{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_20668/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_20668","id":"gutenberg_20668","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20668","summary":null,"tags":["Caste -- India -- Madhya Pradesh","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Other","Ethnology -- India -- Madhya Pradesh","Madhya Pradesh (India) -- Religion","Madhya Pradesh (India) -- Scheduled tribes"],"text":"Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ (This file was\nproduced partly from images generously made available by\nThe Internet Archive/Million Book Project)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n        The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India\n\n                                   By\n\n                              R.V. Russell\n   Of the Indian Civil Service Superintendent of Ethnography, Central\n                               Provinces\n                              Assisted by\n                          Rai Bahadur Hira Lal\n                      Extra Assistant Commissioner\n\n\n   Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration\n\n                            In Four Volumes\n                                Vol. IV.\n\n        Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London.\n\n                                  1916\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOLUME IV\n\n\nArticles on Castes and Tribes of the Central Provinces in Alphabetical\nOrder\n\nThe articles which are considered to be of most general interest\nare shown in capitals\n\n\n    Kumhar (Potter)   3\n    Kunbi (Cultivator)   16\n    Kunjra (Greengrocer)   50\n    Kuramwar (Shepherd)   52\n    Kurmi (Cultivator)   55\n    Lakhera (Worker in lac)   104\n    Lodhi (Landowner and cultivator)   112\n    Lohar (Blacksmith)   120\n    Lorha (Growers of san-hemp)   126\n    Mahar (Weaver and labourer)   129\n    Mahli (Forest tribe)   146\n    Majhwar (Forest tribe)   149\n    Mal (Forest tribe)   153\n    Mala (Cotton-weaver and labourer)   156\n    Mali (Gardener and vegetable-grower)   159\n    Mallah (Boatman and fisherman)   171\n    Mana (Forest tribe, cultivator)   172\n    Manbhao (Religious mendicant)   176\n    Mang (Labourer and village musician)   184\n    Mang-Garori (Criminal caste)   189\n    Manihar (Pedlar)   193\n    Mannewar (Forest tribe)   195\n    Maratha (Soldier, cultivator and service)   198\n    Mehtar (Sweeper and scavenge)   215\n    Meo (Tribe)   233\n    Mina or Deswali (Non-Aryan tribe, cultivator)   235\n    Mirasi (Bard and genealogist)   242\n    Mochi (Shoemaker)   244\n    Mowar (Cultivator)   250\n    Murha (Digger and navvy)   252\n    Nagasia (Forest tribe)   257\n    Nahal (Forest tribe)   259\n    Nai (Barber)   262\n    Naoda (Boatman and fisherman)   283\n    Nat (Acrobat)   286\n    Nunia (Salt-refiner; digger and navvy)   294\n    Ojha (Augur and soothsayer)   296\n    Oraon (Forest tribe)   299\n    Paik (Soldier, cultivator)   321\n    Panka (Labourer and village watchman)   324\n    Panwar Rajput (Landowner and cultivator)   330\n    Pardhan (Minstrel and priest)   352\n    Pardhi (Hunter and fowler)   359\n    Parja (Forest tribe)   371\n    Pasi (Toddy-drawer and labourer)   380\n    Patwa (Maker of silk braid and thread)   385\n    Pindari (Freebooter)   388\n    Prabhu (Writer and clerk)   399\n    Raghuvansi (Cultivator)   403\n    Rajjhar (Agricultural labourer)   405\n    Rajput (Soldier and landowner)   410\n    Rajput Clans\n\n            Baghel.\n            Bagri.\n            Bais.\n            Baksaria.\n            Banaphar.\n            Bhadauria.\n            Bisen.\n            Bundela.\n            Chandel.\n            Chauhan.\n            Dhakar.\n            Gaharwar.\n            Gaur.\n            Haihaya.\n            Huna.\n            Kachhwaha.\n            Nagvansi.\n            Nikumbh.\n            Paik.\n            Parihar.\n            Rathor.\n            Sesodia.\n            Solankhi.\n            Somvansi.\n            Surajvansi.\n            Tomara.\n            Yadu.\n\n    Rajwar (Forest tribe)   470\n    Ramosi (Village watchmen and labourers, formerly thieves)   472\n    Rangrez (Dyer)   477\n    Rautia (Forest tribe and cultivators, formerly soldiers)   479\n    Sanaurhia (Criminal thieving caste)   483\n    Sansia (Vagrant criminal tribe)   488\n    Sansia (Uria) (Mason and digger)   496\n    Savar (Forest tribe)   500\n    Sonjhara (Gold-washer)   509\n    Sudh (Cultivator)   514\n    Sunar (Goldsmith and silversmith)   517\n    Sundi (Liquor distiller)   534\n    Tamera (Coppersmith)   536\n    Taonla (Soldier and labourer)   539\n    Teli (Oilman)   542\n    Thug (Criminal community of murderers by strangulation)   558\n    Turi (Bamboo-worker)   588\n    Velama (Cultivator)   593\n    Vidur (Village accountant, clerk and writer)   596\n    Waghya (Religious mendicant)   603\n    Yerukala (Criminal thieving caste)   606\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME IV\n\n\n    97. Potter and his wheel   4\n    98. Group of Kunbis   16\n    99. Figures of animals made for Pola festival   40\n    100. Hindu boys on stilts   42\n    101. Throwing stilts into the water at the Pola festival   46\n    102. Carrying out the dead   48\n    103. Pounding rice   60\n    104. Sowing   84\n    105. Threshing   86\n    106. Winnowing   88\n    107. Women grinding wheat and husking rice   90\n    108. Group of women in Hindustani dress   92\n    109. _Coloured Plate_: Examples of spangles worn by women on the\n    forehead   106\n    110. Weaving: sizing the warp   142\n    111. Winding thread   144\n    112. Bride and bridegroom with marriage crowns   166\n    113. Bullocks drawing water with _mot_   170\n    114. Mang musicians with drums   186\n    115. Statue of Maratha leader, Bimbaji Bhonsla, in armour   200\n    116. Image of the god Vishnu as Vithoba   248\n    117. Coolie women with babies slung at the side   256\n    118. Hindu men showing the _choti_ or scalp-lock   272\n    119. Snake-charmer with cobras   292\n    120. Transplanting rice   340\n    121. Group of Pardhans   352\n    122. Little girls playing   400\n    123. Gujarati girls doing figures with strings and sticks   402\n    124. Ornaments   524\n    125. Teli's oil-press   544\n    126. The Goddess Kali   574\n    127. Waghya mendicants   604\n\n\n\n\nPRONUNCIATION\n\n\n    a   has the sound of u in _but_ or _murmur_.\n    a   has the sound of a in _bath_ or _tar_.\n    e   has the sound of e in _ecarte_ or ai in _maid_.\n    i   has the sound of i in _bit_, or (as a final letter) of y\n        in _sulky_.\n    i   has the sound of ee in _beet_.\n    o   has the sound of o in _bore_ or _bowl_.\n    u   has the sound of u in _put_ or _bull_.\n    u   has the sound of oo in _poor_ or _boot_\n\n\nThe plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words is formed\nby adding _s_ in the English manner according to ordinary usage,\nthough this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural.\n\nNote.--The rupee contains 16 annas, and an anna is of the same value\nas a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing. Rs. 1-8\nsignifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred thousand,\nand a krore ten million.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                            PART II\n\n                 ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES\n\n                        KUMHAR--YEMKALA\n\n                            VOL. IV\n\n\n\n\n\nKumhar\n\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Traditions of origin_.\n    2. _Caste subdivisions_.\n    3. _Social Customs_.\n    4. _The Kumhar as a village menial_.\n    5. _Occupation_.\n    6. _Breeding pigs for sacrifices_.\n    7. _The goddess Demeter_.\n    8. _Estimation of the pig in India_.\n    9. _The buffalo as a corn-god._\n    10. _The Dasahra festival_.\n    11. _The goddess Devi_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Traditions of origin\n\n_Kumhar, Kumbhar_.--The caste of potters, the name being derived\nfrom the Sanskrit _kumbh_, a water-pot. The Kumhars numbered\nnearly 120,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911 and were\nmost numerous in the northern and eastern or Hindustani-speaking\nDistricts, where earthen vessels have a greater vogue than in the\nsouth. The caste is of course an ancient one, vessels of earthenware\nhaving probably been in use at a very early period, and the old\nHindu scriptures consequently give various accounts of its origin\nfrom mixed marriages between the four classical castes. \"Concerning\nthe traditional parentage of the caste,\" Sir H. Risley writes, [1]\n\"there seems to be a wide difference of opinion among the recognised\nauthorities on the subject. Thus the Brahma Vaivartta Purana says\nthat the Kumbhakar or maker of water-jars (_kumbka_), is born of\na Vaishya woman by a Brahman father; the Parasara Samhita makes\nthe father a Malakar (gardener) and the mother a Chamar; while the\nParasara Padhati holds that the ancestor of the caste was begotten\nof a Tili woman by a Pattikar or weaver of silk cloth.\" Sir Monier\nWilliams again, in his Sanskrit Dictionary, describes them as the\noffspring of a Kshatriya woman by a Brahman. No importance can of\ncourse be attached to such statements as the above from the point of\nview of actual fact, but they are interesting as showing the view taken\nof the formation of castes by the old Brahman writers, and also the\nposition given to the Kumhar at the time when they wrote. This varies\nfrom a moderately respectable to a very humble one according to the\ndifferent accounts of his lineage. The caste themselves have a legend\nof the usual Brahmanical type: \"In the Kritayuga, when Maheshwar (Siva)\nintended to marry the daughter of Hemvanta, the Devas and Asuras [2]\nassembled at Kailas (Heaven). Then a question arose as to who should\nfurnish the vessels required for the ceremony, and one Kulalaka,\na Brahman, was ordered to make them. Then Kulalaka stood before the\nassembly with folded hands, and prayed that materials might be given\nto him for making the pots. So Vishnu gave his Sudarsana (discus) to\nbe used as a wheel, and the mountain of Mandara was fixed as a pivot\nbeneath it to hold it up. The scraper was Adi Kurma the tortoise,\nand a rain-cloud was used for the water-tub. So Kulalaka made the\npots and gave them to Maheshwar for his marriage, and ever since his\ndescendants have been known as Kumbhakar or maker of water-jars.\"\n\n\n\n\n2. Caste sub-divisions\n\nThe Kumhars have a number of subcastes, many of which, as might\nbe expected, are of the territorial type and indicate the different\nlocalities from which they migrated to the Central Provinces. Such are\nthe Malwi from Malwa, the Telenga from the Telugu country in Hyderabad,\nthe Pardeshi from northern India and the Maratha from the Maratha\nDistricts. Other divisions are the Lingayats who belong to the sect of\nthis name, the Gadhewal or Gadhere who make tiles and carry them about\non donkeys (_gadha_), the Bardia who use bullocks for transport and the\nSungaria who keep pigs (_suar_). Certain endogamous groups have arisen\nsimply from differences in the method of working. Thus the Hathgarhia\n[3] mould vessels with their hands only without using the wheel; the\nGoria [4] make white or red pots only and not black ones; the Kurere\nmould their vessels on a stone slab revolving on a stick and not on\na wheel; while the Chakere are Kumhars who use the wheel (_chak_)\nin localities where other Kumhars do not use it. The Chhutakia and\nRakhotia are illegitimate sections, being the offspring of kept women.\n\n\n\n\n3. Social Customs\n\nGirls are married at an early age when their parents can afford it,\nthe matches being usually arranged at caste feasts. In Chanda parents\nwho allow a daughter to become adolescent while still unwed are put\nout of caste, but elsewhere the rule is by no means so strict. The\nceremony is of the normal type and a Brahman usually officiates,\nbut in Betul it is performed by the Sawasa or husband of the bride's\npaternal aunt. After the wedding the couple are given kneaded flour\nto hold in their hands and snatch from each other as an emblem of\ntheir trade. In Mandla a bride price of Rs. 50 is paid.\n\nThe Kumhars recognise divorce and the remarriage of widows. If an\nunmarried girl is detected in criminal intimacy with a member of\nthe caste, she has to give a feast to the caste-fellows and pay a\nfine of Rs. 1-4 and five locks of her hair are also cut off by way\nof purification. The caste usually burn the dead, but the Lingayat\nKumhars always bury them in accordance with the practice of their\nsect. They worship the ordinary Hindu deities and make an offering to\nthe implements of their trade on the festival of Deothan Igaras. The\nvillage Brahman serves as their priest. In Balaghat a Kumhar is put\nout of caste if a dead cat is found in his house. At the census of\n1901 the Kumhar was ranked with the impure castes, but his status is\nnot really so low. Sir D. Ibbetson said of him: \"He is a true village\nmenial; his social standing is very low, far below that of the Lohar\nand not much above the Chamar. His association with that impure beast,\nthe donkey, the animal sacred to Sitala, the smallpox goddess, pollutes\nhim and also his readiness to carry manure and sweepings.\" As already\nseen there are in the Central Provinces Sungaria and Gadheria subcastes\nwhich keep donkeys and pigs, and these are regarded as impure. But in\nmost Districts the Kumhar ranks not much below the Barhai and Lohar,\nthat is in what I have designated the grade of village menials above\nthe impure and below the cultivating castes. In Bengal the Kumhars\nhave a much higher status and Brahmans will take water from their\nhands. But the gradation of caste in Bengal differs very greatly from\nthat of other parts of India.\n\n\n\n\n4. The Kumhar as a village menial\n\nThe Kumhar is not now paid regularly by dues from the cultivators\nlike other village menials, as the ordinary system of sale has no\ndoubt been found more convenient in his case. But he sometimes takes\nthe soiled grass from the stalls of the cattle and gives pots free\nto the cultivator in exchange. On Akti day, at the beginning of the\nagricultural year, the village Kumhar of Saugor presents five pots with\ncovers on them to each cultivator and receives 2 1/2 lbs. of grain\nin exchange. One of these the tenant fills with water and presents\nto a Brahman and the rest he reserves for his own purposes. On the\noccasion of a wedding also the bridegroom's party take the bride to\nthe Kumharin's house as part of the _sohag_ ceremony for making the\nmarriage propitious. The Kumhar seats the bride on his wheel and turns\nit round with her seven times. The Kumharin presents her with seven new\npots, which are taken back to the house and used at the wedding. They\nare filled with water and are supposed to represent the seven seas. If\nany two of these pots accidentally clash together it is supposed that\nthe bride and bridegroom will quarrel during their married life. In\nreturn for this the Kumharin receives a present of clothes. At a\nfuneral also the Kumhar must supply thirteen vessels which are known as\n_ghats_, and must also replace the broken earthenware. Like the other\nvillage menials at the harvest he takes a new vessel to the cultivator\nin his field and receives a present of grain. These customs appear to\nindicate his old position as one of the menials or general servants\nof the village ranking below the cultivators. Grant-Duff also includes\nthe potter in his list of village menials in the Maratha villages. [5]\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation\n\nThe potter is not particular as to the clay he uses and does not go\nfar afield for the finer qualities, but digs it from the nearest place\nin the neighbourhood where he can get it free of cost. Red and black\nclay are employed, the former being obtained near the base of hills\nor on high-lying land, probably of the laterite formation, and the\nlatter in the beds of tanks or streams. When the clay is thoroughly\nkneaded and ready for use a lump of it is placed on the centre of the\nwheel. The potter seats himself in front of the wheel and fixes his\nstick or _chakrait_ into the slanting hole in its upper surface. With\nthis stick the wheel is made to revolve very rapidly, and sufficient\nimpetus is given to it to keep it in motion for several minutes. The\npotter then lays aside the stick and with his hands moulds the lump\nof clay into the shape required, stopping every now and then to give\nthe wheel a fresh spin as it loses its momentum. When satisfied with\nthe shape of his vessel he separates it from the lump with a piece of\nstring, and places it on a bed of ashes to prevent it sticking to the\nground. The wheel is either a circular disc cut out of a single piece\nof stone about a yard in diameter, or an ordinary wooden wheel with\nspokes forming two diameters at right angles. The rim is then thickened\nwith the addition of a coating of mud strengthened with fibre. [6] The\narticles made by the potter are ordinary circular vessels or _gharas_\nused for storing and collecting water, larger ones for keeping grain,\nflour and vegetables, and _surahis_ or amphoras for drinking-water. In\nthe manufacture of these last salt and saltpetre are mixed with the\nclay to make them more porous and so increase their cooling capacity. A\nvery useful thing is the small saucer which serves as a lamp, being\nfilled with oil on which a lighted wick is floated. These saucers\nresemble those found in the excavations of Roman remains. Earthen\nvessels are more commonly used, both for cooking and eating purposes\namong the people of northern India, and especially by Muhammadans, than\namong the Marathas, and, as already noticed, the Kumhar caste musters\nstrong in the north of the Province. An earthen vessel is polluted if\nany one of another caste takes food or drink from it and is at once\ndiscarded. On the occasion of a death all the vessels in the house are\nthrown away and a new set obtained, and the same measure is adopted at\nthe Holi festival and on the occasion of an eclipse, and at various\nother ceremonial purifications, such as that entailed if a member of\nthe household has had maggots in a wound. On this account cheapness is\nan indispensable quality in pottery, and there is no opening for the\nKumhar to improve his art. Another product of the Kumhar's industry\nis the _chilam_ or pipe-bowl. This has the usual opening for inhaling\nthe smoke but no stem, an impromptu stem being made by the hands and\nthe smoke inhaled through it. As the _chilam_ is not touched by the\nmouth, Hindus of all except the impure castes can smoke it together,\npassing it round, and Hindus can also smoke it with Muhammadans.\n\nIt is a local belief that, if an earthen pot is filled with salt and\nplastered over, the rains will stop until it is opened. This device is\nadopted when the fall is excessive, but, on the other hand, if there\nis drought, the people sometimes think that the potter has used it\nto keep off the rain, because he cannot pursue his calling when the\nclay is very wet. And on occasions of a long break in the rains,\nthey have been known to attack his shop and break all his vessels\nunder the influence of this belief. The potter is sometimes known\nas Prajapati or the 'The Creator,' in accordance with the favourite\ncomparison made by ancient writers of the moulding of his pots with\nthe creation of human beings, the justice of which will be recognised\nby any one who watches the masses of mud on a whirling wheel growing\ninto shapely vessels in the potter's creating hands.\n\n\n\n\n6. Breeding pigs for sacrifices\n\nCertain Kumhars as well as the Dhimars make the breeding of pigs a\nmeans of subsistence, and they sell these pigs for sacrifices at prices\nvarying from eight annas (8d.) to a rupee. The pigs are sacrificed by\nthe Gonds to their god Bura Deo and by Hindus to the deity Bhainsasur,\nor the buffalo demon, for the protection of the crops. Bhainsasur is\nrepresented by a stone in the fields, and when crops are beaten down\nat night by the wind it is supposed that Bhainsasur has passed over\nthem and trampled them down. Hindus, usually of the lower castes, offer\npigs to Bhainsasur to propitiate him and preserve their crops from his\nravages, but they cannot touch the impure pig themselves. What they\nhave to do, therefore, is to pay the Kumhar the price of the pig and\nget him to offer it to Bhainsasur on their behalf. The Kumhar goes\nto the god and sacrifices the pig and then takes the body home and\neats it, so that his trade is a profitable one, while conversely to\nsacrifice a pig without partaking of its flesh must necessarily be\nbitter to the frugal Hindu mind, and this indicates the importance\nof the deity who is to be propitiated by the offering. The first\nquestion which arises in connection with this curious custom is\nwhy pigs should be sacrificed for the preservation of the crops;\nand the reason appears to be that the wild pig is the animal which,\nat present, mainly damages the crops.\n\n\n\n\n7. The goddess Demeter\n\nIn ancient Greece pigs were offered to Demeter, the corn-goddess,\nfor the protection of the crops, and there is good reason to suppose\nthat the conceptions of Demeter herself and the lovely Proserpine\ngrew out of the worship of the pig, and that both goddesses were\nin the beginning merely the deified pig. The highly instructive\npassage in which Sir J. G. Frazer advances this theory is reproduced\nalmost in full [7]: \"Passing next to the corn-goddess Demeter, and\nremembering that in European folklore the pig is a common embodiment\nof the corn-spirit, we may now ask whether the pig, which was so\nclosely associated with Demeter, may not originally have been the\ngoddess herself in animal form? The pig was sacred to her; in art\nshe was portrayed carrying or accompanied by a pig; and the pig was\nregularly sacrificed in her mysteries, the reason assigned being that\nthe pig injures the corn and is therefore an enemy of the goddess. But\nafter an animal has been conceived as a god, or a god as an animal,\nit sometimes happens, as we have seen, that the god sloughs off his\nanimal form and becomes purely anthropomorphic; and that then the\nanimal which at first had been slain in the character of the god,\ncomes to be viewed as a victim offered to the god on the ground of its\nhostility to the deity; in short, that the god is sacrificed to himself\non the ground that he is his own enemy. This happened to Dionysus and\nit may have happened to Demeter also. And in fact the rites of one of\nher festivals, the Thesmophoria, bear out the view that originally the\npig was an embodiment of the corn-goddess herself, either Demeter or\nher daughter and double Proserpine. The Thesmophoria was an autumn\nfestival celebrated by women alone in October, and appears to have\nrepresented with mourning rites the descent of Proserpine (or Demeter)\ninto the lower world, and with joy her return from the dead. Hence the\nname Descent or Ascent variously applied to the first, and the name\n_Kalligeneia_ (fair-born) applied to the third day of the festival. Now\nfrom an old scholium on Lucian we learn some details about the mode\nof celebrating the Thesmophoria, which shed important light on the\npart of the festival called the Descent or the Ascent. The scholiast\ntells us that it was customary at the Thesmophoria to throw pigs,\ncakes of dough, and branches of pine-trees into 'the chasms of Demeter\nand Proserpine,' which appear to have been sacred caverns or vaults.\n\n\"In these caverns or vaults there were said to be serpents, which\nguarded the caverns and consumed most of the flesh of the pigs and\ndough-cakes which were thrown in. Afterwards--apparently at the\nnext annual festival--the decayed remains of the pigs, the cakes,\nand the pine-branches were fetched by women called 'drawers,' who,\nafter observing, rules of ceremonial purity for three days, descended\ninto the caverns, and, frightening away the serpents by clapping their\nhands, brought up the remains and placed them on the altar. Whoever\ngot a piece of the decayed flesh and cakes, and sowed it with the\nseed-corn in his field, was believed to be sure of a good crop.\n\n\"To explain this rude and ancient rite the following legend was\ntold. At the moment when Pluto carried off Proserpine, a swineherd\ncalled Eubuleus chanced to be herding his swine on the spot, and\nhis herd was engulfed in the chasm down which Pluto vanished with\nProserpine. Accordingly, at the Thesmophoria pigs were annually\nthrown into caverns to commemorate the disappearance of the swine\nof Eubuleus. It follows from this that the casting of the pigs\ninto the vaults at the Thesmophoria formed part of the dramatic\nrepresentation of Proserpine's descent into the lower world; and\nas no image of Proserpine appears to have been thrown in, we may\ninfer that the descent of the pigs was not so much an accompaniment\nof her descent as the descent itself, in short, that the pigs were\nProserpine. Afterwards, when Proserpine or Demeter (for the two are\nequivalent) became anthropomorphic, a reason had to be found for the\ncustom of throwing pigs into caverns at her festival; and this was\ndone by saying that when Pluto carried off Proserpine, there happened\nto be some swine browsing near, which were swallowed up along with\nher. The story is obviously a forced and awkward attempt to bridge\nover the gulf between the old conception of the corn-spirit as a\npig and the new conception of her as an anthropomorphic goddess. A\ntrace of the older conception survived in the legend that when the\nsad mother was searching for traces of the vanished Proserpine, the\nfootprints of the lost one were obliterated by the footprints of a\npig; originally, we may conjecture, the footprints of the pig were the\nfootprints of Proserpine and of Demeter herself. A consciousness of\nthe intimate connection of the pig with the corn lurks in the legend\nthat the swineherd Eubuleus was a brother of Triptolemus, to whom\nDemeter first imparted the secret of the corn. Indeed, according to\none version of the story, Eubuleus himself received, jointly with his\nbrother Triptolemus, the gift of the corn from Demeter as a reward\nfor revealing to her the fate of Proserpine. Further, it is to be\nnoted that at the Thesmophoria the women appear to have eaten swine's\nflesh. The meal, if I am right, must have been a solemn sacrament or\ncommunion, the worshippers partaking of the body of the god.\"\n\n\n\n\n8. Estimation of the pig in India\n\nWe thus see how the pig in ancient Greece was worshipped as a\ncorn-deity because it damaged the crops and subsequently became\nan anthropomorphic goddess. It is suggested that pigs are offered\nto Bhainsasur by the Hindus for the same reason. But there is no\nHindu deity representing the pig, this animal on the contrary being\nregarded as impure. It seems doubtful, however, whether this was\nalways so. In Rajputana on the stone which the Regent of Kotah set up\nto commemorate the abolition of forced taxes were carved the effigies\nof the sun, the moon, the cow and the hog, with an imprecation on\nwhoever should revoke the edict. [8] Colonel Tod says that the pig\nwas included as being execrated by all classes, but this seems very\ndoubtful. It would scarcely occur to any Hindu nowadays to associate\nthe image of the impure pig with those of the sun, moon and cow,\nthe representations of three of his greatest deities. Rather it\ngives some reason for supposing that the pig was once worshipped,\nand the Rajputs still do not hold the wild boar impure, as they hunt\nit and eat its flesh. Moreover, Vishnu in his fourth incarnation was\na boar. The Gonds regularly offer pigs to their great god Bura Deo,\nand though they now offer goats as well, this seems to be a later\ninnovation. The principal sacrifice of the early Romans was the\nSuovetaurilia or the sacrifice of a pig, a ram and a bull. The order\nof the words, M. Reinach remarks, [9] is significant as showing the\nimportance formerly attached to the pig or boar. Since the pig was\nthe principal sacrificial animal of the primitive tribes, the Gonds\nand Baigas, its connection with the ritual of an alien and at one\ntime hostile religion may have strengthened the feeling of aversion\nfor it among the Hindus, which would naturally be engendered by its\nown dirty habits.\n\n\n\n\n9. The buffalo as a corn-god\n\nIt seems possible then that the Hindus reverenced the wild boar in\nthe past as one of the strongest and fiercest animals of the forest\nand also as a destroyer of the crops. And they still make sacrifices\nof the pig to guard their fields from his ravages. These sacrifices,\nhowever, are not offered to any deity who can represent a deified\npig but to Bhainsasur, the deified buffalo. The explanation seems\nto be that in former times, when forests extended over most of\nthe country, the cultivator had in the wild buffalo a direr foe\nthan the wild pig. And one can well understand how the peasant,\nwinning a scanty subsistence from his poor fields near the forest,\nand seeing his harvest destroyed in a night by the trampling of a herd\nof these great brutes against whom his puny weapons were powerless,\nlooked on them as terrible and malignant deities. The sacrifice of a\nbuffalo would be beyond the means of a single man, and the animal is\nnow more or less sacred as one of the cow tribe. But the annual joint\nsacrifice of one or more buffaloes is a regular feature of the Dasahra\nfestival and extends over a great part of India. In Betul and other\ndistricts the procedure is that on the Dasahra day, or a day before,\nthe Mang and Kotwar, two of the lowest village menials, take a buffalo\nbull and bring it to the village proprietor, who makes a cut on its\nnose and draws blood. Then it is taken all round the village and\nto the shrines of the gods, and in the evening it is killed and the\nMang and Kotwar eat the flesh. It is now believed that if the blood\nof a buffalo does not fall at Dasahra some epidemic will attack the\nvillage, but as there are no longer any wild buffaloes except in the\ndenser forests of one or two Districts, the original meaning of the\nrite might naturally have been forgotten. [10]\n\n\n\n\n10. The Dasahra festival\n\nThe Dasahra festival probably marks the autumnal equinox and also the\ntime when the sowing of wheat and other spring crops begins. Many\nHindus still postpone sowing the wheat until after Dasahra, even\nthough it might be convenient to begin before, especially as the\nfestival goes by the lunar month and its date varies in different\nyears by more than a fortnight. The name signifies the tenth day,\nand prior to the festival a fast of nine days is observed, when the\npots of wheat corresponding to the gardens of Adonis are sown and\nquickly sprout up. This is an imitation of the sowing and growth of\nthe real crop and is meant to ensure its success. During these nine\ndays it is said that the goddess Devi was engaged in mortal combat\nwith the buffalo demon Mahisasur or Bhainsasur, and on the tenth day\nor the Dasahra she slew him. The fast is explained as being observed\nin order to help her to victory, but it is really perhaps a fast in\nconnection with the growing of the crops. A similar nine daysfast\nfor the crops was observed by the Greeks. [11]\n\n\n\n\n11. The goddess Devi\n\nDevi signifies '_the_ goddess' _par excellence_. She is often the\ntutelary goddess of the village and of the family, and is held to have\nbeen originally Mother Earth, which may be supposed to be correct. In\ntracts where the people of northern and southern India meet she is\nidentified with Anna Purna, the corn-goddess of the Telugu country;\nand in her form of Gauri or 'the Yellow One' she is perhaps herself\nthe yellow corn. As Gauri she is worshipped at weddings in conjunction\nwith Ganesh or Ganpati, the god of Good Fortune; and it is probably\nin honour of the harvest colour that Hindus of the upper castes\nwear yellow at their weddings and consider it lucky. A Brahman also\nprefers to wear yellow when eating his food. It has been seen [12]\nthat red is the lucky colour of the lower castes of Hindus, and the\nreason probably is that the shrines of their gods are stained red with\nthe blood of the animals sacrificed. High-caste Hindus no longer make\nanimal sacrifices, and their offerings to Siva, Vishnu and Devi consist\nof food, flowers and blades of corn. Thus yellow would be similarly\nassociated with the shrines of the gods. All Hindu brides have their\nbodies rubbed with yellow turmeric, and the principal religious flower,\nthe marigold, is orange-yellow. Yellow is, however, also lucky as being\nthe colour of Vishnu or the Sun, and a yellow flag is waved above\nhis great temple at Ramtek on the occasion of the fair. Thus Devi\nas the corn-goddess perhaps corresponds to Demeter, but she is not\nin this form an animal goddess. The Hindus worshipping Mother Earth,\nas all races do in the early stage of religion, may by a natural and\nproper analogy have ascribed the gift of the corn to her from whom\nit really comes, and have identified her with the corn-goddess. This\nis by no means a full explanation of the goddess Devi, who has many\nforms. As Parvati, the hill-maiden, and Durga, the inaccessible one,\nshe is the consort of Siva in his character of the mountain-god of\nthe Himalayas; as Kali, the devourer of human flesh, she is perhaps\nthe deified tiger; and she may have assimilated yet more objects of\nworship into her wide divinity. But there seems no special reason\nto hold that she is anywhere believed to be the deified buffalo; and\nthe probable explanation of the Dasahra rite would therefore seem to\nbe that the buffalo was at first venerated as the corn-god because,\nlike the pig in Greece, he was most destructive to the crops, and\na buffalo was originally slaughtered and eaten sacramentally as an\nact of worship. At a later period the divinity attaching to the corn\nwas transferred to Devi, an anthropomorphic deity of a higher class,\nand in order to explain the customary slaughter of the buffalo, which\nhad to be retained, the story became current that the beneficent\ngoddess fought and slew the buffalo-demon which injured the crops,\nfor the benefit of her worshippers, and the fast was observed and\nthe buffalo sacrificed in commemoration of this event. It is possible\nthat the sacrifice of the buffalo may have been a non-Aryan rite, as\nthe Mundas still offer a buffalo to Deswali, their forest god, in the\nsacred grove; and the Korwas of Sarguja nave periodical sacrifices to\nKali in which many buffaloes are slaughtered. In the pictures of her\nfight with Bhainsasur, Devi is shown as riding on a tiger, and the\nuneducated might imagine the struggle to have resembled that between\na tiger and a buffalo. As the destroyer of buffaloes and deer which\ngraze on the crops the tiger may even be considered the cultivator's\nfriend. But in the rural tracts Bhainsasur himself is still venerated\nin the guise of a corn-deity, and pig are perhaps offered to him as\nthe animals which nowadays do most harm to the crops.\n\n\n\n\n\nKunbi\n\n[This article is based on the information collected for the District\nGazetteers of the Central Provinces, manuscript notes furnished by\nMr. A.K. Smith, C.S., and from papers by Pandit Pyare Lal Misra and\nMunshi Kanhya Lal. The Kunbis are treated in the _Poona_ and _Khandesh_\nvolumes of the _Bombay Gazetteer_. The caste has been taken as typical\nof the Marathi-speaking Districts, and a fairly full description\nof the marriage and other ceremonies has therefore been given, some\ninformation on houses, dress and food being also reproduced from the\n_Wardha_ and _Yeotmal District Gazetteers_.]\n\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Distribution of the caste and origin of name_.\n    2. _Settlement in the Central Provinces_.\n    3. _Sub castes_.\n    4. _The cultivating status_.\n    5. _Exogamous septs_.\n    6. _Restrictions on marriage of relatives_.\n    7. _Betrothal and marriage_.\n    8. _Polygamy and divorce_.\n    9. _Widow-marriage_.\n    10. _Customs at birth_.\n    11. _Sixth- and twelfth-day ceremonies_.\n    12. _Devices for procuring children_.\n    13. _Love charms_.\n    14. _Disposal of the dead_.\n    15. _Mourning_.\n    16. _Religion_.\n    17. _The Pola festival_.\n    18. _Muhammadan tendencies of Berar Kunbis_.\n    19. _Villages and houses_.\n    20. _Furniture_.\n    21. _Food_.\n    22. _Clothes and ornaments_.\n    23. _The Kunbi as cultivator_.\n    24. _Social and moral characteristics_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Distribution of the caste and origin of name\n\n_Kunbi_--The great agricultural caste of the Maratha country. In\nthe Central Provinces and Berar the Kunbis numbered nearly 1,400,000\npersons in 1911; they belong to the Nagpur, Chanda, Bhandara, Wardha,\nNimar and Betul Districts of the Central Provinces. In Berar their\nstrength was 800,000, or nearly a third of the total population. Here\nthey form the principal cultivating class over the whole area except\nin the jungles of the north and south, but muster most strongly in\nthe Buldana District to the west, where in some taluks nearly half the\npopulation belongs to the Kunbi caste. In the combined Province they\nare the most numerous caste except the Gonds. The name has various\nforms in Bombay, being Kunbi or Kulambi in the Deccan, Kulwadi in\nthe south Konkan, Kanbi in Gujarat, and Kulbi in Belgaum. In Sanskrit\ninscriptions it is given as Kutumbika (householder), and hence it has\nbeen derived from _kutumba_, a family. A chronicle of the eleventh\ncentury quoted by Forbes speaks of the Kutumbiks or cultivators of\nthe _grams,_ or small villages. [13] Another writer describing the\nearly Rajput dynasties says: [14] \"The villagers were Koutombiks\n(householders) or husbandmen (Karshuks); the village headmen were\nPutkeels (patels).\" Another suggested derivation is from a Dravidian\nroot _kul_ a husbandman or labourer; while that favoured by the caste\nand their neighbours is from _kun_, a root, or _kan_ grain, and _bi_,\nseed; but this is too ingenious to be probable.\n\n\n\n\n2. Settlement in the Central Provinces\n\nIt is stated that the Kunbis entered Khandesh from Gujarat in the\neleventh century, being forced to leave Gujarat by the encroachments\nof Rajput tribes, driven south before the early Muhammadan invaders\nof northern India. [15] From Khandesh they probably spread into Berar\nand the adjoining Nagpur and Wardha Districts. It seems probable that\ntheir first settlement in Nagpur and Wardha took place not later than\nthe fourteenth century, because during the subsequent period of Gond\nrule we find the offices of Deshmukh and Deshpandia in existence in\nthis area. The Deshmukh was the manager or headman of a circle of\nvillages and was responsible for apportioning and collecting the land\nrevenue, while the Deshpandia was a head _patwari_ or accountant. The\nDeshmukhs were usually the leading Kunbis, and the titles are still\nborne by many families in Wardha and Nagpur. These offices [16] belong\nto the Maratha country, and it seems necessary to suppose that their\nintroduction into Wardha and Berar dates from a period at least as\nearly as the fourteenth century, when these territories were included\nin the dominions of the Bahmani kings of Bijapur. A subsequent large\ninflux of Kunbis into Wardha and Nagpur took place in the eighteenth\ncentury with the conquest of Raghuji Bhonsla and the establishment of\nthe Maratha kingdom of Nagpur. Traces of these separate immigrations\nsurvive in the subdivisions of the caste, which will now be mentioned.\n\n\n\n\n3. Subcastes\n\nThe internal structure of the Kunbi caste in the Central Provinces\nshows that it is a mixed occupational body recruited from different\nclasses of the population. The Jhare or jungly [17] Kunbis are\nthe oldest immigrants and have no doubt an admixture of Gond\nblood. They do not break their earthen vessels after a death in\nthe house. With them may be classed the Manwa Kunbis of the Nagpur\nDistrict; these appear to be a group recruited from the Manas, a\nprimitive tribe who were dominant in Chanda perhaps even before the\nadvent of the Gonds. The Manwa Kunbi women wear their cloths drawn\nup so as to expose the thigh like the Gonds, and have some other\nprimitive practices. They do not employ Brahmans at their marriages,\nbut consult a Mahar Mohturia or soothsayer to fix the date of the\nceremony. Other Kunbis will not eat with the Manwas, and the latter\nretaliate in the usual manner by refusing to accept food from them;\nand say that they are superior to other Kunbis because they always\nuse brass vessels for cooking and not earthen ones. Among the other\nsubcastes in the Central Provinces are the Khaire, who take their name\nfrom the _khair_ [18] or catechu tree, presumably because they formerly\nprepared catechu; this is a regular occupation of the forest tribes,\nwith whom it may be supposed that the Khaire have some affinity. The\nDhanoje are those who took to the occupation of tending _dhan_ [19]\nor small stock, and they are probably an offshoot of the Dhangar\nor shepherd caste whose name is similarly derived. Like the Dhangar\nwomen they wear cocoanut-shell bangles, and the Manwa Kunbis also do\nthis; these bangles are not broken when a child is born, and hence\nthe Dhanojes and Manwas are looked down on by the other subcastes,\nwho refuse to remove their leaf-plates after a feast. The name of the\nKhedule subcaste may be derived from _kheda_ a village, while another\nversion given by Mr. Kitts [20] is that it signifies 'A beardless\nyouth.' The highest subcaste in the Central Provinces are the Tirole\nor Tilole, who now claim to be Rajputs. They say that their ancestors\ncame from Therol in Rajputana, and, taking to agriculture, gradually\nbecame merged with the Kunbis. Another more probable derivation of\nthe name is from the _til_ or sesamum plant. The families who held\nthe hereditary office of Deshmukh, which conferred a considerable\nlocal position, were usually members of the Tirole subcaste, and they\nhave now developed into a sort of aristocratic branch of the caste,\nand marry among themselves when matches can be arranged. They do not\nallow the remarriage of widows nor permit their women to accompany\nthe wedding procession. The Wandhekars are another group which also\nincludes some Deshmukh families, and ranks next to the Tiroles in\nposition. Mr. Kitts records a large number of subcastes in Berar. [21]\nAmong them are some groups from northern India, as the Hindustani,\nPardesi, Dholewar, Jaiswar and Singrore; these are probably Kurmis who\nhave settled in Berar and become amalgamated with the Kunbis. Similarly\nthe Tailanges and Munurwars appear to be an offshoot of the great Kapu\ncaste of cultivators in the Telugu country. The Wanjari subcaste is\na fairly large one and almost certainly represents a branch of the\nBanjara caste of carriers, who have taken to agriculture and been\npromoted into the Kunbi community. The Lonhare take their name from\nLonar Mehkar, the well-known bitter lake of the Buldana District,\nwhose salt they may formerly have refined. The Ghatole are those who\ndwelt above the _ghats_ or passes of the Saihadri range to the south\nof the Berar plain. The Baone are an important subcaste both in Berar\nand the Central Provinces, and take their name from the phrase Bawan\nBerar, [22] a term applied to the province by the Mughals because it\npaid fifty-two lakhs of revenue, as against only eight lakhs realised\nfrom the adjoining Jhadi or hill country in the Central Provinces. In\nChhindwara is found a small local subcaste called Gadhao because they\nformerly kept donkeys, though they no longer do so; they are looked\ndown on by the others who will not even take water from their hands. In\nNimar is a group of Gujarati Kunbis who are considered to have been\noriginally Gujars. [23] Their local subdivisions are Leve and Karwa and\nmany of them are also known as Dalia, because they made the _dal_ or\npulse of Burhanpur, which had a great reputation under native rule. It\nis said that it was formerly despatched daily to Sindhia's kitchen.\n\n\n\n\n4. The cultivating status\n\nIt appears then that a Kunbi has in the past been synonymous with\na cultivator, and that large groups from other castes have taken to\nagriculture, have been admitted into the community and usually obtained\na rise in rank. In many villages Kunbis are the only ryots, while below\nthem are the village menials and artisans, several of whom perform\nfunctions at weddings or on other occasions denoting their recognition\nof the Kunbi as their master or employer; and beneath these again are\nthe impure Mahars or labourers. Thus at a Kunbi betrothal the services\nof the barber and washerman must be requisitioned; the barber washes\nthe feet of the boy and girl and places vermilion on the foreheads of\nthe guests. The washerman spreads a sheet on the ground on which the\nboy and girl sit. At the end of the ceremony the barber and washerman\ntake the bride and bridegroom on their shoulders and dance to music\nin the marriage-shed; for this they receive small presents. After\na death has occurred at a Kunbi's house the impurity is not removed\nuntil the barber and washerman have eaten in it. At a Kunbi's wedding\nthe Gurao or village priest brings the leafy branches of five trees,\nthe mango, _jamun_ [24] _umar_ [25] and two others and deposits them\nat Maroti's temple, whence they are removed by the parents of the\nbride. Before a wedding again a Kunbi bride must go to the potter's\nhouse and be seated on his wheel while it is turned round seven times\nfor good luck. At seed-time and harvest all the village menials go\nto the cultivator's field and present him with a specimen of their\nwares or make obeisance to him, receiving in return a small present\nof grain. This state of things seems to represent the primitive form\nof Hindu society from which the present widely ramified system, of\ncastes may have expanded, and even now the outlines of the original\nstructure may be discernible under all subsequent accretions.\n\n\n\n\n5. Exogamus septs\n\nEach subcaste has a number of exogamous septs or clans which serve\nas a table of affinities in regulating marriage. The vernacular\nterm for these is _kul_. Some of the septs are named after natural\nobjects or animals, others from titles or nicknames borne by the\nreputed founder of the group, or from some other caste to which he\nmay have belonged, while others again are derived from the names\nof villages which maybe taken to have been the original home of the\nsept or clan. The following are some septs of the Tirole subcaste:\nKole, jackal; Wankhede, a village; Kadu, bitter; Jagthap, famous;\nKadam, a tree; Meghe, a cloud; Lohekari, a worker in iron; Ughde,\na child who has been exposed at birth; Shinde, a palm-tree; Hagre,\none who suffers from diarrhoea; Aglawe, an incendiary; Kalamkar,\na writer; Wani (Bania), a caste; Sutar, a carpenter, and so on,\nA few of the groups of the Baone subcaste are:--Kantode, one with a\ntorn ear; Dokarmare, a killer of pigs; Lute, a plunderer; Titarmare,\na pigeon-killer; and of the Khedule: Patre, a leaf-plate; Ghoremare,\none who killed a horse; Bagmare, a tiger-slayer; Gadhe, a donkey;\nBurade, one of the Burud or Basor caste; Naktode, one with a broken\nnose, and so on. Each subcaste has a number of septs, a total of 66\nbeing recorded for the Tiroles alone. The names of the septs confirm\nthe hypothesis arrived at from a scrutiny of the subcastes that\nthe Kunbis are largely recruited from the pre-Aryan or aboriginal\ntribes. Conclusions as to the origin of the caste can better be\nmade in its home in Bombay, but it may be noted that in Canara,\naccording to the accomplished author of _A Naturalist on the Prowl_\n[26] the Kunbi is quite a primitive forest-dweller, who only a few\nyears back lived by scattering his seed on patches of land burnt clear\nof vegetation, collecting myrobalans and other fruits, and snaring\nand trapping animals exactly like the Gonds and Baigas of the Central\nProvinces. Similarly in Nasik it is stated that a large proportion\nof the Kunbi caste are probably derived from the primitive tribes\n[27]. Yet in the cultivated plains which he has so largely occupied,\nhe is reckoned the equal in rank of the Kurmi and other cultivating\ncastes of Hindustan, who in theory at any rate are of Aryan origin and\nof so high a grade of social purity that Brahmans will take water from\nthem. The only reasonable explanation of this rise in status appears to\nbe that the Kunbi has taken possession of the land and has obtained the\nrank which from time immemorial belongs to the hereditary cultivator\nas a member and citizen of the village community. It is interesting\nto note that the Wanjari Kunbis of Berar, who, being as already seen\nBanjaras, are of Rajput descent at any rate, now strenuously disclaim\nall connection with the Banjara caste and regard their reception into\nthe Kunbi community as a gain in status. At the same time the refusal\nof the Maratha Brahmans to take water to drink from Kunbis may perhaps\nhave been due to the recognition of their non-Aryan origin. Most of\nthe Kunbis also eat fowls, which the cultivating castes of northern\nIndia would not usually do.\n\n\n\n\n6. Restrictions on marriage of relatives\n\nA man is forbidden to marry within his own sept or _kul_, or in that\nof his mother or either of his grandmothers. He may marry his wife's\nyounger sister but not her elder sister. Alliances between first and\nsecond cousins are also prohibited except that a sister's son may be\nmarried to a brother's daughter. Such marriages are also favoured\nby the Maratha Brahmans and other castes, and the suitability of\nthe match is expressed in the saying _Ato ghari bhasi sun_, or 'At\na sister's house her brother's daughter is a daughter-in-law.' The\nsister claims it as a right and not unfrequently there are quarrels\nif the brother decides to give his daughter to somebody else, while\nthe general feeling is so strongly in favour of these marriages that\nthe caste committee sometimes imposes a fine on fathers who wish to\nbreak through the rule. The fact that in this single case the marriage\nof near relatives is not only permitted but considered almost as an\nobligation, while in all other instances it is strictly prohibited,\nprobably points to the conclusion that the custom is a survival of the\nmatriarchate, when a brother's property would pass to his sister's\nson. Under such a law of inheritance he would naturally desire that\nhis heir should be united to his own daughter, and this union might\ngradually become customary and at length almost obligatory. The\ncustom in this case may survive when the reasons which justified it\nhave entirely vanished. And while formerly it was the brother who\nwould have had reason to desire the match for his daughter, it is now\nthe sister who insists on it for her son, the explanation being that\namong the Kunbis as with other agricultural castes, to whom a wife's\nlabour is a valuable asset, girls are expensive and a considerable\nprice has to be paid for a bride.\n\n\n\n\n7. Betrothal and marriage\n\nGirls are usually married between the ages of five and eleven and boys\nbetween ten and twenty. The Kunbis still think it a mark of social\ndistinction to have their daughters married as young as possible. The\nrecognised bride-price is about twenty rupees, but much larger sums are\noften paid. The boy's father goes in search of a girl to be married\nto his son, and when the bride-price has been settled and the match\narranged the ceremony of Mangni or betrothal takes place. In the first\nplace the boy's father proceeds to his future daughter-in-law's house,\nwhere he washes her feet, smears her forehead with red powder and\ngives her a present of a rupee and some sweetmeats. All the party\nthen eat together. This is followed by a visit of the girl's father\nto the boy's house where a similar ceremony is enacted and the boy\nis presented with a cocoanut, a _pagri_ and cloth, and a silver\nor gold ring. Again the boy's relatives go to the girl's house\nand give her more valuable presents of jewellery and clothing. A\nBrahman is afterwards consulted to fix the date of the marriage,\nbut the poorer Kunbis dispense with his services as he charges two\nor three rupees. Prior to the ceremony the bodies of the bride and\nbridegroom are well massaged with vegetable oil and turmeric in their\nrespective houses, partly with a view to enhance their beauty and also\nperhaps to protect them during the trying period of the ceremony when\nmaleficent spirits are particularly on the alert. The marriage-shed is\nmade of eleven poles festooned with leaves, and inside it are placed\ntwo posts of the _saleh_ (_Boswellia serrata_) or _umar_ (_Ficus\nglomerata_) tree, one longer than the other, to represent the bride\nand bridegroom. Two jars filled with water are set near the posts,\nand a small earthen platform called _baola_ is made. The bridegroom\nwears a yellow or white dress, and has a triangular frame of bamboo\ncovered with tinsel over his forehead, which is known as _basing_\nand is a substitute for the _maur_ or marriage-crown of the Hindustani\ncastes. Over his shoulder he carries a pickaxe as the representative\nimplement of husbandry with one or two wheaten cakes tied to it. This\nis placed on the top of the marriage-shed and at the end of the five\ndays' ceremonies the members of the families eat the dried cakes\nwith milk, no outsider being allowed to participate. The _barat_\nor wedding procession sets out for the bride's village, the women\nof the bridegroom's family accompanying it except among the Tirole\nKunbis, who forbid the practice in order to demonstrate their higher\nsocial position. It is received on the border of the girl's village\nby her father and his friends and relatives, and conducted to the\n_janwasa_ or temporary lodging prepared for it, with the exception\nof the bridegroom, who is left alone before the shrine of Maroti or\nHanuman. The bridegroom's father goes to the marriage-shed where he\nwashes the bride's feet and gives her another present of clothes,\nand her relatives then proceed to Maroti's temple where they worship\nand make offerings, and return bringing the bridegroom with them. As\nhe arrives at the marriage pavilion he touches it with a stick, on\nwhich the bride's brother who is seated above the shed pours down\nsome water and is given a present of money by the bridegroom. The\nbridegroom's feet are then washed by his father-in-law and he is\ngiven a yellow cloth which he wears. The couple are made to stand on\ntwo wooden planks opposite each other with a curtain between them,\nthe bridegroom facing east and the bride west, holding some Akshata\nor rice covered with saffron in their hands. As the sun sets the\nofficiating Brahman gets on to the roof of the house and repeats the\nmarriage texts from there. At his signal the couple throw the rice over\neach other, the curtain between them is withdrawn, and they change\ntheir seats. The assembled party applaud and the marriage proper is\nover. The Brahman marks their foreheads with rice and turmeric and\npresses them together. He then seats them on the earthen platform\nor _baola_, and ties their clothes together, this being known as the\nBrahma Ganthi or Brahman's knot. The wedding usually takes place on the\nday after the arrival of the marriage procession and another two days\nare consumed in feasting and worshipping the deities. When the bride\nand bridegroom return home after the wedding one of the party waves a\npot of water round their heads and throws it away at a little distance\non the ground, and after this some grain in the same manner. This is\na provision of food and drink to any evil spirits who may be hovering\nround the couple, so that they may stop to consume it and refrain\nfrom entering the house. The expenses of the bride's family may vary\nfrom Rs. 60 to Rs. 100 and those of the bridegroom's from Rs. 160 to\nRs. 600. A wedding carried out on a lavish scale by a well-to-do man\nis known as Lal Biah or a red marriage, but when the parties are poor\nthe expenses are curtailed and it is then called Safed Biah or a white\nmarriage. In this case the bridegroom's mother does not accompany the\nwedding procession and the proceedings last only two days. The bride\ngoes back with the wedding procession for a few days to her husband's\nhouse and then returns home. When she arrives at maturity her parents\ngive a feast to the caste and send her to her husband's house, this\noccasion being known as Bolvan (the calling). The Karwa Kunbis of\nNimar have a peculiar rule for the celebration of marriages. They\nhave a _guru_ or priest in Gujarat who sends them a notice once in\nevery ten or twelve years, and in this year only marriages can be\nperformed. It is called _Singhast ki sal_ and is the year in which the\nplanet Guru (Jupiter) comes into conjunction with the constellation\nSinh (Leo). But the Karwas themselves think that there is a large\ntemple in Gujarat with a locked door to which there is no key. But\nonce in ten or twelve years the door unlocks of itself, and in that\nyear their marriages are celebrated. A certain day is fixed and all\nthe weddings are held on it together. On this occasion children from\ninfants in arms to ten or twelve years are married, and if a match\ncannot be arranged for them they will have to wait another ten or\ntwelve years. A girl child who is born on the day fixed for weddings\nmay, however, be married twelve days afterwards, the twelfth night\nbeing called Mando Rat, and on this occasion any other weddings which\nmay have been unavoidably postponed owing to a death or illness in\nthe families may also be completed. The rule affords a loophole of\nescape for the victims of any such _contretemps_ and also insures\nthat every girl shall be married before she is fully twelve years\nold. Rather than not marry their daughter in the _Singhast ki sal_\nbefore she is twelve the parents will accept any bridegroom, even\nthough he be very poor or younger than the bride. This is the same year\nin which the celebration of marriages is forbidden among the Hindus\ngenerally. The other Kunbis have the general Hindu rule that weddings\nare forbidden during the four months from the 11th Asarh Sudi (June)\nto the 11th Kartik Sudi (October). This is the period of the rains,\nwhen the crops are growing and the gods are said to go to sleep, and\nit is observed more or less as a time of abstinence and fasting. The\nHindus should properly abstain from eating sugarcane, brinjals,\nonions, garlic and other vegetables for the whole four months. On\nthe 12th of Kartik the marriage of Tulsi or the basil plant with the\nSaligram or ammonite representing Vishnu is performed and all these\nvegetables are offered to her and afterwards generally consumed. Two\ndays afterwards, beginning from the 14th of Kartik, comes the Diwali\nfestival. In Betul the bridal couple are seated in the centre of a\nsquare made of four plough yokes, while a leaf of the pipal tree and\na piece of turmeric are tied by a string round both their wrists. The\nuntying of the string by the local Brahman constitutes the essential\nand binding portion of the marriage. Among the Lonhare subcaste a\ncurious ceremony is performed after the wedding. A swing is made, and\na round pestle, which is supposed to represent a child, is placed on\nit and swung to and fro. It is then taken off and placed in the lap\nof the bride, and the effect of performing this symbolical ceremony\nis supposed to be that she will soon become a mother.\n\n\n\n\n8. Polygamy and divorce\n\nPolygamy is permitted but rarely practised, a second wife being only\ntaken if the first be childless or of bad character, or destitute of\nattractions. Divorce is allowed, but in some localities at any rate\na divorced woman cannot marry again unless she is permitted to do so\nin writing by her first husband. If a girl be seduced before marriage\na fine is imposed on both parties and they are readmitted to social\nintercourse, but are not married to each other. Curiously enough,\nin the Tirole and Wandhekar, the highest subcastes, the keeping of\na woman is not an offence entailing temporary exclusion from caste,\nwhereas among the lower subcastes it is. [28]\n\n\n\n\n9. Widow-marriage\n\nThe Kunbis permit the remarriage of widows, with the exception of the\nDeshmukh families of the Tirole subcaste who have forbidden it. If a\nwoman's husband dies she returns to her father's house and he arranges\nher second marriage, which is called _choli-patal,_ or giving her new\nclothes. He takes a price for her which may vary from twenty-five\nto five hundred rupees according to the age and attractions of the\nwoman. A widow may marry any one outside the family of her deceased\nhusband, but she may not marry his younger brother. This union,\nwhich among the Hindustani castes is looked upon as most suitable\nif not obligatory, is strictly forbidden among the Maratha castes,\nthe reason assigned being that a wife stands in the position of a\nmother to her husband's younger brothers. The contrast is curious. The\nceremony of widow-marriage is largely governed by the idea of escaping\nor placating the wrath of the first husband's ghost, and also of its\nbeing something to be ashamed of and contrary to orthodox Hinduism. It\nalways takes place in the dark fortnight of the month and always at\nnight. Sometimes no women are present, and if any do attend they must\nbe widows, as it would be the worst of omens for a married woman or\nunmarried girl to witness the ceremony. This, it is thought, would\nlead to her shortly becoming a widow herself. The bridegroom goes to\nthe widow's house with his male friends and two wooden seats are set\nside by side. On one of these a betel-nut is placed which represents\nthe deceased husband of the widow. The new bridegroom advances with\na small wooden sword, touches the nut with its tip, and then kicks it\noff the seat with his right toe. The barber picks up the nut and burns\nit. This is supposed to lay the deceased husband's spirit and prevent\nhis interference with the new union. The bridegroom then takes the seat\nfrom which the nut has been displaced and the woman sits on the other\nside to his left. He puts a necklace of beads round her neck and the\ncouple leave the house in a stealthy fashion and go to the husband's\nvillage. It is considered unlucky to see them as they go away because\nthe second husband is regarded in the light of a robber. Sometimes\nthey stop by a stream on the way home, and, taking off the woman's\nclothes and bangles, bury them by the side of the stream. An exorcist\nmay also be called in, who will confine the late husband's spirit in\na horn by putting in some grains of wheat, and after sealing up the\nhorn deposit it with the clothes. When a widower or widow marries a\nsecond time and is afterwards attacked by illness, it is ascribed to\nthe illwill of their former partner's spirit. The metal image of the\nfirst husband or wife is then made and worn as an amulet on the arm or\nround the neck. A bachelor who wishes to marry a widow must first go\nthrough a mock ceremony with an _akra_ or swallow-wort plant, as the\nwidow-marriage is not considered a real one, and it is inauspicious for\nany one to die without having been properly married once. A similar\nceremony must be gone through when a man is married for the third\ntime, as it is held that if he marries a woman for the third time he\nwill quickly die. The _akra_ or swallow-wort (_Calotropis gigantea_)\nis a very common plant growing on waste land with mauve or purple\nflowers. When cut or broken a copious milky juice exudes from the\nstem, and in some places parents are said to poison children whom\nthey do not desire to keep alive by rubbing this on their lips.\n\n\n\n\n10. Customs at birth\n\nDuring her monthly impurity a woman stays apart and may not cook\nfor herself nor touch anybody nor sleep on a bed made of cotton\nthread. As soon as she is in this condition she will untie the cotton\nthreads confining her hair and throw them away, letting her hair hang\ndown. This is because they have become impure. But if there is no\nother woman in the house and she must continue to do the household\nwork herself, she does not throw them away until the last day. [29]\nSimilarly she must not sleep on a cotton sheet or mattress during\nthis time because she would defile it, but she may sleep on a woollen\nblanket as wool is a holy material and is not defiled. At the end of\nthe period she proceeds to a stream and purifies herself by bathing\nand washing her head with earth. When a woman is with child for the\nfirst time her women friends come and give her new green clothes and\nbangles in the seventh month; they then put her into a swing and sing\nsongs. While she is pregnant she is made to work in the house so as\nnot to be inactive. After the birth of a child the mother remains\nimpure for twelve days. A woman of the Mang or Mahar caste acts as\nmidwife, and always breaks her bangles and puts on new ones after she\nhas assisted at a birth. If delivery is prolonged the woman is given\nhot water and sugar or camphor wrapped in a betel-leaf, or they put\na few grains of gram into her hand and then someone takes and feeds\nthem to a mare, as it is thought that the woman's pregnancy has been\nprolonged by her having walked behind the tethering-ropes of a mare,\nwhich is twelve months in foal. Or she is given water to drink in\nwhich a Sulaimani onyx or a rupee of Akbar's time has been washed;\nin the former case the idea is perhaps that a passage will be made\nfor the child like the hole through the bead, while the virtue of the\nrupee probably consists in its being a silver coin and having the image\nor device of a powerful king like Akbar. Or it may be thought that as\nthe coin has passed from hand to hand for so long, it will facilitate\nthe passage of the child from the womb. A pregnant woman must not\nlook on a dead body or her child may be still-born, and she must not\nsee an eclipse or the child may be born maimed. Some believe that if\na child is born during an eclipse it will suffer from lung-disease;\nso they make a silver model of the moon while the eclipse lasts and\nhang it round the child's neck as a charm. Sometimes when delivery\nis delayed they take a folded flower and place it in a pot of water\nand believe that as its petals unfold so the womb will be opened\nand the child born; or they seat the woman on a wooden bench and\npour oil on her head, her forehead being afterwards rubbed with it\nin the belief that as the oil falls so the child will be born. If a\nchild is a long time before learning to speak they give it leaves of\nthe pipal tree to eat, because the leaves of this tree make a noise\nby rustling in the wind; or a root which is very light in weight,\nbecause they think that the tongue is heavy and the quality of\nlightness will thus be communicated to it. Or the mother, when she\nhas kneaded dough and washed her hands afterwards, will pour a drop\nor two of the water down the child's throat. And the water which\nmade her hands clean and smooth will similarly clear the child's\nthroat of the obstruction which prevented it from speaking. If a\nchild's neck is weak and its head rolls about they make it look at a\ncrow perching on the house and think this will make its neck strong\nlike the crow's. If he cannot walk they make a little triangle on\nwheels with a pole called _ghurghuri_, and make him walk holding on\nto the pole. The first teeth of the child are thrown on to the roof\nof the house, because the rats, who have especially good and sharp\nteeth, live there, and it is hoped that the child's second teeth may\ngrow like theirs. A few grains of rice are also thrown so that the\nteeth may be hard and pointed like the rice; the same word, _kani_,\nbeing used for the end of a grain of rice and the tip of a tooth. Or\nthe teeth are placed under a water-pot in the hope that the child's\nsecond teeth may grow as fast as the grass does under water-pots. If\na child is lean some people take it to a place where asses have lain\ndown and rolled in ashes; they roll the child in the ashes similarly\nand believe that it will get fat like the asses are. Or they may lay\nthe child in a pigsty with the same idea. People who want to injure\na child get hold of its coat and lay it out in the sun to dry, in\nthe belief that the child's body will dry up in a similar manner. In\norder to avert the evil eye they burn some turmeric and juari flour\nand hold the newly-born child in the smoke. It is also branded on\nthe stomach with a burning piece of turmeric, perhaps to keep off\ncold. For the first day or two after birth a child is given cow's\nmilk mixed with water or honey and a little castor oil, and after\nthis it is suckled by the mother. But if she is unable to nourish it\na wet-nurse is called in, who may be a woman of low caste or even a\nMuhammadan. The mother is given no regular food for the first two days,\nbut only some sugar and spices. Until the child is six months old its\nhead and body are oiled every second or third day and the body is well\nhand-rubbed and bathed. The rubbing is meant to make the limbs supple\nand the oil to render the child less susceptible to cold. If a child\nwhen sitting soon after birth looks down through its legs they think\nit is looking for its companions whom it has left behind and that more\nchildren will be born. It is considered a bad sign if a child bites\nits upper teeth on its underlip; this is thought to prognosticate\nillness and the child is prevented from doing so as far as possible.\n\n\n\n\n11. Sixth and twelfth day ceremonies\n\nOn the sixth day after birth they believe that Chhathi or Satwai Devi,\nthe Sixth-day Goddess, comes at midnight and writes on the child's\nforehead its fate in life, which writing, it is said, may be seen\non a man's skull when the flesh has come off it after death. On this\nnight the women of the family stay awake all night singing songs and\neating sweetmeats. A picture of the goddess is drawn with turmeric\nand vermilion over the mother's bed. The door of the birth-room is\nleft open, and at midnight she comes. Sometimes a Sunar is employed\nto make a small image of Chhathi Devi, for which he is paid Rs. 1-4,\nand it is hung round the child's neck. On this day the mother is\ngiven to eat all kinds of grain, and among flesh-eating castes the\nsoup of fish and meat, because it is thought that every kind of food\nwhich the mother eats this day will be easily digested by the child\nthroughout its life. On this day the mother is given a second bath,\nthe first being on the day of the birth, and she must not bathe in\nbetween. Sometimes after childbirth a woman buys several bottles of\nliquor and has a bath in it; the stimulating effect of the spirit is\nsupposed to remedy the distension of the body caused by the birth. If\nthe child is a boy it is named on the twelfth and if a girl on the\nthirteenth day. On the twelfth day the mother's bangles are thrown\naway and new ones put on. The Kunbis are very kind to their children,\nand never harsh or quick-tempered, but this may perhaps be partly due\nto their constitutional lethargy. They seldom refuse a child anything,\nbut taking advantage of its innocence will by dissimulation make it\nforget what it wanted. The time arrives when this course of conduct\nis useless, and then the child learns to mistrust the word of its\nparents. Minute quantities of opium are generally administered to\nchildren as a narcotic.\n\n\n\n\n12. Devices for procuring children\n\nIf a woman is barren and has no children one of the remedies prescribed\nby the Sarodis or wandering soothsayers is that she should set fire\nto somebody's house, going alone and at night to perform the deed. So\nlong as some small part of the house is burnt it does not matter if\nthe fire be extinguished, but the woman should not give the alarm\nherself. It is supposed that the spirit of some insect which is burnt\nwill enter her womb and be born as a child. Perhaps she sets fire\nto someone else's house so as to obtain the spirit of one of the\nfamily's dead children, which may be supposed to have entered the\ninsects dwelling on the house. Some years ago at Bhandak in Chanda\ncomplaints were made of houses being set on fire. The police officer\n[30] sent to investigate found that other small fires continued\nto occur. He searched the roofs of the houses, and on two or three\nfound little smouldering balls of rolled-up cloth. Knowing of the\nsuperstition he called all the childless married women of the place\ntogether and admonished them severely, and the fires stopped. On\nanother occasion the same officer's wife was ill, and his little son,\nhaving fever, was sent daily to the dispensary for medicine in charge\nof a maid. One morning he noticed on one of the soles of the boy's\nfeet a stain of the juice of the _bhilawa_ [31] or marking-nut tree,\nwhich raises blisters on the skin. On looking at the other foot he\nfound six similar marks, and on inquiry he learned that these were\nmade by a childless woman in the expectation that the boy would soon\ndie and be born again as her child. The boy suffered no harm, but his\nmother, being in bad health, nearly died of shock on learning of the\nmagic practised against her son.\n\nAnother device is to make a _pradakshana_ or pilgrimage round a pipal\ntree, going naked at midnight after worshipping Maroti or Hanuman, and\nholding a necklace of _tulsi_ beads in the hand. The pipal is of course\na sacred tree, and is the abode of Brahma, the original creator of the\nworld. Brahma has no consort, and it is believed that while all other\ntrees are both male and female the pipal is only male, and is capable\nof impregnating a woman and rendering her fertile. A variation of this\nbelief is that pipal trees are inhabited by the spirits of unmarried\nBrahman boys, and hence a woman sometimes takes a piece of new thread\nand winds it round the tree, perhaps with the idea of investing the\nspirit of the boy with the sacred thread. She will then walk round the\ntree as a symbol of the wedding ceremony of walking round the sacred\npost, and hopes that the boy, being thus brought to man's estate\nand married, will cause her to bear a son. But modest women do not\ngo naked round the tree. The Amawas or New Moon day, if it falls on\na Monday, is specially observed by married women. On this day they\nwill walk 108 times round a pipal tree, and then give 108 mangoes or\nother fruits to a Brahman, choosing a different fruit every time. The\nnumber 108 means a hundred and a little more to show there is no stint,\n'Full measure and flowing over,' like the customary present of Rs. 1-4\ninstead of a rupee. This is also no doubt a birth-charm, fruit being\ngiven so that the woman may become fruitful. Or a childless woman will\npray to Hanuman or Mahabir. Every morning she will go to his shrine\nwith an offering of fruit or flowers, and every evening will set a\nlamp burning there; and morning and evening, prostrating herself, she\nmakes her continuous prayer to the god: '_Oh, Mahabir, Maharaj! hamko\nek batcha do, sirf ek batcha do_.' [32] Then, after many days, Mahabir,\nas might be anticipated, appears to her in a dream and promises her a\nchild. It does not seem that they believe that Mahabir himself directly\nrenders the woman fertile, because similar prayers are made to the\nRiver Nerbudda, a goddess. But perhaps he, being the god of strength,\nlends virile power to her husband. Another prescription is to go to\nthe burying-ground, and, after worshipping it, to take some of the\nbone-ash of a burnt corpse and wear this wrapped up in an amulet on\nthe body. Occasionally, if a woman can get no children she will go\nto the father of a large family and let him beget a child upon her,\nwith or without the connivance of her husband. But only the more\nimmodest women do this. Or she cuts a piece off the breast-cloth of\na woman who has children, and, after burning incense on it, wears\nit as an amulet For a stronger charm she will take a piece of such\na woman's cloth and a lock of her hair and some earth which her feet\nhave pressed and bury these in a pot before Devi's shrine, sometimes\nfashioning an image of the woman out of them. Then, as they rot away,\nthe child-bearing power of the fertile woman will be transferred to\nher. If a woman's first children have died and she wishes to preserve a\nlater one, she sometimes weighs the child against sugar or copper and\ndistributes the amount in charity. Or she gives the child a bad name,\nsuch as Dagharia (a stone), Kachria (sweepings), Ukandia (a dunghill).\n\n\n\n\n13. Love charms\n\nIf a woman's husband is not in love with her, a prescription of a\n_Mohani_ or love-charm given by the wise women is that she should kill\nan owl and serve some of its flesh to her husband as a charm. \"It has\nnot occurred,\" Mr. Kipling writes, \"to the oriental jester to speak\nof a boiled owl in connection with intoxication, but when a husband\nis abjectly submissive to his wife her friends say that she has given\nhim boiled owl's flesh to eat.\" [33] If a man is in love with some\nwoman and wishes to kindle a similar sentiment in her the following\nmethod is given: On a Saturday night he should go to a graveyard and\ncall out, 'I am giving a dinner tomorrow night, and I invite you all\nto attend.' Then on the Sunday night he takes cocoanuts, sweetmeats,\nliquor and flowers to the cemetery and sets them all out, and all the\nspirits or Shaitans come and partake. The host chooses a particularly\nbig Shaitan and calls to him to come near and says to him, 'Will you\ngo with me and do what I ask you.' If the spirit assents he follows\nthe man home. Next night the man again offers cocoanuts and incense\nto the Shaitan, whom he can see by night but not by day, and tells\nhim to go to the woman's house and call her. Then the spirit goes\nand troubles her heart, so that she falls in love with the man and\nhas no rest till she goes to him. If the man afterwards gets tired of\nher he will again secretly worship and call up the Shaitan and order\nhim to turn the woman's inclination away. Another method is to fetch\na skull from a graveyard and go to a banyan tree at midnight. There,\ndivesting himself of his clothes, the operator partially cooks some\nrice in the skull, and then throws it against the tree; he gathers\nall the grains that stick to the trunk in one box and those that fall\nto the ground in another box, and the first rice given to the woman\nto eat will turn her inclination towards him, while the second will\nturn it away from him. This is a sympathetic charm, the rice which\nsticks to the tree having the property of attracting the woman.\n\n\n\n\n14. Disposal of the dead\n\nThe Kunbis either bury or burn the dead. In Berar sepulture is\nthe more common method of disposal, perhaps in imitation of the\nMuhammadans. Here the village has usually a field set apart for\nthe disposal of corpses, which is known as Smashan. Hindus fill\nup the earth practically level with the ground after burial and\nerect no monument, so that after a few years another corpse can be\nburied in the same place. When a Kunbi dies the body is washed in\nwarm water and placed on a bier made of bamboos, with a network of\n_san-_hemp. [34] Ordinary rope must not be used. The mourners then take\nit to the grave, scattering almonds, sandalwood, dates, betel-leaf\nand small coins as they go. These are picked up by the menial Mahars\nor labourers. Halfway to the grave the corpse is set down and the\nbearers change their positions, those behind going in front. Here\na little wheat and pulse which have been tied in the cloth covering\nthe corpse are left by the way. On the journey to the grave the body\nis covered with a new unwashed cloth. The grave is dug three or four\nfeet deep, and the corpse is buried naked, lying on its back with the\nhead to the south. After the burial one of the mourners is sent to\nget an earthen pot from the Kurnhar; this is filled with water at a\nriver or stream, and a small piece is broken out of it with a stone;\none of the mourners then takes the pot and walks round the corpse\nwith it, dropping a stream of water all the way. Having done this,\nhe throws the pot behind him over his shoulder without looking round,\nand then all the mourners go home without looking behind them. The\nstone with which the hole has been made in the earthen pot is held to\nrepresent the spirit of the deceased. It is placed under a tree or on\nthe bank of a stream, and for ten days the mourners come and offer it\n_pindas_ or balls of rice, one ball being offered on the first day,\ntwo on the second, and so on, up to ten on the tenth. On this last\nday a little mound of earth is made, which is considered to represent\nMahadeo. Four miniature flags are planted round, and three cakes of\nrice are laid on it; and all the mourners sit round the mound until\na crow comes and eats some of the cake. Then they say that the dead\nman's spirit has been freed from troubling about his household and\nmundane affairs and has departed to the other world. But if no real\ncrow comes to eat the cake, they make a representation of one out\nof the sacred _kusha_ grass, and touch the cake with it and consider\nthat a crow has eaten it. After this the mourners go to a stream and\nput a little cow's urine on their bodies, and dip ten times in the\nwater or throw it over them. The officiating Brahman sprinkles them\nwith holy water in which he has dipped the toe of his right foot,\nand they present to the Brahman the vessels in which the funeral cakes\nhave been cooked and the clothes which the chief mourner has worn for\nten days. On coming home they also give him a stick, umbrella, shoes,\na bed and anything else which they think the dead man will want in\nthe next world. On the thirteenth day they feed the caste-fellows and\nthe head of the caste ties a new _pagri_ on the chief mourner's head\nbackside foremost; and the chief mourner breaking an areca-nut on\nthe threshold places it in his mouth and spits it out of the door,\nsignifying the final ejectment of the deceased's spirit from the\nhouse. Finally, the chief mourner goes to worship at Maroti's shrine,\nand the household resumes its ordinary life. The different relatives\nof the deceased man usually invite the bereaved family to their house\nfor a day and give them a feast, and if they have many relations this\nmay go on for a considerable time. The complete procedure as detailed\nabove is observed only in the case of the head of the household, and\nfor less important members is considerably abbreviated. The position\nof chief mourner is occupied by a man's eldest son, or in the absence\nof sons by his younger brother, or failing him by the eldest son of\nan elder brother, or failing male relations by the widow. The chief\nmourner is considered to have a special claim to the property. He has\nthe whole of his head and face shaved, and the hair is tied up in a\ncorner of the grave-cloth. If the widow is chief mourner a small lock\nof her hair is cut off and tied up in the cloth. When the corpse is\nbeing carried out for burial the widow breaks her _mangalsutram_ or\nmarriage necklace, and wipes off the _kunku_ or vermilion from her\nforehead. This necklace consists of a string of black glass beads\nwith a piece of gold, and is always placed on the bride's neck at\nthe wedding. The widow does not break her glass bangles at all,\nbut on the eleventh day changes them for new ones.\n\n\n\n\n15. Mourning\n\nThe period of mourning for adults of the family is ten days, and\nfor children three, while in the case of distant relatives it is\nsufficient to take a bath as a mark of respect for them. The male\nmourners shave their heads, the walls of the house are whitewashed\nand the floor spread with cowdung. The chief mourner avoids social\nintercourse and abstains from ordinary work and from all kinds of\namusements. He debars himself from such luxuries as betel-leaf and\nfrom visiting his wife. Oblations are offered to the dead on the\nthird day of the light fortnight of Baisakh (June) and on the last\nday of Bhadrapad (September). The Kunbi is a firm believer in the\naction of ghosts and spirits, and never omits the attentions due to\nhis ancestors. On the appointed day he diligently calls on the crows,\nwho represent the spirits of ancestors, to come and eat the food which\nhe places ready for them; and if no crow turns up, he is disturbed at\nhaving incurred the displeasure of the dead. He changes the food and\ngoes on calling until a crow comes, and then concludes that their\nprevious failure to appear was due to the fact that his ancestors\nwere not pleased with the kind of food he first offered. In future\nyears, therefore, he changes it, and puts out that which was eaten,\nuntil a similar _contretemps_ of the non-appearance of crows again\noccurs. The belief that the spirits of the dead pass into crows is no\ndoubt connected with that of the crow's longevity. Many Hindus think\nthat a crow lives a thousand years, and others that it never dies of\ndisease, but only when killed by violence. Tennyson's 'many-wintered\ncrow' may indicate some similar idea in Europe. Similarly if the Gonds\nfind a crow's nest they give the nestlings to young children to eat,\nand think that this will make them long-lived. If a crow perches in\nthe house when a woman's husband or other relative is away, she says,\n'Fly away, crow; fly away and I will feed you'; and if the crow then\nflies away she thinks that the absent one will return. Here the idea\nis no doubt that if he had been killed his spirit might have come home\nin the shape of the crow perching on the house. If a married woman\nsees two crows breeding it is considered a very bad omen, the effect\nbeing that her husband will soon die. It is probably supposed that\nhis spirit will pass into the young crow which is born as a result\nof the meeting which she has seen.\n\nMr. A. K. Smith states that the omen applies to men also, and\nrelates a story of a young advocate who saw two crows thus engaged\non alighting from the train at some station. In order to avert the\nconsequences he ran to the telegraph office and sent messages to all\nhis relatives and friends announcing his own death, the idea being\nthat this fictitious death would fulfil the omen, and the real death\nwould thus become unnecessary. In this case the belief would be that\nthe man's own spirit would pass into the young crow.\n\n\n\n\n16. Religion\n\nThe principal deities of the caste are Maroti or Hanuman, Mahadeo or\nSiva, Devi, Satwai and Khandoba. Maroti is worshipped principally on\nSaturdays, so that he may counteract the evil influences exercised by\nthe planet Saturn on that day. When a new village is founded Maroti\nmust first be brought and placed in the village and worshipped, and\nafter this houses are built. The name Maroti is derived from Marut,\nthe Vedic god of the wind, and he is considered to be the son of\nVayu, the wind, and Anjini. Khandoba is an incarnation of Siva as a\nwarrior, and is the favourite deity of the Marathas. Devi is usually\nvenerated in her Incarnation of Marhai Mata, the goddess of smallpox\nand cholera--the most dreaded scourges of the Hindu villager. They\noffer goats and fowls to Marhai Devi, cutting the throat of the\nanimal and letting its blood drop over the stone, which represents\nthe goddess; after this they cut off a leg and hang it to the tree\nabove her shrine, and eat the remainder. Sometimes also they offer\nwooden images of human beings, which are buried before the shrine\nof the goddess and are obviously substitutes for a human sacrifice;\nand the lower castes offer pigs. If a man dies of snake-bite they\nmake a little silver image of a snake, and then kill a real snake,\nand make a platform outside the village and place the image on it,\nwhich is afterwards regularly worshipped as Nagoba Deo. They may\nperhaps think that the spirit of the snake which is killed passes\ninto the silver image. Somebody afterwards steals the image, but\nthis does not matter. Similarly if a man is killed by a tiger he\nis deified and worshipped as Baghoba Deo, though they cannot kill a\ntiger as a preliminary. The Kunbis make images of their ancestors in\nsilver or brass, and keep them in a basket with their other household\ndeities. But when these get too numerous they take them on a pilgrimage\nto some sacred river and deposit them in it. A man who has lost\nboth parents will invite some man and woman on Akshaya Tritiya,\n[35] and call them by the names of his parents, and give them a\nfeast. Among the mythological stories known to the caste is one of\nsome interest, explaining how the dark spots came on the face of the\nmoon. They say that once all the gods were going to a dinner-party,\neach riding on his favourite animal or _vahan_ (conveyance). But\nthe _vahan_ of Ganpati, the fat god with the head of an elephant,\nwas a rat, and the rat naturally could not go as fast as the other\nanimals, and as it was very far from being up to Ganpati's weight,\nit tripped and fell, and Ganpati came off. The moon was looking on,\nand laughed so much that Ganpati was enraged, and cursed it, saying,\n'Thy face shall be black for laughing at me.' Accordingly the moon\nturned quite black; but the other gods interfered, and said that the\ncurse was too hard, so Ganpati agreed that only a part of the moon's\nface should be blackened in revenge for the insult. This happened\non the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadon (September),\nand on that day it is said that nobody should look at the moon, as\nif he does, his reputation will probably be lowered by some false\ncharge or libel being promulgated against him. As already stated,\nthe Kunbi firmly believes in the influence exercised by spirits, and\na proverb has it, 'Brahmans die of indigestion, Sunars from bile, and\nKunbis from ghosts'; because the Brahman is always feasted as an act of\ncharity and given the best food, so that he over-eats himself, while\nthe Sunar gets bilious from sitting all day before a furnace. When\nsomebody falls ill his family get a Brahman's cast-off sacred thread,\nand folding it to hold a little lamp, will wave this to and fro. If\nit moves in a straight line they say that the patient is possessed\nby a spirit, but if in a circle that his illness is due to natural\ncauses. In the former case they promise an offering to the spirit\nto induce it to depart from the patient. The Brahmans, it is said,\ntry to prevent the Kunbis from getting hold of their sacred threads,\nbecause they think that by waving the lamp in them, all the virtue\nwhich they have obtained by their repetitions of the Gayatri or sacred\nprayer is transferred to the sick Kunbi. They therefore tear up their\ncast-off threads or sew them into clothes.\n\n\n\n\n17. The Pola festival\n\nThe principal festival of the Kunbis is the Pola, falling at about\nthe middle of the rainy season, when they have a procession of\nplough-bullocks. An old bullock goes first, and on his horns is\ntied the _makhar_, a wooden frame with pegs to which torches are\naffixed. They make a rope of mango-leaves stretched between two posts,\nand the _makhar_ bullock is made to break this and stampede back to\nthe village, followed by all the other cattle. It is said that the\n_makhar_ bullock will die within three years. Behind him come the\nbullocks of the proprietors and then those of the tenants in the order,\nnot so much of their wealth, but of their standing in the village and\nof the traditional position held by their families. A Kunbi feels it\nvery bitterly if he is not given what he considers to be his proper\nrank in this procession. It has often been remarked that the feudal\nfeeling of reverence for hereditary rights and position is as strong\namong the Maratha people as anywhere in the world.\n\n\n\n\n18. Muhammadan tendencies of Berar Kunbis\n\nIn Wardha and Berar the customs of the Kunbis show in several\nrespects the influence of Islam, due no doubt to the long period\nof Muhammadan dominance in the country. To this may perhaps be\nattributed the prevalence of burial of the dead instead of cremation,\nthe more respectable method according to Hindu ideas. The Dhanoje\nKunbis commonly revere Dawal Malik, a Muhammadan saint, whose tomb\nis at Uprai in Amraoti District. An _urus_ or fair is held here on\nThursdays, the day commonly sacred to Muhammadan saints, and on this\naccount the Kunbis will not be shaved on Thursdays. They also make\nvows of mendicancy at the Muharram festival, and go round begging for\nrice and pulse; they give a little of what they obtain to Muhammadan\nbeggars and eat the rest. At the Muharram they tie a red thread\non their necks and dance round the _alawa_, a small hole in which\nfire is kindled in front of the _tasias_ or tombs of Hussain. At the\nMuharram [36] they also carry horseshoes of silver or gilt tinsel on\nthe top of a stick decorated with peacock's feathers. The horseshoe\nis a model of that of the horse of Hussain. The men who carry these\nhorseshoes are supposed to be possessed by the spirit of the saint,\nand people make prayers to them for anything they want. If one of\nthe horseshoes is dropped the finder will keep it in his house,\nand next year if he feels that the spirit moves him will carry it\nhimself. In Wardha the Kunbis worship Khwaja Sheikh Farid of Girar,\nand occasionally Sheikh Farid appears to a Kunbi in a dream and\nplaces him under a vow. Then he and all his household make little\nimitation beggars' wallets of cloth and dye them with red ochre,\nand little hoes on the model of those which saises use to drag out\nhorses' dung, this hoe being the badge of Sheikh Farid. Then they\ngo round begging to all the houses in the village, saying, '_Dam_,\n[37] _Sahib_, _dam_.' With the alms given them they make cakes of\n_malida_, wheat, sugar and butter, and give them to the priest of the\nshrine. Sometimes Sheikh Farid tells the Kunbi in the dream that he\nmust buy a goat of a certain Dhangar (shepherd), naming the price,\nwhile the Dhangar is similarly warned to sell it at the same price,\nand the goat is then purchased and sacrificed without any haggling:\nAt the end of the sacrifice the priest releases the Kunbi from his vow,\nand he must then shave the whole of his head and distribute liquor to\nthe caste-fellows in order to be received back into the community. The\nwater of the well at Sheikh Farid's shrine at Girar is considered\nto preserve the crops against insects, and for this purpose it is\ncarried to considerable distances to be sprinkled on them.\n\n\n\n\n19. Villages and houses\n\nAn ordinary Kunbi village [38] contains between 70 and 80 houses or\nsome 400 souls. The village generally lies on a slight eminence near a\n_nullah_ or stream, and is often nicely planted with tamarind or pipal\ntrees. The houses are now generally tiled for fear of fire, and their\nred roofs may be seen from a distance forming a little cluster on high\nlying ground, an elevated site being selected so as to keep the roads\nfairly dry, as the surface tracks in black-soil country become almost\nimpassable sloughs of mud as soon as the rains have broken. The better\nhouses stand round an old mud fort, a relic of the Pindari raids,\nwhen, on the first alarm of the approach of these marauding bands, the\nwhole population hurried within its walls. The village proprietor's\nhouse is now often built inside the fort. It is an oblong building\nsurrounded by a compound wall of unbaked bricks, and with a gateway\nthrough which a cart can drive. Adjoining the entrance on each side\nare rooms for the reception of guests, in which constables, chuprassies\nand others are lodged when they stay at night in the village. _Kothas_\nor sheds for keeping cattle and grain stand against the walls, and the\ndwelling-house is at the back. Substantial tenants have a house like\nthe proprietor's, of well-laid mud, whitewashed and with tiled roof;\nbut the ordinary cultivator's house is one-roomed, with an _angan_\nor small yard in front and a little space for a garden behind, in\nwhich vegetables are grown during the rains. The walls are of bamboo\nmatting plastered over with mud. The married couples sleep inside,\nthe room being partitioned off if there are two or more in the\nfamily, and the older persons sleep in the verandahs. In the middle\nof the village by the biggest temple will be an old pipal tree, the\ntrunk encircled by an earthen or stone platform, which answers to\nthe village club. The respectable inhabitants will meet here while\nthe lower classes go to the liquor-shop nearly every night to smoke\nand chat. The blacksmith's and carpenter's shops are also places of\ncommon resort for the cultivators. Hither they wend in the morning\nand evening, often taking with them some implement which has to be\nmended, and stay to talk. The blacksmith in particular is said to\nbe a great gossip, and will often waste much of his customer's time,\nplying him for news and retailing it, before he repairs and hands back\nthe tool brought to him. The village is sure to contain two or three\nlittle temples of Maroti or Mahadeo. The stones which do duty for the\nimages are daily oiled with butter or _ghi_, and a miscellaneous store\nof offerings will accumulate round the buildings. Outside the village\nwill be a temple of Devi or Mata Mai (Smallpox Goddess) with a heap of\nlittle earthen horses and a string of hens' feet and feathers hung up\non the wall. The little platforms which are the shrines of the other\nvillage gods will be found in the fields or near groves. In the evening\nthe elders often meet at Maroti's temple and pay their respects to\nthe deity, bowing or prostrating themselves before him. A lamp before\nthe temple is fed by contributions of oil from the women, and is kept\nburning usually up to midnight. Once a year in the month, of Shrawan\n(July) the villagers subscribe and have a feast, the Kunbis eating\nfirst and the menial and labouring castes after them. In this month\nalso all the village deities are worshipped by the Joshi or priest and\nthe villagers. In summer the cultivators usually live in their fields,\nwhere they erect temporary sheds of bamboo matting roofed with juari\nstalks. In these most of the household furniture is stored, while at a\nlittle distance in another funnel-shaped erection of bamboo matting is\nkept the owner's grain. This system of camping out is mainly adopted\nfor fear of fire in the village, when the cultivator's whole stock\nof grain and his household goods might be destroyed in a few minutes\nwithout possibility of saving them. The women stay in the village,\nand the men and boys go there for their midday and evening meals.\n\n\n\n\n20. Furniture\n\nOrdinary cultivators have earthen pots for cooking purposes and brass\nones for eating from, while the well-to-do have all their vessels of\nbrass. The furniture consists of a few stools and cots. No Kunbi will\nlie on the ground, probably because a dying man is always laid on the\nground to breathe his last; and so every one has a cot consisting of\na wooden frame with a bed made of hempen string or of the root-fibres\nof the _palas_ tree (_Butea frondosa_). These cots are always too\nshort for a man to lie on them at full length, and are in consequence\nsupremely uncomfortable. The reason may perhaps be found in the\nbelief that a man should always lie on a bed a little shorter than\nhimself so that his feet project over the end. Because if the bed is\nlonger than he is, it resembles a bier, and if he lies on a bier once\nhe may soon die and lie on it a second time. For bathing they make a\nlittle enclosure in the compound with mats, and place two or three flat\nstones in it. Hot water is generally used and they rub the perspiration\noff their bodies with a flat stone called Jhawar. Most Kunbis bathe\ndaily. On days when they are shaved they plaster the head with soft\nblack earth, and then wash it off and rub their bodies with a little\nlinseed or sesamum oil, or, if they can afford it, with cocoanut oil.\n\n\n\n\n21. Food\n\nThe Kunbis eat three times a day, at about eight in the morning,\nat midday and after dark. The morning meal is commonly eaten in the\nfield and the two others at home. At midday the cultivator comes home\nfrom work, bathes and takes his meal, having a rest for about two\nhours in all. After finishing work he again comes home and has his\nevening meal, and then, after a rest, at about ten o'clock he goes\nagain to the fields, if the crops are on the ground, and sleeps on the\n_mara_ or small elevated platform erected in the field to protect the\ngrain from birds and wild animals; occasionally waking and emitting\nlong-drawn howls or pulling the strings which connect with clappers\nin various parts of the field. Thus for nearly eight months of the\nyear the Kunbi sleeps in his fields, and only during the remaining\nperiod at home. Juari is the staple food of the caste, and is eaten\nboth raw and cooked. The raw pods of juari were the provision carried\nwith them on their saddles by the marauding Maratha horsemen, and the\ndescription of Sivaji getting his sustenance from gnawing at one of\nthese as he rode along is said to have struck fear into the heart\nof the Nizam. It is a common custom among well-to-do tenants and\nproprietors to invite their friends to a picnic in the fields when\nthe crop is ripe to eat _hurda_ or the pods of juari roasted in hot\nashes. For cooking purposes juari is ground in an ordinary handmill\nand then passed through a sieve, which separates the finer from the\ncoarser particles. The finer flour is made into dough with hot water\nand baked into thick flat _chapatis_ or cakes, weighing more than half\na pound each; while the coarse flour is boiled in water like rice. The\nboiled pulse of _arhar_ (_Cajanus indicus_) is commonly eaten with\njuari, and the _chapatis_ are either dipped into cold linseed oil\nor consumed dry. The sameness of this diet is varied by a number of\ngreen vegetables, generally with very little savour to a European\npalate. These are usually boiled and then mixed into a salad with\nlinseed or sesamum oil and flavoured with salt or powdered chillies,\nthese last being the Kunbi's indispensable condiment. He is also\nvery fond of onions and garlic, which are either chopped and boiled,\nor eaten raw. Butter-milk when available is mixed with the boiled\njuari after it is cooked, while wheat and rice, butter and sugar are\ndelicacies reserved for festivals. As a rule only water is drunk,\nbut the caste indulge in country liquor on festive occasions. Tobacco\nis commonly chewed after each meal or smoked in leaf cigarettes,\nor in _chilams_ or clay pipe-bowls without a stem. Men also take\nsnuff, and a few women chew tobacco and take snuff, though they\ndo not smoke. It is noticeable that different subdivisions of the\ncaste will commonly take food from each other in Berar, whereas in\nthe Central Provinces they refuse to do so. The more liberal usage\nin Berar is possibly another case of Muhammadan influence. Small\nchildren eat with their father and brothers, but the women always\nwait on the men, and take their own food afterwards. Among the Dalia\nKunbis of Nimar, however, women eat before men at caste feasts in\nopposition to the usual practice. It is stated in explanation that\non one occasion when the men had finished their meal first and gone\nhome, the women on returning were waylaid in the dark and robbed of\ntheir ornaments. And hence it was decided that they should always eat\nfirst and go home before nightfall. The Kunbi is fairly liberal in\nthe matter of food. He will eat the flesh of goats, sheep and deer,\nall kinds of fish and fowls, and will drink liquor. In Hoshangabad\nand Nimar the higher subcastes abstain from flesh and wine. The caste\nwill take food cooked without water from Brahmans, Banias and Sunars,\nand that mixed with water only from Maratha Brahmans. All castes\nexcept Maratha Brahmans will take water from the hands of a Kunbi.\n\n\n\n\n22. Clothes and ornaments\n\nThe dress of the ordinary cultivator is most common-place and consists\nonly of a loin-cloth, another cloth thrown over the shoulders and\nupper part of the body, which except for this is often bare, and a\nthird rough cloth wound loosely round the head. All these, originally\nwhite, soon assume a very dingy hue. There is thus no colour in a\nman's everyday attire, but the gala dress for holidays consists of a\nred _pagri_ or turban, a black, coloured or white coat, and a white\nloin-cloth with red silk borders if he can afford it. The Kunbi is\nseldom or never seen with his head bare; this being considered a\nbad omen because every one bares his head when a death occurs. Women\nwear _lugras_, or a single long cloth of red, blue or black cotton,\nand under this the _choli_, or small breast-cloth. They have one\nsilk-bordered cloth for special occasions. A woman having a husband\nalive must not wear a white cloth with no colour in it, as this is\nthe dress of widows. A white cloth with a coloured border may be\nworn. The men generally wear shoes which are open at the back of\nthe heel, and clatter as they move along. Women do not, as a rule,\nwear shoes unless these are necessary for field work, or if they go\nout just after their confinement. But they have now begun to do so\nin towns. Women have the usual collection of ornaments on all parts\nof the person. The head ornaments should be of gold when this metal\ncan be afforded. On the finger they have a miniature mirror set in a\nring; as a rule not more than one ring is worn, so that the hands may\nbe free for work. For a similar reason glass bangles, being fragile,\nare worn only on the left wrist and metal ones on the right. But the\nDhanoje Kunbis, as already stated, have cocoanut shell bangles on\nboth wrists. They smear a mark of red powder on the forehead or have\na spangle there. Girls are generally tattooed in childhood when the\nskin is tender, and the operation is consequently less painful. They\nusually have a small crescent and circle between the brows, small\ncircles or dots on each temple and on the nose, cheeks and chin, and\nfive small marks on the back of the hands to represent flies. Some\nof the Deshmukh families have now adopted the sacred thread; they\nalso put caste marks on the forehead, and wear the shape of _pagri_\nor turban formerly distinctive of Maratha Brahmans.\n\n\n\n\n23. The Kunbi as cultivator\n\nThe Kunbi has the stolidity, conservative instincts, dulness and\npatience of the typical agriculturist. Sir R. Craddock describes\nhim as follows [39]: \"Of the purely agricultural classes the Kunbis\nclaim first notice. They are divided into several sections or classes,\nand are of Maratha origin, the Jhari Kunbis (the Kunbis of the wild\ncountry) being the oldest settlers, and the Deshkar (the Kunbis\nfrom the Deccan) the most recent. The Kunbi is certainly a most\nplodding, patient mortal, with a cat-like affection for his land,\nand the proprietary and cultivating communities, of both of which\nKunbis are the most numerous members, are unlikely to fail so long\nas he keeps these characteristics. Some of the more intelligent and\naffluent of the caste, who have risen to be among the most prosperous\nmembers of the community, are as shrewd men of business in their way\nas any section of the people, though lacking in education. I remember\none of these, a member of the Local Board, who believed that the land\nrevenue of the country was remitted to England annually to form part\nof the private purse of the Queen Empress. But of the general body of\nthe Kunbi caste it is true to say that in the matter of enterprise,\ncapacity to hold their own with the moneylender, determination to\nimprove their standard of comfort, or their style of agriculture,\nthey lag far behind such cultivating classes as the Kirar, the Raghvi\nand the Lodhi. While, however, the Kunbi yields to these classes\nin some of the more showy attributes which lead to success in life,\nhe is much their superior in endurance under adversity, he is more\nlaw-abiding, and he commands, both by reason of his character and his\ncaste, greater social respect among the people at large. The wealthy\nKunbi proprietor is occasionally rather spoilt by good fortune,\nor, if he continues a keen cultivator, is apt to be too fond of\nland-grabbing. But these are the exceptional cases, and there is\ngenerally no such pleasing spectacle as that afforded by a village\nin which the cultivators and the proprietors are all Kunbis living in\nharmony together.\" The feeling [40] of the Kunbi towards agricultural\nimprovements has hitherto probably been something the same as that of\nthe Sussex farmer who said, 'Our old land, it likes our old ploughs'\nto the agent who was vainly trying to demonstrate to him the advantages\nof the modern two-horse iron plough over the great wooden local tool;\nand the emblem ascribed to old Sussex--a pig couchant with the motto\n'I wun't be druv'--would suit the Kunbi equally well. But the Kunbi,\ntoo, though he could not express it, knows something of the pleasure\nof the simple outdoor life, the fresh smell of the soil after rain,\nthe joy of the yearly miracle when the earth is again carpeted with\ngreen from the bursting into life of the seed which he has sown,\nand the pleasure of watching the harvest of his labours come to\nfruition. He, too, as has been seen, feels something corresponding to\n\"That inarticulate love of the English farmer for his land, his mute\nenjoyment of the furrow crumbling from the ploughshare or the elastic\ntread of his best pastures under his heel, his ever-fresh satisfaction\nat the sight of the bullocks stretching themselves as they rise from\nthe soft grass.\"\n\n\n\n\n24. Social and moral characteristics\n\nSome characteristics of the Maratha people are noticed by Sir\nR. Jenkins as follows [41]: \"The most remarkable feature perhaps in the\ncharacter of the Marathas of all descriptions is the little regard they\npay to show or ceremony in the common intercourse of life. A peasant\nor mechanic of the lowest order, appearing before his superiors,\nwill sit down of his own accord, tell his story without ceremony,\nand converse more like an equal than an inferior; and if he has a\npetition he talks in a loud and boisterous tone and fearlessly sets\nforth his claims. Both the peasantry and the better classes are often\ncoarse and indelicate in their language, and many of the proverbs,\nwhich they are fond of introducing into conversation, are extremely\ngross. In general the Marathas, and particularly the cultivators,\nare not possessed of much activity or energy of character, but they\nhave quick perception of their own interest, though their ignorance\nof writing and accounts often renders them the dupes of the artful\nBrahmans.\" \"The Kunbi,\" Mr. Forbes remarks, [42] \"though frequently all\nsubmission and prostration when he makes his appearance in a revenue\noffice, is sturdy and bold enough among his own people. He is fond\nof asserting his independence and the helplessness of others without\nhis aid, on which subject he has several proverbs, as: 'Wherever it\nthunders there the Kunbi is a landholder,' and 'Tens of millions are\ndependent on the Kunbi, but the Kunbi depends on no man.'\" This sense\nof his own importance, which has also been noticed among the Jats,\nmay perhaps be ascribed to the Kunbi's ancient status as a free and\nfull member of the village community. \"The Kunbi and his bullocks are\ninseparable, and in speaking of the one it is difficult to dissociate\nthe other. His pride in these animals is excusable, for they are most\nadmirably suited to the circumstances in which nature has placed them,\nand possess a very wide-extended fame. But the Kunbi frequently\nexhibits his fondness for them in the somewhat peculiar form of\nunmeasured abuse. 'May the Kathis [43] seize you!' is his objurgation\nif in the peninsula of Surat; if in the Idar district or among the\nmountains it is there 'May the tiger kill you!' and all over Gujarat,\n'May your master die!' However, he means by this the animal's former\nowner, not himself; and when more than usually cautious he will word\nhis chiding thus--'May the fellow that sold you to me perish.'\" But now\nthe Kathis raid no more and the tiger, though still taking good toll\nof cattle in the Central Provinces, is not the ever-present terror\nthat once he was. But the bullock himself is no longer so sacrosanct\nin the Kunbi's eyes, and cannot look forward with the same certainty\nto an old age of idleness, threatened only by starvation in the hot\nweather or death by surfeit of the new moist grass in the rains; and\nwhen therefore the Kunbi's patience is exhausted by these aggravating\nanimals, his favourite threat at present is, 'I will sell you to the\nKasais' (butchers); and not so very infrequently he ends by doing\nso. It may be noted that with the development of the cotton industry\nthe Kunbi of Wardha is becoming much sharper and more capable of\nprotecting his own interests, while with the assistance and teaching\nwhich he now receives from the Agricultural Department, a rapid and\ndecided improvement is taking place in his skill as a cultivator.\n\n\nKunjra\n\n_Kunjra_. [44]--A caste of greengrocers, who sell country vegetables\nand fruit and are classed as Muhammadans. Mr. Crooke derives the\nname from the Sanskrit _kunj_, 'a bower or arbour.' They numbered\nabout 1600 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, principally in\nthe Jubbulpore Division. The customs of the Kunjras appear to combine\nHindu and Muhammadan rites in an indiscriminate medley. It is reported\nthat marriage is barred only between real brothers and sisters and\nfoster brothers and sisters, the latter rule being known as _Dudh\nbachana_, or 'Observing the tie of the milk.' At their betrothal\npresents are given to the parties, and after this a powder of henna\nleaves is sent to the boy, who rubs it on his fingers and returns\nit to the girl that she may do the same. As among the Hindus, the\nbodies of the bridal couple are anointed with oil and turmeric at\ntheir respective houses before the wedding. A marriage-shed is made\nand the bridegroom goes to the bride's house wearing a cotton quilt\nand riding on a bullock. The barber holds the umbrella over his\nhead and must be given a present before he will fold it, but the\nwedding is performed by the Kazi according to the Nikah ceremony\nby the repetition of verses from the Koran. The wedding is held at\nfour o'clock in the morning, and as a preliminary to it the bride\nis presented with some money by the boy's father, which is known as\nthe Meher or dowry. On its conclusion a cup of sherbet is given to\nthe bridegroom, of which he drinks half and hands the remainder to\nthe bride. The gift of the Meher is considered to seal the marriage\ncontract. When a widow is married the Kazi is also employed, and he\nsimply recites the Kalama or Muhammadan profession of belief, and the\nceremony is completed by the distribution of dates to the elders of\nthe caste. Divorce is permitted and is known as _talaq_. The caste\nobserve the Muhammadan festivals, and have some favourite saints of\ntheir own to whom they make offerings of _gulgula_ a kind of pudding,\nwith sacrifices of goats and fowls. Participation in these rites is\nconfined to members of the family. Children are named on the day of\ntheir birth, the Muhammadan Kazi or a Hindu Brahman being employed\nindifferently to select the name. If the parents lose one or more\nchildren, in order to preserve the lives of those subsequently born,\nthey will allow the _choti_ or scalp-lock to grow on their heads in the\nHindu fashion, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan saints. Others\nwill put a _hasli_ or silver circlet round the neck of the child\nand add a ring to this every year; a strip of leather is sometimes\nalso tied round the neck. When the child reaches the age of twelve\nyears the scalp-lock is shaved, the leather band thrown into a river\nand the silver necklet sold. Offerings are made to the saints and\na feast is given to the friends of the family. The dead are buried,\ncamphor and attar of roses being applied to the corpse. On the _Tija_\nand _Chalisa_, or third and fortieth days after a death, a feast is\ngiven to the caste-fellows, but no mourning is observed, neither\ndo the mourners bathe nor perform ceremonies of purification. On\nthe _Tija_ the Koran is also read and fried grain is distributed to\nchildren. For the death of a child the ordinary feasts need not be\ngiven, but prayers are offered for their souls with those of the other\ndead once a year on the night of Shab-i-Barat or the fifteenth day\nof the month Shaban, [45] which is observed as a vigil with prayer,\nfeasts and illuminations and offerings to the ancestors. Kunjra men\nare usually clean-shaven with the exception of the beard, which is\nallowed to grow long below the chin. Their women are not tattooed. In\nthe cities, Mr. Crooke remarks, [46] their women have an equivocal\nreputation, as the better-looking girls who sit in the shops are said\nto use considerable freedom of manners to attract customers. They are\nalso very quarrelsome and abusive when bargaining for the sale of their\nwares or arguing with each other. This is so much the case that men\nwho become very abusive are said to be behaving like Kunjras; while\nin Dacca Sir H. Risley states [47] that the word Kunjra has become a\nterm of abuse, so that the caste are ashamed to be known by it, and\ncall themselves Mewa-farosh, Sabzi-farosh or Bepari. When two women\nare having an altercation, their husbands and other male relatives\nare forbidden to interfere on pain of social degradation. The women\nnever sit on the ground, but on small wooden stools or _pirhis_. The\nKunjras belong chiefly to the north of the Province, and in the\nsouth their place is taken by the Marars and Malis who carry their\nown produce for sale to the markets. The Kunjras sell sugarcane,\npotatoes, onions and all kinds of vegetables, and others deal in the\ndried fruits imported by Kabuli merchants.\n\n\nKuramwar\n\n_Kuramwar_. [48]--The shepherd caste of southern India, who are\nidentical with the Tamil Kurumba and the Telugu Kuruba. The caste is an\nimportant one in Madras, but in the Central Provinces is confined to\nthe Chanda District where it numbered some 4000 persons in 1911. The\nKuramwars are considered to be the modern representatives of the\nancient Pallava tribe whose kings were powerful in southern India in\nthe seventh century. [49]\n\nThe marriage rules of the Kuramwars are interesting. If a girl\nreaches adolescence while still single, she is finally expelled\nfrom the caste, her parents being also subjected to a penalty for\nreadmission. Formerly it is said that such a girl was sacrificed to\nthe river-goddess by being placed in a small hut on the river-bank\ntill a flood came and swept her away. Now she is taken to the river\nand kept in a hut, while offerings are made to the river-goddess,\nand she may then return and live in the village though she is out of\ncaste. In Madras, as a preliminary to the marriage, the bridegroom's\nfather observes certain marks or 'curls' on the head or hair of the\nbride proposed. Some of these are believed to forecast prosperity\nand others misery to the family into which she enters. They are\ntherefore very cautious in selecting only such girls as possess curls\n(_suli_) of good fortune. The writer of the _North Arcot Manual_ [50]\nafter recording the above particulars, remarks: \"This curious custom\nobtaining among this primitive tribe is observed by others only in\nthe case of the purchase of cows, bulls and horses.\" In the Central\nProvinces, however, at least one parallel instance can be given from\nthe northern Districts where any mark resembling the V on the head\nof a cobra is considered to be very inauspicious. And it is told\nthat a girl who married into one well-known family bore it, and to\nthis fact the remarkable succession of misfortunes which has attended\nthe family is locally attributed. Among the Kuramwars marriages can\nbe celebrated only on four days in the year, the fifth day of both\nfortnights of Phagun (February), the tenth day of the second fortnight\nof the same month and the third day of Baisakh (April). At the marriage\nthe bride and bridegroom are seated together under the canopy, with\nthe shuttle which is used for weaving blankets between them, and they\nthrow coloured rice at each other. After this a miniature swing is put\nup and a doll is placed in it in imitation of a child and swung to and\nfro. The bride then takes the doll out and gives it to the bridegroom,\nsaying: 'Here, take care of it, I am now going to cook food'; while\nafter a time the boy returns the doll to the girl, saying, 'I must\nnow weave the blanket and go to tend the flock.' The proceeding\nseems a symbolic enactment of the cares of married life and the\njoint tending of the baby, this sort of symbolism being particularly\nnoticeable in the marriage ceremonies of the people of Madras. Divorce\nis not permitted even though the wife be guilty of adultery, and if\nshe runs away to her father's house her husband cannot use force to\nbring her back if she refuses to return to him. The Kuramwars worship\nthe implements of their calling at the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi,\nand if any family fails to do this it is put out of caste. They also\nrevere annually Mallana Deva and Mallani Devi who guard their flocks\nrespectively from attacks of tigers and epidemics of murrain. The\nshrines of these deities are generally built under a banyan tree\nand open to the east. The caste are shepherds and graziers and also\nmake blankets. They are poor and ignorant, and the Abbe Dubois [51]\nsays of them: \"Being confined to the society of their woolly charge,\nthey seem to have contracted the stupid nature of the animal, and from\nthe rudeness of their nature they are as much beneath the other castes\nof Hindus as the sheep by their simplicity and imperfect instruction\nare beneath the other quadrupeds.\" Hence the proverbial comparison\n'As stupid as a Kuramwar.' When out of doors the Kuramwar retains the\nmost primitive method of eating and drinking; he takes his food in a\nleaf and licks it up with his tongue, and sucks up water from a tank\nor river with his mouth. They justify this custom by saying that on one\noccasion their god had taken his food out of the house on a leaf-plate\nand was proceeding to eat it with his hands when his sheep ran away\nand he had to go and fetch them back. In the meantime a crow came and\npecked at the food and so spoilt it. It was therefore ordained that\nall the caste should eat their food straight off the leaf, in order\nto do which they would have to take it from the cooking-pot in small\nquantities and there would be no chance of leaving any for the crows\nto spoil. The story is interesting as showing how very completely\nthe deity of the Kuramwars is imagined on the principle that god\nmade man in his own image. Or, as a Frenchman has expressed the idea,\n'_Dieu a fait l'homme a son image, mais l'homme le lui a bein rendu._'\nThe caste are dark in colour and may be distinguished by their caps\nmade from pieces of blankets, and by their wearing a woollen cord\nround the waist over the loin-cloth. They speak a dialect of Canarese.\n\n\n\n\n\nKurmi\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Numbers and derivation of name._\n    2. _Functional character of the caste._\n    3. _Sub castes._\n    4. _Exogamous groups._\n    5. _Marriage rules. Betrothal_.\n    6. _The marriage-shed or pavillion._\n    7. _The marriage cakes_.\n    8. _Customs at the wedding_.\n    9. _Walking round the sacred post_.\n    10. _Other ceremonies_.\n    11. _Polygamy, widow-marriage and divorce_.\n    12. _Impurity of women_.\n    13. _Pregnancy rites_.\n    14. _Earth-eating._\n    15. _Customs at birth_.\n    16. _Treatment of mother and child_.\n    17. _Ceremonies after birth_.\n    18. _Suckling children_.\n    19. _Beliefs about twins_.\n    20. _Disposal of the dead_.\n    21. _Funeral rites_.\n    22. _Burning the dead_.\n    23. _Burial_.\n    24. _Return of the soul_.\n    25. _Mourning_.\n    26. _Shaving, and presents to Brahmans_.\n    27. _End of mourning_.\n    28. _Anniversaries of the dead_.\n    29. _Beliefs in the hereafter_.\n    30. _Religion. Village gods_.\n    31. _Sowing the Jawaras or gardens of Adonis_.\n    32. _Rites connected with the crops. Customs of cultivation_.\n    33. _Agricultural superstitions_.\n    34. _Houses_.\n    35. _Superstitions about houses_.\n    36. _Furniture._\n    37. _Clothes_.\n    38. _Women's clothes_.\n    39. _Bathing_.\n    40. _Food_.\n    41. _Caste feasts_.\n    42. _Hospitality_.\n    43. _Social customs. Tattooing_.\n    44. _Caste penalties_.\n    45. _The cultivating status_.\n    46. _Occupation_.\n    _Appendix. List of exogamous clans._\n\n\n\n\n1. Numbers and derivation of name\n\n_Kurmi_. [52]--The representative cultivating caste of Hindustan or\nthe country comprised roughly in the United Provinces, Bihar arid the\nCentral Provinces north of the Nerbudda. In 1911 the Kurmis numbered\nabout 300,000 persons in the Central Provinces, of whom half belonged\nto the Chhattisgarh Division and a third to the Jubbulpore Division;\nthe Districts in which they were most numerous being Saugor, Damoh,\nJubbulpore, Hoshangabad, Raipur, Bilaspur and Drug. The name is\nconsidered to be derived from the Sanskrit _krishi_, cultivation,\nor from _kurma_, the tortoise incarnation of Vishnu, whether because\nit is the totem of the caste or because, as suggested by one writer,\nthe Kurmi supports the population of India as the tortoise supports\nthe earth. It is true that many Kurmis say they belong to the Kashyap\n_gotra_, Kashyap being the name of a Rishi, which seems to have been\nderived from _kachhap_, the tortoise; but many other castes also\nsay they belong to the Kashyap _gotra_ or worship the tortoise,\nand if this has any connection with the name of the caste it is\nprobable that the caste-name suggested the _gotra_-name and not the\nreverse. It is highly improbable that a large occupational caste should\nbe named after an animal, and the metaphorical similitude can safely\nbe rejected. The name seems therefore either to come from _krishi_,\ncultivation, or from some other unknown source.\n\n\n\n\n2. Functional character of the caste\n\nThere seems little reason to doubt that the Kurmis, like the Kunbis,\nare a functional caste. In Bihar they show traces of Aryan blood,\nand are a fine-looking race. But in Chota Nagpur Sir H. Risley\nstates: \"Short, sturdy and of very dark complexion, the Kurmis\nclosely resemble in feature the Dravidian tribes around them. It\nis difficult to distinguish a Kurmi from a Bhumij or Santal, and\nthe Santals will take cooked food from them.\" [53] In the Central\nProvinces they are fairly dark in complexion and of moderate height,\nand no doubt of very mixed blood. Where the Kurmis and Kunbis meet the\ncastes sometimes amalgamate, and there is little doubt that various\ngroups of Kurmis settling in the Maratha country have become Kunbis,\nand Kunbis migrating to northern India have become Kurmis. Each caste\nhas certain subdivisions whose names belong to the other. It has\nbeen seen in the article on Kunbi that this caste is of very diverse\norigin, having assimilated large bodies of persons from several other\ncastes, and is probably to a considerable extent recruited from the\nlocal non-Aryan tribes; if then the Kurmis mix so readily with the\nKunbis, the presumption is that they are of a similar mixed origin,\nas otherwise they should consider themselves superior. Mr. Crooke\ngives several names of subcastes showing the diverse constitution of\nthe Kurmis. Thus three, Gaharwar, Jadon and Chandel are the names of\nRajput clans; the Kori subcaste must be a branch of the low weaver\ncaste of that name; and in the Central Provinces the names of such\nsubcastes as the Agaria or iron-workers, the Lonhare or salt-refiners,\nand the Khaira or catechu-collectors indicate that these Kurmis are\nderived from low Hindu castes or the aboriginal tribes.\n\n\n\n\n3. Subcastes\n\nThe caste has a large number of subdivisions. The Usrete belonged\nto Bundelkhand, where this name is found in several castes; they are\nalso known as Havelia, because they live in the rich level tract of\nthe Jubbulpore Haveli, covered like a chessboard with large embanked\nwheat-fields. The name Haveli seems to have signified a palace or\nheadquarters of a ruler, and hence was applied to the tract surrounding\nit, which was usually of special fertility, and provided for the\nmaintenance of the chief's establishment and household troops. Thus in\nJubbulpore, Mandia and Betul we find the forts of the old Gond rulers\ndominating an expanse of rich plain-country. The Usrete Kurmis abstain\nfrom meat and liquor, and may be considered as one of the highest\nsubcastes. Their name may be derived from _a-sreshtha,_ or not the\nbest, and its significance would be that formerly they were considered\nto be of mixed origin, like most castes in Bundelkhand. The group of\nSreshtha or best-born Kurmis has now, however, died out if it ever\nexisted, and the Usretes have succeeded in establishing themselves in\nits place. The Chandnahes of Jubbulpore or Chandnahus of Chhattisgarh\nare another large subdivision. The name may be derived from the village\nChandnoha in Bundelkhand, but the Chandnahus of Chhattisgarh say that\nthree or four centuries ago a Rajput general of the Raja of Ratanpur\nhad been so successful in war that the king allowed him to appear\nin Durbar in his uniform with his forehead marked with sandalwood,\nas a special honour. When he died his son continued to do the same,\nand on the king's attention being drawn to it he forbade him. But\nthe son did not obey, and hence the king ordered the sandalwood to be\nrubbed from his forehead in open Durbar. But when this was done the\nmark miraculously reappeared through the agency of the goddess Devi,\nwhose favourite he was. Three times the king had the mark rubbed\nout and three times it came again. So he was allowed to wear it\nthereafter, and was called Chandan Singh from _chandan_, sandalwood;\nand his descendants are the Chandnahu Kurmis. Another derivation is\nfrom Chandra, the moon. In Jubbulpore these Chandnahes sometimes kill\na pig under the palanquin of a newly married bride. In Bilaspur they\nare prosperous and capable cultivators, but are generally reputed to\nbe stingy, and therefore are not very popular. Here they are divided\ninto the Ekbahinyas and Dobahinyas, or those who wear glass bangles\non one or both arms respectively. The Chandraha Kurmis of Raipur\nare probably a branch of the Chandnahus. They sprinkle with water\nthe wood with which they are about to cook their food in order to\npurify it, and will eat food only in the _chauka_ or sanctified place\nin the house. At harvest when they must take meals in the fields,\none of them prepares a patch of ground, cleaning and watering it,\nand there cooks food for them all.\n\nThe Singrore Kurmis derive their name from Singror, a place near\nAllahabad. Singror is said to have once been a very important town,\nand the Lodhis and other castes have subdivisions of this name. The\nDesha Kurmis are a group of the Mungeli tahsil of Bilaspur. Desh\nmeans one's native country, but in this case the name probably\nrefers to Bundelkhand. Mr. Gordon states [54] that they do not rear\npoultry and avoid residing in villages in which their neighbours keep\npoultry. The Santore Kurmis are a group found in several Districts,\nwho grow _san_-hemp, [55] and are hence looked down upon by the\nremainder of the caste. In Raipur the Manwa Kurmis will also do\nthis; Mana is a word sometimes applied to a loom, and the Manwa\nKurmis may be so called because they grow hemp and weave sacking\nfrom the fibres. The Pataria are an inferior group in Bilaspur, who\nare similarly despised because they grow hemp and will take their\nfood in the fields in _patris_ or leaf-plates. The Gohbaiyan are\nconsidered to be an illegitimate group; the name is said to signify\n'holding the arm.' The Bahargaiyan, or 'those who live outside the\ntown,' are another subcaste to which children born out of wedlock\nare relegated. The Palkiha subcaste of Jubbulpore are said to be\nso named because their ancestors were in the service of a certain\nRaja and spread his bedding for him; hence they are somewhat looked\ndown on by the others. The name may really be derived from _palal_,\na kind of vegetable, and they may originally have been despised for\ngrowing this vegetable, and thus placing themselves on a level with\nthe gardening castes. The Masuria take their name from the _masur_\nor lentil, a common cold-weather crop in the northern Districts,\nwhich is, however, grown by all Kurmis and other cultivators; and the\nAgaria or iron-workers, the Kharia or catechu-makers, and the Lonhare\nor salt-makers, have already been mentioned. There are also numerous\nlocal or territorial subcastes, as the Chaurasia or those living\nin a Chaurasi [56] estate of eighty-four villages, the Pardeshi or\nforeigners, the Bundelkhandi or those who came from Bundelkhand, the\nKanaujias from Oudh, the Gaur from northern India, and the Marathe and\nTelenge or Marathas and Telugus; these are probably Kunbis who have\nbeen taken into the caste. The Gabel are a small subcaste in Sakti\nState, who now prefer to drop the name Kurmi and call themselves simply\nGabel. The reason apparently is that the other Kurmis about them sow\n_san_-hemp, and as they have ceased doing this they try to separate\nthemselves and rank above the rest. But they call the bastard group\nof their community Rakhaut Kurmis, and other people speak of all of\nthem as Gabel Kurmis, so that there is no doubt that they belong to\nthe caste. It is said that formerly they were pack-carriers, but have\nnow abandoned this calling in favour of cultivation.\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamous groups\n\nEach subcaste has a number of exogamous divisions and these present\na large variety of all types. Some groups have the names of Brahman\nsaints as Sandil, Bharadwaj, Kausil and Kashyap; others are called\nafter Rajput septs, as Chauhan, Rathor, Panwar and Solanki; other\nnames are of villages, as Khairagarhi from Khairagarh, Pandariha from\nPandaria, Bhadaria, and Harkotia from Harkoti; others are titular,\nas Sondeha, gold-bodied, Sonkharchi, spender of gold, Bimba Lohir,\nstick-carrier, Banhpagar, one wearing a thread on the arm, Bhandari,\na store-keeper, Kumaria, a potter, and Shikaria, a hunter; and a\nlarge number are totemistic, named after plants, animals or natural\nobjects, as Sadaphal, a fruit; Kathail from _kath_ or catechu; Dhorha,\nfrom _dhor_, cattle; Kansia, the _kans_ grass; Karaiya, a frying-pan;\nSarang, a peacock; Samundha, the ocean; Sindia, the date-palm tree;\nDudhua from _dudh_, milk, and so on. Some sections are subdivided;\nthus the Tidha section, supposed to be named after a village, is\ndivided into three subsections named Ghurepake, a mound of cowdung,\nDwarparke, door-jamb, and Jangi, a warrior, which are themselves\nexogamous. Similarly the Chaudhri section, named after the title of\nthe caste headman, is divided into four subsections, two, Majhgawan\nBamuria, named after villages, and two, Purwa Thok and Pascham Thok,\nsignifying the eastern and western groups. Presumably when sections\nget so large as to bar the marriage of persons not really related to\neach other at all, relief is obtained by subdividing them in this\nmanner. A list of the sections of certain subcastes so far as they\nhave been obtained is given at the end of the article.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage rules. Betrothal\n\nMarriage is prohibited between members of the same section and between\nfirst and second cousins on the mother's side. But the Chandnahe\nKurmis permit the wedding of a brother's daughter to a sister's\nson. Most Kurmis forbid a man to marry his wife's sister during her\nlifetime. The Chhattisgarh Kurmis have the practice of exchanging\ngirls between two families. There is usually no objection to marriage\non account of religious differences within the pale of Hinduism,\nbut the difficulty of a union between a member of a Vaishnava sect\nwho abstains from flesh and liquor, and a partner who does not,\nis felt and expressed in the following saying:\n\n\n    Vaishnava purush avaishnava nari\n    Unt beil ki jot bichari,\n\n\nor 'A Vaishnava husband with a non-Vaishnava wife is like a camel\nyoked with a bullock.' Muhammadans and Christians are not retained\nin the caste. Girls are usually wedded between nine and eleven, but\nwell-to-do Kurmis like other agriculturists, sometimes marry their\ndaughters when only a few months old. The people say that when a\nKurmi gets rich he will do three things: marry his daughters very\nyoung and with great display, build a fine house, and buy the best\nbullocks he can afford. The second and third methods of spending his\nmoney are very sensible, whatever may be thought of the first. No\npenalty is imposed for allowing a girl to exceed the age of puberty\nbefore marriage. Boys are married between nine and fifteen years,\nbut the tendency is towards the postponement of the ceremony. The\nboy's father goes and asks for a bride and says to the girl's father,\n'I have placed my son with you,' that is, given him in adoption;\nif the match be acceptable the girl's father replies, 'Yes, I will\ngive my daughter to collect cowdung for you'; to which the boy's\nfather responds, 'I will hold her as the apple of my eye.' Then the\ngirl's father sends the barber and the Brahman to the boy's house,\ncarrying a rupee and a cocoanut. The boy's relatives return the\nvisit and perform the '_God bharna_,' or 'Filling the lap of the\ngirl.' They take some sweetmeats, a rupee and a cocoanut, and place\nthem in the girl's lap, this being meant to induce fertility. The\nceremony of betrothal succeeds, when the couple are seated together\non a wooden plank and touch the feet of the guests and are blessed\nby them. The auspicious date of the wedding is fixed by the Brahman\nand intimation is given to the boy's family through the _lagan_\nor formal invitation, which is sent on a paper coloured yellow with\npowdered rice and turmeric. A bride-price is paid, which in the case\nof well-to-do families may amount to as much as Rs. 100 to Rs. 400.\n\n\n\n\n6. The marriage-shed or pavilion\n\nBefore the wedding the women of the family go out and fetch new earth\nfor making the stoves on which the marriage feast will be cooked. When\nabout to dig they worship the earth by sprinkling water over it and\noffering flowers and rice. The marriage-shed is made of the wood of\nthe _saleh_ tree, [57] because this wood is considered to be alive. If\na pole of _saleh_ is cut and planted in the ground it takes root and\nsprouts, though otherwise the wood is quite useless. The wood of the\n_kekar_ tree has similar properties and may also be used. The shed is\ncovered with leaves of the mango or _jamun_ [58] trees, because these\ntrees are evergreen and hence typify perpetual life. The marriage-post\nin the centre of the shed is called Magrohan or Kham; the women go and\nworship it at the carpenter's house; two pice, a piece of turmeric and\nan areca-nut are buried below it in the earth and a new thread and a\n_toran_ or string of mango-leaves is wound round it. Oil and turmeric\nare also rubbed on the marriage-post at the same time as on the bride\nand bridegroom. In Saugor the marriage-post is often a four-sided\nwooden frame or a pillar with four pieces of wood suspended from\nit. The larger the marriage-shed is made the greater honour accrues to\nthe host, even though the guests may be insufficient to fill it. In\ntowns it has often to be made in the street and is an obstacle to\ntraffic. There may be eight or ten posts besides the centre one.\n\n\n\n\n7. The marriage-cakes\n\nAnother preliminary ceremony is the family sacrament of the Meher or\nmarriage-cakes. Small balls of wheat-flour are kneaded and fried in\nan earthen pan with sesamum oil by the eldest woman of the family. No\nmetal vessel may be used to hold the water, flour or oil required for\nthese cakes, probably because earthen vessels were employed before\nmetal ones and are therefore considered more sacred. In measuring the\ningredients a quarter of a measure is always taken in excess, such\nas a seer [59] and a quarter for a seer of wheat, to foreshadow the\nperpetual increase of the family. When made the cakes are offered to\nthe Kul Deo or household god. The god is worshipped and the bride and\nbridegroom then first partake of the cakes and after them all members\nof the family and relatives. Married daughters and daughters-in-law\nmay eat of the cakes, but not widows, who are probably too impure\nto join in a sacred sacrament Every person admitted to partake of\nthe marriage-cakes is held to belong to the family, so that all\nother members of it have to observe impurity for ten days after a\nbirth or death has occurred in his house and shave their heads for\na death. When the family is so large that this becomes irksome it is\ncut down by not inviting persons beyond seven degrees of relationship\nto the Meher sacrament This exclusion has sometimes led to bitter\nquarrels and actions for defamation. It seems likely that the Meher\nmay be a kind of substitute for the sacrificial meal, at which all\nthe members of the clan ate the body of the totem or divine animal,\nand some similar significance perhaps once attached to the wedding-cake\nin England, pieces of which are sent to relatives unable to be present\nat the wedding.\n\n\n\n\n8. Customs at the wedding\n\nBefore the wedding the women of each party go and anoint the village\ngods with oil and turmeric, worshipping them, and then similarly\nanoint the bride and bridegroom at their respective houses for three\ndays. The bridegroom's head is shaved except for his scalp-lock;\nhe wears a silver necklet on his neck, puts lamp-black on his eyes,\nand is dressed in new yellow and white clothes. Thus attired he goes\nround and worships all the village gods and visits the houses of his\nrelatives and friends, who mark his forehead with rice and turmeric\nand give him a silver piece. A list of the money thus received is\nmade and similar presents are returned to the donors when they have\nweddings. The bridegroom goes to the wedding either in a litter or\non a horse, and must not look behind him. After being received at\nthe bride's village and conducted to his lodging, he proceeds to the\nbride's house and strikes a grass mat hung before the house seven\ntimes with a reed-stick. On entering the bride's house the bridegroom\nis taken to worship her family gods, the men of the party usually\nremaining outside. Then, as he goes through the room, one of the\nwomen who has tied a long thread round her toe gets behind him and\nmeasures his height with the thread without his seeing. She breaks\noff the thread at his height and doubling it once or twice sews it\nround the top of the bride's skirt, and they think that as long as\nthe bride wears this thread she will be able to make her husband do\nas she likes. If the girls wish to have a joke they take one of the\nbridegroom's shoes which he has left outside the house, wrap it up\nin a piece of cloth, and place it on a shelf or in a cupboard, where\nthe family god would be kept, with two lamps burning before it. Then\nthey say to the bridegroom, 'Come and worship our household god';\nand if he goes and does reverence to it they unwrap the cloth and\nshow him his own shoe and laugh at him. But if he has been to one or\ntwo weddings and knows the joke he just gives it a kick. The bride's\nyounger brother steals the bridegroom's other shoe and hides it, and\nwill not give it back without a present of a rupee or two. The bride\nand bridegroom are seated on wooden seats, and while the Brahman\nrecites texts, they make the following promises. The bridegroom\ncovenants to live with his wife and her children, to support them\nand tell her all his concerns, consult her, make her a partner of\nhis religious worship and almsgiving, and be with her on the night\nfollowing the termination of her monthly impurity. The bride promises\nto remain faithful to her husband, to obey his wishes and orders,\nto perform her household duties as well as she can, and not to go\nanywhere without his permission. The last promise of the bridegroom has\nreference to the general rule among Hindus that a man should always\nsleep with his wife on the night following the termination of her\nmenses because at this time she is most likely to conceive and the\nprospect of a child being born must not be lost. The Shastras lay it\ndown that a man should not visit his wife before going into battle,\nthis being no doubt an instance of the common custom of abstinence from\nconjugal intercourse prior to some important business or undertaking;\nbut it is stated that if on such an occasion she should have just\ncompleted a period of impurity and have bathed and should desire him\nto come in to her, he should do so, even with his armour on, because\nby refusing, in the event of his being killed in battle, the chance of\na child being born would be finally lost. To Hindu ideas the neglect\nto produce life is a sin of the same character, though in a minor\ndegree, as that of destroying life; and it is to be feared that it\nwill be some time before this ingrained superstition gives way to\nany considerations of prudential restraint Some people say that for\na man not to visit his wife at this time is as great a sin as murder.\n\n\n\n\n9. Walking round the sacred post\n\nThe binding ceremony of the marriage is the walking seven times round\nthe marriage-post in the direction of the sun. The post probably\nrepresents the sun and the walk of the bridal couple round it may\nbe an imitation of the movement of the planets round the sun. The\nreverence paid to the marriage-post has already been noticed. During\nthe procession the bride leads and the bridegroom puts his left hand\non her left shoulder. The household pounding-slab is near the post\nand on it are placed seven little heaps of rice, turmeric, areca-nut,\nand a small winnowing-fan. Each time the bride passes the slab the\nbridegroom catches her right foot and with it makes her brush one of\nthe little heaps off the slab. These seven heaps represent the seven\nRishis or saints who are the seven large stars of the constellation\nof the Great Bear.\n\n\n\n\n10. Other ceremonies\n\nAfter the wedding the bride and bridegroom resume their seats and\nthe parents of the bride wash their feet in a brass tray, marking\ntheir foreheads with rice and turmeric. They put some silver in\nthe tray, and other relations and friends do the same. The presents\nthus collected go to the bridegroom. The Chandnahu Kurmis then have\na ceremony known as _palkachar_. The bride's father provides a bed\non which a mattress and quilt are laid and the bride and bridegroom\nare seated on it, while their brother and sister sprinkle parched\nrice round them. This is supposed to typify the consummation of the\nmarriage, but the ceremony is purely formal as the bridal couple are\nchildren. The bridegroom is given two lamps and he has to mix their\nflames, probably to symbolise the mixing of the spirits of his wife and\nhimself. He requires a present of a rupee or two before he consents to\ndo so. During the wedding the bride is bathed in the same water as the\nbridegroom, the joint use of the sacred element being perhaps another\nsymbolic mark of their union. At the feasts the bride eats rice and\nmilk with her husband from one dish, once at her own house and once\nafter she goes to her husband's house. Subsequently she never eats\nwith her husband but always after him. She also sits and eats at the\nwedding-feasts with her husband's relations. This is perhaps meant\nto mark her admission into her husband's clan. After the wedding\nthe Brahmans on either side recite Sanskrit verses, praising their\nrespective families and displaying their own learning. The competition\noften becomes bitter and would end in a quarrel, but that the elders\nof the party interfere and stop it.\n\nThe expenses of an ordinary wedding on the bridegroom's side\nmay be Rs. 100 in addition to the bride-price, and on the bride's\nRs. 200. The bride goes home for a day or two with the bridegroom's\nparty in Chhattisgarh but not in the northern Districts, as women\naccompany the wedding procession in the former but not in the latter\nlocality. If she is too small to go, her shoes and marriage-crown\nare sent to represent her. When she attains maturity the _chauk_ or\n_gauna_ ceremony is performed, her husband going to fetch her with\na few friends. At this time her parents give her clothes, food and\nornaments in a basket called _jhanpi_ or _tipara_ specially prepared\nfor the occasion.\n\n\n\n\n11. Polygamy widow-marriage and divorce\n\nA girl who becomes pregnant by a man of the caste before marriage is\nwedded to him by the rite used for widows. If the man is an outsider\nshe is expelled from the community. Women are much valued for the\nsake of their labour in the fields, and the transgressions of a\nwife are viewed with a lenient eye. In Damoh it is said that a man\nreadily condones his wife's adultery with another Kurmi, and if it\nbecomes known and she is put out of caste, he will give the penalty\nfeasts himself for her admission. If she is detected in a _liaison_\nwith an outsider she is usually discarded, but the offence may be\ncondoned should the man be a Brahman. And one instance is mentioned\nof a malguzar's wife who had gone wrong with a Gond, and was forgiven\nand taken back by her husband and the caste. But the leniency was\nmisplaced as she subsequently eloped with an Ahir. Polygamy is usual\nwith those who can afford to pay for several wives, as a wife's labour\nis more efficient and she is a more profitable investment than a hired\nservant. An instance is on record of a blind Kurmi in Jubbulpore, who\nhad nine wives. A man who is faithful to one wife, and does not visit\nher on fast-days, is called a Brahmachari or saint and it is thought\nthat he will go to heaven. The remarriage of widows is permitted and is\nusual. The widow goes to a well on some night in the dark fortnight,\nand leaving her old clothes there puts on new ones which are given to\nher by the barber's wife. She then fills a pitcher with water and takes\nit to her new husband's house. He meets her on the threshold and lifts\nit from her head, and she goes into the house and puts bangles on her\nwrists. The following saying shows that the second marriage of widows\nis looked upon as quite natural and normal by the cultivating castes:\n\n\"If the clouds are like partridge feathers it will rain, and if a\nwidow puts lamp-black on her eyes she will marry again; these things\nare certain.\" [60]\n\nA bachelor marrying a widow must first go through the ceremony with\na ring which he thereafter wears on his finger, and if it is lost he\nmust perform a funeral ceremony as if a wife had died. If a widower\nmarries a girl she must wear round her neck an image of his first\nwife. A girl who is twice married by going round the sacred post is\ncalled Chandelia and is most unlucky. She is considered as bad or\nworse than a widow, and the people sometimes make her live outside\nthe village and forbid her to show them her face. Divorce is open to\neither party, to a wife on account of the impotency or ill-treatment\nof her husband, and to a husband for the bad character, ill-health\nor quarrelsome disposition of his wife. A deed of divorce is executed\nand delivered before the caste committee.\n\n\n\n\n12. Impurity of women\n\nDuring her periodical impurity, which lasts for four or five days, a\nwoman should not sleep on a cot. She must not walk across the shadow\nof any man not her husband, because it is thought that if she does\nso her next child will be like that man. Formerly she did not see\nher husband's face for all these days, but this rule was too irksome\nand has been abandoned. She should eat the same kind of food for the\nwhole period, and therefore must take nothing special on one day which\nshe cannot get on other days. At this time she will let her hair hang\nloose, taking out all the cotton strings by which it is tied up. [61]\nThese strings, being cotton, have become impure, and must be thrown\naway. But if there is no other woman to do the household work and she\nhas to do it herself, she will keep her hair tied up for convenience,\nand only throw away the strings on the last day when she bathes. All\ncotton things are rendered impure by her at this time, and any cloth\nor other article which she touches must be washed before it can be\ntouched by anybody else; but woollen cloth, being sacred, is not\nrendered impure, and she can sleep on a woollen blanket without its\nthereby becoming a defilement to other persons. When bathing at the\nend of the period a woman should see no other face but her husband's;\nbut as her husband is usually not present, she wears a ring with a\ntiny mirror and looks at her own face in this as a substitute.\n\nIf a woman desires to procure a miscarriage she eats a raw _papaya_\nfruit, and drinks a mixture of ginger, sugar, bamboo leaves and milk\nboiled together. She then has her abdomen well rubbed by a professional\n_masseuse_, who comes at a time when she can escape observation. After\na prolonged course of this treatment it is said that a miscarriage is\nobtained. It would seem that the rubbing is the only treatment which\nis directly effective. The _papaya_, which is a very digestible fruit,\ncan hardly be of assistance, but may be eaten from some magical idea of\nits resemblance to a foetus. The mixture drunk is perhaps designed to\nbe a tonic to the stomach against the painful effects of the massage.\n\n\n\n\n13. Pregnancy rites\n\nAs regards pregnancy Mr. Marten writes as follows: [62] \"A woman\nin pregnancy is in a state of taboo and is peculiarly liable to the\ninfluence of magic and in some respects dangerous to others. She is\nexempt from the observance of fasts, is allowed any food she fancies,\nand is fed with sweets and all sorts of rich food, especially in the\nfifth month. She should not visit her neighbour's houses nor sleep\nin any open place. Her clothes are kept separate from others. She\nis subject to a large number of restrictions in her ordinary life\nwith a view of avoiding everything that might prejudice or retard her\ndelivery. She should eschew all red clothes or red things of any sort,\nsuch as suggest blood, till the third or fourth month, when conception\nis certain. She will be careful not to touch the dress of any woman\nwho has had a miscarriage. She will not cross running water, as it\nmight cause premature delivery, nor go near a she-buffalo or a mare\nlest delivery be retarded, since a mare is twelve months in foal. If\nshe does by chance approach these animals she must propitiate them\nby offerings of grain. Nor in some cases will she light a lamp,\nfor fear the flame in some way may hurt the child. She should not\nfinish any sowing, previously begun, during pregnancy, nor should her\nhusband thatch the house or repair his axe. An eclipse is particularly\ndangerous to the unborn child and she must not leave the house during\nits continuance, but must sit still with a stone pestle in her lap and\nanoint her womb with cowdung. Under no circumstances must she touch any\ncutting instrument as it might cause her child to be born mutilated.\n\n\"During the fifth month of pregnancy the family gods are worshipped\nto avoid generally any difficulties in her labour. Towards the end of\nthat month and sometimes in the seventh month she rubs her body with\na preparation of gram-flour, castor-oil and turmeric, bathes herself,\nand is clothed with new garments and seated on a wooden stool in a\nspace freshly cleaned and spread with cowdung. Her lap is then filled\nwith sweets called _pakwan_ made of cocoanut. A similar ceremony\ncalled Boha Jewan is sometimes performed in the seventh or eighth\nmonth, when a new _sari_ is given to her and grain is thrown into her\nlap. Another special rite is the _Pansavan_ ceremony, performed to\nremove all defects in the child, give it a male form, increase its size\nand beauty, give it wisdom and avert the influence of evil spirits.\"\n\n\n\n\n14. Earth-eating\n\nPregnant women sometimes have a craving for eating earth. They eat\nthe earth which has been mixed with wheat on the threshing-floor,\nor the ashes of cowdung cakes which have been used for cooking. They\nconsider it as a sort of medicine which will prevent them from\nvomiting. Children also sometimes get the taste for eating earth,\nlicking it up from the floor, or taking pieces of lime-plaster from\nthe walls. Possibly they may be attracted by the saltish taste, but\nthe result is that they get ill and their stomachs are distended. The\nPanwar women of Balaghat eat red and white clay in order that their\nchildren may be born with red and white complexions.\n\n\n\n\n15. Customs at birth\n\nDuring the period of labour the barber's wife watches over the case,\nbut as delivery approaches hands it over to a recognised midwife,\nusually the Basorin or Chamarin, who remains in the lying-in room\ntill about the tenth day after delivery. \"If delivery is retarded,\"\nMr. Marten continues, [63] \"pressure and massage are used, but coffee\nand other herbal decoctions are given, and various means, mostly\ndepending on sympathetic magic, are employed to avert the adverse\nspirits and hasten and ease the labour. She may be given water to\ndrink in which the feet of her husband [64] or her mother-in-law or a\nyoung unmarried girl have been dipped, or she is shown the _swastik_\nor some other lucky sign, or the _chakra-vyuha_, a spiral figure\nshowing the arrangement of the armies of the Pandavas and Kauravas\nwhich resembles the intestines with the exit at the lower end.\"\n\nThe menstrual blood of the mother during child-birth is efficacious as\na charm for fertility. The Nain or Basorin will sometimes try and dip\nher big toe into it and go to her house. There she will wash her toe\nand give the water to a barren woman, who by drinking it will transfer\nto herself the fertility of the woman whose blood it is. The women\nof the family are in the lying-in room and they watch her carefully,\nwhile some of the men stand about outside. If they see the midwife\ncoming out they examine her, and if they find any blood exclaim,\n'You have eaten of our salt and will you play us this trick'; and\nthey force her back into the room where the blood is washed off. All\nthe stained clothes are washed in the birth-room, and the water as\nwell as that in which the mother and child are bathed is poured into\na hole dug inside the room, so that none of it may be used as a charm.\n\n\n\n\n16. Treatment of mother and child\n\nThe great object of the treatment after birth is to prevent the mother\nand child from catching cold. They appear to confuse the symptoms of\npneumonia and infantile lockjaw in a disease called _sanpat_, to the\nprevention of which their efforts are directed. A _sigri_ or stove\nis kept alight under the bed, and in this the seeds of _ajwain_ or\ncoriander are burnt. The mother eats the seeds, and the child is waved\nover the stove in the smoke of the burning _ajwain_. Raw asafoetida\nis put in the woman's ears wrapped in cotton-wool, and she eats a\nlittle half-cooked. A freshly-dried piece of cowdung is also picked\nup from the ground and half-burnt and put in water, and some of this\nwater is given to her to drink, the process being repeated every day\nfor a month. Other details of the treatment of the mother and child\nafter birth are given in the articles on Mehtar and Kunbi. For the\nfirst five days after birth the child is given a little honey and\ncalf's urine mixed. If the child coughs it is given _bans-lochan_,\nwhich is said to be some kind of silicate found in bamboos. The mother\ndoes not suckle the child for three days, and for that period she is\nnot washed and nobody goes near her, at least in Mandla. On the third\nday after the birth of a girl, or the fourth after that of a boy, the\nmother is washed and the child is then suckled by her for the first\ntime, at an auspicious moment pointed out by the astrologer. Generally\nspeaking the whole treatment of child-birth is directed towards the\navoidance of various imaginary magical dangers, while the real sanitary\nprecautions and other assistance which should be given to the mother\nare not only totally neglected, but the treatment employed greatly\naggravates the ordinary risks which a woman has to take, especially\nin the middle and higher castes.\n\n\n\n\n17. Ceremonies after birth\n\nWhen a boy is born the father's younger brother or one of his friends\nlets off a gun and beats a brass plate to proclaim the event The women\noften announce the birth of a boy by saying that it is a one-eyed\ngirl. This is in case any enemy should hear the mention of the boy's\nbirth, and the envy felt by him should injure the child. On the sixth\nday after the birth the Chhathi ceremony is performed and the mother is\ngiven ordinary food to eat, as described in the article on Kunbi. The\ntwelfth day is known as Barhon or Chauk. On this day the father is\nshaved for the first time after the child's birth. The mother bathes\nand cuts the nails of her hands and feet; if she is living by a river\nshe throws them into it, otherwise on to the roof of the house. The\nfather and mother sit in the _chauk_ or space marked out for worship\nwith cowdung and flour; the woman is on the man's left side, a woman\nbeing known as Bamangi or the left limb, either because the left limb\nis weak or because woman is supposed to have been made from man's left\nside, as in Genesis. The household god is brought into the _chauk_\nand they worship it. The Bua or husband's sister brings presents to\nthe mother known as _bharti_, for filling her lap: silver or gold\nbangles if she can afford them, a coat and cap for the boy; dates,\nrice and a breast-cloth for the mother; for the father a rupee and a\ncocoanut. These things are placed in the mother's lap as a charm to\nsustain her fertility. The father gives his sister back double the\nvalue of the presents if he can afford it. He gives her husband a\nhead-cloth and shoulder-cloth; he waves two or three pice round his\nwife's head and gives them to the barber's wife. The latter and the\nmidwife take the clothes worn by the mother at child-birth, and the\nfather gives them each a new cloth if he can afford it. The part of\nthe navel-string which falls off the child's body is believed to have\nthe power of rendering a barren woman fertile, and is also intimately\nconnected with the child's destiny. It is therefore carefully preserved\nand buried in some auspicious place, as by the bank of a river.\n\nIn the sixth month the Pasni ceremony is performed, when the child is\ngiven grain for the first time, consisting of rice and milk. Brahmans\nor religious mendicants are invited and fed. The child's hair and\nnails are cut for the first time on the Shivratri or Akti festival\nfollowing the birth, and are wrapped up in a ball of dough and thrown\ninto a sacred river. If a child is born during an eclipse they think\nthat it will suffer from lung disease; so a silver model of the moon\nis made immediately during the eclipse, and hung round the child's\nneck, and this is supposed to preserve it from harm.\n\n\n\n\n18. Suckling children\n\nA Hindu woman will normally suckle her child for two to three years\nafter its birth, and even beyond this up to six years if it sleeps\nwith her. But they think that the child becomes short of breath if\nsuckled for so long, and advise the mother to wean it. And if she\nbecomes pregnant again, when she has been three or four months in this\ncondition, she will wean the child by putting _nim_ leaves or some\nother bitter thing on her breasts. A Hindu should not visit his wife\nfor the last six months of her pregnancy nor until the child has been\nfed with grain for the first time six months after its birth. During\nthe former period such action is thought to be a sin, while during\nthe latter it may have the effect of rendering the mother pregnant\nagain too quickly, and hence may not allow her a sufficiently long\nperiod to suckle the first child.\n\n\n\n\n19. Beliefs about twins\n\nTwins, Mr. Marten states, are not usually considered to be\ninauspicious. [65] \"It is held that if they are of the same sex they\nwill survive, and if they are of a different sex one of them will\ndie. Boy twins are called Rama and Lachhman, a boy and a girl Mahadeo\nand Parvati, and two girls Ganga and Jamuni or Sita and Konda. They\nshould always be kept separate so as to break the essential connection\nwhich exists between them and may cause any misfortune which happens\nto the one to extend to the other. Thus the mother always sleeps\nbetween them in bed and never carries both of them nor suckles both\nat the same time. Again, among some castes in Chhattisgarh, when the\ntwins are of different sex, they are considered to be _pap_ (sinful)\nand are called Papi and Papin, an allusion to the horror of a brother\nand sister sharing the same bed (the mother's womb).\" Hindus think\nthat if two people comb their hair with the same comb they will lose\ntheir affection for each other. Hence the hair of twins is combed with\nthe same comb to weaken the tie which exists between them, and may\ncause the illness or death of either to follow on that of the other.\n\n\n\n\n20. Disposal of the dead\n\nThe dead are usually burnt with the head to the north. Children whose\nears have not been bored and adults who die of smallpox or leprosy are\nburied, and members of poor families who cannot afford firewood. If a\nperson has died by hanging or drowning or from the bite of a snake,\nhis body is burnt without any rites, but in order that his soul\nmay be saved, the _hom_ sacrifice is performed subsequently to the\ncremation. Those who live near the Nerbudda and Mahanadi sometimes\nthrow the bodies of the dead into these rivers and think that this will\nmake them go to heaven. The following account of a funeral ceremony\namong the middle and higher castes in Saugor is mainly furnished\nby Major W. D. Sutherland, I.M.S., with some additions from Mandla,\nand from material furnished by the Rev. E. M. Gordon: [66] \"When a\nman is near his end, gifts to Brahmans are made by him, or by his son\non his behalf. These, if he is a rich man, consist of five cows with\ntheir calves, marked on the forehead and hoofs with turmeric, and\nwith garlands of flowers round their necks. Ordinary people give the\nprice of one calf, which is fictitiously taken at Rs. 3-4, Rs. 1-4,\nten annas or five annas according to their means. By holding on to\nthe tail of this calf the dead man will be able to swim across the\ndreadful river Vaitarni, the Hindu Styx. This calf is called Bachra\nSankal or 'the chain-calf,' as it furnishes a chain across the river,\nand it may be given three times, once before the death and twice\nafterwards. When near his end the dying man is taken down from his\ncot and laid on a woollen blanket spread on the ground, perhaps with\nthe idea that he should at death be in contact with the earth and not\nsuspended in mid-air as a man on a cot is held to be. In his mouth\nare placed a piece of gold, some leaves of the _tulsi_ or basil plant,\nor Ganges water, or rice cooked in Jagannath's temple. The dying man\nkeeps on repeating 'Ram, Ram, Sitaram.'\"\n\n\n\n\n21. Funeral rites\n\nAs soon as death occurs the corpse is bathed, clothed and smeared\nwith a mixture of powdered sandalwood, camphor and spices. A bier is\nconstructed of planks, or if this cannot be afforded the man's cot\nis turned upside down and the body is carried out for burial on it\nin this fashion, with the legs of the cot pointing upwards. Straw\nis laid on the bier, and the corpse, covered with fine white cloth,\nis tied securely on to it, the hands being crossed on the breast, with\nthe thumbs and great toes tied together. When a married woman dies she\nis covered with a red cloth which reaches only to the neck, and her\nface is left open to the view of everybody, whether she went abroad\nunveiled in her life or not. It is considered a highly auspicious\nthing for a woman to die in the lifetime of her husband and children,\nand the corpse is sometimes dressed like a bride and ornaments put on\nit. The corpse of a widow or girl is wrapped in a white cloth with\nthe head covered. At the head of the funeral procession walks the\nson of the deceased, or other chief mourner, and in his hand he takes\nsmouldering cowdung cakes in an earthen pot, from which the pyre will\nbe kindled. This fire is brought from the hearth of the house by the\nbarber, and he sometimes also carries it to the pyre. On the way the\nmourners change places so that each may assist in bearing the bier,\nand once they set the bier on the ground and leave two pice and some\ngrain where it lay, before taking it up again. After the funeral each\nperson who has helped to carry it takes up a clod of earth and with it\ntouches successively the place on his shoulder where the bier rested,\nhis waist and his knee, afterwards dropping the clod on the ground. It\nis believed that by so doing he removes from his shoulder the weight\nof the corpse, which would otherwise press on it for some time.\n\n\n\n\n22. Burning the dead\n\nAt the cremation-ground the corpse is taken from the bier and placed on\nthe pyre. The cloth which covered it and that on which it lay are given\nto a sweeper, who is always present to receive this perquisite. To the\ncorpse's mouth, eyes, ears, nostrils and throat is applied a mixture\nof barley-flour, butter, sesamum seeds and powdered sandalwood. Logs\nof wood and cowdung cakes are then piled on the body and the pyre is\nfired by the son, who first holds a burning stick to the mouth of the\ncorpse as if to inform it that he is about to apply the fire. The pyre\nof a man is fired at the head and of a woman at the foot. Rich people\nburn the corpse with sandalwood, and others have a little of this,\nand incense and sweet-smelling gum. Nowadays if the rain comes on\nand the pyre will not burn they use kerosine oil. When the body is\nhalf-consumed the son takes up a piece of wood and with it strikes\nthe skull seven times, to break it and give exit to the soul. This,\nhowever, is not always done. The son then takes up on his right\nshoulder an earthen pot full of water, at the bottom of which is a\nsmall hole. He walks round the pyre three times in the direction of\nthe sun's course and stands facing to the south, and dashes the pot\non the ground, crying out in his grief, 'Oh, my father.' While this\nis going on _mantras_ or sacred verses are recited by the officiating\nBrahman. When the corpse is partly consumed each member of the assembly\nthrows the _Panch lakariya_ (five pieces of wood or sprigs of basil)\non to the pyre, making obeisance to the deceased and saying, '_Swarg ko\njao_,' or 'Ascend to heaven.' Or they may say, 'Go, become incarnate\nin some human being.' They stay by the corpse for 1 1/4 _pahars_\nor watches or some four hours, until either the skull is broken by\nthe chief mourner or breaks of itself with a crack. Then they bathe\nand come home and after some hours again return to the corpse, to\nsee that it is properly burnt. If the pyre should go out and a dog\nor other animal should get hold of the corpse when it is half-burnt,\nall the relatives are put out of caste, and have to give a feast to\nall the caste, costing for a rich family about Rs. 50 and for a poor\none Rs. 10 to Rs. 15. Then they return home and chew _nim_ leaves,\nwhich are bitter and purifying, and spit them out of their mouth,\nthus severing their connection with the corpse. When the mourners\nhave left the deceased's house the women of the family bathe, the\nbangles of the widow are broken, the vermilion on the parting of her\nhair and the glass ornament (_tikli_) on her forehead are removed,\nand she is clad in white clothing of coarse texture to show that\nhenceforth she is only a widow.\n\nOn the third day the mourners go again and collect the ashes and throw\nthem into the nearest river. The bones are placed in a silken bag or\nan earthen pot or a leaf basket, and taken to the Ganges or Nerbudda\nwithin ten days if possible, or otherwise after a longer interval,\nbeing buried meantime. Some milk, salt and calfs urine are sprinkled\nover the place where the corpse was burnt. These will cool the place,\nand the soul of the dead will similarly be cooled, and a cow will\nprobably come and lick up the salt, and this will sanctify the place\nand also the soul. When the bones are to be taken to a sacred river\nthey are tied up in a little piece of cloth and carried at the end of\na stick by the chief mourner, who is usually accompanied by several\ncaste-fellows. At night during the journey this stick is planted in\nthe ground, so that the bones may not touch the earth.\n\n\n\n\n23. Burial\n\nGraves are always dug from north to south. Some people say that heaven\nis to the north, being situated in the Himalayas, and others that\nIn the Satyug or Golden Age the sun rose to the north. The digging\nof the grave only commences on the arrival of the funeral party, so\nthere is of necessity a delay of several hours at the site, and all\nwho attend a funeral are supposed to help in digging. It is considered\nto be meritorious to assist at a burial, and there is a saying that a\nman who has himself conducted a hundred funerals will become a Raja in\nhis next birth. When the grave has been filled in and a mound raised\nto mark the spot, each person present makes five small balls of earth\nand places them in a heap at the head of the grave. This custom is also\nknown as _Panch lakariya_, and must therefore be an imitation of the\nplacing of the five sticks on the pyre; its original meaning in the\nlatter case may have been that the mourners should assist the family\nby bringing a contribution of wood to the pyre. As adopted in burial\nit seems to have no special significance, but somewhat resembles the\nEuropean custom of the mourners throwing a little dust into the grave.\n\n\n\n\n24. Return of the soul\n\nOn the third day the _pindas_ or sacrificial cakes are offered and\nthis goes on till the tenth day. These cakes are not eaten by the\npriest or Maha-Brahman, but are thrown into a river. On the evening\nof the third day the son goes, accompanied by a Brahman and a barber,\nand carrying a key to avert evil, to a pipal [67] tree, on whose\nbranches he hangs two earthen pots: one containing water, which\ntrickles out through a hole in the bottom, and the other a lamp. On\neach succeeding night the son replenishes the contents of these pots,\nwhich are intended to refresh the spirit of the deceased and to light\nit on its way to the lower world. In some localities on the evening\nof the third day the ashes of the cooking-place are sifted, and laid\nout on a tray at night on the spot where the deceased died, or near\nthe cooking-place. In the morning the layer of ashes is inspected,\nand if what appears to be a hand- or footprint is seen, it is held\nthat the spirit of the deceased has visited the house. Some people\nlook for handprints, some for footprints, and some for both, and the\nNais look for the print of a cow's hoof, which when seen is held to\nprove that the deceased in consideration of his singular merits has\nbeen reborn a cow. If a woman has died in child-birth, or after the\nbirth of a child and before the performance of the sixth-day ceremony\nof purification, her hands are tied with a cotton thread when she is\nburied, in order that her spirit may be unable to rise and trouble\nthe living. It is believed that the souls of such women become evil\nspirits or _Churels_. Thorns are also placed over her grave for the\nsame purpose.\n\n\n\n\n25. Mourning\n\nDuring the days of mourning the chief mourner sits apart and does\nno work. The others do their work but do not touch any one else,\nas they are impure. They leave their hair unkempt, do not worship\nthe gods nor sleep on cots, and abjure betel, milk, butter, curds,\nmeat, the wearing of shoes, new clothes and other luxuries. In these\ndays the friends of the family come and comfort the mourners with\nconversation on the shortness and uncertainty of human life and\nkindred topics. During the period of mourning when the family go\nto bathe they march one behind the other in Indian file. And on the\nlast day all the people of the village accompany them, the men first\nand after they have returned the women, all marching one behind the\nother. They also come back in this manner from the actual funeral,\nand the idea is perhaps to prevent the dead man's spirit from following\nthem. He would probably feel impelled to adopt the same formation and\nfall in behind the last of the line, and then some means is devised,\nsuch as spreading thorns in the path, for leaving him behind.\n\n\n\n\n26. Shaving, and presents to Brahmans\n\nOn the ninth, tenth or eleventh day the males of the family have the\nfront of the head from the crown, and the beard and moustaches, shaved\nin token of mourning. The Maha-Brahman who receives the gifts for the\ndead is shaved with them. This must be done for an elder relation,\nbut a man need not be shaved on the death of his wife, sister or\nchildren. The day is the end of mourning and is called Gauri Ganesh,\nGauri being Parvati or the wife of Siva, and Ganesh the god of good\nfortune. On the occasion the family give to the Maha-Brahman [68]\na new cot and bedding with a cloth, an umbrella to shield the spirit\nfrom the sun's rays, a copper vessel full of water to quench its\nthirst, a brass lamp to guide it on its journey, and if the family\nis well-to-do a horse and a cow, All these things are meant to be for\nthe use of the dead man in the other world. It is also the Brahman's\nbusiness to eat a quantity of cooked food, which will form the dead\nman's food. It is of great spiritual importance to the dead man's\nsoul that the Brahman should finish the dish set before him, and if\nhe does not do so the soul will fare badly. He takes advantage of\nthis by stopping in the middle of the meal, saying that he has eaten\nall he is capable of and cannot go on, so that the relations have\nto give him large presents to induce him to finish the food. These\nMaha-Brahmans are utterly despised and looked down on by all other\nBrahmans and by the community generally, and are sometimes made to\nlive outside the village. The regular priest, the Malai or Purohit,\ncan accept no gifts from the time of the death to the end of the period\nof mourning. Afterwards he also receives presents in money according\nto the means of his clients, which it is supposed will benefit the\ndead man's soul in the next world; but no disgrace attaches to the\nacceptance of these.\n\n\n\n\n27. End of mourning\n\nWhen the mourning is complete on the Gauri-Ganesh day all the relatives\ntake their food at the chief mourner's house, and afterwards the\n_panchayat_ invest him with a new turban provided by a relative. On\nthe next bazar day the members of the _panchayat_ take him to the\nbazar and tell him to take up his regular occupation and earn his\nlivelihood. Thereafter all his relatives and friends invite him to\ntake food at their houses, probably to mark his accession to the\nposition of head of the family.\n\n\n\n\n28. Anniversaries of the dead\n\nThree months, six months and twelve months after the death presents\nare made to a Brahman, consisting of Sidha, or butter, wheat and rice\nfor a day's food. The anniversaries of the dead are celebrated during\nPitripaksh or the dark fortnight of Kunwar (September-October). If a\nman died on the third day of any fortnight in the year, his anniversary\nis celebrated on the third day of this fortnight and so on. On that\nday it is supposed that his spirit will visit his earthly house where\nhis relatives reside. But the souls of women all return to their homes\non the ninth day of the fortnight, and on the thirteenth day come the\nsouls of all those who have met with a violent death, as by a fall,\nor have been killed by wild animals or snakes. The spirits of such\npersons are supposed, on account of their untimely end, to entertain\na special grudge against the living.\n\n\n\n\n29. Beliefs in the hereafter\n\nAs regards the belief in the hereafter Mr. Gordon writes: [69] \"That\nthey have the idea of hell as a place of punishment may be gathered\nfrom the belief that when salt is spilt the one who does this will\nin Patal or the infernal region have to gather up each grain of salt\nwith his eyelids. Salt is for this reason handed round with great\ncare, and it is considered unlucky to receive it in the palm of the\nhand; it is therefore invariably taken in a cloth or vessel. There\nis a belief that the spirit of the deceased hovers round familiar\nscenes and places, and on this account, whenever possible, a house\nin which any one has died is destroyed or deserted. After the spirit\nhas wandered round restlessly for a certain time it is said that it\nwill again become incarnate and take the form either of man or of\none of the lower animals.\" In Mandla they think that the soul after\ndeath is arraigned and judged before Yama, and is then chained to\na flaming pillar for a longer or shorter period according to its\nsins. The gifts made to Brahmans for the dead somewhat shorten the\nperiod. After that time it is born again with a good or bad body and\nhuman or animal according to its deserts.\n\n\n\n\n30. Religion. Village gods\n\nThe caste worship the principal Hindu deities. Either Bhagwan or\nParmeshwar is usually referred to as the supreme deity, as we speak\nof God. Bhagwan appears to be Vishnu or the Sun, and Parmeshwar is\nSiva or Mahadeo. There are few temples to Vishnu in villages, but\nnone are required as the sun is daily visible. Sunday or Raviwar\nis the day sacred to him, and some people fast in his honour on\nSundays, eating only one meal without salt. A man salutes the sun\nafter he gets up by joining his hands and looking towards it, again\nwhen he has washed his face, and a third time when he has bathed,\nby throwing a little water in the sun's direction. He must not spit\nin front of the sun nor perform the lower functions of the body in\nits sight. Others say that the sun and moon are the eyes of God, and\nthe light of the sun is the effulgence of God, because by its light\nand heat all moving and immobile creatures sustain their life and\nall corn and other products of the earth grow. In his incarnations\nof Rama and Krishna there are temples to Vishnu in large villages\nand towns. Khermata, the mother of the village, is the local form of\nDevi or the earth-goddess. She has a small hut and an image of Devi,\neither black or red. She is worshipped by a priest called Panda, who\nmay be of any caste except the impure castes. The earth is worshipped\nin various ways. A man taking medicine for the first time in an\nillness sprinkles a few drops on the earth in its honour. Similarly\nfor the first three or four times that a cow is milked after the\nbirth of a calf the stream is allowed to fall on the ground. A man\nwho is travelling offers a little food to the earth before eating\nhimself. Devi is sometimes considered to be one of seven sisters, but\nof the others only two are known, Marhai Devi, the goddess of cholera,\nand Sitala Devi, the goddess of smallpox. When an epidemic of cholera\nbreaks out the Panda performs the following ceremony to avert it. He\ntakes a kid and a small pig or chicken, and some cloth, cakes, glass\nbangles, vermilion, an earthen lamp, and some country liquor, which is\nsprinkled all along the way from where he starts to where he stops. He\nproceeds in this manner to the boundary of the village at a place where\nthere are cross-roads, and leaves all the things there. Sometimes\nthe animals are sacrificed and eaten. While the Panda is doing this\nevery one collects the sweepings of his house in a winnowing-fan and\nthrows them outside the village boundary, at the same time ringing a\nbell continuously. The Panda must perform his ceremony at night and,\nif possible, on the day of the new moon. He is accompanied by a few\nother low-caste persons called Gunias. A Gunia is one who can be\npossessed by a spirit in the temple of Khermata. When possessed he\nshakes his head up and down violently and foams at the mouth, and\nsometimes strikes his head on the ground. Another favourite godling\nis Hardaul, who was the brother of Jujhar Singh, Raja of Orchha,\nand was suspected by Jujhar Singh of loving the latter's wife,\nand poisoned in consequence by his orders. Hardaul has a platform\nand sometimes a hut with an image of a man on horseback carrying a\nspear in his hand. His shrine is outside the village, and two days\nbefore a marriage the women of the family visit his shrine and cook\nand eat their food there and invite him to the wedding. Clay horses\nare offered to him, and he is supposed to be able to keep off rain\nand storms during the ceremony. Hardaul is perhaps the deified Rajput\nhorseman. Hanuman or Mahabir is represented by an image of a monkey\ncoloured with vermilion, with a club in his hand and a slain man\nbeneath his feet. He is principally worshipped on Saturdays so that he\nmay counteract the evil influences exercised by the planet Saturn on\nthat day. His image is painted with oil mixed with vermilion and has\na wreath of flowers of the cotton tree; and _gugal_ or incense made of\nresin, sandalwood and other ingredients is burnt before him. He is the\ndeified ape, and is the god of strength and swiftness, owing to the\nexploits performed by him during Rama's invasion of Ceylon. Dulha Deo\nis another godling whose shrine is in every village. He was a young\nbridegroom who was carried off by a tiger on his way to his wedding,\nor, according to another account, was turned into a stone pillar by\na flash of lightning. Before the starting of a wedding procession the\nmembers go to Dulha Deo and offer a pair of shoes and a miniature post\nand marriage-crown. On their return they offer a cocoanut. Dulha Deo\nhas a stone and platform to the east of the village, or occasionally\nan image of a man on horseback like Hardaul. Mirohia is the god\nof the field boundary. There is no sign of him, but every tenant,\nwhen he begins sowing and cutting the crops, offers a little curds\nand rice and a cocoanut and lays them on the boundary of the field,\nsaying the name of Mirohia Deo. It is believed among agriculturists\nthat if this godling is neglected he will flatten the corn by a wind,\nor cause the cart to break on its way to the threshing-floor.\n\n\n\n\n31. Sowing the _Jawaras_ or Gardens of Adonis\n\nThe sowing of the Jawaras, corresponding to the gardens of Adonis,\ntakes place during the first nine days of the months of Kunwar\nand Chait (September and March). The former is a nine days' fast\npreceding the Dasahra festival, and it is supposed that the goddess\nDevi was during this time employed In fighting the buffalo-demon\n(Bhainsasur), whom she slew on the tenth day. The latter is a nine\ndays' fast at the new year, preceding the triumphant entry of Rama\ninto Ajodhia on the tenth day on his return from Ceylon. The first\nperiod comes before the sowing of the spring crop of wheat and other\ngrains, and the second is at the commencement of the harvest of the\nsame crop. In some localities the Jawaras are also grown a third time\nin the rains, probably as a preparation for the juari sowings, [70]\nas juari is planted in the baskets or 'gardens' at this time. On the\nfirst day a small room is cleared and whitewashed, and is known as the\n_diwala_ or temple. Some earth is brought from the fields and mixed\nwith manure in a basket, and a male member of the family sows wheat\nin it, bathing before he does so. The basket is kept in the _diwala_\nand the same man attends on it throughout the nine days, fasting all\nday and eating only milk and fruit at night. A similar nine days' fast\nwas observed by the Eleusinians before the sacramental eating of corn\nand the worship of the Corn Goddess, which constituted the Eleusinian\nmysteries. [71] During the period of nine days, called the Naoratra,\nthe plants are watered, and long stalks spring up. On the eighth day\nthe _hom_ or fire offering is performed, and the Gunias or devotees are\npossessed by Devi. On the evening of the ninth day the women, putting\non their best clothes, walk out of the houses with the pots of grain\non their heads, singing songs in praise of Devi. The men accompany\nthem beating drums and cymbals. The devotees pierce their cheeks with\nlong iron needles and walk in the procession. High-caste women, who\ncannot go themselves, hire the barber's or waterman's wife to go for\nthem. The pots are taken to a tank and thrown in, the stalks of grain\nbeing kept and distributed as a mark of amity. The wheat which is sown\nin Kunwar gives a forecast of the spring crops. A plant is pulled out,\nand the return of the crop will be the same number of times the seed as\nit has roots. The woman who gets to the tank first counts the number\nof plants in her pot, and this gives the price of wheat in rupees\nper _mani_. [72] Sometimes marks of red rust appear on the plants,\nand this shows that the crop will suffer from rust. The ceremony\nperformed in Chait is said to be a sort of harvest thanksgiving. On\nthe ninth day of the autumn ceremony another celebration called\n'Jhinjhia' or 'Norta' takes place in large villages. A number of\nyoung unmarried girls take earthen pots and, making holes in them and\nplacing lamps inside, carry them on their heads through the village,\nsinging and dancing. They receive presents from the villagers, with\nwhich they hold a feast. At this a small platform is erected and two\nearthen dolls, male and female, are placed on it; rice and flowers\nare offered to them and their marriage is celebrated.\n\nThe following observances in connection with the crops are practised\nby the agricultural castes in Chhattisgarh:\n\n\n\n\n32. Rites connected with the crops. Customs of cultivation\n\nThe agricultural year begins on Akti or the 3rd day of Baisakh\n(April-May). On that day a cup made of _palas_ [73] leaves and filled\nwith rice is offered to Thakur Deo. In some villages the boys sow\nrice seeds before Thakur Deo's shrine with little toy ploughs. The\ncultivator then goes to his field, and covering his hand with\nwheat-flour and turmeric, stamps it five times on the plough. The\nmalguzar takes five handfuls of the seed consecrated to Thakur Deo and\nsows it, and each of the cultivators also sows a little. After this\nregular cultivation may begin on any day, though Monday and Friday\nare considered auspicious days for the commencement of sowing. On the\nHareli, or festival of the fresh verdure, which falls on the 15th day\nof Shrawan (July-August), balls of flour mixed with salt are given to\nthe cattle. The plough and all the implements of agriculture are taken\nto a tank and washed, and are then set up in the courtyard of the house\nand plastered with cowdung. The plough is set facing towards the sun,\nand butter and sugar are offered to it. An earthen pot is whitewashed\nand human figures are drawn on it with charcoal, one upside down. It is\nthen hung over the entrance to the house and is believed to avert the\nevil eye. All the holes in the cattle-sheds and courtyards are filled\nand levelled with gravel. While the rice is growing, holidays are\nobserved on five Sundays and no work is done. Before harvest Thakur\nDeo must be propitiated with an offering of a white goat or a black\nfowl. Any one who begins to cut his crop before this offering has\nbeen made to Thakur Deo is fined the price of a goat by the village\ncommunity. Before threshing his corn each cultivator offers a separate\nsacrifice to Thakur Deo of a goat, a fowl or a broken cocoanut. Each\nevening, on the conclusion of a day's threshing, a wisp of straw is\nrubbed on the forehead of each bullock, and a hair is then pulled\nfrom its tail, and the hairs and straw made into a bundle are tied\nto the pole of the threshing-floor. The cultivator prays, 'O God\nof plenty! enter here full and go out empty.' Before leaving the\nthreshing-floor for the night some straw is burnt and three circles are\ndrawn with the ashes, one round the heap of grain and the others round\nthe pole. Outside the circles are drawn pictures of the sun, the moon,\na lion and a monkey, or of a cart and a pair of bullocks. Next morning\nbefore sunrise the ashes are swept away by waving a winnowing-fan over\nthem. This ceremony is called _anjan chadhana_ or placing lamp-black\non the face of the threshing-floor to avert the evil eye, as women put\nit on their eyes. Before the grain is measured it must be stacked in\nthe form of a trapezium with the shorter end to the south, and not in\nthat of a square or oblong heap. The measurer stands facing the east,\nand having the shorter end of the heap on his left hand. On the larger\nside of the heap are laid the _kalara_ or hook, a winnowing-fan, the\n_dauri_, a rope by which the bullocks are tied to the threshing-pole,\none or three branches of the _ber_ or wild plum tree, and the twisted\nbundle of straw and hair of the bullocks which had been tied to the\npole. On the top of the heap are placed five balls of cowdung, and\nthe _hom_ or fire sacrifice is offered to it. The first _katha_ [74]\nof rice measured is also laid by the heap. The measurer never quite\nempties his measure while the work is going on, as it is feared that if\nhe does this the god of abundance will leave the threshing-floor. While\nmeasuring he should always wear a turban. It is considered unlucky for\nany one who has ridden on an elephant to enter the threshing-floor,\nbut a person who has ridden on a tiger brings luck. Consequently\nthe Gonds and Baigas, if they capture a young tiger and tame it,\nwill take it round the country, and the cultivators pay them a little\nto give their children a ride on it. To enter a threshing-floor with\nshod feet is also unlucky. Grain is not usually measured at noon but\nin the morning or evening.\n\n\n\n\n33. Agricultural superstitions\n\nThe cultivators think that each grain should bear a hundredfold,\nbut they do not get this as Kuvera, the treasurer of the gods,\nor Bhainsasur, the buffalo demon who lives in the fields, takes\nit. Bhainsasur is worshipped when the rice is coming into ear, and\nif they think he is likely to be mischievous they give him a pig, but\notherwise a smaller offering. When the standing corn in the fields is\nbeaten down at night they think that Bhainsasur has been passing over\nit. He also steals the crop while it is being cut and is lying on the\nground. Once Bhainsasur was absent while the particular field in the\nvillage from which he stole his supply of grain was cut and the crop\nremoved, and afterwards he was heard crying that all his provision for\nthe year had been lost. Sometimes the oldest man in the house cuts\nthe first five bundles of the crop, and they are afterwards left in\nthe field for the birds to eat. And at the end of harvest the last one\nor two sheaves are left standing in the field, and any one who likes\ncan cut and carry them away. In some localities the last stalks are\nleft standing in the field and are known as _barhona_ or the giver\nof increase. Then all the labourers rush together at this last patch\nof corn and tear it up by the roots; everybody seizes as much as he\ncan and keeps it, the master having no share in this patch. After\nthe _barhona_ has been torn up all the labourers fall on their faces\nto the ground and worship the field. In other places the _barhona_\nis left standing for the birds to eat. This custom, arises from the\nbelief demonstrated by Sir J. G. Frazer in _The Golden Bough_ that the\ncorn-spirit takes refuge in the last patch of grain, and that when\nit is cut he flies away or his life is extinguished. And the idea\nis supported by the fact that the rats and other vermin, who have\nbeen living in the field, seek shelter in the last patch of corn,\nand when this is cut have to dart out in front of the reapers. In\nsome countries it is thought, as shown by Sir J. G. Frazer, that the\ncorn-spirit takes refuge in the body of one of these animals.\n\n\n\n\n34. Houses\n\nThe house of a malguzar or good tenant stands in a courtyard or _angan_\n45 to 60 feet square and surrounded by a brick or mud wall. The plan\nof a typical house is shown below:--\n\nThe _dalan_ or hall is for the reception of visitors. One of the\nliving-rooms is set apart for storing grain. Those who keep their\nwomen secluded have a door at the back of the courtyard for their\nuse. Cooking is done in one of the rooms, and there are no chimneys,\nthe smoke escaping through the tiles. They bathe either in the _chauk_\nor central courtyard, or go out and bathe in a tank or river or at\na well. The family usually sleep inside the house in the winter and\noutside in the hot weather. A poor malguzar or tenant has only two\nrooms with a veranda in front, one of which is used by the family,\nwhile cattle are kept in the other; while the small tenants and\nlabourers have only one room in which both men and cattle reside. The\nwalls are of bamboo matting plastered on both sides with mud, and\nthe roof usually consists of single small tiles roughly baked in an\nimprovised kiln. The house is surrounded by a mud wall or hedge, and\nsometimes has a garden behind in which tobacco, maize or vegetables\nare grown. The interior is dark, for light is admitted only by the\nlow door, and the smoke-stained ceiling contributes to the gloom. The\nfloor is of beaten earth well plastered with cowdung, the plastering\nbeing repeated weekly.\n\n\n\n\n35. Superstitions about houses\n\nThe following are some superstitious beliefs and customs about\nhouses. A house should face north or east and not south or west, as the\nsouth is the region of Yama, the god of death, who lives in Ceylon,\nand the west the quarter of the setting sun. A Muhammadan's house,\non the other hand, should face south or west because Mecca lies to\nthe south-west. A house may have verandas front and back, or on the\nfront and two sides, but not on all four sides. The front of a house\nshould be lower than the back, this shape being known as _gai-mukh_\nor cow-mouthed, and not higher than the back, which is _singh-mukh_\nor tiger-mouthed. The front and back doors should not be in a straight\nline, which would enable one to look right through the house. The\n_angan_ or compound of a house should be a little longer than it is\nwide, no matter how little. Conversely the building itself should be a\nlittle wider along the front than it is long from front to rear. The\nkitchen should always be on the right side if there is a veranda, or\nelse behind. When an astrologer is about to found a house he calculates\nthe direction in which Shesh Nag, the snake on whom the world reposes,\nis holding his head at that time, and plants the first brick or stone\nto the left of that direction, because snakes and elephants do not turn\nto the left but always to the right. Consequently the house will be\nmore secure and less likely to be shaken down by Shesh Nag's movements,\nwhich cause the phenomenon known to us as an earthquake. Below the\nfoundation-stone or brick are buried a pice, an areca-nut and a\ngrain of rice, and it is lucky if the stone be laid by a man who\nhas been faithful to his wife. There should be no echo in a house,\nas an echo is considered to be the voice of evil spirits. The main\nbeam should be placed in position on a lucky day, and the carpenter\nbreaks a cocoanut against it and receives a present. The width of the\nrooms along the front of a house should be five cubits each, and if\nthere is a staircase it must have an uneven number of steps. The door\nshould be low so that a man must bend his head on entering and thus\nshow respect to the household god. The floor of the verandas should be\nlower than that of the room inside; the Hindus say that the compound\nshould not see the veranda nor the veranda the house. But this rule\nhas of course also the advantage of keeping the house-floor dry. If\nthe main beam of a house breaks it is a very bad omen, as also for\na vulture or kite to perch on the roof; if this should happen seven\ndays running the house will inevitably be left empty by sickness or\nother misfortune. A dog howling in front of the house is very unlucky,\nand if, as may occasionally happen, a dog should get on to the roof\nof the house and bark, the omen is of the worst kind. Neither the\npipal nor banyan trees should be planted in the yard of a house,\nbecause the leavings of food might fall upon them, and this would\nbe an insult to the deities who inhabit the sacred trees. Neither\nis it well to plant the _nim_ tree, because the _nim_ is the tree\nof anchorites, and the frequent contemplation of it will take away\nfrom a man the desire of offspring and lead to the extinction of his\nfamily. Bananas should not be grown close to the house, because the\nsound of this fruit bursting the pod is said to be audible, and to\nhear it is most unlucky. It is a good thing to have a _gular_ [75]\ntree in the yard, but at a little distance from the house so that\nthe leavings of food may not fall upon it; this is the tree of the\nsaint Dattatreya, and will cause wealth to increase in the house. A\nplant of the sacred _tulsi_ or basil is usually kept in the yard,\nand every morning the householder pours a vessel of water over it\nas he bathes, and in the evening places a lamp beside it. This holy\nplant sanctifies the air which passes over it to the house.\n\nNo one should ever sit on the threshold of a house; this is the seat\nof Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and to sit on it is disrespectful\nto her. A house should never be swept at twilight, because it is then\nthat Lakshmi makes her rounds, and she would curse it and pass by. At\nthis time a lamp should be lighted, no one should be allowed to sleep,\nand even if a man is sick he should sit up on his bed. At this time the\ngrinding-mill should not be turned nor grain be husked, but reverence\nshould be paid to ancestors and to the household deities. No one\nmust sit on the grinding-mill; it is regarded as a mother because\nit gives out the flour by which the family is fed. No one must sit\non cowdung cakes because they are the seat of Saturn, the Evil One,\nand their smell is called _Sanichar ke bas_. No one must step on the\n_chulka_ or cooking-hearth nor jar it with his foot. At the midday\nmeal, when food is freshly cooked, each man will take a little fire\nfrom the hearth and place it in front of him, and will throw a little\nof everything he eats on to the fire, and some _ghi_ as an offering\nto Agni, the god of fire. And he will also walk round the hearth,\ntaking water in his hand and then throwing it on the ground as an\noffering to Agni. A man should not sleep with his feet to the south,\nbecause a corpse is always laid in that direction. He should not\nsleep with his feet to the east, nor spit out water from his mouth\nin the direction of the east.\n\n\n\n\n36. Furniture\n\nOf furniture there is very little. Carefully arranged in their\nplaces are the brass cooking-pots, water-pots and plates, well\npolished with mud and water applied with plenty of elbow-grease\nby the careful housewife. Poor tenants frequently only have one or\ntwo brass plates and cups and an iron girdle, while all the rest of\ntheir vessels are of earthenware. Each house has several _chulhas_\nor small horseshoe erections of earth for cooking. Each person in\nthe house has a sleeping-cot if the family is comfortably off, and a\nspare one is also kept. These must be put out and exposed to the sun at\nleast once a week to clear them of fleas and bugs. It is said that the\nJains cannot adopt this method of disinfecting their beds owing to the\nsacrifice of insect life thereby involved; and that there are persons\nin Calcutta who make it their profession to go round and offer to lie\non these cots for a time; they lie on them for some hours, and the\nlittle denizens being surfeited with their blood subsequently allow\nthe owner of the cot to have a quiet night. A cot should always be\nshorter than a man's length, so that his legs project over the end;\nif it is so long as to contain his whole length it is like a bier,\nand it is feared that lying on a cot of this kind will cause him\nshortly to lie on a bier. Poor tenants do not usually have cots, but\nsleep on the ground, spreading kodon-straw on it for warmth. They\nhave no bedding except a _gudri_ or mattress made of old rags and\nclothes sewn together. In winter they put it over them, and sleep on\nit in summer. They will have a wooden log to rest their heads on when\nsleeping, and this will also serve as a seat for a guest. Malguzars\nhave a _razai_ or quilt, and a _doria_ or thick cloth like those used\nfor covering carts. Clothes and other things are kept in _jhampis_ or\nround bamboo baskets. For sitting on there are _machnis_ or four-legged\nstools about a foot high with seats of grass rope or _pirhis_, little\nwooden stools only an inch or two from the ground. For lighting,\nwicks are set afloat in little earthen saucers filled with oil.\n\n\n\n\n37. Clothes\n\nLandowners usually have a long coat known as _angarkha_ reaching to the\nknees, with flaps folding over the breasts and tied with strings. The\n_bandi_ is a short coat like this but coming only to the hips, and is\nmore popular with cultivators. In the cold weather it is frequently\nstuffed with cotton and dyed dark green or dark blue so as not to\nshow the dirt. For visits of ceremony a pair of _paijamas_ are kept,\nbut otherwise the _dhoti_ or loin-cloth is commonly worn. Wearing\nthe _dhoti_ pulled half-way up to the thighs is called 'cultivator's\nfashion.' A shirt may be worn under the coat; but cultivators usually\nhave only one garment, nowadays often a sleeveless coat with buttons in\nfront. The proper head-dress is the _pagri_, a piece of coloured cloth\nperhaps 30 feet long and a foot wide, twisted tightly into folds, which\nis lifted on and off the head and is only rarely undone. Twisting the\n_pagri_ is an art, and a man is usually hired to do it and paid four\nannas. The _pagris_ have different shapes in different parts of the\ncountry, and a Hindu can tell by the shape of a man's _pagri_ where he\ncomes from. But nowadays cultivators usually wear a _dupatta_ or short\npiece of cloth tied, loosely round the head. The tenant arranges his\nhead-cloth with a large projection on one side, and in it he carries\nhis _chilam_ or pipe-bowl, and also small quantities of vegetables,\nsalt or condiments purchased at the bazar. In case of necessity\nhe can transform it into a loin-cloth, or tie up a bundle of grass\nwith it, or tie his _lota_ to it to draw water from a well. 'What\ncan the washerman do in a village where the people live naked?' is\na Chhattisgarhi proverb which aptly indicates that scantiness is\nthe most prominent feature of the local apparel. Here a cloth round\nthe loins, and this usually of meagre dimensions, constituted, until\nrecently, the full dress of a cultivator. Those who have progressed\na stage farther throw a cloth loosely over one shoulder, covering\nthe chest, and assume an apology for a turban by wrapping another\nsmall rag carelessly round the head, leaving the crown generally\nbare, as if this part of the person required special sunning and\nventilation. Hindus will not be seen out-of-doors with the head bare,\nthough the Gonds and other tribes only begin to wear head-cloths when\nthey are adopting Hinduism. The Gondi fashion was formerly prevalent\nin Chhattisgarh. Some sanctity attaches to the turban, probably because\nit is the covering of the head. To knock off a man's turban is a great\ninsult, and if it drops off or he lets it fall, it is a very bad omen.\n\n\n\n\n38. Women's clothes\n\nWomen, in the northern Districts wear a skirt made of coarse\ncloth, usually red or blue, and a shoulder-cloth of the same\nmaterial. Hand-woven cloth is still commonly used in the interior. The\nskirt is sometimes drawn up through the legs behind so as to give it\na divided appearance; this is called _kachhota_. On the upper part of\nthe body they wear an _angia_ or breast-cloth, that is a short, tight,\nsleeveless jacket reaching only to below the breasts. The _angia_ is\ntied behind, while the Maratha _choli_, which is the same thing, is\nbuttoned or tied in front. High-caste women draw their shoulder-cloth\nright over the head so that the face cannot be seen. When a woman goes\nbefore a person of position she covers her head, as it is considered\nimmodest to leave it bare. Women of respectable families wear a\nsheet of fine white, yellow, or red cloth drawn over the head and\nreaching to the ankles when they go on a journey, this being known\nas _pichhora_. In Chhattisgarh all the requirements of fashion among\nwomen are satisfied by one cloth from 8 to 12 yards long and about a\nyard wide, which envelops the person in one fold from the waist to\nbelow the knee, hanging somewhat loosely. It is tied at the waist,\nand the remaining half is spread over the breast and drawn across the\nright shoulder, the end covering the head like a sheet and falling over\nthe left shoulder. The simplicity of this solitary garment displays a\ngraceful figure to advantage, especially on festival days, when those\nwho can afford it are arrayed in tasar silk. When a girl is married the\nbridegroom's family give her expensive clothes to wear at festivals\nand her own people give her ordinary clothes, but usually not more\nthan will last a year. Whenever she goes back to her father's house\nafter her marriage, he gives her one or two cloths if he can afford\nit. Women of the middle and lower classes wear ornaments of bell-metal,\na mixture of copper and zinc, which are very popular. Some women wear\nbrass and zinc ornaments, and well-to-do persons have them of silver\nor gold.\n\n\n\n\n39. Bathing\n\nHot water is not used for bathing in Saugor, except by invalids,\nbut is customary in Betul and other Districts. The bathing-place in\nthe courtyard is usually a large square stone on which the bather\nsits; he has a big circular brass vessel by him called _gangal_,\n[76] and from this he takes water either in a cup or with his hands\nand throws it over himself, rubbing his body. Where there is a tank\nor stream people go to bathe in it, and if there is none the poorer\nclasses sometimes bathe at the village well. Each man or woman has\ntwo body-or loin-cloths, and they change the cloth whenever they\nbathe--going into the water in the one which they have worn from the\nprevious day, and changing into the other when they come out; long\npractice enables them to do this in public without any undue exposure\nof the body. A good tank or a river is a great amenity to a village,\nespecially if it has a _ghat_ or flight of stone steps. Many people\nwill spend an hour or so here daily, disporting themselves in the\nwater or on the bank, and wedding and funeral parties are held by it,\nowing to the facilities for ceremonial bathing.\n\n\n\n\n40. Food\n\nPeople who do not cultivate with their own hands have only two\ndaily meals, one at midday and the other at eight or nine in the\nevening. Agriculturists require a third meal in the early morning\nbefore going out to the fields. Wheat and the millets juari and kodon\nare the staple foods of the cultivating classes in the northern\nDistricts, and rice is kept for festivals. The millets are made\ninto thick _chapatis_ or cakes, their flour not being sufficiently\nadhesive for thin ones, and are eaten with the pulses, lentils, arhar,\n[77] mung [78] and urad. [79] The pulses are split into half and\nboiled in water, and when they get soft, chillies, salt and turmeric\nare mixed with them. Pieces of _chapati_ are broken off and dipped\ninto this mixture. Various vegetables are also eaten. When pulse is\nnot available the _chapatis_ are simply dipped into buttermilk. If\n_chapatis_ cannot be afforded at both meals, _ghorna_ or the flour of\nkodon or juar boiled into a paste with water is substituted for them, a\nsmaller quantity of this being sufficient to allay hunger. Wheat-cakes\nare fried in _ghi_ (clarified butter) as a luxury, and at other times\nin sesamum oil. Rice or ground gram boiled in buttermilk are other\nfavourite foods.\n\nIn Chhattisgarh rice is the common food: it is eaten with pulses\nat midday and with vegetables cooked in _ghi_ in the evening. In\nthe morning they drink a rice-gruel, called _basi>_ which consists\nof the previous night's repast mixed with water and taken cold. On\nfestivals rice is boiled in milk. Milk is often drunk at night, and\nthere is a saying, \"He who drinks water in the morning and milk at\nnight and takes _harra_ before he sleeps will never need a doctor.\" A\nlittle powdered _harra_ or myrobalan acts as an aperient. The food of\nlandowners and tenants is much the same, except that the former have\nmore butter and vegetables, according to the saying, '_Raja praja ka\nekhi khana_' or 'The king and peasant eat the same food.' Those who\neat flesh have an occasional change of food, but most Kurmis abstain\nfrom it. Farmservants eat the gruel of rice or kodon boiled in water\nwhen they can afford it, and if not they eat mahua flowers. These\nare sometimes boiled in water, and the juice is then strained off and\nmixed with half-ground flour, and they are also pounded and made into\n_chapatis_ with flour and water. The leaves of the young gram-plants\nmake a very favourite vegetable and are eaten raw, either moist or\ndried. In times of scarcity the poorer classes eat tamarind leaves,\nthe pith of the banyan tree, the seeds of the bamboo, the bark of\nthe _semar_ tree, [80] the fruit of the _babul_, [81] and other\narticles. A cultivator will eat 2 lbs. of grain a day if he can get\nit, or more in the case of rice. Their stomachs get distended owing\nto the large quantities of boiled rice eaten at one time. The leaves\nof the _chirota_ or _chakora_ a little plant [82] which grows thickly\nat the commencement of the rains near inhabited sites, are also a\nfavourite vegetable, and a resource in famine time. The people call it\n'_Gaon ka thakur_,' or 'lord of the village,' and have a saying:\n\n\n    Amarbel aur kamalgata,\n    Gaon ka thakur, gai ka matha,\n    Nagar sowasan, unmen milai,\n    Khaj, dad, sehua mit jawe.\n\n\n_Amarbel_ is an endless creeper, with long yellow strings like\nstalks, which infests and destroys trees; it is called _amarbel_\nor the immortal, because it has no visible root. _Kamalgata_ is the\nseed of the lotus; _gai ka matha_ is buttermilk; _nagar sowasan_,\n'the happiness of the town,' is turmeric, because married women whose\nhusbands are alive put turmeric on their foreheads every day; _khaj,\ndad_ and _sehua_ are itch, ringworm and some kind of rash, perhaps\nmeasles; and the verse therefore means:\n\n\"Eat _amarbel_, lotus seeds, chirota, buttermilk and turmeric mixed\ntogether, and you will keep off itch, ringworm and measles.\" Chirota\nis good for the itch.\n\n\n\n\n41. Caste-feasts\n\nAt the commencement of a marriage or other ceremonial feast the host\nmust wash the feet of all the guests himself. If he does not do this\nthey will be dissatisfied, and, though they will eat at his house,\nwill consider they have not been properly welcomed. He takes a large\nbrass plate and placing the feet of his guest on it, pours water\nover them and then rubs and dries them; the water is thrown away\nand fresh water poured out for the next guest unless they should be\nbrothers. Little flat stools about three inches high are provided for\nthe guests, and if there are not enough of them a carpet is spread;\nor _baithkis_ or sitting-mats plaited from five or six large leaves\nare set out. These serve as a mark of attention, as it would be\ndiscourteous to make a man sit on the ground, and they also prevent\nthe body-cloth from getting wet. The guests sit in the _chauk_ or\nyard of the house inside, or in the _angan_ or outside yard, either\nin lines or in a circle; members of the same caste sit with their\ncrossed knees actually touching those of the man on either side of\nthem to emphasise their brotherhood; if a man sat even a few inches\napart from his fellows people would say he was out of caste--and\nthis is how a man who is put out of caste actually does sit. Before\neach guest may be set two plates of leaves and eight _donas_ or\nleaf-cups. On the plates are heaped rice, cakes of wheat fried in\nbutter, and of husked urad pulse cooked with tilli or sesamum oil,\nand the pulse of gram and lentils. In the cups will be sugar, _ghi_,\n_dahi_ or curded milk, various vegetables, pumpkins, and _besin_ or\nground gram cooked with buttermilk. All the male members of the host's\nfamily serve the food and they take it round, heaping and pouring it\ninto each man's plates or cups until he says enough; and they continue\nto give further helpings as required. All the food is served at once\nin the different plates and cups, but owing to the number of guests\na considerable time elapses before all are fully served, and the\ndinner lasts about two hours. The guests eat all the different dishes\ntogether with their fingers, taking a little of each according to their\nfancy. Each man has his _lota_ or vessel of water by him and drinks\nas he eats. When the meal is finished large brass plates are brought\nin, one being given to about ten guests, and they wash their hands\nover these, pouring water on them from their vessels. A fresh carpet\nis then spread in the yard and the guests sit on it, and betel-leaf\nand tobacco are distributed. The huqqa is passed round, and _chilams_\nand _chongis_ (clay pipe-bowls and leaf-pipes) are provided for those\nwho want them. The women do not appear at the feast but stay inside,\nsitting in the _angan_ or inner court, which is behind the _purda_.\n\n\n\n\n42. Hospitality\n\nThe people still show great hospitality, and it is the custom of\nmany malguzars, at least in Chhattisgarh, to afford food and a\nnight's rest to all travellers who may require it. When a Brahman\ncomes to the village such malguzars will give him one or two annas,\nand to a Pandit or learned man as much as a rupee. Formerly it is\nsaid that when any stranger came through the village he was at once\noffered a cup of milk and told to drink it or throw it away. But\nthis custom has died out in Chhattisgarh, though one has met with\nit once or twice in Sambalpur. When District Officers go on tour,\nwell-to-do landowners ask to be allowed to supply free provisions\nfor the whole camp at least for a day, and it is difficult to refuse\nthem gracefully. In Mandla, Banias and malguzars in villages near\nthe Nerbudda sometimes undertake to give a pound of grain to every\n_parikramawasi_ or pilgrim perambulating the Nerbudda. And as the\nnumber of these steadily increases in consequence, they often become\nimpoverished as a result of such indiscriminate charity.\n\n\n\n\n43. Social customs. Tattooing\n\nThe Kurmis employ Brahmans for their ceremonies. They have _gurus_\nor spiritual preceptors who may be Brahmans or Bairagis; the _guru_\nis given from 8 annas to Rs. 5 when he initiates a neophyte, as\nwell as his food and a new white cloth. The _guru_ is occasionally\nconsulted on some religious question, but otherwise he does nothing\nfor his disciple except to pay him an occasional visit, when he is\nhospitably entertained. The Kurmis of the northern Districts do not\nas a rule eat meat and also abstain from alcohol, but in Chhattisgarh\nthey eat the flesh of clean animals and fish, and also of fowls,\nand drink country liquor. Old men often give up flesh and wine as a\nmark of piety, when they are known as Bhagat or holy. They will take\nfood cooked with water only from Brahmans, and that cooked without\nwater from Rajputs, Banias and Kayasths as well. Brahmans and Rajputs\nwill take water from Kurmis in the northern Districts though not in\nChhattisgarh. Here the Kurmis do not object to eating cooked food\nwhich has been carried from the house to the fields. This is called\n_rengai roti_, and castes which will eat it are considered inferior\nto those who always take their food in the _chauka_ or purified\nplace in the house. They say 'Ram, Ram' to each other in greeting,\nand the Raipur Kurmis swear by a dog or a pig. Generally they do not\nplough on the new or full moon days. Their women are tattooed after\nmarriage with dots on the cheeks, marks of flies on the fingers,\nscorpions on the arms, and other devices on the legs.\n\n\n\n\n44. Caste penalties\n\nPermanent expulsion from caste is inflicted for a change of religion,\ntaking food or having sexual intercourse with a member of an impure\ncaste, and for eating beef. For killing a man, a cow, a buffalo,\nan ass, a horse, a squirrel, a cat or a monkey a man must purify\nhimself by bathing in the Ganges at Allahabad or Benares and giving\na feast to the caste. It will be seen that all these are domestic\nanimals except the monkey, who is the god Hanuman. The squirrel is\ncounted as a domestic animal because it is always about the house,\nand the souls of children are believed to go into squirrels. One\nhousehold animal, the dog, is omitted, and he appears to be less\nsacred than the others. For getting maggots in a wound the offender\nmust bathe in a sacred river, such as the Nerbudda or Mahanadi, and\ngive a feast to the caste. For eating or having intercourse with a\nmember of any caste other than the impure ones, or for a _liaison_\nwithin the caste, or for divorcing a wife or marrying a widow, or in\nthe case of a woman for breaking her bangles in a quarrel with her\nhusband, a penalty feast must be given. If a man omits to feast the\ncaste after a death in his family a second feast is imposed, and if\nhe insults the _panchayat_ he is fined.\n\n\n\n\n45. The cultivating status\n\nThe social status of the Kurmi appears to be that of the cultivator. He\nis above the menial and artisan castes of the village and the impure\nweaving and labouring castes; he is theoretically equal to the\nartisan castes of towns, but one or two of these, such as the Sunar\nor goldsmith and Kasar or brass-worker, have risen in the world owing\nto the prosperity or importance of their members, and now rank above\nthe Kurmi. The Kurmi's status appears to be that of the cultivator\nand member of the village community, but a large proportion of the\nKurmis are recruited from the non-Aryan tribes, who have obtained\nland and been admitted into the caste, and this tends to lower the\nstatus of the caste as a whole. In the Punjab Kurmis apparently do\nnot hold land and are employed in grass-cutting, weaving, and tending\nhorses, and are even said to keep pigs. [83] Here their status is\nnecessarily very low as they follow the occupations of the impure\ncastes. The reason why the Kurmi as cultivator ranks above the village\nhandicraftsmen may perhaps be that industrial pursuits were despised\nin early times and left to the impure Sudras and to the castes of\nmixed descent; while agriculture and trade were the occupations of\nthe Vaishya. Further, the village artisans and menials were supported\nbefore the general use of current coin by contributions of grain from\nthe cultivators and by presents of grain at seed-time and harvest;\nand among the Hindus it is considered very derogatory to accept a\ngift, a man who does so being held to admit his social inferiority to\nthe giver. Some exception to this is made in the case of Brahmans,\nthough even with them the rule partly applies. Of these two reasons\nfor the cultivator's superiority to the menial and artisan castes\nthe former has to a large extent lost its force. The handicrafts are\nno longer considered despicable, and, as has been seen, some of the\nurban tradesmen, as the Sunar and Kasar, now rank above the Kurmi, or\nare at least equal to him. Perhaps even in ancient times these urban\nartificers were not despised like the village menials, as their skill\nwas held in high repute. But the latter ground is still in full force\nand effect in the Central Provinces at least: the village artisans are\nstill paid by contributions from the cultivator and receive presents\nfrom him at seed-time and harvest. The remuneration of the village\nmenials, the blacksmith, carpenter, washerman, tanner, barber and\nwaterman is paid at the rate of so much grain per plough of land\naccording to the estimated value of the work done by them for the\ncultivators during the year. Other village tradesmen, as the potter,\noilman and liquor-vendor, are no longer paid in grain, but since the\nintroduction of currency sell their wares for cash; but there seems\nno reason to doubt that in former times when no money circulated\nin villages they were remunerated in the same manner. They still\nall receive presents, consisting of a sowing-basketful of grain at\nseed-time and one or two sheaves at harvest. The former are known as\n_Bijphuti_, or 'the breaking of the seed,' and the latter as _Khanvar_,\nor 'that which is left.' In Bilaspur the Kamias or village menials also\nreceive as much grain as will fill a winnowing-fan when it has been\nthreshed. When the peasant has harvested his grain all come and beg\nfrom him. The Dhimar brings waternut, the Kachhi or market-gardener\nsome chillies, the Teli oil and tobacco, the Kalar some liquor if he\ndrinks it, the Bania some sugar, and all receive grain in excess of\nthe value of their gifts. The village menials come for their customary\ndues, and the Brahman, the Nat or acrobat, the Gosain or religious\nmendicant, and the Fakir or Muhammadan beggar solicit alms. On that\nday the cultivator is like a little king in his fields, and it is\nsaid that sometimes a quarter of the crop may go in this way; but\nthe reference must be only to the spring crop and not to the whole\nholding. In former times grain must have been the principal source\nof wealth, and this old custom gives us a reason for the status of\nthe cultivator in Hindu society. There is also a saying:\n\n\n    Uttam kheti, madhyam ban,\n    Kanisht chakri, bhik nidan,\n\n\nor 'Cultivation is the best calling, trade is respectable, service\nis menial, and begging is degraded.'\n\n\n\n\n46. Occupation\n\nThe Kurmi is the typical cultivator. He loves his land, and to lose\nit is to break the mainspring of his life. His land gives him a\nfreedom and independence of character which is not found among the\nEnglish farm-labourers. He is industrious and plodding, and inured to\nhardship. In some Districts the excellent tilth of the Kurmi's fields\nwell portrays the result of his persevering labour, which he does not\ngrudge to the land because it is his own. His wife is in no way behind\nhim; the proverb says, \"Good is the caste of the Kurmin; with a hoe\nin her hand she goes to the fields and works with her husband.\" The\nChandnahu Kurmi women are said to be more enterprising than the men,\nkeeping them up to their work, and managing the business of the farm\nas well as the household.\n\n\n\n\nAppendix\n\nList of Exogamous Clans\n\n\nSections of the Chandnahu subcaste:\n\n\n    Chanwar bambar              Fly fan.\n    Sandil                      Name of a Rishi.\n    Gaind                       Ball.\n    Sadaphal                    A fruit.\n    Sondeha                     Gold-bodied.\n    Sonkharchi                  Spender of gold.\n    Kathail                     Kath, wood, or kaththa, catechu.\n    Kashi                       enares. The Desha Kurmis are all of\n                                this gotra. It may also be a\n                                corruption of Kachhap, tortoise.\n    Dhorha                      Dhor, cattle.\n    Sumer                       A mountain.\n    Chatur Midalia              Chatur, clever.\n    Bharadwaj                   After the Rishi of that name; also\n                                a bird.\n    Kousil                      Name of a Rishi.\n    Ishwar                      God.\n    Samund Karkari              A particle in an ocean.\n    Akalchuwa                   Akal, famine.\n    Padel                       Fallow.\n    Baghmar                     Tiger-slayer.\n    Harduba                     Green grass.\n    Kansia                      Kans, a kind of grass.\n    Ghiu Sagar                  Ocean of ghi\n    Dharam Dhurandar            Most charitable.\n    Singnaha                    Singh, a lion.\n    Chimangarhia                Belonging to Chimangarh.\n    Khairagarhia                Belonging to Khairagarh.\n    Gotam                       A Rishi.\n    Kaskyap                     A Rishi.\n    Pandariha                   From Pandaria, a village.\n    Paipakhar                   One who washes feet.\n    Banhpakhar                  One who washes arms.\n    Chauria                     Chaurai, a vegetable.\n    Sand Sathi                  Sand, bullock.\n    Singhi                      Singh, lion or horn.\n    Agra--Chandan               Sandalwood.\n    Tek Sanichar                Saturday.\n    Karaiya                     Frying-pan.\n    Pukharia                    Pond.\n    Dhubinha                    Dhobi, a caste.\n    Pawanbare                   Pawan, air.\n    Modganga                    Ganges.\n\n\nSections of the Gabel subcaste:\n\n\n    Gangajal                    Ganges water.\n    Bimba Lohir                 Bearer of a lathi (stick).\n    Sarang                      Peacock.\n    Raja Rawat                  Royal prince.\n    Singur                      Beauty.\n    Bank pagar                  With a thread on the arm.\n    Samundha                    Ocean.\n    Parasram,                   Rishi\n    Katarmal                    Katar, dagger.\n    Chaultan                    Sept of Rajputs.\n    Patan                       Village.\n    Gajmani                     Elephant.\n    Deori Sumer                 Village.\n    Lahura Samudra              Small sea.\n    Hansbimbraon                Hans, goose.\n    Sunwani                     Purifier.\n\n\nSections of the Santora subcaste:\n\n\n    Narvaria                    Narwar, a town in Gwalior State.\n    Mundharia                   Mundhra, a village.\n    Naigaiyan                   Naogaon, a town in Bundelkhand.\n    Pipraiya                    Piparia, a village.\n    Dindoria                    Dindori, a village in Mandla District.\n    Baheria                     A village.\n    Bandha                      Bandh, embankment.\n    Ktmusar                     Wooden pestle.\n\n\nSections of the Tirole subcaste:\n\n\n    Baghele                     Bagh, tiger, or a sept of Rajputs.\n    Rathor                      Clan of Rajputs.\n    Panwar                      Clan of Rajputs.\n    Solanki                     Clan of Rajputs.\n    Aulia                       Aonla, a fruit-bearing tree.\n    Sindia                      Sindi, date-palm tree.\n    Khusia                      Khusi, happiness.\n    Sanoria                     San, hemp.\n    Gora                        Fair-coloured.\n    Bhakrya                     Bhakar, a thick bread.\n\n\nSections of the Gaur subcaste:\n\n\n    Bhandari                    Storekeeper.\n    Dudhua                      Dudh, milk.\n    Patele                      A headman.\n    Lonia                       Salt-maker.\n    Kumaria                     A potter.\n    Sionia                      Seoni town.\n    Chhaparia                   Chhapara, a town.\n    Bijoria                     A tree.\n    Simra                       A village.\n    Ketharia                    Keth, a fruit.\n    Usarguiyan                  Perhaps a village.\n    Bhadoria                    Village.\n    Rurgaiyan                   Village.\n    Musrele                     Musar, a pestle.\n\n\nSections of the Usrete subcaste:\n\n\n    Shikare                     Hunter.\n    Nahar                       Tiger.\n    Gursaraiyan                 Gursarai, a town.\n    Bardia                      A village.\n    Sandia                      Sand, a bull.\n    Sirwaiyan                   Sirwai, a village.\n    Itguhan                     A village.\n    Sengaiyan or Singaiyan      Sengai, a village.\n    Harkotia                    Harkoti, a village.\n    Noria                       Norai, a village.\n    Larent                      Lareti, a village.\n    Rabia                       Rabai, a village.\n    Lakhauria                   (Lakori village. It is said that whoever\n                                utters the name of this section early in\n                                the morning is sure to remain hungry the\n                                whole day, or at least will get into some\n                                trouble that day.)\n    Dhandkonya                  Dhandakna, to roll.\n    Badgaiyan                   Badagaon, a large village.\n    Kotia                       Kot, a fort\n    Bilwar                      Billi, cat\n    Thutha                      Stump of a tree.\n\n\nSections of the Kanaujia subcaste:\n\n\n    Tidha.--From Tidha, a village. This section is subdivided into\n    (a) Ghureparke (of the cow-dung hill); (b) Dwarparke\n    (of the door); and (c) Jangi (warrior).\n\n    Chamania--From Chamyani (village). This is also subdivided into:\n\n            (a) Gomarkya\n            (b) Mathuria (Muttra town).\n\n    Chaudhri (caste headman). This is divided as follows:\n\n            (a) Majhgawan               A village.\n            (b) Purva thok              Eastern group.\n            (c) Pashchim thok           Western group.\n            (d) Bamurya                 A village.\n\n    Rawat                   Title.\n    Malha                   Perhaps sailor or wrestler.\n    Chilolian               Chiloli, a village.\n    Dhanuiyan               Dhanu Kheda, a village.\n\n\n\n\n\nLakhera\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _General notice_.\n    2. _Social customs_.\n    3. _The lac industry_.\n    4. _Lac bangles_.\n    5. _Red, a lucky colour_.\n    6. _Vermilion and spangles_.\n    7. _Red dye on the feet_.\n    8. _Red threads_.\n    9. _Lac toys_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice\n\n_Lakhera, Laheri._--The small caste whose members make bangles and\nother articles of lac. About 3000 persons were shown as belonging to\nthe caste in the Central Provinces in 1911, being most numerous in the\nJubbulpore, Chhindwara and Betul Districts. From Berar 150 persons were\nreturned, chiefly from Amraoti. The name is derived from the Sanskrit\n_laksha-kara_, a worker in lac. The caste are a mixed functional\ngroup closely connected with the Kacheras and Patwas; no distinction\nbeing recognised between the Patwas and Lakheras in some localities\nof the Central Provinces. Mr. Baillie gives the following notice of\nthem in the _Census Report of the North-Western Provinces_ (1891):\n\"The accounts given by members of the caste of their origin are very\nvarious and sometimes ingenious. One story is that like the Patwas,\nwith whom they are connected, they were originally Kayasths. According\nto another account they were made from the dirt washed from Parvati\nbefore her marriage with Siva, being created by the god to make bangles\nfor his wife, and hence called Deobansi. Again, it is stated, they\nwere created by Krishna to make bangles for the Gopis or milkmaids. The\nmost elaborate account is that they were originally Yaduvansi Rajputs,\nwho assisted the Kurus to make a fort of lac, in which the Pandavas\nwere to be treacherously burned. For this traitorous conduct they\nwere degraded and compelled eternally to work in lac or glass.\"\n\n\n\n\n2. Social customs\n\nThe bulk of these artisan and manufacturing castes tell stories showing\nthat their ancestors were Kayasths and Rajputs, but no importance\ncan be attached to such legends, which are obviously manufactured\nby the family priests to minister to the harmless vanity of their\nclients. To support their claim the Lakheras have divided themselves\nlike the Rajputs into the Surajvansi and Somvansi subcastes or those\nwho belong to the Solar and Lunar races. Other subdivisions are the\nMarwari or those coming from Marwar in Rajputana, and the Tarkhera\nor makers of the large earrings which low-caste women wear. These\nconsist of a circular piece of wood or fibre, nearly an inch across,\nwhich is worked through a large hole in the lobe of the ear. It\nis often the stalk of the _ambari_ fibre, and on the outer end is\nfixed a slab decorated with little pieces of glass. The exogamous\nsections of the Lakheras are generally named after animals, plants\nand natural objects, and indicate that the caste is recruited from the\nlower classes of the population. Their social customs resemble those\nof the middle and lower Hindustani castes. Girls are married at an\nearly age when the parents can afford the expense of the ceremony,\nbut no penalty is incurred if the wedding is postponed for want of\nmeans. The remarriage of widows and divorce are permitted. They eat\nflesh, but not fowls or pork, and some of them drink liquor, while\nothers abstain. Rajputs and Banias will take water from them, but not\nBrahmans. In Bombay, however, they are considered to rank above Kunbis.\n\n\n\n\n3. The lac industry\n\nThe traditional occupation of the Lakheras is to make and sell bangles\nand other articles of lac. Lac is regarded with a certain degree\nof superstitious repugnance by the Hindus because of its red colour,\nresembling blood. On this account and also because of the sin committed\nin killing them, no Hindu caste will propagate the lac insect, and\nthe calling is practised only by Gonds, Korkus and other primitive\ntribes. Even Gonds will often refuse employment in growing lac if\nthey can make their living by cultivation. Various superstitions\nattach to the propagation of the insects to a fresh tree. This is\ndone in Kunwar (September) and always by men, the insects being\ncarried in a leaf-cup and placed on a branch of an uninfected tree,\nusually the _kusum_. [84] It is said that the work should be done\nat night and the man should be naked when he places the insects on\nthe tree. The tree is fenced round and nobody is allowed to touch\nit, as it is considered that the crop would thus be spoiled. If a\nwoman has lost her husband and has to sow lac, she takes her son\nin her arms and places the cup containing the insects on his head;\non arriving at the tree she manages to apply the insects by means of\na stick, not touching the cup with her own hands. All this ritual\nattaches simply to the infection of the first tree, and afterwards\nin January or February the insects are propagated on to other trees\nwithout ceremony. The juice of onions is dropped on to them to make\nthem healthy. The stick-lac is collected by the Gonds and Korkus\nand sold to the Lakheras; they clear it of wood as far as possible\nand then place the incrusted twigs and bark in long cotton bags and\nheat them before a fire, squeezing out the gum, which is spread out\non flat plates so as to congeal into the shape of a pancake. This is\nagain heated and mixed with white clay and forms the material for the\nbangles. They are coloured with _chapra_, the pure gum prepared like\nsealing-wax, which is mixed with vermilion, or arsenic and turmeric\nfor a yellow colour. In some localities at least only the Lakheras\nand Patwas and no higher caste will sell articles made of lac.\n\n\n\n\n4. Lac bangles\n\nThe trade in lac bangles has now greatly declined, as they have been\nsupplanted by the more ornamental glass bangles. They are thick and\nclumsy and five of them will cover a large part of the space between\nthe elbow and the wrist. They may be observed on Banjara women. Lac\nbangles are also still used by the Hindus, generally on ceremonial\noccasions, as at a marriage, when they are presented to and worn by the\nbride, and during the month of Shrawan (July), when the Hindus observe\na fast on behalf of the growing crops and the women wear bangles of\nlac. For these customs Mr. Hira Lal suggests the explanation that lac\nbangles were at one time generally worn by the Hindus, while glass ones\nare a comparatively recent fashion introduced by the Muhammadans. In\nsupport of this it may be urged that glass bangles are largely made by\nthe Muhammadan Turkari or Sisgar, and also that lac bangles must have\nbeen worn prior to glass ones, because if the latter had been known the\nclumsy and unornamental bracelet made of lac and clay could never have\ncome into existence. The wearing of lac bangles on the above occasions\nwould therefore be explained according to the common usage of adhering\non religious and ceremonial occasions to the more ancient methods and\naccessories, which are sanctified by association and custom. Similarly\nthe Holi pyre is often kindled with fire produced by the friction of\nwood, and temples are lighted with vegetable instead of mineral oil.\n\n\n\n\n5. Red, a lucky colour\n\nIt may be noted, however, that lac bangles are not always worn\nby the bride at a wedding, the custom being unknown in some\nlocalities. Moreover, it appears that glass was known to the Hindus\nat a period prior to the Muhammadan invasions, though bangles may not\nhave been made from it. Another reason for the use of lac bangles\non the occasions noticed is that lac, as already seen, represents\nblood. Though blood itself is now repugnant to the Hindus, yet red\nis pre-eminently their lucky colour, being worn at weddings and\ngenerally preferred. It is suggested in the _Bombay Gazetteer_ [85]\nthat blood was lucky as having been the first food of primitive man,\nwho learnt to suck the blood of animals before he ate their flesh. But\nit does not seem necessary to go back quite so far as this. The\nearliest form of sacrifice, as shown by Professor Robertson Smith,\n[86] was that in which the community of kinsmen ate together the flesh\nof their divine or totem animal god and drank its blood. When the god\nbecame separated from the animal and was represented by a stone at the\nplace of worship and the people had ceased to eat raw flesh and drink\nblood, the blood was poured out over the stone as an offering to the\ngod. This practice still obtains among the lower castes of Hindus and\nthe primitive tribes, the blood of animals offered to Devi and other\nvillage deities being allowed to drop on to the stones representing\nthem. But the higher castes of Hindus have abandoned animal sacrifices,\nand hence cannot make the blood-offering. In place of it they smear the\nstone with vermilion, which seems obviously a substitute for blood,\nsince it is used to colour the stones representing the deities in\nexactly the same manner. Even vermilion, however, is not offered to\nthe highest deities of Neo-Hinduism, Siva or Mahadeo and Vishnu, to\nwhom animal sacrifices would be abhorrent. It is offered to Hanuman,\nwhose image is covered with it, and to Devi and Bhairon and to the\nmany local and village deities. In past times animal sacrifices were\noffered to Bhairon, as they still are to Devi, and though it is not\nknown that they were made to Hanuman, this is highly probable, as he\nis the god of strength and a mighty warrior. The Manbhao mendicants,\nwho abhor all forms of bloodshed like the Jains, never pass one of\nthese stones painted with vermilion if they can avoid doing so, and\nif they are aware that there is one on their road will make a circuit\nso as not to see it. [87] There seems, therefore, every reason to\nsuppose that vermilion is a substitute for blood in offerings and\nhence probably on other occasions. As the places of the gods were\nthus always coloured red with blood, red would come to be the divine\nand therefore the propitious colour among the Hindus and other races.\n\n\n\n\n6. Vermilion and spangles\n\nAmong the constituents of the Sohag or lucky _trousseau_ without\nwhich no Hindu girl of good caste can be married are _sendur_ or\nvermilion, _kunku_ or red powder or a spangle (_tikli_), and _mahawar_\nor red balls of cotton-wool. In Chhattisgarh and Bengal the principal\nmarriage rite is usually the smearing of vermilion by the bridegroom\non the parting of the bride's hair, and elsewhere this is commonly\ndone as a subsidiary ceremony. Here also there is little reason to\ndoubt that vermilion is a substitute for blood; indeed, in some castes\nin Bengal, as noted by Sir H. Risley, the blood of the parties is\nactually mixed. [88] This marking of the bride with blood is a result\nof the sacrifice and communal feast of kinsmen already described;\nonly those who could join in the sacrificial meal and eat the flesh\nof the sacred animal god were kin to it and to each other; but in\nquite early times the custom prevailed of taking wives from outside\nthe clan; and consequently, to admit the wife into her husband's\nkin, it was necessary that she also should drink or be marked with\nthe blood of the god. The mixing of blood at marriage appears to be\na relic of this, and the marking of the forehead with vermilion is\na substitute for the anointing with blood. _Kunku_ is a pink powder\nmade of turmeric, lime-juice and borax, which last is called by the\nHindus 'the milk of Anjini,' the mother of Hanuman. It seems to be\na more agreeable substitute for vermilion, whose constant use has\nprobably an injurious effect on the skin and hair. _Kunku_ is used in\nthe Maratha country in the same way as vermilion, and a married woman\nwill smear a little patch on her forehead every day and never allow her\nhusband to see her without it. She omits it only during the monthly\nperiod of impurity. The _tikli_ or spangle is worn in the Hindustani\nDistricts and not in the south. It consists of a small piece of lac\nover which is smeared vermilion, while above it a piece of mica or\nthin glass is fixed for ornament. Other adornments may be added,\nand women from Rajputana, such as the Marwari Banias and Banjaras,\nwear large spangles set in gold with a border of jewels if they can\nafford it. The spangle is made and sold by Lakheras and Patwas; it is\npart of the Sohag at marriages and is affixed to the girl's forehead\non her wedding and thereafter always worn; as a rule, if a woman has a\nspangle it is said that she does not smear vermilion on her forehead,\nthough both may occasionally be seen. The name _tikli_ is simply a\ncorruption of _tika_, which means a mark of anointing or initiation on\nthe forehead; as has been seen, the basis of the _tikli_ is vermilion\nsmeared on lac-clay, and it is made by Lakheras; and there is thus\ngood reason to suppose that the spangle is also a more ornamental\nsubstitute for the smear of vermilion, the ancient blood-mark by which\na married woman was admitted into her husband's clan. At her marriage\na bride must always receive the glass bangles and the vermilion,\n_kunku_, or spangle from her husband, the other ornaments of the\nSohag being usually given to her by her parents. Unmarried girls\nnow also sometimes wear small ornamental spangles, and put _kunku_\non their foreheads. But before marriage it is optional and afterwards\ncompulsory. A widow may not wear vermilion, _kunku_, or spangles.\n\n\n\n\n7. Red dye on the feet\n\nThe Lakheras also sell balls of red cotton-wool known as _mahur\nki guleli_ or _mahawar_. The cotton-wool is dipped in the melted\nlac-gum and is rubbed on to the feet of women to colour them red\nor pink at marriages and festivals. This is done by the barber's\nwife, who will colour the feet of the whole party, at the same\ntime drawing lines round the outside of the foot and inward from\nthe toes. The _mahawar_ is also an essential part of the Sohag of\nmarriage. Instead of lac the Muhammadans use _mehndi_ or henna, the\nhenna-leaves being pounded with catechu and the mixture rubbed on to\nthe feet and hands. After a little time it is washed off and a red\ndye remains on the skin. It is supposed that the similar custom which\nprevailed among the ancient Greeks is alluded to in the epithet of\n'rosy-fingered Aurora.' The Hindus use henna dye only in the month\nShrawan (July), which is a period of fasting; the auspicious _kunku_\nand _mahawar_ are therefore perhaps not considered suitable at such\na time, but as special protection is needed against evil spirits,\nthe necessary red colouring is obtained from henna. When a married\nwoman rubs henna on her hands, if the dye comes out a deep red tinge,\nthe other women say that her husband is not in love with her; but if\nof a pale yellowish tinge, that he is very much in love.\n\n\n\n\n8. Red threads\n\nThe Lakheras and Patwas also make the _kardora_ or waist-band of\nred thread. This is worn by Hindu men and women, except Maratha\nBrahmans. After he is married, if a man breaks this thread he must not\ntake food until he has put on a fresh one, and the same rule applies\nto a woman all her life. Other threads are the _rakhis_ tied round the\nwrists for protection against evil spirits on the day of Rakshabandhan,\nand the necklets of silk or cotton thread wound round with thin silver\nwire, which the Hindus put on at Anant Chaudas and frequently retain\nfor the whole year. The colour of all these threads is generally red in\nthe first place, but they soon get blackened by contact with the skin.\n\n\n\n\n9. Lac toys\n\nToys of lac are especially made during the fast of Shrawan (July). At\nthis time for five years after her marriage a Hindu bride receives\nannually from her husband a present called Shraoni, or that which\nis given in Shrawan. It consists of a _chakri_ or reel, to which\na string is attached, and the reel is thrown up into the air and\nwound and unwound on the string; a _bhora_ or wooden top spun by a\nstring; a _bansuli_ or wooden flute; a stick and ball, lac bangles\nand a spangle, and cloth, usually of red chintz. All these toys are\nmade by the carpenter and coloured red with lac by the Lakhera, with\nthe exception of the bangles which may be yellow or green. For five\nyears the bride plays with the toys, and then they are sent to her no\nlonger as her childhood has passed. It is probable that some, if not\nall of them, are in a manner connected with the crops, and supposed\nto have a magical influence, because during the same period it is the\ncustom for boys to walk on stilts and play at swinging themselves;\nand in these cases the original idea is to make the crops grow as\nhigh as the stilts or swing. As in the other cases, the red colour\nappears to have a protective influence against evil spirits, who are\nmore than usually active at a time of fasting.\n\n\n\n\n\nLodhi\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Origin and traditions_.\n    2. _Position in the Central Provinces_.\n    3. _Subdivisions_.\n    4. _Exogamous groups_.\n    5. _Marriage customs_.\n    6. _The Gauna ceremony. Fertility rites_.\n    7. _Widow-marriage and puberty rite_.\n    8. _Mourning impurity_.\n    9. _Social customs_.\n    10. _Greetings and method of address_.\n    11. _Sacred thread and social status_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin and traditions\n\n_Lodhi, Lodha._--An important agricultural caste residing principally\nin the Vindhyan Districts and Nerbudda valley, whence they have spread\nto the Wainganga valley and the Khairagarh State of Chhattisgarh. Their\ntotal strength in the Province is 300,000 persons. The Lodhis\nare immigrants from the United Provinces, in whose Gazetteers it\nis stated that they belonged originally to the Ludhiana District\nand took their name from it. Their proper designation is Lodha,\nbut it has become corrupted to Lodhi in the Central Provinces. A\nnumber of persons resident in the Harda tahsil of Hoshangabad are\ncalled Lodha and say that they are distinct from the Lodhis. There is\nnothing to support their statement, however, and it is probable that\nthey simply represent the separate wave of immigration which took\nplace from Central India into the Hoshangabad and Betul Districts\nin the fifteenth century. They spoke a different dialect of the\ngroup known as Rajasthani, and hence perhaps the caste-name did\nnot get corrupted. The Lodhis of the Jubbulpore Division probably\ncame here at a later date from northern India. The Mandla Lodhis\nare said to have been brought to the District by Raja Hirde Sah of\nthe Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla in the seventeenth century,\nand they were given large grants of the waste land in the interior in\norder that they might clear it of forest. [89] The Lodhis are a good\ninstance of a caste who have obtained a great rise in social status\non migrating to a new area. In northern India Mr. Nesfield places\nthem lowest among the agricultural castes and states that they are\nlittle better than a forest tribe. He derives the name from _lod_,\na clod, according to which Lodhi would mean clodhopper. [90] Another\nsuggestion is that the name is derived from the bark of the _lodh_\ntree, [91] which is collected by the Lodhas in northern India and sold\nfor use as a dyeing agent. In Bulandshahr they are described as \"Of\nshort stature and uncouth appearance, and from this as well as from\ntheir want of a tradition of immigration from other parts they appear\nto be a mixed class proceeding from aboriginal and Aryan parents. In\nthe Districts below Agra they are considered so low that no one drinks\nwater touched by them; but this is not the case in the Districts above\nAgra.\" [92] In Hamirpur they appear to have some connection with the\nKurmis, and a story told of them in Saugor is that the first Lodhi\nwas created by Mahadeo from a scarecrow in a Kurmi woman's field\nand given the vocation of a farmservant But the Lodhis themselves\nclaim Rajput ancestry and say that they are descended from Lava,\nthe eldest of the two sons of Raja Ramchandra of Ajodhya.\n\n\n\n\n2. Position in the central Provinces\n\nIn the Central Provinces they have become landholders and are\naddressed by the honorific title of Thakur, ranking with the higher\ncultivating castes. Several Lodhi landholders in Damoh and Saugor\nformerly held a quasi-independent position under the Muhammadans,\nand subsequently acknowledged the Raja of Panna as their suzerain,\nwho conferred on some families the titles of Raja and Diwan. They\nkept up a certain amount of state, and small contingents of soldiery,\nattended by whom they went to pay their respects to the representative\nof the ruling power. \"It would be difficult,\" says Grant, [93] \"to\nrecognise the descendants of the peaceful cultivators of northern\nIndia in the strangely accoutred Rajas who support their style and\ntitle by a score of ragged matchlock-men and a ruined mud fort on a\nhill-side.\" Sir B. Fuller's _Damoh Settlement Report_ says of them:\n\"A considerable number of villages had been for long time past in the\npossession of certain important families, who held them by prescription\nor by a grant from the ruling power, on a right which approximated\nas nearly to the English idea of proprietorship as native custom\npermitted. The most prominent of these families were of the Lodhi\ncaste. They have developed tastes for sport and freebooting and have\nbecome decidedly the most troublesome item in the population. During\nthe Mutiny the Lodhis as a class were openly disaffected, and one of\ntheir proprietors, the Talukdar of Hindoria, marched on the District\nheadquarters and looted the treasury.\" Similarly the Ramgarh family\nof Mandla took to arms and lost the large estates till then held\nby them. On the other hand the village of Imjhira in Narsinghpur\nbelonging to a Lodhi malguzar was gallantly defended against a band\nof marauding rebels from Saugor. Sir R. Craddock describes them as\nfollows: \"They are men of strong character, but their constant family\nfeuds and love of faction militate against their prosperity. A cluster\nof Lodhi villages forms a hotbed of strife and the nearest relations\nare generally divided by bitter animosities. The Revenue Officer who\nvisits them is beset by reckless charges and counter-charges and no\ncommunities are less amenable to conciliatory compromises. Agrarian\noutrages are only too common in some of the Lodhi villages.\" [94]\nThe high status of the Lodhi caste in the Central Provinces as\ncompared with their position in the country of their origin may be\nsimply explained by the fact that they here became landholders and\nruling chiefs.\n\n\n\n\n3. Sub-divisions\n\nIn the northern Districts the landholding Lodhis are divided into\na number of exogamous clans who marry with each other in imitation\nof the Rajputs. These are the Mahdele, Kerbania, Dongaria, Narwaria,\nBhadoria and others. The name of the Kerbanias is derived from Kerbana,\na village in Damoh, and the Balakote family of that District are\nthe head of the clan. The Mahdeles are the highest clan and have\nthe titles of Raja and Diwan, while the others hold those of Rao and\nKunwar, the terms Diwan and Kunwar being always applied to the younger\nbrother of the head of the house. These titles are still occasionally\nconferred by the Raja of Panna, whom the Lodhi clans looked on as\ntheir suzerain. The name of the Mahdeles is said to be derived from the\n_mehndi_ or henna plant. The above clans sometimes practise hypergamy\namong themselves and also with the other Lodhis, taking daughters\nfrom the latter on receipt of a large bridegroom-price for the honour\nconferred by the marriage. This custom is now, however, tending to\ndie out. There are also several endogamous subcastes ranking below\nthe clans, of whom the principal are the Singrore, Jarha, Jangra and\nMahalodhi. The Singrore take their name from the old town of Singraur\nor Shrengera in northern India, Singrore, like Kanaujia, being a common\nsubcaste name among several castes. It is also connected more lately\nwith the Singram Ghat or ferry of the Ganges in Allahabad District,\nand the title of Rawat is said to have been conferred on the Singrore\nLodhis by the emperor Akbar on a visit there. The Jarha Lodhis belong\nto Mandla. The name is probably a form of Jharia or jungly, but since\nthe leading members of the caste have become large landholders they\nrepudiate this derivation. The Jangra Lodhis are of Chhattisgarh, and\nthe Mahalodhis or 'Great Lodhis' are an inferior group to which the\noffspring of irregular unions are or were relegated. The Mahalodhis\nare said to condone adultery either by a man or woman on penalty of a\nfeast to the caste. Other groups are the Hardiha, who grow turmeric\n(_haldi_), and the Gwalhare or cowherds. The Lodhas of Hoshangabad\nmay also be considered a separate subcaste. They disclaim connection\nwith the Lodhis, but the fact that the parent caste in the United\nProvinces is known as Lodha appears to establish their identity. They\nabstain from flesh and liquor, which most Lodhis consume.\n\nThis division of the superior branch of a caste into large exogamous\nclans and the lower one into endogamous subcastes is only found, so\nfar as is known, among the Rajputs and one or two landholding castes\nwho have imitated them. Its origin is discussed in the Introduction.\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamous groups\n\nThe subcastes are as usual divided into exogamous groups of the\nterritorial, titular and totemistic classes. Among sections named\nafter places may be mentioned the Chandpuria from Chandpur, the\nKharpuria from Kharpur, and the Nagpuriha, Raipuria, Dhamonia,\nDamauha and Shahgariha from Nagpur, Raipur, Dhamoni, Damoh and\nShahgarh. Two-thirds of the sections have the names of towns or\nvillages. Among titular names are Saulakhia, owner of 100 lakhs,\nBhainsmar, one who killed a buffalo, Kodonchor, one who stole kodon,\n[95] Kumharha perhaps from Kumhar a potter, and Rajbhar and Barhai\n(carpenter), names of castes. Among totemistic names are Baghela,\ntiger, also the name of a Rajput sept; Kutria, a dog; Khajuria, the\ndate-palm tree; Mirchaunia, chillies; Andwar, from the castor-oil\nplant; Bhainsaiya, a buffalo; and Nak, the nose.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage customs\n\nA man must not marry in his own section nor in that of his mother. He\nmay marry two sisters. The exchange of girls between families is\nonly in force among the Bilaspur Lodhis, who say, 'Eat with those\nwho have eaten with you and marry with those who have married with\nyou.' Girls are usually wedded before puberty, but in the northern\nDistricts the marriage is sometimes postponed from desire to marry\ninto a good family or from want of funds to pay a bridegroom-price,\nand girls of twenty or more may be unmarried. A case is known of a\nman who had two daughters unmarried at twenty-two and twenty-three\nyears old, because he had been waiting for good _partis_, with the\nresult that one of them went and lived with a man and he then married\noff the other in the Singhast [96] year, which is forbidden among the\nLodhis, and was put out of caste. The marriage and other ceremonies\nof the Lodhis resemble those of the Kurmis, except in Chhattisgarh\nwhere the Maratha fashion is followed. Here, at the wedding, the bride\nand bridegroom hold between them a doll made of dough with 21 cowries\ninside, and as the priest repeats the marriage texts they pull it apart\nlike a cracker and see how many cowries each has got. It is considered\nauspicious if the bridegroom has the larger number. The priest is on\nthe roof of the house, and before the wedding he cries out:\n\n'Are the king and queen here?' And a man below answers, 'Yes.'\n\n'Have they shoes on their feet?' 'Yes.'\n\n'Have they bracelets on their hands?' 'Yes.'\n\n'Have they rings in their ears?' 'Yes.'\n\n'Have they crowns on their heads?' 'Yes.'\n\n'Has she glass beads round her neck?' 'Yes.'\n\n'Have they the doll in their hands?' 'Yes.'\n\nAnd the priest then repeats the marriage texts and beats a brass\ndish while the doll is pulled apart In the northern Districts after\nthe wedding the bridegroom must untie one of the festoons of the\nmarriage-shed, and if he refuses to do this, it is an indelible\ndisgrace on the bride's party. Before doing so he requires a valuable\npresent, such as a buffalo.\n\n\n\n\n6. The gauna ceremoney. Fertility rites\n\nWhen the girl becomes mature the Gauna or going-away ceremony is\nperformed. In Chhattisgarh before leaving her home the bride goes out\nwith her sister and worships a _palas_ tree. [97] Her sister waves\na lighted lamp seven times over it, and the bride goes seven times\nround it in imitation of the marriage ceremony. At her husband's\nhouse seven pictures of the family gods are drawn on a wall inside\nthe house and the bride worships these, placing a little sugar and\nbread on the mouth of each and bowing before them. She is then seated\nbefore the family god while an old woman brings a stone rolling-pin\n[98] wrapped up in a piece of cloth, which is supposed to be a baby,\nand the old woman imitates a baby crying. She puts the roller in\nthe bride's lap saying, 'Take this and give it milk.' The bride is\nabashed and throws it aside. The old woman picks it up and shows\nit to the assembled women saying, 'The bride has just had a baby,'\namid loud laughter. Then she gives the stone to the bridegroom who\nalso throws it aside. This ceremony is meant to induce fertility,\nand it is supposed that by making believe that the bride has had a\nbaby she will quickly have one.\n\n\n\n\n7. Widow-marriage and puberty rite\n\nThe higher clans of Lodhis in Damoh and Saugor prohibit the remarriage\nof widows, but instances of it occur. It is said that a man who marries\na widow is relegated to the Mahalodhi subcaste or the Lahuri Sen, an\nillegitimate group, and the Lodhis of his clan no longer acknowledge\nhis family. But if a girl's husband dies before she has lived with him\nshe may marry again. The other Lodhis freely permit widow-marriage\nand divorce. When a girl first becomes mature she is secluded,\nand though she may stay in the house cannot enter the cook-room. At\nthe end of the period she is dressed in red cloth, and a present of\ncocoanuts stripped of their shells, sweetmeats, and a little money,\nis placed in her lap, while a few women are invited to a feast. This\nrite is also meant to induce fertility, the kernel of the cocoanut\nbeing held to resemble an unborn baby.\n\n\n\n\n8. Mourning impurity\n\nThe higher clans consider themselves impure for a period of 12 days\nafter a birth, and if the birth falls in the Mul asterism or Nakshatra,\nfor 27 days. After death they observe mourning for 10 days; on the\n10th day they offer ten _pindas_ or funeral cakes, and on the 11th\nday make one large _pinda_ or cake and divide it into eleven parts;\non the 12th day they make sixteen _pindas_ and unite the spirit of the\ndead man with the ancestors; and on the 13th day they give a feast\nand feed Brahmans and are clean. The lower subcastes only observe\nimpurity for three days after a birth and a death. Their funeral\nrites are the same as those of the Kurmis.\n\n\n\n\n9. Social customs\n\nThe caste employ Brahmans for weddings, but not necessarily for\nbirth and death ceremonies. They eat flesh and fish, and the bulk\nof the caste eat fowls and drink liquor, but the landowning section\nabjures these practices. They will take food cooked with water from\nBrahmans, and that cooked without water also from Rajputs, Kayasths and\nSunars. In Narsinghpur they also accept cooked food from such a low\ncaste as Rajjahrs, [99] probably because the Rajjhars are commonly\nemployed by them as farmservants, and hence have been accustomed\nto carry their master's food. A similar relation has been found to\nexist between the Panwar Rajputs and their Gond farmservants. The\nhigher class Lodhis make an inordinate show of hospitality at their\nweddings. The plates of the guests are piled up profusely with food,\nand these latter think it a point of honour never to refuse it or say\nenough. When melted butter is poured out into their cups the stream\nmust never be broken as it passes from one guest to the other, or it\nis said that they will all get up and leave the feast. Apparently a\nlot of butter must be wasted on the ground. The higher clans seclude\ntheir women, and these when they go out must wear long clothes\ncovering the head and reaching to the feet. The women are not allowed\nto wear ornaments of a cheaper metal than silver, except of course\ntheir glass bangles. The Mahalodhis will eat food cooked with water\nin the cook-room and carried to the fields, which the higher clans\nwill not do. Their women wear the _sari_ drawn through the legs and\nknotted behind according to the Maratha fashion, but whenever they\nmeet their husband's elder brother or any other elder of the family\nthey must undo the knot and let the cloth hang down round their legs\nas a mark of respect. They wear no breast-cloth. Girls are tattooed\nbefore adolescence with dots on the chin and forehead, and marks on\none hand. Before she is tattooed the girl is given sweets to eat,\nand during the process the operator sings songs in order that her\nattention may be diverted and she may not feel the pain. After she\nhas finished the operator mutters a charm to prevent evil spirits\nfrom troubling the girl and causing her pain.\n\n\n\n\n10. Greetings and method of address\n\nThe caste have some strict taboos on names and on conversation\nbetween the sexes. A man will only address his wife, sister, daughter,\npaternal aunt or niece directly. If he has occasion to speak to some\nother woman he will take his daughter or other female relative with\nhim and do his business through her. He will not speak even to his own\nwomen before a crowd. A woman will similarly only speak to her father,\nson or nephew, and father-, son- or younger brother-in-law. She will\nnot speak to her elder brother-in-law, and she will not address her\nhusband in the presence of his father, elder brother or any other\nrelative whom he reveres. A wife will never call her husband by his\nname, but always address him as father of her son, and, if she has no\nson, will sometimes speak to him through his younger brother. Neither\nthe father nor mother will call their eldest son by his name, but will\nuse some other name. Similarly a daughter-in-law is given a fresh\nname on coming into the house, and on her arrival her mother-in-law\nlooks at her for the first time through a _guna_ or ring of baked\ngram-flour. A man meeting his father or elder brother will touch his\nfeet in silence. One meeting his sister's husband, sister's son or\nson-in-law, will touch his feet and say, '_Sahib, salaam_.'\n\n\n\n\n11. Sacred thread and social status\n\nThe higher clans invest boys with the sacred thread either when they\nare initiated by a Guru or spiritual preceptor, or when they are\nmarried. The thread is made by a Brahman and has five knots. Recently\na large landholder in Mandla, a Jarha Lodhi, has assumed the sacred\nthread himself for the first time and sent round a circular to his\ncaste-men enjoining them also to wear it. His family priest has\nproduced a legend of the usual type showing how the Jarha Lodhis\nare Rajputs whose ancestors threw away their sacred threads in order\nto escape the vengeance of Parasurama. Generally in social position\nthe Lodhis may be considered to rank with, but slightly above, the\nordinary cultivating castes, such as the Kurmis. This superiority\nin no way arises from their origin, since, as already seen, they are\na very low caste in their home in northern India, but from the fact\nthat they have become large landholders in the Central Provinces and\nin former times their leaders exercised quasi-sovereign powers. Many\nLodhis are fine-looking men and have still some appearance of having\nbeen soldiers. They are passionate and quarrelsome, especially in the\nJubbulpore District. This is put forcibly in the saying that 'A Lodhi's\ntemper is as crooked as the stream of a bullock's urine.' They are\ngenerally cultivators, but the bulk of them are not very prosperous\nas they are inclined to extravagance and display at weddings and on\nother ceremonial occasions.\n\n\n\n\nLohar\n\n\n\n\n1. Legends of the caste\n\n_Lohar_, _Khati_, _Ghantra_, _Ghisari_, _Panchal._--The occupational\ncaste of blacksmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit\n_Lauha-kara>_, a worker in iron. In the Central Provinces the Loharhas\nin the past frequently combined the occupations of carpenter and\nblacksmith, and in such a capacity he is known as Khati. The honorific\ndesignations applied to the caste are Karigar, which means skilful,\nand Mistri, a corruption of the English 'Master' or 'Mister.' In 1911\nthe Lohars numbered about 180,000 persons in the Central Provinces\nand Berar. The Lohar is indispensable to the village economy, and\nthe caste is found over the whole rural area of the Province.\n\n\"Practically all the Lohars,\" Mr. Crooke writes [100], \"trace\ntheir origin to Visvakarma, who is the later representative of the\nVedic Twashtri, the architect and handicraftsman of the gods, 'The\nfashioner of all ornaments, the most eminent of artisans, who formed\nthe celestial chariots of the deities, on whose craft men subsist,\nand whom, a great and immortal god, they continually worship,' One\n[101] tradition tells that Visvakarma was a Brahman and married the\ndaughter of an Ahir, who in her previous birth had been a dancing-girl\nof the gods. By her he had nine sons, who became the ancestors of\nvarious artisan castes, such as the Lohar, Barhai, Sunar, and Kasera.\"\n\nThe Lohars of the Uriya country in the Central Provinces tell a similar\nstory, according to which Kamar, the celestial architect, had twelve\nsons. The eldest son was accustomed to propitiate the family god with\nwine, and one day he drank some of the wine, thinking that it could\nnot be sinful to do so as it was offered to the deity. But for this\nact his other brothers refused to live with him and left their home,\nadopting various professions; but the eldest brother became a worker\nin iron and laid a curse upon the others that they should not be able\nto practise their calling except with the implements which he had\nmade. The second brother thus became a woodcutter (Barhai), the third a\npainter (Maharana), the fourth learnt the science of vaccination and\nmedicine and became a vaccinator (Suthiar), the fifth a goldsmith,\nthe sixth a brass-smith, the seventh a coppersmith, and the eighth a\ncarpenter, while the ninth brother was weak in the head and married\nhis eldest sister, on account of which fact his descendants are known\nas Ghantra. [102] The Ghantras are an inferior class of blacksmiths,\nprobably an offshoot from some of the forest tribes, who are looked\ndown on by the others. It is said that even to the present day the\nGhantra Lohars have no objection to eating the leavings of food of\ntheir wives, whom they regard as their eldest sisters.\n\n\n\n\n2. Social position of the Lohar\n\nThe above story is noticeable as indicating that the social position\nof the Lohar is somewhat below that of the other artisan castes, or\nat least of those who work in metals. This fact has been recorded in\nother localities, and has been explained by some stigma arising from\nhis occupation, as in the following passage: \"His social position\nis low even for a menial, and he is classed as an impure caste, in\nso far that Jats and others of similar standing will have no social\ncommunion with him, though not as an outcast like the scavenger. His\nimpurity, like that of the barber, washerman and dyer, springs solely\nfrom the nature of his employment; perhaps because it is a dirty one,\nbut more probably because black is a colour of evil omen. It is not\nimprobable that the necessity under which he labours of using bellows\nmade of cowhide may have something to do with his impurity,\" [103]\n\nMr. Nesfield also says: \"It is owing to the ubiquitous industry of\nthe Lohar that the stone knives, arrow-heads and hatchets of the\nindigenous tribes of Upper India have been so entirely superseded\nby iron-ores. The memory of the stone age has not survived even in\ntradition. In consequence of the evil associations which Hinduism has\nattached to the colour of black, the caste of Lohar has not been able\nto raise itself to the same social level as the three metallurgic\ncastes which follow.\" The following saying also indicates that the\nLohar is of evil omen:\n\n\n    Ar, Dhar, Chuchkar\n    In tinon se bachawe Kartar.\n\n\nHere _Ar_ means an iron goad and signifies the Lohar; _Dhar_ represents\nthe sound of the oil falling from the press and means a Teli or oilman;\n_Chuchkar_ is an imitation of the sound of clothes being beaten against\na stone and denotes the Dhobi or washerman; and the phrase thus runs,\n'My Friend, beware of the Lohar, Teli, and Dhobi, for they are of evil\nomen.' It is not quite clear why this disrepute should attach to the\nLohar, because iron itself is lucky, though its colour, black, may be\nof bad omen. But the low status of the Lohar may partly arise from the\nfact of his being a village menial and a servant of the cultivators;\nwhereas the trades of the goldsmith, brass-smith and carpenter are of\nlater origin than the blacksmith's, and are urban rather than rural\nindustries; and thus these artisans do not commonly occupy the position\nof village menials. Another important consideration is that the iron\nindustry is associated with the primitive tribes, who furnished the\nwhole supply of the metal prior to its importation from Europe: and it\nis hence probable that the Lohar caste was originally constituted from\nthese and would thus naturally be looked down upon by the Hindus. In\nBengal, where few or no traces of the village community remain, the\nLohar ranks as the equal of Koiris and Kurmis, and Brahmans will take\nwater from his hands; [104] and this somewhat favours the argument that\nhis lower status elsewhere is not due to incidents of his occupation.\n\n\n\n\n3. Caste subdivisions\n\nThe constitution of the Lohar caste is of a heterogeneous nature. In\nsome localities Gonds who work as blacksmiths are considered to\nbelong to the caste and are known as Gondi Lohars. But Hindus who\nwork in Gond villages also sometimes bear this designation. Another\nsubdivision returned consists of the Agarias, also an offshoot of the\nGonds, who collect and smelt iron-ore in the Vindhyan and Satpura\nhills. The Panchals are a class of itinerant smiths in Berar. The\nGhantras or inferior blacksmiths of the Uriya country have already\nbeen noticed. The Ghisaris are a similar low class of smiths in the\nsouthern Districts who do rough work only, but sometimes claim Rajput\norigin. Other subcastes are of the usual local or territorial type,\nas Mahulia, from Mahul in Berar; Jhade or Jhadia, those living in\nthe jungles; Ojha, or those professing a Brahmanical origin; Maratha,\nKanaujia, Mathuria, and so on.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage and other customs\n\nInfant-marriage is the custom of the caste, and the ceremony is\nthat prevalent among the agricultural castes of the locality. The\nremarriage of widows is permitted, and they have the privilege of\nselecting their own husbands, or at least of refusing to accept any\nproposed suitor. A widow is always married from her father's house,\nand never from that of her deceased husband. The first husband's\nproperty is taken by his relatives, if there be any, and they also\nassume the custody of his children as soon as they are old enough to\ndispense with a mother's care. The dead are both buried and burnt,\nand in the eastern Districts some water and a tooth-stick are daily\nplaced at a cross-road for the use of the departed spirit during\nthe customary period of mourning, which extends to ten days. On the\neleventh day the relatives go and bathe, and the chief mourner puts\non a new loin-cloth. Some rice is taken and seven persons pass it from\nhand to hand. They then pound the rice, and making from it a figure to\nrepresent a human being, they place some grain in its mouth and say\nto it, 'Go and become incarnate in some human being,' and throw the\nimage into the water. After this the impurity caused by the death is\nremoved, and they go home and feast with their friends. In the evening\nthey make cakes of rice, and place them seven times on the shoulder\nof each person who has carried the corpse to the cemetery or pyre, to\nremove the impurity contracted from touching it. It is also said that\nif this be not done the shoulder will feel the weight of the coffin\nfor a period of six months. The caste endeavour to ascertain whether\nthe spirit of the dead person returns to join in the funeral feast,\nand in what shape it will be born again. For this purpose rice-flour\nis spread on the floor of the cooking-room and covered with a brass\nplate. The women retire and sit in an adjoining room while the chief\nmourner with a few companions goes outside the village, and sprinkles\nsome more rice-flour on the ground. They call to the deceased person\nby name, saying, 'Come, come,' and then wait patiently till some\nworm or insect crawls on to the floor. Some dough is then applied\nto this and it is carried home and let loose in the house. The flour\nunder the brass plate is examined, and it is said that they usually\nsee the footprints of a person or animal, indicating the corporeal\nentity in which the deceased soul has found a resting-place. During\nthe period of mourning members of the bereaved family do not follow\ntheir ordinary business, nor eat flesh, sweets or other delicate\nfood. They may not make offerings to their deities nor touch any\npersons outside the family, nor wear head-cloths or shoes. In the\neastern Districts the principal deities of the Lohars are Dulha Deo\nand Somlai or Devi, the former being represented by a knife set in the\nground inside the house, and the latter by the painting of a woman on\nthe wall. Both deities are kept in the cooking-room, and here the head\nof the family offers to them rice soaked in milk, with sandal-paste,\nflowers, vermilion and lamp-black. He burns some melted butter in an\nearthen lamp and places incense upon it. If a man has been affected by\nthe evil eye an exorcist will place some salt on his hand and burn it,\nmuttering spells, and the evil influence is removed. They believe that\na spell can be cast on a man by giving him to eat the bones of an owl,\nwhen he will become an idiot.\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation\n\nIn the rural area of the Province the Lohar is still a village menial,\nmaking and mending the iron implements of agriculture, such as the\nploughshare, axe, sickle, goad and other articles. For doing this he\nis paid in Saugor a yearly contribution of twenty pounds of grain\nper plough of land [105] held by each cultivator, together with a\nhandful of grain at sowing-time and a sheaf at harvest from both the\nautumn and spring crops. In Wardha he gets fifty pounds of grain per\nplough of four bullocks or forty acres. For making new implements the\nLohar is sometimes paid separately and is always supplied with the\niron and charcoal. The hand-smelting iron industry has practically\ndied out in the Province and the imported metal is used for nearly\nall purposes. The village Lohars are usually very poor, their income\nseldom exceeding that of an unskilled labourer. In the towns, owing\nto the rapid extension of milling and factory industries, blacksmiths\nreadily find employment and some of them earn very high wages. In\nthe manufacture of cutlery, nails and other articles the capital is\noften found by a Bhatia or Bohra merchant, who acts as the capitalist\nand employs the Lohars as his workmen. The women help their husbands\nby blowing the bellows and dragging the hot iron from the furnace,\nwhile the men wield the hammer. The Panchals of Berar are described\nas a wandering caste of smiths, living in grass mat-huts and using as\nfuel the roots of thorn bushes, which they batter out of the ground\nwith the back of a short-handled axe peculiar to themselves. They\nmove from place to place with buffaloes, donkeys and ponies to carry\ntheir kit. [106] Another class of wandering smiths, the Ghisaris, are\ndescribed by Mr. Crooke as follows: \"Occasional camps of these most\ninteresting people are to be met with in the Districts of the Meerut\nDivision. They wander about with small carts and pack-animals, and,\nbeing more expert than the ordinary village Lohar, their services\nare in demand for the making of tools for carpenters, weavers and\nother craftsmen. They are known in the Punjab as Gadiya or those who\nhave carts (_gadi, gari_). Sir D. Ibbetson [107] says that they come\nup from Rajputana and the North-Western Provinces, but their real\ncountry is the Deccan. In the Punjab they travel about with their\nfamilies and implements in carts from village to village, doing the\nfiner kinds of iron-work, which are beyond the capacity of the village\nartisan. In the Deccan [108] this class of wandering blacksmiths are\ncalled Saiqalgar, or knife-grinders, or Ghisara, or grinders (Hindi,\n_ghisana_ 'to rub'). They wander about grinding knives and tools.\"\n\n\nLorha\n\n_Lorha._ [109]--A small caste of cultivators in the Hoshangabad and\nNimar Districts, whose distinctive occupation is to grow _san_-hemp\n(_Crotalaria juncea_) and to make sacking and gunny-bags from the\nfibre. A very strong prejudice against this crop exists among the\nHindus, and those who grow it are usually cut off from their parent\ncaste and become a separate community. Thus we have the castes known\nas Kumrawat, Patbina and Dangur in different parts of the Province,\nwho are probably offshoots from the Kurmis and Kunbis, but now rank\nbelow them because they grow this crop; and in the Kurmi caste itself\na subcaste of Santora (hemp-picking) Kurmis has grown up. In Bilaspur\nthe Patharia Kurmis will grow _san_-hemp and ret it, but will not spin\nor weave the fibre; while the Atharia Kurmis will not grow the crop,\nbut will spin the fibre and make sacking. The Saugor Kewats grow this\nfibre, and here Brahmans and other high castes will not take water\nfrom Kewats, though in the eastern Districts they will do so. The\nNarsinghpur Mallahs, a branch of the Kewats, have also adopted the\ncultivation of _san_-hemp as a regular profession. The basis of the\nprejudice against the _san_-hemp plant is not altogether clear. The\nLorhas themselves say that they are looked down upon because they use\nwheat-starch (_lapsi_) for smoothing the fibre, and that their name\nis somehow derived from this fact. But the explanation does not seem\nsatisfactory. Many of the country people appear to think that there\nis something uncanny about the plant because it grows so quickly,\nand they say that on one occasion a cultivator went out to sow hemp\nin the morning, and his wife was very late in bringing his dinner to\nthe field. He grew hungry and angry, and at last the shoots of the\nhemp-seeds which he had sown in the morning began to appear above the\nground. At this he was so enraged that when his wife finally came\nhe said she had kept him waiting so long that the crop had come up\nin the meantime, and murdered her. Since then the Hindus have been\nforbidden to grow _san_-hemp lest they should lose their tempers in\nthe same manner. This story makes a somewhat excessive demand on the\nhearer's credulity. One probable cause of the taboo seems to be that\nthe process of soaking and retting the stalks of the plant pollutes\nthe water, and if carried on in a tank or in the pools of a stream\nmight destroy the village supply of drinking-water. In former times\nit may have been thought that the desecration of their sacred element\nwas an insult to the deities of rivers and streams, which would bring\ndown retribution on the offender. It is also the case that the proper\nseparation of the fibres requires a considerable degree of dexterity\nwhich can only be acquired by practice. Owing to the recent increase in\nthe price of the fibre and the large profits which can now be obtained\nfrom hemp cultivation, the prejudice against it is gradually breaking\ndown, and the Gonds, Korkus and lower Hindu castes have waived their\nreligious scruples and are glad to turn an honest penny by sowing hemp\neither on their own account or for hire. Other partially tabooed crops\nare turmeric and _al_ or Indian madder (_Morinda citrifolia_), while\nonions and garlic are generally eschewed by Hindu cultivators. For\ngrowing turmeric and _al_ special subcastes have been formed, as the\nAlia Kunbis and the Hardia Malis and Kachhis (from _haldi_, turmeric),\njust as in the case of _san_-hemp. The objection to these two crops is\nbelieved to lie in the fact that the roots which yield the commercial\nproduct have to be boiled, and by this process a number of insects\ncontained in them are destroyed. But the preparation of the hemp-fibre\ndoes not seem to involve any such sacrifice of insect life. The Lorhas\nappear to be a mixed group, with a certain amount of Rajput blood in\nthem, perhaps an offshoot of the Kirars, with whose social customs\ntheir own are said to be identical. According to another account, they\nare a lower or illegitimate branch of the Lodha caste of cultivators,\nof whose name their own is said to be a corruption. The Nimar Gujars\nhave a subcaste named Lorha, and the Lorhas of Hoshangabad may be\nconnected with these. They live in the Seoni and Harda tahsils of\nHoshangabad, the _san_-hemp crop being a favourite one in villages\nadjoining the forests, because it is not subject to the depredations\nof wild animals. Cultivators are often glad to sublet their fields\nfor the purpose of having a crop of hemp grown upon them, because\nthe stalks are left for manure and fertilise the ground. String and\nsacking are also made from the hemp-fibre by vagrant and criminal\ncastes like the Banjaras and Bhamtas, who formerly required the bags\nfor carrying their goods and possessions about with them.\n\n\n\n\n\nMahar\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n     1. _General Notice._\n     2. _Length of residence in the Central Provinces._\n     3. _Legend of origin._\n     4. _Sub castes._\n     5. _Exogamous groups and marriage customs._\n     6. _Funeral rites._\n     7. _Childbirth._\n     8. _Names._\n     9. _Religion._\n    10. _Adoption of foreign religions._\n    11. _Superstitions._\n    12. _Social rules_.\n    13. _Social subjection_.\n    14. _Their position improving_.\n    15. _Occupation_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General Notice.\n\n_Mahar, Mehra, Dhed._--The impure caste of menials, labourers and\nvillage watchmen of the Maratha country, corresponding to the Chamars\nand Koris of northern India. They numbered nearly 1,200,000 persons in\nthe combined Province in 1911, and are most numerous in the Nagpur,\nBhandara, Chanda and Wardha Districts of the Central Provinces,\nwhile considerable colonies are also found in Balaghat, Chhindwara\nand Betul. Their distribution thus follows largely that of the\nMarathi language and the castes speaking it. Berar contained 400,000,\ndistributed over the four Districts. In the whole Province this caste\nis third in point of numerical strength. In India the Mahars number\nabout three million persons, of whom a half belong to Bombay. I am not\naware of any accepted derivation for the word Mahar, but the balance\nof opinion seems to be that the native name of Bombay, Maharashtra,\nis derived from that of the caste, as suggested by Wilson. Another\nderivation which holds it to be a corruption of Maha Rastrakuta, and\nto be so called after the Rashtrakuta Rajput dynasty of the eighth\nand ninth centuries, seems less probable because countries are very\nseldom named after ruling dynasties. [110] Whereas in support of\nMaharashtra as 'The country of the Mahars,' we have Gujarashtra or\nGujarat, 'the country of the Gujars,' and Saurashtra or Surat, 'the\ncountry of the Sauras.' According to Platts' Dictionary, however,\nMaharashtra means 'the great country,' and this is what the Maratha\nBrahmans themselves say. Mehra appears to be a variant of the name\ncurrent in the Hindustani Districts, while Dheda, or Dhada, is said\nto be a corruption of Dharadas or billmen. [111] In the Punjab it is\nsaid to be a general term of contempt meaning 'Any low fellow.' [112]\n\nWilson considers the Mahars to be an aboriginal or pre-Aryan tribe,\nand all that is known of the caste seems to point to the correctness\nof this hypothesis. In the _Bombay Gazetteer_ the writer of the\ninteresting Gujarat volume suggests that the Mahars are fallen Rajputs;\nbut there seems little to support this opinion except their appearance\nand countenance, which is of the Hindu rather than the Dravidian\ntype. In Gujarat they have also some Rajput surnames, as Chauhan,\nPanwar, Rathor, Solanki and so on, but these may have been adopted by\nimitation or may indicate a mixture of Rajput blood. Again, the Mahars\nof Gujarat are the farmservants and serfs of the Kunbis. \"Each family\nis closely connected with the house of some landholder or _pattidar_\n(sharer). For his master he brings in loads from the fields and cleans\nout the stable, receiving in return daily allowances of buttermilk and\nthe carcases of any cattle that die. This connection seems to show\ntraces of a form of slavery. Rich _pattidars_ have always a certain\nnumber of Dheda families whom they speak of as ours (_hamara_) and\nwhen a man dies he distributes along with his lands a certain number\nof Dheda families to each of his sons. An old tradition among Dhedas\npoints to some relation between the Kunbis and Dhedas. Two brothers,\nLeva and Deva, were the ancestors, the former of the Kunbis, the latter\nof the Dhedas.\"  [113] Such a relation as this in Hindu society would\nimply that many Mahar women held the position of concubines to their\nKunbi masters, and would therefore account for the resemblance of\nthe Mahar to Hindus rather than the forest tribes. But if this is\nto be regarded as evidence of Rajput descent, a similar claim would\nhave to be allowed to many of the Chamars and sweepers. Others of the\nlowest castes also have Rajput sept names, as the Pardhis and Bhils;\nbut the fact can at most be taken, I venture to think, to indicate a\nconnection of the 'Droit de Seigneur' type. On the other hand, the\nMahars occupy the debased and impure position which was the lot of\nthose non-Aryan tribes who became subject to the Hindus and lived in\ntheir villages; they eat the flesh of dead cattle and this and other\ncustoms appear to point decisively to a non-Aryan origin.\n\n\n\n\n2. Length of residence in the Central Provinces\n\nSeveral circumstances indicate that the Mahar is recognised as the\noldest resident of the plain country of Berar and Nagpur. In Berar\nhe is a village servant and is the referee on village boundaries and\ncustoms, a position implying that his knowledge of them is the most\nancient. At the Holi festival the fire of the Mahars is kindled first\nand that of the Kunbis is set alight from it. The Kamdar Mahar, who\nacts as village watchman, also has the right of bringing the _toran_ or\nrope of leaves which is placed on the marriage-shed of the Kunbis; and\nfor this he receives a present of three annas. In Bhandra the Telis,\nLohars, Dhimars and several other castes employ a Mahar _Mohturia_ or\nwise man to fix the date of their weddings. And most curious of all,\nwhen the Panwar Rajputs of this tract celebrate the festival of Narayan\nDeo, they call a Mahar to their house and make him the first partaker\nof the feast before beginning to eat themselves. Again in Berar [114]\nthe Mahar officiates at the killing of the buffalo on Dasahra. On the\nday before the festival the chief Mahar of the village and his wife\nwith their garments knotted together bring some earth from the jungle\nand fashioning two images set one on a clay elephant and the other on\na clay bullock. The images are placed on a small platform outside the\nvillage site and worshipped; a young he-buffalo is bathed and brought\nbefore the images as though for the same object. The Patel wounds\nthe buffalo in the nose with a sword and it is then marched through\nthe village. In the evening it is killed by the head Mahar, buried in\nthe customary spot, and any evil that might happen during the coming\nyear is thus deprecated and, it is hoped, averted. The claim to take\nthe leading part in this ceremony is the occasion of many a quarrel\nand an occasional affray or riot Such customs tend to show that the\nMahars were the earliest immigrants from Bombay into the Berar and\nNagpur plain, excluding of course the Gonds and other tribes, who have\npractically been ousted from this tract. And if it is supposed that\nthe Panwars came here in the tenth century, as seems not improbable,\n[115] the Mahars, whom the Panwars recognise as older residents than\nthemselves, must have been earlier still, and were probably numbered\namong the subjects of the old Hindu kingdoms of Bhandak and Nagardhan.\n\n\n\n\n3. Legend of origin\n\nThe Mahars say they are descended from Mahamuni, who was a foundling\npicked up by the goddess Parvati on the banks of the Ganges. At this\ntime beef had not become a forbidden food; and when the divine cow,\nTripad Gayatri, died, the gods determined to cook and eat her body\nand Mahamuni was set to watch the pot boiling. He was as inattentive\nas King Alfred, and a piece of flesh fell out of the pot. Not wishing\nto return the dirty piece to the pot Mahamuni ate it; but the gods\ndiscovered the delinquency, and doomed him and his descendants to\nlive on the flesh of dead cows. [116]\n\n\n\n\n4. Sub-castes\n\nThe caste have a number of subdivisions, generally of a local or\nterritorial type, as Daharia, the residents of Dahar or the Jubbulpore\ncountry, Baonia (52) of Berar, Nemadya or from Nimar, Khandeshi from\nKhandesh, and so on; the Katia group are probably derived from that\ncaste, Katia meaning a spinner; the Barkias are another group whose\nname is supposed to mean spinners of fine thread; while the Lonarias\nare salt-makers. The highest division are the Somvansis or children\nof the moon; these claim to have taken part with the Pandavas against\nthe Kauravas in the war of the Mahabharata, and subsequently to have\nsettled in Maharashtra. [117] But the Somvansi Mahars consent to groom\nhorses, which the Baone and Kosaria subcastes will not do. Baone and\nSomvansi Mahars will take food together, but will not intermarry. The\nLadwan subcaste are supposed to be the offspring of kept women of\nthe Somvansi Mahars; and in Wardha the Dharmik group are also the\ndescendants of illicit unions and their name is satirical, meaning\n'virtuous.' As has been seen, the caste have a subdivision named Katia,\nwhich is the name of a separate Hindustani caste; and other subcastes\nhave names belonging to northern India, as the Mahobia, from Mahoba\nin the United Provinces, the Kosaria or those from Chhattisgarh,\nand the Kanaujia from Kanauj. This may perhaps be taken to indicate\nthat bodies of the Kori and Katia weaving castes of northern India\nhave been amalgamated with the Mahars in Districts where they have\ncome together along the Satpura Hills and Nerbudda Valley.\n\n\n\n\n5. Exogamous groups and marriage customs\n\nThe caste have also a large number of exogamous groups, the names of\nwhich are usually derived from plants, animals, and natural objects. A\nfew may be given as examples out of fifty-seven recorded in the Central\nProvinces, though this is far from representing the real total; all\nthe common animals have septs named after them, as the tiger, cobra,\ntortoise, peacock, jackal, lizard, elephant, lark, scorpion, calf, and\nso on; while more curious names are--Darpan, a mirror; Khanda Phari,\nsword and shield; Undrimaria, a rat-killer; Aglavi, an incendiary;\nAndhare, a blind man; Kutramaria, a dog-killer; Kodu Dudh, sour milk;\nKhobragade, cocoanut-kernel; Bhajikhai, a vegetable eater, and so on.\n\nA man must not marry in his own sept, but may take a wife from his\nmother's or grandmother's. A sister's son may marry a brother's\ndaughter, but not vice versa. A girl who is seduced before marriage\nby a man of her own caste or any higher one can be married as if\nshe were a widow, but if she has a child she must first get some\nother family to take it off her hands. The custom of _Lamjhana_ or\nserving for a wife is recognised, and the expectant bridegroom will\nlive with his father-in-law and work for him for a period varying\nfrom one to five years. The marriage ceremony follows the customary\nHindustani or Maratha ritual [118] as the case may be. In Wardha the\nright foot of the bridegroom and the left one of the bride are placed\ntogether in a new basket, while they stand one on each side of the\nthreshold. They throw five handfuls of coloured rice over each other,\nand each time, as he throws, the bridegroom presses his toe on the\nbride's foot; at the end he catches the girl by the finger and the\nmarriage is complete. In the Central Provinces the Mohturia or caste\npriest officiates at weddings, but in Berar, Mr. Kitts states [119]\nthe caste employ the Brahman Joshi or village priest. But as he will\nnot come to their house they hold the wedding on the day that one\ntakes place among the higher castes, and when the priest gives the\nsignal the dividing cloth (Antarpat) between the couple is withdrawn,\nand the garments of the bride and bridegroom are knotted, while the\nbystanders clap their hands and pelt the couple with coloured grain. As\nthe priest frequently takes up his position on the roof of the house\nfor a wedding it is easy for the Mahars to see him. In Mandla some\nof the lower class of Brahmans will officiate at the weddings of\nMahars. In Chhindwara the Mahars seat the bride and bridegroom in\nthe frame of a loom for the ceremony, and they worship the hide of a\ncow or bullock filled with water. They drink together ceremoniously,\na pot of liquor being placed on a folded cloth and all the guests\nsitting round it in a circle. An elder man then lays a new piece\nof cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup of the liquor\nhimself and hands round a cupful to every person present.\n\nIn Mandla at a wedding the barber comes and cuts the bride's nails,\nand the cuttings are rolled up in dough and placed in a little\nearthen pot beside the marriage-post. The bridegroom's nails and hair\nare similarly cut in his own house and placed in another vessel. A\nmonth or two after the wedding the two little pots are taken out and\nthrown into the Nerbudda. A wedding costs the bridegroom's party\nabout Rs. 40 or Rs. 50 and the bride's about Rs. 25. They have no\ngoing-away ceremony, but the occasion of a girl's coming to maturity\nis known as Bolawan. She is kept apart for six days and given new\nclothes, and the caste-people are invited to a meal. When a woman's\nhusband dies the barber breaks her bangles, and her anklets are taken\noff and given to him as his perquisite. Her brother-in-law or other\nrelative gives her a new white cloth, and she wears this at first,\nand afterwards white or coloured clothes at her pleasure. Her hair\nis not cut, and she may wear _patelas_ or flat metal bangles on the\nforearm and armlets above the elbow, but not other ornaments. A widow\nis under no obligation to marry her first husband's younger brother;\nwhen she marries a stranger he usually pays a sum of about Rs. 30 to\nher parents. When the price has been paid the couple exchange a ring\nand a bangle respectively in token of the agreement. When the woman is\nproceeding to her second husband's house, her old clothes, necklace\nand bangles are thrown into a river or stream and she is given new\nones to wear. This is done to lay the first husband's spirit, which\nmay be supposed to hang about the clothes she wore as his wife, and\nwhen they are thrown away or buried the exorcist mutters spells over\nthem in order to lay the spirit. No music is allowed at the marriage\nof a widow except the crooked trumpet called _singara_. A bachelor\nwho marries a widow must first go through a mock ceremony with a\ncotton-plant, a sword or a ring. Divorce must be effected before the\ncaste _panchayat_ or committee, and if a divorced woman marries again,\nher first husband performs funeral and mourning ceremonies as if\nshe were dead. In Gujarat the practice is much more lax and \"divorce\ncan be obtained almost to an indefinite extent. Before they finally\nsettle down to wedded life most couples have more than once changed\ntheir partners.\" [120] But here also, before the change takes place,\nthere must be a formal divorce recognised by the caste.\n\n\n\n\n6. Funeral rites\n\nThe caste either burn or bury the dead and observe mourning for three\ndays, [121] having their houses whitewashed and their faces shaved. On\nthe tenth day they give a feast to the caste-fellows. On the Akshaya\nTritia  [122] and the 30th day of Kunwar (September) they offer rice\nand cakes to the crows in the names of their ancestors. In Berar\nMr. Kitts writes: [123] \"If a Mahar's child has died, he will on the\nthird day place bread on the grave; if an infant, milk; if an adult,\non the tenth day, with five pice in one hand and five betel-leaves in\nthe other, he goes into the river, dips himself five times and throws\nthese things away; he then places five lighted lamps on the tomb,\nand after these simple ceremonies gets himself shaved as though he\nwere an orthodox Hindu.\"\n\n\n\n\n7. Childbirth\n\nIn Mandla the mother is secluded at childbirth in a separate house if\none is available, and if not they fence in a part of the veranda for\nher use with bamboo screens. After the birth the mother must remain\nimpure until the barber comes and colours her toe-nails and draws a\nline round her feet with red _mahur_ powder. This is indispensable,\nand if the barber is not immediately available she must wait until his\nservices can be obtained. When the navel-string drops it is buried\nin the place on which the mother sat while giving birth, and when\nthis has been done the purification may be effected. The Dhobi is\nthen called to wash the clothes of the household, and their earthen\npots are thrown away. The head of the newborn child is shaved clean,\nas the birth-hair is considered to be impure, and the hair is wrapped\nup in dough and thrown into a river.\n\n\n\n\n8. Names\n\nA child is named on the seventh or twelfth day after its birth, the\nname being chosen by the Mohturia or caste headman. The ordinary Hindu\nnames of deities for men and sacred rivers or pious and faithful wives\nfor women are employed; instances of the latter being Ganga, Godavari,\nJamuna, Sita, Laxmi and Radha. Opprobrious names are sometimes given\nto avert ill-luck, as Damdya (purchased for eight cowries), Kauria\n(a cowrie), Bhikaria (a beggar), Ghusia (from _ghus_, a mallet for\nstamping earth), Harchatt (refuse), Akali (born in famine-time),\nLangra (lame), Lula (having an arm useless); or the name of another\nlow caste is given, as Bhangi (sweeper), Domari (Dom sweeper), Chamra\n(tanner), Basori (basket-maker). Not infrequently children are named\nafter the month or day when they were born, as Pusau, born in Pus\n(December), Chaitu, born in Chait (March), Manglu (born on Tuesday),\nBuddhi (born on Wednesday), Sukka (born on Friday), Sanichra (born\non Saturday). One boy was called Mulua or 'Sold' (_mol-dena_). His\nmother had no other children, so sold him for one pice (farthing)\nto a Gond woman. After five or six months, as he did not get fat,\nhis name was changed to Jhuma or 'lean,' probably as an additional\nmeans of averting ill-luck. Another boy was named Ghurka, from the\nnoise he made when being suckled. A child born in the absence of its\nfather is called Sonwa, or one born in an empty house.\n\n\n\n\n9. Religion\n\nThe great body of the caste worship the ordinary deities Devi,\nHanuman, Dulha Deo, and others, though of course they are not allowed\nto enter Hindu temples. They principally observe the Holi and Dasahra\nfestivals and the days of the new and full moon. On the festival of\nNag-Panchmi they make an image of a snake with flour and sugar and\neat it. At the sacred Ambala tank at Ramtek the Mahars have a special\nbathing-ghat set apart for them, and they may enter the citadel and\ngo as far as the lowest step leading up to the temples; here they\nworship the god and think that he accepts their offerings. They are\nthus permitted to traverse the outer enclosures of the citadel, which\nare also sacred. In Wardha the Mahars may not touch the shrines of\nMahadeo, but must stand before them with their hands joined. They may\nsometimes deposit offerings with their own hands on those of Bhimsen,\noriginally a Gond god, and Mata Devi, the goddess of smallpox.\n\n\n\n\n10. Adoption of foreign religions\n\nIn Berar and Bombay the Mahars have some curious forms of belief. \"Of\nthe confusion which obtains in the Mahar theogony the names of six\nof their gods will afford a striking example. While some Mahars\nworship Vithoba, the god of Pandharpur, others revere Varuna's twin\nsons, Meghoni and Deghoni, and his four messengers, Gabriel, Azrael,\nMichael and Anadin, all of whom they say hail from Pandharpur.\" [124]\nThe names of archangels thus mixed up with Hindu deities may most\nprobably have been obtained from the Muhammadans, as they include\nAzrael; but in Gujarat their religion appears to have been borrowed\nfrom Christianity. \"The Karia Dhedas have some rather remarkable\nbeliefs. In the Satya Yug the Dhedas say they were called Satyas;\nin the Dvapar Yug they were called Meghas; in the Treta Yug, Elias;\nand in the Kali Yug, Dhedas. The name Elias came, they say, from\na prophet Elia, and of him their religious men have vague stories;\nsome of them especially about a famine that lasted for three years\nand a half, easily fitting into the accounts of Elijah in the Jewish\nScriptures. They have also prophecies of a high future in store for\ntheir tribe. The king or leader of the new era, Kuyam Rai by name,\nwill marry a Dheda woman and will raise the caste to the position of\nBrahmans. They hold religious meetings or _ochhavas_, and at these\nwith great excitement sing songs full of hope of the good things in\nstore for them. When a man wishes to hold an _ochhava_ he invites\nthe whole caste, and beginning about eight in the evening they often\nspend the night in singing. Except perhaps for a few sweetmeats\nthere is no eating or drinking, and the excitement is altogether\nreligious and musical. The singers are chiefly religious Dhedas or\nBhagats, and the people join in a refrain '_Avore Kuyam Rai Raja_',\n'Oh! come Kuyam Rai, our king.'\" [125] It seems that the attraction\nwhich outside faiths exercise on the Mahars is the hope held out of\nameliorating the social degradation under which they labour, itself\nan outcome of the Hindu theory of caste. Hence they turn to Islam,\nor to what is possibly a degraded version of the Christian story,\nbecause these religions do not recognise caste, and hold out a promise\nto the Mahar of equality with his co-religionists, and in the case of\nChristianity of a recompense in the world to come for the sufferings\nwhich he has to endure in this one. Similarly, the Mahars are the\nwarmest adherents of the Muhammadan saint Sheikh Farid, and flock\nto the fairs held in his honour at Girar in Wardha and Partapgarh in\nBhandara, where he is supposed to have slain a couple of giants. [126]\nIn Berar [127] also they revere Muhammadan tombs. The remains of the\nMuhammadan fort and tank on Pimpardol hill in Jalgaon taluk are now\none of the sacred places of the Mahars, though to the Muhammadans they\nhave no religious associations. Even at present Mahars are inclined to\nadopt Islam, and a case was recently reported when a body of twenty\nof them set out to do so, but turned back on being told that they\nwould not be admitted to the mosque. [128] A large proportion of the\nMahars are also adherents of the Kabirpanthi sect, one of the main\ntenets of whose founder was the abolition of caste. And it is from\nthe same point of view that Christianity appeals to them, enabling\nEuropean missionaries to draw a large number of converts from this\ncaste. But even the Hindu attitude towards the Mahars is not one of\nunmixed intolerance. Once in three or four years in the southern\nDistricts, the Panwars, Mahars, Pankas and other castes celebrate\nthe worship of Narayan Deo or Vishnu, the officiating priest being a\nMahar. Members of all castes come to the Panwar's house at night for\nthe ceremony, and a vessel of water is placed at the door in which they\nwash their feet and hands as they enter; and when inside they are all\nconsidered to be equal, and they sit in a line and eat the same food,\nand bind wreaths of flowers round their heads. After the cock crows the\nequality of status is ended, and no one who goes out of the house can\nenter again. At present also many educated Brahmans recognise fully\nthe social evils resulting from the degraded position of the Mahars,\nand are doing their best to remove the caste prejudices against them.\n\n\n\n\n11. Superstitions\n\nThey have various spells to cure a man possessed of an evil spirit,\nor stung by a snake or scorpion, or likely to be in danger from tigers\nor wild bears; and in the Morsi taluk of Berar it is stated that they\nso greatly fear the effect of an enemy writing their name on a piece of\npaper and tying it to a sweeper's broom that the threat to do this can\nbe used with great effect by their creditors. [129] To drive out the\nevil eye they make a small human image of powdered turmeric and throw\nit into boiled water, mentioning as they do so the names of any persons\nwhom they suspect of having cast the evil eye upon them. Then the pot\nof water is taken out at midnight of a Wednesday or a Sunday and placed\nupside down on some cross-roads with a shoe over it, and the sufferer\nshould be cured. Their belief about the sun and moon is that an old\nwoman had two sons who were invited by the gods to dinner. Before they\nleft she said to them that as they were going out there would be no one\nto cook, so they must remember to bring back something for her. The\nelder brother forgot what his mother had said and took nothing away\nwith him; but the younger remembered her and brought back something\nfrom the feast. So when they came back the old woman cursed the elder\nbrother and said that as he had forgotten her he should be the sun\nand scorch and dry up all vegetation with his beams; but the younger\nbrother should be the moon and make the world cool and pleasant at\nnight. The story is so puerile that it is only worth reproduction\nas a specimen of the level of a Mahar's intelligence. The belief in\nevil spirits appears to be on the decline, as a result of education\nand accumulated experience. Mr. C. Brown states that in Malkapur of\nBerar the Mahars say that there are no wandering spirits in the hills\nby night of such a nature that people need fear them. There are only\ntiny _pari_ or fairies, small creatures in human form, but with the\npower of changing their appearance, who do no harm to any one.\n\n\n\n\n12. Social rules\n\nWhen an outsider is to be received into the community all the hair on\nhis face is shaved, being wetted with the urine of a boy belonging\nto the group to which he seeks admission. Mahars will eat all kinds\nof food including the flesh of crocodiles and rats, but some of them\nabstain from beef. There is nothing peculiar in their dress except that\nthe men wear a black woollen thread round their necks. [130] The women\nmay be recognised by their bold carriage, the absence of nose-rings and\nthe large irregular dabs of vermilion on the forehead. Mahar women do\nnot, as a rule, wear the _choli_ or breast-cloth. An unmarried girl\ndoes not put on vermilion nor draw her cloth over her head. Women\nmust be tattooed with dots on the face, representations of scorpions,\nflowers and snakes on the arms and legs, and some dots to represent\nflies on the hands. It is the custom for a girl's father or mother\nor father-in-law to have her tattooed in one place on the hand or\narm immediately on her marriage. Then when girls are sitting together\nthey will show this mark and say, 'My mother or father-in-law had this\ndone,' as the case may be. Afterwards if a woman so desires she gets\nherself tattooed on her other limbs. If an unmarried girl or widow\nbecomes with child by a man of the Mahar caste or any higher one she\nis subjected after delivery to a semblance of the purification by fire\nknown as Agnikasht. She is taken to the bank of a river and there five\nstalks of juari are placed round her and burnt. Having fasted all day,\nat night she gives a feast to the caste-men and eats with them. If she\noffends with a man of lower caste she is finally expelled. Temporary\nexclusion from caste is imposed for taking food or drink from the\nhands of a Mang or Chamar or for being imprisoned in jail, or on a\nMahar man if he lives with a woman of any higher caste; the penalty\nbeing the shaving of a man's face or cutting off a lock of a woman's\nhair, together with a feast to the caste. In the last case it is said\nthat the man is not readmitted until he has put the woman away. If a\nman touches a dead dog, cat, pony or donkey, he has to be shaved and\ngive a feast to the caste. And if a dog or cat dies in his house,\nor a litter of puppies or kittens is born, the house is considered\nto be defiled; all the earthen pots must be thrown away, the whole\nhouse washed and cleaned and a caste feast given. The most solemn oath\nof a Mahar is by a cat or dog and in Yeotmal by a black dog. [131]\nIn Berar, the same paper states, the pig is the only animal regarded\nas unclean, and they must on no account touch it. This is probably\nowing to Muhammadan influence. The worst social sin which a Mahar can\ncommit is to get vermin in a wound, which is known as Deogan or being\nsmitten by God. While the affliction continues he is quite ostracised,\nno one going to his house or giving him food or water; and when it\nis cured the Mahars of ten or twelve surrounding villages assemble\nand he must give a feast to the whole community. The reason for this\ncalamity being looked upon with such peculiar abhorrence is obscure,\nbut the feeling about it is general among Hindus.\n\n\n\n\n13. Social subjection\n\nThe social position of the Mahars is one of distressing\ndegradation. Their touch is considered to defile and they live in\na quarter by themselves outside the village. They usually have a\nseparate well assigned to them from which to draw water, and if\nthe village has only one well the Mahars and Hindus take water\nfrom different sides of it. Mahar boys were not until recently\nallowed to attend school with Hindu boys, and when they could not\nbe refused admission to Government schools, they were allotted a\nsmall corner of the veranda and separately taught. When Dher boys\nwere first received into the Chanda High School a mutiny took place\nand the school was boycotted for some time. The people say, '_Mahar\nsarva jaticha bahar_' or 'The Mahar is outside all castes.' Having\na bad name, they are also given unwarrantably a bad character; and\n'_Mahar jaticha_' is a phrase used for a man with no moral or kindly\nfeelings. But in theory at least, as conforming to Hinduism, they\nwere supposed to be better than Muhammadans and other unbelievers,\nas shown by the following story from the Rasmala: [132] A Muhammadan\nsovereign asked his Hindu minister which was the lowest caste. The\nminister begged for leisure to consider his reply and, having obtained\nit, went to where the Dhedas lived and said to them: \"You have given\noffence to the Padishah. It is his intention to deprive you of caste\nand make you Muhammadans.\" The Dhedas, in the greatest terror, pushed\noff in a body to the sovereign's palace, and standing at a respectful\ndistance shouted at the top of their lungs: \"If we've offended your\nmajesty, punish us in some other way than that. Beat us, fine us, hang\nus if you like, but don't make us Muhammadans.\" The Padishah smiled,\nand turning to his minister who sat by him affecting to hear nothing,\nsaid, 'So the lowest caste is that to which I belong.' But of course\nthis cannot be said to represent the general view of the position of\nMuhammadans in Hindu eyes; they, like the English, are regarded as\ndistinguished foreigners, who, if they consented to be proselytised,\nwould probably in time become Brahmans or at least Rajputs. A repartee\nof a Mahar to a Brahman abusing him is: The Brahman, '_Jare Maharya_'\nor 'Avaunt, ye Mahar'; the Mahar, '_Kona diushi nein tumchi goburya_'\nor 'Some day I shall carry cowdung cakes for you (at his funeral)';\nas in the Maratha Districts the Mahar is commonly engaged for carrying\nfuel to the funeral pyre. Under native rule the Mahar was subjected\nto painful degradations. He might not spit on the ground lest a Hindu\nshould be polluted by touching it with his foot, but had to hang an\nearthen pot round his neck to hold his spittle. [133] He was made to\ndrag a thorny branch with him to brush out his footsteps, and when a\nBrahman came by had to lie at a distance on his face lest his shadow\nmight fall on the Brahman. In Gujarat [134] they were not allowed\nto tuck up the loin-cloth but had to trail it along the ground. Even\nquite recently in Bombay a Mahar was not allowed to talk loudly in the\nstreet while a well-to-do Brahman or his wife was dining in one of the\nhouses. In the reign of Sidhraj, the great Solanki Raja of Gujarat,\nthe Dheras were for a time at any rate freed from such disabilities\nby the sacrifice of one of their number. [135] The great tank at\nAnhilvada Patan in Gujarat had been built by the Ods (navvies),\nbut Sidhraj desired Jusma Odni, one of their wives, and sought to\npossess her. But the Ods fled with her and when he pursued her she\nplunged a dagger into her stomach, cursing Sidhraj and saying that\nhis tank should never hold water. The Raja, returning to Anhilvada,\nfound the tank dry, and asked his minister what should be done that\nwater might remain in the tank. The Pardhan, after consulting the\nastrologers, said that if a man's life were sacrificed the curse might\nbe removed. At that time the Dhers or outcastes were compelled to\nlive at a distance from the towns; they wore untwisted cotton round\ntheir heads and a stag's horn as a mark hanging from their waists so\nthat people might be able to avoid touching them. The Raja commanded\nthat a Dher named Mayo should be beheaded in the tank that water might\nremain. Mayo died, singing the praises of Vishnu, and the water after\nthat began to remain in the tank. At the time of his death Mayo had\nbegged as a reward for his sacrifice that the Dhers should not in\nfuture be compelled to live at a distance from the towns nor wear\na distinctive dress. The Raja assented and these privileges were\nafterwards permitted to the Dhers for the sake of Mayo.\n\n\n\n\n14. Their position improving\n\nFrom the painful state of degradation described above the Mahars are\ngradually being rescued by the levelling and liberalising tendency\nof British rule, which must be to these depressed classes an untold\nblessing. With the right of acquiring property they have begun to\nassert themselves, and the extension of railways more especially\nhas a great effect in abolishing caste distinctions. The Brahman who\ncannot afford a second-class fare must either not travel or take the\nrisk of rubbing shoulders with a Mahar in a third-class carriage,\nand if he chooses to consider himself defiled will have to go hungry\nand thirsty until he gets the opportunity of bathing at his journey's\nend. The observance of the rules of impurity thus becomes so irksome\nthat they are gradually falling into abeyance.\n\n\n\n\n15. Occupation\n\nThe principal occupations of the Mahars are the weaving of coarse\ncountry cloth and general labour. They formerly spun their own\nyarn, and their fabrics were preferred by the cultivators for their\ndurability. But practically all thread is now bought from the mills;\nand the weaving industry is also in a depressed condition. Many\nMahars have now taken to working in the mills, and earn better wages\nthan they could at home. In Bombay a number of them are employed\nas police-constables. [136] They are usually the village watchmen\nof the Maratha Districts, and in this capacity were remunerated\nby contributions of grain from the tenants, the hides and flesh of\nanimals dying in the village, and plots of rent-free land. For these\nhave now been substituted in the Central Provinces a cash payment\nfixed by Government. In Berar the corresponding official is known as\nthe Kamdar Mahar. Mr. Kitts writes of him: [137] As fourth _balutedar_\non the village establishment the Mahar holds a post of great importance\nto himself and convenience to the village. To the patel (headman),\npatwari and big men of the village, he acts often as a personal\nservant and errand-runner; for a smaller cultivator he will also at\ntimes carry a torch or act as escort. He had formerly to clean the\nhorses of travellers, and was also obliged, if required, to carry their\nbaggage. [138] For the services which he thus renders as _pandhewar_\nthe Mahar receives from the cultivators certain grain-dues. When\nthe cut juari is lying in the field the Mahars go round and beg for\na measure of the ears (_bhik payali_). But the regular payment is\nmade when the grain has been threshed. Another duty performed by\nthe Mahar is the removal of the carcases of dead animals. The flesh\nis eaten and the skin retained as wage for the work. The patel and\nhis relatives, however, usually claim to have the skins of their own\nanimals returned; and in some places where half the agriculturists of\nthe village claim kinship with the patel, the Mahars feel and resent\nthe loss. A third duty is the opening of grain-pits, the noxious gas\nfrom which sometimes produces asphyxia. For this the Mahars receive the\ntainted grain. They also get the clothes from a corpse which is laid\non the pyre, and the pieces of the burnt wood which remain when the\nbody has been consumed. Recent observations in the Nagpur country show\nthat the position of the Mahars is improving. In Nagpur it is stated:\n[139] \"Looked down upon as outcastes by the Hindus they are hampered\nby no sense of dignity or family prejudice. They are fond of drink,\nbut are also hard workers. They turn their hands to anything and\neverything, but the great majority are agricultural labourers. At\npresent the rural Mahar is in the background. If there is only one\nwell in the village he may not use it, but has to get his water where\nhe can. His sons are consigned to a corner in the village school, and\nthe schoolmaster, if not superior to caste prejudices, discourages\ntheir attendance. Nevertheless, Mahars will not remain for years\ndowntrodden in this fashion, and are already pushing themselves up\nfrom this state of degradation. In some places they have combined to\ndig wells, and in Nagpur have opened a school for members of their\nown community. Occasionally a Mahar is the most prosperous man in the\nvillage. Several of them are moneylenders in a small way, and a few\nare malguzars.\" Similarly in Bhandara Mr. Napier writes that a new\nclass of small creditors has arisen from the Mahar caste. These people\nhave given up drinking, and lead an abstemious life, wishing to raise\nthemselves in social estimation. Twenty or more village kotwars were\nfound to be carrying on moneylending transactions on a small scale,\nand in addition many of the Mahars in towns were exceedingly well off.\n\n\n\n\n\nMahli\n\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste\n\n_Mahli, Mahili_. [140]--A small caste of labourers, palanquin-bearers\nand workers in bamboo belonging to Chota Nagpur. In 1911 about 300\nMahlis were returned from the Feudatory States in this tract. They\nare divided into five subcastes: the Bansphor-Mahli, who make baskets\nand do all kinds of bamboo-work; the Pahar-Mahli, basket-makers and\ncultivators; the Sulunkhi, cultivators and labourers; the Tanti who\ncarry litters; and the Mahli-Munda, who belong to Lohardaga. Sir\nH. Risley states that a comparison of the totemistic sections of the\nMahlis given in the Appendix to his _Tribes and Castes_ with those\nof the Santals seems to warrant the conjecture that the main body of\nthe caste are merely a branch of the Santals. Four or five septs,\nHansda a wild goose, Hemron, Murmu the nilgai, Saren or Sarihin,\nand perhaps Tudu or Turu are common to the two tribes. The Mahlis are\nalso closely connected with the Mundas. Seven septs of the main body\nof the Mahlis, Dumriar the wild fig, Gundli a kind of grain, Kerketa\na bird, Mahukal a bird (long-tail), Tirki, Tunduar and Turu are also\nMunda septs; and the three septs given of the Mahli-Munda subcaste,\nBhuktuar, Lang Chenre, and Sanga are all found among the Mundas;\nwhile four septs, Hansda a wild goose, Induar a kind of eel, as well\nas Kerketa and Tirki, already mentioned, are common to the Mahlis\nand Turis who are also recognised by Sir H. Risley as an offshoot of\nthe Munda tribe with the same occupation as the Mahlis, of making\nbaskets. [141] The Santals and Mundas were no doubt originally one\ntribe, and it seems that the Mahlis are derived from both of them,\nand have become a separate caste owing to their having settled in\nvillages more or less of the open country, and worked as labourers,\npalanquin-bearers and bamboo-workers much in the same manner as the\nTuris. Probably they work for hire for Hindus, and hence their status\nmay have fallen lower than that of the parent tribe, who remained\nin their own villages in the jungles. Colonel Dalton notes [142]\nthat the gipsy Berias use Manjhi and Mahali as titles, and it is\npossible that some of the Mahlis may have joined the Beria community.\n\n\n\n\n2. Social customs\n\nOnly a very few points from Sir H. Risley's account of the caste need\nbe recorded here, and for further details the reader may be referred\nto his article in the _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. A bride-price\nof Rs. 5 is customary, but it varies according to the means of the\nparties. On the wedding day, before the usual procession starts to\nescort the bridegroom to the bride's house, he is formally married to\na mango tree, while the bride goes through the same ceremony with a\nmahua. At the entrance to the bride's house the bridegroom, riding on\nthe shoulders of some male relation and bearing on his head a vessel\nof water, is received by the bride's brother, equipped in similar\nfashion, and the two cavaliers sprinkle one another with water. At\nthe wedding the bridegroom touches the bride's forehead five times\nwith vermilion and presents her with an iron armlet. The remarriage\nof widows and divorce are permitted. When a man divorces his wife he\ngives her a rupee and takes away the iron armlet which was given her\nat her wedding. The Mahlis will admit members of any higher caste into\nthe community. The candidate for admission must pay a small sum to the\ncaste headman, and give a feast to the Mahlis of the neighbourhood, at\nwhich he must eat a little of the leavings of food left by each guest\non his leaf-plate. After this humiliating rite he could not, of course,\nbe taken back into his own caste, and is bound to remain a Mahli.\n\n\n\n\n\nMajhwar\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Origin of the tribe_.\n    2. _The Mirzapur Majhwars derived from the Gonds_.\n    3. _Connection with the Kawars_.\n    4. _Exogamy and totemism_.\n    5. _Marriage customs_.\n    6. _Birth and funeral rites_.\n    7. _Religious dance_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin of the tribe\n\n_Majhwar, Manjhi, Majhia_. [143]--A small mixed tribe who have\napparently originated from the Gonds, Mundas and Kawars. About 14,000\nMajhwars were returned in 1911 from the Raigarh, Sarguja and Udaipur\nStates. The word Manjhi means the headman of a tribal subdivision,\nbeing derived from the Sanskrit _madhya_, or he who is in the\ncentre. [144] In Bengal Manjhi has the meaning of the steersman of a\nboat or a ferryman, and this may have been its original application,\nas the steersman might well be he who sat in the centre. [145]\nWhen a tribal party makes an expedition by boat, the leader would\nnaturally occupy the position of steersman, and hence it is easy to\nsee how the term Manjhi came to be applied to the leader or head of\nthe clan and to be retained as a title for general use. Sir H. Risley\ngives it as a title of the Kewats or fishermen and many other castes\nand tribes in Bengal. But it is also the name for a village headman\namong the Santals, and whether this meaning is derived from the\nprior signification of steersman or is of independent origin is,\nuncertain. In Raigarh Mr. Hira Lal states that the Manjhis or Majhias\nare fishermen and are sometimes classed, with the Kewats. They appear\nto be Kols who have taken to fishing and, being looked down on by\nthe other Kols on this account, took the name of Majhia or Manjhi,\nwhich they now derive from Machh, a fish. \"The appearance of the\nMajhias whom I saw and examined was typically aboriginal and their\nlanguage was a curious mixture of Mundari, Santal and Korwa, though\nthey stoutly repudiated connection with any of these tribes. They\ncould count only up to three in their own language, using the Santal\nwords _mit, baria, pia_. Most of their terms for parts of the body\nwere derived from Mundari, but they also used some Santali and Korwa\nwords. In their own language they called themselves Hor, which means\na man, and is the tribal name of the Mundas.\"\n\n\n\n\n2. The Mirzapur Majhwars derived from the Gonds\n\nOn the other hand the Majhwars of Mirzapur, of whom Mr. Crooke gives a\ndetailed and interesting account, clearly appear to be derived from the\nGonds. They have five subdivisions, which they say are descended from\nthe five sons of their first Gond ancestor. These are Poiya, Tekam,\nMarai, Chika and Oiku. Four of these names are those of Gond clans,\nand each of the five subtribes is further divided into a number of\nexogamous septs, of which a large proportion bear typical Gond names,\nas Markam, Netam, Tekam, Masham, Sindram and so on. The Majhwars\nof Mirzapur also, like the Gonds, employ Patharis or Pardhans as\ntheir priests, and there can thus be no doubt that they are mainly\nderived from the Gonds. They would appear to have come to Mirzapur\nfrom Sarguja and the Vindhyan and Satpura hills, as they say that\ntheir ancestors ruled from the forts of Mandla, Garha in Jubbulpore,\nSarangarh, Raigarh and other places in the Central Provinces. [146]\nThey worship a deified Ahir, whose legs were cut off in a fight with\nsome Raja, since when he has become a troublesome ghost. \"He now lives\non the Ahlor hill in Sarguja, where his petrified body may still be\nseen, and the Manjhis go there to worship him. His wife lives on\nthe Jhoba hill in Sarguja. Nobody but a Baiga dares to ascend the\nhill, and even the Raja of Sarguja when he visits the neighbourhood\nsacrifices a black goat. Manjhis believe that if these two deities are\nduly propitiated they can give anything they need.\" The story makes\nit probable that the ancestors of these Manjhis dwelt in Sarguja. The\nManjhis of Mirzapur are not boatmen or fishermen and have no traditions\nof having ever been so. They are a backward tribe and practise shifting\ncultivation on burnt-out patches of forest. It is possible that they\nmay have abandoned their former aquatic profession on leaving the\nneighbourhood of the rivers, or they may have simply adopted the name,\nespecially since it has the meaning of a village headman and is used\nas a title by the Santals and other castes and tribes. Similarly\nthe term Munda, which at first meant the headman of a Kol village,\nis now the common name for the Kol tribe in Chota Nagpur.\n\n\n\n\n3. Connection with the Kawars\n\nAgain the Manjhis appear to be connected with the Kawar tribe. Mr. Hira\nLal states that in Raigarh they will take food with Kewats, Gonds,\nKawars and Rawats or Ahirs, but they will not eat rice and pulse,\nthe most important and sacred food, with any outsiders except Kawars;\nand this they explain by the statement that their ancestors and those\nof the Kawars were connected. In Mirzapur the Kaurai Ahirs will take\nfood and water from the Majhwars, and these Ahirs are not improbably\nderived from the Kawars. [147] Here the Majhwars also hold an oath\ntaken when touching a broadsword as most binding, and the Kawars\nof the Central Provinces worship a sword as one of their principal\ndeities. [148] Not improbably the Manjhis may include some Kewats,\nas this caste also use Manjhi for a title; and Manjhi is both a\nsubcaste and title of the Khairwars. The general conclusion from the\nabove evidence appears to be that the caste is a very heterogeneous\ngroup whose most important constituents come from the Gond, Munda,\nSantal and Kawar tribes. Whether the original bond of connection\namong the various people who call themselves Manjhi was the common\noccupation of boating and fishing is a doubtful point.\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamy and totemism\n\nThe Manjhis of Sarguja, like those of Raigarh, appear to be of Munda\nand Santal rather than of Gond origin. They have no subdivisions,\nbut a number of totemistic septs. Those of the Bhainsa or buffalo sept\nare split into the Lotan and Singhan subsepts, _lotan_ meaning a place\nwhere buffaloes wallow and _singh_ a horn. The Lotan Bhainsa sept say\nthat their ancestor was born in a place where a buffalo had wallowed,\nand the Singhan Bhainsa that their ancestor was born while his mother\nwas holding the horn of a buffalo. These septs consider the buffalo\nsacred and will not yoke it to a plough or cart, though they will drink\nits milk. They think that if one of them killed a buffalo their clan\nwould become extinct. The Baghani Majhwars, named after the _bagh_\nor tiger, think that a tiger will not attack any member of their sept\nunless he has committed an offence entailing temporary excommunication\nfrom caste. Until this offence has been expiated his relationship with\nthe tiger as head of his sept is in abeyance and the tiger will eat\nhim as he would any other stranger. If a tiger meets a member of the\nsept who is free from sin, he will run away. When the Baghani sept\nhear that any Majhwar has killed a tiger they purify their houses by\nwashing them with cowdung and water. Members of the Khoba or peg sept\nwill not make a peg or drive one into the ground. Those of the Dumar\n[149] or fig-tree sept say that their first ancestor was born under\nthis tree. They consider the tree to be sacred and never eat its\nfruit, and worship it once a year. Members of the sept named after\nthe _shiroti_ tree worship the tree every Sunday.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage customs.\n\nMarriage within the sept is prohibited and for three generations\nbetween persons related through females. Marriage is adult, but matches\nare arranged by the parents of the parties. At betrothal the elders of\nthe caste must be regaled with _cheora_ or parched rice and liquor. A\nbride-price of Rs. 10 is paid, but a suitor who cannot afford this may\ndo service to his father-in-law for one or two years in lieu of it. At\nthe wedding the bridegroom puts a copper ring on the bride's finger and\nmarks her forehead with vermilion. The couple walk seven times round\nthe sacred post, and seven little heaps of rice and pieces of turmeric\nare arranged so that they may touch one of them with their big toes at\neach round. The bride's mother and seven other women place some rice\nin the skirts of their cloths and the bridegroom throws this over his\nshoulder. After this he picks up the rice and distributes it to all\nthe women present, and the bride goes through the same ceremony. The\nrice is no doubt an emblem of fertility, and its presentation to the\nwomen may perhaps be expected to render them fertile.\n\n\n\n\n6. Birth and funeral rites\n\nOn the birth of a child the navel-string is buried in front of the\nhouse. When a man is at the point of death they place a little\ncooked rice and curds in his mouth so that he may not go hungry\nto the other world, in view of the fact that he has probably eaten\nvery little during his illness. Some cotton and rice are also placed\nnear the head of the corpse in the grave so that he may have food\nand clothing in the next world. Mourning is observed for five days,\nand at the end of this period the mourners should have their hair cut,\nbut if they cannot get it done on this day, the rite may be performed\non the same day in the following year.\n\n\n\n\n7. Religious dance\n\nThe tribe worship Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, and also make\nofferings to their ploughs at the time of eating the new rice and\nat the Holi and Dasahra festivals. They dance the _karma_ dance in\nthe months of Asarh and Kunwar or at the beginning and end of the\nrains. When the time has come the Gaontia headman or the Baiga priest\nfetches a branch of the _karma_ tree from the forest and sets it up in\nhis yard as a notice and invitation to the village. After sunset all\nthe people, men, women and children, assemble and dance round the tree,\nto the accompaniment of a drum known as Mandar. The dancing continues\nall night, and in the morning the host plucks up the branch of the\n_karma_ tree and consigns it to a stream, at the same time regaling\nthe dancers with rice, pulse and a goat. This dance is a religious\nrite in honour of Karam Raja, and is believed to keep sickness from\nthe village and bring it prosperity. The tribe eat flesh, but abstain\nfrom beef and pork. Girls are tattooed on arrival at puberty with\nrepresentations of the _tulsi_ or basil, four arrow-heads in the form\nof a cross, and the foot-ornament known as _pairi_.\n\n\nMal\n\n_Mal, Male, Maler, Mal Paharia._ [150]--A tribe of the Rajmahal\nhills, who may be an isolated branch of the Savars. In 1911 about\n1700 Mals were returned from the Chota Nagpur Feudatory States\nrecently transferred to the Central Provinces. The customs of the\nMals resemble those of the other hill tribes of Chota Nagpur. Sir\nH. Risley states that the average stature is low, the complexion\ndark and the figure short and sturdy. The following particulars are\nreproduced from Colonel Dalton's account of the tribe:\n\n\"The hill lads and lasses are represented as forming very romantic\nattachments, exhibiting the spectacle of real lovers 'sighing\nlike furnaces,' and the cockney expression of 'keeping company'\nis peculiarly applicable to their courtship. If separated only for\nan hour they are miserable, but there are apparently few obstacles\nto the enjoyment of each other's society, as they work together, go\nto market together, eat together, and sleep together! But if it be\nfound that they have overstepped the prescribed limits of billing and\ncooing, the elders declare them to be out of the pale, and the blood\nof animals must be shed at their expense to wash away the indiscretion\nand obtain their readmission into society.\n\n\"On the day fixed for a marriage the bridegroom with his relations\nproceeds to the bride's father's house, where they are seated on cots\nand mats, and after a repast the bride's father takes his daughter's\nhand and places it in that of the bridegroom, and exhorts him to be\nloving and kind to the girl that he thus makes over to him. The groom\nthen with the little finger of his right hand marks the girl on the\nforehead with vermilion, and then, linking the same finger with the\nlittle finger of her right hand, he leads her away to his own house.\n\n\"The god of hunting is called Autga, and at the close of every\nsuccessful expedition a thank-offering is made to him. This is the\nfavourite pastime, and one of the chief occupations of the Malers,\nand they have their game laws, which are strictly enforced. If a man,\nlosing an animal which he has killed or wounded, seeks for assistance\nto find it, those who aid are entitled to one-half of the animal when\nfound. Another person accidentally coming on dead or wounded game and\nappropriating it, is subjected to a severe fine. The Manjhi or headman\nof the village is entitled to a share of all game killed by any of his\npeople. Any one who kills a hunting dog is fined twelve rupees. Certain\nparts of an animal are tabooed to females as food, and if they infringe\nthis law Autga is offended and game becomes scarce. When the hunters\nare unsuccessful it is often assumed that this is the cause, and the\naugur never fails to point out the transgressing female, who must\nprovide a propitiatory offering. The Malers use poisoned arrows,\nand when they kill game the flesh round the wound is cut off and\nthrown away as unfit for food. Cats are under the protection of the\ngame laws, and a person found guilty of killing one is made to give\na small quantity of salt to every child in the village.\n\n\"I nowhere find any description of the dances and songs of the\nPaharias. Mr. Atkinson found the Malers extremely reticent on the\nsubject, and with difficulty elicited that they had a dancing-place\nin every village, but it is only when under the influence of God\nBacchus that they indulge in the amusement. All accounts agree in\nascribing to the Paharias an immoderate devotion to strong drink, and\nBuchanan tells us that when they are dancing a person goes round with\na pitcher of the home-brew and, without disarranging the performers,\nwho are probably linked together by circling or entwining arms, pours\ninto the mouth of each, male and female, a refreshing and invigorating\ndraught. The beverage is the universal _pachwai_, that is, fermented\ngrain. The grain, either maize, rice or _janera_ (_Holcus sorghum_),\nis boiled and spread out on a mat to cool. It is then mixed with a\nferment of vegetables called _takar_, and kept in a large earthen\nvessel for some days; warm water may at any time be mixed with it,\nand in a few hours it ferments and is ready for use.\"\n\nWhen the attention of English officers was first drawn to them in 1770\nthe Males of the Rajmahal hills were a tribe of predatory freebooters,\nraiding and terrorising the plain country from the foot of the hills to\nthe Ganges. It was Mr. Augustus Cleveland, Collector of Bhagalpur, who\nreduced them to order by entering into engagements with the chiefs for\nthe prevention and punishment of offences among their own tribesmen,\nconfirming them in their estates and jurisdiction, and enrolling a\ncorps of Males, which became the Bhagalpur Hill Rangers, and was not\ndisbanded till the Mutiny. Mr. Cleveland died at the age of 29, having\nsuccessfully demonstrated the correct method of dealing with the wild\nforest tribes, and the Governor-General in Council erected a tomb and\ninscription to his memory, which was the original of that described\nby Mr. Kipling in _The Tomb of his Ancestors_, though the character\nof the first John Chinn in the story was copied from Outram. [151]\n\n\nMala\n\n_Mala._--A low Telugu caste of labourers and cotton-weavers. They\nnumbered nearly 14,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911,\nbelonging mainly to the Chanda, Nagpur, Jubbulpore, and Yeotmal\nDistricts, and the Bastar State. The Marathas commonly call them Telugu\nDhers, but they themselves prefer to be known as 'Telangi Sadar Bhoi,'\nwhich sounds a more respectable designation. They are also known as\nMannepuwar and Netkani. They are the Pariahs of the Telugu country,\nand are regarded as impure and degraded. They may be distinguished\nby their manner of tying the head-cloth more or less in a square\nshape, and by their loin-cloths, which are worn very loose and not\nknotted. Those who worship Narsinghswami, the man-lion incarnation\nof Vishnu, are called Namaddar, while the followers of Mahadeo are\nknown as Lingadars. The former paint their foreheads with vertical\nlines of sandal-paste, and the latter with horizontal ones. The Malas\nwere formerly zealous partisans of the right-handed sect in Madras,\nand the description of this curious system of faction given by the\nAbbe Dubois more than a century ago may be reproduced: [152]\n\n\"Most castes belong either to the left-hand or right-hand faction. The\nformer comprises the Vaishyas or trading classes, the Panchalas or\nartisan classes and some of the low Sudra castes. It also contains\nthe lowest caste, viz. the Chaklas or leather-workers, who are looked\nupon as its chief support. To the right-hand faction belong most of\nthe higher castes of Sudras. The Pariahs (Malas) are also its great\nsupport, as a proof of which they glory in the title of _Valangai\nMaugattar_ or Friends of the Right Hand. In the disputes and conflicts\nwhich so often take place between the two factions it is always the\nPariahs who make the most disturbance and do the most damage. The\nBrahmans, Rajas and several classes of Sudras are content to remain\nneutral and take no part in these quarrels. The opposition between the\ntwo factions arises from certain exclusive privileges to which both\nlay claim. But as these alleged privileges are nowhere clearly defined\nand recognised, they result in confusion and uncertainty, and are with\ndifficulty capable of settlement. When one faction trespasses on the\nso-called right of the other, tumults arise which spread gradually\nover large tracts of territory, afford opportunity for excesses of all\nkinds, and generally end in bloody conflicts. The Hindu, ordinarily so\ntimid and gentle in all other circumstances of life, seems to change\nhis nature completely on occasions like these. There is no danger that\nhe will not brave in maintaining what he calls his rights, and rather\nthan sacrifice a little of them he will expose himself without fear\nto the risk of losing his life. The rights and privileges for which\nthe Hindus are ready to fight such sanguinary battles appear highly\nridiculous, especially to a European. Perhaps the sole cause of the\ncontest is the right to wear slippers or to ride through the streets\nin a palanquin or on horseback during marriage festivals. Sometimes\nit is the privilege of being escorted on certain occasions by armed\nretainers, sometimes that of having a trumpet sounded in front of\na procession, or of being accompanied by native musicians at public\nceremonies.\" The writer of the _Madras Census Report_ of 1871 states:\n[153] \"It is curious that the females of two of the inferior castes\nshould take different sides to their husbands in these disputes. The\nwives of the agricultural labourers side with the left hand, while\ntheir husbands help in fighting the battles of the right, and the\nshoemakers' wives also take the side opposed to their husbands. During\nthese festival disturbances, the ladies who hold political views\nopposed to those of their husbands deny to the latter all the\nprivileges of the connubial state.\" The same writer states that the\nright-hand castes claimed the prerogative of riding on horseback in\nprocessions, of appearing with standards bearing certain devices,\nand of erecting twelve pillars to sustain their marriage booths;\nwhile the left-hand castes might not have more than eleven pillars,\nnor use the same standards as the right. The quarrels arising out of\nthese small differences of opinion were so frequent and serious in the\nseventeenth century that in the town of Madras it was found necessary\nto mark the respective boundaries of the right- and left-hand castes,\nand to forbid the right-hand castes in their processions from occupying\nthe streets of the left hand and vice versa. These disturbances have\ngradually tended to disappear under the influence of education and\ngood government, and no instance of them is known to have occurred\nin the Central Provinces. The division appears to have originated\namong the members of the Sakta sect or the worshippers of Sakti as\nthe female principle of life in nature. Dr. L. D. Barnett writes:\n[154]--\"The followers of the sect are of two schools. The 'Walkers\nin the Right Way' (_Dakshinachari_) pay a service of devotion to\nthe deity in both male and female aspects, and except in their more\npronounced tendency to dwell upon the horrific aspects of the deity\n(as Kali, Durga, etc.), they differ little from ordinary Saivas\nand Vaishnavas. The 'Walkers in the Left Way' (_Vamachari_), on the\nother hand, concentrate their thought upon the godhead in its sexually\nmaternal aspect, and follow rites of senseless magic and--theoretically\nat least--promiscuous debauchery.\" As has been seen, the religious\ndifferences subsequently gave rise to political factions.\n\n\n\n\n\nMali\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _General notice of the caste, and its social position_.\n    2. _Caste legend_.\n    3. _Flowers offered to the gods_.\n    4. _Custom of wearing garlands_.\n    5. _Subcastes_.\n    6. _Marriage_.\n    7. _Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy_.\n    8. _Disposal of the dead_.\n    9. _Religion_.\n    10. _Occupation_.\n    11. _Traits and characters_.\n    12. _Other functions of the Mali_.\n    13. _Physical appearance_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice of the caste, and its social position\n\n_Mali, Marar, Maral_. [155]--The functional caste of vegetable\nand flower-gardeners. The terms Mali and Marar appear to be used\nindifferently for the same caste, the former being more common in the\nwest of the Province and the latter in the eastern Satpura Districts\nand the Chhattisgarh plain. In the Nerbudda valley and on the Vindhyan\nplateau the place of both Mali and Marar is taken by the Kachhi of\nUpper India. [156] Marar appears to be a Marathi name, the original\nterm, as pointed out by Mr. Hira Lal, being Malal, or one who grows\ngarden-crops in a field; but the caste is often called Mali in the\nMaratha country and Marar in the Hindi Districts. The word Mali is\nderived from the Sanskrit _mala_, a garland. In 1911 the Malis numbered\nnearly 360,000 persons in the present area of the Central Provinces,\nand 200,000 in Berar. A German writer remarks of the caste [157]\nthat: \"It cannot be considered to be a very ancient one. Generally\nspeaking, it may be said that flowers have scarcely a place in the\nVeda. Wreaths of flowers, of course, are used as decorations, but\nthe separate flowers and their beauty are not yet appreciated. That\nlesson was first learned later by the Hindus when surrounded by\nanother flora. Amongst the Homeric Greeks, too, in spite of their\nextensive gardening and different flowers, not a trace of horticulture\nis yet to be found.\" It seems probable that the first Malis were not\nincluded among the regular cultivators of the village but were a lower\ngroup permitted to take up the small waste plots of land adjoining the\ninhabited area and fertilised by its drainage, and the sandy stretches\nin the beds of rivers, on which they were able to raise the flowers\nrequired for offerings and such vegetables as were known. They still\nhold a lower rank than the ordinary cultivator. Sir D. Ibbetson writes\n[158] of the gardening castes: \"The group now to be discussed very\ngenerally hold an inferior position among the agricultural community\nand seldom if ever occupy the position of the dominant tribe in any\nconsiderable tract of country. The cultivation of vegetables is looked\nupon as degrading by the agricultural classes, why I know not, unless\nit be that night-soil is generally used for their fertilisation; and\na Rajput would say: 'What! Do you take me for an Arain?' if anything\nwas proposed which he considered derogatory.\" But since most Malis\nin the Central Provinces strenuously object to using night-soil as\na manure the explanation that this practice has caused them to rank\nbelow the agricultural castes does not seem sufficient. And if the\nuse of night-soil were the real circumstance which determined their\nsocial position, it seems certain that Brahmans would not take water\nfrom their hands as they do. Elsewhere Sir D. Ibbetson remarks: [159]\n\"The Malis and Sainis, like all vegetable growers, occupy a very\ninferior position among the agricultural castes; but of the two the\nSainis are probably the higher, as they more often own land or even\nwhole villages, and are less generally mere market-gardeners than\nare the Malis.\" Here is given what may perhaps be the true reason\nfor the status of the Mali caste as a whole. Again Sir C. Elliot\nwrote in the _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_: \"Garden crops are\nconsidered as a kind of fancy agriculture and the true cultivator,\nthe Kisan, looks on them with contempt as little peddling matters;\nwhat stirs his ambition is a fine large wheat-field eighty or a\nhundred acres in extent, as flat as a billiard-table and as black as\na Gond.\" Similarly Mr. Low [160] states that in Balaghat the Panwars,\nthe principal agricultural caste, look down on the Marars as growers\nof petty crops like _sama_ and kutki. In Wardha the Dangris, a small\ncaste of melon and vegetable growers, are an offshoot of the Kunbis;\nand they will take food from the Kunbis, though these will not accept\nit from them, their social status being thus distinctly lower than that\nof the parent caste. Again the Kohlis of Bhandara, who grow sugarcane\nwith irrigation, are probably derived from an aboriginal tribe, the\nKols, and, though they possess a number of villages, rank lower than\nthe regular cultivating castes. It is also worth noting that they do\nnot admit tenant-right in their villages among their own caste, and\nallot the sugarcane plots among the cultivators at pleasure. [161] In\nNimar the Malis rank below the Kunbis and Gujars, the good agricultural\ncastes, and it is said that they grow the crops which the cultivators\nproper do not care to grow. The Kachhis, the gardening caste of the\nnorthern Districts, have a very low status, markedly inferior to that\nof the Lodhis and Kurmis and little if any better than the menial\nDhimars. Similarly, as will be seen later, the Marars themselves\nhave customs pointing clearly to a non-Aryan origin. The Bhoyars of\nBetul, who grow sugarcane, are probably of mixed origin from Rajput\nfathers and mothers of the indigenous tribes; they eat fowls and are\nmuch addicted to liquor and rank below the cultivating castes. The\nexplanation seems to be that the gardening castes are not considered\nas landholders, and have not therefore the position which attaches\nto the holding of land among all early agricultural peoples, and\nwhich in India consisted in the status of a constituent member of\nthe village community. So far as ceremonial purity goes there is no\ndifference between the Malis and the cultivating castes, as Brahmans\nwill take water from both. It may be surmised that this privilege\nhas been given to the Malis because they grow the flowers required\nfor offerings to the gods, and sometimes officiate as village priests\nand temple servants; and their occupation, though not on a level with\nregular agriculture, is still respectable. But the fact that Brahmans\nwill take water from them does not place the Malis on an equality with\nthe cultivating castes, any more than it does the Nais (barbers) and\nDhimars (watermen), the condemned menial servants of the cultivators,\nfrom whom Brahmans will also take water from motives of convenience.\n\n\n\n\n2. Caste legend\n\nThe Malis have a Brahmanical legend of the usual type indicating\nthat their hereditary calling was conferred and ratified by divine\nauthority. [162] This is to the effect that the first Mali was a\ngarland-maker attached to the household of Raja Kansa of Mathura. One\nday he met with Krishna, and, on being asked by him for a chaplet of\nflowers, at once gave it. On being told to fasten it with string,\nhe, for want of any other, took off his sacred thread and tied it,\non which Krishna most ungenerously rebuked him for his simplicity\nin parting with his _paita_, and announced that for the future his\ncaste would be ranked among the Sudras.\n\nThe above story, combined with the derivation of Mali from _mala_,\na garland, makes it a plausible hypothesis that the calling of the\nfirst Malis was to grow flowers for the adornment of the gods, and\nespecially for making the garlands with which their images were and\nstill are decorated. Thus the Malis were intimately connected with the\ngods and naturally became priests of the village temples, in which\ncapacity they are often employed. Mr. Nesfield remarks of the Mali:\n[163] \"To Hindus of all ranks, including even the Brahmans, he acts\nas a priest of Mahadeo in places where no Gosain is to be found,\nand lays the flower offerings on the _lingam_ by which the deity is\nsymbolised. As the Mali is believed to have some influence with the god\nto whose temple he is attached, none objects to his appropriating the\nfee which is nominally presented to the god himself. In the worship\nof those village godlings whom the Brahmans disdain to recognise\nand whom the Gosain is not permitted to honour the Mali is sometimes\nemployed to present the offering. He is thus the recognised hereditary\npriest of the lower and more ignorant classes of the population.\" In\nthe Central Provinces Malis are commonly employed in the temples of\nDevi because goats are offered to the goddess and hence the worship\ncannot be conducted by Brahmans. They also work as servants in Jain\ntemples under the priest. They sweep the temple, clean the utensils,\nand do other menial business. This service, however, does not affect\ntheir religion and they continue to be Hindus.\n\nHis services in providing flowers for the gods would be remunerated\nby contributions of grain from the cultivators, the acceptance\nof which would place the Mali below them in the rank of a village\nmenial, though higher than most of the class owing to the purity of\nhis occupation. His status was probably much the same as that of the\nGuraos or village priests of Mahadeo in the Maratha country. And though\nhe has now become a cultivator, his position has not improved to the\nlevel of other cultivating castes for the reasons already given. It\nwas probably the necessity of regularly watering his plants in order\nto obtain a longer and more constant supply of blooms which first\ntaught the Mali the uses of irrigation.\n\n\n\n\n3. Flowers offered to the gods\n\nFlowers are _par excellence_ suited for the offerings and adornment\nof the gods, and many Hindus have rose or other plants in their houses\nwhose flowers are destined to the household god. There is little reason\nto doubt that this was the purpose for which cultivated flowers were\nfirst grown. The marigold, lotus and champak are favourite religious\nflowers, while the _tulsi_ or basil is itself worshipped as the\nconsort of Vishnu; in this case, however, the scent is perhaps the more\nvalued feature. In many Hindu households all flowers brought into the\nhouse are offered to the household god before being put to any other\nuse. A Brahman school-boy to whom I had given some flowers to copy\nin drawing said that his mother had offered them to the god Krishna\nbefore he used them. When faded or done with they should be consigned\nto the sacred element, water, in any stream or river. The statues of\nthe gods are adorned with sculptured garlands or hold them in their\nhands. A similar state of things prevailed in classical antiquity:\n\n\n    Who are these coming to the sacrifice?\n        To what green altar, O mysterious priest,\n    Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,\n        And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?\n\nAnd,\n\n    Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,\n        Nor altar decked with flowers,\n    Nor virgin choir to make delicious moan\n        Upon the midnight hours.\n\n\nM. Fustel de Coulanges describes the custom of wearing crowns\nor garlands of flowers in ancient Rome and Greece as follows: \"It\nis clear that the communal feasts were religious ceremonies. Each\nguest had a crown on the head; it was an ancient custom to crown\noneself with leaves or flowers for any solemn religious act.\" \"The\nmore a man is adorned with flowers,\" they said, \"the more pleasing\nhe is to the gods; but they turn away from him who wears no crown at\nhis sacrifice.\" And again, 'A crown is the auspicious herald which\nannounces a prayer to the gods.' [164]\n\nAmong the Persians the flowers themselves are worshipped: [165] \"When\na pure Iranian sauntered through (the Victoria Gardens in Bombay)\n... he would stand awhile and meditate over every flower in his path,\nand always as in a vision; and when at last the vision was fulfilled,\nand the ideal flower found, he would spread his mat or carpet before\nit, and sit before it to the going down of the sun, when he would arise\nand pray before it, and then refold his mat or carpet and go home; and\nthe next night, and night after night, until that bright particular\nflower faded away, he would return to it, bringing his friends with\nhim in ever-increasing numbers, and sit and sing and play the guitar or\nlute before it--and anon they all would arise together and pray before\nit; and after prayers, still sit on, sipping sherbet and talking the\nmost hilarious and shocking scandal, late into the moonlight.\"\n\n\n\n\n4. Custom of wearing garlands\n\nFrom the custom of placing garlands on the gods as a mark of honour\nhas no doubt arisen that of garlanding guests. This is not confined\nto India but obtained in Rome and probably in other countries. The\nword 'chaplet' [166] originally meant a garland or wreath to be worn\non the head; and a garland of leaves with four flowers at equal\ndistances. Dryden says, 'With chaplets green upon their foreheads\nplaced.' The word _mala_ originally meant a garland, and subsequently\na rosary or string of beads. From this it seems a legitimate deduction\nthat rosaries or strings of beads of a sacred wood were substituted\nfor flower-garlands as ornaments for the gods in view of their more\npermanent nature. Having been thus sanctified they may have come to\nbe worn as a mark of holiness by saints or priests in imitation of\nthe divine images, this being a common or universal fashion of Hindu\nascetics. Subsequently they were found to serve as a useful means\nof counting the continuous repetition of prayers, whence arose the\nphrase 'telling one's beads.' Like the Sanskrit _mala_, the English\nword rosary at first meant a garland of roses and subsequently a\nstring of beads, probably made from rose-wood, on which prayers were\ncounted. From this it may perhaps be concluded that the images of\nthe deities were decorated with garlands of roses in Europe, and the\ndevelopment of the rosary was the same as the Indian _mala_. If the\nrose was a sacred flower we can more easily understand its importance\nas a badge in the Wars of the Roses.\n\n\n\n\n5. Sub-castes\n\nThe caste has numerous endogamous groups, varying in different\nlocalities. The Phulmalis, who derive their name from their\noccupation of growing and selling flowers (_phul_), usually rank as\nthe highest. The Ghase Malis are the only subcaste which will grow\nand prepare turmeric in Wardha; but they will not sell milk or curds,\nan occupation to which the Phulmalis, though the highest subcaste,\nhave no objection. In Chanda the Kosaria Malis, who take their name\nfrom Kosala, the classical designation of the Chhattisgarh country,\nare the sole growers of turmeric, while in Berar the Halde subcaste,\nnamed after the plant, occupy the same position. The Kosaria or Kosre\nsubcaste abstain from liquor, and their women wear glass bangles only\non one hand and silver ones on the other. The objection entertained to\nthe cultivation of turmeric by Hindus generally is said to be based\non the fact that when the roots are boiled numbers of small insects\nare necessarily destroyed; but the other Malis relate that one of the\nancestors of the caste had a calf called Hardulia, and one day he said\nto his daughter, _Haldi paka_, or 'Cook turmeric.' But the daughter\nthought that he said 'cook Hardulia,' so she killed and roasted the\ncalf, and in consequence of this her father was expelled from the\ncaste, and his descendants are the Ghase or Halde subcaste. Ever\nsince this happened the shape of a calf may be seen in the flower of\nturmeric. This legend has, however, no real value and the meaning of\nthe superstition attaching to the plant is obscure. Though the growing\nof turmeric is tabooed yet it is a sacred plant, and no Hindu girl, at\nleast in the Central Provinces, can be married without having turmeric\npowder rubbed on her body. Mr. Gordon remarks in _Indian Folk-Tales_:\n\"I was once speaking to a Hindu gardener of the possibility of turmeric\nand garlic being stolen from his garden. 'These two vegetables\nare never stolen,' he replied, 'for we Hindus believe that he who\nsteals turmeric and garlic will appear with six fingers in the next\nbirth, and this deformity is always considered the birth-mark of a\nthief.'\" The Jire Malis are so named because they were formerly the\nonly subcaste who would grow cumin (_jira_), but this distinction\nno longer exists as other Malis, except perhaps the Phulmalis, now\ngrow it. Other subcastes have territorial names, as Baone from Berar,\nJaipuria, Kanaujia, and so on. The caste have also exogamous septs or\n_bargas_, with designations taken from villages, titles or nicknames\nor inanimate objects.\n\n\n\n\n6. Marriage\n\nMarriage is forbidden between members of the same sept and between\nfirst and second cousins. Girls are generally betrothed in childhood\nand should be married before maturity. In the Uriya country if no\nsuitable husband can be found for a girl she is sometimes made to go\nthrough the marriage ceremony with a peg of mahua wood driven into\nthe ground and covered over with a cloth. She is then tied to a tree\nin the forest and any member of the caste may go and release her,\nwhen she becomes his wife. The Marars of Balaghat and Bhandara have\nthe _lamjhana_ form of marriage, in which the prospective husband\nserves for his wife; this is a Dravidian custom and shows their\nconnection with the forest tribes. The marriage ceremony follows\nthe standard form prevalent in the locality. In Betul the couple\ngo seven times round a slab on which a stone roller is placed, with\ntheir clothes knotted together and holding in their hands a lighted\nlamp. The slab and roller may be the implements used in powdering\nturmeric. \"Among the Marars of Balaghat [167] the maternal uncle\nof the bridegroom goes to the village of the bride and brings back\nwith him the bridal party. The bride's party do not at once cross\nthe boundary of the bridegroom's village, but will stay outside it\nfor a few hours. Word is sent and the bridegroom's party will bring\nout cooked food, which they eat with the bride's party. This done,\nthey go to the house of the bridegroom and the bride forthwith walks\nfive times round a pounding-stone. Next day turmeric is applied to\nthe couple, and the caste people are given a feast. The essential\nportion of the ceremony consists in the rubbing of vermilion on the\nforeheads of the couple under the cover of a cloth. The caste permit\nthe practice of _ralla-palla_ or exchanging sisters in marriage. They\nare said to have a custom at weddings known as _kondia_, according\nto which a young man of the bridegroom's party, called the _Sand_\nor bull, is shut up in a house at night with all the women of the\nbride's party; he is at liberty to seize and have intercourse with\nany of them he can catch, while they are allowed to beat him as much\nas they like. It is said that he seldom has much cause to congratulate\nhimself.\" But the caste have now become ashamed of this custom and it\nis being abandoned. In Chhattisgarh the Marars, like other castes,\nhave the forms of marriage known as the _Badi Shadi_ and _Chhoti\nShadi_ or great and small weddings. The former is an elaborate form\nof marriage, taking place at the house of the bride. Those who cannot\nafford the expense of this have a 'Small Wedding' at the house of\nthe bridegroom, at which the rites are curtailed and the expenditure\nconsiderably reduced.\n\n\n\n\n7. Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy\n\nWidow-marriage is permitted. The widower, accompanied by his relatives\nand a horn-blower, goes to the house of the widow, and here a space\nis plastered with cowdung and the couple sit on two wooden boards\nwhile their clothes are knotted together. In Balaghat [168] the\nbridegroom and bride bathe in a tank and on emerging the widow throws\naway her old cloth and puts on a new one. After this they walk five\ntimes round a spear planted in the ground. Divorce is permitted and\ncan be effected by mutual consent of the parties. Like other castes\npractising intensive cultivation the Malis marry several wives when\nthey can afford it, in order to obtain the benefit of their labour\nin the vegetable garden; a wife being more industrious and honest\nthan a hired labourer. But this practice results in large families\nand household dissensions, leading to excessive subdivision of\nproperty, and wealthy members of the caste are rare. The standard\nof sexual morality is low, and if an unmarried girl goes wrong her\nfamily conceal the fact and sometimes try to procure an abortion. If\nthese efforts are unsuccessful a feast must be given to the caste and\na lock of the woman's hair is cut off by way of punishment. A young\nhard-working wife is never divorced, however bad her character may be,\nbut an old woman is sometimes abandoned for very little cause.\n\n\n\n\n8. Disposal of the dead\n\nThe dead may be either buried or burnt; in the former case the corpse\nis laid with the feet to the north. Mourning is observed only for\nthree days and propitiatory offerings are made to the spirits of the\ndead. If a man is killed by a tiger his family make a wooden image\nof a tiger and worship it.\n\n\n\n\n9. Religion\n\nDevi is the principal deity of the Malis. Weddings are celebrated\nbefore her temple and large numbers of goats are sacrificed to the\nfavourite goddess at her festival in the month of Magh (January). Many\nof the Marars of Balaghat are Kabirpanthis and wear the necklace of\nthat sect; but they appear none the less to intermarry freely with\ntheir Hindu caste-fellows. [169] After the birth of a child it is\nstated that all the members of the sept to which the parents belong\nremain impure for five days, and no one will take food or water\nfrom them.\n\n\n\n\n10. Occupation\n\nThe Mali combines the callings of a gardener and nurseryman. \"In laying\nout a flower-garden and in arranging beds,\" Mr. Shearing remarks, [170]\n\"the Mali is exceedingly expert. His powers in this respect are hardly\nsurpassed by gardeners in England. He lacks of course the excellent\nbotanical knowledge of many English gardeners, and also the peculiar\nskill displayed by them in grafting and crossing, and in watching\nthe habits of plants. Yet in manipulative labour, especially when\nsuperintended by a European, he is, though much slower in execution,\nalmost if not quite equal to gardeners at home.\" They are excellent\nand very laborious cultivators, and show much skill in intensive\ncultivation and the use of water. Malis are the best sugarcane growers\nof Betul and their holdings usually pay a higher rental than those of\nother castes. \"In Balaghat,\" Mr. Low remarks, [171] \"they are great\ngrowers of tobacco and sugarcane, favouring the alluvial land on the\nbanks of rivers. They mostly irrigate by a _dhekli_ or dipping lift,\nfrom temporary wells or from water-holes in rivers. The pole of the\nlift has a weight at one end and a kerosene tin suspended from the\nother. Another form of lift is a hollowed tree trunk worked on a\nfulcrum, but this only raises the water a foot or two. The Marars\ndo general cultivation as well; but as a class are not considered\nskilled agriculturists. The proverb about their cultivating status is:\n\n\n    Marar, Mali jote tali\n    Tali margayi, dhare kudali\n\n\nor, 'The Marar yokes cows; if the cow dies he takes to the pickaxe';\nimplying that he is not usually rich enough to keep bullocks.\" The\nsaying has also a derogatory sense, as no good Hindu would yoke\na cow to the plough. Another form of lift used by the Kachhis is\nthe Persian wheel. In this two wheels are fixed above the well or\ntank and long looped ropes pass over them and down into the well,\nbetween which a line of earthen pots is secured. As the ropes move\non the wheels the pots descend into the well, are filled with water,\nbrought up, and just after they reach the apex of the wheel and turn\nto descend again, the water pours out to a hollow open tree-trunk,\nfrom which a channel conveys it to the field. The wheel which turns\nthe rope is worked by a man pedalling, but he cannot do more than\nabout three hours a day. The common lift for gardens is the _mot_ or\nbag made of the hide of a bullock or buffalo. This is usually worked\nby a pair of bullocks moving forwards down a slope to raise the _mot_\nfrom the well and backwards up the slope to let it down when empty.\n\n\n\n\n11. Traits and character\n\n\"It is necessary,\" the account continues, \"for the Marar's business for\none member at least of his family to go to market with his vegetables;\nand the Mararin is a noteworthy feature in all bazars, sitting with\nher basket or garment spread on the ground, full of white onions and\ngarlic, purple brinjals and scarlet chillies, with a few handfuls of\nstrongly flavoured green stuff. Whether from the publicity which it\nentails on their women or from whatever cause, the Mararin does not\nbear the best of reputations for chastity; and is usually considered\nrather a bold, coarse creature. The distinctive feature of her attire\nis the way in which she ties up her body-cloth so as to leave a tail\nsticking up behind; whence the proverb shouted after her by rude little\nboys: 'Jump from roof to roof, Monkey. Pull the tail of the Mararin,\nMonkey,' She also rejoices in a very large _tikli_ or spangle on her\nforehead and in a peculiar kind of _angia_ (waistcoat). The caste are\nusually considered rather clannish and morose. They live in communities\nby themselves, and nearly always inhabit a separate hamlet of the\nvillage. The Marars of a certain place are said to have boycotted a\nvillage carpenter who lost an axe belonging to one of their number,\nso that he had to leave the neighbourhood for lack of custom.\"\n\n\n\n\n12. Other functions of the Mali\n\nMany Malis live in the towns and keep vegetable- or flower-gardens\njust outside. They sell flowers, and the Mali girls are very good\nflower-sellers, Major Sutherland says, being famous for their\ncoquetry. A saying about them is: \"The crow among birds, the jackal\namong beasts, the barber among men and the Malin among women; all\nthese are much too clever.\" The Mali also prepares the _maur_ or\nmarriage-crown, made from the leaves of the date-palm, both for the\nbride and bridegroom at marriages. In return he gets a present of a\nrupee, a piece of cloth and a day's food. He also makes the garlands\nwhich are used for presentation at entertainments, and supplies\nthe daily bunches of flowers which are required as offerings for\nMahadeo. The Mali keeps garlands for sale in the bazar, and when a\nwell-to-do person passes he goes up and puts a garland round his neck\nand expects a present of a pice or two.\n\n\n\n\n13. Physical appearance\n\n\"Physically,\" Mr. Low states, \"the Marar is rather a poor-looking\ncreature, dark and undersized; but the women are often not bad looking,\nand dressed up in their best at a wedding, rattling their castanets\nand waving light-coloured silk handkerchiefs, give a very graceful\ndance. The caste are not as a rule celebrated for their cleanliness. A\npolite way of addressing a Marar is to call him Patel.\"\n\n\nMallah\n\n_Mallah, Malha_. [172]--A small caste of boatmen and fishermen in\nthe Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts, which numbered about 5000\npersons in 1911. It is scarcely correct to designate the Mallahs as a\ndistinct caste, as in both these Districts it appears from inquiry that\nthe term is synonymous with Kewat. Apparently, however, the Mallahs\ndo form a separate endogamous group, and owing to many of them having\nadopted the profession of growing hemp, a crop which respectable Hindu\ncastes usually refuse to cultivate, it is probable that they would\nnot be allowed to intermarry with the Kewats of other Districts. In\nthe United Provinces Mr. Crooke states that the Mallahs, though, as\ntheir Arabic name indicates, of recent origin, have matured into a\ndefinite social group, including a number of endogamous tribes. The\nterm Mallah has nothing to do with the Mulla or Muhammadan priest\namong the frontier tribes, but comes from an Arabic word meaning\n'to be salt,' or, according to another derivation, 'to move the wings\nas a bird.' [173] The Mallahs of the Central Provinces are also, in\nspite of their Arabic name, a purely Hindu caste. In Narsinghpur they\nsay that their original ancestor was one Bali or Baliram, who was a\nboatman and was so strong that he could carry his boat to the river\nand back under his armpit. On one occasion he ferried Rama across the\nGanges in Benares, and it is said that Rama gave him a horse to show\nhis gratitude; but Baliram was so ignorant that he placed the bridle on\nthe horse's tail instead of the head. And from this act of Baliram's\narose the custom of having the rudder of a boat at the stern instead\nof at the bow. The Mallahs in the Central Provinces appear from their\nfamily names to be immigrants from Bundelkhand. Their customs resemble\nthose of lower-class Hindus. Girls are usually married under the age\nof twelve years, and the remarriage of widows is permitted, while\ndivorce may be effected in the presence of the _panchayat_ or caste\ncommittee by the husband and wife breaking a straw between them. They\nare scantily clothed and are generally poor. A proverb about them says:\n\n\n    Jahan bethen Malao\n    Tahan lage alao,\n\n\nor, 'Where Mallahs sit, there is always a fire.' This refers to their\ncustom of kindling fires on the river-bank to protect themselves from\ncold. In Narsinghpur the Mallahs have found a profitable opening\nin the cultivation of hemp, a crop which other Hindu castes until\nrecently tabooed on account probably of the dirty nature of the process\nof cleaning out the fibre and the pollution necessarily caused to\nthe water-supply. They sow and cut hemp on Sundays and Wednesdays,\nwhich are regarded as auspicious days. They also grow melons, and\nwill not enter a melon-field with their shoes on or allow a woman\nduring her periodical impurity to approach it. The Mallahs are poor\nand illiterate, but rank with Dhimars and Kewats, and Brahmans will\ntake water from their hands.\n\n\nMana\n\n_Mana_. [174]--A Dravidian caste of cultivators and labourers\nbelonging to the Chanda District, from which they have spread to\nNagpur, Bhandara and Balaghat. In 1911 they numbered nearly 50,000\npersons, of whom 34,000 belonged to Chanda. The origin of the caste is\nobscure. In the _Chanda Settlement Report_ of 1869 Major Lucie Smith\nwrote of them: \"Tradition asserts that prior to the Gond conquest\nthe Manas reigned over the country, having their strongholds at\nSurajgarh in Ahiri and at Manikgarh in the Manikgarh hills, now of\nHyderabad, and that after a troubled rule of two hundred years they\nfell before the Gonds. In appearance they are of the Gond type, and\nare strongly and stoutly made; while in character they are hardy,\nindustrious and truthful. Many warlike traditions still linger among\nthem, and doubtless in days gone by they did their duty as good\nsoldiers, but they have long since hung up sword and shield and now\nrank among the best cultivators of rice in Chanda.\" Another local\ntradition states that a line of Mana princes ruled at Wairagarh. The\nnames of three princes are remembered: Kurumpruhoda, the founder of\nthe line; Surjat Badwaik, who fortified Surjagarh; and Gahilu, who\nbuilt Manikgarh. As regards the name Manikgarh, it may be mentioned\nthat the tutelary deity of the Nagvansi kings of Bastar, who ruled\nthere before the accession of the present Raj-Gond dynasty in the\nfourteenth century, was Manikya Devi, and it is possible that the\nchiefs of Wairagarh were connected with the Bastar kings. Some of\nthe Manas say that they, as well as the Gowaris, are offshoots of\nthe Gond tribe; and a local saying to the effect that 'The Gond,\nthe Gowari and the Mana eat boiled juari or beans on leaf-plates'\nshows that they are associated together in the popular mind. Hislop\nstates that the Ojhas, or soothsayers and minstrels of the Gonds,\nhave a subdivision of Mana Ojhas, who lay claim to special sanctity,\nrefusing to take food from any other caste. [175] The Gonds have a\nsubdivision called Mannewar, and as _war_ is only a Telugu suffix\nfor the plural, the proper name Manne closely resembles Mana. It is\nshown in the article on the Parja tribe that the Parjas were a class\nof Gonds or a tribe akin to them, who were dominant in Bastar prior\nto the later immigration under the ancestors of the present Bastar\ndynasty. And the most plausible hypothesis as to the past history of\nthe Manas is that they were also the rulers of some tracts of Chanda,\nand were displaced like the Parjas by a Gond invasion from the south.\n\nIn Bhandara, where the Manas hold land, it is related that in former\ntimes a gigantic kite lived on the hill of Ghurkundi, near Sakoli,\nand devoured the crops of the surrounding country by whole fields at\na time. The king of Chanda proclaimed that whoever killed the kite\nwould be granted the adjoining lands. A Mana shot the kite with an\narrow and its remains were taken to Chanda in eight carts, and as his\nreward he received the grant of a zamindari. In appearance the Manas,\nor at least some of them, are rather fine men, nor do their complexion\nand features show more noticeable traces of aboriginal descent than\nthose of the local Hindus. But their neighbours in Chanda and Bastar,\nthe Maria Gonds, are also taller and of a better physical type than\nthe average Dravidian, so that their physical appearance need not\nmilitate against the above hypothesis. They retained their taste\nfor fighting until within quite recent times, and in Katol and other\ntowns below the Satpura hills, Manas were regularly enlisted as a town\nguard for repelling the Pindari raids. Their descendants still retain\nthe ancestral matchlocks, and several of them make good use of these\nas professional _shikaris_ or hunters. Many of them are employed as\nservants by landowners and moneylenders for the collection of debts or\nthe protection of crops, and others are proprietors, cultivators and\nlabourers, while a few even lend money on their own account. Manas hold\nthree zamindari estates in Bhandara and a few villages in Chanda; here\nthey are considered to be good cultivators, but have the reputation\nas a caste of being very miserly, and though possessed of plenty,\nliving only on the poorest and coarsest food. [176] The Mana women\nare proverbial for the assistance which they render to their husbands\nin the work of cultivation.\n\nOwing to their general adoption of Maratha customs, the Manas are now\ncommonly regarded as a caste and not a forest tribe, and this view may\nbe accepted. They have two subcastes, the Badwaik Manas, or soldiers,\nand the Khad Manas, who live in the plains and are considered to be of\nimpure descent. Badwaik or 'The Great Ones' is a titular term applied\nto a person carrying arms, and assumed by certain Rajputs and also by\nsome of the lower castes. A third group of Manas are now amalgamated\nwith the Kunbis as a regular subdivision of that caste, though they\nare regarded as somewhat lower than the others. They have also a\nnumber of exogamous septs of the usual titular and totemistic types,\nthe few recognisable names being Marathi. It is worth noticing that\nseveral pairs of these septs, as Jamare and Gazbe, Narnari and Chudri,\nWagh and Rawat, and others are prohibited from intermarriage. And this\nmay be a relic of some wider scheme of division of the type common\namong the Australian aborigines. The social customs of the Manas are\nthe same as those of the other lower Maratha castes, as described in\nthe articles on Kunbi, Kohli and Mahar. A bride-price of Rs. 12-8 is\nusually paid, and if the bridegroom's father has the money, he takes it\nwith him on going to arrange for the match. Only one married woman of\nthe bridegroom's family accompanies him to the wedding, and she throws\nrice over him five times. Four days in the year are appointed for the\ncelebration of weddings, the festivals of Shivratri and of Akhatij, and\na day each in the months of Magh (January) and Phagun (February). This\nrule, however, is not universal. Brahmans do not usually officiate at\ntheir ceremonies, but they employ a Brahman to prepare the rice which\nis thrown over the couples. Marriage within the sept is forbidden,\nas well as the union of the children of two sisters. But the practice\nof marrying a brother's daughter to a sister's son is a very favourite\none, being known as Mahunchar, and in this respect the Manas resemble\nthe Gonds. When a widow is to be remarried, she stops on the way by the\nbank of a stream as she is proceeding to her new husband's house, and\nhere her clothes are taken off and buried by an exorcist with a view\nto laying the first husband's spirit and preventing it from troubling\nthe new household. If a woman goes wrong with a man of another caste\nshe is not finally cast out, but if she has a child she must first\ndispose of it to somebody else after it is weaned. She may then be\nre-admitted into caste by having her hair shaved off and giving three\nfeasts; the first is prepared by the caste and eaten outside her house,\nthe second is prepared by her relatives and eaten within her house,\nand at the third the caste reinstate her by partaking of food cooked\nby herself. The dead are either buried or burnt; in the former case a\nfeast is given immediately after the burial and no further mourning\nis observed; in the latter the period of mourning is three days. As\namong the Gonds, the dead are laid with feet to the north. A woman\nis impure for seven days after child-birth.\n\nThe Manas have Bhats or genealogists of their own caste, a separate\none being appointed for each sept. The Bhat of any sept can only accept\ngifts from members of that sept, though he may take food from any one\nof the caste. The Bhats are in the position of beggars, and the other\nManas will not take food from them. Every man must have a Bhat for\nhis family under penalty of being temporarily put out of caste. It\nis said that the Bhats formerly had books showing the pedigrees of\nthe different families, but that once in a spirit of arrogance they\nplaced their shoes upon the books; and the other Manas, not brooking\nthis insolence, burnt the books. The gravity of such an act may be\nrealised when it is stated that if anybody even threatens to hit a\nMana with a shoe, the indignity put upon him is so great that he is\ntemporarily excluded from caste and penalised for readmission. Since\nthis incident the Bhats have to address the Manas as 'Brahma,' to show\ntheir respect, the Mana replying 'Ram, Ram.' Their women wear short\nloin-cloths, exposing part of the thigh, like the Gonds. They eat\npork and drink liquor, but will take cooked food only from Brahmans.\n\n\n\n\n\nManbhao\n\n\n\n1. History and nature of the sect\n\n_Manbhao_. [177]--A religious sect or order, which has now become a\ncaste, belonging to the Maratha Districts of the Central Provinces and\nto Berar. Their total strength in India in 1911 was 10,000 persons,\nof whom the Central Provinces and Berar contained 4000. The name\nwould appear to have some such meaning as 'The reverend brothers.' The\nManbhaos are stated to be a Vaishnavite order founded in Berar some\ntwo centuries ago. [178] They themselves say that their order is a\nthousand years old and that it was founded by one Arjun Bhat, who lived\nat Domegaon, near Ahmadnagar. He was a great Sanskrit scholar and a\ndevotee of Krishna, and preached his doctrines to all except the Impure\ncastes. Ridhpur, in Berar, is the present headquarters of the order,\nand contains a monastery and three temples, dedicated to Krishna and\nDattatreya, [179] the only deities recognised by the Manbhaos. Each\ntemple is named after a village, and is presided over by a Mahant\nelected from the celibate Manbhaos. There are other Mahants, also\nknown after the names of villages or towns in which the monasteries\nover which they preside are located. Among these are Sheone, from\nthe village near Chandur in Amraoti District; Akulne, a village near\nAhmadnagar; Lasorkar, from Lasor, near Aurangabad; Mehkarkar, from\nMehkar in Buldana; and others. The order thus belongs to Berar and\nthe adjoining parts of India. Colonel Mackenzie describes Ridhpur as\nfollows: \"The name is said to be derived from _ridh_, meaning blood,\na Rakshas or demon having been killed there by Parasurama, and it\nowes its sanctity to the fact that the god lived there. Black stones\ninnumerable scattered about the town show where the god's footsteps\nbecame visible. At Ridhpur Krishna is represented by an ever-open,\nsleeplessly watching eye, and some Manbhaos carry about a small black\nstone disk with an eye painted on it as an amulet.\" Frequently their\nshrines contain no images, but are simply _chabutras_ or platforms\nbuilt over the place where Krishna or Dattatreya left marks of their\nfootprints. Over the platform is a small veranda, which the Manbhaos\nkiss, calling upon the name of the god. Sukli, in Bhandara, is also\na headquarters of the caste, and contains many Manbhao tombs. Here\nthey burn camphor in honour of Dattatreya and make offerings of\ncocoanuts. They make pilgrimages to the different shrines at the full\nmoons of Chait (March) and Kartik (October). They pay reverence to no\ndeities except Krishna and Dattatreya, and observe the festivals of\nGokul Ashtami in August and Datta-Jayantri in December. They consider\nthe month of Aghan (November) as holy, because Krishna called it\nso in the Bhagavat-Gita. This is their sacred book, and they reject\nthe other Hindu scriptures. Their conception of Krishna is based on\nhis description of himself to Arjun in the Bhagavat-Gita as follows:\n\"'Behold things wonderful, never seen before, behold in this my body\nthe whole world, animate and inanimate. But as thou art unable to\nsee with these thy natural eyes, I will give thee a heavenly eye,\nwith which behold my divine connection.'\n\n\"The son of Pandu then beheld within the body of the god of gods\nstanding together the whole universe divided forth into its vast\nvariety. He was overwhelmed with wonder and every hair was raised\non end. 'But I am not to be seen as thou hast seen me even by\nthe assistance of the Vedas, by mortification, by sacrifices, by\ncharitable gifts: but I am to be seen, to be known in truth, and to\nbe obtained by that worship which is offered up to me alone: and he\ngoeth unto me whose works are done for me: who esteemeth me supreme:\nwho is my servant only: who hath abandoned all consequences, and who\nliveth amongst all men without hatred.'\"\n\nAgain: \"He my servant is dear to me who is free from enmity, the friend\nof all nature, merciful, exempt from all pride and selfishness, the\nsame in pain and in pleasure, patient of wrong, contented, constantly\ndevout, of subdued passions and firm resolves, and whose mind and\nunderstanding are fixed on me alone.\"\n\n\n\n\n2. Divisions of the order\n\nThe Manbhaos are now divided into three classes: the Brahmachari; the\nGharbari; and the Bhope. The Brahmachari are the ascetic members of\nthe sect who subsist by begging and devote their lives to meditation,\nprayer and spiritual instruction. The Gharbari are those who, while\nleading a mendicant life, wearing the distinctive black dress of the\norder and having their heads shaved, are permitted to get married with\nthe permission of their Mahant or _guru_. The ceremony is performed in\nstrict privacy inside a temple. A man sometimes signifies his choice of\na spouse by putting his _jholi_ or beggar's wallet upon hers; if she\nlets it remain there, the betrothal is complete. A woman may show her\npreference for a man by bringing a pair of garlands and placing one on\nhis head and the other on that of the image of Krishna. The marriage\nis celebrated according to the custom of the Kunbis, but without\nfeasting or music. Widows are permitted to marry again. Married women\ndo not wear bangles nor toe-rings nor the customary necklace of beads;\nthey put on no jewellery, and have no _choli_ or bodice. The Bhope\nor Bhoall, the third division of the caste, are wholly secular and\nwear no distinctive dress, except sometimes a black head-cloth. They\nmay engage in any occupation that pleases them, and sometimes act as\nservants in the temples of the caste. In Berar they are divided into\nthirteen _bas_ or orders, named after the disciples of Arjun Bhat, who\nfounded the various shrines. The Manbhaos are recruited by initiation\nof both men and women from any except the impure castes. Young children\nwho have been vowed by their parents to a religious life or are left\nwithout relations, are taken into the order. Women usually join it\neither as children or late in life. The celibate members, male or\nfemale, live separately in companies like monks and nuns. They do\nnot travel together, and hold services in their temples at different\ntimes. A woman admitted into the order is henceforward the disciple of\nthe woman who initiated her by whispering the _guru mantra_ or sacred\nverse into her ear. She addresses her preceptress as mother and the\nother women as sisters. The Manbhaos are intelligent and generally\nliterate, and they lead a simple and pure life. They are respectable\nand are respected by the people, and a _guru_ or spiritual teacher is\noften taken from them in place of a Brahman or Gosain. They often act\nas priests or _gurus_ to the Mahars, for whom Brahmans will not perform\nthese services. Their honesty and humility are proverbial among the\nKunbis, and are in pleasing contrast to the character of many of the\nHindu mendicant orders. They consider it essential that all their\nconverts should be able to read the Bhagavat-Gita or a commentary\non it, and for this purpose teach them to read and write during the\nrainy season when they are assembled at one of their monasteries.\n\n\n\n\n3. Religious observances and customs\n\nOne of the leading tenets of the Manbhaos is a respect for all forms\nof animal and even vegetable life, much on a par with that of the\nJains. They strain water through a cloth before drinking it, and then\ndelicately wipe the cloth to preserve any insects that may be upon\nit. They should not drink water in, and hence cannot reside in, any\nvillage where animal sacrifices are offered to a deity. They will not\ncut down a tree nor break off a branch, or even a blade of grass, nor\npluck a fruit or an ear of corn. Some, it is said, will not even bathe\nin tanks for fear of destroying insect-life. For this reason also they\nreadily accept cooked food as alms, so that they may avoid the risk\nof the destruction of life involved in cooking. The Manbhaos dislike\nthe din and noise of towns, and live generally in secluded places,\ncoming into the towns only to beg. Except in the rains they wander\nabout from place to place. They beg in the morning, and then return\nhome and, after bathing and taking their food, read their religious\nbooks. They must always worship Krishna before taking food, and for\nthis purpose when travelling they carry an image of the deity about\nwith them. They will take food and water from the higher castes, but\nthey must not do so from persons of low caste on pain of temporary\nexcommunication. They neither smoke nor chew tobacco. Both men and\nwomen shave the head clean, and men also the face. This is first done\non initiation by the village barber. But the _sendhi_ or scalp-lock\nand moustaches of the novice must be cut off by his _guru_, this being\nthe special mark of his renunciation of the world. The scalp-locks of\nthe various candidates are preserved until a sufficient quantity of\nhair has been collected, when ropes are made of it, which they fasten\nround their loins. This may be because Hindus attach a special efficacy\nto the scalp-lock, perhaps as being the seat of a man's strength or\npower. The nuns also shave their heads, and generally eschew every kind\nof personal adornment. Both monks and nuns usually dress in black or\nashen-grey clothes as a mark of humility, though some have discarded\nblack in favour of the usual Hindu mendicant colour of red ochre. The\nblack colour is in keeping with the complexion of Krishna, their\nchief god. They dye their cloths with lamp-black mixed with a little\nwater and oil. They usually sleep on the ground, with the exception of\nthose who are Mahants, and they sometimes have no metal vessels, but\nuse bags made of strong cloth for holding food and water. Men's names\nhave the suffix _Boa_, as Datto Boa, Kesho Boa, while those of boys\nend in _da_, as Manoda, Raojida, and those of women in _Bai_, as Gopa\nBai, Som Bai. The dead are buried, not in the common burial-grounds,\nbut in some waste place. The corpse is laid on its side, facing the\neast, with head to the north and feet to the south. A piece of silk\nor other valuable cloth is placed on it, on which salt is sprinkled,\nand the earth is then filled in and the ground levelled so as to leave\nno trace of the grave. No memorial is erected over a Manbhao tomb,\nand no mourning nor ceremony of purification is observed, nor are\noblations offered to the spirits of the dead. If the dead man leaves\nany property, it is expended on feeding the brotherhood for ten days;\nand if not, the Mahant of his order usually does this in his name.\n\n\n\n\n4. Hostility between Manbhaos and Brahmans\n\nThe Manbhaos are dissenters from orthodox Hinduism, and have thus\nnaturally incurred the hostility of the Brahmans. Mr. Kitts remarks\nof them: [180] \"The Brahmans hate the Manbhaos, who have not only\nthrown off the Brahmanical yoke themselves, but do much to oppose\nthe influence of Brahmans among the agriculturists. The Brahmans\nrepresent them as descended from one Krishna Bhat, a Brahman who was\noutcasted for keeping a beautiful Mang woman as his mistress. His\nfour sons were called the _Mang-bhaos_ or Mang brothers.\" This is an\nexcellent instance of the Brahman talent for pressing etymology into\ntheir service as an argument, in which respect they resemble the\nJesuits. By asserting that the Manbhaos are descended from a Mang\nwoman, one of the most despised castes, they attempt to dispose of\nthese enemies of a Brahman hegemony without further ado.\n\nAnother story about their wearing black or ashen-coloured clothes\nrelated by Colonel Mackenzie is that Krishna Bhat's followers,\nrefusing to believe the aspersions cast on their leader by the\nBrahmans, but knowing that some one among them had been guilty of the\nsin imputed to him, determined to decide the matter by the ordeal of\nfire. Having made a fire, they cast into it their own clothes and\nthose of their _guru_, each man having previously written his name\non his garments. The sacred fire made short work of all the clothes\nexcept those of Krishna Bhat, which it rejected and refused to burn,\nthereby forcing the unwilling disciples to believe that the finger\nof God pointed to their revered _guru_ as the sinner. In spite of the\nshock of thus discovering that their idol had feet of very human clay,\nthey still continued to regard Krishna Bhat's precepts as good and\nworthy of being followed, only stipulating that for all time Manbhaos\nshould wear clothes the colour of ashes, in memory of the sacred fire\nwhich had disclosed to them their _guru's_ sin.\n\nCaptain Mackintosh also relates that \"About A.D. 1780, a Brahman named\nAnand Rishi, an inhabitant of Paithan on the Godavari, maltreated\na Manbhao, who came to ask for alms at his door. This Manbhao,\nafter being beaten, proceeded to his friends in the vicinity, and\nthey collected a large number of brethren and went to the Brahman\nto demand satisfaction; Anand Rishi assembled a number of Gosains\nand his friends, and pursued and attacked the Manbhaos, who fled and\nasked Ahalya Bai, Rani of Indore, to protect them; she endeavoured to\npacify Anand Rishi by telling him that the Manbhaos were her _gurus_;\nhe said that they were Mangs, but declared that if they agreed to\nhis proposals he would forgive them; one of them was that they were\nnot to go to a Brahman's house to ask for alms, and another that if\nany Brahman repeated Anand Rishi's name and drew a line across the\nroad when a Manbhao was advancing, the Manbhao, without saying a\nword, must return the road he came. Notwithstanding this attempt to\nprevent their approaching a Brahman's house, they continue to ask\nalms of the Brahmans, and some Brahmans make a point of supplying\nthem with provisions.\"\n\nThis story endeavours to explain a superstition still observed by\nthe caste. This is that when a Manbhao is proceeding along a road,\nif any one draws a line across the road with a stick in front of him\nthe Manbhao will wait without passing the line until some one else\ncomes up and crosses it before him. In reality this is probably a\nprimitive superstition similar to that which makes a man stop when\na snake has crossed the road in front of him and efface its track\nbefore proceeding. It is said that the members of the order also\ncarry their sticks upside down, and a saying is repeated about them:\n\n\n    Manbhao hokar kale kapre darhi muchi mundhata hai,\n    Ulti lakri hath men pakri woh kya Sahib milta hai;\n\n\nor, \"The Manbhao wears black clothes, shaves his face and holds his\nstick upside down, and thinks he will find God that way.\"\n\nThis saying is attributed to Kabir.\n\n\n\n\n\nMang\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Origin and traditions_.\n    2. _Subdivisions_.\n    3. _Marriage_.\n    4. _Widow-marriage._\n    5. _Burial_.\n    6. _Occupation_.\n    7. _Religion and social status_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin and traditions\n\n_Mang._ [181]--A low impure caste of the Maratha Districts, who\nact as village musicians and castrate bullocks, while their women\nserve as midwives. The Mangs are also sometimes known as Vajantri\nor musician. They numbered more than 90,000 persons in 1911, of whom\n30,000 belonged to the Nagpur and Nerbudda Divisions of the Central\nProvinces, and 60,000 to Berar. The real origin of the Mangs is\nobscure, but they probably originated from the subject tribes and\nbecame a caste through the adoption of the menial services which\nconstitute their profession. In a Maratha book called the Shudra\nKamlakar [182], it is stated that the Mang was the offspring of\nthe union of a Vaideh man and an Ambashtha woman. A Vaideh was the\nillegitimate child of a Vaishya father and a Brahman mother, and an\nAmbashtha of a Brahman father and a Vaishya mother. The business\nof the Mang was to play on the flute and to make known the wishes\nof the Raja to his subjects by beat of drum. He was to live in the\nforest or outside the village, and was not to enter it except with\nthe Raja's permission. He was to remove the dead bodies of strangers,\nto hang criminals, and to take away and appropriate the clothes and\nbedding of the dead. The Mangs themselves relate the following legend\nof their origin as given by Mr. Sathe: Long ago before cattle were used\nfor ploughing, there was so terrible a famine upon the earth that all\nthe grain was eaten up, and there was none left for seed. Mahadeo took\npity on the few men who were left alive, and gave them some grain for\nsowing. In those days men used to drag the plough through the earth\nthemselves. But when a Kunbi, to whom Mahadeo had given some seed, went\nto try and sow it, he and his family were so emaciated by hunger that\nthey were unable, in spite of their united efforts, to get the plough\nthrough the ground. In this pitiable case the Kunbi besought Mahadeo\nto give him some further assistance, and Mahadeo then appeared, and,\nbringing with him the bull Nandi, upon which he rode, told the Kunbi to\nyoke it to the plough. This was done, and so long as Mahadeo remained\npresent, Nandi dragged the plough peaceably and successfully. But as\nsoon as the god disappeared, the bull became restive and refused to\nwork any longer. The Kunbi being helpless, again complained to Mahadeo,\nwhen the god appeared, and in his wrath at the conduct of the bull,\ngreat drops of perspiration stood upon his brow. One of these fell to\nthe ground, and immediately a coal-black man sprang up and stood ready\nto do Mahadeo's bidding. He was ordered to bring the bull to reason,\nand he went and castrated it, after which it worked well and quietly;\nand since then the Kunbis have always used bullocks for ploughing,\nand the descendants of the man, who was the first Mang, are employed\nin the office for which he was created. It is further related that\nNandi, the bull, cursed the Mang in his pain, saying that he and\nhis descendants should never derive any profit from ploughing with\ncattle. And the Mangs say that to this day none of them prosper by\ntaking to cultivation, and quote the following proverb: '_Keli kheti,\nZhali mati_,' or, 'If a Mang sows grain he will only reap dust.'\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions\n\nThe caste is divided into the following subcastes: Dakhne, Khandeshe\nand Berarya, or those belonging to the Deccan, Khandesh and Berar;\nGhodke, those who tend horses; Dafle, tom-tom players; Uchle,\npickpockets; Pindari, descendants of the old freebooters; Kakarkadhe,\nstone-diggers; Holer, hide-curers; and Garori. The Garoris [183] are\na sept of vagrant snake-charmers and jugglers. Many are professional\ncriminals.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage\n\nThe caste is divided into exogamous family groups named after animals\nor other objects, or of a titular nature. One or two have the names\nof other castes. Members of the same group may not intermarry. Those\nwho are well-to-do marry their daughters very young for the sake\nof social estimation, but there is no compulsion in this matter. In\nfamilies which are particularly friendly, Mr. Sathe remarks, children\nmay be betrothed before birth if the two mothers are with child\ntogether. Betel is distributed, and a definite contract is made,\non the supposition that a boy and girl will be born. Sometimes the\nabdomen of each woman is marked with red vermilion. A grown-up girl\nshould not be allowed to see her husband's face before marriage. The\nwedding is held at the bride's house, but if it is more convenient\nthat it should be in the bridegroom's village, a temporary house is\nfound for the bride's party, and the marriage-shed is built in front\nof it. The bride must wear a yellow bodice and cloth, yellow and red\nbeing generally considered among Hindus as the auspicious colours\nfor weddings. When she leaves for her husband's house she puts on\nanother or going-away dress, which should be as fine as the family\ncan afford, and thereafter she may wear any colour except white. The\ndistinguishing marks of a married woman are the _mangal-sutram_ or holy\nthread, which her husband ties on her neck at marriage; the _garsoli_\nor string of black beads round the neck; the silver toe-rings and glass\nbangles. If any one of these is lost, it must be replaced at once, or\nshe is likely soon to be a widow. The food served at the wedding-feast\nconsists of rice and pulse, but more essential than these is an ample\nprovision of liquor. It is a necessary feature of a Mang wedding\nthat the bridegroom should go to it riding on a horse. The Mahars,\nanother low caste of the Maratha Districts, worship the horse, and\nbetween them and the Mangs there exists a long-standing feud, so that\nthey do not, if they can help it, drink of the same well. The sight\nof a Mang riding on a horse is thus gall and wormwood to the Mahars,\nwho consider it a terrible degradation to the noble animal, and this\nfact inflaming their natural enmity, formerly led to riots between\nthe castes. Under native rule the Mangs were public executioners,\nand it was said to be the proudest moment of Mang's life when he\ncould perform his office on a Mahar.\n\nThe bride proceeds to her husband's house for a short visit immediately\nafter the marriage, and then goes home again. Thereafter, till such\ntime as she finally goes to live with him, she makes brief visits for\nfestivals or on other social occasions, or to help her mother-in-law,\nif her assistance is required. If the mother-in-law is ill and requires\nsomebody to wait on her, or if she is a shrew and wants some one to\nbully, or if she has strict ideas of discipline and wishes personally\nto conduct the bride's training for married life, she makes the girl\ncome more frequently and stay longer.\n\n\n\n\n4. Widow marriage\n\nThe remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow may marry any one\nexcept persons of her own family group or her husband's elder brother,\nwho stands to her in the light of a father. She is permitted, but\nnot obliged, to marry her husband's younger brother, but if he has\nperformed the dead man's obsequies, she may not marry him, as this act\nhas placed him in the relation of a son to her deceased husband. More\nusually the widow marries some one in another village, because the\nremarriage is always held in some slight disrepute, and she prefers\nto be at a distance from her first husband's family. Divorce is said\nto be permitted only for persistent misconduct on the part of the wife.\n\n\n\n\n5. Burial\n\nThe caste always bury the dead and observe mourning only for three\ndays. On returning from a burial they all get drunk, and then go to\nthe house of the deceased and chew the bitter leaves of the _nim_\ntree (_Melia indica_). These they then spit out of their mouths to\nindicate their complete severance from the dead man.\n\n\n\n\n6. Occupation\n\nThe caste beat drums at village festivals, and castrate cattle,\nand they also make brooms and mats of date-palm and keep leeches for\nblood-letting. Some of them are village watchmen and their women act\nas midwives. As soon as a baby is born, the midwife blows into its\nmouth, ears and nose in order to clear them of any impediments. When\na man is initiated by a _guru_ or spiritual preceptor, the latter\nblows into his ear, and the Mangs therefore say that on account of\nthis act of the midwife they are the _gurus_ of all Hindus. During\nan eclipse the Mangs beg, because the demons Rahu and Ketu, who\nare believed to swallow the sun and moon on such occasions, were\nboth Mangs, and devout Hindus give alms to their fellow-castemen in\norder to appease them. Those of them who are thieves are said not to\nsteal from the persons of a woman, a bangle-seller, a Lingayat Mali\nor another Mang. [184] In Maratha villages they sometimes take the\nplace of Chamars, and work in leather, and one writer says of them:\n\"The Mang is a village menial in the Maratha villages, making all\nleather ropes, thongs and whips, which are used by the cultivators;\nhe frequently acts as watchman; he is by profession a thief and\nexecutioner; he readily hires himself as an assassin, and when he\ncommits a robbery he also frequently murders.\" In his menial capacity\nhe receives presents at seed-time and harvest, and it is said that the\nKunbi will never send the Mang empty away, because he represents the\nwrath of Mahadeo, being made from the god's sweat when he was angry.\n\n\n\n\n7. Religion and social status\n\nThe caste especially venerate the goddess Devi. They apparently\nidentify Devi with Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, and they have a\nstory to the effect that once Brahma wished to ravish his daughter\nSaraswati. She fled from him and went to all the gods, but none of\nthem would protect her for fear of Brahma. At last in despair she\ncame to a Mang's house, and the Mang stood in the door and kept off\nBrahma with a wooden club. In return for this Saraswati blessed him\nand said that he and his descendants should never lack for food. They\nalso revere Mahadeo, and on every Monday they worship the cow, placing\nvermilion on her forehead and washing her feet. The cat is regarded as\na sacred animal, and a Mang's most solemn oath is sworn on a cat. A\nhouse is defiled if a cat or a dog dies or a cat has kittens in it,\nand all the earthen pots must be broken. If a man accidentally kills\na cat or a dog a heavy penance is exacted, and two feasts must be\ngiven to the caste. To kill an ass or a monkey is a sin only less\nheinous. A man is also put out of caste if kicked or beaten with a\nshoe by any one of another caste, even a Brahman, or if he is struck\nwith the _kathri_ or mattress made of rags which the villagers put\non their sleeping-cots. Mr. Gayer remarks [185] that \"The Mangs show\ngreat respect for the bamboo; and at a marriage the bridal couple\nare made to stand in a bamboo basket. They also reverence the _nim_\ntree, and the Mangs of Sholapur spread _hariali_ [186] grass and _nim_\nleaves on the spot where one of their caste dies.\" The social status\nof the Mangs is of the lowest. They usually live in a separate quarter\nof the village and have a well for their own use. They may not enter\ntemples. It is recorded that under native rule the Mahars and Mangs\nwere not allowed within the gates of Poona between 3 P.M. and 9 A.M.,\nbecause before nine and after three their bodies cast too long a\nshadow; and whenever their shadow fell upon a Brahman it polluted him,\nso that he dare not taste food or water until he had bathed and washed\nthe impurity away. So also no low-caste man was allowed to live in\na walled town; cattle and dogs could freely enter and remain but not\nthe Mahar or Mang. [187] The caste will eat the flesh of pigs, rats,\ncrocodiles and jackals and the leavings of others, and some of them\nwill eat beef. Men may be distinguished by the _senai_ flute which they\ncarry and by a large ring of gold or brass worn in the lobe of the\near. A Mang's sign-manual is a representation of his _bhall-singara_\nor castration-knife. Women are tattooed before marriage, with dots on\nthe forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, and with figures of a date-palm\non the forearm, a scorpion on the palm of the hand, and flies on the\nfingers. The caste do not bear a good character, and it is said of\na cruel man, '_Mang-Nirdayi_,' or 'Hardhearted as a Mang.'\n\n\nMang-Garori\n\n_Mang-Garori._--This is a criminal subdivision of the Mang caste,\nresiding principally in Berar. They were not separately recorded at\nthe census. The name Garori appears to be a corruption of Garudi,\nand signifies a snake-charmer. [188] Garuda, the Brahminy kite, the\nbird on which Vishnu rides, was the great subduer of snakes, and hence\nprobably snake-charmers are called Garudi. Some of the Mang-Garoris are\nsnake-charmers, and this may have been the original occupation of the\ncaste, though the bulk of them now appear to live by dealing in cattle\nand thieving. The following notice of them is abstracted from Major\nGunthorpe's _Notes on Criminal Tribes_. [189] They usually travel about\nwith small _pals_ or tents, taking their wives, children, buffaloes\nand dogs with them. The men are well set up and tall. Their costume\nis something like that worn by professional gymnasts, consisting\nof light and short reddish-brown drawers (_chaddi_), a waistband\nwith fringe at either end (_katchhe_), and a sheet thrown over the\nshoulders. The Naik or headman of the camp may be recognised by his\nwearing some red woollen cloth about his person or a red shawl over his\nshoulders. The women have short _saris_ (body-cloths), usually of blue,\nand tied in the Telugu fashion. They are generally very violent when\nany attempt is made to search an encampment, especially if there is\nstolen property concealed in it. Instances have been known of their\nseizing their infants by the ankles and swinging them round their\nheads, declaring they would continue doing so till the children died,\nif the police did not leave the camp. Sometimes also the women of a\ngang have been known to throw off all their clothing and appear in a\nperfect state of nudity, declaring they would charge the police with\nviolating their modesty. Men of this tribe are expert cattle-lifters,\nbut confine themselves chiefly to buffaloes, which they steal while out\ngrazing and very dexterously disguise by trimming the horns and firing,\nso as to avoid recognition by their rightful owners. To steal goats\nand sheep is also one of their favourite occupations, and they will\neither carry the animals off from their pens at night or kill them\nwhile out grazing, in the following manner: having marked a sheep or\ngoat which is feeding farthest away from the flock, the thief awaits\nhis opportunity till the shepherd's back is turned, when the animal is\nquickly captured. Placing his foot on the back of the neck near the\nhead, and seizing it under the chin with his right hand, the thief\nbreaks the animal's neck by a sudden jerk; he then throws the body\ninto a bush or in some dip in the ground to hide it, and walks away,\nwatching from a distance. The shepherd, ignorant of the loss of one\nof his animals, goes on leisurely driving his flock before him, and\nwhen he is well out of sight the Mang-Garori removes the captured\ncarcase to his encampment. Great care is taken that the skin, horns\nand hoofs should be immediately burnt so as to avoid detection. Their\nostensible occupation is to trade in barren half-starved buffaloes\nand buffalo calves, or in country ponies. They also purchase from\nGaoli herdsmen barren buffaloes, which they profess to be able to make\nfertile; if successful they return them for double the purchase-money,\nbut if not, having obtained if possible some earnest-money, they\nabscond and sell the animals at a distance. [190] Like the Bhamtas,\nthe Mang-Garoris, Major Gunthorpe states, make it a rule not to give\na girl in marriage until the intended husband has proved himself\nan efficient thief. Mr. Gayer [191] writes as follows of the caste:\n\"I do not think Major Gunthorpe lays sufficient emphasis on the part\ntaken by the women in crimes, for they apparently do by far the major\npart of the thieving, Sherring says the men never commit house-breaking\nand very seldom rob on the highway: he calls them 'wanderers, showmen,\njugglers and conjurors,' and describes them as robbers who get their\ninformation by performing before the houses of rich bankers and\nothers. Mang-Garori [192] women steal in markets and other places of\npublic resort. They wait to see somebody put down his clothes or bag\nof rupees and watch till his attention is attracted elsewhere, when,\nwalking up quietly between the article and its owner, they drop their\npetticoat either over or by it, and manage to transfer the stolen\nproperty into their basket while picking up the petticoat. If an\nunfavourable omen occurs on the way when the women set out to pilfer\nthey place a stone on the ground and dash another on to it saying,\n'If the obstacle is removed, break'; if the stone struck is broken,\nthey consider that the obstacle portended by the unfavourable omen\nis removed from their path, and proceed on their way; but if not,\nthey return. Stolen articles are often bartered at liquor-shops for\ndrink, and the Kalars act as receivers of stolen property for the\nMang-Garoris.\"\n\nThe following are some particulars taken from an old account of the\ncriminal Mangs; [193] Their leader or headman was called the _naik_\nand was elected by a majority of votes, though considerable regard\nwas paid to heredity. The _naik's_ person and property were alike\ninviolable; after a successful foray each of the gang contributed a\nquarter of his share to the _naik_, and from the fund thus made up\nwere defrayed the expenses of preparation, religious offerings and\nthe triumphal feast. A pair of shoes were usually given to a Brahman\nand alms to the poor. To each band was attached an informer, who was\nalso receiver of the stolen goods. These persons were usually bangle-\nor perfume-sellers or jewellers. In this capacity they were admitted\ninto the women's apartments and so enabled to form a correct notion\nof the topography of a house and a shrewd guess as to the wealth\nof its inmates. Like all barbarous tribes and all persons addicted\nto criminal practices the Mangs were extremely superstitious. They\nnever set out on an expedition on a Friday. After the birth of a child\nthe mother and another woman stood on opposite sides of the cradle,\nand the former tossed her child to the other, commending it to the\nmercy of Jai Gopal, and waited to receive it back in like manner in\nthe name of Jai Govind. Both Gopal and Govind are names of Krishna,\nThe Mangs usually married young in life. If a girl happened to hang\nheavy on hand she was married at the age of puberty to the deity. In\nother words, she was attached as a prostitute to the temple of the god\nKhandoba or the goddess Yellama. Those belonging to the service of\nthe latter were wont in the month of February to parade the streets\nin a state of utter nudity. When a bachelor wished to marry a widow\nhe was first united to a swallow-wort plant, and this was immediately\ndug up and transplanted, and withering away left him at liberty to\nmarry the widow. If a lady survived the sorrow caused by the death\nof two or three husbands she could not again enter the holy state\nunless she consented to be married with a fowl under her armpit;\nthe unfortunate bird being afterwards killed to appease the manes of\nher former consorts.\n\n\nManihar\n\n_Manihar._ [194]--A small caste of pedlars and hawkers. In northern\nIndia the Manihars are makers of glass bangles, and correspond to the\nKachera caste of the Central Provinces. Mr. Nesfield remarks [195]\nthat the special industry of the Manihars of the United Provinces is\nthe making of glass bangles or bracelets. These are an indispensable\nadjunct to the domestic life of the Hindu woman; for the glass bangle\nis not worn for personal ornament, but as the badge of the matrimonial\nstate, like the wedding-ring in Europe. But in the Central Provinces\nglass bangles are made by the Kacheras and the Muhammadan Turkaris\nor Sisgars, and the Manihars are petty hawkers of stationery and\narticles for the toilet, such as miniature looking-glasses, boxes,\nstockings, needles and thread, spangles, and imitation jewellery; and\nHindu Jogis and others who take to this occupation are accustomed to\ngive their caste as Manihar. In 1911 nearly 700 persons belonging to\nthe caste were returned from the northern Districts of the Central\nProvinces. The Manihars are nominally Muhammadans, but they retain\nmany Hindu customs. At their weddings they erect a marriage-tent,\nanoint the couple with oil and turmeric and make them wear a _kankan_\nor wrist-band, to which is attached a small purse containing a little\nmustard-seed and a silver ring. The mustard is intended to scare away\nthe evil spirits. When the marriage procession reaches the bride's\nvillage it is met by her people, one of whom holds a bamboo in his\nhands and bars the advance of the procession. The bridegroom's father\nthereupon makes a present of a rupee to the village _panchayat_,\nand his people are allowed to proceed. When the bridegroom reaches\nthe bride's house he finds her younger sister carrying a _kalas_\nor pot of water on her head; he drops a rupee into it and enters the\nhouse. The bride's sister then comes holding above her head a small\nframe like a _tazia_ [196] with a cocoanut core hanging inside. She\nraises the frame as high as she can to prevent the bridegroom from\nplucking out the cocoanut core, which, however, he succeeds in doing\nin the end. The girl applies powdered _mehndi_ or henna to the little\nfinger of the boy's right hand, in return for which she receives a\nrupee and a piece of cloth. The Kazi then recites verses from the\nKoran which the bridegroom repeats after him, and the bride does the\nsame in her turn. This is the Nikah or marriage proper, and before\nit takes place the bridegroom's father must present a nose-ring to\nthe bride. The parents also fix the Meher or dowry, which, however,\nis not a dowry proper, but a stipulation that if the bridegroom\nshould put away his wife after marriage he will pay her a certain\nagreed sum. After the Nikah the bridegroom is given some spices,\nwhich he grinds on a slab with a roller. He must do the grinding very\nslowly and gently so as to make no noise, or it is believed that\nthe married life of the couple will be broken by quarrels. A widow\nis permitted to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband,\nbut not his elder brother. The caste bury their dead with the head to\nthe north. The corpse is first bathed and wrapped in a new white sheet,\nwith another sheet over it, and is then laid on a cot or in a _janaza_\nor coffin. While it is being carried to the cemetery the bearers are\nchanged every few steps, so that every man who accompanies the funeral\nmay carry the corpse for a short distance. When it is lowered into\nthe grave the sheet is taken off and given to a Fakir or beggar. When\nthe body is covered with earth the priest reads the funeral verses\nat a distance of forty steps from the grave. Feasts are given to the\ncaste-fellows on the third, tenth, twentieth and fortieth days after\nthe death. The Manihars observe the Shabrat festival by distributing to\nthe caste-fellows _halua_ or a mixture of melted butter and flour. The\nShabrat is the middle night of the month Shaban, and Muhammad declared\nthat on this night God registers the actions which every man will\nperform during the following year, and all those who are fated to die\nand the children who are to be born. Like Hindu widows the Manihar\nwomen break their bangles when their husband's corpse is removed to\nthe burial-ground. The Manihars eat flesh, but not beef or pork; and\nthey also abstain from alcoholic liquor. If a girl is seduced and made\npregnant before marriage either by a man of the caste or an outsider,\nshe remains in her father's house until her child has been born,\nand may then be married either to her paramour or any other man of\nthe caste by the simple repetition of the Nikah or marriage verses,\nomitting all other ceremonies. The Manihars will admit into their\ncommunity converted Hindus belonging even to the lowest castes.\n\n\nMannewar\n\n_Mannewar._ [197]--A small tribe belonging to the south or\nTelugu-speaking portion of the Chanda District, where they mustered\nabout 1600 persons in 1911. The home of the tribe is the Hyderabad\nState, where it numbers 22,000 persons, and the Mannewars are said\nto have once been dominant over a part of that territory. The name\nis derived from a Telugu word _mannem_, meaning forest, while _war_\nis the plural termination in Telugu, Mannewar thus signifying 'the\npeople of the forest.' The tribe appear to be the inferior branch\nof the Koya Gonds, and they are commonly called Mannewar Koyas as\nopposed to the Koya Doras or the superior branch, Dora meaning 'lord'\nor master. The Koya Doras thus correspond to the Raj-Gonds of the\nnorth of the Province and the Mannewar Koyas to the Dhur or 'dust'\nGonds. [198] The tribe is divided into three exogamous groups: the\nNalugu Velpulu worshipping four gods, the Ayidu Velpulu worshipping\nfive, and the Anu Velpulu six. A man must marry a woman of one of\nthe divisions worshipping a different number of gods from his own,\nbut the Mannewars do not appear to know the names of these gods, and\nconsequently no veneration can be paid to them at present, and they\nsurvive solely for the purpose of regulating marriage. When a betrothal\nis made a day is fixed for taking an omen. In the early morning the\nboy who is to be married has his face washed and turmeric smeared\non his feet, and is seated on a wooden seat inside the house. The\nelders of the village then proceed outside it towards the rising\nsun and watch for any omen given by an animal or bird crossing their\npath. If this is good the marriage is celebrated, and if bad the match\nis broken off. In the former case five of the elders take their food on\nreturning from the search for the omen and immediately proceed to the\nbride's village. Here they are met by the Pesamuda or village priest,\nand stay for three days, when the amount of the dowry is settled and\na date fixed for the wedding. The marriage ceremony resembles that\nof the low Telugu castes. The couple are seated on a plough-yoke,\nand coloured rice is thrown on to their heads, and the bridegroom\nties the _mangalya_ or bead necklace, which is the sign of marriage,\nround the neck of the bride. If a girl is deformed, or has some other\ndrawback which prevents her from being sought in marriage, she is\ngiven away with her sister to a first cousin [199] or some other near\nrelative, the two sisters being married to him together. A widow may\nmarry any man of the tribe except her first husband's brothers. If\na man takes a widow to his house without marrying her he is fined\nthree rupees, while for adultery with a married woman the penalty is\ntwenty rupees. A divorce can always be obtained, but if the husband\ndemands it he is mulcted of twenty rupees by the caste committee,\nwhile a wife who seeks a divorce must pay ten rupees. The Mannewars\nmake an offering of a fowl and some liquor to the ploughshare on the\nfestival of Ganesh Chaturthi. After the picking of the flowers of\nthe mahua [200] they worship that tree, offering to it some of the\nliquor distilled from the new flowers, with a fowl and a goat. This\nis known as the Burri festival. At the Holi feast the Mannewars make\ntwo human figures to represent Kami and Rati, or the god of love and\nhis wife. The male figure is then thrown on to the Holi fire with a\nlive chicken or an egg. This may be a reminiscence of a former human\nsacrifice, which was a common custom in many parts of the world at the\nspring festival. The caste usually bury the dead, but are beginning\nto adopt cremation. They do not employ Brahmans for their ceremonies\nand eat all kinds of food, including the flesh of pigs, fowls and\ncrocodiles, but in view of their having nominally adopted Hinduism,\nthey abstain from beef.\n\n\n\n\n\nMaratha\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n     1. _Numerical statistics_.\n     2. _Double meaning of the term Maratha_.\n     3. _Origin and position of the caste_.\n     4. _Exogamous clans_.\n     5. _Other subdivisions_.\n     6. _Social customs_.\n     7. _Religion_.\n     8. _Present position of the caste_.\n     9. _Nature of the Maratha insurrection_.\n    10. _Maratha women in past times_.\n    11. _The Maratha horseman_.\n    12. _Cavalry in the field_.\n    13. _Military administration_.\n    14. _Sitting Dharna_.\n    15. _The infantry_.\n    16. _Character of the Maratha armies_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Numerical statistics\n\n_Maratha, Mahratta._--The military caste of southern India which manned\nthe armies of Sivaji, and of the Peshwa and other princes of the\nMaratha confederacy. In the Central Provinces the Marathas numbered\n34,000 persons in 1911, of whom Nagpur contained 9000 and Wardha\n8000, while the remainder were distributed over Raipur, Hoshangabad\nand Nimar. In Berar their strength was 60,000 persons, the total for\nthe combined province being thus 94,000. The caste is found in large\nnumbers in Bombay and Hyderabad, and in 1901 the India Census tables\nshow a total of not less than five million persons belonging to it.\n\n\n\n\n2. Double meaning of the term Maratha\n\nIt is difficult to avoid confusion in the use of the term Maratha,\nwhich signifies both an inhabitant of the area in which the\nMarathi language is spoken, and a member of the caste to which\nthe general name has in view of their historical importance been\nspecifically applied. The native name for the Marathi-speaking\ncountry is Maharashtra, which has been variously interpreted as\n'The great country' or 'The country of the Mahars.' [201] A third\nexplanation of the name is from the Rashtrakuta dynasty which was\ndominant in this area for some centuries after A.D. 750. The name\nRashtrakuta was contracted into Rattha, and with the prefix of Maha\nor Great might evolve into the term Maratha. The Rashtrakutas have\nbeen conjecturally identified with the Rathor Rajputs. The _Nasik\nGazetteer_ [202] states that in 246 B.C. Maharatta is mentioned as\none of the places to which Asoka sent an embassy, and Maharashtraka\nis recorded in a Chalukyan inscription of A.D. 580 as including three\nprovinces and 99,000 villages. Several other references are given\nin Sir J. Campbell's erudite note, and the name is therefore without\ndoubt ancient. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentioned\nbefore the thirteenth or fourteenth century. [203] The antiquity of\nthe name would appear to militate against the derivation from the\nRashtrakuta dynasty, which did not become prominent till much later,\nand the most probable meaning of Maharashtra would therefore seem to\nbe 'The country of the Mahars.' Maharatta and Maratha are presumably\nderivatives from Maharashtra.\n\n\n\n\n3. Origin and position of the caste\n\nThe Marathas are a caste formed from military service, and it seems\nprobable that they sprang mainly from the peasant population of Kunbis,\nthough at what period they were formed into a separate caste has not\nyet been determined. Grant-Duff mentions several of their leading\nfamilies as holding offices under the Muhammadan rulers of Bijapur and\nAhmadnagar in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the Nimbhalkar,\nGharpure and Bhonsla; [204] and presumably their clansmen served in the\narmies of those states. But whether or no the designation of Maratha\nhad been previously used by them, it first became prominent during the\nperiod of Sivaji's guerilla warfare against Aurangzeb. The Marathas\nclaim a Rajput origin, and several of their clans have the names of\nRajput tribes, as Chauhan, Panwar, Solanki and Suryavansi. In 1836\nMr. Enthoven states, [205] the Sesodia Rana of Udaipur, the head of\nthe purest Rajput house, was satisfied from inquiries conducted by an\nagent that the Bhonslas and certain other families had a right to be\nrecognised as Rajputs. Colonel Tod states that Sivaji was descended\nfrom a Rajput prince Sujunsi, who was expelled from Mewar to avoid\na dispute about the succession about A.D. 1300. Sivaji is shown as\n13th in descent from Sujunsi. Similarly the Bhonslas of Nagpur were\nsaid to derive their origin from one Bunbir, who was expelled from\nUdaipur about 1541, having attempted to usurp the kingdom. [206]\nAs Rajput dynasties ruled in the Deccan for some centuries before\nthe Muhammadan conquest, it seems reasonable to suppose that a Rajput\naristocracy may have taken root there. This was Colonel Tod's opinion,\nwho wrote: \"These kingdoms of the south as well as the north were\nheld by Rajput sovereigns, whose offspring, blending with the original\npopulation, produced that mixed race of Marathas inheriting with the\nnames the warlike propensities of their ancestors, but who assume the\nnames of their abodes as titles, as the Nimalkars, the Phalkias, the\nPatunkars, instead of their tribes of Jadon, Tuear, Puear, etc.\" [207]\nThis statement would, however, apply only to the leading houses and\nnot to the bulk of the Maratha caste, who appear to be mainly derived\nfrom the Kunbis. In Sholapur the Marathas and Kunbis eat together,\nand the Kunbis are said to be bastard Marathas. [208] In Satara the\nKunbis have the same division into 96 clans as the Marathas have, and\nmany of the same surnames. [209] The writer of the _Satara Gazetteer_\nsays: [210] \"The census of 1851 included the Marathas with the Kunbis,\nfrom whom they do not form a separate caste. Some Maratha families\nmay have a larger strain of northern or Rajput blood than the Kunbis,\nbut this is not always the case. The distinction between Kunbis\nand Marathas is almost entirely social, the Marathas as a rule being\nbetter off, and preferring even service as a constable or messenger to\nhusbandry.\" Exactly the same state of affairs prevails in the Central\nProvinces and Berar, where the body of the caste are commonly known\nas Maratha Kunbis. In Bombay the Marathas will take daughters from\nthe Kunbis in marriage for their sons, though they will not give\ntheir daughters in return. But a Kunbi who has got on in the world\nand become wealthy may by sufficient payment get his sons married into\nMaratha families, and even be adopted as a member of the caste. [211]\nIn 1798 Colonel Tone, who commanded a regiment of the Peshwa's army,\nwrote [212] of the Marathas: \"The three great tribes which compose the\nMaratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd, and the\nGoala or cowherd; to this original cause may perhaps be ascribed that\ngreat simplicity of manner which distinguishes the Maratha people.\"\n\nIt seems then most probable that, as already stated, the Maratha\ncaste was of purely military origin, constituted from the various\ncastes of Maharashtra who adopted military service, though some of\nthe leading families may have had Rajputs for their ancestors. Sir\nD. Ibbetson thought that a similar relation existed in past times\nbetween the Rajputs and Jats, the landed aristocracy of the Jat caste\nbeing gradually admitted to Rajput rank. The Khandaits or swordsmen of\nOrissa are a caste formed in the same manner from military service. In\nthe _Imperial Gazetteer_ Sir H. Risley suggests that the Maratha\npeople were of Scythian origin:\n\n\"The physical type of the people of this region accords fairly\nwell with this theory, while the arguments derived from language\nand religion do not seem to conflict with it.... On this view the\nwide-ranging forays of the Marathas, their guerilla methods of warfare,\ntheir unscrupulous dealings with friend and foe, their genius for\nintrigue and their consequent failure to build up an enduring dominion,\nmight well be regarded as inherited from their Scythian ancestors.\"\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamous clans\n\nIn the Central Provinces the Marathas are divided into 96 exogamous\nclans, known as the Chhanava Kule, which marry with one another. During\nthe period when the Bhonsla family were rulers of Nagpur they\nconstituted a sort of inner circle, consisting of seven of the\nleading clans, with whom alone they intermarried; these are known\nas the Satghare or Seven Houses, and consist of the Bhonsla, Gujar,\nAhirrao, Mahadik, Sirke, Palke and Mohte clans. These houses at one\ntime formed an endogamous group, marrying only among themselves, but\nrecently the restriction has been relaxed, and they have arranged\nmarriages with other Maratha families. It may be noted that the\npresent representatives of the Bhonsla family are of the Gujar clan\nto which the last Raja of Nagpur, Raghuji III., belonged prior to\nhis adoption. Several of the clans, as already noted, have Rajput\nsept names; and some are considered to be derived from those of\nformer ruling dynasties; as Chalke, from the Chalukya Rajput kings\nof the Deccan and Carnatic; More, who may represent a branch of the\ngreat Maurya dynasty of northern India; Salunke, perhaps derived\nfrom the Solanki kings of Gujarat; and Yadav, the name of the kings\nof Deogiri or Daulatabad. [213] Others appear to be named after\nanimals or natural objects, as Sinde from _sindi_ the date-palm tree,\nGhorpade from _ghorpad_ the iguana; or to be of a titular nature, as\nKale black, Pandhre white, Bhagore a renegade, Jagthap renowned, and\nso on. The More, Nimbhalkar, Ghatge, Mane, Ghorpade, Dafle, Jadav and\nBhonsla clans are the oldest, and held prominent positions in the old\nMuhammadan kingdoms of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar. The Nimbhalkar family\nwere formerly Panwar Rajputs, and took the name of Nimbhalkar from\ntheir ancestral village Nimbalik. The Ghorpade family are an offshoot\nof the Bhonslas, and obtained their present name from the exploit of\none of their ancestors, who scaled a fort in the Konkan, previously\ndeemed impregnable, by passing a cord round the body of a _ghorpad_\nor iguana. [214] A noticeable trait of these Maratha houses is the\nfondness with which they clung to the small estates or villages in\nthe Deccan in which they had originally held the office of a patel or\nvillage headman as a _watan_ or hereditary right, even after they had\ncarved out for themselves principalities and states in other parts\nof India. The present Bhonsla Raja takes his title from the village\nof Deor in the Poona country. In former times we read of the Raja of\nSatara clinging to the _watans_ he had inherited from Sivaji after\nhe had lost his crown in all but the name; Sindhia was always termed\npatel or village headman in the revenue accounts of the villages he\nacquired in Nimar; while it is said that Holkar and the Panwar of Dhar\nfought desperately after the British conquest to recover the _pateli_\nrights of Deccan villages which had belonged to their ancestors. [215]\n\n\n\n\n5. Other subdivisions\n\nBesides the 96 clans there are now in the Central Provinces some local\nsubcastes who occupy a lower position and do not intermarry with the\nMarathas proper. Among these are the Deshkar or 'Residents of the\ncountry'; the Waindesha or those of Berar and Khandesh; the Gangthade\nor those dwelling on the banks of the Godavari and Wainganga; and the\nGhatmathe or residents of the Mahadeo plateau in Berar. It is also\nstated that the Marathas are divided into the _Khasi_ or 'pure' and\nthe _Kharchi_ or the descendants of handmaids. In Bombay the latter\nare known as the Akarmashes or 11 _mashas_, meaning that as twelve\n_mashas_ make a tola, a twelfth part of them is alloy.\n\n\n\n\n6. Social customs\n\nA man must not marry in his own clan or that of his mother. A\nsister's son may be married to a brother's daughter, but not vice\nversa. Girls are commonly married between five and twelve years of age,\nand the ceremony resembles that of the Kunbis. The bridegroom goes\nto the bride's house riding on horseback and covered with a black\nblanket When a girl first becomes mature, usually after marriage,\nthe Marathas perform the Shantik ceremony. The girl is secluded for\nfour days, after which she is bathed and puts on new clothes and\ndresses her hair and a feast is given to the caste-fellows. Sometimes\nthe bridegroom comes and is asked whether he has visited his wife\nbefore she became mature, and if he confesses that he has done so a\nsmall fine is imposed on him. Such cases are, however, believed to\nbe rare. The Marathas proper forbid widow-marriage, but the lower\ngroups allow it. If a maiden is seduced by one of the caste she may\nbe married to him as if she were a widow, a fine being imposed on\nher family; but if she goes wrong with an outsider she is finally\nexpelled. Divorce is not ostensibly allowed but may be concluded by\nagreement between the parties. A wife who commits adultery is cast off\nand expelled from the caste. The caste burn their dead when they can\nafford it and perform the _shraddh_ ceremony in the month of _Kunwar_\n(September), when oblations are offered to the dead and a feast is\ngiven to the caste-fellows. Sometimes a tomb is erected as a memorial\nto the dead, but without his name, and is surmounted usually by an\nimage of Mahadeo. The caste eat the flesh of clean animals and of\nfowls and wild pig, and drink liquor. Their rules about food are\nliberal like those of the Rajputs, a too great stringency being no\ndoubt in both cases incompatible with the exigencies of military\nservice. They make no difference between food cooked with or without\nwater, and will accept either from a Brahman, Rajput, Tirole Kunbi,\nLingayat Bania or Phulmali.\n\nThe Marathas proper observe the _parda_ system with regard to their\nwomen, and will go to the well and draw water themselves rather than\npermit their wives to do so. The women wear ornaments only of gold\nor glass and not of silver or any baser metal. They are not permitted\nto spin cotton as being an occupation of the lower classes. The women\nare tattooed in the centre of the forehead with a device resembling a\ntrident. The men commonly wear a turban made of many folds of cloth\ntwisted into a narrow rope and large gold rings with pearls in the\nupper part of the ear. Like the Rajputs they often have their hair\nlong and wear beards and whiskers. They assume the sacred thread and\ninvest a boy with it when he is seven or eight years old or on his\nmarriage. Till then they let the hair grow on the front of his head,\nand when the thread ceremony is performed they cut this off and let\nthe _choti_ or scalp-lock grow at the back. In appearance the men\nare often tall and well-built and of a light wheat-coloured complexion.\n\n\n\n\n7. Religion\n\nThe principal deity of the Marathas is Khandoba, a warrior incarnation\nof Mahadeo. He is supposed to have been born in a field of millet\nnear Poona and to have led the people against the Muhammadans in\nearly times. He had a watch-dog who warned him of the approach of\nhis enemies, and he is named after the _khanda_ or sword which he\nalways carried. In Bombay [216] he is represented on horseback with\ntwo women, one of the Bania caste, his wedded wife, in front of him,\nand another, a Dhangarin, his kept mistress, behind. He is considered\nthe tutelary deity of the Maratha country, and his symbol is a bag\nof turmeric powder known as _bhandar_. The caste worship Khandoba on\nSundays with rice, flowers and incense, and also on the 21st day of\nMagh (January), which is called _Champa Sashthi_ and is his special\nfestival. On this day they will catch hold of any dog, and after\nadorning him with flowers and turmeric give him a good feed and let\nhim go again. The Marathas are generally kind to dogs and will not\ninjure them. At the Dasahra festival the caste worship their horses\nand swords and go out into the field to see a blue-jay in memory of\nthe fact that the Maratha marauding expeditions started on Dasahra. On\ncoming back they distribute to each other leaves of the _shami_ tree\n(_Bauhinia racemosa_) as a substitute for gold. It was formerly held\nto be fitting among the Hindus that the warrior should ride a horse\n(geldings being unknown) and the zamindar or landowner a mare, as more\nsuitable to a man of peace. The warriors celebrated their Dasahra,\nand worshipped their horses on the tenth day of the light fortnight\nof _Kunwar_ (September), while the cultivators held their festival\nand worshipped their mares on the ninth day. It is recorded that the\ngreat Raghuji Bhonsla, the first Raja of Nagpur, held his Dasahra on\nthe ninth day, in order to proclaim the fact that he was by family\nan agriculturist and only incidentally a man of arms. [217]\n\n\n\n\n8. Present position of the caste\n\nThe Marathas present the somewhat melancholy spectacle of an\nimpoverished aristocratic class attempting to maintain some semblance\nof their former position, though they no longer have the means\nto do so. They flourished during two or three centuries of almost\ncontinuous war, and became a wealthy and powerful caste, but they\nfind a difficulty in turning their hands to the arts of peace. Sir\nR. Craddock writes of them in Nagpur:\n\n\"Among the Marathas a large number represent connections of the Bhonsla\nfamily, related by marriage or by illegitimate descent to that house. A\nconsiderable proportion of the Government political pensioners are\nMarathas. Many of them own villages or hold tenant land, but as a\nrule they are extravagant in their living; and several of the old\nMaratha nobility have fallen very much in the world. Pensions diminish\nwith each generation, but the expenditure shows no corresponding\ndecrease. The sons are brought up to no employment and the daughters\nare married with lavish pomp and show. The native army does not much\nattract them, and but few are educated well enough for the dignified\nposts in the civil employ of Government. It is a question whether\ntheir pride of race will give way before the necessity of earning\ntheir livelihood soon enough for them to maintain or regain some of\ntheir former position. Otherwise those with the largest landed estates\nmay be saved by the intervention of Government, but the rest must\ngradually deteriorate till the dignities of their class have become\na mere memory. The humbler members of the caste find their employment\nas petty contractors or traders, private servants, Government peons,\n_sowars_ and hangers-on in the retinue of the more important families.\n\n\"What [218] little display his means afford a Maratha still tries to\nmaintain. Though he may be clad in rags at home, he has a spare dress\nwhich he himself washes and keeps with great care and puts on when he\ngoes to pay a visit. He will hire a boy to attend him with a lantern\nat night, or to take care of his shoes when he goes to a friend's\nhouse and hold them before him when he comes out. Well-to-do Marathas\nhave usually in their service a Brahman clerk known as _divanji_ or\nminister, who often takes advantage of his master's want of education\nto defraud him. A Maratha seldom rises early or goes out in the\nmorning. He will get up at seven or eight o'clock, a late hour for\na Hindu, and attend to business if he has any or simply idle about\nchewing or smoking tobacco and talking till ten o'clock. He will\nthen bathe and dress in a freshly-washed cloth and bow before the\nfamily gods which the priest has already worshipped. He will dine,\nchew betel and smoke tobacco and enjoy a short midday rest. Rising at\nthree, he will play cards, dice or chess, and in the evening will go\nout walking or riding or pay a visit to a friend. He will come back\nat eight or nine and go to bed at ten or eleven. But Marathas who\nhave estates to manage lead regular, fairly busy lives.\"\n\n\n\n\n9. Nature of the Maratha insurrection\n\nSir D. Ibbetson drew attention to the fact that the rising of the\nMarathas against the Muhammadans was almost the only instance in\nIndian history of what might correctly be called a really national\nmovement. In other cases, as that of the Sikhs, though the essential\nmotive was perhaps of the same nature, it was obscured by the fact\nthat its ostensible tendency was religious. The _gurus_ of the Sikhs\ndid not call on their followers to fight for their country but for a\nnew religion. This was only in accordance with the Hindu intellect,\nto which the idea of nationality has hitherto been foreign, while its\nprotests against both alien and domestic tyrannies tend to take the\nshape of a religious revolt. A similar tendency is observable even in\nthe case of the Marathas, for the rising was from its inception largely\nengineered by the Maratha Brahmans, who on its success hastened to\nannex for themselves a leading position in the new Poona state. And it\nhas been recorded that in calling his countrymen to arms, Sivaji did\nnot ask them to defend their hearths and homes or wives and children,\nbut to rally for the protection of the sacred persons of Brahmans\nand cows.\n\n\n\n\n10. Maratha women in past times\n\nAlthough the Marathas have now in imitation of the Rajputs and\nMuhammadans adopted the _parda_ system, this is not a native custom,\nand women have played quite an important part in their history. The\nwomen of the household have also exercised a considerable influence\nand their opinions are treated with respect by the men. Several\ninstances occur in which women of high rank have successfully acted\nas governors and administrators. In the Bhonsla family the Princess\nBaka Bai, widow of Raghuji II., is a conspicuous instance, while the\nfamous or notorious Rani of Jhansi is another case of a Maratha lady\nwho led her troops in person, and was called the best man on the\nnative side in the Mutiny.\n\n\n\n\n11. The Maratha horseman\n\nThis article may conclude with one or two extracts to give an idea\nof the way in which the Maratha soldiery took the field. Grant Duff\ndescribes the troopers as follows:\n\n\"The Maratha horsemen are commonly dressed in a pair of light breeches\ncovering the knee, a turban which many of them fasten by passing a\nfold of it under the chin, a frock of quilted cotton, and a cloth\nround the waist, with which they generally gird on their swords in\npreference to securing them with their belts. The horseman is armed\nwith a sword and shield; a proportion in each body carry matchlocks,\nbut the great national weapon is the spear, in the use of which and\nthe management of their horse they evince both grace and dexterity. The\nspearmen have generally a sword, and sometimes a shield; but the latter\nis unwieldy and only carried in case the spear should be broken. The\ntrained spearmen may always be known by their riding very long, the\nball of the toe touching the stirrup; some of the matchlockmen and\nmost of the Brahmans ride very short and ungracefully. The bridle\nconsists of a single headstall of cotton-rope, with a small but very\nsevere flexible bit\"\n\n\n\n\n12. Cavalry in the field\n\nThe following account of the Maratha cavalry is given in General\nHislop's _Summary of the Maratha and Pindari Campaigns_ of 1817-1819:\n\n\"The Marathas possess extraordinary skill in horsemanship, and so\nintimate an acquaintance with their horses, that they can make their\nanimals do anything, even in full speed, in halting, wheeling, etc.;\nthey likewise use the spear with remarkable dexterity, sometimes in\nfull gallop, grasping their spears short and quickly sticking the\npoint in the ground; still holding the handles, they turn their horse\nsuddenly round it, thus performing on the point of a spear as on a\npivot the same circle round and round again. Their horses likewise\nnever leave the particular class or body to which they belong; so\nthat if the rider should be knocked off, away gallops the animal\nafter its fellows, never separating itself from the main body. Every\nMaratha brings his own horse and his own arms with him to the field,\nand possibly in the interest they possess in this private equipment we\nshall find their usual shyness to expose themselves or even to make a\nbold vigorous attack. But if armies or troops could be frightened by\nappearances these horses of the Marathas would dishearten the bravest,\nactually darkening the plains with their numbers and clouding the\nhorizon with dust for miles and miles around. A little fighting,\nhowever, goes a great way with them, as with most others of the native\npowers in India.\"\n\nOn this account the Marathas were called _razah-bazan_ or\nlance-wielders. One Muhammadan historian says: \"They so use the lance\nthat no cavalry can cope with them. Some 20,000 or 30,000 lances are\nheld up against their enemy so close together as not to leave a span\nbetween their heads. If horsemen try to ride them down the points of\nthe spears are levelled at the assailants and they are unhorsed. While\ncavalry are charging them they strike their lances against each\nother and the noise so frightens the horses of the enemy that they\nturn round and bolt.\" [219] The battle-cries of the Marathas were,\n'_Har, Har Mahadeo_,' and '_Gopal, Gopal_.' [220]\n\n\n\n\n13. Military administration\n\nAn interesting description of the internal administration of\nthe Maratha cavalry is contained in the letter on the Marathas by\nColonel Tone already quoted. But his account must refer to a period\nof declining efficiency and cannot represent the military system at\nits best:\n\n\"In the great scale of rank and eminence which is one peculiar feature\nof Hindu institutions the Maratha holds a very inferior situation,\nbeing just removed one degree above those castes which are considered\nabsolutely unclean. He is happily free from the rigorous observances\nas regards food which fetter the actions of the higher castes. He can\neat of all kinds of food with the exception of beef; can dress his meal\nat all times and seasons; can partake of all victuals dressed by any\ncaste superior to his own; washing and praying are not indispensable\nin his order and may be practised or omitted at pleasure. The three\ngreat tribes which compose the Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer,\nthe Dhangar or shepherd and the Goala or cowherd; to this original\ncause may perhaps be ascribed that great simplicity of manner which\ndistinguishes the Maratha people. Homer mentions princesses going in\nperson to the fountain to wash their household linen. I can affirm\nhaving seen the daughters of a prince who was able to bring an army\ninto the field much larger than the whole Greek confederacy, making\nbread with their own hands and otherwise employed in the ordinary\nbusiness of domestic housewifery. I have seen one of the most powerful\nchiefs of the Empire, after a day of action, assisting in kindling a\nfire to keep himself warm during the night, and sitting on the ground\non a spread saddle-cloth dictating to his secretaries.\n\n\"The chief military force of the Marathas consists in their cavalry,\nwhich may be divided into four distinct classes: First the Khasi\nPagah or household forces of the prince; these are always a fine\nwell-appointed body, the horses excellent, being the property of the\nSirkar, who gives a monthly allowance to each trooper of the value\nof about eight rupees. The second class are the cavalry furnished by\nthe Silladars, [221] who contract to supply a certain number of horse\non specified terms, generally about Rs. 35 a month, including the\ntrooper's pay. The third and most numerous description are volunteers,\nwho join the camp bringing with them their own horse and accoutrements;\ntheir pay is generally from Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 a month in proportion to\nthe value of their horse. There is a fourth kind of native cavalry\ncalled Pindaris, who are mere marauders, serve without any pay and\nsubsist but by plunder, a fourth part of which they give to the Sirkar;\nbut these are so very licentious a body that they are not employed\nbut in one or two of the Maratha services.\n\n\"The troops collected in this manner are under no discipline whatever\nand engage for no specific period, but quit the army whenever they\nplease; with the exception of furnishing a picquet while in camp,\nthey do no duty but in the day of battle.\n\n\"The Maratha cavalry is always irregularly and badly paid; the\nhousehold troops scarcely ever receive money, but are furnished with\na daily allowance of coarse flour and some other ingredients from the\nbazar which just enable them to exist. The Silladar is very nearly as\nbadly situated. In his arrangements with the State he has allotted\nto him a certain proportion of jungle where he pastures his cattle;\nhere he and his family reside, and his sole occupation when not on\nactual service is increasing his Pagah or troop by breeding out of his\nmares, of which the Maratha cavalry almost entirely consist. There\nare no people in the world who understand the method of rearing and\nmultiplying the breed of cattle equal to the Marathas. It is by no\nmeans uncommon for a Silladar to enter a service with one mare and\nin a few years be able to muster a very respectable Pagah. They have\nmany methods of rendering the animal prolific; they back their colts\nmuch earlier than we do and they are consequently more valuable as\nthey come sooner on the effective strength.\n\n\"When called upon for actual service the Silladar is obliged to give\nmuster. Upon this occasion it is always necessary that the Brahman\nwho takes it should have a bribe; and indeed the Hazri, as the muster\nis termed, is of such a nature that it could not pass by any fair or\nhonourable means. Not only any despicable _tattus_ are substituted\nin the place of horses but animals are borrowed to fill up the\ncomplement. Heel-ropes and grain-bags are produced as belonging to\ncattle supposed to be at grass; in short every mode is practised to\nimpose on the Sirkar, which in turn reimburses itself by irregular and\nbad payments; for it is always considered if the Silladars receive\nsix months' arrears out of the year that they are exceedingly well\npaid. The Volunteers who join the camp are still worse situated, as\nthey have no collective force, and money is very seldom given in a\nMaratha State without being extorted. In one word, the native cavalry\nare the worst-paid body of troops in the world. But there is another\ngrand error in this mode of raising troops which is productive of the\nworst effects. Every man in a Maratha camp is totally independent; he\nis the proprietor of the horse he rides, which he is never inclined to\nrisk, since without it he can get no service. This single circumstance\ndestroys all enterprise and spirit in the soldier, whose sole business,\ninstead of being desirous of distinguishing himself, is to keep out\nof the way of danger; for notwithstanding every horseman on entering\na service has a certain value put upon his horse, yet should he lose\nit even in action he never receives any compensation or at least none\nproportioned to his loss. If at any time a Silladar is disgusted with\nthe service he can go away without meeting any molestation even though\nin the face of an enemy. In fact the pay is in general so shamefully\nirregular that a man is justified in resorting to any measure, however\napparently unbecoming, to attain it. It is also another very curious\ncircumstance attending this service that many great Silladars have\ntroops in the pay of two or three chiefs at the same time, who are\nfrequently at open war with each other.\n\n\n\n\n14. Sitting Dharna\n\n\"To recover an arrear of pay there is but one known mode which is\nuniversally adopted in all native services, the Mughal as well as the\nMaratha; this is called Dharna, [222] which consists in putting the\ndebtor, be he who he will, into a state of restraint or imprisonment,\nuntil satisfaction be given or the money actually obtained. Any person\nin the Sirkar's service has a right to demand his pay of the Prince\nor his minister, and to sit in Dharna if it be not given; nor will\nhe meet with the least hindrance in doing so; for none would obey\nan order that interfered with the Dharna, as it is a common cause;\nnor does the soldier incur the slightest charge of mutiny for his\nconduct, or suffer in the smallest manner in the opinion of his\nChief, so universal is the custom. The Dharna is sometimes carried\nto very violent lengths and may either be executed on the Prince or\nhis minister indifferently, with the same effect; as the Chief always\nmakes it a point of honour not to eat or drink while his Diwan is in\nduress; sometimes the Dharna lasts for many days, during which time\nthe party upon whom it is exercised is not suffered to eat or drink\nor wash or pray, or in short is not permitted to move from the spot\nwhere he sits, which is frequently bare-headed in the sun, until the\nmoney or security be given; so general is this mode of recovery that\nI suppose the Maratha Chiefs may be said to be nearly one-half of\ntheir time in a state of Dharna.\n\n\n\n\n15. The infantry\n\n\"In the various Maratha services there are very little more than a\nbare majority who are Marathas by caste, and very few instances occur\nof their ever entering into the infantry at all. The sepoys in the pay\nof the different princes are recruited in Hindustan, and principally\nof the Rajput and Purbia caste; these are perhaps the finest race of\nmen in the world for figure and appearance; of lofty stature, strong,\ngraceful and athletic; of acute feelings, high military pride, quick,\napprehensive, brave, prudent and economic; at the same time it must be\nconfessed they are impatient of discipline, and naturally inclined to\nmutiny. They are mere soldiers of fortune and serve only for their\npay. There are also a great number of Musalmans who serve in the\ndifferent Maratha armies, some of whom have very great commands.\n\n\n\n\n16. Character of the Maratha armies\n\n\"The Maratha cavalry at times make very long and rapid marches, in\nwhich they do not suffer themselves to be interrupted by the monsoon or\nany violence of weather. In very pressing exigencies it is incredible\nthe fatigue a Maratha horseman will endure; frequently many days pass\nwithout his enjoying one regular meal, but he depends entirely for\nsubsistence on the different corn-fields through which the army passes:\na few heads of juari, which he chafes in his hands while on horseback,\nwill serve him for the day; his horse subsists on the same fare, and\nwith the addition of opium, which the Marathas frequently administer\nto their cattle, is enabled to perform incredible marches.\"\n\nThe above analysis of the Maratha troops indicates that their real\ncharacter was that of freebooting cavalry, largely of the same type\nas, though no doubt greatly superior in tone and discipline to the\nPindaris. Like them they lived by plundering the country. \"The\nMarathas,\" Elphinstone remarked, \"are excellent foragers. Every\nmorning at daybreak long lines of men on small horses and ponies\nare seen issuing from their camps in all directions, who return\nbefore night loaded with fodder for the cattle, with firewood torn\ndown from houses, and grain dug up from the pits where it had been\nconcealed by the villagers; while other detachments go to a distance\nfor some days and collect proportionately larger supplies of the same\nkind.\" [223] They could thus dispense with a commissariat, and being\nnearly all mounted were able to make extraordinarily long marches,\nand consequently to carry out effectively surprise attacks and when\nrepulsed to escape injury in the retreat. Even at Panipat where their\nlargest regular force took the field under Sadasheo Rao Bhao, he had\n70,000 regular and irregular cavalry and only 15,000 infantry, of whom\n9000 were hired sepoys under a Muhammadan leader. The Marathas were at\ntheir best in attacking the slow-moving and effeminate Mughal armies,\nwhile during their period of national ascendancy under the Peshwa\nthere was no strong military power in India which could oppose their\nforays. When they were by the skill of their opponents at length\nbrought to a set battle, their fighting qualities usually proved\nto be distinctly poor. At Panipat they lost the day by a sudden\npanic and flight after Ibrahim Khan Gardi had obtained for them a\ndecided advantage; while at Argaon and Assaye their performances\nwere contemptible. After the recovery from Panipat and the rise of\nthe independent Maratha states, the assistance of European officers\nwas invoked to discipline and train the soldiery. [224]\n\n\n\n\n\nMehtar\n\n[_Bibliography_: Mr. R. Greeven's _Knights of the Broom, Benares_\n1894 (pamphlet); Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bhangi; Sir\nH. Risley's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Hari; Sir E. Maclagan's _Punjab\nCensus Report_, 1891 (Sweeper Sects); Sir D. Ibbetson's _Punjab Census\nReport_, 1881 (art. Chuhra); _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_,\nMr. Bhimbhai Kirparam.]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Introductory notice_.\n    2. _Caste subdivisions_.\n    3. _Social organisation_.\n    4. _Caste punishments_.\n    5. _Admission of outsiders_.\n    6. _Marriage customs_.\n    7. _Disposal of the dead_.\n    8. _Devices for procuring children_.\n    9. _Divination of sex_.\n    10. _Childbirth_.\n    11. _Treatment of the mother_.\n    12. _Protecting the lives of children_.\n    13. _Infantile diseases_.\n    14. _Religion. Valmiki_.\n    15. _Lalbeg_.\n    16. _Adoption of foreign religions_.\n    17. _Social status_.\n    18. _Occupation_.\n    19. _Occupation_ (_continued_).\n\n\n\n\n1. Introductory notice\n\n_Mehtar, Bhangi, Hari, [225] Dom, Lalbegi._--The caste of sweepers and\nscavengers. In 1911 persons returning themselves as Mehtar, Bhangi\nand Dom were separately classified, and the total of all three was\nonly 30,000. In this Province they generally confine themselves to\ntheir hereditary occupation of scavenging, and are rarely met with\noutside the towns and large villages. In most localities the supply\nof sweepers does not meet the demand. The case is quite different in\nnorthern India, where the sweeper castes--the Chuhra in the Punjab, the\nBhangi in the United Provinces and the Dom in Bengal--are all of them\nof great numerical strength. With these castes only a small proportion\nare employed on scavengers' work and the rest are labourers like\nthe Chamars and Mahars of the Central Provinces. The present sweeper\ncaste is made up of diverse elements, and the name Mehtar, generally\napplied to it, is a title meaning a prince or leader. Its application\nto the caste, the most abject and despised in the Hindu community,\nis perhaps partly ironical; but all the low castes have honorific\ntitles, which are used as a method of address either from ordinary\npoliteness or by those requiring some service, on the principle, as\nthe Hindus say, that you may call an ass your uncle if you want him to\ndo something for you. The regular caste of sweepers in northern India\nare the Bhangis, whose name is derived by Mr. Crooke from the Sanskrit\n_bhanga,_ hemp, in allusion to the drunken habits of the caste. In\nsupport of this derivation he advances the Beria custom of calling\ntheir leaders Bhangi or hemp-drinker as a title of honour. [226] In\nMr. Greeven's account also, Lalbeg, the patron saint of the sweepers,\nis described as intoxicated with the hemp drug on two occasions. [227]\nMr. Bhimbhai Kirparam suggests [228] that Bhangia means broken, and\nis applied to the sweepers because they split bamboos. In Kaira,\nhe states, the regular trade of the Bhangias is the plaiting of\nbaskets and other articles of split bamboo, and in that part of\nGujarat if a Koli is asked to split a bamboo he will say, 'Am I to\ndo Bhangia's work?' The derivation from the hemp-plant is, however,\nthe more probable. In the Punjab, sweepers are known as Chuhra, and\nthis, name has been derived from their business of collecting and\nsweeping up scraps (_chura-jharna_) Similarly, in Bombay they are\nknown as Olganas or scrap-eaters. The Bengal name Hari is supposed\nto come from _haddi_, a bone; the Hari is the bone-gatherer, and was\nfamiliar to early settlers of Calcutta under the quaint designation\nof the 'harry-wench,' [229] In the Central Provinces sections of the\nGhasia, Mahar and Dom castes will do sweepers' work, and are therefore\namalgamated with the Mehtars. The caste is thus of mixed constitution,\nand also forms a refuge for persons expelled from their own societies\nfor social offences. But though called by different names, the\nsweeper community in most provinces appears to have the same stock of\ntraditions and legends. The name of Mehtar is now generally employed,\nand has therefore been taken as the designation of the caste.\n\n\n\n\n2. Caste subdivisions\n\nMr. Greeven gives seven main subdivisions, of which the Lalbegis or\nthe followers of Lalbeg, the patron saint of sweepers, are the most\nimportant. The Rawats appear to be an aristocratic subdivision of the\nLalbegis, their name being a corruption of the Sanskrit Rajputra,\na prince. The Shaikh Mehtars are the only real Muhammadan branch,\nfor though the Lalbegis worship a Musalman saint they remain\nHindus. The Haris or bone-gatherers, as already stated, are the\nsweepers of Bengal. The Helas may either be those who carry baskets\nof sweepings, or may derive their name from _hela_, a cry; and in\nthat case they are so called as performing the office of town-criers,\na function which the Bhangi usually still discharges in northern India\n[230]. The other subcastes in his list are the Dhanuks or bowmen and\nthe Bansphors or cleavers of bamboos. In the Central Provinces the\nShaikh Mehtars belong principally to Nagpur, and another subcaste,\nthe Makhia, is also found in the Maratha Districts and in Berar; those\nbranches of the Ghasia and Dom castes who consent to do scavengers'\nwork now form separate subcastes of Mehtars in the same locality,\nand another group are called Narnolia, being said to take their name\nfrom a place called Narnol in the Punjab. The Lalbegis are often\nconsidered here as Muhammadans rather than Hindus, and bury their\ndead. In Saugor the sweepers are said to be divided into Lalbegis or\nMuhammadans and Doms or Hindus. The Lalbegi, Dom or Dumar and the\nHela are the principal subcastes of the north of the Province, and\nChuhra Mehtars are found in Chhattisgarh. Each subcaste is divided\ninto a number of exogamous sections named after plants and animals.\n\n\n\n\n3. Social organisation\n\nIn Benares each subdivision, Mr. Greeven states, has an elaborate\nand quasi-military organisation. Thus the Lalbegi sweepers have eight\ncompanies or _berhas_, consisting of the sweepers working in different\nlocalities; these are the Sadar, or those employed by private residents\nin cantonments; the Kali Paltan, who serve the Bengal Infantry; the\nLal Kurti, or Red-coats, who are employed by the British Infantry;\nthe Teshan (station), or those engaged at the three railway stations\nof the town; the Shahar, or those of the city; the Ramnagar, taking\ntheir name from the residence of the Maharaja of Benares, whom they\nserve; the Kothiwal, or Bungalow men, who belong to residents in\nthe civil lines; and lastly the Genereli, who are the descendants\nof sweepers employed at the military headquarters when Benares was\ncommanded by a General of Division. This special organisation is\nobviously copied from that of the garrison and is not found in other\nlocalities, but deserves mention for its own interest. All the eight\ncompanies are commanded by a Brigadier, the local head of the caste,\nwhose office is now almost hereditary; his principal duty is to give\ntwo dinners to the whole caste on election, with sweetmeats to the\nvalue of fourteen rupees. Each company has four officers--a Jamadar\nor president, a Munsif or spokesman, a Chaudhari or treasurer and\na Naib or summoner. These offices are also practically hereditary,\nif the candidate entitled by birth can afford to give a dinner to the\nwhole subcaste and a turban to each President of a company. All the\nother members of the company are designated as Sipahis or soldiers. A\ncaste dispute is first considered by the inferior officers of each\ncompany, who report their view to the President; he confers with\nthe other Presidents, and when an agreement has been reached the\nsentence is formally confirmed by the Brigadier. When any dispute\narises, the aggrieved party, depositing a process-fee of a rupee and\na quarter, addresses the officers of his company. Unless the question\nis so trivial that it can be settled without caste punishments, the\nPresident fixes a time and place, of which notice is given to the\nmessengers of the other companies; each of these receives a fee of\none and a quarter annas and informs all the Sipahis in his company.\n\n\n\n\n4. Caste punishments\n\nOnly worthy members of the caste, Mr. Greeven continues, are allowed\nto sit on the tribal matting and smoke the tribal pipe (huqqa). The\nproceedings begin with the outspreading (usually symbolic) of\na carpet and the smoking of a water-pipe handed in turn to each\nclansman. For this purpose the members sit on the carpet in three\nlines, the officers in front and the private soldiers behind. The\nparties and their witnesses are heard and examined, and a decision\nis pronounced. The punishments imposed consist of fines, compulsory\ndinners and expulsion from the caste; expulsion being inflicted for\nfailure to comply with an order of fine or entertainment. The formal\nmethod of outcasting consists in seating the culprit on the ground\nand drawing the tribal mat over his head, from which the turban is\nremoved; after this the messengers of the eight companies inflict a\nfew taps with slippers and birch brooms. It is alleged that unfaithful\nwomen were formerly tied naked to trees and flogged with birch brooms,\nbut that owing to the fatal results that occasionally followed such\npunishment, as in the case of the five kicks among Chamars (tanners)\nand the scourging with the clothes line which used to prevail among\nDhobis (washer men), the caste has now found it expedient to abandon\nthese practices. When an outcaste is readmitted on submission,\nwhether by paying a fine or giving a dinner, he is seated apart\nfrom the tribal mat and does penance by holding his ears with his\nhands and confessing his offence. A new huqqa, which he supplies,\nis carried round by the messenger, and a few whiffs are taken by\nall the officers and Sipahis in turn. The messenger repeats to the\nculprit the council's order, and informs him that should he again\noffend his punishment will be doubled. With this warning he hands\nhim the water-pipe, and after smoking this the offender is admitted\nto the carpet and all is forgotten in a banquet at his expense.\n\n\n\n\n5. Admission of outsiders\n\nThe sweepers will freely admit outsiders into their community, and the\ncaste forms a refuge for persons expelled from their own societies\nfor sexual or moral offences. Various methods are employed for the\ninitiation of a neophyte; in some places he, or more frequently she,\nis beaten with a broom made of wood taken from a bier, and has to give\na feast to the caste; in others a slight wound is made in his body and\nthe blood of another sweeper is allowed to flow on to it so that they\nmix; and a glass of sherbet and sugar, known as the cup of nectar,\nis prepared by the priest and all the members of the committee put\ntheir fingers into it, after which it is given to the candidate to\ndrink; or he has to drink water mixed with cowdung into which the\ncaste-people have dipped their little fingers, and a lock of his\nhair is cut off. Or he fasts all day at the shrine of Lalbeg and\nin the evening drinks sherbet after burning incense at the shrine;\nand gives three feasts, the first on the bank of a tank, the second\nin his courtyard and the third in his house, representing his gradual\npurification for membership; at this last he puts a little water into\nevery man's cup and receives from him a piece of bread, and so becomes\na fully qualified caste-man. Owing to this reinforcement from higher\ncastes, and perhaps also to their flesh diet, the sweepers are not\ninfrequently taller and stronger as well as lighter in colour than\nthe average Hindu.\n\n\n\n\n6. Marriage customs\n\nThe marriage ceremony in the Central Provinces follows the ordinary\nHindu ritual. The _lagan_ or paper fixing the date of the wedding\nis written by a Brahman, who seats himself at some distance from the\nsweeper's house and composes the letter. This paper must not be seen\nby the bride or bridegroom, nor may its contents be read to them,\nas it is believed that to do so would cause them to fall ill during\nthe ceremony. Before the bridegroom starts for the wedding his mother\nwaves a wooden pestle five times over his head, passing it between his\nlegs and shoulders. After this the bridegroom breaks two lamp-saucers\nwith his right foot, steps over the rice-pounder and departs for the\nbride's house without looking behind him. The _sawasas_ or relatives\nof the parties usually officiate at the ceremony, but the well-to-do\nsometimes engage a Brahman, who sits at a distance from the house\nand calls out his instructions. When a man wishes to marry a widow\nhe must pay six rupees to the caste committee and give a feast to\nthe community. Divorce is permitted for incompatibility of temper,\nor immorality on the part of the wife, or if the husband suffers\nfrom leprosy or impotence. Among the Lalbegis, when a man wishes to\nget rid of his wife he assembles the brethren and in their presence\nsays to her, 'You are as my sister,' and she answers, 'You are as my\nfather and brother.' [231]\n\n\n\n\n\n7. Disposal of the dead\n\nThe dead are usually buried, but the well-to-do sometimes cremate\nthem. In Benares the face or hand of the corpse is scorched with fire\nto symbolise cremation and it is then buried. In the Punjab the ghosts\nof sweepers are considered to be malevolent and are much dreaded;\nand their bodies are therefore always buried or burnt face downwards\nto prevent the spirit escaping; and riots have taken place and the\nmagistrates have been appealed to to prevent a Chuhra from being\nburied face upwards. [232] In Benares as the body is lowered into the\ngrave the sheet is withdrawn for a moment from the features of the\ndeparted to afford him one last glimpse of the heavens, while with\nMuhammadans the face is turned towards Mecca. Each clansman flings\na handful of dust over the corpse, and after the earth is filled in\ncrumbles a little bread and sugar-cake and sprinkles water upon the\ngrave. A provision of bread, sweetmeats and water is also left upon\nit for the soul of the departed. [233] In the Central Provinces the\nbody of a man is covered with a white winding-sheet and that of a\nwoman with a red one. If the death occurs during the lunar conjunction\nknown as Panchak, four human images of flour are made and buried with\nthe dead man, as they think that if this is not done four more deaths\nwill occur in the family.\n\n\n\n\n8. Devices for procuring children\n\nIf a woman greatly desires a child she will go to a shrine and lay a\nstone on it which she calls the _dharna_ or deposit or pledge. Then\nshe thinks that she has put the god under an obligation to give her a\nchild. She vows that if she becomes pregnant within a certain period,\nsix or nine months, she will make an offering of a certain value. If\nthe pregnancy comes she goes to the temple, makes the offering and\nremoves the stone. If the desired result does not happen, however,\nshe considers that the god has broken his obligation and ceases to\nworship him. If a barren woman desires a child she should steal on a\nSunday or a Wednesday a strip from the body-cloth of a fertile woman\nwhen it is hung out to dry; or she may steal a piece of rope from\nthe bed in which a woman has been delivered of a child, or a piece of\nthe baby's soiled swaddling clothes or a piece of cloth stained with\nthe blood of a fertile woman. This last she will take and bury in a\ncemetery and the others wear round her waist; then she will become\nfertile and the fertile woman will become barren. Another device is\nto obtain from the midwife a piece of the navel-string of a newborn\nchild and swallow it. For this reason the navel-string is always\ncarefully guarded and its disposal seen to.\n\n\n\n\n9. Divination of sex\n\nIf a pregnant woman is thin and ailing they think a boy will be born;\nbut if fat and well that it will be a girl. In order to divine the sex\nof a coming child they pour a little oil on the stomach of the woman;\nif the oil flows straight down it is thought that a boy will be born\nand if crooked a girl. Similarly if the hair on the front of her body\ngrows straight they think the child will be a boy, but if crooked a\ngirl; and if the swelling of pregnancy is more apparent on the right\nside a boy is portended, but if on the left side a girl. If delivery\nis retarded they go to a gunmaker and obtain from him a gun which\nhas been discharged and the soiling of the barrel left uncleaned;\nsome water is put into the barrel and shaken up and then poured into\na vessel and given to the woman to drink, and it is thought that the\nquality of swift movement appertaining to the bullet which soiled\nthe barrel will be communicated to the woman and cause the swift\nexpulsion of the child from her womb.\n\n\n\n\n10. Childbirth\n\nWhen a woman is in labour she squats down with her legs apart holding\nto the bed in front of her, while the midwife rubs her back. If\ndelivery is retarded the midwife gets a broom and sitting behind\nthe woman presses it on her stomach, at the same time drawing back\nthe upper part of her body. By this means they think the child will\nbe forced from the womb. Or the mother of the woman in labour will\ntake a grinding-stone and stand holding it on her head so long as\nthe child is not born. She says to her daughter, 'Take my name,'\nand the daughter repeats her mother's name aloud. Here the idea is\napparently that the mother takes on herself some of the pain which\nhas to be endured by the daughter, and the repetition of her name\nby the daughter will cause the goddess of childbirth to hasten the\nperiod of delivery in order to terminate the unjust sufferings of\nthe mother for which the goddess has become responsible. The mother's\nname exerts pressure or influence on the goddess who is at the time\noccupied with the daughter or perhaps sojourning in her body.\n\n\n\n\n11. Treatment of the mother\n\nIf a child is born in the morning they will give the mother a little\nsugar and cocoanut to eat in the evening, but if it is born in the\nevening they will give her nothing till next morning. Milk is given\nonly sparingly as it is supposed to produce coughing. The main idea of\ntreatment in childbirth is to prevent either the mother or child from\ntaking cold or chill, this being the principal danger to which they\nare thought to be exposed. The door of the birth chamber is therefore\nkept shut and a fire is continually burning in it night and day. The\nwoman is not bathed for several days, and the atmosphere and general\ninsanitary conditions can better be imagined than described. With\nthe same end of preventing cold they feed the mother on a hot liquid\nproduced by cooking thirty-six ingredients together. Most of these\nare considered to have the quality of producing heat or warmth in the\nbody, and the following are a few of them: Pepper, ginger, _azgan_\n(a condiment), turmeric, nutmeg, _ajwain_ (aniseed), dates, almonds,\nraisins, cocoanut, wild _singara_ or water-nut, cumin, _chironji_,\n[234] the gum of the _babul_ [235] or _khair_, [236] asafoetida, borax,\nsaffron, clarified butter and sugar. The mixture cannot be prepared for\nless than two rupees and the woman is fed on it for five days beginning\nfrom the second day after birth, if the family can afford the expense.\n\n\n\n\n12. Protecting the lives of children\n\nIf the mother's milk runs dry, they use the dried bodies of the little\nfish caught in the shallow water of fields and tanks, and sometimes\nsupposed to have fallen down with the rain. They are boiled in a little\nwater and the fish and water are given to the woman to consume. Here\nthe idea is apparently that as the fish has the quality of liquidness\nbecause it lives in water, so by eating it this will be communicated\nto the breasts and the milk will flow again. If a woman's children\ndie, then the next time she is in labour they bring a goat all of\none colour. When the birth of the child takes place and it falls\nfrom the womb on to the ground no one must touch it, but the goat,\nwhich should if possible be of the same sex as the child, is taken\nand passed over the child twenty-one times. Then they take the goat\nand the after-birth to a cemetery and here cut the goat's throat by\nthe _halal_ rite and bury it with the after-birth. The idea is thus\nthat the goat's life is a substitute for that of the child. By being\npassed over the child it takes the child's evil destiny upon itself,\nand the burial in a cemetery causes the goat to resemble a human being,\nwhile the after-birth communicates to it some part of the life of\nthe child. If a mother is afraid her child will die, she sells it for\na few cowries to another woman. Of course the sale is only nominal,\nbut the woman who has purchased the child takes a special interest\nin it, and at the naming or other ceremony she will give it a jewel\nor such other present as she can afford. Thus she considers that\nthe fictitious sale has had some effect and that she has acquired a\ncertain interest in the child.\n\n\n\n\n13. Infantile diseases\n\nIf a baby, especially a girl, has much hair on its body, they make\na cake of gram-flour and rub it with sesamum oil all over the body,\nand this is supposed to remove the hair.\n\nIf a child's skin dries up and it pines away, they think that an owl\nhas taken away a cloth stained by the child when it was hung out to\ndry. The remedy is to obtain the liver of an owl and hang it round\nthe child's neck.\n\nFor jaundice they get the flesh of a yellow snake which appears in\nthe rains, and of the _rohu_ fish which has yellowish scales, and\nhang them to its neck; or they get a verse of the Koran written out\nby a Maulvi or Muhammadan priest and use this as an amulet; or they\ncatch a small frog alive, tie it up in a yellow cloth and hang it to\nthe child's neck by a blue thread until it dies. For tetanus the jaws\nare branded outside and a little musk is placed on the mother's breast\nso that the child may drink it with the milk. When the child begins to\ncut its teeth they put honey on the gums and think that this will make\nthe teeth slip out early as the honey is smooth and slippery. But as\nthe child licks the gums when the honey is on them they fear that this\nmay cause the teeth to grow broad and crooked like the tongue. Another\ndevice is to pass a piece of gold round the child's gums. If they want\nthe child to have pretty teeth its maternal uncle threads a number of\ngrains of rice on a piece of string and hangs them round its neck,\nso that the teeth may grow like the rice. If the child's navel is\nswollen, the maternal uncle will go out for a walk and on his return\nplace his turban over the navel. For averting the evil eye the liver\nof the Indian badger is worn in an amulet, this badger being supposed\nto haunt cemeteries and feed on corpses; some hairs of a bear also\nform a very favourite amulet, or a tiger's claws set in silver,\nor the tail of a lizard enclosed in lac and made into a ring.\n\n\n\n\n14. Religion. Valmiki\n\nThe religion of the sweepers has been described at length by\nMr. Greeven and Mr. Crooke. It centres round the worship of two saints,\nLalbeg or Bale Shah and Balnek or Balmik, who is really the huntsman\nValmiki, the reputed author of the Ramayana. Balmik was originally a\nlow-caste hunter called Ratnakar, and when he could not get game he was\naccustomed to rob and kill travellers. But one day he met Brahma and\nwished to kill him; but he could not raise his club against Brahma,\nand the god spoke and convinced him of his sins, directing him to\nrepeat the name of Rama until he should be purified of them. But the\nhunter's heart was so evil that he could not pronounce the divine name,\nand instead he repeated '_Mara, Mara_' (_struck, struck_), but in the\nend by repetition this came to the same thing. Mr. Greeven's account\ncontinues: \"As a small spark of fire burneth up a heap of cotton, so\nthe word Rama cleaneth a man of all his sins. So the words 'Ram, Ram,'\nwere taught unto Ratnakar who ever repeated them for sixty thousand\nyears at the self-same spot with a heart sincere. All his skin was\neaten up by the white ants. Only the skeleton remained. Mud had been\nheaped over the body and grass had grown up, yet within the mound\nof mud the saint was still repeating the name of Rama. After sixty\nthousand years Brahma returned. No man could he see, yet he heard the\nvoice of Ram, Ram, rising from the mound of mud. Then Brahma bethought\nhim that the saint was beneath. He besought Indra to pour down rain\nand to wash away the mud. Indra complied with his request and the\nrain washed away the mud. The saint came forth. Nought save bones\nremained. Brahma called aloud to the saint. When the saint beheld\nhim he prostrated himself and spake: 'Thou hast taught me the words\n\"Ram, Ram,\" which have cleansed away all my sins.' Then spake Brahma:\n'Hitherto thou wast Ratnakar. From to-day thy name shall be Valmiki\n(from _valmik_, an ant-hill). Now do thou compose a Ramayana in seven\nparts, containing the deeds and exploits of Rama.'\" Valmiki had been\nor afterwards became a sweeper and was known as 'cooker of dog's food'\n(Swapach), a name applied to sweepers [237], who have adopted him as\ntheir eponymous ancestor and patron saint.\n\n\n\n\n15. Lalbeg\n\nLalbeg, who is still more widely venerated, is considered to have been\nGhazi Miyan, the nephew of Sultan Muhammad of Ghazni, and a saint much\nworshipped in the Punjab. Many legends are told of Lalbeg, and his\nworship is described by Mr. Greeven as follows: [238] \"The ritual\nof Lalbeg is conducted in the presence of the whole brotherhood,\nas a rule at the festival of the Diwali and on other occasions\nwhen special business arises. The time for worship is after sunset\nand if possible at midnight. His shrine consists of a mud platform\nsurrounded by steps, with four little turrets at the corners and a\nspire in the centre, in which is placed a lamp filled with clarified\nbutter and containing a wick of twisted tow. Incense is thrown into\nthe flame and offerings of cakes and sweetmeats are made. A lighted\nhuqqa is placed before the altar and as soon as the smoke rises it\nis understood that a whiff has been drawn by the hero.\" A cock is\noffered to Lalbeg at the Dasahra festival. When a man is believed\nto have been affected by the evil eye they wave a broom in front of\nthe sufferer muttering the name of the saint. In the Damoh District\nthe _guru_ or priest who is the successor of Lalbeg comes from the\nPunjab every year or two. He is richly clad and is followed by a\nsweeper carrying an umbrella. Other Hindus say that his teaching is\nthat no one who is not a Lalbegi can go to heaven, but those on whom\nthe dust raised by a Lalbegi sweeping settles acquire some modicum\nof virtue. Similarly Mr. Greeven remarks: [239] \"Sweepers by no means\nendorse the humble opinion entertained with respect to them; for they\nallude to castes such as Kunbis and Chamars as petty (_chhota_),\nwhile a common anecdote is related to the effect that a Lalbegi,\nwhen asked whether Muhammadans could obtain salvation, replied:\n'I never heard of it, but perhaps they might slip in behind Lalbeg.'\"\n\n\n\n\n16. Adoption of foreign religions\n\nOn the whole the religion of the Lalbegis appears to be monotheistic\nand of a sufficiently elevated character, resembling that of the\nKabirpanthis and other reforming sects. Its claim to the exclusive\npossession of the way of salvation is a method of revolt against the\nmenial and debased position of the caste. Similarly many sweepers have\nbecome Muhammadans and Sikhs with the same end in view, as stated\nby Mr. Greeven: [240] \"As may be readily imagined, the scavengers\nare merely in name the disciples of Nanak Shah, professing in fact\nto be his followers just as they are prepared at a moment's notice\nto become Christians or Muhammadans. Their object is, of course,\nmerely to acquire a status which may elevate them above the utter\ndegradation of their caste. The acquaintance of most of them with the\ndoctrines of Nanak Shah is at zero. They know little and care less\nabout his rules of life, habitually disregarding, for instance, the\nprohibitions against smoking and hair-cutting. In fact, a scavenger\nat Benares no more becomes a Sikh by taking Nanak Shah's motto than he\nbecomes a Christian by wearing a round hat and a pair of trousers.\" It\nwas probably with a similar leaning towards the more liberal religion\nthat the Lalbegis, though themselves Hindus, adopted a Muhammadan for\ntheir tutelary saint. In the Punjab Muhammadan sweepers who have given\nup eating carrion and refuse to remove night-soil rank higher than the\nothers, and are known as Musalli. [241] And in Saugor the Muhammadans\nallow the sweepers to come into a mosque and to stand at the back,\nwhereas, of course, they cannot approach a Hindu temple. Again in\nBengal it is stated, \"The Dom is regarded with both disgust and fear\nby all classes of Hindus, not only on account of his habits being\nabhorrent and abominable, but also because he is believed to have no\nhumane or kindly feelings\"; and further, \"It is universally believed\nthat Doms do not bury or burn their dead, but dismember the corpse\nat night like the inhabitants of Thibet, placing the fragments in a\npot and sinking them in the nearest river or reservoir. This horrid\nidea probably originated from the old Hindu law, which compelled\nthe Doms to bury their dead at night.\" [242] It is not astonishing\nthat the sweepers prefer a religion whose followers will treat them\nsomewhat more kindly. Another Muhammadan saint revered by the sweepers\nof Saugor is one Zahir Pir. At the fasts in Chait and Kunwar (March\nand September) they tie cocoanuts wrapped in cloth to the top of a\nlong bamboo, and marching to the tomb of Zahir Pir make offerings of\ncakes and sweetmeats. Before starting for his day's work the sweeper\ndoes obeisance to his basket and broom.\n\n\n\n\n17. Social status\n\nThe sweeper stands at the very bottom of the social ladder of\nHinduism. He is considered to be the representative of the Chandala\nof Manu, [243] who was said to be descended of a Sudra father and a\nBrahman woman. \"It was ordained that the Chandala should live without\nthe town; his sole wealth should be dogs and asses; his clothes should\nconsist of the cerecloths of the dead; his dishes should be broken pots\nand his ornaments rusty iron. No one who regarded his duties should\nhold intercourse with the Chandalas and they should marry only among\nthemselves. By day they might roam about for the purposes of work,\nbut should be distinguished by the badges of the Raja, and should\ncarry out the corpse of any one who died without kindred. They should\nalways be employed to slay those who by the law were sentenced to be\nput to death, and they might take the clothes of the slain, their\nbeds and their ornaments.\" Elsewhere the Chandala is said to rank\nin impurity with the town boar, the dog, a woman during her monthly\nillness and a eunuch, none of whom must a Brahman allow to see him\nwhen eating. [244] Like the Chandala, the sweeper cannot be touched,\nand he himself acquiesces in this and walks apart. In large towns\nhe sometimes carries a kite's wing in his turban to show his caste,\nor goes aloof saying _pois_, which is equivalent to a warning. When\nthe sweeper is in company he will efface himself as far as possible\nbehind other people. He is known by his basket and broom, and men\nof other castes will not carry these articles lest they should\nbe mistaken for a sweeper. The sweeper's broom is made of bamboo,\nwhereas the ordinary house-broom is made of date-palm leaves. The\nhouse-broom is considered sacred as the implement of Lakshmi used\nin cleaning the house. No one should tread upon or touch it with\nhis foot. The sweeper's broom is a powerful agent for curing the\nevil eye, and mothers get him to come and wave it up and down in\nfront of a sick child for this purpose. Nevertheless it is lucky\nto see a sweeper in the morning, especially if he has his basket\nwith him. In Gujarat Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam writes of him: \"Though\nhe is held to be lower and more unclean, the Bhangia is viewed with\nkindlier feelings than the Dhed (Mahar). To meet the basket-bearing\nBhangia is lucky, and the Bhangia's blessing is valued. Even now if\na Government officer goes into a Bhangia hamlet the men with hands\nraised in blessing say: 'May your rule last for ever.'\" A sweeper\nwill eat the leavings of other people, but he will not eat in their\nhouses; he will take the food away to his own house. It is related\nthat on one occasion a sweeper accompanied a marriage party of Lodhis\n(cultivators), and the Lodhi who was the host was anxious that all\nshould share his hospitality and asked the sweeper to eat in his house;\n[245] but he repeatedly refused, until finally the Lodhi gave him a\nshe-buffalo to induce him to eat, so that it might not be said that\nany one had declined to share in his feast. No other caste, of course,\nwill accept food or water from a sweeper, and only a Chamar (tanner)\nwill take a _chilam_ or clay pipe-bowl from his hand. The sweeper will\neat carrion and the flesh of almost all animals, including snakes,\nlizards, crocodiles and tigers, and also the leavings of food of almost\nany caste. Mr. Greeven remarks: [246] \"Only Lalbegis and Rawats eat\nfood left by Europeans, but all eat food left either by Hindus or\nMuhammadans; the Sheikh Mehtars as Muhammadans alone are circumcised\nand reject pig's flesh. Each subcaste eats uncooked food with all the\nothers, but cooked food alone.\" From Betul it is reported that the\nMehtars there will not accept food, water or tobacco from a Kayasth,\nand will not allow one to enter their houses.\n\n\n\n\n18. Occupation\n\nSweeping and scavenging in the streets and in private houses are the\ntraditional occupations of the caste, but they have others. In Bombay\nthey serve as night watchmen, town-criers, drummers, trumpeters and\nhangmen. Formerly the office of hangman was confined to sweepers,\nbut now many low-caste prisoners are willing to undertake it for the\nsake of the privilege of smoking tobacco in jail which it confers. In\nMirzapur when a Dom hangman is tying a rope round the neck of a\ncriminal he shouts out, '_Dohai Maharani, Dohai Sarkar, Dohai Judge\nSahib_,' or 'Hail Great Queen! Hail Government! Hail Judge Sahib!' in\norder to shelter himself under their authority and escape any guilt\nattaching to the death. [247] In the Central Provinces the hangman was\naccompanied by four or five other sweepers of the caste _panchayat_\nthe idea being perhaps that his act should be condoned by their\npresence and approval and he should escape guilt. In order to free the\nexecutioner from blame the prisoner would also say: \"_Dohai Sarkar ke,\nDohai Kampani ke; jaisa maine khun kiya waisa apne khun ko pahunchha_\"\nor \"Hail to the Government and the Company; since I caused the death of\nanother, now I am come to my own death\"; and all the _Panches_ said,\n'_Ram, Ram_.' The hangman received ten rupees as his fee, and of this\nfive rupees were given to the caste for a feast and an offering to\nLalbeg to expiate his sin. In Bundelkhand sweepers are employed as\ngrooms by the Lodhis, and may put everything on to the horse except a\nsaddle-cloth. They are also the village musicians, and some of them\nplay on the rustic flute called _shahnai_ at weddings, and receive\ntheir food all the time that the ceremony lasts. Sweepers are, as\na rule, to be found only in large villages, as in small ones there\nis no work for them. The caste is none too numerous in the Central\nProvinces, and in villages the sweeper is often not available when\nwanted for cleaning the streets. The Chamars of Bundelkhand will not\nremove the corpses of a cat or a dog or a squirrel, and a sweeper must\nbe obtained for the purpose. These three animals are in a manner holy,\nand it is considered a sin to kill any one of them. But their corpses\nare unclean. A Chamar also refuses to touch the corpse of a donkey,\nbut a Kumhar (potter) will sometimes do this; if he declines a sweeper\nmust be fetched. When a sweeper has to enter a house in order to\ntake out the body of an animal, it is cleaned and whitewashed after\nhe has been in. In Hoshangabad an objection appears to be felt to\nthe entry of a sweeper by the door, as it is stated that a ladder\nis placed for him, so that he presumably climbs through a window. Or\nwhere there are no windows it is possible that the ladder may protect\nthe sacred threshold from contact with his feet. The sweeper also\nattends at funerals and assists to prepare the pyre; he receives the\nwinding-sheet when this is not burnt or buried with the corpse, and\nthe copper coins which are left on the ground as purchase-money for\nthe site of the grave. In Bombay in rich families the winding-sheet\nis often a worked shawl costing from fifty to a hundred rupees. [248]\nWhen a Hindu widow breaks her bangles after her husband's death, she\ngives them, including one or two whole ones, to a Bhangia woman. [249]\nA letter announcing a death is always carried by a sweeper. [250]\nIn Bengal a funeral could not be held without the presence of a Dom,\nwhose functions are described by Mr. Sherring [251] as follows:\n\"On the arrival of the dead body at the place of cremation, which\nin Benares is at the basis of one of the steep stairs or _ghats_,\ncalled the Burning-Ghat, leading down from the streets above to the\nbed of the river Ganges, the Dom supplies five logs of wood, which he\nlays in order upon the ground, the rest of the wood being given by the\nfamily of the deceased. When the pile is ready for burning a handful of\nlighted straw is brought by the Dom, and is taken from him and applied\nby one of the chief members of the family to the wood. The Dom is the\nonly person who can furnish the light for the purpose; and if for any\nreason no Dom is available, great delay and inconvenience are apt to\narise. The Dom exacts his fee for three things, namely, first for the\nfive logs, secondly for the bunch of straw, and thirdly for the light.\"\n\n\n\n\n19. Occupation (continued)\n\nDuring an eclipse the sweepers reap a good harvest; for it is believed\nthat Rahu, the demon who devours the sun and moon and thus causes\nan eclipse, was either a sweeper or the deity of the sweepers,\nand alms given to them at this time will appease him and cause\nhim to let the luminaries go. Or, according to another account,\nthe sun and moon are in Rahu's debt, and he comes and duns them,\nand this is the eclipse; and the alms given to sweepers are a means\nof paying the debt. In Gujarat as soon as the darkening sets in the\nBhangis go about shouting, '_Garhandan, Vastradan, Rupadan_,' or\n'Gifts for the eclipse, gifts of clothes, gifts of silver.' [252]\nThe sweepers are no doubt derived from the primitive or Dravidian\ntribes, and, as has been seen, they also practise the art of making\nbamboo mats and baskets, being known as Bansphor in Bombay on\nthis account. In the Punjab the Chuhras are a very numerous caste,\nbeing exceeded only by the Jats, Rajputs and Brahmans. Only a small\nproportion of them naturally find employment as scavengers, and the\nremainder are agricultural labourers, and together with the vagrants\nand gipsies are the hereditary workers in grass and reeds. [253]\nThey are closely connected with the Dhanuks, a caste of hunters,\nfowlers and village watchmen, being of nearly the same status. [254]\nAnd Dhanuk, again, is in some localities a complimentary term for a\nBasor or bamboo-worker. It has been seen that Valmiki, the patron saint\nof the sweepers, was a low-caste hunter, and this gives some reason\nfor the supposition that the primary occupations of the Chuhras and\nBhangis were hunting and working in grass and bamboo. In one of the\nlegends of the sweeper saint Balmik or Valmiki given by Mr. Greeven,\n[255] Balmik was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers, and was\npersuaded by the others to remove the body of a calf which had died in\ntheir courtyard. But after he had done so they refused to touch him,\nso he went into the wilderness with the body; and when he did not know\nhow to feed himself the carcase started into life and gave him milk\nuntil he was full grown, when it died again of its own accord. Balmik\nburst into tears, not knowing how he was to live henceforward, but a\nvoice cried from heaven saying, \"Of the sinews (of the calf's body)\ndo thou tie winnows (_sup_), and of the caul do thou plait sieves\n(_chalni_).\" Balmik obeyed, and by his handiwork gained the name of\nSupaj or the maker of winnowing-fans. These are natural occupations\nof the non-Aryan forest tribes, and are now practised by the Gonds.\n\n\nMeo\n\n_Meo, Mewati._--The Muhammadan branch of the Mina tribe belonging to\nthe country of Mewat in Rajputana which is comprised in the Alwar,\nBharatpur and Jaipur States and the British District of Gurgaon. A\nfew Meos were returned from the Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts in\n1911, but it is doubtful whether any are settled here, as they may\nbe wandering criminals. The origin of the Meo is discussed in the\narticle on the Mina tribe, but some interesting remarks on them by\nMr. Channing and Major Powlett in the _Rajputana Gazetteer_ may be\nreproduced here. Mr. Channing writes: [256]\n\n\"The tribe, which has been known in Hindustan according to the\nKutub Tawarikh for 850 years, was originally Hindu and became\nMuhammadan. Their origin is obscure. They themselves claim descent\nfrom the Rajput races of Jadon, Kachhwaha and Tuar, and they may\npossibly have some Rajput blood in their veins; but they are probably,\nlike many other similar tribes, a combination from ruling and other\nvarious stocks and sources, and there is reason to believe them very\nnearly allied with the Minas, who are certainly a tribe of the same\nstructure and species. The Meos have twelve clans or _pals_, the first\nsix of which are identical in name and claim the same descent as the\nfirst six clans of the Minas. Intermarriage between them both was the\nrule until the time of Akbar, when owing to an affray at the marriage\nof a Meo with a Mina the custom was discontinued. Finally, their\nmode of life is or was similar, as both tribes were once notoriously\npredatory. It is probable that the original Meos were supplemented by\nconverts to Islam from other castes. It is said that the tribe were\nconquered and converted in the eleventh century by Masud, son of Amir\nSalar and grandson of Sultan Mahmud Subaktagin on the mother's side,\nthe general of the forces of Mahmud of Ghazni. Masud is still venerated\nby the Meos, and they swear by his name. They have a mixture of Hindu\nand Muhammadan customs. They practise circumcision, _nikah_ [257] and\nthe burial of the dead. They make pilgrimages to the tomb of Masud in\nBahraich in Oudh, and consider the oath taken on his banner the most\nbinding. They also make pilgrimages to Muhammadan shrines in India,\nbut never perform the _Haj_. Of Hindu customs they observe the Holi\nor Diwali; their marriages are never arranged in the same _got_ or\nsept; and they permit daughters to inherit. They call their children\nindiscriminately by both Muhammadan and Hindu names. They are almost\nentirely uneducated, but have bards and musicians to whom they make\nlarge presents. These sing songs known as Ratwai, which are commonly\non pastoral and agricultural subjects. The Meos are given to the use\nof intoxicating drinks, and are very superstitious and have great\nfaith in omens. The dress of the men and women resembles that of the\nHindus. Infanticide was formerly common among them, but it is said to\nhave entirely died out. They were also formerly robbers by avocation;\nand though they have improved they are still noted cattle-lifters.\"\n\nIn another description of them by Major Powlett it is stated that,\nbesides worshipping Hindu gods and keeping Hindu festivals, they\nemploy a Brahman to write the Pili Chhitthi or yellow note fixing\nthe date of a marriage. They call themselves by Hindu names with the\nexception of Ram; and Singh is a frequent affix, though not so common\nas Khan. On the Amawas or monthly conjunction of the sun and moon,\nMeos, in common with Hindu Ahirs and Gujars, cease from labour; and\nwhen they make a well the first proceeding is to erect a _chabutra_\n(platform) to Bhaironji or Hanuman. However, when plunder was to be\nobtained they have often shown little respect for Hindu shrines and\ntemples; and when the sanctity of a threatened place has been urged,\nthe retort has been, '_Tum to Deo, Ham Meo_' or 'You may be a Deo\n(God), but I am a Meo.'\n\nMeos do not marry in their _pal_ or clan, but they are lax about\nforming connections with women of other castes, whose children they\nreceive into the community. As already stated, Brahmans take part\nin the formalities preceding a marriage, but the ceremony itself is\nperformed by a Kazi. As agriculturists Meos are inferior to their Hindu\nneighbours. The point in which they chiefly fail is in working their\nwells, for which they lack patience. Their women, whom they do not\nconfine, will, it is said, do more field-work than the men; indeed,\none often finds women at work in the crops when the men are lying\ndown. Like the women of low Hindu castes they tattoo their bodies,\na practice disapproved by Musalmans in general. Abul Fazl writes that\nthe Meos were in his time famous runners, and one thousand of them\nwere employed by Akbar as carriers of the post.\n\n\n\n\n\nMina\n\n\n\n\n1. The Minas locally termed Deswa\n\n_Mina, Deswali, Maina._--A well-known caste of Rajputana which is\nfound in the Central Provinces in the Hoshangabad, Nimar and Saugor\nDistricts. About 8000 persons of the caste were returned in 1911. The\nproper name for them is Mina, but here they are generally known as\nDeswali, a term which they probably prefer, as that of Mina is too\nnotorious. A large part of the population of the northern Districts is\nrecruited from Bundelkhand and Marwar, and these tracts are therefore\noften known among them as 'Desh' or native country. The term Deswali\nis applied to groups of many castes coming from Bundelkhand, and\nhas apparently been specially appropriated as an _alias_ by the\nMinas. The caste are sometimes known in Hoshangabad as Maina, which\nColonel Tod states to be the name of the highest division of the\nMinas. The designation of Pardeshi or 'foreigner' is also given to\nthem in some localities. The Deswalis came to Harda about A.D. 1750,\nbeing invited by the Maratha Amil or governor, who gave one family a\ngrant of three villages. They thus gained a position of some dignity,\nand this reaching the ears of their brothers in Jaipur they also\ncame and settled all over the District. [258] In view of the history\nand character of the Minas, of which some account will be given,\nit should be first stated that under the _regime_ of British law\nand order most of the Deswalis of Hoshangabad have settled down into\nsteady and honest agriculturists.\n\n\n\n\n2. Historical notice of the Mina tribe\n\nThe Minas were a famous robber tribe of the country of Mewat in\nRajputana, comprised in the Alwar and Bharatpur States and the\nBritish District of Gurgaon. [259] They are also found in large\nnumbers in Jaipur State, which was formerly held by them. The Meos\nand Minas are now considered to be branches of one tribe, the former\nbeing at least nominally Muhammadans by religion and the latter\nHindus. A favourite story for recitation at their feasts is that of\nDarya Khan Meo and Sasibadani Mini, a pair of lovers whose marriage\nled to a quarrel between the tribes to which they belonged, in the\ntime of Akbar. This dispute caused the cessation of the practice of\nintermarriage between Meos and Minas which had formerly obtained. Both\nthe Meos and Minas are divided into twelve large clans called _pal_,\nthe word _pal_ meaning, according to Colonel Tod, 'a defile in a\nvalley suitable for cultivation or defence.' In a sandy desert like\nRajputana the valleys of streams might be expected to be the only\nfavourable tracts for settlement, and the name perhaps therefore\nis a record of the process by which the colonies of Minas in these\nisolated patches of culturable land developed into exogamous clans\nmarrying with each other. The Meos have similarly twelve _pals_, and\nthe names of six of these are identical with those of the Minas. [260]\nThe names of the _pals_ are taken from those of Rajput clans, [261]\nbut the recorded lists differ, and there are now many other _gots_\nor septs outside the _pals_. The Minas seem originally to have been an\naboriginal or pre-Aryan tribe of Rajputana, where they are still found\nin considerable numbers. The Raja of Jaipur was formerly marked on the\nforehead with blood taken from the great toe of a Mina on the occasion\nof his installation. Colonel Tod records that the Amber or Jaipur State\nwas founded by one Dholesai in A.D. 967 after he had slaughtered large\nnumbers of the Minas by treachery. And in his time the Minas still\npossessed large immunities and privileges in the Jaipur State. When\nthe Rajputs settled in force in Rajputana, reducing the Minas to\nsubjection, illicit connections would naturally arise on a large scale\nbetween the invaders and the women of the conquered country. For even\nwhen the Rajputs only came as small isolated parties of adventurers,\nas into the Central Provinces, we find traces of such connections in\nthe survival of castes or subcastes of mixed descent from them and\nthe indigenous tribes. It follows therefore that where they occupied\nthe country and settled on the soil the process would be still more\ncommon. Accordingly it is generally recognised that the Minas are a\ncaste of the most mixed and impure descent, and it has sometimes been\nsupposed that they were themselves a branch of the Rajputs. In the\nPunjab when one woman accuses another of illicit intercourse she is\nsaid '_Mina dena_,' or to designate her as a Mina. [262] Further it\nis stated [263] that \"The Minas are of two classes, the Zamindari or\nagricultural and the Chaukidari or watchmen. These Chaukidari Minas\nare the famous marauders.\" The office of village watchman was commonly\nheld by members of the aboriginal tribes, and these too furnished the\ncriminal classes. Another piece of evidence of the Dravidian origin\nof the tribe is the fact that there exists even now a group of Dhedia\nor impure Minas who do not refuse to eat cow's flesh. The Chaukidari\nMinas, dispossessed of their land, resorted to the hills, and here they\ndeveloped into a community of thieves and bandits recruited from all\nthe outcastes of society. Sir A. Lyall wrote [264] of the caste as\n\"a Cave of Adullam which has stood open for centuries. With them a\ncaptured woman is solemnly admitted by a form of adoption into one\ncircle of affinity, in order that she may be lawfully married into\nanother.\" With the conquest of northern India by the Muhammadans, many\nof the Minas, being bound by no ties to Hinduism, might be expected\nto embrace the new and actively proselytising religion, while their\nrobber bands would receive fugitive Muhammadans as recruits as well\nas Hindus. Thus probably arose a Musalman branch of the community,\nwho afterwards became separately designated as the Meos. As already\nseen, the Meos and Minas intermarried for a time, but subsequently\nceased to do so. As might be expected, the form of Islam professed\nby the Meos is of a very bastard order, and Major Powlett's account\nof it is reproduced in a short separate notice of that tribe.\n\n\n\n\n3. Their robberies\n\nThe crimes and daring of the Minas have obtained for them a\nconsiderable place in history. A Muhammadan historian, Zia-ud-din\nBami, wrote of the tribe: [265] \"At night they were accustomed to\ncome prowling into the city of Delhi, giving all kinds of trouble and\ndepriving people of their rest, and they plundered the country houses\nin the neighbourhood of the city. Their daring was carried to such an\nextent that the western gates of the city were shut at afternoon prayer\nand no one dared to leave it after that hour, whether he travelled\nas a pilgrim or with the display of a king. At afternoon prayer they\nwould often come to the Sarhouy, and assaulting the water-carriers\nand girls who were fetching water they would strip them and carry\noff their clothes. In turn they were treated by the Muhammadan rulers\nwith the most merciless cruelty. Some were thrown under the feet of\nelephants, others were cut in halves with knives, and others again were\nflayed alive from head to foot.\" Regular campaigns against them were\nundertaken by the Muhammadans, [266] as in later times British forces\nhad to be despatched to subdue the Pindaris. Babar on his arrival at\nAgra described the Mewati leader Raja Hasan Khan as 'the chief agitator\nin all these confusions and insurrections'; and Firishta mentions two\nterrible slaughters of Mewatis in A.D. 1259 and 1265. In 1857 Major\nPowlett records that in Alwar they assembled and burnt the State ricks\nand carried off cattle, though they did not succeed in plundering any\ntowns or villages there. In British territory they sacked Firozpur\nand other villages, and when a British force came to restore order\nmany were hanged. Sir D. Ibbetson wrote of them in the Punjab: [267]\n\n\"The Minas are the boldest of our criminal classes. Their headquarters\nso far as the Punjab is concerned are in the village of Shahjahanpur,\nattached to the Gurgaon District but surrounded on all sides by\nRajputana territory. There they until lately defied our police and even\nresisted them with armed force. Their enterprises are on a large scale,\nand they are always prepared to use violence if necessary. In Marwar\nthey are armed with small bows which do considerable execution. They\ntravel great distances in gangs of from twelve to twenty men,\npractising robbery and dacoity even as far as the Deccan. The gangs\nusually start off immediately after the Diwali feast and often remain\nabsent the whole year. They have agents in all the large cities of\nRajputana and the Deccan who give them information, and they are in\nleague with the carrying castes of Marwar. After a successful foray\nthey offer one-tenth of the proceeds at the shrine of Kali Devi.\"\n\nLike other criminals they were very superstitious, and Colonel Tod\nrecords that the partridge and the _maloli_ or wagtail were their chief\nbirds of omen. A partridge clamouring on the left when he commenced\na foray was a certain presage of success to a Mina. Similarly,\nMr. Kennedy notes that the finding of a dried goatskin, either whole\nor in pieces, among the effects of a suspected criminal is said to\nbe an infallible indication of his identity as a Mina, the flesh of\nthe goat's tongue being indispensable in connection with the taking\nof omens. In Jaipur the Minas were employed as guards, as a method of\nprotection against their fellows, for whose misdeeds they were held\nresponsible. Rent-free lands were given to them, and they were always\nemployed to escort treasure. Here they became the most faithful and\ntrusted of the Raja's servants. It is related that on one occasion\na Mina sentinel at the palace had received charge of a basket of\noranges. A friend of the same tribe came to him and asked to be shown\nthe palace, which he had never seen. The sentinel agreed and took him\nover the palace, but when his back was turned the friend stole one\norange from the basket. Subsequently the sentinel counted the oranges\nand found one short; on this he ran after his friend and taxed him with\nthe theft, which being admitted, the Mina said that he had been made\nto betray his trust and had become dishonoured, and drawing his sword\ncut off his friend's head. The ancient treasure of Jaipur or Amber was,\naccording to tradition, kept in a secret cave in the hills under a body\nof Mina guards who alone knew the hiding-place, and would only permit\nany part of it to be withdrawn for a great emergency. Nor would they\naccept the orders of the Raja alone, but required the consent of the\nheads of the twelve principal noble families of Amber, branches of the\nroyal house, before they would give up any part of the treasure. The\ncriminal Minas are said to inhabit a tract of country about sixty-five\nmiles long and forty broad, stretching from Shahpur forty miles north\nof Jaipur to Guraora in Gurgaon on the Rohtak border. The popular idea\nof the Mina, Mr. Crooke remarks, [268] is quite in accordance with\nhis historical character; his niggardliness is shown in the saying,\n'The Meo will not give his daughter in marriage till he gets a mortar\nfull of silver'; his pugnacity is expressed in, 'The Meo's son begins\nto avenge his feuds when he is twelve years old'; and his toughness in,\n'Never be sure that a Meo is dead till you see the third-day funeral\nceremony performed.'\n\n\n\n\n4. The Deswalis of the Central Provinces\n\nAs already stated, the Deswalis of the Central Provinces have\nabandoned the wild life of their ancestors and settled down as\nrespectable cultivators. Only a few particulars about them need be\nrecorded. Girls are usually married before they are twelve years old\nand boys at sixteen to twenty. A sum of Rs. 24 is commonly paid for\nthe bride, and a higher amount up to Rs. 71 may be given, but this\nis the maximum, and if the father of the girl takes more he will be\nfined by the caste and made to refund the balance. A triangle with\nsome wooden models of birds is placed on the marriage-shed and the\nbridegroom strikes at these with a stick; formerly he fired a gun\nat them to indicate that he was a hunter by profession. A Brahman\nis employed to celebrate the marriage. A widow is usually taken by\nher late husband's younger brother, but if there be none the elder\nbrother may marry her, contrary to the general rule among Hindus. The\nobject is to keep the woman in the family, as wives are costly. If\nshe is unwilling to marry her brother-in-law, however, no compulsion\nis exercised and she may wed another man. Divorce is allowed, and\nin Rajputana is very simply effected. If tempers do not assimilate\nor other causes prompt them to part, the husband tears a shred from\nhis turban which he gives to his wife, and with this simple bill of\ndivorce, placing two jars of water on her head, she takes whatever\npath she pleases, and the first man who chooses to ease her of her\nload becomes her future lord. '_Jehur nikala_,' 'Took the jar and went\nforth,' is a common saying among the mountaineers of Merwara. [269]\n\nThe dead are cremated, the corpse of a man being wrapped in a white\nand that of a woman in a coloured cloth. They have no _shraddh_\nceremony, but mourn for the dead only on the last day of Kartik\n(October), when they offer water and burn incense. Deswalis employ\nthe Parsai or village Brahman to officiate at their ceremonies, but\nowing to their mixed origin they rank below the cultivating castes,\nand Brahmans will not take water from them. In Jaipur, however,\nMajor Powlett says, their position is higher. They are, as already\nseen, the trusted guards of the palace and treasury, and Rajputs will\naccept food and water from their hands. This concession is no doubt\ndue to the familiarity induced by living together for a long period,\nand parallel instances of it can be given, as that of the Panwars\nand Gonds in the Central Provinces. The Deswalis eat flesh and drink\nliquor, but abstain from fowls and pork. When they are invited to a\nfeast they do not take their own brass vessels with them, but drink\nout of earthen pots supplied by the host, having the liquor poured\non to their hands held to the mouth to avoid actual contact with the\nvessel. This is a Marwari custom and the Jats also have it. Before the\ncommencement of the feast the guests wait until food has been given to\nas many beggars as like to attend. In Saugor the food served consists\nonly of rice and pulse without vegetables or other dishes. It is said\nthat a Mina will not eat salt in the house of another man, because\nhe considers that to do so would establish the bond of _Nimak-khai_\nor salt-eating between them, and he would be debarred for ever from\nrobbing that man or breaking into his house. The guests need not\nsit down together as among other Hindus, but may take their food in\nbatches; so that the necessity of awaiting the arrival of every guest\nbefore commencing the feast is avoided. The Deswalis will not kill\na black-buck nor eat the flesh of one, but they assign no reason\nfor this and do not now worship the animal. The rule is probably,\nhowever, a totemistic survival. The men may be known by their manly\ngait and harsh tone of voice, as well as by a peculiar method of tying\nthe turban; the women have a special ornament called _rakhdi_ on the\nforehead and do not wear spangles or toe-rings. They are said also\nto despise ornaments of the baser metals as brass and pewter. They\nare tattooed with dots on the face to set off the fair-coloured skin\nby contrast, in the same manner as patches were carried on the face\nin Europe in the eighteenth century. A tattoo dot on a fair face is\nlikened by a Hindu poet to a bee sitting on a half-opened mango.\n\n\nMirasi\n\n_Mirasi._--A Muhammadan caste of singers, minstrels and genealogists,\nof which a few members are found in the Central Provinces. General\nCunningham says that they are the bards and singers of the Meos or\nMewatis at all their marriages and festivals. [270] Mr. Crooke is\nof opinion that they are undoubtedly an offshoot of the great Dom\ncaste who are little better than sweepers. [271] The word Mirasi is\nderived from the Arabic _miras_, inheritance, and its signification is\nsupposed to be that the Mirasis are the hereditary bards and singers\nof the lower castes, as the Bhat is of the Rajputs. _Miras_ as a\nword may, however, be used of any hereditary right, as that of the\nvillage headman or Karnam, or even those of the village watchman or\ntemple dancing-girl, all of whom may have a _mirasi_ right to fees or\nperquisites or plots of land held as remuneration for service. [272]\nThe Mirasis are also known as Pakhawaji, from the _pakhawaj_ or\ntimbrel which they play; as Kawwal or one who speaks fluently, that\nis a professional, story-teller; and as Kalawant or one possessed\nof art or skill. The Mirasis are most numerous in the Punjab, where\nthey number a quarter of a million. Sir D. Ibbetson says of them:\n[273] \"The social position of the Mirasi as of all minstrel castes is\nexceedingly low, but he attends at weddings and similar occasions to\nrecite genealogies. Moreover there are grades even among Mirasis. The\noutcaste tribes have their Mirasis, who though they do not eat with\ntheir clients and merely render their professional services are\nconsidered impure by the Mirasis of the higher castes. The Mirasi\nis generally a hereditary servant like the Bhat, and is notorious\nfor his exactions, which he makes under the threat of lampooning\nthe ancestors of him from whom he demands fees. The Mirasi is almost\nalways a Muhammadan.\" They are said to have been converted to Islam\nin response to the request of the poet Amir Khusru, who lived in the\nreign of Ala-ud-din Khilji (A.D. 1295). The Mirasi has two functions,\nthe men being musicians, storytellers and genealogists, while the women\ndance and sing, but only before the ladies of the zenana. Mr. Nesfield\n[274] says that they are sometimes regularly entertained as jesters\nto help these ladies to kill time and reconcile them to their domestic\nprisons. As they do not dance before men they are reputed to be chaste,\nas no woman who is not a prostitute will dance in the presence of men,\nthough singing and playing are not equally condemned. The implements\nof the Mirasis are generally the small drum (_dholak_), the cymbals\n(_majira_) and the gourd lute (_kingri_). [275]\n\n\n\n\n\nMochi [276]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _General notice_.\n    2. _Legends of origin_.\n    3. _Art among the Hindus_.\n    4. _Antagonism of Mochis and Chamars_.\n    5. _Exogamous groups_.\n    6. _Social customs_.\n    7. _Shoes_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice\n\n_Mochi, Muchi, Jingar, Jirayat, Jildgar, Chitrakar, Chitevari,\nMusabir._--The occupational caste of saddlers and cobblers. In 1911\nabout 4000 Mochis and 2000 Jingars were returned from the Central\nProvinces and Berar, the former residing principally in the Hindustani\nand the latter in the Marathi-speaking Districts. The name is derived\nfrom the Sanskrit _mochika_ and the Hindustani _mojna_, to fold, and\nthe common name _mojah_ for socks and stockings is from the same root\n(Platts). By origin the Mochis are no doubt an offshoot of the Chamar\ncaste, but they now generally disclaim the connection. Mr. Nesfield\nobserves [277] that, \"The industry of tanning is preparatory to and\nlower than that of cobblery, and hence the caste of Chamar ranks\ndecidedly below that of Mochi. The ordinary Hindu does not consider\nthe touch of a Mochi so impure as that of the Chamar, and there is a\nHindu proverb to the effect that 'Dried or prepared hide is the same\nthing as cloth,' whereas the touch of the raw hide before it has been\ntanned by the Chamar is considered a pollution. The Mochi does not\neat carrion like the Chamar, nor does he eat swine's flesh; nor does\nhis wife ever practise the much-loathed art of midwifery.\" In the\nCentral Provinces, as in northern India, the caste may be considered\nto have two branches, the lower one consisting of the Mochis who\nmake and cobble shoes and are admittedly descended from Chamars;\nwhile the better-class men either make saddles and harness, when they\nare known as Jingar; or bind books, when they are called Jildgar; or\npaint and make clay idols, when they are given the designation either\nof Chitrakar, Chitevari or Murtikar. In Berar some Jingars have taken\nup the finer kinds of iron-work, such as mending guns, and are known\nas Jirayat. All these are at great pains to dissociate themselves\nfrom the Chamar caste. They call themselves Thakur or Rajput and have\nexogamous sections the names of which are identical with those of the\nRajput septs. The same people have assumed the name of Rishi in Bengal,\nand, according to a story related by Sir H. Risley, claim to be debased\nBrahmans; while in the United Provinces Mr. Crooke considers them to\nbe connected with the Srivastab Kayasths, with whom they intermarry\nand agree in manners and customs. The fact that in the three Provinces\nthese workers in leather claim descent from three separate high castes\nis an interesting instance of the trouble which the lower-class Hindus\nwill take to obtain a slight increase in social consideration; but\nthe very diversity of the accounts given induces the belief that all\nMochis were originally sprung from the Chamars. In Bombay, again,\nMr. Enthoven [278] writes that the caste prefers to style itself\nArya Somavansi Kshatriya or Aryan Kshatriyas of the Moon division;\nwhile they have all the regular Brahmanical _gotras_ as Bharadwaja,\nVasishtha, Gautam and so on.\n\n\n\n\n2. Legends of origin\n\nThe following interesting legends as to the origin of the caste adduced\nby them in support of their Brahmanical descent are related [279] by\nSir H. Risley: \"One of the Praja-pati, or mind-born sons of Brahma,\nwas in the habit of providing the flesh of cows and clarified butter as\na burnt-offering (_Ahuti_) to the gods. It was then the custom to eat\na portion of the sacrifice, restore the victim to life, and drive it\ninto the forest. On one occasion the Praja-pati failed to resuscitate\nthe sacrificial animal, owing to his wife, who was pregnant at the\ntime, having clandestinely made away with a portion. Alarmed at this\nhe summoned all the other Praja-patis, and they sought by divination\nto discover the cause of the failure. At last they ascertained what\nhad occurred, and as a punishment the wife was cursed and expelled\nfrom their society. The child which she bore was the first Mochi or\ntanner, and from that time forth, mankind being deprived of the power\nof reanimating cattle slaughtered for food, the pious abandoned the\npractice of killing kine altogether. Another story is that Muchiram,\nthe ancestor of the caste, was born from the sweat of Brahma while\ndancing. He chanced to offend the irritable sage Durvasa, who sent a\npretty Brahman widow to allure him into a breach of chastity. Muchiram\naccosted the widow as mother, and refused to have anything to do\nwith her; but Durvasa used the miraculous power he had acquired by\npenance to render the widow pregnant so that the innocent Muchiram\nwas made an outcaste on suspicion. From her two sons are descended\nthe two main branches of the caste in Bengal.\"\n\n\n\n\n3. Art among the Hindus\n\nIn the Central Provinces the term Mochi is often used for the whole\ncaste in the northern Districts, and Jingar in the Maratha country;\nwhile the Chitrakars or painters form a separate group. Though the\ntrades of cobbler and book-binder are now widely separated in civilised\ncountries, the connection between them is apparent since both work\nin leather. It is not at first sight clear why the painter should\nbe of the same caste, but the reason is perhaps that his brushes are\nmade of the hair of animals, and this is also regarded as impure, as\nbeing a part of the hide. If such be the case a senseless caste rule\nof ceremonial impurity has prevented the art of painting from being\ncultivated by the Hindus; and the comparatively poor development of\ntheir music may perhaps be ascribed to the same cause, since the use\nof the sinews of animals for stringed instruments would also prevent\nthe educated classes from learning to play them. Thus no stringed\ninstruments are permitted to be used in temples, but only the gong,\ncymbal, horn and conch-shell. And this rule would greatly discourage\nthe cultivation of music, which art, like all the others, has usually\nserved in its early period as an appanage to religious services. It\nhas been held that instruments were originally employed at temples and\nshrines in order to scare away evil spirits by their noise while the\ngod was being fed or worshipped, and not for the purpose of calling\nthe worshippers together; since noise is a recognised means of driving\naway spirits, probably in consequence of its effect in frightening wild\nanimals. It is for the same end that music is essential at weddings,\nespecially during the night when the spirits are more potent; and\nthis is the primary object of the continuous discordant din which\nthe Hindus consider a necessary accompaniment to a wedding.\n\nExcept for this ceremonial strictness Hinduism should have been\nfavourable to the development of both painting and sculpture, as being\na polytheistic religion. In the early stages of society religion and\nart are intimately connected, as is shown by the fact that images and\npaintings are at first nearly always of deities or sacred persons or\nanimals, and it is only after a considerable period of development\nthat secular subjects are treated. Similarly architecture is in its\ncommencement found to be applied solely to sacred buildings, as temples\nand churches, and is only gradually diverted to secular buildings. The\nfigures sculptured by the Mochis are usually images for temples,\nand those who practise this art are called Murtikar, from _murti_,\nan image or idol; and the pictures of the Chitrakars were until\nrecently all of deities or divine animals, though secular paintings\nmay now occasionally be met with. And the uneducated believers in a\npolytheistic religion regularly take the image for the deity himself,\nat first scarcely conceiving of the one apart from the other. Thus\nsome Bharewas or brass-workers say that they dare not make metal\nimages of the gods, because they are afraid that the badness of their\nhandiwork might arouse the wrath of the gods and move them to take\nrevenge. The surmise might in fact be almost justifiable that the end\nto which figures of men and animals were first drawn or painted, or\nmodelled in clay or metal was that they might be worshipped as images\nof the deities, the savage mind not distinguishing at all between an\nimage of the god and the god himself. For this reason monotheistic\nreligions would be severely antagonistic to the arts, and such is in\nfact the case. Thus the Muhammadan commentary, the Hadith, has a verse:\n\"Woe to him who has painted a living creature! At the day of the last\njudgment the persons represented by him will come out of the tomb\nand join themselves to him to demand of him a soul. Then that man,\nunable to give life to his work, will burn in eternal flames.\" And\nin Judaism the familiar prohibition of the Second Commandment appears\nto be directed to the same end.\n\nHindu sculpture has indeed been fairly prolific, but is not generally\nconsidered to have attained to any degree of artistic merit. Since\nsculpture is mainly concerned with the human form it seems clear that\nan appreciation of the beauty of muscular strength and the symmetrical\ndevelopment of the limbs is an essential preliminary to success in\nthis art; and such a feeling can only arise among a people who set\nmuch store on feats of bodily strength and agility. This has never\nbeen the character of the Hindus, whose religion encourages asceticism\nand mortification of the body, and points to mental self-absorption\nand detachment from worldly cares and exercises as the highest type\nof virtue.\n\n\n\n\n4. Antagonism of Mochis and Chamars\n\nAs a natural result of the pretensions to nobility made by the Mochis,\nthere is no love lost between them and the Chamars; and the latter\nallege that the Mochis have stolen their _rampi_, the knife with\nwhich they cut leather. On this account the Chamars will neither take\nwater to drink from the Mochis nor mend their shoes, and will not\neven permit them to try on a new pair of shoes until they have paid\nthe price set on them; for they say that the Mochis are half-bred\nChamars and therefore cannot be permitted to defile the shoes of\na true Chamar by trying them on; but when they have been paid for,\nthe maker has severed connection with them, and the use to which they\nmay be put no longer affects him.\n\n\n\n\n5. Exogamous groups\n\nIn the Central Provinces the Mochis are said to have forty\nexogamous sections or _gotras_, of which the bulk are named after\nall the well-known Rajput clans, while two agree with those of the\nChamars. And they have also an equal number of _kheras_ or groups named\nafter villages. The limits of the two groups seem to be identical;\nthus members of the sept named after the Kachhwaha Rajputs say that\ntheir _khera_ or village name is Mungavali in Gwalior; those of the\nGhangere sept give Chanderi as their _khera_, the Sitawat sept Dhamoni\nin Saugor, the Didoria Chhatarpur, the Narele Narwar, and so on. The\nnames of the village groups have now been generally forgotten and\nthey are said to have no influence on marriage, which is regulated\nby the Rajput sept names; but it seems probable that the _kheras_\nwere the original divisions and the Rajput _gotras_ have been more\nrecently adopted in support of the claims already noticed.\n\n\n\n\n6. Social customs\n\nThe Mochis have adopted the customs of the higher Hindu castes. A\nman may not take a wife from his own _gotra_, his mother's _gotra_ or\nfrom a family into which a girl from his own family has married. They\nusually marry their daughters in childhood and employ Brahmans in\ntheir ceremonies, and no degradation attaches to these latter for\nserving as their priests. In minor domestic ceremonies for which the\nBrahman is not engaged his place is taken by a relative, who is called\n_sawasa_, and is either the sister's husband, daughter's husband,\nor father's sister's husband, of the head of the family. They permit\nwidow-remarriage and divorce, and in the southern Districts effect\na divorce by laying a pestle between the wife and husband. They burn\ntheir dead and observe mourning for the usual period. After a death\nthey will not again put on a coloured head-cloth until some relative\nsets it on their heads for the first time on the expiry of the period\nof mourning. They revere the ordinary Hindu deities, and like the\nChamars they have a family god, known as Mair, whose representation\nin the shape of a lump of clay is enshrined within the house and\nworshipped at marriages and deaths. In Saugor he is said to be the\ncollective representative of the spirits of their ancestors. In some\nlocalities they eat flesh and drink liquor, but in others abstain from\nboth. Among the Hindus the Mochis rank considerably higher than the\nChamars; their touch does not defile and they are permitted to enter\ntemples and take part in religious ceremonies. The name of a Saugor\nMochi is remembered who became a good drawer and painter and was\nheld in much esteem at the Peshwa's court. In northern India about\nhalf the Mochis are Muhammadans, but in the Central Provinces they\nare all Hindus.\n\n\n\n\n7. Shoes\n\nIn view of the fact that many of the Mochis were Muhammadans and that\nslippers are mainly a Muhammadan article of attire Buchanan thought\nit probable that they were brought into India by the invaders, the\nHindus having previously been content with sandals and wooden shoes. He\nwrote: \"Many Hindus now use leather slippers, but some adhere to the\nproper custom of wearing sandals, which have wooden soles, a strap\nof leather to pass over the instep, and a wooden or horn peg with a\nbutton on its top. The foot is passed through the strap and the peg\nis placed between two of the toes.\" [280] It is certain, however,\nthat leather shoes and slippers were known to the Hindus from a fairly\nearly period: \"The episode related in the Ramayana of Bharata placing\non the vacant throne of Ajodhya a pair of Rama's slippers, which he\nworshipped during the latter's protracted exile, shows that shoes\nwere important articles of wear and worthy of attention. In Manu and\nthe Mahabharata slippers are also mentioned and the time and mode of\nputting them on pointed out. The Vishnu Purana enjoins all who wish\nto protect their persons never to be without leather shoes. Manu\nin one place expresses great repugnance to stepping into another's\nshoes and peremptorily forbids it, and the Puranas recommend the\nuse of shoes when walking out of the house, particularly in thorny\nplaces and on hot sand.\" [281] Thus shoes were certainly worn by the\nHindus before Muhammadan times, though loose slippers may have been\nbrought into fashion by the latter. And it seems possible that the\nMochis may have adopted Islam, partly to obtain the patronage of the\nfollowers of the new religion, and also to escape from the degraded\nposition to which their profession of leather-working was relegated\nby Hinduism and to dissociate themselves from the Chamars.\n\n\nMowar\n\n_Mowar._--A small caste of cultivators found in the Chhattisgarh\ncountry, in the Raipur and Bilaspur Districts and the Raigarh\nState. They numbered 2500 persons in 1901. The derivation of the name\nis obscure, but they themselves say that it is derived from Mow or\nMowagarh, a town in the Jhansi District of the United Provinces, and\nthey also call themselves Mahuwar or the inhabitants of Mow. They\nsay that the Raja of Mowagarh, under whom they were serving,\ndesired to marry the daughter of one of their Sirdars (headmen),\nbecause she was extremely beautiful, but her father refused, and\nwhen the Raja persisted in his desire they left the place in a body\nand came to Ratanpur in the time of Raja Bimbaji, in A.D. 1770. A\nBilaspur writer states that the Mowars are an offshoot from the\nRajwar Rajputs of Sarguja State. Colonel Dalton writes [282] of the\nRajwar Rajputs of Sarguja and other adjoining States that they are\npeaceably disposed cultivators, who declare themselves to be fallen\nKshatriyas; but he remarks later that they are probably aborigines,\nas they do not conform to Hindu customs, and they are skilled in a\ndance called Chailo, which he considers to be of Dravidian origin. In\nanother place he remarks that the Rajwars of Bengal admit that they\nare derived from the miscegenation of Kurmis and Kols. The fact that\nthe Mowars of Sarangarh make a representation of a bow and arrow on\ntheir documents, instead of signing their names, affords some support\nto the theory that they are probably a branch of one of the aboriginal\ntribes. The name may be derived from _mowa_, a radish, as the Mowars\nof Bilaspur are engaged principally in garden cultivation.\n\nThe Mowars have no subcastes, but are divided into a number of\nexogamous groups, principally of a totemistic nature. Those of the\nSurajha or sun sept throw away their earthen pots on the occasion of an\neclipse, and those of the Hataia or elephant sept will not ride on an\nelephant and worship that animal at the Dasahra festival. Members of\nother septs named after the cobra, the crow, the monkey and the tiger\nwill not kill their totem animal, and when they see the dead body of\none of its species they throw away their earthen cooking-pots as a\nsign of mourning. The marriage of persons belonging to the same sept\nand also that of first cousins is prohibited. If an unmarried girl is\nseduced by a man of the caste she becomes his wife and is not expelled,\nbut the caste will not eat food cooked by her. But a girl going wrong\nwith an outsider is finally cast out. The marriage and other social\ncustoms resemble those of the Kurmis. The caste employ Brahmans at\ntheir ceremonies and have a great regard for them. Their _gurus_ or\nspiritual preceptors are Bairagis and Gosains. They eat the flesh\nof clean animals and a few drink liquor, but most of them abstain\nfrom it. Their women are tattooed on the arms and hands with figures\nintended to represent deer, flies and other animals and insects. The\ncaste say that they were formerly employed as soldiers under the\nnative chiefs, but they are now all cultivators. They grow all kinds\nof grain and vegetables, except turmeric and onions. A few of them\nare landowners, and the majority tenants. Very few are constrained\nto labour for hire. In appearance the men are generally strong and\nhealthy, and of a dark complexion.\n\n\n\n\n\nMurha\n\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste\n\n_Murha._--A Dravidian, caste of navvies and labourers found in\nJubbulpore and the adjoining Districts, to the number of about\n1500 persons. The name Murha has been held to show that the caste\nare connected with the Munda tribe. The Murhas, however, call\nthemselves also Khare Bind Kewat and Lunia or Nunia (salt-maker),\nand in Jubbulpore they give these two names as subdivisions of the\ncaste. And these names indicate that the caste are an offshoot of\nthe large Bind tribe of Bengal and northern India, though in parts\nof the Central Provinces they have probably been recruited from the\nKols or Mundas. Sir H. Risley [283] records a story related by the\nBinds to the effect that they and the Nunias were formerly one, and\nthat the existing Nunias are descended from a Bind who consented to\ndig a grave for a Muhammadan king and was put out of caste for doing\nso. And he remarks that the Binds may be a true primitive tribe and\nthe Nunias a functional group differentiated from them by taking to\nthe manufacture of earth salt. This explanation of the relationship\nof the Binds and Nunias seems almost certainly correct. In the United\nProvinces the Binds are divided into the Khare and Dhusia or first and\nsecond subcastes, and the Khare Binds also call themselves Kewat. [284]\nAnd the Murhas of Narsinghpur call themselves Khare Bind Kewats, though\nthe other Kewats repudiate all connection with them. There seems thus\nto be no doubt that the Murhas of these Provinces are another offshoot\nof the Bind tribe like the Nunias, who have taken up the profession of\nnavvies and earthworkers and thus become a separate caste. Mr. Hira\nLal notes that the Narsinghpur District contains a village Nonia,\nwhich is inhabited solely by Murhas who call themselves Khare Bind\nKewat. As the village is no doubt named Nonia or Nunia after them,\nwe thus have an instance of all the three designations being applied\nto the same set of persons. The Murhas say that they came into\nNarsinghpur from Rewah, and they still speak the Bagheli dialect,\nthough the current vernacular of the locality is Bundeli. The Binds\nthemselves derive their name from the Vindhya (Bindhya) hills. [285]\nThey relate that a traveller passing by the Vindhya hills heard a\nstrange flute-like sound coming out of a clump of bamboos. He cut\na shoot and took from it a fleshy substance, which afterwards grew\ninto a man, the supposed ancestor of the Binds. In Mandla the Murhas\nsay that the difference between themselves and the Nunias is that the\nlatter make field-embankments and other earthwork, while the Murhas\nwork in stone and build bridges. According to their own story they\nwere brought to Mandla from their home in Eastern Oudh more than ten\ngenerations ago by a Gond king of the Garha-Mandla dynasty for the\npurpose of building his fort or castle. He gave them two villages\nfor their maintenance which they have now lost. The caste has,\nhowever, probably received some local accretions and in Mandla some\nMurhas appear to be Kols; members of this tribe are generally above\nthe average in bodily strength and are in considerable request for\nemployment on earth- and stone-work.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage customs\n\nIn Narsinghpur the Murhas appear to have no regular exogamous\ndivisions. Some of them remember the names of their _kheros_ or\nancestral villages and do not marry with families belonging to the\nsame _khero_, but this is not a regular rule of the caste. Generally\nspeaking, persons descended through males from a common ancestor do not\nintermarry so long as they remember the relationship. In Mandla they\nhave five divisions, of which the highest is Purbia. The name Purbia\n(Eastern) is commonly applied in the Central Provinces to persons\ncoming from Oudh, and in this case the Purbia Murhas are probably\nthe latest immigrants from home and have a superior status on this\naccount. Up till recently they practised hypergamy with the other\ngroups, taking daughters from them in marriage, but not giving their\ndaughters to them. This rule is now, however, breaking down on account\nof the difficulty they find in getting their daughters married. The\nchildren of brothers and sisters may marry in some places, but in\nothers neither they nor their children may marry with each other. Anta\nSanta or the exchange of girls between two families is permitted. The\nbridegroom's father has to pay from five to twenty rupees as a _chari_\nor bride-price to the girl's father, which sum is regarded as the\nremuneration of the latter for having brought up his daughter. In\nthe case of the daughter of a headman the bride-price is sometimes as\nhigh as Rs. 150. In Damoh a curious survival of marriage by capture\nremains. The bridegroom's party give a ram or he-goat to the bride's\nparty and these take it to their shed, cut its head off and hang it\nby the side of the _kham_ or marriage-pole. The brother-in-law of the\nbridegroom or of his father then sallies forth to bring back the head\nof the animal, but is opposed by the women of the bride's party, who\nbelabour him and his friends with sticks, brooms and rolling-pins. But\nin the end the head is always taken away. The binding portion of the\nmarriage is the _bhanwar_ or walking round the sacred post. When the\nbride is leaving for her husband's house the women of her party take\nseven balls of flour with burning wicks thrust into them, and place\nthem in a winnowing-fan. They wave this round the bride's head and\nthen throw the balls and after them the fan over the litter in which\nthe bride is seated. The bridegroom's party must catch the fan, and\nif they let it fall to the ground they are much laughed at for their\nclumsiness. When the pair arrive at the bridegroom's house, the fan is\nagain waved over their heads; and a cloth is spread before the house,\non which seven burning wicks are placed like the previous ones. The\nbride walks quickly over the cloth to the house and the bridegroom\nmust keep pace with her, picking up the burning flour balls as he\ngoes. When the pair arrive at the house the bridegroom's sister shuts\nthe door and will not open it until she is given a present. Divorce\nand the remarriage of widows are permitted.\n\n\n\n\n3. Funeral rites\n\nThe caste worship the ordinary Hindu deities. Well-to-do members\nburn their dead and the poorer ones bury them. The corpse is usually\nplaced with the head to the south as is the custom among the primitive\ntribes, but in some localities the Hindu fashion of laying the head to\nthe north has been adopted. Two pice are thrown down by the grave or\nburning-_ghat_ to buy the site, and these are taken by the sweeper. The\nashes are collected on the third day and thrown into a river. The usual\nperiod of mourning is only three days, but it is sometimes extended to\nnine days when the chief mourner is unable to feed the caste-fellows\non the third day, and the feast may in case of necessity be postponed\nto any time within six months of the death. The chief mourner puts\non a new white cloth and eats nothing but rice and pulse without salt.\n\n\n\n\n4. Occupation\n\nThe caste are employed on all kinds of earthwork, such as building\nwalls, excavating trenches, and making embankments in fields. Their\ntrade implements consist of a pickaxe, a basket, and a thin wooden hod\nto fill the earth into the basket. The Murha invokes these as follows:\n\"Oh! my lord the basket, my lord the pickaxe shaped like a snake,\nand my lady the hod, come and eat up those who do not pay me for my\nwork!\" The Murhas are strict in their rules about food and will not\naccept cooked food even from a Brahman, but notwithstanding this,\ntheir social position is so low that not even a sweeper would take\nfood from them. The caste eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain\nfrom fowls, pork and beef. They engage Brahmans on the occasion of\nbirths and marriages, but not usually for funerals. The women tattoo\ntheir bodies after marriage, and the charge for this should always be\npaid by the maternal uncle's wife, the paternal aunt, or some other\nsimilar relation of the girl. The fact that among most Hindus a girl\nmust be tattooed before leaving for her husband's house, and that\nthe cost of the operation must always be paid for by her own family,\nseems to indicate that tattooing was formerly a rite of puberty for\nthe female sex. A wife must not mention the name of her husband or of\nany person who stands in the relation of father, mother, uncle or aunt\nto him. Parents do not call their eldest son by his proper name, but\nby some pet name. Women are impure for five days during menstruation\nand are not allowed to cook for that period. The Murhas have a caste\n_panchayat_ or committee, the head of which is known as Patel or\nMukhia, the office being hereditary. He receives a part of all fines\nlevied for the commission of social offences. In appearance the caste\nare dark and short of stature, and have some resemblance to the Kols.\n\n\n\n\n5. Women's song\n\nIn conclusion, I reproduce one of the songs which the women sing as\nthey are carrying the basketfuls of earth or stones at their work;\nin the original each line consists of two parts, the last words of\nwhich sometimes rhyme with each other:\n\n\n    Our mother Nerbudda is very kind; blow, wind, we are hot with\n                                                                 labour.\n    He said to the Maina: Go, carry my message to my love.\n    The red ants climb up the mango-tree; and the daughter follows\n                                                       her mother's way.\n    I have no money to give her even lime and tobacco; I am poor,\n                                       so how can I tell her of my love.\n    The boat has gone down on the flood of the Nerbudda; the\n                                 fisherwoman is weeping for her husband.\n    She has no bangles on her arm nor necklace on her neck; she has\n                 no beauty, but seeks her lovers throughout the village.\n    Bread from the girdle, curry from the _lota_; let us go, beloved,\n                                                    the moon is shining.\n    The leaves of gram have been plucked from the plants; I think\n                                 much on Dadaria, but she does not come.\n    The love of a stranger is as a dream; think not of him, beloved,\n                                                     he cannot be yours.\n    Twelve has struck and it is thirteen time (past the time of\n                      labour); oh, overseer, let your poor labourers go.\n    The betel-leaf is pressed in the mouth (and gives pleasure);\n                                      attractive eyes delight the heart.\n    Catechu, areca and black cloves; my heart's secret troubles me\n                                                           in my dreams.\n    The Nerbudda came and swept away the rubbish (from the works);\n                               fly away, bees, do not perch on my cloth.\n    The colour does not come on the wheat; her youth is passing,\n                         but she cannot yet drape her cloth on her body.\n    Like the sight of rain-drops splashing on the ground; so beautiful\n                                                    is she to look upon.\n    It rains and the hidden streams in the woodland are filled (and\n      come to view); hide as long as you may, some day you must be seen.\n    The mahua flowers are falling from the trees on the hill; leave\n                       me your cloth so that I may know you will return.\n    He went to the bazar and brought back a cocoanut; it is green\n                               without, but insects are eating the core.\n    He went to the hill and cut strings of bamboo; you cannot drape\n                          your cloth, you have wound it round your body.\n    The coral necklace hangs on the peg; if you become the second\n                            wife of my husband I shall give you clothes.\n    She put on her clothes and went to the forest; she met her lover\n                                         and said you are welcome to me.\n    He went to the bazar and bought potatoes; but if he had loved me\n                                        he would have brought me liquor.\n    The fish in the river are on the look-out; the Brahman's daughter\n                                          is bathing with her hair down.\n    The arhar-stumps stand in the field; I loved one of another caste,\n                                                   but must give him up.\n    He ate betel and coloured his teeth; his beloved came from without\n                                                           and knew him.\n    The ploughmen are gone to the field; my clever writer is gone to\n                                                        the court-house.\n    The Nerbudda flows like a bent bow; a beautiful youth is standing\n                                                         in court. [286]\n    The broken areca-nuts lie in the forest; when a man comes to\n                                        misfortune no one will help him.\n    The broken areca-nuts cannot be mended; and two hearts which are\n                                              sundered cannot be joined.\n    Ask me for five rupees and I will give you twenty-five; but I\n                             will not give my lover for the whole world.\n    I will put bangles on my arm; when the other wife sees me she\n                                                   will die of jealousy.\n    Break the bangles which your husband gave you; and put others on\n                                                 your wrists in my name.\n    O my lover, give me bangles; make me armlets, for I am content\n                                                               with you.\n    My lover went to the bazar at Lakhanpur; but he has not brought\n                                   me even a _choli_ [287] that I liked.\n    I had gone to the bazar and bought fish; she is so ugly that the\n                                          flies would not settle on her.\n\n\n\n\nNagasia\n\n_Nagasia, Naksia._--A primitive tribe found principally in the\nChota Nagpur States. They now number 16,000 persons in the Central\nProvinces, being returned almost entirely from Jashpur and Sarguja. The\ncensus returns are, however, liable to be inaccurate as the Nagasias\nfrequently call themselves Kisan, a term which is also applied to\nthe Oraons. The Nagasias say that they are the true Kisans whereas\nthe Oraons are only so by occupation. The Oraons, on the other hand,\ncall the Nagasias Kisada. The tribe derive their name from the Nag\nor cobra, and they say that somebody left an infant in the forest\nof Setambu and a cobra came and spread its hood over the child to\nprotect him from the rays of the sun. Some Mundas happened to pass\nby and on seeing this curious sight they thought the child must be\ndestined to greatness, so they took him home and made him their king,\ncalling him Nagasia, and from him the tribe are descended. The episode\nof the snake is, of course, a stock legend related by many tribes,\nbut the story appears to indicate that the Nagasias are an offshoot\nof the Mundas; and this hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that\nNagbasia is often used as an alternative name for the Mundas by their\nHindu neighbours. The term Nagbasia is supposed to mean the original\nsettlers (_basia_) in Nag (Chota Nagpur).\n\nThe tribe are divided into the Telha, Dhuria and Senduria groups. The\nTelhas are so called because at the marriage ceremony they mark the\nforehead of the bride with _tel_ (oil), while the Dhurias instead of\noil use dust (_dhur_) taken from the sole of the bridegroom's foot,\nand the Sendurias like most Hindu castes employ vermilion (_sendur_)\nfor this purpose. The Telhas and Dhurias marry with each other, but\nnot with the Sendurias, who consider themselves to be superior to\nthe others and use the term Nagbansia or 'Descendants of the Snake'\nas their tribal name. The Telha and Dhuria women do not wear glass\nbangles on their arms but only bracelets of brass, while the Sendurias\nwear glass bangles and also armlets above the elbow. Telha women do\nnot wear nose-rings or tattoo their bodies, while the Sendurias do\nboth. The Telhas say that the tattooing needle and vermilion, which\nthey formerly employed in their marriages, were stolen from them by\nWagdeo or the tiger god. So they hit upon sesamum oil as a substitute,\nwhich must be pressed for ceremonial purposes in a bamboo basket by\nunmarried boys using a plough-yoke. This is probably, Mr. Hira Lal\nremarks, merely the primitive method of extracting oil, prior to the\ninvention of the Teli's _ghani_ or oil-press; and the practice is\nan instance of the common rule that articles employed in ceremonial\nand religious rites should be prepared by the ancient and primitive\nmethods which for ordinary purposes have been superseded by more\nrecent labour-saving inventions.\n\n\n\n\n\nNahal\n\n\n\n\n1. The tribe and its subdivisions\n\n_Nahal, Nihal._ [288]--A forest tribe who are probably a mixture\nof Bhils and Korkus. In 1911 they numbered 12,000 persons, of whom\n8000 belonged to the Hoshangabad, Nimar and Betul Districts, and\nnearly 4000 to Berar. They were classed at the census as a subtribe\nof Korkus. According to one story they are descended from a Bhil\nfather and a Korku mother, and the writer of the _Khandesh Gazetteer_\ncalls them the most savage of the Bhils. But in the Central Provinces\ntheir family or sept names are the same as those of the Korkus,\nand they speak the Korku language. Mr. Kitts [289] says that the\nKorkus who first went to Berar found the Nahals in possession of\nthe Melghat hills. Gradually the latter caste lost their power and\nbecame the village drudges of the former. He adds that the Nahals\nwere fast losing their language, and the younger generation spoke only\nKorku. The two tribes were very friendly, and the Nahals acknowledged\nthe superior position of the Korkus. This, if it accurately represents\nthe state of things prevailing for a long period, and was not merely an\nincidental feature of their relative position at the time Mr. Kitts'\nobservations were made, would tend to show that the Nahals were the\nolder tribe and had been subjected by the Korkus, just as the Korkus\nthemselves and the Baigas have given way to the Gonds. Mr. Crosthwaite\nalso states that the Nahal is the drudge of the Korku and belongs to\na race which is supposed to have been glorious before the Korku star\narose, and which is now fast dying out. In any case there is no doubt\nthat the Nahals are a very mixed tribe, as they will even now admit\ninto the community Gonds, Korkus and nearly all the Hindu castes,\nthough in some localities they will not eat from the other tribes\nand the lower Hindu castes and therefore refuse to admit them. There\nare, moreover, two subdivisions of the caste called Korku and Marathi\nNahals respectively. The latter are more Hinduised than the former and\ndisclaim any connection with the Korkus. The Nahals have totemistic\nexogamous septs. Those of the Kasa sept worship a tortoise and also\na bell-metal plate, which is their family god. They never eat off a\nbell-metal plate except on one day in the month of Magh (January),\nwhen they worship it. The members of the Nagbel sept worship the\nbetel-vine or 'snake-creeper,' and refrain from chewing betel-leaves,\nand they also worship the Nag or cobra and do not kill it, thus having\na sort of double totem. The Bhawaria sept, named after the _bhaunr_\nor black bee, do not eat honey, and if they see a person taking the\nhoney-comb from a nest they will run away. The Khadia sept worship\nthe spirits of their ancestors enshrined in a heap of stones (_khad_),\nor according to another account they worship a snake which sits on a\nheap of pebbles. The Surja sept worship Surya or the sun by offering\nhim a fowl in the month of Pus (December-January), and some members of\nthe sept keep a fast every Sunday. The Saoner sept worship the _san_\nor flax plant.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage\n\nMarriage is prohibited between members of the same sept, but there are\nno other restrictions and first cousins may marry. Both sexes usually\nmarry when adult, and sexual license before wedlock is tolerated. A\nBrahman is employed only for fixing the date of the ceremony. The\nprincipal part of the marriage is the knotting together of the bride's\nand bridegroom's clothes on two successive days. They also gamble with\ntamarind seeds, and it is considered a lucky union if the bridegroom\nwins. A bride-price is usually paid consisting of Rs. 1-4 to Rs. 5\nin cash, some grain and a piece of cloth for the bride's mother. The\nremarriage of widows is allowed, and the couple go five times round\na bamboo stick which is held up to represent a spear, the ceremony\nbeing called _barchhi se bhanwar phirna_ or the marriage of the spear.\n\n\n\n\n3. Religion\n\nThe Nahals worship the forest god called Jharkhandi in the month\nof Chait, and until this rite has been performed they do not use\nthe leaves or fruits of the _palas_, [290] _aonla_ [291] or mango\ntrees. When the god is worshipped they collect branches and leaves\nof these trees and offer cooked food to them and thereafter commence\nusing the new leaves, and the fruit and timber. They also worship the\nordinary village godlings. The dead are buried, except in the case\nof members of the Surja or sun sept, whose corpses are burnt. Cooked\nfood is offered at the grave for four days after the death.\n\n\n\n\n4. Occupation\n\nThe Nahals were formerly a community of hill-robbers, 'Nahal, Bhil,\nKoli' being the phrase generally used in old documents to designate the\nmarauding bands of the western Satpura hills. The Raja of Jitgarh and\nMohkot in Nimar has a long account in his genealogy of a treacherous\nmassacre of a whole tribe of Nahals by his ancestor in Akbar's time,\nin recognition of which the Jitgarh pargana was granted to the\nfamily. Mr. Kitts speaks of the Nahals of Berar as having once been\nmuch addicted to cattle-lifting, and this propensity still exists in\na minor degree in the Central Provinces, accentuated probably by the\nfact that a considerable number of Nahals follow the occupation of\ngraziers. Some of them are also village watchmen, and another special\navocation of theirs is the collection of the oil of the marking-nut\ntree (_Semecarpus anacardium_). This is to some extent a dangerous\ntrade, as the oil causes swellings on the body, besides staining the\nskin and leaving a peculiar odour. The workers wrap a fourfold layer\nof cloth round their fingers with ashes between each fold, while the\nrest of the body is also protected by cloth when gathering the nuts\nand pounding them to extract the oil. At the end of the day's work\npowdered tamarind and _ghi_ are rubbed on the whole body. The oil\nis a stimulant, and is given to women after delivery and to persons\nsuffering from rheumatism.\n\n\n\n\n5. Social status\n\nThe social status of the Nahals is very low and they eat the flesh of\nalmost all animals, while those who graze cattle eat beef. Cow-killing\nis not regarded as an offence. They are also dirty and do not bathe\nfor weeks together. To get maggots in a wound is, however, regarded\nas a grave offence, and the sufferer is put out of the village and\nhas to live alone until he recovers.\n\n\n\n\n\nNai\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Structure of the caste_.\n    2. _Marriage and other customs_.\n    3. _Occupation_.\n    4. _Other services_.\n    5. _Duties at weddings_.\n    6. _The barber-surgeon._\n    7. _A barber at the court of Oudh_.\n    8. _Character and position of the barber_.\n    9. _Beliefs about hair_.\n    10. _Hair of kings and priests_.\n    11. _The beard_.\n    12. _Significance of removal of the hair and shaving the head_.\n    13. _Shaving the head by mourners_.\n    14. _Hair offerings_.\n    15. _Keeping hair unshorn during a vow_.\n    16. _Disposal of cut hair and nails_.\n    17. _Superstitions about shaving the hair_.\n    18. _Reasons why the hair was considered the source of strength._\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Structure of the caste\n\n_Nai, Nao, Mhali, Hajjam, Bhanari, Mangala_. [292]--The occupational\ncaste of barbers. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit\n_napita_ according to some a corruption of _snapitri_, one who\nbathes. In Bundelkhand he is also known as Khawas, which was a\ntitle for the attendant on a grandee; and Birtiya, or 'He that\ngets his maintenance (_vritti_) from his constituents.' [293]\nMhali is the Marathi name for the caste, Bhandari the Uriya name\nand Mangala the Telugu name. The caste numbered nearly 190,000\npersons in the Central Provinces in 1911, being distributed over\nall Districts. Various legends of the usual type are related of\nits origin, but, as Sir. H. Risley observes, it is no doubt wholly\nof a functional character. The subcastes in the Central Provinces\nentirely bear out this view, as they are very numerous and principally\nof the territorial type: Telange of the Telugu country, Marathe,\nPardeshi or northerners, Jharia or those of the forest country of the\nWainganga Valley, Bandhaiya or those of Bandhogarh, Barade of Berar,\nBundelkhandi, Marwari, Mathuria from Mathura, Gadhwaria from Garha\nnear Jubbulpore, Lanjia from Lanji in Balaghat, Malwi from Malwa,\nNimari from Nimar, Deccane, Gujarati, and so on. Twenty-six divisions\nin all are given. The exogamous groups are also of different types,\nsome of them being named after Brahman saints, as Gautam, Kashyap,\nKosil, Sandil and Bharadwaj; others after Rajput clans as Surajvansi,\nJaduvansi, Solanki and Panwar; while others are titular or totemistic,\nas Naik, leader; Seth, banker; Rawat, chief; Nagesh, cobra; Bagh,\na tiger; Bhadrawa, a fish.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage and other customs\n\nThe exogamous groups are known as _khero_ or _kul_, and marriage\nbetween members of the same group is prohibited. Girls are usually\nwedded between the ages of eight and twelve and boys between fifteen\nand twenty. A girl who goes wrong before marriage is finally expelled\nfrom the caste. The wedding ceremony follows the ritual prevalent\nin the locality as described in the articles on Kurmi and Kunbi. At\nan ordinary wedding the expenses on the girl's side amount to about\nRs. 150, and on the boy's to Rs. 200. The remarriage of widows is\npermitted. In the northern Districts the widow may wed the younger\nbrother of her deceased husband, but in the Maratha country she may\nnot be married to any of his relatives. Divorce may be effected at\nthe instance of the husband before the caste committee, and a divorced\nwoman is at liberty to marry again. The Nais worship all the ordinary\nHindu deities. On the Dasahra and Diwali festivals they wash and revere\ntheir implements, the razor, scissors and nail-pruners. They pay regard\nto omens. It is unpropitious to sneeze or hear the report of a gun\nwhen about to commence any business; and when a man is starting on a\njourney, if a cat, a squirrel, a hare or a snake should cross the road\nin front of him he will give it up and return home. The bodies of the\ndead are usually burnt. In Chhattisgarh the poor throw the corpses of\ntheir dead into the Mahanadi, and the bodies of children dying under\none year of age were until recently buried in the courtyard of the\nhouse. The period of mourning for adults is ten days and for children\nthree days. The chief mourner must take only one meal a day, which\nhe cooks himself until the ceremony of the tenth day is performed.\n\n\n\n\n3. Occupation\n\n\"The barber's trade,\" Mr. Crooke states, [294] \"is undoubtedly of\ngreat antiquity. In the Veda we read, 'Sharpen us like the razor in the\nhands of the barber'; and again, 'Driven by the wind, Agni shaves the\nhair of the earth like the barber shaving a beard.'\" In early times\nthey must have enjoyed considerable dignity; Upali the barber was\nthe first propounder of the law of the Buddhist church. The village\nbarber's leather bag contains a small mirror (_arsi_), a pair of\niron pincers (_chimta_), a leather strap, a comb (_kanghi_), a piece\nof cloth about a yard square and some oil in a phial. He shaves the\nfaces, heads and armpits of his customers, and cuts the nails of both\ntheir hands and feet. He uses cold water in summer and hot in winter,\nbut no soap, though this has now been introduced in towns. For the\npoorer cultivators he does a rapid scrape, and this process is called\n'_asudhal_' or a 'tearful shave,' because the person undergoing it is\noften constrained to weep. The barber acquires the knowledge of his art\nby practice on the more obliging of his customers, hence the proverb,\n'The barber's son learns his trade on the heads of fools.' The village\nbarber is usually paid by a contribution of grain from the cultivators,\ncalculated in some cases according to the number of ploughs of land\npossessed by each, in others according to the number of adult males in\nthe family. In Saugor he receives 20 lbs. of grain annually for each\nadult male or 22 1/2 lbs. per plough of land, besides presents of a\nbasket of grain at seed-time and a sheaf at harvest. Cultivators are\nusually shaved about once a fortnight. In towns the barber's fee may\nvary from a pice to two annas for a shave, which is, as has been seen,\na much more protracted operation with a Hindu than with a European. It\nis said that Berar is now so rich that even ordinary cultivators can\nafford to pay the barber two annas (2d.) for a single shave, or the\nsame price as in the suburbs of London.\n\n\n\n\n4. Other services\n\nAfter he has shaved a client the barber pinches and rubs his arms,\npresses his fingers together and cracks the joints of each finger,\nthis last action being perhaps meant to avert evil spirits. He also\ndoes massage, a very favourite method of treatment in India, and also\ninexpensive as compared with Europe. For one rupee a month in towns\nthe barber will come and rub a man's legs five or ten minutes every\nday. Cultivators have their legs rubbed in the sowing season, when the\nlabour is intensely hard owing to the necessity of sowing all the land\nin a short period. If a man is well-to-do he may have his whole head\nand body rubbed with scented oil. Landowners have often a barber as a\nfamily servant, the office descending from father to son. Such a man\nwill light his master's _chilam_ (pipe-bowl) or huqqa (water-pipe),\nclean and light lamps, prepare his bed, tell his master stories to send\nhim to sleep, act as escort for the women of the family when they go\non a journey and arrange matches for the children. The barber's wife\nattends on women in child-birth after the days of pollution are over,\nand rubs oil on the bodies of her clients, pares their nails and paints\ntheir feet with red dye at marriages and on other festival occasions.\n\n\n\n\n5. Duties at weddings\n\nThe barber has also numerous and important duties [295] in connection\nwith marriages and other festival occasions. He acts as the Brahman's\nassistant, and to the lower castes, who cannot employ a Brahman,\nhe is himself the matrimonial priest. The important part which he\nplays in marriage ceremonies has led to his becoming the matchmaker\namong all respectable castes. He searches for a suitable bride or\nbridegroom, and is often sent to inspect the other party to a match\nand report his or her defects to his clients. He may arrange the\nprice or dowry, distribute the invitations and carry the presents\nfrom one house to the other. He supplies the leaf-plates and cups\nwhich are used at weddings, as the family's stock of metal vessels\nis usually quite inadequate for the number of guests. The price of\nthese is about 4 annas (4d.) a hundred. He also provides the _torans_\nor strings of leaves which are hung over the door of the house and\nround the marriage-shed. At the feast the barber is present to hand\nto the guests water, betel-leaf and pipes as they may desire. He also\npartakes of the food, seated at a short distance from the guests,\nin the intervals of his service. He lights the lamps and carries\nthe torches during the ceremony. Hence he was known as Masalchi or\ntorch-bearer, a name now applied by Europeans to a menial servant who\nlights and cleans the lamps and washes the plates after meals. The\nbarber and his wife act as prompters to the bride and bridegroom,\nand guide them through the complicated ritual of the wedding ceremony,\ntaking the couple on their knees if they are children, and otherwise\nsitting behind them. The barber has a prescriptive right to receive\nthe clothes in which the bridegroom goes to the bride's house, as\non the latter's arrival he is always presented with new clothes by\nthe bride's father. As the bridegroom's clothes may be an ancestral\nheirloom, a compact is often made to buy them back from the barber,\nand he may receive as much as Rs. 50 in lieu of them. When the first\nson is born in a family the barber takes a long bamboo stick, wraps\nit round with cloth and puts an earthen pot over it and carries this\nround to the relatives, telling them the good news. He receives a\nsmall present from each household.\n\n\n\n\n6. The barber-surgeon\n\nThe barber also cleans the ears of his clients and cuts their nails,\nand is the village surgeon in a small way. He cups and bleeds his\npatients, applies leeches, takes out teeth and lances boils. In this\ncapacity he is the counterpart of the barber-surgeon of mediaeval\nEurope. The Hindu physicians are called Baid, and are, as a rule,\na class of Brahmans. They derive their knowledge from ancient\nSanskrit treatises on medicine, which are considered to have divine\nauthority. Consequently they think it unnecessary to acquire fresh\nknowledge by experiment and observation, as they suppose the perfect\nscience of medicine to be contained in their sacred books. As these\nbooks probably do not describe surgical operations, of which little or\nnothing was known at the time when they were written, and as surgery\ninvolves contact with blood and other impure substances, the Baids do\nnot practise it, and the villagers are left to get on as best they can\nwith the ministrations of the barber. It is interesting to note that a\nsimilar state of things appears to have prevailed in Europe. The monks\nwere the early practitioners of medicine and were forbidden to practise\nsurgery, which was thus left to the barber-chirurgeon. The status of\nthe surgeon was thus for long much below that of the physician. [296]\nThe mediaeval barber of Europe kept a bottle of blood in his window,\nto indicate that he undertook bleeding and the application of leeches,\nand the coloured bottles in the chemist's window may have been derived\nfrom this. It is also said that the barber's pole originally served\nas a support for the patient to lean on while he was being bled,\nand those barbers who did the work of bleeding patients painted their\npoles in variegated red and white stripes to show it.\n\n\n\n\n7. A barber at the court of Oudh\n\nPerhaps the most successful barber known to Indian history was not\na Hindu at all, but a Peninsular and Oriental Company's cabin-boy,\nwho became the barber of one of the last kings of Oudh, Nasir-ud-Din,\nin the early part of the nineteenth century, and rose to the position\nof a favourite courtier. He was entrusted with the supply of every\nEuropean article used at court, and by degrees became a regular guest\nat the royal table, and sat down to take dinner with the king as a\nmatter of right; nor would his majesty taste a bottle of wine opened\nby any other hands than the barber's. [297] This was, however, a wise\nprecaution as it turned out, since after he had finally been forced to\npart with the barber the king was poisoned by his own relatives. The\nbarber was also made keeper of the royal menagerie, for which he\nsupplied the animals and their food, and made enormous profits. The\nfollowing is an account of the presentation of the barber's monthly\nbill of expenses: [298] \"It was after tiffin, or lunch, when we usually\nretired from the palace until dinner-time at nine o'clock, that the\nfavourite entered with a roll of paper in his hand. In India, long\ndocuments, legal and commercial, are usually written, not in books\nor on successive sheets, but on a long roll, strip being joined to\nstrip for that purpose, and the whole rolled up like a map.\n\n\"'Ha, Khan!' said the king, observing him; 'the monthly bill, is it?'\n\n\"'It is, your majesty,' was the smiling reply.\n\n\"'Come, out with it; let us see the extent. Unroll it, Khan.'\n\n\"The king was in a playful humour; and the barber was always in\nthe same mood as the king. He held the end of the roll in his hand,\nand threw the rest along the floor, allowing it to unroll itself as\nit retreated. It reached to the other side of the long apartment--a\ngoodly array of items and figures, closely written too. The king\nwanted it measured. A measure was brought and the bill was found\nto be four yards and a half long. I glanced at the amount; it was\nupwards of Rs. 90,000, or L9000!\"\n\nThe barber, however, encouraged the king in every form of dissipation\nand excess, until the state of the Oudh court became such a scandal\nthat the king was forced by the British Government to dismiss\nhim. [299] He retired, it was said, with a fortune of L240,000.\n\n\n\n\n8. Character and position of the barber\n\nThe barber is also, Mr. Low writes, [300] the scandal-bearer and\ngossip-monger of the village. His cunning is proverbial, and he is\nknown as _Chhattisa_ from the saying--\n\n\n    Nai hai chhattisa\n    Khai an ka pisa,\n\n\nor 'A barber has thirty-six talents by which he eats at the expense\nof others.' His loquacity is shown in the proverb, 'As the crow among\nbirds so the barber among men.' The barber and the professional Brahman\nare considered to be jealous of their perquisites and unwilling to\nshare with their caste-fellows, and this is exemplified in the proverb,\n\"The barber, the dog and the Brahman, these three snarl at meeting one\nof their own kind.\" The joint association of the Brahman priest and\nthe barber with marriages and other ceremonies has led to the saying,\n\"As there are always reeds in a river so there is always a barber\nwith a Brahman.\" The barber's astuteness is alluded to in the saying,\n'Nine barbers are equal to seventy-two tailors.' The fact that it\nis the barber's duty to carry the lights in marriage processions has\nled to the proverb, \"At the barber's wedding all are gentlemen and it\nis awkward to have to ask somebody to carry the torch.\" The point of\nthis is clear, though no English equivalent occurs to the mind. And\na similar idea is expressed by 'The barber washes the feet of others\nbut is ashamed to wash his own.' It would appear from these proverbs\nthat the Nai is considered to enjoy a social position somewhat above\nhis deserts. Owing to the nature of his duties, which make him a\nfamiliar inmate of the household and bring him into contact with the\npersons of his high-caste clients, the caste of the Nai is necessarily\nconsidered to be a pure one and Brahmans will take water from his\nhands. But, on the other hand, his calling is that of a village menial\nand has also some elements of impurity, as in cupping which involves\ncontact with blood, and in cutting the nails and hair of the corpse\nbefore cremation. He is thus looked down upon as a menial and also\nconsidered as to some extent impure. No member of a cultivating caste\nwould salute a barber first or look upon him as an equal, though\nBrahmans put them on the same level of ceremonial purity by taking\nwater from both. The barber's loquacity and assurance have been made\nfamous by the _Arabian Nights_, but they have perhaps been affected by\nthe more strenuous character of life, and his conversation does not\nflow so freely as it did. Often he now confines himself to approving\nand adding emphasis to any remarks of the patron and greeting any of\nhis little witticisms with bursts of obsequious laughter. In Madras,\nMr. Pandian states, the village barber, like the washerman, is known\nas the son of the village. If a customer does not pay him his dues,\nhe lies low, and when he has begun to shave the defaulter, engages\nhim in a dispute and says something to excite his anger. The latter\nwill then become abusive to the barber, whom he regards as a menial,\nand perhaps strike him, and this gives the barber an opportunity\nto stop shaving him and rush off to lay a complaint at the village\ncourt-house, leaving his enemy to proceed home with half his head\nshaved and thus exposed to general ridicule. [301]\n\n\n\n\n9. Beliefs about hair\n\nNumerous customs appear to indicate that the hair was regarded as the\nspecial seat of bodily strength. The Rajput warriors formerly wore\ntheir hair long and never cut it, but trained it in locks over their\nshoulders. Similarly the Maratha soldiers wore their hair long. The\nHatkars, a class of Maratha spearmen, might never cut their hair while\nengaged on military service. A Sikh writer states of Guru Govind,\nthe founder of the militant Sikh confederacy: \"He appeared as the\ntenth Avatar (incarnation of Vishnu). He established the Khalsa, his\nown sect, and by exhibiting singular energy, leaving the hair on his\nhead, and seizing the scimitar, he smote every wicked person.\" [302]\nAs is well known, no Sikh may cut his hair, and one of the five\nmarks of the Sikh is the _kanga_ or comb, which he must always carry\nin order to keep his hair in proper order. A proverb states that\n'The origin of a Sikh is in his hair.' [303] The following story,\nrelated by Sir J. Malcolm, shows the vital importance attached\nby the Sikh to his hair and beard: \"Three inferior agents of Sikh\nchiefs were one day in my tent. I was laughing and joking with one\nof them, a Khalsa Sikh, who said he had been ordered to attend me to\nCalcutta. Among other subjects of our mirth I rallied him on trusting\nhimself so much in my power. 'Why, what is the worst,' he said,\n'that you can do to me?' I passed my hand across my chin, imitating\nthe act of shaving. The man's face was in an instant distorted with\nrage and his sword half-drawn. 'You are ignorant,' he said to me,\n'of the offence you have given; I cannot strike you who are above me,\nand the friend of my master and the state; but no power,' he added,\nindicating the Khalsa Sikhs, 'shall save these fellows who dared to\nsmile at your action.' It was with the greatest difficulty and only\nby the good offices of some Sikh Chiefs that I was able to pacify\nhis wounded honour.\" [304] These instances appear to show clearly\nthat the Sikhs considered their hair of vital importance; and as\nfighting was their object in life, it seems most probable that they\nthought their strength in war was bound up in it. Similarly when\nthe ancient Spartans were on a military expedition purple garments\nwere worn and their hair was carefully decked with wreaths, a thing\nwhich was never done at home. [305] And when Leonidas and his three\nhundred were holding the pass of Thermopylae, and Xerxes sent scouts\nto ascertain what the Greeks were doing in their camp, the report was\nthat some of them were engaged in gymnastics and warlike exercises,\nwhile others were merely sitting and combing their long hair. If\nthe hypothesis already suggested is correct, the Spartan youths so\nengaged were perhaps not merely adorning themselves for death, but,\nas they thought, obtaining their full strength for battle. \"The custom\nof keeping the hair unshorn during a dangerous expedition appears to\nhave been observed, at least occasionally, by the Romans. Achilles\nkept unshorn his yellow hair, because his father had vowed to offer\nit to the river Sperchius if ever his son came home from the wars\nbeyond the sea.\" [306]\n\nWhen the Bhils turned out to fight they let down their long hair\nprior to beginning the conflict with their bows and arrows. [307]\nThe pirates of Surat, before boarding a ship, drank _bhang_ and\nhemp-liquor, and when they wore their long hair loose they gave no\nquarter. [308] The Mundas appear to have formerly worn their hair long\nand some still do. Those who are converted to Christianity must cut\ntheir hair, but a non-Christian Munda must always keep the _chundi_\nor pigtail. If the _chundi_ is very long it is sometimes tied up in\na knot. [309] Similarly the Oraons wore their hair long like women,\ngathered in a knot behind, with a wooden or iron comb in it. Those\nwho are Christians can be recognised by the fact that they have cut\noff their pigtails. A man of the low Pardhi caste of hunters must\nnever have his hair touched by a razor after he has once killed\na deer. As already seen, every orthodox Hindu wore till recently\na _choti_ or scalp-lock, which should theoretically be as long\nas a cow's tail. Perhaps the idea was that for those who were not\nwarriors it was sufficient to retain this and have the rest of the\nhead shaved. The _choti_ was never shaved off in mourning for any\none but a father. The lower castes of Muhammadans, if they have lost\nseveral children, will allow the scalp-lock to grow on the heads of\nthose subsequently born, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan\nsaints. The Kanjars relate of their heroic ancestor Mana that after\nhe had plunged a bow so deeply into the ground that no one could\nwithdraw it, he was set by the Emperor of Delhi to wrestle against\nthe two most famous Imperial wrestlers. These could not overcome him\nfairly, so they made a stratagem, and while one provoked him in front\nthe other secretly took hold of his _choti_ behind. When Mana started\nforward his _choti_ was thus left in the wrestler's hands, and though\nhe conquered the other wrestler, showing him the sky as it is said,\nthe loss of his _choti_ deprived him for ever after of his virtue as a\nHindu and in no small degree of his renown as an ancestor. [310] Thus\nit seems clear that a special virtue attaches to the _choti_. Before\nevery warlike expedition the people of Minahassa in Celebes used to\ntake the locks of hair of a slain foe and dabble them in boiling water\nto extract the courage; this infusion of bravery was then drunk by\nthe warriors. [311] In a modern Greek folk-tale a man's strength lies\nin three golden hairs on his head. When his mother plucks them out,\nhe grows weak and timid and is slain by his enemies. [312] The Red\nIndian custom of taking the scalp, of a slain enemy and sometimes\nwearing the scalps at the waist-belt may be due to the same relief.\n\nIn Ceram the hair might not be cut because it was the seat of a man's\nstrength; and the Gaboon negroes for the same reason would not allow\nany of their hair to pass into the possession of a stranger. [313]\n\n\n\n\n10. Hair of kings and priests\n\nIf the hair was considered to be the special source of strength and\nhence frequently of life, that of the kings and priests, in whose\nexistence the primitive tribe believed its own communal life to be\nbound up, would naturally be a matter of peculiar concern. That it\nwas so has been shown in the _Golden Bough_. Two hundred years ago\nthe hair and nails of the Mikado of Japan could only be cut when he\nwas asleep. [314] The hair of the Flamen Dialis at Rome could be cut\nonly by a freeman and with a bronze knife, and his hair and nails when\ncut had to be buried under a lucky tree. [315] The Frankish kings were\nnever allowed to crop their hair; from their childhood upwards they\nhad to keep it unshorn. The hair of the Aztec priests hung down to\ntheir hams so that the weight of it became very troublesome; for they\nmight never crop it so long as they lived, or at least till they had\nbeen relieved from their office on the score of old age. [316] In the\nMale Paharia tribe from the time that any one devoted himself to the\nprofession of priest and augur his hair was allowed to grow like that\nof a Nazarite; his power of divination entirely disappeared if he cut\nit. [317] Among the Bawarias of India the Bhuva or priest of Devi may\nnot cut or shave his hair under penalty of a fine of Rs. 10. A Parsi\npriest or Mobed must never be bare-headed and never shave his head or\nface. [318] Professor Robertson Smith states: \"As a diadem is in its\norigin nothing more than a fillet to confine hair that is worn long,\nI apprehend that in old times the hair of Hebrew princes like that of a\nMaori chief, was taboo, and that Absalom's long locks (2 Sam. xiv. 26)\nwere the mark of his political pretensions and not of his vanity. When\nthe hair of a Maori chief was cut, it was collected and buried in a\nsacred place or hung on a tree; and it is noteworthy that Absalom's\nhair was cut annually at the end of the year, in the sacred season\nof pilgrimage, and that it was collected and weighed.\" [319]\n\n\n\n\n11. The beard\n\nThe importance attached by other races to the hair of the head seems\namong the Muhammadans to have been concentrated specially in the\nbeard. The veneration displayed for the beard in this community is\nwell known. The Prophet ordained that the minimum length of the beard\nshould be the breadth of five fingers. When the beard is turning grey\nthey usually dye it with henna and sometimes with indigo; it may be\nthought that a grey beard is a sign of weakness. The Prophet said,\n'Change the whiteness of your hair, but not with anything black.' It is\nnot clear why black was prohibited. It is said that the first Caliph\nAbu Bakar was accustomed to dye his beard red with henna, and hence\nthis practice has been adopted by Muhammadans. [320] The custom of\nshaving the chin is now being adopted by young Muhammadans, but as they\nget older they still let the beard grow. A very favourite Muhammadan\noath is, 'By the beard of the Prophet'; and in Persia if a man thinks\nanother is mocking him he says, 'Do you laugh at my beard?' Neither\nHindus nor Muhammadans have any objection to becoming bald, as the\nhead is always covered by the turban in society. But when a man wishes\nto grow a beard it is a serious drawback if he is unable to do it;\nand he will then sometimes pluck the young wheat-ears and rub the\njuice over his cheeks and chin so that he may grow bearded like the\nwheat. Among the Hindus, Rajputs and Marathas, as well as the Sikhs,\ncommonly wore beards, all of these being military castes. Both the\nbeard and hair were considered to impart an aspect of ferocity to\nthe countenance, and when the Rajputs and Muhammadans were going\ninto battle they combed the hair and trained the beard to project\nsideways from the face. When a Muhammadan wears a beard he must have\nhair in the centre of his chin, whereas a Hindu shaves this part. A\nMuhammadan must have his moustache short so that it may not touch\nand defile food entering the mouth. It is related that a certain Kazi\nhad a small head and a very long beard; and he had a dream that a man\nwith a small head and a long beard must be a fool. When he woke up he\nthought this was applicable to himself. As he could not make his head\nlarger he decided to make his beard smaller, and looked for scissors\nto cut part of it off. But he could not find any scissors, and being\nin a hurry to shorten his beard he decided to burn away part of it,\nand set it alight. But the fire consumed the whole of his beard before\nhe could put it out, and he then realised the truth of the dream.\n\n\n\n\n12. Significance of removal of the hair and shaving the head\n\nIf the hair was considered to be the source of a man's strength and\nvigour, the removal of it would involve the loss of this and might be\nconsidered especially to debar him from fighting or governing. The\ninstances given from the _Golden Bough_ have shown the fear felt by\nmany people of the consequences of the removal of their hair. The\ncustom of shaving the head might also betoken the renunciation of the\nworld and of the pursuit of arms. This may be the reason why monks\nshaved the head, a practice which was followed by Buddhist as well as\nChristian monks. A very clear case is also given by Sir James Frazer:\n\"When the wicked brothers Clotaire and Childebert coveted the kingdom\nof their dead brother Clodomir, they inveigled into their power their\nlittle nephews, the two sons of Clodomir; and having done so, they\nsent a messenger bearing scissors and a naked sword to the children's\ngrandmother, Queen Clotilde, at Paris. The envoy showed the scissors\nand the sword to Clotilde, and bade her choose whether the children\nshould be shorn and live, or remain unshorn and die. The proud queen\nreplied that if her grandchildren were not to come to the throne\nshe would rather see them dead than shorn. And murdered they were\nby their ruthless uncle Clotaire with his own hand.\" [321] In this\ncase it appears that if their hair was shorn the children could not\ncome to the throne but would be destined to become monks. Similarly,\nin speaking of the Georgians, Marco Polo remarks that they cut their\nhair short like churchmen. [322] When a member of the religious order\nof the Manbhaos is initiated his head is shaved clean by the village\nbarber, and the scalp-lock and moustache must be cut off by his _guru_\nor preceptor, this being perhaps the special mark of his renunciation\nof the world. The scalp-locks are preserved and made into ropes\nwhich some of them fasten round their loins. Members of the Hindu\norders generally shave their scalp-locks and the head on initiation,\nprobably for the same reason as the Manbhaos. But afterwards they\noften let the whole of their hair grow long. These men imagine that\nby the force of their austerities they will obtain divine power,\nso their religious character appears to be of a different order from\nmonasticism. Perhaps, therefore, they wear their hair long in order to\nincrease their spiritual potency. They themselves now say that they\ndo it in imitation of the god Siva and the ancient ascetics who had\nlong matted locks. The common Hindu practice of shaving the heads\nof widows may thus be interpreted as a symbol of their complete\nrenunciation of the world and of any idea of remarriage. It was\naccompanied by numerous other rules designed to make a widow's life a\ncontinual penance. This barbarous custom was formerly fairly general,\nat least among the higher castes, but is rapidly being abandoned\nexcept by one or two of the stricter sections of Brahmans. Shaving\nthe head might also be imposed as a punishment. Thus in the time of\nthe reign of the Emperor Chandraguptra Maurya in the fourth century\nB.C. it is stated that ordinary wounding by mutilation was punished\nby the corresponding mutilation of the offender, in addition to the\namputation of his hand. The crime of giving false evidence was visited\nwith mutilation of the extremities; and in certain unspecified cases,\nserious offences were punished by the shaving of the offender's hair,\na penalty regarded as specially infamous. [323] The cutting off of some\nor all of the hair is at the present time a common punishment for caste\noffences. Among the Korkus a man and woman caught in adultery have\neach a lock of hair cut off. If a Chamar man and woman are detected\nin the same offence, the heads of both are shaved clean of hair. A\nDhimar girl who goes wrong before marriage has a lock of her hair\ncut off as a penalty, the same being done in several other castes.\n\n\n\n\n13. Shaving the head by mourners\n\nThe exact significance which is to be attached to the removal by\nmourners of their hair after a death is perhaps doubtful. Sir James\nFrazer shows that the Australian aborigines are accustomed to let their\nown blood flow on to the corpse of a dead kinsman and to place their\ncut hair on the corpse. He suggests that in both cases the object\nis to strengthen the feeble spirit within the corpse and sustain\nits life, in order that it may be born again. As a development of\nsuch a rite the hair might have become an offering to the dead, and\nlater still its removal might become a sacrifice and indication of\ngrief. In this manner the common custom of tearing the hair in token\nof grief and mourning for the dead would be accounted for. Whether\nthe Hindu custom of shaving the heads of mourners was also originally\na sacrifice and offering appears to be uncertain. Professor Robertson\nSmith considered [324] that in this case the hair is shaved off as a\nmeans of removing impurity, and quotes instances from the Bible where\nlepers and persons defiled by contact with the dead are purified\nby shaving the hair. [325] As the father of a child is also shaved\nafter its birth, and the shaving must here apparently be a rite of\npurification, it probably has the same significance in the case\nof mourners; it is not clear whether any element of sacrifice is\nalso involved. The degree to which the Hindu mourner parts with his\nhair varies to some extent with the nearness of the relationship,\nand for females or distant relatives they do not always shave. The\nmourners are shaved on the last day of the impurity, when presents\nare given to the Maha-Brahman, and the latter, representing the dead\nman, is also shaved with them. When a Hindu is at the point of death,\nbefore he makes the gifts for the good of his soul the head is shaved\nwith the exception of his _choti_ or scalp-lock, the chin and upper\nlip. Often the corpse is also shaved after death.\n\n\n\n\n14. Hair offerings\n\nAnother case of the hair offering is that made in fulfilment of a vow\nor at a temple. In this case the hair appears to be a gift-offering\nwhich is made to the god as representing the life and strength of the\ndonor; owing to the importance attached to the hair as the source of\nlife and strength, it was a very precious sacrifice. Sir James Frazer\nalso suggests that the hair so given would impart life and strength to\nthe god, of which he stood in need, just as he needed food to nourish\nhim. Among the Hindus it is a common practice to take a child to some\nwell-known temple to have its hair cut for the first time, and to offer\nthe clippings of hair to the deity. If they cannot go to the temple\nto have the hair cut they have it cut at home, and either preserve the\nwhole hair or a lock of it, until an opportunity occurs to offer it at\nthe temple. In some castes a Brahman is invited at the first cutting of\na child's hair, and he repeats texts and blesses the child; the first\nlock of hair is then cut by the child's maternal uncle, and its head\nis shaved by the barber. A child's hair is cut in the first, third or\nfifth year after birth, but not in the second or fourth year. Among\nthe Muhammadans when a child's hair is cut for the first time, or at\nleast on one occasion in its life, the hair should be weighed against\nsilver or gold and the amount distributed in charity. In these cases\nalso it would appear that the hair as a valuable part of the child\nis offered to the god to obtain his protection for the life of the\nchild. If a woman has no child and desires one, or if she has had\nchildren and lost them, she will vow her next child's hair to some\ngod or temple. A small patch known as _chench_ is then left unshorn\non the child's head until it can be taken to the temple.\n\n\n\n\n15. Keeping hair unshorn during a vow\n\nIt was also the custom to keep the hair unshorn during the performance\nof a vow. \"While his vow lasted a Nazarite might not have his hair cut:\n'All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come\nupon his head.' [326] The Egyptians on a journey kept their hair\nuncut till they returned home. [327] Among the Chatti tribe of the\nancient Germans the young warriors never clipped their hair or their\nbeard till they had slain an enemy. Six thousand Saxons once swore\nthat they would not clip their hair nor shave their beards until\nthey had taken vengeance on their enemies.\" [328] Similarly, Hindu\nreligious mendicants keep their hair long while they are journeying\non a pilgrimage, and when they arrive at the temple which is their\ngoal they shave it all off and offer it to the god. In this case, as\nthe hair is vowed as an offering, it clearly cannot be cut during the\nperformance of the vow, but must be preserved intact. When the task\nto be accomplished for the fulfilment of a vow is a journey or the\nslaying of enemies, the retention of the hair is probably also meant\nto support and increase the wearer's strength for the accomplishment\nof his purpose.\n\n\n\n\n16. Disposal of cut hair and nails\n\nIf the hair contained a part of the wearer's life and strength its\ndisposal would be a matter of great importance, because, according\nto primitive belief, these qualities would remain in it after it\nhad been severed. Hence, if an enemy obtained it, by destroying the\nhair or some analogous action he might injure or destroy the life and\nstrength of the person to whom it belonged. The Hindus usually wrap\nup a child's first hair in a ball of dough and throw it into a running\nstream, with the cuttings of his nails. Well-to-do people also place a\nrupee in the ball, so that it is now regarded as an offering. The same\ncourse is sometimes followed with the hair and nails cut ceremoniously\nat a wedding, and possibly on one or two other occasions, such as\nthe investiture with the sacred thread; but the belief is decaying,\nand ordinarily no care is taken of the shorn hair. In Berar when the\nHindus cut a child's hair for the first time they sometimes bury it\nunder a water-pot where the ground is damp, perhaps with the idea\nthat the child's hair will grow thickly and plentifully like grass in\na damp place. It is a common belief that if a barren woman gets hold\nof a child's first hair and wears it round her waist the fertility of\nthe child's mother will be transferred to her. The Sarwaria Brahmans\nshave a child's hair in its third year. A small silver razor is made\nspecially for the occasion, costing a rupee and a quarter, and the\nbarber first touches the child's hair with this and then shaves it\nceremoniously with his own razor. [329] The Halbas think that the\nsevered clippings of hair are of no use for magic, but if a witch can\ncut a lock of hair from a man's head she can use it to work magic on\nhim. In making an image of a person with intent to injure or destroy\nhim, it was customary to put a little of his hair into the image, by\nwhich means his life and strength were conveyed to it. A few years\nago a London newspaper mentioned the case of an Essex man entering\na hairdresser's and requesting the barber to procure for him a piece\nof a certain customer's hair. When asked the reason for this curious\ndemand, he stated that the customer had injured him and he wished\nto 'work a spell' against him. [330] In the Parsi Zend-Avesta it is\nstated that if the clippings of hair or nails are allowed to fall in\nthe ground or ditches, evil spirits spring up from them and devour\ngrain and clothing in the house. It was therefore ordained for the\nParsis through their prophet Zarathustra that the cuttings of hair\nor nails should be buried in a deep hole ten paces from a dwelling,\ntwenty paces from fire, and fifty paces from the sacred bundles called\n_baresman_. Texts should be said over them and the hole filled in. Many\nParsis still bury their cut hair and nails four inches under ground,\nand an extracted tooth is disposed of in the same manner. [331] Some\nHindus think that the nail-parings should always be thrown into a\nfrequented place, where they will be destroyed by the traffic. If\nthey are thrown on to damp earth they will grow into a plant which\nwill ruin the person from whose body they came. It is said that about\ntwenty years ago a man in Nagpur was ruined by the growth of a piece\nof finger-nail, which had accidentally dropped into a flower-pot in\nhis house. Apparently in this case the nail is supposed to contain a\nportion of the life and strength of the person to whom it belonged, and\nif the nail grows it gradually absorbs more and more of his life and\nstrength, and he consequently becomes weaker and weaker through being\ndeprived of it. The Hindu superstition against shaving the head appears\nto find a parallel regarding the nails in the old English saying:\n\n\n    Cut no horn\n    On the Sabbath morn.\n\n\nAmong some Hindus it is said that the toe-nails should not be cut\nat all until a child is married, when they are cut ceremoniously by\nthe barber.\n\n\n\n\n17. Superstitions about shaving the hair\n\nSince the removal of the hair is held to involve a certain loss of\nstrength and power, it should only be effected at certain seasons\nand not on auspicious days. A man who has male children should not\nhave his head shaved on Monday, as this may cause his children to\ndie. On the other hand, a man who has no children will fast on Sunday\nin the hope of getting them, and therefore he will neither shave his\nhead nor visit his wife on that day. A Hindu must not be shaved on\nThursday, because this is the day of the planet Jupiter, which is also\nknown as Guru, and his act would be disrespectful to his own _guru_\nor preceptor. Tuesday is Devi's day, and a man will not get shaved\non that day; nor on Saturday, because it is Hanuman's day. [332] On\nSundays, Wednesdays and Fridays he may be shaved, but not if the day\nhappens to be the new moon, full moon, or the Ashtami or Ekadashi,\nthat is the eighth or eleventh day of the fortnight. He should not\nshave on the day that he is going on a journey. If all these rules\nwere strictly observed there would be very few days on which one\ncould get shaved, but many of them are necessarily more honoured in\nthe breach. Wednesdays and Fridays are the best days for shaving,\nand by shaving on these days a man will see old age. Debtors are\nshaved on Wednesdays, as they think that this will help them to pay\noff their debts. Some Brahmans are not shaved during the month of\nShrawan (July), when the crops are growing, nor during the nine days\nof the months of Kunwar (September) and Chait (March), when a fast\nis observed and the _jawaras_ [333] are sown. After they have been\nshaved high-caste Hindus consider themselves impure till they have\nbathed. They touch no person or thing in the house, and sometimes\nhave the water thrown on them by a servant so as to avoid contact\nwith the vessels. They will also neither eat, drink nor smoke until\nthey have bathed. Sometimes they throw so much water over the head\nin order to purify themselves as to catch a bad cold. In this case,\napparently, the impurity accrues from the loss of the hair, and the\nman feels that virtue has gone out of him. Women never shave their\nhair with a razor, as they think that to do so would make the body\nso heavy after death that it could not be carried to the place of\ncremation. They carefully pluck out the hair under the armpits and\nthe pubic hair with a pair of pincers. A girl's hair may be cut with\nscissors, but not after she is ten years old or is married. Sometimes\na girl's hair is not cut at all, but her father will take a pearl and\nentwine it into her hair, where it is left until she is married. It\nis considered very auspicious to give away a girl in marriage with\nhair which has never been cut, and a pearl in it. After marriage she\nwill take out the pearl and wear it in an ornament.\n\n\n\n\n18. Reasons why the hair was considered the source of strength\n\nThe above evidence appears to indicate that the belief of a man's\nstrength and vigour being contained in his hair is by no means confined\nto the legend of Samson, but is spread all over the world. This\nhas been pointed out by Professor Robertson Smith, [334] Professor\nWilken and others. Sir J.G. Frazer also adduces several instances in\nthe _Golden Bough_ to show that the life or soul was believed to be\ncontained in the hair. This may well have been the case, but the hair\nwas also specialised, so to speak, as the seat of bodily vigour and\nstrength. The same idea appears to have applied in a minor measure\nto the nails and teeth. The rules for disposing of the cut hair\nusually apply to the parings of nails, and the first teeth are also\ndeposited in a rat's hole or on the roof of the house. As suggested\nby Professor Robertson Smith it seems likely that the strength and\nvigour of the body was believed to be located in the hair, and also to\na less extent in the nails and teeth, because they grew more visibly\nand quickly than the body and continued to do so after it had attained\nto maturity. The hair and nails continue to grow all through life, and\nthough the teeth do not grow when fully formed, the second teeth appear\nwhen the body is considerably developed and the wisdom teeth after it\nis fully developed. The hair grows much more palpably and vigorously\nthan the nails and teeth, and hence might be considered especially the\nsource of strength. Other considerations which might confirm the idea\nare that men have more hair on their bodies than women, and strongly\nbuilt men often have a large quantity of hair. Some of the stronger\nwild animals have long hair, as the lion, bear and wild boar; and\nthe horse, often considered the embodiment of strength, has a long\nmane. And when anger is excited the hair sometimes appears to rise,\nas it were, from the skin. The nails and teeth were formerly used\non occasion as weapons of offence, and hence might be considered to\ncontain part of the strength and vigour of the body.\n\nFinally, it may be suggested as a possibility that the Roundheads\ncut their hair short as a protest against the superstition that\na soldier's hair must be long, which originated in the idea that\nstrength is located in the hair and may have still been current\nin their time. We know that the Puritans strove vainly against the\nveneration of the Maypole as the spirit of the new vegetation, [335]\nand against the old nature-rites observed at Christmas, the veneration\nof fire as the preserver of life against cold, and the veneration\nof the evergreen plants, the fir tree, the holly, and the mistletoe,\nwhich retained their foliage through the long night of the northern\nwinter, and were thus a pledge to man of the return of warmth and\nthe renewal of vegetation in the spring. And it therefore seems not\naltogether improbable that the Puritans may have similarly contended\nagainst the superstition as to the wearing of long hair.\n\n\nNaoda\n\n_Naoda._ [336]--A small caste found in the Nimar District and in\nCentral India. The name means a rower and is derived from _nao_,\na boat. The caste are closely connected with the Mallahs or Kewats,\nbut have a slightly distinctive position, as they are employed to\nrow pilgrims over the Nerbudda at the great fair held at Siva's\ntemple on the island of Mandhata. They say that their ancestors were\nRajputs, and some of their family names, as Solanki, Rawat and Mori,\nare derived from those of Rajput septs. But these have probably been\nadopted in imitation of their Kshatriya overlords. The caste is an\noccupational one. They have a tradition that in former times a Naoda\nboatman recovered the corpse of a king's daughter, who had drowned\nherself in the river wearing costly jewels, and the king as a reward\ngranted them the right of ferrying pilgrims at Mandhata, which they\nstill continue to enjoy, keeping their earnings for themselves. They\nhave a division of impure blood called the Gate or bastard Naodas, who\nmarry among themselves, and any girl who reaches the age of puberty\nwithout being married is relegated to this. In the case of a caste\nwhose numbers are so small, irregular connections with outsiders must\nprobably be not infrequent. Another report states that adult unmarried\ngirls are not expelled but are married to a pipal tree. But girls are\nsought after, and it is customary to pay a bride-price, the average\namount of which is Rs. 25. Before the bridegroom starts for his wedding\nhis mother takes and passes in front of him, successively from his\nhead to his feet, a pestle, some stalks of _rusa_ grass, a churning\nrod and a winnowing-fan. This is done with the object of keeping off\nevil spirits, and it is said that by her action she threatens to pound\nthe spirits with the pestle, to tie them up with the grass, to churn\nand mash them with the churning-rod, and to scatter them to the winds\nwith the winnowing-fan. When a man wishes to divorce his wife he simply\nturns her out of the house in the presence of four or five respectable\nmen of the caste. The marriage of a widow is celebrated on a Sunday\nor Tuesday, the clothes of the couple being tied together by another\nwidow at night. The following day they spend together in a garden,\nand in the evening are escorted home by their relatives with torches\nand music. Next morning the woman goes to the well and draws water,\nand her husband, accompanying her, helps her to lift the water-pots\non to her shoulder.\n\nThe caste worship the ordinary Hindu deities and especially Bhairon,\nthe guardian of the gate of Mahadeo's temple. They have a nail driven\ninto the bow of their boat which is called 'Bhairon's nail,' and at the\nDasahra festival they offer to this a white pumpkin with cocoanuts,\nvermilion, incense and liquor. The caste hold in special reverence\nthe cow, the dog and the tamarind tree. The dog is sacred as being the\nanimal on which Bhairava rides, and their most solemn oaths are sworn\nby a dog or a cow. They will on no account cut or burn the tamarind\ntree, and the women veil their faces before it. They cannot explain\nthis sentiment, which is probably due to some forgotten belief of\nthe nature of totemism. To kill a cow or a cat intentionally involves\npermanent exclusion from the caste, while the slaughter of a squirrel,\ndog, horse, buffalo or monkey is punished by temporary exclusion,\nit being equally sinful to allow any of these animals to die with\na rope round its neck. The Naodas eat the flesh of pigs and fowls,\nbut they occupy a fairly good social position and Brahmans will take\nwater from their hands.\n\n\n\n\n\nNat\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _The Nats not a proper caste_.\n    2. _Muhammadan Nats_.\n    3. _Social customs of the Nats_. _Their low status_.\n    4. _Acrobatic performances_.\n    5. _Sliding or walking on ropes as a charm for the crops_.\n    6. _Snake-charmers_.\n\n\n\n\n1. The Nats not a proper caste\n\n_Nat, [337] Badi, Dang-Charha, Karnati, Bazigar, Sapera._--The term\nNat (Sanskrit Nata--a dancer) appears to be applied indefinitely\nto a number of groups of vagrant acrobats and showmen, especially\nthose who make it their business to do feats on the tight-rope or with\npoles, and those who train and exhibit snakes. Badi and Bazigar mean a\nrope-walker, Dang-Charha a rope-climber, and Sapera a snake-charmer. In\nthe Central Provinces the Garudis or snake-charmers, and the Kolhatis,\na class of gipsy acrobats akin to the Berias, are also known as Nat,\nand these are treated in separate articles. It is almost certain that\na considerable section, if not the majority, of the Nats really belong\nto the Kanjar or Beria gipsy castes, who themselves maybe sprung from\nthe Doms. [338] Sir D. Ibbetson says: \"They wander about with their\nfamilies, settling for a few days or weeks at a time in the vicinity\nof large villages or towns, and constructing temporary shelters of\ngrass. In addition to practising acrobatic feats and conjuring of\na low class, they make articles of grass, straw and reeds for sale;\nand in the centre of the Punjab are said to act as Mirasis, though\nthis is perhaps doubtful. They often practise surgery and physic\nin a small way and are not free from suspicion of sorcery.\" [339]\nThis account would just as well apply to the Kanjar gipsies, and\nthe Nat women sometimes do tattooing like Kanjar or Beria women. In\nJubbulpore also the caste is known as Nat Beria, indicating that\nthe Nats there are probably derived from the Beria caste. Similarly\nSir H. Risley gives Bazigar and Kabutari as groups of the Berias\nof Bengal, and states that these are closely akin to the Nats and\nKanjars of Hindustan. [340] An old account of the Nats or Bazigars\n[341] would equally well apply to the Kanjars; and in Mr. Crooke's\ndetailed article on the Nats several connecting links are noticed. The\nNat women are sometimes known as Kabutari or pigeon, either because\ntheir acrobatic feats are like the flight of the tumbler pigeon, or\non account of the flirting manner with which they attract their male\ncustomers. [342] In the Central Provinces the women of the small Gopal\ncaste of acrobats are called Kabutari, and this further supports the\nhypothesis that Nat is rather an occupational term than the name of\na distinct caste, though it is quite likely that there may be Nats\nwho have no other caste. The Badi or rope-dancer group again is an\noffshoot of the Gond tribe, at least in the tracts adjoining the\nCentral Provinces. They have Gond septs as Marai, Netam, Wika, [343]\nand they have the _damru_ or drum used by the Gaurias or snake-charmers\nand jugglers of Chhattisgarh, who are also derived from the Gonds. The\nChhattisgarhi Dang-Charhas are Gonds who say they formerly belonged to\nPanna State and were supported by Raja Aman Singh of Panna, a great\npatron of their art. They sing a song lamenting his death in the\nflower of his youth. The Karnatis or Karnataks are a class of Nats\nwho are supposed to have come from the Carnatic. Mr. Crooke notes\nthat they will eat the leavings of all high castes, and are hence\nknown as Khushhaliya or 'Those in prosperous circumstances.' [344]\n\n\n\n\n2. Muhammadan Nats\n\nOne division of the Nats are Muhammadans and seem to be to some\nextent a distinctive group. They have seven _gotras_--Chicharia,\nDamaria, Dhalbalki, Purbia, Dhondabalki, Karimki and Kalasia. They\nworship two Birs or spirits, Halaila Bir and Sheikh Saddu, to whom\nthey sacrifice fowls in the months of Bhadon (August) and Baisakh\n(April). Hindus of any caste are freely admitted into their community,\nand they can marry Hindu girls.\n\n\n\n\n3. Social customs of the Nats. Their low status\n\nGenerally the customs of the Nats show them to be the dregs of the\npopulation. There is no offence which entails permanent expulsion from\ncaste. They will eat any kind of food including snakes, crocodiles\nand rats, and also take food from the hands of any caste, even it\nis said from sweepers. It is not reported that they prostitute their\nwomen, but there is little doubt that this is the case; in the Punjab\n[345] when a Nat woman marries, the first child is either given to\nthe grandmother as compensation for the loss of the mother's gains\nas a prostitute, or is redeemed by a payment of Rs. 30. Among the\nChhattisgarhi Dang-Charhas a bride-price of Rs. 40 is paid, of which\nthe girl's father only keeps ten, and the remaining sum of Rs. 30\nis expended on a feast to the caste. Some of the Nats have taken to\ncultivation and become much more respectable, eschewing the flesh\nof unclean animals. Another group of the caste keep trained dogs\nand hunt the wild pig with spears like the Kolhatis of Berar. The\nvillagers readily pay for their services in order to get the pig\ndestroyed, and they sell the flesh to the Gonds and lower castes of\nHindus. Others hunt jackals with dogs in the same manner. They eat\nthe flesh of the jackals and dispose of any surplus to the Gonds, who\nalso eat it. The Nats worship Devi and also Hanuman, the monkey god,\non account of the acrobatic powers of monkeys. But in Bombay they say\nthat their favourite and only living gods are their bread-winners and\naverters of hunger, the drum, the rope and the balancing-pole. [346]\n\n\n\n\n4. Acrobatic performances\n\nThe tight-rope is stretched between two pairs of bamboos, each pair\nbeing fixed obliquely in the ground and crossing each other at the top\nso as to form a socket over which the rope passes. The ends of the rope\nare taken over the crossed bamboos and firmly secured to the ground by\nheavy pegs. The performer takes another balancing-pole in his hands\nand walks along the rope between the poles which are about 12 feet\nhigh. Another man beats a drum, and a third stands under the rope\nsinging the performer's praises and giving him encouragement. After\nthis the performer ties two sets of cow or buffalo horns to his\nfeet, which are secured to the back of the skulls so that the flat\nfront between the horns rests on the rope, and with these he walks\nover the rope, holding the balancing-rod in his hands and descends\nagain. Finally he takes a brass plate and a cloth and again ascends\nthe rope. He places the plate on the rope and folds the cloth over\nit to make a pad. He then stands on his head on the pad with his feet\nin the air and holds the balancing-rod in his hands; two strings are\ntied to the end of this rod and the other ends of the strings are\nheld by the man underneath. With the assistance of the balancing-rod\nthe performer then jerks the plate along the rope with his head,\nhis feet being in the air, until he arrives at the end and finally\ndescends again. This usually concludes the performance, which demands\na high degree of skill. Women occasionally, though rarely, do the\nsame feats. Another class of Nats walk on high stilts and the women\nshow their confidence by dancing and singing under them. A saying\nabout the Nats is: _Nat ka bachcha to kalabazi hi karega_; or 'The\nrope-dancer's son is always turning somersaults.' [347]\n\n\n\n\n5. Sliding or walking on ropes as a charm for the crops\n\nThe feats of the Nats as tight-rope walkers used apparently to make\na considerable impression on the minds of the people, as it is not\nuncommon to find a deified Nat, called Nat Baba or Father Nat, as\na village god. A Natni or Nat woman is also sometimes worshipped,\nand where two sharp peaks of hills are situated close to each other,\nit is related that in former times there was a Natni, very skilful\non the tight-rope, who performed before the king; and he promised\nher that if she would stretch a rope from the peak of one hill to\nthat of the other and walk across it he would marry her and make\nher wealthy. Accordingly the rope was stretched, but the queen\nfrom jealousy went and cut it half through in the night, and when\nthe Natni started to walk the rope broke and she fell down and was\nkilled. She was therefore deified and worshipped. It is probable that\nthis legend recalls some rite in which the Nat was employed to walk\non a tight-rope for the benefit of the crops, and, if he failed, was\nkilled as a sacrifice; for the following passage taken from Traill's\naccount of Kumaon [348] seems clearly to refer to some such rite:\n\n\"Drought, want of fertility in the soil, murrain in cattle, and\nother calamities incident to husbandry are here invariably ascribed\nto the wrath of particular gods, to appease which recourse is had to\nvarious ceremonies. In the Kumaon District offerings and singing and\ndancing are resorted to on such occasions. In Garhwal the measures\npursued with the same view are of a peculiar nature, deserving of\nmore particular notice. In villages dedicated to the protection of\nMahadeva propitiatory festivals are held in his honour. At these\nBadis or rope-dancers are engaged to perform on the tight-rope, and\nslide down an inclined rope stretched from the summit of a cliff to\nthe valley beneath and made fast to posts driven into the ground. The\nBadi sits astride on a wooden saddle, to which he is tied by thongs;\nthe saddle is similarly secured to the _bast_ or sliding cable,\nalong which it runs, by means of a deep groove; sandbags are tied to\nthe Badi's feet sufficient to secure his balance, and he is then,\nafter various ceremonies and the sacrifice of a kid, started off;\nthe velocity of his descent is very great, and the saddle, however\nwell greased, emits a volume of smoke throughout the greater part of\nhis progress. The length and inclination of the _bast_ necessarily\nvary with the nature of the cliff, but as the Badi is remunerated at\nthe rate of a rupee for every hundred cubits, hence termed a tola,\na correct measurement always takes place; the longest _bast_ which\nhas fallen within my observation has been twenty-one tolas, or 2100\ncubits in length. From the precautions taken as above mentioned the\nonly danger to be apprehended by the Badi is from breaking of the\nrope, to provide against which the latter, commonly from one and\na half to two inches in diameter, is made wholly by his own hand;\nthe material used is the _bhabar_ grass. Formerly, if a Badi fell to\nthe ground in his course, he was immediately despatched with a sword\nby the surrounding spectators, but this practice is now, of course,\nprohibited. No fatal accident has occurred from the performance\nof this ceremony since 1815, though it is probably celebrated at\nnot less than fifty villages in each year. After the completion of\nthe sliding, the _bast_ or rope is cut up and distributed among the\ninhabitants of the village, who hang the pieces as charms on the eaves\nof their houses. The hair of the Badi is also taken and preserved as\npossessing similar virtues. He being thus made the organ to obtain\nfertility for the lands of others, the Badi is supposed to entail\nsterility on his own; and it is firmly believed that no grain sown\nwith his hand can ever vegetate. Each District has its hereditary\nBadi, who is supported by annual contributions of grain from the\ninhabitants.\" It is not improbable that the performance of the Nat\nis a reminiscence of a period when human victims were sacrificed\nfor the crops, this being a common practice among primitive peoples,\nas shown by Sir J.G. Frazer in _Attis, Adonis, Osiris_. Similarly the\nspirits of Nats which are revered in the Central Provinces may really\nbe those of victims killed during the performance of some charm for the\ngood of the crops, akin to that still prevalent in the Himalayas. The\ncustom of making the Nat slide down a rope is of the same character\nas that of swinging a man in the air by a hook secured in his flesh,\nwhich was formerly common in these Provinces. But in both cases the\nmeaning of the rite is obscure.\n\n\n\n\n6. Snake-charmers\n\nThe groups who practise snake-charming are known as Sapera or Garudi\nand in the Maratha Districts as Madari. Another name for them is\nNag-Nathi, or one who seizes a cobra. They keep cobras, pythons,\nscorpions, and the iguana or large lizard, which they consider to be\npoisonous. Some of them when engaged with their snakes wear two pieces\nof tiger-skin on their back and chest, and a cap of tiger-skin in\nwhich they fix the eyes of various birds. They have a hollow gourd\non which they produce a kind of music and this is supposed to charm\nthe snakes. When catching a cobra they pin its head to the ground\nwith a stick and then seize it in a cleft bamboo and prick out the\npoison-fangs with a large needle. They think that the teeth of the\niguana are also poisonous and they knock them out with a stick,\nand if fresh teeth afterwards grow they believe them not to contain\npoison. The python is called Ajgar, which is said to mean eater of\ngoats. In captivity the pythons will not eat of themselves, and the\nsnake-charmers chop up pieces of meat and fowls and placing the food\nin the reptile's mouth massage it down the body. They feed the pythons\nonly once in four or five days. They have antidotes for snake-bite,\nthe root of a creeper called _kalipar_ and the bark of the _karheya_\ntree. When a patient is brought to them they give him a little pepper,\nand if he tastes the pungent flavour they think that he has not been\naffected by snake-poison, but if it seems tasteless that he has\nbeen bitten. Then they give him small pieces of the two antidotes\nalready mentioned with tobacco and 2 1/2 leaves of the _nim_ tree\n[349] which is sacred to Devi. On the festival of Nag-Panchmi (Cobra's\nFifth) they worship their cobras and give them milk to drink and then\ntake them round the town or village and the people also worship and\nfeed the snakes and give a present of a few annas to the Sapera. In\ntowns much frequented by cobras, a special adoration is paid to\nthem. Thus in Hatta in the Damoh District a stone image of a snake,\nknown as Nag-Baba or Father Cobra is worshipped for a month before\nthe festival of Nag-Panchmi. During this period one man from every\nhouse in the village must go to Nag-Baba's shrine outside and take\nfood there and come back. And on Nag-Panchmi the whole town goes out\nin a body to pay him reverence, and it is thought that if any one is\nabsent the cobras will harass him for the whole year. But others say\nthat cobras will only bite men of low caste. The Saperas will not kill\na snake as a rule, but occasionally it is said that they kill one and\ncut off the head and eat the body, this being possibly an instance\nof eating the divine animal at a sacrificial meal. The following is\nan old account of the performances of snake-charmers in Bengal: [350]\n\n\"Hence, on many occasions throughout the year, the dread Manasa\nDevi, the queen of snakes, is propitiated by presents, vows and\nreligious rites. In the month of Shrabana the worship of the snake\ngoddess is celebrated with great eclat. An image of the goddess,\nseated on a water-lily, encircled with serpents, or a branch of the\nsnake-tree (a species of Euphorbia), or a pot of water, with images\nof serpents made of clay, forms the object of worship. Men, women and\nchildren, all offer presents to avert from themselves the wrath of\nthe terrific deity. The Mals or snake-catchers signalise themselves\non this occasion. Temporary scaffolds of bamboo work are set up in\nthe presence of the goddess. Vessels filled with all sorts of snakes\nare brought in. The Mals, often reeling with intoxication, mount\nthe scaffolds, take out serpents from the vessels, and allow them to\nbite their arms. Bite after bite succeeds; the arms run with blood;\nand the Mals go on with their pranks, amid the deafening plaudits\nof the spectators. Now and then they fall off from the scaffold and\npretend to feel the effects of poison, and cure themselves by their\nincantations. But all is mere pretence. The serpents displayed on\nthe occasion and challenged to do their worst, have passed through a\npreparatory state. Their fangs have been carefully extracted from their\njaws. But most of the vulgar spectators easily persuade themselves\nto believe that the Mals are the chosen servants of Siva and the\nfavourites of Manasa. Although their supernatural pretensions are\nridiculous, yet it must be confessed that the Mals have made snakes\nthe subject of their peculiar study. They are thoroughly acquainted\nwith their qualities, their dispositions, and their habits. They\nwill run down a snake into its hole, and bring it out thence by\nmain force. Even the terrible cobra is cowed down by the controlling\ninfluence of a Mal. When in the act of bringing out snakes from their\nsubterranean holes, the Mals are in the habit of muttering charms, in\nwhich the names of Manasa and Mahadeva frequently occur; superstition\nalone can clothe these unmeaning words with supernatural potency. But\nit is not inconsistent with the soundest philosophy to suppose that\nthere may be some plants whose roots are disagreeable to serpents,\nand from which they instinctively turn away. All snake-catchers of\nBengal are provided with a bundle of the roots of some plant which\nthey carefully carry along with them, when they set out on their\nserpent-hunting expeditions. When a serpent, disturbed in its hole,\ncomes out furiously hissing with rage, with its body coiled, and its\nhead lifted up, the Mal has only to present before it the bundle of\nroots above alluded to, at the sight of which it becomes spiritless\nas an eel. This we have ourselves witnessed more than once.\"\n\nThese Mals appear to have been members of the aboriginal Male or Male\nPaharia tribe of Bengal.\n\n\nNunia\n\n_Nunia, Lunia._ [351]--A mixed occupational caste of salt-makers and\nearth-workers, made up of recruits from the different non-Aryan tribes\nof northern India. The word _non_ means salt, and is a corruption of\nthe Sanskrit _lavana_, 'the moist,' which first occurs as a name for\nsea-salt in the Atharva Veda. [352] In the oldest prose writings salt\nis known as Saindhava or 'that which is brought from the Indus,' this\nperhaps being Punjab rock-salt. The Nunias are a fairly large caste in\nBengal and northern India, numbering 800,000 persons, but the Central\nProvinces and Berar contain only 3000, who are immigrants from Upper\nIndia. Here they are navvies and masons, a calling which they have\ngenerally adopted since the Government monopoly has interfered with\ntheir proper business of salt-refining. The mixed origin of the caste\nis shown by the list of their subdivisions in the United Provinces,\nwhich includes the names Mallah, Kewat, Kuchbandhia, Bind, Musahar,\nBhuinhar and Lodha, all of which are distinct castes, besides a number\nof territorial subcastes. A list of nearly thirty subcastes is given\nby Mr. Crooke, and this is an instance of the tendency of migratory\ncastes to split up into small groups for the purpose of arranging\nmarriages, owing to the difficulty of ascertaining the status and\nrespectability of each other's families, and the unwillingness to\ncontract alliances with those whose social position may turn out to\nbe not wholly satisfactory. \"The internal structure of the caste,\"\nMr. Crooke remarks, \"is far from clear; it would appear that they are\nstill in a state of transition, and the different endogamous subcastes\nare not as yet fully recognised.\" In Bilaspur the Nunias have three\nlocal subcastes, the Bandhaiya, the Ratanpuria and the Kharodhia. The\ntwo last, deriving their names from the towns of Ratanpur and Kharod\nin Bilaspur, are said to have been employed in former times in the\nconstruction of the temples and other buildings which abound in\nthese localities, and have thus acquired a considerable degree of\nprofessional skill in masonry work; while the Bandhaiya, who take their\nname from Bandhogarh, confine themselves to the excavation of tanks\nand wells. The exogamous divisions of the caste are also by no means\nclearly defined; in Mirzapur they have a system of local subdivisions\ncalled _dih_, each subdivision being named after the village which\nis supposed to be its home. The word _dih_ itself means a site or\nvillage. Those who have a common _dih_ do not intermarry. [353] This\nfact is interesting as being an instance of the direct derivation of\nthe exogamous clan from residence in a parent village and not from\nany heroic or supposititious ancestor.\n\nThe caste have a legend which shows their mixed origin. Some centuries\nago, they say, a marriage procession consisting of Brahmans, Rajputs,\nBanias and Gosains went to a place near Ajodhya. After the ceremony was\nover the bride, on being taken to the bridegroom's lodging, scraped up\na little earth with her fingers and put it in her mouth. She found it\nhad a saltish taste, and spat it out on the ground, and this enraged\nthe tutelary goddess of the village, who considered herself insulted,\nand swore that all the bride's descendants should excavate salt in\natonement; and thus the caste arose.\n\nIn Bilaspur the caste permit a girl to be married to a boy younger\nthan herself. A price of five rupees has to be paid for the bride,\nunless her family give a girl in exchange. The bridegroom is taken to\nthe wedding in a palanquin borne by Mahars. After its conclusion the\ncouple are carried back in the litter for some distance, after which\nthe bridegroom gets out and walks or rides. When he goes to fetch\nhis wife on her coming of age the bridegroom wears white clothes,\nwhich is rather peculiar, as white is not a lucky colour among the\nHindus. The Nunias employ Brahmans at their ceremonies, and they have\na caste _panchayat_ or committee, whose headman is known as Kurha. The\nBilaspur section of the caste has two Kurhas. Here Brahmans take water\nfrom them, but not in all places. They consider their traditional\noccupation to have been the extraction of salt and saltpetre from\nsaline earth. At present they are generally employed in the excavation\nof tanks and the embankment of fields, and they also sink wells,\nbuild and erect houses, and undertake all kinds of agricultural labour.\n\n\nOjha\n\n_Ojha._--The community of soothsayers and minstrels of the Gonds. The\nOjhas may now be considered a distinct subtribe, as they are looked\ndown upon by the Gonds and marry among themselves. They derive their\nname from the word _ojh_ meaning 'entrail,' their original duty\nhaving been, like that of the Roman augurs, to examine the entrails\nof the victim immediately after it had been slain as an offering to\nthe gods. In 1911 the Ojhas numbered about 5000 persons distributed\nover all Districts of the Central Provinces. At present the bulk\nof the community subsist by beggary. The word Ojha is of Sanskrit\nand not of Gond origin and is applied by the Hindus to the seers or\nmagicians of several of the primitive tribes, while there is also a\nclass of Ojha Brahmans who practise magic and divination. The Gond\nOjhas, who are the subject of this article, originally served the\nGonds and begged from them alone, but in some parts of the western\nSatpuras they are also the minstrels of the Korkus. Those who beg\nfrom the Korkus play on a kind of drum called _dhank_ while the Gond\nOjhas use the _kingri_ or lyre. Some of them also catch birds and\nare therefore known as Moghia. Mr. Hislop [354] remarks of them:\n\"The Ojhas follow the two occupations of bard and fowler. They lead\na wandering life and when passing through villages they sing from\nhouse to house the praises of their heroes, dancing with castanets in\ntheir hands, bells at their ankles and long feathers of jungle birds\nin their turbans. They sell live quails and the skins of a species\nof Buceros named Dhan-chiria; these are used for making caps and for\nhanging up in houses in order to secure wealth (_dhan_), while the\nthigh-bones of the same bird when fastened round the waists of children\nare deemed an infallible preservative against the assaults of devils\nand other such calamities. Their wives tattoo the arms of Hindu and\nGond women. Among them there is a subdivision known as the Mana Ojhas,\nwho rank higher than the others. Laying claim to unusual sanctity,\nthey refuse to eat with any one, Gonds, Rajputs or even Brahmans, and\ndevote themselves to the manufacture of rings and bells which are in\nrequest among their own race, and even of _lingas_ (phallic emblems)\nand _nandis_ (bull images), which they sell to all ranks of the Hindu\ncommunity. Their wives are distinguished by wearing the cloth of the\nupper part of the body over the right shoulder, whereas those of the\ncommon Ojhas and of all the other Gonds wear it over the left.\"\n\nMr. Tawney wrote of the Ojhas as follows: [355] \"The Ojha women do\nnot dance. It is only men who do so, and when thus engaged they put\non special attire and wear anklets with bells. The Ojhas like the\nGonds are divided into six or seven god _gots_ (classes or septs),\nand those with the same number of gods cannot intermarry. They worship\nat the same Deokhala (god's threshing-floor) as the Gonds, but being\nregarded as an inferior caste they are not allowed so near the sacred\npresence. Like the Gonds they incorporate the spirits of the dead with\nthe gods, but their manner of doing so is somewhat different, as they\nmake an image of brass to represent the soul of the deceased and keep\nthis with the household gods. As with the Gonds, if a household god\nmakes himself too objectionable he is quietly buried to keep him out\nof mischief and a new god is introduced into the family. The latter\nshould properly bear the same name as his degraded predecessor, but\nvery often does not. The Ojhas are too poor to indulge in the luxury\nof burning their deceased friends and therefore invariably bury them.\"\n\nThe customs of the Ojhas resemble those of the Gonds. They take the\nbride to the bridegroom's house to be married, and a widow among\nthem is expected, though not obliged, to wed her late husband's\nyounger brother. They eat the flesh of fowls, pigs, and even oxen,\nbut abstain from that of monkeys, crocodiles and jackals. They will\nnot touch an ass, a cat or a dog, and consider it sinful to kill\nanimals which bark or bray.\n\nThey will take food from the hands of all except the most impure\ncastes, and will admit into the community any man who has taken an Ojha\nwoman to live with him, even though he be a sweeper, provided that he\nwill submit to the prescribed test of begging from the houses of five\nGonds and eating the leavings of food of the other Ojhas. They will\npardon the transgression of one of their women with an outsider of\nany caste whatever, if she is able and willing to provide the usual\npenalty feast. They have no _sutak_ or period of impurity after a\ndeath, but merely take a mouthful of liquor and consider themselves\nclean. In physical appearance the Ojhas resemble the Gonds but are\nless robust. They rank below the Gonds and are considered as impure\nby the Hindu castes. In 1865, an Ojha held a village in Hoshangabad\nDistrict which he had obtained as follows: [356] \"He was singing\nand dancing before Raja Raghuji, when the Raja said he would give a\nrent-free village to any one who would pick up and chew a quid of\nbetel-leaf which he (the Raja) had had in his mouth and had spat\nout. The Ojha did this and got the village.\"\n\nThe Maithil or Tirhut Brahmans who are especially learned in Tantric\nmagic are also sometimes known as Ojha, and a family bearing this\ntitle were formerly in the service of the Gond kings of Mandla. They\ndo not now admit that they acted as augurs or soothsayers, but state\nthat their business was to pray continuously for the king's success\nwhen he was engaged in any battle, and to sit outside the rooms of sick\npersons repeating the sacred Gayatri verse for their recovery. This is\noften repeated ten times, counting by a special method on the joints\nof the fingers and is then known as _Jap_. When it is repeated a\nlarger number of times, as 54 or 108, a rosary is used.\n\n\n\n\n\nOraon\n\n[_Authorities_: The most complete account of the Oraons is a\nmonograph entitled, _The Religion and Customs of the Oraons_, by\nthe late Rev. Father P. Dehon, published in 1906 in the _Memoirs\nof the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. i. No. 9. The tribe is also\ndescribed at length by Colonel Dalton in _The Ethnography of Bengal_,\nand an article on it is included in Mr. (Sir H.) Risley's _Tribes\nand Castes of Bengal_. References to the Oraons are contained in\nMr. Bradley-Birt's _Chota Nagpur_, and Mr. Ball's _Jungle Life in\nIndia_. The Kurukh language is treated by Dr. Grierson in the volume\nof the Linguistic Survey on _Munda and Dravidian Languages_. The\nfollowing article is principally made up of extracts from the accounts\nof Father Dehon and Colonel Dalton. Papers have also been received\nfrom Mr. Hira Lal, Mr. Balaram Nand, Deputy Inspector of Schools,\nSambalpur, Mr. Jeorakhan Lal, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Bilaspur,\nand Munshi Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer Office.]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _General notice_.\n    2. _Settlement in Chota Nagpur_.\n    3. _Subdivisions_.\n    4. _Pre-nuptial licence_.\n    5. _Betrothal_.\n    6. _Marriage ceremony_.\n    7. _Special customs_.\n    8. _Widow-remarriage and divorce_.\n    9. _Customs at birth_.\n    10. _Naming a child_.\n    11. _Branding and tattooing_.\n    12. _Dormitory discipline_.\n    13. _Disposal of the dead_.\n    14. _Worship of ancestors_.\n    15. _Religion_. _The supreme deity_.\n    16. _Minor godlings_.\n    17. _Human sacrifice_.\n    18. _Christianity_.\n    19. _Festivals_. _The Karma or May-day_.\n    20. _The Sal flower festival_.\n    21. _The harvest festival_.\n    22. _Fast for the crops_.\n    23. _Physical appearance and costume of the Oraons_.\n    24. _Dress of women_.\n    25. _Dances_.\n    26. _Social customs_.\n    27. _Social rules_.\n    28. _Character_.\n    29. _Language_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice\n\n_Oraon, Uraon, Kurukh, Dhangar, Kuda, Kisan._--The Oraons are an\nimportant Dravidian tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau, numbering\naltogether about 750,000 persons, of whom 85,000 now belong to the\nCentral Provinces, being residents of the Jashpur and Sarguja States\nand the neighbouring tracts. They are commonly known in the Central\nProvinces as Dhangar or Dhangar-Oraon. In Chota Nagpur the word Dhangar\nmeans a farmservant engaged according to a special customary contract,\nand it has come to be applied to the Oraons, who are commonly employed\nin this capacity. Kuda means a digger or navvy in Uriya, and enquiries\nmade by Mr. B.C. Mazumdar and Mr. Hira Lal have demonstrated that\nthe 18,000 persons returned under this designation from Raigarh\nand Sambalpur in 1901 were really Oraons. The same remark applies\nto 33,000 persons returned from Sambalpur as Kisan or cultivator,\nthese also being members of the tribe. The name by which the Oraons\nknow themselves is Kurukh or Kurunkh, and the designation of Oraon\nor Orao has been applied to them by outsiders. The meaning of both\nnames is obscure. Dr. Halm [357] was of opinion that the word _kurukh_\nmight be identified with the Kolarian _horo_, man, and explained the\nterm Oraon as the totem of one of the septs into which the Kurukhs\nwere divided. According to him Oraon was a name coined by the Hindus,\nits base being _orgoran_, hawk or cunny bird, used as the name of a\ntotemistic sept. Sir G. Grierson, however, suggested a connection with\nthe Kaikari, _urupai_, man; Burgandi _urapo_, man; _urang_, men. The\nKaikaris are a Telugu caste, and as the Oraons are believed to have\ncome from the south of India, this derivation sounds plausible. In\na similar way Sir. G. Grierson states, Kurukh may be connected\nwith Tamil _kurugu_, an eagle, and be the name of a totemistic\nclan. Compare also names, such as Korava, Kurru, a dialect of Tamil,\nand Kudagu. In the Nerbudda valley the farmservant who pours the seed\nthrough the tube of the sowing-plough is known as Oraya; this word\nis probably derived from the verb _urna_ to pour, and means 'one who\npours.' Since the principal characteristic of the Oraons among the\nHindus is their universal employment as farmservants and labourers,\nit may be suggested that the name is derived from this term. Of the\nother names by which they are known to outsiders Dhangar means a\nfarmservant, Kuda a digger, and Kisan a cultivator. The name Oraon\nand its variant Orao is very close to Oraya, which, as already seen,\nmeans a farmservant. The nasal seems to be often added or omitted in\nthis part of the country, as Kurukh or Kurunkh.\n\n\n\n\n2. Settlement in Chota Nagpur\n\nAccording to their own traditions, Mr. Gait writes, [358] \"The\nKurukh tribe originally lived in the Carnatic, whence they went up the\nNerbudda river and settled in Bihar on the banks of the Son. Driven out\nby the Muhammadans, the tribe split into two divisions, one of which\nfollowed the course of the Ganges and finally settled in the Rajmahal\nhills: while the other went up the Son and occupied the north-western\nportion of the Chota Nagpur plateau, where many of the villages they\noccupy are still known by Mundari names. The latter were the ancestors\nof the Oraons or Kurukhs, while the former were the progenitors of the\nMale or Saonria as they often call themselves.\" Towards Lohardaga the\nOraons found themselves among the Mundas or Kols, who probably retired\nby degrees and left them in possession of the country. \"The Oraons,\"\nFather Dehon states, \"are an exceedingly prolific tribe and soon become\nthe preponderant element, while the Mundas, being conservative and\naverse to living among strangers, emigrate towards another jungle. The\nMundas hate zamindars, and whenever they can do so, prefer to live in\na retired corner in full possession of their small holding; and it\nis not at all improbable that, as the zamindars took possession of\nthe newly-formed villages, they retired towards the east, while the\nOraons, being good beasts of burden and more accustomed to subjection,\nremained.\" In view of the fine physique and martial character of\nthe Larka or Fighting Kols or Mundas, Dalton was sceptical of the\ntheory that they could ever have retired before the Oraons; but in\naddition to the fact that many villages in which Oraons now live have\nMundari names, it may be noted that the headman of an Oraon village\nis termed Munda and is considered to be descended from its founder,\nwhile for the Pahan or priest of the village gods, the Oraons always\nemploy a Munda if available, and it is one of the Pahan's duties to\npoint out the boundary of the village in cases of dispute; this is a\nfunction regularly assigned to the earliest residents, and seems to\nbe strong evidence that the Oraons found the Mundas settled in Chota\nNagpur when they arrived there. It is not necessary to suppose that\nany conquest or forcible expropriation took place; and it is probable\nthat, as the country was opened up, the Mundas by preference retired\nto the wilder forest tracts, just as in the Central Provinces the\nKorkus and Baigas gave way to the Gonds, and the Gonds themselves\nrelinquished the open country to the Hindus. None of the writers quoted\nnotice the name Munda as applied to the headman of an Oraon village,\nbut it can hardly be doubted that it is connected with that of the\ntribe; and it would be interesting also to know whether the Pahan or\nvillage priest takes his name from the Pans or Gandas. Dalton says\nthat the Pans are domesticated as essential constituents of every\nHo or Kol village community, but does not allude to their presence\namong the Oraons. The custom in the Central Provinces, by which in\nGond villages the village priest is always known as Baiga, because\nin some localities members of the Baiga tribe are commonly employed\nin the office, suggests the hypothesis of a similar usage here. In\nvillages first settled by Oraons, the population, Father Dehon states,\nis divided into three _khunts_ or branches, named after the Munda,\nPahan and Mahto, the founders of the three branches being held to\nhave been sons of the first settler. Members of each branch belong\ntherefore to the same sept or _got_. Each _khunt_ has a share of the\nvillage lands.\n\n\n\n\n3. Subdivisions\n\nThe Oraons have no proper subcastes in the Central Provinces, but the\nKudas and Kisans, having a distinctive name and occupation, sometimes\nregard themselves as separate bodies and decline intermarriage with\nother Oraons. In Bengal Sir H. Risley gives five divisions, Barga,\nDhanka, Kharia, Khendro and Munda; of these Kharia and Munda are the\nnames of other tribes, and Dhanka may be a variant for Dhangar. The\nnames show that as usual with the tribes of this part of the country\nthe law of endogamy is by no means strict. The tribe have also a\nlarge number of exogamous septs of the totemistic type, named after\nplants and animals. Members of any sept commonly abstain from killing\nor eating their sept totem. A man must not marry a member of his own\nsept nor a first cousin on the mother's side.\n\n\n\n\n4. Pre-nuptial licence\n\nMarriage is adult and pre-nuptial unchastity appears to be tacitly\nrecognised. Oraon villages have the institution of the Dhumkuria\nor Bachelors' dormitory, which Dalton describes as follows: [359]\n\"In all the older Oraon villages when there is any conservation of\nancient customs, there is a house called the Dhumkuria in which all\nthe bachelors of the village must sleep under penalty of a fine. The\nhuts of the Oraons have insufficient accommodation for a family,\nso that separate quarters for the young men are a necessity. The\nsame remark applies to the young unmarried women, and it is a fact\nthat they do not sleep in the house with their parents. They are\ngenerally frank enough when questioned about their habits, but on\nthis subject there is always a certain amount of reticence, and I have\nseen girls quietly withdraw when it was mooted. I am told that in some\nvillages a separate building is provided for them like the Dhumkuria,\nin which they consort under the guardianship of an elderly duenna,\nbut I believe the more common practice is to distribute them among the\nhouses of the widows, and this is what the girls themselves assert, if\nthey answer at all when the question is asked; but however billeted,\nit is well known that they often find their way to the bachelors'\nhall, and in some villages actually sleep there. I not long ago saw a\nDhumkuria in a Sarguja village in which the boys and girls all slept\nevery night.\" Colonel Dalton considered it uncertain that the practice\nled to actual immorality, but the fact can hardly be doubted. Sexual\nintercourse before marriage, Sir H. Risley says, is tacitly recognised,\nand is so generally practised that in the opinion of the best observers\nno Oraon girl is a virgin at the time of her marriage. \"To call this\nstate of things immoral is to apply a modern conception to primitive\nhabits of life. Within the tribe, indeed, the idea of sexual morality\nseems hardly to exist, and the unmarried Oraons are not far removed\nfrom the condition of modified promiscuity which prevails among\nmany of the Australian tribes. Provided that the exogamous circle\ndefined by the totem is respected, an unmarried woman may bestow\nher favours on whom she will. If, however, she becomes pregnant,\narrangements are made to get her married without delay, and she is\nthen expected to lead a virtuous life.\" [360] According to Dalton,\nhowever, _liaisons_ between boys and girls of the same village seldom\nend in marriage, as it is considered more respectable to bring home a\nbride from a distance. This appears to arise from the primitive rule\nof exogamy that marriage should not be allowed between those who have\nbeen brought up together. The young men can choose for themselves,\nand at dances, festivals and other social gatherings they freely woo\ntheir sweethearts, giving them flowers for the hair and presents of\ngrilled field-mice, which the Oraons consider to be the most delicate\nof food. Father Dehon, however, states that matches are arranged by\nthe parents, and the bride and bridegroom have nothing to say in the\nmatter. Boys are usually married at sixteen and girls at fourteen\nor fifteen. The girls thus have only about two years of preliminary\nflirtation or Dhumkuria life before they are settled.\n\n\n\n\n5. Betrothal\n\nThe first ceremony for a marriage is known as _pan bandhi_ or the\nsettling of the price; for which the boy's father, accompanied by\nsome men of his village to represent _the panch_ or elders, goes to\nthe girl's house. Father Dehon states that the bride-price is five\nrupees and four maunds of grain. When this has been settled the\nrejoicings begin. \"All the people of the village are invited; two\nboys come and anoint the visitors with oil. From every house of the\nvillage that can afford it a _handia_ or pot of rice-beer is brought,\nand they drink together and make merry. All this time the girl has been\nkept inside, but now she suddenly sallies forth carrying a _handia_\non her head. A murmur of admiration greets her when stepping through\nthe crowd she comes and stands in front of her future father-in-law,\nwho at once takes the _handia_ from her head, embraces her, and gives\nher one rupee. From that time during the whole of the feast the girl\nremains sitting at the feet of her father-in-law. The whole party\nmeanwhile continue drinking and talking; and voices rise so high\nthat they cannot hear one another. As a diversion the old women of\nthe village all come tumbling in, very drunk and wearing fantastic\nhats made of leaves, gesticulating like devils and carrying a straw\nmanikin representing the bridegroom. They all look like old witches,\nand in their drunken state are very mischievous.\"\n\n\n\n\n6. Marriage ceremony\n\nThe marriage takes place after about two years, visits being exchanged\ntwice a year in the meantime. When the day comes the bridegroom\nproceeds with a large party of his friends, male and female, to the\nbride's house. Most of the males have warlike weapons, real or sham,\nand as they approach the village of the bride's family the young men\nfrom thence emerge, also armed, as if to repel the invasion, and a\nmimic fight ensues, which like a dissolving view blends pleasantly\ninto a dance. In this the bride and bridegroom join, each riding on\nthe hips of one of their friends. After this they have a feast till\nlate in the night. Next morning bread cooked by the bride's mother\nis taken to the _dari_ or village spring, where all the women partake\nof it. When they have finished they bring a vessel of water with some\nleaves of the mango tree in it. Meanwhile the bride and bridegroom are\nin the house, being anointed with oil and turmeric by their respective\nsisters. When everybody has gathered under the marriage-bower the\nboy and girl are brought out of the house and a heap is made of\na plough-yoke, a bundle of thatching-grass and a curry-stone. The\nbride and bridegroom are made to stand on the curry-stone, the boy\ntouching the heels of the bride with his toes, and a long piece of\ncloth is put round them to screen them from the public. Only their\nheads and feet can be seen. A goblet full of vermilion is presented\nto the boy, who dips his finger in it and makes three lines on\nthe forehead of the girl; and the girl does the same to the boy,\nbut as she has to reach him over her shoulder and cannot see him,\nthe boy gets it anywhere, on his face, which never fails to provoke\nhearty bursts of laughter. \"When this is complete,\" Dalton states,\n\"a gun is fired and then by some arrangement vessels full of water,\nplaced over the bower, are upset, and the young couple and those\nnear them receive a drenching shower-bath, the women shouting,\n'The marriage is done, the marriage is done.' They now retire into\nan apartment prepared for them, ostensibly to change their clothes,\nbut they do not emerge for some time, and when they do appear they\nare saluted as man and wife.\"\n\n\n\n\n7. Special Customs\n\nMeanwhile the guests sit round drinking _handias_ or earthen pots full\nof rice-beer. The bride and bridegroom come out and retire a second\ntime and are called out for the following rite. A vessel of beer\nis brought and the bride carries a cupful of it to the bridegroom's\nbrother, but instead of giving it into his hand she deposits it on\nthe ground in front of him. This is to seal a kind of tacit agreement\nthat from that time the bridegroom's brother will not touch his\nsister-in-law, and was probably instituted to mark the abolition of\nthe former system of fraternal polyandry, customs of an analogous\nnature being found among the Khonds and Korkus. \"Then,\" Father Dehon\ncontinues, \"comes the last ceremony, which is called _khiritengna\nhandia_ or the _handia_ of the story, and is considered by the Oraons\nto be the true form of marriage which has been handed down to them by\ntheir forefathers. The boy and girl sit together before the people,\nand one of the elder men present rises and addressing the boy says:\n'If your wife goes to fetch _sag_ and falls from a tree and breaks her\nleg, do not say that she is disfigured or crippled. You will have to\nkeep and feed her.' Then turning to the girl: 'When your husband goes\nhunting, if his arm or leg is broken, do not say, \"He is a cripple,\nI won't live with him.\" Do not say that, for you have to remain with\nhim. If you prepare meat, give two shares to him and keep only one for\nyourself. If you prepare vegetables, give him two parts and keep only\none part for yourself. If he gets sick and cannot go out, do not say\nthat he is dirty, but clean his mat and wash him.' A feast follows,\nand at night the girl is brought to the boy by her mother, who says\nto him, 'Now this my child is yours; I do not give her for a few days\nbut for ever; take care of her and love her well.' A companion of the\nbridegroom's then seizes the girl in his arms and carries her inside\nthe house.\"\n\n\n\n\n8. Widow-remarriage and divorce\n\nIt is uncommon for a man to have two wives. Divorce is permitted,\nand is usually effected by the boy or girl running away to the Duars\nor Assam. Widow-remarriage is a regular practice. The first time a\nwidow marries again, Father Dehon states, the bridegroom must pay\nRs. 3-8 for her; if successive husbands die her price goes down by\na rupee on each fresh marriage, so that a fifth husband would pay\nonly eight annas. Cases of adultery are comparatively rare. When\noffenders are caught a heavy fine is imposed if they are well-to-do,\nand if they are not, a smaller fine and a beating.\n\n\n\n\n9. Customs at birth\n\n\"The Oraons,\" Father Dehon continues, \"are a very prolific race, and\nwhenever they are allowed to live without being too much oppressed\nthey increase prodigiously. What strikes you when you come to an Oraon\nvillage is the number of small dirty children playing everywhere,\nwhile you can scarcely meet a woman that does not carry a baby on her\nback. The women seem, to a great extent, to have been exempted from the\ncurse of our first mother: 'Thou shalt bring forth, etc.' They seem\nto give birth to their children with the greatest ease. There is no\nperiod of uncleanness, and the very day after giving birth to a child,\nyou will see the mother with her baby tied up in a cloth on her back\nand a pitcher on her head going, as if nothing had happened, to the\nvillage spring.\" This practice, it may be remarked in parenthesis,\nmay arise from the former observance of the Couvade, the peculiar\ncustom prevailing among several primitive races, by which, when a\nchild is born, the father lies in the house and pretends to be ill,\nwhile the mother gets up immediately and goes about her work. The\ncustom has been reported as existing among the Oraons by one observer\nfrom Bilaspur, [361] but so far without confirmation.\n\n\n\n\n10. Naming a child\n\n\"A child is named eight or ten days after birth, and on this day\nsome men of the village and the members of the family assemble at\nthe parents' house. Two leaf-cups are brought, one full of water\nand the other of rice. After a preliminary formula grains of rice\nare let fall into the cup, first in the name of the child and then\nsuccessively in those of his ancestors in the following order:\npaternal grandfather, paternal great-grandfather, father, paternal\nuncle, maternal grandfather, other relatives. When the grain dropped\nin the name of any relative meets the first one dropped to represent\nthe child, he is given the name of that relative and is probably\nconsidered to be a reincarnation of him.\"\n\n\n\n\n11. Branding and tattooing\n\n\"When a boy is six or seven years old it is time for him to become a\nmember of the Dhumkuria or common dormitory. The eldest boys catch hold\nof his left arm and, with burning cloth, burn out five deep marks on\nthe lower part of his arm. This is done so that he may be recognised\nas an Oraon at his death when he goes into the other world.\" The\nceremony was probably the initiation to manhood on arrival at puberty,\nand resembled those prevalent among the Australian tribes. With this\nexception men are not tattooed, but this decoration is profusely\nresorted to by women. They have three parallel vertical lines on the\nforehead which form a distinctive mark, and other patterns on the arms,\nchest, knees and ankles. These usually consist of lines vertical and\nhorizontal as shown below:\n\nThe marks on the knees are considered to be steps by which the wearer\nwill ascend to heaven after her death. If a baby cries much it is\nalso tattooed on the nose and chin.\n\n\n\n\n12. Dormitory discipline\n\nThe Dhumkuria fraternity, Colonel Dalton remarks, are, under the\nseverest penalties, bound down to secrecy in regard to all that takes\nplace in their dormitory; and even girls are punished if they dare\nto tell tales. They are not allowed to join in the dances till the\noffence is condoned. They have a regular system of fagging in this\ncurious institution. The small boys serve those of larger growth,\nshampoo their limbs, comb their hair, and so on, and they are sometimes\nsubjected to severe discipline to make men of them.\n\n\n\n\n13. Disposal of the dead\n\nThe Oraons either bury or burn the dead. As the corpse is carried\nto the grave, beginning from the first crossroads, they sprinkle a\nline of rice as far as the grave or pyre. This is done so that the\nsoul of the deceased may find its way back to the house. Before the\nburial or cremation cooked food and some small pieces of money are\nplaced in the mouth of the corpse. They are subsequently, however,\nremoved or recovered from the ashes and taken by the musicians\nas their fee. Some clothes belonging to the deceased and a vessel\nwith some rice are either burnt with the corpse or placed in the\ngrave. As the grave is being filled in they place a stalk of _orai_\n[362] grass vertically on the head of the corpse and gradually draw\nit upwards as the earth is piled on the grave. They say that this is\ndone in order to leave a passage for the air to pass to the nostrils\nof the deceased. This is the grass from which reed pens are made,\nand the stalk is hard and hollow. Afterwards they plant a root of\nthe same grass where the stalk is standing over the head of the\ncorpse. On the tenth day they sacrifice a pig and fowl and bury the\nlegs, tail, ears and nose of the pig in a hole with seven balls of iron\ndross. They then proceed to the grave scattering a little parched rice\nall the way along the path. Cooked rice is offered at the grave. If\nthe corpse has been burnt they pick up the bones and place them in a\npot, which is brought home and hung up behind the dead man's house. At\nnight-time a relative sits inside the house watching a burning lamp,\nwhile some friends go outside the village and make a miniature hut\nwith sticks and grass and set fire to it. They then call out to the\ndead man, 'Come, your house is being burnt,' and walk home striking\na mattock and sickle together. On coming to the house they kick down\nthe matting which covers the doorway; the man inside says, 'Who are\nyou?' and they answer, 'It is we.' They watch the lamp and when the\nflame wavers they believe it to show that the spirit of the deceased\nhas followed them and has also entered the house. Next day the bones\nare thrown into a river and the earthen pot broken against a stone.\n\n\n\n\n14. Worship of ancestors\n\nThe _pitras_ or ancestors are worshipped at every festival, and when\nthe new rice is reaped a hen is offered to them. They pray to their\ndead parents to accept the offering and then place a few grains of\nrice before the hen. If she eats them, it is a sign that the ancestors\nhave accepted the offering and a man kills the hen by crushing its head\nwith his closed fist. This is probably, as remarked by Father Dehon, in\nrecollection of the method employed before the introduction of knives,\nand the same explanation may be given of the barbaric method of the\nBaigas of crushing a pig to death by a beam of wood used as a see-saw\nacross its body, and of the Gond bride and bridegroom killing a fowl\nby treading on it when they first enter their house after the wedding.\n\n\n\n\n15. Religion. The supreme deity\n\nThe following account of the tribal religion is abridged from Father\nDehon's full and interesting description:\n\n\"The Oraons worship a supreme god who is known as Dharmes; him they\ninvoke in their greatest difficulties when recourse to the village\npriests and magicians has proved useless. Then they turn to Dharmes\nand say, 'Now we have tried everything, but we have still you who can\nhelp us.' They sacrifice to him a white cock. They think that god is\ntoo good to punish them, and that they are not answerable to him in any\nway for their conduct; they believe that everybody will be treated in\nthe same way in the other world. There is no hell for them or place\nof punishment, but everybody will go to _merkha_ or heaven. The Red\nIndians speak of the happy hunting-grounds and the Oraons imagine\nsomething like the happy ploughing-grounds, where everybody will have\nplenty of land, plenty of bullocks to plough it with, and plenty of\nrice-beer to drink after his labour. They look on god as a big zamindar\nor landowner, who does nothing himself, but keeps a _chaprasi_ as an\nagent or debt-collector; and they conceive the latter as having all\nthe defects so common to his profession. Baranda, the _chaprasi_,\nexacts tribute from them mercilessly, not exactly out of zeal for\nthe service of his master, but out of greed for his _talbana_ or\nperquisites. When making a sacrifice to Dharmes they pray: 'O god,\nfrom to-day do not send any more your _chaprasi_ to punish us. You\nsee we have paid our respects to you, and we are going to give him\nhis _dasturi_ (tip).'\n\n\n\n\n16. Minor godlings\n\n\"But in the concerns of this world, to obtain good crops and freedom\nfrom sickness, a host of minor deities have to be propitiated. These\nconsist of _bhuts_ or spirits of the household, the sept, the village,\nand common deities, such as the earth and sun. Chola Pacho or the\nlady of the grove lives in the _sarna_ or sacred grove, which has\nbeen left standing when the forest was cleared. She is credited with\nthe power of giving rain and consequently good crops. Churel is the\nshade of a woman who has died while pregnant or in childbirth. She\nhovers over her burial-place and is an object of horror and fright to\nevery passer-by. It is her nature to look out for a companion, and she\nis said always to choose that member of a family whom she liked best\nduring her lifetime. She will then come at night and embrace him and\ntickle him under the arms, making him laugh till he dies. Bhula or the\nwanderers are the shades of persons who have died an unnatural death,\neither having been murdered, hanged, or killed by a tiger. They all\nkeep the scars of their respective wounds and one can imagine what a\nweird-looking lot they are. They are always on the move, and are, as\nit were, the mendicant portion of the invisible community. They are\nnot very powerful and are responsible only for small ailments, like\nnightmares and slight indispositions. When an Ojha or spirit-raiser\ndiscovers that a Bhula has appeared in the light of his lamp he shows\na disappointed face, and says: 'Pshaw, only Bhula!' No sacrifice\nis offered to him, but the Ojha then and there takes a few grains\nof rice, rubs them in charcoal and throws them at the flame of his\nlamp, saying, 'Take this, Bhula, and go away.' Murkuri is the thumping\n_bhut_. Europeans to show their kindness and familiarity thump people\non the back. If this is followed by fever or any kind of sickness\nit will be ascribed to the passing of Murkuri from the body of the\nEuropean into the body of the native.\n\n\"_Chordewa_ is a witch rather than a _bhut_. It is believed that\nsome women have the power to change their soul into a black cat,\nwho then goes about in the houses where there are sick people. Such a\ncat has a peculiar way of mewing, quite different from its brethren,\nand is easily recognised. It steals quietly into the house, licks\nthe lips of the sick man and eats the food which has been prepared\nfor him. The sick man soon gets worse and dies. They say it is very\ndifficult to catch the cat, as it has all the nimbleness of its nature\nand the cleverness of a _bhut_. However, they sometimes succeed, and\nthen something wonderful happens. The woman out of whom the cat has\ncome remains insensible, as it were in a state of temporary death,\nuntil the cat re-enters her body. Any wound inflicted on the cat will\nbe inflicted on her; if they cut its ears or break its legs or put\nout its eyes the woman will suffer the same mutilation. The Oraons\nsay that formerly they used to burn any woman who was suspected of\nbeing a _Chordewa_.\n\n\n\n\n17. Human sacrifice\n\n\"There is also Anna Kuari or Mahadhani, who is in our estimation\nthe most cruel and repulsive deity of all, as she requires human\nsacrifice. Those savage people, who put good crops above everything,\nlook upon her in a different light. She can give good crops and make a\nman rich, and this covers a multitude of sins. People may be sceptical\nabout it and say that it is impossible that in any part of India under\nthe British Government there should still be human sacrifices. Well,\nin spite of all the vigilance of the authorities, there are still\nhuman sacrifices in Chota Nagpur. As the vigilance of the authorities\nincreases, so also does the carefulness of the Urkas or Otongas\nincrease. They choose for their victims poor waifs or strangers,\nwhose disappearance no one will notice. April and May are the months\nin which the Urkas are at work. Doisa, Panari, Kukra and Sarguja have\na very bad reputation. During these months no strangers will go about\nthe country alone and during that time nowhere will boys and girls\nbe allowed to go to the jungle and graze the cattle for fear of the\nUrkas. When an Urka has found a victim he cuts his throat and carries\naway the upper part of the ring finger and the nose. Anna Kuari finds\nvotaries not only among the Oraons, but especially among the big\nzamindars and Rajas of the Native States. When a man has offered a\nsacrifice to Anna Kuari she goes and lives in his house in the form\nof a small child. From that time his fields yield double harvest,\nand when he brings in his paddy he takes Anna Kuari and rolls her\nover the heap to double its size. But she soon becomes restless and\nis only pacified by new human sacrifices. At last after some years she\ncannot bear remaining in the same house any more and kills every one.\"\n\n\n\n\n18. Christianity\n\nIn Jashpur State where the Oraons number 47,000 about half the total\nnumber have become Christians. The non-Christians call themselves\nSansar, and the principal difference between them is that the\nChristians have cut off the pigtail, while the Sansar retain it. In\nsome families the father may be a Sansar and the son a Kiristan,\nand they live together without any distinction. The Christians belong\nto the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Missions, but though they all know\ntheir Church, they naturally have little or no idea of the distinctions\nof doctrine.\n\n\n\n\n19. Festivals. The Karma or May-day\n\nThe principal festivals are the Sarhul, celebrated when the _sal_\ntree [363] flowers, the Karma or May-day when the rice is ready for\nplanting out, and the Kanihari or harvest celebration.\n\n\"At the Karma festival a party of young people of both sexes,\" says\nColonel Dalton, \"proceed to the forest and cut a young _karma_ tree\n(_Nauclea parvifolia_) or the branch of one; they bear this home\nin triumph and plant it in the centre of the Akhara or wrestling\nground. Next morning all may be seen at an early hour in holiday\narray, the elders in groups under the fine old tamarind trees that\nsurround the Akhara, and the youth of both sexes, arm-linked in a\nhuge circle, dancing round the _karma_ tree, which, festooned with\ngarlands, decorated with strips of coloured cloth and sham bracelets\nand necklets of plaited straw, and with the bright faces and merry\nlaughter of the young people encircling it, reminds one of the\ngift-bearing tree so often introduced at our own great festival.\" The\ntree, however, probably corresponds to the English Maypole, and the\nfestival celebrates the renewal of vegetation.\n\n\n\n\n20. The _sal_ flower festival\n\nAt the Sarhul festival the marriage of the sun-god and earth-mother\nis celebrated, and this cannot be done till the _sal_ tree gives\nthe flowers for the ceremony. It takes place about the beginning of\nApril on any day when the tree is in flower. A white cock is taken\nto represent the sun and a black hen the earth; their marriage is\ncelebrated by marking them with vermilion, and they are sacrificed. The\nvillagers then accompany the Pahan or Baiga, the village priest, to\nthe _sarna_ or sacred grove, a remnant of the old _sal_ forest in\nwhich is located Sarna Burhi or 'The old women of the grove.' \"To\nthis dryad,\" writes Colonel Dalton, \"who is supposed to have great\ninfluence over the rain (a superstition not improbably founded on the\nimportance of trees as cloud-compellers), the party offer five fowls,\nwhich are afterwards eaten, and the remainder of the day is spent\nin feasting. They return laden with the flowers of the _sal_ tree,\nand next morning with the Baiga pay a visit to every house, carrying\nthe flowers. The women of the village all stand on the threshold of\ntheir houses, each holding two leaf-cups; one empty to receive the\nholy water; the other with rice-beer for the Baiga. His reverence\nstops at each house, and places flowers over it and in the hair of\nthe women. He sprinkles the holy water on the seeds that have been\nkept for the new year and showers blessings on every house, saying,\n'May your rooms and granary be filled with paddy that the Baiga's name\nmay be great.' When this is accomplished the woman throws a vessel\nof water over his venerable person, heartily dousing the man whom the\nmoment before they were treating with such profound respect. This is no\ndoubt a rain-charm, and is a familiar process. The Baiga is prevented\nfrom catching cold by being given the cup of rice-beer and is generally\ngloriously drunk before he completes his round. There is now a general\nfeast, and afterwards the youth of both sexes, gaily decked with the\n_sal_ blossoms, the pale cream-white flowers of which make the most\nbecoming of ornaments against their dusky skins and coal-black hair,\nproceed to the Akhara and dance all night.\"\n\n\n\n\n21. The harvest festival\n\nThe Kanihari, as described by Father Dehon, is held previous\nto the threshing of the rice, and none is allowed to prepare his\nthreshing-floor until it has been celebrated. It can only take place\non a Tuesday. A fowl is sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the\nnew rice. In the evening a common feast is held at which the Baiga\npresides, and when this is over they go to the place where Mahadeo\nis worshipped and the Baiga pours milk over the stone that represents\nhim. The people then dance. Plenty of rice-beer is brought, and a scene\nof debauchery takes place in which all restraint is put aside. They\nsing the most obscene songs and give vent to all their passions. On\nthat day no one is responsible for any breach of morality.\n\n\n\n\n22. Fast for the crops\n\nLike other primitive races, and the Hindus generally, the Oraons\nobserve the Lenten fast, as explained by Sir J.G. Frazer, after sowing\ntheir crops. Having committed his seed with every propitiatory rite to\nthe bosom of Mother Earth, the savage waits with anxious expectation\nto see whether she will once again perform on his behalf the yearly\nmiracle of the renewal of vegetation, and the growth of the corn-plants\nfrom the seed which the Greeks typified by the descent of Proserpine\ninto Hades for a season of the year and her triumphant re-emergence to\nthe upper air. Meanwhile he fasts and atones for any sin or shortcoming\nof his which may possibly have offended the goddess and cause her to\nhold her hand. From the beginning of _Asarh_ (June) the Oraons cease\nto shave, abstain from eating turmeric, and make no leaf-plates for\ntheir food, but eat it straight from the cooking-vessel. This they now\nsay is to prevent the field-mice from consuming the seeds of the rice.\n\n\n\n\n23. Physical appearance and costume of the Oraons\n\n\"The colour of most Oraons,\" Sir H. Risley states, \"is the darkest\nbrown approaching to black; the hair being jet-black, coarse and\nrather inclined to be frizzy. Projecting jaws and teeth, thick\nlips, low narrow foreheads, and broad flat noses are the features\ncharacteristic of the tribe. The eyes are often bright and full,\nand no obliquity is observable in the opening of the eyelids.\"\n\n\"The Oraon youths,\" Dalton states, \"though with features very far\nfrom being in accordance with the statutes of beauty, are of a\nsingularly pleasing class, their faces beaming with animation and\ngood humour. They are a small race, averaging 4 feet 5 inches, but\nthere is perfect proportion in all parts of their form, and their\nsupple, pliant, lithe figures are often models of symmetry. There\nis about the young Oraon a jaunty air and mirthful expression that\ndistinguishes him from the Munda or Ho, who has more of the dignified\ngravity that is said to characterise the North American Indian. The\nOraon is particular about his personal appearance only so long as he\nis unmarried, but he is in no hurry to withdraw from the Dhumkuria\ncommunity, and generally his first youth is passed before he resigns\nhis decorative propensities.\n\n\"He wears his hair long like a woman, gathered in a knot behind,\nsupporting, when he is in gala costume, a red or white turban. In the\nknot are wooden combs and other instruments useful and ornamental,\nwith numerous ornaments of brass. [364] At the very extremity of the\nroll of hair gleams a small circular mirror set in brass, from which,\nand also from his ears, bright brass chains with spiky pendants dangle,\nand as he moves with the springy elastic step of youth and tosses his\nhead like a high-mettled steed in the buoyancy of his animal spirits,\nhe sets all his glittering ornaments in motion and displays as he\nlaughs a row of teeth, round, white and regular, that give light and\nanimation to his dusky features. He wears nothing in the form of a\ncoat; his decorated neck and chest are undraped, displaying how the\nlatter tapers to the waist, which the young dandies compress within\nthe smallest compass. In addition to the cloth, there is always round\nthe waist a girdle of cords made of tasar-silk or of cane. This is\nnow a superfluity, but it is no doubt the remnant of a more primitive\ncostume, perhaps the support of the antique fig-leaves.\n\n\"Out of the age of ornamentation nothing can be more untidy or more\nunprepossessing than the appearance of the Oraon. The ornaments are\nnearly all discarded, hair utterly neglected, and for raiment any\nrags are used. This applies both to males and females of middle age.\n\n\n\n\n24. Dress of women\n\n\"The dress of the women consists of one cloth, six yards long,\ngracefully adjusted so as to form a shawl and a petticoat. The upper\nend is thrown over the left shoulder and falls with its fringe and\nornamented border prettily over the back of the figure. Vast quantities\nof red beads and a large, heavy brass ornament shaped like a _torque_\nare worn round the neck. On the left hand are rings of copper,\nas many as can be induced on each finger up to the first joint, on\nthe right hand a smaller quantity; rings on the second toe only of\nbrass or bell-metal, and anklets and bracelets of the same material\nare also worn.\" The women wear only metal and not glass bangles, and\nthis with the three vertical tattoo-marks on the forehead and the fact\nthat the head and right arm are uncovered enables them to be easily\nrecognised. \"The hair is made tolerably smooth and amenable by much\nlubrication, and false hair or some other substance is used to give\nsize to the mass into which it is gathered not immediately behind,\nbut more or less on one side, so that it lies on the neck just behind\nand touching the right ear; and flowers are arranged in a receptacle\nmade for them between the roll of hair and the head.\" Rings are worn\nin the lobes of the ear, but not other ornaments. \"When in dancing\ncostume on grand occasions they add to their head-dress plumes of\nheron feathers, and a gay bordered scarf is tightly bound round the\nupper part of the body.\"\n\n\n\n\n25. Dances\n\n\"The tribe I am treating of are seen to best advantage at the great\nnational dance meetings called Jatras, which are held once a year at\nconvenient centres, generally large mango groves in the vicinity of old\nvillages. As a signal to the country round, the flags of each village\nare brought out on the day fixed and set upon the road that leads\nto the place of meeting. This incites the young men and maidens to\nhurry through their morning's work and look up their _jatra_ dresses,\nwhich are by no means ordinary attire. Those who have some miles to\ngo put up their finery in a bundle to keep it fresh and clean, and\nproceed to some tank or stream in the vicinity of the tryst grove;\nand about two o'clock in the afternoon may be seen all around groups\nof girls laughingly making their toilets in the open air, and young\nmen in separate parties similarly employed. When they are ready the\ndrums are beaten, huge horns are blown, and thus summoned the group\nfrom each village forms its procession. In front are young men with\nswords and shields or other weapons, the village standard-bearers\nwith their flags, and boys waving yaks' tails or bearing poles with\nfantastic arrangements of garlands and wreaths intended to represent\numbrellas of dignity. Sometimes a man riding on a wooden horse is\ncarried, horse and all, by his friends as the Raja, and others assume\nthe form of or paint themselves up to represent certain beasts of\nprey. Behind this motley group the main body form compactly together\nas a close column of dancers in alternate ranks of boys and girls,\nand thus they enter the grove, where the meeting is held in a cheery\ndashing style, wheeling and countermarching and forming lines, circles\nand columns with grace and precision. The dance with these movements\nis called _kharia_, and it is considered to be an Oraon rather than\na Munda dance, though Munda girls join in it. When they enter the\ngrove the different groups join and dance the _kharia_ together,\nforming one vast procession and then a monstrous circle. The drums\nand musical instruments are laid aside, and it is by the voices alone\nthat the time is given; but as many hundreds, nay, thousands, join,\nthe effect is imposing. In serried ranks, so closed up that they\nappear jammed, they circle round in file, all keeping perfect step,\nbut at regular intervals the strain is terminated by a _hururu_,\nwhich reminds one of Paddy's 'huroosh' as he 'welts the floor,' and\nat the same moment they all face inwards and simultaneously jumping\nup come down on the ground with a resounding stamp that makes the\nfinale of the movements, but only for a momentary pause. One voice\nwith a startling yell takes up the strain again, a fresh start is\nmade, and after gyrating thus till they tire of it the ring breaks\nup, and separating into village groups they perform other dances\nindependently till near sunset, and then go dancing home.\"\n\n\n\n\n26. Social customs\n\nBut more often they go on all night. Mr. Ball mentions their dance\nas follows: [365] \"The Oraon dance was distinct from any I had seen\nby the Santals or other races. The girls, carefully arranged in lines\nby sizes, with the tallest at one end and the smallest at the other,\nfirmly grasp one another's hands, and the whole movements are so\nperfectly in concert that they spring about with as much agility\nas could a single individual.\" Father Dehon gives the following\ninteresting notice of their social customs: \"The Oraons are very\nsociable beings, and like to enjoy life together. They are paying\nvisits or _pahis_ to one another nearly the whole year round. In these\nthe _handia_ (beer-jar) always plays a great part. Any man who would\npresume to receive visitors without offering them a _handia_ would be\nhooted and insulted by his guests, who would find a sympathising echo\nfrom all the people of the village. One may say that from the time of\nthe new rice at the end of September to the end of the marriage feast\nor till March there is a continual coming and going of visitors. For a\nmarriage feast forty _handias_ are prepared by the groom's father, and\nall the people of the village who can afford it supply one also. Each\n_handia_ gives about three gallons of rice-beer, so that in one day and\na half, in a village of thirty houses, about 200 gallons of rice-beer\nare despatched. The Oraons are famous for their dances. They delight\nin spending the whole night from sunset till morning in this most\nexciting amusement, and in the dancing season they go from village to\nvillage. They get, as it were, intoxicated with the music, and there is\nnever any slackening of the pace. On the contrary, the evolutions seem\nto increase till very early in the morning, and it sometimes happens\nthat one of the dancers shoots off rapidly from the gyrating group, and\nspeeds away like a spent top, and, whirlwind-like, disappears through\npaddy-fields and ditches till he falls entirely exhausted. Of course\nit is the devil who has taken possession of him. One can well imagine\nin what state the dancers are at the first crow of the cock, and when\n'_L'aurore avec ses doigts de rose entr'ouvre les portes de l'orient,_'\nshe finds the girls straggling home one by one, dishevelled, _trainant\nl'aile_, too tired even to enjoy the company of the boys, who remain\nbehind in small groups, still sounding their tom-toms at intervals\nas if sorry that the performance was so soon over. And, wonderful to\nsay and incredible to witness, they will go straight to the stalls,\nyoke their bullocks, and work the whole morning with the same spirit\nand cheerfulness as if they had spent the whole night in refreshing\nsleep. At eleven o'clock they come home, eat their meal, and stretched\nout in the verandah sleep like logs until two, when poked and kicked\nabout unmercifully by the people of the house, they reluctantly get\nup with heavy eyes and weary limbs to resume their work.\"\n\n\n\n\n27. Social rules\n\nThe Oraons do not now admit outsiders into the tribe. There is no\noffence for which a man is permanently put out of caste, but a woman\nliving with any man other than an Oraon is so expelled. Temporary\nexpulsion is awarded for the usual offences. The head of the caste\n_panchayat_ is called Panua, and when an offender is reinstated,\nthe Panua first drinks water from his hand, and takes upon himself\nthe burden of the erring one's transgression. For this he usually\nreceives a fee of five rupees, and in some States the appointment is\nin the hands of the Raja, who exacts a fine of a hundred rupees or\nmore from a new candidate. The Oraons eat almost all kinds of food,\nincluding pork, fowls and crocodiles, but abstain from beef. Their\nstatus is very low among the Hindus; they are usually made to live\nin a separate corner of the village, and are sometimes not allowed to\ndraw water from the village well. As already stated, the dress of the\nmen consists only of a narrow wisp of cloth round the loins. Some of\nthem say, like the Gonds, that they are descended from the subjects\nof Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon; this ancestry having no doubt\nin the first instance been imputed to them by the Hindus. And they\nexplain that when Hanuman in the shape of a giant monkey came to\nthe assistance of Rama, their king Rawan tried to destroy Hanuman\nby taking all the loin-cloths of his subjects and tying them soaked\nin oil to the monkey's tail with a view to setting them on fire and\nburning him to death. The device was unsuccessful and Hanuman escaped,\nbut since then the subjects of Rawan and their descendants have never\nhad a sufficient allowance of cloth to cover them properly.\n\n\n\n\n28. Character\n\n\"The Oraons,\" Colonel Dalton says, \"if not the most virtuous, are\nthe most cheerful of the human race. Their lot is not a particularly\nhappy one. They submit to be told that they are especially created as\na labouring class, and they have had this so often dinned into their\nears that they believe and admit it. I believe they relish work if\nthe taskmaster be not over-exacting. Oraons sentenced to imprisonment\nwithout labour, as sometimes happens, for offences against the excise\nlaws, insist on joining the working gangs, and wherever employed,\nif kindly treated, they work as if they felt an interest in their\ntask. In cold weather or hot, rain or sun, they go cheerfully about it,\nand after some nine or ten hours of toil (seasoned with a little play\nand chaff among themselves) they return blithely home in flower-decked\ngroups holding each other by the hand or round the waist and singing.\"\n\n\n\n\n29. Language\n\nThe Kurukh language, Dr. Grierson states, has no written character,\nbut the gospels have been printed in it in the Devanagri type. The\ntranslation is due to the Rev. F. Halm, who has also published a\nBiblical history, a catechism and other small books in Kurukh. More\nthan five-sixths of the Oraons are still returned as speaking their\nown language.\n\n\nPaik\n\n_Paik._--A small caste of the Uriya country formed from military\nservice, the term _paik_ meaning 'a foot-soldier.' In 1901 the\nPaiks numbered 19,000 persons in the Kalahandi and Patna States and\nthe Raipur District, but since the transfer of the Uriya States to\nBengal less than 3000 remain in the Central Provinces. In Kalahandi,\nwhere the bulk of them reside, they are called Nalia Sipahis from\nthe fact that they were formerly armed with _nalis_ or matchlocks by\nthe State. After the Khond rising of 1882 in Kalahandi these were\nconfiscated and bows and arrows given in lieu of them. The Paiks\nsay that they were the followers of two warriors, Kalmir and Jaimir,\nwho conquered the Kalahandi and Jaipur States from the Khonds about\na thousand years ago. There is no doubt that they formed the rough\nmilitia of the Uriya Rajas, a sort of rabble half military and half\npolice, like the Khandaits. But the Khandaits were probably the leaders\nand officers, and, as a consequence, though originally only a mixed\noccupational group, have acquired a higher status than the Paiks and\nin Orissa rank next to the Rajputs. The Paiks were the rank and file,\nmainly recruited from the forest tribes, and they are counted as\na comparatively low caste, though to strangers they profess to be\nRajputs. In Sambalpur it is said that Rajputs, Sudhs, Bhuiyas and\nGonds are called Paiks. In Kalahandi they wear the sacred thread,\nbeing invested with it by a Brahman at the time of their marriage,\nand they say that this privilege was conferred on them by the Raja. It\nis reported, however, that social distinctions may be purchased in\nsome of the Uriya States for comparatively small sums. A Bhatra or\nmember of a forest tribe was observed wearing the sacred thread,\nand, on being questioned, stated that his grandfather had purchased\nthe right from the Raja for Rs. 50. The privileges of wearing gold\near ornaments, carrying an umbrella, and riding on horseback were\nobtainable in a similar manner. It is also related that when one\nRaja imported the first pair of boots seen in his State, the local\nlandholders were allowed to wear them in turn for a few minutes on\npayment of five rupees each, as a token of their right thereafter to\nprocure and wear boots of their own. In Damoh and Jubbulpore another\nset of Paiks is to be found who also claim to be Rajputs, and are\ncommonly so called, though true Rajputs will not eat or intermarry\nwith them. These are quite distinct from the Sambalpur Paiks, but have\nprobably been formed into a caste in exactly the same manner. The\nsept or family names of the Uriya Paiks sufficiently indicate their\nmixed descent. Some of them are as follows: Dube (a Brahman title),\nChalak Bansi (of the Chalukya royal family), Chhit Karan (belonging\nto the Karans or Uriya Kayasths), Sahani (a sais or groom), Sudh (the\nname of an Uriya caste), Benet Uriya (a subdivision of the Uriya or Od\nmason caste), and so on. It is clear that members of different castes\nwho became Paiks founded separate families, which in time developed\ninto exogamous septs. Some of the septs will not eat food cooked with\nwater in company with the rest of the caste, though they do not object\nto intermarrying with them. After her marriage a girl may not take\nfood cooked by her parents nor will they accept it from her. And at a\nmarriage party each guest is supplied with grain and cooks it himself,\nbut everybody will eat with the bride and bridegroom as a special\nconcession to their position. Besides the exogamous clans the Paiks\nhave totemistic _gots_ or groups named after plants and animals, as\nHarin (a deer), Kadamb (a tree), and so on. But these have no bearing\non marriage, and the bulk of the caste have the Nagesh or cobra as\ntheir sept name. It is said that anybody who does not know his sept\nconsiders himself to be a Nagesh, and if he does not know his clan,\nhe calls himself a Mahanti. Each family among the Paiks has also a\nSainga or title, of a high-sounding nature, as Naik (lord), Pujari\n(worshipper), Baidya (physician), Raut (noble), and so on. Marriages\nare generally celebrated in early youth, but no penalty is incurred\nfor a breach of this rule. If the signs of adolescence appear in\na girl for the first time on a Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday, it is\nconsidered a bad omen, and she is sometimes married to a tree to avert\nthe consequences. Widow-marriage and divorce are freely permitted. The\ncaste burn their dead and perform the _shraddh_ ceremony. The women\nare tattooed, and men sometimes tattoo their arms with figures of\nthe sun and moon in the belief that this will protect them from\nsnake-bite. The Paiks eat flesh and fish, but abstain from fowls and\nother unclean animals and from liquor. Brahmans will not take water\nfrom them, but other castes generally do so. Some of them are still\nemployed as armed retainers and are remunerated by free grants of land.\n\n\n\n\n\nPanka\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Origin of the caste._\n    2. _Caste subdivisions._\n    3. _Endogamous divisions._\n    4. _Marriage._\n    5. _Religion._\n    6. _Other customs._\n    7. _Occupation._\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste\n\n_Panka._ [366]--A Dravidian caste of weavers and labourers found\nin Mandla, Raipur and Bilaspur, and numbering 215,000 persons in\n1911. The name is a variant on that of the Pan tribe of Orissa\nand Chota Nagpur, who are also known as Panika, Chik, Ganda and by\nvarious other designations. In the Central Provinces it has, however,\na peculiar application; for while the Pan tribe proper is called Ganda\nin Chhattisgarh and the Uriya country, the Pankas form a separate\ndivision of the Gandas, consisting of those who have become members\nof the Kabirpanthi sect. In this way the name has been found very\nconvenient, for since Kabir, the founder of the sect, was discovered by\na weaver woman lying on the lotus leaves of a tank, like Moses in the\nbulrushes, and as a newly initiated convert is purified with water,\nso the Pankas hold that their name Is _pani ka_ or 'from water.' As\nfar as possible then they disown their connection with the Gandas,\none of the most despised castes, and say that they are a separate\ncaste consisting of the disciples of Kabir. This has given rise to\nthe following doggerel rhyme about them:\n\n\n    Pani se Panka bhae, bundan rache sharir,\n    Age age Panka bhae, pachhe Das Kabir.\n\n\nWhich may be rendered, 'The Panka indeed is born of water, and his body\nis made of drops of water, but there were Pankas before Kabir.' Or\nanother rendering of the second line is, 'First he was a Panka,\nand afterwards he became a disciple of Kabir,' Nevertheless the\nPankas have been successful in obtaining a somewhat higher position\nthan the Gandas, in that their touch is not considered to convey\nimpurity. This is therefore an instance of a body of persons from\na low caste embracing a new religion and thereby forming themselves\ninto a separate caste and obtaining an advance in social position.\n\n\n\n\n2. Caste subdivisions\n\nOf the whole caste 84 per cent are Kabirpanthis and these form\none subcaste; but there are a few others. The Manikpuria say that\ntheir ancestors came from Manikpur in Darbhanga State about three\ncenturies ago; the Saktaha are those who profess to belong to the\nSakta sect, which simply means that they eat flesh and drink liquor,\nbeing unwilling to submit to the restrictions imposed on Kabirpanthis;\nthe Bajania are those who play on musical instruments, an occupation\nwhich tends to lower them in Hindu eyes; and the Dom Pankas are\nprobably a section of the Dom or sweeper caste who have somehow\nmanaged to become Pankas. The main distinction is however between\nthe Kabirha, who have abjured flesh and liquor, and the Saktaha,\nwho indulge in them; and the Saktaha group is naturally recruited\nfrom backsliding Kabirpanthis. Properly the Kabirha and Saktaha do\nnot intermarry, but if a girl from either section goes to a man of\nthe other she will be admitted into the community and recognised as\nhis wife, though the regular ceremony is not performed. The Saktaha\nworship all the ordinary village deities, but some of the Kabirha at\nany rate entirely refrain from doing so, and have no religious rites\nexcept when a priest of their sect comes round, when he gives them\na discourse and they sing religious songs.\n\n\n\n\n3. Endogamous divisions\n\nThe caste have a number of exogamous septs, many of which are named\nafter plants and animals: as Tandia an earthen pot, Chhura a razor,\nNeora the mongoose, Parewa the wild pigeon, and others. Other septs\nare Panaria the bringer of betel-leaf, Kuldip the lamp-lighter,\nPandwar the washer of feet, Ghughua one who eats the leavings of the\nassembly, and Khetgarhia, one who watches the fields during religious\nworship. The Sonwania or 'Gold-water' sept has among the Pankas, as\nwith several of the primitive tribes, the duty of readmitting persons\ntemporarily put out of caste; while the Naurang or nine-coloured\nsept may be the offspring of some illegitimate unions. The Sati sept\napparently commemorate by their name an ancestress who distinguished\nherself by self-immolation, naturally a very rare occurrence in so\nlow a caste as the Pankas. Each sept has its own Bhat or genealogist\nwho begs only from members of the sept and takes food from them.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage\n\nMarriage is prohibited between members of the same sept and also\nbetween first cousins, and a second sister may not be married during\nthe lifetime of the first. Girls are usually wedded under twelve\nyears of age. In Mandla the father of the boy and his relatives go to\ndiscuss the match, and if this is arranged each of them kisses the\ngirl and gives her a piece of small silver. When a Saktaha is going\nto look for a wife he makes a fire offering to Dulha Deo, the young\nbridegroom god, whose shrine is in the cook-room, and prays to him\nsaying, 'I am going to such and such a village to ask for a wife; give\nme good fortune.' The father of the girl at first refuses his consent\nas a matter of etiquette, but finally agrees to let the marriage take\nplace within a year. The boy pays Rs. 9, which is spent on the feast,\nand makes a present of clothes and jewels to the bride. In Chanda a\n_chauka_ or consecrated space spread with cowdung with a pattern of\nlines of flour is prepared and the fathers of the parties stand inside\nthis, while a member of the Pandwar sept cries out the names of the\n_gotras_ of the bride and bridegroom and says that the everlasting\nknot is to be tied between them with the consent of five caste-people\nand the sun and moon as witnesses. Before the wedding the betrothed\ncouple worship Mahadeo and Parvati under the direction of a Brahman,\nwho also fixes the date of the wedding. This is the only purpose\nfor which a Brahman is employed by the caste. Between this date and\nthat of the marriage neither the boy nor girl should be allowed to\ngo to a tank or cross a river, as it is considered dangerous to their\nlives. The superstition has apparently some connection with the belief\nthat the Pankas are sprung from water, but its exact meaning cannot\nbe determined. If a girl goes wrong before marriage with a man of the\ncaste, she is given to him as wife without any ceremony. Before the\nmarriage seven small pitchers full of water are placed in a bamboo\nbasket and shaken over the bride's head so that the water may fall on\nher. The principal ceremony consists in walking round the sacred pole\ncalled _magrohan_, the skirts of the pair being knotted together. In\nsome localities this is done twice, a first set of perambulations\nbeing called the Kunwari (maiden) Bhanwar, and the second one of\nseven, the Byahi (married) Bhanwar. After the wedding the bride and\nher relations return with the bridegroom to his house, their party\nbeing known as Chauthia. The couple are taken to a river and throw\ntheir tinsel wedding ornaments into the water. The bride then returns\nhome if she is a minor, and when she subsequently goes to live with her\nhusband the _gauna_ ceremony is performed. Widow-marriage is permitted,\nand divorce may be effected for bad conduct on the part of the wife,\nthe husband giving a sort of funeral feast, called _Marti jiti ka\nbhat_, to the castefellows. Usually a man gives several warnings to\nhis wife to amend her bad conduct before he finally casts her off.\n\n\n\n\n5. Religion\n\nThe Pankas worship only Kabir. They prepare a _chauka_ and, sitting in\nit, sing songs in his praise, and a cocoanut is afterwards broken and\ndistributed to those who are present. The assembly is presided over\nby a Mahant or priest and the _chauka_ is prepared by his subordinate\ncalled the Diwan. The offices of Mahant and Diwan are hereditary, and\nthey officiate for a collection of ten or fifteen villages. Otherwise\nthe caste perform no special worship, but observe the full moon days\nof Magh (January), Phagun (February) and Kartik (October) as fasts\nin honour of Kabir. Some of the Kabirhas observe the Hindu festivals,\nand the Saktahas, as already stated, have the same religious practices\nas other Hindus. They admit into the community members of most castes\nexcept the impure ones. In Chhattisgarh a new convert is shaved and\nthe other Pankas wash their feet over him in order to purify him. He\nthen breaks a stick in token of having given up his former caste\nand is invested with a necklace of _tulsi_ [367] beads. A woman\nof any such caste who has gone wrong with a man of the Panka caste\nmay be admitted after she has lived with him for a certain period on\nprobation, during which her conduct must be satisfactory, her paramour\nalso being put out of caste for the same time. Both are then shaved and\ninvested with the necklaces of _tulsi_ beads. In Mandla a new convert\nmust clean and whitewash his house and then vacate it with his family\nwhile the Panch or caste committee come and stay there for some time\nin order to purify it. While they are there neither the owner nor any\nmember of his family may enter the house. The Panch then proceed to\nthe riverside and cook food, after driving the new convert across the\nriver by pelting him with cowdung. Here he changes his clothes and\nputs on new ones, and coming back again across the stream is made to\nstand in the _chauk_ and sip the urine of a calf. The _chauk_ is then\nwashed out and a fresh one made with lines of flour, and standing in\nthis the convert receives to drink the _dal_, that is, water in which\na little betel, raw sugar and black pepper have been mixed and a piece\nof gold dipped. In the evening the Panch again take their food in\nthe convert's house, while he eats outside it at a distance. Then he\nagain sips the _dal_, and the Mahant or priest takes him on his lap\nand a cloth is put over them both; the Mahant whispers the _mantra_\nor sacred verse into his ear, and he is finally considered to have\nbecome a full Kabirha Panka and admitted to eat with the Panch.\n\n\n\n\n6. Other customs\n\nThe Pankas are strict vegetarians and do not drink liquor. A Kabirha\nPanka is put out of caste for eating flesh meat. Both men and women\ngenerally wear white clothes, and men have the garland of beads round\nthe neck. The dead are buried, being laid on the back with the head\npointing to the north. After a funeral the mourners bathe and then\nbreak a cocoanut over the grave and distribute it among themselves. On\nthe tenth day they go again and break a cocoanut and each man buries\na little piece of it in the earth over the grave. A little cup made\nof flour containing a lamp is placed on the grave for three days\nafterwards, and some food and water are put in a leaf cup outside the\nhouse for the same period. During these days the family do not cook\nfor themselves but are supplied with food by their friends. After\nchildbirth a mother is supposed not to eat food during the time that\nthe midwife attends on her, on account of the impurity caused by this\nwoman's presence in the room.\n\n\n\n\n7. Occupation\n\nThe caste are generally weavers, producing coarse country cloth, and a\nnumber of them serve as village watchmen, while others are cultivators\nand labourers. They will not grow _san_-hemp nor breed tasar silk\ncocoons. They are somewhat poorly esteemed by their neighbours, who say\nof them, 'Where a Panka can get a little boiled rice and a pumpkin,\nhe will stay for ever,' meaning that he is satisfied with this and\nwill not work to get more. Another saying is, 'The Panka felt brave\nand thought he would go to war; but he set out to fight a frog and was\nbeaten'; and another, 'Every man tells one lie a day; but the Ahir\ntells sixteen, the Chamar twenty, and the lies of the Panka cannot\nbe counted.' Such gibes, however, do not really mean much. Owing to\nthe abstinence of the Pankas from flesh and liquor they rank above\nthe Gandas and other impure castes. In Bilaspur they are generally\nheld to be quiet and industrious. [368] In Chhattisgarh the Pankas\nare considered above the average in intelligence and sometimes act\nas spokesmen for the village people and as advisers to zamindars and\nvillage proprietors. Some of them become religious mendicants and\nact as _gurus_ or preceptors to Kabirpanthis. [369]\n\n\n\n\n\nPanwar Rajput\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Historical notice. The Agnikula clans and the slaughter of\n    the Kshatriyas by Parasurama_.\n    2. _The legend of Parasurama_.\n    3. _The Panwar dynasty of Dhar and Ujjain_.\n    4. _Diffusion of the Panwars over India_.\n    5. _The Nagpur Panwars_.\n    6. _Subdivisions_.\n    7. _Marriage customs_.\n    8. _Widow-marriage_.\n    9. _Religion_.\n    10. _Worship of the spirits of those dying a violent death_.\n    11. _Funeral rites_.\n    12. _Caste discipline_.\n    13. _Social customs_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Historical notice. The Agnikula clans and the slaughter of the\nKshatriyas by Parasurama\n\n_Panwar_, [370] _Puar_, _Ponwar_, _Pramara Rajput_.--The Panwar or\nPramara is one of the most ancient and famous of the Rajput clans. It\nwas the first of the four Agnikulas, who were created from the fire-pit\non the summit of Mount Abu after the Kshatriyas had been exterminated\nby Parasurama the Brahman. \"The fire-fountain was lustrated with\nthe waters of the Ganges; [371] expiatory rites were performed,\nand after a protracted debate among the gods it was resolved that\nIndra should initiate the work of recreation. Having formed an image\nof _duba_ grass he sprinkled it with the water of life and threw it\ninto the fire-fountain. Thence on pronouncing the _sajivan mantra_\n(incantation to give life) a figure slowly emerged from the flame,\nbearing in the right hand a mace and exclaiming, '_Mar, Mar!_' (Slay,\nslay). He was called Pramar; and Abu, Dhar, and Ujjain were assigned\nto him as a territory.\"\n\nThe four clans known as Agnikula, or born from the fire-pit,\nwere the Panwar, the Chauhan, the Parihar and the Chalukya or\nSolanki. Mr. D.R. Bhandarkar adduces evidence in support of the\nopinion that all these were of foreign origin, derived from the\nGujars or other Scythian or Hun tribes. [372] And it seems therefore\nnot unlikely that the legend of the fire-pit may commemorate the\nreconstitution of the Kshatriya aristocracy by the admission of these\ntribes to Hinduism after its partial extinction during their wars of\ninvasion; the latter event having perhaps been euphemised into the\nslaughter of the Kshatriyas by Parasurama the Brahman. A great number\nof Indian castes date their origin from the traditional massacre\nof the Kshatriyas by Parasurama, saying that their ancestors were\nRajputs who escaped and took to various occupations; and it would\nappear that an event which bulks so largely in popular tradition\nmust have some historical basis. It is noticeable also that Buddhism,\nwhich for some five centuries since the time of Asoka Maurya had been\nthe official and principal religion of northern India, had recently\nentered on its decline. \"The restoration of the Brahmanical religion\nto popular favour and the associated revival of the Sanskrit language\nfirst became noticeable in the second century, were fostered by the\nsatraps of Gujarat and Surashtra during the third, and made a success\nby the Gupta emperors in the fourth century. [373] The decline of\nBuddhism and the diffusion of Sanskrit proceeded side by side with\nthe result that by the end of the Gupta period the force of Buddhism\non Indian soil had been nearly spent; and India with certain local\nexceptions had again become the land of the Brahman. [374] The Gupta\ndynasty as an important power ended about A.D. 490 and was overthrown\nby the Huns, whose leader Toramana was established at Malwa in Central\nIndia prior to A.D. 500.\" [375] The revival of Brahmanism and the Hun\nsupremacy were therefore nearly contemporaneous. Moreover one of the\nHun leaders, Mihiragula, was a strong supporter of Brahmanism and an\nopponent of the Buddhists. Mr. V.A. Smith writes: \"The savage invader,\nwho worshipped as his patron deity Siva, the god of destruction,\nexhibited ferocious hostility against the peaceful Buddhist cult,\nand remorselessly overthrew the _stupas_ and monasteries, which he\nplundered of their treasures.\" [376] This warrior might therefore\nwell be venerated by the Brahmans as the great restorer of their\nfaith and would easily obtain divine honours. The Huns also subdued\nRajputana and Central India and were dominant here for a time until\ntheir extreme cruelty and oppression led to a concerted rising of the\nIndian princes by whom they were defeated. The discovery of the Hun\nor Scythian origin of several of the existing Rajput clans fits in\nwell with the legend. The stories told by many Indian castes of their\nfirst ancestors having been Rajputs who escaped from the massacre\nof Parasurama would then have some historical value as indicating\nthat the existing occupational grouping of castes dates from the\nperiod of the revival of the Brahman cult after a long interval of\nBuddhist supremacy. It is however an objection to the identification\nof Parasurama with the Huns that he is the sixth incarnation of\nVishnu, coming before Rama and being mentioned in the Mahabharata,\nand thus if he was in any way historical his proper date should be\nlong before their time. As to this it may be said that he might have\nbeen interpolated or put back in date, as the Brahmans had a strong\ninterest in demonstrating the continuity of the Kshatriya caste from\nVedic times and suppressing the Hun episode, which indeed they have\nsucceeded in doing so well that the foreign origin of several of the\nmost prominent Rajput clans has only been established quite recently\nby modern historical and archaeological research. The name Parasurama\nsignifies 'Rama with the axe' and seems to indicate that this hero came\nafter the original Rama. And the list of the incarnations of Vishnu\nis not always the same, as in one list the incarnations are nearly\nall of the animal type and neither Parasurama, Rama nor Krishna appear.\n\n\n\n\n2. The legend of Parasurama\n\nThe legend of Parasurama is not altogether opposed to this view\nin itself. [377] He was the son of a Brahman Muni or hermit,\nnamed Jamadagni, by a lady, Renuka, of the Kshatriya caste. He is\ntherefore not held to have been a Brahman and neither was he a true\nKshatriya. This might portray the foreign origin of the Huns. Jamadagni\nfound his wife Renuka to be harbouring thoughts of conjugal infidelity,\nand commanded his sons, one by one, to slay her. The four elder\nones successively refused, and being cursed by Jamadagni lost all\nunderstanding and became as idiots; but the youngest, Parasurama,\nat his father's bidding, struck off his mother's head with a blow of\nhis axe. Jamadagni thereupon was very pleased and promised to give\nParasurama whatever he might desire. On which Parasurama begged first\nfor the restoration of his mother to life, with forgetfulness of his\nhaving slain her and purification from all defilement; secondly, the\nreturn of his brothers to sanity and understanding; and for himself\nthat he should live long and be invincible in battle; and all these\nboons his father bestowed. Here the hermit Jamadagni might represent\nthe Brahman priesthood, and his wife Renuka might be India, unfaithful\nto the Brahmans and turning towards the Buddhist heresy. The four\nelder sons would typify the princes of India refusing to respond to\nthe exhortations of the Brahmans for the suppression of Buddhism, and\nhence themselves made blind to the true faith and their understandings\ndarkened with Buddhist falsehood. But Parasurama, the youngest,\nkilled his mother, that is, the Huns devastated India and slaughtered\nthe Buddhists; in reward for this he was made invincible as the Huns\nwere, and his mother, India, and his brothers, the indigenous princes,\nregained life and understanding, that is, returned to the true Brahman\nfaith. Afterwards, the legend proceeds, the king Karrtavirya, the head\nof the Haihaya tribe of Kshatriyas, stole the calf of the sacred cow\nKamdhenu from Jamadagni's hermitage and cut down the trees surrounding\nit. When Parasurama returned, his father told him what had happened,\nand he followed Karrtavirya and killed him in battle. But in revenge\nfor this the sons of the king, when Parasurama was away, returned to\nthe hermitage and slew the pious and unresisting sage Jamadagni, who\ncalled fruitlessly for succour on his valiant son. When Parasurama\nreturned and found his father dead he vowed to extirpate the whole\nKshatriya race. 'Thrice times seven did he clear the earth of the\nKshatriya caste,' says the Mahabharata. If the first part of the story\nrefers to the Hun conquest of northern India and the overthrow of\nthe Gupta dynasty, the second may similarly portray their invasion\nof Rajputana. The theft of the cow and desecration of Jamadagni's\nhermitage by the Haihaya Rajputs would represent the apostasy of the\nRajput princes to Buddhist monotheism, the consequent abandonment of\nthe veneration of the cow and the spoliation of the Brahman shrines;\nwhile the Hun invasions of Rajputana and the accompanying slaughter\nof Rajputs would be Parasurama's terrible revenge.\n\n\n\n\n3. The Panwar dynasty of Dhar and Ujjain\n\nThe Kings of Malwa or Ujjain who reigned at Dhar and flourished from\nthe ninth to the twelfth centuries were of the Panwar clan. The\nseventh and ninth kings of this dynasty rendered it famous. [378]\n\"Raja Munja, the seventh king (974-995), renowned for his learning\nand eloquence, was not only a patron of poets, but was himself a poet\nof no small reputation, the anthologies including various works from\nhis pen. He penetrated in a career of conquest as far as the Godavari,\nbut was finally defeated and executed there by the Chalukya king. His\nnephew, the famous Bhoja, ascended the throne of Dhara about A.D. 1018\nand reigned gloriously for more than forty years. Like his uncle he\ncultivated with equal assiduity the arts of peace and war. Though his\nfights with neighbouring powers, including one of the Muhammadan armies\nof Mahmud of Ghazni, are now forgotten, his fame as an enlightened\npatron of learning and a skilled author remains undimmed, and his\nname has become proverbial as that of the model king according to the\nHindu standard. Works on astronomy, architecture, the art of poetry\nand other subjects are attributed to him. About A.D. 1060 Bhoja was\nattacked and defeated by the confederate kings of Gujarat and Chedi,\nand the Panwar kingdom was reduced to a petty local dynasty until\nthe thirteenth century. It was finally superseded by the chiefs of\nthe Tomara and Chauhan clans, who in their turn succumbed to the\nMuhammadans in 1401.\" The city of Ujjain was at this time a centre of\nIndian intellectual life. Some celebrated astronomers made it their\nhome, and it was adopted as the basis of the Hindu meridional system\nlike Greenwich in England. The capital of the state was changed from\nUjjain to Dhar or Dharanagra by the Raja Bhoja already mentioned;\n[379] and the name of Dhar is better remembered in connection with\nthe Panwars than Ujjain.\n\nA saying about it quoted by Colonel Tod was:\n\n\n    Jahan Puar tahan Dhar hai;\n    Aur Dhar jahan Puar;\n    Dhar bina Puar nahin;\n    Aur nahin Puar bina Dhar:\n\n\nor, \"Where the Panwar is there is Dhar, and Dhar is where the Panwar\nis; without the Panwars Dhar cannot stand, nor the Panwars without\nDhar.\" It is related that in consequence of one of his merchants having\nbeen held to ransom by the ruler of Dhar, the Bhatti Raja of Jaisalmer\nmade a vow to subdue the town. But as he found the undertaking too\ngreat for him, in order to fulfil his vow he had a model of the city\nmade in clay and was about to break it up. But there were Panwars in\nhis army, and they stood out to defend their mock capital, repeating as\ntheir reason the above lines; and in resisting the Raja were cut to\npieces to the number of a hundred and twenty. [380] There is little\nreason to doubt that the incident, if historical, was produced by\nthe belief in sympathetic magic; the Panwars really thought that\nby destroying its image the Raja could effect injury to the capital\nitself, [381] just as many primitive races believe that if they make\na doll as a model of an enemy and stick pins into or otherwise injure\nit, the man himself is similarly affected. A kindred belief prevails\nconcerning certain mythical old kings of the Golden Age of India,\nof whom it is said that to destroy their opponents all they had to\ndo was to collect a bundle of juari stalks and cut off the heads,\nwhen the heads of their enemies flew off in unison.\n\nThe Panwars were held to have ruled from nine castles over the\nMarusthali or 'Region of death,' the name given to the great desert of\nRajputana, which extends from Sind to the Aravalli mountains and from\nthe great salt lake to the flat skirting the Garah. The principal of\nthese castles were Abu, Nundore, Umarkot, Arore, and Lodorva. [382]\nAnd, 'The world is the Pramara's,' was another saying expressive of\nthe resplendent position of Dharanagra or Ujjain at this epoch. The\nsiege and capture of the town by the Muhammadans and consequent\nexpulsion of the Panwars are still a well-remembered tradition, and\ncertain castes of the Central Provinces, as the Bhoyars and Korkus,\nsay that their ancestors formed part of the garrison and fled to\nthe Satpura hills after the fall of Dharanagra. Mr. Crooke [383]\nstates that the expulsion of the Panwars from Ujjain under their\nleader Mitra Sen is ascribed to the attack of the Muhammadans under\nShahab-ud-din Ghori about A.D. 1190.\n\n\n\n\n4. Diffusion of the Panwars over India\n\nAfter this they spread to various places in northern India, and to\nthe Central Provinces and Bombay. The modern state of Dhar is or was\nrecently still held by a Panwar family, who had attained high rank\nunder the Marathas and received it as a grant from the Peshwa. Malcolm\nconsidered them to be the descendants of Rajput emigrants to the\nDeccan. He wrote of them: [384] \"In the early period of Maratha\nhistory the family of Puar appears to have been one of the most\ndistinguished. They were of the Rajput tribe, numbers of which had\nbeen settled in Malwa at a remote era; from whence this branch had\nmigrated to the Deccan. Sivaji Puar, the first of the family that can\nbe traced in the latter country, was a landholder; and his grandsons,\nSambaji and Kaloji, were military commanders in the service of the\ncelebrated Sivaji. Anand Rao Puar was vested with authority to collect\nthe Maratha share of the revenue of Malwa and Gujarat in 1734, and he\nsoon afterwards settled at Dhar, which province, with the adjoining\ndistricts and the tributes of some neighbouring Rajput chiefs, was\nassigned for the support of himself and his adherents. It is a curious\ncoincidence that the success of the Marathas should, by making Dhar\nthe capital of Anand Rao and his descendants, restore the sovereignty\nof a race who had seven centuries before been expelled from the\ngovernment of that city and territory. But the present family, though\nof the same tribe (Puar), claim no descent from the ancient Hindu\nprinces of Malwa. They have, like all the Kshatriya tribes who became\nincorporated with the Marathas, adopted even in their modes of thinking\nthe habits of that people. The heads of the family, with feelings more\nsuited to chiefs of that nation than Rajput princes, have purchased\nthe office of patel or headman in some villages in the Deccan; and\ntheir descendants continue to attach value to their ancient, though\nhumble, rights of village officers in that quarter. Notwithstanding\nthat these usages and the connections they formed have amalgamated\nthis family with the Marathas, they still claim, both on account\nof their high birth and of being officers of the Raja of Satara\n(not of the Peshwa), rank and precedence over the houses of Sindhia\nand Holkar; and these claims, even when their fortunes were at the\nlowest ebb, were always admitted as far as related to points of form\nand ceremony.\" The great Maratha house of Nimbhalkar is believed to\nhave originated from ancestors of the Panwar Rajput clan. While one\nbranch of the Panwars went to the Deccan after the fall of Dhar and\nmarrying with the people there became a leading military family of the\nMarathas, the destiny of another group who migrated to northern India\nwas less distinguished. Here they split into two, and the inferior\nsection is described by Mr. Crooke as follows: [385] \"The Khidmatia,\nBarwar or Chobdar are said to be an inferior branch of the Panwars,\ndescended from a low-caste woman. No high-caste Hindu eats food or\ndrinks water touched by them.\" According to the Ain-i-Akbari [386]\na thousand men of the sept guarded the environs of the palace of\nAkbar, and Abul Fazl says of them: \"The caste to which they belong\nwas notorious for highway robbery, and former rulers were not able to\nkeep them in check. The effective orders of His Majesty have led them\nto honesty; they are now famous for their trustworthiness. They were\nformerly called _Mawis_. Their chief has received the title of Khidmat\nRao. Being near the person of His Majesty he lives in affluence. His\nmen are called Khidmatias.\" Thus another body of Panwars went north\nand sold their swords to the Mughal Emperor, who formed them into a\nbodyguard. Their case is exactly analogous to that of the Scotch and\nSwiss Guards of the French kings. In both cases the monarch preferred\nto entrust the care of his person to foreigners, on whose fidelity he\ncould the better rely, as their only means of support and advancement\nlay in his personal favour, and they had no local sympathies which\ncould be used as a lever to undermine their loyalty. Buchanan states\nthat a Panwar dynasty ruled for a considerable period over the\nterritory of Shahabad in Bengal. And Jagdeo Panwar was the trusted\nminister of Sidhraj, the great Solanki Raja of Gujarat. The story\nof the adventures of Jagdeo and his wife when they set out together\nto seek their fortune is an interesting episode in the Rasmala. In\nthe Punjab the Panwars are found settled up the whole course of the\nSutlej and along the lower Indus, and have also spread up the Bias\ninto Jalandhar and Gurdaspur. [387]\n\n\n\n\n5. The Nagpur Panwars\n\nWhile the above extracts have been given to show how the Panwars\nmigrated from Dhar to different parts of India in search of fortune,\nthis article is mainly concerned with a branch of the clan who\ncame to Nagpur, and subsequently settled in the rice country of the\nWainganga Valley. At the end of the eleventh century Nagpur appears\nto have been held by a Panwar ruler as an appanage of the kingdom of\nMalwa. [388] It has already been seen how the kings of Malwa penetrated\nto Berar and the Godavari, and Nagpur may well also have fallen to\nthem. Mr. Muhammad Yusuf quotes an inscription as existing at Bhandak\nin Chanda of the year A.D. 1326, in which it is mentioned that the\nPanwar of Dhar repaired a statue of Jag Narayan in that place. [389]\nNothing more is heard of them in Nagpur, and their rule probably came\nto an end with the subversion of the kingdom of Malwa in the thirteenth\ncentury. But there remain in Nagpur and in the districts of Bhandara,\nBalaghat and Seoni to the north and east of it a large number of\nPanwars, who have now developed into an agricultural caste. It may be\nsurmised that the ancestors of these people settled in the country\nat the time when Nagpur was held by their clan, and a second influx\nmay have taken place after the fall of Dhar. According to their own\naccount, they first came to Nagardhan, an older town than Nagpur,\nand once the headquarters of the locality. One of their legends is\nthat the men who first came had no wives, and were therefore allowed\nto take widows of other castes into their houses. It seems reasonable\nto suppose that something of this kind happened, though they probably\ndid not restrict themselves to widows. The existing family names of\nthe caste show that it is of mixed ancestry, but the original Rajput\nstrain is still perfectly apparent in their fair complexions, high\nforeheads and in many cases grey eyes. The Panwars have still the\nhabit of keeping women of lower castes to a greater degree than the\nordinary, and this has been found to be a trait of other castes of\nmixed origin, and they are sometimes known as Dhakar, a name having\nthe sense of illegitimacy. Though they have lived for centuries among\na Marathi-speaking people, the Panwars retain a dialect of their own,\nthe basis of which is Bagheli or eastern Hindi. When the Marathas\nestablished themselves at Nagpur in the eighteenth century some of the\nPanwars took military service under them and accompanied a general\nof the Bhonsla ruling family on an expedition to Cuttack. In return\nfor this they were rewarded with grants of the waste and forest lands\nin the valley of the Wainganga river, and here they developed great\nskill in the construction of tanks and the irrigation of rice land,\nand are the best agricultural caste in this part of the country. Their\ncustoms have many points of interest, and, as is natural, they have\nabandoned many of the caste observances of the Rajputs. It is to\nthis group of Panwars [390] settled in the Maratha rice country of\nthe Wainganga Valley that the remainder of this article is devoted.\n\n\n\n\n6. Subdivisions\n\nThey number about 150,000 persons, and include many village proprietors\nand substantial cultivators. The quotations already given have shown\nhow this virile clan of Rajputs travelled to the north, south and\neast from their own country in search of a livelihood. Everywhere\nthey made their mark so that they live in history, but they paid no\nregard to the purity of their Rajput blood and took to themselves\nwives from the women of the country as they could get them. The\nPanwars of the Wainganga Valley have developed into a caste marrying\namong themselves. They have no subcastes but thirty-six exogamous\nsections. Some of these have the names of Rajput clans, while others\nare derived from villages, titles or names of offices, or from\nother castes. Among the titular names are Chaudhri (headman), Patlia\n(patel or chief officer of a village) and Sonwania (one who purifies\noffenders among the Gonds and other tribes). Among the names of other\ncastes are Bopcha or Korku, Bhoyar (a caste of cultivators), Pardhi\n(hunter), Kohli (a local cultivating caste) and Sahria (from the Saonr\ntribe). These names indicate how freely they have intermarried. It is\nnoticeable that the Bhoyars and Korkus of Betul both say that their\nancestors were Panwars of Dhar, and the occurrence of both names\namong the Panwars of Balaghat may indicate that these castes also\nhave some Panwar blood. Three names, Rahmat (kind), Turukh or Turk,\nand Farid (a well-known saint), are of Muhammadan origin, and indicate\nintermarriage in that quarter.\n\n\n\n\n7. Marriage customs\n\nGirls are usually, but not necessarily, wedded before\nadolescence. Occasionally a Panwar boy who cannot afford a regular\nmarriage will enter his prospective father-in-law's house and serve him\nfor a year or more, when he will obtain a daughter in marriage. And\nsometimes a girl will contract a liking for some man or boy of the\ncaste and will go to his house, leaving her home. In such cases the\nparents accept the accomplished fact, and the couple are married. If\nthe boy's parents refuse their consent they are temporarily put\nout of caste, and subsequently the neighbours will not pay them the\ncustomary visits on the occasions of family joys and griefs. Even if\na girl has lived with a man of another caste, as long as she has not\nborne a child, she may be re-admitted to the community on payment of\nsuch penalty as the elders may determine. If her own parents will not\ntake her back, a man of the same _gotra_ or section is appointed as\nher guardian and she can be married from his house.\n\nThe ceremonies of a Panwar marriage are elaborate. Marriage-sheds are\nerected at the houses both of the bride and bridegroom in accordance\nwith the usual practice, and just before the marriage, parties\nare given at both houses; the village watchman brings the _toran_\nor string of mango-leaves, which is hung round the marriage-shed\nin the manner of a triumphal arch, and in the evening the party\nassembles, the men sitting at one side of the shed and the women at\nthe other. Presents of clothes are made to the child who is to be\nmarried, and the following song is sung:\n\n\n    The mother of the bride grew angry and went away to the mango\n    grove.\n    Come soon, come quickly, Mother, it is the time for giving clothes.\n    The father of the bridegroom has sent the bride a fold of cloth\n    from his house,\n    The fold of it is like the curve of the winnowing-fan, and there\n    is a bodice decked with coral and pearls.\n\n\nBefore the actual wedding the father of the bridegroom goes to\nthe bride's house and gives her clothes and other presents, and the\nfollowing is a specimen given by Mr. Muhammad Yusuf of the songs sung\non this occasion:\n\n\n    Five years old to-day is Baja Bai the bride;\n    Send word to the mother of the bridegroom;\n    Her dress is too short, send for the Koshta, Husband;\n    The Koshta came and wove a border to the dress.\n\n\nAfterwards the girl's father goes and makes similar presents to the\nbridegroom. After many preliminary ceremonies the marriage procession\nproper sets forth, consisting of men only. Before the boy starts\nhis mother places her breast in his mouth; the maid-servants stand\nbefore him with vessels of water, and he puts a pice in each. During\nthe journey songs are sung, of which the following is a specimen:\n\n\n    The linseed and gram are in flower in Chait. [391]\n    O! the boy bridegroom is going to another country;\n    O Mother! how may he go to another country?\n    Make payment before he enters another country;\n    O Mother! how may he cross the border of another country?\n    Make payment before he crosses the border of another country;\n    O Mother! how may he touch another's bower?\n    Make payment before he touches another's bower;\n    O Mother! how shall he bathe with strange water?\n    Make payment before he bathes with strange water;\n    O Mother! how may he eat another's _banwat_? [392]\n    Make payment before he eats another's _banwat_;\n    O Mother! how shall he marry another woman?\n    He shall wed her holding the little finger of her left hand.\n\n\nThe bridegroom's party are always driven to the wedding in\nbullock-carts, and when they approach the bride's village her\npeople also come to meet them in carts. All the party then turn and\nrace to the village, and the winner obtains much distinction. The\ncartmen afterwards go to the bridegroom's father and he has to\nmake them a present of from one to forty rupees. On arriving at\nthe village the bridegroom is carried to Devi's shrine in a man's\narms, while four other men hold a canopy over him, and from there\nto the marriage-shed. He touches a bamboo of this, and a man seated\non the top pours turmeric and water over his head. Five men of the\ngroom's party go to the bride's house carrying salt, and here their\nfeet are washed and the _tika_ or mark of anointing is made on their\nforeheads. Afterwards they carry rice in the same manner and with this\nis the wedding-rice, coloured yellow with turmeric and known as the\nLagun-gath. Before sunset the bridegroom goes to the bride's house for\nthe wedding. Two baskets are hung before Dulha Deo's shrine inside\nthe house, and the couple are seated in these with a cloth between\nthem. The ends of their clothes are knotted, each places the right\nfoot on the left foot of the other and holds the other's ear with the\nhand. Meanwhile a Brahman has climbed on to the roof of the house,\nand after saying the names of the bride and bridegroom shouts loudly,\n'_Ram nawara, Sita nawari, Saodhan_,' or 'Ram, the Bridegroom, and\nSita, the Bride, pay heed,' The people inside the house repeat these\nwords and someone beats on a brass plate; the wedding-rice is poured\nover the heads of the couple, and a quid of betel is placed first in\nthe mouth of one and then of the other. The bridegroom's party dance\nin the marriage-shed and their feet are washed. Two plough-yokes are\nbrought in and a cloth spread over them, and the couple are seated on\nthem face to face. A string of twisted grass is drawn round their necks\nand a thread is tied round their marriage-crowns. The bride's dowry is\ngiven and her relatives make presents to her. This property is known\nas _khamora_, and is retained by a wife for her own use, her husband\nhaving no control over it. It is customary also in the caste for the\nparents to supply clothes to a married daughter as long as they live,\nand during this period a wife will not accept any clothes from her\nhusband. On the following day the maid-servants bring a present of\n_gulal_ or red powder to the fathers of the bride and bridegroom,\nwho sprinkle it over each other. The bridegroom's father makes them\na present of from one to twenty rupees according to his means, and\nalso gives suitable fees to the barber, the washerman, the Barai or\nbetel-leaf seller and the Bhat or bard. The maid-servants then bring\nvessels of water and throw it over each other in sport. After the\nevening meal, the party go back, the bride and bridegroom riding in\nthe same cart. As they start the women sing:\n\n\n        Let us go to the basket-maker\n        And buy a costly pair of fans;\n        Fans worth a lot of money;\n    Let us praise the mother of the bride.\n\n\n\n\n8. Widow-marriage\n\nAfter a few days at her husband's house the bride returns home, and\nthough she pays short visits to his family from time to time, she\ndoes not go to live with her husband until she is adolescent, when the\nusual _pathoni_ or going-away ceremony is performed to celebrate the\nevent. The people repeat a set of verses containing advice which the\nbride's mother is supposed to give her on this occasion, in which the\ndesire imputed to the caste to make money out of their daughters is\nsatirised. They are no doubt libellous as being a gross exaggeration,\nbut may contain some substratum of truth. The gist of them is as\nfollows: \"Girl, if you are my daughter, heed what I say. I will\nmake you many sweetmeats and speak words of wisdom. Always treat\nyour husband better than his parents. Increase your private money\n(_khamora_) by selling rice and sugar; abuse your sisters-in-law to\nyour husband's mother and become her favourite. Get influence over\nyour husband and make him come with you to live with us. If you\ncannot persuade him, abandon your modesty and make quarrels in the\nhousehold. Do not fear the village officers, but go to the houses of\nthe patel [393] and Pandia [394] and ask them to arrange your quarrel.\"\n\nIt is not intended to imply that Panwar women behave in this manner,\nbut the passage is interesting as a sidelight on the joint family\nsystem. It concludes by advising the girl, if she cannot detach her\nhusband from his family, to poison him and return as a widow. This\nlast counsel is a gibe at the custom which the caste have of taking\nlarge sums of money for a widow on her second marriage. As such\na woman is usually adult, and able at once to perform the duties\nof a wife and to work in the fields, she is highly valued, and her\nprice ranges from Rs. 25 to Rs. 1000. In former times, it is stated,\nthe disposal of widows did not rest with their parents but with the\nSendia or headman of the caste. The last of them was Karun Panwar\nof Tumsar, who was empowered by the Bhonsla Raja of Nagpur to act in\nthis manner, and was accustomed to receive an average sum of Rs. 25\nfor each widow or divorced woman whom he gave away in marriage. His\npower extended even to the reinstatement of women expelled from the\ncaste, whom he could subsequently make over to any one who would\npay for them. At the end of his life he lost his authority among\nthe people by keeping a Dhimar woman as a mistress, and he had no\nsuccessor. A Panwar widow must not marry again until the expiry of\nsix months after her husband's death. The stool on which a widow\nsits for her second marriage is afterwards stolen by her husband's\nfriends. After the wedding when she reaches the boundary of his\nvillage the axle of her cart is removed, and a new one made of _tendu_\nwood is substituted for it. The discarded axle and the shoes worn by\nthe husband at the ceremony are thrown away, and the stolen stool is\nburied in a field. These things, Mr. Hira Lal points out, are regarded\nas defiled, because they have been accessories in an unlucky ceremony,\nthat of the marriage of a widow. On this point Dr. Jevons writes [395]\nthat the peculiar characteristic of taboo is this transmissibility of\nits infection or contagion. In ancient Greece the offerings used for\nthe purification of the murderer became themselves polluted during\nthe process and had to be buried. A similar reasoning applies to the\narticles employed in the marriage of a widow. The wood of the _tendu_\nor ebony tree [396] is chosen for the substituted axle, because it has\nthe valuable property of keeping off spirits and ghosts. When a child\nis born a plank of this wood is laid along the door of the room to\nkeep the spirits from troubling the mother and the newborn infant. In\nthe same way, no doubt, this wood keeps the ghost of the first husband\nfrom entering with the widow into her second husband's village. The\nreason for the ebony-wood being a spirit-scarer seems to lie in its\nproperty of giving out sparks when burnt. \"The burning wood gives\nout showers of sparks, and it is a common amusement to put pieces\nin a camp fire in order to see the column of sparks ascend.\" [397]\nThe sparks would have a powerful effect on the primitive mind and\nprobably impart a sacred character to the tree, and as they would\nscare away wild animals, the property of averting spirits might\ncome to attach to the wood. The Panwars seldom resort to divorce,\nexcept in the case of open and flagrant immorality on the part of\na wife. \"They are not strict,\" Mr. Low writes, [398] \"in the matter\nof sexual offences within the caste, though they bitterly resent and\nif able heavily avenge any attempt on the virtue of their women by an\noutsider. The men of the caste are on the other hand somewhat notorious\nfor the freedom with which they enter into relations with the women\nof other castes.\" They not infrequently have Gond and Ahir girls from\nthe families of their farmservants as members of their households.\n\n\n\n\n9. Religion\n\nThe caste worship the ordinary Hindu divinities, and their household\ngod is Dulha Deo, the deified bridegroom. He is represented by a\nnut and a date, which are wrapped in a cloth and hung on a peg in\nthe wall of the house above the platform erected to him. Every year,\nor at the time of a marriage or the birth of a first child, a goat\nis offered to Dulha Deo. The animal is brought to the platform and\ngiven some rice to eat. A dedicatory mark of red ochre is made on\nits forehead and water is poured over the body, and as soon as it\nshivers it is killed. The shivering is considered to be an indication\nfrom the deity that the sacrifice is acceptable. The flesh is cooked\nand eaten by the family inside the house, and the skin and bones\nare buried below the floor. Narayan Deo or Vishnu or the Sun is\nrepresented by a bunch of peacock's feathers. He is generally kept\nin the house of a Mahar, and when his worship is to be celebrated he\nis brought thence in a gourd to the Panwar's house, and a black goat,\nrice and cakes are offered to him by the head of the household. While\nthe offering is being made the Mahar sings and dances, and when the\nflesh of the goat is eaten he is permitted to sit inside the Panwar's\nhouse and begin the feast, the Panwars eating after him. On ordinary\noccasions a Mahar is not allowed to come inside the house, and any\nPanwar who took food with him would be put out of caste; and this\nrite is no doubt a recognition of the position of the Mahars as the\nearlier residents of the country before the Panwars came to it. The\nTurukh or Turk sept of Panwars pay a similar worship to Baba Farid,\nthe Muhammadan saint of Girar. He is also represented by a bundle of\npeacock's feathers, and when a goat is sacrificed to him a Muhammadan\nkills it and is the first to partake of its flesh.\n\n\n\n\n10. Worship of the spirits of those dying a violent death\n\nWhen a man has been killed by a tiger (_bagh_) he is deified and\nworshipped as Bagh Deo. A hut is made in the yard of the house, and an\nimage of a tiger is placed inside and worshipped on the anniversary\nof the man's death. The members of the household will not afterwards\nkill a tiger, as they think the animal has become a member of the\nfamily. A man who is bitten by a cobra (_nag_) and dies is similarly\nworshipped as Nag Deo. The image of a snake made of silver or iron is\nvenerated, and the family will not kill a snake. If a man is killed\nby some other animal, or by drowning or a fall from a tree, his\nspirit is worshipped as Ban Deo or the forest god with similar rites,\nbeing represented by a little lump of rice and red lead. In all these\ncases it is supposed, as pointed out by Sir James Frazer, that the\nghost of the man who has come to such an untimely end is especially\nmalignant, and will bring trouble upon the survivors unless appeased\nwith sacrifices and offerings. A good instance of the same belief is\ngiven by him in _Psyche's Task_ [399] as found among the Karens of\nBurma: \"They put red, yellow and white rice in a basket and leave it\nin the forest, saying: Ghosts of such as died by falling from a tree,\nghosts of such as died of hunger or thirst, ghosts of such as died by\nthe tiger's tooth or the serpent's fang, ghosts of the murdered dead,\nghosts of such as died by smallpox or cholera, ghosts of dead lepers,\noh ill-treat us not, seize not upon our persons, do us no harm! Oh\nstay here in this wood! We will bring hither red rice, yellow rice,\nand white rice for your subsistence.\"\n\nThat the same superstition is generally prevalent in the Central\nProvinces appears to be shown by the fact that among castes who\npractise cremation, the bodies of men who come to a violent end or die\nof smallpox or leprosy are buried, though whether burial is considered\nas more likely to prevent the ghost from walking than cremation, is\nnot clear. Possibly, however, it may be considered that the bodies\nare too impure to be committed to the sacred fire.\n\n\n\n\n11. Funeral rites\n\nCremation of the dead is the rule, but the bodies of those who have not\ndied a natural death are buried, as also of persons who are believed\nto have been possessed of the goddess Devi in their lifetime. The\nbodies of small children are buried when the Khir Chatai ceremony\nhas not been performed. This takes place when a child is about two\nyears old: he is invited to the house of some member of the same\nsection on the Diwali day and given to eat some Khir or a mess of\nnew rice with milk and sugar, and thus apparently is held to become\na proper member of the caste, as boys do in other castes on having\ntheir ears pierced. When a corpse is to be burnt a heap of cowdung\ncakes is made, on which it is laid, while others are spread over it,\ntogether with butter, sugar and linseed. The fire with which the\npyre is kindled is carried by the son or other chief mourner in\nan earthen pot at the head of the corpse. After the cremation the\nashes of the body are thrown into water, but the bones are kept by\nthe chief mourner; his head and face are then shaved by the barber,\nand the hair is thrown into the water with most of the bones; he may\nretain a few to carry them to the Nerbudda at a convenient season,\nburying them meanwhile under a mango or pipal tree. A present of a\nrupee or a cow may be made to the barber. After the removal of a dead\nbody the house is swept, and the rubbish with the broom and dustpan\nare thrown away outside the village. Before the body is taken away\nthe widow of the dead man places her hands on his breast and forehead,\nand her bangles are broken by another widow. The _shraddh_ ceremony is\nperformed every year in the month of Kunwar (September) on the same\nday of the fortnight as that on which the death took place. On the\nday before the ceremony the head of the household goes to the houses\nof those whom he wishes to invite, and sticks some grains of rice on\ntheir foreheads. The guests must then fast up to the ceremony. On\nthe following day, when they arrive at noon, the host, wearing a\nsacred thread of twisted grass, washes their feet with water in which\nthe sacred _kusa_ grass has been mixed, and marks their foreheads\nwith sandal-paste and rice. The leaf-plates of the guests are set\nout inside the house, and a very small quantity of cooked rice is\nplaced in each. The host then gathers up all this rice and throws\nit on to the roof of the house while his wife throws up some water,\ncalling aloud the name of the dead man whose _shraddh_ ceremony is\nbeing performed, and after this the whole party take their dinner.\n\n\n\n\n12. Caste discipline\n\nAs has been shown, the Panwars have abandoned most of the distinctive\nRajput customs. They do not wear the sacred thread and they permit the\nremarriage of widows. They eat the flesh of goats, fowls, wild pig,\ngame-birds and fish, but abstain from liquor except on such ceremonial\noccasions as the worship of Narayan Deo, when every one must partake\nof it. Mr. Low states that the injurious habit of smoking _madak_\n(a preparation of opium) is growing in the caste. They will take\nwater to drink from a Gond's hand and in some localities even cooked\nfood. This is the outcome of their close association in agriculture,\nthe Gonds having been commonly employed as farmservants by Panwar\ncultivators. A Brahman usually officiates at their ceremonies, but his\npresence is not essential and his duties may be performed by a member\nof the caste. Every Panwar male or female has a _guru_ or spiritual\npreceptor, who is either a Brahman, a Gosain or a Bairagi. From time\nto time the _guru_ comes to visit his _chela_ or disciple, and on\nsuch occasions the _chauk_ or sacred place is prepared with lines\nof wheat-flour. Two wooden stools are set within it and the _guru_\nand his _chela_ take their seats on these. Their heads are covered\nwith a new piece of cloth and the _guru_ whispers some text into\nthe ear of the disciple. Sweetmeats and other delicacies are then\noffered to the _guru_, and the disciple makes him a present of one to\nfive rupees. When a Panwar is put out of caste two feasts have to be\ngiven on reinstatement, known as the Maili and Chokhi Roti (impure and\npure food). The former is held in the morning on the bank of a tank\nor river and is attended by men only. A goat is killed and served\nwith rice to the caste-fellows, and in serious cases the offender's\nhead and face are shaved, and he prays, 'God forgive me the sin,\nit will never be repeated.' The Chokhi Roti is held in the evening\nat the offender's house, the elders and women as well as men of the\ncaste being present. The Sendia or leader of the caste eats first,\nand he will not begin his meal unless he finds a _douceur_ of from\none to five rupees deposited beneath his leaf-plate. The whole cost\nof the ceremony of readmission is from fifteen to fifty rupees.\n\n\n\n\n13. Social customs\n\nThe Panwar women wear their clothes tied in the Hindustani and not in\nthe Maratha fashion. They are tattooed on the legs, hands and face,\nthe face being usually decorated with single dots which are supposed\nto enhance its beauty, much after the same fashion as patches in\nEngland. Padmakar, the Saugor poet, Mr. Hira Lal remarks, compared the\ndot on a woman's chin to a black bee buried in a half-ripe mango. The\nwomen, Mr. Low says, are addicted to dances, plays and charades, the\nfirst being especially graceful performances. They are skilful with\ntheir fingers and make pretty grass mats and screens for the house,\nand are also very good cooks and appreciate variety in food. The\nPanwars do not eat off the ground, but place their dishes on little\niron stands, sitting themselves on low wooden stools. The housewife\nis a very important person, and the husband will not give anything\nto eat or drink out of the house without her concurrence. Mr. Low\nwrites on the character and abilities of the Panwars as follows:\n\"The Panwar is to Balaghat what the Kunbi is to Berar or the Gujar to\nHoshangabad, but at the same time he is less entirely attached to the\nsoil and its cultivation, and much more intelligent and cosmopolitan\nthan either. One of the most intelligent officials in the Agricultural\nDepartment is a Panwar, and several members of the caste have made\nlarge sums as forest and railway contractors in this District;\nPanwar _shikaris_ are also not uncommon. They are generally averse\nto sedentary occupations, and though quite ready to avail themselves\nof the advantages of primary education, they do not, as a rule, care\nto carry their studies to a point that would ensure their admission\nto the higher ranks of Government service. Very few of them are\nto be found as patwaris, constables or peons. They are a handsome\nrace, with intelligent faces, unusually fair, with high foreheads,\nand often grey eyes. They are not, as a rule, above middle height,\nbut they are active and hard-working and by no means deficient in\ncourage and animal spirits, or a sense of humour. They are clannish\nin the extreme, and to elucidate a criminal case in which no one but\nPanwars are concerned, and in a Panwar village, is usually a harder\ntask than the average local police officer can tackle. At times\nthey are apt to affect, in conversation with Government officials,\na whining and unpleasant tone, especially when pleading their claim\nto some concession or other; and they are by no means lacking in\nastuteness and are good hands at a bargain. But they are a pleasant,\nintelligent and plucky race, not easily cast down by misfortune and\nalways ready to attempt new enterprises in almost any direction save\nthose indicated by the Agricultural Department.\n\n\"In the art of rice cultivation they are past masters. They are skilled\ntank-builders, though perhaps hardly equal to the Kohlis of Chanda. But\nthey excel especially in the mending and levelling of their fields,\nin neat transplantation, and in the choice and adaptation of the\ndifferent varieties of rice to land of varying qualities. They are\nby no means specially efficient as labourers, though they and their\nwives do their fair share of field work; but they are well able to\ncontrol the labour of others, especially of aborigines, through whom\nmost of their tank and other works are executed.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nPardhan\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _General notice_.\n    2. _Tribal subdivisions_.\n    3. _Marriage_.\n    4. _Religion_.\n    5. _Social customs_.\n    6. _Methods of cheating among Patharis_.\n    7. _Musicians and priests_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice\n\n_Pardhan, Pathari, Panal._--An inferior branch of the Gond tribe whose\noccupation is to act as the priests and minstrels of the Gonds. In\n1911 the Pardhans numbered nearly 120,000 persons in the Central\nProvinces and Berar. The only other locality where they are found is\nHyderabad, which returned 8000. The name Pardhan is of Sanskrit origin\nand signifies a minister or agent. It is the regular designation of the\nprincipal minister of a Rajput State, who often fulfils the functions\nof a Mayor of the Palace. That it was applied to the tribe in this\nsense is shown by the fact that they are also known as Diwan, which\nhas the same meaning. There is a tradition that the Gond kings employed\nPardhans as their ministers, and as the Pardhans acted as genealogists\nthey may have been more intelligent than the Gonds, though they are\nin no degree less illiterate. To themselves and their Gond relations\nthe Pardhans are frequently not known by that name, which has been\ngiven to them by the Hindus, but as Panal. Other names for the tribe\nare Parganiha, Desai and Pathari. Parganiha is a title signifying the\nhead of a _pargana_, and is now applied by courtesy to some families\nin Chhattisgarh. Desai has the same signification, being a variant\nof Deshmukh or the Maratha revenue officer in charge of a circle of\nvillages. Pathari means a bard or genealogist, or according to another\nderivation a hillman. On the Satpura plateau and in Chhattisgarh the\ntribe is known as Pardhan Patharia. In Balaghat they are also called\nMokasi. The Gonds themselves look down on the Pardhans and say that\nthe word Patharia means inferior, and they relate that Bura Deo, their\ngod, had seven sons. These were talking together one day as they dined\nand they said that every caste had an inferior branch to do it homage,\nbut they had none; and they therefore agreed that the youngest brother\nand his descendants should be inferior to the others and make obeisance\nto them, while the others promised to treat him almost as their equal\nand give him a share in all the offerings to the dead. The Pardhans or\nPatharias are the descendants of the youngest brother and they accost\nthe Gonds with the greeting 'Babu Johar,' or 'Good luck, sir.' The\nGonds return the greeting by saying 'Pathari Johar,' or 'How do you\ndo, Pathari.' Curiously enough Johar is also the salutation sent by\na Rajput chief to an inferior landholder, [400] and the custom must\napparently have been imitated by the Gonds. A variant of the story\nis that one day the seven Gond brothers were worshipping their god,\nbut he did not make his appearance; so the youngest of them made a\nmusical instrument out of a string and a piece of wood and played on\nit. The god was pleased with the music and came down to be worshipped,\nand hence the Pardhans as the descendants of the youngest brother\ncontinue to play on the _kingri_ or lyre, which is their distinctive\ninstrument. The above stories have been invented to account for the\nsocial inferiority of the Pardhans to the Gonds, but their position\nmerely accords with the general rule that the bards and genealogists\nof any caste are a degraded section. The fact is somewhat contrary\nto preconceived ideas, but the explanation given of it is that such\npersons make their living by begging from the remainder of the caste\nand hence are naturally looked down upon by them; and further, that in\npursuit of their calling they wander about to attend at wedding feasts\nall over the country, and consequently take food with many people of\ndoubtful social position. This seems a reasonable interpretation of\nthe rule of the inferiority of the bard, which at any rate obtains\ngenerally among the Hindu castes.\n\n\n\n\n2. Tribal Subdivisions\n\nThe tribe have several endogamous divisions, of which the principal are\nthe Raj Pardhans, the Ganda Pardhans and the Thothia Pardhans. The\nRaj Pardhans appear to be the descendants of alliances between\nRaj Gonds and Pardhan women. They say that formerly the priests of\nBura Deo lived a celibate life, and both men and women attended to\nworship the god; but on one occasion the priests ran away with some\nwomen and after this the Gonds did not know who should be appointed\nto serve the deity. While they were thus perplexed, a _kingri_ (or\nrude wooden lyre) fell from heaven on to the lap of one of them,\nand, in accordance with this plain indication of the divine will,\nhe became the priest, and was the ancestor of the Raj Pardhans; and\nsince this _contretemps_ the priests are permitted to marry, while\nwomen are no longer allowed to attend the worship of Bura Deo. The\nThothia subtribe are said to be the descendants of illicit unions,\nthe word Thothia meaning 'maimed'; while the Gandas are the offspring\nof intermarriages between the Pardhans and members of that degraded\ncaste. Other groups are the Mades or those of the Mad country in\nChanda and Bastar, the Khalotias or those of the Chhattisgarh plain,\nand the Deogarhias of Deogarh in Chhindwara; and there are also some\noccupational divisions, as the Kandres or bamboo-workers, the Gaitas\nwho act as priests in Chhattisgarh, and the Arakhs who engage in\nservice and sell old clothes. A curious grouping is found in Chanda,\nwhere the tribe are divided into the Gond Patharis and Chor or\n'Thief' Patharis. The latter have obtained their name from their\ncriminal propensities, but they are said to be proud of it and to\nrefuse to intermarry with any families not having the designation of\nChor Pathari. In Raipur the Patharis are said to be the offspring of\nGonds by women of other castes, and the descendants of such unions. The\nexogamous divisions of the Pardhans are the same as those of the Gonds,\nand like them they are split up into groups worshipping different\nnumbers of gods whose members may not marry with one another.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage\n\nA Pardhan wedding is usually held in the bridegroom's village\nin some public place, such as the market or cross-roads. The boy\nwears a blanket and carries a dagger in his hand. The couple walk\nfive times round in a circle, after which the boy catches hold of\nthe girl's hand. He tries to open her fist which she keeps closed,\nand when he succeeds in this he places an iron ring on her little\nfinger and puts his right toe over that of the girl's. The officiating\npriest then ties the ends of their clothes together and five chickens\nare killed. The customary bride-price is Rs. 12, but it varies in\ndifferent localities. A widower taking a girl bride has, as a rule,\nto pay a double price. A widow is usually taken in marriage by her\ndeceased husband's younger brother.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion\n\nAs the priests of the Gonds, the Pardhans are employed to conduct the\nceremonial worship of their great god Bura Deo, which takes place on\nthe third day of the bright fortnight of Baisakh (April). Many goats\nor pigs are then offered to him with liquor, cocoanuts, betel-leaves,\nflowers, lemons and rice. Bura Deo is always enshrined under a\ntree outside the village, either of the mahua or _saj_ (_Terminalia\ntomentosa_) varieties. In Chhattisgarh the Gonds say that the origin\nof Bura Deo was from a child born of an illicit union between a Gond\nand a Rawat woman. The father murdered the child by strangling it,\nand its spirit then began to haunt and annoy the man and all his\nrelations, and gradually extended its attentions to all the Gonds\nof the surrounding country. It finally consented to be appeased by\na promise of adoration from the whole tribe, and since then has been\ninstalled as the principal deity of the Gonds. The story is interesting\nas showing how completely devoid of any supernatural majesty or power\nis the Gond conception of their principal deity.\n\n\n\n\n5. Social Customs\n\nLike the Gonds, the Pardhans will eat almost any kind of food,\nincluding beef, pork and the flesh of rats and mice, but they will\nnot eat the leavings of others. They will take food from the hands of\nGonds, but the Gonds do not return the compliment. Among the Hindus\ngenerally the Pardhans are much despised, and their touch conveys\nimpurity while that of a Gond does not. Every Pardhan has tattooed\non his left arm near the inside of the elbow a dotted figure which\nrepresents his totem or the animal, plant or other natural object\nafter which his sept is named. Many of them have a better type of\ncountenance than the Gonds, which is perhaps due to an infusion of\nHindu blood. They are also generally more intelligent and cunning. They\nhave criminal propensities, and the Patharias of Chhattisgarh are\nespecially noted for cattle-lifting and thieving. Writing forty years\nago Captain Thomson [401] described the Pardhans of Seoni as bearing\nthe very worst of characters, many of them being regular cattle-lifters\nand gang robbers. In some parts of Seoni they had become the terror\nof the village proprietors, whose houses and granaries they fired\nif they were in any way reported on or molested. Since that time\nthe Pardhans have become quite peaceable, but they still have a bad\nreputation for petty thieving.\n\n\n\n\n6. Methods of cheating among Patharis\n\nIn Chhattisgarh one subdivision is said to be known as Sonthaga\n(_sona_, gold, and _thag_, a cheat), because they cheat people by\npassing counterfeit gold. Their methods were described as follows\nin 1872 by Captain McNeill, District Superintendent of Police: [402]\n\"They procure a quantity of the dry bark of the pipal, [403] mahua,\n[404] tamarind or _gular_ [405] trees and set it on fire; when it\nhas become red-hot it is raked into a small hole and a piece of\nwell-polished brass is deposited among the glowing embers. It is\nconstantly moved and turned about and in ten or fifteen minutes has\ntaken a deep orange colour resembling gold. It is then placed in a\nsmall heap of wood-ashes and after a few minutes taken out again and\ncarefully wrapped in cotton-wool. The peculiar orange colour results\nfrom the sulphur and resin in the bark being rendered volatile. They\nthen proceed to dispose of the gold, sometimes going to a fair and\nbuying cattle. On concluding a bargain they suddenly find they have\nno money, and after some hesitation reluctantly produce the gold,\nand say they are willing to part with it at a disadvantage, thereby\nusually inducing the belief that it has been stolen. The cupidity of\nthe owner of the cattle is aroused, and he accepts the gold at a rate\nwhich would be very advantageous if it were genuine. At other times\nthey join a party of pilgrims, to which some of their confederates have\nalready obtained admission in disguise, and offer to sell their gold as\nbeing in great want of money. A piece is first sold to the confederates\non very cheap terms and the other pilgrims eagerly participate.\" It\nwould appear that the Patharis have not much to learn from the owners\nof buried treasure or the confidence or three-card trick performers of\nLondon, and their methods are in striking contrast to the guileless\nsimplicity usually supposed to be a characteristic of the primitive\ntribes. Mr. White states that \"All the property acquired is taken back\nto the village and there distributed by a _panchayat_ or committee,\nwhose head is known as Mokasi. The Mokasi is elected by the community\nand may also be deposed by it, though he usually holds office for\nlife; to be a successful candidate for the position of Mokasi one\nshould have wealth and experience and it is not a disadvantage to\nhave been in jail. The Mokasi superintends the internal affairs of\nthe community and maintains good relations with the proprietor and\nvillage watchman by means of gifts.\"\n\n\n\n\n7. Musicians and priests\n\nThe Pardhans and Patharis are also, as already stated, village\nmusicians, and their distinctive instrument the _kingri_ or _kingadi_\nis described by Mr. White as consisting of a stick passed through a\ngourd. A string or wire is stretched over this and the instrument is\nplayed with the fingers. Another kind possesses three strings of woven\nhorse-hair and is played with the help of a bow. The women of the Ganda\nPardhan subtribe act as midwives. Mr. Tawney wrote of the Pardhans\nof Chhindwara: [406] \"The Raj-Pardhans are the bards of the Gonds and\nthey can also officiate as priests, but the Bhumka generally acts in\nthe latter capacity and the Pardhans confine themselves to singing\nthe praises of the god. At every public worship in the Deo-khalla or\ndwelling-place of the gods, there should, if possible, be a Pardhan,\nand great men use them on less important occasions. They cannot even\nworship their household gods or be married without the Pardhans. The\nRaj-Pardhans are looked down on by the Gonds, and considered as\nsomewhat inferior, seeing that they take the offerings at religious\nceremonies and the clothes of the dear departed at funerals. This has\nnever been the business of a true Gond, who seems never happier than\nwhen wandering in the jungle, and who above all things loves his axe,\nand next to that a tree to chop at. There is nothing in the ceremonies\nor religion of the Pardhans to distinguish them from the Gonds.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nPardhi\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n     1. _General notice of the caste_.\n     2. _Subdivisions_.\n     3. _Marriage and funeral customs_.\n     4. _Religion_.\n     5. _Dress, food and social customs_.\n     6. _Ordeals_.\n     7. _Methods of catching birds_.\n     8. _Hunting with leopards_.\n     9. _Decoy stags_.\n    10. _Hawks_.\n    11. _Crocodile fishing_.\n    12. _Other occupations and criminal practices_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice of the caste\n\n_Pardhi, [407] Bahelia, Mirshikar, Moghia, Shikari, Takankar._--A\nlow caste of wandering fowlers and hunters. They numbered about\n15,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911, and\nare found scattered over several Districts. These figures include\nabout 2000 Bahelias. The word Pardhi is derived from the Marathi\n_paradh_, hunting. Shikari, the common term for a native hunter,\nis an alternative name for the caste, but particularly applied to\nthose who use firearms, which most Pardhis refuse to do. Moghia is\nthe Hindustani word for fowler, and Takankar is the name of a small\noccupational offshoot of the Pardhis in Berar, who travel from village\nto village and roughen the household grinding-mills when they have\nworn smooth. The word is derived from _takna_, to tap or chisel. The\ncaste appears to be a mixed group made up of Bawarias or other Rajput\noutcastes, Gonds and social derelicts from all sources. The Pardhis\nperhaps belong more especially to the Maratha country, as they are\nnumerous in Khandesh, and many of them talk a dialect of Gujarati. In\nthe northern Districts their speech is a mixture of Marwari and\nHindi, while they often know Marathi or Urdu as well. The name for\nthe similar class of people in northern India is Bahelia, and in the\nCentral Provinces the Bahelias and Pardhis merge into one another and\nare not recognisable as distinct groups. The caste is recruited from\nthe most diverse elements, and women of any except the impure castes\ncan be admitted into the community; and on this account their customs\ndiffer greatly in different localities. According to their own legends\nthe first ancestor of the Pardhis was a Gond, to whom Mahadeo taught\nthe art of snaring game so that he might avoid the sin of shooting it;\nand hence the ordinary Pardhis never use a gun.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions\n\nLike other wandering castes the Pardhis have a large number of\nendogamous groups, varying lists being often given in different\nareas. The principal subcastes appear to be the Shikari or Bhil\nPardhis, who use firearms; the Phanse Pardhis, who hunt with traps\nand snares; the Langoti Pardhis, so called because they wear only\na narrow strip of cloth round the loins; and the Takankars. Both\nthe Takankars and Langotis have strong criminal tendencies. Several\nother groups are recorded in different Districts, as the Chitewale,\nwho hunt with a tame leopard; the Gayake, who stalk their prey behind\na bullock; the Gosain Pardhis, who dress like religious mendicants in\nochre-coloured clothes and do not kill deer, but only hares, jackals\nand foxes; the Shishi ke Telwale, who sell crocodile's oil; and the\nBandarwale who go about with performing monkeys. The Bahelias have a\nsubcaste known as Karijat, the members of which only kill birds of a\nblack colour. Their exogamous groups are nearly all those of Rajput\ntribes, as Sesodia, Panwar, Solanki, Chauhan, Rathor, and soon; it is\nprobable that these have been adopted through imitation by vagrant\nBawarias and others sojourning in Rajputana. There are also a few\ngroups with titular or other names, and it is stated that members\nof clans bearing Rajput names will take daughters from the others in\nmarriage, but will not give their daughters to them.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage and funeral customs\n\nGirls appear to be somewhat scarce in the caste and a bride-price is\nusually paid, which is given as Rs. 9 in Chanda, Rs. 35 in Bilaspur,\nand Rs. 60 or more in Hoshangabad and Saugor. If a girl should be\nseduced by a man of the caste she would be united to him by the\nceremony of a widow's marriage: but her family will require a bride\nfrom her husband's family in exchange for the girl whose value he has\ndestroyed. Even if led astray by an outsider a girl may be readmitted\ninto the caste; and in the extreme case of her being debauched\nby her brother, she may still be married to one of the community,\nbut no one will take food from her hands during her lifetime, though\nher children will be recognised as proper Pardhis. A special fine of\nRs. 100 is imposed on a brother who commits this crime. The ceremony\nof marriage varies according to the locality in which they reside;\nusually the couple walk seven times round a _tanda_ or collection of\ntheir small mat tents. In Berar a cloth is held up by four poles as\na canopy over them and they are preceded by a married woman carrying\nfive pitchers of water. Divorce and the marriage of widows are freely\npermitted. The caste commonly bury their dead, placing the head to\nthe north. They do not shave their heads in token of mourning.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion\n\nIn Berar their principal deity is the goddess Devi, who is known\nby different names. Every family of Langoti Pardhis has, Mr. Gayer\nstates, [408] its image in silver of the goddess, and because of this\nno Langoti Pardhi woman will wear silver below the waist or hang her\n_sari_ on a peg, as it must never be put on the same level as the\ngoddess. They also sometimes refuse to wear red or coloured clothes,\none explanation for this being that the image of the goddess is placed\non a bed of red cloth. In Hoshangabad their principal deity is called\nGuraiya Deo, and his image, consisting of a human figure embossed\nin silver, is kept in a leather bag on the west side of their tents;\nand for this reason women going out of the encampment for a necessary\npurpose always proceed to the east. They also sleep with their feet to\nthe east. Goats are offered to Guraiya Deo and their horns are placed\nin his leather bag. In Hoshangabad they sacrifice a fowl to the ropes\nof their tents at the Dasahra and Diwali festivals, and on the former\noccasion clean their hunting implements and make offerings to them\nof turmeric and rice. They are reported to believe that the sun and\nmoon die and are reborn daily. The hunter's calling is one largely\ndependent on luck or chance, and, as might be expected, the Pardhis\nare firm believers in omens, and observe various rules by which they\nthink their fortune will be affected. A favourite omen is the simple\ndevice of taking some rice or juari in the hand and counting the\ngrains. Contrary to the usual rule, even numbers are considered lucky\nand odd ones unlucky. If the first result is unsatisfactory a second\nor third trial may be made. If a winnowing basket or millstone be let\nfall and drop to the right hand it is a lucky omen, and similarly\nif a flower from Devi's garland should fall to the right side. The\nbellowing of cows, the mewing of a cat, the howling of a jackal and\nsneezing are other unlucky omens. If a snake passes from left to right\nit is a bad omen and if from right to left a good one. A man must not\nsleep with his head on the threshold of a house or in the doorway of\na tent under penalty of a fine of Rs. 2-8; the only explanation given\nof this rule is that such a position is unlucky because a corpse is\ncarried out across the threshold. A similar penalty is imposed if\nhe falls down before his wife even by accident. A Pardhi, with the\nexception of members of the Sesodia clan, must never sleep on a cot,\na fine of five rupees being imposed for a breach of this rule. A\nman who has once caught a deer must not again have the hair of his\nhead touched by a razor, and thus the Pardhis may be recognised by\ntheir long and unkempt locks. A breach of this rule is punished with\na fine of fifteen rupees, but it is not observed everywhere. A woman\nmust never step across the rope or peg of a tent, nor upon the place\nwhere the blood of a deer has flowed on to the ground. During her\nmonthly period of impurity a woman must not cross a river nor sit in\na boat. A Pardhi will never kill or sell a dog and they will not hunt\nwild dogs even if money is offered to them. This is probably because\nthey look upon the wild dog as a fellow-hunter, and consider that to\ndo him injury would bring ill-luck upon themselves. A Pardhi has also\ntheoretically a care for the preservation of game. When he has caught\na number of birds in his trap, he will let a pair of them loose so\nthat they may go on breeding. Women are not permitted to take any part\nin the work of hunting, but are confined strictly to their household\nduties. A woman who kicks her husband's stick is fined Rs. 2-8. The\nbutt end of the stick is employed for mixing vegetables and other\npurposes, but the meaning of the rule is not clear unless one of its\nuses is for the enforcement of conjugal discipline. A Pardhi may not\nswear by a dog, a cat or a squirrel. Their most solemn oath is in the\nname of their deity Guraiya Deo, and it is believed that any one who\nfalsely takes this oath will become a leper. The Phans Pardhis may\nnot travel in a railway train, and some of them are forbidden even\nto use a cart or other conveyance.\n\n\n\n\n5. Dress, food and social customs\n\nIn dress and appearance the Pardhis are disreputable and dirty. Their\nfeatures are dark and their hair matted and unkempt. They never wear\nshoes and say that they are protected by a special promise of the\ngoddess Devi to their first ancestor that no insect or reptile in\nthe forests should injure them. The truth is, no doubt, that shoes\nwould make it impossible for them to approach their game without\ndisturbing it, and from long practice the soles of their feet become\nimpervious to thorns and minor injuries. Similarly the Langoti Pardhis\nare so called because they wear only a narrow strip of cloth round\nthe loins, the reason probably being that a long one would impede\nthem by flapping and catching in the brushwood. But the explanation\nwhich they themselves give, [409] a somewhat curious one in view of\ntheir appearance, is that an ordinary _dhoti_ or loin-cloth if worn\nmight become soiled and therefore unlucky. Their women do not have\ntheir noses pierced and never wear spangles or other marks on the\nforehead. The Pardhis still obtain fire by igniting a piece of cotton\nwith flint and iron. Mr. Sewell notes that their women eat at the same\ntime as the men, instead of after them as among most Hindus. They\nexplain this custom by saying that on one occasion a woman tried\nto poison her husband and it was therefore adopted as a precaution\nagainst similar attempts; but no doubt it has always prevailed, and\nthe more orthodox practice would be almost incompatible with their\ngipsy life. Similar reasons of convenience account for their custom\nof celebrating marriages all the year round and neglecting the Hindu\nclose season of the four months of the rains. They travel about with\nlittle huts made of matting, which can be rolled up and carried off\nin a few minutes. If rain comes on they seek shelter in the nearest\nvillage. [410] In some localities the caste eat no food cooked\nwith butter or oil. They are usually considered as an impure caste,\nwhose touch is a defilement to Hindus. Brahmans do not officiate at\ntheir ceremonies, though the Pardhis resort to the village Joshi or\nastrologer to have a propitious date indicated for marriages. They have\nto pay for such services in money, as Brahmans usually refuse to accept\neven uncooked grain from them. After childbirth women are held to be\nimpure and forbidden to cook for their families for a period varying\nfrom six weeks to six months. During their periodical impurity they are\nsecluded for four, six or eight days, the Pardhis observing very strict\nrules in these matters, as is not infrequently the case with the lowest\ncastes. Their caste meetings, Mr. Sewell states, are known as Deokaria\nor 'An act performed in honour of God'; at these meetings arrangements\nfor expeditions are discussed and caste disputes decided. The penalty\nfor social offences is a fine of a specified quantity of liquor, the\nliquor provided by male and female delinquents being drunk by the\nmen and women respectively. The punishment for adultery in either\nsex consists in cutting off a piece of the left ear with a razor,\nand a man guilty of intercourse with a prostitute is punished as if\nhe had committed adultery. The Pardhi women are said to be virtuous.\n\n\n\n\n6. Ordeals\n\nThe Pardhis still preserve the primitive method of trial by ordeal. If\na woman is suspected of misconduct she is made to pick a pice coin out\nof boiling oil; or a pipal leaf is placed on her hand and a red-hot\naxe laid over it, and if her hand is burnt or she refuses to stand\nthe test she is pronounced guilty. Or, in the case of a man, the\naccused is made to dive into water; and as he dives an arrow is shot\nfrom a bow. A swift runner fetches and brings back the arrow, and if\nthe diver can remain under water until the runner has returned he is\nheld to be innocent. In Nimar, if an unmarried girl becomes pregnant,\ntwo cakes of dough are prepared, a piece of silver being placed in one\nand a lump of coal in the other. The girl takes one of the cakes, and\nif it is found to contain the coal she is expelled from the community,\nwhile if she chooses the piece of silver, she is pardoned and made over\nto one of the caste. The idea of the ordeal is apparently to decide the\nquestion whether her condition was caused by a Pardhi or an outsider.\n\n\n\n\n7. Methods of catching birds\n\nThe Phans Pardhis hunt all kinds of birds and the smaller animals with\nthe _phanda_ or snare. Mr. Ball describes their procedure as follows:\n[411] \"For peacock, saras crane and bustard they have a long series of\nnooses, each provided with a wooden peg and all connected with a long\nstring. The tension necessary to keep the nooses open is afforded by\na slender slip of antelope's horn (very much resembling whalebone),\nwhich forms the core of the loop. Provided with several sets of these\nnooses, a trained bullock and a shield-like cloth screen dyed buff and\npierced with eye-holes, the bird-catcher sets out for the jungle, and\non seeing a flock of pea-fowl circles round them under cover of the\nscreen and the bullock, which he guides by a nose-string. The birds\nfeed on undisturbed, and the man rapidly pegs out his long strings\nof nooses, and when all are properly disposed, moves round to the\nopposite side of the birds and shows himself; when they of course run\noff, and one or more getting their feet in the nooses fall forwards\nand flap on the ground; the man immediately captures them, knowing\nthat if the strain is relaxed the nooses will open and permit of the\nbird's escape. Very cruel practices are in vogue with these people with\nreference to the captured birds, in order to keep them alive until a\npurchaser is found. The peacocks have a feather passed through the\neyelids, by which means they are effectually blinded, while in the\ncase of smaller birds both the legs and wings are broken.\" Deer,\nhares and even pig are also caught by a strong rope with running\nnooses. For smaller birds the appliance is a little rack about four\ninches high with uprights a few inches apart, between each of which\nis hung a noose. Another appliance mentioned by Mr. Ball is a set\nof long conical bag nets, which are kept open by hooks and provided\nwith a pair of folding doors. The Pardhi has also a whistle made\nof deer-horn, with which he can imitate the call of the birds. Tree\nbirds are caught with bird-lime as described by Sir G. Grierson. [412]\nThe Bahelia has several long shafts of bamboos called _nal_ or _nar_,\nwhich are tied together like a fishing rod, the endmost one being\ncovered with bird-lime. Concealing himself behind his bamboo screen the\nBahelia approaches the bird and when near enough strikes and secures\nit with his rod; or he may spread some grain out at a short distance,\nand as the birds are hopping about over it he introduces the pole,\ngiving it a zig-zag movement and imitating as far as possible the\nprogress of a snake. Having brought the point near one of the birds,\nwhich is fascinated by its stealthy approach, he suddenly jerks\nit into its breast and then drawing it to him, releases the poor\npalpitating creature, putting it away in his bag, and recommences\nthe same operation. This method does not require the use of bird-lime.\n\n\n\n\n8. Hunting with leopards\n\nThe manner in which the Chita Pardhis use the hunting leopard (_Felis\njubata_) for catching deer has often been described. [413] The leopard\nis caught full-grown by a noose in the manner related above. Its neck\nis first clasped in a wooden vice until it is half-strangled, and its\nfeet are then bound with ropes and a cap slipped over its head. It is\npartially starved for a time, and being always fed by the same man,\nafter a month or so it becomes tame and learns to know its master. It\nis then led through villages held by ropes on each side to accustom\nit to the presence of human beings. On a hunting party the leopard is\ncarried on a cart, hooded, and, being approached from down wind, the\ndeer allow the cart to get fairly close to them. The Indian antelope or\nblack-buck are the usual quarry, and as these frequent cultivated land,\nthey regard country carts without suspicion. The hood is then taken off\nand the leopard springs forward at the game with extreme velocity,\nperhaps exceeding that which any other quadruped possesses. The\naccounts given by Jerdon say that for the moment its speed is greater\nthan that of a race-horse. It cannot maintain this for more than three\nor four hundred yards, however, and if in that distance the animal has\nnot seized its prey, it relinquishes the pursuit and stalks about in\na towering passion. The Pardhis say that when it misses the game the\nleopard is as sulky as a human being and sometimes refuses food for a\ncouple of days. If successful in the pursuit, it seizes the antelope\nby the throat; the keeper then comes up, and cutting the animal's\nthroat collects some of the blood in the wooden ladle with which the\nleopard is always fed; this is offered to him, and dropping his hold\nhe laps it up eagerly, when the hood is cleverly slipped on again.\n\nThe conducting of the cheetah from its cage to the chase is by no means\nan easy matter. The keeper leads him along, as he would a large dog,\nwith a chain; and for a time as they scamper over the country the\nleopard goes willingly enough; but if anything arrests his attention,\nsome noise from the forest, some scented trail upon the ground, he\nmoves more slowly, throws his head aloft and peers savagely round. A\nfew more minutes perhaps and he would be unmanageable. The keeper,\nhowever, is prepared for the emergency. He holds in his left hand a\ncocoanut shell, sprinkled on the inside with salt; and by means of a\nhandle affixed to the shell he puts it at once over the nose of the\ncheetah. The animal licks the salt, loses the scent, forgets the object\nwhich arrested his attention, and is led quietly along again. [414]\n\n\n\n\n9. Decoy stags\n\nFor hunting stags, tame stags were formerly used as decoys according\nto the method described as follows: \"We had about a dozen trained\nstags, all males, with us. These, well acquainted with the object\nfor which they were sent forward, advanced at a gentle trot over\nthe open ground towards the skirt of the wood. They were observed\nat once by the watchers of the herd, and the boldest of the wild\nanimals advanced to meet them. Whether the intention was to welcome\nthem peacefully or to do battle for their pasturage I cannot tell;\nbut in a few minutes the two parties were engaged in a furious\ncontest. Head to head, antlers to antlers, the tame deer and the\nwild fought with great fury. Each of the tame animals, every one\nof them large and formidable, was closely engaged in contest with a\nwild adversary, standing chiefly on the defensive, not in any feigned\nbattle or mimicry of war but in a hard-fought combat. We now made our\nappearance in the open ground on horseback, advancing towards the\nscene of conflict. The deer on the skirts of the wood, seeing us,\ntook to flight; but those actually engaged maintained their ground\nand continued the contest. In the meantime a party of native huntsmen,\nsent for the purpose, gradually drew near to the wild stags, getting\nin between them and the forest. What their object was we were not at\nthe time aware; in truth it was not one that we could have approved\nor encouraged. They made their way into the rear of the wild stags,\nwhich were still combating too fiercely to mind them; they approached\nthe animals, and with a skilful cut of their long knives the poor\nwarriors fell hamstrung. We felt pity for the noble animals as we\nsaw them fall helplessly on the ground, unable longer to continue\nthe contest and pushed down of course by the decoy-stags. Once down,\nthey were unable to rise again.\" [415]\n\n\n\n\n10. Hawks\n\nHawks were also used in a very ingenious fashion to prevent duck from\nflying away when put upon water: \"The trained hawks were now brought\ninto requisition, and marvellous it was to see the instinct with which\nthey seconded the efforts of their trainers. The ordinary hawking of\nthe heron we had at a later period of this expedition; but the use now\nmade of the animal was altogether different, and displayed infinitely\nmore sagacity than one would suppose likely to be possessed by such\nan animal. These were trained especially for the purpose for which\nthey were now employed. A flight of ducks--thousands of birds--were\nenticed upon the water as before by scattering corn over it. The\nhawks were then let fly, four or five of them. We made our appearance\nopenly upon the bank, guns in hand, and the living swarm of birds\nrose at once into the air. The hawks circled above them, however,\nin a rapid revolving flight and they dared not ascend high. Thus was\nour prey retained fluttering in mid-air, until hundreds had paid the\npenalty with their lives. Only picture in your mind's eye the circling\nhawks above gyrating monotonously, the fluttering captives in mid-air,\ndarting now here, now there to escape, and still coward-like huddling\ntogether; and the motley group of sportsmen on the bank and you have\nthe whole scene before you at once.\" [416]\n\n\n\n\n11. Crocodile fishing\n\nFor catching crocodile, a method by which as already stated one group\nof the Pardhis earn their livelihood, a large double hook is used,\nbaited with a piece of putrid deer's flesh and attached to a hempen\nrope 70 or 80 feet long. When the crocodile has swallowed the hook,\ntwenty or thirty persons drag the animal out of the water and it\nis despatched with axes. Crocodiles are hunted only in the months\nof Pus (December), Magh (January) and Chait (March), when they are\ngenerally fat and yield plenty of oil. The flesh is cut into pieces\nand stewed over a slow fire, when it exudes a watery oil. This is\nstrained and sold in bottles at a rupee a seer (2 lbs.). It is used\nas an embrocation for rheumatism and for neck galls of cattle. The\nPardhis do not eat crocodile's flesh.\n\n\n\n\n12. Other occupations and criminal practices\n\nA body of Pardhis are sometimes employed by all the cultivators of a\nvillage jointly for the purpose of watching the spring crops during\nthe day and keeping black-buck out of them. They do this perhaps\nfor two or three months and receive a fixed quantity of grain. The\nTakankars are regularly employed as village servants in Berar and\ntravel about roughening the stones of the household grinding-mills\nwhen their surfaces have worn smooth. For this they receive an annual\ncontribution of grain from each household. The caste generally have\ncriminal tendencies and Mr. Sewell states, that \"The Langoti Pardhis\nand Takankars are the worst offenders. Ordinarily when committing\ndacoity they are armed with sticks and stones only. In digging through\na wall they generally leave a thin strip at which the leader carefully\nlistens before finally bursting through. Then when the hole has been\nmade large enough, he strikes a match and holding it in front of him\nso that his features are shielded has a good survey of the room before\nentering.... As a rule, they do not divide the property on or near\nthe scene of the crime, but take it home. Generally it is carried by\none of the gang well behind the rest so as to enable it to be hidden\nif the party is challenged.\" In Bombay they openly rob the standing\ncrops, and the landlords stand in such awe of them that they secure\ntheir goodwill by submitting to a regular system of blackmail. [417]\n\n\n\n\n\nParja\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _General notice of the tribe_.\n    2. _Exogamous septs_.\n    3. _Kinship and marriage_.\n    4. _Marriage dance_.\n    5. _Nuptial ceremony_.\n    6. _Widow-marriage and divorce_.\n    7. _Religion and festivals_.\n    8. _Disposal of the dead_.\n    9. _Occupation and social customs_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice of the tribe\n\n_Parja._--A small tribe, [418] originally an offshoot of the Gonds,\nwho reside in the centre and east of the Bastar State and the adjoining\nJaipur zamindari of Madras. They number about 13,000 persons in the\nCentral Provinces and 92,000 in Madras, where they are also known as\nPoroja. The name Parja appears to be derived from the Sanskrit Parja,\na subject. The following notice of it is taken from the _Madras\nCensus Report_ [419] of 1871: \"The term Parja is, as Mr. Carmichael\nhas pointed out, merely a corruption of a Sanskrit term signifying\na subject; and it is understood as such by the people themselves,\nwho use it in contradistinction to a free hillman. Formerly, says a\ntradition that runs through the whole tribe, Rajas and Parjas were\nbrothers, but the Rajas took to riding horses or, as the Barenja\nParjas put it, sitting still, and we became carriers of burdens and\nParjas. It is quite certain in fact that the term Parja is not a tribal\ndenomination, but a class denomination; and it may be fitly rendered\nby the familiar epithet of ryot. There is no doubt, however, that by\nfar the greater number of these Parjas are akin to the Khonds of the\nGanjam Maliahs. They are thrifty, hardworking cultivators, undisturbed\nby the intestinal broils which their cousins in the north engage in,\nand they bear in their breasts an inalienable reverence for their soil,\nthe value of which they are rapidly becoming acquainted with. Their\nancient rights to these lands are acknowledged by colonists from among\nthe Aryans, and when a dispute arises about the boundaries of a field\npossessed by recent arrivals a Parja is usually called in to point out\nthe ancient landmarks. Gadbas are also represented as indigenous from\nthe long lapse of years that they have been in the country, but they\nare by no means of the patriarchal type that characterises the Parjas.\"\n\nIn Bastar the caste are also known as Dhurwa, which may be derived\nfrom Dhur, the name applied to the body of Gonds as opposed to the\nRaj-Gonds. In Bastar, Dhurwa now conveys the sense of a headman of a\nvillage. The tribe have three divisions, Thakara or Tagara, Peng and\nMudara, of which only the first is found in Bastar. Thakara appears\nto be a corruption of Thakur, a lord, and the two names point to the\nconclusion that the Parjas were formerly dominant in this tract. They\nthemselves have a story, somewhat resembling the one quoted above\nfrom Madras, to the effect that their ancestor was the elder brother\nof the first Raja of Bastar when he lived in Madras, to the south\nof Warangal. From there he had to flee on account of an invasion of\nthe Muhammadans, and was accompanied by the goddess Danteshwari,\nthe tutelary deity of the Rajas of Bastar. In accordance with the\ncommand of the goddess the younger brother was considered as the\nRaja and rode on a horse, while the elder went before him carrying\ntheir baggage. At Bhadrachallam they met the Bhatras, and further\non the Halbas. The goddess followed them, guiding their steps, but\nshe strictly enjoined on the Raja not to look behind him so as to\nsee her. But when they came to the sands of the rivers Sankani and\nDankani, the tinkle of the anklets of the goddess could not be heard\nfor the sand. The Raja therefore looked behind him to see if she was\nfollowing, on which she said that she could go no more with him,\nbut he was to march as far as he could and then settle down. The\ntwo brothers settled in Bastar, where the descendants of the younger\nbecame the ruling clan, and those of the elder were their servants, the\nParjas. The story indicates, perhaps, that the Parjas were the original\nGond inhabitants and rulers of the country, and were supplanted by a\nlater immigration of the same tribe, who reduced them to subjection,\nand became Raj-Gonds. Possibly the first transfer of power was effected\nby the marriage of an immigrant into a Parja Raja's family, as so often\nhappened with these old dynasties. The Parjas still talk about the Rani\nof Bastar as their _Bohu_ or 'younger brother's wife,' and the custom\nis probably based on some such legend. The Madras account of them\nas the arbiters of boundary disputes points to the same conclusion,\nas this function is invariably assigned to the oldest residents in\nany locality. The Parjas appear to be Gonds and not Khonds. Their\nsept names are Gondi words, and their language is a form of Gondi,\ncalled after them Parji. Parji has hitherto been considered a form\nof Bhatri, but Sir G. Grierson [420] has now classified the latter\nas a dialect of the Uriya language, while Parji remains 'A local\nand very corrupt variation of Gondi, considerably mixed with Hindi\nforms.' While then the Parjas, in Bastar at any rate, must be held\nto be a branch of the Gonds, they may have a considerable admixture\nof the Khonds, or other tribes in different localities, as the rules\nof marriage are very loose in this part of the country. [421]\n\n\n\n\n2. Exogamous septs\n\nThe tribe have exogamous totemistic septs, as Bagh a tiger, Kachhim a\ntortoise, Bokda a goat, Netam a dog, Gohi a big lizard, Pandki a dove\nand so on. If a man kills accidentally the animal after which his sept\nis named, the earthen cooking-pots of his household are thrown away,\nthe clothes are washed, and the house is purified with water in which\nthe bark of the mango or _jamun_ [422] tree has been steeped. This\nis in sign of mourning, as it is thought that such an act will bring\nmisfortune. If a man of the snake sept kills a snake accidentally,\nhe places a piece of new yarn on his head, praying for forgiveness,\nand deposits the body on an anthill, where snakes are supposed to\nlive. If a man of the goat sept eats goat's flesh, it is thought that\nhe will become blind at once. A Parja will not touch the body of his\ntotem-animal when dead, and if he sees any one killing or teasing it\nwhen alive, he will go away out of sight. It is said that a man of the\nKachhim sept once found a tortoise while on a journey, and leaving it\nundisturbed, passed on. When the tortoise died it was reborn in the\nman's belly and troubled him greatly, and since then every Parja is\nliable to be afflicted in the same way in the side of the abdomen,\nthe disease which is produced being in fact enlarged spleen. The\ntortoise told the man that as he had left it lying by the road, and\nhad not devoted it to any useful purpose, he was afflicted in this\nway. Consequently, when a man of the Kachhim sept finds a tortoise\nnowadays, he gives it to somebody else who can cut it up. The story\nis interesting as a legend of the origin of spleen, but has apparently\nbeen invented as an excuse for killing the sacred animal.\n\n\n\n\n3. Kinship and marriage\n\nMarriage is prohibited in theory between members of the same sept. But\nas the number of septs is rather small, the rule is not adhered to,\nand members of the same sept are permitted to marry so long as they\ndo not come from the same village; the original rule of exogamy being\nperhaps thus exemplified. The proposal for a match is made by the\nboy's father, who first offers a cup of liquor to the girl's father\nin the bazar, and subsequently explains his errand. If the girl's\nfather, after consulting with his family, disapproves of the match,\nhe returns an equal quantity of liquor to the boy's father in token\nof his decision. The girl is usually consulted, and asked if she\nwould like to marry her suitor, but not much regard is had to her\nopinion. If she dislikes him, however, she usually runs away from him\nafter a short interlude of married life. If a girl becomes pregnant\nwith a caste-fellow before marriage, he is required to take her,\nand give to the family the presents which he would make to them on\na regular marriage. The man can subsequently be properly married to\nsome other woman, but the girl cannot be married at all. If a girl\nis seduced by a man outside the caste, she is made over to him. It\nis essential for a man to be properly married at least once, and an\nold bachelor will sometimes go through the form of being wedded to\nhis maternal uncle's daughter, even though she may be an infant. If\nno proposal for marriage is made for a girl, she is sometimes handed\nover informally to any man who likes to take her, and who is willing\nto give as much for her as the parents would receive for a regular\nmarriage. A short time before the wedding, the boy's father sends a\nconsiderable quantity of rice to the girl's father, and on the day\nbefore he sends a calf, a pot of liquor, fifteen annas worth of copper\ncoin, and a new cloth. The bridegroom's expenses are about Rs. 50,\nand the bride's about Rs. 10.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage dance\n\nAt weddings the tribe have a dance called Surcha, for which the men\nwear a particular dress consisting of a long coat, a turban and two\nor three scarves thrown loosely over the shoulders. Strings of little\nbells are tied about the feet, and garlands of beads round the neck;\nsometimes men and women dance separately, and sometimes both sexes\ntogether in a long line or a circle. Music is provided by bamboo\nflutes, drums and an iron instrument something like a flute. As they\ndance, songs are sung in the form of question and answer between the\nlines of men and women, usually of a somewhat indecent character. The\nfollowing short specimen may be given:--\n\n_Man_. If you are willing to go with me we will both follow the\nofficer's elephant. If I go back without you my heart can have no rest.\n\n_Woman_. Who dare take me away from my husband while the Company\nis reigning. My husband will beat me and who will pay him the\ncompensation?\n\n_Man_. You had better make up your mind to go with me. I will ask the\nTreasurer for some money and pay it to your husband as compensation.\n\n_Woman_. Very well, I will make ready some food, and will run away\nwith you in the next bright fortnight.\n\n\nThese dialogues often, it is said, lead to quarrels between husband and\nwife, as the husband cannot rebuke his wife in the assembly. Sometimes\nthe women fall in love with men in the dance, and afterwards run away\nwith them.\n\n\n\n\n5. Nuptial ceremony\n\nThe marriage takes place at the boy's house, where two marriage-sheds\nare made. It is noticeable that the bride on going to the bridegroom's\nhouse to be married is accompanied only by her female relatives,\nno man of her family being allowed to be with her. This is probably\na reminiscence of the old custom of marriage by capture, as in\nformer times she was carried off by force, the opposition of her\nmale relatives having been quelled. In memory of this the men still\ndo not countenance the wedding procession by their presence. The\nbridal couple are made to sit down together on a mat, and from three\nto seven pots of cold water are poured over them. About a week after\nthe wedding the couple go to a market with their friends, and after\nwalking round it they all sit down and drink liquor.\n\n\n\n\n6. Widow-marriage and divorce\n\nThe remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow is practically\ncompelled to marry her late husband's younger brother, if he has\none. If she persistently refuses to do so, in spite of the strongest\npressure, her parents turn her out of their house. In order to be\nmarried the woman goes to the man's house with some friends; they\nsit together on the ground, and the friends apply the _tika_ or sign\nby touching their foreheads with dry rice. A man can divorce his\nwife if she is of bad character, or if she is supposed to be under\nan unfavourable star, or if her children die in infancy. A divorced\nwoman can marry again as if she were a widow.\n\n\n\n\n7. Religion and festivals\n\nThe Parjas worship the class of divinities of the hills and forests\nusually revered among primitive tribes, as well as Danteshwari,\nthe tutelary goddess of Bastar. On the day that sowing begins they\noffer a fowl to the field, first placing some grains of rice before\nit. If the fowl eats the rice they prognosticate a good harvest,\nand if not the reverse. A few members of the tribe belong to the\nRamanandi sect, and on this account a little extra attention is paid\nto them. If such a one is invited to a feast he is given a wooden\nseat, while others sit on the ground. It is said that a few years\nago a man became a Kabirpanthi, but he subsequently went blind and\nhis son died, and since this event the sect is absolutely without\nadherents. Most villages have a Sirha or man who is possessed by\nthe deity, and his advice is taken in religious matters, such as\nthe detection of witches. Another official is called Medha Gantia or\n'The Counter of posts.' He appoints the days for weddings, calculating\nthem by counting on his fingers, and also fixes auspicious days for\nthe construction of a house or for the commencement of sowing. It is\nprobable that in former times he kept count of the days by numbering\nposts or trees. When rain is wanted the people fix a piece of wood\ninto the ground, calling it Bhimsen Deo or King of the Clouds. They\npour water over it and pray to it, asking for rain. Every year, after\nthe crops are harvested, they worship the rivers or streams in the\nvillage. A snake, a jackal, a hare and a dog wagging its ears are\nunlucky objects to see when starting on a journey, and also a dust\ndevil blowing along in front. They do not kill wild dogs, because\nthey say that tigers avoid the forests where these reside, and some\nof them hold that a tiger on meeting a wild dog climbs a tree to get\nout of his way. Wednesday and Thursday are lucky days for starting on\na journey, and the operations of sowing, reaping and threshing should\nbe commenced and completed on one of these days. When a man intends\nto build a house he places a number of sets of three grains of rice,\none resting on the other two, on the ground in different places. Each\nset is covered by a leaf-cup with some earth to hold it down. Next\nmorning the grains are inspected, and if the top one has fallen down\nthe site is considered to be lucky, as indicating that the earth is\nwishful to bear the burden of a house in this place. A house should\nface to the east or west, and not to the north or south. Similarly,\nthe roads leading out of the village should run east or west from\nthe starting-point. The principal festivals of the Parjas are the\nHareli [423] or feast of the new vegetation in July, the Nawakhani\n[424] or feast of the new rice crop in August or September, and the\nAm Nawakhani or that of the new mango crop in April or May. At the\nfeasts the new season's crop should be eaten, but if no fresh rice has\nripened, they touch some of the old grain with a blade of a growing\nrice-plant, and consider that it has become the new crop. On these\noccasions ancestors are worshipped by members of the family only\ninside the house, and offerings of the new crops are made to them.\n\n\n\n\n8. Disposal of the dead\n\nThe dead are invariably buried, the corpse being laid in the ground\nwith head to the east and feet to the west. This is probably the most\nprimitive burial, it being supposed that the region of the dead is\ntowards the west, as the setting sun disappears in that direction. The\ncorpse is therefore laid in the grave with the feet to the west ready\nto start on its journey. Members of the tribe who have imbibed Hindu\nideas now occasionally lay the corpse with the head to the north in\nthe direction of the Ganges. Rice-gruel, water and a tooth-stick\nare placed on the grave nightly for some days after death. As an\ninteresting parallel instance, near home, of the belief that the\nsoul starts on a long journey after death, the following passage\nmay be quoted from Mr. Gomme's Folklore: \"Among the superstitions\nof Lancashire is one which tells us of a lingering belief in a long\njourney after death, when food is necessary to support the soul. A\nman having died of apoplexy at a public dinner near Manchester,\none of the company was heard to remark, 'Well, poor Joe, God rest\nhis soul! He has at least gone to his long rest wi' a belly full o'\ngood meat, and that's some consolation!' And perhaps a still more\nremarkable instance is that of the woman buried in Curton Church,\nnear Rochester, who directed by her will that the coffin was to have\na lock and key, the key being placed in her dead hand, so that she\nmight be able to release herself at pleasure.\" [425]\n\nAfter the burial a dead fish is brought on a leaf-plate to the\nmourners, who touch it, and are partly purified. The meaning of this\nrite, if there be any, is not known. After the period of mourning,\nwhich varies from three to nine days, is over, the mourners and their\nrelatives must attend the next weekly bazar, and there offer liquor\nand sweets in the name of the dead man, who upon this becomes ranked\namong the ancestors.\n\n\n\n\n9. Occupation and social customs\n\nThe Parjas are cultivators, and grow rice and other crops in the\nordinary manner. Many of them are village headmen, and to these the\nterm Dhurwa is more particularly applied. The tribe will eat fowls,\npig, monkeys, the large lizard, field-rats, and bison and wild\nbuffalo, but they do not eat carnivorous animals, crocodiles, snakes\nor jackals. Some of them eat beef while others have abjured it, and\nthey will not accept the leavings of others. They are not considered\nto be an impure caste. If any man or woman belonging to a higher\ncaste has a _liaison_ with a Parja, and is on that account expelled\nfrom their own caste, he or she can be admitted as a Parja. In their\nother customs and dress and ornaments the tribe resemble the Gonds\nof Bastar. Women are tattooed on the chest and arms with patterns of\ndots. The young men sometimes wear their hair long, and tie it in a\nbunch behind, secured by a strip of cloth.\n\n\n\n\n\nPasi\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _The nature and origin of the caste_.\n    2. _Brahmanical legends_.\n    3. _Its mixed composition_.\n    4. _Marriage and other customs_.\n    5. _Religion, superstitions and social customs_.\n    6. _Occupation_.\n    7. _Criminal tendencies_.\n\n\n\n\n1. The nature and origin of the caste\n\n_Pasi, Passi._ [426]--A Dravidian occupational caste of northern\nIndia, whose hereditary employment is the tapping of the palmyra,\ndate and other palm trees for their sap. The name is derived from the\nSanskrit _pashika_, 'One who uses a noose,' and the Hindi, _pas_ or\n_pasa_, a noose. It is a curious fact that when the first immigrant\nParsis from Persia landed in Gujarat they took to the occupation\nof tapping palm trees, and the poorer of them still follow it. The\nresemblance in the name, however, can presumably be nothing more than\na coincidence. The total strength of the Pasis in India is about a\nmillion and a half persons, nearly all of whom belong to the United\nProvinces and Bihar. In the Central Provinces they number 3500, and\nreside principally in the Jubbulpore and Hoshangabad Districts. The\ncaste is now largely occupational, and is connected with the Bhars,\nArakhs, Khatiks and other Dravidian groups of low status. But in the\npast they seem to have been of some importance in Oudh. \"All through\nOudh,\" Mr. Crooke states, \"they have traditions that they were lords of\nthe country, and that their kings reigned in the Districts of Kheri,\nHardoi and Unao. Ramkot, where the town of Bangarmau in Unao now\nstands, is said to have been one of their chief strongholds. The last\nof the Pasi lords of Ramkot, Raja Santhar, threw off his allegiance\nto Kanauj and refused to pay tribute. On this Raja Jaichand gave his\ncountry to the Banaphar heroes Alha and Udal, and they attacked and\ndestroyed Ramkot, leaving it the shapeless mass of ruins which it now\nis.\" Similar traditions prevail in other parts of Oudh. It is also\nrecorded that the Rajpasis, the highest division of the caste, claim\ndescent from Tilokchand, the eponymous hero of the Bais Rajputs. It\nwould appear then that the Pasis were a Dravidian tribe who held a part\nof Oudh before it was conquered by the Rajputs. As the designation\nof Pasi is an occupational term and is derived from the Sanskrit,\nit would seem that the tribe must formerly have had some other name,\nor they may be an occupational offshoot of the Bhars. In favour of this\nsuggestion it may be noted that the Bhars also have strong traditions\nof their former dominance in Oudh. Thus Sir C. Elliott states in his\n_Chronicles of Unao_ [427] that after the close of the heroic age,\nwhen Ajodhya was held by the Surajvansi Rajputs under the great Rama,\nwe find after an interval of historic darkness that Ajodhya has been\ndestroyed, the Surajvansis utterly banished, and a large extent of\ncountry is being ruled over by aborigines called Cheros in the far\neast, Bhars in the centre and Rajpasis in the west. Again, in Kheri\nthe Pasis always claim kindred with the Bhars, [428] and in Mirzapur\n[429] the local Pasis represent the Bhars as merely a subcaste of\ntheir own tribe, though this is denied by the Bhars themselves. It\nseems therefore a not improbable hypothesis that the Pasis and perhaps\nalso the kindred tribe of Arakhs are functional groups formed from the\nBhar tribe. For a discussion of the early history of this important\ntribe the reader must be referred to Mr. Crooke's excellent article.\n\n\n\n\n2. Brahmanical legends\n\nThe following tradition is related by the Pasis themselves in Mirzapur\nand the Central Provinces: One day a man was going to kill a number\nof cows. Parasurama was at that time practising austerities in the\njungles. Hearing the cries of the sacred animals he rushed to their\nassistance, but the cow-killer was aided by his friends. So Parasurama\nmade five men out of _kusha_ grass and brought them to life by letting\ndrops of his perspiration fall upon them. Hence arose the name Pasi,\nfrom the Hindi _pasina_, sweat. The men thus created rescued the\ncows. Then they returned to Parasurama and asked him to provide\nthem with a wife. Just at that moment a Kayasth girl was passing\nby, and her Parasurama seized and made over to the Pasis. From them\nsprang the Kaithwas subcaste. Another legend related by Mr. Crooke\ntells that during the time Parasurama was incarnate there was an\naustere devotee called Kuphal who was asked by Brahma to demand of\nhim a boon, whereupon he requested that he might be perfected in the\nart of thieving. His request was granted, and there is a well-known\nverse regarding the devotions of Kuphal, the pith of which is that\nthe mention of the name of Kuphal, who received a boon from Brahma,\nremoves all fear of thieves; and the mention of his three wives--Maya\n(illusion), Nidra (sleep), and Mohani (enchantment)--deprives thieves\nof success in their attempts against the property of those who repeat\nthese names. Kuphal is apparently the progenitor of the caste, and\nthe legend is intended to show how the position of the Pasis in the\nHindu cosmos or order of society according to the caste system has\nbeen divinely ordained and sanctioned, even to the recognition of\ntheft as their hereditary pursuit.\n\n\n\n\n3. Its mixed composition\n\nWhatever their origin may have been the composition of the caste is\nnow of a very mixed nature. Several names of other castes, as Gujar,\nGual or Ahir, Arakh, Khatik, Bahelia, Bhil and Bania, are returned\nas divisions of the Pasis in the United Provinces. Like all migratory\ncastes they are split into a number of small groups, whose constitution\nis probably not very definite. The principal subcastes in the Central\nProvinces are the Rajpasis or highest class, who probably were at one\ntime landowners; the Kaithwas or Kaithmas, supposed to be descended\nfrom a Kayasth, as already related; the Tirsulia, who take their name\nfrom the _trisula_ or three-bladed knife used to pierce the stem of\nthe palm tree; the Bahelia or hunters, and Chiriyamar or fowlers;\nthe Ghudchadha or those who ride on ponies, these being probably\nsaises or horse-keepers; the Khatik or butchers and Gujar or graziers;\nand the Mangta or beggars, these being the bards and genealogists of\nthe caste, who beg from their clients and take food from their hands;\nthey are looked down on by the other Pasis.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage and other customs\n\nIn the Central Provinces the tribe have now no exogamous groups; they\navoid marriage with blood relations as far back as their memory carries\nthem. At their weddings the couple walk round the _srawan_ or heavy\nlog of wood, which is dragged over the fields before sowing to break up\nthe larger clods of earth. In the absence of this an ordinary plough or\nharrow will serve as a substitute, though why the Pasis should impart\na distinctively agricultural implement into their marriage ceremony\nis not clear. Like the Gonds, the Pasis celebrate their weddings at\nthe bridegroom's house and not at the bride's. Before the wedding the\nbridegroom's mother goes and sits over a well, taking with her seven\n_urad_ cakes [430] and stalks of the plant. The bridegroom walks\nseven times round the well, and at each turn the parapet is marked\nwith red and white clay and his mother throws one of the cakes and\nstalks into the well. Finally, the mother threatens to throw herself\ninto the well, and the bridegroom begs her not to do so, promising\nthat he will serve and support her. Divorce and the remarriage of\nwidows are freely permitted. Conjugal morality is somewhat lax, and\nMr. Crooke quotes a report from Pertabgarh to the effect that if a\nwoman of a tribe become pregnant by a stranger and the child be born\nin the house of her father or husband, it will be accepted as a Pasi\nof pure blood and admitted to all tribal privileges. The bodies of\nadults may be buried or burnt as convenient, but those of children\nor of persons dying from smallpox, cholera or snake-bite are always\nburied. Mourning is observed during ten days for a man and nine days\nfor a woman, while children who die unmarried are not mourned at all.\n\n\n\n\n5. Religion, superstitions and social customs\n\nThe Pasis worship all the ordinary Hindu deities. All classes of\nBrahmans will officiate at their marriages and other ceremonies,\nand do anything for them which does not involve touching them or\nany article in their houses. In Bengal, Sir H. Risley writes, the\nemployment of Brahmans for the performance of ceremonies appears to\nbe a very recent reform for, as a rule, in sacrifices and funeral\nceremonies, the worshipper's sister's son performs the functions of a\npriest. \"Among the Pasis of Monghyr this ancient custom, which admits\nof being plausibly interpreted as a survival of female kinship, still\nprevails generally.\" The social status of the Pasis is low, but they\nare not regarded as impure. At their marriage festivals, Mr. Gayer\nnotes, boys are dressed up as girls and made to dance in public, but\nthey do not use drums or other musical instruments. They breed pigs and\ncure the bacon obtained from them. Marriage questions are decided by\nthe tribal council, which is presided over by a chairman (_Chaudhri_)\nselected at each meeting from among the most influential adult males\npresent. The council deals especially with cases of immorality and\npollution caused by journeys across the black water (_kala pani_)\nwhich the criminal pursuits of the tribe occasionally necessitate.\n\n\n\n\n6. Occupation\n\nThe traditional occupation of the Pasis, as already stated, is the\nextraction of the sap of palm trees. But some of them are hunters\nand fowlers like the Pardhis, and like them also they make and mend\ngrindstones, while others are agriculturists; and the caste has also\nstrong criminal propensities, and includes a number of professional\nthieves. Some are employed in the Nagpur mills and others have taken\nsmall building contracts. Pasis are generally illiterate and in poor\ncircumstances, and are much addicted to drink. In climbing [431]\npalm trees to tap them for their juice the worker uses a heel-rope,\nby which his feet are tied closely together. At the same time he has a\nstout rope passing round the tree and his body. He leans back against\nthis rope and presses the soles of his feet, thus tied together,\nagainst the tree. He then climbs up the tree by a series of hitches or\njerks of his back and feet alternately. The juice of the palmyra palm\n(_tar_) and the date palm (_khajur_) is extracted by the Pasi. The\n_tar_ trees, Sir H. Risley states, [432] are tapped from March to\nMay, and the date palm in the cold season. The juice of the former,\nknown as _tari_ or toddy, is used in the manufacture of bread, and an\nintoxicating liquor is obtained from it by adding sugar and grains\nof rice. Hindustani drunkards often mix _dhatura_ with the toddy to\nincrease its intoxicating properties. The quantity of juice extracted\nfrom one tree varies from five to ten pounds. Date palm _tari_ is\nless commonly drunk, being popularly believed to cause rheumatism,\nbut is extensively used in preparing sugar.\n\n\n\n\n7. Criminal tendencies\n\nEighty years ago, when General Sleeman wrote, the Pasis were noted\nthieves. In his _Journey through Oudh_ [433] he states that in Oudh\nthere were then supposed to be one hundred thousand families of Pasis,\nwho were skilful thieves and robbers by profession, and were formerly\nThugs and poisoners as well. They generally formed the worst part of\nthe gangs maintained by refractory landowners, \"who keep Pasis to\nfight for them, as they pay themselves out of the plunder and cost\nlittle to their employers. They are all armed with bows and are\nvery formidable at night. They and their refractory employes keep\nthe country in a perpetual state of disorder.\" Mr. Gayer notes [434]\nthat the criminally disposed members of the caste take contracts for\nthe watch and sale of mangoes in groves distant from habitations,\nso that their movements will not be seen by prying eyes. They also\nseek employment as roof-thatchers, in which capacity they are enabled\nto ascertain which houses contain articles worth stealing. They show\nconsiderable cunning in disposing of their stolen property. The men\nwill go openly in the daytime to the receiver and acquaint him with\nthe fact that they have property to dispose of; the receiver goes to\nthe bazar, and the women come to him with grass for sale. They sell\nthe grass to the receiver, and then accompany him home with it and\nthe stolen property, which is artfully concealed in it.\n\n\nPatwa\n\n_Patwa, Patwi, Patra, Ilakelband._--The occupational caste of weavers\nof fancy silk braid and thread. In 1911 the Patwas numbered nearly\n6000 persons in the Central Provinces, being returned principally\nfrom the Narsinghpur, Raipur, Saugor, Jubbulpore and Hoshangabad\nDistricts. About 800 were resident in Berar. The name is derived from\nthe Sanskrit _pata_, woven cloth, or Hindi _pat_, silk. The principal\nsubcastes of the Patwas are the Naraina; the Kanaujia, also known as\nChhipi, because they sew marriage robes; the Deobansi or 'descendants\nof a god,' who sell lac and glass bangles; the Lakhera, who prepare\nlac bangles; the Kachera, who make glass bangles; and others. Three\nof the above groups are thus functional in character. They have also\nRajput and Kayastha subcastes, who may consist of refugees from those\ncastes received into the Patwa community. In the Central Provinces\nthe Patwas and Lakheras are in many localities considered to be the\nsame caste, as they both deal in lac and sell articles made of it;\nand the account of the occupations of the Lakhera caste also applies\nlargely to the Patwas. The exogamous groups of the caste are named\nafter villages, or titles or nicknames borne by the reputed founder\nof the group. They indicate that the Patwas of the Central Provinces\nare generally descended from immigrants from northern India. The Patwa\nusually purchases silk and colours it himself. He makes silk strings\nfor pyjamas and coats, armlets and other articles. Among these are\nthe silk threads called _rakhis_, used on the Rakshabandhan festival,\n[435] when the Brahmans go round in the morning tying them on to\nthe wrists of all Hindus as a protection against evil spirits. For\nthis the Brahman receives a present of one or two pice. The _rakhi_\nis made of pieces of raw silk fibre twisted together, with a knot at\none end and a loop at the other. It goes round the wrist, and the knot\nis passed through the loop. Sisters also tie it round their brothers'\nwrists and are given a present. The Patwas make the _phundri_ threads\nfor tying up the hair of women, whether of silk or cotton, and various\nthreads used as amulets, such as the _janjira_, worn by men round the\nneck, and the _ganda_ or wizard's thread, which is tied round the\narm after incantations have been said over it; and the necklets of\nsilk or cotton thread bound with thin silver wire which the Hindus\nwear at Anant Chaudas, a sort of All Saints' Day, when all the gods\nare worshipped. In this various knots are made by the Brahmans, and\nin each a number of deities are tied up to exert their beneficent\ninfluence for the wearer of the thread. These are the bands which\nHindus commonly wear on their necks. The Patwas thread necklaces of\ngold and jewels on silk thread, and also make the strings of cowries,\nslung on pack-thread, which are tied round the necks of bullocks when\nthey race on the Pola day, and on ponies, probably as a charm. After a\nchild is born in the family of one of their clients, the Patwas make\ntassels of cotton and hemp thread coloured red, green and yellow,\nand hang them to the centre-beam of the house and the top of the\nchild's cradle, and for this they get a present, which from a rich\nman may be as much as ten rupees. The sacred thread proper is usually\nmade by Brahmans in the Central Provinces. Some of the Patwas wander\nabout hawking their wares from village to village. Besides the silk\nthreads they sell the _tiklis_ or large spangles which women wear\non their foreheads, lac bangles and balls of henna, and the large\nnecklaces of lac beads covered with tinsel of various colours which\nare worn in Chhattisgarh. A Patwa must not rear the tasar silkworm\nnor boil the cocoons on pain of expulsion from caste.\n\n\n\n\n\nPindari\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Origin of the name_.\n    2. _Rise of the Pindaris_.\n    3. _Their strength and sphere of operations_.\n    4. _Pindari expeditions and methods_.\n    5. _Return from an expedition_.\n    6. _Suppression of the Pindaris_. _Death of Chitu_.\n    7. _Character of the Pindaris_.\n    8. _The existing Pindaris_.\n    9. _Attractions of a Pindari's life_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin of the name\n\n_Pindari, Pindara, Pendhari._ [436]--The well-known professional\nclass of freebooters, whose descendants now form a small cultivating\ncaste. In the Central Provinces they numbered about 150 persons\nin 1911, while there are about 10,000 in India. They are mainly\nMuhammadans but include some Hindus. The Pindaris of the Central\nProvinces are for the most part the descendants of Gonds, Korkus\nand Bhils whose children were carried off in the course of raids,\ncircumcised, and brought up to follow the profession of a Pindari. When\nthe bands were dispersed many of them returned to their native\nvillages and settled down. Malcolm considered that the name Pindari\nwas derived from _pinda_, an intoxicating drink, and was given to\nthem on account of their dissolute habits. He adds that Karim Khan,\na famous Pindari leader, had never heard of any other reason for\nthe name, and Major Henley had the etymology confirmed by the most\nintelligent of the Pindaris of whom he inquired. [437] In support of\nthis may be adduced the name of Bhangi, given to the sweeper caste on\naccount of their drinking _bhang_ or hemp. Wilson again held the most\nprobable derivation to be from the Marathi _pendha_, in the sense of\na bundle of rice-straw, and _hara_ one who takes, because the name\nwas originally applied to horsemen who hung on to an army and were\nemployed in collecting forage. The fact that the existing Pindaris\nare herdsmen and tenders of buffaloes and thus might well have been\nemployed for the collection of forage may be considered somewhat to\nfavour the above view; but the authors of _Hobson-Jobson_, after citing\nthese derivations, continue: \"We cannot think any of the etymologies\nvery satisfactory. We venture another as a plausible suggestion\nmerely. Both _pind-parna_ in Hindi and _pindas-basnen_ in Marathi\nsignify 'to follow,' the latter being defined as 'to stick closely;\nto follow to the death; used of the adherence of a disagreeable\nfellow.' Such phrases could apply to these hangers-on of an army in\nthe field looking out for prey.\" Mr. W. Irvine [438] has suggested\nthat the word comes from a place or region called Pandhar, which\nis referred to by native historians and seems to have been situated\nbetween Burhanpur and Handia on the Nerbudda; and states that there is\ngood evidence to prove that a large number of Pindaris were settled\nin this part of the country. Mr. D. Chisholm reports from Nimar that\n\"Pandhar or Pandhar is the name given to a stream which rises in the\nGularghat hills of the Asir range and flows after a very circuitous\ncourse into the Masak river by Mandeva. The name signifies five,\nas it is joined by four other small streams. The Asir hills were the\nhaunts of the Pindaris, and the country about these, especially by\nthe banks of the Pandhar, is very wild; but it is not commonly known\nthat the Pindaris derived their name from this stream.\" And as the\nPindaris are first heard of as hangers-on of the Maratha armies in\nthe Deccan prior to A.D. 1700, it seems unlikely also that their\nname can be taken from a place in the Nimar District, where it is\nnot recorded that they were settled before 1794. Nor does the Pandhar\nitself seem sufficiently important to have given a name to the whole\nbody of freebooters. Malcolm's or Wilson's derivations are perhaps on\nthe whole the most probable. Prinsep writes: \"Pindara seems to have\nthe same reference to Pandour that Kuzak has to Cossack. The latter\nword is of Turkish origin but is commonly used to express a mounted\nrobber in Hindustan.\" Though the Pandours were the predatory light\ncavalry of the Austrian army, and had considerable resemblance to\nthe Pindaris, it does not seem possible to suppose that there is any\nconnection between the two words. The Pendra zamindari in Bilaspur is\nnamed after the Pindaris, the dense forests of the Rewah plateau which\nincludes Pendra having been one of their favourite asylums of refuge.\n\n\n\n\n2. Rise of the Pindaris\n\nThe Pindari bands appear to have come into existence during the wars\nof the late Muhammadan dynasties in the Deccan, and in the latter part\nof the seventeenth century they attached themselves to the Marathas in\ntheir revolt against Aurangzeb. The first mention of the name occurs\nat this time. During and after the Maratha wars many of the Pindari\nleaders obtained grants in Central India from Sindhia and Holkar,\nand were divided into two parties owing a nominal allegiance to these\nprinces and designated as the Sindhia Shahi and Holkar Shahi. In the\nperiod of chaos which reigned at this time outside British territories\ntheir raids in all directions attended by the most savage atrocities\nbecame more and more intolerable. These outrages extended from\nBundelkhand to Cuddapah south of Madras and from Orissa to Gujarat.\n\nWhen attached to the Maratha armies, Malcolm states, the Pindaris\nalways camped separately and were not permitted to plunder in the\nMaratha territories; they were given an allowance averaging four\nannas each a day, and further supported themselves by employing\ntheir small horses and bullocks in carrying grain, forage and wood,\nfor which articles the Pindari bazar was the great mart. When let\nloose to pillage, which was always the case some days before the\narmy entered an enemy's country, all allowances stopped; no restraint\nwhatever was put upon these freebooters till the campaign was over,\nwhen the Maratha commander, if he had the power, generally seized\nthe Pindari chiefs or surrounded their camps and forced them to yield\nup the greater part of their booty. A knowledge of this practice led\nthe Pindaris to redouble their excesses, that they might be able to\nsatisfy without ruin the expected rapacity of their employers.\n\nIn 1794, Grant-Duff writes, Sindhia assigned some lands to the\nPindaris near the banks of the Nerbudda, which they soon extended\nby conquests from the Grassias or original independent landholders\nin their neighbourhood. Their principal leaders at that time were\ntwo brothers named Hiru and Burun, who are said to have been put\nto death for their aggressions on the territory of Sindhia and\nof Raghuji Bhonsla. The sons of Hiru and Burun became Pindari\nchiefs; but Karim Khan, a Pindara who had acquired great booty\nat the plunder of the Nizam's troops after the battle of Hurdla,\nand was distinguished by superior cunning and enterprise, was the\nprincipal leader of this refuse of the Maratha armies. Karim got the\ndistrict of Shujahalpur from Umar Khan which, with some additions,\nwas afterwards confirmed to him by Sindhia. During the war of 1803\nand the subsequent disturbed state of the country Karim contrived to\nobtain possession of several districts in Malwa belonging to Sindhia's\njagirdars; and his land revenue at one time is said to have amounted\nto fifteen lakhs of rupees a year. He also wrested some territory from\nthe Nawab of Bhopal on which he built a fort as a place of security\nfor his family and of deposit for his plunder. Karim was originally a\nSindhia Shahi, but like most of the Pindaris, except about 5000 of the\nHolkar Shahis who remained faithful, he changed sides or plundered\nhis master whenever it suited his convenience, which was as often\nas he found an opportunity. Sindhia, jealous of his encroachments,\non pretence of lending him some gems inveigled him to an interview,\nmade him prisoner, plundered his camp, recovered the usurped districts\nand lodged Karim in the fort of Gwalior.\n\nA number of leaders started up after the confinement of Karim,\nof whom Chitu, Dost Muhammad, Namdar Khan and Sheikh Dullah became\nthe most conspicuous. They associated themselves with Amir Khan in\n1809 during his expedition to Berar; and in 1810, when Karim Khan\npurchased his release from Gwalior, they assembled under that leader\na body of 25,000 horse and some battalions of newly raised infantry\nwith which they again proposed to invade Berar; but Chitu, always\njealous of Karim's ascendency, was detached by Raghuji Bhonsla from\nthe alliance, and afterwards co-operated with Sindhia in attacking\nhim; Karim was in consequence driven to seek an asylum with his old\npatron Amir Khan, but by the influence of Sindhia Amir Khan kept him\nin a state of confinement until 1816.\n\nWhen the Marathas ceased to spread themselves over India, the Pindaris\nwho had attended their armies were obliged to plunder the territories\nof their former protectors for subsistence. To the unemployed soldiery\nof India, particularly to the Muhammadans, the life of a Pindara had\nmany allurements; but the Maratha horsemen who possessed hereditary\nrights or had any pretensions to respectability did not readily join\nthem. One of the above leaders, Sheikh Dullah or Abdullah, apparently\nbecame a dacoit after the Pindaris had been dispersed, and he is\nstill remembered in Hoshangabad and Nimar in the following saying:\n\n\n    Niche zamin aur upar Allah,\n    Aur bich men phiren Sheikh Dullah,\n\n\nor 'God is above and the earth beneath, and Sheikh Dullah ranges at\nhis will between.'\n\n\n\n\n3. Their strength and sphere of operations\n\nIn 1814, Prinsep states, [439] the actual military force at the\ndisposal of the Pindaris amounted to 40,000 horse, inclusive of the\nPathans, who though more orderly and better disciplined than the\nPindaris of the Nerbudda, possessed the same character and were\nsimilarly circumstanced in every respect, supporting themselves\nentirely by depredations whenever they could practise them. Their\nnumber would be doubled were we to add the remainder of Holkar's\ntroops of the irregular kind, which were daily deserting the service\nof a falling house in order to engage in the more profitable career\nof predatory enterprise; and the loose cavalry establishments of\nSindhia and the Bhonsla, which were bound by no ties but those of\npresent entertainment, and were always in great arrears of pay. The\npresence of this force in the centre of India and able to threaten\neach of the three Presidencies imposed the most extensive annual\nprecautions for defence, in spite of which the territories of our\nallies were continually overrun. On two occasions, once when they\nentered Gujarat in 1808-9 and again in 1812 when the Bengal provinces\nof Mirzapur and Shahabad were devastated, they penetrated into our\nimmediate territories. Grant-Duff records that in one raid on the coast\nfrom Masulipatam northward they in ten days plundered 339 villages,\nburning many, killing and wounding 682 persons, torturing 3600 and\ncarrying off or destroying property to the amount of two lakhs and\na half. Indeed their reputation was such that the mere rumour of an\nincursion caused a regular panic at Madras in 1816, of which General\nHislop gives an amusing account: [440] \"In the middle of this year the\ntroops composing the garrison of Fort St. George were moved out and\nencamped on the island outside Black Town wall. This imprudent step\nwas taken, as was affirmed, to be in readiness to meet the Pindaris,\nwho were reported to be on their road to Madras, although it was well\nknown that not half a dozen of them were at that time within 200 miles\nof the place. The native inhabitants of all classes throughout Madras\nand its vicinity were in the utmost alarm, and looked for places of\nretreat and security for their property. It brought on Madras all\nthe distresses in imagination of Hyder Ali's invasion. It was about\nthis period that an idle rumour reached Madras of the arrival of the\nPindaris at the Mount; all was uproar, flight and despair to the walls\nof Madras. This alarm originated in a few Dhobis and grass-cutters\nof the artillery having mounted their _tattus_ and, in mock imitation\nof the Pindaris, galloped about and played with long bamboos in their\nhands in the vicinity of the Mount. The effect was such, however, that\nmany of the civil servants and inhabitants of the Mount Road packed\nup and moved to the Fort for protection. Troopers, messengers, etc.,\nwere seen galloping to the Government House and thence to the different\npublic authorities. Such was the alarm in the Government House that\non the afternoon of that day an old officer, anxious to offer some\nadvice to the Governor, rode smartly to the Government gardens, and on\nreaching the entrance observed the younger son of the Governor running\nwith all possible speed into the house; who having got to a place of\nsecurity ventured to look back and then discovered in the old officer\na face which he had before seen; when turning back again he exclaimed,\n'Upon my word, sir, I was so frightened I took you for a Pindari.'\"\n\n\n\n\n4. Pindari expeditions and methods\n\nA Pindari expedition [441] usually started at the close of the rains,\nas soon as the rivers became fordable after the Dasahra festival in\nOctober. Their horses were then shod, having previously been carefully\ntrained to prepare them for long marches and hard work. A leader of\ntried courage having been chosen as Luhbaria, all who were so inclined\nset forth on a foray, or Luhbar as it was called in the Pindari\nnomenclature, the strength of the party often amounting to several\nthousands. In every thousand Pindaris about 400 were tolerably well\nmounted and armed; of this number about every fifteenth man carried\na matchlock, but their favourite weapon was the ordinary bamboo\nspear of the Marathas, from 12 to 18 feet long. Of the remaining 600\ntwo-thirds were usually common Lootais or plunderers, indifferently\nmounted and armed with every variety of weapon; and the rest slaves,\nattendants and camp-followers, mounted on _tattus_ or wild ponies and\nkeeping up with the Luhbar in the best manner they could. They were\nencumbered neither by tents nor baggage; each horseman carried a few\ncakes of bread for his own subsistence and some feeds of grain for\nhis horse. They advanced at the rapid rate of forty or fifty miles a\nday, neither turning to the right nor to the left till they arrived at\ntheir place of destination. They then divided, and made a sweep of all\nthe cattle and property they could find; committing at the same time\nthe most horrid atrocities and destroying what they could not carry\naway. They trusted to the secrecy and suddenness of the irruption\nfor avoiding those who guarded the frontiers of the countries they\ninvaded; and before a force could be brought against them they were on\ntheir return. Their chief strength lay in their being intangible. If\npursued they made marches of extraordinary length, sometimes upwards\nof sixty miles, by roads almost impracticable for regular troops. If\novertaken they dispersed and reassembled at an appointed rendezvous;\nif followed to the country from which they issued they broke into small\nparties. The cruelties they perpetrated were beyond belief. As it was\nimpossible for them to remain more than a few hours on the same spot\nthe utmost despatch was necessary in rifling any towns or villages\ninto which they could force an entrance; every one whose appearance\nindicated the probability of his possessing money was immediately\nput to the most horrid torture till he either pointed out his hoard\nor died under the infliction. Nothing was safe from the pursuit of\nPindari lust or avarice; it was their common practice to burn and\ndestroy what they could not carry away; and in the wantonness of\nbarbarity to ravish and murder women and children under the eyes of\ntheir husbands and parents. The ordinary modes of torture inflicted\nby these miscreants were to apply red-hot irons to the soles of the\nfeet; or to throw the victim on the ground and place a plank or beam\nacross his chest on which two men pressed with their whole weight;\nand to throw oil on the clothes and set fire to them, or tie wisps\nof rag soaked in oil to the ends of all the victim's fingers and set\nfire to these. Another favourite method was to put hot ashes into a\nhorse-bag, which they tied over a man's mouth and nostrils and thumped\nhim on the back until he inhaled the ashes. The effect on the lungs\nof the sufferer was such that few long survived the operation.\n\n\n\n\n5. Return from an expedition\n\nThe return of the Pindaris from an expedition presented at one view\ntheir character and habits. When they recrossed the Nerbudda and\nreached their homes their camp became like a fair. After the claims\nof the chief of the territory (whose right was a fourth part of the\nbooty, but who generally compounded for one or two valuable articles)\nhad been satisfied, the usual share paid to their Luhbaria, or chosen\nleader for the expedition, and all debts to merchants and others who\nhad made advances discharged, the plunder of each man was exposed for\nsale; traders from every part came to make cheap bargains; and while\nthe women were busy in disposing of their husbands' property, the men,\nwho were on such occasions certain of visits from all their friends,\nwere engaged in hearing music, seeing dancers and drolls, and in\ndrinking. This life of debauchery and excess lasted till their money\nwas gone; they were then compelled to look for new scenes of rapine,\nor, if the season was favourable, were supported by their chiefs, or\nby loans at high interest from merchants who lived in their camps, many\nof whom amassed large fortunes. This worst part of the late population\nof Central India is, as a separate community, now extinct. [442]\n\n\n\n\n6. Suppression of the Pindaris. Death of Chitu\n\nThe result of the Pindari raids was that Central India was being\nrapidly reduced to the condition of a desert, and the peasants, unable\nto support themselves on the land, had no option but to join the robber\nbands or starve. It was not until 1817 that Lord Hastings obtained\nauthority from home to take regular measures for their repression;\nand at the same time he also forced or persuaded the principal chiefs\nof Central India to act vigorously in concert with him. When these\nwere put into operation and the principal routes from Central India\noccupied by British detachments, the Pindaris were completely broken\nup and scattered in the course of a single campaign. They made no\nstand against regular troops, and their bands, unable to escape from\nthe ring of forces drawn round them, were rapidly dispersed over\nthe country. The people eagerly plundered and seized them in revenge\nfor the wrongs long suffered at their hands, and the Bhil Grassias\nor border landholders gladly carried out the instructions to hunt\nthem down. On one occasion a native havildar with only thirty-four\nmen attacked and put a large body of them to flight. The principal\nchiefs, reduced to the condition of hunted outlaws in the jungles,\nsoon accepted the promise of their lives, and on surrendering\nwere either settled on a grant of land or kept in confinement. The\nwell-known leader Chitu joined Apa Sahib, who had then escaped from\nNagpur and was in hiding in the Pachmarhi hills. Being expelled from\nthere in February 1819 he proceeded to the fort of Asirgarh in Nimar,\nbut was refused admittance by Sindhia's commandant. He sought shelter\nin the neighbouring jungle, and on horseback and alone attempted to\npenetrate a thick cover known to be infested with tigers. He was missed\nfor some days afterwards and no one knew what had become of him. His\nhorse was at last discovered grazing near the margin of the forest,\nsaddled and bridled, and exactly in the state in which it was when\nChitu had last been seen upon it. Upon search a bag of Rs. 250 was\nfound in the saddle; and several seal rings with some letters of Apa\nSahib, promising future reward, served more completely to fix the\nidentity of the horse's late master. These circumstances, combined\nwith the known resort of tigers to the spot, induced a search for\nthe body, when at no great distance some clothes clotted with blood,\nand farther on fragments of bones, and at last the Pindari's head\nentire with features in a state to be recognised, were successively\ndiscovered. The chief's mangled remains were given over to his son\nfor interment, and the miserable fate of one who so shortly before\nhad ridden at the head of twenty thousand horse gave an awful lesson\nof the uncertainty of fortune and drew pity even from those who had\nbeen victims of his barbarity when living. [443]\n\n\n\n\n7. Character of the Pindaris\n\nThe Pindaris, as might be expected, were recruited from all classes\nand castes, and though many became Muhammadans the Hindus preserved\nthe usages of their respective castes. Most of the Hindu men belonged\nto the Ladul or grass-cutter class, and their occupation was to bring\ngrass and firewood to the camps. \"Those born in the Durrahs or camps,\"\nMalcolm states, [444] \"appear to have been ignorant in a degree almost\nbeyond belief and were in the same ratio superstitious. The women of\nalmost all the Muhammadan Pindaris dressed like Hindus and worshipped\nHindu deities. From accompanying their husbands in most of their\nexcursions they became hardy and masculine; they were usually mounted\non small horses or camels, and were more dreaded by the villagers\nthan the men, whom they exceeded in cruelty and rapacity.\" Colonel\nTod notes that the Pindaris, like other Indian robbers, were devout\nin the observance of their religion:\n\n\"A short distance to the west of the Regent's (Kotah) camp is the\nPindari-ka-chhaoni, where the sons of Karim Khan, the chief leader of\nthose hordes, resided; for in those days of strife the old Regent would\nhave allied himself with Satan, if he had led a horde of plunderers. I\nwas greatly amused to see in this camp the commencement of an Id-Gah\nor place of prayer; for the villains, while they robbed and murdered\neven defenceless women, prayed five times a day!\" [445]\n\n\n\n\n8. The existing Pindaris\n\nWhile the freebooting Pindaris had no regular caste organisation,\ntheir descendants have now become more or less of a caste in\naccordance with the usual tendency of a distinctive occupation,\nproducing a difference in status, to form a fresh caste. The existing\nPindaris in the Central Provinces are both Muhammadans and Hindus, the\nMuhammadans, as already stated, having been originally the children\nof Hindus who were kidnapped and converted. It is one of the very\nfew merits of the Pindaris that they did not sell their captives to\nslavery. Their numerous prisoners of all ages and both sexes were\nemployed as servants, made over to the chiefs or held to ransom from\ntheir relatives, but the Pindaris did not carry on like the Banjaras\na traffic in slaves. [446] The Muhammadan Pindaris were said some\ntime ago to have no religion, but with the diffusion of knowledge\nthey have now adopted the rites of Islam and observe its rules and\nrestrictions. In Bhandara the Hindu Pindaris are Garoris or Gowaris,\nThey say that the ancestors of the Pindaris and Gowaris were two\nbrothers, the business of the Pindari brother being to tend buffaloes\nand that of the Gowari brother to herd cows. These Pindaris will\nbeg from the owners of buffaloes for the above reason. They revere\nthe dog and will not kill it, and also worship snakes and tigers,\nbelieving that these animals never do them injury. They carry their\ndead to the grave in a sitting posture, seated in a _jholi_ or wallet,\nand bury them in the same position. They wear their beards and do\nnot shave. Some of these Pindaris are personal servants, others\ncultivators and labourers, and others snake-charmers and jugglers.\n\n\n\n\n9. Attractions of a Pindari's life\n\nThe freebooting life of the Pindaris, unmitigated scoundrels though\nthey were, no doubt had great charms, and must often have been recalled\nwith regret by those who settled down to the quiet humdrum existence\nof a cultivator. This feeling has been admirably depicted in Sir\nAlfred Lyall's well-known poem, of which it will be permissible to\nquote a short extract:\n\n\n    When I rode a Dekhani charger with the saddle-cloth gold-laced,\n    And a Persian sword and a twelve-foot spear and a pistol at\n                                                            my waist.\n    It's many a year gone by now; and yet I often dream\n    Of a long dark march to the Jumna, of splashing across the stream,\n    Of the waning moon on the water and the spears in the dim starlight\n    As I rode in front of my mother [447] and wondered at all the\n                                                                sight.\n    Then the streak of the pearly dawn--the flash of a sentinel's gun,\n    The gallop and glint of horsemen who wheeled in the level sun,\n    The shots in the clear still morning, the white smoke's eddying\n                                                               wreath,\n    Is this the same land that I live in, the dull dank air that\n                                                            I breathe?\n    And if I were forty years younger, with my life before me to\n                                                               choose,\n    I wouldn't be lectured by Kafirs or bullied by fat Hindoos;\n    But I'd go to some far-off country where Musalmans still are men,\n    Or take to the jungle like Chetoo, and die in the tiger's den.\n\n\n\n\n\nPrabhu\n\n\n\n\n1. Historical notice\n\n_Prabhu, Parbhu._--The Maratha caste of clerks, accountants and\npatwaris corresponding to the Kayasths. They numbered about 1400\npersons in the southern Districts of the Central Provinces and Berar\nin 1911. The Prabhus, like the Kayasths, claim to be descendants of\na child of Chandra Sena, a Kshatriya king and himself a son of Arjun,\none of the five Pandava brothers. Chandra Sena was slain by Parasurama,\nthe Brahman destroyer of the Kshatriyas, but the child was saved by a\nRishi, who promised that he should be brought up as a clerk. The boy\nwas named Somraj and was married to the daughter of Chitra Gupta, the\nrecorder of the dead. The caste thus claim Kshatriya origin. The name\nPrabhu signifies 'lord,' but the Brahmans pretend that the real name\nof the caste was Parbhu, meaning one of irregular birth. The Prabhus\nsay that Parbhu is a colloquial corruption used by the uneducated. The\n_gotras_ of the Prabhus are eponymous, the names being the same as\nthose of Brahmans. In the Central Provinces many of them have the\nsurname of Chitnavis or Secretary. Child-marriage is in vogue and\nwidow-remarriage is forbidden. The wedding ceremony resembles that\nof the Brahmans.\n\nIn his _Description of a Prabhu marriage_ [448] Rai Bahadur B.A. Gupte\nshows how the old customs are being broken through among the educated\nclasses under the influence of modern ideas. Marriages are no longer\narranged without regard to the wishes of the couple, which are thus\nascertained: \"The next step [449] is to find out the inclination of the\nhero of the tale. His friends and equals do that easily enough. They\nbegin talking of the family and the girl, and are soon able to fathom\nhis mind. They leave on his desk all the photographs of the girls\noffered and watch his movements. If he is sensible he quietly drops\nor returns all the likenesses except the one he prefers, and keeps\nthis in his drawer. He dare not display it, for it is immodest to do\nso. The news of the approval by the boy soon reaches the parents of the\ngirl.\" Similarly in her case: \"The girl has no direct voice, but her\nlikes and dislikes are carefully fathomed through her girl friends. If\nshe says, 'Why is papa in such a hurry to get rid of me,' or turns\nher face and goes away as soon as the proposed family is mentioned,\na sensible father drops the case and turns his attention to some other\nboy. This is the direct result of higher education under British rule,\nbut among the masses the girl has absolutely no voice, and the boy has\nvery little unless he revolts and disobediently declines to accept a\ngirl already selected.\" Similarly the educated Prabhus are beginning\nto dispense with the astrologer's calculations showing the agreement\nof the horoscopes of the couple, which are too often made a cloak for\nthe extortion of large presents. \"It very often happens that everything\nis amicably settled except the greed of the priest, and he manages to\nfind out some disagreement between the horoscopes of the marriageable\nparties to vent his anger. This trick has been sufficiently exposed,\nand the educated portion of this ultra-literary caste have in most\ncases discarded horoscopes and planetary conjunctions altogether. Under\nthese restrictions the only thing the council of astrologers have to\ndo is to draw up two documents giving diagrams based on the names\nof the parties--for names are presumably selected according to the\nconjunctions of the stars at birth. But they are often not, and depend\non the liking of the father for a family god, a mythological hero,\na patron or a celebrated ancestor in the case of the boy. In that of\nthe girl the favourite deity or a character in the most recent fable\nor drama the father has just read.\"\n\nAccording to custom the bridegroom should go to the bride's house to\nbe married, but if it is more convenient to have the wedding at the\nbridegroom's town, the bride goes there to a temporary house taken\nby her father, and then the bridegroom proceeds to a temple with\nhis party and is welcomed as if he had arrived on completion of a\njourney. Mr. Gupte thus describes the reception of the bride when\nshe has come to be married: \"But there comes an urgent telegram. The\nbride and her mother are expected and information is given to the\nbridegroom's father. In all haste preparations are made to give\nher a grand and suitable reception. Oh, the flutter among the girls\nassembled in the house of the bridegroom from all quarters. Every one\nis dressed in her best and is trying to be the foremost in welcoming\nthe new bride, the Goddess Lakshmi. The numerous maidservants of\nthe house want to prostrate themselves before their future queen on\nthe Suna or borderland of the city, which is of course the railway\nstation. Musicians have been already despatched and the platform is\nfull of gaily dressed girls. The train arrives, the party assemble at\nthe waiting-room, a maidservant waves rice and water to 'take off'\nthe effects of evil eyes and they start amid admiring eyes of the\npassengers and onlookers. As soon as the bride reaches her father's\ntemporary residence another girl waves rice and water and throws\nit away. The girls of the bridegroom's house run home and come back\nagain with a Kalash (water-pot) full of water, with its mouth covered\nwith mango-leaves and topped over with a cocoanut and a large tray of\nsugar. This is called _Sakhar pani_, sugar and water, the first to\nwash the mouth with and the second to sweeten it. The girls have by\nthis time all gathered round the bride and are busy cheering her up\nwith encouraging remarks: 'Oh, she is a Rati, the goddess of beauty,'\nsays one, and another, 'How delicate,' 'What a fine nose' from a\nthird, and 'Look at her eyes' from a fourth. All complimentary and\ncomforting. 'We are glad it is our house you are coming to,' says\na sister-in-law in prospect. 'We are happy you are going to be our\n_malikin_ (mistress),' adds a maidservant. As soon as the elder ladies\nhave completed their courteous inquiries _pan-supari_ and _attar_ are\ndistributed and the party returns home. But on arrival the girls gather\nround the bridegroom to tease him. 'Oh, you Sudharak (reformer),' 'Oh,\nyou Sahib (European), _you_ have selected your bride.' 'You have seen\nher _before_ marriage. You have broken the rule of the society. You\nought to be excommunicated.' 'But,' says another, 'he will now have\nno time to speak to us. His Rati (goddess of beauty) and he! The Sahib\nand the Memsahib! We shall all be forgotten now. Who cares for sisters\nand cousins in these days of civilisation?' But all these little jokes\nof the little girls are meant as congratulations to him for having\nsecured a good girl.\" At a wedding among the highest families such\nas is described here, the bridegroom is presented with drinking cups\nand plates, trays for holding sandalwood paste, betel-leaf and an\nincense-burner, all in solid silver to the value of about Rs. 1000;\nwater-pots and cooking vessels and a small bath in German silver\ncosting Rs. 300 to Rs. 400; and a set of brass vessels. [450]\n\n\n\n\n2. General Customs\n\nThe Prabhus wear the sacred thread. In Bombay boys receive it a short\ntime before their marriage without the ceremonies which form part of\nthe regular Brahman investiture. On the fifth day after the birth\nof a child, the sword and also pens, paper and ink are worshipped,\nthe sword being the symbol of their Kshatriya origin and the pens,\npaper and ink of their present occupation of clerks. [451] The\nfuneral ceremonies, Mr. Enthoven writes, are performed during the\nfirst thirteen days after death. Oblations of rice are offered every\nday, in consequence of which the soul of the dead attains a spiritual\nbody, limb by limb, till on the thirteenth day it is enabled to start\non its journey. In twelve months the journey ends, and a _shraddh_\nceremony is performed on an extensive scale on the anniversary of\nthe death. Most of the Prabhus are in Government service and others\nare landowners. In the Bombay Presidency [452] they had at first\nalmost a monopoly of Government service as English writers, and the\nterm Prabhu was commonly employed to denote a clerk of any caste who\ncould write English. Both men and women of the caste are generally\nof a fair complexion, resembling the Maratha Brahmans. The taste of\nthe women in dress is proverbial, and when a Sunar, Sutar or Kasar\nwoman has dressed herself in her best for some family festival, she\nwill ask her friends, '_Prabhuin disto_,' or 'Do I look like a Prabhu?'\n\n\n\n\n\nRaghuvansi\n\n\n\n1. Historical notice\n\n_Raghuvansi, Raghvi._--A class of Rajputs of impure descent, who have\nnow developed in the Central Provinces into a caste of cultivators,\nmarrying among themselves. Their first settlement here was in the\nNerbudda Valley, and Sir C. Elliott wrote of them: [453] \"They are\na queer class, all professing to be Rajputs from Ajodhia, though on\ncross-examination they are obliged to confess that they did not come\nhere straight from Ajodhia, but stopped in Bundelkhand and the Gwalior\nterritory by the way. They are obviously of impure blood as they marry\nonly among themselves; but when they get wealthy and influential they\nassume the sacred thread, stop all familiarity with Gujars and Kirars\n(with whom they are accustomed to smoke the huqqa and to take water)\nand profess to be very high-caste Rajputs indeed.\" From Hoshangabad\nthey have spread to Betul, Chhindwara and Nagpur and now number 24,000\npersons in all in the Central Provinces. Chhindwara, on the Satpura\nplateau, is supposed to have been founded by one Ratan Raghuvansi,\nwho built the first house on the site, burying a goat alive under\nthe foundations. The goat is still worshipped as the tutelary deity\nof the town. The name Raghuvansi is derived from Raja Raghu, king of\nAjodhia and ancestor of the great Rama, the hero of the Ramayana. In\nNagpur the name has been shortened to Raghvi, and the branch of the\ncaste settled here is somewhat looked down upon by their fellows\nin Hoshangabad. Sir R. Craddock [454] states that their religion\nis unorthodox and they have _gurus_ or priests of their own caste,\ndiscarding Brahmans. Their names end in Deo. Their origin, however,\nis still plainly discernible in their height, strength of body and\nfair complexion. The notice continues: \"Whatever may happen to other\nclasses the Raghvi will never give way to the moneylender. Though he\nis fond of comfort he combines a good deal of thrift with it, and the\nclannish spirit of the caste would prevent any oppression of Raghvi\ntenants by a landlord or moneylender of their own body.\" In Chhindwara,\nMr. Montgomerie states, [455] they rank among the best cultivators,\nand formerly lived in clans, holding villages on _bhaiachari_ or\ncommunal tenure. As malguzars or village proprietors, they are very\nprone to absorb tenant land into their home-farms.\n\n\n\n\n2. Social customs\n\nThe Raghuvansis have now a set of exogamous groups of the usual\nlow-caste type, designated after titles, nicknames or natural\nobjects. They sometimes invest their sons with the sacred thread\nat the time of marriage instead of performing the proper thread\nceremony. Some discard the cord after the wedding is over. At\na marriage the Raghuvansis of Chhindwara and Nagpur combine the\nHindustani custom of walking round the sacred pole with the Maratha one\nof throwing coloured rice on the bridal couple. Sometimes they have\nwhat is known as a _gankar_ wedding. At this, flour, sugar and _ghi_\n[456] are the only kinds of food permissible, large cakes of flour\nand sugar being boiled in pitchers full of _ghi_, and everybody being\ngiven as much of this as he can eat. The guests generally over-eat\nthemselves, and as weddings are celebrated in the hot weather, one or\ntwo may occasionally die of repletion. The neighbours of Raghuvansis\nsay that the host considers such an occurrence as evidence of the\ncomplete success of his party, but this is probably a libel. Such a\nwedding feast may cost two or three thousand rupees. After the wedding\nthe women of the bride's party attack those of the bridegroom's\nwith bamboo sticks, while these retaliate by throwing red powder\non them. The remarriage of widows is freely permitted, but a widow\nmust be taken from the house of her own parents or relatives, and\nnot from that of her first husband or his parents. In fact, if any\nmembers of the dead husband's family meet the second husband on the\nnight of the wedding they will attack him and a serious affray may\nfollow. On reaching her new house the woman enters it by a back door,\nafter bathing and changing all her clothes. The old clothes are given\naway to a barber or washerman, and the presentation of new clothes\nby the second husband is the only essential ceremony. No wife will\nlook on a widow's face on the night of her second marriage, for fear\nlest by doing so she should come to the same position. The majority of\nthe caste abstain from liquor, and they eat flesh in some localities,\nbut not in others. The men commonly wear beards divided by a shaven\npatch in the centre of the chin; and the women have two body-cloths,\none worn like a skirt according to the northern custom. Mr. Crooke\nstates [457] that \"in northern India a tradition exists among them\nthat the cultivation of sugar is fatal to the farmer, and that the\ntiling of a house brings down divine displeasure upon the owner;\nhence to this day no sugar is grown and not a tiled house is to be\nseen in their estates.\" These superstitions do not appear to be known\nat all in the Central Provinces.\n\n\n\n\n\nRajjhar\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice\n\n_Rajjhar, Rajbhar, Lajjhar._--A caste of farmservants found in the\nnorthern Districts. In 1911 they numbered about 8000 persons in the\nCentral Provinces, being returned principally from the Districts\nof the Satpura plateau. The names Rajjhar and Rajbhar appear to be\napplied indiscriminately to the same caste, who are an offshoot of\nthe great Bhar tribe of northern India. The original name appears\nto have been Raj Bhar, which signifies a landowning Bhar, like\nRaj-Gond, Raj-Korku and so on. In Mandla all the members of the\ncaste were shown as Rajbhar in 1891, and Rajjhar in 1901, and the\ntwo names seem to be used interchangeably in other Districts in the\nsame manner. Some section or family names, such as Bamhania, Patela,\nBarhele and others, are common to people calling themselves Rajjhar\nand Rajbhar. But, though practically the same caste, the Rajjhars\nseem, in some localities, to be more backward and primitive than the\nRajbhars. This is also the case in Berar, where they are commonly\nknown as Lajjhar and are said to be akin to the Gonds. A Gond will\nthere take food from a Lajjhar, but not a Lajjhar from a Gond. They\nare more Hinduised than the Gonds and have prohibited the killing or\ninjuring of cows by some caste penalties. [458]\n\n\n\n\n2. Origin and subdivisions\n\nThe caste appears to be in part of mixed origin arising from the\nunions of Hindu fathers with women of the Bhar tribe. Several of\ntheir family names are derived from those of other castes, as Bamhania\n(from Brahman), Sunarya (from Sunar), Baksaria (a Rajput sept), Ahiriya\n(an Ahir or cowherd), and Bisatia from Bisati (a hawker). Other names\nare after plants or animals, as Baslya from the _bans_ or bamboo,\nMohanya from the _mohin_ tree, Chhitkaria from the _sitaphal_ or\ncustard-apple tree, Hardaya from the banyan tree, Richhya from the\nbear, and Dukhania from the buffalo. Members of this last sept will not\ndrink buffalo's milk or wear black cloth, because this is the colour\nof their totem animal. Members of septs named after other castes have\nalso adopted some natural object as a sept totem; thus those of the\nSunarya sept worship gold as being the metal with which the Sunar is\nassociated. Those of the Bamhania sept revere the banyan and pipal\ntrees, as these are held sacred by Brahmans. The Bakraria or Bagsaria\nsept believe their name to be derived from that of the _bagh_ or tiger,\nand they worship this animal's footprints by tying a thread round them.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage\n\nThe marriage of members of the same sept, and also that of first\ncousins, is forbidden. The caste do not employ Brahmans at their\nmarriage and other ceremonies, and they account for this somewhat\nquaintly by saying that their ancestors were at one time accustomed\nto rely on the calculations of Brahman priests; but many marriages\nwhich the Brahman foretold as auspicious turned out very much the\nreverse; and on this account they have discarded the Brahman, and now\ndetermine the suitability or otherwise of a projected union by the\ncommon primitive custom of throwing two grains of rice into a vessel\nof water and seeing whether they will meet. The truth is probably that\nthey are too backward ever to have had recourse to the Brahman priest,\nbut now, though they still apparently have no desire for his services,\nthey recognise the fact to be somewhat discreditable to themselves, and\ndesire to explain it away by the story already given. In Hoshangabad\nthe bride still goes to the bridegroom's house to be married as among\nthe Gonds. A bride-price is paid, which consists of four rupees,\na _khandi_ [459] of juari or wheat, and two pieces of cloth. This\nis received by the bride's father, who, however, has in turn to\npay seven rupees eight annas and a goat to the caste _panchayat_\nor committee for the arrangement and sanction of the match. This\nlast payment is known as _Skarab-ka-rupaya_ or liquor-money, and\nwith the goat furnishes the wherewithal for a sumptuous feast to the\ncaste. The marriage-shed must be made of freshly-cut timber, which\nshould not be allowed to fall to the ground, but must be supported\nand carried off on men's shoulders as it is cut. When the bridegroom\narrives at the marriage-shed he is met by the bride's mother and\nconducted by her to an inner room of the house, where he finds the\nbride standing. He seizes her fist, which she holds clenched, and\nopens her fingers by force. The couple then walk five times round the\n_chauk_ or sacred space made with lines of flour on the floor, the\nbridegroom holding the bride by her little finger. They are preceded\nby some relative of the bride, who walks round the post carrying a\npot of water, with seven holes in it; the water spouts from these\nholes on to the ground, and the couple must tread in it as they go\nround the post. This forms the essential and binding portion of the\nmarriage. That night the couple sleep in the same room with a woman\nlying between them. Next day they return to the bridegroom's house,\nand on arriving at his door the boy's mother meets him and touches\nhis head, breast and knees with a churning-stick, a winnowing-fan and\na pestle, with the object of exorcising any evil spirits who may be\naccompanying the bridal couple. As the pair enter the marriage-shed\nerected before the bridegroom's house they are drenched with water by\na man sitting on the roof, and when they come to the door of the house\nthe bridegroom's younger brother, or some other boy, sits across it\nwith his legs stretched out to prevent the bride from entering. The\ngirl pushes his legs aside and goes into the house, where she stays\nfor three months with her husband, and then returns to her parents for\na year. After this she is sent to her husband with a basket of fried\ncakes and a piece of cloth, and takes up her residence with him. When\na widow is to be married, the couple pour turmeric and water over each\nother, and then walk seven times round in a circle in an empty space,\nholding each other by the hand. A widow commonly marries her deceased\nhusband's younger brother, but is not compelled to do so. Divorce is\npermitted for adultery on the part of the wife.\n\n\n\n\n4. Social Customs\n\nThe caste bury their dead with the head pointing to the west. This\npractice is peculiar, and is also followed, Colonel Dalton states, by\nthe hill Bhuiyas of Bengal, who in so doing honour the quarter of the\nsetting sun. When a burial takes place, all the mourners who accompany\nthe corpse throw a little earth into the grave. On the same day some\nfood and liquor are taken to the grave and offered to the dead man's\nspirit, and a feast is given to the caste-fellows. This concludes\nthe ceremonies of mourning, and the next day the relatives go about\ntheir business. The caste are usually petty cultivators and labourers,\nwhile they also collect grass and fuel for sale, and propagate the lac\ninsect. In Seoni they have a special relation with the Ahirs, from whom\nthey will take cooked food, while they say that the Ahirs will also eat\nfrom their hands. In Narsinghpur a similar connection has been observed\nbetween the Rajjhars and the Lodhi caste. This probably arises from\nthe fact that the former have worked for several generations as the\nfarm-servants of Lodhi or Ahir employers, and have been accustomed to\nlive in their houses and partake of their meals, so that caste rules\nhave been abandoned for the sake of convenience. A similar intimacy\nhas been observed between the Panwars and Gonds, and other castes\nwho stand in this relation to each other. The Rajjhars will also\neat _katcha_ food (cooked with water) from Kunbis and Kahars. But\nin Hoshangabad some of them will not take food from any caste, even\nfrom Brahmans. Their women wear glass bangles only on the right hand,\nand a brass ornament known as _mathi_ on the left wrist. They wear\nno ornaments in the nose or ears, and have no breast-cloth. They\nare tattooed with dots on the face and patterns of animals on the\nright arm, but not on the left arm or legs. A _liaison_ between\na youth and maiden of the caste is considered a trifling matter,\nbeing punished only with a fine of two to four annas or pence. A\nmarried woman detected in an intrigue is mulcted in a sum of four\nor five rupees, and if her partner be a man of another caste a lock\nof her hair is cut off. The caste are generally ignorant and dirty,\nand are not much better than the Gonds and other forest tribes.\n\n\n\n\n\nRajput\n\n[The following article is based mainly on Colonel Tod's classical\n_Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan_, 2nd ed., Madras, Higginbotham,\n1873, and Mr. Crooke's articles on the Rajput clans in his _Tribes and\nCastes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh_. Much information as to\nthe origin of the Rajput clans has been obtained from inscriptions and\nworked up mainly by the late Mr. A.M.T. Jackson and Messrs. B.G. and\nD.R. Bhandarkar; this has been set out with additions and suggestions\nin Mr. V.A. Smith's _Early History of India_, 3rd ed., and has been\nreproduced in the subordinate articles on the different clans. Though\nmany of the leading clans are very weakly represented in the Central\nProvinces, some notice of them is really essential in an article\ntreating generally of the Rajput caste, on however limited a scale, and\nhas therefore been included. In four cases, Panwar, Jadum, Raghuvansi\nand Daharia, the original Rajput clans have now developed into separate\ncultivating castes, ranking well below the Rajputs; separate articles\nhave been written on these as for independent castes.]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n     1. _Introductory notice_.\n     2. _The thirty-six royal races_.\n     3. _The origin of the Rajputs_.\n     4. _Subdivisions of the clans_.\n     5. _Marriage customs_.\n     6. _Funeral rites_.\n     7. _Religion_.\n     8. _Food_.\n     9. _Opium_.\n    10. _Improved training of Rajput chiefs_.\n    11. _Dress_.\n    12. _Social customs_.\n    13. _Seclusion of women_.\n    14. _Traditional character of the Rajputs_.\n    15. _Occupation_.\n\n\nList of Subordinate Articles\n\n\n     1. Baghel.\n     2. Bagri.\n     3. Bais.\n     4. Baksaria.\n     5. Banaphar.\n     6. Bhadauria.\n     7. Bisen.\n     8. Bundela.\n     9. Chandel.\n    10. Chauhan.\n    11. Dhakar.\n    12. Gaharwar, Gherwal.\n    13. Gaur, Chamar-Gaur.\n    14. Haihaya, Haihaivansi, Kalachuri.\n    15. Huna, Hoon.\n    16. Kachhwaha, Cutchwaha.\n    17. Nagvansi.\n    18. Nikumbh.\n    19. Paik.\n    20. Parihar.\n    21. Rathor, Rathaur.\n    22. Sesodia, Gahlot, Aharia.\n    23. Solankhi, Solanki, Chalukya.\n    24. Somvansi, Chandravansi.\n    25. Surajvansi.\n    26. Tomara, Tuar, Tunwar.\n    27. Yadu, Yadava, Yadu-Bhatti, Jadon.\n\n\n\n\n1. Introductory notice\n\n_Rajput, Kshatriya, Chhatri, Thakur._--The Rajputs are the\nrepresentatives of the old Kshatriya or warrior class, the second\nof the four main castes or orders of classical Hinduism, and were\nsupposed to have been made originally from the arms of Brahma. The old\nname of Kshatriya is still commonly used in the Hindi form Chhatri,\nbut the designation Rajput, or son of a king, has now superseded\nit as the standard name of the caste. Thakur, or lord, is the common\nRajput title, and that by which they are generally addressed. The total\nnumber of persons returned as Rajputs in the Province in 1911 was about\n440,000. India has about nine million Rajputs in all, and they are most\nnumerous in the Punjab, the United Provinces, and Bihar and Orissa,\nRajputana returning under 700,000 and Central India about 800,000.\n\nThe bulk of the Rajputs in the Central Provinces are of very impure\nblood. Several groups, such as the Panwars of the Wainganga Valley,\nthe Raghuvansis of Chhindwara and Nagpur, the Jadams of Hoshangabad and\nthe Daharias of Chhattisgarh, have developed into separate castes and\nmarry among themselves, though a true Rajput must not marry in his own\nclan. Some of them have abandoned the sacred thread and now rank with\nthe good cultivating castes below Banias. Reference may be made to the\nseparate articles on these castes. Similarly the Surajvansi, Gaur or\nGorai, Chauhan, and Bagri clans marry among themselves in the Central\nProvinces, and it is probable that detailed research would establish\nthe same of many clans or parts of clans bearing the name of Rajput in\nall parts of India. If the definition of a proper Rajput were taken,\nas it should be correctly, as one whose family intermarried with clans\nof good standing, the caste would be reduced to comparatively small\ndimensions. The name Dhakar, also shown as a Rajput clan, is applied\nto a person of illegitimate birth, like Vidur. Over 100,000 persons,\nor nearly a quarter of the total, did not return the name of any clan\nin 1911, and these are all of mixed or illegitimate descent. They are\nnumerous in Nimar, and are there known as _chhoti-tur_ or low-class\nRajputs. The Bagri Rajputs of Seoni and the Surajvansis of Betal marry\namong themselves, while the Bundelas of Saugor intermarry with two\nother local groups, the Panwar and Dhundhele, all the three being of\nimpure blood. In Jubbulpore a small clan of persons known as Paik or\nfoot-soldier return themselves as Rajputs, but are no doubt a mixed\nlow-caste group. Again, some landholding sections of the primitive\ntribes have assumed the names of Rajput clans. Thus the zamindars of\nBilaspur, who originally belonged to the Kawar tribe, call themselves\nTuar or Tomara Rajputs, and the landholding section of the Mundas\nin Chota Nagpur say that they are of the Nagvansi clan. Other names\nare returned which are not those of Rajput clans or their offshoots\nat all. If these subdivisions, which cannot be considered as proper\nRajputs, and all those who have returned no clan be deducted, there\nremain not more than 100,000 who might be admitted to be pure Rajputs\nin Rajputana. But a close local scrutiny even of these would no doubt\nresult in the detection of many persons who have assumed and returned\nthe names of good clans without being entitled to them. And many\nmore would come away as being the descendants of remarried widows. A\nRajput of really pure family and descent is in fact a person of some\nconsideration in most parts of the Central Provinces.\n\n\n\n\n2. The thirty-six royal races\n\nTraditionally the Rajputs are divided into thirty-six great clans\nor races, of which Colonel Tod gives a list compiled from different\nauthorities as follows (alternative names by which the clan or\nimportant branches of it are known are shown in brackets):\n\n\n     1. Ikshwaka or Surajvansi.\n     2. Indu, Somvansi or Chandravansi.\n     3. Gahlot or Sesodia (Raghuvansi).\n     4. Yadu (Bhatti, Jareja, Jadon, Banaphar).\n     5. Tuar or Tomara.\n     6. Rathor.\n     7. Kachhwaha (Cutchwaha).\n     8. Pramara or Panwar (Mori).\n     9. Chauhan (Hara, Khichi, Nikumbh, Bhadauria).\n    10. Chalukya or Solankhi (Baghel).\n    11. Parihar.\n    12. Chawara or Chaura.\n    13. Tak or Takshac (Nagvansi, Mori).\n    14. Jit or Gete.\n    15. Huna.\n    16. Kathi.\n    17. Balla.\n    18. Jhalla.\n    19. Jaitwa or Kamari.\n    20. Gohil.\n    21. Sarweya.\n    22. Silar.\n    23. Dhabi.\n    24. Gaur.\n    25. Doda or Dor.\n    26. Gherwal or Gaharwar (Bundela).\n    27. Badgujar.\n    28. Sengar.\n    29. Sikarwal.\n    30. Bais.\n    31. Dahia.\n    32. Johia.\n    33. Mohil.\n    34. Nikumbh.\n    35. Rajpali.\n    36. Dahima.\n\n\nAnd two extra, Hul and Daharia.\n\nSeveral of the above races are extinct or nearly so, and on the other\nhand some very important modern clans, as the Gautam, Dikhit and Bisen,\nand such historically important ones as the Chandel and Haihaya,\nare not included in the thirty-six royal races at all. Practically\nall the clans should belong either to the solar and lunar branch,\nthat is, should be descended from the sun or moon, but the division,\nif it ever existed, is not fully given by Colonel Tod. Two special\nclans, the Surajvansi and Chandra or Somvansi, are named after the sun\nand moon respectively; and a few others, as the Sesodia, Kachhwaha,\nGohil, Bais and Badgujar, are recorded as being of the solar race,\ndescended from Vishnu through his incarnation as Rama. The Rathors also\nclaimed solar lineage, but this was not wholly conceded by the Bhats,\nand the Dikhits are assigned to the solar branch by their legends. The\ngreat clan of the Yadavas, of whom the present Jadon or Jadum and\nBhatti Rajputs are representatives, was of the lunar race, tracing\ntheir descent from Krishna, though, as a matter of fact, Krishna was\nalso an incarnation of Vishnu or the sun; and the Tuar or Tomara,\nas well as the Jit or Gete, the Rajput section of the modern Jats,\nwho were considered to be branches of the Yadavas, would also be of\nthe moon division, The Gautam and Bisen clans, who are not included in\nthe thirty-six royal races, now claim lunar descent. Four clans, the\nPanwar, Chauhan, Chalukya or Solankhi, and Parihar, had a different\norigin, being held to have been born through the agency of the gods\nfrom a firepit on the summit of Mount Abu. They are hence known\nas Agnikula or the fire races. Several clans, such as the Tak or\nTakshac, the Huna and the Chaura, were considered by Colonel Tod to\nbe the representatives of the Huns or Scythians, that is, the nomad\ninvading tribes from Central Asia, whose principal incursions took\nplace during the first five centuries of the Christian era.\n\nAt least six of the thirty-six royal races, the Sarweya, Silar, Doda\nor Dor, Dahia, Johia and Mohil, were extinct in Colonel Tod's time,\nand others were represented only by small settlements in Rajputana and\nSurat. On the other hand, there are now a large number of new clans,\nwhose connection with the thirty-six is doubtful, though in many\ncases they are probably branches of the old clans who have obtained\na new name on settling in a different locality.\n\n\n\n\n3. The origin of the Rajputs\n\nIt was for long the custom to regard the Rajputs as the direct\ndescendants and representatives of the old Kshatriya or warrior\nclass of the Indian Aryans, as described in the Vedas and the great\nepics. Even Colonel Tod by no means held this view in its entirety,\nand modern epigraphic research has caused its partial or complete\nabandonment Mr. V.A. Smith indeed says: [460] \"The main points to\nremember are that the Kshatriya or Rajput caste is essentially an\noccupational caste, composed of all clans following the Hindu ritual\nwho actually undertook the act of government; that consequently people\nof most diverse races were and are lumped together as Rajputs, and\nthat most of the great clans now in existence are descended either\nfrom foreign immigrants of the fifth or sixth century A.D. or from\nindigenous races such as the Gonds and Bhars.\" Colonel Tod held three\nclans, the Tak or Takshac, the Huna and the Chaura, to be descended\nfrom Scythian or nomad Central Asian immigrants, and the same origin\nhas been given for the Haihaya. The Huna clan actually retains the\nname of the White Huns, from whose conquests in the fifth century it\nprobably dates its existence. The principal clan of the lunar race,\nthe Yadavas, are said to have first settled in Delhi and at Dwarka in\nGujarat. But on the death of Krishna, who was their prince, they were\nexpelled from these places, and retired across the Indus, settling in\nAfghanistan. Again, for some reason which the account does not clearly\nexplain, they came at a later period to India and settled first in\nthe Punjab and afterwards in Rajputana. The Jit or Jat and the Tomara\nclans were branches of the Yadavas, and it is supposed that the Jits\nor Jats were also descended from the nomad invading tribes, possibly\nfrom the Yueh-chi tribe who conquered and occupied the Punjab during\nthe first and second centuries. [461] The legend of the Yadavas, who\nlived in Gujarat with their chief Krishna, but after his defeat and\ndeath retired to Central Asia, and at a later date returned to India,\nwould appear to correspond fairly well with the Saka invasion of the\nsecond century B.C. which penetrated to Kathiawar and founded a dynasty\nthere. In A.D. 124 the second Saka king was defeated by the Andhra\nking Vilivayakura II. and his kingdom destroyed. [462] But at about\nthe same period, the close of the first century, a fresh horde of the\nSakas came to Gujarat from Central Asia and founded another kingdom,\nwhich lasted until it was subverted by Chandragupta Vikramaditya\nabout A.D. 390. [463] The historical facts about the Sakas, as given\non the authority of Mr. V.A. Smith, thus correspond fairly closely\nwith the Yadava legend. And the later Yueh-chi immigrants might\nwell be connected by the Bhats with the Saka hordes who had come\nat an earlier date from the same direction, and so the Jats [464]\nmight be held to be an offshoot of the Yadavas. This connection of\nthe Yadava and Jat legends with the facts of the immigration of the\nSakas and Yueh-chi appears a plausible one, but may be contradicted\nby historical arguments of which the writer is ignorant. If it were\ncorrect we should be justified in identifying the lunar clans of\nRajputs with the early Scythian immigrants of the first and second\ncenturies. Another point is that Buddha is said to be the progenitor\nof the whole Indu or lunar race. [465] It is obvious that Buddha\nhad no real connection with these Central Asian tribes, as he died\nsome centuries before their appearance in India. But the Yueh-chi or\nKushan kings of the Punjab in the first and second centuries A.D. were\nfervent Buddhists and established that religion in the Punjab. Hence\nwe can easily understand how, if the Yadus or Jats and other lunar\nclans were descended from the Saka and Yueh-chi immigrants, the\nlegend of their descent from Buddha, who was himself a Kshatriya,\nmight be devised for them by their bards when they were subsequently\nconverted from Buddhism to Hinduism. The Sakas of western India, on the\nother hand, who it is suggested may be represented by the Yadavas,\nwere not Buddhists in the beginning, whether or not they became\nso afterwards. But as has been seen, though Buddha was their first\nprogenitor, Krishna was also their king while they were in Gujarat,\nso that at this time they must have been supposed to be Hindus. The\nlegend of descent from Buddha arising with the Yueh-chi or Kushans\nmight have been extended to them. Again, the four Agnikula or fire-born\nclans, the Parihar, Chalukya or Solankhi, Panwar and Chauhan, are\nconsidered to be the descendants of the White Hun and Gujar invaders\nof the fifth and sixth centuries. These clans were said to have been\ncreated by the gods from a firepit on the summit of Mount Abu for\nthe re-birth of the Kshatriya caste after it had been exterminated\nby the slaughter of Parasurama the Brahman. And it has been suggested\nthat this legend refers to the cruel massacres of the Huns, by which\nthe bulk of the old aristocracy, then mainly Buddhist, was wiped out;\nwhile the Huns and Gujars, one at least of whose leaders was a fervent\nadherent of Brahmanism and slaughtered the Buddhists of the Punjab,\nbecame the new fire-born clans on being absorbed into Hinduism. [466]\nThe name of the Huns is still retained in the Huna clan, now almost\nextinct. There remain the clans descended from the sun through Rama,\nand it would be tempting to suppose that these are the representatives\nof the old Aryan Kshatriyas. But Mr. Bhandarkar has shown [467] that\nthe Sesodias, the premier clan of the solar race and of all Rajputs,\nare probably sprung from Nagar Brahmans of Gujarat, and hence from the\nGujar tribes; and it must therefore be supposed that the story of solar\norigin and divine ancestry was devised because they were once Brahmans,\nand hence, in the view of the bards, of more honourable origin than\nthe other clans. Similarly the Badgujar clan, also of solar descent,\nis shown by its name of _bara_ or great Gujar to have been simply an\naristocratic section of the Gujars; while the pedigree of the Rathors,\nanother solar clan, and one of those who have shed most lustre on the\nRajput name, was held to be somewhat doubtful by the Bhats, and their\nsolar origin was not fully admitted. Mr. Smith gives two great clans\nas very probably of aboriginal or Dravidian origin, the Gaharwar\nor Gherwal, from whom the Bundelas are derived, and the Chandel,\nwho ruled Bundelkhand from the ninth to the twelfth centuries, and\nbuilt the fine temples at Mahoba, Kalanjar and Khajaraho as well as\nmaking many great tanks. This corresponds with Colonel Tod's account,\nwhich gives no place to the Chandels among the thirty-six royal\nraces, and states that the Gherwal Rajput is scarcely known to his\nbrethren in Rajasthan, who will not admit his contaminated blood to\nmix with theirs, though as a brave warrior he is entitled to their\nfellowship. [468] Similarly the Kathi clan may be derived from the\nindigenous Kathi tribe who gave their name to Kathiawar. And the\nSurajvansi, Somvansi and Nagvansi clans, or descendants of the sun,\nmoon and snake, which are scarcely known in Rajputana, may represent\nlandholding sections of lower castes or non-Aryan tribes who have been\nadmitted to Rajput rank. But even though it be found that the majority\nof the Rajput clans cannot boast a pedigree dating farther back than\nthe first five centuries of our era, this is at any rate an antiquity\nto which few if any of the greatest European houses can lay claim.\n\n\n\n\n4. Subdivisions of the clans\n\nMany of the great clans are now split up into a number of branches. The\nmost important of these were according to locality, the different\n_sachae_ or branches being groups settled in separate areas. Thus\nthe Chalukya or Solankhi had sixteen branches, of which the Baghels\nof Rewah or Baghelkhand were the most important. The Panwars had\nthirty-five branches, of which the Mori and the Dhunda, now perhaps\nthe Dhundele of Saugor, are the best known. The Gahlot had twenty-four\nbranches, of which one, the Sesodia, became so important that it has\ngiven its name to the whole clan. The Chamar-Gaur section of the Gaur\nclan now claim a higher rank than the other Gaurs, though the name\nwould apparently indicate the appearance of a Chamar in their family\ntree; while the Tilokchandi Bais form an aristocratic section of the\nBais clan, named after a well-known king, Tilokchand, who reigned in\nupper India about the twelfth century and is presumably claimed by\nthem as an ancestor. Besides this the Rajputs have _gotras_, named\nafter eponymous saints exactly like the Brahman _gotras_, and probably\nadopted in imitation of the Brahmans. Since, theoretically, marriage\nis prohibited in the whole clan, the _gotra_ divisions would appear\nto be useless, but Sir H. Risley states that persons of the same clan\nbut with different _gotras_ have begun to intermarry. Similarly it\nwould appear that the different branches of the great clans mentioned\nabove must intermarry in some cases; while in the Central Provinces,\nas already stated, several clans have become regular castes and form\nendogamous and not exogamous groups. In northern India, however,\nMr. Crooke's accounts of the different clans indicate that marriage\nwithin the clan is as a rule not permitted. The clans themselves\nand their branches have different degrees of rank for purposes of\nmarriage, according to the purity of their descent, while in each clan\nor subclan there is an inferior section formed of the descendants of\nremarried widows, or even the offspring of women of another caste,\nwho have probably in the course of generations not infrequently got\nback into their father's clan. Thus many groups of varying status\narise, and one of the principal rules of a Rajput's life was that he\nmust marry his daughter, sometimes into a clan of equal, or sometimes\ninto one of higher rank than his own. Hence arose great difficulty\nin arranging the marriages of girls and sometimes the payment of a\nprice to the bridegroom; while in order to retain the favour of the\nBhats and avoid their sarcasm, lavish expenditure had to be incurred\nby the bride's father on presents to these rapacious mendicants. [469]\nThus a daughter became in a Rajput's eyes a long step on the road to\nruin, and female infanticide was extensively practised. This crime has\nnever been at all common in the Central Provinces, where the rule of\nmarrying a daughter into an equal or higher clan has not been enforced\nwith the same strictness as in northern India. But occasional instances\nformerly occurred in which the child's neck was placed under one leg\nof its mother's cot, or it was poisoned with opium or by placing the\njuice of the _akra_ or swallow-wort plant on the mother's nipple.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage customs\n\nProperly the proposal for a Rajput marriage should emanate from the\nbride's side, and the customary method of making it was to send a\ncocoanut to the bridegroom. 'The cocoanut came,' was the phrase used\nto intimate that a proposal of marriage had been made. [470] It is\npossible that the bride's initiative was a relic of the Swayamwara or\nmaiden's choice, when a king's daughter placed a garland on the neck\nof the youth she preferred among the competitors in a tournament,\nand among some Rajputs the Jayamala or garland of victory is still\nhung round the bridegroom's neck in memory of this custom; but it may\nalso have been due to the fact that the bride had to pay the dowry. One\ntenth of this was paid as earnest when the match had been arranged, and\nthe boy's party could not then recede from it. At the entrance of the\nmarriage-shed was hung the _toran_, a triangle of three wooden bars,\nhaving the apex crowned with the effigy of a peacock. The bridegroom\non horseback, lance in hand, proceeded to break the _toran_, which was\ndefended by the damsels of the bride. They assailed him with missiles\nof various kinds, and especially with red powder made from the flowers\nof the _palas_ [471] tree, at the same time singing songs full of\nimmoral allusions. At length the _toran_ was broken amid the shouts\nof the retainers, and the fair defenders retired. If the bridegroom\ncould not attend in person his sword was sent to represent him,\nand was carried round the marriage-post, with the bride, this being\nconsidered a proper and valid marriage. At the rite of _hatleva_ or\njoining the hands of the couple it was customary that any request made\nby the bridegroom to the bride's father should meet with compliance,\nand this usage has led to many fatal results in history. Another\nnow obsolete custom was that the bride's father should present an\nelephant to his son-in-law as part of the dowry, but when a man could\nnot afford a real elephant a small golden image of the animal might be\nsubstituted. In noble families the bride was often accompanied to her\nhusband's house by a number of maidens belonging to the servant and\nmenial castes. These were called Devadhari or lamp-bearers, and became\ninmates of the harem, their offspring being _golas_ or slaves. In\ntime of famine many of the poor had also perforce to sell themselves\nas slaves in order to obtain subsistence, and a chiefs household would\nthus contain a large number of them. They were still adorned in Mewar,\nColonel Tod states, like the Saxon slaves of old, with a silver ring\nround the left ankle instead of the neck. They were well treated,\nand were often among the best of the military retainers; they took\nrank among themselves according to the quality of the mothers, and\noften held confidential places about the ruler's person. A former\nchief of Deogarh would appear at court with three hundred _golas_ or\nslaves on horseback in his train, men whose lives were his own. [472]\nThese special customs have now generally been abandoned by the Rajputs\nof the Central Provinces, and their weddings conform to the usual\nHindu type as described in the article on Kurmi. The remarriage of\nwidows is now recognised in the southern Districts, though not in the\nnorth; but even here widows frequently do marry and their offspring\nare received into the caste, though with a lower status than those\nwho do not permit this custom. Among the Baghels a full Rajput will\nallow a relative born of a remarried widow to cook his food for him,\nbut not to add the salt nor to eat it with him. Those who permit\nthe second marriage of widows also allow a divorced woman to remain\nin the caste and to marry again. But among proper Rajputs, as with\nBrahmans, a wife who goes wrong is simply put away and expelled from\nthe society. Polygamy is permitted and was formerly common among\nthe chiefs. Each wife was maintained in a separate suite of rooms,\nand the chief dined and spent the evening alternately with each of\nthem in her own quarters. The lady with her attendants would prepare\ndinner for him and wait upon him while he ate it, waving the punkah or\nfan behind him and entertaining him with her remarks, which, according\nto report, frequently constituted a pretty severe curtain lecture.\n\n\n\n\n6. Funeral rites\n\nThe dead are burnt, except infants, whose bodies are buried. Mourning\nis observed for thirteen days for a man, nine days for a woman,\nand three days for a child. The _shraddh_ ceremony or offering of\nsacrificial cakes to the spirit is performed either during the usual\nperiod in the month of Kunwar (September), or on the anniversary day\nof the death. It was formerly held that if a Kshatriya died on the\nbattlefield it was unnecessary to perform his funeral rites because\nhis spirit went straight to heaven, and thus the end to which the\nceremonies were directed was already attained without them. It was\nalso said that the wife of a man dying such a death should not regard\nherself as a widow nor undergo the privations imposed on widowhood. But\nthis did not apply so far as self-immolation was concerned, since the\nwives of warriors dying in battle very frequently became _sati_. In the\ncase of chiefs also it was sometimes the custom, probably for political\nreasons, that the heir should not observe mourning; because if he did\nso he would be incapable of appearing in an assembly for thirteen days,\nor of taking the public action which might be requisite to safeguard\nhis succession. The body of the late chief would be carried out by the\nback door of the house, and as soon as it left his successor would\ntake his seat on the _gaddi_ or cushion and begin to discharge the\npublic business of government.\n\n\n\n\n7. Religion\n\nThe principal deity of the Rajputs is the goddess Devi or Durga in her\nmore terrible form as the goddess of war. Their swords were sacred to\nher, and at the Dasahra festival they worshipped their swords and other\nweapons of war and their horses. The dreadful goddess also protected\nthe virtue of the Rajput women and caused to be enacted the terrible\nholocausts, not infrequent in Rajput history, when some stronghold\nwas besieged and could hold out no longer. A great furnace was then\nkindled in the citadel and into this the women, young and old, threw\nthemselves, or else died by their husbands' swords, while the men,\ndrunk with _bhang_ and wearing saffron-coloured robes, sallied out to\nsell their lives to the enemy as dearly as possible. It is related\nthat on one occasion Akbar desired to attempt the virtue of a queen\nof the Sesodia clan, and for that purpose caused her to lose herself\nin one of the mazes of his palace. The emperor appeared before her\nsuddenly as she was alone, but the lady, drawing a dagger, threatened\nto plunge it into her breast if he did not respect her, and at the same\ntime the goddess of her house appeared riding on a tiger. The baffled\nemperor gave way and retired, and her life and virtue were saved.\n\nThe Rajputs also worship the sun, whom many of them look upon as\ntheir first ancestor. They revere the animals and trees sacred to the\nHindus, and some clans show special veneration to a particular tree,\nnever cutting or breaking the branches or leaves. In this manner the\nBundelas revere the _kadamb_ tree, the Panwars the _nim_ [473] tree,\nthe Rathors the pipal [474] tree, and so on. This seems to be a relic\nof totemistic usage. In former times each clan had also a tribal god,\nwho was its protector and leader and watched over the destinies of\nthe clan. Sometimes it accompanied the clan into battle. \"Every royal\nhouse has its palladium, which is frequently borne to battle at the\nsaddle-bow of the prince. Rao Bhima Hara of Kotah lost his life and\nprotecting deity together. The celebrated Khichi (Chauhan) leader\nJai Singh never took the field without the god before him. 'Victory\nto Bujrung' was his signal for the charge so dreaded by the Maratha,\nand often has the deity been sprinkled with his blood and that of\nthe foe.\" [475] It is said that a Rajput should always kill a snake\nif he sees one, because the snake, though a prince among Rajputs,\nis an enemy, and he should not let it live. If he does not kill it,\nthe snake will curse him and bring ill-luck upon him. The same rule\napplies, though with less binding force, to a tiger.\n\n\n\n\n8. Food\n\nThe Rajputs eat the flesh of clean animals, but not pigs or fowls. They\nare, however, fond of the sport of pig-sticking, and many clans, as\nthe Bundelas and others, will eat the flesh of the wild pig. This\ncustom was perhaps formerly universal. Some of them eat of male\nanimals only and not of females, either because they fear that the\nlatter would render them effeminate or that they consider the sin\nto be less. Some only eat animals killed by the method of _jatka_\nor severing the head with one stroke of the sword or knife. They\nwill not eat animals killed in the Muhammadan fashion by cutting\nthe throat. They abstain from the flesh of the _nilgai_ or blue bull\nas being an animal of the cow tribe. Among the Brahmans and Rajputs\nfood cooked with water must not be placed in bamboo baskets, nor must\nanything made of bamboo be brought into the _rasoya_ or cooking-place,\nor the _chauka_, the space cleaned and marked out for meals. A special\nbrush of date-palm fibre is kept solely for sweeping these parts of\nthe house. At a Rajput banquet it was the custom for the prince to\nsend a little food from his own plate or from the dish before him to\nany guest whom he especially wished to honour, and to receive this was\nconsidered a very high distinction. In Mewar the test of legitimacy in\na prince of the royal house was the permission to eat from the chief's\nplate. The grant of this privilege conferred a recognised position,\nwhile its denial excluded the member in question from the right to\nthe succession. [476] This custom indicates the importance attached\nto the taking of food together as a covenant or sacrament.\n\n\n\n\n9. Opium\n\nThe Rajputs abstain from alcoholic liquor, though some of the lower\nclass, as the Bundelas, drink it. In classical times there is no doubt\nthat they drank freely, but have had to conform to the prohibition\nof liquor imposed by the Brahmans on high-caste Hindus. In lieu of\nliquor they became much addicted to the noxious drugs, opium and ganja\nor Indian hemp, drinking the latter in the form of the intoxicating\nliquid known as _bhangs_, which is prepared from its leaves. _Bhang_\nwas as a rule drunk by the Rajputs before battle, and especially as a\npreparation for those last sallies from a besieged fortress in which\nthe defenders threw away their lives. There is little reason to doubt\nthat they considered the frenzy and carelessness of death produced by\nthe liquor as a form of divine possession. Opium has contributed much\nto the degeneration of the Rajputs, and their relapse to an idle,\nsensuous life when their energies were no longer maintained by the\nneed of continuous fighting for the protection of their country. The\nfollowing account by Forbes of a Rajput's daily life well illustrates\nthe slothful effeminacy caused by the drug: [477] \"In times of peace\nand ease the Rajput leads an indolent and monotonous life. It is\nusually some time after sunrise before he bestirs himself and begins\nto call for his hookah; after smoking he enjoys the luxury of tea\nor coffee, and commences his toilet and ablutions, which dispose\nof a considerable part of the morning. It is soon breakfast-time,\nand after breakfast the hookah is again in requisition, with but\nfew intervals of conversation until noon. The time has now arrived\nfor a siesta, which lasts till about three in the afternoon. At\nthis hour the chief gets up again, washes his hands and face, and\nprepares for the great business of the day, the distribution of the\nred cup, _kusumba_ or opium. He calls together his friends into the\npublic hall, or perhaps retires with them to a garden-house. Opium\nis produced, which is pounded in a brass vessel and mixed with water;\nit is then strained into a dish with a spout, from which it is poured\ninto the chief's hand. One after the other the guests now come up,\neach protesting that _kusumba_ is wholly repugnant to his taste and\nvery injurious to his health, but after a little pressing first one\nand then another touches the chief's hand in two or three places,\nmuttering the names of Deos (gods), friends or others, and drains the\ndraught. Each after drinking washes the chief's hand in a dish of\nwater which a servant offers, and after wiping it dry with his own\nscarf makes way for his neighbour. After this refreshment the chief\nand his guests sit down in the public hall, and amuse themselves\nwith chess, draughts or games of chance, or perhaps dancing-girls\nare called in to exhibit their monotonous measures, or musicians and\nsingers, or the never-failing favourites, the Bhats and Charans. At\nsunset the torch-bearers appear and supply the chamber with light,\nupon which all those who are seated therein rise and make obeisance\ntowards the chief's cushion. They resume their seats, and playing,\nsinging, dancing, story-telling go on as before. At about eight the\nchief rises to retire to his dinner and his hookah, and the party is\nbroken up.\" There is little reason to doubt that the Rajputs ascribed\na divine character to opium and the mental exaltation produced by\nit, as suggested in the article on Kalar in reference to the Hindus\ngenerally. Opium was commonly offered at the shrines of deified Rajput\nheroes. Colonel Tod states: \"_Umul lar khana_, to eat opium together,\nis the most inviolable, pledge, and an agreement ratified by this\nceremony is stronger than any adjuration.\" [478] The account given by\nForbes of the manner in which the drug was distributed by the chief\nfrom his own hand to all his clansmen indicates that the drinking\nof it was the renewal of a kind of pledge or covenant between them,\nanalogous to the custom of pledging one another with wine, and a\nsubstitute for the covenant made by taking food together, which\noriginated from the sacrificial meal. It has already been seen that\nthe Rajputs attached the most solemn meaning and virtue to the act\nof partaking of the chief's food, and it is legitimate to infer that\nthey regarded the drinking of a sacred drug like opium from his hand\nin the same light. The following account [479] of the drinking of\nhealths in a Highland clan had, it may be suggested, originally the\nsame significance as the distribution of opium by the Rajput chief:\n\"Lord Lovat was wont in the hall before dinner to have a kind of\nherald proclaiming his pedigree, which reached almost up to Noah,\nand showed each man present to be a cadet of his family, whilst after\ndinner he drank to every one of his cousins by name, each of them in\nreturn pledging him--the better sort in French claret, the lower class\nin husky (whisky).\" Here also the drinking of wine together perhaps\nimplied the renewal of a pledge of fealty and protection between the\nchief and his clansmen, all of whom were held to be of his kin. The\nbelief in the kinship of the whole clan existed among the Rajputs\nexactly as in the Scotch clans. In speaking of the Rathors Colonel\nTod states that they brought into the field fifty thousand men, _Ek\nbap ka beta_, the sons of one father, to combat with the emperor of\nDelhi; and remarks: \"What a sensation does it not excite when we know\nthat a sentiment of kindred pervades every individual of this immense\naffiliated body, who can point out in the great tree the branch of\nhis origin, of which not one is too remote from the main stem to\nforget his pristine connection with it.\" [480]\n\nThe taking of opium and wine together, as already described, thus\nappear to be ceremonies of the same character, both symbolising the\nrenewal of a covenant between kinsmen.\n\n\n\n\n10. Improved training of Rajput chiefs\n\nThe temptations to a life of idleness and debauchery to which Rajput\ngentlemen were exposed by the cessation of war have happily been\nlargely met and overcome by the careful education and training which\ntheir sons now receive in the different chiefs' colleges and schools,\nand by the fostering of their taste for polo and other games. There is\nevery reason to hope that a Rajput prince's life will now be much like\nthat of an English country gentleman, spent largely in public business\nand the service of his country, with sport and games as relaxation. Nor\nare the Rajputs slow to avail themselves of the opportunities for the\nharder calling of arms afforded by the wars of the British Empire,\nin which they are usually the first to proffer their single-hearted\nand unselfish assistance.\n\n\n\n\n11. Dress\n\nThe most distinctive feature of a Rajput's dress was formerly his\nturban; the more voluminous and heavy this was, the greater distinction\nattached to the bearer. The cloth was wound in many folds above the\nhead, or cocked over one ear as a special mark of pride. An English\ngentleman once remarked to the minister of the Rao of Cutch on the\nsize and weight of his turban, when the latter replied, 'Oh, this is\nnothing, it only weighs fifteen pounds.' [481] A considerable reverence\nattached to the turban, probably because it was the covering of the\nhead, the seat of life, and the exchanging of turbans was the mark of\nthe closest friendship. On one occasion Shah Jahan, before he came\nto the throne of Delhi, changed turbans with the Rana of Mewar as a\nmark of amity. Shah Jahan's turban was still preserved at Udaipur,\nand seen there by Colonel Tod in 1820. They also wore the beard and\nmoustaches very long and full, the moustache either drooping far\nbelow the chin, or being twisted out stiffly on each side to impart\nan aspect of fierceness. Many Rajputs considered it a disgrace to\nhave grey beards or moustaches, and these were accustomed to dye them\nwith a preparation of indigo. Thus dyed, however, after a few days\nthe beard and moustache assumed a purple tint, and finally faded to a\npale plum colour, far from being either deceptive or ornamental. The\nprocess of dyeing was said to be tedious, and the artist compelled\nhis patient to sit many hours under the indigo treatment with his\nhead wrapped up in plantain leaves. [482] During the Muhammadan wars,\nhowever, the Rajputs gave up their custom of wearing beards in order\nto be distinguished from Moslems, and now, as a rule, do not retain\nthem, while most of them have also discarded the long moustaches\nand large turbans. In battle, especially when they expected to die,\nthe Rajputs wore saffron-coloured robes as at a wedding. At the same\ntime their wives frequently performed _sati_, and the idea was perhaps\nthat they looked on their deaths as the occasion of a fresh bridal\nin the warrior's Valhalla. Women wear skirts and shoulder-cloths,\nand in Rajputana they have bangles of ivory or bone instead of the\nordinary glass, sometimes covering the arm from the shoulders to the\nwrist. Their other ornaments should be of gold if possible, but the\nrule is not strictly observed, and silver and baser metals are worn.\n\n\n\n\n12. Social customs\n\nThe Rajputs wear the sacred thread, but many of them have abandoned\nthe proper _upanayana_ or thread ceremony, and simply invest boys with\nit at their marriage. In former times, when a boy became fit to bear\narms, the ceremony of _kharg bandai_, or binding on of the sword, was\nperformed, and considered to mark his attainment of manhood. The king\nhimself had his sword thus bound on by the first of his vassals. The\nRajputs take food cooked with water (_katchi_) only from Brahmans, and\nthat cooked without water (_pakki_) from Banias, and sometimes from\nLodhis and Dhimars. Brahmans will take _pakki_ food from Rajputs,\nand Nais and Dhimars _katchi_ food. When a man is ill, however,\nhe may take food from members of such castes as Kurmi and Lodhi\nas a matter of convenience without incurring caste penalties. The\nlarge turbans and long moustaches and beards no longer characterise\ntheir appearance, and the only point which distinguishes a Rajput\nis that his name ends with Singh (lion). But this suffix has also\nbeen adopted by others, especially the Sikhs, and by such castes as\nthe Lodhis and Raj-Gonds who aspire to rank as Rajputs. A Rajput is\nusually addressed as Thakur or lord, a title which properly applies\nonly to a Rajput landholder, but has now come into general use. The\nhead of a state has the designation of Raja or Rana, and those of the\nleading states of Maharaja or Maharana, that is, great king. Maharana,\nwhich appears to be a Gujarati form, is used by the Sesodia family of\nUdaipur. The sons of a Raja are called Kunwar or prince. The title Rao\nappears to be a Marathi form of Raj or Raja; it is retained by one or\ntwo chiefs, but has now been generally adopted as an honorific suffix\nby Maratha Brahmans. Rawat appears to have been originally equivalent\nto Rajput, being simply a diminutive of Rajputra, the Sanskrit form\nof the latter. It is the name of a clan of Rajputs in the Punjab, and\nis used as an honorific designation by Ahirs, Saonrs, Kols and others.\n\n\n\n\n13. Seclusion of women\n\nWomen are strictly secluded by the Rajputs, especially in Upper India,\nbut this practice does not appear to have been customary in ancient\ntimes, and it would be interesting to know whether it has been copied\nfrom the Muhammadans. It is said that a good Rajput in the Central\nProvinces must not drive the plough, his wife must not use the _rehnta_\nor spinning-wheel, and his household may not have the _kathri_ or\n_gudri_, the mattress made of old pieces of cloth or rag sewn one on\ntop of the other, which is common in the poorer Hindu households.\n\n\n\n\n14. Traditional character of the Rajputs\n\nThe Rajputs as depicted by Colonel Tod resembled the knights of the\nage of chivalry. Courage, strength and endurance were the virtues most\nhighly prized. One of the Rajput trials of strength, it is recorded,\nwas to gallop at full speed under the horizontal branch of a tree and\ncling to it while the horse passed on. This feat appears to have been\na common amusement, and it is related in the annals of Mewar that the\nchief of Bunera broke his spine in the attempt; and there were few who\ncame off without bruises and falls, in which consisted the sport. Of\ntheir martial spirit Colonel Tod writes: \"The Rajput mother claims her\nfull share in the glory of her son, who imbibes at the maternal fount\nhis first rudiments of chivalry; and the importance of this parental\ninstruction cannot be better illustrated than in the ever-recurring\nsimile, 'Make thy mother's milk resplendent.' One need not reason\non the intensity of sentiment thus implanted in the infant Rajput,\nof whom we may say without metaphor the shield is his cradle and\ndaggers his playthings, and with whom the first commandment is 'Avenge\nthy father's feud.' [483] A Rajput yet loves to talk of the days of\nchivalry, when three things alone occupied him, his horse, his lance\nand his mistress; for she is but third in his estimation after all,\nand to the first two he owed her.\" [484] And of their desire for fame:\n\"This sacrifice (of the Johar) accomplished, their sole thought was to\nsecure a niche in that immortal temple of fame, which the Rajput bard,\nas well as the great minstrel of the West peoples 'with youths who\ndied to be by poets sung.' For this the Rajput's anxiety has in all\nages been so great as often to defeat even the purpose of revenge, his\nobject being to die gloriously rather than to inflict death; assured\nthat his name would never perish, but, preserved in immortal rhyme by\nthe bard, would serve as the incentive to similar deeds.\" [485] He sums\nup their character in the following terms: \"High courage, patriotism,\nloyalty, honour, hospitality and simplicity are qualities which must\nat once be conceded to them; and if we cannot vindicate them from\ncharges to which human nature in every clime is obnoxious; if we are\ncompelled to admit the deterioration of moral dignity from continual\ninroads of, and their consequent collision with rapacious conquerors;\nwe must yet admire the quantum of virtue which even oppression and\nbad example have failed to banish. The meaner vices of deceit and\nfalsehood, which the delineators of national character attach to the\nAsiatic without distinction, I deny to be universal with the Rajputs,\nthough some tribes may have been obliged from position to use these\nshields of the weak against continuous oppression.\" [486] The women\nprized martial courage no less than the men: they would hear with\nequanimity of the death of their sons or husbands in the battlefield,\nwhile they heaped scorn and contumely on those who returned after\ndefeat. They were constantly ready to sacrifice themselves to the\nflames rather than fall into the hands of a conqueror; and the Johar,\nthe final act of a besieged garrison, when the women threw themselves\ninto the furnace, while the men sallied forth to die in battle against\nthe enemy, is recorded again and again in Rajput annals. Three times\nwas this tragedy enacted at the fall of Chitor, formerly the capital\nfortress of the Sesodia clan; and the following vivid account is\ngiven by Colonel Tod of a similar deed at Jaisalmer, when the town\nfell to the Muhammadans: [487] \"The chiefs were assembled; all were\nunanimous to make Jaisalmer resplendent by their deeds and preserve\nthe honour of the Yadu race. Muhaj thus addressed them: 'You are of\na warlike race and strong are your arms in the cause of your prince;\nwhat heroes excel you who thus tread in the Chhatri's path? For the\nmaintenance of my honour the sword is in your hands; let Jaisalmer be\nillumined by its blows upon the foe.' Having thus inspired the chiefs\nand men, Muhaj and Ratan repaired to the palace of their queens. They\ntold them to take the _sohag_ [488] and prepare to meet in heaven,\nwhile they gave up their lives in defence of their honour and their\nfaith. Smiling the Rani replied, 'This night we shall prepare, and\nby the morning's light we shall be inhabitants of heaven'; and thus\nit was with all the chiefs and their wives. The night was passed\ntogether for the last time in preparation for the awful morn. It\ncame; ablutions and prayers were finished and at the royal gate were\nconvened children, wives and mothers. They bade a last farewell to\nall their kin; the Johar commenced, and twenty-four thousand females,\nfrom infancy to old age, surrendered their lives, some by the sword,\nothers in the volcano of fire. Blood flowed in torrents, while the\nsmoke of the pyre ascended to the heavens: not one feared to die,\nand every valuable was consumed with them, so that not the worth\nof a straw was preserved for the foe. The work done, the brothers\nlooked upon the spectacle with horror. Life was now a burden and\nthey prepared to quit it They purified themselves with water, paid\nadoration to the divinity, made gifts to the poor, placed a branch\nof the _tulsi_ [489] in their casques, the _saligram_ [490] round\ntheir neck; and having cased themselves in armour and put on the\nsaffron robe, they bound the marriage crown around their heads and\nembraced each other for the last time. Thus they awaited the hour\nof battle. Three thousand eight hundred warriors, their faces red\nwith wrath, prepared to die with their chiefs.\" In this account the\npreparation for the Johar as if for a wedding is clearly brought out,\nand it seems likely that husbands and wives looked on it as a bridal\npreparatory to the resumption of their life together in heaven.\n\nColonel Tod gives the following account of a Rajput's arms: [491]\n\"No prince or chief is without his _silla-khana_ or armoury, where he\npasses hours in viewing and arranging his arms. Every favourite weapon,\nwhether sword, dagger, spear, matchlock or bow, has a distinctive\nepithet. The keeper of the armoury is one of the most confidential\nofficers about the person of the prince. These arms are beautiful and\ncostly. The _sirohi_ or slightly curved blade is formed like that of\nDamascus, and is the greatest favourite of all the variety of weapons\nthroughout Rajputana. The long cut-and-thrust sword is not uncommon,\nand also the _khanda_ or double-edged sword. The matchlocks, both of\nLahore and the country, are often highly finished and inlaid with\nmother-of-pearl and gold; those of Boondi are the best. The shield\nof the rhinoceros-hide offers the best resistance, and is often\nornamented with animals beautifully painted and enamelled in gold and\nsilver. The bow is of buffalo-horn, and the arrows of reed, which\nare barbed in a variety of fashions, as the crescent, the trident,\nthe snake's tongue, and other fanciful forms.\" It is probable that\nthe forms were in reality by no means fanciful, but were copied from\nsacred or divine objects; and similarly the animals painted on the\nshields may have been originally the totem animals of the clan.\n\n\n\n\n15. Occupation\n\nThe traditional occupation of a Rajput was that of a warrior and\nlandholder. Their high-flown titles, Bhupal (Protector of the earth),\nBhupati (Lord of the earth), Bhusur (God of the earth), Bahuja (Born\nfrom the arms), indicate, Sir H. Risley says, [492] the exalted\nclaims of the tribe. The notion that the trade of arms was their\nproper vocation clung to them for a very long time, and has retarded\ntheir education, so that they have perhaps lost status relatively to\nother castes under British supremacy. The rule that a Rajput must\nnot touch the plough was until recently very strictly observed in\nthe more conservative centres, and the poorer Rajputs were reduced\nby it to pathetic straits for a livelihood, as is excellently shown\nby Mr. Barnes in the _Kangra Settlement Report_: [493] \"A Mian or\nwell-known Rajput, to preserve his name and honour unsullied, must\nscrupulously observe four fundamental maxims: first, he must never\ndrive the plough; second, he must never give his daughter in marriage\nto an inferior nor marry himself much below his rank; thirdly, he must\nnever accept money in exchange for the betrothal of his daughter;\nand lastly, his female household must observe strict seclusion. The\nprejudice against the plough is perhaps the most inveterate of all;\nthat step can never be recalled; the offender at once loses the\nprivileged salutation; he is reduced to the second grade of Rajputs;\nno man will marry his daughter, and he must go a step lower in the\nsocial scale to get a wife for himself. In every occupation of life\nhe is made to feel his degraded position. In meetings of the tribe and\nat marriages the Rajputs undefiled by the plough will refuse to sit at\nmeals with the Hal Bah or plough-driver as he is contemptuously styled;\nand many to avoid the indignity of exclusion never appear at public\nassemblies.... It is melancholy to see with what devoted tenacity\nthe Rajput clings to these deep-rooted prejudices. Their emaciated\nlooks and coarse clothes attest the vicissitudes they have undergone\nto maintain their fancied purity. In the quantity of waste land which\nabounds in the hills, a ready livelihood is offered to those who will\ncultivate the soil for their daily bread; but this alternative involves\na forfeiture of their dearest rights, and they would rather follow any\nprecarious pursuit than submit to the disgrace. Some lounge away their\ntime on the tops of the mountains, spreading nets for the capture\nof hawks; many a day they watch in vain, subsisting on berries and\non game accidentally entangled in their nets; at last, when fortune\ngrants them success, they despatch the prize to their friends below,\nwho tame and instruct the bird for the purpose of sale. Others will\nstay at home and pass their time in sporting, either with a hawk or,\nif they can afford it, with a gun; one Rajput beats the bushes and the\nother carries the hawk ready to be sprung after any quarry that rises\nto the view. At the close of the day if they have been successful they\nexchange the game for a little meal and thus prolong existence over\nanother span. The marksman armed with a gun will sit up for wild pig\nreturning from the fields, and in the same manner barter their flesh\nfor other necessaries of life. However, the prospect of starvation has\nalready driven many to take the plough, and the number of seceders\ndaily increases. Our administration, though just and liberal, has\na levelling tendency; service is no longer to be procured, and to\nmany the stern alternative has arrived of taking to agriculture\nand securing comparative comfort, or enduring the pangs of hunger\nand death. So long as any resource remains the fatal step will be\npostponed, but it is easy to foresee that the struggle cannot be long\nprotracted; necessity is a hard task-master, and sooner or later the\npressure of want will overcome the scruples of the most bigoted.\" The\nobjection to ploughing appears happily to have been quite overcome in\nthe Central Provinces, as at the last census nine-tenths of the whole\ncaste were shown as employed in pasture and agriculture, one-tenth of\nthe Rajputs being landholders, three-fifths actual cultivators, and\none-fifth labourers and woodcutters. The bulk of the remaining tenth\nare probably in the police or other branches of Government service.\n\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Baghel\n\n_Rajput, Baghel._--The Baghel Rajputs, who have given their name to\nBaghelkhand or Rewah, the eastern part of Central India, are a branch\nof the Chalukya or Solankhi clan, one of the four Agnikulas or those\nborn from the firepit on Mount Abu. The chiefs of Rewah are Baghel\nRajputs, and the late Maharaja Raghuraj Singh has written a traditional\nhistory of the sept in a book called the _Bhakt Mala_. [494] He derives\ntheir origin from a child, having the form of a tiger (_bagh_) who\nwas born to the Solankhi Raja of Gujarat at the intercession of the\nfamous saint Kabir. One of the headquarters of the Kabirpanthi sect\nare at Kawardha, which is close to Rewah, and the ruling family are\nmembers of the sect; hence probably the association of the Prophet\nwith their origin. The _Bombay Gazetteer_ [495] states that the\nfounder of the clan was one Anoka, a nephew of the Solankhi king\nof Gujarat, Kumarpal (A.D. 1143-1174). He obtained a grant of the\nvillage Vaghela, the tiger's lair, about ten miles from Anhilvada,\nthe capital of the Solankhi dynasty, and the Baghel clan takes its\nname from this village. Subsequently the Baghels extended their power\nover the whole of Gujarat, but in A.D. 1304 the last king, Karnadeva,\nwas driven out by the Muhammadans, and one of his most beautiful\nwives was captured and sent to the emperor's harem. Karnadeva and\nhis daughter fled and hid themselves near Nasik, but the daughter\nwas subsequently also taken, while it is not stated what became of\nKarnadeva. Mr. Hira Lal suggests that he fled towards Rewah, and\nthat he is the Karnadeva of the list of Rewah Rajas, who married a\ndaughter of the Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla. [496] At any\nrate the Baghel branch of the Solankhis apparently migrated to Rewah\nfrom Gujarat and founded that State about the fourteenth century, as\nin the fifteenth they became prominent. According to Captain Forsyth,\nthe Baghels claim descent from a tiger, and protect it when they can;\nand, probably, as suggested by Mr. Crooke, [497] the name is really\ntotemistic, or is derived from some ancestor of the clan who obtained\nthe name of the tiger as a title or nickname, like the American Red\nIndians. The Baghels are found in the Hoshangabad District, and in\nMandla and Chhattisgarh which are close to Rewah. Amarkantak, at the\nsource of the Nerbudda, is the sepulchre of the Maharajas of Rewah, and\nwas ceded to them with the Sohagpur tahsil of Mandla after the Mutiny,\nin consideration of their loyalty and services during that period.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Bagri\n\n_Rajput, Bagri._--This clan is found in small numbers in the\nHoshangabad and Seoni Districts. The name Bagri, Malcolm says,\n[498] is derived from that large tract of plain called Bagar or\n'hedge of thorns,' the Bagar being surrounded by ridges of wooded\nhills on all sides as if by a hedge. The Bagar is the plain country\nof the Bikaner State, and any Jat or Rajput coming from this tract\nis called Bagri. [499] The Rajputs of Bikaner are Rathors, but they\nare not numerous, and the great bulk of the people are Jats. Hence it\nis probable that the Bagris of the Central Provinces were originally\nJats. In Seoni they say that they are Baghel Rajputs, but this claim is\nunsupported by any tradition or evidence. In Central India the Bagris\nare professed robbers and thieves, but these seem to be a separate\ngroup, a section of the Badhak or Bawaria dacoits, and derived from\nthe aboriginal population of Central India. The Bagris of Seoni are\nrespectable cultivators and own a number of villages. They rank higher\nthan the local Panwars and wear the sacred thread, but will remove\ndead cattle with their own hands. They marry among themselves.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Bais\n\n_Rajput, Bais._ [500]--The Bais are one of the thirty-six royal\nraces. Colonel Tod considered them a branch of the Surajvansi, but\naccording to their own account their eponymous ancestor was Salivahana,\nthe mythic son of a snake, who conquered the great Raja Vikramaditya\nof Ujjain and fixed his own era in A.D. 55. This is the Saka era, and\nSalivahana was the leader of the Saka nomads who invaded Gujarat on\ntwo occasions, before and shortly after the beginning of the Christian\nera. It is suggested in the article on Rajput that the Yadava lunar\nclan are the representatives of these Sakas, and if this were correct\nthe Bais would be a branch of the lunar race. The fact that they are\nsnake-worshippers is in favour of their connection with the Yadavas and\nother clans, who are supposed to represent the Scythian invaders of the\nfirst and subsequent centuries, and had the legend of being descended\nfrom a snake. The Bais, Mr. Crooke says, believe that no snake has\ndestroyed, or ever can destroy, one of the clan. They seem to take no\nprecautions against the bite except hanging a vessel of water at the\nhead of the sufferer, with a small tube at the bottom, from which the\nwater is poured on his head as long as he can bear it. The cobra is,\nin fact, the tribal god. The name is derived by Mr. Crooke from the\nSanskrit Vaishya, one who occupies the soil. The principal hero of the\nBais was Tilokchand, who is supposed to have come from the Central\nProvinces. He lived about A.D. 1400, and was the premier Raja of\nOudh. He extended his dominions over all the tract known as Baiswara,\nwhich comprises the bulk of the Rai Bareli and Unao Districts, and\nis the home of the Bais Rajputs. The descendants of Tilokchand form a\nseparate subdivision known as Tilokchandi Bais, who rank higher than\nthe ordinary Bais, and will not eat with them. The Bais Rajputs are\nfound all over the United Provinces. In the Central Provinces they\nhave settled in small numbers in the northern and eastern Districts.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Baksaria\n\n_Rajput, Baksaria._--A small clan found principally in the Bilaspur\nDistrict, who derive their name from Baxar in Bengal. They were\naccustomed to send a litter, that is to say, a girl of their clan,\nto the harem of each Mughal Emperor, and this has degraded them. They\nallow widow-marriage, and do not wear the sacred thread. It is probable\nthat they marry among themselves, as other Rajputs do not intermarry\nwith them, and they are no doubt an impure group with little pretension\nto be Rajputs. The name Baksaria is found in the United Provinces as\na territorial subcaste of several castes.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Banaphar\n\n_Rajput, Banaphar._--Mr. Crooke states that this sept is a branch of\nthe Yadavas, and hence it is of the lunar race. The sept is famous\non account of the exploits of the heroes Alha and Udal who belonged\nto it, and who fought for the Chandel kings of Mahoba and Khajuraha\nin their wars against Prithwi Raj Chauhan, the king of Delhi. The\nexploits of Alha and Udal form the theme of poems still well known\nand popular in Bundelkhand, to which the sept belongs. The Banaphars\nhave only a moderately respectable rank among Rajputs. [501]\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Bhadauria\n\n_Rajput, Bhadauria._--An important clan who take their name from the\nvillage of Bhadawar near Ater, south of the Jumna. They are probably\na branch of the Chauhans, being given as such by Colonel Tod and\nSir H.M. Elliot. [502] Mr. Crooke remarks [503] that the Chauhans\nare disposed to deny this relationship, now that from motives of\nconvenience the two tribes have begun to intermarry. If they are,\nas supposed, an offshoot of the Chauhans, this is an instance of\nthe subdivision of a large clan leading to intermarriage between two\nsections, which has probably occurred in other instances also. This\nclan is returned from the Hoshangabad District.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Bisen\n\n_Rajput, Bisen._--This clan belongs to the United Provinces and\nOudh. They do not appear in history before the time of Akbar, and\nclaim descent from a well-known Brahman saint and a woman of the\nSurajvansi Rajputs whom he married. The Bisens occupy a respectable\nposition among Rajputs, and intermarry with other good clans.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Bundela\n\n_Rajput, Bundela._--A well-known clan of Rajputs of somewhat\ninferior position, who have given their name to Bundelkhand, or\nthe tract comprised principally in the Districts of Saugor, Damoh,\nJhansi, Hamirpur and Banda, and the Panna, Orchha, Datia and other\nStates. The Bundelas are held to be derived from the Gaharwar or\nGherwal Rajputs, and there is some reason for supposing that these\nlatter were originally an aristocratic section of the Bhar tribe with\nsome infusion of Rajput blood. But the Gaharwars now rank almost with\nthe highest clans. According to tradition one of the Gaharwar Rajas\noffered a sacrifice of his own head to the Vindhya-basini Devi or\nthe goddess of the Vindhya hills, and out of the drops (_bund_) of\nblood which fell on the altar a boy was born. He returned to Panna\nand founded the clan which bears the name Bundela, from _bund_,\na drop. [504] It is probable that, as suggested by Captain Luard,\nthe name is really a corruption of Vindhya or Vindhyela, a dweller in\nthe Vindhya hills, where, according to their own tradition, the clan\nhad its birth. The Bundelas became prominent in the thirteenth or\nfourteenth century, after the fall of the Chandels. \"Orchha became\nthe chief of the numerous Bundela principalities; but its founder\ndrew upon himself everlasting infamy, by putting to death the wise\nAbul Fazl, the historian and friend of the magnanimous Akbar, and the\nencomiast and advocate of the Hindu race. From the period of Akbar\nthe Bundelas bore a distinguished part in all the grand conflicts,\nto the very close of the monarchy.\" [505]\n\nThe Bundelas held the country up to the Nerbudda in the Central\nProvinces, and, raiding continually into the Gond territories south\nof the Nerbudda on the pretence of protecting the sacred cow which\nthe Gonds used for ploughing, they destroyed the castle on Chauragarh\nin Narsinghpur on a crest of the Satpuras, and reduced the Nerbudda\nvalley to subjection. The most successful chieftain of the tribe was\nChhatarsal, the Raja of Panna, in the eighteenth century, who was\nvirtually ruler of all Bundelkhand; his dominions extending from Banda\nin the north to Jubbulpore in the south, and from Rewah in the east\nto the Betwa River in the west. But he had to call in the help of the\nPeshwa to repel an invasion of the Mughal armies, and left a third\nof his territory by will to the Marathas. Chhatarsal left twenty-two\nlegitimate and thirty illegitimate sons, and their descendants now\nhold several small Bundela States, while the territories left to the\nPeshwa subsequently became British. The chiefs of Panna, Orchha, Datia,\nChhatarpur and numerous other small states in the Bundelkhand agency\nare Bundela Rajputs. [506] The Bundelas of Saugor do not intermarry\nwith the good Rajput clans, but with an inferior group of Panwars and\nanother clan called Dhundhele, perhaps an offshoot of the Panwars, who\nare also residents of Saugor. Their character, as disclosed in a number\nof proverbial sayings and stories current regarding them, somewhat\nresembles that of the Scotch highlanders as depicted by Stevenson. They\nare proud and penurious to the last degree, and quick to resent the\nsmallest slight. They make good _shikaris_ or sportsmen, but are\nso impatient of discipline that they have never found a vocation by\nenlisting in the Indian Army. Their characteristics are thus described\nin a doggerel verse: \"The Bundelas salute each other from miles apart,\ntheir _pagris_ are cocked on the side of the head till they touch the\nshoulders. A Bundela would dive into a well for the sake of a cowrie,\nbut would fight with the Sardars of Government.\" No Bania could go\npast a Bundela's house riding on a pony or holding up an umbrella;\nand all low-caste persons who passed his house must salute it with\nthe words, _Diwan ji ko Ram Ram_. Women must take their shoes off to\npass by. It is related that a few years ago a Bundela was brought up\nbefore the Assistant Commissioner, charged with assaulting a tahsil\nprocess-server, and threatening him with his sword. The Bundela, who\nwas very poor and wearing rags, was asked by the magistrate whether\nhe had threatened the man with his sword. He replied \"Certainly not;\nthe sword is for gentlemen like you and me of equal position. To him,\nif I had wished to beat him I would have taken my shoe.\" Another story\nis that there was once a very overbearing Tahsildar, who had a shoe 2\n1/2 feet long with which he used to collect the land revenue. One day\na Bundela malguzar appeared before him on some business. The Tahsildar\nkept his seat. The Bundela walked quietly up to the table and said,\n\"Will the Sirkar step aside with me for a moment, as I have something\nprivate to say.\" The Tahsildar got up and walked aside with him, on\nwhich the Bundela said, 'That is sufficient, I only wished to tell you\nthat you should rise to receive me.' When the Bundelas are collected\nat a feast they sit with their hands folded across their stomachs and\ntheir eyes turned up, and remain impassive while food is being put on\ntheir plates, and never say, 'Enough,' because they think that they\nwould show themselves to be feeble men if they refused to eat as much\nas was put before them. Much of the food is thus ultimately wasted,\nand given to the sweepers, and this leads to great extravagance at\nmarriages and other ceremonial occasions. The Bundelas were much\nfeared and were not popular landlords, but they are now losing their\nold characteristics and settling down into respectable cultivators.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Chandel\n\n_Rajput, Chandel._--An important clan of Rajputs, of which a\nsmall number reside in the northern Districts of Saugor, Damoh and\nJubbulpore, and also in Chhattisgarh. The name is derived by Mr. Crooke\nfrom the Sanskrit _chandra_, the moon. The Chandel are not included in\nthe thirty-six royal races, and are supposed to have been a section\nof one of the indigenous tribes which rose to power. Mr. V.A. Smith\nstates that the Chandels, like several other dynasties, first came into\nhistory early in the ninth century, when Nannuka Chandel about A.D. 831\noverthrew a Parihar chieftain and became lord of the southern parts of\nJejakabhukti or Bundelkhand. Their chief towns were Mahoba and Kalanjar\nin Bundelkhand, and they gradually advanced northwards till the Jumna\nbecame the frontier between their dominions and those of Kanauj. They\nfought with the Gujar-Parihar kings of Kanauj and the Kalachuris of\nChedi, who had their capital at Tewar in Jubbulpore, and joined in\nresisting the incursions of the Muhammadans. In A.D. 1182 Parmal, the\nChandel king, was defeated by Prithwi Raja, the Chauhan king of Delhi,\nafter the latter had abducted the Chandel's daughter. This was the\nwar in which Alha and Udal, the famous Banaphar heroes, fought for the\nChandels, and it is commemorated in the Chand-Raisa, a poem still well\nknown to the people of Bundelkhand. In A.D. 1203 Kalanjar was taken\nby the Muhammadan Kutb-ud-Din Ibak, and the importance of the Chandel\nrulers came to an end, though they lingered on as purely local chiefs\nuntil the sixteenth century. The Chandel princes were great builders,\nand beautified their chief towns, Mahoba, Kalanjar and Khajuraho with\nmany magnificent temples and lovely lakes, formed by throwing massive\ndams across the openings between the hills. [507] Among these were\ngreat irrigation works in the Hamirpur District, the forts of Kalanjar\nand Ajaighar, and the noble temples at Khajuraho and Mahoba. [508]\nEven now the ruins of old forts and temples in the Saugor and Damoh\nDistricts are attributed by the people to the Chandels, though many\nwere in fact probably constructed by the Kalachuris of Chedi.\n\nMr. Smith derives the Chandels either from the Gonds or Bhars, but\ninclines to the view that they were Gonds. The following considerations\ntend, I venture to think, to favour the hypothesis of their origin\nfrom the Bhars. According to the best traditions, the Gonds came from\nthe south, and practically did not penetrate to Bundelkhand. Though\nSaugor and Damoh contain a fair number of Gonds they have never\nbeen of importance there, and this is almost their farthest limit\nto the north-west. The Gond States in the Central Provinces did not\ncome into existence for several centuries after the commencement\nof the Chandel dynasty, and while there are authentic records of\nall these states, the Gonds have no tradition of their dominance\nin Bundelkhand. The Gonds have nowhere else built such temples as\nare attributed to the Chandels at Khajuraho, whilst the Bhars were\nfamous builders. \"In Mirzapur traces of the Bhars abound on all sides\nin the shape of old tanks and village forts. The bricks found in\nthe Bhar-dihs or forts are of enormous dimensions, and frequently\nmeasure 19 by 11 inches, and are 2 1/4 inches thick. In quality\nand size they are similar to bricks often seen in ancient Buddhist\nbuildings. The old capital of the Bhars, five miles from Mirzapur,\nis said to have had 150 temples.\" [509] Elliot remarks [510] that\n\"common tradition assigns to the Bhars the possession of the whole\ntract from Gorakhpur to Bundelkhand and Saugor, and many old stone\nforts, embankments and subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh,\nJaunpur, Mirzapur and Allahabad, which are ascribed to them, would seem\nto indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation.\" Though there\nare few or no Bhars now in Bundelkhand, there are a large number of\nPasis in Allahabad which partly belongs to it, and small numbers in\nBundelkhand; and the Pasi caste is mainly derived from the Bhars;\n[511] while a Gaharwar dynasty, which is held to be derived from\nthe Bhars, was dominant in Bundelkhand and Central India before the\nrise of the Chandels. According to one legend, the ancestor of the\nChandels was born with the moon as a father from the daughter of the\nhigh priest of the Gaharwar Raja Indrajit of Benares or of Indrajit\nhimself. [512] As will be seen, the Gaharwars were an aristocratic\nsection of the Bhars. Another legend states that the first Chandel\nwas the offspring of the moon by the daughter of a Brahman Pandit\nof Kalanjar. [513] In his _Notes on the Bhars of Bundelkhand_ [514]\nMr. Smith argues that the Bhars adopted the Jain religion, and also\nstates that several of the temples at Khajuraho and Mahoba, erected\nin the eleventh century, are Jain. These were presumably erected\nby the Chandels, but I have never seen it suggested that the Gonds\nwere Jains or were capable of building Jain temples in the eleventh\ncentury. Mr. Smith also states that Maniya Deo, to whom a temple exists\nat Mahoba, was the tutelary deity of the Chandels; and that the only\nother shrine of Maniya Deo discovered by him in the Hamirpur District\nwas in a village reputed formerly to have been held by the Bhars. [515]\nTwo instances of intercourse between the Chandels and Gonds are given,\nbut the second of them, that the Rani Durgavati of Mandla was a Chandel\nprincess, belongs to the sixteenth century, and has no bearing on the\norigin of the Chandels. The first instance, that of the Chandel Raja\nKirat Singh hunting at Maniagarh with the Gond Raja of Garha-Mandla,\ncannot either be said to furnish any real evidence in favour of a Gond\norigin for the Chandels; it maybe doubted whether there was any Gond\nRaja of Garha-Mandla till after the fall of the Kalachuri dynasty of\nTewar, which is quite close to Garha-Mandla, in the twelfth century;\nand a reference so late as this would not affect the question. [516]\nFinally, the Chandels are numerous in Mirzapur, which was formerly\nthe chief seat of the Bhars, while the Gonds have never been either\nnumerous or important in Mirzapur. These considerations seem to point\nto the possibility of the derivation of the Chandels from the Bhars\nrather than from the Gonds; and the point is perhaps of some interest\nin view of the suggestion in the article on Kol that the Gonds did\nnot arrive in the Central Provinces for some centuries after the\nrise of the Chandel dynasty of Khajuraho and Mahoba. The Chandels\nmay have simply been a local branch of the Gaharwars, who obtained\na territorial designation from Chanderi, or in some other manner,\nas has continually happened in the case of other clans. The Gaharwars\nwere probably derived from the Bhars. The Chandels now rank as a good\nRajput clan, and intermarry with the other leading clans.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Chauhan\n\n_Rajput, Chauhan_.--The Chauhan was the last of the Agnikula or\nfire-born clans, According to the legend: \"Again Vasishtha seated on\nthe lotus prepared incantations; again he called the gods to aid; and\nas he poured forth the libation a figure arose, lofty in stature, of\nelevated front, hair like jet, eyes rolling, breast expanded, fierce,\nterrific, clad in armour with quiver filled, a bow in one hand and\na brand in the other, quadriform (Chaturanga), whence his name was\ngiven as Chauhan.\" This account makes the Chauhan the most important\nof the fire-born clans, and Colonel Tod says that he was the most\nvaliant of the Agnikulas, and it may be asserted not of them only but\nof the whole Rajput race; and though the swords of the Rahtors would\nbe ready to contest the point, impartial decision must assign to the\nChauhan the van in the long career of arms. [517] General Cunningham\nshows that even so late as the time of Prithwi Raj in the twelfth\ncentury the Chauhans had no claim to be sprung from fire, but were\ncontent to be considered descendants of a Brahman sage Bhrigu. [518]\nLike the other Agnikula clans the Chauhans are now considered to have\nsprung from the Gurjara or White Hun invaders of the fifth and sixth\ncenturies, but I do not know whether this is held to be definitely\nproved in their case. Sambhar and Ajmer in Rajputana appear to have\nbeen the first home of the clan, and inscriptions record a long\nline of thirty-nine kings as reigning there from Anhul, the first\ncreated Chauhan. The last but one of them, Vigraha Raja or Bisal Deo,\nin the middle of the twelfth century extended the ancestral dominions\nconsiderably, and conquered Delhi from a chief of the Tomara clan. At\nthis time the Chauhans, according to their own bards, held the line\nof the Nerbudda from Garha-Mandla to Maheshwar and also Asirgarh,\nwhile their dominions extended north to Hissar and south to the\nAravalli hills. [519] The nephew of Bisal Deo was Prithwi Raj, the\nmost famous Chauhan hero, who ruled at Sambhar, Ajmer and Delhi. His\nfirst exploit was the abduction of the daughter of Jaichand, the\nGaharwar Raja of Kanauj, in about A.D. 1175. The king of Kanauj had\nclaimed the title of universal sovereign and determined to celebrate\nthe Ashwa-Medha or horse-sacrifice, at which all the offices should\nbe performed by vassal kings. Prithwi Raj alone declined to attend\nas a subordinate, and Jaichand therefore made a wooden image of\nhim and set it up at the gate in the part of doorkeeper. But when\nhis daughter after the tournament took the garland of flowers to\nbestow it on the chief whom she chose for her husband, she passed\nby all the assembled nobles and threw the garland on the neck of\nthe wooden image. At this moment Prithwi Raj dashed in with a few\ncompanions, and catching her up, escaped with her from her father's\ncourt. [520] Afterwards, in 1182, Prithwi Raj defeated the Chandel\nRaja Parmal and captured Mahoba. In 1191 Prithwi Raj was the head of\na confederacy of Hindu princes in combating the invasion of Muhammad\nGhori. He repelled the Muhammadans at Tarain about two miles north\nof Delhi, but in the following year was completely defeated and\nkilled at Thaneswar, and soon afterwards Delhi and Ajmer fell to\nthe Muhammadans. The Chauhan kingdom was broken up, but scattered\nparts of it remained, and about A.D. 1307 Asirgarh in Nimar, which\ncontinued to be held by the Chauhans, was taken by Ala-ud-Din Khilji\nand the whole garrison put to the sword except one boy. This boy,\nRaisi Chauhan, escaped to Rajputana, and according to the bardic\nchronicle his descendants formed the Hara branch of the Chauhans and\nconquered from the Minas the tract known as Haravati, from which they\nperhaps took their name. [521] This is now comprised in the Kotah and\nBundi states, ruled by Hara chiefs. Another well-known offshoot from\nthe Chauhans are the Khichi clan, who belong to the Sind-Sagar Doab;\nand the Nikumbh and Bhadauria clans are also derived from them. The\nChauhans are numerous in the Punjab and United Provinces and rank as\none of the highest Rajput clans. In the Central Provinces they are\nfound principally in the Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad Districts, and\nalso in Mandla. The Chauhan Rajputs of Mandla marry among themselves,\nwith other Chauhans of Mandla, Seoni and Balaghat They have exogamous\nsections with names apparently derived from villages like an ordinary\ncaste. The remarriage of widows is forbidden, but those widows who\ndesire to do so go and live with a man and are put out of caste. This,\nhowever, is said not to happen frequently. A widow's hair is not\nshaved, but her glass bangles are broken, she is dressed in white,\nmade to sleep on the ground, and can wear no ornaments. Owing to the\nrenown of the clan their name has been adopted by numerous classes of\ninferior Rajputs and low Hindu castes who have no right to it. Thus\nin the Punjab a large subcaste of Chamars call themselves Chauhan,\nand in the Bilaspur District a low caste of village watchmen go\nby this name. These latter may be descendants of the illegitimate\noffspring of Chauhan Rajputs by low-caste women.\n\n\n\nRajput, Dhakar\n\n_Rajput, Dhakar_.--In the Central Provinces this term has the meaning\nof one of illegitimate descent, and it is often used by the Kirars,\nwho are probably of mixed descent from Rajputs. In northern India,\nhowever, the Dhakars are a clan of Rajputs, who claim Surajvansi\norigin; but this is not generally admitted. Mr. Crooke states that\nsome are said to be emigrants from the banks of the Nerbudda; but\nthe main body say they came from Ajmer in the sixteenth century. They\nwere notorious in the eighteenth century for their lawlessness, and\ngave the imperial Mughal officers much trouble in the neighbourhood\nof Agra, rendering the communications between that city and Etawah\ninsecure. In the Mutiny they broke out again, and are generally a\nturbulent, ill-conducted sept, always ready for petty acts of violence\nand cattle-stealing. They are, however, recognised as Rajputs of good\nposition and intermarry with the best clans. [522]\n\nIn the Central Provinces the Dhakars are found principally in\nHoshangabad, and it is doubtful if they are proper Rajputs.\n\n\n\nRajput, Gaharwar\n\n_Rajput, Gaharwar, Gherwal_.--This is an old clan. Mr. V.A. Smith\nstates that they had been dominant in Central India about Nowgong and\nChhatarpur before the Parihars in the eighth century. The Parihar\nkings were subsequently overthrown by the Chandels of Mahoba. In\ntheir practice of building embankments and constructing lakes the\nChandels were imitators of the Gaharwars, who are credited with the\nformation of some of the most charming lakes in Bundelkhand. [523]\nAnd in A.D. 1090 a Raja of the Gaharwar clan called Chandradeva seized\nKanauj (on the Ganges north-west of Lucknow), and established his\nauthority certainly over Benares and Ajodhia, and perhaps over the\nDelhi territory. Govindachandra, grandson of Chandradeva, enjoyed a\nlong reign, which included the years A.D. 1114 and 1154. His numerous\nland grants and widely distributed coins prove that he succeeded to a\nlarge extent in restoring the glories of Kanauj, and in making himself\na power of considerable importance. The grandson of Govindachandra\nwas Jayachandra, renowned in the popular Hindu poems and tales of\nnorthern India as Raja Jaichand, whose daughter was carried off by\nthe gallant Rai Pithora or Prithwi Raj of Ajmer. Kanauj was finally\ncaptured and destroyed by Shihab-ud-Din in 1193, when Jaichand retired\ntowards Benares but was overtaken and slain. [524] His grandson,\nMr. Crooke says, [525] afterwards fled to Kantit in the Mirzapur\nDistrict and, overcoming the Bhar Raja of that place, founded the\nfamily of the Gaharwar Rajas of Kantit Bijaypur, which was recently\nstill in existence. All the other Gaharwars trace their lineage to\nBenares or Bijaypur. The predecessors of the Gaharwars in Kantit and\nin a large tract of country lying contiguous to it were the Bhars, an\nindigenous race of great enterprise, who, though not highly civilised,\nwere far removed from barbarism. According to Sherring they have\nleft numerous evidences of their energy and skill in earthworks,\nforts, dams and the like. [526] Similarly Elliot says of the Bhars:\n\"Common tradition assigns to them the possession of the whole tract\nfrom Gorakhpur to Bundelkhand and Saugor, and the large pargana of\nBhadoi or Bhardai in Benares is called after their name. Many old stone\nforts, embankments and subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh,\nJaunpur, Mirzapur and Allahabad, which are ascribed to them, would seem\nto indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation.\" [527] Colonel\nTod says of the Gaharwars: \"The Gherwal Rajput is scarcely known to\nhis brethren in Rajasthan, who will not admit his contaminated blood\nto mix with theirs, though as a brave warrior he is entitled to their\nfellowship.\" [528] It is thus curious that the Gaharwars, who are one\nof the oldest clans to appear in authentic history, if they ruled\nCentral India in the eighth century before the Parihars, should be\nconsidered to be of very impure origin. And as they are subsequently\nfound in Mirzapur, a backward forest tract which is also the home\nof the Bhars, and both the Gaharwars and Bhars have a reputation as\nbuilders of tanks and forts, it seems likely that the Gaharwars were\nreally, as suggested by Mr. V.A. Smith, the aristocratic branch of the\nBhars, probably with a considerable mixture of Rajput blood. Elliot\nstates that the Bhars formerly occupied the whole of Azamgarh, the\npargana of Bara in Allahabad and Khariagarh in the Kanauj tract. This\nwidespread dominance corresponds with what has been already stated\nas regards the Gaharwars, who, according to Mr. V.A. Smith, ruled\nin Central India, Kanauj, Oudh, Benares and Mirzapur. And the name\nGaharwar, according to Dr. Hoernle, is connected with the Sanskrit root\n_gah_, and has the sense of 'dwellers in caves or deep jungle.' [529]\nThe origin of the Gaharwars is of interest in the Central Provinces,\nbecause it is from them that the Bundela clan of Saugor and Bundelkhand\nis probably descended. [530]\n\nThe Gaharwars, Mr. Crooke states, now hold a high rank among Rajput\nsepts; they give daughters to the Baghel, Chandel and Bisen, and take\nbrides of the Bais, Gautam, Chauhan, Parihar and other clans. The\nGaharwars are found in small numbers in the Central Provinces,\nchiefly in the Chhattisgarh Districts and Feudatory States.\n\n\n\nRajput, Gaur\n\n_Rajput, Gaur, Chamar Gaur_.--Colonel Tod remarks of this tribe:\n\"The Gaur tribe was once respected in Rajasthan, though it never there\nattained to any considerable eminence. The ancient kings of Bengal were\nof this race, and gave their name to the capital, Lakhnauti.\" This town\nin Bengal, and the kingdom of which it was the capital, were known as\nGanda, and it has been conjectured that the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs\nwere named after it. Sir H.M. Elliot and Mr. Crooke, however, point out\nthat the home of the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs and a cultivating caste,\nthe Gaur Tagas, is in the centre and west of the United Provinces,\nfar removed from Bengal; the Gaur Brahmans now reside principally\nin the Meerut Division, and between them and Bengal is the home of\nthe Kanaujia Brahmans. General Cunningham suggests that the country\ncomprised in the present Gonda District round the old town of Sravasti,\nwas formerly known as Gauda, and was hence the origin of the caste\nname. [531] The derivation from Gaur in Bengal is perhaps, however,\nmore probable, as the name was best known in connection with this\ntract. The Gaur Rajputs do not make much figure in history. \"Repeated\nmention of them is found in the wars of Prithwi Raj as leaders of\nconsiderable renown, one of whom founded a small state in the centre\nof India. This survived through seven centuries of Mogul domination,\ntill it at length fell a prey indirectly to the successes of the\nBritish over the Marathas, when Sindhia in 1809 annihilated the power\nof the Gaur and took possession of his capital, Supur.\" [532]\n\nIn the United Provinces the Gaur Rajputs are divided into three groups,\nthe Bahman, or Brahman, the Bhat, and the Chamar Gaur. Of these the\nChamar Gaur, curiously enough appear to rank the highest, which is\naccounted for by the following story: When trouble fell upon the Gaur\nfamily, one of their ladies, far advanced in pregnancy, took refuge\nin a Chamar's house, and was so grateful to him for his disinterested\nprotection that she promised to call her child by his name. The Bhats\nand Brahmans, to whom the others fled, do not appear to have shown a\nlike chivalry, and hence, strange as it may appear, the subdivisions\ncalled after their name rank below the Chamar Gaur. [533] The names of\nthe subsepts indicate that this clan of Rajputs is probably of mixed\norigin. If the Brahman subsept is descended from Brahmans, it would\nbe only one of several probable cases of Rajput clans originating\nfrom this caste. As regards the Bhat subcaste, the Charans or Bhats\nof Rajputana are admittedly Rajputs, and there is therefore nothing\ncurious in finding a Bhat subsection in a Rajput clan. What the\nreal origin of the Chamar Gaurs was is difficult to surmise. The\nChamar Gaur is now a separate clan, and its members intermarry with\nthe other Gaur Rajputs, affording an instance of the subdivision of\nclans. In the Central Provinces the greater number of the persons\nreturned as Gaur Rajputs really belong to a group known as Gorai, who\nare considered to be the descendants of widows or kept women in the\nGaur clan, and marry among themselves. They should really therefore\nbe considered a separate caste, and not members of the Rajput caste\nproper. In the United Provinces the Gaurs rank with the good Rajput\nclans. In the Central Provinces the Gaur and Chamar-Gaur clans are\nreturned from most Districts of the Jubbulpore and Nerbudda divisions,\nand also in considerable numbers from Bhandara.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Haihaya\n\n_Rajput, Haihaya, Haihaivansi, Kalaehuri_.--This well-known historical\nclan of the Central Provinces is not included among the thirty-six\nroyal races, and Colonel Tod gives no information about them. The\nname Haihaya is stated to be a corruption of Ahihaya, which means\nsnake-horse, the legend being that the first ancestor of the clan was\nthe issue of a snake and a mare. Haihaivansi signifies descendants\nof the horse. Colonel Tod states that the first capital of the Indu\nor lunar race was at Mahesvati on the Nerbudda, still existing\nas Maheshwar, and was founded by Sahasra Arjuna of the Haihaya\ntribe. [534] This Arjuna of the thousand arms was one of the Pandava\nbrothers, and it may be noted that the Ratanpur Haihaivansis still\nhave a story of their first ancestor stealing a horse from Arjuna,\nand a consequent visit of Arjuna and Krishna to Ratanpur for its\nrecovery. Since the Haihayas also claim descent from a snake and are\nof the lunar race, it seems not unlikely that they may have belonged\nto one of the Scythian or Tartar tribes, the Sakas or Yueh-chi,\nwho invaded India shortly after the commencement of the Christian\nera, as it has been conjectured that the other lunar Rajput clans\nworshipping or claiming descent from a snake originated from these\ntribes. The Haihaivansis or Kalachuris became dominant in the Nerbudda\nvalley about the sixth century, their earliest inscription being dated\nA.D. 580. Their capital was moved to Tripura or Tewar near Jubbulpore\nabout A.D. 900, and from here they appear to have governed an extensive\nterritory for about 300 years, and were frequently engaged in war with\nthe adjoining kingdoms, the Chandels of Mahoba, the Panwars of Malwa,\nand the Chalukyas of the south. One king, Gangeyadeva, appears even\nto have aspired to become the paramount power in northern India, and\nhis sovereignty was recognised in distant Tirhut. Gangeyadeva was fond\nof residing at the foot of the holy fig-tree of Prayaga (Allahabad),\nand eventually found salvation there with his hundred wives. From\nabout A.D. 1100 the power of the Kalachuri or Haihaya princes began to\ndecline, and their last inscription is dated A.D. 1196. It is probable\nthat they were subverted by the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla, the first\nof whom, Jadurai, appears to have been in the service of the Kalachuri\nking, and subsequently with the aid of a dismissed minister to have\nsupplanted his former-master. [535] The kingdom of the Kalachuri or\nHaihaya kings was known as Chedi, and, according to Mr. V.A. Smith,\ncorresponded more or less roughly to the present area of the Central\nProvinces. [536]\n\nIn about the tenth century a member of the reigning family of Tripura\nwas appointed viceroy of some territories in Chhattisgarh, and two or\nthree generations afterwards his family became practically independent\nof the parent house, and established their own capital at Ratanpur\nin Bilaspur District (A.D. 1050). This state was known as Dakshin or\nsouthern Kosala. During the twelfth century its importance rapidly\nincreased, partly no doubt on the ruins of the Jubbulpore kingdom,\nuntil the influence of the Ratanpur princes, Ratnadeva II. and\nPrithwideva II., may be said to have extended from Amarkantak to\nbeyond the Godavari, and from the confines of Berar in the west to\nthe boundaries of Orissa in the east. [537] The Ratanpur kingdom of\nChedi or Dakshin Kosala was the only one of the Rajput states in the\nCentral Provinces which escaped subversion by the Gonds, and it enjoyed\na comparatively tranquil existence till A.D. 1740, when Ratanpur fell\nto the Marathas almost without striking a blow. \"The only surviving\nrepresentative of the Haihayas of Ratanpur,\" Mr. Wills states, [538]\n\"is a quite simple-minded Rajput who lives at Bargaon in Raipur\nDistrict. He represents the junior or Raipur branch of the family,\nand holds five villages which were given him revenue-free by the\nMarathas for his maintenance. The malguzar of Senduras claims descent\nfrom the Ratanpur family, but his pretensions are doubtful. He enjoys\nno privileges such as those of the Bargaon Thakur, to whom presents\nare still made when he visits the chiefs who were once subordinate to\nhis ancient house.\" In the Ballia District of the United Provinces\n[539] are some Hayobans Rajputs who claim descent from the Ratanpur\nkings. Chandra Got, a cadet of this house, is said to have migrated\nnorthwards in A.D. 850 [540] and settled in the Saran District\non the Ganges, where he waged successful war with the aboriginal\nCheros. Subsequently one of his descendants violated a Brahman woman\ncalled Maheni of the house of his Purohit or family priest, who burnt\nherself to death, and is still locally worshipped. After this tragedy\nthe Hayobans Rajputs left Saran and settled in Ballia. Colonel Tod\nstates that, \"A small branch of these ancient Haihayas yet exist\nin the country of the Nerbudda, near the very top of the valley,\nat Sohagpur in Baghelkhand, aware of their ancient lineage, and,\nthough few in number, are still celebrated for their valour.\" [541]\nThis Sohagpur must apparently be the Sohagpur tahsil of Rewah, ceded\nfrom Mandla after the Mutiny.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Huna\n\n_Rajput, Huna, Hoon_.--This clan retains the name and memory of the\nHun barbarian hordes, who invaded India at or near the epoch of their\nincursions into Europe. It is practically extinct; but in his _Western\nIndia_ Colonel Tod records the discovery of a few families of Hunas\nin Baroda State: \"At a small village opposite Ometa I discovered\na few huts of Huns, still existing under the ancient name of Hoon,\nby which they are known to Hindu history. There are said to be three\nor four families of them at the village of Trisavi, three _kos_ from\nBaroda, and although neither feature nor complexion indicate much\nrelation to the Tartar-visaged Hun, we may ascribe the change to\nclimate and admixture of blood, as there is little doubt that they\nare descended from these invaders, who established a sovereignty on\nthe Indus in the second and sixth centuries of the Christian era,\nand became so incorporated with the Rajput population as to obtain a\nplace among the thirty-six royal races of India, together with the\nGete, the Kathi, and other tribes of the Sacae from Central Asia,\nwhose descendants still occupy the land of the sun-worshipping Saura\nor Chaura, no doubt one of the same race.\"\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Kachhwaha\n\n_Rajput, Kachhwaha, Cutchwaha_--A celebrated clan of Rajputs included\namong the thirty-six royal races, to which the Maharajas of the\nimportant states of Amber or Jaipur and Alwar belong. They are of the\nsolar race and claim descent from Kash, the second son of the great\nking Rama of Ajodhia, the incarnation of Vishnu. Their original seat,\naccording to tradition, was Rohtas on the Son river, and another of\ntheir famous progenitors was Raja Nal, who migrated from Rohtas and\nfounded Narwar. [542] The town of Damoh in the Central Provinces\nis supposed to be named after Damyanti, Raja Nal's wife. According\nto General Cunningham the name Kachhwaha is an abbreviation of\nKachhaha-ghata or tortoise-killer. The earliest appearance of the\nKachhwaha Rajputs in authentic history is in the tenth century, when\na chief of the clan captured Gwalior from the Parihar-Gujar kings of\nKanauj and established himself there. His dynasty had an independent\nexistence till A.D. 1128, when it became tributary to the Chandel\nkings of Mahoba. [543] The last prince of Gwalior was Tejkaran,\ncalled Dulha Rai or the bridegroom prince, and he received from his\nfather-in-law the district of Daora in the present Jaipur State,\nwhere he settled. In 1150 one of his successors wrested Amber from\nthe Minas and made it his capital. The Amber State from the first\nacknowledged the supremacy of the Mughal emperors, and the chief\nof the period gave his daughter in marriage to Akbar. This chief's\nson, Bhagwan Das, is said to have saved Akbar's life at the battle\nof Sarnal. Bhagwan Das gave a daughter to Jahangir, and his adopted\nson, Man Singh, the next chief, was one of the most conspicuous of\nthe Mughal Generals, and at different periods was governor of Kabul,\nBengal, Bihar and the Deccan. The next chief of note, Jai Singh I.,\nappears in all the wars of Aurangzeb in the Deccan. He was commander\nof 6000 horse, and captured Sivaji, the celebrated founder of the\nMaratha power. The present city of Jaipur was founded by a subsequent\nchief, Jai Singh II., in 1728. During the Mutiny the Maharaja of Jaipur\nplaced all his military power at the disposal of the Political Agent,\nand in every way assisted the British Government. At the Durbar of\n1877 his salute was raised to 21 guns. Jaipur, one of the largest\nstates in Rajputana, has an area of nearly 16,000 square miles, and\na population of 2 1/2 million persons. The Alwar State was founded\nabout 1776 by Pratap Singh, a descendant of a prince of the Jaipur\nhouse, who had separated from it three centuries before. It has an\narea of 3000 square miles and a population of nearly a million. [544]\nIn Colonel Tod's time the Kachhwaha chiefs in memory of their descent\nfrom Rama, the incarnation of the sun, celebrated with great solemnity\nthe annual feast of the sun. On this occasion a stately car called the\nchariot of the sun was brought from Rama's temple, and the Maharaja\nascending into it perambulated his capital. The images of Rama and\nSiva were carried with the army both in Alwar and Jaipur. The banner\nof Amber was always called the _Panchranga_ or five-coloured flag,\nand is frequently mentioned in the traditions of the Rajput bards. But\nit does not seem to be stated what the five colours were. Some of\nthe finest soldiers in the old Sepoy army were Kachhwaha Rajputs. The\nKachhwahas are fairly numerous in the United Provinces and rank with\nthe highest Rajput clans. [545] In the Central Provinces they are\nfound principally in the Saugor, Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Nagvansi\n\n_Rajput, Nagvansi_.--This clan are considered to be the descendants of\nthe Tak or Takshac, which is one of the thirty-six royal races, and was\nconsidered by Colonel Tod to be of Scythian origin. The Takshac were\nalso snake-worshippers. \"Naga and Takshac are synonymous appellations\nin Sanskrit for the snake, and the Takshac is the celebrated Nagvansa\nof the early heroic history of India. The Mahabharat describes in its\nusual allegorical style the war between the Pandus of Indraprestha and\nthe Takshacs of the north. Parikhita, a prince on the Pandu side, was\nassassinated by the Takshac, and his son and successor, Janamejaya,\navenged his death and made a bonfire of 20,000 snakes.\" [546] This\nallegory is supposed to have represented the warfare of the Aryan\nraces against the Sakas or Scythians. The Tak or Takshac would be\none of the clans held to be derived from the earlier invading tribes\nfrom Central Asia, and of the lunar race. The Tak are scarcely known\nin authentic history, but the poet Chand mentions the Tak from Aser\nor Asirgarh as one of the princes who assembled at the summons of\nPrithwi Raj of Delhi to fight against the Muhammadans. In another\nplace he is called Chatto the Tak. Nothing more is known of the\nTak clan unless the cultivating Taga caste of northern India is\nderived from them. But the Nagvansi clan of Rajputs, who profess to\nbe descended from them, is fairly numerous. Most of the Nagvansis,\nhowever, are probably in reality descended from landholders of the\nindigenous tribes who have adopted the name of this clan, when they\nwished to claim rank as Rajputs. The change is rendered more easy by\nthe fact that many of these tribes have legends of their own, showing\nthe descent of their ruling families from snakes, the snake and tiger,\nowing to their deadly character, being the two animals most commonly\nworshipped. Thus the landholding section of the Kols or Mundas of\nChota Nagpur have a long legend [547] of their descent from a princess\nwho married a snake in human form, and hence call themselves Nagvansi\nRajputs; and Dr. Buchanan states that the Nagvansi clan of Gorakhpur\nis similarly derived from the Chero tribe. [548] In the Central\nProvinces the Nagvansi Rajputs number about 400 persons, nearly all\nof whom are found in the Chhattisgarh Districts and Feudatory States,\nand are probably descendants of Kol or Munda landholding families.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Nikumbh\n\n_Rajput, Nikumbh_.--The Nikumbh is given as one of the thirty-six\nroyal races, but it is also the name of a branch of the Chauhans, and\nit seems that, as suggested by Sherring, [549] it may be an offshoot\nfrom the great Chauhan clan. The Nikumbh are said to have been given\nthe title of Sirnet by an emperor of Delhi, because they would not\nbow their heads on entering his presence, and when he fixed a sword\nat the door some of them allowed their necks to be cut through by the\nsword rather than bend the head. The term Sirnet is supposed to mean\nheadless. A Chauhan column with an inscription of Raja Bisal Deo was\nerected at Nigumbode, a place of pilgrimage on the Jumna, a few miles\nbelow Delhi, and it seems a possible conjecture that the Nikumbhs may\nhave obtained their name from this place. [550] Mr. Crooke, however,\ntakes the Nikumbh to be a separate clan. The foundation of most of\nthe old forts and cities in Alwar and northern Jaipur is ascribed to\nthem, and two of their inscriptions of the twelfth and thirteenth\ncenturies have been discovered in Khandesh. In northern India some\nof them are now known as Raghuvansi. [551] They are chiefly found in\nthe Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts, and may be connected with the\nRaghuvansi or Raghwi caste of these Provinces.\n\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Paik\n\n_Rajput, Paik_.--This term means a foot-soldier, and is returned\nfrom the northern Districts. It belongs to a class of men formerly\nmaintained as a militia by zamindars and landholders for the purpose\nof collecting their revenue and maintaining order. They were probably\nemployed in much the same manner in the Central Provinces as in Bengal,\nwhere Buchanan thus describes them: [552] \"In order to protect the\nmoney of landowners and convey it from place to place, and also, as\nit is alleged, to enforce orders, two kinds of guards are kept. One\nbody called Burkandaz, commanded by Duffadars and Jemadars, seems\nto be a more recent establishment The other called Paik, commanded\nby Mirdhas and Sirdars, are the remains of the militia of the Bengal\nkingdom. Both seem to have constituted the foot-soldiers whose number\nmakes such a formidable appearance in the Ain-i-Akbari. These unwieldy\nestablishments seem to have been formed when the Government collected\nrent immediately from the farmer and cultivator, and when the same\npersons managed not only the collections but the police and a great\npart of the judicial department. This vast number of armed men, more\nespecially the latter, formed the infantry of the Mughal Government,\nand were continued under the zamindars, who were anxious to have as\nmany armed men as possible to support them in their depredations. And\nthese establishments formed no charge, as they lived on lands which the\nzamindar did not bring to account.\" The Paiks are thus a small caste\nformed from military service like the Khandaits or swordsmen of Orissa,\nand are no doubt recruited from all sections of the population. They\nhave no claim to be considered as Rajputs.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Parihar\n\n_Rajput, Parihar_.--This clan was one of the four Agnikulas or\nfire-born. Their founder was the first to issue from the fire-fountain,\nbut he had not a warrior's mien. The Brahmans placed him as guardian\nof the gate, and hence his name, _Prithi-ha-dwara_ of which Parihar\nis supposed to be a corruption [553]. Like the Chauhans and Solankis\nthe Parihar clan is held to have originated from the Gurjara or\nGujar invaders who came with the white Huns in the fifth and sixth\ncenturies, and they were one of the first of the Gujar Rajput clans to\nemerge into prominence. They were dominant in Bundelkhand before the\nChandels, their last chieftain having been overthrown by a Chandel\nprince in A.D. 831 [554]. A Parihar-Gujar chieftain, whose capital\nwas at Bhinmal in Rajputana, conquered the king of Kanauj, the ruler\nof what remained of the dominions of the great Harsha Vardhana, and\nestablished himself there about A.D. 816 [555]. Kanauj was then held by\nGujar-Parihar kings till about 1090, when it was seized by Chandradeva\nof the Gaharwar Rajput clan. The Parihar rulers were thus subverted\nby the Gaharwars and Chandels, both of whom are thought to be derived\nfrom the Bhars or other aboriginal tribes, and these events appear\nto have been in the nature of a rising of the aristocratic section\nof the indigenous residents against the Gujar rulers, by whom they\nhad been conquered and perhaps taught the trade of arms. After this\nperiod the Parihars are of little importance. They appear to have\nretired to Rajputana, as Colonel Tod states that Mundore, five miles\nnorth of Jodhpur, was their headquarters until it was taken by the\nRahtors. The walls of the ruined fortress of Mundore are built of\nenormous square masses of stone without cement, and attest both its\nantiquity and its former strength [556]. The Parihars are scattered\nover Rajputana, and a colony of them on the Chambal was characterised\nas the most notorious body of thieves in the annals of Thug history\n[557]. Similarly in Etawah they are said to be a peculiarly lawless\nand desperate community [558]. The Parihar Rajputs rank with the\nleading clans and intermarry with them. In the Central Provinces they\nare found principally in Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Rathor\n\n_Rajput, Rathor, Rathaur._--The Rathor of Jodhpur or Marwar is one\nof the most famous clans of Rajputs, and that which is most widely\ndominant at the present time, including as it does the Rajas of\nJodhpur, Bikaner, Ratlam, Kishengarh and Idar, as well as several\nsmaller states. The origin of the Rathor clan is uncertain. Colonel\nTod states that they claim to be of the solar race, but by the bards\nof the race are denied this honour; and though descended from Kash, the\nsecond son of Rama, are held to be the offspring of one of his progeny,\nKashyap, by the daughter of a Dait (Titan). The view was formerly\nheld that the dynasty which wrested Kanauj from the descendants of\nHarsha Vardhana, and held it from A.D. 810 to 1090, until subverted\nby the Gaharwars, were Rathors, but proof has now been obtained that\nthey were really Parihar-Gujars. Mr. Smith suggests that after the\ndestruction of Kanauj by the Muhammadans under Shihab-ud-Din Ghori\nin A.D. 1193 the Gaharwar clan, whose kings had conquered it in 1090\nand reigned there for a century, migrated to the deserts of Marwar\nin Rajputana, where they settled and became known as Rathors. [559]\nIt has also been generally held that the Rashtrakuta dynasty of\nNasik and Malkhed in the Deccan which reigned from A.D. 753 to 973,\nand built the Kailasa temples at Ellora were Rathors, but Mr. Smith\nstates that there is no evidence of any social connection between the\nRashtrakutas and Rathors. [560] At any rate Siahji, the grandson or\nnephew of Jai Chand, the last king of Kanauj, who had been drowned\nin the Ganges while attempting to escape, accomplished with about\n200 followers--the wreck of his vassalage--the pilgrimage to Dwarka\nin Gujarat. He then sought in the sands and deserts of Rajputana\na second line of defence against the advancing wave of Muhammadan\ninvasion, and planted the standard of the Rathors among the sandhills\nof the Luni in 1212. This, however, was not the first settlement of\nthe Rathors in Rajputana, for an inscription, dated A.D. 997, among\nthe ruins of the ancient city of Hathundi or Hastikundi, near Bali\nin Jodhpur State, tells of five Rathor Rajas who ruled there early\nin the tenth century, and this fact shows that the name Rathor is\nreally much older than the date of the fall of Kanauj. [561]\n\nIn 1381 Siahji's tenth successor, Rao Chonda, took Mundore from\na Parihar chief, and made his possession secure by marrying the\nlatter's daughter. A subsequent chief, Rao Jodha, laid the foundation\nof Jodhpur in 1459, and transferred thither the seat of government. The\nsite of Jodhpur was selected on a peak known as Joda-gir, or the hill\nof strife, four miles distant from Mundore on a crest of the range\noverlooking the expanse of the desert plains of Marwar. The position\nfor the new city was chosen at the bidding of a forest ascetic, and was\nexcellently adapted for defence, but had no good water-supply. [562]\nJoda had fourteen sons, of whom the sixth, Bika, was the founder of the\nBikaner state. Raja Sur Singh (1595-1620) was one of Akbar's greatest\ngenerals, and the emperor Jahangir buckled the sword on to his son\nGaj Singh with his own hands. Gaj Singh, the next Raja (1620-1635),\nwas appointed viceroy of the Deccan, as was his successor, Jaswant\nSingh, under Aurangzeb. The Mughal Emperors, Colonel Tod remarks,\nwere indebted for half their conquests to the Lakh Tulwar Rahtoran,\nthe hundred thousand swords which the Rathors boasted that they\ncould muster. [563] On another occasion, when Jahangir successfully\nappealed to the Rajputs for support against his rebel son Khusru,\nhe was so pleased with the zeal of the Rathor prince, Raja Gaj Singh,\nthat he not only took the latter's hand, but kissed it, [564] perhaps\nan unprecedented honour. But the constant absence from his home on\nservice in distant parts of the empire was so distasteful to Raja Sur\nSingh that, when dying in the Deccan, he ordered a pillar to be erected\non his grave containing his curse upon any of his race who should\ncross the Nerbudda. The pomp of imperial greatness or the sunshine of\ncourt favour was as nothing with the Rathor chiefs, Colonel Tod says,\nwhen weighed against the exercise of their influence within their own\ncherished patrimony. The simple fare of the desert was dearer to the\nRathor than all the luxuries of the imperial banquet, which he turned\nfrom in disgust to the recollection of the green pulse of Mundore,\nor his favourite _rabi_ or maize porridge, the prime dish of the\nRathor. [565] The Rathor princes have been not less ready in placing\nthemselves and the forces of their States at the disposal of the\nBritish Government, and the latest and perhaps most brilliant example\nof their loyalty occurred during 1914, when the veteran Sir Partap\nSingh of Idar insisted on proceeding to the front against Germany,\nthough over seventy years of age, and was accompanied by his nephew,\na boy of sixteen.\n\nThe Ratlam State was founded by Ratan Singh, a grandson of Raja\nUdai Singh of Jodhpur, who was born about 1618, and obtained it\nas a grant for good service against the Usbegs at Kandahar and the\nPersians in Khorasan about 1651-52. Kishangarh was founded by Kishan\nSingh, a son of the same Raja Udai Singh, who obtained a grant of\nterritory from Akbar about 1611. Idar State in Gujarat has, according\nto its traditions, been held by Rathor princes from a very early\nperiod. Jodhpur State is the largest in Rajputana, with an area of\n35,000 square miles, and a population of two million. The Maharaja\nis entitled to a salute of twenty-one guns. A great part of the\nState is a sandy desert, and its older name of Marwar is, according\nto Colonel Tod, a corruption of Marusthan, or the region of death. In\nthe Central Provinces the Rathor Rajputs number about 6000 persons, and\nare found mainly in the Saugor, Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad\nDistricts. The census statistics include about 5000 persons enumerated\nin Mandla and Bilaspur, nearly all of whom are really Rathor Telis.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Sesodia\n\n_Rajput, Sesodia, Gahlot, Aharia_.--The Gahlot or Sesodia is generally\nadmitted to be the premier Rajput clan. Their chief is described by\nthe bards as \"The Suryavansi Rana, of royal race, Lord of Chitor,\nthe ornament of the thirty-six royal races.\" The Sesodias claim\ndescent from the sun, through Loh, the eldest son of the divine Rama\nof Ajodhia. In token of their ancestry the royal banner of Mewar\nconsisted of a golden sun on a crimson field. Loh is supposed to have\nfounded Lahore. His descendants migrated to Saurashtra or Kathiawar,\nwhere they settled at Vidurbha or Balabhi, the capital of the Valabhi\ndynasty. The last king of Valabhi was Siladitya, who was killed by\nan invasion of barbarians, and his posthumous son, Gohaditya, ruled\nin Idar and the hilly country in the south-west of Mewar. From him\nthe clan took its name of Gohelot or Gahlot. Mr. D.R. Bhandarkar,\nhowever, from a detailed examination of the inscriptions relating\nto the Sesodias, arrives at the conclusion that the founders of\nthe line were Nagar Brahmans from Vadnagar in Gujarat, the first\nof the line being one Guhadatta, from which the clan takes its\nname of Gahlot [566] The family were also connected with the ruling\nprinces of Valabhi. Mr. Bhandarkar thinks that the Valabhi princes,\nand also the Nagar Brahmans, belonged to the Maitraka tribe, who,\nlike the Gujars, were allied to the Huns, and entered India in the\nfifth or sixth century. Mr. Bhandarkar's account really agrees quite\nclosely with the traditions of the Sesodia bards themselves, except\nthat he considers Guhadatta to have been a Nagar Brahman of Valabhi,\nand descended from the Maitrakas, a race allied to the Huns, while the\nbards say that he was a descendant of the Aryan Kshatriyas of Ajodhia,\nwho migrated to Surat and established the Valabhi kingdom. The earliest\nprince of the Gahlot dynasty for whom a date has been obtained is\nSila, A.D. 646, and he was fifth in descent from Guhadatta, who may\ntherefore be placed in the first part of the sixth century. Bapa,\nthe founder of the Gahlot clan in Mewar, was, according to tradition,\nsixth in descent from Gohaditya, and he had his capital at Nagda,\na few miles to the north of Udaipur city. [567] A tradition quoted by\nMr. Bhandarkar states that Bapa was the son of Grahadata. He succeeded\nin propitiating the god Siva. One day the king of Chitor died and\nleft no heir to his throne. It was decided that whoever would be\ngarlanded by a certain elephant would be placed on the throne. Bapa\nwas present on the occasion, and the elephant put the garland round\nhis neck not only once, but thrice. Bapa was thus seated on the\nthrone. One day he was suffering from some eye-disease. A physician\nmixed a certain medicine in alcoholic liquor and applied it to his\neyes, which were speedily cured. Bapa afterwards inquired what the\nmedicine was, and learnt the truth. He trembled like a reed and said,\n\"I am a Brahman, and you have given me medicine mixed in liquor. I\nhave lost my caste,\" So saying he drank molten lead (_sisa_), and\nforthwith died, and hence arose the family name Sesodia. [568] This\nstory, current in Rajputana, supports Mr. Bhandarkar's view of the\nBrahman origin of the clan. According to tradition Bapa went to Chitor,\nthen held by the Mori or Pramara Rajputs, to seek his fortune, and\nwas appointed to lead the Chitor forces against the Muhammadans on\ntheir first invasion of India. [569] After defeating and expelling\nthem he ousted the Mori ruler and established himself at Chitor,\nwhich has since been the capital of the Sesodias. The name Sesodia\nis really derived from Sesoda, the residence of a subsequent chief\nRahup, who captured Mundore and was the first to bear the title of\nRana of Mewar. Similarly Aharia is another local name from Ahar, a\nplace in Mewar, which was given to the clan. They were also known as\nRaghuvansi, or of the race of king Raghu, the ancestor of the divine\nRama. The Raghuvansis of the Central Provinces, an impure caste\nof Rajput origin, are treated in a separate article, but it is not\nknown whether they were derived from the Sesodias. From the fourteenth\ncentury the chronicles of the Sesodias contain many instances of Rajput\ncourage and devotion. Chitor was sacked three times before the capital\nwas removed to Udaipur, first by Ala-ul-Din Khilji in 1303, next by\nBahadur Shah, the Muhammadan king of Gujarat in 1534, and lastly by\nAkbar in 1567. These events were known as Saka or massacres of the\nclan. On each occasion the women of the garrison performed the Johar\nor general immolation by fire, while the men sallied forth, clad in\ntheir saffron-coloured robes and inspired by _bhang_, to die sword\nin hand against the foe. At the first sack the goddess of the clan\nappeared in a dream to the Rana and demanded the lives of twelve of\nits chiefs as a condition of its preservation. His eleven sons were\nin their turn crowned as chief, each ruling for three days, while on\nthe fourth he sallied out and fell in battle. [570] Lastly, the Rana\ndevoted himself in order that his favourite son Ajeysi might be spared\nand might perpetuate the clan. At the second sack 32,000 were slain,\nand at the third 30,000. Finally Aurangzeb destroyed the temples and\nidols at Chitor, and only its ruins remain. Udaipur city was founded\nin 1559. The Sesodias resisted the Muhammadans for long, and several\ntimes defeated them. Udai Singh, the founder of Udaipur, abandoned\nhis capital and fled to the hills, whence he caused his own territory\nto be laid waste, with the object of impeding the imperial forces. Of\nthis period it is recorded that the Ranas were from father to son in\noutlawry against the emperor, and that sovereign had carried away the\ndoors of the gate of Chitor, and had set them up in Delhi. Fifty-two\nrajas and chiefs had perished in the struggle, and the Rana in\nhis trouble lay at nights on a counterpane spread on the ground,\nand neither slept in his bed nor shaved his hair; and if he perchance\nbroke his fast, had nothing better with which to satisfy it than beans\nbaked in an earthen pot. For this reason it is that certain practices\nare to this day observed at Udaipur. A counterpane is spread below the\nRana's bed, and his head remains unshaven and baked beans are daily\nlaid upon his plate. [571] A custom of perhaps somewhat similar origin\nis that in this clan man and wife take food together, and the wife does\nnot wait till her husband has finished. It is said that the Sesodia\nRajputs are the only caste in India among whom this rule prevails,\nand it may have been due to the fact that they had to eat together\nin haste when occasion offered during this period of guerilla warfare.\n\nIn 1614 Rana Amar Singh, recognising that further opposition was\nhopeless, made his submission to the emperor, on the condition that he\nshould never have to present himself in person but might send his two\nsons in his place. This stipulation being accepted, the heir-apparent\nKaran Singh proceeded to Ajmer where he was magnanimously treated by\nJahangir and shortly afterwards the imperial troops were withdrawn\nfrom Chitor. It is the pride of the Udaipur house that it never gave\na daughter in marriage to any of the Musalman emperors, and for many\nyears ceased to intermarry with other Rajput families who had formed\nsuch alliances. But Amar Singh II. (1698-1710) made a league with\nthe Maharajas of Jodhpur and Jaipur for mutual protection against\nthe Muhammadans; and it was one of the conditions of the compact\nthat the latter chiefs should regain the privilege of marriage with\nthe Udaipur family which had been suspended since they had given\ndaughters in marriage to the emperors. But the Rana unfortunately\nadded a proviso that the son of an Udaipur princess should succeed\nto the Jodhpur or Jaipur States in preference to any elder son by\nanother mother. The quarrels to which this stipulation gave rise led\nto the conquest of the country by the Marathas, at whose hands Mewar\nsuffered more cruel devastation than it had ever been subjected to by\nthe Muhammadans. Ruinous war also ensued between Jodhpur and Jaipur\nfor the hand of the famous Udaipur princess Kishen Kumari at the time\nwhen Rajputana was being devastated by the Marathas and Pindaris;\nand the quarrel was only settled by the voluntary death of the object\nof contention, who, after the kinsman sent to slay her had recoiled\nbefore her young beauty and innocence, willingly drank the draught\nof opium four times administered before the fatal result could be\nproduced. [572]\n\nThe Maharana of Udaipur is entitled to a salute of nineteen\nguns. The Udaipur State has an area of nearly 13,000 square miles\nand a population of about a million persons. Besides Udaipur three\nminor states, Partabgarh, Dungarpur and Banswara, are held by members\nof the Sesodia clan. In the Central Provinces the Sesodias numbered\nnearly 2000 persons in 1911, being mainly found in the districts of\nthe Nerbudda Division.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Solankhi\n\n_Rajput, Solankhi, Solanki, Chalukya._--This clan was one of the\nAgnikula or fire-born, and are hence considered to have probably been\nGurjaras or Gujars. Their original name is said to have been Chaluka,\nbecause they were formed in the palm (_chalu_) of the hand. They\nwere not much known in Rajputana, but were very prominent in the\nDeccan. Here they were generally called Chalukya, though in northern\nIndia the name Solankhi is more common. As early as A.D. 350 Pulakesin\nI. made himself master of the town of Vatapi, the modern Badami In the\nBijapur District, and founded a dynasty, which developed into the most\npowerful kingdom south of the Nerbudda, and lasted for two centuries,\nwhen it was overthrown by the Rashtrakutas [573]. Pulakesin II. of\nthis Chalukya dynasty successfully resisted an inroad of the great\nemperor Harsha Vardhana of Kanauj, who aspired to the conquest of the\nwhole of India. The Rashtrakuta kings governed for two centuries,\nand in A.D. 973 Taila or Tailapa II., a scion of the old Chalukya\nstock, restored the family of his ancestors to its former glory,\nand founded the dynasty known as that of the Chalukyas of Kalyan,\nwhich lasted like that which it superseded for nearly two centuries\nand a quarter, up to about A.D. 1190. In the tenth century apparently\nanother branch of the clan migrated from Rajputana into Gujarat and\nestablished a new dynasty there, owing to which Gujarat, which had\nformerly been known as Lata, obtained its present name [574]. The\nprincipal king of this line was Sidh Raj Solankhi, who is well known\nto tradition. From these Chalukya or Solankhi rulers the Baghel clan\narose, which afterwards migrated to Rewah. The Solankhis are found\nin the United Provinces, and a small number are returned from the\nCentral Provinces, belonging mainly to Hoshangabad and Nimar.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Somvansi\n\n_Rajput, Somvansi, Chandravansi._--These two are returned as separate\nsepts, though both names mean 'Descendants of the moon.' Colonel Tod\nconsiders Surajvansi and Somvansi, or the descendants of the sun and\nmoon as the first two of the thirty-six royal clans, from which all\nthe others were evolved. But he gives no account of them, nor does it\nappear that they were regularly recognised clans in Rajputana. It is\nprobable that both Somvansi and Chandravansi, as well as Surajvansi and\nperhaps Nagvansi (Descendants of the snake) have served as convenient\ndesignations for Rajputs of illegitimate birth, or for landholding\nsections of the cultivating castes and indigenous tribes when they\naspired to become Rajputs. Thus the Surajvansis, and Somvansis of\ndifferent parts of the country might be quite different sets of\npeople. There seems some reason for supposing that the Somvansis of\nthe United Provinces as described by Mr. Crooke are derived from the\nBhar tribe; [575] in the Central Provinces a number of Somvansis\nand Chandravansis are returned from the Feudatory States, and are\nprobably landholders who originally belonged to one of the forest\ntribes residing in them. I have heard the name Somvansi applied\nto a boy who belonged to the Baghel clan of Rajputs, but he was of\ninferior status on account of his mother being a remarried widow,\nor something of the kind.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Surajvansi\n\n_Rajput, Surajvansi._--The Surajvansi (Descendants of the Sun) is\nrecorded as the first of the thirty-six royal clans, but Colonel Tod\ngives no account of it, and it does not seem to be known to history\nas a separate clan. Mr. Crooke mentions an early tradition that the\nSurajvansis migrated from Ajodhia to Gujarat in A.D. 224, but this\nis scarcely likely to be authentic in view, of the late dates now\nassigned for the origin of the important Rajput clans. Surajvansi\nshould properly be a generic term denoting any Rajput belonging to a\nclan of the solar race, and it seems likely that it may at different\ntimes have been adopted by Rajputs who were no longer recognised in\ntheir own clan, or by families of the cultivating castes or indigenous\ntribes who aspired to become Rajputs. Thus Mr. Crooke notes that a\nlarge section of the Soiris (Savaras or Saonrs) have entirely abandoned\ntheir own tribal name and call themselves Surajvansi Rajputs; [576]\nand the same thing has probably happened in other cases. In the Central\nProvinces the Surajvansis belong mainly to Hoshangabad, and here they\nform a separate caste, marrying among themselves and not with other\nRajput clans. Hence they would not be recognised as proper Rajputs,\nand are probably a promoted group of some cultivating caste.\n\n\n\n\nRajput, Tomara\n\n_Rajput, Tomara, Tuar, Turtwar_.--This clan is an ancient one, supposed\nby Colonel Tod to be derived from the Yadavas or lunar race. The\nname is said to come from _tomar_ a club. [577] The Tomara clan was\nconsidered to be a very ancient one, and the great king Vikramaditya,\nwhose reign was the Hindu Golden Age, was held to have been sprung\nfrom it. These traditions are, however, now discredited, as well as\nthat of Delhi having been built by a Tomara king, Anang Pal I., in\nA.D. 733. Mr. V.A. Smith states that Delhi was founded in 993-994,\nand Anangapala, a Tomara king, built the Red Fort about 1050. In\n1052 he removed the celebrated iron pillar, on which the eulogy of\nChandragupta Vikramaditya is incised, from its original position,\nprobably at Mathura, and set it up in Delhi as an adjunct to a group\nof temples from which the Muhammadans afterwards constructed the\ngreat mosque. [578] This act apparently led to the tradition that\nVikramaditya had been a Tomara, and also to a much longer historical\nantiquity being ascribed to the clan than it really possessed. The\nTomara rule at Delhi only lasted about 150 years, and in the middle\nof the twelfth century the town was taken by Bisal Deo, the Chauhan\nchieftain of Ajmer, whose successor, Prithwi Raj, reigned at Delhi, but\nwas defeated and killed by the Muhammadans in A.D. 1192. Subsequently,\nperhaps in the reign of Ala-ud-Din Khilji, a Tomara dynasty established\nitself at Gwalior, and one of their kings, Dungara Singh (1425-1454),\nhad executed the celebrated rock-sculptures of Gwalior. [579] In 1518\nGwalior was taken by the Muhammadans, and the last Tomara king reduced\nto the status of an ordinary jagirdar. The Tomara clan is numerous in\nthe Punjab country near Delhi, where it still possesses high rank,\nbut in the United Provinces it is not so much esteemed. [580] No\nruling chief now belongs to this clan. In the Central Provinces the\nTomaras or Tunwars belong principally to the Hoshangabad District The\nzamindars of Bilaspur, who were originally of the Tawar subcaste of\nthe Kawar tribe, now also claim to be Tomara Rajputs on the strength\nof the similarity of the name.\n\n\n\n\nRajput; Yadu\n\n_Rajput; Yadu, Yadava, Yadu-Bhatti, Jadon._ [581]--The Yadus are a\nwell-known historical clan. Colonel Tod says that the Yadu was the\nmost illustrious of all the tribes of Ind, and became the patronymic\nof the descendants of Buddha, progenitor of the lunar (Indu)\nrace. It is not clear, even according to legendary tradition, what,\nif any, connection the Yadus had with Buddha, but Krishna is held\nto have been a prince of this tribe and founded Dwarka in Gujarat\nwith them, in which locality he is afterwards supposed to have been\nkilled. Colonel Tod states that the Yadu after the death of Krishna,\nand their expulsion from Dwarka and Delhi, the last stronghold of\ntheir power, retired by Multan across the Indus, founded Ghazni in\nAfghanistan, and peopled these countries even to Samarcand. Again\ndriven back on the Indus they obtained possession of the Punjab and\nfounded Salbhanpur. Thence expelled they retired across the Sutlej\nand Gara into the Indian deserts, where they founded Tannote, Derawal\nand Jaisalmer, the last in A.D. 1157. It has been suggested in the\nmain article on Rajput that the Yadus might have been the Sakas, who\ninvaded India in the second century A.D. This is only a speculation. At\na later date a Yadava kingdom existed in the Deccan, with its capital\nat Deogiri or Daulatabad and its territory lying between that place and\nNasik. [582] Mr. Smith states that these Yadava kings were descendants\nof feudatory nobles of the Chalukya kingdom, which embraced parts of\nwestern India and also Gujarat. The Yadu clan can scarcely, however,\nbe a more recent one than the Chalukya, as in that case it would not\nprobably have been credited with having had Krishna as its member. The\nYadava dynasty only lasted from A.D. 1150 to 1318, when the last prince\nof the line, Harapala, stirred up a revolt against the Muhammadans to\nwhom the king, his father-in-law, had submitted, and being defeated,\nwas flayed alive and decapitated. It is noticeable that the Yadu-Bhatti\nRajputs of Jaisalmer claim descent from Salivahana, who founded the\nSaka era in A.D. 78, and it is believed that this era belonged to the\nSaka dynasty of Gujarat, where, according to the tradition given above,\nthe Yadus also settled. This point is not important, but so far as\nit goes would favour the identification of the Sakas with the Yadavas.\n\nThe Bhatti branch of the Yadus claim descent from Bhati, the grandson\nof Salivahana. They have no legend of having come from Gujarat, but\nthey had the title of Rawal, which is used in Gujarat, and also by the\nSesodia clan who came from there. The Bhattis are said to have arrived\nin Jaisalmer about the middle of the eighth century, Jaisalmer city\nbeing founded much later in A.D. 1183. Jaisalmer State, the third\nin Rajputana, has an area of 16,000 square miles, most of which is\ndesert, and a population of about 100,000 persons. The chief has the\ntitle of Maharawal and receives a salute of fifteen guns. The Jareja\nRajputs of Sind and Cutch are another branch of the Yadus who have\nlargely intermarried with Muhammadans. They now claim descent from\nJamshid, the Persian hero, and on this account, Colonel Tod states,\nthe title of their rulers is Jam. They were formerly much addicted\nto female infanticide. The name Yadu has in other parts of India\nbeen corrupted into Jadon, and the class of Jadon Rajputs is fairly\nnumerous in the United Provinces, and in some places is said to have\nbecome a caste, its members marrying among themselves. This is also\nthe case in the Central Provinces, where they are known as Jadum,\nand have been treated under that name in a separate article. The\nsmall State of Karauli in Rajputana is held by a Jadon chief.\n\n\n\n\nRajwar\n\n_Rajwar._ [583]--A low cultivating caste of Bihar and Chota Nagpur,\nwho are probably an offshoot of the Bhuiyas. In 1911 a total of 25,000\nRajwars were returned in the Central Provinces, of whom 22,000 belong\nto the Sarguja State recently transferred from Bengal. Another 2000\npersons are shown in Bilaspur, but these are Mowars, an offshoot\nof the Rajwars, who have taken to the profession of gardening and\nhave changed their name. They probably rank a little higher than\nthe bulk of the Rajwars. \"Traditionally,\" Colonel Dalton states,\n\"the Rajwars appear to connect themselves with the Bhuiyas; but this\nis only in Bihar. The Rajwars in Sarguja and the adjoining States\nare peaceably disposed cultivators, who declare themselves to be\nfallen Kshatriyas; they do not, however, conform to Hindu customs,\nand they are skilled in a dance called Chailo, which I believe to be\nof Dravidian origin. The Rajwars of Bengal admit that they are the\ndescendants of mixed unions between Kurmis and Kols. They are looked\nupon as very impure by the Hindus, who will not take water from their\nhands.\" The Rajwars of Bihar told Buchanan that their ancestor was\na certain Rishi, who had two sons. From the elder were descended\nthe Rajwars, who became soldiers and obtained their noble title;\nand from the younger the Musahars, who were so called from their\npractice of eating rats, which the Rajwars rejected. The Musahars,\nas shown by Sir H. Risley, are probably Bhuiyas degraded to servitude\nin Hindu villages, and this story confirms the Bhuiya origin of the\nRajwars. In the Central Provinces the Bhuiyas have a subcaste called\nRajwar, which further supports this hypothesis, and in the absence of\nevidence to the contrary it is reasonable to suppose that the Rajwars\nare an offshoot of the Bhuiyas, as they themselves say, in Bihar. The\nsubstitution of Kols for Bhuiyas in Bengal need not cause much concern\nin view of the great admixture of blood and confused nomenclature\nof all the Chota Nagpur tribes. In Bengal, where the Bhuiyas have\nsettled in Hindu villages, and according to the usual lot of the\nforest tribes who entered the Hindu system have been degraded into\nthe servile and impure caste of Musahars, the Rajwars have shared\ntheir fate, and are also looked upon as impure. But in Chota Nagpur\nthe Bhuiyas have their own villages and live apart from the Hindus,\nand here the Rajwars, like the landholding branches of other forest\ntribes, claim to be an inferior class of Rajputs.\n\nIn Sarguja the caste have largely adopted Hindu customs. They abstain\nfrom liquor, employ low-class Brahmans as priests, and worship the\nHindu deities. When a man wishes to arrange a match for his son he\ntakes a basket of wheat-cakes and proceeding to the house of the girl's\nfather sets them down outside. If the match is acceptable the girl's\nmother comes and takes the cakes into the house and the betrothal\nis then considered to be ratified. At the wedding the bridegroom\nsmears vermilion seven times on the parting of the bride's hair,\nand the bride's younger sister then wipes a little of it off with\nthe end of the cloth. For this service she is paid a rupee by the\nbridegroom. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. After\nthe birth of a child the mother is given neither food nor water for\ntwo whole days; on the third day she gets only boiled water to drink\nand on the fourth day receives some food. The period of impurity\nafter a birth extends to twelve days. When the navel-string drops\nit is carefully put away until the next Dasahra, together with the\nchild's hair, which is cut on the sixth day. On the Dasahra festival\nall the women of the village take them to a tank, where a lotus plant\nis worshipped and anointed with oil and vermilion, and the hair and\nnavel-string are then buried at its roots. The dead are burned, and the\nmore pious keep the bones with a view to carrying them to the Ganges\nor some other sacred river. Pending this, the bones are deposited in\nthe cow-house, and a lamp is kept burning in it every night so long\nas they are there. The Rajwars believe that every man has a soul or\nPran, and they think that the soul leaves the body, not only at death,\nbut whenever he is asleep or becomes unconscious owing to injury or\nillness. Dreams are the adventures of the soul while wandering over\nthe world apart from the body. They think it very unlucky for a man\nto see his own reflection in water and carefully avoid doing so.\n\n\n\n\nRamosi\n\n\n\n1. General notice\n\n_Ramosi, Ramoshi._--A criminal tribe of the Bombay Presidency, of which\nabout 150 persons were returned from the Central Provinces and Berar\nin 1911. They belong to the western tract of the Satpuras adjoining\nKhandesh. The name is supposed to be a corruption of Ramvansi, meaning\n'The descendants of Rama.' They say [584] that when Rama, the hero of\nthe Ramayana, was driven from his kingdom by his step-mother Kaikeyi,\nhe went to the forest land south of the Nerbudda. His brother Bharat,\nwho had been raised to the throne, could not bear to part with Rama,\nso he followed him to the forest, began to do penance, and made friends\nwith a rough but kindly forest tribe. After Rama's restoration Bharat\ntook two foresters with him to Ajodhia (Oudh) and brought them to the\nnotice of Rama, who appointed them village watchmen and allowed them\nto take his name. If this is the correct derivation it may be compared\nwith the name of Rawanvansi or Children of Rawan, the opponent of Rama,\nwhich is applied to the Gonds of the Central Provinces. The Ramosis\nappear to be a Hinduised caste derived from the Bhils or Kolis or a\nmixture of the two tribes. They were formerly a well-known class of\nrobbers and dacoits. The principal scenes of their depredations were\nthe western Ghats, and an interesting description of their methods\nis given by Captain Mackintosh in his account of the tribe. [585]\nSome extracts from this are here reproduced.\n\n\n\n\n2. Methods of robbery\n\nThey armed themselves chiefly with swords, taking one, two or three\nmatchlocks, or more should they judge it necessary. Several also\ncarried their shields and a few had merely sticks, which were in\ngeneral shod with small bars of iron from eight to twelve inches in\nlength, strongly secured by means of rings and somewhat resembling\nthe ancient mace. One of the party carried a small copper or earthen\npot or a cocoanut-shell with a supply of _ghi_ or clarified butter\nin it, to moisten their torches with before they commenced their\noperations. The Ramosis endeavoured as much as possible to avoid being\nseen by anybody either when they were proceeding to the object of\ntheir attack or returning afterwards to their houses. They therefore\ntravelled during the night-time; and before daylight in the morning\nthey concealed themselves in a jungle or ravine near some water,\nand slept all day, proceeding in this way for a long distance till\nthey reached the vicinity of the village to be attacked. When they\nwere pursued and much pressed, at times they would throw themselves\ninto a bush or under a prickly pear plant, coiling themselves up\nso carefully that the chances were their pursuers would pass them\nunnoticed. If they intended to attack a treasure party they would\nwait at some convenient spot on the road and sally out when it\ncame abreast of them, first girding up their loins and twisting\na cloth tightly round their faces, to prevent the features from\nbeing recognised. Before entering the village where their dacoity or\n_durrowa_ was to be perpetrated, torches were made from the turban of\none of the party, which was torn into three, five or seven pieces,\nbut never into more, the pieces being then soaked with butter. The\nsame man always supplied the turban and received in exchange the best\none taken in the robbery. Those who were unarmed collected bags of\nstones, and these were thrown at any people who tried to interfere\nwith them during the dacoity. They carried firearms, but avoided\nusing them if possible, as their discharge might summon defenders\nfrom a distance. They seldom killed or mutilated their victims,\nexcept in a fight, but occasionally travellers were killed after\nbeing robbed as a measure of precaution. They retreated with their\nspoils as rapidly as possible to the nearest forest or hill, and from\nthere, after distributing the booty into bags to make it portable,\nthey marched off in a different direction from that in which they\nhad come. Before reaching their homes one of the party was deputed\nwith an offering of one, two or five rupees to be presented as an\noffering to their god Khandoba or the goddess Bhawani in fulfilment of\na vow. All the spoil was then deposited before their Naik or headman,\nwho divided it into equal shares for members of the gang, keeping a\ndouble share for himself.\n\n\n\n\n3. Ramosis employed as village watchmen\n\nIn order to protect themselves from the depredations of these gangs\nthe villagers adopted a system of hiring a Ramosi as a surety to\nbe responsible for their property, and this man gradually became a\nRakhwaldar or village watchman. He received a grant of land rent-free\nand other perquisites, and also a fee from all travellers and gangs of\ntraders who halted in the village in return for his protection during\nthe night. If a theft or house-breaking occurred in a village, the\nRamosi was held responsible to the owner for the value of the property,\nunless a large gang had been engaged. If he failed to discover the\nthief he engaged to make the lost property good to the owner within\nfifteen days or a month unless its value was considerable. If a gang\nhad been engaged, the Ramosi, accompanied by the patel and other\nvillage officials and cultivators, proceeded to track them by their\nfootprints. Obtaining a stick he cut it to the exact length of the\nfootprint, or several such if a number of prints could be discovered,\nand followed the tracks, measuring the footprints, to the boundary\nof the village. The inhabitants of the adjoining village were then\ncalled and were responsible for carrying on the trail through their\nvillage. The measures of footprints were handed over to them, and after\nsatisfying themselves that the marks came from outside and extended\ninto their land they took up the trail accompanied by the Ramosi. In\nthis way the gang was tracked from village to village, and if it was\nrun to earth the residents of the villages to which it belonged had to\nmake good the loss. If the tracks were lost owing to the robbers having\nwaded along a stream or got on to rocky ground or into a public road,\nthen the residents of the village in whose borders the line failed\nwere considered responsible for the stolen property. Usually, however,\na compromise was made, and they paid half, while the other half was\nraised from the village in which the theft occurred. If the Ramosi\nfailed to track the thieves out of the village he had to make good\nthe value of the theft, but he was usually assisted by the village\nofficer. Often, too, the owner had to be contented with half or a\nquarter of the amount lost as compensation. In the early part of the\ncentury the Ramosis of Poona became very troublesome and constantly\ncommitted robberies in the houses of Europeans. As a consequence a\ncustom grew up of employing a Ramosi as chaukidar or watchman for\nguarding the bungalow at night on a salary of seven rupees a month,\nand soon became general. It was the business of the Ramosi watchman to\nprevent other Ramosis from robbing the house. Apparently this was the\ncommon motive for the custom, prevalent up to recent years, of paying\na man solely for the purpose of watching the house at night, and it\noriginated, as in Poona, as a form of insurance and an application\nof the proverb of setting a thief to catch a thief. The selection of\nvillage watchmen from among the low, criminal castes appears to have\nbeen made on the same principle.\n\n\n\n\n4. Social customs\n\nThe principal deity of the Ramosis is Khandoba, the Maratha god of\nwar. [586] He is the deified sword, the name being _khanda-aba_\nor sword-father. An oath taken on the Bhandar or little bag of\nturmeric dedicated to Khandoba is held by them most sacred and no\nRamosi will break this oath. Every Ramosi has a family god known as\nDevak, and persons having the same Devak cannot intermarry. The Devak\nis usually a tree or a bunch of the leaves of several trees. No one\nmay eat the fruit of or otherwise use the tree which is his Devak. At\ntheir weddings the branches of several trees are consecrated as Devaks\nor guardians of the wedding. A Gurao cuts the leafy branches of the\nmango, _umar_, [587] _jamun_ [588] and of the _rui_ [589] and _shami_\n[590] shrubs and a few stalks of grass and sets them in Hanuman's\ntemple. From here the bridegroom's parents, after worshipping Hanuman\nwith a betel-leaf and five areca-nuts, take them home and fasten\nthem to the front post of the marriage-shed. When the bridegroom is\ntaken before the family gods of the bride, he steals one of them in\ntoken of his profession, but afterwards restores it in return for a\npayment of money. In social position the Ramosis rank a little above\nthe Mahars and Mangs, not being impure. They speak Marathi but have\nalso a separate thieves' jargon of their own, of which a vocabulary\nis given in the account of Captain Mackintosh. When a Ramosi child\nis seven or eight years old he must steal something. If he is caught\nand goes to prison the people are delighted, fall at his feet when he\ncomes out and try to obtain him as a husband for their daughters. [591]\nIt is doubtful whether these practices obtain in the Central Provinces,\nand as the Ramosis are not usually reckoned here among the notorious\ncriminal tribes they may probably have taken to more honest pursuits.\n\n\n\n\nRangrez\n\n_Rangrez._--The Muhammadan caste of dyers. The caste is found\ngenerally in the northern Districts, and in 1901 its members were\nincluded with the Chhipas, from whom, however, they should be\ndistinguished as having a different religion and also because they\npractise a separate branch of the dyeing industry. The strength of\nthe caste in the Central Provinces does not exceed a few hundred\npersons. The Rangrez is nominally a Muhammadan of the Sunni sect,\nbut the community forms an endogamous group after the Hindu fashion,\nmarrying only among themselves. Good-class Muhammadans will neither\nintermarry with nor even take food from members of the Rangrez\ncommunity. In Sohagpur town of Hoshangabad this is divided into two\nbranches, the Kheralawalas or immigrants from Kherala in Malwa and the\nlocal Rangrezes. These two groups will take food together but will\nnot intermarry. Kheralawala women commonly wear a skirt like Hindu\nwomen and not Muhammadan pyjamas. In Jubbulpore the Rangrez community\nemploy Brahmans to conduct their marriage and other ceremonies. Long\nassociation with Hindus has as usual caused the Rangrez to conform to\ntheir religious practices and the caste might almost be described\nas a Hindu community with Muhammadan customs. The bulk of them\nno doubt were originally converted Hindus, but as their ancestors\nprobably immigrated from northern India their present leaning to\nthat religion would perhaps be not so much an obstinate retention\nof pre-Islamic ritual as a subsequent lapse following on another\nchange of environment. In northern India Mr. Crooke records them\nas being governed mainly by Muhammadan rules. There [592] they hold\nthemselves to be the descendants of one Khwaja Bali, a very pious man,\nabout whom the following verse is current:\n\n\n    Khwaja Bali Rangrez\n    Range Khuda ki sez:\n\n\n'Khwaja Bali dyes the bed of God.' The name is derived from _rang_,\ncolour, and _rez, rekhtan_, to pour. In Bihar, Sir G. Grierson\nstates [593] the word Rangrez is often confounded with 'Angrezi'\nor 'English'; and the English are sometimes nicknamed facetiously\nRangrez or 'dyers,' The saying, 'Were I a dyer I would dye my own\nbeard first,' in reference to the Muhammadan custom of dyeing the\nbeard, has the meaning of 'Charity begins at home,' [594]\n\nThe art of the Rangrez differs considerably from that of the\nChhipa or Rangari, the Hindu dyer, and he produces a much greater\nvariety of colours. His principal agents were formerly the safflower\n(_Carthamus tinctorius_), turmeric and myrobalans. The fact that the\nbrilliant red dye of safflower was as a rule only used by Muhammadan\ndyers, gives some ground for the supposition that it may have been\nintroduced by them to India. This would account for the existence\nof a separate caste of Muhammadan dyers, and in support of it may\nbe adduced the fact that the variety of colours is much greater in\nthe dress of the residents of northern India and Rajputana than in\nthose of the Maratha Districts. The former patronise many different\nshades, more especially for head-cloths, while the latter as a rule\ndo not travel beyond red, black or blue. The Rangrez obtains his red\nshades from safflower, yellow from _haldi_ or turmeric, green from\na mixture of indigo and turmeric, purple from indigo and safflower,\n_khaki_ or dust-colour from myrobalans and iron filings, orange from\nturmeric and safflower, and _badami_ or almond-colour from turmeric\nand two wild plants _kachora_ and _nagarmothi_, the former of which\ngives a scent. Cloths dyed in the _badami_ shades are affected, when\nthey can afford it, by Gosains and other religious mendicants, who\nthus dwell literally in the odour of sanctity. Muhammadans generally\npatronise the shades of green or purple, the latter being often used\nas a lining for white coats. Fakirs or Muhammadan beggars wear light\ngreen. Marwari Banias and others from Rajputana like the light yellow,\npink or orange shades. A green or black head-cloth is with them a\nsign of mourning. Cloths dyed in yellow or scarlet are bought by\nBrahmans and other castes of Hindus for their marriages. Blue is not\na lucky colour among the Hindus and is considered as on a level with\nblack. It may be worn on ordinary occasions, but not at festivals\nor at auspicious periods. Muhammadans rather affect black and do not\nconsider it an unlucky colour. I have seen a Rangrez dye a piece of\ncloth in about twenty colours in the course of two or three hours,\nbut several of these dyes are fugitive and will not stand washing. The\ntrade of the Rangrez is being undermined by the competition of cheap\nchemical dyes imported from Germany and sold in the form of powders;\nthe process of dyeing with these is absolutely simple and can be\ncarried out by any one. They are far cheaper than safflower, and this\nagent has consequently been almost driven from the market. People buy\na little dyeing powder from the bazar and dye their own cloths. But\nmen will only wear cloths dyed in this manner, and known as _katcha\nkapra_, on their heads and not on their bodies; women sometimes wear\nthem also on their bodies. The decay in the indigenous art of dyeing\nmust be a matter for regret.\n\n\n\n\nRautia\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin of the tribe\n\n_Rautia._ [595]--A cultivating caste of the Chota Nagpur plateau. In\n1911 about 12,000 Rautias were enumerated in the Province, nearly all\nof whom belong to the Jashpur State with a few in Sarguja. These states\nlie outside the scope of the Ethnographic Survey and hence no regular\ninquiry has been made on the Rautias. The following brief notice is\nmainly taken from the account of the caste in Sir H. Risley's _Tribes\nand Castes of Bengal_. He describes the caste as, \"refined in features\nand complexion by a large infusion of Aryan blood. Their chief men\nhold estates on quit-rent from the Maharaja of Chota Nagpur, and the\nbulk of the remainder are tenants with occupancy right and often paying\nonly a low quit-rent or half the normal assessment.\" These favourable\ntenures may probably be explained by the fact that they were held\nin former times on condition of military service, and were analogous\nto the feudal fiefs of Europe. The Rautias themselves say that this\nwas their original occupation in Chota Nagpur. The name Rautia is\na form of Rawat, and this latter word signifies a prince and is a\ntitle borne by relatives of a Raja. It may be noticed that Rawat is\nthe ordinary name by which the Ahir caste is known in Chhattisgarh,\nthe neighbouring country to Chota Nagpur in the Central Provinces;\nand further that the Rautias will take food from a Chhattisgarhi\nRawat. This fact, coupled with the identity of the name, appears\nto demonstrate a relationship of the two castes. The Rautias will\nnot take food from any other Hindu caste, but they will eat with\nthe Kawar and Gond tribes, at least in Raigarh. The Kawars have a\nsubtribe called Rautia as also have the Kols. In Sir H. Risley's list\nof the sept-names of the Rautias [596] we find two names, Aind the\neel, and Rukhi a squirrel, which are also the names of Munda septs,\nand one, Karsayal or deer, which is the name of a Kawar sept. They\nhave also a name Sanwani, which is probably Sonwani or 'gold-water,'\nand is common to many of the primitive tribes. The most plausible\nhypothesis of the origin of the Rautias on the above facts seems\nto be that they were a tribal militia in Chota Nagpur, the leaders\nbeing Ahirs or Rawats with possibly a sprinkling of the local Rajputs,\nwhile the main body were recruited from the Kawar and Kol tribes. The\nKhandaits or swordsmen of Orissa furnish an exact parallel to the\nRautias, being a tribal militia, who have now become a caste, and are\nconstituted mainly from the Bhuiya tribe with a proportion of Chasas\nor cultivators and Rajputs. They also have obtained possession of\nthe land, and in Orissa the Sresta or good Khandaits rank next to\nthe Rajputs. The history and position of the Rautias appears to be\nsimilar to that of the Khandaits. The Halbas of Bastar are probably\nanother nearly analogous instance. They were Gonds, who apparently\nformed the tribal militia of the Rajas of Bastar and got grants of\nland and consequently a certain rise in status though not to the same\nlevel as the Khandaits and Rautias. It does not seem that the Rautias\nhave any special connection with the Gonds, and their acceptance of\nfood from Gonds may perhaps, as suggested by Mr. Hira Lal, be due to\nthe fact that they served a Gond Raja.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions\n\nThe Rautias had formerly three subdivisions, the Barki, Majhli and\nChhotki Bhir or Gorhi, or the high, middle and low class Rautias. But\nit is related that the Barki group found that they could not obtain\ngirls in marriage for their sons, so they extended the privileges\nof the _connubium_ to the Majhli group after taking a caste\nfeast. Possibly the Barki Rautias formerly practised hypergamy with\nthe Majhli, taking daughters in marriage but not giving daughters, and\nin course of time this has led to the obliteration of the distinction\nbetween them. The different status of the three groups was based on\ntheir purity of descent. The Majhli and Chhotki were the descendants\nof Rautia fathers and mothers of other castes; the offspring going to\nthe Majhli group if the mother was a Gond or Kawar or of respectable\ncaste, while the children of impure Ganda and Ghasia women by Rautia\nfathers were admitted into the Chhotki group. These divisions confirm\nthe hypothesis previously given of the genesis of the Rautia caste;\nand it is further worth noting that the Khandaits have also Bar and\nChhot Gohir divisions or those of pure and mixed blood, and the Halbas\nof Bastar are similarly divided into the Purait or pure Halbas,\nand the Surait or descendants of Halba fathers by women of other\ncastes. In a military society, where the men were frequently on the\nmove or stationed in outlying forts and posts, temporary unions and\nillegitimate children would naturally be of common occurrence. And\nthe mixed nature of the three castes affords some support to the\nhypothesis of their common origin from military service.\n\nThe tribe have totemistic septs, and retain some veneration for their\ntotems. Those of the Bagh or tiger sept throw away their earthen pots\non hearing of the death of a tiger. Those of the Sand or bull sept\nwill not castrate bullocks themselves, and must have this operation\nperformed on their plough-bullocks by others. Those of the Kansi sept\nformerly, according to their own account, would not root up the _kans_\ngrass [597] growing in their fields, but now they no longer object to\ndo so. Other septs are Tithi a bird, Bira a hawk, Barwan a wild dog,\nand so on.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage\n\nMarriage is forbidden within the sept, but is permitted between the\nchildren of a brother and a sister or of two sisters. Matches are\narranged at the caste feasts and the usual bride-price is four rupees\nwith six or seven pieces of cloth and some grain. When the procession\narrives at the bride's village her party go out to meet it, and the\nGandas or musicians on each side try to break each other's drums,\nbut are stopped by their employers. At the wedding two wooden images\nof the bridegroom and bride are made and placed in the centre of the\nmarriage-shed. A goat is led round these and killed, and the bride\nand bridegroom walk round them seven times. They rub vermilion on the\nwooden images and then on each other's foreheads. It is probable that\nthe wooden images are made and set up in the centre of the shed to\nattract the evil eye and divert it from the real bride and bridegroom,\nand the goat may be a substituted sacrifice on their behalf. Divorce\nand the remarriage of widows are permitted.\n\n\n\n\n4. Funeral rites\n\nIn the forest tracts the tribe bury the dead, placing the corpse with\nthe feet to the south. Before being placed in the grave the corpse\nis rubbed with oil and turmeric and carried seven times round the\ngrave according to the ritual of a wedding. This is called the _Chhed\nvivah_ or marriage to the grave. The Kabirpanthi Rautias are placed\nstanding in the grave with the face turned to the north. Well-to-do\nmembers of the caste burn their dead and employ Brahmans to perform\nthe _shraddh_ ceremony.\n\n\n\n\n5. Inheritance\n\nThe tribe have some special rules of inheritance. In Bengal [598]\nthe eldest son of the legitimate wife inherits the whole of the\nfather's property, subject to the obligation of making grants for the\nmaintenance of his younger brothers. These grants decrease according\nto the standing of the brothers, the elder ones getting more and the\nyounger less. Sons of a wife married by the ceremony used for widows\nreceive smaller grants. But the widow of an elder brother counts as\nthe regular wife of a younger brother and her sons have full rights of\nsuccession. In the Central Provinces the eldest son does not succeed\nto the whole property but obtains a share half as large again as the\nother sons. And if the father divides the property in his lifetime and\nparticipates in it he himself takes only the share of a younger son.\n\n\n\n\nSanaurhia\n\n\n\n1. A band of criminals\n\n_Sanaurhia, Chandravedi._ [599]--A small but well-known community\nof criminals in Bundelkhand. They claim to be derived from the\nSanadhya Brahmans, and it seems possible that this may in fact have\nbeen their origin; but at present they are a confraternity recruited\nby the initiation of promising boys from all castes except sweepers\nand Chamars; [600] and a census taken of them in northern India in\n1872 showed that they included members of the following castes:\nBrahman, Rajput, Teli, Kurmi, Ahir, Kanjar, Nai, Dhobi, Dhimar,\nSunar and Lodhi. It is said, however, that they do not form a caste\nor intermarry, members of each caste continuing their relations with\ntheir own community. Their regular method of stealing is through the\nagency of a boy, and no doubt they pick up a likely urchin whenever\nthey get the chance, as only selected boys would be clever enough\nfor the work. Their trade is said to possess much fascination, and\nMr. Crooke quotes a saying, 'Once a Sanaurhia always a Sanaurhia';\nso that unless the increased efficiency of the police has caused the\ndangers of their calling to outweigh its pleasures they should have\nno difficulty in obtaining recruits.\n\n\n\n\n2. Traditions of origin\n\nMr. Seagrim [601] states that their home is in the Datia State of\nBundelkhand, and some of them live in the adjoining Alamgarh tract of\nIndore State. Formerly they also resided in the Orchha and Chanderi\nStates of Bundelkhand, having six or eight villages in each state\n[602] in their sole occupation, with colonies in other villages. In\n1857 it was estimated that the Tehri State contained 4000 Sanaurhias,\nBanpur 300 and Datia 300. They occupied twelve villages in Tehri,\nand an officer of the state presided over the community and acted as\numpire in the division of the spoils. The office of Mukhia or leader\nwas hereditary in the caste, and in default of male issue descended to\nfemales. If among the booty there happened to be any object of peculiar\nelegance or value, it was ceremoniously presented to the chief of the\nstate. They say that their ancestors were two Sanadhya Brahmans of the\nvillage of Ramra in Datia State. They were both highly accomplished\nmen, and one had the gift of prophecy, while the other could understand\nthe language of birds. One day they met at a river a rich merchant and\nhis wife, who were on a pilgrimage to Jagannath. As they were drinking\nwater a crow sitting on a tree commenced cawing, and the Sanadhya\nheard him say that whoever got hold of the merchant's walking-stick\nwould be rich. The two Brahmans then accompanied the merchant until\nthey obtained an opportunity of making off with his stick; and they\nfound it to be full of gold mohurs, the traveller having adopted this\ndevice as a precaution against being robbed. The Brahmans were so\npleased at their success that they took up stealing as a profession,\nand opened a school where they taught small boys of all castes the\nart of stealing property in the daytime. Prior to admission the boys\nwere made to swear by the moon that they would never commit theft at\nnight, and on this account they are known as Chandravedi or 'Those\nwho observe the moon.' In Bombay and Central India this name is more\ncommonly used than Sanaurhia. Another name for them is Uthaigira or\n'A picker-up of that which has fallen,' corresponding to the nickname\nof Uchla or 'Lifter' applied to the Bhamtas. Mr. Seagrim described them\nas going about in small gangs of ten to twenty persons without women,\nunder a leader who has the title of Mukhia or Nalband. The other\nmen are called Upardar, and each of these has with him one or two\nboys of between eight and twelve years old, who are known as _Chauwa_\n(chicks) and do the actual stealing. The Nalband or leader trains these\nboys to their work, and also teaches them a code vocabulary (_Parsi_)\nand a set of signals (_teni_) by which the Upardar can convey to them\nhis instructions while business is proceeding. The whole gang set out\nat the end of the rains and, arriving at some distant place, break up\ninto small parties; the Nalband remains at a temporary headquarters,\nwhere he receives and disposes of the spoil, and arranges for the\ndefence of any member of the gang who is arrested, and for the support\nof his wife and children if he is condemned to imprisonment.\n\n\n\n\n3. Methods of stealing\n\nThe methods of the Sanaurhias as described by Mr. Seagrim show\nconsiderable ingenuity. When they desire to steal something from a\nstall in a crowded market two of the gang pretend to have a violent\nquarrel, on which all the people in the vicinity collect to watch,\nincluding probably the owner of the stall. In this case the _Chauwa_\nor boy, who has posted himself in a position of vantage, will quickly\nabstract the article agreed upon and make off. Or if there are\nseveral purchasers at a shop, the man will wait until one of them\nlays down his bundle while he makes payment, and then pushing up\nagainst him signal to the _Chauwa_, who snatches up the bundle and\nbolts. If he is caught, the Sanaurhia will come up as an innocent\nmember of the crowd and plead for mercy on the score of his youth;\nand the boy will often be let off with a few slaps. Sometimes three\nor four Sanaurhias will proceed to some place of resort for pilgrims\nto bathe, and two or three of them entering the water will divert\nthe attention of the bather by pointing out some strange object\nor starting a discussion. In the meantime the _Chauwas_ or chicks,\nunder the direction of another on the bank, will steal any valuable\narticle left by the bather. The attention of any one left on shore to\nwatch the property is diverted by a similar device. If they see a man\nwith expensive clothes the _Chauwa_ will accidentally brush against\nhim and smear him with dirt or something that causes pollution;\nthe victim will proceed to bathe, and one of the usual stratagems\nis adopted. Or the Sanaurhia will engage the man in conversation and\nthe _Chauwa_ will come running along and collide with them; on being\nabused by the Sanaurhia for his clumsiness he asks to be pardoned,\nexplaining that he is only a poor sweeper and meant no harm; and on\nhearing this the victim, being polluted, must go off and bathe. [603]\nColonel Sleeman relates the following case of such a theft: [604]\n\"While at Saugor I got a note one morning from an officer in command\nof a treasure escort just arrived from Narsinghpur stating that\nthe old Subahdar of his company had that morning been robbed of his\ngold necklace valued at Rs. 150, and requesting that I would assist\nhim in recovering it. The old Subahdar brought the note, and stated\nthat he had undressed at the brook near the cantonments, and placed\nthe necklace with his clothes, about twenty yards from the place\nwhere he bathed; that on returning to his clothes he could not find\nthe necklace, and the only person he saw near the place was a young\nlad who was sauntering in the mango grove close by. This lad he had\ntaken and brought with him, and I found after a few questions that he\nbelonged to the Sanaurhia Brahmans of Bundelkhand. As the old Subahdar\nhad not seen the boy take the necklace or even approach the clothes,\nI told him that we could do nothing, and he must take the boy back to\ncamp and question him in his own way. The boy, as I expected, became\nalarmed, and told me that if I would not send him back with the angry\nold Subahdar he would do anything I pleased. I bade him tell me how\nhe had managed to secure the necklace; and he told me that while the\nSubahdar turned his back upon his clothes in prayer, he had taken it\nup and made it over to one of the men of his party; and that it must\nhave been taken to their bivouac, which was in a grove about three\nmiles from the cantonments. I sent off a few policemen, who secured\nthe whole party, but could not find anything upon them. Seeing some\nsigns of a hole having been freshly made under one of the trees they\ndug up the fresh earth and discovered the necklace, which the old man\nwas delighted to recover so easily.\" Another device which they have\nis to beat the _Chauwa_ severely in the sight of a rich stranger. The\nboy runs crying and clings to the stranger asking him for help, and\nin the meantime picks his pocket. When the Sanaurhias are convicted\nin Native States and put into jail they refuse to eat, pleading that\nthey are poor Brahmans, and pretend to starve themselves to death,\nand thus often get out of jail. In reply to a letter inquiring about\nthese people from the Superintendent of Chanderi about 1851, the Raja\nof Banpur wrote:\n\n\"I have to state that from former times these people following\ntheir profession have resided in my territory and in the states of\nother native princes; and they have always followed this calling,\nbut no former kings or princes or authority have ever forbidden the\npractice. In consequence of these people stealing by day only, and that\nthey do not take life or distress any person by personal ill-usage,\nand that they do not break into houses by digging walls or breaking\ndoor-locks, but simply by their smartness manage to abstract property;\nowing to such trifling thefts I looked upon their proceedings as a\npetty matter and have not interfered with them.\" [605] This recalls\nanother famous excuse.\n\n\n\n\nSansia\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Historical notice of the caste_.\n    2. _Social customs_.\n    3. _Taboos of relationship_.\n    4. _Organisation for dacoity_.\n    5. _Description of a dacoity_.\n    6. _Omens_.\n    7. _Ordeals_.\n    8. _Sansias at the present time_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Historical notice of the caste\n\n_Sansia_. [606]--A small caste of wandering criminals of northern\nIndia, who live by begging and dealing in cattle. They also steal and\ncommit dacoities, house-breaking and thefts on railway trains. The\nname Sansia is borne as well by the Uriya or Od masons of the Uriya\ncountry, but these are believed to be quite a distinct group from the\ncriminal Sansias of Central India and are noticed in another short\narticle. Separate statistics of the two groups were not obtained at\nthe census. The Sansias are closely connected with the Berias, and\nsay that their ancestors were two brothers Sains Mul and Sansi, and\nthat the Berias are descended from the former and the Sansias from the\nlatter. They were the bards of the Jat caste, and it was their custom\nto chronicle the names of the Jats and their ancestors, and when they\nbegged from Jat families to recite their praises. The Sansias, Colonel\nSleeman states, had particular families (of the Jats) allotted to them,\nfrom whom they had not only the privilege of begging, but received\ncertain dues; some had fifty, some a hundred houses appointed to them,\nand they received yearly from the head of each house one rupee and a\nquarter and one day's food. When the Jats celebrated their marriages\nthey were accustomed to invite the Sansias, who as their minstrels\nrecited the praises of the ancestors of the Jats, tracing them up to\nthe time of Punya Jat; and for this they received presents, according\nto the means of the parties, of cows, ponies or buffaloes. Should\nany Jat demur to paying the customary dues the Sansias would dress\nup a cloth figure of his father and parade with it before the house,\nwhen the sum demanded was generally given; for if the figure were\nfastened on a bamboo and placed over the house the family would lose\ncaste and no one would smoke or drink water with them. [607]\n\nThe Sansias say that their ancestors have always resided in Marwar\nand Ajmer. About twenty-four miles distant from Ajmer are two towns,\nPisangan and Sagun; on their eastern side is a large tank, and the\nbones of all persons of the Sansia tribe who died in any part of the\ncountry were formerly buried there, being covered by a wooden platform\nwith four pillars. [608] On one occasion a quarrel had arisen over\na Sansia woman, and a large number of the caste were killed in this\nplace. So they left Marwar, and some of them came to the Deccan,\nwhere they took to house-breaking and dacoity; and so successful\nwere they that the other Sansias followed them and gave up all their\nformer customs, even those of reciting the praises of and begging\nfrom the Jats.\n\n\n\n\n2. Social customs\n\nThe Sansias are divided into two groups, Kalkar and Malha; and\nthese two are further subdivided into eight and twelve sections\nrespectively. No one belonging to the Kalkar group may marry another\nperson of that group, but he may marry anybody belonging to any\nsection of the Malha group. Thus the two groups being exogamous the\nsections do not serve any purpose, but it is possible that the rules\nare really more complicated. In the Punjab their marriage ceremony is\npeculiar, the bride being covered by a basket, on which the bridegroom\nsits while the nuptial rites are being performed. [609] According to\nColonel Sleeman, after the arrangement of a match the caste committee\nassemble to determine the price to be paid to the father of the girl,\nwhich may amount to as much as Rs. 2000. When this is settled some\nliquor is spilt on the ground in the name of Bhagwan or Vishnu, and\nan elder pronounces that the two have become man and wife; a feast is\ngiven to the caste, and the ceremony is concluded. After child-birth\na woman cannot wash herself for five days, but on the sixth she may\ngo to a stream and wash. Even on ordinary occasions a woman must\nnever wash herself inside the house, but must always go to a stream,\nwhich rule does not apply to men. When the hair of a child begins to\ngrow it is all shaved except the scalp-lock, which is dedicated to\nBhagwan; and at ten or twelve years of age this lock is also shaved\noff and a dinner is given to members of the caste. The last ceremony\nis of the nature of a puberty-rite, and if children die prior to its\nperformance their bodies are buried, whereas after it they have a right\nto cremation. After a body has been burnt the bones are buried on the\nspot in an earthen vessel, over the mouth of which a large stone is\nplaced. Some pig's flesh is cooked and sweet cakes prepared, portions\nof which are placed upon the stone; and the deceased is then called\nupon, by reason of the usual ceremonies having been performed at his\ndeath, to watch over his surviving relatives. If any Sansia happened to\ncommit a murder when engaged in a dacoity he was afterwards obliged to\nmake an offering for forgiveness, and to spend a rupee and a quarter\nin liquor for the caste-fellows. If a dacoit had himself been killed\nand his body abandoned, his clothes, with some new clothes, were put\nupon a sleeping-cot, and his companions of the same caste carried it to\na convenient spot, where it was either burnt or buried in the ground.\n\n\n\n\n3. Taboos of relationship\n\nColonel Sleeman records some curious taboos among relations. [610] A\nman cannot go into the hut of his mother-in-law or of his son's wife;\nfor if their petticoat should touch him he would be turned out of his\ncaste and would not be admitted into it until he had paid a large\nsum. \"If we quarrel with a woman,\" said a Sansia, \"and she strikes\nus with her petticoat we lose our caste; we should be allowed to eat\nand drink with our tribe, but not to perform worship with them nor to\nassist in burial rites. If a woman piles up a heap of stones and puts\nher petticoat upon it and throws filth upon it and says to any other,\n'This disgrace fell upon your ancestors for seven generations back,'\nboth are immediately expelled from our caste, and cannot return to\nit until they have paid a large sum of money.\"\n\n\n\n\n4. Organisation for dacoity\n\nAs in the case of the Badhaks the arrangements for a dacoity were\ncarefully organised. Each band had a Jemadar or leader, while the\nothers were called Sipahis or soldiers. A tenth of all the booty taken\nwas given to the Jemadar in return for the provision of the spears,\ntorches and other articles, and of the remainder the Jemadar received\ntwo shares and the Sipahis one each. But no novice was permitted\nto share in the booty or carry a spear until he had participated in\ntwo or three successful dacoities; and inasmuch as outsiders, with\nthe exception of the impure Dhers and Mangs, were freely admitted\nto the Sansia community in return for a small money payment, some\nsuch apprenticeship as this was no doubt necessary. If a Sipahi was\nkilled in a dacoity his wife was entitled to a sum of Rs. 350 and\nhalf an ordinary share in future dacoities as long as she remained\nwith the gang. The Sansias never pitched their camp in the vicinity\nof the place in which they contemplated an enterprise, but despatched\ntheir scouts to it, themselves remaining some twenty miles distant.\n\n\n\n\n5. Description of a dacoity\n\nThe scouts, [611] having prospected the town and determined the\nhouse to be exploited, usually that of the leading banker, would\nthen proceed to it in the early morning before business began and\nask to purchase some ornaments or change some money; by this request\nthey often induced the banker to bring out his cash chest from the\nplace of security where he was accustomed to deposit it at night,\nand learnt where it should be looked for. Having picked up as much\ninformation as possible, the scouts would purchase some spear-heads,\nbury them in a neighbouring ravine, and rejoin the main body. The party\nwould arrive at the rendezvous in the evening, and having fitted their\nspears to bamboo shafts, would enter the town carrying them concealed\nin a bundle of _karbi_ or the long thick stalks of the large millet,\njuari. [612] One man was appointed to carry the torch, [613] and the\noil to be poured on this had always to be purchased in the town or\nvillage where the dacoity was to take place, the use of any other oil\nbeing considered most unlucky. The vessel containing the oil was not\nallowed to touch the earth until its contents had been poured upon\nthe torch, when it was dashed upon the ground. From this time until\nthe completion of the dacoity no one might spit or drink water or\nrelieve himself under penalty of putting a stop to the enterprise. The\nJemadar invoked Khandoba, an incarnation of Mahadeo, and said that if\nby his assistance the box of money was broken at the first or second\nstroke of the axe, a chain of gold weighing one and a quarter tolas\nwould be made over to him. The party then approached the shop, the\nroads surrounding it being picketed to guard against a rescue, and the\nJemadar, accompanied by four or five men and the torch-bearer, rushed\ninto the shop crying Din, Din. The doors usually gave way under a few\nheavy blows with the axe, which they wielded with great expertness, and\nthe scout pointed out the location of the money and valuables. Once\nin possession of the property the torch was extinguished and the\nwhole party made off as rapidly as possible. During their retreat\nthey tried to avoid spearing people who pursued them, first calling\nout to them to go away. If any member of the party was killed or so\ndesperately wounded that he could not be removed, the others cut off\nhis head and carried it off so as to prevent recognition; a man who\nwas slightly wounded would be carried off by his companions, but if\nthe pursuit became hot and he had to be left, they cut off his head\nalso and took it with them, escaping by this drastic method the risk\nof his turning approver with the consequent danger of conviction for\nthe rest of the gang. About a mile from the place of the dacoity they\nstopped and mustered their party, and the Jemadar called out to the\ngod Bhagwan to direct any pursuers in the wrong direction and enable\nthem to reach their families. If any dacoit had ever been killed at\nthis particular town they also called upon his spirit to assist them,\npromising to offer him a goat or some liquor; and so, throwing down\na rupee or two at any temple or stream which they might pass on their\nway, they came to their families. When about a mile away from the camp\nthey called out 'Cuckoo' to ascertain if any misfortune had occurred\nduring their absence; if they thought all was well they went nearer\nand imitated the call of the partridge; and finally when close to the\nencampment made a hissing noise like a snake. On arrival at the camp\nthey at once mounted their ponies and started off, marching fifty or\nsixty miles a day, for two or three days.\n\n\n\n\n6. Omens\n\nThe Sansias never committed a dacoity on moonlight nights, but had five\nappointed days during the dark half of the month, the seventh, ninth,\neleventh, thirteenth and the night of the day on which the new moon\nwas first seen. If they did not meet with a favourable omen on any\nof these nights, no dacoity was committed that month. The following\nis a list of omens given by one of the caste: [614] \"If we see a cat\nwhen we are near the place where we intend to commit a dacoity, or we\nhear the relations of a dead person lamenting, or hear a person sneeze\nwhile cooking his meal, or see a dog run away with a portion of any\nperson's food, or a kite screams while sitting on a tree, or a woman\nbreaks the earthen vessel in which she may have been drawing water,\nwe consider the omens unfavourable. If a person drops his turban or\nwe meet a corpse, or the Jemadar has forgotten to put some bread into\nhis waistbelt, or any dacoit forgets his axe or spear or sees a snake\nwhether dead or alive; these omens are also considered unfavourable\nand we do not commit the dacoity. Should we see a wolf and any one\nof us have on a red turban, we take this and tear it into seven\npieces and hang each piece upon a separate tree. We then purchase a\nrupee's worth of liquor and kill a goat, which is cut up into four\npieces. Four men pretend that they are wolves and rushing on the four\nquarters of the meat seize them, imitating the howl of these animals,\nwhile the rest of the dacoits pelt them with the entrails; the meat\nis afterwards cooked and eaten in the name of Bhagwan.\"\n\nIt would appear that the explanation of this curious ceremony must\nbe that the Sansias thought the appearance of the wolf to be an\nomen that one of them would furnish a meal for him. The turban\nis venerated on account of its close association with the head, a\nsacred part of the body among Hindus, and in this case it probably\nserved as a substituted offering for the head, while its red colour\nrepresented blood; and the mimic rite of the goat being devoured\nby men pretending to be wolves fulfilled the omen which portended\nthat the wolves would be provided with a meal, and hence averted\nthe necessity of one of the band being really devoured. In somewhat\nanalogous fashion the Gonds and Baigas placate or drive away a tiger\nwho has killed a man in order to prevent him from obtaining further\nvictims. Some similar idea apparently underlay the omen of the dog\nrunning away with food. Perhaps the portent of hearing the kite scream\non a tree also meant that he looked on them with a prescient eye as\na future meal. On the other hand, meeting a corpse and seeing a snake\nare commonly considered to be lucky omens, and their inclusion in this\nlist is curious. [615] The passage continues: \"Among our favourable\nomens are meeting a woman selling milk; or a person carrying a basket\nof grain or a bag of money; or if we see a calf sucking its mother,\nor meet a person with a vessel of water, or a marriage procession;\nor if any person finds a rupee that he has lost; or we meet a bearer\ncarrying fish or a pig or a blue-jay; if any of these occur near our\ncamp on the day we contemplate a dacoity, we proceed forthwith to\ncommit it and consider that these signs assure us a good booty. If\na Fakir begs from us while we are on our way to the place of dacoity\nwe cannot give him anything.\" Another Sansia said: \"We think it very\nfavourable if, when on the way to commit a dacoity we hear or see\nthe jackal; it is as good as gold and silver to us; also if we hear\nthe bray of the ass in a village we consider it to be lucky.\"\n\n\n\n\n7. Ordeals\n\nThe following is a description given by a Sansia of their ordeals:\n[616] If a Jemadar suspects a Sipahi of secreting plunder a _panchayat_\nis assembled, [617] the members of which receive five rupees from\nboth parties. Seven pipal [618] leaves are laid upon his hand and\nbound round with thread, and upon these a heated iron _tawa_ or plate\nis set; he is then ordered to walk seven paces and put the plate\ndown upon seven thorns; should he be able to do so he is pronounced\ninnocent, but if he is burnt by the plate and throws it down he is\nconsidered guilty. Another ordeal is by fixing arrows, two of which\nare shot off at once from one bow, one in the name of Bhagwan (god),\nand the other in the name of the _panchayat_; the place being on the\nbank of the river. The arrow that flies the farthest is stuck upright\ninto the ground; upon which a man carrying a long bamboo walks up to\nhis breast in the water and the suspected person is desired to join\nhim. One of the _panchayat_ then claps his hands seven times and runs\noff to pick up the arrow; at this instant the suspected person is\nobliged to put his head under water, and if he can hold his breath\nuntil the other returns to the bank with the arrow and has again\nclapped his hands seven times he is pronounced innocent. If he cannot\ndo so he is declared guilty and punished. A third form of ordeal was\nas follows: The Jemadar and the gang assemble under a pipal tree,\nand after knocking off the neck of an earthen pitcher they kill\na goat and collect its blood in the pitcher, and put some glass\nbangles in it. Four lines are drawn on the pitcher with vermilion\n(representing blood), and it is placed under a tree and 1 1/4 seers\n[619] of _gur_ (sugar) are tied up in a piece of cloth 1 1/4 cubits\nin length and hung on to a branch of the tree. The Jemadar then says,\n'I will forgive any person who has not secreted more than fifteen\nor twenty rupees, but whoever has stolen more than that sum shall\nbe punished.' The Jemadar dips his finger in the pitcher of blood,\nand afterwards touches the sugar and calls out loudly, 'If I have\nembezzled any money may Bhagwan punish me'; and each dacoit in turn\npronounces the same sentence. No one who is guilty will do this but\nat once makes his confession. The oath pronounced on 1 1/4 seers of\nsugar tied up in 1 1/4 cubits of cloth was considered the most solemn\nand binding which a Sansia could take.\n\n\n\n\n8. Sansias at the present time\n\nAt present, Mr. Kennedy states, [620] the Sansias travel about in gangs\nof varying strength with their families, bullocks, sheep, goats and\ndogs. The last mentioned of these animals are usually small mongrels\nwith a terrier strain, mostly stolen or bred from types dishonestly\nobtained during their peregrinations. Dacoity is still the crime which\nthey most affect, and they also break into houses and steal cattle. Men\nusually have a necklace of red coral and gold beads round the neck,\nfrom which is suspended a square piece of silver or gold bearing\nan effigy of a man on horseback. This represents either the deity\nRamdeo Pir or one of the wearer's ancestors, and is venerated as a\ncharm. They are very quarrelsome, and their drinking-bouts in camp\nusually end in a free fight, in which they also beat their women,\nand the affray not infrequently results in the death of one of the\ncombatants. When this happens the slayer makes restitution to the\nrelatives by defraying the expenses of a fresh drinking-bout. [621]\nDuring the daytime men are seldom to be found in the encampment,\nas they are in the habit of hiding in the ditches and jungle, where\nthe women take them their food; at night they return to their tents,\nbut are off again at dawn.\n\n\n\n\nSansia, Uria\n\n\n\n1. The caste and its subdivisions\n\n_Sansia, Uria_. [622]--A caste of masons and navvies of the Uriya\ncountry. The Sansias are really a branch of the great migratory Ud or\nOdde caste of earth-workers, whose name has been corrupted into various\nforms. [623] Thus in Chanda they are known as Wadewar or Waddar. The\nterm Uria is here a corruption of Odde, and it is the one by which\nthe caste prefer to be known, but they are generally called Sansia\nby outsiders. The caste sometimes class the Sansias as a subcaste of\nUrias, the others being Benatia Urias and Khandait Urias. Since the\nUriya tract has been transferred to Bengal, and subsequently to Bihar\nand Orissa, there remain only about 1000 Sansias in the Chhattisgarh\nDistricts and States. Although it is possible that the name of the\ncaste may have been derived from some past connection, the Sansias\nof the Uriya country have at present no affinities with the outcaste\nand criminal tribe of Sansis or Sansias of northern India. They enjoy\na fairly high position in Sarnbalpur, and Brahmans will take water\nfrom them.\n\nThey are divided into two subcastes, the Benetia and Khandait. The\nBenetia are the higher and look down on the Khandaits, because, it\nis said, these latter have accepted service as foot-soldiers, and\nthis is considered a menial occupation. Perhaps in the households\nof the Uriya Rajas the tribal militia had also to perform personal\nservices, and this may have been considered derogatory., In Orissa,\non the other hand, the Khandaits have become landholders and occupy a\nhigh position next to Rajputs. The Benetia Sansias practise hypergamy\nwith the Khandait Sansias, taking their daughters in marriage, but\nnot giving daughters to them. When a Benetia is marrying a Khandait\ngirl his party will not take food with the bride's relatives, but only\npartake of some sugar and curds and depart with the bride. The Sansias\nhave totemistic exogamous septs, usually derived from the names of\nsacred objects, as Kachhap, tortoise, Sankh, the conch-shell, Tulsi,\nbasil, and so on.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage customs\n\nGirls are married between seven and ten, and after she is twelve\nyears old a girl cannot go through the proper ceremony, but can\nonly be wedded by a simple rite used for widows, in which vermilion\nis rubbed on her forehead and some grains of rice stuck on it. The\nmarriage procession, as described by Mr. Rama Prasad Bohidar, is\na gorgeous affair: \"The drummers, all drunk, head the procession,\nbeating their drums to the tune set by the piper. Next in order are\nplaced dancing-boys between two rows of lights carried on poles adorned\nwith festoons of paper flowers. Rockets and fireworks have their\nproper share in the procession, and last of all comes the bridegroom\nin his wedding apparel, mounted on a horse. His person is studded\nwith various kinds of gold necklaces borrowed for the occasion,\nand the fingers of his right hand are covered with rings. Bangles\nand chains of silver shine on his wrists and arms. His forehead is\nbeautifully painted with ground sandalwood divided in the centre\nby a streak of vermilion. His head carries a crown of palm-leaves\noverlaid with bright paper of various colours. A network of _malti_\nflowers hangs loosely from the head over the back and covers a portion\nof the loins of the steed. The eyes are painted with collyrium and\nthe feet with red dye. The lips and teeth are also reddened by the\nbetel-leaf, which the bridegroom chews in profusion. A silk cloth\ndoes the work of a belt, in which is fixed a dagger on the right\nside.\" Here the red colour which predominates in the bridegroom's\ndecorations is lucky for the reasons given in the article on Lakhera;\nthe blacking of the eyes is also considered to keep off evil spirits;\nbetel-leaf is itself a powerful agent of magic and averter of spirits,\nand to the same end the bridegroom carries iron in the shape of the\ndagger. The ceremony is of the customary Uriya type. On the seventh\nday of the wedding the husband and wife go to the river and bathe,\nthrowing away the sacred threads worn at the time of marriage, and\nalso those which have been tied round their wrists. On returning\nhome the wife piles up seven brass vessels and seven stools one above\nthe other and the husband kicks them over, this being repeated seven\ntimes. The husband then washes his teeth with water brought from the\nriver, breaks the vessel containing the water in the bride's house,\nand runs away, while the women of her family throw pailfuls of coloured\nwater over him. On the ninth day the bride comes and smears a mixture\nof curds and sugar on the forehead of each member of the bridegroom's\nfamily, probably as a sign of her admission to their clan, and returns\nhome. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted.\n\n\n\n\n3. Religion and worship of ancestors\n\nThe caste worship Viswakarma, the celestial architect, and on four\nprincipal festivals they revere their trade-implements and the book\non architecture, by which they work. At Dasahra a pumpkin is offered\nto these articles in lieu of a goat. They observe the _shraddh_\nceremony, and first make two offerings to the spirits of ancestors\nwho have died a violent death or have committed suicide, and to\nthose of relatives who died unmarried, for fear lest these unclean\nand malignant spirits should seize and defile the offerings to the\nbeneficent ancestors. Thereafter _pindas_ or sacrificial cakes are\noffered to three male and three female ancestors both on the father's\nand mother's side, twelve cakes being offered in all. The Sansias eat\nthe flesh of clean animals, but the consumption of liquor is strictly\nforbidden, on pain, it is said, of permanent exclusion from caste.\n\n\n\n\n4. Occupation\n\nIn Sambalpur the caste are usually stone-workers, making cups, mortars,\nimages of idols and other articles. They also build tanks and wander\nfrom place to place for this purpose in large companies. It is related\nthat on one occasion they came to dig a tank in Drug, and the Raja\nof that place, while watching their work, took a fancy to one of the\nOdnis, as their women were called, and wanted her to marry him. But\nas she was already married, and was a virtuous woman, she refused. The\nRaja persisted in his demand, on which the whole body of Sansias from\nChhattisgarh, numbering, it is said, nine lakhs of persons, left their\nwork and proceeded to Wararbandh, near Raj-Nandgaon. Here they dug\nthe great tank of Wararbandh [624] in one night to obtain a supply of\nwater for themselves. But the Raja followed them, and as they could\nnot resist him by force, the woman whom he was pursuing burnt herself\nalive, and thus earned undying fame in the caste. This legend is\nperpetuated in the Odni Git, a popular folk-song in Chhattisgarh. But\nit is a traditional story of the Sansias in connection with large\ntanks, and in another version the scene is laid in Gujarat. [625]\n\n\n\n\nSavar\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Distribution and historical notices_.\n    2. _Tribal legends_.\n    3. _Tribal subdivisions_.\n    4. _Marriage_.\n    5. _Death ceremonies_.\n    6. _Religion_.\n    7. _Occupation_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Distribution and historical notices\n\n_Savar, [626] Sawara, Savara, Saonr, Sahra_ (and several other\nvariations. In Bundelkhand the Savars, there called Saonrs, are\nfrequently known by the honorific title of Rawat).--A primitive tribe\nnumbering about 70,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911,\nand principally found in the Chhattisgarh Districts and those of\nSaugor and Damoh. The eastern branch of the tribe belongs chiefly\nto the Uriya country. The Savars are found in large numbers in the\nMadras Districts of Ganjam and Vizagapatam and in Orissa. They also\nlive in the Bundelkhand Districts of the United Provinces. The total\nnumber of Savars enumerated in India in 1911 was 600,000, of which the\nBundelkhand Districts contained about 100,000 and the Uriya country\nthe remainder. The two branches of the tribe are thus separated by a\nwide expanse of territory. As regards this peculiarity of distribution\nGeneral Cunningham says: \"Indeed there seems good reason to believe\nthat the Savaras were formerly the dominant branch of the great\nKolarian family, and that their power lasted down to a comparatively\nlate period, when they were pushed aside by other Kolarian tribes\nin the north and east, and by the Gonds in the south. In the Saugor\nDistrict I was informed that the Savaras had formerly fought with the\nGonds and that the latter had conquered them by treacherously making\nthem drunk.\" [627] Similarly Cunningham notices that the zamindar of\nSuarmar in Raipur, which name is derived from Savar, is a Gond. A\ndifference of opinion has existed as to whether the Savars were\nKolarian or Dravidian so far as their language was concerned, Colonel\nDalton adopting the latter view and other authorities the former and\ncorrect one. In the Central Provinces the Savars have lost their own\nlanguage and speak the Aryan Hindi or Uriya vernacular current around\nthem. But in Madras they still retain their original speech, which\nis classified by Sir G. Grierson as Mundari or Kolarian. He says:\n\"The most southerly forms of Munda speech are those spoken by the\nSavars and Gadabas of the north-east of Madras. The former have been\nidentified with the Suari of Pliny and the Sabarae of Ptolemy. A\nwild tribe of the same name is mentioned in Sanskrit literature,\neven so far back as in late Vedic times, as inhabiting the Deccan,\nso that the name at least can boast great antiquity.\" [628] As to\nthe origin of the name Savar, General Cunningham says that it must be\nsought for outside the language of the Aryans. \"In Sanskrit _savara_\nsimply means 'a corpse.' From Herodotus, however, we learn that\nthe Scythian word for an axe was _sagaris_, and as 'g' and 'v' are\ninterchangeable letters _savar_ is the same word as _sagar_. It seems\ntherefore not unreasonable to infer that the tribe who were so called\ntook their name from their habit of carrying axes. Now it is one of the\nstriking peculiarities of the Savars that they are rarely seen without\nan axe in their hands. The peculiarity has been frequently noticed\nby all who have seen them.\" [629] The above opinion of Cunningham,\nwhich is of course highly speculative, is disputed by Mr. Crooke,\nwho says that \"The word Savara, if it be, as some believe, derived\nfrom _sava_ a corpse, comes from the root _sav_ 'to cause to decay,'\nand need not necessarily therefore be of non-Aryan origin, while on\nthe other hand no distinct inference can be drawn from the use of the\naxe by the Savars, when it is equally used by various other Dravidian\njungle tribes such as the Korwas, Bhuiyas and the like.\" [630]\nIn the classical stories of their origin the first ancestor of the\nSavars is sometimes described as a Bhil. The word Savar is mentioned\nin several Sanskrit works written between 800 B.C. and A.D. 1200, and\nit seems probable that they are a Munda tribe who occupied the tracts\nof country which they live in prior to the arrival of the Gonds. The\nclassical name Savar has been corrupted into various forms. Thus\nin the Bundeli dialect '_ava_' changes into '_au_' and a nasal is\nsometimes interpolated. _Savar_ has here become Saunr or Saonr. The\naddition of 'a' at the end of the word sometimes expresses contempt,\nand Savar becomes Savara as Chamar is corrupted into _Chamra_. In the\nUriya country 'v' is changed into 'b' and an aspirate is interpolated,\nand thus Savara became Sabra or Sahara, as Gaur has become Gahra. The\nword Sahara, Mr. Crooke remarks, [631] has excited speculation as\nto its derivation from Arabic, in which Sahara means a wilderness;\nand the name of the Savars has accordingly been deduced from the same\nsource as the great Sahara desert. This is of course incorrect.\n\n\n\n\n2. Tribal legends\n\nVarious stories of the origin of the Savars are given in Sanskrit\nliterature. In the Aitareya Brahmana they are spoken of as the\ndescendants of Vishwamitra, while in the Mahabharat they are said\nto have been created by Kamdhenu, Vasishtha's wonder-working cow, in\norder to repel the aggression of Vishwamitra. Local tradition traces\ntheir origin to the celebrated Seori of the Ramayana, who is supposed\nto have lived somewhere near the present Seorinarayan in the Bilaspur\nDistrict and to have given her name to this place. Ramchandra in his\nwanderings met her there, ate the plums which she had gathered for\nhim after tasting each one herself, and out of regard for her devotion\npermitted her name to precede his own of Narayan in that given to the\nlocality. Another story makes one Jara Savar their original ancestor,\nwho was said to have shot Krishna in the form of a deer. Another states\nthat they were created for carrying stones for the construction of\nthe great temple at Puri and for dragging the car of Jagannath, which\nthey still do at the present time. Yet another connecting them with the\ntemple of Jagannath states that their ancestor was an old Bhil hermit\ncalled Sawar, who lived in Karod, two miles from Seorinarayan. The\ngod Jagannath had at this time appeared in Seorinarayan and the old\nSawar used to worship him. The king of Orissa had built the great\ntemple at Puri and wished to install Jagannath in it, and he sent\na Brahman to fetch him from Seorinarayan, but nobody knew where he\nwas except the old hermit Sawar. The Brahman besought him in vain\nto be allowed to see the god and even went so far as to marry his\ndaughter, and finally the old man consented to take him blindfold to\nthe place. The Brahman, however, tied some mustard seeds in a corner\nof his cloth and made a hole in it so that they dropped out one by one\non the way. After some time they grew up and served to guide him to\nthe spot. This story of the mustard seeds of course finds a place in\nthe folklore of many nations. The Brahman then went to Seorinarayan\nalone and begged the god to go to Puri. Jagannath consented, and\nassuming the form of a log of wood floated down the Mahanadi to Puri,\nwhere he was taken out and placed in the temple. A carpenter agreed\nto carve the god's image out of the log of wood on condition that\nthe temple should be shut up for six months while the work was going\non. But some curious people opened the door before the time and the\nwork could not proceed, and thus the image of the god is only half\ncarved out of the wood up to the present day. As a consolation to the\nold man the god ordained that the place should bear the hermit's name\nbefore his own as Seorinarayan. Lastly the Saonrs of Bundelkhand have\nthe following tradition. In the beginning of creation Mahadeo wished\nto teach the people how to cultivate the ground, and so he made a\nplough and took out his bull Nandi to yoke to it But there was dense\nforest on the earth, so he created a being whom he called Savar and\ngave him an axe to clear the forest. In the meantime Mahadeo went\naway to get another bullock. The Savar after clearing the forest felt\nvery hungry, and finding nothing else to eat killed Nandi and ate\nhis flesh on a teak leaf. And for this reason the young teak leaves\nwhen rubbed give out sap which is the colour of blood to the present\nday. After some time Mahadeo returned, and finding the forest well\ncleared was pleased with the Savar, and as a reward endowed him with\nthe knowledge of all edible and medicinal roots and fruits of the\nforest. But on looking round for Nandi he found him lying dead with\nsome of his flesh cut off. The Savar pleaded ignorance, but Mahadeo\nsprinkled a little nectar on Nandi, who came to life again and told\nwhat had happened. Then Mahadeo was enraged with the Savar and said,\n'You shall remain a barbarian and dwell for ever in poverty in the\njungles without enough to eat.' And accordingly this has always been\nthe condition of the Savar's descendants.\n\nOther old authors speak of the Parna or leaf-clad Savars; and a Savar\nmessenger is described as carrying a bow in his hand \"with his hair\ntied up in a knot behind with a creeper, black himself, and wearing\na loin-cloth of _bhilawan_ leaves\"; [632] an excellent example of\n'a leaf-fringed legend.'\n\n\n\n\n3. Tribal subdivisions\n\nThe Bundelkhand Savars have been so long separated from the others that\nthey have sometimes forgotten their identity and consider themselves as\na subtribe of Gonds, though the better informed repudiate this. They\nmay be regarded as a separate endogamous group. The eastern branch\nhave two main divisions called Laria and Uriya, or those belonging to\nChhattisgarh and Sambalpur respectively. A third division known as the\nKalapithia or 'Black Backs' are found in Orissa, and are employed\nto drag the car of Jagannath. These on account of their sacred\noccupation consider themselves superior to the others, abstain from\nfowls and liquor, and sometimes wear the sacred thread. The Larias are\nthe lowest subdivision. Marriage is regulated by exogamous septs or\n_bargas_. The northern Savars say that they have 52 of these, 52 being\na number frequently adopted to express the highest possible magnitude,\nas if no more could be imagined. The Uriya Savars say they have 80\n_bargas_. Besides the prohibition of marriage within the same _barga_,\nthe union of first cousins is sometimes forbidden. Among the Uriya\nSavars each _barga_ has the two further divisions of Joria and Khuntia,\nthe Jorias being those who bury or burn their dead near a _jor_ or\nbrook, and the Khuntias those who bury or burn them near a _khunt_ or\nold tree. Jorias and Khuntias of the same _barga_ cannot intermarry,\nbut in the case of some other subdivisions of the _barga_, as between\nthose who eat rice at one festival in the year and those eating it\nat two, marriage is allowed between members of the two subdivisions,\nthus splitting the exogamous group into two. The names of the _bargas_\nare usually totemistic, and the following are some examples: Badaiya,\nthe carpenter bird; Bagh, the tiger; Bagula, the heron; Bahra, a\ncook; Bhatia, a _brinjal_ or egg-plant; Bisi, the scorpion; Basantia,\nthe trunk of the cotton tree; Hathia, an elephant; Jancher, a tree\n(this _barga_ is divided into Bada and Kachcha, the Bada worshipping\nthe tree and the Kachcha a branch of it, and marriage between the\ntwo subdivisions is allowed); Jharia (this _barga_ keeps a lock of\na child's hair unshaved for four or five years after its birth);\nJuadi, a gambler; Karsa, a deer; Khairaiya, the _khair_ or catechu\ntree; Lodhi, born from the caste of that name (in Saugor); Markam,\nthe name of a Gond sept; Rajhans, a swan; Suriya Bansia, from the sun\n(members of this _barga_ feed the caste-fellows on the occasion of a\nsolar eclipse and throw away their earthen pots); Silgainya from _sil_,\na slate; and Tiparia from _tipari_, a basket (these two septs are\ndivided into Kachcha and Pakka groups which can marry with each other);\nSona, gold (a member of this sept does not wear gold ornaments until\nhe has given a feast and a caste-fellow has placed one on his person).\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage\n\nMarriage is usually adult, but in places where the Savars live near\nHindus they have adopted early marriage. A reason for preferring\nthe latter custom is found in the marriage ceremony, when the bride\nand bridegroom must be carried on the shoulders of their relatives\nfrom the bride's house to the bridegroom's. If they are grown up,\nthis part of the ceremony entails no inconsiderable labour on the\nrelatives. In the Uriya country, while the Khuntia subdivision of each\n_barga_ see nothing wrong in marrying a girl after adolescence, the\nJorias consider it a great sin, to avoid which they sometimes marry\na girl to an arrow before she attains puberty. An arrow is tied to\nher hand, and she goes seven times round a mahua branch stuck on an\nimprovised altar, and drinks _ghi_ and oil, thus creating the fiction\nof a marriage. The arrow is then thrown into a river to imply that her\nhusband is dead, and she is afterwards disposed of by the ceremony of\nwidow-marriage. If this mock ceremony has not been performed before\nthe girl becomes adult, she is taken to the forest by a relative and\nthere tied to a tree, to which she is considered to be married. She\nis not taken back to her father's house but to that of some relative,\nsuch as her brother-in-law or grandfather, who is permitted to talk\nto her in an obscene and jesting manner, and is subsequently disposed\nof as a widow. Or in Sambalpur she may be nominally married to an old\nman and then again married as a widow. The Savars follow generally\nthe local Hindu form of the marriage ceremony. On the return of the\nbridal pair seven lines are drawn in front of the entrance to the\nbridegroom's house. Some relative takes rice and throws it at the\npersons returning with the marriage procession, and then pushes the\npair hastily across the lines and into the house. They are thus freed\nfrom the evil spirits who might have accompanied them home and who\nare kept back by the rice and the seven lines. A price of Rs. 5 is\nsometimes paid for the bride. In Saugor if the bride's family cannot\nafford a wedding feast they distribute small pieces of bread to the\nguests, who place them in their head-cloths to show their acceptance\nof this substitute. To those guests to whom it is necessary to make\npresents five cowries are given. Widow-marriage is allowed, and in\nsome places the widow is bound to marry her late husband's younger\nbrother unless he declines to take her. If she marries somebody else\nthe new husband pays a sum by way of compensation either to her father\nor to the late husband's family. Divorce is permitted on the husband's\ninitiative for adultery or serious disagreement. If the wife wishes\nfor a divorce she simply runs away from her husband. The Laria Savars\nmust give a _marti-jiti ka bhat_ or death-feast on the occasion of\na divorce. The Uriyas simply pay a rupee to the headman of the caste.\n\n\n\n\n5. Death ceremonies\n\nThe Savars both burn and bury their dead, placing the corpse on the\npyre with its head to the north, in the belief that heaven lies in\nthat direction. On the eleventh day after the death in Sambalpur\nthose members of the caste who can afford it present a goat to the\nmourners. The Savars believe that the souls of those who die become\nghosts, and in Bundelkhand they used formerly to bury the dead near\ntheir fields in the belief that the spirits would watch over and\nprotect the crops. If a man has died a violent death they raise\na small platform of earth under a teak or _saj_ tree, in which\nthe ghost of the dead man is believed to take up its residence,\nand nobody thereafter may cut down that tree. The Uriya Savars\ntake no special measures unless the ghost appears to somebody in a\ndream and asks to be worshipped as Baghiapat (tiger-eaten) or Masan\n(serpent-bitten). In such cases a _gunia_ or sorcerer is consulted,\nand such measures as he prescribes are taken to appease the dead man's\nsoul. If a person dies without a child a hole is made in a stone,\nand his soul is induced to enter it by the _gunia_. A few grains of\nrice are placed in the hole, and it is then closed with melted lead\nto imprison the ghost, and the stone is thrown into a stream so that\nit may never be able to get out and trouble the family. Savars offer\nwater to the dead. A second wife usually wears a metal impression of\nthe first wife by way of propitiation to her.\n\n\n\n\n6. Religion\n\nThe Savars worship Bhawani under various names and also Dulha Deo,\nthe young bridegroom who was killed by a tiger. He is located\nin the kitchen of every house in some localities, and this has\ngiven rise to the proverb, '_Jai chulha, tai Dulha_,' or 'There\nis a Dulha Deo to every hearth.' The Savars are considered to be\ngreat sorcerers. '_Sawara ke pange, Rawat ke bandhe_,' or 'The man\nbewitched by a Savar and the bullock tied up by a Rawat (grazier)\ncannot escape'; and again, 'Verily the Saonr is a cup of poison.' Their\ncharms, called Sabari _mantras_, are especially intended to appease\nthe spirits of persons who have died a violent death. If one of their\nfamily was seriously ill they were accustomed formerly to set fire\nto the forest, so that by burning the small animals and insects which\ncould not escape they might propitiate the angry gods.\n\n\n\n\n7. Occupation\n\nThe dress of the Savars is of the scantiest. The women wear _khilwan_\nor pith ornaments in the ear, and abstain from wearing nose-rings,\na traditional method of deference to the higher castes. The proverb\nhas it, 'The ornaments of the Sawara are _gumchi_ seeds.' These\nare the red and black seeds of _Abrus precatorius_ which are used in\nweighing gold and silver and are called _rati_. Women are tattooed and\nsometimes men also to avoid being pierced with a red-hot iron by the\ngod of death. Tattooing is further said to allay the sexual passion\nof women, which is eight times more intense than that of men. Their\noccupations are the collection of jungle produce and cultivation. They\nare very clever in taking honeycombs: 'It is the Savar who can drive\nthe black bees from their hive.' The eastern branch of the caste is\nmore civilised than the Saonras of Bundelkhand, who still sow juari\nwith a pointed stick, saying that it was the implement given to them\nby Mahadeo for this purpose. In Saugor and Damoh they employ Brahmans\nfor marriage ceremonies if they can afford it, but on other occasions\ntheir own caste priests. In some places they will take food from most\ncastes but in others from nobody who is not a Savar. Sometimes they\nadmit outsiders and in others the children only of irregular unions;\nthus a Gond woman kept by a Savar would not be recognised as a member\nof the caste herself but her children would be Savars. A woman going\nwrong with an outsider of low caste is permanently excommunicated.\n\n\n\n\nSonjhara\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Origin and constitution of the caste_.\n    2. _Totemism_.\n    3. _Marriage_.\n    4. _Customs at birth_\n    5. _Funeral rites_.\n    6. _Religion._\n    7. _Social customs_.\n    8. _Occupation_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin and constitution of the caste\n\n_Sonjhara, Jhara, Jhora, Jhira._--A small occupational caste who\nwash for gold in river-beds, belonging to the Sambalpur, Mandla,\nBalaghat and Chanda Districts and the Chota Nagpur Feudatory States. In\n1911 they numbered about 1500 persons. The name probably comes from\n_sona_, gold, and _jharna_, to sweep or wash, though, when the term\nJhara only is used, some derive it from _jhori_ a streamlet. Colonel\nDalton surmised that the Sonjharas were an offshoot of the Gonds,\nand this appears to be demonstrated by the fact that the names of\ntheir exogamous septs are identical with Gond names as Marabi, Tekam,\nNetam, Dhurwa and Madao. The Sonjharas of Bilaspur say that their\nancestors were Gonds who dwelt at Lanji in Balaghat. The caste relate\nthe tradition that they were condemned by Mahadeo to perpetual poverty\nbecause their first ancestor stole a little gold from Parvatis crown\nwhen it fell into the river Jamuna (in Chota Nagpur) and he was sent\nto fetch it out. The metal which is found in the river sands they\nhold to be the remains of a shower of gold which fell for two and\na half days while the Banaphar heroes Alha and Udal were fighting\ntheir great battle with Prithvi Raj, king of Delhi. The caste is\npartly occupational, and recruited from different sources. This is\nshown by the fact that in Chanda members of different septs will not\neat together, though they are obliged to intermarry. In Sambalpur the\nBehra, Patar, Naik and Padhan septs eat together and intermarry. Two\nother septs, the Kanar and Peltrai who eat fowls and drink liquor,\noccupy a lower position, and members of the first four will not take\nfood from them nor give daughters to them in marriage, though they\nwill take daughters from these lower groups for their sons. Here\nthey have three subcastes, the Laria or residents of Chhattisgarh,\nthe Uriya belonging to the Uriya country, and the Bhuinhar, who may\nbe an offshoot from the Bhuiya tribe.\n\n\n\n\n2. Totemism\n\nThey have one recorded instance of totemism, which is of some\ninterest. Members of the sept named after a tree called _kausa_ revere\nthe tree and explain it by saying that their ancestor, when flying\nfrom some danger, sought protection from this tree, which thereupon\nopened and enfolded him in its trunk. No member of the sept will\ntouch the tree without first bathing, and on auspicious occasions,\nsuch as births and weddings, they will dig up a little earth from the\nroots of the tree and taking this home worship it in the house. If\nany member of the sept finds that he has cut off a branch or other\npart of this tree unwittingly he will take and consign it to a stream,\nobserving ceremonies of mourning. Women of the Nag or cobra sept will\nnot mention the name of this snake aloud, just as they refrain from\nspeaking the names of male relatives.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage\n\nMarriage within the sept is forbidden, and they permit the\nintermarriage of the children of a brother and sister, but not of\nthose of two sisters, though their husbands may be of different\nsepts. Marriage is usually adult except in Sambalpur, where a girl\nmust be provided with a husband before reaching maturity in accordance\nwith the general rule among the Uriya castes. In Chhindwara it is\nsaid that the Sonjharas revere the crocodile and that the presence\nof this animal is essential at their weddings. They do not, however,\nkill and eat it at a sacrificial feast as the Singrore Dhimars are\nreported to do, but catch and keep it alive, and when the ceremony is\nconcluded take it back again and deposit it in a river. After a girl\nhas been married neither her father nor any of her own near relatives\nwill ever take food again in the house of her husband's family, saying\nthat they would rather starve. Each married couple also becomes a\nseparate commensal group and will not eat with the parents of either of\nthem. This is a common custom among low castes of mixed origin where\nevery man is doubtful of his neighbour's parentage. Divorce and the\nremarriage of widows are permitted, and a woman may be divorced merely\non the ground of incompetence in household management or because she\ndoes not please her husband's parents.\n\n\n\n\n4. Customs at birth\n\nAt child-birth they make a little separate hut for the mother near the\nriver where they are encamped, and she remains in it for two days and a\nhalf. During this time her husband does no work; he stays a few paces\ndistant from his wife's hut and prepares her food but does not go to\nthe hut or touch her, and he kindles a fire between them. During the\nfirst two days the woman gets three handfuls of rice boiled thin in\nwater, and on the third day she receives nothing until the evening,\nwhen the Sendia or head of the sept takes a little cowdung, gold and\nsilver in his hand, and pouring water over this gives her of it to\ndrink as many times as the number of gods worshipped by her family\nup to seven. Then she is pure. On this day the father sacrifices a\nchicken and gives a meal with liquor to the caste and names the child,\ncalling it after one of his ancestors who is dead. Then an old woman\nbeats on a brass plate and calls out the name which has been given in\na loud voice to the whole camp so that they may all know the child's\nname. In Bilaspur the Sonjharas observe the custom of the Couvade,\nand for six days after the birth of a child the husband lies prone\nin his house, while the wife gets up and goes to work, coming home to\ngive suck to the child when necessary. The man takes no food for three\ndays and on the fourth is given ginger and raw sugar, thus undergoing\nthe ordinary treatment of a woman after childbirth. This is supposed\nby them to be a sort of compensation for the labours sustained by\nthe woman in bearing the child. The custom obtains among some other\nprimitive races, but is now rapidly being abandoned by the Sonjharas.\n\n\n\n\n5. Funeral rites\n\nThe bodies of the old are cremated as a special honour, and those\nof other persons are buried. No one other than a member of the dead\nman's family may touch his corpse under a penalty of five rupees. A\nrelative will remove the body and bury it with the feet pointing to\nthe river or burn it by the water's edge. They mourn a child for one\nday and an adult for four days, and at the end the mourner is shaved\nand provides liquor for the community. If there be no relative, since\nno other man can touch the corpse, they fire the hut over it and burn\nit as it is lying or bury hut and body under a high mound of sand.\n\n\n\n\n6. Religion\n\nTheir principal deities are Dulha Deo, the boy bridegroom, Nira\nhis servant, and Kauria a form of Devi. Nira lives under an _umar_\n[633] tree and he and Dulha Deo his master are worshipped every third\nyear in the month of Magh (January). Kauria is also worshipped once\nin three years on a Sunday in the month of Magh with an offering of\na cocoanut, and in her honour they never sit on a cot nor sleep on\na stool because they think that the goddess has her seat on these\narticles. The real reason, however, is probably that the Sonjharas\nconsider the use of such furniture an indication of a settled life and\npermanent residence, and therefore abjure it as being wanderers. Some\nanalogous customs have been recorded of the Banjaras. They also revere\nthe spirit of one of their female ancestors who became a Sati. They\nsacrifice a goat to the _genius loci_ or spirit haunting the spot\nwhere they decide to start work; and they will leave it for fear of\nangering this spirit, which is said to appear in the form of a tiger,\nshould they make a particularly good find. [634] They never keep\ndogs, and it is said that they are defiled by the touch of a dog\nand will throw away their food if one comes near them during their\nmeal. The same rule applies to a cat, and they will throw away an\nearthen vessel touched by either of these animals. On the Diwali day\nthey wash their implements, and setting them up near the huts worship\nthem with offerings of a cocoanut and vermilion.\n\n\n\n\n7. Social customs\n\nTheir rule is always to camp outside a village at a distance of not\nless than a mile. In the rains they make huts with a roof of bamboos\nsloping from a central ridge and walls of matting. The huts are built\nin one line and do not touch each other, at least a cubit's distance\nbeing left between each. Each hut has one door facing the east. As a\nrule they avoid the water of village wells and tanks, though it is not\nabsolutely forbidden. Each man digs a shallow well in the sand behind\nhis hut and drinks the water from it, and no man may drink the water\nof his neighbour's well; if he should do so or if any water from his\nwell gets into his neighbour's, the latter is abandoned and a fresh one\nmade. If the ground is too swampy for wells they collect the water in\ntheir wooden washing-tray and fill their vessels from it. In the cold\nweather they make little leaf-huts on the sand or simply camp out in\nthe open, but they must never sleep under a tree. When living in the\nopen each family makes two fires and sleeps together between them. Some\nof them have their stomachs burned and blackened from sleeping too near\nthe fire. The Sonjharas will not take cooked food from the hands of\nany other caste, but their social status is very low, about equivalent\nto that of the parent Gond tribe. They have no fear of wild animals,\nnot even the children. Perhaps they think that as fellow-denizens of\nthe jungle these animals are kin to them and will not injure them.\n\n\n\n\n8. Occupation\n\nThe traditional occupation of the caste is to wash gold from the\nsandy beds of streams, while they formerly also washed for diamonds at\nHirakud on the Mahanadi near Sambalpur and at Wairagarh in Chanda. The\nindustry is decaying, and in 1901 only a quarter of the total number\nof Sonjharas were still employed In it. Some have become cultivators\nand fishermen, while others earn their livelihood by sweeping up\nthe refuse dirt of the workshops of goldsmiths and brass-workers;\nthey wash out the particles of metal from this and sell it back to\nthe Sunars. The Mahanadi and Jonk rivers in Sambalpur, the Banjar In\nMandla, the Son and other rivers in Balaghat, and the Wainganga and\nthe eastern streams of Chanda contain minute particles of gold. The\nwashers earn a miserable and uncertain livelihood, and indeed appear\nnot to desire anything beyond a bare subsistence. In Bhandara [635] it\nis said that they avoid any spot where they have previously been lucky,\nwhile in Chanda they have a superstition that a person making a good\nfind of gold will be childless, and hence many dread the search. [636]\nWhen they set out to look for gold they wash three small trayfuls at\nthree places about five cubits apart. If they find no appreciable\nquantity of gold they go on for one or two hundred yards and wash\nthree more trayfuls, and proceed thus until they find a profitable\nplace where they will halt for two or three days. A spot [637]\nin the dry river-bed is usually selected at the outside of a bend,\nwhere the finer sediment is likely to be found; after removing the\nstones and pebbles from above, the sand below is washed several times\nin circular wooden cradles, shaped like the top of an umbrella, of\ndiminishing sizes, until all the clay is removed and fine particles of\nsand mixed with gold are visible. A large wooden spoon is used to stir\nup the sediment, which is washed and rubbed by hand to separate the\ngold more completely from the sand, and a blackish residue is left,\ncontaining particles of gold and mercury coloured black with oxide\nof iron. Mercury is used to pick up the gold with which it forms\nan amalgam. This is evaporated in a clay cupel called a _ghariya_\nby which the mercury is got rid of and the gold left behind.\n\n\n\n\nSudh\n\n_Sudh, [638] Sudha, Sudho, Suda_.--A cultivating caste in the\nUriya country. Since the transfer of Sambalpur to Bengal only a\nfew Sudhs remain in the Central Provinces. They are divided into\nfour subcastes--the Bada or high Sudhs, the Dehri or worshippers,\nthe Kabat-konia or those holding the corners of the gate, and the\nButka. These last are the most primitive and think that Rairakhol is\ntheir first home. They relate that they were born of the Pandava hero\nBhimsen and the female demon Hedembiki, and were originally occupied in\nsupplying leaves for the funeral ceremonies of the Pandava brothers,\nfrom which business they obtained their name of Butka or 'one who\nbrings leaves.' They are practically a forest tribe and carry on\nshifting cultivation like the Khonds. According to their own story\nthe ancestors of the Butka Sudhs once ruled In Rairakhol and reclaimed\nthe land from the forest, that is so far as it has been reclaimed. The\nfollowing story connects them with the ruling family of Rairakhol. In\nformer times there was constant war between Bamra and Rairakhol, and\non one occasion the whole of the Rairakhol royal family was destroyed\nwith the exception of one boy who was hidden by a Butka Sudh woman. She\nplaced him in a cradle supported on four uprights, and when the Bamra\nRaja's soldiers came to seek for him the Sudhs swore, \"If we have kept\nhim either in heaven or earth may our god destroy us.\" The Bamra people\nwere satisfied with this reply and the child was saved, and on coming\nto manhood he won back his kingdom. He received the name of Janamani\nor 'Jewel among men,' which the family still bear. In consequence\nof this incident, the Butka Sudhs are considered by the Rairakhol\nhouse as relations on their mother's side; they have several villages\nallotted to them and perform sacrifices for the ruling family. In some\nof these villages nobody may sleep on a cot or sit on a high chair,\nso as to be between heaven and earth in the position in which the\nchild was saved. The Bada Sudhs are the most numerous subdivision and\nhave generally adopted Hindu customs, so that the higher castes will\ntake water from their hands. They neither drink liquor nor eat fowls,\nbut the other subcastes do both. The Sudhs have totemistic _gotras_\nas Bhalluka (bear), Bagh (tiger), Ulluka (owl), and others. They also\nhave _bargas_ or family names as Thakur (lord), Danaik, Amayat and\nBishi. The Thakur clan say that they used to hold the Baud kings in\ntheir lap for their coronation, and the Danaik used to tie the king's\nturban. The Bishi were so named because of their skill in arms, and\nthe Amayat collected materials for the worship of the Panch Khanda or\nfive swords. The _bargas_ are much more numerous than the totemistic\nsepts, and marriage either within the _barga_ or within the sept is\nforbidden. Girls must be married before adolescence; and in the absence\nof a suitable husband, the girl is married to an old man who divorces\nher immediately afterwards, and she may then take a second husband\nat any time by the form for widow-remarriage. A betrothal is sealed\nby tying an areca-nut in a knot made from the clothes of a relative\nof each party and pounding it seven times with a pestle. After the\nmarriage a silver ring is placed in a pot of water, over the mouth of\nwhich a leaf-plate is bound. The bridegroom pierces the leaf-plate with\na knife, and the bride then thrusts her hand through the hole, picks\nout the ring and puts it on. The couple then go inside the house and\nsit down to a meal. The bridegroom, after eating part of his food,\nthrows the leavings on to the bride's plate. She stops eating in\ndispleasure, whereupon the bridegroom promises her some ornaments,\nand she relents and eats his leavings. It is customary for a Hindu wife\nto eat the leavings of food of her husband as a mark of her veneration\nfor him. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. The Sudhs\nworship the Panch Khanda or five swords, and in the Central Provinces\nthey say that these are a representation of the five Pandava brothers,\nin whose service their first ancestors were engaged. Their tutelary\ngoddess is Khambeshwari, represented by a wooden peg (_khamba_). She\ndwells in the wilds of the Baud State and is supposed to fulfil\nall the desires of the Sudhs. Liquor, goats, buffaloes, vermilion\nand swallow-wort flowers are offered to her, the last two being in\nrepresentation of blood. The Dehri Sudhs worship a goddess called\nKandrapat who dwells always on the summits of hills. It is believed\nthat whenever worship is concluded the roar of her tiger is heard,\nand the worshippers then leave the place and allow the tiger to come\nand take the offerings. The goddess would therefore appear to be the\ndeified tiger. The Bada Sudhs rank with the cultivating castes of\nSambalpur, but the other three subcastes have a lower position.\n\n\n\n\nSunar\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _General notice of the caste_.\n    2. _Internal structure_.\n    3. _Marriage and other customs_.\n    4. _Religion_.\n    5. _Social position_.\n    6. _Manufacture of ornaments_.\n    7. _The sanctity of gold_.\n    8. _Ornaments. The marriage ornaments_.\n    9. _Beads and other ornaments_.\n    10. _Ear-piercing._\n    11. _Origin of ear-piercing._\n    12. _Ornaments worn as amulets_.\n    13. _Audhia Sunars_.\n    14. _The Sunar as money-changer._\n    15. _Malpractices of lower-class Sunars_.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice of the caste\n\nSunar, [639] Sonar, Soni, Hon-Potdar, Saraf.--The occupational caste\nof goldsmiths and silversmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit\n_Suvarna kar_, a worker in gold. In 1911 the Sunars numbered 96,000\npersons in the Central Provinces and 30,000 in Berar. They live all\nover the Province and are most numerous in the large towns. The caste\nappears to be a functional one of comparatively recent formation,\nand there is nothing on record as to its origin, except a collection\nof Brahmanical legends of the usual type. The most interesting of\nthese as related by Sir H. Risley is as follows: [640]\n\n\"In the beginning of time, when the goddess Devi was busy with the\nconstruction of mankind, a giant called Sonwa-Daitya, whose body\nconsisted entirely of gold, devoured her creations as fast as she\nmade them. To baffle this monster the goddess created a goldsmith,\nfurnished him with the tools of his art, and instructed him how to\nproceed. When the giant proposed to eat him, the goldsmith suggested\nto him that if his body were polished his appearance would be vastly\nimproved, and asked to be allowed to undertake the job. With the\ncharacteristic stupidity of his tribe the giant fell into the trap,\nand having had one finger polished was so pleased with the result that\nhe agreed to be polished all over. For this purpose, like Aetes in the\nGreek legend of Medea, he had to be melted down, and the goldsmith,\nwho was to get the body as his perquisite, giving the head only to\nDevi, took care not to put him together again. The goldsmith, however,\noverreached himself. Not content with his legitimate earnings, he\nmust needs steal a part of the head, and being detected in this by\nDevi, he and his descendants were condemned to be for ever poor.\" The\nSunars also have a story that they are the descendants of one of two\nRajput brothers, who were saved as boys by a Saraswat Brahman from\nthe wrath of Parasurama when he was destroying the Kshatriyas. The\ndescendants of the other brother were the Khatris. This is the same\nstory as is told by the Khatris of their own origin, but they do not\nacknowledge the connection with Sunars, nor can the Sunars allege that\nSaraswat Brahmans eat with them as they do with Khatris. In Gujarat\nthey have a similar legend connecting them with Banias. In Bombay\nthey also claim to be Brahmans, and in the Central Provinces a caste\nof goldsmiths akin to the Sunars call themselves Vishwa Brahmans. On\nthe other hand, before and during the time of the Peshwas, Sunars\nwere not allowed to wear the sacred thread, and they were forbidden to\nhold their marriages in public, as it was considered unlucky to see a\nSunar bridegroom. Sunar bridegrooms were not allowed to see the state\numbrella or to ride in a palanquin, and had to be married at night and\nin secluded places, being subject to restrictions and annoyances from\nwhich even Mahars were free. [641] Their _raison d'etre_ may possibly\nbe found in the fact that the Brahmans, all-powerful in the Poona\nstate, were jealous of the pretensions of the Sunars, and devised\nthese rules as a means of suppressing them. It may be suggested that\nthe Sunars, being workers at an important urban industry, profitable\nin itself and sanctified by its association with the sacred metal\ngold, aspired to rank above the other artisans, and put forward the\npretensions already mentioned, because they felt that their position\nwas not commensurate with their deserts. But the Sunar is included\nin Grant-Duff's list of the twenty-four village menials of a Maratha\nvillage, and consequently he would in past times have ranked below\nthe cultivators, from whom he must have accepted the annual presents\nof grain.\n\n\n\n\n2. Internal structure\n\nThe caste have a number of subdivisions, nearly all of which are of\nthe territorial class and indicate the various localities from which\nit has been recruited in these Provinces. The most important subcastes\nare the Audhia from Ajodhia or Oudh; the Purania or old settlers;\nthe Bundelkhandi from Bundelkhand; the Malwi from Malwa; the Lad from\nLat, the old name for the southern portion of Gujarat; and the Mair,\nwho appear to have been the first immigrants from Upper India and are\nnamed after Mair, the original ancestor, who melted down the golden\ndemon. Other small groups are the Patkars, so called because they allow\n_pat_ or widow-marriage, though, as a matter of fact, it is permitted\nby the great majority of the caste; the Pandhare or 'White Sunars';\nand the Ahir Sunars, whose ancestors must presumably have belonged to\nthe caste whose name they bear. The caste have also numerous _bainks_\nor exogamous septs, which differ entirely from the long lists given\nfor Bengal and the United Provinces, and show, as Mr. Crooke remarks,\nthe extreme fertility with which sections of this kind spring up. In\nthe Central Provinces the names are of a titular or territorial\nnature. Examples of the former kind, that is, a title or nickname\nsupposed to have been borne by the sept's founder, are: Dantele, one\nwho has projecting teeth; Kale, black; Munde, bald; Kolhimare, a killer\nof jackals; and Ladaiya, a jackal or a quarrelsome person. Among the\nterritorial names are Narwaria from Narwar; Bhilsainyan from Bhilsa;\nKanaujia from Kanauj; Dilliwal from Delhi; Kalpiwal from Kalpi. Besides\nthe _bainks_ or septs by which marriage is regulated, they have adopted\nthe Brahmanical eponymous _gotra_-names as Kashyap, Garg, Sandilya,\nand so on. These are employed on ceremonial occasions as when a gift\nis made for the purpose of obtaining religious merit, and the _gotra-_\nname of the owner is recorded, but they do not influence marriage. The\nuse of them is a harmless vanity analogous to the assumption of\ndistinguished surnames by people who were not born to them.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage and other customs\n\nMarriage is forbidden within the sept. In some localities persons\ndescended from a common ancestor may not intermarry for five\ngenerations, but in others a brother's daughter may be wedded to a\nsister's son. A man is forbidden to marry two sisters while both are\nalive, and after his wife's death he may espouse her younger sister,\nbut not her elder one. Girls are usually wedded at a tender age,\nbut some Sunars have hitherto had a rule that neither a girl nor a\nboy should be married until they had had smallpox, the idea being\nthat there can be no satisfactory basis for a contract of marriage\nwhile either party is still exposed to such a danger to life and\npersonal appearance; just as it might be considered more prudent not\nto buy a young dog until it had had distemper. But with the spread of\nvaccination the Sunars are giving up this custom. The marriage ceremony\nfollows the Hindustani or Maratha ritual according to locality. [642]\nIn Betul the mother of the bride ties the mother of the bridegroom to\na pole with the ropes used for tethering buffaloes and beats her with\na piece of twisted cloth, until the bridegroom's mother gives her a\npresent of money or cloth and is released. The ceremony may be designed\nto express the annoyance of the bride's mother at being deprived\nof her daughter. Polygamy is permitted, but people will not give\ntheir daughter to a married man if they can find a bachelor husband\nfor her. Well-to-do Sunars who desire increased social distinction\nprohibit the marriage of widows, but the caste generally allow it.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion\n\nThe caste venerate the ordinary Hindu deities, and many of them have\nsects and return themselves as Vaishnavas, Saivas or Saktas. In some\nplaces they are said to make a daily offering to their melting-furnace\nso that it may bring them in a profit. When a child has been born\nthey make a sacrifice of a goat to Dulha Deo, the marriage-god, on the\nfollowing Dasahra festival, and the body of this must be eaten by the\nfamily only, no outsider being allowed to participate. In Hoshangabad\nit is stated that on the night before the Dasahra festival all the\nSunars assemble beside a river and hold a feast. Each of them is\nthen believed to take an oath that he will not during the coming\nyear disclose the amount of the alloy which a fellow-craftsman may\nmix with the precious metals. Any Sunar who violates this agreement\nis put out of caste. On the 15th day of Jeth (May) the village Sunar\nstops work for five days and worships his implements after washing\nthem. He draws pictures of the goddess Devi on a piece of paper and\ngoes round the village to affix them to the doors of his clients,\nreceiving in return a small present.\n\nThe caste usually burn their dead and take the ashes to the Nerbudda\nor Ganges; those living to the south of the Nerbudda always stop\nat this river, because they think that if they crossed it to go to\nthe Ganges, the Nerbudda would be offended at their not considering\nit good enough. If a man meets with a violent death and his body is\nlost, they construct a small image of him and burn this with all the\nproper ceremonies. Mourning is observed for ten or thirteen days, and\nthe _shraddh_ ceremony is performed on the anniversary of a death,\nwhile the usual oblations are offered to the ancestors during the\nfortnight of Pitr Paksh in Kunwar (September).\n\n\n\n\n5. Social position\n\nThe more ambitious members of the caste abjure all flesh and liquor,\nand wear the sacred thread. These will not take cooked food even from\na Brahman. Others do not observe these restrictions. Brahmans will\nusually take water from Sunars, especially from those who wear the\nsacred thread. Owing to their association with the sacred metal gold,\nand the fact that they generally live in towns or large villages, and\nmany of their members are well-to-do, the Sunars occupy a fairly high\nposition, ranking equal with, or above the cultivating castes. But,\nas already stated, the goldsmith was a village menial in the Maratha\nvillages, and Sir D. Ibbetson thinks that the Jat really considers\nthe Sunar to be distinctly inferior to himself.\n\n\n\n\n6. Manufacture of ornaments\n\nThe Sunar makes all kinds of ornaments of gold and silver, being\nusually supplied with the metal by his customers. He is paid according\nto the weight of metal used, the rate varying from four annas to\ntwo rupees with an average of a rupee per tola weight of metal for\ngold, and from one to two annas per tola weight of silver. [643]\nThe lowness of these rates is astonishing when compared with those\ncharged by European jewellers, being less than 10 per cent on the\nvalue of the metal for quite delicate ornaments. The reason is\npartly that ornaments are widely regarded as a means for the safe\nkeeping of money, and to spend a large sum on the goldsmith's labour\nwould defeat this end, as it would be lost on the reconversion of\nthe ornaments into cash. Articles of elaborate workmanship are also\neasily injured when worn by women who have to labour in the fields or\nat home. These considerations have probably retarded the development\nof the goldsmith's art, except in a few isolated localities where it\nmay have had the patronage of native courts, and they account for the\noften clumsy form and workmanship of his ornaments. The value set\non the products of skilled artisans in early times is nevertheless\nshown by the statement in M'Crindle's _Ancient India_ that any one\nwho caused an artisan to lose the use of an eye or a hand was put to\ndeath. [644] In England the jeweller's profit on his wares is from 33\nto 50 per cent or more, in which, of course, allowance is made for the\nlarge amount of capital locked up in them and the time they may remain\non his hands. But the difference in rates is nevertheless striking,\nand allowance must be made for it in considering the bad reputation\nwhich the Sunar has for mixing alloy with the metal. Gold ornaments\nare simply hammered or punched into shape or rudely engraved, and are\npractically never cast or moulded. They are often made hollow from\nthin plate or leaf, the interior being filled up with lac. Silver ones\nare commonly cast in Saugor and Jubbulpore, but rarely elsewhere. The\nSunar's trade appears now to be fairly prosperous, but during the\nfamines it was greatly depressed and many members of the caste took\nto other occupations. Many Sunars make small articles of brass, such\nas chains, bells and little boxes. Others have become cultivators\nand drive the plough themselves, a practice which has the effect of\nspoiling their hands, and also prevents them from giving their sons\na proper training. To be a good Sunar the hands must be trained from\nearly youth to acquire the necessary delicacy of touch. The Sunar's\nson sits all day with his father watching him work and handling the\nornaments. Formerly the Sunar never touched a plough. Like the Pekin\nivory painter--\n\n\n    From early dawn he works;\n    And all day long, and when night comes the lamp\n    Lights up his studious forehead and thin hands.\n\n\n\n\n7. The sanctity of gold\n\nAs already stated, the Sunar obtains some social distinction from\nworking in gold, which is a very sacred metal with the Hindus. Gold\nornaments must not on this account be worn below the waist, as to do\nso would be considered an indignity to the holy material. Maratha and\nKhedawal Brahman women will not have ornaments for the head and arms\nof any baser metal than gold. If they cannot afford gold bracelets\nthey wear only glass ones. Other castes should, if they can afford it,\nwear only gold on the head. And at any rate the nose-ring and small\nearrings in the upper ear should be of gold if worn at all. When a\nman is at the point of death, a little gold, Ganges water, and a leaf\nof the _tulsi_ or basil plant are placed in his mouth, so that these\nsacred articles may accompany him to the other world. So valuable\nas a means of securing a pure death is the presence of gold in the\nmouth that some castes have small pieces inserted into a couple of\ntheir upper teeth, in order that wherever and whenever they may die,\nthe gold may be present to purify them. [645] A similar idea was\nprevalent in Europe. _Aurum potabile_ [646] or drinkable gold was\na favourite nostrum of the Middle Ages, because gold being perfect\nshould produce perfect health; and patients when _in extremis_ were\ncommonly given water in which gold had been washed. And the belief\nis referred to by Shakespeare:\n\n\n    Therefore, thou best of gold art worst of gold:\n    Other, less fine in carat, is more precious,\n    Preserving life in medicine potable. [647]\n\n\nThe metals which are used for currency, gold, silver and copper, are\nall held sacred by the Hindus, and this is easily explained on the\ngrounds of their intrinsic value and their potency when employed as\ncoin. It may be noted that when the nickel anna coinage was introduced,\nit was held in some localities that the coins could not be presented\nat temples as this metal was not sacred.\n\n\n\n\n8. Ornaments. The marriage ornaments\n\nIt can scarcely also be doubted in view of this feeling that the\nwearing of both gold and silver in ornaments is considered to have\na protective magical effect, like that attributed to charms and\namulets. And the suggestion has been made that this was the object\nwith which all ornaments were originally worn. Professor Robertson\nSmith remarks: [648] \"Jewels, too, such as women wore in the sanctuary,\nhad a sacred character; the Syriac word for an earring is _c' dasha_,\n'the holy thing,' and generally speaking, jewels serve as amulets. As\nsuch they are mainly worn to protect the chief organs of action (the\nhands and feet), but especially the orifices of the body, as earrings;\nnose-rings hanging over the mouth; jewels on the forehead hanging down\nand protecting the eyes.\" The precious metals, as has been seen, are\nusually sacred among primitive people, and when made into ornaments\nthey have the same sanctity and protective virtue as jewels. The\nsubject has been treated [649] with great fullness of detail by\nSir J. Campbell, and the different ornaments worn by Hindu women of\nthe Central Provinces point to the same conclusion. The _bindia_ or\nhead ornament of a Maratha Brahman woman consists of two chains of\nsilver or gold and in the centre an image of a cobra erect. This is\nShesh-Nag, the sacred snake, who spreads his hood over all the _lingas_\nof Mahadeo and is placed on the woman's head to guard her in the same\nway. The Kurmis and other castes do not have Shesh-Nag, but instead\nthe centre of the _bindia_ consists of an ornament known as _bija_,\nwhich represents the custard-apple, the sacred fruit of Sita. The\n_nathni_ or nose-ring, which was formerly confined to high-caste\nwomen, represents the sun and moon. The large hoop circle is the\nsun, and underneath in the part below the nose is a small segment,\nwhich is the crescent moon and is hidden when the ornament is in\nwear. On the front side of this are red stones, representing the\nsun, and on the underside white ones for the moon. The _nathni_\nhas some mysterious connection with a woman's virtue, and to take\noff her nose-ring--_nathni utdarna_--signifies to dishonour a woman\n(Platts). In northern India women wear the nose-ring very large and\nsometimes cover it with a piece of cloth to guard it from view or keep\nit in _parda_. It is possible that the practice of Hindu husbands of\ncutting off the nose of a wife detected in adultery has some similar\nassociation, and is partly intended to prevent her from again wearing a\nnose-ring. The toe ornament of a high-caste woman is called _bichhia_\nand it represents a scorpion (_bichhu_). A ring on the big toe stands\nfor the scorpion's head, a silver chain across the foot ending in\nanother ring on the little toe is his body, and three rings with\nhigh projecting knobs on the middle toes are the joints of his tail\nfolded back. It is of course supposed that the ornament protects the\nfeet from scorpion bites. These three ornaments, the _bindia_, the\n_nathni_ and the _bichhia_, must form part of the Sohag or wedding\ndowry of every high-caste Hindu girl in the northern Districts,\nand she cannot be married without them. But if the family is poor\na _laong_ or gold stud to be worn in the nose may be substituted\nfor the nose-ring. This stud, as its name indicates, is in the form\nof a clove, which is sacred food and is eaten on fast-days. Burning\ncloves are often used to brand children for cold; a fresh one being\nemployed for each mark. A widow may not wear any of these ornaments;\nshe is always impure, being perpetually haunted by the ghost of her\ndead husband, and they could thus be of no advantage to her; while,\non the other hand, her wearing them would probably be considered a\nkind of sacrilege or pollution of the holy ornaments.\n\n\n\n\n9. Beads and other ornaments\n\nIn the Maratha Districts an essential feature of a wedding is the\nhanging of the _mangal-sutram_ or necklace of black beads round\nthe bride's neck. All beads which shine and reflect the light are\nconsidered to be efficacious in averting the evil eye, and a peculiar\nvirtue, Sir J. Campbell states, attaches to black beads. A woman\nwears the _mangalsutram_ or marriage string of beads all her life,\nand considers that her husband's life is to some extent bound up in\nit. If she breaks the thread she will not say 'my thread is broken,'\nbut 'my thread has increased'; and she will not let her husband see\nher until she has got a new thread, as she thinks that to do so would\ncause his death. The many necklaces of beads worn by the primitive\ntribes and the strings of blue beads tied round the necks of oxen\nand ponies have the same end in view. A similar belief was probably\npartly responsible for the value set on precious stones as ornaments,\nand especially on diamonds, which sparkle most of all. The pearl is\nvery sacred among the Hindus, and Madrasis put a pearl into the mouth\nat the time of death instead of gold. Partly at least for this purpose\npearls are worn set in a ring of gold in the ear, so that they may\nbe available at need. Coral is also highly esteemed as an amulet,\nlargely because it is supposed to change colour. The coral given to\nbabies to suck may have been intended to render the soft and swollen\ngums at teething hard like the hard red stone. Another favourite\nshape for beads of gold is that of grains of rice, rice being a sacred\ngrain. The gold ornament called _kantha_ worn on the neck has carvings\nof the flowers of the _singara_ or water-nut This is a holy plant,\nthe eating of which on fast-days gives purity. Hence women think that\nwater thrown over the carved flowers of the ornament when bathing will\nhave greater virtue to purify their bodies. Another favourite ornament\nis the _hamel_ or necklace of rupees. The sanctity of coined metal\nwould probably be increased by the royal image and superscription and\nalso by its virtue as currency. Mr. Nunn states that gold mohur coins\nare still made solely for the purpose of ornament, being commonly\nengraved with the formula of belief of Islam and worn by Muhammadans\nas a charm. Suspended to the _hamel_ or necklace of rupees in front\nis a silver pendant in the shape of a betel-leaf, this leaf being\nvery efficacious in magic; and on this is carved either the image of\nHanuman, the god of strength, or a peacock's feather as a symbol of\nKartikeya, the god of war. The silver bar necklet known as _hasli_\nis intended to resemble the collar-bone. Children carried in their\nmother's cloth are liable to be jarred and shaken against her body,\nso that the collar-bone is bruised and becomes painful. It is thought\nthat the wearing of a silver collar-bone will prevent this, just as\nsilver eyes are offered in smallpox to protect the sufferer's eyes and\na silver wire to save his throat from being choked. Little children\nsometimes have round the waist a band of silver beads which is called\n_bora_; these beads are meant to resemble the smallpox pustules and the\n_bora_ protects the wearer from smallpox. There are usually 84 beads,\nthis number being lucky among the Hindus. At her wedding a Hindu bride\nmust wear a wristlet of nine little cones of silver like the _kalas_\nor pinnacle of a temple. This is called _nau-graha_ or _nau-giri_ and\nrepresents the nine planets which are worshipped at weddings--that is,\nthe sun, moon and the five planets, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and\nSaturn, which were known to the ancients and gave their names to the\ndays of the week in many of the Aryan languages; while the remaining\ntwo are said to have been Rahu and Ketu, the nodes of the moon and\nthe demons which cause eclipses. The _bonhta_ or _bankra_, the rigid\ncircular bangle on the upper arm, is supposed to make a woman's arm\nstronger by the pressure exercised on the veins and muscles. Circular\nornaments worn on the legs similarly strengthen them and prevent a\nwoman from getting stiffness or pins and needles in her legs after\nlong squatting on the ground. The _chutka_, a large silver ring worn\nby men on the big toe, is believed to attract to itself the ends of\nall the veins and ligaments from the navel downwards, and hold them\nall braced in their proper position, thus preventing rupture.\n\nOn their feet children and young girls wear the _paijan_ or hollow\nanklet with tinkling balls inside. But when a married woman has had\ntwo or three children she leaves off the _paijan_ and wears a solid\nanklet like the _tora_ or _kasa_. It is now said that the reason why\ngirls wear sounding anklets is that their whereabouts may be known and\nthey may be prevented from getting into mischief in dark corners. But\nthe real reason was probably that they served as spirit scarers,\nwhich they would do in effect by frightening away snakes, scorpions\nand noxious insects; for it is clear that the bites of such reptiles\nand insects, which often escape unseen, must be largely responsible\nfor the vast imaginative fabric of the belief in evil spirits, just\nas Professor Robertson Smith demonstrates that the _jins_ or _genii_\nof Arabia were really wild animals. [650] In India, owing to the\nearly age of marriage and the superstitious maltreatment of women at\nchild-birth, the mortality among girls at this period is very high;\nand the Hindus, ignorant of the true causes, probably consider them\nespecially susceptible to the attacks of evil spirits.\n\n\n\n\n10. Ear-piercing\n\nBefore treating of ear-ornaments it will be convenient to mention\nbriefly the custom of ear-piercing. This is universal among Hindus and\nMuhammadans, both male and female, and the operation is often performed\nby the Sunar. The lower Hindu castes and the Gonds consider piercing\nthe ears to be the mark of admission to the caste community. It\nis done when the child is four or five years old, and till then\nhe or she is not considered to be a member of the caste and may\nconsequently take food from anybody. The Raj-Gonds will not have the\nears of their children pierced by any one but a Sunar; and for this\nthey give him _sidha_ or a seer [651] of wheat, a seer of rice and\nan anna. Hindus employ a Sunar when one is available, but if not,\nan old man of the family may act. After the piercing a peacock's\nfeather or some stalks of grass or straw are put in to keep the hole\nopen and enlarge it. A Hindu girl has her ear pierced in five places,\nthree being in the upper ear, one in the lobe and one in the small\nflap over the orifice. Muhammadans make a large number of holes all\ndown the ear and in each of these they place a gold or silver ring,\nso that the ears are dragged down by the weight. Similarly their women\nwill have ten or fifteen bangles on the legs. The Hindus also have\nthis custom in Bhopal, but if they do it in the Central Provinces\nthey are chaffed with having become Muhammadans. In the upper ear\nHindu women have an ornament in the shape of the _genda_ or marigold,\na sacred flower which is offered to all the deities. The holes in the\nupper and middle ear are only large enough to contain a small ring,\nbut that in the lobe is greatly distended among the lower castes. The\n_tarkhi_ or Gond ear-ornament consists of a glass plate fixed on to\na stem of _ambari_ fibre nearly an inch thick, which passes through\nthe lobe. As a consequence the lower rim is a thin pendulous strip\nof flesh, very liable to get torn. But to have the hole torn open is\none of the worst social mishaps which can happen to a woman. She is\nimmediately put out of caste for a long period, and only readmitted\nafter severe penalties, equivalent to those inflicted for getting\nvermin in a wound. When a woman gets her ear torn she sits weeping in\nher house and refuses to be comforted. At the ceremony of readmission\na Sunar is sometimes called in who stitches up the ear with silver\nthread. [652] Low-caste Hindu and Gond women often wear a large\ncircular embossed silver ornament over the ear which is known as\n_dhara_ or shield and is in the shape of an Indian shield. This is\nsecured by chains to the hair and apparently affords some support to\nthe lower part of the ear, which it also covers. Its object seems to\nbe to shield and protect the lobe, which is so vulnerable in a woman,\nand hence the name. A similar ornament worn in Bengal is known as\n_dhenri_ and consists of a shield-shaped disk of gold, worn on the\nlobe of the ear, sometimes with and sometimes without a pendant. [653]\n\n\n\n\n11. Origin of ear-piercing\n\nThe character of the special significance which apparently attaches\nto the custom of ear-piercing is obscure. Dr. Jevons considers\nthat it is merely a relic of the practice of shedding the blood\nof different parts of the body as an offering to the deity, and\nanalogous to the various methods of self-mutilation, flagellation\nand gashing of the flesh, whose common origin is ascribed to the\nsame custom. \"To commend themselves and their prayers the Quiches\npierced their ears and gashed their arms and offered the sacrifice\nof their blood to their gods. The practice of drawing blood from\nthe ears is said by Bastian to be common in the Orient; and Lippert\nconjectures that the marks left in the ears were valued as visible and\npermanent indications that the person possessing them was under the\nprotection of the god with whom the worshipper had united himself by\nhis blood offering. In that case earrings were originally designed,\nnot for ornament, but to keep open and therefore permanently visible\nthe marks of former worship. The marks or scars left on legs or arms\nfrom which blood had been drawn were probably the origin of tattooing,\nas has occurred to various anthropologists.\" [654] This explanation,\nwhile it may account for the general custom of ear-piercing, does\nnot explain the special guilt imputed by the Hindus to getting the\nlobe of the ear torn. Apparently the penalty is not imposed for the\ntearing of the upper part of the ear, and it is not known whether men\nare held liable as well as women; but as large holes are not made in\nthe upper ear at all, nor by men in the lobe, such cases would very\nseldom occur. The suggestion may be made as a speculation that the\ncontinuous distension of the lobe of the ear by women and the large\nhole produced is supposed to have some sympathetic effect in opening\nthe womb and making child-birth more easy. The tearing of the ear might\nthen be considered to render, the women incapable of bearing a child,\nand the penalties attached to it would be sufficiently explained.\n\n\n\n\n12. Ornaments worn as amulets\n\nThe above account of the ornaments of a Hindu woman is sufficient to\nshow that her profuse display of them is not to be attributed, as\nis often supposed, to the mere desire for adornment. Each ornament\noriginally played its part in protecting some limb or feature from\nvarious dangers of the seen or unseen world. And though the reasons\nwhich led to their adoption have now been to a large extent forgotten\nand the ornaments are valued for themselves, the shape and character\nremain to show their real significance. Women as being weaker and\nless accustomed to mix in society are naturally more superstitious and\nfearful of the machinations of spirits. And the same argument applies\nin greater degree to children. The Hindus have probably recognised\nthat children are very delicate and succumb easily to disease, and\nthey could scarcely fail to have done so when statistics show that\nabout a quarter of all the babies born in India die in the first year\nof age. But they do not attribute the mortality to its real causes\nof congenital weakness arising from the immaturity of the parents,\ninsanitary treatment at and after birth, unsuitable food, and the\ngeneral frailty of the undeveloped organism. They ascribe the loss\nof their offspring solely to the machinations of jealous deities and\nevil spirits, and the envy and admiration of other people, especially\nchildless women and witches, who cast the evil eye upon them. And\nin order to guard against these dangers their bodies are decorated\nwith amulets and ornaments as a means of protection. But the result\nis quite other than that intended, and the ornaments which are meant\nto protect the children from the imaginary terrors of the evil eye,\nin reality merely serve as a whet to illicit cupidity, and expose them\na rich, defenceless prey to the violence of the murderer and the thief.\n\n\n\n\n13. Audhia Sunars\n\nThe Audhia Sunars usually work in bell-metal, an alloy of copper or tin\nand pewter. When used for ornaments the proportion of tin or pewter\nis increased so as to make them of a light colour, resembling silver\nas far as may be. Women of the higher castes may wear bell-metal\nornaments only on their ankles and feet, and Maratha and Khedawal\nBrahmans may not wear them at all. In consequence of having adopted\nthis derogatory occupation, as it is considered, the Audhia Sunars\nare looked down on by the rest of the caste. They travel about to\nthe different village markets carrying their wares on ponies; among\nthese, perhaps, the favourite ornament is the _kara_ or curved bar\nanklets, which the Audhia works on to the purchaser's feet for her,\nforcing them over the heels with a piece of iron like a shoe-horn. The\nprocess takes time and is often painful, the skin being rasped by the\niron. The woman is supported by a friend as her foot is held up behind,\nand is sometimes reduced to cries and tears. High-caste women do not\nmuch affect the _kara_ as they object to having their foot grasped\nby the Sunar. They wear instead a chain anklet which they can work on\nthemselves. The Sunars set precious stones in ornaments, and this is\nalso done by a class of persons called Jadia, who do not appear to\nbe a caste. Another body of persons accessory to the trade are the\nNiarias, who take the ashes and sweepings from the goldsmith's shop,\npaying a sum of ten or twenty rupees annually for them. [655] They\nwash away the refuse and separate the grains of gold and silver,\nwhich they sell back to the Sunars. Niaria also appears to be an\noccupational term, and not a caste.\n\n\n\n\n14. The Sunar as money-changer\n\nFormerly Sunars were employed for counting and testing money in the\npublic treasuries, and in this capacity they were designated as Potdar\nand Saraf or Shroff. Before the introduction of the standard English\ncoinage the money-changer's business was important and profitable,\nas the rupee varied over different parts of the country exactly\nas grain measures do now. Thus the Pondicherry rupee was worth 26\nannas, while the Gujarat rupee would not fetch 12 1/2 annas in the\nbazar. In Bengal, [656] at the beginning of the nineteenth century,\npeople who wished to make purchases had first to exchange their\nrupees for cowries. The Potdar carried his cowries to market in\nthe morning on a bullock, and gave 5760 cowries for a new _kaldar_\nor English rupee, while he took 5920 cowries in exchange for a rupee\nwhen his customers wanted silver back in the evening to take away with\nthem. The profit on the _kaldar_ rupee was thus one thirty-sixth on\nthe two transactions, while all old rupees, and every kind of rupee\nbut the _kaldar_, paid various rates of exchange or _batta_, according\nto the will of the money-changers, who made a higher profit on all\nother kinds of money than the _kaldar_. They therefore resisted the\ngeneral introduction of these rupees as long as possible, and when\nthis failed they hit on a device of marking the rupees with a stamp,\nunder pretext of ascertaining whether they were true or false; after\nwhich the rupee was not exchangeable without paying an additional\n_batta_, and became as valuable to the money-changers as if it were\nforeign coin. As justification for their action they pretended to\nthe people that the marks would enable those who had received the\nrupees to have them changed should any other dealer refuse them, and\nthe necessities of the poor compelled them to agree to any _batta_\nor exchange rather than suffer delay. This was apparently the origin\nof the 'Shroff-marked rupees,' familiar to readers of the _Treasury\nManual_; and the line in a Bhat song, 'The English have made current\nthe _kaldar_ (milled) rupee,' is thus seen to be no empty praise.\n\n\n\n\n15. Malpractices of lower-class Sumars\n\nAs the bulk of the capital of the poorer classes is hoarded in the\nshape of gold and silver ornaments, these are regularly pledged when\nready money is needed, and the Sunar often acts as a pawnbroker. In\nthis capacity he too often degenerates into a receiver of stolen\nproperty, and Mr. Nunn suggested that his proceedings should be\nsupervised by license. Generally, the Sunar is suspected of making\nan illicit profit by mixing alloy with the metal entrusted to him by\nhis customers, and some bitter sayings are current about him. One of\nhis customs is to filch a little gold from his mother and sister on\nthe last day of Shrawan (July) and make it into a luck-penny. [657]\nThis has given rise to the saying, 'The Sunar will not respect even\nhis mother's gold'; but the implication appears to be unjust. Another\nsaying is: _'Sona Sunar ka, abharan sansar ka,'_ or, 'The ornament\nis the customer's, but the gold remains with the Sunar.' [658] Gold\nis usually melted in the employer's presence, who, to guard against\nfraud, keeps a small piece of the metal called _chasni_ or _maslo_,\nthat is a sample, and when the ornament is ready sends it with the\nsample to an assayer or _Chokshi_ who, by rubbing them on a touchstone,\ntells whether the gold in the sample and the ornament is of the same\nquality. Further, the employer either himself sits near the Sunar while\nthe ornament is being made or sends one of his family to watch. In\nspite of these precautions the Sunar seldom fails to filch some of the\ngold while the spy's attention is distracted by the prattling of the\nparrot, by the coquetting of a handsomely dressed young woman of the\nfamily or by some organised mishap in the inner rooms among the women\nof the house. [659] One of his favourite practices is to substitute\ncopper for gold in the interior, and this he has the best chance of\ndoing with the marriage ornaments, as many people consider it unlucky\nto weigh or test the quality of these. [660] The account must, however,\nbe taken to apply only to the small artisans, and well-to-do reputable\nSunars would be above such practices.\n\nThe goldsmith's industry has hitherto not been affected to any serious\nextent by the competition of imported goods, and except during periods\nof agricultural depression the Sunar continues to prosper.\n\nA Persian couplet said by a lover to his mistress is, 'Gold has no\nscent and in the scent of flowers there is no gold; but thou both\nart gold and hast scent.'\n\n_Sundi, Sundhi, Sunri or Sondhi._ [661]--The liquor-distilling\ncaste of the Uriya country. The transfer of Sambalpur and the Uriya\nStates to Bihar and Orissa has reduced their strength in the Central\nProvinces to about 5000, found in the Raipur District and the Bastar\nand Chota Nagpur Feudatory States. The caste is an important one\nin Bengal, numbering more than six lakhs of persons and being found\nin western Bengal and Bihar as well as in Orissa. The word Sundi is\nderived from the Sanskrit Shaundik, a spirit-seller. The caste has\nvarious genealogies of differing degrees of respectability, tracing\ntheir origin to cross unions between other castes born of Brahmans,\nKshatriyas, and Vaishyas. The following story is told of them in\nMadras. [662] In ancient times a certain Brahman was famous for his\nmagical attainments. The king of the country sent for him one day\nand asked him to cause the water in a tank to burn. The Brahman saw\nno way of doing this, and returned homewards uneasy in his mind. On\nthe way he met a distiller who asked him to explain what troubled\nhim. When the Brahman told his story the distiller promised to cause\nthe water to burn on condition that the Brahman gave him his daughter\nin marriage. This the Brahman agreed to do, and the distiller, after\nsurreptitiously pouring large quantities of liquor into the tank,\nset fire to it in the presence of the king. In accordance with the\nagreement he married the daughter of the Brahman and the pair became\nthe ancestors of the Sundi caste. In confirmation of the story it is\nalleged that up to the present day the women of the caste maintain the\nrecollection of their Brahman ancestors by refusing to eat fowls or\nthe remains of their husbands' meals. Nor will they take food from the\nhands of any other caste. Sir H. Risley relates the following stories\ncurrent about the caste in Bengal, where its status is very low:\n\"According to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink\nrank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the\nVaivarta Purana keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is\nsaid that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant's\nhead to the mutilated trunk of Ganesh who had been accidentally\nslain by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for,\nand by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous\nparts together, and made a man called Kedara Sena from the slices\ncut off in fashioning his work. This Kedara Sena was ordered to\nfetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding\non the river's bank a shell full of water he presented it to her,\nwithout noticing that a few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had\nfermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as\nshe had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemned\nthe offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituous\nliquors for mankind.\" Like other castes in Sambalpur the Sundis have\ntwo subcastes, the Jharua and the Utkal or Uriya, of whom the Jharuas\nprobably immigrated from Orissa at an earlier period and adopted some\nof the customs of the indigenous tribes; for this reason they are\nlooked down on by the more orthodox Utkalis. The caste say that they\nbelong to the Nagas or snake gotra, because they consider themselves\nto be descended from Basuki, the serpent with a thousand heads who\nformed a canopy for Vishnu. They also have _bargas_ or family titles,\nbut these at present exercise no influence on marriage. The Sundis\nhave in fact outgrown the system of exogamy and regulate their\nmarriages by a table of prohibited degrees in the ordinary manner,\nthe unions of _sapindas_ or persons who observe mourning together at\na death being prohibited. The prohibition does not extend to cognatic\nrelationship, but a man must not marry into the family of his paternal\naunt. The fact that the old _bargas_ or exogamous groups are still in\nexistence is interesting, and an intermediate step in the process of\ntheir abandonment may be recognised in the fact that some of them are\nsubdivided. Thus the Sahu (lord) group has split into the Gaj Sahu\n(lord of the elephant), Dhavila Sahu (white lord), and Amila Sahu\nsub-groups, and it need not be doubted that this was a convenient\nmethod adopted for splitting up the Sahu group when it became so large\nas to include persons so distantly connected with each other that the\nprohibition of marriage between them was obviously ridiculous. As\nthe number of Sundis in the Central Provinces is now insignificant\nno detailed description of their customs need be given, but one or\ntwo interesting points may be noted. Their method of observing the\n_pitripaksh_ or worship of ancestors is as follows: A human figure\nis made of _kusha_ grass and placed under a miniature straw hut. A\nlamp is kept burning before it for ten days, and every day a twig for\ncleaning the teeth is placed before it, and it is supplied with fried\nrice in the morning and rice, pulse and vegetables in the evening. On\nthe tenth day the priest comes, and after bathing the figure seven\ntimes, places boiled rice before it for the last meal, and then sets\nfire to the hut and burns it, while repeating sacred verses. On the\neleventh day after a death, when presents for the use of the deceased\nare made to a priest as his representative, the priest lies down in\nthe new bed which is given to him, and the members of the family rub\nhis feet and attend on him as if he were the dead man. He is also\ngiven a present sufficient to purchase food for him for a year. The\nSundis worship Suradevi or the goddess of wine, whom they consider\nas their mother, and they refuse to drink liquor, saying that this\nwould be to enjoy their own mother. They worship the still and all\narticles used in distillation at the rice-harvest and when the new\nmango crop appears. Large numbers of them have taken to cultivation.\n\n\n\n\nTamera\n\n\n\n\n1. The Tamera and Kasar\n\n_Tamera, Tambatkar_. [663]--The professional caste of coppersmiths,\nthe name being derived from _tamba_, copper. The Tameras, however,\nlike the Kasars or brass-workers, use copper, brass and bell-metal\nindifferently, and in the northern Districts the castes are not\nreally distinguished, Tamera and Kasar being almost interchangeable\nterms. In the Maratha country, however, and other localities they\nare considered as distinct castes. Copper is a sacred metal, and the\ncopper-smith's calling would be considered somewhat more respectable\nthan that of the worker in brass or bell-metal, just as the Sunar\nor goldsmith ranks above both; and probably, therefore, the Tameras\nmay consider themselves a little better than the Kasars. As brass\nis an alloy made from copper and zinc, it seems likely that vessels\nwere made from copper before they were made from brass. But copper\nbeing a comparatively rare and expensive metal, utensils made from\nit could scarcely have ever been generally used, and it is therefore\nnot necessary to suppose that either the Tamera or Kasar caste came\ninto being before the adoption of brass as a convenient material for\nthe household pots and pans.\n\n\n\n\n2. Social traditions and customs\n\nIn 1911 the Tameras numbered about 5000 persons in the Central\nProvinces and Berar. They tell the same story of their origin which has\nalready been related in the article on the Kasar caste, and trace their\ndescent from the Haihaya Rajput dynasty of Ratanpur. They say that\nwhen the king Dharampal, the first ancestor of the caste, was married,\na bevy of 119 girls were sent with his bride in accordance with the\npractice still occasionally obtaining among royal Hindu families,\nand these, as usual, became the concubines of the husband or, as the\nTameras say, his wives: and from the bride and her companions the 120\nexogamous sections of the caste are sprung. As a fact, however, many\nof the sections are named after villages or natural objects. A man is\nnot permitted to marry any one belonging to his own section or that\nof his mother, the union of first cousins being thus prohibited. The\ncaste also do not favour _Anta santa_ or the practice of exchanging\ngirls between families, the reason alleged being that after the bride's\nfather has acknowledged the superiority of the bridegroom's father by\nwashing his feet, it is absurd to require the latter to do the same,\nthat is, to wash the feet of his inferior. So they may not take a\ngirl from a family to which they have given one of their own. The real\nreason for the rule lies possibly in an extension of the principle of\nexogamy, whether based on a real fear of carrying too far the practice\nof intermarriage between families or an unfounded superstition that\nintermarriage between families already connected may have the same\nevil results on the offspring as the union of blood-relations. When\nthe wedding procession is about to start, after the bridegroom has\nbeen bathed and before he puts on the _kankan_ or iron wristlet which\nis to protect him from evil spirits, he is seated on a stool while\nall the male members of the household come up with their _choti_ or\nscalp-lock untied and rub it against that of the bridegroom. Again,\nafter the wedding ceremonies are over and the bridegroom has, according\nto rule, untied one of the fastenings of the marriage-shed, he also\nturns over a tile of the roof of the house. The meaning of the latter\nceremony is not clear; the significance attaching to the _choti_\nhas been discussed in the article on Nai.\n\n\n\n\n3. Disposal of the dead\n\nThe caste burn their dead except children, who can be buried, and\nobserve mourning for ten days in the case of an adult and for three\ndays for a child. A cake of flour containing two pice (farthings)\nis buried or burnt with the corpse. When a death takes place among\nthe community all the members of it stop making vessels for that day,\nthough they will transact retail sales. When mourning is over, a feast\nis given to the caste-fellows and to seven members of the menial and\nserving castes. These are known as the 'Sattiho Jat' or Seven Castes,\nand it may be conjectured that in former times they were the menials of\nthe village and were given a meal in much the same spirit as prompts\nan English landlord to give his tenants a dinner on occasions of\nceremony. Instances of a similar custom are noted among the Kunbis\nand other castes. Before food is served to the guests a leaf-plate\ncontaining a portion for the deceased is placed outside the house with\na pot of water, and a burning lamp to guide his spirit to the food.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion\n\nThe caste worship the goddess Singhbahani. or Devi riding on a\ntiger. They make an image of her in the most expensive metal they can\nafford, and worship it daily. They will on no account swear by this\ngoddess. They worship their trade implements on the day of the new\nmoon in Chait (March) and Bhadon (August). A trident, as a symbol of\nDevi, is then drawn with powdered rice and vermilion on the furnace\nfor casting metal. A lamp is waved over the furnace and a cocoanut is\nbroken and distributed to the caste-fellows, no outsider being allowed\nto be present. They quench their furnace on the new moon day of every\nmonth, the Ramnaomi and Durgapuja or nine days' fasts in the months\nof Chait and Kunwar, and for the two days following the Diwali and\nHoli festivals. On these days they will not prepare any new vessels,\nbut will sell those which they have ready. The Tameras have Kanaujia\nBrahmans for their priests, and the Brahmans will take food from\nthem which has been cooked without water and salt. On this account\nother Kanaujia Brahmans require a heavy payment before they will\nmarry with the priests of the Tameras. The caste abstain from liquor,\nand some of them have abjured all flesh food while others partake of\nit. They usually wear the sacred thread. Brahmans will take water\nfrom their hands, and the menial castes will eat food which they\nhave touched. They work in brass, copper and bell-metal in exactly\nthe same manner as the Kasars, and have an equivalent social position.\n\n\n\n\nTaonla\n\n_Taonla_.--A small non-Aryan caste of the Uriya States. They reside\nprincipally in Bamra and Sonpur, and numbered about 2000 persons in\n1901, but since the transfer of these States to Bengal are not found\nin the Central Provinces. The name is said to be derived from Talmul,\na village in the Angul District of Orissa, and they came to Bamra\nand Sonpur during the Orissa famine of 1866. The Taonlas appear to\nbe a low occupational caste of mixed origin, but derived principally\nfrom the Khond tribe. Formerly their profession was military service,\nand it is probable that like the Khandaits and Paiks they formed the\nlevies of some of the Uriya Rajas, and gradually became a caste. They\nhave three subdivisions, of which the first consists of the Taonlas\nwhose ancestors were soldiers. These consider themselves superior to\nthe others, and their family names as Naik (leader), Padhan (chief),\nKhandait (swordsman), and Behra (master of the kitchen) indicate\ntheir ancestral profession. The other subcastes are called Dangua and\nKhond; the Danguas, who are hill-dwellers, are more primitive than the\nmilitary Taonlas, and the Khonds are apparently members of that tribe\nof comparatively pure descent who marry among themselves and not with\nother Taonlas. In Orissa Dr. Hunter says that the Taonlas are allied\nto the Savaras, and that they will admit a member of any caste, from\nwhose hands they can take water, into the community. This is also the\ncase in Bamra. The candidate has simply to worship Kalapat, the god\nof the Taonlas, and after drinking some water in which basil leaves\nhave been dipped, to touch the food prepared for a caste feast, and\nhis initiation is complete. As usual among the mixed castes, female\nmorality is very lax, and a Taonla woman may have a _liaison_ with a\nman of her own or any other caste from whom a Taonla can take water\nwithout incurring any penalty whatsoever. A man committing a similar\noffence must give a feast to the caste. In Sonpur the Taonlas admit a\nclose connection with Chasas, and say that some of their families are\ndescended from the union of Chasa men and Taonla women. They will eat\nthe leavings of Chasas. The custom may be accounted for by the fact\nthat the Taonlas are now generally farmservants and field-labourers,\nand the Chasas, as cultivators, would be their employers. A similar\nclose connection is observable among other castes standing in the\nsame position towards each other as the Panwars and Gonds and the\nRajbhars and Lodhis.\n\nThe Taonlas have no exogamous divisions as they all belong to the\nsame _gotra_, that of the Nag or cobra. Their marriages are therefore\nregulated by relationship in the ordinary manner. If two families\nfind that they have no common ancestor up to the third generation they\nconsider it lawful to intermarry. The marriage ritual is of the usual\nUriya form. After the marriage the bride and the bridegroom have a\nceremony of throwing a mahua branch into a river together. Divorce and\nwidow remarriage are permitted. When a woman is divorced she returns\nher bangles to her husband, and receives from him a _chhor-chitthi_ or\nletter severing connection. Then she goes before the caste _panchayat_\nand pronounces her husband's name aloud. This shows that she is no\nlonger his wife, since so long as she continued to be so, she would\nnever mention his name.\n\nThe tutelary deity of the caste is Kalapat, who resides at Talmul in\nAngul District. They offer him a goat at the festival of Nawakhai\nwhen the new rice is first eaten. On this day they also worship a\ncattle-goad as the symbol of their vocation. They revere the cobra,\nand will not wear wooden sandals because they think that the marks on\na cobra's head are in the form of a sandal. They believe in re-birth,\nand when a child is born they proceed to ascertain what ancestor has\nbecome reincarnate by dropping rice grains coloured with turmeric\ninto a pot of water. As each one is dropped they repeat the name of\nan ancestor, and when the first grain floats conclude that the one\nnamed has been born again. The dead are both buried and burnt. At\nthe head of a grave they plant a bough of the _jamun_ tree (_Eugenia\njambolana_) so that the departed spirit may dwell under this cool\nand shady tree in the other world or in his next birth. They have\nalso a ceremony for bringing back the soul. An earthen pot is placed\nupside down on four legs outside the village, and on the eleventh day\nafter a death they proceed to the place, ringing a bell suspended to\nan iron rod. A cloth is spread before the spot on which the spirit\nof the deceased is supposed to be sitting, and they wait till an\ninsect alights on it. This is taken to be the soul of the dead\nperson, and it is carefully wrapped up in the cloth and carried to\nthe house. There the cloth is unfolded and the insect allowed to go,\nwhile they proceed to inspect some rice-flour which has been spread\non the ground under another pot in the house. If any mark is found\non the surface of the flour they think that the dead man's spirit\nhas returned to the house. The carrying back of the insect is thus\nan act calculated to assist their belief, by the simple performance\nof which they are able to suppose more easily that the invisible\nspirit has returned to the house. As already stated, the Taonlas are\nnow generally farmservants and labourers, and their social position\nis low, though they rank above the impure castes and the forest tribes.\n\n\n\n\nTeli\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Strength and distribution of the caste._\n    2. _Origin and traditions._\n    3. _Endogamous subcastes._\n    4. _Exogamous divisions._\n    5. _Marriage customs._\n    6. _Widow-remarriage._\n    7. _Religion. Caste deities._\n    8. _Driving out evil._\n    9. _Customs at birth and death._\n    10. _Social status._\n    11. _Social customs and caste penalties._\n    12. _The Rathor Telis._\n    13. _Gujarati Telis of Nimar._\n    14. _The Teli an unlucky caste._\n    15. _Occupation. Oil-pressing._\n    16. _Trade and agriculture._\n    17. _Teli beneficence._\n\n\n\n\n1. Strength and distribution of the caste\n\n_Teli._ [664]--The occupational caste of oil-pressers and sellers. The\nTelis numbered nearly 900,000 persons in 1911, being the fifth caste\nin the Province in point of population. They are numerous in the\nChhattisgarh and Nagpur Divisions, nearly 400,000 belonging to the\nformer and 200,000 to the latter tract; while in Berar and the north\nof the Province they are sparsely represented. The reason for such\na distribution of the caste is somewhat obscure. Vegetable oil is\nmore largely used for food in the south and east than in the north,\nbut while this custom might explain the preponderance of Telis in\nNagpur and Chhattisgarh it gives no reason to account for their small\nnumbers in Berar. In Chhattisgarh again nearly all the Telis are\ncultivators, and it may be supposed that, like the Chamars, they have\nfound opportunity here to get possession of the land owing to its not\nbeing already taken up by the cultivating castes proper; but in the\nNagpur Division, with the exception of part of Wardha, the Telis have\nhad no such opening and are not large landholders. Their distribution\nthus remains a somewhat curious problem. But all over the Province the\nTelis have generally abandoned their hereditary trade of pressing oil,\nand have taken to trade and agriculture, the number of those returned\nas oil-pressers being only about seven per cent of the total strength\nof the caste. The name comes from the Sanskrit _tailika_ or _taila_,\noil, and this word, is derived from the _tilli_ or sesamum plant.\n\n\n\n\n2. Origin and traditions\n\nThe caste have few traditions of origin. Their usual story is that\nduring Siva's absence the goddess Parvati felt nervous because she\nhad no doorkeeper to her palace, and therefore she made the god\nGanesh from the sweat of her body and set him to guard the southern\ngate. But when Siva returned Ganesh did not know him and refused to\nlet him enter; on which Siva was so enraged that he cut off the head\nof Ganesh with a stroke of his sword. He then entered the palace,\nand Parvati, observing the blood on his sword, asked him what had\nhappened, and reproached him bitterly for having slain her son. Siva\nwas distressed, but said that he could not replace the head as it\nwas already reduced to ashes. But he said that if any animal could\nbe found looking towards the south he could put its head on Ganesh\nand bring him to life. As it happened a trader was then resting\noutside the palace and had with him an elephant, which was seated\nwith its head to the south. So Siva quickly struck off the head of\nthe elephant and placed it on the body of Ganesh and brought him to\nlife again, and thus Ganesh got his elephant's head. But the trader\nmade loud lamentation about the loss of his elephant, so to pacify\nhim Siva made a pestle and mortar, utensils till then unknown, and\nshowed him how to pound oil-seeds in them and express the oil, and\nenjoined him to earn a livelihood in future by this calling, and his\ndescendants after him; and so the merchant became the first Teli. And\nthe pestle was considered to be Siva and the mortar Parvati. This\nlast statement affords some support to Mr. Marten's suggestion [665]\nthat a certain veneration attaching to the pestle and mortar and their\nuse in marriage ceremonies may be due to the idea of their typifying\nthe male and female organs. The fact that Ganesh was set to guard the\nsouthern gate, and that the animal whose head could be placed on his\nbody must be looking to the south, probably hinges in some way on the\nsouth being the abode of Yama, the god of death, but the connection has\nbeen forgotten by the teller of the story; it may also be noted that if\nthe palace was in the Himalayas, the site of Kailas or Siva's heaven,\nthe whole of India would be to the south. Another story related by\nMr. Crooke [666] from Mirzapur is that a certain man had three sons\nand owned fifty-two mahua [667] trees. When he became aged and infirm\nhe told his sons to divide the trees, but after some discussion they\ndecided to divide not the trees themselves but their produce. One of\nthem fell to picking up the leaves, and he was the ancestor of the\nBharbhunjas or grain-parchers, who still use leaves in their ovens;\nthe second collected the flowers and corollas, and having distilled\nliquor from them became a Kalar; while the third took the kernels\nor fruit and crushed the oil out of them, and was the founder of the\nTeli caste. The country spirit generally drunk is distilled from the\nflowers of the mahua tree, and a cheap vegetable oil in common use\nis obtained from its seeds. The Telis and Kalars are also castes of\nabout the same status and have other points of resemblance; and the\nlegend connecting them is therefore of some interest Some groups\nof Telis who have become landed proprietors or prospered in trade\nhave stories giving them a more exalted origin. Thus the landholding\nRathor Telis of Mandla say that they were Rathor Rajputs who fled from\nthe Muhammadans and threw away their swords and sacred threads; and\nthe Telis of Nimar, several of whom are wealthy merchants, give out\nthat their ancestors were Modh Banias from Gujarat who had to take to\noil-pressing for a livelihood under Muhammadan rule. But these legends\nmay perhaps be considered a natural result of their rise in the world.\n\n\n\n\n3. Endogamous subcastes\n\nThe caste has a large number of subdivisions. The principal groups\nin Chhattisgarh are the Halia, Jharia and Ekbahia Telis. The Halias,\nwho perhaps take their name from _hal_, a plough, are considered to\nbe the best cultivators, and are said to have immigrated from Mandla\nsome generations ago. Probably the bulk of the Hindu population of\nChhattisgarh came from this direction. The name Jharia means jungly\nor savage, and is commonly applied to the oldest residents, but the\nJharia Telis are the highest local subcaste. They require the presence\nof a Brahman at their weddings, and abstain generally from liquor,\nfowls and pork, to which the Halias are not averse. They also bathe\nthe corpse before it is burnt or buried, an observance omitted by\nthe Halias. The Jharias yoke only one bullock to the oil-press,\nand the Halias two, a distinction which is elsewhere sufficient\nof itself to produce separate subcastes. The Ekbahia (one-armed)\nTelis are so called because their women wear glass bangles only\non the right hand and metal ones on the left. This is a custom of\nseveral castes whose women do manual labour, and the reason appears\nto be one of convenience, as glass bangles on the working arm would\nbe continually getting broken. Among the Ekbahia Telis it is said\nthat a woman considers it a point of honour to have these metal\nbangles as numerous and heavy as her arm can bear; and at a wedding a\npresent of three bracelets from the bridegroom to the bride is held\nto be indispensable. The Madpotwa are a small subcaste living near\nthe hills, who in former times distilled liquor; they keep pigs and\npoultry, and rank below the others. Other groups are the Kosarias,\nwho are called after Kosala, the old name of Chhattisgarh, and the\nChhote or Little Telis, who are of illegitimate descent. Children\nborn out of wedlock are relegated to this group.\n\nIn the Nagpur country the principal subdivisions are the Ekbaile and\nDobaile, so called because they yoke one and two bullocks respectively\nto the oil-press; the distinction is still maintained, the Dobaile\nbeing also known as Tarane. This seems a trivial reason for barring\nintermarriage, but it must be remembered that the yoking of the\nbullock to the oil-press, coupled as it is with the necessity of\nblindfolding the animal, is considered a great sin on the Teli's part\nand a degrading incident of his profession; the Teli's worst fear is\nthat after death his soul will pass into one of his own bullocks. The\nYerande Telis are so called because they formerly pressed only the\n_erandi_ or castor-oil seed, but the rule is no longer maintained. The\nYerande women leave off wearing the _choli_ or breast-cloth after they\nhave had one child, and have nothing under the _sari_ or body-cloth,\nbut they wear this folded double. The Ruthia group are said to be so\ncalled from the noise _rut, rut_ made by the oil-mill in turning. They\nsay they are descended from the Nag or cobra. They salute the snake\nwhen they see it and refrain from killing it, and they will not make\nany drawing or sign having the semblance of a snake or use any article\nwhich may be supposed to be like it. The Sao Telis are the highest\ngroup in Wardha, and have eschewed the pressing of oil. The word Sao or\nSahu is the title of a moneylender, but they are usually cultivators\nor village proprietors. A Brahman will enter a Sao Teli's house, but\nnot the houses of any other subcaste. Their women wear silver bangles\non the right hand and glass ones on the left. The Batri subcaste are\nsaid to be so called from their growing the _batar_, a kind of pea,\nand the Hardia from raising the _haldi_ or turmeric. The Teli-Kalars\nappear to be a mixed group of Kalars who have taken to the oilman's\nprofession, and the Teli-Banias are Telis who have become shopkeepers,\nand may be expected in the course of time to develop either into a\nplebeian group of Banias or an aristocratic one of Telis. In Nimar\nthe Gujarati Telis, who have now grown wealthy and prosperous, claim,\nas already seen, to be Modh Banias, and the same pretension is put\nforward by their fellow-castemen in Gujarat itself. \"The large class of\noilmen known in Gujarat as Modh-Ghanelis were originally Modh Banias,\nwho by taking to making and selling oil lost their position as Banias\";\n[668] it seems doubtful, however, whether the reverse process has not\nreally taken place. The Umre Telis also have the name of a subcaste\nof Banias. The landholding Rathor Telis of Mandla, who now claim to\nbe Rathor Rajputs, will be more fully noticed later. There are also\nseveral local subcastes, as the Mattha or Maratha Telis, who say\nthey came from Patan in Gujarat, the Sirwas from the ancient city of\nSravasti in Gonda District, and the Kanaujia from Oudh.\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamous divisions\n\nEach subcaste is divided into a number of exogamous groups for the\nregulation of marriages. The names of the groups appear to be taken\neither from villages or titles or nicknames. Most of them cannot be\nrecognised, but the following are a few: Baghmare, a tiger-killer;\nDeshmukh, a village officer; Vaidya, a physician; Bawankule,\nthe fifty-two septs; Badwaik, the great ones; Satpute, seven sons;\nBhajikhaya, an eater of vegetables; Satapaise, seven pice; Ghoremadia,\na horse-killer; Chaudhri, a caste headman; Ardona, a kind of gram;\nMalghati, a valley; Chandan-malagar, one who presented sandalwood;\nand Sanichara, born on Saturday. Three septs, Dhurwa, Besram, a hawk,\nand Sonwani, gold-water, belong to the Gonds or other tribes. The clans\nof the Rathor Telis of Mandla are said to be named after villages in\nJubbulpore and Maihar State.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage customs\n\nThe marriage of persons of the same sept and of first cousins is\nusually forbidden. A man may marry his wife's younger sister while\nshe herself is alive, but never her elder sister. An unmarried girl\nbecoming pregnant by a man of the caste is married to him by the\nceremony used for a widow, and she may be readmitted even after a\n_liaison_ with an outsider among most Telis. In Chanda the parents of\na girl who is not married before puberty are fined. The proposal comes\nfrom the boy's side and a bride-price is usually paid, though not of\nlarge amount. The Halia Telis of Chhattisgarh, like other agricultural\ncastes, sometimes betroth their children when they are five or six\nmonths old, but as a rule no penalty attaches to the breaking of the\nbetrothal. The betrothal is celebrated by the distribution of one or\ntwo rupees' worth of liquor to the neighbours of the caste. As among\nother low castes, on the day before the wedding procession starts,\nthe bridegroom goes round to all the houses in the village and his\nsister dances round him with her head bent, and all the people give\nhim presents. This is known as the Binaiki or Farewell, and the bride\ndoes the same in her village. Among the Jharia Telis the women go\nand worship the marriage-post at the carpenter's house while it is\nbeing made. In this subcaste the bridegroom goes to the wedding in\na cart and not on horseback or in a litter as among some castes. The\nrule may perhaps be a recognition of their humble station. The Halia\nsubcaste can dispense with the presence of a Brahman at the wedding,\nbut not the Jharias. In Wardha the bridegroom's head is covered with\na blanket, over which is placed the marriage-crown. On the arrival of\nthe bridegroom's party they are regaled with _sherbet_ or sugar and\nwater by the bride's relatives, and sometimes red pepper is mixed with\nthis by way of a joke. At a wedding of the Gujarati Tells in Nimar\nthe caste-priest carries the tutelary goddess Kali in procession,\nand in front of her a pot filled with burning cotton-seeds and oil. A\ncloth is held over the pot, and it is believed that the power of the\ngoddess prevents the cloth from taking fire. If this should happen\nsome great calamity would be portended. Rathor Teli girls, whether\nmarried or unmarried, go with their heads bare, and a woman draws\nher cloth over her head for the first time when she begins to live\nin her husband's house.\n\n\n\n\n6. Widow-remarriage\n\nDivorce and widow-marriage are permitted. In Chhattisgarh a widow\nis always kept in the family if possible, and if her late husband's\nbrother be only a boy she is sometimes induced to put on the bangles\nand wait for him. If a _barandi_ widow, that is one who has been\nmarried but has not lived with her husband, desires to marry again\nout of his family, the second husband must repay to them the amount\nspent on her first marriage. In Chanda, on the other hand, some Telis\ndo not permit a widow to marry her late husband's younger brother\nat all, and others only when he is a bachelor or a widower. Here\nthe minimum period for which a widow must remain single after her\nhusband's death is one month. The engagement with a widow is arranged\nby the suitor's female relatives, and they pay her a rupee as earnest\nmoney. On the day fixed she goes with one or two other widows to\nthe bridegroom's house, and from there to the bazar, where she buys\ntwo pairs of bell-metal rings, to be worn on the second toe of each\nfoot, and some glass bangles. She remains sitting in the bazar till\nwell after dark, when some widow goes to fetch her on behalf of her\nsuitor. They bring her to his house, where the couple sit together, and\nred powder is applied to their foreheads. They then bathe and present\ntheir clothes to the washerman, putting on new clothes. The idea in\nall this is clearly to sever the widow as completely as possible from\nher old home and prevent her from being accompanied to the new one\nby the first husband's spirit. In some localities when a Teli widow\nremarries it is considered most unlucky for any one to see the face\nof the bride or bridegroom for twenty-four hours, or as some say for\nthree days after the wedding. The ceremony is therefore held at night,\nand for this period the couple either remain shut up in the house or\nretire to the jungle.\n\n\n\n\n7. Religion: Caste deities\n\nThe caste especially revere Mahadeo or Siva, who gave them the\noil-mill. In the Nagpur country they do not work the mill on Monday,\nbecause it is Mahadeo's day, he having the moon on his forehead. They\nrevere the oil-mill, and when the trunk is brought to be set up in\nthe house, if there is difficulty in moving it they make offerings\nto it of a goat or wheat-cakes or cocoanuts, after which it moves\neasily. When a Teli first sets the trunk-socket of the oil-press in the\nground he buries beneath it five pieces of turmeric, some cowries and\nan areca-nut In the northern Districts the Telis worship Masan Baba,\nwho is supposed to be the ghost of a Teli boy. He is a boy about three\nfeet in height, black-coloured, with a long black scalp-lock. Some\nTelis have Masan Baba in their possession, and when they are turning\nthe oil-press they set him on top of it, and he makes the bullocks keep\non working, so that the master can go away and leave the press. But\nin order to prevent him from getting into mischief a cake of flour\nmixed with human hair must be placed in front of the press; he will\neat this, but will first pick out all the hairs one by one, and this\nwill occupy him the whole night; but if no cake is put for him he\nwill eat all the food in the house. A Teli who has not got Masan must\ngo to one who has and hire him for Rs. 1-4 a night. They then both\ngo to the owner's oil-press, and the hirer says, 'I have hired you\nto-night,' and the owner says, 'Yes, I have let you for to-night';\nand then the hirer goes away, and Masan Baba follows him and will turn\nthe oil-mill all night. A Teli who has not got Masan Baba puts a stone\non the oil-mill, and then the bullock thinks that his master Masan is\nsitting on it, and will go on turning the press; but this is not so\ngood as having Masan Baba. Some say that he will repay his hirer the\nsum of Rs. 1-4 by stealing something during the year and giving it to\nhim. Masan may perhaps be considered as a divine personification of\nthe oil-press, and as being the Teli's explanation of the fact that\nthe bullock goes on turning the press without being driven, which he\ndoes not attribute simply to the animal's docility. In Chhattisgarh\nDulha Deo is the household god of the caste, and he is said not to\nhave any visible image or symbol, but is considered to reside in a\ncupboard in the house. When any member of the family falls ill it\nis thought that Dulha Deo is angry, and a goat is offered to appease\nhim. Like the other low castes the Telis of the Nagpur country make\nthe sacrifice of a pig to Narayan Deo or the Sun at intervals.\n\n\n\n\n8. Driving out evil\n\nHere on the third day after the Pola festival in the rains the women\nof the caste bring the branches of a thorny creeper, with very small\nleaves, and call it Marbod, and sweep out the whole house with it,\nsaying:\n\n\n    'Ira, pira, khatka, khatkira,\n    Khansi, kokhala, rai, rog,\n    Murkuto gheunja ga Marbod,'\n\n\nor, 'Oh Marbod! sweep away all diseases, pains, coughs, bugs, flies\nand mosquitoes.' And then they take the pot of sweepings and throw it\noutside the village. Marbod is the deity represented by the branch of\nthe creeper. This rite takes place in the middle of the rainy season,\nwhen all kinds of insects infest the house, and colds and fever are\nprevalent Mr. H.R. Crosthwaite sends the following explanation given\nby a Teli cultivator of an eclipse of the sun: \"The Sun is indebted to\na sweeper. The sweeper has gone to collect the debt and the Sun has\nrefused to pay. The sweeper is in need of the money and is sitting\n_dharna_ at the Sun's door; you can see his shadow across the Sun's\nthreshold. Presently the debt will be paid and the sweeper will go\naway.\" The Telis of Nimar observe various Muhammadan practices. They\nfast during the month of Ramazan, taking their food in the morning\nbefore sunrise; and at Id they eat the vermicelli and dates which the\nMuhammadans eat in memory of the time when their forefathers lived on\nthis food in the Arabian desert. Such customs are a relic of the long\nperiod of Muhammadan dominance in Nimar, when the Hindus conformed\npartly to the religion of their masters. Many Telis are also members\nof the Swami-Narayan reforming sect, which may have attracted them\nby its disregard of the distinctions of caste and of the low status\nwhich attaches to them under Hinduism.\n\n\n\n\n9. Customs at birth and death\n\nIn Patna State a pregnant woman must not cross a river nor eat any\nfruit or vegetables of red colour, nor wear any black cloth. These\ntaboos preserve her health and that of her unborn child. After\nthe birth of a child a woman is impure for seven or nine days in\nChhattisgarh, and is then permitted to cook. The dead are either\nburied or burnt, cremation being an honour reserved for the old. The\nbody is placed in both cases with the head to the north and face\ndownwards or upwards for a male or female respectively.\n\n\n\n\n10. Social status\n\nThe social status of the Telis is low, in the group of castes\nfrom which Brahmans will not take water, and below such menials as\nthe blacksmith and carpenter. Manu classes them with butchers and\nliquor-vendors: \"From a king not born in the military class let a\nBrahman accept no gift nor from such as keep a slaughter-house,\nor an oil-press, or put out a vintner's flag or subsist by the\ngains of prostitutes.\" This is much about the position which the\nTelis have occupied till recently. Brahmans will not usually enter\ntheir houses, though they have begun to do so in the case of the\nlandholding subcastes. It is noticeable that the Teli has a much better\nposition in Bengal than elsewhere. Sir H. Risley says: \"Their original\nprofession was probably oil-pressing, and the caste may be regarded\nas a functional group recruited from the respectable middle class of\nHindu society. Oil is used by all Hindus for domestic and ceremonial\npurposes, and its manufacture could only be carried on by men whose\nsocial purity was beyond dispute.\" This is, however, quite exceptional,\nand Mr. Crooke, Mr. Nesfield and Sir D. Ibbetson are agreed as to his\ninferior, if not partly impure, status. This is only one of several\ninstances, such as those of the barber, the potter and the weaver,\nof menial castes which in Bengal have now obtained a position above\nthe agricultural castes. It may be suggested in explanation that the\nold fabric of Hindu society, that is the village community, has long\ndecayed in Bengal owing to Muhammadan dominance, the concentration\nof estates in the hands of large proprietors and the weakening or\nlapse of the customary rights of tenants. Coupled with this has been\nthe growth of an important urban population, in which the castes\nmentioned have raised themselves from their menial position in the\nvillages and attained wealth and influence, just as the Gujarati Telis\nare now doing in Burhanpur, while the agricultural castes of Bengal\nhave been comparatively depressed. Hence the urban industrial castes\nhave obtained a great rise in status. Sir H. Risley's emphasis of the\nimportance of oil in Hindu domestic ceremonial is no doubt quite true,\nthough it is perhaps little used in sacrifices, butter being generally\npreferred as a product of the sacred cow. But the inference does not\nseem necessarily to follow that the producer of any article shares\nexactly in the estimation attaching to the thing itself. Turmeric,\nfor instance, is a sacred plant and indispensable at every wedding;\nbut those who grow turmeric always incur a certain stigma and loss in\nsocial position. The reason for the impurity of the Teli's calling\nseems somewhat doubtful. That generally given is his sinful conduct\nin harnessing the sacred ox and blindfolding the animal's eyes to\nmake it work continuously on the tread-mill. The labour is said to be\nvery severe, and the bullocks often die after two or three years. As\nalready seen, the Teli fears that after death his soul may pass into\none of his own bullocks in retribution for his treatment of them during\nlife. Another reason which may be suggested is that the crushing of\noil-seeds must involve a large destruction of insect life, many of\nthe seeds being at times infested with insects. The Teli's occupation\nwould naturally rank with the other village industries, that is below\nagriculture; and prior to the introduction of cash coinage he must have\nreceived contributions of grain from the tenants for supplying them\nwith oil like the other village menials. He still takes his oil to the\nfields at harvest-time and gets his sheaf of grain from each holding.\n\n\n\n\n11. Social customs and caste penalties\n\nThe Telis will take cooked food from Kurmis and Kunbis, and in some\nlocalities from a Lohar or Barhai. Dhimars are the highest caste which\nwill take food from them. In Mandla if a man does not attend the\nmeeting of the _panchayat_ when summoned for some special purpose,\nhe is fined. In Chanda a Teli beaten with a shoe by any other caste\nhas to have his head shaved and pay a rupee or two to the priest. In\nMandla the Telis have made it a rule that not less than four _puris_\nor wheat-cakes fried in butter [669] must be given to each guest at\na caste-feast, besides rice and pulse. But if an offender is poor\nonly four or five men go to his feast, while if he is rich the whole\ncaste go.\n\n\n\n\n12. The Rathor Telis\n\nThe Rathor Telis of Mandla hold a number of villages. They now call\nthemselves Rathor, and entirely disown the name of Teli. They say\nthat they came from the Maihar State near Panna, and that the title of\nMahto, from _mahat_, great, which is borne by the leading men of the\ncaste, was conferred on them by the Raja of Maihar. Another story is\nthat, as already related, they are debased Rathor Rajputs. Recently\nthey have given up eating fowls and drinking liquor. They are good\ncultivators, borrowing among themselves at low interest and avoiding\ndebt, and their villages are generally prosperous.\n\n\n\n\n13. Gujarati Telis of Nimar\n\nAgain, as has been seen, the Gujarati Telis of Burhanpur have taken to\ntrade, and some of them have become wealthy merchants and capitalists\nfrom their dealings in cotton. The position of Telis in Burhanpur was\napparently one of peculiar degradation under Muhammadan rule. According\nto local tradition they had to remove the corpses of dead elephants,\nwhich no other caste would consent to do, and also to dig the graves\nof Muhammadans. It is also said that even now a Hindu becomes impure\nby passing under the eaves of a Teli's house, and that no dancing-girl\nmay dance before a Teli, and if she does so will incur a penalty of\nRs. 50 to her caste. The Telis, on the other hand, vigorously repudiate\nthese allegations, which no doubt are due partly to jealousy of their\npresent prosperity and consequent attempts to better their status. The\nTelis allege that they were Modh Banias in Gujarat and when they came\nto Burhanpur adopted the occupation of oil-pressing, which is also\ncountenanced by the Shastras for a Vaishya. They say that formerly\nthey did not permit widow-marriage, but when living under Muhammadan\nrule they were constrained to get their widows married in the caste,\nor the Muhammadans would have taken them. The Muhammadan practices\nalready noticed as prevalent among them are being severely repressed,\nand they are believed to have made a caste rule that any Teli who goes\nto the house of a Muhammadan will have his hair and beard shaved and be\nfined Rs. 50. They are also supposed to have made offers to Brahmans of\nsums of Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 to come and take their food in the verandas\nof the Telis' houses, but hitherto these have not been accepted.\n\n\n\n\n14. The Teli an unlucky caste\n\nThe Teli is considered a caste of bad omen. The proverb says,\n'God protect me from a Teli, a Chamar and a Dhobi'; and the Teli is\nconsidered the most unlucky of the three. He is also talkative: 'Where\nthere is a Teli there is sure to be contention.' The Teli is thought\nto be very close-fisted, but occasionally his cunning overreaches\nitself: 'The Teli counts every drop of oil as it issues from the\npress, but sometimes he upsets the whole pot.' The reason given for\nhis being unlucky is his practice of harnessing and blindfolding\nbullocks already mentioned, and also that he presses _urad_ [670]\na black-coloured pulse, the oil from which is offered to the unlucky\nplanet Saturn on Saturdays. '_Teli ka bail_,' or 'A Teli's bullock,'\nis a proverbial expression for a man who has to slave very hard for\nsmall pay. [671] The Teli is believed to have magical powers. A good\nmagician in search of an attendant spirit will, it is said, prefer\nto raise the corpse of a Teli who died on a Tuesday. He proceeds\nto the burning-_ghat_ with chickens, eggs, some vermilion and red\ncloth. He seats himself near to where the corpse was burnt, and after\nrepeating some spells offers up the chickens and eggs and breaks the\ncocoanut. Then it is believed that the corpse will gradually rise and\ntake shape and be at the magician's service so long as the latter may\ndesire. The following prescription is given for a love-charm: take\nthe skull of a Teli's wife and cook some rice in it under a _babul_\n[672] tree on a Sunday. This if given to a girl to eat will make her\nfall in love with him who gives it to her.\n\n\n\n\n15. Occupation. Oil-pressing\n\nThe Teli's oil-press is a very primitive affair. It consists of\na hollowed tree-trunk in which a post is placed with rounded lower\nend. The top of this projects perhaps three feet above the hollow trunk\nand is secured by two pieces of wood to a horizontal bar, one end of\nwhich presses against the trunk, while the bullock is harnessed to the\nouter end. The yoke-bar hangs about a foot from the ground, the inner\nend resting in a groove of the trunk, while the outer is supported by\nthe poles connecting it with the churning-post. From the top of this\nlatter a rope is also tied to the bullock's horn to keep the animal\nin position. The press is usually set up inside a shed, and it is\nsaid that if the bullock were not blindfolded it would quickly become\ntoo giddy to work. The bullock drags the yoke-bar round the trunk\nand this gives a circular movement to the top of the churning-post,\ncausing the lower end of the latter to move as on a pivot inside the\ntrunk. The friction thus produced crushes the oil-seed, and the oil\ntrickles out through a hole in the lower part of the trunk. The oil\nof _ramtilli_ or _jagni_ is commonly burnt for lighting in villages,\nand also that of the mahua-seed. Linseed-oil is generally exported, but\nif used at home it is mainly as an illuminant. It is mixed with food\nby the Maratha castes but not in northern India. All the vegetable\noils are rapidly being supplanted by kerosene, even in villages;\nbut the inferior quality generally purchased, burnt as it is in small\nopen saucers, gives out a great deal of smoke and is said to be very\ninjurious to the eyesight, and students especially sustain permanent\ninjury to the sight by working with these lamps. This want is, however,\nbeing met, and cheap lamp-burners can be bought in Bombay for about\ntwelve annas. Owing to their having until recently supplied the only\nmeans of illumination the Telis sometimes call themselves _Dipabans_,\nor 'Sons of the lamp.' Tilli or sesamum is called sweet oil; it is\nmuch eaten by Brahmans and others in the Maratha country, and is\nalways used for rubbing on the hair and body. On the festivals of\nDiwali and Til Sankrant all Hindus rub sesamum oil on their bodies;\notherwise they put it on their hair once or twice a week, and on their\nbodies if they get a chill, or as a protective against cold twice or\nthrice a month in the winter. The Uriya castes rub oil on the body\nif they can afford it every day after bathing and say that it keeps\noff malaria. Castor-oil is used as a medicine, and by some people\neven as ordinary food. It is also a good lubricant, being applied\nto cart-wheels and machinery. Other oils mentioned by Mr. Crooke are\npoppy-seed, mustard, cocoanut and safflower, and those prepared from\nalmond and the berries of the _nim_ [673] tree. The Teli's occupation\nis a dirty one, his house being filled with the refuse of oil and\noil-seed, and Mr. Gordon notes that leprosy is very prevalent in the\ncaste. [674]\n\n\n\n\n16. Trade and agriculture\n\nThe Telis are a very enterprising caste, and the great bulk of them\nhave abandoned their traditional occupation and taken to others which\nare more profitable and respectable. In their trade, like that of\nthe Kalar, cash payment by barter must have been substituted for\ncustomary annual contributions at an early period, and hence they\nlearnt to keep accounts when their customers were ignorant of this\naccomplishment. The knowledge has stood them in good stead. Many of\nthem have become moneylenders in a small way, and by this means have\nacquired villages. In the Raipur and Bilaspur Districts they own more\nthan 200 villages and 700 in the Central Provinces as a whole. They are\nalso shopkeepers and petty traders, travelling about with pack-bullocks\nlike the Banjaras. Mr. A. K. Smith notes that formerly the Teli hired\nBanjaras to carry his goods through the jungle, as he would have\nbeen killed by them if he had ventured to do so himself. But now he\ntravels with his own bullocks. Even in Mughal times Mr. Smith states\nTelis occasionally rose to important positions; Kawaji Teli was sutler\nto the Imperial army, and obtained from the Emperor Jahangir a grant\nof Ashti in Wardha and an order that no one should plant betel-vine\ngardens in Ashti without his permission. This rule is still observed\nand any one wishing to have a betel-vine garden makes a present to\nthe patel. Krishna Kanta Nandi or Kanta Babu, the Banyan of Warren\nHastings, was a Teli by caste and did much to raise their position\namong the Hindus. [675]\n\n\n\n\n17. Teli beneficence\n\nColonel Tod gives instances in Udaipur of works of beneficence\nexecuted by Telis. \"The _Teli-ki-Sarai_ or oilman's caravanserai is\nnot conspicuous for magnitude; but it is remarkable not merely for\nits utility but even for its elegance of design. The _Teli-ka-Pul_ or\nOilman's Bridge at Nurabad is a magnificent memorial of the trade and\ndeserves preservation. These Telis perambulate the country with skins\nof oil on a bullock and from hard-earned pence erect the structures\nwhich bear their name.\" [676] Similarly the temple of Vishnu at Rajim\nis said to be named after one Rajan Telin, who discovered the image\nlying abandoned by the roadside. She placed her skin of oil on it to\nrest herself and on that day her oil never decreased, and when she\nhad finished selling in the market she had all her oil as well as\nthe money. Her husband suspected her of evil practices, but, when\nnext day her mother-in-law laid a skinful of oil on the image and\nthe same thing happened, it was seen that the god had made himself\nmanifest to her, and a temple was built and named after her and the\nimage enshrined in it. Similarly the image of Mahadeo at Pithampur in\nBilaspur was seen buried by a Teli in a dream, and he dug it up and\nmade a shrine to it and was cured of dysentery. So an annual fair is\nheld and many people go there to be healed of their diseases.\n\n\n\n\n\nThug\n\n[This article is based almost entirely on Colonel (Sir William)\nSleeman's _Ramaseeana or Vocabulary of the Thugs_ (1835). A small\nwork, Hutton's _Thugs and Dacoits_, has been quoted for convenience,\nbut it is compiled entirely from Colonel Sleeman's Reports. Another\nbook by Colonel Sleeman, _Reports on the Depredations of the Thug\nGangs_, is mainly a series of accounts of the journeys of different\ngangs and contains only a very brief general notice.]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n     1. _Historical notice_.\n     2. _Thuggee depicted in the caves of Ellora_.\n     3. _Origin of the Thugs_.\n     4. _Methods of assassination_.\n     5. _Account of certain murders_.\n     6. _Special incidents (continued)_.\n     7. _Disguises of the Thugs_.\n     8. _Secrecy of their operations_.\n     9. _Support of landholders and villagers_.\n    10. _Murder of sepoys_.\n    11. _Callous nature of the Thugs_.\n    12. _Belief in divine support_.\n    13. _Theory of Thuggee as a religious sect_.\n    14. _Worship of Kali_.\n    15. _The sacred pickaxe_.\n    16. _The sacred gur (sugar)_.\n    17. _Worship of ancestors_.\n    18. _Fasting_.\n    19. _Initiation of a novice_.\n    20. _Prohibition of murder of women_.\n    21. _Other classes of persons not killed_.\n    22. _Belief in omens_.\n    23. _Omens and taboos_.\n    24. _Nature of the belief in omens_.\n    25. _Suppression of Thuggee_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Historical notice\n\n_Thug, Phansigar._--The famous community of murderers who were\naccustomed to infest the high-roads and strangle travellers for\ntheir property. The Thugs are, of course, now extinct, having been\nfinally suppressed by measures taken under the direction of Colonel\nSleeman between 1825 and 1850. The only existing traces of them are\na small number of persons known as Goranda or Goyanda in Jubbulpore,\nthe descendants of Thugs employed in the school of industry which\nwas established at that town. These work honestly for their living\nand are believed to have no marked criminal tendencies. In the course\nof his inquiries, however, Colonel Sleeman collected a considerable\nmass of information about the Thugs, some of which is of ethnological\ninterest, and as the works in which this is contained are out of\nprint and not easily accessible, it seems desirable to record a\nportion of it here. The word Thug signifies generically a cheat or\nrobber, while Phansigar, which was the name used in southern India,\nis derived from _phansi_, a noose, and means a strangler. The form\nof robbery and murder practised by these people was probably of\nconsiderable antiquity, and is referred to as follows by a French\ntraveller, Thevenot, in the sixteenth century:\n\n\"Though the road I have been speaking of from Delhi to Agra be\ntolerable yet it hath many inconveniences. One may meet with tigers,\npanthers and lions upon it, and one can also best have a care of\nrobbers, and above all things not to suffer anybody to come near\none upon the road. The cunningest robbers in the world are in that\ncountry. They use a certain slip with a running noose which they can\ncast with so much sleight about a man's neck, when they are within\nreach of him, that they never fail, so that they can strangle him\nin a trice. They have another cunning trick also to catch travellers\nwith. They send out a handsome woman upon the road, who with her hair\ndishevelled seems to be all in tears, sighing and complaining of some\nmisfortune which she pretends has befallen her. Now, as she takes the\nsame way that the traveller goes he falls easily into conversation\nwith her, and finding her beautiful, offers her his assistance,\nwhich she accepts; but he hath no sooner taken her up behind him on\nhorseback, but she throws the snare about his neck and strangles him,\nor at least stuns him until the robbers who lie hid come running to\nher assistance and complete what she hath begun. But besides that,\nthere are men in those quarters so skilful in casting the snare,\nthat they succeed as well at a distance as near at hand; and if an\nox or any other beast belonging to a caravan run away, as sometimes\nit happens, they fail not to catch it by the neck.\" [677]\n\nThis passage seems to demonstrate an antiquity of three centuries for\nthe Thugs down to 1850. But during the period over which Sir William\nSleeman's inquiries extended women never accompanied them on their\nexpeditions, and were frequently even, as a measure of precaution,\nleft in ignorance of the profession of their husbands.\n\n\n\n\n2. Thuggees depicted in the caves of Ellora\n\nThe Thugs themselves believed that the operations of their trade were\ndepicted in the carvings of the Ellora caves, and a noted leader,\nFeringia, and other Thugs spoke of these carvings as follows: \"Every\none of the operations is to be seen there: in one place you see men\nstrangling; in another burying the bodies; in another carrying them\noff to the graves. Whenever we passed near we used to go and see\nthese caves. Every man will there find his trade described and they\nwere all made in one night.\n\n\"Everybody there can see the secret operations of his trade; but he\ndoes not tell others of them; and no other person can understand what\nthey mean. They are the works of God. No human hands were employed\non them. That everybody admits.\"\n\nAnother Thug: \"I have seen there the Sotha (inveigler) sitting upon\nthe same carpet as the traveller, and in close conversation with\nhim, just as we are when we worm out their secrets. In another place\nthe strangler has got his _rumal_ (handkerchief) over his neck and\nis strangling him; while another, the Chamochi, is holding him by\nthe legs.\" I do not think there is any reason to suppose that these\ncarvings really have anything to do with the Thugs.\n\n\n\n\n3. Origin of the Thugs\n\nThe Thugs did not apparently ever constitute a distinct caste\nlike the Badhaks, but were recruited from different classes of the\npopulation. In northern and southern India three-fourths or more, and\nin Central India about a half, were Muhammadans, whether genuine or\nthe descendants of converted Hindus. The Muhammadan Thugs consisted\nof seven clans, Bhais, Barsote, Kachuni, Hattar, Garru, Tandel and\nRathur: \"And these, by the common consent of all Thugs throughout\nIndia, whether Hindus or Muhammadans, are admitted to be the most\nancient and the great original trunk upon which all the others have\nat different times and in different places been grafted.\" [678]\nThese names, however, are of Hindu and not of Muhammadan origin; and\nit seems probable that many of the Thugs were originally Banjaras or\ncattle-dealers and Kanjars or gipsies. One of the Muhammadan Thugs\ntold Colonel Sleeman that, \"The Arcot gangs will never intermarry with\nour families, saying that we once drove bullocks and were itinerant\ntradesmen, and consequently of lower caste.\" [679] Another man said\n[680] that at their marriages an old matron would sometimes repeat\nas she threw down the _tulsi_ or basil, \"Here's to the spirits of\nthose who once led bears and monkeys; to those who drove bullocks\nand marked with the _godini_ (tattooing-needle); and those who\nmade baskets for the head.\" These are the regular occupations of\nthe Kanjars and Berias, the gipsy castes who are probably derived\nfrom the Doms. And it seems not unlikely that these people may have\nbeen the true progenitors of the Thugs. There is at present a large\nsection of Muhammadan Kanjars who are recognised as members of the\ncaste by the Hindu section. Colonel Sleeman was of opinion that the\nKanjars also practised murder by strangling, but not as a regular\nprofession; for this would have been too dangerous, as they were\naccustomed to wander about with their wives and all their belongings,\nand the disappearance of many travellers in the locality of their camps\nwould naturally excite suspicion. Whereas the true Thugs resided in\nvillages and towns and many of them had other ostensible occupations,\ntheir periodical excursions for robbery and murder being veiled under\nthe pretence of some necessary journey. But the Kanjars may have\nchanged their mode of life on taking to this profession, and their\nadroitness in other forms of crime, such as killing and carrying\noff cattle, would make them likely persons to have discovered the\nadvantages of a system of murder of travellers by strangulation. The\nexisting descendants of the Thugs at Jubbulpore appear to be mainly\nKanjars and Berias. For such a life it is clear that the profession\nof the Muhammadan religion would be of much assistance in maintaining\nthe disguise; for it set a man free from many caste obligations and\nties and also from a host of irksome restrictions as to eating and\ndrinking with others. We may therefore conjecture, though without\ncertain knowledge, that many of the Thugs may originally have become\nMuhammadans for convenience; and this is supported by the well-known\nfact that the principal deity of all of them was the Hindu goddess\nKali. Many bodies of Thugs were also recruited from other Hindu\ncastes, of whom the Lodhas or Lodhis were perhaps the most numerous;\nothers of the fraternity were Rajputs, Brahmans, Tantis or weavers,\nGoalas or cowherds, Multanis or Muhammadan Banjaras, as well as the\nSansias and Kanjars or criminal vagrants and gipsies. These seem\nto have observed their caste rules and to have intermarried among\nthemselves; sometimes they obtained wives from other families who had\nno connection with Thuggee and kept their wives in ignorance of their\nnefarious trade; occasionally a girl would be spared from a murdered\nparty and married to a son of one of the Thugs; while boys were more\nfrequently saved and brought up to the business. The Thugs said [681]\nthat the fidelity of their wives was proverbial and they were not less\nloving and dutiful than those of other men, while several instances are\nrecorded of the strong affection borne by fathers to their children.\n\n\n\n\n4. Methods of assassination\n\nAs is well known the method of the Thugs was to attach themselves to\ntravellers, either single men or small parties, and at a convenient\nopportunity to strangle them, bury the bodies and make off with the\nproperty found on them. The gangs of Thugs usually contained from ten\nto fifty men and were sometimes much larger; on one occasion as many\nas three hundred and sixty Thugs accomplished the murder of a party\nof forty persons in Bilaspur. [682] They pretended to be traders,\nsoldiers or cultivators and usually went without weapons in order\nto disarm suspicion; and this practice also furnished them with an\nexcuse for seeking for permission to accompany parties travelling\nwith arms. There was nothing to excite alarm or suspicion in the\nappearance of these murderers; but on the contrary they are described\nas being mild and benevolent of aspect, and peculiarly courteous,\ngentle and obliging. In their palmy days the leader of the gang\noften travelled on horseback with a tent and passed for a person of\nconsequence or a wealthy merchant. They were accustomed to get into\nconversation with travellers by doing them some service or asking\npermission to unite their parties as a measure of precaution. They\nwould then journey on together, and strive to win the confidence of\ntheir victims by a demeanour of warm friendship and feigned interest\nin their affairs. Sometimes days would elapse before a favourable\nopportunity occurred for the murder; an instance is mentioned of\na gang having accompanied a family of eleven persons for twenty\ndays during which they had traversed upwards of 200 miles and then\nmurdered the whole of them; and another gang accomplished 160 miles in\ntwelve days in company with a party of sixty men, women and children,\nbefore they found a propitious occasion. [683] Their favourite time\nfor the murder was in the evening when the whole party would be\nseated in the open, the Thugs mingled with their victims, talking,\nsmoking and singing. If their numbers were sufficient three Thugs\nwould be allotted to every victim, so that on the signal being given\ntwo of them could lay hold of his hands and feet, while the Bhurtot\nor strangler passed the _rumal_ over his head and tightened it round\nhis neck, forcing the victim backwards and not relaxing his hold till\nlife was extinct. The _rumal_ or 'handkerchief,' always employed for\nthrottling victims, was really a loin-cloth or turban, in which a\nloop was made with a slip-knot. The Thugs called it their _sikka_ or\n'ensign,' but it was not held sacred like the pickaxe. When the leader\nof the gang cleared his throat violently it was a sign to prepare\nfor action, and he afterwards gave the _jhirni_ or signal for the\nmurder, by saying either '_Tamakhu kha lo_,' 'Begin chewing tobacco';\n'_Bhanja ko pan do_,' 'Give betel to my nephew'; or '_Ayi ho to ghiri\nchalo_,' 'If you are come, pray descend.' Their adroitness was such\nthat their victims seldom or never escaped nor even had a chance of\nmaking a fight for their lives. But if several persons were to be\nkilled some men were detached to surround the camp and cut down any\none who tried to escape. The Thugs do not therefore appear to have had\nany religious objection to the shedding of blood, but they preferred\nmurder by strangling as being safer. After the murder the bodies were\nat once buried, being first cut about to prevent them from swelling\non decomposition, as this might raise the surface of the earth over\nthe grave and so attract attention. If the ground was too hard they\nwere thrown into a ravine or down one of the shallow irrigation wells\nwhich abound in north India; and it was stated that the discovery\nof a body in one of these wells was so common an occurrence that\nthe cultivators took no notice of it. If there were people in the\nvicinity so that it was dangerous to dig the graves in the open air,\nthe Thugs did not scruple to inter the bodies of victims inside their\nown tents and to eat their food sitting on the soil above. For the\nattack of a horseman three men were always detailed, if practicable,\nso that one could seize the bridle and the other two pull him out\nof the saddle and strangle him; but if, as happened occasionally,\na single Thug managed to kill a man on horseback, he obtained a great\nreputation, which even descended to his children. On the other hand,\nif a strangler was unlucky or clumsy, so that the cloth fell on\nthe victim's head or face, or he got blood on his clothes or other\nsuspicious signs, and these accidents recurred, he was known as Bisul,\nand was excluded from the office of strangler on account of presumed\nunfitness for the duty. When it was necessary for some reason to murder\na party on the march, some _belhas_ or scouts were sent on ahead to\nchoose a _beil_ or suitable place for the business, and see that no\none was coming in the opposite direction; and when the leader said,\n'Wash the cup,' it was a signal for the scouts to go forward for this\npurpose. If a traveller had a dog with him the dog was also killed,\nlest he might stay beside his master's grave and call attention to\nit. Another device in case of difficulty was for one of the Thugs to\nfeign sickness. The Garru or man who did this fell down on a sudden\nand pretended to be taken violently ill. Some of his friends raised\nand supported him, while others brought water and felt his pulse;\nand at last one of them pretended that a charm would restore him. All\nwere then requested to sit down, the pot of water being in the centre;\nall were desired to take off their belts, if they had any, and uncover\ntheir necks, and lastly to look up and see if they could count a\ncertain number of stars. While they were thus occupied intently gazing\nat the sky to carry out the charm for the recovery of the sick man,\nthe cloths were passed round their necks and they were strangled.\n\n\n\n\n5. Account of certain murders\n\nThe secrecy and adroitness with which the Thugs conducted their murders\nare well illustrated by the narrative of the assassination of a native\nofficial or pleader at Lakhnadon in Seoni as given by one of the gang:\n[684] \"We fell in with the Munshi and his family at Chhapara between\nNagpur and Jubbulpore; and they came on with us to Lakhnadon, where\nwe found that some companies of a native regiment under European\nofficers were expected the next morning. It was determined to put\nthem all to death that evening as the Munshi seemed likely to join\nthe soldiers. The encampment was near the village and the Munshi's\ntent was pitched close to us. In the afternoon some of the officers'\ntents came on in advance and were pitched on the other side, leaving us\nbetween them and the village. The _khalasis_ were all busily occupied\nin pitching them. Nur Khan and his son Sadi Khan and a few others went\nas soon as it became dark to the Munshi's tent, and began to play and\nsing upon a _sitar_ as they had been accustomed to do. During this\ntime some of them took up the Munshi's sword on pretence of wishing\nto look at it. His wife and children were inside listening to the\nmusic. The _jhirni_ or signal was given, but at this moment the Munshi\nsaw his danger, called out murder, and attempted to rush through,\nbut was seized and strangled. His wife hearing him ran out with the\ninfant in her arms, but was seized by Ghabbu Khan, who strangled\nher and took the infant. The other daughter was strangled in the\ntent. The _saises_ (grooms) were at the time cleaning their horses,\nand one of them seeing his danger ran under the belly of his horse\nand called murder; but he was soon seized and strangled as well as\nall the rest. In order to prevent the party pitching the officers'\ntents from hearing the disturbance, as soon as the signal was given\nthose of the gang who were idle began to play and sing as loud as they\ncould; and two vicious horses were let loose, and many ran after them\ncalling out as loud as they could; so that the calls of the Munshi and\nhis party were drowned.\" They thought at first of keeping the infant,\nbut decided that it was too risky, and threw it alive into the grave\nin which the other bodies had been placed. It is surprising to realise\nthat in the above case about half a dozen people, awake and conscious,\nwere killed forcibly in broad daylight within a few paces of a number\nof men occupied in pitching tents, without their noticing anything of\nthe matter; and this may certainly be characterised as an instance of\nmurder as a fine art to show the absolute callousness of the Thugs\ntowards their victims and the complete absence of any feelings of\ncompassion, the story of the following murder by the same gang may be\nrecorded. [685] The Thugs were travelling from Nagpur toward Jubbulpore\nwith a party consisting of Newal Singh, a Jemadar (petty officer)\nin the Nizam's army, his brother, his two daughters, one thirteen and\nthe other eleven years old, his son about seven years old, two young\nmen who were to marry the daughters, and four servants. At Dhurna the\nhouse in which the Thugs lodged took fire, and the greater number\nof them were seized by the police, but were released at the urgent\nrequest of Newal Singh and his two daughters, who had taken a great\nfancy to Khimoli, the principal leader of the gang, and some of the\nothers. Newal Singh was related to a native officer of the British\ndetachment at Seoni and obtained his assistance for the release of\nthe Thugs. At this time the gang had with them two bags of silk, the\nproperty of three carriers whom they had murdered in the great temple\nof Kamptee, and if they had been searched by the police these must have\nbeen discovered. On reaching Jubbulpore the Thugs found a lodging in\nthe town with Newal Singh and his family. But the merchants who were\nexpecting the silk from Nagpur and found that it had not arrived,\ninduced the Kotwal to search the lodging of the Thugs. Hearing of the\napproach of the police, the leader Khimoli again availed himself of\nthe attachment of Newal Singh and his daughters, and the girls were\nmade to sit each upon one of the two bags of silk while the police\nsearched the place. Nothing was found and the party again set out;\nand five days afterwards Newal Singh and his whole family were murdered\nat Biseni by the Thugs whom they had twice preserved from arrest.\n\n\n\n\n6. Special incidents (continued)\n\nThese murderers looked on all travellers as their legitimate prey,\nas sportsmen regard game. On one occasion the noted Thug, Feringia,\n[686] with his gang were cooking their dinners under some trees on\nthe road when five travellers came by, but could not be persuaded\nto stop and partake of the meal, saying they wished to sleep at a\nplace called Hirora that night, and had yet eight miles to go. The\nThugs afterwards followed, but found no traces of the travellers at\nHirora. Feringia therefore concluded that they must have fallen into\nthe hands of another gang, and suddenly recollected having passed an\nencampment of Banjaras (pack-carriers) not far from the town. On the\nfollowing morning he accordingly went back with a few of his comrades,\nand at once recognised a horse and pony which he had observed in\nthe possession of the travellers. So he asked the Banjaras, \"What\nhave you done with the five travellers, my good friends? You have\ntaken from us our _banij_ (merchandise).\" They apologised for what\nthey had done, pleading ignorance of the lien of the other Thugs,\nand offered to share the booty; but Feringia declined, as none of\nhis party had been present at the _loading._ They were accustomed to\ndistinguish their most important exploits by the number of persons\nwho were killed. Thus one murder in the Jubbulpore District was known\nas the 'Sathrup,' or 'Sixty soul affair,' and another in Bilaspur\nas the 'Chalisrup,' or 'Murder of forty.' At this time (1807) the\nroad between northern and southern India through the Nerbudda valley\nhad been rendered so unsafe by the incursions of the Pindaris that\ntravellers preferred to go through Chhattisgarh and Sambalpur to the\nGanges. This route, passing for long distances through dense forest,\noffered great advantages to the Thugs, and was soon infested by\nthem. In 1806, owing to the success [687] of previous expeditions,\nit was determined that all the Thugs of northern India should work on\nthis road; accordingly after the Dasahra festival six hundred of them,\nunder forty Jemadars or leaders of note, set out from their homes,\nand having worshipped in the temple of Devi at Bindhyachal, met at\nRatanpur in Bilaspur. The gangs split up, and after several murders\nsixty of them came to Lanji in Balaghat, and here in two days' time\nfell in with a party of thirty-one men, seven women and two girls on\ntheir way to the Ganges. The Jemadars soon became intimate with the\nprincipal men of the party, pretended to be going to the same part of\nIndia and won their confidence; and next day they all set out and in\nfour days reached Ratanpur, where they met 160 Thugs returning from\nthe murder of a wealthy widow and her escort. Shortly afterwards\nanother 200 men who had heard of the travellers near Nagpur also\ncame up, but all the different bodies pretended to be strangers to\neach other. They detached sixty men to return to Nagpur, leaving 360\nto deal with the forty travellers. From Ratanpur they all journeyed\nto Chura (Chhuri?), and here scouts were sent on to select a proper\nplace for the murder. This was chosen in a long stretch of forest,\nand two men were despatched to the village of Sutranja, farther on\nthe road, to see that no one was coming in the opposite direction,\nwhile another picket remained behind to prevent interruption from\nthe rear. By the time they reached the appointed place, the Bhurtots\n(stranglers) and Shamsias (holders) had all on some pretext or other\ngot close to the side of the persons whom they were appointed to kill;\nand on reaching the spot the signal was given in several places at\nthe same time; and thirty-eight out of forty were immediately seized\nand strangled. One of the girls was a very handsome young woman, and\nPancham, a Jemadar, wished to preserve her as a wife for his son. But\nwhen she saw her father and mother strangled she screamed and beat\nher head against the ground and tried to kill herself. Pancham tried\nin vain to quiet her, and promised to take great care of her and\nmarry her to his own son, who would be a great chief; but all to no\neffect. She continued to scream, and at last Pancham put the _rumal_\n(handkerchief) round her neck and strangled her. One little girl\nof three years old was preserved by another Jemadar and married to\nhis son, and when she grew up often heard the story of the affair\nnarrated. The bodies were buried in a ravine and the booty amounted\nto Rs. 17,000. The Thugs then decided to return home, and arrived\nwithout mishap, except that the Jemadar, Pancham, died on the way.\n\n\n\n\n7. Disguises of the Thugs\n\nThey were not particular, however, to ascertain that their victims\ncarried valuable property before disposing of them. Eight annas\n(8d.), one of them said, [688] was sufficient remuneration for\nmurdering a man. On another occasion two river Thugs killed two\nold men and obtained only a rupee's worth of coppers, two brass\nvessels and their body-cloths. But as a rule the gains were much\nlarger. It sometimes happened that the Thugs themselves were robbed\nat night by ordinary thieves, though they usually set a watch. On one\noccasion a band of more than a hundred Thugs fell in with a party of\ntwenty-seven dacoits who had with them stolen property of Rs. 13,000\nin cash, with gold ornaments, gems and shawls. The Thugs asked to be\nallowed to travel under their protection, and the dacoits carelessly\nassenting were shortly afterwards all murdered. [689] As already\nstated, the Thugs were accustomed to live in towns or villages and\nmany of them ostensibly followed respectable callings. The following\ninstance of this is given by Sir W. Sleeman: [690] \"The first party\nof Thug approvers whom I sent into the Deccan to aid Captain Reynolds\nrecognised in the person of one of the most respectable linen-drapers\nof the cantonment of Hingoli, Hari Singh, the adopted son of Jawahir\nSukul, Subahdar of Thugs, who had been executed twenty years before. On\nhearing that the Hari Singh of the list sent to him of noted Thugs\nat large in the Deccan was the Hari Singh of the Sadar Bazar, Captain\nReynolds was quite astounded; so correct had he been in his deportment\nand all his dealings that he had won the esteem of all the gentlemen\nof the station, who used to assist him in procuring passports for\nhis goods on their way from Bombay; and yet he had, as he has since\nhimself shown, been carrying on his trade of murder up to the very\nday of his arrest with gangs of Hindustan and the Deccan on all the\nroads around and close to the cantonments of Hingoli; and leading\nout his band of assassins while he pretended to be on his way to\nBombay for a supply of fresh linen and broad-cloth.\" Another case is\nquoted by Mr. Oman from Taylor's _Thirty-eight Years in India_. [691]\n\"Dr. Cheek had a child's bearer who had charge of his children. The\nman was a special favourite, remarkable for his kind and tender ways\nwith his little charges, gentle in manner and unexceptionable in all\nhis conduct. Every year he obtained leave from his master and mistress,\nas he said, for the filial purpose of visiting his aged mother for one\nmonth; and returning after the expiry of that time, with the utmost\npunctuality, resumed with the accustomed affection and tenderness\nthe charge of his little darlings. This mild and exemplary being was\nthe missing Thug; kind, gentle, conscientious and regular at his post\nfor eleven months in the year he devoted the twelfth to strangulation.\"\n\n\n\n\n8. Secrecy of their operations\n\nAgain, as regards the secrecy with which murders were perpetrated and\nall traces of them hidden, Sir W. Sleeman writes: [692] \"While I was\nin civil charge of the District of Narsinghpur, in the valley of the\nNerbudda, in the years 1822-1824, no ordinary robbery or theft could\nbe committed without my becoming aware of it, nor was there a robber\nor thief of the ordinary kind in the District with whose character I\nhad not become acquainted in the discharge of my duties as magistrate;\nand if any man had then told me that a gang of assassins by profession\nresided in the village of Kandeli, [693] not four hundred yards from\nmy court, and that the extensive groves of the village of Mundesur,\nonly one stage from me on the road to Saugor and Bhopal, were one\nof the greatest _beles_ or places of murder in all India, and that\nlarge gangs from Hindustan and the Deccan used to _rendezvous_ in\nthese groves, remain in them for many days every year, and carry\non their dreadful trade along all the lines of road that pass by\nand branch off from them, with the knowledge and connivance of the\ntwo landholders by whose ancestors these groves had been planted, I\nshould have thought him a fool or a madman; and yet nothing could have\nbeen more true. The bodies of a hundred travellers lie buried in and\naround the groves of Mundesur; and a gang of assassins lived in and\nabout the village of Kandeli while I was magistrate of the District,\nand extended their depredations to the cities of Poona and Hyderabad.\"\n\n\n\n\n9. Support of landholders and villagers\n\nThe system of Thuggee reached its zenith during the anarchic period\nof the decline of the Mughal Empire, when only the strongest and most\ninfluential could obtain any assistance from the State in recovering\nproperty or exacting reparation for the deaths of murdered friends\nand relatives. Nevertheless, the Thugs could hardly have escaped\nconsiderable loss even from private vengeance had they been compelled\nto rely on themselves for protection. But this was not the case, for,\nlike the Badhaks and other robbers, they enjoyed the countenance and\nsupport of landholders and ruling chiefs in return for presenting\nthem with the choicest of their booty and taking holdings of land at\nvery high rents. Sir W. Sleeman wrote [694] that, \"The zamindars and\nlandholders of every description have everywhere been found ready to\nreceive these people under their protection from the desire to share\nin the fruits of their expeditions, and without the slightest feeling\nof religious or moral responsibility for the murders which they know\nmust be perpetrated to secure these fruits. All that they require\nfrom them is a promise that they will not commit murders within their\nestates and thereby involve them in trouble.\" Sometimes the police\ncould also be conciliated by bribes, and on one occasion when a body\nof Thugs who had killed twenty-five persons were being pursued by\nthe Thakur of Powai [695] they retired upon the village of Tigura,\nand even the villagers came out to their support and defended them\nagainst his attack. Another officer wrote: [696] \"To conclude, there\nseems no doubt but that this horrid crime has been fostered by all\nclasses in the community--the landholders, the native officers of\nour courts, the police and village authorities--all, I think, have\nbeen more or less guilty; my meaning is not, of course, that every\nmember of these classes, but that individuals varying in number in\neach class were concerned. The subordinate police officials have in\nmany cases been _practising Thugs_, and the _chaukidars_ or village\nwatchmen frequently so.\"\n\n\n\n\n10. Murder of sepoys\n\nA favourite class of victims were sepoys proceeding to their homes\non furlough and carrying their small savings; such men would not be\nquickly missed, as their relatives would think they had not started,\nand the regimental authorities would ascribe their failure to return\nto desertion. So many of these disappeared that a special Army Order\nwas issued warning them not to travel alone, and arranging for the\ntransmission of their money through the Government treasuries. [697]\nIn this order it is stated that the Thugs were accustomed first to\nstupefy their victim by surreptitiously administering the common\nnarcotic _dhatura_, still a familiar method of highway robbery.\n\n\n\n\n11. Callous nature of the Thugs\n\nLike the Badhaks and other Indian robbers and the Italian banditti the\nThugs were of a very religious or superstitious turn of mind. There\nwas not one among them, Colonel Sleeman wrote, [698] who doubted the\ndivine origin of Thuggee: \"Not one who doubts that he and all who have\nfollowed the trade of murder, with the prescribed rites and observance,\nwere acting under the immediate orders and auspices of the goddess,\nDevi, Durga, Kali or Bhawani, as she is indifferently called, and\nconsequently there is not one who feels the slightest remorse for\nthe murders which he may have perpetrated or abetted in the course of\nhis vocation. A Thug considers the persons murdered precisely in the\nlight of victims offered up to the goddess; and he remembers them\nas a priest of Jupiter remembered the oxen and a priest of Saturn\nthe children sacrificed upon their altars. He meditates his murders\nwithout any misgivings, he perpetrates them without any emotions\nof pity, and he recalls them without any feeling of remorse. They\ntrouble not his dreams, nor does their recollection ever cause him\ninquietude in darkness, in solitude or in the hour of death.\"\n\nAnd again: \"The most extraordinary trait in the characters of these\npeople is not this that they can look back upon all the murders\nthey have perpetrated without any feelings of remorse, but that they\ncan look forward indifferently to their children, whom they love as\ntenderly as any man in the world, following the same trade of murder\nor being united in marriage to men who follow the trade. When I have\nasked them how they could cherish these children through infancy and\nchildhood under the determination to make them murderers or marry\nthem to murderers, the only observation they have ever made was that\nformerly there was no danger of their ever being hung or transported,\nbut that now they would rather that their children should learn some\nless dangerous trade.\"\n\n\n\n\n12. Belief in divine support\n\nThey considered that all their victims were killed by the agency\nof God and that they were merely irresponsible agents, appointed\nto live by killing travellers as tigers by feeding on deer. If a\nman committed a real murder they held that his family must become\nextinct, and adduced the fact that this fate had not befallen them\nas proof that their acts of killing were justifiable. Nay, they even\nheld that those who oppressed them were punished by the goddess:\n[699] \"Was not Nanha, the Raja of Jalon,\" said one of them, \"made\nleprous by Devi for putting to death Budhu and his brother Khumoli,\ntwo of the most noted Thugs of their day? He had them trampled under\nthe feet of elephants, but the leprosy broke out on his body the very\nnext day. When Mudhaji Sindhia caused seventy Thugs to be executed at\nMathura was he not warned in a dream by Devi that he should release\nthem? And did he not the very day after their execution begin to\nspit blood? And did he not die within three months?\" Their subsequent\nmisfortunes and the success of the British officers against them they\nattributed to their disobedience of the ordinances of Devi in slaying\nwomen and other classes of prohibited persons and their disregard of\nher omens. They also held that the spirits of all their victims went\nstraight to Paradise, and this was the reason why the Thugs were not\ntroubled by them as other murderers were.\n\n\n\n\n\n13. Theory of Thuggee as a religious sect\n\nThe fact that the Thugs considered themselves to be directed by\nthe deity, reinforced by their numerous superstitious beliefs and\nobservances, has led to the suggestion by one writer that they were\noriginally a religious sect, whose principal tenet was the prohibition\nof the shedding of blood. There is, however, no evidence in support\nof this view in the accounts of Colonel Sleeman, incomparably the\nbest authority. Their method of strangulation was, as has been seen,\nsimply the safest and most convenient means of murder: it enabled\nthem to dispense with arms, by the sight of which the apprehensions\nof their victims would have been aroused, and left no traces on the\nsite of the crime to be observed by other travellers. On occasion\nalso they did not scruple to employ weapons; as in the murder of seven\ntreasure-bearers near Hindoria in Damoh, who would not probably have\nallowed the Thugs to approach them, and in consequence were openly\nattacked and killed with swords. [700] Other instances are given in\nColonel Sleeman's narrative, and they were also accustomed to cut\nand slash about the bodies of their victims after death. The belief\nthat they were guided by the divine will may probably have arisen as\na means of excusing their own misdeeds to themselves and allaying\ntheir fear of such retribution as being haunted by the ghosts of\ntheir victims. Similar instances of religious beliefs and practices\nare given in the accounts of other criminals, such as the Badhaks and\nSansias. And the more strict and serious observances of the Thugs may\nbe accounted for by the more atrocious character of their crimes and\nthe more urgent necessity of finding some palliative.\n\nThe veneration paid to the pickaxe, which will shortly be described,\nmerely arises from the common animistic belief that tools and\nimplements generally achieve the results obtained from them by their\ninherent virtue and of their own volition, and not from the human hand\nwhich guides them and the human brain which fashioned them to serve\ntheir ends. Members of practically all castes worship the implements\nof their profession and thus afford evidence of the same belief,\nthe most familiar instance of which is perhaps, 'The pestilence\nthat walketh in the darkness and the arrow that flieth by noonday';\nwhere the writer intended no metaphor but actually thought that the\npestilence walked and the arrow flew of their own volition.\n\n\n\n\n14. Worship of Kali\n\nKali or Bhawani was the principal deity of the Thugs, as of most of\nthe criminal and lower castes; and those who were Muhammadans got\nover the difficulty of her being a Hindu goddess by pretending that\nFatima, the daughter of the Prophet, was an incarnation of her. In\nformer times they held that the goddess was accustomed to relieve\nthem of the trouble of destroying the dead bodies by devouring them\nherself; but in order that they might not see her doing this she had\nstrictly enjoined on them never to look back on leaving the site of\na murder. On one occasion a novice of the fraternity disobeyed this\nrule and, unguardedly looking behind him, saw the goddess in the\nact of feasting upon a body with the half of it hanging out of her\nmouth. Upon this she declared that she would no longer devour those\nwhom the Thugs slaughtered; but she agreed to present them with one\nof her teeth for a pickaxe, a rib for a knife and the hem of her lower\ngarment for a noose, and ordered them for the future to cut about and\nbury the bodies of those whom they destroyed. As there seems reason\nto suppose that the goddess Kali represents the deified tiger, on\nwhich she rides, she was eminently appropriate as the patroness of\nthe Thugs and in the capacity of the devourer of corpses.\n\n\n\n\n15. The sacred pickaxe\n\nWhen the sacred pickaxe used for burying corpses had to be made, the\nleader of the gang, having ascertained a lucky day from the priest,\nwent to a blacksmith and after closing the door so that no other\nperson might enter, got him to make the axe in his presence without\ntouching any other work until it was completed. A day was then chosen\nfor the consecration of the pickaxe, either Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday\nor Friday; and the ceremony was performed inside a house or tent,\nso that the shadow of no living thing might fall on and contaminate\nthe sacred implement. A pit was dug in the ground and over it the\npickaxe was washed successively with water, sugar and water, sour\nmilk, and alcoholic liquor, all of which were poured over it into\nthe pit. Finally it was marked seven times with vermilion. A burnt\noffering was then made with all the usual ingredients for sacrifice\nand the pickaxe was passed seven times through the flames. A cocoanut\nwas placed on the ground, and the priest, holding the pickaxe by the\npoint in his right hand, said, 'Shall I strike?' The others replied\nyes, and striking the cocoanut with the butt end he broke it in\npieces, upon which all exclaimed, 'All hail, Devi, and prosper the\nThugs.' All then partook of the kernel of the cocoanut, and collecting\nthe fragments put them into the pit so that they might not afterwards\nbe contaminated by the touch of any man's foot. Here the cocoanut\nmay probably be considered as a substituted sacrifice for a human\nbeing. Thereafter the pickaxe was called Kassi or Mahi instead of\n_kudali_ the ordinary name, and was given to the shrewdest, cleanest\nand most sober and careful man of the party, who carried it in his\nwaist-belt. While in camp he buried it in a secure place with its\npoint in the direction they intended to go; and they believed that\nif another direction was better the point would be found changed\ntowards it. They said that formerly the pickaxe was thrown into a\nwell and would come up of itself when summoned with due ceremonies;\nbut since they disregarded the ordinances of Kali it had lost that\nvirtue. Many Thugs told Colonel Sleeman [701] that they had seen the\npickaxe rise out of the well in the morning of its own accord and\ncome to the hands of the man who carried it; and even the several\npickaxes of different gangs had been known to come up of themselves\nfrom the same well and go to their respective bearers. The pickaxe\nwas also worshipped on every seventh day during an expedition,\nand it was believed that the sound made by it in digging a grave\nwas never heard by any one but a Thug. The oath by the pickaxe was\nin their esteem far more sacred than that by the Ganges water or the\nKoran, and they believed that a man who perjured himself by this oath\nwould die or suffer some great calamity within six days. In prison,\nwhen administering an oath to each other in cases of dispute, they\nsometimes made an image of the pickaxe out of a piece of cloth and\nconsecrated it for the purpose. If the pickaxe at any time fell from\nthe hands of the carrier it was a dreadful omen and portended either\nthat he would be killed that year or that the gang would suffer some\ngrievous misfortune. He was deprived of his office and the gang either\nreturned home or chose a fresh route and consecrated the pickaxe anew.\n\n\n\n\n16. The sacred _gur_ (sugar)\n\nAfter each murder they had a sacrificial feast of _gur_ or unrefined\nsugar. This was purchased to the value of Rs. 1-4, and the leader of\nthe gang and the other Bhurtotes (stranglers) sat on a blanket with\nthe rest of the gang round them. A little sugar was dropped into a\nhole and the leader prayed to Devi to send them some rich victims. The\nremainder of the sugar was divided among all present. One of them gave\nthe _jhirni_ or signal for strangling and they consumed the sugar in\nsolemn silence, no fragment of it being lost They believed that it was\nthis consecrated _gur_ which gave the desire for the trade of a Thug\nand made them callous to the sufferings of their victims, and they\nthought that if any outsider tasted it he would at once become a Thug\nand continue so all his life. When Colonel Sleeman asked [702] a young\nman who had strangled a beautiful young woman in opposition to their\nrules, whether he felt no pity for her, the leader Feringia exclaimed:\n\"We all feel pity sometimes, but the _gur_ of the Tuponi (sacrifice)\nchanges our nature. It would change the nature of a horse. Let any man\nonce taste of that _gur_ and he will be a Thug, though he knows all the\ntrades and have all the wealth in the world. I never wanted food; my\nmother's family was opulent, her relations high in office. I have been\nhigh in office myself, and became so great a favourite wherever I went\nthat I was sure of promotion; yet I was always miserable while absent\nfrom my gang and obliged to return to Thuggee. My father made me taste\nof that fatal _gur_ when I was yet a mere boy; and if I were to live\na thousand years I should never be able to follow any other trade.\"\n\nThe eating of this _gur_ was clearly the sacrificial meal of the\nThugs. On the analogy of other races they should have partaken of the\nbody of an animal god at their sacrificial meal, and if the goddess\nKali is the deified tiger, they should have eaten tiger's flesh. This\ncustom, if it ever existed, had been abandoned, and the _gur_ would\nin that case be a substitute; and as has been seen the eating of the\n_gur_ was held to confer on them the same cruelty, callousness and\ndesire to kill which might be expected to follow from eating tiger's\nflesh and thus assimilating the qualities of the animal. Since they\nwent unarmed as a rule, in order to avoid exciting the suspicions\nof their victims, it would be quite impossible for them to obtain\ntiger's flesh, except by the rarest accident; and the _gur_ might be\nconsidered a suitable substitute, since its yellow colour would be\nheld to make it resemble the tiger.\n\n\n\n\n17. Worship of ancestors\n\nThe Thugs also worshipped the spirits of their ancestors. One\nof these was Dadu Dhira, an ancient Thug of the Barsote class,\nwho was invoked at certain religious ceremonies, when liquor was\ndrunk. Vows were made to offer libations of ardent spirits to him,\nand if the prayer was answered the worshipper drank the liquor, or if\nhis caste precluded him from doing this, threw it on the ground with\nan expression of thanks. Another deity was the spirit of Jhora Naik,\nwho was a Muhammadan. He and his servant killed a man who had jewels\nand other articles laden on a mule to the value of more than a lakh\nand a half. They brought home the booty, assembled all the members\nof their fraternity within reach, and honestly divided the whole as\nif all had been present The Thugs also said that Nizam-ud-din Aulia,\na well-known Muhammadan saint, famed for his generosity, whose shrine\nis near Delhi, had been a Thug, at any rate in his younger days. He\ndistributed so much money in charity that he was supposed to be endowed\nwith a Dustul Ghib or supernatural purse; and they supposed that he\nobtained it by the practice of Thuggee. Orthodox Muhammadans would,\nhowever, no doubt indignantly repudiate this.\n\n\n\n\n18. Fasting\n\nWhenever they set out on a fresh expedition the first week was known\nas Satha (seven). During this period the families of those who were\nengaged in it would admit no visitors from the relatives of other\nThugs, lest the travellers destined for their own gang should go\nover to these others; neither could they eat any food belonging\nto the families of other Thugs. During the Satha period the Thugs\nengaged in the expedition ate no animal food except fish and nothing\ncooked with _ghi_ (melted butter). They did not shave or bathe or\nhave their clothes washed or indulge in sexual intercourse, or give\naway anything in charity or throw any part of their food to dogs or\njackals. At one time they ate no salt or turmeric, but this rule was\nafterwards abandoned. But if the Sourka or first murder took place\nwithin the seven days they considered themselves relieved by it from\nall these restraints.\n\n\n\n\n19. Initiation of a novice\n\nA Thug seldom attained to the office of Bhurtote or strangler\nuntil he had been on several expeditions and acquired the requisite\ncourage or insensibility by slow degrees. At first they were almost\nalways shocked or frightened; but after a time they said they lost\nall sympathy with the victims. They were first employed as scouts,\nthen as buriers of the dead, next as Shamsias or holders of hands,\nand finally as stranglers. When a man felt that he had sufficient\ncourage and insensibility he begged the oldest and most renowned Thug\nof the gang to make him his _chela_ or disciple. If his proposal was\naccepted he awaited the arrival of a suitable victim of not too great\nbodily strength. While the traveller was asleep with the gang at their\nquarters the _guru_ or preceptor took his disciple into a neighbouring\nfield, followed by three or four old members of the gang. Here they\nall faced in the direction in which the gang intended to move, and the\n_guru_ said, \"_Oh Kali, Kunkali, Bhudkali, [703] Oh Kali, Maha Kali,\nKalkatawali!_ If it seemeth to thee fit that the traveller now at\nour lodging should die by the hands of this thy slave, vouchsafe, we\npray thee, the omen on the right.\" If they got this within a certain\ninterval the candidate was considered to be accepted, and if not some\nother Thug put the traveller to death and he had to wait for another\nchance. In the former case they returned to their quarters and the\n_guru_ took a handkerchief and tied the slip-knot in one end of it\nwith a rupee inside it. The disciple received it respectfully in his\nright hand and stood over the victim with the Shamsia or holder by\nhis side. The traveller was roused on some pretence or other and the\ndisciple passed the handkerchief over his neck and strangled him. He\nthen bowed down to his _guru_ and all his relations and friends in\ngratitude for the honour he had obtained. He gave the rupee from the\nknot with other money, if he had it, to the _guru_, and with this sugar\nor sweetmeats were bought and the _gur_ sacrifice was celebrated,\nthe new strangler taking one of the seats of honour on the blanket\nfor the first time. The relation between a strangler and his _guru_\nwas considered most sacred, and a Thug would often rather betray\nhis father than the preceptor by whom he had been initiated. There\nwere certain classes of persons whom they were forbidden to kill,\nand they considered that the rapid success of the English officers\nin finally breaking up the gangs was to be attributed to the divine\nwrath at breaches of these rules. The original rule [704] was that\nthe Sourka or first victim must not be a Brahman, nor a Saiyad,\nnor any very poor man, nor any man with gold on his person, nor any\nman who had a quadruped with him, nor a washerwoman, nor a sweeper,\nnor a Teli (oilman), nor a Bhat (bard), nor a Kayasth (writer),\nnor a leper, dancing-woman, pilgrim or devotee. The reason for\nsome of these exemptions is obvious: Brahmans, Muhammadan Saiyads,\nbards, religious mendicants and devotees were excluded owing to their\nsanctity; and sweepers, washermen and lepers owing to their impurity,\nwhich would have the same evil and unlucky effect on their murderers\nas the holiness of the first classes. A man wearing gold ornaments\nwould be protected by the sacred character of the metal; and the\nkilling of a poor man as the first victim would naturally presage a\nlack of valuable booty during the remainder of the expedition. Telis\nand Kayasths are often considered as unlucky castes, and even in\nthe capacity of victims might be held to bring an evil fortune on\ntheir murderers.\n\n\n\n\n20. Prohibition of murder of women\n\nAnother list is given of persons whom it was forbidden to kill at any\ntime, and of these the principal category was women. It was a rule\nof all Thugs that women should not be murdered, but one which they\nconstantly broke, for few large parties consisted solely of men, and\nto allow victims to escape from a party would have been a suicidal\npolicy. In all the important exploits related to Colonel Sleeman\nthe women who accompanied victims were regularly strangled, with the\noccasional exception of young girls who might be saved and married to\nthe sons of Thug leaders. The breach of the rule as to the murder of\nwomen was, however, that which they believed to be specially offensive\nto their patroness Bhawani; and no Thug, Colonel Sleeman states,\nwas ever known to offer insult either in act or speech to the women\nwhom they were about to murder. No gang would ever dare to murder a\nwoman with whom one of its members should be suspected of having had\ncriminal intercourse. The murder of women was especially reprobated\nby Hindus, and the Muhammadan Thugs were apparently responsible for\nthe disregard of this rule which ultimately became prevalent, as shown\nby the dispute over the killing of a wealthy old lady, [705] narrated\nby one of the Thugs as follows: \"I remember the murder of Kali Bibi\nwell; I was at the time on an expedition to Baroda and not present,\nbut Punua must have been there. A dispute arose between the Musalmans\nand Hindus before and after the murder. The Musalmans insisted upon\nkilling her as she had Rs. 4000 of property with her, but the Hindus\nwould not agree. She was killed, and the Hindus refused to take any\npart of the booty; they came to blows, but at last the Hindus gave\nin and consented to share in all but the clothes and ornaments which\nthe woman wore. Feringia's father, Parasram Brahman, was there, and\nwhen they came home Parasram's brother, Rai Singh, refused to eat,\ndrink or smoke with his brother till he had purged himself from this\ngreat sin; and he, with two other Thugs, a Rajput and a Brahman,\ngave a feast which cost them a thousand rupees each. Four or five\nthousand Brahmans were assembled at that feast. Had it rested here\nwe should have thrived; but in the affair of the sixty victims women\nwere again murdered; in the affair of the forty several women were\nmurdered; and from that time we may trace our decline.\"\n\n\n\n\n21. Other classes of persons not killed\n\nAnother rule was that a man having a cow with him should not be\nmurdered, no doubt on account of the sanctity attaching to the\nanimal. But in one case of a murder of fourteen persons including\nwomen and a man with a cow at Kotri in the Damoh District, the Thugs,\nhaving made acquaintance with the party, pretended that they had\nmade a vow to offer a cow at a temple in Shahpur lying on their road\nand persuaded the cow's owner to sell her to them for this sacred\npurpose, and having duly made the offering and deprived him of the\nprotection afforded by the cow, they had no compunction in strangling\nhim with all the travellers. Travellers who had lost a limb were also\nexempted from death, but this rule too was broken, as in the case of\nthe native officer with his two daughters who was murdered by the\nThugs he had befriended; for it is recorded that this man had lost\na leg. Pilgrims carrying Ganges water could not be killed if they\nactually had the Ganges water with them; and others who should not be\nmurdered were washermen, sweepers, oil-vendors, dancers and musicians,\ncarpenters and blacksmiths, if found travelling together, and religious\nmendicants. The reason for the exemption of carpenters and blacksmiths\nonly when travelling together may probably have been that the sacred\npickaxe was their joint handiwork, having a wooden handle and an iron\nhead; and this seems a more likely explanation than any other in view\nof the deep veneration shown for the pickaxe. Maimed persons would\nprobably not be acceptable victims to the goddess, according to the\nrule that the sacrifice must be without spot or blemish. The other\nclasses have already been discussed under the exemption of first\nvictims. Among the Deccan Thugs if a man strangled any victim of a\nclass whom it was forbidden to kill, he was expelled from the community\nand never readmitted to it. This was considered a most dreadful crime.\n\n\n\n\n22. Belief in omens\n\nThe Thugs believed that the wishes of the deity were constantly\nindicated to them by the appearance or cries of a large number of wild\nanimals and birds from which they drew their omens; and indeed the\nnumber of these was so extensive that they could never be at a loss\nfor an indication of the divine will, and difficulties could only\narise when the omens were conflicting. As a general rule the omen\nvaried according as it was heard on the left hand, known as Pilhao,\nor the right, known as Thibao. On first opening an expedition an omen\nmust be heard on the left and be followed by one on the right, or no\nstart was made; it signified that the deity took them first by the left\nhand and then by the right to lead them on. When they were preparing to\nmarch or starting on a road, an omen heard on the left encouraged them\nto go on, but if it came from the right they halted. When arriving\nat their camping-place on the other hand the omen on the right was\nauspicious and they stayed, but if it came from the left the projected\nsite was abandoned and the march continued. In the case of the calls\nof a very few animals these rules were reversed, left and right being\ntransposed in each instance. The howl of the jackal was always bad if\nheard during the day, and the gang immediately quitted the locality,\nleaving untouched any victims whom they might have inveigled, however\nwealthy. The jackal's cry at night followed the rule of right and\nleft. The jackal was probably revered by the Thugs as the devourer\nof corpses. The sound made by the lizard was at all times and places\na very good omen; but if a lizard fell upon a Thug it was bad, and\nany garment touched by it must be given away in charity. The call of\nthe _saras_ crane was a very important omen, and when heard first on\nthe left and then on the right or vice versa according to the rules\ngiven above, they expected a great booty in jewels or money. The\ncall of the partridge followed the same rules but was not of so much\nimportance. That of the large crow was favourable if the bird was\nsitting on a tree, especially when a tank or river could be seen;\nbut if the crow was perched on the back of a buffalo or pig or on\nthe skeleton of any animal, it was a bad omen. Tanks or rivers were\nlikely places for booty in the shape of resting travellers, whose\ndeath the appearance of the crow might portend; whereas in the other\npositions it might prognosticate a Thug's own death. The chirping of\nthe small owlet was considered to be a bad omen, whether made while\nthe bird was sitting or flying; It was known as _chiraiya_ and is a\nlow and melancholy sound seldom repeated. They considered it a very\nbad omen to hear the hare squeaking; this, unless it was averted\nby sacrifices, signified, they said, that they would perish in the\njungles, and the hare or some other animal of the forest would drink\nwater from their skulls. \"We know that the hare was used in Brittany\nas an animal of augury for foretelling the future; and all animals of\naugury were once venerated.\" [706] The hare has still some remnant of\nsanctity among the Hindus. Women will not eat its flesh, and men eat\nthe flesh of wild hares only, not of tame ones. It seems likely that\nthe hare may have been considered capable of foretelling the future\non account of its long ears. The omen of the donkey was considered\nthe most important of all, whether it threatened evil or promised\ngood. It was a maxim of augury that the ass was equal to a hundred\nbirds, and it was also more important than all other quadrupeds. If\nthey heard its bray on the left on the opening of an expedition and\nit was soon after repeated on the right, they believed that nothing\non earth could prevent their success during that expedition though\nit should last for years. The ass is the sacred animal of Sitala,\nthe goddess of smallpox, who is a form of Kali. The ears and also\nthe bray of the ass would give it importance.\n\nThe noise of two cats heard fighting was propitious only during the\nfirst watch of the night; if heard later in the night it was known\nas '_Kali ki mauj_' or 'Kali's temper,' and threatened evil, and if\nduring the daytime as '_Dhamoni [707] ki mauj_,' and was a prelude\nof great misfortune; while if the cats fell from a height while\nfighting it was worst of all. The above shows that the cat was also\nthe animal of Kali and is a point in favour of her derivation from\nthe tiger; and on this hypothesis the importance of the omen of the\ncat is explained. If they obtained a good omen when in company with\ntravellers they believed that it was a direct order from heaven to\nkill them, and that if they disobeyed the sign and let the travellers\ngo they would never obtain any more victims. [708]\n\n\n\n\n23. Omens and taboos\n\nIf a mare dropped a foal in their camp while they were travelling,\nthey were all contaminated or came under the Itak; and the only remedy\nfor this was to return home and start the journey afresh. Various other\nevents [709] also produced the Itak, especially among the Deccan Thugs;\nthese were the birth of a child in a Thug family; the first courses\nof a Thug's daughter; a marriage in a Thug's family; a death of any\nmember of his family except an infant at the breast; circumcision of\na boy; a buffalo or cow giving calf or dying; and a cat or dog giving\na litter or dying. If a party fell under the Itak or contamination\nat a time when it was extremely inconvenient or impossible to return\nhome, they sometimes marched back for a few miles and slept the night,\nmaking a fresh start in the morning, and this was considered equivalent\nto beginning a new journey after getting rid of the contamination. If\nany member of the party sneezed on setting out on an expedition or on\nthe day's march, it was a bad omen and required expiatory sacrifices;\nand if they had travellers with them when this omen occurred, these\nmust be allowed to escape and could not be put to death. Omens were\nalso taken from the turban, without which no Thug, except perhaps in\nBengal, would travel. [710] If a turban caught fire a great evil was\nportended, and the gang must, if near home, return and wait for seven\ndays. But if they had travelled for some distance an offering of _gur_\n(sugar) was made, and the owner of the turban alone returned home. If a\nman's turban fell off it was also considered a very bad omen, requiring\nexpiatory sacrifices. The turban is important as being the covering\nof the head, which many primitive people consider to contain the life\nor soul (_Golden Bough_). A shower of rain falling at any time except\nduring the monsoon period from June to September was also a bad omen\nwhich must be averted by sacrifices. Prior to the commencement [711]\nof an expedition a Brahman was employed to select a propitious day\nand hour for the start and for the direction in which the gang should\nproceed. After this the auspices were taken with great solemnity and,\nif favourable omens were obtained, the party set out and made a few\nsteps in the direction indicated; after this they might turn to the\nright or left as impediments or incentives presented themselves. If\nthey heard any one weeping for a death as they left the village,\nit threatened great evil; and so, too, if they met the corpse of any\none belonging to their own village, but not that of a stranger. And\nit was also a bad omen to meet an oil-vendor, a carpenter, a potter,\na dancing-master, a blind or lame man, a Fakir (beggar) with a brown\nwaistband or a Jogi (mendicant) with long matted hair. Most of these\nwere included in the class of persons who might not be killed.\n\n\n\n\n24. Nature of the belief in omens\n\nThe custom of the Thugs, and in a less degree of ignorant and primitive\nraces generally, of being guided in their every action by the chance\nindications afforded from the voices and movements of birds and animals\nappears to the civilised mind extremely foolish. But its explanation\nis not difficult when the character of early religious beliefs is\nrealised. It was held by savages generally that animals, birds and all\nother living things, as well as trees and other inanimate objects,\nhad souls and exercised conscious volition like themselves. And\nthose animals, such as the tiger and cow, and other objects, such\nas the sun and moon and high mountains or trees, which appeared most\nimposing and terrible, or exercised the most influence on their lives,\nwere their principal deities, the spirits of which at a later period\ndeveloped into anthropomorphic gods. Even the lesser animals and\nbirds were revered and considered to be capable of affecting the\nlives of men. Hence their appearance, their flight and their cries\nwere naturally taken to be direct indications afforded by the god to\nhis worshippers; and it was in the interpretation of these, the signs\ngiven by the divine beings by whom man was surrounded, and whom at one\ntime he considered superior to himself, that the science of augury\nconsisted. \"The priestesses of the oracle of Zeus at Dodona called\nthemselves doves, as those of Diana at Ephesus called themselves bees;\nthis proves that the oracles of the temples were formerly founded on\nobservations of the flight of doves and bees, and no doubt also that\nthe original cult consisted in the worship of these animals.\" [712]\nThus, as is seen here, when the deity was no longer an animal but had\ndeveloped into a god in human shape, the animal remained associated\nwith him and partook of his sanctity; and what could be more natural\nthan that he should convey the indications of his will through the\nappearance, movements and cries of the sacred animal to his human\n_proteges_. The pseudo-science of omens is thus seen to be a natural\ncorollary of the veneration of animals and inanimate objects.\n\n\n\n\n25. Suppression of Thuggee\n\nWhen the suppression of the Thugs was seriously taken in hand by the\nThuggee and Dacoity Department under the direction of Sir William\nSleeman, this abominable confraternity, which had for centuries\ninfested the main roads of India and made away with tens of thousands\nof helpless travellers, never to be heard of again by their families\nand friends, was destroyed with comparatively little difficulty. The\nThugs when arrested readily furnished the fullest information of\ntheir murders and the names of their confederates in return for\nthe promise of their lives, and Colonel Sleeman started a separate\nfile or _dossier_ for every Thug whose name became known to him, in\nwhich all information obtained about him from different informers\nwas collected. In this manner, as soon as a man was arrested and\nidentified, a mass of evidence was usually at once forthcoming to\nsecure his conviction. Between 1826 and 1835 about 2000 Thugs were\narrested and hanged, transported or kept under restraint; subsequently\nto this a larger number of British officers were deputed to the work\nof hunting down the Thugs, and by 1848 it was considered that this\nform of crime had been practically stamped out. For the support of the\napprover Thugs and the families of these and others a labour colony\nwas instituted at Jubbulpore, which subsequently developed into the\nschool of industry and was the parent of the existing Reformatory\nSchool. Here these criminals were taught tent and carpet-making and\nother trades, and in time grew to be ashamed of the murderous calling\nin which they had once taken a pride.\n\n\n\n\n\nTuri\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Origin of the caste_.\n    2. _Subdivisions_.\n    3. _Marriage_.\n    4. _Funeral rites_.\n    5. _Occupation_.\n    6. _Social status_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste\n\n_Turi._--A non-Aryan caste of cultivators, workers in bamboo, and\nbasket-makers, belonging to the Chota Nagpur plateau. They number about\n4000 persons in Raigarh, Sarangarh and the States recently transferred\nfrom Bengal. The physical type of the Turis, Sir H. Risley states,\ntheir language, and their religion place it beyond doubt that they are\na Hinduised offshoot of the Munda tribe. They still speak a dialect\nderived from Mundari, and their principal deity is Singbonga or the\nsun, the great god of the Mundas: \"In Lohardaga, where the caste is\nmost numerous, it is divided into four subcastes--Turi or Kisan-Turi,\nOr, Dom, and Domra--distinguished by the particular modes of basket\nand bamboo-work which they practise. Thus the Turi or Kisan-Turi,\nwho are also cultivators and hold _bhuinhari_ land, make the _sup_,\na winnowing sieve made of _sirki_, the upper joint of _Saccharum\nprocerum_; the _tokri_ or _tokiya_, a large open basket of split\nbamboo twigs woven up with the fibre of the leaves of the _tal_\npalm; the _sair_ and _nadua_, used for catching fish. The Ors are\nsaid to take their name from the _oriya_ basket used by the sower,\nand made of split bamboo, sometimes helped out with _tal_ fibre. They\nalso make umbrellas, and the _chhota dali_ or _dala_, a flat basket\nwith vertical sides used for handling grain in small quantities. Doms\nmake the _harka_ and scale-pans (_taraju_). Domras make the _peti_\nand fans. Turis frequently reckon in as a fifth subcaste the Birhors,\nwho cut bamboos and make the _sikas_ used for carrying loads slung on\na shoulder-yoke (_bhangi_), and a kind of basket called _phanda_. Doms\nand Domras speak Hindi; Turis, Ors and Birhors use among themselves\na dialect of Mundari.\" [713]\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions\n\nIn Raigarh and Sarangarh of the Central Provinces the above subcastes\nare not found, and there are no distinct endogamous groups; but\nthe more Hinduised members of the caste have begun to marry among\nthemselves and call themselves Turia, while they look down on the\nothers to whom they restrict the designation Turi. The names of\nsubcastes given by Sir H. Risley appear to indicate that the Turis\nare an offshoot from the Mundas, with an admixture of Doms and other\nlow Uriya castes. Among themselves the caste is also known as Husil,\na term which signifies a worker in bamboo. The caste say that their\noriginal ancestor was created by Singbonga, the sun, and had five sons,\none of whom found a wooden image of their deity in the Baranda forest,\nnear the Barpahari hill in Chota Nagpur. This image was adopted as\ntheir family deity, and is revered to the present day as Barpahari\nDeo. The deity is thus called after the hill, of which it is clear that\nhe is the personified representative. From the five sons are descended\nthe five main septs of the Turis. The eldest was called Mailuar, and\nhis descendants are the leaders or headmen of the caste. The group\nsprung from the second son are known as Chardhagia, and it is their\nbusiness to purify and readmit offenders to caste intercourse. The\ndescendants of the third son conduct the ceremonial shaving of such\noffenders, and are known as Surennar, while those of the fourth son\nbring water for the ceremony and are called Tirkuar. The fifth group\nis known as Hasdagia, and it is said that they are the offspring of\nthe youngest brother, who committed some offence, and the four other\nbrothers took the parts which are still played by their descendants in\nhis ceremony of purification. Traces of similar divisions appear to be\nfound in Bengal, as Sir H. Risley states that before a marriage can\nbe celebrated the consent of the heads of the Madalwar and Surinwar\nsections, who are known respectively as Raja and Thakur, is obtained,\nwhile the head of the Charchagiya section officiates as priest. The\nabove names are clearly only variants of those found in the Central\nProvinces. But besides the above groups the Turis have a large number\nof exogamous septs of a totemistic nature, some of which are identical\nwith those of the Mundas.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage\n\nMarriage is adult, and the bride and bridegroom are usually about\nthe same age; but girls are scarce in the caste, and betrothals are\nusually effected at an early age, so that the fathers of boys may\nobtain brides for their sons. A contract of betrothal, once made,\ncannot be broken without incurring social disgrace, and compensation\nin money is also exacted. A small bride-price of three or four rupees\nand a piece of cloth is payable to the girl's father. As in the case\nof some other Uriya castes the proposal for a marriage is couched in\npoetic phraseology, the Turi bridegroom's ambassador announcing his\nbusiness with the phrase: 'I hear that a sweet-scented flower has\nblossomed in your house and I have come to gather it'; to which the\nbride's father, if the match be acceptable, replies: 'You may take\naway my flower if you will not throw it away when its sweet scent\nhas gone.' The girl then appears, and the boy's father gives her\na piece of cloth and throws a little liquor over her feet. He then\ntakes her on his lap and gives her an anna to buy a ring for herself,\nand sometimes kisses her and says, 'You will preserve my lineage.' He\nwashes the feet of her relatives, and the contract of betrothal\nis thus completed, and its violation by either party is a serious\nmatter. The wedding is performed according to the ritual commonly\npractised by the Uriya castes. The binding portion of it consists\nin the perambulation of the sacred pole five or seven times. After\neach circle the bridegroom takes hold of the bride's toe and makes\nher kick away a small heap of rice on which a nut and a pice coin\nare placed. After this a cloth is held over the couple and each rubs\nvermilion on the other's forehead. At this moment the bride's brother\nappears, and gives the bridegroom a blow on the back. This is probably\nin token of his wrath at being deprived of his sister. A meal of rice\nand fowls is set before the bridegroom, but he feigns displeasure,\nand refuses to eat them. The bride's parents then present him with a\npickaxe and a crooked knife, saying that these are the implements of\ntheir trade, and will suffice him for a livelihood. The bridegroom,\nhowever, continues obdurate until they promise him a cow or a bullock,\nwhen he consents to eat. The bride's family usually spend some twenty\nor more rupees on her wedding, and the bridegroom's family about fifty\nrupees. A widow is expected to marry her Dewar or deceased husband's\nyounger brother, and if she takes somebody else he must repay to the\nDewar the expenditure incurred by the latter's family on her first\nmarriage. Divorce is permitted for misconduct on the part of the wife\nor for incompatibility of temper.\n\n\n\n\n4. Funeral rites\n\nThe caste bury the dead, placing the head to the north. They make\nlibations to the spirits of their ancestors on the last day of Phagun\n(February), and not during the fortnight of Pitripaksh in Kunwar\n(September) like other Hindu castes. They believe that the spirits of\nancestors are reborn in children, and when a baby is born they put a\ngrain of rice into a pot of water and then five other grains in the\nnames of ancestors recently deceased. When one of these meets the\ngrain representing the child they hold that the ancestor in question\nhas been born again. The principal deity of the caste is Singbonga, the\nsun, and according to one of their stories the sun is female. They say\nthat the sun and moon were two sisters, both of whom had children, but\nwhen the sun gave out great heat the moon was afraid that her children\nwould be burnt up, so she hid them in a _handi_ or earthen pot. When\nthe sun missed her sister's children she asked her where they were,\nand the moon replied that she had eaten them up; on which the sun\nalso ate up her own children. But when night came the moon took her\nchildren out of the earthen pot and they spread out in the sky and\nbecame the stars. And when the sun saw this she was greatly angered\nand vowed that she would never look on the moon's face again. And it\nis on this account that the moon is not seen in the daytime, and as\nthe sun ate up all her children there are no stars during the day.\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation\n\nThe caste make and sell all kinds of articles manufactured from the\nwood of the bamboo, and the following list of their wares will give an\nidea of the variety of purposes for which this product is utilised:\n_Tukna_, an ordinary basket; _dauri_, a basket for washing rice\nin a stream; _lodhar_, a large basket for carrying grain on carts;\n_chuki_, a small basket for measuring grain; _garni_ and _sikosi_,\na small basket for holding betel-leaf and a box for carrying it in\nthe pocket; _dhitori_, a fish-basket; _dholi_, a large bamboo shed\nfor storing grain; _ghurki_ and _paili_, grain measures; _chhanni_,\na sieve; _taji_) a balance; _pankha_ and _bijna_, fans; _pelna_, a\ntriangular frame for a fishing-net; _choniya_, a cage for catching\nfish; _chatai_) matting; _chhata_, an umbrella; _chhitori_, a leaf\nhat for protecting the body from rain; _pinjra_, a cage; _khunkhuna_,\na rattle; and _guna_, a muzzle for bullocks.\n\nMost of them are very poor, and they say that when Singbonga made\ntheir ancestors he told them to fetch something in which to carry\naway the grain which he would give them for their support; but the\nTuris brought a bamboo sieve, and when Singbonga poured the grain\ninto the sieve nearly the whole of it ran out. So he reproved them\nfor their foolishness, and said, '_Khasar, khasar, tin pasar_,'\nwhich meant that, however hard they should work, they would never\nearn more than three handfuls of grain a day.\n\n\n\n\n6. Social status\n\nThe social status of the Turis is very low, and their touch is regarded\nas impure. They must live outside the village and may not draw water\nfrom the common well; the village barber will not shave them nor\nthe washerman wash their clothes. They will eat all kinds of food,\nincluding the flesh of rats and other vermin, but not beef. The\nrules regarding social impurity are more strictly observed in the\nUriya country than elsewhere, owing to the predominant influence of\nthe Brahmans, and this is probably the reason why the Turis are so\nseverely ostracised. Their code of social morality is not strict, and\na girl who is seduced by a man of the caste is simply made over to him\nas his wife, the ordinary bride-price being exacted from him. He must\nalso feed the caste-fellows, and any money which is received by the\ngirl's father is expended in the same manner. Members of Hindu castes\nand Gonds may be admitted into the community, but not the Munda tribes,\nsuch as the Mundas themselves and the Kharias and Korwas; and this,\nthough the Turis, as has been seen, are themselves an offshoot of the\nMunda tribe. The fact indicates that in Chota Nagpur the tribes of the\nMunda family occupy a lower social position than the Gonds and others\nbelonging to the Dravidian family. When an offender of either sex is\nto be readmitted into caste after having been temporarily expelled for\nsome offence he or she is given water to drink and has a lock of hair\ncut off. Their women are tattooed on the arms, breast and feet, and\nsay that this is the only ornament which they can carry to the grave.\n\n\n\n\nVelama\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin and social status\n\n_Velama, Elama, Yelama._--A Telugu cultivating caste found in\nlarge numbers in Vizagapatam and Ganjam, while in 1911 about 700\npersons were returned from Chanda and other districts in the Central\nProvinces. The caste frequently also call themselves by the honorific\ntitles of Naidu or Dora (lord). The Velamas are said formerly to\nhave been one with the Kamma caste, but to have separated on the\nquestion of retaining the custom of _parda_ or _gosha_ which they had\nborrowed from the Muhammadans. The Kammas abandoned _parda_, and,\nsigning a bond written on palm-leaf to this effect, obtained their\nname from _kamma_, a leaf. The Velamas retained the custom, but a\nfurther division has taken place on the subject, and one subcaste,\ncalled the Adi or original Velamas, do not seclude their women. The\ncaste has at present a fairly high position, and several important\nMadras chiefs are Velamas, as well as the zamindar of Sironcha in the\nCentral Provinces. They appear, however, to have improved their status,\nand thus to have incurred the jealousy of their countrymen, as is\nevidenced by some derogatory sayings current about the caste. Thus\nthe Balijas call them Guni Sakalvandlu or hunchbacked washermen,\nbecause some of them print chintz and carry their goods in a bundle\non their backs. [714] According to another derivation _guna_ is\nthe large pot in which they dye their cloth. Another story is that\nthe name of the caste is Velimala, meaning those who are above or\nbetter than the Dhers, and was a title conferred on them by the Raja\nof Bastar in recognition of the bravery displayed by the Velamas in\nhis army. These stories are probably the outcome of the feeling of\njealousy which attaches to castes which have raised themselves in\nthe social scale. The customs of the Velamas do not indicate a very\nhigh standard of ceremonial observance, as they eat fowls and pork\nand drink liquor. They are said to take food from Bestas and Dhimars,\nwhile Kunbis will take it from them. The men of the caste are tall and\nstrong, of a comparatively fair complexion and of a bold and arrogant\ndemeanour. It is said that a Velama will never do anything himself\nwhich a servant can do for him, and a story is told of one of them who\nwas smoking when a spark fell on his moustache. He called his servant\nto remove it, but by the time the man came, his master's moustache had\nbeen burnt away. These stories and the customs of the Velamas appear\nto indicate that they are a caste of comparatively low position, who\nhave gone up in the world, and are therefore tenacious in asserting\na social position which is not universally admitted. Their subcastes\nshow that a considerable difference in standing exists in the different\nbranches of the caste. Of these the Racha or royal Velamas, to whom\nthe chiefs and zamindars belong, are the highest. While others are the\nGuna Velamas or those who use a dyer's pot, the Eku or 'Cotton-skein'\nwho are weavers and carders, and the Tellaku or white leaf Velamas,\nthe significance of this last name not being known. It is probable\nthat the Velamas were originally a branch of the great Kapu or Reddi\ncaste of cultivators, corresponding in the Telugu country to the Kurmis\nand Kunbis, as many of their section names are the same as those of\nthe Kapus. The Velamas apparently took up the trades of weaving and\ndyeing, and some of them engaged in military service and acquired\nproperty. These are now landowners and cultivators and breed cattle,\nwhile others dye and weave cloth. They will not engage themselves\nas hired labourers, and they do not allow their women to work in\nthe fields.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage and social customs\n\nThe caste are said to have 77 exogamous groups descended from the 77\nfollowers or spearsmen who attended Raja Rudra Pratap of Bastar when\nhe was ousted from Warangal. These section names are eponymous,\nterritorial and totemistic, instances of the last kind being\nCherukunula from _cheruku_, sugarcane, and Pasapunula from _pasapu_,\nturmeric, and _nula_, thread. Marriage within the section or _gotra_\nis prohibited, but first cousins may intermarry. Marriage is usually\nadult, and the binding portion of the ceremony consists in the tying\nof the _mangal-sutram_ or happy thread by the bridegroom round the\nbride's neck. At the end of the marriage the _kankans_ or bracelets\nof the bridegroom and bride are taken off in signification that all\nobstacles to complete freedom of intercourse and mutual confidence\nbetween the married pair have been removed. In past years, when the\nGuna Velamas had a marriage, they were bound to pay the marriage\nexpenses of a couple of the Palli or fisherman caste, in memory of\nthe fact that on one occasion when the Guna Velamas were in danger of\nbeing exterminated by their enemies, the Pallis rescued them in their\nboats and carried them to a place of safety. But now it is considered\nsufficient to hang up a fishing-net in the house when a marriage\nceremony of the Guna Velamas is being celebrated. [715] The caste do\nnot permit the marriage of widows, and divorce is confined to cases\nin which a wife is guilty of adultery. The Velamas usually employ\nVaishnava Brahmans as their priests. They burn the bodies of those\nwho die after marriage, and bury those dying before it. Children are\nnamed on the twenty-first day after birth, the child being placed in\na swing, and the name selected by the parents being called out three\ntimes by the oldest woman present. On this day the mother is taken\nto a well and made to draw a bucket of water by way of declaration\nthat she is fit to do household work.\n\n\n\n\nVidur\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n    1. _Origin and traditions_.\n    2. _The Purads, Golaks and Borals_.\n    3. _Illegitimacy among Hindustani castes_.\n    4. _Legend of origin_.\n    5. _Marriage_.\n    6. _Social rules and occupation_.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin and traditions\n\n_Vidur, [716] Bidur_.--A Maratha caste numbering 21,000 persons in\nthe Central Provinces in 1911, and found in the Nagpur Division and\nBerar. They are also returned from Hyderabad and Bombay. Vidur means\na wise or intelligent man, and was the name of the younger brother\nof Pandu, the father of the Pandava brothers. The Vidurs are a caste\nof mixed descent, principally formed from the offspring of Brahman\nfathers with women of other castes. But the descendants of Panchals,\nKunbis, Malis and others from women of lower caste are also known\nas Vidurs and are considered as different subcastes. Each of these\ngroups follow the customs and usually adopt the occupation of the\ncastes to which their fathers belonged. They are known as Kharchi or\nKhaltatya, meaning 'Below the plate' or 'Below the salt,' as they are\nnot admitted to dine with the proper Vidurs. But the rule varies in\ndifferent places, and sometimes after the death of their mother such\npersons become full members of the caste, and with each succeeding\ngeneration the status of their descendants improves. In Poona the\nname Vidur is restricted to the descendants of Brahman fathers, and\nthey are also known as Brahmanja or 'Born from Brahmans.' Elsewhere\nthe Brahman Vidurs are designated especially as Krishnapakshi, which\nmeans 'One born during the dark fortnight,' The term Krishnapakshi\nis or was also used in Bengal, and Buchanan defined it as follows:\n\"Men of the Rajput, Khatri and Kayasth tribes, but no others, openly\nkeep women slaves of any pure tribe, and the children are of the\nsame caste with their father, but are called Krishnapakshis and can\nonly marry with each other.\" [717] In Bastar a considerable class\nof persons of similar illegitimate descent also exist, being the\noffspring of the unions of immigrant Hindus with women of the Gond,\nHalba and other tribes. The name applied to them, however, is Dhakar,\nand as their status and customs are quite different from those of\nthe Maratha Vidurs they are treated in a short separate article.\n\n\n\n\n2. The Purads, Golaks and Borals\n\nAnother small group related to the Vidurs are the Purads of Nagpur;\nthey say that their ancestor was a Brahman who was carried away\nin a flooded river and lost his sacred thread. He could not put on\na new thread afterwards because the sacred thread must be changed\nwithout swallowing the spittle in the interval. Hence he was put out\nof caste and his descendants are the Purads, the name being derived\nfrom _pur_, a flood. These people are mainly shopkeepers. In Berar\ntwo other groups are found, the Golaks and Borals. The Golaks are\nthe illegitimate offspring of a Brahman widow; if after her husband's\ndecease she did not shave her head, her illegitimate children are known\nas Rand [718] Golaks; if her head was shaved, they are called Mund\n(shaven) Golaks; and if their father be unknown, they are named Kund\nGolaks. The Golaks are found in Malkapur and Balapur and number about\n400 persons. A large proportion of them are beggars. A Boral is said\nto be the child of a father of any caste and a mother of one of those\nin which widows shave their heads. As a matter of fact widows, except\namong Brahmans, rarely shave their heads in the Central Provinces,\nand it would therefore appear, if Mr. Kitts' definition is correct,\nthat the Borals are the offspring of women by fathers of lower caste\nthan themselves; a most revolting union to Hindu ideas. As, however,\nthe Borals are mostly grocers and shopkeepers, it is possible that\nthey may be the same class as the Purads. In 1881 they numbered only\n163 persons and were found in Darhwa, Mehkar and Chikhli taluks.\n\n\n\n\n3. Illegitimacy among Hindustani castes\n\nThere is no caste corresponding to the Vidurs in the Hindi Districts\nand the offspring of unions which transgress the caste marriage\nrules are variously treated. Many castes both in the north and south\nsay that they have 12 1/2 subdivisions and that the half subcaste\ncomprises the descendants of illicit unions. Of course the twelve\nsubdivisions are as a rule mythical, the number of subcastes being\nalways liable to fluctuate as fresh endogamous groups are formed\nby migration or slight changes in the caste calling. Other castes\nhave a Lohri Sen or degraded group which corresponds to the half\ncaste. In other cases the illegitimate branch has a special name;\nthus the Niche Pat Bundelas of Saugor and Chhoti Tar Rajputs of Nimar\nare the offspring of fathers of the Bundela and other Rajput tribes\nwith women of lower castes; both these terms have the same meaning as\nLohri Sen, that is a low-caste or bastard group. Similarly the Dauwa\n(wet-nurse) Ahirs are the offspring of Bundela fathers and the Ahir\nwomen who act as nurses in their households. In Saugor is found a class\nof persons called Kunwar [719] who are descended from the offspring\nof the Maratha Brahman rulers of Saugor and their kept women. They\nnow form a separate caste and Hindustani Brahmans will take water\nfrom them. They refuse to accept _katcha_ food (cooked with water)\nfrom Maratha Brahmans, which all other castes will do. Another class\nof bastard children of Brahmans are called Dogle, and such people\ncommonly act as servants of Maratha Brahmans; as these Brahmans do\nnot take water to drink from the hands of any caste except their own,\nthey have much difficulty in procuring household servants and readily\naccept a Dogle in this capacity without too close a scrutiny of his\nantecedents. There is also a class of Dogle Kayasths of similar,\norigin, who are admitted as members of the caste on an inferior\nstatus and marry among themselves. After several generations such\ngroups tend to become legitimised; thus the origin of the distinction\nbetween the Khare and Dusre Srivastab Kayasths and the Dasa and Bisa\nAgarwala Banias was probably of this character, but now both groups\nare reckoned as full members of the caste, one only ranking somewhat\nbelow the other so that they do not take food together. The Parwar\nBanias have four divisions of different social status known as the\nBare, Manjhile, Sanjhile and Lohri Seg or Sen, or first, second,\nthird and fourth class. A man and woman detected in a serious social\noffence descend into the class next below their own, unless they can\npay the severe penalties prescribed for it. If either marries or forms\na connection with a man or woman of a lower class they descend into\nthat class. Similarly, one who marries a widow goes into the Lohri Seg\nor lowest class. Other castes have a similar system of divisions. Among\nthe great body of Hindus cases of men living with women of different\ncaste are now very common, and the children of such unions sometimes\ninherit their father's property. Though in such cases the man is\nout of caste this does not mean that he is quite cut off from social\nintercourse. He will be invited to the caste dinners, but must sit in\na different row from the orthodox members so as not to touch them. As\nan instance of these mixed marriages the case of a private servant, a\nMali or gardener, may be quoted. He always called himself a Brahman,\nand though thinking it somewhat curious that a Brahman should be\na gardener, I took no notice of it until he asked leave to attend\nthe funeral of his niece, whose father was a Government menial,\nan Agarwala Bania. It was then discovered that he was the son of a\nBrahman landowner by a mistress of the Kachhi caste of sugarcane and\nvegetable growers, so that the profession of a private or ornamental\ngardener, for which a special degree of intelligence is requisite,\nwas very suitable to him. His sister by the same parents was married\nto this Agarwala Bania, who said his own family was legitimate and he\nhad been deceived about the girl. The marriage of one of this latter\ncouple's daughters was being arranged with the son of a Brahman, father\nand Bania mother in Jubbulpore; while the gardener himself had never\nbeen married, but was living with a girl of the Gadaria (shepherd)\ncaste who had been married in her caste but had never lived with her\nhusband. Inquiries made in a small town as to the status of seventy\nfamilies showed that ten were out of caste on account of irregular\nmatrimonial or sexual relations; and it may therefore be concluded\nthat a substantial proportion of Hindus have no real caste at present.\n\n\n\n\n4. Legend of origin\n\nThe Vidurs say that they are the descendants of a son who was born\nto a slave girl by the sage Vyas, the celebrated compiler of the\nMahabharata, to whom the girl was sent to provide an heir to the\nkingdom of Hastinapur. This son was named Vidur and was remarkable\nfor his great wisdom, being one of the leading characters in the\nMahabharata and giving advice both to the Pandavas and the Kauravas.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage\n\nAs already stated, the Vidurs who are sprung from fathers of different\ncastes form subcastes marrying among themselves. Among the Brahman\nVidurs also, a social difference exists between the older members\nof the caste who are descended from Vidurs for several generations,\nand the new ones who are admitted into it as being the offspring of\nBrahman fathers from recent illicit unions, the former considering\nthemselves to be superior and avoiding intermarriage with the latter\nas far as possible. The Brahman Vidurs, to whom this article chiefly\nrelates, have exogamous sections of different kinds, the names being\neponymous, territorial, titular and totemistic. Among the names of\ntheir sections are Indurkar from Indore; Chaurikar, a whisk-maker;\nAcharya and Pande, a priest; Menjokhe, a measurer of wax; Mine,\na fish; Dudhmande, one who makes wheaten cakes with milk; Goihe, a\nlizard; Wadabhat, a ball of pulse and cooked rice; Diwale, bankrupt;\nand Joshi, an astrologer. The Brahman Vidurs have the same sect groups\nas the Maratha Brahmans, according to the Veda which they especially\nrevere. Marriage is forbidden within the section and in that of the\npaternal and maternal uncles and aunts. In Chanda, when a boy of one\nsection marries a girl of another, all subsequent alliances between\nmembers of the two sections must follow the same course, and a girl\nof the first section must not marry a boy of the second. This rule\nis probably in imitation of that by which their caste is formed,\nthat is from the union of a man of higher with a woman of lower\ncaste. As already stated, the reverse form of connection is considered\nmost disgraceful by the Hindus, and children born of it could not\nbe Vidurs. On the same analogy they probably object to taking both\nhusbands and wives from the same section. Marriage is usually infant,\nand a second wife is taken only if the first be barren or if she is\nsickly or quarrelsome. As a rule, no price is paid either for the\nbride or bridegroom. Vidurs have the same marriage ceremony as Maratha\nBrahmans, except that Puranic instead of Vedic _mantras_ or texts\nare repeated at the service. As among the lower castes the father of\na boy seeks for a bride for his son, while with Brahmans it is the\ngirl's father who makes the proposal. When the bridegroom arrives he\nis conducted to the inner room of the bride's house; Mr. Tucker states\nthat this is known as the _Gaurighar_ because it contains the shrine of\nGauri or Parvati, wife of Mahadeo; and here he is received by the bride\nwho has been occupied in worshipping the goddess. A curtain is held\nbetween them and coloured rice is thrown over them and distributed,\nand they then proceed to the marriage-shed, where an earthen mound or\nplatform, known as Bohala, has been erected. They first sit on this\non two stools and then fire is kindled on the platform and they walk\nfive times round it. The Bohala is thus a fire altar. The expenses of\nmarriage amount for the bridegroom's family to Rs. 300 on an average,\nand for the bride's to a little more. Widows are allowed to remarry,\nbut the second union must not take place with any member of the family\nof the late husband, whose property remains with his children or,\nfailing them, with his family. In the marriage of a widow the common\n_pat_ ceremony of the Maratha Districts is used. A price is commonly\npaid to the parents of a widow by her second husband. Divorce is\nallowed on the instance of the husband by a written agreement, and\ndivorced women may marry again by the _pat_ ceremony. In Chanda it\nis stated that when a widower marries again a silver or golden image\nis made of the first wife and being placed with the household gods\nis daily worshipped by the second wife.\n\n\n\n\n6. Social rules and occupation\n\nThe Vidurs employ Maratha Brahmans for religious and ceremonial\npurposes, while their _gurus_ are either Brahmans or Bairagis. They\nhave two names, one for ceremonial and the other for ordinary use. When\na child is to be named it is placed in a cradle and parties of women\nsit on opposite sides of it. One of the women takes the child in her\narms and passes it across the cradle to another saying, 'Take the\nchild named Ramchandra' or whatever it may be. The other woman passes\nthe child back using the same phrase, and it is then placed in the\ncradle and rocked, and boiled wheat and gram are distributed to the\nparty. The Vidurs burn the dead, and during the period of mourning\nthe well-to-do employ a Brahman to read the Garud Puran to them,\nwhich tells how a sinner is punished in the next world and a virtuous\nman is rewarded. This, it is said, occupies their minds and prevents\nthem from feeling their bereavement. They will take food only from\nMaratha Brahmans and water from Rajputs and Kunbis. Brahmans will,\nas a rule, not take anything from a Vidur's hand, but some of them\nhave begun to accept water and sweetmeats, especially in the case\nof educated Vidurs. The Vidurs will not eat flesh of any kind nor\ndrink liquor. The Brahman Vidurs did not eat in kitchens in the\nfamine. Their dress resembles that of Maratha Brahmans. The men do not\nusually wear the sacred thread, but some have adopted it. In Bombay,\nhowever, boys are regularly invested with the sacred thread before\nthe age of ten. [720] In Nagpur it is stated that the Vidurs like\nto be regarded as Brahmans. [721] They are now quite respectable\nand hold land. Many of them are in Government service, some being\nofficers of the subordinate grades and others clerks, and they are\nalso agents to landowners, patwaris and shopkeepers. The Vidurs are\nthe best educated caste with the exception of Brahmans, Kayasths and\nBanias, and this fact has enabled them to obtain a considerable rise\nin social status. Their aptitude for learning may be attributed to\ntheir Brahman parentage, while in some cases Vidurs have probably\nbeen given an education by their Brahman relatives. Their correct\nposition should be a low one, distinctly beneath that of the good\ncultivating castes. A saying has it, 'As the _amarbel_ creeper has no\nroots, so the Vidur has no ancestry.' But owing to their education\nand official position the higher classes of Vidurs have obtained a\nsocial status not much below that of Kayasths. This rise in position\nis assisted by their adherence in matters of dress, food and social\npractice to the customs of Maratha Brahmans, so that many of them\nare scarcely distinguishable from a Brahman. A story is told of a\nVidur Tahsildar or Naib-Tahsildar who was transferred to a District\nat some distance from his home, and on his arrival there pretended to\nbe a Maratha Brahman. He was duly accepted by the other Brahmans, who\ntook food with him in his house and invited him to their own. After\nan interval of some months the imposture was discovered, and it is\nstated that this official was at a short subsequent period dismissed\nfrom Government service on a charge of bribery. The Vidurs are also\nconsidered to be clever at personation, and one or two stories are\ntold of frauds being carried out through a Vidur returning to some\nfamily in the character of a long-lost relative.\n\n\n\n\nWaghya\n\n_Waghya,_ [722] _Vaghe, Murli._--An order of mendicant devotees of\nthe god Khandoba, an incarnation of Siva; they belong to the Maratha\nDistricts and Bombay where Khandoba is worshipped. The term Waghya\nis derived from _vagh_, a tiger, and has been given to the order\non account of the small bag of tiger-skin, containing _bhandar_, or\npowdered turmeric, which they carry round their necks. This has been\nconsecrated to Khandoba and they apply a pinch of it to the foreheads\nof those who give them alms. Murli, signifying 'a flute' is the name\ngiven to female devotees. Waghya is a somewhat indefinite term and\nin the Central Provinces does not strictly denote a caste. The order\noriginated in the practice followed by childless mothers of vowing to\nKhandoba that if they should bear a child, their first-born should be\ndevoted to his service. Such a child became a Waghya or Murli according\nas it was a boy or a girl. But they were not necessarily severed from\ntheir own caste and might remain members of it and marry in it. Thus\nthere are Waghya Telis in Wardha, who marry with other Telis. The child\nmight also be kept in the temple for a period and then withdrawn, and\nnowadays this is always done. The children of rich parents sometimes\nsimply remain at home and worship Khandoba there. But they must beg\non every Sunday from at least five persons all their lives. Another\npractice, formerly existing, was for the father and mother to vow that\nif a child was born they would be swung. They were then suspended\nfrom a wooden post on a rope by an iron hook inserted in the back\nand swung round four or five times. The sacred turmeric was applied\nto the wound and it quickly healed up. Others would take a Waghya\nchild to Mahadeo's cave in Pachmarhi and let it fall from the top of\na high tree. If it lived it was considered to be a Raja of Mahadeo,\nand if it died happiness might confidently be anticipated for it in\nthe next birth. Besides the children who are dedicated to Khandoba,\na man may become a Waghya either for life or for a certain period in\nfulfilment of a vow, and in the latter case will be an ordinary member\nof his own caste again on its termination. The Waghyas and Murlis who\nare permanent members of the order sometimes also live together and\nhave children who are brought up in it. The constitution of the order\nis therefore in several respects indefinite, and it has not become a\nself-contained caste, though there are Waghyas who have no other caste.\n\nThe following description of the dedication of children to Khandoba is\ntaken from the _Bombay Gazetteer_ [723]. When parents have to dedicate\na boy to Khandoba they go to his temple at Jejuri in Poona on any day\nin the month of Chaitra (March-April). They stay at a Gurao's house and\ntell him the object of their visit. The boy's father brings offerings\nand they go in procession to Khandoba's temple. There the Gurao\nmarks the boy's brow with turmeric, throws turmeric over his head,\nfastens round his neck a deer-or tiger-skin wallet hung from a black\nwoollen string and throws turmeric over the god, asking him to take\nthe boy. The Murlis or girls dedicated to the god are married to him\nbetween one and twelve years of age. The girl is taken to the temple\nby her parents accompanied by the Gurao priest and other Murlis. At\nthe temple she is bathed and her body rubbed with turmeric, with which\nthe feet of the idol are also anointed. She is dressed in a new robe\nand bodice, and green glass bangles are put on her wrists. A turban\nand sash are presented to the god, and the _guru_ taking a necklace\nof nine cowries (shells) fastens it round the girl's neck. She then\nstands before the god, a cloth being held between them as at a proper\nwedding, and the priest repeats the marriage verses. Powdered turmeric\nis thrown on the heads of the girl and of the idol, and from that day\nshe is considered to be the wife of Khandoba and cannot marry any other\nman. When a Murli comes of age she sits by herself for four days. Then\nshe looks about for a patron, and when she succeeds in getting one she\ncalls a meeting of her brethren, the Waghyas, and in their presence\nthe patron says, 'I will fill the Murli's lap.' The Waghyas ask him\nwhat he will pay and after some haggling a sum is agreed on, which\nthirty years ago varied between twenty-five and a hundred rupees. If\nit is more than Rs. 50 a half of the money goes to the community,\nwho spend it on a feast. With the balance the girl buys clothes for\nherself. She lives with her patron for as long as he wishes to keep\nher, and is then either attached to the temple or travels about as a\nfemale mendicant. Sometimes a married woman will leave her home and\nbecome a Murli, with the object as a rule of leading a vicious life.\n\nA man who takes a vow to become a Waghya must be initiated by a _guru_,\nwho is some elder member of the order. The initiation takes place\nearly on a Sunday morning, and after the disciple is shaved, bathed\nand newly clad, the _guru_ places a string of cowries round his neck\nand gives him the tiger-skin bag in which the turmeric is kept. He\nalways retains much reverence for his _guru_, and invokes him with the\nexclamation, 'Jai Guru,' before starting out to beg in the morning. The\nfollowing articles are carried by the Waghyas when begging. The _dapdi_\na circular single drum of wood, covered with goat-skin, and suspended\nto the shoulder. The _chouka_ consists of a single wire suspended from\na bar and passing inside a hollow wooden conical frame. The wire is\nstruck with a stick to produce the sound. The _ghati_ is an ordinary\ntemple bell; and the _kutumba_ is a metal saucer which serves for a\nbegging-bowl. This is considered sacred, and sandalwood is applied\nto it before starting out in the morning. The Waghyas usually beg\nin parties of four, each man carrying one of these articles. Two\nof them walk in front and two behind, and they sing songs in praise\nof Khandoba and play on the instruments. Every Waghya has also the\nbag made of tiger-skin, or, if this cannot be had, of deer-skin,\nand the cowrie necklace, and a _seli_ or string of goat-hair round\nthe neck. Alms, after being received in the _kutumba_ or saucer,\nare carried in a bag, and before setting out in the morning they put\na little grain in this bag, as they think that it would be unlucky\nto start with it empty. At the end of the day they set out their\ntakings on the ground and make a little offering of fire to them,\nthrowing a pinch of turmeric in the air in the name of Khandoba. The\nfour men then divide the takings and go home. Marathas, Murlis and\nTelis are the castes who revere Khandoba, and they invite the Waghyas\nto sing on the Dasahra and also at their marriages. In Bombay the\nWaghyas force iron bars through their calves and pierce the palms of\ntheir hands with needles. To the needle a strip of wood is attached,\nand on this five lighted torches are set out, and the Waghya waves\nthem about on his hand before the god. [724] Once in three years each\nWaghya makes a pilgrimage to Khandoba's chief temple at Jejuri near\nPoona, and there are also local temples to this deity at Hinganghat\nand Nagpur. The Waghyas eat flesh and drink liquor, and their social\nand religious customs resemble those of the Marathas and Kunbis.\n\n\n\n\n\nYerukala\n\n_Yerukala._--A vagrant gipsy tribe of Madras of whom a small number\nare returned from the Chanda District. They live by thieving,\nbegging, fortune-telling and making baskets, and are usually\ntreated as identical with the Koravas or Kuravas, who have the same\noccupations. Both speak a corrupt Tamil, and the Yerukalas are said to\ncall one another Kurru or Kura. It has been supposed that Korava was\nthe Tamil name which in the Telugu country became Yerukalavandlu or\nfortune-teller. Mr. (Sir H.) Stewart thought there could be no doubt\nof the identity of the two castes, [725] though Mr. Francis points out\ndifferences between them. [726] The Yerukalas are expert thieves. They\nfrequent villages on the pretence of begging, and rob by day in regular\ngroups under a female leader, who is known as Jemadarin. Each gang\nis provided with a bunch of keys and picklocks. They locate a locked\nhouse in an unfrequented lane, and one of them stands in front as\nif begging; the remainder are posted as watchers in the vicinity,\nand the Jemadarin picks the lock and enters the house. When the\nleader comes out with the booty she locks the door and they all\nwalk away. If any one comes up while the leader is in the house\nthe woman at the door engages him in conversation by some device,\nsuch as producing a silver coin and asking if it is good. She then\nbegins to dispute, and laying hold of him calls out to her comrades\nthat the man has abused her or been taking liberties with her. The\nothers run up and jostle him away from the door, and while they are\nall occupied with the quarrel the thief escapes. Or an old woman\ngoes from house to house pretending to be a fortune-teller. When\nshe finds a woman at home alone, she flatters and astonishes her by\nrelating the chief events in her life, how many children she has,\nhow many more are coming, and so on. When the woman of the house is\nsatisfied that the fortune-teller has supernatural powers, she allows\nthe witch to cover her face with her robe, and shuts her eyes while\nthe fortune-teller breathes on them, and blows into her ears and sits\nmuttering charms. Meanwhile one or two of the latter's friends who\nhave been lurking close by walk into the house and carry away whatever\nthey can lay their hands on. When they have left the house the woman's\nface is uncovered and the fortune-teller takes her fee and departs,\nleaving her dupe to find out that her house has been robbed. [727]\nThe conjugal morals of these people are equally low. They sell or\npledge their wives and unmarried daughters, and will take them back on\nthe redemption of the pledge with any children born in the interval,\nas though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When a man is\nsentenced to imprisonment his wife selects another partner for the\nperiod of her husband's absence, going back to him on his release\nwith all her children, who are considered as his. Mr. Thurston gives\nthe following story of a gang of Koravas or Yerukalas in Tinnevelly:\n\"One morning, in Tinnevelly, while the butler in a missionary's\nhouse was attending to his duties, an individual turned up with a\nfine fowl for sale. The butler, finding that he could purchase it\nfor about half the real price, bought it, and showed it to his wife\nwith no small pride in his ability in making a bargain. But he was\ndistinctly crestfallen when his wife pointed out that it was his\nown bird, which had been lost on the previous night. The seller was\na Korava.\" [728] In Madras they have also now developed into expert\nrailway thieves. They have few restrictions as to food, eating cats\nand mice, though not dogs. [729] The Yerukalas practised the custom of\nthe Couvade as described by the Rev. John Cain, of Dumagudem: [730]\n\"Directly the woman feels the birth-pangs she informs her husband,\nwho immediately takes some of her clothes, puts them on, places on his\nforehead the mark which the women usually place on theirs, retires\ninto a dark room where there is only a very dim lamp, and lies down\non the bed, covering himself up with a long cloth. When the child is\nborn it is washed and placed on the cot beside the father. Asafoetida,\njaggery and other articles are then given, not to the mother but to\nthe father. During the days of ceremonial impurity the man is treated\nas other Hindus treat their women on such occasions. He is not allowed\nto leave his bed, but has everything needful brought to him.\n\n\"The Yerukalas marry when quite young. At the birth of a daughter\nthe father of an unmarried little boy often brings a rupee and ties\nit in the cloth of the father of a newly-born girl. When the girl is\ngrown up he can then claim her for his son.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Kumhar.\n\n[2] Gods and demons.\n\n[3] _Hath_, hand and _garhna_ to make or mould.\n\n[4] _Gora_, white or red, applied to Europeans.\n\n[5] _History of the Marathas_, edition 1878, vol. i. p. 26.\n\n[6] The above description is taken from the Central Provinces\n_Monograph on Pottery and Glassware_ by Mr. Jowers, p. 4.\n\n[7] _Golden Bough,_ ii. pp. 299, 301.\n\n[8] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 524.\n\n[9] _Orpheus_, p. 152.\n\n[10] The sacrifice is now falling into abeyance, as landowners refuse\nto supply the buffalo.\n\n[11] Dr. Jevons, _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 368.\n\n[12] _Vide_ article on Lakhera.\n\n[13] _Rasmala_, i. p. 100.\n\n[14] _Ibidem_, p. 241.\n\n[15] _Khandesh Gazetteer_, p. 62.\n\n[16] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. i. part ii. p. 34.\n\n[17] From _jihar_, a tree or shrub.\n\n[18] _Acacia catechu_.\n\n[19] _Dhan_ properly means wealth, _cf._ the two meanings of the word\nstock in English.\n\n[20] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), para. 180.\n\n[21] _Ibidem_.\n\n[22] _Bawan_ = fifty-two.\n\n[23] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_ p. 490, App. B, Gujar.\n\n[24] _Eugenia jambolana_.\n\n[25] _Ficus glomerata_.\n\n[26] See the article entitled 'An Anthropoid.'\n\n[27] _Bombay Gazetteer; Nasik_ p. 26.\n\n[28] This is the rule in the Nagpur District.\n\n[29] From a note by Mr. A. K. Smith, C.S.\n\n[30] Circle Inspector Ganesh Prasad.\n\n[31] _Semicarpus anacardium_.\n\n[32] 'Oh, Lord Mahabir, give me a child, only one child.'\n\n[33] _Beast and Man in India_, p. 44. But, according to the same\nwriter, the Hindus do say, 'Drunk as an owl' and also 'Stupid as\nan owl.'\n\n[34] _Crotalaria juncea_.\n\n[35] The 3rd Baisakh (May) Sudi, the commencement of the agricultural\nyear. The name means, 'The day of immortality.'\n\n[36] Furnished by Inspector Ganesh Prasad.\n\n[37] _Dam_: breath or life.\n\n[38] These paragraphs are largely based on a description of a Wardha\nvillage by Mr. A.K. Smith, C.S.\n\n[39] _Nagpur Settlement Report_, para. 45.\n\n[40] The references to English farming in this paragraph are taken\nfrom an article in the _Saturday Review_ of 22nd August 1908.\n\n[41] _Report on the Territories of the Raja of Nagpur_.\n\n[42] _Rasmala_, ii. 242.\n\n[43] A freebooting tribe who gave their name to Kathiawar.\n\n[44] This article is partly based on papers by Nanhe Khan,\nSub-Inspector of Police, Khurai, Saugor, and Kesho Rao, Headmaster,\nMiddle School, Seoni-Chhapara.\n\n[45] Literally 'The Month of Separatica.' It is the eighth month\nof the Muhammadan year and is said to be so called because in this\nmonth the Arabs broke up their encampments and scattered in search of\nwater. On the night of Shab-i-Barat God registers all the actions of\nmen which they are to perform during the year; and all the children\nof men who are to be born and die in the year are recorded. Though\nproperly a fast, it is generally observed with rejoicings and a\ndisplay of fireworks. Hughes' _Dictionary of Islam_, p. 570.\n\n[46] _Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P.,_ art. Kunjra.\n\n[47] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, _ibidem_.\n\n[48] This article is compiled from notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal and\nby Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic clerk.\n\n[49] _North Arcot Manual_, vol. i. p. 220.\n\n[50] Vol. i. p. 224.\n\n[51] _Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies_.\n\n[52] In this article some account of the houses, clothes and food\nof the Hindus generally of the northern Districts has been inserted,\nbeing mainly reproduced from the District Gazetteers.\n\n[53] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Kurmi.\n\n[54] _Indian Folk Tales_, p. 8.\n\n[55] _Crotalaria juncea_. See article on Lorha for a discussion of\nthe Hindus' prejudice against this crop.\n\n[56] There are several Chaurasis, a grant of an estate of this special\nsize being common under native rule.\n\n[57] _Boswellia serrata_.\n\n[58] _Eugenia Jambolana_.\n\n[59] 2 lbs.\n\n[60] Elliot, _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_, p. 115.\n\n[61] The custom is pointed out by Mr. A. K. Smith, C.S.\n\n[62] _Central Provinces Census Report_ (1911), p. 153.\n\n[63] _C.P. Census Report_ (1911), p. 153.\n\n[64] Or his big toe.\n\n[65] _C.P. Census Report_ (1911), p. 158.\n\n[66] In _Indian Folk Tales_.\n\n[67] _Ficus R_.\n\n[68] He is also known as Katia or Kattaha Brahman and as Mahapatra.\n\n[69] _Indian Folk Tales_, p. 54.\n\n[70] _Sorghum vulgare_, a large millet.\n\n[71] Dr. Jevons, _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 365.\n\n[72] A measure of 400 lbs.\n\n[73] _Butea frondosa_.\n\n[74] A measure containing 9 lb. 2 oz. of rice.\n\n[75] _Ficus glomerata_.\n\n[76] From Ganga, or the Ganges, and _ala_ a pot.\n\n[77] _Cajanus indicus_.\n\n[78] _Phaseolus mungo_.\n\n[79] _Phaseolus radiatus_.\n\n[80] _Bombax malabaricum_.\n\n[81] _Acacia arabica_.\n\n[82] _Cassia tora_.\n\n[83] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), p. 340.\n\n[84] _Schleichera trijuga_.\n\n[85] _Hindus of Gujarat_, App., art. Vaghri, footnote.\n\n[86] _Religion of the Semites_.\n\n[87] Mackintosh, _Report on the Manbhaos._.\n\n[88] See articles on Khairwar and Kewat.\n\n[89] Colonel Ward's _Mandia Settlement Report_ p. 29.\n\n[90] _Brief View of the Caste System_, p. 14.\n\n[91] _Symplocos racemosa_.\n\n[92] Raja Lachman Singh's _Bulandshahr Memo,_ p. 182, quoted in\nMr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Lodha.\n\n[93] _Narsinghpur Settlement Report_ (1866), p. 28.\n\n[94] _Nagpur Settlement Report_, p. 24.\n\n[95] A small millet.\n\n[96] Every twelfth year when the planet Jupiter is in conjunction\nwith the constellation Sinh (Leo).\n\n[97] _Butea Frondosa_.\n\n[98] This is known as _lodha_.\n\n[99] The Rajjhars are a low caste of farmservants and labourers,\nprobably an offshoot of the Bhar tribe.\n\n[100] _Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P. and Oudh_, art. Lohar.\n\n[101] Dowson, _Classical Dictionary, s.v._\n\n[102] In Uriya the term, _Ghantrabela_ means a person who has illicit\nintercourse with another. The Ghantra Lohars are thus probably of\nbastard origin, like the groups known as half-castes and others which\nare frequently found.\n\n[103] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 624. (Ibbetson.)\n\n[104] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal,_ art. Lohar\n\n[105] About 15 acres.\n\n[106] _Berar Census Report_, 1881 (Kitts).\n\n[107] _Punjab Ethnography_, para. 624.\n\n[108] _Bombay Gazetteer_, xvi. 82.\n\n[109] This article is partly based on papers by Mr. P.B. Telang,\nMunsiff Seoni-Malwa, and Mr. Waman Rao Mandloi, naib-tahsildar, Harda.\n\n[110] This derivation is also negatived by the fact that the name\nMaharatta was known in the third century B.C., or long before the\nRastrakutas became prominent.\n\n[111] _Bombay Gazetteer; Gujarat Hindus_, p. 338.\n\n[112] Ibbetson, _Punjab Census Report_ (1881).\n\n[113] _Bombay Gazetteer, l.c._ text and footnote by R. v. J. S. Taylor.\n\n[114] Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 143.\n\n[115] See article on Panwar Rajput.\n\n[116] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 144.\n\n[117] Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ p. 144.\n\n[118] Described in the articles on Kurmi and Kunbi.\n\n[119] _Loc. cit_.\n\n[120] _Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hindus, loc. cit._\n\n[121] In Berar for ten days--Kitts' _Berar Census Report, l.c._\n\n[122] 3rd Baisakh (April) Sudi, commencement of agricultural year.\n\n[123] _Berar Census Report, l.c._\n\n[124] _Berar Census Report, l.c._\n\n[125] _Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hindus_.\n\n[126] It was formerly suggested that the fact of the Mahars being\nthe chief worshippers at the shrines of Sheikh Farid indicated that\nthe places themselves had been previously held sacred, and had been\nannexed by the Muhammadan priests; and the legend of the giant, who\nmight represent the demonolatry of the aboriginal faith, being slain by\nthe saint might be a parable, so to say, expressing this process. But\nin view of the way in which the Mehtars worship Musalman saints, it\nseems quite likely that the Mahars might do so for the same reason,\nthat is, because Islam partly frees them from the utter degradation\nimposed by Hinduism. Both views may have some truth. As regards the\nlegends themselves, it is highly improbable that Sheikh Farid, a\nwell-known saint of northern India, can ever have been within several\nhundred miles of either of the places with which they connect him.\n\n[127] From Mr. C. Brown's notes.\n\n[128] _C.P. Police Gazette_.\n\n[129] Kitts, _l.c._\n\n[130] _Ibidem_.\n\n[131] Stated by Mr. C. Brown.\n\n[132] Vol. ii. p. 237.\n\n[133] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xii. p. 175.\n\n[134] Rev. A. Taylor in _Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hindus_, p. 341 f.\n\n[135] The following passage is taken from Forbes, _Rasmala_, i. p. 112.\n\n[136] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xi p. 73.\n\n[137] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xi. p. 73.\n\n[138] Grant Duff; _History of the Marathas_, vol. i. p. 24.\n\n[139] _Nagpur Settlement Report_ (1899), p. 29.\n\n[140] This article consists of extracts from Sir H. Risley's account\nof the caste in the _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_.\n\n[141] See lists of exogamous septs of Mahli, Sandal, Munda and Puri\nin Appendix to _Tribes and Castes cf Bengal_.\n\n[142] _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 326.\n\n[143] This article is based on papers by Mr. Hira Lal and Suraj Baksh\nSingh, Assistant Superintendent, Udaipur State, with references\nto Mr. Crooke's exhaustive article on the Majhwars in his _Tribes\nand Castes_.\n\n[144] Crooke, art Majhwar, para. 1.\n\n[145] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Manjhi.\n\n[146] Crooke, _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Manjhi, para. 4.\n\n[147] Crooke, _Tribes and Castes of Bengal,_ art. Manjhi, para. 63.\n\n[148] _Ibidem,_ para. 54.\n\n[149] _Ficus glomerata_.\n\n[150] Based entirely on Colonel Dalton's account in the _Ethnology\nof Bengal_, and Sir H. Risley's in the _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_.\n\n[151] See _The Khandesh Bhil Corps_, by Mr. A. H. A. Simcox, p. 62.\n\n[152] _Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies_, ed. 1897, pp. 25, 26.\n\n[153] Page 130.\n\n[154] _Hinduism_, in 'Religions Ancient and Modern' Series, p. 26.\n\n[155] This article is based principally on Mr. Low's description of\nthe Marars in the _Balaghat District Gazetteer_ and on a paper by\nMajor Sutherland, I.M.S.\n\n[156] _C.P. Census Report_ (1891), para. 180.\n\n[157] Schroeder, _Prehistoric Antiquities_, 121, quoted in Crooke's\n_Tribes and Castes_, art. Mali.\n\n[158] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 483.\n\n[159] _Ibidem_, para. 484.\n\n[160] _Balaghat District Gazetteer_, para. 59.\n\n[161] Mr. Napier's _Bhandara Settlement Report_, quoted in article\non Kohli.\n\n[162] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Mali.\n\n[163] _Brief View of the Caste System_, p. 15.\n\n[164] _La Cite antique_, 21st ed., p. 181.\n\n[165] _The Antiquity of Oriental Carpets_, Sir G. Birdwood (Society\nof Arts, 6th November 1908).\n\n[166] The derivations of chaplet and rosary are taken from Ogilvy's\n_Dictionary_.\n\n[167] _Balaghat District Gazetteer_ (C.E. Low), para. 59.\n\n[168] _Ibidem, loc. cit._\n\n[169] _Balaghat District Gazetteer_, para. 59.\n\n[170] _Hindu Castes_, vol. i. p. 327.\n\n[171] _Balaghat District Gazetteer, loc. cit._\n\n[172] This article is based on papers by Mr. Shyamacharan, B.A.,\nB.L., Pleader, Narsinghpur, and Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic clerk.\n\n[173] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes of the N. W. P. and Oudh_,\nart. Mallah.\n\n[174] This article is based on papers by Mr. Hira Lal and G. Padaya\nNaidu of the Gazetteer Office.\n\n[175] _Papers on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces_, p. 6.\n\n[176] Rev. A. Wood in _Chanda District Gazetteer_, para. 96.\n\n[177] This article is compiled from notes on the caste drawn up\nby Colonel Mackenzie and contributed to the _Pioneer_ newspaper by\nMrs. Horsburgh; Captain Mackintosh's _Account of the Manbhaos_ (India\nOffice Tracts); and a paper by Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic clerk.\n\n[178] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 62.\n\n[179] Dattatreya was a celebrated Sivite devotee who has been deified\nas an incarnation of Siva.\n\n[180] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 62.\n\n[181] This article is based partly on a paper by Mr. Achyut Sitaram\nSathe, Extra Assistant Commissioner.\n\n[182] P. 389.\n\n[183] See also separate article Mang-Garori.\n\n[184] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 147.\n\n[185] _Lectures on the Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_,\np. 79.\n\n[186] _Cynodon dactylon_.\n\n[187] Dr, Murray Mitchell's _Great Religions of India_, p. 63.\n\n[188] From a note by Mr. Hira Lal.\n\n[189] Times Press, Bombay, 1882.\n\n[190] Kennedy, _Criminal Classes of the Bombay Presidency_, p. 122.\n\n[191] _Lectures on some Criminal Tribes of India_.\n\n[192] This passage is quoted by Mr. Gayer from the Supplement to the\nCentral Provinces Police Gazette of 24th January 1905.\n\n[193] Hutton's _Thugs, Dacoits and Gang-robbers of India_ (1857),\npp. 164-168, quoting an account by Captain Barr.\n\n[194] This article is based on papers by Rai Sahib Nanakchand, B.A.,\nHeadmaster, Saugor High School, and Munshi Pyare Lal Misra of the\nGazetteer office.\n\n[195] _Brief View_, p. 30.\n\n[196] The _tazias_ are ornamental representations of the tomb of\nHussain, which the Muhammadans make at the Muharram festival.\n\n[197] This article is based on a note furnished by Mr. M. Aziz,\nOfficiating Naib-Tahsildar, Sironcha.\n\n[198] From a glossary published by Mr. Gupta, Assistant Director of\nEthnology for India.\n\n[199] Generally the paternal aunt's son.\n\n[200] _Bassia latifolia_.\n\n[201] Sir H. Risley's _India Census Report_ (1901), Ethnographic\nAppendices, p. 93.\n\n[202] P. 48, footnote.\n\n[203] _Nasik Gazetteer_, _ibidem_. Elphinstone's _History_, p. 246.\n\n[204] The proper spelling is Bhosle, but Bhonsla is adopted in\ndeference to established usage.\n\n[205] _Bombay Census Report_ (1901), pp. 184-185.\n\n[206] _Rajasthan_, i. 269.\n\n[207] _Ibidem_, ii. 420.\n\n[208] _Sholapur Gazetteer_, p. 87.\n\n[209] _Satara Gazetteer_, p. 64.\n\n[210] _Ibidem_, p. 75.\n\n[211] _Bombay Census Report_ (1907), _ibidem_.\n\n[212] _Letter on the Marathas_ (India Office Tracts).\n\n[213] _Satara Gazetteer_, p. 75.\n\n[214] Grant-Duff, 4th edition (1878), vol. i. pp. 70-72.\n\n[215] Forsyth, _Nimar Settlement Report_.\n\n[216] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xviii. part i. pp. 413-414.\n\n[217] Elliott, _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_.\n\n[218] The following description is taken from the Ethnographic\nAppendices to Sir H.H. Risley's _India Census Report_ of 1901.\n\n[219] Irvine's _Army of the Mughals_, p. 82.\n\n[220] _Ibidem_, p. 232. Gopal is a name of Krishna.\n\n[221] Lit. armour-bearers. Colonel Tone writes: \"I apprehend from the\nmeaning of this term that it was formerly the custom of this nation,\nas was the case in Europe, to appear in armour. I have frequently\nseen a kind of coat-of-mail worn by the Maratha horsemen, known as a\n_beuta_, which resembles our ancient hauberk; it is made of chain work,\ninterlinked throughout, fits close to the body and adapts itself to\nall its motions.\"\n\n[222] In order to obtain redress by Dharna the creditor or injured\nperson would sit starving himself outside his debtor's door, and if\nhe died the latter would be held to have committed a mortal sin and\nwould be haunted by his ghost; see also article on Bhat. The account\nhere given must be exaggerated.\n\n[223] Elphinstone's _History_, 7th ed. p. 748.\n\n[224] _Ibidem_, p. 753.\n\n[225] Some information has been obtained from a paper by Mr. Harbans\nRai, Clerk of Court, Damoh.\n\n[226] Rajendra Lal Mitra, quoted in art. on Beria.\n\n[227] Greeven, op. cit. pp. 29, 33.\n\n[228] Op. cit p. 334.\n\n[229] Greeven, p. 66, quoting from _Echoes of Old Calcutta_.\n\n[230] Crooke, _op. cit._\n\n[231] Crooke, _op. cit._ para. 52.\n\n[232] Ibbetson, _op. cit._ para. 227.\n\n[233] Greeven, _op. cit._ p. 21.\n\n[234] The fruit of the _achar_ (_Buchanamia latifolia_).\n\n[235] _Acacia arabica_.\n\n[236] _Acacia catechu_.\n\n[237] Some writers consider that Balmik, the sweeper-saint, and\nValmiki, the author of the Ramayana, are not identical.\n\n[238] Page 38.\n\n[239] Page 8.\n\n[240] Page 54.\n\n[241] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 599.\n\n[242] Sir H. Risley, _l.c._, art. Dom.\n\n[243] _Institutes_, x. 12-29-30.\n\n[244] _Ibidem_, iv. 239, quoted by Mr. Crooke, art. Dom.\n\n[245] Probably not within the house but in the veranda or courtyard.\n\n[246] _Ibidem_.\n\n[247] Crooke, _Tribes and Castes_, art. Dom, para. 34.\n\n[248] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _l.c._\n\n[249] _Ibidem_.\n\n[250] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), and _Bombay Gazetteer_, _l.c._\n\n[251] _Hindu Tribes and Castes_, quoted by Sir H. Risley, art. Dom.\n\n[252] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _l.c._\n\n[253] Ibbetson, _l.c._ para. 596.\n\n[254] _Ibidem_, para. 601.\n\n[255] _L.c._ pp. 25, 26.\n\n[256] _Rajputana Gazetteer_, vol. i. p. 165.\n\n[257] A Muhammadan form of marriage.\n\n[258] Elliott's _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_, p. 63.\n\n[259] Cunningham's _Archaeological Survey Reports_, xx. p. 24.\n\n[260] _Ibidem_.\n\n[261] General Cunningham's enumeration of the _pals_ is as follows:\nFive Jadon clans--Chhirkilta, Dalat, Dermot, Nai, Pundelot; five\nTuar clans--Balot, Darwar, Kalesa, Lundavat, Rattawat; one Kachhwaha\nclan--Dingal; one Bargjuar clan--Singal. Besides these there is one\nmiscellaneous or half-blood clan, Palakra, making up the common total\nof 12 1/2 clans.\n\n[262] Ibbetson's _Punjab Census Report_, para. 582. Sir D. Ibbetson\nconsidered it doubtful, however, whether the expression referred to\nthe Mina caste.\n\n[263] Major Powlett, _Gazetteer of Alwar_.\n\n[264] _Asiatic Studies_, vol. i. p. 162.\n\n[265] Quoted in Dowson's _Elliott's History of India_, iii. p. 103.\n\n[266] Dowson's _Elliott_, iv. pp. 60, 75, 283, quoted in Crooke's\n_Tribes and Castes_.\n\n[267] _Census Report_ (1881), para. 582.\n\n[268] _Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P._ art. Meo.\n\n[269] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 589.\n\n[270] _Archaeological Reports_. vol. xx. p. 26.\n\n[271] _Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces_,\nvol. iii. p. 496.\n\n[272] Baden Powell's _Land Systems of British India_, vol. iii. p. 116.\n\n[273] _Punjab Ethnography_, p. 289.\n\n[274] _Brief View_, p. 43.\n\n[275] Crooke, _loc. cit._\n\n[276] This article is partly based on papers by Mr. Gopal Parmanand,\nDeputy Inspector of Schools, Saugor, and Mr. Shamsuddin, Sub-Inspector,\nCity Police, Saugor.\n\n[277] _Brief View_.\n\n[278] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey Draft Monograph on Jingar_.\n\n[279] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Mochi.\n\n[280] _Eastern India_, vol. iii. p. 105.\n\n[281] Rajendra Lal Mitra, _Indo-Aryans_, vol. i. pp. 222, 223.\n\n[282] _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 326.\n\n[283] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Bind.\n\n[284] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bind.\n\n[285] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, _loc. cit._\n\n[286] The clever writer referred to in the preceding line.\n\n[287] Breast-cloth.\n\n[288] This article is mainly compiled from papers by Mr. Hira Lal\nand Babu Gulab Singh, Superintendent of Land Records, Betul.\n\n[289] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 158.\n\n[290] _Butea frondosa_.\n\n[291] _Phyllanthus emiblica_.\n\n[292] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Chatterji, retired\nE.A.C., Jubbulpore; Professor Sadashiva Jairam, M.A., Hislop College,\nNagpur; and Mr. C. Shrinivas Naidu, First Assistant Master, Sironcha,\nChanda; and from the Central Provinces District Gazetteers.\n\n[293] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes,_ art. Nai.\n\n[294] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Nai, para. 5.\n\n[295] The following account is largely taken from Mr. Nesfield's\n_Brief View of the Caste System_, pp. 42, 43.\n\n[296] _Eighteenth Century Middle-Class Life_, by C.S. Torres, in the\n_Nineteenth Century and After_, Sept. 1910.\n\n[297] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, p. 17.\n\n[298] _Ibidem_, p. 107.\n\n[299] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, p. 330.\n\n[300] In the _Balaghat District Gazetteer_.\n\n[301] D.B. Pandian, _Indian Village Life_, under Barber.\n\n[302] Quoted in Malcolm's _Sketch of the Sikhs, Asiatic Researches_,\nvol. xi., 1810, p. 289.\n\n[303] Quoted in Sir D. Ibbetson's account of the Sikhs in _Punjab\nCensus Report_ (1881).\n\n[304] _Sketch of the Sikhs_, _ibidem_, pp. 284, 285.\n\n[305] Professor Bluemners, _Home Life of the Ancient Greeks_,\ntranslation, p. 455.\n\n[306] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. iii. p. 370.\n\n[307] Hendley, _Account of the Bhils_, _J.A.S.B._ vol. xxxiv., 1875,\np. 360.\n\n[308] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 528.\n\n[309] S.C. Roy, _The Mundas and their Country_, p. 369.\n\n[310] W. Kirkpatrick in _J.A.S.B._, July 1911, p. 438.\n\n[311] _Golden Bough_, 3rd ed. vol. viii. p. 153.\n\n[312] _G.B._, 3rd ed., _Balder the Beautiful_, vol. ii. p. 103.\n\n[313] Dr. Jevons, _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 45.\n\n[314] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 234.\n\n[315] _Ibidem_, vol. i. p. 242.\n\n[316] _Ibidem_, vol. i. pp. 368, 369.\n\n[317] Dalton, _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 270.\n\n[318] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Parsis of Gujarat_, p. 226.\n\n[319] _Religion of the Semites_, note i. pp. 483, 484.\n\n[320] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Muhammadans of Gujarat_, p. 52.\n\n[321] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 368.\n\n[322] Yule's ed. i. 50, quoted in _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of\nGujarat_, p. 470.\n\n[323] Mr. V.A. Smith, _Early History of India_, 2nd ed. p. 128.\n\n[324] _Religion of the Semites_, p. 33.\n\n[325] Lev. xiv. 9 and Deut. xxi. 12.\n\n[326] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 371.\n\n[327] _Ibidem_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 370.\n\n[328] _Ibidem_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 371.\n\n[329] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Sarwaria.\n\n[330] _Occult Review_, October 1909.\n\n[331] _Orpheus_, p. 99, and _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Parsis of Gujarat_;\np. 220.\n\n[332] Hanuman is worshipped on this day in order to counteract the\nevil influence of the planet Saturn, whose day it really is.\n\n[333] Pots in which wheat-stalks are sown and tended for nine days,\ncorresponding to the Gardens of Adonis.\n\n[334] _Religion of the Semites_ p. 324.\n\n[335] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 203.\n\n[336] In 1911 the Naodas numbered 700 persons in the Central\nProvinces. About 1000 were returned in Central India in 1891, but in\n1901 they were amalgamated with the Mallahs or Kewats. This article\nis based on a paper by Mr. P.R. Kaipitia, Forest Ranger.\n\n[337] This article is partly compiled from notes furnished by\nMr. Aduram Chaudhri and Mr. Jagannath Prasad, Naib-Tahsildars.\n\n[338] See art. Kanjar.\n\n[339] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 588.\n\n[340] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Beria.\n\n[341] _Asiatic Researches_, vol. vii., 1803, by Captain Richardson.\n\n[342] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Nat.\n\n[343] Crooke, _l.c._, art. Nat.\n\n[344] _Ibidem._\n\n[345] Ibbetson, _Punjab Census Report_ (1886), para. 588.\n\n[346] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xx. p. 186, quoted in Mr. Crooke's\narticle.\n\n[347] Temple and Fallon's _Hindustani Proverbs_, p. 171.\n\n[348] _As. Res._ vol. xvi., 1828, p. 213.\n\n[349] _Melia indica_.\n\n[350] _Bengali Festivals and Holidays_, by the Rev. Bihari Lal De,\n_Calcutta Review_, vol. v. pp. 59, 60.\n\n[351] Based on papers by Munshi Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer Office,\nand Mr. Mir Patcha, Tahsildar, Bilaspur.\n\n[352] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Lunia.\n\n[353] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Lunia.\n\n[354] _Papers relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of the C.P._, p. 6.\n\n[355] Note by Mr. Tawney as Deputy Commissioner of Chhindwara, quoted\nin _Central Provinces Census Report_ of 1881 (Mr. Drysdale).\n\n[356] Sir C.A. Elliott's _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_, p. 70.\n\n[357] _Linguistic Survey_, vol. iv. p. 406.\n\n[358] _Bengal Census Report_ (1901).\n\n[359] _Ethnography_, p. 248.\n\n[360] _Tribes and Castes_, vol. ii. p. 141.\n\n[361] Panna Lal, Revenue Inspector.\n\n[362] _Sorghum halepense_.\n\n[363] _Shorea robusta_.\n\n[364] In Bilaspur the men have an iron comb in the hair with a circular\nend and two prongs like a fork. Women do not wear this.\n\n[365] _Jungle Life in India_, p. 134.\n\n[366] This article is compiled from papers by Pyare Lal Misra,\nEthnographic clerk, and Hazari Lal, Manager, Court of Wards, Chanda.\n\n[367] The basil plant.\n\n[368] _Bilaspur Settlement Report_ (1868), p. 49.\n\n[369] From a note by Mr. Gauri Shankar, Manager, Court of Wards, Drug.\n\n[370] With the exception of the historical notice, this article\nis principally based on a paper by Mr. Muhammad Yusuf, reader to\nMr. C.E. Low, Deputy Commissioner of Balaghat.\n\n[371] Tod's _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 407.\n\n[372] Foreign elements in the Hindu population, _Ind. Ant._ (January\n1911), vol. xl.\n\n[373] _Early History of India_ (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd ed.,\np. 303.\n\n[374] _Ibidem_, 2nd ed., p. 288.\n\n[375] _Ibidem_, p. 316.\n\n[376] _Early History of India_ (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd ed.,\np. 319.\n\n[377] _Garret's Classical Dictionary of Hinduism_, _s.v._ Jamadagni\nand Rama.\n\n[378] The following extract is taken from Mr. V.A. Smith's _Early\nHistory of India_, 3rd ed. pp. 395, 396. The passage has been somewhat\nabridged in reproduction.\n\n[379] Malcolm, i. p. 26.\n\n[380] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 215.\n\n[381] A similar instance in Europe is related by Colonel Tod,\nconcerning the origin of the Madrid Restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne\nat Paris. After Francis I had been captured by the Spaniards he was\nallowed to return to his capital, on pledging his parole that he would\ngo back to Madrid. But the delights of liberty and Paris were too\nmuch for honour; and while he wavered a hint was thrown out similar\nto that of destroying the clay city. A mock Madrid arose in the Bois\nde Boulogne, to which Francis retired. (_Rajasthan_, ii. p. 428.)\n\n[382] _Rajasthan_, ii. pp. 264, 265.\n\n[383] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Panwar.\n\n[384] _Memoir of Central India_, i. 96.\n\n[385] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Panwar.\n\n[386] Blockmann, i. 252, quoted by Crooke.\n\n[387] Ibbetson, P.C.R., para. 448.\n\n[388] His name, Lakshma Deva, is given in a stone inscription dated\nA.D. 1104-1105.\n\n[389] The inscription is said to be in one of the temples in Winj\nBasini, near Bhandak, in the Devanagri character in Marathi, and\nto run as follows: \"Consecration of Jagnarayan (the serpent of the\nworld). Dajianashnaku, the son of Chogneka, he it was who consecrated\nthe god. The Panwar, the ruler of Dhar, was the third repairer of\nthe statue. The image was carved by Gopinath Pandit, inhabitant of\nLonar Mehkar. Let this shrine be the pride of all the citizens, and\nlet this religious act be notified to the chief and other officers.\"\n\n[390] A few Panwar Rajputs are found in the Saugor District, but they\nare quite distinct from those of the Maratha country, and marry with\nthe Bundelas. They are mentioned in the article on that clan.\n\n[391] March.\n\n[392] Rice boiled with milk and sugar.\n\n[393] Village headman.\n\n[394] Patwari or village accountant.\n\n[395] _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 59.\n\n[396] _Diospyros tomentosa_.\n\n[397] Gamble, _Manual of Indian Timbers_, p. 461.\n\n[398] _Balaghat District Gazetteer_.\n\n[399] P. 62, quoting from Bringand, _Les Karens de la Birmanie,\nLes Missions Catholiques_, xx. (1888), p. 208.\n\n[400] _Tod's Rajasthan_, i. p. 165. But Johar is a common term of\nsalutation among the Hindus.\n\n[401] _Seoni Settlement Report_ (1867), p. 43.\n\n[402] From a collection of notes on Patharis by various police\nofficers. The passage is somewhat abridged in reproduction.\n\n[403] _Ficus R._\n\n[404] _Bassia latifolia_.\n\n[405] _Ficus glomerata_.\n\n[406] Note already quoted.\n\n[407] This article is partly compiled from papers by Mr. Aduram\nChaudhri and Pandit Pyare Lal Misra of the Gazetteer Office,\nand extracts from Mr. Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ (1881), and\nMr. Sewell's note on the caste quoted in Mr. Gayer's _Lectures on\nthe Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_.\n\n[408] _Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the C.P._, p. 19.\n\n[409] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 135.\n\n[410] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey_, art. Pardhi.\n\n[411] _Jungle Life in India_, pp. 586-587.\n\n[412] _Peasant Life in Bihar_, p. 80.\n\n[413] See Jerdon's _Mammals of India_, p, 97. The account there given\nis quoted in the _Chhindwara District Gazetteer_, pp. 16-17.\n\n[414] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, p. 75.\n\n[415] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, pp. 69, 71.\n\n[416] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, pp. 39-40.\n\n[417] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey_, _ibidem_.\n\n[418] This article is based on papers by Mr. Panda Baijnath and other\nofficers of the Bastar State.\n\n[419] By Dr. Cornish.\n\n[420] _Linguistic Survey_; vol. ix, p. 554; vol. ii. part ii. pp. 434\nff.\n\n[421] In the article on Gond it is suggested that the Gonds and\nKhonds were originally one tribe, and the fact that the Parjas have\naffinities with both of them appears to support this view.\n\n[422] _Eugenia jambolana_.\n\n[423] Hareli, _lit._ 'the season of greenness.'\n\n[424] Nawakhani, _lit._ 'the new eating.'\n\n[425] _Folklore as a Historical Science_ (G.L. Gomme), pp. 191, 192.\n\n[426] Based principally on Mr. Crooke's article on the caste in his\n_Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh_.\n\n[427] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bhar.\n\n[428] Art. Pasi, para. 3.\n\n[429] Art. Bhar, para. 4.\n\n[430] A pulse of a black colour (_Phaseolus radiatus_).\n\n[431] These sentences are taken from Dr. Grierson's _Peasant Life in\nBehar_, p. 79.\n\n[432] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Pasi.\n\n[433] The following passage is taken from Mr. Crooke's article\non Pasi, and includes quotations from the _Sitapur_ and _Hardoi\nSettlement Reports_.\n\n[434] _Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_.\n\n[435] The word Rakshabandhan is said to mean literally, 'the bond\nof protection.' Another suggested derivation, 'binding the devil,'\nis perhaps incorrect.\n\n[436] The historical account of the Pindaris is compiled from Malcolm's\n_Memoir of Central India_, Grant-Duff's _History of the Marathas_,\nand Prinsep's _Transactions in India_ (1825). Some notes on the modern\nPindaris have been furnished by Mr. Hira Lal, and Mr. Waman Rustom\nMandloi, Naib-Tahsildar, Harda.\n\n[437] _Memoir of Central India_, i, p. 433.\n\n[438] _Indian Antiquary_, 1900.\n\n[439] _Transactions in India_, 1813-23, by H.T. Prinsep.\n\n[440] _Maratha and Pindari Campaigns_.\n\n[441] The above is compiled from the accounts given by Prinsep and\nMalcolm.\n\n[442] That is when Malcolm wrote his _Memoir_.\n\n[443] This account is copied from Prinsep's _Transactions_.\n\n[444] _Memoir_, ii. p. 177.\n\n[445] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 674.\n\n[446] Malcolm, ii. p. 177.\n\n[447] The Pindari's childhood is recalled here, _vide_ poem.\n\n[448] Pamphlet published in connection with the Ethnographic Survey.\n\n[449] _A Prabhu Marriage_, p. 3 _et seq._\n\n[450] _A Prabhu Marriage_, pp. 26-27.\n\n[451] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey_, art. Prabhu.\n\n[452] _Bombay Gazetteer_, ix. p. 68, footnotes.\n\n[453] _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_ (1807), p. 60.\n\n[454] _Nagpur Settlement Report_.\n\n[455] _Settlement Report_.\n\n[456] Preserved butter.\n\n[457] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Raghuvansi.\n\n[458] Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 157.\n\n[459] About 400 lbs.\n\n[460] _Early History of India_ (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd edition,\np. 414.\n\n[461] _Early History of India_, pp. 252, 254.\n\n[462] _Ibidem_, p. 210.\n\n[463] _Ibidem_, p. 227.\n\n[464] Colonel Tod states that, the proper name of the caste was Jit\nor Jat, and was changed to Jat by a section of them who also adopted\nMuhammadanism. Colonel Tod also identifies the Jats or Jits with the\nYueh-chi as suggested in the text (_Rajasthan_, i. p. 97).\n\n[465] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 42. Mr. Crooke points out that the Buddha\nhere referred to is probably the planet Mercury. But it is possible\nthat he may have been identified with the religious reformer as the\nnames seem to have a common origin.\n\n[466] See also separate articles on Panwar, Rajput and Gujar.\n\n[467] _J.A.S.B._, 1909, p. 167, _Guhilots_. See also annexed article\non Rajput Sesodia.\n\n[468] _Ibidem_, i. p. 105.\n\n[469] See also article Bhat.\n\n[470] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 231, 232.\n\n[471] _Butea frondosa_. This powder is also used at the Holi festival\nand has some sexual significance.\n\n[472] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 159.\n\n[473] _Melia indica_.\n\n[474] _Ficus R._\n\n[475] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 123.\n\n[476] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 267, 268.\n\n[477] _Rasmala_, ii. p. 261.\n\n[478] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 553.\n\n[479] _Reminiscences of Lady Dorothy Nevill_, Nelson's edition, p. 367.\n\n[480] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 3.\n\n[481] Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_, p. 35.\n\n[482] Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_, p. 138.\n\n[483] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 543, 544.\n\n[484] _Ibidem_, i. p. 125.\n\n[485] _Ibidem_, ii. p. 52.\n\n[486] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 552.\n\n[487] Vol. ii. p. 227.\n\n[488] A ceremony of smearing vermilion on the bride before a wedding,\nwhich is believed to bring good fortune.\n\n[489] The basil plant, sacred to Vishnu.\n\n[490] A round black stone, considered to be a form of Vishnu.\n\n[491] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 555.\n\n[492] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. art. Rajput.\n\n[493] Quoted in Sir D. Ibbetson's _Punjab Census Report_ (1881),\npara. 456.\n\n[494]  Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Baghel.\n\n[495] Vol. i. part i. p. 198.\n\n[496] See also a history of the Baghels, called _Pratap Vinod_,\nwritten by Khan Bahadur Rahmat Ali Khan, and translated by Thakur\nPratap Singh, Revenue Commissioner of Rewah.\n\n[497] Article Baghel, quoting Forsyth's _Highlands of Central India_.\n\n[498] _Memoir of Central India_, vol. ii. p. 479.\n\n[499] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 445.\n\n[500] This article consists entirely of extracts from Mr. Crooke's\narticle on the Bais Rajputs.\n\n[501] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Banaphar.\n\n[502] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 88, and _Supplementary Glossary_, _s.v._\n\n[503] _Tribes and Castes_, _s.v._\n\n[504] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bundela.\n\n[505] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 106.\n\n[506] _Imperial Gazetteer_, articles Bundelkhand and Panna.\n\n[507] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, pp. 390-394.\n\n[508] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Chandel.\n\n[509] Sherring's _Castes and Tribes_, i. pp. 359, 360.\n\n[510] _Supplemental Glossary_, art. Bhar.\n\n[511] See art. Pasi.\n\n[512] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Chandel.\n\n[513] _Ibidem_.\n\n[514] _J.A.S.B._ vol. xlvi. (1877), p. 232.\n\n[515] _Ibidem_, p. 233.\n\n[516] _J.A.S.B._ vol. xlvi. (1877), p. 233.\n\n[517] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 86, 87.\n\n[518] _Archaeological Reports_, ii. 255, quoted in Mr. Crooke's\nart. Chauhan.\n\n[519] _Imperial Gazetteer, India_, vol. ii, p. 312.\n\n[520] _Early History of India_ and _Imperial Gazetteer, loc. cit._\n\n[521] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 419.\n\n[522] The above particulars are taken from Mr. Crooke's article\nDhakara in his _Tribes and Castes_.\n\n[523] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 391.\n\n[524] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 385.\n\n[525] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Gaharwar.\n\n[526] _Tribes and Castes_, i. p. 75.\n\n[527] _Supplementary Glossary_, p. 33.\n\n[528] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 105.\n\n[529] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's article on Gaharwar.\n\n[530] See art. Rajput, Bundela.\n\n[531] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's article Gaur Brahman.\n\n[532] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 105.\n\n[533] _Supplemental Glossary, s.v._\n\n[534] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 36.\n\n[535] The above notice of the Kalachuri or Haihaya dynasty of Tripura\nis taken from the detailed account in the _Jubbulpore District\nGazetteer_, pp. 42-47, compiled by Mr. A.E. Nelson, C.S., and Rai\nBahadur Hira Lal.\n\n[536] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 390. This, however,\ndoes not only refer to the Jubbulpore branch, whose territories\ndid not probably include the south and east of the present Central\nProvinces, but includes also the country over which the Ratanpur\nkings subsequently extended their separate jurisdiction.\n\n[537] _Bilaspur District Gazetteer_, chap. ii., in which a full and\ninteresting account of the Ratanpur kingdom is given by Mr. C.U. Wills,\nC.S.\n\n[538] _Ibidem_, p. 49.\n\n[539] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Hayobans.\n\n[540] The date is too early, as is usual in these traditions. Though\nthe Haihaivansis only founded Ratanpur about A.D. 1050, their own\nlegends put it ten centuries earlier.\n\n[541] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 36.\n\n[542] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 319.\n\n[543] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 381.\n\n[544] The above information is taken from the new _Imperial Gazetteer_,\narticles Jaipur and Alwar States.\n\n[545] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Kachhwaha.\n\n[546] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 94; Elliot's _Supplemental Glossary_,\nart. Gaur Taga.\n\n[547] See article on Kol.\n\n[548] _Eastern India_, ii. 461, quoted in Mr. Crooke's art. Nagvansi.\n\n[549] _Tribes and Castes_, vol. i. art. Nikumbh.\n\n[550] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 417.\n\n[551] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Nikumbh.\n\n[552] _Eastern India_, ii. p. 919.\n\n[553] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 86.\n\n[554] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 390.\n\n[555] Ibidem, pp. 378, 379.\n\n[556] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 91.\n\n[557] Ibidem.\n\n[558] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Parihar.\n\n[559] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 389.\n\n[560] _Ibidem_, p. 413.\n\n[561] _Imperial Gazetteer_, art. Bali.\n\n[562] _Rajasthan_, ii. pp. 16, 17.\n\n[563] _Ibidem_, i. p. 81.\n\n[564] _Ibidem_, ii. p. 37.\n\n[565] _Ibidem_, ii. p. 35.\n\n[566] _J.A.S.B._ (1909), vol. v. p. 167.\n\n[567] _Imperial Gazetteer, loc. cit_.\n\n[568] Bhandarkar, _loc. cit._ p. 180.\n\n[569] The following extracts from the history of the clan are mainly\ntaken from the article on Udaipur State in the _Imperial Gazetteer_.\n\n[570] _Rajasthan_, pp. 222, 223.\n\n[571] Forbes, _Rasmala_ i. p. 400.\n\n[572] _Rajasthan_ i. pp, 398, 399. The death of the young princess\nwas mainly the work of Amir Khan Pindari who brought pressure on the\nRana to consent to it in order to save his state.\n\n[573] If the Chalukyas were in the Deccan in the fourth century they\ncould not have originated from the Hun and Gujar invaders of the\nfifth and sixth centuries, but must have belonged to an earlier horde.\n\n[574] _Some Problems of Ancient Indian History_, by Dr. Rudolf Hoernle,\n_J.R.A.S._ (1905) pp. 1-14.\n\n[575] _Tribes and Castes, s.v._\n\n[576] _Ibidem_, art. Soiri.\n\n[577] Mr Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Tomara.\n\n[578] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 386.\n\n[579] Elliot, _Supplemental Glossary, s.v._\n\n[580] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes, and Castes,_ art. Tomara.\n\n[581] See also article Jadum for a separate account of the local\ncaste in the Central Provinces.\n\n[582] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 434.\n\n[583] Based on the accounts of Sir H. Risley and Colonel Dalton and\na paper by Pandit G.L. Pathak, Superintendent, Korea State.\n\n[584] _B. G. Poona_, Part I., p. 409.\n\n[585] _An Account of the Origin and Present Condition of the Tribe\nof Ramosis_ (Bombay, 1833; India Office Tracts. Also published in\nthe _Madras Journal of Literature and Science_.)\n\n[586] This paragraph is mainly compiled from the _Nasik_ and _Poona_\nvolumes of the _Bombay Gazetteer_.\n\n[587] _Ficus glomerata_.\n\n[588] _Eugenia jambolana_.\n\n[589] _Calotropis gigantea_.\n\n[590] _Bauhinia racemosa_.\n\n[591] _Poona Gazetteer_, part i. p. 425.\n\n[592] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Rangrez.\n\n[593] _Peasant Life in Bihar_, p. 101, footnote.\n\n[594] Temple and Fallon's _Hindustani Proverbs_.\n\n[595] Based on Sir H. Risley's account of the tribe in the _Tribes\nand Castes of Bengal_, and on notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal at Raigarh.\n\n[596] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, vol. ii. App. I.\n\n[597] _Saccharum spontaneum_.\n\n[598] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Rautia.\n\n[599] This article is based principally on an account of the Sanaurhias\nwritten by Mr. C.M. Seagrim, Inspector-General of Police, Indore,\nand included in Mr. Kennedy's _Criminal Classes of Bombay_ (1908).\n\n[600] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Sanaurhia.\n\n[601] _Criminal Classes of Bombay Presidency_, pp. 296, 297.\n\n[602] Sleeman's _Reports on the Badhaks_, p. 327.\n\n[603] Mr. Gayer's _Lectures on some Criminal Tribes_.\n\n[604] _Report on the Badhak or Bagri Dacoits_ (1849), p. 328.\n\n[605] J. Hutton, _A Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits and\nGang-robbers of India_ (London, 1857).\n\n[606] This article is based almost entirely on a description of the\nSansias contained in Colonel Sleeman's _Report on the Badhak or Bagri\nDacoits_ (1849). Most of the material belongs to a report drawn up\nat Nagpur by Mr. C. Ramsay, Assistant Resident, in 1845.\n\n[607] Sleeman's _Report on the Badhaks_, p. 253.\n\n[608] _Ibidem_, p. 254.\n\n[609] Sir D. Ibbetson, _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 577.\n\n[610] P. 259.\n\n[611] The description of a dacoity is combined from two accounts\ngiven at pp. 257, 273 of Colonel Sleeman's _Report_.\n\n[612] _Sorghum vulgare_.\n\n[613] Made of the bark of the date-palm tied with strips of cloth\nround some inflammable wood.\n\n[614] Sleeman, p. 263.\n\n[615] But it is unlucky for a snake to cross one's path in front.\n\n[616] Sleeman, pp. 261, 262.\n\n[617] Committee of five persons.\n\n[618] _Ficus religiosa_.\n\n[619] The seer = 2 lbs.\n\n[620] _Criminal Classes in the Bombay Presidency_; Sansias and Berias.\n\n[621] Mr. Gayer, _Central Provinces Police Lectures_; p. 68.\n\n[622] This article is mainly based on a paper by Mr. Rama Prasad\nBohidar, Assistant Master, Sambalpur High School.\n\n[623] See article Beldar for a notice of the different groups of\nearth-workers.\n\n[624] Said to be derived from their name Waddar.\n\n[625] Story of Jasma Odni in Sati Charita Sangrah.\n\n[626] This article is principally based on papers by Munshi\nGopinath, Naib-Tahsildar, Sonpur, Mr. Kaluram Pachore, Assistant\nSettlement Officer, Sambalpur, and Mr. Hira Lal, Assistant Gazetteer\nSuperintendent.\n\n[627] _Archaeological Reports_, vol. xvii. pp. 120, 122.\n\n[628] _India Census Report_ (1901), p. 283.\n\n[629] _Archaeological Reports_, vol. xvii. p. 113.\n\n[630] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes of N.W.P._, art Savara.\n\n[631] _Tribes and Castes of N.W.P._, art. Savara.\n\n[632] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Savar.\n\n[633] _F. glomerata_.\n\n[634] _Balaghat Gazetteer_, C.E. Low, p. 207.\n\n[635] _Bhandara Settlement Report_ (A.J. Lawrence), p. 49.\n\n[636] Major Lucie Smith's _Chanda Settlement Report_ (1869), p. 105.\n\n[637] The following account of the process of gold-washing is taken\nfrom Mr. Low's _Balaghat Gazetteer_, p. 201.\n\n[638] This article is compiled from a paper by Mr. Bhagirath Patnaik,\nDiwan of Rairakhol, and from notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal at Rairakhol.\n\n[639] This article is partly based on an article by Mr. Raghunath\nPrasad, E.A.C., formerly Deputy Superintendent of Census, with extracts\nfrom the late Mr. Nunn's Monograph on the Gold and Silver Industries,\nand on information furnished by Krishna Rao, Revenue Inspector, Mandla.\n\n[640] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Sunar.\n\n[641] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xvii. p. 134.\n\n[642] See articles on Kunbi and Kurmi.\n\n[643] Monograph on the Gold and Silverware of the Central Provinces\n(Mr. H. Nunn, I.C.S.), 1904. The tola is a rupee's weight, or\ntwo-fifths of an ounce.\n\n[644] _Journal of Indian Art_, July 1909, p. 172.\n\n[645] From a monograph on rural customs in Saugor, by Major\nW.D. Sutherland, I.M.S.\n\n[646] Lang, _Myth, Ritual and Religion_, i. p. 98.\n\n[647] _2 King Henry IV._ Act IV. Sc. 4.\n\n[648] _Religion of the Semites_, note B., p. 453.\n\n[649] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Poona_, App. D., Ornaments.\n\n[650] _Religion of the Semites_, Lecture III.\n\n[651] 2 lbs.\n\n[652] From a paper on Caste Panchayats, by the Rev. Failbus,\nC.M.S. Mission, Mandla.\n\n[653] Rajendra Lal Mitra, _Indo-Aryans_ vol. i. p. 231.\n\n[654] _Introduction to the History of Religion_, 3rd ed. p. 172.\n\n[655] Monograph, _loc. cit._\n\n[656] This account is taken from Buchanan's _Eastern India_,\nvol. ii. p. 100.\n\n[657] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xii. p. 71.\n\n[658] Temple and Fallon's _Hindustani Proverbs._\n\n[659] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat,_ pp. 199, 200.\n\n[660] Pandian's _Indian Village Folk_, p. 41.\n\n[661] This article is compiled from a paper by Mr. D. Mitra, pleader,\nSambalpur.\n\n[662] _Madras Census Report_, 1891, p. 301.\n\n[663] This article is based on information: contributed by\nNand Kishore, Nazir of the Deputy Commissioner's Office, Damoh;\nMr. Tarachand Dube, Municipal Member, Bilaspur; and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri\nof the Gazetteer Office.\n\n[664] This article is based on papers by Mr. Prem Narayan, Extra\nAssistant Commissioner, Chanda; Mr. Mir Pacha, Tahsildar, Seoni;\nMr. Chintaman Rao, Tahsildar, Chanda; and Mr. K.G. Vaidya, Chanda.\n\n[665] _C.P. Census Report_ (1911), p. 147, referring to Professor\nKarl Pearson's _Chances of Death_.\n\n[666] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Teli.\n\n[667] _Bassia latifolia._\n\n[668] _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 72.\n\n[669] Weighing. 2 oz. each.\n\n[670] _Phaseolus radiatas._\n\n[671] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Teli.\n\n[672] _Acacia arabica_.\n\n[673] _Melia indica_.\n\n[674] _Indian Folk Tales_, p. 10.\n\n[675] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Teli.\n\n[676] _Rajasthan_, vol. ii. pp. 678, 679.\n\n[677] Thevenot's _Travels_, Part III. p. 41, quoted in Dr. Sherwood's\naccount, _Ramaseeana_, p. 359.\n\n[678] Sleeman, p. 11.\n\n[679] P. 144.\n\n[680] P. 162.\n\n[681] P. 147.\n\n[682] P. 205.\n\n[683] Hutton's _Thugs and Dacoits_.\n\n[684] Sleeman, p. 170.\n\n[685] Sleeman, p. 168.\n\n[686] He was called Feringia because he was born while his mother\nwas fleeing from an attack on her village by troops under European\nofficers (Feringis).\n\n[687] Sleeman, p. 205.\n\n[688] Hutton, p. 70.\n\n[689] _Ibidem_, p. 71.\n\n[690] Pp. 34, 35.\n\n[691] See _Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India_, p. 249.\n\n[692] Pp. 32, 33.\n\n[693] Kandeli adjoins the headquarters station of Narsinghpur, the\ntwo towns being divided only by a stream.\n\n[694] P. 23.\n\n[695] Near Bilehri in Jubbulpore.\n\n[696] Captain Lowis in Sleeman's _Report on the Thug Gangs_ (1840).\n\n[697] Pp. 15, 16.\n\n[698] P. 7.\n\n[699] P. 150.\n\n[700] Sleeman's _Report on the Thug Gangs_, Introduction, p. vi.\n\n[701] P. 142.\n\n[702] P. 216.\n\n[703] 'Oh Kali, Eater of Men, Oh great Kali of Calcutta.' The name\nCalcutta signifies Kali-ghat or Kali-kota, that is Kali's ferry or\nhouse. The story is that Job Charnock was exploring on the banks of\nthe Hoogly, when he found a widow about to be burnt as a sacrifice\nto Kali. He rescued her, married her, and founded a settlement on\nthe site, which grew into the town of Calcutta.\n\n[704] P. 133.\n\n[705] P. 173.\n\n[706] _Orpheus_, p. 170.\n\n[707] Dhamoni is an old ruined fort and town in the north of Saugor\nDistrict, still a favourite haunt of tigers; and the Thugs may often\nhave lain there in concealment and heard the tigers quarrelling in\nthe jungle.\n\n[708] Sleeman, p. 196.\n\n[709] P. 91.\n\n[710] P. 67.\n\n[711] P. 100.\n\n[712] _Orpheus_ (M. Salomon Reinach), p. 316.\n\n[713] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Turi.\n\n[714] _North Arcot Manual_, i. p. 216.\n\n[715] _Indian Antiquary_ (1879), p. 216.\n\n[716] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. W.A. Tucker,\nExtra Assistant Commissioner, Bhandara, and Mr. B.M. Deshmukh,\nPleader, Chanda.\n\n[717] Buchanan, _Eastern India_, i. p. 186.\n\n[718] Rand = widow or prostitute.\n\n[719] The term Kunwar is a title applied to the eldest son of a chief.\n\n[720] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xviii. p. 185.\n\n[721] _Nagpur Settlement Report_, p. 27.\n\n[722] This article is partly based on a paper by Pandit Pyare Lal\nMisra, ethnographic clerk.\n\n[723] Vol. xx. pp. 189-190.\n\n[724] _Bombay Gazetteer_; vol. xxii. p. 212.\n\n[725] _Madras Census Report_ (1891).\n\n[726] _Madras Census Report_ (1901).\n\n[727] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xxi. pp. 170, 171.\n\n[728] _Tribes and Castes of Southern India_, art. Korava.\n\n[729] _North Arcot Manual_, p. 247.\n\n[730] _Ind. Ant._ vol. iii., 1874, p. 157.\n\n\n\n\n\n                            THE END\n\n         Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh.","title":"The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 4","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":237473}