left outside the house, wrap it upin a piece of cloth, and place it on a shelf or in a cupboard, wherethe family god would be kept, with two lamps burning before it. Thenthey say to the bridegroom, 'Come and worship our household god';and if he goes and does reverence to it they unwrap the cloth andshow him his own shoe and laugh at him. But if he has been to one ortwo weddings and knows the joke he just gives it a kick. The bride'syounger brother steals the bridegroom's other shoe and hides it, andwill not give it back without a present of a rupee or two. The brideand bridegroom are seated on wooden seats, and while the Brahmanrecites texts, they make the following promises. The bridegroomcovenants to live with his wife and her children, to support themand tell her all his concerns, consult her, make her a partner ofhis religious worship and almsgiving, and be with her on the nightfollowing the termination of her monthly impurity. The bride promisesto remain faithful to her husband, to obey his wishes and orders, to perform her household duties as well as she can, and not to goanywhere without his permission. The last promise of the bridegroom hasreference to the general rule among Hindus that a man should alwayssleep with his wife on the night following the termination of hermenses because at this time she is most likely to conceive and theprospect of a child being born must not be lost. The Shastras lay itdown that a man should not visit his wife before going into battle, this being no doubt an instance of the common custom of abstinence fromconjugal intercourse prior to some important business or undertaking;but it is stated that if on such an occasion she should have justcompleted a period of impurity and have bathed and should desire himto come in to her, he should do so, even with his armour on, becauseby refusing, in the event of his being killed in battle, the chance ofa child being born would be finally lost. To Hindu ideas the neglectto produce life is a sin of the same character, though in a minordegree, as that of destroying life; and it is to be feared that itwill be some time before this ingrained superstition gives way toany considerations of prudential restraint Some people say that fora 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 roundthe marriage-post in the direction of the sun. The post probablyrepresents the sun and the walk of the bridal couple round it maybe an imitation of the movement of the planets round the sun. Thereverence paid to the marriage-post has already been noticed. Duringthe procession the bride leads and the bridegroom puts his left handon her left shoulder. The household pounding-slab is near the postand on it are placed seven little heaps of rice, turmeric, areca-nut, and a small winnowing-fan. Each time the bride passes the slab thebridegroom catches her right foot and with it makes her brush one ofthe little heaps off the slab. These seven heaps represent the sevenRishis or saints who are the seven large stars of the constellationof the Great Bear. 

10. Other ceremonies

After the wedding the bride and bridegroom resume their seats andthe parents of the bride wash their feet in a brass tray, markingtheir foreheads with rice and turmeric. They put some silver inthe tray, and other relations and friends do the same. The presentsthus collected go to the bridegroom. The Chandnahu Kurmis then havea ceremony known as _palkachar_. The bride's father provides a bedon which a mattress and quilt are laid and the bride and bridegroomare seated on it, while their brother and sister sprinkle parchedrice round them. This is supposed to typify the consummation of themarriage, but the ceremony is purely formal as the bridal couple arechildren. The bridegroom is given two lamps and he has to mix theirflames, probably to symbolise the mixing of the spirits of his wife andhimself. He requires a present of a rupee or two before he consents todo so. During the wedding the bride is bathed in the same water as thebridegroom, the joint use of the sacred element being perhaps anothersymbolic mark of their union. At the feasts the bride eats rice andmilk with her husband from one dish, once at her own house and onceafter she goes to her husband's house. Subsequently she never eatswith her husband but always after him. She also sits and eats at thewedding-feasts with her husband's relations. This is perhaps meantto mark her admission into her husband's clan. After the weddingthe Brahmans on either side recite Sanskrit verses, praising theirrespective families and displaying their own learning. The competitionoften becomes bitter and would end in a quarrel, but that the eldersof the party interfere and stop it. 

The expenses of an ordinary wedding on the bridegroom's sidemay be Rs. 100 in addition to the bride-price, and on the bride'sRs. 200. The bride goes home for a day or two with the bridegroom'sparty in Chhattisgarh but not in the northern Districts, as womenaccompany the wedding procession in the former but not in the latterlocality. If she is too small to go, her shoes and marriage-crownare sent to represent her. When she attains maturity the _chauk_ or_gauna_ ceremony is performed, her husband going to fetch her witha few friends. At this time her parents give her clothes, food andornaments in a basket called _jhanpi_ or _tipara_ specially preparedfor the occasion. 

11. Polygamy widow-marriage and divorce

A girl who becomes pregnant by a man of the caste before marriage iswedded to him by the rite used for widows. If the man is an outsidershe is expelled from the community. Women are much valued for thesake of their labour in the fields, and the transgressions of awife are viewed with a lenient eye. In Damoh it is said that a manreadily condones his wife's adultery with another Kurmi, and if itbecomes known and she is put out of caste, he will give the penaltyfeasts himself for her admission. If she is detected in a _liaison_with an outsider she is usually discarded, but the offence may becondoned should the man be a Brahman. And one instance is mentionedof a malguzar's wife who had gone wrong with a Gond, and was forgivenand taken back by her husband and the caste. But the leniency wasmisplaced as she subsequently eloped with an Ahir. Polygamy is usualwith those who can afford to pay for several wives, as a wife's labouris more efficient and she is a more profitable investment than a hiredservant. An instance is on record of a blind Kurmi in Jubbulpore, whohad nine wives. A man who is faithful to one wife, and does not visither on fast-days, is called a Brahmachari or saint and it is thoughtthat he will go to heaven. The remarriage of widows is permitted and isusual. 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 toher by the barber's wife. She then fills a pitcher with water and takesit to her new husband's house. He meets her on the threshold and liftsit from her head, and she goes into the house and puts bangles on herwrists. The following saying shows that the second marriage of widowsis looked upon as quite natural and normal by the cultivating castes:

"If the clouds are like partridge feathers it will rain, and if awidow puts lamp-black on her eyes she will marry again; these thingsare certain. " [60]

A bachelor marrying a widow must first go through the ceremony witha ring which he thereafter wears on his finger, and if it is lost hemust perform a funeral ceremony as if a wife had died. If a widowermarries a girl she must wear round her neck an image of his firstwife. A girl who is twice married by going round the sacred post iscalled Chandelia and is most unlucky. She is considered as bad orworse than a widow, and the people sometimes make her live outsidethe village and forbid her to show them her face. Divorce is open toeither party, to a wife on account of the impotency or ill-treatmentof her husband, and to a husband for the bad character, ill-healthor quarrelsome disposition of his wife. A deed of divorce is executedand delivered before the caste committee. 

12. Impurity of women

During her periodical impurity, which lasts for four or five days, awoman should not sleep on a cot. She must not walk across the shadowof any man not her husband, because it is thought that if she doesso her next child will be like that man. Formerly she did not seeher husband's face for all these days, but this rule was too irksomeand has been abandoned. She should eat the same kind of food for thewhole period, and therefore must take nothing special on one day whichshe cannot get on other days. At this time she will let her hair hangloose, taking out all the cotton strings by which it is tied up. [61]These strings, being cotton, have become impure, and must be thrownaway. But if there is no other woman to do the household work and shehas 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. Allcotton things are rendered impure by her at this time, and any clothor other article which she touches must be washed before it can betouched by anybody else; but woollen cloth, being sacred, is notrendered impure, and she can sleep on a woollen blanket without itsthereby becoming a defilement to other persons. When bathing at theend 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 atiny 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 milkboiled together. She then has her abdomen well rubbed by a professional_masseuse_, who comes at a time when she can escape observation. Aftera prolonged course of this treatment it is said that a miscarriage isobtained. It would seem that the rubbing is the only treatment whichis directly effective. The _papaya_, which is a very digestible fruit, can hardly be of assistance, but may be eaten from some magical idea ofits resemblance to a foetus. The mixture drunk is perhaps designed tobe 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 womanin pregnancy is in a state of taboo and is peculiarly liable to theinfluence of magic and in some respects dangerous to others. She isexempt from the observance of fasts, is allowed any food she fancies, and is fed with sweets and all sorts of rich food, especially in thefifth month. She should not visit her neighbour's houses nor sleepin any open place. Her clothes are kept separate from others. Sheis subject to a large number of restrictions in her ordinary lifewith a view of avoiding everything that might prejudice or retard herdelivery. She should eschew all red clothes or red things of any sort, such as suggest blood, till the third or fourth month, when conceptionis certain. She will be careful not to touch the dress of any womanwho has had a miscarriage. She will not cross running water, as itmight cause premature delivery, nor go near a she-buffalo or a marelest delivery be retarded, since a mare is twelve months in foal. Ifshe does by chance approach these animals she must propitiate themby 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 notfinish any sowing, previously begun, during pregnancy, nor should herhusband thatch the house or repair his axe. An eclipse is particularlydangerous to the unborn child and she must not leave the house duringits continuance, but must sit still with a stone pestle in her lap andanoint her womb with cowdung. Under no circumstances must she touch anycutting instrument as it might cause her child to be born mutilated. 

"During the fifth month of pregnancy the family gods are worshippedto avoid generally any difficulties in her labour. Towards the end ofthat month and sometimes in the seventh month she rubs her body witha preparation of gram-flour, castor-oil and turmeric, bathes herself, and is clothed with new garments and seated on a wooden stool in aspace freshly cleaned and spread with cowdung. Her lap is then filledwith sweets called _pakwan_ made of cocoanut. A similar ceremonycalled Boha Jewan is sometimes performed in the seventh or eighthmonth, when a new _sari_ is given to her and grain is thrown into herlap. Another special rite is the _Pansavan_ ceremony, performed toremove all defects in the child, give it a male form, increase its sizeand beauty, give it wisdom and avert the influence of evil spirits. "

14. Earth-eating

Pregnant women sometimes have a craving for eating earth. They eatthe earth which has been mixed with wheat on the threshing-floor, or the ashes of cowdung cakes which have been used for cooking. Theyconsider it as a sort of medicine which will prevent them fromvomiting. Children also sometimes get the taste for eating earth, licking it up from the floor, or taking pieces of lime-plaster fromthe walls. Possibly they may be attracted by the saltish taste, butthe result is that they get ill and their stomachs are distended. ThePanwar women of Balaghat eat red and white clay in order that theirchildren 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 roomtill about the tenth day after delivery. "If delivery is retarded, "Mr. Marten continues, [63] "pressure and massage are used, but coffeeand other herbal decoctions are given, and various means, mostlydepending on sympathetic magic, are employed to avert the adversespirits and hasten and ease the labour. She may be given water todrink in which the feet of her husband [64] or her mother-in-law or ayoung unmarried girl have been dipped, or she is shown the _swastik_or some other lucky sign, or the _chakra-vyuha_, a spiral figureshowing the arrangement of the armies of the Pandavas and Kauravaswhich resembles the intestines with the exit at the lower end. "

The menstrual blood of the mother during child-birth is efficacious asa charm for fertility. The Nain or Basorin will sometimes try and dipher big toe into it and go to her house. There she will wash her toeand give the water to a barren woman, who by drinking it will transferto herself the fertility of the woman whose blood it is. The womenof 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 midwifecoming out they examine her, and if they find any blood exclaim, 'You have eaten of our salt and will you play us this trick'; andthey force her back into the room where the blood is washed off. Allthe stained clothes are washed in the birth-room, and the water aswell as that in which the mother and child are bathed is poured intoa 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 motherand child from catching cold. They appear to confuse the symptoms ofpneumonia and infantile lockjaw in a disease called _sanpat_, to theprevention of which their efforts are directed. A _sigri_ or stoveis kept alight under the bed, and in this the seeds of _ajwain_ orcoriander are burnt. The mother eats the seeds, and the child is wavedover the stove in the smoke of the burning _ajwain_. Raw asafoetidais put in the woman's ears wrapped in cotton-wool, and she eats alittle half-cooked. A freshly-dried piece of cowdung is also pickedup from the ground and half-burnt and put in water, and some of thiswater is given to her to drink, the process being repeated every dayfor a month. Other details of the treatment of the mother and childafter birth are given in the articles on Mehtar and Kunbi. For thefirst five days after birth the child is given a little honey andcalf'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 motherdoes not suckle the child for three days, and for that period she isnot washed and nobody goes near her, at least in Mandla. On the thirdday after the birth of a girl, or the fourth after that of a boy, themother is washed and the child is then suckled by her for the firsttime, at an auspicious moment pointed out by the astrologer. Generallyspeaking the whole treatment of child-birth is directed towards theavoidance of various imaginary magical dangers, while the real sanitaryprecautions and other assistance which should be given to the motherare not only totally neglected, but the treatment employed greatlyaggravates the ordinary risks which a woman has to take, especiallyin the middle and higher castes. 

17. Ceremonies after birth

When a boy is born the father's younger brother or one of his friendslets off a gun and beats a brass plate to proclaim the event The womenoften announce the birth of a boy by saying that it is a one-eyedgirl. This is in case any enemy should hear the mention of the boy'sbirth, and the envy felt by him should injure the child. On the sixthday after the birth the Chhathi ceremony is performed and the mother isgiven ordinary food to eat, as described in the article on Kunbi. Thetwelfth day is known as Barhon or Chauk. On this day the father isshaved for the first time after the child's birth. The mother bathesand cuts the nails of her hands and feet; if she is living by a rivershe throws them into it, otherwise on to the roof of the house. Thefather and mother sit in the _chauk_ or space marked out for worshipwith cowdung and flour; the woman is on the man's left side, a womanbeing known as Bamangi or the left limb, either because the left limbis weak or because woman is supposed to have been made from man's leftside, as in Genesis. The household god is brought into the _chauk_and they worship it. The Bua or husband's sister brings presents tothe mother known as _bharti_, for filling her lap: silver or goldbangles 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 acocoanut. These things are placed in the mother's lap as a charm tosustain her fertility. The father gives his sister back double thevalue of the presents if he can afford it. He gives her husband ahead-cloth and shoulder-cloth; he waves two or three pice round hiswife's head and gives them to the barber's wife. The latter and themidwife take the clothes worn by the mother at child-birth, and thefather gives them each a new cloth if he can afford it. The part ofthe navel-string which falls off the child's body is believed to havethe power of rendering a barren woman fertile, and is also intimatelyconnected with the child's destiny. It is therefore carefully preservedand buried in some auspicious place, as by the bank of a river. 

In the sixth month the Pasni ceremony is performed, when the child isgiven grain for the first time, consisting of rice and milk. Brahmansor religious mendicants are invited and fed. The child's hair andnails are cut for the first time on the Shivratri or Akti festivalfollowing the birth, and are wrapped up in a ball of dough and throwninto a sacred river. If a child is born during an eclipse they thinkthat it will suffer from lung disease; so a silver model of the moonis made immediately during the eclipse, and hung round the child'sneck, and this is supposed to preserve it from harm. 

18. Suckling children

A Hindu woman will normally suckle her child for two to three yearsafter its birth, and even beyond this up to six years if it sleepswith her. But they think that the child becomes short of breath ifsuckled for so long, and advise the mother to wean it. And if shebecomes pregnant again, when she has been three or four months in thiscondition, she will wean the child by putting _nim_ leaves or someother bitter thing on her breasts. A Hindu should not visit his wifefor the last six months of her pregnancy nor until the child has beenfed with grain for the first time six months after its birth. Duringthe former period such action is thought to be a sin, while duringthe latter it may have the effect of rendering the mother pregnantagain too quickly, and hence may not allow her a sufficiently longperiod to suckle the first child. 

19. Beliefs about twins

Twins, Mr. Marten states, are not usually considered to beinauspicious. [65] "It is held that if they are of the same sex theywill survive, and if they are of a different sex one of them willdie. Boy twins are called Rama and Lachhman, a boy and a girl Mahadeoand Parvati, and two girls Ganga and Jamuni or Sita and Konda. Theyshould always be kept separate so as to break the essential connectionwhich exists between them and may cause any misfortune which happensto the one to extend to the other. Thus the mother always sleepsbetween them in bed and never carries both of them nor suckles bothat the same time. Again, among some castes in Chhattisgarh, when thetwins are of different sex, they are considered to be _pap_ (sinful)and are called Papi and Papin, an allusion to the horror of a brotherand sister sharing the same bed (the mother's womb). " Hindus thinkthat if two people comb their hair with the same comb they will losetheir affection for each other. Hence the hair of twins is combed withthe same comb to weaken the tie which exists between them, and maycause 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 whoseears have not been bored and adults who die of smallpox or leprosy areburied, and members of poor families who cannot afford firewood. If aperson 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 soulmay be saved, the _hom_ sacrifice is performed subsequently to thecremation. Those who live near the Nerbudda and Mahanadi sometimesthrow the bodies of the dead into these rivers and think that this willmake them go to heaven. The following account of a funeral ceremonyamong the middle and higher castes in Saugor is mainly furnishedby Major W. D. Sutherland, I. M. S. , with some additions from Mandla, and from material furnished by the Rev. E. M. Gordon: [66] "When aman is near his end, gifts to Brahmans are made by him, or by his sonon his behalf. These, if he is a rich man, consist of five cows withtheir calves, marked on the forehead and hoofs with turmeric, andwith garlands of flowers round their necks. Ordinary people give theprice 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 tothe tail of this calf the dead man will be able to swim across thedreadful river Vaitarni, the Hindu Styx. This calf is called BachraSankal or 'the chain-calf, ' as it furnishes a chain across the river, and it may be given three times, once before the death and twiceafterwards. When near his end the dying man is taken down from hiscot and laid on a woollen blanket spread on the ground, perhaps withthe idea that he should at death be in contact with the earth and notsuspended in mid-air as a man on a cot is held to be. In his mouthare 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 mankeeps on repeating 'Ram, Ram, Sitaram. '"

21. Funeral rites

As soon as death occurs the corpse is bathed, clothed and smearedwith a mixture of powdered sandalwood, camphor and spices. A bier isconstructed of planks, or if this cannot be afforded the man's cotis turned upside down and the body is carried out for burial on itin this fashion, with the legs of the cot pointing upwards. Strawis 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, withthe thumbs and great toes tied together. When a married woman dies sheis covered with a red cloth which reaches only to the neck, and herface is left open to the view of everybody, whether she went abroadunveiled in her life or not. It is considered a highly auspiciousthing 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 onit. The corpse of a widow or girl is wrapped in a white cloth withthe head covered. At the head of the funeral procession walks theson of the deceased, or other chief mourner, and in his hand he takessmouldering cowdung cakes in an earthen pot, from which the pyre willbe kindled. This fire is brought from the hearth of the house by thebarber, and he sometimes also carries it to the pyre. On the way themourners 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 somegrain where it lay, before taking it up again. After the funeral eachperson who has helped to carry it takes up a clod of earth and with ittouches successively the place on his shoulder where the bier rested, his waist and his knee, afterwards dropping the clod on the ground. Itis believed that by so doing he removes from his shoulder the weightof 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 onthe pyre. The cloth which covered it and that on which it lay are givento a sweeper, who is always present to receive this perquisite. To thecorpse's mouth, eyes, ears, nostrils and throat is applied a mixtureof barley-flour, butter, sesamum seeds and powdered sandalwood. Logsof wood and cowdung cakes are then piled on the body and the pyre isfired by the son, who first holds a burning stick to the mouth of thecorpse as if to inform it that he is about to apply the fire. The pyreof a man is fired at the head and of a woman at the foot. Rich peopleburn the corpse with sandalwood, and others have a little of this, and incense and sweet-smelling gum. Nowadays if the rain comes onand the pyre will not burn they use kerosine oil. When the body ishalf-consumed the son takes up a piece of wood and with it strikesthe 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 rightshoulder an earthen pot full of water, at the bottom of which is asmall hole. He walks round the pyre three times in the direction ofthe sun's course and stands facing to the south, and dashes the poton the ground, crying out in his grief, 'Oh, my father. ' While thisis going on _mantras_ or sacred verses are recited by the officiatingBrahman. When the corpse is partly consumed each member of the assemblythrows the _Panch lakariya_ (five pieces of wood or sprigs of basil)on to the pyre, making obeisance to the deceased and saying, '_Swarg kojao_, ' or 'Ascend to heaven. ' Or they may say, 'Go, become incarnatein 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 bythe chief mourner or breaks of itself with a crack. Then they batheand come home and after some hours again return to the corpse, tosee that it is properly burnt. If the pyre should go out and a dogor 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 toall the caste, costing for a rich family about Rs. 50 and for a poorone 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 mournershave left the deceased's house the women of the family bathe, thebangles of the widow are broken, the vermilion on the parting of herhair and the glass ornament (_tikli_) on her forehead are removed, and she is clad in white clothing of coarse texture to show thathenceforth she is only a widow. 

On the third day the mourners go again and collect the ashes and throwthem into the nearest river. The bones are placed in a silken bag oran earthen pot or a leaf basket, and taken to the Ganges or Nerbuddawithin ten days if possible, or otherwise after a longer interval, being buried meantime. Some milk, salt and calfs urine are sprinkledover 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 willprobably come and lick up the salt, and this will sanctify the placeand also the soul. When the bones are to be taken to a sacred riverthey are tied up in a little piece of cloth and carried at the end ofa stick by the chief mourner, who is usually accompanied by severalcaste-fellows. At night during the journey this stick is planted inthe ground, so that the bones may not touch the earth. 

23. Burial

Graves are always dug from north to south. Some people say that heavenis to the north, being situated in the Himalayas, and others thatIn the Satyug or Golden Age the sun rose to the north. The diggingof the grave only commences on the arrival of the funeral party, sothere is of necessity a delay of several hours at the site, and allwho attend a funeral are supposed to help in digging. It is consideredto be meritorious to assist at a burial, and there is a saying that aman who has himself conducted a hundred funerals will become a Raja inhis next birth. When the grave has been filled in and a mound raisedto mark the spot, each person present makes five small balls of earthand places them in a heap at the head of the grave. This custom is alsoknown as _Panch lakariya_, and must therefore be an imitation of theplacing of the five sticks on the pyre; its original meaning in thelatter case may have been that the mourners should assist the familyby bringing a contribution of wood to the pyre. As adopted in burialit seems to have no special significance, but somewhat resembles theEuropean 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 andthis goes on till the tenth day. These cakes are not eaten by thepriest or Maha-Brahman, but are thrown into a river. On the eveningof 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 whosebranches he hangs two earthen pots: one containing water, whichtrickles out through a hole in the bottom, and the other a lamp. Oneach succeeding night the son replenishes the contents of these pots, which are intended to refresh the spirit of the deceased and to lightit on its way to the lower world. In some localities on the eveningof the third day the ashes of the cooking-place are sifted, and laidout on a tray at night on the spot where the deceased died, or nearthe 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 heldthat the spirit of the deceased has visited the house. Some peoplelook for handprints, some for footprints, and some for both, and theNais look for the print of a cow's hoof, which when seen is held toprove that the deceased in consideration of his singular merits hasbeen reborn a cow. If a woman has died in child-birth, or after thebirth of a child and before the performance of the sixth-day ceremonyof purification, her hands are tied with a cotton thread when she isburied, in order that her spirit may be unable to rise and troublethe living. It is believed that the souls of such women become evilspirits or _Churels_. Thorns are also placed over her grave for thesame purpose. 

25. Mourning

During the days of mourning the chief mourner sits apart and doesno work. The others do their work but do not touch any one else, as they are impure. They leave their hair unkempt, do not worshipthe gods nor sleep on cots, and abjure betel, milk, butter, curds, meat, the wearing of shoes, new clothes and other luxuries. In thesedays the friends of the family come and comfort the mourners withconversation on the shortness and uncertainty of human life andkindred topics. During the period of mourning when the family goto bathe they march one behind the other in Indian file. And on thelast day all the people of the village accompany them, the men firstand after they have returned the women, all marching one behind theother. They also come back in this manner from the actual funeral, and the idea is perhaps to prevent the dead man's spirit from followingthem. He would probably feel impelled to adopt the same formation andfall 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 thefront of the head from the crown, and the beard and moustaches, shavedin token of mourning. The Maha-Brahman who receives the gifts for thedead 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 orchildren. 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 goodfortune. On the occasion the family give to the Maha-Brahman [68]a new cot and bedding with a cloth, an umbrella to shield the spiritfrom the sun's rays, a copper vessel full of water to quench itsthirst, a brass lamp to guide it on its journey, and if the familyis well-to-do a horse and a cow, All these things are meant to be forthe use of the dead man in the other world. It is also the Brahman'sbusiness to eat a quantity of cooked food, which will form the deadman's food. It is of great spiritual importance to the dead man'ssoul that the Brahman should finish the dish set before him, and ifhe does not do so the soul will fare badly. He takes advantage ofthis by stopping in the middle of the meal, saying that he has eatenall he is capable of and cannot go on, so that the relations haveto give him large presents to induce him to finish the food. TheseMaha-Brahmans are utterly despised and looked down on by all otherBrahmans and by the community generally, and are sometimes made tolive 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 periodof mourning. Afterwards he also receives presents in money accordingto the means of his clients, which it is supposed will benefit thedead man's soul in the next world; but no disgrace attaches to theacceptance of these. 

27. End of mourning

When the mourning is complete on the Gauri-Ganesh day all the relativestake their food at the chief mourner's house, and afterwards the_panchayat_ invest him with a new turban provided by a relative. Onthe next bazar day the members of the _panchayat_ take him to thebazar and tell him to take up his regular occupation and earn hislivelihood. Thereafter all his relatives and friends invite him totake food at their houses, probably to mark his accession to theposition of head of the family. 

28. Anniversaries of the dead

Three months, six months and twelve months after the death presentsare made to a Brahman, consisting of Sidha, or butter, wheat and ricefor a day's food. The anniversaries of the dead are celebrated duringPitripaksh or the dark fortnight of Kunwar (September-October). If aman died on the third day of any fortnight in the year, his anniversaryis celebrated on the third day of this fortnight and so on. On thatday it is supposed that his spirit will visit his earthly house wherehis relatives reside. But the souls of women all return to their homeson the ninth day of the fortnight, and on the thirteenth day come thesouls 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 suchpersons are supposed, on account of their untimely end, to entertaina special grudge against the living. 

29. Beliefs in the hereafter

As regards the belief in the hereafter Mr. Gordon writes: [69] "Thatthey have the idea of hell as a place of punishment may be gatheredfrom the belief that when salt is spilt the one who does this willin Patal or the infernal region have to gather up each grain of saltwith his eyelids. Salt is for this reason handed round with greatcare, and it is considered unlucky to receive it in the palm of thehand; it is therefore invariably taken in a cloth or vessel. Thereis a belief that the spirit of the deceased hovers round familiarscenes and places, and on this account, whenever possible, a housein which any one has died is destroyed or deserted. After the spirithas wandered round restlessly for a certain time it is said that itwill again become incarnate and take the form either of man or ofone of the lower animals. " In Mandla they think that the soul afterdeath is arraigned and judged before Yama, and is then chained toa flaming pillar for a longer or shorter period according to itssins. The gifts made to Brahmans for the dead somewhat shorten theperiod. After that time it is born again with a good or bad body andhuman or animal according to its deserts. 

30. Religion. Village gods

The caste worship the principal Hindu deities. Either Bhagwan orParmeshwar is usually referred to as the supreme deity, as we speakof God. Bhagwan appears to be Vishnu or the Sun, and Parmeshwar isSiva or Mahadeo. There are few temples to Vishnu in villages, butnone are required as the sun is daily visible. Sunday or Raviwaris the day sacred to him, and some people fast in his honour onSundays, eating only one meal without salt. A man salutes the sunafter he gets up by joining his hands and looking towards it, againwhen 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 spitin front of the sun nor perform the lower functions of the body inits sight. Others say that the sun and moon are the eyes of God, andthe light of the sun is the effulgence of God, because by its lightand heat all moving and immobile creatures sustain their life andall corn and other products of the earth grow. In his incarnationsof Rama and Krishna there are temples to Vishnu in large villagesand towns. Khermata, the mother of the village, is the local form ofDevi 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, whomay be of any caste except the impure castes. The earth is worshippedin various ways. A man taking medicine for the first time in anillness sprinkles a few drops on the earth in its honour. Similarlyfor the first three or four times that a cow is milked after thebirth of a calf the stream is allowed to fall on the ground. A manwho is travelling offers a little food to the earth before eatinghimself. Devi is sometimes considered to be one of seven sisters, butof the others only two are known, Marhai Devi, the goddess of cholera, and Sitala Devi, the goddess of smallpox. When an epidemic of cholerabreaks out the Panda performs the following ceremony to avert it. Hetakes a kid and a small pig or chicken, and some cloth, cakes, glassbangles, vermilion, an earthen lamp, and some country liquor, which issprinkled all along the way from where he starts to where he stops. Heproceeds in this manner to the boundary of the village at a place wherethere are cross-roads, and leaves all the things there. Sometimesthe animals are sacrificed and eaten. While the Panda is doing thisevery one collects the sweepings of his house in a winnowing-fan andthrows them outside the village boundary, at the same time ringing abell continuously. The Panda must perform his ceremony at night and, if possible, on the day of the new moon. He is accompanied by a fewother low-caste persons called Gunias. A Gunia is one who can bepossessed by a spirit in the temple of Khermata. When possessed heshakes his head up and down violently and foams at the mouth, andsometimes strikes his head on the ground. Another favourite godlingis 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 platformand sometimes a hut with an image of a man on horseback carrying aspear in his hand. His shrine is outside the village, and two daysbefore a marriage the women of the family visit his shrine and cookand eat their food there and invite him to the wedding. Clay horsesare offered to him, and he is supposed to be able to keep off rainand storms during the ceremony. Hardaul is perhaps the deified Rajputhorseman. Hanuman or Mahabir is represented by an image of a monkeycoloured with vermilion, with a club in his hand and a slain manbeneath his feet. He is principally worshipped on Saturdays so that hemay counteract the evil influences exercised by the planet Saturn onthat day. His image is painted with oil mixed with vermilion and hasa wreath of flowers of the cotton tree; and _gugal_ or incense made ofresin, sandalwood and other ingredients is burnt before him. He is thedeified ape, and is the god of strength and swiftness, owing to theexploits performed by him during Rama's invasion of Ceylon. Dulha Deois another godling whose shrine is in every village. He was a youngbridegroom who was carried off by a tiger on his way to his wedding, or, according to another account, was turned into a stone pillar bya flash of lightning. Before the starting of a wedding procession themembers go to Dulha Deo and offer a pair of shoes and a miniature postand marriage-crown. On their return they offer a cocoanut. Dulha Deohas a stone and platform to the east of the village, or occasionallyan image of a man on horseback like Hardaul. Mirohia is the godof the field boundary. There is no sign of him, but every tenant, when he begins sowing and cutting the crops, offers a little curdsand rice and a cocoanut and lays them on the boundary of the field, saying the name of Mirohia Deo. It is believed among agriculturiststhat 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 Kunwarand Chait (September and March). The former is a nine days' fastpreceding the Dasahra festival, and it is supposed that the goddessDevi was during this time employed In fighting the buffalo-demon(Bhainsasur), whom she slew on the tenth day. The latter is a ninedays' fast at the new year, preceding the triumphant entry of Ramainto Ajodhia on the tenth day on his return from Ceylon. The firstperiod comes before the sowing of the spring crop of wheat and othergrains, and the second is at the commencement of the harvest of thesame crop. In some localities the Jawaras are also grown a third timein the rains, probably as a preparation for the juari sowings, [70]as juari is planted in the baskets or 'gardens' at this time. On thefirst day a small room is cleared and whitewashed, and is known as the_diwala_ or temple. Some earth is brought from the fields and mixedwith manure in a basket, and a male member of the family sows wheatin 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 allday and eating only milk and fruit at night. A similar nine days' fastwas observed by the Eleusinians before the sacramental eating of cornand the worship of the Corn Goddess, which constituted the Eleusinianmysteries. [71] During the period of nine days, called the Naoratra, the plants are watered, and long stalks spring up. On the eighth daythe _hom_ or fire offering is performed, and the Gunias or devotees arepossessed by Devi. On the evening of the ninth day the women, puttingon their best clothes, walk out of the houses with the pots of grainon their heads, singing songs in praise of Devi. The men accompanythem beating drums and cymbals. The devotees pierce their cheeks withlong iron needles and walk in the procession. High-caste women, whocannot go themselves, hire the barber's or waterman's wife to go forthem. The pots are taken to a tank and thrown in, the stalks of grainbeing kept and distributed as a mark of amity. The wheat which is sownin 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 asit has roots. The woman who gets to the tank first counts the numberof plants in her pot, and this gives the price of wheat in rupeesper _mani_. [72] Sometimes marks of red rust appear on the plants, and this shows that the crop will suffer from rust. The ceremonyperformed in Chait is said to be a sort of harvest thanksgiving. Onthe ninth day of the autumn ceremony another celebration called'Jhinjhia' or 'Norta' takes place in large villages. A number ofyoung unmarried girls take earthen pots and, making holes in them andplacing lamps inside, carry them on their heads through the village, singing and dancing. They receive presents from the villagers, withwhich they hold a feast. At this a small platform is erected and twoearthen dolls, male and female, are placed on it; rice and flowersare offered to them and their marriage is celebrated. 

The following observances in connection with the crops are practisedby 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 filledwith rice is offered to Thakur Deo. In some villages the boys sowrice seeds before Thakur Deo's shrine with little toy ploughs. Thecultivator then goes to his field, and covering his hand withwheat-flour and turmeric, stamps it five times on the plough. Themalguzar takes five handfuls of the seed consecrated to Thakur Deo andsows it, and each of the cultivators also sows a little. After thisregular cultivation may begin on any day, though Monday and Fridayare considered auspicious days for the commencement of sowing. On theHareli, or festival of the fresh verdure, which falls on the 15th dayof Shrawan (July-August), balls of flour mixed with salt are given tothe cattle. The plough and all the implements of agriculture are takento a tank and washed, and are then set up in the courtyard of the houseand plastered with cowdung. The plough is set facing towards the sun, and butter and sugar are offered to it. An earthen pot is whitewashedand human figures are drawn on it with charcoal, one upside down. It isthen hung over the entrance to the house and is believed to avert theevil eye. All the holes in the cattle-sheds and courtyards are filledand levelled with gravel. While the rice is growing, holidays areobserved on five Sundays and no work is done. Before harvest ThakurDeo must be propitiated with an offering of a white goat or a blackfowl. Any one who begins to cut his crop before this offering hasbeen made to Thakur Deo is fined the price of a goat by the villagecommunity. Before threshing his corn each cultivator offers a separatesacrifice to Thakur Deo of a goat, a fowl or a broken cocoanut. Eachevening, on the conclusion of a day's threshing, a wisp of straw isrubbed on the forehead of each bullock, and a hair is then pulledfrom its tail, and the hairs and straw made into a bundle are tiedto the pole of the threshing-floor. The cultivator prays, 'O Godof plenty! enter here full and go out empty. ' Before leaving thethreshing-floor for the night some straw is burnt and three circles aredrawn with the ashes, one round the heap of grain and the others roundthe 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 morningbefore sunrise the ashes are swept away by waving a winnowing-fan overthem. This ceremony is called _anjan chadhana_ or placing lamp-blackon the face of the threshing-floor to avert the evil eye, as women putit on their eyes. Before the grain is measured it must be stacked inthe form of a trapezium with the shorter end to the south, and not inthat 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 largerside 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 twistedbundle of straw and hair of the bullocks which had been tied to thepole. On the top of the heap are placed five balls of cowdung, andthe _hom_ or fire sacrifice is offered to it. The first _katha_ [74]of rice measured is also laid by the heap. The measurer never quiteempties his measure while the work is going on, as it is feared that ifhe does this the god of abundance will leave the threshing-floor. Whilemeasuring he should always wear a turban. It is considered unlucky forany one who has ridden on an elephant to enter the threshing-floor, but a person who has ridden on a tiger brings luck. Consequentlythe Gonds and Baigas, if they capture a young tiger and tame it, will take it round the country, and the cultivators pay them a littleto give their children a ride on it. To enter a threshing-floor withshod feet is also unlucky. Grain is not usually measured at noon butin 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, takesit. Bhainsasur is worshipped when the rice is coming into ear, andif they think he is likely to be mischievous they give him a pig, butotherwise a smaller offering. When the standing corn in the fields isbeaten down at night they think that Bhainsasur has been passing overit. He also steals the crop while it is being cut and is lying on theground. Once Bhainsasur was absent while the particular field in thevillage from which he stole his supply of grain was cut and the cropremoved, and afterwards he was heard crying that all his provision forthe year had been lost. Sometimes the oldest man in the house cutsthe first five bundles of the crop, and they are afterwards left inthe field for the birds to eat. And at the end of harvest the last oneor two sheaves are left standing in the field, and any one who likescan cut and carry them away. In some localities the last stalks areleft standing in the field and are known as _barhona_ or the giverof increase. Then all the labourers rush together at this last patchof corn and tear it up by the roots; everybody seizes as much as hecan and keeps it, the master having no share in this patch. Afterthe _barhona_ has been torn up all the labourers fall on their facesto the ground and worship the field. In other places the _barhona_is left standing for the birds to eat. This custom, arises from thebelief demonstrated by Sir J. G. Frazer in _The Golden Bough_ that thecorn-spirit takes refuge in the last patch of grain, and that whenit is cut he flies away or his life is extinguished. And the ideais supported by the fact that the rats and other vermin, who havebeen 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. Insome countries it is thought, as shown by Sir J. G. Frazer, that thecorn-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 planof a typical house is shown below:--

The _dalan_ or hall is for the reception of visitors. One of theliving-rooms is set apart for storing grain. Those who keep theirwomen secluded have a door at the back of the courtyard for theiruse. 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 ata well. The family usually sleep inside the house in the winter andoutside in the hot weather. A poor malguzar or tenant has only tworooms with a veranda in front, one of which is used by the family, while cattle are kept in the other; while the small tenants andlabourers have only one room in which both men and cattle reside. Thewalls are of bamboo matting plastered on both sides with mud, andthe roof usually consists of single small tiles roughly baked in animprovised kiln. The house is surrounded by a mud wall or hedge, andsometimes has a garden behind in which tobacco, maize or vegetablesare grown. The interior is dark, for light is admitted only by thelow door, and the smoke-stained ceiling contributes to the gloom. Thefloor is of beaten earth well plastered with cowdung, the plasteringbeing repeated weekly. 

35. Superstitions about houses

The following are some superstitious beliefs and customs abouthouses. A house should face north or east and not south or west, as thesouth 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 tothe south-west. A house may have verandas front and back, or on thefront and two sides, but not on all four sides. The front of a houseshould 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 straightline, which would enable one to look right through the house. The_angan_ or compound of a house should be a little longer than it iswide, no matter how little. Conversely the building itself should be alittle wider along the front than it is long from front to rear. Thekitchen should always be on the right side if there is a veranda, orelse behind. When an astrologer is about to found a house he calculatesthe 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 stoneto the left of that direction, because snakes and elephants do not turnto the left but always to the right. Consequently the house will bemore secure and less likely to be shaken down by Shesh Nag's movements, which cause the phenomenon known to us as an earthquake. Below thefoundation-stone or brick are buried a pice, an areca-nut and agrain of rice, and it is lucky if the stone be laid by a man whohas 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 mainbeam should be placed in position on a lucky day, and the carpenterbreaks a cocoanut against it and receives a present. The width of therooms along the front of a house should be five cubits each, and ifthere is a staircase it must have an uneven number of steps. The doorshould be low so that a man must bend his head on entering and thusshow respect to the household god. The floor of the verandas should belower than that of the room inside; the Hindus say that the compoundshould not see the veranda nor the veranda the house. But this rulehas of course also the advantage of keeping the house-floor dry. Ifthe main beam of a house breaks it is a very bad omen, as also fora vulture or kite to perch on the roof; if this should happen sevendays running the house will inevitably be left empty by sickness orother 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 roofof the house and bark, the omen is of the worst kind. Neither thepipal nor banyan trees should be planted in the yard of a house, because the leavings of food might fall upon them, and this wouldbe an insult to the deities who inhabit the sacred trees. Neitheris it well to plant the _nim_ tree, because the _nim_ is the treeof anchorites, and the frequent contemplation of it will take awayfrom a man the desire of offspring and lead to the extinction of hisfamily. Bananas should not be grown close to the house, because thesound of this fruit bursting the pod is said to be audible, and tohear 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 thatthe leavings of food may not fall upon it; this is the tree of thesaint Dattatreya, and will cause wealth to increase in the house. Aplant of the sacred _tulsi_ or basil is usually kept in the yard, and every morning the householder pours a vessel of water over itas he bathes, and in the evening places a lamp beside it. This holyplant sanctifies the air which passes over it to the house. 

No one should ever sit on the threshold of a house; this is the seatof Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and to sit on it is disrespectfulto her. A house should never be swept at twilight, because it is thenthat Lakshmi makes her rounds, and she would curse it and pass by. Atthis 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 thegrinding-mill should not be turned nor grain be husked, but reverenceshould be paid to ancestors and to the household deities. No onemust sit on the grinding-mill; it is regarded as a mother becauseit gives out the flour by which the family is fed. No one must siton 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 middaymeal, when food is freshly cooked, each man will take a little firefrom the hearth and place it in front of him, and will throw a littleof everything he eats on to the fire, and some _ghi_ as an offeringto 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 anoffering to Agni. A man should not sleep with his feet to the south, because a corpse is always laid in that direction. He should notsleep with his feet to the east, nor spit out water from his mouthin the direction of the east. 

36. Furniture

Of furniture there is very little. Carefully arranged in theirplaces are the brass cooking-pots, water-pots and plates, wellpolished with mud and water applied with plenty of elbow-greaseby the careful housewife. Poor tenants frequently only have one ortwo brass plates and cups and an iron girdle, while all the rest oftheir vessels are of earthenware. Each house has several _chulhas_or small horseshoe erections of earth for cooking. Each person inthe house has a sleeping-cot if the family is comfortably off, and aspare one is also kept. These must be put out and exposed to the sun atleast once a week to clear them of fleas and bugs. It is said that theJains cannot adopt this method of disinfecting their beds owing to thesacrifice of insect life thereby involved; and that there are personsin Calcutta who make it their profession to go round and offer to lieon these cots for a time; they lie on them for some hours, and thelittle denizens being surfeited with their blood subsequently allowthe owner of the cot to have a quiet night. A cot should always beshorter 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 himshortly to lie on a bier. Poor tenants do not usually have cots, butsleep on the ground, spreading kodon-straw on it for warmth. Theyhave no bedding except a _gudri_ or mattress made of old rags andclothes sewn together. In winter they put it over them, and sleep onit in summer. They will have a wooden log to rest their heads on whensleeping, and this will also serve as a seat for a guest. Malguzarshave a _razai_ or quilt, and a _doria_ or thick cloth like those usedfor covering carts. Clothes and other things are kept in _jhampis_ orround bamboo baskets. For sitting on there are _machnis_ or four-leggedstools about a foot high with seats of grass rope or _pirhis_, littlewooden 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 theknees, 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 ismore popular with cultivators. In the cold weather it is frequentlystuffed with cotton and dyed dark green or dark blue so as not toshow the dirt. For visits of ceremony a pair of _paijamas_ are kept, but otherwise the _dhoti_ or loin-cloth is commonly worn. Wearingthe _dhoti_ pulled half-way up to the thighs is called 'cultivator'sfashion. ' A shirt may be worn under the coat; but cultivators usuallyhave only one garment, nowadays often a sleeveless coat with buttons infront. The proper head-dress is the _pagri_, a piece of coloured clothperhaps 30 feet long and a foot wide, twisted tightly into folds, whichis 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 fourannas. The _pagris_ have different shapes in different parts of thecountry, and a Hindu can tell by the shape of a man's _pagri_ where hecomes from. But nowadays cultivators usually wear a _dupatta_ or shortpiece of cloth tied, loosely round the head. The tenant arranges hishead-cloth with a large projection on one side, and in it he carrieshis _chilam_ or pipe-bowl, and also small quantities of vegetables, salt or condiments purchased at the bazar. In case of necessityhe can transform it into a loin-cloth, or tie up a bundle of grasswith it, or tie his _lota_ to it to draw water from a well. 'Whatcan the washerman do in a village where the people live naked?' isa Chhattisgarhi proverb which aptly indicates that scantiness isthe most prominent feature of the local apparel. Here a cloth roundthe loins, and this usually of meagre dimensions, constituted, untilrecently, the full dress of a cultivator. Those who have progresseda stage farther throw a cloth loosely over one shoulder, coveringthe chest, and assume an apology for a turban by wrapping anothersmall rag carelessly round the head, leaving the crown generallybare, as if this part of the person required special sunning andventilation. Hindus will not be seen out-of-doors with the head bare, though the Gonds and other tribes only begin to wear head-cloths whenthey are adopting Hinduism. The Gondi fashion was formerly prevalentin Chhattisgarh. Some sanctity attaches to the turban, probably becauseit is the covering of the head. To knock off a man's turban is a greatinsult, 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 coarsecloth, usually red or blue, and a shoulder-cloth of the samematerial. Hand-woven cloth is still commonly used in the interior. Theskirt is sometimes drawn up through the legs behind so as to give ita divided appearance; this is called _kachhota_. On the upper part ofthe body they wear an _angia_ or breast-cloth, that is a short, tight, sleeveless jacket reaching only to below the breasts. The _angia_ istied behind, while the Maratha _choli_, which is the same thing, isbuttoned or tied in front. High-caste women draw their shoulder-clothright over the head so that the face cannot be seen. When a woman goesbefore a person of position she covers her head, as it is consideredimmodest to leave it bare. Women of respectable families wear asheet of fine white, yellow, or red cloth drawn over the head andreaching to the ankles when they go on a journey, this being knownas _pichhora_. In Chhattisgarh all the requirements of fashion amongwomen are satisfied by one cloth from 8 to 12 yards long and about ayard wide, which envelops the person in one fold from the waist tobelow the knee, hanging somewhat loosely. It is tied at the waist, and the remaining half is spread over the breast and drawn across theright shoulder, the end covering the head like a sheet and falling overthe left shoulder. The simplicity of this solitary garment displays agraceful figure to advantage, especially on festival days, when thosewho can afford it are arrayed in tasar silk. When a girl is married thebridegroom's family give her expensive clothes to wear at festivalsand her own people give her ordinary clothes, but usually not morethan will last a year. Whenever she goes back to her father's houseafter her marriage, he gives her one or two cloths if he can affordit. Women of the middle and lower classes wear ornaments of bell-metal, a mixture of copper and zinc, which are very popular. Some women wearbrass and zinc ornaments, and well-to-do persons have them of silveror 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 inthe courtyard is usually a large square stone on which the bathersits; 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 handsand throws it over himself, rubbing his body. Where there is a tankor stream people go to bathe in it, and if there is none the poorerclasses sometimes bathe at the village well. Each man or woman hastwo body-or loin-cloths, and they change the cloth whenever theybathe--going into the water in the one which they have worn from theprevious day, and changing into the other when they come out; longpractice enables them to do this in public without any undue exposureof 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 peoplewill spend an hour or so here daily, disporting themselves in thewater 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 twodaily meals, one at midday and the other at eight or nine in theevening. Agriculturists require a third meal in the early morningbefore going out to the fields. Wheat and the millets juari and kodonare the staple foods of the cultivating classes in the northernDistricts, and rice is kept for festivals. The millets are madeinto thick _chapatis_ or cakes, their flour not being sufficientlyadhesive for thin ones, and are eaten with the pulses, lentils, arhar, [77] mung [78] and urad. [79] The pulses are split into half andboiled in water, and when they get soft, chillies, salt and turmericare mixed with them. Pieces of _chapati_ are broken off and dippedinto this mixture. Various vegetables are also eaten. When pulse isnot available the _chapatis_ are simply dipped into buttermilk. If_chapatis_ cannot be afforded at both meals, _ghorna_ or the flour ofkodon or juar boiled into a paste with water is substituted for them, asmaller quantity of this being sufficient to allay hunger. Wheat-cakesare fried in _ghi_ (clarified butter) as a luxury, and at other timesin sesamum oil. Rice or ground gram boiled in buttermilk are otherfavourite foods. 

In Chhattisgarh rice is the common food: it is eaten with pulsesat midday and with vegetables cooked in _ghi_ in the evening. Inthe morning they drink a rice-gruel, called _basi>_ which consistsof the previous night's repast mixed with water and taken cold. Onfestivals rice is boiled in milk. Milk is often drunk at night, andthere is a saying, "He who drinks water in the morning and milk atnight and takes _harra_ before he sleeps will never need a doctor. " Alittle powdered _harra_ or myrobalan acts as an aperient. The food oflandowners and tenants is much the same, except that the former havemore butter and vegetables, according to the saying, '_Raja praja kaekhi khana_' or 'The king and peasant eat the same food. ' Those whoeat flesh have an occasional change of food, but most Kurmis abstainfrom it. Farmservants eat the gruel of rice or kodon boiled in waterwhen they can afford it, and if not they eat mahua flowers. Theseare sometimes boiled in water, and the juice is then strained off andmixed with half-ground flour, and they are also pounded and made into_chapatis_ with flour and water. The leaves of the young gram-plantsmake a very favourite vegetable and are eaten raw, either moist ordried. In times of scarcity the poorer classes eat tamarind leaves, the pith of the banyan tree, the seeds of the bamboo, the bark ofthe _semar_ tree, [80] the fruit of the _babul_, [81] and otherarticles. A cultivator will eat 2 lbs. Of grain a day if he can getit, or more in the case of rice. Their stomachs get distended owingto the large quantities of boiled rice eaten at one time. The leavesof the _chirota_ or _chakora_ a little plant [82] which grows thicklyat the commencement of the rains near inhabited sites, are also afavourite 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 likestalks, which infests and destroys trees; it is called _amarbel_or the immortal, because it has no visible root. _Kamalgata_ is theseed of the lotus; _gai ka matha_ is buttermilk; _nagar sowasan_, 'the happiness of the town, ' is turmeric, because married women whosehusbands are alive put turmeric on their foreheads every day; _khaj, dad_ and _sehua_ are itch, ringworm and some kind of rash, perhapsmeasles; and the verse therefore means:

"Eat _amarbel_, lotus seeds, chirota, buttermilk and turmeric mixedtogether, and you will keep off itch, ringworm and measles. " Chirotais good for the itch. 

41. Caste-feasts

At the commencement of a marriage or other ceremonial feast the hostmust wash the feet of all the guests himself. If he does not do thisthey will be dissatisfied, and, though they will eat at his house, will consider they have not been properly welcomed. He takes a largebrass plate and placing the feet of his guest on it, pours waterover them and then rubs and dries them; the water is thrown awayand fresh water poured out for the next guest unless they should bebrothers. Little flat stools about three inches high are provided forthe guests, and if there are not enough of them a carpet is spread;or _baithkis_ or sitting-mats plaited from five or six large leavesare set out. These serve as a mark of attention, as it would bediscourteous to make a man sit on the ground, and they also preventthe body-cloth from getting wet. The guests sit in the _chauk_ oryard of the house inside, or in the _angan_ or outside yard, eitherin lines or in a circle; members of the same caste sit with theircrossed knees actually touching those of the man on either side ofthem to emphasise their brotherhood; if a man sat even a few inchesapart from his fellows people would say he was out of caste--andthis is how a man who is put out of caste actually does sit. Beforeeach guest may be set two plates of leaves and eight _donas_ orleaf-cups. On the plates are heaped rice, cakes of wheat fried inbutter, 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_ orground gram cooked with buttermilk. All the male members of the host'sfamily serve the food and they take it round, heaping and pouring itinto each man's plates or cups until he says enough; and they continueto give further helpings as required. All the food is served at oncein the different plates and cups, but owing to the number of guestsa considerable time elapses before all are fully served, and thedinner lasts about two hours. The guests eat all the different dishestogether with their fingers, taking a little of each according to theirfancy. Each man has his _lota_ or vessel of water by him and drinksas he eats. When the meal is finished large brass plates are broughtin, one being given to about ten guests, and they wash their handsover these, pouring water on them from their vessels. A fresh carpetis then spread in the yard and the guests sit on it, and betel-leafand tobacco are distributed. The huqqa is passed round, and _chilams_and _chongis_ (clay pipe-bowls and leaf-pipes) are provided for thosewho 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 ofmany malguzars, at least in Chhattisgarh, to afford food and anight's rest to all travellers who may require it. When a Brahmancomes 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 issaid that when any stranger came through the village he was at onceoffered a cup of milk and told to drink it or throw it away. Butthis custom has died out in Chhattisgarh, though one has met withit once or twice in Sambalpur. When District Officers go on tour, well-to-do landowners ask to be allowed to supply free provisionsfor the whole camp at least for a day, and it is difficult to refusethem gracefully. In Mandla, Banias and malguzars in villages nearthe Nerbudda sometimes undertake to give a pound of grain to every_parikramawasi_ or pilgrim perambulating the Nerbudda. And as thenumber of these steadily increases in consequence, they often becomeimpoverished 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, aswell as his food and a new white cloth. The _guru_ is occasionallyconsulted on some religious question, but otherwise he does nothingfor his disciple except to pay him an occasional visit, when he ishospitably entertained. The Kurmis of the northern Districts do notas a rule eat meat and also abstain from alcohol, but in Chhattisgarhthey 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 amark of piety, when they are known as Bhagat or holy. They will takefood cooked with water only from Brahmans, and that cooked withoutwater from Rajputs, Banias and Kayasths as well. Brahmans and Rajputswill take water from Kurmis in the northern Districts though not inChhattisgarh. Here the Kurmis do not object to eating cooked foodwhich has been carried from the house to the fields. This is called_rengai roti_, and castes which will eat it are considered inferiorto those who always take their food in the _chauka_ or purifiedplace 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 notplough on the new or full moon days. Their women are tattooed aftermarriage 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 impurecaste, 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 purifyhimself by bathing in the Ganges at Allahabad or Benares and givinga feast to the caste. It will be seen that all these are domesticanimals except the monkey, who is the god Hanuman. The squirrel iscounted as a domestic animal because it is always about the house, and the souls of children are believed to go into squirrels. Onehousehold animal, the dog, is omitted, and he appears to be lesssacred than the others. For getting maggots in a wound the offendermust bathe in a sacred river, such as the Nerbudda or Mahanadi, andgive a feast to the caste. For eating or having intercourse with amember 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 inthe case of a woman for breaking her bangles in a quarrel with herhusband, a penalty feast must be given. If a man omits to feast thecaste after a death in his family a second feast is imposed, and ifhe insults the _panchayat_ he is fined. 

45. The cultivating status

The social status of the Kurmi appears to be that of the cultivator. Heis above the menial and artisan castes of the village and the impureweaving and labouring castes; he is theoretically equal to theartisan castes of towns, but one or two of these, such as the Sunaror goldsmith and Kasar or brass-worker, have risen in the world owingto the prosperity or importance of their members, and now rank abovethe Kurmi. The Kurmi's status appears to be that of the cultivatorand member of the village community, but a large proportion of theKurmis are recruited from the non-Aryan tribes, who have obtainedland and been admitted into the caste, and this tends to lower thestatus of the caste as a whole. In the Punjab Kurmis apparently donot hold land and are employed in grass-cutting, weaving, and tendinghorses, and are even said to keep pigs. [83] Here their status isnecessarily very low as they follow the occupations of the impurecastes. The reason why the Kurmi as cultivator ranks above the villagehandicraftsmen may perhaps be that industrial pursuits were despisedin early times and left to the impure Sudras and to the castes ofmixed descent; while agriculture and trade were the occupations ofthe Vaishya. Further, the village artisans and menials were supportedbefore the general use of current coin by contributions of grain fromthe cultivators and by presents of grain at seed-time and harvest;and among the Hindus it is considered very derogatory to accept agift, a man who does so being held to admit his social inferiority tothe giver. Some exception to this is made in the case of Brahmans, though even with them the rule partly applies. Of these two reasonsfor the cultivator's superiority to the menial and artisan castesthe former has to a large extent lost its force. The handicrafts areno longer considered despicable, and, as has been seen, some of theurban tradesmen, as the Sunar and Kasar, now rank above the Kurmi, orare at least equal to him. Perhaps even in ancient times these urbanartificers were not despised like the village menials, as their skillwas held in high repute. But the latter ground is still in full forceand effect in the Central Provinces at least: the village artisans arestill paid by contributions from the cultivator and receive presentsfrom him at seed-time and harvest. The remuneration of the villagemenials, the blacksmith, carpenter, washerman, tanner, barber andwaterman is paid at the rate of so much grain per plough of landaccording to the estimated value of the work done by them for thecultivators during the year. Other village tradesmen, as the potter, oilman and liquor-vendor, are no longer paid in grain, but since theintroduction of currency sell their wares for cash; but there seemsno reason to doubt that in former times when no money circulatedin villages they were remunerated in the same manner. They stillall receive presents, consisting of a sowing-basketful of grain atseed-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 alsoreceive as much grain as will fill a winnowing-fan when it has beenthreshed. When the peasant has harvested his grain all come and begfrom him. The Dhimar brings waternut, the Kachhi or market-gardenersome chillies, the Teli oil and tobacco, the Kalar some liquor if hedrinks it, the Bania some sugar, and all receive grain in excess ofthe value of their gifts. The village menials come for their customarydues, and the Brahman, the Nat or acrobat, the Gosain or religiousmendicant, and the Fakir or Muhammadan beggar solicit alms. On thatday the cultivator is like a little king in his fields, and it issaid that sometimes a quarter of the crop may go in this way; butthe reference must be only to the spring crop and not to the wholeholding. In former times grain must have been the principal sourceof wealth, and this old custom gives us a reason for the status ofthe 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, serviceis menial, and begging is degraded. '

46. Occupation

The Kurmi is the typical cultivator. He loves his land, and to loseit is to break the mainspring of his life. His land gives him afreedom and independence of character which is not found among theEnglish farm-labourers. He is industrious and plodding, and inured tohardship. In some Districts the excellent tilth of the Kurmi's fieldswell portrays the result of his persevering labour, which he does notgrudge to the land because it is his own. His wife is in no way behindhim; the proverb says, "Good is the caste of the Kurmin; with a hoein her hand she goes to the fields and works with her husband. " TheChandnahu Kurmi women are said to be more enterprising than the men, keeping them up to their work, and managing the business of the farmas 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 andother articles of lac. About 3000 persons were shown as belonging tothe caste in the Central Provinces in 1911, being most numerous in theJubbulpore, Chhindwara and Betul Districts. From Berar 150 persons werereturned, chiefly from Amraoti. The name is derived from the Sanskrit_laksha-kara_, a worker in lac. The caste are a mixed functionalgroup closely connected with the Kacheras and Patwas; no distinctionbeing recognised between the Patwas and Lakheras in some localitiesof the Central Provinces. Mr. Baillie gives the following notice ofthem in the _Census Report of the North-Western Provinces_ (1891):"The accounts given by members of the caste of their origin are veryvarious and sometimes ingenious. One story is that like the Patwas, with whom they are connected, they were originally Kayasths. Accordingto another account they were made from the dirt washed from Parvatibefore her marriage with Siva, being created by the god to make banglesfor his wife, and hence called Deobansi. Again, it is stated, theywere created by Krishna to make bangles for the Gopis or milkmaids. Themost elaborate account is that they were originally Yaduvansi Rajputs, who assisted the Kurus to make a fort of lac, in which the Pandavaswere to be treacherously burned. For this traitorous conduct theywere degraded and compelled eternally to work in lac or glass. "

2. Social customs

The bulk of these artisan and manufacturing castes tell stories showingthat their ancestors were Kayasths and Rajputs, but no importancecan be attached to such legends, which are obviously manufacturedby the family priests to minister to the harmless vanity of theirclients. To support their claim the Lakheras have divided themselveslike the Rajputs into the Surajvansi and Somvansi subcastes or thosewho belong to the Solar and Lunar races. Other subdivisions are theMarwari or those coming from Marwar in Rajputana, and the Tarkheraor makers of the large earrings which low-caste women wear. Theseconsist 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. Itis often the stalk of the _ambari_ fibre, and on the outer end isfixed a slab decorated with little pieces of glass. The exogamoussections of the Lakheras are generally named after animals, plantsand natural objects, and indicate that the caste is recruited from thelower classes of the population. Their social customs resemble thoseof the middle and lower Hindustani castes. Girls are married at anearly age when the parents can afford the expense of the ceremony, but no penalty is incurred if the wedding is postponed for want ofmeans. The remarriage of widows and divorce are permitted. They eatflesh, but not fowls or pork, and some of them drink liquor, whileothers abstain. Rajputs and Banias will take water from them, but notBrahmans. 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 banglesand other articles of lac. Lac is regarded with a certain degreeof superstitious repugnance by the Hindus because of its red colour, resembling blood. On this account and also because of the sin committedin killing them, no Hindu caste will propagate the lac insect, andthe calling is practised only by Gonds, Korkus and other primitivetribes. Even Gonds will often refuse employment in growing lac ifthey can make their living by cultivation. Various superstitionsattach to the propagation of the insects to a fresh tree. This isdone in Kunwar (September) and always by men, the insects beingcarried 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 doneat night and the man should be naked when he places the insects onthe tree. The tree is fenced round and nobody is allowed to touchit, as it is considered that the crop would thus be spoiled. If awoman has lost her husband and has to sow lac, she takes her sonin 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 ofa stick, not touching the cup with her own hands. All this ritualattaches simply to the infection of the first tree, and afterwardsin January or February the insects are propagated on to other treeswithout ceremony. The juice of onions is dropped on to them to makethem healthy. The stick-lac is collected by the Gonds and Korkusand sold to the Lakheras; they clear it of wood as far as possibleand then place the incrusted twigs and bark in long cotton bags andheat them before a fire, squeezing out the gum, which is spread outon flat plates so as to congeal into the shape of a pancake. This isagain heated and mixed with white clay and forms the material for thebangles. They are coloured with _chapra_, the pure gum prepared likesealing-wax, which is mixed with vermilion, or arsenic and turmericfor a yellow colour. In some localities at least only the Lakherasand 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 beensupplanted by the more ornamental glass bangles. They are thick andclumsy and five of them will cover a large part of the space betweenthe elbow and the wrist. They may be observed on Banjara women. Lacbangles are also still used by the Hindus, generally on ceremonialoccasions, as at a marriage, when they are presented to and worn by thebride, and during the month of Shrawan (July), when the Hindus observea fast on behalf of the growing crops and the women wear bangles oflac. For these customs Mr. Hira Lal suggests the explanation that lacbangles were at one time generally worn by the Hindus, while glass onesare a comparatively recent fashion introduced by the Muhammadans. Insupport of this it may be urged that glass bangles are largely made bythe Muhammadan Turkari or Sisgar, and also that lac bangles must havebeen worn prior to glass ones, because if the latter had been known theclumsy and unornamental bracelet made of lac and clay could never havecome into existence. The wearing of lac bangles on the above occasionswould therefore be explained according to the common usage of adheringon religious and ceremonial occasions to the more ancient methods andaccessories, which are sanctified by association and custom. Similarlythe Holi pyre is often kindled with fire produced by the friction ofwood, 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 wornby the bride at a wedding, the custom being unknown in somelocalities. Moreover, it appears that glass was known to the Hindusat a period prior to the Muhammadan invasions, though bangles may nothave been made from it. Another reason for the use of lac bangleson the occasions noticed is that lac, as already seen, representsblood. Though blood itself is now repugnant to the Hindus, yet redis pre-eminently their lucky colour, being worn at weddings andgenerally 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. Butit does not seem necessary to go back quite so far as this. Theearliest form of sacrifice, as shown by Professor Robertson Smith, [86] was that in which the community of kinsmen ate together the fleshof their divine or totem animal god and drank its blood. When the godbecame separated from the animal and was represented by a stone at theplace of worship and the people had ceased to eat raw flesh and drinkblood, the blood was poured out over the stone as an offering to thegod. This practice still obtains among the lower castes of Hindus andthe primitive tribes, the blood of animals offered to Devi and othervillage deities being allowed to drop on to the stones representingthem. But the higher castes of Hindus have abandoned animal sacrifices, and hence cannot make the blood-offering. In place of it they smear thestone with vermilion, which seems obviously a substitute for blood, since it is used to colour the stones representing the deities inexactly the same manner. Even vermilion, however, is not offered tothe highest deities of Neo-Hinduism, Siva or Mahadeo and Vishnu, towhom animal sacrifices would be abhorrent. It is offered to Hanuman, whose image is covered with it, and to Devi and Bhairon and to themany local and village deities. In past times animal sacrifices wereoffered to Bhairon, as they still are to Devi, and though it is notknown that they were made to Hanuman, this is highly probable, as heis the god of strength and a mighty warrior. The Manbhao mendicants, who abhor all forms of bloodshed like the Jains, never pass one ofthese stones painted with vermilion if they can avoid doing so, andif they are aware that there is one on their road will make a circuitso as not to see it. [87] There seems, therefore, every reason tosuppose that vermilion is a substitute for blood in offerings andhence probably on other occasions. As the places of the gods werethus always coloured red with blood, red would come to be the divineand therefore the propitious colour among the Hindus and other races. 

6. Vermilion and spangles

Among the constituents of the Sohag or lucky _trousseau_ withoutwhich no Hindu girl of good caste can be married are _sendur_ orvermilion, _kunku_ or red powder or a spangle (_tikli_), and _mahawar_or red balls of cotton-wool. In Chhattisgarh and Bengal the principalmarriage rite is usually the smearing of vermilion by the bridegroomon the parting of the bride's hair, and elsewhere this is commonlydone as a subsidiary ceremony. Here also there is little reason todoubt that vermilion is a substitute for blood; indeed, in some castesin Bengal, as noted by Sir H. Risley, the blood of the parties isactually mixed. [88] This marking of the bride with blood is a resultof the sacrifice and communal feast of kinsmen already described;only those who could join in the sacrificial meal and eat the fleshof the sacred animal god were kin to it and to each other; but inquite early times the custom prevailed of taking wives from outsidethe clan; and consequently, to admit the wife into her husband'skin, it was necessary that she also should drink or be marked withthe blood of the god. The mixing of blood at marriage appears to bea relic of this, and the marking of the forehead with vermilion isa substitute for the anointing with blood. _Kunku_ is a pink powdermade of turmeric, lime-juice and borax, which last is called by theHindus 'the milk of Anjini, ' the mother of Hanuman. It seems to bea more agreeable substitute for vermilion, whose constant use hasprobably an injurious effect on the skin and hair. _Kunku_ is used inthe Maratha country in the same way as vermilion, and a married womanwill smear a little patch on her forehead every day and never allow herhusband to see her without it. She omits it only during the monthlyperiod of impurity. The _tikli_ or spangle is worn in the HindustaniDistricts and not in the south. It consists of a small piece of lacover which is smeared vermilion, while above it a piece of mica orthin 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 canafford it. The spangle is made and sold by Lakheras and Patwas; it ispart of the Sohag at marriages and is affixed to the girl's foreheadon her wedding and thereafter always worn; as a rule, if a woman has aspangle it is said that she does not smear vermilion on her forehead, though both may occasionally be seen. The name _tikli_ is simply acorruption of _tika_, which means a mark of anointing or initiation onthe forehead; as has been seen, the basis of the _tikli_ is vermilionsmeared on lac-clay, and it is made by Lakheras; and there is thusgood reason to suppose that the spangle is also a more ornamentalsubstitute for the smear of vermilion, the ancient blood-mark by whicha married woman was admitted into her husband's clan. At her marriagea bride must always receive the glass bangles and the vermilion, _kunku_, or spangle from her husband, the other ornaments of theSohag being usually given to her by her parents. Unmarried girlsnow also sometimes wear small ornamental spangles, and put _kunku_on their foreheads. But before marriage it is optional and afterwardscompulsory. 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 _mahurki guleli_ or _mahawar_. The cotton-wool is dipped in the meltedlac-gum and is rubbed on to the feet of women to colour them redor pink at marriages and festivals. This is done by the barber'swife, who will colour the feet of the whole party, at the sametime drawing lines round the outside of the foot and inward fromthe toes. The _mahawar_ is also an essential part of the Sohag ofmarriage. Instead of lac the Muhammadans use _mehndi_ or henna, thehenna-leaves being pounded with catechu and the mixture rubbed on tothe feet and hands. After a little time it is washed off and a reddye remains on the skin. It is supposed that the similar custom whichprevailed among the ancient Greeks is alluded to in the epithet of'rosy-fingered Aurora. ' The Hindus use henna dye only in the monthShrawan (July), which is a period of fasting; the auspicious _kunku_and _mahawar_ are therefore perhaps not considered suitable at sucha time, but as special protection is needed against evil spirits, the necessary red colouring is obtained from henna. When a marriedwoman 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 ifof 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 ofred thread. This is worn by Hindu men and women, except MarathaBrahmans. After he is married, if a man breaks this thread he must nottake food until he has put on a fresh one, and the same rule appliesto a woman all her life. Other threads are the _rakhis_ tied round thewrists for protection against evil spirits on the day of Rakshabandhan, and the necklets of silk or cotton thread wound round with thin silverwire, which the Hindus put on at Anant Chaudas and frequently retainfor the whole year. The colour of all these threads is generally red inthe 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). Atthis time for five years after her marriage a Hindu bride receivesannually from her husband a present called Shraoni, or that whichis given in Shrawan. It consists of a _chakri_ or reel, to whicha string is attached, and the reel is thrown up into the air andwound and unwound on the string; a _bhora_ or wooden top spun by astring; a _bansuli_ or wooden flute; a stick and ball, lac banglesand a spangle, and cloth, usually of red chintz. All these toys aremade by the carpenter and coloured red with lac by the Lakhera, withthe exception of the bangles which may be yellow or green. For fiveyears the bride plays with the toys, and then they are sent to her nolonger as her childhood has passed. It is probable that some, if notall of them, are in a manner connected with the crops, and supposedto have a magical influence, because during the same period it is thecustom for boys to walk on stilts and play at swinging themselves;and in these cases the original idea is to make the crops grow ashigh as the stilts or swing. As in the other cases, the red colourappears to have a protective influence against evil spirits, who aremore 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 principallyin the Vindhyan Districts and Nerbudda valley, whence they have spreadto the Wainganga valley and the Khairagarh State of Chhattisgarh. Theirtotal strength in the Province is 300, 000 persons. The Lodhisare immigrants from the United Provinces, in whose Gazetteers itis stated that they belonged originally to the Ludhiana Districtand took their name from it. Their proper designation is Lodha, but it has become corrupted to Lodhi in the Central Provinces. Anumber of persons resident in the Harda tahsil of Hoshangabad arecalled Lodha and say that they are distinct from the Lodhis. There isnothing to support their statement, however, and it is probable thatthey simply represent the separate wave of immigration which tookplace from Central India into the Hoshangabad and Betul Districtsin the fifteenth century. They spoke a different dialect of thegroup known as Rajasthani, and hence perhaps the caste-name didnot get corrupted. The Lodhis of the Jubbulpore Division probablycame here at a later date from northern India. The Mandla Lodhisare said to have been brought to the District by Raja Hirde Sah ofthe Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla in the seventeenth century, and they were given large grants of the waste land in the interior inorder that they might clear it of forest. [89] The Lodhis are a goodinstance of a caste who have obtained a great rise in social statuson migrating to a new area. In northern India Mr. Nesfield placesthem lowest among the agricultural castes and states that they arelittle better than a forest tribe. He derives the name from _lod_, a clod, according to which Lodhi would mean clodhopper. [90] Anothersuggestion is that the name is derived from the bark of the _lodh_tree, [91] which is collected by the Lodhas in northern India and soldfor use as a dyeing agent. In Bulandshahr they are described as "Ofshort stature and uncouth appearance, and from this as well as fromtheir want of a tradition of immigration from other parts they appearto be a mixed class proceeding from aboriginal and Aryan parents. Inthe Districts below Agra they are considered so low that no one drinkswater touched by them; but this is not the case in the Districts aboveAgra. " [92] In Hamirpur they appear to have some connection with theKurmis, and a story told of them in Saugor is that the first Lodhiwas created by Mahadeo from a scarecrow in a Kurmi woman's fieldand given the vocation of a farmservant But the Lodhis themselvesclaim 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 areaddressed by the honorific title of Thakur, ranking with the highercultivating castes. Several Lodhi landholders in Damoh and Saugorformerly 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. Theykept up a certain amount of state, and small contingents of soldiery, attended by whom they went to pay their respects to the representativeof the ruling power. "It would be difficult, " says Grant, [93] "torecognise the descendants of the peaceful cultivators of northernIndia in the strangely accoutred Rajas who support their style andtitle by a score of ragged matchlock-men and a ruined mud fort on ahill-side. " Sir B. Fuller's _Damoh Settlement Report_ says of them:"A considerable number of villages had been for long time past in thepossession of certain important families, who held them by prescriptionor by a grant from the ruling power, on a right which approximatedas nearly to the English idea of proprietorship as native custompermitted. The most prominent of these families were of the Lodhicaste. They have developed tastes for sport and freebooting and havebecome decidedly the most troublesome item in the population. Duringthe Mutiny the Lodhis as a class were openly disaffected, and one oftheir proprietors, the Talukdar of Hindoria, marched on the Districtheadquarters and looted the treasury. " Similarly the Ramgarh familyof Mandla took to arms and lost the large estates till then heldby them. On the other hand the village of Imjhira in Narsinghpurbelonging to a Lodhi malguzar was gallantly defended against a bandof marauding rebels from Saugor. Sir R. Craddock describes them asfollows: "They are men of strong character, but their constant familyfeuds and love of faction militate against their prosperity. A clusterof Lodhi villages forms a hotbed of strife and the nearest relationsare generally divided by bitter animosities. The Revenue Officer whovisits them is beset by reckless charges and counter-charges and nocommunities are less amenable to conciliatory compromises. Agrarianoutrages are only too common in some of the Lodhi villages. " [94]The high status of the Lodhi caste in the Central Provinces ascompared with their position in the country of their origin may besimply explained by the fact that they here became landholders andruling chiefs. 

3. Sub-divisions

In the northern Districts the landholding Lodhis are divided intoa number of exogamous clans who marry with each other in imitationof 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 arethe head of the clan. The Mahdeles are the highest clan and havethe titles of Raja and Diwan, while the others hold those of Rao andKunwar, the terms Diwan and Kunwar being always applied to the youngerbrother of the head of the house. These titles are still occasionallyconferred by the Raja of Panna, whom the Lodhi clans looked on astheir suzerain. The name of the Mahdeles is said to be derived from the_mehndi_ or henna plant. The above clans sometimes practise hypergamyamong themselves and also with the other Lodhis, taking daughtersfrom the latter on receipt of a large bridegroom-price for the honourconferred by the marriage. This custom is now, however, tending todie out. There are also several endogamous subcastes ranking belowthe clans, of whom the principal are the Singrore, Jarha, Jangra andMahalodhi. The Singrore take their name from the old town of Singrauror Shrengera in northern India, Singrore, like Kanaujia, being a commonsubcaste name among several castes. It is also connected more latelywith the Singram Ghat or ferry of the Ganges in Allahabad District, and the title of Rawat is said to have been conferred on the SingroreLodhis by the emperor Akbar on a visit there. The Jarha Lodhis belongto Mandla. The name is probably a form of Jharia or jungly, but sincethe leading members of the caste have become large landholders theyrepudiate this derivation. The Jangra Lodhis are of Chhattisgarh, andthe Mahalodhis or 'Great Lodhis' are an inferior group to which theoffspring of irregular unions are or were relegated. The Mahalodhisare said to condone adultery either by a man or woman on penalty of afeast to the caste. Other groups are the Hardiha, who grow turmeric(_haldi_), and the Gwalhare or cowherds. The Lodhas of Hoshangabadmay also be considered a separate subcaste. They disclaim connectionwith the Lodhis, but the fact that the parent caste in the UnitedProvinces is known as Lodha appears to establish their identity. Theyabstain from flesh and liquor, which most Lodhis consume. 

This division of the superior branch of a caste into large exogamousclans and the lower one into endogamous subcastes is only found, sofar as is known, among the Rajputs and one or two landholding casteswho have imitated them. Its origin is discussed in the Introduction. 

4. Exogamous groups

The subcastes are as usual divided into exogamous groups of theterritorial, titular and totemistic classes. Among sections namedafter places may be mentioned the Chandpuria from Chandpur, theKharpuria from Kharpur, and the Nagpuriha, Raipuria, Dhamonia, Damauha and Shahgariha from Nagpur, Raipur, Dhamoni, Damoh andShahgarh. Two-thirds of the sections have the names of towns orvillages. 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, thedate-palm tree; Mirchaunia, chillies; Andwar, from the castor-oilplant; 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. Hemay marry two sisters. The exchange of girls between families isonly in force among the Bilaspur Lodhis, who say, 'Eat with thosewho have eaten with you and marry with those who have married withyou. ' Girls are usually wedded before puberty, but in the northernDistricts the marriage is sometimes postponed from desire to marryinto 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 aman who had two daughters unmarried at twenty-two and twenty-threeyears old, because he had been waiting for good _partis_, with theresult that one of them went and lived with a man and he then marriedoff the other in the Singhast [96] year, which is forbidden among theLodhis, and was put out of caste. The marriage and other ceremoniesof the Lodhis resemble those of the Kurmis, except in Chhattisgarhwhere the Maratha fashion is followed. Here, at the wedding, the brideand bridegroom hold between them a doll made of dough with 21 cowriesinside, and as the priest repeats the marriage texts they pull it apartlike a cracker and see how many cowries each has got. It is consideredauspicious if the bridegroom has the larger number. The priest is onthe 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 brassdish while the doll is pulled apart In the northern Districts afterthe wedding the bridegroom must untie one of the festoons of themarriage-shed, and if he refuses to do this, it is an indelibledisgrace on the bride's party. Before doing so he requires a valuablepresent, such as a buffalo. 

6. The gauna ceremoney. Fertility rites

When the girl becomes mature the Gauna or going-away ceremony isperformed. In Chhattisgarh before leaving her home the bride goes outwith her sister and worships a _palas_ tree. [97] Her sister wavesa lighted lamp seven times over it, and the bride goes seven timesround it in imitation of the marriage ceremony. At her husband'shouse seven pictures of the family gods are drawn on a wall insidethe house and the bride worships these, placing a little sugar andbread on the mouth of each and bowing before them. She is then seatedbefore 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 inthe bride's lap saying, 'Take this and give it milk. ' The bride isabashed and throws it aside. The old woman picks it up and showsit to the assembled women saying, 'The bride has just had a baby, 'amid loud laughter. Then she gives the stone to the bridegroom whoalso throws it aside. This ceremony is meant to induce fertility, and it is supposed that by making believe that the bride has had ababy she will quickly have one. 

7. Widow-marriage and puberty rite

The higher clans of Lodhis in Damoh and Saugor prohibit the remarriageof widows, but instances of it occur. It is said that a man who marriesa widow is relegated to the Mahalodhi subcaste or the Lahuri Sen, anillegitimate group, and the Lodhis of his clan no longer acknowledgehis family. But if a girl's husband dies before she has lived with himshe may marry again. The other Lodhis freely permit widow-marriageand divorce. When a girl first becomes mature she is secluded, and though she may stay in the house cannot enter the cook-room. Atthe end of the period she is dressed in red cloth, and a present ofcocoanuts stripped of their shells, sweetmeats, and a little money, is placed in her lap, while a few women are invited to a feast. Thisrite is also meant to induce fertility, the kernel of the cocoanutbeing held to resemble an unborn baby. 

8. Mourning impurity

The higher clans consider themselves impure for a period of 12 daysafter 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 the10th day they offer ten _pindas_ or funeral cakes, and on the 11thday 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 thedead man with the ancestors; and on the 13th day they give a feastand feed Brahmans and are clean. The lower subcastes only observeimpurity for three days after a birth and a death. Their funeralrites are the same as those of the Kurmis. 

9. Social customs

The caste employ Brahmans for weddings, but not necessarily forbirth and death ceremonies. They eat flesh and fish, and the bulkof the caste eat fowls and drink liquor, but the landowning sectionabjures these practices. They will take food cooked with water fromBrahmans, and that cooked without water also from Rajputs, Kayasths andSunars. In Narsinghpur they also accept cooked food from such a lowcaste as Rajjahrs, [99] probably because the Rajjhars are commonlyemployed by them as farmservants, and hence have been accustomedto carry their master's food. A similar relation has been found toexist between the Panwar Rajputs and their Gond farmservants. Thehigher class Lodhis make an inordinate show of hospitality at theirweddings. 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 sayenough. When melted butter is poured out into their cups the streammust never be broken as it passes from one guest to the other, or itis said that they will all get up and leave the feast. Apparently alot of butter must be wasted on the ground. The higher clans secludetheir women, and these when they go out must wear long clothescovering the head and reaching to the feet. The women are not allowedto wear ornaments of a cheaper metal than silver, except of coursetheir glass bangles. The Mahalodhis will eat food cooked with waterin the cook-room and carried to the fields, which the higher clanswill not do. Their women wear the _sari_ drawn through the legs andknotted behind according to the Maratha fashion, but whenever theymeet their husband's elder brother or any other elder of the familythey must undo the knot and let the cloth hang down round their legsas a mark of respect. They wear no breast-cloth. Girls are tattooedbefore adolescence with dots on the chin and forehead, and marks onone hand. Before she is tattooed the girl is given sweets to eat, and during the process the operator sings songs in order that herattention may be diverted and she may not feel the pain. After shehas finished the operator mutters a charm to prevent evil spiritsfrom troubling the girl and causing her pain. 

10. Greetings and method of address

The caste have some strict taboos on names and on conversationbetween the sexes. A man will only address his wife, sister, daughter, paternal aunt or niece directly. If he has occasion to speak to someother woman he will take his daughter or other female relative withhim and do his business through her. He will not speak even to his ownwomen before a crowd. A woman will similarly only speak to her father, son or nephew, and father-, son- or younger brother-in-law. She willnot speak to her elder brother-in-law, and she will not address herhusband in the presence of his father, elder brother or any otherrelative whom he reveres. A wife will never call her husband by hisname, but always address him as father of her son, and, if she has noson, will sometimes speak to him through his younger brother. Neitherthe father nor mother will call their eldest son by his name, but willuse some other name. Similarly a daughter-in-law is given a freshname on coming into the house, and on her arrival her mother-in-lawlooks at her for the first time through a _guna_ or ring of bakedgram-flour. A man meeting his father or elder brother will touch hisfeet in silence. One meeting his sister's husband, sister's son orson-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 theyare initiated by a Guru or spiritual preceptor, or when they aremarried. The thread is made by a Brahman and has five knots. Recentlya large landholder in Mandla, a Jarha Lodhi, has assumed the sacredthread himself for the first time and sent round a circular to hiscaste-men enjoining them also to wear it. His family priest hasproduced a legend of the usual type showing how the Jarha Lodhisare Rajputs whose ancestors threw away their sacred threads in orderto escape the vengeance of Parasurama. Generally in social positionthe Lodhis may be considered to rank with, but slightly above, theordinary cultivating castes, such as the Kurmis. This superiorityin no way arises from their origin, since, as already seen, they area very low caste in their home in northern India, but from the factthat they have become large landholders in the Central Provinces andin former times their leaders exercised quasi-sovereign powers. ManyLodhis are fine-looking men and have still some appearance of havingbeen soldiers. They are passionate and quarrelsome, especially in theJubbulpore District. This is put forcibly in the saying that 'A Lodhi'stemper is as crooked as the stream of a bullock's urine. ' They aregenerally cultivators, but the bulk of them are not very prosperousas they are inclined to extravagance and display at weddings and onother ceremonial occasions. 

Lohar

1. Legends of the caste

_Lohar_, _Khati_, _Ghantra_, _Ghisari_, _Panchal. _--The occupationalcaste of blacksmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit_Lauha-kara>_, a worker in iron. In the Central Provinces the Loharhasin the past frequently combined the occupations of carpenter andblacksmith, and in such a capacity he is known as Khati. The honorificdesignations applied to the caste are Karigar, which means skilful, and Mistri, a corruption of the English 'Master' or 'Mister. ' In 1911the Lohars numbered about 180, 000 persons in the Central Provincesand Berar. The Lohar is indispensable to the village economy, andthe caste is found over the whole rural area of the Province. 

"Practically all the Lohars, " Mr. Crooke writes [100], "tracetheir origin to Visvakarma, who is the later representative of theVedic Twashtri, the architect and handicraftsman of the gods, 'Thefashioner of all ornaments, the most eminent of artisans, who formedthe 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 thedaughter of an Ahir, who in her previous birth had been a dancing-girlof the gods. By her he had nine sons, who became the ancestors ofvarious artisan castes, such as the Lohar, Barhai, Sunar, and Kasera. "

The Lohars of the Uriya country in the Central Provinces tell a similarstory, according to which Kamar, the celestial architect, had twelvesons. The eldest son was accustomed to propitiate the family god withwine, and one day he drank some of the wine, thinking that it couldnot be sinful to do so as it was offered to the deity. But for thisact his other brothers refused to live with him and left their home, adopting various professions; but the eldest brother became a workerin iron and laid a curse upon the others that they should not be ableto practise their calling except with the implements which he hadmade. The second brother thus became a woodcutter (Barhai), the third apainter (Maharana), the fourth learnt the science of vaccination andmedicine and became a vaccinator (Suthiar), the fifth a goldsmith, the sixth a brass-smith, the seventh a coppersmith, and the eighth acarpenter, while the ninth brother was weak in the head and marriedhis eldest sister, on account of which fact his descendants are knownas Ghantra. [102] The Ghantras are an inferior class of blacksmiths, probably an offshoot from some of the forest tribes, who are lookeddown on by the others. It is said that even to the present day theGhantra Lohars have no objection to eating the leavings of food oftheir wives, whom they regard as their eldest sisters. 

2. Social position of the Lohar

The above story is noticeable as indicating that the social positionof the Lohar is somewhat below that of the other artisan castes, orat least of those who work in metals. This fact has been recorded inother localities, and has been explained by some stigma arising fromhis occupation, as in the following passage: "His social positionis low even for a menial, and he is classed as an impure caste, inso far that Jats and others of similar standing will have no socialcommunion with him, though not as an outcast like the scavenger. Hisimpurity, like that of the barber, washerman and dyer, springs solelyfrom 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 notimprobable that the necessity under which he labours of using bellowsmade of cowhide may have something to do with his impurity, " [103]

Mr. Nesfield also says: "It is owing to the ubiquitous industry ofthe Lohar that the stone knives, arrow-heads and hatchets of theindigenous tribes of Upper India have been so entirely supersededby iron-ores. The memory of the stone age has not survived even intradition. In consequence of the evil associations which Hinduism hasattached to the colour of black, the caste of Lohar has not been ableto raise itself to the same social level as the three metallurgiccastes which follow. " The following saying also indicates that theLohar is of evil omen:

 Ar, Dhar, Chuchkar In tinon se bachawe Kartar. 

Here _Ar_ means an iron goad and signifies the Lohar; _Dhar_ representsthe 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 againsta 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 evilomen. ' It is not quite clear why this disrepute should attach to theLohar, because iron itself is lucky, though its colour, black, may beof bad omen. But the low status of the Lohar may partly arise from thefact of his being a village menial and a servant of the cultivators;whereas the trades of the goldsmith, brass-smith and carpenter are oflater origin than the blacksmith's, and are urban rather than ruralindustries; and thus these artisans do not commonly occupy the positionof village menials. Another important consideration is that the ironindustry is associated with the primitive tribes, who furnished thewhole supply of the metal prior to its importation from Europe: and itis hence probable that the Lohar caste was originally constituted fromthese and would thus naturally be looked down upon by the Hindus. InBengal, where few or no traces of the village community remain, theLohar ranks as the equal of Koiris and Kurmis, and Brahmans will takewater from his hands; [104] and this somewhat favours the argument thathis 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. Insome localities Gonds who work as blacksmiths are considered tobelong to the caste and are known as Gondi Lohars. But Hindus whowork in Gond villages also sometimes bear this designation. Anothersubdivision returned consists of the Agarias, also an offshoot of theGonds, who collect and smelt iron-ore in the Vindhyan and Satpurahills. The Panchals are a class of itinerant smiths in Berar. TheGhantras or inferior blacksmiths of the Uriya country have alreadybeen noticed. The Ghisaris are a similar low class of smiths in thesouthern Districts who do rough work only, but sometimes claim Rajputorigin. Other subcastes are of the usual local or territorial type, as Mahulia, from Mahul in Berar; Jhade or Jhadia, those living inthe 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 isthat prevalent among the agricultural castes of the locality. Theremarriage of widows is permitted, and they have the privilege ofselecting their own husbands, or at least of refusing to accept anyproposed suitor. A widow is always married from her father's house, and never from that of her deceased husband. The first husband'sproperty is taken by his relatives, if there be any, and they alsoassume the custody of his children as soon as they are old enough todispense with a mother's care. The dead are both buried and burnt, and in the eastern Districts some water and a tooth-stick are dailyplaced at a cross-road for the use of the departed spirit duringthe customary period of mourning, which extends to ten days. On theeleventh day the relatives go and bathe, and the chief mourner putson a new loin-cloth. Some rice is taken and seven persons pass it fromhand to hand. They then pound the rice, and making from it a figure torepresent a human being, they place some grain in its mouth and sayto it, 'Go and become incarnate in some human being, ' and throw theimage into the water. After this the impurity caused by the death isremoved, and they go home and feast with their friends. In the eveningthey make cakes of rice, and place them seven times on the shoulderof each person who has carried the corpse to the cemetery or pyre, toremove the impurity contracted from touching it. It is also said thatif this be not done the shoulder will feel the weight of the coffinfor a period of six months. The caste endeavour to ascertain whetherthe 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-flouris spread on the floor of the cooking-room and covered with a brassplate. The women retire and sit in an adjoining room while the chiefmourner with a few companions goes outside the village, and sprinklessome more rice-flour on the ground. They call to the deceased personby name, saying, 'Come, come, ' and then wait patiently till someworm or insect crawls on to the floor. Some dough is then appliedto this and it is carried home and let loose in the house. The flourunder the brass plate is examined, and it is said that they usuallysee the footprints of a person or animal, indicating the corporealentity in which the deceased soul has found a resting-place. Duringthe period of mourning members of the bereaved family do not followtheir ordinary business, nor eat flesh, sweets or other delicatefood. They may not make offerings to their deities nor touch anypersons outside the family, nor wear head-cloths or shoes. In theeastern Districts the principal deities of the Lohars are Dulha Deoand Somlai or Devi, the former being represented by a knife set in theground inside the house, and the latter by the painting of a woman onthe wall. Both deities are kept in the cooking-room, and here the headof the family offers to them rice soaked in milk, with sandal-paste, flowers, vermilion and lamp-black. He burns some melted butter in anearthen lamp and places incense upon it. If a man has been affected bythe evil eye an exorcist will place some salt on his hand and burn it, muttering spells, and the evil influence is removed. They believe thata 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 theploughshare, axe, sickle, goad and other articles. For doing this heis paid in Saugor a yearly contribution of twenty pounds of grainper plough of land [105] held by each cultivator, together with ahandful of grain at sowing-time and a sheaf at harvest from both theautumn and spring crops. In Wardha he gets fifty pounds of grain perplough of four bullocks or forty acres. For making new implements theLohar is sometimes paid separately and is always supplied with theiron and charcoal. The hand-smelting iron industry has practicallydied out in the Province and the imported metal is used for nearlyall purposes. The village Lohars are usually very poor, their incomeseldom exceeding that of an unskilled labourer. In the towns, owingto the rapid extension of milling and factory industries, blacksmithsreadily find employment and some of them earn very high wages. Inthe manufacture of cutlery, nails and other articles the capital isoften found by a Bhatia or Bohra merchant, who acts as the capitalistand employs the Lohars as his workmen. The women help their husbandsby blowing the bellows and dragging the hot iron from the furnace, while the men wield the hammer. The Panchals of Berar are describedas a wandering caste of smiths, living in grass mat-huts and using asfuel the roots of thorn bushes, which they batter out of the groundwith the back of a short-handled axe peculiar to themselves. Theymove from place to place with buffaloes, donkeys and ponies to carrytheir kit. [106] Another class of wandering smiths, the Ghisaris, aredescribed by Mr. Crooke as follows: "Occasional camps of these mostinteresting people are to be met with in the Districts of the MeerutDivision. They wander about with small carts and pack-animals, and, being more expert than the ordinary village Lohar, their servicesare in demand for the making of tools for carpenters, weavers andother craftsmen. They are known in the Punjab as Gadiya or those whohave carts (_gadi, gari_). Sir D. Ibbetson [107] says that they comeup from Rajputana and the North-Western Provinces, but their realcountry is the Deccan. In the Punjab they travel about with theirfamilies and implements in carts from village to village, doing thefiner kinds of iron-work, which are beyond the capacity of the villageartisan. In the Deccan [108] this class of wandering blacksmiths arecalled 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 andNimar Districts, whose distinctive occupation is to grow _san_-hemp(_Crotalaria juncea_) and to make sacking and gunny-bags from thefibre. A very strong prejudice against this crop exists among theHindus, and those who grow it are usually cut off from their parentcaste and become a separate community. Thus we have the castes knownas Kumrawat, Patbina and Dangur in different parts of the Province, who are probably offshoots from the Kurmis and Kunbis, but now rankbelow them because they grow this crop; and in the Kurmi caste itselfa subcaste of Santora (hemp-picking) Kurmis has grown up. In Bilaspurthe Patharia Kurmis will grow _san_-hemp and ret it, but will not spinor weave the fibre; while the Atharia Kurmis will not grow the crop, but will spin the fibre and make sacking. The Saugor Kewats grow thisfibre, and here Brahmans and other high castes will not take waterfrom Kewats, though in the eastern Districts they will do so. TheNarsinghpur Mallahs, a branch of the Kewats, have also adopted thecultivation of _san_-hemp as a regular profession. The basis of theprejudice against the _san_-hemp plant is not altogether clear. TheLorhas themselves say that they are looked down upon because they usewheat-starch (_lapsi_) for smoothing the fibre, and that their nameis somehow derived from this fact. But the explanation does not seemsatisfactory. Many of the country people appear to think that thereis something uncanny about the plant because it grows so quickly, and they say that on one occasion a cultivator went out to sow hempin the morning, and his wife was very late in bringing his dinner tothe field. He grew hungry and angry, and at last the shoots of thehemp-seeds which he had sown in the morning began to appear above theground. At this he was so enraged that when his wife finally camehe said she had kept him waiting so long that the crop had come upin the meantime, and murdered her. Since then the Hindus have beenforbidden to grow _san_-hemp lest they should lose their tempers inthe same manner. This story makes a somewhat excessive demand on thehearer's credulity. One probable cause of the taboo seems to be thatthe process of soaking and retting the stalks of the plant pollutesthe water, and if carried on in a tank or in the pools of a streammight destroy the village supply of drinking-water. In former timesit may have been thought that the desecration of their sacred elementwas an insult to the deities of rivers and streams, which would bringdown retribution on the offender. It is also the case that the properseparation of the fibres requires a considerable degree of dexteritywhich can only be acquired by practice. Owing to the recent increase inthe price of the fibre and the large profits which can now be obtainedfrom hemp cultivation, the prejudice against it is gradually breakingdown, and the Gonds, Korkus and lower Hindu castes have waived theirreligious scruples and are glad to turn an honest penny by sowing hempeither on their own account or for hire. Other partially tabooed cropsare turmeric and _al_ or Indian madder (_Morinda citrifolia_), whileonions and garlic are generally eschewed by Hindu cultivators. Forgrowing turmeric and _al_ special subcastes have been formed, as theAlia Kunbis and the Hardia Malis and Kachhis (from _haldi_, turmeric), just as in the case of _san_-hemp. The objection to these two crops isbelieved to lie in the fact that the roots which yield the commercialproduct have to be boiled, and by this process a number of insectscontained in them are destroyed. But the preparation of the hemp-fibredoes not seem to involve any such sacrifice of insect life. The Lorhasappear to be a mixed group, with a certain amount of Rajput blood inthem, perhaps an offshoot of the Kirars, with whose social customstheir own are said to be identical. According to another account, theyare a lower or illegitimate branch of the Lodha caste of cultivators, of whose name their own is said to be a corruption. The Nimar Gujarshave a subcaste named Lorha, and the Lorhas of Hoshangabad may beconnected with these. They live in the Seoni and Harda tahsils ofHoshangabad, the _san_-hemp crop being a favourite one in villagesadjoining the forests, because it is not subject to the depredationsof wild animals. Cultivators are often glad to sublet their fieldsfor the purpose of having a crop of hemp grown upon them, becausethe stalks are left for manure and fertilise the ground. String andsacking are also made from the hemp-fibre by vagrant and criminalcastes like the Banjaras and Bhamtas, who formerly required the bagsfor 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 andvillage watchmen of the Maratha country, corresponding to the Chamarsand Koris of northern India. They numbered nearly 1, 200, 000 persons inthe 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, Chhindwaraand Betul. Their distribution thus follows largely that of theMarathi language and the castes speaking it. Berar contained 400, 000, distributed over the four Districts. In the whole Province this casteis third in point of numerical strength. In India the Mahars numberabout three million persons, of whom a half belong to Bombay. I am notaware of any accepted derivation for the word Mahar, but the balanceof opinion seems to be that the native name of Bombay, Maharashtra, is derived from that of the caste, as suggested by Wilson. Anotherderivation which holds it to be a corruption of Maha Rastrakuta, andto be so called after the Rashtrakuta Rajput dynasty of the eighthand ninth centuries, seems less probable because countries are veryseldom named after ruling dynasties. [110] Whereas in support ofMaharashtra as 'The country of the Mahars, ' we have Gujarashtra orGujarat, 'the country of the Gujars, ' and Saurashtra or Surat, 'thecountry of the Sauras. ' According to Platts' Dictionary, however, Maharashtra means 'the great country, ' and this is what the MarathaBrahmans themselves say. Mehra appears to be a variant of the namecurrent in the Hindustani Districts, while Dheda, or Dhada, is saidto be a corruption of Dharadas or billmen. [111] In the Punjab it issaid 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 correctnessof this hypothesis. In the _Bombay Gazetteer_ the writer of theinteresting Gujarat volume suggests that the Mahars are fallen Rajputs;but there seems little to support this opinion except their appearanceand countenance, which is of the Hindu rather than the Dravidiantype. In Gujarat they have also some Rajput surnames, as Chauhan, Panwar, Rathor, Solanki and so on, but these may have been adopted byimitation or may indicate a mixture of Rajput blood. Again, the Maharsof Gujarat are the farmservants and serfs of the Kunbis. "Each familyis closely connected with the house of some landholder or _pattidar_(sharer). For his master he brings in loads from the fields and cleansout the stable, receiving in return daily allowances of buttermilk andthe carcases of any cattle that die. This connection seems to showtraces of a form of slavery. Rich _pattidars_ have always a certainnumber of Dheda families whom they speak of as ours (_hamara_) andwhen a man dies he distributes along with his lands a certain numberof Dheda families to each of his sons. An old tradition among Dhedaspoints to some relation between the Kunbis and Dhedas. Two brothers, Leva and Deva, were the ancestors, the former of the Kunbis, the latterof the Dhedas. " [113] Such a relation as this in Hindu society wouldimply that many Mahar women held the position of concubines to theirKunbi masters, and would therefore account for the resemblance ofthe Mahar to Hindus rather than the forest tribes. But if this isto be regarded as evidence of Rajput descent, a similar claim wouldhave to be allowed to many of the Chamars and sweepers. Others of thelowest 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 aconnection of the 'Droit de Seigneur' type. On the other hand, theMahars occupy the debased and impure position which was the lot ofthose non-Aryan tribes who became subject to the Hindus and lived intheir villages; they eat the flesh of dead cattle and this and othercustoms 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 theoldest resident of the plain country of Berar and Nagpur. In Berarhe is a village servant and is the referee on village boundaries andcustoms, a position implying that his knowledge of them is the mostancient. At the Holi festival the fire of the Mahars is kindled firstand that of the Kunbis is set alight from it. The Kamdar Mahar, whoacts as village watchman, also has the right of bringing the _toran_ orrope of leaves which is placed on the marriage-shed of the Kunbis; andfor this he receives a present of three annas. In Bhandra the Telis, Lohars, Dhimars and several other castes employ a Mahar _Mohturia_ orwise man to fix the date of their weddings. And most curious of all, when the Panwar Rajputs of this tract celebrate the festival of NarayanDeo, they call a Mahar to their house and make him the first partakerof the feast before beginning to eat themselves. Again in Berar [114]the Mahar officiates at the killing of the buffalo on Dasahra. On theday before the festival the chief Mahar of the village and his wifewith their garments knotted together bring some earth from the jungleand fashioning two images set one on a clay elephant and the other ona clay bullock. The images are placed on a small platform outside thevillage site and worshipped; a young he-buffalo is bathed and broughtbefore the images as though for the same object. The Patel woundsthe buffalo in the nose with a sword and it is then marched throughthe village. In the evening it is killed by the head Mahar, buried inthe customary spot, and any evil that might happen during the comingyear is thus deprecated and, it is hoped, averted. The claim to takethe leading part in this ceremony is the occasion of many a quarreland an occasional affray or riot Such customs tend to show that theMahars were the earliest immigrants from Bombay into the Berar andNagpur plain, excluding of course the Gonds and other tribes, who havepractically been ousted from this tract. And if it is supposed thatthe Panwars came here in the tenth century, as seems not improbable, [115] the Mahars, whom the Panwars recognise as older residents thanthemselves, must have been earlier still, and were probably numberedamong 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 foundlingpicked up by the goddess Parvati on the banks of the Ganges. At thistime beef had not become a forbidden food; and when the divine cow, Tripad Gayatri, died, the gods determined to cook and eat her bodyand Mahamuni was set to watch the pot boiling. He was as inattentiveas King Alfred, and a piece of flesh fell out of the pot. Not wishingto return the dirty piece to the pot Mahamuni ate it; but the godsdiscovered the delinquency, and doomed him and his descendants tolive on the flesh of dead cows. [116]

4. Sub-castes

The caste have a number of subdivisions, generally of a local orterritorial type, as Daharia, the residents of Dahar or the Jubbulporecountry, Baonia (52) of Berar, Nemadya or from Nimar, Khandeshi fromKhandesh, and so on; the Katia group are probably derived from thatcaste, Katia meaning a spinner; the Barkias are another group whosename is supposed to mean spinners of fine thread; while the Lonariasare salt-makers. The highest division are the Somvansis or childrenof the moon; these claim to have taken part with the Pandavas againstthe Kauravas in the war of the Mahabharata, and subsequently to havesettled in Maharashtra. [117] But the Somvansi Mahars consent to groomhorses, which the Baone and Kosaria subcastes will not do. Baone andSomvansi Mahars will take food together, but will not intermarry. TheLadwan subcaste are supposed to be the offspring of kept women ofthe Somvansi Mahars; and in Wardha the Dharmik group are also thedescendants 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 subcasteshave names belonging to northern India, as the Mahobia, from Mahobain the United Provinces, the Kosaria or those from Chhattisgarh, and the Kanaujia from Kanauj. This may perhaps be taken to indicatethat bodies of the Kori and Katia weaving castes of northern Indiahave been amalgamated with the Mahars in Districts where they havecome 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 ofwhich are usually derived from plants, animals, and natural objects. Afew may be given as examples out of fifty-seven recorded in the CentralProvinces, though this is far from representing the real total; allthe common animals have septs named after them, as the tiger, cobra, tortoise, peacock, jackal, lizard, elephant, lark, scorpion, calf, andso 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 hismother's or grandmother's. A sister's son may marry a brother'sdaughter, but not vice versa. A girl who is seduced before marriageby a man of her own caste or any higher one can be married as ifshe were a widow, but if she has a child she must first get someother family to take it off her hands. The custom of _Lamjhana_ orserving for a wife is recognised, and the expectant bridegroom willlive with his father-in-law and work for him for a period varyingfrom one to five years. The marriage ceremony follows the customaryHindustani or Maratha ritual [118] as the case may be. In Wardha theright foot of the bridegroom and the left one of the bride are placedtogether in a new basket, while they stand one on each side of thethreshold. They throw five handfuls of coloured rice over each other, and each time, as he throws, the bridegroom presses his toe on thebride's foot; at the end he catches the girl by the finger and themarriage is complete. In the Central Provinces the Mohturia or castepriest officiates at weddings, but in Berar, Mr. Kitts states [119]the caste employ the Brahman Joshi or village priest. But as he willnot come to their house they hold the wedding on the day that onetakes place among the higher castes, and when the priest gives thesignal the dividing cloth (Antarpat) between the couple is withdrawn, and the garments of the bride and bridegroom are knotted, while thebystanders clap their hands and pelt the couple with coloured grain. Asthe priest frequently takes up his position on the roof of the housefor a wedding it is easy for the Mahars to see him. In Mandla someof the lower class of Brahmans will officiate at the weddings ofMahars. In Chhindwara the Mahars seat the bride and bridegroom inthe frame of a loom for the ceremony, and they worship the hide of acow or bullock filled with water. They drink together ceremoniously, a pot of liquor being placed on a folded cloth and all the guestssitting round it in a circle. An elder man then lays a new pieceof cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup of the liquorhimself 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 littleearthen pot beside the marriage-post. The bridegroom's nails and hairare similarly cut in his own house and placed in another vessel. Amonth or two after the wedding the two little pots are taken out andthrown into the Nerbudda. A wedding costs the bridegroom's partyabout Rs. 40 or Rs. 50 and the bride's about Rs. 25. They have nogoing-away ceremony, but the occasion of a girl's coming to maturityis known as Bolawan. She is kept apart for six days and given newclothes, and the caste-people are invited to a meal. When a woman'shusband dies the barber breaks her bangles, and her anklets are takenoff and given to him as his perquisite. Her brother-in-law or otherrelative gives her a new white cloth, and she wears this at first, and afterwards white or coloured clothes at her pleasure. Her hairis not cut, and she may wear _patelas_ or flat metal bangles on theforearm and armlets above the elbow, but not other ornaments. A widowis 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 toher parents. When the price has been paid the couple exchange a ringand a bangle respectively in token of the agreement. When the woman isproceeding to her second husband's house, her old clothes, necklaceand bangles are thrown into a river or stream and she is given newones to wear. This is done to lay the first husband's spirit, whichmay be supposed to hang about the clothes she wore as his wife, andwhen they are thrown away or buried the exorcist mutters spells overthem in order to lay the spirit. No music is allowed at the marriageof a widow except the crooked trumpet called _singara_. A bachelorwho marries a widow must first go through a mock ceremony with acotton-plant, a sword or a ring. Divorce must be effected before thecaste _panchayat_ or committee, and if a divorced woman marries again, her first husband performs funeral and mourning ceremonies as ifshe were dead. In Gujarat the practice is much more lax and "divorcecan be obtained almost to an indefinite extent. Before they finallysettle down to wedded life most couples have more than once changedtheir 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 threedays, [121] having their houses whitewashed and their faces shaved. Onthe tenth day they give a feast to the caste-fellows. On the AkshayaTritia [122] and the 30th day of Kunwar (September) they offer riceand cakes to the crows in the names of their ancestors. In BerarMr. Kitts writes: [123] "If a Mahar's child has died, he will on thethird 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 inthe other, he goes into the river, dips himself five times and throwsthese things away; he then places five lighted lamps on the tomb, and after these simple ceremonies gets himself shaved as though hewere an orthodox Hindu. "

7. Childbirth

In Mandla the mother is secluded at childbirth in a separate house ifone is available, and if not they fence in a part of the veranda forher use with bamboo screens. After the birth the mother must remainimpure until the barber comes and colours her toe-nails and draws aline round her feet with red _mahur_ powder. This is indispensable, and if the barber is not immediately available she must wait until hisservices can be obtained. When the navel-string drops it is buriedin the place on which the mother sat while giving birth, and whenthis has been done the purification may be effected. The Dhobi isthen called to wash the clothes of the household, and their earthenpots 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 wrappedup in dough and thrown into a river. 

8. Names

A child is named on the seventh or twelfth day after its birth, thename being chosen by the Mohturia or caste headman. The ordinary Hindunames of deities for men and sacred rivers or pious and faithful wivesfor women are employed; instances of the latter being Ganga, Godavari, Jamuna, Sita, Laxmi and Radha. Opprobrious names are sometimes givento avert ill-luck, as Damdya (purchased for eight cowries), Kauria(a cowrie), Bhikaria (a beggar), Ghusia (from _ghus_, a mallet forstamping earth), Harchatt (refuse), Akali (born in famine-time), Langra (lame), Lula (having an arm useless); or the name of anotherlow caste is given, as Bhangi (sweeper), Domari (Dom sweeper), Chamra(tanner), Basori (basket-maker). Not infrequently children are namedafter 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 (bornon Saturday). One boy was called Mulua or 'Sold' (_mol-dena_). Hismother 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 additionalmeans of averting ill-luck. Another boy was named Ghurka, from thenoise he made when being suckled. A child born in the absence of itsfather 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 allowedto enter Hindu temples. They principally observe the Holi and Dasahrafestivals and the days of the new and full moon. On the festival ofNag-Panchmi they make an image of a snake with flour and sugar andeat it. At the sacred Ambala tank at Ramtek the Mahars have a specialbathing-ghat set apart for them, and they may enter the citadel andgo as far as the lowest step leading up to the temples; here theyworship the god and think that he accepts their offerings. They arethus permitted to traverse the outer enclosures of the citadel, whichare also sacred. In Wardha the Mahars may not touch the shrines ofMahadeo, but must stand before them with their hands joined. They maysometimes 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. "Ofthe confusion which obtains in the Mahar theogony the names of sixof their gods will afford a striking example. While some Maharsworship Vithoba, the god of Pandharpur, others revere Varuna's twinsons, 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 mostprobably have been obtained from the Muhammadans, as they includeAzrael; but in Gujarat their religion appears to have been borrowedfrom Christianity. "The Karia Dhedas have some rather remarkablebeliefs. 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, froma prophet Elia, and of him their religious men have vague stories;some of them especially about a famine that lasted for three yearsand a half, easily fitting into the accounts of Elijah in the JewishScriptures. They have also prophecies of a high future in store fortheir 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 ofBrahmans. They hold religious meetings or _ochhavas_, and at thesewith great excitement sing songs full of hope of the good things instore for them. When a man wishes to hold an _ochhava_ he invitesthe whole caste, and beginning about eight in the evening they oftenspend the night in singing. Except perhaps for a few sweetmeatsthere is no eating or drinking, and the excitement is altogetherreligious and musical. The singers are chiefly religious Dhedas orBhagats, and the people join in a refrain '_Avore Kuyam Rai Raja_', 'Oh! come Kuyam Rai, our king. '" [125] It seems that the attractionwhich outside faiths exercise on the Mahars is the hope held out ofameliorating the social degradation under which they labour, itselfan 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 promiseto the Mahar of equality with his co-religionists, and in the case ofChristianity of a recompense in the world to come for the sufferingswhich he has to endure in this one. Similarly, the Mahars are thewarmest adherents of the Muhammadan saint Sheikh Farid, and flockto the fairs held in his honour at Girar in Wardha and Partapgarh inBhandara, where he is supposed to have slain a couple of giants. [126]In Berar [127] also they revere Muhammadan tombs. The remains of theMuhammadan fort and tank on Pimpardol hill in Jalgaon taluk are nowone of the sacred places of the Mahars, though to the Muhammadans theyhave no religious associations. Even at present Mahars are inclined toadopt Islam, and a case was recently reported when a body of twentyof them set out to do so, but turned back on being told that theywould not be admitted to the mosque. [128] A large proportion of theMahars are also adherents of the Kabirpanthi sect, one of the maintenets of whose founder was the abolition of caste. And it is fromthe same point of view that Christianity appeals to them, enablingEuropean missionaries to draw a large number of converts from thiscaste. But even the Hindu attitude towards the Mahars is not one ofunmixed intolerance. Once in three or four years in the southernDistricts, the Panwars, Mahars, Pankas and other castes celebratethe worship of Narayan Deo or Vishnu, the officiating priest being aMahar. Members of all castes come to the Panwar's house at night forthe ceremony, and a vessel of water is placed at the door in which theywash their feet and hands as they enter; and when inside they are allconsidered 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 theequality of status is ended, and no one who goes out of the house canenter again. At present also many educated Brahmans recognise fullythe 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 tigersor wild bears; and in the Morsi taluk of Berar it is stated that theyso greatly fear the effect of an enemy writing their name on a piece ofpaper and tying it to a sweeper's broom that the threat to do this canbe used with great effect by their creditors. [129] To drive out theevil eye they make a small human image of powdered turmeric and throwit into boiled water, mentioning as they do so the names of any personswhom they suspect of having cast the evil eye upon them. Then the potof water is taken out at midnight of a Wednesday or a Sunday and placedupside down on some cross-roads with a shoe over it, and the sufferershould be cured. Their belief about the sun and moon is that an oldwoman had two sons who were invited by the gods to dinner. Before theyleft she said to them that as they were going out there would be no oneto cook, so they must remember to bring back something for her. Theelder brother forgot what his mother had said and took nothing awaywith him; but the younger remembered her and brought back somethingfrom the feast. So when they came back the old woman cursed the elderbrother and said that as he had forgotten her he should be the sunand scorch and dry up all vegetation with his beams; but the youngerbrother should be the moon and make the world cool and pleasant atnight. The story is so puerile that it is only worth reproductionas a specimen of the level of a Mahar's intelligence. The belief inevil spirits appears to be on the decline, as a result of educationand accumulated experience. Mr. C. Brown states that in Malkapur ofBerar the Mahars say that there are no wandering spirits in the hillsby night of such a nature that people need fear them. There are onlytiny _pari_ or fairies, small creatures in human form, but with thepower 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 onhis face is shaved, being wetted with the urine of a boy belongingto the group to which he seeks admission. Mahars will eat all kindsof food including the flesh of crocodiles and rats, but some of themabstain from beef. There is nothing peculiar in their dress except thatthe men wear a black woollen thread round their necks. [130] The womenmay be recognised by their bold carriage, the absence of nose-rings andthe large irregular dabs of vermilion on the forehead. Mahar women donot, as a rule, wear the _choli_ or breast-cloth. An unmarried girldoes not put on vermilion nor draw her cloth over her head. Womenmust be tattooed with dots on the face, representations of scorpions, flowers and snakes on the arms and legs, and some dots to representflies on the hands. It is the custom for a girl's father or motheror father-in-law to have her tattooed in one place on the hand orarm immediately on her marriage. Then when girls are sitting togetherthey will show this mark and say, 'My mother or father-in-law had thisdone, ' as the case may be. Afterwards if a woman so desires she getsherself tattooed on her other limbs. If an unmarried girl or widowbecomes with child by a man of the Mahar caste or any higher one sheis subjected after delivery to a semblance of the purification by fireknown as Agnikasht. She is taken to the bank of a river and there fivestalks 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 sheoffends with a man of lower caste she is finally expelled. Temporaryexclusion from caste is imposed for taking food or drink from thehands of a Mang or Chamar or for being imprisoned in jail, or on aMahar man if he lives with a woman of any higher caste; the penaltybeing the shaving of a man's face or cutting off a lock of a woman'shair, together with a feast to the caste. In the last case it is saidthat the man is not readmitted until he has put the woman away. If aman touches a dead dog, cat, pony or donkey, he has to be shaved andgive 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 consideredto be defiled; all the earthen pots must be thrown away, the wholehouse washed and cleaned and a caste feast given. The most solemn oathof 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 regardedas unclean, and they must on no account touch it. This is probablyowing to Muhammadan influence. The worst social sin which a Mahar cancommit is to get vermin in a wound, which is known as Deogan or beingsmitten by God. While the affliction continues he is quite ostracised, no one going to his house or giving him food or water; and when itis cured the Mahars of ten or twelve surrounding villages assembleand he must give a feast to the whole community. The reason for thiscalamity 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 distressingdegradation. Their touch is considered to defile and they live ina quarter by themselves outside the village. They usually have aseparate well assigned to them from which to draw water, and ifthe village has only one well the Mahars and Hindus take waterfrom different sides of it. Mahar boys were not until recentlyallowed to attend school with Hindu boys, and when they could notbe refused admission to Government schools, they were allotted asmall corner of the veranda and separately taught. When Dher boyswere first received into the Chanda High School a mutiny took placeand the school was boycotted for some time. The people say, '_Maharsarva jaticha bahar_' or 'The Mahar is outside all castes. ' Havinga bad name, they are also given unwarrantably a bad character; and'_Mahar jaticha_' is a phrase used for a man with no moral or kindlyfeelings. But in theory at least, as conforming to Hinduism, theywere supposed to be better than Muhammadans and other unbelievers, as shown by the following story from the Rasmala: [132] A Muhammadansovereign asked his Hindu minister which was the lowest caste. Theminister begged for leisure to consider his reply and, having obtainedit, went to where the Dhedas lived and said to them: "You have givenoffence to the Padishah. It is his intention to deprive you of casteand make you Muhammadans. " The Dhedas, in the greatest terror, pushedoff in a body to the sovereign's palace, and standing at a respectfuldistance shouted at the top of their lungs: "If we've offended yourmajesty, punish us in some other way than that. Beat us, fine us, hangus 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 coursethis cannot be said to represent the general view of the position ofMuhammadans in Hindu eyes; they, like the English, are regarded asdistinguished foreigners, who, if they consented to be proselytised, would probably in time become Brahmans or at least Rajputs. A reparteeof 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 carryingfuel to the funeral pyre. Under native rule the Mahar was subjectedto painful degradations. He might not spit on the ground lest a Hindushould be polluted by touching it with his foot, but had to hang anearthen pot round his neck to hold his spittle. [133] He was made todrag a thorny branch with him to brush out his footsteps, and when aBrahman came by had to lie at a distance on his face lest his shadowmight fall on the Brahman. In Gujarat [134] they were not allowedto tuck up the loin-cloth but had to trail it along the ground. Evenquite recently in Bombay a Mahar was not allowed to talk loudly in thestreet while a well-to-do Brahman or his wife was dining in one of thehouses. In the reign of Sidhraj, the great Solanki Raja of Gujarat, the Dheras were for a time at any rate freed from such disabilitiesby the sacrifice of one of their number. [135] The great tank atAnhilvada Patan in Gujarat had been built by the Ods (navvies), but Sidhraj desired Jusma Odni, one of their wives, and sought topossess her. But the Ods fled with her and when he pursued her sheplunged a dagger into her stomach, cursing Sidhraj and saying thathis tank should never hold water. The Raja, returning to Anhilvada, found the tank dry, and asked his minister what should be done thatwater might remain in the tank. The Pardhan, after consulting theastrologers, said that if a man's life were sacrificed the curse mightbe removed. At that time the Dhers or outcastes were compelled tolive at a distance from the towns; they wore untwisted cotton roundtheir heads and a stag's horn as a mark hanging from their waists sothat people might be able to avoid touching them. The Raja commandedthat a Dher named Mayo should be beheaded in the tank that water mightremain. Mayo died, singing the praises of Vishnu, and the water afterthat began to remain in the tank. At the time of his death Mayo hadbegged as a reward for his sacrifice that the Dhers should not infuture be compelled to live at a distance from the towns nor weara distinctive dress. The Raja assented and these privileges wereafterwards permitted to the Dhers for the sake of Mayo. 

14. Their position improving

From the painful state of degradation described above the Mahars aregradually being rescued by the levelling and liberalising tendencyof British rule, which must be to these depressed classes an untoldblessing. With the right of acquiring property they have begun toassert themselves, and the extension of railways more especiallyhas a great effect in abolishing caste distinctions. The Brahman whocannot afford a second-class fare must either not travel or take therisk of rubbing shoulders with a Mahar in a third-class carriage, and if he chooses to consider himself defiled will have to go hungryand thirsty until he gets the opportunity of bathing at his journey'send. The observance of the rules of impurity thus becomes so irksomethat they are gradually falling into abeyance. 

15. Occupation

The principal occupations of the Mahars are the weaving of coarsecountry cloth and general labour. They formerly spun their ownyarn, and their fabrics were preferred by the cultivators for theirdurability. But practically all thread is now bought from the mills;and the weaving industry is also in a depressed condition. ManyMahars have now taken to working in the mills, and earn better wagesthan they could at home. In Bombay a number of them are employedas police-constables. [136] They are usually the village watchmenof the Maratha Districts, and in this capacity were remuneratedby contributions of grain from the tenants, the hides and flesh ofanimals dying in the village, and plots of rent-free land. For thesehave now been substituted in the Central Provinces a cash paymentfixed by Government. In Berar the corresponding official is known asthe Kamdar Mahar. Mr. Kitts writes of him: [137] As fourth _balutedar_on the village establishment the Mahar holds a post of great importanceto himself and convenience to the village. To the patel (headman), patwari and big men of the village, he acts often as a personalservant and errand-runner; for a smaller cultivator he will also attimes carry a torch or act as escort. He had formerly to clean thehorses of travellers, and was also obliged, if required, to carry theirbaggage. [138] For the services which he thus renders as _pandhewar_the Mahar receives from the cultivators certain grain-dues. Whenthe cut juari is lying in the field the Mahars go round and beg fora measure of the ears (_bhik payali_). But the regular payment ismade when the grain has been threshed. Another duty performed bythe Mahar is the removal of the carcases of dead animals. The fleshis eaten and the skin retained as wage for the work. The patel andhis relatives, however, usually claim to have the skins of their ownanimals returned; and in some places where half the agriculturists ofthe village claim kinship with the patel, the Mahars feel and resentthe loss. A third duty is the opening of grain-pits, the noxious gasfrom which sometimes produces asphyxia. For this the Mahars receive thetainted grain. They also get the clothes from a corpse which is laidon the pyre, and the pieces of the burnt wood which remain when thebody has been consumed. Recent observations in the Nagpur country showthat the position of the Mahars is improving. In Nagpur it is stated:[139] "Looked down upon as outcastes by the Hindus they are hamperedby no sense of dignity or family prejudice. They are fond of drink, but are also hard workers. They turn their hands to anything andeverything, but the great majority are agricultural labourers. Atpresent the rural Mahar is in the background. If there is only onewell in the village he may not use it, but has to get his water wherehe can. His sons are consigned to a corner in the village school, andthe schoolmaster, if not superior to caste prejudices, discouragestheir attendance. Nevertheless, Mahars will not remain for yearsdowntrodden in this fashion, and are already pushing themselves upfrom this state of degradation. In some places they have combined todig wells, and in Nagpur have opened a school for members of theirown community. Occasionally a Mahar is the most prosperous man in thevillage. Several of them are moneylenders in a small way, and a feware malguzars. " Similarly in Bhandara Mr. Napier writes that a newclass of small creditors has arisen from the Mahar caste. These peoplehave given up drinking, and lead an abstemious life, wishing to raisethemselves in social estimation. Twenty or more village kotwars werefound 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-bearersand workers in bamboo belonging to Chota Nagpur. In 1911 about 300Mahlis were returned from the Feudatory States in this tract. Theyare divided into five subcastes: the Bansphor-Mahli, who make basketsand do all kinds of bamboo-work; the Pahar-Mahli, basket-makers andcultivators; the Sulunkhi, cultivators and labourers; the Tanti whocarry litters; and the Mahli-Munda, who belong to Lohardaga. SirH. Risley states that a comparison of the totemistic sections of theMahlis given in the Appendix to his _Tribes and Castes_ with thoseof the Santals seems to warrant the conjecture that the main body ofthe 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 arealso closely connected with the Mundas. Seven septs of the main bodyof the Mahlis, Dumriar the wild fig, Gundli a kind of grain, Kerketaa bird, Mahukal a bird (long-tail), Tirki, Tunduar and Turu are alsoMunda 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 wellas Kerketa and Tirki, already mentioned, are common to the Mahlisand Turis who are also recognised by Sir H. Risley as an offshoot ofthe Munda tribe with the same occupation as the Mahlis, of makingbaskets. [141] The Santals and Mundas were no doubt originally onetribe, and it seems that the Mahlis are derived from both of them, and have become a separate caste owing to their having settled invillages more or less of the open country, and worked as labourers, palanquin-bearers and bamboo-workers much in the same manner as theTuris. Probably they work for hire for Hindus, and hence their statusmay have fallen lower than that of the parent tribe, who remainedin their own villages in the jungles. Colonel Dalton notes [142]that the gipsy Berias use Manjhi and Mahali as titles, and it ispossible 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 needbe recorded here, and for further details the reader may be referredto his article in the _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. A bride-priceof Rs. 5 is customary, but it varies according to the means of theparties. On the wedding day, before the usual procession starts toescort the bridegroom to the bride's house, he is formally married toa mango tree, while the bride goes through the same ceremony with amahua. At the entrance to the bride's house the bridegroom, riding onthe shoulders of some male relation and bearing on his head a vesselof water, is received by the bride's brother, equipped in similarfashion, and the two cavaliers sprinkle one another with water. Atthe wedding the bridegroom touches the bride's forehead five timeswith vermilion and presents her with an iron armlet. The remarriageof widows and divorce are permitted. When a man divorces his wife hegives her a rupee and takes away the iron armlet which was given herat her wedding. The Mahlis will admit members of any higher caste intothe community. The candidate for admission must pay a small sum to thecaste headman, and give a feast to the Mahlis of the neighbourhood, atwhich he must eat a little of the leavings of food left by each gueston 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 haveapparently originated from the Gonds, Mundas and Kawars. About 14, 000Majhwars were returned in 1911 from the Raigarh, Sarguja and UdaipurStates. The word Manjhi means the headman of a tribal subdivision, being derived from the Sanskrit _madhya_, or he who is in thecentre. [144] In Bengal Manjhi has the meaning of the steersman of aboat 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 wouldnaturally occupy the position of steersman, and hence it is easy tosee how the term Manjhi came to be applied to the leader or head ofthe clan and to be retained as a title for general use. Sir H. Risleygives it as a title of the Kewats or fishermen and many other castesand tribes in Bengal. But it is also the name for a village headmanamong the Santals, and whether this meaning is derived from theprior signification of steersman or is of independent origin is, uncertain. In Raigarh Mr. Hira Lal states that the Manjhis or Majhiasare fishermen and are sometimes classed, with the Kewats. They appearto be Kols who have taken to fishing and, being looked down on bythe other Kols on this account, took the name of Majhia or Manjhi, which they now derive from Machh, a fish. "The appearance of theMajhias whom I saw and examined was typically aboriginal and theirlanguage was a curious mixture of Mundari, Santal and Korwa, thoughthey stoutly repudiated connection with any of these tribes. Theycould count only up to three in their own language, using the Santalwords _mit, baria, pia_. Most of their terms for parts of the bodywere derived from Mundari, but they also used some Santali and Korwawords. In their own language they called themselves Hor, which meansa 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 adetailed and interesting account, clearly appear to be derived from theGonds. They have five subdivisions, which they say are descended fromthe 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 ofexogamous septs, of which a large proportion bear typical Gond names, as Markam, Netam, Tekam, Masham, Sindram and so on. The Majhwarsof Mirzapur also, like the Gonds, employ Patharis or Pardhans astheir priests, and there can thus be no doubt that they are mainlyderived from the Gonds. They would appear to have come to Mirzapurfrom Sarguja and the Vindhyan and Satpura hills, as they say thattheir 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 withsome Raja, since when he has become a troublesome ghost. "He now liveson the Ahlor hill in Sarguja, where his petrified body may still beseen, and the Manjhis go there to worship him. His wife lives onthe Jhoba hill in Sarguja. Nobody but a Baiga dares to ascend thehill, and even the Raja of Sarguja when he visits the neighbourhoodsacrifices a black goat. Manjhis believe that if these two deities areduly propitiated they can give anything they need. " The story makesit probable that the ancestors of these Manjhis dwelt in Sarguja. TheManjhis of Mirzapur are not boatmen or fishermen and have no traditionsof having ever been so. They are a backward tribe and practise shiftingcultivation on burnt-out patches of forest. It is possible that theymay have abandoned their former aquatic profession on leaving theneighbourhood of the rivers, or they may have simply adopted the name, especially since it has the meaning of a village headman and is usedas a title by the Santals and other castes and tribes. Similarlythe 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. HiraLal 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 thoseof the Kawars were connected. In Mirzapur the Kaurai Ahirs will takefood and water from the Majhwars, and these Ahirs are not improbablyderived from the Kawars. [147] Here the Majhwars also hold an oathtaken when touching a broadsword as most binding, and the Kawarsof the Central Provinces worship a sword as one of their principaldeities. [148] Not improbably the Manjhis may include some Kewats, as this caste also use Manjhi for a title; and Manjhi is both asubcaste and title of the Khairwars. The general conclusion from theabove evidence appears to be that the caste is a very heterogeneousgroup whose most important constituents come from the Gond, Munda, Santal and Kawar tribes. Whether the original bond of connectionamong the various people who call themselves Manjhi was the commonoccupation of boating and fishing is a doubtful point. 

4. Exogamy and totemism

The Manjhis of Sarguja, like those of Raigarh, appear to be of Mundaand Santal rather than of Gond origin. They have no subdivisions, but a number of totemistic septs. Those of the Bhainsa or buffalo septare split into the Lotan and Singhan subsepts, _lotan_ meaning a placewhere buffaloes wallow and _singh_ a horn. The Lotan Bhainsa sept saythat their ancestor was born in a place where a buffalo had wallowed, and the Singhan Bhainsa that their ancestor was born while his motherwas holding the horn of a buffalo. These septs consider the buffalosacred and will not yoke it to a plough or cart, though they will drinkits milk. They think that if one of them killed a buffalo their clanwould become extinct. The Baghani Majhwars, named after the _bagh_or tiger, think that a tiger will not attack any member of their septunless he has committed an offence entailing temporary excommunicationfrom caste. Until this offence has been expiated his relationship withthe tiger as head of his sept is in abeyance and the tiger will eathim as he would any other stranger. If a tiger meets a member of thesept who is free from sin, he will run away. When the Baghani septhear that any Majhwar has killed a tiger they purify their houses bywashing them with cowdung and water. Members of the Khoba or peg septwill 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 underthis tree. They consider the tree to be sacred and never eat itsfruit, and worship it once a year. Members of the sept named afterthe _shiroti_ tree worship the tree every Sunday. 

5. Marriage customs. 

Marriage within the sept is prohibited and for three generationsbetween persons related through females. Marriage is adult, but matchesare arranged by the parents of the parties. At betrothal the elders ofthe caste must be regaled with _cheora_ or parched rice and liquor. Abride-price of Rs. 10 is paid, but a suitor who cannot afford this maydo service to his father-in-law for one or two years in lieu of it. Atthe wedding the bridegroom puts a copper ring on the bride's finger andmarks her forehead with vermilion. The couple walk seven times roundthe sacred post, and seven little heaps of rice and pieces of turmericare arranged so that they may touch one of them with their big toes ateach round. The bride's mother and seven other women place some ricein the skirts of their cloths and the bridegroom throws this over hisshoulder. After this he picks up the rice and distributes it to allthe women present, and the bride goes through the same ceremony. Therice is no doubt an emblem of fertility, and its presentation to thewomen 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 thehouse. When a man is at the point of death they place a littlecooked rice and curds in his mouth so that he may not go hungryto the other world, in view of the fact that he has probably eatenvery little during his illness. Some cotton and rice are also placednear the head of the corpse in the grave so that he may have foodand 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 performedon the same day in the following year. 

7. Religious dance

The tribe worship Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, and also makeofferings to their ploughs at the time of eating the new rice andat the Holi and Dasahra festivals. They dance the _karma_ dance inthe months of Asarh and Kunwar or at the beginning and end of therains. When the time has come the Gaontia headman or the Baiga priestfetches a branch of the _karma_ tree from the forest and sets it up inhis yard as a notice and invitation to the village. After sunset allthe people, men, women and children, assemble and dance round the tree, to the accompaniment of a drum known as Mandar. The dancing continuesall 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 regalingthe dancers with rice, pulse and a goat. This dance is a religiousrite in honour of Karam Raja, and is believed to keep sickness fromthe village and bring it prosperity. The tribe eat flesh, but abstainfrom beef and pork. Girls are tattooed on arrival at puberty withrepresentations of the _tulsi_ or basil, four arrow-heads in the formof a cross, and the foot-ornament known as _pairi_. 

Mal

_Mal, Male, Maler, Mal Paharia. _ [150]--A tribe of the Rajmahalhills, who may be an isolated branch of the Savars. In 1911 about1700 Mals were returned from the Chota Nagpur Feudatory Statesrecently transferred to the Central Provinces. The customs of theMals resemble those of the other hill tribes of Chota Nagpur. SirH. Risley states that the average stature is low, the complexiondark and the figure short and sturdy. The following particulars arereproduced from Colonel Dalton's account of the tribe:

"The hill lads and lasses are represented as forming very romanticattachments, exhibiting the spectacle of real lovers 'sighinglike furnaces, ' and the cockney expression of 'keeping company'is peculiarly applicable to their courtship. If separated only foran hour they are miserable, but there are apparently few obstaclesto the enjoyment of each other's society, as they work together, goto market together, eat together, and sleep together! But if it befound that they have overstepped the prescribed limits of billing andcooing, the elders declare them to be out of the pale, and the bloodof animals must be shed at their expense to wash away the indiscretionand obtain their readmission into society. 

"On the day fixed for a marriage the bridegroom with his relationsproceeds to the bride's father's house, where they are seated on cotsand mats, and after a repast the bride's father takes his daughter'shand and places it in that of the bridegroom, and exhorts him to beloving and kind to the girl that he thus makes over to him. The groomthen with the little finger of his right hand marks the girl on theforehead with vermilion, and then, linking the same finger with thelittle 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 everysuccessful expedition a thank-offering is made to him. This is thefavourite 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 assistanceto find it, those who aid are entitled to one-half of the animal whenfound. Another person accidentally coming on dead or wounded game andappropriating it, is subjected to a severe fine. The Manjhi or headmanof the village is entitled to a share of all game killed by any of hispeople. Any one who kills a hunting dog is fined twelve rupees. Certainparts of an animal are tabooed to females as food, and if they infringethis law Autga is offended and game becomes scarce. When the huntersare unsuccessful it is often assumed that this is the cause, and theaugur never fails to point out the transgressing female, who mustprovide a propitiatory offering. The Malers use poisoned arrows, and when they kill game the flesh round the wound is cut off andthrown away as unfit for food. Cats are under the protection of thegame laws, and a person found guilty of killing one is made to givea small quantity of salt to every child in the village. 

"I nowhere find any description of the dances and songs of thePaharias. Mr. Atkinson found the Malers extremely reticent on thesubject, and with difficulty elicited that they had a dancing-placein every village, but it is only when under the influence of GodBacchus that they indulge in the amusement. All accounts agree inascribing to the Paharias an immoderate devotion to strong drink, andBuchanan tells us that when they are dancing a person goes round witha pitcher of the home-brew and, without disarranging the performers, who are probably linked together by circling or entwining arms, poursinto the mouth of each, male and female, a refreshing and invigoratingdraught. The beverage is the universal _pachwai_, that is, fermentedgrain. The grain, either maize, rice or _janera_ (_Holcus sorghum_), is boiled and spread out on a mat to cool. It is then mixed with aferment of vegetables called _takar_, and kept in a large earthenvessel 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 1770the Males of the Rajmahal hills were a tribe of predatory freebooters, raiding and terrorising the plain country from the foot of the hills tothe Ganges. It was Mr. Augustus Cleveland, Collector of Bhagalpur, whoreduced them to order by entering into engagements with the chiefs forthe prevention and punishment of offences among their own tribesmen, confirming them in their estates and jurisdiction, and enrolling acorps of Males, which became the Bhagalpur Hill Rangers, and was notdisbanded till the Mutiny. Mr. Cleveland died at the age of 29, havingsuccessfully demonstrated the correct method of dealing with the wildforest tribes, and the Governor-General in Council erected a tomb andinscription to his memory, which was the original of that describedby Mr. Kipling in _The Tomb of his Ancestors_, though the characterof the first John Chinn in the story was copied from Outram. [151]

Mala

_Mala. _--A low Telugu caste of labourers and cotton-weavers. Theynumbered nearly 14, 000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, belonging mainly to the Chanda, Nagpur, Jubbulpore, and YeotmalDistricts, and the Bastar State. The Marathas commonly call them TeluguDhers, but they themselves prefer to be known as 'Telangi Sadar Bhoi, 'which sounds a more respectable designation. They are also known asMannepuwar and Netkani. They are the Pariahs of the Telugu country, and are regarded as impure and degraded. They may be distinguishedby their manner of tying the head-cloth more or less in a squareshape, and by their loin-cloths, which are worn very loose and notknotted. Those who worship Narsinghswami, the man-lion incarnationof Vishnu, are called Namaddar, while the followers of Mahadeo areknown as Lingadars. The former paint their foreheads with verticallines of sandal-paste, and the latter with horizontal ones. The Malaswere formerly zealous partisans of the right-handed sect in Madras, and the description of this curious system of faction given by theAbbé Dubois more than a century ago may be reproduced: [152]

"Most castes belong either to the left-hand or right-hand faction. Theformer comprises the Vaishyas or trading classes, the Panchalas orartisan classes and some of the low Sudra castes. It also containsthe lowest caste, viz. The Chaklas or leather-workers, who are lookedupon as its chief support. To the right-hand faction belong most ofthe higher castes of Sudras. The Pariahs (Malas) are also its greatsupport, as a proof of which they glory in the title of _ValangaiMaugattar_ or Friends of the Right Hand. In the disputes and conflictswhich so often take place between the two factions it is always thePariahs who make the most disturbance and do the most damage. TheBrahmans, Rajas and several classes of Sudras are content to remainneutral and take no part in these quarrels. The opposition between thetwo factions arises from certain exclusive privileges to which bothlay claim. But as these alleged privileges are nowhere clearly definedand recognised, they result in confusion and uncertainty, and are withdifficulty capable of settlement. When one faction trespasses on theso-called right of the other, tumults arise which spread graduallyover large tracts of territory, afford opportunity for excesses of allkinds, and generally end in bloody conflicts. The Hindu, ordinarily sotimid and gentle in all other circumstances of life, seems to changehis nature completely on occasions like these. There is no danger thathe will not brave in maintaining what he calls his rights, and ratherthan sacrifice a little of them he will expose himself without fearto the risk of losing his life. The rights and privileges for whichthe Hindus are ready to fight such sanguinary battles appear highlyridiculous, especially to a European. Perhaps the sole cause of thecontest is the right to wear slippers or to ride through the streetsin a palanquin or on horseback during marriage festivals. Sometimesit is the privilege of being escorted on certain occasions by armedretainers, sometimes that of having a trumpet sounded in front ofa procession, or of being accompanied by native musicians at publicceremonies. " The writer of the _Madras Census Report_ of 1871 states:[153] "It is curious that the females of two of the inferior castesshould take different sides to their husbands in these disputes. Thewives of the agricultural labourers side with the left hand, whiletheir husbands help in fighting the battles of the right, and theshoemakers' wives also take the side opposed to their husbands. Duringthese festival disturbances, the ladies who hold political viewsopposed to those of their husbands deny to the latter all theprivileges of the connubial state. " The same writer states that theright-hand castes claimed the prerogative of riding on horseback inprocessions, 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 ofthese small differences of opinion were so frequent and serious in theseventeenth century that in the town of Madras it was found necessaryto mark the respective boundaries of the right- and left-hand castes, and to forbid the right-hand castes in their processions from occupyingthe streets of the left hand and vice versa. These disturbances havegradually tended to disappear under the influence of education andgood government, and no instance of them is known to have occurredin the Central Provinces. The division appears to have originatedamong the members of the Sakta sect or the worshippers of Sakti asthe female principle of life in nature. Dr. L. D. Barnett writes:[154]--"The followers of the sect are of two schools. The 'Walkersin the Right Way' (_Dakshinachari_) pay a service of devotion tothe deity in both male and female aspects, and except in their morepronounced tendency to dwell upon the horrific aspects of the deity(as Kali, Durga, etc. ), they differ little from ordinary Saivasand Vaishnavas. The 'Walkers in the Left Way' (_Vamachari_), on theother hand, concentrate their thought upon the godhead in its sexuallymaternal aspect, and follow rites of senseless magic and--theoreticallyat least--promiscuous debauchery. " As has been seen, the religiousdifferences 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 vegetableand flower-gardeners. The terms Mali and Marar appear to be usedindifferently for the same caste, the former being more common in thewest of the Province and the latter in the eastern Satpura Districtsand the Chhattisgarh plain. In the Nerbudda valley and on the Vindhyanplateau the place of both Mali and Marar is taken by the Kachhi ofUpper India. [156] Marar appears to be a Marathi name, the originalterm, as pointed out by Mr. Hira Lal, being Malal, or one who growsgarden-crops in a field; but the caste is often called Mali in theMaratha country and Marar in the Hindi Districts. The word Mali isderived from the Sanskrit _mala_, a garland. In 1911 the Malis numberednearly 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. Generallyspeaking, it may be said that flowers have scarcely a place in theVeda. Wreaths of flowers, of course, are used as decorations, butthe separate flowers and their beauty are not yet appreciated. Thatlesson was first learned later by the Hindus when surrounded byanother flora. Amongst the Homeric Greeks, too, in spite of theirextensive gardening and different flowers, not a trace of horticultureis yet to be found. " It seems probable that the first Malis were notincluded among the regular cultivators of the village but were a lowergroup permitted to take up the small waste plots of land adjoining theinhabited area and fertilised by its drainage, and the sandy stretchesin the beds of rivers, on which they were able to raise the flowersrequired for offerings and such vegetables as were known. They stillhold a lower rank than the ordinary cultivator. Sir D. Ibbetson writes[158] of the gardening castes: "The group now to be discussed verygenerally hold an inferior position among the agricultural communityand seldom if ever occupy the position of the dominant tribe in anyconsiderable tract of country. The cultivation of vegetables is lookedupon as degrading by the agricultural classes, why I know not, unlessit be that night-soil is generally used for their fertilisation; anda Rajput would say: 'What! Do you take me for an Arain?' if anythingwas proposed which he considered derogatory. " But since most Malisin the Central Provinces strenuously object to using night-soil asa manure the explanation that this practice has caused them to rankbelow the agricultural castes does not seem sufficient. And if theuse of night-soil were the real circumstance which determined theirsocial position, it seems certain that Brahmans would not take waterfrom their hands as they do. Elsewhere Sir D. Ibbetson remarks: [159]"The Malis and Sainis, like all vegetable growers, occupy a veryinferior position among the agricultural castes; but of the two theSainis are probably the higher, as they more often own land or evenwhole villages, and are less generally mere market-gardeners thanare the Malis. " Here is given what may perhaps be the true reasonfor the status of the Mali caste as a whole. Again Sir C. Elliotwrote in the _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_: "Garden crops areconsidered 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 ahundred acres in extent, as flat as a billiard-table and as black asa Gond. " Similarly Mr. Low [160] states that in Balaghat the Panwars, the principal agricultural caste, look down on the Marars as growersof petty crops like _sama_ and kutki. In Wardha the Dangris, a smallcaste of melon and vegetable growers, are an offshoot of the Kunbis;and they will take food from the Kunbis, though these will not acceptit from them, their social status being thus distinctly lower than thatof the parent caste. Again the Kohlis of Bhandara, who grow sugarcanewith irrigation, are probably derived from an aboriginal tribe, theKols, and, though they possess a number of villages, rank lower thanthe regular cultivating castes. It is also worth noting that they donot admit tenant-right in their villages among their own caste, andallot the sugarcane plots among the cultivators at pleasure. [161] InNimar the Malis rank below the Kunbis and Gujars, the good agriculturalcastes, and it is said that they grow the crops which the cultivatorsproper do not care to grow. The Kachhis, the gardening caste of thenorthern Districts, have a very low status, markedly inferior to thatof the Lodhis and Kurmis and little if any better than the menialDhimars. Similarly, as will be seen later, the Marars themselveshave customs pointing clearly to a non-Aryan origin. The Bhoyars ofBetul, who grow sugarcane, are probably of mixed origin from Rajputfathers and mothers of the indigenous tribes; they eat fowls and aremuch addicted to liquor and rank below the cultivating castes. Theexplanation seems to be that the gardening castes are not consideredas landholders, and have not therefore the position which attachesto the holding of land among all early agricultural peoples, andwhich in India consisted in the status of a constituent member ofthe village community. So far as ceremonial purity goes there is nodifference between the Malis and the cultivating castes, as Brahmanswill take water from both. It may be surmised that this privilegehas been given to the Malis because they grow the flowers requiredfor offerings to the gods, and sometimes officiate as village priestsand temple servants; and their occupation, though not on a level withregular agriculture, is still respectable. But the fact that Brahmanswill take water from them does not place the Malis on an equality withthe cultivating castes, any more than it does the Nais (barbers) andDhimars (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 indicatingthat their hereditary calling was conferred and ratified by divineauthority. [162] This is to the effect that the first Mali was agarland-maker attached to the household of Raja Kansa of Mathura. Oneday he met with Krishna, and, on being asked by him for a chaplet offlowers, 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 simplicityin parting with his _paita_, and announced that for the future hiscaste 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 thefirst Malis was to grow flowers for the adornment of the gods, andespecially for making the garlands with which their images were andstill are decorated. Thus the Malis were intimately connected with thegods and naturally became priests of the village temples, in whichcapacity they are often employed. Mr. Nesfield remarks of the Mali:[163] "To Hindus of all ranks, including even the Brahmans, he actsas 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 issymbolised. As the Mali is believed to have some influence with the godto whose temple he is attached, none objects to his appropriating thefee which is nominally presented to the god himself. In the worshipof those village godlings whom the Brahmans disdain to recogniseand whom the Gosain is not permitted to honour the Mali is sometimesemployed to present the offering. He is thus the recognised hereditarypriest of the lower and more ignorant classes of the population. " Inthe Central Provinces Malis are commonly employed in the temples ofDevi because goats are offered to the goddess and hence the worshipcannot be conducted by Brahmans. They also work as servants in Jaintemples under the priest. They sweep the temple, clean the utensils, and do other menial business. This service, however, does not affecttheir religion and they continue to be Hindus. 

His services in providing flowers for the gods would be remuneratedby contributions of grain from the cultivators, the acceptanceof which would place the Mali below them in the rank of a villagemenial, though higher than most of the class owing to the purity ofhis occupation. His status was probably much the same as that of theGuraos or village priests of Mahadeo in the Maratha country. And thoughhe has now become a cultivator, his position has not improved to thelevel of other cultivating castes for the reasons already given. Itwas probably the necessity of regularly watering his plants in orderto obtain a longer and more constant supply of blooms which firsttaught the Mali the uses of irrigation. 

3. Flowers offered to the gods

Flowers are _par excellence_ suited for the offerings and adornmentof the gods, and many Hindus have rose or other plants in their houseswhose flowers are destined to the household god. There is little reasonto doubt that this was the purpose for which cultivated flowers werefirst grown. The marigold, lotus and champak are favourite religiousflowers, while the _tulsi_ or basil is itself worshipped as theconsort of Vishnu; in this case, however, the scent is perhaps the morevalued feature. In many Hindu households all flowers brought into thehouse are offered to the household god before being put to any otheruse. A Brahman school-boy to whom I had given some flowers to copyin drawing said that his mother had offered them to the god Krishnabefore he used them. When faded or done with they should be consignedto the sacred element, water, in any stream or river. The statues ofthe gods are adorned with sculptured garlands or hold them in theirhands. 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 crownsor garlands of flowers in ancient Rome and Greece as follows: "Itis clear that the communal feasts were religious ceremonies. Eachguest had a crown on the head; it was an ancient custom to crownoneself with leaves or flowers for any solemn religious act. " "Themore a man is adorned with flowers, " they said, "the more pleasinghe is to the gods; but they turn away from him who wears no crown athis sacrifice. " And again, 'A crown is the auspicious herald whichannounces a prayer to the gods. ' [164]

Among the Persians the flowers themselves are worshipped: [165] "Whena 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 beforeit, and sit before it to the going down of the sun, when he would ariseand pray before it, and then refold his mat or carpet and go home; andthe next night, and night after night, until that bright particularflower faded away, he would return to it, bringing his friends withhim in ever-increasing numbers, and sit and sing and play the guitar orlute before it--and anon they all would arise together and pray beforeit; and after prayers, still sit on, sipping sherbet and talking themost 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 honourhas no doubt arisen that of garlanding guests. This is not confinedto India but obtained in Rome and probably in other countries. Theword 'chaplet' [166] originally meant a garland or wreath to be wornon the head; and a garland of leaves with four flowers at equaldistances. Dryden says, 'With chaplets green upon their foreheadsplaced. ' The word _mala_ originally meant a garland, and subsequentlya rosary or string of beads. From this it seems a legitimate deductionthat rosaries or strings of beads of a sacred wood were substitutedfor flower-garlands as ornaments for the gods in view of their morepermanent nature. Having been thus sanctified they may have come tobe worn as a mark of holiness by saints or priests in imitation ofthe divine images, this being a common or universal fashion of Hinduascetics. Subsequently they were found to serve as a useful meansof counting the continuous repetition of prayers, whence arose thephrase 'telling one's beads. ' Like the Sanskrit _mala_, the Englishword rosary at first meant a garland of roses and subsequently astring of beads, probably made from rose-wood, on which prayers werecounted. From this it may perhaps be concluded that the images ofthe deities were decorated with garlands of roses in Europe, and thedevelopment of the rosary was the same as the Indian _mala_. If therose was a sacred flower we can more easily understand its importanceas a badge in the Wars of the Roses. 

5. Sub-castes

The caste has numerous endogamous groups, varying in differentlocalities. The Phulmalis, who derive their name from theiroccupation of growing and selling flowers (_phul_), usually rank asthe highest. The Ghase Malis are the only subcaste which will growand 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 namefrom 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 Kosresubcaste abstain from liquor, and their women wear glass bangles onlyon one hand and silver ones on the other. The objection entertained tothe cultivation of turmeric by Hindus generally is said to be basedon the fact that when the roots are boiled numbers of small insectsare necessarily destroyed; but the other Malis relate that one of theancestors of the caste had a calf called Hardulia, and one day he saidto his daughter, _Haldi paka_, or 'Cook turmeric. ' But the daughterthought that he said 'cook Hardulia, ' so she killed and roasted thecalf, and in consequence of this her father was expelled from thecaste, and his descendants are the Ghase or Halde subcaste. Eversince this happened the shape of a calf may be seen in the flower ofturmeric. This legend has, however, no real value and the meaning ofthe superstition attaching to the plant is obscure. Though the growingof turmeric is tabooed yet it is a sacred plant, and no Hindu girl, atleast in the Central Provinces, can be married without having turmericpowder rubbed on her body. Mr. Gordon remarks in _Indian Folk-Tales_:"I was once speaking to a Hindu gardener of the possibility of turmericand garlic being stolen from his garden. 'These two vegetablesare never stolen, ' he replied, 'for we Hindus believe that he whosteals turmeric and garlic will appear with six fingers in the nextbirth, and this deformity is always considered the birth-mark of athief. '" The Jire Malis are so named because they were formerly theonly subcaste who would grow cumin (_jira_), but this distinctionno longer exists as other Malis, except perhaps the Phulmalis, nowgrow 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 nicknamesor inanimate objects. 

6. Marriage

Marriage is forbidden between members of the same sept and betweenfirst and second cousins. Girls are generally betrothed in childhoodand should be married before maturity. In the Uriya country if nosuitable husband can be found for a girl she is sometimes made to gothrough the marriage ceremony with a peg of mahua wood driven intothe ground and covered over with a cloth. She is then tied to a treein the forest and any member of the caste may go and release her, when she becomes his wife. The Marars of Balaghat and Bhandara havethe _lamjhana_ form of marriage, in which the prospective husbandserves for his wife; this is a Dravidian custom and shows theirconnection with the forest tribes. The marriage ceremony followsthe standard form prevalent in the locality. In Betul the couplego seven times round a slab on which a stone roller is placed, withtheir clothes knotted together and holding in their hands a lightedlamp. The slab and roller may be the implements used in powderingturmeric. "Among the Marars of Balaghat [167] the maternal uncleof the bridegroom goes to the village of the bride and brings backwith him the bridal party. The bride's party do not at once crossthe boundary of the bridegroom's village, but will stay outside itfor a few hours. Word is sent and the bridegroom's party will bringout cooked food, which they eat with the bride's party. This done, they go to the house of the bridegroom and the bride forthwith walksfive times round a pounding-stone. Next day turmeric is applied tothe couple, and the caste people are given a feast. The essentialportion of the ceremony consists in the rubbing of vermilion on theforeheads of the couple under the cover of a cloth. The caste permitthe practice of _ralla-palla_ or exchanging sisters in marriage. Theyare said to have a custom at weddings known as _kondia_, accordingto 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 thebride's party; he is at liberty to seize and have intercourse withany of them he can catch, while they are allowed to beat him as muchas they like. It is said that he seldom has much cause to congratulatehimself. " But the caste have now become ashamed of this custom and itis being abandoned. In Chhattisgarh the Marars, like other castes, have the forms of marriage known as the _Badi Shadi_ and _ChhotiShadi_ or great and small weddings. The former is an elaborate formof marriage, taking place at the house of the bride. Those who cannotafford the expense of this have a 'Small Wedding' at the house ofthe bridegroom, at which the rites are curtailed and the expenditureconsiderably reduced. 

7. Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy

Widow-marriage is permitted. The widower, accompanied by his relativesand a horn-blower, goes to the house of the widow, and here a spaceis plastered with cowdung and the couple sit on two wooden boardswhile their clothes are knotted together. In Balaghat [168] thebridegroom and bride bathe in a tank and on emerging the widow throwsaway her old cloth and puts on a new one. After this they walk fivetimes round a spear planted in the ground. Divorce is permitted andcan be effected by mutual consent of the parties. Like other castespractising intensive cultivation the Malis marry several wives whenthey can afford it, in order to obtain the benefit of their labourin the vegetable garden; a wife being more industrious and honestthan a hired labourer. But this practice results in large familiesand household dissensions, leading to excessive subdivision ofproperty, and wealthy members of the caste are rare. The standardof sexual morality is low, and if an unmarried girl goes wrong herfamily conceal the fact and sometimes try to procure an abortion. Ifthese efforts are unsuccessful a feast must be given to the caste anda lock of the woman's hair is cut off by way of punishment. A younghard-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 corpseis laid with the feet to the north. Mourning is observed only forthree days and propitiatory offerings are made to the spirits of thedead. If a man is killed by a tiger his family make a wooden imageof a tiger and worship it. 

9. Religion

Devi is the principal deity of the Malis. Weddings are celebratedbefore her temple and large numbers of goats are sacrificed to thefavourite goddess at her festival in the month of Magh (January). Manyof the Marars of Balaghat are Kabirpanthis and wear the necklace ofthat sect; but they appear none the less to intermarry freely withtheir Hindu caste-fellows. [169] After the birth of a child it isstated that all the members of the sept to which the parents belongremain impure for five days, and no one will take food or waterfrom them. 

10. Occupation

The Mali combines the callings of a gardener and nurseryman. "In layingout a flower-garden and in arranging beds, " Mr. Shearing remarks, [170]"the Mali is exceedingly expert. His powers in this respect are hardlysurpassed by gardeners in England. He lacks of course the excellentbotanical knowledge of many English gardeners, and also the peculiarskill displayed by them in grafting and crossing, and in watchingthe habits of plants. Yet in manipulative labour, especially whensuperintended by a European, he is, though much slower in execution, almost if not quite equal to gardeners at home. " They are excellentand very laborious cultivators, and show much skill in intensivecultivation and the use of water. Malis are the best sugarcane growersof Betul and their holdings usually pay a higher rental than those ofother castes. "In Balaghat, " Mr. Low remarks, [171] "they are greatgrowers of tobacco and sugarcane, favouring the alluvial land on thebanks of rivers. They mostly irrigate by a _dhekli_ or dipping lift, from temporary wells or from water-holes in rivers. The pole of thelift has a weight at one end and a kerosene tin suspended from theother. Another form of lift is a hollowed tree trunk worked on afulcrum, but this only raises the water a foot or two. The Mararsdo general cultivation as well; but as a class are not consideredskilled 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. " Thesaying has also a derogatory sense, as no good Hindu would yokea cow to the plough. Another form of lift used by the Kachhis isthe Persian wheel. In this two wheels are fixed above the well ortank and long looped ropes pass over them and down into the well, between which a line of earthen pots is secured. As the ropes moveon 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 turnto descend again, the water pours out to a hollow open tree-trunk, from which a channel conveys it to the field. The wheel which turnsthe rope is worked by a man pedalling, but he cannot do more thanabout three hours a day. The common lift for gardens is the _mot_ orbag made of the hide of a bullock or buffalo. This is usually workedby 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 forone member at least of his family to go to market with his vegetables;and the Mararin is a noteworthy feature in all bazars, sitting withher basket or garment spread on the ground, full of white onions andgarlic, purple brinjals and scarlet chillies, with a few handfuls ofstrongly flavoured green stuff. Whether from the publicity which itentails on their women or from whatever cause, the Mararin does notbear the best of reputations for chastity; and is usually consideredrather a bold, coarse creature. The distinctive feature of her attireis the way in which she ties up her body-cloth so as to leave a tailsticking up behind; whence the proverb shouted after her by rude littleboys: 'Jump from roof to roof, Monkey. Pull the tail of the Mararin, Monkey, ' She also rejoices in a very large _tikli_ or spangle on herforehead and in a peculiar kind of _angia_ (waistcoat). The caste areusually considered rather clannish and morose. They live in communitiesby themselves, and nearly always inhabit a separate hamlet of thevillage. The Marars of a certain place are said to have boycotted avillage 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-gardensjust outside. They sell flowers, and the Mali girls are very goodflower-sellers, Major Sutherland says, being famous for theircoquetry. A saying about them is: "The crow among birds, the jackalamong beasts, the barber among men and the Malin among women; allthese are much too clever. " The Mali also prepares the _maur_ ormarriage-crown, made from the leaves of the date-palm, both for thebride and bridegroom at marriages. In return he gets a present of arupee, a piece of cloth and a day's food. He also makes the garlandswhich are used for presentation at entertainments, and suppliesthe daily bunches of flowers which are required as offerings forMahadeo. The Mali keeps garlands for sale in the bazar, and when awell-to-do person passes he goes up and puts a garland round his neckand expects a present of a pice or two. 

13. Physical appearance

"Physically, " Mr. Low states, "the Marar is rather a poor-lookingcreature, dark and undersized; but the women are often not bad looking, and dressed up in their best at a wedding, rattling their castanetsand waving light-coloured silk handkerchiefs, give a very gracefuldance. The caste are not as a rule celebrated for their cleanliness. Apolite way of addressing a Marar is to call him Patel. "

Mallah

_Mallah, Malha_. [172]--A small caste of boatmen and fishermen inthe Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts, which numbered about 5000persons in 1911. It is scarcely correct to designate the Mallahs as adistinct caste, as in both these Districts it appears from inquiry thatthe term is synonymous with Kewat. Apparently, however, the Mallahsdo form a separate endogamous group, and owing to many of them havingadopted the profession of growing hemp, a crop which respectable Hinducastes usually refuse to cultivate, it is probable that they wouldnot be allowed to intermarry with the Kewats of other Districts. Inthe United Provinces Mr. Crooke states that the Mallahs, though, astheir Arabic name indicates, of recent origin, have matured into adefinite social group, including a number of endogamous tribes. Theterm Mallah has nothing to do with the Mulla or Muhammadan priestamong the frontier tribes, but comes from an Arabic word meaning'to be salt, ' or, according to another derivation, 'to move the wingsas a bird. ' [173] The Mallahs of the Central Provinces are also, inspite of their Arabic name, a purely Hindu caste. In Narsinghpur theysay that their original ancestor was one Bali or Baliram, who was aboatman and was so strong that he could carry his boat to the riverand back under his armpit. On one occasion he ferried Rama across theGanges in Benares, and it is said that Rama gave him a horse to showhis gratitude; but Baliram was so ignorant that he placed the bridle onthe horse's tail instead of the head. And from this act of Baliram'sarose the custom of having the rudder of a boat at the stern insteadof at the bow. The Mallahs in the Central Provinces appear from theirfamily names to be immigrants from Bundelkhand. Their customs resemblethose of lower-class Hindus. Girls are usually married under the ageof twelve years, and the remarriage of widows is permitted, whiledivorce may be effected in the presence of the _panchayat_ or castecommittee by the husband and wife breaking a straw between them. Theyare 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 theircustom of kindling fires on the river-bank to protect themselves fromcold. In Narsinghpur the Mallahs have found a profitable openingin the cultivation of hemp, a crop which other Hindu castes untilrecently tabooed on account probably of the dirty nature of the processof cleaning out the fibre and the pollution necessarily caused tothe water-supply. They sow and cut hemp on Sundays and Wednesdays, which are regarded as auspicious days. They also grow melons, andwill not enter a melon-field with their shoes on or allow a womanduring her periodical impurity to approach it. The Mallahs are poorand illiterate, but rank with Dhimars and Kewats, and Brahmans willtake water from their hands. 

Mana

_Mana_. [174]--A Dravidian caste of cultivators and labourersbelonging to the Chanda District, from which they have spread toNagpur, Bhandara and Balaghat. In 1911 they numbered nearly 50, 000persons, of whom 34, 000 belonged to Chanda. The origin of the caste isobscure. In the _Chanda Settlement Report_ of 1869 Major Lucie Smithwrote of them: "Tradition asserts that prior to the Gond conquestthe Manas reigned over the country, having their strongholds atSurajgarh in Ahiri and at Manikgarh in the Manikgarh hills, now ofHyderabad, and that after a troubled rule of two hundred years theyfell before the Gonds. In appearance they are of the Gond type, andare strongly and stoutly made; while in character they are hardy, industrious and truthful. Many warlike traditions still linger amongthem, and doubtless in days gone by they did their duty as goodsoldiers, but they have long since hung up sword and shield and nowrank among the best cultivators of rice in Chanda. " Another localtradition states that a line of Mana princes ruled at Wairagarh. Thenames of three princes are remembered: Kurumpruhoda, the founder ofthe line; Surjat Badwaik, who fortified Surjagarh; and Gahilu, whobuilt Manikgarh. As regards the name Manikgarh, it may be mentionedthat the tutelary deity of the Nagvansi kings of Bastar, who ruledthere before the accession of the present Raj-Gond dynasty in thefourteenth century, was Manikya Devi, and it is possible that thechiefs of Wairagarh were connected with the Bastar kings. Some ofthe Manas say that they, as well as the Gowaris, are offshoots ofthe 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. Hislopstates 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 asubdivision called Mannewar, and as _war_ is only a Telugu suffixfor the plural, the proper name Manne closely resembles Mana. It isshown in the article on the Parja tribe that the Parjas were a classof Gonds or a tribe akin to them, who were dominant in Bastar priorto the later immigration under the ancestors of the present Bastardynasty. And the most plausible hypothesis as to the past history ofthe 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 formertimes a gigantic kite lived on the hill of Ghurkundi, near Sakoli, and devoured the crops of the surrounding country by whole fields ata time. The king of Chanda proclaimed that whoever killed the kitewould be granted the adjoining lands. A Mana shot the kite with anarrow and its remains were taken to Chanda in eight carts, and as hisreward he received the grant of a zamindari. In appearance the Manas, or at least some of them, are rather fine men, nor do their complexionand features show more noticeable traces of aboriginal descent thanthose of the local Hindus. But their neighbours in Chanda and Bastar, the Maria Gonds, are also taller and of a better physical type thanthe average Dravidian, so that their physical appearance need notmilitate against the above hypothesis. They retained their tastefor fighting until within quite recent times, and in Katol and othertowns below the Satpura hills, Manas were regularly enlisted as a townguard for repelling the Pindari raids. Their descendants still retainthe ancestral matchlocks, and several of them make good use of theseas professional _shikaris_ or hunters. Many of them are employed asservants by landowners and moneylenders for the collection of debts orthe protection of crops, and others are proprietors, cultivators andlabourers, while a few even lend money on their own account. Manas holdthree zamindari estates in Bhandara and a few villages in Chanda; herethey are considered to be good cultivators, but have the reputationas a caste of being very miserly, and though possessed of plenty, living only on the poorest and coarsest food. [176] The Mana womenare proverbial for the assistance which they render to their husbandsin the work of cultivation. 

Owing to their general adoption of Maratha customs, the Manas are nowcommonly regarded as a caste and not a forest tribe, and this view maybe accepted. They have two subcastes, the Badwaik Manas, or soldiers, and the Khad Manas, who live in the plains and are considered to be ofimpure descent. Badwaik or 'The Great Ones' is a titular term appliedto a person carrying arms, and assumed by certain Rajputs and also bysome of the lower castes. A third group of Manas are now amalgamatedwith the Kunbis as a regular subdivision of that caste, though theyare regarded as somewhat lower than the others. They have also anumber of exogamous septs of the usual titular and totemistic types, the few recognisable names being Marathi. It is worth noticing thatseveral pairs of these septs, as Jamare and Gazbe, Narnari and Chudri, Wagh and Rawat, and others are prohibited from intermarriage. And thismay be a relic of some wider scheme of division of the type commonamong the Australian aborigines. The social customs of the Manas arethe same as those of the other lower Maratha castes, as described inthe articles on Kunbi, Kohli and Mahar. A bride-price of Rs. 12-8 isusually paid, and if the bridegroom's father has the money, he takes itwith him on going to arrange for the match. Only one married woman ofthe bridegroom's family accompanies him to the wedding, and she throwsrice over him five times. Four days in the year are appointed for thecelebration of weddings, the festivals of Shivratri and of Akhatij, anda day each in the months of Magh (January) and Phagun (February). Thisrule, however, is not universal. Brahmans do not usually officiate attheir ceremonies, but they employ a Brahman to prepare the rice whichis thrown over the couples. Marriage within the sept is forbidden, as well as the union of the children of two sisters. But the practiceof marrying a brother's daughter to a sister's son is a very favouriteone, being known as Mahunchar, and in this respect the Manas resemblethe Gonds. When a widow is to be remarried, she stops on the way by thebank of a stream as she is proceeding to her new husband's house, andhere her clothes are taken off and buried by an exorcist with a viewto laying the first husband's spirit and preventing it from troublingthe new household. If a woman goes wrong with a man of another casteshe is not finally cast out, but if she has a child she must firstdispose of it to somebody else after it is weaned. She may then bere-admitted into caste by having her hair shaved off and giving threefeasts; 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 cookedby herself. The dead are either buried or burnt; in the former case afeast is given immediately after the burial and no further mourningis observed; in the latter the period of mourning is three days. Asamong the Gonds, the dead are laid with feet to the north. A womanis impure for seven days after child-birth. 

The Manas have Bhats or genealogists of their own caste, a separateone being appointed for each sept. The Bhat of any sept can only acceptgifts from members of that sept, though he may take food from any oneof the caste. The Bhats are in the position of beggars, and the otherManas will not take food from them. Every man must have a Bhat forhis family under penalty of being temporarily put out of caste. Itis said that the Bhats formerly had books showing the pedigrees ofthe different families, but that once in a spirit of arrogance theyplaced their shoes upon the books; and the other Manas, not brookingthis insolence, burnt the books. The gravity of such an act may berealised when it is stated that if anybody even threatens to hit aMana with a shoe, the indignity put upon him is so great that he istemporarily excluded from caste and penalised for readmission. Sincethis incident the Bhats have to address the Manas as 'Brahma, ' to showtheir respect, the Mana replying 'Ram, Ram. ' Their women wear shortloin-cloths, exposing part of the thigh, like the Gonds. They eatpork 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 acaste, belonging to the Maratha Districts of the Central Provinces andto Berar. Their total strength in India in 1911 was 10, 000 persons, of whom the Central Provinces and Berar contained 4000. The namewould appear to have some such meaning as 'The reverend brothers. ' TheManbhaos are stated to be a Vaishnavite order founded in Berar sometwo centuries ago. [178] They themselves say that their order is athousand years old and that it was founded by one Arjun Bhat, who livedat Domegaon, near Ahmadnagar. He was a great Sanskrit scholar and adevotee of Krishna, and preached his doctrines to all except the Impurecastes. Ridhpur, in Berar, is the present headquarters of the order, and contains a monastery and three temples, dedicated to Krishna andDattatreya, [179] the only deities recognised by the Manbhaos. Eachtemple is named after a village, and is presided over by a Mahantelected from the celibate Manbhaos. There are other Mahants, alsoknown after the names of villages or towns in which the monasteriesover which they preside are located. Among these are Sheone, fromthe village near Chandur in Amraoti District; Akulne, a village nearAhmadnagar; Lasorkar, from Lasor, near Aurangabad; Mehkarkar, fromMehkar in Buldana; and others. The order thus belongs to Berar andthe adjoining parts of India. Colonel Mackenzie describes Ridhpur asfollows: "The name is said to be derived from _ridh_, meaning blood, a Rakshas or demon having been killed there by Parasurama, and itowes its sanctity to the fact that the god lived there. Black stonesinnumerable scattered about the town show where the god's footstepsbecame visible. At Ridhpur Krishna is represented by an ever-open, sleeplessly watching eye, and some Manbhaos carry about a small blackstone disk with an eye painted on it as an amulet. " Frequently theirshrines contain no images, but are simply _chabutras_ or platformsbuilt over the place where Krishna or Dattatreya left marks of theirfootprints. Over the platform is a small veranda, which the Manbhaoskiss, calling upon the name of the god. Sukli, in Bhandara, is alsoa headquarters of the caste, and contains many Manbhao tombs. Herethey burn camphor in honour of Dattatreya and make offerings ofcocoanuts. They make pilgrimages to the different shrines at the fullmoons of Chait (March) and Kartik (October). They pay reverence to nodeities except Krishna and Dattatreya, and observe the festivals ofGokul Ashtami in August and Datta-Jayantri in December. They considerthe month of Aghan (November) as holy, because Krishna called itso in the Bhagavat-Gita. This is their sacred book, and they rejectthe other Hindu scriptures. Their conception of Krishna is based onhis description of himself to Arjun in the Bhagavat-Gita as follows:"'Behold things wonderful, never seen before, behold in this my bodythe whole world, animate and inanimate. But as thou art unable tosee 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 godsstanding together the whole universe divided forth into its vastvariety. He was overwhelmed with wonder and every hair was raisedon end. 'But I am not to be seen as thou hast seen me even bythe assistance of the Vedas, by mortification, by sacrifices, bycharitable gifts: but I am to be seen, to be known in truth, and tobe obtained by that worship which is offered up to me alone: and hegoeth unto me whose works are done for me: who esteemeth me supreme:who is my servant only: who hath abandoned all consequences, and wholiveth amongst all men without hatred. '"

Again: "He my servant is dear to me who is free from enmity, the friendof all nature, merciful, exempt from all pride and selfishness, thesame in pain and in pleasure, patient of wrong, contented, constantlydevout, of subdued passions and firm resolves, and whose mind andunderstanding are fixed on me alone. "

2. Divisions of the order

The Manbhaos are now divided into three classes: the Brahmachari; theGharbari; and the Bhope. The Brahmachari are the ascetic members ofthe sect who subsist by begging and devote their lives to meditation, prayer and spiritual instruction. The Gharbari are those who, whileleading a mendicant life, wearing the distinctive black dress of theorder and having their heads shaved, are permitted to get married withthe permission of their Mahant or _guru_. The ceremony is performed instrict privacy inside a temple. A man sometimes signifies his choice ofa spouse by putting his _jholi_ or beggar's wallet upon hers; if shelets it remain there, the betrothal is complete. A woman may show herpreference for a man by bringing a pair of garlands and placing one onhis head and the other on that of the image of Krishna. The marriageis celebrated according to the custom of the Kunbis, but withoutfeasting or music. Widows are permitted to marry again. Married womendo not wear bangles nor toe-rings nor the customary necklace of beads;they put on no jewellery, and have no _choli_ or bodice. The Bhopeor Bhoall, the third division of the caste, are wholly secular andwear no distinctive dress, except sometimes a black head-cloth. Theymay engage in any occupation that pleases them, and sometimes act asservants in the temples of the caste. In Berar they are divided intothirteen _bas_ or orders, named after the disciples of Arjun Bhat, whofounded the various shrines. The Manbhaos are recruited by initiationof both men and women from any except the impure castes. Young childrenwho have been vowed by their parents to a religious life or are leftwithout relations, are taken into the order. Women usually join iteither as children or late in life. The celibate members, male orfemale, live separately in companies like monks and nuns. They donot travel together, and hold services in their temples at differenttimes. A woman admitted into the order is henceforward the disciple ofthe woman who initiated her by whispering the _guru mantra_ or sacredverse into her ear. She addresses her preceptress as mother and theother women as sisters. The Manbhaos are intelligent and generallyliterate, and they lead a simple and pure life. They are respectableand are respected by the people, and a _guru_ or spiritual teacher isoften taken from them in place of a Brahman or Gosain. They often actas priests or _gurus_ to the Mahars, for whom Brahmans will not performthese services. Their honesty and humility are proverbial among theKunbis, and are in pleasing contrast to the character of many of theHindu mendicant orders. They consider it essential that all theirconverts should be able to read the Bhagavat-Gita or a commentaryon it, and for this purpose teach them to read and write during therainy 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 formsof animal and even vegetable life, much on a par with that of theJains. They strain water through a cloth before drinking it, and thendelicately wipe the cloth to preserve any insects that may be uponit. They should not drink water in, and hence cannot reside in, anyvillage where animal sacrifices are offered to a deity. They will notcut down a tree nor break off a branch, or even a blade of grass, norpluck a fruit or an ear of corn. Some, it is said, will not even bathein tanks for fear of destroying insect-life. For this reason also theyreadily accept cooked food as alms, so that they may avoid the riskof the destruction of life involved in cooking. The Manbhaos dislikethe din and noise of towns, and live generally in secluded places, coming into the towns only to beg. Except in the rains they wanderabout from place to place. They beg in the morning, and then returnhome and, after bathing and taking their food, read their religiousbooks. They must always worship Krishna before taking food, and forthis purpose when travelling they carry an image of the deity aboutwith them. They will take food and water from the higher castes, butthey must not do so from persons of low caste on pain of temporaryexcommunication. They neither smoke nor chew tobacco. Both men andwomen shave the head clean, and men also the face. This is first doneon initiation by the village barber. But the _sendhi_ or scalp-lockand moustaches of the novice must be cut off by his _guru_, this beingthe special mark of his renunciation of the world. The scalp-locks ofthe various candidates are preserved until a sufficient quantity ofhair has been collected, when ropes are made of it, which they fastenround their loins. This may be because Hindus attach a special efficacyto the scalp-lock, perhaps as being the seat of a man's strength orpower. The nuns also shave their heads, and generally eschew every kindof personal adornment. Both monks and nuns usually dress in black orashen-grey clothes as a mark of humility, though some have discardedblack in favour of the usual Hindu mendicant colour of red ochre. Theblack colour is in keeping with the complexion of Krishna, theirchief god. They dye their cloths with lamp-black mixed with a littlewater and oil. They usually sleep on the ground, with the exception ofthose who are Mahants, and they sometimes have no metal vessels, butuse bags made of strong cloth for holding food and water. Men's nameshave the suffix _Boa_, as Datto Boa, Kesho Boa, while those of boysend in _da_, as Manoda, Raojida, and those of women in _Bai_, as GopaBai, 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 theeast, with head to the north and feet to the south. A piece of silkor 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 leaveno trace of the grave. No memorial is erected over a Manbhao tomb, and no mourning nor ceremony of purification is observed, nor areoblations offered to the spirits of the dead. If the dead man leavesany 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 thusnaturally incurred the hostility of the Brahmans. Mr. Kitts remarksof them: [180] "The Brahmans hate the Manbhaos, who have not onlythrown off the Brahmanical yoke themselves, but do much to opposethe influence of Brahmans among the agriculturists. The Brahmansrepresent them as descended from one Krishna Bhat, a Brahman who wasoutcasted for keeping a beautiful Mang woman as his mistress. Hisfour sons were called the _Mang-bhaos_ or Mang brothers. " This is anexcellent instance of the Brahman talent for pressing etymology intotheir service as an argument, in which respect they resemble theJesuits. By asserting that the Manbhaos are descended from a Mangwoman, one of the most despised castes, they attempt to dispose ofthese enemies of a Brahman hegemony without further ado. 

Another story about their wearing black or ashen-coloured clothesrelated by Colonel Mackenzie is that Krishna Bhat's followers, refusing to believe the aspersions cast on their leader by theBrahmans, but knowing that some one among them had been guilty of thesin imputed to him, determined to decide the matter by the ordeal offire. Having made a fire, they cast into it their own clothes andthose of their _guru_, each man having previously written his nameon his garments. The sacred fire made short work of all the clothesexcept those of Krishna Bhat, which it rejected and refused to burn, thereby forcing the unwilling disciples to believe that the fingerof God pointed to their revered _guru_ as the sinner. In spite of theshock of thus discovering that their idol had feet of very human clay, they still continued to regard Krishna Bhat's precepts as good andworthy of being followed, only stipulating that for all time Manbhaosshould wear clothes the colour of ashes, in memory of the sacred firewhich had disclosed to them their _guru's_ sin. 

Captain Mackintosh also relates that "About A. D. 1780, a Brahman namedAnand Rishi, an inhabitant of Paithan on the Godavari, maltreateda Manbhao, who came to ask for alms at his door. This Manbhao, after being beaten, proceeded to his friends in the vicinity, andthey collected a large number of brethren and went to the Brahmanto demand satisfaction; Anand Rishi assembled a number of Gosainsand his friends, and pursued and attacked the Manbhaos, who fled andasked Ahalya Bai, Rani of Indore, to protect them; she endeavoured topacify Anand Rishi by telling him that the Manbhaos were her _gurus_;he said that they were Mangs, but declared that if they agreed tohis proposals he would forgive them; one of them was that they werenot to go to a Brahman's house to ask for alms, and another that ifany Brahman repeated Anand Rishi's name and drew a line across theroad when a Manbhao was advancing, the Manbhao, without saying aword, must return the road he came. Notwithstanding this attempt toprevent their approaching a Brahman's house, they continue to askalms of the Brahmans, and some Brahmans make a point of supplyingthem with provisions. "

This story endeavours to explain a superstition still observed bythe 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 himthe Manbhao will wait without passing the line until some one elsecomes up and crosses it before him. In reality this is probably aprimitive superstition similar to that which makes a man stop whena snake has crossed the road in front of him and efface its trackbefore proceeding. It is said that the members of the order alsocarry 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 hisstick 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, whoact as village musicians and castrate bullocks, while their womenserve as midwives. The Mangs are also sometimes known as Vajantrior musician. They numbered more than 90, 000 persons in 1911, of whom30, 000 belonged to the Nagpur and Nerbudda Divisions of the CentralProvinces, and 60, 000 to Berar. The real origin of the Mangs isobscure, but they probably originated from the subject tribes andbecame a caste through the adoption of the menial services whichconstitute their profession. In a Maratha book called the ShudraKamlakar [182], it is stated that the Mang was the offspring ofthe union of a Vaideh man and an Ambashtha woman. A Vaideh was theillegitimate child of a Vaishya father and a Brahman mother, and anAmbashtha of a Brahman father and a Vaishya mother. The businessof the Mang was to play on the flute and to make known the wishesof the Raja to his subjects by beat of drum. He was to live in theforest or outside the village, and was not to enter it except withthe Raja's permission. He was to remove the dead bodies of strangers, to hang criminals, and to take away and appropriate the clothes andbedding of the dead. The Mangs themselves relate the following legendof their origin as given by Mr. Sathe: Long ago before cattle were usedfor ploughing, there was so terrible a famine upon the earth that allthe grain was eaten up, and there was none left for seed. Mahadeo tookpity on the few men who were left alive, and gave them some grain forsowing. In those days men used to drag the plough through the earththemselves. But when a Kunbi, to whom Mahadeo had given some seed, wentto try and sow it, he and his family were so emaciated by hunger thatthey were unable, in spite of their united efforts, to get the ploughthrough the ground. In this pitiable case the Kunbi besought Mahadeoto give him some further assistance, and Mahadeo then appeared, and, bringing with him the bull Nandi, upon which he rode, told the Kunbi toyoke it to the plough. This was done, and so long as Mahadeo remainedpresent, Nandi dragged the plough peaceably and successfully. But assoon as the god disappeared, the bull became restive and refused towork 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 tothe ground, and immediately a coal-black man sprang up and stood readyto 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 employedin the office for which he was created. It is further related thatNandi, the bull, cursed the Mang in his pain, saying that he andhis descendants should never derive any profit from ploughing withcattle. And the Mangs say that to this day none of them prosper bytaking 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, Khandesheand 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] area sept of vagrant snake-charmers and jugglers. Many are professionalcriminals. 

3. Marriage

The caste is divided into exogamous family groups named after animalsor other objects, or of a titular nature. One or two have the namesof other castes. Members of the same group may not intermarry. Thosewho are well-to-do marry their daughters very young for the sakeof social estimation, but there is no compulsion in this matter. Infamilies which are particularly friendly, Mr. Sathe remarks, childrenmay be betrothed before birth if the two mothers are with childtogether. Betel is distributed, and a definite contract is made, on the supposition that a boy and girl will be born. Sometimes theabdomen of each woman is marked with red vermilion. A grown-up girlshould not be allowed to see her husband's face before marriage. Thewedding is held at the bride's house, but if it is more convenientthat it should be in the bridegroom's village, a temporary house isfound for the bride's party, and the marriage-shed is built in frontof it. The bride must wear a yellow bodice and cloth, yellow and redbeing generally considered among Hindus as the auspicious coloursfor weddings. When she leaves for her husband's house she puts onanother or going-away dress, which should be as fine as the familycan afford, and thereafter she may wear any colour except white. Thedistinguishing marks of a married woman are the _mangal-sutram_ or holythread, which her husband ties on her neck at marriage; the _garsoli_or string of black beads round the neck; the silver toe-rings and glassbangles. If any one of these is lost, it must be replaced at once, orshe is likely soon to be a widow. The food served at the wedding-feastconsists of rice and pulse, but more essential than these is an ampleprovision of liquor. It is a necessary feature of a Mang weddingthat the bridegroom should go to it riding on a horse. The Mahars, another low caste of the Maratha Districts, worship the horse, andbetween them and the Mangs there exists a long-standing feud, so thatthey do not, if they can help it, drink of the same well. The sightof 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 thisfact inflaming their natural enmity, formerly led to riots betweenthe castes. Under native rule the Mangs were public executioners, and it was said to be the proudest moment of Mang's life when hecould perform his office on a Mahar. 

The bride proceeds to her husband's house for a short visit immediatelyafter the marriage, and then goes home again. Thereafter, till suchtime as she finally goes to live with him, she makes brief visits forfestivals 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 requiressomebody to wait on her, or if she is a shrew and wants some one tobully, or if she has strict ideas of discipline and wishes personallyto conduct the bride's training for married life, she makes the girlcome more frequently and stay longer. 

4. Widow marriage

The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow may marry any oneexcept 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, butnot obliged, to marry her husband's younger brother, but if he hasperformed the dead man's obsequies, she may not marry him, as this acthas placed him in the relation of a son to her deceased husband. Moreusually the widow marries some one in another village, because theremarriage is always held in some slight disrepute, and she prefersto be at a distance from her first husband's family. Divorce is saidto 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 threedays. On returning from a burial they all get drunk, and then go tothe house of the deceased and chew the bitter leaves of the _nim_tree (_Melia indica_). These they then spit out of their mouths toindicate 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 forblood-letting. Some of them are village watchmen and their women actas midwives. As soon as a baby is born, the midwife blows into itsmouth, ears and nose in order to clear them of any impediments. Whena man is initiated by a _guru_ or spiritual preceptor, the latterblows into his ear, and the Mangs therefore say that on account ofthis act of the midwife they are the _gurus_ of all Hindus. Duringan eclipse the Mangs beg, because the demons Rahu and Ketu, whoare believed to swallow the sun and moon on such occasions, wereboth Mangs, and devout Hindus give alms to their fellow-castemen inorder to appease them. Those of them who are thieves are said not tosteal from the persons of a woman, a bangle-seller, a Lingayat Malior another Mang. [184] In Maratha villages they sometimes take theplace of Chamars, and work in leather, and one writer says of them:"The Mang is a village menial in the Maratha villages, making allleather ropes, thongs and whips, which are used by the cultivators;he frequently acts as watchman; he is by profession a thief andexecutioner; he readily hires himself as an assassin, and when hecommits a robbery he also frequently murders. " In his menial capacityhe receives presents at seed-time and harvest, and it is said that theKunbi will never send the Mang empty away, because he represents thewrath 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 apparentlyidentify Devi with Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, and they have astory to the effect that once Brahma wished to ravish his daughterSaraswati. She fled from him and went to all the gods, but none ofthem would protect her for fear of Brahma. At last in despair shecame to a Mang's house, and the Mang stood in the door and kept offBrahma with a wooden club. In return for this Saraswati blessed himand said that he and his descendants should never lack for food. Theyalso revere Mahadeo, and on every Monday they worship the cow, placingvermilion on her forehead and washing her feet. The cat is regarded asa sacred animal, and a Mang's most solemn oath is sworn on a cat. Ahouse 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 killsa cat or a dog a heavy penance is exacted, and two feasts must begiven to the caste. To kill an ass or a monkey is a sin only lessheinous. A man is also put out of caste if kicked or beaten with ashoe by any one of another caste, even a Brahman, or if he is struckwith the _kathri_ or mattress made of rags which the villagers puton their sleeping-cots. Mr. Gayer remarks [185] that "The Mangs showgreat respect for the bamboo; and at a marriage the bridal coupleare 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 statusof the Mangs is of the lowest. They usually live in a separate quarterof the village and have a well for their own use. They may not entertemples. It is recorded that under native rule the Mahars and Mangswere 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 ashadow; 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 washedthe impurity away. So also no low-caste man was allowed to live ina walled town; cattle and dogs could freely enter and remain but notthe Mahar or Mang. [187] The caste will eat the flesh of pigs, rats, crocodiles and jackals and the leavings of others, and some of themwill eat beef. Men may be distinguished by the _senai_ flute which theycarry and by a large ring of gold or brass worn in the lobe of theear. A Mang's sign-manual is a representation of his _bhall-singara_or castration-knife. Women are tattooed before marriage, with dots onthe forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, and with figures of a date-palmon the forearm, a scorpion on the palm of the hand, and flies on thefingers. The caste do not bear a good character, and it is said ofa 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 atthe census. The name Garori appears to be a corruption of Garudi, and signifies a snake-charmer. [188] Garuda, the Brahminy kite, thebird on which Vishnu rides, was the great subduer of snakes, and henceprobably snake-charmers are called Garudi. Some of the Mang-Garoris aresnake-charmers, and this may have been the original occupation of thecaste, though the bulk of them now appear to live by dealing in cattleand thieving. The following notice of them is abstracted from MajorGunthorpe's _Notes on Criminal Tribes_. [189] They usually travel aboutwith small _pals_ or tents, taking their wives, children, buffaloesand dogs with them. The men are well set up and tall. Their costumeis something like that worn by professional gymnasts, consistingof light and short reddish-brown drawers (_chaddi_), a waistbandwith fringe at either end (_katchhe_), and a sheet thrown over theshoulders. The Naik or headman of the camp may be recognised by hiswearing some red woollen cloth about his person or a red shawl over hisshoulders. The women have short _saris_ (body-cloths), usually of blue, and tied in the Telugu fashion. They are generally very violent whenany attempt is made to search an encampment, especially if there isstolen property concealed in it. Instances have been known of theirseizing their infants by the ankles and swinging them round theirheads, declaring they would continue doing so till the children died, if the police did not leave the camp. Sometimes also the women of agang have been known to throw off all their clothing and appear in aperfect state of nudity, declaring they would charge the police withviolating their modesty. Men of this tribe are expert cattle-lifters, but confine themselves chiefly to buffaloes, which they steal while outgrazing and very dexterously disguise by trimming the horns and firing, so as to avoid recognition by their rightful owners. To steal goatsand sheep is also one of their favourite occupations, and they willeither carry the animals off from their pens at night or kill themwhile out grazing, in the following manner: having marked a sheep orgoat which is feeding farthest away from the flock, the thief awaitshis opportunity till the shepherd's back is turned, when the animal isquickly captured. Placing his foot on the back of the neck near thehead, and seizing it under the chin with his right hand, the thiefbreaks the animal's neck by a sudden jerk; he then throws the bodyinto 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 oneof his animals, goes on leisurely driving his flock before him, andwhen he is well out of sight the Mang-Garori removes the capturedcarcase to his encampment. Great care is taken that the skin, hornsand hoofs should be immediately burnt so as to avoid detection. Theirostensible occupation is to trade in barren half-starved buffaloesand buffalo calves, or in country ponies. They also purchase fromGaoli herdsmen barren buffaloes, which they profess to be able to makefertile; if successful they return them for double the purchase-money, but if not, having obtained if possible some earnest-money, theyabscond and sell the animals at a distance. [190] Like the Bhamtas, the Mang-Garoris, Major Gunthorpe states, make it a rule not to givea girl in marriage until the intended husband has proved himselfan efficient thief. Mr. Gayer [191] writes as follows of the caste:"I do not think Major Gunthorpe lays sufficient emphasis on the parttaken by the women in crimes, for they apparently do by far the majorpart of the thieving, Sherring says the men never commit house-breakingand very seldom rob on the highway: he calls them 'wanderers, showmen, jugglers and conjurors, ' and describes them as robbers who get theirinformation by performing before the houses of rich bankers andothers. Mang-Garori [192] women steal in markets and other places ofpublic resort. They wait to see somebody put down his clothes or bagof rupees and watch till his attention is attracted elsewhere, when, walking up quietly between the article and its owner, they drop theirpetticoat either over or by it, and manage to transfer the stolenproperty into their basket while picking up the petticoat. If anunfavourable omen occurs on the way when the women set out to pilferthey 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 omenis removed from their path, and proceed on their way; but if not, they return. Stolen articles are often bartered at liquor-shops fordrink, and the Kalars act as receivers of stolen property for theMang-Garoris. "

The following are some particulars taken from an old account of thecriminal Mangs; [193] Their leader or headman was called the _naik_and was elected by a majority of votes, though considerable regardwas paid to heredity. The _naik's_ person and property were alikeinviolable; after a successful foray each of the gang contributed aquarter of his share to the _naik_, and from the fund thus made upwere defrayed the expenses of preparation, religious offerings andthe triumphal feast. A pair of shoes were usually given to a Brahmanand alms to the poor. To each band was attached an informer, who wasalso receiver of the stolen goods. These persons were usually bangle-or perfume-sellers or jewellers. In this capacity they were admittedinto the women's apartments and so enabled to form a correct notionof the topography of a house and a shrewd guess as to the wealthof its inmates. Like all barbarous tribes and all persons addictedto criminal practices the Mangs were extremely superstitious. Theynever set out on an expedition on a Friday. After the birth of a childthe mother and another woman stood on opposite sides of the cradle, and the former tossed her child to the other, commending it to themercy of Jai Gopal, and waited to receive it back in like manner inthe name of Jai Govind. Both Gopal and Govind are names of Krishna, The Mangs usually married young in life. If a girl happened to hangheavy on hand she was married at the age of puberty to the deity. Inother words, she was attached as a prostitute to the temple of the godKhandoba or the goddess Yellama. Those belonging to the service ofthe latter were wont in the month of February to parade the streetsin a state of utter nudity. When a bachelor wished to marry a widowhe was first united to a swallow-wort plant, and this was immediatelydug up and transplanted, and withering away left him at liberty tomarry the widow. If a lady survived the sorrow caused by the deathof two or three husbands she could not again enter the holy stateunless she consented to be married with a fowl under her armpit;the unfortunate bird being afterwards killed to appease the manes ofher former consorts. 

Manihar

_Manihar. _ [194]--A small caste of pedlars and hawkers. In northernIndia the Manihars are makers of glass bangles, and correspond to theKachera caste of the Central Provinces. Mr. Nesfield remarks [195]that the special industry of the Manihars of the United Provinces isthe making of glass bangles or bracelets. These are an indispensableadjunct to the domestic life of the Hindu woman; for the glass bangleis not worn for personal ornament, but as the badge of the matrimonialstate, like the wedding-ring in Europe. But in the Central Provincesglass bangles are made by the Kacheras and the Muhammadan Turkarisor Sisgars, and the Manihars are petty hawkers of stationery andarticles for the toilet, such as miniature looking-glasses, boxes, stockings, needles and thread, spangles, and imitation jewellery; andHindu Jogis and others who take to this occupation are accustomed togive their caste as Manihar. In 1911 nearly 700 persons belonging tothe caste were returned from the northern Districts of the CentralProvinces. The Manihars are nominally Muhammadans, but they retainmany 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 littlemustard-seed and a silver ring. The mustard is intended to scare awaythe evil spirits. When the marriage procession reaches the bride'svillage it is met by her people, one of whom holds a bamboo in hishands and bars the advance of the procession. The bridegroom's fatherthereupon makes a present of a rupee to the village _panchayat_, and his people are allowed to proceed. When the bridegroom reachesthe 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 thehouse. The bride's sister then comes holding above her head a smallframe like a _tazia_ [196] with a cocoanut core hanging inside. Sheraises the frame as high as she can to prevent the bridegroom fromplucking out the cocoanut core, which, however, he succeeds in doingin the end. The girl applies powdered _mehndi_ or henna to the littlefinger of the boy's right hand, in return for which she receives arupee and a piece of cloth. The Kazi then recites verses from theKoran which the bridegroom repeats after him, and the bride does thesame in her turn. This is the Nikah or marriage proper, and beforeit takes place the bridegroom's father must present a nose-ring tothe bride. The parents also fix the Meher or dowry, which, however, is not a dowry proper, but a stipulation that if the bridegroomshould put away his wife after marriage he will pay her a certainagreed sum. After the Nikah the bridegroom is given some spices, which he grinds on a slab with a roller. He must do the grinding veryslowly and gently so as to make no noise, or it is believed thatthe married life of the couple will be broken by quarrels. A widowis permitted to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband, but not his elder brother. The caste bury their dead with the head tothe 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 arechanged every few steps, so that every man who accompanies the funeralmay carry the corpse for a short distance. When it is lowered intothe grave the sheet is taken off and given to a Fakir or beggar. Whenthe body is covered with earth the priest reads the funeral versesat a distance of forty steps from the grave. Feasts are given to thecaste-fellows on the third, tenth, twentieth and fortieth days afterthe death. The Manihars observe the Shabrat festival by distributing tothe caste-fellows _halua_ or a mixture of melted butter and flour. TheShabrat is the middle night of the month Shaban, and Muhammad declaredthat on this night God registers the actions which every man willperform during the following year, and all those who are fated to dieand the children who are to be born. Like Hindu widows the Maniharwomen break their bangles when their husband's corpse is removed tothe burial-ground. The Manihars eat flesh, but not beef or pork; andthey also abstain from alcoholic liquor. If a girl is seduced and madepregnant 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 ofthe caste by the simple repetition of the Nikah or marriage verses, omitting all other ceremonies. The Manihars will admit into theircommunity converted Hindus belonging even to the lowest castes. 

Mannewar

_Mannewar. _ [197]--A small tribe belonging to the south orTelugu-speaking portion of the Chanda District, where they musteredabout 1600 persons in 1911. The home of the tribe is the HyderabadState, where it numbers 22, 000 persons, and the Mannewars are saidto have once been dominant over a part of that territory. The nameis derived from a Telugu word _mannem_, meaning forest, while _war_is the plural termination in Telugu, Mannewar thus signifying 'thepeople of the forest. ' The tribe appear to be the inferior branchof the Koya Gonds, and they are commonly called Mannewar Koyas asopposed to the Koya Doras or the superior branch, Dora meaning 'lord'or master. The Koya Doras thus correspond to the Raj-Gonds of thenorth of the Province and the Mannewar Koyas to the Dhur or 'dust'Gonds. [198] The tribe is divided into three exogamous groups: theNalugu Velpulu worshipping four gods, the Ayidu Velpulu worshippingfive, and the Anu Velpulu six. A man must marry a woman of one ofthe divisions worshipping a different number of gods from his own, but the Mannewars do not appear to know the names of these gods, andconsequently no veneration can be paid to them at present, and theysurvive solely for the purpose of regulating marriage. When a betrothalis made a day is fixed for taking an omen. In the early morning theboy who is to be married has his face washed and turmeric smearedon his feet, and is seated on a wooden seat inside the house. Theelders of the village then proceed outside it towards the risingsun and watch for any omen given by an animal or bird crossing theirpath. If this is good the marriage is celebrated, and if bad the matchis broken off. In the former case five of the elders take their food onreturning from the search for the omen and immediately proceed to thebride'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 anda date fixed for the wedding. The marriage ceremony resembles thatof the low Telugu castes. The couple are seated on a plough-yoke, and coloured rice is thrown on to their heads, and the bridegroomties 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 otherdrawback which prevents her from being sought in marriage, she isgiven away with her sister to a first cousin [199] or some other nearrelative, the two sisters being married to him together. A widow maymarry any man of the tribe except her first husband's brothers. Ifa man takes a widow to his house without marrying her he is finedthree rupees, while for adultery with a married woman the penalty istwenty rupees. A divorce can always be obtained, but if the husbanddemands it he is mulcted of twenty rupees by the caste committee, while a wife who seeks a divorce must pay ten rupees. The Mannewarsmake an offering of a fowl and some liquor to the ploughshare on thefestival of Ganesh Chaturthi. After the picking of the flowers ofthe mahua [200] they worship that tree, offering to it some of theliquor distilled from the new flowers, with a fowl and a goat. Thisis known as the Burri festival. At the Holi feast the Mannewars maketwo human figures to represent Kami and Rati, or the god of love andhis wife. The male figure is then thrown on to the Holi fire with alive chicken or an egg. This may be a reminiscence of a former humansacrifice, which was a common custom in many parts of the world at thespring festival. The caste usually bury the dead, but are beginningto adopt cremation. They do not employ Brahmans for their ceremoniesand eat all kinds of food, including the flesh of pigs, fowls andcrocodiles, 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 mannedthe armies of Sivaji, and of the Peshwa and other princes of theMaratha confederacy. In the Central Provinces the Marathas numbered34, 000 persons in 1911, of whom Nagpur contained 9000 and Wardha8000, while the remainder were distributed over Raipur, Hoshangabadand Nimar. In Berar their strength was 60, 000 persons, the total forthe combined province being thus 94, 000. The caste is found in largenumbers in Bombay and Hyderabad, and in 1901 the India Census tablesshow 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 theMarathi language is spoken, and a member of the caste to whichthe general name has in view of their historical importance beenspecifically applied. The native name for the Marathi-speakingcountry is Maharashtra, which has been variously interpreted as'The great country' or 'The country of the Mahars. ' [201] A thirdexplanation of the name is from the Rashtrakuta dynasty which wasdominant in this area for some centuries after A. D. 750. The nameRashtrakuta was contracted into Rattha, and with the prefix of Mahaor Great might evolve into the term Maratha. The Rashtrakutas havebeen conjecturally identified with the Rathor Rajputs. The _NasikGazetteer_ [202] states that in 246 B. C. Maharatta is mentioned asone of the places to which Asoka sent an embassy, and Maharashtrakais recorded in a Chalukyan inscription of A. D. 580 as including threeprovinces and 99, 000 villages. Several other references are givenin Sir J. Campbell's erudite note, and the name is therefore withoutdoubt ancient. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentionedbefore the thirteenth or fourteenth century. [203] The antiquity ofthe name would appear to militate against the derivation from theRashtrakuta dynasty, which did not become prominent till much later, and the most probable meaning of Maharashtra would therefore seem tobe 'The country of the Mahars. ' Maharatta and Maratha are presumablyderivatives from Maharashtra. 

3. Origin and position of the caste

The Marathas are a caste formed from military service, and it seemsprobable that they sprang mainly from the peasant population of Kunbis, though at what period they were formed into a separate caste has notyet been determined. Grant-Duff mentions several of their leadingfamilies as holding offices under the Muhammadan rulers of Bijapur andAhmadnagar in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the Nimbhalkar, Gharpure and Bhonsla; [204] and presumably their clansmen served in thearmies of those states. But whether or no the designation of Marathahad been previously used by them, it first became prominent during theperiod of Sivaji's guerilla warfare against Aurangzeb. The Marathasclaim a Rajput origin, and several of their clans have the names ofRajput tribes, as Chauhan, Panwar, Solanki and Suryavansi. In 1836Mr. Enthoven states, [205] the Sesodia Rana of Udaipur, the head ofthe purest Rajput house, was satisfied from inquiries conducted by anagent that the Bhonslas and certain other families had a right to berecognised as Rajputs. Colonel Tod states that Sivaji was descendedfrom a Rajput prince Sujunsi, who was expelled from Mewar to avoida dispute about the succession about A. D. 1300. Sivaji is shown as13th in descent from Sujunsi. Similarly the Bhonslas of Nagpur weresaid to derive their origin from one Bunbir, who was expelled fromUdaipur about 1541, having attempted to usurp the kingdom. [206]As Rajput dynasties ruled in the Deccan for some centuries beforethe Muhammadan conquest, it seems reasonable to suppose that a Rajputaristocracy may have taken root there. This was Colonel Tod's opinion, who wrote: "These kingdoms of the south as well as the north wereheld by Rajput sovereigns, whose offspring, blending with the originalpopulation, produced that mixed race of Marathas inheriting with thenames the warlike propensities of their ancestors, but who assume thenames of their abodes as titles, as the Nimalkars, the Phalkias, thePatunkars, instead of their tribes of Jadon, Tüar, Püar, etc. " [207]This statement would, however, apply only to the leading houses andnot to the bulk of the Maratha caste, who appear to be mainly derivedfrom the Kunbis. In Sholapur the Marathas and Kunbis eat together, and the Kunbis are said to be bastard Marathas. [208] In Satara theKunbis have the same division into 96 clans as the Marathas have, andmany 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 familiesmay have a larger strain of northern or Rajput blood than the Kunbis, but this is not always the case. The distinction between Kunbisand Marathas is almost entirely social, the Marathas as a rule beingbetter off, and preferring even service as a constable or messenger tohusbandry. " Exactly the same state of affairs prevails in the CentralProvinces and Berar, where the body of the caste are commonly knownas Maratha Kunbis. In Bombay the Marathas will take daughters fromthe Kunbis in marriage for their sons, though they will not givetheir daughters in return. But a Kunbi who has got on in the worldand become wealthy may by sufficient payment get his sons married intoMaratha 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 theMaratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd, and theGoala or cowherd; to this original cause may perhaps be ascribed thatgreat simplicity of manner which distinguishes the Maratha people. "

It seems then most probable that, as already stated, the Marathacaste was of purely military origin, constituted from the variouscastes of Maharashtra who adopted military service, though some ofthe leading families may have had Rajputs for their ancestors. SirD. Ibbetson thought that a similar relation existed in past timesbetween the Rajputs and Jats, the landed aristocracy of the Jat castebeing gradually admitted to Rajput rank. The Khandaits or swordsmen ofOrissa are a caste formed in the same manner from military service. Inthe _Imperial Gazetteer_ Sir H. Risley suggests that the Marathapeople were of Scythian origin:

"The physical type of the people of this region accords fairlywell with this theory, while the arguments derived from languageand religion do not seem to conflict with it.... On this view thewide-ranging forays of the Marathas, their guerilla methods of warfare, their unscrupulous dealings with friend and foe, their genius forintrigue 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 exogamousclans, known as the Chhanava Kule, which marry with one another. Duringthe period when the Bhonsla family were rulers of Nagpur theyconstituted a sort of inner circle, consisting of seven of theleading clans, with whom alone they intermarried; these are knownas the Satghare or Seven Houses, and consist of the Bhonsla, Gujar, Ahirrao, Mahadik, Sirke, Palke and Mohte clans. These houses at onetime formed an endogamous group, marrying only among themselves, butrecently the restriction has been relaxed, and they have arrangedmarriages with other Maratha families. It may be noted that thepresent representatives of the Bhonsla family are of the Gujar clanto which the last Raja of Nagpur, Raghuji III. , belonged prior tohis adoption. Several of the clans, as already noted, have Rajputsept names; and some are considered to be derived from those offormer ruling dynasties; as Chalke, from the Chalukya Rajput kingsof the Deccan and Carnatic; More, who may represent a branch of thegreat Maurya dynasty of northern India; Salunke, perhaps derivedfrom the Solanki kings of Gujarat; and Yadav, the name of the kingsof Deogiri or Daulatabad. [213] Others appear to be named afteranimals or natural objects, as Sinde from _sindi_ the date-palm tree, Ghorpade from _ghorpad_ the iguana; or to be of a titular nature, asKale black, Pandhre white, Bhagore a renegade, Jagthap renowned, andso on. The More, Nimbhalkar, Ghatge, Mane, Ghorpade, Dafle, Jadav andBhonsla clans are the oldest, and held prominent positions in the oldMuhammadan kingdoms of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar. The Nimbhalkar familywere formerly Panwar Rajputs, and took the name of Nimbhalkar fromtheir ancestral village Nimbalik. The Ghorpade family are an offshootof the Bhonslas, and obtained their present name from the exploit ofone of their ancestors, who scaled a fort in the Konkan, previouslydeemed impregnable, by passing a cord round the body of a _ghorpad_or iguana. [214] A noticeable trait of these Maratha houses is thefondness with which they clung to the small estates or villages inthe Deccan in which they had originally held the office of a patel orvillage headman as a _watan_ or hereditary right, even after they hadcarved out for themselves principalities and states in other partsof India. The present Bhonsla Raja takes his title from the villageof Deor in the Poona country. In former times we read of the Raja ofSatara clinging to the _watans_ he had inherited from Sivaji afterhe had lost his crown in all but the name; Sindhia was always termedpatel or village headman in the revenue accounts of the villages heacquired in Nimar; while it is said that Holkar and the Panwar of Dharfought 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 localsubcastes who occupy a lower position and do not intermarry with theMarathas proper. Among these are the Deshkar or 'Residents of thecountry'; the Waindesha or those of Berar and Khandesh; the Gangthadeor those dwelling on the banks of the Godavari and Wainganga; and theGhatmathe or residents of the Mahadeo plateau in Berar. It is alsostated that the Marathas are divided into the _Khasi_ or 'pure' andthe _Kharchi_ or the descendants of handmaids. In Bombay the latterare 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. Asister's son may be married to a brother's daughter, but not viceversa. Girls are commonly married between five and twelve years of age, and the ceremony resembles that of the Kunbis. The bridegroom goesto the bride's house riding on horseback and covered with a blackblanket When a girl first becomes mature, usually after marriage, the Marathas perform the Shantik ceremony. The girl is secluded forfour days, after which she is bathed and puts on new clothes anddresses her hair and a feast is given to the caste-fellows. Sometimesthe bridegroom comes and is asked whether he has visited his wifebefore she became mature, and if he confesses that he has done so asmall fine is imposed on him. Such cases are, however, believed tobe rare. The Marathas proper forbid widow-marriage, but the lowergroups allow it. If a maiden is seduced by one of the caste she maybe married to him as if she were a widow, a fine being imposed onher family; but if she goes wrong with an outsider she is finallyexpelled. Divorce is not ostensibly allowed but may be concluded byagreement between the parties. A wife who commits adultery is cast offand expelled from the caste. The caste burn their dead when they canafford it and perform the _shraddh_ ceremony in the month of _Kunwar_(September), when oblations are offered to the dead and a feast isgiven to the caste-fellows. Sometimes a tomb is erected as a memorialto the dead, but without his name, and is surmounted usually by animage of Mahadeo. The caste eat the flesh of clean animals and offowls and wild pig, and drink liquor. Their rules about food areliberal like those of the Rajputs, a too great stringency being nodoubt in both cases incompatible with the exigencies of militaryservice. They make no difference between food cooked with or withoutwater, and will accept either from a Brahman, Rajput, Tirole Kunbi, Lingayat Bania or Phulmali. 

The Marathas proper observe the _parda_ system with regard to theirwomen, and will go to the well and draw water themselves rather thanpermit their wives to do so. The women wear ornaments only of goldor glass and not of silver or any baser metal. They are not permittedto spin cotton as being an occupation of the lower classes. The womenare tattooed in the centre of the forehead with a device resembling atrident. The men commonly wear a turban made of many folds of clothtwisted into a narrow rope and large gold rings with pearls in theupper part of the ear. Like the Rajputs they often have their hairlong and wear beards and whiskers. They assume the sacred thread andinvest a boy with it when he is seven or eight years old or on hismarriage. 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 letthe _choti_ or scalp-lock grow at the back. In appearance the menare often tall and well-built and of a light wheat-coloured complexion. 

7. Religion

The principal deity of the Marathas is Khandoba, a warrior incarnationof Mahadeo. He is supposed to have been born in a field of milletnear Poona and to have led the people against the Muhammadans inearly times. He had a watch-dog who warned him of the approach ofhis enemies, and he is named after the _khanda_ or sword which healways carried. In Bombay [216] he is represented on horseback withtwo women, one of the Bania caste, his wedded wife, in front of him, and another, a Dhangarin, his kept mistress, behind. He is consideredthe tutelary deity of the Maratha country, and his symbol is a bagof turmeric powder known as _bhandar_. The caste worship Khandoba onSundays with rice, flowers and incense, and also on the 21st day ofMagh (January), which is called _Champa Sashthi_ and is his specialfestival. On this day they will catch hold of any dog, and afteradorning him with flowers and turmeric give him a good feed and lethim go again. The Marathas are generally kind to dogs and will notinjure them. At the Dasahra festival the caste worship their horsesand swords and go out into the field to see a blue-jay in memory ofthe fact that the Maratha marauding expeditions started on Dasahra. Oncoming back they distribute to each other leaves of the _shami_ tree(_Bauhinia racemosa_) as a substitute for gold. It was formerly heldto be fitting among the Hindus that the warrior should ride a horse(geldings being unknown) and the zamindar or landowner a mare, as moresuitable to a man of peace. The warriors celebrated their Dasahra, and worshipped their horses on the tenth day of the light fortnightof _Kunwar_ (September), while the cultivators held their festivaland worshipped their mares on the ninth day. It is recorded that thegreat Raghuji Bhonsla, the first Raja of Nagpur, held his Dasahra onthe ninth day, in order to proclaim the fact that he was by familyan agriculturist and only incidentally a man of arms. [217]

8. Present position of the caste

The Marathas present the somewhat melancholy spectacle of animpoverished aristocratic class attempting to maintain some semblanceof their former position, though they no longer have the meansto do so. They flourished during two or three centuries of almostcontinuous war, and became a wealthy and powerful caste, but theyfind a difficulty in turning their hands to the arts of peace. SirR. Craddock writes of them in Nagpur:

"Among the Marathas a large number represent connections of the Bhonslafamily, related by marriage or by illegitimate descent to that house. Aconsiderable proportion of the Government political pensioners areMarathas. Many of them own villages or hold tenant land, but as arule they are extravagant in their living; and several of the oldMaratha nobility have fallen very much in the world. Pensions diminishwith each generation, but the expenditure shows no correspondingdecrease. The sons are brought up to no employment and the daughtersare married with lavish pomp and show. The native army does not muchattract them, and but few are educated well enough for the dignifiedposts in the civil employ of Government. It is a question whethertheir pride of race will give way before the necessity of earningtheir livelihood soon enough for them to maintain or regain some oftheir former position. Otherwise those with the largest landed estatesmay be saved by the intervention of Government, but the rest mustgradually deteriorate till the dignities of their class have becomea mere memory. The humbler members of the caste find their employmentas 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 tomaintain. Though he may be clad in rags at home, he has a spare dresswhich he himself washes and keeps with great care and puts on when hegoes to pay a visit. He will hire a boy to attend him with a lanternat night, or to take care of his shoes when he goes to a friend'shouse and hold them before him when he comes out. Well-to-do Marathashave usually in their service a Brahman clerk known as _divanji_ orminister, who often takes advantage of his master's want of educationto defraud him. A Maratha seldom rises early or goes out in themorning. He will get up at seven or eight o'clock, a late hour fora Hindu, and attend to business if he has any or simply idle aboutchewing or smoking tobacco and talking till ten o'clock. He willthen bathe and dress in a freshly-washed cloth and bow before thefamily gods which the priest has already worshipped. He will dine, chew betel and smoke tobacco and enjoy a short midday rest. Rising atthree, he will play cards, dice or chess, and in the evening will goout walking or riding or pay a visit to a friend. He will come backat eight or nine and go to bed at ten or eleven. But Marathas whohave 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 theMarathas against the Muhammadans was almost the only instance inIndian history of what might correctly be called a really nationalmovement. In other cases, as that of the Sikhs, though the essentialmotive was perhaps of the same nature, it was obscured by the factthat its ostensible tendency was religious. The _gurus_ of the Sikhsdid not call on their followers to fight for their country but for anew religion. This was only in accordance with the Hindu intellect, to which the idea of nationality has hitherto been foreign, while itsprotests against both alien and domestic tyrannies tend to take theshape of a religious revolt. A similar tendency is observable even inthe case of the Marathas, for the rising was from its inception largelyengineered by the Maratha Brahmans, who on its success hastened toannex for themselves a leading position in the new Poona state. And ithas been recorded that in calling his countrymen to arms, Sivaji didnot ask them to defend their hearths and homes or wives and children, but to rally for the protection of the sacred persons of Brahmansand cows. 

10. Maratha women in past times

Although the Marathas have now in imitation of the Rajputs andMuhammadans adopted the _parda_ system, this is not a native custom, and women have played quite an important part in their history. Thewomen of the household have also exercised a considerable influenceand their opinions are treated with respect by the men. Severalinstances occur in which women of high rank have successfully actedas governors and administrators. In the Bhonsla family the PrincessBaka Bai, widow of Raghuji II. , is a conspicuous instance, while thefamous or notorious Rani of Jhansi is another case of a Maratha ladywho led her troops in person, and was called the best man on thenative side in the Mutiny. 

11. The Maratha horseman

This article may conclude with one or two extracts to give an ideaof the way in which the Maratha soldiery took the field. Grant Duffdescribes the troopers as follows:

"The Maratha horsemen are commonly dressed in a pair of light breechescovering the knee, a turban which many of them fasten by passing afold of it under the chin, a frock of quilted cotton, and a clothround the waist, with which they generally gird on their swords inpreference to securing them with their belts. The horseman is armedwith a sword and shield; a proportion in each body carry matchlocks, but the great national weapon is the spear, in the use of which andthe management of their horse they evince both grace and dexterity. Thespearmen have generally a sword, and sometimes a shield; but the latteris unwieldy and only carried in case the spear should be broken. Thetrained spearmen may always be known by their riding very long, theball of the toe touching the stirrup; some of the matchlockmen andmost of the Brahmans ride very short and ungracefully. The bridleconsists of a single headstall of cotton-rope, with a small but verysevere flexible bit"

12. Cavalry in the field

The following account of the Maratha cavalry is given in GeneralHislop's _Summary of the Maratha and Pindari Campaigns_ of 1817-1819:

"The Marathas possess extraordinary skill in horsemanship, and sointimate an acquaintance with their horses, that they can make theiranimals do anything, even in full speed, in halting, wheeling, etc. ;they likewise use the spear with remarkable dexterity, sometimes infull gallop, grasping their spears short and quickly sticking thepoint in the ground; still holding the handles, they turn their horsesuddenly round it, thus performing on the point of a spear as on apivot the same circle round and round again. Their horses likewisenever leave the particular class or body to which they belong; sothat if the rider should be knocked off, away gallops the animalafter its fellows, never separating itself from the main body. EveryMaratha brings his own horse and his own arms with him to the field, and possibly in the interest they possess in this private equipment weshall find their usual shyness to expose themselves or even to make abold vigorous attack. But if armies or troops could be frightened byappearances these horses of the Marathas would dishearten the bravest, actually darkening the plains with their numbers and clouding thehorizon with dust for miles and miles around. A little fighting, however, goes a great way with them, as with most others of the nativepowers in India. "

On this account the Marathas were called _razah-bazan_ orlance-wielders. One Muhammadan historian says: "They so use the lancethat no cavalry can cope with them. Some 20, 000 or 30, 000 lances areheld up against their enemy so close together as not to leave a spanbetween their heads. If horsemen try to ride them down the points ofthe spears are levelled at the assailants and they are unhorsed. Whilecavalry are charging them they strike their lances against eachother and the noise so frightens the horses of the enemy that theyturn 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 ofthe Maratha cavalry is contained in the letter on the Marathas byColonel Tone already quoted. But his account must refer to a periodof declining efficiency and cannot represent the military system atits best:

"In the great scale of rank and eminence which is one peculiar featureof Hindu institutions the Maratha holds a very inferior situation, being just removed one degree above those castes which are consideredabsolutely unclean. He is happily free from the rigorous observancesas regards food which fetter the actions of the higher castes. He caneat of all kinds of food with the exception of beef; can dress his mealat all times and seasons; can partake of all victuals dressed by anycaste superior to his own; washing and praying are not indispensablein his order and may be practised or omitted at pleasure. The threegreat tribes which compose the Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd and the Goala or cowherd; to this originalcause may perhaps be ascribed that great simplicity of manner whichdistinguishes the Maratha people. Homer mentions princesses going inperson to the fountain to wash their household linen. I can affirmhaving seen the daughters of a prince who was able to bring an armyinto the field much larger than the whole Greek confederacy, makingbread with their own hands and otherwise employed in the ordinarybusiness of domestic housewifery. I have seen one of the most powerfulchiefs of the Empire, after a day of action, assisting in kindling afire to keep himself warm during the night, and sitting on the groundon 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 KhasiPagah or household forces of the prince; these are always a finewell-appointed body, the horses excellent, being the property of theSirkar, who gives a monthly allowance to each trooper of the valueof about eight rupees. The second class are the cavalry furnished bythe Silladars, [221] who contract to supply a certain number of horseon specified terms, generally about Rs. 35 a month, including thetrooper'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 tothe value of their horse. There is a fourth kind of native cavalrycalled Pindaris, who are mere marauders, serve without any pay andsubsist 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 employedbut in one or two of the Maratha services. 

"The troops collected in this manner are under no discipline whateverand engage for no specific period, but quit the army whenever theyplease; 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; thehousehold troops scarcely ever receive money, but are furnished witha daily allowance of coarse flour and some other ingredients from thebazar which just enable them to exist. The Silladar is very nearly asbadly situated. In his arrangements with the State he has allottedto him a certain proportion of jungle where he pastures his cattle;here he and his family reside, and his sole occupation when not onactual service is increasing his Pagah or troop by breeding out of hismares, of which the Maratha cavalry almost entirely consist. Thereare no people in the world who understand the method of rearing andmultiplying the breed of cattle equal to the Marathas. It is by nomeans uncommon for a Silladar to enter a service with one mare andin a few years be able to muster a very respectable Pagah. They havemany methods of rendering the animal prolific; they back their coltsmuch earlier than we do and they are consequently more valuable asthey come sooner on the effective strength. 

"When called upon for actual service the Silladar is obliged to givemuster. Upon this occasion it is always necessary that the Brahmanwho takes it should have a bribe; and indeed the Hazri, as the musteris termed, is of such a nature that it could not pass by any fair orhonourable means. Not only any despicable _tattus_ are substitutedin the place of horses but animals are borrowed to fill up thecomplement. Heel-ropes and grain-bags are produced as belonging tocattle supposed to be at grass; in short every mode is practised toimpose on the Sirkar, which in turn reimburses itself by irregular andbad payments; for it is always considered if the Silladars receivesix months' arrears out of the year that they are exceedingly wellpaid. The Volunteers who join the camp are still worse situated, asthey have no collective force, and money is very seldom given in aMaratha State without being extorted. In one word, the native cavalryare the worst-paid body of troops in the world. But there is anothergrand error in this mode of raising troops which is productive of theworst effects. Every man in a Maratha camp is totally independent; heis the proprietor of the horse he rides, which he is never inclined torisk, since without it he can get no service. This single circumstancedestroys all enterprise and spirit in the soldier, whose sole business, instead of being desirous of distinguishing himself, is to keep outof the way of danger; for notwithstanding every horseman on enteringa service has a certain value put upon his horse, yet should he loseit even in action he never receives any compensation or at least noneproportioned to his loss. If at any time a Silladar is disgusted withthe service he can go away without meeting any molestation even thoughin the face of an enemy. In fact the pay is in general so shamefullyirregular that a man is justified in resorting to any measure, howeverapparently unbecoming, to attain it. It is also another very curiouscircumstance attending this service that many great Silladars havetroops in the pay of two or three chiefs at the same time, who arefrequently at open war with each other. 

14. Sitting Dharna

"To recover an arrear of pay there is but one known mode which isuniversally adopted in all native services, the Mughal as well as theMaratha; this is called Dharna, [222] which consists in putting thedebtor, be he who he will, into a state of restraint or imprisonment, until satisfaction be given or the money actually obtained. Any personin the Sirkar's service has a right to demand his pay of the Princeor his minister, and to sit in Dharna if it be not given; nor willhe meet with the least hindrance in doing so; for none would obeyan order that interfered with the Dharna, as it is a common cause;nor does the soldier incur the slightest charge of mutiny for hisconduct, or suffer in the smallest manner in the opinion of hisChief, so universal is the custom. The Dharna is sometimes carriedto very violent lengths and may either be executed on the Prince orhis minister indifferently, with the same effect; as the Chief alwaysmakes it a point of honour not to eat or drink while his Diwan is induress; sometimes the Dharna lasts for many days, during which timethe party upon whom it is exercised is not suffered to eat or drinkor wash or pray, or in short is not permitted to move from the spotwhere he sits, which is frequently bare-headed in the sun, until themoney or security be given; so general is this mode of recovery thatI suppose the Maratha Chiefs may be said to be nearly one-half oftheir time in a state of Dharna. 

15. The infantry

"In the various Maratha services there are very little more than abare majority who are Marathas by caste, and very few instances occurof their ever entering into the infantry at all. The sepoys in the payof the different princes are recruited in Hindustan, and principallyof the Rajput and Purbia caste; these are perhaps the finest race ofmen 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 beconfessed they are impatient of discipline, and naturally inclined tomutiny. They are mere soldiers of fortune and serve only for theirpay. There are also a great number of Musalmans who serve in thedifferent 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, inwhich they do not suffer themselves to be interrupted by the monsoon orany violence of weather. In very pressing exigencies it is incrediblethe fatigue a Maratha horseman will endure; frequently many days passwithout his enjoying one regular meal, but he depends entirely forsubsistence 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, andwith the addition of opium, which the Marathas frequently administerto their cattle, is enabled to perform incredible marches. "

The above analysis of the Maratha troops indicates that their realcharacter was that of freebooting cavalry, largely of the same typeas, though no doubt greatly superior in tone and discipline to thePindaris. Like them they lived by plundering the country. "TheMarathas, " Elphinstone remarked, "are excellent foragers. Everymorning at daybreak long lines of men on small horses and poniesare seen issuing from their camps in all directions, who returnbefore night loaded with fodder for the cattle, with firewood torndown from houses, and grain dug up from the pits where it had beenconcealed by the villagers; while other detachments go to a distancefor some days and collect proportionately larger supplies of the samekind. " [223] They could thus dispense with a commissariat, and beingnearly all mounted were able to make extraordinarily long marches, and consequently to carry out effectively surprise attacks and whenrepulsed to escape injury in the retreat. Even at Panipat where theirlargest regular force took the field under Sadasheo Rao Bhao, he had70, 000 regular and irregular cavalry and only 15, 000 infantry, of whom9000 were hired sepoys under a Muhammadan leader. The Marathas were attheir best in attacking the slow-moving and effeminate Mughal armies, while during their period of national ascendancy under the Peshwathere was no strong military power in India which could oppose theirforays. When they were by the skill of their opponents at lengthbrought to a set battle, their fighting qualities usually provedto be distinctly poor. At Panipat they lost the day by a suddenpanic and flight after Ibrahim Khan Gardi had obtained for them adecided advantage; while at Argaon and Assaye their performanceswere contemptible. After the recovery from Panipat and the rise ofthe independent Maratha states, the assistance of European officerswas 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; SirH. Risley's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Hari; Sir E. Maclagan's _PunjabCensus Report_, 1891 (Sweeper Sects); Sir D. Ibbetson's _Punjab CensusReport_, 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 andscavengers. In 1911 persons returning themselves as Mehtar, Bhangiand Dom were separately classified, and the total of all three wasonly 30, 000. In this Province they generally confine themselves totheir hereditary occupation of scavenging, and are rarely met withoutside the towns and large villages. In most localities the supplyof sweepers does not meet the demand. The case is quite different innorthern India, where the sweeper castes--the Chuhra in the Punjab, theBhangi in the United Provinces and the Dom in Bengal--are all of themof great numerical strength. With these castes only a small proportionare employed on scavengers' work and the rest are labourers likethe Chamars and Mahars of the Central Provinces. The present sweepercaste is made up of diverse elements, and the name Mehtar, generallyapplied to it, is a title meaning a prince or leader. Its applicationto the caste, the most abject and despised in the Hindu community, is perhaps partly ironical; but all the low castes have honorifictitles, which are used as a method of address either from ordinarypoliteness or by those requiring some service, on the principle, asthe Hindus say, that you may call an ass your uncle if you want him todo something for you. The regular caste of sweepers in northern Indiaare the Bhangis, whose name is derived by Mr. Crooke from the Sanskrit_bhanga, _ hemp, in allusion to the drunken habits of the caste. Insupport of this derivation he advances the Beria custom of callingtheir leaders Bhangi or hemp-drinker as a title of honour. [226] InMr. 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, andis applied to the sweepers because they split bamboos. In Kaira, he states, the regular trade of the Bhangias is the plaiting ofbaskets and other articles of split bamboo, and in that part ofGujarat if a Koli is asked to split a bamboo he will say, 'Am I todo Bhangia's work?' The derivation from the hemp-plant is, however, the more probable. In the Punjab, sweepers are known as Chuhra, andthis, name has been derived from their business of collecting andsweeping up scraps (_chura-jharna_) Similarly, in Bombay they areknown as Olganas or scrap-eaters. The Bengal name Hari is supposedto come from _haddi_, a bone; the Hari is the bone-gatherer, and wasfamiliar to early settlers of Calcutta under the quaint designationof the 'harry-wench, ' [229] In the Central Provinces sections of theGhasia, Mahar and Dom castes will do sweepers' work, and are thereforeamalgamated with the Mehtars. The caste is thus of mixed constitution, and also forms a refuge for persons expelled from their own societiesfor social offences. But though called by different names, thesweeper community in most provinces appears to have the same stock oftraditions 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 orthe followers of Lalbeg, the patron saint of sweepers, are the mostimportant. The Rawats appear to be an aristocratic subdivision of theLalbegis, 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 remainHindus. The Haris or bone-gatherers, as already stated, are thesweepers of Bengal. The Helas may either be those who carry basketsof sweepings, or may derive their name from _hela_, a cry; and inthat 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 andthe Bansphors or cleavers of bamboos. In the Central Provinces theShaikh Mehtars belong principally to Nagpur, and another subcaste, the Makhia, is also found in the Maratha Districts and in Berar; thosebranches 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 namefrom a place called Narnol in the Punjab. The Lalbegis are oftenconsidered here as Muhammadans rather than Hindus, and bury theirdead. In Saugor the sweepers are said to be divided into Lalbegis orMuhammadans and Doms or Hindus. The Lalbegi, Dom or Dumar and theHela are the principal subcastes of the north of the Province, andChuhra Mehtars are found in Chhattisgarh. Each subcaste is dividedinto a number of exogamous sections named after plants and animals. 

3. Social organisation

In Benares each subdivision, Mr. Greeven states, has an elaborateand quasi-military organisation. Thus the Lalbegi sweepers have eightcompanies or _berhas_, consisting of the sweepers working in differentlocalities; these are the Sadar, or those employed by private residentsin cantonments; the Kali Paltan, who serve the Bengal Infantry; theLal Kurti, or Red-coats, who are employed by the British Infantry;the Teshan (station), or those engaged at the three railway stationsof the town; the Shahar, or those of the city; the Ramnagar, takingtheir name from the residence of the Maharaja of Benares, whom theyserve; the Kothiwal, or Bungalow men, who belong to residents inthe civil lines; and lastly the Genereli, who are the descendantsof sweepers employed at the military headquarters when Benares wascommanded by a General of Division. This special organisation isobviously copied from that of the garrison and is not found in otherlocalities, but deserves mention for its own interest. All the eightcompanies are commanded by a Brigadier, the local head of the caste, whose office is now almost hereditary; his principal duty is to givetwo dinners to the whole caste on election, with sweetmeats to thevalue of fourteen rupees. Each company has four officers--a Jamadaror president, a Munsif or spokesman, a Chaudhari or treasurer anda Naib or summoner. These offices are also practically hereditary, if the candidate entitled by birth can afford to give a dinner to thewhole subcaste and a turban to each President of a company. All theother members of the company are designated as Sipahis or soldiers. Acaste dispute is first considered by the inferior officers of eachcompany, who report their view to the President; he confers withthe other Presidents, and when an agreement has been reached thesentence is formally confirmed by the Brigadier. When any disputearises, the aggrieved party, depositing a process-fee of a rupee anda quarter, addresses the officers of his company. Unless the questionis so trivial that it can be settled without caste punishments, thePresident fixes a time and place, of which notice is given to themessengers of the other companies; each of these receives a fee ofone 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 allowedto sit on the tribal matting and smoke the tribal pipe (huqqa). Theproceedings begin with the outspreading (usually symbolic) ofa carpet and the smoking of a water-pipe handed in turn to eachclansman. For this purpose the members sit on the carpet in threelines, the officers in front and the private soldiers behind. Theparties and their witnesses are heard and examined, and a decisionis pronounced. The punishments imposed consist of fines, compulsorydinners and expulsion from the caste; expulsion being inflicted forfailure to comply with an order of fine or entertainment. The formalmethod of outcasting consists in seating the culprit on the groundand drawing the tribal mat over his head, from which the turban isremoved; after this the messengers of the eight companies inflict afew taps with slippers and birch brooms. It is alleged that unfaithfulwomen were formerly tied naked to trees and flogged with birch brooms, but that owing to the fatal results that occasionally followed suchpunishment, as in the case of the five kicks among Chamars (tanners)and the scourging with the clothes line which used to prevail amongDhobis (washer men), the caste has now found it expedient to abandonthese practices. When an outcaste is readmitted on submission, whether by paying a fine or giving a dinner, he is seated apartfrom the tribal mat and does penance by holding his ears with hishands and confessing his offence. A new huqqa, which he supplies, is carried round by the messenger, and a few whiffs are taken byall the officers and Sipahis in turn. The messenger repeats to theculprit the council's order, and informs him that should he againoffend his punishment will be doubled. With this warning he handshim the water-pipe, and after smoking this the offender is admittedto 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 thecaste forms a refuge for persons expelled from their own societiesfor sexual or moral offences. Various methods are employed for theinitiation 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 givea feast to the caste; in others a slight wound is made in his body andthe blood of another sweeper is allowed to flow on to it so that theymix; 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 puttheir fingers into it, after which it is given to the candidate todrink; or he has to drink water mixed with cowdung into which thecaste-people have dipped their little fingers, and a lock of hishair is cut off. Or he fasts all day at the shrine of Lalbeg andin the evening drinks sherbet after burning incense at the shrine;and gives three feasts, the first on the bank of a tank, the secondin his courtyard and the third in his house, representing his gradualpurification for membership; at this last he puts a little water intoevery man's cup and receives from him a piece of bread, and so becomesa fully qualified caste-man. Owing to this reinforcement from highercastes, and perhaps also to their flesh diet, the sweepers are notinfrequently taller and stronger as well as lighter in colour thanthe average Hindu. 

6. Marriage customs

The marriage ceremony in the Central Provinces follows the ordinaryHindu ritual. The _lagan_ or paper fixing the date of the weddingis written by a Brahman, who seats himself at some distance from thesweeper's house and composes the letter. This paper must not be seenby 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 duringthe ceremony. Before the bridegroom starts for the wedding his motherwaves a wooden pestle five times over his head, passing it between hislegs and shoulders. After this the bridegroom breaks two lamp-saucerswith his right foot, steps over the rice-pounder and departs for thebride's house without looking behind him. The _sawasas_ or relativesof the parties usually officiate at the ceremony, but the well-to-dosometimes engage a Brahman, who sits at a distance from the houseand calls out his instructions. When a man wishes to marry a widowhe must pay six rupees to the caste committee and give a feast tothe community. Divorce is permitted for incompatibility of temper, or immorality on the part of the wife, or if the husband suffersfrom leprosy or impotence. Among the Lalbegis, when a man wishes toget rid of his wife he assembles the brethren and in their presencesays to her, 'You are as my sister, ' and she answers, 'You are as myfather and brother. ' [231]

7. Disposal of the dead

The dead are usually buried, but the well-to-do sometimes crematethem. In Benares the face or hand of the corpse is scorched with fireto symbolise cremation and it is then buried. In the Punjab the ghostsof sweepers are considered to be malevolent and are much dreaded;and their bodies are therefore always buried or burnt face downwardsto prevent the spirit escaping; and riots have taken place and themagistrates have been appealed to to prevent a Chuhra from beingburied face upwards. [232] In Benares as the body is lowered into thegrave the sheet is withdrawn for a moment from the features of thedeparted to afford him one last glimpse of the heavens, while withMuhammadans the face is turned towards Mecca. Each clansman flingsa handful of dust over the corpse, and after the earth is filled incrumbles a little bread and sugar-cake and sprinkles water upon thegrave. A provision of bread, sweetmeats and water is also left uponit for the soul of the departed. [233] In the Central Provinces thebody of a man is covered with a white winding-sheet and that of awoman with a red one. If the death occurs during the lunar conjunctionknown as Panchak, four human images of flour are made and buried withthe dead man, as they think that if this is not done four more deathswill occur in the family. 

8. Devices for procuring children

If a woman greatly desires a child she will go to a shrine and lay astone on it which she calls the _dharna_ or deposit or pledge. Thenshe thinks that she has put the god under an obligation to give her achild. She vows that if she becomes pregnant within a certain period, six or nine months, she will make an offering of a certain value. Ifthe pregnancy comes she goes to the temple, makes the offering andremoves the stone. If the desired result does not happen, however, she considers that the god has broken his obligation and ceases toworship him. If a barren woman desires a child she should steal on aSunday or a Wednesday a strip from the body-cloth of a fertile womanwhen it is hung out to dry; or she may steal a piece of rope fromthe bed in which a woman has been delivered of a child, or a piece ofthe baby's soiled swaddling clothes or a piece of cloth stained withthe blood of a fertile woman. This last she will take and bury in acemetery and the others wear round her waist; then she will becomefertile and the fertile woman will become barren. Another device isto obtain from the midwife a piece of the navel-string of a newbornchild and swallow it. For this reason the navel-string is alwayscarefully 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 sexof 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 bornand if crooked a girl. Similarly if the hair on the front of her bodygrows straight they think the child will be a boy, but if crooked agirl; and if the swelling of pregnancy is more apparent on the rightside a boy is portended, but if on the left side a girl. If deliveryis retarded they go to a gunmaker and obtain from him a gun whichhas been discharged and the soiling of the barrel left uncleaned;some water is put into the barrel and shaken up and then poured intoa vessel and given to the woman to drink, and it is thought that thequality of swift movement appertaining to the bullet which soiledthe barrel will be communicated to the woman and cause the swiftexpulsion of the child from her womb. 

10. Childbirth

When a woman is in labour she squats down with her legs apart holdingto the bed in front of her, while the midwife rubs her back. Ifdelivery is retarded the midwife gets a broom and sitting behindthe woman presses it on her stomach, at the same time drawing backthe upper part of her body. By this means they think the child willbe forced from the womb. Or the mother of the woman in labour willtake a grinding-stone and stand holding it on her head so long asthe child is not born. She says to her daughter, 'Take my name, 'and the daughter repeats her mother's name aloud. Here the idea isapparently that the mother takes on herself some of the pain whichhas to be endured by the daughter, and the repetition of her nameby the daughter will cause the goddess of childbirth to hasten theperiod of delivery in order to terminate the unjust sufferings ofthe mother for which the goddess has become responsible. The mother'sname exerts pressure or influence on the goddess who is at the timeoccupied 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 littlesugar and cocoanut to eat in the evening, but if it is born in theevening they will give her nothing till next morning. Milk is givenonly sparingly as it is supposed to produce coughing. The main idea oftreatment in childbirth is to prevent either the mother or child fromtaking cold or chill, this being the principal danger to which theyare thought to be exposed. The door of the birth chamber is thereforekept shut and a fire is continually burning in it night and day. Thewoman is not bathed for several days, and the atmosphere and generalinsanitary conditions can better be imagined than described. Withthe same end of preventing cold they feed the mother on a hot liquidproduced by cooking thirty-six ingredients together. Most of theseare considered to have the quality of producing heat or warmth in thebody, 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 forless than two rupees and the woman is fed on it for five days beginningfrom 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 littlefish caught in the shallow water of fields and tanks, and sometimessupposed to have fallen down with the rain. They are boiled in a littlewater and the fish and water are given to the woman to consume. Herethe idea is apparently that as the fish has the quality of liquidnessbecause it lives in water, so by eating it this will be communicatedto the breasts and the milk will flow again. If a woman's childrendie, then the next time she is in labour they bring a goat all ofone colour. When the birth of the child takes place and it fallsfrom 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 takenand passed over the child twenty-one times. Then they take the goatand the after-birth to a cemetery and here cut the goat's throat bythe _halal_ rite and bury it with the after-birth. The idea is thusthat the goat's life is a substitute for that of the child. By beingpassed 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 ofthe child. If a mother is afraid her child will die, she sells it fora few cowries to another woman. Of course the sale is only nominal, but the woman who has purchased the child takes a special interestin it, and at the naming or other ceremony she will give it a jewelor such other present as she can afford. Thus she considers thatthe fictitious sale has had some effect and that she has acquired acertain interest in the child. 

13. Infantile diseases

If a baby, especially a girl, has much hair on its body, they makea 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 owlhas taken away a cloth stained by the child when it was hung out todry. The remedy is to obtain the liver of an owl and hang it roundthe child's neck. 

For jaundice they get the flesh of a yellow snake which appears inthe rains, and of the _rohu_ fish which has yellowish scales, andhang them to its neck; or they get a verse of the Koran written outby a Maulvi or Muhammadan priest and use this as an amulet; or theycatch a small frog alive, tie it up in a yellow cloth and hang it tothe child's neck by a blue thread until it dies. For tetanus the jawsare branded outside and a little musk is placed on the mother's breastso that the child may drink it with the milk. When the child begins tocut its teeth they put honey on the gums and think that this will makethe teeth slip out early as the honey is smooth and slippery. But asthe child licks the gums when the honey is on them they fear that thismay cause the teeth to grow broad and crooked like the tongue. Anotherdevice is to pass a piece of gold round the child's gums. If they wantthe child to have pretty teeth its maternal uncle threads a number ofgrains 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 isswollen, the maternal uncle will go out for a walk and on his returnplace his turban over the navel. For averting the evil eye the liverof the Indian badger is worn in an amulet, this badger being supposedto haunt cemeteries and feed on corpses; some hairs of a bear alsoform 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 byMr. Greeven and Mr. Crooke. It centres round the worship of two saints, Lalbeg or Bale Shah and Balnek or Balmik, who is really the huntsmanValmiki, the reputed author of the Ramayana. Balmik was originally alow-caste hunter called Ratnakar, and when he could not get game he wasaccustomed to rob and kill travellers. But one day he met Brahma andwished to kill him; but he could not raise his club against Brahma, and the god spoke and convinced him of his sins, directing him torepeat the name of Rama until he should be purified of them. But thehunter's heart was so evil that he could not pronounce the divine name, and instead he repeated '_Mara, Mara_' (_struck, struck_), but in theend by repetition this came to the same thing. Mr. Greeven's accountcontinues: "As a small spark of fire burneth up a heap of cotton, sothe word Rama cleaneth a man of all his sins. So the words 'Ram, Ram, 'were taught unto Ratnakar who ever repeated them for sixty thousandyears at the self-same spot with a heart sincere. All his skin waseaten up by the white ants. Only the skeleton remained. Mud had beenheaped over the body and grass had grown up, yet within the moundof mud the saint was still repeating the name of Rama. After sixtythousand years Brahma returned. No man could he see, yet he heard thevoice of Ram, Ram, rising from the mound of mud. Then Brahma bethoughthim that the saint was beneath. He besought Indra to pour down rainand to wash away the mud. Indra complied with his request and therain washed away the mud. The saint came forth. Nought save bonesremained. Brahma called aloud to the saint. When the saint beheldhim 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 sevenparts, containing the deeds and exploits of Rama. '" Valmiki had beenor afterwards became a sweeper and was known as 'cooker of dog's food'(Swapach), a name applied to sweepers [237], who have adopted him astheir eponymous ancestor and patron saint. 

15. Lalbeg

Lalbeg, who is still more widely venerated, is considered to have beenGhazi Miyan, the nephew of Sultan Muhammad of Ghazni, and a saint muchworshipped in the Punjab. Many legends are told of Lalbeg, and hisworship is described by Mr. Greeven as follows: [238] "The ritualof Lalbeg is conducted in the presence of the whole brotherhood, as a rule at the festival of the Diwali and on other occasionswhen special business arises. The time for worship is after sunsetand if possible at midnight. His shrine consists of a mud platformsurrounded by steps, with four little turrets at the corners and aspire in the centre, in which is placed a lamp filled with clarifiedbutter and containing a wick of twisted tow. Incense is thrown intothe flame and offerings of cakes and sweetmeats are made. A lightedhuqqa is placed before the altar and as soon as the smoke rises itis understood that a whiff has been drawn by the hero. " A cock isoffered to Lalbeg at the Dasahra festival. When a man is believedto have been affected by the evil eye they wave a broom in front ofthe sufferer muttering the name of the saint. In the Damoh Districtthe _guru_ or priest who is the successor of Lalbeg comes from thePunjab every year or two. He is richly clad and is followed by asweeper carrying an umbrella. Other Hindus say that his teaching isthat no one who is not a Lalbegi can go to heaven, but those on whomthe dust raised by a Lalbegi sweeping settles acquire some modicumof virtue. Similarly Mr. Greeven remarks: [239] "Sweepers by no meansendorse the humble opinion entertained with respect to them; for theyallude 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 monotheisticand of a sufficiently elevated character, resembling that of theKabirpanthis and other reforming sects. Its claim to the exclusivepossession of the way of salvation is a method of revolt against themenial and debased position of the caste. Similarly many sweepers havebecome Muhammadans and Sikhs with the same end in view, as statedby Mr. Greeven: [240] "As may be readily imagined, the scavengersare merely in name the disciples of Nanak Shah, professing in factto be his followers just as they are prepared at a moment's noticeto become Christians or Muhammadans. Their object is, of course, merely to acquire a status which may elevate them above the utterdegradation of their caste. The acquaintance of most of them with thedoctrines of Nanak Shah is at zero. They know little and care lessabout his rules of life, habitually disregarding, for instance, theprohibitions against smoking and hair-cutting. In fact, a scavengerat Benares no more becomes a Sikh by taking Nanak Shah's motto than hebecomes a Christian by wearing a round hat and a pair of trousers. " Itwas probably with a similar leaning towards the more liberal religionthat the Lalbegis, though themselves Hindus, adopted a Muhammadan fortheir tutelary saint. In the Punjab Muhammadan sweepers who have givenup eating carrion and refuse to remove night-soil rank higher than theothers, and are known as Musalli. [241] And in Saugor the Muhammadansallow the sweepers to come into a mosque and to stand at the back, whereas, of course, they cannot approach a Hindu temple. Again inBengal it is stated, "The Dom is regarded with both disgust and fearby all classes of Hindus, not only on account of his habits beingabhorrent and abominable, but also because he is believed to have nohumane or kindly feelings"; and further, "It is universally believedthat Doms do not bury or burn their dead, but dismember the corpseat night like the inhabitants of Thibet, placing the fragments in apot and sinking them in the nearest river or reservoir. This horrididea probably originated from the old Hindu law, which compelledthe Doms to bury their dead at night. " [242] It is not astonishingthat the sweepers prefer a religion whose followers will treat themsomewhat more kindly. Another Muhammadan saint revered by the sweepersof Saugor is one Zahir Pir. At the fasts in Chait and Kunwar (Marchand September) they tie cocoanuts wrapped in cloth to the top of along bamboo, and marching to the tomb of Zahir Pir make offerings ofcakes and sweetmeats. Before starting for his day's work the sweeperdoes obeisance to his basket and broom. 

17. Social status

The sweeper stands at the very bottom of the social ladder ofHinduism. He is considered to be the representative of the Chandalaof Manu, [243] who was said to be descended of a Sudra father and aBrahman woman. "It was ordained that the Chandala should live withoutthe town; his sole wealth should be dogs and asses; his clothes shouldconsist of the cerecloths of the dead; his dishes should be broken potsand his ornaments rusty iron. No one who regarded his duties shouldhold intercourse with the Chandalas and they should marry only amongthemselves. By day they might roam about for the purposes of work, but should be distinguished by the badges of the Raja, and shouldcarry out the corpse of any one who died without kindred. They shouldalways be employed to slay those who by the law were sentenced to beput to death, and they might take the clothes of the slain, theirbeds and their ornaments. " Elsewhere the Chandala is said to rankin impurity with the town boar, the dog, a woman during her monthlyillness and a eunuch, none of whom must a Brahman allow to see himwhen eating. [244] Like the Chandala, the sweeper cannot be touched, and he himself acquiesces in this and walks apart. In large townshe sometimes carries a kite's wing in his turban to show his caste, or goes aloof saying _pois_, which is equivalent to a warning. Whenthe sweeper is in company he will efface himself as far as possiblebehind other people. He is known by his basket and broom, and menof other castes will not carry these articles lest they shouldbe mistaken for a sweeper. The sweeper's broom is made of bamboo, whereas the ordinary house-broom is made of date-palm leaves. Thehouse-broom is considered sacred as the implement of Lakshmi usedin cleaning the house. No one should tread upon or touch it withhis foot. The sweeper's broom is a powerful agent for curing theevil eye, and mothers get him to come and wave it up and down infront of a sick child for this purpose. Nevertheless it is luckyto see a sweeper in the morning, especially if he has his basketwith him. In Gujarat Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam writes of him: "Thoughhe is held to be lower and more unclean, the Bhangia is viewed withkindlier feelings than the Dhed (Mahar). To meet the basket-bearingBhangia is lucky, and the Bhangia's blessing is valued. Even now ifa Government officer goes into a Bhangia hamlet the men with handsraised in blessing say: 'May your rule last for ever. '" A sweeperwill eat the leavings of other people, but he will not eat in theirhouses; he will take the food away to his own house. It is relatedthat on one occasion a sweeper accompanied a marriage party of Lodhis(cultivators), and the Lodhi who was the host was anxious that allshould share his hospitality and asked the sweeper to eat in his house;[245] but he repeatedly refused, until finally the Lodhi gave him ashe-buffalo to induce him to eat, so that it might not be said thatany 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 willeat carrion and the flesh of almost all animals, including snakes, lizards, crocodiles and tigers, and also the leavings of food of almostany caste. Mr. Greeven remarks: [246] "Only Lalbegis and Rawats eatfood left by Europeans, but all eat food left either by Hindus orMuhammadans; the Sheikh Mehtars as Muhammadans alone are circumcisedand reject pig's flesh. Each subcaste eats uncooked food with all theothers, but cooked food alone. " From Betul it is reported that theMehtars 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 thetraditional occupations of the caste, but they have others. In Bombaythey serve as night watchmen, town-criers, drummers, trumpeters andhangmen. Formerly the office of hangman was confined to sweepers, but now many low-caste prisoners are willing to undertake it for thesake of the privilege of smoking tobacco in jail which it confers. InMirzapur when a Dom hangman is tying a rope round the neck of acriminal he shouts out, '_Dohai Maharani, Dohai Sarkar, Dohai JudgeSahib_, ' or 'Hail Great Queen! Hail Government! Hail Judge Sahib!' inorder to shelter himself under their authority and escape any guiltattaching to the death. [247] In the Central Provinces the hangman wasaccompanied by four or five other sweepers of the caste _panchayat_the idea being perhaps that his act should be condoned by theirpresence and approval and he should escape guilt. In order to free theexecutioner 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 ofanother, 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 thisfive rupees were given to the caste for a feast and an offering toLalbeg to expiate his sin. In Bundelkhand sweepers are employed asgrooms by the Lodhis, and may put everything on to the horse except asaddle-cloth. They are also the village musicians, and some of themplay on the rustic flute called _shahnai_ at weddings, and receivetheir food all the time that the ceremony lasts. Sweepers are, asa rule, to be found only in large villages, as in small ones thereis no work for them. The caste is none too numerous in the CentralProvinces, and in villages the sweeper is often not available whenwanted for cleaning the streets. The Chamars of Bundelkhand will notremove the corpses of a cat or a dog or a squirrel, and a sweeper mustbe 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 corpsesare unclean. A Chamar also refuses to touch the corpse of a donkey, but a Kumhar (potter) will sometimes do this; if he declines a sweepermust be fetched. When a sweeper has to enter a house in order totake out the body of an animal, it is cleaned and whitewashed afterhe has been in. In Hoshangabad an objection appears to be felt tothe entry of a sweeper by the door, as it is stated that a ladderis placed for him, so that he presumably climbs through a window. Orwhere there are no windows it is possible that the ladder may protectthe sacred threshold from contact with his feet. The sweeper alsoattends at funerals and assists to prepare the pyre; he receives thewinding-sheet when this is not burnt or buried with the corpse, andthe copper coins which are left on the ground as purchase-money forthe site of the grave. In Bombay in rich families the winding-sheetis often a worked shawl costing from fifty to a hundred rupees. [248]When a Hindu widow breaks her bangles after her husband's death, shegives 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, whichin Benares is at the basis of one of the steep stairs or _ghats_, called the Burning-Ghat, leading down from the streets above to thebed of the river Ganges, the Dom supplies five logs of wood, which helays in order upon the ground, the rest of the wood being given by thefamily of the deceased. When the pile is ready for burning a handful oflighted straw is brought by the Dom, and is taken from him and appliedby one of the chief members of the family to the wood. The Dom is theonly person who can furnish the light for the purpose; and if for anyreason no Dom is available, great delay and inconvenience are apt toarise. The Dom exacts his fee for three things, namely, first for thefive 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 believedthat Rahu, the demon who devours the sun and moon and thus causesan eclipse, was either a sweeper or the deity of the sweepers, and alms given to them at this time will appease him and causehim 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 meansof paying the debt. In Gujarat as soon as the darkening sets in theBhangis 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 Dravidiantribes, and, as has been seen, they also practise the art of makingbamboo mats and baskets, being known as Bansphor in Bombay onthis account. In the Punjab the Chuhras are a very numerous caste, being exceeded only by the Jats, Rajputs and Brahmans. Only a smallproportion of them naturally find employment as scavengers, and theremainder are agricultural labourers, and together with the vagrantsand 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 aBasor or bamboo-worker. It has been seen that Valmiki, the patron saintof the sweepers, was a low-caste hunter, and this gives some reasonfor the supposition that the primary occupations of the Chuhras andBhangis were hunting and working in grass and bamboo. In one of thelegends of the sweeper saint Balmik or Valmiki given by Mr. Greeven, [255] Balmik was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers, and waspersuaded by the others to remove the body of a calf which had died intheir 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 knowhow to feed himself the carcase started into life and gave him milkuntil he was full grown, when it died again of its own accord. Balmikburst into tears, not knowing how he was to live henceforward, but avoice 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 ofSupaj or the maker of winnowing-fans. These are natural occupationsof the non-Aryan forest tribes, and are now practised by the Gonds. 

Meo

_Meo, Mewati. _--The Muhammadan branch of the Mina tribe belonging tothe country of Mewat in Rajputana which is comprised in the Alwar, Bharatpur and Jaipur States and the British District of Gurgaon. Afew Meos were returned from the Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts in1911, but it is doubtful whether any are settled here, as they maybe wandering criminals. The origin of the Meo is discussed in thearticle on the Mina tribe, but some interesting remarks on them byMr. Channing and Major Powlett in the _Rajputana Gazetteer_ may bereproduced here. Mr. Channing writes: [256]

"The tribe, which has been known in Hindustan according to theKutub Tawarikh for 850 years, was originally Hindu and becameMuhammadan. Their origin is obscure. They themselves claim descentfrom the Rajput races of Jadon, Kachhwaha and Tuar, and they maypossibly have some Rajput blood in their veins; but they are probably, like many other similar tribes, a combination from ruling and othervarious stocks and sources, and there is reason to believe them verynearly allied with the Minas, who are certainly a tribe of the samestructure and species. The Meos have twelve clans or _pals_, the firstsix of which are identical in name and claim the same descent as thefirst six clans of the Minas. Intermarriage between them both was therule until the time of Akbar, when owing to an affray at the marriageof a Meo with a Mina the custom was discontinued. Finally, theirmode of life is or was similar, as both tribes were once notoriouslypredatory. It is probable that the original Meos were supplemented byconverts to Islam from other castes. It is said that the tribe wereconquered and converted in the eleventh century by Masud, son of AmirSalar and grandson of Sultan Mahmud Subaktagin on the mother's side, the general of the forces of Mahmud of Ghazni. Masud is still veneratedby the Meos, and they swear by his name. They have a mixture of Hinduand Muhammadan customs. They practise circumcision, _nikah_ [257] andthe burial of the dead. They make pilgrimages to the tomb of Masud inBahraich in Oudh, and consider the oath taken on his banner the mostbinding. They also make pilgrimages to Muhammadan shrines in India, but never perform the _Haj_. Of Hindu customs they observe the Holior Diwali; their marriages are never arranged in the same _got_ orsept; and they permit daughters to inherit. They call their childrenindiscriminately by both Muhammadan and Hindu names. They are almostentirely uneducated, but have bards and musicians to whom they makelarge presents. These sing songs known as Ratwai, which are commonlyon pastoral and agricultural subjects. The Meos are given to the useof intoxicating drinks, and are very superstitious and have greatfaith in omens. The dress of the men and women resembles that of theHindus. Infanticide was formerly common among them, but it is said tohave 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, theyemploy a Brahman to write the Pili Chhitthi or yellow note fixingthe date of a marriage. They call themselves by Hindu names with theexception of Ram; and Singh is a frequent affix, though not so commonas Khan. On the Amawas or monthly conjunction of the sun and moon, Meos, in common with Hindu Ahirs and Gujars, cease from labour; andwhen they make a well the first proceeding is to erect a _chabutra_(platform) to Bhaironji or Hanuman. However, when plunder was to beobtained they have often shown little respect for Hindu shrines andtemples; 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 aboutforming connections with women of other castes, whose children theyreceive into the community. As already stated, Brahmans take partin the formalities preceding a marriage, but the ceremony itself isperformed by a Kazi. As agriculturists Meos are inferior to their Hinduneighbours. The point in which they chiefly fail is in working theirwells, for which they lack patience. Their women, whom they do notconfine, 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 lyingdown. Like the women of low Hindu castes they tattoo their bodies, a practice disapproved by Musalmans in general. Abul Fazl writes thatthe Meos were in his time famous runners, and one thousand of themwere 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 isfound in the Central Provinces in the Hoshangabad, Nimar and SaugorDistricts. About 8000 persons of the caste were returned in 1911. Theproper name for them is Mina, but here they are generally known asDeswali, a term which they probably prefer, as that of Mina is toonotorious. A large part of the population of the northern Districts isrecruited from Bundelkhand and Marwar, and these tracts are thereforeoften known among them as 'Desh' or native country. The term Deswaliis applied to groups of many castes coming from Bundelkhand, andhas apparently been specially appropriated as an _alias_ by theMinas. The caste are sometimes known in Hoshangabad as Maina, whichColonel Tod states to be the name of the highest division of theMinas. The designation of Pardeshi or 'foreigner' is also given tothem in some localities. The Deswalis came to Harda about A. D. 1750, being invited by the Maratha Amil or governor, who gave one family agrant of three villages. They thus gained a position of some dignity, and this reaching the ears of their brothers in Jaipur they alsocame and settled all over the District. [258] In view of the historyand character of the Minas, of which some account will be given, it should be first stated that under the _régime_ of British lawand order most of the Deswalis of Hoshangabad have settled down intosteady and honest agriculturists. 

2. Historical notice of the Mina tribe

The Minas were a famous robber tribe of the country of Mewat inRajputana, comprised in the Alwar and Bharatpur States and theBritish District of Gurgaon. [259] They are also found in largenumbers in Jaipur State, which was formerly held by them. The Meosand Minas are now considered to be branches of one tribe, the formerbeing at least nominally Muhammadans by religion and the latterHindus. A favourite story for recitation at their feasts is that ofDarya Khan Meo and Sasibadani Mini, a pair of lovers whose marriageled to a quarrel between the tribes to which they belonged, in thetime of Akbar. This dispute caused the cessation of the practice ofintermarriage between Meos and Minas which had formerly obtained. Boththe Meos and Minas are divided into twelve large clans called _pal_, the word _pal_ meaning, according to Colonel Tod, 'a defile in avalley suitable for cultivation or defence. ' In a sandy desert likeRajputana the valleys of streams might be expected to be the onlyfavourable tracts for settlement, and the name perhaps thereforeis a record of the process by which the colonies of Minas in theseisolated patches of culturable land developed into exogamous clansmarrying with each other. The Meos have similarly twelve _pals_, andthe 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 anaboriginal or pre-Aryan tribe of Rajputana, where they are still foundin considerable numbers. The Raja of Jaipur was formerly marked on theforehead with blood taken from the great toe of a Mina on the occasionof his installation. Colonel Tod records that the Amber or Jaipur Statewas founded by one Dholesai in A. D. 967 after he had slaughtered largenumbers of the Minas by treachery. And in his time the Minas stillpossessed large immunities and privileges in the Jaipur State. Whenthe Rajputs settled in force in Rajputana, reducing the Minas tosubjection, illicit connections would naturally arise on a large scalebetween the invaders and the women of the conquered country. For evenwhen the Rajputs only came as small isolated parties of adventurers, as into the Central Provinces, we find traces of such connections inthe survival of castes or subcastes of mixed descent from them andthe indigenous tribes. It follows therefore that where they occupiedthe country and settled on the soil the process would be still morecommon. Accordingly it is generally recognised that the Minas are acaste of the most mixed and impure descent, and it has sometimes beensupposed that they were themselves a branch of the Rajputs. In thePunjab when one woman accuses another of illicit intercourse she issaid '_Mina dena_, ' or to designate her as a Mina. [262] Further itis stated [263] that "The Minas are of two classes, the Zamindari oragricultural and the Chaukidari or watchmen. These Chaukidari Minasare the famous marauders. " The office of village watchman was commonlyheld by members of the aboriginal tribes, and these too furnished thecriminal classes. Another piece of evidence of the Dravidian originof the tribe is the fact that there exists even now a group of Dhediaor impure Minas who do not refuse to eat cow's flesh. The ChaukidariMinas, dispossessed of their land, resorted to the hills, and here theydeveloped into a community of thieves and bandits recruited from allthe outcastes of society. Sir A. Lyall wrote [264] of the caste as"a Cave of Adullam which has stood open for centuries. With them acaptured woman is solemnly admitted by a form of adoption into onecircle of affinity, in order that she may be lawfully married intoanother. " With the conquest of northern India by the Muhammadans, manyof the Minas, being bound by no ties to Hinduism, might be expectedto embrace the new and actively proselytising religion, while theirrobber bands would receive fugitive Muhammadans as recruits as wellas Hindus. Thus probably arose a Musalman branch of the community, who afterwards became separately designated as the Meos. As alreadyseen, the Meos and Minas intermarried for a time, but subsequentlyceased to do so. As might be expected, the form of Islam professedby the Meos is of a very bastard order, and Major Powlett's accountof 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 aconsiderable place in history. A Muhammadan historian, Zia-ud-dinBami, wrote of the tribe: [265] "At night they were accustomed tocome prowling into the city of Delhi, giving all kinds of trouble anddepriving people of their rest, and they plundered the country housesin the neighbourhood of the city. Their daring was carried to such anextent that the western gates of the city were shut at afternoon prayerand no one dared to leave it after that hour, whether he travelledas a pilgrim or with the display of a king. At afternoon prayer theywould often come to the Sarhouy, and assaulting the water-carriersand girls who were fetching water they would strip them and carryoff their clothes. In turn they were treated by the Muhammadan rulerswith the most merciless cruelty. Some were thrown under the feet ofelephants, others were cut in halves with knives, and others again wereflayed alive from head to foot. " Regular campaigns against them wereundertaken by the Muhammadans, [266] as in later times British forceshad to be despatched to subdue the Pindaris. Babar on his arrival atAgra described the Mewati leader Raja Hasan Khan as 'the chief agitatorin all these confusions and insurrections'; and Firishta mentions twoterrible slaughters of Mewatis in A. D. 1259 and 1265. In 1857 MajorPowlett records that in Alwar they assembled and burnt the State ricksand carried off cattle, though they did not succeed in plundering anytowns or villages there. In British territory they sacked Firozpurand other villages, and when a British force came to restore ordermany were hanged. Sir D. Ibbetson wrote of them in the Punjab: [267]

"The Minas are the boldest of our criminal classes. Their headquartersso far as the Punjab is concerned are in the village of Shahjahanpur, attached to the Gurgaon District but surrounded on all sides byRajputana territory. There they until lately defied our police and evenresisted them with armed force. Their enterprises are on a large scale, and they are always prepared to use violence if necessary. In Marwarthey are armed with small bows which do considerable execution. Theytravel great distances in gangs of from twelve to twenty men, practising robbery and dacoity even as far as the Deccan. The gangsusually start off immediately after the Diwali feast and often remainabsent the whole year. They have agents in all the large cities ofRajputana and the Deccan who give them information, and they are inleague with the carrying castes of Marwar. After a successful foraythey offer one-tenth of the proceeds at the shrine of Kali Devi. "

Like other criminals they were very superstitious, and Colonel Todrecords that the partridge and the _maloli_ or wagtail were their chiefbirds of omen. A partridge clamouring on the left when he commenceda foray was a certain presage of success to a Mina. Similarly, Mr. Kennedy notes that the finding of a dried goatskin, either wholeor in pieces, among the effects of a suspected criminal is said tobe an infallible indication of his identity as a Mina, the flesh ofthe goat's tongue being indispensable in connection with the takingof omens. In Jaipur the Minas were employed as guards, as a method ofprotection against their fellows, for whose misdeeds they were heldresponsible. Rent-free lands were given to them, and they were alwaysemployed to escort treasure. Here they became the most faithful andtrusted of the Raja's servants. It is related that on one occasiona Mina sentinel at the palace had received charge of a basket oforanges. A friend of the same tribe came to him and asked to be shownthe palace, which he had never seen. The sentinel agreed and took himover the palace, but when his back was turned the friend stole oneorange from the basket. Subsequently the sentinel counted the orangesand found one short; on this he ran after his friend and taxed him withthe theft, which being admitted, the Mina said that he had been madeto betray his trust and had become dishonoured, and drawing his swordcut 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 bodyof Mina guards who alone knew the hiding-place, and would only permitany part of it to be withdrawn for a great emergency. Nor would theyaccept the orders of the Raja alone, but required the consent of theheads of the twelve principal noble families of Amber, branches of theroyal house, before they would give up any part of the treasure. Thecriminal Minas are said to inhabit a tract of country about sixty-fivemiles long and forty broad, stretching from Shahpur forty miles northof Jaipur to Guraora in Gurgaon on the Rohtak border. The popular ideaof the Mina, Mr. Crooke remarks, [268] is quite in accordance withhis historical character; his niggardliness is shown in the saying, 'The Meo will not give his daughter in marriage till he gets a mortarfull of silver'; his pugnacity is expressed in, 'The Meo's son beginsto 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 funeralceremony performed. '

4. The Deswalis of the Central Provinces

As already stated, the Deswalis of the Central Provinces haveabandoned the wild life of their ancestors and settled down asrespectable cultivators. Only a few particulars about them need berecorded. Girls are usually married before they are twelve years oldand boys at sixteen to twenty. A sum of Rs. 24 is commonly paid forthe bride, and a higher amount up to Rs. 71 may be given, but thisis the maximum, and if the father of the girl takes more he will befined by the caste and made to refund the balance. A triangle withsome wooden models of birds is placed on the marriage-shed and thebridegroom strikes at these with a stick; formerly he fired a gunat them to indicate that he was a hunter by profession. A Brahmanis employed to celebrate the marriage. A widow is usually taken byher late husband's younger brother, but if there be none the elderbrother may marry her, contrary to the general rule among Hindus. Theobject is to keep the woman in the family, as wives are costly. Ifshe is unwilling to marry her brother-in-law, however, no compulsionis exercised and she may wed another man. Divorce is allowed, andin Rajputana is very simply effected. If tempers do not assimilateor other causes prompt them to part, the husband tears a shred fromhis turban which he gives to his wife, and with this simple bill ofdivorce, placing two jars of water on her head, she takes whateverpath she pleases, and the first man who chooses to ease her of herload becomes her future lord. '_Jehur nikala_, ' 'Took the jar and wentforth, ' is a common saying among the mountaineers of Merwara. [269]

The dead are cremated, the corpse of a man being wrapped in a whiteand 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 employthe Parsai or village Brahman to officiate at their ceremonies, butowing 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 alreadyseen, the trusted guards of the palace and treasury, and Rajputs willaccept food and water from their hands. This concession is no doubtdue to the familiarity induced by living together for a long period, and parallel instances of it can be given, as that of the Panwarsand Gonds in the Central Provinces. The Deswalis eat flesh and drinkliquor, but abstain from fowls and pork. When they are invited to afeast they do not take their own brass vessels with them, but drinkout of earthen pots supplied by the host, having the liquor pouredon to their hands held to the mouth to avoid actual contact with thevessel. This is a Marwari custom and the Jats also have it. Before thecommencement of the feast the guests wait until food has been given toas many beggars as like to attend. In Saugor the food served consistsonly of rice and pulse without vegetables or other dishes. It is saidthat a Mina will not eat salt in the house of another man, becausehe considers that to do so would establish the bond of _Nimak-khai_or salt-eating between them, and he would be debarred for ever fromrobbing that man or breaking into his house. The guests need notsit down together as among other Hindus, but may take their food inbatches; so that the necessity of awaiting the arrival of every guestbefore commencing the feast is avoided. The Deswalis will not killa black-buck nor eat the flesh of one, but they assign no reasonfor this and do not now worship the animal. The rule is probably, however, a totemistic survival. The men may be known by their manlygait and harsh tone of voice, as well as by a peculiar method of tyingthe turban; the women have a special ornament called _rakhdi_ on theforehead and do not wear spangles or toe-rings. They are said alsoto despise ornaments of the baser metals as brass and pewter. Theyare tattooed with dots on the face to set off the fair-coloured skinby contrast, in the same manner as patches were carried on the facein Europe in the eighteenth century. A tattoo dot on a fair face islikened 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. GeneralCunningham says that they are the bards and singers of the Meos orMewatis at all their marriages and festivals. [270] Mr. Crooke isof opinion that they are undoubtedly an offshoot of the great Domcaste who are little better than sweepers. [271] The word Mirasi isderived from the Arabic _miras_, inheritance, and its signification issupposed to be that the Mirasis are the hereditary bards and singersof the lower castes, as the Bhat is of the Rajputs. _Miras_ as aword may, however, be used of any hereditary right, as that of thevillage headman or Karnam, or even those of the village watchman ortemple dancing-girl, all of whom may have a _mirasi_ right to fees orperquisites or plots of land held as remuneration for service. [272]The Mirasis are also known as Pakhawaji, from the _pakhawaj_ ortimbrel which they play; as Kawwal or one who speaks fluently, thatis a professional, story-teller; and as Kalawant or one possessedof art or skill. The Mirasis are most numerous in the Punjab, wherethey number a quarter of a million. Sir D. Ibbetson says of them:[273] "The social position of the Mirasi as of all minstrel castes isexceedingly low, but he attends at weddings and similar occasions torecite genealogies. Moreover there are grades even among Mirasis. Theoutcaste tribes have their Mirasis, who though they do not eat withtheir clients and merely render their professional services areconsidered impure by the Mirasis of the higher castes. The Mirasiis generally a hereditary servant like the Bhat, and is notoriousfor his exactions, which he makes under the threat of lampooningthe ancestors of him from whom he demands fees. The Mirasi is almostalways a Muhammadan. " They are said to have been converted to Islamin response to the request of the poet Amir Khusru, who lived in thereign of Ala-ud-din Khilji (A. D. 1295). The Mirasi has two functions, the men being musicians, storytellers and genealogists, while the womendance and sing, but only before the ladies of the zenana. Mr. Nesfield[274] says that they are sometimes regularly entertained as jestersto help these ladies to kill time and reconcile them to their domesticprisons. 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 implementsof 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 1911about 4000 Mochis and 2000 Jingars were returned from the CentralProvinces and Berar, the former residing principally in the Hindustaniand the latter in the Marathi-speaking Districts. The name is derivedfrom the Sanskrit _mochika_ and the Hindustani _mojna_, to fold, andthe common name _mojah_ for socks and stockings is from the same root(Platts). By origin the Mochis are no doubt an offshoot of the Chamarcaste, but they now generally disclaim the connection. Mr. Nesfieldobserves [277] that, "The industry of tanning is preparatory to andlower than that of cobblery, and hence the caste of Chamar ranksdecidedly below that of Mochi. The ordinary Hindu does not considerthe touch of a Mochi so impure as that of the Chamar, and there is aHindu proverb to the effect that 'Dried or prepared hide is the samething as cloth, ' whereas the touch of the raw hide before it has beentanned by the Chamar is considered a pollution. The Mochi does noteat carrion like the Chamar, nor does he eat swine's flesh; nor doeshis wife ever practise the much-loathed art of midwifery. " In theCentral Provinces, as in northern India, the caste may be consideredto have two branches, the lower one consisting of the Mochis whomake and cobble shoes and are admittedly descended from Chamars;while the better-class men either make saddles and harness, when theyare known as Jingar; or bind books, when they are called Jildgar; orpaint and make clay idols, when they are given the designation eitherof Chitrakar, Chitevari or Murtikar. In Berar some Jingars have takenup the finer kinds of iron-work, such as mending guns, and are knownas Jirayat. All these are at great pains to dissociate themselvesfrom the Chamar caste. They call themselves Thakur or Rajput and haveexogamous sections the names of which are identical with those of theRajput 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 debasedBrahmans; while in the United Provinces Mr. Crooke considers them tobe connected with the Srivastab Kayasths, with whom they intermarryand agree in manners and customs. The fact that in the three Provincesthese workers in leather claim descent from three separate high castesis an interesting instance of the trouble which the lower-class Hinduswill take to obtain a slight increase in social consideration; butthe very diversity of the accounts given induces the belief that allMochis were originally sprung from the Chamars. In Bombay, again, Mr. Enthoven [278] writes that the caste prefers to style itselfArya 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 adducedby them in support of their Brahmanical descent are related [279] bySir 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 asa burnt-offering (_Ahuti_) to the gods. It was then the custom to eata portion of the sacrifice, restore the victim to life, and drive itinto the forest. On one occasion the Praja-pati failed to resuscitatethe sacrificial animal, owing to his wife, who was pregnant at thetime, having clandestinely made away with a portion. Alarmed at thishe summoned all the other Praja-patis, and they sought by divinationto discover the cause of the failure. At last they ascertained whathad occurred, and as a punishment the wife was cursed and expelledfrom their society. The child which she bore was the first Mochi ortanner, and from that time forth, mankind being deprived of the powerof reanimating cattle slaughtered for food, the pious abandoned thepractice of killing kine altogether. Another story is that Muchiram, the ancestor of the caste, was born from the sweat of Brahma whiledancing. He chanced to offend the irritable sage Durvasa, who sent apretty Brahman widow to allure him into a breach of chastity. Muchiramaccosted the widow as mother, and refused to have anything to dowith her; but Durvasa used the miraculous power he had acquired bypenance to render the widow pregnant so that the innocent Muchiramwas made an outcaste on suspicion. From her two sons are descendedthe 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 wholecaste in the northern Districts, and Jingar in the Maratha country;while the Chitrakars or painters form a separate group. Though thetrades of cobbler and book-binder are now widely separated in civilisedcountries, the connection between them is apparent since both workin leather. It is not at first sight clear why the painter shouldbe of the same caste, but the reason is perhaps that his brushes aremade of the hair of animals, and this is also regarded as impure, asbeing a part of the hide. If such be the case a senseless caste ruleof ceremonial impurity has prevented the art of painting from beingcultivated by the Hindus; and the comparatively poor development oftheir music may perhaps be ascribed to the same cause, since the useof the sinews of animals for stringed instruments would also preventthe educated classes from learning to play them. Thus no stringedinstruments are permitted to be used in temples, but only the gong, cymbal, horn and conch-shell. And this rule would greatly discouragethe cultivation of music, which art, like all the others, has usuallyserved in its early period as an appanage to religious services. Ithas been held that instruments were originally employed at temples andshrines in order to scare away evil spirits by their noise while thegod was being fed or worshipped, and not for the purpose of callingthe worshippers together; since noise is a recognised means of drivingaway spirits, probably in consequence of its effect in frightening wildanimals. It is for the same end that music is essential at weddings, especially during the night when the spirits are more potent; andthis is the primary object of the continuous discordant din whichthe Hindus consider a necessary accompaniment to a wedding. 

Except for this ceremonial strictness Hinduism should have beenfavourable to the development of both painting and sculpture, as beinga polytheistic religion. In the early stages of society religion andart are intimately connected, as is shown by the fact that images andpaintings are at first nearly always of deities or sacred persons oranimals, and it is only after a considerable period of developmentthat secular subjects are treated. Similarly architecture is in itscommencement found to be applied solely to sacred buildings, as templesand churches, and is only gradually diverted to secular buildings. Thefigures 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 untilrecently all of deities or divine animals, though secular paintingsmay now occasionally be met with. And the uneducated believers in apolytheistic religion regularly take the image for the deity himself, at first scarcely conceiving of the one apart from the other. Thussome Bharewas or brass-workers say that they dare not make metalimages of the gods, because they are afraid that the badness of theirhandiwork might arouse the wrath of the gods and move them to takerevenge. The surmise might in fact be almost justifiable that the endto which figures of men and animals were first drawn or painted, ormodelled in clay or metal was that they might be worshipped as imagesof the deities, the savage mind not distinguishing at all between animage of the god and the god himself. For this reason monotheisticreligions would be severely antagonistic to the arts, and such is infact 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 lastjudgment the persons represented by him will come out of the tomband 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. " Andin Judaism the familiar prohibition of the Second Commandment appearsto be directed to the same end. 

Hindu sculpture has indeed been fairly prolific, but is not generallyconsidered to have attained to any degree of artistic merit. Sincesculpture is mainly concerned with the human form it seems clear thatan appreciation of the beauty of muscular strength and the symmetricaldevelopment of the limbs is an essential preliminary to success inthis art; and such a feeling can only arise among a people who setmuch store on feats of bodily strength and agility. This has neverbeen the character of the Hindus, whose religion encourages asceticismand mortification of the body, and points to mental self-absorptionand detachment from worldly cares and exercises as the highest typeof 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 latterallege that the Mochis have stolen their _rampi_, the knife withwhich they cut leather. On this account the Chamars will neither takewater to drink from the Mochis nor mend their shoes, and will noteven permit them to try on a new pair of shoes until they have paidthe price set on them; for they say that the Mochis are half-bredChamars and therefore cannot be permitted to defile the shoes ofa 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 theymay be put no longer affects him. 

5. Exogamous groups

In the Central Provinces the Mochis are said to have fortyexogamous sections or _gotras_, of which the bulk are named afterall the well-known Rajput clans, while two agree with those of theChamars. And they have also an equal number of _kheras_ or groups namedafter villages. The limits of the two groups seem to be identical;thus members of the sept named after the Kachhwaha Rajputs say thattheir _khera_ or village name is Mungavali in Gwalior; those of theGhangere sept give Chanderi as their _khera_, the Sitawat sept Dhamoniin Saugor, the Didoria Chhatarpur, the Narele Narwar, and so on. Thenames of the village groups have now been generally forgotten andthey are said to have no influence on marriage, which is regulatedby the Rajput sept names; but it seems probable that the _kheras_were the original divisions and the Rajput _gotras_ have been morerecently adopted in support of the claims already noticed. 

6. Social customs

The Mochis have adopted the customs of the higher Hindu castes. Aman may not take a wife from his own _gotra_, his mother's _gotra_ orfrom a family into which a girl from his own family has married. Theyusually marry their daughters in childhood and employ Brahmans intheir ceremonies, and no degradation attaches to these latter forserving as their priests. In minor domestic ceremonies for which theBrahman 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 permitwidow-remarriage and divorce, and in the southern Districts effecta divorce by laying a pestle between the wife and husband. They burntheir dead and observe mourning for the usual period. After a deaththey will not again put on a coloured head-cloth until some relativesets it on their heads for the first time on the expiry of the periodof mourning. They revere the ordinary Hindu deities, and like theChamars they have a family god, known as Mair, whose representationin the shape of a lump of clay is enshrined within the house andworshipped at marriages and deaths. In Saugor he is said to be thecollective representative of the spirits of their ancestors. In somelocalities they eat flesh and drink liquor, but in others abstain fromboth. Among the Hindus the Mochis rank considerably higher than theChamars; their touch does not defile and they are permitted to entertemples and take part in religious ceremonies. The name of a SaugorMochi is remembered who became a good drawer and painter and washeld in much esteem at the Peshwa's court. In northern India abouthalf the Mochis are Muhammadans, but in the Central Provinces theyare all Hindus. 

7. Shoes

In view of the fact that many of the Mochis were Muhammadans and thatslippers are mainly a Muhammadan article of attire Buchanan thoughtit probable that they were brought into India by the invaders, theHindus having previously been content with sandals and wooden shoes. Hewrote: "Many Hindus now use leather slippers, but some adhere to theproper custom of wearing sandals, which have wooden soles, a strapof leather to pass over the instep, and a wooden or horn peg with abutton on its top. The foot is passed through the strap and the pegis placed between two of the toes. " [280] It is certain, however, that leather shoes and slippers were known to the Hindus from a fairlyearly period: "The episode related in the Ramayana of Bharata placingon the vacant throne of Ajodhya a pair of Rama's slippers, which heworshipped during the latter's protracted exile, shows that shoeswere important articles of wear and worthy of attention. In Manu andthe Mahabharata slippers are also mentioned and the time and mode ofputting them on pointed out. The Vishnu Purana enjoins all who wishto protect their persons never to be without leather shoes. Manuin one place expresses great repugnance to stepping into another'sshoes and peremptorily forbids it, and the Puranas recommend theuse of shoes when walking out of the house, particularly in thornyplaces and on hot sand. " [281] Thus shoes were certainly worn by theHindus before Muhammadan times, though loose slippers may have beenbrought into fashion by the latter. And it seems possible that theMochis may have adopted Islam, partly to obtain the patronage of thefollowers of the new religion, and also to escape from the degradedposition to which their profession of leather-working was relegatedby Hinduism and to dissociate themselves from the Chamars. 

Mowar

_Mowar. _--A small caste of cultivators found in the Chhattisgarhcountry, in the Raipur and Bilaspur Districts and the RaigarhState. They numbered 2500 persons in 1901. The derivation of the nameis obscure, but they themselves say that it is derived from Mow orMowagarh, a town in the Jhansi District of the United Provinces, andthey also call themselves Mahuwar or the inhabitants of Mow. Theysay 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, andwhen the Raja persisted in his desire they left the place in a bodyand came to Ratanpur in the time of Raja Bimbaji, in A. D. 1770. ABilaspur writer states that the Mowars are an offshoot from theRajwar Rajputs of Sarguja State. Colonel Dalton writes [282] of theRajwar Rajputs of Sarguja and other adjoining States that they arepeaceably disposed cultivators, who declare themselves to be fallenKshatriyas; but he remarks later that they are probably aborigines, as they do not conform to Hindu customs, and they are skilled in adance called Chailo, which he considers to be of Dravidian origin. Inanother place he remarks that the Rajwars of Bengal admit that theyare derived from the miscegenation of Kurmis and Kols. The fact thatthe Mowars of Sarangarh make a representation of a bow and arrow ontheir documents, instead of signing their names, affords some supportto the theory that they are probably a branch of one of the aboriginaltribes. The name may be derived from _mowa_, a radish, as the Mowarsof Bilaspur are engaged principally in garden cultivation. 

The Mowars have no subcastes, but are divided into a number ofexogamous groups, principally of a totemistic nature. Those of theSurajha or sun sept throw away their earthen pots on the occasion of aneclipse, and those of the Hataia or elephant sept will not ride on anelephant and worship that animal at the Dasahra festival. Members ofother septs named after the cobra, the crow, the monkey and the tigerwill not kill their totem animal, and when they see the dead body ofone of its species they throw away their earthen cooking-pots as asign of mourning. The marriage of persons belonging to the same septand also that of first cousins is prohibited. If an unmarried girl isseduced 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 wrongwith an outsider is finally cast out. The marriage and other socialcustoms resemble those of the Kurmis. The caste employ Brahmans attheir ceremonies and have a great regard for them. Their _gurus_ orspiritual preceptors are Bairagis and Gosains. They eat the fleshof clean animals and a few drink liquor, but most of them abstainfrom it. Their women are tattooed on the arms and hands with figuresintended to represent deer, flies and other animals and insects. Thecaste say that they were formerly employed as soldiers under thenative chiefs, but they are now all cultivators. They grow all kindsof grain and vegetables, except turmeric and onions. A few of themare landowners, and the majority tenants. Very few are constrainedto labour for hire. In appearance the men are generally strong andhealthy, and of a dark complexion. 

Murha

1. Origin of the caste

_Murha. _--A Dravidian, caste of navvies and labourers found inJubbulpore and the adjoining Districts, to the number of about1500 persons. The name Murha has been held to show that the casteare connected with the Munda tribe. The Murhas, however, callthemselves also Khare Bind Kewat and Lunia or Nunia (salt-maker), and in Jubbulpore they give these two names as subdivisions of thecaste. And these names indicate that the caste are an offshoot ofthe large Bind tribe of Bengal and northern India, though in partsof the Central Provinces they have probably been recruited from theKols or Mundas. Sir H. Risley [283] records a story related by theBinds to the effect that they and the Nunias were formerly one, andthat the existing Nunias are descended from a Bind who consented todig a grave for a Muhammadan king and was put out of caste for doingso. And he remarks that the Binds may be a true primitive tribe andthe Nunias a functional group differentiated from them by taking tothe manufacture of earth salt. This explanation of the relationshipof the Binds and Nunias seems almost certainly correct. In the UnitedProvinces the Binds are divided into the Khare and Dhusia or first andsecond subcastes, and the Khare Binds also call themselves Kewat. [284]And the Murhas of Narsinghpur call themselves Khare Bind Kewats, thoughthe other Kewats repudiate all connection with them. There seems thusto be no doubt that the Murhas of these Provinces are another offshootof the Bind tribe like the Nunias, who have taken up the profession ofnavvies and earthworkers and thus become a separate caste. Mr. HiraLal notes that the Narsinghpur District contains a village Nonia, which is inhabited solely by Murhas who call themselves Khare BindKewat. As the village is no doubt named Nonia or Nunia after them, we thus have an instance of all the three designations being appliedto the same set of persons. The Murhas say that they came intoNarsinghpur from Rewah, and they still speak the Bagheli dialect, though the current vernacular of the locality is Bundeli. The Bindsthemselves derive their name from the Vindhya (Bindhya) hills. [285]They relate that a traveller passing by the Vindhya hills heard astrange flute-like sound coming out of a clump of bamboos. He cuta shoot and took from it a fleshy substance, which afterwards grewinto a man, the supposed ancestor of the Binds. In Mandla the Murhassay that the difference between themselves and the Nunias is that thelatter make field-embankments and other earthwork, while the Murhaswork in stone and build bridges. According to their own story theywere brought to Mandla from their home in Eastern Oudh more than tengenerations ago by a Gond king of the Garha-Mandla dynasty for thepurpose of building his fort or castle. He gave them two villagesfor their maintenance which they have now lost. The caste has, however, probably received some local accretions and in Mandla someMurhas appear to be Kols; members of this tribe are generally abovethe average in bodily strength and are in considerable request foremployment on earth- and stone-work. 

2. Marriage customs

In Narsinghpur the Murhas appear to have no regular exogamousdivisions. Some of them remember the names of their _kheros_ orancestral villages and do not marry with families belonging to thesame _khero_, but this is not a regular rule of the caste. Generallyspeaking, persons descended through males from a common ancestor do notintermarry so long as they remember the relationship. In Mandla theyhave five divisions, of which the highest is Purbia. The name Purbia(Eastern) is commonly applied in the Central Provinces to personscoming from Oudh, and in this case the Purbia Murhas are probablythe latest immigrants from home and have a superior status on thisaccount. Up till recently they practised hypergamy with the othergroups, taking daughters from them in marriage, but not giving theirdaughters to them. This rule is now, however, breaking down on accountof the difficulty they find in getting their daughters married. Thechildren of brothers and sisters may marry in some places, but inothers neither they nor their children may marry with each other. AntaSanta or the exchange of girls between two families is permitted. Thebridegroom'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 theremuneration of the latter for having brought up his daughter. Inthe case of the daughter of a headman the bride-price is sometimes ashigh as Rs. 150. In Damoh a curious survival of marriage by captureremains. The bridegroom's party give a ram or he-goat to the bride'sparty and these take it to their shed, cut its head off and hang itby the side of the _kham_ or marriage-pole. The brother-in-law of thebridegroom or of his father then sallies forth to bring back the headof the animal, but is opposed by the women of the bride's party, whobelabour him and his friends with sticks, brooms and rolling-pins. Butin the end the head is always taken away. The binding portion of themarriage is the _bhanwar_ or walking round the sacred post. When thebride is leaving for her husband's house the women of her party takeseven balls of flour with burning wicks thrust into them, and placethem in a winnowing-fan. They wave this round the bride's head andthen throw the balls and after them the fan over the litter in whichthe bride is seated. The bridegroom's party must catch the fan, andif they let it fall to the ground they are much laughed at for theirclumsiness. When the pair arrive at the bridegroom's house, the fan isagain waved over their heads; and a cloth is spread before the house, on which seven burning wicks are placed like the previous ones. Thebride walks quickly over the cloth to the house and the bridegroommust keep pace with her, picking up the burning flour balls as hegoes. When the pair arrive at the house the bridegroom's sister shutsthe door and will not open it until she is given a present. Divorceand the remarriage of widows are permitted. 

3. Funeral rites

The caste worship the ordinary Hindu deities. Well-to-do membersburn their dead and the poorer ones bury them. The corpse is usuallyplaced with the head to the south as is the custom among the primitivetribes, but in some localities the Hindu fashion of laying the head tothe north has been adopted. Two pice are thrown down by the grave orburning-_ghat_ to buy the site, and these are taken by the sweeper. Theashes are collected on the third day and thrown into a river. The usualperiod of mourning is only three days, but it is sometimes extended tonine days when the chief mourner is unable to feed the caste-fellowson the third day, and the feast may in case of necessity be postponedto any time within six months of the death. The chief mourner putson 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 buildingwalls, excavating trenches, and making embankments in fields. Theirtrade implements consist of a pickaxe, a basket, and a thin wooden hodto 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 mywork!" The Murhas are strict in their rules about food and will notaccept cooked food even from a Brahman, but notwithstanding this, their social position is so low that not even a sweeper would takefood from them. The caste eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstainfrom fowls, pork and beef. They engage Brahmans on the occasion ofbirths and marriages, but not usually for funerals. The women tattootheir bodies after marriage, and the charge for this should always bepaid by the maternal uncle's wife, the paternal aunt, or some othersimilar relation of the girl. The fact that among most Hindus a girlmust be tattooed before leaving for her husband's house, and thatthe cost of the operation must always be paid for by her own family, seems to indicate that tattooing was formerly a rite of puberty forthe female sex. A wife must not mention the name of her husband or ofany person who stands in the relation of father, mother, uncle or auntto him. Parents do not call their eldest son by his proper name, butby some pet name. Women are impure for five days during menstruationand are not allowed to cook for that period. The Murhas have a caste_panchayat_ or committee, the head of which is known as Patel orMukhia, the office being hereditary. He receives a part of all fineslevied for the commission of social offences. In appearance the casteare 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 asthey are carrying the basketfuls of earth or stones at their work;in the original each line consists of two parts, the last words ofwhich 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 theChota Nagpur States. They now number 16, 000 persons in the CentralProvinces, being returned almost entirely from Jashpur and Sarguja. Thecensus returns are, however, liable to be inaccurate as the Nagasiasfrequently call themselves Kisan, a term which is also applied tothe Oraons. The Nagasias say that they are the true Kisans whereasthe Oraons are only so by occupation. The Oraons, on the other hand, call the Nagasias Kisada. The tribe derive their name from the Nagor cobra, and they say that somebody left an infant in the forestof Setambu and a cobra came and spread its hood over the child toprotect him from the rays of the sun. Some Mundas happened to passby and on seeing this curious sight they thought the child must bedestined to greatness, so they took him home and made him their king, calling him Nagasia, and from him the tribe are descended. The episodeof the snake is, of course, a stock legend related by many tribes, but the story appears to indicate that the Nagasias are an offshootof the Mundas; and this hypothesis is strengthened by the fact thatNagbasia is often used as an alternative name for the Mundas by theirHindu neighbours. The term Nagbasia is supposed to mean the originalsettlers (_basia_) in Nag (Chota Nagpur). 

The tribe are divided into the Telha, Dhuria and Senduria groups. TheTelhas are so called because at the marriage ceremony they mark theforehead of the bride with _tel_ (oil), while the Dhurias instead ofoil 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, butnot with the Sendurias, who consider themselves to be superior tothe others and use the term Nagbansia or 'Descendants of the Snake'as their tribal name. The Telha and Dhuria women do not wear glassbangles on their arms but only bracelets of brass, while the Senduriaswear glass bangles and also armlets above the elbow. Telha women donot wear nose-rings or tattoo their bodies, while the Sendurias doboth. The Telhas say that the tattooing needle and vermilion, whichthey formerly employed in their marriages, were stolen from them byWagdeo or the tiger god. So they hit upon sesamum oil as a substitute, which must be pressed for ceremonial purposes in a bamboo basket byunmarried boys using a plough-yoke. This is probably, Mr. Hira Lalremarks, merely the primitive method of extracting oil, prior to theinvention of the Teli's _ghani_ or oil-press; and the practice isan instance of the common rule that articles employed in ceremonialand religious rites should be prepared by the ancient and primitivemethods which for ordinary purposes have been superseded by morerecent labour-saving inventions. 

Nahal

1. The tribe and its subdivisions

_Nahal, Nihal. _ [288]--A forest tribe who are probably a mixtureof Bhils and Korkus. In 1911 they numbered 12, 000 persons, of whom8000 belonged to the Hoshangabad, Nimar and Betul Districts, andnearly 4000 to Berar. They were classed at the census as a subtribeof Korkus. According to one story they are descended from a Bhilfather and a Korku mother, and the writer of the _Khandesh Gazetteer_calls them the most savage of the Bhils. But in the Central Provincestheir family or sept names are the same as those of the Korkus, and they speak the Korku language. Mr. Kitts [289] says that theKorkus who first went to Berar found the Nahals in possession ofthe Melghat hills. Gradually the latter caste lost their power andbecame the village drudges of the former. He adds that the Nahalswere fast losing their language, and the younger generation spoke onlyKorku. The two tribes were very friendly, and the Nahals acknowledgedthe superior position of the Korkus. This, if it accurately representsthe state of things prevailing for a long period, and was not merely anincidental feature of their relative position at the time Mr. Kitts'observations were made, would tend to show that the Nahals were theolder tribe and had been subjected by the Korkus, just as the Korkusthemselves and the Baigas have given way to the Gonds. Mr. Crosthwaitealso states that the Nahal is the drudge of the Korku and belongs toa race which is supposed to have been glorious before the Korku stararose, and which is now fast dying out. In any case there is no doubtthat the Nahals are a very mixed tribe, as they will even now admitinto the community Gonds, Korkus and nearly all the Hindu castes, though in some localities they will not eat from the other tribesand the lower Hindu castes and therefore refuse to admit them. Thereare, moreover, two subdivisions of the caste called Korku and MarathiNahals respectively. The latter are more Hinduised than the former anddisclaim any connection with the Korkus. The Nahals have totemisticexogamous septs. Those of the Kasa sept worship a tortoise and alsoa bell-metal plate, which is their family god. They never eat off abell-metal plate except on one day in the month of Magh (January), when they worship it. The members of the Nagbel sept worship thebetel-vine or 'snake-creeper, ' and refrain from chewing betel-leaves, and they also worship the Nag or cobra and do not kill it, thus havinga 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 thehoney-comb from a nest they will run away. The Khadia sept worshipthe spirits of their ancestors enshrined in a heap of stones (_khad_), or according to another account they worship a snake which sits on aheap of pebbles. The Surja sept worship Surya or the sun by offeringhim a fowl in the month of Pus (December-January), and some members ofthe 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 areno other restrictions and first cousins may marry. Both sexes usuallymarry when adult, and sexual license before wedlock is tolerated. ABrahman is employed only for fixing the date of the ceremony. Theprincipal part of the marriage is the knotting together of the bride'sand bridegroom's clothes on two successive days. They also gamble withtamarind seeds, and it is considered a lucky union if the bridegroomwins. A bride-price is usually paid consisting of Rs. 1-4 to Rs. 5in cash, some grain and a piece of cloth for the bride's mother. Theremarriage of widows is allowed, and the couple go five times rounda bamboo stick which is held up to represent a spear, the ceremonybeing called _barchhi se bhanwar phirna_ or the marriage of the spear. 

3. Religion

The Nahals worship the forest god called Jharkhandi in the monthof Chait, and until this rite has been performed they do not usethe leaves or fruits of the _palas_, [290] _aonla_ [291] or mangotrees. When the god is worshipped they collect branches and leavesof these trees and offer cooked food to them and thereafter commenceusing the new leaves, and the fruit and timber. They also worship theordinary village godlings. The dead are buried, except in the caseof members of the Surja or sun sept, whose corpses are burnt. Cookedfood 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 themarauding bands of the western Satpura hills. The Raja of Jitgarh andMohkot in Nimar has a long account in his genealogy of a treacherousmassacre of a whole tribe of Nahals by his ancestor in Akbar's time, in recognition of which the Jitgarh pargana was granted to thefamily. Mr. Kitts speaks of the Nahals of Berar as having once beenmuch addicted to cattle-lifting, and this propensity still exists ina minor degree in the Central Provinces, accentuated probably by thefact that a considerable number of Nahals follow the occupation ofgraziers. Some of them are also village watchmen, and another specialavocation of theirs is the collection of the oil of the marking-nuttree (_Semecarpus anacardium_). This is to some extent a dangeroustrade, as the oil causes swellings on the body, besides staining theskin and leaving a peculiar odour. The workers wrap a fourfold layerof cloth round their fingers with ashes between each fold, while therest of the body is also protected by cloth when gathering the nutsand pounding them to extract the oil. At the end of the day's workpowdered tamarind and _ghi_ are rubbed on the whole body. The oilis a stimulant, and is given to women after delivery and to personssuffering from rheumatism. 

5. Social status

The social status of the Nahals is very low and they eat the flesh ofalmost all animals, while those who graze cattle eat beef. Cow-killingis not regarded as an offence. They are also dirty and do not bathefor weeks together. To get maggots in a wound is, however, regardedas a grave offence, and the sufferer is put out of the village andhas 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 occupationalcaste of barbers. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit_napita_ according to some a corruption of _snapitri_, one whobathes. In Bundelkhand he is also known as Khawas, which was atitle for the attendant on a grandee; and Birtiya, or 'He thatgets his maintenance (_vritti_) from his constituents. ' [293]Mhali is the Marathi name for the caste, Bhandari the Uriya nameand Mangala the Telugu name. The caste numbered nearly 190, 000persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, being distributed overall Districts. Various legends of the usual type are related ofits origin, but, as Sir. H. Risley observes, it is no doubt whollyof a functional character. The subcastes in the Central Provincesentirely bear out this view, as they are very numerous and principallyof the territorial type: Telange of the Telugu country, Marathe, Pardeshi or northerners, Jharia or those of the forest country of theWainganga Valley, Bandhaiya or those of Bandhogarh, Barade of Berar, Bundelkhandi, Marwari, Mathuria from Mathura, Gadhwaria from Garhanear Jubbulpore, Lanjia from Lanji in Balaghat, Malwi from Malwa, Nimari from Nimar, Deccane, Gujarati, and so on. Twenty-six divisionsin 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 marriagebetween members of the same group is prohibited. Girls are usuallywedded between the ages of eight and twelve and boys between fifteenand twenty. A girl who goes wrong before marriage is finally expelledfrom the caste. The wedding ceremony follows the ritual prevalentin the locality as described in the articles on Kurmi and Kunbi. Atan ordinary wedding the expenses on the girl's side amount to aboutRs. 150, and on the boy's to Rs. 200. The remarriage of widows ispermitted. In the northern Districts the widow may wed the youngerbrother of her deceased husband, but in the Maratha country she maynot be married to any of his relatives. Divorce may be effected atthe instance of the husband before the caste committee, and a divorcedwoman is at liberty to marry again. The Nais worship all the ordinaryHindu deities. On the Dasahra and Diwali festivals they wash and reveretheir implements, the razor, scissors and nail-pruners. They pay regardto omens. It is unpropitious to sneeze or hear the report of a gunwhen about to commence any business; and when a man is starting on ajourney, if a cat, a squirrel, a hare or a snake should cross the roadin front of him he will give it up and return home. The bodies of thedead are usually burnt. In Chhattisgarh the poor throw the corpses oftheir dead into the Mahanadi, and the bodies of children dying underone year of age were until recently buried in the courtyard of thehouse. The period of mourning for adults is ten days and for childrenthree days. The chief mourner must take only one meal a day, whichhe cooks himself until the ceremony of the tenth day is performed. 

3. Occupation

"The barber's trade, " Mr. Crooke states, [294] "is undoubtedly ofgreat antiquity. In the Veda we read, 'Sharpen us like the razor in thehands of the barber'; and again, 'Driven by the wind, Agni shaves thehair of the earth like the barber shaving a beard. '" In early timesthey must have enjoyed considerable dignity; Upali the barber wasthe first propounder of the law of the Buddhist church. The villagebarber's leather bag contains a small mirror (_arsi_), a pair ofiron pincers (_chimta_), a leather strap, a comb (_kanghi_), a pieceof cloth about a yard square and some oil in a phial. He shaves thefaces, heads and armpits of his customers, and cuts the nails of boththeir 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 thepoorer cultivators he does a rapid scrape, and this process is called'_asudhal_' or a 'tearful shave, ' because the person undergoing it isoften constrained to weep. The barber acquires the knowledge of his artby practice on the more obliging of his customers, hence the proverb, 'The barber's son learns his trade on the heads of fools. ' The villagebarber is usually paid by a contribution of grain from the cultivators, calculated in some cases according to the number of ploughs of landpossessed by each, in others according to the number of adult males inthe family. In Saugor he receives 20 lbs. Of grain annually for eachadult male or 22 1/2 lbs. Per plough of land, besides presents of abasket of grain at seed-time and a sheaf at harvest. Cultivators areusually shaved about once a fortnight. In towns the barber's fee mayvary 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. Itis said that Berar is now so rich that even ordinary cultivators canafford to pay the barber two annas (2d. ) for a single shave, or thesame 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 alsodoes massage, a very favourite method of treatment in India, and alsoinexpensive as compared with Europe. For one rupee a month in townsthe barber will come and rub a man's legs five or ten minutes everyday. Cultivators have their legs rubbed in the sowing season, when thelabour is intensely hard owing to the necessity of sowing all the landin a short period. If a man is well-to-do he may have his whole headand body rubbed with scented oil. Landowners have often a barber as afamily servant, the office descending from father to son. Such a manwill light his master's _chilam_ (pipe-bowl) or huqqa (water-pipe), clean and light lamps, prepare his bed, tell his master stories to sendhim to sleep, act as escort for the women of the family when they goon a journey and arrange matches for the children. The barber's wifeattends 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 paintstheir 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 connectionwith marriages and other festival occasions. He acts as the Brahman'sassistant, and to the lower castes, who cannot employ a Brahman, he is himself the matrimonial priest. The important part which heplays in marriage ceremonies has led to his becoming the matchmakeramong all respectable castes. He searches for a suitable bride orbridegroom, and is often sent to inspect the other party to a matchand report his or her defects to his clients. He may arrange theprice or dowry, distribute the invitations and carry the presentsfrom one house to the other. He supplies the leaf-plates and cupswhich are used at weddings, as the family's stock of metal vesselsis usually quite inadequate for the number of guests. The price ofthese 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 andround the marriage-shed. At the feast the barber is present to handto the guests water, betel-leaf and pipes as they may desire. He alsopartakes of the food, seated at a short distance from the guests, in the intervals of his service. He lights the lamps and carriesthe torches during the ceremony. Hence he was known as Masalchi ortorch-bearer, a name now applied by Europeans to a menial servant wholights and cleans the lamps and washes the plates after meals. Thebarber 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 otherwisesitting behind them. The barber has a prescriptive right to receivethe clothes in which the bridegroom goes to the bride's house, ason the latter's arrival he is always presented with new clothes bythe bride's father. As the bridegroom's clothes may be an ancestralheirloom, 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 firstson is born in a family the barber takes a long bamboo stick, wrapsit round with cloth and puts an earthen pot over it and carries thisround to the relatives, telling them the good news. He receives asmall 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 hispatients, applies leeches, takes out teeth and lances boils. In thiscapacity he is the counterpart of the barber-surgeon of mediaevalEurope. The Hindu physicians are called Baid, and are, as a rule, a class of Brahmans. They derive their knowledge from ancientSanskrit treatises on medicine, which are considered to have divineauthority. Consequently they think it unnecessary to acquire freshknowledge by experiment and observation, as they suppose the perfectscience of medicine to be contained in their sacred books. As thesebooks probably do not describe surgical operations, of which little ornothing was known at the time when they were written, and as surgeryinvolves contact with blood and other impure substances, the Baids donot practise it, and the villagers are left to get on as best they canwith the ministrations of the barber. It is interesting to note that asimilar state of things appears to have prevailed in Europe. The monkswere the early practitioners of medicine and were forbidden to practisesurgery, which was thus left to the barber-chirurgeon. The status ofthe 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 derivedfrom this. It is also said that the barber's pole originally servedas a support for the patient to lean on while he was being bled, and those barbers who did the work of bleeding patients painted theirpoles 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 nota 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 positionof a favourite courtier. He was entrusted with the supply of everyEuropean article used at court, and by degrees became a regular guestat the royal table, and sat down to take dinner with the king as amatter of right; nor would his majesty taste a bottle of wine openedby any other hands than the barber's. [297] This was, however, a wiseprecaution as it turned out, since after he had finally been forced topart with the barber the king was poisoned by his own relatives. Thebarber was also made keeper of the royal menagerie, for which hesupplied the animals and their food, and made enormous profits. Thefollowing is an account of the presentation of the barber's monthlybill of expenses: [298] "It was after tiffin, or lunch, when we usuallyretired from the palace until dinner-time at nine o'clock, that thefavourite entered with a roll of paper in his hand. In India, longdocuments, legal and commercial, are usually written, not in booksor on successive sheets, but on a long roll, strip being joined tostrip 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 inthe 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 asit retreated. It reached to the other side of the long apartment--agoodly array of items and figures, closely written too. The kingwanted it measured. A measure was brought and the bill was foundto be four yards and a half long. I glanced at the amount; it wasupwards of Rs. 90, 000, or £9000!"

The barber, however, encouraged the king in every form of dissipationand excess, until the state of the Oudh court became such a scandalthat the king was forced by the British Government to dismisshim. [299] He retired, it was said, with a fortune of £240, 000. 

8. Character and position of the barber

The barber is also, Mr. Low writes, [300] the scandal-bearer andgossip-monger of the village. His cunning is proverbial, and he isknown 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 expenseof others. ' His loquacity is shown in the proverb, 'As the crow amongbirds so the barber among men. ' The barber and the professional Brahmanare considered to be jealous of their perquisites and unwilling toshare with their caste-fellows, and this is exemplified in the proverb, "The barber, the dog and the Brahman, these three snarl at meeting oneof their own kind. " The joint association of the Brahman priest andthe barber with marriages and other ceremonies has led to the saying, "As there are always reeds in a river so there is always a barberwith a Brahman. " The barber's astuteness is alluded to in the saying, 'Nine barbers are equal to seventy-two tailors. ' The fact that itis the barber's duty to carry the lights in marriage processions hasled to the proverb, "At the barber's wedding all are gentlemen and itis awkward to have to ask somebody to carry the torch. " The point ofthis is clear, though no English equivalent occurs to the mind. Anda similar idea is expressed by 'The barber washes the feet of othersbut is ashamed to wash his own. ' It would appear from these proverbsthat the Nai is considered to enjoy a social position somewhat abovehis deserts. Owing to the nature of his duties, which make him afamiliar inmate of the household and bring him into contact with thepersons of his high-caste clients, the caste of the Nai is necessarilyconsidered to be a pure one and Brahmans will take water from hishands. But, on the other hand, his calling is that of a village menialand has also some elements of impurity, as in cupping which involvescontact with blood, and in cutting the nails and hair of the corpsebefore cremation. He is thus looked down upon as a menial and alsoconsidered as to some extent impure. No member of a cultivating castewould salute a barber first or look upon him as an equal, thoughBrahmans put them on the same level of ceremonial purity by takingwater from both. The barber's loquacity and assurance have been madefamous by the _Arabian Nights_, but they have perhaps been affected bythe more strenuous character of life, and his conversation does notflow so freely as it did. Often he now confines himself to approvingand adding emphasis to any remarks of the patron and greeting any ofhis little witticisms with bursts of obsequious laughter. In Madras, Mr. Pandian states, the village barber, like the washerman, is knownas 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, engageshim in a dispute and says something to excite his anger. The latterwill then become abusive to the barber, whom he regards as a menial, and perhaps strike him, and this gives the barber an opportunityto stop shaving him and rush off to lay a complaint at the villagecourt-house, leaving his enemy to proceed home with half his headshaved and thus exposed to general ridicule. [301]

9. Beliefs about hair

Numerous customs appear to indicate that the hair was regarded as thespecial seat of bodily strength. The Rajput warriors formerly woretheir hair long and never cut it, but trained it in locks over theirshoulders. Similarly the Maratha soldiers wore their hair long. TheHatkars, a class of Maratha spearmen, might never cut their hair whileengaged on military service. A Sikh writer states of Guru Govind, the founder of the militant Sikh confederacy: "He appeared as thetenth Avatar (incarnation of Vishnu). He established the Khalsa, hisown sect, and by exhibiting singular energy, leaving the hair on hishead, and seizing the scimitar, he smote every wicked person. " [302]As is well known, no Sikh may cut his hair, and one of the fivemarks of the Sikh is the _kanga_ or comb, which he must always carryin 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 attachedby the Sikh to his hair and beard: "Three inferior agents of Sikhchiefs were one day in my tent. I was laughing and joking with oneof them, a Khalsa Sikh, who said he had been ordered to attend me toCalcutta. Among other subjects of our mirth I rallied him on trustinghimself 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, imitatingthe act of shaving. The man's face was in an instant distorted withrage 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 tosmile at your action. ' It was with the greatest difficulty and onlyby the good offices of some Sikh Chiefs that I was able to pacifyhis wounded honour. " [304] These instances appear to show clearlythat the Sikhs considered their hair of vital importance; and asfighting was their object in life, it seems most probable that theythought their strength in war was bound up in it. Similarly whenthe ancient Spartans were on a military expedition purple garmentswere worn and their hair was carefully decked with wreaths, a thingwhich was never done at home. [305] And when Leonidas and his threehundred were holding the pass of Thermopylae, and Xerxes sent scoutsto ascertain what the Greeks were doing in their camp, the report wasthat some of them were engaged in gymnastics and warlike exercises, while others were merely sitting and combing their long hair. Ifthe hypothesis already suggested is correct, the Spartan youths soengaged were perhaps not merely adorning themselves for death, but, as they thought, obtaining their full strength for battle. "The customof keeping the hair unshorn during a dangerous expedition appears tohave been observed, at least occasionally, by the Romans. Achilleskept unshorn his yellow hair, because his father had vowed to offerit to the river Sperchius if ever his son came home from the warsbeyond the sea. " [306]

When the Bhils turned out to fight they let down their long hairprior to beginning the conflict with their bows and arrows. [307]The pirates of Surat, before boarding a ship, drank _bhang_ andhemp-liquor, and when they wore their long hair loose they gave noquarter. [308] The Mundas appear to have formerly worn their hair longand some still do. Those who are converted to Christianity must cuttheir hair, but a non-Christian Munda must always keep the _chundi_or pigtail. If the _chundi_ is very long it is sometimes tied up ina knot. [309] Similarly the Oraons wore their hair long like women, gathered in a knot behind, with a wooden or iron comb in it. Thosewho are Christians can be recognised by the fact that they have cutoff their pigtails. A man of the low Pardhi caste of hunters mustnever have his hair touched by a razor after he has once killeda deer. As already seen, every orthodox Hindu wore till recentlya _choti_ or scalp-lock, which should theoretically be as longas a cow's tail. Perhaps the idea was that for those who were notwarriors it was sufficient to retain this and have the rest of thehead shaved. The _choti_ was never shaved off in mourning for anyone but a father. The lower castes of Muhammadans, if they have lostseveral children, will allow the scalp-lock to grow on the heads ofthose subsequently born, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadansaints. The Kanjars relate of their heroic ancestor Mana that afterhe had plunged a bow so deeply into the ground that no one couldwithdraw it, he was set by the Emperor of Delhi to wrestle againstthe two most famous Imperial wrestlers. These could not overcome himfairly, so they made a stratagem, and while one provoked him in frontthe other secretly took hold of his _choti_ behind. When Mana startedforward his _choti_ was thus left in the wrestler's hands, and thoughhe 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 aHindu and in no small degree of his renown as an ancestor. [310] Thusit seems clear that a special virtue attaches to the _choti_. Beforeevery warlike expedition the people of Minahassa in Celebes used totake the locks of hair of a slain foe and dabble them in boiling waterto extract the courage; this infusion of bravery was then drunk bythe warriors. [311] In a modern Greek folk-tale a man's strength liesin 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 RedIndian custom of taking the scalp, of a slain enemy and sometimeswearing 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'sstrength; and the Gaboon negroes for the same reason would not allowany 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 andhence frequently of life, that of the kings and priests, in whoseexistence the primitive tribe believed its own communal life to bebound up, would naturally be a matter of peculiar concern. That itwas so has been shown in the _Golden Bough_. Two hundred years agothe hair and nails of the Mikado of Japan could only be cut when hewas asleep. [314] The hair of the Flamen Dialis at Rome could be cutonly by a freeman and with a bronze knife, and his hair and nails whencut had to be buried under a lucky tree. [315] The Frankish kings werenever allowed to crop their hair; from their childhood upwards theyhad to keep it unshorn. The hair of the Aztec priests hung down totheir hams so that the weight of it became very troublesome; for theymight never crop it so long as they lived, or at least till they hadbeen relieved from their office on the score of old age. [316] In theMale Paharia tribe from the time that any one devoted himself to theprofession of priest and augur his hair was allowed to grow like thatof a Nazarite; his power of divination entirely disappeared if he cutit. [317] Among the Bawarias of India the Bhuva or priest of Devi maynot cut or shave his hair under penalty of a fine of Rs. 10. A Parsipriest or Mobed must never be bare-headed and never shave his head orface. [318] Professor Robertson Smith states: "As a diadem is in itsorigin 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 aMaori 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. Whenthe hair of a Maori chief was cut, it was collected and buried in asacred place or hung on a tree; and it is noteworthy that Absalom'shair was cut annually at the end of the year, in the sacred seasonof pilgrimage, and that it was collected and weighed. " [319]

11. The beard

The importance attached by other races to the hair of the head seemsamong the Muhammadans to have been concentrated specially in thebeard. The veneration displayed for the beard in this community iswell known. The Prophet ordained that the minimum length of the beardshould be the breadth of five fingers. When the beard is turning greythey usually dye it with henna and sometimes with indigo; it may bethought that a grey beard is a sign of weakness. The Prophet said, 'Change the whiteness of your hair, but not with anything black. ' It isnot clear why black was prohibited. It is said that the first CaliphAbu Bakar was accustomed to dye his beard red with henna, and hencethis practice has been adopted by Muhammadans. [320] The custom ofshaving the chin is now being adopted by young Muhammadans, but as theyget older they still let the beard grow. A very favourite Muhammadanoath is, 'By the beard of the Prophet'; and in Persia if a man thinksanother is mocking him he says, 'Do you laugh at my beard?' NeitherHindus nor Muhammadans have any objection to becoming bald, as thehead is always covered by the turban in society. But when a man wishesto 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 thejuice over his cheeks and chin so that he may grow bearded like thewheat. Among the Hindus, Rajputs and Marathas, as well as the Sikhs, commonly wore beards, all of these being military castes. Both thebeard and hair were considered to impart an aspect of ferocity tothe countenance, and when the Rajputs and Muhammadans were goinginto battle they combed the hair and trained the beard to projectsideways from the face. When a Muhammadan wears a beard he must havehair in the centre of his chin, whereas a Hindu shaves this part. AMuhammadan must have his moustache short so that it may not touchand defile food entering the mouth. It is related that a certain Kazihad a small head and a very long beard; and he had a dream that a manwith a small head and a long beard must be a fool. When he woke up hethought this was applicable to himself. As he could not make his headlarger he decided to make his beard smaller, and looked for scissorsto cut part of it off. But he could not find any scissors, and beingin 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 beforehe 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 andvigour, the removal of it would involve the loss of this and might beconsidered especially to debar him from fighting or governing. Theinstances given from the _Golden Bough_ have shown the fear felt bymany people of the consequences of the removal of their hair. Thecustom of shaving the head might also betoken the renunciation of theworld and of the pursuit of arms. This may be the reason why monksshaved the head, a practice which was followed by Buddhist as well asChristian monks. A very clear case is also given by Sir James Frazer:"When the wicked brothers Clotaire and Childebert coveted the kingdomof their dead brother Clodomir, they inveigled into their power theirlittle nephews, the two sons of Clodomir; and having done so, theysent a messenger bearing scissors and a naked sword to the children'sgrandmother, Queen Clotilde, at Paris. The envoy showed the scissorsand the sword to Clotilde, and bade her choose whether the childrenshould be shorn and live, or remain unshorn and die. The proud queenreplied that if her grandchildren were not to come to the throneshe would rather see them dead than shorn. And murdered they wereby their ruthless uncle Clotaire with his own hand. " [321] In thiscase it appears that if their hair was shorn the children could notcome to the throne but would be destined to become monks. Similarly, in speaking of the Georgians, Marco Polo remarks that they cut theirhair short like churchmen. [322] When a member of the religious orderof the Manbhaos is initiated his head is shaved clean by the villagebarber, and the scalp-lock and moustache must be cut off by his _guru_or preceptor, this being perhaps the special mark of his renunciationof the world. The scalp-locks are preserved and made into ropeswhich some of them fasten round their loins. Members of the Hinduorders generally shave their scalp-locks and the head on initiation, probably for the same reason as the Manbhaos. But afterwards theyoften let the whole of their hair grow long. These men imagine thatby the force of their austerities they will obtain divine power, so their religious character appears to be of a different order frommonasticism. Perhaps, therefore, they wear their hair long in order toincrease their spiritual potency. They themselves now say that theydo it in imitation of the god Siva and the ancient ascetics who hadlong matted locks. The common Hindu practice of shaving the headsof widows may thus be interpreted as a symbol of their completerenunciation of the world and of any idea of remarriage. It wasaccompanied by numerous other rules designed to make a widow's life acontinual penance. This barbarous custom was formerly fairly general, at least among the higher castes, but is rapidly being abandonedexcept by one or two of the stricter sections of Brahmans. Shavingthe head might also be imposed as a punishment. Thus in the time ofthe reign of the Emperor Chandraguptra Maurya in the fourth centuryB. C. It is stated that ordinary wounding by mutilation was punishedby the corresponding mutilation of the offender, in addition to theamputation of his hand. The crime of giving false evidence was visitedwith 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 someor all of the hair is at the present time a common punishment for casteoffences. Among the Korkus a man and woman caught in adultery haveeach a lock of hair cut off. If a Chamar man and woman are detectedin the same offence, the heads of both are shaved clean of hair. ADhimar girl who goes wrong before marriage has a lock of her haircut 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 bymourners of their hair after a death is perhaps doubtful. Sir JamesFrazer shows that the Australian aborigines are accustomed to let theirown blood flow on to the corpse of a dead kinsman and to place theircut hair on the corpse. He suggests that in both cases the objectis to strengthen the feeble spirit within the corpse and sustainits life, in order that it may be born again. As a development ofsuch a rite the hair might have become an offering to the dead, andlater still its removal might become a sacrifice and indication ofgrief. In this manner the common custom of tearing the hair in tokenof grief and mourning for the dead would be accounted for. Whetherthe Hindu custom of shaving the heads of mourners was also originallya sacrifice and offering appears to be uncertain. Professor RobertsonSmith considered [324] that in this case the hair is shaved off as ameans of removing impurity, and quotes instances from the Bible wherelepers and persons defiled by contact with the dead are purifiedby shaving the hair. [325] As the father of a child is also shavedafter its birth, and the shaving must here apparently be a rite ofpurification, it probably has the same significance in the caseof mourners; it is not clear whether any element of sacrifice isalso involved. The degree to which the Hindu mourner parts with hishair varies to some extent with the nearness of the relationship, and for females or distant relatives they do not always shave. Themourners are shaved on the last day of the impurity, when presentsare given to the Maha-Brahman, and the latter, representing the deadman, 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 shavedwith the exception of his _choti_ or scalp-lock, the chin and upperlip. Often the corpse is also shaved after death. 

14. Hair offerings

Another case of the hair offering is that made in fulfilment of a vowor at a temple. In this case the hair appears to be a gift-offeringwhich is made to the god as representing the life and strength of thedonor; owing to the importance attached to the hair as the source oflife and strength, it was a very precious sacrifice. Sir James Frazeralso suggests that the hair so given would impart life and strength tothe god, of which he stood in need, just as he needed food to nourishhim. Among the Hindus it is a common practice to take a child to somewell-known temple to have its hair cut for the first time, and to offerthe clippings of hair to the deity. If they cannot go to the templeto have the hair cut they have it cut at home, and either preserve thewhole hair or a lock of it, until an opportunity occurs to offer it atthe temple. In some castes a Brahman is invited at the first cutting ofa child's hair, and he repeats texts and blesses the child; the firstlock of hair is then cut by the child's maternal uncle, and its headis shaved by the barber. A child's hair is cut in the first, third orfifth year after birth, but not in the second or fourth year. Amongthe Muhammadans when a child's hair is cut for the first time, or atleast on one occasion in its life, the hair should be weighed againstsilver or gold and the amount distributed in charity. In these casesalso it would appear that the hair as a valuable part of the childis offered to the god to obtain his protection for the life of thechild. If a woman has no child and desires one, or if she has hadchildren and lost them, she will vow her next child's hair to somegod or temple. A small patch known as _chench_ is then left unshornon 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 performanceof 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 comeupon his head. ' [326] The Egyptians on a journey kept their hairuncut till they returned home. [327] Among the Chatti tribe of theancient Germans the young warriors never clipped their hair or theirbeard till they had slain an enemy. Six thousand Saxons once sworethat they would not clip their hair nor shave their beards untilthey had taken vengeance on their enemies. " [328] Similarly, Hindureligious mendicants keep their hair long while they are journeyingon a pilgrimage, and when they arrive at the temple which is theirgoal they shave it all off and offer it to the god. In this case, asthe hair is vowed as an offering, it clearly cannot be cut during theperformance of the vow, but must be preserved intact. When the taskto be accomplished for the fulfilment of a vow is a journey or theslaying of enemies, the retention of the hair is probably also meantto support and increase the wearer's strength for the accomplishmentof his purpose. 

16. Disposal of cut hair and nails

If the hair contained a part of the wearer's life and strength itsdisposal would be a matter of great importance, because, accordingto primitive belief, these qualities would remain in it after ithad been severed. Hence, if an enemy obtained it, by destroying thehair or some analogous action he might injure or destroy the life andstrength of the person to whom it belonged. The Hindus usually wrapup a child's first hair in a ball of dough and throw it into a runningstream, with the cuttings of his nails. Well-to-do people also place arupee in the ball, so that it is now regarded as an offering. The samecourse is sometimes followed with the hair and nails cut ceremoniouslyat a wedding, and possibly on one or two other occasions, such asthe investiture with the sacred thread; but the belief is decaying, and ordinarily no care is taken of the shorn hair. In Berar when theHindus cut a child's hair for the first time they sometimes bury itunder a water-pot where the ground is damp, perhaps with the ideathat the child's hair will grow thickly and plentifully like grass ina damp place. It is a common belief that if a barren woman gets holdof a child's first hair and wears it round her waist the fertility ofthe child's mother will be transferred to her. The Sarwaria Brahmansshave a child's hair in its third year. A small silver razor is madespecially for the occasion, costing a rupee and a quarter, and thebarber first touches the child's hair with this and then shaves itceremoniously with his own razor. [329] The Halbas think that thesevered clippings of hair are of no use for magic, but if a witch cancut a lock of hair from a man's head she can use it to work magic onhim. In making an image of a person with intent to injure or destroyhim, it was customary to put a little of his hair into the image, bywhich means his life and strength were conveyed to it. A few yearsago a London newspaper mentioned the case of an Essex man enteringa hairdresser's and requesting the barber to procure for him a pieceof a certain customer's hair. When asked the reason for this curiousdemand, he stated that the customer had injured him and he wishedto 'work a spell' against him. [330] In the Parsi Zend-Avesta it isstated that if the clippings of hair or nails are allowed to fall inthe ground or ditches, evil spirits spring up from them and devourgrain and clothing in the house. It was therefore ordained for theParsis through their prophet Zarathustra that the cuttings of hairor 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. ManyParsis still bury their cut hair and nails four inches under ground, and an extracted tooth is disposed of in the same manner. [331] SomeHindus think that the nail-parings should always be thrown into afrequented place, where they will be destroyed by the traffic. Ifthey are thrown on to damp earth they will grow into a plant whichwill ruin the person from whose body they came. It is said that abouttwenty years ago a man in Nagpur was ruined by the growth of a pieceof finger-nail, which had accidentally dropped into a flower-pot inhis house. Apparently in this case the nail is supposed to contain aportion of the life and strength of the person to whom it belonged, andif the nail grows it gradually absorbs more and more of his life andstrength, and he consequently becomes weaker and weaker through beingdeprived of it. The Hindu superstition against shaving the head appearsto 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 cutat all until a child is married, when they are cut ceremoniously bythe barber. 

17. Superstitions about shaving the hair

Since the removal of the hair is held to involve a certain loss ofstrength and power, it should only be effected at certain seasonsand not on auspicious days. A man who has male children should nothave his head shaved on Monday, as this may cause his children todie. On the other hand, a man who has no children will fast on Sundayin the hope of getting them, and therefore he will neither shave hishead nor visit his wife on that day. A Hindu must not be shaved onThursday, because this is the day of the planet Jupiter, which is alsoknown 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 shavedon that day; nor on Saturday, because it is Hanuman's day. [332] OnSundays, Wednesdays and Fridays he may be shaved, but not if the dayhappens to be the new moon, full moon, or the Ashtami or Ekadashi, that is the eighth or eleventh day of the fortnight. He should notshave on the day that he is going on a journey. If all these ruleswere strictly observed there would be very few days on which onecould get shaved, but many of them are necessarily more honoured inthe breach. Wednesdays and Fridays are the best days for shaving, and by shaving on these days a man will see old age. Debtors areshaved on Wednesdays, as they think that this will help them to payoff their debts. Some Brahmans are not shaved during the month ofShrawan (July), when the crops are growing, nor during the nine daysof the months of Kunwar (September) and Chait (March), when a fastis observed and the _jawaras_ [333] are sown. After they have beenshaved high-caste Hindus consider themselves impure till they havebathed. They touch no person or thing in the house, and sometimeshave the water thrown on them by a servant so as to avoid contactwith the vessels. They will also neither eat, drink nor smoke untilthey have bathed. Sometimes they throw so much water over the headin order to purify themselves as to catch a bad cold. In this case, apparently, the impurity accrues from the loss of the hair, and theman feels that virtue has gone out of him. Women never shave theirhair with a razor, as they think that to do so would make the bodyso heavy after death that it could not be carried to the place ofcremation. They carefully pluck out the hair under the armpits andthe pubic hair with a pair of pincers. A girl's hair may be cut withscissors, but not after she is ten years old or is married. Sometimesa girl's hair is not cut at all, but her father will take a pearl andentwine it into her hair, where it is left until she is married. Itis considered very auspicious to give away a girl in marriage withhair which has never been cut, and a pearl in it. After marriage shewill 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'sstrength and vigour being contained in his hair is by no means confinedto the legend of Samson, but is spread all over the world. Thishas been pointed out by Professor Robertson Smith, [334] ProfessorWilken and others. Sir J. G. Frazer also adduces several instances inthe _Golden Bough_ to show that the life or soul was believed to becontained in the hair. This may well have been the case, but the hairwas also specialised, so to speak, as the seat of bodily vigour andstrength. The same idea appears to have applied in a minor measureto the nails and teeth. The rules for disposing of the cut hairusually apply to the parings of nails, and the first teeth are alsodeposited in a rat's hole or on the roof of the house. As suggestedby Professor Robertson Smith it seems likely that the strength andvigour of the body was believed to be located in the hair, and also toa less extent in the nails and teeth, because they grew more visiblyand quickly than the body and continued to do so after it had attainedto maturity. The hair and nails continue to grow all through life, andthough the teeth do not grow when fully formed, the second teeth appearwhen the body is considerably developed and the wisdom teeth after itis fully developed. The hair grows much more palpably and vigorouslythan the nails and teeth, and hence might be considered especially thesource of strength. Other considerations which might confirm the ideaare that men have more hair on their bodies than women, and stronglybuilt men often have a large quantity of hair. Some of the strongerwild animals have long hair, as the lion, bear and wild boar; andthe horse, often considered the embodiment of strength, has a longmane. And when anger is excited the hair sometimes appears to rise, as it were, from the skin. The nails and teeth were formerly usedon occasion as weapons of offence, and hence might be considered tocontain part of the strength and vigour of the body. 

Finally, it may be suggested as a possibility that the Roundheadscut their hair short as a protest against the superstition thata soldier's hair must be long, which originated in the idea thatstrength is located in the hair and may have still been currentin their time. We know that the Puritans strove vainly against theveneration of the Maypole as the spirit of the new vegetation, [335]and against the old nature-rites observed at Christmas, the venerationof fire as the preserver of life against cold, and the venerationof the evergreen plants, the fir tree, the holly, and the mistletoe, which retained their foliage through the long night of the northernwinter, and were thus a pledge to man of the return of warmth andthe renewal of vegetation in the spring. And it therefore seems notaltogether improbable that the Puritans may have similarly contendedagainst the superstition as to the wearing of long hair. 

Naoda

_Naoda. _ [336]--A small caste found in the Nimar District and inCentral 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 torow pilgrims over the Nerbudda at the great fair held at Siva'stemple on the island of Mandhata. They say that their ancestors wereRajputs, and some of their family names, as Solanki, Rawat and Mori, are derived from those of Rajput septs. But these have probably beenadopted in imitation of their Kshatriya overlords. The caste is anoccupational one. They have a tradition that in former times a Naodaboatman recovered the corpse of a king's daughter, who had drownedherself in the river wearing costly jewels, and the king as a rewardgranted them the right of ferrying pilgrims at Mandhata, which theystill continue to enjoy, keeping their earnings for themselves. Theyhave a division of impure blood called the Gate or bastard Naodas, whomarry among themselves, and any girl who reaches the age of pubertywithout being married is relegated to this. In the case of a castewhose numbers are so small, irregular connections with outsiders mustprobably be not infrequent. Another report states that adult unmarriedgirls are not expelled but are married to a pipal tree. But girls aresought after, and it is customary to pay a bride-price, the averageamount of which is Rs. 25. Before the bridegroom starts for his weddinghis mother takes and passes in front of him, successively from hishead to his feet, a pestle, some stalks of _rusa_ grass, a churningrod and a winnowing-fan. This is done with the object of keeping offevil spirits, and it is said that by her action she threatens to poundthe spirits with the pestle, to tie them up with the grass, to churnand mash them with the churning-rod, and to scatter them to the windswith the winnowing-fan. When a man wishes to divorce his wife he simplyturns her out of the house in the presence of four or five respectablemen of the caste. The marriage of a widow is celebrated on a Sundayor Tuesday, the clothes of the couple being tied together by anotherwidow at night. The following day they spend together in a garden, and in the evening are escorted home by their relatives with torchesand music. Next morning the woman goes to the well and draws water, and her husband, accompanying her, helps her to lift the water-potson 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 driveninto the bow of their boat which is called 'Bhairon's nail, ' and at theDasahra festival they offer to this a white pumpkin with cocoanuts, vermilion, incense and liquor. The caste hold in special reverencethe cow, the dog and the tamarind tree. The dog is sacred as being theanimal on which Bhairava rides, and their most solemn oaths are swornby a dog or a cow. They will on no account cut or burn the tamarindtree, and the women veil their faces before it. They cannot explainthis sentiment, which is probably due to some forgotten belief ofthe nature of totemism. To kill a cow or a cat intentionally involvespermanent 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 witha rope round its neck. The Naodas eat the flesh of pigs and fowls, but they occupy a fairly good social position and Brahmans will takewater 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 termNat (Sanskrit Nata--a dancer) appears to be applied indefinitelyto a number of groups of vagrant acrobats and showmen, especiallythose who make it their business to do feats on the tight-rope or withpoles, and those who train and exhibit snakes. Badi and Bazigar mean arope-walker, Dang-Charha a rope-climber, and Sapera a snake-charmer. Inthe 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 thata considerable section, if not the majority, of the Nats really belongto the Kanjar or Beria gipsy castes, who themselves maybe sprung fromthe Doms. [338] Sir D. Ibbetson says: "They wander about with theirfamilies, settling for a few days or weeks at a time in the vicinityof large villages or towns, and constructing temporary shelters ofgrass. In addition to practising acrobatic feats and conjuring ofa 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, thoughthis is perhaps doubtful. They often practise surgery and physicin a small way and are not free from suspicion of sorcery. " [339]This account would just as well apply to the Kanjar gipsies, andthe Nat women sometimes do tattooing like Kanjar or Beria women. InJubbulpore also the caste is known as Nat Beria, indicating thatthe Nats there are probably derived from the Beria caste. SimilarlySir H. Risley gives Bazigar and Kabutari as groups of the Beriasof Bengal, and states that these are closely akin to the Nats andKanjars of Hindustan. [340] An old account of the Nats or Bazigars[341] would equally well apply to the Kanjars; and in Mr. Crooke'sdetailed article on the Nats several connecting links are noticed. TheNat women are sometimes known as Kabutari or pigeon, either becausetheir acrobatic feats are like the flight of the tumbler pigeon, oron account of the flirting manner with which they attract their malecustomers. [342] In the Central Provinces the women of the small Gopalcaste of acrobats are called Kabutari, and this further supports thehypothesis that Nat is rather an occupational term than the name ofa distinct caste, though it is quite likely that there may be Natswho have no other caste. The Badi or rope-dancer group again is anoffshoot of the Gond tribe, at least in the tracts adjoining theCentral Provinces. They have Gond septs as Marai, Netam, Wika, [343]and they have the _damru_ or drum used by the Gaurias or snake-charmersand jugglers of Chhattisgarh, who are also derived from the Gonds. TheChhattisgarhi Dang-Charhas are Gonds who say they formerly belonged toPanna State and were supported by Raja Aman Singh of Panna, a greatpatron of their art. They sing a song lamenting his death in theflower of his youth. The Karnatis or Karnataks are a class of Natswho are supposed to have come from the Carnatic. Mr. Crooke notesthat they will eat the leavings of all high castes, and are henceknown as Khushhaliya or 'Those in prosperous circumstances. ' [344]

2. Muhammadan Nats

One division of the Nats are Muhammadans and seem to be to someextent a distinctive group. They have seven _gotras_--Chicharia, Damaria, Dhalbalki, Purbia, Dhondabalki, Karimki and Kalasia. Theyworship two Birs or spirits, Halaila Bir and Sheikh Saddu, to whomthey 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 thepopulation. There is no offence which entails permanent expulsion fromcaste. They will eat any kind of food including snakes, crocodilesand rats, and also take food from the hands of any caste, even itis said from sweepers. It is not reported that they prostitute theirwomen, 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 tothe grandmother as compensation for the loss of the mother's gainsas a prostitute, or is redeemed by a payment of Rs. 30. Among theChhattisgarhi Dang-Charhas a bride-price of Rs. 40 is paid, of whichthe girl's father only keeps ten, and the remaining sum of Rs. 30is expended on a feast to the caste. Some of the Nats have taken tocultivation and become much more respectable, eschewing the fleshof unclean animals. Another group of the caste keep trained dogsand hunt the wild pig with spears like the Kolhatis of Berar. Thevillagers readily pay for their services in order to get the pigdestroyed, and they sell the flesh to the Gonds and lower castes ofHindus. Others hunt jackals with dogs in the same manner. They eatthe flesh of the jackals and dispose of any surplus to the Gonds, whoalso eat it. The Nats worship Devi and also Hanuman, the monkey god, on account of the acrobatic powers of monkeys. But in Bombay they saythat their favourite and only living gods are their bread-winners andaverters 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 pairbeing fixed obliquely in the ground and crossing each other at the topso as to form a socket over which the rope passes. The ends of the ropeare taken over the crossed bamboos and firmly secured to the ground byheavy pegs. The performer takes another balancing-pole in his handsand walks along the rope between the poles which are about 12 feethigh. Another man beats a drum, and a third stands under the ropesinging the performer's praises and giving him encouragement. Afterthis the performer ties two sets of cow or buffalo horns to hisfeet, which are secured to the back of the skulls so that the flatfront between the horns rests on the rope, and with these he walksover the rope, holding the balancing-rod in his hands and descendsagain. Finally he takes a brass plate and a cloth and again ascendsthe rope. He places the plate on the rope and folds the cloth overit to make a pad. He then stands on his head on the pad with his feetin the air and holds the balancing-rod in his hands; two strings aretied to the end of this rod and the other ends of the strings areheld by the man underneath. With the assistance of the balancing-rodthe performer then jerks the plate along the rope with his head, his feet being in the air, until he arrives at the end and finallydescends again. This usually concludes the performance, which demandsa high degree of skill. Women occasionally, though rarely, do thesame feats. Another class of Nats walk on high stilts and the womenshow their confidence by dancing and singing under them. A sayingabout the Nats is: _Nat ka bachcha to kalabazi hi karega_; or 'Therope-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 makea considerable impression on the minds of the people, as it is notuncommon to find a deified Nat, called Nat Baba or Father Nat, asa 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 skilfulon the tight-rope, who performed before the king; and he promisedher that if she would stretch a rope from the peak of one hill tothat of the other and walk across it he would marry her and makeher wealthy. Accordingly the rope was stretched, but the queenfrom jealousy went and cut it half through in the night, and whenthe Natni started to walk the rope broke and she fell down and waskilled. She was therefore deified and worshipped. It is probable thatthis legend recalls some rite in which the Nat was employed to walkon a tight-rope for the benefit of the crops, and, if he failed, waskilled as a sacrifice; for the following passage taken from Traill'saccount of Kumaon [348] seems clearly to refer to some such rite:

"Drought, want of fertility in the soil, murrain in cattle, andother calamities incident to husbandry are here invariably ascribedto the wrath of particular gods, to appease which recourse is had tovarious ceremonies. In the Kumaon District offerings and singing anddancing are resorted to on such occasions. In Garhwal the measurespursued with the same view are of a peculiar nature, deserving ofmore particular notice. In villages dedicated to the protection ofMahadeva propitiatory festivals are held in his honour. At theseBadis or rope-dancers are engaged to perform on the tight-rope, andslide down an inclined rope stretched from the summit of a cliff tothe valley beneath and made fast to posts driven into the ground. TheBadi 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 tothe 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, howeverwell greased, emits a volume of smoke throughout the greater part ofhis progress. The length and inclination of the _bast_ necessarilyvary with the nature of the cliff, but as the Badi is remunerated atthe rate of a rupee for every hundred cubits, hence termed a tola, a correct measurement always takes place; the longest _bast_ whichhas fallen within my observation has been twenty-one tolas, or 2100cubits in length. From the precautions taken as above mentioned theonly danger to be apprehended by the Badi is from breaking of therope, to provide against which the latter, commonly from one anda 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 tothe ground in his course, he was immediately despatched with a swordby the surrounding spectators, but this practice is now, of course, prohibited. No fatal accident has occurred from the performanceof this ceremony since 1815, though it is probably celebrated atnot less than fifty villages in each year. After the completion ofthe sliding, the _bast_ or rope is cut up and distributed among theinhabitants of the village, who hang the pieces as charms on the eavesof their houses. The hair of the Badi is also taken and preserved aspossessing similar virtues. He being thus made the organ to obtainfertility for the lands of others, the Badi is supposed to entailsterility on his own; and it is firmly believed that no grain sownwith his hand can ever vegetate. Each District has its hereditaryBadi, who is supported by annual contributions of grain from theinhabitants. " It is not improbable that the performance of the Natis a reminiscence of a period when human victims were sacrificedfor the crops, this being a common practice among primitive peoples, as shown by Sir J. G. Frazer in _Attis, Adonis, Osiris_. Similarly thespirits of Nats which are revered in the Central Provinces may reallybe those of victims killed during the performance of some charm for thegood of the crops, akin to that still prevalent in the Himalayas. Thecustom of making the Nat slide down a rope is of the same characteras 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 themeaning of the rite is obscure. 

6. Snake-charmers

The groups who practise snake-charming are known as Sapera or Garudiand in the Maratha Districts as Madari. Another name for them isNag-Nathi, or one who seizes a cobra. They keep cobras, pythons, scorpions, and the iguana or large lizard, which they consider to bepoisonous. Some of them when engaged with their snakes wear two piecesof tiger-skin on their back and chest, and a cap of tiger-skin inwhich they fix the eyes of various birds. They have a hollow gourdon which they produce a kind of music and this is supposed to charmthe snakes. When catching a cobra they pin its head to the groundwith a stick and then seize it in a cleft bamboo and prick out thepoison-fangs with a large needle. They think that the teeth of theiguana are also poisonous and they knock them out with a stick, and if fresh teeth afterwards grow they believe them not to containpoison. The python is called Ajgar, which is said to mean eater ofgoats. In captivity the pythons will not eat of themselves, and thesnake-charmers chop up pieces of meat and fowls and placing the foodin the reptile's mouth massage it down the body. They feed the pythonsonly 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 beenaffected by snake-poison, but if it seems tasteless that he hasbeen bitten. Then they give him small pieces of the two antidotesalready 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'sFifth) they worship their cobras and give them milk to drink and thentake them round the town or village and the people also worship andfeed the snakes and give a present of a few annas to the Sapera. Intowns much frequented by cobras, a special adoration is paid tothem. 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 beforethe festival of Nag-Panchmi. During this period one man from everyhouse in the village must go to Nag-Baba's shrine outside and takefood there and come back. And on Nag-Panchmi the whole town goes outin a body to pay him reverence, and it is thought that if any one isabsent the cobras will harass him for the whole year. But others saythat cobras will only bite men of low caste. The Saperas will not killa snake as a rule, but occasionally it is said that they kill one andcut off the head and eat the body, this being possibly an instanceof eating the divine animal at a sacrificial meal. The following isan old account of the performances of snake-charmers in Bengal: [350]

"Hence, on many occasions throughout the year, the dread ManasaDevi, the queen of snakes, is propitiated by presents, vows andreligious rites. In the month of Shrabana the worship of the snakegoddess is celebrated with great éclat. An image of the goddess, seated on a water-lily, encircled with serpents, or a branch of thesnake-tree (a species of Euphorbia), or a pot of water, with imagesof serpents made of clay, forms the object of worship. Men, women andchildren, all offer presents to avert from themselves the wrath ofthe terrific deity. The Mals or snake-catchers signalise themselveson this occasion. Temporary scaffolds of bamboo work are set up inthe presence of the goddess. Vessels filled with all sorts of snakesare brought in. The Mals, often reeling with intoxication, mountthe scaffolds, take out serpents from the vessels, and allow them tobite their arms. Bite after bite succeeds; the arms run with blood;and the Mals go on with their pranks, amid the deafening plauditsof the spectators. Now and then they fall off from the scaffold andpretend to feel the effects of poison, and cure themselves by theirincantations. But all is mere pretence. The serpents displayed onthe occasion and challenged to do their worst, have passed through apreparatory state. Their fangs have been carefully extracted from theirjaws. But most of the vulgar spectators easily persuade themselvesto believe that the Mals are the chosen servants of Siva and thefavourites of Manasa. Although their supernatural pretensions areridiculous, yet it must be confessed that the Mals have made snakesthe subject of their peculiar study. They are thoroughly acquaintedwith their qualities, their dispositions, and their habits. Theywill run down a snake into its hole, and bring it out thence bymain force. Even the terrible cobra is cowed down by the controllinginfluence of a Mal. When in the act of bringing out snakes from theirsubterranean holes, the Mals are in the habit of muttering charms, inwhich the names of Manasa and Mahadeva frequently occur; superstitionalone can clothe these unmeaning words with supernatural potency. Butit is not inconsistent with the soundest philosophy to suppose thatthere may be some plants whose roots are disagreeable to serpents, and from which they instinctively turn away. All snake-catchers ofBengal are provided with a bundle of the roots of some plant whichthey carefully carry along with them, when they set out on theirserpent-hunting expeditions. When a serpent, disturbed in its hole, comes out furiously hissing with rage, with its body coiled, and itshead lifted up, the Mal has only to present before it the bundle ofroots above alluded to, at the sight of which it becomes spiritlessas an eel. This we have ourselves witnessed more than once. "

These Mals appear to have been members of the aboriginal Male or MalePaharia tribe of Bengal. 

Nunia

_Nunia, Lunia. _ [351]--A mixed occupational caste of salt-makers andearth-workers, made up of recruits from the different non-Aryan tribesof northern India. The word _non_ means salt, and is a corruption ofthe Sanskrit _lavana_, 'the moist, ' which first occurs as a name forsea-salt in the Atharva Veda. [352] In the oldest prose writings saltis known as Saindhava or 'that which is brought from the Indus, ' thisperhaps being Punjab rock-salt. The Nunias are a fairly large caste inBengal and northern India, numbering 800, 000 persons, but the CentralProvinces and Berar contain only 3000, who are immigrants from UpperIndia. Here they are navvies and masons, a calling which they havegenerally adopted since the Government monopoly has interfered withtheir proper business of salt-refining. The mixed origin of the casteis 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 numberof territorial subcastes. A list of nearly thirty subcastes is givenby Mr. Crooke, and this is an instance of the tendency of migratorycastes to split up into small groups for the purpose of arrangingmarriages, owing to the difficulty of ascertaining the status andrespectability of each other's families, and the unwillingness tocontract alliances with those whose social position may turn out tobe not wholly satisfactory. "The internal structure of the caste, "Mr. Crooke remarks, "is far from clear; it would appear that they arestill in a state of transition, and the different endogamous subcastesare not as yet fully recognised. " In Bilaspur the Nunias have threelocal subcastes, the Bandhaiya, the Ratanpuria and the Kharodhia. Thetwo last, deriving their names from the towns of Ratanpur and Kharodin Bilaspur, are said to have been employed in former times in theconstruction of the temples and other buildings which abound inthese localities, and have thus acquired a considerable degree ofprofessional skill in masonry work; while the Bandhaiya, who take theirname from Bandhogarh, confine themselves to the excavation of tanksand wells. The exogamous divisions of the caste are also by no meansclearly defined; in Mirzapur they have a system of local subdivisionscalled _dih_, each subdivision being named after the village whichis supposed to be its home. The word _dih_ itself means a site orvillage. Those who have a common _dih_ do not intermarry. [353] Thisfact is interesting as being an instance of the direct derivation ofthe exogamous clan from residence in a parent village and not fromany heroic or supposititious ancestor. 

The caste have a legend which shows their mixed origin. Some centuriesago, they say, a marriage procession consisting of Brahmans, Rajputs, Banias and Gosains went to a place near Ajodhya. After the ceremony wasover the bride, on being taken to the bridegroom's lodging, scraped upa little earth with her fingers and put it in her mouth. She found ithad a saltish taste, and spat it out on the ground, and this enragedthe tutelary goddess of the village, who considered herself insulted, and swore that all the bride's descendants should excavate salt inatonement; and thus the caste arose. 

In Bilaspur the caste permit a girl to be married to a boy youngerthan 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 tothe wedding in a palanquin borne by Mahars. After its conclusion thecouple are carried back in the litter for some distance, after whichthe bridegroom gets out and walks or rides. When he goes to fetchhis wife on her coming of age the bridegroom wears white clothes, which is rather peculiar, as white is not a lucky colour among theHindus. The Nunias employ Brahmans at their ceremonies, and they havea caste _panchayat_ or committee, whose headman is known as Kurha. TheBilaspur section of the caste has two Kurhas. Here Brahmans take waterfrom them, but not in all places. They consider their traditionaloccupation to have been the extraction of salt and saltpetre fromsaline earth. At present they are generally employed in the excavationof 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. TheOjhas may now be considered a distinct subtribe, as they are lookeddown upon by the Gonds and marry among themselves. They derive theirname from the word _ojh_ meaning 'entrail, ' their original dutyhaving been, like that of the Roman augurs, to examine the entrailsof the victim immediately after it had been slain as an offering tothe gods. In 1911 the Ojhas numbered about 5000 persons distributedover all Districts of the Central Provinces. At present the bulkof the community subsist by beggary. The word Ojha is of Sanskritand not of Gond origin and is applied by the Hindus to the seers ormagicians of several of the primitive tribes, while there is also aclass of Ojha Brahmans who practise magic and divination. The GondOjhas, who are the subject of this article, originally served theGonds and begged from them alone, but in some parts of the westernSatpuras they are also the minstrels of the Korkus. Those who begfrom the Korkus play on a kind of drum called _dhank_ while the GondOjhas use the _kingri_ or lyre. Some of them also catch birds andare therefore known as Moghia. Mr. Hislop [354] remarks of them:"The Ojhas follow the two occupations of bard and fowler. They leada wandering life and when passing through villages they sing fromhouse to house the praises of their heroes, dancing with castanets intheir hands, bells at their ankles and long feathers of jungle birdsin their turbans. They sell live quails and the skins of a speciesof Buceros named Dhan-chiria; these are used for making caps and forhanging up in houses in order to secure wealth (_dhan_), while thethigh-bones of the same bird when fastened round the waists of childrenare deemed an infallible preservative against the assaults of devilsand other such calamities. Their wives tattoo the arms of Hindu andGond 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, anddevote themselves to the manufacture of rings and bells which are inrequest among their own race, and even of _lingas_ (phallic emblems)and _nandis_ (bull images), which they sell to all ranks of the Hinducommunity. Their wives are distinguished by wearing the cloth of theupper part of the body over the right shoulder, whereas those of thecommon Ojhas and of all the other Gonds wear it over the left. "

Mr. Tawney wrote of the Ojhas as follows: [355] "The Ojha women donot dance. It is only men who do so, and when thus engaged they puton special attire and wear anklets with bells. The Ojhas like theGonds are divided into six or seven god _gots_ (classes or septs), and those with the same number of gods cannot intermarry. They worshipat the same Deokhala (god's threshing-floor) as the Gonds, but beingregarded as an inferior caste they are not allowed so near the sacredpresence. Like the Gonds they incorporate the spirits of the dead withthe gods, but their manner of doing so is somewhat different, as theymake an image of brass to represent the soul of the deceased and keepthis with the household gods. As with the Gonds, if a household godmakes himself too objectionable he is quietly buried to keep him outof mischief and a new god is introduced into the family. The lattershould properly bear the same name as his degraded predecessor, butvery often does not. The Ojhas are too poor to indulge in the luxuryof burning their deceased friends and therefore invariably bury them. "

The customs of the Ojhas resemble those of the Gonds. They take thebride to the bridegroom's house to be married, and a widow amongthem is expected, though not obliged, to wed her late husband'syounger brother. They eat the flesh of fowls, pigs, and even oxen, but abstain from that of monkeys, crocodiles and jackals. They willnot touch an ass, a cat or a dog, and consider it sinful to killanimals which bark or bray. 

They will take food from the hands of all except the most impurecastes, and will admit into the community any man who has taken an Ojhawoman to live with him, even though he be a sweeper, provided that hewill submit to the prescribed test of begging from the houses of fiveGonds and eating the leavings of food of the other Ojhas. They willpardon the transgression of one of their women with an outsider ofany caste whatever, if she is able and willing to provide the usualpenalty feast. They have no _sutak_ or period of impurity after adeath, but merely take a mouthful of liquor and consider themselvesclean. In physical appearance the Ojhas resemble the Gonds but areless robust. They rank below the Gonds and are considered as impureby the Hindu castes. In 1865, an Ojha held a village in HoshangabadDistrict which he had obtained as follows: [356] "He was singingand dancing before Raja Raghuji, when the Raja said he would give arent-free village to any one who would pick up and chew a quid ofbetel-leaf which he (the Raja) had had in his mouth and had spatout. The Ojha did this and got the village. "

The Maithil or Tirhut Brahmans who are especially learned in Tantricmagic are also sometimes known as Ojha, and a family bearing thistitle were formerly in the service of the Gond kings of Mandla. Theydo not now admit that they acted as augurs or soothsayers, but statethat their business was to pray continuously for the king's successwhen he was engaged in any battle, and to sit outside the rooms of sickpersons repeating the sacred Gayatri verse for their recovery. This isoften repeated ten times, counting by a special method on the jointsof the fingers and is then known as _Jap_. When it is repeated alarger number of times, as 54 or 108, a rosary is used. 

Oraon

[_Authorities_: The most complete account of the Oraons is amonograph entitled, _The Religion and Customs of the Oraons_, bythe late Rev. Father P. Dehon, published in 1906 in the _Memoirsof the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. I. No. 9. The tribe is alsodescribed at length by Colonel Dalton in _The Ethnography of Bengal_, and an article on it is included in Mr. (Sir H. ) Risley's _Tribesand Castes of Bengal_. References to the Oraons are contained inMr. Bradley-Birt's _Chota Nagpur_, and Mr. Ball's _Jungle Life inIndia_. The Kurukh language is treated by Dr. Grierson in the volumeof the Linguistic Survey on _Munda and Dravidian Languages_. Thefollowing article is principally made up of extracts from the accountsof Father Dehon and Colonel Dalton. Papers have also been receivedfrom 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 animportant Dravidian tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau, numberingaltogether about 750, 000 persons, of whom 85, 000 now belong to theCentral Provinces, being residents of the Jashpur and Sarguja Statesand the neighbouring tracts. They are commonly known in the CentralProvinces as Dhangar or Dhangar-Oraon. In Chota Nagpur the word Dhangarmeans a farmservant engaged according to a special customary contract, and it has come to be applied to the Oraons, who are commonly employedin this capacity. Kuda means a digger or navvy in Uriya, and enquiriesmade by Mr. B. C. Mazumdar and Mr. Hira Lal have demonstrated thatthe 18, 000 persons returned under this designation from Raigarhand Sambalpur in 1901 were really Oraons. The same remark appliesto 33, 000 persons returned from Sambalpur as Kisan or cultivator, these also being members of the tribe. The name by which the Oraonsknow themselves is Kurukh or Kurunkh, and the designation of Oraonor Orao has been applied to them by outsiders. The meaning of bothnames is obscure. Dr. Halm [357] was of opinion that the word _kurukh_might be identified with the Kolarian _horo_, man, and explained theterm Oraon as the totem of one of the septs into which the Kurukhswere 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 atotemistic sept. Sir G. Grierson, however, suggested a connection withthe Kaikari, _urupai_, man; Burgandi _urapo_, man; _urang_, men. TheKaikaris are a Telugu caste, and as the Oraons are believed to havecome from the south of India, this derivation sounds plausible. Ina similar way Sir. G. Grierson states, Kurukh may be connectedwith Tamil _kurugu_, an eagle, and be the name of a totemisticclan. Compare also names, such as Korava, Kurru, a dialect of Tamil, and Kudagu. In the Nerbudda valley the farmservant who pours the seedthrough the tube of the sowing-plough is known as Oraya; this wordis probably derived from the verb _urna_ to pour, and means 'one whopours. ' Since the principal characteristic of the Oraons among theHindus is their universal employment as farmservants and labourers, it may be suggested that the name is derived from this term. Of theother names by which they are known to outsiders Dhangar means afarmservant, Kuda a digger, and Kisan a cultivator. The name Oraonand its variant Orao is very close to Oraya, which, as already seen, means a farmservant. The nasal seems to be often added or omitted inthis part of the country, as Kurukh or Kurunkh. 

2. Settlement in Chota Nagpur

According to their own traditions, Mr. Gait writes, [358] "TheKurukh tribe originally lived in the Carnatic, whence they went up theNerbudda river and settled in Bihar on the banks of the Son. Driven outby the Muhammadans, the tribe split into two divisions, one of whichfollowed the course of the Ganges and finally settled in the Rajmahalhills: while the other went up the Son and occupied the north-westernportion of the Chota Nagpur plateau, where many of the villages theyoccupy are still known by Mundari names. The latter were the ancestorsof the Oraons or Kurukhs, while the former were the progenitors of theMale or Saonria as they often call themselves. " Towards Lohardaga theOraons found themselves among the Mundas or Kols, who probably retiredby degrees and left them in possession of the country. "The Oraons, "Father Dehon states, "are an exceedingly prolific tribe and soon becomethe preponderant element, while the Mundas, being conservative andaverse to living among strangers, emigrate towards another jungle. TheMundas hate zamindars, and whenever they can do so, prefer to live ina retired corner in full possession of their small holding; and itis not at all improbable that, as the zamindars took possession ofthe newly-formed villages, they retired towards the east, while theOraons, being good beasts of burden and more accustomed to subjection, remained. " In view of the fine physique and martial character ofthe Larka or Fighting Kols or Mundas, Dalton was sceptical of thetheory that they could ever have retired before the Oraons; but inaddition to the fact that many villages in which Oraons now live haveMundari names, it may be noted that the headman of an Oraon villageis termed Munda and is considered to be descended from its founder, while for the Pahan or priest of the village gods, the Oraons alwaysemploy a Munda if available, and it is one of the Pahan's duties topoint out the boundary of the village in cases of dispute; this is afunction regularly assigned to the earliest residents, and seems tobe strong evidence that the Oraons found the Mundas settled in ChotaNagpur when they arrived there. It is not necessary to suppose thatany conquest or forcible expropriation took place; and it is probablethat, as the country was opened up, the Mundas by preference retiredto the wilder forest tracts, just as in the Central Provinces theKorkus and Baigas gave way to the Gonds, and the Gonds themselvesrelinquished the open country to the Hindus. None of the writers quotednotice 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 thetribe; and it would be interesting also to know whether the Pahan orvillage priest takes his name from the Pans or Gandas. Dalton saysthat the Pans are domesticated as essential constituents of everyHo or Kol village community, but does not allude to their presenceamong the Oraons. The custom in the Central Provinces, by which inGond villages the village priest is always known as Baiga, becausein some localities members of the Baiga tribe are commonly employedin the office, suggests the hypothesis of a similar usage here. Invillages 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 tohave been sons of the first settler. Members of each branch belongtherefore to the same sept or _got_. Each _khunt_ has a share of thevillage lands. 

3. Subdivisions

The Oraons have no proper subcastes in the Central Provinces, but theKudas and Kisans, having a distinctive name and occupation, sometimesregard themselves as separate bodies and decline intermarriage withother Oraons. In Bengal Sir H. Risley gives five divisions, Barga, Dhanka, Kharia, Khendro and Munda; of these Kharia and Munda are thenames of other tribes, and Dhanka may be a variant for Dhangar. Thenames show that as usual with the tribes of this part of the countrythe law of endogamy is by no means strict. The tribe have also alarge number of exogamous septs of the totemistic type, named afterplants and animals. Members of any sept commonly abstain from killingor eating their sept totem. A man must not marry a member of his ownsept nor a first cousin on the mother's side. 

4. Pre-nuptial licence

Marriage is adult and pre-nuptial unchastity appears to be tacitlyrecognised. Oraon villages have the institution of the Dhumkuriaor Bachelors' dormitory, which Dalton describes as follows: [359]"In all the older Oraon villages when there is any conservation ofancient customs, there is a house called the Dhumkuria in which allthe bachelors of the village must sleep under penalty of a fine. Thehuts of the Oraons have insufficient accommodation for a family, so that separate quarters for the young men are a necessity. Thesame remark applies to the young unmarried women, and it is a factthat they do not sleep in the house with their parents. They aregenerally frank enough when questioned about their habits, but onthis subject there is always a certain amount of reticence, and I haveseen girls quietly withdraw when it was mooted. I am told that in somevillages 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 thehouses of the widows, and this is what the girls themselves assert, ifthey 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 aDhumkuria in a Sarguja village in which the boys and girls all sleptevery night. " Colonel Dalton considered it uncertain that the practiceled to actual immorality, but the fact can hardly be doubted. Sexualintercourse before marriage, Sir H. Risley says, is tacitly recognised, and is so generally practised that in the opinion of the best observersno Oraon girl is a virgin at the time of her marriage. "To call thisstate of things immoral is to apply a modern conception to primitivehabits of life. Within the tribe, indeed, the idea of sexual moralityseems hardly to exist, and the unmarried Oraons are not far removedfrom the condition of modified promiscuity which prevails amongmany of the Australian tribes. Provided that the exogamous circledefined by the totem is respected, an unmarried woman may bestowher favours on whom she will. If, however, she becomes pregnant, arrangements are made to get her married without delay, and she isthen expected to lead a virtuous life. " [360] According to Dalton, however, _liaisons_ between boys and girls of the same village seldomend in marriage, as it is considered more respectable to bring home abride from a distance. This appears to arise from the primitive ruleof exogamy that marriage should not be allowed between those who havebeen brought up together. The young men can choose for themselves, and at dances, festivals and other social gatherings they freely wootheir sweethearts, giving them flowers for the hair and presents ofgrilled field-mice, which the Oraons consider to be the most delicateof food. Father Dehon, however, states that matches are arranged bythe parents, and the bride and bridegroom have nothing to say in thematter. Boys are usually married at sixteen and girls at fourteenor fifteen. The girls thus have only about two years of preliminaryflirtation or Dhumkuria life before they are settled. 

5. Betrothal

The first ceremony for a marriage is known as _pan bandhi_ or thesettling of the price; for which the boy's father, accompanied bysome men of his village to represent _the panch_ or elders, goes tothe girl's house. Father Dehon states that the bride-price is fiverupees and four maunds of grain. When this has been settled therejoicings begin. "All the people of the village are invited; twoboys come and anoint the visitors with oil. From every house of thevillage 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 beenkept inside, but now she suddenly sallies forth carrying a _handia_on her head. A murmur of admiration greets her when stepping throughthe 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 givesher one rupee. From that time during the whole of the feast the girlremains sitting at the feet of her father-in-law. The whole partymeanwhile continue drinking and talking; and voices rise so highthat they cannot hear one another. As a diversion the old women ofthe village all come tumbling in, very drunk and wearing fantastichats made of leaves, gesticulating like devils and carrying a strawmanikin 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 exchangedtwice a year in the meantime. When the day comes the bridegroomproceeds with a large party of his friends, male and female, to thebride'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 menfrom thence emerge, also armed, as if to repel the invasion, and amimic fight ensues, which like a dissolving view blends pleasantlyinto a dance. In this the bride and bridegroom join, each riding onthe hips of one of their friends. After this they have a feast tilllate in the night. Next morning bread cooked by the bride's motheris taken to the _dari_ or village spring, where all the women partakeof it. When they have finished they bring a vessel of water with someleaves of the mango tree in it. Meanwhile the bride and bridegroom arein the house, being anointed with oil and turmeric by their respectivesisters. When everybody has gathered under the marriage-bower theboy and girl are brought out of the house and a heap is made ofa plough-yoke, a bundle of thatching-grass and a curry-stone. Thebride and bridegroom are made to stand on the curry-stone, the boytouching the heels of the bride with his toes, and a long piece ofcloth is put round them to screen them from the public. Only theirheads and feet can be seen. A goblet full of vermilion is presentedto the boy, who dips his finger in it and makes three lines onthe 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 provokehearty 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 thosenear them receive a drenching shower-bath, the women shouting, 'The marriage is done, the marriage is done. ' They now retire intoan apartment prepared for them, ostensibly to change their clothes, but they do not emerge for some time, and when they do appear theyare saluted as man and wife. "

7. Special Customs

Meanwhile the guests sit round drinking _handias_ or earthen pots fullof rice-beer. The bride and bridegroom come out and retire a secondtime and are called out for the following rite. A vessel of beeris brought and the bride carries a cupful of it to the bridegroom'sbrother, but instead of giving it into his hand she deposits it onthe ground in front of him. This is to seal a kind of tacit agreementthat from that time the bridegroom's brother will not touch hissister-in-law, and was probably instituted to mark the abolition ofthe former system of fraternal polyandry, customs of an analogousnature being found among the Khonds and Korkus. "Then, " Father Dehoncontinues, "comes the last ceremony, which is called _khiritengnahandia_ or the _handia_ of the story, and is considered by the Oraonsto be the true form of marriage which has been handed down to them bytheir 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 herleg, do not say that she is disfigured or crippled. You will have tokeep and feed her. ' Then turning to the girl: 'When your husband goeshunting, 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 withhim. If you prepare meat, give two shares to him and keep only one foryourself. If you prepare vegetables, give him two parts and keep onlyone part for yourself. If he gets sick and cannot go out, do not saythat 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 saysto him, 'Now this my child is yours; I do not give her for a few daysbut for ever; take care of her and love her well. ' A companion of thebridegroom's then seizes the girl in his arms and carries her insidethe 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 Duarsor Assam. Widow-remarriage is a regular practice. The first time awidow marries again, Father Dehon states, the bridegroom must payRs. 3-8 for her; if successive husbands die her price goes down bya rupee on each fresh marriage, so that a fifth husband would payonly eight annas. Cases of adultery are comparatively rare. Whenoffenders 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, andwhenever they are allowed to live without being too much oppressedthey increase prodigiously. What strikes you when you come to an Oraonvillage is the number of small dirty children playing everywhere, while you can scarcely meet a woman that does not carry a baby on herback. The women seem, to a great extent, to have been exempted from thecurse of our first mother: 'Thou shalt bring forth, etc. ' They seemto give birth to their children with the greatest ease. There is noperiod 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 backand a pitcher on her head going, as if nothing had happened, to thevillage spring. " This practice, it may be remarked in parenthesis, may arise from the former observance of the Couvade, the peculiarcustom prevailing among several primitive races, by which, when achild is born, the father lies in the house and pretends to be ill, while the mother gets up immediately and goes about her work. Thecustom has been reported as existing among the Oraons by one observerfrom Bilaspur, [361] but so far without confirmation. 

10. Naming a child

"A child is named eight or ten days after birth, and on this daysome men of the village and the members of the family assemble atthe parents' house. Two leaf-cups are brought, one full of waterand the other of rice. After a preliminary formula grains of riceare let fall into the cup, first in the name of the child and thensuccessively in those of his ancestors in the following order:paternal grandfather, paternal great-grandfather, father, paternaluncle, maternal grandfather, other relatives. When the grain droppedin the name of any relative meets the first one dropped to representthe child, he is given the name of that relative and is probablyconsidered 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 amember of the Dhumkuria or common dormitory. The eldest boys catch holdof his left arm and, with burning cloth, burn out five deep marks onthe lower part of his arm. This is done so that he may be recognisedas an Oraon at his death when he goes into the other world. " Theceremony was probably the initiation to manhood on arrival at puberty, and resembled those prevalent among the Australian tribes. With thisexception men are not tattooed, but this decoration is profuselyresorted to by women. They have three parallel vertical lines on theforehead which form a distinctive mark, and other patterns on the arms, chest, knees and ankles. These usually consist of lines vertical andhorizontal as shown below:

The marks on the knees are considered to be steps by which the wearerwill ascend to heaven after her death. If a baby cries much it isalso tattooed on the nose and chin. 

12. Dormitory discipline

The Dhumkuria fraternity, Colonel Dalton remarks, are, under theseverest penalties, bound down to secrecy in regard to all that takesplace in their dormitory; and even girls are punished if they dareto tell tales. They are not allowed to join in the dances till theoffence is condoned. They have a regular system of fagging in thiscurious institution. The small boys serve those of larger growth, shampoo their limbs, comb their hair, and so on, and they are sometimessubjected 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 carriedto the grave, beginning from the first crossroads, they sprinkle aline of rice as far as the grave or pyre. This is done so that thesoul of the deceased may find its way back to the house. Before theburial or cremation cooked food and some small pieces of money areplaced in the mouth of the corpse. They are subsequently, however, removed or recovered from the ashes and taken by the musiciansas their fee. Some clothes belonging to the deceased and a vesselwith some rice are either burnt with the corpse or placed in thegrave. As the grave is being filled in they place a stalk of _orai_[362] grass vertically on the head of the corpse and gradually drawit upwards as the earth is piled on the grave. They say that this isdone in order to leave a passage for the air to pass to the nostrilsof the deceased. This is the grass from which reed pens are made, and the stalk is hard and hollow. Afterwards they plant a root ofthe same grass where the stalk is standing over the head of thecorpse. On the tenth day they sacrifice a pig and fowl and bury thelegs, tail, ears and nose of the pig in a hole with seven balls of irondross. They then proceed to the grave scattering a little parched riceall the way along the path. Cooked rice is offered at the grave. Ifthe corpse has been burnt they pick up the bones and place them in apot, which is brought home and hung up behind the dead man's house. Atnight-time a relative sits inside the house watching a burning lamp, while some friends go outside the village and make a miniature hutwith sticks and grass and set fire to it. They then call out to thedead man, 'Come, your house is being burnt, ' and walk home strikinga mattock and sickle together. On coming to the house they kick downthe matting which covers the doorway; the man inside says, 'Who areyou?' and they answer, 'It is we. ' They watch the lamp and when theflame wavers they believe it to show that the spirit of the deceasedhas followed them and has also entered the house. Next day the bonesare 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 whenthe new rice is reaped a hen is offered to them. They pray to theirdead parents to accept the offering and then place a few grains ofrice before the hen. If she eats them, it is a sign that the ancestorshave accepted the offering and a man kills the hen by crushing its headwith his closed fist. This is probably, as remarked by Father Dehon, inrecollection of the method employed before the introduction of knives, and the same explanation may be given of the barbaric method of theBaigas of crushing a pig to death by a beam of wood used as a see-sawacross its body, and of the Gond bride and bridegroom killing a fowlby 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 FatherDehon's full and interesting description:

"The Oraons worship a supreme god who is known as Dharmes; him theyinvoke in their greatest difficulties when recourse to the villagepriests and magicians has proved useless. Then they turn to Dharmesand say, 'Now we have tried everything, but we have still you who canhelp us. ' They sacrifice to him a white cock. They think that god istoo good to punish them, and that they are not answerable to him in anyway for their conduct; they believe that everybody will be treated inthe same way in the other world. There is no hell for them or placeof punishment, but everybody will go to _merkha_ or heaven. The RedIndians speak of the happy hunting-grounds and the Oraons imaginesomething like the happy ploughing-grounds, where everybody will haveplenty of land, plenty of bullocks to plough it with, and plenty ofrice-beer to drink after his labour. They look on god as a big zamindaror landowner, who does nothing himself, but keeps a _chaprasi_ as anagent or debt-collector; and they conceive the latter as having allthe defects so common to his profession. Baranda, the _chaprasi_, exacts tribute from them mercilessly, not exactly out of zeal forthe service of his master, but out of greed for his _talbana_ orperquisites. When making a sacrifice to Dharmes they pray: 'O god, from to-day do not send any more your _chaprasi_ to punish us. Yousee we have paid our respects to you, and we are going to give himhis _dasturi_ (tip). '

16. Minor godlings

"But in the concerns of this world, to obtain good crops and freedomfrom sickness, a host of minor deities have to be propitiated. Theseconsist of _bhuts_ or spirits of the household, the sept, the village, and common deities, such as the earth and sun. Chola Pacho or thelady of the grove lives in the _sarna_ or sacred grove, which hasbeen left standing when the forest was cleared. She is credited withthe power of giving rain and consequently good crops. Churel is theshade of a woman who has died while pregnant or in childbirth. Shehovers over her burial-place and is an object of horror and fright toevery passer-by. It is her nature to look out for a companion, and sheis said always to choose that member of a family whom she liked bestduring her lifetime. She will then come at night and embrace him andtickle him under the arms, making him laugh till he dies. Bhula or thewanderers are the shades of persons who have died an unnatural death, either having been murdered, hanged, or killed by a tiger. They allkeep the scars of their respective wounds and one can imagine what aweird-looking lot they are. They are always on the move, and are, asit were, the mendicant portion of the invisible community. They arenot very powerful and are responsible only for small ailments, likenightmares and slight indispositions. When an Ojha or spirit-raiserdiscovers that a Bhula has appeared in the light of his lamp he showsa disappointed face, and says: 'Pshaw, only Bhula!' No sacrificeis offered to him, but the Ojha then and there takes a few grainsof rice, rubs them in charcoal and throws them at the flame of hislamp, saying, 'Take this, Bhula, and go away. ' Murkuri is the thumping_bhut_. Europeans to show their kindness and familiarity thump peopleon the back. If this is followed by fever or any kind of sicknessit will be ascribed to the passing of Murkuri from the body of theEuropean into the body of the native. 

"_Chordewa_ is a witch rather than a _bhut_. It is believed thatsome 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 acat has a peculiar way of mewing, quite different from its brethren, and is easily recognised. It steals quietly into the house, licksthe lips of the sick man and eats the food which has been preparedfor him. The sick man soon gets worse and dies. They say it is verydifficult to catch the cat, as it has all the nimbleness of its natureand the cleverness of a _bhut_. However, they sometimes succeed, andthen something wonderful happens. The woman out of whom the cat hascome remains insensible, as it were in a state of temporary death, until the cat re-enters her body. Any wound inflicted on the cat willbe inflicted on her; if they cut its ears or break its legs or putout its eyes the woman will suffer the same mutilation. The Oraonssay that formerly they used to burn any woman who was suspected ofbeing a _Chordewa_. 

17. Human sacrifice

"There is also Anna Kuari or Mahadhani, who is in our estimationthe most cruel and repulsive deity of all, as she requires humansacrifice. Those savage people, who put good crops above everything, look upon her in a different light. She can give good crops and make aman rich, and this covers a multitude of sins. People may be scepticalabout it and say that it is impossible that in any part of India underthe British Government there should still be human sacrifices. Well, in spite of all the vigilance of the authorities, there are stillhuman sacrifices in Chota Nagpur. As the vigilance of the authoritiesincreases, so also does the carefulness of the Urkas or Otongasincrease. They choose for their victims poor waifs or strangers, whose disappearance no one will notice. April and May are the monthsin which the Urkas are at work. Doisa, Panari, Kukra and Sarguja havea very bad reputation. During these months no strangers will go aboutthe country alone and during that time nowhere will boys and girlsbe allowed to go to the jungle and graze the cattle for fear of theUrkas. When an Urka has found a victim he cuts his throat and carriesaway the upper part of the ring finger and the nose. Anna Kuari findsvotaries not only among the Oraons, but especially among the bigzamindars and Rajas of the Native States. When a man has offered asacrifice to Anna Kuari she goes and lives in his house in the formof a small child. From that time his fields yield double harvest, and when he brings in his paddy he takes Anna Kuari and rolls herover the heap to double its size. But she soon becomes restless andis only pacified by new human sacrifices. At last after some years shecannot 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 totalnumber have become Christians. The non-Christians call themselvesSansar, and the principal difference between them is that theChristians have cut off the pigtail, while the Sansar retain it. Insome families the father may be a Sansar and the son a Kiristan, and they live together without any distinction. The Christians belongto the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Missions, but though they all knowtheir Church, they naturally have little or no idea of the distinctionsof 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 forplanting out, and the Kanihari or harvest celebration. 

"At the Karma festival a party of young people of both sexes, " saysColonel Dalton, "proceed to the forest and cut a young _karma_ tree(_Nauclea parvifolia_) or the branch of one; they bear this homein triumph and plant it in the centre of the Akhara or wrestlingground. Next morning all may be seen at an early hour in holidayarray, the elders in groups under the fine old tamarind trees thatsurround the Akhara, and the youth of both sexes, arm-linked in ahuge circle, dancing round the _karma_ tree, which, festooned withgarlands, decorated with strips of coloured cloth and sham braceletsand necklets of plaited straw, and with the bright faces and merrylaughter of the young people encircling it, reminds one of thegift-bearing tree so often introduced at our own great festival. " Thetree, however, probably corresponds to the English Maypole, and thefestival celebrates the renewal of vegetation. 

20. The _sal_ flower festival

At the Sarhul festival the marriage of the sun-god and earth-motheris celebrated, and this cannot be done till the _sal_ tree givesthe flowers for the ceremony. It takes place about the beginning ofApril on any day when the tree is in flower. A white cock is takento represent the sun and a black hen the earth; their marriage iscelebrated by marking them with vermilion, and they are sacrificed. Thevillagers then accompany the Pahan or Baiga, the village priest, tothe _sarna_ or sacred grove, a remnant of the old _sal_ forest inwhich is located Sarna Burhi or 'The old women of the grove. ' "Tothis dryad, " writes Colonel Dalton, "who is supposed to have greatinfluence over the rain (a superstition not improbably founded on theimportance of trees as cloud-compellers), the party offer five fowls, which are afterwards eaten, and the remainder of the day is spentin feasting. They return laden with the flowers of the _sal_ tree, and next morning with the Baiga pay a visit to every house, carryingthe flowers. The women of the village all stand on the threshold oftheir houses, each holding two leaf-cups; one empty to receive theholy water; the other with rice-beer for the Baiga. His reverencestops at each house, and places flowers over it and in the hair ofthe women. He sprinkles the holy water on the seeds that have beenkept for the new year and showers blessings on every house, saying, 'May your rooms and granary be filled with paddy that the Baiga's namemay be great. ' When this is accomplished the woman throws a vesselof water over his venerable person, heartily dousing the man whom themoment before they were treating with such profound respect. This is nodoubt a rain-charm, and is a familiar process. The Baiga is preventedfrom catching cold by being given the cup of rice-beer and is generallygloriously drunk before he completes his round. There is now a generalfeast, and afterwards the youth of both sexes, gaily decked with the_sal_ blossoms, the pale cream-white flowers of which make the mostbecoming 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 previousto the threshing of the rice, and none is allowed to prepare histhreshing-floor until it has been celebrated. It can only take placeon a Tuesday. A fowl is sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on thenew rice. In the evening a common feast is held at which the Baigapresides, and when this is over they go to the place where Mahadeois worshipped and the Baiga pours milk over the stone that representshim. The people then dance. Plenty of rice-beer is brought, and a sceneof debauchery takes place in which all restraint is put aside. Theysing the most obscene songs and give vent to all their passions. Onthat day no one is responsible for any breach of morality. 

22. Fast for the crops

Like other primitive races, and the Hindus generally, the Oraonsobserve the Lenten fast, as explained by Sir J. G. Frazer, after sowingtheir crops. Having committed his seed with every propitiatory rite tothe bosom of Mother Earth, the savage waits with anxious expectationto see whether she will once again perform on his behalf the yearlymiracle of the renewal of vegetation, and the growth of the corn-plantsfrom the seed which the Greeks typified by the descent of Proserpineinto Hades for a season of the year and her triumphant re-emergence tothe upper air. Meanwhile he fasts and atones for any sin or shortcomingof his which may possibly have offended the goddess and cause her tohold her hand. From the beginning of _Asarh_ (June) the Oraons ceaseto shave, abstain from eating turmeric, and make no leaf-plates fortheir food, but eat it straight from the cooking-vessel. This they nowsay 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 darkestbrown approaching to black; the hair being jet-black, coarse andrather inclined to be frizzy. Projecting jaws and teeth, thicklips, low narrow foreheads, and broad flat noses are the featurescharacteristic 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 farfrom being in accordance with the statutes of beauty, are of asingularly pleasing class, their faces beaming with animation andgood humour. They are a small race, averaging 4 feet 5 inches, butthere is perfect proportion in all parts of their form, and theirsupple, pliant, lithe figures are often models of symmetry. Thereis about the young Oraon a jaunty air and mirthful expression thatdistinguishes him from the Munda or Ho, who has more of the dignifiedgravity that is said to characterise the North American Indian. TheOraon is particular about his personal appearance only so long as heis unmarried, but he is in no hurry to withdraw from the Dhumkuriacommunity, and generally his first youth is passed before he resignshis 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 theknot are wooden combs and other instruments useful and ornamental, with numerous ornaments of brass. [364] At the very extremity of theroll 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 hishead like a high-mettled steed in the buoyancy of his animal spirits, he sets all his glittering ornaments in motion and displays as helaughs a row of teeth, round, white and regular, that give light andanimation to his dusky features. He wears nothing in the form of acoat; his decorated neck and chest are undraped, displaying how thelatter tapers to the waist, which the young dandies compress withinthe smallest compass. In addition to the cloth, there is always roundthe waist a girdle of cords made of tasar-silk or of cane. This isnow a superfluity, but it is no doubt the remnant of a more primitivecostume, perhaps the support of the antique fig-leaves. 

"Out of the age of ornamentation nothing can be more untidy or moreunprepossessing than the appearance of the Oraon. The ornaments arenearly all discarded, hair utterly neglected, and for raiment anyrags 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 upperend is thrown over the left shoulder and falls with its fringe andornamented border prettily over the back of the figure. Vast quantitiesof 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, onthe right hand a smaller quantity; rings on the second toe only ofbrass or bell-metal, and anklets and bracelets of the same materialare also worn. " The women wear only metal and not glass bangles, andthis with the three vertical tattoo-marks on the forehead and the factthat the head and right arm are uncovered enables them to be easilyrecognised. "The hair is made tolerably smooth and amenable by muchlubrication, and false hair or some other substance is used to givesize 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 behindand touching the right ear; and flowers are arranged in a receptaclemade for them between the roll of hair and the head. " Rings are wornin the lobes of the ear, but not other ornaments. "When in dancingcostume on grand occasions they add to their head-dress plumes ofheron feathers, and a gay bordered scarf is tightly bound round theupper part of the body. "

25. Dances

"The tribe I am treating of are seen to best advantage at the greatnational dance meetings called Jatras, which are held once a year atconvenient centres, generally large mango groves in the vicinity of oldvillages. As a signal to the country round, the flags of each villageare brought out on the day fixed and set upon the road that leadsto the place of meeting. This incites the young men and maidens tohurry through their morning's work and look up their _jatra_ dresses, which are by no means ordinary attire. Those who have some miles togo put up their finery in a bundle to keep it fresh and clean, andproceed 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 groupsof girls laughingly making their toilets in the open air, and youngmen in separate parties similarly employed. When they are ready thedrums are beaten, huge horns are blown, and thus summoned the groupfrom each village forms its procession. In front are young men withswords and shields or other weapons, the village standard-bearerswith their flags, and boys waving yaks' tails or bearing poles withfantastic arrangements of garlands and wreaths intended to representumbrellas of dignity. Sometimes a man riding on a wooden horse iscarried, horse and all, by his friends as the Raja, and others assumethe form of or paint themselves up to represent certain beasts ofprey. Behind this motley group the main body form compactly togetheras 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 cheerydashing style, wheeling and countermarching and forming lines, circlesand columns with grace and precision. The dance with these movementsis called _kharia_, and it is considered to be an Oraon rather thana Munda dance, though Munda girls join in it. When they enter thegrove the different groups join and dance the _kharia_ together, forming one vast procession and then a monstrous circle. The drumsand musical instruments are laid aside, and it is by the voices alonethat the time is given; but as many hundreds, nay, thousands, join, the effect is imposing. In serried ranks, so closed up that theyappear 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, ' andat the same moment they all face inwards and simultaneously jumpingup come down on the ground with a resounding stamp that makes thefinale of the movements, but only for a momentary pause. One voicewith a startling yell takes up the strain again, a fresh start ismade, and after gyrating thus till they tire of it the ring breaksup, and separating into village groups they perform other dancesindependently till near sunset, and then go dancing home. "

26. Social customs

But more often they go on all night. Mr. Ball mentions their danceas follows: [365] "The Oraon dance was distinct from any I had seenby the Santals or other races. The girls, carefully arranged in linesby sizes, with the tallest at one end and the smallest at the other, firmly grasp one another's hands, and the whole movements are soperfectly in concert that they spring about with as much agilityas could a single individual. " Father Dehon gives the followinginteresting notice of their social customs: "The Oraons are verysociable beings, and like to enjoy life together. They are payingvisits or _pahis_ to one another nearly the whole year round. In thesethe _handia_ (beer-jar) always plays a great part. Any man who wouldpresume to receive visitors without offering them a _handia_ would behooted and insulted by his guests, who would find a sympathising echofrom all the people of the village. One may say that from the time ofthe new rice at the end of September to the end of the marriage feastor till March there is a continual coming and going of visitors. For amarriage feast forty _handias_ are prepared by the groom's father, andall 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 anda half, in a village of thirty houses, about 200 gallons of rice-beerare despatched. The Oraons are famous for their dances. They delightin spending the whole night from sunset till morning in this mostexciting amusement, and in the dancing season they go from village tovillage. They get, as it were, intoxicated with the music, and there isnever any slackening of the pace. On the contrary, the evolutions seemto increase till very early in the morning, and it sometimes happensthat one of the dancers shoots off rapidly from the gyrating group, andspeeds away like a spent top, and, whirlwind-like, disappears throughpaddy-fields and ditches till he falls entirely exhausted. Of courseit is the devil who has taken possession of him. One can well imaginein 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, _traînantl'aile_, too tired even to enjoy the company of the boys, who remainbehind in small groups, still sounding their tom-toms at intervalsas if sorry that the performance was so soon over. And, wonderful tosay and incredible to witness, they will go straight to the stalls, yoke their bullocks, and work the whole morning with the same spiritand cheerfulness as if they had spent the whole night in refreshingsleep. At eleven o'clock they come home, eat their meal, and stretchedout in the verandah sleep like logs until two, when poked and kickedabout unmercifully by the people of the house, they reluctantly getup 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 nooffence for which a man is permanently put out of caste, but a womanliving with any man other than an Oraon is so expelled. Temporaryexpulsion 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 himselfthe burden of the erring one's transgression. For this he usuallyreceives a fee of five rupees, and in some States the appointment isin the hands of the Raja, who exacts a fine of a hundred rupees ormore from a new candidate. The Oraons eat almost all kinds of food, including pork, fowls and crocodiles, but abstain from beef. Theirstatus is very low among the Hindus; they are usually made to livein a separate corner of the village, and are sometimes not allowed todraw water from the village well. As already stated, the dress of themen consists only of a narrow wisp of cloth round the loins. Some ofthem say, like the Gonds, that they are descended from the subjectsof Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon; this ancestry having no doubtin the first instance been imputed to them by the Hindus. And theyexplain that when Hanuman in the shape of a giant monkey came tothe assistance of Rama, their king Rawan tried to destroy Hanumanby taking all the loin-cloths of his subjects and tying them soakedin oil to the monkey's tail with a view to setting them on fire andburning him to death. The device was unsuccessful and Hanuman escaped, but since then the subjects of Rawan and their descendants have neverhad a sufficient allowance of cloth to cover them properly. 

28. Character

"The Oraons, " Colonel Dalton says, "if not the most virtuous, arethe most cheerful of the human race. Their lot is not a particularlyhappy one. They submit to be told that they are especially created asa labouring class, and they have had this so often dinned into theirears that they believe and admit it. I believe they relish work ifthe taskmaster be not over-exacting. Oraons sentenced to imprisonmentwithout labour, as sometimes happens, for offences against the exciselaws, insist on joining the working gangs, and wherever employed, if kindly treated, they work as if they felt an interest in theirtask. 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 playand chaff among themselves) they return blithely home in flower-deckedgroups 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. Thetranslation is due to the Rev. F. Halm, who has also published aBiblical history, a catechism and other small books in Kurukh. Morethan five-sixths of the Oraons are still returned as speaking theirown language. 

Paik

_Paik. _--A small caste of the Uriya country formed from militaryservice, the term _paik_ meaning 'a foot-soldier. ' In 1901 thePaiks numbered 19, 000 persons in the Kalahandi and Patna States andthe Raipur District, but since the transfer of the Uriya States toBengal less than 3000 remain in the Central Provinces. In Kalahandi, where the bulk of them reside, they are called Nalia Sipahis fromthe fact that they were formerly armed with _nalis_ or matchlocks bythe State. After the Khond rising of 1882 in Kalahandi these wereconfiscated and bows and arrows given in lieu of them. The Paikssay that they were the followers of two warriors, Kalmir and Jaimir, who conquered the Kalahandi and Jaipur States from the Khonds abouta thousand years ago. There is no doubt that they formed the roughmilitia of the Uriya Rajas, a sort of rabble half military and halfpolice, like the Khandaits. But the Khandaits were probably the leadersand officers, and, as a consequence, though originally only a mixedoccupational group, have acquired a higher status than the Paiks andin Orissa rank next to the Rajputs. The Paiks were the rank and file, mainly recruited from the forest tribes, and they are counted asa comparatively low caste, though to strangers they profess to beRajputs. In Sambalpur it is said that Rajputs, Sudhs, Bhuiyas andGonds 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. Itis reported, however, that social distinctions may be purchased insome of the Uriya States for comparatively small sums. A Bhatra ormember of a forest tribe was observed wearing the sacred thread, and, on being questioned, stated that his grandfather had purchasedthe right from the Raja for Rs. 50. The privileges of wearing goldear ornaments, carrying an umbrella, and riding on horseback wereobtainable in a similar manner. It is also related that when oneRaja imported the first pair of boots seen in his State, the locallandholders were allowed to wear them in turn for a few minutes onpayment of five rupees each, as a token of their right thereafter toprocure and wear boots of their own. In Damoh and Jubbulpore anotherset of Paiks is to be found who also claim to be Rajputs, and arecommonly so called, though true Rajputs will not eat or intermarrywith them. These are quite distinct from the Sambalpur Paiks, but haveprobably been formed into a caste in exactly the same manner. Thesept or family names of the Uriya Paiks sufficiently indicate theirmixed descent. Some of them are as follows: Dube (a Brahman title), Chalak Bansi (of the Chalukya royal family), Chhit Karan (belongingto the Karans or Uriya Kayasths), Sahani (a sais or groom), Sudh (thename of an Uriya caste), Benet Uriya (a subdivision of the Uriya or Odmason caste), and so on. It is clear that members of different casteswho became Paiks founded separate families, which in time developedinto exogamous septs. Some of the septs will not eat food cooked withwater in company with the rest of the caste, though they do not objectto intermarrying with them. After her marriage a girl may not takefood cooked by her parents nor will they accept it from her. And at amarriage party each guest is supplied with grain and cooks it himself, but everybody will eat with the bride and bridegroom as a specialconcession to their position. Besides the exogamous clans the Paikshave totemistic _gots_ or groups named after plants and animals, asHarin (a deer), Kadamb (a tree), and so on. But these have no bearingon marriage, and the bulk of the caste have the Nagesh or cobra astheir sept name. It is said that anybody who does not know his septconsiders 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 aSainga or title, of a high-sounding nature, as Naik (lord), Pujari(worshipper), Baidya (physician), Raut (noble), and so on. Marriagesare generally celebrated in early youth, but no penalty is incurredfor a breach of this rule. If the signs of adolescence appear ina girl for the first time on a Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday, it isconsidered a bad omen, and she is sometimes married to a tree to avertthe consequences. Widow-marriage and divorce are freely permitted. Thecaste burn their dead and perform the _shraddh_ ceremony. The womenare tattooed, and men sometimes tattoo their arms with figures ofthe sun and moon in the belief that this will protect them fromsnake-bite. The Paiks eat flesh and fish, but abstain from fowls andother unclean animals and from liquor. Brahmans will not take waterfrom them, but other castes generally do so. Some of them are stillemployed 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 foundin Mandla, Raipur and Bilaspur, and numbering 215, 000 persons in1911. The name is a variant on that of the Pan tribe of Orissaand Chota Nagpur, who are also known as Panika, Chik, Ganda and byvarious other designations. In the Central Provinces it has, however, a peculiar application; for while the Pan tribe proper is called Gandain Chhattisgarh and the Uriya country, the Pankas form a separatedivision of the Gandas, consisting of those who have become membersof the Kabirpanthi sect. In this way the name has been found veryconvenient, for since Kabir, the founder of the sect, was discovered bya weaver woman lying on the lotus leaves of a tank, like Moses in thebulrushes, and as a newly initiated convert is purified with water, so the Pankas hold that their name Is _pani ka_ or 'from water. ' Asfar as possible then they disown their connection with the Gandas, one of the most despised castes, and say that they are a separatecaste consisting of the disciples of Kabir. This has given rise tothe 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 bodyis made of drops of water, but there were Pankas before Kabir. ' Oranother rendering of the second line is, 'First he was a Panka, and afterwards he became a disciple of Kabir, ' Nevertheless thePankas have been successful in obtaining a somewhat higher positionthan the Gandas, in that their touch is not considered to conveyimpurity. This is therefore an instance of a body of persons froma low caste embracing a new religion and thereby forming themselvesinto a separate caste and obtaining an advance in social position. 

2. Caste subdivisions

Of the whole caste 84 per cent are Kabirpanthis and these formone subcaste; but there are a few others. The Manikpuria say thattheir ancestors came from Manikpur in Darbhanga State about threecenturies ago; the Saktaha are those who profess to belong to theSakta 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 occupationwhich tends to lower them in Hindu eyes; and the Dom Pankas areprobably a section of the Dom or sweeper caste who have somehowmanaged to become Pankas. The main distinction is however betweenthe Kabirha, who have abjured flesh and liquor, and the Saktaha, who indulge in them; and the Saktaha group is naturally recruitedfrom backsliding Kabirpanthis. Properly the Kabirha and Saktaha donot intermarry, but if a girl from either section goes to a man ofthe other she will be admitted into the community and recognised ashis wife, though the regular ceremony is not performed. The Saktahaworship all the ordinary village deities, but some of the Kabirha atany rate entirely refrain from doing so, and have no religious ritesexcept when a priest of their sect comes round, when he gives thema discourse and they sing religious songs. 

3. Endogamous divisions

The caste have a number of exogamous septs, many of which are namedafter plants and animals: as Tandia an earthen pot, Chhura a razor, Neora the mongoose, Parewa the wild pigeon, and others. Other septsare Panaria the bringer of betel-leaf, Kuldip the lamp-lighter, Pandwar the washer of feet, Ghughua one who eats the leavings of theassembly, and Khetgarhia, one who watches the fields during religiousworship. The Sonwania or 'Gold-water' sept has among the Pankas, aswith several of the primitive tribes, the duty of readmitting personstemporarily put out of caste; while the Naurang or nine-colouredsept may be the offspring of some illegitimate unions. The Sati septapparently commemorate by their name an ancestress who distinguishedherself by self-immolation, naturally a very rare occurrence in solow a caste as the Pankas. Each sept has its own Bhat or genealogistwho begs only from members of the sept and takes food from them. 

4. Marriage

Marriage is prohibited between members of the same sept and alsobetween first cousins, and a second sister may not be married duringthe lifetime of the first. Girls are usually wedded under twelveyears of age. In Mandla the father of the boy and his relatives go todiscuss the match, and if this is arranged each of them kisses thegirl and gives her a piece of small silver. When a Saktaha is goingto look for a wife he makes a fire offering to Dulha Deo, the youngbridegroom god, whose shrine is in the cook-room, and prays to himsaying, 'I am going to such and such a village to ask for a wife; giveme good fortune. ' The father of the girl at first refuses his consentas a matter of etiquette, but finally agrees to let the marriage takeplace 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 oflines of flour is prepared and the fathers of the parties stand insidethis, while a member of the Pandwar sept cries out the names of the_gotras_ of the bride and bridegroom and says that the everlastingknot is to be tied between them with the consent of five caste-peopleand the sun and moon as witnesses. Before the wedding the betrothedcouple worship Mahadeo and Parvati under the direction of a Brahman, who also fixes the date of the wedding. This is the only purposefor which a Brahman is employed by the caste. Between this date andthat of the marriage neither the boy nor girl should be allowed togo to a tank or cross a river, as it is considered dangerous to theirlives. The superstition has apparently some connection with the beliefthat the Pankas are sprung from water, but its exact meaning cannotbe determined. If a girl goes wrong before marriage with a man of thecaste, she is given to him as wife without any ceremony. Before themarriage seven small pitchers full of water are placed in a bamboobasket and shaken over the bride's head so that the water may fall onher. The principal ceremony consists in walking round the sacred polecalled _magrohan_, the skirts of the pair being knotted together. Insome localities this is done twice, a first set of perambulationsbeing called the Kunwari (maiden) Bhanwar, and the second one ofseven, the Byahi (married) Bhanwar. After the wedding the bride andher relations return with the bridegroom to his house, their partybeing known as Chauthia. The couple are taken to a river and throwtheir tinsel wedding ornaments into the water. The bride then returnshome if she is a minor, and when she subsequently goes to live with herhusband 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 kabhat_, to the castefellows. Usually a man gives several warnings tohis 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 init, sing songs in his praise, and a cocoanut is afterwards broken anddistributed to those who are present. The assembly is presided overby a Mahant or priest and the _chauka_ is prepared by his subordinatecalled the Diwan. The offices of Mahant and Diwan are hereditary, andthey officiate for a collection of ten or fifteen villages. Otherwisethe caste perform no special worship, but observe the full moon daysof Magh (January), Phagun (February) and Kartik (October) as fastsin honour of Kabir. Some of the Kabirhas observe the Hindu festivals, and the Saktahas, as already stated, have the same religious practicesas other Hindus. They admit into the community members of most castesexcept the impure ones. In Chhattisgarh a new convert is shaved andthe other Pankas wash their feet over him in order to purify him. Hethen breaks a stick in token of having given up his former casteand is invested with a necklace of _tulsi_ [367] beads. A womanof any such caste who has gone wrong with a man of the Panka castemay be admitted after she has lived with him for a certain period onprobation, during which her conduct must be satisfactory, her paramouralso being put out of caste for the same time. Both are then shaved andinvested with the necklaces of _tulsi_ beads. In Mandla a new convertmust clean and whitewash his house and then vacate it with his familywhile the Panch or caste committee come and stay there for some timein order to purify it. While they are there neither the owner nor anymember of his family may enter the house. The Panch then proceed tothe riverside and cook food, after driving the new convert across theriver by pelting him with cowdung. Here he changes his clothes andputs on new ones, and coming back again across the stream is made tostand in the _chauk_ and sip the urine of a calf. The _chauk_ is thenwashed out and a fresh one made with lines of flour, and standing inthis the convert receives to drink the _dal_, that is, water in whicha little betel, raw sugar and black pepper have been mixed and a pieceof gold dipped. In the evening the Panch again take their food inthe convert's house, while he eats outside it at a distance. Then heagain sips the _dal_, and the Mahant or priest takes him on his lapand a cloth is put over them both; the Mahant whispers the _mantra_or sacred verse into his ear, and he is finally considered to havebecome 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 KabirhaPanka is put out of caste for eating flesh meat. Both men and womengenerally wear white clothes, and men have the garland of beads roundthe neck. The dead are buried, being laid on the back with the headpointing to the north. After a funeral the mourners bathe and thenbreak a cocoanut over the grave and distribute it among themselves. Onthe tenth day they go again and break a cocoanut and each man buriesa little piece of it in the earth over the grave. A little cup madeof flour containing a lamp is placed on the grave for three daysafterwards, and some food and water are put in a leaf cup outside thehouse for the same period. During these days the family do not cookfor themselves but are supplied with food by their friends. Afterchildbirth a mother is supposed not to eat food during the time thatthe midwife attends on her, on account of the impurity caused by thiswoman's presence in the room. 

7. Occupation

The caste are generally weavers, producing coarse country cloth, and anumber of them serve as village watchmen, while others are cultivatorsand labourers. They will not grow _san_-hemp nor breed tasar silkcocoons. They are somewhat poorly esteemed by their neighbours, who sayof 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 andwill not work to get more. Another saying is, 'The Panka felt braveand thought he would go to war; but he set out to fight a frog and wasbeaten'; and another, 'Every man tells one lie a day; but the Ahirtells sixteen, the Chamar twenty, and the lies of the Panka cannotbe counted. ' Such gibes, however, do not really mean much. Owing tothe abstinence of the Pankas from flesh and liquor they rank abovethe Gandas and other impure castes. In Bilaspur they are generallyheld to be quiet and industrious. [368] In Chhattisgarh the Pankasare considered above the average in intelligence and sometimes actas spokesmen for the village people and as advisers to zamindars andvillage proprietors. Some of them become religious mendicants andact 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 theKshatriyas by Parasurama

_Panwar_, [370] _Puar_, _Ponwar_, _Pramara Rajput_. --The Panwar orPramara is one of the most ancient and famous of the Rajput clans. Itwas the first of the four Agnikulas, who were created from the fire-piton the summit of Mount Abu after the Kshatriyas had been exterminatedby Parasurama the Brahman. "The fire-fountain was lustrated withthe waters of the Ganges; [371] expiatory rites were performed, and after a protracted debate among the gods it was resolved thatIndra should initiate the work of recreation. Having formed an imageof _duba_ grass he sprinkled it with the water of life and threw itinto 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 assignedto 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 orSolanki. Mr. D. R. Bhandarkar adduces evidence in support of theopinion that all these were of foreign origin, derived from theGujars or other Scythian or Hun tribes. [372] And it seems thereforenot unlikely that the legend of the fire-pit may commemorate thereconstitution of the Kshatriya aristocracy by the admission of thesetribes to Hinduism after its partial extinction during their wars ofinvasion; the latter event having perhaps been euphemised into theslaughter of the Kshatriyas by Parasurama the Brahman. A great numberof Indian castes date their origin from the traditional massacreof the Kshatriyas by Parasurama, saying that their ancestors wereRajputs who escaped and took to various occupations; and it wouldappear that an event which bulks so largely in popular traditionmust have some historical basis. It is noticeable also that Buddhism, which for some five centuries since the time of Asoka Maurya had beenthe official and principal religion of northern India, had recentlyentered on its decline. "The restoration of the Brahmanical religionto popular favour and the associated revival of the Sanskrit languagefirst became noticeable in the second century, were fostered by thesatraps of Gujarat and Surashtra during the third, and made a successby the Gupta emperors in the fourth century. [373] The decline ofBuddhism and the diffusion of Sanskrit proceeded side by side withthe result that by the end of the Gupta period the force of Buddhismon Indian soil had been nearly spent; and India with certain localexceptions had again become the land of the Brahman. [374] The Guptadynasty as an important power ended about A. D. 490 and was overthrownby the Huns, whose leader Toramana was established at Malwa in CentralIndia prior to A. D. 500. " [375] The revival of Brahmanism and the Hunsupremacy were therefore nearly contemporaneous. Moreover one of theHun leaders, Mihiragula, was a strong supporter of Brahmanism and anopponent 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 heplundered of their treasures. " [376] This warrior might thereforewell be venerated by the Brahmans as the great restorer of theirfaith and would easily obtain divine honours. The Huns also subduedRajputana and Central India and were dominant here for a time untiltheir extreme cruelty and oppression led to a concerted rising of theIndian princes by whom they were defeated. The discovery of the Hunor Scythian origin of several of the existing Rajput clans fits inwell with the legend. The stories told by many Indian castes of theirfirst ancestors having been Rajputs who escaped from the massacreof Parasurama would then have some historical value as indicatingthat the existing occupational grouping of castes dates from theperiod of the revival of the Brahman cult after a long interval ofBuddhist supremacy. It is however an objection to the identificationof Parasurama with the Huns that he is the sixth incarnation ofVishnu, coming before Rama and being mentioned in the Mahabharata, and thus if he was in any way historical his proper date should belong before their time. As to this it may be said that he might havebeen interpolated or put back in date, as the Brahmans had a stronginterest in demonstrating the continuity of the Kshatriya caste fromVedic times and suppressing the Hun episode, which indeed they havesucceeded in doing so well that the foreign origin of several of themost prominent Rajput clans has only been established quite recentlyby modern historical and archaeological research. The name Parasuramasignifies 'Rama with the axe' and seems to indicate that this hero cameafter the original Rama. And the list of the incarnations of Vishnuis not always the same, as in one list the incarnations are nearlyall 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 viewin itself. [377] He was the son of a Brahman Muni or hermit, named Jamadagni, by a lady, Renuka, of the Kshatriya caste. He istherefore not held to have been a Brahman and neither was he a trueKshatriya. This might portray the foreign origin of the Huns. Jamadagnifound his wife Renuka to be harbouring thoughts of conjugal infidelity, and commanded his sons, one by one, to slay her. The four elderones successively refused, and being cursed by Jamadagni lost allunderstanding and became as idiots; but the youngest, Parasurama, at his father's bidding, struck off his mother's head with a blow ofhis axe. Jamadagni thereupon was very pleased and promised to giveParasurama whatever he might desire. On which Parasurama begged firstfor the restoration of his mother to life, with forgetfulness of hishaving slain her and purification from all defilement; secondly, thereturn of his brothers to sanity and understanding; and for himselfthat he should live long and be invincible in battle; and all theseboons his father bestowed. Here the hermit Jamadagni might representthe Brahman priesthood, and his wife Renuka might be India, unfaithfulto the Brahmans and turning towards the Buddhist heresy. The fourelder sons would typify the princes of India refusing to respond tothe exhortations of the Brahmans for the suppression of Buddhism, andhence themselves made blind to the true faith and their understandingsdarkened with Buddhist falsehood. But Parasurama, the youngest, killed his mother, that is, the Huns devastated India and slaughteredthe Buddhists; in reward for this he was made invincible as the Hunswere, and his mother, India, and his brothers, the indigenous princes, regained life and understanding, that is, returned to the true Brahmanfaith. Afterwards, the legend proceeds, the king Karrtavirya, the headof the Haihaya tribe of Kshatriyas, stole the calf of the sacred cowKamdhenu from Jamadagni's hermitage and cut down the trees surroundingit. When Parasurama returned, his father told him what had happened, and he followed Karrtavirya and killed him in battle. But in revengefor this the sons of the king, when Parasurama was away, returned tothe hermitage and slew the pious and unresisting sage Jamadagni, whocalled fruitlessly for succour on his valiant son. When Parasuramareturned and found his father dead he vowed to extirpate the wholeKshatriya race. 'Thrice times seven did he clear the earth of theKshatriya caste, ' says the Mahabharata. If the first part of the storyrefers to the Hun conquest of northern India and the overthrow ofthe Gupta dynasty, the second may similarly portray their invasionof Rajputana. The theft of the cow and desecration of Jamadagni'shermitage by the Haihaya Rajputs would represent the apostasy of theRajput princes to Buddhist monotheism, the consequent abandonment ofthe veneration of the cow and the spoliation of the Brahman shrines;while the Hun invasions of Rajputana and the accompanying slaughterof 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 fromthe ninth to the twelfth centuries were of the Panwar clan. Theseventh and ninth kings of this dynasty rendered it famous. [378]"Raja Munja, the seventh king (974-995), renowned for his learningand eloquence, was not only a patron of poets, but was himself a poetof no small reputation, the anthologies including various works fromhis pen. He penetrated in a career of conquest as far as the Godavari, but was finally defeated and executed there by the Chalukya king. Hisnephew, the famous Bhoja, ascended the throne of Dhara about A. D. 1018and reigned gloriously for more than forty years. Like his uncle hecultivated with equal assiduity the arts of peace and war. Though hisfights with neighbouring powers, including one of the Muhammadan armiesof Mahmud of Ghazni, are now forgotten, his fame as an enlightenedpatron of learning and a skilled author remains undimmed, and hisname has become proverbial as that of the model king according to theHindu standard. Works on astronomy, architecture, the art of poetryand other subjects are attributed to him. About A. D. 1060 Bhoja wasattacked and defeated by the confederate kings of Gujarat and Chedi, and the Panwar kingdom was reduced to a petty local dynasty untilthe thirteenth century. It was finally superseded by the chiefs ofthe Tomara and Chauhan clans, who in their turn succumbed to theMuhammadans in 1401. " The city of Ujjain was at this time a centre ofIndian intellectual life. Some celebrated astronomers made it theirhome, and it was adopted as the basis of the Hindu meridional systemlike Greenwich in England. The capital of the state was changed fromUjjain to Dhar or Dharanagra by the Raja Bhoja already mentioned;[379] and the name of Dhar is better remembered in connection withthe 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 Panwaris; without the Panwars Dhar cannot stand, nor the Panwars withoutDhar. " It is related that in consequence of one of his merchants havingbeen held to ransom by the ruler of Dhar, the Bhatti Raja of Jaisalmermade a vow to subdue the town. But as he found the undertaking toogreat for him, in order to fulfil his vow he had a model of the citymade in clay and was about to break it up. But there were Panwars inhis army, and they stood out to defend their mock capital, repeating astheir reason the above lines; and in resisting the Raja were cut topieces to the number of a hundred and twenty. [380] There is littlereason to doubt that the incident, if historical, was produced bythe belief in sympathetic magic; the Panwars really thought thatby destroying its image the Raja could effect injury to the capitalitself, [381] just as many primitive races believe that if they makea doll as a model of an enemy and stick pins into or otherwise injureit, the man himself is similarly affected. A kindred belief prevailsconcerning certain mythical old kings of the Golden Age of India, of whom it is said that to destroy their opponents all they had todo 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 theMarusthali or 'Region of death, ' the name given to the great desert ofRajputana, which extends from Sind to the Aravalli mountains and fromthe great salt lake to the flat skirting the Garah. The principal ofthese castles were Abu, Nundore, Umarkot, Arore, and Lodorva. [382]And, 'The world is the Pramara's, ' was another saying expressive ofthe resplendent position of Dharanagra or Ujjain at this epoch. Thesiege and capture of the town by the Muhammadans and consequentexpulsion of the Panwars are still a well-remembered tradition, andcertain castes of the Central Provinces, as the Bhoyars and Korkus, say that their ancestors formed part of the garrison and fled tothe Satpura hills after the fall of Dharanagra. Mr. Crooke [383]states that the expulsion of the Panwars from Ujjain under theirleader Mitra Sen is ascribed to the attack of the Muhammadans underShahab-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 tothe Central Provinces and Bombay. The modern state of Dhar is or wasrecently still held by a Panwar family, who had attained high rankunder the Marathas and received it as a grant from the Peshwa. Malcolmconsidered them to be the descendants of Rajput emigrants to theDeccan. He wrote of them: [384] "In the early period of Marathahistory the family of Puar appears to have been one of the mostdistinguished. They were of the Rajput tribe, numbers of which hadbeen settled in Malwa at a remote era; from whence this branch hadmigrated to the Deccan. Sivaji Puar, the first of the family that canbe traced in the latter country, was a landholder; and his grandsons, Sambaji and Kaloji, were military commanders in the service of thecelebrated Sivaji. Anand Rao Puar was vested with authority to collectthe Maratha share of the revenue of Malwa and Gujarat in 1734, and hesoon afterwards settled at Dhar, which province, with the adjoiningdistricts and the tributes of some neighbouring Rajput chiefs, wasassigned for the support of himself and his adherents. It is a curiouscoincidence that the success of the Marathas should, by making Dharthe capital of Anand Rao and his descendants, restore the sovereigntyof a race who had seven centuries before been expelled from thegovernment of that city and territory. But the present family, thoughof the same tribe (Puar), claim no descent from the ancient Hinduprinces of Malwa. They have, like all the Kshatriya tribes who becameincorporated with the Marathas, adopted even in their modes of thinkingthe habits of that people. The heads of the family, with feelings moresuited to chiefs of that nation than Rajput princes, have purchasedthe office of patel or headman in some villages in the Deccan; andtheir descendants continue to attach value to their ancient, thoughhumble, rights of village officers in that quarter. Notwithstandingthat these usages and the connections they formed have amalgamatedthis family with the Marathas, they still claim, both on accountof their high birth and of being officers of the Raja of Satara(not of the Peshwa), rank and precedence over the houses of Sindhiaand Holkar; and these claims, even when their fortunes were at thelowest ebb, were always admitted as far as related to points of formand ceremony. " The great Maratha house of Nimbhalkar is believed tohave originated from ancestors of the Panwar Rajput clan. While onebranch of the Panwars went to the Deccan after the fall of Dhar andmarrying with the people there became a leading military family of theMarathas, the destiny of another group who migrated to northern Indiawas less distinguished. Here they split into two, and the inferiorsection 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 ordrinks water touched by them. " According to the Ain-i-Akbari [386]a thousand men of the sept guarded the environs of the palace ofAkbar, and Abul Fazl says of them: "The caste to which they belongwas notorious for highway robbery, and former rulers were not able tokeep them in check. The effective orders of His Majesty have led themto honesty; they are now famous for their trustworthiness. They wereformerly called _Mawis_. Their chief has received the title of KhidmatRao. Being near the person of His Majesty he lives in affluence. Hismen are called Khidmatias. " Thus another body of Panwars went northand sold their swords to the Mughal Emperor, who formed them into abodyguard. Their case is exactly analogous to that of the Scotch andSwiss Guards of the French kings. In both cases the monarch preferredto entrust the care of his person to foreigners, on whose fidelity hecould the better rely, as their only means of support and advancementlay in his personal favour, and they had no local sympathies whichcould be used as a lever to undermine their loyalty. Buchanan statesthat a Panwar dynasty ruled for a considerable period over theterritory of Shahabad in Bengal. And Jagdeo Panwar was the trustedminister of Sidhraj, the great Solanki Raja of Gujarat. The storyof the adventures of Jagdeo and his wife when they set out togetherto seek their fortune is an interesting episode in the Rasmala. Inthe Punjab the Panwars are found settled up the whole course of theSutlej and along the lower Indus, and have also spread up the Biasinto Jalandhar and Gurdaspur. [387]

5. The Nagpur Panwars

While the above extracts have been given to show how the Panwarsmigrated from Dhar to different parts of India in search of fortune, this article is mainly concerned with a branch of the clan whocame to Nagpur, and subsequently settled in the rice country of theWainganga Valley. At the end of the eleventh century Nagpur appearsto have been held by a Panwar ruler as an appanage of the kingdom ofMalwa. [388] It has already been seen how the kings of Malwa penetratedto Berar and the Godavari, and Nagpur may well also have fallen tothem. Mr. Muhammad Yusuf quotes an inscription as existing at Bhandakin Chanda of the year A. D. 1326, in which it is mentioned that thePanwar of Dhar repaired a statue of Jag Narayan in that place. [389]Nothing more is heard of them in Nagpur, and their rule probably cameto an end with the subversion of the kingdom of Malwa in the thirteenthcentury. But there remain in Nagpur and in the districts of Bhandara, Balaghat and Seoni to the north and east of it a large number ofPanwars, who have now developed into an agricultural caste. It may besurmised that the ancestors of these people settled in the countryat the time when Nagpur was held by their clan, and a second influxmay have taken place after the fall of Dhar. According to their ownaccount, they first came to Nagardhan, an older town than Nagpur, and once the headquarters of the locality. One of their legends isthat the men who first came had no wives, and were therefore allowedto take widows of other castes into their houses. It seems reasonableto suppose that something of this kind happened, though they probablydid not restrict themselves to widows. The existing family names ofthe caste show that it is of mixed ancestry, but the original Rajputstrain is still perfectly apparent in their fair complexions, highforeheads and in many cases grey eyes. The Panwars have still thehabit of keeping women of lower castes to a greater degree than theordinary, and this has been found to be a trait of other castes ofmixed origin, and they are sometimes known as Dhakar, a name havingthe sense of illegitimacy. Though they have lived for centuries amonga Marathi-speaking people, the Panwars retain a dialect of their own, the basis of which is Bagheli or eastern Hindi. When the Marathasestablished themselves at Nagpur in the eighteenth century some of thePanwars took military service under them and accompanied a generalof the Bhonsla ruling family on an expedition to Cuttack. In returnfor this they were rewarded with grants of the waste and forest landsin the valley of the Wainganga river, and here they developed greatskill in the construction of tanks and the irrigation of rice land, and are the best agricultural caste in this part of the country. Theircustoms have many points of interest, and, as is natural, they haveabandoned many of the caste observances of the Rajputs. It is tothis group of Panwars [390] settled in the Maratha rice country ofthe Wainganga Valley that the remainder of this article is devoted. 

6. Subdivisions

They number about 150, 000 persons, and include many village proprietorsand substantial cultivators. The quotations already given have shownhow this virile clan of Rajputs travelled to the north, south andeast from their own country in search of a livelihood. Everywherethey made their mark so that they live in history, but they paid noregard to the purity of their Rajput blood and took to themselveswives from the women of the country as they could get them. ThePanwars of the Wainganga Valley have developed into a caste marryingamong themselves. They have no subcastes but thirty-six exogamoussections. Some of these have the names of Rajput clans, while othersare derived from villages, titles or names of offices, or fromother castes. Among the titular names are Chaudhri (headman), Patlia(patel or chief officer of a village) and Sonwania (one who purifiesoffenders among the Gonds and other tribes). Among the names of othercastes are Bopcha or Korku, Bhoyar (a caste of cultivators), Pardhi(hunter), Kohli (a local cultivating caste) and Sahria (from the Saonrtribe). These names indicate how freely they have intermarried. It isnoticeable that the Bhoyars and Korkus of Betul both say that theirancestors were Panwars of Dhar, and the occurrence of both namesamong the Panwars of Balaghat may indicate that these castes alsohave some Panwar blood. Three names, Rahmat (kind), Turukh or Turk, and Farid (a well-known saint), are of Muhammadan origin, and indicateintermarriage in that quarter. 

7. Marriage customs

Girls are usually, but not necessarily, wedded beforeadolescence. Occasionally a Panwar boy who cannot afford a regularmarriage will enter his prospective father-in-law's house and serve himfor a year or more, when he will obtain a daughter in marriage. Andsometimes a girl will contract a liking for some man or boy of thecaste and will go to his house, leaving her home. In such cases theparents accept the accomplished fact, and the couple are married. Ifthe boy's parents refuse their consent they are temporarily putout of caste, and subsequently the neighbours will not pay them thecustomary visits on the occasions of family joys and griefs. Even ifa girl has lived with a man of another caste, as long as she has notborne a child, she may be re-admitted to the community on payment ofsuch penalty as the elders may determine. If her own parents will nottake her back, a man of the same _gotra_ or section is appointed asher guardian and she can be married from his house. 

The ceremonies of a Panwar marriage are elaborate. Marriage-sheds areerected at the houses both of the bride and bridegroom in accordancewith the usual practice, and just before the marriage, partiesare given at both houses; the village watchman brings the _toran_or string of mango-leaves, which is hung round the marriage-shedin the manner of a triumphal arch, and in the evening the partyassembles, the men sitting at one side of the shed and the women atthe other. Presents of clothes are made to the child who is to bemarried, 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 tothe bride's house and gives her clothes and other presents, and thefollowing is a specimen given by Mr. Muhammad Yusuf of the songs sungon 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 thebridegroom. After many preliminary ceremonies the marriage processionproper sets forth, consisting of men only. Before the boy startshis mother places her breast in his mouth; the maid-servants standbefore him with vessels of water, and he puts a pice in each. Duringthe 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 inbullock-carts, and when they approach the bride's village herpeople also come to meet them in carts. All the party then turn andrace to the village, and the winner obtains much distinction. Thecartmen afterwards go to the bridegroom's father and he has tomake them a present of from one to forty rupees. On arriving atthe village the bridegroom is carried to Devi's shrine in a man'sarms, while four other men hold a canopy over him, and from thereto the marriage-shed. He touches a bamboo of this, and a man seatedon the top pours turmeric and water over his head. Five men of thegroom's party go to the bride's house carrying salt, and here theirfeet are washed and the _tika_ or mark of anointing is made on theirforeheads. Afterwards they carry rice in the same manner and with thisis the wedding-rice, coloured yellow with turmeric and known as theLagun-gath. Before sunset the bridegroom goes to the bride's house forthe wedding. Two baskets are hung before Dulha Deo's shrine insidethe house, and the couple are seated in these with a cloth betweenthem. The ends of their clothes are knotted, each places the rightfoot on the left foot of the other and holds the other's ear with thehand. 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, andSita, the Bride, pay heed, ' The people inside the house repeat thesewords and someone beats on a brass plate; the wedding-rice is pouredover the heads of the couple, and a quid of betel is placed first inthe mouth of one and then of the other. The bridegroom's party dancein the marriage-shed and their feet are washed. Two plough-yokes arebrought in and a cloth spread over them, and the couple are seated onthem face to face. A string of twisted grass is drawn round their necksand a thread is tied round their marriage-crowns. The bride's dowry isgiven and her relatives make presents to her. This property is knownas _khamora_, and is retained by a wife for her own use, her husbandhaving no control over it. It is customary also in the caste for theparents to supply clothes to a married daughter as long as they live, and during this period a wife will not accept any clothes from herhusband. 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 thema present of from one to twenty rupees according to his means, andalso gives suitable fees to the barber, the washerman, the Barai orbetel-leaf seller and the Bhat or bard. The maid-servants then bringvessels of water and throw it over each other in sport. After theevening meal, the party go back, the bride and bridegroom riding inthe 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, andthough she pays short visits to his family from time to time, shedoes not go to live with her husband until she is adolescent, when theusual _pathoni_ or going-away ceremony is performed to celebrate theevent. The people repeat a set of verses containing advice which thebride's mother is supposed to give her on this occasion, in which thedesire imputed to the caste to make money out of their daughters issatirised. They are no doubt libellous as being a gross exaggeration, but may contain some substratum of truth. The gist of them is asfollows: "Girl, if you are my daughter, heed what I say. I willmake you many sweetmeats and speak words of wisdom. Always treatyour husband better than his parents. Increase your private money(_khamora_) by selling rice and sugar; abuse your sisters-in-law toyour husband's mother and become her favourite. Get influence overyour husband and make him come with you to live with us. If youcannot persuade him, abandon your modesty and make quarrels in thehousehold. Do not fear the village officers, but go to the houses ofthe 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 familysystem. It concludes by advising the girl, if she cannot detach herhusband from his family, to poison him and return as a widow. Thislast counsel is a gibe at the custom which the caste have of takinglarge sums of money for a widow on her second marriage. As sucha woman is usually adult, and able at once to perform the dutiesof a wife and to work in the fields, she is highly valued, and herprice 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 theSendia or headman of the caste. The last of them was Karun Panwarof Tumsar, who was empowered by the Bhonsla Raja of Nagpur to act inthis manner, and was accustomed to receive an average sum of Rs. 25for each widow or divorced woman whom he gave away in marriage. Hispower extended even to the reinstatement of women expelled from thecaste, whom he could subsequently make over to any one who wouldpay for them. At the end of his life he lost his authority amongthe people by keeping a Dhimar woman as a mistress, and he had nosuccessor. A Panwar widow must not marry again until the expiry ofsix months after her husband's death. The stool on which a widowsits for her second marriage is afterwards stolen by her husband'sfriends. After the wedding when she reaches the boundary of hisvillage 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 bythe husband at the ceremony are thrown away, and the stolen stool isburied in a field. These things, Mr. Hira Lal points out, are regardedas 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 ofits infection or contagion. In ancient Greece the offerings used forthe purification of the murderer became themselves polluted duringthe process and had to be buried. A similar reasoning applies to thearticles employed in the marriage of a widow. The wood of the _tendu_or ebony tree [396] is chosen for the substituted axle, because it hasthe valuable property of keeping off spirits and ghosts. When a childis born a plank of this wood is laid along the door of the room tokeep the spirits from troubling the mother and the newborn infant. Inthe same way, no doubt, this wood keeps the ghost of the first husbandfrom entering with the widow into her second husband's village. Thereason for the ebony-wood being a spirit-scarer seems to lie in itsproperty of giving out sparks when burnt. "The burning wood givesout showers of sparks, and it is a common amusement to put piecesin a camp fire in order to see the column of sparks ascend. " [397]The sparks would have a powerful effect on the primitive mind andprobably impart a sacred character to the tree, and as they wouldscare away wild animals, the property of averting spirits mightcome to attach to the wood. The Panwars seldom resort to divorce, except in the case of open and flagrant immorality on the part ofa wife. "They are not strict, " Mr. Low writes, [398] "in the matterof sexual offences within the caste, though they bitterly resent andif able heavily avenge any attempt on the virtue of their women by anoutsider. The men of the caste are on the other hand somewhat notoriousfor the freedom with which they enter into relations with the womenof other castes. " They not infrequently have Gond and Ahir girls fromthe families of their farmservants as members of their households. 

9. Religion

The caste worship the ordinary Hindu divinities, and their householdgod is Dulha Deo, the deified bridegroom. He is represented by anut and a date, which are wrapped in a cloth and hung on a peg inthe 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 goatis offered to Dulha Deo. The animal is brought to the platform andgiven some rice to eat. A dedicatory mark of red ochre is made onits forehead and water is poured over the body, and as soon as itshivers it is killed. The shivering is considered to be an indicationfrom the deity that the sacrifice is acceptable. The flesh is cookedand eaten by the family inside the house, and the skin and bonesare buried below the floor. Narayan Deo or Vishnu or the Sun isrepresented by a bunch of peacock's feathers. He is generally keptin the house of a Mahar, and when his worship is to be celebrated heis 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. Whilethe offering is being made the Mahar sings and dances, and when theflesh of the goat is eaten he is permitted to sit inside the Panwar'shouse and begin the feast, the Panwars eating after him. On ordinaryoccasions a Mahar is not allowed to come inside the house, and anyPanwar who took food with him would be put out of caste; and thisrite is no doubt a recognition of the position of the Mahars as theearlier residents of the country before the Panwars came to it. TheTurukh or Turk sept of Panwars pay a similar worship to Baba Farid, the Muhammadan saint of Girar. He is also represented by a bundle ofpeacock's feathers, and when a goat is sacrificed to him a Muhammadankills 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 andworshipped as Bagh Deo. A hut is made in the yard of the house, and animage of a tiger is placed inside and worshipped on the anniversaryof the man's death. The members of the household will not afterwardskill a tiger, as they think the animal has become a member of thefamily. A man who is bitten by a cobra (_nag_) and dies is similarlyworshipped as Nag Deo. The image of a snake made of silver or iron isvenerated, and the family will not kill a snake. If a man is killedby some other animal, or by drowning or a fall from a tree, hisspirit 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 thesecases it is supposed, as pointed out by Sir James Frazer, that theghost of the man who has come to such an untimely end is especiallymalignant, and will bring trouble upon the survivors unless appeasedwith sacrifices and offerings. A good instance of the same belief isgiven by him in _Psyche's Task_ [399] as found among the Karens ofBurma: "They put red, yellow and white rice in a basket and leave itin 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 bythe 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! Ohstay 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 CentralProvinces appears to be shown by the fact that among castes whopractise cremation, the bodies of men who come to a violent end or dieof smallpox or leprosy are buried, though whether burial is consideredas more likely to prevent the ghost from walking than cremation, isnot clear. Possibly, however, it may be considered that the bodiesare 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 notdied a natural death are buried, as also of persons who are believedto have been possessed of the goddess Devi in their lifetime. Thebodies of small children are buried when the Khir Chatai ceremonyhas not been performed. This takes place when a child is about twoyears old: he is invited to the house of some member of the samesection on the Diwali day and given to eat some Khir or a mess ofnew rice with milk and sugar, and thus apparently is held to becomea proper member of the caste, as boys do in other castes on havingtheir ears pierced. When a corpse is to be burnt a heap of cowdungcakes is made, on which it is laid, while others are spread over it, together with butter, sugar and linseed. The fire with which thepyre is kindled is carried by the son or other chief mourner inan earthen pot at the head of the corpse. After the cremation theashes of the body are thrown into water, but the bones are kept bythe 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 mayretain a few to carry them to the Nerbudda at a convenient season, burying them meanwhile under a mango or pipal tree. A present of arupee or a cow may be made to the barber. After the removal of a deadbody the house is swept, and the rubbish with the broom and dustpanare thrown away outside the village. Before the body is taken awaythe widow of the dead man places her hands on his breast and forehead, and her bangles are broken by another widow. The _shraddh_ ceremony isperformed every year in the month of Kunwar (September) on the sameday of the fortnight as that on which the death took place. On theday before the ceremony the head of the household goes to the housesof those whom he wishes to invite, and sticks some grains of rice ontheir foreheads. The guests must then fast up to the ceremony. Onthe following day, when they arrive at noon, the host, wearing asacred thread of twisted grass, washes their feet with water in whichthe sacred _kusa_ grass has been mixed, and marks their foreheadswith sandal-paste and rice. The leaf-plates of the guests are setout inside the house, and a very small quantity of cooked rice isplaced in each. The host then gathers up all this rice and throwsit 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 isbeing performed, and after this the whole party take their dinner. 

12. Caste discipline

As has been shown, the Panwars have abandoned most of the distinctiveRajput customs. They do not wear the sacred thread and they permit theremarriage of widows. They eat the flesh of goats, fowls, wild pig, game-birds and fish, but abstain from liquor except on such ceremonialoccasions as the worship of Narayan Deo, when every one must partakeof it. Mr. Low states that the injurious habit of smoking _madak_(a preparation of opium) is growing in the caste. They will takewater to drink from a Gond's hand and in some localities even cookedfood. This is the outcome of their close association in agriculture, the Gonds having been commonly employed as farmservants by Panwarcultivators. A Brahman usually officiates at their ceremonies, but hispresence is not essential and his duties may be performed by a memberof the caste. Every Panwar male or female has a _guru_ or spiritualpreceptor, who is either a Brahman, a Gosain or a Bairagi. From timeto time the _guru_ comes to visit his _chela_ or disciple, and onsuch occasions the _chauk_ or sacred place is prepared with linesof wheat-flour. Two wooden stools are set within it and the _guru_and his _chela_ take their seats on these. Their heads are coveredwith a new piece of cloth and the _guru_ whispers some text intothe ear of the disciple. Sweetmeats and other delicacies are thenoffered to the _guru_, and the disciple makes him a present of one tofive rupees. When a Panwar is put out of caste two feasts have to begiven on reinstatement, known as the Maili and Chokhi Roti (impure andpure food). The former is held in the morning on the bank of a tankor river and is attended by men only. A goat is killed and servedwith rice to the caste-fellows, and in serious cases the offender'shead and face are shaved, and he prays, 'God forgive me the sin, it will never be repeated. ' The Chokhi Roti is held in the eveningat the offender's house, the elders and women as well as men of thecaste being present. The Sendia or leader of the caste eats first, and he will not begin his meal unless he finds a _douceur_ of fromone to five rupees deposited beneath his leaf-plate. The whole costof 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 inthe Maratha fashion. They are tattooed on the legs, hands and face, the face being usually decorated with single dots which are supposedto enhance its beauty, much after the same fashion as patches inEngland. Padmakar, the Saugor poet, Mr. Hira Lal remarks, compared thedot on a woman's chin to a black bee buried in a half-ripe mango. Thewomen, Mr. Low says, are addicted to dances, plays and charades, thefirst being especially graceful performances. They are skilful withtheir fingers and make pretty grass mats and screens for the house, and are also very good cooks and appreciate variety in food. ThePanwars do not eat off the ground, but place their dishes on littleiron stands, sitting themselves on low wooden stools. The housewifeis a very important person, and the husband will not give anythingto eat or drink out of the house without her concurrence. Mr. Lowwrites on the character and abilities of the Panwars as follows:"The Panwar is to Balaghat what the Kunbi is to Berar or the Gujar toHoshangabad, but at the same time he is less entirely attached to thesoil and its cultivation, and much more intelligent and cosmopolitanthan either. One of the most intelligent officials in the AgriculturalDepartment is a Panwar, and several members of the caste have madelarge sums as forest and railway contractors in this District;Panwar _shikaris_ are also not uncommon. They are generally averseto sedentary occupations, and though quite ready to avail themselvesof the advantages of primary education, they do not, as a rule, careto carry their studies to a point that would ensure their admissionto the higher ranks of Government service. Very few of them areto be found as patwaris, constables or peons. They are a handsomerace, 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 incourage and animal spirits, or a sense of humour. They are clannishin the extreme, and to elucidate a criminal case in which no one butPanwars are concerned, and in a Panwar village, is usually a hardertask than the average local police officer can tackle. At timesthey are apt to affect, in conversation with Government officials, a whining and unpleasant tone, especially when pleading their claimto some concession or other; and they are by no means lacking inastuteness and are good hands at a bargain. But they are a pleasant, intelligent and plucky race, not easily cast down by misfortune andalways ready to attempt new enterprises in almost any direction savethose indicated by the Agricultural Department. 

"In the art of rice cultivation they are past masters. They are skilledtank-builders, though perhaps hardly equal to the Kohlis of Chanda. Butthey excel especially in the mending and levelling of their fields, in neat transplantation, and in the choice and adaptation of thedifferent varieties of rice to land of varying qualities. They areby no means specially efficient as labourers, though they and theirwives do their fair share of field work; but they are well able tocontrol the labour of others, especially of aborigines, through whommost 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 whoseoccupation is to act as the priests and minstrels of the Gonds. In1911 the Pardhans numbered nearly 120, 000 persons in the CentralProvinces and Berar. The only other locality where they are found isHyderabad, which returned 8000. The name Pardhan is of Sanskrit originand signifies a minister or agent. It is the regular designation of theprincipal minister of a Rajput State, who often fulfils the functionsof a Mayor of the Palace. That it was applied to the tribe in thissense is shown by the fact that they are also known as Diwan, whichhas the same meaning. There is a tradition that the Gond kings employedPardhans as their ministers, and as the Pardhans acted as genealogiststhey may have been more intelligent than the Gonds, though they arein no degree less illiterate. To themselves and their Gond relationsthe Pardhans are frequently not known by that name, which has beengiven to them by the Hindus, but as Panal. Other names for the tribeare Parganiha, Desai and Pathari. Parganiha is a title signifying thehead of a _pargana_, and is now applied by courtesy to some familiesin Chhattisgarh. Desai has the same signification, being a variantof Deshmukh or the Maratha revenue officer in charge of a circle ofvillages. Pathari means a bard or genealogist, or according to anotherderivation a hillman. On the Satpura plateau and in Chhattisgarh thetribe is known as Pardhan Patharia. In Balaghat they are also calledMokasi. The Gonds themselves look down on the Pardhans and say thatthe word Patharia means inferior, and they relate that Bura Deo, theirgod, had seven sons. These were talking together one day as they dinedand they said that every caste had an inferior branch to do it homage, but they had none; and they therefore agreed that the youngest brotherand his descendants should be inferior to the others and make obeisanceto them, while the others promised to treat him almost as their equaland give him a share in all the offerings to the dead. The Pardhans orPatharias are the descendants of the youngest brother and they accostthe Gonds with the greeting 'Babu Johar, ' or 'Good luck, sir. ' TheGonds return the greeting by saying 'Pathari Johar, ' or 'How do youdo, Pathari. ' Curiously enough Johar is also the salutation sent bya Rajput chief to an inferior landholder, [400] and the custom mustapparently have been imitated by the Gonds. A variant of the storyis that one day the seven Gond brothers were worshipping their god, but he did not make his appearance; so the youngest of them made amusical instrument out of a string and a piece of wood and played onit. The god was pleased with the music and came down to be worshipped, and hence the Pardhans as the descendants of the youngest brothercontinue to play on the _kingri_ or lyre, which is their distinctiveinstrument. The above stories have been invented to account for thesocial inferiority of the Pardhans to the Gonds, but their positionmerely accords with the general rule that the bards and genealogistsof any caste are a degraded section. The fact is somewhat contraryto preconceived ideas, but the explanation given of it is that suchpersons make their living by begging from the remainder of the casteand hence are naturally looked down upon by them; and further, that inpursuit of their calling they wander about to attend at wedding feastsall over the country, and consequently take food with many people ofdoubtful social position. This seems a reasonable interpretation ofthe rule of the inferiority of the bard, which at any rate obtainsgenerally among the Hindu castes. 

2. Tribal Subdivisions

The tribe have several endogamous divisions, of which the principal arethe Raj Pardhans, the Ganda Pardhans and the Thothia Pardhans. TheRaj Pardhans appear to be the descendants of alliances betweenRaj Gonds and Pardhan women. They say that formerly the priests ofBura Deo lived a celibate life, and both men and women attended toworship the god; but on one occasion the priests ran away with somewomen and after this the Gonds did not know who should be appointedto serve the deity. While they were thus perplexed, a _kingri_ (orrude 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; andsince this _contretemps_ the priests are permitted to marry, whilewomen are no longer allowed to attend the worship of Bura Deo. TheThothia subtribe are said to be the descendants of illicit unions, the word Thothia meaning 'maimed'; while the Gandas are the offspringof intermarriages between the Pardhans and members of that degradedcaste. Other groups are the Mades or those of the Mad country inChanda and Bastar, the Khalotias or those of the Chhattisgarh plain, and the Deogarhias of Deogarh in Chhindwara; and there are also someoccupational divisions, as the Kandres or bamboo-workers, the Gaitaswho act as priests in Chhattisgarh, and the Arakhs who engage inservice 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 theircriminal propensities, but they are said to be proud of it and torefuse to intermarry with any families not having the designation ofChor Pathari. In Raipur the Patharis are said to be the offspring ofGonds by women of other castes, and the descendants of such unions. Theexogamous divisions of the Pardhans are the same as those of the Gonds, and like them they are split up into groups worshipping differentnumbers of gods whose members may not marry with one another. 

3. Marriage

A Pardhan wedding is usually held in the bridegroom's villagein some public place, such as the market or cross-roads. The boywears a blanket and carries a dagger in his hand. The couple walkfive times round in a circle, after which the boy catches hold ofthe 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 littlefinger and puts his right toe over that of the girl's. The officiatingpriest then ties the ends of their clothes together and five chickensare killed. The customary bride-price is Rs. 12, but it varies indifferent localities. A widower taking a girl bride has, as a rule, to pay a double price. A widow is usually taken in marriage by herdeceased husband's younger brother. 

4. Religion

As the priests of the Gonds, the Pardhans are employed to conduct theceremonial worship of their great god Bura Deo, which takes place onthe third day of the bright fortnight of Baisakh (April). Many goatsor pigs are then offered to him with liquor, cocoanuts, betel-leaves, flowers, lemons and rice. Bura Deo is always enshrined under atree outside the village, either of the mahua or _saj_ (_Terminaliatomentosa_) varieties. In Chhattisgarh the Gonds say that the originof Bura Deo was from a child born of an illicit union between a Gondand a Rawat woman. The father murdered the child by strangling it, and its spirit then began to haunt and annoy the man and all hisrelations, and gradually extended its attentions to all the Gondsof the surrounding country. It finally consented to be appeased bya promise of adoration from the whole tribe, and since then has beeninstalled as the principal deity of the Gonds. The story is interestingas showing how completely devoid of any supernatural majesty or poweris 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 willnot eat the leavings of others. They will take food from the hands ofGonds, but the Gonds do not return the compliment. Among the Hindusgenerally the Pardhans are much despised, and their touch conveysimpurity while that of a Gond does not. Every Pardhan has tattooedon his left arm near the inside of the elbow a dotted figure whichrepresents his totem or the animal, plant or other natural objectafter which his sept is named. Many of them have a better type ofcountenance than the Gonds, which is perhaps due to an infusion ofHindu blood. They are also generally more intelligent and cunning. Theyhave criminal propensities, and the Patharias of Chhattisgarh areespecially noted for cattle-lifting and thieving. Writing forty yearsago Captain Thomson [401] described the Pardhans of Seoni as bearingthe very worst of characters, many of them being regular cattle-liftersand gang robbers. In some parts of Seoni they had become the terrorof the village proprietors, whose houses and granaries they firedif they were in any way reported on or molested. Since that timethe Pardhans have become quite peaceable, but they still have a badreputation 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 bypassing counterfeit gold. Their methods were described as followsin 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 ithas become red-hot it is raked into a small hole and a piece ofwell-polished brass is deposited among the glowing embers. It isconstantly moved and turned about and in ten or fifteen minutes hastaken a deep orange colour resembling gold. It is then placed in asmall heap of wood-ashes and after a few minutes taken out again andcarefully wrapped in cotton-wool. The peculiar orange colour resultsfrom the sulphur and resin in the bark being rendered volatile. Theythen proceed to dispose of the gold, sometimes going to a fair andbuying cattle. On concluding a bargain they suddenly find they haveno money, and after some hesitation reluctantly produce the gold, and say they are willing to part with it at a disadvantage, therebyusually inducing the belief that it has been stolen. The cupidity ofthe owner of the cattle is aroused, and he accepts the gold at a ratewhich would be very advantageous if it were genuine. At other timesthey join a party of pilgrims, to which some of their confederates havealready obtained admission in disguise, and offer to sell their gold asbeing in great want of money. A piece is first sold to the confederateson very cheap terms and the other pilgrims eagerly participate. " Itwould appear that the Patharis have not much to learn from the ownersof buried treasure or the confidence or three-card trick performers ofLondon, and their methods are in striking contrast to the guilelesssimplicity usually supposed to be a characteristic of the primitivetribes. Mr. White states that "All the property acquired is taken backto the village and there distributed by a _panchayat_ or committee, whose head is known as Mokasi. The Mokasi is elected by the communityand may also be deposed by it, though he usually holds office forlife; to be a successful candidate for the position of Mokasi oneshould have wealth and experience and it is not a disadvantage tohave been in jail. The Mokasi superintends the internal affairs ofthe community and maintains good relations with the proprietor andvillage watchman by means of gifts. "

7. Musicians and priests

The Pardhans and Patharis are also, as already stated, villagemusicians, and their distinctive instrument the _kingri_ or _kingadi_is described by Mr. White as consisting of a stick passed through agourd. A string or wire is stretched over this and the instrument isplayed with the fingers. Another kind possesses three strings of wovenhorse-hair and is played with the help of a bow. The women of the GandaPardhan subtribe act as midwives. Mr. Tawney wrote of the Pardhansof Chhindwara: [406] "The Raj-Pardhans are the bards of the Gonds andthey can also officiate as priests, but the Bhumka generally acts inthe latter capacity and the Pardhans confine themselves to singingthe praises of the god. At every public worship in the Deo-khalla ordwelling-place of the gods, there should, if possible, be a Pardhan, and great men use them on less important occasions. They cannot evenworship their household gods or be married without the Pardhans. TheRaj-Pardhans are looked down on by the Gonds, and considered assomewhat inferior, seeing that they take the offerings at religiousceremonies and the clothes of the dear departed at funerals. This hasnever been the business of a true Gond, who seems never happier thanwhen 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 ceremoniesor 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. _--Alow caste of wandering fowlers and hunters. They numbered about15, 000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911, andare found scattered over several Districts. These figures includeabout 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 tothose who use firearms, which most Pardhis refuse to do. Moghia isthe Hindustani word for fowler, and Takankar is the name of a smalloccupational offshoot of the Pardhis in Berar, who travel from villageto village and roughen the household grinding-mills when they haveworn smooth. The word is derived from _takna_, to tap or chisel. Thecaste appears to be a mixed group made up of Bawarias or other Rajputoutcastes, Gonds and social derelicts from all sources. The Pardhisperhaps belong more especially to the Maratha country, as they arenumerous in Khandesh, and many of them talk a dialect of Gujarati. Inthe northern Districts their speech is a mixture of Marwari andHindi, while they often know Marathi or Urdu as well. The name forthe similar class of people in northern India is Bahelia, and in theCentral Provinces the Bahelias and Pardhis merge into one another andare not recognisable as distinct groups. The caste is recruited fromthe most diverse elements, and women of any except the impure castescan be admitted into the community; and on this account their customsdiffer greatly in different localities. According to their own legendsthe first ancestor of the Pardhis was a Gond, to whom Mahadeo taughtthe 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 ofendogamous groups, varying lists being often given in differentareas. The principal subcastes appear to be the Shikari or BhilPardhis, who use firearms; the Phanse Pardhis, who hunt with trapsand snares; the Langoti Pardhis, so called because they wear onlya narrow strip of cloth round the loins; and the Takankars. Boththe Takankars and Langotis have strong criminal tendencies. Severalother groups are recorded in different Districts, as the Chitewale, who hunt with a tame leopard; the Gayake, who stalk their prey behinda bullock; the Gosain Pardhis, who dress like religious mendicants inochre-coloured clothes and do not kill deer, but only hares, jackalsand foxes; the Shishi ke Telwale, who sell crocodile's oil; and theBandarwale who go about with performing monkeys. The Bahelias have asubcaste known as Karijat, the members of which only kill birds of ablack colour. Their exogamous groups are nearly all those of Rajputtribes, as Sesodia, Panwar, Solanki, Chauhan, Rathor, and soon; it isprobable that these have been adopted through imitation by vagrantBawarias and others sojourning in Rajputana. There are also a fewgroups with titular or other names, and it is stated that membersof clans bearing Rajput names will take daughters from the others inmarriage, 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 isusually 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 beseduced by a man of the caste she would be united to him by theceremony of a widow's marriage: but her family will require a bridefrom her husband's family in exchange for the girl whose value he hasdestroyed. Even if led astray by an outsider a girl may be readmittedinto the caste; and in the extreme case of her being debauchedby her brother, she may still be married to one of the community, but no one will take food from her hands during her lifetime, thoughher children will be recognised as proper Pardhis. A special fine ofRs. 100 is imposed on a brother who commits this crime. The ceremonyof marriage varies according to the locality in which they reside;usually the couple walk seven times round a _tanda_ or collection oftheir small mat tents. In Berar a cloth is held up by four poles asa canopy over them and they are preceded by a married woman carryingfive pitchers of water. Divorce and the marriage of widows are freelypermitted. The caste commonly bury their dead, placing the head tothe north. They do not shave their heads in token of mourning. 

4. Religion

In Berar their principal deity is the goddess Devi, who is knownby different names. Every family of Langoti Pardhis has, Mr. Gayerstates, [408] its image in silver of the goddess, and because of thisno 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 thegoddess. They also sometimes refuse to wear red or coloured clothes, one explanation for this being that the image of the goddess is placedon a bed of red cloth. In Hoshangabad their principal deity is calledGuraiya Deo, and his image, consisting of a human figure embossedin 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 necessarypurpose always proceed to the east. They also sleep with their feet tothe east. Goats are offered to Guraiya Deo and their horns are placedin his leather bag. In Hoshangabad they sacrifice a fowl to the ropesof their tents at the Dasahra and Diwali festivals, and on the formeroccasion clean their hunting implements and make offerings to themof turmeric and rice. They are reported to believe that the sun andmoon die and are reborn daily. The hunter's calling is one largelydependent on luck or chance, and, as might be expected, the Pardhisare firm believers in omens, and observe various rules by which theythink their fortune will be affected. A favourite omen is the simpledevice of taking some rice or juari in the hand and counting thegrains. Contrary to the usual rule, even numbers are considered luckyand odd ones unlucky. If the first result is unsatisfactory a secondor third trial may be made. If a winnowing basket or millstone be letfall and drop to the right hand it is a lucky omen, and similarlyif a flower from Devi's garland should fall to the right side. Thebellowing of cows, the mewing of a cat, the howling of a jackal andsneezing are other unlucky omens. If a snake passes from left to rightit is a bad omen and if from right to left a good one. A man must notsleep with his head on the threshold of a house or in the doorway ofa tent under penalty of a fine of Rs. 2-8; the only explanation givenof this rule is that such a position is unlucky because a corpse iscarried out across the threshold. A similar penalty is imposed ifhe falls down before his wife even by accident. A Pardhi, with theexception 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. Aman who has once caught a deer must not again have the hair of hishead touched by a razor, and thus the Pardhis may be recognised bytheir long and unkempt locks. A breach of this rule is punished witha fine of fifteen rupees, but it is not observed everywhere. A womanmust never step across the rope or peg of a tent, nor upon the placewhere the blood of a deer has flowed on to the ground. During hermonthly period of impurity a woman must not cross a river nor sit ina boat. A Pardhi will never kill or sell a dog and they will not huntwild dogs even if money is offered to them. This is probably becausethey look upon the wild dog as a fellow-hunter, and consider that todo him injury would bring ill-luck upon themselves. A Pardhi has alsotheoretically a care for the preservation of game. When he has caughta number of birds in his trap, he will let a pair of them loose sothat they may go on breeding. Women are not permitted to take any partin the work of hunting, but are confined strictly to their householdduties. A woman who kicks her husband's stick is fined Rs. 2-8. Thebutt end of the stick is employed for mixing vegetables and otherpurposes, but the meaning of the rule is not clear unless one of itsuses is for the enforcement of conjugal discipline. A Pardhi may notswear by a dog, a cat or a squirrel. Their most solemn oath is in thename of their deity Guraiya Deo, and it is believed that any one whofalsely takes this oath will become a leper. The Phans Pardhis maynot travel in a railway train, and some of them are forbidden evento use a cart or other conveyance. 

5. Dress, food and social customs

In dress and appearance the Pardhis are disreputable and dirty. Theirfeatures are dark and their hair matted and unkempt. They never wearshoes and say that they are protected by a special promise of thegoddess Devi to their first ancestor that no insect or reptile inthe forests should injure them. The truth is, no doubt, that shoeswould make it impossible for them to approach their game withoutdisturbing it, and from long practice the soles of their feet becomeimpervious to thorns and minor injuries. Similarly the Langoti Pardhisare so called because they wear only a narrow strip of cloth roundthe loins, the reason probably being that a long one would impedethem by flapping and catching in the brushwood. But the explanationwhich they themselves give, [409] a somewhat curious one in view oftheir appearance, is that an ordinary _dhoti_ or loin-cloth if wornmight become soiled and therefore unlucky. Their women do not havetheir noses pierced and never wear spangles or other marks on theforehead. The Pardhis still obtain fire by igniting a piece of cottonwith flint and iron. Mr. Sewell notes that their women eat at the sametime as the men, instead of after them as among most Hindus. Theyexplain this custom by saying that on one occasion a woman triedto poison her husband and it was therefore adopted as a precautionagainst similar attempts; but no doubt it has always prevailed, andthe more orthodox practice would be almost incompatible with theirgipsy life. Similar reasons of convenience account for their customof celebrating marriages all the year round and neglecting the Hinduclose season of the four months of the rains. They travel about withlittle huts made of matting, which can be rolled up and carried offin a few minutes. If rain comes on they seek shelter in the nearestvillage. [410] In some localities the caste eat no food cookedwith butter or oil. They are usually considered as an impure caste, whose touch is a defilement to Hindus. Brahmans do not officiate attheir ceremonies, though the Pardhis resort to the village Joshi orastrologer to have a propitious date indicated for marriages. They haveto pay for such services in money, as Brahmans usually refuse to accepteven uncooked grain from them. After childbirth women are held to beimpure and forbidden to cook for their families for a period varyingfrom six weeks to six months. During their periodical impurity they aresecluded for four, six or eight days, the Pardhis observing very strictrules in these matters, as is not infrequently the case with the lowestcastes. Their caste meetings, Mr. Sewell states, are known as Deokariaor 'An act performed in honour of God'; at these meetings arrangementsfor expeditions are discussed and caste disputes decided. The penaltyfor social offences is a fine of a specified quantity of liquor, theliquor provided by male and female delinquents being drunk by themen and women respectively. The punishment for adultery in eithersex 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 ifhe had committed adultery. The Pardhi women are said to be virtuous. 

6. Ordeals

The Pardhis still preserve the primitive method of trial by ordeal. Ifa woman is suspected of misconduct she is made to pick a pice coin outof boiling oil; or a pipal leaf is placed on her hand and a red-hotaxe laid over it, and if her hand is burnt or she refuses to standthe test she is pronounced guilty. Or, in the case of a man, theaccused is made to dive into water; and as he dives an arrow is shotfrom a bow. A swift runner fetches and brings back the arrow, and ifthe diver can remain under water until the runner has returned he isheld to be innocent. In Nimar, if an unmarried girl becomes pregnant, two cakes of dough are prepared, a piece of silver being placed in oneand a lump of coal in the other. The girl takes one of the cakes, andif 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 overto one of the caste. The idea of the ordeal is apparently to decide thequestion 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 withthe _phanda_ or snare. Mr. Ball describes their procedure as follows:[411] "For peacock, saras crane and bustard they have a long series ofnooses, each provided with a wooden peg and all connected with a longstring. The tension necessary to keep the nooses open is afforded bya slender slip of antelope's horn (very much resembling whalebone), which forms the core of the loop. Provided with several sets of thesenooses, a trained bullock and a shield-like cloth screen dyed buff andpierced with eye-holes, the bird-catcher sets out for the jungle, andon seeing a flock of pea-fowl circles round them under cover of thescreen and the bullock, which he guides by a nose-string. The birdsfeed on undisturbed, and the man rapidly pegs out his long stringsof nooses, and when all are properly disposed, moves round to theopposite side of the birds and shows himself; when they of course runoff, and one or more getting their feet in the nooses fall forwardsand flap on the ground; the man immediately captures them, knowingthat if the strain is relaxed the nooses will open and permit of thebird's escape. Very cruel practices are in vogue with these people withreference to the captured birds, in order to keep them alive until apurchaser is found. The peacocks have a feather passed through theeyelids, by which means they are effectually blinded, while in thecase of smaller birds both the legs and wings are broken. " Deer, hares and even pig are also caught by a strong rope with runningnooses. For smaller birds the appliance is a little rack about fourinches high with uprights a few inches apart, between each of whichis hung a noose. Another appliance mentioned by Mr. Ball is a setof long conical bag nets, which are kept open by hooks and providedwith a pair of folding doors. The Pardhi has also a whistle madeof deer-horn, with which he can imitate the call of the birds. Treebirds 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 beingcovered with bird-lime. Concealing himself behind his bamboo screen theBahelia approaches the bird and when near enough strikes and securesit 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 theprogress of a snake. Having brought the point near one of the birds, which is fascinated by its stealthy approach, he suddenly jerksit into its breast and then drawing it to him, releases the poorpalpitating creature, putting it away in his bag, and recommencesthe 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 (_Felisjubata_) for catching deer has often been described. [413] The leopardis caught full-grown by a noose in the manner related above. Its neckis first clasped in a wooden vice until it is half-strangled, and itsfeet are then bound with ropes and a cap slipped over its head. It ispartially 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. Itis then led through villages held by ropes on each side to accustomit to the presence of human beings. On a hunting party the leopard iscarried on a cart, hooded, and, being approached from down wind, thedeer allow the cart to get fairly close to them. The Indian antelope orblack-buck are the usual quarry, and as these frequent cultivated land, they regard country carts without suspicion. The hood is then taken offand the leopard springs forward at the game with extreme velocity, perhaps exceeding that which any other quadruped possesses. Theaccounts given by Jerdon say that for the moment its speed is greaterthan that of a race-horse. It cannot maintain this for more than threeor four hundred yards, however, and if in that distance the animal hasnot seized its prey, it relinquishes the pursuit and stalks about ina towering passion. The Pardhis say that when it misses the game theleopard is as sulky as a human being and sometimes refuses food for acouple of days. If successful in the pursuit, it seizes the antelopeby the throat; the keeper then comes up, and cutting the animal'sthroat collects some of the blood in the wooden ladle with which theleopard is always fed; this is offered to him, and dropping his holdhe 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 meansan 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 theleopard goes willingly enough; but if anything arrests his attention, some noise from the forest, some scented trail upon the ground, hemoves more slowly, throws his head aloft and peers savagely round. Afew more minutes perhaps and he would be unmanageable. The keeper, however, is prepared for the emergency. He holds in his left hand acocoanut shell, sprinkled on the inside with salt; and by means of ahandle affixed to the shell he puts it at once over the nose of thecheetah. The animal licks the salt, loses the scent, forgets the objectwhich arrested his attention, and is led quietly along again. [414]

9. Decoy stags

For hunting stags, tame stags were formerly used as decoys accordingto the method described as follows: "We had about a dozen trainedstags, all males, with us. These, well acquainted with the objectfor which they were sent forward, advanced at a gentle trot overthe open ground towards the skirt of the wood. They were observedat once by the watchers of the herd, and the boldest of the wildanimals advanced to meet them. Whether the intention was to welcomethem peacefully or to do battle for their pasturage I cannot tell;but in a few minutes the two parties were engaged in a furiouscontest. Head to head, antlers to antlers, the tame deer and thewild fought with great fury. Each of the tame animals, every oneof them large and formidable, was closely engaged in contest with awild adversary, standing chiefly on the defensive, not in any feignedbattle or mimicry of war but in a hard-fought combat. We now made ourappearance in the open ground on horseback, advancing towards thescene of conflict. The deer on the skirts of the wood, seeing us, took to flight; but those actually engaged maintained their groundand continued the contest. In the meantime a party of native huntsmen, sent for the purpose, gradually drew near to the wild stags, gettingin between them and the forest. What their object was we were not atthe time aware; in truth it was not one that we could have approvedor encouraged. They made their way into the rear of the wild stags, which were still combating too fiercely to mind them; they approachedthe animals, and with a skilful cut of their long knives the poorwarriors fell hamstrung. We felt pity for the noble animals as wesaw them fall helplessly on the ground, unable longer to continuethe 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 fromflying away when put upon water: "The trained hawks were now broughtinto requisition, and marvellous it was to see the instinct with whichthey seconded the efforts of their trainers. The ordinary hawking ofthe heron we had at a later period of this expedition; but the use nowmade of the animal was altogether different, and displayed infinitelymore sagacity than one would suppose likely to be possessed by suchan animal. These were trained especially for the purpose for whichthey were now employed. A flight of ducks--thousands of birds--wereenticed upon the water as before by scattering corn over it. Thehawks were then let fly, four or five of them. We made our appearanceopenly upon the bank, guns in hand, and the living swarm of birdsrose at once into the air. The hawks circled above them, however, in a rapid revolving flight and they dared not ascend high. Thus wasour prey retained fluttering in mid-air, until hundreds had paid thepenalty with their lives. Only picture in your mind's eye the circlinghawks above gyrating monotonously, the fluttering captives in mid-air, darting now here, now there to escape, and still coward-like huddlingtogether; and the motley group of sportsmen on the bank and you havethe whole scene before you at once. " [416]

11. Crocodile fishing

For catching crocodile, a method by which as already stated one groupof the Pardhis earn their livelihood, a large double hook is used, baited with a piece of putrid deer's flesh and attached to a hempenrope 70 or 80 feet long. When the crocodile has swallowed the hook, twenty or thirty persons drag the animal out of the water and itis despatched with axes. Crocodiles are hunted only in the monthsof Pus (December), Magh (January) and Chait (March), when they aregenerally fat and yield plenty of oil. The flesh is cut into piecesand stewed over a slow fire, when it exudes a watery oil. This isstrained and sold in bottles at a rupee a seer (2 lbs. ). It is usedas an embrocation for rheumatism and for neck galls of cattle. ThePardhis do not eat crocodile's flesh. 

12. Other occupations and criminal practices

A body of Pardhis are sometimes employed by all the cultivators of avillage jointly for the purpose of watching the spring crops duringthe day and keeping black-buck out of them. They do this perhapsfor two or three months and receive a fixed quantity of grain. TheTakankars are regularly employed as village servants in Berar andtravel about roughening the stones of the household grinding-millswhen their surfaces have worn smooth. For this they receive an annualcontribution of grain from each household. The caste generally havecriminal tendencies and Mr. Sewell states, that "The Langoti Pardhisand Takankars are the worst offenders. Ordinarily when committingdacoity they are armed with sticks and stones only. In digging througha wall they generally leave a thin strip at which the leader carefullylistens before finally bursting through. Then when the hole has beenmade large enough, he strikes a match and holding it in front of himso that his features are shielded has a good survey of the room beforeentering.... As a rule, they do not divide the property on or nearthe scene of the crime, but take it home. Generally it is carried byone of the gang well behind the rest so as to enable it to be hiddenif the party is challenged. " In Bombay they openly rob the standingcrops, and the landlords stand in such awe of them that they securetheir 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 adjoiningJaipur zamindari of Madras. They number about 13, 000 persons in theCentral Provinces and 92, 000 in Madras, where they are also known asPoroja. The name Parja appears to be derived from the Sanskrit Parja, a subject. The following notice of it is taken from the _MadrasCensus Report_ [419] of 1871: "The term Parja is, as Mr. Carmichaelhas pointed out, merely a corruption of a Sanskrit term signifyinga subject; and it is understood as such by the people themselves, who use it in contradistinction to a free hillman. Formerly, says atradition that runs through the whole tribe, Rajas and Parjas werebrothers, but the Rajas took to riding horses or, as the BarenjaParjas put it, sitting still, and we became carriers of burdens andParjas. It is quite certain in fact that the term Parja is not a tribaldenomination, but a class denomination; and it may be fitly renderedby the familiar epithet of ryot. There is no doubt, however, that byfar the greater number of these Parjas are akin to the Khonds of theGanjam Maliahs. They are thrifty, hardworking cultivators, undisturbedby 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. Theirancient rights to these lands are acknowledged by colonists from amongthe Aryans, and when a dispute arises about the boundaries of a fieldpossessed by recent arrivals a Parja is usually called in to point outthe ancient landmarks. Gadbas are also represented as indigenous fromthe long lapse of years that they have been in the country, but theyare by no means of the patriarchal type that characterises the Parjas. "

In Bastar the caste are also known as Dhurwa, which may be derivedfrom Dhur, the name applied to the body of Gonds as opposed to theRaj-Gonds. In Bastar, Dhurwa now conveys the sense of a headman of avillage. The tribe have three divisions, Thakara or Tagara, Peng andMudara, of which only the first is found in Bastar. Thakara appearsto be a corruption of Thakur, a lord, and the two names point to theconclusion that the Parjas were formerly dominant in this tract. Theythemselves have a story, somewhat resembling the one quoted abovefrom Madras, to the effect that their ancestor was the elder brotherof the first Raja of Bastar when he lived in Madras, to the southof Warangal. From there he had to flee on account of an invasion ofthe Muhammadans, and was accompanied by the goddess Danteshwari, the tutelary deity of the Rajas of Bastar. In accordance with thecommand of the goddess the younger brother was considered as theRaja and rode on a horse, while the elder went before him carryingtheir baggage. At Bhadrachallam they met the Bhatras, and furtheron the Halbas. The goddess followed them, guiding their steps, butshe strictly enjoined on the Raja not to look behind him so as tosee her. But when they came to the sands of the rivers Sankani andDankani, the tinkle of the anklets of the goddess could not be heardfor the sand. The Raja therefore looked behind him to see if she wasfollowing, 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. Thetwo brothers settled in Bastar, where the descendants of the youngerbecame the ruling clan, and those of the elder were their servants, theParjas. The story indicates, perhaps, that the Parjas were the originalGond inhabitants and rulers of the country, and were supplanted by alater immigration of the same tribe, who reduced them to subjection, and became Raj-Gonds. Possibly the first transfer of power was effectedby the marriage of an immigrant into a Parja Raja's family, as so oftenhappened with these old dynasties. The Parjas still talk about the Raniof Bastar as their _Bohu_ or 'younger brother's wife, ' and the customis probably based on some such legend. The Madras account of themas the arbiters of boundary disputes points to the same conclusion, as this function is invariably assigned to the oldest residents inany locality. The Parjas appear to be Gonds and not Khonds. Theirsept names are Gondi words, and their language is a form of Gondi, called after them Parji. Parji has hitherto been considered a formof Bhatri, but Sir G. Grierson [420] has now classified the latteras a dialect of the Uriya language, while Parji remains 'A localand very corrupt variation of Gondi, considerably mixed with Hindiforms. ' While then the Parjas, in Bastar at any rate, must be heldto be a branch of the Gonds, they may have a considerable admixtureof the Khonds, or other tribes in different localities, as the rulesof 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 atortoise, Bokda a goat, Netam a dog, Gohi a big lizard, Pandki a doveand so on. If a man kills accidentally the animal after which his septis named, the earthen cooking-pots of his household are thrown away, the clothes are washed, and the house is purified with water in whichthe bark of the mango or _jamun_ [422] tree has been steeped. Thisis in sign of mourning, as it is thought that such an act will bringmisfortune. 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 tolive. If a man of the goat sept eats goat's flesh, it is thought thathe will become blind at once. A Parja will not touch the body of histotem-animal when dead, and if he sees any one killing or teasing itwhen alive, he will go away out of sight. It is said that a man of theKachhim sept once found a tortoise while on a journey, and leaving itundisturbed, passed on. When the tortoise died it was reborn in theman's belly and troubled him greatly, and since then every Parja isliable to be afflicted in the same way in the side of the abdomen, the disease which is produced being in fact enlarged spleen. Thetortoise told the man that as he had left it lying by the road, andhad not devoted it to any useful purpose, he was afflicted in thisway. Consequently, when a man of the Kachhim sept finds a tortoisenowadays, he gives it to somebody else who can cut it up. The storyis interesting as a legend of the origin of spleen, but has apparentlybeen invented as an excuse for killing the sacred animal. 

3. Kinship and marriage

Marriage is prohibited in theory between members of the same sept. Butas 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 theydo not come from the same village; the original rule of exogamy beingperhaps thus exemplified. The proposal for a match is made by theboy's father, who first offers a cup of liquor to the girl's fatherin the bazar, and subsequently explains his errand. If the girl'sfather, after consulting with his family, disapproves of the match, he returns an equal quantity of liquor to the boy's father in tokenof his decision. The girl is usually consulted, and asked if shewould like to marry her suitor, but not much regard is had to heropinion. If she dislikes him, however, she usually runs away from himafter a short interlude of married life. If a girl becomes pregnantwith a caste-fellow before marriage, he is required to take her, and give to the family the presents which he would make to them ona regular marriage. The man can subsequently be properly married tosome other woman, but the girl cannot be married at all. If a girlis seduced by a man outside the caste, she is made over to him. Itis essential for a man to be properly married at least once, and anold bachelor will sometimes go through the form of being wedded tohis maternal uncle's daughter, even though she may be an infant. Ifno proposal for marriage is made for a girl, she is sometimes handedover informally to any man who likes to take her, and who is willingto give as much for her as the parents would receive for a regularmarriage. A short time before the wedding, the boy's father sends aconsiderable quantity of rice to the girl's father, and on the daybefore he sends a calf, a pot of liquor, fifteen annas worth of coppercoin, 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 menwear a particular dress consisting of a long coat, a turban and twoor three scarves thrown loosely over the shoulders. Strings of littlebells are tied about the feet, and garlands of beads round the neck;sometimes men and women dance separately, and sometimes both sexestogether in a long line or a circle. Music is provided by bambooflutes, drums and an iron instrument something like a flute. As theydance, songs are sung in the form of question and answer between thelines of men and women, usually of a somewhat indecent character. Thefollowing short specimen may be given:--

_Man_. If you are willing to go with me we will both follow theofficer'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 Companyis reigning. My husband will beat me and who will pay him thecompensation?

_Man_. You had better make up your mind to go with me. I will ask theTreasurer for some money and pay it to your husband as compensation. 

_Woman_. Very well, I will make ready some food, and will run awaywith you in the next bright fortnight. 

These dialogues often, it is said, lead to quarrels between husband andwife, as the husband cannot rebuke his wife in the assembly. Sometimesthe women fall in love with men in the dance, and afterwards run awaywith them. 

5. Nuptial ceremony

The marriage takes place at the boy's house, where two marriage-shedsare made. It is noticeable that the bride on going to the bridegroom'shouse to be married is accompanied only by her female relatives, no man of her family being allowed to be with her. This is probablya reminiscence of the old custom of marriage by capture, as informer times she was carried off by force, the opposition of hermale relatives having been quelled. In memory of this the men stilldo not countenance the wedding procession by their presence. Thebridal couple are made to sit down together on a mat, and from threeto seven pots of cold water are poured over them. About a week afterthe wedding the couple go to a market with their friends, and afterwalking round it they all sit down and drink liquor. 

6. Widow-marriage and divorce

The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow is practicallycompelled to marry her late husband's younger brother, if he hasone. If she persistently refuses to do so, in spite of the strongestpressure, her parents turn her out of their house. In order to bemarried the woman goes to the man's house with some friends; theysit together on the ground, and the friends apply the _tika_ or signby touching their foreheads with dry rice. A man can divorce hiswife if she is of bad character, or if she is supposed to be underan unfavourable star, or if her children die in infancy. A divorcedwoman can marry again as if she were a widow. 

7. Religion and festivals

The Parjas worship the class of divinities of the hills and forestsusually revered among primitive tribes, as well as Danteshwari, the tutelary goddess of Bastar. On the day that sowing begins theyoffer a fowl to the field, first placing some grains of rice beforeit. If the fowl eats the rice they prognosticate a good harvest, and if not the reverse. A few members of the tribe belong to theRamanandi sect, and on this account a little extra attention is paidto them. If such a one is invited to a feast he is given a woodenseat, while others sit on the ground. It is said that a few yearsago a man became a Kabirpanthi, but he subsequently went blind andhis son died, and since this event the sect is absolutely withoutadherents. Most villages have a Sirha or man who is possessed bythe deity, and his advice is taken in religious matters, such asthe detection of witches. Another official is called Medha Gantia or'The Counter of posts. ' He appoints the days for weddings, calculatingthem by counting on his fingers, and also fixes auspicious days forthe construction of a house or for the commencement of sowing. It isprobable that in former times he kept count of the days by numberingposts or trees. When rain is wanted the people fix a piece of woodinto the ground, calling it Bhimsen Deo or King of the Clouds. Theypour water over it and pray to it, asking for rain. Every year, afterthe crops are harvested, they worship the rivers or streams in thevillage. A snake, a jackal, a hare and a dog wagging its ears areunlucky objects to see when starting on a journey, and also a dustdevil blowing along in front. They do not kill wild dogs, becausethey say that tigers avoid the forests where these reside, and someof them hold that a tiger on meeting a wild dog climbs a tree to getout of his way. Wednesday and Thursday are lucky days for starting ona journey, and the operations of sowing, reaping and threshing shouldbe commenced and completed on one of these days. When a man intendsto 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. Eachset is covered by a leaf-cup with some earth to hold it down. Nextmorning the grains are inspected, and if the top one has fallen downthe site is considered to be lucky, as indicating that the earth iswishful to bear the burden of a house in this place. A house shouldface 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 fromthe starting-point. The principal festivals of the Parjas are theHareli [423] or feast of the new vegetation in July, the Nawakhani[424] or feast of the new rice crop in August or September, and theAm Nawakhani or that of the new mango crop in April or May. At thefeasts the new season's crop should be eaten, but if no fresh rice hasripened, they touch some of the old grain with a blade of a growingrice-plant, and consider that it has become the new crop. On theseoccasions ancestors are worshipped by members of the family onlyinside 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 groundwith head to the east and feet to the west. This is probably the mostprimitive burial, it being supposed that the region of the dead istowards the west, as the setting sun disappears in that direction. Thecorpse is therefore laid in the grave with the feet to the west readyto start on its journey. Members of the tribe who have imbibed Hinduideas now occasionally lay the corpse with the head to the north inthe direction of the Ganges. Rice-gruel, water and a tooth-stickare placed on the grave nightly for some days after death. As aninteresting parallel instance, near home, of the belief that thesoul starts on a long journey after death, the following passagemay be quoted from Mr. Gomme's Folklore: "Among the superstitionsof Lancashire is one which tells us of a lingering belief in a longjourney after death, when food is necessary to support the soul. Aman having died of apoplexy at a public dinner near Manchester, one of the company was heard to remark, 'Well, poor Joe, God resthis 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 moreremarkable instance is that of the woman buried in Curton Church, near Rochester, who directed by her will that the coffin was to havea lock and key, the key being placed in her dead hand, so that shemight be able to release herself at pleasure. " [425]

After the burial a dead fish is brought on a leaf-plate to themourners, who touch it, and are partly purified. The meaning of thisrite, if there be any, is not known. After the period of mourning, which varies from three to nine days, is over, the mourners and theirrelatives must attend the next weekly bazar, and there offer liquorand sweets in the name of the dead man, who upon this becomes rankedamong the ancestors. 

9. Occupation and social customs

The Parjas are cultivators, and grow rice and other crops in theordinary manner. Many of them are village headmen, and to these theterm Dhurwa is more particularly applied. The tribe will eat fowls, pig, monkeys, the large lizard, field-rats, and bison and wildbuffalo, but they do not eat carnivorous animals, crocodiles, snakesor jackals. Some of them eat beef while others have abjured it, andthey will not accept the leavings of others. They are not consideredto be an impure caste. If any man or woman belonging to a highercaste has a _liaison_ with a Parja, and is on that account expelledfrom their own caste, he or she can be admitted as a Parja. In theirother customs and dress and ornaments the tribe resemble the Gondsof Bastar. Women are tattooed on the chest and arms with patterns ofdots. The young men sometimes wear their hair long, and tie it in abunch 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 northernIndia, whose hereditary employment is the tapping of the palmyra, date and other palm trees for their sap. The name is derived from theSanskrit _pashika_, 'One who uses a noose, ' and the Hindi, _pas_ or_pasa_, a noose. It is a curious fact that when the first immigrantParsis from Persia landed in Gujarat they took to the occupationof tapping palm trees, and the poorer of them still follow it. Theresemblance in the name, however, can presumably be nothing more thana coincidence. The total strength of the Pasis in India is about amillion and a half persons, nearly all of whom belong to the UnitedProvinces and Bihar. In the Central Provinces they number 3500, andreside principally in the Jubbulpore and Hoshangabad Districts. Thecaste is now largely occupational, and is connected with the Bhars, Arakhs, Khatiks and other Dravidian groups of low status. But in thepast they seem to have been of some importance in Oudh. "All throughOudh, " Mr. Crooke states, "they have traditions that they were lords ofthe country, and that their kings reigned in the Districts of Kheri, Hardoi and Unao. Ramkot, where the town of Bangarmau in Unao nowstands, is said to have been one of their chief strongholds. The lastof the Pasi lords of Ramkot, Raja Santhar, threw off his allegianceto Kanauj and refused to pay tribute. On this Raja Jaichand gave hiscountry to the Banaphar heroes Alha and Udal, and they attacked anddestroyed Ramkot, leaving it the shapeless mass of ruins which it nowis. " Similar traditions prevail in other parts of Oudh. It is alsorecorded that the Rajpasis, the highest division of the caste, claimdescent from Tilokchand, the eponymous hero of the Bais Rajputs. Itwould appear then that the Pasis were a Dravidian tribe who held a partof Oudh before it was conquered by the Rajputs. As the designationof 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 thissuggestion it may be noted that the Bhars also have strong traditionsof 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 beendestroyed, the Surajvansis utterly banished, and a large extent ofcountry is being ruled over by aborigines called Cheros in the fareast, Bhars in the centre and Rajpasis in the west. Again, in Kherithe Pasis always claim kindred with the Bhars, [428] and in Mirzapur[429] the local Pasis represent the Bhars as merely a subcaste oftheir own tribe, though this is denied by the Bhars themselves. Itseems therefore a not improbable hypothesis that the Pasis and perhapsalso the kindred tribe of Arakhs are functional groups formed from theBhar tribe. For a discussion of the early history of this importanttribe the reader must be referred to Mr. Crooke's excellent article. 

2. Brahmanical legends

The following tradition is related by the Pasis themselves in Mirzapurand the Central Provinces: One day a man was going to kill a numberof cows. Parasurama was at that time practising austerities in thejungles. Hearing the cries of the sacred animals he rushed to theirassistance, but the cow-killer was aided by his friends. So Parasuramamade five men out of _kusha_ grass and brought them to life by lettingdrops of his perspiration fall upon them. Hence arose the name Pasi, from the Hindi _pasina_, sweat. The men thus created rescued thecows. Then they returned to Parasurama and asked him to providethem with a wife. Just at that moment a Kayasth girl was passingby, and her Parasurama seized and made over to the Pasis. From themsprang the Kaithwas subcaste. Another legend related by Mr. Crooketells that during the time Parasurama was incarnate there was anaustere devotee called Kuphal who was asked by Brahma to demand ofhim a boon, whereupon he requested that he might be perfected in theart of thieving. His request was granted, and there is a well-knownverse regarding the devotions of Kuphal, the pith of which is thatthe 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 thievesof success in their attempts against the property of those who repeatthese names. Kuphal is apparently the progenitor of the caste, andthe legend is intended to show how the position of the Pasis in theHindu cosmos or order of society according to the caste system hasbeen divinely ordained and sanctioned, even to the recognition oftheft as their hereditary pursuit. 

3. Its mixed composition

Whatever their origin may have been the composition of the caste isnow of a very mixed nature. Several names of other castes, as Gujar, Gual or Ahir, Arakh, Khatik, Bahelia, Bhil and Bania, are returnedas divisions of the Pasis in the United Provinces. Like all migratorycastes they are split into a number of small groups, whose constitutionis probably not very definite. The principal subcastes in the CentralProvinces are the Rajpasis or highest class, who probably were at onetime landowners; the Kaithwas or Kaithmas, supposed to be descendedfrom a Kayasth, as already related; the Tirsulia, who take their namefrom the _trisula_ or three-bladed knife used to pierce the stem ofthe palm tree; the Bahelia or hunters, and Chiriyamar or fowlers;the Ghudchadha or those who ride on ponies, these being probablysaises or horse-keepers; the Khatik or butchers and Gujar or graziers;and the Mangta or beggars, these being the bards and genealogists ofthe 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; theyavoid marriage with blood relations as far back as their memory carriesthem. At their weddings the couple walk round the _srawan_ or heavylog of wood, which is dragged over the fields before sowing to break upthe larger clods of earth. In the absence of this an ordinary plough orharrow will serve as a substitute, though why the Pasis should imparta distinctively agricultural implement into their marriage ceremonyis not clear. Like the Gonds, the Pasis celebrate their weddings atthe bridegroom's house and not at the bride's. Before the wedding thebridegroom's mother goes and sits over a well, taking with her seven_urad_ cakes [430] and stalks of the plant. The bridegroom walksseven times round the well, and at each turn the parapet is markedwith red and white clay and his mother throws one of the cakes andstalks into the well. Finally, the mother threatens to throw herselfinto the well, and the bridegroom begs her not to do so, promisingthat he will serve and support her. Divorce and the remarriage ofwidows are freely permitted. Conjugal morality is somewhat lax, andMr. Crooke quotes a report from Pertabgarh to the effect that if awoman of a tribe become pregnant by a stranger and the child be bornin the house of her father or husband, it will be accepted as a Pasiof pure blood and admitted to all tribal privileges. The bodies ofadults may be buried or burnt as convenient, but those of childrenor of persons dying from smallpox, cholera or snake-bite are alwaysburied. Mourning is observed during ten days for a man and nine daysfor 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 ofBrahmans will officiate at their marriages and other ceremonies, and do anything for them which does not involve touching them orany article in their houses. In Bengal, Sir H. Risley writes, theemployment of Brahmans for the performance of ceremonies appears tobe a very recent reform for, as a rule, in sacrifices and funeralceremonies, the worshipper's sister's son performs the functions of apriest. "Among the Pasis of Monghyr this ancient custom, which admitsof being plausibly interpreted as a survival of female kinship, stillprevails generally. " The social status of the Pasis is low, but theyare not regarded as impure. At their marriage festivals, Mr. Gayernotes, boys are dressed up as girls and made to dance in public, butthey do not use drums or other musical instruments. They breed pigs andcure the bacon obtained from them. Marriage questions are decided bythe tribal council, which is presided over by a chairman (_Chaudhri_)selected at each meeting from among the most influential adult malespresent. The council deals especially with cases of immorality andpollution 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 theextraction of the sap of palm trees. But some of them are huntersand fowlers like the Pardhis, and like them also they make and mendgrindstones, while others are agriculturists; and the caste has alsostrong criminal propensities, and includes a number of professionalthieves. Some are employed in the Nagpur mills and others have takensmall building contracts. Pasis are generally illiterate and in poorcircumstances, 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 astout rope passing round the tree and his body. He leans back againstthis 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 orjerks 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 toMay, 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 anintoxicating liquor is obtained from it by adding sugar and grainsof rice. Hindustani drunkards often mix _dhatura_ with the toddy toincrease its intoxicating properties. The quantity of juice extractedfrom one tree varies from five to ten pounds. Date palm _tari_ isless 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 notedthieves. In his _Journey through Oudh_ [433] he states that in Oudhthere were then supposed to be one hundred thousand families of Pasis, who were skilful thieves and robbers by profession, and were formerlyThugs and poisoners as well. They generally formed the worst part ofthe gangs maintained by refractory landowners, "who keep Pasis tofight for them, as they pay themselves out of the plunder and costlittle to their employers. They are all armed with bows and arevery formidable at night. They and their refractory employés keepthe country in a perpetual state of disorder. " Mr. Gayer notes [434]that the criminally disposed members of the caste take contracts forthe watch and sale of mangoes in groves distant from habitations, so that their movements will not be seen by prying eyes. They alsoseek employment as roof-thatchers, in which capacity they are enabledto ascertain which houses contain articles worth stealing. They showconsiderable cunning in disposing of their stolen property. The menwill go openly in the daytime to the receiver and acquaint him withthe fact that they have property to dispose of; the receiver goes tothe bazar, and the women come to him with grass for sale. They sellthe grass to the receiver, and then accompany him home with it andthe stolen property, which is artfully concealed in it. 

Patwa

_Patwa, Patwi, Patra, Ilakelband. _--The occupational caste of weaversof fancy silk braid and thread. In 1911 the Patwas numbered nearly6000 persons in the Central Provinces, being returned principallyfrom the Narsinghpur, Raipur, Saugor, Jubbulpore and HoshangabadDistricts. About 800 were resident in Berar. The name is derived fromthe Sanskrit _pata_, woven cloth, or Hindi _pat_, silk. The principalsubcastes of the Patwas are the Naraina; the Kanaujia, also known asChhipi, because they sew marriage robes; the Deobansi or 'descendantsof a god, ' who sell lac and glass bangles; the Lakhera, who preparelac bangles; the Kachera, who make glass bangles; and others. Threeof the above groups are thus functional in character. They have alsoRajput and Kayastha subcastes, who may consist of refugees from thosecastes received into the Patwa community. In the Central Provincesthe Patwas and Lakheras are in many localities considered to be thesame caste, as they both deal in lac and sell articles made of it;and the account of the occupations of the Lakhera caste also applieslargely to the Patwas. The exogamous groups of the caste are namedafter villages, or titles or nicknames borne by the reputed founderof the group. They indicate that the Patwas of the Central Provincesare generally descended from immigrants from northern India. The Patwausually purchases silk and colours it himself. He makes silk stringsfor pyjamas and coats, armlets and other articles. Among these arethe silk threads called _rakhis_, used on the Rakshabandhan festival, [435] when the Brahmans go round in the morning tying them on tothe wrists of all Hindus as a protection against evil spirits. Forthis 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 atone end and a loop at the other. It goes round the wrist, and the knotis passed through the loop. Sisters also tie it round their brothers'wrists and are given a present. The Patwas make the _phundri_ threadsfor tying up the hair of women, whether of silk or cotton, and variousthreads used as amulets, such as the _janjira_, worn by men round theneck, and the _ganda_ or wizard's thread, which is tied round thearm after incantations have been said over it; and the necklets ofsilk or cotton thread bound with thin silver wire which the Hinduswear at Anant Chaudas, a sort of All Saints' Day, when all the godsare worshipped. In this various knots are made by the Brahmans, andin each a number of deities are tied up to exert their beneficentinfluence for the wearer of the thread. These are the bands whichHindus commonly wear on their necks. The Patwas thread necklaces ofgold and jewels on silk thread, and also make the strings of cowries, slung on pack-thread, which are tied round the necks of bullocks whenthey race on the Pola day, and on ponies, probably as a charm. After achild is born in the family of one of their clients, the Patwas maketassels of cotton and hemp thread coloured red, green and yellow, and hang them to the centre-beam of the house and the top of thechild's cradle, and for this they get a present, which from a richman may be as much as ten rupees. The sacred thread proper is usuallymade by Brahmans in the Central Provinces. Some of the Patwas wanderabout hawking their wares from village to village. Besides the silkthreads they sell the _tiklis_ or large spangles which women wearon their foreheads, lac bangles and balls of henna, and the largenecklaces of lac beads covered with tinsel of various colours whichare worn in Chhattisgarh. A Patwa must not rear the tasar silkwormnor 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 professionalclass of freebooters, whose descendants now form a small cultivatingcaste. In the Central Provinces they numbered about 150 personsin 1911, while there are about 10, 000 in India. They are mainlyMuhammadans but include some Hindus. The Pindaris of the CentralProvinces are for the most part the descendants of Gonds, Korkusand Bhils whose children were carried off in the course of raids, circumcised, and brought up to follow the profession of a Pindari. Whenthe bands were dispersed many of them returned to their nativevillages and settled down. Malcolm considered that the name Pindariwas derived from _pinda_, an intoxicating drink, and was given tothem on account of their dissolute habits. He adds that Karim Khan, a famous Pindari leader, had never heard of any other reason forthe name, and Major Henley had the etymology confirmed by the mostintelligent of the Pindaris of whom he inquired. [437] In support ofthis may be adduced the name of Bhangi, given to the sweeper caste onaccount of their drinking _bhang_ or hemp. Wilson again held the mostprobable derivation to be from the Marathi _pendha_, in the sense ofa bundle of rice-straw, and _hara_ one who takes, because the namewas originally applied to horsemen who hung on to an army and wereemployed in collecting forage. The fact that the existing Pindarisare herdsmen and tenders of buffaloes and thus might well have beenemployed for the collection of forage may be considered somewhat tofavour the above view; but the authors of _Hobson-Jobson_, after citingthese derivations, continue: "We cannot think any of the etymologiesvery satisfactory. We venture another as a plausible suggestionmerely. Both _pind-parna_ in Hindi and _pindas-basnen_ in Marathisignify 'to follow, ' the latter being defined as 'to stick closely;to follow to the death; used of the adherence of a disagreeablefellow. ' Such phrases could apply to these hangers-on of an army inthe field looking out for prey. " Mr. W. Irvine [438] has suggestedthat the word comes from a place or region called Pandhar, whichis referred to by native historians and seems to have been situatedbetween Burhanpur and Handia on the Nerbudda; and states that there isgood evidence to prove that a large number of Pindaris were settledin 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 theGularghat hills of the Asir range and flows after a very circuitouscourse into the Masak river by Mandeva. The name signifies five, as it is joined by four other small streams. The Asir hills were thehaunts of the Pindaris, and the country about these, especially bythe banks of the Pandhar, is very wild; but it is not commonly knownthat the Pindaris derived their name from this stream. " And as thePindaris are first heard of as hangers-on of the Maratha armies inthe Deccan prior to A. D. 1700, it seems unlikely also that theirname can be taken from a place in the Nimar District, where it isnot recorded that they were settled before 1794. Nor does the Pandharitself seem sufficiently important to have given a name to the wholebody of freebooters. Malcolm's or Wilson's derivations are perhaps onthe whole the most probable. Prinsep writes: "Pindara seems to havethe same reference to Pandour that Kuzak has to Cossack. The latterword is of Turkish origin but is commonly used to express a mountedrobber in Hindustan. " Though the Pandours were the predatory lightcavalry of the Austrian army, and had considerable resemblance tothe Pindaris, it does not seem possible to suppose that there is anyconnection between the two words. The Pendra zamindari in Bilaspur isnamed after the Pindaris, the dense forests of the Rewah plateau whichincludes 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 warsof the late Muhammadan dynasties in the Deccan, and in the latter partof the seventeenth century they attached themselves to the Marathas intheir revolt against Aurangzeb. The first mention of the name occursat this time. During and after the Maratha wars many of the Pindarileaders obtained grants in Central India from Sindhia and Holkar, and were divided into two parties owing a nominal allegiance to theseprinces and designated as the Sindhia Shahi and Holkar Shahi. In theperiod of chaos which reigned at this time outside British territoriestheir raids in all directions attended by the most savage atrocitiesbecame more and more intolerable. These outrages extended fromBundelkhand to Cuddapah south of Madras and from Orissa to Gujarat. 

When attached to the Maratha armies, Malcolm states, the Pindarisalways camped separately and were not permitted to plunder in theMaratha territories; they were given an allowance averaging fourannas each a day, and further supported themselves by employingtheir small horses and bullocks in carrying grain, forage and wood, for which articles the Pindari bazar was the great mart. When letloose to pillage, which was always the case some days before thearmy entered an enemy's country, all allowances stopped; no restraintwhatever was put upon these freebooters till the campaign was over, when the Maratha commander, if he had the power, generally seizedthe Pindari chiefs or surrounded their camps and forced them to yieldup the greater part of their booty. A knowledge of this practice ledthe Pindaris to redouble their excesses, that they might be able tosatisfy without ruin the expected rapacity of their employers. 

In 1794, Grant-Duff writes, Sindhia assigned some lands to thePindaris near the banks of the Nerbudda, which they soon extendedby conquests from the Grassias or original independent landholdersin their neighbourhood. Their principal leaders at that time weretwo brothers named Hiru and Burun, who are said to have been putto death for their aggressions on the territory of Sindhia andof Raghuji Bhonsla. The sons of Hiru and Burun became Pindarichiefs; but Karim Khan, a Pindara who had acquired great bootyat the plunder of the Nizam's troops after the battle of Hurdla, and was distinguished by superior cunning and enterprise, was theprincipal leader of this refuse of the Maratha armies. Karim got thedistrict of Shujahalpur from Umar Khan which, with some additions, was afterwards confirmed to him by Sindhia. During the war of 1803and the subsequent disturbed state of the country Karim contrived toobtain possession of several districts in Malwa belonging to Sindhia'sjagirdars; and his land revenue at one time is said to have amountedto fifteen lakhs of rupees a year. He also wrested some territory fromthe Nawab of Bhopal on which he built a fort as a place of securityfor his family and of deposit for his plunder. Karim was originally aSindhia Shahi, but like most of the Pindaris, except about 5000 of theHolkar Shahis who remained faithful, he changed sides or plunderedhis master whenever it suited his convenience, which was as oftenas 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 districtsand 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 becamethe most conspicuous. They associated themselves with Amir Khan in1809 during his expedition to Berar; and in 1810, when Karim Khanpurchased his release from Gwalior, they assembled under that leadera body of 25, 000 horse and some battalions of newly raised infantrywith which they again proposed to invade Berar; but Chitu, alwaysjealous of Karim's ascendency, was detached by Raghuji Bhonsla fromthe alliance, and afterwards co-operated with Sindhia in attackinghim; Karim was in consequence driven to seek an asylum with his oldpatron Amir Khan, but by the influence of Sindhia Amir Khan kept himin a state of confinement until 1816. 

When the Marathas ceased to spread themselves over India, the Pindariswho had attended their armies were obliged to plunder the territoriesof their former protectors for subsistence. To the unemployed soldieryof India, particularly to the Muhammadans, the life of a Pindara hadmany allurements; but the Maratha horsemen who possessed hereditaryrights or had any pretensions to respectability did not readily jointhem. One of the above leaders, Sheikh Dullah or Abdullah, apparentlybecame a dacoit after the Pindaris had been dispersed, and he isstill 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 athis will between. '

3. Their strength and sphere of operations

In 1814, Prinsep states, [439] the actual military force at thedisposal of the Pindaris amounted to 40, 000 horse, inclusive of thePathans, who though more orderly and better disciplined than thePindaris of the Nerbudda, possessed the same character and weresimilarly circumstanced in every respect, supporting themselvesentirely by depredations whenever they could practise them. Theirnumber would be doubled were we to add the remainder of Holkar'stroops of the irregular kind, which were daily deserting the serviceof a falling house in order to engage in the more profitable careerof predatory enterprise; and the loose cavalry establishments ofSindhia and the Bhonsla, which were bound by no ties but those ofpresent entertainment, and were always in great arrears of pay. Thepresence of this force in the centre of India and able to threateneach of the three Presidencies imposed the most extensive annualprecautions for defence, in spite of which the territories of ourallies were continually overrun. On two occasions, once when theyentered Gujarat in 1808-9 and again in 1812 when the Bengal provincesof Mirzapur and Shahabad were devastated, they penetrated into ourimmediate territories. Grant-Duff records that in one raid on the coastfrom Masulipatam northward they in ten days plundered 339 villages, burning many, killing and wounding 682 persons, torturing 3600 andcarrying off or destroying property to the amount of two lakhs anda half. Indeed their reputation was such that the mere rumour of anincursion caused a regular panic at Madras in 1816, of which GeneralHislop gives an amusing account: [440] "In the middle of this year thetroops composing the garrison of Fort St. George were moved out andencamped on the island outside Black Town wall. This imprudent stepwas 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 wellknown that not half a dozen of them were at that time within 200 milesof the place. The native inhabitants of all classes throughout Madrasand its vicinity were in the utmost alarm, and looked for places ofretreat and security for their property. It brought on Madras allthe distresses in imagination of Hyder Ali's invasion. It was aboutthis period that an idle rumour reached Madras of the arrival of thePindaris at the Mount; all was uproar, flight and despair to the wallsof Madras. This alarm originated in a few Dhobis and grass-cuttersof the artillery having mounted their _tattus_ and, in mock imitationof the Pindaris, galloped about and played with long bamboos in theirhands in the vicinity of the Mount. The effect was such, however, thatmany of the civil servants and inhabitants of the Mount Road packedup and moved to the Fort for protection. Troopers, messengers, etc. , were seen galloping to the Government House and thence to the differentpublic authorities. Such was the alarm in the Government House thaton the afternoon of that day an old officer, anxious to offer someadvice to the Governor, rode smartly to the Government gardens, and onreaching the entrance observed the younger son of the Governor runningwith all possible speed into the house; who having got to a place ofsecurity ventured to look back and then discovered in the old officera 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 inOctober. Their horses were then shod, having previously been carefullytrained to prepare them for long marches and hard work. A leader oftried courage having been chosen as Luhbaria, all who were so inclinedset forth on a foray, or Luhbar as it was called in the Pindarinomenclature, the strength of the party often amounting to severalthousands. In every thousand Pindaris about 400 were tolerably wellmounted and armed; of this number about every fifteenth man carrieda matchlock, but their favourite weapon was the ordinary bamboospear of the Marathas, from 12 to 18 feet long. Of the remaining 600two-thirds were usually common Lootais or plunderers, indifferentlymounted and armed with every variety of weapon; and the rest slaves, attendants and camp-followers, mounted on _tattus_ or wild ponies andkeeping up with the Luhbar in the best manner they could. They wereencumbered neither by tents nor baggage; each horseman carried a fewcakes of bread for his own subsistence and some feeds of grain forhis horse. They advanced at the rapid rate of forty or fifty miles aday, neither turning to the right nor to the left till they arrived attheir place of destination. They then divided, and made a sweep of allthe cattle and property they could find; committing at the same timethe most horrid atrocities and destroying what they could not carryaway. They trusted to the secrecy and suddenness of the irruptionfor avoiding those who guarded the frontiers of the countries theyinvaded; and before a force could be brought against them they were ontheir return. Their chief strength lay in their being intangible. Ifpursued they made marches of extraordinary length, sometimes upwardsof sixty miles, by roads almost impracticable for regular troops. Ifovertaken they dispersed and reassembled at an appointed rendezvous;if followed to the country from which they issued they broke into smallparties. The cruelties they perpetrated were beyond belief. As it wasimpossible for them to remain more than a few hours on the same spotthe utmost despatch was necessary in rifling any towns or villagesinto which they could force an entrance; every one whose appearanceindicated the probability of his possessing money was immediatelyput to the most horrid torture till he either pointed out his hoardor died under the infliction. Nothing was safe from the pursuit ofPindari lust or avarice; it was their common practice to burn anddestroy what they could not carry away; and in the wantonness ofbarbarity to ravish and murder women and children under the eyes oftheir husbands and parents. The ordinary modes of torture inflictedby these miscreants were to apply red-hot irons to the soles of thefeet; or to throw the victim on the ground and place a plank or beamacross 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 wispsof rag soaked in oil to the ends of all the victim's fingers and setfire to these. Another favourite method was to put hot ashes into ahorse-bag, which they tied over a man's mouth and nostrils and thumpedhim on the back until he inhaled the ashes. The effect on the lungsof 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 viewtheir character and habits. When they recrossed the Nerbudda andreached their homes their camp became like a fair. After the claimsof the chief of the territory (whose right was a fourth part of thebooty, but who generally compounded for one or two valuable articles)had been satisfied, the usual share paid to their Luhbaria, or chosenleader for the expedition, and all debts to merchants and others whohad made advances discharged, the plunder of each man was exposed forsale; traders from every part came to make cheap bargains; and whilethe 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 indrinking. This life of debauchery and excess lasted till their moneywas gone; they were then compelled to look for new scenes of rapine, or, if the season was favourable, were supported by their chiefs, orby loans at high interest from merchants who lived in their camps, manyof whom amassed large fortunes. This worst part of the late populationof 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 beingrapidly reduced to the condition of a desert, and the peasants, unableto support themselves on the land, had no option but to join the robberbands or starve. It was not until 1817 that Lord Hastings obtainedauthority from home to take regular measures for their repression;and at the same time he also forced or persuaded the principal chiefsof Central India to act vigorously in concert with him. When thesewere put into operation and the principal routes from Central Indiaoccupied by British detachments, the Pindaris were completely brokenup and scattered in the course of a single campaign. They made nostand against regular troops, and their bands, unable to escape fromthe ring of forces drawn round them, were rapidly dispersed overthe country. The people eagerly plundered and seized them in revengefor the wrongs long suffered at their hands, and the Bhil Grassiasor border landholders gladly carried out the instructions to huntthem down. On one occasion a native havildar with only thirty-fourmen attacked and put a large body of them to flight. The principalchiefs, reduced to the condition of hunted outlaws in the jungles, soon accepted the promise of their lives, and on surrenderingwere either settled on a grant of land or kept in confinement. Thewell-known leader Chitu joined Apa Sahib, who had then escaped fromNagpur and was in hiding in the Pachmarhi hills. Being expelled fromthere in February 1819 he proceeded to the fort of Asirgarh in Nimar, but was refused admittance by Sindhia's commandant. He sought shelterin the neighbouring jungle, and on horseback and alone attempted topenetrate a thick cover known to be infested with tigers. He was missedfor some days afterwards and no one knew what had become of him. Hishorse was at last discovered grazing near the margin of the forest, saddled and bridled, and exactly in the state in which it was whenChitu had last been seen upon it. Upon search a bag of Rs. 250 wasfound in the saddle; and several seal rings with some letters of ApaSahib, promising future reward, served more completely to fix theidentity of the horse's late master. These circumstances, combinedwith the known resort of tigers to the spot, induced a search forthe body, when at no great distance some clothes clotted with blood, and farther on fragments of bones, and at last the Pindari's headentire with features in a state to be recognised, were successivelydiscovered. The chief's mangled remains were given over to his sonfor interment, and the miserable fate of one who so shortly beforehad ridden at the head of twenty thousand horse gave an awful lessonof the uncertainty of fortune and drew pity even from those who hadbeen victims of his barbarity when living. [443]

7. Character of the Pindaris

The Pindaris, as might be expected, were recruited from all classesand castes, and though many became Muhammadans the Hindus preservedthe usages of their respective castes. Most of the Hindu men belongedto the Ladul or grass-cutter class, and their occupation was to bringgrass and firewood to the camps. "Those born in the Durrahs or camps, "Malcolm states, [444] "appear to have been ignorant in a degree almostbeyond belief and were in the same ratio superstitious. The women ofalmost all the Muhammadan Pindaris dressed like Hindus and worshippedHindu deities. From accompanying their husbands in most of theirexcursions they became hardy and masculine; they were usually mountedon small horses or camels, and were more dreaded by the villagersthan the men, whom they exceeded in cruelty and rapacity. " ColonelTod notes that the Pindaris, like other Indian robbers, were devoutin the observance of their religion:

"A short distance to the west of the Regent's (Kotah) camp is thePindari-ka-chhaoni, where the sons of Karim Khan, the chief leader ofthose hordes, resided; for in those days of strife the old Regent wouldhave allied himself with Satan, if he had led a horde of plunderers. Iwas greatly amused to see in this camp the commencement of an Id-Gahor place of prayer; for the villains, while they robbed and murderedeven 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 inaccordance with the usual tendency of a distinctive occupation, producing a difference in status, to form a fresh caste. The existingPindaris in the Central Provinces are both Muhammadans and Hindus, theMuhammadans, as already stated, having been originally the childrenof Hindus who were kidnapped and converted. It is one of the veryfew merits of the Pindaris that they did not sell their captives toslavery. Their numerous prisoners of all ages and both sexes wereemployed as servants, made over to the chiefs or held to ransom fromtheir relatives, but the Pindaris did not carry on like the Banjarasa traffic in slaves. [446] The Muhammadan Pindaris were said sometime ago to have no religion, but with the diffusion of knowledgethey have now adopted the rites of Islam and observe its rules andrestrictions. In Bhandara the Hindu Pindaris are Garoris or Gowaris, They say that the ancestors of the Pindaris and Gowaris were twobrothers, the business of the Pindari brother being to tend buffaloesand that of the Gowari brother to herd cows. These Pindaris willbeg from the owners of buffaloes for the above reason. They reverethe dog and will not kill it, and also worship snakes and tigers, believing that these animals never do them injury. They carry theirdead 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 donot shave. Some of these Pindaris are personal servants, otherscultivators and labourers, and others snake-charmers and jugglers. 

9. Attractions of a Pindari's life

The freebooting life of the Pindaris, unmitigated scoundrels thoughthey were, no doubt had great charms, and must often have been recalledwith regret by those who settled down to the quiet humdrum existenceof a cultivator. This feeling has been admirably depicted in SirAlfred Lyall's well-known poem, of which it will be permissible toquote 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 andpatwaris corresponding to the Kayasths. They numbered about 1400persons in the southern Districts of the Central Provinces and Berarin 1911. The Prabhus, like the Kayasths, claim to be descendants ofa 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 aRishi, who promised that he should be brought up as a clerk. The boywas named Somraj and was married to the daughter of Chitra Gupta, therecorder of the dead. The caste thus claim Kshatriya origin. The namePrabhu signifies 'lord, ' but the Brahmans pretend that the real nameof the caste was Parbhu, meaning one of irregular birth. The Prabhussay that Parbhu is a colloquial corruption used by the uneducated. The_gotras_ of the Prabhus are eponymous, the names being the same asthose of Brahmans. In the Central Provinces many of them have thesurname of Chitnavis or Secretary. Child-marriage is in vogue andwidow-remarriage is forbidden. The wedding ceremony resembles thatof the Brahmans. 

In his _Description of a Prabhu marriage_ [448] Rai Bahadur B. A. Gupteshows how the old customs are being broken through among the educatedclasses under the influence of modern ideas. Marriages are no longerarranged without regard to the wishes of the couple, which are thusascertained: "The next step [449] is to find out the inclination of thehero of the tale. His friends and equals do that easily enough. Theybegin talking of the family and the girl, and are soon able to fathomhis mind. They leave on his desk all the photographs of the girlsoffered and watch his movements. If he is sensible he quietly dropsor returns all the likenesses except the one he prefers, and keepsthis in his drawer. He dare not display it, for it is immodest to doso. The news of the approval by the boy soon reaches the parents of thegirl. " Similarly in her case: "The girl has no direct voice, but herlikes and dislikes are carefully fathomed through her girl friends. Ifshe says, 'Why is papa in such a hurry to get rid of me, ' or turnsher face and goes away as soon as the proposed family is mentioned, a sensible father drops the case and turns his attention to some otherboy. This is the direct result of higher education under British rule, but among the masses the girl has absolutely no voice, and the boy hasvery little unless he revolts and disobediently declines to accept agirl already selected. " Similarly the educated Prabhus are beginningto dispense with the astrologer's calculations showing the agreementof the horoscopes of the couple, which are too often made a cloak forthe extortion of large presents. "It very often happens that everythingis amicably settled except the greed of the priest, and he manages tofind out some disagreement between the horoscopes of the marriageableparties to vent his anger. This trick has been sufficiently exposed, and the educated portion of this ultra-literary caste have in mostcases discarded horoscopes and planetary conjunctions altogether. Underthese restrictions the only thing the council of astrologers have todo is to draw up two documents giving diagrams based on the namesof the parties--for names are presumably selected according to theconjunctions of the stars at birth. But they are often not, and dependon 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 ofthe girl the favourite deity or a character in the most recent fableor drama the father has just read. "

According to custom the bridegroom should go to the bride's house tobe married, but if it is more convenient to have the wedding at thebridegroom's town, the bride goes there to a temporary house takenby her father, and then the bridegroom proceeds to a temple withhis party and is welcomed as if he had arrived on completion of ajourney. Mr. Gupte thus describes the reception of the bride whenshe has come to be married: "But there comes an urgent telegram. Thebride and her mother are expected and information is given to thebridegroom's father. In all haste preparations are made to giveher a grand and suitable reception. Oh, the flutter among the girlsassembled in the house of the bridegroom from all quarters. Every oneis dressed in her best and is trying to be the foremost in welcomingthe new bride, the Goddess Lakshmi. The numerous maidservants ofthe house want to prostrate themselves before their future queen onthe Suna or borderland of the city, which is of course the railwaystation. Musicians have been already despatched and the platform isfull of gaily dressed girls. The train arrives, the party assemble atthe waiting-room, a maidservant waves rice and water to 'take off'the effects of evil eyes and they start amid admiring eyes of thepassengers and onlookers. As soon as the bride reaches her father'stemporary residence another girl waves rice and water and throwsit away. The girls of the bridegroom's house run home and come backagain with a Kalash (water-pot) full of water, with its mouth coveredwith mango-leaves and topped over with a cocoanut and a large tray ofsugar. This is called _Sakhar pani_, sugar and water, the first towash the mouth with and the second to sweeten it. The girls have bythis time all gathered round the bride and are busy cheering her upwith encouraging remarks: 'Oh, she is a Rati, the goddess of beauty, 'says one, and another, 'How delicate, ' 'What a fine nose' from athird, and 'Look at her eyes' from a fourth. All complimentary andcomforting. 'We are glad it is our house you are coming to, ' saysa sister-in-law in prospect. 'We are happy you are going to be our_malikin_ (mistress), ' adds a maidservant. As soon as the elder ladieshave completed their courteous inquiries _pan-supari_ and _attar_ aredistributed and the party returns home. But on arrival the girls gatherround the bridegroom to tease him. 'Oh, you Sudharak (reformer), ' 'Oh, you Sahib (European), _you_ have selected your bride. ' 'You have seenher _before_ marriage. You have broken the rule of the society. Youought to be excommunicated. ' 'But, ' says another, 'he will now haveno time to speak to us. His Rati (goddess of beauty) and he! The Sahiband the Memsahib! We shall all be forgotten now. Who cares for sistersand cousins in these days of civilisation?' But all these little jokesof the little girls are meant as congratulations to him for havingsecured a good girl. " At a wedding among the highest families suchas is described here, the bridegroom is presented with drinking cupsand plates, trays for holding sandalwood paste, betel-leaf and anincense-burner, all in solid silver to the value of about Rs. 1000;water-pots and cooking vessels and a small bath in German silvercosting 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 shorttime before their marriage without the ceremonies which form part ofthe regular Brahman investiture. On the fifth day after the birthof 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] Thefuneral ceremonies, Mr. Enthoven writes, are performed during thefirst thirteen days after death. Oblations of rice are offered everyday, in consequence of which the soul of the dead attains a spiritualbody, limb by limb, till on the thirteenth day it is enabled to starton its journey. In twelve months the journey ends, and a _shraddh_ceremony is performed on an extensive scale on the anniversary ofthe death. Most of the Prabhus are in Government service and othersare landowners. In the Bombay Presidency [452] they had at firstalmost a monopoly of Government service as English writers, and theterm Prabhu was commonly employed to denote a clerk of any caste whocould write English. Both men and women of the caste are generallyof a fair complexion, resembling the Maratha Brahmans. The taste ofthe women in dress is proverbial, and when a Sunar, Sutar or Kasarwoman has dressed herself in her best for some family festival, shewill 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 havenow developed in the Central Provinces into a caste of cultivators, marrying among themselves. Their first settlement here was in theNerbudda Valley, and Sir C. Elliott wrote of them: [453] "They area queer class, all professing to be Rajputs from Ajodhia, though oncross-examination they are obliged to confess that they did not comehere straight from Ajodhia, but stopped in Bundelkhand and the Gwaliorterritory by the way. They are obviously of impure blood as they marryonly among themselves; but when they get wealthy and influential theyassume 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 Hoshangabadthey have spread to Betul, Chhindwara and Nagpur and now number 24, 000persons in all in the Central Provinces. Chhindwara, on the Satpuraplateau, is supposed to have been founded by one Ratan Raghuvansi, who built the first house on the site, burying a goat alive underthe foundations. The goat is still worshipped as the tutelary deityof the town. The name Raghuvansi is derived from Raja Raghu, king ofAjodhia and ancestor of the great Rama, the hero of the Ramayana. InNagpur the name has been shortened to Raghvi, and the branch of thecaste settled here is somewhat looked down upon by their fellowsin Hoshangabad. Sir R. Craddock [454] states that their religionis 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 andfair complexion. The notice continues: "Whatever may happen to otherclasses the Raghvi will never give way to the moneylender. Though heis fond of comfort he combines a good deal of thrift with it, and theclannish spirit of the caste would prevent any oppression of Raghvitenants 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_ orcommunal tenure. As malguzars or village proprietors, they are veryprone to absorb tenant land into their home-farms. 

2. Social customs

The Raghuvansis have now a set of exogamous groups of the usuallow-caste type, designated after titles, nicknames or naturalobjects. They sometimes invest their sons with the sacred threadat the time of marriage instead of performing the proper threadceremony. Some discard the cord after the wedding is over. Ata marriage the Raghuvansis of Chhindwara and Nagpur combine theHindustani custom of walking round the sacred pole with the Maratha oneof throwing coloured rice on the bridal couple. Sometimes they havewhat is known as a _gankar_ wedding. At this, flour, sugar and _ghi_[456] are the only kinds of food permissible, large cakes of flourand sugar being boiled in pitchers full of _ghi_, and everybody beinggiven as much of this as he can eat. The guests generally over-eatthemselves, and as weddings are celebrated in the hot weather, one ortwo may occasionally die of repletion. The neighbours of Raghuvansissay that the host considers such an occurrence as evidence of thecomplete success of his party, but this is probably a libel. Such awedding feast may cost two or three thousand rupees. After the weddingthe women of the bride's party attack those of the bridegroom'swith bamboo sticks, while these retaliate by throwing red powderon them. The remarriage of widows is freely permitted, but a widowmust be taken from the house of her own parents or relatives, andnot from that of her first husband or his parents. In fact, if anymembers of the dead husband's family meet the second husband on thenight of the wedding they will attack him and a serious affray mayfollow. On reaching her new house the woman enters it by a back door, after bathing and changing all her clothes. The old clothes are givenaway to a barber or washerman, and the presentation of new clothesby the second husband is the only essential ceremony. No wife willlook on a widow's face on the night of her second marriage, for fearlest by doing so she should come to the same position. The majority ofthe caste abstain from liquor, and they eat flesh in some localities, but not in others. The men commonly wear beards divided by a shavenpatch in the centre of the chin; and the women have two body-cloths, one worn like a skirt according to the northern custom. Mr. Crookestates [457] that "in northern India a tradition exists among themthat the cultivation of sugar is fatal to the farmer, and that thetiling 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 beseen in their estates. " These superstitions do not appear to be knownat all in the Central Provinces. 

Rajjhar

1. General notice

_Rajjhar, Rajbhar, Lajjhar. _--A caste of farmservants found in thenorthern Districts. In 1911 they numbered about 8000 persons in theCentral Provinces, being returned principally from the Districtsof the Satpura plateau. The names Rajjhar and Rajbhar appear to beapplied indiscriminately to the same caste, who are an offshoot ofthe great Bhar tribe of northern India. The original name appearsto have been Raj Bhar, which signifies a landowning Bhar, likeRaj-Gond, Raj-Korku and so on. In Mandla all the members of thecaste were shown as Rajbhar in 1891, and Rajjhar in 1901, and thetwo names seem to be used interchangeably in other Districts in thesame manner. Some section or family names, such as Bamhania, Patela, Barhele and others, are common to people calling themselves Rajjharand Rajbhar. But, though practically the same caste, the Rajjharsseem, in some localities, to be more backward and primitive than theRajbhars. This is also the case in Berar, where they are commonlyknown as Lajjhar and are said to be akin to the Gonds. A Gond willthere take food from a Lajjhar, but not a Lajjhar from a Gond. Theyare more Hinduised than the Gonds and have prohibited the killing orinjuring of cows by some caste penalties. [458]

2. Origin and subdivisions

The caste appears to be in part of mixed origin arising from theunions of Hindu fathers with women of the Bhar tribe. Several oftheir 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 namesare after plants or animals, as Baslya from the _bans_ or bamboo, Mohanya from the _mohin_ tree, Chhitkaria from the _sitaphal_ orcustard-apple tree, Hardaya from the banyan tree, Richhya from thebear, and Dukhania from the buffalo. Members of this last sept will notdrink buffalo's milk or wear black cloth, because this is the colourof their totem animal. Members of septs named after other castes havealso adopted some natural object as a sept totem; thus those of theSunarya sept worship gold as being the metal with which the Sunar isassociated. Those of the Bamhania sept revere the banyan and pipaltrees, as these are held sacred by Brahmans. The Bakraria or Bagsariasept 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 firstcousins, is forbidden. The caste do not employ Brahmans at theirmarriage and other ceremonies, and they account for this somewhatquaintly by saying that their ancestors were at one time accustomedto rely on the calculations of Brahman priests; but many marriageswhich the Brahman foretold as auspicious turned out very much thereverse; and on this account they have discarded the Brahman, and nowdetermine the suitability or otherwise of a projected union by thecommon primitive custom of throwing two grains of rice into a vesselof water and seeing whether they will meet. The truth is probably thatthey 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, anddesire to explain it away by the story already given. In Hoshangabadthe bride still goes to the bridegroom's house to be married as amongthe Gonds. A bride-price is paid, which consists of four rupees, a _khandi_ [459] of juari or wheat, and two pieces of cloth. Thisis received by the bride's father, who, however, has in turn topay seven rupees eight annas and a goat to the caste _panchayat_or committee for the arrangement and sanction of the match. Thislast payment is known as _Skarab-ka-rupaya_ or liquor-money, andwith the goat furnishes the wherewithal for a sumptuous feast to thecaste. The marriage-shed must be made of freshly-cut timber, whichshould not be allowed to fall to the ground, but must be supportedand carried off on men's shoulders as it is cut. When the bridegroomarrives at the marriage-shed he is met by the bride's mother andconducted by her to an inner room of the house, where he finds thebride standing. He seizes her fist, which she holds clenched, andopens her fingers by force. The couple then walk five times round the_chauk_ or sacred space made with lines of flour on the floor, thebridegroom holding the bride by her little finger. They are precededby some relative of the bride, who walks round the post carrying apot of water, with seven holes in it; the water spouts from theseholes on to the ground, and the couple must tread in it as they goround the post. This forms the essential and binding portion of themarriage. That night the couple sleep in the same room with a womanlying between them. Next day they return to the bridegroom's house, and on arriving at his door the boy's mother meets him and toucheshis head, breast and knees with a churning-stick, a winnowing-fan anda pestle, with the object of exorcising any evil spirits who may beaccompanying the bridal couple. As the pair enter the marriage-shederected before the bridegroom's house they are drenched with water bya man sitting on the roof, and when they come to the door of the housethe bridegroom's younger brother, or some other boy, sits across itwith his legs stretched out to prevent the bride from entering. Thegirl pushes his legs aside and goes into the house, where she staysfor three months with her husband, and then returns to her parents fora year. After this she is sent to her husband with a basket of friedcakes and a piece of cloth, and takes up her residence with him. Whena widow is to be married, the couple pour turmeric and water over eachother, and then walk seven times round in a circle in an empty space, holding each other by the hand. A widow commonly marries her deceasedhusband's younger brother, but is not compelled to do so. Divorce ispermitted for adultery on the part of the wife. 

4. Social Customs

The caste bury their dead with the head pointing to the west. Thispractice is peculiar, and is also followed, Colonel Dalton states, bythe hill Bhuiyas of Bengal, who in so doing honour the quarter of thesetting sun. When a burial takes place, all the mourners who accompanythe corpse throw a little earth into the grave. On the same day somefood and liquor are taken to the grave and offered to the dead man'sspirit, and a feast is given to the caste-fellows. This concludesthe ceremonies of mourning, and the next day the relatives go abouttheir business. The caste are usually petty cultivators and labourers, while they also collect grass and fuel for sale, and propagate the lacinsect. In Seoni they have a special relation with the Ahirs, from whomthey will take cooked food, while they say that the Ahirs will also eatfrom their hands. In Narsinghpur a similar connection has been observedbetween the Rajjhars and the Lodhi caste. This probably arises fromthe fact that the former have worked for several generations as thefarm-servants of Lodhi or Ahir employers, and have been accustomed tolive in their houses and partake of their meals, so that caste ruleshave been abandoned for the sake of convenience. A similar intimacyhas been observed between the Panwars and Gonds, and other casteswho stand in this relation to each other. The Rajjhars will alsoeat _katcha_ food (cooked with water) from Kunbis and Kahars. Butin Hoshangabad some of them will not take food from any caste, evenfrom Brahmans. Their women wear glass bangles only on the right hand, and a brass ornament known as _mathi_ on the left wrist. They wearno ornaments in the nose or ears, and have no breast-cloth. Theyare tattooed with dots on the face and patterns of animals on theright arm, but not on the left arm or legs. A _liaison_ betweena youth and maiden of the caste is considered a trifling matter, being punished only with a fine of two to four annas or pence. Amarried woman detected in an intrigue is mulcted in a sum of fouror five rupees, and if her partner be a man of another caste a lockof 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 andCastes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh_. Much information as tothe origin of the Rajput clans has been obtained from inscriptions andworked up mainly by the late Mr. A. M. T. Jackson and Messrs. B. G. AndD. R. Bhandarkar; this has been set out with additions and suggestionsin Mr. V. A. Smith's _Early History of India_, 3rd ed. , and has beenreproduced in the subordinate articles on the different clans. Thoughmany of the leading clans are very weakly represented in the CentralProvinces, some notice of them is really essential in an articletreating generally of the Rajput caste, on however limited a scale, andhas therefore been included. In four cases, Panwar, Jadum, Raghuvansiand Daharia, the original Rajput clans have now developed into separatecultivating castes, ranking well below the Rajputs; separate articleshave 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 therepresentatives of the old Kshatriya or warrior class, the secondof the four main castes or orders of classical Hinduism, and weresupposed to have been made originally from the arms of Brahma. The oldname of Kshatriya is still commonly used in the Hindi form Chhatri, but the designation Rajput, or son of a king, has now supersededit as the standard name of the caste. Thakur, or lord, is the commonRajput title, and that by which they are generally addressed. The totalnumber of persons returned as Rajputs in the Province in 1911 was about440, 000. India has about nine million Rajputs in all, and they are mostnumerous 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 impureblood. Several groups, such as the Panwars of the Wainganga Valley, the Raghuvansis of Chhindwara and Nagpur, the Jadams of Hoshangabad andthe Daharias of Chhattisgarh, have developed into separate castes andmarry among themselves, though a true Rajput must not marry in his ownclan. Some of them have abandoned the sacred thread and now rank withthe good cultivating castes below Banias. Reference may be made to theseparate articles on these castes. Similarly the Surajvansi, Gaur orGorai, Chauhan, and Bagri clans marry among themselves in the CentralProvinces, and it is probable that detailed research would establishthe same of many clans or parts of clans bearing the name of Rajput inall parts of India. If the definition of a proper Rajput were taken, as it should be correctly, as one whose family intermarried with clansof good standing, the caste would be reduced to comparatively smalldimensions. The name Dhakar, also shown as a Rajput clan, is appliedto 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 clanin 1911, and these are all of mixed or illegitimate descent. They arenumerous in Nimar, and are there known as _chhoti-tur_ or low-classRajputs. The Bagri Rajputs of Seoni and the Surajvansis of Betal marryamong themselves, while the Bundelas of Saugor intermarry with twoother local groups, the Panwar and Dhundhele, all the three being ofimpure blood. In Jubbulpore a small clan of persons known as Paik orfoot-soldier return themselves as Rajputs, but are no doubt a mixedlow-caste group. Again, some landholding sections of the primitivetribes have assumed the names of Rajput clans. Thus the zamindars ofBilaspur, who originally belonged to the Kawar tribe, call themselvesTuar or Tomara Rajputs, and the landholding section of the Mundasin Chota Nagpur say that they are of the Nagvansi clan. Other namesare returned which are not those of Rajput clans or their offshootsat all. If these subdivisions, which cannot be considered as properRajputs, and all those who have returned no clan be deducted, thereremain not more than 100, 000 who might be admitted to be pure Rajputsin Rajputana. But a close local scrutiny even of these would no doubtresult in the detection of many persons who have assumed and returnedthe names of good clans without being entitled to them. And manymore would come away as being the descendants of remarried widows. ARajput of really pure family and descent is in fact a person of someconsideration in most parts of the Central Provinces. 

2. The thirty-six royal races

Traditionally the Rajputs are divided into thirty-six great clansor races, of which Colonel Tod gives a list compiled from differentauthorities as follows (alternative names by which the clan orimportant 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 otherhand 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. Practicallyall 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 specialclans, the Surajvansi and Chandra or Somvansi, are named after the sunand 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 alsoclaimed solar lineage, but this was not wholly conceded by the Bhats, and the Dikhits are assigned to the solar branch by their legends. Thegreat clan of the Yadavas, of whom the present Jadon or Jadum andBhatti Rajputs are representatives, was of the lunar race, tracingtheir descent from Krishna, though, as a matter of fact, Krishna wasalso 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 ofthe moon division, The Gautam and Bisen clans, who are not included inthe thirty-six royal races, now claim lunar descent. Four clans, thePanwar, Chauhan, Chalukya or Solankhi, and Parihar, had a differentorigin, being held to have been born through the agency of the godsfrom a firepit on the summit of Mount Abu. They are hence knownas Agnikula or the fire races. Several clans, such as the Tak orTakshac, the Huna and the Chaura, were considered by Colonel Tod tobe the representatives of the Huns or Scythians, that is, the nomadinvading tribes from Central Asia, whose principal incursions tookplace during the first five centuries of the Christian era. 

At least six of the thirty-six royal races, the Sarweya, Silar, Dodaor Dor, Dahia, Johia and Mohil, were extinct in Colonel Tod's time, and others were represented only by small settlements in Rajputana andSurat. On the other hand, there are now a large number of new clans, whose connection with the thirty-six is doubtful, though in manycases they are probably branches of the old clans who have obtaineda 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 directdescendants and representatives of the old Kshatriya or warriorclass of the Indian Aryans, as described in the Vedas and the greatepics. Even Colonel Tod by no means held this view in its entirety, and modern epigraphic research has caused its partial or completeabandonment Mr. V. A. Smith indeed says: [460] "The main points toremember are that the Kshatriya or Rajput caste is essentially anoccupational caste, composed of all clans following the Hindu ritualwho actually undertook the act of government; that consequently peopleof most diverse races were and are lumped together as Rajputs, andthat most of the great clans now in existence are descended eitherfrom foreign immigrants of the fifth or sixth century A. D. Or fromindigenous races such as the Gonds and Bhars. " Colonel Tod held threeclans, the Tak or Takshac, the Huna and the Chaura, to be descendedfrom Scythian or nomad Central Asian immigrants, and the same originhas been given for the Haihaya. The Huna clan actually retains thename of the White Huns, from whose conquests in the fifth century itprobably dates its existence. The principal clan of the lunar race, the Yadavas, are said to have first settled in Delhi and at Dwarka inGujarat. But on the death of Krishna, who was their prince, they wereexpelled from these places, and retired across the Indus, settling inAfghanistan. Again, for some reason which the account does not clearlyexplain, they came at a later period to India and settled first inthe Punjab and afterwards in Rajputana. The Jit or Jat and the Tomaraclans were branches of the Yadavas, and it is supposed that the Jitsor Jats were also descended from the nomad invading tribes, possiblyfrom the Yueh-chi tribe who conquered and occupied the Punjab duringthe first and second centuries. [461] The legend of the Yadavas, wholived in Gujarat with their chief Krishna, but after his defeat anddeath retired to Central Asia, and at a later date returned to India, would appear to correspond fairly well with the Saka invasion of thesecond century B. C. Which penetrated to Kathiawar and founded a dynastythere. In A. D. 124 the second Saka king was defeated by the Andhraking Vilivayakura II. And his kingdom destroyed. [462] But at aboutthe same period, the close of the first century, a fresh horde of theSakas came to Gujarat from Central Asia and founded another kingdom, which lasted until it was subverted by Chandragupta Vikramadityaabout A. D. 390. [463] The historical facts about the Sakas, as givenon the authority of Mr. V. A. Smith, thus correspond fairly closelywith the Yadava legend. And the later Yueh-chi immigrants mightwell be connected by the Bhats with the Saka hordes who had comeat an earlier date from the same direction, and so the Jats [464]might be held to be an offshoot of the Yadavas. This connection ofthe Yadava and Jat legends with the facts of the immigration of theSakas and Yueh-chi appears a plausible one, but may be contradictedby historical arguments of which the writer is ignorant. If it werecorrect we should be justified in identifying the lunar clans ofRajputs with the early Scythian immigrants of the first and secondcenturies. Another point is that Buddha is said to be the progenitorof the whole Indu or lunar race. [465] It is obvious that Buddhahad no real connection with these Central Asian tribes, as he diedsome centuries before their appearance in India. But the Yueh-chi orKushan kings of the Punjab in the first and second centuries A. D. Werefervent Buddhists and established that religion in the Punjab. Hencewe can easily understand how, if the Yadus or Jats and other lunarclans were descended from the Saka and Yueh-chi immigrants, thelegend of their descent from Buddha, who was himself a Kshatriya, might be devised for them by their bards when they were subsequentlyconverted from Buddhism to Hinduism. The Sakas of western India, on theother hand, who it is suggested may be represented by the Yadavas, were not Buddhists in the beginning, whether or not they becameso afterwards. But as has been seen, though Buddha was their firstprogenitor, Krishna was also their king while they were in Gujarat, so that at this time they must have been supposed to be Hindus. Thelegend of descent from Buddha arising with the Yueh-chi or Kushansmight have been extended to them. Again, the four Agnikula or fire-bornclans, the Parihar, Chalukya or Solankhi, Panwar and Chauhan, areconsidered to be the descendants of the White Hun and Gujar invadersof the fifth and sixth centuries. These clans were said to have beencreated by the gods from a firepit on the summit of Mount Abu forthe re-birth of the Kshatriya caste after it had been exterminatedby the slaughter of Parasurama the Brahman. And it has been suggestedthat this legend refers to the cruel massacres of the Huns, by whichthe bulk of the old aristocracy, then mainly Buddhist, was wiped out;while the Huns and Gujars, one at least of whose leaders was a ferventadherent 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 almostextinct. There remain the clans descended from the sun through Rama, and it would be tempting to suppose that these are the representativesof the old Aryan Kshatriyas. But Mr. Bhandarkar has shown [467] thatthe Sesodias, the premier clan of the solar race and of all Rajputs, are probably sprung from Nagar Brahmans of Gujarat, and hence from theGujar tribes; and it must therefore be supposed that the story of solarorigin and divine ancestry was devised because they were once Brahmans, and hence, in the view of the bards, of more honourable origin thanthe other clans. Similarly the Badgujar clan, also of solar descent, is shown by its name of _bara_ or great Gujar to have been simply anaristocratic section of the Gujars; while the pedigree of the Rathors, another solar clan, and one of those who have shed most lustre on theRajput name, was held to be somewhat doubtful by the Bhats, and theirsolar origin was not fully admitted. Mr. Smith gives two great clansas very probably of aboriginal or Dravidian origin, the Gaharwaror Gherwal, from whom the Bundelas are derived, and the Chandel, who ruled Bundelkhand from the ninth to the twelfth centuries, andbuilt the fine temples at Mahoba, Kalanjar and Khajaraho as well asmaking many great tanks. This corresponds with Colonel Tod's account, which gives no place to the Chandels among the thirty-six royalraces, and states that the Gherwal Rajput is scarcely known to hisbrethren in Rajasthan, who will not admit his contaminated blood tomix with theirs, though as a brave warrior he is entitled to theirfellowship. [468] Similarly the Kathi clan may be derived from theindigenous Kathi tribe who gave their name to Kathiawar. And theSurajvansi, Somvansi and Nagvansi clans, or descendants of the sun, moon and snake, which are scarcely known in Rajputana, may representlandholding sections of lower castes or non-Aryan tribes who have beenadmitted to Rajput rank. But even though it be found that the majorityof the Rajput clans cannot boast a pedigree dating farther back thanthe first five centuries of our era, this is at any rate an antiquityto 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. Themost important of these were according to locality, the different_sachae_ or branches being groups settled in separate areas. Thusthe Chalukya or Solankhi had sixteen branches, of which the Baghelsof Rewah or Baghelkhand were the most important. The Panwars hadthirty-five branches, of which the Mori and the Dhunda, now perhapsthe Dhundele of Saugor, are the best known. The Gahlot had twenty-fourbranches, of which one, the Sesodia, became so important that it hasgiven its name to the whole clan. The Chamar-Gaur section of the Gaurclan now claim a higher rank than the other Gaurs, though the namewould apparently indicate the appearance of a Chamar in their familytree; while the Tilokchandi Bais form an aristocratic section of theBais clan, named after a well-known king, Tilokchand, who reigned inupper India about the twelfth century and is presumably claimed bythem as an ancestor. Besides this the Rajputs have _gotras_, namedafter eponymous saints exactly like the Brahman _gotras_, and probablyadopted in imitation of the Brahmans. Since, theoretically, marriageis prohibited in the whole clan, the _gotra_ divisions would appearto be useless, but Sir H. Risley states that persons of the same clanbut with different _gotras_ have begun to intermarry. Similarly itwould appear that the different branches of the great clans mentionedabove must intermarry in some cases; while in the Central Provinces, as already stated, several clans have become regular castes and formendogamous and not exogamous groups. In northern India, however, Mr. Crooke's accounts of the different clans indicate that marriagewithin the clan is as a rule not permitted. The clans themselvesand their branches have different degrees of rank for purposes ofmarriage, according to the purity of their descent, while in each clanor subclan there is an inferior section formed of the descendants ofremarried widows, or even the offspring of women of another caste, who have probably in the course of generations not infrequently gotback into their father's clan. Thus many groups of varying statusarise, and one of the principal rules of a Rajput's life was that hemust marry his daughter, sometimes into a clan of equal, or sometimesinto one of higher rank than his own. Hence arose great difficultyin arranging the marriages of girls and sometimes the payment of aprice to the bridegroom; while in order to retain the favour of theBhats and avoid their sarcasm, lavish expenditure had to be incurredby 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 toruin, and female infanticide was extensively practised. This crime hasnever been at all common in the Central Provinces, where the rule ofmarrying a daughter into an equal or higher clan has not been enforcedwith the same strictness as in northern India. But occasional instancesformerly occurred in which the child's neck was placed under one legof its mother's cot, or it was poisoned with opium or by placing thejuice 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 thebride's side, and the customary method of making it was to send acocoanut to the bridegroom. 'The cocoanut came, ' was the phrase usedto intimate that a proposal of marriage had been made. [470] It ispossible that the bride's initiative was a relic of the Swayamwara ormaiden's choice, when a king's daughter placed a garland on the neckof the youth she preferred among the competitors in a tournament, and among some Rajputs the Jayamala or garland of victory is stillhung round the bridegroom's neck in memory of this custom; but it mayalso have been due to the fact that the bride had to pay the dowry. Onetenth of this was paid as earnest when the match had been arranged, andthe boy's party could not then recede from it. At the entrance of themarriage-shed was hung the _toran_, a triangle of three wooden bars, having the apex crowned with the effigy of a peacock. The bridegroomon horseback, lance in hand, proceeded to break the _toran_, which wasdefended by the damsels of the bride. They assailed him with missilesof various kinds, and especially with red powder made from the flowersof the _palas_ [471] tree, at the same time singing songs full ofimmoral allusions. At length the _toran_ was broken amid the shoutsof the retainers, and the fair defenders retired. If the bridegroomcould not attend in person his sword was sent to represent him, and was carried round the marriage-post, with the bride, this beingconsidered a proper and valid marriage. At the rite of _hatleva_ orjoining the hands of the couple it was customary that any request madeby the bridegroom to the bride's father should meet with compliance, and this usage has led to many fatal results in history. Anothernow obsolete custom was that the bride's father should present anelephant to his son-in-law as part of the dowry, but when a man couldnot afford a real elephant a small golden image of the animal might besubstituted. In noble families the bride was often accompanied to herhusband's house by a number of maidens belonging to the servant andmenial castes. These were called Devadhari or lamp-bearers, and becameinmates of the harem, their offspring being _golas_ or slaves. Intime of famine many of the poor had also perforce to sell themselvesas slaves in order to obtain subsistence, and a chiefs household wouldthus contain a large number of them. They were still adorned in Mewar, Colonel Tod states, like the Saxon slaves of old, with a silver ringround the left ankle instead of the neck. They were well treated, and were often among the best of the military retainers; they tookrank among themselves according to the quality of the mothers, andoften held confidential places about the ruler's person. A formerchief of Deogarh would appear at court with three hundred _golas_ orslaves on horseback in his train, men whose lives were his own. [472]These special customs have now generally been abandoned by the Rajputsof the Central Provinces, and their weddings conform to the usualHindu type as described in the article on Kurmi. The remarriage ofwidows is now recognised in the southern Districts, though not in thenorth; but even here widows frequently do marry and their offspringare received into the caste, though with a lower status than thosewho do not permit this custom. Among the Baghels a full Rajput willallow 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 permitthe second marriage of widows also allow a divorced woman to remainin the caste and to marry again. But among proper Rajputs, as withBrahmans, a wife who goes wrong is simply put away and expelled fromthe society. Polygamy is permitted and was formerly common amongthe chiefs. Each wife was maintained in a separate suite of rooms, and the chief dined and spent the evening alternately with each ofthem in her own quarters. The lady with her attendants would preparedinner for him and wait upon him while he ate it, waving the punkah orfan behind him and entertaining him with her remarks, which, accordingto report, frequently constituted a pretty severe curtain lecture. 

6. Funeral rites

The dead are burnt, except infants, whose bodies are buried. Mourningis observed for thirteen days for a man, nine days for a woman, and three days for a child. The _shraddh_ ceremony or offering ofsacrificial cakes to the spirit is performed either during the usualperiod in the month of Kunwar (September), or on the anniversary dayof the death. It was formerly held that if a Kshatriya died on thebattlefield it was unnecessary to perform his funeral rites becausehis spirit went straight to heaven, and thus the end to which theceremonies were directed was already attained without them. It wasalso said that the wife of a man dying such a death should not regardherself as a widow nor undergo the privations imposed on widowhood. Butthis did not apply so far as self-immolation was concerned, since thewives of warriors dying in battle very frequently became _sati_. In thecase of chiefs also it was sometimes the custom, probably for politicalreasons, that the heir should not observe mourning; because if he didso he would be incapable of appearing in an assembly for thirteen days, or of taking the public action which might be requisite to safeguardhis succession. The body of the late chief would be carried out by theback door of the house, and as soon as it left his successor wouldtake his seat on the _gaddi_ or cushion and begin to discharge thepublic business of government. 

7. Religion

The principal deity of the Rajputs is the goddess Devi or Durga in hermore terrible form as the goddess of war. Their swords were sacred toher, and at the Dasahra festival they worshipped their swords and otherweapons of war and their horses. The dreadful goddess also protectedthe virtue of the Rajput women and caused to be enacted the terribleholocausts, not infrequent in Rajput history, when some strongholdwas besieged and could hold out no longer. A great furnace was thenkindled in the citadel and into this the women, young and old, threwthemselves, or else died by their husbands' swords, while the men, drunk with _bhang_ and wearing saffron-coloured robes, sallied out tosell their lives to the enemy as dearly as possible. It is relatedthat on one occasion Akbar desired to attempt the virtue of a queenof the Sesodia clan, and for that purpose caused her to lose herselfin one of the mazes of his palace. The emperor appeared before hersuddenly as she was alone, but the lady, drawing a dagger, threatenedto plunge it into her breast if he did not respect her, and at the sametime the goddess of her house appeared riding on a tiger. The baffledemperor gave way and retired, and her life and virtue were saved. 

The Rajputs also worship the sun, whom many of them look upon astheir first ancestor. They revere the animals and trees sacred to theHindus, and some clans show special veneration to a particular tree, never cutting or breaking the branches or leaves. In this manner theBundelas revere the _kadamb_ tree, the Panwars the _nim_ [473] tree, the Rathors the pipal [474] tree, and so on. This seems to be a relicof totemistic usage. In former times each clan had also a tribal god, who was its protector and leader and watched over the destinies ofthe clan. Sometimes it accompanied the clan into battle. "Every royalhouse has its palladium, which is frequently borne to battle at thesaddle-bow of the prince. Rao Bhima Hara of Kotah lost his life andprotecting deity together. The celebrated Khichi (Chauhan) leaderJai Singh never took the field without the god before him. 'Victoryto Bujrung' was his signal for the charge so dreaded by the Maratha, and often has the deity been sprinkled with his blood and that ofthe foe. " [475] It is said that a Rajput should always kill a snakeif 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 ruleapplies, though with less binding force, to a tiger. 

8. Food

The Rajputs eat the flesh of clean animals, but not pigs or fowls. Theyare, however, fond of the sport of pig-sticking, and many clans, asthe Bundelas and others, will eat the flesh of the wild pig. Thiscustom was perhaps formerly universal. Some of them eat of maleanimals only and not of females, either because they fear that thelatter would render them effeminate or that they consider the sinto be less. Some only eat animals killed by the method of _jatka_or severing the head with one stroke of the sword or knife. Theywill not eat animals killed in the Muhammadan fashion by cuttingthe throat. They abstain from the flesh of the _nilgai_ or blue bullas being an animal of the cow tribe. Among the Brahmans and Rajputsfood cooked with water must not be placed in bamboo baskets, nor mustanything made of bamboo be brought into the _rasoya_ or cooking-place, or the _chauka_, the space cleaned and marked out for meals. A specialbrush of date-palm fibre is kept solely for sweeping these parts ofthe house. At a Rajput banquet it was the custom for the prince tosend a little food from his own plate or from the dish before him toany guest whom he especially wished to honour, and to receive this wasconsidered a very high distinction. In Mewar the test of legitimacy ina prince of the royal house was the permission to eat from the chief'splate. The grant of this privilege conferred a recognised position, while its denial excluded the member in question from the right tothe succession. [476] This custom indicates the importance attachedto the taking of food together as a covenant or sacrament. 

9. Opium

The Rajputs abstain from alcoholic liquor, though some of the lowerclass, as the Bundelas, drink it. In classical times there is no doubtthat they drank freely, but have had to conform to the prohibitionof liquor imposed by the Brahmans on high-caste Hindus. In lieu ofliquor they became much addicted to the noxious drugs, opium and ganjaor Indian hemp, drinking the latter in the form of the intoxicatingliquid known as _bhangs_, which is prepared from its leaves. _Bhang_was as a rule drunk by the Rajputs before battle, and especially as apreparation for those last sallies from a besieged fortress in whichthe defenders threw away their lives. There is little reason to doubtthat they considered the frenzy and carelessness of death produced bythe liquor as a form of divine possession. Opium has contributed muchto the degeneration of the Rajputs, and their relapse to an idle, sensuous life when their energies were no longer maintained by theneed of continuous fighting for the protection of their country. Thefollowing account by Forbes of a Rajput's daily life well illustratesthe slothful effeminacy caused by the drug: [477] "In times of peaceand ease the Rajput leads an indolent and monotonous life. It isusually some time after sunrise before he bestirs himself and beginsto call for his hookah; after smoking he enjoys the luxury of teaor coffee, and commences his toilet and ablutions, which disposeof a considerable part of the morning. It is soon breakfast-time, and after breakfast the hookah is again in requisition, with butfew intervals of conversation until noon. The time has now arrivedfor a siesta, which lasts till about three in the afternoon. Atthis hour the chief gets up again, washes his hands and face, andprepares for the great business of the day, the distribution of thered cup, _kusumba_ or opium. He calls together his friends into thepublic hall, or perhaps retires with them to a garden-house. Opiumis 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 pouredinto the chief's hand. One after the other the guests now come up, each protesting that _kusumba_ is wholly repugnant to his taste andvery injurious to his health, but after a little pressing first oneand then another touches the chief's hand in two or three places, muttering the names of Deos (gods), friends or others, and drains thedraught. Each after drinking washes the chief's hand in a dish ofwater which a servant offers, and after wiping it dry with his ownscarf makes way for his neighbour. After this refreshment the chiefand his guests sit down in the public hall, and amuse themselveswith chess, draughts or games of chance, or perhaps dancing-girlsare called in to exhibit their monotonous measures, or musicians andsingers, or the never-failing favourites, the Bhats and Charans. Atsunset the torch-bearers appear and supply the chamber with light, upon which all those who are seated therein rise and make obeisancetowards the chief's cushion. They resume their seats, and playing, singing, dancing, story-telling go on as before. At about eight thechief rises to retire to his dinner and his hookah, and the party isbroken up. " There is little reason to doubt that the Rajputs ascribeda divine character to opium and the mental exaltation produced byit, as suggested in the article on Kalar in reference to the Hindusgenerally. Opium was commonly offered at the shrines of deified Rajputheroes. Colonel Tod states: "_Umul lar khana_, to eat opium together, is the most inviolable, pledge, and an agreement ratified by thisceremony is stronger than any adjuration. " [478] The account given byForbes of the manner in which the drug was distributed by the chieffrom his own hand to all his clansmen indicates that the drinkingof it was the renewal of a kind of pledge or covenant between them, analogous to the custom of pledging one another with wine, and asubstitute for the covenant made by taking food together, whichoriginated from the sacrificial meal. It has already been seen thatthe Rajputs attached the most solemn meaning and virtue to the actof partaking of the chief's food, and it is legitimate to infer thatthey regarded the drinking of a sacred drug like opium from his handin the same light. The following account [479] of the drinking ofhealths in a Highland clan had, it may be suggested, originally thesame significance as the distribution of opium by the Rajput chief:"Lord Lovat was wont in the hall before dinner to have a kind ofherald proclaiming his pedigree, which reached almost up to Noah, and showed each man present to be a cadet of his family, whilst afterdinner he drank to every one of his cousins by name, each of them inreturn pledging him--the better sort in French claret, the lower classin husky (whisky). " Here also the drinking of wine together perhapsimplied the renewal of a pledge of fealty and protection between thechief and his clansmen, all of whom were held to be of his kin. Thebelief in the kinship of the whole clan existed among the Rajputsexactly as in the Scotch clans. In speaking of the Rathors ColonelTod states that they brought into the field fifty thousand men, _Ekbap ka beta_, the sons of one father, to combat with the emperor ofDelhi; and remarks: "What a sensation does it not excite when we knowthat a sentiment of kindred pervades every individual of this immenseaffiliated body, who can point out in the great tree the branch ofhis origin, of which not one is too remote from the main stem toforget his pristine connection with it. " [480]

The taking of opium and wine together, as already described, thusappear to be ceremonies of the same character, both symbolising therenewal of a covenant between kinsmen. 

10. Improved training of Rajput chiefs

The temptations to a life of idleness and debauchery to which Rajputgentlemen were exposed by the cessation of war have happily beenlargely met and overcome by the careful education and training whichtheir sons now receive in the different chiefs' colleges and schools, and by the fostering of their taste for polo and other games. There isevery reason to hope that a Rajput prince's life will now be much likethat of an English country gentleman, spent largely in public businessand the service of his country, with sport and games as relaxation. Norare the Rajputs slow to avail themselves of the opportunities for theharder calling of arms afforded by the wars of the British Empire, in which they are usually the first to proffer their single-heartedand unselfish assistance. 

11. Dress

The most distinctive feature of a Rajput's dress was formerly histurban; the more voluminous and heavy this was, the greater distinctionattached to the bearer. The cloth was wound in many folds above thehead, or cocked over one ear as a special mark of pride. An Englishgentleman once remarked to the minister of the Rao of Cutch on thesize and weight of his turban, when the latter replied, 'Oh, this isnothing, it only weighs fifteen pounds. ' [481] A considerable reverenceattached to the turban, probably because it was the covering of thehead, the seat of life, and the exchanging of turbans was the mark ofthe closest friendship. On one occasion Shah Jahan, before he cameto the throne of Delhi, changed turbans with the Rana of Mewar as amark of amity. Shah Jahan's turban was still preserved at Udaipur, and seen there by Colonel Tod in 1820. They also wore the beard andmoustaches very long and full, the moustache either drooping farbelow the chin, or being twisted out stiffly on each side to impartan aspect of fierceness. Many Rajputs considered it a disgrace tohave grey beards or moustaches, and these were accustomed to dye themwith a preparation of indigo. Thus dyed, however, after a few daysthe beard and moustache assumed a purple tint, and finally faded to apale plum colour, far from being either deceptive or ornamental. Theprocess of dyeing was said to be tedious, and the artist compelledhis patient to sit many hours under the indigo treatment with hishead wrapped up in plantain leaves. [482] During the Muhammadan wars, however, the Rajputs gave up their custom of wearing beards in orderto be distinguished from Moslems, and now, as a rule, do not retainthem, while most of them have also discarded the long moustachesand large turbans. In battle, especially when they expected to die, the Rajputs wore saffron-coloured robes as at a wedding. At the sametime their wives frequently performed _sati_, and the idea was perhapsthat they looked on their deaths as the occasion of a fresh bridalin the warrior's Valhalla. Women wear skirts and shoulder-cloths, and in Rajputana they have bangles of ivory or bone instead of theordinary glass, sometimes covering the arm from the shoulders to thewrist. Their other ornaments should be of gold if possible, but therule 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 abandonedthe proper _upanayana_ or thread ceremony, and simply invest boys withit at their marriage. In former times, when a boy became fit to beararms, the ceremony of _kharg bandai_, or binding on of the sword, wasperformed, and considered to mark his attainment of manhood. The kinghimself had his sword thus bound on by the first of his vassals. TheRajputs take food cooked with water (_katchi_) only from Brahmans, andthat cooked without water (_pakki_) from Banias, and sometimes fromLodhis 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 Lodhias a matter of convenience without incurring caste penalties. Thelarge turbans and long moustaches and beards no longer characterisetheir appearance, and the only point which distinguishes a Rajputis that his name ends with Singh (lion). But this suffix has alsobeen adopted by others, especially the Sikhs, and by such castes asthe Lodhis and Raj-Gonds who aspire to rank as Rajputs. A Rajput isusually addressed as Thakur or lord, a title which properly appliesonly to a Rajput landholder, but has now come into general use. Thehead of a state has the designation of Raja or Rana, and those of theleading states of Maharaja or Maharana, that is, great king. Maharana, which appears to be a Gujarati form, is used by the Sesodia family ofUdaipur. The sons of a Raja are called Kunwar or prince. The title Raoappears to be a Marathi form of Raj or Raja; it is retained by one ortwo chiefs, but has now been generally adopted as an honorific suffixby Maratha Brahmans. Rawat appears to have been originally equivalentto Rajput, being simply a diminutive of Rajputra, the Sanskrit formof the latter. It is the name of a clan of Rajputs in the Punjab, andis 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 ancienttimes, and it would be interesting to know whether it has been copiedfrom the Muhammadans. It is said that a good Rajput in the CentralProvinces 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 ontop 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 theage of chivalry. Courage, strength and endurance were the virtues mosthighly prized. One of the Rajput trials of strength, it is recorded, was to gallop at full speed under the horizontal branch of a tree andcling to it while the horse passed on. This feat appears to have beena common amusement, and it is related in the annals of Mewar that thechief of Bunera broke his spine in the attempt; and there were few whocame off without bruises and falls, in which consisted the sport. Oftheir martial spirit Colonel Tod writes: "The Rajput mother claims herfull share in the glory of her son, who imbibes at the maternal founthis first rudiments of chivalry; and the importance of this parentalinstruction cannot be better illustrated than in the ever-recurringsimile, 'Make thy mother's milk resplendent. ' One need not reasonon the intensity of sentiment thus implanted in the infant Rajput, of whom we may say without metaphor the shield is his cradle anddaggers his playthings, and with whom the first commandment is 'Avengethy father's feud. ' [483] A Rajput yet loves to talk of the days ofchivalry, when three things alone occupied him, his horse, his lanceand 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 tosecure a niche in that immortal temple of fame, which the Rajput bard, as well as the great minstrel of the West peoples 'with youths whodied to be by poets sung. ' For this the Rajput's anxiety has in allages been so great as often to defeat even the purpose of revenge, hisobject being to die gloriously rather than to inflict death; assuredthat his name would never perish, but, preserved in immortal rhyme bythe bard, would serve as the incentive to similar deeds. " [485] He sumsup their character in the following terms: "High courage, patriotism, loyalty, honour, hospitality and simplicity are qualities which mustat once be conceded to them; and if we cannot vindicate them fromcharges to which human nature in every clime is obnoxious; if we arecompelled to admit the deterioration of moral dignity from continualinroads of, and their consequent collision with rapacious conquerors;we must yet admire the quantum of virtue which even oppression andbad example have failed to banish. The meaner vices of deceit andfalsehood, which the delineators of national character attach to theAsiatic without distinction, I deny to be universal with the Rajputs, though some tribes may have been obliged from position to use theseshields of the weak against continuous oppression. " [486] The womenprized martial courage no less than the men: they would hear withequanimity of the death of their sons or husbands in the battlefield, while they heaped scorn and contumely on those who returned afterdefeat. They were constantly ready to sacrifice themselves to theflames rather than fall into the hands of a conqueror; and the Johar, the final act of a besieged garrison, when the women threw themselvesinto the furnace, while the men sallied forth to die in battle againstthe enemy, is recorded again and again in Rajput annals. Three timeswas this tragedy enacted at the fall of Chitor, formerly the capitalfortress of the Sesodia clan; and the following vivid account isgiven by Colonel Tod of a similar deed at Jaisalmer, when the townfell to the Muhammadans: [487] "The chiefs were assembled; all wereunanimous to make Jaisalmer resplendent by their deeds and preservethe honour of the Yadu race. Muhaj thus addressed them: 'You are ofa 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 themaintenance of my honour the sword is in your hands; let Jaisalmer beillumined by its blows upon the foe. ' Having thus inspired the chiefsand men, Muhaj and Ratan repaired to the palace of their queens. Theytold them to take the _sohag_ [488] and prepare to meet in heaven, while they gave up their lives in defence of their honour and theirfaith. Smiling the Rani replied, 'This night we shall prepare, andby the morning's light we shall be inhabitants of heaven'; and thusit was with all the chiefs and their wives. The night was passedtogether for the last time in preparation for the awful morn. Itcame; ablutions and prayers were finished and at the royal gate wereconvened children, wives and mothers. They bade a last farewell toall 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 thesmoke of the pyre ascended to the heavens: not one feared to die, and every valuable was consumed with them, so that not the worthof a straw was preserved for the foe. The work done, the brotherslooked upon the spectacle with horror. Life was now a burden andthey prepared to quit it They purified themselves with water, paidadoration to the divinity, made gifts to the poor, placed a branchof the _tulsi_ [489] in their casques, the _saligram_ [490] roundtheir neck; and having cased themselves in armour and put on thesaffron robe, they bound the marriage crown around their heads andembraced each other for the last time. Thus they awaited the hourof battle. Three thousand eight hundred warriors, their faces redwith wrath, prepared to die with their chiefs. " In this account thepreparation 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 bridalpreparatory 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 hepasses hours in viewing and arranging his arms. Every favourite weapon, whether sword, dagger, spear, matchlock or bow, has a distinctiveepithet. The keeper of the armoury is one of the most confidentialofficers about the person of the prince. These arms are beautiful andcostly. The _sirohi_ or slightly curved blade is formed like that ofDamascus, and is the greatest favourite of all the variety of weaponsthroughout Rajputana. The long cut-and-thrust sword is not uncommon, and also the _khanda_ or double-edged sword. The matchlocks, both ofLahore and the country, are often highly finished and inlaid withmother-of-pearl and gold; those of Boondi are the best. The shieldof the rhinoceros-hide offers the best resistance, and is oftenornamented with animals beautifully painted and enamelled in gold andsilver. The bow is of buffalo-horn, and the arrows of reed, whichare barbed in a variety of fashions, as the crescent, the trident, the snake's tongue, and other fanciful forms. " It is probable thatthe forms were in reality by no means fanciful, but were copied fromsacred or divine objects; and similarly the animals painted on theshields may have been originally the totem animals of the clan. 

15. Occupation

The traditional occupation of a Rajput was that of a warrior andlandholder. Their high-flown titles, Bhupal (Protector of the earth), Bhupati (Lord of the earth), Bhusur (God of the earth), Bahuja (Bornfrom the arms), indicate, Sir H. Risley says, [492] the exaltedclaims of the tribe. The notion that the trade of arms was theirproper vocation clung to them for a very long time, and has retardedtheir education, so that they have perhaps lost status relatively toother castes under British supremacy. The rule that a Rajput mustnot touch the plough was until recently very strictly observed inthe more conservative centres, and the poorer Rajputs were reducedby it to pathetic straits for a livelihood, as is excellently shownby Mr. Barnes in the _Kangra Settlement Report_: [493] "A Mian orwell-known Rajput, to preserve his name and honour unsullied, mustscrupulously observe four fundamental maxims: first, he must neverdrive the plough; second, he must never give his daughter in marriageto an inferior nor marry himself much below his rank; thirdly, he mustnever accept money in exchange for the betrothal of his daughter;and lastly, his female household must observe strict seclusion. Theprejudice against the plough is perhaps the most inveterate of all;that step can never be recalled; the offender at once loses theprivileged salutation; he is reduced to the second grade of Rajputs;no man will marry his daughter, and he must go a step lower in thesocial scale to get a wife for himself. In every occupation of lifehe is made to feel his degraded position. In meetings of the tribe andat marriages the Rajputs undefiled by the plough will refuse to sit atmeals with the Hal Bah or plough-driver as he is contemptuously styled;and many to avoid the indignity of exclusion never appear at publicassemblies.... It is melancholy to see with what devoted tenacitythe Rajput clings to these deep-rooted prejudices. Their emaciatedlooks and coarse clothes attest the vicissitudes they have undergoneto maintain their fancied purity. In the quantity of waste land whichabounds in the hills, a ready livelihood is offered to those who willcultivate the soil for their daily bread; but this alternative involvesa forfeiture of their dearest rights, and they would rather follow anyprecarious pursuit than submit to the disgrace. Some lounge away theirtime on the tops of the mountains, spreading nets for the captureof hawks; many a day they watch in vain, subsisting on berries andon game accidentally entangled in their nets; at last, when fortunegrants them success, they despatch the prize to their friends below, who tame and instruct the bird for the purpose of sale. Others willstay 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 theother carries the hawk ready to be sprung after any quarry that risesto the view. At the close of the day if they have been successful theyexchange the game for a little meal and thus prolong existence overanother span. The marksman armed with a gun will sit up for wild pigreturning from the fields, and in the same manner barter their fleshfor other necessaries of life. However, the prospect of starvation hasalready driven many to take the plough, and the number of secedersdaily increases. Our administration, though just and liberal, hasa levelling tendency; service is no longer to be procured, and tomany the stern alternative has arrived of taking to agricultureand securing comparative comfort, or enduring the pangs of hungerand death. So long as any resource remains the fatal step will bepostponed, but it is easy to foresee that the struggle cannot be longprotracted; necessity is a hard task-master, and sooner or later thepressure of want will overcome the scruples of the most bigoted. " Theobjection to ploughing appears happily to have been quite overcome inthe Central Provinces, as at the last census nine-tenths of the wholecaste were shown as employed in pasture and agriculture, one-tenth ofthe Rajputs being landholders, three-fifths actual cultivators, andone-fifth labourers and woodcutters. The bulk of the remaining tenthare probably in the police or other branches of Government service. 

Rajput, Baghel

_Rajput, Baghel. _--The Baghel Rajputs, who have given their name toBaghelkhand or Rewah, the eastern part of Central India, are a branchof the Chalukya or Solankhi clan, one of the four Agnikulas or thoseborn from the firepit on Mount Abu. The chiefs of Rewah are BaghelRajputs, and the late Maharaja Raghuraj Singh has written a traditionalhistory of the sept in a book called the _Bhakt Mala_. [494] He derivestheir origin from a child, having the form of a tiger (_bagh_) whowas born to the Solankhi Raja of Gujarat at the intercession of thefamous saint Kabir. One of the headquarters of the Kabirpanthi sectare at Kawardha, which is close to Rewah, and the ruling family aremembers of the sect; hence probably the association of the Prophetwith their origin. The _Bombay Gazetteer_ [495] states that thefounder of the clan was one Anoka, a nephew of the Solankhi kingof Gujarat, Kumarpal (A. D. 1143-1174). He obtained a grant of thevillage Vaghela, the tiger's lair, about ten miles from Anhilvada, the capital of the Solankhi dynasty, and the Baghel clan takes itsname from this village. Subsequently the Baghels extended their powerover the whole of Gujarat, but in A. D. 1304 the last king, Karnadeva, was driven out by the Muhammadans, and one of his most beautifulwives was captured and sent to the emperor's harem. Karnadeva andhis daughter fled and hid themselves near Nasik, but the daughterwas subsequently also taken, while it is not stated what became ofKarnadeva. Mr. Hira Lal suggests that he fled towards Rewah, andthat he is the Karnadeva of the list of Rewah Rajas, who married adaughter of the Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla. [496] At anyrate the Baghel branch of the Solankhis apparently migrated to Rewahfrom Gujarat and founded that State about the fourteenth century, asin 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 reallytotemistic, or is derived from some ancestor of the clan who obtainedthe name of the tiger as a title or nickname, like the American RedIndians. The Baghels are found in the Hoshangabad District, and inMandla and Chhattisgarh which are close to Rewah. Amarkantak, at thesource of the Nerbudda, is the sepulchre of the Maharajas of Rewah, andwas 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 theHoshangabad 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 woodedhills on all sides as if by a hedge. The Bagar is the plain countryof the Bikaner State, and any Jat or Rajput coming from this tractis called Bagri. [499] The Rajputs of Bikaner are Rathors, but theyare not numerous, and the great bulk of the people are Jats. Hence itis probable that the Bagris of the Central Provinces were originallyJats. In Seoni they say that they are Baghel Rajputs, but this claim isunsupported by any tradition or evidence. In Central India the Bagrisare professed robbers and thieves, but these seem to be a separategroup, a section of the Badhak or Bawaria dacoits, and derived fromthe aboriginal population of Central India. The Bagris of Seoni arerespectable cultivators and own a number of villages. They rank higherthan the local Panwars and wear the sacred thread, but will removedead cattle with their own hands. They marry among themselves. 

Rajput, Bais

_Rajput, Bais. _ [500]--The Bais are one of the thirty-six royalraces. Colonel Tod considered them a branch of the Surajvansi, butaccording to their own account their eponymous ancestor was Salivahana, the mythic son of a snake, who conquered the great Raja Vikramadityaof Ujjain and fixed his own era in A. D. 55. This is the Saka era, andSalivahana was the leader of the Saka nomads who invaded Gujarat ontwo occasions, before and shortly after the beginning of the Christianera. It is suggested in the article on Rajput that the Yadava lunarclan are the representatives of these Sakas, and if this were correctthe Bais would be a branch of the lunar race. The fact that they aresnake-worshippers is in favour of their connection with the Yadavas andother clans, who are supposed to represent the Scythian invaders of thefirst and subsequent centuries, and had the legend of being descendedfrom a snake. The Bais, Mr. Crooke says, believe that no snake hasdestroyed, or ever can destroy, one of the clan. They seem to take noprecautions against the bite except hanging a vessel of water at thehead of the sufferer, with a small tube at the bottom, from which thewater 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 theSanskrit Vaishya, one who occupies the soil. The principal hero of theBais was Tilokchand, who is supposed to have come from the CentralProvinces. He lived about A. D. 1400, and was the premier Raja ofOudh. He extended his dominions over all the tract known as Baiswara, which comprises the bulk of the Rai Bareli and Unao Districts, andis the home of the Bais Rajputs. The descendants of Tilokchand form aseparate subdivision known as Tilokchandi Bais, who rank higher thanthe ordinary Bais, and will not eat with them. The Bais Rajputs arefound all over the United Provinces. In the Central Provinces theyhave settled in small numbers in the northern and eastern Districts. 

Rajput, Baksaria

_Rajput, Baksaria. _--A small clan found principally in the BilaspurDistrict, who derive their name from Baxar in Bengal. They wereaccustomed 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. Theyallow widow-marriage, and do not wear the sacred thread. It is probablethat they marry among themselves, as other Rajputs do not intermarrywith them, and they are no doubt an impure group with little pretensionto be Rajputs. The name Baksaria is found in the United Provinces asa territorial subcaste of several castes. 

Rajput, Banaphar

_Rajput, Banaphar. _--Mr. Crooke states that this sept is a branch ofthe Yadavas, and hence it is of the lunar race. The sept is famouson account of the exploits of the heroes Alha and Udal who belongedto it, and who fought for the Chandel kings of Mahoba and Khajurahain their wars against Prithwi Raj Chauhan, the king of Delhi. Theexploits of Alha and Udal form the theme of poems still well knownand popular in Bundelkhand, to which the sept belongs. The Banapharshave only a moderately respectable rank among Rajputs. [501]

Rajput, Bhadauria

_Rajput, Bhadauria. _--An important clan who take their name from thevillage of Bhadawar near Ater, south of the Jumna. They are probablya branch of the Chauhans, being given as such by Colonel Tod andSir H. M. Elliot. [502] Mr. Crooke remarks [503] that the Chauhansare disposed to deny this relationship, now that from motives ofconvenience the two tribes have begun to intermarry. If they are, as supposed, an offshoot of the Chauhans, this is an instance ofthe subdivision of a large clan leading to intermarriage between twosections, which has probably occurred in other instances also. Thisclan is returned from the Hoshangabad District. 

Rajput, Bisen

_Rajput, Bisen. _--This clan belongs to the United Provinces andOudh. They do not appear in history before the time of Akbar, andclaim descent from a well-known Brahman saint and a woman of theSurajvansi Rajputs whom he married. The Bisens occupy a respectableposition among Rajputs, and intermarry with other good clans. 

Rajput, Bundela

_Rajput, Bundela. _--A well-known clan of Rajputs of somewhatinferior position, who have given their name to Bundelkhand, orthe tract comprised principally in the Districts of Saugor, Damoh, Jhansi, Hamirpur and Banda, and the Panna, Orchha, Datia and otherStates. The Bundelas are held to be derived from the Gaharwar orGherwal Rajputs, and there is some reason for supposing that theselatter were originally an aristocratic section of the Bhar tribe withsome infusion of Rajput blood. But the Gaharwars now rank almost withthe highest clans. According to tradition one of the Gaharwar Rajasoffered a sacrifice of his own head to the Vindhya-basini Devi orthe goddess of the Vindhya hills, and out of the drops (_bund_) ofblood which fell on the altar a boy was born. He returned to Pannaand 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 inthe Vindhya hills, where, according to their own tradition, the clanhad its birth. The Bundelas became prominent in the thirteenth orfourteenth century, after the fall of the Chandels. "Orchha becamethe chief of the numerous Bundela principalities; but its founderdrew upon himself everlasting infamy, by putting to death the wiseAbul Fazl, the historian and friend of the magnanimous Akbar, and theencomiast and advocate of the Hindu race. From the period of Akbarthe 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 CentralProvinces, and, raiding continually into the Gond territories southof the Nerbudda on the pretence of protecting the sacred cow whichthe Gonds used for ploughing, they destroyed the castle on Chauragarhin Narsinghpur on a crest of the Satpuras, and reduced the Nerbuddavalley to subjection. The most successful chieftain of the tribe wasChhatarsal, the Raja of Panna, in the eighteenth century, who wasvirtually ruler of all Bundelkhand; his dominions extending from Bandain the north to Jubbulpore in the south, and from Rewah in the eastto the Betwa River in the west. But he had to call in the help of thePeshwa to repel an invasion of the Mughal armies, and left a thirdof his territory by will to the Marathas. Chhatarsal left twenty-twolegitimate and thirty illegitimate sons, and their descendants nowhold several small Bundela States, while the territories left to thePeshwa subsequently became British. The chiefs of Panna, Orchha, Datia, Chhatarpur and numerous other small states in the Bundelkhand agencyare Bundela Rajputs. [506] The Bundelas of Saugor do not intermarrywith the good Rajput clans, but with an inferior group of Panwars andanother clan called Dhundhele, perhaps an offshoot of the Panwars, whoare also residents of Saugor. Their character, as disclosed in a numberof proverbial sayings and stories current regarding them, somewhatresembles that of the Scotch highlanders as depicted by Stevenson. Theyare proud and penurious to the last degree, and quick to resent thesmallest slight. They make good _shikaris_ or sportsmen, but areso impatient of discipline that they have never found a vocation byenlisting in the Indian Army. Their characteristics are thus describedin a doggerel verse: "The Bundelas salute each other from miles apart, their _pagris_ are cocked on the side of the head till they touch theshoulders. A Bundela would dive into a well for the sake of a cowrie, but would fight with the Sardars of Government. " No Bania could gopast 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 withthe words, _Diwan ji ko Ram Ram_. Women must take their shoes off topass by. It is related that a few years ago a Bundela was brought upbefore the Assistant Commissioner, charged with assaulting a tahsilprocess-server, and threatening him with his sword. The Bundela, whowas very poor and wearing rags, was asked by the magistrate whetherhe 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 storyis that there was once a very overbearing Tahsildar, who had a shoe 21/2 feet long with which he used to collect the land revenue. One daya Bundela malguzar appeared before him on some business. The Tahsildarkept 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 somethingprivate to say. " The Tahsildar got up and walked aside with him, onwhich the Bundela said, 'That is sufficient, I only wished to tell youthat you should rise to receive me. ' When the Bundelas are collectedat a feast they sit with their hands folded across their stomachs andtheir eyes turned up, and remain impassive while food is being put ontheir plates, and never say, 'Enough, ' because they think that theywould show themselves to be feeble men if they refused to eat as muchas was put before them. Much of the food is thus ultimately wasted, and given to the sweepers, and this leads to great extravagance atmarriages and other ceremonial occasions. The Bundelas were muchfeared and were not popular landlords, but they are now losing theirold characteristics and settling down into respectable cultivators. 

Rajput, Chandel

_Rajput, Chandel. _--An important clan of Rajputs, of which asmall number reside in the northern Districts of Saugor, Damoh andJubbulpore, and also in Chhattisgarh. The name is derived by Mr. Crookefrom the Sanskrit _chandra_, the moon. The Chandel are not included inthe thirty-six royal races, and are supposed to have been a sectionof one of the indigenous tribes which rose to power. Mr. V. A. Smithstates that the Chandels, like several other dynasties, first came intohistory early in the ninth century, when Nannuka Chandel about A. D. 831overthrew a Parihar chieftain and became lord of the southern parts ofJejakabhukti or Bundelkhand. Their chief towns were Mahoba and Kalanjarin Bundelkhand, and they gradually advanced northwards till the Jumnabecame the frontier between their dominions and those of Kanauj. Theyfought with the Gujar-Parihar kings of Kanauj and the Kalachuris ofChedi, who had their capital at Tewar in Jubbulpore, and joined inresisting the incursions of the Muhammadans. In A. D. 1182 Parmal, theChandel king, was defeated by Prithwi Raja, the Chauhan king of Delhi, after the latter had abducted the Chandel's daughter. This was thewar in which Alha and Udal, the famous Banaphar heroes, fought for theChandels, and it is commemorated in the Chand-Raisa, a poem still wellknown to the people of Bundelkhand. In A. D. 1203 Kalanjar was takenby the Muhammadan Kutb-ud-Din Ibak, and the importance of the Chandelrulers came to an end, though they lingered on as purely local chiefsuntil the sixteenth century. The Chandel princes were great builders, and beautified their chief towns, Mahoba, Kalanjar and Khajuraho withmany magnificent temples and lovely lakes, formed by throwing massivedams across the openings between the hills. [507] Among these weregreat irrigation works in the Hamirpur District, the forts of Kalanjarand Ajaighar, and the noble temples at Khajuraho and Mahoba. [508]Even now the ruins of old forts and temples in the Saugor and DamohDistricts are attributed by the people to the Chandels, though manywere in fact probably constructed by the Kalachuris of Chedi. 

Mr. Smith derives the Chandels either from the Gonds or Bhars, butinclines to the view that they were Gonds. The following considerationstend, I venture to think, to favour the hypothesis of their originfrom the Bhars. According to the best traditions, the Gonds came fromthe south, and practically did not penetrate to Bundelkhand. ThoughSaugor and Damoh contain a fair number of Gonds they have neverbeen of importance there, and this is almost their farthest limitto the north-west. The Gond States in the Central Provinces did notcome into existence for several centuries after the commencementof the Chandel dynasty, and while there are authentic records ofall these states, the Gonds have no tradition of their dominancein Bundelkhand. The Gonds have nowhere else built such temples asare attributed to the Chandels at Khajuraho, whilst the Bhars werefamous builders. "In Mirzapur traces of the Bhars abound on all sidesin the shape of old tanks and village forts. The bricks found inthe Bhar-dihs or forts are of enormous dimensions, and frequentlymeasure 19 by 11 inches, and are 2 1/4 inches thick. In qualityand size they are similar to bricks often seen in ancient Buddhistbuildings. 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 wholetract from Gorakhpur to Bundelkhand and Saugor, and many old stoneforts, embankments and subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Allahabad, which are ascribed to them, would seemto indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation. " Though thereare few or no Bhars now in Bundelkhand, there are a large number ofPasis in Allahabad which partly belongs to it, and small numbers inBundelkhand; and the Pasi caste is mainly derived from the Bhars;[511] while a Gaharwar dynasty, which is held to be derived fromthe Bhars, was dominant in Bundelkhand and Central India before therise of the Chandels. According to one legend, the ancestor of theChandels was born with the moon as a father from the daughter of thehigh priest of the Gaharwar Raja Indrajit of Benares or of Indrajithimself. [512] As will be seen, the Gaharwars were an aristocraticsection of the Bhars. Another legend states that the first Chandelwas the offspring of the moon by the daughter of a Brahman Panditof Kalanjar. [513] In his _Notes on the Bhars of Bundelkhand_ [514]Mr. Smith argues that the Bhars adopted the Jain religion, and alsostates that several of the temples at Khajuraho and Mahoba, erectedin the eleventh century, are Jain. These were presumably erectedby the Chandels, but I have never seen it suggested that the Gondswere Jains or were capable of building Jain temples in the eleventhcentury. Mr. Smith also states that Maniya Deo, to whom a temple existsat Mahoba, was the tutelary deity of the Chandels; and that the onlyother shrine of Maniya Deo discovered by him in the Hamirpur Districtwas 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 Chandelprincess, belongs to the sixteenth century, and has no bearing on theorigin of the Chandels. The first instance, that of the Chandel RajaKirat Singh hunting at Maniagarh with the Gond Raja of Garha-Mandla, cannot either be said to furnish any real evidence in favour of a Gondorigin for the Chandels; it maybe doubted whether there was any GondRaja of Garha-Mandla till after the fall of the Kalachuri dynasty ofTewar, 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 formerlythe chief seat of the Bhars, while the Gonds have never been eithernumerous or important in Mirzapur. These considerations seem to pointto the possibility of the derivation of the Chandels from the Bharsrather than from the Gonds; and the point is perhaps of some interestin view of the suggestion in the article on Kol that the Gonds didnot arrive in the Central Provinces for some centuries after therise of the Chandel dynasty of Khajuraho and Mahoba. The Chandelsmay have simply been a local branch of the Gaharwars, who obtaineda territorial designation from Chanderi, or in some other manner, as has continually happened in the case of other clans. The Gaharwarswere probably derived from the Bhars. The Chandels now rank as a goodRajput clan, and intermarry with the other leading clans. 

Rajput, Chauhan

_Rajput, Chauhan_. --The Chauhan was the last of the Agnikula orfire-born clans, According to the legend: "Again Vasishtha seated onthe lotus prepared incantations; again he called the gods to aid; andas he poured forth the libation a figure arose, lofty in stature, ofelevated front, hair like jet, eyes rolling, breast expanded, fierce, terrific, clad in armour with quiver filled, a bow in one hand anda brand in the other, quadriform (Chaturanga), whence his name wasgiven as Chauhan. " This account makes the Chauhan the most importantof the fire-born clans, and Colonel Tod says that he was the mostvaliant of the Agnikulas, and it may be asserted not of them only butof the whole Rajput race; and though the swords of the Rahtors wouldbe ready to contest the point, impartial decision must assign to theChauhan the van in the long career of arms. [517] General Cunninghamshows that even so late as the time of Prithwi Raj in the twelfthcentury the Chauhans had no claim to be sprung from fire, but werecontent to be considered descendants of a Brahman sage Bhrigu. [518]Like the other Agnikula clans the Chauhans are now considered to havesprung from the Gurjara or White Hun invaders of the fifth and sixthcenturies, but I do not know whether this is held to be definitelyproved in their case. Sambhar and Ajmer in Rajputana appear to havebeen the first home of the clan, and inscriptions record a longline of thirty-nine kings as reigning there from Anhul, the firstcreated Chauhan. The last but one of them, Vigraha Raja or Bisal Deo, in the middle of the twelfth century extended the ancestral dominionsconsiderably, and conquered Delhi from a chief of the Tomara clan. Atthis time the Chauhans, according to their own bards, held the lineof the Nerbudda from Garha-Mandla to Maheshwar and also Asirgarh, while their dominions extended north to Hissar and south to theAravalli hills. [519] The nephew of Bisal Deo was Prithwi Raj, themost famous Chauhan hero, who ruled at Sambhar, Ajmer and Delhi. Hisfirst exploit was the abduction of the daughter of Jaichand, theGaharwar Raja of Kanauj, in about A. D. 1175. The king of Kanauj hadclaimed the title of universal sovereign and determined to celebratethe Ashwa-Medha or horse-sacrifice, at which all the offices shouldbe performed by vassal kings. Prithwi Raj alone declined to attendas a subordinate, and Jaichand therefore made a wooden image ofhim and set it up at the gate in the part of doorkeeper. But whenhis daughter after the tournament took the garland of flowers tobestow it on the chief whom she chose for her husband, she passedby all the assembled nobles and threw the garland on the neck ofthe wooden image. At this moment Prithwi Raj dashed in with a fewcompanions, and catching her up, escaped with her from her father'scourt. [520] Afterwards, in 1182, Prithwi Raj defeated the ChandelRaja Parmal and captured Mahoba. In 1191 Prithwi Raj was the head ofa confederacy of Hindu princes in combating the invasion of MuhammadGhori. He repelled the Muhammadans at Tarain about two miles northof Delhi, but in the following year was completely defeated andkilled at Thaneswar, and soon afterwards Delhi and Ajmer fell tothe Muhammadans. The Chauhan kingdom was broken up, but scatteredparts of it remained, and about A. D. 1307 Asirgarh in Nimar, whichcontinued to be held by the Chauhans, was taken by Ala-ud-Din Khiljiand the whole garrison put to the sword except one boy. This boy, Raisi Chauhan, escaped to Rajputana, and according to the bardicchronicle his descendants formed the Hara branch of the Chauhans andconquered from the Minas the tract known as Haravati, from which theyperhaps took their name. [521] This is now comprised in the Kotah andBundi states, ruled by Hara chiefs. Another well-known offshoot fromthe Chauhans are the Khichi clan, who belong to the Sind-Sagar Doab;and the Nikumbh and Bhadauria clans are also derived from them. TheChauhans are numerous in the Punjab and United Provinces and rank asone of the highest Rajput clans. In the Central Provinces they arefound principally in the Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad Districts, andalso in Mandla. The Chauhan Rajputs of Mandla marry among themselves, with other Chauhans of Mandla, Seoni and Balaghat They have exogamoussections with names apparently derived from villages like an ordinarycaste. The remarriage of widows is forbidden, but those widows whodesire 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 notshaved, but her glass bangles are broken, she is dressed in white, made to sleep on the ground, and can wear no ornaments. Owing to therenown of the clan their name has been adopted by numerous classes ofinferior Rajputs and low Hindu castes who have no right to it. Thusin the Punjab a large subcaste of Chamars call themselves Chauhan, and in the Bilaspur District a low caste of village watchmen goby this name. These latter may be descendants of the illegitimateoffspring of Chauhan Rajputs by low-caste women. 

Rajput, Dhakar

_Rajput, Dhakar_. --In the Central Provinces this term has the meaningof 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 Surajvansiorigin; but this is not generally admitted. Mr. Crooke states thatsome are said to be emigrants from the banks of the Nerbudda; butthe main body say they came from Ajmer in the sixteenth century. Theywere notorious in the eighteenth century for their lawlessness, andgave the imperial Mughal officers much trouble in the neighbourhoodof Agra, rendering the communications between that city and Etawahinsecure. In the Mutiny they broke out again, and are generally aturbulent, ill-conducted sept, always ready for petty acts of violenceand cattle-stealing. They are, however, recognised as Rajputs of goodposition and intermarry with the best clans. [522]

In the Central Provinces the Dhakars are found principally inHoshangabad, and it is doubtful if they are proper Rajputs. 

Rajput, Gaharwar

_Rajput, Gaharwar, Gherwal_. --This is an old clan. Mr. V. A. Smithstates that they had been dominant in Central India about Nowgong andChhatarpur before the Parihars in the eighth century. The Pariharkings were subsequently overthrown by the Chandels of Mahoba. Intheir practice of building embankments and constructing lakes theChandels were imitators of the Gaharwars, who are credited with theformation of some of the most charming lakes in Bundelkhand. [523]And in A. D. 1090 a Raja of the Gaharwar clan called Chandradeva seizedKanauj (on the Ganges north-west of Lucknow), and established hisauthority certainly over Benares and Ajodhia, and perhaps over theDelhi territory. Govindachandra, grandson of Chandradeva, enjoyed along reign, which included the years A. D. 1114 and 1154. His numerousland grants and widely distributed coins prove that he succeeded to alarge extent in restoring the glories of Kanauj, and in making himselfa power of considerable importance. The grandson of Govindachandrawas Jayachandra, renowned in the popular Hindu poems and tales ofnorthern India as Raja Jaichand, whose daughter was carried off bythe gallant Rai Pithora or Prithwi Raj of Ajmer. Kanauj was finallycaptured and destroyed by Shihab-ud-Din in 1193, when Jaichand retiredtowards Benares but was overtaken and slain. [524] His grandson, Mr. Crooke says, [525] afterwards fled to Kantit in the MirzapurDistrict and, overcoming the Bhar Raja of that place, founded thefamily of the Gaharwar Rajas of Kantit Bijaypur, which was recentlystill in existence. All the other Gaharwars trace their lineage toBenares or Bijaypur. The predecessors of the Gaharwars in Kantit andin a large tract of country lying contiguous to it were the Bhars, anindigenous race of great enterprise, who, though not highly civilised, were far removed from barbarism. According to Sherring they haveleft 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 tractfrom Gorakhpur to Bundelkhand and Saugor, and the large pargana ofBhadoi or Bhardai in Benares is called after their name. Many old stoneforts, embankments and subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Allahabad, which are ascribed to them, would seemto indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation. " [527] ColonelTod says of the Gaharwars: "The Gherwal Rajput is scarcely known tohis brethren in Rajasthan, who will not admit his contaminated bloodto mix with theirs, though as a brave warrior he is entitled to theirfellowship. " [528] It is thus curious that the Gaharwars, who are oneof the oldest clans to appear in authentic history, if they ruledCentral India in the eighth century before the Parihars, should beconsidered to be of very impure origin. And as they are subsequentlyfound in Mirzapur, a backward forest tract which is also the homeof the Bhars, and both the Gaharwars and Bhars have a reputation asbuilders of tanks and forts, it seems likely that the Gaharwars werereally, as suggested by Mr. V. A. Smith, the aristocratic branch of theBhars, probably with a considerable mixture of Rajput blood. Elliotstates that the Bhars formerly occupied the whole of Azamgarh, thepargana of Bara in Allahabad and Khariagarh in the Kanauj tract. Thiswidespread dominance corresponds with what has been already statedas regards the Gaharwars, who, according to Mr. V. A. Smith, ruledin Central India, Kanauj, Oudh, Benares and Mirzapur. And the nameGaharwar, 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 Bundelkhandis probably descended. [530]

The Gaharwars, Mr. Crooke states, now hold a high rank among Rajputsepts; they give daughters to the Baghel, Chandel and Bisen, and takebrides of the Bais, Gautam, Chauhan, Parihar and other clans. TheGaharwars 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 thereattained to any considerable eminence. The ancient kings of Bengal wereof this race, and gave their name to the capital, Lakhnauti. " This townin Bengal, and the kingdom of which it was the capital, were known asGanda, and it has been conjectured that the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputswere named after it. Sir H. M. Elliot and Mr. Crooke, however, point outthat 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 principallyin the Meerut Division, and between them and Bengal is the home ofthe Kanaujia Brahmans. General Cunningham suggests that the countrycomprised in the present Gonda District round the old town of Sravasti, was formerly known as Gauda, and was hence the origin of the castename. [531] The derivation from Gaur in Bengal is perhaps, however, more probable, as the name was best known in connection with thistract. The Gaur Rajputs do not make much figure in history. "Repeatedmention of them is found in the wars of Prithwi Raj as leaders ofconsiderable renown, one of whom founded a small state in the centreof India. This survived through seven centuries of Mogul domination, till it at length fell a prey indirectly to the successes of theBritish over the Marathas, when Sindhia in 1809 annihilated the powerof 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 theChamar Gaur, curiously enough appear to rank the highest, which isaccounted for by the following story: When trouble fell upon the Gaurfamily, one of their ladies, far advanced in pregnancy, took refugein a Chamar's house, and was so grateful to him for his disinterestedprotection that she promised to call her child by his name. The Bhatsand Brahmans, to whom the others fled, do not appear to have shown alike chivalry, and hence, strange as it may appear, the subdivisionscalled after their name rank below the Chamar Gaur. [533] The names ofthe subsepts indicate that this clan of Rajputs is probably of mixedorigin. If the Brahman subsept is descended from Brahmans, it wouldbe only one of several probable cases of Rajput clans originatingfrom this caste. As regards the Bhat subcaste, the Charans or Bhatsof Rajputana are admittedly Rajputs, and there is therefore nothingcurious in finding a Bhat subsection in a Rajput clan. What thereal origin of the Chamar Gaurs was is difficult to surmise. TheChamar Gaur is now a separate clan, and its members intermarry withthe other Gaur Rajputs, affording an instance of the subdivision ofclans. In the Central Provinces the greater number of the personsreturned as Gaur Rajputs really belong to a group known as Gorai, whoare considered to be the descendants of widows or kept women in theGaur clan, and marry among themselves. They should really thereforebe considered a separate caste, and not members of the Rajput casteproper. In the United Provinces the Gaurs rank with the good Rajputclans. In the Central Provinces the Gaur and Chamar-Gaur clans arereturned 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 historicalclan of the Central Provinces is not included among the thirty-sixroyal races, and Colonel Tod gives no information about them. Thename Haihaya is stated to be a corruption of Ahihaya, which meanssnake-horse, the legend being that the first ancestor of the clan wasthe issue of a snake and a mare. Haihaivansi signifies descendantsof the horse. Colonel Tod states that the first capital of the Induor lunar race was at Mahesvati on the Nerbudda, still existingas Maheshwar, and was founded by Sahasra Arjuna of the Haihayatribe. [534] This Arjuna of the thousand arms was one of the Pandavabrothers, and it may be noted that the Ratanpur Haihaivansis stillhave a story of their first ancestor stealing a horse from Arjuna, and a consequent visit of Arjuna and Krishna to Ratanpur for itsrecovery. Since the Haihayas also claim descent from a snake and areof the lunar race, it seems not unlikely that they may have belongedto one of the Scythian or Tartar tribes, the Sakas or Yueh-chi, who invaded India shortly after the commencement of the Christianera, as it has been conjectured that the other lunar Rajput clansworshipping or claiming descent from a snake originated from thesetribes. The Haihaivansis or Kalachuris became dominant in the Nerbuddavalley about the sixth century, their earliest inscription being datedA. D. 580. Their capital was moved to Tripura or Tewar near Jubbulporeabout A. D. 900, and from here they appear to have governed an extensiveterritory for about 300 years, and were frequently engaged in war withthe adjoining kingdoms, the Chandels of Mahoba, the Panwars of Malwa, and the Chalukyas of the south. One king, Gangeyadeva, appears evento have aspired to become the paramount power in northern India, andhis sovereignty was recognised in distant Tirhut. Gangeyadeva was fondof residing at the foot of the holy fig-tree of Prayaga (Allahabad), and eventually found salvation there with his hundred wives. Fromabout A. D. 1100 the power of the Kalachuri or Haihaya princes began todecline, and their last inscription is dated A. D. 1196. It is probablethat they were subverted by the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla, the firstof whom, Jadurai, appears to have been in the service of the Kalachuriking, and subsequently with the aid of a dismissed minister to havesupplanted his former-master. [535] The kingdom of the Kalachuri orHaihaya kings was known as Chedi, and, according to Mr. V. A. Smith, corresponded more or less roughly to the present area of the CentralProvinces. [536]

In about the tenth century a member of the reigning family of Tripurawas appointed viceroy of some territories in Chhattisgarh, and two orthree generations afterwards his family became practically independentof the parent house, and established their own capital at Ratanpurin Bilaspur District (A. D. 1050). This state was known as Dakshin orsouthern Kosala. During the twelfth century its importance rapidlyincreased, partly no doubt on the ruins of the Jubbulpore kingdom, until the influence of the Ratanpur princes, Ratnadeva II. AndPrithwideva II. , may be said to have extended from Amarkantak tobeyond the Godavari, and from the confines of Berar in the west tothe boundaries of Orissa in the east. [537] The Ratanpur kingdom ofChedi or Dakshin Kosala was the only one of the Rajput states in theCentral Provinces which escaped subversion by the Gonds, and it enjoyeda comparatively tranquil existence till A. D. 1740, when Ratanpur fellto the Marathas almost without striking a blow. "The only survivingrepresentative of the Haihayas of Ratanpur, " Mr. Wills states, [538]"is a quite simple-minded Rajput who lives at Bargaon in RaipurDistrict. He represents the junior or Raipur branch of the family, and holds five villages which were given him revenue-free by theMarathas for his maintenance. The malguzar of Senduras claims descentfrom the Ratanpur family, but his pretensions are doubtful. He enjoysno privileges such as those of the Bargaon Thakur, to whom presentsare still made when he visits the chiefs who were once subordinate tohis ancient house. " In the Ballia District of the United Provinces[539] are some Hayobans Rajputs who claim descent from the Ratanpurkings. Chandra Got, a cadet of this house, is said to have migratednorthwards in A. D. 850 [540] and settled in the Saran Districton the Ganges, where he waged successful war with the aboriginalCheros. Subsequently one of his descendants violated a Brahman womancalled Maheni of the house of his Purohit or family priest, who burntherself to death, and is still locally worshipped. After this tragedythe Hayobans Rajputs left Saran and settled in Ballia. Colonel Todstates that, "A small branch of these ancient Haihayas yet existin 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, cededfrom Mandla after the Mutiny. 

Rajput, Huna

_Rajput, Huna, Hoon_. --This clan retains the name and memory of theHun barbarian hordes, who invaded India at or near the epoch of theirincursions into Europe. It is practically extinct; but in his _WesternIndia_ Colonel Tod records the discovery of a few families of Hunasin Baroda State: "At a small village opposite Ometa I discovereda 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 threeor four families of them at the village of Trisavi, three _kos_ fromBaroda, and although neither feature nor complexion indicate muchrelation to the Tartar-visaged Hun, we may ascribe the change toclimate and admixture of blood, as there is little doubt that theyare descended from these invaders, who established a sovereignty onthe Indus in the second and sixth centuries of the Christian era, and became so incorporated with the Rajput population as to obtain aplace among the thirty-six royal races of India, together with theGete, the Kathi, and other tribes of the Sacae from Central Asia, whose descendants still occupy the land of the sun-worshipping Sauraor Chaura, no doubt one of the same race. "

Rajput, Kachhwaha

_Rajput, Kachhwaha, Cutchwaha_--A celebrated clan of Rajputs includedamong the thirty-six royal races, to which the Maharajas of theimportant states of Amber or Jaipur and Alwar belong. They are of thesolar race and claim descent from Kash, the second son of the greatking Rama of Ajodhia, the incarnation of Vishnu. Their original seat, according to tradition, was Rohtas on the Son river, and another oftheir famous progenitors was Raja Nal, who migrated from Rohtas andfounded Narwar. [542] The town of Damoh in the Central Provincesis supposed to be named after Damyanti, Raja Nal's wife. Accordingto General Cunningham the name Kachhwaha is an abbreviation ofKachhaha-ghata or tortoise-killer. The earliest appearance of theKachhwaha Rajputs in authentic history is in the tenth century, whena chief of the clan captured Gwalior from the Parihar-Gujar kings ofKanauj and established himself there. His dynasty had an independentexistence till A. D. 1128, when it became tributary to the Chandelkings of Mahoba. [543] The last prince of Gwalior was Tejkaran, called Dulha Rai or the bridegroom prince, and he received from hisfather-in-law the district of Daora in the present Jaipur State, where he settled. In 1150 one of his successors wrested Amber fromthe Minas and made it his capital. The Amber State from the firstacknowledged the supremacy of the Mughal emperors, and the chiefof the period gave his daughter in marriage to Akbar. This chief'sson, Bhagwan Das, is said to have saved Akbar's life at the battleof Sarnal. Bhagwan Das gave a daughter to Jahangir, and his adoptedson, Man Singh, the next chief, was one of the most conspicuous ofthe 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 commanderof 6000 horse, and captured Sivaji, the celebrated founder of theMaratha power. The present city of Jaipur was founded by a subsequentchief, Jai Singh II. , in 1728. During the Mutiny the Maharaja of Jaipurplaced all his military power at the disposal of the Political Agent, and in every way assisted the British Government. At the Durbar of1877 his salute was raised to 21 guns. Jaipur, one of the largeststates in Rajputana, has an area of nearly 16, 000 square miles, anda population of 2 1/2 million persons. The Alwar State was foundedabout 1776 by Pratap Singh, a descendant of a prince of the Jaipurhouse, who had separated from it three centuries before. It has anarea of 3000 square miles and a population of nearly a million. [544]In Colonel Tod's time the Kachhwaha chiefs in memory of their descentfrom Rama, the incarnation of the sun, celebrated with great solemnitythe annual feast of the sun. On this occasion a stately car called thechariot of the sun was brought from Rama's temple, and the Maharajaascending into it perambulated his capital. The images of Rama andSiva were carried with the army both in Alwar and Jaipur. The bannerof Amber was always called the _Panchranga_ or five-coloured flag, and is frequently mentioned in the traditions of the Rajput bards. Butit does not seem to be stated what the five colours were. Some ofthe finest soldiers in the old Sepoy army were Kachhwaha Rajputs. TheKachhwahas are fairly numerous in the United Provinces and rank withthe highest Rajput clans. [545] In the Central Provinces they arefound principally in the Saugor, Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts. 

Rajput, Nagvansi

_Rajput, Nagvansi_. --This clan are considered to be the descendants ofthe Tak or Takshac, which is one of the thirty-six royal races, and wasconsidered by Colonel Tod to be of Scythian origin. The Takshac werealso snake-worshippers. "Naga and Takshac are synonymous appellationsin Sanskrit for the snake, and the Takshac is the celebrated Nagvansaof the early heroic history of India. The Mahabharat describes in itsusual allegorical style the war between the Pandus of Indraprestha andthe Takshacs of the north. Parikhita, a prince on the Pandu side, wasassassinated by the Takshac, and his son and successor, Janamejaya, avenged his death and made a bonfire of 20, 000 snakes. " [546] Thisallegory is supposed to have represented the warfare of the Aryanraces against the Sakas or Scythians. The Tak or Takshac would beone of the clans held to be derived from the earlier invading tribesfrom Central Asia, and of the lunar race. The Tak are scarcely knownin authentic history, but the poet Chand mentions the Tak from Aseror Asirgarh as one of the princes who assembled at the summons ofPrithwi Raj of Delhi to fight against the Muhammadans. In anotherplace he is called Chatto the Tak. Nothing more is known of theTak clan unless the cultivating Taga caste of northern India isderived from them. But the Nagvansi clan of Rajputs, who profess tobe descended from them, is fairly numerous. Most of the Nagvansis, however, are probably in reality descended from landholders of theindigenous tribes who have adopted the name of this clan, when theywished to claim rank as Rajputs. The change is rendered more easy bythe fact that many of these tribes have legends of their own, showingthe descent of their ruling families from snakes, the snake and tiger, owing to their deadly character, being the two animals most commonlyworshipped. Thus the landholding section of the Kols or Mundas ofChota Nagpur have a long legend [547] of their descent from a princesswho married a snake in human form, and hence call themselves NagvansiRajputs; and Dr. Buchanan states that the Nagvansi clan of Gorakhpuris similarly derived from the Chero tribe. [548] In the CentralProvinces the Nagvansi Rajputs number about 400 persons, nearly allof 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-sixroyal races, but it is also the name of a branch of the Chauhans, andit seems that, as suggested by Sherring, [549] it may be an offshootfrom the great Chauhan clan. The Nikumbh are said to have been giventhe title of Sirnet by an emperor of Delhi, because they would notbow their heads on entering his presence, and when he fixed a swordat the door some of them allowed their necks to be cut through by thesword rather than bend the head. The term Sirnet is supposed to meanheadless. A Chauhan column with an inscription of Raja Bisal Deo waserected at Nigumbode, a place of pilgrimage on the Jumna, a few milesbelow Delhi, and it seems a possible conjecture that the Nikumbhs mayhave obtained their name from this place. [550] Mr. Crooke, however, takes the Nikumbh to be a separate clan. The foundation of most ofthe old forts and cities in Alwar and northern Jaipur is ascribed tothem, and two of their inscriptions of the twelfth and thirteenthcenturies have been discovered in Khandesh. In northern India someof them are now known as Raghuvansi. [551] They are chiefly found inthe Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts, and may be connected with theRaghuvansi or Raghwi caste of these Provinces. 

Rajput, Paik

_Rajput, Paik_. --This term means a foot-soldier, and is returnedfrom the northern Districts. It belongs to a class of men formerlymaintained as a militia by zamindars and landholders for the purposeof collecting their revenue and maintaining order. They were probablyemployed in much the same manner in the Central Provinces as in Bengal, where Buchanan thus describes them: [552] "In order to protect themoney of landowners and convey it from place to place, and also, asit is alleged, to enforce orders, two kinds of guards are kept. Onebody called Burkandaz, commanded by Duffadars and Jemadars, seemsto be a more recent establishment The other called Paik, commandedby Mirdhas and Sirdars, are the remains of the militia of the Bengalkingdom. Both seem to have constituted the foot-soldiers whose numbermakes such a formidable appearance in the Ain-i-Akbari. These unwieldyestablishments seem to have been formed when the Government collectedrent immediately from the farmer and cultivator, and when the samepersons managed not only the collections but the police and a greatpart of the judicial department. This vast number of armed men, moreespecially the latter, formed the infantry of the Mughal Government, and were continued under the zamindars, who were anxious to have asmany armed men as possible to support them in their depredations. Andthese establishments formed no charge, as they lived on lands which thezamindar did not bring to account. " The Paiks are thus a small casteformed from military service like the Khandaits or swordsmen of Orissa, and are no doubt recruited from all sections of the population. Theyhave no claim to be considered as Rajputs. 

Rajput, Parihar

_Rajput, Parihar_. --This clan was one of the four Agnikulas orfire-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 guardianof the gate, and hence his name, _Prithi-ha-dwara_ of which Pariharis supposed to be a corruption [553]. Like the Chauhans and Solankisthe Parihar clan is held to have originated from the Gurjara orGujar invaders who came with the white Huns in the fifth and sixthcenturies, and they were one of the first of the Gujar Rajput clans toemerge into prominence. They were dominant in Bundelkhand before theChandels, their last chieftain having been overthrown by a Chandelprince in A. D. 831 [554]. A Parihar-Gujar chieftain, whose capitalwas at Bhinmal in Rajputana, conquered the king of Kanauj, the rulerof what remained of the dominions of the great Harsha Vardhana, andestablished himself there about A. D. 816 [555]. Kanauj was then held byGujar-Parihar kings till about 1090, when it was seized by Chandradevaof the Gaharwar Rajput clan. The Parihar rulers were thus subvertedby the Gaharwars and Chandels, both of whom are thought to be derivedfrom the Bhars or other aboriginal tribes, and these events appearto have been in the nature of a rising of the aristocratic sectionof the indigenous residents against the Gujar rulers, by whom theyhad been conquered and perhaps taught the trade of arms. After thisperiod the Parihars are of little importance. They appear to haveretired to Rajputana, as Colonel Tod states that Mundore, five milesnorth of Jodhpur, was their headquarters until it was taken by theRahtors. The walls of the ruined fortress of Mundore are built ofenormous square masses of stone without cement, and attest both itsantiquity and its former strength [556]. The Parihars are scatteredover Rajputana, and a colony of them on the Chambal was characterisedas the most notorious body of thieves in the annals of Thug history[557]. Similarly in Etawah they are said to be a peculiarly lawlessand desperate community [558]. The Parihar Rajputs rank with theleading clans and intermarry with them. In the Central Provinces theyare found principally in Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore. 

Rajput, Rathor

_Rajput, Rathor, Rathaur. _--The Rathor of Jodhpur or Marwar is oneof the most famous clans of Rajputs, and that which is most widelydominant at the present time, including as it does the Rajas ofJodhpur, Bikaner, Ratlam, Kishengarh and Idar, as well as severalsmaller states. The origin of the Rathor clan is uncertain. ColonelTod states that they claim to be of the solar race, but by the bardsof the race are denied this honour; and though descended from Kash, thesecond 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 formerlyheld that the dynasty which wrested Kanauj from the descendants ofHarsha Vardhana, and held it from A. D. 810 to 1090, until subvertedby the Gaharwars, were Rathors, but proof has now been obtained thatthey were really Parihar-Gujars. Mr. Smith suggests that after thedestruction of Kanauj by the Muhammadans under Shihab-ud-Din Ghoriin A. D. 1193 the Gaharwar clan, whose kings had conquered it in 1090and reigned there for a century, migrated to the deserts of Marwarin Rajputana, where they settled and became known as Rathors. [559]It has also been generally held that the Rashtrakuta dynasty ofNasik and Malkhed in the Deccan which reigned from A. D. 753 to 973, and built the Kailasa temples at Ellora were Rathors, but Mr. Smithstates that there is no evidence of any social connection between theRashtrakutas and Rathors. [560] At any rate Siahji, the grandson ornephew of Jai Chand, the last king of Kanauj, who had been drownedin the Ganges while attempting to escape, accomplished with about200 followers--the wreck of his vassalage--the pilgrimage to Dwarkain Gujarat. He then sought in the sands and deserts of Rajputanaa second line of defence against the advancing wave of Muhammadaninvasion, and planted the standard of the Rathors among the sandhillsof the Luni in 1212. This, however, was not the first settlement ofthe Rathors in Rajputana, for an inscription, dated A. D. 997, amongthe ruins of the ancient city of Hathundi or Hastikundi, near Baliin Jodhpur State, tells of five Rathor Rajas who ruled there earlyin the tenth century, and this fact shows that the name Rathor isreally much older than the date of the fall of Kanauj. [561]

In 1381 Siahji's tenth successor, Rao Chonda, took Mundore froma Parihar chief, and made his possession secure by marrying thelatter's daughter. A subsequent chief, Rao Jodha, laid the foundationof Jodhpur in 1459, and transferred thither the seat of government. Thesite of Jodhpur was selected on a peak known as Joda-gir, or the hillof strife, four miles distant from Mundore on a crest of the rangeoverlooking the expanse of the desert plains of Marwar. The positionfor the new city was chosen at the bidding of a forest ascetic, and wasexcellently adapted for defence, but had no good water-supply. [562]Joda had fourteen sons, of whom the sixth, Bika, was the founder of theBikaner state. Raja Sur Singh (1595-1620) was one of Akbar's greatestgenerals, and the emperor Jahangir buckled the sword on to his sonGaj Singh with his own hands. Gaj Singh, the next Raja (1620-1635), was appointed viceroy of the Deccan, as was his successor, JaswantSingh, 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 theycould muster. [563] On another occasion, when Jahangir successfullyappealed 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] perhapsan unprecedented honour. But the constant absence from his home onservice in distant parts of the empire was so distasteful to Raja SurSingh that, when dying in the Deccan, he ordered a pillar to be erectedon his grave containing his curse upon any of his race who shouldcross the Nerbudda. The pomp of imperial greatness or the sunshine ofcourt favour was as nothing with the Rathor chiefs, Colonel Tod says, when weighed against the exercise of their influence within their owncherished patrimony. The simple fare of the desert was dearer to theRathor than all the luxuries of the imperial banquet, which he turnedfrom in disgust to the recollection of the green pulse of Mundore, or his favourite _rabi_ or maize porridge, the prime dish of theRathor. [565] The Rathor princes have been not less ready in placingthemselves and the forces of their States at the disposal of theBritish Government, and the latest and perhaps most brilliant exampleof their loyalty occurred during 1914, when the veteran Sir PartapSingh 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 RajaUdai Singh of Jodhpur, who was born about 1618, and obtained itas a grant for good service against the Usbegs at Kandahar and thePersians in Khorasan about 1651-52. Kishangarh was founded by KishanSingh, a son of the same Raja Udai Singh, who obtained a grant ofterritory from Akbar about 1611. Idar State in Gujarat has, accordingto its traditions, been held by Rathor princes from a very earlyperiod. Jodhpur State is the largest in Rajputana, with an area of35, 000 square miles, and a population of two million. The Maharajais entitled to a salute of twenty-one guns. A great part of theState is a sandy desert, and its older name of Marwar is, accordingto Colonel Tod, a corruption of Marusthan, or the region of death. Inthe Central Provinces the Rathor Rajputs number about 6000 persons, andare found mainly in the Saugor, Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur and HoshangabadDistricts. The census statistics include about 5000 persons enumeratedin Mandla and Bilaspur, nearly all of whom are really Rathor Telis. 

Rajput, Sesodia

_Rajput, Sesodia, Gahlot, Aharia_. --The Gahlot or Sesodia is generallyadmitted to be the premier Rajput clan. Their chief is described bythe bards as "The Suryavansi Rana, of royal race, Lord of Chitor, the ornament of the thirty-six royal races. " The Sesodias claimdescent from the sun, through Loh, the eldest son of the divine Ramaof Ajodhia. In token of their ancestry the royal banner of Mewarconsisted of a golden sun on a crimson field. Loh is supposed to havefounded Lahore. His descendants migrated to Saurashtra or Kathiawar, where they settled at Vidurbha or Balabhi, the capital of the Valabhidynasty. The last king of Valabhi was Siladitya, who was killed byan invasion of barbarians, and his posthumous son, Gohaditya, ruledin Idar and the hilly country in the south-west of Mewar. From himthe clan took its name of Gohelot or Gahlot. Mr. D. R. Bhandarkar, however, from a detailed examination of the inscriptions relatingto the Sesodias, arrives at the conclusion that the founders ofthe line were Nagar Brahmans from Vadnagar in Gujarat, the firstof the line being one Guhadatta, from which the clan takes itsname of Gahlot [566] The family were also connected with the rulingprinces 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 thefifth or sixth century. Mr. Bhandarkar's account really agrees quiteclosely with the traditions of the Sesodia bards themselves, exceptthat he considers Guhadatta to have been a Nagar Brahman of Valabhi, and descended from the Maitrakas, a race allied to the Huns, while thebards say that he was a descendant of the Aryan Kshatriyas of Ajodhia, who migrated to Surat and established the Valabhi kingdom. The earliestprince of the Gahlot dynasty for whom a date has been obtained isSila, A. D. 646, and he was fifth in descent from Guhadatta, who maytherefore 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 byMr. Bhandarkar states that Bapa was the son of Grahadata. He succeededin propitiating the god Siva. One day the king of Chitor died andleft no heir to his throne. It was decided that whoever would begarlanded by a certain elephant would be placed on the throne. Bapawas present on the occasion, and the elephant put the garland roundhis neck not only once, but thrice. Bapa was thus seated on thethrone. One day he was suffering from some eye-disease. A physicianmixed a certain medicine in alcoholic liquor and applied it to hiseyes, which were speedily cured. Bapa afterwards inquired what themedicine 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. Ihave lost my caste, " So saying he drank molten lead (_sisa_), andforthwith died, and hence arose the family name Sesodia. [568] Thisstory, current in Rajputana, supports Mr. Bhandarkar's view of theBrahman origin of the clan. According to tradition Bapa went to Chitor, then held by the Mori or Pramara Rajputs, to seek his fortune, andwas appointed to lead the Chitor forces against the Muhammadans ontheir first invasion of India. [569] After defeating and expellingthem he ousted the Mori ruler and established himself at Chitor, which has since been the capital of the Sesodias. The name Sesodiais really derived from Sesoda, the residence of a subsequent chiefRahup, who captured Mundore and was the first to bear the title ofRana of Mewar. Similarly Aharia is another local name from Ahar, aplace in Mewar, which was given to the clan. They were also known asRaghuvansi, or of the race of king Raghu, the ancestor of the divineRama. The Raghuvansis of the Central Provinces, an impure casteof Rajput origin, are treated in a separate article, but it is notknown whether they were derived from the Sesodias. From the fourteenthcentury the chronicles of the Sesodias contain many instances of Rajputcourage and devotion. Chitor was sacked three times before the capitalwas removed to Udaipur, first by Ala-ul-Din Khilji in 1303, next byBahadur Shah, the Muhammadan king of Gujarat in 1534, and lastly byAkbar in 1567. These events were known as Saka or massacres of theclan. On each occasion the women of the garrison performed the Joharor general immolation by fire, while the men sallied forth, clad intheir saffron-coloured robes and inspired by _bhang_, to die swordin hand against the foe. At the first sack the goddess of the clanappeared in a dream to the Rana and demanded the lives of twelve ofits chiefs as a condition of its preservation. His eleven sons werein their turn crowned as chief, each ruling for three days, while onthe fourth he sallied out and fell in battle. [570] Lastly, the Ranadevoted himself in order that his favourite son Ajeysi might be sparedand might perpetuate the clan. At the second sack 32, 000 were slain, and at the third 30, 000. Finally Aurangzeb destroyed the temples andidols at Chitor, and only its ruins remain. Udaipur city was foundedin 1559. The Sesodias resisted the Muhammadans for long, and severaltimes defeated them. Udai Singh, the founder of Udaipur, abandonedhis capital and fled to the hills, whence he caused his own territoryto be laid waste, with the object of impeding the imperial forces. Ofthis period it is recorded that the Ranas were from father to son inoutlawry against the emperor, and that sovereign had carried away thedoors of the gate of Chitor, and had set them up in Delhi. Fifty-tworajas and chiefs had perished in the struggle, and the Rana inhis trouble lay at nights on a counterpane spread on the ground, and neither slept in his bed nor shaved his hair; and if he perchancebroke his fast, had nothing better with which to satisfy it than beansbaked in an earthen pot. For this reason it is that certain practicesare to this day observed at Udaipur. A counterpane is spread below theRana's bed, and his head remains unshaven and baked beans are dailylaid upon his plate. [571] A custom of perhaps somewhat similar originis that in this clan man and wife take food together, and the wife doesnot wait till her husband has finished. It is said that the SesodiaRajputs 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 togetherin haste when occasion offered during this period of guerilla warfare. 

In 1614 Rana Amar Singh, recognising that further opposition washopeless, made his submission to the emperor, on the condition that heshould never have to present himself in person but might send his twosons in his place. This stipulation being accepted, the heir-apparentKaran Singh proceeded to Ajmer where he was magnanimously treated byJahangir and shortly afterwards the imperial troops were withdrawnfrom Chitor. It is the pride of the Udaipur house that it never gavea daughter in marriage to any of the Musalman emperors, and for manyyears ceased to intermarry with other Rajput families who had formedsuch alliances. But Amar Singh II. (1698-1710) made a league withthe Maharajas of Jodhpur and Jaipur for mutual protection againstthe Muhammadans; and it was one of the conditions of the compactthat the latter chiefs should regain the privilege of marriage withthe Udaipur family which had been suspended since they had givendaughters in marriage to the emperors. But the Rana unfortunatelyadded a proviso that the son of an Udaipur princess should succeedto the Jodhpur or Jaipur States in preference to any elder son byanother mother. The quarrels to which this stipulation gave rise ledto the conquest of the country by the Marathas, at whose hands Mewarsuffered more cruel devastation than it had ever been subjected to bythe Muhammadans. Ruinous war also ensued between Jodhpur and Jaipurfor the hand of the famous Udaipur princess Kishen Kumari at the timewhen Rajputana was being devastated by the Marathas and Pindaris;and the quarrel was only settled by the voluntary death of the objectof contention, who, after the kinsman sent to slay her had recoiledbefore her young beauty and innocence, willingly drank the draughtof opium four times administered before the fatal result could beproduced. [572]

The Maharana of Udaipur is entitled to a salute of nineteenguns. The Udaipur State has an area of nearly 13, 000 square milesand a population of about a million persons. Besides Udaipur threeminor states, Partabgarh, Dungarpur and Banswara, are held by membersof the Sesodia clan. In the Central Provinces the Sesodias numberednearly 2000 persons in 1911, being mainly found in the districts ofthe Nerbudda Division. 

Rajput, Solankhi

_Rajput, Solankhi, Solanki, Chalukya. _--This clan was one of theAgnikula or fire-born, and are hence considered to have probably beenGurjaras or Gujars. Their original name is said to have been Chaluka, because they were formed in the palm (_chalu_) of the hand. Theywere not much known in Rajputana, but were very prominent in theDeccan. Here they were generally called Chalukya, though in northernIndia the name Solankhi is more common. As early as A. D. 350 PulakesinI. Made himself master of the town of Vatapi, the modern Badami In theBijapur District, and founded a dynasty, which developed into the mostpowerful kingdom south of the Nerbudda, and lasted for two centuries, when it was overthrown by the Rashtrakutas [573]. Pulakesin II. Ofthis Chalukya dynasty successfully resisted an inroad of the greatemperor Harsha Vardhana of Kanauj, who aspired to the conquest of thewhole of India. The Rashtrakuta kings governed for two centuries, and in A. D. 973 Taila or Tailapa II. , a scion of the old Chalukyastock, 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 centuriesand a quarter, up to about A. D. 1190. In the tenth century apparentlyanother branch of the clan migrated from Rajputana into Gujarat andestablished a new dynasty there, owing to which Gujarat, which hadformerly been known as Lata, obtained its present name [574]. Theprincipal king of this line was Sidh Raj Solankhi, who is well knownto tradition. From these Chalukya or Solankhi rulers the Baghel clanarose, which afterwards migrated to Rewah. The Solankhis are foundin the United Provinces, and a small number are returned from theCentral Provinces, belonging mainly to Hoshangabad and Nimar. 

Rajput, Somvansi

_Rajput, Somvansi, Chandravansi. _--These two are returned as separatesepts, though both names mean 'Descendants of the moon. ' Colonel Todconsiders Surajvansi and Somvansi, or the descendants of the sun andmoon as the first two of the thirty-six royal clans, from which allthe others were evolved. But he gives no account of them, nor does itappear that they were regularly recognised clans in Rajputana. It isprobable that both Somvansi and Chandravansi, as well as Surajvansi andperhaps Nagvansi (Descendants of the snake) have served as convenientdesignations for Rajputs of illegitimate birth, or for landholdingsections of the cultivating castes and indigenous tribes when theyaspired to become Rajputs. Thus the Surajvansis, and Somvansis ofdifferent parts of the country might be quite different sets ofpeople. There seems some reason for supposing that the Somvansis ofthe United Provinces as described by Mr. Crooke are derived from theBhar tribe; [575] in the Central Provinces a number of Somvansisand Chandravansis are returned from the Feudatory States, and areprobably landholders who originally belonged to one of the foresttribes residing in them. I have heard the name Somvansi appliedto a boy who belonged to the Baghel clan of Rajputs, but he was ofinferior 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) isrecorded as the first of the thirty-six royal clans, but Colonel Todgives no account of it, and it does not seem to be known to historyas a separate clan. Mr. Crooke mentions an early tradition that theSurajvansis migrated from Ajodhia to Gujarat in A. D. 224, but thisis scarcely likely to be authentic in view, of the late dates nowassigned for the origin of the important Rajput clans. Surajvansishould properly be a generic term denoting any Rajput belonging to aclan of the solar race, and it seems likely that it may at differenttimes have been adopted by Rajputs who were no longer recognised intheir own clan, or by families of the cultivating castes or indigenoustribes who aspired to become Rajputs. Thus Mr. Crooke notes that alarge section of the Soiris (Savaras or Saonrs) have entirely abandonedtheir own tribal name and call themselves Surajvansi Rajputs; [576]and the same thing has probably happened in other cases. In the CentralProvinces the Surajvansis belong mainly to Hoshangabad, and here theyform a separate caste, marrying among themselves and not with otherRajput 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, supposedby Colonel Tod to be derived from the Yadavas or lunar race. Thename is said to come from _tomar_ a club. [577] The Tomara clan wasconsidered to be a very ancient one, and the great king Vikramaditya, whose reign was the Hindu Golden Age, was held to have been sprungfrom it. These traditions are, however, now discredited, as well asthat of Delhi having been built by a Tomara king, Anang Pal I. , inA. 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. In1052 he removed the celebrated iron pillar, on which the eulogy ofChandragupta Vikramaditya is incised, from its original position, probably at Mathura, and set it up in Delhi as an adjunct to a groupof temples from which the Muhammadans afterwards constructed thegreat mosque. [578] This act apparently led to the tradition thatVikramaditya had been a Tomara, and also to a much longer historicalantiquity being ascribed to the clan than it really possessed. TheTomara rule at Delhi only lasted about 150 years, and in the middleof the twelfth century the town was taken by Bisal Deo, the Chauhanchieftain of Ajmer, whose successor, Prithwi Raj, reigned at Delhi, butwas defeated and killed by the Muhammadans in A. D. 1192. Subsequently, perhaps in the reign of Ala-ud-Din Khilji, a Tomara dynasty establisheditself at Gwalior, and one of their kings, Dungara Singh (1425-1454), had executed the celebrated rock-sculptures of Gwalior. [579] In 1518Gwalior was taken by the Muhammadans, and the last Tomara king reducedto the status of an ordinary jagirdar. The Tomara clan is numerous inthe Punjab country near Delhi, where it still possesses high rank, but in the United Provinces it is not so much esteemed. [580] Noruling chief now belongs to this clan. In the Central Provinces theTomaras or Tunwars belong principally to the Hoshangabad District Thezamindars of Bilaspur, who were originally of the Tawar subcaste ofthe Kawar tribe, now also claim to be Tomara Rajputs on the strengthof the similarity of the name. 

Rajput; Yadu

_Rajput; Yadu, Yadava, Yadu-Bhatti, Jadon. _ [581]--The Yadus are awell-known historical clan. Colonel Tod says that the Yadu was themost illustrious of all the tribes of Ind, and became the patronymicof 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 heldto have been a prince of this tribe and founded Dwarka in Gujaratwith them, in which locality he is afterwards supposed to have beenkilled. Colonel Tod states that the Yadu after the death of Krishna, and their expulsion from Dwarka and Delhi, the last stronghold oftheir power, retired by Multan across the Indus, founded Ghazni inAfghanistan, and peopled these countries even to Samarcand. Againdriven back on the Indus they obtained possession of the Punjab andfounded Salbhanpur. Thence expelled they retired across the Sutlejand Gara into the Indian deserts, where they founded Tannote, Derawaland Jaisalmer, the last in A. D. 1157. It has been suggested in themain article on Rajput that the Yadus might have been the Sakas, whoinvaded India in the second century A. D. This is only a speculation. Ata later date a Yadava kingdom existed in the Deccan, with its capitalat Deogiri or Daulatabad and its territory lying between that place andNasik. [582] Mr. Smith states that these Yadava kings were descendantsof feudatory nobles of the Chalukya kingdom, which embraced parts ofwestern India and also Gujarat. The Yadu clan can scarcely, however, be a more recent one than the Chalukya, as in that case it would notprobably have been credited with having had Krishna as its member. TheYadava dynasty only lasted from A. D. 1150 to 1318, when the last princeof the line, Harapala, stirred up a revolt against the Muhammadans towhom the king, his father-in-law, had submitted, and being defeated, was flayed alive and decapitated. It is noticeable that the Yadu-BhattiRajputs of Jaisalmer claim descent from Salivahana, who founded theSaka era in A. D. 78, and it is believed that this era belonged to theSaka dynasty of Gujarat, where, according to the tradition given above, the Yadus also settled. This point is not important, but so far asit goes would favour the identification of the Sakas with the Yadavas. 

The Bhatti branch of the Yadus claim descent from Bhati, the grandsonof Salivahana. They have no legend of having come from Gujarat, butthey had the title of Rawal, which is used in Gujarat, and also by theSesodia clan who came from there. The Bhattis are said to have arrivedin Jaisalmer about the middle of the eighth century, Jaisalmer citybeing founded much later in A. D. 1183. Jaisalmer State, the thirdin Rajputana, has an area of 16, 000 square miles, most of which isdesert, and a population of about 100, 000 persons. The chief has thetitle of Maharawal and receives a salute of fifteen guns. The JarejaRajputs of Sind and Cutch are another branch of the Yadus who havelargely intermarried with Muhammadans. They now claim descent fromJamshid, the Persian hero, and on this account, Colonel Tod states, the title of their rulers is Jam. They were formerly much addictedto female infanticide. The name Yadu has in other parts of Indiabeen corrupted into Jadon, and the class of Jadon Rajputs is fairlynumerous in the United Provinces, and in some places is said to havebecome a caste, its members marrying among themselves. This is alsothe case in the Central Provinces, where they are known as Jadum, and have been treated under that name in a separate article. Thesmall 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, 000Rajwars were returned in the Central Provinces, of whom 22, 000 belongto the Sarguja State recently transferred from Bengal. Another 2000persons are shown in Bilaspur, but these are Mowars, an offshootof the Rajwars, who have taken to the profession of gardening andhave changed their name. They probably rank a little higher thanthe bulk of the Rajwars. "Traditionally, " Colonel Dalton states, "the Rajwars appear to connect themselves with the Bhuiyas; but thisis only in Bihar. The Rajwars in Sarguja and the adjoining Statesare peaceably disposed cultivators, who declare themselves to befallen Kshatriyas; they do not, however, conform to Hindu customs, and they are skilled in a dance called Chailo, which I believe to beof Dravidian origin. The Rajwars of Bengal admit that they are thedescendants of mixed unions between Kurmis and Kols. They are lookedupon as very impure by the Hindus, who will not take water from theirhands. " The Rajwars of Bihar told Buchanan that their ancestor wasa certain Rishi, who had two sons. From the elder were descendedthe Rajwars, who became soldiers and obtained their noble title;and from the younger the Musahars, who were so called from theirpractice of eating rats, which the Rajwars rejected. The Musahars, as shown by Sir H. Risley, are probably Bhuiyas degraded to servitudein Hindu villages, and this story confirms the Bhuiya origin of theRajwars. In the Central Provinces the Bhuiyas have a subcaste calledRajwar, which further supports this hypothesis, and in the absence ofevidence to the contrary it is reasonable to suppose that the Rajwarsare an offshoot of the Bhuiyas, as they themselves say, in Bihar. Thesubstitution of Kols for Bhuiyas in Bengal need not cause much concernin view of the great admixture of blood and confused nomenclatureof all the Chota Nagpur tribes. In Bengal, where the Bhuiyas havesettled in Hindu villages, and according to the usual lot of theforest tribes who entered the Hindu system have been degraded intothe servile and impure caste of Musahars, the Rajwars have sharedtheir fate, and are also looked upon as impure. But in Chota Nagpurthe Bhuiyas have their own villages and live apart from the Hindus, and here the Rajwars, like the landholding branches of other foresttribes, claim to be an inferior class of Rajputs. 

In Sarguja the caste have largely adopted Hindu customs. They abstainfrom liquor, employ low-class Brahmans as priests, and worship theHindu deities. When a man wishes to arrange a match for his son hetakes a basket of wheat-cakes and proceeding to the house of the girl'sfather sets them down outside. If the match is acceptable the girl'smother comes and takes the cakes into the house and the betrothalis then considered to be ratified. At the wedding the bridegroomsmears vermilion seven times on the parting of the bride's hair, and the bride's younger sister then wipes a little of it off withthe end of the cloth. For this service she is paid a rupee by thebridegroom. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. Afterthe birth of a child the mother is given neither food nor water fortwo whole days; on the third day she gets only boiled water to drinkand on the fourth day receives some food. The period of impurityafter a birth extends to twelve days. When the navel-string dropsit is carefully put away until the next Dasahra, together with thechild's hair, which is cut on the sixth day. On the Dasahra festivalall the women of the village take them to a tank, where a lotus plantis worshipped and anointed with oil and vermilion, and the hair andnavel-string are then buried at its roots. The dead are burned, and themore pious keep the bones with a view to carrying them to the Gangesor some other sacred river. Pending this, the bones are deposited inthe cow-house, and a lamp is kept burning in it every night so longas they are there. The Rajwars believe that every man has a soul orPran, and they think that the soul leaves the body, not only at death, but whenever he is asleep or becomes unconscious owing to injury orillness. Dreams are the adventures of the soul while wandering overthe world apart from the body. They think it very unlucky for a manto 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 whichabout 150 persons were returned from the Central Provinces and Berarin 1911. They belong to the western tract of the Satpuras adjoiningKhandesh. The name is supposed to be a corruption of Ramvansi, meaning'The descendants of Rama. ' They say [584] that when Rama, the hero ofthe 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 friendswith a rough but kindly forest tribe. After Rama's restoration Bharattook two foresters with him to Ajodhia (Oudh) and brought them to thenotice of Rama, who appointed them village watchmen and allowed themto take his name. If this is the correct derivation it may be comparedwith the name of Rawanvansi or Children of Rawan, the opponent of Rama, which is applied to the Gonds of the Central Provinces. The Ramosisappear to be a Hinduised caste derived from the Bhils or Kolis or amixture of the two tribes. They were formerly a well-known class ofrobbers and dacoits. The principal scenes of their depredations werethe western Ghats, and an interesting description of their methodsis 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 threematchlocks, or more should they judge it necessary. Several alsocarried their shields and a few had merely sticks, which were ingeneral shod with small bars of iron from eight to twelve inches inlength, strongly secured by means of rings and somewhat resemblingthe ancient mace. One of the party carried a small copper or earthenpot or a cocoanut-shell with a supply of _ghi_ or clarified butterin it, to moisten their torches with before they commenced theiroperations. The Ramosis endeavoured as much as possible to avoid beingseen by anybody either when they were proceeding to the object oftheir attack or returning afterwards to their houses. They thereforetravelled during the night-time; and before daylight in the morningthey concealed themselves in a jungle or ravine near some water, and slept all day, proceeding in this way for a long distance tillthey reached the vicinity of the village to be attacked. When theywere pursued and much pressed, at times they would throw themselvesinto a bush or under a prickly pear plant, coiling themselves upso carefully that the chances were their pursuers would pass themunnoticed. If they intended to attack a treasure party they wouldwait at some convenient spot on the road and sally out when itcame abreast of them, first girding up their loins and twistinga cloth tightly round their faces, to prevent the features frombeing recognised. Before entering the village where their dacoity or_durrowa_ was to be perpetrated, torches were made from the turban ofone of the party, which was torn into three, five or seven pieces, but never into more, the pieces being then soaked with butter. Thesame man always supplied the turban and received in exchange the bestone taken in the robbery. Those who were unarmed collected bags ofstones, and these were thrown at any people who tried to interferewith them during the dacoity. They carried firearms, but avoidedusing them if possible, as their discharge might summon defendersfrom a distance. They seldom killed or mutilated their victims, except in a fight, but occasionally travellers were killed afterbeing robbed as a measure of precaution. They retreated with theirspoils as rapidly as possible to the nearest forest or hill, and fromthere, after distributing the booty into bags to make it portable, they marched off in a different direction from that in which theyhad come. Before reaching their homes one of the party was deputedwith an offering of one, two or five rupees to be presented as anoffering to their god Khandoba or the goddess Bhawani in fulfilment ofa vow. All the spoil was then deposited before their Naik or headman, who divided it into equal shares for members of the gang, keeping adouble share for himself. 

3. Ramosis employed as village watchmen

In order to protect themselves from the depredations of these gangsthe villagers adopted a system of hiring a Ramosi as a surety tobe responsible for their property, and this man gradually became aRakhwaldar or village watchman. He received a grant of land rent-freeand other perquisites, and also a fee from all travellers and gangs oftraders who halted in the village in return for his protection duringthe night. If a theft or house-breaking occurred in a village, theRamosi was held responsible to the owner for the value of the property, unless a large gang had been engaged. If he failed to discover thethief he engaged to make the lost property good to the owner withinfifteen days or a month unless its value was considerable. If a ganghad been engaged, the Ramosi, accompanied by the patel and othervillage officials and cultivators, proceeded to track them by theirfootprints. Obtaining a stick he cut it to the exact length of thefootprint, or several such if a number of prints could be discovered, and followed the tracks, measuring the footprints, to the boundaryof the village. The inhabitants of the adjoining village were thencalled and were responsible for carrying on the trail through theirvillage. The measures of footprints were handed over to them, and aftersatisfying themselves that the marks came from outside and extendedinto their land they took up the trail accompanied by the Ramosi. Inthis way the gang was tracked from village to village, and if it wasrun to earth the residents of the villages to which it belonged had tomake good the loss. If the tracks were lost owing to the robbers havingwaded 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 failedwere considered responsible for the stolen property. Usually, however, a compromise was made, and they paid half, while the other half wasraised from the village in which the theft occurred. If the Ramosifailed to track the thieves out of the village he had to make goodthe value of the theft, but he was usually assisted by the villageofficer. Often, too, the owner had to be contented with half or aquarter of the amount lost as compensation. In the early part of thecentury the Ramosis of Poona became very troublesome and constantlycommitted robberies in the houses of Europeans. As a consequence acustom grew up of employing a Ramosi as chaukidar or watchman forguarding the bungalow at night on a salary of seven rupees a month, and soon became general. It was the business of the Ramosi watchman toprevent other Ramosis from robbing the house. Apparently this was thecommon motive for the custom, prevalent up to recent years, of payinga man solely for the purpose of watching the house at night, and itoriginated, as in Poona, as a form of insurance and an applicationof the proverb of setting a thief to catch a thief. The selection ofvillage watchmen from among the low, criminal castes appears to havebeen made on the same principle. 

4. Social customs

The principal deity of the Ramosis is Khandoba, the Maratha god ofwar. [586] He is the deified sword, the name being _khanda-aba_or sword-father. An oath taken on the Bhandar or little bag ofturmeric dedicated to Khandoba is held by them most sacred and noRamosi will break this oath. Every Ramosi has a family god known asDevak, and persons having the same Devak cannot intermarry. The Devakis usually a tree or a bunch of the leaves of several trees. No onemay eat the fruit of or otherwise use the tree which is his Devak. Attheir weddings the branches of several trees are consecrated as Devaksor guardians of the wedding. A Gurao cuts the leafy branches of themango, _umar_, [587] _jamun_ [588] and of the _rui_ [589] and _shami_[590] shrubs and a few stalks of grass and sets them in Hanuman'stemple. From here the bridegroom's parents, after worshipping Hanumanwith a betel-leaf and five areca-nuts, take them home and fastenthem to the front post of the marriage-shed. When the bridegroom istaken before the family gods of the bride, he steals one of them intoken of his profession, but afterwards restores it in return for apayment of money. In social position the Ramosis rank a little abovethe Mahars and Mangs, not being impure. They speak Marathi but havealso a separate thieves' jargon of their own, of which a vocabularyis given in the account of Captain Mackintosh. When a Ramosi childis seven or eight years old he must steal something. If he is caughtand goes to prison the people are delighted, fall at his feet when hecomes 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 notoriouscriminal tribes they may probably have taken to more honest pursuits. 

Rangrez

_Rangrez. _--The Muhammadan caste of dyers. The caste is foundgenerally in the northern Districts, and in 1901 its members wereincluded with the Chhipas, from whom, however, they should bedistinguished as having a different religion and also because theypractise a separate branch of the dyeing industry. The strength ofthe caste in the Central Provinces does not exceed a few hundredpersons. 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 neitherintermarry with nor even take food from members of the Rangrezcommunity. In Sohagpur town of Hoshangabad this is divided into twobranches, the Kheralawalas or immigrants from Kherala in Malwa and thelocal Rangrezes. These two groups will take food together but willnot intermarry. Kheralawala women commonly wear a skirt like Hinduwomen and not Muhammadan pyjamas. In Jubbulpore the Rangrez communityemploy Brahmans to conduct their marriage and other ceremonies. Longassociation with Hindus has as usual caused the Rangrez to conform totheir religious practices and the caste might almost be describedas a Hindu community with Muhammadan customs. The bulk of themno doubt were originally converted Hindus, but as their ancestorsprobably immigrated from northern India their present leaning tothat religion would perhaps be not so much an obstinate retentionof pre-Islamic ritual as a subsequent lapse following on anotherchange of environment. In northern India Mr. Crooke records themas being governed mainly by Muhammadan rules. There [592] they holdthemselves 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. Griersonstates [593] the word Rangrez is often confounded with 'Angrezi'or 'English'; and the English are sometimes nicknamed facetiouslyRangrez or 'dyers, ' The saying, 'Were I a dyer I would dye my ownbeard first, ' in reference to the Muhammadan custom of dyeing thebeard, has the meaning of 'Charity begins at home, ' [594]

The art of the Rangrez differs considerably from that of theChhipa or Rangari, the Hindu dyer, and he produces a much greatervariety of colours. His principal agents were formerly the safflower(_Carthamus tinctorius_), turmeric and myrobalans. The fact that thebrilliant red dye of safflower was as a rule only used by Muhammadandyers, gives some ground for the supposition that it may have beenintroduced by them to India. This would account for the existenceof a separate caste of Muhammadan dyers, and in support of it maybe adduced the fact that the variety of colours is much greater inthe dress of the residents of northern India and Rajputana than inthose of the Maratha Districts. The former patronise many differentshades, more especially for head-cloths, while the latter as a ruledo not travel beyond red, black or blue. The Rangrez obtains his redshades from safflower, yellow from _haldi_ or turmeric, green froma mixture of indigo and turmeric, purple from indigo and safflower, _khaki_ or dust-colour from myrobalans and iron filings, orange fromturmeric and safflower, and _badami_ or almond-colour from turmericand two wild plants _kachora_ and _nagarmothi_, the former of whichgives a scent. Cloths dyed in the _badami_ shades are affected, whenthey can afford it, by Gosains and other religious mendicants, whothus dwell literally in the odour of sanctity. Muhammadans generallypatronise the shades of green or purple, the latter being often usedas a lining for white coats. Fakirs or Muhammadan beggars wear lightgreen. Marwari Banias and others from Rajputana like the light yellow, pink or orange shades. A green or black head-cloth is with them asign of mourning. Cloths dyed in yellow or scarlet are bought byBrahmans and other castes of Hindus for their marriages. Blue is nota lucky colour among the Hindus and is considered as on a level withblack. It may be worn on ordinary occasions, but not at festivalsor at auspicious periods. Muhammadans rather affect black and do notconsider it an unlucky colour. I have seen a Rangrez dye a piece ofcloth in about twenty colours in the course of two or three hours, but several of these dyes are fugitive and will not stand washing. Thetrade of the Rangrez is being undermined by the competition of cheapchemical dyes imported from Germany and sold in the form of powders;the process of dyeing with these is absolutely simple and can becarried out by any one. They are far cheaper than safflower, and thisagent has consequently been almost driven from the market. People buya little dyeing powder from the bazar and dye their own cloths. Butmen will only wear cloths dyed in this manner, and known as _katchakapra_, on their heads and not on their bodies; women sometimes wearthem also on their bodies. The decay in the indigenous art of dyeingmust be a matter for regret. 

Rautia

1. Origin of the tribe

_Rautia. _ [595]--A cultivating caste of the Chota Nagpur plateau. In1911 about 12, 000 Rautias were enumerated in the Province, nearly allof whom belong to the Jashpur State with a few in Sarguja. These stateslie outside the scope of the Ethnographic Survey and hence no regularinquiry has been made on the Rautias. The following brief notice ismainly taken from the account of the caste in Sir H. Risley's _Tribesand Castes of Bengal_. He describes the caste as, "refined in featuresand complexion by a large infusion of Aryan blood. Their chief menhold estates on quit-rent from the Maharaja of Chota Nagpur, and thebulk of the remainder are tenants with occupancy right and often payingonly a low quit-rent or half the normal assessment. " These favourabletenures may probably be explained by the fact that they were heldin former times on condition of military service, and were analogousto the feudal fiefs of Europe. The Rautias themselves say that thiswas their original occupation in Chota Nagpur. The name Rautia isa form of Rawat, and this latter word signifies a prince and is atitle borne by relatives of a Raja. It may be noticed that Rawat isthe 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 ChhattisgarhiRawat. This fact, coupled with the identity of the name, appearsto demonstrate a relationship of the two castes. The Rautias willnot take food from any other Hindu caste, but they will eat withthe Kawar and Gond tribes, at least in Raigarh. The Kawars have asubtribe called Rautia as also have the Kols. In Sir H. Risley's listof the sept-names of the Rautias [596] we find two names, Aind theeel, 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. Theyhave also a name Sanwani, which is probably Sonwani or 'gold-water, 'and is common to many of the primitive tribes. The most plausiblehypothesis of the origin of the Rautias on the above facts seemsto be that they were a tribal militia in Chota Nagpur, the leadersbeing Ahirs or Rawats with possibly a sprinkling of the local Rajputs, while the main body were recruited from the Kawar and Kol tribes. TheKhandaits or swordsmen of Orissa furnish an exact parallel to theRautias, being a tribal militia, who have now become a caste, and areconstituted mainly from the Bhuiya tribe with a proportion of Chasasor cultivators and Rajputs. They also have obtained possession ofthe land, and in Orissa the Sresta or good Khandaits rank next tothe Rajputs. The history and position of the Rautias appears to besimilar to that of the Khandaits. The Halbas of Bastar are probablyanother nearly analogous instance. They were Gonds, who apparentlyformed the tribal militia of the Rajas of Bastar and got grants ofland and consequently a certain rise in status though not to the samelevel as the Khandaits and Rautias. It does not seem that the Rautiashave any special connection with the Gonds, and their acceptance offood from Gonds may perhaps, as suggested by Mr. Hira Lal, be due tothe fact that they served a Gond Raja. 

2. Subdivisions

The Rautias had formerly three subdivisions, the Barki, Majhli andChhotki Bhir or Gorhi, or the high, middle and low class Rautias. Butit is related that the Barki group found that they could not obtaingirls in marriage for their sons, so they extended the privilegesof the _connubium_ to the Majhli group after taking a castefeast. Possibly the Barki Rautias formerly practised hypergamy withthe Majhli, taking daughters in marriage but not giving daughters, andin course of time this has led to the obliteration of the distinctionbetween them. The different status of the three groups was based ontheir purity of descent. The Majhli and Chhotki were the descendantsof Rautia fathers and mothers of other castes; the offspring going tothe Majhli group if the mother was a Gond or Kawar or of respectablecaste, while the children of impure Ganda and Ghasia women by Rautiafathers were admitted into the Chhotki group. These divisions confirmthe hypothesis previously given of the genesis of the Rautia caste;and it is further worth noting that the Khandaits have also Bar andChhot Gohir divisions or those of pure and mixed blood, and the Halbasof Bastar are similarly divided into the Purait or pure Halbas, and the Surait or descendants of Halba fathers by women of othercastes. In a military society, where the men were frequently on themove or stationed in outlying forts and posts, temporary unions andillegitimate children would naturally be of common occurrence. Andthe mixed nature of the three castes affords some support to thehypothesis of their common origin from military service. 

The tribe have totemistic septs, and retain some veneration for theirtotems. Those of the Bagh or tiger sept throw away their earthen potson hearing of the death of a tiger. Those of the Sand or bull septwill not castrate bullocks themselves, and must have this operationperformed on their plough-bullocks by others. Those of the Kansi septformerly, according to their own account, would not root up the _kans_grass [597] growing in their fields, but now they no longer object todo 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 thechildren of a brother and a sister or of two sisters. Matches arearranged at the caste feasts and the usual bride-price is four rupeeswith six or seven pieces of cloth and some grain. When the processionarrives at the bride's village her party go out to meet it, and theGandas or musicians on each side try to break each other's drums, but are stopped by their employers. At the wedding two wooden imagesof the bridegroom and bride are made and placed in the centre of themarriage-shed. A goat is led round these and killed, and the brideand bridegroom walk round them seven times. They rub vermilion on thewooden images and then on each other's foreheads. It is probable thatthe wooden images are made and set up in the centre of the shed toattract the evil eye and divert it from the real bride and bridegroom, and the goat may be a substituted sacrifice on their behalf. Divorceand the remarriage of widows are permitted. 

4. Funeral rites

In the forest tracts the tribe bury the dead, placing the corpse withthe feet to the south. Before being placed in the grave the corpseis rubbed with oil and turmeric and carried seven times round thegrave according to the ritual of a wedding. This is called the _Chhedvivah_ or marriage to the grave. The Kabirpanthi Rautias are placedstanding in the grave with the face turned to the north. Well-to-domembers of the caste burn their dead and employ Brahmans to performthe _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 thefather's property, subject to the obligation of making grants for themaintenance of his younger brothers. These grants decrease accordingto the standing of the brothers, the elder ones getting more and theyounger less. Sons of a wife married by the ceremony used for widowsreceive smaller grants. But the widow of an elder brother counts asthe regular wife of a younger brother and her sons have full rights ofsuccession. In the Central Provinces the eldest son does not succeedto the whole property but obtains a share half as large again as theother sons. And if the father divides the property in his lifetime andparticipates 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 communityof criminals in Bundelkhand. They claim to be derived from theSanadhya Brahmans, and it seems possible that this may in fact havebeen their origin; but at present they are a confraternity recruitedby the initiation of promising boys from all castes except sweepersand Chamars; [600] and a census taken of them in northern India in1872 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 casteor intermarry, members of each caste continuing their relations withtheir own community. Their regular method of stealing is through theagency of a boy, and no doubt they pick up a likely urchin wheneverthey get the chance, as only selected boys would be clever enoughfor the work. Their trade is said to possess much fascination, andMr. Crooke quotes a saying, 'Once a Sanaurhia always a Sanaurhia';so that unless the increased efficiency of the police has caused thedangers of their calling to outweigh its pleasures they should haveno difficulty in obtaining recruits. 

2. Traditions of origin

Mr. Seagrim [601] states that their home is in the Datia State ofBundelkhand, and some of them live in the adjoining Alamgarh tract ofIndore State. Formerly they also resided in the Orchha and ChanderiStates of Bundelkhand, having six or eight villages in each state[602] in their sole occupation, with colonies in other villages. In1857 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 asumpire in the division of the spoils. The office of Mukhia or leaderwas hereditary in the caste, and in default of male issue descended tofemales. If among the booty there happened to be any object of peculiarelegance or value, it was ceremoniously presented to the chief of thestate. They say that their ancestors were two Sanadhya Brahmans of thevillage of Ramra in Datia State. They were both highly accomplishedmen, and one had the gift of prophecy, while the other could understandthe language of birds. One day they met at a river a rich merchant andhis wife, who were on a pilgrimage to Jagannath. As they were drinkingwater a crow sitting on a tree commenced cawing, and the Sanadhyaheard him say that whoever got hold of the merchant's walking-stickwould be rich. The two Brahmans then accompanied the merchant untilthey obtained an opportunity of making off with his stick; and theyfound it to be full of gold mohurs, the traveller having adopted thisdevice as a precaution against being robbed. The Brahmans were sopleased at their success that they took up stealing as a profession, and opened a school where they taught small boys of all castes theart of stealing property in the daytime. Prior to admission the boyswere made to swear by the moon that they would never commit theft atnight, and on this account they are known as Chandravedi or 'Thosewho observe the moon. ' In Bombay and Central India this name is morecommonly used than Sanaurhia. Another name for them is Uthaigira or'A picker-up of that which has fallen, ' corresponding to the nicknameof Uchla or 'Lifter' applied to the Bhamtas. Mr. Seagrim described themas going about in small gangs of ten to twenty persons without women, under a leader who has the title of Mukhia or Nalband. The othermen are called Upardar, and each of these has with him one or twoboys of between eight and twelve years old, who are known as _Chauwa_(chicks) and do the actual stealing. The Nalband or leader trains theseboys to their work, and also teaches them a code vocabulary (_Parsi_)and a set of signals (_teni_) by which the Upardar can convey to themhis instructions while business is proceeding. The whole gang set outat the end of the rains and, arriving at some distant place, break upinto small parties; the Nalband remains at a temporary headquarters, where he receives and disposes of the spoil, and arranges for thedefence of any member of the gang who is arrested, and for the supportof his wife and children if he is condemned to imprisonment. 

3. Methods of stealing

The methods of the Sanaurhias as described by Mr. Seagrim showconsiderable ingenuity. When they desire to steal something from astall in a crowded market two of the gang pretend to have a violentquarrel, 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 quicklyabstract the article agreed upon and make off. Or if there areseveral purchasers at a shop, the man will wait until one of themlays down his bundle while he makes payment, and then pushing upagainst him signal to the _Chauwa_, who snatches up the bundle andbolts. If he is caught, the Sanaurhia will come up as an innocentmember 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 threeor four Sanaurhias will proceed to some place of resort for pilgrimsto bathe, and two or three of them entering the water will divertthe attention of the bather by pointing out some strange objector starting a discussion. In the meantime the _Chauwas_ or chicks, under the direction of another on the bank, will steal any valuablearticle left by the bather. The attention of any one left on shore towatch the property is diverted by a similar device. If they see a manwith expensive clothes the _Chauwa_ will accidentally brush againsthim and smear him with dirt or something that causes pollution;the victim will proceed to bathe, and one of the usual stratagemsis adopted. Or the Sanaurhia will engage the man in conversation andthe _Chauwa_ will come running along and collide with them; on beingabused by the Sanaurhia for his clumsiness he asks to be pardoned, explaining that he is only a poor sweeper and meant no harm; and onhearing 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 commandof a treasure escort just arrived from Narsinghpur stating thatthe old Subahdar of his company had that morning been robbed of hisgold necklace valued at Rs. 150, and requesting that I would assisthim in recovering it. The old Subahdar brought the note, and statedthat he had undressed at the brook near the cantonments, and placedthe necklace with his clothes, about twenty yards from the placewhere he bathed; that on returning to his clothes he could not findthe necklace, and the only person he saw near the place was a younglad who was sauntering in the mango grove close by. This lad he hadtaken and brought with him, and I found after a few questions that hebelonged to the Sanaurhia Brahmans of Bundelkhand. As the old Subahdarhad 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 tocamp and question him in his own way. The boy, as I expected, becamealarmed, and told me that if I would not send him back with the angryold Subahdar he would do anything I pleased. I bade him tell me howhe had managed to secure the necklace; and he told me that while theSubahdar turned his back upon his clothes in prayer, he had taken itup and made it over to one of the men of his party; and that it musthave been taken to their bivouac, which was in a grove about threemiles from the cantonments. I sent off a few policemen, who securedthe whole party, but could not find anything upon them. Seeing somesigns of a hole having been freshly made under one of the trees theydug up the fresh earth and discovered the necklace, which the old manwas delighted to recover so easily. " Another device which they haveis to beat the _Chauwa_ severely in the sight of a rich stranger. Theboy runs crying and clings to the stranger asking him for help, andin the meantime picks his pocket. When the Sanaurhias are convictedin Native States and put into jail they refuse to eat, pleading thatthey are poor Brahmans, and pretend to starve themselves to death, and thus often get out of jail. In reply to a letter inquiring aboutthese people from the Superintendent of Chanderi about 1851, the Rajaof Banpur wrote:

"I have to state that from former times these people followingtheir profession have resided in my territory and in the states ofother native princes; and they have always followed this calling, but no former kings or princes or authority have ever forbidden thepractice. In consequence of these people stealing by day only, and thatthey do not take life or distress any person by personal ill-usage, and that they do not break into houses by digging walls or breakingdoor-locks, but simply by their smartness manage to abstract property;owing to such trifling thefts I looked upon their proceedings as apetty matter and have not interfered with them. " [605] This recallsanother 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 northernIndia, who live by begging and dealing in cattle. They also steal andcommit dacoities, house-breaking and thefts on railway trains. Thename Sansia is borne as well by the Uriya or Od masons of the Uriyacountry, but these are believed to be quite a distinct group from thecriminal Sansias of Central India and are noticed in another shortarticle. Separate statistics of the two groups were not obtained atthe census. The Sansias are closely connected with the Berias, andsay that their ancestors were two brothers Sains Mul and Sansi, andthat the Berias are descended from the former and the Sansias from thelatter. They were the bards of the Jat caste, and it was their customto chronicle the names of the Jats and their ancestors, and when theybegged from Jat families to recite their praises. The Sansias, ColonelSleeman states, had particular families (of the Jats) allotted to them, from whom they had not only the privilege of begging, but receivedcertain dues; some had fifty, some a hundred houses appointed to them, and they received yearly from the head of each house one rupee and aquarter and one day's food. When the Jats celebrated their marriagesthey were accustomed to invite the Sansias, who as their minstrelsrecited the praises of the ancestors of the Jats, tracing them up tothe time of Punya Jat; and for this they received presents, accordingto the means of the parties, of cows, ponies or buffaloes. Shouldany Jat demur to paying the customary dues the Sansias would dressup a cloth figure of his father and parade with it before the house, when the sum demanded was generally given; for if the figure werefastened on a bamboo and placed over the house the family would losecaste and no one would smoke or drink water with them. [607]

The Sansias say that their ancestors have always resided in Marwarand Ajmer. About twenty-four miles distant from Ajmer are two towns, Pisangan and Sagun; on their eastern side is a large tank, and thebones of all persons of the Sansia tribe who died in any part of thecountry were formerly buried there, being covered by a wooden platformwith four pillars. [608] On one occasion a quarrel had arisen overa Sansia woman, and a large number of the caste were killed in thisplace. So they left Marwar, and some of them came to the Deccan, where they took to house-breaking and dacoity; and so successfulwere they that the other Sansias followed them and gave up all theirformer customs, even those of reciting the praises of and beggingfrom the Jats. 

2. Social customs

The Sansias are divided into two groups, Kalkar and Malha; andthese two are further subdivided into eight and twelve sectionsrespectively. No one belonging to the Kalkar group may marry anotherperson of that group, but he may marry anybody belonging to anysection of the Malha group. Thus the two groups being exogamous thesections do not serve any purpose, but it is possible that the rulesare really more complicated. In the Punjab their marriage ceremony ispeculiar, the bride being covered by a basket, on which the bridegroomsits while the nuptial rites are being performed. [609] According toColonel Sleeman, after the arrangement of a match the caste committeeassemble 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 someliquor is spilt on the ground in the name of Bhagwan or Vishnu, andan elder pronounces that the two have become man and wife; a feast isgiven to the caste, and the ceremony is concluded. After child-birtha woman cannot wash herself for five days, but on the sixth she maygo to a stream and wash. Even on ordinary occasions a woman mustnever 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 togrow it is all shaved except the scalp-lock, which is dedicated toBhagwan; and at ten or twelve years of age this lock is also shavedoff and a dinner is given to members of the caste. The last ceremonyis of the nature of a puberty-rite, and if children die prior to itsperformance their bodies are buried, whereas after it they have a rightto cremation. After a body has been burnt the bones are buried on thespot in an earthen vessel, over the mouth of which a large stone isplaced. Some pig's flesh is cooked and sweet cakes prepared, portionsof which are placed upon the stone; and the deceased is then calledupon, by reason of the usual ceremonies having been performed at hisdeath, to watch over his surviving relatives. If any Sansia happened tocommit a murder when engaged in a dacoity he was afterwards obliged tomake an offering for forgiveness, and to spend a rupee and a quarterin liquor for the caste-fellows. If a dacoit had himself been killedand his body abandoned, his clothes, with some new clothes, were putupon a sleeping-cot, and his companions of the same caste carried it toa 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] Aman 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 hiscaste and would not be admitted into it until he had paid a largesum. "If we quarrel with a woman, " said a Sansia, "and she strikesus with her petticoat we lose our caste; we should be allowed to eatand drink with our tribe, but not to perform worship with them nor toassist in burial rites. If a woman piles up a heap of stones and putsher 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 toit 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 werecarefully organised. Each band had a Jemadar or leader, while theothers were called Sipahis or soldiers. A tenth of all the booty takenwas given to the Jemadar in return for the provision of the spears, torches and other articles, and of the remainder the Jemadar receivedtwo shares and the Sipahis one each. But no novice was permittedto share in the booty or carry a spear until he had participated intwo or three successful dacoities; and inasmuch as outsiders, withthe exception of the impure Dhers and Mangs, were freely admittedto the Sansia community in return for a small money payment, somesuch apprenticeship as this was no doubt necessary. If a Sipahi waskilled in a dacoity his wife was entitled to a sum of Rs. 350 andhalf an ordinary share in future dacoities as long as she remainedwith the gang. The Sansias never pitched their camp in the vicinityof the place in which they contemplated an enterprise, but despatchedtheir scouts to it, themselves remaining some twenty miles distant. 

5. Description of a dacoity

The scouts, [611] having prospected the town and determined thehouse to be exploited, usually that of the leading banker, wouldthen proceed to it in the early morning before business began andask to purchase some ornaments or change some money; by this requestthey often induced the banker to bring out his cash chest from theplace of security where he was accustomed to deposit it at night, and learnt where it should be looked for. Having picked up as muchinformation as possible, the scouts would purchase some spear-heads, bury them in a neighbouring ravine, and rejoin the main body. The partywould arrive at the rendezvous in the evening, and having fitted theirspears to bamboo shafts, would enter the town carrying them concealedin 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 theoil to be poured on this had always to be purchased in the town orvillage where the dacoity was to take place, the use of any other oilbeing considered most unlucky. The vessel containing the oil was notallowed to touch the earth until its contents had been poured uponthe torch, when it was dashed upon the ground. From this time untilthe completion of the dacoity no one might spit or drink water orrelieve himself under penalty of putting a stop to the enterprise. TheJemadar invoked Khandoba, an incarnation of Mahadeo, and said that ifby his assistance the box of money was broken at the first or secondstroke of the axe, a chain of gold weighing one and a quarter tolaswould be made over to him. The party then approached the shop, theroads surrounding it being picketed to guard against a rescue, and theJemadar, accompanied by four or five men and the torch-bearer, rushedinto the shop crying Din, Din. The doors usually gave way under a fewheavy blows with the axe, which they wielded with great expertness, andthe scout pointed out the location of the money and valuables. Oncein possession of the property the torch was extinguished and thewhole party made off as rapidly as possible. During their retreatthey tried to avoid spearing people who pursued them, first callingout to them to go away. If any member of the party was killed or sodesperately wounded that he could not be removed, the others cut offhis head and carried it off so as to prevent recognition; a man whowas slightly wounded would be carried off by his companions, but ifthe pursuit became hot and he had to be left, they cut off his headalso and took it with them, escaping by this drastic method the riskof his turning approver with the consequent danger of conviction forthe rest of the gang. About a mile from the place of the dacoity theystopped and mustered their party, and the Jemadar called out to thegod Bhagwan to direct any pursuers in the wrong direction and enablethem to reach their families. If any dacoit had ever been killed atthis particular town they also called upon his spirit to assist them, promising to offer him a goat or some liquor; and so, throwing downa rupee or two at any temple or stream which they might pass on theirway, they came to their families. When about a mile away from the campthey called out 'Cuckoo' to ascertain if any misfortune had occurredduring their absence; if they thought all was well they went nearerand imitated the call of the partridge; and finally when close to theencampment made a hissing noise like a snake. On arrival at the campthey at once mounted their ponies and started off, marching fifty orsixty miles a day, for two or three days. 

6. Omens

The Sansias never committed a dacoity on moonlight nights, but had fiveappointed days during the dark half of the month, the seventh, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth and the night of the day on which the new moonwas first seen. If they did not meet with a favourable omen on anyof these nights, no dacoity was committed that month. The followingis a list of omens given by one of the caste: [614] "If we see a catwhen we are near the place where we intend to commit a dacoity, or wehear the relations of a dead person lamenting, or hear a person sneezewhile cooking his meal, or see a dog run away with a portion of anyperson's food, or a kite screams while sitting on a tree, or a womanbreaks the earthen vessel in which she may have been drawing water, we consider the omens unfavourable. If a person drops his turban orwe meet a corpse, or the Jemadar has forgotten to put some bread intohis waistbelt, or any dacoit forgets his axe or spear or sees a snakewhether dead or alive; these omens are also considered unfavourableand we do not commit the dacoity. Should we see a wolf and any oneof us have on a red turban, we take this and tear it into sevenpieces and hang each piece upon a separate tree. We then purchase arupee's worth of liquor and kill a goat, which is cut up into fourpieces. Four men pretend that they are wolves and rushing on the fourquarters of the meat seize them, imitating the howl of these animals, while the rest of the dacoits pelt them with the entrails; the meatis afterwards cooked and eaten in the name of Bhagwan. "

It would appear that the explanation of this curious ceremony mustbe that the Sansias thought the appearance of the wolf to be anomen that one of them would furnish a meal for him. The turbanis venerated on account of its close association with the head, asacred part of the body among Hindus, and in this case it probablyserved as a substituted offering for the head, while its red colourrepresented blood; and the mimic rite of the goat being devouredby men pretending to be wolves fulfilled the omen which portendedthat the wolves would be provided with a meal, and hence avertedthe necessity of one of the band being really devoured. In somewhatanalogous fashion the Gonds and Baigas placate or drive away a tigerwho has killed a man in order to prevent him from obtaining furthervictims. Some similar idea apparently underlay the omen of the dogrunning away with food. Perhaps the portent of hearing the kite screamon a tree also meant that he looked on them with a prescient eye asa future meal. On the other hand, meeting a corpse and seeing a snakeare commonly considered to be lucky omens, and their inclusion in thislist is curious. [615] The passage continues: "Among our favourableomens are meeting a woman selling milk; or a person carrying a basketof 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 bearercarrying fish or a pig or a blue-jay; if any of these occur near ourcamp on the day we contemplate a dacoity, we proceed forthwith tocommit it and consider that these signs assure us a good booty. Ifa Fakir begs from us while we are on our way to the place of dacoitywe cannot give him anything. " Another Sansia said: "We think it veryfavourable if, when on the way to commit a dacoity we hear or seethe jackal; it is as good as gold and silver to us; also if we hearthe 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 fromboth parties. Seven pipal [618] leaves are laid upon his hand andbound round with thread, and upon these a heated iron _tawa_ or plateis set; he is then ordered to walk seven paces and put the platedown upon seven thorns; should he be able to do so he is pronouncedinnocent, but if he is burnt by the plate and throws it down he isconsidered guilty. Another ordeal is by fixing arrows, two of whichare 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 thebank of the river. The arrow that flies the farthest is stuck uprightinto the ground; upon which a man carrying a long bamboo walks up tohis breast in the water and the suspected person is desired to joinhim. One of the _panchayat_ then claps his hands seven times and runsoff to pick up the arrow; at this instant the suspected person isobliged to put his head under water, and if he can hold his breathuntil the other returns to the bank with the arrow and has againclapped his hands seven times he is pronounced innocent. If he cannotdo so he is declared guilty and punished. A third form of ordeal wasas follows: The Jemadar and the gang assemble under a pipal tree, and after knocking off the neck of an earthen pitcher they killa goat and collect its blood in the pitcher, and put some glassbangles 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 cubitsin 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 fifteenor twenty rupees, but whoever has stolen more than that sum shallbe punished. ' The Jemadar dips his finger in the pitcher of blood, and afterwards touches the sugar and calls out loudly, 'If I haveembezzled any money may Bhagwan punish me'; and each dacoit in turnpronounces the same sentence. No one who is guilty will do this butat once makes his confession. The oath pronounced on 1 1/4 seers ofsugar tied up in 1 1/4 cubits of cloth was considered the most solemnand binding which a Sansia could take. 

8. Sansias at the present time

At present, Mr. Kennedy states, [620] the Sansias travel about in gangsof varying strength with their families, bullocks, sheep, goats anddogs. The last mentioned of these animals are usually small mongrelswith a terrier strain, mostly stolen or bred from types dishonestlyobtained during their peregrinations. Dacoity is still the crime whichthey most affect, and they also break into houses and steal cattle. Menusually have a necklace of red coral and gold beads round the neck, from which is suspended a square piece of silver or gold bearingan effigy of a man on horseback. This represents either the deityRamdeo Pir or one of the wearer's ancestors, and is venerated as acharm. They are very quarrelsome, and their drinking-bouts in campusually end in a free fight, in which they also beat their women, and the affray not infrequently results in the death of one of thecombatants. When this happens the slayer makes restitution to therelatives 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, wherethe 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 Uriyacountry. The Sansias are really a branch of the great migratory Ud orOdde caste of earth-workers, whose name has been corrupted into variousforms. [623] Thus in Chanda they are known as Wadewar or Waddar. Theterm Uria is here a corruption of Odde, and it is the one by whichthe caste prefer to be known, but they are generally called Sansiaby outsiders. The caste sometimes class the Sansias as a subcaste ofUrias, the others being Benatia Urias and Khandait Urias. Since theUriya tract has been transferred to Bengal, and subsequently to Biharand Orissa, there remain only about 1000 Sansias in the ChhattisgarhDistricts and States. Although it is possible that the name of thecaste may have been derived from some past connection, the Sansiasof the Uriya country have at present no affinities with the outcasteand criminal tribe of Sansis or Sansias of northern India. They enjoya fairly high position in Sarnbalpur, and Brahmans will take waterfrom them. 

They are divided into two subcastes, the Benetia and Khandait. TheBenetia are the higher and look down on the Khandaits, because, itis said, these latter have accepted service as foot-soldiers, andthis is considered a menial occupation. Perhaps in the householdsof the Uriya Rajas the tribal militia had also to perform personalservices, and this may have been considered derogatory. , In Orissa, on the other hand, the Khandaits have become landholders and occupy ahigh position next to Rajputs. The Benetia Sansias practise hypergamywith the Khandait Sansias, taking their daughters in marriage, butnot giving daughters to them. When a Benetia is marrying a Khandaitgirl his party will not take food with the bride's relatives, but onlypartake of some sugar and curds and depart with the bride. The Sansiashave totemistic exogamous septs, usually derived from the names ofsacred 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 twelveyears old a girl cannot go through the proper ceremony, but canonly be wedded by a simple rite used for widows, in which vermilionis rubbed on her forehead and some grains of rice stuck on it. Themarriage procession, as described by Mr. Rama Prasad Bohidar, isa gorgeous affair: "The drummers, all drunk, head the procession, beating their drums to the tune set by the piper. Next in order areplaced dancing-boys between two rows of lights carried on poles adornedwith festoons of paper flowers. Rockets and fireworks have theirproper share in the procession, and last of all comes the bridegroomin his wedding apparel, mounted on a horse. His person is studdedwith various kinds of gold necklaces borrowed for the occasion, and the fingers of his right hand are covered with rings. Banglesand chains of silver shine on his wrists and arms. His forehead isbeautifully painted with ground sandalwood divided in the centreby a streak of vermilion. His head carries a crown of palm-leavesoverlaid with bright paper of various colours. A network of _malti_flowers hangs loosely from the head over the back and covers a portionof the loins of the steed. The eyes are painted with collyrium andthe feet with red dye. The lips and teeth are also reddened by thebetel-leaf, which the bridegroom chews in profusion. A silk clothdoes the work of a belt, in which is fixed a dagger on the rightside. " Here the red colour which predominates in the bridegroom'sdecorations 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 thedagger. The ceremony is of the customary Uriya type. On the seventhday of the wedding the husband and wife go to the river and bathe, throwing away the sacred threads worn at the time of marriage, andalso those which have been tied round their wrists. On returninghome the wife piles up seven brass vessels and seven stools one abovethe other and the husband kicks them over, this being repeated seventimes. The husband then washes his teeth with water brought from theriver, breaks the vessel containing the water in the bride's house, and runs away, while the women of her family throw pailfuls of colouredwater over him. On the ninth day the bride comes and smears a mixtureof curds and sugar on the forehead of each member of the bridegroom'sfamily, probably as a sign of her admission to their clan, and returnshome. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. 

3. Religion and worship of ancestors

The caste worship Viswakarma, the celestial architect, and on fourprincipal festivals they revere their trade-implements and the bookon architecture, by which they work. At Dasahra a pumpkin is offeredto these articles in lieu of a goat. They observe the _shraddh_ceremony, and first make two offerings to the spirits of ancestorswho have died a violent death or have committed suicide, and tothose of relatives who died unmarried, for fear lest these uncleanand malignant spirits should seize and defile the offerings to thebeneficent ancestors. Thereafter _pindas_ or sacrificial cakes areoffered to three male and three female ancestors both on the father'sand mother's side, twelve cakes being offered in all. The Sansias eatthe flesh of clean animals, but the consumption of liquor is strictlyforbidden, 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 wanderfrom place to place for this purpose in large companies. It is relatedthat on one occasion they came to dig a tank in Drug, and the Rajaof that place, while watching their work, took a fancy to one of theOdnis, as their women were called, and wanted her to marry him. Butas she was already married, and was a virtuous woman, she refused. TheRaja persisted in his demand, on which the whole body of Sansias fromChhattisgarh, numbering, it is said, nine lakhs of persons, left theirwork and proceeded to Wararbandh, near Raj-Nandgaon. Here they dugthe great tank of Wararbandh [624] in one night to obtain a supply ofwater for themselves. But the Raja followed them, and as they couldnot resist him by force, the woman whom he was pursuing burnt herselfalive, and thus earned undying fame in the caste. This legend isperpetuated in the Odni Git, a popular folk-song in Chhattisgarh. Butit is a traditional story of the Sansias in connection with largetanks, 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 othervariations. In Bundelkhand the Savars, there called Saonrs, arefrequently known by the honorific title of Rawat). --A primitive tribenumbering about 70, 000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, and principally found in the Chhattisgarh Districts and those ofSaugor and Damoh. The eastern branch of the tribe belongs chieflyto the Uriya country. The Savars are found in large numbers in theMadras Districts of Ganjam and Vizagapatam and in Orissa. They alsolive in the Bundelkhand Districts of the United Provinces. The totalnumber of Savars enumerated in India in 1911 was 600, 000, of which theBundelkhand Districts contained about 100, 000 and the Uriya countrythe remainder. The two branches of the tribe are thus separated by awide expanse of territory. As regards this peculiarity of distributionGeneral Cunningham says: "Indeed there seems good reason to believethat the Savaras were formerly the dominant branch of the greatKolarian family, and that their power lasted down to a comparativelylate period, when they were pushed aside by other Kolarian tribesin the north and east, and by the Gonds in the south. In the SaugorDistrict I was informed that the Savaras had formerly fought with theGonds and that the latter had conquered them by treacherously makingthem drunk. " [627] Similarly Cunningham notices that the zamindar ofSuarmar in Raipur, which name is derived from Savar, is a Gond. Adifference of opinion has existed as to whether the Savars wereKolarian or Dravidian so far as their language was concerned, ColonelDalton adopting the latter view and other authorities the former andcorrect one. In the Central Provinces the Savars have lost their ownlanguage and speak the Aryan Hindi or Uriya vernacular current aroundthem. But in Madras they still retain their original speech, whichis classified by Sir G. Grierson as Mundari or Kolarian. He says:"The most southerly forms of Munda speech are those spoken by theSavars and Gadabas of the north-east of Madras. The former have beenidentified with the Suari of Pliny and the Sabarae of Ptolemy. Awild 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 tothe origin of the name Savar, General Cunningham says that it must besought for outside the language of the Aryans. "In Sanskrit _savara_simply means 'a corpse. ' From Herodotus, however, we learn thatthe Scythian word for an axe was _sagaris_, and as 'g' and 'v' areinterchangeable letters _savar_ is the same word as _sagar_. It seemstherefore not unreasonable to infer that the tribe who were so calledtook their name from their habit of carrying axes. Now it is one of thestriking peculiarities of the Savars that they are rarely seen withoutan axe in their hands. The peculiarity has been frequently noticedby 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, derivedfrom _sava_ a corpse, comes from the root _sav_ 'to cause to decay, 'and need not necessarily therefore be of non-Aryan origin, while onthe other hand no distinct inference can be drawn from the use of theaxe by the Savars, when it is equally used by various other Dravidianjungle tribes such as the Korwas, Bhuiyas and the like. " [630]In the classical stories of their origin the first ancestor of theSavars is sometimes described as a Bhil. The word Savar is mentionedin several Sanskrit works written between 800 B. C. And A. D. 1200, andit seems probable that they are a Munda tribe who occupied the tractsof country which they live in prior to the arrival of the Gonds. Theclassical name Savar has been corrupted into various forms. Thusin the Bundeli dialect '_ava_' changes into '_au_' and a nasal issometimes interpolated. _Savar_ has here become Saunr or Saonr. Theaddition of 'a' at the end of the word sometimes expresses contempt, and Savar becomes Savara as Chamar is corrupted into _Chamra_. In theUriya country 'v' is changed into 'b' and an aspirate is interpolated, and thus Savara became Sabra or Sahara, as Gaur has become Gahra. Theword Sahara, Mr. Crooke remarks, [631] has excited speculation asto its derivation from Arabic, in which Sahara means a wilderness;and the name of the Savars has accordingly been deduced from the samesource as the great Sahara desert. This is of course incorrect. 

2. Tribal legends

Various stories of the origin of the Savars are given in Sanskritliterature. In the Aitareya Brahmana they are spoken of as thedescendants of Vishwamitra, while in the Mahabharat they are saidto have been created by Kamdhenu, Vasishtha's wonder-working cow, inorder to repel the aggression of Vishwamitra. Local tradition tracestheir origin to the celebrated Seori of the Ramayana, who is supposedto have lived somewhere near the present Seorinarayan in the BilaspurDistrict and to have given her name to this place. Ramchandra in hiswanderings met her there, ate the plums which she had gathered forhim after tasting each one herself, and out of regard for her devotionpermitted her name to precede his own of Narayan in that given to thelocality. Another story makes one Jara Savar their original ancestor, who was said to have shot Krishna in the form of a deer. Another statesthat they were created for carrying stones for the construction ofthe great temple at Puri and for dragging the car of Jagannath, whichthey still do at the present time. Yet another connecting them with thetemple of Jagannath states that their ancestor was an old Bhil hermitcalled Sawar, who lived in Karod, two miles from Seorinarayan. Thegod Jagannath had at this time appeared in Seorinarayan and the oldSawar used to worship him. The king of Orissa had built the greattemple at Puri and wished to install Jagannath in it, and he senta Brahman to fetch him from Seorinarayan, but nobody knew where hewas except the old hermit Sawar. The Brahman besought him in vainto be allowed to see the god and even went so far as to marry hisdaughter, and finally the old man consented to take him blindfold tothe place. The Brahman, however, tied some mustard seeds in a cornerof his cloth and made a hole in it so that they dropped out one by oneon the way. After some time they grew up and served to guide him tothe spot. This story of the mustard seeds of course finds a place inthe folklore of many nations. The Brahman then went to Seorinarayanalone and begged the god to go to Puri. Jagannath consented, andassuming 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 agreedto carve the god's image out of the log of wood on condition thatthe temple should be shut up for six months while the work was goingon. But some curious people opened the door before the time and thework could not proceed, and thus the image of the god is only halfcarved out of the wood up to the present day. As a consolation to theold man the god ordained that the place should bear the hermit's namebefore his own as Seorinarayan. Lastly the Saonrs of Bundelkhand havethe following tradition. In the beginning of creation Mahadeo wishedto teach the people how to cultivate the ground, and so he made aplough and took out his bull Nandi to yoke to it But there was denseforest on the earth, so he created a being whom he called Savar andgave him an axe to clear the forest. In the meantime Mahadeo wentaway to get another bullock. The Savar after clearing the forest feltvery hungry, and finding nothing else to eat killed Nandi and atehis flesh on a teak leaf. And for this reason the young teak leaveswhen rubbed give out sap which is the colour of blood to the presentday. After some time Mahadeo returned, and finding the forest wellcleared was pleased with the Savar, and as a reward endowed him withthe knowledge of all edible and medicinal roots and fruits of theforest. But on looking round for Nandi he found him lying dead withsome of his flesh cut off. The Savar pleaded ignorance, but Mahadeosprinkled a little nectar on Nandi, who came to life again and toldwhat had happened. Then Mahadeo was enraged with the Savar and said, 'You shall remain a barbarian and dwell for ever in poverty in thejungles without enough to eat. ' And accordingly this has always beenthe condition of the Savar's descendants. 

Other old authors speak of the Parna or leaf-clad Savars; and a Savarmessenger is described as carrying a bow in his hand "with his hairtied up in a knot behind with a creeper, black himself, and wearinga 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 thatthey have sometimes forgotten their identity and consider themselves asa subtribe of Gonds, though the better informed repudiate this. Theymay be regarded as a separate endogamous group. The eastern branchhave two main divisions called Laria and Uriya, or those belonging toChhattisgarh and Sambalpur respectively. A third division known as theKalapithia or 'Black Backs' are found in Orissa, and are employedto drag the car of Jagannath. These on account of their sacredoccupation consider themselves superior to the others, abstain fromfowls and liquor, and sometimes wear the sacred thread. The Larias arethe lowest subdivision. Marriage is regulated by exogamous septs or_bargas_. The northern Savars say that they have 52 of these, 52 beinga 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 UriyaSavars each _barga_ has the two further divisions of Joria and Khuntia, the Jorias being those who bury or burn their dead near a _jor_ orbrook, and the Khuntias those who bury or burn them near a _khunt_ orold tree. Jorias and Khuntias of the same _barga_ cannot intermarry, but in the case of some other subdivisions of the _barga_, as betweenthose who eat rice at one festival in the year and those eating itat 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, acook; 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 worshippingthe tree and the Kachcha a branch of it, and marriage between thetwo subdivisions is allowed); Jharia (this _barga_ keeps a lock ofa child's hair unshaved for four or five years after its birth);Juadi, a gambler; Karsa, a deer; Khairaiya, the _khair_ or catechutree; 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 asolar eclipse and throw away their earthen pots); Silgainya from _sil_, a slate; and Tiparia from _tipari_, a basket (these two septs aredivided into Kachcha and Pakka groups which can marry with each other);Sona, gold (a member of this sept does not wear gold ornaments untilhe 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 nearHindus they have adopted early marriage. A reason for preferringthe latter custom is found in the marriage ceremony, when the brideand bridegroom must be carried on the shoulders of their relativesfrom the bride's house to the bridegroom's. If they are grown up, this part of the ceremony entails no inconsiderable labour on therelatives. In the Uriya country, while the Khuntia subdivision of each_barga_ see nothing wrong in marrying a girl after adolescence, theJorias consider it a great sin, to avoid which they sometimes marrya girl to an arrow before she attains puberty. An arrow is tied toher hand, and she goes seven times round a mahua branch stuck on animprovised altar, and drinks _ghi_ and oil, thus creating the fictionof a marriage. The arrow is then thrown into a river to imply that herhusband is dead, and she is afterwards disposed of by the ceremony ofwidow-marriage. If this mock ceremony has not been performed beforethe girl becomes adult, she is taken to the forest by a relative andthere tied to a tree, to which she is considered to be married. Sheis 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 talkto her in an obscene and jesting manner, and is subsequently disposedof as a widow. Or in Sambalpur she may be nominally married to an oldman and then again married as a widow. The Savars follow generallythe local Hindu form of the marriage ceremony. On the return of thebridal pair seven lines are drawn in front of the entrance to thebridegroom's house. Some relative takes rice and throws it at thepersons returning with the marriage procession, and then pushes thepair hastily across the lines and into the house. They are thus freedfrom the evil spirits who might have accompanied them home and whoare kept back by the rice and the seven lines. A price of Rs. 5 issometimes paid for the bride. In Saugor if the bride's family cannotafford a wedding feast they distribute small pieces of bread to theguests, who place them in their head-cloths to show their acceptanceof this substitute. To those guests to whom it is necessary to makepresents five cowries are given. Widow-marriage is allowed, and insome places the widow is bound to marry her late husband's youngerbrother unless he declines to take her. If she marries somebody elsethe new husband pays a sum by way of compensation either to her fatheror to the late husband's family. Divorce is permitted on the husband'sinitiative for adultery or serious disagreement. If the wife wishesfor a divorce she simply runs away from her husband. The Laria Savarsmust give a _marti-jiti ka bhat_ or death-feast on the occasion ofa 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 thepyre with its head to the north, in the belief that heaven lies inthat direction. On the eleventh day after the death in Sambalpurthose members of the caste who can afford it present a goat to themourners. The Savars believe that the souls of those who die becomeghosts, and in Bundelkhand they used formerly to bury the dead neartheir fields in the belief that the spirits would watch over andprotect the crops. If a man has died a violent death they raisea small platform of earth under a teak or _saj_ tree, in whichthe ghost of the dead man is believed to take up its residence, and nobody thereafter may cut down that tree. The Uriya Savarstake no special measures unless the ghost appears to somebody in adream 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'ssoul. 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 ofrice are placed in the hole, and it is then closed with melted leadto imprison the ghost, and the stone is thrown into a stream so thatit may never be able to get out and trouble the family. Savars offerwater to the dead. A second wife usually wears a metal impression ofthe 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 locatedin the kitchen of every house in some localities, and this hasgiven rise to the proverb, '_Jai chulha, tai Dulha_, ' or 'Thereis a Dulha Deo to every hearth. ' The Savars are considered to begreat sorcerers. '_Sawara ke pange, Rawat ke bandhe_, ' or 'The manbewitched by a Savar and the bullock tied up by a Rawat (grazier)cannot escape'; and again, 'Verily the Saonr is a cup of poison. ' Theircharms, called Sabari _mantras_, are especially intended to appeasethe spirits of persons who have died a violent death. If one of theirfamily was seriously ill they were accustomed formerly to set fireto the forest, so that by burning the small animals and insects whichcould 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 proverbhas it, 'The ornaments of the Sawara are _gumchi_ seeds. ' Theseare the red and black seeds of _Abrus precatorius_ which are used inweighing gold and silver and are called _rati_. Women are tattooed andsometimes men also to avoid being pierced with a red-hot iron by thegod of death. Tattooing is further said to allay the sexual passionof women, which is eight times more intense than that of men. Theiroccupations are the collection of jungle produce and cultivation. Theyare very clever in taking honeycombs: 'It is the Savar who can drivethe black bees from their hive. ' The eastern branch of the caste ismore civilised than the Saonras of Bundelkhand, who still sow juariwith a pointed stick, saying that it was the implement given to themby Mahadeo for this purpose. In Saugor and Damoh they employ Brahmansfor marriage ceremonies if they can afford it, but on other occasionstheir own caste priests. In some places they will take food from mostcastes but in others from nobody who is not a Savar. Sometimes theyadmit outsiders and in others the children only of irregular unions;thus a Gond woman kept by a Savar would not be recognised as a memberof the caste herself but her children would be Savars. A woman goingwrong 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 whowash for gold in river-beds, belonging to the Sambalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chanda Districts and the Chota Nagpur Feudatory States. In1911 they numbered about 1500 persons. The name probably comes from_sona_, gold, and _jharna_, to sweep or wash, though, when the termJhara only is used, some derive it from _jhori_ a streamlet. ColonelDalton surmised that the Sonjharas were an offshoot of the Gonds, and this appears to be demonstrated by the fact that the names oftheir exogamous septs are identical with Gond names as Marabi, Tekam, Netam, Dhurwa and Madao. The Sonjharas of Bilaspur say that theirancestors were Gonds who dwelt at Lanji in Balaghat. The caste relatethe tradition that they were condemned by Mahadeo to perpetual povertybecause their first ancestor stole a little gold from Parvatis crownwhen it fell into the river Jamuna (in Chota Nagpur) and he was sentto fetch it out. The metal which is found in the river sands theyhold to be the remains of a shower of gold which fell for two anda half days while the Banaphar heroes Alha and Udal were fightingtheir great battle with Prithvi Raj, king of Delhi. The caste ispartly occupational, and recruited from different sources. This isshown by the fact that in Chanda members of different septs will noteat together, though they are obliged to intermarry. In Sambalpur theBehra, Patar, Naik and Padhan septs eat together and intermarry. Twoother septs, the Kanar and Peltrai who eat fowls and drink liquor, occupy a lower position, and members of the first four will not takefood from them nor give daughters to them in marriage, though theywill take daughters from these lower groups for their sons. Herethey have three subcastes, the Laria or residents of Chhattisgarh, the Uriya belonging to the Uriya country, and the Bhuinhar, who maybe an offshoot from the Bhuiya tribe. 

2. Totemism

They have one recorded instance of totemism, which is of someinterest. Members of the sept named after a tree called _kausa_ reverethe tree and explain it by saying that their ancestor, when flyingfrom some danger, sought protection from this tree, which thereuponopened and enfolded him in its trunk. No member of the sept willtouch the tree without first bathing, and on auspicious occasions, such as births and weddings, they will dig up a little earth from theroots of the tree and taking this home worship it in the house. Ifany member of the sept finds that he has cut off a branch or otherpart of this tree unwittingly he will take and consign it to a stream, observing ceremonies of mourning. Women of the Nag or cobra sept willnot mention the name of this snake aloud, just as they refrain fromspeaking the names of male relatives. 

3. Marriage

Marriage within the sept is forbidden, and they permit theintermarriage of the children of a brother and sister, but not ofthose of two sisters, though their husbands may be of differentsepts. Marriage is usually adult except in Sambalpur, where a girlmust be provided with a husband before reaching maturity in accordancewith the general rule among the Uriya castes. In Chhindwara it issaid that the Sonjharas revere the crocodile and that the presenceof this animal is essential at their weddings. They do not, however, kill and eat it at a sacrificial feast as the Singrore Dhimars arereported to do, but catch and keep it alive, and when the ceremony isconcluded take it back again and deposit it in a river. After a girlhas been married neither her father nor any of her own near relativeswill ever take food again in the house of her husband's family, sayingthat they would rather starve. Each married couple also becomes aseparate commensal group and will not eat with the parents of either ofthem. This is a common custom among low castes of mixed origin whereevery man is doubtful of his neighbour's parentage. Divorce and theremarriage of widows are permitted, and a woman may be divorced merelyon the ground of incompetence in household management or because shedoes not please her husband's parents. 

4. Customs at birth

At child-birth they make a little separate hut for the mother near theriver where they are encamped, and she remains in it for two days and ahalf. During this time her husband does no work; he stays a few pacesdistant from his wife's hut and prepares her food but does not go tothe hut or touch her, and he kindles a fire between them. During thefirst two days the woman gets three handfuls of rice boiled thin inwater, and on the third day she receives nothing until the evening, when the Sendia or head of the sept takes a little cowdung, gold andsilver in his hand, and pouring water over this gives her of it todrink as many times as the number of gods worshipped by her familyup to seven. Then she is pure. On this day the father sacrifices achicken 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 womanbeats on a brass plate and calls out the name which has been given ina loud voice to the whole camp so that they may all know the child'sname. In Bilaspur the Sonjharas observe the custom of the Couvade, and for six days after the birth of a child the husband lies pronein his house, while the wife gets up and goes to work, coming home togive suck to the child when necessary. The man takes no food for threedays and on the fourth is given ginger and raw sugar, thus undergoingthe ordinary treatment of a woman after childbirth. This is supposedby them to be a sort of compensation for the labours sustained bythe woman in bearing the child. The custom obtains among some otherprimitive 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 thoseof other persons are buried. No one other than a member of the deadman's family may touch his corpse under a penalty of five rupees. Arelative will remove the body and bury it with the feet pointing tothe river or burn it by the water's edge. They mourn a child for oneday and an adult for four days, and at the end the mourner is shavedand provides liquor for the community. If there be no relative, sinceno other man can touch the corpse, they fire the hut over it and burnit 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, Nirahis servant, and Kauria a form of Devi. Nira lives under an _umar_[633] tree and he and Dulha Deo his master are worshipped every thirdyear in the month of Magh (January). Kauria is also worshipped oncein three years on a Sunday in the month of Magh with an offering ofa cocoanut, and in her honour they never sit on a cot nor sleep ona stool because they think that the goddess has her seat on thesearticles. The real reason, however, is probably that the Sonjharasconsider the use of such furniture an indication of a settled life andpermanent residence, and therefore abjure it as being wanderers. Someanalogous customs have been recorded of the Banjaras. They also reverethe spirit of one of their female ancestors who became a Sati. Theysacrifice a goat to the _genius loci_ or spirit haunting the spotwhere they decide to start work; and they will leave it for fear ofangering this spirit, which is said to appear in the form of a tiger, should they make a particularly good find. [634] They never keepdogs, and it is said that they are defiled by the touch of a dogand will throw away their food if one comes near them during theirmeal. The same rule applies to a cat, and they will throw away anearthen vessel touched by either of these animals. On the Diwali daythey wash their implements, and setting them up near the huts worshipthem with offerings of a cocoanut and vermilion. 

7. Social customs

Their rule is always to camp outside a village at a distance of notless than a mile. In the rains they make huts with a roof of bamboossloping from a central ridge and walls of matting. The huts are builtin one line and do not touch each other, at least a cubit's distancebeing left between each. Each hut has one door facing the east. As arule they avoid the water of village wells and tanks, though it is notabsolutely forbidden. Each man digs a shallow well in the sand behindhis hut and drinks the water from it, and no man may drink the waterof his neighbour's well; if he should do so or if any water from hiswell gets into his neighbour's, the latter is abandoned and a fresh onemade. If the ground is too swampy for wells they collect the water intheir wooden washing-tray and fill their vessels from it. In the coldweather they make little leaf-huts on the sand or simply camp out inthe open, but they must never sleep under a tree. When living in theopen each family makes two fires and sleeps together between them. Someof them have their stomachs burned and blackened from sleeping too nearthe fire. The Sonjharas will not take cooked food from the hands ofany other caste, but their social status is very low, about equivalentto that of the parent Gond tribe. They have no fear of wild animals, not even the children. Perhaps they think that as fellow-denizens ofthe 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 thesandy beds of streams, while they formerly also washed for diamonds atHirakud on the Mahanadi near Sambalpur and at Wairagarh in Chanda. Theindustry is decaying, and in 1901 only a quarter of the total numberof Sonjharas were still employed In it. Some have become cultivatorsand fishermen, while others earn their livelihood by sweeping upthe refuse dirt of the workshops of goldsmiths and brass-workers;they wash out the particles of metal from this and sell it back tothe Sunars. The Mahanadi and Jonk rivers in Sambalpur, the Banjar InMandla, the Son and other rivers in Balaghat, and the Wainganga andthe eastern streams of Chanda contain minute particles of gold. Thewashers earn a miserable and uncertain livelihood, and indeed appearnot to desire anything beyond a bare subsistence. In Bhandara [635] itis said that they avoid any spot where they have previously been lucky, while in Chanda they have a superstition that a person making a goodfind 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 atthree places about five cubits apart. If they find no appreciablequantity of gold they go on for one or two hundred yards and washthree more trayfuls, and proceed thus until they find a profitableplace 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 thestones and pebbles from above, the sand below is washed several timesin circular wooden cradles, shaped like the top of an umbrella, ofdiminishing sizes, until all the clay is removed and fine particles ofsand mixed with gold are visible. A large wooden spoon is used to stirup the sediment, which is washed and rubbed by hand to separate thegold more completely from the sand, and a blackish residue is left, containing particles of gold and mercury coloured black with oxideof iron. Mercury is used to pick up the gold with which it formsan 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 theUriya country. Since the transfer of Sambalpur to Bengal only afew Sudhs remain in the Central Provinces. They are divided intofour subcastes--the Bada or high Sudhs, the Dehri or worshippers, the Kabat-konia or those holding the corners of the gate, and theButka. These last are the most primitive and think that Rairakhol istheir first home. They relate that they were born of the Pandava heroBhimsen and the female demon Hedembiki, and were originally occupied insupplying leaves for the funeral ceremonies of the Pandava brothers, from which business they obtained their name of Butka or 'one whobrings leaves. ' They are practically a forest tribe and carry onshifting cultivation like the Khonds. According to their own storythe ancestors of the Butka Sudhs once ruled In Rairakhol and reclaimedthe land from the forest, that is so far as it has been reclaimed. Thefollowing story connects them with the ruling family of Rairakhol. Informer times there was constant war between Bamra and Rairakhol, andon one occasion the whole of the Rairakhol royal family was destroyedwith the exception of one boy who was hidden by a Butka Sudh woman. Sheplaced him in a cradle supported on four uprights, and when the BamraRaja's soldiers came to seek for him the Sudhs swore, "If we have kepthim either in heaven or earth may our god destroy us. " The Bamra peoplewere satisfied with this reply and the child was saved, and on comingto manhood he won back his kingdom. He received the name of Janamanior 'Jewel among men, ' which the family still bear. In consequenceof this incident, the Butka Sudhs are considered by the Rairakholhouse as relations on their mother's side; they have several villagesallotted to them and perform sacrifices for the ruling family. In someof 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 thechild was saved. The Bada Sudhs are the most numerous subdivision andhave generally adopted Hindu customs, so that the higher castes willtake 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 alsohave _bargas_ or family names as Thakur (lord), Danaik, Amayat andBishi. The Thakur clan say that they used to hold the Baud kings intheir lap for their coronation, and the Danaik used to tie the king'sturban. The Bishi were so named because of their skill in arms, andthe Amayat collected materials for the worship of the Panch Khanda orfive swords. The _bargas_ are much more numerous than the totemisticsepts, and marriage either within the _barga_ or within the sept isforbidden. Girls must be married before adolescence; and in the absenceof a suitable husband, the girl is married to an old man who divorcesher immediately afterwards, and she may then take a second husbandat any time by the form for widow-remarriage. A betrothal is sealedby tying an areca-nut in a knot made from the clothes of a relativeof each party and pounding it seven times with a pestle. After themarriage a silver ring is placed in a pot of water, over the mouth ofwhich a leaf-plate is bound. The bridegroom pierces the leaf-plate witha knife, and the bride then thrusts her hand through the hole, picksout the ring and puts it on. The couple then go inside the house andsit down to a meal. The bridegroom, after eating part of his food, throws the leavings on to the bride's plate. She stops eating indispleasure, whereupon the bridegroom promises her some ornaments, and she relents and eats his leavings. It is customary for a Hindu wifeto eat the leavings of food of her husband as a mark of her venerationfor him. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. The Sudhsworship the Panch Khanda or five swords, and in the Central Provincesthey say that these are a representation of the five Pandava brothers, in whose service their first ancestors were engaged. Their tutelarygoddess is Khambeshwari, represented by a wooden peg (_khamba_). Shedwells in the wilds of the Baud State and is supposed to fulfilall the desires of the Sudhs. Liquor, goats, buffaloes, vermilionand swallow-wort flowers are offered to her, the last two being inrepresentation of blood. The Dehri Sudhs worship a goddess calledKandrapat who dwells always on the summits of hills. It is believedthat whenever worship is concluded the roar of her tiger is heard, and the worshippers then leave the place and allow the tiger to comeand take the offerings. The goddess would therefore appear to be thedeified tiger. The Bada Sudhs rank with the cultivating castes ofSambalpur, 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 casteof goldsmiths and silversmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit_Suvarna kar_, a worker in gold. In 1911 the Sunars numbered 96, 000persons in the Central Provinces and 30, 000 in Berar. They live allover the Province and are most numerous in the large towns. The casteappears to be a functional one of comparatively recent formation, and there is nothing on record as to its origin, except a collectionof Brahmanical legends of the usual type. The most interesting ofthese as related by Sir H. Risley is as follows: [640]

"In the beginning of time, when the goddess Devi was busy with theconstruction of mankind, a giant called Sonwa-Daitya, whose bodyconsisted entirely of gold, devoured her creations as fast as shemade them. To baffle this monster the goddess created a goldsmith, furnished him with the tools of his art, and instructed him how toproceed. When the giant proposed to eat him, the goldsmith suggestedto him that if his body were polished his appearance would be vastlyimproved, and asked to be allowed to undertake the job. With thecharacteristic stupidity of his tribe the giant fell into the trap, and having had one finger polished was so pleased with the result thathe agreed to be polished all over. For this purpose, like Aetes in theGreek 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 toDevi, took care not to put him together again. The goldsmith, however, overreached himself. Not content with his legitimate earnings, hemust needs steal a part of the head, and being detected in this byDevi, he and his descendants were condemned to be for ever poor. " TheSunars also have a story that they are the descendants of one of twoRajput brothers, who were saved as boys by a Saraswat Brahman fromthe wrath of Parasurama when he was destroying the Kshatriyas. Thedescendants of the other brother were the Khatris. This is the samestory as is told by the Khatris of their own origin, but they do notacknowledge the connection with Sunars, nor can the Sunars allege thatSaraswat Brahmans eat with them as they do with Khatris. In Gujaratthey have a similar legend connecting them with Banias. In Bombaythey also claim to be Brahmans, and in the Central Provinces a casteof goldsmiths akin to the Sunars call themselves Vishwa Brahmans. Onthe other hand, before and during the time of the Peshwas, Sunarswere not allowed to wear the sacred thread, and they were forbidden tohold their marriages in public, as it was considered unlucky to see aSunar bridegroom. Sunar bridegrooms were not allowed to see the stateumbrella or to ride in a palanquin, and had to be married at night andin secluded places, being subject to restrictions and annoyances fromwhich even Mahars were free. [641] Their _raison d'être_ may possiblybe found in the fact that the Brahmans, all-powerful in the Poonastate, were jealous of the pretensions of the Sunars, and devisedthese rules as a means of suppressing them. It may be suggested thatthe Sunars, being workers at an important urban industry, profitablein itself and sanctified by its association with the sacred metalgold, aspired to rank above the other artisans, and put forward thepretensions already mentioned, because they felt that their positionwas not commensurate with their deserts. But the Sunar is includedin Grant-Duff's list of the twenty-four village menials of a Marathavillage, and consequently he would in past times have ranked belowthe cultivators, from whom he must have accepted the annual presentsof grain. 

2. Internal structure

The caste have a number of subdivisions, nearly all of which are ofthe territorial class and indicate the various localities from whichit has been recruited in these Provinces. The most important subcastesare the Audhia from Ajodhia or Oudh; the Purania or old settlers;the Bundelkhandi from Bundelkhand; the Malwi from Malwa; the Lad fromLat, the old name for the southern portion of Gujarat; and the Mair, who appear to have been the first immigrants from Upper India and arenamed after Mair, the original ancestor, who melted down the goldendemon. Other small groups are the Patkars, so called because they allow_pat_ or widow-marriage, though, as a matter of fact, it is permittedby the great majority of the caste; the Pandhare or 'White Sunars';and the Ahir Sunars, whose ancestors must presumably have belonged tothe caste whose name they bear. The caste have also numerous _bainks_or exogamous septs, which differ entirely from the long lists givenfor Bengal and the United Provinces, and show, as Mr. Crooke remarks, the extreme fertility with which sections of this kind spring up. Inthe Central Provinces the names are of a titular or territorialnature. Examples of the former kind, that is, a title or nicknamesupposed to have been borne by the sept's founder, are: Dantele, onewho has projecting teeth; Kale, black; Munde, bald; Kolhimare, a killerof jackals; and Ladaiya, a jackal or a quarrelsome person. Among theterritorial names are Narwaria from Narwar; Bhilsainyan from Bhilsa;Kanaujia from Kanauj; Dilliwal from Delhi; Kalpiwal from Kalpi. Besidesthe _bainks_ or septs by which marriage is regulated, they have adoptedthe Brahmanical eponymous _gotra_-names as Kashyap, Garg, Sandilya, and so on. These are employed on ceremonial occasions as when a giftis made for the purpose of obtaining religious merit, and the _gotra-_name of the owner is recorded, but they do not influence marriage. Theuse of them is a harmless vanity analogous to the assumption ofdistinguished surnames by people who were not born to them. 

3. Marriage and other customs

Marriage is forbidden within the sept. In some localities personsdescended from a common ancestor may not intermarry for fivegenerations, but in others a brother's daughter may be wedded to asister's son. A man is forbidden to marry two sisters while both arealive, 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 aboy should be married until they had had smallpox, the idea beingthat there can be no satisfactory basis for a contract of marriagewhile either party is still exposed to such a danger to life andpersonal appearance; just as it might be considered more prudent notto buy a young dog until it had had distemper. But with the spread ofvaccination the Sunars are giving up this custom. The marriage ceremonyfollows the Hindustani or Maratha ritual according to locality. [642]In Betul the mother of the bride ties the mother of the bridegroom toa pole with the ropes used for tethering buffaloes and beats her witha piece of twisted cloth, until the bridegroom's mother gives her apresent of money or cloth and is released. The ceremony may be designedto express the annoyance of the bride's mother at being deprivedof her daughter. Polygamy is permitted, but people will not givetheir daughter to a married man if they can find a bachelor husbandfor her. Well-to-do Sunars who desire increased social distinctionprohibit the marriage of widows, but the caste generally allow it. 

4. Religion

The caste venerate the ordinary Hindu deities, and many of them havesects and return themselves as Vaishnavas, Saivas or Saktas. In someplaces they are said to make a daily offering to their melting-furnaceso that it may bring them in a profit. When a child has been bornthey make a sacrifice of a goat to Dulha Deo, the marriage-god, on thefollowing Dasahra festival, and the body of this must be eaten by thefamily only, no outsider being allowed to participate. In Hoshangabadit is stated that on the night before the Dasahra festival all theSunars assemble beside a river and hold a feast. Each of them isthen believed to take an oath that he will not during the comingyear disclose the amount of the alloy which a fellow-craftsman maymix with the precious metals. Any Sunar who violates this agreementis put out of caste. On the 15th day of Jeth (May) the village Sunarstops work for five days and worships his implements after washingthem. He draws pictures of the goddess Devi on a piece of paper andgoes 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 Nerbuddaor Ganges; those living to the south of the Nerbudda always stopat this river, because they think that if they crossed it to go tothe Ganges, the Nerbudda would be offended at their not consideringit good enough. If a man meets with a violent death and his body islost, they construct a small image of him and burn this with all theproper ceremonies. Mourning is observed for ten or thirteen days, andthe _shraddh_ ceremony is performed on the anniversary of a death, while the usual oblations are offered to the ancestors during thefortnight 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 froma Brahman. Others do not observe these restrictions. Brahmans willusually take water from Sunars, especially from those who wear thesacred thread. Owing to their association with the sacred metal gold, and the fact that they generally live in towns or large villages, andmany of their members are well-to-do, the Sunars occupy a fairly highposition, ranking equal with, or above the cultivating castes. But, as already stated, the goldsmith was a village menial in the Marathavillages, and Sir D. Ibbetson thinks that the Jat really considersthe Sunar to be distinctly inferior to himself. 

6. Manufacture of ornaments

The Sunar makes all kinds of ornaments of gold and silver, beingusually supplied with the metal by his customers. He is paid accordingto the weight of metal used, the rate varying from four annas totwo rupees with an average of a rupee per tola weight of metal forgold, and from one to two annas per tola weight of silver. [643]The lowness of these rates is astonishing when compared with thosecharged by European jewellers, being less than 10 per cent on thevalue of the metal for quite delicate ornaments. The reason ispartly that ornaments are widely regarded as a means for the safekeeping of money, and to spend a large sum on the goldsmith's labourwould defeat this end, as it would be lost on the reconversion ofthe ornaments into cash. Articles of elaborate workmanship are alsoeasily injured when worn by women who have to labour in the fields orat home. These considerations have probably retarded the developmentof the goldsmith's art, except in a few isolated localities where itmay have had the patronage of native courts, and they account for theoften clumsy form and workmanship of his ornaments. The value seton the products of skilled artisans in early times is neverthelessshown by the statement in M'Crindle's _Ancient India_ that any onewho caused an artisan to lose the use of an eye or a hand was put todeath. [644] In England the jeweller's profit on his wares is from 33to 50 per cent or more, in which, of course, allowance is made for thelarge amount of capital locked up in them and the time they may remainon his hands. But the difference in rates is nevertheless striking, and allowance must be made for it in considering the bad reputationwhich the Sunar has for mixing alloy with the metal. Gold ornamentsare simply hammered or punched into shape or rudely engraved, and arepractically never cast or moulded. They are often made hollow fromthin plate or leaf, the interior being filled up with lac. Silver onesare commonly cast in Saugor and Jubbulpore, but rarely elsewhere. TheSunar's trade appears now to be fairly prosperous, but during thefamines it was greatly depressed and many members of the caste tookto other occupations. Many Sunars make small articles of brass, suchas chains, bells and little boxes. Others have become cultivatorsand drive the plough themselves, a practice which has the effect ofspoiling their hands, and also prevents them from giving their sonsa proper training. To be a good Sunar the hands must be trained fromearly youth to acquire the necessary delicacy of touch. The Sunar'sson sits all day with his father watching him work and handling theornaments. Formerly the Sunar never touched a plough. Like the Pekinivory 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 fromworking in gold, which is a very sacred metal with the Hindus. Goldornaments must not on this account be worn below the waist, as to doso would be considered an indignity to the holy material. Maratha andKhedawal Brahman women will not have ornaments for the head and armsof any baser metal than gold. If they cannot afford gold braceletsthey 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 smallearrings in the upper ear should be of gold if worn at all. When aman is at the point of death, a little gold, Ganges water, and a leafof the _tulsi_ or basil plant are placed in his mouth, so that thesesacred articles may accompany him to the other world. So valuableas a means of securing a pure death is the presence of gold in themouth that some castes have small pieces inserted into a couple oftheir upper teeth, in order that wherever and whenever they may die, the gold may be present to purify them. [645] A similar idea wasprevalent in Europe. _Aurum potabile_ [646] or drinkable gold wasa favourite nostrum of the Middle Ages, because gold being perfectshould produce perfect health; and patients when _in extremis_ werecommonly given water in which gold had been washed. And the beliefis 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, areall held sacred by the Hindus, and this is easily explained on thegrounds of their intrinsic value and their potency when employed ascoin. It may be noted that when the nickel anna coinage was introduced, it was held in some localities that the coins could not be presentedat temples as this metal was not sacred. 

8. Ornaments. The marriage ornaments

It can scarcely also be doubted in view of this feeling that thewearing of both gold and silver in ornaments is considered to havea protective magical effect, like that attributed to charms andamulets. And the suggestion has been made that this was the objectwith which all ornaments were originally worn. Professor RobertsonSmith 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. Assuch they are mainly worn to protect the chief organs of action (thehands and feet), but especially the orifices of the body, as earrings;nose-rings hanging over the mouth; jewels on the forehead hanging downand protecting the eyes. " The precious metals, as has been seen, areusually sacred among primitive people, and when made into ornamentsthey have the same sanctity and protective virtue as jewels. Thesubject has been treated [649] with great fullness of detail bySir J. Campbell, and the different ornaments worn by Hindu women ofthe Central Provinces point to the same conclusion. The _bindia_ orhead ornament of a Maratha Brahman woman consists of two chains ofsilver or gold and in the centre an image of a cobra erect. This isShesh-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 sameway. The Kurmis and other castes do not have Shesh-Nag, but insteadthe 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-castewomen, represents the sun and moon. The large hoop circle is thesun, and underneath in the part below the nose is a small segment, which is the crescent moon and is hidden when the ornament is inwear. On the front side of this are red stones, representing thesun, and on the underside white ones for the moon. The _nathni_has some mysterious connection with a woman's virtue, and to takeoff her nose-ring--_nathni utdarna_--signifies to dishonour a woman(Platts). In northern India women wear the nose-ring very large andsometimes cover it with a piece of cloth to guard it from view or keepit in _parda_. It is possible that the practice of Hindu husbands ofcutting off the nose of a wife detected in adultery has some similarassociation, and is partly intended to prevent her from again wearing anose-ring. The toe ornament of a high-caste woman is called _bichhia_and it represents a scorpion (_bichhu_). A ring on the big toe standsfor the scorpion's head, a silver chain across the foot ending inanother ring on the little toe is his body, and three rings withhigh projecting knobs on the middle toes are the joints of his tailfolded back. It is of course supposed that the ornament protects thefeet from scorpion bites. These three ornaments, the _bindia_, the_nathni_ and the _bichhia_, must form part of the Sohag or weddingdowry of every high-caste Hindu girl in the northern Districts, and she cannot be married without them. But if the family is poora _laong_ or gold stud to be worn in the nose may be substitutedfor the nose-ring. This stud, as its name indicates, is in the formof a clove, which is sacred food and is eaten on fast-days. Burningcloves are often used to brand children for cold; a fresh one beingemployed for each mark. A widow may not wear any of these ornaments;she is always impure, being perpetually haunted by the ghost of herdead husband, and they could thus be of no advantage to her; while, on the other hand, her wearing them would probably be considered akind of sacrilege or pollution of the holy ornaments. 

9. Beads and other ornaments

In the Maratha Districts an essential feature of a wedding is thehanging of the _mangal-sutram_ or necklace of black beads roundthe bride's neck. All beads which shine and reflect the light areconsidered to be efficacious in averting the evil eye, and a peculiarvirtue, Sir J. Campbell states, attaches to black beads. A womanwears the _mangalsutram_ or marriage string of beads all her life, and considers that her husband's life is to some extent bound up init. 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 seeher until she has got a new thread, as she thinks that to do so wouldcause his death. The many necklaces of beads worn by the primitivetribes and the strings of blue beads tied round the necks of oxenand ponies have the same end in view. A similar belief was probablypartly responsible for the value set on precious stones as ornaments, and especially on diamonds, which sparkle most of all. The pearl isvery sacred among the Hindus, and Madrasis put a pearl into the mouthat the time of death instead of gold. Partly at least for this purposepearls are worn set in a ring of gold in the ear, so that they maybe available at need. Coral is also highly esteemed as an amulet, largely because it is supposed to change colour. The coral given tobabies to suck may have been intended to render the soft and swollengums at teething hard like the hard red stone. Another favouriteshape for beads of gold is that of grains of rice, rice being a sacredgrain. The gold ornament called _kantha_ worn on the neck has carvingsof 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 thatwater thrown over the carved flowers of the ornament when bathing willhave greater virtue to purify their bodies. Another favourite ornamentis the _hamel_ or necklace of rupees. The sanctity of coined metalwould probably be increased by the royal image and superscription andalso by its virtue as currency. Mr. Nunn states that gold mohur coinsare still made solely for the purpose of ornament, being commonlyengraved with the formula of belief of Islam and worn by Muhammadansas a charm. Suspended to the _hamel_ or necklace of rupees in frontis a silver pendant in the shape of a betel-leaf, this leaf beingvery efficacious in magic; and on this is carved either the image ofHanuman, the god of strength, or a peacock's feather as a symbol ofKartikeya, the god of war. The silver bar necklet known as _hasli_is intended to resemble the collar-bone. Children carried in theirmother's cloth are liable to be jarred and shaken against her body, so that the collar-bone is bruised and becomes painful. It is thoughtthat the wearing of a silver collar-bone will prevent this, just assilver eyes are offered in smallpox to protect the sufferer's eyes anda silver wire to save his throat from being choked. Little childrensometimes 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 bridemust 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_ andrepresents the nine planets which are worshipped at weddings--that is, the sun, moon and the five planets, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus andSaturn, which were known to the ancients and gave their names to thedays of the week in many of the Aryan languages; while the remainingtwo are said to have been Rahu and Ketu, the nodes of the moon andthe demons which cause eclipses. The _bonhta_ or _bankra_, the rigidcircular bangle on the upper arm, is supposed to make a woman's armstronger by the pressure exercised on the veins and muscles. Circularornaments worn on the legs similarly strengthen them and prevent awoman from getting stiffness or pins and needles in her legs afterlong squatting on the ground. The _chutka_, a large silver ring wornby men on the big toe, is believed to attract to itself the ends ofall the veins and ligaments from the navel downwards, and hold themall braced in their proper position, thus preventing rupture. 

On their feet children and young girls wear the _paijan_ or hollowanklet with tinkling balls inside. But when a married woman has hadtwo or three children she leaves off the _paijan_ and wears a solidanklet like the _tora_ or _kasa_. It is now said that the reason whygirls wear sounding anklets is that their whereabouts may be known andthey may be prevented from getting into mischief in dark corners. Butthe real reason was probably that they served as spirit scarers, which they would do in effect by frightening away snakes, scorpionsand noxious insects; for it is clear that the bites of such reptilesand insects, which often escape unseen, must be largely responsiblefor the vast imaginative fabric of the belief in evil spirits, justas Professor Robertson Smith demonstrates that the _jins_ or _genii_of Arabia were really wild animals. [650] In India, owing to theearly age of marriage and the superstitious maltreatment of women atchild-birth, the mortality among girls at this period is very high;and the Hindus, ignorant of the true causes, probably consider themespecially susceptible to the attacks of evil spirits. 

10. Ear-piercing

Before treating of ear-ornaments it will be convenient to mentionbriefly the custom of ear-piercing. This is universal among Hindus andMuhammadans, both male and female, and the operation is often performedby the Sunar. The lower Hindu castes and the Gonds consider piercingthe ears to be the mark of admission to the caste community. Itis done when the child is four or five years old, and till thenhe or she is not considered to be a member of the caste and mayconsequently take food from anybody. The Raj-Gonds will not have theears of their children pierced by any one but a Sunar; and for thisthey give him _sidha_ or a seer [651] of wheat, a seer of rice andan 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'sfeather or some stalks of grass or straw are put in to keep the holeopen 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 smallflap over the orifice. Muhammadans make a large number of holes alldown 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 womenwill have ten or fifteen bangles on the legs. The Hindus also havethis custom in Bhopal, but if they do it in the Central Provincesthey are chaffed with having become Muhammadans. In the upper earHindu 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 theupper 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 toa stem of _ambari_ fibre nearly an inch thick, which passes throughthe lobe. As a consequence the lower rim is a thin pendulous stripof flesh, very liable to get torn. But to have the hole torn open isone of the worst social mishaps which can happen to a woman. She isimmediately put out of caste for a long period, and only readmittedafter severe penalties, equivalent to those inflicted for gettingvermin in a wound. When a woman gets her ear torn she sits weeping inher house and refuses to be comforted. At the ceremony of readmissiona Sunar is sometimes called in who stitches up the ear with silverthread. [652] Low-caste Hindu and Gond women often wear a largecircular embossed silver ornament over the ear which is known as_dhara_ or shield and is in the shape of an Indian shield. This issecured by chains to the hair and apparently affords some support tothe lower part of the ear, which it also covers. Its object seems tobe 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 thelobe of the ear, sometimes with and sometimes without a pendant. [653]

11. Origin of ear-piercing

The character of the special significance which apparently attachesto the custom of ear-piercing is obscure. Dr. Jevons considersthat it is merely a relic of the practice of shedding the bloodof different parts of the body as an offering to the deity, andanalogous to the various methods of self-mutilation, flagellationand gashing of the flesh, whose common origin is ascribed to thesame custom. "To commend themselves and their prayers the Quichespierced their ears and gashed their arms and offered the sacrificeof their blood to their gods. The practice of drawing blood fromthe ears is said by Bastian to be common in the Orient; and Lippertconjectures that the marks left in the ears were valued as visible andpermanent indications that the person possessing them was under theprotection of the god with whom the worshipper had united himself byhis blood offering. In that case earrings were originally designed, not for ornament, but to keep open and therefore permanently visiblethe marks of former worship. The marks or scars left on legs or armsfrom 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, doesnot explain the special guilt imputed by the Hindus to getting thelobe of the ear torn. Apparently the penalty is not imposed for thetearing of the upper part of the ear, and it is not known whether menare held liable as well as women; but as large holes are not made inthe upper ear at all, nor by men in the lobe, such cases would veryseldom occur. The suggestion may be made as a speculation that thecontinuous distension of the lobe of the ear by women and the largehole produced is supposed to have some sympathetic effect in openingthe womb and making child-birth more easy. The tearing of the ear mightthen 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 toshow that her profuse display of them is not to be attributed, asis often supposed, to the mere desire for adornment. Each ornamentoriginally played its part in protecting some limb or feature fromvarious dangers of the seen or unseen world. And though the reasonswhich led to their adoption have now been to a large extent forgottenand the ornaments are valued for themselves, the shape and characterremain to show their real significance. Women as being weaker andless accustomed to mix in society are naturally more superstitious andfearful of the machinations of spirits. And the same argument appliesin greater degree to children. The Hindus have probably recognisedthat children are very delicate and succumb easily to disease, andthey could scarcely fail to have done so when statistics show thatabout a quarter of all the babies born in India die in the first yearof age. But they do not attribute the mortality to its real causesof congenital weakness arising from the immaturity of the parents, insanitary treatment at and after birth, unsuitable food, and thegeneral frailty of the undeveloped organism. They ascribe the lossof their offspring solely to the machinations of jealous deities andevil spirits, and the envy and admiration of other people, especiallychildless women and witches, who cast the evil eye upon them. Andin order to guard against these dangers their bodies are decoratedwith amulets and ornaments as a means of protection. But the resultis quite other than that intended, and the ornaments which are meantto protect the children from the imaginary terrors of the evil eye, in reality merely serve as a whet to illicit cupidity, and expose thema 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 tinand pewter. When used for ornaments the proportion of tin or pewteris increased so as to make them of a light colour, resembling silveras far as may be. Women of the higher castes may wear bell-metalornaments only on their ankles and feet, and Maratha and KhedawalBrahmans may not wear them at all. In consequence of having adoptedthis derogatory occupation, as it is considered, the Audhia Sunarsare looked down on by the rest of the caste. They travel about tothe different village markets carrying their wares on ponies; amongthese, perhaps, the favourite ornament is the _kara_ or curved baranklets, 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. Theprocess takes time and is often painful, the skin being rasped by theiron. 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 notmuch affect the _kara_ as they object to having their foot graspedby the Sunar. They wear instead a chain anklet which they can work onthemselves. The Sunars set precious stones in ornaments, and this isalso done by a class of persons called Jadia, who do not appear tobe a caste. Another body of persons accessory to the trade are theNiarias, who take the ashes and sweepings from the goldsmith's shop, paying a sum of ten or twenty rupees annually for them. [655] Theywash away the refuse and separate the grains of gold and silver, which they sell back to the Sunars. Niaria also appears to be anoccupational term, and not a caste. 

14. The Sunar as money-changer

Formerly Sunars were employed for counting and testing money in thepublic treasuries, and in this capacity they were designated as Potdarand Saraf or Shroff. Before the introduction of the standard Englishcoinage the money-changer's business was important and profitable, as the rupee varied over different parts of the country exactlyas grain measures do now. Thus the Pondicherry rupee was worth 26annas, while the Gujarat rupee would not fetch 12 1/2 annas in thebazar. In Bengal, [656] at the beginning of the nineteenth century, people who wished to make purchases had first to exchange theirrupees for cowries. The Potdar carried his cowries to market inthe morning on a bullock, and gave 5760 cowries for a new _kaldar_or English rupee, while he took 5920 cowries in exchange for a rupeewhen his customers wanted silver back in the evening to take away withthem. The profit on the _kaldar_ rupee was thus one thirty-sixth onthe two transactions, while all old rupees, and every kind of rupeebut the _kaldar_, paid various rates of exchange or _batta_, accordingto the will of the money-changers, who made a higher profit on allother kinds of money than the _kaldar_. They therefore resisted thegeneral introduction of these rupees as long as possible, and whenthis failed they hit on a device of marking the rupees with a stamp, under pretext of ascertaining whether they were true or false; afterwhich the rupee was not exchangeable without paying an additional_batta_, and became as valuable to the money-changers as if it wereforeign coin. As justification for their action they pretended tothe people that the marks would enable those who had received therupees to have them changed should any other dealer refuse them, andthe necessities of the poor compelled them to agree to any _batta_or exchange rather than suffer delay. This was apparently the originof the 'Shroff-marked rupees, ' familiar to readers of the _TreasuryManual_; and the line in a Bhat song, 'The English have made currentthe _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 theshape of gold and silver ornaments, these are regularly pledged whenready money is needed, and the Sunar often acts as a pawnbroker. Inthis capacity he too often degenerates into a receiver of stolenproperty, and Mr. Nunn suggested that his proceedings should besupervised by license. Generally, the Sunar is suspected of makingan illicit profit by mixing alloy with the metal entrusted to him byhis customers, and some bitter sayings are current about him. One ofhis customs is to filch a little gold from his mother and sister onthe 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 evenhis mother's gold'; but the implication appears to be unjust. Anothersaying is: _'Sona Sunar ka, abharan sansar ka, '_ or, 'The ornamentis the customer's, but the gold remains with the Sunar. ' [658] Goldis usually melted in the employer's presence, who, to guard againstfraud, keeps a small piece of the metal called _chasni_ or _maslo_, that is a sample, and when the ornament is ready sends it with thesample 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 samequality. Further, the employer either himself sits near the Sunar whilethe ornament is being made or sends one of his family to watch. Inspite of these precautions the Sunar seldom fails to filch some of thegold while the spy's attention is distracted by the prattling of theparrot, by the coquetting of a handsomely dressed young woman of thefamily or by some organised mishap in the inner rooms among the womenof the house. [659] One of his favourite practices is to substitutecopper for gold in the interior, and this he has the best chance ofdoing with the marriage ornaments, as many people consider it unluckyto 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 reputableSunars would be above such practices. 

The goldsmith's industry has hitherto not been affected to any seriousextent by the competition of imported goods, and except during periodsof agricultural depression the Sunar continues to prosper. 

A Persian couplet said by a lover to his mistress is, 'Gold has noscent and in the scent of flowers there is no gold; but thou bothart gold and hast scent. '

_Sundi, Sundhi, Sunri or Sondhi. _ [661]--The liquor-distillingcaste of the Uriya country. The transfer of Sambalpur and the UriyaStates to Bihar and Orissa has reduced their strength in the CentralProvinces to about 5000, found in the Raipur District and the Bastarand Chota Nagpur Feudatory States. The caste is an important onein Bengal, numbering more than six lakhs of persons and being foundin western Bengal and Bihar as well as in Orissa. The word Sundi isderived from the Sanskrit Shaundik, a spirit-seller. The caste hasvarious genealogies of differing degrees of respectability, tracingtheir origin to cross unions between other castes born of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas. The following story is told of them inMadras. [662] In ancient times a certain Brahman was famous for hismagical attainments. The king of the country sent for him one dayand asked him to cause the water in a tank to burn. The Brahman sawno way of doing this, and returned homewards uneasy in his mind. Onthe way he met a distiller who asked him to explain what troubledhim. When the Brahman told his story the distiller promised to causethe water to burn on condition that the Brahman gave him his daughterin marriage. This the Brahman agreed to do, and the distiller, aftersurreptitiously pouring large quantities of liquor into the tank, set fire to it in the presence of the king. In accordance with theagreement he married the daughter of the Brahman and the pair becamethe ancestors of the Sundi caste. In confirmation of the story it isalleged that up to the present day the women of the caste maintain therecollection of their Brahman ancestors by refusing to eat fowls orthe remains of their husbands' meals. Nor will they take food from thehands of any other caste. Sir H. Risley relates the following storiescurrent about the caste in Bengal, where its status is very low:"According to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drinkrank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in theVaivarta Purana keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It issaid that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant'shead to the mutilated trunk of Ganesh who had been accidentallyslain by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruousparts together, and made a man called Kedara Sena from the slicescut off in fashioning his work. This Kedara Sena was ordered tofetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Findingon 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 hadfermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon asshe had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemnedthe offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituousliquors for mankind. " Like other castes in Sambalpur the Sundis havetwo subcastes, the Jharua and the Utkal or Uriya, of whom the Jharuasprobably immigrated from Orissa at an earlier period and adopted someof the customs of the indigenous tribes; for this reason they arelooked down on by the more orthodox Utkalis. The caste say that theybelong to the Nagas or snake gotra, because they consider themselvesto be descended from Basuki, the serpent with a thousand heads whoformed a canopy for Vishnu. They also have _bargas_ or family titles, but these at present exercise no influence on marriage. The Sundishave in fact outgrown the system of exogamy and regulate theirmarriages by a table of prohibited degrees in the ordinary manner, the unions of _sapindas_ or persons who observe mourning together ata death being prohibited. The prohibition does not extend to cognaticrelationship, but a man must not marry into the family of his paternalaunt. The fact that the old _bargas_ or exogamous groups are still inexistence is interesting, and an intermediate step in the process oftheir abandonment may be recognised in the fact that some of them aresubdivided. Thus the Sahu (lord) group has split into the Gaj Sahu(lord of the elephant), Dhavila Sahu (white lord), and Amila Sahusub-groups, and it need not be doubted that this was a convenientmethod adopted for splitting up the Sahu group when it became so largeas to include persons so distantly connected with each other that theprohibition of marriage between them was obviously ridiculous. Asthe number of Sundis in the Central Provinces is now insignificantno detailed description of their customs need be given, but one ortwo interesting points may be noted. Their method of observing the_pitripaksh_ or worship of ancestors is as follows: A human figureis made of _kusha_ grass and placed under a miniature straw hut. Alamp is kept burning before it for ten days, and every day a twig forcleaning the teeth is placed before it, and it is supplied with friedrice in the morning and rice, pulse and vegetables in the evening. Onthe tenth day the priest comes, and after bathing the figure seventimes, places boiled rice before it for the last meal, and then setsfire to the hut and burns it, while repeating sacred verses. On theeleventh day after a death, when presents for the use of the deceasedare made to a priest as his representative, the priest lies down inthe new bed which is given to him, and the members of the family rubhis feet and attend on him as if he were the dead man. He is alsogiven a present sufficient to purchase food for him for a year. TheSundis worship Suradevi or the goddess of wine, whom they consideras their mother, and they refuse to drink liquor, saying that thiswould be to enjoy their own mother. They worship the still and allarticles used in distillation at the rice-harvest and when the newmango 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-metalindifferently, and in the northern Districts the castes are notreally distinguished, Tamera and Kasar being almost interchangeableterms. In the Maratha country, however, and other localities theyare considered as distinct castes. Copper is a sacred metal, and thecopper-smith's calling would be considered somewhat more respectablethan that of the worker in brass or bell-metal, just as the Sunaror goldsmith ranks above both; and probably, therefore, the Tamerasmay consider themselves a little better than the Kasars. As brassis an alloy made from copper and zinc, it seems likely that vesselswere made from copper before they were made from brass. But copperbeing a comparatively rare and expensive metal, utensils made fromit could scarcely have ever been generally used, and it is thereforenot necessary to suppose that either the Tamera or Kasar caste cameinto being before the adoption of brass as a convenient material forthe household pots and pans. 

2. Social traditions and customs

In 1911 the Tameras numbered about 5000 persons in the CentralProvinces and Berar. They tell the same story of their origin which hasalready been related in the article on the Kasar caste, and trace theirdescent from the Haihaya Rajput dynasty of Ratanpur. They say thatwhen the king Dharampal, the first ancestor of the caste, was married, a bevy of 119 girls were sent with his bride in accordance with thepractice still occasionally obtaining among royal Hindu families, and these, as usual, became the concubines of the husband or, as theTameras say, his wives: and from the bride and her companions the 120exogamous sections of the caste are sprung. As a fact, however, manyof the sections are named after villages or natural objects. A man isnot permitted to marry any one belonging to his own section or thatof his mother, the union of first cousins being thus prohibited. Thecaste also do not favour _Anta santa_ or the practice of exchanginggirls between families, the reason alleged being that after the bride'sfather has acknowledged the superiority of the bridegroom's father bywashing 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 agirl from a family to which they have given one of their own. The realreason for the rule lies possibly in an extension of the principle ofexogamy, whether based on a real fear of carrying too far the practiceof intermarriage between families or an unfounded superstition thatintermarriage between families already connected may have the sameevil results on the offspring as the union of blood-relations. Whenthe wedding procession is about to start, after the bridegroom hasbeen bathed and before he puts on the _kankan_ or iron wristlet whichis to protect him from evil spirits, he is seated on a stool whileall the male members of the household come up with their _choti_ orscalp-lock untied and rub it against that of the bridegroom. Again, after the wedding ceremonies are over and the bridegroom has, accordingto rule, untied one of the fastenings of the marriage-shed, he alsoturns over a tile of the roof of the house. The meaning of the latterceremony 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, andobserve mourning for ten days in the case of an adult and for threedays for a child. A cake of flour containing two pice (farthings)is buried or burnt with the corpse. When a death takes place amongthe community all the members of it stop making vessels for that day, though they will transact retail sales. When mourning is over, a feastis given to the caste-fellows and to seven members of the menial andserving castes. These are known as the 'Sattiho Jat' or Seven Castes, and it may be conjectured that in former times they were the menials ofthe village and were given a meal in much the same spirit as promptsan English landlord to give his tenants a dinner on occasions ofceremony. Instances of a similar custom are noted among the Kunbisand other castes. Before food is served to the guests a leaf-platecontaining a portion for the deceased is placed outside the house witha 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 atiger. They make an image of her in the most expensive metal they canafford, and worship it daily. They will on no account swear by thisgoddess. They worship their trade implements on the day of the newmoon in Chait (March) and Bhadon (August). A trident, as a symbol ofDevi, is then drawn with powdered rice and vermilion on the furnacefor casting metal. A lamp is waved over the furnace and a cocoanut isbroken and distributed to the caste-fellows, no outsider being allowedto be present. They quench their furnace on the new moon day of everymonth, the Ramnaomi and Durgapuja or nine days' fasts in the monthsof Chait and Kunwar, and for the two days following the Diwali andHoli festivals. On these days they will not prepare any new vessels, but will sell those which they have ready. The Tameras have KanaujiaBrahmans for their priests, and the Brahmans will take food fromthem which has been cooked without water and salt. On this accountother Kanaujia Brahmans require a heavy payment before they willmarry with the priests of the Tameras. The caste abstain from liquor, and some of them have abjured all flesh food while others partake ofit. They usually wear the sacred thread. Brahmans will take waterfrom their hands, and the menial castes will eat food which theyhave touched. They work in brass, copper and bell-metal in exactlythe same manner as the Kasars, and have an equivalent social position. 

Taonla

_Taonla_. --A small non-Aryan caste of the Uriya States. They resideprincipally in Bamra and Sonpur, and numbered about 2000 persons in1901, but since the transfer of these States to Bengal are not foundin the Central Provinces. The name is said to be derived from Talmul, a village in the Angul District of Orissa, and they came to Bamraand Sonpur during the Orissa famine of 1866. The Taonlas appear tobe a low occupational caste of mixed origin, but derived principallyfrom the Khond tribe. Formerly their profession was military service, and it is probable that like the Khandaits and Paiks they formed thelevies of some of the Uriya Rajas, and gradually became a caste. Theyhave three subdivisions, of which the first consists of the Taonlaswhose ancestors were soldiers. These consider themselves superior tothe others, and their family names as Naik (leader), Padhan (chief), Khandait (swordsman), and Behra (master of the kitchen) indicatetheir ancestral profession. The other subcastes are called Dangua andKhond; the Danguas, who are hill-dwellers, are more primitive than themilitary Taonlas, and the Khonds are apparently members of that tribeof comparatively pure descent who marry among themselves and not withother Taonlas. In Orissa Dr. Hunter says that the Taonlas are alliedto the Savaras, and that they will admit a member of any caste, fromwhose hands they can take water, into the community. This is also thecase in Bamra. The candidate has simply to worship Kalapat, the godof the Taonlas, and after drinking some water in which basil leaveshave been dipped, to touch the food prepared for a caste feast, andhis initiation is complete. As usual among the mixed castes, femalemorality is very lax, and a Taonla woman may have a _liaison_ with aman of her own or any other caste from whom a Taonla can take waterwithout incurring any penalty whatsoever. A man committing a similaroffence must give a feast to the caste. In Sonpur the Taonlas admit aclose connection with Chasas, and say that some of their families aredescended from the union of Chasa men and Taonla women. They will eatthe leavings of Chasas. The custom may be accounted for by the factthat the Taonlas are now generally farmservants and field-labourers, and the Chasas, as cultivators, would be their employers. A similarclose connection is observable among other castes standing in thesame position towards each other as the Panwars and Gonds and theRajbhars and Lodhis. 

The Taonlas have no exogamous divisions as they all belong to thesame _gotra_, that of the Nag or cobra. Their marriages are thereforeregulated by relationship in the ordinary manner. If two familiesfind that they have no common ancestor up to the third generation theyconsider it lawful to intermarry. The marriage ritual is of the usualUriya form. After the marriage the bride and the bridegroom have aceremony of throwing a mahua branch into a river together. Divorce andwidow remarriage are permitted. When a woman is divorced she returnsher bangles to her husband, and receives from him a _chhor-chitthi_ orletter severing connection. Then she goes before the caste _panchayat_and pronounces her husband's name aloud. This shows that she is nolonger his wife, since so long as she continued to be so, she wouldnever mention his name. 

The tutelary deity of the caste is Kalapat, who resides at Talmul inAngul District. They offer him a goat at the festival of Nawakhaiwhen the new rice is first eaten. On this day they also worship acattle-goad as the symbol of their vocation. They revere the cobra, and will not wear wooden sandals because they think that the marks ona 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 hasbecome reincarnate by dropping rice grains coloured with turmericinto a pot of water. As each one is dropped they repeat the name ofan ancestor, and when the first grain floats conclude that the onenamed has been born again. The dead are both buried and burnt. Atthe head of a grave they plant a bough of the _jamun_ tree (_Eugeniajambolana_) so that the departed spirit may dwell under this cooland shady tree in the other world or in his next birth. They havealso a ceremony for bringing back the soul. An earthen pot is placedupside down on four legs outside the village, and on the eleventh dayafter a death they proceed to the place, ringing a bell suspended toan iron rod. A cloth is spread before the spot on which the spiritof the deceased is supposed to be sitting, and they wait till aninsect alights on it. This is taken to be the soul of the deadperson, and it is carefully wrapped up in the cloth and carried tothe house. There the cloth is unfolded and the insect allowed to go, while they proceed to inspect some rice-flour which has been spreadon the ground under another pot in the house. If any mark is foundon the surface of the flour they think that the dead man's spirithas returned to the house. The carrying back of the insect is thusan act calculated to assist their belief, by the simple performanceof which they are able to suppose more easily that the invisiblespirit has returned to the house. As already stated, the Taonlas arenow generally farmservants and labourers, and their social positionis 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. TheTelis numbered nearly 900, 000 persons in 1911, being the fifth castein the Province in point of population. They are numerous in theChhattisgarh and Nagpur Divisions, nearly 400, 000 belonging to theformer and 200, 000 to the latter tract; while in Berar and the northof the Province they are sparsely represented. The reason for sucha distribution of the caste is somewhat obscure. Vegetable oil ismore largely used for food in the south and east than in the north, but while this custom might explain the preponderance of Telis inNagpur and Chhattisgarh it gives no reason to account for their smallnumbers in Berar. In Chhattisgarh again nearly all the Telis arecultivators, and it may be supposed that, like the Chamars, they havefound opportunity here to get possession of the land owing to its notbeing already taken up by the cultivating castes proper; but in theNagpur Division, with the exception of part of Wardha, the Telis havehad no such opening and are not large landholders. Their distributionthus remains a somewhat curious problem. But all over the Province theTelis have generally abandoned their hereditary trade of pressing oil, and have taken to trade and agriculture, the number of those returnedas oil-pressers being only about seven per cent of the total strengthof 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 thatduring Siva's absence the goddess Parvati felt nervous because shehad no doorkeeper to her palace, and therefore she made the godGanesh from the sweat of her body and set him to guard the southerngate. But when Siva returned Ganesh did not know him and refused tolet him enter; on which Siva was so enraged that he cut off the headof Ganesh with a stroke of his sword. He then entered the palace, and Parvati, observing the blood on his sword, asked him what hadhappened, and reproached him bitterly for having slain her son. Sivawas distressed, but said that he could not replace the head as itwas already reduced to ashes. But he said that if any animal couldbe found looking towards the south he could put its head on Ganeshand bring him to life. As it happened a trader was then restingoutside the palace and had with him an elephant, which was seatedwith its head to the south. So Siva quickly struck off the head ofthe elephant and placed it on the body of Ganesh and brought him tolife again, and thus Ganesh got his elephant's head. But the tradermade loud lamentation about the loss of his elephant, so to pacifyhim Siva made a pestle and mortar, utensils till then unknown, andshowed him how to pound oil-seeds in them and express the oil, andenjoined him to earn a livelihood in future by this calling, and hisdescendants after him; and so the merchant became the first Teli. Andthe pestle was considered to be Siva and the mortar Parvati. Thislast statement affords some support to Mr. Marten's suggestion [665]that a certain veneration attaching to the pestle and mortar and theiruse in marriage ceremonies may be due to the idea of their typifyingthe male and female organs. The fact that Ganesh was set to guard thesouthern gate, and that the animal whose head could be placed on hisbody must be looking to the south, probably hinges in some way on thesouth being the abode of Yama, the god of death, but the connection hasbeen forgotten by the teller of the story; it may also be noted that ifthe 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 byMr. Crooke [666] from Mirzapur is that a certain man had three sonsand owned fifty-two mahua [667] trees. When he became aged and infirmhe told his sons to divide the trees, but after some discussion theydecided to divide not the trees themselves but their produce. One ofthem fell to picking up the leaves, and he was the ancestor of theBharbhunjas or grain-parchers, who still use leaves in their ovens;the second collected the flowers and corollas, and having distilledliquor from them became a Kalar; while the third took the kernelsor fruit and crushed the oil out of them, and was the founder of theTeli caste. The country spirit generally drunk is distilled from theflowers of the mahua tree, and a cheap vegetable oil in common useis obtained from its seeds. The Telis and Kalars are also castes ofabout the same status and have other points of resemblance; and thelegend connecting them is therefore of some interest Some groupsof Telis who have become landed proprietors or prospered in tradehave stories giving them a more exalted origin. Thus the landholdingRathor Telis of Mandla say that they were Rathor Rajputs who fled fromthe Muhammadans and threw away their swords and sacred threads; andthe Telis of Nimar, several of whom are wealthy merchants, give outthat their ancestors were Modh Banias from Gujarat who had to take tooil-pressing for a livelihood under Muhammadan rule. But these legendsmay 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 groupsin Chhattisgarh are the Halia, Jharia and Ekbahia Telis. The Halias, who perhaps take their name from _hal_, a plough, are considered tobe the best cultivators, and are said to have immigrated from Mandlasome generations ago. Probably the bulk of the Hindu population ofChhattisgarh came from this direction. The name Jharia means junglyor savage, and is commonly applied to the oldest residents, but theJharia Telis are the highest local subcaste. They require the presenceof a Brahman at their weddings, and abstain generally from liquor, fowls and pork, to which the Halias are not averse. They also bathethe corpse before it is burnt or buried, an observance omitted bythe Halias. The Jharias yoke only one bullock to the oil-press, and the Halias two, a distinction which is elsewhere sufficientof itself to produce separate subcastes. The Ekbahia (one-armed)Telis are so called because their women wear glass bangles onlyon the right hand and metal ones on the left. This is a custom ofseveral castes whose women do manual labour, and the reason appearsto be one of convenience, as glass bangles on the working arm wouldbe continually getting broken. Among the Ekbahia Telis it is saidthat a woman considers it a point of honour to have these metalbangles as numerous and heavy as her arm can bear; and at a wedding apresent of three bracelets from the bridegroom to the bride is heldto be indispensable. The Madpotwa are a small subcaste living nearthe hills, who in former times distilled liquor; they keep pigs andpoultry, and rank below the others. Other groups are the Kosarias, who are called after Kosala, the old name of Chhattisgarh, and theChhote or Little Telis, who are of illegitimate descent. Childrenborn out of wedlock are relegated to this group. 

In the Nagpur country the principal subdivisions are the Ekbaile andDobaile, so called because they yoke one and two bullocks respectivelyto the oil-press; the distinction is still maintained, the Dobailebeing also known as Tarane. This seems a trivial reason for barringintermarriage, but it must be remembered that the yoking of thebullock to the oil-press, coupled as it is with the necessity ofblindfolding the animal, is considered a great sin on the Teli's partand a degrading incident of his profession; the Teli's worst fear isthat after death his soul will pass into one of his own bullocks. TheYerande Telis are so called because they formerly pressed only the_erandi_ or castor-oil seed, but the rule is no longer maintained. TheYerande women leave off wearing the _choli_ or breast-cloth after theyhave 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 socalled from the noise _rut, rut_ made by the oil-mill in turning. Theysay they are descended from the Nag or cobra. They salute the snakewhen they see it and refrain from killing it, and they will not makeany drawing or sign having the semblance of a snake or use any articlewhich may be supposed to be like it. The Sao Telis are the highestgroup in Wardha, and have eschewed the pressing of oil. The word Sao orSahu is the title of a moneylender, but they are usually cultivatorsor village proprietors. A Brahman will enter a Sao Teli's house, butnot the houses of any other subcaste. Their women wear silver bangleson the right hand and glass ones on the left. The Batri subcaste aresaid to be so called from their growing the _batar_, a kind of pea, and the Hardia from raising the _haldi_ or turmeric. The Teli-Kalarsappear to be a mixed group of Kalars who have taken to the oilman'sprofession, and the Teli-Banias are Telis who have become shopkeepers, and may be expected in the course of time to develop either into aplebeian group of Banias or an aristocratic one of Telis. In Nimarthe Gujarati Telis, who have now grown wealthy and prosperous, claim, as already seen, to be Modh Banias, and the same pretension is putforward by their fellow-castemen in Gujarat itself. "The large class ofoilmen 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 notreally taken place. The Umre Telis also have the name of a subcasteof Banias. The landholding Rathor Telis of Mandla, who now claim tobe Rathor Rajputs, will be more fully noticed later. There are alsoseveral local subcastes, as the Mattha or Maratha Telis, who saythey came from Patan in Gujarat, the Sirwas from the ancient city ofSravasti in Gonda District, and the Kanaujia from Oudh. 

4. Exogamous divisions

Each subcaste is divided into a number of exogamous groups for theregulation of marriages. The names of the groups appear to be takeneither from villages or titles or nicknames. Most of them cannot berecognised, 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 clansof the Rathor Telis of Mandla are said to be named after villages inJubbulpore and Maihar State. 

5. Marriage customs

The marriage of persons of the same sept and of first cousins isusually forbidden. A man may marry his wife's younger sister whileshe herself is alive, but never her elder sister. An unmarried girlbecoming pregnant by a man of the caste is married to him by theceremony used for a widow, and she may be readmitted even after a_liaison_ with an outsider among most Telis. In Chanda the parents ofa girl who is not married before puberty are fined. The proposal comesfrom the boy's side and a bride-price is usually paid, though not oflarge amount. The Halia Telis of Chhattisgarh, like other agriculturalcastes, sometimes betroth their children when they are five or sixmonths old, but as a rule no penalty attaches to the breaking of thebetrothal. The betrothal is celebrated by the distribution of one ortwo rupees' worth of liquor to the neighbours of the caste. As amongother low castes, on the day before the wedding procession starts, the bridegroom goes round to all the houses in the village and hissister dances round him with her head bent, and all the people givehim presents. This is known as the Binaiki or Farewell, and the bridedoes the same in her village. Among the Jharia Telis the women goand worship the marriage-post at the carpenter's house while it isbeing made. In this subcaste the bridegroom goes to the wedding ina cart and not on horseback or in a litter as among some castes. Therule may perhaps be a recognition of their humble station. The Haliasubcaste can dispense with the presence of a Brahman at the wedding, but not the Jharias. In Wardha the bridegroom's head is covered witha blanket, over which is placed the marriage-crown. On the arrival ofthe bridegroom's party they are regaled with _sherbet_ or sugar andwater by the bride's relatives, and sometimes red pepper is mixed withthis by way of a joke. At a wedding of the Gujarati Tells in Nimarthe caste-priest carries the tutelary goddess Kali in procession, and in front of her a pot filled with burning cotton-seeds and oil. Acloth is held over the pot, and it is believed that the power of thegoddess prevents the cloth from taking fire. If this should happensome great calamity would be portended. Rathor Teli girls, whethermarried or unmarried, go with their heads bare, and a woman drawsher cloth over her head for the first time when she begins to livein her husband's house. 

6. Widow-remarriage

Divorce and widow-marriage are permitted. In Chhattisgarh a widowis always kept in the family if possible, and if her late husband'sbrother be only a boy she is sometimes induced to put on the banglesand wait for him. If a _barandi_ widow, that is one who has beenmarried but has not lived with her husband, desires to marry againout of his family, the second husband must repay to them the amountspent on her first marriage. In Chanda, on the other hand, some Telisdo not permit a widow to marry her late husband's younger brotherat all, and others only when he is a bachelor or a widower. Herethe minimum period for which a widow must remain single after herhusband's death is one month. The engagement with a widow is arrangedby the suitor's female relatives, and they pay her a rupee as earnestmoney. On the day fixed she goes with one or two other widows tothe bridegroom's house, and from there to the bazar, where she buystwo pairs of bell-metal rings, to be worn on the second toe of eachfoot, and some glass bangles. She remains sitting in the bazar tillwell after dark, when some widow goes to fetch her on behalf of hersuitor. They bring her to his house, where the couple sit together, andred powder is applied to their foreheads. They then bathe and presenttheir clothes to the washerman, putting on new clothes. The idea inall this is clearly to sever the widow as completely as possible fromher old home and prevent her from being accompanied to the new oneby the first husband's spirit. In some localities when a Teli widowremarries it is considered most unlucky for any one to see the faceof the bride or bridegroom for twenty-four hours, or as some say forthree days after the wedding. The ceremony is therefore held at night, and for this period the couple either remain shut up in the house orretire to the jungle. 

7. Religion: Caste deities

The caste especially revere Mahadeo or Siva, who gave them theoil-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. Theyrevere the oil-mill, and when the trunk is brought to be set up inthe house, if there is difficulty in moving it they make offeringsto it of a goat or wheat-cakes or cocoanuts, after which it moveseasily. When a Teli first sets the trunk-socket of the oil-press in theground he buries beneath it five pieces of turmeric, some cowries andan 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 threefeet in height, black-coloured, with a long black scalp-lock. SomeTelis have Masan Baba in their possession, and when they are turningthe oil-press they set him on top of it, and he makes the bullocks keepon working, so that the master can go away and leave the press. Butin order to prevent him from getting into mischief a cake of flourmixed with human hair must be placed in front of the press; he willeat this, but will first pick out all the hairs one by one, and thiswill occupy him the whole night; but if no cake is put for him hewill eat all the food in the house. A Teli who has not got Masan mustgo to one who has and hire him for Rs. 1-4 a night. They then bothgo to the owner's oil-press, and the hirer says, 'I have hired youto-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 turnthe oil-mill all night. A Teli who has not got Masan Baba puts a stoneon the oil-mill, and then the bullock thinks that his master Masan issitting on it, and will go on turning the press; but this is not sogood as having Masan Baba. Some say that he will repay his hirer thesum of Rs. 1-4 by stealing something during the year and giving it tohim. Masan may perhaps be considered as a divine personification ofthe oil-press, and as being the Teli's explanation of the fact thatthe bullock goes on turning the press without being driven, which hedoes not attribute simply to the animal's docility. In ChhattisgarhDulha Deo is the household god of the caste, and he is said not tohave any visible image or symbol, but is considered to reside in acupboard in the house. When any member of the family falls ill itis thought that Dulha Deo is angry, and a goat is offered to appeasehim. Like the other low castes the Telis of the Nagpur country makethe 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 womenof the caste bring the branches of a thorny creeper, with very smallleaves, 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, fliesand mosquitoes. ' And then they take the pot of sweepings and throw itoutside the village. Marbod is the deity represented by the branch ofthe creeper. This rite takes place in the middle of the rainy season, when all kinds of insects infest the house, and colds and fever areprevalent Mr. H. R. Crosthwaite sends the following explanation givenby a Teli cultivator of an eclipse of the sun: "The Sun is indebted toa sweeper. The sweeper has gone to collect the debt and the Sun hasrefused 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'sthreshold. Presently the debt will be paid and the sweeper will goaway. " The Telis of Nimar observe various Muhammadan practices. Theyfast during the month of Ramazan, taking their food in the morningbefore sunrise; and at Id they eat the vermicelli and dates which theMuhammadans eat in memory of the time when their forefathers lived onthis food in the Arabian desert. Such customs are a relic of the longperiod of Muhammadan dominance in Nimar, when the Hindus conformedpartly to the religion of their masters. Many Telis are also membersof the Swami-Narayan reforming sect, which may have attracted themby its disregard of the distinctions of caste and of the low statuswhich attaches to them under Hinduism. 

9. Customs at birth and death

In Patna State a pregnant woman must not cross a river nor eat anyfruit or vegetables of red colour, nor wear any black cloth. Thesetaboos preserve her health and that of her unborn child. Afterthe birth of a child a woman is impure for seven or nine days inChhattisgarh, and is then permitted to cook. The dead are eitherburied or burnt, cremation being an honour reserved for the old. Thebody is placed in both cases with the head to the north and facedownwards or upwards for a male or female respectively. 

10. Social status

The social status of the Telis is low, in the group of castesfrom which Brahmans will not take water, and below such menials asthe blacksmith and carpenter. Manu classes them with butchers andliquor-vendors: "From a king not born in the military class let aBrahman 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 thegains of prostitutes. " This is much about the position which theTelis have occupied till recently. Brahmans will not usually entertheir houses, though they have begun to do so in the case of thelandholding subcastes. It is noticeable that the Teli has a much betterposition in Bengal than elsewhere. Sir H. Risley says: "Their originalprofession was probably oil-pressing, and the caste may be regardedas a functional group recruited from the respectable middle class ofHindu society. Oil is used by all Hindus for domestic and ceremonialpurposes, and its manufacture could only be carried on by men whosesocial purity was beyond dispute. " This is, however, quite exceptional, and Mr. Crooke, Mr. Nesfield and Sir D. Ibbetson are agreed as to hisinferior, if not partly impure, status. This is only one of severalinstances, such as those of the barber, the potter and the weaver, of menial castes which in Bengal have now obtained a position abovethe agricultural castes. It may be suggested in explanation that theold fabric of Hindu society, that is the village community, has longdecayed in Bengal owing to Muhammadan dominance, the concentrationof estates in the hands of large proprietors and the weakening orlapse of the customary rights of tenants. Coupled with this has beenthe growth of an important urban population, in which the castesmentioned have raised themselves from their menial position in thevillages and attained wealth and influence, just as the Gujarati Telisare now doing in Burhanpur, while the agricultural castes of Bengalhave been comparatively depressed. Hence the urban industrial casteshave obtained a great rise in status. Sir H. Risley's emphasis of theimportance of oil in Hindu domestic ceremonial is no doubt quite true, though it is perhaps little used in sacrifices, butter being generallypreferred as a product of the sacred cow. But the inference does notseem necessarily to follow that the producer of any article sharesexactly 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 insocial position. The reason for the impurity of the Teli's callingseems somewhat doubtful. That generally given is his sinful conductin harnessing the sacred ox and blindfolding the animal's eyes tomake it work continuously on the tread-mill. The labour is said to bevery severe, and the bullocks often die after two or three years. Asalready seen, the Teli fears that after death his soul may pass intoone of his own bullocks in retribution for his treatment of them duringlife. Another reason which may be suggested is that the crushing ofoil-seeds must involve a large destruction of insect life, many ofthe seeds being at times infested with insects. The Teli's occupationwould naturally rank with the other village industries, that is belowagriculture; and prior to the introduction of cash coinage he must havereceived contributions of grain from the tenants for supplying themwith oil like the other village menials. He still takes his oil to thefields 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 somelocalities from a Lohar or Barhai. Dhimars are the highest caste whichwill take food from them. In Mandla if a man does not attend themeeting of the _panchayat_ when summoned for some special purpose, he is fined. In Chanda a Teli beaten with a shoe by any other castehas to have his head shaved and pay a rupee or two to the priest. InMandla 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 ata caste-feast, besides rice and pulse. But if an offender is pooronly four or five men go to his feast, while if he is rich the wholecaste go. 

12. The Rathor Telis

The Rathor Telis of Mandla hold a number of villages. They now callthemselves Rathor, and entirely disown the name of Teli. They saythat they came from the Maihar State near Panna, and that the title ofMahto, from _mahat_, great, which is borne by the leading men of thecaste, was conferred on them by the Raja of Maihar. Another story isthat, as already related, they are debased Rathor Rajputs. Recentlythey have given up eating fowls and drinking liquor. They are goodcultivators, borrowing among themselves at low interest and avoidingdebt, and their villages are generally prosperous. 

13. Gujarati Telis of Nimar

Again, as has been seen, the Gujarati Telis of Burhanpur have taken totrade, and some of them have become wealthy merchants and capitalistsfrom their dealings in cotton. The position of Telis in Burhanpur wasapparently one of peculiar degradation under Muhammadan rule. Accordingto local tradition they had to remove the corpses of dead elephants, which no other caste would consent to do, and also to dig the gravesof Muhammadans. It is also said that even now a Hindu becomes impureby passing under the eaves of a Teli's house, and that no dancing-girlmay dance before a Teli, and if she does so will incur a penalty ofRs. 50 to her caste. The Telis, on the other hand, vigorously repudiatethese allegations, which no doubt are due partly to jealousy of theirpresent prosperity and consequent attempts to better their status. TheTelis allege that they were Modh Banias in Gujarat and when they cameto Burhanpur adopted the occupation of oil-pressing, which is alsocountenanced by the Shastras for a Vaishya. They say that formerlythey did not permit widow-marriage, but when living under Muhammadanrule they were constrained to get their widows married in the caste, or the Muhammadans would have taken them. The Muhammadan practicesalready noticed as prevalent among them are being severely repressed, and they are believed to have made a caste rule that any Teli who goesto the house of a Muhammadan will have his hair and beard shaved and befined Rs. 50. They are also supposed to have made offers to Brahmans ofsums of Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 to come and take their food in the verandasof 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 isconsidered the most unlucky of the three. He is also talkative: 'Wherethere is a Teli there is sure to be contention. ' The Teli is thoughtto be very close-fisted, but occasionally his cunning overreachesitself: 'The Teli counts every drop of oil as it issues from thepress, but sometimes he upsets the whole pot. ' The reason given forhis being unlucky is his practice of harnessing and blindfoldingbullocks already mentioned, and also that he presses _urad_ [670]a black-coloured pulse, the oil from which is offered to the unluckyplanet Saturn on Saturdays. '_Teli ka bail_, ' or 'A Teli's bullock, 'is a proverbial expression for a man who has to slave very hard forsmall pay. [671] The Teli is believed to have magical powers. A goodmagician in search of an attendant spirit will, it is said, preferto raise the corpse of a Teli who died on a Tuesday. He proceedsto the burning-_ghat_ with chickens, eggs, some vermilion and redcloth. He seats himself near to where the corpse was burnt, and afterrepeating some spells offers up the chickens and eggs and breaks thecocoanut. Then it is believed that the corpse will gradually rise andtake shape and be at the magician's service so long as the latter maydesire. The following prescription is given for a love-charm: takethe 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 herfall 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 ofa hollowed tree-trunk in which a post is placed with rounded lowerend. The top of this projects perhaps three feet above the hollow trunkand is secured by two pieces of wood to a horizontal bar, one end ofwhich presses against the trunk, while the bullock is harnessed to theouter end. The yoke-bar hangs about a foot from the ground, the innerend resting in a groove of the trunk, while the outer is supported bythe poles connecting it with the churning-post. From the top of thislatter a rope is also tied to the bullock's horn to keep the animalin position. The press is usually set up inside a shed, and it issaid that if the bullock were not blindfolded it would quickly becometoo giddy to work. The bullock drags the yoke-bar round the trunkand 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 thetrunk. The friction thus produced crushes the oil-seed, and the oiltrickles out through a hole in the lower part of the trunk. The oilof _ramtilli_ or _jagni_ is commonly burnt for lighting in villages, and also that of the mahua-seed. Linseed-oil is generally exported, butif used at home it is mainly as an illuminant. It is mixed with foodby the Maratha castes but not in northern India. All the vegetableoils are rapidly being supplanted by kerosene, even in villages;but the inferior quality generally purchased, burnt as it is in smallopen saucers, gives out a great deal of smoke and is said to be veryinjurious to the eyesight, and students especially sustain permanentinjury to the sight by working with these lamps. This want is, however, being met, and cheap lamp-burners can be bought in Bombay for abouttwelve annas. Owing to their having until recently supplied the onlymeans of illumination the Telis sometimes call themselves _Dipabans_, or 'Sons of the lamp. ' Tilli or sesamum is called sweet oil; it ismuch eaten by Brahmans and others in the Maratha country, and isalways used for rubbing on the hair and body. On the festivals ofDiwali 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 theirbodies if they get a chill, or as a protective against cold twice orthrice a month in the winter. The Uriya castes rub oil on the bodyif they can afford it every day after bathing and say that it keepsoff malaria. Castor-oil is used as a medicine, and by some peopleeven as ordinary food. It is also a good lubricant, being appliedto cart-wheels and machinery. Other oils mentioned by Mr. Crooke arepoppy-seed, mustard, cocoanut and safflower, and those prepared fromalmond and the berries of the _nim_ [673] tree. The Teli's occupationis a dirty one, his house being filled with the refuse of oil andoil-seed, and Mr. Gordon notes that leprosy is very prevalent in thecaste. [674]

16. Trade and agriculture

The Telis are a very enterprising caste, and the great bulk of themhave abandoned their traditional occupation and taken to others whichare more profitable and respectable. In their trade, like that ofthe Kalar, cash payment by barter must have been substituted forcustomary annual contributions at an early period, and hence theylearnt to keep accounts when their customers were ignorant of thisaccomplishment. The knowledge has stood them in good stead. Many ofthem have become moneylenders in a small way, and by this means haveacquired villages. In the Raipur and Bilaspur Districts they own morethan 200 villages and 700 in the Central Provinces as a whole. They arealso shopkeepers and petty traders, travelling about with pack-bullockslike the Banjaras. Mr. A. K. Smith notes that formerly the Teli hiredBanjaras to carry his goods through the jungle, as he would havebeen killed by them if he had ventured to do so himself. But now hetravels with his own bullocks. Even in Mughal times Mr. Smith statesTelis occasionally rose to important positions; Kawaji Teli was sutlerto the Imperial army, and obtained from the Emperor Jahangir a grantof Ashti in Wardha and an order that no one should plant betel-vinegardens in Ashti without his permission. This rule is still observedand any one wishing to have a betel-vine garden makes a present tothe patel. Krishna Kanta Nandi or Kanta Babu, the Banyan of WarrenHastings, was a Teli by caste and did much to raise their positionamong the Hindus. [675]

17. Teli beneficence

Colonel Tod gives instances in Udaipur of works of beneficenceexecuted by Telis. "The _Teli-ki-Sarai_ or oilman's caravanserai isnot conspicuous for magnitude; but it is remarkable not merely forits utility but even for its elegance of design. The _Teli-ka-Pul_ orOilman's Bridge at Nurabad is a magnificent memorial of the trade anddeserves preservation. These Telis perambulate the country with skinsof oil on a bullock and from hard-earned pence erect the structureswhich bear their name. " [676] Similarly the temple of Vishnu at Rajimis said to be named after one Rajan Telin, who discovered the imagelying abandoned by the roadside. She placed her skin of oil on it torest herself and on that day her oil never decreased, and when shehad finished selling in the market she had all her oil as well asthe money. Her husband suspected her of evil practices, but, whennext day her mother-in-law laid a skinful of oil on the image andthe same thing happened, it was seen that the god had made himselfmanifest to her, and a temple was built and named after her and theimage enshrined in it. Similarly the image of Mahadeo at Pithampur inBilaspur was seen buried by a Teli in a dream, and he dug it up andmade a shrine to it and was cured of dysentery. So an annual fair isheld 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 smallwork, Hutton's _Thugs and Dacoits_, has been quoted for convenience, but it is compiled entirely from Colonel Sleeman's Reports. Anotherbook by Colonel Sleeman, _Reports on the Depredations of the ThugGangs_, is mainly a series of accounts of the journeys of differentgangs 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 wereaccustomed to infest the high-roads and strangle travellers fortheir property. The Thugs are, of course, now extinct, having beenfinally suppressed by measures taken under the direction of ColonelSleeman between 1825 and 1850. The only existing traces of them area small number of persons known as Goranda or Goyanda in Jubbulpore, the descendants of Thugs employed in the school of industry whichwas established at that town. These work honestly for their livingand are believed to have no marked criminal tendencies. In the courseof his inquiries, however, Colonel Sleeman collected a considerablemass of information about the Thugs, some of which is of ethnologicalinterest, and as the works in which this is contained are out ofprint and not easily accessible, it seems desirable to record aportion of it here. The word Thug signifies generically a cheat orrobber, while Phansigar, which was the name used in southern India, is derived from _phansi_, a noose, and means a strangler. The formof robbery and murder practised by these people was probably ofconsiderable antiquity, and is referred to as follows by a Frenchtraveller, Thevenot, in the sixteenth century:

"Though the road I have been speaking of from Delhi to Agra betolerable yet it hath many inconveniences. One may meet with tigers, panthers and lions upon it, and one can also best have a care ofrobbers, and above all things not to suffer anybody to come nearone upon the road. The cunningest robbers in the world are in thatcountry. They use a certain slip with a running noose which they cancast with so much sleight about a man's neck, when they are withinreach of him, that they never fail, so that they can strangle himin a trice. They have another cunning trick also to catch travellerswith. They send out a handsome woman upon the road, who with her hairdishevelled seems to be all in tears, sighing and complaining of somemisfortune which she pretends has befallen her. Now, as she takes thesame way that the traveller goes he falls easily into conversationwith her, and finding her beautiful, offers her his assistance, which she accepts; but he hath no sooner taken her up behind him onhorseback, but she throws the snare about his neck and strangles him, or at least stuns him until the robbers who lie hid come running toher 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 anox or any other beast belonging to a caravan run away, as sometimesit happens, they fail not to catch it by the neck. " [677]

This passage seems to demonstrate an antiquity of three centuries forthe Thugs down to 1850. But during the period over which Sir WilliamSleeman's inquiries extended women never accompanied them on theirexpeditions, 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 weredepicted in the carvings of the Ellora caves, and a noted leader, Feringia, and other Thugs spoke of these carvings as follows: "Everyone of the operations is to be seen there: in one place you see menstrangling; in another burying the bodies; in another carrying themoff to the graves. Whenever we passed near we used to go and seethese caves. Every man will there find his trade described and theywere all made in one night. 

"Everybody there can see the secret operations of his trade; but hedoes not tell others of them; and no other person can understand whatthey mean. They are the works of God. No human hands were employedon them. That everybody admits. "

Another Thug: "I have seen there the Sotha (inveigler) sitting uponthe same carpet as the traveller, and in close conversation withhim, just as we are when we worm out their secrets. In another placethe strangler has got his _rumal_ (handkerchief) over his neck andis strangling him; while another, the Chamochi, is holding him bythe legs. " I do not think there is any reason to suppose that thesecarvings really have anything to do with the Thugs. 

3. Origin of the Thugs

The Thugs did not apparently ever constitute a distinct castelike the Badhaks, but were recruited from different classes of thepopulation. In northern and southern India three-fourths or more, andin Central India about a half, were Muhammadans, whether genuine orthe descendants of converted Hindus. The Muhammadan Thugs consistedof seven clans, Bhais, Barsote, Kachuni, Hattar, Garru, Tandel andRathur: "And these, by the common consent of all Thugs throughoutIndia, whether Hindus or Muhammadans, are admitted to be the mostancient and the great original trunk upon which all the others haveat different times and in different places been grafted. " [678]These names, however, are of Hindu and not of Muhammadan origin; andit seems probable that many of the Thugs were originally Banjaras orcattle-dealers and Kanjars or gipsies. One of the Muhammadan Thugstold Colonel Sleeman that, "The Arcot gangs will never intermarry withour families, saying that we once drove bullocks and were itineranttradesmen, and consequently of lower caste. " [679] Another man said[680] that at their marriages an old matron would sometimes repeatas she threw down the _tulsi_ or basil, "Here's to the spirits ofthose who once led bears and monkeys; to those who drove bullocksand marked with the _godini_ (tattooing-needle); and those whomade baskets for the head. " These are the regular occupations ofthe Kanjars and Berias, the gipsy castes who are probably derivedfrom the Doms. And it seems not unlikely that these people may havebeen the true progenitors of the Thugs. There is at present a largesection of Muhammadan Kanjars who are recognised as members of thecaste by the Hindu section. Colonel Sleeman was of opinion that theKanjars also practised murder by strangling, but not as a regularprofession; for this would have been too dangerous, as they wereaccustomed to wander about with their wives and all their belongings, and the disappearance of many travellers in the locality of their campswould naturally excite suspicion. Whereas the true Thugs resided invillages and towns and many of them had other ostensible occupations, their periodical excursions for robbery and murder being veiled underthe pretence of some necessary journey. But the Kanjars may havechanged their mode of life on taking to this profession, and theiradroitness in other forms of crime, such as killing and carryingoff cattle, would make them likely persons to have discovered theadvantages of a system of murder of travellers by strangulation. Theexisting descendants of the Thugs at Jubbulpore appear to be mainlyKanjars and Berias. For such a life it is clear that the professionof the Muhammadan religion would be of much assistance in maintainingthe disguise; for it set a man free from many caste obligations andties and also from a host of irksome restrictions as to eating anddrinking with others. We may therefore conjecture, though withoutcertain knowledge, that many of the Thugs may originally have becomeMuhammadans for convenience; and this is supported by the well-knownfact that the principal deity of all of them was the Hindu goddessKali. Many bodies of Thugs were also recruited from other Hinducastes, 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 theSansias and Kanjars or criminal vagrants and gipsies. These seemto have observed their caste rules and to have intermarried amongthemselves; sometimes they obtained wives from other families who hadno connection with Thuggee and kept their wives in ignorance of theirnefarious trade; occasionally a girl would be spared from a murderedparty and married to a son of one of the Thugs; while boys were morefrequently saved and brought up to the business. The Thugs said [681]that the fidelity of their wives was proverbial and they were not lessloving and dutiful than those of other men, while several instances arerecorded 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 totravellers, either single men or small parties, and at a convenientopportunity to strangle them, bury the bodies and make off with theproperty found on them. The gangs of Thugs usually contained from tento fifty men and were sometimes much larger; on one occasion as manyas three hundred and sixty Thugs accomplished the murder of a partyof forty persons in Bilaspur. [682] They pretended to be traders, soldiers or cultivators and usually went without weapons in orderto disarm suspicion; and this practice also furnished them with anexcuse for seeking for permission to accompany parties travellingwith arms. There was nothing to excite alarm or suspicion in theappearance of these murderers; but on the contrary they are describedas being mild and benevolent of aspect, and peculiarly courteous, gentle and obliging. In their palmy days the leader of the gangoften travelled on horseback with a tent and passed for a person ofconsequence or a wealthy merchant. They were accustomed to get intoconversation with travellers by doing them some service or askingpermission to unite their parties as a measure of precaution. Theywould then journey on together, and strive to win the confidence oftheir victims by a demeanour of warm friendship and feigned interestin their affairs. Sometimes days would elapse before a favourableopportunity occurred for the murder; an instance is mentioned ofa gang having accompanied a family of eleven persons for twentydays during which they had traversed upwards of 200 miles and thenmurdered the whole of them; and another gang accomplished 160 miles intwelve days in company with a party of sixty men, women and children, before they found a propitious occasion. [683] Their favourite timefor the murder was in the evening when the whole party would beseated in the open, the Thugs mingled with their victims, talking, smoking and singing. If their numbers were sufficient three Thugswould be allotted to every victim, so that on the signal being giventwo of them could lay hold of his hands and feet, while the Bhurtotor strangler passed the _rumal_ over his head and tightened it roundhis neck, forcing the victim backwards and not relaxing his hold tilllife was extinct. The _rumal_ or 'handkerchief, ' always employed forthrottling victims, was really a loin-cloth or turban, in which aloop 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 leaderof the gang cleared his throat violently it was a sign to preparefor action, and he afterwards gave the _jhirni_ or signal for themurder, by saying either '_Tamakhu kha lo_, ' 'Begin chewing tobacco';'_Bhanja ko pan do_, ' 'Give betel to my nephew'; or '_Ayi ho to ghirichalo_, ' 'If you are come, pray descend. ' Their adroitness was suchthat their victims seldom or never escaped nor even had a chance ofmaking a fight for their lives. But if several persons were to bekilled some men were detached to surround the camp and cut down anyone who tried to escape. The Thugs do not therefore appear to have hadany religious objection to the shedding of blood, but they preferredmurder by strangling as being safer. After the murder the bodies wereat once buried, being first cut about to prevent them from swellingon decomposition, as this might raise the surface of the earth overthe grave and so attract attention. If the ground was too hard theywere thrown into a ravine or down one of the shallow irrigation wellswhich abound in north India; and it was stated that the discoveryof a body in one of these wells was so common an occurrence thatthe cultivators took no notice of it. If there were people in thevicinity 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 theirown tents and to eat their food sitting on the soil above. For theattack of a horseman three men were always detailed, if practicable, so that one could seize the bridle and the other two pull him outof the saddle and strangle him; but if, as happened occasionally, a single Thug managed to kill a man on horseback, he obtained a greatreputation, which even descended to his children. On the other hand, if a strangler was unlucky or clumsy, so that the cloth fell onthe victim's head or face, or he got blood on his clothes or othersuspicious signs, and these accidents recurred, he was known as Bisul, and was excluded from the office of strangler on account of presumedunfitness for the duty. When it was necessary for some reason to murdera party on the march, some _belhas_ or scouts were sent on ahead tochoose a _beil_ or suitable place for the business, and see that noone 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 thispurpose. 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 toit. Another device in case of difficulty was for one of the Thugs tofeign sickness. The Garru or man who did this fell down on a suddenand pretended to be taken violently ill. Some of his friends raisedand supported him, while others brought water and felt his pulse;and at last one of them pretended that a charm would restore him. Allwere 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 uncovertheir necks, and lastly to look up and see if they could count acertain number of stars. While they were thus occupied intently gazingat 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 murdersare well illustrated by the narrative of the assassination of a nativeofficial 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 betweenNagpur and Jubbulpore; and they came on with us to Lakhnadon, wherewe found that some companies of a native regiment under Europeanofficers were expected the next morning. It was determined to putthem all to death that evening as the Munshi seemed likely to jointhe soldiers. The encampment was near the village and the Munshi'stent 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 usbetween them and the village. The _khalasis_ were all busily occupiedin pitching them. Nur Khan and his son Sadi Khan and a few others wentas soon as it became dark to the Munshi's tent, and began to play andsing upon a _sitar_ as they had been accustomed to do. During thistime some of them took up the Munshi's sword on pretence of wishingto look at it. His wife and children were inside listening to themusic. The _jhirni_ or signal was given, but at this moment the Munshisaw his danger, called out murder, and attempted to rush through, but was seized and strangled. His wife hearing him ran out with theinfant in her arms, but was seized by Ghabbu Khan, who strangledher and took the infant. The other daughter was strangled in thetent. The _saises_ (grooms) were at the time cleaning their horses, and one of them seeing his danger ran under the belly of his horseand called murder; but he was soon seized and strangled as well asall the rest. In order to prevent the party pitching the officers'tents from hearing the disturbance, as soon as the signal was giventhose of the gang who were idle began to play and sing as loud as theycould; and two vicious horses were let loose, and many ran after themcalling out as loud as they could; so that the calls of the Munshi andhis party were drowned. " They thought at first of keeping the infant, but decided that it was too risky, and threw it alive into the gravein which the other bodies had been placed. It is surprising to realisethat in the above case about half a dozen people, awake and conscious, were killed forcibly in broad daylight within a few paces of a numberof men occupied in pitching tents, without their noticing anything ofthe matter; and this may certainly be characterised as an instance ofmurder as a fine art to show the absolute callousness of the Thugstowards their victims and the complete absence of any feelings ofcompassion, the story of the following murder by the same gang may berecorded. [685] The Thugs were travelling from Nagpur toward Jubbulporewith a party consisting of Newal Singh, a Jemadar (petty officer)in the Nizam's army, his brother, his two daughters, one thirteen andthe other eleven years old, his son about seven years old, two youngmen who were to marry the daughters, and four servants. At Dhurna thehouse in which the Thugs lodged took fire, and the greater numberof them were seized by the police, but were released at the urgentrequest of Newal Singh and his two daughters, who had taken a greatfancy to Khimoli, the principal leader of the gang, and some of theothers. Newal Singh was related to a native officer of the Britishdetachment at Seoni and obtained his assistance for the release ofthe Thugs. At this time the gang had with them two bags of silk, theproperty of three carriers whom they had murdered in the great templeof Kamptee, and if they had been searched by the police these must havebeen discovered. On reaching Jubbulpore the Thugs found a lodging inthe town with Newal Singh and his family. But the merchants who wereexpecting the silk from Nagpur and found that it had not arrived, induced the Kotwal to search the lodging of the Thugs. Hearing of theapproach of the police, the leader Khimoli again availed himself ofthe attachment of Newal Singh and his daughters, and the girls weremade to sit each upon one of the two bags of silk while the policesearched the place. Nothing was found and the party again set out;and five days afterwards Newal Singh and his whole family were murderedat 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 onthe road when five travellers came by, but could not be persuadedto stop and partake of the meal, saying they wished to sleep at aplace called Hirora that night, and had yet eight miles to go. TheThugs afterwards followed, but found no traces of the travellers atHirora. Feringia therefore concluded that they must have fallen intothe hands of another gang, and suddenly recollected having passed anencampment of Banjaras (pack-carriers) not far from the town. On thefollowing morning he accordingly went back with a few of his comrades, and at once recognised a horse and pony which he had observed inthe possession of the travellers. So he asked the Banjaras, "Whathave you done with the five travellers, my good friends? You havetaken from us our _banij_ (merchandise). " They apologised for whatthey had done, pleading ignorance of the lien of the other Thugs, and offered to share the booty; but Feringia declined, as none ofhis party had been present at the _loading. _ They were accustomed todistinguish their most important exploits by the number of personswho were killed. Thus one murder in the Jubbulpore District was knownas the 'Sathrup, ' or 'Sixty soul affair, ' and another in Bilaspuras the 'Chalisrup, ' or 'Murder of forty. ' At this time (1807) theroad between northern and southern India through the Nerbudda valleyhad been rendered so unsafe by the incursions of the Pindaris thattravellers preferred to go through Chhattisgarh and Sambalpur to theGanges. This route, passing for long distances through dense forest, offered great advantages to the Thugs, and was soon infested bythem. In 1806, owing to the success [687] of previous expeditions, it was determined that all the Thugs of northern India should work onthis 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 atRatanpur in Bilaspur. The gangs split up, and after several murderssixty of them came to Lanji in Balaghat, and here in two days' timefell in with a party of thirty-one men, seven women and two girls ontheir way to the Ganges. The Jemadars soon became intimate with theprincipal men of the party, pretended to be going to the same part ofIndia and won their confidence; and next day they all set out and infour days reached Ratanpur, where they met 160 Thugs returning fromthe murder of a wealthy widow and her escort. Shortly afterwardsanother 200 men who had heard of the travellers near Nagpur alsocame up, but all the different bodies pretended to be strangers toeach other. They detached sixty men to return to Nagpur, leaving 360to deal with the forty travellers. From Ratanpur they all journeyedto Chura (Chhuri?), and here scouts were sent on to select a properplace for the murder. This was chosen in a long stretch of forest, and two men were despatched to the village of Sutranja, farther onthe road, to see that no one was coming in the opposite direction, while another picket remained behind to prevent interruption fromthe rear. By the time they reached the appointed place, the Bhurtots(stranglers) and Shamsias (holders) had all on some pretext or othergot 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 atthe same time; and thirty-eight out of forty were immediately seizedand strangled. One of the girls was a very handsome young woman, andPancham, a Jemadar, wished to preserve her as a wife for his son. Butwhen she saw her father and mother strangled she screamed and beather head against the ground and tried to kill herself. Pancham triedin vain to quiet her, and promised to take great care of her andmarry her to his own son, who would be a great chief; but all to noeffect. She continued to scream, and at last Pancham put the _rumal_(handkerchief) round her neck and strangled her. One little girlof three years old was preserved by another Jemadar and married tohis son, and when she grew up often heard the story of the affairnarrated. The bodies were buried in a ravine and the booty amountedto Rs. 17, 000. The Thugs then decided to return home, and arrivedwithout mishap, except that the Jemadar, Pancham, died on the way. 

7. Disguises of the Thugs

They were not particular, however, to ascertain that their victimscarried valuable property before disposing of them. Eight annas(8d. ), one of them said, [688] was sufficient remuneration formurdering a man. On another occasion two river Thugs killed twoold men and obtained only a rupee's worth of coppers, two brassvessels and their body-cloths. But as a rule the gains were muchlarger. It sometimes happened that the Thugs themselves were robbedat night by ordinary thieves, though they usually set a watch. On oneoccasion a band of more than a hundred Thugs fell in with a party oftwenty-seven dacoits who had with them stolen property of Rs. 13, 000in cash, with gold ornaments, gems and shawls. The Thugs asked to beallowed to travel under their protection, and the dacoits carelesslyassenting were shortly afterwards all murdered. [689] As alreadystated, the Thugs were accustomed to live in towns or villages andmany of them ostensibly followed respectable callings. The followinginstance of this is given by Sir W. Sleeman: [690] "The first partyof Thug approvers whom I sent into the Deccan to aid Captain Reynoldsrecognised in the person of one of the most respectable linen-drapersof the cantonment of Hingoli, Hari Singh, the adopted son of JawahirSukul, Subahdar of Thugs, who had been executed twenty years before. Onhearing that the Hari Singh of the list sent to him of noted Thugsat large in the Deccan was the Hari Singh of the Sadar Bazar, CaptainReynolds was quite astounded; so correct had he been in his deportmentand all his dealings that he had won the esteem of all the gentlemenof the station, who used to assist him in procuring passports forhis goods on their way from Bombay; and yet he had, as he has sincehimself shown, been carrying on his trade of murder up to the veryday of his arrest with gangs of Hindustan and the Deccan on all theroads around and close to the cantonments of Hingoli; and leadingout his band of assassins while he pretended to be on his way toBombay for a supply of fresh linen and broad-cloth. " Another case isquoted 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. Theman was a special favourite, remarkable for his kind and tender wayswith his little charges, gentle in manner and unexceptionable in allhis conduct. Every year he obtained leave from his master and mistress, as he said, for the filial purpose of visiting his aged mother for onemonth; and returning after the expiry of that time, with the utmostpunctuality, resumed with the accustomed affection and tendernessthe charge of his little darlings. This mild and exemplary being wasthe missing Thug; kind, gentle, conscientious and regular at his postfor 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 andall traces of them hidden, Sir W. Sleeman writes: [692] "While I wasin civil charge of the District of Narsinghpur, in the valley of theNerbudda, in the years 1822-1824, no ordinary robbery or theft couldbe committed without my becoming aware of it, nor was there a robberor thief of the ordinary kind in the District with whose character Ihad 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 professionresided in the village of Kandeli, [693] not four hundred yards frommy court, and that the extensive groves of the village of Mundesur, only one stage from me on the road to Saugor and Bhopal, were oneof the greatest _beles_ or places of murder in all India, and thatlarge gangs from Hindustan and the Deccan used to _rendezvous_ inthese groves, remain in them for many days every year, and carryon their dreadful trade along all the lines of road that pass byand branch off from them, with the knowledge and connivance of thetwo landholders by whose ancestors these groves had been planted, Ishould have thought him a fool or a madman; and yet nothing could havebeen more true. The bodies of a hundred travellers lie buried in andaround the groves of Mundesur; and a gang of assassins lived in andabout 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 periodof the decline of the Mughal Empire, when only the strongest and mostinfluential could obtain any assistance from the State in recoveringproperty or exacting reparation for the deaths of murdered friendsand relatives. Nevertheless, the Thugs could hardly have escapedconsiderable loss even from private vengeance had they been compelledto rely on themselves for protection. But this was not the case, for, like the Badhaks and other robbers, they enjoyed the countenance andsupport of landholders and ruling chiefs in return for presentingthem with the choicest of their booty and taking holdings of land atvery high rents. Sir W. Sleeman wrote [694] that, "The zamindars andlandholders of every description have everywhere been found ready toreceive these people under their protection from the desire to sharein the fruits of their expeditions, and without the slightest feelingof religious or moral responsibility for the murders which they knowmust be perpetrated to secure these fruits. All that they requirefrom them is a promise that they will not commit murders within theirestates and thereby involve them in trouble. " Sometimes the policecould also be conciliated by bribes, and on one occasion when a bodyof Thugs who had killed twenty-five persons were being pursued bythe Thakur of Powai [695] they retired upon the village of Tigura, and even the villagers came out to their support and defended themagainst his attack. Another officer wrote: [696] "To conclude, thereseems no doubt but that this horrid crime has been fostered by allclasses in the community--the landholders, the native officers ofour courts, the police and village authorities--all, I think, havebeen more or less guilty; my meaning is not, of course, that everymember of these classes, but that individuals varying in number ineach class were concerned. The subordinate police officials have inmany cases been _practising Thugs_, and the _chaukidars_ or villagewatchmen frequently so. "

10. Murder of sepoys

A favourite class of victims were sepoys proceeding to their homeson furlough and carrying their small savings; such men would not bequickly missed, as their relatives would think they had not started, and the regimental authorities would ascribe their failure to returnto desertion. So many of these disappeared that a special Army Orderwas issued warning them not to travel alone, and arranging for thetransmission of their money through the Government treasuries. [697]In this order it is stated that the Thugs were accustomed first tostupefy their victim by surreptitiously administering the commonnarcotic _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 theThugs were of a very religious or superstitious turn of mind. Therewas not one among them, Colonel Sleeman wrote, [698] who doubted thedivine origin of Thuggee: "Not one who doubts that he and all who havefollowed 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, andconsequently there is not one who feels the slightest remorse forthe murders which he may have perpetrated or abetted in the course ofhis vocation. A Thug considers the persons murdered precisely in thelight of victims offered up to the goddess; and he remembers themas a priest of Jupiter remembered the oxen and a priest of Saturnthe children sacrificed upon their altars. He meditates his murderswithout any misgivings, he perpetrates them without any emotionsof pity, and he recalls them without any feeling of remorse. Theytrouble not his dreams, nor does their recollection ever cause himinquietude in darkness, in solitude or in the hour of death. "

And again: "The most extraordinary trait in the characters of thesepeople is not this that they can look back upon all the murdersthey have perpetrated without any feelings of remorse, but that theycan look forward indifferently to their children, whom they love astenderly as any man in the world, following the same trade of murderor being united in marriage to men who follow the trade. When I haveasked them how they could cherish these children through infancy andchildhood under the determination to make them murderers or marrythem to murderers, the only observation they have ever made was thatformerly there was no danger of their ever being hung or transported, but that now they would rather that their children should learn someless dangerous trade. "

12. Belief in divine support

They considered that all their victims were killed by the agencyof God and that they were merely irresponsible agents, appointedto live by killing travellers as tigers by feeding on deer. If aman committed a real murder they held that his family must becomeextinct, and adduced the fact that this fate had not befallen themas proof that their acts of killing were justifiable. Nay, they evenheld that those who oppressed them were punished by the goddess:[699] "Was not Nanha, the Raja of Jalon, " said one of them, "madeleprous by Devi for putting to death Budhu and his brother Khumoli, two of the most noted Thugs of their day? He had them trampled underthe feet of elephants, but the leprosy broke out on his body the verynext day. When Mudhaji Sindhia caused seventy Thugs to be executed atMathura was he not warned in a dream by Devi that he should releasethem? And did he not the very day after their execution begin tospit blood? And did he not die within three months?" Their subsequentmisfortunes and the success of the British officers against them theyattributed to their disobedience of the ordinances of Devi in slayingwomen and other classes of prohibited persons and their disregard ofher omens. They also held that the spirits of all their victims wentstraight to Paradise, and this was the reason why the Thugs were nottroubled by them as other murderers were. 

13. Theory of Thuggee as a religious sect

The fact that the Thugs considered themselves to be directed bythe deity, reinforced by their numerous superstitious beliefs andobservances, has led to the suggestion by one writer that they wereoriginally a religious sect, whose principal tenet was the prohibitionof the shedding of blood. There is, however, no evidence in supportof this view in the accounts of Colonel Sleeman, incomparably thebest authority. Their method of strangulation was, as has been seen, simply the safest and most convenient means of murder: it enabledthem to dispense with arms, by the sight of which the apprehensionsof their victims would have been aroused, and left no traces on thesite of the crime to be observed by other travellers. On occasionalso they did not scruple to employ weapons; as in the murder of seventreasure-bearers near Hindoria in Damoh, who would not probably haveallowed the Thugs to approach them, and in consequence were openlyattacked and killed with swords. [700] Other instances are given inColonel Sleeman's narrative, and they were also accustomed to cutand slash about the bodies of their victims after death. The beliefthat they were guided by the divine will may probably have arisen asa means of excusing their own misdeeds to themselves and allayingtheir fear of such retribution as being haunted by the ghosts oftheir victims. Similar instances of religious beliefs and practicesare given in the accounts of other criminals, such as the Badhaks andSansias. And the more strict and serious observances of the Thugs maybe accounted for by the more atrocious character of their crimes andthe 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 andimplements generally achieve the results obtained from them by theirinherent virtue and of their own volition, and not from the human handwhich guides them and the human brain which fashioned them to servetheir ends. Members of practically all castes worship the implementsof their profession and thus afford evidence of the same belief, the most familiar instance of which is perhaps, 'The pestilencethat walketh in the darkness and the arrow that flieth by noonday';where the writer intended no metaphor but actually thought that thepestilence 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 ofthe criminal and lower castes; and those who were Muhammadans gotover the difficulty of her being a Hindu goddess by pretending thatFatima, the daughter of the Prophet, was an incarnation of her. Informer times they held that the goddess was accustomed to relievethem of the trouble of destroying the dead bodies by devouring themherself; but in order that they might not see her doing this she hadstrictly enjoined on them never to look back on leaving the site ofa murder. On one occasion a novice of the fraternity disobeyed thisrule and, unguardedly looking behind him, saw the goddess in theact of feasting upon a body with the half of it hanging out of hermouth. Upon this she declared that she would no longer devour thosewhom the Thugs slaughtered; but she agreed to present them with oneof her teeth for a pickaxe, a rib for a knife and the hem of her lowergarment for a noose, and ordered them for the future to cut about andbury the bodies of those whom they destroyed. As there seems reasonto suppose that the goddess Kali represents the deified tiger, onwhich she rides, she was eminently appropriate as the patroness ofthe 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, theleader of the gang, having ascertained a lucky day from the priest, went to a blacksmith and after closing the door so that no otherperson might enter, got him to make the axe in his presence withouttouching any other work until it was completed. A day was then chosenfor the consecration of the pickaxe, either Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdayor Friday; and the ceremony was performed inside a house or tent, so that the shadow of no living thing might fall on and contaminatethe sacred implement. A pit was dug in the ground and over it thepickaxe was washed successively with water, sugar and water, sourmilk, and alcoholic liquor, all of which were poured over it intothe pit. Finally it was marked seven times with vermilion. A burntoffering was then made with all the usual ingredients for sacrificeand the pickaxe was passed seven times through the flames. A cocoanutwas placed on the ground, and the priest, holding the pickaxe by thepoint in his right hand, said, 'Shall I strike?' The others repliedyes, and striking the cocoanut with the butt end he broke it inpieces, upon which all exclaimed, 'All hail, Devi, and prosper theThugs. ' All then partook of the kernel of the cocoanut, and collectingthe fragments put them into the pit so that they might not afterwardsbe contaminated by the touch of any man's foot. Here the cocoanutmay probably be considered as a substituted sacrifice for a humanbeing. Thereafter the pickaxe was called Kassi or Mahi instead of_kudali_ the ordinary name, and was given to the shrewdest, cleanestand most sober and careful man of the party, who carried it in hiswaist-belt. While in camp he buried it in a secure place with itspoint in the direction they intended to go; and they believed thatif another direction was better the point would be found changedtowards it. They said that formerly the pickaxe was thrown into awell and would come up of itself when summoned with due ceremonies;but since they disregarded the ordinances of Kali it had lost thatvirtue. Many Thugs told Colonel Sleeman [701] that they had seen thepickaxe rise out of the well in the morning of its own accord andcome to the hands of the man who carried it; and even the severalpickaxes of different gangs had been known to come up of themselvesfrom the same well and go to their respective bearers. The pickaxewas also worshipped on every seventh day during an expedition, and it was believed that the sound made by it in digging a gravewas never heard by any one but a Thug. The oath by the pickaxe wasin their esteem far more sacred than that by the Ganges water or theKoran, and they believed that a man who perjured himself by this oathwould die or suffer some great calamity within six days. In prison, when administering an oath to each other in cases of dispute, theysometimes made an image of the pickaxe out of a piece of cloth andconsecrated it for the purpose. If the pickaxe at any time fell fromthe hands of the carrier it was a dreadful omen and portended eitherthat he would be killed that year or that the gang would suffer somegrievous misfortune. He was deprived of his office and the gang eitherreturned 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 unrefinedsugar. This was purchased to the value of Rs. 1-4, and the leader ofthe gang and the other Bhurtotes (stranglers) sat on a blanket withthe rest of the gang round them. A little sugar was dropped into ahole and the leader prayed to Devi to send them some rich victims. Theremainder of the sugar was divided among all present. One of them gavethe _jhirni_ or signal for strangling and they consumed the sugar insolemn silence, no fragment of it being lost They believed that it wasthis consecrated _gur_ which gave the desire for the trade of a Thugand made them callous to the sufferings of their victims, and theythought that if any outsider tasted it he would at once become a Thugand continue so all his life. When Colonel Sleeman asked [702] a youngman who had strangled a beautiful young woman in opposition to theirrules, 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 manonce taste of that _gur_ and he will be a Thug, though he knows all thetrades and have all the wealth in the world. I never wanted food; mymother's family was opulent, her relations high in office. I have beenhigh in office myself, and became so great a favourite wherever I wentthat I was sure of promotion; yet I was always miserable while absentfrom my gang and obliged to return to Thuggee. My father made me tasteof that fatal _gur_ when I was yet a mere boy; and if I were to livea thousand years I should never be able to follow any other trade. "

The eating of this _gur_ was clearly the sacrificial meal of theThugs. On the analogy of other races they should have partaken of thebody of an animal god at their sacrificial meal, and if the goddessKali is the deified tiger, they should have eaten tiger's flesh. Thiscustom, if it ever existed, had been abandoned, and the _gur_ wouldin 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 anddesire to kill which might be expected to follow from eating tiger'sflesh and thus assimilating the qualities of the animal. Since theywent unarmed as a rule, in order to avoid exciting the suspicionsof their victims, it would be quite impossible for them to obtaintiger's flesh, except by the rarest accident; and the _gur_ might beconsidered a suitable substitute, since its yellow colour would beheld to make it resemble the tiger. 

17. Worship of ancestors

The Thugs also worshipped the spirits of their ancestors. Oneof these was Dadu Dhira, an ancient Thug of the Barsote class, who was invoked at certain religious ceremonies, when liquor wasdrunk. Vows were made to offer libations of ardent spirits to him, and if the prayer was answered the worshipper drank the liquor, or ifhis caste precluded him from doing this, threw it on the ground withan expression of thanks. Another deity was the spirit of Jhora Naik, who was a Muhammadan. He and his servant killed a man who had jewelsand other articles laden on a mule to the value of more than a lakhand a half. They brought home the booty, assembled all the membersof their fraternity within reach, and honestly divided the whole asif all had been present The Thugs also said that Nizam-ud-din Aulia, a well-known Muhammadan saint, famed for his generosity, whose shrineis near Delhi, had been a Thug, at any rate in his younger days. Hedistributed so much money in charity that he was supposed to be endowedwith a Dustul Ghib or supernatural purse; and they supposed that heobtained 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 knownas Satha (seven). During this period the families of those who wereengaged in it would admit no visitors from the relatives of otherThugs, lest the travellers destined for their own gang should goover to these others; neither could they eat any food belongingto the families of other Thugs. During the Satha period the Thugsengaged in the expedition ate no animal food except fish and nothingcooked with _ghi_ (melted butter). They did not shave or bathe orhave their clothes washed or indulge in sexual intercourse, or giveaway anything in charity or throw any part of their food to dogs orjackals. At one time they ate no salt or turmeric, but this rule wasafterwards abandoned. But if the Sourka or first murder took placewithin the seven days they considered themselves relieved by it fromall these restraints. 

19. Initiation of a novice

A Thug seldom attained to the office of Bhurtote or strangleruntil he had been on several expeditions and acquired the requisitecourage or insensibility by slow degrees. At first they were almostalways shocked or frightened; but after a time they said they lostall 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 sufficientcourage and insensibility he begged the oldest and most renowned Thugof the gang to make him his _chela_ or disciple. If his proposal wasaccepted he awaited the arrival of a suitable victim of not too greatbodily strength. While the traveller was asleep with the gang at theirquarters the _guru_ or preceptor took his disciple into a neighbouringfield, followed by three or four old members of the gang. Here theyall 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 atour lodging should die by the hands of this thy slave, vouchsafe, wepray thee, the omen on the right. " If they got this within a certaininterval the candidate was considered to be accepted, and if not someother Thug put the traveller to death and he had to wait for anotherchance. In the former case they returned to their quarters and the_guru_ took a handkerchief and tied the slip-knot in one end of itwith a rupee inside it. The disciple received it respectfully in hisright hand and stood over the victim with the Shamsia or holder byhis side. The traveller was roused on some pretence or other and thedisciple passed the handkerchief over his neck and strangled him. Hethen bowed down to his _guru_ and all his relations and friends ingratitude for the honour he had obtained. He gave the rupee from theknot with other money, if he had it, to the _guru_, and with this sugaror sweetmeats were bought and the _gur_ sacrifice was celebrated, the new strangler taking one of the seats of honour on the blanketfor the first time. The relation between a strangler and his _guru_was considered most sacred, and a Thug would often rather betrayhis father than the preceptor by whom he had been initiated. Therewere certain classes of persons whom they were forbidden to kill, and they considered that the rapid success of the English officersin finally breaking up the gangs was to be attributed to the divinewrath at breaches of these rules. The original rule [704] was thatthe 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 anyman 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 forsome of these exemptions is obvious: Brahmans, Muhammadan Saiyads, bards, religious mendicants and devotees were excluded owing to theirsanctity; and sweepers, washermen and lepers owing to their impurity, which would have the same evil and unlucky effect on their murderersas the holiness of the first classes. A man wearing gold ornamentswould be protected by the sacred character of the metal; and thekilling of a poor man as the first victim would naturally presage alack of valuable booty during the remainder of the expedition. Telisand Kayasths are often considered as unlucky castes, and even inthe capacity of victims might be held to bring an evil fortune ontheir murderers. 

20. Prohibition of murder of women

Another list is given of persons whom it was forbidden to kill at anytime, and of these the principal category was women. It was a ruleof all Thugs that women should not be murdered, but one which theyconstantly broke, for few large parties consisted solely of men, andto allow victims to escape from a party would have been a suicidalpolicy. In all the important exploits related to Colonel Sleemanthe women who accompanied victims were regularly strangled, with theoccasional exception of young girls who might be saved and married tothe sons of Thug leaders. The breach of the rule as to the murder ofwomen was, however, that which they believed to be specially offensiveto their patroness Bhawani; and no Thug, Colonel Sleeman states, was ever known to offer insult either in act or speech to the womenwhom they were about to murder. No gang would ever dare to murder awoman with whom one of its members should be suspected of having hadcriminal intercourse. The murder of women was especially reprobatedby Hindus, and the Muhammadan Thugs were apparently responsible forthe disregard of this rule which ultimately became prevalent, as shownby the dispute over the killing of a wealthy old lady, [705] narratedby one of the Thugs as follows: "I remember the murder of Kali Bibiwell; I was at the time on an expedition to Baroda and not present, but Punua must have been there. A dispute arose between the Musalmansand Hindus before and after the murder. The Musalmans insisted uponkilling her as she had Rs. 4000 of property with her, but the Hinduswould not agree. She was killed, and the Hindus refused to take anypart of the booty; they came to blows, but at last the Hindus gavein and consented to share in all but the clothes and ornaments whichthe woman wore. Feringia's father, Parasram Brahman, was there, andwhen they came home Parasram's brother, Rai Singh, refused to eat, drink or smoke with his brother till he had purged himself from thisgreat sin; and he, with two other Thugs, a Rajput and a Brahman, gave a feast which cost them a thousand rupees each. Four or fivethousand Brahmans were assembled at that feast. Had it rested herewe should have thrived; but in the affair of the sixty victims womenwere again murdered; in the affair of the forty several women weremurdered; 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 bemurdered, no doubt on account of the sanctity attaching to theanimal. But in one case of a murder of fourteen persons includingwomen and a man with a cow at Kotri in the Damoh District, the Thugs, having made acquaintance with the party, pretended that they hadmade a vow to offer a cow at a temple in Shahpur lying on their roadand persuaded the cow's owner to sell her to them for this sacredpurpose, and having duly made the offering and deprived him of theprotection afforded by the cow, they had no compunction in stranglinghim with all the travellers. Travellers who had lost a limb were alsoexempted from death, but this rule too was broken, as in the case ofthe native officer with his two daughters who was murdered by theThugs he had befriended; for it is recorded that this man had losta leg. Pilgrims carrying Ganges water could not be killed if theyactually had the Ganges water with them; and others who should not bemurdered were washermen, sweepers, oil-vendors, dancers and musicians, carpenters and blacksmiths, if found travelling together, and religiousmendicants. The reason for the exemption of carpenters and blacksmithsonly when travelling together may probably have been that the sacredpickaxe was their joint handiwork, having a wooden handle and an ironhead; and this seems a more likely explanation than any other in viewof the deep veneration shown for the pickaxe. Maimed persons wouldprobably not be acceptable victims to the goddess, according to therule that the sacrifice must be without spot or blemish. The otherclasses have already been discussed under the exemption of firstvictims. Among the Deccan Thugs if a man strangled any victim of aclass whom it was forbidden to kill, he was expelled from the communityand 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 constantlyindicated to them by the appearance or cries of a large number of wildanimals and birds from which they drew their omens; and indeed thenumber of these was so extensive that they could never be at a lossfor an indication of the divine will, and difficulties could onlyarise when the omens were conflicting. As a general rule the omenvaried according as it was heard on the left hand, known as Pilhao, or the right, known as Thibao. On first opening an expedition an omenmust be heard on the left and be followed by one on the right, or nostart was made; it signified that the deity took them first by the lefthand and then by the right to lead them on. When they were preparing tomarch or starting on a road, an omen heard on the left encouraged themto go on, but if it came from the right they halted. When arrivingat their camping-place on the other hand the omen on the right wasauspicious and they stayed, but if it came from the left the projectedsite was abandoned and the march continued. In the case of the callsof a very few animals these rules were reversed, left and right beingtransposed in each instance. The howl of the jackal was always bad ifheard during the day, and the gang immediately quitted the locality, leaving untouched any victims whom they might have inveigled, howeverwealthy. The jackal's cry at night followed the rule of right andleft. The jackal was probably revered by the Thugs as the devourerof corpses. The sound made by the lizard was at all times and placesa very good omen; but if a lizard fell upon a Thug it was bad, andany garment touched by it must be given away in charity. The call ofthe _saras_ crane was a very important omen, and when heard first onthe left and then on the right or vice versa according to the rulesgiven above, they expected a great booty in jewels or money. Thecall of the partridge followed the same rules but was not of so muchimportance. That of the large crow was favourable if the bird wassitting 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 onthe skeleton of any animal, it was a bad omen. Tanks or rivers werelikely places for booty in the shape of resting travellers, whosedeath the appearance of the crow might portend; whereas in the otherpositions it might prognosticate a Thug's own death. The chirping ofthe small owlet was considered to be a bad omen, whether made whilethe bird was sitting or flying; It was known as _chiraiya_ and is alow and melancholy sound seldom repeated. They considered it a verybad omen to hear the hare squeaking; this, unless it was avertedby sacrifices, signified, they said, that they would perish in thejungles, and the hare or some other animal of the forest would drinkwater from their skulls. "We know that the hare was used in Brittanyas an animal of augury for foretelling the future; and all animals ofaugury were once venerated. " [706] The hare has still some remnant ofsanctity among the Hindus. Women will not eat its flesh, and men eatthe flesh of wild hares only, not of tame ones. It seems likely thatthe hare may have been considered capable of foretelling the futureon account of its long ears. The omen of the donkey was consideredthe most important of all, whether it threatened evil or promisedgood. It was a maxim of augury that the ass was equal to a hundredbirds, and it was also more important than all other quadrupeds. Ifthey heard its bray on the left on the opening of an expedition andit was soon after repeated on the right, they believed that nothingon earth could prevent their success during that expedition thoughit 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 alsothe bray of the ass would give it importance. 

The noise of two cats heard fighting was propitious only during thefirst watch of the night; if heard later in the night it was knownas '_Kali ki mauj_' or 'Kali's temper, ' and threatened evil, and ifduring the daytime as '_Dhamoni [707] ki mauj_, ' and was a preludeof great misfortune; while if the cats fell from a height whilefighting it was worst of all. The above shows that the cat was alsothe animal of Kali and is a point in favour of her derivation fromthe tiger; and on this hypothesis the importance of the omen of thecat is explained. If they obtained a good omen when in company withtravellers they believed that it was a direct order from heaven tokill them, and that if they disobeyed the sign and let the travellersgo 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 remedyfor this was to return home and start the journey afresh. Various otherevents [709] also produced the Itak, especially among the Deccan Thugs;these were the birth of a child in a Thug family; the first coursesof a Thug's daughter; a marriage in a Thug's family; a death of anymember of his family except an infant at the breast; circumcision ofa boy; a buffalo or cow giving calf or dying; and a cat or dog givinga litter or dying. If a party fell under the Itak or contaminationat a time when it was extremely inconvenient or impossible to returnhome, they sometimes marched back for a few miles and slept the night, making a fresh start in the morning, and this was considered equivalentto beginning a new journey after getting rid of the contamination. Ifany member of the party sneezed on setting out on an expedition or onthe day's march, it was a bad omen and required expiatory sacrifices;and if they had travellers with them when this omen occurred, thesemust be allowed to escape and could not be put to death. Omens werealso taken from the turban, without which no Thug, except perhaps inBengal, would travel. [710] If a turban caught fire a great evil wasportended, and the gang must, if near home, return and wait for sevendays. 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 aman's turban fell off it was also considered a very bad omen, requiringexpiatory sacrifices. The turban is important as being the coveringof the head, which many primitive people consider to contain the lifeor soul (_Golden Bough_). A shower of rain falling at any time exceptduring the monsoon period from June to September was also a bad omenwhich must be averted by sacrifices. Prior to the commencement [711]of an expedition a Brahman was employed to select a propitious dayand hour for the start and for the direction in which the gang shouldproceed. After this the auspices were taken with great solemnity and, if favourable omens were obtained, the party set out and made a fewsteps in the direction indicated; after this they might turn to theright or left as impediments or incentives presented themselves. Ifthey 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 anyone belonging to their own village, but not that of a stranger. Andit 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 brownwaistband or a Jogi (mendicant) with long matted hair. Most of thesewere 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 primitiveraces generally, of being guided in their every action by the chanceindications afforded from the voices and movements of birds and animalsappears to the civilised mind extremely foolish. But its explanationis not difficult when the character of early religious beliefs isrealised. It was held by savages generally that animals, birds and allother living things, as well as trees and other inanimate objects, had souls and exercised conscious volition like themselves. Andthose animals, such as the tiger and cow, and other objects, suchas the sun and moon and high mountains or trees, which appeared mostimposing and terrible, or exercised the most influence on their lives, were their principal deities, the spirits of which at a later perioddeveloped into anthropomorphic gods. Even the lesser animals andbirds were revered and considered to be capable of affecting thelives of men. Hence their appearance, their flight and their crieswere naturally taken to be direct indications afforded by the god tohis worshippers; and it was in the interpretation of these, the signsgiven by the divine beings by whom man was surrounded, and whom at onetime he considered superior to himself, that the science of auguryconsisted. "The priestesses of the oracle of Zeus at Dodona calledthemselves doves, as those of Diana at Ephesus called themselves bees;this proves that the oracles of the temples were formerly founded onobservations of the flight of doves and bees, and no doubt also thatthe original cult consisted in the worship of these animals. " [712]Thus, as is seen here, when the deity was no longer an animal but haddeveloped into a god in human shape, the animal remained associatedwith him and partook of his sanctity; and what could be more naturalthan that he should convey the indications of his will through theappearance, movements and cries of the sacred animal to his human_protégés_. The pseudo-science of omens is thus seen to be a naturalcorollary of the veneration of animals and inanimate objects. 

25. Suppression of Thuggee

When the suppression of the Thugs was seriously taken in hand by theThuggee and Dacoity Department under the direction of Sir WilliamSleeman, this abominable confraternity, which had for centuriesinfested the main roads of India and made away with tens of thousandsof helpless travellers, never to be heard of again by their familiesand friends, was destroyed with comparatively little difficulty. TheThugs when arrested readily furnished the fullest information oftheir murders and the names of their confederates in return forthe promise of their lives, and Colonel Sleeman started a separatefile or _dossier_ for every Thug whose name became known to him, inwhich all information obtained about him from different informerswas collected. In this manner, as soon as a man was arrested andidentified, a mass of evidence was usually at once forthcoming tosecure his conviction. Between 1826 and 1835 about 2000 Thugs werearrested and hanged, transported or kept under restraint; subsequentlyto this a larger number of British officers were deputed to the workof hunting down the Thugs, and by 1848 it was considered that thisform of crime had been practically stamped out. For the support of theapprover Thugs and the families of these and others a labour colonywas instituted at Jubbulpore, which subsequently developed into theschool of industry and was the parent of the existing ReformatorySchool. Here these criminals were taught tent and carpet-making andother trades, and in time grew to be ashamed of the murderous callingin 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, andbasket-makers, belonging to the Chota Nagpur plateau. They number about4000 persons in Raigarh, Sarangarh and the States recently transferredfrom Bengal. The physical type of the Turis, Sir H. Risley states, their language, and their religion place it beyond doubt that they area Hinduised offshoot of the Munda tribe. They still speak a dialectderived from Mundari, and their principal deity is Singbonga or thesun, the great god of the Mundas: "In Lohardaga, where the caste ismost numerous, it is divided into four subcastes--Turi or Kisan-Turi, Or, Dom, and Domra--distinguished by the particular modes of basketand 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 _Saccharumprocerum_; the _tokri_ or _tokiya_, a large open basket of splitbamboo twigs woven up with the fibre of the leaves of the _tal_palm; the _sair_ and _nadua_, used for catching fish. The Ors aresaid to take their name from the _oriya_ basket used by the sower, and made of split bamboo, sometimes helped out with _tal_ fibre. Theyalso make umbrellas, and the _chhota dali_ or _dala_, a flat basketwith vertical sides used for handling grain in small quantities. Domsmake 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 ona shoulder-yoke (_bhangi_), and a kind of basket called _phanda_. Domsand Domras speak Hindi; Turis, Ors and Birhors use among themselvesa dialect of Mundari. " [713]

2. Subdivisions

In Raigarh and Sarangarh of the Central Provinces the above subcastesare not found, and there are no distinct endogamous groups; butthe more Hinduised members of the caste have begun to marry amongthemselves and call themselves Turia, while they look down on theothers to whom they restrict the designation Turi. The names ofsubcastes given by Sir H. Risley appear to indicate that the Turisare an offshoot from the Mundas, with an admixture of Doms and otherlow Uriya castes. Among themselves the caste is also known as Husil, a term which signifies a worker in bamboo. The caste say that theiroriginal 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 astheir family deity, and is revered to the present day as BarpahariDeo. The deity is thus called after the hill, of which it is clear thathe is the personified representative. From the five sons are descendedthe five main septs of the Turis. The eldest was called Mailuar, andhis descendants are the leaders or headmen of the caste. The groupsprung from the second son are known as Chardhagia, and it is theirbusiness to purify and readmit offenders to caste intercourse. Thedescendants of the third son conduct the ceremonial shaving of suchoffenders, and are known as Surennar, while those of the fourth sonbring water for the ceremony and are called Tirkuar. The fifth groupis known as Hasdagia, and it is said that they are the offspring ofthe youngest brother, who committed some offence, and the four otherbrothers took the parts which are still played by their descendants inhis ceremony of purification. Traces of similar divisions appear to befound in Bengal, as Sir H. Risley states that before a marriage canbe celebrated the consent of the heads of the Madalwar and Surinwarsections, who are known respectively as Raja and Thakur, is obtained, while the head of the Charchagiya section officiates as priest. Theabove names are clearly only variants of those found in the CentralProvinces. But besides the above groups the Turis have a large numberof exogamous septs of a totemistic nature, some of which are identicalwith those of the Mundas. 

3. Marriage

Marriage is adult, and the bride and bridegroom are usually aboutthe same age; but girls are scarce in the caste, and betrothals areusually effected at an early age, so that the fathers of boys mayobtain brides for their sons. A contract of betrothal, once made, cannot be broken without incurring social disgrace, and compensationin money is also exacted. A small bride-price of three or four rupeesand a piece of cloth is payable to the girl's father. As in the caseof some other Uriya castes the proposal for a marriage is couched inpoetic phraseology, the Turi bridegroom's ambassador announcing hisbusiness with the phrase: 'I hear that a sweet-scented flower hasblossomed in your house and I have come to gather it'; to which thebride's father, if the match be acceptable, replies: 'You may takeaway my flower if you will not throw it away when its sweet scenthas gone. ' The girl then appears, and the boy's father gives hera piece of cloth and throws a little liquor over her feet. He thentakes 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. ' Hewashes the feet of her relatives, and the contract of betrothalis thus completed, and its violation by either party is a seriousmatter. The wedding is performed according to the ritual commonlypractised by the Uriya castes. The binding portion of it consistsin the perambulation of the sacred pole five or seven times. Aftereach circle the bridegroom takes hold of the bride's toe and makesher kick away a small heap of rice on which a nut and a pice coinare placed. After this a cloth is held over the couple and each rubsvermilion on the other's forehead. At this moment the bride's brotherappears, and gives the bridegroom a blow on the back. This is probablyin token of his wrath at being deprived of his sister. A meal of riceand fowls is set before the bridegroom, but he feigns displeasure, and refuses to eat them. The bride's parents then present him with apickaxe and a crooked knife, saying that these are the implements oftheir 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 twentyor more rupees on her wedding, and the bridegroom's family about fiftyrupees. A widow is expected to marry her Dewar or deceased husband'syounger brother, and if she takes somebody else he must repay to theDewar the expenditure incurred by the latter's family on her firstmarriage. Divorce is permitted for misconduct on the part of the wifeor for incompatibility of temper. 

4. Funeral rites

The caste bury the dead, placing the head to the north. They makelibations 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 ofancestors are reborn in children, and when a baby is born they put agrain of rice into a pot of water and then five other grains in thenames of ancestors recently deceased. When one of these meets thegrain representing the child they hold that the ancestor in questionhas been born again. The principal deity of the caste is Singbonga, thesun, and according to one of their stories the sun is female. They saythat the sun and moon were two sisters, both of whom had children, butwhen the sun gave out great heat the moon was afraid that her childrenwould be burnt up, so she hid them in a _handi_ or earthen pot. Whenthe 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 sunalso ate up her own children. But when night came the moon took herchildren out of the earthen pot and they spread out in the sky andbecame the stars. And when the sun saw this she was greatly angeredand vowed that she would never look on the moon's face again. And itis on this account that the moon is not seen in the daytime, and asthe 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 thewood of the bamboo, and the following list of their wares will give anidea of the variety of purposes for which this product is utilised:_Tukna_, an ordinary basket; _dauri_, a basket for washing ricein 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 inthe pocket; _dhitori_, a fish-basket; _dholi_, a large bamboo shedfor storing grain; _ghurki_ and _paili_, grain measures; _chhanni_, a sieve; _taji_) a balance; _pankha_ and _bijna_, fans; _pelna_, atriangular frame for a fishing-net; _choniya_, a cage for catchingfish; _chatai_) matting; _chhata_, an umbrella; _chhitori_, a leafhat 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 madetheir ancestors he told them to fetch something in which to carryaway the grain which he would give them for their support; but theTuris brought a bamboo sieve, and when Singbonga poured the graininto the sieve nearly the whole of it ran out. So he reproved themfor their foolishness, and said, '_Khasar, khasar, tin pasar_, 'which meant that, however hard they should work, they would neverearn more than three handfuls of grain a day. 

6. Social status

The social status of the Turis is very low, and their touch is regardedas impure. They must live outside the village and may not draw waterfrom the common well; the village barber will not shave them northe washerman wash their clothes. They will eat all kinds of food, including the flesh of rats and other vermin, but not beef. Therules regarding social impurity are more strictly observed in theUriya country than elsewhere, owing to the predominant influence ofthe Brahmans, and this is probably the reason why the Turis are soseverely ostracised. Their code of social morality is not strict, anda girl who is seduced by a man of the caste is simply made over to himas his wife, the ordinary bride-price being exacted from him. He mustalso feed the caste-fellows, and any money which is received by thegirl's father is expended in the same manner. Members of Hindu castesand 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 theMunda tribe. The fact indicates that in Chota Nagpur the tribes of theMunda family occupy a lower social position than the Gonds and othersbelonging to the Dravidian family. When an offender of either sex isto be readmitted into caste after having been temporarily expelled forsome offence he or she is given water to drink and has a lock of haircut off. Their women are tattooed on the arms, breast and feet, andsay 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 inlarge numbers in Vizagapatam and Ganjam, while in 1911 about 700persons were returned from Chanda and other districts in the CentralProvinces. The caste frequently also call themselves by the honorifictitles of Naidu or Dora (lord). The Velamas are said formerly tohave been one with the Kamma caste, but to have separated on thequestion of retaining the custom of _parda_ or _gosha_ which they hadborrowed from the Muhammadans. The Kammas abandoned _parda_, and, signing a bond written on palm-leaf to this effect, obtained theirname from _kamma_, a leaf. The Velamas retained the custom, but afurther division has taken place on the subject, and one subcaste, called the Adi or original Velamas, do not seclude their women. Thecaste has at present a fairly high position, and several importantMadras chiefs are Velamas, as well as the zamindar of Sironcha in theCentral Provinces. They appear, however, to have improved their status, and thus to have incurred the jealousy of their countrymen, as isevidenced by some derogatory sayings current about the caste. Thusthe Balijas call them Guni Sakalvandlu or hunchbacked washermen, because some of them print chintz and carry their goods in a bundleon their backs. [714] According to another derivation _guna_ isthe large pot in which they dye their cloth. Another story is thatthe name of the caste is Velimala, meaning those who are above orbetter than the Dhers, and was a title conferred on them by the Rajaof Bastar in recognition of the bravery displayed by the Velamas inhis army. These stories are probably the outcome of the feeling ofjealousy which attaches to castes which have raised themselves inthe social scale. The customs of the Velamas do not indicate a veryhigh standard of ceremonial observance, as they eat fowls and porkand 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 andstrong, of a comparatively fair complexion and of a bold and arrogantdemeanour. It is said that a Velama will never do anything himselfwhich a servant can do for him, and a story is told of one of them whowas smoking when a spark fell on his moustache. He called his servantto remove it, but by the time the man came, his master's moustache hadbeen burnt away. These stories and the customs of the Velamas appearto indicate that they are a caste of comparatively low position, whohave gone up in the world, and are therefore tenacious in assertinga social position which is not universally admitted. Their subcastesshow that a considerable difference in standing exists in the differentbranches of the caste. Of these the Racha or royal Velamas, to whomthe chiefs and zamindars belong, are the highest. While others are theGuna 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 probablethat the Velamas were originally a branch of the great Kapu or Reddicaste of cultivators, corresponding in the Telugu country to the Kurmisand Kunbis, as many of their section names are the same as those ofthe Kapus. The Velamas apparently took up the trades of weaving anddyeing, and some of them engaged in military service and acquiredproperty. These are now landowners and cultivators and breed cattle, while others dye and weave cloth. They will not engage themselvesas hired labourers, and they do not allow their women to work inthe fields. 

2. Marriage and social customs

The caste are said to have 77 exogamous groups descended from the 77followers or spearsmen who attended Raja Rudra Pratap of Bastar whenhe was ousted from Warangal. These section names are eponymous, territorial and totemistic, instances of the last kind beingCherukunula 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 usuallyadult, and the binding portion of the ceremony consists in the tyingof the _mangal-sutram_ or happy thread by the bridegroom round thebride's neck. At the end of the marriage the _kankans_ or braceletsof the bridegroom and bride are taken off in signification that allobstacles to complete freedom of intercourse and mutual confidencebetween the married pair have been removed. In past years, when theGuna Velamas had a marriage, they were bound to pay the marriageexpenses of a couple of the Palli or fisherman caste, in memory ofthe fact that on one occasion when the Guna Velamas were in danger ofbeing exterminated by their enemies, the Pallis rescued them in theirboats and carried them to a place of safety. But now it is consideredsufficient to hang up a fishing-net in the house when a marriageceremony of the Guna Velamas is being celebrated. [715] The caste donot permit the marriage of widows, and divorce is confined to casesin which a wife is guilty of adultery. The Velamas usually employVaishnava Brahmans as their priests. They burn the bodies of thosewho die after marriage, and bury those dying before it. Children arenamed on the twenty-first day after birth, the child being placed ina swing, and the name selected by the parents being called out threetimes by the oldest woman present. On this day the mother is takento a well and made to draw a bucket of water by way of declarationthat 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 inthe Central Provinces in 1911, and found in the Nagpur Division andBerar. They are also returned from Hyderabad and Bombay. Vidur meansa wise or intelligent man, and was the name of the younger brotherof Pandu, the father of the Pandava brothers. The Vidurs are a casteof mixed descent, principally formed from the offspring of Brahmanfathers with women of other castes. But the descendants of Panchals, Kunbis, Malis and others from women of lower caste are also knownas Vidurs and are considered as different subcastes. Each of thesegroups follow the customs and usually adopt the occupation of thecastes to which their fathers belonged. They are known as Kharchi orKhaltatya, meaning 'Below the plate' or 'Below the salt, ' as they arenot admitted to dine with the proper Vidurs. But the rule varies indifferent places, and sometimes after the death of their mother suchpersons become full members of the caste, and with each succeedinggeneration the status of their descendants improves. In Poona thename Vidur is restricted to the descendants of Brahman fathers, andthey are also known as Brahmanja or 'Born from Brahmans. ' Elsewherethe Brahman Vidurs are designated especially as Krishnapakshi, whichmeans 'One born during the dark fortnight, ' The term Krishnapakshiis or was also used in Bengal, and Buchanan defined it as follows:"Men of the Rajput, Khatri and Kayasth tribes, but no others, openlykeep women slaves of any pure tribe, and the children are of thesame caste with their father, but are called Krishnapakshis and canonly marry with each other. " [717] In Bastar a considerable classof persons of similar illegitimate descent also exist, being theoffspring 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 ofthe 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 awayin a flooded river and lost his sacred thread. He could not put ona new thread afterwards because the sacred thread must be changedwithout swallowing the spittle in the interval. Hence he was put outof caste and his descendants are the Purads, the name being derivedfrom _pur_, a flood. These people are mainly shopkeepers. In Berartwo other groups are found, the Golaks and Borals. The Golaks arethe illegitimate offspring of a Brahman widow; if after her husband'sdecease she did not shave her head, her illegitimate children are knownas Rand [718] Golaks; if her head was shaved, they are called Mund(shaven) Golaks; and if their father be unknown, they are named KundGolaks. The Golaks are found in Malkapur and Balapur and number about400 persons. A large proportion of them are beggars. A Boral is saidto be the child of a father of any caste and a mother of one of thosein which widows shave their heads. As a matter of fact widows, exceptamong 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 castethan themselves; a most revolting union to Hindu ideas. As, however, the Borals are mostly grocers and shopkeepers, it is possible thatthey may be the same class as the Purads. In 1881 they numbered only163 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 Districtsand the offspring of unions which transgress the caste marriagerules are variously treated. Many castes both in the north and southsay that they have 12 1/2 subdivisions and that the half subcastecomprises the descendants of illicit unions. Of course the twelvesubdivisions are as a rule mythical, the number of subcastes beingalways liable to fluctuate as fresh endogamous groups are formedby migration or slight changes in the caste calling. Other casteshave a Lohri Sen or degraded group which corresponds to the halfcaste. In other cases the illegitimate branch has a special name;thus the Niche Pat Bundelas of Saugor and Chhoti Tar Rajputs of Nimarare the offspring of fathers of the Bundela and other Rajput tribeswith women of lower castes; both these terms have the same meaning asLohri Sen, that is a low-caste or bastard group. Similarly the Dauwa(wet-nurse) Ahirs are the offspring of Bundela fathers and the Ahirwomen who act as nurses in their households. In Saugor is found a classof persons called Kunwar [719] who are descended from the offspringof the Maratha Brahman rulers of Saugor and their kept women. Theynow form a separate caste and Hindustani Brahmans will take waterfrom them. They refuse to accept _katcha_ food (cooked with water)from Maratha Brahmans, which all other castes will do. Another classof bastard children of Brahmans are called Dogle, and such peoplecommonly act as servants of Maratha Brahmans; as these Brahmans donot take water to drink from the hands of any caste except their own, they have much difficulty in procuring household servants and readilyaccept a Dogle in this capacity without too close a scrutiny of hisantecedents. There is also a class of Dogle Kayasths of similar, origin, who are admitted as members of the caste on an inferiorstatus and marry among themselves. After several generations suchgroups tend to become legitimised; thus the origin of the distinctionbetween the Khare and Dusre Srivastab Kayasths and the Dasa and BisaAgarwala Banias was probably of this character, but now both groupsare reckoned as full members of the caste, one only ranking somewhatbelow the other so that they do not take food together. The ParwarBanias have four divisions of different social status known as theBare, Manjhile, Sanjhile and Lohri Seg or Sen, or first, second, third and fourth class. A man and woman detected in a serious socialoffence descend into the class next below their own, unless they canpay the severe penalties prescribed for it. If either marries or formsa connection with a man or woman of a lower class they descend intothat class. Similarly, one who marries a widow goes into the Lohri Segor lowest class. Other castes have a similar system of divisions. Amongthe great body of Hindus cases of men living with women of differentcaste are now very common, and the children of such unions sometimesinherit their father's property. Though in such cases the man isout of caste this does not mean that he is quite cut off from socialintercourse. He will be invited to the caste dinners, but must sit ina different row from the orthodox members so as not to touch them. Asan instance of these mixed marriages the case of a private servant, aMali or gardener, may be quoted. He always called himself a Brahman, and though thinking it somewhat curious that a Brahman should bea gardener, I took no notice of it until he asked leave to attendthe funeral of his niece, whose father was a Government menial, an Agarwala Bania. It was then discovered that he was the son of aBrahman landowner by a mistress of the Kachhi caste of sugarcane andvegetable growers, so that the profession of a private or ornamentalgardener, for which a special degree of intelligence is requisite, was very suitable to him. His sister by the same parents was marriedto this Agarwala Bania, who said his own family was legitimate and hehad been deceived about the girl. The marriage of one of this lattercouple's daughters was being arranged with the son of a Brahman, fatherand Bania mother in Jubbulpore; while the gardener himself had neverbeen married, but was living with a girl of the Gadaria (shepherd)caste who had been married in her caste but had never lived with herhusband. Inquiries made in a small town as to the status of seventyfamilies showed that ten were out of caste on account of irregularmatrimonial or sexual relations; and it may therefore be concludedthat 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 bornto a slave girl by the sage Vyas, the celebrated compiler of theMahabharata, to whom the girl was sent to provide an heir to thekingdom of Hastinapur. This son was named Vidur and was remarkablefor his great wisdom, being one of the leading characters in theMahabharata and giving advice both to the Pandavas and the Kauravas. 

5. Marriage

As already stated, the Vidurs who are sprung from fathers of differentcastes form subcastes marrying among themselves. Among the BrahmanVidurs also, a social difference exists between the older membersof the caste who are descended from Vidurs for several generations, and the new ones who are admitted into it as being the offspring ofBrahman fathers from recent illicit unions, the former consideringthemselves to be superior and avoiding intermarriage with the latteras far as possible. The Brahman Vidurs, to whom this article chieflyrelates, have exogamous sections of different kinds, the names beingeponymous, territorial, titular and totemistic. Among the names oftheir 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, alizard; Wadabhat, a ball of pulse and cooked rice; Diwale, bankrupt;and Joshi, an astrologer. The Brahman Vidurs have the same sect groupsas the Maratha Brahmans, according to the Veda which they especiallyrevere. Marriage is forbidden within the section and in that of thepaternal and maternal uncles and aunts. In Chanda, when a boy of onesection marries a girl of another, all subsequent alliances betweenmembers of the two sections must follow the same course, and a girlof the first section must not marry a boy of the second. This ruleis 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 lowercaste. As already stated, the reverse form of connection is consideredmost disgraceful by the Hindus, and children born of it could notbe Vidurs. On the same analogy they probably object to taking bothhusbands 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 issickly or quarrelsome. As a rule, no price is paid either for thebride or bridegroom. Vidurs have the same marriage ceremony as MarathaBrahmans, except that Puranic instead of Vedic _mantras_ or textsare repeated at the service. As among the lower castes the father ofa boy seeks for a bride for his son, while with Brahmans it is thegirl's father who makes the proposal. When the bridegroom arrives heis conducted to the inner room of the bride's house; Mr. Tucker statesthat this is known as the _Gaurighar_ because it contains the shrine ofGauri or Parvati, wife of Mahadeo; and here he is received by the bridewho has been occupied in worshipping the goddess. A curtain is heldbetween them and coloured rice is thrown over them and distributed, and they then proceed to the marriage-shed, where an earthen mound orplatform, known as Bohala, has been erected. They first sit on thison two stools and then fire is kindled on the platform and they walkfive times round it. The Bohala is thus a fire altar. The expenses ofmarriage 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 familyof 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 commonlypaid to the parents of a widow by her second husband. Divorce isallowed on the instance of the husband by a written agreement, anddivorced women may marry again by the _pat_ ceremony. In Chanda itis stated that when a widower marries again a silver or golden imageis made of the first wife and being placed with the household godsis daily worshipped by the second wife. 

6. Social rules and occupation

The Vidurs employ Maratha Brahmans for religious and ceremonialpurposes, while their _gurus_ are either Brahmans or Bairagis. Theyhave two names, one for ceremonial and the other for ordinary use. Whena child is to be named it is placed in a cradle and parties of womensit on opposite sides of it. One of the women takes the child in herarms and passes it across the cradle to another saying, 'Take thechild named Ramchandra' or whatever it may be. The other woman passesthe child back using the same phrase, and it is then placed in thecradle and rocked, and boiled wheat and gram are distributed to theparty. The Vidurs burn the dead, and during the period of mourningthe 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 virtuousman is rewarded. This, it is said, occupies their minds and preventsthem from feeling their bereavement. They will take food only fromMaratha Brahmans and water from Rajputs and Kunbis. Brahmans will, as a rule, not take anything from a Vidur's hand, but some of themhave begun to accept water and sweetmeats, especially in the caseof educated Vidurs. The Vidurs will not eat flesh of any kind nordrink liquor. The Brahman Vidurs did not eat in kitchens in thefamine. Their dress resembles that of Maratha Brahmans. The men do notusually wear the sacred thread, but some have adopted it. In Bombay, however, boys are regularly invested with the sacred thread beforethe age of ten. [720] In Nagpur it is stated that the Vidurs liketo be regarded as Brahmans. [721] They are now quite respectableand hold land. Many of them are in Government service, some beingofficers of the subordinate grades and others clerks, and they arealso agents to landowners, patwaris and shopkeepers. The Vidurs arethe best educated caste with the exception of Brahmans, Kayasths andBanias, and this fact has enabled them to obtain a considerable risein social status. Their aptitude for learning may be attributed totheir Brahman parentage, while in some cases Vidurs have probablybeen given an education by their Brahman relatives. Their correctposition should be a low one, distinctly beneath that of the goodcultivating castes. A saying has it, 'As the _amarbel_ creeper has noroots, so the Vidur has no ancestry. ' But owing to their educationand official position the higher classes of Vidurs have obtained asocial status not much below that of Kayasths. This rise in positionis assisted by their adherence in matters of dress, food and socialpractice to the customs of Maratha Brahmans, so that many of themare scarcely distinguishable from a Brahman. A story is told of aVidur Tahsildar or Naib-Tahsildar who was transferred to a Districtat some distance from his home, and on his arrival there pretended tobe a Maratha Brahman. He was duly accepted by the other Brahmans, whotook food with him in his house and invited him to their own. Afteran interval of some months the imposture was discovered, and it isstated that this official was at a short subsequent period dismissedfrom Government service on a charge of bribery. The Vidurs are alsoconsidered to be clever at personation, and one or two stories aretold of frauds being carried out through a Vidur returning to somefamily in the character of a long-lost relative. 

Waghya

_Waghya, _ [722] _Vaghe, Murli. _--An order of mendicant devotees ofthe god Khandoba, an incarnation of Siva; they belong to the MarathaDistricts and Bombay where Khandoba is worshipped. The term Waghyais derived from _vagh_, a tiger, and has been given to the orderon account of the small bag of tiger-skin, containing _bhandar_, orpowdered turmeric, which they carry round their necks. This has beenconsecrated to Khandoba and they apply a pinch of it to the foreheadsof those who give them alms. Murli, signifying 'a flute' is the namegiven to female devotees. Waghya is a somewhat indefinite term andin the Central Provinces does not strictly denote a caste. The orderoriginated in the practice followed by childless mothers of vowing toKhandoba that if they should bear a child, their first-born should bedevoted to his service. Such a child became a Waghya or Murli accordingas it was a boy or a girl. But they were not necessarily severed fromtheir own caste and might remain members of it and marry in it. Thusthere are Waghya Telis in Wardha, who marry with other Telis. The childmight also be kept in the temple for a period and then withdrawn, andnowadays this is always done. The children of rich parents sometimessimply remain at home and worship Khandoba there. But they must begon every Sunday from at least five persons all their lives. Anotherpractice, formerly existing, was for the father and mother to vow thatif a child was born they would be swung. They were then suspendedfrom a wooden post on a rope by an iron hook inserted in the backand swung round four or five times. The sacred turmeric was appliedto the wound and it quickly healed up. Others would take a Waghyachild to Mahadeo's cave in Pachmarhi and let it fall from the top ofa 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 inthe next birth. Besides the children who are dedicated to Khandoba, a man may become a Waghya either for life or for a certain period infulfilment of a vow, and in the latter case will be an ordinary memberof his own caste again on its termination. The Waghyas and Murlis whoare permanent members of the order sometimes also live together andhave children who are brought up in it. The constitution of the orderis therefore in several respects indefinite, and it has not become aself-contained caste, though there are Waghyas who have no other caste. 

The following description of the dedication of children to Khandoba istaken from the _Bombay Gazetteer_ [723]. When parents have to dedicatea boy to Khandoba they go to his temple at Jejuri in Poona on any dayin the month of Chaitra (March-April). They stay at a Gurao's house andtell him the object of their visit. The boy's father brings offeringsand they go in procession to Khandoba's temple. There the Guraomarks the boy's brow with turmeric, throws turmeric over his head, fastens round his neck a deer-or tiger-skin wallet hung from a blackwoollen string and throws turmeric over the god, asking him to takethe boy. The Murlis or girls dedicated to the god are married to himbetween one and twelve years of age. The girl is taken to the templeby her parents accompanied by the Gurao priest and other Murlis. Atthe temple she is bathed and her body rubbed with turmeric, with whichthe feet of the idol are also anointed. She is dressed in a new robeand bodice, and green glass bangles are put on her wrists. A turbanand sash are presented to the god, and the _guru_ taking a necklaceof nine cowries (shells) fastens it round the girl's neck. She thenstands before the god, a cloth being held between them as at a properwedding, and the priest repeats the marriage verses. Powdered turmericis thrown on the heads of the girl and of the idol, and from that dayshe is considered to be the wife of Khandoba and cannot marry any otherman. When a Murli comes of age she sits by herself for four days. Thenshe looks about for a patron, and when she succeeds in getting one shecalls a meeting of her brethren, the Waghyas, and in their presencethe patron says, 'I will fill the Murli's lap. ' The Waghyas ask himwhat he will pay and after some haggling a sum is agreed on, whichthirty years ago varied between twenty-five and a hundred rupees. Ifit 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 forherself. She lives with her patron for as long as he wishes to keepher, and is then either attached to the temple or travels about as afemale mendicant. Sometimes a married woman will leave her home andbecome 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 placeearly on a Sunday morning, and after the disciple is shaved, bathedand newly clad, the _guru_ places a string of cowries round his neckand gives him the tiger-skin bag in which the turmeric is kept. Healways retains much reverence for his _guru_, and invokes him with theexclamation, 'Jai Guru, ' before starting out to beg in the morning. Thefollowing articles are carried by the Waghyas when begging. The _dapdi_a circular single drum of wood, covered with goat-skin, and suspendedto the shoulder. The _chouka_ consists of a single wire suspended froma bar and passing inside a hollow wooden conical frame. The wire isstruck with a stick to produce the sound. The _ghati_ is an ordinarytemple bell; and the _kutumba_ is a metal saucer which serves for abegging-bowl. This is considered sacred, and sandalwood is appliedto it before starting out in the morning. The Waghyas usually begin parties of four, each man carrying one of these articles. Twoof them walk in front and two behind, and they sing songs in praiseof Khandoba and play on the instruments. Every Waghya has also thebag 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 roundthe neck. Alms, after being received in the _kutumba_ or saucer, are carried in a bag, and before setting out in the morning they puta little grain in this bag, as they think that it would be unluckyto start with it empty. At the end of the day they set out theirtakings 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. Thefour men then divide the takings and go home. Marathas, Murlis andTelis are the castes who revere Khandoba, and they invite the Waghyasto sing on the Dasahra and also at their marriages. In Bombay theWaghyas force iron bars through their calves and pierce the palms oftheir hands with needles. To the needle a strip of wood is attached, and on this five lighted torches are set out, and the Waghya wavesthem about on his hand before the god. [724] Once in three years eachWaghya makes a pilgrimage to Khandoba's chief temple at Jejuri nearPoona, and there are also local temples to this deity at Hinganghatand Nagpur. The Waghyas eat flesh and drink liquor, and their socialand religious customs resemble those of the Marathas and Kunbis. 

Yerukala

_Yerukala. _--A vagrant gipsy tribe of Madras of whom a small numberare returned from the Chanda District. They live by thieving, begging, fortune-telling and making baskets, and are usuallytreated as identical with the Koravas or Kuravas, who have the sameoccupations. Both speak a corrupt Tamil, and the Yerukalas are said tocall one another Kurru or Kura. It has been supposed that Korava wasthe Tamil name which in the Telugu country became Yerukalavandlu orfortune-teller. Mr. (Sir H. ) Stewart thought there could be no doubtof the identity of the two castes, [725] though Mr. Francis points outdifferences between them. [726] The Yerukalas are expert thieves. Theyfrequent villages on the pretence of begging, and rob by day in regulargroups under a female leader, who is known as Jemadarin. Each gangis provided with a bunch of keys and picklocks. They locate a lockedhouse in an unfrequented lane, and one of them stands in front asif begging; the remainder are posted as watchers in the vicinity, and the Jemadarin picks the lock and enters the house. When theleader comes out with the booty she locks the door and they allwalk away. If any one comes up while the leader is in the housethe woman at the door engages him in conversation by some device, such as producing a silver coin and asking if it is good. She thenbegins to dispute, and laying hold of him calls out to her comradesthat the man has abused her or been taking liberties with her. Theothers run up and jostle him away from the door, and while they areall occupied with the quarrel the thief escapes. Or an old womangoes from house to house pretending to be a fortune-teller. Whenshe finds a woman at home alone, she flatters and astonishes her byrelating 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 issatisfied that the fortune-teller has supernatural powers, she allowsthe witch to cover her face with her robe, and shuts her eyes whilethe fortune-teller breathes on them, and blows into her ears and sitsmuttering charms. Meanwhile one or two of the latter's friends whohave been lurking close by walk into the house and carry away whateverthey can lay their hands on. When they have left the house the woman'sface 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 orpledge their wives and unmarried daughters, and will take them back onthe redemption of the pledge with any children born in the interval, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When a man issentenced to imprisonment his wife selects another partner for theperiod of her husband's absence, going back to him on his releasewith all her children, who are considered as his. Mr. Thurston givesthe following story of a gang of Koravas or Yerukalas in Tinnevelly:"One morning, in Tinnevelly, while the butler in a missionary'shouse was attending to his duties, an individual turned up with afine fowl for sale. The butler, finding that he could purchase itfor about half the real price, bought it, and showed it to his wifewith no small pride in his ability in making a bargain. But he wasdistinctly crestfallen when his wife pointed out that it was hisown bird, which had been lost on the previous night. The seller wasa Korava. " [728] In Madras they have also now developed into expertrailway thieves. They have few restrictions as to food, eating catsand mice, though not dogs. [729] The Yerukalas practised the custom ofthe 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 hisforehead the mark which the women usually place on theirs, retiresinto a dark room where there is only a very dim lamp, and lies downon the bed, covering himself up with a long cloth. When the child isborn it is washed and placed on the cot beside the father. Asafoetida, jaggery and other articles are then given, not to the mother but tothe father. During the days of ceremonial impurity the man is treatedas other Hindus treat their women on such occasions. He is not allowedto leave his bed, but has everything needful brought to him. 

"The Yerukalas marry when quite young. At the birth of a daughterthe father of an unmarried little boy often brings a rupee and tiesit in the cloth of the father of a newly-born girl. When the girl isgrown 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] _Orphèus_, p. 152. 

[10] The sacrifice is now falling into abeyance, as landowners refuseto 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 wordstock 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 samewriter, the Hindus do say, 'Drunk as an owl' and also 'Stupid asan owl. '

[34] _Crotalaria juncea_. 

[35] The 3rd Baisakh (May) Sudi, the commencement of the agriculturalyear. 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 Wardhavillage by Mr. A. K. Smith, C. S. 

[39] _Nagpur Settlement Report_, para. 45. 

[40] The references to English farming in this paragraph are takenfrom 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 monthof the Muhammadan year and is said to be so called because in thismonth the Arabs broke up their encampments and scattered in search ofwater. On the night of Shab-i-Barat God registers all the actions ofmen which they are to perform during the year; and all the childrenof men who are to be born and die in the year are recorded. Thoughproperly a fast, it is generally observed with rejoicings and adisplay 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 andby 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 foodof 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 ofthe Hindus' prejudice against this crop. 

[56] There are several Chaurasis, a grant of an estate of this specialsize 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 inMr. 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 conjunctionwith 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 illicitintercourse with another. The Ghantra Lohars are thus probably ofbastard origin, like the groups known as half-castes and others whichare 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 nameMaharatta was known in the third century B. C. , or long before theRastrakutas 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 beingthe chief worshippers at the shrines of Sheikh Farid indicated thatthe places themselves had been previously held sacred, and had beenannexed by the Muhammadan priests; and the legend of the giant, whomight represent the demonolatry of the aboriginal faith, being slain bythe saint might be a parable, so to say, expressing this process. Butin view of the way in which the Mehtars worship Musalman saints, itseems quite likely that the Mahars might do so for the same reason, that is, because Islam partly frees them from the utter degradationimposed by Hinduism. Both views may have some truth. As regards thelegends themselves, it is highly improbable that Sheikh Farid, awell-known saint of northern India, can ever have been within severalhundred 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 accountof the caste in the _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. 

[141] See lists of exogamous septs of Mahli, Sandal, Munda and Puriin 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 BakshSingh, Assistant Superintendent, Udaipur State, with referencesto Mr. Crooke's exhaustive article on the Majhwars in his _Tribesand 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 _Ethnologyof 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 ofthe Marars in the _Balaghat District Gazetteer_ and on a paper byMajor 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 articleon 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 (Societyof 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. PadayaNaidu 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 upby Colonel Mackenzie and contributed to the _Pioneer_ newspaper byMrs. Horsburgh; Captain Mackintosh's _Account of the Manbhaos_ (IndiaOffice 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 deifiedas an incarnation of Siva. 

[180] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 62. 

[181] This article is based partly on a paper by Mr. Achyut SitaramSathe, 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 theCentral 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 theGazetteer office. 

[195] _Brief View_, p. 30. 

[196] The _tazias_ are ornamental representations of the tomb ofHussain, 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 ofEthnology for India. 

[199] Generally the paternal aunt's son. 

[200] _Bassia latifolia_. 

[201] Sir H. Risley's _India Census Report_ (1901), EthnographicAppendices, 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 indeference 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 EthnographicAppendices 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 themeaning of this term that it was formerly the custom of this nation, as was the case in Europe, to appear in armour. I have frequentlyseen 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 toall its motions. "

[222] In order to obtain redress by Dharna the creditor or injuredperson would sit starving himself outside his debtor's door, and ifhe died the latter would be held to have committed a mortal sin andwould be haunted by his ghost; see also article on Bhat. The accounthere 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. HarbansRai, 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, andValmiki, 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; fiveTuar clans--Balot, Darwar, Kalesa, Lundavat, Rattawat; one Kachhwahaclan--Dingal; one Bargjuar clan--Singal. Besides these there is onemiscellaneous or half-blood clan, Palakra, making up the common totalof 12 1/2 clans. 

[262] Ibbetson's _Punjab Census Report_, para. 582. Sir D. Ibbetsonconsidered it doubtful, however, whether the expression referred tothe 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 Laland 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, retiredE. 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 _PunjabCensus 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 ofGujarat_, 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 theevil 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 CentralProvinces. About 1000 were returned in Central India in 1891, but in1901 they were amalgamated with the Mallahs or Kewats. This articleis based on a paper by Mr. P. R. Kaipitia, Forest Ranger. 

[337] This article is partly compiled from notes furnished byMr. 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'sarticle. 

[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, quotedin _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 circularend 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 articleis principally based on a paper by Mr. Muhammad Yusuf, reader toMr. C. E. Low, Deputy Commissioner of Balaghat. 

[371] Tod's _Rajasthan_, ii. P. 407. 

[372] Foreign elements in the Hindu population, _Ind. Ant. _ (January1911), 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. _ Jamadagniand Rama. 

[378] The following extract is taken from Mr. V. A. Smith's _EarlyHistory of India_, 3rd ed. Pp. 395, 396. The passage has been somewhatabridged 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 Boulogneat Paris. After Francis I had been captured by the Spaniards he wasallowed to return to his capital, on pledging his parole that he wouldgo back to Madrid. But the delights of liberty and Paris were toomuch for honour; and while he wavered a hint was thrown out similarto that of destroying the clay city. A mock Madrid arose in the Boisde 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 datedA. D. 1104-1105. 

[389] The inscription is said to be in one of the temples in WinjBasini, near Bhandak, in the Devanagri character in Marathi, andto run as follows: "Consecration of Jagnarayan (the serpent of theworld). Dajíanashnaku, the son of Chogneka, he it was who consecratedthe god. The Panwar, the ruler of Dhar, was the third repairer ofthe statue. The image was carved by Gopinath Pandit, inhabitant ofLonar Mehkar. Let this shrine be the pride of all the citizens, andlet this religious act be notified to the chief and other officers. "

[390] A few Panwar Rajputs are found in the Saugor District, but theyare quite distinct from those of the Maratha country, and marry withthe 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 ofsalutation among the Hindus. 

[401] _Seoni Settlement Report_ (1867), p. 43. 

[402] From a collection of notes on Patharis by various policeofficers. 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. AduramChaudhri and Pandit Pyare Lal Misra of the Gazetteer Office, and extracts from Mr. Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ (1881), andMr. Sewell's note on the caste quoted in Mr. Gayer's _Lectures onthe 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 givenis 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 otherofficers of the Bastar State. 

[419] By Dr. Cornish. 

[420] _Linguistic Survey_; vol. Ix, p. 554; vol. Ii. Part ii. Pp. 434ff. 

[421] In the article on Gond it is suggested that the Gonds andKhonds were originally one tribe, and the fact that the Parjas haveaffinities 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 inBehar_, p. 79. 

[432] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Pasi. 

[433] The following passage is taken from Mr. Crooke's articleon Pasi, and includes quotations from the _Sitapur_ and _HardoiSettlement Reports_. 

[434] _Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_. 

[435] The word Rakshabandhan is said to mean literally, 'the bondof 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 modernPindaris have been furnished by Mr. Hira Lal, and Mr. Waman RustomMandloi, 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 andMalcolm. 

[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 Jitor Jat, and was changed to Jat by a section of them who also adoptedMuhammadanism. Colonel Tod also identifies the Jats or Jits with theYueh-chi as suggested in the text (_Rajasthan_, i. P. 97). 

[465] _Rajasthan_, i. P. 42. Mr. Crooke points out that the Buddhahere referred to is probably the planet Mercury. But it is possiblethat he may have been identified with the religious reformer as thenames 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 articleon 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 festivaland 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 ThakurPratap 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'sarticle 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'sart. 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 articleDhakara 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 Tripurais taken from the detailed account in the _Jubbulpore DistrictGazetteer_, pp. 42-47, compiled by Mr. A. E. Nelson, C. S. , and RaiBahadur Hira Lal. 

[536] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 390. This, however, does not only refer to the Jubbulpore branch, whose territoriesdid not probably include the south and east of the present CentralProvinces, but includes also the country over which the Ratanpurkings subsequently extended their separate jurisdiction. 

[537] _Bilaspur District Gazetteer_, chap. Ii. , in which a full andinteresting 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. Thoughthe Haihaivansis only founded Ratanpur about A. D. 1050, their ownlegends 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 mainlytaken 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 princesswas mainly the work of Amir Khan Pindari who brought pressure on theRana to consent to it in order to save his state. 

[573] If the Chalukyas were in the Deccan in the fourth century theycould not have originated from the Hun and Gujar invaders of thefifth 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 localcaste 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 anda 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 Tribeof Ramosis_ (Bombay, 1833; India Office Tracts. Also published inthe _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 _Tribesand 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 Sanaurhiaswritten 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 andGang-robbers of India_ (London, 1857). 

[606] This article is based almost entirely on a description of theSansias contained in Colonel Sleeman's _Report on the Badhak or BagriDacoits_ (1849). Most of the material belongs to a report drawn upat 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 accountsgiven 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 clothround 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 PrasadBohidar, Assistant Master, Sambalpur High School. 

[623] See article Beldar for a notice of the different groups ofearth-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 MunshiGopinath, Naib-Tahsildar, Sonpur, Mr. Kaluram Pachore, AssistantSettlement Officer, Sambalpur, and Mr. Hira Lal, Assistant GazetteerSuperintendent. 

[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 takenfrom 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. RaghunathPrasad, E. A. C. , formerly Deputy Superintendent of Census, with extractsfrom 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, ortwo-fifths of an ounce. 

[644] _Journal of Indian Art_, July 1909, p. 172. 

[645] From a monograph on rural customs in Saugor, by MajorW. 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 byNand Kishore, Nazir of the Deputy Commissioner's Office, Damoh;Mr. Tarachand Dube, Municipal Member, Bilaspur; and Mr. Aduram Chaudhriof the Gazetteer Office. 

[664] This article is based on papers by Mr. Prem Narayan, ExtraAssistant 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 ProfessorKarl 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'saccount, _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 motherwas fleeing from an attack on her village by troops under Europeanofficers (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, thetwo 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 nameCalcutta signifies Kali-ghat or Kali-kota, that is Kali's ferry orhouse. The story is that Job Charnock was exploring on the banks ofthe Hoogly, when he found a widow about to be burnt as a sacrificeto Kali. He rescued her, married her, and founded a settlement onthe 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 SaugorDistrict, still a favourite haunt of tigers; and the Thugs may oftenhave lain there in concealment and heard the tigers quarrelling inthe 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 LalMisra, 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. 

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