{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_41424/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_41424","id":"gutenberg_41424","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41424","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":"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. III.\n\n Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London.\n\n 1916\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOLUME III\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 are\nshown in capitals\n\n\n Page\n Gadaria (Shepherd) 3\n Gadba (Forest tribe) 9\n Ganda (Weaver and labourer) 14\n Gandhmali (Uriya village priests and temple servants) 17\n Garpagari (Averter of hailstorms) 19\n Gauria (Snake-charmer and juggler) 24\n Ghasia (Grass-cutter) 27\n Ghosi (Buffalo-herdsman) 32\n Golar (Herdsman) 35\n Gond (Forest tribe and cultivator) 39\n Gond-Gowari (Herdsman) 143\n Gondhali (Religious mendicant) 144\n Gopal (Vagrant criminal caste) 147\n Gosain (Religious mendicant) 150\n Gowari (Herdsman) 160\n Gujar (Cultivator) 166\n Gurao (Village priest) 175\n Halba (Forest tribe, labourer) 182\n Halwai (Confectioner) 201\n Hatkar (Soldier, shepherd) 204\n Hijra (Eunuch, mendicant) 206\n Holia (Labourer, curing hides) 212\n Injhwar (Boatman and fisherman) 213\n Jadam (Cultivator) 217\n Jadua (Criminal caste) 219\n Jangam (Priest of the Lingayat sect) 222\n Jat (Landowner and cultivator) 225\n Jhadi Telenga (Illegitimate, labourer) 238\n Jogi (Religious mendicant and pedlar) 243\n Joshi (Astrologer and village priest) 255\n Julaha (Weaver) 279\n Kachera (Maker of glass bangles) 281\n Kachhi (Vegetable-grower) 285\n Kadera (Firework-maker) 288\n Kahar (Palanquin-bearer and household servant) 291\n Kaikari (Basket-maker and vagrant) 296\n Kalanga (Soldier, cultivator) 302\n Kalar (Liquor vendor) 306\n Kamar (Forest tribe) 323\n Kanjar (Gipsies and prostitutes) 331\n Kapewar (Cultivator) 342\n Karan (Writer and clerk) 343\n Kasai (Butcher) 346\n Kasar (Worker in brass) 369\n Kasbi (Prostitute) 373\n Katia (Cotton-spinner) 384\n Kawar (Forest tribe and cultivator) 389\n Kayasth (Village accountant, writer and clerk) 404\n Kewat (Boatman and fisherman) 422\n Khairwar (Forest tribe; boilers of catechu) 427\n Khandait (Soldier, cultivator) 436\n Khangar (Village watchman and labourer) 439\n Kharia (Forest tribe, labourer) 445\n Khatik (Mutton-butcher) 453\n Khatri (Merchant) 456\n Khojah (Trader and shopkeeper) 461\n Khond (Forest tribe, cultivator) 464\n Kir (Cultivator) 481\n Kirar (Cultivator) 485\n Kohli (Cultivator) 493\n Kol (Forest tribe, labourer) 500\n Kolam (Forest tribe, cultivator) 520\n Kolhati (Acrobat) 527\n Koli (Forest tribe, cultivator) 532\n Kolta (Landowner and cultivator) 537\n Komti (Merchant and shopkeeper) 542\n Kori (Weaver and labourer) 545\n Korku (Forest tribe, labourer) 550\n Korwa (Forest tribe, cultivator) 571\n Koshti (Weaver) 581\n\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME III\n\n\n Page\n65. Gond women grinding corn 42\n66. Palace of the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla at Ramnagar 46\n67. Gonds on a journey 62\n68. Killing of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, from whom the\n Gonds are supposed to be descended 114\n69. Woman about to be swung round the post called Meghnath 116\n70. Climbing the pole for a bag of sugar 118\n71. Gonds with their bamboo carts at market 122\n72. Gond women, showing tattooing on backs of legs 126\n73. Maria Gonds in dancing costume 136\n74. Gondhali musicians and dancers 144\n75. Gosain mendicant 150\n76. Alakhwale Gosains with faces covered with ashes 152\n77. Gosain mendicants with long hair 154\n78. Famous Gosain Mahant. Photograph taken after death 156\n79. Gujar village proprietress and her land agent 168\n80. Guraos with figures made at the Holi festival called\n Gangour 176\n81. Group of Gurao musicians with their instruments 180\n82. Ploughing with cows and buffaloes in Chhattisgarh 182\n83. Halwai or confectioner's shop 202\n84. Jogi mendicants of the Kanphata sect 244\n85. Jogi musicians with sarangi or fiddle 250\n86. Kaikaris making baskets 298\n87. Kanjars making ropes 332\n88. A group of Kasars or brass-workers 370\n89. Dancing girls and musicians 374\n90. Girl in full dress and ornaments 378\n91. Old type of sugarcane mill 494\n92. Group of Kol women 512\n93. Group of Kolams 520\n94. Korkus of the Melghat hills 550\n95. Korku women in full dress 556\n96. Koshti men dancing a figure, holding strings and beating\n sticks 582\n\n\n\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 \u00e9 in \u00e9cart\u00e9 or ai in maid.\n i has the sound of i in bit, or (as a final letter) of y 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, though\nthis 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\n PART III\n\n ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES\n\n GARARDIA--KOSHTI\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGadaria\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n 1. General notice.\n 2. Subdivisions.\n 3. Marriage customs.\n 4. Religion and funeral rites.\n 5. Social customs.\n 6. Goats and sheep.\n 7. Blanket-weaving.\n 8. Sanctity of wool.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nGadaria, Gadri. [1]--The occupational shepherd caste of northern\nIndia. The name is derived from the Hindi gadar and the Sanskrit\ngandhara, a sheep, the Sanskrit name being taken from the country of\nGandhara or Kandahar, from which sheep were first brought. The three\nmain shepherd castes all have functional names, that of the Dhangars\nor Maratha shepherds being derived from dhan, small stock, while the\nKuramwars or Telugu shepherds take their name like the Gadarias from\nkuruba, a sheep. These three castes are of similar nature and status,\nand differ only in language and local customs. In 1911 the Gadarias\nnumbered 41,000 persons. They are found in the northern Districts,\nand appear to have been amongst the earliest settlers in the Nerbudda\nvalley, for they have given their name to several villages, as\nGadariakheda and Gadarwara.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions.\n\nThe Gadarias are a very mixed caste. They themselves say that their\nfirst ancestor was created by Mahadeo to tend his rams, and that he\nmarried three women who were fascinated by the sight of him shearing\nthe sheep. These belonged to the Brahman, Dhimar and Barai castes\nrespectively, and became the ancestors of the Nikhar, Dhengar and\nBarmaiyan subcastes of Gadarias. The Nikhar subcaste are the highest,\ntheir name meaning pure. Dhengar is probably, in reality, a corruption\nof Dhangar, the name of the Maratha shepherd caste. They have other\nsubdivisions of the common territorial type, as Jheria or jungly,\napplied to the Gadarias of Chhattisgarh; Desha from desh, country,\nmeaning those who came from northern India; Purvaiya or eastern,\napplied to immigrants from Oudh; and Malvi or those belonging to\nMalwa. Nikhar and Dhengar men take food together, but not the women;\nand if a marriage cannot be otherwise arranged these subcastes will\nsometimes give daughters to each other. A girl thus married is no\nlonger permitted to take food at her father's house, but she may eat\nwith the women of her husband's subcaste. Many of their exogamous\ngroups are named after animals or plants, as Hiranwar, from hiran,\na deer; Sapha from the cobra, Moria from the peacock, Nahar from the\ntiger, Phulsungha, a flower, and so on. Others are the names of Rajput\nsepts and of other castes, as Ahirwar (Ahir) and Bamhania (Brahman).\n\nAnother more ambitious legend derives their origin from the Bania\ncaste. They say that once a Bania was walking along the road with a\ncocoanut in his hand when Vishnu met him and asked him what it was. The\nBania answered that it was a cocoanut. Vishnu said that it was not\na cocoanut but wool, and told him to break it, and on breaking the\ncocoanut the Bania found that it was filled with wool. The Bania asked\nwhat he should do with it, and Vishnu told him to make a blanket out\nof it for the god to sit on. So he made a blanket, and Vishnu said\nthat from that day he should be the ancestor of the Gadaria caste,\nand earn his bread by making blankets from the wool of sheep. The\nBania asked where he should get the sheep from, and the god told him\nto go home saying 'Ehan, Ehan, Ehan,' all the way, and when he got\nhome he would find a flock of sheep following him; but he was not to\nlook behind him all the way. And the Bania did so, but when he had\nalmost got home he could not help looking behind him to see if there\nwere really any sheep. And he saw a long line of sheep following him\nin single file, and at the very end was a ram with golden horns just\nrising out of the ground. But as he looked it sank back again into\nthe ground, and he went back to Vishnu and begged for it, but Vishnu\nsaid that as he had looked behind him he had lost it. And this was\nthe origin of the Gadaria caste, and the Gadarias always say 'Ehan,\nEhan,' as they lead their flocks of sheep and goats to pasture.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage customs.\n\nMarriage within the clan is forbidden and also the union of first\ncousins. Girls may be married at any age, and are sometimes united to\nhusbands much younger than themselves. Four castemen of standing carry\nthe proposal of marriage from the boy's father, and the girl's father,\nbeing forewarned, sends others to meet them. One of the ambassadors\nopens the conversation by saying, 'We have the milk and you have the\nmilk-pail; let them be joined.' To which the girl's party, if the\nmatch be agreeable, will reply, \"Yes, we have the tamarind and you\nhave the mango; if the panches agree let there be a marriage.\" The\nboy's father gives the girl's father five areca-nuts, and the latter\nreturns them and they clasp each other round the neck. When the\nwedding procession reaches the bride's village it is met by their\nparty, and one of them takes the sarota or iron nut-cutter, which\nthe bridegroom holds in his hand, and twirls it about in the air\nseveral times. The ceremony is performed by walking round the sacred\npole, and the party return to the bridegroom's lodging, where his\nbrother-in-law fills the bride's lap with sweetmeats and water-nut\nas an omen of fertility. The maihar or small wedding-cakes of wheat\nfried in sesamum oil are distributed to all members of the caste\npresent at the wedding. While the bridegroom's party is absent at\nthe bride's house, the women who remain behind enjoy amusements of\ntheir own. One of them strips herself naked, tying up her hair like\na religious mendicant, and is known as Baba or holy father. In this\nstate she romps with her companions in turn, while the others laugh\nand applaud. Occasionally some man hides himself in a place where\nhe can be a witness of their play, but if they discover him he is\nbeaten severely with belnas or wooden bread-rollers. Widow-marriage\nand divorce are permitted, the widow being usually expected to marry\nher late husband's younger brother, whether he already has a wife or\nnot. Sexual offences are not severely reprobated, and may be atoned\nfor by a feast to the caste-fellows.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion and funeral rites.\n\nThe Gadarias worship the ordinary Hindu deities and also Dishai Devi,\nthe goddess of the sheep-pen. No Gadaria may go into the sheep-pen with\nhis shoes on. On entering it in the morning they make obeisance to the\nsheep, and these customs seem to indicate that the goddess Dishai Devi\n[2] is the deified sheep. When the sheep are shorn and the fleeces are\nlying on the ground they take some milk from one of the ewes and mix\nrice with it and sprinkle it over the wool. This rite is called Jimai,\nand they say that it is feeding the wool, but it appears to be really\na sacrificial offering to the material. The caste burn the dead when\nthey can afford to do so, and take the bones to the Ganges or Nerbudda,\nor if this is not practicable, throw them into the nearest stream.\n\n\n\n\n5. Social customs.\n\nWell-to-do members of the caste employ Brahmans for ceremonial\npurposes, but others dispense with their services. The Gadarias\neat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain from fowls and pork. They\nwill take food cooked with water from a Lodhi or a Dangi, members\nof these castes having formerly been their feudal chieftains in the\nVindhyan Districts and Nerbudda valley. Brahmans and members of the\ngood cultivating castes would be permitted to become Gadarias if\nthey should so desire. The head of the caste committee has the title\nof Mahton and the office is hereditary, the holder being invariably\nconsulted on caste questions even if he should be a mere boy. The\nGadarias rank with those castes from whom a Brahman cannot take water,\nbut above the servile and labouring castes. They are usually somewhat\nstupid, lazy and good-tempered, and are quite uneducated. Owing to\ntheir work in cleaning the pens and moving about among the sheep, the\nwomen often carry traces of the peculiar smell of these animals. This\nis exemplified in the saying, 'Ek to Gadaria, dusre lahsan khae,' or\n'Firstly she is a Gadaria and then she has eaten garlic'; the inference\nbeing that she is far indeed from having the scent of the rose.\n\n\n\n\n6. Goats and sheep.\n\nThe regular occupations of the Gadarias are the breeding and grazing\nof sheep and goats, and the weaving of country blankets from sheep's\nwool. The flocks are usually tended by the children, while the men\nand women spin and weave the wool and make blankets. Goats are bred\nin larger numbers than sheep in the Central Provinces, being more\ncommonly used for food and sacrifices, while they are also valuable\nfor their manure. Any Hindu who thinks an animal sacrifice requisite,\nand objects to a fowl as unclean, will choose a goat; and the animal\nafter being sacrificed provides a feast for the worshippers, his head\nbeing the perquisite of the officiating priest. Muhammadans and most\ncastes of Hindus will eat goat's meat when they can afford it. The\nmilk is not popular and there is very little demand for it locally,\nbut it is often sold to the confectioners, and occasionally made into\nbutter and exported. Sheep's flesh is also eaten, but is not so highly\nesteemed. In the case of both sheep and goats there is a feeling\nagainst consuming the flesh of ewes. Sheep are generally black in\ncolour and only occasionally white. Goats are black, white, speckled\nor reddish-white. Both animals are much smaller than in Europe. Both\nsheep and goats are in brisk demand in the cotton tracts for their\nmanure in the hot-weather months, and will be kept continually on\nthe move from field to field for a month at a time. It is usual to\nhire flocks at the rate of one rupee a hundred head for one night;\nbut sometimes the cultivators combine to buy a large flock, and\nafter penning them on their fields in the hot weather, send them to\nNagpur in the beginning of the rains to be disposed of. The Gadaria\nwas formerly the b\u00eate noir of the cultivator, on account of the\nrisk incurred by the crops from the depredations of his sheep and\ngoats. This is exemplified in the saying:\n\n\n Ahir, Gadaria, Pasi,\n Yeh tinon satyanasi,\n\n\nor, 'The Ahir (herdsman), the Gadaria and the Pasi, these three are\nthe husbandmen's foes.' And again:\n\n\n Ahir, Gadaria, Gujar,\n Yeh tinon chahen ujar,\n\n\nor 'The Ahir, the Gadaria and the Gujar want waste land,' that is for\ngrazing their flocks. But since the demand for manure has arisen, the\nGadaria has become a popular personage in the village. The shepherds\nwhistle to their flocks to guide them, and hang bells round the necks\nof goats but not of sheep. Some of them, especially in forest tracts,\ntrain ordinary pariah dogs to act as sheep-dogs. As a rule, rams and\nhe-goats are not gelt, but those who have large flocks sometimes resort\nto this practice and afterwards fatten the animals up for sale. They\ndivide their sheep into five classes, as follows, according to the\nlength of the ears: Kanari, with ears a hand's length long; Semri,\nsomewhat shorter; Burhai, ears a forefinger's length; Churia, ears\nas long as the little finger; and Neori, with ears as long only as\nthe top joint of the forefinger. Goats are divided into two classes,\nthose with ears a hand's length long being called Bangalia or Bagra,\nwhile those with small ears a forefinger's length are known as Gujra.\n\n\n\n\n7. Blanket-weaving.\n\nWhile ordinary cultivators have now taken to keeping goats, sheep\nare still as a rule left to the Gadarias. These are of course valued\nprincipally for their wool, from which the ordinary country blanket\nis made. The sheep [3] are shorn two or sometimes three times a year,\nin February, June and September, the best wool being obtained in\nFebruary from the cold weather coat. Members of the caste commonly\nshear for each other without payment. The wool is carded with a\nkamtha, or simple bow with a catgut string, and spun by the women of\nthe household. Blankets are woven by men on a loom like that used for\ncotton cloth. The fabric is coarse and rough, but strong and durable,\nand the colour is usually a dark dirty grey, approaching black,\nbeing the same as that of the raw material. Every cultivator has one\nof these, and the various uses to which it may be put are admirably\ndescribed by 'Eha' as follows: [4]\n\n\"The kammal is a home-spun blanket of the wool of black sheep, thick,\nstrong, as rough as a farrier's rasp, and of a colour which cannot\nget dirty. When the Kunbi (cultivator) comes out of his hole in the\nmorning it is wrapped round his shoulders and reaches to his knees,\nguarding him from his great enemy, the cold, for the thermometer is\ndown to 60\u00b0 Fahrenheit. By-and-by he has a load to carry, so he folds\nhis kammal into a thick pad and puts it on the top of his head. Anon\nhe feels tired, so he lays down his load, and arranging his kammal\nas a cushion, sits with comfort on a rugged rock or a stony bank, and\nhas a smoke. Or else he rolls himself in it from head to foot, like a\nmummy, and enjoys a sound sleep on the roadside. It begins to rain,\nhe folds his kammal into an ingenious cowl and is safe. Many more\nare its uses. I cannot number them all. Whatever he may be called\nupon to carry, be it forest produce, or grain or household goods,\nor his infant child, he will make a bundle of it with his kammal and\npoise it on his head, or sling it across his back, and trudge away.\"\n\n\n\n\n8. Sanctity of wool.\n\nWool is a material of some sanctity among the Hindus. It is\nceremonially pure, and woollen clothing can be worn by Brahmans\nwhile eating or performing sacred functions. In many castes the\nbridegroom at a wedding has a string of wool with a charm tied round\nhis waist. Religious mendicants wear jatas or wigs of sheep's wool,\nand often carry woollen charms. The beads used for counting prayers are\noften of wool. The reason for wool being thus held sacred may be that\nit was an older kind of clothing used before cotton was introduced,\nand thus acquired sanctity by being worn at sacrifices. Perhaps the\nAryans wore woollen clothing when they entered India.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGadba\n\n\n1. Description and structure of the tribe.\n\nGadba, Gadaba. [5]--A primitive tribe classified as Mundari or Kolarian\non linguistic grounds. The word Gadba, Surgeon-Major Mitchell states,\nsignifies a person who carries loads on his shoulders. The tribe call\nthemselves Guthau. They belong to the Vizagapatam District of Madras,\nand in the Central Provinces are found only in the Bastar State, into\nwhich they have immigrated to the number of some 700 persons. They\nspeak a Mundari dialect, called Gadba, after their tribal name, and\nare one of the two Mundari tribes found so far south as Vizagapatam,\nthe other being the Savars. [6] Their tribal organisation is not very\nstrict, and a Bhatra, a Parja, a Muria, or a member of any superior\ncaste may become a Gadba at an expenditure of two or three rupees. The\nceremony consists of shaving the body of the novice, irrespective of\nsex, clean of hair, after which he or she is given to eat rice cooked\nin the water of the Ganges. This is followed by a feast to the tribe\nin which a pig must be killed. The Gadbas have totemistic exogamous\nsepts, usually named after animals, as gutal dog, angwan bear, dungra\ntortoise, surangai tiger, gumal snake, and so on. Members of each sept\nabstain from killing or injuring the animal or plant after which it is\nnamed, but they have no scruple in procuring others to do this. Thus\nif a snake enters the hut of a person belonging to the Gumal sept,\nhe will call a neighbour of another sept to kill it. He may not touch\nits carcase with his bare hand, but if he holds it through a piece\nof rag no sin is incurred.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage.\n\nMarriage is adult, but the rule existing in Madras that a girl is\nnot permitted to marry until she can weave her own cloth does not\nobtain in the Central Provinces. [7] As a rule the parents of the\ncouple arrange the match, but the wishes of the girl are sometimes\nconsulted and various irregular methods of union are recognised. Thus\na man is permitted with the help of his friends to go and carry off a\ngirl and keep her as his wife, more especially if she is a relation\non the maternal side more distant than a first cousin. Another form\nis the Paisa Mundi, by which a married or unmarried woman may enter\nthe house of a man of her caste other than her husband and become his\nwife; and the Upaliya, when a married woman elopes with a lover. The\nmarriage ceremony is simple. The bridegroom's party go to the girl's\nhouse, leaving the parents behind, and before they reach it are met and\nstopped by a bevy of young girls and men in their best clothes from\nthe bride's village. A girl comes forward and demands a ring, which\none of the men of the wedding party places on her finger, and they\nthen proceed to the bride's house, where the bridegroom's presents,\nconsisting of victuals, liquor, a cloth, and two rupees, are opened\nand carefully examined. If any deficiency is found, it must at once\nbe made good. The pair eat a little food together, coloured rice is\napplied to their foreheads, and on the second day a new grass shed is\nerected, in which some rice is cooked by an unmarried girl. The bride\nand bridegroom are shut up in this, and two pots of water are poured\nover them from the roof, the marriage being then consummated. If\nthe girl is not adult this ceremony is omitted. Widow-marriage is\npermitted by what is called the tika form, by which a few grains\nof rice coloured with turmeric are placed on the foreheads of the\npair and they are considered as man and wife. There is no regular\ndivorce, but if a married woman misbehaves with a man of the caste,\nthe husband goes to him with a few friends and asks whether the story\nis true, and if the accusation is admitted demands a pig and liquor\nfor himself and his friends as compensation. If these are given he\ndoes not turn his wife out of his house. A liaison of a Gadba woman\nwith a man of a superior caste is also said to involve no penalty, but\nif her paramour is a low-caste man she is excommunicated for ever. In\nspite of these lax rules, however, Major Mitchell states that the\nwomen are usually very devoted to their husbands. Mr. Thurston [8]\nnotes that among the Bonda Gadabas a young man and a maid retire to\nthe jungle and light a fire. Then the maid, taking a burning stick,\nplaces it on the man's skin. If he cries out he is unworthy of her,\nand she remains a maid. If he does not, the marriage is at once\nconsummated. The application of the brand is probably light or severe\naccording to the girl's feelings towards the young man.\n\n\n\n\n3. Religious beliefs and festivals.\n\nThe Gadbas worship Burhi Mata or Thakurani Mata, who is the goddess\nof smallpox and rinderpest. They offer to her flowers and incense when\nthese diseases are prevalent among men or cattle, but if the epidemic\ndoes not abate after a time, they abuse the goddess and tell her to do\nher worst, suspending the offerings. They offer a white cock to the sun\nand a red one to the moon, and various other deities exercise special\nfunctions, Bhandarin being the goddess of agriculture and Dharni of\ngood health, while Bharwan is the protector of cattle and Dand Devi\nof men from the attacks of wild beasts. They have vague notions\nof a heaven and hell where the sinful will be punished, and also\nbelieve in re-birth. But these ideas appear to be borrowed from their\nHindu neighbours. When the new rice crop is ripe, the first-fruits\nare cooked and served to the cattle in new bamboo baskets, and are\nthen partaken of by men. The ripening of the mango crop is also an\nimportant festival. In the bright fortnight of Chait (March) the men\ngo out hunting, and on their return cook the game before Matideo,\nthe god of hunting, who lives in a tree. In Madras the whole male\npopulation turn out to hunt, and if they come back without success\nthe women pelt them with cowdung on their return. If successful,\nhowever, they have their revenge on the women in another way. [9]\nOn festival days men and women dance together to the music of a pipe\nand drum. Sometimes they form a circle, holding long poles, and jump\nbackwards and forwards to and from the centre by means of the pole; or\nthe women dance singly or in pairs, their hands resting on each other's\nwaists. A man and woman will then step out of the crowd and sing at\neach other, the woman reflecting on the man's ungainly appearance and\nwant of skill as a cultivator or huntsman, while the man retorts by\nreproaching her with her ugliness and slatternly habits. [10]\n\n\n\n\n4. Disposal of the dead.\n\nThe dead are buried with their feet to the west, ready to start for\nthe region of the setting sun. On their return from the funeral the\nmourners stop on the way, and a fish is boiled and offered to the\ndead. An egg is cut in half and placed on the ground, and pieces\nof mango bark are laid beside it on which the mourners tread. The\nwomen accompany the corpse, and in the meantime the house of the\ndead person is cleaned with cowdung by the children left behind. On\nthe first day food is supplied to the mourners by their relatives,\nand in the evening some cooked rice and vegetables are offered to the\ndead. The mourning lasts for nine days, and on the last day a cow or\nbullock is killed with the blunt head of an axe, the performance of\nthis function being hereditary in certain families of the caste. Some\nblood from the animal and some cooked rice are put in leaf-cups and\nplaced on the grave by the head of the corpse. The animal is cooked\nand eaten by the grave, and they then return to the cooking shed and\nplace its jawbone under a stick supported on two others, blood and\ncooked rice being again offered. The old men and women bathe in warm\nwater, and all return to the place where the dead man breathed his\nlast. Here they drink and have another meal of rice and beef, which\nis repeated on the following day, and the business of committing the\ndead to the ancestors is complete. Liquor is offered to the ancestors\non feast days.\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation and mode of living.\n\nThe caste are cultivators and labourers, while some are employed\nas village watchmen, and others are hereditary palki-bearers to the\nRaja of Bastar, enjoying a free grant of land. They practise shifting\ncultivation, cleaning a space by indiscriminate felling in the forest,\nand roughly ploughing the ground for a single broad-cast crop of rice;\nin the following year the clearing is usually abandoned. Their dress\nis simple, though they now wear ordinary cloth. Forty years ago it\nis said that they wore coverings made from the bark of the kuring\ntree and painted with horizontal bands of red, yellow and blue. [11]\nA girdle of the thickness of a man's arm made from fine strips of bark\nis still worn and is a distinguishing feature of the Gadba women. They\nalso carry a circlet round their forehead of the seeds of kusa grass\nthreaded on a string. Both men and women wear enormous earrings, the\nmen having three in each ear. The Gadbas are almost omnivorous, and eat\nflesh, fish, fowls, pork, buffaloes, crocodiles, non-poisonous snakes,\nlarge lizards, frogs, sparrows, crows and large red ants. They abstain\nonly from the flesh of monkeys, horses and asses. A Gadba must not\nride on a horse under penalty of being put out of caste. Mr. Thurston\n[12] gives the following reason for this prejudice:--\"The Gadbas of\nVizagapatam will not touch a horse, as they are palanquin-bearers,\nand have the same objection to a rival animal as a cart-driver has\nto a motor-car.\" They will eat the leavings of other castes and take\nfood from all except the impure ones, but like the Mehtars and Ghasias\nelsewhere they will not take food or water from a Kayasth. Only the\nlowest castes will eat with Gadbas, but they are not considered as\nimpure, and are allowed to enter temples and take part in religious\nceremonies.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGanda\n\n\n1. Distribution and origin.\n\nGanda.--A servile and impure caste of Chota Nagpur and the Uriya\nDistricts. They numbered 278,000 persons in 1901, resident largely\nin Sambalpur and the Uriya States, but since the transfer of this\nterritory to Bengal, only about 150,000 Gandas remain in the Central\nProvinces in Raipur, Bilaspur and Raigarh. In this Province the Gandas\nhave become a servile caste of village drudges, acting as watchmen,\nweavers of coarse cloth and musicians. They are looked on as an impure\ncaste, and are practically in the same position as the Mehras and\nChamars of other Districts. In Chota Nagpur, however, they are still\nin some places recognised as a primitive tribe, [13] being generally\nknown here as Pan, Pab or Chik. Sir H. Risley suggests that the name\nof Ganda may be derived from Gond, and that the Pans may originally\nhave been an offshoot of that tribe, but no connection between the\nGandas and Gonds has been established in the Central Provinces.\n\n\n\n\n2. Caste subdivisions.\n\nThe subcastes reported differ entirely from those recorded in\nOrissa. In the Central Provinces they are mainly occupational. Thus\nthe Bajna or Bajgari are those who act as musicians at feasts and\nmarriages; the Mang or Mangia make screens and mats, while their women\nserve as midwives; the Dholias make baskets; the Doms skin cattle and\nthe Nagarchis play on nakkaras or drums. Panka is also returned as a\nsubcaste of Ganda, but in the Central Provinces the Pankas are now\npractically a separate caste, and consist of those Gandas who have\nadopted Kabirpanthism and have thereby obtained some slight rise in\nstatus. In Bengal Sir H. Risley mentions a group called Patradias,\nor slaves and menials of the Khonds, and discusses the Patradias as\nfollows:--\"The group seems also to include the descendants of Pans,\nwho sold themselves as slaves or were sold as Merias or victims to\nthe Khonds. We know that an extensive traffic in children destined\nfor human sacrifice used to go on in the Khond country, and that the\nPans were the agents who sometimes purchased, but more frequently\nkidnapped, the children, whom they sold to the Khonds, and were so\ndebased that they occasionally sold their own offspring, though they\nknew of course the fate that awaited them. [14] Moreover, apart from\nthe demand for sacrificial purposes, the practice of selling men as\nagricultural labourers was until a few years ago by no means uncommon\nin the wilder parts of the Chota Nagpur Division, where labour is\nscarce and cash payments are almost unknown. Numbers of formal bonds\nhave come before me, whereby men sold themselves for a lump sum to\nenable them to marry.\" The above quotation is inserted merely as an\ninteresting historical reminiscence of the Pans or Gandas.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage.\n\nThe Gandas have exogamous groups or septs of the usual low-caste type,\nnamed after plants, animals or other inanimate objects. Marriage is\nprohibited within the sept, and between the children of two sisters,\nthough the children of brothers and sisters may marry. If a girl\narrives at maturity without a husband having been found for her,\nshe is wedded to a spear stuck up in the courtyard of the house,\nand then given away to anybody who wishes to take her. A girl going\nwrong with a man of the caste is married to him by the ceremony\nemployed in the case of widows, while her parents have to feed the\ncaste. But a girl seduced by an outsider is permanently expelled. The\nbetrothal is marked by a present of various articles to the father of\nthe bride. Marriages must not be celebrated during the three rainy\nmonths of Shrawan, Bhadon or Kunwar, nor during the dark fortnight\nof the month, nor on a Saturday or Tuesday. The marriage-post is\nof the wood of the mahua tree, and beneath it are placed seven\ncowries and seven pieces of turmeric. An elderly male member of the\ncaste known as the Sethia conducts the ceremony, and the couple go\nfive times round the sacred pole in the morning and thrice in the\nevening. When the bride and bridegroom return home after the wedding,\nan image of a deer is made with grass and placed behind the ear of the\nbride. The bridegroom then throws a toy arrow at it made of grass or\nthin bamboo, and is allowed seven shots. If he fails to knock it out\nof her ear after these the bride's brother takes it and runs away and\nthe bridegroom must follow and catch him. This is clearly a symbolic\nprocess representing the chase, of the sort practised by the Khonds\nand other primitive tribes, and may be taken as a reminiscence among\nthe Gandas of their former life in the forests. The remarriage of\nwidows is permitted, and the younger brother of the deceased husband\ntakes his widow if he wishes to do so. Otherwise she may marry whom\nshe pleases. A husband may divorce his wife for adultery before the\ncaste committee, and if she marries her lover he must repay to the\nhusband the expenses incurred by the latter on his wedding.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion.\n\nThe Gandas principally worship Dulha Deo, the young bridegroom who\nwas carried off by a tiger, and they offer a goat to him at their\nweddings. They observe the Hindu fasts and festivals, and at Dasahra\nworship their musical instruments and the weaver's loom. Being\nimpure, they do not revere the tulsi plant nor the banyan or pipal\ntrees. Children are named on the sixth day after birth without any\nspecial ceremony. The dead are generally buried from motives of\neconomy, as with most families the fuel required for cremation would\nbe a serious item of expenditure. A man is laid on his face in the\ngrave and a woman on her back. Mourning is observed for three days,\nexcept in the case of children under three years old, whose deaths\nentail no special observances. On the fourth day a feast is given,\nand when all have been served, the chief mourner takes a little food\nfrom the plate of each guest and puts it in a leaf-cup. He takes\nanother leaf-cup full of water and places the two outside the house,\nsaying 'Here is food for you' to the spirit of the departed.\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation and social status.\n\nThe Gandas are generally employed either in weaving coarse cloth or as\nvillage musicians. They sing and dance to the accompaniment of their\ninstruments, the dancers generally being two young boys dressed as\nwomen. They have long hair and put on skirts and half-sleeved jackets,\nwith hollow anklets round their feet filled with stones to make them\ntinkle. On their right shoulders are attached some peacocks' feathers,\nand coloured cloths hang from their back and arms and wave about\nwhen they dance. Among their musical instruments is the sing-baja,\na single drum made of iron with ox-hide leather stretched over it;\ntwo horns project from the sides for purposes of decoration and\ngive the instrument its name, and it is beaten with thick leather\nthongs. The dafla is a wooden drum open on one side and covered with\na goat-skin on the other, beaten with a cane and a bamboo stick. The\ntimki is a single hemispherical drum of earthenware; and the sahnai\nis a sort of bamboo flute. The Gandas of Sambalpur have strong\ncriminal tendencies which have recently called for special measures of\nrepression. Nevertheless they are usually employed as village watchmen\nin accordance with long-standing custom. They are considered as impure\nand, though not compelled actually to live apart from the village,\nhave usually a separate quarter and are not permitted to draw water\nfrom the village well or to enter Hindu temples. Their touch defiles,\nand a Hindu will not give anything into the hands of one of the caste\nwhile holding it himself, but will throw it down in front of the Ganda,\nand will take anything from him in the same manner. They will admit\noutsiders of higher rank into the caste, taking from them one or two\nfeasts. And it is reported that in Raipur a Brahman recently entered\nthe caste for love of a Ganda girl.\n\n\n\nGandhmali\n\n\nGandhmali, [15] Thanapati.--The caste of village priests of the\ntemples of Siva or Mahadeo in Sambalpur and the Uriya States. They\nnumbered about 700 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911. The caste\nappears to be an offshoot of the Malis or gardeners, differentiated\nfrom them by their special occupation of temple attendants. In\nHindustan the priests of Siva's temples in villages are often Malis,\nand in the Maratha country they are Guraos, another special caste,\nor Phulmalis. Some members of the caste in Sambalpur, however,\naspire to Rajput origin and wear the sacred thread. These prefer\nthe designation of Thanapati or 'Master of the sacred place,' and\ncall the others who do not wear the thread Gandhmalis. Gandh means\nincense. The Thanapatis say that on one occasion a Rajput prince\nfrom Jaipur made a pilgrimage to the temple of Jagannath at Puri,\nand on his return stopped at the celebrated temple of Mahadeo at Huma\nnear Sambalpur. Mahadeo appeared before the prince and asked him to\nbecome his priest; the Rajput asked to be excused as he was old,\nbut Mahadeo promised him three sons, which he duly obtained and\nin gratitude dedicated them to the service of the god. From these\nsons the Thanapatis say that they are descended, but the claim is no\ndoubt quite illusory. The truth is, probably, that the Thanapatis are\npriests of the temples situated in towns and large villages, and owing\nto their calling have obtained considerable social estimation, which\nthey desire to justify and place on an enduring basis by their claim\nto Rajput ancestry; while the Gandhmalis are village priests, more\nor less in the position of village menials and below the cultivating\ncastes, and any such pretensions would therefore in their case be quite\nuntenable. There are signs of the cessation of intermarriage between\nthe two groups, but this has not been brought about as yet, probably\nowing to the paucity of members in the caste and the difficulty of\narranging matches. Three functional subdivisions also appear to be in\nprocess of formation, the Pujaris or priests of Mahadeo's temples,\nthe Bandhadias or those who worship him on the banks of tanks, and\nthe Mundjhulas [16] or devotees of the goddess Somlai in Sambalpur,\non whom the inspiration of the goddess descends, making them shake and\nroll their heads. When in this state they are believed to drink the\nblood flowing from goats sacrificed in the temple. For the purposes\nof marriage the caste is divided into exogamous groups or bargas, the\nnames of which are usually titles or designations of offices. Marriage\nwithin the barga is prohibited. When the bride is brought to the\naltar in the marriage ceremony, she throws a garland of jasmine\nflowers on the neck of the bridegroom. This custom resembles the old\nSwayamwara form of marriage, in which a girl chose her own husband\nby throwing a garland of flowers round his neck. But it probably has\nno connection with this and merely denotes the fact that the caste\nare gardeners by profession, similar ceremonies typifying the caste\ncalling being commonly performed at marriages, especially among the\nTelugu castes. Girls should be married before adolescence and, as is\nusual among the Uriya castes, if no suitable husband is forthcoming a\nsymbolic marriage is celebrated; the Thanapatis make her go through the\nform with her maternal grandfather or sister's husband, and in default\nof them with a tree. She is then immediately divorced and disposed\nof as a widow. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. A\nbachelor marrying a widow must first go through the ceremony with\na flower. The Gandhmalis, as the priests of Mahadeo, are generally\nSaivas and wear red clothes covered with ochre. They consider that\ntheir ultimate ancestor is the Nag or cobra and especially observe\nthe festival of Nag-Panchmi, abstaining from any cooked food on that\nday. They both burn and bury the dead and perform the shraddh ceremony\nor the offering of sacrificial cakes. They eat flesh but do not drink\nliquor. Their social position is fairly good and Brahmans will take\nwater from their hands. Many of them hold free grants of land in return\nfor their services at the temples. A few are ordinary cultivators.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGarpagari\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste.\n\nGarpagari. [17]--A caste of village menials whose function it is to\navert hailstorms from the crops. They are found principally in the\nMaratha Districts of the Nagpur country and Berar, and numbered 9000\npersons in 1911. The name is derived from the Marathi gar, hail. The\nGarpagaris are really Naths or Jogis who have taken to this calling and\nbecome a separate caste. They wear clothes coloured with red ochre,\nand a garland of rudraksha beads, and bury their dead in a sitting\nposture. According to their tradition the first Garpagari was one\nRaut, a Jogi, who accompanied a Kunbi malguzar on a visit to Benares,\nand while there he prophesied that on a certain day all the crops\nof their village would be destroyed by a hailstorm. The Kunbi then\nbesought him to save the crops if he could, and he answered that by\nhis magic he could draw off the hail from the rest of the village\nand concentrate it in his own field, and he agreed to do this if the\ncultivators would recompense him for his loss. When the two came home\nto their village they found that there had been a severe hailstorm,\nbut it had all fallen in the Jogi's field. His loss was made good to\nhim and he adopted this calling as a profession, becoming the first\nGarpagari, and being paid by contributions from the proprietor and\ntenants. There are no subcastes except that the Kharchi Garpagari\nare a bastard group, with whom the others refuse to intermarry.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage.\n\nMarriage is regulated by exogamous groups, two of which, Watari from\nthe Otari or brass-worker, and Dhankar from the Dhangar or shepherds,\nare named after other castes. Some are derived from the names of\nanimals, as Harnya from the black-buck, and Wagh from the tiger. The\nDiunde group take their name from diundi, the kotwar's [18] drum. They\nsay that their ancestor was so named because he killed his brother, and\nwas proclaimed as an outlaw by beat of drum. The marriage of members\nof the same group is forbidden and also that of the children of two\nsisters, so long as the relationship between them is remembered. The\ncaste usually celebrate their weddings after those of the Kunbis, on\nwhom they depend for contributions to their expenses. Widow-marriage\nis permitted, but the widow sometimes refuses to marry again, and,\nbecoming a Bhagat or devotee, performs long pilgrimages in male\nattire. Divorce is permitted, but as women are scarce, is rarely\nresorted to. The Garpagaris say, \"If one would not throw away a\nvegetable worth a damri (one-eighth of a pice or farthing), how shall\none throw away a wife who is 3 1/2 cubits long.\" A divorced wife is\nallowed to marry again.\n\n\n\n\n3. Religion.\n\nThe caste worship Mahadeo or Siva and Mahabir or Hanuman, and do not\nusually distinguish them. Their principal festival is called Mahi\nand takes place on the first day of Poush (December), this being the\nday from which hailstorms may be expected to occur; and next to this\nMando Amawas, or the first day of Chait (March), after which hailstorms\nneed not be feared. They offer goats to Mahadeo in his terrible form\nof Kal Bhairava, and during the ceremony the Kunbis beat the daheka,\na small drum with bells, to enhance the effect of the sacrifice, so\nthat their crops may be saved. When a man is at the point of death\nhe is placed in the sitting posture in which he is to be buried,\nfor fear that after death his limbs may become so stiff that they\ncannot be made to assume it. The corpse is carried to the grave in\na cloth coloured with red ochre. A gourd containing pulse and rice,\na pice coin, and a small quantity of any drug to which the deceased\nmay have been addicted in life are placed in the hands, and the grave\nis filled in with earth and salt. A lamp is lighted on the place where\nthe death occurred, for one night, and on the third day a cocoanut is\nbroken there, after which mourning ends and the house is cleaned. A\nstone brought from the bed of a river is plastered down on to the\ngrave with clay, and this may perhaps represent the dead man's spirit.\n\n\n\n\n4. Occupation.\n\nThe occupation of the Garpagari is to avert hailstorms, and he was\nformerly remunerated by a customary contribution of rice from each\ncultivator in the village. He received the usual presents at seed-time\nand harvest, and two pice from each tenant on the Basant-Panchmi\nfestival. When the sky is of mixed red and black at night like smoke\nand flame, the Garpagari knows that a hailstorm is coming. Then, taking\na sword in his hand, he goes and stands before Mahabir, and begs him\nto disperse the clouds. When entreaties fail, he proceeds to threats,\nsaying that he will kill himself, and throws off his clothes. Sometimes\nhis wife and children go and stand with him before Mahabir's shrine\nand he threatens to kill them. Formerly he would cut and slash himself,\nso it is said, if Mahabir was obdurate, but now the utmost he does is\nto draw some blood from a finger. He would also threaten to sacrifice\nhis son, and instances are known of his actually having done so.\n\nTwo ideas appear to be involved in these sacrifices of the\nGarpagari. One is the familiar principle of atonement, the blood\nbeing offered to appease the god as a substitute for the crops\nwhich he seems about to destroy. But when the Garpagari threatened\nto kill himself, and actually killed his son, it was not merely as\nan atonement, because in that case the threats would have had no\nmeaning. His intention seems rather to have been to lay the guilt of\nhomicide upon the god by slaying somebody in front of his shrine,\nin case nothing less would move him from his purpose of destroying\nthe crops. The idea is the same as that with which people committed\nsuicide in order that their ghosts might haunt those who had driven\nthem to the act. As late as about the year 1905 a Gond Bhumka\nor village priest was hanged in Chhindwara for killing his two\nchildren. He owed a debt of Rs. 25 and the creditor was pressing\nhim and he had nothing to pay. So he flew into a rage and exclaimed\nthat the gods would do nothing for him even though he was a Bhumka,\nand he seized his two children and cut off their heads and laid them\nbefore the god. In this it would appear that the Bhumka's intention\nwas partly to take revenge on his master for the neglect shown to him,\nthe god's special servant. The Garpagari diverts the hail by throwing\na handful of grain in the direction in which he wishes it to go. When\nthe storm begins he will pick up some hailstones, smear them with his\nblood and throw them away, telling them to rain over rivers, hills,\nforests and barren ground. When caterpillars or locusts attack the\ncrops he catches one or two and offers them at Mahabir's shrine,\nafterwards throwing them up in the air. Or he buries one alive and\nthis is supposed to stay the plague. When rust appears in the crops,\none or two blades are in like manner offered to Mahabir, and it is\nbelieved that the disease will be stayed. Or if the rice plants do\nnot come into ear a few of them are plucked and offered, and fresh\nfertile blades then come up. He also has various incantations which\nare believed to divert the storm or to cause the hailstones to melt\ninto water. In some localities, when the buffalo is slaughtered at\nthe Dasahra festival, the Garpagari takes seven different kinds of\nspring-crop seeds and dips them in its blood. He buries them in a\nspot beside his hearth, and it is believed that when a hailstorm\nthreatens the grains move about and give out a humming sound like\nwater boiling. Thus the Garpagari has warning of the storm. If the\nGarpagari is absent and a storm comes his wife will go and stand naked\nbefore Mahabir's shrine. The wives know the incantations, but they\nmust not learn them from their husbands, because in that case the\nhusband would be in the position of a guru or spiritual preceptor\nto his wife and the conjugal relation could no longer continue. No\nother caste will learn the incantations, for to make the hailstones\nmelt is regarded as equivalent to causing an abortion, and as a sin\nfor which heavy retribution would be incurred in a future life.\n\nIn Chhattisgarh the Baiga or village priest of the aboriginal tribes\naverts hailstorms in the same manner as the Garpagari, and elsewhere\nthe Barais or betel-vine growers perform this function, which is\nespecially important to them because their vines are so liable to\nbe injured by hailstorms. In ancient Greece there existed a village\nfunctionary, the Chalazo phulax, who kept off hailstorms in exactly the\nsame manner as the Garpagari. He would offer a victim, and if he had\nnone would draw blood from his own fingers to appease the storm. [19]\n\nThe same power has even been imputed to Christian priests as recorded\nby Sir James Frazer: \"In many villages of Provence the priest is\nstill required to possess the faculty of averting storms. It is not\nevery priest who enjoys this reputation; and in some villages when\na change of pastors takes place, the parishioners are eager to learn\nwhether the new incumbent has the power (pouder) as they call it. At\nthe first sign of a heavy storm they put him to the proof by inviting\nhim to exorcise the threatening clouds; and if the result answers to\ntheir hopes, the new shepherd is assured of the sympathy and respect\nof his flock. In some parishes where the reputation of the curate\nin this respect stood higher than that of the rector, the relations\nbetween the two have been so strained in consequence that the bishop\nhas had to translate the rector to another benefice.\" [20]\n\nOf late years an unavoidable scepticism as to the Garpagari's\nefficiency has led to a reduction of his earnings, and the cultivators\nnow frequently decline to give him anything, or only a sheaf of corn\nat harvest. Some members of the caste have taken to weaving newar or\nbroad tape for beds, and others have become cultivators.\n\n\n\n\n5. Social status.\n\nThe Garpagaris eat flesh and drink liquor. They will take cooked\nfood from a Kunbi, though the Kunbis will not take even water from\nthem. They are a village menial caste and rank with others of the\nsame position, though on a somewhat lower level because they beg and\naccept cooked food at the weddings of Kunbis. Their names usually\nend in nath, as Ramnath, Kisannath and so on.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGauria\n\n\nGauria. [21]--A small caste of snake-charmers and jugglers who are\nan offshoot of the Gond tribe. They number about 500 persons and\nare found only in Chhattisgarh. They have the same exogamous septs\nas the Gonds, as Markam, Marai, Netam, Chhedaiha, Jagat, Purteti,\nChichura and others. But they are no doubt of very mixed origin, as is\nshown by the fact that they do not eat together at their feasts, but\nthe guests all cook their own food and eat it separately. And after\na daughter has been married her own family even will not take food\nfrom her hand because they are doubtful of her husband's status. It\nis said that the Gaurias were accustomed formerly to beg only from\nthe Kewat caste, though this restriction is no longer maintained. The\nfact may indicate that they are partly descended from the unions of\nKewats with Gond women.\n\nAdult marriage is the general rule of the caste and a fixed bride-price\nof sixteen rupees is paid. The couple go away together at once and six\nmonths afterwards return to visit the bride's parents, when they are\ntreated as outsiders and not allowed to touch the food cooked for the\nfamily, while they reciprocally insist on preparing their own. Male\nGaurias will take food from any of the higher castes, but the women\nwill eat only from Gaurias. They will admit outsiders belonging to\nany caste from whom they can take food into the community. And if\na Gauria woman goes wrong with a member of any of these castes they\noverlook the matter and inflict only a feast as a penalty.\n\nTheir marriage ceremony consists merely in the placing of bangles\non the woman's wrists, which is the form by which a widow is married\namong other castes. If a widow marries a man other than her husband's\nyounger brother, the new husband must pay twelve rupees to her first\nhusband's family, or to her parents if she has returned to them. If\nshe takes with her a child born of her first husband with permission\nto keep it, the second husband must pay eight rupees to the first\nhusband's family as the price of the child. But if the child is to be\nreturned as soon as it is able to shift for itself the second husband\nreceives eight rupees instead of paying it, as remuneration for his\ntrouble in rearing the baby. The caste bury their dead with the feet\nto the south, like the Hindus. The principal business of the Gaurias\nis to catch and exhibit snakes, and they carry a damru or rattle in\nthe shape of an hour-glass, which is considered to be a distinctive\nbadge of the caste. If a Gauria saw an Ojha snake-charmer carrying\na damru he would consider himself entitled to take it from the Ojha\nforcibly if he could. A Gauria is forbidden to exhibit monkeys under\npenalty of being put out of caste. Their principal festival is the\nNag-Panchmi, when the cobra is worshipped. They also profess to know\ncharms for curing persons bitten by snakes. The following incantation\nis cried by a Gauria snake-doctor three times into the ears of his\npatient in a loud voice:\n\n\"The bel tree and the bel leaves are on the other side of the\nriver. All the Gaurias are drowned in it. The breast of the koil;\nover it is a net. Eight snakes went to the forest. They tamed rats\non the green tree. The snakes are flying, causing the parrots to\nfly. They want to play, but who can make them play? After finishing\ntheir play they stood up; arise thou also, thou sword. I am waking you\n(the patient) up by crying in your ear, I conjure you by the name of\nDhanvantari [22] to rise carefully.\"\n\nSimilar meaningless charms are employed for curing the bites of\nscorpions and for exorcising bad spirits and the influence of the\nevil eye.\n\nThe Gaurias will eat almost all kinds of flesh, including pigs, rats,\nfowls and jackals, but they abstain from beef. Their social status is\nso low that practically no caste will take food or water from them,\nbut they are not considered as impure. They are great drunkards,\nand are easily known by their damrus or rattles and the baskets in\nwhich they carry their snakes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGHASIA\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n 1. Description of the caste.\n 2. Subcastes.\n 3. Exogamous sections.\n 4. Marriage.\n 5. Religion and superstitions.\n 6. Occupation.\n 7. Social customs.\n 8. Ghasias and Kayasths.\n\n\n\n\n1. Description of the caste.\n\nGhasia, Sais. [23]--A low Dravidian caste of Orissa and Central\nIndia who cut grass, tend horses and act as village musicians at\nfestivals. In the Central Provinces they numbered 43,000 in 1911,\nresiding principally in the Chhattisgarh Division and the adjoining\nFeudatory States. The word Ghasia is derived from ghas (grass) and\nmeans a grass-cutter. Sir H. Risley states that they are a fishing\nand cultivating caste of Chota Nagpur and Central India, who attend as\nmusicians at weddings and festivals and also perform menial offices of\nall kinds. [24] In Bastar they are described as an inferior caste who\nserve as horse-keepers and also make and mend brass vessels. They dress\nlike the Maria Gonds and subsist partly by cultivation and partly by\nlabour. [25] Dr. Ball describes them in Singhbhum as gold-washers and\nmusicians. Colonel Dalton speaks of them as \"An extraordinary tribe,\nfoul parasites of the Central Indian hill tribes and submitting to be\ndegraded even by them. If the Chandals of the Puranas, though descended\nfrom the union of a Brahmini and a Sudra, are the lowest of the low,\nthe Ghasias are Chandals and the people further south who are called\nPariahs are no doubt of the same distinguished lineage.\" [26]\n\n\n\n\n2. Subcastes.\n\nThe Ghasias generally, however, appear now to be a harmless caste\nof labourers without any specially degrading or repulsive traits. In\nMandla their social position and customs are much on a par with those\nof the Gonds, from whom a considerable section of the caste seems\nto be derived. In other localities they have probably immigrated\ninto the Central Provinces from Bundelkhand and Orissa. Among their\nsubdivisions the following may be mentioned: the Udia, who cure raw\nhides and do the work of sweepers and are generally looked down on;\nthe Dingkuchia, who castrate cattle and ponies; the Dolboha, who carry\ndhoolies or palanquins; the Nagarchi, who derive their name from the\nnakkara or kettle-drum and are village musicians; the Khaltaha or those\nfrom Raipur; the Laria, belonging to Chhattisgarh, and the Uria of\nthe Uriya country; the Ramgarhia, who take their name from Ramgarh in\nthe Mandla District, and the Mahobia from Mahoba in Bundelkhand. Those\nmembers of the caste who work as grooms have become a separate group\nand call themselves Sais, dropping the name of Ghasia. They rank\nhigher than the others and marry among themselves, and some of them\nhave become cultivators or work as village watchmen. They are also\ncalled Thanwar by the Gonds, the word meaning stable or stall. In\nChota Nagpur a number of Ghasias have become tailors and are tending\nto form a separate subcaste under the name of Darzi.\n\n\n\n\n3. Exogamous sections.\n\nTheir septs are of the usual low-caste type, being named after animals,\ninanimate objects or nicknames of ancestors. One of them is Panch-biha\nor 'He who had five wives,' and another Kul-dip or 'The sept of the\nlamp.' Members of this sept will stop eating if a lamp goes out. The\nJanta Ragda take their name from the mill for grinding corn and will\nnot have a grinding-mill in their houses. They say that a female\nancestor was delivered of a child when sitting near a grinding-mill\nand this gave the sept its name. Three septs are named after other\ncastes: Kumharbans, descended from a potter; Gandbans, from a Ganda;\nand Luha, from a Lohar or blacksmith, and which names indicate that\nmembers of these castes have been admitted into the community.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage.\n\nMarriage is forbidden within the sept, but is permitted between the\nchildren of brothers and sisters. Those members of the caste who have\nbecome Kabirpanthis may also marry with the others. Marriages may\nbe infant or adult. A girl who is seduced by a member of the caste\nis married to him by a simple ceremony, the couple standing before a\ntwig of the umar [27] tree, while some women sprinkle turmeric over\nthem. If a girl goes wrong with an outsider she is permanently expelled\nand a feast is exacted from her parents. The boy and his relatives\ngo to the girl's house for the betrothal, and a present of various\narticles of food and dress is made to her family, apparently as a sort\nof repayment for their expenditure in feeding and clothing her. A\ngift of clothes is also made to her mother, called dudh-sari, and\nis regarded as the price of the milk with which the mother nourished\nthe girl in her infancy. A goat, which forms part of the bride-price,\nis killed and eaten by the parties and their relatives. The binding\nportion of the marriage is the bhanwar ceremony, at which the couple\nwalk seven times round the marriage-post, holding each other by the\nlittle fingers. When they return to the bridegroom's house, a cock or\na goat is killed and the head buried before the door; the foreheads of\nthe couple are marked with its blood and they go inside the house. If\nthe bride is not adult, she goes home after a stay of two days,\nand the gauna or going-away ceremony is performed when she finally\nleaves her parents' house. The remarriage of widows is permitted,\nno restriction being imposed on the widow in her choice of a second\nhusband. Divorce is permitted for infidelity on the part of the wife.\n\n\n\n\n5. Religion and superstitions.\n\nChildren are named on the sixth day after birth, special names being\ngiven to avert ill-luck, while they sometimes go through the ceremony\nof selling a baby for five cowries in order to disarm the jealousy\nof the godlings who are hostile to children. They will not call any\nperson by name when they think an owl is within hearing, as they\nbelieve that the owl will go on repeating the name and that this\nwill cause the death of the person bearing it. The caste generally\nrevere Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, whose altar stands near the\ncooking place, and the goddess Devi. Once in three years they offer\na white goat to Bura Deo, the great god of the Gonds. They worship\nthe sickle, the implement of their trade, at Dasahra, and offer\ncocoanuts and liquor to Ghasi Sadhak, a godling who lives by the peg\nto which horses are tied in the stable. He is supposed to protect\nthe horse from all kinds of diseases. At Dasahra they also worship\nthe horse. Their principal festival is called Karma and falls on the\neleventh day of the second half of Bhadon (August). On this day they\nbring a branch of a tree from the forest and worship it with betel,\nareca-nut and other offerings. All through the day and night the men\nand women drink and dance together. They both burn and bury the dead,\nthrowing the ashes into water. For the first three days after a death\nthey set out rice and pulse and water in a leaf cup for the departed\nspirit. They believe that the ghosts of the dead haunt the living,\nand to cure a person possessed in this manner they beat him with\nshoes and then bury an effigy of the ghost outside the village.\n\n\n\n\n6. Occupation.\n\nThe Ghasias usually work as grass-cutters and grooms to horses, and\nsome of them make loom-combs for weavers. These last are looked down\nupon and called Madarchawa. They make the kunch or brushes for the\nloom, like the Kuchbandhias, from the root of the babai or khas-khas\ngrass, and the rachh or comb for arranging the threads on the loom\nfrom the stalks of the bharru grass. Other Ghasias make ordinary hair\ncombs from the kathai, a grass which grows densely on the borders\nof streams and springs. The frame of the comb is of bamboo and the\nteeth are fixed in either by thread or wire, the price being one pice\n(farthing) in the former case and two in the latter.\n\n\n\n\n7. Social customs.\n\nThe caste admit outsiders by a disgusting ceremony in which the\ncandidate is shaved with urine and forced to eat a mixture of\ncowdung, basil leaves, dub [28] grass and water in which a piece of\nsilver or gold has been dipped. The women do not wear the choli or\nbreast-cloth nor the nose-ring, and in some localities they do not\nhave spangles on the forehead. Women are tattooed on various parts\nof the body before marriage with the idea of enhancing their beauty,\nand sometimes tattooing is resorted to for curing a pain in some\njoint or for rheumatism. A man who is temporarily put out of caste\nis shaved on readmission, and in the case of a woman a lock of her\nhair is cut. To touch a dead cow is one of the offences entailing\ntemporary excommunication. They employ a Brahman only to fix the dates\nof their marriages. The position of the caste is very low and in some\nplaces they are considered as impure. The Ghasias are very poor, and\na saying about them is 'Ghasia ki jindagi hasia', or 'The Ghasia is\nsupported by his sickle,' the implement used for cutting grass. The\nGhasias are perhaps the only caste in the Central Provinces outside\nthose commonly returning themselves as Mehtar, who consent to do\nscavenger's work in some localities.\n\n\n\n\n8. Ghasias and Kayasths.\n\nThe caste have a peculiar aversion to Kayasths and will not take food\nor water from them nor touch a Kayasth's bedding or clothing. They\nsay that they would not serve a Kayasth as horse-keeper, but if by\nany chance one of them was reduced to doing so, he at any rate would\nnot hold his master's stirrup for him to mount. To account for this\nhereditary enmity they tell the following story:\n\nOn one occasion the son of the Kayasth minister of the Raja of Ratanpur\nwent out for a ride followed by a Ghasia sais (groom). The boy was\nwearing costly ornaments, and the Ghasia's cupidity being excited,\nhe attacked and murdered the child, stripped him of his ornaments and\nthrew the body down a well. The murder was discovered and in revenge\nthe minister killed every Ghasia, man, woman or child that he could\nlay his hands on. The only ones who escaped were two pregnant women\nwho took refuge in the hut of a Ganda and were sheltered by him. To\nthem were born a boy and a girl and the present Ghasias are descended\nfrom the pair. Therefore a Ghasia will eat even the leavings of a\nGanda but will accept nothing from the hands of a Kayasth.\n\nThis story is an instance of the process which has been called the\ntransplantation of myth. Sir H. Risley tells a similar legend of the\nGhasias of Orissa, [29] but in their case it was a young Kayasth\nbridegroom who was killed, and before dying he got leave from his\nmurderers to write a letter to his relatives informing them of his\ndeath, on condition that he said nothing as to its manner. But in the\nletter he disclosed the murder, and the Ghasias, who could not read,\nwere duly brought to justice. In the Ratanpur story as reported from\nBilaspur it was stated that \"Somehow, even from down the well, the\nminister's son managed to get a letter sent to his father telling him\nof the murder.\" And this sentence seems sufficient to establish the\nfact that the Central Provinces story has merely been imported from\nOrissa and slightly altered to give it local colour. The real reason\nfor the traditional aversion felt by the Ghasias and other low castes\nfor the Kayasths will be discussed in the article on that caste.\n\n\nGhosi\n\n\nGhosi. [30]--A caste of herdsmen belonging to northern India and\nfound in the Central Provinces in Saugor and other Districts of the\nJubbulpore and Nerbudda Divisions. In 1911 they numbered 10,000 persons\nin this Province out of a strength of about 60,000 in India. The\nname is said to be derived from the Sanskrit root ghush, to shout,\nthe word ghosha meaning one who shouts as he herds his cattle. A\nnoticeable fact about the caste is that, while in Upper India they\nare all Muhammadans--and it is considered to be partly on account of\nthe difference in religion that they have become differentiated into\na separate caste from the Ahirs--in the Central Provinces they are\nnearly all Hindus and show no trace of Muhammadan practices. A few\nMuhammadan Ghosis are found in Nimar and some Muhammadans who call\nthemselves Gaddi in Mandla are believed to be Ghosis. And as the\nGhosis of the northern Districts of the Central Provinces must in\ncommon with the bulk of the population be descended from immigrants\nfrom northern India, it would appear that they must have changed\ntheir religion, or rather abandoned one to which their ancestors\nhad only been imperfectly proselytised, when it was no longer the\ndominant faith of the locality in which they lived. Sir D. Ibbetson\nsays that in the Punjab the name Ghosi is used only for Muhammadans,\nand is often applied to any cowherd or milkman of that religion,\nwhether Gujar, Ahir or of any other caste, just as Goala is used for\na Hindu cowherd. It is said that Hindus will buy pure milk from the\nMusalman Ghosi, but will reject it if there is any suspicion of its\nhaving been watered by the latter, as they must not drink water at\nhis hands. [31] But in Berar Brahmans will now buy milk and curds\nfrom Muhammadan milkmen. Mr. Crooke remarks that most of the Ghosis\nare Ahirs who have been converted to Islam. To the east of the United\nProvinces they claim a Gujar origin, and here they will not eat beef\nthemselves nor take food with any Muhammadans who consume it. They\nemploy Brahmans to fix the auspicious times for marriage and other\nceremonies. The Ghosis of Lucknow have no other employment but the\nkeeping of milch cattle, chiefly buffaloes of all kinds, and they\nbreed buffaloes. [32] This is the case also in Saugor, where the\nGhosis are said to rank below ordinary Ahirs because they breed and\ntend buffaloes instead of cows. Those of Narsinghpur, however, are\ngenerally not herdsmen at all but ordinary cultivators. In northern\nIndia, owing to the large number of Muhammadans who, other things being\nequal, would prefer to buy their milk and ghi from co-religionists,\nthere would be an opening for milkmen professing this faith, and on\nthe facts stated above it may perhaps be surmised that the Ghosi\ncaste came into existence to fill the position. Or they may have\nbeen forcibly converted as a number of Ahirs in Berar were forcibly\nconverted to Islam, and still call themselves Muhammadans, though they\ncan scarcely repeat the Kalma and only go to mosque once a year. [33]\nBut when some of the Ghosis migrated into the Central Provinces,\nthey would find, in the absence of a Musalman clientele, that their\nreligion, instead of being an advantage, was a positive drawback to\nthem, as Hindus would be reluctant to buy milk from a Muhammadan who\nmight be suspected of having mixed it with water; and it would appear\nthat they have relapsed naturally into Hinduism, all traces of their\nprofession of Islam being lost. Even so, however, in Narsinghpur they\nhave had to abandon their old calling and become ordinary cultivators,\nwhile in Saugor, perhaps on account of their doubtful status, they\nare restricted to keeping buffaloes. If this suggestion turned out\nto be well founded, it would be an interesting instance of a religion\nbeing changed to secure a professional advantage. But it can only be\nconsidered as a guess. A parallel to the disadvantage of being unable\nto water their milk without rendering it impure, which attaches to the\nGhosis of the Punjab, may be adduced in the case of the Telis of the\nsmall town of Multai in Betul District. Here the dairyman's business\nis for some reason in the hands of Telis (oilmen) and it is stated that\nfrom every Teli who engages in it a solemn oath is exacted that he will\nnot put water in the milk, and any violation of this would be punished\nby expulsion from caste. Because if the Hindus once found that they\nhad been rendered impure by drinking water touched by so low a caste\nas the Telis, they would decline any longer to purchase milk from\nthem. It is curious that the strict rule of ceremonial purity which\nobtains in the case of water has apparently no application to milk.\n\nIn the Central Provinces the Ghosis have two subcastes, the Havelia or\nthose living in open wheat country, and the Birchheya or residents\nof jungle tracts. In Saugor they have another set of divisions\nborrowed from the Ahirs, and here the Muhammadan Ghosis are said to\nbe a separate subcaste, though practically none were returned at the\ncensus. They have the usual system of exogamous groups with territorial\nnames derived from those of villages. At their marriages the couple\nwalk six times round the sacred post, reserving the seventh round, if\nthe bride is a child, to be performed subsequently when she goes to\nher husband. But if she is adult, the full number may be completed,\nthe ceremony known as lot pata coming between the sixth and seventh\nrounds. In this the bride sits first on the right of her husband and\nthen changes seats so as to be on his left; and she is thus considered\nto become joined to her husband as the left part of his body, which\nthe Hindus consider the wife to be, holding the same belief as that\nexpressed in Genesis. After this the bride takes some child of the\nhousehold into her lap and then makes it over to the bridegroom saying,\n'Take care of the baby while I go and do the household work.' This\nceremony, which has been recorded also of the Kapus in Chanda, is\nobviously designed as an auspicious omen that the marriage may be\nblessed with children. Like other castes of their standing, the Ghosis\npermit polygamy, divorce and the remarriage of widows, but the practice\nof taking two wives is rare. The dead are burnt, with the exception\nthat the bodies of young children whose ears have not been pierced\nand of persons dying of smallpox are buried. Children usually have\ntheir ears pierced when they are three or four years old. A corpse\nmust not be taken to the pyre at night, as it is thought that in\nthat case it would be born blind in the next birth. The caste have\nbards and genealogists of their own who are known as Patia. In Damoh\nthe Ghosis are mainly cart-drivers and cultivators and very few of\nthem sell milk. In Nimar there are some Muhammadan Ghosis who deal in\nmilk. Their women are not secluded and may be known by the number of\nlittle rings worn in the ear after the Muhammadan custom. Like the\nAhirs, the Ghosis are considered to be somewhat stupid. They call\nthemselves Ghosi Thakur, as they claim to be Rajputs, and outsiders\nalso sometimes address them as Thakur. But in Sangor and Damoh these\naspirations to Kshatriya rank are so widespread that when one person\nasks another his caste the usual form of the question is 'What Thakur\nare you?' The questioner thus politely assumes that his companion\nmust be a Rajput of some sort and leaves it to him to admit or deny\nthe soft impeachment. Another form of this question is to say 'What\ndudh, or milk, are you?'\n\n\n\nGolar\n\nGolar, [34] Gollam, Golla, Gola, Golkar.--The great shepherd caste\nof the Telugu country, which numbers nearly 1 1/2 million of persons\nin Madras and Hyderabad. In the Central Provinces there were under\n3000 Golars in 1901, and they were returned principally from the\nBalaghat and Seoni Districts. But 2500 Golkars, who belonged to\nChanda and were classified under Ahirs in 1901, may, in view of\nthe information now available, be considered to belong to the Golar\ncaste. Some 2000 Golars were enumerated in Berar. They are a nomadic\npeople and frequent Balaghat, owing to the large area of grazing\nland found in the District. The caste come from the south and speak\na dialect of Canarese. Hindus liken the conversation of two Golars to\ntwo cocks crowing at each other. [35] They seem to have no subcastes\nexcept that in Chanda the Yera and Nana, or black and white Golkars,\nare distinguished. Marriage is regulated by the ordinary system\nof exogamous groups, but no meaning can be assigned to the names\nof these. In Seoni they say that their group-names are the same as\nthose of the Gonds, and that they are related to this great tribe;\nbut though both are no doubt of the same Dravidian stock, there is no\nreason for supposing any closer affinity to exist, and the statement\nmay be explained by the fact that Golars frequently reside in Gond\nvillages in the forest; and in accordance with a practice commonly\nfound among village communities the fiction of relationship has grown\nup. The children of brothers and sisters are allowed to marry, but not\nthose of two sisters, the reason stated for this prohibition being that\nduring the absence of the mother her sister nurses her children; the\nchildren of sisters are therefore often foster brothers and sisters,\nand this is considered as equivalent to the real relationship. But\nthe marriage of a brother's son to a sister's daughter is held,\nas among the Gonds, to be a most suitable union. The adult marriage\nof girls involves no stigma, and the practice of serving for a wife\nis sometimes followed. Weddings may not be held during the months of\nShrawan, Bhadon, Kunwar and Pus. The marriage altar is made of dried\ncowdung plastered over with mud, in honour perhaps of the animal which\naffords the Golars their livelihood. The clothes of the bridegroom\nand bride are knotted together and they walk five times round the\naltar. In Bhandara the marriages of Golars are celebrated both at\nthe bride's house and the bridegroom's. The bridegroom rides on a\nhorse, and on arrival at the marriage-shed is presented by his future\nmother-in-law with a cup of milk. The bride and bridegroom sit on a\nplatform together, and each gets up and sits down nine times, whoever\naccomplishes this first being considered to have won. The bridegroom\nthen takes the bride's little finger in his hand and they walk nine\ntimes round the platform. He afterwards falls at the girl's feet, and\nstanding up carries her inside the house, where they eat together out\nof one dish. After three days the party proceeds to the bridegroom's\nhouse, where the same ceremonies are gone through. Here the family\nbarbers of the bride and bridegroom take the couple up in their arms\nand dance, holding them, and all the party dance too. The remarriage of\nwidows is permitted, a sum of Rs. 25 being usually paid to the parents\nof the woman by her second husband. Divorce may be effected at the\noption of either party, and documents are usually drawn up on both\nsides. The Golars worship Mahadeo and have a special deity, Hularia,\nwho protects their cattle from disease and wild beasts. A clay image\nof Hularia is erected outside the village every five or ten years and\ngoats are offered to it. Each head of a family is supposed to offer\non the first occasion two goats, and on the second and subsequent\nones, five, seven, nine and twelve goats respectively. But when a\nman dies his son starts afresh with an offering of two. The flesh\nof the animals offered is consumed by the caste-fellows. The name\nHularia Deo has some connection with the Holias, a low Telugu caste\nof leather-workers to whom the Golars appear to be related, as they\nhave the same family names. When a Golar dies a plate of cooked rice\nis laid on his body and then carried to the burning-ghat. The Holias\nbelonging to the same section go with it, and before arrival the plate\nof rice is laid on the ground and the Holias eat it. The Golars have\nvarious superstitions, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays they\nwill not give salt, fire, milk or water to any one. They usually burn\nthe dead, the corpse being laid with the head to the south, though\nin some localities the Hindu custom of placing the head to the north\nhas been adopted. They employ Brahmans for religious and ceremonial\npurposes. The occupation of the caste is to breed and tend buffaloes\nand cattle, and they also deal in live-stock, and sell milk, curds and\nghi. They were formerly addicted to dacoity and cattle-theft. They have\na caste panchayat, the head of which is designated as Mokasi. Formerly\nthe Mokasi received Rs. 15 on the marriage of a widow, and Rs. 5 when\na person temporarily outcasted was readmitted to social intercourse,\nbut these payments are now only occasionally made. The caste drink\nliquor and eat flesh, including pigs and fowls, but not beef. They\nemploy Brahmans for ceremonial purposes, but their social status is\nlow and they are practically on a level with the Dravidian tribes. The\ndialect of Canarese spoken by the Golars is known as Golari, Holia\nor Komtau, and is closely related to the form which that language\nassumes in Bijapur; [36] but to outsiders they now speak Hindi.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGOND\n\n\n[Bibliography.--The most important account of the Gond tribe is that\ncontained in the Rev. Stephen Hislop's Papers on the Aboriginal\nTribes of the Central Provinces, published after his death by\nSir R. Temple in 1866. Mr. Hislop recorded the legend of Lingo,\nof which an abstract has been reproduced. Other notices of the\nGonds are contained in the ninth volume of General Cunningham's\nArchaeological Survey Reports, Sir C. Grant's Central Provinces\nGazetteer of 1871 (Introduction), Colonel Ward's Mandla Settlement\nReport (1868), Colonel Lucie Smith's Chanda Settlement Report\n(1870), and Mr. C. W. Montgomerie's Chhindwara Settlement Report\n(1900). An excellent monograph on the Bastar Gonds was contributed\nby Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath, Superintendent of the State, and\nother monographs by Mr. A. E. Nelson, C.S., Mandla; Mr. Ganga Prasad\nKhatri, Forest Divisional Officer, Betul; Mr. J. Langhorne, Manager,\nAhiri zamindari, Chanda; Mr. R. S. Thakur, tahsildar, Balaghat; and\nMr. Din Dayal, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Nandgaon State. Papers were\nalso furnished by the Rev. A. Wood of Chanda; the Rev. H. J. Molony,\nMandla; and Major W. D. Sutherland, I.M.S., Saugor. Notes were also\ncollected by the writer in Mandla. Owing to the inclusion of many\nsmall details from the different papers it has not been possible to\nacknowledge them separately.]\n\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n(a) Origin and History\n\n 1. Numbers and distribution.\n 2. Gondwana.\n 3. Derivation of name and origin of the Gonds.\n 4. History of the Gonds.\n 5. Mythical traditions. Story of Lingo.\n 6. Legend of the creation.\n 7. Creation of the Gonds and their imprisonment by Mahadeo.\n 8. The birth and history of Lingo.\n 9. Death and resurrection of Lingo.\n10. He releases the Gonds shut up in the cave and constitutes the tribe.\n\n\n(b) Tribal Subdivisions\n\n11. Subcastes.\n12. Exogamy.\n13. Totemism.\n14. Connection of totemism with the gods.\n\n\n(c) Marriage Customs\n\n15. Prohibitions on intermarriage, and unions of relations.\n16. Irregular marriages.\n17. Marriage. Arrangement of matches.\n18. The marriage ceremony.\n19. Wedding expenditure.\n20. Special customs.\n21. Taking omens.\n22. Marriage by capture. Weeping and hiding.\n23. Serving for a wife.\n24. Widow remarriage.\n25. Divorce.\n26. Polygamy.\n\n\n(d) Birth and Pregnancy\n\n27. Menstruation.\n28. Superstitions about pregnancy and childbirth.\n29. Procedure at a birth.\n30. Names.\n31. Superstitions about children.\n\n\n(e) Funeral Rites\n\n32. Disposal of the dead.\n33. Funeral ceremony.\n34. Mourning and offerings to the dead.\n35. Memorial stones to the dead.\n36. House abandoned after a death.\n37. Bringing back the soul.\n38. The dead absorbed in Bura Deo.\n39. Belief in a future life.\n\n\n(f) Religion\n\n40. Nature of the Gond religion. The gods.\n41. Tribal gods, and their place of residence.\n42. Household gods.\n43. Nag Deo.\n44. Narayan Deo.\n45. Bura Deo.\n46. Charms and magic.\n47. Omens.\n48. Agricultural superstitions.\n49. Magical or religious observances in fishing and hunting.\n50. Witchcraft.\n51. Human sacrifice.\n52. Cannibalism.\n53. Festivals. The new crops.\n54. The Holi Festival.\n55. The Meghnath swinging rite.\n56. The Karma and other rites.\n\n\n(g) Appearance and Character and Social Rules and Customs\n\n57. Physical type.\n58. Character.\n59. Shyness and ignorance.\n60. Villages and houses.\n61. Clothes and ornaments.\n62. Ear-piercing.\n63. Hair.\n64. Bathing and washing clothes.\n65. Tattooing.\n66. Special system of tattooing.\n67. Branding.\n68. Food.\n69. Liquor.\n70. Admission of outsiders and sexual morality.\n71. Common sleeping-houses.\n72. Methods of greeting and observances between relatives.\n73. The caste panchayat and social offences.\n74. Caste penalty feasts.\n75. Special purification ceremony.\n76. Dancing.\n77. Songs.\n78. Language.\n\n\n(h) Occupation\n\n79. Cultivation.\n80. Patch cultivation.\n81. Hunting. Traps for animals.\n\n\n\n\n(a) Origin and History\n\n\n1. Numbers and distribution.\n\nGond.--The principal tribe of the Dravidian family, and perhaps\nthe most important of the non-Aryan or forest tribes in India. In\n1911 the Gonds were three million strong, and they are increasing\nrapidly. The Kolis of western India count half a million persons\nmore than the Gonds, and if the four related tribes Kol, Munda, Ho,\nand Santal were taken together, they would be stronger by about the\nsame amount. But if historical importance be considered as well as\nnumbers, the first place should be awarded to the Gonds. Of the whole\ncaste the Central Provinces contain 2,300,000 persons, Central India,\nand Bihar and Orissa about 235,000 persons each, and they are returned\nin small numbers from Assam, Madras and Hyderabad. The 50,000 Gonds\nin Assam are no doubt immigrant labourers on the tea-gardens.\n\n\n\n\n2. Gondwana.\n\nIn the Central Provinces the Gonds occupy two main tracts. The first\nis the wide belt of broken hill and forest country in the centre of\nthe Province, which forms the Satpura plateau, and is mainly comprised\nin the Chhindwara, Betul, Seoni and Mandla Districts, with portions\nof several others adjoining them. And the second is the still wider\nand more inaccessible mass of hill ranges extending south of the\nChhattisgarh plain, and south-west down to the Godavari, which includes\nportions of the three Chhattisgarh Districts, the Bastar and Kanker\nStates, and a great part of Chanda. In Mandla the Gonds form nearly\nhalf the population, and in Bastar about two-thirds. There is, however,\nno District or State of the Province which does not contain some Gonds,\nand it is both on account of their numbers and the fact that Gond\ndynasties possessed a great part of its area that the territory of the\nCentral Provinces was formerly known as Gondwana, or the country of\nthe Gonds. [37] The existing importance of the Central Provinces dates\nfrom recent years, for so late as 1853 it was stated before the Royal\nAsiatic Society that \"at present the Gondwana highlands and jungles\ncomprise such a large tract of unexplored country that they form quite\nan oasis in our maps.\" So much of this lately unexplored country as\nis British territory is now fairly well served by railways, traversed\nalmost throughout by good roads, and provided with village schools\nat distances of five to ten miles apart, even in the wilder tracts.\n\n\n\n\n3. Derivation of name and origin of the Gonds.\n\nThe derivation of the word Gond is uncertain. It is the name given\nto the tribe by the Hindus or Muhammadans, as their own name for\nthemselves is Koitur or Koi. General Cunningham considered that the\nname Gond probably came from Gauda, the classical term for part of\nthe United Provinces and Bengal. A Benares inscription relating to one\nof the Chedi kings of Tripura or Tewar (near Jubbulpore) states that\nhe was of the Haihaya tribe, who lived on the borders of the Nerbudda\nin the district of the Western Gauda in the Province of Malwa. Three\nor four other inscriptions also refer to the kings of Gauda in the\nsame locality. Gauda, however, was properly and commonly used as the\nname of part of Bengal. There is no evidence beyond a few doubtful\ninscriptions of its having ever been applied to any part of the\nCentral Provinces. The principal passage in which General Cunningham\nidentifies Gauda with the Central Provinces is that in which the king\nof Gauda came to the assistance of the ruler of Malwa against the\nking of Kanauj, elder brother of the great Harsha Vardhana, and slew\nthe latter king in A.D. 605. But Mr. V. A. Smith holds that Gauda\nin this passage refers to Bengal and not to the Central Provinces;\n[38] and General Cunningham's argument on the locality of Gauda is\nthus rendered extremely dubious, and with it his derivation of the\nname Gond. In fact it seems highly improbable that the name of a large\ntribe should have been taken from a term so little used and known in\nthis special application. Though in the Imperial Gazetteer [39] the\npresent writer reproduced General Cunningham's derivation of the term\nGond, it was there characterised as speculative, and in the light of\nthe above remarks now seems highly improbable. Mr. Hislop considered\nthat the name Gond was a form of Kond, as he spelt the name of the\nKhond tribe. He pointed out that k and g are interchangeable. Thus\nGotalghar, the empty house where the village young men sleep, comes\nfrom Kotal, a led horse, and ghar, a house. Similarly, Koikopal,\nthe name of a Gond subtribe who tend cattle, is from Koi or Gond,\nand gopal, a cowherd. The name by which the Gonds call themselves\nis Koi or Koitur, while the Khonds call themselves Ku, which word\nSir G. Grierson considers to be probably related to the Gond name\nKoi. Further, he states that the Telugu people call the Khonds, Gond\nor Kod (Kor). General Cunningham points out that the word Gond in the\nCentral Provinces is frequently or, he says, usually pronounced Gaur,\nwhich is practically the same sound as god, and with the change\nof G to K would become Kod. Thus the two names Gond and Kod, by\nwhich the Telugu people know the Khonds, are practically the same\nas the names Gond and God of the Gonds in the Central Provinces,\nthough Sir G. Grierson does not mention the change of g to k in\nhis account of either language. It seems highly probable that the\ndesignation Gond was given to the tribe by the Telugus. The Gonds\nspeak a Dravidian language of the same family as Tamil, Canarese\nand Telugu, and therefore it is likely that they come from the south\ninto the Central Provinces. Their route may have been up the Godavari\nriver into Chanda; from thence up the Indravati into Bastar and the\nhills south and east of the Chhattisgarh plain; and up the Wardha and\nWainganga to the Districts of the Satpura Plateau. In Chanda, where\na Gond dynasty reigned for some centuries, they would be in contact\nwith the Telugus, and here they may have got their name of Gond,\nand carried it with them into the north and east of the Province. As\nalready seen, the Khonds are called Gond by the Telugus, and Kandh\nby the Uriyas. The Khonds apparently came up more towards the east\ninto Ganjam and Kalahandi. Here the name of Gond or Kod, given them\nby the Telugus, may have been modified into Kandh by the Uriyas,\nand from the two names came the English corruption of Khond. The\nKhond and Gondi languages are now dissimilar. Still they present\ncertain points of resemblance, and though Sir G. Grierson does not\ndiscuss their connection, it appears from his highly interesting\ngenealogical tree of the Dravidian languages that Khond or Kui and\nGondi are closely connected. These two languages, and no others, occupy\nan intermediate position between the two great branches sprung from\nthe original Dravidian language, one of which is mainly represented\nby Telugu and the other by Tamil, Canarese and Malayalam. [40] Gondi\nand Khond are shown in the centre as the connecting link between the\ntwo great branches. Gondi is more nearly related to Tamil and Khond to\nTelugu. On the Telugu side, moreover, Khond approaches most closely\nto Kolami, which is a member of the Telugu branch. The Kolams are a\ntribe of Wardha and Berar, sometimes considered an offshoot of the\nGonds; at any rate, it seems probable that they came from southern\nIndia by the same route as the Gonds. Thus the Khond language is\nintermediate between Gondi and the Kolami dialect of Wardha and Berar,\nthough the Kolams live west of the Gonds and the Khonds east. And a\nfairly close relationship between the three languages appears to be\nestablished. Hence the linguistic evidence appears to afford strong\nsupport to the view that the Khonds and Gonds may originally have\nbeen one tribe. Further, Mr. Hislop points out that a word for god,\npen, is common to the Gonds and Khonds; and the Khonds have a god\ncalled Bura Pen, who might be the same as Bura Deo, the great god\nof the Gonds. Mr. Hislop found Kodo Pen and Pharsi Pen as Gond gods,\n[41] while Pen or Pennu is the regular word for god among the\nKhonds. This evidence seems to establish a probability that the\nGonds and Khonds were originally one tribe in the south of India,\nand that they obtained separate names and languages since they left\ntheir original home for the north. The fact that both of them speak\nlanguages of the Dravidian family, whose home is in southern India,\nmakes it probable that the two tribes originally belonged there, and\nmigrated north into the Central Provinces and Orissa. This hypothesis\nis supported by the traditions of the Gonds.\n\n\n\n\n4. History of the Gonds.\n\nAs stated in the article on Kol, it is known that Rajput dynasties\nwere ruling in various parts of the Central Provinces from about the\nsixth to the twelfth centuries. They then disappear, and there is a\nblank till the fourteenth century or later, when Gond kingdoms are\nfound established at Kherla in Betul, at Deogarh in Chhindwara, at\nGarha-Mandla, [42] including the Jubbulpore country, and at Chanda,\nfourteen miles from Bhandak. It seems clear, then, that the Hindu\ndynasties were subverted by the Gonds after the Muhammadan invasions\nof northern India had weakened or destroyed the central powers of the\nHindus, and prevented any assistance being afforded to the outlying\nsettlements. There is some reason to suppose that the immigration of\nthe Gonds into the Central Provinces took place after the establishment\nof these Hindu kingdoms, and not before, as is commonly held. [43]\nBut the point must at present be considered doubtful. There is no\nreason however to doubt that the Gonds came from the south through\nChanda and Bastar. During the fourteenth century and afterwards the\nGonds established dynasties at the places already mentioned in the\nCentral Provinces. For two or three centuries the greater part of the\nProvince was governed by Gond kings. Of their method of government in\nNarsinghpur, Sleeman said: \"Under these Gond Rajas the country seems\nfor the most part to have been distributed among feudatory chiefs,\nbound to attend upon the prince at his capital with a stipulated\nnumber of troops, to be employed wherever their services might be\nrequired, but to furnish little or no revenue in money. These chiefs\nwere Gonds, and the countries they held for the support of their\nfamilies and the payment of their troops and retinue little more\nthan wild jungles. The Gonds seem not to have been at home in open\ncountry, and as from the sixteenth century a peaceable penetration of\nHindu cultivators into the best lands of the Province assumed large\ndimensions, the Gonds gradually retired to the hill ranges on the\nborders of the plains.\" The headquarters of each dynasty at Mandla,\nGarha, Kherla, Deogarh and Chanda seem to have been located in a\nposition strengthened for defence either by a hill or a great river,\nand adjacent to an especially fertile plain tract, whose produce\nserved for the maintenance of the ruler's household and headquarters\nestablishment. Often the site was on other sides bordered by dense\nforest which would afford a retreat to the occupants in case it fell\nto an enemy. Strong and spacious forts were built, with masonry tanks\nand wells inside them to provide water, but whether these buildings\nwere solely the work of the Gonds or constructed with the assistance of\nHindu or Muhammadan artificers is uncertain. But the Hindu immigrants\nfound Gond government tolerant and beneficent. Under the easy eventless\nsway of these princes the rich country over which they ruled prospered,\nits flocks and herds increased, and the treasury filled. So far back\nas the fifteenth century we read in Firishta that the king of Kherla,\nwho, if not a Gond himself, was a king of the Gonds, sumptuously\nentertained the Bahmani king and made him rich offerings, among\nwhich were many diamonds, rubies and pearls. Of the Rani Durgavati of\nGarha-Mandla, Sleeman said: \"Of all the sovereigns of this dynasty she\nlives most in the page of history and in the grateful recollections\nof the people. She built the great reservoir which lies close to\nJubbulpore, and is called after her Rani Talao or Queen's pond; and\nmany other highly useful works were formed by her about Garha.\" When\nthe castle of Chauragarh was sacked by one of Akbar's generals in 1564,\nthe booty found, according to Firishta, comprised, independently of\njewels, images of gold and silver and other valuables, no fewer than\na hundred jars of gold coin and a thousand elephants. Of the Chanda\nrulers the Settlement officer who has recorded their history wrote\nthat, \"They left, if we forget the last few years, a well-governed\nand contented kingdom, adorned with admirable works of engineering\nskill and prosperous to a point which no aftertime has reached. They\nhave left their mark behind them in royal tombs, lakes and palaces,\nbut most of all in the seven miles of battlemented stone wall, too wide\nnow for the shrunk city of Chanda within it, which stands on the very\nborder-line between the forest and the plain, having in front the rich\nvalley of the Wardha river, and behind and up to the city walls deep\nforest extending to the east.\" According to local tradition the great\nwall of Chanda and other buildings, such as the tombs of the Gond kings\nand the palace at Junona, were built by immigrant Telugu masons of the\nKapu or Munurwar castes. Another excellent rule of the Gond kings was\nto give to any one who made a tank a grant of land free of revenue of\nthe land lying beneath it. A large number of small irrigation tanks\nwere constructed under this inducement in the Wainganga valley, and\nstill remain. But the Gond states had no strength for defence, as was\nshown when in the eighteenth century Maratha chiefs, having acquired\nsome knowledge of the art of war and military training by their long\nfighting against the Mughals, cast covetous eyes on Gondwana. The\nloose tribal system, so easy in time of peace, entirely failed to\nknit together the strength of the people when united action was most\nrequired, and the plain country fell before the Maratha armies almost\nwithout a struggle. In the strongholds, however, of the hilly ranges\nwhich hem in every part of Gondwana the chiefs for long continued to\nmaintain an unequal resistance, and to revenge their own wrongs by\nindiscriminate rapine and slaughter. In such cases the Maratha plan\nwas to continue pillaging and harassing the Gonds until they obtained\nan acknowledgment of their supremacy and the promise, at least, of an\nannual tribute. Under this treatment the hill Gonds soon lost every\nvestige of civilisation, and became the cruel, treacherous savages\ndepicted by travellers of this period. They regularly plundered and\nmurdered stragglers and small parties passing through the hills, while\nfrom their strongholds, built on the most inaccessible spurs of the\nSatpuras, they would make a dash into the rich plains of Berar and\nthe Nerbudda valley, and after looting and killing all night, return\nstraight across country to their jungle fortresses, guided by the light\nof a bonfire on some commanding peak. [44] With the pacification of\nthe country and the introduction of a strong and equable system of\ngovernment by the British, these wild marauders soon settled down\nand became the timid and inoffensive labourers which they now are.\n\n\n\n\n5. Mythica traditions. Story of Lingo.\n\nMr. Hislop took down from a Pardhan priest a Gond myth of the creation\nof the world and the origin of the Gonds, and their liberation from a\ncave, in which they had been shut up by Siva, through the divine hero\nLingo. General Cunningham said that the exact position of the cave was\nnot known, but it would seem to have been somewhere in the Himalayas,\nas the name Dhawalgiri, which means a white mountain, is mentioned. The\ncave, according to ordinary Gond tradition, was situated in Kachikopa\nLohagarh or the Iron Valley in the Red Hill. It seems clear from the\nstory itself that its author was desirous of connecting the Gonds\nwith Hindu mythology, and as Siva's heaven is in the Himalayas, the\nname Dhawalgiri, where he located the cave, may refer to them. It\nis also said that the cave was at the source of the Jumna. But in\nMr. Hislop's version the cave where all the Gonds except four were\nshut up is not in Kachikopa Lohagarh, as the Gonds commonly say;\nbut only the four Gonds who escaped wandered to this latter place\nand dwelt there. And the story does not show that Kachikopa Lohagarh\nwas on Mount Dhawalgiri or the Himalayas, where it places the cave in\nwhich the Gonds were shut up, or anywhere near them. On the contrary,\nit would be quite consonant with Mr. Hislop's version if Kachikopa\nLohagarh were in the Central Provinces. It may be surmised that in the\noriginal Gond legend their ancestors really were shut up in Kachikopa\nLohagarh, but not by the god Siva. Very possibly the story began with\nthem in the cave in the Iron Valley in the Red Hill. But the Hindu\nwho clearly composed Mr. Hislop's version wished to introduce the god\nSiva as a principal actor, and he therefore removed the site of the\ncave to the Himalayas. This appears probable from the story itself,\nin which, in its present form, Kachikopa Lohagarh plays no real part,\nand only appears because it was in the original tradition and has\nto be retained. [45] But the Gonds think that their ancestors were\nactually shut up in Kachikopa Lohagarh, and one tradition puts the\nsite at Pachmarhi, whose striking hill scenery and red soil cleft by\nmany deep and inaccessible ravines would render it a likely place for\nthe incident. Another version locates Kachikopa Lohagarh at Darekasa\nin Bhandara, where there is a place known as Kachagarh or the iron\nfort. But Pachmarhi is perhaps the more probable, as it has some deep\ncaves, which have always been looked upon as sacred places. The point\nis of some interest, because this legend of the cave being in the\nHimalayas is adduced as a Gond tradition that their ancestors came\nfrom the north, and hence as supporting the theory of the immigration\nof the Dravidians through the north-west of India. But if the view now\nsuggested is correct, the story of the cave being in the Himalayas is\nnot a genuine Gond tradition at all, but a Hindu interpolation. The\nonly other ground known to the writer for asserting that the Gonds\nbelieved their ancestors to have come from the north is that they\nbury their dead with the feet to the north. There are other obvious\nHindu accretions in the legend, as the saintly Brahmanic character of\nLingo and his overcoming the gods through fasting and self-torture,\nand also the fact that Siva shut up the Gonds in the cave because\nhe was offended by their dirty habits and bad smell. But the legend\nstill contains a considerable quantity of true Gond tradition, and\nthough somewhat tedious, it seems necessary to give an abridgment of\nMr. Hislop's account, with reproduction of selected passages. Captain\nForsyth also made a modernised poetical version, [46] from which one\nextract is taken. Certain variations from another form of the legend\nobtained in Bastar are included.\n\n\n\n\n6. Legend of the creation.\n\nIn the beginning there was water everywhere, and God was born in a\nlotus-leaf and lived alone. One day he rubbed his arm and from the\nrubbing made a crow, which sat on his shoulder; he also made a crab,\nwhich swam out over the waters. God then ordered the crow to fly\nover the world and bring some earth. The crow flew about and could\nfind no earth, but it saw the crab, which was supporting itself with\none leg resting on the bottom of the sea. The crow was very tired\nand perched on the crab's back, which was soft so that the crow's\nfeet made marks on it, which are still visible on the bodies of all\ncrabs at present. The crow asked the crab where any earth could be\nfound. The crab said that if God would make its body hard it would\nfind some earth. God said he would make part of the crab's body hard,\nand he made its back hard, as it still remains. The crab then dived\nto the bottom of the sea, where it found Kenchna, the earth-worm. It\ncaught hold of Kenchna by the neck with its claws and the mark thus\nmade is still to be seen on the earth-worm's neck. Then the earth-worm\nbrought up earth out of its mouth and the crab brought this to God,\nand God scattered it over the sea and patches of land appeared. God\nthen walked over the earth and a boil came on his hand, and out of\nit Mahadeo and Parvati were born.\n\n\n\n\n7. Creation of the Gonds and their imprisonment by Mahadeo.\n\nFrom Mahadeo's urine numerous vegetables began to spring up. Parvati\nate of these and became pregnant and gave birth to eighteen\nthreshing-floors [47] of Brahman gods and twelve threshing-floors\nof Gond gods. All the Gonds were scattered over the jungle. They\nbehaved like Gonds and not like good Hindus, with lamentable results,\nas follows: [48]\n\n\n Hither and thither all the Gonds were scattered in the jungle.\n Places, hills, and valleys were filled with these Gonds.\n Even trees had their Gonds. How did the Gonds conduct themselves?\n Whatever came across them they must needs kill and eat it;\n They made no distinction. If they saw a jackal they killed\n And ate it; no distinction was observed; they respected not\n antelope, sambhar and the like.\n They made no distinction in eating a sow, a quail, a pigeon,\n A crow, a kite, an adjutant, a vulture,\n A lizard, a frog, a beetle, a cow, a calf, a he- and she-buffalo,\n Rats, bandicoots, squirrels--all these they killed and ate.\n So began the Gonds to do. They devoured raw and ripe things;\n They did not bathe for six months together;\n They did not wash their faces properly, even on dunghills they\n would fall down and remain.\n Such were the Gonds born in the beginning. A smell was spread\n over the jungle\n When the Gonds were thus disorderly behaved; they became\n disagreeable to Mahadeva,\n Who said: \"The caste of the Gonds is very bad;\n I will not preserve them; they will ruin my hill Dhawalgiri.\"\n\n\nMahadeo then determined to get rid of the Gonds. With this view he\ninvited them all to a meeting. When they sat down Mahadeo made a\nsquirrel from the rubbings of his body and let it loose in the middle\nof the Gonds. All the Gonds at once got up and began to chase it,\nhoping for a meal. They seized sticks and stones and clods of earth,\nand their unkempt hair flew in the wind. The squirrel dodged about\nand ran away, and finally, directed by Mahadeo, ran into a large cave\nwith all the Gonds after it. Mahadeo then rolled a large stone to the\nmouth of the cave and shut up all the Gonds in it. Only four remained\noutside, and they fled away to Kachikopa Lohagarh, or the Iron Cave\nin the Red Hill, and lived there. Meanwhile Parvati perceived that\nthe smell of the Gonds, which had pleased her, had vanished from\nDhawalgiri. She desired it to be restored and commenced a devotion. For\nsix months she fasted and practised austerities. Bhagwan (God) was\nswinging in a swing. He was disturbed by Parvati's devotion. He sent\nNarayan (the sun) to see who was fasting. Narayan came and found\nParvati and asked her what she wanted. She said that she missed her\nGonds and wanted them back. Narayan told Bhagwan, who promised that\nthey should be given back.\n\n\n8. The birth and history of Lingo.\n\nThe yellow flowers of the tree Pahindi were growing on\nDhawalgiri. Bhagwan sent thunder and lightning, and the flower\nconceived. First fell from it a heap of turmeric or saffron. In\nthe morning the sun came out, the flower burst open, and Lingo was\nborn. Lingo was a perfect child. He had a diamond on his navel and\na sandalwood mark on his forehead. He fell from the flower into the\nheap of turmeric. He played in the turmeric and slept in a swing. He\nbecame nine years old. He said there was no one there like him, and\nhe would go where he could find his fellows. He climbed a needle-like\nhill, [49] and from afar off he saw Kachikopa Lohagarh and the four\nGonds. He came to them. They saw he was like them, and asked him to\nbe their brother. They ate only animals. Lingo asked them to find\nfor him an animal without a liver, and they searched all through the\nforest and could not. Then Lingo told them to cut down trees and make\na field. They tried to cut down the anjan [50] trees, but their hands\nwere blistered and they could not go on. Lingo had been asleep. He\nwoke up and saw they had only cut down one or two trees. He took the\naxe and cut down many trees, and fenced a field and made a gate to\nit. Black soil appeared. It began to rain, and rained without ceasing\nfor three days. All the rivers and streams were filled. The field\nbecame green with rice, and it grew up. There were sixteen score\nof nilgai or blue-bull. They had two leaders, an old bull and his\nnephew. The young bull saw the rice of Lingo's field and wished to\neat it. The uncle told him not to eat of the field of Lingo or all\nthe nilgai would be killed. But the young bull did not heed, and took\noff all the nilgai to eat the rice. When they got to the field they\ncould find no entrance, so they jumped the fence, which was five cubits\nhigh. They ate all the rice from off the field and ran away. The young\nbull told them as they ran to put their feet on leaves and stones and\nboughs and grass, and not on the ground, so that they might not be\ntracked. Lingo woke up and went to see his field, and found all the\nrice eaten. He knew the nilgai had done it, and showed the brothers\nhow to track them by the few marks which they had by accident made\non the ground. They did so, and surrounded the nilgai and killed\nthem all with their bows and arrows except the old uncle, from whom\nLingo's arrow rebounded harmlessly on account of his innocence, and\none young doe. From these two the nilgai race was preserved. Then\nLingo told the Gonds to make fire and roast the deer as follows:\n\n\n He said, I will show you something; see if anywhere in your\n Waistbands there is a flint; if so, take it out and make fire.\n But the matches did not ignite. As they were doing this, a watch\n of the night passed.\n They threw down the matches, and said to Lingo, Thou art a Saint;\n Show us where our fire is, and why it does not come out.\n Lingo said: Three koss (six miles) hence is Rikad Gawadi the giant.\n There is fire in his field; where smoke shall appear, go there,\n Come not back without bringing fire. Thus said Lingo.\n They said, We have never seen the place, where shall we go?\n Ye have never seen where this fire is? Lingo said;\n I will discharge an arrow thither.\n Go in the direction of the arrow; there you will get fire.\n He applied the arrow, and having pulled the bow, he discharged one:\n It crashed on, breaking twigs and making its passage clear.\n Having cut through the high grass, it made its way and reached\n the old man's place (above mentioned).\n The arrow dropped close to the fire of the old man, who had\n daughters.\n The arrow was near the door. As soon as they saw it, the daughters\n came and took it up,\n And kept it. They asked their father: When will you give us\n in marriage?\n Thus said the seven sisters, the daughters of the old man.\n I will marry you as I think best for you;\n Remain as you are. So said the old man, the Rikad Gawadi.\n Lingo said, Hear, O brethren! I shot an arrow, it made its way.\n Go there, and you will see fire; bring thence the fire.\n Each said to the other, I will not go; but (at last) the youngest\n went.\n He descried the fire, and went to it; then beheld he an old man\n looking like the trunk of a tree.\n He saw from afar the old man's field, around which a hedge\n was made.\n The old man kept only one way to it, and fastened a screen to\n the entrance, and had a fire in the centre of the field.\n He placed logs of the Mahua and Anjun and Saj trees on the fire,\n Teak faggots he gathered, and enkindled flame.\n The fire blazed up, and warmed by the heat of it, in deep sleep\n lay the Rikad Gawadi.\n Thus the old man like a giant did appear. When the young Gond\n beheld him, he shivered;\n His heart leaped; and he was much afraid in his mind, and said:\n If the old man were to rise he will see me, and I shall be\n eaten up;\n I will steal away the fire and carry it off, then my life will\n be safe.\n He went near the fire secretly, and took a brand of tendu wood\n tree.\n When he was lifting it up a spark flew and fell on the hip of\n the old man.\n That spark was as large as a pot; the giant was blistered; he\n awoke alarmed.\n And said: I am hungry, and I cannot get food to eat anywhere;\n I feel a desire for flesh;\n Like a tender cucumber hast thou come to me. So said the old man\n to the Gond,\n Who began to fly. The old man followed him. The Gond then threw\n away the brand which he had stolen.\n He ran onward, and was not caught. Then the old man, being tired,\n turned back.\n Thence he returned to his field, and came near the fire and sat,\n and said, What nonsense is this?\n A tender prey had come within my reach;\n I said I will cut it up as soon as I can, but it escaped from\n my hand!\n Let it go; it will come again, then I will catch it. It has\n gone now.\n Then what happened? the Gond returned and came to his brethren.\n And said to them: Hear, O brethren, I went for fire, as you sent\n me, to that field; I beheld an old man like a giant.\n With hands stretched out and feet lifted up. I ran. I thus survived\n with difficulty.\n The brethren said to Lingo, We will not go. Lingo said, Sit\n ye here.\n O brethren, what sort of a person is this giant? I will go and\n see him.\n So saying, Lingo went away and reached a river.\n He thence arose and went onward. As he looked, he saw in front\n three gourds.\n Then he saw a bamboo stick, which he took up.\n When the river was flooded\n It washed away a gourd tree, and its seed fell, and each stem\n produced bottle-gourds.\n He inserted a bamboo stick in the hollow of the gourd and made\n a guitar.\n He plucked two hairs from his head and strung it.\n He held a bow and fixed eleven keys to that one stick, and played\n on it.\n Lingo was much pleased in his mind.\n Holding it in his hand, he walked in the direction of the old\n man's field.\n He approached the fire where Rikad Gawadi was sleeping.\n The giant seemed like a log lying close to the fire; his teeth\n were hideously visible;\n His mouth was gaping. Lingo looked at the old man while sleeping.\n His eyes were shut. Lingo said, This is not a good time to carry\n off the old man while he is asleep.\n In front he looked, and turned round and saw a tree\n Of the pipal sort standing erect; he beheld its branches with\n wonder, and looked for a fit place to mount upon.\n It appeared a very good tree; so he climbed it, and ascended to\n the top of it to sit.\n As he sat the cock crew. Lingo said, It is daybreak;\n Meanwhile the old man must be rising. Therefore Lingo took the\n guitar in his hand,\n And held it; he gave a stroke, and it sounded well; from it he\n drew one hundred tunes.\n It sounded well, as if he was singing with his voice.\n Thus (as it were) a song was heard.\n Trees and hills were silent at its sound. The music loudly\n entered into\n The old man's ears; he rose in haste, and sat up quickly; lifted\n up his eyes,\n And desired to hear (more). He looked hither and thither, but\n could not make out whence the sound came.\n The old man said: Whence has a creature come here to-day to sing\n like the maina bird?\n He saw a tree, but nothing appeared to him as he looked underneath\n it.\n He did not look up; he looked at the thickets and ravines, but\n Saw nothing. He came to the road, and near to the fire in the\n midst of his field and stood.\n Sometimes sitting, and sometimes standing, jumping, and rolling,\n he began to dance.\n The music sounded as the day dawned. His old woman came out in\n the morning and began to look out.\n She heard in the direction of the field a melodious music playing.\n When she arrived near the edge of her field, she heard music in\n her ears.\n That old woman called her husband to her.\n With stretched hands, and lifted feet, and with his neck bent down,\n he danced.\n Thus he danced. The old woman looked towards her husband, and said,\n My old man, my husband,\n Surely, that music is very melodious. I will dance, said the\n old woman.\n Having made the fold of her dress loose, she quickly began to\n dance near the hedge.\n\n\n\n\n9. Death and resurrection of Lingo.\n\nThen Lingo disclosed himself to the giant and became friendly with\nhim. The giant apologised for having tried to eat his brother, and\ncalled Lingo his nephew. Lingo invited him to come and feast on the\nflesh of the sixteen scores of nilgai. The giant called his seven\ndaughters and offered them all to Lingo in marriage. The daughters\nproduced the arrow which they had treasured up as portending\na husband. Lingo said he was not marrying himself, but he would\ntake them home as wives for his brothers. So they all went back to\nthe cave and Lingo assigned two of the daughters each to the three\nelder brothers and one to the youngest. Then the brothers, to show\ntheir gratitude, said that they would go and hunt in the forest and\nbring meat and fruit and Lingo should lie in a swing and be rocked\nby their seven wives. But while the wives were swinging Lingo and\nhis eyes were shut, they wished to sport with him as their husbands'\nyounger brother. So saying they pulled his hands and feet till he woke\nup. Then he reproached them and called them his mothers and sisters,\nbut they cared nothing and began to embrace him. Then Lingo was filled\nwith wrath and leapt up, and seeing a rice-pestle near he seized it\nand beat them all with it soundly. Then the women went to their houses\nand wept and resolved to be revenged on Lingo. So when the brothers\ncame home they told their husbands that while they were swinging\nLingo he had tried to seduce them all from their virtue, and they\nwere resolved to go home and stay no longer in Kachikopa with such\na man about the place. Then the brothers were exceedingly angry with\nLingo, who they thought had deceived them with a pretence of virtue\nin refusing a wife, and they resolved to kill him. So they enticed\nhim into the forest with a story of a great animal which had put them\nto flight and asked him to kill it, and there they shot him to death\nwith their arrows and gouged out his eyes and played ball with them.\n\nBut the god Bhagwan became aware that Lingo was not praying to him as\nusual, and sent the crow Kageshwar to look for him. The crow came and\nreported that Lingo was dead, and the god sent him back with nectar to\nsprinkle it over the body and bring it to life again, which was done.\n\n\n\n\n10. He releases the Gonds shut up in the cave and constitutes the\ntribe.\n\nLingo then thought he had had enough of the four brothers, so he\ndetermined to go and find the other sixteen score Gonds who were\nimprisoned somewhere as the brothers had told him. The manner of his\ndoing this may be told in Captain Forsyth's version: [51]\n\n\n And our Lingo redivivus\n Wandered on across the mountains,\n Wandered sadly through the forest\n Till the darkening of the evening,\n Wandered on until the night fell.\n Screamed the panther in the forest,\n Growled the bear upon the mountain,\n And our Lingo then bethought him\n Of their cannibal propensities.\n Saw at hand the tree Niruda,\n Clambered up into its branches.\n Darkness fell upon the forest,\n Bears their heads wagged, yelled the jackal\n Kolyal, the King of Jackals.\n Sounded loud their dreadful voices\n In the forest-shade primeval.\n Then the Jungle-Cock Gugotee,\n Mull the Peacock, Kurs the Wild Deer,\n Terror-stricken, screeched and shuddered,\n In that forest-shade primeval.\n But the moon arose at midnight,\n Poured her flood of silver radiance,\n Lighted all the forest arches,\n Through their gloomy branches slanting;\n Fell on Lingo, pondering deeply\n On his sixteen scores of Koiturs.\n Then thought Lingo, I will ask her\n For my sixteen scores of Koiturs.\n 'Tell me, O Moon!' said Lingo,\n 'Tell, O Brightener of the darkness!\n Where my sixteen scores are hidden.'\n But the Moon sailed onwards, upwards,\n And her cold and glancing moonbeams\n Said, 'Your Gonds, I have not seen them.'\n And the Stars came forth and twinkled\n Twinkling eyes above the forest.\n Lingo said, \"O Stars that twinkle!\n Eyes that look into the darkness,\n Tell me where my sixteen scores are.\"\n But the cold Stars twinkling ever,\n Said, 'Your Gonds, we have not seen them.'\n Broke the morning, the sky reddened,\n Faded out the star of morning,\n Rose the Sun above the forest,\n Brilliant Sun, the Lord of morning,\n And our Lingo quick descended,\n Quickly ran he to the eastward,\n Fell before the Lord of Morning,\n Gave the Great Sun salutation--\n 'Tell, O Sun!' he said, 'Discover\n Where my sixteen scores of Gonds are.'\n But the Lord of Day reply made--\n \"Hear, O Lingo, I a Pilgrim\n Wander onwards, through four watches\n Serving God, I have seen nothing\n Of your sixteen scores of Koiturs.\"\n Then our Lingo wandered onwards\n Through the arches of the forest;\n Wandered on until before him\n Saw the grotto of a hermit,\n Old and sage, the Black Kumait,\n He the very wise and knowing,\n He the greatest of Magicians,\n Born in days that are forgotten,\n In the unremembered ages,\n Salutation gave and asked him--\n 'Tell, O Hermit! Great Kumait!\n Where my sixteen scores of Gonds are.\n Then replied the Black Magician,\n Spake disdainfully in this wise--\n \"Lingo, hear, your Gonds are asses\n Eating cats, and mice, and bandicoots,\n Eating pigs, and cows, and buffaloes;\n Filthy wretches! wherefore ask me?\n If you wish it I will tell you.\n Our great Mahadeva caught them,\n And has shut them up securely\n In a cave within the bowels\n Of his mountain Dewalgiri,\n With a stone of sixteen cubits,\n And his bulldog fierce Basmasur;\n Serve them right, too, I consider,\n Filthy, casteless, stinking wretches!\"\n And the Hermit to his grotto\n Back returned, and deeply pondered\n On the days that are forgotten,\n On the unremembered ages.\n But our Lingo wandered onwards,\n Fasting, praying, doing penance;\n Laid him on a bed of prickles,\n Thorns long and sharp and piercing.\n Fasting lay he devotee-like,\n Hand not lifting, foot not lifting,\n Eye not opening, nothing seeing.\n Twelve months long thus lay and fasted,\n Till his flesh was dry and withered,\n And the bones began to show through.\n Then the great god Mahadeva\n Felt his seat begin to tremble,\n Felt his golden stool, all shaking\n From the penance of our Lingo.\n Felt, and wondered who on earth\n This devotee was that was fasting\n Till his golden stool was shaking.\n Stepped he down from Dewalgiri,\n Came and saw that bed of prickles\n Where our Lingo lay unmoving.\n Asked him what his little game was,\n Why his golden stool was shaking.\n Answered Lingo, \"Mighty Ruler!\n Nothing less will stop that shaking\n Than my sixteen scores of Koiturs\n Rendered up all safe and hurtless\n From your cave in Dewalgiri.\"\n Then the Great God, much disgusted,\n Offered all he had to Lingo,\n Offered kingdom, name, and riches,\n Offered anything he wished for,\n 'Only leave your stinking Koiturs\n Well shut up in Dewalgiri.'\n But our Lingo all refusing\n Would have nothing but his Koiturs;\n Gave a turn to run the thorns a\n Little deeper in his midriff.\n Winced the Great God: \"Very well, then,\n Take your Gonds--but first a favour.\n By the shore of the Black Water\n Lives a bird they call Black Bindo,\n Much I wish to see his young ones,\n Little Bindos from the sea-shore;\n For an offering bring these Bindos,\n Then your Gonds take from my mountain.\"\n Then our Lingo rose and wandered,\n Wandered onwards through the forest,\n Till he reached the sounding sea-shore,\n Reached the brink of the Black Water,\n Found the Bingo birds were absent\n From their nest upon the sea-shore,\n Absent hunting in the forest,\n Hunting elephants prodigious,\n Which they killed and took their brains out,\n Cracked their skulls, and brought their brains to\n Feed their callow little Bindos,\n Wailing sadly by the sea-shore.\n Seven times a fearful serpent,\n Bhawarnag the horrid serpent,\n Serpent born in ocean's caverns,\n Coming forth from the Black Water,\n Had devoured the little Bindos--\n Broods of callow little Bindos\n Wailing sadly by the sea-shore--\n In the absence of their parents.\n Eighth this brood was. Stood our Lingo,\n Stood he pondering beside them--\n \"If I take these little wretches\n In the absence of their parents\n They will call me thief and robber.\n No! I'll wait till they come back here.\"\n Then he laid him down and slumbered\n By the little wailing Bindos.\n As he slept the dreadful serpent,\n Rising, came from the Black Water,\n Came to eat the callow Bindos,\n In the absence of their parents.\n Came he trunk-like from the waters,\n Came with fearful jaws distended,\n Huge and horrid, like a basket\n For the winnowing of corn.\n Rose a hood of vast dimensions\n O'er his fierce and dreadful visage.\n Shrieked the Bindos young and callow,\n Gave a cry of lamentation;\n Rose our Lingo; saw the monster;\n Drew an arrow from his quiver,\n Shot it swift into his stomach,\n Sharp and cutting in the stomach,\n Then another and another;\n Cleft him into seven pieces,\n Wriggled all the seven pieces,\n Wriggled backward to the water.\n But our Lingo, swift advancing,\n Seized the headpiece in his arms,\n Knocked the brains out on a boulder;\n Laid it down beside the Bindos,\n Callow, wailing, little Bindos.\n On it laid him, like a pillow,\n And began again to slumber.\n Soon returned the parent Bindos\n From their hunting in the forest;\n Bringing brains and eyes of camels\n And of elephants prodigious,\n For their little callow Bindos\n Wailing sadly by the sea-shore.\n But the Bindos young and callow\n Brains of camels would not swallow;\n Said--\"A pretty set of parents\n You are truly! thus to leave us\n Sadly wailing by the sea-shore\n To be eaten by the serpent--\n Bhawarnag the dreadful serpent--\n Came he up from the Black Water,\n Came to eat us little Bindos,\n When this very valiant Lingo\n Shot an arrow in his stomach,\n Cut him into seven pieces--\n Give to Lingo brains of camels,\n Eyes of elephants prodigious.\"\n Then the fond paternal Bindo\n Saw the head-piece of the serpent\n Under Lingo's head a pillow,\n And he said, 'O valiant Lingo,\n Ask whatever you may wish for.'\n Then he asked the little Bindos\n For an offering to the Great God,\n And the fond paternal Bindo,\n Much disgusted first refusing,\n Soon consented; said he'd go too\n With the fond maternal Bindo--\n Take them all upon his shoulders,\n And fly straight to Dewalgiri.\n Then he spread his mighty pinions,\n Took his Bindos up on one side\n And our Lingo on the other.\n Thus they soared away together\n From the shores of the Black Water,\n And the fond maternal Bindo,\n O'er them hovering, spread an awning\n With her broad and mighty pinions\n O'er her offspring and our Lingo.\n By the forests and the mountains\n Six months' journey was it thither\n To the mountain Dewalgiri.\n Half the day was scarcely over\n Ere this convoy from the sea-shore\n Lighted safe on Dewalgiri;\n Touched the knocker to the gateway\n Of the Great God, Mahadeva.\n And the messenger Narayan\n Answering, went and told his master--\n \"Lo, this very valiant Lingo!\n Here he is with all the Bindos,\n The Black Bindos from the sea-shore.\"\n Then the Great God, much disgusted,\n Driven quite into a corner,\n Took our Lingo to the cavern,\n Sent Basmasur to his kennel,\n Held his nose, and moved away the\n Mighty stone of sixteen cubits;\n Called those sixteen scores of Gonds out\n Made them over to their Lingo.\n And they said, \"O Father Lingo!\n What a bad time we've had of it,\n Not a thing to fill our bellies\n In this horrid gloomy dungeon.\"\n But our Lingo gave them dinner,\n Gave them rice and flour of millet,\n And they went off to the river,\n Had a drink, and cooked and ate it.\n\n\nThe next episode is taken from a slightly different local version:\n\nAnd while they were cooking their food at the river a great flood\ncame up, but all the Gonds crossed safely except the four gods,\nTekam, Markam, Pusam and Telengam. [52] These were delayed because\nthey had cooked their food with ghi which they had looted from the\nHindu deities. Then they stood on the bank and cried out,\n\n\n O God of the crossing,\n O Boundary God!\n Should you be here,\n Come take us across.\n\n\nHearing this, the tortoise and crocodile came up to them, and offered\nto take them across the river. So Markam and Tekam sat on the back\nof the crocodile and Pusam and Telengam on the back of the tortoise,\nand before starting the gods made the crocodile and tortoise swear\nthat they would not eat or drown them in the sea. But when they got\nto the middle of the river the tortoise and crocodile began to sink,\nwith the idea that they would drown the Gonds and feed their young\nwith them. Then the Gonds cried out, and the Raigidhni or vulture\nheard them. This bird appears to be the same as the Bindo, as it fed\nits young with elephants. The Raigidhni flew to the Gonds and took\nthem up on its back and flew ashore with them. And in its anger it\npicked out the tongue of the crocodile and crushed the neck of the\ntortoise. And this is why the crocodile is still tongueless and the\ntortoise has a broken neck, which is sometimes inside and sometimes\noutside its shell. Both animals also have the marks of string on\ntheir backs where the Gond gods tied their necks together when\nthey were ferried across. Thus all the Gonds were happily reunited\nand Lingo took them into the forest, and they founded a town there,\nwhich grew and prospered. And Lingo divided all the Gonds into clans\nand made the oldest man a Pardhan or priest and founded the rule of\nexogamy. He also made the Gond gods, subsequently described, [53]\nand worshipped them with offerings of a calf and liquor, and danced\nbefore them. He also prescribed the ceremonies of marriage which are\nstill observed, and after all this was done Lingo went to the gods.\n\n\n\n\n(b) Tribal Subdivisions\n\n\n11. Subcastes.\n\nOut of the Gond tribe, which, as it gave its name to a province, may\nbe considered as almost a people, a number of separate castes have\nnaturally developed. Among them are several occupational castes such\nas the Agarias or iron-workers, the Ojhas or soothsayers, Pardhans\nor priests and minstrels, Solahas or carpenters, and Koilabhutis or\ndancers or prostitutes. These are principally sprung from the Gonds,\nthough no doubt with an admixture of other low tribes or castes. The\nParjas of Bastar, now classed as a separate tribe, appear to represent\nthe oldest Gond settlers, who were subdued by later immigrants of\nthe race; while the Bhatras and Jhadi Telengas are of mixed descent\nfrom Gonds and Hindus. Similarly the Gowari caste of cattle-graziers\noriginated from the alliances of Gond and Ahir graziers. The Mannewars\nand Kolams are other tribes allied to the Gonds. Many Hindu castes\nand also non-Aryan tribes living in contact with the Gonds have a\nlarge Gond element; of the former class the Ahirs, Basors, Barhais\nand Lohars, and of the latter the Baigas, Bhunjias and Khairwars\nare instances.\n\nAmong the Gonds proper there are two aristocratic subdivisions, the\nRaj-Gonds and Khatolas. According to Forsyth the Raj-Gonds are in\nmany cases the descendants of alliances between Rajput adventurers\nand Gonds. But the term practically comprises the landholding\nsubdivision of the Gonds, and any proprietor who was willing to pay\nfor the privilege could probably get his family admitted into the\nRaj-Gond group. The Raj-Gonds rank with the Hindu cultivating castes,\nand Brahmans will take water from them. They sometimes wear the\nsacred thread. In the Telugu country the Raj-Gond is known as Durla\nor Durlasattam. In some localities Raj-Gonds will intermarry with\nordinary Gonds, but not in others. The Khatola Gonds take their name\nfrom the Khatola state in Bundelkhand, which is said to have once been\ngoverned by a Gond ruler, but is no longer in existence. In Saugor\nthey rank about equal with the Raj-Gonds and intermarry with them,\nbut in Chhindwara it is said that ordinary Gonds despise them and\nwill not marry with them or eat with them on account of their mixed\ndescent from Gonds and Hindus. The ordinary Gonds in most Districts\nform one endogamous group, and are known as the Dhur or 'dust' Gonds,\nthat is the common people. An alternative name conferred on them by the\nHindus is Rawanvansi or of the race of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon,\nwho was the opponent of Rama. The inference from this name is that the\nHindus consider the Gonds to have been among the people of southern\nIndia who opposed the Aryan expedition to Ceylon, which is preserved in\nthe legend of Rama; and the name therefore favours the hypothesis that\nthe Gonds came from the south and that their migration northward was\nsufficiently recent in date to permit of its being still remembered\nin tradition. There are several other small local subdivisions. The\nKoya Gonds live on the border of the Telugu country, and their name\nis apparently a corruption of Koi or Koitur, which the Gonds call\nthemselves. The Gaita are another Chanda subcaste, the word Gaite or\nGaita really meaning a village priest or headman. Gattu or Gotte is\nsaid to be a name given to the hill Gonds of Chanda, and is not a real\nsubcaste. The Darwe or Naik Gonds of Chanda were formerly employed as\nsoldiers, and hence obtained the name of Naik or leader. Other local\ngroups are being formed such as the Larhia or those of Chhattisgarh,\nthe Mandlaha of Mandla, the Lanjiha from Lanji and so on. These are\nprobably in course of becoming endogamous. The Gonds of Bastar are\ndivided into two groups, the Maria and the Muria. The Maria are the\nwilder, and are apparently named after the Mad, as the hilly country of\nBastar is called. Mr. Hira Lal suggests the derivation of Muria from\nmur, the palas tree, which is common in the plains of Bastar, or from\nmur, a root. Both derivations must be considered as conjectural. The\nMurias are the Gonds who live in the plains and are more civilised\nthan the Marias. The descendants of the Raja of Deogarh Bakht Buland,\nwho turned Muhammadan, still profess that religion, but intermarry\nfreely with the Hindu Gonds. The term Bhoi, which literally means\na bearer in Telugu, is used as a synonym for the Gonds and also as\nan honorific title. In Chhindwara it is said that only a village\nproprietor is addressed as Bhoi. It appears that the Gonds were used\nas palanquin-bearers, and considered it an honour to belong to the\nKahar or bearer caste, which has a fairly good status. [54]\n\n\n\n\n12. Exogamy.\n\nThe Gond rules of exogamy appear to preserve traces of the system found\nin Australia, by which the whole tribe is split into two or four main\ndivisions, and every man in one or two of them must marry a woman in\nthe other one or two. This is considered by Sir J. G. Frazer to be\nthe beginning of exogamy, by which marriage was prohibited, first,\nbetween brothers and sisters, and then between parents and children,\nby the arrangement of these main divisions. [55]\n\nAmong the Gonds, however, the subdivision into small exogamous septs\nhas been also carried out, and the class system, if the surmise that\nit once existed be correct, remains only in the form of a survival,\nprohibiting marriage between agnates, like an ordinary sept. In one\npart of Bastar all the septs of the Maria Gonds are divided into two\ngreat classes. There are ninety septs in A Class and sixty-nine in\nB Class, though the list may be incomplete. All the septs of A Class\nsay that they are Bhaiband or Dadabhai to each other, that is in the\nrelation of brothers, or cousins being the sons of brothers. No man\nof Class A can marry a woman of any sept in Class A. The septs of\nClass A stand in relation of Mamabhai or Akomama to those of Class\nB. Mamabhai means a maternal uncle's son, and Akomama apparently\nsignifies having the same maternal grandfather. Any man of a sept\nin Class A can marry any woman of a sept in Class B. It will thus be\nseen that the smaller septs seem to serve no purpose for regulating\nmarriage, and are no more than family names. The tribe might just\nas well be divided into two great exogamous clans only. Marriage is\nprohibited between persons related only through males; but according\nto the exogamous arrangement there is no other prohibition, and\na man could marry any maternal relative. Separate rules, however,\nprohibit his marriage with certain female relatives, and these will\nbe given subsequently. [56] It is possible that the small septs may\nserve some purpose which has not been elicited, though the inquiry\nmade by Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath was most careful and painstaking.\n\nIn another part of Bastar there were found to be five classes, and\neach class had a small number of septs in it. The people who supplied\nthis information could not give the names of many septs. Thus Class A\nhad six septs, Class B five, Classes C and D one each, Class E four,\nand Class F two. A man could not marry a woman of any sept belonging\nto his own class.\n\nThe Muria Gonds of Bastar have a few large exogamous septs or clans\nnamed in Hindi after animals, and each of these clans contains several\nsubsepts with Gondi names. Thus the Bakaravans or Goat race contains\nthe Garde, Kunjami, Karrami and Vadde septs. The Kachhimvans or\nTortoise race has the Netami, Kawachi, Usendi and Tekami septs; the\nNagvans or Cobra race includes the Maravi, Potari, Karanga, Nurethi,\nDhurwa and others. Other exogamous races are the Sodi (or tiger),\nBehainsa (buffalo), Netam (dog in Gondi), Chamchidai (bat) and one\nor two more. In this case the exogamous clans with Hindi names would\nappear to be a late division, and have perhaps been adopted because\nthe meaning of the old Gondi names had been forgotten, or the septs\nwere too numerous to be remembered.\n\nIn Chanda a classification according to the number of gods worshipped\nis found. There are four main groups worshipping seven, six, five\nand four gods respectively, and each group contains ten to fifteen\nsepts. A man cannot marry a woman of any sept which worships the same\nnumber of gods as himself. Each group has a sacred animal which the\nmembers revere, that of the seven-god worshippers being a porcupine,\nof the six-god worshippers a tiger, of the five-god worshippers the\nsaras crane, and of the four-god worshippers a tortoise. As a rule the\nmembers of the different groups do not know the names of their gods,\nand in practice it is doubtful whether they restrict themselves to the\nproper number of gods of their own group. Formerly there were three-,\ntwo- and one-god worshippers, but in each of these classes it is\nsaid that there were only one or two septs, and they found that they\nwere much inconvenienced by the paucity of their numbers, perhaps\nfor purposes of communal worship and feasting, and hence they got\nthemselves enrolled in the larger groups. In reality it would appear\nthat the classification according to the number of gods worshipped is\nbeing forgotten, and the three lowest groups have disappeared. This\nconjecture is borne out by the fact that in Chhindwara and other\nlocalities only two large classes remain who worship six and seven\ngods respectively, and marry with each other, the union of a man\nwith a woman worshipping the same number of gods as himself being\nprohibited. Here, again, the small septs included in the groups appear\nto serve no purpose for regulating marriages. In Mandla the division\naccording to the number of gods worshipped exists as in Chanda; but\nmany Gonds have forgotten all particulars as to the gods, and say only\nthat those septs which worship the same number of gods are bhaiband,\nor related to each other, and therefore cannot intermarry. In Betul\nthe division by numbers of gods appears to be wholly in abeyance. Here\ncertain large septs, especially the Uika and Dhurwa, are subdivided\ninto a number of subsepts, within each of which marriage is prohibited.\n\n\n\n\n13. Totemism.\n\nMany of the septs are named after animals and plants. Among the\ncommonest septs in all Districts are Markam, the mango tree; Tekam,\nthe teak tree; Netam, the dog; Irpachi, the mahua tree; Tumrachi, the\ntendu tree; Warkara, the wild cat, and so on. Generally the members\nof a sept do not kill or injure their totem animals, but the rule\nis not always observed, and in some cases they now have some other\nobject of veneration, possibly because they have forgotten the meaning\nof the sept name, or the object after which it is named has ceased\nto be sacred. Thus the Markam sept, though named after the mango,\nnow venerate the tortoise, and this is also the case with the Netam\nsept in Bastar, though named after the dog. In Bastar a man revering\nthe tortoise, though he will not catch the animal himself, will get\none of his friends to catch it, and one revering the goat, if he\nwishes to kill a goat for a feast, will kill it not at his own house\nbut at a friend's. The meaning of the important sept names Marabi,\nDhurwa and Uika has not been ascertained, and the members of the sept\ndo not know it. In Mandla the Marabi sept are divided into the Eti\nMarabi and Padi Marabi, named after the goat and pig. The Eti or goat\nMarabi will not touch a goat nor sacrifice one to Bura Deo. They say\nthat once their ancestors stole a goat and were caught by the owner,\nwhen they put a basket over it and prayed Bura Deo to change it into\na pig, which he did. Therefore they sacrifice only pigs to Bura Deo,\nbut apparently the Padi Marabi also both sacrifice and eat pigs. The\nDhurwa sept are divided into the Tumrachi and Nabalia Dhurwa, named\nafter the tendu tree and the dwarf date-palm. The Nabalia Dhurwas\nwill not cut a dwarf date-palm nor eat its fruit. They worship Bura\nDeo in this tree instead of in the saj tree, making an iron doll\nto represent him and covering it with palm-leaves. The Uika sept in\nMandla say that they revere no animal or plant, and can eat any animal\nor cut down any plant except the saj tree, [57] the tree of Bura Deo;\nbut in Betul they are divided into several subsepts, each of which\nhas a totem. The Parteti sept revere the crocodile. When a marriage\nis finished they make a sacrifice to the crocodile, and if they see\none lying dead they break their earthen pots in token of mourning. The\nWarkara sept revere the wild cat; they also will not touch a village\ncat nor keep one in their house, and if a cat comes in they drive it\nout at once. The Kunjam sept revere the rat and do not kill it.\n\n\n\n\n14. Connection of totemism with the gods.\n\nIn Betul the Gonds explain the totemistic names of their septs\nby saying that some incident connected with the animal, tree\nor other object occurred to the ancestor or priest of the sept\nwhile they were worshipping at the Deo-khulla or god's place or\nthreshing-floor. Mr. Ganga Prasad Khatri has made an interesting\ncollection of these. The reason why these stories have been devised\nmay be that the totem animals or plants have ceased to be revered\non their own merits as ancestors or kinsmen of the sept, and it\nwas therefore felt necessary to explain the sept name or sanctity\nattaching to the totem by associating it with the gods. If this were\ncorrect the process would be analogous to that by which an animal or\nplant is first held sacred of itself, and, when this feeling begins\nto decay with some recognition of its true nature, it is associated\nwith an anthropomorphic god in order to preserve its sanctity. The\nfollowing are some examples recorded by Mr. Ganga Prasad Khatri. Some\nof the examples are not associated with the gods.\n\nGajjami, subsept of Dhurwa sept. From gaj, an arrow. Their first\nancestor killed a tiger with an arrow.\n\nGouribans Dhurwa. Their first ancestor worshipped his gods in a\nbamboo clump.\n\nKusadya Dhurwa. (Kosa, tasar silk cocoon.) The first ancestor found\na silk cocoon on the tree in which he worshipped his gods.\n\nKohkapath. Kohka is the fruit of the bhilawa [58] or marking-nut tree,\nand path, a kid. The first ancestor worshipped his gods in a bhilawa\ntree and offered a kid to them. Members of this sept do not eat the\nfruit or flowers of the bhilawa tree.\n\nJaglya. One who keeps awake, or the awakener. The first ancestor stayed\nawake the whole night in the Deo-khulla, or god's threshing-floor.\n\nSariyam. (Sarri, a path.) The first ancestor swept the path to the\nDeo-khulla.\n\nGuddam. Gudda is a place where a hen lays her eggs. The first\nancestor's hen laid eggs in the Deo-khulla.\n\nIrpachi. The mahua tree. A mahua tree grew in the Deo-khulla or\nworshipping-place of this sept.\n\nAdmachi. The dhaura tree. [59] The first ancestor worshipped his\ngods under a dhaura tree. Members of the sept do not cut this tree\nnor burn its wood.\n\nSarati Dhurwa. (Sarati, a whip.) The first ancestor whipped the priest\nof the gods.\n\nSuibadiwa. (Sui, a porcupine.) The first ancestor's wife had a\nporcupine which went and ate the crop of an old man's field. He tried\nto catch it, but it went back to her. He asked the name of her sept,\nand not being able to find it out called it Suibadiwa.\n\nWatka. (A stone.) Members of this sept worship five stones for their\ngods. Some say that the first ancestors were young boys who forgot\nwhere the Deo-khulla was and therefore set up five stones and offered\na chicken to them. As they did not offer the usual sacrifice of a goat,\nmembers of this sept abstain from eating goats.\n\nTumrecha Uika. (The tendu tree. [60]) It is said that the original\nancestor of this sept was walking in the forest with his pregnant\nwife. She saw some tendu fruit and longed for it and he gave it to\nher to eat. Perhaps the original idea may have been that she conceived\nthrough swallowing a tendu fruit. Members of this sept eat the fruit\nof the tendu tree, but do not cut the tree nor make any use of its\nleaves or branches.\n\nTumdan Uika. Tumdan is a kind of pumpkin or gourd. They say that this\nplant grows in their Deo-khulla. The members drink water out of this\ngourd in the house, but do not carry it out of the house.\n\nKadfa-chor Uika. (Stealer of the kadfa.) Kadfa is the sheaf of grain\nleft standing in the field for the gods when the crop is cut. The\nfirst ancestor stole the kadfa and offered it to his gods.\n\nGadhamar Uika. (Donkey-slayer.) Some say that the gods of the sept\ncame to the Deo-khulla riding on donkeys, and others that the first\nancestor killed a donkey in the Deo-khulla.\n\nEti-kumra. Eti is a goat. The ancestors of the sept used to sacrifice\na Brahman boy to their gods. Once they were caught in the act by the\nparents of the boy they had stolen, and they prayed to the gods to\nsave them, and the boy was turned into a goat. They do not kill a\ngoat nor eat its flesh, nor sacrifice it to the gods.\n\nAhke. This word means 'on the other side of a river.' They say that\na man of the Dhurwa sept abducted a girl of the Uika sept from the\nother side of a river and founded this sept.\n\nTirgam. The word means fire. They say that their ancestor's hand was\nburnt in the Deo-khulla while cooking the sacrifice.\n\nTekam. (The teak tree.) The ancestor of the sept had his gods in\nthis tree. Members of the sept will not eat food off teak leaves,\nbut they will use them for thatching, and also cut the tree.\n\nManapa. In Gondi mani is a son and apa a father. They say that their\nancestors sacrificed a Brahman father and son to their gods and were\nsaved by their being turned into goats like the Eti-kumra sept. Members\nof the sept do not kill or eat a goat.\n\nKorpachi. The droppings of a hen. The ancestors of the sept offered\nthese to his gods.\n\nMandani. The female organ of generation. The ancestor of the sept\nslept with his wife in the Deo-khulla.\n\nPaiyam. Paiya is a heifer which has not borne a calf, such as is\noffered to the gods. Other Gonds say that the people of this sept have\nno gods. They are said not only to marry a girl from any other subsept\nof the Dhurwas and Uikas, but from their own sept and even their own\nsisters, though this is probably no longer true. They are held to be\nthe lowest of the Gonds. Except in this instance, as already seen,\nthe subsepts of the Dhurwa and Uika septs do not intermarry with\neach other.\n\n\n\n\n(c) Marriage Customs\n\n\n15. Prohibitions on intermarriage, and unions of relations.\n\nA man must not marry in his own sept, nor in one which worships the\nsame number of gods, in localities where the classification of septs\naccording to the number of gods worshipped obtains. Intermarriage\nbetween septs which are bhaiband or brothers to each other is also\nprohibited. The marriage of first cousins is considered especially\nsuitable. Formerly, perhaps, the match between a brother's daughter\nand sister's son was most common; this is held to be a survival of the\nmatriarchate, when a man's sister's son was his heir. But the reason\nhas now been generally forgotten, and the union of a brother's son\nto a sister's daughter has also become customary, while, as girls\nare scarce and have to be paid for, it is the boy's father who puts\nforward his claim. Thus in Mandla and Bastar a man thinks he has a\nright to his sister's daughter for his son on the ground that his\nfamily has given a girl to her husband's family, and therefore they\nshould give one back. This match is known as Dudh lautana or bringing\nback the milk; and if the sister's daughter marries any one else\nher maternal uncle sometimes claims what is known as 'milk money,'\nwhich may be a sum of Rs. 5, in compensation for the loss of the\ngirl as a wife for his son. This custom has perhaps developed out of\nthe former match in changed conditions of society, when the original\nrelation between a brother and his sister's son has been forgotten\nand girls have become valuable. But it is said that the dudh or milk\nmoney is also payable if a brother refuses to give his daughter to\nhis sister's son. In Mandla a man claims his sister's daughter for\nhis son and sometimes even the daughter of a cousin, and considers\nthat he has a legitimate grievance if the girl is married to somebody\nelse. Frequently, if he has reason to apprehend this, he invites the\ngirl to his house for some ceremony or festival, and there marries\nher to his son without the consent of her parents. As this usually\nconstitutes the offence of kidnapping under the Penal Code, a crop of\ncriminal cases results, but the procedure of arrest without warrant\nand the severe punishment imposed by the Code are somewhat unsuitable\nfor a case of this kind, which, according to Gond ideas, is rather\nin the nature of a civil wrong, and a sufficient penalty would often\nbe the payment of an adequate compensation or bride-price for the\ngirl. The children of two sisters cannot, it is said, be married,\nand a man cannot marry his wife's elder sister, any aunt or niece,\nnor his mother-in-law or her sister. But marriage is not prohibited\nbetween grandparents and grandchildren. If an old man marries a young\nwife and dies, his grandson will marry her if she is of proper age. In\nthis there would be no blood-relationship, but it is doubtful whether\neven the existence of such relationship would prevent the match. It\nis said that even among Hindu castes the grandfather will flirt with\nhis granddaughter, and call her his wife in jest, and the grandmother\nwith her grandson. In Bastar a man can marry his daughter's daughter\nor maternal grandfather's or grandmother's sister. He could not marry\nhis son's daughter or paternal grandfather's sister, because they\nbelong to the same sept as himself.\n\n\n\n\n16. Irregular marriages.\n\nIn the Maria country, if a girl is made pregnant by a man of the\ncaste before marriage, she simply goes to his house and becomes his\nwife. This is called Paithu or entering. The man has to spend Rs. 2\nor 3 on food for the caste and pay the price for the girl to her\nparents. If a girl has grown up and no match has been arranged for\nher to which she agrees, her parents will ask her maternal uncle's or\npaternal aunt's son to seize her and take her away. These two cousins\nhave a kind of prescriptive claim to the girl, and apparently it makes\nno difference whether the prospective husband is already married or\nnot. He and his friends lie in wait near her home and carry her off,\nand her parents afterwards proceed to his house to console their\ndaughter and reconcile her to the match. Sometimes when a woman is\nabout to become what is known as a Paisamundi or kept woman, without\nbeing married, the relations rub her and the man whose mistress she\nis with oil and turmeric, put marriage crowns of palm-leaves on their\nheads, pour water on them from the top of a post, and make them go\nseven times round a mahua branch, so that they may be considered to\nbe married. When a couple are very poor they may simply go and live\ntogether without any wedding, and perform the ceremony afterwards\nwhen they have means, or they distribute little pieces of bread to\nthe tribesmen in lieu of the marriage feast.\n\n\n\n\n17. Marriage. Arrangement of matches.\n\nMarriage is generally adult. Among the wild Maria Gonds of Bastar\nthe consent of the girl is considered an essential preliminary to\nthe union. She gives it before a council of elders, and if necessary\nis allowed time to make up her mind. The boy must also agree to the\nmatch. Elsewhere matches are arranged by the parents, and a bride-price\nwhich amounts to a fairly substantial sum in comparison with the means\nof the parties is usually paid. But still the girls have a considerable\namount of freedom. It is generally considered that if a girl goes of\nher own accord and pours turmeric and water over a man, it is a valid\nmarriage and he can take her to live in his house. Married women also\nsometimes do this to another man if they wish to leave their husbands.\n\n\n\n\n18. The marriage ceremony.\n\nThe most distinctive feature of a Gond marriage is that the procession\nusually starts from the bride's house and the wedding is held at that\nof the bridegroom, in contradistinction to the Hindu practice. It\nis supposed that this is a survival of the custom of marriage by\ncapture, when the bride was carried off from her own house to the\nbridegroom's, and any ceremony which was requisite was necessarily\nheld at the house of the latter. But the Gonds say that since Dulha\nDeo, the bridegroom god and one of the commonest village deities, was\ncarried off by a tiger on his way to his wedding, it was decided that\nin future the bride must go to the bridegroom to be married in order\nto obviate the recurrence of such a calamity. Any risk incidental to\nthe journey thus falls to the lady. Among the wilder Maria Gonds of\nBastar the ritual is very simple. The bride's party arrive at the\nbridegroom's village and occupy some huts made ready for them. His\nfather sends them provisions, including a pig and fowls, and the day\npasses in feasting. In the evening they go to the bridegroom's house,\nand the night is spent in dancing by the couple and the young people\nof the village. Next morning the bride's people go back again, and\nafter another meal her parents bring her to the bridegroom's house\nand push her inside, asking the boy's father to take charge of her,\nand telling her that she now belongs to her husband's family and must\nnot come back to them alone. The girl cries a little for form's sake\nand acquiesces, and the business is over, no proper marriage rite being\napparently performed at all. Among the more civilised Marias the couple\nare seated for the ceremony side by side under a green shed, and water\nis poured on them through the shed in imitation of the fertilising\naction of rain. Some elder of the village places his hands on them and\nthe wedding is over. But Hindu customs are gradually being adopted,\nand the rubbing of powdered turmeric and water on the bodies of the\nbride and bridegroom is generally essential to a proper wedding. The\nfollowing description is given of the Gonds of Kanker. On the day fixed\nfor the marriage the pair, accompanied by the Dosi or caste priest,\nproceed to a river, in the bed of which two reeds five or six feet\nhigh are placed just so far apart that a man can lie down between\nthem, and tied together with a thread at the top. The priest lies\ndown between the reeds, and the bride and bridegroom jump seven times\nover his body. After the last jump they go a little way off, throw\naside their wet clothes, and then run naked to a place where their\ndry clothes are kept; they put them on and go home without looking\nback. Among the Gonds in Khairagarh the pair are placed in two pans\nof a balance and covered with blankets. The caste priest lifts up the\nbridegroom's pan and her female relatives the bride's, and walk round\nwith them seven times, touching the marriage-post at each time. After\nthis they are taken outside the village without being allowed to see\neach other. They are placed standing at a little distance with a screen\nbetween them, and liquor is spilt on the ground to make a line from\none to the other. After a time the bridegroom lifts up the screen,\nrushes on the bride, gives her a blow on the back and puts the ring\non her finger, at the same time making a noise in imitation of the\ncry of a goat. All the village then indulge in bacchanalian orgies,\nnot sparing their own relations.\n\n\n\n\n19. Wedding expenditure.\n\nIn Bastar it is said that the expenses of a wedding vary from Rs. 5\nto Rs. 20 for the bride's family and from Rs. 10 to Rs. 50 for the\nbridegroom's, according to their means. [61] In a fairly well-to-do\nfamily the expenditure of the bridegroom's family is listed as follows:\nliquor Rs. 20, rice Rs. 12, salt Rs. 2, two goats Rs. 2, chillies\nRs. 2, ghi Rs. 4, turmeric Rs. 2, oil Rs. 3, three cloths for the bride\nRs. 8, two sheets and a loin-cloth for her relatives Rs. 5, payment to\nthe Kumhar for earthen pots Rs. 5, the bride-price Rs. 10, present to\nthe bride's maternal uncle when she is not married to his son Rs. 2,\nand something for the drummers. The total of this is Rs. 76, and any\nexpenditure on ornaments which the family can afford may be added. In\nwealthier localities the bride-price is Rs. 15 to 20 or more. Sometimes\nif the girl has been married and dies before the bride-price has\nbeen paid, her father will not allow her body to be buried until\nit is paid. The sum expended on a wedding probably represents the\nwhole income of the family for at least six months, and often for a\nconsiderably longer period. In Chanda [62] the bride's party on arrival\nat the bridegroom's village receive the Bara jawa or marriage greeting,\nevery one present being served with a little rice-water, an onion and\na piece of tobacco. At the wedding the bridegroom has a ring either of\ngold, silver or copper, lead not being permissible, and places this on\nthe bride's finger. Often the bride resists and the bridegroom has to\nforce her fist open, or he plants his foot on hers in order to control\nher while he gets the ring on to her finger. Elsewhere the couple hold\neach other by the little fingers in walking round the marriage-post,\nand then each places an iron ring on the other's little finger. The\ncouple then tie strings, coloured yellow with turmeric, round each\nother's right wrists. On the second day they are purified with water\nand put on new clothes. On the third day they go to worship the god,\npreceded by two men who carry a chicken in a basket. This chicken is\ncalled the Dhendha or associate of the bridal couple, and corresponds\nto the child which in Hindu marriages is appointed as the associate\nof the bridegroom. Just before their arrival at the temple the village\njester snatches away the chicken, and pretends to eat it. At the temple\nthey worship the god, and deposit before him the strings coloured with\nturmeric which had been tied on their wrists. In Chhindwara the bride\nis taken on a bullock to the bridegroom's house. At the wedding four\npeople hold out a blanket in which juari, lemons and eggs are placed,\nand the couple walk round this seven times, as in the Hindu bhanwar\nceremony. They then go inside the house, where a chicken is torn\nasunder and the blood sprinkled on their heads. At the same time\nthe bride crushes a chicken under her foot. In Mandla the bride on\nentering the marriage-shed kills a chicken by cutting off its head\neither with an axe or a knife. Then all the gods of her house enter\ninto her and she is possessed by them, and for each one she kills a\nchicken, cutting off its head in the same manner. The chickens are\neaten by all the members of the bride's party who have come with her,\nbut none belonging to the bridegroom's party may partake of them. Here\nthe marriage-post is made of the wood of the mahua tree, round which a\ntoran or string of mango leaves is twisted, and the couple walk seven\ntimes round this. In Wardha the bride and bridegroom stand on the heap\nof refuse behind the house and their heads are knocked together. In\nBhandara two spears are placed on the heap of refuse and their ends\nare tied together at the top with the entrails of a fowl. The bride\nand bridegroom have to stand under the spears while water is poured\nover them, and then run out. Before the bride starts the bridegroom\nmust give her a blow on the back, and if he can do this before she runs\nout from the spears it is thought that the marriage will be lucky. The\nwomen of the bride's and bridegroom's party also stand one at each end\nof a rope and have a competition in singing. They sing against each\nother and see which can go on the longest. Brahmans are not employed\nat a Gond wedding. The man who officiates is known as Dosi, and is\nthe bridegroom's brother-in-law, father's sister's husband or some\nsimilar relative. A woman relative of the bride helps her to perform\nher part and is known as Sawasin. To the Dosi and Sawasin the bride\nand bridegroom's parties present an earthen vessel full of kodon. The\ndonors mark the pots, take them home and sow them in their own fields,\nand then give the crop to the Dosi and Sawasin.\n\n\n\n\n20. Special customs.\n\nSome years ago in Balaghat the bride and bridegroom sat and ate food\ntogether out of two leaf-plates. When they had finished the bride took\nthe leaf-plates, ran with them to the marriage-shed, and fixed them in\nthe woodwork so that they did not fall down. The bridegroom ran after\nher, and if she did not put the plates away quickly, gave her one or\ntwo blows with his fist. This apparently was a symbolical training of\nthe bride to be diligent and careful in her household work. Among the\nRaj-Gonds of Saugor, if the bridegroom could not come himself he was\naccustomed to send his sword to represent him. The Sawasin carried the\nsword seven times round the marriage-post with the bride and placed\na garland on her on its behalf, and the bride put a garland over\nthe sword. This was held to be a valid marriage. In a rich Raj-Gond\nor Khatola Gond family two or three girls would be given with the\nbride, and they would accompany her and become the concubines of the\nbridegroom. Among the Maria Gonds of Chanda the wedded pair retire\nafter the ceremony to a house allotted to them and spend the night\ntogether. Their relatives and friends before leaving shout and make\nmerry round the house for a time, and throw all kinds of rubbish and\ndirt on it. In the morning the couple have to get up early and clear\nall this off, and clean up the house. A curious ceremony is reported\nfrom one part of Mandla. When a Gond girl is leaving to be married,\nher father places inside her litter a necklace of many strings of\nblue and yellow beads, with a number of cowries at the end, and an\niron ring attached to it. On her arrival at the bridegroom's house\nhis father takes out the necklace and ring. Sometimes it is said\nthat he simply passes a stone through the ring, but often he hangs\nit up in the centre of a room, and the bridegroom's relatives throw\nstones at it until one of them goes through the ring, or they throw\nlong bamboo sticks or shoot arrows at it, or even fire bullets from\na gun. In a recent case it is said that a man was trying to fire\na bullet through the ring and killed a girl. Until a stone, stick,\narrow or bullet has been sent through the ring the marriage cannot\ntake place, nor can the bridegroom or his father touch the bride,\nand they go on doing this all night until somebody succeeds. When the\nfeat has been done they pour a bottle of liquor over the necklace and\nring, and the bride's relatives catch the liquor as it falls, and drink\nit. The girl wears the necklace at her wedding, and thereafter so long\nas her husband lives, and when he dies she tears the string to pieces\nand throws it into the river. The iron ring must be made by a Gondi\nLohar or blacksmith, and he will not accept money in payment for it,\nbut must be given a cow, calf, or buffalo. The symbolical meaning\nof this rite does not appear to require explanation. [63] In many\nplaces the bride and bridegroom go and bathe in a river or tank on\nthe day after the wedding, and throw mud and dirt over each other,\nor each throws the other down and rolls him or her in the mud. This\nis called Chikhal-Mundi or playing in the mud. Afterwards the bride\nhas to wash the bridegroom's muddy clothes, roll them up in a blanket,\nand carry them on her head to the house. A see-saw is then placed in\nthe marriage-shed, and the bridegroom's father sits on it. The bride\nmakes the see-saw move up and down, while her relations joke with her\nand say, 'Your child is crying.' Elsewhere the bridegroom's father sits\nin a swing. The bride and bridegroom swing him, and the bystanders\nexclaim that the old man is the child of the new bride. It seems\npossible that both customs are meant to portray the rocking of a baby\nin a cradle or swinging it in a swing, and hence it is thought that\nthrough performing them the bride will soon rock or swing a real baby.\n\n\n\n\n21. Taking omens.\n\nIn Bastar an omen is taken before the wedding. The village elders meet\non an auspicious day as Monday, Thursday or Friday, and after midnight\nthey cook and eat food, and go out into the forest. They look for a\nsmall black bird called Usi, from which omens are commonly taken. When\nanybody sees this bird, if it cries 'Sun, Sun,' on the right hand,\nit is thought that the marriage will be lucky. If, however, it cries\n'Chi, Chi' or 'Fie, Fie,' the proposed match is held to be of evil\nomen, and is cancelled. The Koya Gonds of Bastar distil mahua liquor\nbefore arranging for a match. If the liquor is good they think the\nmarriage will be lucky, and take the liquor with them to cement the\nbetrothal; but if it is bad they think the marriage will be unlucky,\nand the proposal is dropped. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are\nheld to be lucky days for marriages, and they are celebrated in the\nhot-weather months of Baisakh, Jesth and Asar, or April, May and June,\nor in Pus (December), and rarely in Magh (January). A wedding is only\nheld in Kartik (October) if the bride and bridegroom have already\nhad sexual intercourse, and cannot take place in the rains.\n\n\n\n\n22. Marriage by capture. Weeping and hiding.\n\nSurvivals of the custom of marriage by capture are to be found in many\nlocalities. In Bastar the prospective bridegroom collects a party of\nhis friends and lies in wait for the girl, and they catch her when she\ncomes out and gets a little distance from her house. The girl cries\nout, and women of the village come and rescue her and beat the boys\nwith sticks till they have crossed the boundary of the village. The\nboys neither resist nor retaliate on the women, but simply make off\nwith the girl. When they get home a new cloth is given to her, and the\nboys have a carouse on rice-beer, and the marriage is considered to\nbe complete. The parents do not interfere, but as a rule the affair\nis prearranged between the girl and her suitor, and if she really\nobjects to the match they let her go. A similar procedure occurs in\nChanda. Other customs which seem to preserve the idea that marriage\nwas once a forcible abduction are those of the bride weeping and\nhiding, which are found in most Districts. In Balaghat the bride\nand one or two friends go round to the houses of the village and to\nother villages, all of them crying, and receive presents from their\nfriends. In Wardha the bride is expected to cry continuously for a day\nand a night before the wedding, to show her unwillingness to leave her\nfamily. In Kanker it is said that before marriage the bride is taught\nto weep in different notes, so that when that part of the ceremony\narrives in which weeping is required, she may have the proper note\nat her command. In Chhindwara the bridegroom's party go and fetch the\nbride for the wedding, and on the night before her departure she hides\nherself in some house in the village. The bridegroom's brother and\nother men seek all through the village for her, and when they find\nher she runs and clings to the post of the house. The bridegroom's\nbrother carries her off by force, and she is taken on a bullock to\nthe bridegroom's house. In Seoni the girl hides in the same manner,\nand calls out 'Coo, coo,' when they are looking for her. After she\nis found, the bridegroom's brother carries her round on his back\nto the houses of his friends in the village, and she weeps at each\nhouse. When the bride's party arrive at the bridegroom's village the\nlatter's party meet them and stop them from proceeding further. After\nwaving sticks against each other in a threatening manner they fall\non each other's necks and weep. Then two spears are planted to make\nan arch before the door, and the bridegroom pushes the bride through\nthese from behind, hitting her to make her go through, while she hangs\nback and feigns reluctance. In Mandla the bride sometimes rides to the\nwedding on the shoulders of her sister's husband, and it is supposed\nthat she never gets down all the way.\n\n\n\n\n23. Serving for a wife.\n\nThe practice of Lamsena, or serving for a wife, is commonly adopted\nby boys who cannot afford to buy one. The bridegroom serves his\nprospective father-in-law for an agreed period, usually three to\nfive or even six years, and at its expiry he should be married\nto the girl without expense. During this time he is not supposed\nto have access to the girl, but frequently they become intimate,\nand if this happens the boy may either stay and serve his unexpired\nterm or take his wife away at once; in the latter case his parents\nshould pay the girl's father Rs. 5 for each year of the bridegroom's\nunexpired service. The Lamsena custom does not work well as a rule,\nsince the girl's parents can break their contract, and the Lamsena has\nno means of redress. Sometimes if they are offered a good bride-price\nthey will marry the girl to another suitor when he has served the\ngreater part of his term, and all his work goes for nothing.\n\n\n\n\n24. Widow remarriage.\n\nThe remarriage of widows is freely permitted. As a rule it is\nconsidered suitable that she should marry her deceased husband's\nyounger brother, but she may not marry his elder brother, and in\nthe south of Bastar and Chanda the union with the younger brother is\nalso prohibited. In Mandla, if she will not wed the younger brother,\non the eleventh day after the husband's death he puts the tarkhi or\npalm-leaf earrings in her ears, and states that if she marries anybody\nelse he will claim dawa-bunda or compensation. Similarly in Bastar, if\nan outsider marries the widow, he first goes through a joint ceremony\nwith the younger brother, by which the latter relinquishes his right\nin favour of the former. The widow must not marry any man whom she\ncould not have taken as her first husband. After her husband's death\nshe resides with her parents, and a price is usually paid to them\nby any outsider who wishes to marry her. In Bastar there is a fixed\nsum of Rs. 24, half of which goes to the first husband's family and\nhalf to the caste panchayat. The payment to the panchayat perhaps\ncomes down from the period when widows were considered the property\nof the state or the king, and sold by auction for the benefit of the\ntreasury. It is said that the descendants of the Gond Rajas of Chanda\nstill receive a fee of Rs. 1-8 from every Gond widow who is remarried\nin the territories over which their jurisdiction extended. In Bastar\nwhen a widow marries again she has to be transferred from the gods\nof her first husband's sept to those of her second husband. For this\ntwo leaf-cups are filled with water and mahua liquor respectively,\nand placed with a knife between them. The liquor and water are each\npoured three times from one cup to the other and back until they are\nthoroughly mixed, and the mixture is then poured over the heads of\nthe widow and her second husband. This symbolises her transfer to the\ngod of the new sept. In parts of Bastar when a man has been killed by\na tiger and his widow marries again, she goes through the ceremony\nnot with her new husband but with a lance, axe or sword, or with\na dog. It is thought that the tiger into which her first husband's\nspirit has entered will try to kill her second husband, but owing to\nthe precaution taken he will either simply carry off the dog or will\nhimself get killed by an axe, sword or lance. In most localities the\nceremony of widow-marriage is simple. Turmeric is rubbed on the bodies\nof the couple and they may exchange a pair of rings or their clothes.\n\n\n\n\n25. Divorce.\n\nDivorce is freely allowed on various grounds, as for adultery on the\nwife's part, a quarrelsome disposition, carelessness in the management\nof household affairs, or if a woman's children continue to die, or\nshe is suspected of being a witch. Divorce is, however, very rare,\nfor in order to get a fresh wife the man would have to pay for another\nwedding, which few Gonds can afford, and he would also have difficulty\nin getting a girl to marry him. Therefore he will often overlook even\nadultery, though a wife's adultery not infrequently leads to murder\namong the Gonds. In order to divorce his wife the husband sends for\na few castemen, takes a piece of straw, spits on it, breaks it in\ntwo and throws it away, saying that he has renounced all further\nconnection with his wife. If a woman is suspected of being a witch\nshe often has to leave the village and go to some place where she\nis not known, and in that case her husband must either divorce her\nor go with her. There is no regular procedure for a wife divorcing\nher husband, but she can, if sufficiently young and attractive, take\nmatters into her own hands, and simply leave her husband's house and\ngo and live with some one else. In such a case the man who takes\nher has to repay to the husband the sum expended by the latter on\nhis marriage, and the panchayat may even decree that he should pay\ndouble the amount. When a man divorces his wife he has no liability\nfor her maintenance, and often takes back any ornaments he may have\ngiven her. And a man who marries a divorced woman may be expected\nto pay her husband the expenses of his marriage. Instances are known\nof a bride disappearing even during the wedding, if she dislikes her\npartner; and Mr. Lampard of the Baihir Mission states that one night\na Gond wedding party came to his house and asked for the loan of a\nlantern to look for the bride who had vanished.\n\n\n\n\n26. Polygamy.\n\nPolygamy is freely allowed, and the few Gonds who can afford the\nexpense are fond of taking a number of wives. Wives are very useful\nfor cultivation as they work better than hired servants, and to\nhave several wives is a sign of wealth and dignity. A man who has\na number of wives will take them all to the bazar in a body to\ndisplay his importance. A Gond who had seven wives in Balaghat was\naccustomed always to take them to the bazar like this, walking in a\nline behind him.\n\n\n\n\n(d) Birth and Pregnancy\n\n\n27. Menstruation.\n\nIn parts of Mandla the first appearance of the signs of puberty in\na girl is an important occasion. She stays apart for four days, and\nduring this time she ties up one of her body-cloths to a beam in the\nhouse in the shape of a cradle, and swings it for a quarter or half\nan hour every day in the name of Jhulan Devi, the cradle goddess. On\nthe fifth day she goes and bathes, and the Baiga priest and his wife\ngo with her. She gives the Baiga a hen and five eggs and a bottle of\nwine, and he offers them to Jhulan Devi at her shrine. To the Baigan\nshe gives a hen and ten eggs and a bottle of liquor, and the Baigan\ntattoos the image of Jhulan Devi on each side of her body. A black\nhen with feathers spotted with white is usually chosen, as they say\nthat this hen's blood is of a darker colour and that she lays more\neggs. All this ceremonial is clearly meant to induce fertility in the\ngirl. The Gonds regard a woman as impure for as long as the menstrual\nperiod lasts, and during this time she cannot draw water nor cook food,\nnor go into a cowshed or touch cowdung. In the wilder Maria tracts\nthere is, or was till lately, a building out of sight of the village\nto which women in this condition retired. Her relatives brought her\nfood and deposited it outside the hut, and when they had gone away\nshe came out and took it. It was considered that a great evil would\nbefall any one who looked on the face of a woman during the period of\nthis impurity. The Raj-Gonds have the same rules as Hindus regarding\nthe menstrual periods of women. [64]\n\n\n\n\n28. Superstitions about pregnancy and childbirth.\n\nNo special rites are observed during pregnancy, and the superstitions\nabout women in this condition resemble those of the Hindus. [65]\nA pregnant woman must not go near a horse or elephant, as they think\nthat either of these animals would be excited by her condition and\nwould assault her. In cases where labour is prolonged they give the\nwoman water to drink from a swiftly flowing stream, or they take\npieces of wood from a tree struck by lightning or by a thunder-bolt,\nand make a necklace of them and hang it round her neck. In these\ninstances the swiftness of the running water, or of the lightning or\nthunder-bolt, is held to be communicated to the woman, and thus she\nwill obtain a quick delivery. Or else they ask the Gunia or sorcerer\nto discover what ancestor will be reborn in the child, and when he has\ndone this he calls on the ancestor to come and be born quickly. If\na woman is childless they say that she should worship Bura Deo and\nfast continually, and then on the termination of her monthly impurity,\nafter she has bathed, if she walks across the shadow of a man she will\nhave a child. It is thus supposed that the woman can be made fertile\nby the man's shadow, which will be the father of the child. Or she\nshould go on a Sunday night naked to a saj tree [66] and pray to\nit, and she may have a child. The saj is the tree in which Bura Deo\nresides, and was probably in the beginning itself the god. Hence it\nis supposed that the woman is impregnated by the spirit of the tree,\nas Hindu women think that they can be made fertile by the spirits of\nunmarried Brahman boys living in pipal trees. Or she may have recourse\nto the village priest, the Bhumka or the Baiga, who probably finds\nthat her barren condition is the work of an evil spirit and propitiates\nhim. If a woman dies in the condition of pregnancy they cut her belly\nopen before burial, so that the spirit of the child may escape. If\nshe dies during or soon after delivery they bury her in some remote\njungle spot, from which her spirit will find it difficult to return\nto the village. The spirit of such a woman is supposed to become a\nChurel and to entice men, and especially drunken men, to injury by\ncausing them to fall into rivers or get shut up in hollow trees. The\nonly way they can escape her is to offer her the ornaments which a\nmarried woman wears. Her enmity to men is due to the fact that she\nwas cut off when she had just had the supreme happiness of bearing\na child, and the present of these ornaments appeases her. The spirit\nof a woman whose engagement for marriage has been broken off, or who\nhas deserted her husband's house for another man's, is also supposed\nto become a Churel. If an abortion occurs, or a child is born dead\nor dies very shortly after birth, they put the body in an earthen\npot, and bury it under the heap of refuse behind the house. They say\nthat this is done to protect the body from the witches, who if they\nget hold of it will raise the child's spirit, and make it a Bir or\nfamiliar spirit. Witches have special power over the spirits of such\nchildren, and can make them enter the body of an owl, a cat, a dog,\nor a headless man, and in this form cause any injury which the witch\nmay desire to inflict on a human being. The real reason for burying\nthe bodies of such children close to the house is probably, however,\nthe belief that they will thus be born again in the same family. If the\nwoman is fat and well during pregnancy they think a girl will be born,\nbut if she is ailing and thin, that the child will be a boy. If the\nnipples of her breasts are of a reddish colour they think the birth of\na boy is portended, but if of blackish colour, a girl. When a birth\noccurs another woman carefully observes the knots or protuberances\non the navel-cord. It is supposed that the number of them indicates\nthe further number of children which will be born to the mother. A\nblackish knot inclining downwards portends a boy, and a reddish one\ninclining upwards a girl. It is supposed that an intelligent midwife\ncan change the order of these knots, and if a woman has only borne\ngirl-children can arrange that the next one shall be a boy.\n\n\n\n\n29. Procedure at a birth.\n\nProfessional midwives are not usually employed at childbirth, and the\nwomen look after each other. Among the Maria Gonds of Bastar the father\nis impure for a month after the birth of a child and does not go to\nhis work. A Muria Gond father is impure until the navel-cord drops;\nhe may reap his crop, but cannot thresh or sow. This is perhaps a\nrelic of the custom of the Couvade. The rules for the treatment of\nthe mother resemble those of the Hindus, but they do not keep her\nso long without food. On some day from the fifth to the twelfth\nafter the birth the mother is purified and the child is named. On\nthis day its hair is shaved by the son-in-law or husband's or wife's\nbrother-in-law. The mother and child are washed and rubbed with oil\nand turmeric, and the house is freshly whitewashed and cleaned with\ncowdung. They procure a winnowing-fan full of kodon and lay the child\non it, and the mother ties this with a cloth under her arm. In the\nNagpur country the impurity of the mother is said to last for a month,\nduring which time she is not allowed to cook food and no one touches\nher. Among the poorer Gonds the mother often does not lie up at all\nafter a birth, but eats some pungent root as a tonic and next day\ngoes on with her work.\n\n\n\n\n30. Names.\n\nOn the Sor night, or that of purification, the women of the village\nassemble and sing. The mother holds the child in her lap, and they each\nput a pice (1/4d.) in a dish as a present to it. A name is chosen,\nand an elderly woman announces it. Names are now often Hindu words,\nand are selected very much at random. [67] If the child was born\non a Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Sunday the name of the day is\noften given, as Mangal, Budhu, Sukhiya, Itwari; or if born in the\nmonth of Magh (January), Phagun (February), Chait (March), Baisakh\n(April), Jesth (May), or Pus (December), the name may be from\nthe month, as Mahu, Phagu, Chaitia, Baisakhu, Jetha and Puso. The\nnames of the other months are also given, but are less common. If\nany Government official is in the village when the child is born it\nmay be named after his office, as Daroga, Havildar (head-constable),\nVaccinator, Patwari (village surveyor), Jemadar (head process-server),\nor Munshi (clerk). If a European officer is in the village the child\nmay be called Gora (red) or Bhura (brown). Other names are Zamindar\n(landholder) or Kirsan (tenant). Or the child may be named after any\npeculiarity, as Ghurman, fat, Kaluta, black, Chatua, one who kicks,\nand so on. Or it may be given a bad name in order to deceive the\nevil spirits as to its value, as Ghurha, a heap of cowdung, Jharu,\nsweepings, Dumre or Bhangi, a sweeper, Chamari, a Chamar or tanner, and\nso on. If the mother has got the child after propitiating a spirit,\nit may be called Bhuta, from bhut, a spirit or ghost. Nicknames\nare also given to people when they grow up, as Dariya, long-footed,\nBobdi, fat and sluggish, Putchi, having a tail or cat-like, Bera, an\nidiot, and so on. Such names come into general use, and the bearers\naccept and answer to them without objection. All the above names are\nHindi. Names taken from the Gond language are rare or non-existent,\nand it would appear either that they have been completely forgotten,\nor else that the Gonds had not advanced to the stage of giving every\nindividual a personal name prior to their contact with the Hindus.\n\n\n\n\n31. Superstitions about children.\n\nIf a child is born feet first its feet are supposed to have special\npower, and people suffering from pain in the back come and have their\nbacks touched by the toes of the child's left foot. This power is\nbelieved to be retained in later life. If a woman gets a child when the\nsigns of menstruation have not appeared, the child is called Lamka, and\nis held to be in danger of being struck by lightning. In order to avert\nthis fate an offering of a white cock is made to the lightning during\nthe month of Asarh (June) following the birth, when thunderstorms are\nfrequent, and prayer is made that it will accept this sacrifice in lieu\nof the life of the child. They think that the ancestors who have been\nmingled with Bura Deo may be born again. Sometimes such an ancestor\nappears in a dream and intimates that he is coming back to earth. Then\nif a newborn child will not drink its mother's milk, they think it is\nsome important male ancestor, and that he is vexed at being in such a\ndependent position to a woman over whom he formerly had authority. So\nthey call the Gunia or sorcerer, and he guesses what ancestor has been\nreborn by measuring a stick. He says that if the length of the stick\nis an even number of times the breadth of his hand, or more or less\nthan half a hand-breadth over, such and such an ancestor is reborn\nin the child. Then he measures his hand along the stick breadthwise,\nand when the measurement comes to that foretold for a particular\nancestor he says that this one has been reborn; or if they find any\nmark on the body of the child corresponding to one they remember to\nhave been borne by a particular ancestor, they identify it with this\nancestor. Then they wash the child's feet as a token of respect, and\npass their hands over its head and say to it, 'Drink milk, and we will\ngive you a ring and clothes and jewels.' Sometimes they think that an\nancestor has been born again in a calf, and the Gunia ascertains who\nhe is in the same manner. Then this calf is not castrated if a bull,\nnor put to the plough if it is a cow, and when it dies they will not\ntake off its hide for sale but bury it with the hide on.\n\nIt is believed that if a barren woman can get hold of the first hair\nof another woman's child or its navel-cord, she can transfer the\nmother's fertility to herself, so they dispose of these articles\nvery carefully. If they wish the child to grow fat, they bury the\nnavel-cord in a manure-heap. The upper milk teeth are thrown on to\nthe roof, and the lower ones buried under a water-pot. They say that\nthe upper ones should be in a high place, and the lower ones in a low\nplace. The teeth thrown on the roof may be meant for the rats, who in\nexchange for them will give the child strong white teeth like their\nown, while those thrown under the water-pot will cause the new teeth\nto grow large and quickly, like the grass under a water-pot. Diseases\nof children are attributed to evil spirits. The illness called Sukhi,\nin which the body and limbs grow weak and have a dried-up appearance,\nis very common, and is probably caused by malnutrition. They attribute\nit to the machinations of an owl which has heard the child's name\nor obtained a piece of its soiled clothing. If a stone or piece of\nwood is thrown at the owl to scare it away, it will pick this up,\nand after wetting it in a stream, put it out in the sun to dry. As\nthe stone or wood dries up, so will the child's body dry up and\nwither. In order to cure this illness they use charms and amulets,\nand also let the child wallow in a pig-sty so that it may become\nas fat as the pigs. They say that they always beat a brass dish at\na birth so that the noise may penetrate the child's ears, and this\nwill remove any obstruction there may be to its hearing. If the child\nappears to be deaf, they lay it several times in a deep grain-bin for\nabout half an hour at a time; when it cries the noise echoes in the\nbin, and this is supposed to remove the obstruction to its power of\nhearing. If they wish the boy to be a good dancer, they get a little\nof the flesh of the kingfisher or hawk which hangs poised in the air\nover water by the rapid vibration of its wings, on the look-out for\na fish, and give him this to eat. If they wish him to speak well,\nthey touch his finger with the tip of a razor, and think that he will\nbecome talkative like a barber. If they want him to run fast, they\nlook for a stone on which a hare has dropped some dung and rub this\non his legs, or they get a piece of a deer's horn and hang it round\nhis neck as a charm. If a girl or boy is very dark-coloured, they get\nthe branches of a creeper called malkangni, and express the oil from\nthem, and rub it on the child's face, and think it will make the face\nreddish. Thus they apparently consider a black colour to be ugly.\n\n\n\n\n(e) Funeral Rites\n\n\n32. Disposal of the dead.\n\nBurial of the dead has probably been the general custom of the Gonds in\nthe past, and the introduction of cremation may be ascribed to Hindu\ninfluence. The latter method of disposal involves greater expense on\naccount of the fuel, and is an honour reserved for elders and important\nmen, though in proportion as the body of the tribe in any locality\nbecomes well-to-do it may be more generally adopted. The dead are\nusually buried with the feet pointing to the north in opposition to\nthe Hindu practice, and this fact has been adduced in evidence of the\nGond belief that their ancestors came from the north. The Maria Gonds\nof Bastar, however, place the feet to the west in the direction of\nthe setting sun, and with the face upwards. In some places the Hindu\ncustom of placing the head to the north has been adopted. Formerly\nit is said that the dead were buried in or near the house in which\nthey died, so that their spirits would thus the more easily be born\nagain in children, but this practice has now ceased. In most British\nDistricts Hindu ceremonial [68] tends more and more to be adopted,\nbut in Bastar State and Chanda some interesting customs remain.\n\n\n\n\n33. Funeral ceremony.\n\nAmong the Maria Gonds a drum is beaten to announce a death, and the\nnews is sent to relatives and friends in other villages. The funeral\ntakes place on the second or third day, when these have assembled. They\nbring some pieces of cloth, and these, together with the deceased's own\nclothes and some money, are buried with him, so that they may accompany\nhis spirit to the other world. Sometimes the women will put a ring\nof iron on the body. The body is borne on a hurdle to the burial-\nor burning-ground, which is invariably to the east of the village,\nfollowed by all the men and women of the place. Arrived there, the\nbearers with the body on their shoulders face round to the west,\nand about ten yards in front of them are placed three saj leaves in\na line with a space of a yard between each, the first representing\nthe supreme being, the second disembodied spirits, and the third\nwitchcraft. Sometimes a little rice is put on the leaves. An axe\nis struck three times on the ground, and a villager now cries to the\ncorpse to disclose the cause of his death, and immediately the bearers,\nimpelled, as they believe, by the dead man, carry the body to one of\nthe leaves. If they halt before the first, then the death was in the\ncourse of nature; if before the second, it arose from the anger of\noffended spirits; if before the third, witchcraft was the cause. The\nordeal may be thrice repeated, the arrangement of the leaves being\nchanged each time. If witchcraft is indicated as the cause of death,\nand confirmed by the repeated tests, the corpse is asked to point out\nthe sorcerer or witch, and the body is carried along until it halts\nbefore some one in the crowd, who is at once seized and disposed of as\na witch. Sometimes the corpse may be carried to the house of a witch in\nanother village to a distance of eight or ten miles. In Mandla in such\ncases a Gunia or exorciser formerly called on the corpse to go forward\nand point out the witch. The bearers then, impelled by the corpse,\nmade one step forward and stopped. The exorciser then again adjured the\ncorpse, and they made a step, and this was repeated again and again\nuntil they halted in front of the supposed witch. All the beholders\nand the bearers themselves thus thought that they were impelled by\nthe corpse, and the episode is a good illustration of the power of\nsuggestion. Frequently the detected witch was one of the deceased's\nwives. In Mandla the cause of the man's death was determined in the\ndigging of his grave. When piling in the earth removed for the grave\nafter burial, if it reached exactly to the surface of the ground,\nthey thought that the dead man had died after living the proper span\nof his life. If the earth made a mound over the hole, they thought\nhe had lived beyond his allotted time and called him Sigpur, that is\na term for a measure of grain heaped as high as it will stand above\nthe brim. But if the earth was insufficient and did not reach to the\nlevel of the ground, they held that he had been prematurely cut off,\nand had been killed by an enemy or by a witch through magic.\n\nChildren at breast are buried at the roots of a mahua tree, as it\nis thought that they will suck liquor from them and be nourished as\nif by their mother's milk. The mahua is the tree from whose flowers\nspirits are distilled. The body of an adult may also be burnt under\na mahua tree so that the tree may give him a supply of liquor in the\nnext world. Sometimes the corpse is bathed in water, sprinkled over\nwith milk and then anointed with a mixture of mahua oil, turmeric\nand charcoal, which will prevent it from being reincarnated in\na human body. In the case of a man killed by a tiger the body is\nburned, and a bamboo image of a tiger is made and thrown outside\nthe village. None but the nearest relatives will touch the body of a\nman killed by a tiger, and they only because they are obliged to do\nso. None of the ornaments are removed from the corpse, and sometimes\nany other ornaments possessed by the deceased are added to them, as it\nis thought that otherwise the tiger into which his spirit passes will\ncome back to look for them and kill some other person in the house. In\nsome localities any one who touches the body of a man killed or even\nwounded by a tiger or panther is put temporarily out of caste. Yet the\nGonds will eat the flesh of tigers and panthers, and also of animals\nkilled and partly devoured by them. When a man has been killed by a\ntiger, or when he has died of disease and before death vermin have\nappeared in a wound, the whole family are temporarily out of caste\nand have to be purified by an elaborate ceremony in which the Bhumka\nor village priest officiates. The method of laying the spirit of a\nman killed by a tiger resembles that described in the article on Baiga.\n\n\n\n\n34. Mourning and offerings to the dead.\n\nMourning is usually observed for three days. The mourners abstain\nfrom work and indulgence in luxuries, and the house is cleaned and\nwashed. The Gonds often take food on the spot after the burial or\nburning of a corpse and they usually drink liquor. On the third day\na feast is given. In Chhindwara a bullock or cow is slaughtered on\nthe death of a male or female Gond respectively. They tie it up by\nthe horns to a tree so that its forelegs are in the air, and a man\nslashes it across the head once or twice until it dies. The head\nis buried under a platform outside the village in the name of the\ndeceased. Sometimes the spirit of the dead man is supposed to enter\ninto one of the persons present and inform the party how he died,\nwhether from witchcraft or by natural causes. He also points out the\nplace where the bullock's or cow's head is to be buried, and here\nthey make a platform to his spirit with a memorial stone. Red lead is\napplied to the stone and the blood of a chicken poured over it, and\nthe party then consume the bodies of the cow and chicken. In Mandla\nthe mourners are shaved at the grave nine or ten days after the death\nby the brother-in-law or son-in-law of the deceased, and they cook\nand eat food there and drink liquor. Then they come home and put\noil on the head of the heir and tie a piece of new cloth round his\nhead. They give the dead man's clothes and also a cow or bullock to\nthe Pardhan priest, and offer a goat to the dead man, first feeding\nthe animal with rice, and saying to the dead man's spirit, 'Your son-\nor brother-in-law has given you this.' Sometimes the rule is that the\npriest should receive all the ornaments worn on the right side of a\nman or the left side of a woman, including those on the head, arm and\nleg. If they give him a cow or bullock, they will choose the one which\ngoes last when the animals are let out to graze. Then they cook and\neat it in the compound. They have no regular anniversary ceremonies,\nbut on the new moon of Kunwar (September) they will throw some rice\nand pulse in front of the house and pour water on it in honour of the\ndead. The widow breaks her glass bangles when the funeral takes place,\nand if she is willing she may be married to the dead man's younger\nbrother on the expiry of the period of mourning.\n\n\n\n\n35. Memorial stones to the dead.\n\nIn Bastar, at some convenient time after the death, a stone is set\nup in memory of any dead person who was an adult, usually by the\nroadside. Families who have emigrated to other localities often return\nto their parent village for setting up these stones. The stones vary\naccording to the importance of the deceased, those for prominent men\nbeing sometimes as much as eight feet high. In some places a small\nstone seat is made in front, and this is meant for the deceased to\nsit on, the memorial stone being his house. After being placed in\nposition the stone is anointed with turmeric, curds, ghi and oil,\nand a cow or pig is offered to it. Afterwards irregular offerings\nof liquor and tobacco are made to the dead man at the stone by the\nfamily and also by strangers passing by. They believe that the memorial\nstones sometimes grow and increase in size, and if this happens they\nthink that the dead man's family will become extinct, as the stone\nand the family cannot continue to grow together. Elsewhere a long\nheap of stones is made in honour of a dead man, sometimes with a\nflat-topped post at the head. This is especially done for men who\nhave died from epidemic disease or by an accident, and passers-by\nfling stones on the heap with the idea that the dead man's spirit\nwill thereby be kept down and prevented from returning to trouble\nthe living. In connection with the custom of making a seat at the\ndeceased's tomb for his spirit to sit upon, Mr. A. K. Smith writes:\n\"It is well known to every Gond that ghosts and devils cannot squat on\nthe bare ground like human beings, and must be given something to sit\non. The white man who requires a chair to sit on is thus plainly akin\nto the world of demons, so one of the few effective ways of getting\nGonds to open their mouths and talk freely is to sit on the ground\namong them. Outside every Gond house is placed a rough bench for\nthe accommodation of any devils that may be flitting about at night,\nso that they may not come indoors and trouble the inmates.\"\n\n\n\n\n36. House abandoned after a death.\n\nIf one or two persons die in a house in one year, the family often\nleave it and make another house. On quitting the old house they knock\na hole in the back wall to go out, so as to avoid going out by the\nfront door. This is usually done when the deaths have been due to an\nepidemic, and it is presumably supposed that the dead men's spirits\nwill haunt the house and cause others to die, from spite at their\nown untimely end. If an epidemic visits a village, the Gonds will\nalso frequently abandon it, and make a new village on another site.\n\n\n\n\n37. Bringing back the soul.\n\nThey believe that the spirits of ancestors are reincarnated in children\nor in animals. Sometimes they make a mark with soot or vermilion\non the body of a dead man, and if some similar mark is subsequently\nfound on any newborn child it is held that the dead man's spirit has\nbeen reborn in it. In Bastar, on some selected day a short time after\nthe death, they obtain two small baskets and set them out at night,\nplacing a chicken under one and some flour of wheat or kutki under\nthe other. The householder then says, \"I do the work of those old men\nwho died. O spirits, I offer a chicken to you to-day; be true and I\nwill perform your funeral rites to-morrow.\" On the next morning the\nbasket placed over the flour is lifted up, and if a mark resembling a\nfootprint of a man or any animal be found, they think that the deceased\nhas become incarnate in a human being or in that animal. Subsequently\nthey sacrifice a cow to the spirit as described. In other places on\nthe fifth day after death they perform the ceremony of bringing back\nthe soul. The relatives go to the riverside and call aloud the name\nof the dead person, and then enter the river, catch a fish or insect\nand, taking it home, place it among the sainted dead of the family,\nbelieving that the spirit of the dead person has in this manner been\nbrought back to the house. The brother-in-law or son-in-law of the dead\nman will make a miniature grass hut in the compound and place the fish\nor insect inside it. He will then sacrifice a pig, killing it with a\nrice-husker, and with not more than three blows. The animal is eaten,\nand next morning he breaks down the hut and throws away the earthen\npots from the house. They will spread some flour on the ground and in\nthe morning bring a chicken up to it. If the animal eats the flour\nthey say that the soul of the deceased has shown his wish to remain\nin the house, and he is enshrined there in the shape of a stone or\ncopper coin. If it does not eat, then they say that the spirit will not\nremain in the house. They take the stone or coin outside the village,\nsacrifice a chicken to it and bury it under a heap of stones to prevent\nit from returning. Sometimes at the funeral ceremony one of the party\nis possessed by the spirit of the dead man, and a little white mark or\na small caterpillar appears on his hand, and they say that it is the\nsoul of the dead man come back. Then the caterpillar vanishes again,\nand they say that the dead man has been taken among the gods, and go\nhome. Occasionally some mark may appear on the hand of the dead man's\nson after a period of time, and he says that his father's soul has\ncome back, and gives another funeral feast. The good souls are quickly\nappeased and their veneration is confined to their descendants. But\nthe bad ones excite a wider interest because their evil influences may\nbe extended to others. And the same fear attaches to the spirits of\npersons who have died a violent or unnatural death. The soul of a man\nwho has been eaten by a tiger must be specially propitiated, and ten\nor twelve days are occupied in bringing it back. To ascertain when\nthis has been done a thread is tied to a beam and a copper ring is\nsuspended from it, being secured by twisting the thread round it and\nnot by a knot. A pot full of water is placed below the ring. Songs are\nthen sung in propitiation and a watch is kept day and night. When the\nring falls from the thread and drops into the water it is considered\nthat the soul has come back. If the ring delays to fall they adjure\nthe dead man to come back and ask where he has gone to and why he\nis tarrying. Animals are offered to the ring and their blood poured\nover it, and when it finally falls they rejoice greatly and say\nthat the dead man has come back. The ancestors are represented by\nsmall pebbles kept in a basket in the kitchen, which is considered\nthe holiest part of the house, or they may be pice copper coins\n(1/4d.) tied up in a little bundle. They are daubed with vermilion\nand worshipped occasionally. A man who has been killed by a tiger or\ncobra may receive general veneration, with the object of appeasing\nhis spirit, and become a village god. And the same honour may be\naccorded to any prominent man, such as the founder of a village.\n\n\n\n\n38. The dead absorbed in Bura Deo.\n\nIn Mandla the dead are sometimes mingled with Bura Deo or the Great\nGod. On the occasion of a communal sacrifice to Bura Deo a stalk of\ncharra grass is picked in the name of each of the dead ancestors, and\ntied to the little bundle containing a pice and a piece of turmeric,\nwhich represents the dead ancestor in the house. The stalk of grass\nand the bundle is called kunda; and all the kundas are then hidden in\ngrass or under stones in the adjacent forest. Then Bura Deo comes on\nsome man and possesses him, and he waves his arms about and goes and\nfinds all the kundas. Some of them he throws down beside Bura Deo,\nand these they say have been absorbed in Bura Deo and are disposed\nof. Others he throws apart, and these are said not to have been\nabsorbed into the god. For the latter, as well as for all persons who\nhave died a violent death, a heap of stones should be made outside the\nvillage, and wine and a fowl are offered at the heap, and passers-by\ncast additional stones on it to keep down their spirits, which remain\nunquiet because they have not been absorbed in the god, and are apt\nto wander about and trouble the living.\n\n\n\n\n39. Belief in a future life.\n\nThe Gonds seem originally to have had no idea of a place of abode for\nthe spirits of the dead, that is a heaven or hell. So far as can be\nconjectured, their primary view of the fate of the spirits of the dead,\nafter they had come to consider the soul or spirit as surviving the\ndeath of the body, was that they hung about the houses and village\nwhere they had dwelt, and were able to exert considerable influence\non the lives and fortunes of their successors. An alternative or\nsubsequent view was that they were reincarnated, most frequently in\nthe bodies of children born in the same family, and less frequently in\nanimals. Whether or no this doctrine of reincarnation is comparatively\nlate and borrowed from Hinduism cannot be decided. In Bastar, however,\nthey have now a conception of retribution after death for the souls\nof evil-doers. They say that the souls are judged after death, and\nthe sinful are hurled down into a dense forest without any sulphi\ntrees. The sulphi tree appears to be that variety of palm from which\npalm-liquor or toddy is obtained in Bastar, and the Gond idea of a\nplace of punishment for departed sinners is, therefore, one in which\nno alcoholic liquor is to be had.\n\n\n\n\n(f) Religion\n\n\n40. Nature of the Gond religion. The gods.\n\nThe religious practices of the Gonds present much variety. The tribal\ndivisions into groups worshipping seven, six, five and four gods,\nalready referred to, are generally held to refer to the number of\ngods which a man has in his house. But very few Gonds can name the\ngods of their sect, and the prescribed numbers are seldom adhered\nto. The worship of ancestors is an integral part of their religion\nand is described in the section on funeral customs. Bura Deo, their\ngreat god in most localities, was probably at first the saj tree,\n[69] but afterwards the whole collection of gods were sometimes\ncalled Bura Deo. He is further discussed subsequently. The other\nGond gods proper appear to be principally implements and weapons of\nthe chase, one or two animals, and deified human beings. A number of\nHindu deities have now also been admitted into the Gond pantheon. The\nfollowing account of the gods is largely taken from a note written\nby Mr. J. A. Tawney. [70] The worship of the Gonds may be summarised\nas that of the gods presiding over the village destinies, the crops,\nand epidemic disease, the spirits of their forefathers and the weapons\nand creatures of the chase. The village gods are generally common\nto the Gonds and Hindus. They consist of stones, or mud platforms,\nplaced at a convenient distance from the village under the shade of\nsome appropriate tree, and often having a red or white flag, made\nof a piece of cloth, tied to the end of a pole to indicate their\nposition. The principal village gods have been given in the article\non Kurmi. Besides these in Gond villages there is especially Bhimsen,\nwho is held to be Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers, and is the\ngod of strength. Ghor Deo [71] is the horse god, and Holera, who is\nrepresented by a wooden bullock's bell, is the god of cattle. Ghansiam\nDeo is a god much worshipped in Mandla. He is said to have been a\nprince who was killed by a tiger on his way to his wedding like Dulha\nDeo. In northern Bastar the Gonds worship the spirit of a Muhammadan\ndoctor under the name of Doctor Deo. A Gond of the place where the\ndoctor died is occasionally possessed by his spirit, and on such\noccasions he can talk fluent Urdu. This man's duty is to keep off\ncholera, and when the epidemic breaks out he is ordered by the Raja\nto drive it away. The local method of averting cholera is to make a\nsmall litter covered with cloth, and in it to place a brass or silver\nimage of the cholera goddess, Marai Mata. When the goddess is thus\nsent from one village to another it is supposed that the epidemic is\nsimilarly transferred. The man possessed by Doctor Deo has the power\nof preventing the approach of this litter to villages in Bastar, and\napparently also can drive away the epidemic, though his method of doing\nthis is not explained. The dealings of the Gonds with the Government\nof India are mainly conducted through chuprassies or peons, who come to\ncollect their revenue, obtain supplies and so on. The peons have in the\npast been accustomed to abuse their authority and practise numerous\npetty extortions, which is a very easy business with the ignorant\nGonds of the wilder tracts. Regarding the peons as the visible emblem\nof authority, the Gonds, like the Oraons, have similarly furnished the\ngods with a peon, who is worshipped under the name of Kalha Deo with\nofferings of liquor and fowls. Besides this if a tiger makes himself\ntroublesome a stone is set up in his honour and he receives a small\noffering; and if a platform has been erected to the memory of the\nfounder of the village he is included with the others. The cholera\nand smallpox deities are worshipped when an epidemic breaks out. The\nworship of the village gods is communal, and in Chhindwara is performed\nat the end of the hot weather before seed is sown, houses thatched,\nor the new mahua oil eaten by the Gonds. All the villagers subscribe,\nand the Bhumka or village priest conducts the rite. If in any year\nthe community cannot afford a public worship they hang up a little\ngrass over the god just to intimate that they have not forgotten him,\nbut that he will have to wait till next year.\n\n\n\n\n41. Tribal gods, and their place of residence.\n\nBesides the village gods worshipped in common with the Hindus, the\nGonds have also their special tribal gods. These are sometimes kept\nat a Deo-khulla, which is said to mean literally the threshing-floor\nof the gods, and is perhaps so called because the place of meeting of\nthe worshippers is cleaned and plastered like a threshing-floor in the\nfields. The gods most commonly found are Pharsi Pen, the battle-axe\ngod; Matiya, the great god of mischief; Ghangra, the bell god; Chawar,\nthe cow's tail, which is also used as a whisk; Palo, who consists of\na piece of cloth used to cover spear-heads; and Sale, who may be the\ngod who presides over cattle-pens (sala). The Deo-khulla of a six-god\nGond should have six, and that of a seven-god Gond seven gods, but\nthis rule is not regularly observed, and the Deo-khullas themselves\nnow tend to disappear as the Gonds become Hinduised and attention is\nconcentrated on the village and household gods. The collection of gods\nat a Deo-khulla, Mr. Tawney remarks, is called Bura Deo, and when a\nGond swears by Bura Deo, he swears by all the gods of his sect. \"The\ngods,\" Mr. Tawney writes, \"are generally tied up in grass and fixed\nin the fork of the saj tree, or buried in some recess in the forest,\nexcept Palo, who is put in a bag to prevent his getting wet, and Chawar\nthe cow's tail. The Bhumkas or priests are somewhat shy of showing\nthe gods at the Deo-khulla, and they may have some reason for this,\nfor not long since, a young scamp of a Muhammadan, having determined\nto put to a test the reputed powers of the Gond gods for evil, hid\nhimself in a tree near the Deo-khulla during a meeting, and afterwards\ntook the gods out and threw them bag and baggage down a well. However,\nwhen I went there, the Bhumka at Mujawar after some parley retired into\nthe forest, and came out quite confidingly with an armful of gods. The\nDeo-khulla gods are generally all of iron, and those at Mujawar were\nall spear-shaped except Palo, who is a piece of cloth, and Ghangra,\nwho is of bell-metal and in form like the bells ordinarily put round\nthe necks of bullocks. When a spear-head has been lost, and another is\nnot available, anything in the shape of a pike or spear will do, and\nit does not appear to make any difference so long as iron is the metal\nused. Women may not worship at the Deo-khulla. It seems clear that the\noriginal gods were, with the exception of Ghangra, hunting-weapons and\nrepresentations of animals. Ghangra may be venerated because of his\nassociation with bullocks and also on account of the melodious sound\nmade by bullock-bells. Of all the gods the most remarkable probably is\nPalo. He is made of cloth and acts as a covering for the spear-heads\nat the time of worship. The one I saw was a small cloth, about 30 by\n18 inches, and in the form of a shield. He is a very expensive god\nand costs from Rs. 50 to Rs. 80, his outside value perhaps being\nRs. 5. When a new one is required it has to be made by a Katia or\nRaj-Pardhan, who must live in a separate house and not go near his\nown till its completion. He must also be naked while he is working\nand may not eat, drink, smoke or perform natural functions till he\nhas finished for the day. While engaged on the cloth he is well fed by\nthe Gonds and supplied with fowls and spirits; it is not surprising,\ntherefore, that the god is never finished in six months, though I would\nengage to make one in a week. The cloth is embroidered with figures\nin coloured silk, with a stitch or two of red silk in each animal,\nwhich will subsequently represent blood. The animals I saw embroidered\nwere a bullock, some sort of deer, a gouty-looking snake with a body as\nthick as the elephant's, and the latter animal barely distinguishable\nfrom it by having two legs and a trunk. When ready the cloth Palo is\ntaken to the Deo-khulla and a great worship is held, during which blood\nis seen to flow from the figures on the cloth and they are supposed\nto be endowed with life.\" The animals embroidered on the cloth are\nprobably those principally revered by the Gonds, as the elephant,\nsnake, deer and bullock, while the worship of the cloth itself and the\nembroidery on it indicates that they considered the arts of weaving\nand sewing as divinely revealed accomplishments. And the fact that\nthe other gods were made of iron shows a similar reverence for this\nmetal, which they perhaps first discovered in India. At any rate the\nquarrying and refining of indigenous iron-ore is at present carried\nout by the Agarias, a caste derived from the Gonds. The spear-head\nshape of most of the gods and that of Palo like a shield show their\nveneration for these weapons of war, which are themselves sacred.\n\n\n\n\n42. Household gods.\n\n\"In almost every house,\" Mr. Tawney states, \"there is also a set of\ngods for everyday use. They are often the same as the village gods\nor those of the Deo-khulla and also include deified ancestors. These\nhousehold gods have a tendency to increase, as special occasions\nnecessitate the creation of a new god, and once he is enthroned in\nthe house he never seems to leave it of his own accord. Thus if a man\nis killed by a cobra; he or the cobra becomes a household god and\nis worshipped for many generations. If a set of gods does not work\nsatisfactorily, they are also, some or all of them, discarded and a\nnew lot introduced. The form of the gods varies considerably, the only\nconstant thing about them being the vermilion with which they are all\ndaubed. They are sometimes all earthen cones and vary from that to\nminiature wooden tables. I may mention that it is somewhat difficult\nto get a Gond either to confess that he has any household gods or\nto show them. The best way is to send off the father of the family\non some errand, and then to ask his unsuspecting wife to bring out\nthe gods. You generally get them on a tray and some of the villagers\nwill help her to name them.\" In Mandla in every Gond's house there\nis a Deothana or god's place, where all the gods are kept. Those who\nhave children include Jhulan Devi, or the cradle goddess, among their\nhousehold deities. In the Deothana there is always a vessel full of\nwater and a stick, and when a man comes in from outside he goes to\nthis and sprinkles a little water over his body to free himself from\nany impurity he may have contracted abroad.\n\n\n\n\n43. Nag Deo.\n\nOn one of the posts of the house the image of Nag Deo, the cobra\ngod, is made in mud. In Asarh (June) the first month of the rains,\nwhich the Gonds consider the beginning of the year, snakes frequently\nappear. In this month they try to kill a cobra, and will then cut\noff the head and tail, and offer them to Nag Deo, inside the house,\nwhile they cook and eat the body. They think that the eating of\nthe snake's body will protect them from the effects of eating any\npoisonous substance throughout the year.\n\n\n\n\n44. Narayan Deo.\n\nNarayan Deo or the sun is also a household deity. He has a little\nplatform inside the threshold of the house. He may be worshipped every\ntwo or three years, but if a snake appears in the house or any one\nfalls ill they think that Narayan Deo is impatient and perform his\nworship. A young pig is offered to him and is sometimes fattened up\nbeforehand by feeding it on rice. The pig is laid on its back over\nthe threshold of the door and a number of men press a heavy beam\nof wood on its body till it is crushed to death. They cut off the\ntail and testicles and bury them near the threshold. The body of the\npig is washed in a hole dug in the yard, and it is then cooked and\neaten. They sing to the god, \"Eat, Narayan Deo, eat this rice and\nmeat, and protect us from all tigers, snakes and bears in our houses;\nprotect us from all illnesses and troubles.\" Next day the bones and\nany other remains of the pig are buried in the hole in the compound\nand the earth is well stamped down over it.\n\n\n\n\n45. Bura Deo.\n\nBura Deo, the great god of the Gonds, is sometimes, as seen, a name\nfor all the gods in the Deo-khulla. But he is usually considered\nas a single god, and often consists of a number of brass or iron\nballs suspended to a ring and hung on a saj tree. Again, he may\nbe represented by a few links of a roughly forged iron chain also\nhung on the tree, and the divine power of the chain is shown by\nthe fact that it can move of itself, and occasionally descends to\nrest on a stone under the tree or migrates to a neighbouring nullah\n(stream). Nowadays in Mandla Bura Deo is found as an iron doll made\nby a neighbouring blacksmith instead of a chain. It would appear,\nhowever, that he was originally the saj tree (Boswellia serrata), an\nimportant forest tree growing to a considerable height, which is much\nrevered by the Gonds. They do not cut this tree, nor its branches,\nexcept for ceremonial purposes, and their most sacred form of oath\nis to swear by the name of Bura Deo, holding a branch of the saj tree\nabove the head. If Bura Deo was first the saj tree, then we may surmise\nthat when the Gonds discovered iron they held it more sacred than the\ntree because it was more important, as the material from which their\naxes and spears were made. And therefore Bura Deo became an iron chain\nhanging on the saj tree. The axe is a Gond's most valuable implement,\nas with it he cut down the forest to clear a space for his shifting\ncultivation, and also provided himself with wood for hutting, fuel and\nother purposes. The axe and spear were also his weapons of war. Hence\nthe discovery of iron was an enormous step forward in civilisation,\nand this may account for the reverence in which it is held by the\nGonds. The metamorphosis of Bura Deo from an iron chain to an iron\ndoll may perhaps be considered to mark the arrival of the Gonds at the\nstage of religion when anthropomorphic gods are worshipped. Bura Deo\nis sometimes represented with Mahadeo or Siva and Parvati, two of the\ngreatest Hindu deities, in attendance on him on each side. Communal\nsacrifices of pigs and also of goats are made to him at intervals\nof one or two years; the animals are stretched out on their backs\nand killed by driving a stake of saj or tendu [72] wood through\nthe belly. Sometimes a goat is dedicated to him a year beforehand,\nand allowed to wander loose in the village in the name of Bura Deo,\nand given good food, and even called by the name of the god. It would\nappear that the original sacrificial animal was the pig, and the goat\nwas afterwards added or substituted. Bura Deo is also worshipped on\nspecial occasions, as when a man has got vermin in a wound, or, as\nthe people of the country say, when god has remembered him. In this\ncase the sufferer must pay all the expenses of the ceremony which is\nnecessary for his purification. The dead are also mingled in Bura Deo,\nas described in the section on funeral rites. Bura Deo is believed\nto protect the Gonds from wild animals; and if members of a family\nmeet a tiger, snake or other dangerous animal several times within\na fairly short period, they think that Bura Deo is displeased with\nthem and have a special sacrifice in his honour. Ordinarily when\nthe Panda or priest sacrifices an animal he severs its head with an\naxe and holds the head over the image or symbol of the god to allow\nthe blood to drop on it. Before sacrificing a chicken he places some\ngrain before it and says, 'If I have committed no fault, eat,' and\nif the chicken does not eat of itself he usually forces it to pick\na grain. Then he says that the sacrifice is acceptable to the god.\n\n\n\n\n46. Charms and magic.\n\nWhen they think a child has been overlooked they fetch a strip of\nleather from the Chamar's house, make it into a little bag, fill\nit with scrapings from a clean bit of leather, and hang it round\nthe child's neck. If a child is ill they sometimes fetch from the\nChamar's house water which has been used for tanning and give it him\nto drink. If a man is possessed by an evil spirit, they will take\nsome coins, silver for preference, and wave them round his head with\na lamp, and take them out and bury them in a waste place. They throw\none or two more rupees on the surface of the soil in which they have\nburied the coins. Then they think the spirit will leave the sufferer,\nand if any one picks up the coins on the surface of the ground the\nspirit will possess him. Hindus who find such buried coins frequently\nrefuse to take them, even though they may be valuable, from fear of\nbeing possessed by the spirit. Occasionally a man of a treacherous\ndisposition may transfer an evil spirit, which is haunting him, with\na daughter in marriage. The husband's family suspect this if a spirit\nbegins to trouble them. A Vaddai or magician is called, and he tries\nto transfer the spirit to a fowl or goat by giving the latter some\nrice to eat. If the spirit then ceases troubling they conclude that\nit was transferred by the bride's father, and go to him and reproach\nhim. If he admits that he had a spirit in his family which has given\nno trouble lately, they ask him to take it back, even though he may\nnot have intended its transfer. The goat or fowl to which the spirit\nwas transferred is then sacrificed in its name and the meat is eaten\nonly by the father-in-law's family, to whom the spirit thus returns. A\nminiature hut is built for the spirit in his yard, and a pot, a lamp\nand a knife are placed in the hut for its use, and an offering of a\ngoat is made to the spirit occasionally at festivals.\n\nIn order to injure an enemy they will make an image of him in clay,\npreferably taken from underneath his footprint, and carry it to\nthe cemetery. Here they offer red lead, red thread, bangles, and\nvarious kinds of grain and pulse to the ghosts and say to them,\n\"Male and female deities, old and newly buried, maimed and lame,\nspirits of the wind, I pronounce this charm with your help.\" Then\nthey pierce the figure with arrows in the chest and cut it with a\nknife in the region of the liver and think that their enemy will\ndie. Another method is to draw the likeness of an enemy on cloth\nwith lime or charcoal, and bury it in a pot in front of his house on\na Sunday or Tuesday night so that he may walk on it in the morning,\nwhen they hope that the same result will be achieved.\n\nIn order to breed a quarrel in an enemy's house they get the feathers\nof a crow, or the seeds of the amaltas, [73] or porcupine needles, and\nafter smoking them over a fire in which some nails have been placed,\ntie them to the eaves of his house, repeating some charm. The seeds of\nthe amaltas rattle in their pods in the wind, and hence it is supposed\nthat they will produce a noise of quarrelling. Porcupine's quills are\nsharp and prickly, and crow's feathers are perhaps efficacious because\nthe crow is supposed to be a talkative and quarrelsome bird. The nails\nin the fire, being sharp-pointed, may be meant to add potency to the\ncharm. One who wishes to transfer sickness to another person obtains a\ncloth belonging to the latter and draws two human figures on it, one\nright side up and the other upside down, in lamp-black. After saying\ncharms over the cloth he puts it back surreptitiously in the owner's\nhouse. When people are ill they make a vow to some god that if they\nrecover they will sacrifice a certain number of animals proportionate\nto the severity of the illness. If the patient then recovers, and the\nvow is for a larger number of animals than he can afford, he sets\nfire to a piece of forest so that a number of animals may be burnt\nas an offering to the god, and his vow may thus be fulfilled. This\npractice has no doubt gone out owing to the conservation of forests.\n\n\n\n\n47. Omens.\n\nIf a Gond, when starting on a journey in the morning, should meet a\ntiger, cat, hare, or a four-horned deer, he will return and postpone\nhis journey; but if he meets one of these animals when he is well\non the way it is considered to be lucky. Rain falling at a wedding\nor some other festival is believed to be unlucky, as it is as if\nsomebody were crying. In Mandla, if a cock crows in the night, a man\nwill get up at once, catch it and twist its neck, and throw it over\nthe house as far away as he can. Apparently the cock is supposed to\nbe calling to evil spirits. If a hen cackles, or lays eggs at night,\nit is also considered inauspicious, and the bird is often killed\nor given away. They think they can acquire strength by carrying the\nshoulder-bones of a tiger on their shoulders or drinking a little of\nthe bone-dust pounded in water. If there is disease in the village,\nthe Bhumka or village priest performs the ceremony of Gaon bandhna\nor tying up the village. Accompanied by a party of men he drives\na pig all round the village boundary, scattering grains of urad\npulse and mustard seed on the way. The pig is then sacrificed, its\nblood is sprinkled on all the village gods, and it is eaten by the\nparty. No man or animal may go outside the village on the day of this\nceremony, which should be performed on a Sunday or Wednesday. When\ncattle disease breaks out the Bhumka makes an arch of three poles,\nto which is hung a string of mango leaves, and all the cattle of the\nvillage are driven under it to avert the disease.\n\n\n\n\n48. Agricultural superstitions.\n\nWhen there is drought two boys put a pestle across their shoulders,\ntie a living frog to it with a rag, and go from house to house\naccompanied by other boys and girls singing:\n\n\n Mendak Bhai pani de,\n Dhan, kodon pakne de,\n Mere byah hone de,\n\n\nor 'Brother Frog give rain; let the rice and kodon ripen; let my\nmarriage be held.' The frog is considered to be able to produce\nrain because it lives in water and therefore has control over its\nelement. The boy's point in asking the frog to let his marriage be\nheld is that if the rains failed and the crops withered, his parents\nwould be unable to afford the expense. Another method of obtaining\nrain is for two naked women to go and harness themselves to a plough\nat night, while a third naked woman drives the plough and pricks\nthem with a goad. This does not appear capable of explanation on any\nmagical basis, so far as I know, and the idea may possibly be to force\nthe clemency of the gods by showing their extraordinary sufferings,\nor to show that the world is topsy-turvy for want of rain. A leather\nrope is sometimes tied to a plough and harrow, and the boys and\ngirls pull against one another on the rope in a tug-of-war. If the\ngirls win they think that rain will soon come, but if the boys win\nthat it will not. In order to stop excessive rain, a naked bachelor\ncollects water from the eaves in a new earthen pot, covers the pot\nwith a lid or with mud, and buries it beneath the earth; or the pot\nmay be filled with salt. Here it may perhaps be supposed that, as the\nwater dries up in the pot or the salt gets dry, so the rain will stop\nand the world generally become dry. The reason for employing women to\nproduce rain, and men to stop it, may be that women, as they give milk,\nwill be more potent in obtaining the other liquid, water. Nakedness\nis a common element in magic, perhaps because clothes are considered\na civilised appanage, and unsuitable for a contest with the powers\nof nature; a certain idea of impurity may also attach to them. If a\ncrow in carrying a straw to build its nest holds it in the middle,\nthey think that the rains will be normal and adequate; but if the\nstraw is held towards one end, that the rains will be excessive\nor deficient. If the titahri or sandpiper lays four eggs properly\narranged, they think that sufficient rain will fall in all the four\nmonsoon months. If only one, two or three eggs are laid, or only\nthis number properly placed in the nest and the others at the side,\nthen the rains will be good only in an equivalent number of months.\n\nAt the beginning of the harvest they pluck an ear of corn and say,\n'Whatever god is the guardian of this place, this is your share,\ntake it, and do not interfere.' The last plants in the field are cut\nand sent home by a little girl and put at the bottom of the grain-bin\nof the house. Chitkuar Devi is the goddess of the threshing-floor,\nand before beginning to winnow the grain they sacrifice a pig and\na chicken to her, cutting the throats of the animals and letting\ntheir blood drop on to the central post of the threshing-floor. When\nthey are about to take the kodon home, they set aside a basketful\nand give it to the sister's son or sister's husband of the owner,\nplacing a bottle of liquor on the top, and he takes it home to the\nhouse, and there they drink one or two bottles of liquor, and then\nbegin eating the new grain.\n\n\n\n\n49. Magical or religious observances in fishing and hunting.\n\nIn Mandla the Gonds still perform, or did till recently, various\nmagical or religious rites to obtain success in fishing and\nhunting. The men of a village were accustomed to go out fishing\nas a communal act. They arrived at the river before sunrise, and\nat midday their women brought them pej or gruel. On returning the\nwomen made a mound or platform before the house of the principal\nman of the party. All the fish caught were afterwards laid on this\nplatform and the leader then divided them, leaving one piece on the\nplatform. Next morning this piece was taken away and placed on the\ngrave of the leader's ancestor. If no fish were caught on the first\nday, then on the next day the women took the men no food. And if they\ncaught no fish for two or three days running, they went and dug up\nthe platform erected in front of the leader's house and levelled it\nwith the ground. Then the next morning early all the people of the\nvillage went to another village and danced the Sela dance before the\ntombs of the ancestors of that village. Sometimes they went on to a\nthird village and did the same. The headman of the village visited\nlevied a contribution from his people, and gave them food and drink\nand a present of Rs. 1-4. With this they bought liquor, and coming\nback to their own village, offered it in front of the platform which\nthey had levelled, and drank it. Next morning they went fishing\nagain, but said that they did not care whether they caught anything\nor not, as they had pleased their god. Next year all the people of\nthe village they had visited would come and dance the Sela dance at\ntheir village the whole day, and the hosts had to give the visitors\nfood and drink. This was said to be from gratitude to the headman\nof the other village for placating their god with an offering of\nRs. 1-4. And the visit might even be repeated annually so long as the\nheadman of the other village was alive. Apparently in this elaborate\nritual the platform especially represented the forefathers of the\nvillage, whose spirits were supposed to give success in fishing. If the\nfishers were unsuccessful, they demolished the platform to show their\ndispleasure to the spirits, and went and danced before the ancestors\nof another village to intimate the transfer of their allegiance from\ntheir own ancestors to these latter. The ancestors would thus feel\nthemselves properly snubbed and discarded for their ill-nature in not\ngiving success to the fishing party. But when they had been in this\ncondition for a day or so the headman of the other village sent them\nan offering of liquor, and it was thus intimated to them that, though\ntheir own descendants had temporarily transferred their devotion,\nthey were not entirely abandoned. It would be hoped that the ancestors\nwould lay the lesson to heart, and, placated by the liquor, be more\ncareful in future of the welfare of their descendants. The season for\nfishing was in Kunwar and Kartik, and it sometimes extended into Aghan\n(September to November). During these months, from the time the new\nkodon was cut at the beginning of the period, they danced the Sela,\nand they did not dance this dance at any other time of the year. [74]\nAt other seasons they would dance the Karma. The Sela dance is danced\nby men alone; they have sticks and form two circles, and walk in and\nout in opposite directions, beating their sticks together as they\npass. Sometimes other men sit on the shoulders of the dancers and\nbeat their sticks. Sela is said to be the name of the stick. In the\nSela dance the singing is in the form of Dadaria, that is, one party\nrecites a line and the other party replies; this is not done in the\nKarma dance, for which they have regular songs. It seems possible that\nthe Sela dance was originally a mimic combat, danced before they went\nout to fight in order to give them success in the battle. Subsequently\nit might be danced before they went out hunting and fishing with the\nsame object. If there was no stream to which they could go fishing\nthey would buy some fish and offer it to the god, and have a holiday\nand eat it, or if they could not go fishing they might go hunting in\na party instead. When a single Gond intends to go out hunting in the\nforest he first lights a lamp before his household god in the house,\nor if he has no oil he will kindle a fire, and the lamp or fire must\nbe kept burning all the time he is out. If he returns successful he\noffers a chicken to the god and extinguishes the lamp. But if he is\nunsuccessful he keeps the lamp burning all night, and goes out again\nearly next morning. If he gets more game this time he will offer the\nchicken, but if not he will extinguish the lamp, put his gun outside\nand not touch it again for eight days. A Gond never takes food in the\nmorning before going out hunting, but goes out in a fasting condition\nperhaps in order that the god, seeing his hunger, may send him some\ngame to eat. Nor will a Gond visit his wife the night before he goes\nout hunting. When a Baiga goes out hunting he bangs his liquor-gourd\non the ground before his household god and vows that, if successful,\nhe will offer to the god the gourd full of liquor and a chicken. But\nif he returns empty-handed, instead of doing this he fills the gourd\nwith earth and throws it over the god to show his wrath. Then if\nhe is successful on the next day, he will scrape off the earth and\noffer the liquor and chicken as promised. A Baiga should worship his\ngod and go out hunting at the new moon, and then he will hunt the\nwhole month. But if he has not worshipped his god at the new moon,\nand still goes out hunting and is unsuccessful, he will hunt no more\nthat month. Some Gonds before they go hunting draw an image of Mahabir\nor Hanuman, the monkey god and the god of strength, on their guns,\nand rub it out when they get home again.\n\n\n\n\n50. Witchcraft.\n\nThe belief in witchcraft has been till recently in full force and\nvigour among the Gonds, and is only now showing symptoms of decline. In\n1871 Sir C. Grant wrote: [75] \"The wild hill country from Mandla to\nthe eastern coast is believed to be so infested by witches that at\none time no prudent father would let his daughter marry into a family\nwhich did not include among its members at least one of the dangerous\nsisterhood. The non-Aryan belief in the power of evil here strikes a\nready chord in the minds of their conquerors, attuned to dread by the\ninhospitable appearance of the country and the terrible effect of its\nmalicious influences upon human life. In the wilds of Mandla there are\nmany deep hillside caves which not even the most intrepid Baiga hunter\nwould approach for fear of attracting upon himself the wrath of their\ndemoniac inhabitants; and where these hillmen, who are regarded both\nby themselves and by others as ministers between men and spirits,\nare afraid, the sleek cultivator of the plains must feel absolute\nrepulsion. Then the suddenness of the epidemics to which, whether from\ndeficient water-supply or other causes, Central India seems so subject,\nis another fruitful source of terror among an ignorant people. When\ncholera breaks out in a wild part of the country it creates a perfect\nstampede--villages, roads, and all works in progress are deserted;\neven the sick are abandoned by their nearest relations to die, and\ncrowds fly to the jungles, there to starve on fruits and berries till\nthe panic has passed off. The only consideration for which their minds\nhave room at such times is the punishment of the offenders, for the\nravages caused by the disease are unhesitatingly set down to human\nmalice. The police records of the Central Provinces unfortunately\ncontain too many sad instances of life thus sacrificed to a mad\nunreasoning terror.\" The detection of a witch by the agency of the\ncorpse, when the death is believed to have been caused by witchcraft,\nhas been described in the section on funeral rites. In other cases a\nlamp was lighted and the names of the suspected persons repeated; the\nflicker of the lamp at any name was held to indicate the witch. Two\nleaves were thrown on the outstretched hand of a suspected person,\nand if the leaf representing her or him fell above the other suspicion\nwas deepened. In Bastar the leaf ordeal was followed by sewing the\nperson accused into a sack and letting her down into shallow water;\nif she managed in her struggles for life to raise her head above water\nshe was finally adjudged to be guilty. A witch was beaten with rods\nof the tamarind or castor-oil plants, which were supposed to be of\npeculiar efficacy in such cases; her head was shaved cross-wise from\none ear to the other over the head and down to the neck; her teeth were\nsometimes knocked out, perhaps to prevent her from doing mischief if\nshe should assume the form of a tiger or other wild animal; she was\nusually obliged to leave the village, and often murdered. Murder for\nwitchcraft is now comparatively rare as it is too often followed by\ndetection and proper punishment. But the belief in the causation of\nepidemic disease by personal agency is only slowly declining. Such\nmeasures as the disinfection of wells by permanganate of potash during\na visitation of cholera, or inoculation against plague, are sometimes\nconsidered as attempts on the part of the Government to reduce the\npopulation. When the first epidemic of plague broke out in Mandla in\n1911 it caused a panic among the Gonds, who threatened to attack with\ntheir axes any Government officer who should come to their village,\nin the belief that all of them must be plague-inoculators. In the\ncourse of six months, however, the feeling of panic died down under a\nsystem of instruction by schoolmasters and other local officials and\nby circulars; and by the end of the period the Gonds began to offer\nthemselves voluntarily for inoculation, and would probably have come\nto do so in fairly large numbers if the epidemic had not subsided.\n\n\n\n\n51. Human sacrifice. [76]\n\nThe Gonds were formerly accustomed to offer human sacrifices,\nespecially to the goddess Kali and to the goddess Danteshwari, the\ntutelary deity of the Rajas of Bastar. Her shrine was at a place called\nDantewara, and she was probably at first a local goddess and afterwards\nidentified with the Hindu goddess Kali. An inscription recently found\nin Bastar records the grant of a village to a Medipota in order to\nsecure the welfare of the people and their cattle. This man was the\nhead of a community whose business it was, in return for the grants of\nland which they enjoyed, to supply victims for human sacrifice either\nfrom their own families or elsewhere. Tradition states that on one\noccasion as many as 101 persons were sacrificed to avert some great\ncalamity which had befallen the country. And sacrifices also took place\nwhen the Raja visited the temple. During the period of the Bhonsla rule\nearly in the nineteenth century the Raja of Bastar was said to have\nimmolated twenty-five men before he set out to visit the Raja of Nagpur\nat his capital. This would no doubt be as an offering for his safety,\nand the lives of the victims were given as a substitute for his own. A\nguard was afterwards placed on the temple by the Marathas, but reports\nshow that human sacrifice was not finally stamped out until the Nagpur\nterritories lapsed to the British in 1853. At Chanda and Lanji also,\nMr. Hislop states, human sacrifices were offered until well into the\nnineteenth century [77] at the temples of Kali. The victim was taken\nto the temple after sunset and shut up within its dismal walls. In\nthe morning, when the door was opened, he was found dead, much to the\nglory of the great goddess, who had shown her power by coming during\nthe night and sucking his blood. No doubt there must have been some\nof her servants hid in the fane whose business it was to prepare the\nhorrid banquet. It is said that an iron plate was afterwards put over\nthe face of the goddess to prevent her from eating up the persons\ngoing before her. In Chanda the legend tells that the families of\nthe town had each in turn to supply a victim to the goddess. One day\na mother was weeping bitterly because her only son was to be taken\nas the victim, when an Ahir passed by, and on learning the cause of\nher sorrow offered to go instead. He took with him the rope of hair\nwith which the Ahirs tie the legs of their cows when milking them\nand made a noose out of it. When the goddess came up to him he threw\nthe noose over her neck and drew it tight like a Thug. The goddess\nbegged him to let her go, and he agreed to do so on condition that\nshe asked for no more human victims. No doubt, if the legend has any\nfoundation, the Ahir found a human neck within his noose. It has been\nsuggested in the article on Thug that the goddess Kali is really the\ndeified tiger, and if this were so her craving for human sacrifices\nis readily understood. All the three places mentioned, Dantewara,\nLanji and Chanda, are in a territory where tigers are still numerous,\nand certain points in the above legends favour the idea of this animal\norigin of the goddess. Such are the shutting of the victim in the\ntemple at night as an animal is tied up for a tiger-kill, and the\nclosing of her mouth with an iron plate as the mouths of tigers are\nsometimes supposed to be closed by magic. Similarly it may perhaps be\nbelieved that the Raja of Bastar offered human sacrifices to protect\nhimself and his party from the attacks of tigers, which would be the\nprincipal danger on a journey to Nagpur. In Mandla there is a tradition\nthat a Brahman boy was formerly sacrificed at intervals to the god Bura\nDeo, and the forehead of the god was marked with his hair in place\nof sandalwood, and the god bathed in his blood and used his bones as\nsticks for playing at ball. Similarly in Bindranawagarh in Raipur the\nGonds are said to have entrapped strangers and offered them to their\ngods, and if possible a Brahman was obtained as the most suitable\noffering. These legends indicate the traditional hostility of the\nGonds to the Hindus, and especially to the Brahmans, by whom they were\nat one time much oppressed and ousted from their lands. According to\ntradition, a Gond Raja of Garha-Mandla, Madhkur Shah, had treacherously\nput his elder brother to death. Divine vengeance overtook him and he\nbecame afflicted with chronic pains in the head. No treatment was of\navail, and he was finally advised that the only means of appeasing\na justly incensed deity was to offer his own life. He determined\nto be burnt inside the trunk of the sacred pipal tree, and a hollow\ntrunk sufficiently dry for the purpose having been found at Deogarh,\ntwelve miles from Mandla, he shut himself up in it and was burnt to\ndeath. The story is interesting as showing how the neurotic or other\npains, which are the result of remorse for a crime, are ascribed to\nthe vengeance of a divine providence.\n\n\n\n\n52. Cannibalism.\n\nMr. Wilson quotes [78] an account, written by Lieutenant Prendergast\nin 1820, in which he states that he had discovered a tribe of Gonds\nwho were cannibals, but ate only their own relations. The account\nwas as follows: \"In May 1820 I visited the hills of Amarkantak, and\nhaving heard that a particular tribe of Gonds who lived in the hills\nwere cannibals, I made the most particular inquiries assisted by my\nclerk Mohan Singh, an intelligent and well-informed Kayasth. We learned\nafter much trouble that there was a tribe of Gonds who resided in the\nhills of Amarkantak and to the south-east in the Gondwana country,\nwho held very little intercourse with the villagers and never went\namong them except to barter or purchase provisions. This race live in\ndetached parties and seldom have more than eight or ten huts in one\nplace. They are cannibals in the real sense of the word, but never eat\nthe flesh of any person not belonging to their own family or tribe;\nnor do they do this except on particular occasions. It is the custom of\nthis singular people to cut the throat of any person of their family\nwho is attacked by severe illness and who they think has no chance of\nrecovering, when they collect the whole of their relations and friends,\nand feast upon the body. In like manner when a person arrives at a\ngreat age and becomes feeble and weak, the Halalkhor operates upon him,\nwhen the different members of the family assemble for the same purpose\nas above stated. In other respects this is a simple race of people,\nnor do they consider cutting the throats of their sick relations or\naged parents any sin; but on the contrary an act acceptable to Kali,\na blessing to their relatives, and a mercy to their whole race.\"\n\nIt may be noted that the account is based on hearsay only, and such\nstories are often circulated about savage races. But if correct,\nit would indicate probably only a ritual form of cannibalism. The\nidea of the Gonds in eating the bodies of their relatives would be to\nassimilate the lives of these as it were, and cause them to be reborn\nas children in their own families. Possibly they ate the bodies of\ntheir parents, as many races ate the bodies of animal gods, in order\nto obtain their divine virtues and qualities. No corroboration of this\ncustom is known in respect of the Gonds, but Colonel Dalton records\n[79] a somewhat similar story of the small Birhor tribe who live in\nthe Chota Nagpur hills not far from Amarkantak, and it has been seen\nthat the Bhunjias of Bilaspur eat small portions of the bodies of\ntheir dead relatives. [80]\n\n\n\n\n53. Festivals. The new crops.\n\nThe original Gond festivals were associated with the first eating of\nthe new crops and fruits. In Chait (March) a festival called Chaitrai\nis observed in Bastar. A pig or fowl with some liquor is offered to\nthe village god, and the new urad and semi beans of the year's crop\nare placed before him uncooked. The people dance and sing the whole\nnight and begin eating the new pulse and beans. In Bhadon (August)\nis the Nawakhai or eating of the new rice. The old and new grain is\nmixed and offered raw to the ancestors, a goat is sacrificed, and they\nbegin to eat the new crop of rice. Similarly when the mahua flowers,\nfrom which country spirit is made, first appear, they proceed to the\nforest and worship under a saj tree.\n\nBefore sowing rice or millet they have a rite called Bijphutni or\nbreaking the seed. Some grain, fowls and a pig are collected from the\nvillagers by subscription. The grain is offered to the god and then\ndistributed to all the villagers, who sow it in their fields for luck.\n\n\n\n\n54. The Holi festival.\n\nThe Holi festival, which corresponds to the Carnival, being held in\nspring at the end of the Hindu year, is observed by Gonds as well\nas Hindus. In Bilaspur a Gond or Baiga, as representing the oldest\nresidents, is always employed to light the Holi fire. Sometimes it\nis kindled in the ancient manner by the friction of two pieces of\nwood. In Mandla, at the Holi, the Gonds fetch a green branch of the\nsemar or cotton tree and plant it in a little hole, in which they put\nalso a pice (farthing) and an egg. They place fuel round and burn up\nthe branch. Then next day they take out the egg and give it to a dog\nto eat and say that this will make the dog as swift as fire. They\nchoose a dog whom they wish to train for hunting. They bring the\nploughshare from the house and heat it red-hot in the Holi fire and\ntake it back. They say that this wakes up the ploughshare, which\nhas fallen asleep from rusting in the house, and makes it sharp for\nploughing. Perhaps when rust appears on the metal they think this a\nsign of its being asleep. They plough for the first time on a Monday\nor Wednesday and drive three furrows when nobody is looking.\n\n\n\n\n55. The Meghnath swinging rite.\n\nIn the western Districts on one of the five days following the Holi\nthe swinging rite is performed. For this they bring a straight teak\nor saj tree from the forest, as long as can be obtained, and cut from\na place where two trees are growing together. The Bhumka or village\npriest is shown in a dream where to cut the tree. It is set up in\na hole seven feet deep, a quantity of salt being placed beneath\nit. The hole is coloured with geru or red ochre, and offerings of\ngoats, sheep and chickens are made to it by people who have vowed\nthem in sickness. A cross-bar is fixed on to the top of the pole\nin a socket and the Bhumka is tied to one end of the cross-bar. A\nrope is attached to the other end and the people take hold of this\nand drag the Bhumka round in the air five times. When this has been\ndone the village proprietor gives him a present of a cocoanut, and\nhead- and body-clothes. If the pole falls down it is considered that\nsome great misfortune, such as an epidemic, will ensue. The pole\nand ritual are now called Meghnath. Meghnath is held to have been\nthe son of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, from whom the Gonds are\nsupposed by the Hindus to be descended, as they are called Rawanvansi,\nor of the race of Rawan. After this they set up another pole, which\nis known as Jheri, and make it slippery with oil, butter and other\nthings. A little bag containing Rs. 1-4 and also a seer (2 lbs.) of\nghi or butter are tied to the top, and the men try to climb the pole\nand get these as a prize. The women assemble and beat the men with\nsticks as they are climbing to prevent them from doing so. If no man\nsucceeds in climbing the pole and getting the reward, it is given to\nthe women. This seems to be a parody of the first or Meghnath rite,\nand both probably have some connection with the growth of the crops.\n\n\n\n\n56. The Karma and other rites.\n\nDuring Bhadon (August), in the rains, the Gonds bring a branch of the\nkalmi or of the haldu tree from the forest and wrap it up in new cloth\nand keep it in their houses. They have a feast and the musicians play,\nand men and women dance round the branch singing songs, of which the\ntheme is often sexual. The dance is called Karma and is the principal\ndance of the Gonds, and they repeat it at intervals all through the\ncold weather, considering it as their great amusement. A further\nnotice of it is given in the section on social customs. The dance\nis apparently named after the tree, though it is not known whether\nthe same tree is always selected. Many deciduous trees in India shed\ntheir leaves in the hot weather and renew them in the rains, so that\nthis season is partly one of the renewal of vegetation as well as of\nthe growth of crops.\n\nIn Kunwar (September) the Gond girls take an earthen pot, pierce\nit with holes, and put a lamp inside and also the image of a dove,\nand go round from house to house singing and dancing, led by a girl\ncarrying the pot on her head. They collect contributions and have a\nfeast. In Chhattisgarh among the Gonds and Rawats (Ahirs) there is\nfrom time to time a kind of feminist movement, which is called the\nStiria-Raj or kingdom of women. The women pretend to be soldiers,\nseize all the weapons, axes and spears that they can get hold of, and\nmarch in a body from village to village. At each village they kill\na goat and send its head to another village, and then the women of\nthat village come and join them. During this time they leave their\nhair unbound and think that they are establishing the kingdom of\nwomen. After some months the movement subsides, and it is said to\noccur at irregular intervals with a number of years between each. The\nwomen are commonly considered to be out of their senses.\n\n\n\n\n(g) Appearance and Character, and Social Rules and Customs\n\n\n57. Physical type.\n\nHislop describes the Gonds as follows: [81] \"All are a little below\nthe average size of Europeans and in complexion darker than the\ngenerality of Hindus. Their bodies are well proportioned, but their\nfeatures rather ugly. They have a roundish head, distended nostrils,\nwide mouth, thickish lips, straight black hair and scanty beard and\nmoustache. It has been supposed that some of the aborigines of Central\nIndia have woolly hair; but this is a mistake. Among the thousands\nI have seen I have not found one with hair like a negro.\" Captain\nForsyth says: [82] \"The Gond women differ among themselves more than\nthe men. They are somewhat lighter in colour and less fleshy than\nKorku women. But the Gond women of different parts of the country\nvary greatly in appearance, many of them in the open tracts being\ngreat robust creatures, finer animals by far than the men; and here\nHindu blood may fairly be expected. In the interior again bevies\nof Gond women may be seen who are more like monkeys than human\nbeings. The features of all are strongly marked and coarse. The\ngirls occasionally possess such comeliness as attaches to general\nplumpness and a good-humoured expression of face; but when their short\nyouth is over all pass at once into a hideous age. Their hard lives,\nsharing as they do all the labours of the men except that of hunting,\nsuffice to account for this.\" There is not the least doubt that the\nGonds of the more open and civilised country, comprised in British\nDistricts, have a large admixture of Hindu blood. They commonly work\nas farmservants, women as well as men, and illicit connections with\ntheir Hindu masters have been a natural result. This interbreeding,\nas well as the better quality of food which those who have taken to\nregular cultivation obtain, have perhaps conduced to improve the Gond\nphysical type. Gond men as tall as Hindus, and more strongly built\nand with comparatively well-cut features, are now frequently seen,\nthough the broad flat nose is still characteristic of the tribe as\na whole. Most Gonds have very little hair on the face.\n\n\n\n\n58. Character.\n\nOf the Maria Gonds, Colonel Glasfurd wrote [83] that \"They are a\ntimid, quiet race, docile, and though addicted to drinking they\nare not quarrelsome. Without exception they are the most cheerful,\nlight-hearted people I have met with, always laughing and joking\namong themselves. Seldom does a Maria village resound with quarrels\nor wrangling among either sex, and in this respect they present a\nmarked contrast to those in more civilised tracts. They, in common with\nmany other wild races, bear a singular character for truthfulness and\nhonesty, and when once they get over the feeling of shyness which is\nnatural to them, are exceedingly frank and communicative.\" Writing in\n1825 Sleeman said: \"Such is the simplicity and honesty of character\nof the wildest of these Gonds that when they have agreed to a jama\n[84] they will pay it, though they sell their children to do so, and\nwill also pay it at the precise time that they agreed to. They are\ndishonest only in direct theft, and few of them will refuse to take\nanother man's property when a fair occasion offers, but they will\nimmediately acknowledge it.\" [85] The more civilised Gonds retain\nthese characteristics to a large extent, though contact with the\nHindus and the increased complexity of life have rendered them less\nguileless. Murder is a comparatively frequent crime among Gonds, and\nis usually due either to some quarrel about a woman or to a drunken\naffray. The kidnapping of girls for marriage is also common, though\nhardly reckoned as an offence by the Gonds themselves. Otherwise crime\nis extremely rare in Gond villages as a rule. As farmservants the\nGonds are esteemed fairly honest and hard-working; but unless well\ndriven they are constitutionally averse to labour, and care nothing\nabout provision for the future. The proverb says, 'The Gond considers\nhimself a king as long as he has a pot of grain in the house,' meaning\nthat while he has food for a day or two he will not work for any\nmore. During the hot weather the Gonds go about in parties and pay\nvisits to their relatives, staying with them several days, and the\ntime is spent simply in eating, drinking when liquor is available,\nand conversation. The visitors take presents of grain and pulse with\nthem and these go to augment the host's resources. The latter will\nkill a chicken or, as a great treat, a young pig. Mr. Montgomerie\nwrites of the Gonds as follows: [86] \"They are a pleasant people, and\nleave kindly memories in those who have to do with them. Comparatively\ntruthful, always ready for a laugh, familiar with the paths and animals\nand fruits of the forest, lazy cultivators on their own account\nbut good farmservants under supervision, the broad-nosed Gonds are\nthe fit inhabitants of the hilly and jungly tracts in which they are\nfound. With a marigold tucked into his hair above his left ear, with an\naxe in his hand and a grin on his face, the Gond turns out cheerfully\nto beat for game, and at the end of the day spends his beating pay\non liquor for himself or on sweetmeats for his children. He may, in\nthe previous year, have been subsisting largely on jungle fruits and\nroots because his harvest failed, but he does not dream of investing\nhis modest beating pay in grain.\"\n\n\n\n\n59. Shyness and ignorance.\n\nIn the wilder tracts the Gonds were, until recently, extremely shy\nof strangers, and would fly at their approach. Their tribute to the\nRaja of Bastar, paid in kind, was collected once a year by an officer\nwho beat a tom-tom outside the village and forthwith hid himself,\nwhereupon the inhabitants brought out whatever they had to give and\ndeposited it on an appointed spot. Colonel Glasfurd notes that they had\ngreat fear of a horse, and the sight of a man on horseback would put\na whole village to flight. [87] Even within the writer's experience,\nin the wilder forest tracts of Chanda Gond women picking up mahua\nwould run and climb a tree at one's approach on a pony. As displaying\nthe ignorance of the Gonds, Mr. Cain relates [88] that about forty\nyears ago a Gond was sent with a basket of mangoes from Palvatsa to\nBhadrachalam, and was warned not to eat any of the fruit, as it would\nbe known if he did so from a note placed in the basket. On the way,\nhowever, the Gond and his companion were overcome by the attraction\nof the fruit, and decided that if they buried the note it would be\nunable to see them eating. They accordingly did so and ate some of the\nmangoes, and when taxed with their dishonesty at the journey's end,\ncould not understand how the note could have known of their eating\nthe mangoes when it had not seen them.\n\nThe Gonds can now count up to twenty, and beyond that they use the\nword kori or a score, in talking of cattle, grain or rupees, so that\nthis, perhaps, takes them up to twenty score. They say they learnt\nto count up to twenty on their ten fingers and ten toes.\n\n\n\n\n60. Villages and houses.\n\nWhen residing in the centre of a Hindu population the Gonds inhabit mud\nhouses, like the low-class Hindus. But in the jungles their huts are of\nbamboo matting plastered with mud, with thatched roofs. The internal\narrangements are of the simplest kind, comprising two apartments\nseparated from each other by a row of tall baskets, in which they\nstore up their grain. Adjoining the house is a shed for cattle,\nand round both a bamboo fence for protection from wild beasts. In\nBastar the walls of the hut are only four or five feet high, and the\ndoor three feet. Here there are one or two sheds, in which all the\nvillagers store their grain in common, and no man steals another's\ngrain. In Gond villages the houses are seen perched about on little\nbluffs or other high ground, overlooking the fields, one, two and\nthree together. The Gond does not like to live in a street. He likes\na large bari or fenced enclosure, about an acre in size, besides\nhis house. In this he will grow mustard for sale, or his own annual\nsupply of tobacco or vegetables. He arranges that the village cattle\nshall come and stand in the bari on their way to and from pasture,\nand that the cows shall be milked there for some time. His family\nalso perform natural functions in it, which the Hindus will not do\nin their fields. Thus the bari gets well manured and will easily\ngive two crops in the year, and the Gond sets great store by this\nfield. When building a new house a man plants as the first post a\npole of the saj tree, and ties a bundle of thatching-grass round it,\nand buries a pice (1/4d.) and a bhilawa nut beneath it. They feed two\nor three friends and scatter a little of the food over the post. The\npost is called Khirkhut Deo, and protects the house from harm.\n\nA brass or pewter dish and lota or drinking-vessel of the same\nmaterial, a few earthen cooking-pots, a hatchet and a clay chilam or\npipe-bowl comprise the furniture of a Gond.\n\n\n\n\n61. Clothes and ornaments.\n\nIn Sir R. Jenkins' time, a century ago, the Gonds were represented as\nnaked savages, living on roots and fruits, and hunting for strangers to\nsacrifice. About fifty years later, when Mr. Hislop wrote, the Maria\nwomen of the wilder tracts were said only to have a bundle of leafy\ntwigs fastened with a string round their waist to cover them before\nand behind. Now men have a narrow strip of cloth round the waist and\nwomen a broader one, but in the south of Bastar they still leave their\nbreasts uncovered. Here a woman covers her breasts for the first time\nwhen she becomes pregnant, and if a young woman did it, she would be\nthought to be big with child. In other localities men and women clothe\nthemselves more like Hindus, but the women leave the greater part of\nthe thighs bare, and men often have only one cloth round the loins\nand another small rag on the head. They have bangles of glass, brass\nand zinc, and large circlets of brass round the legs, though these are\nnow being discarded. In Bastar both men and women have ten to twenty\niron and brass hoops round their necks, and on to these rings of the\nsame metal are strung. Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath counted 181 rings\non one hoop round an old woman's neck. In the Maria country the boys\nhave small separate plots of land, which they cultivate themselves\nand use the proceeds as their pocket-money, and this enables them to\nindulge in a profusion of ornaments sometimes exceeding those worn\nby the girls. In Mandla women wear a number of strings of yellow and\nbluish-white beads. A married woman has both colours, and several\ncowries tied to the end of the necklace. Widows and girls may only\nwear the bluish-white beads without cowries, and a remarried widow\nmay not have any yellow beads, but she can have one cowrie on her\nnecklace. Yellow beads are thus confined to married women, yellow\nbeing the common wedding-colour. A Gond woman is not allowed to wear\na choli or little jacket over the breasts. If she does she is put\nout of caste. This rule may arise from opposition to the adoption of\nHindu customs and desire to retain a distinctive feature of dress,\nor it may be thought that the adoption of the choli might make Gond\nwomen weaker and unfitted for hard manual labour, like Hindu women. A\nGond woman must not keep her cloth tucked up behind into her waist\nwhen she meets an elderly man of her own family, but must let it down\nso as to cover the upper part of her legs. If she omits to do this,\non the occasion of the next wedding the Bhumka or caste priest will\nsend some men to catch her, and when she is brought the man to whom\nshe was disrespectful will put his right hand on the ground and she\nmust make obeisance to it seven times, then to his left hand, then to\na broom and pestle, and so on till she is tired out. When they have a\nsprain or swelling of the arm they make a ring of tree-fibre and wear\nthis on the arm, and think that it will cure the sprain or swelling.\n\n\n\n\n62. Ear-piercing.\n\nThe ears of girls are pierced by a thorn, and the hole is enlarged by\nputting in small pieces of wood or peacock's feathers. Gond women wear\nin their ears the tarkhi or a little slab in shape like a palm-leaf,\ncovered with coloured glass and fixed on to a stalk of hemp-fibre\nnearly an inch thick, which goes through the ear; or they wear the\nsilver shield-shaped ornament called dhara, which is described in the\narticle on Sunar. In Bastar the women have their ears pierced in a\ndozen or more places, and have a small ring in each hole. If a woman\ngets her ear torn through she is simply put out of caste and has to\ngive a feast for readmission, and is not kept out of caste till it\nheals, like a Hindu woman.\n\n\n\n\n63. Hair.\n\nGond men now cut their hair. Before scissors were obtainable it is\nsaid that they used to tie it up on their heads and chop off the ends\nwith an axe, or burn them off. But the wilder Gonds often wear their\nhair long, and as it is seldom combed it gets tangled and matted. The\nPandas or priests do not cut their hair. Women wear braids of false\nhair, of goats or other animals, twisted into their own to improve\ntheir appearance. In Mandla a Gond girl should not have her hair\nparted in the middle till she is married. When she is married this\nis done for the first time by the Baiga, who subsequently tattoos on\nher forehead the image of Chandi Mata. [89]\n\n\n\n\n64. Bathing and washing clothes.\n\nGonds, both men and women, do not bathe daily, but only wash their arms\nand legs. They think a complete bath once a month is sufficient. If a\nman gets ill he may think the god is angry with him for not bathing,\nand when he recovers he goes and has a good bath, and sometimes gives a\nfeast. Hindus say that a Gond is only clean in the rains, when he gets\na compulsory bath every day. In Bastar they seldom wash their clothes,\nas they think this impious, or else that the cloth would wear out too\nquickly if it were often washed. Here they set great store by their\npiece of cloth, and a woman will take it off before she cleans up her\nhouse, and do her work naked. It is probable that these wild Gonds,\nwho could not weave, regarded the cloth as something miraculous and\nsacred, and, as already seen, the god Palo is a piece of cloth. [90]\n\n\n\n\n65. Tattooing.\n\nBoth men and women were formerly much tattooed among the Gonds,\nthough the custom is now going out among men. Women are tattooed over\na large part of the body, but not on the hips or above them to the\nwaist. Sorcerers are tattooed with some image or symbol of their god\non their chest or right shoulder, and think that the god will thus\nalways remain with them and that any magic directed against them by an\nenemy will fail. A woman should be tattooed at her father's house, if\npossible before marriage, and if it is done after marriage her parents\nshould pay for it. The tattooing is done with indigo in black or blue,\nand is sometimes a very painful process, the girl being held down\nby her friends while it is carried out. Loud shrieks, Forsyth says,\nwould sometimes be heard by the traveller issuing from a village,\nwhich proclaimed that some young Gondin was being operated upon with\nthe tattooing-needle. Patterns of animals and also common articles of\nhousehold use are tattooed in dots and lines. In Mandla the legs are\nmarked all the way up behind with sets of parallel lines, as shown\nabove. These are called ghats or steps, and sometimes interspersed\nat intervals is another figure called sankal or chain. Perhaps their\nidea is to make the legs strong for climbing.\n\n\n\n\n66. Special system of tattooing.\n\nTattooing seems to have been originally a magical means of protecting\nthe body against real and spiritual dangers, much in the same manner\nas the wearing of ornaments. It is also supposed that people were\ntattooed with images of their totem in order the better to identify\nthemselves with it. The following account is stated to have been taken\nfrom the Baiga priest of a popular shrine of Devi in Mandla. His wife\nwas a tattooer of both Baigas and Gonds, and considered it the correct\nmethod for the full tattooing of a woman, though very few women can\nnowadays be found with it. The magical intent of tattooing is here\nclearly brought out:--\n\nOn the sole of the right foot is the annexed device:\n\nIt represents the earth, and will have the effect of preventing the\nwoman's foot from being bruised and cut when she walks about barefoot.\n\nOn the sole of the left foot is this pattern:\n\nIt is meant to be in the shape of a foot, and is called Padam Sen Deo\nor the Foot-god. This deity is represented by stones marked with two\nfootprints under a tree outside the village. When they have a pain in\nthe foot they go to him, rub his two stones together and sprinkle the\ndust from them on their feet as a means of cure. The device tattooed\non the foot no doubt performs a similar protective function.\n\nOn the upper part of the foot five dots are made, one on each toe, and\na line is drawn round the foot from the big toe to the little toe. This\nsign is said to represent Gajkaran Deo, the elephant god, who resides\nin cemeteries. He is a strong god, and it is probably thought that\nhis symbol on the feet will enable them to bear weight. On the legs\nbehind they have the images of the Baiga priest and priestess. These\nare also supposed to give strength for labour, and when they cannot\ngo into the forest from fever or weakness they say that Bura Deo, as\nthe deified priest is called, is angry with them. On the upper legs\nin front they tattoo the image of a horse, and at the back a saddle\nbetween the knee and the thigh. This is Koda Deo the horse-god, whose\nimage will make their thighs as strong as those of a horse. If they\nhave a pain or weakness in the thigh they go and worship Koda Deo,\noffering him a piece of saddle-cloth. On the outer side of each upper\narm they tattoo the image of Hanuman, the deified monkey and the\ngod of strength, in the form of a man. Both men and women do this,\nand men apply burning cowdung to the tattoo-mark in order to burn\nit effectually into the arm. This god makes the arms strong to carry\nweights. Down the back is tattooed an oblong figure, which is the house\nof the god Bhimsen, with an opening at the lower end just above the\nbuttocks to represent the gate. Inside this on the back is the image\nof Bhimsen's club, consisting of a pattern of dots more or less in\nthe shape of an Indian club. Bhimsen is the god of the cooking-place,\nand the image of his club, in white clay stained green with the\nleaves of the semar tree, is made on the wall of the kitchen. If\nthey have no food, or the food is bad, they say that Bhimsen is angry\nwith them. The pattern tattooed on the back appears therefore to be\nmeant to facilitate the digestion of food, which the Gonds apparently\nonce supposed to pass down the body along the back. On the breast in\nfront women tattoo the image of Bura Deo, as shown, the head on her\nneck and the body finishing at her breast-bone. The marks round the\nbody represent stones, because the symbol of Bura Deo is sometimes\na basket plastered with mud and filled with stones. On each side of\nthe body women have the image of Jhulan Devi, the cradle goddess, as\nshown by the small figures attached to Bura Deo. But a woman cannot\nhave the image of Jhulan Devi tattooed on her till she has borne a\nchild. The place where the image is tattooed is that where a child\nrests against its mother's body when she carries it suspended in her\ncloth, and it is supposed that the image of the goddess supports and\nprotects the child, while the mother's arms are left free for work.\n\nRound the neck they have Kanteshwar Mata, the goddess of the\nnecklace. She consists of three to six lines of dots round the neck\nrepresenting bead necklaces.\n\nOn the face below the mouth there is sometimes the image of a cobra,\nand it is supposed that this will protect them from the effects of\neating any poisonous thing.\n\nOn the forehead women have the image of Chandi Mata. This consists of\na dot at the forehead at the parting of the hair, from which two lines\nof dots run down to the ears on each side, and are continued along\nthe sides of the face to the neck. This image can only be tattooed\nafter the hair of a woman has been parted on her marriage, and they\nsay that Chandi Mata will preserve and guard the parting of the hair,\nthat is the life of the woman's husband, because the parting can\nonly be worn so long as her husband is alive. Chandi means the moon,\nand it seems likely that the parting of the hair may be considered\nto represent the bow of the moon.\n\nThe elaborate system of tattooing here described is rarely found,\nand it is perhaps comparatively recent, having been devised by the\nBaiga and Pardhan priests as their intelligence developed and their\ntheogony became more complex.\n\n\n\n\n67. Branding.\n\nMen are accustomed to brand themselves on the joints of the wrists,\nelbows and knees with burning wood of the semar tree from the Holi fire\nin order to render their joints supple for dancing. It would appear\nthat the idea of suppleness comes from the dancing of the flames or\nthe swift burning of the fire, while the wood is also of very light\nweight. Men are also accustomed to burn two or three marks on each\nwrist with a piece of hare's dung, perhaps to make the joints supple\nlike the legs of a hare.\n\n\n\n\n68. Food.\n\nThe Gonds have scarcely any restriction on diet. They will eat fowls,\nbeef, pork, crocodiles, certain kinds of snakes, lizards, tortoises,\nrats, cats, red ants, jackals and in some places monkeys. Khatola\nand Raj-Gonds usually abstain from beef and the flesh of the buffalo\nand monkey. They consider field-mice and rats a great delicacy, and\nwill take much trouble in finding and digging out their holes. The\nMaria Gonds are very fond of red ants, and in Bastar give them fried\nor roasted to a woman during her confinement. The common food of the\nlabouring Gond is a gruel of rice or small millet boiled in water,\nthe quantity of water increasing in proportion to their poverty. This\nis about the cheapest kind of food on which a man can live, and the\nquantity of grain taken in the form of this gruel or pej which will\nsuffice for a Gond's subsistence is astonishingly small. They grow the\nsmall grass-millets kodon and kutki for their subsistence, selling the\nmore valuable crops for rent and expenses. The flowers of the mahua\ntree are also a staple article of diet, being largely eaten as well as\nmade into liquor, and the Gond knows of many other roots and fruits of\nthe forest. He likes to eat or drink his pej several times a day, and\nin Seoni, it is said, will not go more than three hours without a meal.\n\nGonds are rather strict in the matter of taking food from others, and\nin some localities refuse to accept it even from Brahmans. Elsewhere\nthey will take it from most Hindu castes. In Hoshangabad the men may\ntake food from the higher Hindu castes, but not the women. This, they\nsay, is because the woman is a wooden vessel, and if a wooden vessel is\nonce put on the fire it is irretrievably burnt. A woman similarly is\nthe weaker vessel and will sustain injury from any contamination. The\nRaj-Gond copies Hindu ways and outdoes the Hindu in the elaboration\nof ceremonial purity, even having the fuel with which his Brahman\ncook prepares his food sprinkled with water to purify it before it is\nburnt. Mr. A. K. Smith states that a Gond will not eat an antelope if\na Chamar has touched it, even unskinned, and in some places they are\nso strict that a wife may not eat her husband's leavings of food. The\nGonds will not eat the leavings of any Hindu caste, probably on account\nof a traditional hostility arising out of their subjection by the\nHindus. Very few Hindu castes will take water or food from the Gonds,\nbut some who employ them as farmservants do this for convenience. The\nGonds are not regarded as impure, even though from a Hindu point of\nview some of their habits are more objectionable than those of the\nimpure castes. This is because the Gonds have never been completely\nreduced to subjection, nor converted into the village drudges, who\nare consigned to the most degraded occupations. Large numbers of them\nhold land as tenants and estates as zamindars; and the greater part\nof the Province was once governed by Gond kings. The Hindus say that\nthey could not consider a tribe as impure to which their kings once\nbelonged. Brahmans will take water from Raj-Gonds and Khatola Gonds\nin many localities. This is when it is freshly brought from the well\nand not after it has been put in their houses.\n\n\n\n\n69. Liquor.\n\nExcessive drinking is the common vice of the Gonds and the principal\ncause which militates against their successfully competing with the\nHindus. They drink the country spirit distilled from the flowers of the\nmahua tree, and in the south of the Province toddy or the fermented\njuice of the date-palm. As already seen, in Bastar their idea of\nhell is a place without liquor. The loss of the greater part of the\nestates formerly held by Gond proprietors has been due to this vice,\nwhich many Hindu liquor-sellers have naturally fostered to their own\nadvantage. No festival or wedding passes without a drunken bout,\nand in Chanda at the season for tapping the date-palm trees the\nwhole population of a village may be seen lying about in the open\ndead drunk. They impute a certain sanctity to the mahua tree, and\nin some places walk round a post of it at their weddings. Liquor is\nindispensable at all ceremonial feasts, and a purifying quality is\nattributed to it, so that it is drunk at the cemetery or bathing-ghat\nafter a funeral. The family arranges for liquor, but mourners\nattending from other families also bring a bottle each with them,\nif possible. Practically all the events of a Gond's life, the birth\nof a child, betrothals and weddings, recovery from sickness, the\narrival of a guest, bringing home the harvest, borrowing money or\nhiring bullocks, and making contracts for cultivation, are celebrated\nby drinking. And when a Gond has once begun to drink, if he has the\nmoney he usually goes on till he is drunk, and this is why the habit is\nsuch a curse to him. He is of a social disposition and does not like\nto drink alone. If he has drunk something, and has no more money, and\nthe contractor refuses to let him have any more on credit as the law\nprescribes, the Gond will sometimes curse him and swear never to drink\nin his shop again. Nevertheless, within a few days he will be back,\nand when chaffed about it will answer simply that he could not resist\nthe longing. In spite of all the harm it does him, it must be admitted\nthat it is the drink which gives most of the colour and brightness to\na Gond's life, and without this it would usually be tame to a degree.\n\nWhen a Gond drinks water from a stream or tank, he bends down and\nputs his mouth to the surface and does not make a cup with his hands\nlike a Hindu.\n\n\n\n\n70. Admission of outsiders and sexual morality.\n\nOutsiders are admitted into the tribe in some localities in Bastar,\nand also the offspring of a Gond man or woman with a person of another\ncaste, excepting the lowest. But some people will not admit the\nchildren of a Gond woman by a man of another caste. Not much regard\nis paid to the chastity of girls before marriage, though in the more\ncivilised tracts the stricter Hindu views on the subject are beginning\nto prevail. Here it is said that if a girl is detected in a sexual\nintrigue before marriage she may be taken into caste, but may not\nparticipate in the worship of Bura Deo nor of the household god. But\nthis is probably rather a counsel of perfection than a rule actually\nenforced. If a daughter is taken in the sexual act, they think some\nmisfortune will happen to them, as the death of a cow or the failure\nof crops. Similarly the Maria Gonds think that if tigers kill their\ncattle it is a punishment for the adultery of their wives, and hence\nif a man loses a head or two he looks very closely after his wife,\nand detection is often followed by murder. Here probably adultery was\noriginally considered an offence as being a sin against the tribe,\nbecause it contaminated the tribal blood, and out of this attitude\nmarital jealousy has subsequently developed. Speaking generally, the\nenforcement of rules of sexual morality appears to be comparatively\nrecent, and there is no doubt that the Baigas and other tribes who have\nlived in contact with the Gonds, as well as the Ahirs and other low\ncastes, have a large admixture of Gond blood. In Bastar a Gond woman\nformerly had no feelings of modesty as regards her breasts, but this\nis now being acquired. Laying the hand on a married woman's shoulder\ngives great offence. Mr. Low writes: [91] \"It is difficult to say what\nis not a legal marriage from a Gond point of view; but in spite of\nthis laxity abductions are frequent, and Colonel Bloomfield mentions\none particularly noteworthy case where the abductor, an unusually ugly\nGond with a hare-lip, was stated by the complainant to have taken off\nfirst the latter's aunt, then his sister and finally his only wife.\"\n\n\n\n\n71. Common sleeping-houses.\n\nMany Gond villages in Chhattisgarh and the Feudatory States have what\nis known as a gotalghar. This is a large house near the village\nwhere unmarried youths and maidens collect and dance and sing\ntogether at night. Some villages have two, one for the boys and one\nfor the girls. In Bastar the boys have a regular organisation, their\ncaptain being called Sirdar, and the master of the ceremonies Kotwar,\nwhile they have other officials bearing the designation of the State\nofficers. After supper the unmarried boys go first to the gotalghar\nand are followed by the girls. The Kotwar receives the latter and\ndirects them to bow to the Sirdar, which they do. Each girl then\ntakes a boy and combs his hair and massages his hands and arms to\nrefresh him, and afterwards they sing and dance together until they\nare tired and then go to bed. The girls can retire to their own house\nif they wish, but frequently they sleep in the boys' house. Thus\nnumerous couples become intimate, and if on discovery the parents\nobject to their marriage, they run away to the jungle, and it has to\nbe recognised. In some villages, however, girls are not permitted to\ngo to the gotalghar. In one part of Bastar they have a curious rule\nthat all males, even the married, must sleep in the common house for\nthe eight months of the open season, while their wives sleep in their\nown houses. A Maria Gond thinks it impious to have sexual intercourse\nwith his wife in his house, as it would be an insult to the goddess\nof wealth who lives in the house, and the effect would be to drive\nher away. Their solicitude for this goddess is the more noticeable,\nas the Maria Gond's house and furniture probably constitute one of\nthe least valuable human habitations on the face of the globe.\n\n\n\n\n72. Methods of greeting and observances between relatives.\n\nWhen two Gond friends or relatives meet, they clasp each other in\ntheir arms and lean against each shoulder in turn. A man will then\ntouch the knees of an elder male relative with his fingers, carrying\nthem afterwards to his own forehead. This is equivalent to falling\nat the other's feet, and is a token of respect shown to all elder\nmale relatives and also to a son-in-law, sister's husband, and a\nsamhdi, that is the father of a son- or daughter-in-law. Their term of\nsalutation is Johar, and they say this to each other. Another method\nof greeting is that each should put his fingers under the other's chin\nand then kiss them himself. Women also do this when they meet. Or\na younger woman meeting an elder will touch her feet, and the elder\nwill then kiss her on the forehead and on each cheek. If they have\nnot met for some time they will weep. It is said that Baigas will\nkiss each other on the cheek when meeting, both men and women. A Gond\nwill kiss and caress his wife after marriage, but as soon as she has\na child he drops the habit and never does it again. When husband and\nwife meet after an absence the wife touches her husband's feet with\nher hand and carries it to her forehead, but the husband makes no\ndemonstration. The Gonds kiss their children. Among the Maria Gonds\nthe wife is said not to sleep on a cot in her husband's house, which\nwould be thought disrespectful to him, but on the ground. Nor will\na woman even sit on a cot in her own house, as if any male relative\nhappened to be in the house it would be disrespectful to him. A woman\nwill not say the name of her husband, his elder or younger brother,\nor his elder brother's sons. A man will not mention his wife's name\nnor that of her elder sister.\n\n\n\n\n73. The caste panchayat and social offences.\n\nThe tribe have panchayats or committees for the settlement of tribal\ndisputes and offences. A member of the panchayat is selected by general\nconsent, and holds office during good behaviour. The office is not\nhereditary, and generally there does not seem to be a recognised\nhead of the panchayat. In Mandla there is a separate panchayat for\neach village, and every Gond male adult belongs to it, and all have\nto be summoned to a meeting. When they assemble five leading elderly\nmen decide the matter in dispute, as representing the assembly. Caste\noffences are of the usual Hindu type with some variations. Adultery,\ntaking another man's wife or daughter, getting vermin in a wound,\nbeing sent to jail and eating the jail food, or even having handcuffs\nput on, a woman getting her ear torn, and eating or even smoking with\na man of very low caste, are the ordinary offences. Others are being\nbeaten by a shoe, dealing in the hides of cattle or keeping donkeys,\nremoving the corpse of a dead horse or donkey, being touched by a\nsweeper, cooking in the earthen pots of any impure caste, a woman\nentering the kitchen during her monthly impurity, and taking to wife\nthe widow of a younger brother, but not of course of an elder brother.\n\nIn the case of septs which revere a totem animal or plant, any act\ncommitted in connection with that animal or plant by a member of\nthe sept is an offence within the cognisance of the panchayat. Thus\nin Mandla the Kumhra sept revere the goat and the Markam sept the\ncrocodile and crab. If a member of one of these septs touches, keeps,\nkills or eats the animal which his sept reveres, he is put out of caste\nand comes before the panchayat. In practice the offences with which\nthe panchayat most frequently deals are the taking of another man's\nwife or the kidnapping of a daughter for marriage, this last usually\noccurring between relatives. Both these offences can also be brought\nbefore the regular courts, but it is usually only when the aggrieved\nperson cannot get satisfaction from the panchayat, or when the offender\nrefuses to abide by its decision, that the case goes to court. If\na Gond loses his wife he will in the ordinary course compromise the\nmatter if the man who takes her will repay his wedding expenses; this\nis a very serious business for him, as his wedding is the principal\nexpense of a man's life, and it is probable that he may not be able to\nafford to buy another girl and pay for her wedding. If he cannot get\nhis wedding expenses back through the panchayat he files a complaint\nof adultery under the Penal Code, in the hope of being repaid through\na fine inflicted on the offender, and it is perfectly right and just\nthat this should be done. When a girl is kidnapped for marriage, her\nfamily can usually be induced to recognise the affair if they receive\nthe price they could have got for the girl in an ordinary marriage,\nand perhaps a little more, as a solace to their outraged feelings.\n\nThe panchayat takes no cognisance of theft, cheating, forgery, perjury,\ncausing hurt and other forms of crime. These are not considered to be\noffences against the caste, and no penalty is inflicted for them. Only\nif a man is arrested and handcuffed, or if he is sent to jail for\nany such crime, he is put out of caste for eating the jail food and\nsubjected in this latter case to a somewhat severe penalty. It is\nnot clear whether a Gond is put out of caste for murder, though Hindu\npanchayats take cognisance of this offence.\n\n\n\n\n74. Caste penalty feasts.\n\nThe punishments inflicted by the panchayat consist of feasts, and in\nthe case of minor offences of a fine. This last, subject perhaps to\nsome commission to the members for their services, is always spent on\nliquor, the drinking of which by the offender with the caste-fellows\nwill purify him. The Gonds consider country liquor as equivalent to\nthe Hindu Amrita or nectar.\n\nThe penalty for a serious offence involves three feasts. The first,\nknown as the meal of impurity, consists of sweet wheaten cakes which\nare eaten by the elders on the bank of a stream or well. The second or\nmain feast is given in the offender's courtyard to all the castemen of\nthe village and sometimes of other villages. Rice, pulse, and meat,\neither of a slaughtered pig or goat, are provided at this. The third\nfeast is known as 'The taking back into caste' and is held in the\noffender's house and may be cooked by him. Wheat, rice and pulses\nare served, but not meat or vegetables. When the panchayat have\neaten this food in the offender's house he is again a proper member\nof the caste. Liquor is essential at each feast. The nature of the\npenalty feasts is thus very clear. They have the effect of a gradual\npurification of the offender. In the first meal he can take no part,\nnor is it served in his house, but in some neutral place. For the\nsecond meal the castemen go so far as to sit in his compound, but\napparently he does not cook the food nor partake of it. At the third\nmeal they eat with him in his house and he is fully purified. These\nthree meals are prescribed only for serious offences, and for ordinary\nones only two meals, the offender partaking of the second. The three\nmeals are usually exacted from a woman taken in adultery with an\noutsider. In this case the woman's head is shaved at the first meal\nby the Sharmia, that is her son-in-law, and the children put her to\nshame by throwing lumps of cowdung at her. She runs away and bathes\nin a stream. At the second meal, taken in her courtyard, the Sharmia\nsprinkles some blood on the ground and on the lintel of the door as\nan offering to the gods and in order that the house may be pure for\nthe future. If a man is poor and cannot afford the expense of the\npenalty feasts imposed on him, the panchayat will agree that only a\nfew persons will attend instead of the whole community. The procedure\nabove described is probably borrowed to a large extent from Hinduism,\nbut the working of a panchayat can be observed better among the Gonds\nand lower castes than among high-caste Hindus, who are tending to\nlet it lapse into abeyance.\n\n\n\n\n75. Special purification ceremony.\n\nThe following detailed process of purification had to be undergone\nby a well-to-do Gond widow in Mandla who had been detected with a\nman of the Panka caste, lying drunk and naked in a liquor-shop. The\nGonds here consider the Pankas socially beneath themselves. The ritual\nclearly belongs to Hinduism, as shown by the purifying virtue attached\nto contact with cows and bullocks and cowdung, and was directed by\nthe Panda or priest of Devi's shrine, who, however, would probably\nbe a Gond. First, the offending woman was taken right out of the\nvillage across a stream; here her head was shaved with the urine\nof an all-black bullock and her body washed with his dung, and she\nthen bathed in the stream, and a feast was given on its bank to the\ncaste. She slept here, and next day was yoked to the same bullock\nand taken thus to the Kharkha or standing-place for the village\ncattle. She was rolled over the surface of the Kharkha about four\ntimes, again rubbed with cowdung, another feast was given, and she\nslept the night on the spot, without being washed. Next day, covered\nwith the dust and cowdung of the Kharkha, she crouched underneath\nthe black bullock's belly and in this manner proceeded to the gate of\nher own yard. Here a bottle of liquor and fifteen chickens were waved\nround her and afterwards offered at Devi's shrine, where they became\nthe property of the Panda who was conducting the ceremony. Another\nfeast was given in her yard and the woman slept there. Next day the\nwoman, after bathing, was placed standing with one foot outside her\nthreshold and the other inside; a feast was given, called the feast\nof the threshold, and she again slept in her yard. On the following\nday came the final feast of purification in the house. The woman was\nbathed eleven times, and a hen, a chicken and five eggs were offered\nby the Panda to each of her household gods. Then she drank a little\nliquor from a cup of which the Panda had drunk, and ate some of the\nleavings of food of which he had eaten. The black bullock and a piece\nof cloth sufficient to cover it were presented to the Panda for his\nservices. Then the woman took a dish of rice and pulse and placed a\nlittle in the leaf-cup of each of the caste-fellows present, and they\nall ate it and she was readmitted to caste. Twelve cow-buffaloes were\nsold to pay for the ceremony, which perhaps cost Rs. 600 or more.\n\n\n\n\n76. Dancing.\n\nDancing and singing to the dance constitute the social amusement and\nrecreation of the Gonds, and they are passionately fond of it. The\nprincipal dance is the Karma, danced in celebration of the bringing\nof the leafy branch of a tree from the forest in the rains. They\ncontinue to dance it as a recreation during the nights of the cold\nand hot weather, whenever they have leisure and a supply of liquor,\nwhich is almost indispensable, is forthcoming. The Marias dance, men\nand women together, in a great circle, each man holding the girl next\nhim on one side round the neck and on the other round the waist. They\nkeep perfect time, moving each foot alternately in unison throughout\nthe line, and moving round in a slow circle. Only unmarried girls may\njoin in a Maria dance, and once a woman is married she can never dance\nagain. This is no doubt a salutary provision for household happiness,\nas sometimes couples, excited by the dance and wine, run away from it\ninto the jungle and stay there for a day or two till their relatives\nbring them home and consider them as married. At the Maria dances\nthe men wear the skins of tigers, panthers, deer and other animals,\nand sometimes head-dresses of peacock's feathers. They may also have\na girdle of cowries round the waist, and a bell tied to their back to\nring as they move. The musicians sit in the centre and play various\nkinds of drums and tom-toms. At a large Maria dance there may be\nas many as thirty musicians, and the provision of rice or kodon and\nliquor may cost as much as Rs. 50. In other localities the dance is\nless picturesque. Men and women form two long lines opposite each\nother, with the musicians in the centre, and advance and retreat\nalternately, bringing one foot forward and the other up behind it,\nwith a similar movement in retiring. Married women may dance, and\nthe men do not hold the women at any time. At intervals they break\noff and liquor is distributed in small leaf-cups, or if these are not\navailable, it is poured into the hands of the dancers held together\nlike a cup. In either case a considerable proportion of the liquor\nis usually spilt on to the ground.\n\n\n\n\n77. Songs.\n\nAll the time they are dancing they also sing in unison, the\nmen sometimes singing one line and the women the next, or both\ntogether. The songs are with few exceptions of an erotic character,\nand a few specimens are subjoined.\n\n\n a. Be not proud of your body, your body must go away above\n (to death).\n Your mother, brother and all your kinsmen, you must leave them\n and go.\n You may have lakhs of treasure in your house, but you must leave\n it all and go.\n\n b. The musicians play and the feet beat on the earth.\n A pice (1/4d.) for a divorced woman, two pice for a kept woman,\n for a virgin many sounding rupees.\n The musicians play and the earth sounds with the trampling of feet.\n\n c. Raja Darwa is dead, he died in his youth.\n Who is he that has taken the small gun, who has taken the big bow?\n Who is aiming through the harra and bahera trees, who is aiming\n on the plain?\n Who has killed the quail and partridge, who has killed the peacock?\n Raja Darwa has died in the prime of his youth.\n The big brother says, 'I killed him, I killed him'; the little\n brother shot the arrow.\n Raja Darwa has died in the bloom of his youth.\n\n d. Rawan [92] is coming disguised as a Bairagi; by what road will\n Rawan come?\n The houses and castles fell before him, the ruler of Bhanwargarh\n rose up in fear.\n He set the match to his powder, he stooped and crept along the\n ground and fired.\n\n e. Little pleasure is got from a kept woman; she gives her lord\n pej (gruel) of kutki to drink.\n She gives it him in a leaf-cup of laburnum; [93] the cup is too\n small for him to drink.\n She put two gourds full of water in it, and the gruel is so thin\n that it gives him no sustenance.\n\n f. Man speaks:\n\n The wife is asleep and her Raja (husband) is asleep in her lap.\n She has taken a piece of bread in her lap and water in her vessel.\n See from her eyes will she come or not?\n\n Woman:\n\n I have left my cow in her shed, my buffalo in her stall.\n I have left my baby at the breast and am come alone to follow you.\n\n g. The father said to his son, 'Do not go out to service with\n any master, neither go to any strange woman.\n I will sell my sickle and axe, and make you two marriages.'\n He made a marriage feast for his son, and in one plate he put\n rice, and over it meat, and poured soup over it till it flowed\n out of the plate.\n Then he said to the men and women, young and old, 'Come and eat\n your fill.'\n\n\n\n\n78. Language.\n\nIn 1911 Gondi was spoken by 1,500,000 persons, or more than half\nthe total number of Gonds in India. The other Gonds of the Central\nProvinces speak a broken Hindi. Gondi is a Dravidian language, having\na common ancestor with Tamil and Canarese, but little immediate\nconnection with its neighbour Telugu; the specimens given by Sir\nG. Grierson show that a large number of Hindi words have been adopted\ninto the vocabulary of Gondi, and this tendency is no doubt on the\nincrease. There are probably few Gonds outside the Feudatory States,\nand possibly a few of the wildest tracts in British Districts, who\ncould not understand Hindi to some extent. And with the extension of\nprimary education in British Districts Gondi is likely to decline still\nmore rapidly. Gondi has no literature and no character of its own;\nbut the Gospels and the Book of Genesis have been translated into it\nand several grammatical sketches and vocabularies compiled. In Saugor\nthe Hindus speak of Gondi as Farsi or Persian, apparently applying\nthis latter name to any foreign language.\n\n\n\n\n(h) Occupation\n\n\n79. Cultivation.\n\nThe Gonds are mainly engaged in agriculture, and the great bulk of\nthem are farmservants and labourers. In the hilly tracts, however,\nthere is a substantial Gond tenantry, and a small number of proprietors\nremain, though the majority have been ousted by Hindu moneylenders and\nliquor-sellers. In the eastern Districts many important zamindari\nestates are owned by Gond proprietors. The ancestors of these\nfamilies held the wild hilly country on the borders of the plains in\nfeudal tenure from the central rulers, and were responsible for the\nrestraint of the savage hillmen under their jurisdiction, and the\nprotection of the rich and settled lowlands from predatory inroads\nfrom without. Their descendants are ordinary landed proprietors, and\nwould by this time have lost their estates but for the protection\nof the law declaring them impartible and inalienable. A few of\nthe Feudatory Chiefs are also Gonds. Gond proprietors are generally\neasy-going and kind-hearted to their tenants, but lacking in business\nacumen and energy, and often addicted to drink and women. The tenants\nare as a class shiftless and improvident and heavily indebted. But\nthey show signs of improvement, especially in the ryotwari villages\nunder direct Government management, and it may be hoped that primary\neducation and more temperate habits will gradually render them equal\nto the Hindu cultivators.\n\n\n\n\n80. Patch cultivation.\n\nIn the Feudatory States and some of the zamindaris the Gonds retain\nthe dahia or bewar method of shifting cultivation, which has been\nprohibited everywhere else on account of its destructive effects on\nthe forests. The Maria Gonds of Bastar cut down a patch of jungle on\na hillside about February, and on its drying up burn all the wood in\nApril or May. Tying strips of the bark of the saj tree to their feet\nto prevent them from being burnt, they walk over the smouldering area,\nand with long bamboo sticks move any unburnt logs into a burning patch,\nso that they may all be consumed. When the first showers of rain fall\nthey scatter seed of the small millets into the soft covering of wood\nashes, and the fertility of the soil is such that without further\ntrouble they get a return of a hundred-fold or more. The same patch\ncan be sown for three years in succession without ploughing, but it\nthen gives out, and the Gonds move themselves and their habitations\nto a fresh one. When the jungle has been allowed to grow on the old\npatch for ten or twelve years, there is sufficient material for a fresh\nsupply of wood-ash manure, and they burn it over again. Teak yields a\nparticularly fertilising ash, and when standing the tree is hurtful to\ncrops grown near it, as its large, broad leaves cause a heavy drip and\nwash out the grain. Hence the Gonds were particularly hostile to this\ntree, and it is probably to their destructive efforts that the poor\ngrowth of teak over large areas of the Provincial forests is due. [94]\nThe Maria Gonds do not use the plough, and their only agricultural\nimplement is a kind of hoe or spade. Elsewhere the Gonds are gradually\nadopting the Hindu methods of cultivation, but their land is generally\nin hilly and jungly tracts and of poor quality. They occupy large\nareas of the wretched barra or gravel soil which has disintegrated\nfrom the rock of the hillsides, and covers it in a thin sheet mixed\nwith quantities of large stones. The Gonds, however, like this land,\nas it is so shallow as to entail very little trouble in ploughing, and\nit is suitable for their favourite crops of the small millets, kodon\nand kutki, and the poorer oilseeds. After three years of cropping it\nmust be given an equal or longer period of fallow before it will again\nyield any return. The Gonds say it is narang or exhausted. In the new\nryotwari villages formed within the last twenty years the Gonds form\na large section, and in Mandla the great majority, of the tenantry,\nand have good black-soil fields which grow wheat and other valuable\ncrops. Here, perhaps, their condition is happier than anywhere else,\nas they are secured in the possession of their lands subject to the\npayment of revenue, liberally assisted with Government loans at low\ninterest, and protected as far as possible from the petty extortion\nand peculation of Hindu subordinate officials and moneylenders. The\nopening of a substantial number of primary schools to serve these\nvillages will, it may be hoped, have the effect of making the Gond a\nmore intelligent and provident cultivator, and counteract the excessive\naddiction to liquor which is the great drawback to his prosperity. The\nfondness of the Gond for his bari or garden plot adjoining his hut\nhas been described in the section on villages and houses.\n\n\n\n\n81. Hunting: traps for animals.\n\nThe primary occupation of the Gonds in former times was hunting and\nfishing, but their opportunities in this respect have been greatly\ncircumscribed by the conservation of the game in Government forests,\nwhich was essential if it was not to become extinct, when the native\nshikaris had obtained firearms. Their weapons were until recently\nbows and arrows, but now Gond hunters usually have an old matchlock\ngun. They have several ingenious devices for trapping animals. It is\nessential for them to make a stockade round their patch cultivation\nfields in the forests, or the grain would be devoured by pig and\ndeer. At one point in this they leave a narrow opening, and in front\nof it dig a deep pit and cover it with brushwood and grass; then at the\nmain entrance they spread some sand. Coming in the middle of the night\nthey see from the footprints in the sand what animals have entered\nthe enclosure; if these are worth catching they close the main gate,\nand make as much noise as they can. The frightened animals dash round\nthe enclosure and, seeing the opening, run through it and fall into the\npit, where they are easily despatched with clubs and axes. They also\nset traps across the forest paths frequented by animals. The method\nis to take a strong raw-hide rope and secure one end of it to a stout\nsapling, which is bent down like a spring. The other end is made into\na noose and laid open on the ground, often over a small hole. It is\nsecured by a stone or log of wood, and this is so arranged by means\nof some kind of fall-trap that on pressure in the centre of the hole\nit is displaced and releases the noose. The animal comes and puts his\nfoot in the hole, thus removing the trap which secured the noose. This\nflies up and takes the animal's foot with it, being drawn tight in\nmid-air by the rebound of the sapling. The animal is thus suspended\nwith one foot in the air, which it cannot free, and the Gonds come and\nkill it. Tigers are sometimes caught in this manner. A third very cruel\nkind of trap is made by putting up a hedge of thorns and grass across a\nforest-path, on the farther side of which they plant a few strong and\nsharply-pointed bamboo stakes. A deer coming up will jump the hedge,\nand on landing will be impaled on one of the stakes. The wound is\nvery severe and often festers immediately, so that the victim dies\nin a few hours. Or they suspend a heavy beam over a forest path held\nerect by a loose prop which stands on the path. The deer comes along\nand knocks aside the prop, and the beam falls on him and pins him\ndown. Mr. Montgomerie writes as follows on Gond methods of hunting:\n[95] \"The use of the bow and arrow is being forgotten owing to the\nrestrictions placed by Government on hunting. The Gonds can still throw\nan axe fairly straight, but a running hare is a difficult mark and has\na good chance of escaping. The hare, however, falls a victim to the\nfascination of fire. The Gond takes an earthen pot, knocks a large hole\nin the side of it, and slings it on a pole with a counterbalancing\nstone at the other end. Then at night he slings the pole over one\nshoulder, with the earthen pot in front containing fire, and sallies\nout hare-hunting. He is accompanied by a man who bears a bamboo. The\nhare, attracted and fascinated by the light, comes close and watches\nit stupidly till the bamboo descends on the animal's head, and the\nGonds have hare for supper.\" Sometimes a bell is rung as well, and\nthis is said to attract the animals. They also catch fish by holding\na lamp over the water on a dark night and spearing them with a trident.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGond-Gowari\n\n\nGond-Gowari. [96]--A small hybrid caste formed from alliances between\nGonds and Gowaris or herdsmen of the Maratha country. Though they must\nnow be considered as a distinct caste, being impure and thus ranking\nlower than either the Gonds or Gowaris, they are still often identified\nwith either of them. In 1901 only 3000 were returned, principally\nfrom the Nagpur and Chanda Districts. In 1911 they were amalgamated\nwith the Gowaris, and this view may be accepted as their origin is\nthe same. The Gowaris say that the Gond-Gowaris are the descendants\nof one of two brothers who accidentally ate the flesh of a cow. Both\nthe Gonds and Gowaris frequent the jungles for long periods together,\nand it is natural that intimacies should spring up between the youth\nof either sex. And the progeny of these irregular connections has\nformed a separate caste, looked down upon by both its progenitors. The\nGond-Gowaris have no subcastes, and for purposes of marriages are\ndivided into exogamous septs, all bearing Gond names. Like the Gonds,\nthe caste is also split into two divisions, worshipping six and\nseven gods respectively, and members of septs worshipping the same\nnumber of gods must not marry with each other. The deities of the\nsix and seven god-worshippers are identical, except that the latter\nhave one extra called Durga or Devi, who is represented by a copper\ncoin of the old Nagpur dynasty. Of the other deities Bura Deo is a\npiece of iron, Khoda and Khodavan are both pieces of the kadamb tree\n(Nauclea parvifolia), Supari is the areca-nut, and Kaipen consists of\ntwo iron rings and counts as two deities. It seems probable, therefore,\nfrom the double set of identical deities that two of the original ones\nhave been forgotten. The gods are kept on a small piece of red cloth\nin a closed bamboo basket, which must not be opened except on days of\nworship, lest they should work some mischief; on these special days\nthey are rendered harmless for the time being by the homage which is\nrendered to them. Marriage is adult, and a bride-price of nine rupees\nand some grain is commonly paid by the boy's family. The ceremony\nis a mixture of Gond and Maratha forms; the couple walk seven times\nround a bohla or mound of earth and the guests clap their hands. At a\nwidow-marriage they walk three and a half times round a burning lamp,\nas this is considered to be only a kind of half-marriage. The morality\nof the caste is very loose, and a wife will commonly be pardoned any\ntransgression except an intrigue with a man of very low caste. Women\nof other castes, such as Kunbis or Barhais, may be admitted to the\ncommunity on forming a connection with a Gond-Gowari. The caste have\nno prescribed observance of mourning for the dead. The Gond-Gowaris\nare cultivators and labourers, and dress like the Kunbis. They are\nconsidered to be impure and must live outside the village, while other\ncastes refuse to touch them. The bodies of the women are disfigured\nby excessive tattooing, the legs being covered with a pattern of dots\nand lines reaching up to the thighs. In this matter they simply follow\ntheir Gond ancestors, but they say that a woman who is not tattooed\nis impure and cannot worship the deities.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGondhali\n\n\nGondhali. [97]--A caste or order of wandering beggars and musicians\nfound in the Maratha Districts of the Central Provinces and in\nBerar. The name is derived from the Marathi word gondharne, to make a\nnoise. In 1911 the Gondhalis numbered about 3000 persons in Berar and\n500 in the Central Provinces, and they are also found in Bombay. The\norigin of the caste is obscure, but it appears to have been recruited\nin recent times from the offspring of Waghyas and Murlis or male and\nfemale children devoted to temples by their parents in fulfilment of\na vow. Mr. Kitts states in the Berar Census Report [98] of 1881 that\nthe Gondhalis are there attached either to the temple of Tukai at\nTuljapur or the temple of Renuka at Mahur, and in consequence form\ntwo subcastes, the Kadamrai and Renurai, who do not intermarry. In\nthe Central Provinces, however, besides these two there are a number\nof other subcastes, most of which bear the names of distinct castes,\nand obviously consist of members of that caste who became Gondhalis,\nor of their descendants. Thus among the names of subcastes reported\nare the Brahman, Maratha, Mane Kunbi, Khaire Kunbi, Teli, Mahar,\nMang and Vidur Gondhalis, as well as others like the Deshkars,\nor those coming from the Deccan, the Gangapare, [99] or those from\nbeyond the Ganges, and the Hijade or eunuchs. It is clear, therefore,\nthat members of these castes becoming Gondhalis attempt to arrange\ntheir marriages with other converts from their own caste and to\nretain their relative social position. There is little doubt that all\nGondhalis are theoretically meant to be equal, a principle which at\ntheir first foundation applies to nearly all sects and orders, but\nhere as elsewhere the social feeling of caste has been too strong\nto permit of its retention. It may be doubted, however, whether in\nview of the small total numbers of the caste all these groups can\nbe strictly endogamous. The Kunbi Gondhalis can take food from the\nordinary Kunbis, but they rank below them, as being mendicants. The\ncaste has also a number of exogamous groups or gotras, the names of\nwhich may be classified as titular or territorial. Instances of the\nformer kind are Dokiphode or one who broke his head while begging,\nSukt (thin, emaciated), Muke (dumb), Jabal (one with long hair like\na Jogi), and Panchange (one who has five limbs). Girls are married\nas a rule before adolescence, and the ceremony resembles that of the\nKunbis, but a special prayer is offered to the deity Renuka, and the\nboy is invested with a necklace of cowries by five married men of the\ncaste. Till this has been done he is not considered to be a proper\nGondhali. Celibacy is not a tenet of the order. The remarriage of\nwidows is allowed, and the ceremony consists in the husband placing\na string of small black glass beads round the woman's neck, while\nshe holds out a pair of new shoes for him to put his feet into. The\nsecond wife often wears a small silver or golden image of the first\nwife round her neck, and worships it before she eats by touching it\nwith food; she also asks its permission before going to sleep with\nher husband. The goddess Bhawani or Devi is especially revered by\nthe caste, and they fast in her honour on Tuesdays and Fridays. They\nworship their musical instruments at Dasahra with an offering of a\ngoat, and afterwards sing and dance for the whole night, this being\ntheir principal festival. They also observe the nine days' fasts\nin honour of Devi in Chait (March) and Kunwar (September) and sow\nthe Jawaras or pots of wheat. The Gondhalis are mendicant musicians,\nand are engaged on the occasion of marriages among the higher castes\nto perform their gondhal or dance accompanied by music. Four men are\nneeded for it, one being the dancer who is dressed in a long white robe\nwith a necklace of cowries and bells on his ankles, while the other\nthree stand behind him, two of them carrying drums and the third a\nsacred torch called dioti. The torch-bearer serves as a butt for the\nwitticisms of the dancer. Their instruments are the chonka, an open\ndrum carrying an iron string which is beaten with a small wooden pin,\nand two sambals or double drums of iron, wood or earth, one of which\nemits a dull and the other a sharp sound. The dance is performed in\nhonour of the goddess Bhawani. They set up a wooden stool on the stage\narranged for the performance, covered with a cloth on which wheat is\nspread, and over this is placed a brass vessel containing water and\na cocoanut. This represents the goddess. After the performance the\nGondhalis take away and eat the cocoanut and wheat; their regular fee\nfor an engagement is Rs. 1-4, and the guests give them presents of a\nfew pice (farthings). They are engaged for important ceremonies such\nas marriages, the Barsa or name-giving of a boy, and the Shantik or\nmaturity of a girl, and also merely for entertainment; but in this\ncase the stool and cocoanut representing the goddess are not set\nup. The following is a specimen of a Gondhali religious song:\n\n\n Where I come from and who am I,\n This mystery none has solved;\n Father, mother, sister and brother, these are all illusions.\n I call them mine and am lost in my selfish concerns.\n Worldliness is the beginning of hell, man has wrapped himself in\n it without reason.\n Remember your guru, go to him and touch his feet.\n Put on the shield of mercy and compassion and take the sword\n of knowledge.\n God is in every human body.\n\n\nThe caste beg between dawn and noon, wearing a long white or red\nrobe and a red turban folded from twisted strings of cloth like the\nMarathas. Their status is somewhat low, but they are usually simple\nand honest. Occasionally a man becomes a Gondhali in fulfilment of\na vow without leaving his own caste; he will then be initiated by a\nmember of the caste and given the necklace of cowries, and on every\nTuesday he will wear this and beg from five persons in honour of the\ngoddess Devi; while except for this observance he remains a member\nof his own caste and pursues his ordinary business.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGopal\n\nGopal, Borekar.--Bibliography: Major Gunthorpe's Criminal Tribes;\nMr. Kitt's Berar Census Report, 1881.\n\nA small vagrant and criminal caste of Berar, where they numbered about\n2000 persons in 1901. In the Central Provinces they were included\namong the Nats in 1901, but in 1891 a total of 681 were returned. Here\nthey belong principally to the Nimar District, and Major Gunthorpe\nconsiders that they entered Berar from Nimar and Indore.\n\nThey are divided into five classes, the Marathi, Vir, Pangul, Pahalwan,\nor Kham, and Gujarati Gopals. The ostensible occupation of all the\ngroups is the buying and selling of buffaloes. The word Gopal means a\ncowherd and is a name of Krishna. The Marathi Gopals rank higher than\nthe rest, and all other classes will take food from them, while the\nVir Gopals eat the flesh of dead cattle and are looked down upon by the\nothers. The ostensible occupation of the Vir Gopals is that of making\nmats from the leaves of the date-palm tree. They build their huts of\ndate-leaves outside a village and remain there for one or two years\nor more until the headman tells them to move on. The name Borekar is\nstated to have the meaning of mat-maker. The Pangul Gopals also make\nmats, but in addition to this they are mendicants, begging from off\ntrees, and must be the same as the Harbola mendicants of the Central\nProvinces. The Pangul spreads a cloth below a tree and climbing it\nsits on some high branch in the early morning. Here he sings and\nchants the praises of charitable persons until somebody throws a\nsmall present on to the cloth. This he does only between cock-crow\nand sunrise and not after sunrise. Others walk through the streets,\nejaculating dam! [100] dam! and begging from door to door. With the\nexception of shaving after a death they never cut the hair either of\ntheir head or face. Their principal deity is Dawal Malik, but they also\nworship Khandoba; and they bury the bodies of their dead. The corpse is\ncarried to the grave in a jholi or wallet and is buried in a sitting\nposture. In order to discover whether a dead ancestor has been reborn\nin a child they have recourse to magic. A lamp is suspended from a\nthread, and the upper stone of the grinding-mill is placed standing\nupon the lower one. If either of them moves when the name of the dead\nancestor is pronounced they consider that he has been reborn. One\nsection of the Panguls has taken to agriculture, and these refuse to\nmarry with the mendicants, though eating and drinking with them. The\nPahalwan Gopals live in small tents and travel about, carrying their\nbelongings on buffaloes. They are wrestlers and gymnasts, and belong\nmainly to Hyderabad. [101] The Kham Gopals are a similar group also\nbelonging to Hyderabad; and are so named because they carry about a\nlong pole (kham) on which they perform acrobatic feats. They also have\nthick canvas bags, striped blue and white, in which they carry their\nproperty. The Gujarati Gopals are lower than the other divisions,\nwho will not take food from them. They are tumblers and do feats of\nstrength and also perform on the tight-rope. All five groups, Major\nGunthorpe states, are inveterate cattle-thieves; and have colonies of\ntheir people settled on the Indore and Hyderabad borders and between\nthem along the foot of the Satpura Hills. Buffaloes or other animals\nwhich they steal are passed along from post to post and taken to\nforeign territory in an incredibly short space of time. A considerable\nproportion of them, however, have now taken to agriculture, and their\nproper traditional calling is to sell milk and butter, for which\nthey keep buffaloes. Gopal is a name of Krishna, and they consider\nthemselves to be descended from the herdsmen of Brindaban.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGOSAIN\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n 1. Names for the Gosains.\n 2. The ten orders.\n 3. Initiation.\n 4. Dress.\n 5. Methods of begging and greetings.\n 6. The Dandis.\n 7. The Rawanvansis.\n 8. Monasteries.\n 9. The fighting Gosains.\n 10. Burial.\n 11. Sexual indulgence.\n 12. Missionary work.\n 13. The Gosain caste.\n\n\n\n\n1. Names for the Gosains.\n\nGosain, Gusain, Sanniasi, Dasnami. [102]--A name for the orders of\nreligious mendicants of the Sivite sect, from which a caste has\nnow developed. In 1911 the Gosains numbered a little over 40,000\npersons in the Central Provinces and Berar, being distributed over\nall Districts. The name Gosain signifies either gao-swami, master of\ncows, or go-swami, master of the senses. Its significance sometimes\nvaries. Thus in Bengal the heads of Bairagi or Vaishnava monasteries\nare called Gosain, and the priests of the Vishnuite Vallabhacharya\nsect are known as Gokulastha Gosain. But over most of India, as in the\nCentral Provinces, Gosain appears to be a name applied to members of\nthe Sivite orders. Sanniasi means one who abandons the desires of the\nworld and the body. Properly every Brahman should become a Sanniasi\nin the fourth stage or ashram of his life, when after marrying and\nbegetting a son to celebrate his funeral rites in the second stage,\nhe should retire to the forest, become a hermit and conquer all the\nappetites and passions of the body in the third stage. Thereafter,\nwhen the process of mortification is complete he should beg his bread\nas a Sanniasi. But only those who enter the religious orders now become\nSanniasis, and the name is therefore confined to them. Dasnami means\nthe ten names, and refers to the ten orders in which the Gosains or\nSivite anchorites are commonly classified. Sadhu is a generic term for\na religious mendicant. The name Gosain is now more commonly applied\nto the married members of the caste, who pursue ordinary avocations,\nwhile the mendicants are known as Sadhu or Sanniasi.\n\n\n\n\n2. The ten orders.\n\nThe Gosains consider their founder to have been Shankar Acharya,\nthe great apostle of the revival of the worship of Siva in southern\nIndia, who lived between the eighth and tenth centuries. He had four\ndisciples from whom the ten orders of Gosains are derived. These are\ncommonly stated as follows:\n\n\n 1. Giri (peak or top of a hill).\n 2. Puri (a town).\n 3. Parbat (a mountain).\n 4. Sagar (the ocean).\n 5. Ban or Van (the forest).\n 6. Tirtha (a shrine of pilgrimage).\n 7. Bharthi (the goddess of speech).\n 8. Saraswati (the goddess of learning).\n 9. Aranya (forest).\n 10. Ashram (a hermitage).\n\n\nThe names may perhaps be held to refer to the different places in which\nthe members of each order would pursue their austerities. The different\norders have their headquarters at great shrines. The Saraswati,\nBharthi and Puri orders are supposed to be attached to the monastery at\nSringeri in Mysore; the Tirtha and Ashram to that at Dwarka in Gujarat;\nthe Ban and Aranya to the Govardhan monastery at Puri; and the Giri,\nParbat and Sagara to the shrine of Badrinath in the Himalayas.\n\nDandi is sometimes shown as one of the ten orders, but it seems to\nbe the special designation of certain ascetics who carry a staff\nand may belong to either the Tirtha, Ashram, Bharthi or Saraswati\ngroups. Another name for Gosain ascetics is Abdhut, or one who\nhas separated himself from the world. The term Abdhut is sometimes\nspecially applied to followers of the Maratha saint, Dattatreya,\nan incarnation of Siva.\n\nThe commonest orders in the Central Provinces are Giri, Puri and\nBharthi, and the members frequently use the name of the order as\ntheir surname. Members of the Aranya, Sagara and Parbat orders are\nrarely met with at present.\n\n\n\n\n3. Initiation.\n\nA notice of the Gosains who have become an ordinary caste will be given\nlater. Formerly only Brahmans or members of the twice-born castes\ncould become Gosains, but now a man of any caste, as Kurmi, Kunbi\nor Mali, from whom a Brahman takes water, may be admitted. In some\nlocalities it is said that Gonds and Kols can now be made Gosains,\nand hence the social position of the Gosains has greatly fallen,\nand high-caste Hindus will not take water from them. It is supposed,\nhowever, that the Giri order is still recruited only from Brahmans.\n\nAt initiation the body of a neophyte is cleaned with the five products\nof the sacred cow, milk, curds, ghi, dung and urine. He drinks water in\nwhich the great toe of his guru has been dipped and eats the leavings\nof the latter's food, thus severing himself from his own caste. His\nsacred thread is taken off and broken, and it is sometimes burned and\nhe eats the ashes. All the hair of his head is shaved, including the\nscalp-lock, which every secular Hindu wears. A mantra or text is then\nwhispered or blown into his ear.\n\n\n\n\n4. Dress.\n\nThe novice is dressed in a cloth coloured with geru or red ochre,\nsuch as the Gosains usually wear. It is probable that the red or\npink colour is meant to symbolise blood and to signify that the\nGosains allow the sacrifice of animals and the consumption of flesh,\nand on this account they are called Lal Padri or red priest, while\nVishnuite mendicants, who dress in white, are called Sita Padri. He\nhas a necklace or rosary of the seeds of the rudraksha tree, [103]\nsacred to Siva, consisting of 32 or 64 beads. These are like nuts\nwith a rough indented shell. On his forehead he marks with bhabhut\nor ashes three horizontal lines to represent the trident of Siva,\nor sometimes the eye of the god. Others make only two lines with a\ndot above or below, and this sign is said to represent the phallic\nemblem. A crescent moon or a triangle may also be made. [104] The\nmarks are often made in sandalwood, and the Gosains say that the\noriginal sandalwood grows on a tree in the Himalayas, which is guarded\nby a great snake so that nobody can approach it; but its scent is so\nstrong that all the surrounding trees of the grove are scented with\nit and sandalwood is obtained from them. Those who worship Bhairon\nmake a round mark with vermilion between the eyes, taking it from\nbeneath the god's foot. A mendicant usually has a begging-bowl and\na pair of tongs, which are useful for kindling a fire. Those who\nhave visited Badrinath or one of the other Himalayan shrines have a\nring of iron, brass or copper on the arm, often inscribed with the\nimage of a deity. If they have been to the temple of Devi at Hinglaj\nin the Lasbela State of Beluchistan they have a necklace of little\nwhite stone beads called thumra; and one who has made a pilgrimage\nto Rameshwaram at the extreme southern point of India has a ring\nof conch-shell on the wrist. When he can obtain it a Gosain also\ncarries a tiger- or panther-skin, which he wears over his shoulders\nand uses to sit and lie down on. Among the ancient Greeks it was the\ncustom to sleep in a temple or its avenue either on the bare ground\nor on the skin of a sacred animal, in order to obtain visions or\nappearances of the god in a dream or to be cured of diseases. [105]\nFormerly the Gosains were accustomed to go about naked, and at the\nreligious festivals they would go in procession naked to bathe in the\nriver. At Amarnath in the Punjab they would throw themselves naked\non the block of ice which represented Siva. [106] The Naga Gosains,\nso called because they were once accustomed to go naked into battle,\nwere a famous fighting corps. Though they shave the head and scalp-lock\non initiation the Gosains usually let the hair grow, and either have\nit hanging down in matted locks over the shoulders, which gives them\na wild and unkempt appearance, or wind it on the top of the head into\na coil often thickened with strips of sheep's wool. They say that\nthey let the hair grow in imitation of the ancient forest ascetics,\nwho could not but let it grow as they had no means to shave it, and\nalso of the matted locks of the god Siva. Sometimes they let the\nhair grow during the whole period of a pilgrimage, and on arrival\nat the shrine of their destination shave it off and offer it to the\ngod. Those who are initiated on the banks of the Nerbudda throw the\nhair cut from their head into the sacred river.\n\n\n\n\n5. Methods of begging and greetings.\n\nThey have various rules about begging. Some will never turn back to\nreceive alms. They may also make a rule only to accept the surplus of\nfood cooked for the family, and to refuse any of special quality or\ncooked expressly for them. One Gosain, noticed by Mr. A. K. Smith,\nalways begged hopping, and only from five houses; he took from them\nrespectively two handfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, and sufficient\nquantities of vegetables, spices and butter for his meal, and then\nwent hopping home. Those who are performing the perikrama or circuit\nof the Nerbudda from its source to its mouth and back, do not cut\ntheir hair or nails during the whole period of about three years. They\nmay not enter the Nerbudda above their knees nor wash their vessels\nin it. After crossing any tributary river or stream in their path\nthey may not re-cross this; and if they have forgotten or left any\narticle behind, must abandon it unless they can persuade somebody\nto go back and fetch it for them. Some carry a gourd with a single\nstring stretched on a stick, on which they twang some notes; others\nhave a belt of sheep's hair hung with the bells of bullocks which they\ntie round the waist, so that the tinkling of the bells may announce\ntheir coming. A common begging cry is Alakh, which is said to mean\n'apart,' and to refer to themselves as being apart or separated from\nthe world. The beggar gives this cry and stands at the door of the\nhouse for half a minute, shaking his body about all the time. If no\nalms are brought in this time he moves on.\n\nWhen an ordinary Hindu meets a Gosain he says 'Namu Narayan' or\n'I go to Narayan,' and the Gosain answers 'Narayan.' Narayan is a\nname of Vishnu, and its use by the Gosains is curious. Those who\nhave performed the circuit of the Nerbudda say 'Har Nerbudda,' and\nthe person addressed answers 'Nerbudda Mai ki Jai' or 'Victory to\nMother Nerbudda.'\n\n\n\n\n6. The Dandis.\n\nThe Dandis are a special group of ascetics belonging to several of the\nten orders. According to one account a novice who desires to become\na Sanniasi must serve a period of probation for twelve years as a\nDandi. Others say that only a Brahman can be a Dandi, while members\nof other castes may become Sanniasis, and a Brahman can only become\none if he is without father, mother, wife or child. [107] The Dandi\nis so called because he has a dand or bamboo staff like the ancient\nVedic students. He must always carry this and never lay it down,\nbut when sleeping plant it in the ground. Sometimes a piece of red\ncloth is tied round the staff. The Dandi should live in the forest,\nand only come once a day to beg at a Brahman's house for a part of\nsuch food as the family may have cooked. He should not ask for food\nif any one else, even a dog, is waiting for it. He must not accept\nmoney, or touch fire or any metal. As a matter of fact these rules\nare disregarded, and the Dandi frequents towns and is accompanied by\ncompanions who will accept all kinds of alms on his behalf. [108]\nDandis and Sanniasis do not worship idols, as they are themselves\nconsidered to have become part of the deity. They repeat the phrase\n'Sevoham,' which signifies 'I am Siva.'\n\n\n\n\n7. The Rawanvansis.\n\nAnother curious class of Gosains are the Rawanvansis, who go about\nin the character of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, as he was when\nhe carried off Sita. The legend is that in order to do this, Rawan\nfirst sent his brother in the shape of a golden deer before Rama's\npalace. Sita saw it and said she must have the head of the deer, and\nsent Rama to kill it. So Rama pursued it to the forest, and from there\nRawan cried out, imitating Rama's voice. Then Sita thought Rama was\nbeing attacked and told his brother Lachman to go to his help. But\nLachman had been left in charge of her by Rama and refused to leave\nher, till Sita said he was hoping Rama would be killed, so that he\nmight marry her. Then he drew a circle round her on the ground, and\ntelling her not to step outside it until his return, went off. Then\nRawan took the disguise of a beggar and came and begged for alms from\nSita. She told him to come inside the magic circle and she would give\nhim alms, but he refused. So finally Sita came outside the circle,\nand Rawan at once seized her and carried her off to Ceylon. The\nRawanvansi Gosains wear rings of hair all up their arms and a rope\nof hair round the waist, and the hair of their head hanging down. It\nwould appear that they are intended to represent some animal. They\nsmear vermilion on the forehead, and beg only at twilight and never at\nany other time, whether they obtain food or not. In begging they will\nnever move backwards, so that when they have passed a house they cannot\ntake alms from it unless the householder brings the gift to them.\n\n\n\n\n8. Monasteries.\n\nUnmarried Sanniasis often reside in Maths or monasteries. The superior\nis called Mahant, and he appoints his successor by will from the\nmembers. The Mahant admits all those willing and qualified to enter\nthe order. If the applicant is young the consent of the parents is\nusually obtained; and parents frequently vow to give a child to the\norder. Many convents have considerable areas of land attached to them,\nand also dependent institutions. The whole property of the convent and\nits dependencies seems to be at the absolute disposal of the Mahant,\nbut he is bound to give food, raiment and lodging to the inmates,\nand he entertains all travellers belonging to the order. [109]\n\n\n\n\n9. The fighting Gosains.\n\nIn former times the Gosains often became soldiers and entered the\nservice of different military chiefs. The most famous of these fighting\npriests were the Naga Gosains of the Jaipur State of Rajputana, who\nare said to have been under an obligation from their guru or religious\nchief to fight for the Raja of Jaipur whenever required. They received\nrent-free lands and pay of two pice (1/2d.) a day, which latter was\nput into a common treasury and expended on the purchase of arms and\nammunition whenever needed for war. They would also lend money, and if\na debtor could not pay would make him give his son to be enrolled in\nthe force. The 7000 Naga Gosains were placed in the vanguard of the\nJaipur army in battle. Their weapons were the bow, arrow, shield,\nspear and discus. The Gosain proprietor of the Deopur estate in\nRaipur formerly kept up a force of Naga Gosains, with which he used\nto collect the tribute from the feudatory chiefs of Chhattisgarh on\nbehalf of the Raja of Nagpur. It is said that he once invaded Bastar\nwith this object, where most of the Gosains died of cholera. But after\nthey had fasted for three days, the goddess Danteshwari appeared to\nthem and promised them her protection. And they took the goddess away\nwith them and installed her in their own village in Raipur. Forbes\nrecords that in Gujarat an English officer was in command of a troop\nknown as the Gosain's wife's troops. These Naga Gosains wore only a\nsingle white garment, like a sleeveless shirt reaching to the knees,\nand hence it is said that they were called naked. The Gosains and\nBairagis, or adherents of Siva and Vishnu, were often engaged in\nreligious quarrels on the merits of their respective deities, and\nsometimes came to blows. A favourite point of rivalry was the right\nof bathing first in the Ganges on the occasion of one of the great\nreligious fairs at Allahabad or Hardwar. The Gosains claim priority of\nbathing, on the ground that the Ganges flows from the matted locks of\nSiva; while the Bairagis assert that the source of the river is from\nVishnu's foot. In 1760 a pitched battle on this question ended in the\ndefeat of the Bairagis, of whom 1800 were slain. Again in 1796 the\nGosains engaged in battle with the Sikh pilgrims and were defeated\nwith the loss of 500 men. [110] During the reign of Akbar a combat\ntook place in the Emperor's presence between the two Sivite sects\nof Gosains, or Sanniasis and Jogis, having been apparently arranged\nfor his edification, to decide which sect had the best ground for\nits pretensions to supernatural power. The Jogis were completely\ndefeated. [111]\n\n\n\n\n10. Burial.\n\nA dead Sanniasi is always buried in the sitting attitude of religious\ncontemplation with the legs crossed. The grave may be dug with a side\nreceptacle for the corpse so that the earth, on being filled in, does\nnot fall on it. The corpse is bathed and rubbed with ashes and clad\nin a new reddish-coloured shirt, with a rosary round the neck. The\nbegging-wallet with some flour and pulse are placed in the grave,\nand also a gourd and staff. Salt is put round the body to preserve\nit, and an earthen pot is put over the head. Sometimes cocoanuts are\nbroken on the skull, to crack it and give exit to the soul. Perhaps\nthe idea of burial and of preserving the corpse with salt is that\nthe body of an ascetic does not need to be purified by fire from the\nappetites and passions of the flesh like that of an ordinary Hindu;\nit is already cleansed of all earthly frailty by his austerities, and\nthe belief may therefore have originally been that such a man would\ncarry his body with him to the afterworld or to absorption with the\ndeity. The burial of a Sanniasi is often accompanied with music and\nsigns of rejoicing; Mr. Oman describes such a funeral in which the\ncorpse was seated in a litter, open on three sides so that it could be\nseen; it was tied to the back of the litter, and garlands of flowers\npartly covered the body, but could not conceal the hideousness of death\nas the unconscious head rolled helplessly from side to side with the\nmovement of the litter. The procession was headed by a European brass\nband and by men carrying censers of incense. [112]\n\n\n\n\n11. Sexual indulgence.\n\nCelibacy is the rule of the Gosain orders, and a man's property passes\nin inheritance to a selected chela or disciple. But the practice of\nkeeping women is very common, even outside the large section of the\ncommunity which now recognises marriage. Women could be admitted\ninto the order, when they had to shave their heads, assume the\nochre-coloured shirt and rub their bodies with ashes. Afterwards,\nwith the permission of the guru and on payment of a fine, they could\nlet their hair grow again, at least temporarily. These women were\nsupposed to remain quite chaste and live in nunneries, but many of\nthem lived with men of the order. It is not known to what extent\nwomen are admitted at present. The sons born of such unions would be\nadopted as chelas or disciples by other Gosains, and made their heirs\nby a reciprocal arrangement. Women who are convicted of some social\noffence, or who wish to leave their husbands, often join the order\nnominally and live with a Gosain or are married into the caste. Many\nof the wandering mendicants lead an immoral life, and scandals about\ntheir enticing away the wives of rich Hindus are not infrequent. [113]\nDuring their visits to villages they also engage in intrigues, and\na ribald Gond song sung at the Holi festival describes the pleasure\nof the village women at the arrival of a Gosain owing to the sexual\ngratification which they expected to receive from him.\n\n\n\n\n12. Missionary work.\n\nNevertheless the wandering Gosains have done much to foster and\nmaintain the Hindu religion among the people. They are the gurus or\nspiritual preceptors of the middle and lower castes, and though their\nteaching may be of little advantage, it perhaps quickens and maintains\nto some extent the religious feelings of their clients. In former times\nthe Gosains travelled over the wildest tracts of country, proselytising\nthe primitive non-Aryan tribes, for whose conversion to Hinduism they\nare largely responsible. On such journeys they necessarily carried\ntheir lives in their hands, and not infrequently lost them.\n\n\n\n\n13. The Gosain caste.\n\nThe majority of the Gosains are, however, now married and form an\nordinary caste. Buchanan states that the ten different orders became\nexogamous groups, the members of which married with each other, but\nit is doubtful whether this is the case at present. It is said that\nall Giri Gosains marry, whether they are mendicants or not, while\nthe Bharthi order can marry or not as they please. They prohibit\nany marriage between first cousins, but permit widow remarriage and\ndivorce. They eat the flesh of all clean animals and also of fowls,\nand drink liquor, and will take cooked food from the higher castes,\nincluding Sunars and Kunbis. Hence they do not rank high socially, and\nBrahmans do not take water from them, but their religious character\ngives them some prestige. Many Gosains have become landholders,\nobtaining their estates either as charitable grants from clients\nor through moneylending transactions. In this capacity they do not\nusually turn out well, and are often considered harsh landlords and\ngrasping creditors.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGowari\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste.\n\nGowari. [114]--The herdsman or grazier caste of the Maratha country,\ncorresponding to the Ahirs or Gaolis. The name is derived from gai\nor gao, the cow, and means a cowherd. The Gowaris numbered more\nthan 150,000 persons in 1911, of whom nearly 120,000 belonged to the\nNagpur division and nearly 30,000 to Berar. In localities where the\nGowaris predominate, Ahirs or Gaolis, the regular herdsman caste,\nare found only in small numbers. The honorific title of the Gowaris\nis Dhare, which is said to mean 'One who keeps cattle.' The Gowaris\nrank distinctly below the Ahirs or Gaolis. The legend of their\norigin is that an Ahir, who was tending the cows of Krishna, stood\nin need of a helper. He found a small boy in the forest and took\nhim home and brought him up. He then gave to the boy the work of\ngrazing cows in the jungle, while he himself stayed at home and made\nmilk and butter. This boy was the ancestor of the Gowari caste. His\ndescendants took to eating fowls and peacocks and drinking liquor,\nand hence were degraded below the Gaolis. But the latter will allow\nGowaris to sit at their feasts and eat, they will carry the corpse of\na Gowari to the grave, and they will act as members of the panchayat\nin readmitting a Gowari who has been put out of caste. In the Maratha\ncountry any man who touches the corpse of a man of another caste is\ntemporarily excommunicated, and the fact that a Gaoli will do this\nfor a Gowari demonstrates the close relationship of the castes. The\nlegend, in fact, indicates quite clearly and correctly the origin of\nthe Gowaris. The small boy in the forest was a Gond, and the Gowari\ncaste is of mixed descent from Ahirs and Gonds. The Ahirs or Gaolis\nof the Maratha country have largely abandoned the work of grazing\ncattle in the forest, and have taken to the more profitable business\nof making milk and ghi. The herdsman's duties have been relegated to\nthe mixed class of Gowaris, produced from the unions of Ahirs and\nGonds in the forests, and not improbably including a considerable\nsection of pure Gond blood. At present only Gaolis and no other caste\nare admitted into the Gowari community, though there is evidence that\nthe rule was not formerly so strict.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subcastes.\n\nThe Gowaris have three divisions, the Gai Gowari, Inga, and Maria or\nGond Gowari. The Gai or cow Gowaris are the highest and probably have\nmore Gaoli blood in them. The Inga and Maria or Gond Gowaris are more\ndirectly derived from the Gonds. Maria is the name given to a large\nsection of the Gond tribe in Chanda. Both the other two subcastes\nwill take cooked food from the Gai Gowaris and the Gond Gowaris\nfrom the Inga, but the Inga subcaste will not take it from the Gond,\nnor the Gai Gowaris from either of the other two. The Gond Gowaris\nhave been treated as a distinct caste and a separate article is given\non them, but at the census Mr. Marten has amalgamated them with the\nGowaris. This is probably more correct, as they are locally held to\nbe a branch of the caste. But their customs differ in some points\nfrom those of the other Gowaris. They will admit outsiders from any\nrespectable caste and worship the Gond gods, [115] and there seems\nno harm, therefore, in allowing the separate article on them to remain.\n\n\n\n\n3. Totemism and exogamy.\n\nThe Gowaris have exogamous sections of the titular and totemistic\ntypes, such as Chachania from chachan, a bird, Lohar from loha iron,\nAmbadare a mango-branch, Kohria from the Kohri or Kohli caste, Sarwaina\na Gond sept, and Rawat the name of the Ahir caste in Chhattisgarh. Some\nsepts do not permit intermarriage between their members, saying that\nthey are Dudh-Bhais or foster-brothers, born from the same mother. Thus\nthe Chachania, Kohria, Senwaria, Sendua (vermilion) and Wagare (tiger)\nsepts cannot intermarry. They say that their fathers were different,\nbut their mothers were related or one and the same. This is apparently\na relic of polyandry, and it is possible that in some cases the Gonds\nmay have allowed Ahirs sojourning in the forest to have access to\ntheir wives during the period of their stay. If this was permitted\nto Ahirs of different sections coming to the same Gond village in\nsuccessive years, the offspring might be the ancestors of sections\nwho consider themselves to be related to each other in the manner of\nthe Gowari sections.\n\nMarriage is prohibited within the same section or kur, and between\nsections related to each other as Dudh-Bhais in the manner explained\nabove. A man can marry his daughter to his sister's son, but cannot\ntake her daughter for his son. The children of two sisters cannot\nbe married.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage customs.\n\nGirls are usually married after attaining maturity, and a bride-price\nis paid which is normally two khandis (800 lbs.) of grain, Rs. 16 to\n20 in cash, and a piece of cloth. The auspicious date of the wedding\nis calculated by a Mahar Mohturia or soothsayer. Brahmans are not\nemployed, the ceremony being performed by the bhanya or sister's son of\neither the girl's father or the boy's father. If he is not available,\nany one whom either the girl's father or the boy's father addresses\nas bhanja or nephew in the village, according to the common custom of\naddressing each other by terms of relationship, even though he may be\nno relative and belong to another caste, may be substituted; and if\nno such person is available a son-in-law of either of the parties. The\npeculiar importance thus attached to the sister's son as a relation is\nprobably a relic of the matriarchate, when a man's sister's son was\nhis heir. The substitution of a son-in-law who might inherit in the\nabsence of a sister's son perhaps strengthens this view. The wedding\nis held mainly according to the Maratha ritual. [116] The procession\ngoes to the girl's house, and the bridegroom is wrapped in a blanket\nand carries a spear, in the absence of which the wedding cannot be\nheld. A spear is also essential among the Gonds. The ancestors of the\ncaste are invited to the wedding by beating a drum and calling on\nthem to attend. The original ancestors are said to be Kode Kodwan,\nthe names of two Gond gods, Baghoba (the tiger-god), and Meghnath,\nson of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, after whom the Gonds are\ncalled Rawanvansi, or descendants of Rawan. The wedding costs about\nRs. 50, all of which is spent by the boy's father. The girl's father\nonly gives a feast to the caste out of the amount which he receives\nas bride-price. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted.\n\n\n\n\n5. Funeral rites.\n\nThe dead are either buried or burnt, burial being more common. The\ncorpse is laid with head to the south and feet to the north. On\nreturning from the funeral they go and drink at the liquor-shop, and\nthen kill a cock on the spot where the deceased died, and offer some\nmeat to his spirit, placing it outside the house. The caste-fellows\nsit and wait until a crow comes and pecks at the food, when they think\nthat the deceased has enjoyed it, and begin to eat themselves. If no\ncrow comes before night the food may be given to a cow, and the party\ncan then begin to eat. When the next wedding is held in the family,\nthe deceased is brought down from the skies and enshrined among the\ndeified ancestors.\n\n\n\n\n6. Religion.\n\nThe principal deities of the Gowaris are the Kode Kodwan or deified\nancestors. They are worshipped at the annual festivals, and also at\nweddings. When a man or woman dies without children their spirits\nare known as Dhal, and are worshipped in the families to which\nthey belonged. A male Dhal is represented by a stick of bamboo with\none cross-piece at the top, and a female Dhal by a stick with two\nothers crossing each other lashed to it at the top. These sticks are\nworshipped at the Diwali festival, and carried in procession. Dudhera\nis a godling worshipped for the protection of cattle. He is represented\nby a clay horse placed near a white ant-hill. If a cow stops giving\nmilk her udder is smoked with the burning wood of a tree called sanwal,\nand this is supposed to drive away the spirits who drink the milk\nfrom the udder. All Gowaris revere the haryal, or green pigeon. They\nsay that it gives a sound like a Gowari calling his cows, and that\nit is a kinsman. They would on no account kill this bird. They say\nthat the cows will go to a tree from which green pigeons are cooing,\nand that on one occasion when a thief was driving away their cows a\ngreen pigeon cooed from a tree, and the cows turned round and came\nback again. This is like the story of the sacred geese at Rome,\nwho gave warning of the attack of the Goths.\n\n\n\n\n7. Caste rules and the panchayat.\n\nThe head of the caste committee is known as Shendia, from shendi, a\nscalp-lock or pig-tail, perhaps because he is at the top of the caste\nas the scalp-lock is at the top of the head. The Shendia is elected,\nand holds office for life. He has to readmit offenders into caste by\nbeing the first to eat and drink with them, thus taking their sins on\nhimself. On such occasions it is necessary to have a little opium,\nwhich is mixed with sugar and water, and distributed to all members\nof the caste. If the quantity is insufficient for every one to drink,\nthe man responsible for preparing it is fined, and this mixture,\nespecially the opium, is indispensable on all such occasions. The\ncustom indicates that a sacred or sacrificial character is attributed\nto the opium, as the drinking of the mixture together is the sign of\nthe readmission of a temporary outcaste into the community. After this\nhas been drunk he becomes a member of the caste, even though he may\nnot give the penalty feast for some time afterwards. The Ahirs and\nSunars of the Maratha country have the same rite of purification by\nthe common drinking of opium and water. A caste penalty is incurred\nfor the removal of bital or impurity arising from the usual offences,\nand among others for touching the corpse of a man of any other caste,\nor of a buffalo, horse, cow, cat or dog, for using abusive language\nto a casteman at any meeting or feast, and for getting up from a\ncaste feast without permission from the headman. For touching the\ncorpse of a prohibited animal and for going to jail a man has to get\nhis head, beard and whiskers shaved. If a woman becomes with child\nby a man of another caste, she is temporarily expelled, but can be\nreadmitted after the child has been born and she has disposed of it to\nsomebody else. Such children are often made over for a few rupees to\nMuhammadans, who bring them up as menial servants in their families,\nor, if they have no child of their own, sometimes adopt them. On\nreadmission a lock of the woman's hair is cut off. In the same case,\nif no child is born of the liaison, the woman is taken back with the\nsimple penalty of a feast. Permanent expulsion is imposed for taking\nfood from, or having an intrigue with a member of an impure caste as\nMadgi, Mehtar, Pardhan, Mahar and Mang.\n\n\n\n\n8. Social customs.\n\nThe Gowaris eat pork, fowls, rats, lizards and peacocks, and\nabstain only from beef and the flesh of monkeys, crocodiles and\njackals. They will take food from a Mana, Marar or Kohli, and water\nfrom a Gond. Kunbis will take water from them, and Gonds, Dhimars\nand Dhobis will accept cooked food. All Gowari men are tattooed\nwith a straight vertical line on the forehead, and many of them have\nthe figures of a peacock, deer or horse on the right shoulder or on\nboth shoulders. A man without the mark on the forehead will scarcely\nbe admitted to be a true Gowari, and would have to prove his birth\nbefore he was allowed to join a caste feast. Women are tattooed with\na pattern of straight and crooked lines on the right arm below the\nelbow, which they call Sita's arm. They have a vertical line standing\non a horizontal one on the forehead, and dots on the temples.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGUJAR\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Historical notice of the caste.\n 2. The Gujars and the Khazars.\n 3. Predatory character of the Gujars in Northern India.\n 4. Subdivisions.\n 5. Marriage.\n 6. Disposal of the dead.\n 7. Religion.\n 8. Character.\n\n\n\n\n1. Historical notice of the caste.\n\nGujar.--A great historical caste who have given their name to the\nGujarat District and the town of Gujaranwala in the Punjab, the\npeninsula of Gujarat or Kathiawar and the tract known as Gujargarh in\nGwalior. In the Central Provinces the Gujars numbered 56,000 persons\nin 1911, of whom the great majority belonged to the Hoshangabad and\nNimar Districts. In these Provinces the caste is thus practically\nconfined to the Nerbudda Valley, and they appear to have come here\nfrom Gwalior probably in the middle of the sixteenth century, to\nwhich period the first important influx of Hindus into this area\nhas been ascribed. But some of the Nimar Gujars are immigrants from\nGujarat. Owing to their distinctive appearance and character and their\nexploits as cattle-raiders, the origin of the Gujars has been the\nsubject of much discussion. General Cunningham identified them with\nthe Yueh-chi or Tochari, the tribe of Indo-Scythians who invaded India\nin the first century of the Christian era. The king Kadphises I. and\nhis successors belonged to the Kushan section of the Yueh-chi tribe,\nand their rule extended over north-western India down to Gujarat in the\nperiod 45-225 A.D. Mr. V. A. Smith, however, discards this theory and\nconsiders the Gujars or Gurjaras to have been a branch of the white\nHuns who invaded India in the fifth and sixth centuries. He writes:\n[117] \"The earliest foreign immigration within the limits of the\nhistorical period which can be verified is that of the Sakas in the\nsecond century B.C.; and the next is that of the Yueh-chi and Kushans\nin the first century A.D. Probably none of the existing Rajput clans\ncan carry back their genuine pedigrees so far. The third recorded\ngreat irruption of foreign barbarians occurred during the fifth\ncentury and the early part of the sixth. There are indications that\nthe immigration from Central Asia continued during the third century,\nbut, if it did, no distinct record of the event has been preserved,\nand, so far as positive knowledge goes, only three certain irruptions\nof foreigners on a large scale through the northern and north-western\npasses can be proved to have taken place within the historical period\nanterior to the Muhammadan invasions of the tenth and eleventh\ncenturies. The first and second, as above observed, were those of\nthe Sakas and Yueh-chi respectively, and the third was that of the\nHunas or white Huns. It seems to be clearly established that the Hun\ngroup of tribes or hordes made their principal permanent settlements\nin the Punjab and Rajputana. The most important element in the group\nafter the Huns themselves was that of the Gurjaras, whose name still\nsurvives in the spoken form Gujar as the designation of a widely\ndiffused middle-class caste in north-western India. The prominent\nposition occupied by Gurjara kingdoms in early mediaeval times is a\nrecent discovery. The existence of a small Gurjara principality in\nBharoch (Broach), and of a larger state in Rajputana, has been known\nto archaeologists for many years, but the recognition of the fact\nthat Bhoja and the other kings of the powerful Kanauj dynasty in the\nninth, tenth and eleventh centuries were Gurjaras is of very recent\ndate and is not yet general. Certain misreadings of epigraphic dates\nobscured the true history of that dynasty, and the correct readings\nhave been established only within the last two or three years. It is\nnow definitely proved that Bhoja (circ. A.D. 840-890), his predecessors\nand successors belonged to the Pratihara (Parihar) clan of the Gurjara\ntribe or caste, and, consequently, that the well-known clan of Parihar\nRajputs is a branch of the Gurjara or Gujar stock.\" [118]\n\n\n\n\n2. The Gujars and the Khazars.\n\nSir J. Campbell identified the Gujars with the Khazar tribe of Central\nAsia: [119] \"What is known of the early history of the Gujaras in\nIndia points to their arrival during the last quarter of the fifth\nor the first quarter of the sixth century (A.D. 470-520). That is\nthe Gujaras seem to have formed part of the great horde of which the\nJuan-Juan or Avars, and the Ephthalites, Yetas or White Hunas were\nleading elements. The question remains: How far does the arrival of\nthe Gujara in India, during the early sixth century, agree with what is\nknown of the history of the Khazar? The name Khazar appears under the\nfollowing forms: Among Chinese as Kosa, among Russians as Khwalisses,\namong Byzantines as Chozars or Chazars, among Armenians as Khazirs and\namong Arabs as Khozar. Other variations come closer to Gujara. These\nare Gazar, the form Kazar takes to the north of the sea of Asof;\nGhysar, the name for Khazars who have become Jews; and Ghusar, the\nform of Khazar in use among the Lesghians of the Caucasus. Howarth\nand the writer in the Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica follow Klaproth in\nholding that the Khazars are the same as the White Hunas....\n\n\"Admitting that the Khazar and White Huna are one, it must also be\nthe case that the Khazars included two distinct elements, a fair or\nAk-Khazar, the Akatziroi or Khazaroi of Byzantine historians, and a\ndark or Kara Khazar. The Kara Khazar was short, ugly and as black\nas an Indian. He was the Ughrian nomad of the steppes, who formed\nthe rank and file of the army. The White Khazar or White Huna was\nfair-skinned, black-haired and beautiful, their women (in the ninth\nand tenth centuries) being sought after in the bazars of Baghdad and\nByzantium. According to Klaproth, a view adopted by the writer in\nthe Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica, the White Khazar represented the white\nrace which, since before Christ has been settled round the Caspian. As\nWhite Hunas, Ephthalites, [120] White Ughrians and White Bulgars, this\nwhite race were the carriers between Europe and East Asia; they were\nalso the bearers of the brunt of the Tartar inroads. A trace both of\nthe beautiful and coarse clans seems to survive in the complimentary\nMarwar proverb, 'Handsome as a Huna,' and in the abusive Gujarat\nproverb, 'Yellow and short as a Huna's beard.' Under its Hindu form\nGurjara, Khazar appears to have become the name by which the great\nbulk of the sixth-century horde was known.\" Sir J. Campbell was of\nopinion that the Sesodia or Gahlot Rajputs, the most illustrious of\nall the clans, were of Gujar stock, as well as the Parihar, Chauhan,\nand Chalukya or Solanki; these last were three of the Agnikula clans\nor those created from the firepit, [121] and a Solanki dynasty ruled\nin Gujarat. He also considered the Nagar Brahmans of Gujarat to be\nderived from the Gujars and considerable sections of the Ahir and\nKunbi castes. The Badgujar (great Gujar) clan of Rajputs is no doubt\nalso an aristocratic branch of the caste. In Ajmere it is said that\nthough all Gujars are not Rajputs, no Rajput becomes a hero unless\nhe is suckled by a Gujar woman. Gujarika dudh, nahari ka dudh; or\n'Gujar's milk is tiger's milk.' A Rajput who has not been suckled by\na Gujar woman is a gidar or jackal. [122]\n\n\n\n\n3. Predatory character of the Gujars in northern India.\n\nThe fact of the White Huns being tall and of fine features, in contrast\nto the horde which invaded Europe under Attila, accounts for these\ncharacteristics being found among the highest Rajput clans, who,\nas has been seen, are probably derived from them. The Gujar caste\ngenerally is now, however, no doubt of mixed and impure blood. They\nwere distinguished in the past as vagrant and predatory marauders,\nand must have assimilated various foreign elements. Mr. Crooke\nwrites of them: [123] \"The Gujars as a tribe have always been\nnoted for their turbulence and habit of cattle-stealing. Babar in\nhis Memoirs describes how the commander of the rearguard captured\na few Gujar ruffians who followed the camp, decapitated them and\nsent their heads to the Emperor. The Gujars of Pali and Pahal\nbecame exceedingly audacious while Sher Shah was fortifying Delhi,\nand he marched to the hills and expelled them so that not a vestige\nof their habitations was left. Jahangir remarks that the Gujars live\nchiefly on milk and curds and seldom cultivate land; and Babar says:\n'Every time I entered Hindustan the Jats and Gujars have regularly\npoured down in prodigious numbers from the hills and wilds to carry\noff oxen and buffaloes. These were the wretches that really inflicted\nthe chief hardships and were guilty of the chief oppression in the\ncountry.' They maintained their old reputation in the Mutiny when they\nperpetrated numerous outrages and seriously impeded the operations\nof the British Army before Delhi.\" In northern India the Gujars are\na pastoral caste. The saying about them is--\n\n\n Ahir, Gadaria, Gujar,\n E tinon t\u00e2ken ujar,\n\n\nor, 'The Ahir, Gadaria and Gujar want waste land'; that is for grazing\ntheir flocks. In Kangra the Gujars generally keep buffaloes. Here\nthey are described as \"A fine, manly race with peculiar and handsome\nfeatures. They are mild and inoffensive in manner, and in these hills\nare not distinguished by the bad pre-eminence which attaches to their\nrace in the plains.\" [124] Sir D. Ibbetson had a very unfavourable\nopinion of the Gujars of the plains, of whom he wrote as follows:\n[125] \"The Gujar is a fine stalwart fellow, of precisely the same\nphysical type as the Jat; and the theory of aboriginal descent which\nhas been propounded is to my mind conclusively negatived by his\ncast of countenance. He is of the same social standing as the Jat,\nor perhaps slightly inferior; but the two eat and drink in common\nwithout any scruple, and the proverb says: 'The Jat, Gujar, Ahir and\nGola are all hail fellow well met.' But he is far inferior in both\npersonal character and repute to the Jat. He is lazy to a degree, and\na wretched cultivator; his women, though not secluded, will not do\nfield-work save of the lightest kind; while his fondness for cattle\nextends to those of other people. The difference between a Gujar\nand a Rajput cattle-thief was once explained to me thus by a Jat:\n'The Rajput will steal your buffalo. But he will not send his old\nfather to say he knows where it is and will get it back for Rs. 20,\nand then keep the Rs. 20 and the buffalo too. The Gujar will.'\"\n\n\n\n\n4. Subdivisions.\n\nThe Gujars of the Central Provinces have, however, entirely given up\nthe predatory habits of their brethren in northern India and have\ndeveloped into excellent cultivators and respectable law-abiding\ncitizens. In Hoshangabad they have three subcastes, Lekha, Mundle\nand Jadam. The Mundle or 'Shaven' are so called because they take\noff their turbans when they eat and expose their crowns bare of hair,\nwhile the Lekha eat with their turbans on. The Mundle are also known as\nRewe, from the Rewa or Nerbudda, near which they reside. The Jadam are\nprobably an offshoot from the cultivating caste of Hoshangabad of that\nname, Jadam being a corruption of Jadubansi, a tribe of Rajputs. The\nBadgujars, who belong to Nimar, consider themselves the highest,\nderiving their name from bara or 'great' Gujar. As already seen,\nthere is a Badgujar clan of Rajputs. The Nimar Badgujars, however,\nwere formerly engaged in the somewhat humble calling of clearing\ncotton of its seeds, and on this account they are also known as\nLudhare, the word lodhna meaning to work the hand-ginning machine\n(charkhi). It seems possible that the small caste of Lorhas of the\nHoshangabad District, whose special avocation is to grow san-hemp,\nmay be derived from these Ludhare Gujars. The Kekre or Kanwe subcaste\nare the lowest and are of illegitimate descent. They are known as Kekre\nor 'Crabs,' but prefer their other name. They will take food from the\nother subcastes, but these do not return the compliment. Another group\nin the Sohagpur Tahsil of Hoshangabad are the Lilorhia Gujars. They\nsay that their ancestors were grazing calves when some of them with\ntheir herdsmen were stolen by Brahma. Then Krishna created fresh\ncowherds and the Lilorhias were made from the sweat of his forehead\n(lilat). Afterwards Brahma restored the original cowherds, who were\nknown as Murelia, because they were the first players on the murli\nor flute. [126] The Badgujars or highest branch of the clan are\ndescendants of these Murelias. The caste have also a set of exogamous\ngroups, several of which bear the names of Rajput clans, while others\nare called after villages, titles or nicknames or natural objects. A\nman is not permitted to marry any one belonging either to his own\nsept or that of his mother or grandmother.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage.\n\nAt a Gujar wedding four plough-yokes are laid out to form a square\nunder the marriage booth, with a copper pot full of water in the\ncentre. At the auspicious moment the bride's hand is placed on that\nof the bridegroom, and the two walk seven times round the pot, the\nbridegroom leading for the first four rounds and the bride for the\nlast three. Widows are allowed to remarry, and, as girls are rather\nscarce in the caste, a large price is often paid for the widow to\nher father or guardian, though this is not willingly admitted. As\nmuch as Rs. 3000 is recorded to have been paid. A widow marriage is\nknown as Natra or Pat. A woman is forbidden to marry any relative of\nher first husband. When the marriage of a widow is to take place a\nfee of Rs. 1-4 must be paid to the village proprietor to obtain his\nconsent. The Gujars of the Bulandshahr District of the United Provinces\nfurnish, Mr. Crooke says, [127] perhaps the only well-established\ninstance of polyandry among the Hindus of the plains. Owing to the\nscarcity of women in the caste it was customary for the wife of one\nbrother, usually the eldest, to be occasionally at the disposal of\nother unmarried brothers living in the house. The custom arose owing\nto the lack of women caused by the prevalence of female infanticide,\nand now that this has been stopped it is rapidly dying out, while no\ntrace of it is believed to exist in the Central Provinces.\n\n\n\n\n6. Disposal of the dead.\n\nThe bodies of unmarried persons are buried, and also of those who die\nof any epidemic disease. Others are cremated. The funeral of an elderly\nman of good means and family is an occasion for great display. A large\nfeast is given and the Brahman priests of the caste go about inviting\nall the Gujars to attend. Sometimes the number of guests rises to three\nor four thousand. At the conclusion of the feast one of the hosts claps\nhis hands and all the guests then get up and immediately depart without\nceremony or saying farewell. Such an occasion is known as Gujarwada,\nand the Gujars often spend as much, or more, on a funeral as on a\nwedding, in the belief that the outlay is of direct benefit to the\ndead man's spirit. This idea is inculcated and diligently fostered\nby the family priests and those Brahmans who receive gifts for the\nuse of the dead, the greed of these cormorants being insatiable.\n\n\n\n\n7. Religion.\n\nThe household goddess of the caste is known as Kul Devi, the word\nkul meaning family. To her a platform is erected inside the house,\nand she must be worshipped by the members of the family alone,\nno stranger being present. Offerings of cocoanuts, rice, turmeric\nand flowers are made to her, but no animal sacrifices. When a son\nof the family dies unmarried, an image of him, known as Mujia, is\nmade on a piece of silver, copper or brass, and is worshipped on\nMondays and Fridays during the month of Magh (January). On one of\nthese days also a feast is given to the caste. Each member of the\ncaste has a guru or spiritual preceptor, who visits him every second\nor third year and receives a small present of a cocoanut or a piece\nof cloth. But he does not seem to perform any duties. The guru may\nbelong to any of the religious mendicant castes. A man who is without\na guru is known as Nugra and is looked down on. To meet him in the\nmorning is considered unlucky and portends misfortune. Sir C. Elliot\n[128] characterised the Mundle Gujars as \"A very religious race; they\nnever plough on the new moon nor on the 8th of the month, because it\nis Krishna's birthday. Their religious and social head is the Mahant\nof the Ramjidas temple at Hoshangabad.\" In Nimar many of the Gujars\nbelong to the Pirzada sect, which is a kind of reformed creed, based\non a mixture of Hinduism and Islam.\n\n\n\n\n8. Character.\n\nThe Gujars wear the dress of northern India and their women usually\nhave skirts (lahenga) and not saris or body-cloths. Married women\nhave a number of strings of black beads round the neck and widows\nmust change these for red ones. As a rule neither men nor women are\ntattooed. The men sometimes have their hair long and wear beards\nand whiskers. The Gujars are now considered the best cultivators of\nthe Nimar District. They are fond of irrigation and sink unfaced\nwells to water their land and get a second crop off it. They are\ngenerally prosperous and make good landlords. Members of the caste\nhave the custom of lending and borrowing among themselves and not\nfrom outsiders, and this no doubt conduces to mutual economy and\nsolvency. Like keen cultivators elsewhere, such as the Panwars\nand Kurmis, the Gujar sets store by having a good house and good\ncattle. The return from a Mundle Gujar's wedding, Captain Forsyth\nwrote, [129] is a sight to be seen. Every Gujar from far and near has\ncome with his whole family in his best bullock-cart gaily ornamented,\nand, whatever the road may be, nothing but a smash will prevent a\nbreakneck race homewards at full gallop, cattle which have won in\nseveral such races acquiring a much coveted reputation throughout\nthe District.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGURAO\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Origin of the caste.\n 2. Internal structure.\n 3. Marriage and ceremonies of adolescence.\n 4. Birth customs.\n 5. The sacred thread.\n 6. Funeral customs.\n 7. Social position.\n 8. The Jain Guraos.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste.\n\nGurao. [130]--A caste of village priests of the temples of Mahadeo\nin the Maratha Districts. They numbered about 14,000 persons in the\nCentral Provinces and Berar in 1911. The Guraos say that they were\nformerly Brahmans and worshippers of Siva, but for some negligence\nor mistake in his ritual they were cursed by the god and degraded\nfrom the status of Brahmans, though subsequently the god relented\nand permitted them to worship him and take the offerings made to him.\n\nIt is related that a certain Brahman, who was a votary of Siva, had to\ngo on a journey. He left his son behind and strictly enjoined on him\nto perform the worship of the god at midday. The son had bathed and\npurified himself for this purpose, when shortly before midday his wife\ncame to him and so importuned him to have conjugal intercourse with her\nthat he was obliged to comply. It was then midday and in his impure\ncondition the son went to the shrine of the god to worship him. But\nSiva cursed him and said that his descendants should be degraded from\nthe status of Brahmans, though he afterwards relented so far as to\npermit of their continuing to act as his priests; and this was the\norigin of the Guraos. It seems doubtful, however, whether the caste\nare really of Brahman origin. They were formerly village priests,\nand Grant-Duff gives the Gurao as one of the village menials in the\nMaratha villages. They have the privilege of taking the Naivedya\nor offerings of cooked food made to the god Mahadeo, which Brahmans\nwill not accept. They also sell leaf-plates and flowers and bel leaves\n[131] which are offered at the temples of Mahadeo; and on the festival\nof Shivratri and during the month of Shrawan (July) they take round\nthe bel leaves which the cultivators require for their offerings and\nreceive presents in return. In Wardha the Guraos get small gifts of\ngrain from the cultivators at seed-time and harvest. They also act as\nvillage musicians and blow the conch-shell, beat the drum and play\nother musical instruments for the morning and evening worship at\nthe temple. They play on the cymbals and drums at the marriages of\nBrahmans and other high castes. In the Bombay Presidency [132] some\nare astrologers and fortune-tellers, and others make the basing or\ncoronet of flowers which the bridegroom wears. Sometimes they play on\nthe drum or fiddle for their spiritual followers, the dancing-girls\nor Kalavants. When a dancing-girl became pregnant she worshipped\nthe Gurao, and he, in return, placed the missi or tooth-powder made\nfrom myrobalans on her teeth. If this was not done before her child\nwas born, a Kalavantin was put out of caste. In some localities\nthe Guraos will take food from Kunbis. And further, as will be seen\nsubsequently, the caste have no proper gotras or exogamous sections,\nbut in arranging their marriages they simply avoid persons having\na common surname. All these considerations point to the fact that\nthe caste is not of Brahmanical origin but belongs to a lower class\nof the population. Nevertheless in Wardha they are known as Shaiva\nBrahmans and rank above the Kunbis. They may study the Sama Veda only\nand not the others, and may repeat the Rudra Gayatri or sacred verse\nof Siva. Clearly the Brahmans could not accept the offerings of cooked\nfood made at Siva's shrine; though the larger temples of this deity\nhave Brahman priests. It seems uncertain whether Siva or Mahadeo was\nfirst a village deity and was subsequently exalted to the position of\na member of the supreme Hindu Trinity, or whether the opposite process\ntook place and the Guraos obtained their priestly functions on his\nworship being popularised. But in any case it would appear that they\nwere originally a class of village priests regarded as the servants\nof the cultivating community, by whose gifts and offerings they were\nmaintained. Grant-Duff in enumerating the village servants says:\n\"Ninth, the Gurao, who is a Sudra employed to wash the ornaments and\nattend the idol in the village temples, and on occasions of feasting\nto prepare the patraoli or leaves which the Hindus substitute for\nplates. They are also trumpeters by profession and in this capacity\nare much employed in Maratha armies.\" [133]\n\n\n\n\n2. Internal structure.\n\nThe caste has several subdivisions which are principally of a\nterritorial nature, as Warade from Berar; Jhade, inhabitants of the\nforest or rice country; Telanga, of the Telugu country; Dakshne, from\nthe Deccan; Marwari, from Marwar, and so on. Other subcastes are the\nAhir and Jain Guraos, of whom the former are apparently Ahirs who\nhave adopted the priestly profession, while the Jain Guraos are held\nin Bombay to be the descendants of Jain temple servants who entered\nthe caste when their own deities were thrown out and their shrines\nannexed by the votaries of Siva. [134] In Bombay, Mr. Enthoven states\n\"That the Koli and Maratha ministrants at the temples of Siva and\nother deities often describe themselves as Guraos, but they have\nnot formed themselves into separate castes and are members of the\ngeneral Koli or Maratha community. They cease to call themselves\nGuraos when they cease to minister at temples.\" [135] In the Central\nProvinces one of the subcastes is known as Vajantri because they act\nas village musicians. The caste have no regular exogamous sections,\nbut a number of surnames which answer the same purpose. These are of\na professional type, as Lokhandes, an iron-dealer; Phulzares, a maker\nof fireworks; Sontake, a gold-merchant; Gaikwad, a cowherd; Nakade,\nlong-nosed, and so on. They say they all belong to the same gotra,\nSankhiayan, named after Sankhiaya Rishi, the ancestor of the caste.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage and ceremonies of adolescence.\n\nMarriage is avoided between persons having the same surname and\nthose within six degrees of descent from a common ancestor whether\nmale or female. The marriage ceremony generally resembles that of\nthe Brahmans. Before the wedding the bridegroom's father prepares an\nimage of Siva from rice and til-seed, [136] covers it with a cloth and\nsends it to the bride's house. In return her mother prepares and sends\nback a similar image of Gauri, Siva's consort. Girls are married as\ninfants, and when a woman arrives at adolescence the following ritual\nis observed: She goes to her husband's house and is there secluded for\nthree or four days while her impurity lasts. On its termination she is\nbathed and clothed in a green dress and yellow choli or breast-cloth,\nand seated in a gaily decked wooden frame. Her lap is filled with wheat\nand a cocoanut, and her female friends and relatives and father and\nfather-in-law give her presents of sweets and clothes. This is known\nas the Shantik ceremony and is practised by the higher castes in the\nMaratha country. It may continue for as long as sixteen days. Finally,\non an auspicious day the bride and bridegroom are given delicate food\nand dressed in new clothes. The fire sacrifice is offered and they\nare taken into a room where a bed, the gift of the bride's parents,\nhas been prepared for them, and left to consummate the marriage. This\nis known as Garbhadhan. Next day the bride's parents give new clothes\nand a feast to the bridegroom's family; this feast is known as Godai,\nand after giving it the bride's parents may eat at their daughter's\nhouse. A girl seduced by a man of the caste may be properly married\nto him after her parents have performed Prayaschit or atonement. But\nif she has a child out of wedlock, he is relegated to the Vidur or\nillegitimate group. Even if a girl be seduced by a stranger, provided\nhe be of higher or equal caste, as the Kunbis and Marathas, she may\nbe taken back into the community.\n\n\n\n\n4. Birth customs.\n\nIf a child is born at an unlucky season, they take two winnowing-fans\nand tie the baby between them with a thread wound many times round\nabout. A cow is brought and made to lick the child, which is thus\nsupposed to have been born again from it as a calf, the evil omen of\nthe first birth being removed. The father performs the fire sacrifice,\nand a human figure is made from cooked rice and worshipped. A\nburning wick is placed in its stomach and it is taken out and left\nat cross-roads, this being probably a substitute for the member of\nthe family whose death was presaged by the untimely birth of the\nchild. Similarly if any one dies at the astronomical period known as\nPanchak, they make five figures of wheat-flour and burn or bury them\nwith the body, as it is thought that otherwise five members of the\nfamily would die.\n\n\n\n\n5. The sacred thread.\n\nBoys are invested with the sacred thread at the age of five, seven or\nnine years, and until that time they are considered to be Sudras and\nnot members of the caste. From a hundred to three hundred rupees may\nbe spent on the investiture. On the day before the ceremony a Brahman\nand his wife are invited to take food, and a yellow thread with a\nmango leaf is tied round the boy's wrist. The spirits of other boys\nwho died before their thread ceremony was performed and of women of\nthe family who died before their husbands are invited to attend. These\nare represented by young boys and married women of other families who\ncome to the house and are bathed and anointed with turmeric and oil,\nand given presents of sugar and new clothes. Next day the initiate\nis seated on a platform in a shed erected for the purpose and puts on\nthe sacred thread made of cotton and also a strip of the skin of the\nblack-buck with a silk apron and cap. The boy's father takes him on\nhis lap and whispers or, as the Hindus say, blows the Gayatri mantra\nor sacred text into his ear. A sacrifice is performed, and the friends\nand fellow-castemen of the family make presents to the boy of copper\nand silver coin. The amount thus given is not used by the parents,\nbut is spent on the boy's education or on the purchase of an ornament\nfor him. On the conclusion of the ceremony the boy mounts a wooden\nmodel of a horse and pretends to set out for Benares. His paternal\nuncle then says to him, 'Why are you going away?' And the boy replies,\n'Because you have not married me.' His uncle then promises to find\na bride for him and he gives up his project. The part played by the\nmaternal uncle in this ceremony is probably a survival of the period\nof the matriarchate, when a man's property descended to his sister's\nson. He would thus naturally claim the boy as a husband for his own\ndaughter, and such a marriage apparently became customary and in\ncourse of time acquired binding force. And although all recollection\nof the rule of inheritance through women has long been forgotten,\nthe marriage of a brother's daughter to a sister's son is still\nconsidered peculiarly suitable, and the idea that it is the duty\nof the maternal uncle to find a bride for his nephew appears to be\nsimply a development of this. The above account also gives reason for\nsupposing that the investiture with the sacred thread was originally\na ceremony of puberty.\n\n\n\n\n6. Funeral customs.\n\nThe dead are burnt and the ashes thrown into water or carried to the\nGanges. A small piece of gold, two or three small pearls, and some\nbasil leaves are put into the mouth, and flowers, red powder and\nbetel leaves are spread over the corpse. The son or male heir of the\ndeceased walks in front carrying fire in an earthen pot. At a small\ndistance from the burning-ground, when the bearers change places,\nhe picks up a stone, known as the life-stone or jivkhada. This is\nafterwards buried at the burning-ghat until the priest comes to effect\nthe purification of the mourners on the tenth day. It is then dug up,\nset up and worshipped, and thrown into a well. A man is burnt naked;\na woman in a robe and bodice. The heads of widows are not shaved\nas a rule, but on the tenth day after her husband's death a widow\nis asked whether she would like her head shaved; if she refuses,\nthe people conclude that she intends to marry again. But if the\ndeceased left no male heir to carry behind his bier the burning wood\nwith which the funeral pyre is to be kindled, then the widow must be\nshaved before the funeral starts and perform this duty. If there is\nno male relative and no widow, the pot containing fire is tied to the\nbier. When the corpse of a woman who has died in child-bed is being\ncarried to the burning-ground various rites are observed to prevent\nher spirit from becoming a Churel and troubling the living. A lemon\ncharmed by a magician is buried under the corpse and a man follows\nthe body strewing the seeds of rala, while nails are driven into the\nthreshold of the house. [137]\n\n\n\n\n7. Social position.\n\nThe caste has now a fairly high social status and ranks above the\nKunbis. They abstain from all flesh and from liquor and will take\nfood only from the hands of a Maratha Brahman, while Kunbis and other\ncultivating and serving castes will accept food from their hands. They\nworship Siva principally on Mondays, this day being sacred to the\ndeity, who carries the moon as an ornament on his head, crowning the\nmatted locks from which the Ganges flows.\n\n\n\n\n8. The Jain Guraos.\n\nOf the Jain Guraos Mr. Enthoven quotes the following interesting\ndescription from the Bombay Gazetteer: \"They are mainly servants in\nvillage temples which, though dedicated to Brahmanic gods, have still\nby their sides broken remains of Jain images. This, and the fact\nthat most of the temple land-grants date from a time when Jainism\nwas the State religion, support the theory that the Jain Guraos are\nprobably Jain temple servants who have come under the influence partly\nof Lingayatism and partly of Brahmanism. A curious survival of their\nJainism occurs at Dasahra, Shimga and other leading festivals, when the\nvillage deity is taken out of the temple and carried in procession. On\nthese occasions, in front of the village god's palanquin, three, five\nor seven of the villagers, among whom the Gurao is always the leader,\ncarry each a long, gaily-painted wooden pole resting against their\nright shoulder. At the top of the pole is fastened a silver mask\nor hand and round it is draped a rich silk robe. Of these poles,\nthe chief one, carried by the Gurao, is called the Jain's pillar,\nJainacha khamb.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHALBA\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Traditions of the caste.\n 2. Halba landowners in Bastar and Bhandara.\n 3. Internal structure. Subcastes.\n 4. Exogamous sections.\n 5. Theory of the origin of the caste.\n 6. Marriage.\n 7. Importance of the sister's son.\n 8. The wedding ceremony.\n 9. Going-away ceremony.\n 10. Widow-marriage and divorce.\n 11. Religion.\n 12. Disposal of the dead.\n 13. Propitiating the spirits of those who have died a violent\n death.\n 14. Impurity of women.\n 15. Childbirth.\n 16. Names.\n 17. Social status.\n 18. Caste panchayat.\n 19. Dress.\n 20. Tattooing.\n 21. Occupation.\n\n\n\n\n1. Traditions of the caste.\n\nHalba, Halbi. [138]--A caste of cultivators and farmservants whose\nhome is the south of the Raipur District and the Kanker and Bastar\nStates; from here small numbers of them have spread to Bhandara and\nparts of Berar. In 1911 they numbered 100,000 persons in the combined\nProvinces. The Halbas have several stories relating to their own\norigin. One of these, reported by Mr. Gokul Prasad, is as follows:\nOne of the Uriya Rajas had erected four scarecrows in his field to\nkeep off the birds. One night Mahadeo and Parvati were walking on the\nearth and happened to pass that way, and Parvati saw them and asked\nwhat they were. When it was explained to her she thought that as they\nhad excited her interest something should be done for them, and at\nher request Mahadeo gave them life and they became two men and two\nwomen. Next morning they presented themselves before the Raja and told\nhim what had happened. The Raja said, \"Since you have come on earth,\nyou must have a caste. Run after Mahadeo and find out what caste you\nshould belong to.\" So they ran after the god and inquired of him,\nand he said that as they had excited his and Parvati's attention\nby waving in the wind they should be called Halba, from halna, to\nwave. This story is clearly based on one of those fanciful punning\nderivations so dear to the Brahmanical mind, but the legend about being\ncreated from scarecrows is found among other agricultural castes of\nnon-Aryan origin, as the Lodhis. The story continues that the reason\nwhy the Halbas came to settle in Bastar and Kanker was that they had\naccompanied one of the Rajas of Jagannath in Orissa, who was afflicted\nwith leprosy, to the Sihawa jungles, where he proposed to pass the\nrest of his life in retirement. On a certain day the Raja went out\nhunting with his dogs, one of which was quite white. This dog jumped\ninto a spring of water and came out with his white skin changed to\ncopper red. The Raja, observing this miracle, bathed in the spring\nhimself and was cured of his leprosy. He then wished to return to\nOrissa, but the Halbas induced him to remain in his adopted country,\nand he became the ancestor of the Rajas of Kanker. The Halbas are\nstill the household servants of the Kanker family, and when a fresh\nchief succeeds, one of them, who has the title of Kapardar, takes\nhim to the temple and invests him with the Durbar ki poshak or royal\nrobes, affixing also the tika or badge of office on his forehead with\nturmeric, rice and sandalwood, and rubbing his body over with ottar of\nroses. Until lately the Kapardar's family had a considerable grant of\nrent-free land, but this has now been taken away. A Halba is or was\nalso the priest of the temple at Sihawa, which is said to have been\nbuilt by the first Raja over the spring where he was healed of his\nleprosy. The Halbas are also connected with the Rajas of Bastar, and\na suggestion has been made [139] that they originally belonged to the\nTelugu country and came with the Rajas of Bastar from Warangal in the\nDeccan. Mr. Gilder derives the name from an old Canarese word Halbar or\nHalbaru, meaning 'old ones or ancients' or 'primitive inhabitants.' The\nHalba dialect, however, contains no traces of Canarese, and on the\nquestion of their entering Bastar with the Rajas, Rai Bahadur Panda\nBaijnath, Diwan of Bastar, writes as follows: In the following saying\nrelating to the coming of the Bastar Rajas, which is often repeated,\nthe Halba's name does not occur:\n\n\n Chalkibans Raja Dibdibi baja.\n Kosaria Rawat Pita Bhatra.\n Peng Parja Raja Muria.\n Tendukhuti Pania lava.\n\n\nWhich may be rendered: \"The Raja was of the Chalki race. [140] The drum\nwas called Dibdibi. Kosaria Rawat, Pita Bhatra, Peng Parja and Raja\nMuria, [141] these four castes came with the Raja. The tribute paid\n(to the Raja) was a comb of tendu wood and a lava quail.\" This doggerel\nrhyme is believed to recall the circumstances of the immigration of\nthe Bastar Rajas. So the Halbas did not perhaps come with the Raja,\nbut they were his guards for a long time. In the Dasahra ceremony a\nHalba carried the royal Chhatra or Umbrella, and the Raja walked under\nthe protection of another Halba's naked sword. A Halba's widows were\nnot sold and his intestate property was not taken over by the Raja.\n\n\n\n\n2. Halba landowners in Bastar and Bhandara.\n\nThus the Halbas occupy a comparatively honourable position in\nBastar. They are the highest local caste with the exception of the\nBrahmans, the Dhakars or illegitimate descendants of Brahmans, and\na few Rajput families. The reason for this is no doubt that they\nhave become landholders in the State, a position which it would\nnot be difficult for them to acquire when their only rivals were\nthe Gonds. They are moderately good cultivators, and in Dhamtari\ncan hold their own with Hindus, so that they could well surpass\nthe Gond. Traditions also remain in Bastar of a Halba revolt. It\nis said that during Raja Daryao Deo's reign, about 125 years back,\nthe Halbas rebelled and many were thrown down a waterfall ninety feet\nhigh, one only of these escaping with his life. The eyes of some were\nalso put out as a punishment for the oppression they had exercised,\nand a stone inscription at Donger records the oath of fealty taken\nby the Halbas before the image of Danteshwari, the tutelary deity\nof Bastar, after their insurrection was put down in Samvat 1836 or\nA.D. 1779. The Halbas were thus a caste of considerable influence,\nsince they could attempt to subvert the ruling dynasty. In Bhandara\nagain the caste have quite a different story, and say that they came\nfrom the United Provinces or, according to another version, the Makrai\nState, where they were of the status of Rajputs and wore the sacred\nthread. There a girl of their family, of great beauty, was asked in\nmarriage by a Muhammadan king. The father could not refuse the king,\nbut would not give his daughter in marriage to one not of his own\ncaste. So he fled south and took asylum with the Gond Raja of Chanda,\nfrom whom the Halba zamindars subsequently received their estates. It\nseems unnecessary to attach any importance to this story; the tale of\nthe beautiful daughter is most hackneyed, and the whole has probably\nbeen devised by the Brahmans to give the Halba zamindars of Bhandara a\nmore respectable ancestry than they could claim if they admitted having\ncome from Bastar, certainly no home of Rajputs. But if this supposition\nis correct it is interesting to note how a legend may show a caste\nas originating in some place with which it never had any connection\nwhatever; and it seems a necessary conclusion that no importance can\nbe attached to such traditions without corroborating evidence.\n\n\n\n\n3. Internal structure: subcastes.\n\nThe caste have local divisions known as Bastarha, Chhattisgarhia\nand Marethia, according as they live in Bastar, Chhattisgarh,\nor Bhandara and the other Maratha Districts. The last two groups,\nhowever, intermarry, so only the Bastar Halbas really form a separate\nsubcaste. But the caste is also everywhere divided into two groups of\npure and mixed Halbas. These are known in Bastar and Chhattisgarh as\nPurait or Nekha, and Surait or Nayak, respectively, and in Bhandara as\nBarpangat and Khalpangat or those of good and bad stock. The Suraits\nor Khalpangats are said to be of mixed origin, born from Halba fathers\nand women of other castes. But in past times unions of Halba mothers\nand men of other castes were perhaps not less frequent. These two\nsets of groups do not intermarry. A Surait Halba will take food from\na Purait, but the Puraits do not return the compliment; though in some\nlocalities they will accept food which does not contain salt. The two\ndivisions will take water from each other and exchange leaf-pipes. In\nBhandara the Barpangat or pure Halbas have now further split into\ntwo groups, the zamindari families having constituted themselves\ninto a separate subdivision; they practise hypergamy with the others,\ntaking daughters from them in marriage but not giving their daughters\nto them. This is simply of a piece with their claim to be Rajputs,\nhypergamy being a custom of northern India.\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamous sections.\n\nThe exogamous sections of the caste afford further evidence of their\nmixed origin. Many of the names recorded are those of other castes,\nas Baretha (a washerman), Bhoyar (Bhoi or bearer), Rawat (herdsman),\nBarhai (carpenter), Malia (Mali or gardener), Dhakar (Vidur or\nillegitimate Brahman), Bhandari (barber), Pardhan (Gond), Mankar\n(title of various tribes), Sahara (Saonr), Kanderi (turner), Agri\n(Agarwala Bania), Baghel (a sept of Rajputs), Elmia (from Velama,\nTelugu cultivators), and Chalki and Ponwar (Chalukya and Panwar\nRajputs). It may be concluded that these groups are descended from\nancestors of the caste after which they are named. There are also a\nnumber of territorial and titular names of the usual type, and many\ntotemistic names, as Ghorapatia (a horse), Kawaliha (lotus), Aurila\n(tamarind), Lendia (a tree), Gohi (a lizard), Manjur (a peacock),\nBhringraj (a blackbird) and so on. In Bastar they revere the animal\nor plant after which their sept is named and will not kill or injure\nit. If a man accidentally kills his devak or sacred animal he will\ntear off a small piece of his cloth and throw it away to make a shroud\nfor the corpse. A few of them will break their earthen pots as if a\nrelative had died in their house, but this is not general. In Bastar\nthe totemistic groups are named barags, and many men also belong to a\nthok, having some titular name which they use as a surname. Nowadays\nmarriage is avoided by persons having the same thok or surname as\nwell as between those of the same barag.\n\n\n\n\n5. Theory of the origin of the caste.\n\nIn view of the information available the most probable theory of\nthe origin of the Halbas is that they were a mixed caste, born of\nirregular alliances between the Uriya Rajas and their retainers with\nthe women of their household servants and between the different\nservants themselves. Mr. Gokul Prasad points out that many of the\nnames of Halba sections are those of the haguas or household menials\nof the Uriya chiefs. The Halbas, according to their own story, came\nhere in attendance on one of the chiefs, and are still employed as\nhousehold servants in Kanker and Bastar. They are clearly a caste\nof mixed origin as they still admit women of other castes married\nby Halba men into the community, and one of their two subcastes in\neach locality consists of families of impure descent. The Dhakars of\nBastar are the illegitimate offspring of Brahmans with women of the\ncountry who have grown into a caste, and Mr. Panda Baijnath quotes a\nproverb, saying that 'The Halbas and Dhakars form two portions of a\nbedsheet.' Instances of other castes similarly formed are the Audhelias\nof Bilaspur, who are said to be the offspring of Daharia Rajputs\nby their kept women, and the Bargahs, descended from the nurses of\nRajput families. The name Halba might be derived from hal, a plough,\nand be a variant for harwaha, the common term for a farmservant in\nthe northern Districts. This derivation they give themselves in one\nof their stories, saying that their first ancestor was created from\na sod of earth on the plough of Balaram or Haladhara, the brother of\nKrishna; and it has also the support of Sir G. Grierson. The caste\nincludes no doubt a number of Gonds, Rawats (herdsmen) and others,\nand it may be partly occupational, consisting of persons employed as\nfarmservants by the Hindu settlers. The farmservant in Chhattisgarh\nhas a very definite position, his engagement being permanent and\nhis wages consisting always in a fourth share of the produce, which\nis divided among them when several are employed. The caste have\na peculiar dialect of their own, which Dr. Grierson describes as\nfollows: [142] \"Linguistic evidence also points to the fact that the\nHalbas are an aboriginal tribe, who have adopted Hinduism and an Aryan\nlanguage. Their dialect is a curious mixture of Uriya, Chhattisgarhi\nand Marathi, the proportions varying according to the locality. In\nBhandara it is nearly all Marathi, but in Bastar it is much more mixed\nand has some forms which look like Telugu.\" If the home of the Halbas\nwas in the debateable land between Chhattisgarh and the Uriya country\nto the east and south of the Mahanadi, their dialect might, as Mr. Hira\nLal points out, have originated here. They themselves give the ruined\nbut once important city of Sihawa on the banks of the Mahanadi in this\ntract as that of their first settlement; and Uriya is spoken to the\neast of Sihawa and Marathi to the west, while Chhattisgarhi is the\nlanguage of the locality itself and of the country extending north\nand south. Subsequently the Halbas served as soldiers in the armies of\nthe Ratanpur kings and their position no doubt considerably improved,\nso that in Bastar they became an important landholding caste. Some\nof these soldiers may have migrated west and taken service under the\nGond kings of Chanda, and their descendants may now be represented\nby the Bhandara zamindars, who, however, if this theory be correct,\nhave entirely forgotten their origin. Others took up weaving and have\nbecome amalgamated with the Koshti caste in Bhandara and Berar.\n\n\n\n\n6. Marriage.\n\nGirls are not usually married until they are above ten years old,\nor nearly adult as age goes in India; but there is no rule on\nthe subject. Many girls reach twenty without entering wedlock. If\nthe parents are too poor to pay for their daughter's marriage the\nneighbours will subscribe. In Bastar, however, the Uriya custom\nprevails, and an unmarried girl in whom the signs of puberty appear\nis put out of caste. In such a case her father marries her to a\nmahua tree. The strictness of the rule on this subject among the\nUriyas is probably due to the strength of Brahmanical influence,\nthe priestly caste possessing more power and property in Sambalpur\nand Orissa than in almost any part of India. If a death occurs in the\nfamily of the bridegroom just before the date fixed for the wedding,\nand the ceremonies of purification cannot be completed prior to it,\nthe bride is formally wedded to an achar [143] or mahua tree; [144]\nthe marriage crown is tied on to the tree, and the bride walks round\nit seven times. After the bridegroom's purification the couple are\ntaken to the same tree, and here the forehead of the bridegroom is\nmarked with turmeric paste and rice. The couple sit one on each side\nof the tree, and the Tikawan ceremony or presentation of gifts by the\nrelatives and friends is performed, and the marriage is considered to\nbe complete. If an unmarried girl goes wrong with an outsider of low\ncaste she is expelled from the community; but if with a member of a\ncaste from whom a Halba can take water she may be readmitted to caste,\nprovided she has not eaten food cooked in an earthen pot from the hands\nof her seducer; but not if she has done so. If there be a child of\nthe seducer she must wait until it be weaned and either taken by the\nputative father or given away to a Chamar or Gond. The girl can then\nbe given in marriage to any Halba as a widow. Women of other castes\nmarried by Halbas are admitted into the community. This happens most\nfrequently in the case of women of the Rawat (herdsman) caste.\n\n\n\n\n7. Importance of the sister's son.\n\nA match which is commonly arranged where practicable is that of\na brother's daughter to a sister's son. And a man always shows\na special regard and respect for his sister's son, touching his\nfeet as to a superior, while, whenever he desires to make a gift\nas an offering of thanks or atonement or as a meritorious action,\nthe sister's son is the recipient. At his death he usually leaves a\nsubstantial legacy, such as one or two buffaloes, to his sister's son,\nthe remainder of the property going to his own family. This recognition\nof a special relationship is probably a survival of the matriarchate,\nwhen property descended through women, and a sister's son would be his\nuncle's heir. Thus a man would naturally desire to marry his daughter\nto his nephew in order that she might participate in his property,\nand hence arose the custom of making this match, which is still the\nmost favoured among the Halbas and Gonds, though the reasons which\nled to it have been forgotten for several centuries.\n\n\n\n\n8. The wedding ceremony.\n\nMatches are usually arranged on the initiative of the boy's father\nthrough a mutual friend who resides in the girl's village, and is\nknown as the Mahalia or matchmaker. When the contract is concluded\nthe boy's father sends a present of fixed quantities of grain to the\ngirl, which are in the nature of a bride-price, and subsequently on\nan auspicious day selected by the family priest he and his friends\nproceed to the girl's village. The girl meets them, standing at\nthe entrance of the principal house, dressed in the new clothes\nsent on behalf of the bridegroom, and holding out her cloth for the\nreception of presents. The boy's father goes up to her and smooths\nher hair with his hand, chucks her under the chin with his right\nhand, and makes a noise with his lips as if he were kissing her. He\nthen touches her feet, places a rupee on the skirt of her cloth, and\nretires. The other members of his party follow his example, giving\nsmall presents of copper, and afterwards the women of the girl's party\ntreat the bridegroom in the same manner, but they actually kiss him\n(chumna). Betrothals can be held only in the five months from Magh\n(January) to Jeth (May), while marriages may be celebrated during\nthe eight dry months. The auspicious date is selected by the Joshi\nor caste-priest, who is chosen by the community for his personal\nqualities. If the names of the couple do not point to an auspicious\nunion the bridegroom's name may be changed either temporarily or\npermanently. The Joshi takes two pieces of cloth, which should be\ntorn from the scarf of the boy's father, and ties up in each of them\nsome rice, areca nuts, turmeric and dub grass (Cynodon dactylon). One\nof these is marked with red lead, and is intended for the bride,\nand the other, which is left plain, is for the bridegroom. At the\nwedding some of this rice with pulse is placed with a twig of mahua\nin a hole in the marriage-shed and addressed: 'You are the goddess\nLachhmi; you have come to assist in the marriage.'\n\nThe Halbas, like the other lower castes of Chhattisgarh, have two\nforms of wedding, known as the 'Small' and 'Large,' the former being\nheld at the bridegroom's house with curtailed ceremonies, and being\nmuch cheaper than the latter or Hindu marriage proper, which is held\nat the bride's house. The 'small' wedding is more popular among the\nHalbas, and for this the bride, accompanied by some of her girl and\nboy friends, arrives at the bridegroom's village in the evening,\nher parents following her only on the third day. On entering the\nlands of the village her party begin singing obscene songs filled\nwith abuse of the bridegroom's parents and relatives. Nobody goes\nto receive or welcome them, and on reaching the bridegroom's house\nthey enter it without ceremony and sit down in the room where the\nfamily gods are kept. All this time they continue singing, and the\nmusicians keep up a deafening din in accompaniment. Subsequently the\nbride's party are shown to their lodging, known as the Dulhi-kuria or\nbride's apartments, and here the bridegroom's father visits her and\nwashes her big toes first with milk and then with water. The practice\nof washing the feet of guests, which strikes strangely on our minds\nwhen we meet it in Scripture, was obviously a welcome attention when\ntravellers went bare-footed, or at most wore sandals, and arrived at\ntheir journey's end with the feet soiled and bruised by the rigours\nof the way. Another of the bridegroom's friends pretends to act as\na barber, and shaves all the bride's men friends with a piece of\nstraw as if it were a razor. For the marriage ceremony proper the\nbride and bridegroom stand facing each other by the marriage hut\nwith a sheet held between them; the Joshi or caste-priest takes two\nlamps and mingles their flames, and the cloth between the couple\nbeing pulled down the bridegroom drags the bride over to him. If\nthe wedding is held on a Sunday, Tuesday or Saturday the bridegroom\nstands facing the east, and if on a Monday, Thursday or Friday, to\nthe north. After this the cloths of the couple are tied together, or\nthe end of the bridegroom's scarf is tucked in the bride's waistcloth,\nand they go round the marriage-post seven times, the bride following\nthe bridegroom throughout. A plough-yoke is then brought and placed\nclose by the marriage-post and the couple take their seats on it,\nthe bride sitting on the left of the bridegroom. The bundles of rice\nconsecrated by the Joshi are given to them and they throw it over each\nother. The bridegroom takes some red lead and smears the bride's face\nwith it, making a line from the end of her nose up across her forehead\nand along the parting of her hair. He says her name aloud and covers\nher head with her cloth. This signifies that she is a married woman,\nas in Chhattisgarh unmarried girls go about with the head bare. After\nthis the mother and father of the bride come and wash the feet of\nthe couple with milk and water. This ceremony is known as Dharam\nTika, and after its completion the bride's parents will take food\nin the bridegroom's house, which they abstain from doing from the\ndate of the betrothal up to this washing of the feet. It is on this\naccount that they do not accompany the bride but only follow her on\nthe third day, but the reason for the rule is by no means clear. On\nthe following day more ceremonies are performed, and the friends\nof the couple touch their foreheads with rice and make presents to\nthem of cowries. Last of all the bride's parents come and give them\ncattle and other articles according to their means. These gifts are\nknown as Tikawan and remain the separate property of the bride which\nshe can dispose of as she pleases. The ceremonies usually extend\nover four days, the wedding itself taking place on the third. The\nbride's party then go home, leaving her with her husband, and after a\nweek or so they return and take the couple to the bride's house for\nthe ceremony known as Pinar Dhawai or getting their yellow wedding\nclothes washed. The bridegroom stays here two or three weeks, and\nduring this time he must work at building or repairing the walls of\nhis father-in-law's house. The custom of serving for a wife still\nobtains among the Halbas, and the above rule may perhaps indicate\nthat it was once more general. At the end of the bridegroom's visit\nhis father-in-law gives him a new cloth and pair of shoes and sends\nhim back to his parents' house with his wife. The expenses of the\nwedding average about fifty rupees for the bridegroom's family and\nfrom five to thirty rupees for the bride's family.\n\n\n\n\n9. Going-away ceremony.\n\nAfter the wedding if the bride is grown up she lives with her husband\nat once; but if she is a child she goes back to her parents until\nher adolescence, when the ceremony of Pathoni or 'Going away' is\nperformed. On this occasion some people from the bridegroom's home\ngo to fetch her and their number must be even, so that when she\nreturns with them the party may be an odd one, which is lucky. They\ntake a new cloth for the bride and stay the night at her house; next\nmorning the bride's parents put some rice, pulse, oil and a comb in\na basket for her, and she sets out with the party, wearing her new\ncloth. But when she gets outside the village this is taken off her\nand placed in the basket, which she has to carry on her head as far\nas her husband's house. As she enters his village the people stretch\na rope across the way and prevent her passage until her father-in-law\ngives them a present. On arriving at his house her feet are washed\nby her mother-in-law, and she is then made to cook the food brought\nin her basket. After a fortnight she again goes back to her parents'\nhouse and stays with them for another year, before finally taking up\nher abode with her husband. It has been remarked that this return of\na married woman to her parents' house for such lengthened periods is\nlikely to be a pregnant source of immorality, and the advantage of the\ncustom has been questioned; the explanation may perhaps be that it is\nan outcome of the joint family system by which young married couples\nlive with the bridegroom's parents, and that the object is to accustom\nthe girl gradually to the habits of a fresh household and the yoke,\nnecessarily irksome, of her mother-in-law. The proverb with reference\nto a young wife, 'If your husband loves you your mother-in-law can\ndo nothing,' indicates how formidable this may be in the event of\nany cooling of marital affection; and it is well known that if she\ndoes not please her husband's family a young wife may be treated as\nlittle better than a slave. To throw a young girl, therefore, into\na family of complete strangers is probably too severe a trial, and\nthis is the reason of the goings and returnings of the bride after\nher wedding between her husband's home and her own.\n\n\n\n\n10. Widow-marriage and divorce.\n\nThe remarriage of a widow must be held during the bright fortnight\nof the month, and on any odd day of the fortnight excluding the\nfirst. The couple are seated together on a yoke in a part of the\ncourtyard cleaned with cowdung, and their clothes are tied together,\nwhile the husband rubs vermilion on his wife's hair. A bachelor should\nnot take a widow in marriage, and if he does so he must at the same\ntime also wed a maiden with the regular ceremony, as otherwise he\nis likely after death to become a masaan or evil spirit. In order to\navoid this contingency a bachelor who espouses a widow in Kanker is\nfirst wedded to a spear. Turmeric and oil are rubbed on his body and\non the spear, and he walks round it seven times. Divorce is freely\npermitted in Chhattisgarh at the instance of either party and for\nthe most trivial reasons, as a mere allegation of disagreement; but\nif a husband puts away his wife when she has not been unfaithful to\nhim he must give her something for her support. In some localities\nno ceremony is performed at all, but a wife or husband who tires of\nwedlock simply leaves the other as the case may be. In Bastar a wife\ncannot divorce her husband. A divorced woman does not break her glass\nbangles until she marries again, when new ones are given to her by\nher second husband.\n\n\n\n\n11. Religion.\n\nA large proportion of the Halbas of Chhattisgarh belong to the\nKabirpanthi sect. These are known as Kabirhas and abjure the\nconsumption of flesh and alcoholic liquor; while the others who\nindulge in these articles are known as Sakatha or Sakta, that is,\na worshipper of Devi or Durga. These latter, however, also revere\nall the village godlings of Chhattisgarh.\n\n\n\n\n12. Disposal of the dead.\n\nThe dead are always buried by the Kabirpanthis and usually by other\nHalbas, cremation being reserved by the latter as a special mark\nof respect for elders and heads of families. A dead body is wrapped\nin a new white cloth and laid on an inverted cot. The Kabirpanthis\nlay plantain leaves at the sides of the cot and over the body to\ncover it. One of the mourners carries a burning cowdung cake with the\nparty. Before burial the thread which every male wears round his waist\nis broken, the clothes are taken off the corpse and given to a sweeper,\nand the body is wrapped in the shroud and laid in the grave, salt being\nsprinkled under and over it. If the dead body should be touched by any\nperson of another caste, the deceased's family has to pay a fine or\ngive a penal caste-feast. After the interment the mourners bathe and\nreturn to the deceased's house in their wet clothes. Before entering\nit they wash their feet in water, which is kept for that purpose at\nthe door, and chew the leaves of the nim tree (Melia indica). They\nsmoke their chongis or leaf-pipes and console the deceased's family\nand then return home, washing their feet again and changing their\nclothes at their own houses. On the third day, known as Tij Nahan,\nthe male members of the family with the relatives and mourners walk\nin Indian file to a river or tank, where they are all shaved by the\nbarber, the sons of the dead man or woman having the entire head\nand face cleared of hair, while in the case of other relatives, the\nscalp-lock and moustache may be left, and the mourning friends are\nonly shaved as on ordinary occasions. For his services the barber\nreceives a cow or a substantial cash present, which he divides with\nthe washerman. The latter subsequently washes all clothes worn at the\nfuneral and on this occasion. On the Akti festival, or commencement of\nthe agricultural year, libations of water and offerings of urad [145]\ncakes are made to the spirits of ancestors. A feast is given to women\nin honour of all departed female ancestors on the ninth day of the\nPitripaksh or mourning fortnight of Kunwar (September), and feasts\nfor male ancestors may be held on the same day of the fortnight\nas that on which they died at any other time of the year. [146]\nSuch observances are practised only by the well-to-do. Nothing is\ndone for persons who die before their marriage or without children,\nunless they trouble some member of the family and appear in a dream\nto demand that these honours be paid to them. During an epidemic\nof cholera all funeral and mourning ceremonies are suspended, and a\ngeneral purification of the village takes place on its conclusion.\n\n\n\n\n13. Propitiating the spirits of those who have died a violent death.\n\nIf a person has been killed by a tiger, the people go out, and if any\nremains of the body are found, these are burnt on the spot. The Baiga\nis then invoked to bring back the spirit of the deceased, a most\nessential precaution as will shortly be seen. In order to do this\nhe suspends a copper ring on a long thread above a vessel of water\nand then burns butter and sugar on the fire, muttering incantations,\nwhile the people sing songs and call on the spirit of the dead man to\nreturn. The thread swings to and fro, and at length the copper ring\nfalls into the pot, and this is taken as a sign that the spirit has\ncome and entered the vessel. The mouth of this is immediately covered\nand it is buried or kept in some secure place. The people believe that\nunless the dead man's spirit is secured it will accompany the tiger\nand lure solitary travellers to destruction. This is done by calling\nout and offering them tobacco to smoke, and when they proceed in the\ndirection of the voice the tiger springs out and kills them. And\nthey think that a tiger directed in this manner grows fiercer and\nfiercer with every person whom it kills. When somebody has been\nkilled by a tiger the relatives will not even remove the ornaments\nfrom the corpse, for they think that these would constitute a link\nby which its spirit would cause the tiger to track them down. The\nmalevolence thus attributed to persons killed by tigers is explained\nby their bitter wrath at having encountered such an untimely death\nand consequent desire to entice others to the same.\n\n\n\n\n14. Impurity of women.\n\nDuring the monthly period of menstruation women are spoken of as 'Mund\nmaili' or having the head dirty, and are considered to be impure for\nfour or five days, for which time they sleep on the ground and not on\ncots. In Kanker they are secluded in a separate room, and forbidden\nto cook or to touch the clothes or persons of other members of the\nfamily. They must not walk on a ploughed field, nor will the men of\ntheir family drive the plough or sow seed during the time of their\nimpurity. On the fifth day they wash their heads with earth and boil\ntheir clothes in water mixed with wood ashes. Cloth stained with the\nmenstrual blood is usually buried underground; if it is burnt it is\nsupposed that the woman to whom it belonged will become barren, and\nif a barren woman should swallow the ashes of the cloth the fertility\nof its owner would be transferred to her.\n\n\n\n\n15. Childbirth.\n\nWhen pregnant women experience longings for strange kinds of food, it\nis believed that these really come from the child in the womb and must\nbe satisfied if its development is not to be retarded. Consequently\nin the fifth month of a wife's first pregnancy, or shortly before\ndelivery, her mother takes to her various kinds of rich food and feeds\nher with them. It is a common custom also for pregnant women, driven by\nperverted appetite, to eat earth of a clayey texture, or the ordinary\nblack cotton soil, or dried clay scraped off the walls of houses, or\nthe ashes of burnt cowdung cakes. This is done by low-caste women in\nmost parts of the Province, and if carried to excess leads to severe\nintestinal derangement which may prove fatal. A pregnant woman must\nnot cross a river or eat anything with a knife, and she must observe\nvarious precautions against the machinations of witches. At the time\nof delivery the woman sits on the ground and is attended by a midwife,\nwho may be a Chamar, Mahar or Ganda by caste. The navel cord is burnt\nin the lying-in room, but the after-birth, known as Phul, is usually\nburied in a rubbish pit outside the house. The portion of the cord\nattached to the child's body is also burnt when it falls off, but\nin the northern Districts it is preserved and used as a cure for the\nchild if it suffers from sore eyes. If a woman who has borne only girl\nchildren can obtain the dried navel-string of a male child and swallow\nit, they believe that she will have a son, and that the mother of the\nboy will henceforth bear only daughters. This is the reason why the\ncord is carefully secreted and not simply thrown away. In Bastar on\nthe sixth or naming day the female relatives and friends of the family\nare invited to take food at the house. The father touches the feet of\nthe child with blades of dub grass (Cynodon dactylon) steeped first\nin milk or melted butter, then in sandal-paste, and finally in water,\nand each time passes the blade over his head as a mark of respect. The\nblades of grass are afterwards thrown over the roof of the house, so\nthat they may not be trampled under foot. The women guests then bring\nleaf-cups containing rice and a few copper coins, which they offer to\nthe mother, the younger ones bowing before her with a prayer that the\nchild may grow as old as the speaker. All the women kiss the child,\nand the elder ones the mother also. The offerings of rice and coins\nare taken by the midwife.\n\n\n\n\n16. Names.\n\nThe names of the Halbas are of the ordinary type found in Chhattisgarh,\nbut at present they often add the termination Sinha or Singh in\nimitation of the Rajputs. Two names are sometimes given, one for\ndaily use and the other for comparison with that of the girl when the\nmarriage is to be arranged. As already seen, either the bride's or\nbridegroom's name may be changed to make their union auspicious. When\na daughter-in-law comes into her husband's house she is usually not\ncalled by her own name, but by some nickname or that of her home,\nas Jabalpurwali, Raipurwali (she who comes from Jabalpur or Raipur),\nand so on. Sometimes men of the caste are addressed by the name of\nthe clan or section and not by their own. A woman must not utter\nthe names of her husband, his parents or brothers, nor of the sons\nof his elder brother and his sisters. But for these last as well as\nfor her own son-in-law she may invent fictitious names. These rules\nshe observes to show her respect for her husband's relatives. A child\nmust not be called by name at night, because if an owl hears the name\nand repeats it the child will probably die. The owl is everywhere\nregarded as a bird of the most evil omen. Its hoot is unlucky, and a\nhouse in which its nest is built will be destroyed or deserted. If it\nperches on the roof of a house and hoots, some one of the family will\nprobably fall ill, or if a member of the household is already ill,\nhe or she will probably die.\n\n\n\n\n17. Social status.\n\nThe social customs of the caste present some differences. In Bastar,\nwhere they have a fairly high status, the Purait Halbas abstain from\nliquor, though they will eat the flesh of clean animals and of the\nwild pig. The Halbas of Raipur on the other hand, who are usually\nfarmservants, will eat fowls, pigs and rats, and abstain only from\nbeef and the leavings of others. In Bastar, Sunars, Kurmis and castes\nof similar position will take water from the hands of a Halba, and\nKosaria Rawats will eat all kinds of food with them. In Chhattisgarh\nthe Halbas will accept water from Telis, Kahars and other like castes,\nand will also allow any of them to become a Halba. In Chhattisgarh\nthey will take even food cooked with water from the hands of a man of\nthese castes, provided that they are not in their own villages. These\ndifferences of custom are probably due to the varying social status of\nthe caste. In Bastar they hold land and behave accordingly, while in\nChhattisgarh they are only labourers. They do not employ Brahmans for\nceremonial purposes but have their own caste priest, known as Joshi,\nwhile among the Kabirpanthis the local Mahant or Bairagi of the sect\ntakes his place.\n\n\n\n\n18. Caste panchayat.\n\nThey have a caste panchayat or committee, the headman of which is\nknown as Kursha; he has jurisdiction over ten or twenty villages,\nand is usually chosen from the Kotwar, Chanap or Naik sections. It\nis the duty of the men of these sections to scatter the sonpani or\n'water of gold' [147] as an act of purification over persons who\nhave been temporarily put out of caste for social offences. They\nare also the first to eat food with such offenders on readmission\nto social intercourse, and thereby take the sins of these persons\nupon their own heads. In order to counteract the effect of this the\npurifier usually asks three or four other men to eat with him at his\nown house, and passes on a part of his burden to them. For such duties\nhe receives a payment of money varying from four annas to a rupee and\na half. Among the offences punished with temporary exclusion from\ncaste are those of rearing the lac insect and tasar silk cocoons,\nprobably because such work involves the killing of the insects and\ncaterpillars which produce the dye and silk. In Bastar a man loses\nhis caste if he is beaten with a shoe except by a Government servant,\nand is not readmitted to it. If a man seduces a married woman and\nis beaten with a shoe by her husband he is also finally expelled\nfrom caste. But happily, Mr. Panda Baijnath remarks, shoes are very\nscarce in the State, and hence such cases do not often arise. They\nnever yoke cows to the plough as other castes do in Bastar, nor do\nthey tie up two cows with the same rope.\n\n\n\n\n19. Dress.\n\nThe dress of the Halbas, as of other Chhattisgarh castes, is scanty,\nand most of them have only a short cloth about the loins and another\nround the shoulders. They dispense with both shoes and head-cloth,\nbut every man must have a thread tied round his waist. To this thread\nin former times, Colonel Dalton remarks, the apron of leaves was not\nimprobably suspended. The women do not wear nose-rings, spangles on the\nforehead or rings on the toes; but girl children have the left nostril\npierced, and this must always be done on the full moon day of the month\nof Pus (December). A copper ring is inserted in the nostril and worn\nfor a few months, but must be removed before the girl's marriage. A\nmarried woman has a cloth over her head, and smears vermilion on\nthe parting of her hair and also on her forehead. An unmarried girl\nmay have the copper ring already mentioned, and may place a dab of\nvermilion on her forehead, but must not smear it on the parting of\nher hair. She goes bare-headed till marriage, as is the custom in\nChhattisgarh. A widow should not have vermilion on her face at all,\nnor should she use glass bangles or ornaments about the ankles. She\nmay have a string of glass beads about her neck. A woman's cloth is\nusually white with a broad red border all round it. The Gonds and\nHalbas tie the cloth round the waist and carry the slack end from the\nleft side behind up the back and over the head and right shoulder;\nwhile women of higher castes take the cloth from the right side over\nthe head and left shoulder.\n\n\n\n\n20. Tattooing.\n\nGirls are tattooed before marriage, usually at the age of four or\nfive years, with dots on the left nostril and centre of the chin, and\nthree dots in a line on the right shoulder. A girl is again tattooed\nafter marriage, but before leaving for her husband's house. On this\noccasion four pairs of parallel lines are made on the leg above the\nankle, in front, behind, and on the sides. As a rule, the legs are\nnot otherwise tattooed, nor the trunk of the body. Groups of dots,\ntriangles and lines are made on the arms, and on the left arm is\npricked a zigzag line known as the sikri or chain, the pattern of\nwhich is distinctive. Teli and Gahra (Ahir) women also have the sikri,\nbut in a slightly different form. The tattooing is done by a woman of\nthe Dewar caste, and she receives some corn and the cloth worn by the\ngirl at the time of the operation. If a child is slow in learning to\nwalk they tattoo it on the loins above the hips, and believe that this\nis efficacious. Men who suffer from rheumatism also get the affected\njoints tattooed, and are said to experience much relief. The tattooing\nacts no doubt as a blister, and may produce a temporarily beneficial\neffect. It may be compared to the bee-sting cure for rheumatism now\nadvocated in England. Tattooing is believed to enhance the beauty of\nwomen, and it is also said that the tattoo marks are the only ornament\nwhich will accompany the soul to the other world. From this belief it\nseems clear that they expect to have the same body in the after-life.\n\n\n\n\n21. Occupation.\n\nNearly all the Halbas are now engaged in agriculture as tenants and\nlabourers. Seven zamindari estates are held by members of the caste,\nsix in Bhandara and one in Chanda, and they also have some villages\nin the south of the Raipur and Drug Districts. It is probable that\nthey obtained this property in reward for military service, at the\nperiod when they were employed in the armies of the Ratanpur kings\nand of the Gond dynasty of Chanda. In the forest tracts of Dhamtari\nthey are considered the best cultivators next to the Telis, and they\nshow themselves quite able to hold their own in the open country,\nwhere their villages are usually prosperous. In Bastar they still\npractise shifting cultivation, sowing their crops on burnt-out patches\nof forest. Though hunting is not now one of their regular occupations,\nMr. Gokul Prasad describes them as catching game by the following\nmethod: Six or seven men go out together at night, tying round their\nfeet ghunghunias or two small hollow balls of brass with stones inside\nwhich tinkle as they move, such as are worn by postal runners. They\nmove in Indian file, the first man carrying a lantern and the others\nwalking behind him in its shadow. They walk with measured tread,\nand the ghunghunias give out a rhythmical harmonious sound. Hares\nand other small animals are attracted by the sound, and at the same\ntime half-blinded by the light, so that they do not see the line\nof men. They approach, and are knocked over or caught by the men\nfollowing the leader.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHalwai\n\n\nHalwai.--The occupational caste of confectioners, numbering about\n3000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911. The Halwai\ntakes his name from halwa, a sweet made of flour, clarified butter\nand sugar, coloured with saffron and flavoured with almonds,\nraisins and pistachio-nuts. [148] The caste gives no account of\nits origin in northern India, but it is clearly a functional group\ncomposed of members of respectable middle-class castes who adopted the\nprofession of sweetmeat-making. The Halwais are also called Mithaihas,\nor preparers of sweets, and in the Uriya country are known as Guria\nfrom gur or unrefined sugar. The caste has several subdivisions with\nterritorial names, generally derived from places in northern India,\nas Kanaujia from Kanauj, and Jaunpuria from Jaunpur; others are Kandu,\na grain-parcher, and Dobisya, meaning two score. One of the Guria\nsubdivisions is named Haldia from haldi, turmeric, and members of\nthis subcaste are employed to prepare the mahaprasad or cooked rice\nwhich is served at the temple of Jagannath and which is eaten by all\ncastes together without scruple. The Gurias have exogamous divisions\nor bargas, the names of which are generally functional, as Darban,\ndoor-keeper; Saraf, treasurer; Bhitarya, one who looks to household\naffairs, and others. Marriage within the barga is forbidden, but the\nunion of first cousins is not prohibited. Marriage may be infant or\nadult. A girl who has a liaison with a man of the caste may be wedded\nto him by the form used for the remarriage of a widow, but if she\ngoes wrong with an outsider she is finally expelled. Widow-marriage\nis allowed, and divorce may be effected for misconduct on the part\nof the wife.\n\nThe social standing of the Halwai is respectable. \"His art,\" says\nMr. Nesfield, [149] \"implies rather an advanced state of culture, and\nhence his rank in the social scale is a high one. There is no caste\nin India which considers itself too pure to eat what a confectioner\nhas made. In marriage banquets it is he who supplies a large part of\nthe feast, and at all times and seasons the sweetmeat is a favourite\nfood to a Hindu requiring a temporary refreshment. There is a kind\nof bread called puri, consisting of wheaten dough fried in melted\nbutter, which is taken as a substitute for the chapati or wheaten\npancake by travellers and others who happen to be unable to have\ntheir bread cooked at their own fire, and is made by the Halwais.\"\n\nThe real reason why the Halwai occupies a good position perhaps\nsimply results from the necessity that other castes should be able\nto take cakes from him. Among the higher castes food cooked with\nwater should not be eaten except at the hearth after this has been\nspecially cleansed and spread with cowdung, and those who are to\neat have bathed and otherwise purified themselves. But as the need\ncontinuously arises for travellers and others to take a meal abroad\nwhere they cannot cook it for themselves, sweetmeats and cakes made\nwithout water are permitted to be eaten in this way, and the Halwai,\nas the purveyor of these, has been given the position of a pure caste\nfrom whose hands a Brahman can take water. In a similar manner, water\nmay be taken from the hands of the Dhimar who is a household servant,\nthe Kahar or palanquin-bearer, the Barai or betel-leaf seller, and\nthe Bharbhunja or rice-parcher, although some of these castes have\na very low origin and occupy the humble position of menial servants.\n\nThe Halwai's shop is one of the most familiar in an Indian bazar,\nand in towns a whole row of them may be seen together, this\narrangement being doubtless adopted for the social convenience\nof the caste-fellows, though it might be expected to decrease the\ncustom that they receive. His wares consist of trays full of white\nand yellow-coloured sweetmeats and cakes of flour and sugar, very\nunappetising to a European eye, though Hindu boys show no lack of\nappreciation of them. The Hindus are very fond of sweet things, which\nis perhaps a common trait of an uneducated palate. Hindu children\nwill say that such sweets as chocolate almonds are too bitter, and\ntheir favourite drink, sherbet, is simply a mixture of sugar and\nwater with some flavouring, and seems scarcely calculated to quench\nthe thirst produced by an Indian hot weather. Similarly their tea is\nso sweetened with sugar and spices as to be distasteful to a European.\n\nThe ingredients of a Halwai's sweets are wheat and gram-flour,\nmilk and country sugar. Those called batashas consist merely of\nsyrup of sugar boiled with a little flour, which is taken out in\nspoonfuls and allowed to cool. They are very easy to make and are\ncommonly distributed to schoolboys on any occasion of importance,\nand are something like a meringue in composition. The kind called\nbarafi or ice is made from thick boiled milk mixed with sugar, and is\nmore expensive and considered more of a treat than batashas. Laddus\nare made from gram-flour which is mixed with water and dropped into\nboiling butter, when it hardens into lumps. These are taken out\nand dipped in syrup of sugar and allowed to cool. Pheni is a thin\nstrip of dough of fine wheat-flour fried in butter and then dipped\nin syrup of sugar. Other sweets are made from the flour of singara\nor water-nut and from chironji, the kernel of the achar [150] nut,\ncoated with sugar. Of ordinary sweets the cheaper kinds cost 8 annas\na seer of 2 lb. and the more expensive ones 10 or 12 annas. Sweets\nprepared by Bengali confectioners are considered the best of all. The\nHalwai sits on a board in his shop surrounded by wooden trays of the\ndifferent kinds of sweets. These are often covered with crowds of flies\nand in some places with a variety of formidable-looking hornets. The\nlatter do not appear to be vicious, however, and when he wishes to\ntake sweets off a tray the Halwai whisks them off with a palm-leaf\nbrush. Only if one of them gets into his cloth, or he unguardedly\npushes his hand down into a heap of sweets and encounters a hornet,\nhe may receive a sting of which the mark remains for some time. The\nbetter-class confectioners now imitate English sweets, and at fairs\nwhen they retail boiled grain and ghi they provide spoons and little\nbasins for their customers.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHatkar\n\n\n1. Derivation and historical notice.\n\nHatkar, Hatgar. [151]--A small caste of Berar, numbering about 14,000\npersons in 1911. They are found principally in the Pusad taluk of\nYeotmal District, their villages being placed like a line of outposts\nalong the Hyderabad border. The Hatkars are a branch of the Dhangar\nor shepherd caste, and in some localities they are considered as a\nsubcaste of Dhangars. The derivation of the name Hatkar is obscure,\nbut the Hatkars appear to be those Dhangars who first took to military\nservice under Sivaji and hence became a distinct group. \"Undisciplined,\noften unarmed, men of the Mawals or mountain valleys above the Ghauts\nwho were called Mawallees, and of those below the mountains towards the\nsea, called Hetkurees, joined the young leader.\" [152] The Hatkars were\nthus the soldiers of the Konkan in Sivaji's army. The Ain-i-Akbari\nstates that the Hatkars were driven westward across the Wardha by\nthe Gonds. At this time (A.D. 1600) they were holding the country\nround Basim by force of arms, and are described as a refractory and\nperfidious race. [153] \"The Hatkars of Berar are all Bargi or Bangi\nDhangars, the shepherds with the spears. They say that formerly when\ngoing on any expedition they took only a blanket seven cubits long and\na bear-spear. They would appear to have been all footmen. The Naiks\nor village headman of Basim were principally Hatkars. The duty of a\nNaik was to maintain order and stop robbery; but in time they became\nlaw-breakers and their men the dacoits of the country. Some of them\nwere very powerful, and in 1818 Nowsaji Naik's troops gave battle to\nthe Nizam's regular forces under Major Pitman before Umarkhar. He\nwas beaten and sent to Hyderabad, where he died, and the power of\nthe Naiks was broken by Major Sutherland. He hanged so many that the\nNaiks pronounce his name to this day with awe. To some of the Naiks he\ngave money and told them to settle down in certain villages. Others\nwho also came, expecting money, were at once hanged.\" [154] But it\nwould appear that only those leaders were hanged who did not come in\nbefore a certain fixed date.\n\n\n\n\n2. The Gauli Hatkar's reverence for cattle.\n\nThe Hatkars are also called Bangi Dhangars, and in Berar rank\nabove other Dhangars because they took to soldiering and obtained\ngrants of land, just as the Marathas rank above the Kunbis. Another\ngroup have given up sheep-tending and keep cattle, which is a more\nrespectable occupation on account of the sanctity of cattle, and\nthese call themselves Gauli Hatkars. These Gauli Hatkars have given\nup drinking liquor and eating fowls. They will not touch or sell the\nmilk of buffaloes and cows before sunset on Mondays, the day on which\nthey worship Krishna. If any one is in need of milk on that day they\nwill let him milk the animal himself, but will take no price for the\nmilk. On a Monday also they will not give fire from their house to\nany member of a low caste, such as a Mahar. On the day of Diwali they\nworship their cows, tying a bunch of wool to the animal's forehead and\nputting rice on it; they make a mud image of Govardhan, the mountain\nheld up by Krishna as an umbrella to protect the people from the rain,\nand then let the cows trample it to pieces with their hoofs. If a\nbullock dies with the rope halter through its nose, the owner is\nput out of caste; this rule also obtains among the Ahirs and Gaulis,\nand is perhaps responsible for the objection felt in some localities\nto putting string through the nostrils of plough- and cart-bullocks,\nthough it is the only means of obtaining any control over them.\n\n\n\n\n3. Funeral rites.\n\nFormerly the Hatkars burned the corpses only of men who died in battle\nor the chase or subsequently of their wounds, cremation being reserved\nfor this honourable end. Others were buried sitting cross-legged,\nand a small piece of gold was placed in the mouth of the corpse. Now\nthey either burn or bury the dead according to their means. Most of\nthem at the time they were soldiers never allowed the hair on their\nface to be cut.\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamous groups.\n\nThe Hatkars of Berar are said to be divided into three exogamous\nclans who apparently marry with each other, their names being Poli,\nGurdi and Muski. In the Central Provinces they have a set of exogamous\nsections with titular names of a somewhat curious nature; among them\nare Hakkya, said to be so called because their ancestor was absent\nwhen his cow gave birth to a calf; Wakmar, one who left the Pangat\nor caste feast while his fellows were eating; and Polya, one who did\nnot take off his turban at the feast.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHijra\n\n\nHijra, Khasua. [155]--The class of eunuchs, who form a separate\ncommunity, recruited by the admission of persons born with this\ndeformity or reduced to the like condition by amputation. In Saugor\nit is said that the Khasuas are natural and the Hijras artificial\neunuchs, and the Khasuas deny that they admit Hijras into their\nsociety. They may be either Hindus or Muhammadans by birth, but all\nbecome Muhammadans. Children born in the condition of eunuchs are\nusually made over to the Khasuas by their parents. The caste are\nbeggars, and also sing and dance at weddings and at the births of\nmale children, and obtain presents of grain from the cultivators\nat seedtime and harvest. They wear female clothes and ornaments and\nassume the names of women. They are admitted to mosques, but have to\nstand behind the women, and in Saugor they have their own mosque. They\nobserve Muhammadan rites and festivals generally, and are permitted\nto smoke from the huqqas of other Muhammadans. They are governed by a\ncaste panchayat or committee, which imposes fines but does not expel\nany member from the community. Each Khasua has a beat or locality\nreserved to him for begging and no other may infringe on it, violations\nof this rule being punished by the committee. Sometimes a well-to-do\nKhasua adopts an orphan and celebrates the child's marriage with as\nmuch expense and display as he can afford, and the Kazi officiates\nat the ceremony.\n\nThe Hijras form apparently a separate group, and the following\naccount of them is mainly taken from the Bombay Gazetteer. [156]\nIn Gujarat they are the emasculated male votaries of the goddess\nBouchera or Behechra, a sister of Devi. She is the spirit of a\nmartyred Charan or Bhat woman. Some Charan women were travelling\nfrom Sulkhunpur in Gujarat when they were attacked and plundered by\nKolis. One of the women, of the name of Bouchera, snatched a sword\nfrom a boy who attended her and with it cut off both her breasts. She\nimmediately perished, and was deified and worshipped as a form of\nDevi in the Chunwal. [157] The Hijras usually mutilate themselves in\nthe performance of a religious vow, sometimes taken by the mother as\na means of obtaining children, and in rare cases by the boy himself\nto obtain recovery by the favour of the goddess from a dangerous\nillness. [158] Hence it is clear that they worship Boucheraji on\nthe ground that she obtained divine honours by self-mutilation and\nshould enable her votaries to do the same. But the real reason for\nthe Charan woman cutting off her breasts was no doubt that her ghost\nmight haunt and destroy the Koli robbers, in accordance with the\nusual practice of the Charans. [159] As a further fulfilment of their\nvow the Hijras pull out the hair of their beards and moustaches,\nbore their ears and noses for female ornaments, and affect female\nspeech and manners. The meaning of the vow would appear to be that\nthe mother sacrifices her great blessing of a boy child and transforms\nhim after a fashion into a girl, at the same time devoting him to the\nservice of the goddess. Similarly, as a much milder form of the same\nidea, a mother whose sons have died will sometimes bore the nose of a\nlater-born son and put a small nose-ring in it to make believe he is\na girl. But in this case the aim is also partly to cheat the goddess\nor the evil spirits who cause the death of children, and make them\nthink the boy is a girl and therefore not worth taking.\n\nThe rite of mutilation is described by Mr. Faridi as follows: \"The\ninitiation takes place at the temple of the goddess Behechra about 60\nmiles from Ahmadabad, where the neophyte repairs under the guardianship\nor adoption of some older member of the brotherhood. The lad is called\nthe daughter of the old Hijra his guardian. The emasculation is a\nsecret rite and takes place under the direction of the chief Hijra\npriest of Behechra. It is said that the operation and initiation\nare held in a house with closed doors, where all the Hijras meet\nin holiday dress. A special dish of fried pastry is cooked, and\nthe neophyte is bathed, dressed in red female attire, decked with\nflower-garlands and seated on a stool in the middle of the room,\nwhile the others sing to the accompaniment of a small drum and copper\ncymbals. Another room is prepared for the operation, soft ashes being\nspread on the floor and piled in a heap in the centre. When the time\nfor the operation approaches, the neophyte is led to the room and\nis made to lie on his back on the ash-heap. The operator approaches\nchewing betel-leaf. The hands and legs of the neophyte are firmly\nheld by some one of the fraternity, and the operator, carelessly\nstanding near with an unconcerned air, when he finds the attention\nof his patient otherwise occupied, with great dexterity and with one\nstroke completely cuts off the genital organs. He spits betel and\nareca juice on the wound and staunches the bleeding with a handful\nof the ashes of the babul. [160] The operation is dangerous and not\nuncommonly fatal.\" Another method is to hold the organs in a cleft\nbamboo and slice them off. The Hijras are beggars like the Khasuas,\nand sometimes become very importunate. Soon after the birth of a\nchild in Gujarat the hated Hijras or eunuchs crowd round the house for\ngifts. If the demand of one of them is refused the whole rank and file\nof the local fraternity besiege the house with indecent clamour and\ngesture. Their claim to alms rests, as with other religious mendicants,\nin the sacred character which attaches to them. In Bombay there is\nalso a belief that the god Hanuman cries out once in twelve years,\nand that those men who hear him are transformed into eunuchs. [161]\nSome of them make money by allowing spectators to look at the mutilated\npart of their body, and also by the practice of pederasty.\n\nHomosexual practices are believed to be distinctly rare among Hindus,\nand not common among Muhammadans of the Central Provinces. For this the\nearly age of marriage may probably be considered a principal cause. The\nHindu sacred books, however, do not attach severe penalties to this\noffence. \"According to the Laws of Manu, a twice-born man who commits\nan unnatural offence with a male, or has intercourse with a female in\na cart drawn by oxen, in water or in the daytime, shall bathe, dressed\nin his clothes; and all these are reckoned as minor offences.\" [162]\nIn his Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas Dr. Westermarck shows\nthat, apart from the genuine cases of sexual perversion, as to the\nfrequency of which opinions differ, homosexual love frequently arises\nin three conditions of society. These are, when women are actually\nscarce, as among the Australian aborigines and other primitive races;\nwhen the men are frequently engaged in war or in predatory expeditions\nand are separated from their wives for long periods, a condition\nwhich accounts for its prevalence among the Sikhs and Pathans;\nand lastly, when women are secluded and uneducated and hence their\nsociety affords little intellectual pleasure to men. This was the\ncase in ancient Greece where women received no education and had no\nplace at the public spectacles which were the chief means of culture;\n[163] and the same reason probably accounts for the frequency of the\nvice among the Persians and modern Egyptians. \"So also it seems that\nthe ignorance and dulness of Muhammadan women, which is a result of\ntheir total lack of education and their secluded life, is a cause of\nhomosexual practices; Moors are sometimes heard to defend pederasty\non the plea that the company of boys, who have always news to tell,\nis so much more entertaining than the company of women.\" [164]\n\nThe Christian Church in this as in other respects has set a very\nhigh standard of sexual morality. Unnatural crimes were regarded with\npeculiar horror in the Middle Ages, and the punishments for them in\nEnglish law were burying and burning alive, though these were probably\nseldom or never enforced. [165] The attitude of the Church, which\nwas reflected in the civil law, was partly inherited from the Jews of\nthe Old Testament, and reinforced by similar conditions in mediaeval\nsociety. In both cases this crime was especially associated with\nthe heathen and heretics, as shown in Dr. Westermarck's interesting\naccount: [166]\n\n\"According to Genesis, unnatural vice was the sin of a people who\nwere not the Lord's people, and the Levitical legislation represents\nCanaanitish abominations as the chief reason why the Canaanites\nwere exterminated. Now we know that sodomy entered as an element in\ntheir religion. Besides kedeshoth, or female prostitutes, there were\nkedeshim or male prostitutes, attached to their temples. The word\nkadesh, translated 'Sodomite,' properly denotes a man dedicated\nto a deity; and it appears that such men were consecrated to the\nmother of the gods, the famous Dea Syria, whose priests or devotees\nthey were considered to be. The male devotees of this and other\ngoddesses were probably in a position analogous to that occupied\nby the female devotees of certain gods, who also, as we have seen,\nhave developed into libertines; and the sodomitic acts committed with\nthese temple prostitutes may, like the connections with priestesses,\nhave had in view to transfer blessings to the worshippers. In Morocco\nsupernatural benefits are expected not only from heterosexual, but\nalso from homosexual intercourse with a holy person. The kedeshim are\nfrequently alluded to in the Old Testament, especially in the period\nof the monarchy, when rites of foreign origin made their way into\nboth Israel and Judah. And it is natural that the Yahveh worshipper\nshould regard their practices with the utmost horror as forming part\nof an idolatrous cult.\n\n\"The Hebrew conception of homosexual love to some extent affected\nMuhammadanism, and passed into Christianity. The notion that it\nis a form of sacrilege was here strengthened by the habits of the\nGentiles. St. Paul found the abominations of Sodom prevalent among\nnations who had 'changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped\nand served the creature more than the creator.' During the Middle Ages\nheretics were accused of unnatural vice as a matter of course. Indeed,\nso closely was sodomy associated with heresy that the same name was\napplied to both. In La Coutume de Touraine-Anjou the word h\u00e9rite,\nwhich is the ancient form of h\u00e9r\u00e9tique, seems to be used in the\nsense of 'sodomite'; and the French bougre (from the Latin Bulgarus,\nBulgarian), as also its English synonym, was originally a name given\nto a sect of heretics who came from Bulgaria in the eleventh century\nand was afterwards applied to other heretics, but at the same time\nit became the regular expression for a person guilty of unnatural\nintercourse. In mediaeval laws sodomy was also repeatedly mentioned\ntogether with heresy, and the punishment was the same for both. It\nthus remained a religious offence of the first order. It was not only\na 'vitium nefandum et super omnia detestandum,' but it was one of\nthe four 'clamantia peccata,' or crying sins, a 'crime de Majestie,\nvers le Roy celestre.' Very naturally, therefore, it has come to be\nregarded with somewhat greater leniency by law and public opinion\nin proportion as they have emancipated themselves from theological\ndoctrines. And the fresh light which the scientific study of the sexual\nimpulse has lately thrown upon the subject of homosexuality must also\nnecessarily influence the moral ideas relating to it, in so far as no\nscrutinising judge can fail to take into account the pressure which\na powerful non-volitional desire exercises upon an agent's will.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHolia\n\n\nHolia. [167]--A low caste of drummers and leather-workers who claim\nto be degraded Golars or Telugu Ahirs, under which caste most of the\nHolias seem to have returned themselves in 1901. [168] The Holias\nrelate the following story of their origin. Once upon a time two\nbrothers, Golar by caste, set out in search of service, having with\nthem a bullock. On the way the elder brother went to worship his\ntutelary deity Holiari Deva; but while he was doing so the bullock\naccidentally died, and the ceremony could not be proceeded with until\nthe carcase was removed. Neither a Chamar nor anybody else could\nbe got to do this, so at length the younger brother was prevailed\nupon by the elder one to take away the body. When he returned,\nthe elder brother would not touch him, saying that he had lost his\ncaste. The younger brother resigned himself to his fate and called\nhimself Holu, after the god whom he had been worshipping at the time\nhe lost his caste. His descendants were named Holias. But he prayed\nto the god to avenge him for the treachery of his brother, and from\nthat moment misfortunes commenced to shower upon the Golar until he\nrepented and made what reparation he could; and in memory of this,\nwhenever a Golar dies, the Holias are feasted by the other Golars to\nthe present day. The story indicates a connection between the castes,\nand it is highly probable that the Holias are a degraded class of\nGolars who took to the trade of tanning and leather-working. When\na Holia goes to a Golar's house he must be asked to come in and sit\ndown or the Golar will be put out of caste; and when a Golar dies the\nhouse must be purified by a Holia. The caste is a very numerous one in\nMadras. Here the Holia is superior only to the Madiga or Chamar. [169]\nIn the Central Provinces they are held to be impure and to rank below\nthe Mahars, and they live on the outskirts of the village. Their caste\ncustoms resemble generally those of the Golars. They believe their\ntraditional occupation to be the playing of leathern drums, and they\nstill follow this trade, and also make slippers and leather thongs\nfor agricultural purposes. But they must not make or mend shoes on\npain of excommunication from caste. They are of middle stature, dark\nin colour, and very dirty in their person and habits. Like the Golars,\nthe Holias speak a dialect of Canarese, which is known as Golari, Holia\nor Komtau. Mr. Thurston gives the following interesting particulars\nabout the Holias: [170] \"If a man of another caste enters the house\nof a Mysore Holia, the owner takes care to tear the intruder's cloth,\nand turn him out. This will avert any evil which might have befallen\nhim. It is said that Brahmans consider great luck will wait upon them\nif they can manage to pass through a Holia village unmolested. Should\na Brahman attempt to enter their quarters, the Holias turn him out,\nand slipper him, in former times it is said to death.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nInjhwar\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste.\n\nInjhwar. [171]--A caste of agricultural labourers and fishermen found\nin the Maratha tract of the Wainganga Valley, comprised in the Bhandara\nand Balaghat Districts. In 1901 they numbered 8500 persons as against\n11,000 in 1891. The name Injhwar is simply a Marathi corruption of\nBinjhwar, as is for bis (twenty) and Ithoba for Bithoba or Vithoba. In\nhis Census Report of 1891 Sir Benjamin Robertson remarked that the\nname was often entered in the census books as Vinjhwar, and in Marathi\nB and V are practically interchangeable. The Injhwars are thus a caste\nformed from the Binjhwars or highest subdivision of the Baiga tribe of\nBalaghat; they have adopted the social customs of the Marathi-speaking\npeople among whom they live, and have been formed into a separate caste\nthrough a corruption of their name. They still worship Injha or Vindhya\nDevi, the tutelary deity of the Vindhyan hills, from which the name of\nthe Binjhwars is derived. The Injhwars have also some connection with\nthe Gowari or cowherd caste of the Maratha country. They are sometimes\nknown as Dudh-Gowari, and say that this is because an Injhwar woman was\na wet-nurse of the first-born Gowari. The Gowaris themselves, as a low\ncaste of herdsmen frequenting the jungles, would naturally be brought\ninto close connection with both the Baigas and Gonds. Their alliances\nwith the Gonds have produced the distinct caste of Gond-Gowari, and\nit is not improbable that one fact operating to separate the Injhwars\nfrom their parent tribe of the Baigas was an admixture of Gowari\nblood. But they rank higher than the Gond-Gowaris, who are regarded as\nimpure; this is probably on account of the superior position of the\nBinjhwars, who form the aristocracy of the Baiga tribe, and, living\nin the forests, were never reduced to the menial and servile condition\nimposed on the Gond residents in Hindu villages. The Injhwars, however,\nadmit the superiority of the Gowaris by taking food from their hands,\na favour which the latter will not reciprocate. Several of the sept\nor family names of the caste are also taken from the Gonds, and this\nshows an admixture of Gond blood; the Injhwars are thus probably a\nmixed group of Gonds, Gowaris, and Binjhwars or Baigas.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions.\n\nThe Injhwars have four subcastes, three of the territorial and one\nof the occupational class. These are the Lanjiwar, or those living\nround Lanji in Balaghat; the Korre, or those of the Korai hill tract\nin Seoni; the Chandewar or Maratha Injhwars who belong to Chanda, and\nare distinguished by holding their weddings only in the evening after\nthe Maratha custom, while other Injhwars will perform the ceremony at\nany time of day; and the Sonjharias, or those who have taken to washing\nfor gold in the beds of streams. Of their sept or family names some,\nas already stated, are taken from the Gonds, as Mesram, Tekam, Marai,\nUkya. [172] Three names, Bhoyar, Kawara and Kohrya (from Kohli),\nare the names of other castes or tribes, and indicate that members\nof these became Injhwars and founded families; and others are of the\nterritorial, titular and totemistic types. Among them may be mentioned\nthe Pithvalyas, from pith, flour; all families of this sept should\nsteal a little rice from somebody else's field as soon as it is ripe,\nhusband and wife making a joint expedition for the purpose. They\nmust not speak a word to each other from the time they start until\nthey have brought back the rice, pounded and cooked it, offered it\nto the god and made their meal. The Paunpats, named after the lotus,\nwill not touch the flowers or leaves of the lotus plants, or even drink\nwater from a tank in which the lotus grows. The Dobokria Rawats are so\nnamed because they make an offering of two goats to their gods. Some of\nthe septs are subdivided. Thus the Sonwani or gold-water sept, whose\nmembers readmit social culprits, is divided into the Paunpat or lotus\nSonwanis; the Gurhiwal, who revere a brass vessel tied to a bamboo on\nthe first day of the year; the Sati Sonwani, who worship the spirit\nof a sati woman ancestor; and the Mungphatia Sonwanis, whose token is\nthe broken mung pulse. At present these subsepts cannot intermarry,\nthe union of any two Sonwanis being forbidden, but it seems likely\nthat intermarriage may be permitted in the course of time.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage and other customs.\n\nThe social customs of the Injhwars resemble those of the lower Maratha\ncastes. [173] Marriage is forbidden between members of the same sept\nand first cousins, and a man should also not take a wife from the sept\nof his brother or sister-in-law. This rule prevents the marriage of\ntwo brothers to two sisters, to which there is of course no objection\non the ground of affinity. Girls are usually not married until they\nare grown up; but in places where they have been much subjected to\nHindu influences, the Injhwars will sometimes wed an adult girl to a\nbasil plant in order to avoid the stigma of keeping her in the house\nunmarried. The boy's father goes to make a proposal of marriage,\nand the girl's father, if he approves it, intimates his consent by\nwashing his visitor's feet. A bride-price of about Rs. 20 is usually\npaid, which is increased somewhat if the bridegroom is a widower, and\ndecreased if the bride has been seduced before marriage. The marriage\nis performed by throwing coloured rice over the couple. Divorce and\nthe remarriage of widows are permitted. A bachelor who marries a widow\nmust first go through the ceremony with an arka or swallow-wort plant,\nthis being considered his real marriage. The Injhwars usually bury the\ndead, and in accordance with Dravidian custom place the corpse in the\ngrave with the feet to the north. When the body is that of a young\ngirl, the face is left exposed as it is carried to the grave. The\nregular ceremonies are performed for the welfare of the deceased's\nsoul, and they try to ascertain its fate in the next incarnation by\nspreading flour on the ground overnight and looking in the morning\nfor anything resembling the foot-mark of a human being, animal or\nbird. On the festival of Akhatij and in the month of Kartik (October)\nthey offer libations to the dead, setting out a large pitcher of\nwater for a male and a small one for a female. On the former they\npaint five lines of sandalwood to represent a man's caste-mark, and\non the latter five splashes of kunku or the red powder which women\nrub on their foreheads. A burning lamp is placed before the pitchers,\nand they feed a male Mali or gardener as representative of a dead\nman and a female for a woman.\n\n\n\n\n4. Occupation and social status.\n\nThe Injhwars are generally labourers and cultivators, while the\nSonjharias wash for gold. The women of the Maratha or Chandewar\nsubcaste serve as midwives. Their social status is low, and in\nthe forest tracts they will eat snakes and crocodiles, and in fact\nalmost anything except beef. They will admit members of the Brahman,\nDhimar (waterman), Mali and Gowari castes into the community on\npayment of a premium of five to fifteen rupees and a dinner to the\ncaste-fellows. The candidate for admission, whether male or female,\nmust have his head shaved clean. Both men and women can obtain pardon\nfor a liaison with an outsider belonging to any except the most impure\ncastes by giving a feast to the community. To be beaten with a shoe\ninvolves temporary excommunication from caste, unless the striker be\na Government official, when no penalty is inflicted. If a man kills a\ncat, he is required to have an image of it made in silver, which, after\nbeing worshipped, is presented to a temple or thrown into a river.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJadam\n\n\nJadam. [174]--A branch of the well-known Yadu or Yadava sept of Rajputs\nwhich has now developed into a caste in the Nerbudda valley. Colonel\nTod describes the Yadu as the most illustrious of all the tribes\nof India, this name having been borne by the descendants of Buddha,\nprogenitor of the Lunar race. The Yadavas were the herdsmen of Mathura,\nand Krishna was born in this tribe. His son was Bharat, from whom the\nclassical name of Bharatavarsha for India is held to be derived. It is\nrelated that when Krishna was about to ascend to heaven, he reflected\nthat the Yadavas had multiplied exceedingly and would probably cause\ntrouble to the world after he had left it. So he decided to reduce\ntheir numbers, and one day he persuaded one of his companions to dress\nup as a pregnant woman in jest, and they took him to the hermitage of\nthe saint Durvasa and asked the saint to what the woman would give\nbirth. Durvasa, who was of a very irascible temper, divined that he\nwas being trifled with, and replied that a rice-pestle would be born by\nwhich the Yadavas would be destroyed. On the return of the party they\nfound to their astonishment that a pestle had actually, as it were,\nbeen born from the man. So they were alarmed at the words of the saint\nand tried to destroy the pestle by rubbing it on a stone. But as the\nsawdust of the pestle fell on the ground there sprang up from it the\nshoots of the Gondla or Elephant grass, which grows taller than the\nhead of a man on horseback. And some time afterwards a quarrel arose\namong the Yadavas, and they tore up the stalks of this grass and slew\neach other with it. Only one woman escaped, whose son was afterwards\nthe King of Mathura and the ancestor of the existing tribe. Another\nbody, however, with whom was Krishna, fled to Gujarat, and on the\ncoast there built the great temple of Dwarka, in the place known\nas Jagat Khant, or the World's End. The story has some resemblance\nto that of the sowing of the dragon's teeth by Cadmus at Thebes. The\nprincipal branches of the Yadavas are the Yaduvansi chiefs of Karauli,\nin Rajputana, and the Bhatti chiefs of Jaisalmer. The Jadams of\nHoshangabad say that they immigrated from Karauli State about 700\nyears ago, having come to the country on a foray for plunder and\nafterwards settled here. They have now developed into a caste, marrying\namong themselves. In Hoshangabad the caste has two subdivisions,\nthe Kachhotia who belong principally to the Sohagpur tahsil, and the\nAdhodias who live in Seoni and Harda. These two groups are endogamous\nand do not marry with each other. The Kachhotia are the offspring of\nirregular unions and are looked down upon by the others. They say that\nthey have fifty-two exogamous groups or sections, but this number is\nused locally as an expression of indefinite magnitude. All the sections\nappear to be named after villages where their ancestors once lived,\nbut the preference for totemism has led some of the groups to connect\ntheir names with natural objects. Thus the designation of the Semaria\nsection may be held to be derived from a village of that name, both\non account of its form, and because the other known section-names are\ntaken from villages. But the Semaria Jadams have adopted the semar\nor cotton-tree as their totem and pay reverence to this. [175]\n\nInfant-marriage is favoured in the caste, and polygamy is also\nprevalent. This is often the case among the agricultural castes,\nwhere a man will marry several wives in order to obtain their\nassistance in his cultivation, a wife being a more industrious\nand reliable worker than a hired servant. No penalty is, however,\nimposed for allowing a girl to reach adolescence before marriage, and\nthis not infrequently happens. If a girl becomes with child through\na man of the caste she is united to him by a simple rite known as\ngunda, in which she merely gives him a ring or throws a garland\nof flowers over his neck. A caste feast is also exacted, and the\ncouple are then considered to be married. The remarriage of widows is\npermitted, but it is known by the opprobrious name of Kukar-gauna or\n'dog-marriage,' signifying that it is held to be little or no better\nthan a simple illicit connection. Divorce is also somewhat common in\nthe caste, notwithstanding that the person who occupies the position\nof co-respondent must repay to the husband the expenses incurred by\nhim on the marriage ceremony. Some women are known to have had ten\nor twelve husbands.\n\nThe Jadams are proprietors, tenants and labourers, and are reckoned to\nbe efficient cultivators; they plough with their own hands and allow\ntheir women to work in the fields. They will also eat food cooked\nwith water in the field, which is against the practice of the higher\ncastes. They eat flesh, including that of the wild pig, and fish,\nbut abstain from liquor, and will take food cooked with water only\nfrom Jijhotia or Sanadhya Brahmans who are their family priests. A\nBrahman will take water from the hands of a Jadam in a metal, but not\nin an earthen, vessel. Boys are invested with the sacred thread at the\ntime of their wedding, a common practice among the higher agricultural\ncastes, and one pointing to the hypothesis suggested in the article on\nGurao that the investiture with the sacred thread was in its origin\na rite of puberty. The women wear a peculiar dress know as sawang,\nconsisting of a small skirt of about six feet of cloth and a long\nbody-cloth wrapped round the waist and over the shoulders. They also\nhave larger spangles on the forehead than other women. The women\nof the caste are emancipated to an unusual degree, and it is stated\nthat they commonly accompany their husbands to market for shopping,\nto prevent them from being cheated. Dr. Hunter describes the Jadam as\na brave soldier, but a bad agriculturist; but in the Central Provinces\nhis courage is rated less highly, and a proverb quoted about him is:\n'Patta khatka, Jadam satka,' or 'The Jadam trembles at the rustle of\na leaf.'\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJadua\n\n\nJadua-, Jaduah-Brahman. [176]--This is the name of a class of\nswindlers, who make money by pretending to turn other metals\ninto gold or finding buried treasure. They are believed to have\noriginated from the caste of Bhadris or Jyotishis, the astrologers\nof western India. The Jyotishi or Joshi astrologers are probably an\noffshoot of the Brahman caste. The name Jadua is derived from jadu,\nmagic. The Bhadris or Jyotishis were in former times, Mr. Knyvett\nwrites, attached to the courts of all important rajas in western\nIndia, where they told fortunes and prophesied future events from\ntheir computations of the stars, often obtaining great influence and\nbeing consulted as oracles. Readers of Quentin Durward will not need\nto be reminded that an exactly similar state of things obtained in\nEurope. And both the European and Indian astrologers were continually\nsearching for the philosopher's stone and endeavouring by the practice\nof alchemy to discover the secret of changing silver and other metals\ninto gold. It is easy to understand how the more dishonest members\nof the community would come to make a livelihood by the pretence\nof being possessed of this power. The Jaduas belong principally to\nBihar, and Mr. Knyvett's account of them is based on inquiries in that\nProvince. But it is probable that, like the Bhadris, travelling parties\nof Jaduas occasionally visit the Central Provinces. Their method of\nprocedure is somewhat as follows. They start out in parties of three\nor four and make inquiries for the whereabouts of some likely dupe,\nin the shape of an ignorant and superstitious person possessed of\nproperty. Sometimes they settle temporarily in a village and open a\nsmall grain-shop in order to facilitate their search. When the victim\nhas been selected one of them proceeds to his village in the disguise\nof a Sadhu or anchorite, being usually accompanied by another as\nhis chela or disciple. Soon afterwards the others come, one of them\nperhaps posing as a considerable landholder, and go about inquiring\nif a very holy Brahman has been seen. They go to the house of their\nintended dupe, who naturally asks why they are seeking the Brahman;\nthey reply that they have come to do homage to him as he had turned\ntheir silver and brass ornaments into gold. The dupe at once goes with\nthem in search of the Brahman, and is greatly impressed by seeing the\nlandholder worship him with profound respect and make him presents of\ncloth, money and cattle. He at once falls into the trap and says that\nhe too has a quantity of silver which he would like to have turned\ninto gold. The Brahman pretends reluctance, but eventually yields to\nthe dupe's entreaties and allows himself to be led to the latter's\nhouse, where with his chela he takes up his quarters in an inner room,\ndark and with a mud floor. A variety of tricks are now resorted to,\nto impress the dupe with the magic powers of the swindlers. Sometimes\nhe is directed to place a rupee on his forehead and go to the door\nand look at the sun for five minutes, being assured that when he\nreturns the Brahman will have disappeared by magic. Having looked at\nthe sun for five minutes he can naturally see nothing on returning to\na dark room and expresses wonder at the Brahman's disappearance and\ngradual reappearance as his eyes get accustomed to the darkness. Or\nif the trick to be practised is the production of buried treasure,\na rupee may be buried in the ground and after various incantations\ntwo rupees are produced from the same spot by sleight of hand. Or\nby some trickery the victim is shown the mouth of an earthen vessel\ncontaining silver or gold coins in a hole dug in the ground. He is\ntold that the treasure cannot be obtained until more treasure has\nbeen added to it and religious rites have been performed. Sometimes\nthe victim is made to visit a secluded spot, where he is informed that\nafter repeating certain incantations Sivaji will appear before him. A\nconfederate, dressed in tinsel and paint, appears before the victim\nposing as Sivaji, and informs him that there is treasure buried in\nhis house, and it is only necessary to follow the instructions of the\nholy Brahman in order to obtain it. The silver ornaments, all that\ncan be collected, are then made over to the Brahman, who pretends to\ntie them in a cloth or place them in an earthen pot and bury them in\nthe floor of the room. If buried treasure is to be found the Brahman\nexplains that it is first necessary to bury more treasure in order\nto obtain it, and if the ornaments are to be turned into gold they\nare buried for the purpose of transmutation. During the process the\nvictim is induced on some pretence to leave the room or cover himself\nwith a sheet, when a bundle containing mud or stones is substituted\nfor the treasure. The Brahman calls for ghi, oil and incense, and\nlights a fire over the place where the ornaments are supposed to be\nburied, bidding his victim watch over it for some hours or days until\nhis return. The Brahman and his disciple, with the silver concealed\nabout them, then leave the house, join their confederates and make\ntheir escape. The duped villager patiently watches the fire until he\nbecomes tired of waiting for the Brahman's return, when he digs up\nthe earth and finds nothing in the cloth but stones and rubbish.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJangam\n\n\nJangam, Jangama.--A Sivite order of wandering religious mendicants. The\nJangams are the priests or gurus of the Sivite sect of Lingayats. They\nnumbered 3500 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911,\nand frequent the Maratha country. The Jangam is said to be so\ncalled because he wears a movable emblem of Siva (jana gama, to\ncome and go) in contradistinction to the Sthawar or fixed emblems\nfound in temples. The Jangams discard many of the modern phases of\nHinduism. They reject the poems in honour of Vishnu, Rama and Krishna,\nsuch as the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana; they also deny the authority\nof Brahmans, the efficacy of pilgrimage and self-mortification, and\nthe restrictions of caste; while they revere principally the Vedas and\nthe teaching of the great Sivite reformer Shankar Acharya. [177] Like\nother religious orders, the Jangams have now become a caste, and are\ndivided into two groups of celibate and married members. The Gharbaris\n(married members) celebrate their weddings in the usual Maratha\nfashion, except that they perform no hom or fire sacrifice. They\npermit the remarriage of widows. The Jangams wear ochre-coloured or\nbadami clothes and long necklaces of seeds called rudraksha [178]\nbeads, which resemble a nutmeg in size, in colour and nearly in shape;\nthey besmear their forehead, arms and various other parts of the body\nwith cowdung ashes. They wear the lingam or phallic sign of Siva\neither about the neck or loins in a little casket of gold, silver,\ncopper or brass. As the lingam is supposed to represent the god and\nto be eternal, they are buried and not burnt after death, because\nthe lingam must be buried with them and must not be destroyed in the\nfire. If any Jangam loses the lingam he or she must not eat or drink\nuntil it has been replaced by the guru or spiritual preceptor. It\nmust be worshipped thrice a day, and ashes and bel [179] leaves are\noffered to it, besides food when the owner is about to partake of this\nhimself. The Jangams worship no deity other than Siva or Mahadeo, and\ntheir great festival is the Shivratri. Some of them make pilgrimages\nto Pachmarhi, to the Mahadeo hills. Most of them subsist by begging\nand singing songs in praise of Mahadeo. Grant-Duff gives the Jangam as\none of the twenty-four village servants in a Maratha village, perhaps\nas the priest of the local shrine of Siva, or as the caste priest\nof the Lingayats, who are numerous in some Districts of Bombay. He\ncarries a wallet over the shoulder and a conch-shell and bell in the\nhand. On approaching the door of a house he rings his bell to bring\nout the occupant, and having received alms proceeds on his way,\nblowing his conch-shell, which is supposed to be a propitious act\nfor the alms-giver, and to ensure his safe passage to heaven. The\nwallet is meant to hold the grain given to him, and on returning\nhome he never empties it completely, but leaves a little grain in\nit as its own share. The Jangams are strict vegetarians, and take\nfood only from the hands of Lingayats. They bless their food before\neating it and always finish it completely, and afterwards wash the\ndish with water and drink down the water. When a child is born, the\npriest is sent for and his feet are washed with water in a brass\ntray. The water is then rubbed over the bodies of those present,\nand a few drops sprinkled on the walls of the house as a ceremony\nof purification. The priest's great toes are then washed in a cup\nof water, and he dips the lingam he wears into this, and then sips\na few drops of the water, each person present doing the same. This\nis called karuna or sanctification. He then dips a new lingam into\nthe holy water, and ties it round the child's neck for a minute or\ntwo, afterwards handing it to the mother to be kept till the child\nis old enough to wear it. The dead are buried in a sitting posture,\nthe lingam being placed in the palm of the hand. On the third day a\nclay image of Mahadeo is carried to the grave, and food and flowers\nare offered to it, as well as any intoxicants to which the deceased\nperson may have been addicted. The following notice of the Jangams\nmore than a century ago may be quoted from the Abb\u00e9 Dubois, though the\ncustom described does not, so far as is known, prevail at present,\nat least in the Central Provinces: [180] \"The gurus or priests of\nSiva, who are known in the Western Provinces by the name of Jangams,\nare for the most part celibates. They have a custom which is peculiar\nto themselves, and curious enough to be worth remarking. When a guru\ntravels about his district he lodges with some member of the sect,\nand the members contend among themselves for the honour of receiving\nhim. When he has selected the house he wishes to stay in, the master\nand all the other male inmates are obliged, out of respect for him,\nto leave it and go and stay elsewhere. The holy man remains there day\nand night with only the women of the house, whom he keeps to wait on\nhim and cook for him, without creating any scandal or exciting the\njealousy of the husbands. All the same, some scandal-mongers have\nremarked that the Jangams always take care to choose a house where\nthe women are young.\" The Jangams are not given to austerities,\nand go about well clad.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJAT\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Theories of the origin of the caste.\n 2. Sir D. Ibbetson's description of the caste.\n 3. Are the Jats and Rajputs distinct?\n 4. The position of the Jat in the Punjab.\n 5. Social status of the Jats.\n 6. Brahmanical legend of origin.\n 7. The Jats in the Central Provinces.\n 8. Marriage customs.\n 9. Funeral rites.\n 10. The Paida ceremony.\n 11. Customs at birth.\n 12. Religion.\n 13. Social customs.\n 14. Occupation.\n\n\n\n\n1. Theories of the origin of the caste.\n\nJat. [181]--The representative cultivating caste of the Punjab,\ncorresponding to the Kurmi of Hindustan, the Kunbi of the Deccan,\nand the Kapu of Telingana. In the Central Provinces 10,000 Jats were\nreturned in 1911, of whom 5000 belonged to Hoshangabad and the bulk of\nthe remainder to Narsinghpur, Saugor and Jubbulpore. The origin of the\nJat caste has been the subject of much discussion. Sir D. Ibbetson\nstated some of the theories as follows: [182] \"Suffice it to say\nthat both General Cunningham and Major Tod agree in considering the\nJats to be of Indo-Scythian stock. The former identifies them with\nthe Zanthii of Strabo and the Jatii of Pliny and Ptolemy; and holds\nthat they probably entered the Punjab from their home on the Oxus\nvery shortly after the Meds or Mands, who also were Indo-Scythians,\nand who moved into the Punjab about a century before Christ.... Major\nTod classes the Jats as one of the great Rajput tribes, and extends\nhis identification with the Getae to both races; but here General\nCunningham differs, holding the Rajputs to belong to the original Aryan\nstock, and the Jats to a later wave of immigrants from the north-west,\nprobably of Scythian race.\" It is highly probable that the Jats may\ndate their settlement in the Punjab from one of the three Scythian\ninroads mentioned by Mr. V. A. Smith, [183] but I do not know that\nthere is as yet considered to be adequate evidence to identify them\nwith any particular one.\n\nThe following curious passage from the Mahabharata would appear to\nrefer to the Jats: [184]\n\n\"An old and excellent Brahman reviling the countries Bahika and\nMadra in the dwelling of Dhritarashtra, related facts long known, and\nthus described those nations. External to the Himavan, and beyond the\nGanges, beyond the Sarasvati and Yamuna rivers and Kurukshetra, between\nfive rivers, and the Sindhu as the sixth, are situated the Bahikas,\ndevoid of ritual or observance, and therefore to be shunned. Their\nfigtree is named Govardhana (i.e. the place of cow-killing); their\nmarket-place is Subhadram (the place of vending liquor: at least so\nsay the commentators), and these give titles to the doorway of the\nroyal palace. A business of great importance compelled me to dwell\namongst the Bahikas, and their customs are therefore well known to\nme. The chief city is called Shakala, and the river Apaga. The people\nare also named Jarttikas; and their customs are shameful. They drink\nspirits made from sugar and grain, and eat meat seasoned with garlic;\nand live on flesh and wine: their women intoxicated appear in public\nplaces, with no other garb than garlands and perfumes, dancing and\nsinging, and vociferating indecencies in tones more harsh than those of\nthe camel or the ass; they indulge in promiscuous intercourse and are\nunder no restraint. They clothe themselves in skins and blankets, and\nsound the cymbal and drum and conch, and cry aloud with hoarse voices:\n'We will hasten to delight, in thick forests and in pleasant places;\nwe will feast and sport; and gathering on the highways spring upon the\ntravellers, and spoil and scourge them!' In Shakala, a female demon\n(a Rakshasi) on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight sings aloud:\n'I will feast on the flesh of kine, and quaff the inebriating spirit\nattended by fair and graceful females.' The Sudra-like Bahikas have no\ninstitutes nor sacrifices; and neither deities, manes, nor Brahmans\naccept their offerings. They eat out of wooden or earthen plates,\nnor heed their being smeared with wine or viands, or licked by dogs,\nand they use equally in its various preparations the milk of ewes,\nof camels and of asses. Who that has drunk milk in the city Yugandhara\ncan hope to enter Svarga? Bahi and Hika were the names of two fiends\nin the Vipasha river; the Bahikas are their descendants and not of\nthe creation of Brahma. Some say the Arattas are the name of the\npeople and Bahika of the waters. The Vedas are not known there,\nnor oblation, nor sacrifice, and the gods will not partake of their\nfood. The Prasthalas (perhaps borderers), Madras, Gandharas, Arattas,\nKhashas, Vasas, Atisindhus (or those beyond the Indus), Sauviras, are\nall equally infamous. There one who is by birth a Brahman, becomes a\nKshatriya, or a Vaishya, or a Sudra, or a Barber, and having been a\nbarber becomes a Brahman again. A virtuous woman was once violated by\nAratta ruffians, and she cursed the race, and their women have ever\nsince been unchaste. On this account their heirs are their sisters'\nchildren, not their own. All countries have their laws and gods:\nthe Yavanas are wise, and preeminently brave; the Mlechchas observe\ntheir own ritual, but the Madrakas are worthless. Madra is the ordure\nof the earth: it is the region of inebriety, unchastity, robbery,\nand murder: fie on the Panchanada people! fie on the Aratta race!\"\n\nIn the above account the country referred to is clearly the Punjab,\nfrom the mention of the five rivers and the Indus. The people are\ncalled Bahika or Jarttika, and would therefore seem to be the Jats. And\nthe account would appear to refer to a period when they were newly\nsettled in the Punjab and had not come under Hindu influence. But\nat the same time the Aryans or Hindus had passed through the Punjab\nand were settled in Hindustan. And it would therefore seem to be a\nnecessary inference that the Jats were comparatively late immigrants,\nand were one of the tribes who invaded India between the second\ncentury B.C. and the fifth century A.D. as suggested above.\n\n\n\n\n2. Sir D. Ibbetson's description of the caste.\n\nSir D. Ibbetson held that the Jats and Rajputs must be, to some\nextent at least, of the same blood. Though the Jats are represented\nin the Central Provinces only by a small body of immigrants it will\nbe permissible to quote the following passages from his admirable\nand classical account of the caste: [185]\n\n\"It may be that the original Rajput and the original Jat entered\nIndia at different periods in its history, though to my mind the term\nRajput is an occupational rather than an ethnological expression. But\nif they do originally represent two separate waves of immigration,\nit is at least exceedingly probable, both from their almost identical\nphysique and facial character and from the close communion which has\nalways existed between them, that they belong to one and the same\nethnic stock; while, whether this be so or not, it is almost certain\nthat they have been for many centuries and still are so intermingled\nand so blended into one people that it is practically impossible to\ndistinguish them as separate wholes. It is indeed more than probable\nthat the process of fusion has not ended here, and that the people\nwho thus in the main resulted from the blending of the Jat and the\nRajput, if these two were ever distinct, is by no means free from\nforeign elements....\n\n\n\n\n3. Are the Jats and Rajputs distinct?\n\n\"But whether Jats and Rajputs were or were not originally distinct,\nand whatever aboriginal elements may have been affiliated to their\nsociety, I think that the two now form a common stock, the distinction\nbetween Jat and Rajput being social rather than ethnic. I believe\nthat those families of that common stock whom the tide of fortune\nhas raised to political importance have become Rajputs almost by\nmere virtue of their rise; and that their descendants have retained\nthe title and its privileges on the condition, strictly enforced, of\nobserving the rules by which the higher are distinguished from the\nlower castes in the Hindu scale of precedence; of preserving their\npurity of blood by refusing to marry with families of inferior social\nrank, of rigidly abstaining from widow-marriage, and of refraining\nfrom degrading occupations. Those who transgressed these rules have\nfallen from their high position and ceased to be Rajputs; while\nsuch families as, attaining a dominant position in their territory,\nbegan to affect social exclusiveness and to observe the rules, have\nbecome not only Rajas but also Rajputs or sons of Rajas. For the last\nseven centuries at least the process of elevation has been almost at\na standstill. Under the Delhi Emperors king-making was practically\nimpossible. Under the Sikhs the Rajput was overshadowed by the Jat,\nwho resented his assumption of superiority and his refusal to join him\non equal terms in the ranks of the Khalsa, deliberately persecuted him\nwherever and whenever he had the power, and preferred his title of Jat\nSikh to that of the proudest Rajput. On the frontier the dominance\nof Pathans and Biloches and the general prevalence of Muhammadan\nfeelings and ideas placed recent Indian origin at a discount, and\nled the leading families who belonged to neither of these two races\nto claim connection not with the Kshatriyas of the Sanskrit classics\nbut with the Mughal conquerors of India or the Qureshi cousins of\nthe Prophet; in so much that even admittedly Rajput tribes of famous\nancestry, such as the Khokha, have begun to follow the example. But\nin the hills, where Rajput dynasties, with genealogies perhaps more\nancient and unbroken than can be shown by any other royal families\nin the world, retained their independence till yesterday, and where\nmany of them still enjoy as great social authority as ever, the twin\nprocesses of degradation from and elevation to Rajput rank are still\nto be seen in operation. The Raja is there the fountain not only of\nhonour but also of caste, which is the same thing in India....\n\n\n\n\n4. The position of the Jat in the Punjab.\n\n\"The Jat is in every respect the most important of the Punjab\npeoples. In point of numbers he surpasses the Rajput, who comes next\nto him, in the proportion of nearly three to one; while the two\ntogether constitute twenty-seven per cent of the whole population\nof the Province. Politically he ruled the Punjab till the Khalsa\nyielded to our arms. Ethnologically he is the peculiar and most\nprominent product of the plain of the five rivers. And from an\neconomical and administrative point of view he is the husbandman,\nthe peasant, the revenue-payer par excellence of the Province. His\nmanners do not bear the impress of generations of wild freedom which\nmarks the races of our frontier mountains. But he is more honest,\nmore industrious, more sturdy, and no less manly than they. Sturdy\nindependence indeed and patient, vigorous labour are his strongest\ncharacteristics. The Jat is of all Punjab races the most impatient\nof tribal or communal control, and the one which asserts the freedom\nof the individual most strongly. In tracts where, as in Rohtak,\nthe Jat tribes have the field to themselves, and are compelled,\nin default of rival castes as enemies, to fall back upon each other\nfor somebody to quarrel with, the tribal ties are strong. But as a\nrule a Jat is a man who does what seems right in his own eyes and\nsometimes what seems wrong also, and will not be said nay by any\nman. I do not mean, however, that he is turbulent; as a rule he is\nvery far from being so. He is independent and he is self-willed; but\nhe is reasonable, peaceably inclined if left alone, and not difficult\nto manage. He is usually content to cultivate his fields and pay\nhis revenue in peace and quietness if people will let him do so;\nthough when he does go wrong he takes to anything from gambling to\nmurder, with perhaps a preference for stealing other people's wives\nand cattle. As usual the proverbial wisdom of the villages describes\nhim very fairly though perhaps somewhat too severely: 'The soil,\nfodder, clothes, hemp, grass-fibre, and silk, these six are best\nbeaten; and the seventh is the Jat.' 'A Jat, a Bhat, a caterpillar,\nand a widow woman; these four are best hungry. If they eat their fill\nthey do harm.' 'The Jat, like a wound, is better when bound.' In\nagriculture the Jat is pre-eminent. The market-gardening castes,\nthe Arain, the Mali, the Saini are perhaps more skilful cultivators\non a small scale; but they cannot rival the Jat as landowners and\nyeoman cultivators. The Jat calls himself zamindar or 'husbandman' as\noften as Jat, and his women and children alike work with him in the\nfields: 'The Jat's baby has a plough-handle for a plaything.' 'The\nJat stood on his corn heap and said to the king's elephant-drivers,\nWill you sell those little donkeys?' Socially the Jat occupies a\nposition which is shared by the Ror, the Gujar, and the Ahir, all\nfour eating and smoking together. He is, of course, far below the\nRajput, from the simple fact that he practises widow-marriage. The\nJat father is made to say in the rhyming proverbs of the countryside,\n'Come, my daughter, and be married; if this husband dies there are\nplenty more.' But among the widow-marrying castes he stands first. The\nBania with his sacred thread, his strict Hinduism, and his twice-born\nstanding, looks down on the Jat as a Sudra. But the Jat looks down\nupon the Bania as a cowardly, spiritless money-grubber, and society\nin general agrees with the Jat. The Khatri, who is far superior to\nthe Bania in manliness and vigour, probably takes precedence of the\nJat. But among the races or tribes of purely Hindu origin, I think that\nthe Jat stands next after the Brahman, the Rajput, and the Khatri.\"\n\n\n\n\n5. Social status of the Jats.\n\nThe above account clearly indicates the social position of the\nJat. His is the highest caste except the aristocracy consisting\nof the Brahmans and Rajputs, the Khatris who are derived from the\nRajputs, and the Banias who are recognised as ranking not much\nbelow the Rajputs. The derivation of some of the Rajput clans from\nthe Jats seems highly probable, and is confirmed by other instances\nof aristocratic selection in such castes as the Marathas and Kunbis,\nthe Raj-Gonds and Gonds, and so on. If, however, the Rajputs are a Jat\naristocracy, it is clear that the Jats were not the Sudras, who are\ndescribed as wholly debased and impure in the Hindu classics; and the\npresent application of the term Sudra to them is a misnomer arising\nfrom modern errors in classification by the Hindus themselves. The\nJats, if Sir D. Ibbetson's account be accepted, must have been the\nmain body of the invading host, whether Aryan or Scythian, of whom\nthe Rajputs were the leaders. They settled on the land and formed\nvillage communities, and the status of the Jat at present appears to\nbe that of a member of the village community and part-holder of its\nland. A slightly undue importance may perhaps have been given in the\nabove passage to the practice of widow-marriage as determining the\nposition of a great caste like the Jats. Some Rajputs, Kayasths and\nBanias permit widow-marriage, and considerable sections of all these\ncastes, and Brahmans also, permit the practice of keeping widows,\nwhich, though not called a marriage, does not differ very widely from\nit. The Jat probably finds his women too valuable as assistants in\ncultivation to make a pretence at the abolition of widow-marriage in\norder to improve his social status as some other castes do. The Jat,\nof course, ranks as what is commonly called a pure caste, in that\nBrahmans take water to drink from him. But his status does not depend\non this, because Brahmans take water from such menials as barbers,\nKahars or bearers, Baris or household servants, and so on, who rank\nfar below the Jat, and also from the Malis and other gardening castes\nwho are appreciably below him. The Jat is equal to the Gujar and Ahir\nso far as social purity is concerned, but still above them, because\nthey are graziers and vagrants, while he is a settled cultivator. It\nis from this fact that his status is perhaps mainly derived; and\nhis leading characteristics, his independence, self-sufficiency,\ndoggedness, and industry, are those generally recognised as typical\nof the peasant proprietor. But the Jat, in the Punjab at any rate,\nhas also a higher status than the principal cultivating castes of\nother provinces, the Kurmi and the Kunbi. And this may perhaps be\nexplained by his purer foreign descent, and also by the fact that\nboth as Jat and as Sikh his caste has been a military and dominant\none in history and has furnished princes and heads of states.\n\n\n\n\n6. Brahmanical legend of origin.\n\nThe Jats themselves relate the following Brahmanical legend of\ntheir origin. On one occasion when Himachal or Daksha Raja, the\nfather-in-law of Mahadeo, was performing a great sacrifice, he\ninvited all the gods to be present except his son-in-law Mahadeo\n(Siva). The latter's wife Parvati was, however, very anxious to go,\nso she asked Mahadeo to let her attend, even though she had not been\ninvited. Mahadeo was unwilling to do this, but finally consented. But\nDaksha treated Parvati with great want of respect at the sacrifice,\nso she came home and told Mahadeo about him. When Mahadeo heard this\nhe was filled with wrath, and untying his matted hair (jata) dashed\nit on the ground, when two powerful beings arose from it. He sent\nthem to destroy Daksha's sacrifice and they went and destroyed it,\nand from these were descended the race of the Jats, and they take\ntheir name from the matted locks (jata) of the lord Mahadeo. Another\nsaying of the caste is that \"The ancestor of the Rajputs was Kashyap\n[186] and of the Jats Siva. In the beginning these were the only two\nraces of India.\"\n\n\n\n\n7. The Jats in the Central Provinces.\n\nNo detailed description of the Jats need be attempted here, but\nsome information which has been obtained on their customs in this\nProvince may be recorded. They entered the Hoshangabad District,\nSir C. Elliot states, [187] in the eighteenth century, and came\noriginally from Bharatpur (Bhurtpur), but halted in Marwar on the\nway. \"They are the best cultivators in the District after the Pardeshi\nKurmis, and though they confine themselves to ordinary crops they\nare very laborious, and the tilth of their fields is pleasant to look\non.\" For the purposes of marriage the caste is divided into exogamous\nsections in the usual manner. The bulk of the section-names cannot be\nexplained, being probably corrupted forms of the names of villages,\nbut it is noticeable that several pairs of them are considered to be\nrelated so that their members cannot intermarry. Thus no marriages\ncan take place between the Golia and Gwalwa, the Choyala and Sarana,\nthe Bhukar and Bhari, and the Lathial and Lalar sections, as each\npair is considered to be descended from a common ancestor.\n\n\n\n\n8. Marriage customs.\n\nA man may not take a wife either from his own section or that of\nhis mother or his grandmother, nor from those of the husbands of his\nfather's sisters. For a Jat wedding a square enclosure is marked out\nwith pegs, and a thread is wound seven times round the pegs touching\nthe ground, and covered over with rice or wheat so that it may not\nbe burnt. The enclosure is known as Chaonri, and inside it the hom\nor fire sacrifice is performed with butter, barley, sesamum, sugar\nand saffron placed on the top of a heap of wheat-flour. After the\nsacrifice the bride and bridegroom walk seven times round the Chaonri\nwith their right hands inwards. After this tufts of cotton are thrown\nover the bodies of the bridegroom and bride and they have to pick\nit off each other, the one who finishes first being considered the\nwinner. This is apparently a symbolical imitation of the agricultural\noperation of cotton-picking. The remarriage of widows is permitted,\nthe ceremony being usually performed on a Saturday. A bachelor\nwho is to marry a widow must first walk seven times round a pipal\ntree. Contrary to the usual custom, a widow is forbidden to espouse\nher deceased husband's younger brother or any of his relations within\nthree degrees of consanguinity.\n\n\n\n\n9. Funeral rites.\n\nThe dead are burnt, with the exception of children under seven\nwhose bodies are buried. After the death of a married man his\nwidow walks round his body seven times with her left hand inwards,\nor in the reverse direction to the perambulation of the Chaonri at\nmarriage. This ceremony is therefore, as it were, a sort of undoing\nof the marriage. The women wear lac or ivory bangles, and the widow\nbreaks a few of these when the corpse of her husband is lifted up to be\ncarried outside the house. She breaks the remaining ones on the twelfth\nday after the death and throws them on the chulha or earthen hearth.\n\n\n\n\n10. The Paida ceremony.\n\nAn important occasion for display among the Jats is known as the Paida\nceremony. This is sometimes performed by wealthy families when the head\nof the household or his wife dies or a daughter is married. They get\na long pole of teakwood and plant it in the ground so that it stands\nsome forty feet high. Before being raised the pole is worshipped with\nofferings of milk; a cart-wheel is tied to the upper end and it is\nthen pulled erect with ropes, and if any difficulty is experienced\nthe celebrant believes himself to be in fault and gives away some\ncows in charity. On the axle of the cart-wheel is secured a brass pot\ncalled kaseri, containing wheat and money, with a cloth tied over the\nmouth. The pole is left standing for three days, and during this time\nthe celebrant feasts the Bhats or genealogists of the caste and all\nthe caste-fellows from his own and the surrounding villages. If the\noccasion of the ceremony be a death, male and female calves are taken\nand their marriage is performed; oil and turmeric are rubbed on their\nbodies, and they are led seven times round the high pole. The heifer\nis then given to a Brahman, and the male, being first branded on one\nflank with a figure of a trident and on the other with a representation\nof the sun and moon, is set at liberty for life, and no Hindu will\ninjure it. This last practice is, however, falling into desuetude,\nowing to the injury which such animals inflict on the crops. A\nJat who performs the Paida ceremony obtains great consideration in\nthe community, and his opinion is given weight in caste disputes. A\nsimilar liberality is observed in other ways by wealthy men; thus one\nrich proprietor in Hoshangabad, whose son was to be married, gave a\nfeast to all the residents of every village through which the wedding\nprocession passed on its way to the bride's house. Another presented\neach of his wedding guests with new cloth to the value of ten or\ntwelve rupees, and as in the case of a prominent family the number\nof guests may be a thousand or more, the cost of such liberality can\nbe easily realised. Similarly Colonel Tod states that on the occasion\nof their weddings the Jats of Bikaner even blocked up the highways to\nobtain visitors, whose numbers formed the measure of the liberality\nand munificence of the donor of the f\u00eate. Indeed, the desire for the\nsocial distinction which accrues to generous hosts on such occasions\nhas proved to be the undoing of many a once notable family.\n\n\n\n\n11. Customs at birth.\n\nIf a woman is barren, she is taken to the meeting of the boundaries\nof three villages and bathed there. On the birth of a boy a brass\ndish is hammered to announce the event, but on that of a girl\nonly a winnowing-fan. The navel-string is buried in the lying-in\nroom. When the newborn child is a few days old, it is taken out of\ndoors and made to bow to the sun. When a man proposes to adopt a\nson the caste-fellows are invited, and in their presence the boy is\nseated in his lap, while music is played and songs are sung by the\nwomen. Each of the guests then comes up and presents the boy with a\ncocoanut, while sugar is distributed and a feast is afterwards given.\n\n\n\n\n12. Religion.\n\nThe favourite deity of the caste is Siva or Mahadeo, whom they\nconsider to be their ultimate ancestor. On the festival of Shivratri\n(Siva's night) they observe a total fast, and pass the whole day\nand night singing songs in honour of the god, while offerings of bel\n[188] leaves, flowers, rice and sandalwood are made on the following\nmorning. In Hoshangabad the caste have two minor deities, Ramji Deo and\nBairam Deo, who are presumably the spirits of defunct warriors. These\nare worshipped on the eleventh day of every month, and many Jats wear\nan impression of their images on a piece of gold or silver round the\nneck. On the Dasahra festival the caste worship their swords and horses\nin memory of their soldier ancestors, and they revere their implements\nof husbandry on the Akshaya Tritiya of Baisakh (June), the commencement\nof the agricultural year, while each cultivator does the same on the\ndays that he completes the sowing of his rain crops and winter crops.\n\n\n\n\n13. Social customs.\n\nThe caste employ Brahmans for the performance of their ceremonies,\nand also as their gurus or spiritual preceptors. They eat flesh and\ndrink liquor in the Central Provinces, but in Hoshangabad they do\nnot consume either birds or fish; and when they eat mutton or the\nflesh of the wild pig, they do this only outside the house, in order\nnot to offend their women, who will not eat flesh. In Hoshangabad\nthe Jats, like other immigrants from Marwar, commonly wear their\nhair long and keep the face unshaven, and this gives them rather a\nwild and farouche appearance among the neatly shorn Hindus of the\nNerbudda Valley. [189] They are of light complexion, the difference\nin shade between the Jats and ordinary residents in the locality\nbeing apparent to the casual observer. Their women are fond of the\nhollow anklets known as bora, which contain small balls or pebbles,\nand tinkle as they walk. Girls are tattooed before marriage, and while\nthe operation is being carried out the women of the caste collect and\nsing songs to divert the sufferer's attention from the pain. The men\nhave pagris or turbans made of many little strings of twisted cloth,\nwhich come down over the ears. If a man kills a cow or a squirrel,\nhe must stay outside the village for five weeks and nobody looks\nupon his face. After this he should go and bathe in the Ganges,\nbut if he is too poor the Nerbudda may be substituted for it with\nthe permission of the caste committee. The penalty for killing a cat\nis almost as severe, but to slay a dog involves no sin. If a man who\nhas committed a murder escapes conviction but his guilt is known to\nthe caste, it is absolutely incumbent on him to go and bathe in the\nGanges and be purified there, having his head and face shaved. After\nthis he may be readmitted to caste intercourse. The caste observe\nsome curious rules or taboos: they never drink the milk of a black\ncow; their women do not have their noses bored for nose-rings, but\nif a woman loses several children she will have the nose bored of\nthe next one which is born; women never wear glass bangles, but have\nthem made of ivory or lac and clay; they never wear the bazuband or\narmlet with bars crossed on hinges which can be pulled in or out,\nbut instead of it the kara or rigid bangle; and the caste never keep\na basil plant in the house for worship, though they may revere it\noutside the house. As the basil is the emblem of Vishnu, and the Jats\nconsider themselves to be descended from Siva, they would naturally\nnot be inclined to pay any special respect to the plant.\n\n\n\n\n14. Occupation.\n\nThe Jats are good cultivators, and at the thirty years' settlement\n(1865) several members of the caste held considerable estates; but a\nnumber of these have now been lost, owing probably to extravagance of\nliving. In Saugor the Jats are commonly employed as masons or navvies.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJHADI TELENGA\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice.\n 2. Exogamous divisions.\n 3. Admission of outsiders.\n 4. Marriage.\n 5. Religion.\n 6. Names.\n 7. Magical devices.\n 8. Occupation.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nJhadi Telenga. [190]--A small caste in the Bastar State who appear to\nbe a mixture of Gonds and the lower Telugu castes, the name meaning\n'The jungly Telugus.' Those living in the open country are called\nMandar Telengas. In the census of 1901 these Telengas were wrongly\nclassified under the Balji or Balija caste. They numbered about 5000\npersons. The caste have three divisions according to their comparative\npurity of descent, which are named Purait, Surait and Pohni. The son\nof a Purait by a woman of different caste will be a Surait, and the\nson of a Surait by such a woman will be a Pohni. Such alliances are\nnow, however, infrequent, and most of the Telengas in Bastar belong\nto the Purait or legitimate group. A Pohni will take cooked food from\nthe two higher groups and a Surait from a Purait. The last will take\nwater from the two lower groups, but not food.\n\n\n\n\n2. Exogamous divisions.\n\nFor the purposes of marriage the caste is divided into the usual\nexogamous septs, and these are further arranged in two groups. The\nfirst group contains the following septs: Kudmulwadu, from kudmul,\na preparation of rice; Kolmulwadu, from kolmul, a treasure-pit;\nLingawadu, from the linga emblem; and Nagulwadu, a ploughman. The\nsecond group contains the following septs: Kodamajjiwadu, a hunter and\ntrapper of animals; Wargaiwadu, one who makes ropes from wood-fibre;\nPaspulwadu, one who prepares turmeric; Pankiwadu, one who distributes\ncooked food; Bhandariwadu, a rich man; and one or two others. The rule\nis that no man or woman of a sept belonging to the first group should\nmarry in any other sept of that group, but always from some sept of\nthe other. This, therefore, appears to be a relic of the classificatory\nsystem of marriage, which obtains among the Australian aborigines. The\nrule is now, however, sometimes violated. The caste say that their\nancestors came from Warangal with the ruling family of Bastar.\n\n\n\n\n3. Admission of outsiders.\n\nThey will admit Brahmans, Rajputs and Halbas into the community. If a\nman of any of these castes has a child by a Telenga woman, this child\nwill be considered to belong to the same group of the Jhadi Telengas\nas its mother. If a man of lower caste, such as Rawat, Dhakar, Jangam,\nKumhar or Kalar has such a child it will be admitted into the next\nlower group than that to which the mother belonged. Thus the child of\na Purait woman by one of these castes will become a Surait. A Telenga\nwoman having a child by a Gond, Sunar, Lohar or Mehra man is put out\nof caste.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage.\n\nA girl cannot be properly married unless the ceremony is performed\nbefore she arrives at puberty. After this she can only be married by\nan abridged rite, which consists of rubbing her with oil and turmeric,\ninvesting her with glass bangles and a new cloth, and giving a feast\nto the caste. In such a case the bridegroom first goes through a\nsham marriage with the branch of a mahua tree. The boy's father\nlooks out for a girl, and the most suitable match is considered to\nbe his sister's daughter. Before giving away his daughter he must\nask his wife's brother and his own sister whether they want her for\none of their sons. When setting out to make a proposal they take the\nomens from a bird called Usi. The best omen is to hear this bird's\ncall on both sides of them as they go into the jungle. When asking\nfor the girl the envoys say to her father, 'You have got rice and\npulse; give them to us for our friend's son.' The wedding should be\nheld on a Monday or Thursday, and the bridegroom should arrive at\nthe bride's village on a Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday. The\nsacred post in the centre of the marriage-shed must be of the mahua\n[191] tree, which is no doubt held sacred by these people, as by the\nGonds, because spirituous liquor is made from its fruit. A widow\nmust mourn her husband for a month, and can then marry again. But\nshe may not marry her late husband's brother, nor his first cousin,\nnor any member of her father's sept. Divorce is allowed, but no man\nwill divorce his wife unless she leaves him of her own accord or is\nknown to be intriguing with a man of lower caste.\n\n\n\n\n5. Religion.\n\nEach sept has a deity of its own who is usually some local god\nsymbolised by a wooden post or a stone. Instances of these are Kondraj\nof Santoshpur represented by a wooden pillar carved into circular form\nat the top; Chikat Raj of Bijapur by two bamboos six feet in length\nleaning against a wall; Kaunam Raj of Gongla by a stone image, and at\nfairs by a bamboo with peacock's feathers tied at the top. They offer\nincense, rice and a fowl to their ancestors in their own houses in\nChait (March) at the new year, and at the festival of the new rice in\nBhadon (August). At the sowing festival they go out hunting, and those\nwho return empty-handed think they will have ill-luck. Each tenant\nalso worships the earth-goddess, whose image is then decorated with\nflowers and vermilion. He brings a goat, and rice is placed before it\nat her shrine. If the animal eats the sacrifice is held to be accepted,\nbut if not it is returned to the owner, and it is thought that some\nmisfortune will befall him. The heads of all the goats offered are\ntaken by the priest and the bodies returned to the worshippers to be\nconsumed at a feast. Each village has also its tutelary god, having a\nhut to himself. Inside this a post of mahua wood is fixed in the ground\nand roughly squared, and a peg is driven into it at the top. The god\nis represented by another bamboo peg about two inches long, which is\nfirst worshipped in front of the post and then suspended from it in a\nreceptacle. In each village the smallpox goddess is also present in\nthe form of a stone, either with or without a hut over it. A Jangam\nor devotee of the Lingayat sect is usually the caste priest, and at\na funeral he follows the corpse ringing his bell. If a man is put\nout of caste through getting maggots in a wound or being beaten by a\nshoe, he must be purified by the Jangam. The latter rubs some ashes\non his own body and places them in the offender's mouth, and gives\nhim to drink some water from his own lota in place of water from a\nsacred river. For this the offender pays a fee of five rupees and a\ncalf to the Jangam and must also give a feast to the caste. The dead\nare either buried or burnt, the head being placed to the east. The\neldest son has his head and face shaved on the death of the father\nof the family, and the youngest on that of the mother.\n\n\n\n\n6. Names.\n\nA child is named on the seventh or eighth day after birth by the old\nwomen. If it is much given to crying they consider the name unsuitable\nand change it, repeating those of deceased relatives. When the child\nstops crying at the mention of a particular name, they consider that\nthe relative mentioned has been born again in the child and name it\nafter him. Often the name of the sept is combined with the personal\nname as Lingam-Lachha, Lingam-Kachchi, Panki-Samaya, Panki-Ganglu,\nPanki-Buchcham, Nagul-Sama, Nagul-Mutta.\n\n\n\n\n7. Magical devices\n\nWhen a man wishes to destroy an enemy he makes an image of him with\nearth and offers a pig and goat to the family god, praying for the\nenemy's destruction. Then the operator takes a frog or a tree-lizard\nwhich has been kept ready and breaks all its limbs, thinking that\nthe limbs of his enemy will similarly be broken and that the man will\ndie. Or he takes some grains of kossa, a small millet, and proceeds\nto a saj [192] or mahua tree. A pigeon is offered to the tree and to\nthe family god, and both are asked to destroy the foe. The man then\nascends the tree, and muttering incantations throws the grains in the\ndirection of his enemy thinking that they will enter his body and\ndestroy him. To counteract these devices a man who thinks himself\nbewitched calls in the aid of a wizard, who sucks out of his body\nthe grains or other evil things which have been caused to enter it as\nshown above. Occasionally a man will promise a human sacrifice to his\ngod. For this he must get some hair or a piece of cloth belonging to\nsomebody else and wash it in water in the name of the god, who may then\nkill the owner of the hair or cloth and thus obtain the sacrifice. Or\nthe sacrificer may pick a quarrel and assault the other person so as\nto draw blood from him. He picks up a drop or two of the blood and\noffers it to the deity with the same end in view.\n\n\n\n\n8. Occupation.\n\nThe caste are cultivators and farmservants, and are, as a rule, very\npoor, living from hand to mouth. They practise shifting cultivation and\nare too lazy to grow the more valuable crops. They eat grain twice a\nday during the four months from October to January only, and at other\ntimes eke out their scanty provision with edible roots and leaves,\nand hunt and fish in the forest like the Muria and Maria Gonds.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJOGI\n\n\n[Bibliography: Sir E. Maclagan's Punjab Census Report (1891);\nMr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes, articles Jogi, Kanphata and\nAghorpanthi; Mr. Kitts' Berar Census Report (1881); Professor Oman's\nMystics, Ascetics and Saints of India (London: T. Fisher Unwin).]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. The Yoga philosophy.\n 2. Abstraction of the senses or autohypnotism.\n 3. Breathing through either nostril.\n 4. Self-torture of the Jogis.\n 5. Resort to them for oracles.\n 6. Divisions of the order.\n 7. Hair and clothes.\n 8. Burial.\n 9. Festivals.\n 10. Caste subdivisions.\n 11. Begging.\n 12. Other occupations.\n 13. Swindling practices.\n 14. Proverbs about Jogis.\n\n\n\n\n1. The Yoga philosophy.\n\nJogi, Yogi.--The well-known order of religious mendicants and\ndevotees of Siva. The Jogi or Yogi, properly so called, is a follower\nof the Yoga system of philosophy founded by Patanjali, the main\ncharacteristics of which are a belief in the power of man over nature\nby means of austerities and the occult influences of the will. The\nidea is that one who has obtained complete control over himself,\nand entirely subdued all fleshly desires, acquires such potency\nof mind and will that he can influence the forces of nature at his\npleasure. The Yoga philosophy has indeed so much sub-stratum of truth\nthat a man who has complete control of himself has the strongest will,\nand hence the most power to influence others, and an exaggerated\nidea of this power is no doubt fostered by the display of mesmeric\ncontrol and similar phenomena. The fact that the influence which\ncan be exerted over other human beings through their minds in no way\nextends to the physical phenomena of inanimate nature is obvious to\nus, but was by no means so to the uneducated Hindus, who have no clear\nconceptions of the terms mental and physical, animate and inanimate,\nnor of the ideas connoted by them. To them all nature was animate,\nand all its phenomena the results of the actions of sentient beings,\nand hence it was not difficult for them to suppose that men could\ninfluence the proceedings of such beings. And it is a matter of\ncommon knowledge that savage peoples believe their magicians to be\ncapable of producing rain and fine weather, and even of controlling\nthe course of the sun. [193] The Hindu sacred books indeed contain\nnumerous instances of ascetics who by their austerities acquired such\npowers as to compel the highest gods themselves to obedience.\n\n\n\n\n2. Abstraction of the senses or autohypnotism.\n\nThe term Yoga is held to mean unity or communion with God, and the Yogi\nby virtue of his painful discipline and mental and physical exercises\nconsidered himself divine. \"The adept acquires the knowledge of\neverything past and future, remote or hidden; he divines the thoughts\nof others, gains the strength of an elephant, the courage of a lion,\nand the swiftness of the wind; flies into the air, floats in the water,\nand dives into the earth, contemplates all worlds at one glance and\nperforms many strange things.\" [194]\n\nThe following excellent instance of the pretensions of the Yogis is\ngiven by Professor Oman: [195] \"Wolff went also with Mr. Wilson to see\none of the celebrated Yogis who was lying in the sun in the street,\nthe nails of whose hands were grown into his cheeks and a bird's nest\nupon his head. Wolff asked him, 'How can one obtain the knowledge\nof God?' He replied, 'Do not ask me questions; you may look at me,\nfor I am God.'\n\n\"It is certainly not easy at the present day,\" Professor Oman states,\n[196] \"for the western mind to enter into the spirit of the so-called\nYoga philosophy; but the student of religious opinions is aware\nthat in the early centuries of our era the Gnostics, Manich\u00e6ans and\nNeo-Platonists derived their peculiar tenets and practices from the\nYoga-vidya of India, and that at a later date the Sufi philosophy\nof Persia drew its most remarkable ideas from the same source. [197]\nThe great historian of the Roman Empire refers to the subject in the\nfollowing passage: \"The Fakirs of India and the monks of the Oriental\nChurch, were alike persuaded that in total abstraction of the faculties\nof the mind and body, the pure spirit may ascend to the enjoyment\nand vision of the Deity. The opinion and practice of the monasteries\nof Mount Athos will be best represented in the words of an abbot,\nwho flourished in the eleventh century: 'When thou art alone in thy\ncell,' says the ascetic teacher, 'Shut thy door, and seat thyself\nin a corner, raise thy mind above all things vain and transitory,\nrecline thy beard and chin on thy breast, turn thine eyes and thy\nthoughts towards the middle of the belly, the region of the navel,\nand search the place of the heart, the seat of the soul. At first\nall will be dark and comfortless; but if you persevere day and night,\nyou will feel an ineffable joy; and no sooner has the soul discovered\nthe place of the heart, than it is involved in a mystic and ethereal\nlight.' This light, the production of a distempered fancy, the creature\nof an empty stomach and an empty brain, was adored by the Quietists\nas the pure and perfect essence of God Himself.\" [198]\n\n\"Without entering into unnecessary details, many of which are simply\ndisgusting, I shall quote, as samples, a few of the rules of practice\nrequired to be followed by the would-be Yogi in order to induce a\nstate of Samadhi--hypnotism or trance--which is the condition or state\nin which the Yogi is to enjoy the promised privileges of Yoga. The\nextracts are from a treatise on the Yoga philosophy by Assistant\nSurgeon Nobin Chander Pal.\" [199]\n\n\"Place the left foot upon the right thigh, and the right foot upon the\nleft thigh; hold with the right hand the right great toe and with the\nleft hand the left great toe (the hands coming from behind the back\nand crossing each other); rest the chin on the interclavicular space,\nand fix the sight on the tip of the nose.\n\n\"Inspire through the left nostril, fill the stomach with the inspired\nair by the act of deglutition, suspend the breath, and expire through\nthe right nostril. Next inspire through the right nostril, swallow\nthe inspired air, suspend the breath, and finally expire through the\nleft nostril.\n\n\"Be seated in a tranquil posture, and fix your sight on the tip of\nthe nose for the space of ten minutes.\n\n\"Close the ears with the middle fingers, incline the head a little\nto the right side and listen with each ear attentively to the sound\nproduced by the other ear, for the space of ten minutes.\n\n\"Pronounce inaudibly twelve thousand times the mystic syllable Om,\nand meditate upon it daily after deep inspirations.\n\n\"After a few forcible inspirations swallow the tongue, and thereby\nsuspend the breath and deglutate the saliva for two hours.\n\n\"Listen to the sounds within the right ear abstractedly for two hours,\nwith the left ear.\n\n\"Repeat the mystic syllable Om 20,736,000 times in silence and meditate\nupon it.\n\n\"Suspend the respiratory movements for the period of twelve days,\nand you will be in a state of Samadhi.\"\n\nAnother account of a similar procedure is given by Buchanan: [200]\n\"Those who pretend to be eminent saints perform the ceremony called\nYoga, described in the Tantras. In the accomplishment of this, by\nshutting what are called the nine passages (dwara, lit. doors) of\nthe body, the votary is supposed to distribute the breath into the\ndifferent parts of the body, and thus to obtain the beatific vision\nof various gods. It is only persons who abstain from the indulgence\nof concupiscence that can pretend to perform this ceremony, which\nduring the whole time that the breath can be held in the proper place\nexcites an ecstasy equal to whatever woman can bestow on man.\"\n\n\n\n\n3. Breathing through either nostril.\n\nIt is clear that the effect of some of the above practices is designed\nto produce a state of mind resembling the hypnotic trance. The Yogis\nattach much importance to the effect of breathing through one or\nthe other nostril, and this is also the case with Hindus generally,\nas various rules concerning it are prescribed for the daily prayers\nof Brahmans. To have both nostrils free and be breathing through\nthem at the same time is not good, and one should not begin any\nbusiness in this condition. If one is breathing only through the\nright nostril and the left is closed, the condition is propitious\nfor the following actions: To eat and drink, as digestion will be\nquick; to fight; to bathe; to study and read; to ride on a horse;\nto work at one's livelihood. A sick man should take medicine when he\nis breathing through his right nostril. To be breathing only through\nthe left nostril is propitious for the following undertakings: To lay\nthe foundations of a house and to take up residence in a new house;\nto put on new clothes; to sow seed; to do service or found a village;\nto make any purchase. The Jogis practise the art of breathing in this\nmanner by stopping up their right and left nostril alternately with\ncotton-wool and breathing only through the other. If a man comes\nto a Brahman to ask him whether some business or undertaking will\nsucceed, the Brahman breathes through his nostrils on to his hand; if\nthe breath comes through the right nostril the omen is favourable and\nthe answer yes; if through the left nostril the omen is unfavourable\nand the answer no.\n\n\n\n\n4. Self-torture of the Jogis.\n\nThe following account of the austerities of the Jogis during the Mughal\nperiod is given by Bernier: [201] \"Among the vast number and endless\nvariety of Fakirs or Dervishes, and holy men or Gentile hypocrites\nof the Indies, many live in a sort of convent, governed by superiors,\nwhere vows of chastity, poverty, and submission are made. So strange\nis the life led by these votaries that I doubt whether my description\nof it will be credited. I allude particularly to the people called\n'Jogis,' a name which signifies 'United to God.' Numbers are seen day\nand night, seated or lying on ashes, entirely naked; frequently under\nthe large trees near talabs or tanks of water, or in the galleries\nround the Deuras or idol temples. Some have hair hanging down to the\ncalf of the leg, twisted and entangled into knots, like the coats\nof our shaggy dogs. I have seen several who hold one, and some who\nhold both arms perpetually lifted above the head, the nails of their\nhands being twisted and longer than half my little finger, with\nwhich I measured them. Their arms are as small and thin as the arms\nof persons who die in a decline, because in so forced and unnatural\na position they receive not sufficient nourishment, nor can they be\nlowered so as to supply the mouth with food, the muscles having become\ncontracted, and the articulations dry and stiff. Novices wait upon\nthese fanatics and pay them the utmost respect, as persons endowed\nwith extraordinary sanctity. No fury in the infernal regions can be\nconceived more horrible than the Jogis, with their naked and black\nskin, long hair, spindle arms, long twisted nails, and fixed in the\nposture which I have mentioned.\n\n\"I have often met, generally in the territory of some Raja, bands of\nthese naked Fakirs, hideous to behold. Some have their arms lifted up\nin the manner just described; the frightful hair of others either hung\nloosely or was tied and twisted round their heads; some carried a club\nlike the Hercules, others had a dry and rough tiger-skin thrown over\ntheir shoulders. In this trim I have seen them shamelessly walk stark\nnaked through a large town, men, women, and girls looking at them\nwithout any more emotion than may be created when a hermit passes\nthrough our streets. Females would often bring them alms with much\ndevotion, doubtless believing that they were holy personages, more\nchaste and discreet than other men.\n\n\"Several of these Fakirs undertake long pilgrimages not only naked\nbut laden with heavy iron chains, such as are put about the legs of\nelephants. I have seen others who, in consequence of a particular\nvow, stood upright during seven or eight days without once sitting\nor lying down, and without any other support than might be afforded\nby leaning forward against a cord for a few hours in the night; their\nlegs in the meantime were swollen to the size of their thighs. Others,\nagain, I have observed standing steadily, whole hours together, upon\ntheir hands, the head down and the feet in the air. I might proceed\nto enumerate various other positions in which these unhappy men place\ntheir body, many of them so difficult and painful that they could not\nbe imitated by our tumblers; and all this, let it be recollected is\nperformed from an assumed feeling of piety, of which there is not so\nmuch as the shadow in any part of the Indies.\"\n\n\n\n\n5. Resort to them for oracles.\n\nThe forest ascetics were credited with prophetic powers, and were\nresorted to by Hindu princes to obtain omens and oracles on the brink\nof any important undertaking. This custom is noticed by Colonel Tod\nin the following passage describing the foundation of Jodhpur: [202]\n\"Like the Druids of the cells, the vana-perist Jogis, from the glades\nof the forest (vana) or recess in the rocks (gopha), issue their\noracles to those whom chance or design may conduct to their solitary\ndwellings. It is not surprising that the mandates of such beings prove\ncompulsory on the superstitious Rajput; we do not mean those squalid\nascetics who wander about India and are objects disgusting to the eye,\nbut the genuine Jogi, he who, as the term imports, mortifies the flesh,\ntill the wants of humanity are restricted merely to what suffices\nto unite matter with spirit, who had studied and comprehended the\nmystic works and pored over the systems of philosophy, until the full\ninfluence of Maia (illusion) has perhaps unsettled his understanding;\nor whom the rules of his sect have condemned to penance and solitude;\na penance so severe that we remain astonished at the perversity of\nreason which can submit to it. We have seen one of these objects,\nself-condemned never to lie down during forty years, and there remained\nbut three to complete the term. He had travelled much, was intelligent\nand learned, but, far from having contracted the moroseness of the\nrecluse, there was a benignity of mien and a suavity and simplicity\nof manner in him quite enchanting. He talked of his penance with\nno vainglory and of its approaching term without any sensation. The\nresting position of this Druid (vana-perist) was by means of a rope\nsuspended from the bough of a tree in the manner of a swing, having\na cross-bar, on which he reclined. The first years of this penance,\nhe says, were dreadfully painful; swollen limbs affected him to that\ndegree that he expected death, but this impression had long since\nworn off. To these, the Druids of India, the prince and the chieftain\nwould resort for instruction. Such was the ascetic who recommended\nJoda to erect his castle of Jodhpur on the 'Hill of Strife' (Jodagir),\na projecting elevation of the same range on which Mundore was placed,\nand about four miles south of it.\"\n\n\n\n\n6. Divisions of the order.\n\nAbout 15,000 Jogis were returned from the Central Provinces in\n1911. They are said to be divided into twelve Panths or orders, each\nof which venerates one of the twelve disciples of Gorakhnath. But,\nas a rule, they do not know the names of the Panths. Their main\ndivisions are the Kanphata and Aughar Jogis. The Kanphatas, [203]\nas the name denotes, pierce their ears and wear in them large rings\n(mundra), generally of wood, stone or glass; the ears of a novice\nare pierced by the Guru, who gets a fee of Rs. 1-4. The earring must\nthereafter always be worn, and should it be broken must be replaced\ntemporarily by a model in cloth before food is taken. If after the\nring has been inserted the ear tears apart, they say that the man has\nbecome useless, and in former times he was buried alive. Now he is\nput out of caste, and no tomb is erected over him when he dies. It is\nsaid that a man cannot become a Kanphata all at once, but must first\nserve an apprenticeship of twelve years as an Aughar, and then if his\nGuru is satisfied he will be initiated as a Kanphata. The elect among\nthe Kanphatas are known as Darshani. These do not go about begging,\nbut remain in the forest in a cave or other abode, and the other\nJogis go there and pay their respects; this is called darshan, the\nterm used for visiting a temple and worshipping the idol. These men\nonly have cooked food when their disciples bring it to them, otherwise\nthey live on fruits and roots. The Aughars do not pierce their ears,\nbut have a string of black sheep's wool round the neck to which is\nsuspended a wooden whistle called nadh; this is blown morning and\nevening and before meals. [204] The names of the Kanphatas end in\nNath and those of the Aughars in Das.\n\n\n\n\n7. Hair and clothes.\n\nWhen a novice is initiated all the hair of his head is shaved,\nincluding the scalp-lock. If the Ganges is at hand the Guru throws the\nhair into the Ganges, giving a great feast to celebrate the occasion;\notherwise he keeps the hair in his wallet until he and his disciple\nreach the Ganges and then throws it into the river and gives the\nfeast. After this the Jogi lets all his hair grow until he comes to\nsome great shrine, when he shaves it off clean and gives it as an\noffering to the god. The Jogis wear clothes coloured with red ochre\nlike the Jangams, Sanniasis and all the Sivite orders. The reddish\ncolour perhaps symbolises blood and may denote that the wearers\nstill sacrifice flesh and consume it. The Vaishnavite orders usually\nwear white clothes, and hence the Jogis call themselves Lal Padris\n(red priests), and they call the Vaishnava mendicants Sita Padris,\napparently because Sita is the consort of Rama, the incarnation of\nVishnu. When a Jogi is initiated the Guru gives him a single bead\nof rudraksha wood which he wears on a string round his neck. He is\nnot branded, but afterwards, if he visits the temple of Dwarka in\nGujarat, he is branded with the mark of the conch-shell on the arm;\nor if he goes on pilgrimage to the shrine of Badri-Narayan in the\nHimalayas he is branded on the chest. Copper bangles are brought\nfrom Badri-Narayan and iron ones from the shrine of Kedarnath. A\nnecklace of small white stones, like juari-seeds, is obtained from\nthe temple of Hinglaj in the territories of the Jam of Lasbela in\nBeluchistan. During his twelve years' period as a Brahmachari or\nacolyte, a Jogi will make either one or three parikramas of the\nNerbudda; that is, he walks from the mouth at Broach to the source\nat Amarkantak on one side of the river and back again on the other\nside, the journey usually occupying about three years. During each\njourney he lets his hair grow and at the end of it makes an offering\nof all except the choti or scalp-lock to the river. Even as a full\nJogi he still retains the scalp-lock, and this is not finally shaved\noff until he turns into a Sanniasi or forest recluse. Other Jogis,\nhowever, do not merely keep the scalp-lock but let their hair grow,\nplaiting it with ropes of black wool over their heads into what is\ncalled the jata, that is an imitation of Siva's matted locks. [205]\n\n\n\n\n8. Burial.\n\nThe Jogis are buried sitting cross-legged with the face to the north\nin a tomb which has a recess like those of Muhammadans. A gourd full\nof milk and some bread in a wallet, a crutch and one or two earthen\nvessels are placed in the grave for the sustenance of the soul. Salt\nis put on the body and a ball of wheat-flour is laid on the breast\nof the corpse and then deposited on the top of the grave.\n\n\n\n\n9. Festivals.\n\nThe Jogis worship Siva, and their principal festival is the Shivratri,\nwhen they stay awake all night and sing songs in honour of Gorakhnath,\nthe founder of their order. On the Nag-Panchmi day they venerate the\ncobra and they take about snakes and exhibit them.\n\n\n\n\n10. Caste subdivisions.\n\nA large proportion of the Jogis have now developed into a caste,\nand these marry and have families. They are divided into subcastes\naccording to the different professions they have adopted. Thus the\nBarwa or Garpagari Jogis ward off hailstorms from the standing crops;\nthe Manihari are pedlars and travel about to bazars selling various\nsmall articles; the Ritha Bikanath prepare and sell soap-nut for\nwashing clothes; the Patbina make hempen thread and gunny-bags for\ncarrying grain on bullocks; and the Ladaimar hunt jackals and sell\nand eat their flesh. These Jogis rank as a low Hindu caste of the\nmenial group. No good Hindu caste will take food or water from them,\nwhile they will accept cooked food from members of any caste of\nrespectable position, as Kurmis, Kunbis or Malis. A person belonging\nto any such caste can also be admitted into the Jogi community. Their\nsocial customs resemble those of the cultivating castes of the\nlocality. They permit widow-marriage and divorce and employ Brahmans\nfor their ceremonies, with the exception of the Kanphatas, who have\npriests of their own order.\n\n\n\n\n11. Begging.\n\nBegging is the traditional occupation of the Jogis, but they have now\nadopted many others. The Kanphatas beg and sell a woollen string amulet\n(ganda), which is put round the necks of children to protect them\nfrom the evil eye. They beg only from Hindus and use the cry 'Alakh,'\n'The invisible one.' [206] The Nandia Jogis lead about with them a\ndeformed ox, an animal with five legs or some other malformation. He\nis decorated with ochre-coloured rags and cowrie shells. They call\nhim Nandi or the bull on which Mahadeo rides, and receive gifts of\ngrain from pious Hindus, half of which they put into their wallet\nand give the other half to the animal. They usually carry on a more\nprofitable business than other classes of beggars. The ox is trained\nto give a blessing to the benevolent by shaking its head and raising\nits leg when its master receives a gift. [207] Some of the Jogis of\nthis class carry about with them a brush of peacock's feathers which\nthey wave over the heads of children afflicted with the evil eye or\nof sick persons, muttering texts. This performance is known as jharna\n(sweeping), and is the commonest method of casting out evil spirits.\n\n\n\n\n12. Other occupations.\n\nMany Jogis have also adopted secular occupations, as has already\nbeen seen. Of these the principal are the Manihari Jogis or pedlars,\nwho retail small hand-mirrors, spangles, dyeing-powders, coral beads\nand imitation jewellery, pens, pencils, and other small articles of\nstationery. They also bring pearls and coral from Bombay and sell\nthem in the villages. The Garpagaris, who protect the crops from\nhailstorms, have now become a distinct caste and are the subject of\na separate article. Others make a living by juggling and conjuring,\nand in Saugor some Jogis perform the three-card trick in the village\nmarkets, employing a confederate who advises customers to pick out\nthe wrong card. They also play the English game of Sandown, which\nis known as 'Animur,' from the practice of calling out 'Any more'\nas a warning to backers to place their money on the board before\nbeginning to turn the fish.\n\n\n\n\n13. Swindling practices.\n\nThese people also deal in ornaments of base metal and practise\nother swindles. One of their tricks is to drop a ring or ornament\nof counterfeit gold on the road. Then they watch until a stranger\npicks it up and one of them goes up to him and says, \"I saw you\npick up that gold ring, it belongs to so-and-so, but if you will\nmake it worth my while I will say nothing about it.\" The finder is\nthus often deluded into giving him some hush-money and the Jogis\ndecamp with this, having incurred no risk in connection with the\nspurious metal. They also pretend to be able to convert silver and\nother metals into gold. They ingratiate themselves with the women,\nsometimes of a number of households in one village or town, giving\nat first small quantities of gold in exchange for silver, and binding\nthem to secrecy. Then each is told to give them all the ornaments which\nshe desires to be converted on the same night, and having collected as\nmuch as possible from their dupes the Jogis make off before morning. A\nvery favourite device some years back was to personate some missing\nmember of a family who had gone on a pilgrimage. Up to within a\ncomparatively recent period a large proportion of the pilgrims who\nset out annually from all over India to visit the famous shrines at\nBenares, Jagannath and other places perished by the way from privation\nor disease, or were robbed and murdered, and never heard of again by\ntheir families. Many households in every town and village were thus\nin the position of having an absent member of whose fate they were\nuncertain. Taking advantage of this, and having obtained all the\ninformation he could pick up among the neighbours, the Jogi would\nsuddenly appear in the character of the returned wanderer, and was\noften successful in keeping up the imposture for years. [208]\n\n\n\n\n14. Proverbs about Jogis.\n\nThe Jogi is a familiar figure in the life of the people and there\nare various sayings about him: [209] Jogi Jogi laren, khopron ka dam,\nor 'When Jogis fight skulls are smashed,' that is, the skulls which\nsome of them use as begging-cups, not their own skulls, and with the\nimplication that they have nothing else to break; Jogi jugat jani\nnahin, kapre range, to kya hua, 'If the Jogi does not know his magic,\nwhat is the use of his dyeing his clothes?' Jogi ka larka khelega, to\nsanp se, or, 'If a snake-charmer's son plays, he plays with a snake.'\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJOSHI\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. The village priest and astrologer.\n 2. The apparent path of the sun. The ecliptic or zodiac.\n 3. Inclination of the ecliptic to the equator.\n 4. The orbits of the moon and planets.\n 5. The signs of the zodiac.\n 6. The Sankrants.\n 7. The nakshatras or constellations of the moon's path.\n 8. The revolution of the moon.\n 9. The days of the week.\n 10. The lunar year.\n 11. Intercalary months.\n 12. Superstitions about numbers.\n 13. The Hindu months.\n 14. The solar nakshatras.\n 15. Lunar fortnights and days.\n 16. Divisions of the day.\n 17. The Joshi's calculations.\n 18. Personal names.\n 19. Terminations of names.\n 20. Women's names.\n 21. Special names and bad names.\n\n\n\n\n1. The village priest and astrologer.\n\nJoshi, Jyotishi, Bhadri, Parsai.--The caste of village priests\nand astrologers. They numbered about 6000 persons in 1911, being\ndistributed over all Districts. The Joshis are nearly all Brahmans,\nbut have now developed into a separate caste and marry among\nthemselves. Their social customs resemble those of Brahmans, and\nneed not be described in detail. The Joshi officiates at weddings\nin the village, selects auspicious names for children according to\nthe nakshatra or constellation of the moon under which they were\nborn, and points out the auspicious time or mahurat for all such\nceremonies and for the commencement of agricultural operations. He is\nalso sometimes in charge of the village temples. He is supported by\nthe contributions from the villagers, and often has a plot of land\nrent-free from the proprietor. The social position of the Joshis is\nnot very good, and, though Brahmans, they are considered to rank\nsomewhat below the cultivating castes, the Kurmis and Kunbis, by\nwhose patronage they are supported. [210]\n\nThe Bhadris are a class of Joshis who wander about and live by\nbegging, telling fortunes and giving omens. They avert the evil\ninfluences of the planet Saturn and accept the gifts offered to\nthis end, which are always black, as black blankets, charcoal,\ntilli or sesamum oil, the urad pulse, [211] and iron. People born on\nSaturday or being otherwise connected with the planet are especially\nsubject to his malign influence. The Joshi ascertains who these\nunfortunate persons are from their horoscopes, and neutralises the\nevil influence of the planet by the acceptance of the gifts already\nmentioned, while he sometimes also receives a buffalo or a cow. He\ncomputes by astrological calculations the depth at which water will\nbe found when a cultivator wishes to dig a well. He also practises\npalmistry, classifying the whorls of the fingers into two patterns,\ncalled the Shank or conch-shell and Chakra or discus of Vishnu. The\nShank is considered to be unfortunate and the Chakra fortunate. The\nlines on the balls of the toes and on the forehead are similarly\nclassified. When anything has been lost or stolen the Joshi can tell\nfrom the daily nakshatra or mansion of the moon in which the loss or\ntheft occurred whether the property has gone to the north, south, east\nor west, and within what interval it is likely to be found. The people\nhave not nowadays much faith in his prophetic powers, and they say,\n\"If clouds come on Friday, and the sky is black on Saturday, then the\nJoshi foretells that it will rain on Sunday.\" The Joshi's calculations\nare all based on the rashis or signs of the zodiac through which the\nsun passes during the year, and the nakshatras or those which mark the\nmonthly revolutions of the moon. These are given in all Hindu almanacs,\nand most Joshis simply work from the almanac, being quite ignorant of\nastronomy. Since the measurement of the sun's apparent path on the\necliptic, and the moon's orbit mapped out by the constellations are\nof some interest, and govern the arrangement of the Hindu calendar,\nit has been thought desirable to give some account of them. And in\norder to make this intelligible it is desirable first to recapitulate\nsome elementary facts of astronomy.\n\n\n\n\n2. The apparent path of the sun. The ecliptic or zodiac.\n\nThe universe may be conceived for the purpose of understanding the\nsun's path among the stars as if it were a huge ball, of which looking\nfrom the earth's surface we see part of the inside with the stars\nmarked on it, as on the inside of a dome. This imaginary inside of a\nball is called the celestial sphere, and the ancients believed that\nit actually existed, and also, in order to account for the varying\ndistances of the stars, supposed that there were several of them, one\ninside the other, and each with a number of stars fixed to it. The\nsun and earth may be conceived as smaller solid balls suspended\ninside this large one. Then looking from the surface of the earth\nwe see the sun outlined against the inner surface of the imaginary\ncelestial sphere. And as the earth travels round the sun in its orbit,\nthe appearance to us is that the sun moves over the surface of the\ncelestial sphere. The following figure will make this clear. [212]\n\nThus when the earth is at A in its orbit the sun will appear to be at\nM, and as the earth travels from A to B the sun will appear to move\nfrom M to N on the line of the ecliptic. It will be seen that as the\nearth in a year makes a complete circuit round the sun, the sun will\nappear to have made a complete circuit among the stars, and have come\nback to its original position. This apparent movement is annual, and\nhas nothing to do with the sun's apparent diurnal course over the sky,\nwhich is caused by the earth's daily rotation on its axis. The sun's\nannual path among the stars naturally cannot be observed during the\nday. Professor Newcomb says: \"But the fact of the motion will be made\nvery clear if, day after day, we watch some particular fixed star\nin the west. We shall find that it sets earlier and earlier every\nday; in other words, it is getting continually nearer and nearer the\nsun. More exactly, since the real direction of the star is unchanged,\nthe sun seems to be approaching the star.\n\n\"If we could see the stars in the daytime all round the sun, the case\nwould be yet clearer. We should see that if the sun and a star were\ntogether in the morning, the sun would, during the day, gradually\nwork past the star in an easterly direction. Between the rising\nand setting it would move nearly its own diameter, relative to the\nstar. Next morning we should see that it had got quite away from the\nstar, being nearly two diameters distant from it. This motion would\ncontinue month after month. At the end of the year the sun would have\nmade a complete circuit relative to the star, and we should see the\ntwo once more together. This apparent motion of the sun in one year\nround the celestial sphere was noticed by the ancients, who took\nmuch trouble to map it out. They imagined a line passing round the\ncelestial sphere, which the sun always followed in its annual course,\nand which was called the ecliptic. They noticed that the planets\nfollowed nearly the same course as the sun among the stars. A belt\nextending on each side of the ecliptic, and broad enough to contain\nall the known planets, as well as the sun, was called the zodiac. It\nwas divided into twelve signs, each marked by a constellation. The sun\nwent through each sign in a month, and through all twelve signs in a\nyear. Thus arose the familiar signs of the zodiac, which bore the same\nnames as the constellations among which they are situated. This is not\nthe case at present, owing to the precession of the equinoxes.\" It\nwas by observing the paths of the sun and moon round the celestial\nsphere along the zodiac that the ancients came to be able to measure\nthe solar and lunar months and years.\n\n\n\n\n3. Inclination of the ecliptic to the equator.\n\nAs is well known, the celestial sphere is imagined to be spanned\nby an imaginary line called the celestial equator, which is in the\nsame plane as the earth's equator, and as it were, a vast concentric\ncircle. The points in the celestial sphere opposite the north and\nsouth terrestrial poles are called the north and south celestial\npoles, and the celestial equator is midway between these. Owing to the\nspecial form of the earth the north celestial pole is visible to us\nin the northern hemisphere, and marked very nearly by the pole-star,\nits height above the horizon being equal to the latitude of the place\nwhere the observer stands. Owing to the daily rotation of the earth\nthe whole celestial sphere seems to revolve daily on the axis of the\nnorth and south celestial poles, carrying the sun, moon and stars\nwith it. To this the apparent daily course of the sun and moon is\ndue. Their course seems to us oblique, as we are north of the equator.\n\nIf the earth's axis were set vertically to the plane of its orbit round\nthe sun, then it would follow that the plane of the equator would pass\nthrough the centre of the sun, and that the line drawn by the sun in\nits apparent revolution against the background of the celestial sphere\nwould be in the same plane. That is, the sun would seem to move round\na circle in the heavens in the same plane as the earth's equator,\nor round the celestial equator. But the earth's axis is inclined at\n23 1/2\u00b0 to the plane of its orbit, and therefore the apparent path\ntraced by the sun in the celestial sphere, which is the same path as\nthe earth would really follow to an observer on the surface of the sun,\nis inclined at 23 1/2\u00b0 to the celestial equator. This is the ecliptic,\nand is really the line of the plane of the earth's orbit extended to\ncut the celestial sphere.\n\n\n\n\n4. The orbits of the moon and planets.\n\nAll the planets move round the sun in orbits whose planes are\nslightly inclined to that of the earth, the plane of Mercury having\nthe greatest inclination of 6\u00b0. The plane of the moon's orbit round\nthe earth is also inclined at 5\u00b0 9' to the ecliptic. The orbits of\nthe moon and all the planets must necessarily intersect the plane of\nthe earth's orbit on the ecliptic at two points, and these are called\nthe nodes of the moon and each planet respectively. In consequence\nof the inclination being so slight, though the course of the moon and\nplanets is not actually on the ecliptic, they are all so close to it\nthat they are included in the belt of the zodiac. Thus the moon and\nall the planets follow almost the same apparent course on the zodiac\nor belt round the ecliptic in the changes of position resulting from\ntheir own and the earth's orbital movements with reference to what\nare called the fixed stars.\n\n\n\n\n5. The signs of the zodiac.\n\nAs the sun completes his circuit of the ecliptic or zodiac in the\ncourse of a year, it followed that if his course could be measured and\ndivided into periods, these periods would form divisions of time for\nthe year. This was what the ancients did, and it is probable that the\nmeasurement and division of time was the primary object of the science\nof astronomy, as apart from the natural curiosity to ascertain the\nmovements of the sun, moon and planets, when they were looked upon as\ndivine beings controlling the world. They divided the zodiac or the\npath of the sun into twelve parts, and gave to each part the name of\nthe principal constellation situated on, or adjacent to, that section\nof the line of the ecliptic. When they had done this and observed the\ndates of the sun's entry into each sign or rashi, as it is called\nin Hindi, they had divided the year into twelve solar months. The\nfollowing are the Hindu names and meanings of the signs of the zodiac:\n\n\n 1. Aries. The ram. Mesha.\n 2. Taurus. The bull. Vrisha.\n 3. Gemini. The twins. Mithuna.\n 4. Cancer. The crab. Karkati.\n 5. Leo. The lion. Sinha.\n 6. Virgo. The virgin. Kanya.\n 7. Libra. The balance. Tula.\n 8. Scorpio. The scorpion. Vrischika.\n 9. Sagittarius. The archer. Dhanus or Chapa.\n 10. Capricornus. The goat. Makara (said to mean a\n sea-monster).\n 11. Aquarius. The water-bearer. Kumbha (a water-pot).\n 12. Pisces. The fishes. Mina.\n\n\nThe signs of the zodiac were nearly the same among the Greeks,\nEgyptians, Persians, Babylonians and Indians. They are supposed\nto have originated in Chaldea or Babylonia, and the fact that the\nconstellations are indicated by nearly the same symbols renders their\ncommon origin probable. It seems likely that the existing Hindu zodiac\nmay have been adopted from the Greeks.\n\n\n\n\n6. The Sankrants.\n\nThe solar year begins with the entrance of the sun into Mesha or\nAries. [213] The day on which the sun passes into a new sign is\ncalled Sankrant, and is to some extent observed as a holy day. But\nthe Til Sankrant or entry of the sun into Makara or Capricorn, which\nfalls about the 15th January, is a special festival, because it marks\napproximately the commencement of the sun's northern progress and\nthe lengthening of the days, as Christmas roughly does with us. On\nthis day every Hindu who is able bathes in a sacred river at the hour\nindicated by the Joshis of the sun's entrance into the sign. Presents\nof til or sesamum are given to the Joshi, owing to which the day is\ncalled Til Sankrant. People also sometimes give presents to each other.\n\n\n\n\n7. The nakshatras or constellations of the moon's path.\n\nThe Sankrants do not mark the commencement of the Hindu months, which\nare still lunar and are adjusted to the solar year by intercalation. It\nis probable that long before they were able to measure the sun's\nprogress along the ecliptic the ancients had observed that of the\nmoon, which it was much easier to do, as she is seen among the\nstars at night. Similarly there is little reason to doubt that the\nfirst division of time was the lunar month, which can be remarked by\nevery one. Ancient astronomers measured the progress of the moon's\npath along the ecliptic and divided it into twenty-seven sections,\neach of which represented roughly a day's march. Each section was\ndistinguished by a group of stars either on the ecliptic or so\nnear it, either in the northern or southern hemisphere, as to be\noccultated by the moon or capable of being in conjunction with it or\nthe planets. These constellations are called nakshatras. Naturally,\nsome of these constellations are the same as those subsequently chosen\nto mark the sun's path or the signs of the zodiac. In some cases a\nzodiacal constellation is divided into two nakshatras. Like the signs,\nthe nakshatras were held to represent animals or natural objects. The\nfollowing is a list of them with their corresponding stars, and the\nobject which each was supposed to represent: [214]\n\n Nakshatra. Constellation. Object. Corresponding\n zodiacal sign.\n\n1. Aswini. b and g Arietis. A horse's Aries.\n head.\n2. Bharani. 35, 39 and 41 Pudendum Aries.\n Arietis. muliebre.\n3. Krittika. Pleiades. A knife. Part of\n Taurus.\n4. Rohini. a, g, d, e, th A wheeled Taurus.\n Tauri carriage or a\n (Aldebaran). temple.\n5. Mrigasiras. l, ph1, ph2, A deer's\n Orionis (Orion's head.\n head).\n6. Ardra. Betelgeux or a A gem.\n Orionis (one of\n Orion's arms).\n7. Punarvasu. Gemini or Castor A house. Gemini.\n and Pollux.\n8. Pushya. g, d and th An arrow. Cancer.\n Cancri.\n9. Aslesha. d, e, \u00ea, r and s A wheel.\n Hydrae.\n10. Magha. a, g, e, z, \u00ea and A house. Leo.\n m Leonis.\n11. Purva d and th Leonis. A couch. Leo.\n Phalguni.\n12. Uttara b and 93 Leonis. A bed. Leo.\n Phalguni.\n13. Hasta. a, b, g, d and e A hand.\n Corvi.\n14. Chitra. Spica (a A pearl. Virgo.\n Virginis).\n15. Swati. Arcturus (a A coral bead.\n Bo\u00f6tis).\n16. Visacha. a, b, g and i A garland. Libra.\n Librae.\n17. Anuradha. b, A sacrifice or Scorpio.\n d and p offering.\n Scorpionis.\n18. Jyestha. a, s and t An earring. Scorpio.\n Scorpionis.\n19. Mula. e, z, \u00ea, th, i, A lion's Scorpio.\n k, l, m, y tail.\n Scorpionis.\n20. Purva d and e A couch or an Sagittarius.\n Ashadha. Sagittarii. elephant's\n tusk.\n21. Uttara z and s An elephant's Sagittarius.\n Ashadha. Sagittarii. tusk or the\n singara nut.\n22. Sravana. a, b and g The footprint\n Aquilae. of Vishnu.\n23. Dhanishtha. a, b, g and d A drum.\n Delphinis.\n24. Sata-bhishaj. l Aquarii. A circular Aquarius.\n jewel or a\n circle.\n25. Purva a and b Pegasi. A two-faced\n Bhadrapada. image.\n26. Uttara g Pegasi and a A two-faced\n Bhadrapada. Andromedae. image or a\n couch.\n27. Revati. z Piscium. A tabor. Pisces.\n\n\n\n\n8. The revolution of the moon.\n\nAll the zodiacal constellations are thus included in the\nnakshatras except Capricorn, for which Aquila and Delphinis are\nsubstituted. These, as well as Hydra, are a considerable distance\nfrom the ecliptic, but may perhaps be nearer the moon's path, which,\nas already seen, slightly diverges from it. But this point has not\nbeen ascertained by me. The moon completes the circuit of the heavens\nin its orbit round the earth in a little less than a lunar month or\n27 days 8 hours. As twenty-seven nakshatras were demarcated, it seems\nclear that a nakshatra was meant to represent the distance travelled\nby the moon in a day. Subsequently a twenty-eighth small nakshatra\nwas formed called Abhijit, out of Uttarashadha and Sravana, and this\nmay have been meant to represent the fractional part of the day. The\ndays of the lunar month have each, as a matter of fact, a nakshatra\nallotted to them, which is recorded in all Hindu almanacs, and enters\nlargely into the Joshi's astrological calculations. It may have been\nthe case that prior to the naming of the days of the week, the days of\nthe lunar month were distinguished by the names of their nakshatras,\nbut this could only have been among the learned. For though there\nwas a nakshatra for every day of the moon's path round the ecliptic,\nthe same days in successive months could not have the same nakshatras\non account of what is called the synodical revolution of the moon. The\nlight of the moon comes from the sun, and we see only that part of it\nwhich is illuminated by the sun. When the moon is between the earth\nand the sun, the light hemisphere is invisible to us, and there is\nno moon. When the moon is on the opposite side of the earth to the\nsun we see the whole of the illuminated hemisphere, and it is full\nmoon. Thus in the time between one new moon and the next, the moon\nmust proceed from its position between the earth and the sun to the\nsame position again, and to do this it has to go somewhat more than\nonce round the ecliptic, as is shown by the following figure. [215]\n\n\n\n\n9. The days of the week.\n\nAs during the moon's circuit of the earth, the earth is also travelling\non its orbit, the moon will not be between the earth and the sun again\non completion of its orbit, but will have to traverse the further arc\nshown in the figure to come between the earth and the sun. When the\nmoon has completed the circle of the ecliptic from the position ME,\nits position relative to the earth has become as NF and it has not yet\ncome between the earth and the sun. Hence while the moon completes the\ncircuit of the ecliptic [216] in 27 days 8 hours, the time from one new\nmoon to another is 29 days 13 hours. Hence the nakshatras will not fall\non the same days in successive lunar months, and would not be suitable\nas names for the days. It seems that, recognising this, the ancient\nastronomers had to find other names. They had the lunar fortnights of\n14 or 15 days from new to full and full to new moon. Hence apparently\nthey hit on the plan of dividing these into half and regulating the\ninfluence which the sun, moon and planets were believed to exercise\nover events in the world by allotting one day to each of them. They\nknew of five planets besides the sun and moon, and by giving a day to\neach of them the seven-day week was formed. The term planet signifies\na wanderer, and it thus perhaps seemed suitable that they should give\ntheir names to the days which would revolve endlessly in a cycle,\nas they themselves did in the heavens. The names of the days are:\n\n\n Etwar or Raviwar. Sunday. (Ravi--the sun.)\n Somwar. Monday. (Soma--the moon.)\n Mangalwar. Tuesday. (Mangal or Bhauma--Mars.)\n Budhwar. Wednesday. (Buddha--Mercury.)\n Brihaspatwar or Guru. Thursday. (Brihaspat or Guru--Jupiter.)\n Shukurwar. Friday. (Shukra--Venus.)\n Saniwar or Sanichara. Saturday. (Sani--Saturn.)\n\n\nThe termination vara means a day. The weekdays were similarly named in\nRome and other countries speaking Aryan languages, and they are readily\nrecognised in French. In English three days are named after the sun,\nmoon and Saturn, but four, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,\nare called after Scandinavian deities, the last three being Woden or\nOdin, Thor and Freya. I do not know whether these were identified with\nthe planets. It is supposed that the Hindus obtained the seven-day\nweek from the Greeks. [217]\n\n\n\n\n10. The lunar year.\n\nFour seven-day weeks were within a day and a fraction of the lunar\nmonth, which was the nearest that could be got. The first method of\nmeasuring the year would be by twelve lunar months, which would bring\nit back nearly to the same period. But as the lunar month is 29 days\n13 hours, twelve months would be 354 days 12 hours, or nearly eleven\ndays less than the tropical solar year. Hence if the lunar year was\nretained the months would move back round the year by about eleven days\nannually. This is what actually happens in the Muhammadan calendar\nwhere the twelve lunar months have been retained and the Muharram\nand other festivals come earlier every year by about eleven days.\n\n\n\n\n11. Intercalary months.\n\nIn order to reconcile the lunar and solar years the Hindus hit upon\nan ingenious device. It was ordained that any month in which the sun\ndid not enter a new sign of the zodiac would not count and would\nbe followed by another month of the same name. Thus in the month\nof Chait the sun must enter the sign Mesha or Aries. If he does not\nenter it during the lunar month there will be an intercalary Chait,\nfollowed by the proper month of the same name during which the sun\nwill enter Mesha. [218] Such an intercalary month is called Adhika. An\nintercalary month, obtained by having two successive lunar months\nof the same name, occurs approximately once in three years, and by\nthis means the reckoning by twelve lunar months is adjusted to the\nsolar year. On the other hand, the sun very occasionally passes two\nSankrants or enters into two fresh signs during the lunar month. This\nis rendered possible by the fact that the time occupied by the sun in\npassing through different signs of the zodiac varies to some extent. It\nis said that the zodiac was divided into twelve equal signs of 30\u00b0\neach or 1\u00b0 for each day, as at this period it was considered that the\nyear was 360 days. [219] Possibly in adjusting the signs to 365 odd\ndays some alterations may have been made in their length, or errors\ndiscovered. At any rate, whatever may be the reason, the length of\nthe sun's periods in the signs, or of the solar months, varies from\n31 days 14 hours to 29 days 8 hours. Three of the months are less\nthan the lunar month, and hence it is possible that two Sankrants or\npassages of the sun into a fresh sign may occasionally occur in the\nsame lunar month. When this happens, following the same rule as before,\nthe month to which the second Sankrant properly belongs, that is the\none following that in which two Sankrants occur, is called a Kshaya\nor eliminated month and is omitted from the calendar. Intercalary\nmonths occur generally in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 16th and\n18th years of a cycle of nineteen years, or seven times in nineteen\nyears. It is found that in each successive cycle only one or two\nmonths are changed, so that the same month remains intercalary for\nseveral cycles of nineteen years and then gives way generally to one\nof the months preceding and rarely to the following month. Suppressed\nmonths occur at intervals varying from 19 to 141 years, and in a year\nwhen a suppressed month occurs there must always be one intercalary\nmonth and not infrequently there are two. [220]\n\nThis method of adjusting the solar and lunar years, though clumsy,\nis so far scientific that the solar and lunar years are made to\nagree without any artificial intercalation of days. It has, however,\nthe great disadvantages of the frequent intercalary month, and also\nof the fact that the lunar months begin on different dates in the\nEnglish solar calendar, varying by nearly twenty days.\n\n\n\n\n12. Superstitions about numbers.\n\nIt seems not improbable that the unlucky character of the number\nthirteen may have arisen from its being the number of the intercalary\nmonth. Though the special superstition against sitting down thirteen\nto a meal is, no doubt, associated particularly with the Last Supper,\nthe number is generally unlucky as a date and in other connections. And\nthis is not only the case in Europe, but the Hindus, Persians and\nParsis also consider thirteen an unlucky number; and the Muhammadans\naccount for a similar superstition by saying that Muhammad was ill for\nthe first thirteen days of the month Safar. Twelve, as being the number\nof the months in the lunar and solar years, is an auspicious number;\nthirteen would be one extra, and as being the intercalary month would\nbe here this year and missing next year. Hence it might be supposed\nthat one of thirteen persons met together would be gone at their\nnext meeting like the month. Similarly, the auspicious character of\nthe number seven may be due to its being the total of the sun, moon\nand five planets, and of the days of the week named after them. And\nthe number three may have been invested with mystic significance as\nrepresenting the sun, moon and earth. In the Hindu Trinity Vishnu\nand Siva are the sun and moon, and Brahma, who created the earth,\nand has since remained quiescent, may have been the personified\nrepresentative of the earth itself.\n\n\n\n\n13. The Hindu months.\n\nThe names of the Hindu months were selected from among those of the\nnakshatras, every second or third being taken and the most important\nconstellations apparently chosen. The following statement shows the\ncurrent names for the months, the nakshatras from which they are\nderived, and the constellations they represent:\n\n\n Month. Nakshatra. Constellation.\n\n 1. Chait. Chitra. Virgo.\n 2. Baisakh. Visacha. Libra.\n 3. Jeth. Jyestha. Scorpio.\n 4. Asarh. Purva Ashadha. Sagittarius.\n Uttara Ashadha.\n 5. Shrawan. Sravana. Aquila.\n 6. Bhadon. Purva (E) Bhadrapada. Pegasus.\n Uttara (N) Bhadrapada.\n 7. Kunwar or Aswini. Aries.\n Aswin.\n 8. Kartik. Krittika. Pleiades (Part\n of Taurus).\n 9. Aghan or Mrigasiras. Orion.\n Margashir.\n 10. Pus. Pushya. Cancer.\n 11. Magh. Magha. Leo.\n 12. Phagun. Purva (E) Phalguni. Leo.\n Uttara (N) Phalguni.\n\n\nThus if the Pleiades are reckoned as part of Taurus, [221] eight\nzodiacal signs give their names to months as well as Orion, Pegasus\nand Aquila, while two months are included in Leo. It appears that\nin former times the year began with Pus or December, as the month\nMargashir was also called Aghan or Agrahana, or 'That which went\nbefore,' that is the month before the new year. But the renewal\nof vegetation in the spring has exercised a very powerful effect\non the primitive mind, being marked by the Holi festival in India,\ncorresponding to the Carnival in Europe. The vernal equinox was thus\nperhaps selected as the most important occasion and the best date\nfor beginning the new year, which now commences in northern India\nwith the new moon of Chait, immediately following the Holi festival,\nwhen the sun is in the sign of Mesha or Aries. At first the months\nappear to have travelled round the year, but subsequently they were\nfixed by ordaining that the month of Chait should begin with the new\nmoon during the course of which the sun entered the sign Aries. [222]\nThe constellation Chitra, from which the sign is named, is nearly\nopposite to this in the zodiac, as shown by the above figure. [223]\n\nConsequently, the full moon, being nearly opposite the sun on the\necliptic, would be in the sign Chitra or near it. In southern India\nthe months begin with the full moon, but in northern India with the\nnew moon; it seems possible that the months were called after the\nnakshatra, of the full moon to distinguish them from the solar months\nwhich would be called after the sign of the zodiac in which the sun\nwas. But no authoritative explanation seems to be available. Similarly,\nthe nakshatras after which the other months are named, fall nearly\nopposite to them at the new moon, while the full moon would be in or\nnear them.\n\n\n\n\n14. The solar nakshatras.\n\nThe periods during which the sun passes through each nakshatra are\nalso recorded, and they are of course constant in date like the\nsolar months. As there are twenty-seven nakshatras, the average time\nspent by the sun in each is about 13 1/2 days. These periods are\nwell known to the people as they have the advantage of not varying\nin date like the lunar months, while over most of India the solar\nmonths are not used. The commencement of the various agricultural\noperations is dated by the solar nakshatras, and there are several\nproverbs about them in connection with the crops. The following are\nsome examples: \"If it does not rain in Pushya and Punarvasu Nakshatras\nthe children of Nimar will go without food.\" 'Rain in Magha Nakshatra\n(end of August) is like food given by a mother,' because it is so\nbeneficial. \"If there is no wind in Mrigasiras (beginning of June),\nand no heat in Rohini (end of May), sell your plough-cattle and go\nand look for work.\" 'If it rains during Uttara (end of September)\ndogs will turn up their noses at grain,' because the harvest will\nbe so abundant. \"If it rains during Aslesha (first half of August)\nthe wheat-stalks will be as stout as drum-sticks\" (because the land\nwill be well ploughed). 'If rain falls in Chitra or Swati Nakshatras\n(October) there won't be enough cotton for lamp-wicks.'\n\n\n\n\n15. Lunar fortnights and days.\n\nThe lunar month was divided into two fortnights called paksha or\nwing. The period of the waxing moon was known as sukla or sudi paksha,\nthat is the light fortnight, and that of the waning moon as krishna\nor budi paksha, that is the dark fortnight.\n\nEach lunar month was also divided into thirty equal periods, called\ntithis or lunar days. Since there are less than thirty days in the\nlunar month, a tithi does not correspond to an ordinary day, but\nbegins and ends at odd hours of the day. Nevertheless the tithis\nare printed in all almanacs, and are used for the calculation of\nauspicious moments. [224]\n\n\n\n\n16. Divisions of the day.\n\nThe day is divided for ordinary purposes of measuring time into\neight pahars or watches, four of the day and four of the night;\nand into sixty gharis or periods of twenty-four minutes each. The\npahars, however, are not of equal length. At the equinox the first\nand fourth pahar of the day and night each contain eight gharis,\nand the two middle ones seven gharis. In summer the first and fourth\npahars of the day contain nine gharis each, and the two middle ones\neight each, while the first and fourth pahars of the night contain\nseven and the two middle ones six each. Thus in summer the four day\npahars contain 13 hours 36 minutes and the night ones 10 hours 24\nminutes. And in winter the exact opposite is the case, the night\npahars being lengthened and the day ones shortened in precisely\nthe same manner. No more unsatisfactory measure of time could well\nbe devised. The termination of the second watch or do pahar always\ncorresponds with midday and midnight respectively.\n\nThe apparatus with which the hours were measured and announced\nconsisted of a shallow metal pan, named from its office, gharial,\nand suspended so as to be easily struck with a wooden mallet by the\nghariali. He measured the passing of a ghari by an empty thin brass\ncup or katori, perforated at the bottom, and placed on the surface\nof a large vessel filled with water, where nothing could disturb it;\nthe water came through the small hole in the bottom of the cup and\nfilled it, causing it to sink in the period of one ghari. At the\nexpiration of each ghari the gharial struck its number from one to\nnine with a mallet on a brass plate, and at the end of each pahar\nhe struck a gujar or eight strokes to announce the fact, followed\nby one to four hollow-sounding strokes to indicate the number of\nthe pahar. This custom is still preserved in the method by which the\npolice-guards of the public offices announce the hours on a gong and\nsubsequently strike four, eight and twelve strokes to proclaim these\nhours of the day and night by our clock. Only rich men could afford\nto maintain a gharial, as four persons were required to attend to it\nduring the day and four at night. [225]\n\n\n\n\n17. The Joshi's calculations.\n\nThe Joshi calculates auspicious [226] seasons by a consideration of the\nsun's zodiacal sign, the moon's nakshatra or daily mansion, and other\nrules. From the monthly zodiacal signs and daily nakshatras in which\nchildren are born, as recorded in their horoscopes, he calculates\nwhether their marriage will be auspicious. Thus the zodiacal signs\nare supposed to be divided among the four castes, Pisces, Cancer and\nScorpio belonging to the Brahman; Aries, Leo and Sagittarius to the\nKshatriya; Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn to the Vaishya; and Gemini,\nLibra and Aquarius to the Sudra. If the boy and girl were born under\nany of the three signs of the same caste it is a happy conjunction. If\nthe boy's sign was of a caste superior to the girl's, it is suitable,\nbut if the girl's sign is of a superior caste to the boy's it is an\nomen that she will rule the household; and though the marriage may\ntake place, certain ceremonies should be performed to obviate this\neffect. There is also a division of the zodiacal signs according\nto their nature. Thus Virgo, Libra, Gemini, Aquarius and half of\nSagittarius are considered to be of the nature of man, or formed by\nhim; Aries, Taurus, half of Sagittarius and half of Capricorn are of\nthe nature of animals; Cancer, Pisces and half of Capricorn are of\na watery nature; Leo is of the desert or wild nature; and Scorpio\nis of the nature of insects. If the boy and girl were both born\nunder signs of the same nature their marriage will be auspicious,\nbut if they were born under signs of different natures, they will\nshare only half the blessings and comforts of the marriage state,\nand may be visited by strife, enmity, misery or distress. As Leo and\nScorpio are looked upon as being enemies, evil consequences are much\ndreaded from the marriage of a couple born under these signs. There\nare also numerous rules regarding the nakshatras or mansions of the\nmoon and days of the week under which the boy and girl were born,\nbut these need not be reproduced. If on the day of the wedding the\nsun or any of the planets passes from one zodiacal sign to another,\nthe wedding must be delayed for a certain number of gharis or periods\nof twenty-four minutes, the number varying for each planet. The hours\nof the day are severally appointed to the seven planets and the twelve\nzodiacal signs, and the period of ascendancy of a sign is known as\nlagan; this name is also given to the paper specifying the day and\nhour which have been calculated as auspicious for the wedding. It\nis stated that no weddings should be celebrated during the period of\noccultation of the planets Jupiter and Venus, nor on the day before\nnew moon, nor the Sankrant or day on which the sun passes from one\nzodiacal sign to another, nor in the Singhast year, when the planet\nJupiter is in the constellation Leo. This takes place once in twelve\nyears. Marriages are usually prohibited during the four months of\nthe rainy season, and sometimes also in Pus, Jeth or other months.\n\n\n\n\n18. Personal names.\n\nThe Joshi names children according to the moon's daily nakshatra\nunder which they were born, each nakshatra having a letter or certain\nsyllables allotted to it with which the name must begin. Thus Magha\nhas the syllables Ma, Mi, Mu and Me, with which the name should begin,\nas Mansaram, Mithu Lal, Mukund Singh, Meghnath; Purwa Phalguni has Mo\nand Te, as Moji Lal and Tegi Lal; Punarvasu has Ke, Ko, Ha and Hi,\nas Kesho Rao, Koshal Prasad, Hardyal and Hira Lal, and so on. The\nprimitive idea connecting a name with the thing or person to which it\nbelongs is that the name is actually a concrete part of the person or\nobject, containing part of his life, just as the hair, nails and all\nthe body are believed to contain part of the life, which is not at\nfirst localised in any part of the body nor conceived of as separate\nfrom it. The primitive mind could conceive no abstract idea, that is\nnothing that could not be seen or heard, and it could not think of\na name as an abstract appellation. The name was thought of as part\nof that to which it was applied. Thus, if one knew a man's name, it\nwas thought that one could use it to injure him, just as if one had a\npiece of his hair or nails he could be injured through them because\nthey all contained part of his life; and if a part of the life was\ninjured or destroyed the remainder would also suffer injury, just as\nthe whole body might perish if a limb was cut off. For this reason\nsavages often conceal their real names, so as to prevent an enemy from\nobtaining power to injure them through its knowledge. By a development\nof the same belief it was thought that the names of gods and saints\ncontained part of the divine life and potency of the god or saint to\nwhom they were applied. And even separated from the original owner the\nname retained that virtue which it had acquired in association; hence\nthe power assigned to the names of gods and superhuman beings when used\nin spells and incantations. Similarly, if the name of a god or saint\nwas given to a child it was thought that some part of the nature and\nvirtue of the god might be conferred on the child. Thus Hindu children\nare most commonly named after gods and goddesses under the influence\nof this idea; and though the belief may now have decayed the practice\ncontinues. Similarly the common Muhammadan names are epithets of Allah\nor god or of the Prophet and his relations. Jewish children are named\nafter the Jewish patriarchs. In European countries the most common\nmale names are those of the Apostles, as John, Peter, James, Paul,\nSimon, Andrew and Thomas; and the names of the Evangelists were, until\nrecently, also given. The most common girl's name in several European\ncountries is Mary, and a generation or two ago other Biblical names,\nas Sarah, Hannah, Ruth, Rachel, and so on, were very usually given\nto girls. In England the names next in favour for boys and girls\nare those of kings and queens, and the same idea perhaps originally\nunderlay the application of these names. The following are some of\nthe best-known Hindu names, taken from those of gods:--\n\n\nNames of Vishnu.\n\n Narayan. Probably 'The abode of mortals,' or else 'He who dwelt\n on the waters (before creation)'; now applied to the sun.\n Waman. The dwarf, one of Vishnu's incarnations.\n Janardan. Said to mean protector of the people.\n Narsingh. The man-lion, one of Vishnu's incarnations.\n Hari. Yellow or gold-colour or green. Perhaps applied to the sun.\n Parashram. From Parasurama or Rama with the axe, one of the\n incarnations of Vishnu.\n Gadadhar. Wielder of the club or gada.\n Jagannath. Lord of the world.\n Dinkar. The sun, or he who makes the days (din karna).\n Bhagwan. The fortunate or illustrious.\n Anant. The infinite or eternal.\n Madhosudan. Destroyer of the demon Madho (Madho means honey\n or wine).\n Pandurang. Yellow-coloured.\n\n\nNames of Rama, or Vishnu's Great Incarnation as King Rama of Ayodhia.\n\n Ramchandra, the moon of Rama, and Rambaksh, the gift of Rama,\n are the commonest Hindu male names.\n Atmaram. Soul of Rama.\n Sitaram. Rama and Sita his wife.\n Ramcharan. The footprint of Rama.\n Sakharam. The friend of Rama.\n Sewaram. Servant of Rama.\n\n\nNames of Krishna.\n\n Krishna and its diminutive Kishen are very common names.\n Kanhaiya. A synonym for Krishna.\n Damodar. Because his mother tied him with a rope to a large tree\n to keep him quiet and he pulled up the tree, roots and all.\n Balkishen. The boy Krishna.\n Ghansiam. The dark-coloured or black one (like dark clouds);\n probably referring to the belief that Krishna belonged to the\n non-Aryan races.\n Madan Mohan. The enchanter of love.\n Manohar. The heart-stealer.\n Yeshwant. The glorious.\n Kesho. Having long, fine hair. A name of Krishna. Also the\n destroyer of the demon Keshi, who was covered with hair. It would\n appear that the epithet was first applied to Krishna himself and\n afterwards to a demon whom he was supposed to have destroyed.\n Balwant. Strong. An epithet of Krishna, used in conjunction with\n other names.\n Madhava. Honey-sweet or belonging to the spring, vernal.\n Girdhari. He who held up the mountain. Krishna held up the mountain\n Govardhan, balancing the peak on his finger to protect the people\n from the destructive rains sent by Indra.\n Shiamsundar. The dark and beautiful one.\n Nandkishore, Nandkumar. Child of Nand the cowherd, Krishna's\n foster-father.\n\n\nNames of Siva.\n\n Sadasheo. Siva the everlasting.\n Mahadeo. The great god.\n Trimbak. The three-eyed one (?).\n Gangadhar. The holder of the Ganges, because it flows from\n Siva's hair.\n Kashinath. The lord of Benares.\n Kedarnath. The lord of cedars (referring to the pine-forests of\n the Himalayas).\n Nilkanth. The blue-jay sacred to Siva. Name of Siva because his\n throat is bluish-black either from swallowing poison at the time\n of the churning of the ocean or from drinking large quantities\n of bhang.\n Shankar. He who gives happiness.\n Vishwanath. Lord of the universe.\n Sheo Prasad. Gift of Siva.\n\n\nNames of Ganpati or Ganesh.\n\n Ganpati is itself a very common name.\n Vidhyadhar. The lord of learning.\n Vinayak. The remover of difficulties.\n Ganesh Prasad. Gift of Ganesh. A child born on the fourth day of\n any month will often be given this name, as Ganesh was born on\n the 4th Bhadon (August).\n\n\nNames of Hanuman.\n\n Hanuman itself is a very common name.\n Maroti, son of Marut the god of the wind.\n Mahavira or Mahabir. The strong one.\n\n\nOther common sacred names are: Amrit, the divine nectar, and Moreshwar,\nlord of the peacock, perhaps an epithet of the god Kartikeya. Men\nare also often named after jewels, as: Hira Lal, diamond; Panna Lal,\nemerald; Ratan Lal, a jewel; Kundan Lal, fine gold. A child born\non the day of full moon may be called Puran Chand, which means full\nmoon. There are of course many other male names, but those here given\nare the commonest. Children are also frequently named after the day\nor month in which they were born.\n\n\n\n\n19. Terminations of names.\n\nCommon terminations of male names are: Charan, footprint; Das, slave;\nPrasad, food offered to a god; Lal, dear; Datta, gift, commonly used\nby Maithil Brahmans; Din or Baksh, which also means gift; Nath,\nlord of; and Dulare, dear to. These are combined with the names\nof gods, as: Kalicharan, footprint of Kali; Ram Prasad or Kishen\nPrasad, an offering to Rama or Krishna; Bishen Lal, dear to Vishnu;\nGanesh Datta, a gift from Ganesh; Ganga Din, a gift from the Ganges;\nSheo Dulare, dear to Siva; Vishwanath, lord of the universe. Boys\nare sometimes given the names of goddesses with such terminations,\nas Lachmi or Janki Prasad, an offering to these goddesses. A child\nborn on the 8th of light Chait (April) will be called Durga Prasad,\nas this day is sacred to the goddess Durga or Devi.\n\n\n\n\n20. Women's names.\n\nWomen are also frequently named after goddesses, as: Parvati, the\nconsort of Siva; Sita, the wife of Rama; Janki, apparently another name\nfor Sita; Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, and the goddess of wealth;\nSaraswati, the goddess of wisdom; Radha, the beloved of Krishna;\nDasoda, the foster-mother of Krishna; Dewaki, who is supposed to\nhave been the real mother of Krishna; Durga, another name for Siva's\nconsort; Devi, the same as Durga and the earth-goddess; Rukhmini, the\nbright or shining one, a consort of Vishnu; and Tulsi, the basil-plant,\nsacred to Vishnu.\n\nWomen are also named after the sacred rivers, as: Ganga, Jamni or\nYamuni (Jumna); Gomti, the river on which Lucknow stands; Godha or\nGautam, after the Godavari river; and Bhagirathi, another name for\nthe Ganges. The river Nerbudda is commonly found as a man's name,\nespecially in places situated on its banks. Other names of women are:\nSona, gold; Puna, born at the full moon; Manohra, enchanting; Kamala,\nthe lotus; Indumati, a moonlight night; Sumati, well-minded; Sushila,\nwell-intentioned; Srimati, wealthy; Amrita, nectar; Phulwa, a flower;\nImlia, the tamarind; Malta, jasmine; and so on.\n\nIf a girl is born after four sons she will be called Pancho or fifth,\nand one born in the unlucky Mul Nakshatra is called Mulia. When a\ngirl is married and goes to her husband's house her name is always\nchanged there. If two girls have been married into the household,\nthey may be called Bari Bohu and Choti Bohu, or the elder and younger\ndaughters-in-law; or a girl may be called after the place from which\nshe comes, as Jabalpurwali, Raipurwali, and so on.\n\n\n\n\n21. Special names and bad names.\n\nThe higher castes have two names, one given by the Joshi, which\nis called rashi-ka-nam or the ceremonial name, rashi meaning the\nNakshatra or moon's daily mansion under which the child was born. This\nis kept secret and only used in marriage and other ceremonies,\nthough the practice is now tending to decay. The other is the chaltu\nor current name, and may either be a second ordinary name, such as\nthose already given, or it may be taken from some peculiarity of the\nchild. Names of the latter class are: Bhura, brown; Putro, a doll,\ngiven to a pretty child; Dukali, born in famine-time; Mahinga, dear\nor expensive; Chhota, little; Babu, equivalent to little prince or\nnoble; Papa, father; Kakku, born in the cucumber season; Lada, pet;\nPattu, a somersault; Judawan, cooling, and so on. Bad names are also\ngiven to avert ill-luck and remove the enmity of the spirits hostile to\nchildren, if the mother's previous babies have been lost. Instances of\nthese are Raisa, short in stature; Lula, having a maimed arm; Ghasita,\ndragged along on a board; Damru, bought for a farthing; Khairati, alms;\nDukhi, pain; Kubra, hunch-back; Gudri, rag; Kana, one-eyed; Birla, thin\nor lean; Bisahu, bought or purchased; and Bulaki and Chedi, having a\npierced nostril; these names are given to a boy whose nostril has been\npierced to make him resemble a girl and thus decrease his value. [227]\nFurther instances of such names have been given in other articles.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJulaha\n\n\nJulaha, Momin.--A low Muhammadan caste of weavers resident mainly in\nSaugor and Burhanpur. They numbered about 4000 persons in 1911. In\nNagpur District the Muhammadan weavers generally call themselves\nMomin, a word meaning 'orthodox.' In northern India and Bengal\nJulahas are very numerous and the bulk of them are probably converted\nHindus. Mr. (Sir Denzil) Ibbetson remarks: \"We find Koli-Julahas,\nChamar-Julahas, Morhi-Julahas, Ramdasi-Julahas, and so forth; and\nit is probable that after a few generations these men will drop the\nprefix which denotes their low origin and become Julahas pure and\nsimple.\" [228] The Julahas claim Adam as the founder of their craft,\ninasmuch as when Satan made him realise his nakedness he taught\nthe art of weaving to his sons. And they say that their ancestors\ncame from Arabia. In Nimar the Julahas or Momins assert that they\ndo not permit outsiders to be admitted as members of the caste, but\nthe accuracy of this is doubtful, while in Saugor any Muhammadan who\nwishes to do so may become a Julaha. They follow the Muhammadan laws\nof marriage and inheritance. Unions between relatives are favoured,\nbut a man may not marry his sister, niece, aunt or foster-sister. The\nJulaha or Momin women observe no purda, and are said to be almost\nunique among Muhammadans in this respect.\n\n\"The Musalman [229] weaver or Julaha,\" Sir G. Grierson writes,\n\"is the proverbial fool of Hindu stories and proverbs. He swims in\nthe moonlight across fields of flowering linseed, thinking the blue\ncolour to be caused by water. He hears his family priest reading the\nKoran, and bursts into tears to the gratification of the reader. When\npressed to tell what part affected him most, he says it was not that,\nbut that the wagging beard of the old gentleman so much reminded\nhim of a favourite goat of his which had died. When forming one of a\ncompany of twelve he tries to count them and finding himself missing\nwants to perform his own funeral obsequies. He finds the rear peg of\na plough and wants to set up farming on the strength of it. He gets\ninto a boat at night and forgets to pull up the anchor. After rowing\ntill dawn he finds himself where he started, and concludes that the\nonly explanation is that his native village could not bear to lose him\nand has followed him. If there are eight weavers and nine huqqas, they\nfight for the odd one. Once on a time a crow carried off to the roof of\nthe house some bread which a weaver had given his child. Before giving\nthe child any more he took the precaution of removing the ladder. Like\nthe English fool he always gets unmerited blows. For instance, he once\nwent to see a ram-fight and got butted himself, as the saying runs:\n\n\n Karigah chhor tamasa jay\n Nahak chot Julaha khay.\n\n\n'He left his loom to see the fun and for no reason got a\nbruising.' Another story (told by Fallon) is that being told by a\nsoothsayer that it was written in his fate that his nose would be\ncut off with an axe, the weaver was incredulous and taking up an axe,\nkept flourishing it, saying--\n\n\n Yon karba ta gor katbon\n Yon karba ta hath katbon\n Aur yon karba tab na----\n\n\n'If I do so I cut off my leg, if I do so I cut off my hand, but\nunless I do so my no----,' and his nose was off. Another proverb\nJulaha janathi jo katai, 'Does a weaver know how to cut barley,'\nrefers to a story (in Fallon) that a weaver unable to pay his debt\nwas set to cut barley by his creditor, who thought to repay himself\nin this way. But instead of reaping, the stupid fellow kept trying to\nuntwist the tangled barley stems. Other proverbs at his expense are;\n'The Julaha went out to cut the grass at sunset, when even the crows\nwere going home.' 'The Julaha's brains are in his backside.' His wife\nbears an equally bad character, as in the proverb: 'A wilful Julahin\nwill pull her own father's beard.'\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKachera\n\n\n1. Origin of the caste.\n\nKachera, [230] Kachara (from kanch, glass).--The functional caste of\nmakers of glass bangles. The Kacheras numbered 2800 persons in the\nCentral Provinces in 1911, of whom 1800 were found in the Jubbulpore\nDistrict. The caste say that in former times glass bangles were made\nonly by Turk or Muhammadan Kacheras. The present name of Turkari is\nprobably derived from Turk. But when Gauri Parvati was to be married\nto Mahadeo, she refused to wear the bangles made by a Turkari. So\nMahadeo constructed a vedi or furnace, and from this sprang the first\nHindu Kachera, who was employed to make bangles for Parvati. A later\nvariant of the legend, having a sufficiently obvious deduction, is\nthat Mahadeo did not create a man, but caught hold of a Kshatriya\nwho happened to be present and ordered him to make the bangles. His\ndescendants followed the new profession and thus came to be known\nas Kacheras. It is a possible conclusion from the story that the\nart of making glass bangles was introduced by the Muhammadans and,\nas suggested in the article on Lakhera, it may be the case that Hindu\nwomen formerly wore ornaments made of lac.\n\n\n\n\n2. Exogamous groups.\n\nThe exogamous sections of the Kacheras show that the caste is of\nvery mixed origin. Several of them are named after other castes,\nas Bharia (forest tribe), Gadaria (shepherd), Sunar, Naua (Nai),\nThakurel (Thakur or Rajput), Kachhwaha and Chauhan (septs of Rajputs),\nand Kuria or Kori (weaver), and indicate that members of these castes\ntook to the profession of bangle-making and became Kacheras. It may be\nsurmised that, in the first instance perhaps, when the objection to\nusing the product of the Muhammadan workman arose, if the theory of\nthe prior use of lac bangles be correct, members of different castes\ntook to supplying bangles for their own community, and from these\nin the course of time the Kachera caste was developed. Other names\nof sections worth mentioning are Jharraha, one who frets or worries;\nKharraha, a choleric person; Dukesha, one who carries a begging-bowl;\nThuthel, a maimed man, and Khajha, one suffering from the itch.\n\n\n\n\n3. Social customs.\n\nThe exogamous sections are known as baink. The marriage of persons\nbelonging to the same section and of first cousins is forbidden. Girls\nare generally married at an early age, as there is a scarcity of\nwomen in the caste, and they are snapped up as soon as available. As a\nnatural consequence a considerable bride-price is paid, and the desire\nof the Kachera to make a profit by the marriage of his daughter\nis ridiculed in the following saying, supposed to be his prayer:\n\"O God, give me a daughter. In exchange for her I shall get a pair\nof bullocks and a potful of rupees, and I shall be rich for the\nrest of my life. As her dowry I shall give her a sickle, a hoe and a\nspinning-machine, and these will suffice for my daughter to earn her\nlivelihood.\" The usual sum paid for a girl is Rs. 50. The marriage\nceremony is performed by walking round the sacred pole, and after it\nthe couple try their strength against each other, the bride trying to\npush a stone pestle on to a slab with her foot and the groom pushing\nit off with his. At the end of the wedding an omen is taken, a silver\nornament known as dhal [231] which women wear in the ear being fixed on\nto a wall and milk poured over it. If the ornament is displaced by the\nstream of milk and falls down, it is considered that the union will\nbe a happy one. The proceeding perhaps symbolises roughly the birth\nof a child. The marriage of widows is permitted, and in consequence\nof the scarcity of women the widow is usually married to her late\nhusband's younger brother, if there be one, even though he may be only\na child. Divorce is permitted. Liaisons within the caste are usually\noverlooked, but a woman going wrong with an outsider is expelled\nfrom the community. The Kacheras commonly burn the dead. They employ\nBrahmans for ceremonial purposes, but their social status is low and\nno high caste will take water from them. They eat flesh and fish, and\nsome of them drink liquor, while others have given it up. They have\na caste committee or panchayat for the punishment of social offences,\nwhich is headed by officials known as Malik and Diwan. Their favourite\ndeity is Devi, and in her honour they sow the Jawaras or pots of wheat\ncorresponding to the gardens of Adonis during the nine days prior to\nthe Ramnaomi and Dasahra festivals in March and September. Some of\nthem carry their devotion so far as to grow the plants of wheat on\ntheir bodies, sitting in one posture for nine days and almost giving\nup food and drink. At the Diwali festival they worship the furnace\nin which glass bangles are made.\n\n\n\n\n4. Occupation.\n\nThe traditional occupation of the caste is the manufacture of glass\nbangles. They import the glass in lumps from northern India and melt\nit in their furnace, after which the colouring matter is applied and\nthe ring is turned on a slab of stone. Nearly all Hindu married women\nhave glass bangles, which are broken or removed if their husbands\ndie. But the rule is not universal, and some castes do not wear them\nat all. Marwari women have bangles of ivory, and Dhangar (shepherd)\nwomen of cocoanut-shell. Women of several castes who engage in\nlabour have glass bangles only on the left wrist and metal ones on\nthe right, as the former are too fragile. Low-caste women sometimes\nwear the flat, black bangles known as khagga on the upper arm. In\nmany castes the glass bangles are also broken after the birth of a\nchild. Bangles of many colours are made, but Hindus usually prefer\nblack or indigo-blue. Among Hindus of good caste a girl may wear\ngreen bangles while she is unmarried; at her wedding black bangles\nare put on her wrists, and thereafter she may have them of black,\nblue, red or yellow, but not green. Muhammadans usually wear black\nor dark-green bangles. A Hindu woman has the same number of bangles\non each wrist, not less than five and more if she likes. She will\nnever leave her arms entirely without bangles, as she thinks this\nwould cause her to become a widow. Consequently when a new set are\npurchased one or two of the old ones are kept on each arm. Similarly\namong castes who wear lac bangles like Banjaras, five should be worn,\nand these cover the greater part of the space between the wrist and\nthe elbow. The men of the caste usually stay at home and make the\nbangles, and the women travel about to the different village markets,\ncarrying their wares on little ponies if they can afford them. It is\nnecessary that the seller of bangles should be a woman, as she has\nto assist her customers to work them on to their wrists, and also\ndisplay her goods to high-caste women behind the purda in their homes.\n\nThe Kacheras' bangles are very cheap, from two to fourteen being\nobtainable for a pice (farthing), according to quality. Many are\nalso broken, and the seller has to bear the loss of all those broken\nwhen the purchaser is putting them on, which may amount to 30 per\ncent. And though an improvement on the old lac bangles, the colours\nare very dull, and bracelets of better and more transparent glass\nimported from Austria now find a large sale and tend to oust the\nindigenous product. The Kachera, therefore, is, as a rule, far from\nprosperous. The incessant bending over the furnace tends to undermine\nhis constitution and often ruins his eyesight. There is in fact a Hindi\nsaying to the effect that, \"When the Kachera has a son the rejoicings\nare held in the Kundera's (turner's) house. For he will go blind and\nthen he will find nothing else to do but turn the Kundera's lathe.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKACHHI\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n 1. General notice.\n 2. Subdivisions.\n 3. Marriage customs.\n 4. Child-birth.\n 5. Ear-piercing.\n 6. Disposal of the dead.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nKachhi.--An important cultivating caste of the northern Districts,\nwho grow vegetables and irrigated crops requiring intensive\ncultivation. The distinction between the Kachhis and Malis of the\nHindustani Districts is that the former grow regular irrigated\ncrops, while the latter confine their operations to vegetables and\nflower-gardens; whereas the Mali or Marar of the Maratha country is\nboth a cultivator and a gardener. The Kachhis numbered about 120,000\npersons in 1911, and resided mainly in the Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore\nand Narsinghpur Districts. The word Kachhi may be derived from kachhar,\nthe name given to the alluvial land lying on river banks, which they\ngreatly affect for growing their vegetables. Another derivation is\nfrom kachhni, a term used for the process of collecting the opium from\nthe capsules of the poppy. [232] The caste are probably an offshoot of\nthe Kurmis. Owing to the resemblance of names they claim a connection\nwith the Kachhwaha sept of Rajputs, but this is not at all probable.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions.\n\nThe caste is divided into a number of subcastes, most of which take\ntheir names from special plants which they grow. Thus the Hardia\nKachhis grow haldi or turmeric; the Alias cultivate the al or Indian\nmadder, from which the well-known red dye is obtained; the Phulias are\nflower-gardeners; the Jirias take their name from jira or cumin; the\nMurai or Murao Kachhis are called after the muli or radish; the Pirias\ntake their name from the piria or basket in which they carry earth;\nthe Sanias grow san or hemp; the Mor Kachhis are those who prepare the\nmaur or marriage-crown for weddings; and the Lilia subcaste are called\nafter the indigo plant (il or nil). In some localities they have a\nsubcaste called Kachhwahi, who are considered to have a connection\nwith the Rajputs and to rank higher than the others.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage customs.\n\nThe social customs of the Kachhis resemble those of the Kurmis. The\ndescendants of the same parents do not intermarry for three\ngenerations. A man may have two sisters to wife at the same time. In\nthe Damoh District, on the arrival of the bridegroom's party, the\nbride is brought into the marriage-shed, and is there stripped to the\nwaist while she holds a leaf-cup in her hand; this is probably done\nso that the bridegroom may see that the bride is free from any bodily\ndefect. Girls are usually married before they are ten years old, and\nif the parents are too poor to arrange a match for their daughter,\nthe caste-fellows often raise a subscription when she attains this\nage and get her married. The bridegroom should always be older\nthan the bride, and the difference is generally from five to ten\nyears. The bridegroom wears a loin-cloth and long coat reaching to\nthe ground, both of which are stained yellow with turmeric; the bride\nwears a red cloth or one in which red is the main colour. The girl's\nfather gives her a dowry of a cow or jewels, or at least two rupees;\nwhile the boy's father pays all the expenses of the wedding with the\nexception of one feast. The bridegroom gives the bride a present of\nthree shoulder-cloths and three skirts, and one of these is worn by her\nat the wedding; this is the old northern method of dress, but married\nwomen do not usually adhere to it and have adopted the common sari or\nsingle body-cloth. The principal ceremony is the bhanwar or walking\nround the sacred post. While the bride and bridegroom are engaged\nin this the parents and elderly relatives shut themselves into the\nhouse and weep. During the first four rounds of the post the bride\nwalks in front bowing her head and the bridegroom places his right\nhand on her back; while during the last three the bridegroom walks\nin front holding the bride by her third finger. After this the bride\nis hidden somewhere in the house and the bridegroom has to search for\nher. Sometimes the bride's younger sister is dressed up in her clothes\nand the bridegroom catches her in mistake for his wife, whereupon the\nold women laugh and say to him, 'Do you want her also?' If finally\nhe fails to find the bride he must give her some ornament.\n\nAfter the wedding the bridegroom's marriage-crown is hung to the roof\nin a basket. And on the sixth day of the following month of Bhadon\n(August), he again dresses himself in his wedding clothes, and taking\nhis marriage-crown on a dish, proceeds to the nearest stream or river\naccompanied by his friends. Here he throws the crown into the water,\nand the wedding coat is washed clean of the turmeric and unsewn and\nmade up into ordinary clothes. This ceremony is known as moschatt and\nis common to Hindu castes generally. Widows are permitted to marry\nagain, and the most usual match is with the younger brother of the\ndeceased husband. Divorce is allowed at the instance either of the\nhusband or wife, and may be effected by a simple declaration before\nthe caste committee.\n\n\n\n\n4. Childbirth.\n\nAfter a birth neither the mother nor child are given anything to eat\nthe first day; and on the second they bring a young calf and give a\nlittle of its urine to the child, and to the mother a little sugar and\nthe half of a cocoanut. In the evening of this day they buy all kinds\nof hot spices and herbs from a Bania and make a cake with them and give\nit to the mother to eat. On the second day the child begins to drink\nits mother's milk. The navel-string is cut and buried in the room on\nthe first day, and over it a fire is kept burning continuously during\nthe period of impurity. The small piece which falls from the child's\nbody is buried beneath the mother's bed. The period of impurity after\nthe birth of a girl lasts for four days and five days for a boy. On\nthe sixth day the mother is given rice to eat. Twelve days after a\nchild is born the barber's wife cuts its nails for the first time\nand throws the clippings away.\n\n\n\n\n5. Ear-piercing\n\nThe ears of boys and girls are pierced when they are four or five\nyears old; until this is done they are not considered as members of\nthe caste and may take food from anyone. The ear is always pierced\nby a Sunar (goldsmith), who travels about the country in the pursuit\nof this calling. A brass pin is left in the ear for fifteen days,\nand is then removed and a strip of wood is substituted for it in a\nboy's ear and a peacock's feather in that of a girl to enlarge the\nhole. Girls do not have their nostrils pierced nor wear nose-rings,\nas the Kachhis are a comparatively low caste. They are tattooed before\nor after marriage with patterns of a scorpion, a peacock, a discus,\nand with dots on the chin and cheek-bones. During the period of her\nmonthly impurity a girl is secluded in the house and does not eat\nflesh or fish. When the time is finished she goes to the river and\nbathes and dresses her hair with earth, which is a necessary ceremony\nof purification.\n\n\n\n\n6. Disposal of the dead.\n\nThe bodies of children under five and of persons dying from smallpox,\nsnake-bite or cholera are buried, and those of others are cremated. In\nChhindwara they do not wash or anoint the corpses of the dead, but\nsprinkle on them a little turmeric and water. On the day of the funeral\nor cremation the bereaved family is supplied with food by friends. The\nprincipal deity of the Kachhis is Bhainsasur, who is regarded as the\nkeeper of the vegetable garden and is represented by a stone placed\nunder a tree in any part of it. He is worshipped once a year after the\nHoli festival with offerings of vermilion, areca-nuts and cocoanuts,\nand libations of liquor. The Kachhis raise all kinds of vegetables and\ngarden crops, the principal being chillies, turmeric, tobacco, garlic,\nonions, yams and other vegetables. They are diligent and laborious,\nand show much skill in irrigating and manuring their crops.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKadera\n\n\n1. Historical notice.\n\nKadera, Kandera, Golandaz, Bandar, Hawaidar. [233]--A small\noccupational caste of makers of fireworks. The Kaderas numbered\n2200 persons in 1911, and were most numerous in the Narsinghpur\nDistrict. They consider themselves to have come from Bundelkhand, where\nthe caste is also found, but it is in greatest strength in the Gwalior\nState. In former times Kaderas were employed to manufacture gunpowder\nand missiles of iron, and serve cannon in the Indian armies. The term\nGolandaz or 'ball-thrower' was also applied to native artillerymen. The\nBandar or 'rocket-throwers' were a separate class, who fired rockets\ncontaining missiles, the name being derived from van, an arrow. With\nthem may be classed the Deg-andaz or 'mortar-throwers,' who used\nthick earthenware pots filled with powder and having fuses attached,\nsomewhat resembling the modern bomb--missiles which inflicted dreadful\nwounds. [234] Mr. Irvine writes of the Mughal artillery as follows:\n\"The fire was never very rapid. Orme speaks of the artillery firing\nonce in a quarter of an hour. In 1721 the usual rate of fire of\nheavy guns was once every three hours. Artillery which fired once\nin two gharis or forty-four minutes was praised for its rapidity of\naction. The guns were usually posted behind the clay walls of houses;\nor they might take up a commanding position on the top of a brick-kiln;\nor a temporary entrenchment might be formed out of the earthen bank\nand ditch which usually surround a grove of mango-trees.\" Hawaidar\nis a term for a maker of fireworks, while the name Kandera itself\nmay perhaps be derived from kand, an arrow.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions.\n\nIn Narsinghpur the Kaderas have three subcastes, Rajput or Dangiwara,\nDhunka, and Matwala. The first claim to be Rajputs, but the alternative\nname of Dangiwara indicates that they are a mixed group, perhaps\npartly of Rajput descent like the Dangis of Saugor. It is by no\nmeans unlikely that the lower classes of Rajputs should have been\nemployed in the avocations of the Kaderas. The term Dhunka signifies\na cotton-cleaner, and some of the Kaderas may have taken up this\ncalling, when they could no longer find employment in the native\narmies. Matwala means a drinker of country liquor, in which members\nof this group indulge. But with the exception of the Rajput Kaderas\nin Narsinghpur, other members of the caste also drink it.\n\n\n\n\n3. Social customs.\n\nThey celebrate their marriages by walking round the sacred\npost. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. They have\na caste committee, with a headman called Chaudhri or Mehtar, and an\ninferior officer known as Diwan. When a man has been put out of caste\nthe Chaudhri first takes food with him on readmission, and for this is\nentitled to a fee of a rupee and a turban, while the Diwan receives a\nsmaller cloth. These offices are hereditary. The Kaderas have no purda\nsystem, and a wife may speak freely to her father-in-law. They bury the\nmilk-teeth of children below the ghinochi, or stand for water-pots,\nwith the idea probably of preventing heat and inflammation in the\ngums. A child's jhala or birth-hair is usually cut for the first time\non the occasion of some marriage in the family, and is thrown into\nthe Nerbudda or buried at a temple. Names are given by the Brahman\non the day of birth or soon afterwards, and a second pet name is\ncommonly used in the family. If a child sees a lamp on the chhati or\nsixth day after its birth they think that it will squint.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion and occupation.\n\nThe caste employ Brahmans for religious ceremonies, but their social\nposition is low, and they rank with castes from whom a Brahman cannot\ntake water. On the tenth day of Jeth (May) they worship Lukman\nHakim, a personage whom they believe to have been the inventor of\ngunpowder. He is popularly identified with Solomon, and is revered\nwith Muhammadan rites in the shop and not in the house. A Fakir is\ncalled in who sacrifices a goat, and makes an offering of the head,\nwhich becomes his perquisite; sugar-cakes and sweet rice are also\noffered and given away to children, and the flesh of the goat is\neaten by the family of the worshipper. Since the worship is paid only\nin the shop it would appear that Lukman Hakim is considered a deity\nforeign to the domestic religion, and is revered as having invented\nthe substance which enables the caste to make their livelihood; and\nsince he is clearly a Muhammadan deity, and is venerated according to\nthe ritual of this religion by the Kaderas, who are otherwise Hindus,\na recognition seems to be implied that as far at least as the Kaderas\nare concerned the introduction of gunpowder into India is attributed to\nthe Muhammadans. It is not stated whether or not the month of May was\nselected of set purpose for the worship of the inventor of gunpowder,\nbut it is at any rate a most appropriate season in India. At present\nthe Kadera makes his own gunpowder and manufactures fireworks, and\nin this capacity he is also known as Atashbaz. The ingredients for\ngunpowder in Narsinghpur are a pound of saltpetre, two ounces of\nsulphur, and four ounces of charcoal of a light wood, such as saleh\n[235] or the stalks of arhar. [236] Water is sprinkled on the charcoal\nand the ingredients are pounded together in a mortar, a dangerous\nproceeding which is apt to cause occasional vacancies in the family\ncircle. Arsenic and potash are also used for different fireworks, and\nsesamum oil is added to prevent smoke. Fireworks form a very popular\nspectacle in India, and can be obtained of excellent quality even in\nsmall towns. Bharbhunjas or grain-parchers now also deal in them.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKahar\n\n\n1. Origin and statistics.\n\nKahar, [237] Bhoi.--The caste of palanquin-bearers and watermen of\nnorthern India. No scientific distinction can be made between the\nKahars and Dhimars, both names being applied to the same people. In\nnorthern India the term Kahar is generally used, and Mr. Crooke has\nan article on Kahar, but none on Dhimar. In the Central Provinces\nthe latter is the more common name for the caste, and in 1911 23,000\nKahars were returned as against nearly 300,000 Dhimars. Berar had also\n27,000 Kahars. The social customs of the caste are described in the\narticle on Dhimar, but a short separate notice is given to the Kahars\non account of their special social interest. Some Kahars refuse to\nclean household cooking-vessels and hence occupy a slightly higher\nsocial position than the Dhimars generally. Mr. Crooke derives the\nname of the caste from the Sanskrit Skandha-kara, or 'One who carries\nthings on his shoulder.' The Brahmanical genealogists represent the\nKahar as descended from a Brahman father and a Chandal or sweeper\nmother, and this is typical of the position occupied by the caste,\nwho, though probably derived from the primitive non-Aryan tribes,\nhave received a special position on account of their employment as\nhousehold servants, so that all classes may take water and cooked\nfood at their hands. As one of Mr. Crooke's correspondents remarks:\n\"This caste is so low that they clean the vessels of almost all\ncastes except menials like the Chamar and Dhobi, and at the same time\nso high that, except Kanaujia Brahmans, all other castes eat pakki\nand drink water at their hands.\" Sir D. Ibbetson says of the Kahar:\n\"He is a true village menial, receiving customary dues and performing\ncustomary service. His social standing is in one respect high; for all\nwill drink water at his hands. But he is still a servant, though the\nhighest of his class.\" This comparatively high degree of social purity\nappears to have been conferred on the Kahars and Dhimars from motives\nof convenience, as it would be intolerable to have a palanquin-bearer\nor indoor servant from whom one could not take a drink of water.\n\n\n\n\n2. The doli or palanquin.\n\nThe proper occupation of the Kahar is that of doli or\nlitter-bearer. When carts could not travel owing to the absence of\nroads this was the regular mode of conveyance of those who could\nafford it and did not ride. Buchanan remarks: \"Few or none except\nsome chief native officers of Government keep bearers in constant pay;\nbut men of large estates give farms at low rents to their bearers, who\nare ready at a call and receive food when employed.\" [238] A superior\nkind of litter used by rich women had a domed roof supported on eight\npillars with side-boards like Venetian blinds; and was carried on\ntwo poles secured to the sides beneath the roof. This is perhaps the\nprogenitor of the modern Calcutta ghari or four-wheeler, just as the\nbody of the hansom-cab was modelled on the old sedan-chair. It was\ncalled Kharkhariya in imitation of the rattling of the blinds when in\nmotion. [239] The palki or ordinary litter consisted of a couch slung\nunder a long bamboo, which formed an arch over it. Over the arch was\nsuspended a tilt made of cloth, which served to screen the passenger\nfrom sun and rain. A third kind was the Chaupala or square box open at\nthe sides and slung on a bamboo; the passenger sat doubled up inside\nthis. If as was sometimes the case the Chaupala was hung considerably\nbeneath the bamboo the passenger was miserably draggled by dust and\nmud. Nowadays regular litters are so little used that they are not\nto be found in villages; but when required because one cannot ride\nor for travelling at night they are readily improvised by slinging\na native wooden cot from two poles by strings of bamboo-fibre. Most\nof the Kahars and Dhimars have forgotten how to carry a litter,\nand proceed very slowly with frequent stops to change shoulders or\nsubstitute other bearers. But the Kols of Mandla still retain the art,\nand will do more than four miles an hour for several hours if eight\nmen are allowed. Under native governments the privilege of riding in\na palanquin was a mark of distinction; and a rule was enforced that\nno native could thus enter into the area of the forts in Madras and\nBombay without the permission of the Governor; such permission being\nrecorded in the order book at the gates of the fort and usually granted\nonly to a few who were lame or otherwise incapacitated. When General\nMedows assumed the office of Governor of Bombay in 1788 some Parsis\nwaited on him and begged for the removal of this restriction; to which\nthe Governor replied, \"So long as you do not force me to ride in this\nmachine he may who likes it\"; and so the rule was abrogated. [240]\nA passage from Hobson-Jobson, however, shows that the Portuguese were\nmuch stricter in this respect: \"In 1591 a proclamation of the Viceroy,\nMatthias d'Albuquerque, ordered: 'That no person of what quality or\ncondition soever, shall go in a palanquy without my express licence,\nsave they be over sixty years of age, to be first proved before the\nAuditor-General of Police ... and those who contravene this shall\npay a penalty of 200 cruzados, and persons of mean estate the half,\nthe palanquys and their belongings to be forfeited, and the bois or\nmou\u00e7os who carry such palanquys shall be condemned to His Majesty's\ngalleys.'\" [241] The meaning of the last sentence appears to be that\nthe bearers were considered as slaves, and were forfeited to the king's\nservice as a punishment to their owner. As the unauthorised use of\nthis conveyance was so severely punished it would appear that riding\nin a palanquin must have been a privilege of nobility. Similarly to\nride on a horse was looked upon in something of the same light; and\nwhen a person of inferior consequence met a superior or a Government\nofficer while riding, he had to dismount from his horse as a mark of\nrespect until the other had passed. This last custom still obtains\nto some extent, though it is rapidly disappearing.\n\nAs a means of conveyance the litter would be held sacred by primitive\npeople, and Mr. Crooke gives an instance of the regard paid to it:\n\"At the Holi festival eight days before Diwali in the western Districts\nthe house is plastered with cowdung and figures of a litter (doli) and\nbearers are made on the walls with four or five colours, and to them\nofferings of incense, lights and flowers are given.\" [242] Even after\npassable roads were made tongas or carts drawn by trotting-bullocks\nwere slow in coming into general use owing to the objection felt by\nthe Hindus to harnessing the sacred ox.\n\n\n\n\n3. Female bearers.\n\nAt royal courts women were employed to carry the litters of the\nking and the royal ladies into the inner precincts of the palace,\nthe male bearers relinquishing their charge outside. \"Another\nclass of attendants at the palace peculiar to Lucknow were the\nfemale bearers. Their occupation was to carry the palanquins and\nvarious covered conveyances of the king and his ladies into the\ninner courts of the harem. These female bearers were also under\nmilitary discipline. They had their officers, commissioned and\nnon-commissioned. The head of them, a great masculine woman of pleasing\ncountenance, was an especial favourite of the king. The badinage which\nwas exchanged between them was of the freest possible character--not\nfit for ears polite, of course; but the extraordinary point in it was\nthat no one hearing it or witnessing such scenes could have supposed\nit possible that a king and a slave stood before him as the two chief\ndisputants.\" [243] Similarly female sepoys were employed to guard the\nharem, dressed in ordinary uniform and regularly drilled and taught\nto shoot. [244] A battalion of female troops for guarding the zenana\nis still maintained in Hyderabad. [245]\n\n\n\n\n4. Indoor servants.\n\nFrom being a palanquin-bearer the Kahar became the regular indoor\nservant of Hindu households. Originally of low caste, and derived from\nthe non-Aryan tribes, they did not object to eat the leavings of food\nof their masters, a relation which is naturally very convenient, if\nnot essential, in poor Hindu houses. Sir H. Risley notes, however, that\nin Bengal a Kahar engaged in personal service with a Brahman, Rajput,\nBabhan, Kayasth or Agarwal, will only eat his master's leavings so long\nas he is himself unmarried. [246] It seems that the marriage feast\nmay be considered as the sacrificial meal conferring full membership\nof the caste, after which the rules against taking food from other\ncastes must be strictly observed. Slaves were commonly employed as\nindoor servants, and hence the term Kahar came to be almost synonymous\nwith a slave. \"In the eighteenth century the title Kahar was at Patna\nthe distinctive appellation of a Hindu slave, as Maulazadah was of\na Muhammadan, and the tradition in 1774 was that the Kahar slavery\ntook its rise when the Muhammadans first invaded northern India.\" [247]\n\nAs the Kahar was the common indoor servant in Hindu houses so\napparently he came to be employed in the same capacity by the\nEnglish. But he was of too high a caste to serve the food of a\nEuropean, which would have involved touching the cooked flesh of\nthe cow, and thus lost him his comparatively good status and social\npurity among the Hindus. Hence arose the anomaly of a body servant\nwho would not touch his master's food, and confined himself to the\nduties of a valet; while the name of bearer given to this servant\nindicates clearly that he is the successor of the old-time Kahar\nor palanquin-bearer. The Uriya bearers of Bengal were well known as\nexcellent servants and most faithful; but in time the inconvenience\nof their refusal to wait at table has led to their being replaced by\nlow-caste Madrasis and by Muhammadans. The word 'boy' as applied to\nIndian servants is no doubt of English origin, as it is also used in\nChina and the West Indies; but the South Indian term boyi or Hindi\nbhoi for a palanquin-bearer also appears to have been corrupted into\nboy and to have made this designation more common. The following\ninstances of the use of the word 'boy' from Hobson-Jobson [248] may\nbe quoted in conclusion: \"The real Indian ladies lie on a sofa, and\nif they drop their handkerchief they just lower their voices and say\n'Boy,' in a very gentle tone\" (Letters from Madras in 1826). 'Yes,\nSahib, I Christian Boy. Plenty poojah do. Sunday time never no work do'\n(Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow, in 1866). The Hindu term Bhoi or bearer\nis now commonly applied to the Gonds, and is considered by them as an\nhonorific name or title. The hypothesis thus appears to be confirmed\nthat the Kahar caste of palanquin-bearers was constituted from the\nnon-Aryan tribes, who were practically in the position of slaves to\nthe Hindus, as were the Chamars and Mahars, the village drudges and\nlabourers. But when the palanquin-bearer developed into an indoor\nservant, his social status was gradually raised from motives of\nconvenience, until he grew to be considered as ceremonially pure, and\nable to give his master water and prepare food for cooking. Thus the\nKahars or Dhimars came to rank considerably above the primitive tribes\nfrom whom they took their origin, their ceremonial purity being equal\nto that of the Hindu cultivating castes, while the degrading status\nof slavery which had at first attached to them gradually fell into\nabeyance. And thus one can understand why the Gonds should consider\nthe name of Bhoi or bearer as a designation of honour.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKaikari\n\n\n1. Origin and traditions.\n\nKaikari, Kaikadi (also called Bargandi by outsiders). [249]--A\ndisreputable wandering tribe, whose ostensible profession is to\nmake baskets. They are found in Nimar and the Maratha Districts,\nand number some 2000 persons in the Central Provinces. The Kaikaris\nhere, as elsewhere, claim to have come from Telingana or the Deccan,\nbut there is no caste of this name in the Madras Presidency. They may\nnot improbably be the caste there known as Korva or Yerukala, whose\noccupations are similar. Mr. Kitts [250] has stated that the Kaikaris\nare known as Koravars in Arcot and as Korvas in the Carnatic. The\nKaikaris speak a gipsy language, which according to the specimen given\nby Hislop [251] contains Tamil and Telugu words. One derivation of\nKaikari is from the Tamil kai, hand, and kude, basket, and if this\nis correct it is in favour of their identification with the Korvas,\nwho always carry their tattooing and other implements in a basket in\nthe hand. [252] The Kaikaris of the Central Provinces say that their\noriginal ancestor was one Kanoba Ramjan who handed a twig to his sons\nand told them to earn their livelihood by it. Since then they have\nsubsisted by making baskets from the stalks of the cotton-plant, the\nleaves of the date-palm and grass. They themselves derive their name\nfrom Kai, standing for Kanoba Ramjan and kadi, a twig, an etymology\nwhich may be dismissed with that given in the Berar Census Report [253]\nthat they are the remnants of the Kaikeyas, who before the Christian\nera dwelt north of the Jalandhar Doab. Two subcastes exist in Nimar,\nthe Marathas and the Phirasti or wandering Kaikaris, the former no\ndoubt representing recruits from Maratha castes, not improbably from\nthe Kunbis. The Maratha Kaikaris look down on the Phirastis as the\nlatter take cooked food from a number of castes including the Telis,\nwhile the Marathas refuse to do this. In the Nagpur country there\nare several divisions which profess to be endogamous, as the Kamathis\nor those selling toys made of palm-leaves, the Bhamtis or those who\nsteal from bazars, the Kunbis or cultivators, the Tokriwalas or makers\nand sellers of baskets and the Boriwalas or those who carry bricks,\ngravel and stone. Kunbi and Bhamti are the names of other castes,\nand Kamathi is a general term applied in the Maratha country to\nTelugu immigrants; the names thus show that the Kaikaris, like other\nvagrant groups, are largely recruited from persons expelled from\ntheir own caste for social offences. These groups cannot really be\nendogamous as yet, but as in the case of several other wandering\ntribes they probably have a tendency to become so. In Berar [254]\nan entirely different set of 12 1/2 subcastes is recorded, several\nof which are territorial, and two, the Pungis or blowers of gourds,\nand the Wajantris or village musicians, are occupational. In Nimar\nas in Khandesh [255] the Kaikaris have only two exogamous clans,\nJadon and Gaikwar, who must marry with each other. In the southern\nDistricts there are a number of exogamous divisions, as Jadon, Mane,\nKumre, Jeshti, Kade, Dane and others. Jadon is a well-known Rajput\nsept, and the Kaikaris do not explain how they came by the name, but\nclaim to have fought as soldiers under several kings, during which\noccasions the name may have been adopted from some Rajput leader in\naccordance with the common practice of imitation. Mane and Gaikwar are\nfamily names of the Maratha caste. The names and varied nomenclature of\nthe subdivisions show that the Kaikaris, as at present constituted,\nare a very mixed caste, though they may not improbably have been\noriginally connected with the Korvas of Madras.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage.\n\nMarriage within the same gotra or section is prohibited, but with one\nor two exceptions there are no other restrictions on intermarriage\nbetween relatives. A sister's son may marry a brother's daughter, but\nnot vice versa. A man may not marry his wife's elder sister either\nduring his wife's lifetime or after her death, and he may marry her\nyounger sister, but not the younger but one. Girls are generally\nmarried between 8 and 12 years of age. If a girl cannot get a partner\nnothing is done, but when the marriage of a boy has not been arranged,\na sham rite is performed with an akao plant (swallow-wort) or with\na silver ring, all the ceremonies of a regular marriage being gone\nthrough. The tree is subsequently carefully reared, or the ring worn on\nthe finger. Should the tree die or the ring be lost, funeral obsequies\nare performed for it as for a member of the family. A bride-price is\npaid which may vary from Rs. 20 to Rs. 100. In the southern Districts\nthe following custom is in vogue at weddings. After the ceremony the\nbridegroom pretends to be angry and goes out of the mandap or shed,\non which the bride runs after him, and throwing a piece of cloth round\nhis neck, drags him back again. Her father then gives him some money\nor ornaments to pacify him. After this the same performance is gone\nthrough with the bride. The bride is taken to her husband's house,\nbut is soon brought back by her relatives. On her second departure\nthe husband himself does not go to fetch her, and she is brought\nhome by his father and other relations, her own family presenting\nher with new clothes on this occasion. Widow-marriage is permitted,\nand the widow is expected to marry the next younger brother of the\ndeceased husband. She may not marry any except the next younger,\nand if another should take her he is expelled from the caste until\nthe connection is severed. If she marries somebody else he must\nrepay to her late husband's brother a half of the expenses incurred\non the first marriage. In the southern Districts she may not marry\na brother of her husband's at all. A widow cannot be married in her\nlate husband's house, but is taken to her parents' house and married\nfrom there. In Nimar her family do not take anything, but in the\nsouth they are paid a small sum. Here also the marriage is performed\nat the second husband's house; the woman carries to it a new earthen\npitcher filled with water, and, placing it on the chauk or pattern\nof lines traced with flour in the courtyard, touches the feet of\nthe Panch or caste committee, after which her skirt is tied to her\nhusband's cloth. The pair are seated on a blanket and new bangles are\nplaced on the woman's wrist, widows officiating at the ceremony. The\ncouple then leave the village and pass the night outside it, returning\nnext morning, when the woman manages to enter the house without being\nperceived by a married woman or unmarried girl. A bachelor marrying a\nwidow must first go through the ceremony with a ring or akao plant,\nas already described, this being his real marriage; if he omits the\nrite his daughters by the widow will not be considered as members\nof the caste, though his sons will be admitted. Polygamy is allowed,\nbut the consent of the first wife must be obtained to the taking of a\nsecond, and she may require a written promise of good treatment after\nthe second marriage. A second wife is usually only taken if the first\nis barren, and if she has children her parents usually interfere to\ndissuade the husband, while other parents are always averse to giving\ntheir daughter in marriage to a man under such circumstances. Divorce\nis permitted for the usual reasons, a deed being drawn up and attested\nby the panchayat, to whom the husband pays a fine of Rs. 8 or Rs. 10.\n\n\n\n\n3. Religion.\n\nThe tutelary god of the Kaikaris is the Nag or cobra, who is worshipped\nat marriages and on the day of Nag-Panchmi. Every family has in the\nhouse a platform dedicated to Khandoba, the Maratha god of war. They\nalso worship Marimata, to whom flowers are offered at festivals, and\na little ghi is poured out in her honour by way of incense. When the\njuari harvest is gathered, dalias or cakes of boiled juari and a ewe\nare offered to Marimata. They do not revere the Hindu sacred trees,\nthe pipal and banyan, nor the basil plant, and will readily cut them\ndown. They both burn and bury the dead. The Jadons burn all married\npersons, but if they cannot afford firewood they touch the corpse\nwith a burning cinder and then bury it. The Gaikwars always bury their\ndead, the corpse being laid naked on its back with the feet pointing\nto the south. On returning from the burial-ground each relative of\nthe deceased gives one roti or wheaten cake to the bereaved family,\nand they eat, sharing the cakes with the panchayat. Bread is also\npresented on the second day, and on the third the family begin to\ncook again. Mourning lasts for ten days, and on the last day the\nhouse is cleaned and the earthen pots thrown out; the clothes of the\nfamily are washed and the males are shaved. Ten balls of rice cooked\nin milk are offered to the soul of the dead person and a feast is\ngiven to the caste. After a birth the mother remains impure for five\nweeks. For the first five days both the mother and child are bathed\ndaily. The navel cord and after-birth are buried by the midwife in a\nrubbish heap. When the milk teeth fall out they are placed in a ball\nof the dung of an ass and thrown on to the roof of the house. It is\nconsidered that the rats or mice, who have very good and sharp teeth,\nwill take them and give the child good teeth in exchange. Women are\nimpure for five days during the menstrual period. When a girl attains\nmaturity a ceremony called god-bharni is performed. The neighbours\nare invited and songs are sung and the girl is seated in the chauk\nor pattern of lines traced with flour. She is given new clothes and\nbangles by her father, or her father-in-law if she is married, and\nrice and plantains, cocoanuts and other fruits are tied up in her\nskirt. This is no doubt done so that the girl may in like manner be\nfruitful, the cocoanuts perhaps being meant to represent human heads,\nas they usually do.\n\n\n\n\n4. Social customs and position.\n\nThe Kaikaris eat flesh, including pork and fowls, but not beef. In\nNimar the animals which they eat must have their throats cut by a\nMuhammadan with the proper formula, otherwise it is considered as\nmurder to slaughter them. Both men and women drink liquor. They take\nfood cooked with water from Kunbis and Malis and take water from the\nsame castes, but not from Dhimars, Nais or Kahars. No caste will take\nfood from a Kaikari. Their touch is considered to defile a Brahman,\nBania, Kalar and other castes, but not a Kunbi. They are not allowed\nto enter temples but may live inside the village. Their status is thus\nvery low. They have a caste panchayat or committee, and punishments\nare imposed for the usual offences. Permanent exclusion from caste\nis rarely or never inflicted, and even a woman who has gone wrong\nwith an outsider may be readmitted after a peculiar ceremony of\npurification. The delinquent is taken to a river, tank or well, and\nis there shaved clean. Her tongue is branded with a ring or other\narticle of gold, and she is then seated under a wooden shed having\ntwo doors. She goes in by one door and sits in the shed, which is\nset on fire. She must remain seated until the whole shed is burning\nand is then allowed to escape by the other door. A young boy of the\ncaste is finally asked to eat from her hand, and thus purified she\nis readmitted to social intercourse. Fire is the great purifier, and\nthis ceremony probably symbolises the immolation of the delinquent\nand her new birth. A similar ordeal is practised among the Korvas of\nBombay, and this fact may be taken as affording further evidence of\nthe identity of the two castes. [256] The morals of the caste are,\nhowever, by no means good, and some of them are said to live by\nprostituting their women. The dog is held especially sacred as with\nall worshippers of Khandoba, and to swear by a dog is Khandoba's\noath and is considered the most binding. The Kaikaris are of dark\ncolour and have repulsive features. They do not bathe or change their\nclothes for days together. They are also quarrelsome, and in Bombay\nthe word Kaikarin is a proverbial term for a dirty shrew. Women are\nprofusely tattooed, because tattooing is considered to be a record\nof the virtuous acts performed in this world and must be displayed\nto the deity after death. If no marks of tattooing are found the soul\nis sent to hell and punished for having acquired no piety.\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation.\n\nBasket-making is the traditional occupation of the Kaikaris and\nis still followed by them. They do not however make baskets from\nbamboos, but from cotton-stalks, palm-leaves and grass. In the south\nthey are principally employed as carriers of stone, lime, bricks and\ngravel. Like most wandering castes they have a bad character. In Berar\nthe Ran Kaikaris are said to be the most criminal class. [257] They\nact under a chief who is elected for life, and wander about in the cold\nweather, usually carrying their property on donkeys. Their ostensible\noccupations are to make baskets and mend grinding mills. A notice of\nthem in Lawrence's Settlement Report of Bhandara (1867) stated that\nthey were then professional thieves, openly avowing their dependence\non predatory occupations for subsistence, and being particularly\ndexterous at digging through the walls of houses and secret pilfering.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKalanga\n\n\n1. Origin.\n\nKalanga.--A cultivating caste of Chhattisgarh numbering 1800 persons\nin 1911. In Sambalpur they live principally in the Phuljhar zamindari\non the border, between Chhattisgarh and the Uriya track. The Kalangas\nappear to be a Dravidian tribe who took up military service and\ntherefore adopted a territorial name, Kalanga being probably derived\nfrom Kalinga, the name of the sea-board of the Telugu country. The\nKalangas may be a branch of the great Kalingi tribe of Madras. They\nhave mixed much with the Kawars, and in Phuljhar say that they have\nthree branches, the Kalingia, Kawar and Chero Kalangas; Kawar and\nChero are names for the same tribe, and the last two branches are thus\nprobably a mixture of Kalingis and Kawars, while the first comprises\nthe original Kalingis. The Kalangas themselves, like the Kawars,\nsay that they are the descendants of the Kauravas of the Mahabharata,\nand that they came from northern India with the Rajas of Patna, whom\nthey still serve. But their features indicate their Dravidian descent\nas also their social customs, especially that of killing a cock with\nthe bare hands on the birth of a child, and anointing the infant's\nforehead with its blood. They have not retained their Telugu language,\nhowever, and like the Kawars now speak a dialect of Chhattisgarhi at\nhome, while many also know Uriya.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions.\n\nThe Kalangas have no real endogamous divisions but a large number\nof exogamous groups or bargas, the names of which are derived from\nanimals, plants, or material objects, nicknames, occupations or\ntitles. Instances of the totemistic groups are Barha the wild boar,\nMagar the crocodile, Bichhi the scorpion, Saria a variety of rice,\nChhati a mushroom, Khumri a leaf umbrella, and several others. The\nmembers of the group revere the animal, plant or other object from\nwhich it takes its name and would refuse to injure it or use it\nfor food. They salute the object whenever they see it. Instances of\nother group names are Manjhi a headman, Behra a cook, Gunda dusty,\nKapat a shutter, Bhundi a hole, Chika muddy, Bhil a tribe, Rendia\nquarrelsome, and Bersia a Thug or strangler. Some of the nicknames or\ntitles are curious, as for instance Kapat, a shutter, which stands\nfor gate-keeper, and Bhundi, a hole, which indicates a defective\nperson. Some of the group names are those of other castes, and this\nprobably indicates the admission of families of other castes among the\nKalangas. One of the groups is called Kusundi, the meaning of which is\nnot known, but whenever any one of the caste gets maggots in a wound\nand is temporarily expelled, it is a member of the Kusundi group,\nif one is available, who gives him water on his readmission into\ncaste. This is a dangerous service, because it renders the performer\nliable to the burden of the other's sin, and when no Kusundi is present\nfive or seven men of other groups combine in doing it so as to reduce\nthe risk to a fraction. But why this function of a scapegoat should be\nimposed upon the Kusundi group, or whether it possesses any peculiar\nsanctity which protects it from danger, cannot be explained.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage.\n\nMarriage within the same barga or group is prohibited and also\nthe union of first cousins. Marriage is usually adult and matches\nare arranged between the parents of the parties. A considerable\nquantity of grain with five pieces of cloth and Rs. 5 are given\nto the father of the bride. A marriage-shed is erected and a post\nof the mahua tree fixed inside it. Three days before the wedding a\nGanda goes to the shed with some pomp and worships the village gods\nthere. In the ceremony the bridegroom and bride proceed separately\nseven times round the post, this rite being performed for three days\nrunning. During the four days of the wedding the fathers of the bride\nand bridegroom each give one meal to the whole caste on two days,\nwhile the other meal on all four days is given to the wedding party\nby the members of the caste resident in the village. This may be a\nsurvival of the time when all members of the village community were\nheld to be related. Widow-marriage is allowed, but the widow must\nobtain the consent of the caste people before taking a second husband,\nand a feast must be given to them. If the widow has no children and\nthere are no relatives to succeed to her late husband's property,\nit is expended on feeding the caste people. Divorce is permitted and\nis effected by breaking the woman's bangles in front of the caste\npanchayat. In memory perhaps of their former military profession the\nKalangas worship the sword on the 15th day of Shrawan and the 9th\nday of Kunwar. Offerings are made to the dead in the latter month,\nbut not to persons who have died a violent death. The spirits of these\nmust be laid lest they should trouble the living, and this is done in\nthe following manner: a handful of rice is placed at the threshold\nof the house, and a ring is suspended by a thread so as to touch\nthe rice. A goat is then brought up, and when it eats the rice, the\nspirit of the dead person is considered to have entered into the goat,\nwhich is thereupon killed and eaten by the family so as to dispose of\nhim once for all. If the goat will not eat the rice it is made to do\nso. The spirit of a man who has been killed by a tiger must, however,\nbe laid by the Sulia or sorcerer of the caste, who goes through the\nformula of pretending to be a tiger and of mauling another sorcerer.\n\n\n\n\n4. Social position.\n\nThe Kalangas are at present cultivators and many of them are\nfarmservants. They do not now admit outsiders into the caste, but they\nwill receive the children begotten on any woman by a Kalanga man. They\ntake food cooked without water from a Guria, but katchi food from\nnobody. Only the lowest castes will take food from them. They drink\nliquor and eat fowls and rats, but not beef or pork. A man who gets\nhis ear torn is temporarily excluded from caste, and this penalty\nis also imposed for the other usual offences. A woman committing\nadultery with a man of another caste is permanently expelled. The\nKalangas are somewhat tall in stature. Their features are Dravidian,\nand in their dress and ornaments they follow the Chhattisgarhi style.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKALAR\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Strength of the caste.\n 2. Internal structure.\n 3. Dandsena Kalars in Chhattisgarh.\n 4. Social customs.\n 5. Liquor held divine in Vedic times.\n 6. Subsequent prohibition of alcohol.\n 7. Spirits habitually drunk in ancient times.\n 8. Drunkenness and divine inspiration.\n 9. Sanctity of liquor among the Gonds and other castes.\n 10. Drugs also considered divine.\n 11. Opium and ganja.\n 12. Tobacco.\n 13. Customs in connection with drinking.\n\n\n\n\n1. Strength of the caste.\n\nKalar, Kalwar. [258]--The occupational caste of distillers and sellers\nof fermented liquor. In 1911 the Kalars numbered nearly 200,000 persons\nin the Central Provinces and Berar, or rather more than one per cent of\nthe population; so they are a somewhat important caste numerically. The\nname is derived from the Sanskrit Kalyapala, a distiller of liquor.\n\n\n\n\n2. Internal structure.\n\nThe caste has a number of subdivisions, of which the bulk are\nof the territorial type, as Malvi or the immigrants from Malwa,\nLad those coming from south Gujarat, Daharia belonging to Dahar or\nthe Jubbulpore country, Jaiswar and Kanaujia coming from Oudh. The\nRai Kalars are an aristocratic subcaste, the word Rai signifying\nthe highest or ruling group like Raj. But the Byahut or 'Married'\nare perhaps really the most select, and are so called because they\nforbid the remarriage of widows, their women being thus married once\nfor all. In Bengal they also decline to distil or sell liquor. [259]\nThe Chauske Kalars are said to be so called because they prohibit\nthe marriage of persons having a common ancestor up to the fourth\ngeneration. The name of the Seohare or Sivahare subcaste is perhaps a\ncorruption of Somhare or dealers in Soma, the sacred fermented liquor\nof the Vedas; or it may mean the worshippers of the god Siva. The\nSeohare Kalars say that they are connected with the Agarwala Banias,\ntheir common ancestors having been the brothers Seoru and Agru. These\nbrothers on one occasion purchased a quantity of mahua [260] flowers;\nthe price afterwards falling heavily. Agru sold his stock at a discount\nand cut the loss; but Seoru, unwilling to suffer it, distilled liquor\nfrom his flowers and sold the liquor, thus recouping himself for his\nexpenditure. But in consequence of his action he was degraded from\nthe Bania caste and his descendants became Kalars. The Jaiswar,\nKanaujia and Seohare divisions are also found in northern India,\nand the Byahut both there and in Bengal. Mr. Crooke states that the\ncaste may be an offshoot from the Bania or other Vaishya tribes; and\na slight physical resemblance may perhaps be traced between Kalars\nand Banias. It may be noticed also that some of the Kalars are Jains,\na religion to which scarcely any others except Banias adhere. Another\nhypothesis, however, is that since the Kalars have become prosperous\nand wealthy they devised a story connecting them with the Bania caste\nin order to improve their social position.\n\n\n\n\n3. Dandsena Kalars in Chhattisgarh.\n\nIn Chhattisgarh the principal division of the Kalars is that of the\nDandsenas or 'Stick-carriers,' and in explanation of the name they\nrelate the following story: \"A Kalar boy was formerly the Mahaprasad\nor bosom friend of the son of the Rajput king of Balod. [261] But the\nRaja's son fell in love with the Kalar boy's sister and entertained\nevil intentions towards her. Then the Kalar boy went and complained\nto the Raja, who was his Phulbaba, [262] the father of his friend,\nsaying, 'A dog is always coming into my house and defiling it,\nwhat am I to do?' The Raja replied that he must kill the dog. Then\nthe boy asked whether he would be punished for killing him, and the\nRaja said, No. So the next day as the Rajput boy was entering his\nhouse to get at his sister, the Kalar boy killed him, though he was\nhis dearest friend. Then the Rajputs attacked the Kalars, but they\nwere led only by the queen, as the king had said that the Kalar boy\nmight kill the dog. But the Rajputs were being defeated and so the\nRaja intervened, and the Kalars then ceased fighting as the Raja had\nbroken his word. But they left Balod, saying that they would drink\nno more of its waters, which they have not done to this day.\" [263]\nAnd the Kalars are called Dandsena, because in this fight sticks were\ntheir only weapons.\n\n\n\n\n4. Social customs.\n\nThe marriage customs of the caste follow the ordinary Hindu ritual\nprevalent in the locality and are not of special interest. Before\na Kalar wedding procession starts a ceremony known as marrying the\nwell is performed. The mother or aunt of the bridegroom goes to the\nwell and sits in the mouth with her legs hanging down inside it and\nasks what the bridegroom will give her. He then goes round the well\nseven times, and a stick of kans [264] grass is thrown into it at each\nturn. Afterwards he promises the woman some handsome present and she\nreturns to the house. Another explanation of the story is that the\nwoman pretends to be overcome with grief at the bridegroom's departure\nand threatens to throw herself into the well unless he will give\nher something. The well-to-do marry their daughters at an early age,\nbut no stigma attaches to those who have to postpone the ceremony. A\nbride-price is not customary, but if the girl's parents are poor\nthey sometimes receive help from those of the boy in order to carry\nout the wedding. Matches are usually arranged at the caste feasts,\nand a Brahman officiates at the ceremony. Divorce is recognised and\nwidows are allowed to marry again except by the Byahut subcaste. The\nKalars worship the ordinary Hindu deities, and those who sell liquor\nrevere an earthen jar filled with wine at the Holi festival. The\neducated are usually Vaishnavas by sect, and as already stated a\nfew of them belong to the Jain religion. The social status of the\nKalars is equivalent to that of the village menials, ranking below\nthe good cultivating castes. Brahmans do not take water from their\nhands. But in Mandla, where the Kalars are important and prosperous,\ncertain Sarwaria Brahmans who were their household priests took water\nfrom them, thus recognising them as socially pure. This has led to a\nsplit among the local Sarwaria Brahmans, the families who did not take\nwater from the Kalars refusing to intermarry with those who did so.\n\nWhile the highest castes of Hindus eschew spirituous liquor the\ncultivating and middle classes are divided, some drinking it and others\nnot; and to the menial and labouring classes, and especially to the\nforest tribes, it is the principal luxury of their lives. Unfortunately\nthey have not learnt to indulge in moderation and nearly always drink\nto excess if they have the means, while the intoxicating effect of\neven a moderate quantity is quickly perceptible in their behaviour.\n\nIn the Central Provinces the liquor drunk is nearly all distilled from\nthe flowers of the mahua tree (Bassia latifolia), though elsewhere\nit is often made from cane sugar. The smell of the fermented mahua\nand the refuse water lying about make the village liquor-shop an\nunattractive place. But the trade has greatly profited the Kalars by\nthe influence which it has given them over the lower classes. \"With\nthe control of the liquor-supply in their hands,\" Mr. Montgomerie\nwrites, \"they also controlled the Gonds, and have played a more\nimportant part in the past history of the Chhindwara District than\ntheir numbers would indicate.\" [265] The Kalar and Teli (oil-presser)\nare usually about on the same standing; they are the creditors of\nthe poorer tenants and labourers, as the Bania is of the landowners\nand substantial cultivators. These two of the village trades are not\nsuited to the method of payment by annual contributions of grain, and\nmust from an early period have been conducted by single transactions\nof barter. Hence the Kalar and Teli learnt to keep accounts and to\nappreciate the importance of the margin of profit. This knowledge and\nthe system of dealing on credit with the exaction of interest have\nstood them in good stead and they have prospered at the expense of\ntheir fellow-villagers. The Kalars have acquired substantial property\nin several Districts, especially in those mainly populated by Gonds,\nas Mandla, Betul and Chhindwara. In British Districts of the Central\nProvinces they own 750 villages, or about 4 per cent of the total. In\nformer times when salt was highly taxed and expensive the Gonds had\nno salt. The Kalars imported rock-salt and sold it to the Gonds in\nlarge pieces. These were hung up in the Gond houses just as they are\nin stables, and after a meal every one would go up to the lump of salt\nand lick it as ponies do. When the Gonds began to wear cloth instead\nof leaves and beads the Kalars retailed them thin strips of cloth just\nsufficient for decency, and for the cloth and salt a large proportion\nof the Gond's harvest went to the Kalar. When a Gond has threshed\nhis grain the Kalar takes round liquor to the threshing-floor and\nreceives a present of grain much in excess of its value. Thus the\nGond has sold his birthright for a mess of pottage and the Kalar\nhas taken his heritage. Only a small proportion of the caste are\nstill supported by the liquor traffic, and a third of the whole are\nagriculturists. Others have engaged in the timber trade, purchasing\nteak timber from the Gonds in exchange for liquor, a form of commerce\nwhich has naturally redounded to their great advantage. A few are\neducated and have risen to good positions in Government service. Sir\nD. Ibbetson describes them as 'Notorious for enterprise, energy and\nobstinacy. Death may budge, but a Kalar won't.' The Sikh Kalars, who\nusually call themselves Ahluwalia, contain many men who have attained\nto high positions under Government, especially as soldiers, and the\ngeneral testimony is that they make brave soldiers. [266] One of the\nruling chiefs of the Punjab belongs to this caste. Until quite recently\nthe manufacture of liquor, except in the large towns, was conducted\nin small pot-stills, of which there was one for a circle of perhaps\ntwo dozen villages with subordinate shops. The right of manufacture\nand vend in each separate one of these stills was sold annually by\nauction at the District headquarters, and the Kalars assembled to bid\nfor it. And here instances of their dogged perseverance could often be\nnoticed; when a man would bid up for a licence to a sum far in excess\nof the profits which he could hope to acquire from it, rather than\nallow himself to be deprived of a still which he desired to retain.\n\n\n\n\n5. Liquor held divine in Vedic times.\n\nThough alcoholic liquor is now eschewed by the higher castes of\nHindus and forbidden by their religion, this has by no means always\nbeen the case. In Vedic times the liquor known as Soma was held in so\nmuch esteem by the Aryans that it was deified and worshipped as one\nof their principal gods. Dr. Hopkins summarises [267] the attributes\nof the divine wine, Soma, as follows, from passages in the Rig-Veda:\n\"This offering of the juice of the Soma-plant in India was performed\nthrice daily. It is said in the Rig-Veda that Soma grows upon the\nmountain Mujawat, that its or his father is Parjanya, the rain-god,\nand that the waters are his sisters. From this mountain, or from\nthe sky, accounts differ, Soma was brought by a hawk. He is himself\nrepresented in other places as a bird; and as a divinity he shares\nin the praise given to Indra. It was he who helped Indra to slay\nVritra, the demon that keeps back the rain. Indra, intoxicated by\nSoma, does his great deeds, and indeed all the gods depend on Soma\nfor immortality. Divine, a weapon-bearing god, he often simply takes\nthe place of Indra and other gods in Vedic eulogy. It is the god Soma\nhimself who slays Vritra, Soma who overthrows cities, Soma who begets\nthe gods, creates the sun, upholds the sky, prolongs life, sees all\nthings, and is the one best friend of god and man, the divine drop\n(indu), the friend of Indra. As a god he is associated not only with\nIndra but also with Agni, Rudra and Pushan. A few passages in the\nlater portion of the Rig-Veda show that Soma already was identified\nwith the moon before the end of this period. After this the lunar\nyellow god was regularly regarded as the visible and divine Soma\nof heaven represented on earth by the plant.\" Mr. Hopkins discards\nthe view advanced by some commentators that it is the moon and not\nthe beverage to which the Vedic hymns and worship are addressed,\nand there is no reason to doubt that he is right.\n\nThe soma plant has been thought to be the Asclepias acida, [268] a\nplant growing in Persia and called hom in Persian. The early Persians\nbelieved that the hom plant gave great energy to body and mind. [269]\nAn angel is believed to preside over the plant, and the Hom Yast\nis devoted to its praises. Twigs of it are beaten in water in the\nsmaller Agiari or fire-temple, and this water is considered sacred,\nand is given to newborn children to drink. [270] Dr. Hopkins states,\nhowever, that the hom or Asclepias acida was not the original soma,\nas it does not grow in the Punjab region, but must have been a\nlater substitute. Afterwards again another kind of liquor, sura,\nbecame the popular drink, and soma, which was now not so agreeable,\nwas reserved as the priests' (gods') drink, a sacrosanct beverage not\nfor the vulgar, and not esteemed by the priests except as it kept up\nthe rite. [271]\n\nSoma is said to have been prepared from the juice of the creeper\nalready mentioned, which was diluted with water, mixed with barley\nmeal, clarified butter and the flour of wild rice, and fermented\nin a jar for nine days. [272] Sura was simply arrack prepared from\nrice-flour, or rice-beer.\n\n\n\n\n6. Subsequent prohibition of alcohol.\n\nThough in the cold regions of Central Asia the cheering and warming\nliquor had been held divine, in the hot plains of India the evil\neffects of alcohol were apparently soon realised. \"Even more bold is\nthe scorn of the gods in Hymn x. 119 of the Rig-Veda, which introduces\nIndra in his merriest humour, ready to give away everything, ready to\ndestroy the earth and all that it contains, boasting of his greatness\nin ridiculous fashion--all this because, as the refrain tells us, he is\nin an advanced state of intoxication caused by excessive appreciation\nof the soma offered to him. Another Hymn (vii. 103) sings of the frogs,\ncomparing their voices to the noise of a Brahmanical school and their\nhopping round the tank to the behaviour of drunken priests celebrating\na nocturnal offering of soma.\" [273] It seems clear, therefore,\nthat the evil effects of drunkenness were early realised, and led to\na religious prohibition of alcohol. Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitra writes:\n[274] \"But the fact remains unquestioned that from an early period\nthe Hindus have denounced in their sacred writings the use of wine as\nsinful, and two of their greatest law-givers, Manu and Yajnavalkya,\nheld that the only expiation meet for a Brahman who had polluted\nhimself by drinking spirit was suicide by a draught of spirit or water\nor cow's urine or milk, in a boiling state taken in a burning hot metal\npot. Angira, Vasishtha and Paithurasi restricted the drink to boiling\nspirits alone. Dewala went a step farther and prescribed a draught\nof molten silver, copper or lead as the most appropriate.... Manu\nlikewise provides for the judicial cognisance of such offences by\nBrahmans, and ordains excommunication, and branding on the forehead\nthe figure of a bottle as the most appropriate punishment.\"\n\n\n\n\n7. Spirits habitually drunk in ancient times.\n\nNevertheless the consumption of alcohol was common in classical\ntimes. Bharadwaja, a great sage, offered wine to Bharata and his\nsoldiers when they spent a night under his roof. [275] When Sita\ncrossed the Ganges on her way to the southern wilderness she begged the\nriver for a safe passage, saying, \"Be merciful to me, O Goddess, and I\nshall on my return home worship thee with a thousand jars of arrack and\ndishes of well-dressed flesh meat.\" When crossing the Jumna she said,\n\"Be auspicious, O Goddess; I am crossing thee. When my husband has\naccomplished his vow I shall worship thee with a thousand head of\ncattle and a hundred jars of arrack.\" Similarly the companions of\nKrishna, the Yadavas, destroyed each other when they were overcome\nby drink; and many other instances are given by Dr. Rajendra Lal\nMitra. The Puranas abound in descriptions of wine and drinking,\nand though the object of many of them is to condemn the use of wine\nthe inference is clear that there was a widespread malady which they\nproposed to overcome. [276] Pulastya, an ancient sage and author of\none of the original Smritis, enumerates twelve different kinds of\nliquor, besides the soma beer which is not usually reckoned under the\nhead of madya or wine, and his successors have added largely to the\nlist. The twelve principal liquors of this sage are those of the jack\nfruit, the grape, honey or mead, date-liquor, palm-liquor or toddy,\nsugarcane-liquor, mahua-liquor, rum and those made from long-pepper,\nsoap-berries and cocoanuts. [277] All these drinks were not merely\nfermented, but distilled and flavoured with different kinds of spices,\nfruits and herbs; they were thus varieties of spirits or liqueurs. It\nis probable that without the use of glass bottles and corks it would\nbe very difficult to keep fermented wine for any length of time in\nthe Indian climate. But spirits drunk neat as they were would produce\nmore markedly evil results in a hot country, and would strengthen and\naccelerate the reaction against alcoholic liquor, which has gone so\nfar that probably a substantial majority at least of the inhabitants\nof India are total abstainers. To this good result the adoption of\nBuddhism as stated by Dr. Mitra no doubt largely contributed. This was\nfor some centuries the state religion, and was a strong force in aid\nof temperance as well as of abstention from flesh. The Sivite revival\nreacted in favour of liquor drinking as well as of the consumption\nof drugs. But the prohibition of alcohol has again been a leading\ntenet of practically all the Vaishnava reforming sects.\n\n\n\n\n8. Drunkenness and divine inspiration.\n\nThe intoxication of alcohol is considered by primitive people as\na form of divine inspiration or possession like epileptic fits and\ninsanity. This is apparently the explanation of the Vedic liquor, Soma,\nbeing deified as one of the greatest gods. In later Hindu mythology,\nVaruni, the goddess of wine, was produced when the gods churned the\nocean with the mountain Mandara as a churning-stick on the back of\nthe tortoise, Vishnu, and the serpent as a rope, for the purpose\nof restoring to man the comforts lost during the great flood. [278]\nVaruni was considered to be the consort of Varuna, the Vedic Neptune.\n\nSimilarly the Bacchantes in their drunken frenzy were considered to be\npossessed by the wine-god Dionysus. \"The Aztecs regarded pulque or the\nwine of the country as bad, on account of the wild deeds which men did\nunder its influence. But these wild deeds were believed to be the acts,\nnot of the drunken man, but of the wine-god by whom he was possessed\nand inspired; and so seriously was this theory of inspiration held that\nif any one spoke ill of or insulted a tipsy man, he was liable to be\npunished for disrespect to the wine-god incarnate in his votary.\" [279]\nSir James Frazer thinks that the grape-juice was also considered to\nbe the blood of the vine. At one time the arrack or rice-beer liquor\nwas also considered by the Hindus as holy and purifying. Siva says to\nhis consort: \"Oh, sweet-speaking goddess, the salvation of Brahmans\ndepends on drinking wine.... No one becomes a Brahman by repeating the\nGayatri, the mother of the Vedas; he is called a Brahman only when he\nhas knowledge of Brahma. The ambrosia of the gods is their Brahma,\nand on earth it is arrack, and because one attains the character of\na god (suratva) therefore is arrack called sura.\" [280] The Sakta\nTantras insist upon the use of wine as an element of devotion. The\nKaulas, who are the most ardent followers of the Sakta Tantras,\ncelebrate their rites at midnight in a closed room, when they sit in\na circle round a jar of country arrack, one or more young women of\na lewd character being in the company; they drink, drink and drink\nuntil they fall down on the ground in utter helplessness, then rising\nagain they drink in the hope of never having a second birth. [281]\n\"I knew a highly respectable widow lady, connected with one of the\nmost distinguished families in Calcutta, who belonged to the Kaula\nsect, and had survived the 75th anniversary of her birthday, who never\nsaid her prayers (and she did so regularly every morning and evening)\nwithout touching the point of her tongue with a tooth-pick dipped\nin a phial of arrack, and sprinkling a few drops of the liquor on\nthe flowers which she offered to her god. I doubt very much if she\nhad ever drunk a wine-glassful of arrack at once in all her life, and\ncertain it is that she never had any idea of the pleasures of drinking;\nbut as a faithful Kaula she felt herself in duty bound to observe the\nmandates of her religion with the greatest scrupulousness.\" [282]\nIn this case it seems clear that the liquor was considered to have\na purifying effect, which was perhaps especially requisite for the\nofferings of a widow.\n\n\n\n\n9. Sanctity of liquor among the Gonds and other castes.\n\nSimilarly the Gonds and Baigas revere the mahua tree and consider the\nliquor distilled from its flowers as sacred and purificatory. At a Gond\nwedding the sacred post round which the couple go is made of the wood\nof the mahua tree. The Bhatras of Bastar also use the mahua for the\nwedding post, and the Sonkars of Chhattisgarh a forked branch of the\ntree. Minor caste offences are expiated among the Gonds by a fine of\nliquor, and by drinking it the culprit is purified. At a Gond funeral\none man may be seen walking with a bottle or two of liquor slung to\nhis side; this is drunk by all the party on the spot after the burial\nor burning of the corpse as a means of purification. Among the Korwas\nand other tribes the Baiga or priest protects the village from ghosts\nby sprinkling a line of liquor all round the boundary, over which the\nghosts cannot pass. Similarly during epidemics of cholera liquor is\nlargely used in the rites of the Baigas for averting the disease and\nis offered to the goddess. At their weddings the Mahars drink together\nceremoniously, a pot of liquor being placed on a folded cloth and\nall the guests sitting round it in a circle. An elder man then lays a\nnew piece of cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup of the\nliquor himself and hands round a cupful to every person present. At\nthe Hareli or festival of the new green vegetation in July the Gonds\ntake the branches of four kinds of trees and place them at the corners\nof their fields and also inside the house over the door. They pour ghi\n(butter) on the fire as incense and an offering to the deities. Then\nthey go to the meeting-place of the village and there they all take a\nbottle or two of liquor each and drink together, having first thrown\na little on the ground as an offering. Then they invite each other\nto their houses to take food. The Baigas do not observe Hareli,\nbut on any moonlight night in Shrawan (July) they will go to the\nfield where they have sown grain and root up a few plants and bring\nthem to the house, and, laying them on a clean place, pour ghi and\na little liquor over them. Then they take the corn plants back to\nthe field and replace them. For these rites and for offerings to the\ndeities of disease the Gonds say that the liquor should be distilled\nat home by the person who offers the sacrifice and not purchased from\nthe Government contractor. This is a reason or at any rate an excuse\nfor the continuance of the practice of illicit distillation. Hindus\ngenerally make a libation to Devi before drinking liquor. They pour\na little into their hand and sprinkle it in a circle on the ground,\ninvoking the goddess. The palm-tree is also held sacred on account of\nthe tari or toddy obtained from it. \"The shreds of the holy palm-tree,\nholy because liquor-yielding, are worn by some of the early Konkan\ntribes and by some of the Konkan village gods. The strip of palm-leaf\nis the origin of the shape of one of the favourite Hindu gold bracelet\npatterns.\" [283]\n\n\n\n\n10. Drugs also considered divine.\n\nThe abstinence from liquor enjoined by modern Hinduism to the higher\ncastes of Hindus has unfortunately not extended to the harmful drugs,\nopium, and ganja [284] or Indian hemp with its preparations. On\nthe contrary ganja is regularly consumed by Hindu ascetics,\nwhether devotees of Siva or Vishnu, though it is more favoured by\nthe Sivite Jogis. The blue throat of Siva or Mahadeo is said to be\ndue to the enormous draughts of bhang [285] which he was accustomed\nto swallow. The veneration attached to these drugs may probably be\nexplained by the delusion that the pleasant dreams and visions obtained\nunder their influence are excursions of the spirit into paradise. It\nis a common belief among primitive people that during sleep the soul\nleaves the body and that dreams are the actual experiences of the\nsoul when travelling over the world apart from the body. [286] The\nprincipal aim of Hindu asceticism is also the complete conquest of all\nsensation and movement in the body, so that while it is immobile the\nspirit freed from the trammels of the body and from all worldly cares\nand concerns may, as it is imagined, enter into communion with and be\nabsorbed in the deity. Hence the physical inertia and abnormal mental\nexaltation produced by these drugs would be an ideal condition to the\nHindu ascetic; the body is lulled to immobility and it is natural that\nhe should imagine that the delightful fantasies of his drugged brain\nare beatific visions of heaven. Ganja and bhang are now considered\nsacred as being consumed by Mahadeo, and are offered to him. Before\nsmoking ganja a Hindu will say, 'May it reach you, Shankar,' [287]\nthat is, the smoke of the ganja, like the sweet savour of a sacrifice;\nand before drinking bhang he will pour a little on the ground and say\n'Jai Shankar.' [288] Similarly when cholera visits a village and\nvarious articles of dress with food and liquor are offered to the\ncholera goddess, Marhai Mata, smokers of ganja and madak [289] will\noffer a little of their drugs. Hindu ascetics who smoke ganja are\naccustomed to mix with it some seeds of the dhatura (Datura alba),\nwhich have a powerful stupefying effect. In large quantities these\nseeds are a common narcotic poison, being administered to travellers\nand others by criminals. This tree is sacred to Siva, and the purple\nand white flowers are offered on his altars, and probably for this\nreason it is often found growing in villages so that the poisonous\nseeds are readily available. Its sanctity apparently arises from the\nnarcotic effects produced by the seeds.\n\nThe conclusion of hostilities and ratification of peace after a\nBhil fight was marked by the solemn administration of opium to all\npresent by the Jogi or Gammaiti priests. [290] This incident recalls\nthe pipe of peace of the North American Indians, among whom a similar\ndivine virtue was no doubt ascribed to tobacco. In ancient Greece the\npriestesses of Apollo consumed the leaves of the laurel to produce the\nprophetic ecstasy; the tree was therefore held sacred and associated\nwith Apollo and afterwards developed into a goddess in the shape\nof Daphne pursued by Apollo and transformed into a laurel. [291]\nThe laurel was also considered to have a purifying or expiatory\neffect like alcoholic liquor in India. Wreaths of laurel were worn\nby such heroes as Apollo and Cadmus before engaging in battle to\ncleanse themselves from the pollution of bloodshed, and hence the\nlaurel-wreath afterwards became the crown of victory. [292]\n\nIn India bhang was regularly drunk by the Rajputs before going\ninto battle, to excite their courage and render them insensible to\npain. The effects produced were probably held to be caused by divine\nagency. Herodotus says that the Scythians had a custom of burning the\nseeds of the hemp plant in religious ceremonies and that they became\nintoxicated with the fumes. [293] Ganja is the hashish of the Old\nMan of the Mountain and of Monte Cristo. The term hashshash, meaning\n'a smoker or eater of hemp,' was first applied to Arab warriors in\nSyria at the time of the Crusades; from its plural hashshasheen our\nword assassin is derived. [294]\n\n\n\n\n11. Opium and ganja.\n\nThe sacred or divine character attributed to the Indian drugs in spite\nof their pernicious effects has thus probably prevented any organised\neffort for their prohibition. Buchanan notes that \"No more blame\nfollows the use of opium and ganja than in Europe that of wine; yet\nsmoking tobacco is considered impure by the highest castes.\" [295] It\nis said, however, that a Brahman should abstain from drugs until he is\nin the last or ascetic stage of life. In India opium is both eaten and\nsmoked. It is administered to children almost from the time of their\nbirth, partly perhaps because its effects are supposed to be beneficial\nand also to prevent them from crying and keep them quiet while their\nparents are at work. One of the favourite methods of killing female\nchildren was to place a fatal dose of opium on the nipple of the\nmother's breast. Many children continue to receive small quantities\nof opium till they are several years old, sometimes eight or nine,\nwhen it is gradually abandoned. It can scarcely be doubted that the\neffect of the drug must be to impair their health and enfeeble their\nvitality. The effect of eating opium on adults is much less pernicious\nthan when the habit of smoking it is acquired. Madak or opium prepared\nfor smoking may not now be sold, but people make it for themselves,\nheating the opium in a little brass cup over a fire with an infusion\nof tamarind leaves. It is then made into little balls and put into the\npipe. Opium-smokers are gregarious and partake of the drug together. As\nthe fumes mount to their brains, their intellects become enlivened,\ntheir tongues unloosed and the conversation ranges over all subjects\nin heaven and earth. This factitious excitement must no doubt be a\npowerful attraction to people whose lives are as dull as that of the\naverage Hindu. And thus they become madakis or confirmed opium-smokers\nand are of no more use in life. Dhimars or fishermen consume opium and\nganja largely under the impression that these drugs prevent them from\ntaking cold. Ganja is smoked and is usually mixed with tobacco. It is\nmuch less injurious than opium in the same form, except when taken in\nlarge quantities, and is also slower in acquiring a complete hold over\nits votaries. Many cultivators buy a little ganja at the weekly bazar\nand have one pipeful each as a treat. Sweepers are greatly addicted\nto ganja, and their patron saint Lalbeg was frequently in a comatose\ncondition from over-indulgence in the drug. Ahirs or herdsmen also\nsmoke it to while away the long days in the forests. But the habitual\nconsumers of either kind of drug are now only a small fraction of the\npopulation, while English education and the more strenuous conditions\nof modern life have effected a substantial decline in their numbers,\nat least among the higher classes. At the same time a progressive\nincrease is being effected by Government in the retail price of the\ndrugs, and the number of vend licences has been very greatly reduced.\n\nThe prohibition of wine to Muhammadans is held to include drugs, but\nit is not known how far the rule is strictly observed. But addiction\nto drugs is at any rate uncommon among Muhammadans.\n\n\n\n\n12. Tobacco.\n\nNo kind of sanctity attaches to tobacco and, as has been seen, certain\nclasses of Brahmans are forbidden to smoke though they may chew the\nleaves. Tobacco is prohibited by the Sikhs, the Satnamis and some other\nVaishnava sects. The explanation of this attitude is simple if, as is\nsupposed, tobacco was first introduced into India by the Portuguese in\nthe fifteenth century. [296] In this case as a new and foreign product\nit could have no sacred character, only those things being held sacred\nand the gifts of the gods whose origin is lost in antiquity. In a note\non the subject [297] Mr. Ganpat Rai shows that several references to\nsmoking and also to the huqqa are found in ancient Sanskrit literature;\nbut it does not seem clear that the plant smoked was tobacco and, on\nthe other hand, the similarity of the vernacular to the English name\n[298] is strong evidence in favour of its foreign origin.\n\n\n\n\n13. Customs in connection with drinking.\n\nThe country liquor, consisting of spirits distilled from the flowers\nof the mahua tree, is an indispensable adjunct to marriage and other\nceremonial feasts among the lower castes of Hindus and the non-Aryan\ntribes. It is usually drunk before the meal out of brass vessels,\ncocoanut-shells or leaf-cups, water being afterwards taken with\nthe food itself. If an offender has to give a penalty feast for\nreadmission to caste but the whole burden of the expense is beyond\nhis means, other persons who may have committed minor offences and\nowe something to the caste on that account are called upon to provide\nthe liquor. Similarly at the funeral feast the heir and chief mourner\nmay provide the food and more distant relatives the liquor. The Gonds\nnever take food while drinking, and as a rule one man does not drink\nalone. Three or four of them go to the liquor-shop together and each in\nturn buys a whole bottle of liquor which they share with each other,\neach bottle being paid for by one of the company and not jointly. And\nif a friend from another village turns up and is invited to drink he\nis not allowed to pay anything. In towns there will be in the vicinity\nof the liquor-shop retailers of little roasted balls of meat on sticks\nand cakes of gram-flour fried in salt and chillies. These the customers\neat, presumably to stimulate their thirst or as a palliative to the\neffects of the spirit. Illicit distillation is still habitual among\nthe Gonds of Mandla, who have been accustomed to make their own liquor\nfrom time immemorial. In the rains, when travelling is difficult and\nthe excise officers cannot descend on them without notice, they make\nthe liquor in their houses. In the open season they go to the forest\nand find some spot secluded behind rocks and also near water. When\nthe fermented mahua is ready they put up the distilling vat in the\nmiddle of the day so that the smoke may be less perceptible, and\none of them will climb a tree and keep watch for the approach of the\nExcise Sub-Inspector and his myrmidons while the other distils.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKAMAR [299]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n\n 1. Origin and traditions.\n 2. Subdivisions and marriage.\n 3. The sister's son.\n 4. Menstruation.\n 5. Birth customs.\n 6. Death and inheritance.\n 7. Religious beliefs.\n 8. Veneration of iron and liquor.\n 9. Social customs and caste penalties.\n 10. Tattooing.\n 11. Hair.\n 12. Occupation and manner of life.\n 13. Their skill with bows and arrows.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin and traditions.\n\nKamar.--A small Dravidian tribe exclusively found in the Raipur\nDistrict and adjoining States. They numbered about 7000 persons\nin 1911, and live principally in the Khariar and Bindranawagarh\nzamindaris of Raipur. In Bengal and Chota Nagpur the term Kamar\nis merely occupational, implying a worker in iron, and similarly\nKammala in the Telugu country is a designation given to the five\nartisan castes. Though the name is probably the same the Kamars of\nthe Central Provinces are a purely aboriginal tribe and there is\nlittle doubt that they are an offshoot of the Gonds, nor have they\nany traditions of ever having been metal-workers. They claim to be\nautochthonous like most of the primitive tribes. They tell a long\nstory of their former ascendancy, saying that a Kamar was the original\nruler of Bindranawagarh. But a number of Kamars one day killed the\nbhimraj bird which had been tamed and taught hawking by a foreigner\nfrom Delhi. He demanded satisfaction, and when it was refused went to\nDelhi and brought man-eating soldiers from there, who ate up all the\nKamars except one pregnant woman. She took refuge in a Brahman's hut\nin Patna and there had a son, whom she exposed on a dung-heap for fear\nof scandal, as she was a widow at the time. Hence the boy was called\nKachra-Dhurwa or rubbish and dust. This name may be a token of the\nbelief of the Kamars that they were born from the earth as insects\ngenerate in dung and decaying organisms. Similarly one great subtribe\nof the Gonds are called Dhur or dust Gonds. Kachra-Dhurwa was endowed\nwith divine strength and severed the head of a goat made of iron with\na stick of bamboo. On growing up he collected his fellow-tribesmen\nand slaughtered all the cannibal soldiers, regaining his ancestral\nseat in Bindranawagarh. It is noticeable that the Kamars call the\ncannibal soldiers Aghori, the name of a sect of ascetics who eat\nhuman flesh. They still point to various heaps of lime-encrusted\nfossils in Bindranawagarh as the bones of the cannibal soldiers. The\nstate of the Kamars is so primitive that it does not seem possible\nthat they could ever have been workers in iron, but they may perhaps,\nlike the Agarias, be a group of the Gonds who formerly quarried iron\nand thus obtained their distinctive name.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions and marriage.\n\nThey have two subdivisions, the Bundhrajia and Makadia. The latter\nare so called because they eat monkeys and are looked down on by the\nothers. They have only a few gots or septs, all of which have the same\nnames as those of Gond septs. The meaning of the names has now been\nforgotten. Their ceremonies also resemble those of the Gonds, and there\ncan be little doubt that they are an offshoot of that tribe. Marriage\nwithin the sept is prohibited, but is permitted between the children\nof brothers and sisters or of two sisters. Those who are well-to-do\nmarry their children at about ten years old, but among the bulk of\nthe caste adult-marriage is in fashion, and the youths and maidens\nare sometimes allowed to make their own choice. At the betrothal the\nboy and girl are made to stand together so that the caste panchayat\nor elders may see the suitability of the match, and a little wine is\nsprinkled in the name of the gods. The marriage ceremony is a simple\none, the marriage-post being erected at the boy's house. The party go\nto the girl's house to fetch her, and there is a feast, followed by a\nnight of singing and dancing. They then return to the boy's house and\nthe couple go round the sacred pole and throw rice over each other\nseven times. All the guests also throw rice over the couple with\nthe object, it is said, of scaring off the spirits who are always\npresent on this occasion, and protecting the bride and bridegroom\nfrom harm. But perhaps the rice is really meant to give fertility to\nthe match. The wife remains with her husband for four days and then\nthey return to the house of her parents, where the wedding clothes\nstained yellow with turmeric must be washed. After this they again\nproceed to the bridegroom's house and live together. Polygamy and\nwidow-marriage are allowed, the ceremony in the marriage of a widow\nconsisting simply in putting bangles on her wrists and giving her\na piece of new cloth. The Kamars never divorce their wives, however\nloose their conduct may be, as they say that a lawful wife is above\nall suspicion. They also consider it sinful to divorce a wife. The\nliaison of an unmarried girl is passed over even with a man outside\nthe caste, unless he is of a very low caste, such as a Ganda.\n\n\n\n\n3. The sister's son.\n\nAs among some of the other primitive tribes, a man stands in a special\nrelation to his sister's children. The marriage of his children\nwith his sister's children is considered as the most suitable\nunion. If a man's sister is poor he will arrange for the wedding\nof her children. He will never beat his sister's children, however\nmuch they may deserve it, and he will not permit his sister's son\nor daughter to eat from the dish from which he eats. This special\nconnection between a maternal uncle and his nephew is held to be a\nsurvival of the matriarchate, when a man stood in the place a father\nnow occupies to his sister's children, the real father having nothing\nto do with them.\n\n\n\n\n4. Menstruation.\n\nDuring the period of her monthly impurity a woman is secluded for eight\ndays. She may not prepare food nor draw water nor worship the gods,\nbut she may sweep the house and do outdoor work. She sleeps on the\nground and every morning spreads fresh cowdung over the place where\nshe has slept. The Kamars think that a man who touched a woman in\nthis condition would be destroyed by the household god. When a woman\nin his household is impure in this manner a man will bathe before\ngoing into the forest lest he should pollute the forest gods.\n\n\n\n\n5. Birth customs.\n\nA woman is impure for six days after a birth until the performance\nof the Chathi or sixth-day ceremony, when the child's head is shaved\nand the mother and child are bathed and their bodies rubbed with oil\nand turmeric. After this a woman can go about her work in the house,\nbut she may not cook food nor draw water for two and a half months\nafter the birth of a male child, nor for three months after that of a\nfemale one. Till the performance of the Chathi ceremony the husband\nis also impure, and he may not worship the gods or go hunting or\nshooting or even go for any distance into the forest. If a child is\nborn within six months of the death of any person in the family, they\nthink that the dead relative has been reborn in the child and give\nthe child the same name, apparently without distinction of sex. If a\nmother's milk runs dry and she cannot suckle her child they give her\nfresh fish and salt to eat, and think that this will cause the milk\nto flow. The idea of eating the fish is probably that being a denizen\nof the liquid element it will produce liquid in the mother's body,\nbut it is not clear whether the salt has any special meaning.\n\n\n\n\n6. Death and inheritance.\n\nThe dead are buried with the head to the north, and mourning\nis nominally observed for three days. But they have no rules of\nabstinence, and do not even bathe to purify themselves as almost all\ncastes do. Sons inherit equally, and daughters do not share with\nsons. But if there are no sons, then an unmarried daughter or one\nmarried to a Lamsena, or man who has served for her, and living in\nthe house, takes the whole property for her lifetime, after which\nit reverts to her father's family. Widows, Mr. Ganpati Giri states,\nonly inherit in the absence of male heirs.\n\n\n\n\n7. Religious beliefs.\n\nThey worship Dulha Deo and Devi, and have a firm belief in magic. They\ntell a curious story about the origin of the world, which recalls\nthat of the Flood. They say that in the beginning God created a man\nand a woman to whom two children of opposite sex were born in their\nold age. Mahadeo, however, sent a deluge over the world in order to\ndrown a jackal who had angered him. The old couple heard that there\nwas going to be a deluge, so they shut up their children in a hollow\npiece of wood with provision of food to last them until it should\nsubside. They then closed up the trunk, and the deluge came and\nlasted for twelve years, the old couple and all other living things\non the earth being drowned, but the trunk floated on the face of the\nwaters. After twelve years Mahadeo created two birds and sent them to\nsee whether his enemy the jackal had been drowned. The birds flew over\nall the corners of the world, but saw nothing except a log of wood\nfloating on the surface of the water, on which they perched. After\na short time they heard low and feeble voices coming from inside\nthe log. They heard the children saying to each other that they\nonly had provision for three days left. So the birds flew away and\ntold Mahadeo, who then caused the flood to subside, and taking out\nthe children from the log of wood, heard their story. He thereupon\nbrought them up, and they were married, and Mahadeo gave the name\nof a different caste to every child who was born to them, and from\nthem all the inhabitants of the world are descended. The fact that\nthe Kamars should think their deity capable of destroying the whole\nworld by a deluge, in order to drown a jackal which had offended him,\nindicates how completely they are wanting in any exalted conception of\nmorality. They are said to have no definite ideas of a future life nor\nany belief in a resurrection of the body. But they believe in future\npunishment in the case of a thief, who, they say, will be reborn\nas a bullock in the house of the man whose property he has stolen,\nor will in some other fashion expiate his crime. They think that the\nsun and moon are beings in human shape, and that darkness is caused\nby the sun going to sleep. They also think that a railway train is\na live and sentient being, and that the whistle of the engine is its\ncry, and they propitiate the train with offerings lest it should do\nthem some injury. When a man purposes to go out hunting, Mr. Ganpati\nGiri states, he consults the village priest, who tells him whether he\nwill fail or succeed. If the prediction is unfavourable he promises\na fowl or a goat to his family god in order to obtain his assistance,\nand then confidently expects success. When an animal has been killed\nand brought home, the hunter cuts off the head, and after washing\nit with turmeric powder and water makes an offering of it to the\nforest god. Ceremonial fishing expeditions are sometimes held, in\nwhich all the men and women of the village participate, and on such\noccasions the favour of the water-goddess is first invoked with an\noffering of five chickens and various feminine adornments, such as\nvermilion, lamp-black for the eyes, small glass bangles and a knot\nof ribbons made of cotton or silk, after which a large catch of fish\nis anticipated. The men refrain from visiting their wives on the day\nbefore they start for a hunting or fishing expedition.\n\n\n\n\n8. Veneration of iron and liquor.\n\nThe tribe have a special veneration for iron, which they now say is\nthe emblem of Durga Mata or the goddess of smallpox. On their chief\nfestivals of Hareli and Dasahra all iron implements are washed and\nplaced together in the house, where they are worshipped with offerings\nof rice, flowers and incense; nor may any iron tool be brought into\nuse on this day. On the day appointed for the worship of Dulha Deo,\nthe bridegroom god, or other important deities, and on the Dasahra\nfestival, they will not permit fire or anything else to be taken out\nof the house. Before drinking liquor they will pour a few drops on\nthe ground, making a libation first to mother-earth, then to their\nfamily and other important gods, and lastly to their ancestors.\n\n\n\n\n9. Social customs and caste penalties.\n\nThe Kamars will eat with all except the very lowest castes, and do not\nrefuse any kind of food. The Bundhrajias, however, abstain from the\nflesh of snakes, crocodiles and monkeys, and on this account claim to\nbe superior to the Makadias who eat these animals. Temporary exclusion\nfrom caste is imposed for the usual offences, and in serious cases,\nsuch as adultery with a woman of impure caste or taking food from her,\nthe penalty is severe. The offender puts a straw and a piece of iron\nbetween his teeth, and stands before the elders with one leg lifted in\nhis clasped hands. He promises never to repeat the offence nor permit\nhis children to do so, and falls prostrate at the feet of each elder,\nimploring his forgiveness. He supplies the elders with rice, pulse,\nsalt and vegetables for two days, and on the third day he and his\nfamily prepare a feast with one or more goats and two rupees' worth\nof liquor. The elders eat of this in his house, and readmit him to\nsocial intercourse.\n\n\n\n\n10. Tattooing.\n\nThe women are tattooed either before or after marriage, the usual\nfigures being a peacock on the shoulders, a scorpion on the back of\nthe hand, and dots representing flies on the fingers. On their arms\nand legs they have circular lines of dots representing the ornaments\nusually worn, and they say that if they are destitute in the other\nworld they will be able to sell these. This indicates that the more\ncivilised of them, at any rate, now believe in a future life. They\nalso have circular dotted lines round the knees which they say will\nhelp them to climb to heaven. Like the Gonds the men scarify their\nbodies by burning the outer skin of the forearm in three or four\nplaces with a small piece of burning cloth.\n\n\n\n\n11. Hair.\n\nThe men shave the whole head on the death of a father or other\nvenerable relative, but otherwise they never cut their hair, and let\nit grow long, twisting it into a bunch at the back of the head. They\nshave off or eradicate the hair of the face and pubes, but that on\nother parts of the body is allowed to remain. The hair of the head\nis considered to be sacred.\n\n\n\n\n12. Occupation and manner of life.\n\nThe tribe wear only the narrowest possible strip of cloth round the\nloins, and another strip on the head, one end of which is often allowed\nto hang down over the ear. Formerly they lived by dahya cultivation,\nburning down patches of forest and scattering seed on the ground\nfertilised by the ashes, and they greatly resent the prohibition of\nthis destructive method. They have now taken to making baskets and\nother articles from the wood of the bamboo. They are of dirty habits,\nand seldom wash themselves. Forty years ago their manner of life was\neven ruder than at present, as shown in the following notice [300]\nof them by Mr. Ball in 1876:\n\n\"Proceeding along the bed of the valley I came upon two colonies of\na wild race of people called Kamars by their neighbours. They were\nregular Troglodytes in their habits, dwelling in caves and existing\nchiefly on roots and fish. It is singular to observe how little the\npeople of these wild races do to protect themselves from the inclemency\nof the weather. In one of these caves the sole protection from the\nair was a lean-to of loosely placed branches. The people seemed to\nbe very timid, hiding themselves on our approach. I did not therefore\nlike to attempt an examination of their dwellings. After some calling\non our part one man was induced to make his appearance. He was a most\nwretched-looking, leprous object, having lost several fingers and\ntoes. He could give no very definite explanation as to his means of\nsubsistence. All he could say was that he lived 'by picking up odds and\nends here and there.' However, he seemed to be able to afford himself\nthe solace of tobacco. A few cocks and hens at one of the caves,\nand a goat at the other, were the only domestic animals which I saw.\"\n\n\n\n\n13. Their skill with bows and arrows.\n\nThe tribe are of small stature. They are very fond of hunting, and are\nexpert at using their bows and arrows, with which they have killed\neven bison. Mr. W. E. Ley, C.S., relates the following particulars\nof a recent murder by a Kamar in Raipur: Two Hindus went to a Kamar's\nhouse in the jungle to dun him for a debt. He could not pay the debt,\nbut invited them to take food in his house. At the meal the creditor's\ncompanion said the food was bad, and a quarrel thereupon ensuing,\nslapped the Kamar in the face. The latter started up, snatched up his\nbow and arrow and axe, and ran away into the jungle. The Hindus then\nset out for home, and as they were afraid of being attacked by the\nKamar, they took his brother with them as a protection. Nevertheless\nthe Kamar shot one of them through the side, the arrow passing through\nthe arm and penetrating the lung. He then shot the other through the\nchest, and running in, mutilated his body in a shocking manner. When\ncharged with the murders he confessed them freely, saying that he\nwas a wild man of the woods and knew no better.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKANJAR\n\n\n[Bibliography: Mr. J. C. Nesfield's The Kanjars of Upper India,\nCalcutta Review, vol. lxxvii., 1883; Mr. Crooke's Castes and Tribes,\nart. Kanjar; Major Gunthorpe's Criminal Tribes; Mr. Kitts' Berar\nCensus Report (1881); Mr. Gayer's Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the\nCentral Provinces.]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Derivation of the Kanjars from the Doms.\n 2. The Kanjars and the Gipsies.\n 3. The Thugs derived from the Kanjars.\n 4. The Doms.\n 5. The criminal Kanjars.\n 6. The Kunchband Kanjars.\n 7. Marriage and religion.\n 8. Social customs.\n 9. Industrial arts.\n\n\n\n\n1. Derivation of the Kanjars from the Doms.\n\nKanjar.--A name applied somewhat loosely to various small communities\nof a gipsy character who wander about the country. In 1911 about\n1000 Kuchbandhia Kanjars were returned in the Province. In Berar\nthe Kanjars seem to be practically identical with the Sansias;\nMajor Gunthorpe [301] gives Kanjar and Sansia as alternative names\nof the same caste of criminals, and this is also done by Mr. Kennedy\nin Bombay. [302] Mr. Kitts writes of them: [303] \"The Deccani and\nMarwari Kanjars were originally Bhats (bards) of the Jat tribe;\nand as they generally give themselves out to be Bhats are probably\nnot included at all among the Kanjars returned at the census. They\nare a vagrant people, living in tents and addicted to crime. The\nwomen are good-looking; some are noted for their obscene songs,\nfilthy alike in word and gesture; while others, whose husbands play\non the sarangi, lead a life of immorality. The men are often skilful\nacrobats.\" And in another passage: [304] \"The Sansia family or the\n'Long Firm' of India includes two principal divisions represented in\nBerar by the Kanjars and Kolhatis respectively. They will eat, drink\nand smoke together, and occasionally join in committing dacoity. They\neat all kinds of meat and drink all liquors; they are lax of morals\nand loose of life.\" Now in northern India the business of acting as\nbards to the Jats and begging from them is the traditional function\nof the Sansias; and we may therefore conclude that so far as Berar\nand the Maratha Districts are concerned the Kanjars are identical\nwith the Sansias, while the Kolhatis mentioned by Mr. Kitts are the\nsame people as the Berias, as shown in the article on Kolhati, and\nthe Berias themselves are another branch of the Sansias. [305] There\nseems some reason to suppose that these four closely allied groups,\nthe Kanjar or Sansia, and the Kolhati or Beria, may have their origin\nfrom the great Dom caste of menials and scavengers in Hindustan and\nBengal. In the Punjab the Doms are the regular bards and genealogists\nof the lower castes, being known also as Mirasi: \"The two words are\nused throughout the Province as absolutely synonymous. The word Mirasi\nis derived from the Arabic miras or inheritance; and the Mirasi is\nto the inferior agricultural castes and the outcaste tribes what\nthe Bhat is to the Rajputs.\" [306] In the article on Sansia it is\nshown that the primary calling of the Sansias was to act as bards and\ngenealogists of the Jats; and this common occupation is to some extent\nin favour of the original identity of the two castes Dom and Sansia,\nthough Sir D. Ibbetson was not of this opinion. [307] In the United\nProvinces Mr. Crooke gives the Jallad or executioners as one of the\nmain divisions of the Kanjars; [308] and the Jallads of Umballa are\nsaid to be the descendants of a Kanjar family who were attached to\nthe Delhi Court as executioners. [309] But the Jallad or supwala is\nalso a name of the Doms. \"The term Jallad, which is an Arabic name\nfor 'A public flogger,' is more especially applied to those Doms who\nare employed in cities to kill ownerless dogs and to act as public\nexecutioners.\" [310] Mr. Gayer states that as the result of special\ninquiries made by an experienced police-officer it would appear that\nthese Jallad Kanjars are really Doms. [311] In Gujarat the Mirs or\nMirasis are also known as Dom after the tribe of that name; they\nwere originally of two classes, one the descendants of Gujarat Bhats\nor bards, the other from northern India, partly of Bhat descent and\npartly connected with the Doms. [312] And the Sansias and Berias in\nBombay when accompanied by their families usually pass themselves\noff as Gujarati Bhats, that is, bards of the Jat caste from Marwar\nor of the Kolis from Gujarat. [313] Major Gunthorpe states that the\nKolhatis or Berias of Berar appear to be the same as the Domras of\nBengal; [314] and Mr. Kitts that the Kham Kolhatis are the Domarus of\nTelingana. [315] In writing of the Kanjar bards Sherring also says:\n\"These are the Kanjars of Gondwana, the Sansis of northern India; they\nare the most desperate of all dacoits and wander about the country\nas though belonging to the Gujarati Domtaris or showmen.\" The above\nevidence seems sufficient to establish a prima facie case in favour\nof the Dom origin of these gipsy castes. It may be noticed further\nthat the Jallad Kanjars of the United Provinces are also known as\nSupwala or makers of sieves and winnowing-fans, a calling which belongs\nspecially to the Doms, Bhangis, and other sweeper castes. Both Doms\nand Bhangis have divisions known as Bansphor or 'breaker of bamboos,'\na name which has the same signification as Supwala. Again, the deity\nof the criminal Doms of Bengal is known as Sansari Mai. [316]\n\n\n\n\n2. The Kanjars and the Gipsies.\n\nThe Kanjars and Berias are the typical gipsy castes of India, and\nhave been supposed to be the parents of the European gipsies. On\nthis point Mr. Nesfield writes: \"The commonly received legend is that\nmultitudes of Kanjars were driven out of India by the oppressions of\nTamerlane, and it is inferred that the gipsies of Europe are their\ndirect descendants by blood, because they speak like them a form of\nthe Hindi language.\" [317] Sir G. Grierson states: [318] \"According to\nthe Shah-nama, the Persian monarch Bahram Gaur received in the fifth\ncentury from an Indian king 12,000 musicians who were known as Luris,\nand the Luris or Lulis, that is gipsies, of modern Persia are the\ndescendants of these.\" These people were also called Lutt, and hence\nit was supposed that they were the Indian Jats. Sir G. Grierson,\nhowever, shows it to be highly improbable that the Jats, one of\nthe highest castes of cultivators, could ever have furnished a huge\nband of professional singers and dancers. He on the contrary derives\nthe gipsies from the Dom tribe: [319] \"Mr. Leland has made a happy\nsuggestion that the original gipsies may have been Doms of India.\nHe points out that Romany is almost letter for letter the same as\nDomni, the plural of Dom. Domni is the plural form in the Bhojpuri\ndialect of the Bihari language. It was originally a genitive plural;\nso that Romany-Rye, 'A gipsy gentleman,' may be well compared with\nthe Bhojpuri Domni Rai, 'A king of the Doms.' The Bhojpuri-speaking\nDoms are a famous race, and they have many points of resemblance\nwith the gipsies of Europe. Thus they are darker in complexion\nthan the surrounding Biharis, are great thieves, live by hunting,\ndancing and telling fortunes, their women have a reputation for making\nlove-philtres and medicines to procure abortion, they keep fowls (which\nno orthodox Hindu will do), and are said to eat carrion. They are also\ngreat musicians and horsemen. The gipsy grammar is closely connected\nwith Bhojpuri, and the following mongrel, half-gipsy, half-English\nrhyme will show the extraordinary similarity of the two vocabularies:\n[320]\n\n\nGipsy. The Rye (squire) he mores (hunts) adrey the wesh (wood)\nBhojpuri. Rai mare andal besh (Pers. bysh)\n\nGipsy. The kaun-engro (ear-fellow, hare) and chiriclo (bird).\nBhojpuri. Kanwala chirin\n\nGipsy. You sovs (sleep) with leste (him) drey (within) the wesh (wood)\nBhojpuri. soe andal besh\n\nGipsy. And rigs (carry) for leste (him) the gono (sack, game-bag).\nBhojpuri. gon\n\nGipsy. Oprey (above) the rukh (tree) adrey (within) the wesh (wood)\nBhojpuri. Upri rukh andal besh\n\nGipsy. Are chiriclo (male-bird) and chiricli (female-bird).\nBhojpuri. chirin chirin\n\nGipsy. Tuley (below) the rukh (tree) adrey (within) the wesh (wood)\nBhojpuri. Tule rukh andal besh\n\nGipsy. Are pireno (lover) and pireni (lady-love).\nBhojpuri. pyara pyari\n\n\nIn the above it must be remembered that the verbal terminations of\nthe gipsy text are English and not gipsy.\"\n\nSir G. Grierson also adds (in the passage first quoted): \"I may note\nhere a word which lends a singular confirmation to the theory. It is\nthe gipsy term for bread, which is manro or manro. This is usually\nconnected either with the Gaudian manr 'rice-gruel' or with manrua,\nthe millet (Eleusine coracana). Neither of these agrees with the idea\nof bread, but in the Magadhi dialect of Bihari, spoken south of the\nGanges in the native land of these Maghiya Doms, there is a peculiar\nword manda or manra which means wheat, whence the transition to the\ngipsy manro, bread, is eminently natural.\"\n\nThe above argument renders it probable that the gipsies are derived\nfrom the Doms; and as Mr. Nesfield gives it as a common legend that\nthey originated from the Kanjars, this is perhaps another connecting\nlink between the Doms and Kanjars. The word gipsy is probably an\nabbreviation of 'Egyptian,' the country assigned as the home of the\ngipsies in mediaeval times. It has already been seen that the Doms are\nthe bards and minstrels of the lower castes in the Punjab, and that the\nKanjars and Sansias, originally identical or very closely connected,\nwere in particular the bards of the Jats. It is a possible speculation\nthat they may have been mixed up with the lower classes of Jats or\nhave taken their name, and that this has led to the confusion between\nthe Jats and gipsies. Some support is afforded to this suggestion\nby the fact that the Kanjars of Jubbulpore say that they have three\ndivisions, the Jat, Multani and Kuchbandia. The Jat Kanjars are, no\ndoubt, those who acted as bards to the Jats, and hence took the name;\nand if the ancestors of these people emigrated from India they may\nhave given themselves out as Jat.\n\n\n\n\n3. The Thugs derived from the Kanjars.\n\nIn the article on Thug it is suggested that a large, if not the\nprincipal, section of the Thugs were derived from the Kanjars. At the\nThug marriages an old matron would sometimes repeat, \"Here's to the\nspirits of those who once led bears and monkeys; to those who drove\nbullocks and marked with the godini (tattooing-needle); and those\nwho made baskets for the head.\" And these are the occupations of the\nKanjars and Berias. The Goyandas of Jubbulpore, descendants of Thug\napprovers, are considered to be a class of gipsy Muhammadans, akin to\nor identical with the Kanjars, of whom the Multani subdivision are\nalso Muhammadans. Like the Kanjar women the Goyandas make articles\nof net and string. There is also a colony of Berias in Jubbulpore,\nand these are admittedly the descendants of Thugs who were located\nthere. If the above argument is well founded, we are led to the\ninteresting conclusion that four of the most important vagrant and\ncriminal castes of India, as well as the Mirasis or low-class Hindu\nbards, the gipsies, and a large section of the Thugs, are all derived\nfrom the great Dom caste.\n\n\n\n\n4. The Doms.\n\nThe Doms appear to be one of the chief aboriginal tribes of northern\nIndia, who were reduced to servitude like the Mahars and Chamars. Sir\nH. M. Elliot considered them to be \"One of the original tribes of\nIndia. Tradition fixes their residence to the north of the Ghagra,\ntouching the Bhars on the east in the vicinity of the Rohini. Several\nold forts testify to their former importance, and still retain the\nnames of their founders, as, for instance, Domdiha and Domingarh in\nthe Gorakhpur district. Ramgarh and Sahukot on the Rohini are also\nDom forts.\" [321] Sir G. Grierson quotes Dr. Fleet as follows: \"In a\nsouth Indian inscription a king Rudradeva is said to have subdued a\ncertain Domma, whose strength evidently lay in his cavalry. No clue\nis given as to who this Domma was, but he may have been the leader\nof some aboriginal tribe which had not then lost all its power\"; and\nsuggests that this Domma may have been a leader of the Doms, who would\nthen be shown to have been dominant in southern India. As already seen\nthere is a Domaru caste of Telingana, with whom Mr. Kitts identified\nthe Berias or Kolhatis. In northern India the Doms were reduced to\na more degraded condition than the other pre-Aryan tribes as they\nfurnished a large section of the sweeper caste. As has been seen also\nthey were employed as public executioners like the Mangs. This brief\nmention of the Doms has been made in view of the interest attaching\nto them on account of the above suggestions, and because there will\nbe no separate article on the caste.\n\n\n\n\n5. The criminal Kanjars.\n\nIn Berar two main divisions of the Kanjars may be recognised, the\nKunchbandhia or those who make weavers' brooms and are comparatively\nhonest, and the other or criminal Kanjars. [322] The criminal Kanjars\nmay again be divided into the Marwari and Deccani groups. They were\nprobably once the same, but the Deccanis, owing to their settlement\nin the south, have adopted some Maratha or Gujarati fashions, and\nspeak the Marathi language; their women wear the angia or Maratha\nbreast-cloth fastening behind, and have a gold ornament shaped\nlike a flower in the nose; [323] while the Marwari Kanjars have no\nbreast-cloth and may not wear gold ornaments at all. The Deccani\nKanjars are fond of stealing donkeys, their habit being either to\nmix their own herds with those of the village and drive them all off\ntogether, or, if they catch the donkeys unattended, to secrete them\nin some water-course, tying their legs together, and if they remain\nundiscovered to remove them at nightfall. The animals are at once\ndriven away for a long distance before any attempt is made to dispose\nof them. The Marwari Kanjars consider it derogatory to keep donkeys\nand therefore do not steal these animals. They are preeminently\ncattle-lifters and sheep-stealers, and their encampments may be\nrecognised by the numbers of bullocks and cows about them. Their\nwomen wear the short Marwari petticoat reaching half-way between the\nknees and ankles. Their hair is plaited over the forehead and cowrie\nshells and brass ornaments like buttons are often attached in it. Bead\nnecklaces are much worn by the women and bead and horse-hair necklets\nby the men. A peculiarity about the women is that they are confirmed\nsnuff-takers and consume great quantities of the weed in this form. The\nwomen go into the towns and villages and give exhibitions of singing\nand dancing; and picking up any information they can acquire about\nthe location of property, impart this to the men. Sometimes they\ntake service, and a case was known in Jubbulpore of Kanjar women\nhiring themselves out as pankha-pullers, with the result that the\nhouses in which they were employed were subsequently robbed. [324]\nIt is said, however, that they do not regularly break into houses,\nbut confine themselves to lurking theft. I have thought it desirable\nto record here the above particulars of the criminal Kanjars, taken\nfrom Major Gunthorpe's account; for, though the caste is, as already\nstated, identical with the Sansias, their customs in Berar differ\nconsiderably from those of the Sansias of Central India, who are\ntreated of in the article on that caste.\n\n\n\n\n6. The Kunchband Kanjars.\n\nWe come, finally, to the Kunchband Kanjars, the most representative\nsection of the caste, who as a body are not criminals, or at any rate\nless so than the others. The name Kunchband or Kuchband, by which they\nare sometimes known, is derived from their trade of making brushes\n(kunch) of the roots of khas-khas grass, which are used by weavers\nfor cleaning the threads entangled on the looms. This has given rise\nto the proverb 'Kori ka bigari Kunchbandhia' or 'The Kunchbandhia\nmust look to the Kori (weaver) as his patron'; the point being that\nthe Kori is himself no better than a casual labourer, and a man who\nis dependent on him must be in a poor way indeed. The Kunchbandhias\nare also known in northern India as Sankat or Patharkat, because\nthey make and sharpen the household grinding-stones, this being the\ncalling of the Takankar Pardhis in the Maratha Districts, and as Goher\nbecause they catch and eat the goh, the large lizard or iguana. [325]\nOther divisions are the Dhobibans or washerman's race, the Lakarhar\nor wood-cutters, and the Untwar or camelmen.\n\n\n\n\n7. Marriage and religion.\n\nIn the Central Provinces there are other divisions, as the Jat and\nMultani Kanjars. They say they have two exogamous divisions, Kalkha and\nMalha, and a member of either of these must take a wife from the other\ndivision. Both the Kalkhas and Malhas are further divided into kuls\nor sections, but the influence of these on marriage is not clear. At a\nKanjar marriage, Mr. Crooke states, the gadela or spade with which they\ndig out the khas-khas grass and kill wolves or vermin, is placed in\nthe marriage pavilion during the ceremony. The bridegroom swears that\nhe will not drive away nor divorce his wife, and sometimes a mehar or\ndowry is also fixed for the bride. The father-in-law usually, however,\nremits a part or the whole of this subsequently, when the bridegroom\ngoes to take food at his house on festival occasions. Mr. Nesfield\nstates that the principal deity of the Kanjars is the man-god Mana,\nwho was not only the teacher and guide, but also the founder and\nancestor of the tribe. He is buried, as some Kanjars relate, at Kara\nin the Allahabad District, not far from the Ganges and facing the old\ncity of Manikpur on the opposite bank. Mana is worshipped with special\nceremony in the rainy season, when the tribe is less migratory than in\nthe dry months of the year. On such occasions, if sufficient notice\nis circulated, several encampments unite temporarily to pay honour\nto their common ancestor. The worshippers collect near a tree under\nwhich they sacrifice a pig, a goat, a sheep, or a fowl, and make an\noffering of roasted flesh and spirituous liquor. Formerly, it is said,\nthey used to sacrifice a child, having first made it insensible with\nfermented palm-juice or toddy. [326] They dance round the tree in\nhonour of Mana, and sing the customary songs in commemoration of his\nwisdom and deeds of valour.\n\n\n\n\n8. Social customs.\n\nThe dead are usually buried, both male and female corpses being\nlaid on their faces with the feet pointing to the south. Kanjars\nwho become Muhammadans may be readmitted to the community after\nthe following ceremony. A pit is dug and the convert sits in it and\neach Kanjar throws a little curds on to his body. He then goes and\nbathes in a river, his tongue is touched or branded with heated gold\nand he gives a feast to the community. A Kanjar woman who has lived\nin concubinage with a Brahman, Rajput, Agarwal Bania, Kurmi, Ahir\nor Lodhi may be taken back into the caste after the same ceremony;\nbut not one who has lived with a Kayasth, Sunar or Lohar or any lower\ncaste. A Kanjar is not put out of caste for being imprisoned, nor for\nbeing beaten by an outsider, nor for selling shoes. If a man touches\nhis daughter-in-law even accidentally he is fined the sum of Rs. 2-8.\n\n\n\n\n9. Industrial arts.\n\nThe following account of the industries of the vagrant Kanjars was\nwritten by Mr. Nesfield in 1883. In the Central Provinces many of\nthem are now more civilised, and some are employed in Government\nservice. Their women also make and retail string-net purses, balls\nand other articles.\n\n\"Among the arts of the Kanjar are making mats of the sirki reed,\nbaskets of wattled cane, fans of palm-leaves and rattles of plaited\nstraw: these last are now sold to Hindu children as toys, though\noriginally they may have been used by the Kanjars themselves (if we\nare to trust to the analogy of other backward races) as sacred and\nmysterious implements. From the stalks of the munj grass and from\nthe roots of the palas [327] tree they make ropes which are sold or\nbartered to villagers in exchange for grain and milk. They prepare the\nskins of which drums are made and sell them to Hindu musicians; though,\nprobably, as in the case of the rattle, the drum was originally used\nby the Kanjars themselves and worshipped as a fetish; for even the\nAryan tribes, who are said to have been far more advanced than the\nindigenous races, sang hymns in honour of the drum or dundubhi as\nif it were something sacred. They make plates of broad leaves which\nare ingeniously stitched together by their stalks; and plates of\nthis kind are very widely used by the inferior Indian castes and by\nconfectioners and sellers of sweetmeats. The mats of sirki reed with\nwhich they cover their own movable leaf huts are models of neatness\nand simplicity and many of these are sold to cart-drivers. The toddy\nor juice of the palm tree, which they extract and ferment by methods\nof their own and partly for their own use, finds a ready sale among\nlow-caste Hindus in villages and market towns. They are among the\nchief stone-cutters in Upper India, especially in the manufacture\nof the grinding-mill which is very widely used. This consists of\ntwo circular stones of equal diameter; the upper one, which is the\nthicker and heavier, revolves on a wooden pivot fixed in the centre\nof the lower one and is propelled by two women, each holding the\nsame handle. But it is also not less frequent for one woman to grind\nalone.\" It is perhaps not realised what this business of grinding her\nown grain instead of buying flour means to the Indian woman. She rises\nbefore daybreak to commence the work, and it takes her perhaps two\nor three hours to complete the day's provision. Grain-grinding for\nhire is an occupation pursued by poor women. The pisanhari, as she\nis called, receives an anna (penny) for grinding 16 lbs. of grain,\nand can get through 30 lbs. a day. In several localities temples are\nshown supposed to have been built by some pious pisanhari from her\nearnings. \"The Kanjars,\" Mr. Nesfield continues, \"also gather the\nwhite wool-like fibre which grows in the pods of the semal or Indian\ncotton tree and twist it into thread for the use of weavers. [328]\nIn the manufacture of brushes for the cleaning of cotton-yarn the\nKanjars enjoy almost a complete monopoly. In these brushes a stiff\nmass of horsehair is attached to a wooden handle by sinews and strips\nof hide; and the workmanship is remarkably neat and durable. [329]\nAnother complete or almost complete monopoly enjoyed by Kanjars\nis the collection and sale of sweet-scented roots of the khas-khas\ngrass, which are afterward made up by the Chhaparbands and others\ninto door-screens, and through being continually watered cool the\nhot air which passes through them. The roots of this wild grass,\nwhich grows in most abundance on the outskirts of forests or near\nthe banks of rivers, are dug out of the earth by an instrument\ncalled khunti. This has a handle three feet long, and a blade about\na foot long resembling that of a knife. The same implement serves as\na dagger or short spear for killing wolves or jackals, as a tool for\ncarving a secret entrance through the clay wall of a villager's hut in\nwhich a burglary is meditated, as a spade or hoe for digging snakes,\nfield-rats, and lizards out of their holes, and edible roots out of\nthe earth, and as a hatchet for chopping wood.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKapewar\n\n\nKapewar, [330] Munurwar.--A great cultivating caste of the Telugu\ncountry, where they are known as Kapu or Reddi, and correspond to\nthe Kurmi in Hindustan and the Kunbi in the Maratha Districts. In the\nCentral Provinces about 18,000 persons of the caste were enumerated in\nthe Chanda District and Berar in 1911. The term Kapu means a watchman,\nand Reddi is considered to be a corruption of Rathor or Rashtrakuta,\nmeaning a king, or more properly the headman of a village. Kapewar\nis simply the plural form of Kapu, and Munurwar, in reality the name\nof a subcaste of Kapewars, is used as a synonym for the main caste\nin Chanda. They are divided into various occupational subcastes,\nas the Upparwars or earth-diggers, from uppar, earth; the Gone, who\nmake gonas or hemp gunny-bags; the Elmas, who are household servants;\nthe Gollewars, who sell milk; and the Gamadis or masons. The Kunte or\nlame Kapewars, the lowest group, say that their ancestor was born lame;\nthey are also called Bhiksha Kunte or lame beggars and serve as the\nbards of the caste besides begging from them. They are considered to\nbe of illegitimate origin. No detailed account of the caste need be\ngiven here, but one or two interesting customs reported from Chanda\nmay be noted. Girls must be married before they are ten years old,\nand in default of this the parents are temporarily put out of caste\nand have to pay a penalty for readmission. But if they take the girl\nto some sacred place on the Godavari river and marry her there the\npenalty is avoided. Contrary to the usual custom the bride goes to the\nbridegroom's house to be married. On the fourth night of the marriage\nceremony the bridegroom takes with him all the parts of a plough as\nif he was going out to the field, and walks up the marriage-shed\nto the further end followed by the bride, who carries on her head\nsome cooked food tied up in a cloth. The skirts of the couple are\nknotted together. On reaching the end of the shed the bridegroom\nmakes five drills in the ground with a bullock-goad and sows cotton\nand juari seeds mixed together. Then the cooked food is eaten by all\nwho are present, the bridal couple commencing first, and the seed\nis irrigated by washing their hands over it. This performance is a\nsymbolical portrayal of the future life of the couple, which will be\nspent in cultivation. In Chanda a number of Kapewars are stone-masons,\nand are considered the most proficient workers at this trade in the\nlocality. Major Lucie Smith, the author of the Chanda Settlement Report\nof 1869, thought that the ancestors of the caste had been originally\nbrought to Chanda to build the fine walls with ramparts and bastions\nwhich stretch for a length of six or seven miles round the town. The\ncaste are sometimes known as Telugu Kunbis. Men may be distinguished\nby the single dot which is always tattooed on the forehead during\ntheir infancy. Men of the Gowari caste have a similar mark.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKaran\n\n\nKaran, [331] Karnam, Mahanti.--The indigenous writer caste of\nOrissa. In 1901 a total of 5000 Karans were enumerated in Sambalpur\nand the Uriya States, but the bulk of these have since passed under\nthe jurisdiction of Bihar and Orissa, and only about 1000 remain\nin the Central Provinces. The total numbers of the caste in India\nexceed a quarter of a million. The poet Kalidas in his Raghuvansa\ndescribes Karans as the offspring of a Vaishya father and a Sudra\nmother. The caste fulfils the same functions in Orissa as the\nKayasths elsewhere, and it is said that their original ancestors\nwere brought from northern India by Yayati Kesari, king of Orissa\n(A.D. 447-526), to supply the demand for writers and clerks. The\noriginal of the word Karan is said to be the Hindi karani, kiran,\nwhich Wilson derives from Sanskrit karan, 'a doer.' The word karani\nwas at one time applied by natives to the junior members of the\nCivil Service--'Writers,' as they were designated. And the 'Writers'\nBuildings' of Calcutta were known as karani kibarik. From this term\na corruption 'Cranny' came into use, and was applied in Bengal to a\nclerk writing English, and thence to the East Indians or half-castes\nfrom whom English copyists were subsequently recruited. [332] The\nderivation of Mahanti is obscure, unless it be from maha, great,\nor from Mahant, the head of a monastery. The caste prefer the name of\nKaran, because that of Mahanti is often appropriated by affluent Chasas\nand others who wish to get a rise in rank. In fact a proverb says:\nJar nahin Jati, taku bolanti Mahanti, or 'He who has no caste calls\nhimself a Mahanti.' The Karans, like the Kayasths, claim Chitragupta\nas their first ancestor, but most of them repudiate any connection\nwith the Kayasths, though they are of the same calling. The Karans\nof Sambalpur have two subcastes, the Jhadua or those of the jhadi\nor jungle and the Utkali or Uriyas. The former are said to be the\nearlier immigrants and are looked down on by the latter, who do not\nintermarry with them. Their exogamous divisions or gotras are of the\ntype called eponymous, being named after well-known Rishis or saints\nlike those of the Brahmans. Instances of such names are Bharadwaj,\nParasar, Valmik and Vasishtha. Some of the names, however, are in\na manner totemistic, as Nagas, the cobra; Kounchhas, the tortoise;\nBachas, a calf, and so on. These animals are revered by the members\nof the gotra named after them, but as they are of semi-divine nature,\nthe practice may be distinguished from true totemism. In some cases,\nhowever, members of the Bharadwaj gotra venerate the blue-jay, and of\nthe Parasar gotra, a pigeon. Marriage is regulated according to the\ntable of prohibited degrees in vogue among the higher castes. Girls\nare commonly married before they are ten years old, but no penalty\nattaches to the postponement of the ceremony to a later age. The\nbinding portion of the marriage is Hastabandhan or the tying of the\nhands of the couple together with kusha grass, [333] and when this\nhas been done the marriage cannot be annulled. The bride goes to\nher husband's house for a few days and then returns home until she\nattains maturity. Divorce and remarriage of widows are prohibited,\nand an unfaithful wife is finally expelled from the caste. The Karans\nworship the usual Hindu gods and call themselves Smarths. Some belong\nto the local Parmarth and Kumbhipatia sects, the former of which\npractises obscene rites. They burn their dead, excepting the bodies of\ninfants, and perform the shraddh ceremony. The caste have a high social\nposition in Sambalpur, and Brahmans will sometimes take food cooked\nwithout water from them. They wear the sacred thread. They eat fish\nand the flesh of clean animals but do not drink liquor. Bhandaris or\nbarbers will take katcha food from a Karan. They are generally engaged\nin service as clerks, accountants, schoolmasters or patwaris. Their\nusual titles are Patnaik or Bohidar. The Karans are considered to be\nof extravagant habits, and one proverb about them is--\n\n\n Mahanti jati, udhar paile kinanti hathi,\n\n\nor, 'The Mahanti if he can get a loan will at once buy an\nelephant.' Their shrewdness in business transactions and tendency\nto overreach the less intelligent cultivating castes have made them\nunpopular like the Kayasths, and another proverb says--\n\n\n Patarkata, Tankarkata, Paniota, Gaudini mai\n E chari jati ku vishwas nai,\n\n\nor, 'Trust not the palm-leaf writer (Karan), the weaver, the\nliquor-distiller nor the milk-seller.'\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKASAI\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice of the caste.\n 2. The cattle-slaughtering industry.\n 3. Muhammadan rite of zibah or halal.\n 4. Animism.\n 5. Animal-gods. The domestic animals.\n 6. Other animals.\n 7. Animals worshipped in India.\n 8. The sacrificial meal.\n 9. Primitive basis of kinship.\n 10. The bond of food.\n 11. The blood-feud.\n 12. Taking food together and hospitality.\n 13. The Roman sacra.\n 14. The Hindu caste-feasts.\n 15. Sacrifice of the camel.\n 16. The joint sacrifice.\n 17. Animal sacrifices in Greece.\n 18. The Passover.\n 19. Sanctity of domestic animals.\n 20. Sacrificial slaughter for food.\n 21. Animal-fights.\n 22. The sacrificial method of killing.\n 23. Animal sacrifices in Indian ritual.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice of the caste.\n\nKasai, Kassab.--The caste of Muhammadan butchers, of whom about\n4000 persons were returned from the Central Provinces and Berar in\n1911. During the last decade the numbers of the caste have very greatly\nincreased owing to the rise of the cattle-slaughtering industry. Two\nkinds of Kasais may be distinguished, the Gai Kasai or cow-killers\nand the Bakar Kasai or mutton butchers. The latter, however, are\nusually Hindus and have been formed into a separate caste, being\nknown as Khatik. Like other Muhammadans who have adopted professions\nof a not too reputable nature, the Kasais have become a caste, partly\nbecause the ordinary Muhammadan declines to intermarry with them, and\npartly no doubt in imitation of the Hindu social system. The Kasais\nare one of the lowest of the Muhammadan castes, and will admit into\ntheir community even low-caste Hindu converts. They celebrate their\nweddings by the nikah form, but until recently many Hindu rites were\nadded to it. The Kazi is employed to conduct the marriage, but if\nhis services are not available a member of the caste may officiate\ninstead. Polygamy is permitted to the number of four wives. A man may\ndivorce his wife simply for disobedience, but if a woman wishes to\ndivorce her husband she must forego the Meher or dowry promised at the\ntime of the wedding. The Kasai women, perhaps owing to their meat diet,\nare noticeably strong and well nourished, and there is a saying to the\neffect that, 'The butcher's daughter will bear children when she is\nten years old.' The deities of the Kasais are a number of Muhammadan\nsaints, who are known as Aulia or Favourites of God. The caste bury\nthe dead, and on the third day they read the Kalma over some parched\ngrain and distribute this to the caste-fellows, who eat it in the name\nof the deceased man, invoking a blessing upon him. On the ninth day\nafter the death they distribute food to Muhammadan Fakirs or beggars,\nand on the twentieth and fortieth days two more feasts are given to\nthe caste and a third on the anniversary of the death. Owing to what\nis considered the degrading nature of his occupation, the social\nposition of the Kasai is very low, and there is a saying--\n\n\n Na dekha ho bagh, to dekh belai;\n Na dekha ho Thag, to dekh Kasai,\n\n\nor, 'If you have not seen a tiger, look at a cat; and if you have not\nseen a Thug, look at a butcher.' Many Hindus have a superstition that\nleprosy is developed by the continual eating of beef.\n\n\n\n\n2. The cattle-slaughtering industry.\n\nIn recent years an extensive industry in the slaughter of cattle\nhas sprung up all over the Province. Worn-out animals are now\neagerly bought up and killed; their hides are dried and exported,\nand the meat is cured and sent to Madras and Burma, a substantial\nprofit being obtained from its sale. The blood, horns and hoofs are\nother products which yield a return. The religious scruples of the\nHindus have given way to the temptation of obtaining what is to them\na substantial sum for a valueless animal, and, with the exception\nperhaps of Brahmans and Banias, all castes now dispose of their\nuseless cattle to the butchers. At first this was done by stealth,\nand efforts were made to impose severe penalties on anybody guilty\nof the crime of being accessory to the death of the sacred kine,\nwhile it is said that the emissaries of the butchers were sent to the\nmarkets disguised as Brahmans or religious mendicants, and pretended\nthat they wished to buy cattle in order to preserve their lives as\na meritorious act. But such attempts at restriction have generally\nproved fruitless, and the trade is now openly practised and acquiesced\nin by public opinion. In spite of many complaints of the shortage\nof plough cattle caused by the large numbers of animals slaughtered,\nthe results of this traffic are probably almost wholly advantageous;\nfor the villages no longer contain a horde of worn-out and decrepit\nanimals to deprive the valuable plough and milch cattle of a share of\nthe too scanty pasturage. Kasais themselves are generally prosperous.\n\n\n\n\n3. Muhammadan rite of zibah or halal.\n\nWhen killing an animal the butcher lays it on the ground with its\nfeet to the west and head stretched towards the north and then cuts\nits throat saying:\n\n\n In the name of God;\n God is great.\n\n\nThis method of killing an animal is known as zibah. The Muhammadan\nbelief that an animal is not fit for food unless its throat has been\ncut so that the blood flows on to the ground is thus explained in\nProfessor Robertson Smith's Religion of the Semites [334]: \"In heathen\nCanaan all the animals belonged to the god of the country; but it\nwas lawful to kill them if payment was made to the god by pouring\nout their life or blood on the ground.\" The Arabs are of the same\nSemitic stock, and this may be partly the underlying idea of their\nrite of zibah. It seems doubtful, however, whether the explanation\nsuffices to explain its continuance for so long a period among\nthe Muhammadans who have long ceased to reverence any earth-deity,\nand in a foreign country where the soil cannot be sacred to them;\nand a short summary of Dr. Robertson Smith's luminous explanation\nof the underlying principle of animal sacrifice in early times seems\nrequisite to its full understanding.\n\n\n\n\n4. Animism.\n\nPrimitive man did not recognise any difference of intelligence and\nself-consciousness between himself and the lower animals and even\nplants, but believed them all to be possessed of consciousness and\nvolition as he was. He knew of no natural laws of the constitution of\nmatter and the action of forces, and therefore thought that all natural\nphenomena, the sun, moon and stars, the wind and rain, were similarly\nappearances, manifestations or acts of volition of beings conscious\nlike himself. This is what is meant by animism. Among several races the\ncommunity was divided into totem-clans, and each clan held sacred some\nanimal or bird, which was considered as a kinsman. All the members\nof the clan were kin to each other through the tie formed by their\neating their totem animal, which in the hunting stage was probably\ntheir chief means of subsistence, and from which they consequently\nthought that they derived their common life. [335] In process of time\nthe animals which were domesticated, such as the horse, the sheep,\nthe cow and the camel, acquired a special sanctity, and became, in\nfact, the principal deities of the community, such as the calf-god\nApis, the cow-goddess Isis-Hathor, and the ram-god Amen in Egypt,\nHera, probably a cow-goddess, and Dionysus, who may be the deified\nbull or goat (or a combination of them) in Greece, and so on.\n\n\n\n\n5. Animal-gods. The domestic animals.\n\nIt is easy to see how these domestic animals would overshadow all\nothers in importance when the tribe had arrived at the pastoral or\nagricultural stage; thus in the former the camel, horse, goat or sheep,\nand in the latter pre-eminently the bull and cow, as the animals which\nafforded subsistence to the whole tribe, would become their greatest\ngods. It must be presumed that men forgot that their ancestors had\ntamed these animals, and looked on them as divine helpers who of\ntheir own free will had come to give mankind their aid in gaining a\nsubsistence. Those who have observed the reverence paid to the cow\nand bull in India will have no difficulty in realising this point\nof view. Many other instances can be obtained. Thus in the Vedic\nreligion of the Aryans the Ashvins, from ashva, a horse, were the\ndivine horsemen of the dawn or of the sun. The principal sacrifice\nwas that of the horse, considered, perhaps, as the representative of\nthe sun or carrier of celestial fire. In a hymn the horse is said to\nbe sprung from the gods. In Greece Phaethon was the charioteer of\nthe horses of the sun. Mars, as the Roman god of war, may perhaps\nhave been the deified horse, as suggested later. The chieftains of\nthe Anglo-Saxon invaders of England, Hengist and Horsa, were held\nto be descended from the god Odin, to whom horses were sacrificed;\nHengist means a stallion and Horsa a horse, the word having survived\nin modern English. Other mythical kings in Bede's chronicle have names\nderived from that of the horse (vicg.). [336] The camel does not seem\nto have become an anthropomorphic god, but the Arabs venerated it and\nrefrained from killing it except as a sacrifice, when it was offered\nto the Morning-Star and partaken of sacramentally by the worshippers\nas will be seen subsequently. The ox as the tiller of the ground,\nwith the cow as milk-giver and mother of the ox, are especially\nvenerated by races in the early agricultural stage. Egyptian and Greek\ninstances have already been given. In modern Egypt, as in India, bulls\nare let loose and held sacred. \"Sometimes a peasant vows that he will\nsacrifice, for the sake of a saint, a calf which he possesses, as soon\nas it is full grown and fatted. It is let loose, by consent of all his\nneighbours, to pasture where it will, even in fields of young wheat;\nand at last, after it has been sacrificed, a public feast is made with\nits meat. Many a large bull is thus given away.\" [337] Dionysus Zagreus\nwas a young bull devoured by the Titans, whom Zeus raised again to\na glorious life. [338] The Babylonians had a bull-god, Ninit. [339]\nBrazen images of bulls were placed in Babylonian temples. The Parsis\nhold the bull sacred, and a child is made to drink a bull's urine as\na rite of purification. After a funeral the mourners free themselves\nfrom the impurity caused by contact with the dead in a similar\nmanner. [340] The monotheistic religion of Persia, Mitraism, which\nwas an outcome of the faith of Zoroaster, and being introduced by the\nEmperors Commodus and Julian into the Roman world contended for some\ntime with Christianity, was apparently sun-worship, Mitra being the\nsun-god of the ancient Aryans and Iranians; M. Reinach says: \"Mitra\nis born from a rock; he makes water flow from the rock by striking\nit with an arrow, makes an alliance with the sun, and enters into a\nstruggle with a bull, whom he conquers and sacrifices. The sacrifice\nof the bull appears to indicate that the worship of Mitra in its most\nancient form was that of a sacred bull, conjoined to or representing\nthe sun, which was sacrificed as a god, and its flesh and blood eaten\nin a sacrificial meal. Mitra, the slayer of the bull, figures in a\ndouble r\u00f4le as one finds in all the religions which have passed from\ntotemism to anthropomorphism.\" [341] In Scandinavia the god Odin and\nhis brothers were the grandsons of a divine cow, born from the melting\nice in the region of snow and darkness. [342] In Rome a white bull\nwas sacrificed to the Feriae Latinae, apparently the spirit of the\nLatin holy days, and distributed among all the towns of Latium. [343]\nAltars of the ancient Celts or Gauls have been found in France carved\nwith the image of a bull. [344] In Palestine there is the familiar\ninstance of the golden calf. In the open court of Solomon's temple\nstood the brazen sea on twelve oxen, and figures of lions, oxen and\ncherubim covered the portable tanks. [345] The veneration of the bull\nsurvived into Christian England in the Middle Ages. \"At St. Edmundsbury\na white bull, which enjoyed full ease and plenty in the fields, and\nwas never yoked to the plough nor employed in any service, was led\nin procession in the chief streets of the town to the principal gate\nof the monastery, attended by all the monks singing and a shouting\ncrowd. [346] \"Such remedies as cowdung and cow's urine have been used\non the continent of Europe by peasant physicians down to our times\";\n[347] and the belief in their efficacy must apparently have arisen from\nthe sanctity attaching to the animal. In India Siva rides upon the\nbull Nandi, and when the Kunbis were too weak from famine to plough\nthe fields, he had Nandi castrated and harnessed to the plough,\nthus teaching them to use oxen for ploughing; the image of Nandi\nis always carved in stone in front of Siva, and there seems little\nreason to doubt that in his beneficent aspect of Mahadeo the god was\noriginally the deified bull. Bulls were let loose in his honour and\nallowed to graze where they would, and formerly a good Hindu would\nnot even sell a bull, though this rule has fallen into abeyance. The\nsacred cow, Kamdhenu, was the giver of all wealth in Hindu mythology,\nand Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is considered to have been the\ndeified cow. Hindus are purified from grave offences by drinking the\nfive products of the sacred cow, milk, curds, butter, dung and urine;\nand the floors of Hindu houses are daily plastered with cowdung to\nthe same end.\n\n\n\n\n6. Other animals.\n\nOf the exaltation of minor animals into anthropomorphic gods and\ngoddesses only a few instances need be given. As is shown by Sir\nJ. G. Frazer, Demeter and Proserpine probably both represent the\ndeified pig. [348] \"The Greek drama has arisen from the celebrations\nof Dionysus. In the beginning the people sacrificed a goat totem-god,\nthat is to say, Dionysus himself; they wept for his death and then\ncelebrated his resurrection with transports of joy.\" [349] And again\nM. Reinach states: \"There are more than mere vestiges of totemism\nin ancient Greece. We may take first the attendant animals of the\ngods, the eagle of Zeus, the owl of Athena, the fawn of Artemis,\nthe dolphin of Poseidon, the dove of Aphrodite and so on; the sacred\nanimal can develop into the companion of the god, but also into his\nenemy or victim; thus Apollo Sauroctonos is, as the epithet shows,\na killer of lizards; but in the beginning it was the lizard itself\nwhich was divine. We have seen that the boar before becoming the\nslayer of Adonis had been Adonis himself.\" [350]\n\nIn early Rome \"The wolf was the animal most venerated. Its association\nwith Mars, as the sacrifice most pleasing to him, leaves no doubt\nas to the primitive nature of the god. It was a wolf which acted as\nguide to the Samnites in their search for a place to settle in, and\nthese Samnites called themselves Hirpi or Hirpini, that is to say,\nwolves. Romulus and Remus, sons of the wolf Mars and the she-wolf\nSilvia (the forest-dweller), are suckled by a she-wolf.\" [351] It seems\npossible that Mars as the deified wolf was at first an agricultural\ndeity, the wolf being worshipped by the shepherd and farmer because he\nwas their principal enemy, as the sambhar stag and the wild buffalo\nare similarly venerated by Indian cultivators. At a later period,\nin becoming the god of war, he may have represented the deified horse\nas well. Races of war-horses were held at his festivals on 14th March\nand 27th February, and a great race on the Ides of October when the\nwinner was solemnly slain. [352] \"In Egypt the baboon was regarded\nas the emblem of Tahuti, the god of wisdom; the serious expression\nand human ways of the large baboons are an obvious cause for their\nbeing regarded as the wisest of animals. Tahuti is represented as a\nbaboon from the earliest dynasty down to late times; and four baboons\nwere sacred in his temple at Heliopolis.\" [353] \"The hippopotamus was\nthe goddess Ta-urt, 'the great one,' the patroness of pregnancy, who\nis never shown in any other form. Rarely this animal appears as the\nemblem of the god Set. The jackal haunted the cemeteries on the edge\nof the desert, and so came to be taken as the guardian of the dead\nand identified with Anubis, the god of departing souls. The vulture\nwas the emblem of maternity as being supposed to care especially for\nher young. Hence she is identified with Mut, the mother-goddess of\nThebes. The cobra serpent was sacred from the earliest times to the\npresent day. It was never identified with any of the great deities,\nbut three goddesses appear in serpent form.\" [354]\n\n\n\n\n7. Animals worshipped in India.\n\nFinally, in India we have Hanuman, originally the deified ape, about\nwhose identity there can be no doubt as he still retains his monkey's\ntail in all sculpture. Bhairon, the watchman of Mahadeo's temples,\nrides on a black dog, and was perhaps originally the watch-dog,\nor in his more terrible character of the devourer of human beings,\nthe wolf. Ganesh or Ganpati has the head of an elephant and rides on\na rat and appears to have derived his divine attributes from both\nthese animals, as will be explained elsewhere; [355] Kartikeya,\nthe god of war, rides on a peacock, and as the peacock is sacred,\nhe may originally have been that bird, perhaps because its plumes\nwere a favourite war emblem. Among his epithets are Sarabhu, born\nin the thicket, Dwadasakara and Dwadasaksha, twelve-handed and\ntwelve-eyed. He was fostered by the maidens who make the Pleiades,\nand his epithet of twelve-eyed may be taken from the eyes in the\npeacock's feathers. [356] But, like the Greek gods, the Hindu gods\nhave now long become anthropomorphic, and only vestiges remain of\ntheir animal associations. Enough has been said to show that most of\nthe pantheons are largely occupied by deified animals and birds.\n\n\n\n\n8. The sacrificial meal.\n\nThe original sacrifice was that in which the community of kinsmen\nate together the flesh of their divine or totem animal-god and drank\nits blood. In early religion the tribal god was the ancestor and\nrelative of the tribe. He protected and fostered the tribe in its\npublic concerns, but took no special care of individuals; the only\noffences of which he took cognisance were those against the tribe as\na whole, such as shedding a kinsman's blood. At periodical intervals\nthe tribe renewed their kinship with the god and each other by eating\nhis flesh together at a sacrificial meal by which they acquired his\ndivine attributes; and every tribesman was not only invited, but\nbound, to participate. \"According to antique ideas those who eat and\ndrink together are by this very act tied to one another by a bond of\nfriendship and mutual obligation. Hence when we find that in ancient\nreligions all the ordinary functions of worship are summed up in the\nsacrificial meal, and that the ordinary intercourse between gods and\nmen has no other form, we are to remember that the act of eating and\ndrinking together is the solemn and stated expression of the fact that\nall who share the meal are brethren, and that the duties of friendship\nand brotherhood are implicitly acknowledged in their common act. [357]\nThe one thing directly expressed in the sacrificial meal is that\nthe god and his worshippers are commensals, but every other point in\ntheir mutual relations is included in what this involves. Those who\nsit at meat together are united for all social effects; those who do\nnot eat together are aliens to one another, without fellowship in\nreligion and without reciprocal social duties. The extent to which\nthis view prevailed among the ancient Semites, and still prevails\namong the Arabs, may be brought out most clearly by reference to the\nlaw of hospitality. Among the Arabs every stranger whom one meets\nin the desert is a natural enemy, and has no protection against\nviolence except his own strong hand or the fear that his tribe will\navenge him if his blood be spilt. But if I have eaten the smallest\nmorsel of food with a man I have nothing further to fear from him;\n'there is salt between us,' and he is bound not only to do me no harm,\nbut to help and defend me as if I were his brother. So far was this\nprinciple carried by the old Arabs that Zaid-al-Khail, a famous\nwarrior in the days of Muhammad, refused to slay a vagabond who\ncarried off his camels, because the thief had surreptitiously drunk\nfrom his father's milk-bowl before committing the theft.\" [358] It is\nin this idea that the feeling of hospitality originally arose. Those\nwho ate together the sacred food consisting of the body of the god\nwere brothers, and bound to assist each other and do each other no\nharm; and the obligation extended in a modified form to all food\npartaken of together, more especially as with some races, as the\nancient Romans and the Hindus, all the regular household meals are\nsacred; they may only be partaken of after purifying the body, and a\nportion of the food at each meal is offered to the gods. \"There was\na sworn alliance between the Lihyan and the Mostalic--they were wont\nto eat and drink together. This phrase of an Arab narrator supplies\nexactly what is wanted to define the significance of the sacrificial\nmeal. The god and his worshippers are wont to eat and drink together,\nand by this token their fellowship is declared and sealed.\" [359]\n\n\n\n\n9. Primitive basis of kinship.\n\nThe primitive idea of kinship rested on this participation in the\nsacrificial meal, and not on blood-relationship. \"In ancient times the\nfundamental obligations of kinship had nothing to do with degrees of\nrelationship, but rested with absolute and identical force on every\nmember of the clan. To know that a man's life was sacred to me and\nthat every blood-feud that touched him involved me also, it was not\nnecessary for me to count cousinship with him by reckoning up to our\ncommon ancestor; it was enough that we belonged to the same clan and\nbore the same clan-name. What was my clan was determined by customary\nlaw, which was not the same in all stages of society; in the earliest\nSemitic communities a man was of his mother's clan, in later times he\nbelonged to the clan of his father. But the essential idea of kinship\nwas independent of the particular form of the law. A kin was a group of\npersons whose lives were so bound up together, in what must be called\na physical unity, that they could be treated as parts of one common\nlife. The members of one kindred looked on themselves as one living\nwhole, a single animated mass of blood, flesh, and bones, of which\nno member could be touched without all the members suffering. This\npoint of view is expressed in the Semitic tongues in many familiar\nforms of speech. In case of homicide Arabian tribesmen do not say,\n'The blood of M or N has been spilt,' naming the man; they say,\n'Our blood has been spilt.' In Hebrew the phrase by which one claims\nkinship is, 'I am your bone and your flesh.' Both in Hebrew and in\nArabic 'flesh' is synonymous with 'clan' or kindred group.\" [360]\nSimilarly in India a Hindu speaks of any member of his subcaste or\nclan as his bhai or brother.\n\n\"Indeed, in a religion based on kinship, where the god and his\nworshippers are of one stock, the principle of sanctity and that\nof kinship are identical. The sanctity of a kinsman's life and the\nsanctity of the godhead are not two things but one; for ultimately the\nonly thing which is sacred is the common tribal life or the common\nblood which is identified with the life. Whatever being partakes in\nthis life is holy, and its holiness may be described indifferently\nas participation in the divine life and nature, or as participation\nin the kindred blood.\" [361]\n\n\n\n\n10. The bond of food.\n\n\"At a later period the conception is found current that any food which\ntwo men partake of together, so that the same substance enters into\ntheir flesh and blood, is enough to establish some sacred unity of\nlife between them; but in ancient times this significance seems to be\nalways attached to participation in the flesh of a sacrosanct victim,\nand the solemn mystery of its death is justified by the consideration\nthat only in this way can the sacred cement be procured which creates\nor keeps alive a living bond of union between the worshippers and\ntheir god. This cement is nothing less than the actual life of the\nsacred and kindred animal, which is conceived as residing in its flesh,\nbut especially in its blood, and so, in the sacred meal, is actually\ndistributed among all the participants, each of whom incorporated a\nparticle of it with his own individual life.\" [362]\n\n\n\n\n11. The blood-feud.\n\nIt thus appears that the sacrifice of the divine animal which was the\ngod of the tribe or clan, and the eating of its flesh and drinking of\nits blood together, was the only tangible bond or obligation on which\nsuch law and morality as existed in primitive society was based. Those\nwho participated in this sacrifice were brothers and forbidden to shed\neach other's blood, because in so doing they would have spilt the\nblood of the god impiously and unlawfully; the only lawful occasion\non which it could be shed being by participation of all the clan or\nkinsmen in the sacrificial meal. All other persons outside the clan\nwere strangers or enemies, and no rights or obligations existed in\nconnection with them; the only restraint on killing them being the\nfear that their kinsmen would take blood-revenge, not solely on the\nmurderer, but on any member of his clan. A man's life was protected\nonly by this readiness of his clansmen to avenge him; if he slew a\nfellow-kinsman, thus shedding the blood of the god which flowed in the\nveins of every member, or committed any other great impiety against the\ngod, he was outlawed, and henceforth there was no protection for his\nlife except such as he could afford himself by his own strength. This\nreflection puts the importance of the blood-feud in primitive society\nin a clear light. It was at that time really a beneficent institution,\nbeing the only protection for human life; and its survival among such\nbackward races as the Pathans and Corsicans, long after the State\nhas undertaken the protection and avenging of life and the blood-feud\nhas become almost wholly useless and evil, is more easily understood.\n\n\n\n\n12. Taking food together and hospitality.\n\nThe original idea of the sacrificial meal was that the kinsmen in\nconcert partook of the body of the god, thereby renewing their kinship\nwith him and with each other. By analogy, however, the tie thus formed\nwas extended to the whole practice of eating together. It has been\nseen how a stranger who partook of food with an Arab became sacred\nand as a kinsman to his host and all the latter's clan for such time\nas any part of the food might remain in his system, a period which\nwas conventionally taken as about three days. \"The Old Testament\nrecords many cases where a covenant was sealed by the parties eating\nand drinking together. In most of these the meal is sacrificial,\nand the deity is taken in as a third party to the covenant. But in\nJoshua i. 14 the Israelites enter into alliance with the Gibeonites by\ntaking of their victuals without consulting Jehovah. A formal league\nconfirmed by an oath follows, but by accepting the proffered food\nthe Israelites are already committed to the alliance.\" [363] From\nthe belief in the strength and sanctity of the tie formed by eating\ntogether the obligation of hospitality appears to be derived. And\nthis is one of the few moral ideas which are more binding in primitive\nthan in civilised society.\n\n\n\n\n13. The Roman sacra.\n\n\"A good example of the clan sacrifice, in which a whole kinship\nperiodically joins, is afforded by the Roman sacra gentilicia. As\nin primitive society no man can belong to more than one kindred, so\namong the Romans no one could share in the sacra of two gentes--to\ndo so was to confound the ritual and contaminate the purity of the\ngens. The sacra consisted in common anniversary sacrifices, in which\nthe clansmen honoured the gods of the clan, and after them the whole\nkin, living and dead, were brought together in the service.\" [364]\n\n\n\n\n14. The Hindu caste-feasts.\n\nThe intense importance thus attached to eating in common on ceremonial\noccasions has a very familiar ring to any one possessing some\nacquaintance with the Indian caste-system. The resemblance of the\ngotra or clan and the subcaste to the Greek phratry and phule and the\nRoman gens and curia or tribe has been pointed out by M. Emile Senart\nin Les Castes dans l'Inde. The origin of the subcaste or group, whose\nmembers eat together and intermarry, cannot be discussed here. But it\nseems probable that the real bond which unites it is the capacity of\nits members to join in the ceremonial feasts at marriages, funerals,\nand the readmission of members temporarily excluded, which are of a\ntype closely resembling and seemingly derived from the sacrificial\nmeal. Before a wedding the ancestors of the family are formally\ninvited, and when the wedding-cakes are made they are offered to the\nancestors and then partaken of by all relatives of the family as in\nthe Roman sacra. In this case grain would take the place of flesh\nas the sacrificial food among a people who no longer eat the flesh\nof animals. Thus Sir J. G. Frazer states: \"At the close of the rice\nharvest in the East Indian island of Buro each clan (fenna) meets\nat a common sacramental meal, to which every member of the clan is\nbound to contribute a little of the new rice. This meal is called\n'eating the soul of the rice,' a name which clearly indicates the\nsacramental character of the repast. Some of the rice is also set\napart and offered to the spirits.\" [365] Grain cooked with water is\nsacred food among the Hindus. The bride and bridegroom worship Gauri,\nperhaps a corn-goddess, and her son Ganesh, the god of prosperity and\nfull granaries. It has been suggested that yellow is the propitious\nHindu colour for weddings, because it is the colour of the corn. [366]\nAt the wedding feast all the guests sit knee to knee touching each\nother as a sign of their brotherhood. Sometimes the bride eats with\nthe men in token of her inclusion in the brotherhood. In most castes\nthe feast cannot begin until all the guests have come, and every\nmember of the subcaste who is not under the ban of exclusion must be\ninvited. If any considerable number of the guests wilfully abstain\nfrom attending it is an insult to the host and an implication that\nhis own position is doubtful. Other points of resemblance between\nthe caste feast and the sacrificial meal will be discussed elsewhere.\n\n\n\n\n15. Sacrifice of the camel.\n\nThe sacrifice of the camel in Arabia, about the period of the fourth\ncentury, is thus described: \"The camel chosen as the victim is bound\nupon a rude altar of stones piled together, and when the leader of\nthe band has thrice led the worshippers round the altar in a solemn\nprocession accompanied with chants, he inflicts the first wound while\nthe last words of the hymn are still upon the lips of the congregation,\nand in all haste drinks of the blood that gushes forth. Forthwith\nthe whole company fall on the victim with their swords, hacking off\npieces of the quivering flesh and devouring them raw, with such wild\nhaste that in the short interval between the rise of the day-star,\nwhich marked the hour for the service to begin, and the disappearance\nof its rays before the rising sun, the entire camel, body and bones,\nskin, blood and entrails, is wholly devoured.\" [367]\n\nIn this case the camel was offered as a sacrifice to Venus or the\nMorning Star, and it had to be devoured while the star was visible. But\nit is clear that the camel itself had been originally revered,\nbecause except for the sacrifice it was unlawful for the Arabs to\nkill the camel otherwise than as a last resort to save themselves from\nstarvation. \"The ordinary sustenance of the Saracens was derived from\npillage or from hunting and from the milk of their herds. Only when\nthese supplies failed they fell back on the flesh of their camels, one\nof which was slain for each clan or for each group which habitually\npitched their tents together--always a fraction of a clan--and the\nflesh was hastily devoured by the kinsmen in dog-like fashion, half\nraw and merely softened over the fire.\" [368] In Bhopal it is stated\nthat a camel is still sacrificed annually in perpetuation of the\nancient rite. Hindus who keep camels revere them like other domestic\nanimals. When one of my tent-camels had broken its leg by a fall and\nhad to be killed, I asked the camelman, to whom the animal belonged,\nto shoot it; but he positively refused, saying, 'How shall I kill\nhim who gives me my bread'; and a Muhammadan orderly finally shot it.\n\n\n\n\n16. The joint sacrifice.\n\nThe camel was devoured raw almost before the life had left the\nbody, so that its divine life and blood might be absorbed by the\nworshippers. The obligation to devour the whole body perhaps rested\non the belief that its slaughter otherwise than as a sacrifice was\nimpious, and if any part of the body was left unconsumed the clan\nwould incur the guilt of murder. Afterwards, when more civilised\nstomachs revolted against the practice of devouring the whole body, the\nbones were buried or burnt, and it is suggested that our word bonfire\ncomes from bone-fire. [369] Primitive usage required the presence of\nevery clansman, so that each might participate in shedding the sacred\nblood. Neither the blood of the god nor of any of the kinsmen might\nbe spilt by private violence, but only by consent of the kindred\nand the kindred god. Similarly in shedding the blood of a member of\nthe kin all the others were required to share the responsibility,\nand this was the ancient Hebrew form of execution where the culprit\nwas stoned by the whole congregation. [370]\n\n\n\n\n17. Animal sacrifices in Greece.\n\nM. Salomon Reinach gives the following explanation of Greek myths\nin connection with the sacrificial meal: \"The primitive sacrifice of\nthe god, usually accompanied by the eating of the god in fellowship,\nwas preserved in their religious rites, and when its meaning had\nbeen forgotten numerous legends were invented to account for it. In\norder to understand their origin it is necessary to remember that the\nprimitive worshippers masqueraded as the god and took his name. As\nthe object of the totem sacrifice is to make the participants like\nthe god and confer his divinity on them, the faithful endeavoured to\nincrease the resemblance by taking the name of the god and covering\nthemselves with the skins of animals of his species. Thus the Athenian\ndamsels celebrating the worship of the bear Artemis dressed themselves\nin bear-skins and called themselves bears; the Maenads who sacrificed\nthe doe Penthea were clad in doe-skins. Even in the later rites the\ndevotees of Bacchus called themselves Bacchantes. A whole series of\nlegends can be interpreted as semi-rationalistic explanations of the\nsacrificial meal. Actaeon was really a great stag sacrificed by women\ndevotees who called themselves the great hind and the little hinds;\nhe became the rash hunter who surprised Artemis at her bath, and was\ntransformed into a stag and devoured by his own dogs. The dogs are\na euphemism; in the early legend they were the human devotees of the\nsacred stag who tore him to pieces and devoured him with their bare\nteeth. These feasts of raw flesh survived in the secret religious\ncults of Greece long after uncooked meat had ceased to be consumed\nin ordinary life. Orpheus (ophreus, the haughty), who appears in\nart with the skin of a fox on his head, was originally a sacred\nfox devoured by the women of the fox totem-clan; these women call\nthemselves Bassarides in the legend, and bassareus is one of the\nold names of the fox. Zagreus is a son of Zeus and Persephone who\ntransformed himself into a bull to escape from the Titans, excited\nagainst him by Hera; the Titans, worshippers of the divine bull,\nkilled and ate him; Zagreus was invoked in his worship as the 'good\nbull,' and when Zagreus by the grace of Zeus was reborn as Dionysus,\nthe young god carried on his forehead the horns which bore witness\nto his animal nature. Hippolytus in the fable is the son of Theseus\nwho repels the advances of Phaedra, his stepmother, and was killed by\nhis runaway horses because Theseus, deceived by Phaedra, invoked the\nanger of a god upon him. But Hippolytus in Greek means 'One torn to\npieces by horses.' Hippolytus is himself a horse whom the worshippers\nof the horse, calling themselves horses and disguised as such, tore to\npieces and devoured. Phaethon (The Shining One) is a son of Apollo,\nwho demands leave to drive the chariot of the sun, drives it badly,\nnearly burns up the world, and finally falls and perishes in the\nsea. This legend is the product of an old rite at Rhodes, the island\nof the sun, where every year a white horse and a burning chariot were\nthrown into the sea to help the sun, fatigued by his labours.\" [371]\n\n\n\n\n18. The Passover.\n\nM. Reinach points out that the Passover of the Israelites was in\nits origin a similar sacrifice. A lamb or kid, the first-fruit of\nthe flocks, was eaten entire without the bones being broken, the\nblood smeared on the doorway being an offering to the god. The story\nconnecting this sacrifice with the death of the first-born in Egypt\nwas of later origin, devised to account for it when the real meaning\nhad been forgotten. [372] The name Rachel [373] means a ewe, and it\nwould appear that the children of Israel in the pastoral stage had the\nsheep for their totem deity and supposed themselves to be descended\nfrom it, as the Jats consider themselves to be descended from Siva,\nprobably in his form of Mahadeo, the deified bull. As held in Canaan,\nthe festival may have been a relic of the former migratory life of\nthe Israelites when they tended flocks and regarded the sheep, or\ngoat, as their most important domestic animal. It may have been in\nmemory of this wandering life that the festival was accompanied by\nthe eating of unleavened bread, and the sacrifice was consumed with\nloins girded up and staffs in their hands, as if in readiness for\na journey. The Banjaras retain in their marriage and other customs\nvarious reminiscences of their former migratory life, as shown in the\narticle on that caste. The Gadarias of the Central Provinces worship\na goddess called Dishai Devi, who is represented by a stone platform\njust outside the sheep-pen. She has thus probably developed from the\ndeified sheep or goat, which itself was formerly worshipped. On the\neighth day of the fasts in Chait and Kunwar the Gadarias offer the\ngoddess a virgin she-goat. They wash the goat's feet in water and rub\nturmeric on its feet and head. It is given rice to eat and brought\nbefore the goddess, and water is poured over its body; when the goat\nbegins to shiver they think that the goddess has accepted the offering,\nand cut its throat with a sickle or knife. Then the animal is roasted\nwhole and eaten in the veranda of the house, nothing being thrown\naway but the bones. Only men may join in this sacrifice, and not women.\n\n\n\n\n19. Sanctity of domestic animals.\n\nThus it was a more or less general rule among several races that the\ndomestic animals were deified and held sacred, and were slain only at\na sacrifice. It followed that it was sinful to kill these animals on\nany other occasion. It has already been seen that the Arabs forbore\nto kill their worn-out camels for food except when driven to it by\nhunger as a last resort. \"That it was once a capital offence to kill\nan ox, both in Attica and the Peloponnesus, is attested by Varro. So\nfar as Athens is concerned, this statement seems to be drawn from the\nlegend that was told in connection with the annual sacrifice at the\nDiipolia, where the victim was a bull and its death was followed by a\nsolemn inquiry as to who was responsible for the act. In this trial\neveryone who had anything to do with the slaughter was called as a\nparty; the maidens who drew water to sharpen the axe and knife threw\nthe blame on the sharpeners, they put it on the man who handed the\naxe, he on the man who struck down the victim, and he again on the\none who cut its throat, who finally fixed the responsibility on the\nknife, which was accordingly found guilty of murder and cast into\nthe sea.\" [374] \"At Tenedos the priest who offered a bull-calf to\nDionysus anthroporraistes was attacked with stones and had to flee\nfor his life; and at Corinth, in the annual sacrifice of a goat\nto Hera Acraea, care was taken to shift the responsibility of the\ndeath off the shoulders of the community by employing hirelings as\nministers. Even they did no more than hide the knife in such a way\nthat the goat, scraping with its feet, procured its own death.\" [375]\n\"Agatharchides, describing the Troglodytes of East Africa, a primitive\npastoral people in the polyandrous state of society, tells us that\ntheir whole sustenance was derived from their flocks and herds. When\npasture abounded, after the rainy season, they lived on milk mingled\nwith blood (drawn apparently, as in Arabia, from the living animal),\nand in the dry season they had recourse to the flesh of aged or\nweakly beasts. Further, 'they gave the name of parent to no human\nbeing, but only to the ox and cow, the ram and ewe, from whom they\nhad their nourishment.' Among the Caffres the cattle kraal is sacred;\nwomen may not enter it, and to defile it is a capital offence.\" [376]\nAmong the Egyptians also cows were never killed. [377]\n\n\n\n\n20. Sacrificial slaughter for food.\n\nGradually, however, as the reverence for animals declined and the\ntrue level of their intelligence compared to that of man came to be\nbetter appreciated, the sanctity attaching to their lives no doubt\ngrew weaker. Then it would become permissible to kill a domestic animal\nprivately and otherwise than by a joint sacrifice of the clan; but the\nold custom of justifying the slaughter by offering it to the god would\nstill remain. \"At this stage, [378] at least among the Hebrews, the\noriginal sanctity of the life of domestic animals is still recognised\nin a modified form, inasmuch as it is held unlawful to use their flesh\nfor food except in a sacrificial meal. But this rule is not strict\nenough to prevent flesh from becoming a familiar luxury. Sacrifices\nare multiplied on trivial occasions of religious gladness or social\nfestivity, and the rite of eating at the sanctuary loses the character\nof an exceptional sacrament, and means no more than that men are\ninvited to feast and be merry at the table of their god, or that no\nfeast is complete in which the god has not his share.\" [379] This is\nthe stage reached by the Hebrews in the time of Samuel, as described\nby Professor Robertson Smith, and it bears much resemblance to that of\nthe lower Hindu castes and the Gonds at the present time. They too,\nwhen they can afford to kill a goat or a pig, cows being prohibited\nin deference to Hindu susceptibility, take it to the shrine of some\nvillage deity and offer it there prior to feasting on it with their\nfriends. At intervals of a year or more many of the lower castes\nsacrifice a goat to Dulha Deo, the bridegroom-god, and Thakur Deo,\nthe corn-god, and eat the body as a sacrificial meal within the\nhouse, burying the bones and other remnants beneath the floor of the\nhouse. [380] Among the Kafirs of the Hindu Kush, when a man wishes to\nbecome a Jast, apparently a revered elder or senator, he must give a\nseries of feasts to the whole community, so expensive that many men\nutterly ruin themselves in becoming Jast. The initiatory proceedings\nare sacrifices of bulls and male goats to Gish, the war-god, at the\nvillage shrine. The animals are examined with jealous eyes by the\nspectators, to see that they come up to the prescribed standard\nof excellence. After the sacrifice the meat is divided among the\npeople, who carry it to their homes. These special sacrifices at\nthe shrine recur at intervals; but the great slaughterings are at\nthe feast-giver's own house, where he entertains sometimes the Jast\nexclusively and sometimes the whole tribe, as already mentioned. [381]\nEven in the latter case, however, after a big distribution at the\ngiver's house one or two goats are offered to the war-god at his\nshrine; and while the animals are being killed at the house offerings\nare made on a sacrificial fire, and as each goat is slain a handful\nof its blood is taken and thrown on the fire. [382] The Kafirs would\ntherefore appear to be in the stage when it is still usual to kill\ndomestic animals as a sacrifice to the god, but no longer obligatory.\n\n\n\n\n21. Animal fights.\n\nFinally animals are recognised for what they are, all sanctity\nceases to attach to them, and they are killed for food in an ordinary\nmanner. Possibly, however, such customs as roasting an ox whole, and\nthe sports of bull-baiting and bull-fighting, may be relics of the\nancient sacrifice. Formerly the buffaloes sacrificed at the shrine of\nthe goddess Rankini or Kali in Dalbhum zamindari of Chota Nagpur were\nmade to fight. \"Two male buffaloes are driven into a small enclosure\nand on a raised stage adjoining and overlooking it the Raja and his\nsuite take up their position. After some ceremonies the Raja and his\nfamily priest discharge arrows at the buffaloes, others follow their\nexample, and the tormented and enraged beasts fall to and gore each\nother whilst arrow after arrow is discharged. When the animals are\npast doing very much mischief, the people rush in and hack at them\nwith battle-axes till they are dead.\" [383]\n\n\n\n\n22. The sacrificial method of killing.\n\nMuhammadans however cannot eat the flesh of an animal unless its throat\nis cut and the blood allowed to flow before it dies. At the time of\ncutting the throat a sacred text or invocation must be repeated. It\nhas been seen that in former times the blood of the animal was offered\nto the god and scattered on the altar or collected in a pit at its\nfoot. It may be suggested that the method of killing which still\nsurvives was that formerly practised in offering the sacrifice,\nand that the necessity of allowing the blood to flow is a relic of\nthe blood offering. When it no longer became necessary to sacrifice\nevery animal at a shrine the sacrificial method of slaughter and the\ninvocation to the god might be retained as removing the impiety of\nthe act. At present it is said that unless an animal's blood flows it\nis a murda or corpse, and hence not suitable for food. But this idea\nmay have grown up to account for the custom when its original meaning\nhad been forgotten. The Gonds, when sacrificing a fowl, hold it over\nthe sacred post or stone, which represents the god, and let the blood\ndrop upon it. And when sacrificing a pig they first cut its tongue\nand let the blood fall upon the symbol of the god. In Chhattisgarh,\nwhen a Hindu is ill he makes a vow of the affected limb to the god;\nthen on recovering he goes to the temple, and cutting this limb, lets\nthe blood fall on to the symbol of the god as an offering. Similarly\nthe Sikhs are forbidden to eat flesh unless the animal has been killed\nby jatka or cutting off the head with one stroke, and the same rule\nis observed by some of the lower Hindu castes. In Hindu sacrifices\nit is often customary that the head of the animal should be made over\nto the officiating priest as his share, and so in killing the animal\nhe would naturally cut off its head. The above rule may therefore be\nof the same character as the rite of halal among the Muhammadans, and\nhere also the sacrificial method of killing an animal may be retained\nto legalise its slaughter after the sacrifice itself has fallen into\ndesuetude. In Berar some time ago the Mullah or Muhammadan priest\nwas a village servant and the Hindus paid him dues. In return he was\naccustomed to kill the goats and sheep which they wished to sacrifice\nat temples, or in their fields to propitiate the deities presiding over\nthem. He also killed animals for the Khatik or mutton-butcher and the\nlatter exposed them for sale. The Mullah was entitled to the heart of\nthe animal killed as his perquisite and a fee of two pice. Some of the\nMarathas were unmindful of the ceremony, but in general they professed\nnot to eat flesh unless the sacred verse had been pronounced either by\nthe Mullah or some Muhammadan capable of rendering it halal or lawful\nto be eaten. [384] Hence it would appear that the Hindus, unprovided\nby their own religion with any sacrificial mode of legalising the\nslaughter of animals, adopted the ritual of a foreign faith in order\nto make animal sacrifices acceptable to their own deities. The belief\nthat it is sinful to kill a domestic animal except with some religious\nsanction is thus clearly shown in full force.\n\n\n\n\n23. Animal sacrifices in Indian ritual.\n\nAmong high-caste Hindus also sacrifices, including the killing of\ncows, were at one time legal. This is shown by several legends,\n[385] and is also a historical fact. One of Asoka's royal edicts\nprohibited at the capital the celebration of animal sacrifices\nand merry-makings involving the use of meat, but in the provinces\napparently they continued to be lawful. [386] This indicates that prior\nto the rise of Buddhism such sacrifices had been customary, and also\nthat when a feast was to be given, involving the consumption of meat,\nthe animal was offered as a sacrifice. It is noteworthy that Asoka's\nrules do not forbid the slaughter of cows. [387] In ancient times\nalso the most important royal sacrifice was that of the horse. The\ndevelopment of religious belief and practice in connection with the\nkilling of domestic animals has thus proceeded on exactly opposite\nlines in India as compared with most of the world. Domestic animals\nhave become more instead of less sacred and several of them cannot\nbe killed at all. The reason usually given to account for this is\nthe belief in the transmigration of souls, leading to the conclusion\nthat the bodies of animals might be tenanted by human souls. Probably\nalso Buddhism left powerful traces of its influence on the Hindu\nview of the sanctity of animal life even after it had ceased to be\nthe state religion. Perhaps the Brahmans desired to make their faith\nmore popular and took advantage of the favourite reverence of all\ncultivators for the cow to exalt her into one of their most powerful\ndeities, and at the same time to extend the local cult of Krishna,\nthe divine cowherd, thus following exactly the contrary course to that\ntaken by Moses with the golden calf. Generally the growth of political\nand national feeling has mainly operated to limit the influence of the\npriesthood, and the spread of education and development of reasoned\ncriticism and discussion have softened the strictness of religious\nobservance and ritual. Both these factors have been almost entirely\nwanting in Hindu society, and this perhaps explains the continued\nsanctity attaching to the lives of domestic animals as well as the\nunabated power of the caste system.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKasar\n\n\n1. Distribution and origin of the caste.\n\nKasar, Kasera, Kansari, Bharewa. [388]--The professional caste of\nmakers and sellers of brass and copper vessels. In 1911 the Kasars\nnumbered 20,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, and were\ndistributed over all Districts, except in the Jubbulpore division,\nwhere they are scarcely found outside Mandla. Their place in the other\nDistricts of this division is taken by the Tameras. In Mandla the\nKasars are represented by the inferior Bharewa group. The name of the\ncaste is derived from kansa, a term now applied to bell-metal. The\nkindred caste of Tameras take their name from tamba, copper, but\nboth castes work in this metal indifferently, and in Saugor, Damoh\nand Jubbulpore no distinction exists between the Kasars and Tameras,\nthe same caste being known by both names. A similar confusion exists\nin northern India in the use of the corresponding terms Kasera\nand Thathera. [389] In Wardha the Kasars are no longer artificers,\nbut only dealers, employing Panchals to make the vessels which they\nretail in their shops. And the same is the case with the Maratha\nand Deshkar subcastes in Nagpur. The Kasars are a respectable caste,\nranking next to the Sunars among the urban craftsmen.\n\nAccording to a legend given by Mr. Sadasheo Jairam they trace their\norigin from Dharampal, the son of Sahasra Arjun or Arjun of the\nThousand Arms. Arjun was the greatgrandson of Ekshvaku, who was born\nin the forests of Kalinga, from the union of a mare and a snake. On\nthis account the Kasars of the Maratha country say that they all\nbelong to the Ahihaya clan (Ahi, a snake; and Haya, a mare). Arjun\nwas killed by Parasurama during the slaughter of the Kshatriyas and\nDharampal's mother escaped with three other pregnant women. According\nto another version all the four women were the wives of the king\nof the Somvansi Rajputs who stole the sacred cow Kamdhenu. Their\nfour sons on growing up wished to avenge their father and prayed to\nthe Goddess Kali for weapons. But unfortunately in their prayer,\ninstead of saying ban, arrow, they said van, which means pot, and\nhence brass pots were given to them instead of arrows. They set\nout to sell the pots, but got involved in a quarrel with a Raja,\nwho killed three of them, but was defeated by the fourth, to whom\nhe afterwards gave his daughter and half his kingdom; and this hero\nbecame the ancestor of the Kasars. In some localities the Kasars say\nthat Dharampal, the Rajput founder of their caste, was the ancestor\nof the Haihaya Rajput kings of Ratanpur; and it is noticeable that\nthe Thatheras of the United Provinces state that their original home\nwas a place called Ratanpur, in the Deccan. [390] Both Ratanpur and\nMandla, which are very old towns, have important brass and bell-metal\nindustries, their bell-metal wares being especially well known on\naccount of the brilliant polish which is imparted to them. And the\nstory of the Kasars may well indicate, as suggested by Mr. Hira Lal,\nthat Ratanpur was a very early centre of the brass-working industry,\nfrom which it has spread to other localities in this part of India.\n\n\n\n\n2. Internal structure.\n\nThe caste have a number of subdivisions, mainly of a territorial\nnature. Among these are the Maratha Kasars; the Deshkar, who also\nbelong to the Maratha country; the Pardeshi or foreigners, the\nJhade or residents of the forest country of the Central Provinces,\nand the Audhia or Ajudhiabasi who are immigrants from Oudh. Another\nsubdivision, the Bharewas, are of a distinctly lower status than the\nbody of the caste, and have non-Aryan customs, such as the eating of\npork. They make the heavy brass ornaments which the Gonds and other\ntribes wear on their legs, and are probably an occupational offshoot\nfrom one of these tribes. In Chanda some of the Bharewas serve as\ngrooms and are looked down upon by the others. They have totemistic\nsepts, named after animals and plants, some of which are Gond words;\nand among them the bride goes to the bridegroom's house to be married,\nwhich is a Gond custom. The Bharewas may more properly be considered as\na separate caste of lower status. As previously stated, the Maratha and\nDeshkar subcastes of the Maratha country no longer make vessels, but\nonly keep them for sale. One subcaste, the Otaris, make vessels from\nmoulds, while the remainder cut and hammer into shape the imported\nsheets of brass. Lastly comes a group comprising those members of\nthe caste who are of doubtful or illegitimate descent, and these are\nknown either as Takle ('Thrown out' in Marathi), Bidur, 'Bastard,'\nor Laondi Bachcha, 'Issue of a kept wife.' In the Maratha country the\nKasars, as already seen, say that they all belong to one gotra, the\nAhihaya. They have, however, collections of families distinguished by\ndifferent surnames, and persons having the same surname are forbidden\nto marry. In the northern Districts they have the usual collection\nof exogamous septs, usually named after villages.\n\n\n\n\n3. Social customs.\n\nThe marriages of first cousins are generally forbidden, as well as\nof members of the same sept. Divorce and the remarriage of widows\nare permitted. Devi or Bhawani is the principal deity of the caste,\nas of so many Hindus. At her festival of Mando Amawas or the day\nof the new moon of Phagun (February), every Kasar must return to\nthe community of which he is a member and celebrate the feast with\nthem. And in default of this he will be expelled from caste until the\nnext Amawas of Phagun comes round. They close their shops and worship\nthe implements of their trade on this day and also on the Pola day. The\nKasars, as already stated, rank next to the Sunars among the artisan\ncastes, and the Audhia Sunars, who make ornaments of bell-metal, form\na connecting link between the two groups. The social status of the\nKasars varies in different localities. In some places Brahmans take\nwater from them but not in others. Some Kasars now invest boys with the\nsacred thread at their weddings, and thereafter it is regularly worn.\n\n\n\n\n4. Occupation.\n\nThe caste make eating and drinking vessels, ornaments and ornamental\nfigures from brass, copper and bell-metal. Brass is the metal most in\nfavour for utensils, and it is usually imported in sheets from Bombay,\nbut in places it is manufactured from a mixture of three parts of\ncopper and two of zinc. This is considered the best brass, though\nit is not so hard as the inferior kinds, in which the proportion of\nzinc is increased. Ornaments of a grey colour, intended to resemble\nsilver, are made from a mixture of four parts of copper with five of\nzinc. Bell-metal is an alloy of copper and tin, and in Chanda is made\nof four parts of copper to one part tin or tinfoil, the tin being the\nmore expensive metal. Bells of fairly good size and excellent tone\nare moulded from this amalgam, and plates or saucers in which anything\nacid in the way of food is to be kept are also made of it, since acids\ndo not corrode this metal as they do brass and copper. But bell-metal\nvessels are fragile and sometimes break when dropped. They cannot also\nbe heated in the fire to clean them, and therefore cannot be lent to\npersons outside the family; while brass vessels may be lent to friends\nof other castes, and on being received back pollution is removed by\nheating them in the fire or placing hot ashes in them. Brahmans make\na small fire of grass for this purpose and pass the vessels through\nthe flame. Copper cooking-pots are commonly used by Muhammadans\nbut not by Hindus, as they have to be coated with tin; the Hindus\nconsider that tin is an inferior metal whose application to copper\ndegrades the latter. Pots made of brass with a copper rim are called\n'Ganga Jamni' after the confluence of the dark water of the Jumna\nwith the muddy stream of the Ganges, whose union they are supposed\nto symbolise. Small figures of the deities or idols are also made of\nbrass, but some Kasars will not attempt this work, because they are\nafraid of the displeasure of the god in case the figure should not\nbe well or symmetrically shaped.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKASBI\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice.\n 2. Girls dedicated to temples.\n 3. Music and dancing.\n 4. Education of courtesans.\n 5. Caste customs.\n 6. First pregnancy.\n 7. Different classes of women.\n 8. Dancing and singing.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nKasbi, [391] Tawaif, Devadasi.--The caste of dancing-girls and\nprostitutes. The name Kasbi is derived from the Arabic kasab,\nprostitution, and signifies rather a profession than a caste. In India\npractically all female dancers and singers are prostitutes, the Hindus\nbeing still in that stage of the development of intersexual relations\nwhen it is considered impossible that a woman should perform before the\npublic and yet retain her modesty. It is not so long that this idea\nhas been abandoned by Western nations, and the fashion of employing\nwomen actors is perhaps not more than two or three centuries old in\nEngland. The gradual disappearance of the distinctive influence of\nsex in the public and social conduct of women is presumably a sign of\nadvancing civilisation, and is greatest in the West, the old standards\nretaining more and more vitality as we proceed Eastward. Among the\nAnglo-Saxon races women are almost entirely emancipated from any\nhandicap due to their sex, and direct their lives with the same\nfreedom and independence as men. Among the Latin races many people\nstill object to girls walking out alone in towns, and in Italy the\nnumber of women to be seen in the streets is so small that it must\nbe considered improper for a young and respectable woman to go about\nalone. Here also survives the mariage de convenance or arrangement\nof matches by the parents; the underlying reason for this custom,\nwhich also partly accounts for the institution of infant-marriage,\nappears to be that it is not considered safe to permit a young girl\nto frequent the society of unmarried men with sufficient freedom to\nbe able to make her own choice. And, finally, on arrival in Egypt\nand Turkey we find the seclusion of women still practised, and only\nnow beginning to weaken before the influence of Western ideas. But\nagain in the lowest scale of civilisation, among the Gonds and other\nprimitive tribes, women are found to enjoy great freedom of social\nintercourse. This is partly no doubt because their lives are too hard\nand rude to permit of any seclusion of women, but also partly because\nthey do not yet consider it an obligatory feature of the institution of\nmarriage that a girl should enter upon it in the condition of a virgin.\n\n\n\n\n2. Girls dedicated to temples.\n\nIn the Deccan girls dedicated to temples are called Devadasis or\n'Hand-maidens of the gods.' They are thus described by Marco Polo:\n\"In this country,\" he says, \"there are certain abbeys in which are\ngods and goddesses, and here fathers and mothers often consecrate\ntheir daughters to the service of the deity. When the priests desire\nto feast their god they send for those damsels, who serve the god with\nmeats and other goods, and then sing and dance before him for about as\nlong as a great baron would be eating his dinner. Then they say that\nthe god has devoured the essence of the food, and fall to and eat it\nthemselves.\" [392] Mr. Francis writes of the Devadasis as follows:1\n\"It is one of the many inconsistences of the Hindu religion that\nthough their profession is repeatedly and vehemently condemned by the\nShastras it has always received the countenance of the church. The rise\nof the caste and its euphemistic name seem both of them to date from\nthe ninth and tenth centuries of our era, during which much activity\nprevailed in southern India in the matter of building temples and\nelaborating the services held in them. The dancing-girls' duties\nthen as now were to fan the idol with chamaras or Thibetan ox-tails,\nto hold the sacred light called Kumbarti and to sing and dance before\nthe god when he was carried in procession. Inscriptions show that in\nA.D. 1004 the great temple of the Chola king Rajaraja at Tanjore had\nattached to it 400 women of the temple who lived in free quarters\nin the surrounding streets, and were given a grant of land from the\nendowment. Other temples had similar arrangements. At the beginning\nof last century there were a hundred dancing-girls attached to the\ntemple at Conjeeveram, and at Madura, Conjeeveram and Tanjore there\nare still numbers of them who receive allowances from the endowments\nof the big temples at those places. In former days the profession was\ncountenanced not only by the church but by the state. Abdur Razak,\na Turkish ambassador to the court of Vijayanagar in the fifteenth\ncentury, describes women of this class as living in state-controlled\ninstitutions, the revenue of which went towards the upkeep of the\npolice.\"\n\nThe dedication of girls to temples and religious prostitution was\nby no means confined to India but is a common feature of ancient\ncivilisation. The subject has been mentioned by Dr. Westermarck in The\nOrigin and Development of the Moral Ideas, and fully discussed by Sir\nJames Frazer in Attis, Adonis, Osiris. The best known and most peculiar\ninstance is that of the temple of Istar in Babylonia. \"Herodotus says\nthat every woman born in that country was obliged once in her life to\ngo and sit down in the precinct of Aphrodite and there consort with a\nstranger. A woman who had once taken her seat was not allowed to return\nhome till one of the strangers threw a silver coin into her lap and\ntook her with him beyond the holy ground. The silver coin could not\nbe refused because, since once thrown, it was sacred. The woman went\nwith the first man who threw her money, rejecting no one. When she\nhad gone with him and so satisfied the goddess, she returned home,\nand from that time forth no gift, however great, would prevail with\nher. In the Canaanitish cults there were women called kedeshoth, who\nwere consecrated to the deity with whose temple they were associated,\nand who at the same time acted as prostitutes.\" [393] Other instances\nare given from Africa, Egypt and ancient Greece. The principal\nexplanation of these practices was that the act of intercourse,\naccording to the principle of sympathetic magic, produced fertility,\nusually of the crops, though in the Babylonian case, Dr. Westermarck\nthinks, of the woman herself. Several instances have been recorded of\npeople who perform the sexual act as a preliminary or accompaniment\nto sowing the crops, [394] and there seems little doubt that this\nexplanation is correct. A secondary idea of religious prostitution may\nhave been to afford to the god the same sexual pleasures as delighted\nan earthly king. Thus the Skanda Purana relates that Kartikeya, the\nHindu god of war, was sent by his father to frustrate the sacrifice of\nDaksha, and at the instigation of the latter was delayed on his way\nby beautiful damsels, who entertained him with song and dance. Hence\nit is the practice still for dancing-girls who serve in the pagodas\nto be betrothed and married to him, after which they may prostitute\nthemselves but cannot marry a man. [395] Similarly the Murlis or\ndancing-girls in Maratha temples are married to Khandoba, the Maratha\ngod of war. Sometimes the practice of prostitution might begin by the\npriests of the temple as representatives of the god having intercourse\nwith the women. This is stated to have been the custom at the temple\nof Jagannath in Orissa, where the officiating Brahmans had adulterous\nconnection with the women who danced and sang before the god. [396]\n\n\n\n\n3. Music and dancing.\n\nBoth music and dancing, like others of the arts, probably originated\nas part of a religious or magical service or ritual, and hence would\ncome to be practised by the women attached to temples. And it would\nsoon be realised what potent attractions these arts possessed when\ndisplayed by women, and in course of time they would be valued as\naccomplishments in themselves, and either acquired independently by\nother courtesans or divorced from a sole application to religious\nritual. In this manner music, singing and dancing may have grown to\nbe considered as the regular attractions of the courtesan and hence\nimmoral in themselves, and not suitable for display by respectable\nwomen. The Emperor Shah Jahan is said to have delighted in the\nperformances of the Tawaif or Muhammadan singing and dancing girls,\nwho at that time lived in bands and occupied mansions as large as\npalaces. [397] Aurangzeb ordered them all to be married or banished\nfrom his dominions, but they did not submit without a protest; and\none morning as the Emperor was going to the mosque he saw a vast crowd\nof mourners marching in file behind a bier, and filling the air with\nscreams and lamentations. He asked what it meant, and was told that\nthey were going to bury Music; their mother had been executed, and\nthey were weeping over her loss. 'Bury her deep,' the Emperor cried,\n'she must never rise again.'\n\n\n\n\n4. Education of courtesans.\n\nThe possession of these attractions naturally gave the courtesan an\nadvantage over ordinary women who lacked them, and her society was\nmuch sought after, as shown in the following description of a native\ncourt: [398] \"Nor is the courtesan excluded, she of the smart saying,\nfamed for the much-valued cleverness which is gained in 'the world,'\nwho when the learned fail is ever ready to cut the Gordian knot of\nsolemn question with the sharp blade of her repartee, for--The sight\nof foreign lands; the possession of a Pandit for a friend; a courtesan;\naccess to the royal court; patient study of the Shastras; the roots of\ncleverness are these five.\" Mr. Crooke also remarks on the tolerance\nextended to this class of women: \"The curious point about Indian\nprostitutes is the tolerance with which they are received into even\nrespectable houses, and the absence of that strong social disfavour\nin which this class is held in European countries. This feeling has\nprevailed for a lengthened period. We read in the Buddhist histories of\nAmbapata, the famous courtesan, and the price of her favours fixed at\ntwo thousand masurans. The same feeling appears in the folk-tales and\nearly records of Indian courts.\" [399] It may be remarked, however,\nthat the social ostracism of such women has not always been the\nrule in Europe, while as regards conjugal morality Indian society\nwould probably appear to great advantage beside that of Europe in the\nMiddle Ages. But when the courtesan is alone possessed of the feminine\naccomplishments, and also sees much of society and can converse with\npoint and intelligence on public affairs, her company must necessarily\nbe more attractive than that of the women of the family, secluded and\nuneducated, and able to talk about nothing but the petty details of\nhousehold management. Education so far as women were concerned was\nto a large extent confined to courtesans, who were taught all the\nfeminine attainments on account of the large return to be obtained\nin the practice of their profession. This is well brought out in the\nfollowing passage from a Hindu work in which the mother speaks: [400]\n\"Worthy Sir, this daughter of mine would make it appear that I am to\nblame, but indeed I have done my duty, and have carefully prepared her\nfor that profession for which by birth she was intended. From earliest\nchildhood I have bestowed the greatest care upon her, doing everything\nin my power to promote her health and beauty. As soon as she was old\nenough I had her carefully instructed in the arts of dancing, acting,\nplaying on musical instruments, singing, painting, preparing perfumes\nand flowers, in writing and conversation, and even to some extent in\ngrammar, logic and philosophy. She was taught to play various games\nwith skill and dexterity, how to dress well and show herself off to\nthe greatest advantage in public; yet after all the time, trouble and\nmoney which I have spent upon her, just when I was beginning to reap\nthe fruit of my labours, the ungrateful girl has fallen in love with\na stranger, a young Brahman without property, and wishes to marry him\nand give up her profession (of a prostitute), notwithstanding all my\nentreaties and representations of the poverty and distress to which\nall her family will be reduced if she persists in her purpose; and\nbecause I oppose this marriage, she declares that she will renounce\nthe world and become a devotee.\" Similarly the education of another\ndancing-girl is thus described: [401] \"Gauhar Jan did her duty by\nthe child according to her lights. She engaged the best 'Gawayyas'\nto teach her music, the best 'Kathaks' to teach her dancing, the\nbest 'Ustads' to teach her elocution and deportment, and the best of\nMunshis to ground her in Urdu and Persian belles lettres; so that\nwhen Imtiazan reached her fifteenth year her accomplishments were\nnoised abroad in the bazar.\" It is still said to be the custom for the\nHindus in large towns, as among the Greeks of the time of Pericles,\nto frequent the society of courtesans for the charm of their witty\nand pointed conversation. Betel-nut is provided at such receptions,\nand at the time of departure each person is expected to deposit a\nrupee in the tray. Of course it is in no way meant to assert that\nthe custom is at all generally prevalent among educated men, as this\nwould be quite untrue.\n\nThe association of all feminine charms and intellectual attainments\nwith public women led to the belief that they were incompatible with\nfeminine modesty; and this was even extended to certain ornamental\narticles of clothing such as shoes. The Abb\u00e9 Dubois remarks: [402]\n\"The courtesans are the only women in India who enjoy the privilege\nof learning to read, to dance and to sing. A well-bred respectable\nwoman would for this reason blush to acquire any one of these\naccomplishments.\" Buchanan says: [403] \"The higher classes of Hindu\nwomen consider every approach to wearing shoes as quite indecent; so\nthat their use is confined to Muhammadans, camp trulls and Europeans,\nand most of the Muhammadans have adopted the Hindu notion on this\nsubject; women of low rank wear sandals.\" And again: [404] \"A woman who\nappears clean in public on ordinary occasions may pretty confidently\nbe taken for a prostitute; such care of her person would indeed be\nconsidered by her husband as totally incompatible with modesty.\" And\nas regards accomplishments: [405] \"It is considered very disgraceful\nfor a modest woman to sing or play on any musical instrument; the only\ntime when such a practice is permitted is among the Muhammadans at\nthe Muharram, when women are allowed to join in the praises of Fatima\nand her son.\" And a current saying is: \"A woman who sings in the house\nas she goes about her work and one who is fond of music can never be\na Sati\"; a term which is here used as an equivalent for a virtuous\nwoman. Buchanan wrote a hundred years ago, and things have no doubt\nimproved since his time, but this feeling appears to be principally\nresponsible for much of the prejudice against female education,\nwhich has hitherto been so strong even among the literate classes\nof Hindus; and is only now beginning to break down as the highly\ncultivated young men of the present day have learned to appreciate\nand demand a greater measure of intelligence from their wives.\n\n\n\n\n5. Caste customs.\n\nAmong the better class of Kasbis a certain caste feeling and\norganisation exists. When a girl attains adolescence her mother makes\na bargain with some rich man to be her first consort. Oil and turmeric\nare rubbed on her body for five days as in the case of a bride. A\nfeast is given to the caste and the girl is married to a dagger,\nwalking seven times round the sacred post with it. Her human consort\nthen marks her forehead with vermilion and covers her head with her\nhead-cloth seven times. In the evening she goes to live with him\nfor as long as he likes to maintain her, and afterwards takes up\nthe practice of her profession. In this case it is necessary that\nthe man should be an outsider and not a member of the Kasbi caste,\nbecause the quasi-marriage is the formal commencement on the part of\nthe woman of her hereditary trade. As already seen, the feeling of\nshame and degradation attaching to this profession in Europe appears\nto be somewhat attenuated in India, and it is counterbalanced by\nthat acquiescence in and attachment to the caste-calling which is\nthe principal feature of Hindu society. And no doubt the life of\nthe dancing-girl has, at any rate during youth, its attractions\nas compared with that of a respectable married woman. Tavernier\ntells the story [406] of a Shah of Persia who, desiring to punish a\ndancing-girl for having boxed the ears of one of her companions within\nhis hearing (it being clearly not the effect of the operation on the\npatient which annoyed his majesty) made an order that she should be\nmarried. And a more curious instance still is the following from\na recent review: [407] \"The natives of India are by instinct and\ncustom the most conservative race in the world. When I was stationed\nat Aurangabad--fifty years ago it is true, but that is but a week\nin regard to this question--a case occurred within my own knowledge\nwhich shows the strength of hereditary feeling. An elderly wealthy\nnative adopted two baby girls, whose mother and family had died\nduring a local famine. The children grew up with his own girls and\nwere in all respects satisfactory, and apparently quite happy until\nthey arrived at the usual age for marriage. They then asked to see\ntheir papa by adoption, and said to him, 'We are very grateful to\nyou for your care of us, but we are now grown up. We are told our\nmother was a Kasbi (prostitute), and we must insist on our rights,\ngo out into the world, and do as our mother did.'\"\n\n\n\n\n6. First pregnancy.\n\nIn the fifth or seventh month of the first pregnancy of a Kasbi woman\n108 fried wafers of flour and sugar, known as gujahs, are prepared,\nand are eaten by her as well as distributed to friends and relatives\nwho are invited to the house. After this they in return prepare\nsimilar wafers and send them to the pregnant woman. Some little time\nbefore the birth the mother washes her head with gram flour, puts\non new clothes and jewels, and invites all her friends to the house,\nfeasting them with rice boiled in milk, cakes and sweetmeats.\n\n\n\n\n7. Different classes of women.\n\nThough the better-class Kasbis appear to have a sort of caste union,\nthis is naturally quite indefinite, inasmuch as marriage, at present\nthe essential bond of caste-organisation, is absent. The sons of\nKasbis take up any profession that they choose; and many of them\nmarry and live respectably with their wives. Others become musicians\nand assist at the performances of the dancing-girls, as the Bhadua\nwho beats the cymbals and sings in chorus and also acts as a pimp,\nand the Sarangia, one who performs on the sarangi or fiddle. The\ngirls themselves are of different classes, as the Kasbi or Gayan who\nare Hindus, the Tawaif who are Muhammadans, and the Bogam or Telugu\ndancing-girls. Gond women are known as Deogarhni, and are supposed\nto have come from Deogarh in Chhindwara, formerly the headquarters\nof a Gond dynasty. The Sarangias or fiddlers are now a separate\ncaste. In the northern Districts the dancing-girls are usually women\nof the Beria caste and are known as Berni. After the spring harvest\nthe village headman hires one or two of these girls, who dance and\ndo acrobatic feats by torchlight. They will continue all through the\nnight, stimulated by draughts of liquor, and it is said that one woman\nwill drink two or three bottles of the country spirit. The young men of\nthe village beat the drum to accompany her dancing, and take turns to\nsee how long they can go on doing so without breaking down. After the\nperformance each cultivator gives the woman one or two pice (farthings)\nand the headman gives her a rupee. Such a celebration is known as Rai,\nand is distinctive of Bundelkhand.\n\nIn Bengal this class of women often become religious mendicants and\njoin the Vaishnava or Bairagi community, as stated by Sir H. Risley:\n[408] \"The mendicant members of the Vaishnava community are of evil\nrepute, their ranks being recruited by those who have no relatives, by\nwidows, by individuals too idle or depraved to lead a steady working\nlife, and by prostitutes. Vaishnavi, or Baishtabi according to the\nvulgar pronunciation, has come to mean a courtesan. A few undoubtedly\njoin from sincere and worthy motives, but their numbers are too\nsmall to produce any appreciable effect on the behaviour of their\ncomrades. The habits of these beggars are very unsettled. They wander\nfrom village to village and from one akhara (monastery) to another,\nfleecing the frugal and industrious peasantry on the plea of religion,\nand singing songs in praise of Hari beneath the village tree or\nshrine. Members of both sexes smoke Indian hemp (ganja), and although\nliving as brothers and sisters are notorious for licentiousness. There\nis every reason for suspecting that infanticide is common, as children\nare never seen. In the course of their wanderings they entice away\nunmarried girls, widows, and even married women on the pretence of\nvisiting Sri Kshetra (Jagannath) Brindaban or Benares, for which\nreason they are shunned by all respectable natives, who gladly give\ncharity to be rid of them.\"\n\nIn large towns prostitutes belong to all castes. An old list obtained\nby Rai Bahadur Hira Lal of registered prostitutes in Jubbulpore showed\nthe following numbers of different castes: Barai six, Dhimar four,\nand Nai, Khangar, Kachhi, Gond, Teli, Brahman, Rajput and Bania three\neach. Each woman usually has one or two girls in training if she\ncan obtain them, with a view to support herself by their earnings\nin the same method of livelihood when her own attractions have\nwaned. Fatherless and orphan girls run a risk of falling into this\nmode of life, partly because their marriages cannot conveniently be\narranged, and also from the absence of strict paternal supervision. For\nit is to be feared that a girl who is allowed to run about at her will\nin the bazar has little chance of retaining her chastity even up to\nthe period of her arrival at adolescence. This is no doubt one of the\nprincipal considerations in favour of early marriage. The caste-people\noften subscribe for the marriage of a girl who is left without support,\nand it is said that in former times an unmarried orphan girl might\ngo and sit dharna, or starving herself, at the king's gate until he\narranged for her wedding. Formerly the practice of obtaining young\ngirls was carried on to a much greater extent than at present. Malcolm\nremarks: [409] \"Slavery in Malwa and the adjoining provinces is chiefly\nlimited to females; but there is perhaps no part of India where there\nare so many slaves of this sex. The dancing-girls are all purchased,\nwhen young, by the Nakins or heads of the different sets or companies,\nwho often lay out large sums in these speculations, obtaining advances\nfrom the bankers on interest like other classes.\" But the attractions\nof the profession and the numbers of those who engage in it have now\nlargely declined.\n\n\n\n\n8. Dancing and singing.\n\nThe better class of Kasbi women, when seen in public, are conspicuous\nby their wealth of jewellery and their shoes of patent leather or\nother good material. Women of other castes do not commonly wear shoes\nin the streets. The Kasbis are always well and completely clothed,\nand it has been noticed elsewhere that the Indian courtesan is more\nmodestly dressed than most women. No doubt in this matter she knows\nher business. A well-to-do dancing-girl has a dress of coloured\nmuslin or gauze trimmed with tinsel lace, with a short waist, long\nstraight sleeves, and skirts which reach a little below the knee, a\nshawl falling from the head over the shoulders and wrapped round the\nbody, and a pair of tight satin trousers, reaching to the ankles. The\nfeet are bare, and strings of small bells are tied round them. They\nusually dance and sing to the accompaniment of the tabla, sarangi and\nmajira. The tabla or drum is made of two half-bowls--one brass or clay\nfor the bass, and the other of wood for the treble. They are covered\nwith goat-skin and played together. The sarangi is a fiddle. The majira\n(cymbals) consist of two metallic cups slung together and used for\nbeating time. Before a dancing-girl begins her performance she often\ninvokes the aid of Saraswati, the goddess of music. She then pulls her\near as a sign of remembrance of Tansen, India's greatest musician,\nand a confession to his spirit of the imperfection of her own sense\nof music. The movements of the feet are accompanied by a continual\nopening and closing of henna-dyed hands; and at intervals the girl\nkneels at the feet of one or other of the audience. On the festival\nof Basant Panchmi or the commencement of spring these girls worship\ntheir dancing-dress and musical instruments with offerings of rice,\nflowers and a cocoanut.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKatia\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nKatia, Katwa, Katua.--An occupational caste of cotton-spinners and\nvillage watchmen belonging to the Satpura Districts and the Nerbudda\nvalley. In 1911 they numbered 41,000 persons and were returned mainly\nfrom the Hoshangabad, Seoni and Chhindwara Districts. The caste is\nalmost confined to the Central Provinces. The name is derived from\nthe Hindi katna, to spin thread, and the Katias are an occupational\ngroup probably recruited from the Mahars and Koris. They have a\ntradition, Mr. Crooke states, [410] that they were originally Bais\nRajputs, whose ancestors, having been imprisoned for resistance\nto authority, were released on the promise that they would follow\na woman's occupation of spinning thread. In the Central Provinces\nthey are sometimes called Renhta Rajputs or Knights of the Spinning\nWheel. The tradition of Rajput descent need not of course be taken\nseriously. The drudgery of spinning thread was naturally imposed on\nany widow in the household, and hence the saying, 'It is always moving,\nlike a widow's spinning-wheel.' [411]\n\n\n\n\n2. Subcastes and exogamous groups.\n\nThe Katias have several subcastes, with names generally derived\nfrom places in the Central Provinces, as Pathari from a village in\nthe Chhindwara District, Mandilwar from Mandla, Gadhewal from Garha,\nnear Jubbulpore, and so on. The Dulbuha group consist of those who were\nformerly palanquin-bearers (from doli, a litter). They have also more\nthan fifty exogamous septs, with names of the usual low-caste type,\nderived from places, animals or plants, or natural objects. Some of the\nsepts are subdivided. Thus the Nagotia sept, named after the cobra, is\nsplit up into the Nagotia, Dirat [412] Nag, Bharowar [413] Nag, Kosam\nKaria and Hazari [414] Nag groups. It is said that the different groups\ndo not intermarry; but it is probable that they do, as otherwise there\nseems to be no object in the subdivision. The Kosam Karias worship a\ncobra at their weddings, but not the others. The Singhotia sept, from\nsingh, a horn, is divided into the Bakaria (goat) and Ghagar-bharia\n(one who fills an earthen vessel) subsepts. The Bakarias offer goats\nto their gods; and the Ghagar-bharias on the Akti [415] festival,\njust before the breaking of the rains, fill an earthen vessel and\nworship it, and consider it sacred for that day. Next day it is\nbrought into ordinary use. The Dongaria sept, from dongar, a hill,\nrevere the chheola tree. [416] They choose any tree of this species\noutside the village, and say that it is placed on a hill, and go and\nworship it once a year. In this case it would appear that a hill was\nfirst venerated as an animate being and the ancestor of the sept. When\nhills were no longer so regarded, a chheola tree growing on a hill\nwas substituted; and now the tree only is revered, probably a good\ndeal for form's sake, and so far as the hill is concerned, the mere\npretence that it is growing on a hill is sufficient.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage customs.\n\nA man must not take a wife from his own sept nor from that of his\nmother or grandmother. Girls are commonly married between eight\nand twelve years of age; and a customary payment of Rs. 9 is made\nto the father of the bride, double this amount being given by a\nwidower. An unmarried girl seduced by a man of the caste is united\nto him by the ceremony used for a widow, and a fine is imposed on\nher parents; if she goes wrong with an outsider she is expelled from\nthe community. In the marriage ceremony the customary ritual of the\nnorthern Districts is followed, [417] and the binding portion of it\nconsists in the bride and bridegroom walking seven times around the\nbhanwar or sacred pole. While she does this it is essential that\nthe bride should wear a string of black beads round her neck and\nbrass anklets on her feet. After the ceremony the bride's mother and\nother women dance before the company. Whether the bride be a child\nor young woman she always returns home after a stay of a few days at\nher husband's house, and at her subsequent final departure the Gauna\nor going-away ceremony is performed. If the bridegroom dies after the\nwedding and before the Gauna, his younger brother or cousin or anybody\nelse may come and take away the bride after performing this ceremony,\nand she will be considered as fully married to him. She is known\nas a Gonhyai wife, as distinguished from a Byahta or one married in\nthe ordinary manner, and a Karta or widow married a second time. But\nthe children of all three inherit equally. A widow may marry again,\nand take any one she pleases for her second husband. Widow-marriages\nmust not be celebrated in the rainy months of Shrawan, Bhadon and\nKunwar. No music is allowed at them, and the husband must present\na fee of a rupee and a cocoanut to the malguzar (proprietor) of the\nvillage and four annas to the kotwar or watchman. A bachelor who is\nto marry a widow first goes through a formal ceremony with a cotton\nplant. Divorce is permitted for mutual disagreement. The couple stand\nbefore the caste committee and each takes a stick, breaks it in two\nhalves, and throws them apart, saying, \"I have no further connection\nwith my husband (or wife), and I break my marriage with him (or her)\nas I break this stick.\"\n\n\n\n\n4. Funeral rites.\n\nThe dead may be either buried or burnt, as convenient, and mourning\nis always observed for three days. Before the corpse is removed\na new earthen pot filled with rice is placed on the bier. The\nchief mourner raises it, and addressing the deceased informs him\nthat after a certain period he will be united to the sainted dead,\nand until that day his spirit should abide happily in the pot and\nnot trouble his family. The mouth of the pot is then covered, and\nafter the funeral the mourners take it home with them. When the day\nappointed for the final ceremony has come, a miniature platform is\nmade from sticks tied together, and garlands and offerings of cakes\nare hung on to it. A small heap of rice is made on the platform,\nand just above it a clove is suspended from a thread. Songs are sung,\nand the principal relative opens the pot in which the spirit of the\ndeceased has been enclosed. The spirit is called upon to join the\nsacred company of the dead, and the party continue to sing and to\nadjure it with all their force. The thread from which the clove is\nsuspended begins to swing backwards and forwards over the rice; and\na pig and two or three chickens are crushed to death as offerings to\nthe soul of the deceased. Finally the clove touches the rice, and it\nis believed that the spirit of the dead man has departed to join the\nsainted dead. The Katias consider that after this he requires nothing\nmore from the living, and so they do not make the annual offerings\nto the souls of the departed.\n\n\n\n\n5. Social rules.\n\nThe caste sometimes employ a Brahman for the marriage ceremony;\nbut generally his services are limited to fixing an auspicious\ndate, and the functions of a priest are undertaken by members\nof the family. They invite a Brahman to give a name to a boy,\nand call him by this name. They think that if they changed the\nname they would not be able to get a wife for the child. They will\neat any kind of flesh, including pork and fowls, but they are not\nconsidered to be impure. They are generally illiterate, and dirty\nin appearance. Unmarried girls wear glass bangles on both hands, but\nmarried women wear metal bracelets on the right hand and glass on the\nleft. Girls are twice tattooed: first in childhood, and a second time\nafter marriage. The proper avocations of the Katias were the spinning\nof cotton thread and the weaving of the finer kinds of cloth; but\nmost of them have had to abandon their ancestral calling from want of\ncustom, and they are now either village watchmen or cultivators and\nlabourers. A few of them own villages. The Katias think themselves\nrather knowing; but this opinion is not shared by their neighbours,\nwho say ironically of them, \"A Katia is eight times as wise as an\nordinary man, and a Kayasth thirteen times. Any one who pretends to\nbe wiser than these must be an idiot.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKAWAR [418]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Tribal legend.\n 2. Tribal subdivisions.\n 3. Exogamous groups.\n 4. Betrothal and marriage.\n 5. Other customs connected with marriage.\n 6. Childbirth.\n 7. Disposal of the dead.\n 8. Laying spirits.\n 9. Religion.\n 10. Magic and witchcraft.\n 11. Dress.\n 12. Occupation and social rules.\n\n\n\n\n1. Tribal legend.\n\nKawar, Kanwar, Kaur (honorific title, Sirdar).--A primitive tribe\nliving in the hills of the Chhattisgarh Districts north of the\nMahanadi. The hill-country comprised in the northern zamindari estates\nof Bilaspur and the adjoining Feudatory States of Jashpur, Udaipur,\nSarguja, Chang Bhakar and Korea is the home of the Kawars, and is\nsometimes known after them as the Kamran. Eight of the Bilaspur\nzamindars are of the Kawar tribe. The total numbers of the tribe\nare nearly 200,000, practically all of whom belong to the Central\nProvinces. In Bilaspur the name is always pronounced with a nasal\nas Kanwar. The Kawars trace their origin from the Kauravas of the\nMahabharata, who were defeated by the Pandavas at the great battle of\nHastinapur. They say that only two pregnant women survived and fled to\nthe hills of Central India, where they took refuge in the houses of\na Rawat (grazier) and a Dhobi (washerman) respectively, and the boy\nand girl children who were born to them became the ancestors of the\nKawar tribe. Consequently, the Kawars will take food from the hands\nof Rawats, especially those of the Kauria subcaste, who are in all\nprobability descended from Kawars. And when a Kawar is put out of\ncaste for having maggots in a wound, a Dhobi is always employed to\nreadmit him to social intercourse. These facts show that the tribe\nhave some close ancestral connection with the Rawats and Dhobis,\nthough the legend of descent from the Kauravas is, of course, a myth\nbased on the similarity of the names. The tribe have lost their own\nlanguage, if they ever had one, and now speak a corrupt form of the\nChhattisgarhi dialect of Hindi. It is probable that they belong to\nthe Dravidian tribal family.\n\n\n\n\n2. Tribal subdivisions.\n\nThe Kawars have the following eight endogamous divisions: Tanwar,\nKamalbansi, Paikara, Dudh-Kawar, Rathia, Chanti, Cherwa and Rautia. The\nTanwar group, also known as Umrao, is that to which the zamindars\nbelong, and they now claim to be Tomara Rajputs, and wear the sacred\nthread. They prohibit widow-remarriage, and do not eat fowls or drink\nliquor; but they have not yet induced Brahmans to take water from\nthem or Rajputs to accept their daughters in marriage. The name\nTanwar is not improbably simply a corruption of Kawar, and they\nare also altering their sept names to make them resemble those of\neponymous Brahmanical gotras. Thus Dhangur, the name of a sept, has\nbeen altered to Dhananjaya, and Sarvaria to Sandilya. Telasi is the\nname of a sept to which four zamindars belong, and is on this account\nsometimes returned as their caste by other Kawars, who consider it as\na distinction. The zamindari families have now, however, changed the\nname Telasi to Kairava. The Paikaras are the most numerous subtribe,\nbeing three-fifths of the total. They derive their name from Paik,\na foot-soldier, and formerly followed this occupation, being employed\nin the armies of the Haihaivansi Rajas of Ratanpur. They still worship\na two-edged sword, known as the Jhagra Khand, or 'Sword of Strife,'\non the day of Dasahra. The Kamalbansi, or 'Stock of the Lotus,'\nmay be so called as being the oldest subdivision; for the lotus is\nsometimes considered the root of all things, on account of the belief\nthat Brahma, the creator of the world, was himself born from this\nflower. In Bilaspur the Kamalbansis are considered to rank next after\nthe Tanwars or zamindars' group. Colonel Dalton states that the term\nDudh or 'Milk' Kawar has the signification of 'Cream of the Kawars,'\nand he considered this subcaste to be the highest. The Rathias are a\nterritorial group, being immigrants from Rath, a wild tract of the\nRaigarh State. The Rautias are probably the descendants of Kawar\nfathers and mothers of the Rawat (herdsman) caste. The traditional\nconnection of the Kawars with a Rawat has already been mentioned,\nand even now if a Kawar marries a Rawat girl she will be admitted\ninto the tribe, and the children will become full Kawars. Similarly,\nthe Rawats have a Kauria subcaste, who are also probably the offspring\nof mixed marriages; and if a Kawar girl is seduced by a Kauria Rawat,\nshe is not expelled from the tribe, as she would be for a liaison\nwith any other man who was not a Kawar. This connection is no doubt\ndue to the fact that until recently the Kawars and Rawats, who are\nthemselves a very mixed caste, were accustomed to intermarry. At the\ncensus persons returned as Rautia were included in the Kol tribe, which\nhas a subdivision of that name. But Mr. Hira Lal's inquiries establish\nthe fact that in Chhattisgarh they are undoubtedly Kawars. The Cherwas\nare probably another hybrid group descended from connections formed by\nKawars with girls of the Chero tribe of Chota Nagpur. The Chanti, who\nderive their name from the ant, are considered to be the lowest group,\nas that insect is the most insignificant of living things. Of the above\nsubcastes the Tanwars are naturally the highest, while the Chanti,\nCherwa and Rautia, who keep pigs, are considered as the lowest. The\nothers occupy an intermediate position. None of the subcastes will eat\ntogether, except at the houses of their zamindars, from whom they will\nall take food. But the Kawars of the Chhuri estate no longer attend the\nfeasts of their zamindar, for the following curious reason. One of the\nlatter's village thekadars or farmers had got the hide taken off a dead\nbuffalo so as to keep it for his own use, instead of making the body\nover to a Chamar (tanner). The caste-fellows saw no harm in this act,\nbut it offended the zamindar's more orthodox Hindu conscience. Soon\nafterwards, at some marriage-feast of his family, when the Kawars\nof his zamindari attended in accordance with the usual custom, he\nremarked, 'Here come our Chamars,' or words to that effect. The Chhuri\nKawars were insulted, and the more so because the Pendra zamindar and\nother outsiders were present. So they declined to take food any longer\nfrom their zamindar. They continued to accept it, however, from the\nother zamindars, until their master of Chhuri represented to them\nthat this would result in a slur being put upon his standing among\nhis fellows. So they have now given up taking food from any zamindar.\n\n\n\n\n3. Exogamous groups.\n\nThe tribe have a large number of exogamous septs, which are generally\ntotemistic or named after plants and animals. The names of 117 septs\nhave been recorded, and there are probably even more. The following\nlist gives a selection of the names:\n\n\n Andil Born from an egg.\n Bagh Tiger.\n Bichhi Scorpion.\n Bilwa Wild cat.\n Bokra Goat.\n Chandrama Moon.\n Chanwar A whisk.\n Chita Leopard.\n Chuva A well.\n Champa A sweet-scented flower.\n Dhenki A pounding-lever.\n Darpan A mirror.\n Gobira A dung insect.\n Hundar A wolf.\n Janta Grinding-mill.\n Kothi A store-house.\n Khumari A leaf-umbrella.\n Lodha A wild dog.\n Mama Maternal uncle.\n Mahadeo The deity.\n Nunmutaria A packet of salt.\n Sendur Vermilion.\n Sua A parrot.\n Telasi Oily.\n Thath Murra Pressed in a sugarcane press.\n\n\nGenerally it may be said that every common animal or bird and even\narticles of food or dress and household implements have given their\nnames to a sept. In the Paikara subcaste a figure of the plant or\nanimal after which the sept is named is made by each party at the time\nof marriage. Thus a bridegroom of the Bagh or tiger sept prepares a\nsmall image of a tiger with flour and bakes it in oil; this he shows\nto the bride's family to represent, as it were, his pedigree, or prove\nhis legitimacy; while she on her part, assuming that she is, say,\nof the Bilwa or cat sept, will bring a similar image of a cat with\nher in proof of her origin. The Andil sept make a representation\nof a hen sitting on eggs. They do not worship the totem animal\nor plant, but when they learn of the death of one of the species,\nthey throw away an earthen cooking-pot as a sign of mourning. They\ngenerally think themselves descended from the totem animal or plant,\nbut when the sept is called after some inanimate object, such as a\ngrinding-mill or pounding-lever, they repudiate the idea of descent\nfrom it, and are at a loss to account for the origin of the name. Those\nwhose septs are named after plants or animals usually abstain from\ninjuring or cutting them, but where this rule would cause too much\ninconvenience it is transgressed: thus the members of the Karsayal\nor deer sept find it too hard for them to abjure the flesh of that\nanimal, nor can those of the Bokra sept abstain from eating goats. In\nsome cases new septs have been formed by a conjunction of the names\nof two others, as Bagh-Daharia, Gauriya-Sonwani, and so on. These\nmay possibly be analogous to the use of double names in English,\na family of one sept when it has contracted a marriage with another\nof better position adding the latter's name to its own as a slight\ndistinction. But it may also simply arise from the constant tendency\nto increase the number of septs in order to remove difficulties from\nthe arrangement of matches.\n\n\n\n\n4. Betrothal and marriage.\n\nMarriage within the same sept is prohibited and also between the\nchildren of brothers and sisters. A man may not marry his wife's elder\nsister but he can take her younger one in her lifetime. Marriage is\nusually adult and, contrary to the Hindu rule, the proposal for a\nmatch always comes from the boy's father, as a man would think it\nundignified to try and find a husband for his daughter. The Kawar\nsays, 'Shall my daughter leap over the wall to get a husband.' In\nconsequence of this girls not infrequently remain unmarried until a\ncomparatively late age, especially in the zamindari families where\nthe provision of a husband of suitable rank may be difficult. Having\nselected a bride for his son the boy's father sends some friends to\nher village, and they address a friend of the girl's family, saying,\n\"So-and-so (giving his name and village) would like to have a cup\nof pej (boiled rice-water) from you; what do you say?\" The proposal\nis communicated to the girl's family, and if they approve of it\nthey commence preparing the rice-water, which is partaken of by the\nparties and their friends. If the bride's people do not begin cooking\nthe pej, it is understood that the proposal is rejected. The ceremony\nof betrothal comes next, when the boy's party go to the girl's house\nwith a present of bangles, clothes, and fried cakes of rice and urad\ncarried by a Kaurai Rawat. They also take with them the bride-price,\nknown as Suk, which is made up of cash, husked or unhusked rice,\npulses and oil. It is a fixed amount, but differs for each subcaste,\nand the average value is about Rs. 25. To this is added three or four\ngoats to be consumed at the wedding. If a widower marries a girl,\na larger bride-price is exacted. The wedding follows, and in many\nrespects conforms to the ordinary Hindu ritual, but Brahmans are not\nemployed. The bridegroom's party is accompanied by tomtom-players\non its way to the wedding, and as each village is approached plenty\nof noise is made, so that the residents may come out and admire the\ndresses, a great part of whose merit consists in their antiquity,\nwhile the wearer delights in recounting to any who will listen the\nhistory of his garb and of his distinguished ancestors who have worn\nit. The marriage is performed by walking round the sacred pole, six\ntimes on one day and once on the following day. After the marriage the\nbride's parents wash the feet of the couple in milk, and then drink\nit in atonement for the sin committed in bringing their daughter into\nthe world. The couple then return home to the bridegroom's house,\nwhere all the ceremonies are repeated, as it is said that otherwise\nhis courtyard would remain unmarried. On the following day the couple\ngo and bathe in a tank, where each throws five pots full of water over\nthe other. And on their return the bridegroom shoots arrows at seven\nstraw images of deer over his wife's shoulder, and after each shot\nshe puts a little sugar in his mouth. This is a common ceremony among\nthe forest tribes, and symbolises the idea that the man will support\nhimself and his wife by hunting. On the fourth day the bride returns to\nher father's house. She visits her husband for two or three months in\nthe following month of Asarh (June-July), but again goes home to play\nwhat is known as 'The game of Gauri,' Gauri being the name of Siva's\nconsort. The young men and girls of the village assemble round her in\nthe evening, and the girls sing songs while the men play on drums. An\nobscene representation of Gauri is made, and some of them pretend to\nbe possessed by the deity, while the men beat the girls with ropes\nof grass. After she has enjoyed this amusement with her mates for\nsome three months, the bride finally goes to her husband's house.\n\n\n\n\n5. Other customs connected with marriage.\n\nThe wedding expenses come to about seventy rupees on the bridegroom's\npart in an ordinary marriage, while the bride's family spend the\namount of the bride-price and a few rupees more. If the parties are\npoor the ceremony can be curtailed so far as to provide food for only\nfive guests. It is permissible for two families to effect an exchange\nof girls in lieu of payment of the bride-price, this practice being\nknown as Gunrawat. Or a prospective bridegroom may give his services\nfor three or four years instead of a price. The system of serving\nfor a wife is known as Gharjian, and is generally resorted to by\nwidows having daughters. A girl going wrong with a Kawar or with a\nKaurai Rawat before marriage may be pardoned with the exaction of a\nfeast from her parents. For a liaison with any other outsider she\nis finally expelled, and the exception of the Kaurai Rawats shows\nthat they are recognised as in reality Kawars. Widow-remarriage is\npermitted except in the Tanwar subcaste. New bangles and clothes\nare given to the widow, and the pair then stand under the eaves of\nthe house; the bridegroom touches the woman's ear or puts a rolled\nmango-leaf into it, and she becomes his wife. If a widower marries a\ngirl for his third wife it is considered unlucky for her. An earthen\nimage of a woman is therefore made, and he goes through the marriage\nceremony with it; he then throws the image to the ground so that it is\nbroken, when it is considered to be dead and its funeral ceremony is\nperformed. After this the widower may marry the girl, who becomes his\nfourth wife. Such cases are naturally very rare. If a widow marries\nher deceased husband's younger brother, which is considered the most\nsuitable match, the children by her first husband rank equally with\nthose of the second. If she marries outside the family her children\nand property remain with her first husband's relatives.\n\nDalton [419] records that the Kawars of Sarguja had adopted the\npractice of sati: \"I found that the Kawars of Sarguja encouraged\nwidows to become Satis and greatly venerated those who did so. Sati\nshrines are not uncommon in the Tributary Mahals. Between Partabpur\nand Jhilmili in Sarguja I encamped in a grove sacred to a Kauraini\nSati. Several generations have elapsed since the self-sacrifice\nthat led to her canonisation, but she is now the principal object\nof worship in the village and neighbourhood, and I was informed that\nevery year a fowl was sacrificed to her, and every third year a black\ngoat. The Hindus with me were intensely amused at the idea of offering\nfowls to a Sati!\" Polygamy is permitted, but is not common. Members\nof the Tanwar subtribe, when they have occasion to do so, will take\nthe daughters of Kawars of other groups for wives, though they will\nnot give their daughters to them. Such marriages are generally made\nclandestinely, and it has become doubtful as to whether some families\nare true Tanwars. The zamindars have therefore introduced a rule that\nno family can be recognised as a Tanwar for purposes of marriage unless\nit has a certificate to that effect signed by the zamindar. Some of\nthe zamindars charge considerable sums for these certificates, and all\ncannot afford them; but in that case they are usually unable to get\nhusbands for their daughters, who remain unwed. Divorce is permitted\nfor serious disagreement or bad conduct on the part of the wife.\n\n\n\n\n6. Childbirth.\n\nDuring childbirth the mother sits on the ground with her legs apart,\nand her back against the wall or supported by another woman. The\numbilical cord is cut by the midwife: if the parents wish the boy\nto become eloquent she buries it in the village Council-place; or if\nthey wish him to be a good trader, in the market; or if they desire\nhim to be pious, before some shrine; in the case of a girl the cord\nis usually buried in a dung-heap, which is regarded as an emblem of\nfertility. As is usual in Chhattisgarh, the mother receives no food\nor water for three days after the birth of a child. On the fifth day\nshe is given regular food and on that day the house is purified. Five\nmonths after birth the lips of the child are touched with rice and\nmilk and it is named. When twins are born a metal vessel is broken to\nsever the connection between them, as it is believed that otherwise\nthey must die at the same time. If a boy is born after three girls\nhe is called titura, and a girl after three boys, tituri. There is\na saying that 'A titura child either fills the storehouse or empties\nit'; that is, his parents either become rich or penniless. To avert\nill-luck in this case oil and salt are thrown away, and the mother\ngives one of her bangles to the midwife.\n\n\n\n\n7. Disposal of the dead.\n\nThe dead are usually buried, though well-to-do families have\nadopted cremation. The corpse is laid on its side in the grave,\nwith head to the north and face to the east. A little til, cotton,\nurad and rice are thrown on the grave to serve as seed-grain for\nthe dead man's cultivation in the other world. A dish, a drinking\nvessel and a cooking-pot are placed on the grave with the same idea,\nbut are afterwards taken away by the Dhobi (washerman). They observe\nmourning for ten days for a man, nine days for a woman, and three days\nfor children under three years old. During the period of mourning\nthe chief mourner keeps a knife beside him, so that the iron may\nward off the attacks of evil spirits, to which he is believed to be\npeculiarly exposed. The ordinary rules of abstinence and retirement\nare observed during mourning. In the case of cremation the ceremonies\nare very elaborate and generally resemble those of the Hindus. When\nthe corpse is half burnt, all the men present throw five pieces of\nwood on to the pyre, and a number of pieces are carried in a winnowing\nfan to the dead man's house, where they are touched by the women and\nthen brought back and thrown on to the fire. After the funeral the\nmourners bathe and return home walking one behind the other in Indian\nfile. When they come to a cross-road, the foremost man picks up a\npebble with his left foot, and it is passed from hand to hand down\nthe line of men until the hindmost throws it away. This is supposed\nto sever their connection with the spirit of the deceased and prevent\nit from following them home. On the third day they return to the\ncremation ground to collect the ashes and bones. A Brahman is called\nwho cooks a preparation of milk and rice at the head of the corpse,\nboils urad pulse at its feet, and bakes eight wheaten chapatis at\nthe sides. This food is placed in leaf-cups at two corners of the\nground. The mourners sprinkle cow's urine and milk over the bones,\nand picking them up with a palas (Butea frondosa) stick, wash them in\nmilk and deposit them in a new earthen pot until such time as they\ncan be carried to the Ganges. The bodies of men dying of smallpox\nmust never be burnt, because that would be equivalent to destroying\nthe goddess, incarnate in the body. The corpses of cholera patients\nare buried in order to dispose of them at once, and are sometimes\nexhumed subsequently within a period of six months and cremated. In\nsuch a case the Kawars spread a layer of unhusked rice in the grave,\nand address a prayer to the earth-goddess stating that the body has\nbeen placed with her on deposit, and asking that she will give it\nback intact when they call upon her for it. They believe that in such\ncases the process of decay is arrested for six months.\n\n\n\n\n8. Laying spirits.\n\nWhen a man has been killed by a tiger they have a ceremony called\n'Breaking the string,' or the connection which they believe the\nanimal establishes with a family on having tasted its blood. Otherwise\nthey think that the tiger would gradually kill off all the remaining\nmembers of the family of his victim, and when he had finished with\nthem would proceed to other families in the same village. This curious\nbelief is no doubt confirmed by the tiger's habit of frequenting the\nlocality of a village from which it has once obtained a victim, in\nthe natural expectation that others may be forthcoming from the same\nsource. In this ceremony the village Baiga or medicine-man is painted\nwith red ochre and soot to represent the tiger, and proceeds to the\nplace where the victim was carried off. Having picked up some of the\nblood-stained earth in his mouth, he tries to run away to the jungle,\nbut the spectators hold him back until he spits out the earth. This\nrepresents the tiger being forced to give up his victim. The Baiga\nthen ties a string round all the members of the dead man's family\nstanding together; he places some grain before a fowl saying, 'If\nmy charm has worked, eat of this'; and as soon as the fowl has eaten\nsome grain the Baiga states that his efforts have been successful and\nthe attraction of the man-eater has been broken; he then breaks the\nstring and all the party return to the village. A similar ceremony\nis performed when a man has died of snake-bite.\n\n\n\n\n9. Religion.\n\nThe religion of the Kawars is entirely of an animistic character. They\nhave a vague idea of a supreme deity whom they call Bhagwan and\nidentify with the sun. They bow to him in reverence, but do no more\nas he does not interfere with men's concerns. They also have a host\nof local and tribal deities, of whom the principal is the Jhagra\nKhand or two-edged sword, already mentioned. The tiger is deified as\nBagharra Deo and worshipped in every village for the protection of\ncattle from wild animals. They are also in great fear of a mythical\nsnake with a red crest on its head, the mere sight of which is\nbelieved to cause death. It lives in deep pools in the forest which\nare known as Shesk Kund, and when it moves the grass along its track\ntakes fire. If a man crosses its track his colour turns to black\nand he suffers excruciating pains which end in death, unless he is\nrelieved by the Baiga. In one village where the snake was said to\nhave recently appeared, the proprietor was so afraid of it that he\nnever went out to his field without first offering a chicken. They\nhave various local deities, of which the Mandwa Rani or goddess of\nthe Mandwa hill in Korba zamindari may be noticed as an example. She\nis a mild-hearted maiden who puts people right when they have gone\nastray in the forest, or provides them with food for the night and\nguides them to the water-springs on her hill. Recently a wayfarer\nhad lost his path when she appeared and, guiding him into it, gave\nhim a basket of brinjals. [420] As the traveller proceeded he felt\nhis burden growing heavier and heavier on his head, and finally on\ninspecting it found that the goddess had played a little joke on him\nand the brinjals had turned into stones. The Kawars implicitly believe\nthis story. Rivers are tenanted by a set of goddesses called the Sat\nBahini or seven sisters. They delight in playing near waterfalls,\nholding up the water and suddenly letting it drop. Trees are believed\nto be harmless sentient beings, except when occasionally possessed by\nevil spirits, such as the ghosts of man-eating tigers. Sometimes a\ntree catches hold of a cow's tail as the animal passes by and winds\nit up over a branch, and many cattle have lost their tails in this\nway. Every tank in which the lotus grows is tenanted by Purainha, the\ngodling who tends this plant. The sword, the gun, the axe, the spear\nhave each a special deity, and, in fact, in the Bangawan, the tract\nwhere the wilder Kawars dwell, it is believed that every article of\nhousehold furniture is the residence of a spirit, and that if any one\nsteals or injures it without the owner's leave, the spirit will bring\nsome misfortune on him in revenge. Theft is said to be unknown among\nthem, partly on this account and partly, perhaps, because no one has\nmuch property worth stealing. Instances of deified human beings are\nKolin Sati, a Kol concubine of a zamindar of Pendra who died during\npregnancy, and Sarangarhni, a Ghasia woman who was believed to have\nbeen the mistress of a Raja of Sarangarh and was murdered. Both are\nnow Kawar deities. Thakur Deo is the deity of agriculture, and is\nworshipped by the whole village in concert at the commencement of the\nrains. Rice is brought by each cultivator and offered to the god,\na little being sown at his shrine and the remainder taken home and\nmixed with the seed-grain to give it fertility. Two bachelors carry\nwater round the village and sprinkle it on the brass plates of the\ncultivators or the roofs of their houses in imitation of rain.\n\n\n\n\n10. Magic and witchcraft.\n\nThe belief in witchcraft is universal and every village has its\ntonhi or witch, to whom epidemic diseases, sudden illnesses and other\ncalamities are ascribed. The witch is nearly always some unpopular\nold woman, and several instances are known of the murder of these\nunfortunate creatures, after their crimes had been proclaimed by\nthe Baiga or medicine-man. In the famine of 1900 an old woman from\nanother village came and joined one of the famine-kitchens. A few\ndays afterwards the village watchman got ill, and when the Baiga was\ncalled in he said the old woman was a witch who had vowed the lives\nof twenty children to her goddess, and had joined the kitchen to kill\nthem. The woman was threatened with a beating with castor-oil plants\nif she did not leave the village, and as the kitchen officer refused\nto supply her with food, she had to go. The Baiga takes action to\nstop and keep off epidemics by the methods common in Chhattisgarh\nvillages. When a woman asks him to procure her offspring, the Baiga\nsits dharna in front of Devi's shrine and fasts until the goddess,\nwearied by his importunity, descends on him and causes him to prophesy\nthe birth of a child. They have the usual belief in imitative and\nsympathetic magic. If a person is wounded by an axe he throws it\nfirst into fire and then into cold water. By the first operation\nhe thinks to dry up the wound and prevent its festering, and by\nthe second to keep it cool. Thin and lean children are weighed in\na balance against moist cowdung with the idea that they will swell\nout as the dung dries up. In order to make a bullock's hump grow,\na large grain-measure is placed over it. If cattle go astray an iron\nimplement is placed in a pitcher of water, and it is believed that\nthis will keep wild animals off the cattle, though the connection of\nideas is obscure. To cure intermittent fever a man walks through a\nnarrow passage between two houses. If the children in a family die,\nthe Baiga takes the parents outside the village and breaks the stem\nof some plant in their presence. After this they never again touch\nthat particular plant, and it is believed that their children will\nnot die. Tuesday is considered the best day for weddings, Thursday\nand Monday for beginning field-work and Saturday for worshipping the\ngods. To have bats in one's granary is considered to be fortunate, and\nthere is a large harmless snake which, they say, produces fertility\nwhen it makes its home in a field. If a crow caws on the house-top\nthey consider that the arrival of a guest is portended. A snake or\na cat crossing the road in front and a man sneezing are bad omens.\n\n\n\n\n11. Dress.\n\nThe dress of the Kawars presents no special features calling for\nremark. Women wear pewter ornaments on the feet, and silver or pewter\nrings on the neck. They decorate the ears with silver pendants, but as\na rule do not wear nose-rings. Women are tattooed on the breast with\na figure of Krishna, on the arms with that of a deer, and on the legs\nwith miscellaneous patterns. The operation is carried out immediately\nafter marriage in accordance with the usual custom in Chhattisgarh.\n\n\n\n\n12. Occupation and social rules.\n\nThe tribe consider military service to be their traditional occupation,\nbut the bulk of them are now cultivators and labourers. Many of them\nare farmers of villages in the zamindaris. Rautias weave ropes and\nmake sleeping-cots, but the other Kawars consider such work to be\ndegrading. They have the ordinary Hindu rules of inheritance, but a son\nclaiming partition in his father's lifetime is entitled to two bullocks\nand nothing more. When the property is divided on the death of the\nfather, the eldest son receives an allowance known as jithai over and\nabove his share, this being a common custom in the Chhattisgarh country\nwhere the Kawars reside. The tribe do not admit outsiders with the\nexception of Kaurai Rawat girls married to Kawars. They have a tribal\npanchayat or committee, the head of which is known as Pardhan. Its\nproceedings are generally very deliberate, and this has led to the\nsaying: \"The Ganda's panchayat always ends in a quarrel; the Gond's\npanchayat cares only for the feast; and the Kawar's panchayat takes\na year to make up its mind.\" But when the Kawars have decided, they\nact with vigour. They require numerous goats as fines for the caste\nfeast, and these, with fried urad, form the regular provision. Liquor,\nhowever, is only sparingly consumed. Temporary exclusion from caste\nis imposed for the usual offences, which include going to jail,\ngetting the ears split, or getting maggots in a wound. The last\nis the most serious offence, and when the culprit is readmitted to\nsocial intercourse the Dhobi (washerman) is employed to eat with him\nfirst from five different plates, thus taking upon himself any risk\nof contagion from the impurity which may still remain. The Kawar\neats flesh, fowls and pork, but abjures beef, crocodiles, monkeys\nand reptiles. From birds he selects the parrot, dove, pigeon, quail\nand partridge as fit for food. He will not eat meat sold in market\nbecause he considers it halali or killed in the Muhammadan fashion,\nand therefore impure. He also refuses a particular species of fish\ncalled rechha, which is black and fleshy and has been nicknamed\n'The Teli's bullock.' The higher subtribes have now given up eating\npork and the Tanwars abstain from fowls also. The Kawars will take\nfood only from a Gond or a Kaurai Rawat, and Gonds will also take\nfood from them. In appearance and manners they greatly resemble the\nGonds, from whom they are hardly distinguished by the Hindus. Dalton\n[421] described them as \"A dark, coarse-featured, broad-nosed,\nwide-mouthed and thick-lipped race, decidedly ugly, but taller and\nbetter set up than most of the other tribes. I have also found them\na clean, well-to-do, industrious people, living in comfortable,\ncarefully-constructed and healthily-kept houses and well dressed.\"\n\nOf their method of dancing Ball [422] writes as follows: \"In the\nevening some of the villagers--Kaurs they were I believe--entertained\nus with a dance, which was very different from anything seen among the\nSantals or Kols. A number of men performed a kind of ladies' chain,\nstriking together as they passed one another's pronged sticks which\nthey carried in their hands. By foot, hand and voice the time given\nby a tom-tom is most admirably kept.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKAYASTH\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice and legend of origin.\n 2. The origin of the caste.\n 3. The rise of the Kayasths under foreign rulers.\n 4. The original profession of the Kayasths.\n 5. The caste an offshoot from Brahmans.\n 6. The success of the Kayasths and their present position.\n 7. Subcastes.\n 8. Exogamy.\n 9. Marriage customs.\n 10. Marriage songs.\n 11. Social rules.\n 12. Birth Customs.\n 13. Religion.\n 14. Social customs.\n 15. Occupation.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice and legend of origin.\n\nKayasth, [423] Kaith, Lala.--The caste of writers and village\naccountants. The Kayasths numbered 34,000 persons in 1911 and were\nfound over the whole Province, but they are most numerous in the\nSaugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts. In the Maratha\ncountry their place is to some extent taken by the Prabhus, the Maratha\nwriter caste, and also by the Vidurs. No probable derivation of the\nname Kayasth appears to have been suggested. The earliest reference\nto Kayasths appears in an inscription in Malwa dated A.D. 738-739. The\ninscription is of a Maurya king, and the term Kayasth is used there as\na proper noun to mean a writer. Another dated A.D. 987 is written by\na Kayasth named Kanchana. An inscription on the Delhi Siwalik pillar\ndated A.D. 1164 is stated to have been written by a Kayasth named\nSispati, the son of Mahava, by the king's command. The inscription adds\nthat the Kayasth was of Gauda (Bengal) descent, and the term Kayasth\nis here used in the sense of a member of the Kayasth caste and not\nsimply meaning a writer as in the Malwa inscription. [424] From the\nabove account it seems possible that the caste was of comparatively\nlate origin. According to their own legend the first progenitor of\nthe Kayasths was Chitragupta, who was created by Brahma from his own\nbody and given to Yama the king of the dead, to record the good and\nevil actions of all beings, and produce the result when they arrived\nin the kingdom of the dead. Chitragupta was called Kayastha, from\nkaya stha, existing in or incorporate in the body, because he was\nin the body of Brahma. Chitragupta was born of a dark complexion,\nand having a pen and ink-pot in his hand. He married two wives, the\nelder being the granddaughter of the sun, who bore him four sons,\nwhile the younger was the daughter of a Brahman Rishi, and by her\nhe had eight sons. These sons were married to princesses of the\nNaga or snake race; the Nagas are supposed to have been the early\nnomad invaders from Central Asia, or Scythians. The twelve sons were\nentrusted with the government of different parts of India and the\ntwelve subcastes of Kayasths are named after these localities.\n\n\n\n\n2. The origin of the caste.\n\nThere has been much discussion on the origin of the Kayasth caste,\nwhich now occupies a high social position owing to the ability and\nindustry of its members and their attainment of good positions in\nthe public services. All indications, however, point to the fact\nthat the caste has obtained within a comparatively recent period\na great rise in social status, and formerly ranked much lower than\nit does now. Dr. Bhattacharya states: [425] \"The Kayasths of Bengal\nare described in some of the Hindu sacred books as Kshatriyas, but\nthe majority of the Kayasth clans do not wear the sacred thread, and\nadmit their status as Sudra also by the observance of mourning for\nthirty days. But whether Kshatriya or Sudra, they belong to the upper\nlayer of Hindu society, and though the higher classes of Brahmans\nneither perform their religious ceremonies nor enlist them among\ntheir disciples, yet the gifts of the Kayasths are usually accepted\nby the great Pandits of the country without hesitation.\" There is no\ndoubt that a hundred years ago the Kayasths of Bengal and Bihar were\ncommonly looked upon as Sudras. Dr. Buchanan, an excellent observer,\nstates this several times. In Bihar he says that the Kayasths are the\nchief caste who are looked upon by all as pure Sudras and do not reject\nthe appellation. [426] And again that \"Pandits in Gorakhpur insist that\nKayasths are mere Sudras, but on account of their influence included\namong gentry (Ashraf). All who have been long settled in the district\nlive pure and endeavour to elevate themselves; but this has failed\nof success as kindred from other countries who still drink liquor\nand eat meat come and sit on the same mat with them.\" [427] Again\nhe calls the Kayasths the highest Sudras next to Vaidyas. [428] And\n\"In Bihar the penmen (Kayasthas) are placed next to the Kshatris and\nby the Brahmans are considered as illegitimate, to whom the rank of\nSudras has been given, and in general they do not presume to be angry\nat this decision, which in Bengal would be highly offensive. [429]\nColebrooke remarks of the caste: \"Karana, from a Vaishya by a woman\nof the Sudra class, is an attendant on princes or secretary. The\nappellation of Kayastha is in general considered as synonymous\nwith Karana; and accordingly the Karana tribe commonly assumes the\nname of Kayastha; but the Kayasthas of Bengal have pretensions to be\nconsidered as true Sudras, which the Jatimala seems to authorise, for\nthe origin of the Kayastha is there mentioned before the subject of\nmixed castes is introduced, immediately after describing the Gopa as\na true Sudra.\" [430] Similarly Colonel Dalton says: \"I believe that\nin the present day the Kayasths arrogate to themselves the position\nof first among commoners, or first of the Sudras, but their origin\nis involved in some mystery. Intelligent Kayasths make no pretension\nto be other than Sudras.\" [431] In his Census Report of the United\nProvinces Mr. R. Burn discusses the subject as follows: [432] \"On\nthe authority of these Puranic accounts, and in view of the fact\nthat the Kayasths observe certain of the Sanskars in the same method\nas is prescribed for Kshatriyas, the Pandits of several places have\ngiven formal opinions that the Kayasths are Kshatriyas. On the other\nhand, there is not the slightest doubt that the Kayasths are commonly\nregarded either as a mixed caste, with some relationship to two if not\nthree of the twice-born castes, or as Sudras. This is openly stated\nin some of the reports, and not a single Hindu who was not a Kayasth\nof the many I have personally asked about the matter would admit\nprivately that the Kayasths are twice-born, and the same opinion\nwas expressed by Muhammadans, who were in a position to gauge the\nordinary ideas held by Hindus, and are entirely free from prejudice\nin the matter. One of the most highly respected orthodox Brahmans in\nthe Provinces wrote to me confirming this opinion, and at the same\ntime asked that his name might not be published in connection with\nit. The matter has been very minutely examined in a paper sent up\nby a member of the Benares committee who came to the conclusion that\nwhile the Kayasths have been declared to be Kshatriyas in the Puranas,\nby Pandits, and in several judgments of subordinate courts, and to be\nSudras by Manu and various commentators on him, by public opinion,\nand in a judgment of the High Court of Calcutta, they are really of\nBrahmanical origin. He holds that those who to-day follow literary\noccupations are the descendants of Chitragupta by his Brahman and\nKshatriya wives, that the so-called Unaya Kayasths are descended from\nVaishya mothers, and the tailors and cobblers from Sudra mothers. It\nis possible to trace to some extent points which have affected public\nopinion on this question. The Kayasths themselves admit that in the\npast their reputation as hard drinkers was not altogether unmerited,\nbut they deserve the highest credit for the improvements which have\nbeen effected in this regard. There is also a widespread belief\nthat the existing general observance by Kayasths of the ceremonies\nprescribed for the twice-born castes, especially in the matter of\nwearing the sacred thread, is comparatively recent. It is almost\nsuperfluous to add that notwithstanding the theoretical views held\nas to their origin and position, Kayasths undoubtedly rank high in\nthe social scale. All European writers have borne testimony to their\nexcellence and success in many walks of life, and even before the\ncommencement of British power many Kayasths occupied high social\npositions and enjoyed the confidence of their rulers.\"\n\n\n\n\n3. The rise of the Kayasths under foreign rulers.\n\nIt appears then a legitimate conclusion from the evidence that the\nclaim of the Kayasths to be Kshatriyas is comparatively recent, and\nthat a century ago they occupied a very much lower social position\nthan they do now. We do not find them playing any prominent part in\nthe early or medi\u00e6val Hindu kingdoms. There is considerable reason for\nsupposing that their rise to importance took place under the foreign\nor non-Hindu governments in India. Thus a prominent Kayasth gentleman\nsays of his own caste: [433] \"The people of this caste were the first\nto learn Persian, the language of the Muhammadan invaders of India,\nand to obtain the posts of accountants and revenue collectors under\nMuhammadan kings. Their chief occupation is Government service,\nand if one of the caste adopts any other profession he is degraded\nin the estimation of his caste-fellows.\" Malcolm states: [434] \"When\nthe Muhammadans invaded Hindustan and conquered its Rajput princes,\nwe may conclude that the Brahmans of that country who possessed\nknowledge or distinction fled from their intolerance and violence;\nbut the conquerors found in the Kayastha or Kaith tribe more pliable\nand better instruments for the conduct of the details of their new\nGovernment. This tribe had few religious scruples, as they stand low in\nthe scale of Hindus. They were, according to their own records, which\nthere is no reason to question, qualified by their previous employment\nin all affairs of state; and to render themselves completely useful\nhad only to add the language of their new masters to those with which\nthey were already acquainted. The Muhammadans carried these Hindus\ninto their southern conquests, and they spread over the countries\nof Central India and the Deccan; and some families who are Kanungos\n[435] of districts and patwaris of villages trace their settlement\nin this country from the earliest Muhammadan conquest.\" Similarly\nthe Bombay Gazetteer states that under the arrangements made by the\nEmperor Akbar, the work of collecting the revenues of the twenty-eight\nDistricts subordinate to Surat was entrusted to Kayasths. [436]\nAnd the Mathur Kayasths of Gujarat came from Mathura in the train\nof the Mughal viceroys as their clerks and interpreters. [437] Under\nthe Muhammadans and for some time after the introduction of English\nrule, a knowledge of Persian was required in a Government clerk, and\nin this language most of the Kayasths were proficient, and some were\nexcellent clerks. [438] Kayasths attained very high positions under\nthe Muhammadan kings of Bengal and were in charge of the revenue\ndepartment under the Nawabs of Murshidabad; while Rai Durlao Ram,\nprime minister of Ali Verdi Khan, was a Kayasth. The governors of\nBihar in the period between the battle of Plassey and the removal of\nthe exchequer to Calcutta were also Kayasths. [439] The Bhatnagar\nKayasths, it is said, came to Bengal at the time of the Muhammadan\nconquest. [440] Under the Muhammadan kings of Oudh, too, numerous\nKayasths occupied posts of high trust. [441] Similarly the Kayasths\nentered the service of the Gond kings of the Central Provinces. It is\nsaid that when the Gond ruler Bakht Buland of Deogarh in Chhindwara\nwent to Delhi, he brought a number of Kayasths back with him and\nintroduced them into the administration. One of these was appointed\nBakshi or paymaster to the army of Bakht Buland. His descendant is a\nleading landholder in the Seoni District with an estate of eighty-four\nvillages. Another Kayasth landholder of Jubbulpore and Mandla occupied\nsome similar position in the service of the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla.\n\nFinally in the English administration the Kayasths at first monopolised\nthe ministerial service. In the United Provinces, Bengal and Bihar,\nit is stated that the number of Kayasths may perhaps even now exceed\nthat of all other castes taken together. [442] And in Gujarat the\nKayasths have lost in recent years the monopoly they once enjoyed as\nGovernment clerks. [443] The Mathura Kayasths of Gujarat are said to be\ndeclining in prosperity on account of the present keen competition for\nGovernment service, [444] of which it would thus appear they formerly\nhad as large a share as they desired. The Prabhus, the writer-caste\nof western India corresponding to the Kayasths, were from the time of\nthe earliest European settlements much trusted by English merchants,\nand when the British first became supreme in Gujarat they had almost\na monopoly of the Government service as English writers. To such\nan extent was this the case that the word Prabhu or Purvu was the\ngeneral term for a clerk who could write English, whether he was\na Brahman, Sunar, Prabhu, Portuguese or of English descent. [445]\nSimilarly the word Cranny was a name applied to a clerk writing\nEnglish, and thence vulgarly applied in general to the East Indians\nor half-caste class from among whom English copyists were afterwards\nchiefly recruited. The original is the Hindi karani, kirani, which\nWilson derives from the Sanskrit karan, a doer. Karana is also the\nname of the Orissa writer-caste, who are writers and accountants. It\nis probable that the name is derived from this caste, that is the\nUriya Kayasths, who may have been chiefly employed as clerks before\nany considerable Eurasian community had come into existence. Writers'\nBuildings at Calcutta were recently still known to the natives as\nKarani ki Barik, and this supports the derivation from the Karans or\nUriya Kayasths, the case thus being an exact parallel to that of the\nPrabhus in Bombay. [446]\n\n\n\n\n4. The original profession of the Kayasths.\n\nFrom the above argument it seems legitimate to deduce that the\nKayasths formerly occupied a lower position in Hindu society. The\nBrahmans were no doubt jealous of them and, as Dr. Bhattacharya\nstates, would not let them learn Sanskrit. [447] But when India became\nsubject to foreign rulers the Kayasths readily entered their service,\nlearning the language of their new employers in order to increase\ntheir efficiency. Thus they first learnt Persian and then English,\nand both by Muhammadans and English were employed largely, if not\nat first almost exclusively, as clerks in the public offices. It\nmust be remembered that there were at this time practically only two\nother literate castes among Hindus, the Brahmans and the Banias. The\nBrahmans naturally would be for long reluctant to lower their dignity\nby taking service under foreign masters, whom they regarded as outcaste\nand impure; while the Banias down to within the last twenty years\nor so have never cared for education beyond the degree necessary\nfor managing their business. Thus the Kayasths had at first almost\na monopoly of public employment under foreign Governments. It has\nbeen seen also that it is only within about the last century that\nthe status of the Kayasths has greatly risen, and it is a legitimate\ndeduction that the improvement dates from the period when they began\nto earn distinction and importance under these governments. But they\nwere always a literate caste, and the conclusion is that in former\ntimes they discharged duties to which literacy was essential in a\ncomparatively humble sphere. \"The earliest reference to the Kayasths\nas a distinct caste,\" Sir H. Risley states, \"occurs in Yajnavalkya,\nwho describes them as writers and village accountants, very exacting\nin their demands from the cultivators.\" The profession of patwari or\nvillage accountant appears to have been that formerly appertaining to\nthe Kayasth caste, and it is one which they still largely follow. In\nBengal it is now stated that Kayasths of good position object to marry\ntheir daughters in the families of those who have served as patwaris\nor village accountants. Patwaris, one of them said to Sir H. Risley,\nhowever rich they may be, are considered as socially lower than other\nKayasths, e.g. Kanungo, Akhauri, Pande or Bakshi. Thus it appears\nthat the old patwari Kayasths are looked down upon by those who have\nimproved their position in more important branches of Government\nservice. Kanungo, as explained, is a sort of head of the patwaris;\nand Bakshi, a post already noticed as held by a Kayasth in the Central\nProvinces, is the Muhammadan office of paymaster.\n\nSimilarly Mr. Crooke states that while the higher members of the\ncaste stand well in general repute, the village Lala (or Kayasth),\nwho is very often an accountant, is in evil odour for his astuteness\nand chicanery. In Central India, as already seen, they are Kanungos of\nDistricts and patwaris of villages; and here again Malcolm states that\nthese officials were the oldest settlers, and that the later comers,\nwho held more important posts, did not intermarry with them. [448]\nIn Gujarat the work of collecting the revenue in the Surat tract\nwas entrusted to Kayasths. Till 1868, in the English villages, and\nup to the present time in the Baroda villages, the subdivisional\naccountants were mostly Kayasths. [449] In the Central Provinces the\nbulk of the patwaris in the northern Districts and a large proportion\nin other Districts outside the Maratha country are Kayasths. If\nthe Kayasths were originally patwaris or village accountants, their\nformer low status is fully explained. The village accountant would be\na village servant, though an important one, and would be supported\nlike the other village artisans by contributions of grain from the\ncultivators. This is the manner in which patwaris of the Central\nProvinces were formerly paid. His status would technically be lower\nthan that of the cultivators, and he might be considered as a Sudra\nor a mixed caste.\n\n\n\n\n5. The caste an offshoot from Brahmans.\n\nAs regards the origin of the Kayasths, the most probable hypothesis\nwould seem to be that they were an offshoot of Brahmans of irregular\ndescent. The reason for this is that the Kayasths must have learnt\nreading and writing from some outside source, and the Brahmans were\nthe only class who could teach it them. The Brahmans were not disposed\nto spread the benefits of education, which was the main source of\ntheir power, with undue liberality, and when another literate class\nwas required for the performance of duties which they disdained to\ndischarge themselves, it would be natural that they should prefer\nto educate people closely connected with them and having claims on\ntheir support. In this connection the tradition recorded by Sir\nH. Risley may be noted to the effect that the ancestors of the\nBengal Kayasths were five of the caste who came from Kanauj in\nattendance on five Brahmans who had been summoned by the king of\nBengal to perform for him certain Vedic ceremonies. [450] It may be\nnoted also that the Vidurs, another caste admittedly of irregular\ndescent from Brahmans, occupy the position of patwaris and village\naccountants in the Maratha districts. The names of their subcastes\nindicate generally that the home of the Kayasths is the country\nof Hindustan, the United Provinces, and part of Bengal. This is\nalso the place of origin of the northern Brahmans, as shown by the\nnames of their most important groups. The Rajputs and Banias on the\nother hand belong mainly to Rajputana, Gujarat and Bundelkhand, and\nin most of this area the Kayasths are immigrants. It has been seen\nthat they came to Malwa and Gujarat with the Muhammadans; the number\nof Kayasths returned from Rajputana at the census was quite small,\nand it is doubtful whether the Kayasths are so much as mentioned in\nTod's Rajasthan. The hypothesis therefore of their being derived\neither from the Rajputs or Banias appears to be untenable. In the\nPunjab also the Kayasths are found only in small numbers and are\nimmigrants. As stated by Sir H. Risley, both the physical type of\nthe Kayasths and their remarkable intellectual attainments indicate\nthat they possess Aryan blood; similarly Mr. Sherring remarks: \"He\nnevertheless exhibits a family likeness to the Brahman; you may not\nknow where to place him or how to designate him; but on looking at\nhim and conversing with him you feel quite sure that you are in the\npresence of a Hindu of no mean order of intellect.\" [451] No doubt\nthere was formerly much mixture of blood in the caste; some time ago\nthe Kayasths were rather noted for keeping women of other castes, and\nSir H. Risley gives instances of outsiders being admitted into the\ncaste. Dr. Bhattacharya states [452] that, \"There are many Kayasths\nin eastern Bengal who are called Ghulams or slaves. Some of them\nare still attached as domestic servants to the families of the local\nBrahmans, Vaidyas and aristocratic Kayasths. Some of the Ghulams have\nin recent times become rich landholders, and it is said that one of\nthem has got the title of Rai Bahadur from Government. The marriage\nof a Ghulam generally takes place in his own class, but instances of\nGhulams marrying into aristocratic Kayasth families are at present\nnot very rare.\"\n\nFurther, the Dakshina Rarhi Kayasths affect the greatest veneration\nfor the Brahmans and profess to believe in the legend that traces\ntheir descent from the five menial servants who accompanied the\nfive Brahmans invited by king Adisur. The Uttara Rarhi Kayasths or\nthose of northern Burdwan, on the other hand, do not profess the same\nveneration for Brahmans as the southerners, and deny the authenticity\nof the legend. It was this class which held some of the highest offices\nunder the Muhammadan rulers of Bengal, and several leading zamindars\nor landholders at present belong to it. [453] It was probably in\nthis capacity of village accountant that the Kayasth incurred the\ntraditional hostility of one or two of the lower castes which still\nsubsists in legend. [454] The influence which the patwari possesses\nat present, even under the most vigorous and careful supervision\nand with the liability to severe punishment for any abuse of his\nposition, is a sufficient indication of what his power must have\nbeen when supervision and control were almost nominal. On this point\nSir Henry Maine remarks in his description of the village community:\n\"There is always a village accountant, an important personage among\nan unlettered population; so important indeed, and so conspicuous\nthat, according to the reports current in India, the earliest English\nfunctionaries engaged in settlements of land were occasionally led,\nby their assumption that there must be a single proprietor somewhere,\nto mistake the accountant for the owner of the village, and to record\nhim as such in the official register. [455] In Bihar Sir H. Risley\nshows that Kayasths have obtained proprietary right in a large area.\n\n\n\n\n6. The success of the Kayasths and their present position.\n\nIt may be hoped that the leading members of the Kayasth caste will\nnot take offence, because in the discussion of the origin of their\ncaste, one of the most interesting problems of Indian ethnology, it\nhas been necessary to put forward a hypothesis other than that which\nthey hold themselves. It would be as unreasonable for a Kayasth to feel\naggrieved at the suggestion that centuries ago their ancestors were to\nsome extent the offspring of mixed unions as for an Englishman to be\ninsulted by the statement that the English are of mixed descent from\nSaxons, Danes and Normans. If the Kayasths formerly had a comparatively\nhumble status in Hindu society, then it is the more creditable to the\nwhole community that they should have succeeded in raising themselves\nby their native industry and ability without adventitious advantages\nto the high position in which by general admission the caste now\nstands. At present the Kayasths are certainly the highest caste\nafter Brahman, Rajput and Bania, and probably in Hindustan, Bengal\nand the Central Provinces they may be accounted as practically equal\nto Rajputs and Banias. Of the Bengal Kayasths Dr. Bhattacharya wrote:\n[456] \"They generally prove equal to any position in which they are\nplaced. They have been successful not only as clerks but in the very\nhighest executive and judicial offices that have yet been thrown open\nto the natives of this country. The names of the Kayastha judges,\nDwarka Nath Mitra, Ramesh Chandra Mitra and Chandra Madhava Ghose\nare well known and respected by all. In the executive services\nthe Kayasths have attained the same kind of success. One of them,\nMr. R. C. Dutt, is now the Commissioner of one of the most important\ndivisions of Bengal. Another, named Kalika Das Datta, has been for\nseveral years employed as Prime Minister of the Kuch Bihar State,\ngiving signal proofs of his ability as an administrator by the success\nwith which he has been managing the affairs of the principality in his\ncharge.\" In the Central Provinces, too, Kayasth gentlemen hold the most\nimportant positions in the administrative, judicial and public works\ndepartments, as well as being strongly represented in the Provincial\nand subordinate executive services. And in many Districts Kayasths\nform the backbone of the ministerial staff of the public offices, a\nclass whose patient laboriousness and devotion to duty, with only the\nmost remote prospects of advancement to encourage them to persevere,\ndeserve high commendation.\n\n\n\n\n7. Subcastes.\n\nThe northern India Kayasths are divided into the following twelve\nsubcastes, which are mainly of a territorial character:\n\n\n (a) Srivastab.\n (b) Saksena.\n (c) Bhatnagar.\n (d) Ambastha or Amisht.\n (e) Ashthana or Aithana.\n (f) Balmik or Valmiki.\n (g) Mathur.\n (h) Kulsreshtha.\n (i) Suryadhwaja.\n (k) Karan.\n (l) Gaur.\n (m) Nigum.\n\n\n(a) The Srivastab subcaste take their name from the old town of\nSravasti, now Sahet-Mahet, in the north of the United Provinces. They\nare by far the most numerous subcaste both there and here. In\nthese Provinces nearly all the Kayasths are Srivastabs except a few\nSaksenas. They are divided into two sections, Khare and Dusre, which\ncorrespond to the Bisa and Dasa groups of the Banias. The Khare are\nthose of pure descent, and the Dusre the offspring of remarried widows\nor other irregular alliances.\n\n(b) The Saksena are named from the old town of Sankisa, in the\nFarukhabad District. They also have the Khare and Dusre groups, and a\nthird section called Kharua, which is said to mean pure, and is perhaps\nthe most aristocratic. A number of Saksena Kayasths are resident in\nSeoni District, where their ancestors were settled by Bakht Buland,\nthe Gond Raja of Deogarh in Chhindwara. These constituted hitherto\na separate endogamous group, marrying among themselves, but since\nthe opening of the railway negotiations have been initiated with the\nSaksenas of northern India, with the result that intermarriage is to\nbe resumed between the two sections.\n\n(c) The Bhatnagar take their name from the old town of Bhatner, near\nBikaner. They are divided into the Vaishya or Kadim, of pure descent,\nand the Gaur, who are apparently the offspring of intermarriage with\nthe Gaur subcaste.\n\n(d) Ambastha or Amisht. These are said to have settled on the Girnar\nhill, and to take their name from their worship of the goddess Ambaji\nor Amba Devi. Mr. Crooke suggests that they may be connected with the\nold Ambastha caste who were noted for their skill in medicine. The\npractice of surgery is the occupation of some Kayasths. [457] It\nis also supposed that the names may come from the Ameth pargana of\nOudh. The Ambastha Kayasths are chiefly found in south Bihar, where\nthey are numerous and influential. [458]\n\n(e) Ashthana or Aithana. This is an Oudh subcaste. They have two\ngroups, the Purabi or eastern, who are found in Jaunpur and its\nneighbourhood, and the Pachhauri or western, who live in or about\nLucknow.\n\n(f) Balmik or Valmiki. These are a subcaste of western India. Balmik\nor Valmik was the traditional author of the Ramayana, but they do\nnot trace their descent from him. The name may have some territorial\nmeaning. The Valmiki are divided into three endogamous groups according\nas they live in Bombay, Cutch or Surat.\n\n(g) The Mathur subcaste are named after Mathura or Muttra. They are\nalso split into the local groups Dihlawi of Delhi, Katchi of Cutch\nand Lachauli of Jodhpur.\n\n(h) The Kulsreshtha or 'well-born' Kayasths belong chiefly to the\ndistricts of Agra and Etah. They are divided into the Barakhhera,\nor those of twelve villages, and the Chha Khera of six villages.\n\n(i) The Suryadhwaja subcaste belong to Ballia, Ghazi-pur and\nBijnor. Their origin is obscure. They profess excessive purity,\nand call themselves Sakadwipi or Scythian Brahmans.\n\n(k) The Karan subcaste belong to Bihar, and have two local divisions,\nthe Gayawale from Gaya, and the Tirhutia from Tirhut.\n\n(l) The Gaur Kayasths, like the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs, apparently\ntake their name from Gaur or Lakhnauti, the old kingdom of Bengal. They\nhave the Khare and Dusre subdivisions, and also three local groups\nnamed after Bengal, Delhi and Budaun.\n\n(m) The Nigum subcaste, whose name is apparently the same as that of\nthe Nikumbh Rajputs, are divided into two endogamous groups, the Kadim\nor old, and the Unaya, or those coming from Unao. Sometimes the Unaya\nare considered as a separate thirteenth subcaste of mixed descent.\n\n\n\n\n8. Exogamy.\n\nEducated Kayasths now follow the standard rule of exogamy, which\nprohibits marriage between persons within five degrees of affinity on\nthe female side and seven on the male. That is, persons having a common\ngrandparent on the female side cannot intermarry, while for those\nrelated through males the prohibition extends a generation further\nback. This is believed to be the meaning of the rule but it is not\nquite clear. In Damoh the Srivastab Kayasths still retain exogamous\nsections which are all named after places in the United Provinces, as\nHamirpur ki baink (section), Lucknowbar, Kashi ki Pande (a wise man\nof Benares), Partabpuria, Cawnpore-bar, Sultanpuria and so on. They\nsay that the ancestors of these sections were families who came from\nthe above places in northern India, and settled in Damoh; here they\ncame to be known by the places from which they had immigrated, and so\nfounded new exogamous sections. A man cannot marry in his own section,\nor that of his mother or grandmother. In the Central Provinces a man\nmay marry two sisters, but in northern India this is prohibited.\n\n\n\n\n9. Marriage customs.\n\nMarriage may be infant or adult, and, as in many places husbands are\ndifficult to find, girls occasionally remain unmarried till nearly\ntwenty, and may also be mated to boys younger than themselves. In\nnorthern India a substantial bridegroom-price is paid, which increases\nfor a well-educated boy, but this custom is not so well established\nin the Central Provinces. However, in Damoh it is said that a sum of\nRs. 200 is paid to the bridegroom's family. The marriage ceremony is\nperformed according to the proper ritual for the highest or Brahma form\nof marriage recognised by Manu with Vedic texts. When the bridegroom\narrives at the bride's house he is given sherbet to drink. It is\nsaid that he then stands on a pestle, and the bride's mother throws\nwheat-flour balls to the four points of the compass, and shows the\nbridegroom a miniature plough, a grinding pestle, a churning-staff and\nan arrow, and pulls his nose. The bridegroom's struggles to prevent\nhis mother-in-law pulling his nose are the cause of much merriment,\nwhile the two parties afterwards have a fight for the footstool on\nwhich he stands. [459] An image of a cow in flour is then brought,\nand the bridegroom pierces its nostrils with a little stick of\ngold. Kayasths do not pierce the nostrils of bullocks themselves,\nbut these rites perhaps recall their dependence on agriculture in\ntheir capacity of village accountants.\n\nAfter the wedding the bridegroom's father takes various kinds of fruit,\nas almonds, dates and raisins, and fills the bride's lap with them\nfour times, finally adding a cocoanut and a rupee. This is a ceremony\nto induce fertility, and the cocoanut perhaps represents a child.\n\n\n\n\n10. Marriage songs.\n\nThe following are some specimens of songs sung at weddings. The first\nis about Rama's departure from Ajodhia when he went to the forests:\n\n\n Now Hari (Rama) has driven his chariot forth to the jungle.\n His father and mother are weeping.\n Kaushilya [460] stood up and said, 'Now, whom shall I call my\n diamond and my ruby?'\n Dasrath went to the tower of his palace to see his son;\n As Rama's chariot set forth under the shade of the trees, he\n wished that he might die.\n Bharat ran after his brother with naked feet.\n He said, 'Oh brother, you are going to the forest, to whom do\n you give the kingdom of Oudh?'\n Rama said, 'When fourteen years have passed away I shall come\n back from the jungles. Till then I give the kingdom to you.'\n\n\nThe following is a love dialogue:\n\n\n Make a beautiful garden for me to see my king.\n In that garden what flowers shall I set?\n Lemons, oranges, pomegranates, figs.\n In that garden what music shall there be?\n A tambourine, a fiddle, a guitar and a dancing girl.\n In that garden what attendants shall there be?\n A writer, a supervisor, a secretary for writing letters. [461]\n\n\nThe next is a love-song by a woman:\n\n\n How has your countenance changed, my lord?\n Why speak you not to your slave?\n If I were a deer in the forest and you a famous warrior, would\n you not shoot me with your gun?\n If I were a fish in the water and you the son of a fisherman,\n would you not catch me with your drag-net?\n If I were a cuckoo in the garden and you the gardener's son,\n would you not trap me with your liming-stick?\n\n\nThe last is a dialogue between Radha and Krishna. Radha with her\nmaidens was bathing in the river when Krishna stole all their clothes\nand climbed up a tree with them. Girdhari is a name of Krishna:\n\n\n R. You and I cannot be friends, Girdhari; I am wearing a\n silk-embroidered cloth and you a black blanket.\n\n You are the son of old Nand, the shepherd, and I am a princess\n of Mathura.\n\n You have taken my clothes and climbed up a kadamb tree. I am\n naked in the river.\n\n K. I will not give you your clothes till you come out of the water.\n\n R. If I come out of the water the people will laugh and clap at me.\n All my companions seeing your beauty say, 'You have vanquished us;\n we are overcome.'\n\n\n\n\n11. Social rules.\n\nPolygamy is permitted but is seldom resorted to, except for the sake\nof offspring. Neither widow-marriage nor divorce are recognised, and\neither a girl or married woman is expelled from the caste if detected\nin a liaison. A man may keep a woman of another caste if he does not\neat from her hand nor permit her to eat in the chauk or purified place\nwhere he and his family take their meals. The practice of keeping\nwomen was formerly common but has now been largely suppressed. Women\nof all castes were kept except Brahmans and Kayasths. Illegitimate\nchildren were known as Dogle or Surait and called Kayasths, ranking\nas an inferior group of the caste. And it is not unlikely that in the\npast the descendants of such irregular unions have been admitted to\nthe Dusre or lower branch of the different subcastes.\n\n\n\n\n12. Birth customs.\n\nDuring the seventh month of a woman's pregnancy a dinner is given to\nthe caste-fellows and songs are sung. After this occasion the woman\nmust not go outside her own village, nor can she go to draw water\nfrom a well or to bathe in a tank. She can only go into the street\nor to another house in her own village.\n\nOn the sixth day after a birth a dinner is given to the caste and\nsongs are sung. The women bring small silver coins or rupees and place\nthem in the mother's lap. The occasion of the first appearance of the\nsigns of maturity in a girl is not observed at all if she is in her\nfather's house. But if she has gone to her father-in-law's house,\nshe is dressed in new clothes, her hair after being washed is tied\nup, and she is seated in the chauk or purified space, while the women\ncome and sing songs.\n\n\n\n\n13. Religion.\n\nThe Kayasths venerate the ordinary Hindu deities. They worship\nChitragupta, their divine ancestor, at weddings and at the Holi\nand Diwali festivals. Twice a year they venerate the pen and ink,\nthe implements of their profession, to which they owe their great\nsuccess. The patwaris in Hoshangabad formerly received small fees,\nknown as diwat puja, from the cultivators for worshipping the\nink-bottle on their behalf, presumably owing to the idea that,\nif neglected, it might make a malicious mistake in the record of\ntheir rights.\n\n\n\n\n14. Social customs.\n\nThe dead are burnt, and the proper offerings are made on the\nanniversaries, according to the prescribed Hindu ritual. Kayasth\nnames usually end in Prasad, Singh, Baksh, Sewak, and Lala in the\nCentral Provinces. Lala, which is a term of endearment, is often\nemployed as a synonym for the caste. Dada or uncle is a respectful\nterm of address for Kayasths. Two names are usually given to a boy,\none for ceremonial and the other for ordinary use.\n\nThe Kayasths will take food cooked with water from Brahmans, and that\ncooked without water (pakki) from Rajputs and Banias. Some Hindustani\nBrahmans, as well as Khatris and certain classes of Banias, will\ntake pakki food from Kayasths. Kayasths of different subcastes will\nsometimes also take it from each other. They will give the huqqa\nwith the reed in to members of their own subcaste, and without the\nreed to any Kayasth. The caste eat the flesh of goats, sheep, fish,\nand birds. They were formerly somewhat notorious for drinking freely,\nbut a great reform has been effected in this respect by the community\nitself through the agency of their caste conference, and many are\nnow total abstainers.\n\n\n\n\n15. Occupation.\n\nThe occupations of the Kayasths have been treated in discussing the\norigin of the caste. They set the greatest store by their profession of\nwriting and say that the son of a Kayasth should be either literate\nor dead. The following is the definition of a Lekhak or writer,\na term said to be used for the Kayasths in Puranic literature:\n\n\"In all courts of justice he who is acquainted with the languages of\nall countries and conversant with all the Shastras, who can arrange\nhis letters in writing in even and parallel lines, who is possessed\nof presence of mind, who knows the art of how and what to speak in\norder to carry out an object in view, who is well versed in all the\nShastras, who can express much thought in short and pithy sentences,\nwho is apt to understand the mind of one when one begins to speak,\nwho knows the different divisions of countries and of time, [462]\nwho is not a slave to his passions, and who is faithful to the king\ndeserves the name and rank of a Lekhak or writer.\" [463]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKewat\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nKewat, Khewat, Kaibartta. [464]--A caste of fishermen, boatmen,\ngrain-parchers, and cultivators, chiefly found in the Chhattisgarh\nDistricts of Drug, Raipur, and Bilaspur. They numbered 170,000 persons\nin 1911. The Kewats or Kaibarttas, as they are called in Bengal,\nare the modern representatives of the Kaivartas, a caste mentioned in\nHindu classical literature. Sir H. Risley explains the origin of the\nname as follows: [465] \"Concerning the origin of the name Kaibartta\nthere has been considerable difference of opinion. Some derive it\nfrom ka, water, and vartta, livelihood; but Lassen says that the\nuse of ka in this sense is extremely unusual in early Sanskrit,\nand that the true derivation is Kivarta, a corruption of Kimvarta,\nmeaning a person following a low or degrading occupation. This, he\nadds, would be in keeping with the pedigree assigned to the caste in\nManu, where the Kaivarta, also known as Margava or Dasa, is said to\nhave been begotten by a Nishada father and an Ayogavi mother, and to\nsubsist by his labour in boats. On the other hand, the Brahma-Vaivarta\nPurana gives the Kaibartta a Kshatriya father and a Vaishya mother,\na far more distinguished parentage; for the Ayogavi having been born\nfrom a Sudra father and a Vaishya mother is classed as pratiloma,\nbegotten against the hair, or in the inverse order of the precedence\nof the castes.\" The Kewats are a mixed caste. Mr. Crooke says that\nthey merge on one side into the Mallahs and on the other into the\nBinds. In the Central Provinces their two principal subdivisions\nare the Laria and Uriya, or the residents of the Chhattisgarh and\nSambalpur plains respectively. The Larias are further split up\ninto the Larias proper, the Kosbonwas, who grow kosa or tasar silk\ncocoons, and the Binjhwars and Dhuris (grain-parchers). The Binjhwars\nare a Hinduised group of the Baiga tribe, and in Bhandara they have\nbecome a separate Hindu caste, dropping the first letter of the name,\nand being known as Injhwar. The Binjhwar Kewats are a group of the\nsame nature. The Dhuris are grain-parchers, and there is a separate\nDhuri caste; but as grain-parching is also a traditional occupation\nof the Kewats, the Dhuris may be an offshoot from them. The Kewats\nare so closely connected with the Dhimars that it is difficult to\nmake any distinction; in Chhattisgarh it is said that the Dhimars\nwill not act as ferrymen, while the Kewats will not grow or sell\nsingara or water-nut. The Dhimars worship their fishing-nets on the\nAkti day, which the Kewats will not do. Both the Kewats and Dhimars\nare almost certainly derived from the primitive tribes. The Kewats\nsay that formerly the Hindus would not take water from them; but\non one occasion during his exile Rama came to them and asked them\nto ferry him across a river; before doing so they washed his feet\nand drank the water, and since that time the Hindus have considered\nthem pure and take water from their hands. This story has no doubt\nbeen invented to explain the fact that Brahmans will take water from\nthe non-Aryan Kewats, the custom having in reality been adopted as\na convenience on account of their employment as palanquin-bearers\nand indoor servants. But in Saugor, where they are not employed as\nservants, and also grow san-hemp, their position is distinctly lower\nand no high caste will take water from them.\n\n\n\n\n2. Exogamous divisions and marriage.\n\nThe caste have also a number of exogamous groups, generally named\nafter plants or animals, or bearing some nickname given to the reputed\nfounder. Instances of the first class are Tuma, a gourd, Karsayal,\na deer, Bhalwa, a bear, Ghughu, an owl, and so on. Members of such a\nsept abstain from injuring the animal after which the sept is named or\neating its flesh; those of the Tuma sept worship a gourd with offerings\nof milk and a cocoanut at the Holi festival. Instances of titular names\nare Garhtod, one who destroyed a fort, Jhagarha quarrelsome, Dehri\npriest, Kala black, and so on. One sept is named Rawat, its founder\nhaving probably belonged to the grazier caste. Members of this sept\nmust not visit the temple of Mahadeo at Rajim during the annual fair,\nbut give no explanation of the prohibition. Others are the Ahira,\nalso from the Ahir (herdsman) caste; the Rautele, which is the name\nof a subdivision of Kols and other tribes; and the Sonwani or 'gold\nwater' sept, which is often found among the primitive tribes. In some\nlocalities these three have now developed into separate subcastes,\nmarrying among themselves; and if any of their members become\nKabirpanthis, the others refuse to eat and intermarry with them. The\nmarriage of members of the same sept is prohibited, and also the union\nof first cousins. Girls are generally married under ten years of age,\nbut if a suitable husband cannot be found for a daughter, the parents\nwill make her over to any member of the caste who offers himself on\ncondition that he bears the expenses of the marriage. In Sambalpur she\nis married to a flower. Sir H. Risley notes [466] the curious fact\nthat in Bihar it is deemed less material that the bridegroom should\nbe older than the bride than that he should be taller. \"This point is\nof the first importance, and is ascertained by actual measurement. If\nthe boy shorter than the girl, or if his height is exactly the same as\nhers, it is believed that the union of the two would bring ill-luck,\nand the match is at once broken off.\" The marriage is celebrated in\nthe customary manner by walking round the sacred pole, after which the\nbridegroom marks the forehead of the bride seven times with vermilion,\nparts her hair with a comb, and then draws her cloth over her head. The\nlast act signifies that the bride has become a married woman, as a\ngirl never covers her head. In Bengal [467] a drop of blood is drawn\nfrom the fingers of the bride and bridegroom and mixed with rice, and\neach eats the rice containing the blood of the other. The anointing\nwith vermilion is probably a substitute for this. Widow-remarriage\nand divorce are permitted. In Sambalpur a girl who is left a widow\nunder ten years of age is remarried with full rites as a virgin.\n\n\n\n\n3. Social customs.\n\nThe Kewats worship the ordinary Hindu deities and believe that a\nspecial goddess, Chaurasi Devi, dwells in their boats and keeps them\nfrom sinking. She is propitiated at the beginning of the rains and in\ntimes of flood, and an image of her is painted on their boats. They\nbury the dead, laying the corpse with the feet to the south, while some\nclothes, cotton, til and salt are placed in the grave, apparently as\na provision for the dead man's soul. They worship their ancestors at\nintervals on a Monday or a Saturday with an offering of a fowl. As is\nusual in Chhattisgarh, their rules as to food are very lax, and they\nwill eat both fowls and pork. Nevertheless Brahmans will take water\nat their hands and eat the rice and gram which they have parched. The\ncaste consider fishing to have been their original occupation, and\ntell a story to the effect that their ancestors saved the deity in\ntheir boat on the occasion of the Deluge, and in return were given\nthe power of catching three or four times as many fish as ordinary\npersons in the same space of time. Some of them parch gram and rice,\nand others act as coolies and banghy-bearers. [468] Kewats are usually\nin poor circumstances, but they boast that the town of Bilaspur is\nnamed after Bilasa Keotin, a woman of their caste. She was married,\nbut was sought after by the king of the country, so she held out her\ncloth to the sun, calling on him to set it on fire, and was burnt\nalive, preserving her virtue. Her husband burnt himself with her,\nand the pair ascended to heaven.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKHAIRWAR\n\n\n[Authorities: Colonel Dalton's Ethnology of Bengal; Sir H. Risley's\nTribes and Castes of Bengal; Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes of the\nN.-W.P. and Oudh.]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Historical notice of the tribe.\n 2. Its origin.\n 3. Tribal subdivisions.\n 4. Exogamous septs.\n 5. Marriage.\n 6. Disposal of the dead.\n 7. Religion.\n 8. Inheritance.\n 9. The Khairwas of Damoh.\n\n\n\n\n1. Historical notice of the tribe.\n\nKhairwar, Kharwar, Khaira, Khairwa. [469]--A primitive tribe of the\nChota Nagpur plateau and Bihar. Nearly 20,000 Khairwars are now under\nthe jurisdiction of the Central Provinces, of whom two-thirds belong\nto the recently acquired Sarguja State, and the remainder to the\nadjoining States and the Bilaspur District. A few hundred Khairwars or\nKhairwas are also returned from the Damoh District in the Bundelkhand\ncountry. Colonel Dalton considers the Khairwars to be closely connected\nwith the Cheros. He relates that the Cheros, once dominant in Gorakhpur\nand Shahabad, were expelled from these tracts many centuries ago by the\nGorkhas and other tribes, and came into Palamau. \"It is said that the\nPalamau population then consisted of Kharwars, Gonds, Mars, Korwas,\nParheyas and Kisans. Of these the Kharwars were the people of most\nconsideration. The Cheros conciliated them and allowed them to remain\nin peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sarguja; all\nthe Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained military\nservice grants of land, which they still retain. It is popularly\nasserted that at the commencement of the Chero rule in Palamau they\nnumbered twelve thousand families and the Kharwars eighteen thousand,\nand if an individual of one or the other is asked to what tribe he\nbelongs, he will say not that he is a Chero or a Kharwar, but that he\nbelongs to the twelve thousand or the eighteen thousand, as the case\nmay be. Intermarriages between Chero and Kharwar families have taken\nplace. A relative of the Palamau Raja married a sister of Maninath\nSingh, Raja of Ramgarh, and this is among themselves an admission\nof identity of origin, as both claiming to be Rajputs they could not\nintermarry till it was proved to the satisfaction of the family priest\nthat the parties belonged to the same class.... The Rajas of Ramgarh\nand Jashpur are members of this tribe, who have nearly succeeded in\nobliterating their Turanian traits by successive intermarriages with\nAryan families. The Jashpur Raja is wedded to a lady of pure Rajput\nblood, and by liberal dowries has succeeded in obtaining a similar\nunion for three of his daughters. It is a costly ambition, but there\nis no doubt that the liberal infusion of fresh blood greatly improves\nthe Kharwar physique.\" [470] This passage demonstrates the existence\nof a close connection between the Cheros and Khairwars. Elsewhere\nColonel Dalton connects the Santals with the Khairwars as follows:\n[471] \"A wild goose coming from the great ocean alighted at Ahiri\nPipri and there laid two eggs. From these two eggs a male and female\nwere produced, who were the parents of the Santal race. From Ahiri\nPipri our (Santal) ancestors migrated to Hara Dutti, and there they\ngreatly increased and multiplied and were called Kharwar.\" This also\naffords some reason for supposing that the Khairwars are an offshoot\nof the Cheros and Santals. Mr. Crooke remarks, \"That in Mirzapur the\npeople themselves derive their name either from their occupation as\nmakers of catechu (khair) or on account of their emigration from\nsome place called Khairagarh, regarding which there is a great\ndifference of opinion. If the Santal tradition is to be accepted,\nKhairagarh is the place of that name in the Hazaribagh District; but\nthe Mirzapur tradition seems to point to some locality in the south\nor west, in which case Khairagarh may be identified with the most\nimportant of the Chhattisgarh Feudatory States, or with the pargana\nof that name in the Allahabad District.\" [472] According to their\nown traditions in Chota Nagpur, Sir H. Risley states that, [473]\n\"The Kharwars declare their original seat to have been the fort of\nRohtas, so called as having been the chosen abode of Rohitaswa, son of\nHarischandra, of the family of the Sun. From this ancient house they\nalso claim descent, calling themselves Surajvansis, and wearing the\nJaneo or caste thread distinguishing the Rajputs. A less flattering\ntradition makes them out to be the offspring of a marriage between\na Kshatriya man and a Bhar woman contracted in the days of King Ben,\nwhen distinctions of caste were abolished and men might marry whom they\nwould.\" A somewhat similar story of themselves is told by the tribe\nin the Bamra State. Here they say that their original ancestors were\nthe Sun and a daughter of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, who lived\nin the town of Sara. She was very beautiful and the Sun desired her,\nand began blowing into a conch-shell to express his passion. While\nthe girl was gaping at the sight and sound, a drop of the spittle fell\ninto her mouth and impregnated her. Subsequently a son was born from\nher arm and a daughter from her thigh, who were known as Bhujbalrai\nand Janghrai. [474] Bhujbalrai was given great strength by the Sun,\nand he fought with the people of the country, and became king of\nRathgarh. But in consequence of this he and his family grew proud,\nand Lakshmi determined to test them whether they were worthy of the\nriches she had given them. So she came in the guise of a beggar to\nthe door, but was driven away without alms. On this she cursed them,\nand said that their descendants, the Khairwars, should always be\npoor, and should eke out a scanty subsistence from the forests. And\nin consequence the Khairwars have ever since been engaged in boiling\nwood for catechu. Mr. Hira Lal identifies the Rathgarh of this story\nwith the tract of Rath in the north of the Raigarh State and the town\nof Sara, where Lakshmi's daughter lived and her children were born,\nwith Saria in Sarangarh.\n\n\n\n\n2. Its origin.\n\nOn the information available as to the past history of the tribe it\nseems probable that the Khairwars may, as suggested by Sir H. Risley,\nbe an offshoot from some other group. The most probable derivation of\nthe name seems to be from the khair or catechu tree (Acacia catechu);\nand it may be supposed that it was the adoption as a calling of the\nmaking of catechu which led to their differentiation. Mr. Crooke\nderives their name either from the khair tree or a place called\nKhairagarh; but this latter name almost certainly means 'The fort of\nthe khair trees.' The Khairwas or Khairwars of the Kaimur hills, who\nare identified by Colonel Dalton and in the India Census of 1901 with\nthe Khairwars of Chota Nagpur, are certainly named after the tree;\nthey are generally recognised as being Gonds who have taken to the\nbusiness of boiling catechu, and are hence distinguished, being a\nlittle looked down upon by other Gonds. Mr. Crooke describes them\nin Mirzapur as \"Admittedly a compound of various jungle tribes who\nhave taken to this special occupation; while according to another\naccount they are the offspring of the Saharias or Saonrs, with whom\ntheir sept names are said to be identical.\" He also identifies them\nwith the Kathkaris of Bombay, whose name means 'makers of katha or\nprepared catechu.' The Khairwars of Chota Nagpur have everywhere a\nsubdivision which makes catechu, this being known as Khairchura in\nthe Central Provinces, Khairi in Bengal and Khairaha in the United\nProvinces. This group is looked down upon by the other Khairwars,\nwho consider their occupation to be disreputable and do not marry with\nthem. Possibly the preparation of catechu, like basket- and mat-making,\nis despised as being a profession practised by primitive dwellers in\nforests, and so those Khairwars who have become more civilised are now\nanxious to disclaim it. Sir H. Risley has several times pointed out the\nindeterminate nature of the constitution of the Chota Nagpur tribes,\nbetween several of whom intermarriage is common. And it seems certain\nthat the tribes as we know them now must have been differentiated\nfrom one or more common stocks much in the same fashion as castes,\nthough rather by the influence of local settlement than by differences\nof occupation, and at a much earlier date. And on the above facts it\nseems likely that the Khairwars of Chota Nagpur are an occupational\noffshoot of the Cheros and Santals, as those of the Kaimur hills are\nof the Gonds and Savars.\n\n\n\n\n3. Tribal subdivisions.\n\nColonel Dalton states that the tribe had four subdivisions, Bhogta,\nMahto, Rawat and Manjhi. Of these Mahto simply means a village headman,\nand is used as a title by many castes and tribes; Rawat is a term\nmeaning chief, and is in common use as a title; and Manjhi too is a\ntitle, being specially applied to boatmen, and also means a village\nheadman among the Santals. These divisions, too, afford some reason for\nconsidering the tribe to be a mixed group. Other occupational subtribes\nare recorded by Sir H. Risley, and are found in the Central Provinces,\nbut these apparently have grown up since Colonel Dalton's time.\n\nThe most important group in Bengal are the Bhogtas, who are found,\nsays Colonel Dalton, \"In the hills of Palamau, skirting Sarguja,\nin Tori and Bhanwar Pahar of Chota Nagpur and other places. They\nhave always had an indifferent reputation. The head of the clan in\nPalamau was a notorious freebooter, who, after having been outlawed\nand successfully evaded every attempt to capture him, obtained a jagir\n[475] on his surrendering and promising to keep the peace. He kept\nto his engagement and died in fair repute, but his two sons could not\nresist the opportunity afforded by the disturbances of 1857-58. After\ngiving much trouble they were captured; one was hanged, the other\ntransported for life and the estate was confiscated.\" Mr. Crooke\nnotes that the Khairwars since adopting Hinduism performed human\nsacrifices to Kali. Some of our people who fell into their hands\nduring the Mutiny were so dealt with. [476]\n\nIn the Central Provinces there is a group known as Surajvansi or\nDescendants of the Sun, or Janeodhari, 'Those who wear the sacred\nthread.' This is the aristocratic division of the caste, to which\nthe chiefs and zamindars belong, and according to the usual practice\nthey have consolidated their higher position by marrying only among\nthemselves. Other groups are the Dualbandhi, who say that they are\nso called because they make a livelihood by building the earthen\ndiwals or walls for houses and yards; but in Mirzapur they derive\nthe name from dual, a leather belt which is supposed to have been\nthe uniform of their forefathers when serving as soldiers. [477]\nThe Patbandhi or silk-makers, according to their own story, are thus\nnamed because their ancestors were once very rich and wore silk;\nbut a more probable hypothesis is that they were rearers of tasar\nsilk cocoons. The Beldar or Matkora work as navvies, and are also\nknown as Kawarvansi or 'Descendants of the Kawars,' another tribe of\nthe locality; and last come the Khairchura, who take their name from\nthe khair tree and are catechu-makers.\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamous septs.\n\nThe tribe have a large number of exogamous groups named after plants\nand animals. Members of the mouse, tortoise, parrot, pig, monkey,\nvulture, banyan tree and date-palm septs worship their totem animal\nor tree, and when they find the dead body of the animal they throw\naway an earthen cooking-pot to purify themselves, as is done when\na member of the family dies. Those of the Dhan (rice), Non (salt),\nDila (plough) and Dhenki (rice pounding-lever) septs cannot dispense\nwith the use of these objects, but make a preliminary obeisance before\nemploying them. Those of the Kansi sept sprinkle water mixed with kans\n[478] grass over the bride and bridegroom at the marriage ceremony,\nand those of the Chandan or sandalwood sept apply sandal-paste to\ntheir foreheads. They cannot clearly explain the meaning of these\nobservances, but some of them have a vague idea that they are descended\nfrom the totem object.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage.\n\nMarriage is either infant or adult, and in the latter case a girl is\nnot disposed of without her consent. A bride-price varying from five\nto ten rupees is paid, and in the case of a girl given to a widower\nthe amount is doubled. The Hindu ceremonial has been adopted for the\nwedding, and an auspicious day is fixed by a Brahman. In Bengal Sir\nH. Risley notes that \"Remnants of non-Aryan usage may be discerned in\nthe marriage ceremony itself. Both parties must first go through the\nform of marriage to a mango tree or at least a branch of the tree;\nand must exchange blood mixed with sindur, though in the final and\nbinding act sindur alone is smeared by the bridegroom upon the bride's\nforehead and the parting of her hair.\" As has been pointed out by\nMr. Crooke, the custom of smearing vermilion on the bride's forehead is\na substitute for an earlier anointing with blood; just as the original\nidea underlying the offering of a cocoanut was that of substitution\nfor a human head. In some cases blood alone is still used. Thus Sir\nH. Risley notes that among the Birhors the marriage rite is performed\nby drawing blood from the little fingers of the bride and bridegroom\nand smearing it on each of them. [479] The blood-covenant by which\na bride was admitted to her husband's sept by being smeared with his\nblood is believed to have been a common rite among primitive tribes.\n\n\n\n\n6. Disposal of the dead.\n\nAs a rule, the tribe bury the dead, though the Hindu custom of\ncremation is coming into fashion among the well-to-do. Before the\ninterment they carry the corpse seven times round the grave, and it is\nburied with the feet pointing to the north. They observe mourning for\nten days and abstain from animal food and liquor during that period. A\ncurious custom is reported from the Bilaspur District, where it is\nsaid that children cut a small piece of flesh from the finger of a\ndead parent and swallow it, considering this as a requital for the\nlabour of the mother in having carried the child for nine months in her\nwomb. So in return they carry a piece of her flesh in their bodies. But\nthe correct explanation as given by Sir J. G. Frazer is that they do\nit to prevent themselves from being haunted by the ghosts of their\nparents. \"Thus Orestes, [480] after he had gone mad from murdering\nhis mother, recovered his wits by biting off one of his own fingers;\nsince his victim was his own mother it might be supposed that the\ntasting of his own blood was the same as hers; and the furies of his\nmurdered mother, which had appeared black to him before, appeared\nwhite as soon as he had mutilated himself in this way. The Indians\nof Guiana believe that an avenger of blood who has slain his man\nmust go mad unless he tastes the blood of his victim, the notion\napparently being that the ghost drives him crazy. A similar custom\nwas observed by the Maoris in battle. When a warrior had slain his\nfoe in combat, he tasted his blood, believing that this preserved him\nfrom the avenging spirit (atua) of his victim; for they imagined that\n'the moment a slayer had tasted the blood of the slain, the dead man\nbecame a part of his being and placed him under the protection of the\natua or guardian-spirit of the deceased.' Some of the North American\nIndians also drank the blood of their enemies in battle. Strange as\nit may seem, this truly savage superstition exists apparently in\nItaly to this day. There is a widespread opinion in Calabria that\nif a murderer is to escape he must suck his victim's blood from the\nreeking blade of the dagger with which he did the deed.\"\n\n\n\n\n7. Religion.\n\nThe religion of the tribe is of the usual animistic type. Colonel\nDalton notes that they have, like the Kols, a village priest, known\nas Pahan or Baiga. He is always one of the impure tribes, a Bhuiya,\na Kharwar or a Korwa, and he offers a great triennial sacrifice of a\nbuffalo in the sacred grove, or on a rock near the village. The fact\nthat the Khairwars employed members of the Korwa and Bhuiya tribes\nas their village priests may be taken to indicate that the latter\nare the earlier residents of the country, and are on this account\nemployed by the Khairwars as later arrivals for the conciliation of\nthe indigenous deities. Colonel Dalton states that the Khairwars made\nno prayers to any of the Hindu gods, but when in great trouble they\nappealed to the sun. In the Central Provinces the main body of the\ntribe, and particularly those who belong to the landholding class,\nprofess the Hindu religion.\n\n\n\n\n8. Inheritance.\n\nThe Khairwars have now also adopted the Hindu rule of inheritance,\nand have abandoned the tribal custom which Sir H. Risley records\nas existing in Bengal. \"Here the eldest son of the senior wife,\neven if younger than one of the sons of the second wife, inherits\nthe entire property, subject to the obligation of providing for all\nother legitimate children. If the inheritance consists of land, the\nheir is expected to create separate maintenance grants in favour of\nhis younger brothers. Daughters can never inherit, but are entitled\nto live in the ancestral home till they are married.\" [481]\n\n\n\n\n9. The Khairwas of Damoh.\n\nThe Khairwas or Khairwars of the Kaimur hills are derived, as already\nseen, from the Gonds and Savars, and therefore are ethnologically\na distinct group from those of the Chota Nagpur plateau, who have\nbeen described above. But as nearly every caste is made up of diverse\nethnological elements held together by the tie of a common occupation,\nit does not seem worth while to treat these groups separately. Colonel\nDalton, who also identifies them with the main tribe, records an\ninteresting notice of them at an earlier period: [482]\n\n\"There is in the seventh volume of the Asiatic Researches a notice\nof the Kharwars of the Kaimur hills in the Mirzapur District, to the\nnorth of the Son river, by Captain J. P. Blunt, who in his journey from\nChunar to Ellora in A.D. 1794, met with them and describes them as a\nvery primitive tribe. He visited one of their villages consisting of\nhalf a dozen poor huts, and though proceeding with the utmost caution,\nunattended, to prevent alarm, the inhabitants fled at his approach. The\nwomen were seen, assisted by the men, carrying off their children and\nmoving with speed to hide themselves in the woods. It was observed\nthat they were nearly naked, and the only articles of domestic use\nfound in the deserted huts were a few gourds for water-vessels, some\nbows and arrows, and some fowls as wild as their masters. With great\ndifficulty, by the employment of Kols as mediators, some of the men\nwere induced to return. They were nearly naked, but armed with bows\nand arrows and a hatchet.\"\n\nIn Damoh the Khairwars are said to come from Panna State. During the\nworking season they live in temporary sheds in the forest, and migrate\nfrom place to place as the supply of trees is exhausted. Having cut\ndown a tree they strip off the bark and cut the inner and tender wood\ninto small pieces, which are boiled for two or three days until a thick\nblack paste is obtained. From this the water is allowed to drain off,\nand the residue is made into cakes and dried in the sun. It is eaten\nin small pieces with betel-leaf and areca-nut. Duty is levied by the\nForest Department at the rate of a rupee per handi or pot in which\nboiling is carried on. In Bombay various superstitious observances\nare connected with the manufacture of catechu; and Mr. Crooke quoted\nthe following description of them from the Bombay Gazetteer: [483]\n\"Every year on the day after the Holi the chulha ceremony takes\nplace. In a trench seven feet long by three, and about three deep,\nkhair logs are carefully stacked and closely packed till they stand in\na heap about three feet above ground. The pile is then set on fire and\nallowed to burn to the level of the ground. The village sweeper breaks\na cocoanut, kills a couple of fowls and sprinkles a little liquor near\nthe pile. Then, after washing their feet, the sweeper and the village\nheadman walk barefoot hurriedly across the fire. After this strangers\ncome to fulfil vows, and giving one anna and a half cocoanut to the\nsweeper, and the other half cocoanut to the headman, wash their feet,\nand turning to the left, walk over the pile. The fire seems to cause\nnone of them any pain.\" The following description of the Kathkaris\nas hunters of monkeys is also taken by Mr. Crooke from the Bombay\nGazetteer: [484] \"The Kathkaris represent themselves as descended from\nthe monkeys of Rama. Now that their legitimate occupation of preparing\ncatechu (kath) has been interfered with, they subsist almost entirely\nby hunting, and habitually kill and eat monkeys, shooting them with\nbows and arrows. In order to approach within range they are obliged\nto have recourse to stratagems, as the monkeys at once recognise them\nin their ordinary costume. The ruse usually adopted is for one of the\nbest shots to put on a woman's robe (sari), under the ample folds of\nwhich he conceals his murderous weapons. Approaching the tree in which\nthe monkeys are seated, the sportsman affects the utmost unconcern,\nand busies himself with the innocent occupation of picking up twigs\nand leaves, and thus disarming suspicion he is enabled to get a\nsufficiently close shot to render success a certainty.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKhandait\n\n\nKhandait, Khandayat.--The military caste of Orissa, the word Khandait\nmeaning 'swordsman,' and being derived from the Uriya khanda, a\nsword. Sir H. Risley remarks of the Khandaits: [485] \"The caste is\nfor the most part, if not entirely, composed of Bhuiyas, whose true\naffinities have been disguised under a functional name, while their\ncustoms, their religion and in some cases even their complexion and\nfeatures have been modified by long contact with Hindus of relatively\npure Aryan descent. The ancient Rajas of Orissa kept up large armies\nand partitioned the land on strictly military tenures. These armies\nconsisted of various castes and races, the upper ranks being officered\nby men of good Aryan descent, while the lower ones were recruited\nfrom the low castes alike of the hills and the plains. In the social\nsystem of Orissa, the Sresta or 'best' Khandaits rank next to the\nRajputs, who have not the intimate connection with the land which\nhas helped to raise the Khandaits to their present position.\" The\nKhandaits are thus like the Marathas, and the small body of Paiks\nin the northern Districts, a caste formed from military service;\nand though recruited for the most part originally from the Dravidian\ntribes, they have obtained a considerable rise in status owing to their\noccupation and the opportunity which has been afforded to many of them\nto become landholders. The best Khandaits now aspire to Rajput rank,\nwhile the bulk of them have the position of cultivators, from whom\nBrahmans will take water, or a much higher one than they are entitled\nto by descent. In [486] the Central Provinces the Khandaits have no\nsubcastes, and only two gotras or clans, named after the Kachhap or\ntortoise and the Nagas or cobra respectively. These divisions appear,\nhowever, to be nominal, and do not regulate marriage, as to which\nthe only rule observed is that persons whose descent can be traced\nfrom the same parent should not marry each other. Early marriage is\nusual, and if a girl arrives at adolescence without a husband having\nbeen found for her, she goes through the ceremony of wedlock with an\narrow. Polygamy is permitted, but a person resorting to it is looked\ndown on and nicknamed Maipkhia or wife-eater. The essential portion of\nthe marriage ceremony is the bandan or tying of the hands of the bride\nand bridegroom together with kusha grass. The bridegroom must lift\nup the bride and walk seven times round the marriage altar carrying\nher. Widow-marriage and divorce are permitted in the Central Provinces,\nand Brahmans are employed for religious and ceremonial purposes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKHANGAR\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Origin and traditions.\n 2. Caste subdivisions.\n 3. Marriage.\n 4. Religion.\n 5. Social status.\n 6. Occupation.\n\n\n\n\n1. Origin and traditions.\n\nKhangar, [487] called also Kotwal, Jemadar or Darbania (gatekeeper).--A\nlow caste of village watchmen and field-labourers belonging to\nBundelkhand, and found in the Saugor, Damoh, Narsinghpur and Jubbulpore\nDistricts. They numbered nearly 13,000 in 1911. The Khangars are\nalso numerous in the United Provinces. Hindu ingenuity has evolved\nvarious explanations of the word Khangar, such as 'khand,' a pit,\nand 'gar,' maker, digger, because the Khangar digs holes in other\npeople's houses for the purposes of theft. The caste is, however,\nalmost certainly of non-Aryan origin, and there is little doubt also\nthat Bundelkhand was its original home. It may be noted that the Munda\ntribe have a division called Khangar with which the caste may have\nsome connection. The Khangars themselves relate the following story\nof their origin. Their ancestors were formerly the rulers of the fort\nand territory of Kurar in Bundelkhand, when a Bundela Rajput came\nand settled there. The Bundela had a very pretty daughter whom the\nKhangar Raja demanded in marriage. The Bundela did not wish to give\nhis daughter to the Khangar, but could not refuse the Raja outright,\nso he said that he would consent if all the Khangars would agree\nto adopt Bundela practices. This the Khangars readily agreed to do,\nand the Bundela thereupon invited them all to a wedding feast, and\nhaving summoned his companions and plied the Khangars with liquor\nuntil they were dead drunk, cut them all to pieces. One pregnant\nwoman only escaped by hiding in a field of kusum or safflower,\n[488] and on this account the Khangars still venerate the kusum and\nwill not wear cloths dyed with saffron. She fled to the house of\na Muhammadan eunuch or Fakir, who gave her shelter and afterwards\nplaced her with a Dangi landowner. The Bundelas followed her up and\ncame to the house of the Dangi, who denied that the Khangar woman was\nwith him. The Bundelas then asked him to make all the women in his\nhouse eat together to prove that none of them was the Khangarin, on\nwhich the Dangi five times distributed the maihar, a sacrificial cake\nwhich is only given to relations, to all the women of the household\nincluding the Khangarin, and thus convinced the Bundelas that she was\nnot in the house. The woman who was thus saved became the ancestor\nof the whole Khangar caste, and in memory of this act the Khangars\nand Nadia Dangis are still each bidden to eat the maihar cake at the\nweddings of the other, or at least so it is said; while the Fakirs,\nin honour of this great occasion when one of their number acted as\ngiver rather than receiver, do not beg for alms at the wedding of a\nKhangar, but on the contrary bring presents. The basis of the story,\nthat the Khangars were the indigenous inhabitants of Bundelkhand and\nwere driven out and slaughtered by the immigrant Bundelas, may not\nimprobably be historically correct. It is also said that no Khangar is\neven now allowed to enter the fort of Kurar, and that the spirit of\nthe murdered chief still haunts it; so that if a bed is placed there\nin the evening with a tooth-stick, the tooth-stick will be split in\nthe morning as after use, and the bed will appear as if it had been\nslept in. [489]\n\n\n\n\n2. Caste subdivisions.\n\nThe caste has four subdivisions, named Rai, Mirdha or Nakib, Karbal\nand Dahat. The Rai or royal Khangars are the highest group and\npractise hypergamy with families of the Mirdha and Karbal groups,\ntaking daughters from them in marriage but not giving their daughters\nto them. The Mirdhas or Nakibs are so called because they act as\nmace-bearers and form the bodyguard of princes. Very few, if any,\nare to be found in the Central Provinces. The Karbal are supposed\nto be especially valorous. The Dahats have developed into a separate\ncaste called Dahait, and are looked down on by all the other divisions\nas they keep pigs. The caste is also divided into numerous exogamous\nsepts, all of which are totemistic; and the members of the sept usually\nshow veneration to the object from which the sept takes its name. Some\nof the names of septs are as follows: Bachhiya from bachhra a calf;\nBarha from barah a pig, this sept worshipping the pig; Belgotia from\nthe bel tree; Chandan from the sandalwood tree; Chirai from chiriya\na bird, this sept revering sparrows; Ghurgotia from ghora a horse\n(members of this sept touch the feet of a horse before mounting it and\ndo not ride on a horse in wedding processions); Guae from the iguana;\nHanuman from the monkey god; Hathi from the elephant; Kasgotia from\nkansa bell-metal (members of this sept do not use vessels of bell-metal\non ceremonial occasions nor sell them); Mahiyar from maihar fried cakes\n(members of this sept do not use ghi at their weddings and may not sell\nghi by weight though they may sell it by measure); San after san-hemp\n(members of this sept place pieces of hemp near their family god);\nSandgotia from sand a bullock; Tambagotia from tamba copper; and Vishnu\nfrom the god of that name, whom the sept worship. The names of 31 septs\nin all are reported and there are probably others. The fact that two or\nthree septs are named after Hindu deities may be noticed as peculiar.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage.\n\nThe marriage of members of the same sept is prohibited and also\nthat of first cousins. Girls are usually married at about ten\nyears of age, the parents of the girl having to undertake the\nduty of finding a husband. The ceremonial in vogue in the northern\nDistricts is followed throughout, an astrologer being consulted to\nascertain that the horoscopes of the pair are favourable, and a\nBrahman employed to draw up the lagan or auspicious paper fixing\nthe date of the marriage. The bridegroom is dressed in a yellow\ngown and over-cloth, with trousers of red chintz, red shoes, and\na marriage-crown of date-palm leaves. He has the silver ornaments\nusually worn by women on his neck, as the khangwari or silver ring,\nand the hamel or necklace of rupees. In order to avert the evil\neye he carries a dagger or nutcracker, and a smudge of lampblack is\nmade on his forehead to disfigure him and thus avert the evil eye,\nwhich it is thought would otherwise be too probably attracted by his\nexquisitely beautiful appearance in his wedding garments. The binding\nportion of the ceremony is the bhanwar or walking round the sacred\npost of the munga tree (Moringa pterygosperma). This is done six times\nby the couple, the bridegroom leading, and they then make a seventh\nturn round the bedi or sacrificial fire. If the bride is a child this\nseventh round is omitted at the marriage and performed at the Dusarta\nor going-away ceremony. After the marriage the haldi ceremony takes\nplace, the father of the bridegroom being dressed in women's clothes;\nhe then dances with the mother of the bride, while they throw turmeric\nmixed with water over each other. Widow-marriage is allowed, and the\nwidow may marry anybody in the caste; the ceremony consists in the\nplacing of bangles on her wrist, and is always performed at night,\na Wednesday being usually selected. A feast must afterwards be given\nto the caste-fellows. Divorce is also permitted, and may be effected\nat the instance of either party in the presence of the caste panchayat\nor committee. When a husband divorces his wife he must give a feast.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion.\n\nThe Khangars worship the usual Hindu deities and especially\nvenerate Dulha Deo, a favourite household godling in the northern\nDistricts. Pachgara Deo is a deity who seems to have been created\nto commemorate the occasion when the Dangi distributed the marriage\ncakes five times to the fugitive ancestress of the caste. His cult is\nnow on the decline, but some still consider him the most important\ndeity of all, and it is said that no Khangar will tell an untruth\nafter having sworn by this god. Children dying unmarried and persons\ndying of leprosy or smallpox are buried, while others are buried or\nburnt according as the family can afford the more expensive rite of\ncremation or not. As among other castes a corpse must not be burnt\nbetween sunset and sunrise, as it is believed that this would cause\nthe soul to be born blind in the next birth. Nor must the corpse be\nwrapped in stitched clothes, as in that case the child in which it is\nreincarnated would be born with its arms and legs entangled. The corpse\nis laid on its back and some ghi, til, barley cakes and sandalwood,\nif available, are placed on the body. The soul of the deceased is\nbelieved to haunt the house for three days, and each night a lamp\nand a little water in an earthen pot are placed ready for it. When\ncremation takes place the ashes are collected on the third day and\nthe burning ground is cleaned with cowdung and sprinkled with milk,\nmustard and salt, in order that a cow may lick over the place and the\nsoul of the deceased may thus find more easy admission into Baikunth or\nheaven. Well-to-do persons take the bones of the dead to the Ganges, a\nfew from the different parts of the body being selected and tied round\nthe bearer's neck. Mourning is usually only observed for three days.\n\n\n\n\n5. Social status.\n\nThe Khangars do not admit outsiders into the caste, except children\nborn of a Khangar father and a mother belonging to one of the highest\ncastes. A woman going wrong with a man of another caste is finally\nexpelled, but liaisons within the caste may be atoned for by the\nusual penalty of a feast. The caste eat flesh and drink liquor but\nabjure fowls, pork and beef. They will take food cooked without\nwater from Banias, Sunars and Tameras, but katchi roti only from\nthe Brahmans who act as their priests. Such Brahmans are received\non terms of equality by others of the caste. Khangars bathe daily,\nand their women take off their outer cloth to eat food, because this\nis not washed every day. Food cooked with water must be consumed in\nthe chauka or place where it is prepared, and not carried outside\nthe house. Men of the caste often have the suffix Singh after their\nnames in imitation of the Rajputs. Although their social observances\nare thus in some respects strict, the status of the caste is low,\nand Brahmans do not take water from them.\n\n\n\n\n6. Occupation.\n\nThe Khangars say that their ancestors were soldiers, but at present\nthey are generally tenants, field-labourers and village watchmen. They\nwere formerly noted thieves, and several proverbs remain in testimony\nto this. \"The Khangar is strong only when he possesses a khunta (a\npointed iron rod to break through the wall of a house).\" 'The Sunar\nand the Khangar only flourish together'; because the Sunar acts as a\nreceiver of the property stolen by the Khangar. They are said to have\nhad different ways of breaking into a house, those who got through\nthe roof being called chhappartor, while others who dug through\nthe side walls were known as khonpaphor. They have now, however,\ngenerally relinquished their criminal practices and settled down to\nlive as respectable citizens.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKHARIA\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice.\n 2. Legend of origin.\n 3. Subcastes.\n 4. Exogamy and totemism.\n 5. Marriage.\n 6. Taboos as to food.\n 7. Widow-marriage and divorce.\n 8. Religion.\n 9. Funeral rites.\n 10. Bringing back the souls of the dead.\n 11. Social customs.\n 12. Caste rules and organisation.\n 13. Occupation and character.\n 14. Language.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nKharia. [490]--A primitive Kolarian tribe, of which about 900 persons\nwere returned from the Central Provinces in 1911. They belong to the\nBilaspur District and the Jashpur and Raigarh States. The Kharias\nare one of the most backward of the Kolarian tribes, and appear to\nbe allied to the Mundas and Savars. Colonel Dalton says of them:\n\"In the Chota Nagpur estate they are found in large communities, and\nthe Kharias belonging to these communities are far more civilised than\nthose who live apart. Their best settlements lie near the southern\nKoel river, which stream they venerate as the Santals do the Damudar,\nand into it they throw the ashes of their dead.\" Chota Nagpur is the\nhome of the Kharias, and their total strength is over a lakh. They\nare found elsewhere only in Assam, where they have probably migrated\nto the tea-gardens.\n\n\n\n\n2. Legend of origin.\n\nThe Kharia legend of origin resembles that of the Mundas, and tends\nto show that they are an elder branch of that tribe. They say that\na child was born to a woman in the jungle, and she left it to fetch\na basket in which to carry it home. On her return she saw a cobra\nspreading its hood over the child to protect it from the sun. On this\naccount the child was called Nagvansi (of the race of the cobra),\nand became the ancestor of the Nagvansi Rajas of Chota Nagpur. The\nKharias say this child had an elder brother, and the two brothers set\nout on a journey, the younger riding a horse and the elder carrying\na kawar or banghy with their luggage. When they came to Chota Nagpur\nthe younger was made king, on which the elder brother also asked for\na share of the inheritance. The people then put two caskets before\nhim and asked him to choose one. One of the caskets contained silver\nand the other only some earth. The elder brother chose that which\ncontained earth, and on this he was told that the fate of himself and\nhis descendants would be to till the soil, and carry banghys as he had\nbeen doing. The Kharias say that they are descended from the elder\nbrother, while the younger was the ancestor of the Nagvansi Rajas,\nwho are really Mundas. They say that they can never enter the house\nof the Nagvansi Rajas because they stand in the relation of elder\nbrother-in-law to the Ranis, who are consequently prohibited from\nlooking on the face of a Kharia. This story is exactly like that of the\nParjas in connection with the Rajas of Bastar. And as the Parjas are\nprobably an older branch of the Gonds, who were reduced to subjection\nby the subsequent Raj-Gond immigrants under the ancestors of the\nBastar Rajas, so it seems a reasonable hypothesis that the Kharias\nstood in a similar relationship to the Mundas or Kols. This theory\nderives some support from the fact that, according to Sir H. Risley,\nthe Mundas will take daughters in marriage from the Kharias, but will\nnot give their daughters to them, and the Kharias speak of the Mundas\nas their elder brethren. [491] Mr. Hira Lal suggests that the name\nKharia is derived from kharkhari, a palanquin or litter, and that the\noriginal name Kharkharia has been contracted into Kharia. He states\nthat in the Uriya country Oraons, who carry litters, are also called\nKharias. This derivation is in accordance with the tradition of the\nKharias that their first ancestor carried a banghy, and with the fact\nthat the Kols are the best professional dhoolie-bearers.\n\n\n\n\n3. Subcastes.\n\nIn Raigarh the Kharias have only two subtribes, the Dudh, or milk\nKharias, and the Delki. Of these the Delki are said to be of mixed\norigin. They take food from Brahmans, and explain that they do so\nbecause an ancestress went wrong with a Brahman. It seems likely\nthat they may be descended from the offspring of immigrant Hindus in\nChota Nagpur with Kharia women, like similar subdivisions in other\ntribes. The Delkis look down on the Dudh Kharias, saying that the\nlatter eat the flesh of tigers and monkeys, from which the Delkis\nabstain. In Bengal the tribe have two other divisions, the Erenga\nand Munda Kharias.\n\n\n\n\n4. Exogamy and totemism.\n\nThe tribe is divided, like others, into totemistic exogamous septs,\nwhich pay reverence to their totems. Thus members of the Kulu\n(tortoise), Kiro (tiger), Nag (cobra), Kankul (leopard) and Kuto\n(crocodile) septs abstain from killing their totem animal, fold\ntheir hands in obeisance when they meet it, and taking up some\ndust from the animal's track place it on their heads as a mark of\nveneration. Certain septs cannot wholly abstain from the consumption\nof their sept totem, so they make a compromise. Thus members of the\nBaa, or rice sept, cannot help eating rice, but they will not eat the\nscum which gathers over the rice as it is being boiled. Those of the\nBilum or salt sept must not take up a little salt on one finger and\nsuck it, but must always use two or more fingers for conveying salt\nto the mouth, presumably as a mark of respect. Members of the Suren\nor stone sept will not make ovens with stones but only with clods of\nearth. The tribe do not now think they are actually descended from\ntheir totems, but tell stories accounting for the connection. Thus the\nKatang Kondai or bamboo sept say that a girl in the family of their\nancestors went to cut bamboos and never came back. Her parents went\nto search for her and heard a voice calling out from the bamboos, but\ncould not find their daughter. Then they understood that the bamboo\nwas of their own family and must not be cut by them. The supposition\nis apparently that the girl was transformed into a bamboo.\n\n\n\n\n5. Marriage.\n\nMarriage between members of the same sept is forbidden, but the rule\nis not always observed. A brother's daughter may marry a sister's\nson, but not vice versa. Marriage is always adult, and overtures come\nfrom the boy's father. The customary bride-price is twelve bullocks,\nbut many families cannot afford this, and resort is then made to a\nfiction. The boy's party make twelve models of bullocks in earth,\nand placing each in a leaf-plate send them to the girl's party, who\nthrow away two, saying that one has been eaten by a tiger, and the\nother has fallen into a pit and died. The remaining ten are returned\nto the bridegroom's party, who throw away two, saying that they have\nbeen sold to provide liquor for the Panch. For two of the eight now\nleft real animals are substituted, and for the other six one rupee\neach, and the two cattle and six rupees are sent back to the bride's\nparty as the real bride-price. Poor families, however, give four rupees\ninstead of the two cattle, and ten rupees is among them considered as\nthe proper price, though even this is reduced on occasion. The marriage\nparty goes from the bride's to the bridegroom's house, and consists of\nwomen only. The men do not go, as they say that on one occasion all the\nmen of a Kharia wedding procession were turned into stones, and they\nfear to undergo a similar fate. The real reason may probably be that\nthe journey of the bride is a symbolic reminiscence of the time when\nshe was carried off by force, and hence it would be derogatory for the\nmen to accompany her. The bridegroom comes out to meet the bride riding\non the shoulders of his brother-in-law or paternal aunt's husband,\nwho is known as Dherha. He touches the bride, and both of them perform\na dance. At the wedding the bridegroom stands on a plough-yoke, and\nthe bride on a grinding-slab, and the Dherha walks seven times round\nthem sprinkling water on them from a mango-leaf. The couple are shut\nup alone for the night, and next morning the girl goes to the river\nto wash her husband's clothes. On her return a fowl is killed, and\nthe couple drink two drops of its blood in water mixed with turmeric,\nas a symbol of the mixing of their own blood. A goat is killed, and\nthey step in its blood and enter their houses. The caste-people say\nto them, \"Whenever a Kharia comes to your house, give him a cup of\nwater and tobacco and food if you have it,\" and the wedding is over.\n\n\n\n\n6. Taboos as to food.\n\nAfter a girl is married her own mother will not eat food cooked by her,\nas no two Kharias will take food together unless they are of the same\nsept. When a married daughter goes back to the house of her parents\nshe cooks her food separately, and does not enter their cook-room;\nif she did all the earthen pots would be defiled and would have to be\nthrown away. A similar taboo marks the relations of a woman towards\nher husband's elder brother, who is known as Kura Sasur. She must\nnot enter his house nor sit on a cot or stool before him, nor touch\nhim, nor cook food for him. If she touches him a fine of a fowl with\nliquor is imposed by the caste, and for his touching her a goat and\nliquor. This idea may perhaps have been established as a check on the\ncustom of fraternal polyandry, when the idea of the eldest brother\ntaking the father's place as head of the joint family became prevalent.\n\n\n\n\n7. Widow-marriage and divorce.\n\nWidow-marriage is permitted at the price of a feast to the caste,\nand the payment of a small sum to the woman's family. A widow must\nleave her children with her first husband's family if required to\ndo so. If she takes them with her they become entitled to inherit\nher second husband's property, but receive only a half-share as\nagainst a full share taken by his children. Divorce is permitted\nby mutual agreement or for adultery of the woman. But the practice\nis not looked upon with favour, and a divorced man or woman rarely\nsucceeds in obtaining another mate.\n\n\n\n\n8. Religion.\n\nThe principal deity of the Kharias is a hero called Banda. They\nsay that an Oraon had vowed to give his daughter to the man who\nwould clear the kans [492] grass off a hillock. Several men tried,\nand at last Banda did it by cutting out the roots. He then demanded\nthe girl's hand, but the Oraon refused, thinking that Banda had\ncleared the grass by magic. Then Banda went away and the girl died,\nand on learning of this Banda went and dug her out of her grave,\nwhen she came to life and they were married. Since then Banda has\nbeen worshipped. The tribe also venerate their ploughs and axes,\nand on the day of Dasahra they make offerings to the sun.\n\n\n\n\n9. Funeral rites.\n\nThe tribe bury the dead, placing the head to the north. When the\ncorpse is taken out of the house two grains of rice are thrown to\neach point of the compass to invite the ancestors of the family to\nthe funeral. And on the way, where two roads meet, the corpse is set\ndown and a little rice and cotton-seed sprinkled on the ground as a\nguiding-mark to the ancestors. Before burial the corpse is anointed\nwith turmeric and oil, and carried seven times round the grave,\nprobably as a symbol of marriage to it. Each relative puts a piece\nof cloth in the grave, and the dead man's cooking and drinking-pots,\nhis axe, stick, pipe and other belongings, and a basketful of rice are\nburied with him. The mourners set three plants of orai or khas-khas\ngrass on the grave over the dead man's head, middle and feet, and\nthen they go to a tank and bathe, chewing the roots of this grass. It\nwould appear that the orai grass may be an agent of purification or\nmeans of severance from the dead man's ghost, like the leaves of the\nsacred nim [493] tree.\n\n\n\n\n10. Bringing back the souls of the dead.\n\nOn the third day they bathe and are shaved, and catch a fish, which is\ndivided among all the relatives, however small it may be, and eaten\nraw with salt, turmeric and garlic. It seems likely that this fish\nmay be considered to represent the dead man's spirit, and is eaten in\norder to avoid being haunted by his ghost or for some other object,\nand the fish may be eaten as a substitute for the dead man's body,\nitself consumed in former times. On the tenth night after the death\nthe soul is called back, a lighted wick being set in a vessel at the\ncross-roads where the rice and cotton had been sprinkled. They call\non the dead man, and when the flame of the lamp wavers in the wind\nthey break the vessel holding the lamp, saying that his soul has come\nand joined them, and go home. On the following Dasahra festival, when\nancestors are worshipped, the spirit of the deceased is mingled with\nthe ancestors. A cock and hen are fed and let loose, and the headman of\nthe sept calls on the soul to come and join the ancestors and give his\nprotection to the family. When a man is killed by a tiger the remains\nare collected and burnt on the spot. A goat is sacrificed and eaten\nby the caste, and thereafter, when a wedding takes place in that man's\nfamily, a goat is offered to his spirit. The Kharias believe that the\nspirits of the dead are reborn in children, and on the Barhi day, a\nmonth after the child's birth, they ascertain which ancestor has been\nreborn by the usual method of divination with grains of rice in water.\n\n\n\n\n11. Social customs.\n\nThe strict taboos practised by the tribe as regards food have\nalready been mentioned. Men will take food from one another, but not\nwomen. Men will also accept food cooked without water from Brahmans,\nRajputs and Bhuiyas. The Kharias will eat almost any kind of flesh,\nincluding crocodile, rat, pig, tiger and bear; they have now generally\nabandoned beef in deference to Hindu prejudice, and also monkeys,\nthough they formerly ate these animals, the Topno sept especially\nbeing noted on this account.\n\n\n\n\n12. Caste rules and organisation.\n\nTemporary expulsion from caste is imposed for the usual offences,\nand also for getting shaved or having clothes washed by a barber\nor washerman other than a member of the caste. This rule seems\nto arise either from an ultra-strict desire for social purity or\nfrom a hostile reaction against the Hindus for the low estimation\nin which the Kharias are held. Again it is a caste offence to carry\nthe palanquin of a Kayasth, a Muhammadan, a Koshta (weaver) or a Nai\n(barber), or to carry the tazias or representations of the tomb of\nHusain in the Muharram procession. The caste have a headman who has\nthe title of Pardhan, with an assistant called Negi and a messenger\nwho is known as Ganda. The headman must always be of the Samer sept,\nthe Negi of the Suren sept, and the Ganda of the Bartha or messenger\nsept. The headman's duty is to give water for the first time to caste\noffenders on readmission, the Negi must make all arrangements for the\ncaste feast, and the Ganda goes and summons the tribesmen. In addition\nto the penalty feast a cash fine is imposed on an erring member;\nof this rather more than half is given to the assembled tribesmen\nfor the purpose of buying murra or fried grain on their way home on\nthe following morning. The remaining sum is divided between the three\nofficers, the Pardhan and Negi getting two shares each and the Ganda\none share. But the division is only approximate, as the Kharias are\nunable to do the necessary calculation for an odd number of rupees. The\nmen have their hair tied in a knot on the right side of the head,\nand women on the left. The women are tattooed, but not the men.\n\nColonel Dalton writes of the tribal dances: [494] \"The nuptial dances\nof the Kharias are very wild, and the gestures of the dancers and\nthe songs all bear more directly than delicately on what is evidently\nconsidered the main object of the festivities, the public recognition\nof the consummation of the marriage. The bride and bridegroom\nare carried through the dances seated on the hips of two of their\ncompanions. Dancing is an amusement to which the Kharias, like all\nKolarians, are passionately devoted. The only noticeable difference\nin their style is that in the energy, vivacity and warmth of their\nmovements they excel all their brethren.\"\n\n\n\n\n13. Occupation and character.\n\nThe Kharias say that their original occupation is to carry dhoolies\nor litters, and this, as well as the social rules prohibiting them\nfrom carrying those of certain castes, is in favour of the derivation\nof the name from kharkhari, a litter. They are also cultivators,\nand collect forest produce. They are a wild and backward tribe,\nas shown in the following extracts from an account by Mr. Ball:\n[495] \"The first Kharias I met with were encamped in the jungle\nat the foot of some hills. The hut was rudely made of a few sal\nbranches, its occupants being one man, an old and two young women,\nbesides three or four children. At the time of my visit they were\ntaking their morning meal; and as they regarded my presence with\nthe utmost indifference, without even turning round or ceasing from\ntheir occupations, I remained for some time watching them. They had\nevidently recently captured some small animal, but what it was, as\nthey had already eaten the skin, I could not ascertain. As I looked\non, the old woman distributed to the others, on plates of sal leaves,\nwhat appeared to be the entrails of the animal, and wrapping up her\nown portion between a couple of leaves threw it on the fire in order\nto give it a very primitive cooking. With regard to their ordinary\nfood the Kharias chiefly depend on the jungle for a supply of fruits,\nleaves and roots.\n\n\"The Kharias never make iron themselves, but are altogether dependent\non the neighbouring bazars for their supplies. Had they at any\nperiod possessed a knowledge of the art of making iron, conservative\nof their customs as such races are, it is scarcely likely that they\nwould have forgotten it. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose\nthat there was a period prior to the advent of the Hindus when iron\nwas quite unknown to them--when, owing to the absence of cultivation\nin the plains, they were even more dependent on the supply of jungle\nfood than they are at present. In those times their axes and their\nimplements for grubbing up roots were in all probability made of stone,\nand their arrows had tips of the same material.\n\n\"In their persons the Kharias are very dirty, seldom if ever washing\nthemselves. Their features are decidedly of a low character, not\nunlike the Bhumij, but there seemed to me to be an absence of any\nstrongly-marked type in their faces or build, such as enables one to\nknow a Santal and even a Kurmi at a glance.\"\n\n\n\n\n14. Language.\n\nOf the Kharia dialect Sir George Grierson states that it is closely\nallied to Savara, and has also some similarity to Korku and Juang:\n[496] \"Kharia grammar has all the characteristics of a language which\nis gradually dying out and being superseded by dialects of quite\ndifferent families. The vocabulary is strongly Aryanised, and Aryan\nprinciples have pervaded the grammatical structure. Kharia is no longer\na typical Munda language. It is like a palimpsest, the original writing\non which can only be recognised with some difficulty.\" [497] An account\nof the Kharia dialect has been published in Mr. G. B. Banerjee's\nIntroduction to the Kharia Language (Calcutta, 1894).\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKhatik\n\n\nKhatik.--A functional caste of Hindu mutton-butchers and vegetable\nsellers. They numbered nearly 13,000 persons in the Central Provinces\nand Berar in 1911, and are, as might be expected, principally returned\nfrom the Districts with a considerable urban population, Amraoti,\nJubbulpore, Nagpur and Saugor. The name is derived from the Sanskrit\nKhattika, [498] a butcher or hunter. In northern India Mr. Crooke\nstates that the caste are engaged in keeping and selling pigs and\nretailing vegetables and fruits, and does not specially mention that\nthey slaughter animals, though in Agra one of their subcastes is named\nBuchar, a corruption of the English word butcher. In the Punjab Sir\nD. Ibbetson [499] says of them that, \"They form a connecting link\nbetween the scavengers and the leather-workers, though they occupy\na social position distinctly inferior to that of the latter. They\nare great keepers of pigs and poultry, which a Chamar would not\nkeep. [500] At the same time many of them tan and dye leather and\nindeed are not seldom confused with the Chamrang. The Khatik is\nsaid sometimes to keep sheep and goats and twist their hair into\nwaist-bands for sale.\" Sir H. Risley again describes the Khatiks\nof Bihar as a cultivating and vegetable-selling caste. [501] The\ndifferences in the principal occupations ascribed to the caste are\nthus somewhat remarkable. In the Central Provinces the Khatiks are\nprimarily slaughterers of sheep and goats and mutton-butchers, though\nthey also keep pigs, and some of them, who object to this trade, make\ntheir livelihood by selling vegetables. Both in the United Provinces\nand Punjab the Khatiks are considered to be connected with the Pasis\nand probably an offshoot of that caste. In the Central Provinces they\nare said to be an inferior branch of the Gadaria or shepherd caste. The\nGadarias state that their old sheep were formerly allowed to die. Then\nthey appointed some poor men of the community to kill them and sell\nthe flesh, dividing the profits with the owner, and thus the Khatik\ncaste arose. The Khatiks accept cooked food from the Gadarias, but\nthe latter do not reciprocate.\n\nThe Khatiks are both Hindu and Muhammadan by religion, the latter\nbeing also known as Gai-Khatik or cow-killer; but these may more\nsuitably be classed with the Kasais or Muhammadan butchers. In the\nMaratha Districts the Hindu Khatiks are divided into two subcastes,\nthe Beraria or those from Berar, and the Jhadi or those of the forest\ncountry of the Wainganga valley. These will take food together,\nbut do not intermarry. They have the usual set of exogamous clans\nor septs, many of which are of a totemistic nature, being named\nafter plants, animals or natural objects. In Jubbulpore, owing to\ntheir habit of keeping pigs and the dirty state of their dwellings,\none of their divisions is named Lendha, which signifies the excrement\nof swine. Here the sept is called ban, while in Wardha it is known as\nkul or adnam. Marriage within the sept is forbidden. When arranging a\nmatch they consider it essential that the boy should be taller than\nthe girl, but do not insist on his being older. A bride-price is\nsometimes paid, especially if the parents of the girl are poor, but\nthe practice is considered derogatory. In such a case the father is\nthought to sell his daughter and he is called Bad or Bhand. Marriages\ncommonly take place on the fifth, seventh or ninth day after the Holi\nfestival, or on the festival of Badsavitri, the third day of Baisakh\n(light fortnight). When the bridegroom leaves the house to set out\nfor the wedding his mother or aunt waves a pestle and churning-stick\nround him, puts a piece of betel-vine in his mouth and gives him\nher breast to suck. He then steps on a little earthen lamp-saucer\nplaced over an egg and breaks them, and leaves the house without\nlooking back. These rites are common to many castes, but their exact\nsignificance is obscure. The pestle and churning-stick and egg may\nperhaps be emblems of fertility. At the wedding the fathers of the\ncouple split some wood into shreds, and, placing it in a little pit\nwith cotton, set a light to it. If it is all burnt up the ceremony\nhas been properly performed, but if any is left, the people laugh\nand say that the corpses of the family's ancestors were not wholly\nconsumed on the pyre. To effect a divorce the husband and wife break\na stick in the presence of the caste panchayat or committee, and if\na divorced woman or one who has deserted her husband marries again,\nthe first husband has to give a feast to the caste on the tenth\nday after the wedding; this is perhaps in the nature of a funeral\nfeast to signify that she is dead to him. The remarriage of widows\nis permitted. A girl who is seduced by a member of the caste, even\nthough she may be delivered of a child, may be married to him by the\nmaimed rites used for widows. But she cannot take part in auspicious\nceremonies, and her feet are not washed by married women like those\nof a proper bride. Even if a girl be seduced by an outsider, except\na Hindu of the impure castes or a Muhammadan, she may be taken back\ninto the community and her child will be recognised as a member of\nit. But they say that if a Khatik keeps a woman of another caste he\nwill be excommunicated until he has put her away, and his children\nwill be known as Akre or bastard Khatiks, these being numerous in\nBerar. The caste burn or bury the dead as their means permit, and\non the third day they place on the pyre some sugar, cakes, liquor,\nsweets and fruit for the use of the dead man's soul.\n\nThe occupation of the Khatik is of course horrible to Hindu ideas, and\nthe social position of the caste is very low. In some localities they\nare considered impure, and high-caste Hindus who do not eat meat will\nwash themselves if forced to touch a Khatik. Elsewhere they rank just\nabove the impure castes, but do not enter Hindu temples. These Khatiks\nslaughter sheep and goats and sell the flesh, but they do not cure\nthe skins, which are generally exported to Madras. The Hindu Khatiks\noften refuse to slaughter animals themselves and employ a Muhammadan\nto do so by the rite of halal. The blood is sometimes sold to Gonds,\nwho cook and eat it mixed with grain. Other members of the caste are\nengaged in cultivation, or retail vegetables and grain.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKhatri\n\n\n1. Rajput origin.\n\nKhatri.--A prominent mercantile caste of the Punjab, whose members\nto the number of about 5000 have settled in the Central Provinces\nand Berar, being distributed over most Districts. The Khatris claim\nto be derived from the Rajput caste, and say that their name is a\ncorruption of Kshatriya. At the census of 1901 Sir Herbert Risley\napproved of their demand on the evidence laid before him by the\nleading representatives of the caste. This view is assented to by\nMr. Crooke and Mr. Nesfield. In Gujarat also the caste are known as\nBrahma-Kshatris, and their Rajput origin is considered probable,\nwhile their appearance bears out the claim to be derived either\nfrom the Aryans or some later immigrants from Central Asia: \"They\nare a handsome fair-skinned class, some of them with blue or grey\neyes, in make and appearance like Vanias (Banias), only larger and\nmore vigorous.\" [502] Mr. Crooke states that, \"their women have a\nreputation for their beauty and fair complexion. The proverb runs,\n'A Khatri woman would be fair without fine clothes or ornaments,'\nand, 'Only an albino is fairer than a Khatri woman.'\" [503] Their\nlegend of origin is as follows: \"When Parasurama the Brahman was\nslaying the Kshatriyas in revenge for the theft of the sacred cow\nKamdhenu and for the murder of his father, a pregnant Kshatriya woman\ntook refuge in the hut of a Saraswat Brahman. When Parasurama came\nup he asked the Brahman who the woman was, and he said she was his\ndaughter. Parasurama then told him to eat with her in order to prove\nit, and the Brahman ate out of the same leaf-plate as the woman. The\nchild to whom she subsequently gave birth was the ancestor of the\nKhatris, and in memory of this Saraswat Brahmans will eat with Khatris\nto the present day.\" The Saraswat Brahman priests of the Khatris do as\na matter of fact take katcha food or that cooked with water from them,\nand smoke from their huqqas, and this is another strong argument in\nfavour of their origin either from Brahmans or Rajputs.\n\nThe classical account of the Khatris is that given in Sir George\nCampbell's Ethnology of India, and it may be reproduced here as in\nother descriptions of the caste:\n\n\n\n\n2. Sir George Campbell's account of the Khatris.\n\n\"Trade is their main occupation; but in fact they have broader and more\ndistinguishing features. Besides monopolising the trade of the Punjab\nand the greater part of Afghanistan, and doing a good deal beyond those\nlimits, they are in the Punjab the chief civil administrators, and have\nalmost all literate work in their hands. So far as the Sikhs have a\npriesthood, they are, moreover, the priests or gurus of the Sikhs. Both\nNanak and Govind were, and the Sodis and Bedis of the present day are,\nKhatris. Thus then they are in fact in the Punjab, so far as a more\nenergetic race will permit them, all that Mahratta Brahmins are in\nthe Mahratta country, besides engrossing the trade which the Mahratta\nBrahmins have not. They are not usually military in their character,\nbut are quite capable of using the sword when necessary. Diwan Sawan\nMal, Governor of Multan, and his notorious successor Mulraj, and very\nmany of Ranjit Singh's chief functionaries were Khatris.\n\n\"Even under Mahomedan rulers in the west they have risen to high\nadministrative posts. There is a record of a Khatri Diwan of Badakshan\nor Kurdaz; and, I believe, of a Khatri Governor of Peshawar under the\nAfghans. The Emperor Akbar's famous minister, Todarmal, was a Khatri;\nand a relative of that man of undoubted energy, the great commissariat\ncontractor of Agra, Joti Pershad, lately informed me that he also\nis a Khatri. Altogether, there can be no doubt that these Khatris\nare one of the most acute, energetic and remarkable races in India,\nthough in fact, except locally in the Punjab, they are not much known\nto Europeans. The Khatris are staunch Hindus, and it is somewhat\nsingular that, while giving a religion and priests to the Sikhs,\nthey themselves are comparatively seldom Sikhs. The Khatris are a\nvery fine, fair, handsome race, and, as may be gathered from what I\nhave already said, they are very generally educated.\n\n\"There is a large subordinate class of Khatris, somewhat lower, but of\nequal mercantile energy, called Rors or Roras. The proper Khatris of\nhigher grade will often deny all connection with them, or at least only\nadmit that they have some sort of bastard kindred with Khatris, but\nI think there can be no doubt that they are ethnologically the same,\nand they are certainly mixed up with Khatris in their avocations. I\nshall treat the whole kindred as generically Khatris.\n\n\"Speaking of the Khatris then thus broadly, they have, as I have\nsaid, the whole trade of the Punjab and of most of Afghanistan. No\nvillage can get on without the Khatri who keeps the accounts, does\nthe banking business, and buys and sells the grain. They seem, too,\nto get on with the people better than most traders and usurers of this\nkind. In Afghanistan, among a rough and alien people, the Khatris are\nas a rule confined to the position of humble dealers, shopkeepers\nand moneylenders; but in that capacity the Pathans seem to look on\nthem as a kind of valuable animal, and a Pathan will steal another\nman's Khatri, not only for the sake of ransom, as is frequently done\non the frontier of Peshawar and Hazara, but also as he might steal a\nmilch-cow, or as Jews might, I dare say, be carried off in the Middle\nAges with a view to render them profitable.\n\n\"I do not know the exact limits of Khatri occupation to the West,\nbut certainly in all Eastern Afghanistan they seem to be just as much\na part of the established community as they are in the Punjab. They\nfind their way far into Central Asia, but the further they get the\nmore depressed and humiliating is their position. In Turkistan,\nVamb\u00e9ry speaks of them with great contempt, as yellow-faced Hindus\nof a cowardly and sneaking character. Under Turcoman rule they\ncould hardly be otherwise. They are the only Hindus known in Central\nAsia. In the Punjab they are so numerous that they cannot all be rich\nand mercantile; and many of them hold land, cultivate, take service,\nand follow various avocations.\"\n\n\n\n\n3. Higher and lower groups.\n\nThe Khatris have a very complicated system of subdivisions, which it\nis not necessary to detail here in view of their small strength in\nthe Province. As a rule they marry only one wife, though a second\nmay be taken for the purpose of getting offspring. But parents\nare very reluctant to give their daughters to a man who is already\nmarried. The remarriage of widows is forbidden and divorce also is\nnot recognised, but an unfaithful wife may be turned out of the house\nand expelled from the caste. Though they practise monogamy, however,\nthe Khatris place no restrictions on the keeping of concubines, and\nfrom the offspring of such women inferior branches of the caste have\ngrown up. In Gujarat these are known as the Dasa and Pancha groups,\nand they may not eat or intermarry with proper Khatris. [504] The\nname Khatri seems there to be restricted to these inferior groups,\nwhile the caste proper is called Brahma-Kshatri. There is also a\nmarked distinction in their occupation, for, while the Brahma-Kshatris\nare hereditary District officials, pleaders, bankers and Government\nservants, the Khatris are engaged in weaving, and formerly prepared\nthe fine cotton cloth of Surat and Broach, while they also make gold\nand silver thread, and the lace used for embroidery. [505] As a class\nthey are said to be thriftless and idle, and at least the Khatris of\nSurat to be excessively fond of strong drink. The Khatris of Nimar in\nthe Central Provinces are also weavers, and it seems not unlikely that\nthey may be a branch of these Gujarat Khatris of the inferior class,\nand that the well-known gold and silver lace and embroidery industry\nof Burhanpur may have been introduced by them from Surat. The Khatris\nof Narsinghpur are dyers, and may not improbably be connected with\nthe Nimar weavers. The other Khatris scattered here and there over\nthe Provinces may belong to the higher branch of the caste.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage and funeral customs.\n\nIn conclusion some extracts may be given from the interesting\naccount of the marriage and funeral customs of the Brahma-Kshatris in\nGujarat: [506] \"On the wedding-day shortly before the marriage hour\nthe bridegroom, his face covered with flower-garlands and wearing a\nlong tunic and a yellow silk waistcloth, escorted by the women of his\nfamily, goes to the bride's house on horseback in procession.... Before\nthe bridegroom's party arrive the bride, dressed in a head-cloth,\nbodice, a red robe, and loose yellow Muhammadan trousers, is seated\nin a closed palanquin or balai set in front of the house. The\nbridegroom on dismounting walks seven times round the palanquin,\nthe bride's brother at each turn giving him a cut with an oleander\ntwig, and the women of the family throwing showers of cake from the\nwindows. He retires, and while mounting his horse, and before he is in\nthe saddle, the bride's father comes out, and, giving him a present,\nleads him into the marriage-hall.... The girl keeps her eyes closed\nthroughout the whole day, not opening them until the bridegroom is\nushered into the marriage-booth, so that the first object she sees is\nher intended husband. On the first Monday, Thursday or Friday after\nthe marriage the bride is hid either in her own or in a neighbour's\nhouse. The bridegroom comes in state, and with the point of his sword\ntouches the outer doors of seven houses, and then begins to search\nfor his wife. The time is one of much fun and merriment, the women\nof the house bantering and taunting the bridegroom, especially when\nhe is long in finding his wife's hiding-place. When she is found the\nbridegroom leads the bride to the marriage-hall, and they sit there\ncombing each other's hair.\"\n\nIn connection with their funeral ceremonies Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam\ngives the following particulars of the custom of beating the breasts:\n[507] \"Contrary to the Gujarat practice of beating only the breast,\nthe Brahma-Kshatri women beat the forehead, breast and knees. For\nthirteen days after a death women weep and beat their breasts thrice\na day, at morning, noon and evening. Afterwards they weep and beat\ntheir breasts every evening till a year has passed, not even excepting\nSundays, Tuesdays or Hindu holidays. During this year of mourning the\nfemale relations of the deceased used to eat nothing but millet-bread\nand pulse; but this custom is gradually being given up.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKhojah\n\n\nKhojah. [508]--A small Muhammadan sect of traders belonging to\nGujarat, who retain some Hindu practices. They reside in Wardha,\nNagpur and the Berar Districts, and numbered about 500 persons in\n1911 as against 300 in 1901. The Khojahs are Muhammadans of the Shia\nsect, and their ancestors were converted Hindus of the Lohana trading\ncaste of Sind, who are probably akin to the Khatris. As shown in the\narticle on Cutchi, the Cutchi or Meman traders are also converted\nLohanas. The name Khojah is a corruption of the Turkish Khwajah,\nLord, and this is supposed to be a Muhammadan equivalent for the\ntitle Thakur or Thakkar applied to the Lohanas. The Khojahs belong\nto the Nazarian branch of the Egyptian Ismailia sect, and the founder\nof this sect in Persia was Hasan Sabah, who lived at the beginning of\nthe eleventh century and founded the order of the Fidawis or devotees,\nwho were the Assassins of the Crusades. Hasan subsequently threw off\nhis allegiance to the Egyptian Caliph and made himself the head of his\nown sect with the title of Shaikh-ul-Jabal or Lord. He was known to the\nCrusaders as the 'Old Man of the Mountain.' His third successor Hasan\n(A.D. 1163) declared himself to be the unrevealed Imam and preached\nthat no action of a believer in him could be a sin. It is through\nthis Hasan that His Highness the Aga Khan traces his descent from\nAli. Subsequently emissaries of the sect came to India, and one Pir\nSadr-ud-din converted the Lohanas. According to one account this man\nwas a Hindu slave of Imam Hasan. Sadr-ud-din preached that his master\nHasan was the Nishkalanki or tenth incarnation of Vishnu. The Adam\nof the Semitic story of the creation was identified with the Hindu\ndeity Vishnu, the Prophet Muhammad with Siva, and the first five\nImams of Ismailia with the five Pandava brothers. By this means the\nnew faith was made more acceptable to the Lohanas. In 1845 Aga Shah\nHasan Ali, the Ismailia unrevealed Imam, came and settled in India,\nand his successor is His Highness the Aga Khan.\n\nThe Khojahs retain some Hindu customs. Boys have their ears bored and\na lock of hair is left on a child's head to be shaved and offered at\nsome shrine. Circumcision and the wearing of a beard are optional. They\ndo not have mosques, but meet to pray at a lodge called the Jama'at\nKhana. They repeat the names of their Pirs or saints on a rosary\nmade of 101 beads of clay from Karbala, the scene of the death of\nHasan and Husain. At their marriages, deaths and on every new-moon\nday, contributions are levied which are sent to His Highness the Aga\nKhan. \"A remarkable feature at a Khojah's death,\" Mr. Faridi states,\n\"is the samarchhanta or Holy Drop. The Jama'at officer asks the dying\nKhojah whether he wishes for the Holy Drop, and if the latter agrees\nhe must bequeath Rs. 5 to Rs. 500 to the Jama'at. The officer dilutes\na cake of Karbala clay in water and moistens the lips of the dying man\nwith it, sprinkling the remainder over his face, neck and chest. The\ntouch of the Holy Drop is believed to save the departing soul from\nthe temptation of the Arch-Fiend, and to remove the death-agony as\ncompletely as among the Sunnis does the recital at a death-bed of the\nchapter of the Koran known as the Surah-i-Ya-sin. If the dead man is\nold and grey-haired the hair after death is dyed with henna. A garland\nof cakes of Karbala clay is tied round the neck of the corpse. If the\nbody is to be buried locally two small circular patches of silk cloth\ncut from the covering of Husain's tomb, called chashmah or spectacles,\nare laid over the eyes. Those Khojahs who can afford it have their\nbodies placed in air-tight coffins and transported to the field of\nKarbala in Persia to be buried there. The bodies are taken by steamer\nto Baghdad, and thence by camel to Karbala.\n\n\"The Khojahs are keen and enterprising traders, and are great\ntravellers by land and sea, visiting and settling in distant countries\nfor purposes of trade. They have business connections with Ceylon,\nBurma, Singapore, China and Japan, and with ports of the Persian Gulf,\nArabia and East Africa. Khojah boys go as apprentices in foreign\nKhojah firms on salaries of Rs. 200 to Rs. 2000 a year with board\nand lodging.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKHOND [509]\n\n\n[The principal authorities on the Khonds are Sir H. Risley's Tribes and\nCastes of Bengal, Major-General Campbell's Wild Tribes of Khondistan,\nand Major MacPherson's Report on the Khonds of the Districts of Ganjam\nand Cuttack (Reprint, Madras Scottish United Press, 1863). When\nthe inquiries leading up to these volumes were undertaken, the\nCentral Provinces contained a large body of the tribe, but the bulk\nof these have passed to Bihar and Orissa with the transfer of the\nKalahandi and Patna States and the Sambalpur District. Nevertheless,\nas information of interest had been collected, it has been thought\ndesirable to reproduce it, and Sir James Frazer's description of\nthe human sacrifices formerly in vogue has been added. Much of\nthe original information contained in this article was furnished\nby Mr. Panda Baijnath, Extra Assistant Commissioner, when Diwan\nof Patna State. Papers were also contributed by Rai Sahib Dinbandhu\nPatnaik, Diwan of Sonpur, Mr. Mian Bhai, Extra Assistant Commissioner,\nSambalpur, and Mr. Charu Chandra Ghose, Deputy Inspector of Schools,\nKalahandi.]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Traditions of the tribe.\n 2. Tribal divisions.\n 3. Exogamous septs.\n 4. Marriage.\n 5. Customs at birth.\n 6. Disposal of the dead.\n 7. Occupation.\n 8. A Khond combat.\n 9. Social customs.\n 10. Festivals.\n 11. Religion.\n 12. Human sacrifice.\n 13. Last human sacrifices.\n 14. Khond rising in 1882.\n 15. Language.\n\n\n\n\n1. Traditions of the tribe.\n\nKhond, Kandh.1--A Dravidian tribe found in the Uriya-speaking tract of\nthe Sambalpur District and the adjoining Feudatory States of Patna and\nKalahandi, which up to 1905 were included in the Central Provinces,\nbut now belong to Bihar and Orissa. The Province formerly contained\n168,000 Khonds, but the number has been reduced to about 10,000,\nresiding mainly in the Khariar zamindari to the south-east of the\nRaipur District and the Sarangarh State. The tract inhabited by the\nKhonds was known generally as the Kondhan. The tribe call themselves\nKuiloka, or Kuienju, which may possibly be derived from ko or ku,\na Telugu word for a mountain. [510] Their own traditions as to\ntheir origin are of little historical value, but they were almost\ncertainly at one time the rulers of the country in which they now\nreside. It was the custom until recently for the Raja of Kalahandi\nto sit on the lap of a Khond on his accession while he received the\noaths of fealty. The man who held the Raja was the eldest member of\na particular family, residing in the village of Gugsai Patna, and\nhad the title of Patnaji. The coronation of a new Raja took place in\nthis village, to which all the chiefs repaired. The Patnaji would be\nseated on a large rock, richly dressed, with a cloth over his knees\non which the Raja sat. The Diwan or minister then tied the turban of\nstate on the Raja's head, while all the other chiefs present held the\nends of the cloth. The ceremony fell into abeyance when Raghu Kesari\nDeo was made Raja on the deposition of his predecessor for misconduct,\nas the Patnaji refused to install a second Raja, while one previously\nconsecrated by him was still living. The Raja was also accustomed\nto marry a Khond girl as one of his wives, though latterly he did\nnot allow her to live in the palace. These customs have lately been\nabandoned; they may probably be interpreted as a recognition that the\nRajas of Kalahandi derived their rights from the Khonds. Many of the\nzamindari estates of Kalahandi and Sonpur are still held by members\nof the tribe.\n\n\n\n\n2. Tribal divisions.\n\nThere is no strict endogamy within the Khond tribe. It has two\nmain divisions: the Kutia Khonds who are hillmen and retain their\nprimitive tribal customs, and the plain-dwelling Khonds who have\nacquired a tincture of Hinduism. The Kutia or hill Khonds are said to\nbe so called because they break the skulls of animals when they kill\nthem for food; the word kutia meaning one who breaks or smashes. The\nplain-dwelling Khonds have a number of subdivisions which are supposed\nto be endogamous, though the rule is not strictly observed. Among these\nthe Raj Khonds are the highest, and are usually landed proprietors. A\nman, however, is not considered to be a Raj Khond unless he possesses\nsome land, and if a Raj Khond takes a bride from another group he\ndescends to it. A similar rule applies among some of the other groups,\na man being relegated to his wife's division when he marries into\none which is lower than his own. The Dal Khonds may probably have\nbeen soldiers, the word dal meaning an army. They are also known as\nAdi Kandh or the superior Khonds, and as Balusudia or 'Shaven.' At\npresent they usually hold the honourable position of village priest,\nand have to a certain extent adopted Hindu usages, refusing to eat\nfowls or buffaloes, and offering the leaves of the tulsi (basil) to\ntheir deities. The Kandhanas are so called because they grow turmeric,\nwhich is considered rather a low thing to do, and the Pakhia because\nthey eat the flesh of the por or buffalo. The Gauria are graziers,\nand the Nagla or naked ones apparently take their name from their\npaucity of clothing. The Utar or Satbhuiyan are a degraded group,\nprobably of illegitimate descent; for the other Khonds will take\ndaughters from them, but will not give their daughters to them.\n\n\n\n\n3. Exogamous septs.\n\nTraditionally the Khonds have thirty-two exogamous septs, but the\nnumber has now increased. All the members of one sept live in the same\nlocality about some central village. Thus the Tupa sept are collected\nround the village of Teplagarh in the Patna State, the Loa sept round\nSindhekala, the Borga sept round Bangomunda, and so on. The names\nof the septs are derived either from the names of villages or from\ntitles or nicknames. Each sept is further divided into a number of\nsubsepts whose names are of a totemistic nature, being derived from\nanimals, plants or natural objects. Instances of these are Bachhas\ncalf, Chhatra umbrella, Hikoka horse, Kelka the kingfisher, Konjaka\nthe monkey, Mandinga an earthen pot, and so on. It is a very curious\nfact that while the names of the septs appear to belong to the Khond\nlanguage, those of the subsepts are all Uriya words, and this affords\nsome ground for the supposition that they are more recent than the\nsepts, an opinion to which Sir H. Risley inclines. On the other hand,\nthe fact that the subsepts have totemistic names appears difficult\nof explanation under this hypothesis. Members of the subsept regard\nthe animal or plant after which it is named as sacred. Those of the\nKadam group will not stand under the tree of that name. Those of\nthe Narsingha [511] sept will not kill a tiger or eat the meat of\nany animal wounded or killed by this animal. The same subsept will\nbe found in several different septs, and a man may not marry a woman\nbelonging either to the same sept or subsept as his own. But kinship\nthrough females is disregarded, and he may take his maternal uncle's\ndaughter to wife, and in Kalahandi is not debarred from wedding his\nmother's sister. [512]\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage.\n\nMarriage is adult and a large price, varying from 12 to 20 head of\ncattle, was formerly demanded for the bride. This has now, however,\nbeen reduced in some localities to two or three animals and a rupee\neach in lieu of the others, or cattle may be entirely dispensed with\nand some grain given. If a man cannot afford to purchase a bride he may\nserve his father-in-law for seven years as the condition of obtaining\nher. A proposal for marriage is made by placing a brass cup and three\narrows at the door of the girl's father. He will remove these once to\nshow his reluctance, and they will be again replaced. If he removes\nthem a second time, it signifies his definite refusal of the match,\nbut if he allows them to remain, the bridegroom's friends go to him\nand say, 'We have noticed a beautiful flower in passing through your\nvillage and desire to pluck it.' The wedding procession goes from the\nbride's to the bridegroom's house as among the Gonds; this custom,\nas remarked by Mr. Bell, is not improbably a survival of marriage\nby capture, when the husband carried off his wife and married her\nat his own house. At the marriage the bride and bridegroom come out,\neach sitting on the shoulders of one of their relatives. The bridegroom\npulls the bride to his side, when a piece of cloth is thrown over them,\nand they are tied together with a string of new yarn wound round them\nseven times. A cock is sacrificed, and the cheeks of the couple are\nsinged with burnt bread. They pass the night in a veranda, and next\nday are taken to a tank, the bridegroom being armed with a bow and\narrows. He shoots one through each of seven cowdung cakes, the bride\nafter each shot washing his forehead and giving him a green twig for\na tooth-brush and some sweets. This is symbolical of their future\ncourse of life, when the husband will procure food by hunting, while\nthe wife will wait on him and prepare his food. Sexual intercourse\nbefore marriage between a man and girl of the tribe is condoned so\nlong as they are not within the prohibited degrees of relationship,\nand in Kalahandi such liaisons are a matter of ordinary occurrence. If\na girl is seduced by one man and subsequently married to another, the\nfirst lover usually pays the husband a sum of seven to twelve rupees\nas compensation. In Sambalpur a girl may choose her own husband, and\nthe couple commonly form an intimacy while engaged in agricultural\nwork. Such unions are known as Udhlia or 'Love in the fields.' If the\nparents raise any objection to the match the couple elope and return\nas man and wife, when they have to give a feast to the caste, and if\nthe girl was previously betrothed to another man the husband must pay\nhim compensation. In the last case the union is called Paisa moli or\nmarriage by purchase. A trace of fraternal polyandry survives in the\ncustom by which the younger brothers are allowed access to the elder\nbrother's wife till the time of their own marriage. Widow-marriage\nand divorce are recognised.\n\n\n\n\n5. Customs at birth.\n\nFor one day after a child has been born the mother is allowed no\nfood. On the sixth day she herself shaves the child's head and bites\nhis nails short with her teeth, after which she takes a bow and arrows\nand stands with the child facing successively to the four points of the\ncompass. The idea of this is to make the child a skilful hunter when\nhe grows up. Children are named in their fifth or sixth year. Names\nare sometimes given after some personal peculiarity, as Lammudia,\nlong-headed, or Khanja, one having six fingers; or after some\ncircumstance of the birth, as Ghosian, in compliment to the Ghasia\n(grass-cutter) woman who acts as midwife; Jugi, because some holy\nmendicant (Yogi) was halting in the village when the child was born;\nor a child may be named after the day of the week or month on which\nit was born. The tribe believe that the souls of the departed are born\nagain as children, and boys have on occasion been named Majhian Budhi\nor the old head-woman, whom they suppose to have been born again\nwith a change of sex. Major Macpherson observed the same belief:\n[513] \"To determine the best name for the child, the priest drops\ngrains of rice into a cup of water, naming with each grain a deceased\nancestor. He pronounces, from the movements of the seed in the fluid,\nand from observations made on the person of the infant, which of his\nprogenitors has reappeared in him, and the child generally, but not\nuniformly, receives the name of that ancestor.\" When the children are\nnamed, they are made to ride a goat or a pig, as a mark of respect,\nit is said, to the ancestor who has been reborn in them. Names usually\nrecur after the third generation.\n\n\n\n\n6. Disposal of the dead.\n\nThe dead are buried as a rule, but the practice of cremating the bodies\nof adults is increasing. When a body is buried a rupee or a copper coin\nis tied in the sheet, so that the deceased may not go penniless to the\nother world. Sometimes the dead man's clothes and bows and arrows are\nburied with him. On the tenth day the soul is brought back. Outside\nthe village, where two roads meet, rice is offered to a cock, and\nif it eats, this is a sign that the soul has come. The soul is then\nasked to ride on a bowstick covered with cloth, and is brought to the\nhouse and placed in a corner with those of other relatives. The souls\nare fed annually with rice on the harvest and Dasahra festivals. In\nSambalpur a ball of powdered rice is placed under a tree with a lamp\nnear it, and the first insect that settles on the ball is taken to be\nthe soul, and is brought home and worshipped. The souls of infants\nwho die before the umbilical cord has dropped are not brought back,\nbecause they are considered to have scarcely come into existence;\nand Sir E. Gait records that one of the causes of female infanticide\nwas the belief that the souls of girl-children thus killed would not\nbe born again, and hence the number of future female births would\ndecrease. This belief partially conflicts with that of the change of\nsex on rebirth mentioned above; but the two might very well exist\ntogether. The souls of women who die during pregnancy or after a\nmiscarriage, or during the monthly period of impurity are also not\nbrought back, no doubt because they are held to be malignant spirits.\n\n\n\n\n7. Occupation.\n\nThe Khond traditionally despises all occupations except those of\nhusbandry, hunting and war. \"In Orissa,\" Sir H. Risky states, \"they\nclaim full rights of property in the soil in virtue of having cleared\nthe jungle and prepared the land for cultivation. In some villages\nindividual ownership is unknown, and the land is cultivated on a\nsystem of temporary occupation subject to periodical redistribution\nunder the orders of the headman or malik.\" Like the other forest\ntribes they are improvident and fond of drink.\n\nMacpherson [514] described the Khonds as faithful to friends, devoted\nto their chiefs, resolute, brave, hospitable and laborious; but these\nhigh qualities meet with no recognition among the Uriya Hindus,\nwho regard their stupidity as the salient attribute of the Khonds\nand have various tales in derision of them, like those told of the\nweavers. They consider the Khonds as only a little superior to the\nimpure Doms (musicians and sweepers), and say, 'Kandh ghare Domna\nMantri,' or 'In a Kandh house the Dom is Prime Minister.' This is\nparalleled by the similar relation between the Gonds and Pardhans. The\narms of the Khonds were a light, long-handled sword with a blade very\ncuriously carved, the bow and arrow and the sling--no shields being\nused. The axe also was used with both hands, to strike and guard, its\nhandle being partly defended by brass plates and wire for the latter\npurpose. The following description of a battle between rival Khond\nclans was recorded by Major Macpherson as having been given to him\nby an eye-witness, and may be reproduced for its intrinsic interest;\nthe fight was between the hostile tribes of Bora Muta and Bora Des\nin the Gumsur territory:\n\n\n\n\n8. A Khond combat.\n\n\"At about 12 o'clock in the day the people of Bora Des began to\nadvance in a mass across the Salki river, the boundary between the\nDistricts, into the plain of Kurmingia, where a much smaller force\nwas arrayed to oppose them. The combatants were protected from the\nneck to the loins by skins, and cloth was wound round their legs down\nto the heel, but the arms were quite bare. Round the heads of many,\ntoo, cloth was wound, and for distinction the people of Bora Muta\nwore peacock's feathers in their hair, while those of Bora Des had\ncock's tail plumes. They advanced with horns blowing, and the gongs\nbeat when they passed a village. The women followed behind carrying\npots of water and food for refreshments, and the old men who were\npast bearing arms were there, giving advice and encouragement. As the\nadverse parties approached, showers of stones, handed by the women,\nflew from slings from either side, and when they came within range\narrows came in flights and many fell back wounded. At length single\ncombats sprang up betwixt individuals who advanced before the rest,\nand when the first man fell all rushed to dip their axes in his blood,\nand hacked the body to pieces. The first man who himself unwounded\nslew his opponent, struck off the latter's right arm and rushed with\nit to the priest in the rear, who bore it off as an offering to Loha\nPennu (the Iron God or the God of Arms) in his grove. The right arms\nof the rest who fell were cut off in like manner and heaped in the\nrear beside the women, and to them the wounded were carried for care,\nand the fatigued men constantly retired for water. The conflict was\nat length general. All were engaged hand-to-hand, and now fought\nfiercely, now paused by common consent for a moment's breathing. In\nthe end the men of Bora Des, although superior in numbers, began to\ngive way, and before four o'clock they were driven across the Salki,\nleaving sixty men dead on the field, while the killed on the side of\nthe Bora Muta did not exceed thirty. And from the entire ignorance\nof the Khonds of the simplest healing processes, at least an equal\nnumber of the wounded died after the battle. The right hands of the\nslain were hung up by both parties on the trees of the villages and\nthe dead were carried off to be burned. The people of Bora Des the\nnext morning flung a piece of bloody cloth on the field of battle,\na challenge to renew the conflict which was quickly accepted, and so\nthe contest was kept up for three days.\" The above account could,\nof course, find no place in a description of the Khonds of this\ngeneration, but has been thought worthy of quotation, as detailed\ndescriptions of the manner of fighting of these tribes, now weaned\nfrom war by the British Government, are so rarely to be found.\n\n\n\n\n9. Social customs.\n\nThe Khonds will admit into the community a male orphan child of any\nsuperior caste, including the Binjhwars and Gonds. A virgin of any age\nof one of these castes will also be admitted. A Gond man who takes\na Khond girl to wife can become a Khond by giving a feast. As might\nbe expected the tribe are closely connected with the Gaurs or Uriya\nshepherds, whose business leads them to frequent the forests. Either a\nman or woman of the Gaurs can be taken into the community on marrying\na Khond, and if a Khond girl marries a Gaur her children, though\nnot herself, can become members of that caste. The Khonds will eat\nall kinds of animals, including rats, snakes and lizards, but with\nthe exception of the Kutia Khonds they have now given up beef. In\nKalahandi social delinquencies are punished by a fine of so many\nfield-mice, which the Khond considers a great delicacy. The catching\nof twenty to forty field-mice to liquidate the fine imposes on the\nculprit a large amount of trouble and labour, and when his task is\ncompleted his friends and neighbours fry the mice and have a feast with\nplenty of liquor, but he himself is not allowed to participate. Khond\nwomen are profusely tattooed with figures of trees, flowers, fishes,\ncrocodiles, lizards and scorpions on the calf of the leg and the arms,\nhands and chest, but seldom on the face. This is done for purposes\nof ornament. Husband and wife do not mention each other's names,\nand a woman may not speak the names of any of her husband's younger\nbrothers, as, if left a widow, she might subsequently have to marry\none of them. A paternal or maternal aunt may not name her nephew,\nnor a man his younger brother's wife.\n\n\n\n\n10. Festivals.\n\nThe tribe have three principal festivals, known as the Semi Jatra,\nthe Mahul Jatra and the Chawal Dhuba Jatra. The Semi Jatra is held\non the tenth day of the waning moon of Aghan (November) when the new\nsemi or country beans are roasted, a goat or fowl is sacrificed,\nand some milk or water is offered to the earth god. From this day\nthe tribe commence eating the new crop of beans. Similarly the Mahul\nJatra is held on the tenth of the waning moon of Chait (March), and\nuntil this date a Khond may eat boiled mahua flowers, but not roasted\nones. The principal festival is the Dasahra or Chawal Dhuba (boiled\nrice) on the tenth day of the waning moon of Kunwar (September),\nwhich, in the case of the Khonds, marks the rice-harvest. The new\nrice is washed and boiled and offered to the earth god with the same\naccompaniment as in the case of the Semi Jatra, and until this date the\nKhond may not clean the new rice by washing it before being boiled,\nthough he apparently may partake of it so long as it is not washed\nor cleaned, this rule and that regarding the mahua flowers being so\nmade as concessions to convenience.\n\n\n\n\n11. Religion.\n\nThe Khond pantheon consists of eighty-four gods, of whom Dharni Deota,\nthe earth god, is the chief. In former times the earth goddess was\napparently female and was known as Tari Pennu or Bera Pennu. To\nher were offered the terrible human sacrifices presently to be\ndescribed. There is nothing surprising in the change of sex of the\ndivine being, for which parallels are forthcoming. Thus in Chhattisgarh\nthe deity of the earth, who also received human sacrifices, is either\nThakur Deo, a god, or Thakurani Mai, a goddess. Deota is an Aryan term,\nand the proper Khond name for a god is Pennu. The earth god is usually\naccompanied by Bhatbarsi Deota, the god of hunting. Dharni Deota\nis represented by a rectangular peg of wood driven into the ground,\nwhile Bhatbarsi has a place at his feet in the shape of a piece of\nconglomerate stone covered with circular granules. Once in four or\nfive years a buffalo is offered to the earth god, in lieu of the human\nsacrifice which was formerly in vogue. The animal is predestined for\nsacrifice from its birth, and is allowed to wander loose and graze on\nthe crops at its will. The stone representing Bhatbarsi is examined\nperiodically, and when the granules on it appear to have increased,\nit is decided that the time has come for the sacrifice. In Kalahandi\na lamb is sacrificed every year, and strips of its flesh distributed\nto all the villagers, who bury it in their fields as a divine agent\nof fertilisation, in the same way as the flesh of the human victim\nwas formerly buried. The Khond worships his bow and arrows before\nhe goes out hunting, and believes that every hill and valley has its\nseparate deity, who must be propitiated with the promise of a sacrifice\nbefore his territory is entered, or he will hide the animals within\nit from the hunter, and enable them to escape when wounded. These\ndeities are closely related to each other, and it is important when\narranging for an expedition to know the connection between them all;\nthis information can be obtained from any one on whom the divine\nafflatus from time to time descends.\n\n\n\n\n12. Human sacrifice.\n\nThe following account of the well-known system of human sacrifice,\nformerly in vogue among the Khonds, is contained in Sir James Frazer's\nGolden Bough, having been compiled by him from the accounts of Major\nMacpherson and Major-General John Campbell, two of the officers\ndeputed to suppress it:\n\n\"The best known case of human sacrifices systematically offered\nto ensure good crops is supplied by the Khonds or Kandhs, another\nDravidian race in Bengal. Our knowledge of them is derived from the\naccounts written by British officers who, forty or fifty years ago,\nwere engaged in putting them down. The sacrifices were offered to the\nEarth-Goddess, Tari Pennu or Bera Pennu, and were believed to ensure\ngood crops and immunity from all disease and accidents. In particular\nthey were considered necessary in the cultivation of turmeric, the\nKhonds arguing that the turmeric could not have a deep red colour\nwithout the shedding of blood. The victim or Meriah was acceptable\nto the goddess only if he had been purchased, or had been born a\nvictim--that is the son of a victim father--or had been devoted as\na child by his father or guardian. Khonds in distress often sold\ntheir children for victims, 'considering the beatification of their\nsouls certain, and their death, for the benefit of mankind, the\nmost honourable possible.' A man of the Panua (Pan) tribe was once\nseen to load a Khond with curses, and finally to spit in his face,\nbecause the Khond had sold for a victim his own child, whom the Panua\nhad wished to marry. A party of Khonds, who saw this, immediately\npressed forward to comfort the seller of his child, saying, 'Your\nchild has died that all the world may live, and the Earth-Goddess\nherself will wipe that spittle from your face.' The victims were\noften kept for years before they were sacrificed. Being regarded as\nconsecrated beings, they were treated with extreme affection, mingled\nwith deference, and were welcomed wherever they went. A Meriah youth,\non attaining maturity, was generally given a wife, who was herself\nusually a Meriah or victim, and with her he received a portion of land\nand farm-stock. Their offspring were also victims. Human sacrifices\nwere offered to the Earth-Goddess by tribes, branches of tribes,\nor villages, both at periodical festivals and on extraordinary\noccasions. The periodical sacrifices were generally so arranged by\ntribes and divisions of tribes that each head of a family was enabled,\nat least once a year, to procure a shred of flesh for his fields,\ngenerally about the time when his chief crop was laid down. The mode\nof performing these tribal sacrifices was as follows. Ten or twelve\ndays before the sacrifice, the victim was devoted by cutting off his\nhair, which, until then, had been kept unshorn. Crowds of men and\nwomen assembled to witness the sacrifice; none might be excluded,\nsince the sacrifice was declared to be for all mankind. It was\npreceded by several days of wild revelry and gross debauchery. On\nthe day before the sacrifice the victim, dressed in a new garment,\nwas led forth from the village in solemn procession, with music and\ndancing, to the Meriah grove, a clump of high forest trees standing a\nlittle way from the village and untouched by the axe. Here they tied\nhim to a post, which was sometimes placed between two plants of the\nsankissar shrub. He was then anointed with oil, ghee and turmeric,\nand adorned with flowers; and 'a species of reverence, which it is\nnot easy to distinguish from adoration,' was paid to him throughout\nthe day. A great struggle now arose to obtain the smallest relic\nfrom his person; a particle of the turmeric paste with which he was\nsmeared, or a drop of his spittle, was esteemed of sovereign virtue,\nespecially by the women. The crowd danced round the post to music,\nand addressing the Earth said, 'O God, we offer this sacrifice to you;\ngive us good crops, seasons, and health.'\n\n\"On the last morning the orgies, which had been scarcely interrupted\nduring the night, were resumed and continued till noon, when they\nceased, and the assembly proceeded to consummate the sacrifice. The\nvictim was again anointed with oil, and each person touched the\nanointed part, and wiped the oil on his own head. In some places they\ntook the victim in procession round the village, from door to door,\nwhere some plucked hair from his head, and others begged for a drop of\nhis spittle, with which they anointed their heads. As the victim might\nnot be bound nor make any show of resistance, the bones of his arms\nand, if necessary, his legs were broken; but often this precaution\nwas rendered unnecessary by stupefying him with opium. The mode of\nputting him to death varied in different places. One of the commonest\nmodes seems to have been strangulation, or squeezing to death. The\nbranch of a green tree was cleft several feet down the middle; the\nvictim's neck (in other places, his chest) was inserted in the cleft,\nwhich the priest, aided by his assistants, strove with all his force to\nclose. Then he wounded the victim slightly with his axe, whereupon the\ncrowd rushed at the wretch and cut the flesh from the bones, leaving\nthe head and bowels untouched. Sometimes he was cut up alive. In Chinna\nKimedy he was dragged along the fields, surrounded by the crowd, who,\navoiding his head and intestines, hacked the flesh from his body with\ntheir knives till he died. Another very common mode of sacrifice in the\nsame district was to fasten the victim to the proboscis of a wooden\nelephant, which revolved on a stout post, and, as it whirled round,\nthe crowd cut the flesh from the victim while life remained. In some\nvillages Major Campbell found as many as fourteen of these wooden\nelephants, which had been used at sacrifices. [515] In one district\nthe victim was put to death slowly by fire. A low stage was formed,\nsloping on either side like a roof; upon it they laid the victim,\nhis limbs wound round with cords to confine his struggles. Fires were\nthen lighted and hot brands applied, to make him roll up and down the\nslopes of the stage as long as possible; for the more tears he shed\nthe more abundant would be the supply of rain. Next day the body was\ncut to pieces.\n\n\"The flesh cut from the victim was instantly taken home by the persons\nwho had been deputed by each village to bring it. To secure its rapid\narrival it was sometimes forwarded by relays of men, and conveyed with\npostal fleetness fifty or sixty miles. In each village all who stayed\nat home fasted rigidly until the flesh arrived. The bearer deposited it\nin the place of public assembly, where it was received by the priest\nand the heads of families. The priest divided it into two portions,\none of which he offered to the Earth-Goddess by burying it in a hole\nin the ground with his back turned, and without looking. Then each\nman added a little earth to bury it, and the priest poured water on\nthe spot from a hill gourd. The other portion of flesh he divided\ninto as many shares as there were heads of houses present. Each head\nof a house rolled his shred of flesh in leaves and buried it in his\nfavourite field, placing it in the earth behind his back without\nlooking. In some places each man carried his portion of flesh to the\nstream which watered his fields, and there hung it on a pole. For\nthree days thereafter no house was swept; and, in one district, strict\nsilence was observed, no fire might be given out, no wood cut, and no\nstrangers received. The remains of the human victim (namely, the head,\nbowels and bones) were watched by strong parties the night after the\nsacrifice, and next morning they were burned along with a whole sheep,\non a funeral pile. The ashes were scattered over the fields, laid as\npaste over the houses and granaries, or mixed with the new corn to\npreserve it from insects. Sometimes, however, the head and bones were\nburied, not burnt. After the suppression of the human sacrifices,\ninferior victims were substituted in some places; for instance, in\nthe capital of Chinna Kimedy a goat took the place of a human victim.\n\n\"In these Khond sacrifices the Meriahs are represented by our\nauthorities as victims offered to propitiate the Earth-Goddess. But\nfrom the treatment of the victims both before and after death\nit appears that the custom cannot be explained as merely a\npropitiatory sacrifice. A part of the flesh certainly was offered\nto the Earth-Goddess, but the rest of the flesh was buried by each\nhouseholder in his fields, and the ashes of the other parts of the\nbody were scattered over the fields, laid as paste on the granaries,\nor mixed with the new corn. These latter customs imply that to the\nbody of the Meriah there was ascribed a direct or intrinsic power\nof making the crops to grow, quite independent of the indirect\nefficacy which it might have as an offering to secure the good-will\nof the deity. In other words, the flesh and ashes of the victim were\nbelieved to be endowed with a magical or physical power of fertilising\nthe land. The same intrinsic power was ascribed to the blood and\ntears of the Meriah, his blood causing the redness of the turmeric,\nand his tears producing rain; for it can hardly be doubted that,\noriginally at least, the tears were supposed to bring down the rain,\nnot merely to prognosticate it. Similarly the custom of pouring water\non the buried flesh of the Meriah was no doubt a rain-charm. Again,\nmagical power as an attribute of the Meriah appears in the sovereign\nvirtue believed to reside in anything that came from his person, as his\nhair or spittle. The ascription of such power to the Meriah indicates\nthat he was much more than a mere man sacrificed to propitiate a\ndeity. Once more, the extreme reverence paid him points to the same\nconclusion. Major Campbell speaks of the Meriah as 'being regarded\nas something more than mortal,' and Major Macpherson says: 'A species\nof reverence, which it is not easy to distinguish from adoration, is\npaid to him.' In short, the Meriah appears to have been regarded as\ndivine. As such, he may originally have represented the Earth-Goddess,\nor perhaps a deity of vegetation, though in later times he came to\nbe regarded rather as a victim offered to a deity than as himself an\nincarnate god. This later view of the Meriah as a victim rather than\na divinity may perhaps have received undue emphasis from the European\nwriters who have described the Khond religion. Habituated to the\nlater idea of sacrifice as an offering made to a god for the purpose\nof conciliating his favour, European observers are apt to interpret\nall religious slaughter in this sense, and to suppose that wherever\nsuch slaughter takes place, there must necessarily be a deity to whom\nthe carnage is believed by the slayers to be acceptable. Thus their\npreconceived ideas unconsciously colour and warp their descriptions\nof savage rites.\" [516]\n\n\n\n\n13. Last human sacrifices.\n\nIn his Ethnographic Notes in Southern India Mr. Thurston states:\n[517] \"The last recorded Meriah sacrifice in the Ganjam Maliahs\noccurred in 1852, and there are still Khonds alive who were present at\nit. Twenty-five descendants of persons who were reserved for sacrifice,\nbut were rescued by Government officers, returned themselves as Meriah\nat the Census of 1901. The Khonds have now substituted a buffalo\nfor a human being. The animal is hewn to pieces while alive, and the\nvillagers rush home to their villages to bury the flesh in the soil,\nand so secure prosperous crops. The sacrifice is not unaccompanied\nby risk to the performers, as the buffalo, before dying, frequently\nkills one or more of its tormentors. It was stated by the officers\nof the Maliah Agency that there was reason to believe that the Raja\nof Jaipur (Madras), when he was installed at his father's decease\nin 1860-61, sacrificed a girl thirteen years of age at the shrine\nof the Goddess Durga in the town of Jaipur. The last attempted human\nsacrifice (which was nearly successful) in the Vizagapatam District,\namong the Kutia Khonds, was, I believe, in 1880. But the memory of\nthe abandoned practice is kept green by one of the Khond songs, for a\ntranslation of which we are indebted to Mr. J. E. Friend-Pereira: [518]\n\n\n At the time of the great Kiabon (Campbell) Sahib's coming, the\n country was in darkness; it was enveloped in mist.\n Having sent paiks to collect the people of the land, they, having\n surrounded them, caught the Meriah sacrificers.\n Having caught the Meriah sacrificers, they brought them; and\n again they went and seized the evil councillors.\n Having seen the chains and shackles, the people were afraid;\n murder and bloodshed were quelled.\n Then the land became beautiful; and a certain Mokodella\n (Macpherson) Sahib came.\n He destroyed the lairs of the tigers and bears in the hills and\n rocks, and taught wisdom to the people.\n After the lapse of a month he built bungalows and schools; and\n he advised them to learn reading and law.\n They learnt wisdom and reading; they acquired silver and gold. Then\n all the people became wealthy.\n\n\n\n\n14. Khond rising in 1882.\n\nIn 1882 an armed rising of the Khonds of the Kalahandi State occurred\nas a result of agrarian trouble. The Feudatory Chief had encouraged\nthe settlement in the State of members of the Kolta caste who are\nexcellent cultivators and keenly acquisitive of land. They soon got\nthe Khonds heavily indebted to them for loans of food and seed-grain,\nand began to oust them from their villages. The Khonds, recognising\nwith some justice that this process was likely to end in their total\nexpropriation from the soil, concerted a conspiracy, and in May 1882\nrose and murdered the Koltas of a number of villages. The signal\nfor the outbreak was given by passing a knotted string from village\nto village; other signals were a bent arrow and a branch of a mahua\ntree. When the Khond leaders were assembled an axe was thrown on to\nthe ground and each of them grasping it in turn swore to join in the\nrising and support his fellows. The taint of cruelty in the tribe is\nshown by the fact that the Kutia Khonds, on being requested to join\nin the rising, replied that if plunder was the only object they would\nnot do so, but if the Koltas were to be murdered they agreed. Some\nof the murdered Koltas were anointed with turmeric and offered at\ntemples, the Khonds calling them their goats, and in one case a\nKolta is believed to have been made a Meriah sacrifice to the earth\ngod. The Khonds appeared before the police, who were protecting a\nbody of refugees at the village of Norla, with the hair and scalps of\ntheir murdered victims tied to their bows. To the Political Officer,\nwho was sent to suppress the rising, the Khonds complained that the\nKoltas had degraded them from the position of lords of the soil to\nthat of servants, and justified their plundering of the Koltas on the\nground that they were merely taking back the produce of their own land,\nwhich the Koltas had stolen from them. They said that if they were not\nto have back their land Government might either drive them out of the\ncountry or exterminate them, and that Koltas and Khonds could no more\nlive together than tigers and goats. Another grievance was that a new\nRaja of Kalahandi had been installed without their consent having been\nobtained. The Political Officer, Mr. Berry, hanged seven of the Khond\nringleaders and effected a settlement of their grievances. Peace was\nrestored and has not since been broken. At a later date in the same\nyear, 1882, and independently of the rising, a Khond landholder was\nconvicted and executed for having offered a five-year-old girl as a\nMeriah sacrifice.\n\n\n\n\n15. Language.\n\nThe Khond or Kandh language, called Kui by the Khonds themselves, is\nspoken by rather more than half of the total body of the tribe. It is\nmuch more nearly related to Telugu than is Gondi and has no written\ncharacter. [519]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKir\n\n\n1. Origin and Traditions.\n\nKir. [520]--A cultivating caste found principally in the Hoshangabad\nDistrict. They numbered about 7000 persons in 1911. The Kirs claim\nto have come from the Jaipur State, and this is borne out by the\nfact that they still retain a dialect of Marwari, though they have\nbeen living among the Hindi-speaking population of Hoshangabad for\nseveral generations. According to their traditions they immigrated\ninto the Central Provinces when Raja Man was ruling at Jaipur. He was a\ncontemporary of Akbar's and died in A.D. 1615. [521] This story tallies\nwith Colonel Sleeman's statement that the first important influx of\nHindus into the Nerbudda valley took place in the time of Akbar. [522]\nThe Kirs are akin to the Kirars, and at the India Census of 1901 were\namalgamated with them. Like the Kirars they claim to be descended from\nthe mythical Raja Karan of Jaipur. Their story is that on a summer day\nMahadeo and Parvati created a melon-garden, and Mahadeo made a man\nand a woman out of a piece of kusha grass (Eragrostis cynosuroides)\nto tend the garden. From these the Kirs are descended. The name may\npossibly be a corruption of karar, a river-bank.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage.\n\nThe Kirs have no endogamous divisions. For the purpose of marriage\nthe caste is divided into 12 1/2 gotras or sections. A man must not\nmarry within his own gotra or in that to which his mother belonged. The\nnames of the 12 gotras are as follows: Namchuria, Daima, Bania, Baman,\nNayar, Jat, Huwad, Gadri, Loharia, Hekdya, Mochi and Mali, while the\nhalf-gotra contains the Bhats or genealogists of the caste, who are\nnot allowed to marry with the other subdivisions and have now formed\none of their own. Of the twelve names of gotras at least seven--Baman\n(Brahman), Bania, Mali, Mochi, Gadri (Gadaria), Loharia and Jat--are\nderived from other castes, and this fact is sufficient to show that\nthe origin of the Kirs is occupational, and that they are made up of\nrecruits from different castes. Infant-marriage is customary, but no\npenalty is incurred if a girl remains unmarried after puberty. Only the\npoorest members of the caste, however, fail to marry their daughters at\nan early age. For the marriage of girls who are left unprovided for,\na subscription is raised among the caste-fellows in accordance with\nthe usual Hindu practice, the giving of money for this purpose being\nconsidered to be an especially pious act. At the time of the betrothal\na bride-price called chari, varying between Rs. 14 and Rs. 20, is paid\nby the boy's father, and the deed of betrothal, called lagan, is then\ndrawn up in the presence of the caste panchayat who are regaled with\nliquor purchased out of the bride-price. A peculiarity of the marriage\nceremony is that the bridegroom is taken to the bride's house riding\non a buffalo. This custom is noteworthy, since other Hindus will\nnot usually ride on a buffalo, as being the animal on which Yama,\nthe god of death, rides. After the marriage the bride returns to\nthe bridegroom's house with the wedding party and stays there for\neight days, during which period she worships the family gods of her\nfather-in-law's house. The cost of the marriage is usually Rs. 60\nfor the boy's party and Rs. 40 for the girl's. But a widower on his\nremarriage has to spend double this sum. The ceremonies called Gauna\nand Rauna are both performed after the marriage. The former generally\ntakes place within a year, the bride being dressed in special new\nclothes called bes, and sent with ceremony to her husband's house on\nan auspicious day fixed by a Brahman. She remains there for two months\nand the marriage is consummated, when she returns to her father's\nhouse. Four months afterwards the bridegroom again goes to fetch\nher and takes her away permanently, this being the Rauna ceremony. No\nsocial stigma attaches to polygamy, and divorce is allowed on the usual\ngrounds. Widow-marriage is permitted, the ceremony consisting in giving\nnew clothes and ornaments to the widow and feeding the Panch for a day.\n\n\n\n\n3. Religion.\n\nThe caste worships especially Bhairon and Devi, and each section of\nit reveres a special incarnation of Devi, and the Bhairon of some\nparticular village. Thus, for instance, the Namchurias worship the\ngoddess Parvati and the Bhairon of Jaria Gowara; the Bania, Nayar,\nHekdya and Mochi septs worship Chamunda Mata and the Bhairon of Jaipur,\nand so on. Members of the caste get triangular, rectangular or round\npieces of silver impressed with the images of these gods, and wear them\nsuspended by a thread from their necks. A similar respect is paid to\nthe Ahut or the spirit of a relative who has met with a violent death\nor died without progeny or as a bachelor, the spirits of such persons\nbeing always prone to trouble their living relatives. In order to\nappease them songs are sung in their praise on important festivals,\nthe members of the family staying awake the whole night, and wearing\ntheir images on a silver piece round the neck. When they eat and\ndrink they first touch the food with the image by way of offering it\nto the dead, so that their spirits may be appeased and refrain from\nharassing the living. Kirs revere and worship the cow and the pipal\ntree. No Kir may sell a cow to a butcher. A man who is about to die\nmakes a present of a cow to a Brahman or a temple in order that by\ncatching hold of the tail of this cow he may be able to cross the\nhorrible river Vaitarni, the Styx of Hinduism, which bars the passage\nto the nether regions. The Kirs believe in magic, and some members of\nthe caste profess to cure snake-bite. The poison-curer, when sent for,\nhas a small space cleared and plastered with cowdung, on which he draws\nlines with wheat flour. A new earthen pot is then brought and placed\nover the drawing. On the pot the operator draws a figure of Hanuman\nin vermilion, and another figure on the nearest wall facing the pot. A\nbrass plate is put over the pot and the person who has been bitten by\nthe snake is brought near it. The snake-charmer then begins to name\nvarious gods and goddesses and to play upon the plate, which emits, it\nis said, a very melancholy sound. This performance is called bharni and\nis supposed to charm all beings, even gods and serpents. The snake who\nhas inflicted the bite is then believed to appear in an invisible form\nto listen to the bharni, and to enter into the sufferer. The sufferer\nis questioned, being supposed to be possessed by the snake, and asked\nwhy the bite was inflicted and how the snake can be appeased. The\nreplies are thought to be given by the snake, who explains that he\nwas trampled on, or something to that effect, and asks that milk or\nsome sweet-smelling article be placed at his hole. The offering is\npromised, and the snake is asked not to kill the sufferer, to which he\nagrees. The snake usually gives the history of his former human birth,\nstating his name and village and the cause of his transmigration into\nthe body of a serpent. The Kirs believe that human beings who commit\noffences are re-born as snakes, and they think that snakes live for\na thousand years. After giving this information the snake departs,\nand the person who has been bitten is supposed to recover. The chief\nfestivals of the Kirs are Diwali and Sitala Athain. They worship\ntheir ancestors at Diwali, making offerings of cooked food, kusha\ngrass and lamps made of dough at the river-side. The head of the\nfamily sprinkles water and throws the kusha grass into the river,\nlights the wicks placed in the lamps and burns a little food in them,\ncalling on the names of his ancestors. The rest of the food he takes\nhome and distributes to his caste-fellows. Sitala Athain is observed\non the seventh day of the dark fortnight of Chait. Devi is worshipped\nat night with offerings of milk and whey, and on the next day no food\nis cooked, the remains of that of the previous day being eaten cold,\nand the whole day is devoted to singing the praises of the goddess.\n\n\n\n\n4. Birth and death ceremonies.\n\nThe Kirs usually burn their dead, but children under twelve are\nburied. The ashes and bones are either sent to the Ganges or consigned\nto the nearest river or lake. Children have only one name, which is\ngiven on the seventh day after birth by a Brahman. During the birth\nceremony the husband's younger brother catches hold of the skirt of\nthe child's mother, who on this pays him a few pice and pulls away her\ncloth. If this custom has any meaning it is apparently in symbolical\nmemory of polyandry, the women bribing her husband's younger brother\nso that he may not claim the child as his own.\n\n\n\n\n5. Food, dress and occupation.\n\nThe Kirs do not take food from any caste except the Dadharia Brahmans,\nwho are Marwaris, and act as their family priests. Brahmans and\nother high castes will drink water brought in a brass vessel by\na Kir. The Kirs eat no meat except goats' flesh and fish, but\nare much addicted to liquor, which is always conspicuous at their\nfeasts and festivals. They have a caste panchayat, which deals with\nthe ordinary offences. Temporary excommunication is removed by the\noffender giving three feasts, on which an amount varying with his\nsocial position and means must be expended. The first of these is\neaten on a river-bank, the second in a garden, and the third, which\nconfers complete readmission to caste intercourse, in the offender's\nhouse. The Kirs live along river-banks, where they grow melons in the\nsand and castor and vegetables in alluvial soil. They are considered\nvery skilful at raising these crops, and fully appreciate the use of\nmanure. For their own consumption they usually grow bajra and arhar,\nbeing, like all Marwaris, very fond of bajra. The members of the\ncaste are easily distinguished by their dress, the men wearing a white\nmirzai or short coat, a dhoti reaching to the knees, and a head-cloth\nplaced in a crooked position on the head, so as to leave the hair\nof the scalp uncovered. They wear necklaces of black wooden beads,\nbesides the images of Bhairon and Devi. The women wear Jaipur chunris\nor over-cloths and ghanghras or skirts. They have red lac bangles on\ntheir wrists and arms above the elbow, and ornaments called ramjhul on\ntheir legs. The women have a gait like that of men. The speech of the\nKirs sounds like Marwari, and they are peculiar in their preference\nfor riding on buffaloes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKirar\n\n\n1. Origin and traditions.\n\nKirar [523] or Kirad.--A cultivating caste found in the Narsinghpur,\nHoshangabad, Betul, Seoni, Chhindwara and Nagpur Districts. They\nnumbered 48,000 persons in 1911. The Kirars claim to be Dhakar\nor bastard Rajputs, and in 1891 more than half of them returned\nthemselves under this designation. About a thousand persons who were\nreturned as Dhakar Rajputs from Hoshangabad in 1901 are probably\nKirars. The caste say that they immigrated from Gwalior, and this\nstatement seems to be correct, as about 66,000 of them are found in\nthat State. They claim to have left Gwalior as early as Samvat 1525\nor A.D. 1468, when Alru and Dalru, the leaders of the migration into\nthe Central Provinces, abandoned their native village, Doderi Kheda in\nGwalior, and settled in Chandon, a village in the Sohagpur tahsil of\nHoshangabad. But according to the story related to Mr. (Sir Charles)\nElliott, the migration took place in A.D. 1650 or at the beginning\nof Aurangzeb's reign. [524] He quotes the names of the leaders as\nAlrawat and Dalrawat, and says that the migration took place from the\nDholpur country, but this is probably a mistake, as none of the caste\nare now found in Dholpur. Elliott stated that he could find no traces\nof any cultivating caste having settled in Hoshangabad as far back as\nAkbar's time, though Sir W. Sleeman was of opinion that the first great\nmigration into the Nerbudda valley took place in that reign. The truth\nis probably that the valley began to be regularly colonised by Hindus\nduring the years that Aurangzeb spent at Burhanpur and in the Deccan,\nand the immigration of the Kirars may most reasonably be attributed to\nthis period. The Kirars, Gujars, and Raghuvansis apparently entered\nthe Central Provinces together, and the fact that they still smoke\nfrom the same huqqa and take water from each other's drinking vessels\nmay be a reminiscence of this bond of fellowship. All these castes\nclaim, and probably with truth, to be degraded Rajputs. The Kirars'\nversion is that they took to widow-marriage and were consequently\ndegraded. According to another story they were driven from their\nnative place by a Muhammadan invasion. Mr. J. D. Cunningham says that\nthe word Kirar in Central India literally means dalesmen or foresters,\nbut during the lapse of centuries has become the name of a caste. [525]\nAnother derivation is from Kirar, a corn-chandler, an occupation which\nthey may originally have followed in combination with agriculture. In\nthe Punjab the name Kirar appears to be given to all the western\nor Punjabi traders as distinct from a Bania of Hindustan, and is so\nused even in the Kangra hills, but the Arora, who is the trader par\nexcellence of the south-west of the Punjab, is the person to whom the\nterm is most commonly applied. [526] As a curiosity of folk-etymology\nit may be stated that some derive the caste-name from the fact that a\nholy sage's wife, who was about to be delivered of a child, was being\npursued by a Rakshas or demon, and fell over the steep bank (karar)\nof a river and was thereupon delivered. The child was consequently\ncalled Karar and became the ancestor of the Kirar caste. The name\nmay in fact be derived from the habit which the Kirars have in some\nlocalities of cultivating on the banks of rivers, like the Kirs,\nwho are probably a branch of the same caste.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage.\n\nIn the Central Provinces the Kirars have no regular subcastes. In\nChhindwara a subdivision is in course of formation from\nthe illegitimate offspring of male Kirars, who are known as\nVidur or Saoneria. The Dhakar Kirars do not marry or eat with\nSaonerias. The section-names of the Kirars are not eponymous, as\nmight be anticipated from their claim to Rajput descent, but they\nare generally territorial. Instances are Bankhedi, from Bankhedi,\na village in Hoshangabad; Garhya, from Garha, near Jubbulpore; and\nTeharia, from Tehri, a State in Bundelkhand. Other section-names are\nChaudharia, from Chaudhari, headman; Khandait or swordsman, and Banda,\nor tailless. Some gotras are derived from the names of other castes or\nsubcastes, or of Rajput septs, as Loharia, from Lohar (blacksmith);\nChauria, a subcaste of Kurmis; Lilorhia, a subcaste of Gujars;\nand Solanki and Chauhan, the names of Rajput septs. These names may\nprobably be taken to indicate the mixed origin of the caste, and record\nthe admission of families from other castes. A man cannot marry in\nhis own gotra nor in the families of his grandmother, paternal uncle\nor maternal aunt to three degrees of consanguinity. Boys and girls\nare usually married between the ages of five and twelve. Marriages\ntake place so long as the planet Venus or Shukra is visible at\nnights, i.e. between the months of Aghan (November) and Asarh\n(June). The proposal for marriage proceeds from the boy's father,\nwho ascertains the wishes of the girl's father through a barber. If\nthe latter is willing, the Sagai or betrothal ceremony is performed\nat the girl's house. The boy's father proceeds there with a rupee,\ntwo pice and a cocoanut-core, which he presents to the girl, taking\nher into his lap. The fathers of the boy and girl embrace, and this\nseals the compact of betrothal. The date of the marriage is usually\nfixed in consultation with a Brahman, who computes an auspicious\nday from the ceremonial names of the couple. But if it is desired\nto perform the marriage at once, it may take place on Akhatij, or\nthe third day of the bright fortnight of Baisakh (April-May), which\nis always auspicious. The lagan or paper containing the date of the\nmarriage is drawn up ceremonially by a Brahman of the girl's house,\nand he also writes another, giving the names of the relatives who\nare selected to officiate at the ceremony. The first ceremony at the\nmarriage is that of Mangar Mati, or bringing earth for ovens, the\nearth being worshipped by a burnt offering of butter and sugar, and\nthen dug up by the Sawasin or girl's attendant for the marriage, and\ncarried home by several women in baskets. This is done in the morning,\nand in the evening the boy and girl in their respective houses are\nanointed with oil and turmeric, a little being first thrown on the\nground for the family gods. This ceremony is repeated every evening\nfor some three to fifteen days. The mandwa or marriage-shed is then\nerected at both houses, under which the ceremony of tel or touching the\nfeet, knees, shoulders and forehead of the boy and the girl with oil is\nperformed. Next day the kham or marriage-post is placed in the mandwa,\na little rice, turmeric and two pice being put in the hole in which\nit is fixed, and the shed is covered with leaves. The bridegroom,\nclad in a blanket and with date-leaves tied on his head, is taken\nout for the binaiki or the marriage procession on horseback. Before\nmounting, he bows to Mata or Devi, Mahabir, Hardaul Lala, and Patel\nDeo, the spirit of the deceased malguzar of the village. He is taken\nround to the houses of friends and relatives, who present him with\na few pice. On his return he bathes and puts on the marriage dress,\nwhich consists of a red or yellow jama or gown, a pair of trousers,\na pagri, a maur or marriage crown and a cloth about his waist. A few\nwomen's ornaments are put on his neck, and he is furnished with a katar\nor dagger, and in its absence a nutcracker or knife. He then comes\nout of the house and the parchhan ceremony is performed, the boy's\nmother putting her nipple in his mouth and giving him a little ghi\nand sugar to eat as a symbol of the termination of his infancy. The\nBarat or marriage procession then sets out for the girl's village,\nbeing met on its outskirts by the bride's father, and the forehead of\nthe bridegroom is marked with sandalwood paste. The bridegroom touches\nthe Mandwa with his hand or throws a bamboo fan over it and returns\nwith his followers to the Janwasa or lodging given to the Barat. Next\nmorning the ceremony of Chadhao or decorating the bride is performed,\nand the bridegroom's party give her the clothes and ornaments which\nthey have brought for her, these being first offered to an image of\nGanesh made of cowdung. The bride is then mounted on a horse provided\nby the bridegroom's party and goes round to the houses of the friends\nof the family, accompanied by music and the women of her party, and\nreceives small presents. The Bhanwar ceremony is performed during the\nnight, the couple being seated near the marriage-post with their backs\nto the house. A ball of kneaded flour is put in the girl's right hand,\nwhich is then placed on the right hand of the bridegroom, and the\nbride's brother pours water over their hands. The bride's maternal\nuncle and aunt, with the skirts of their clothes tied together, step\nforward and wash the feet of the couple and give them presents. The\nother relatives follow suit, and this completes the ceremony of Paon\nPakhurai or Daija, that is giving the dowry. The couple then go round\nthe marriage-post seven times, the girl leading for the first four\nrounds and the boy for the last three. This is the Bhanwar ceremony\nor binding portion of the marriage, and the polar star is called\non to make it inviolable. The bridegroom's party are then feasted,\nthe women meantime singing obscene songs. The bride goes back to the\nbridegroom's house and stays there for a few days, after which she\nreturns to her parents' house and does not leave it again until the\ngauna ceremony is performed. On this occasion the bridegroom's party\ngo to the girl's house with a present of sweets and clothes which\nthey present to her parents, and they then take away the girl. Even\nafter this she is again sent back to her parents' house, and the\nbridegroom comes a second time to fetch her, on which occasion the\nparents of the bride have to make a present in return for the sweets\nand clothes previously given to them. The marriage expenses are said\nto average between Rs. 50 and Rs. 100, but the extravagance of Kirars\nis notorious. Sir R. Craddock says [527] that they are much given to\ndisplay, the richer members of the caste being heavily weighted with\njewellery, while a well-to-do Kirar will think nothing of spending\nRs. 1000 on his house, or if he is a landowner Rs. 5000. Extravagance\nruins a great many of the Kirar community. This statement, however,\nperhaps applies to those of the Nagpur District rather than to their\ncomrades of the Nerbudda valley and Satpura highlands. The remarriage\nof widows is permitted, and the widow may marry either her husband's\nyounger brother or any other member of the caste at her choice. The\nceremony takes place at night, the woman being brought to her husband's\nhouse by the back door and given a new cloth and bangles. Turmeric\nis then applied to her body, and the clothes of the couple are tied\ntogether. When a bachelor marries a widow, he must first be married to\nan akau plant (swallow-wort). Divorce may be effected for infidelity\non the part of the wife or for serious disagreement. A divorced woman\nmay marry again. Polygamy is allowed, and in Chhindwara is said to\nbe restricted to three wives, all living within the District, but\nelsewhere no such limitation is enforced. A man seldom, however,\ntakes more than one wife, except for the sake of children.\n\n\n\n\n3. Religion.\n\nThey worship the ordinary Hindu gods and especially Devi, to whom they\noffer female kids. During the months of Baisakh and Jeth (April-June)\nthose living in Betul and Chhindwara make a pilgrimage to the Nag Deo\nor cobra god, who is supposed to have his seat somewhere on the border\nof the two Districts. Every third year they also take their cattle\noutside the village, and turning their faces in the direction of the\nNag Deo sprinkle a little water and kill goats and fowls. They worship\nthe Patel Deo or spirit of the deceased malguzar of the village only\non the occasion of marriages. They consider the service of the village\nheadman to be their traditional occupation besides agriculture, and\nthey therefore probably pay this special compliment to the spirit of\ntheir employer. They worship their implements of husbandry on some\nconvenient day, which must be a Wednesday or a Sunday, after they\nhave sown the spring crops. Those who grow sugarcane offer a goat or\na cocoanut to the crop before it is cut, and a similar offering is\nmade to the stock of grain after harvest, so that its bulk may not\ndecrease. They observe the ordinary festivals, and like other Hindus\ncease to observe one on which a death has occurred in the family,\nuntil some happy event such as the birth of a child, or even of a\ncalf, supervenes on the same day. Unmarried children under seven\nand persons dying of smallpox, snake-bite or cholera are buried,\nand others are either buried or burnt according to the convenience\nof the family. Males are placed on the pyre or in the grave on their\nfaces and females on their backs, with their feet pointing to the\nsouth in each case. In some places the corpse is buried stark naked,\nand in others with a piece of cloth wrapped round it, and two pice are\nusually placed in the grave to buy the site. When a corpse is burnt\nthe head is touched with a bamboo before it is laid on the funeral\npyre, by way of breaking it in and allowing the soul to escape if it\nhas not already done so. For three days the mourners place food, water\nand tobacco in cups for the disembodied soul. Mourning is observed for\nchildren for three days and for adults from seven to ten days. During\nthis period the mourners refrain from luxurious food such as flesh,\nturmeric, vegetables, milk and sweets; they do not wear shoes, nor\nchange their clothes, and males are not shaved until the last day of\nmourning. Balls of rice are then offered to the dead, and the caste\npeople are feasted. Oblations of water are offered to ancestors in\nthe month of Kunwar (September-October).\n\n\n\n\n4. Social customs.\n\nThe caste do not admit outsiders. In the matter of food they eat flesh\nand fish, but abstain from liquor and from eating fowls, except in\nthe Maratha country. They will take pakka food or that cooked without\nwater from Gujars, Raghuvansis and Lodhis. In the Nagpur country,\nwhere the difference between katcha and pakka food is not usually\nobserved, they will not take it from any but Maratha Brahmans. Abirs\nand Dhimars are said to eat with them, and the northern Brahmans will\ntake water from them. They have a caste panchayat or committee with\na hereditary president called Sethia, whose business it is to eat\nfirst when admitting a person who has been put out of caste. Killing\na cat or a squirrel, selling a cow to a butcher, growing hemp or\nselling shoes are offences which entail temporary excommunication\nfrom caste. A woman who commits adultery with a man of another caste\nis permanently excluded. The Kirars are tall in stature and well\nand stoutly built. They have regular features and are generally of a\nfair colour. They are regarded as quarrelsome and untruthful, and as\ntyrannical landlords. As agriculturists they are supposed to be of\nencroaching tendencies, and the proverbial prayer attributed to them\nis, \"O God, give me two bullocks, and I shall plough up the common\nway.\" Another proverb quoted in Mr. Standen's Betul Settlement Report,\nin illustration of their avarice, is \"If you put a rupee between two\nKirars, they become like mast buffaloes in Kunwar.\" The men always wear\nturbans, while the women may be distinguished in the Maratha country\nby their adherence to the dress of the northern Districts. Girls are\ntattooed on the back of their hands before they begin to live with\ntheir husbands. A woman may not name her husband's elder brother or\neven touch his clothes or the vessels in which he has eaten food. They\nare not distinguished for cleanliness.\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation.\n\nAgriculture and the service of the village headman are the traditional\noccupations of Kirars. In Nagpur they are considered to be very good\ncultivators, but they have no special reputation in the northern\nDistricts. About a thousand of them are landowners, and the large\nmajority are tenants. They grow garden crops and sugarcane, but\nabstain from the cultivation of hemp.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKohli\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nKohli.--A small caste of cultivators found in the Marathi-speaking\ntracts of the Wainganga Valley, comprised in the Bhandara and Chanda\nDistricts. They numbered about 26,000 persons in 1911. The Kohlis are a\nnotable caste as being the builders of the great irrigation reservoirs\nor tanks, for which the Wainganga Valley is celebrated. The water is\nused for irrigating rice and sugarcane, the latter being the favourite\ncrop of the Kohlis. The origin of the caste is somewhat doubtful. The\nname closely resembles that of the Koiri caste of market-gardeners\nin northern India; and the terms Kohiri and Kohli are used there\nas variations of the caste name Koiri. The caste themselves have a\ntradition that they were brought to Bhandara from Benares by one of\nthe Gond kings of Chanda on his return from a visit to that place;\n[528] and the Kohlis of Bhandara say that their first settlement in\nthe Central Provinces was at Lanji, which lies north of Bhandara in\nBalaghat. But on the other hand all that is known of their language,\ncustoms, and sept or family names points to a purely Maratha\norigin, the caste being in all these respects closely analogous to\nthe Kunbis. The Settlement Officer of Chanda, Colonel Lucie Smith,\nstated that they thought their forefathers came from the south. They\ntie their head-cloths in a similar fashion to the Gandlis, who are\noilmen from the Telugu country. If they belonged to the south of\nIndia they might be an offshoot from the well-known Koli tribe of\nBombay, and this hypothesis appears the more probable. As a general\nrule castes from northern India settling in the Maratha country have\nnot completely abandoned their ancestral language and customs even\nafter a residence of several centuries. In the case of such castes\nas the Panwars and Bhoyars their foreign extraction can be detected\nat once; and if the Kohlis had come from Hindustan the rule would\nprobably hold good with them. On the other hand the Kolis have in\nsome parts of Bombay now taken to cultivation and closely resemble\nthe Kunbis. In Satara it is said [529] that they associate and\noccasionally eat with Kunbis, and their social and religious customs\nresemble those of the Kunbi caste. They are quiet, orderly, settled and\nhard-working. Besides fishing they work ferries along the Krishna, are\nemployed in villages as water-carriers, and grow melons in river-beds\nwith much skill. The Kolis of Bombay are presumably the same tribe\nas the Kols of Chota Nagpur, and they probably migrated to Gujarat\nalong the Vindhyan plateau, where they are found in considerable\nnumbers, and over the hills of Rajputana and Central India. The Kols\nare one of the most adaptive of all the non-Aryan tribes, and when\nthey reached the sea they may have become fishermen and boatmen, and\npractised these callings also in rivers. From plying on rivers they\nmight take to cultivating melons and garden-crops on the stretches\nof silt left uncovered in their beds in the dry season, which is\nthe common custom of the boating and fishing castes. And from this,\nas seen in Satara, some of them attained to regular cultivation and,\nmodelling themselves on the Kunbis, came to have nearly the same\nstatus. They may thus have migrated to Chanda and Bhandara with the\nKunbis, as their language and customs would indicate, and retaining\ntheir preference for irrigated and garden-crops have become expert\ngrowers of sugarcane. The description which has been received of\nthe Kohlis of Bhandara would be rather favourable than otherwise\nto the hypothesis of their ultimate origin from the Kol tribe,\nallowing for their having acquired the Maratha language and customs\nfrom a lengthened residence in Bombay. It has been mentioned above\nthat the Kohlis have a legend of their ancestors having come from\nBenares, but this story appears to be not infrequently devised as a\nmeans of obtaining increased social estimation, Benares being the\nprincipal centre of orthodox Hinduism. Thus the Dangris, a small\ncaste of vegetable- and melon-growers who are certainly an offshoot\nof the Kunbis, and therefore of Maratha extraction, have the same\nstory. As regards the tradition of the Bhandara Kohlis that their\nfirst settlement was at Lanji, this may well have been the case even\nthough they came from the south, as Lanji was an important place and a\ncentre of administration under the Marathas. It is probable, however,\nthat they first came to Chanda and from here spread north to Lanji,\nas, if they had entered Bhandara through Wardha and Nagpur, some of\nthem would probably have remained in these Districts.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage and other customs.\n\nThe Kohlis have no subcastes. They are divided into the usual\nexogamous groups or septs with the object of preventing marriages\nbetween relations, and these have Marathi names of the territorial or\ntitular type. Among them may be mentioned Handifode (one who breaks a\ncooking vessel), Sahre (from shahar, a town), Nagpure (from Nagpur),\nShende (from shend, cowdung), Parwate (from parwat, mountain), Hatwade\n(an obstinate man), Mungus-mare (one who killed a mongoose), Pustode\n(one who broke a bullock's tail), and so on. Marriage within the sept\nis prohibited. A brother's daughter may be married to his sister's\nson, but not vice versa. Girls are usually wedded before arriving\nat adolescence, more especially as there is a great demand for\nbrides. Like other castes engaged in spade cultivation, the Kohlis\nmarry two or more wives when they can afford it, a wife being a\nmore willing servant than a hired labourer, apart from the other\nadvantages. If his wives do not get on together, the Kohli gives\nthem separate huts in his courtyard, where each lives and cooks her\nmeals for herself. He will also allot them separate tasks, assigning\nto one the care of his household affairs, to another the watching of\nhis sugarcane plot, and so on. If he does this successfully the wives\nare kept well at work and have not time to quarrel. It is said that\nwhenever a Kohli has a bountiful harvest he looks out for another\nwife. This naturally leads to a scarcity of women and the payment of\na substantial bride-price. The recognised amount is Rs. 30, but this\nis only formal, and from Rs. 50 to Rs. 150 may be given according\nto the attractions of the girl, the largest sum being paid for a\nwoman of full age who can go and live with her husband at once. As a\nconsequence of this state of things poor men are sometimes unable to\nget wives at all. Though they pay highly for their wives the Kohlis\nare averse to extravagant expenditure on weddings, and all marriages\nin a village are generally celebrated on the same day once a year,\nthe number of guests at each being thus necessarily restricted. The\nofficiating Brahman ascends the roof of a house and, after beating a\nbrass dish to warn the parties, repeats the marriage texts as the sun\ngoes down. At this moment all the couples place garlands of flowers\non each other's shoulders, each bridegroom ties the mangal-sutram\nor necklace of black beads round his bride's neck, and the weddings\nare completed. The bride's brother winds a thread round the marriage\ncrowns of the couple and is given two rupees for untying it. The\nservices of a Brahman are not indispensable, and an elder of the\ncaste may officiate as priest. Next day the barber and washerman\ntake the bridegroom and bride in their arms and dance, holding them,\nto the accompaniment of music, while the women throw red rose-powder\nover the couple. At their weddings the Kohlis make models in wood of\na Chamar's rampi or knife and khurpa or scraper, this custom perhaps\nindicating some connection with the Chamars; or it may have arisen\nsimply on account of the important assistance rendered by the Chamar\nto the cultivation of sugarcane, in supplying the mot or leather bag\nfor raising water from the well. After the wedding is over a string\nof hemp from a cot is tied round the necks of the pair, and their\nmaternal uncles then run and offer it at the shrine of Marai Mata,\nthe goddess of cholera. Widows with any remains of youth or personal\nattractions always marry again, the ceremony being held at midnight\naccording to the customary ritual of the Maratha Districts. [530]\nSometimes the husband does not attend at all, and the widow is united\nto a sword or dagger as representing him. Otherwise the widow may\nbe conducted to her new husband's house by five other widows, and\nin this case they halt at a stream by the way and the bangles and\nbeads are broken from off her neck and wrists. On account, perhaps,\nof the utility of their wives, and the social temptations which beset\nthem from being continually abroad at work, the Kohlis are lenient to\nconjugal offences, and a woman going wrong even with an outsider will\nbe taken back by her husband and only a trifling punishment imposed by\nthe caste. A Kohli can also keep a woman of any other caste, except\nof those regarded as impure, without incurring any censure. Divorce\nis very seldom resorted to and involves severe penalties to both\nparties. As among the Panwars, a wife retains any property she may\nbring to her husband and her wedding gifts at her own disposal,\nthis separate portion being known as khamora. The caste burn their\ndead when they can afford it, placing the head of the corpse to the\nnorth on the pyre. The bodies of those who have died from cholera\nor smallpox are buried. Like the Panwars it is the custom of the\nKohlis on bathing after a funeral to have a meal of cakes and sugar\non the river-bank, a practice which is looked down on by orthodox\nHindus. After a month or so the deceased person is considered to be\nunited to the ancestors, and when he was the head of the family his\nsuccessor is inducted to the position by the presentation of a new\nhead-cloth and a silver bangle. The bereaved family are then formally\nescorted to the weekly market and are considered to have resumed\ntheir regular social relations. The Kohlis revere the ordinary Hindu\ndeities, and on the day of Dasahra they worship their axe, sickle and\nploughshare by washing them and making an offering of rice, flowers\nand turmeric. The axe is no doubt included because it serves to cut\nthe wood for fencing the sugarcane garden.\n\n\n\n\n3. The Kohlis as tank-builders.\n\nThe Kohlis were the builders of the great tanks of the Bhandara\nDistrict. The most important of these are Nawegaon with an area of\nfive square miles and a circumference of seventeen, and Seoni, over\nseven miles round, while smaller tanks are counted by thousands. Though\nthe largest are the work of the Kohlis, many of the others have been\nconstructed by the Panwars of this tract, who have also much aptitude\nfor irrigation. Built as they were without technical engineering\nknowledge, the tanks form an enduring monument to the native ability\nand industry of these enterprising cultivators. \"Working,\" Mr. Danks\nremarks, [531] \"without instruments, unable even to take a level,\nfinding out their mistakes by the destruction of the works they had\nbuilt, ever repairing, reconstructing, altering, they have raised in\nevery village a testimony to their wisdom, their industry and their\nperseverance.\" Although Nawegaon tank has a water area of seven square\nmiles, the combined length of the two artificial embankments is only\n760 yards, and this demonstrates the great skill with which the site\nhas been selected. At some of the tanks men are stationed day and\nnight during the rainy season to see if the embankment is anywhere\nweakened by the action of the water, and in that case to give the\nalarm to the village by beating a drum. The Nawegaon tank is said to\nhave been built at the commencement of the eighteenth century by one\nKolu Patel Kohli. As might be expected, Kolu Patel has been deified\nas Kolasur Deo, and his shrine is on one of the peaks surrounding the\ntank. Seven other peaks are known as the Sat Bahini or 'Seven Sisters,'\nand it is said that these deities assisted Kolu in building the tank,\nby coming and working on the embankment at night when the labourers had\nleft. Some whitish-yellow stones on Kolasur's hill are said to be the\nbaskets of the Seven Sisters in which they carried earth. \"The Kohli,\"\nMr. Napier states, [532] \"sacrifices all to his sugarcane, his one\nambition and his one extravagance being to build a large reservoir\nwhich will contain water for the irrigation of his sugarcane during\nthe long, hot months.\" Each rates the other according to the size of\nhis tank and the strength of its embankment. Under the Gond kings a\nman who built a tank received a grant of the fields lying below it\neither free of revenue or on a very light assessment. Such grants\nwere known as Tukm, and were probably a considerable incentive to\ntank-building. Unfortunately sugarcane, formerly a most profitable\ncrop, has been undersold by the canal- and tank-irrigated product of\nnorthern India, and at present scarcely repays cultivation.\n\n\n\n\n4. Agricultural customs.\n\nThe Kohli villages are managed on a somewhat patriarchal system,\nand the dealings between proprietors and cultivators are regulated\nby their own custom without much regard to the rules imposed by\nGovernment. Mr. Napier says of them: [533] \"The Kohlis are very good\nlandlords as a general rule; but in their dealings with their tenants\nand their labourers follow their own customs, while the provisions\nof the Tenancy Act often remain in abeyance. They admit no tenant\nright in land capable of being irrigated for sugarcane, and change\nthe tenants as they please; and in many villages a large number of\nthe labourers are practically serfs, being fed, clothed and married\nby their employers, for whom they and their children work all their\nlives without any fixed wages. These customs are acquiesced in by all\nparties, and, so far as I could learn, there was no discontent. They\nhave a splendid caste discipline, and their quarrels are settled\nexpeditiously by their panchayats or committees without reference to\ncourts of law.\"\n\n\n\n\n5. General characteristics.\n\nIn appearance and character the Kohlis cannot be said to show much\ntrace of distinction. The men wear a short white bandi or coat, and\na small head-cloth only three feet long. This is often scarcely more\nthan a handkerchief which tightly covers the crown, and terminates\nin knots, inelegant and cheap. The women wear glass bangles only on\nthe left hand and brass or silver ones on the right, no doubt because\nglass ornaments would interfere with their work and get broken. Their\ncloth is drawn over the left shoulder instead of the right, a custom\nwhich they share with Gonds, Kapewars and Buruds. In appearance the\ncaste are generally dirty. They are ignorant themselves and do not care\nthat their children should be educated. Their custom of polygamy leads\nto family quarrels and excessive subdivision of property; thus in one\nvillage, Ashti, the proprietary right is divided into 192 shares. On\nthis account they are seldom well-to-do. Their countenances are of\na somewhat inferior type and generally dark in colour. In character\nthey are peaceful and amenable, and have the reputation of being\nvery respectful to Government officials, who as a consequence look\non them with favour. 'Their heart is good,' a tahsildar [534] of\nthe Bhandara District remarked. If a guest comes to a Kohli, the\nhost himself offers to wash his feet, and if the guest be a Brahman,\nwill insist on doing so. They eat flesh and fowls, but abstain from\nliquor. In social status they are on a level with the Malis and a\nlittle below the regular cultivating castes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKOL\n\n\n[This article is based mainly on Colonel Dalton's classical description\nof the Mundas and Hos in the Ethnology of Bengal and on Sir H. Risley's\narticle on Munda in The Tribes and Castes of Bengal. Extracts have\nalso been made from Mr. Sarat Chandra Roy's exhaustive account in The\nMundas and their Country (Calcutta, 1912). Information on the Mundas\nand Kols of the Central Provinces has been collected by Mr. Hira Lal in\nRaigarh and by the author in Mandla, and a monograph has been furnished\nby Mr. B. C. Mazumdar, Pleader, Sambalpur. It should be mentioned\nthat most of the Kols of the Central Provinces have abandoned the\nold tribal customs and religion described by Colonel Dalton, and are\nrapidly coming to resemble an ordinary low Hindu caste.]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice. Strength of the Kols in India.\n 2. Names of the tribe.\n 3. Origin of the Kolarian tribes.\n 4. The Kolarians and Dravidians.\n 5. Date of the Dravidian immigration.\n 6. Strength of the Kols in the Central Provinces.\n 7. Legend of origin.\n 8. Tribal subdivisions.\n 9. Totemism.\n 10. Marriage customs.\n 11. Divorce and widow-marriage.\n 12. Religion.\n 13. Witchcraft.\n 14. Funeral rites.\n 15. Inheritance.\n 16. Physical appearance.\n 17. Dances.\n 18. Social rules and offences.\n 19. The caste panchayat.\n 20. Names.\n 21. Occupation.\n 22. Language.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice. Strength of the Kols in India.\n\nKol, Munda, Ho.--A great tribe of Chota Nagpur, which has given its\nname to the Kolarian family of tribes and languages. A part of the\nDistrict of Singhbhum near Chaibasa is named the Kolhan as being\nthe special home of the Larka Kols, but they are distributed all\nover Chota Nagpur, whence they have spread to the United Provinces,\nCentral Provinces and Central India. It seems probable also that the\nKoli tribe of Gujarat may be an offshoot of the Kols, who migrated\nthere by way of Central India. If the total of the Kols, Mundas and Hos\nor Larka Kols be taken together they number about a million persons\nin India. The real strength of the tribe is, however, much greater\nthan this. As shown in the article on that tribe, the Santals are\na branch of the Kols, who have broken off from the parent stock and\nbeen given a separate designation by the Hindus. They numbered two\nmillions in 1911. The Bhumij (400,000) are also probably a section of\nthe tribe. Sir H. Risley [535] states that they are closely allied to\nif not identical with the Mundas. In some localities they intermarry\nwith the Mundas and are known as Bhumij Munda. [536] If the Kolis\nalso be taken as an offshoot of the Kol tribe, a further addition of\nnearly three millions is made to the tribes whose parentage can be\ntraced to this stock. There is little doubt also that other Kolarian\ntribes, as the Kharias, Khairwars, Korwas and Korkus, whose tribal\nlanguages closely approximate to Mundari, were originally one with\nthe Mundas, but have been separated for so long a period that their\ndirect connection can no longer be proved. The disintegrating causes,\nwhich have split up what was originally one into a number of distinct\ntribes, are probably no more than distance and settlement in different\nparts of the country, leading to cessation of intermarriage and\nsocial intercourse. The tribes have then obtained some variation in\nthe original name or been given separate territorial or occupational\ndesignations by the Hindus and their former identity has gradually\nbeen forgotten.\n\n\n\n\n2. Names of the tribe.\n\n\"The word Kol is probably the Santali har, a man. This word is\nused under various forms, such as har, hara, ho and koro by most\nMunda tribes in order to denote themselves. The change of r to l is\nfamiliar and does not give rise to any difficulty.\" [537] The word\nKorku is simply a corruption of Kodaku, young men, and there is every\nprobability that the Hindus, hearing the Kol tribe call themselves\nhor or horo, may have corrupted the name to a form more familiar\nto themselves. An alternative derivation from the Sanskrit word\nkola, a pig, is improbable. But it is possible, as suggested by Sir\nG. Grierson, that after the name had been given, its Sanskrit meaning\nof pig may have added zest to its employment by the Hindus. The\nword Munda, Sir H. Risley states, is the common term employed by\nthe Kols for the headman of a village, and has come into general\nuse as an honorific title, as the Santals call themselves Manjhi,\nthe Gonds Bhoi, and the Bhangis and other sweepers Mehtar. Munda,\nlike Mehtar, originally a title, has become a popular alternative\nname for the caste. In Chota Nagpur those Kols who have partly\nadopted Hinduism and become to some degree civilised are commonly\nknown as Munda, while the name Ho or Larka Kol is reserved for the\nbranch of the tribe in Singhbhum who, as stated by Colonel Dalton,\n\"From their jealous isolation for so many years, their independence,\ntheir long occupation of one territory, and their contempt for all\nother classes that come in contact with them, especially the Hindus,\nprobably furnish the best illustration, not of the Mundaris in their\npresent state, but of what, if left to themselves and permanently\nlocated, they were likely to become. Even at the present day the\nexclusiveness of the old Hos is remarkable. They will not allow aliens\nto hold land near their villages; and indeed if it were left to them\nno strangers would be permitted to settle in the Kolhan.\"\n\nIt is this branch of the tribe whose members have come several times\ninto contact with British troops, and on account of their bravery and\nwarlike disposition they are called the Larka or fighting Kols. The\nMundas on the other hand appear now to be a very mixed group. The\nlist of their subcastes given [538] by Sir H. Risley includes the\nKhangar, Kharia, Mahali, Oraon and Savar Mundas, all of which are the\nnames of separate tribes, now considered as distinct, though with\nthe exception of the Oraons they were perhaps originally offshoots\nof the Kols or akin to them; while the Bhuinhar or landholders and\nNagvansi or Mundas of the royal house are apparently the aristocracy\nof the original tribe. It would appear possible from the list of\nsub-tribes already given that the village headmen of other tribes,\nhaving adopted the designation of Munda and intermarried with other\nheadmen so as to make a superior group, have in some cases been\nadmitted into the Munda tribe, which may enjoy a higher rank than\nother tribes as the Raja of Chota Nagpur belongs to it; but it is\nalso quite likely that these groups may have simply arisen from the\nintermarriages of Mundas with other tribes, alliances of this sort\nbeing common. The Kols of the Central Provinces probably belong to\nthe Munda tribe of Chota Nagpur, and not to the Hos or Larka Kols,\nas the latter would be less likely to emigrate. But quite a separate\nset of subcastes is found here, which will be given later.\n\n\n\n\n3. Origin of the Kolarian tribes.\n\nThe Munda languages have been shown by Sir G. Grierson to have\noriginated from the same source as those spoken in the Indo-Pacific\nislands and the Malay Peninsula. \"The Mundas, the Mon-Khmer,\nthe wild tribes of the Malay Peninsula and the Nicobarese all use\nforms of speech which can be traced back to a common source though\nthey mutually differ widely from each other.\" [539] It would appear\ntherefore that the Mundas, the oldest known inhabitants of India,\nperhaps came originally from the south-east, the islands of the Indian\nArchipelago and the Malay Peninsula, unless India was their original\nhome and these countries were colonised from it.\n\nSir E. Gait states: \"Geologists tell us that the Indian Peninsula\nwas formerly cut off from the north of Asia by sea, while a land\nconnection existed on the one side with Madagascar and on the other\nwith the Malay Archipelago; and though there is nothing to show that\nIndia was then inhabited we know that it was so in palaeolithic times,\nwhen communication was probably still easier with the countries to the\nnorth-east and south-west than with those beyond the Himalayas.\" [540]\nIn the south of India, however, no traces of Munda languages remain at\npresent, and it seems therefore necessary to conclude that the Mundas\nof the Central Provinces and Chota Nagpur have been separated from the\ntribes of Malaysia who speak cognate languages for an indefinitely\nlong period, or else that they did not come through southern India\nto these countries, but by way of Assam and Bengal or by sea through\nOrissa. There is good reason to believe from the names of places and\nfrom local tradition that the Munda tribes were once spread over Bihar\nand parts of the Ganges valley; and if the Kolis are an offshoot of\nthe Kols, as is supposed, they also penetrated across Central India to\nthe sea in Gujarat and the hills of the Western Ghats. It is presumed\nthat the advance of the Aryans or Hindus drove the Mundas from the\nopen country to the seclusion of the hills and forests. The Munda\nand Dravidian languages are shown by Sir G. Grierson to be distinct\ngroups without any real connection.\n\n\n\n\n4. The Kolarians and Dravidians.\n\nThough the physical characteristics of the two sets of tribes\ndisplay no marked points of difference, it has been generally held\nby ethnologists who know them that they represent two distinct waves\nof immigration, and the absence of connection between their languages\nbears out this view. It has always been supposed that the Mundas were\nin the country of Chota Nagpur and the Central Provinces first, and\nthat the Dravidians, the Gonds, Khonds and Oraons came afterwards. The\ngrounds for this view are the more advanced culture of the Dravidians;\nthe fact that where the two sets of tribes are in contact those of the\nMunda group have been ousted from the more open and fertile country,\nof which according to tradition they were formerly in possession;\nand the practice of the Gonds and other Dravidian tribes of employing\nthe Baigas, Bhuiyas and other Munda tribes for their village priests,\nwhich is an acknowledgment that the latter as the earlier residents\nhave a more familiar acquaintance with the local deities, and can\nsolicit their favour and protection with more prospect of success. Such\na belief is the more easily understood when it is remembered that\nthese deities are not infrequently either the human ancestors of the\nearliest residents or the local animals and plants from which they\nsupposed themselves to be descended.\n\n\n\n\n5. Date of the Dravidian immigration.\n\nThe Dravidian languages, Gondi, Kurukh and Khond, are of one family\nwith Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Canarese, and their home is the\nsouth of India. As stated [541] by Sir E. Gait, there is at present\nno evidence to show that the Dravidians came to southern India from\nany other part of the world, and for anything that is known to the\ncontrary the languages may have originated there. The existence of\nthe small Brahui tribe in Baluchistan, who speak a Dravidian language\nbut have no physical resemblance to other Dravidian races, cannot\nbe satisfactorily explained, but as he points out this is no reason\nfor holding that the whole body of speakers of Dravidian languages\nentered India from the north-west, and, with the exception of this\nsmall group of Brahuis, penetrated to the south of India and settled\nthere without leaving any traces of their passage.\n\nThe Dravidian languages occupy a large area in Madras, Mysore and\nHyderabad, and they extend north into the Central Provinces and\nChota Nagpur, where they die out, practically not being found west\nand north of this tract. As the languages are more highly developed\nand the culture of their speakers is far more advanced in the south,\nit is justifiable to suppose, pending evidence to the contrary, that\nthe south is their home and that they have spread thence as far north\nas the Central Provinces. The Gonds and Oraons too have stories to the\neffect that they came from the south. It has hitherto been believed,\nat least in the Central Provinces, that both the Gonds and Baigas\nhave been settled in this territory for an indefinite period, that is,\nfrom prior to any Aryan or Hindu immigration. Mr. H. A. Crump, however,\nhas questioned this assumption. He points out that the Baiga tribe have\nentirely lost their own language and speak a dialect of Chhattisgarhi\nHindi in Mandla, while half the Gonds still speak Gondi. If the\nBaigas and Gonds were settled here together before the arrival of\nany Hindus, how is it that the Baigas do not speak Gondi instead of\nHindi? A comparison of the caste and language tables of the census of\n1901 shows that several of the Munda tribes have entirely lost their\nown language, among these being the Binjhwar, Baiga, Bhaina, Bhuiya,\nBhumij, Chero and Khairwar, and the Bhils and Kolis if these are held\nto be Munda tribes. None of these tribes have adopted a Dravidian\nlanguage, but all speak corrupt forms of the current Aryan vernaculars\nderived from Sanskrit. The Mundas and Hos themselves with the Kharias,\nSantals and Korkus retain Munda languages. On the other hand a half\nof the Gonds, nearly all the Oraons and three-fourths of the Khonds\nstill preserve their own Dravidian speech. It would therefore seem\nthat the Munda tribes who speak Aryan vernaculars must have been\nin close contact with Hindu peoples at the time they lost their own\nlanguage and not with Gonds or Oraons. In the Central Provinces it\nis known that Rajput dynasties were ruling in Jubbulpore from the\nsixth to the twelfth century, in Seoni about the sixth century and\nin Bhandak near Chanda from an early period as well as at Ratanpur\nin Chhattisgarh. From about the twelfth century these disappear and\nthere is a blank till the fourteenth century or later, when Gond\nkingdoms are found established at Kherla in Betul, at Deogarh in\nChhindwara, at Garha-Mandla [542] including the Jubbulpore country,\nand at Chanda fourteen miles from Bhandak. It seems clear then that\nthe Hindu dynasties were subverted by the Gonds after the Muhammadan\ninvasions of northern India had weakened or destroyed the central\npowers of the Hindus and prevented any assistance being afforded to\nthe outlying settlements. But it seems prima facie more likely that\nthe Hindu kingdoms of the Central Provinces should have been destroyed\nby an invasion of barbarians from without rather than by successful\nrisings of their own subjects once thoroughly subdued. The Haihaya\nRajput dynasty of Ratanpur was the only one which survived, all the\nothers being supplanted by Gond states. If then the Gond incursion\nwas subsequent to the establishment of the old Hindu kingdoms,\nits probable date may be placed from the ninth to the thirteenth\ncenturies, the subjugation of the greater part of the Province being\nno doubt a gradual affair. In favour of this it may be noted that some\nrecollection still exists of the settlement of the Oraons in Chota\nNagpur being later than that of the Mundas, while if it had taken place\nlong before this time all tradition of it would probably have been\nforgotten. In Chhindwara the legend still remains that the founder of\nthe Deogarh Gond dynasty, Jatba, slew and supplanted the Gaoli kings\nRansur and Ghansur, who were previously ruling on the plateau. And the\nBastar Raj-Gond Rajas have a story that they came from Warangal in the\nsouth so late as the fourteenth century, accompanied by the ancestors\nof some of the existing Bastar tribes. Jadu Rai, the founder of the\nGond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla, is supposed to have lived near\nthe Godavari. A large section of the Gonds of the Central Provinces are\nknown as Rawanvansi or of the race of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon,\nwho was conquered by Rama. The Oraons also claim to be descended\nfrom Rawan. [543] This name and story must clearly have been given\nto the tribes by the Hindus, and the explanation appears to be that\nthe Hindus considered the Dravidian Gonds and Oraons to have been the\nenemy encountered in the Aryan expedition to southern India and Ceylon,\nwhich is dimly recorded in the legend of Rama. On the other hand the\nBhuiyas, a Munda tribe, call themselves Pawan-ka-put or Children of\nthe Wind, that is of the race of Hanuman, who was the Son of the Wind;\nand this name would appear to show, as suggested by Colonel Dalton,\nthat the Munda tribes gave assistance to the Aryan expedition and\naccompanied it, an alliance which has been preserved in the tale of\nthe exploits of Hanuman and his army of apes. Similarly the name of\nthe Ramosi caste of Berar is a corruption of Ramvansi or of the race\nof Rama; and the Ramosis appear to be an offshoot of the Bhils or\nKolis, both of whom are not improbably Munda tribes. A Hindu writer\ncompared the Bhil auxiliaries in the camp of the famous Chalukya\nRajput king Sidhraj of Gujarat to Hanuman and his apes, on account\nof their agility. [544] These instances seem to be in favour of the\nidea that the Munda tribes assisted the Aryans, and if this were the\ncase it would appear to be a legitimate inference that at the same\nperiod the Dravidian tribes were still in southern India and not\nmixed up with the Munda tribes in the Central Provinces and Chota\nNagpur as at present. Though the evidence is perhaps not very strong,\nthe hypothesis, as suggested by Mr. Crump, that the settlement of the\nGonds in the Central Provinces is comparatively recent and subsequent\nto the early Rajput dynasties, is well worth putting forward.\n\n\n\n\n6. Strength of the Kols in the Central Provinces.\n\nIn the Central Provinces the Kols and Mundas numbered 85,000 persons in\n1911. The name Kol is in general use except in the Chota Nagpur States,\nbut it seems probable that the Kols who have immigrated here really\nbelong to the Munda tribe of Chota Nagpur. About 52,000 Kols, or nearly\na third of the total number, reside in the Jubbulpore District, and the\nremainder are scattered over all Districts and States of the Province.\n\n\n\n\n7. Legend of origin.\n\nThe Kol legend of origin is that Sing-Bonga or the Sun created a boy\nand a girl and put them together in a cave to people the world; but\nfinding them to be too innocent to give hope of progeny he instructed\nthem in the art of making rice-beer, which inflames the passions,\nand in course of time they had twelve sons and twelve daughters. The\ndivine origin ascribed by the Kols, in common with other peoples,\nto their favourite liquor may be noticed. The children were divided\ninto pairs, and Sing-Bonga set before them various kinds of food to\nchoose for their sustenance before starting out into the world; and the\nfate of their descendants depended on their choice. Thus the first and\nsecond pairs took the flesh of bullocks and buffaloes, and from them\nare descended the Kols and Bhumij; one pair took shell-fish and became\nBhuiyas, two pairs took pigs and were the ancestors of the Santals,\none pair took vegetables only and originated the Brahman and Rajput\ncastes, and other pairs took goats and fish, from whom the various\nSudra castes are sprung. One pair got nothing, and seeing this the Kol\npair gave them of their superfluity and the descendants of these became\nthe Ghasias, who are menials in Kol villages and supported by the\ncultivators. The Larka Kols attribute their strength and fine physique\nto the fact that they eat beef. When they first met English soldiers\nin the beginning of the nineteenth century the Kols were quickly\nimpressed by their wonderful fighting powers, and finding that the\nEnglish too ate the flesh of bullocks, paid them the high compliment\nof assigning to them the same pair of ancestors as themselves. The\nNagvansi Rajas of Chota Nagpur say that their original ancestor was a\nsnake-god who assumed human form and married a Brahman's daughter. But,\nlike Lohengrin, the condition of his remaining a man was that he should\nnot disclose his origin, and when he was finally brought to satisfy\nthe incessant curiosity of his wife, he reverted to his first shape,\nand she burned herself from remorse. Their child was found by some\nwood-cutters lying in the forest beneath a cobra's extended hood,\nand was brought up in their family. He subsequently became king,\nand his seven elder brothers attended him as banghy-bearers when\nhe rode abroad. The Mundas are said to be descended from the seven\nbrothers, and their sign-manual is a kawar or banghy. [545] Hence the\nRajas of Chota Nagpur regard the Mundas as their elder brothers, and\nthe Ranis veil their faces when they meet a Munda as to a husband's\nelder brother. The probable explanation of the story is that the Hos\nor Mundas, from whom the kings are sprung, were a separate section of\nthe tribe who subdued the older Mundas. In memory of their progenitor\nthe Nagvansi Rajas wear a turban folded to resemble the coils of a\nsnake with a projection over the brow for its head. [546]\n\n\n\n\n8. Tribal subdivisions.\n\nThe subcastes of the Kols in the Central Provinces differ entirely\nfrom those in Chota Nagpur. Of the important subcastes here the Rautia\nand Rautele take their name from Rawat, a prince, and appear to be\na military or landholding group. In Chota Nagpur the Rautias are\na separate caste, holding land. The Rautia Kols practise hypergamy\nwith the Rauteles, taking their daughters in marriage but not giving\ndaughters. They will eat with Rauteles at wedding feasts only and\nnot on any other occasion. The Thakuria, from thakur, a lord, are\nsaid to be the progeny of Rajput fathers and Kol mothers; and the\nKagwaria to be named from kagwar, an offering made to ancestors in\nthe month of Kunwar. The Desaha, from desh, native country, belong\nprincipally to Rewah. In some localities Bharias, Savars and Khairwars\nare found who call themselves Kols and appear to be included in the\ntribe. The Bharias may be an offshoot of the Bhar tribe of northern\nIndia. It has already been seen that several groups of other tribes\nhave been amalgamated with the Mundas of Chota Nagpur, probably in a\ngreat measure from intermarriage, and a similar fusion seems to have\noccurred in the Central Provinces. Intermarriage between the different\nsubtribes, though nominally prohibited, not infrequently takes place,\nand a girl forming a liaison with a man of another division may be\nmarried to him and received into it. The Rautias, however, say that\nthey forbid this practice.\n\n\n\n\n9. Totemism.\n\nThe Mandla Kols have a number of totemistic septs. The Bargaiyan\nare really called after a village Bargaon, but they connect their\nname with the bar or banyan tree, and revere it. At their weddings a\nbranch of this tree is laid on the roof of the marriage-shed, and the\nwedding-cakes are cooked in a fire made of the wood of the banyan tree\nand served to all the relations of the sept on its leaves. At other\ntimes they will not pluck a leaf or a branch from a banyan tree or\neven go beneath its shade. The Kathotia sept is named after kathota,\na bowl, but they revere the tiger. Bagheshwar Deo, the tiger-god,\nresides on a little platform in their verandas. They may not join in a\ntiger-beat nor sit up for a tiger over a kill. In the latter case they\nthink that the tiger would not come and would be deprived of his food,\nand all the members of their family would get ill. If a tiger takes\none of their cattle, they think there has been some neglect in their\nworship of him. They say that if one of them meets a tiger in the\nforest he will fold his hands and say, 'Maharaj, let me pass,' and\nthe tiger will then get out of his way. If a tiger is killed within\nthe limits of his village a Kathotia Kol will throw away his earthen\npots as in mourning for a relative, have his head shaved and feed a\nfew men of his sept. The Katharia sept take their name from kathri,\na mattress. A member of this sept must never have a mattress in his\nhouse nor wear clothes sewn in crosspieces as mattresses are sewn. The\nword kathri should never be mentioned before him as he thinks some\ngreat misfortune would thereby happen to his family, but this belief\nis falling into abeyance. The name of the Mudia or Mudrundia sept\nis said to mean shaven head, but they apparently revere the white\nkumhra or gourd, perhaps because it has some resemblance to a shaven\nhead. They give a white gourd to a woman on the third day after she\nhas borne a child, and her family then do not eat this vegetable\nfor three years. At the expiration of the period the head of the\nfamily offers a chicken to Dulha Deo, frying it with the feathers\nleft on the head, and eating the head and feet himself. Women may not\njoin in this sacrifice. The Kumraya sept revere the brown kumhra or\ngourd. They grow this vegetable on the thatch of their house-roof,\nand from the time of planting it until the fruits have been plucked\nthey do not touch it. The Bhuwar sept are named after bhu or bhumi, the\nearth. They must always sleep on the earth and not on cots. Other septs\nare Nathunia, a nose-ring; Karpatia, a kind of grass; and Binjhwar,\nfrom the tribe of that name. From Raigarh a separate group of septs\nis reported, the names of which further demonstrate the mixed nature\nof the tribe. Among these are Bandi, a slave; Kawar, Gond, Dhanuhar,\nBirjhia, all of which are the names of distinct tribes; Sonwani,\ngold-water; Keriari, or bridle; Khunta, a peg; and Kapat, a shutter.\n\n\n\n\n10. Marriage customs.\n\nMarriage within the sept is prohibited, but violations of this\nrule are not infrequent. Outside the sept a man may marry any woman\nexcept the sisters of his mother or stepmother. Where, as in some\nlocalities, the septs have been forgotten, marriage is forbidden\nbetween those relatives to whom the sacramental cakes are distributed\nat a wedding. Among the Mundas, before a father sets out to seek a\nbride for his son, he invites three or four relatives, and at midnight\ntaking a bottle of liquor pours a little over the household god as a\nlibation and drinks the rest with them. They go to the girl's village,\nand addressing her father say that they have come to hunt. He asks\nthem in what jungle they wish to hunt, and they name the sarna or\nsacred grove in which the bones of his ancestors are buried. If the\ngirl's father is satisfied with the match, he then agrees to it. A\nbride-price of Rs. 10-8 is paid in the Central Provinces. Among the Hos\nof Chota Nagpur so large a number of cattle was formerly demanded in\nexchange for a bride that many girls were never married. Afterwards it\nwas reduced to ten head of cattle, and it was decided that one pair of\nbullocks, one cow and seven rupees should be equivalent to ten head,\nwhile for poor families Rs. 7 was to be the whole price. [547] Among\nthe Mundas of Raigarh the price is three or four bullocks, but poor\nmen may give Rs. 12 or Rs. 18 in substitution. Here weddings may\nonly be held in the three months of Aghan, Magh and Phagun, [548]\nand preferably in Magh. Their marriage ceremony is very simple,\nthe bridegroom simply smearing vermilion on the bride's forehead,\nafter which water is poured over the heads of the pair. Two pots of\nliquor are placed beside them during the ceremony. It is also a good\nmarriage if a girl of her own accord goes and lives in a man's house\nand he shows his acceptance by dabbing vermilion on her. But her\noffspring are of inferior status to those of a regular marriage. The\nKols of Jubbulpore and Mandla have adopted the regular Hindu ceremony.\n\n\n\n\n11. Divorce and widow-marriage.\n\nDivorce and widow-marriage are permitted. In Raigarh the widow is\nbound to marry her deceased husband's younger brother, but not\nelsewhere. Among these Mundas, if divorce is effected by mutual\nconsent, the husband must give his wife a pair of loin-cloths and\nprovisions for six months. Polygamy is seldom practised, as women can\nearn their own living, and if a wife is superseded she will often\nrun away home or set up in a house by herself. In Mandla a divorce\ncan be obtained by either party, the person in fault having to pay\na fee of Rs. 1-4 to the panchayat; the woman then breaks her bangles\nand the divorce is complete.\n\n\n\n\n12. Religion.\n\nAt the head of the Munda pantheon, Sir H. Risley states, [549] stands\nSing-Bonga or the sun, a beneficent but ineffective deity who concerns\nhimself but little with human affairs. But he may be invoked to avert\nsickness or calamity, and to this end sacrifices of white goats or\nwhite cocks are offered to him. Next to him comes Marang Buru, the\nmountain god, who resides on the summit of the most prominent hill\nin the neighbourhood. Animals are sacrificed to him here, and the\nheads left and appropriated by the priest. He controls the rainfall,\nand is appealed to in time of drought and when epidemic sickness is\nabroad. Other deities preside over rivers, tanks, wells and springs,\nand it is believed that when offended they cause people who bathe\nin the water to be attacked by leprosy and skin diseases. Even the\nlow swampy rice-fields are haunted by separate spirits. Deswali is\nthe god of the village, and he lives with his wife in the Sarna or\nsacred grove, a patch of the primeval forest left intact to afford\na refuge for the forest gods. Every village has its own Deswali,\nwho is held responsible for the crops, and receives an offering of a\nbuffalo at the agricultural festival. The Jubbulpore Kols have entirely\nabandoned their tribal gods and now worship Hindu deities. Devi is\ntheir favourite goddess, and they carry her iron tridents about with\nthem wherever they go. Twice in the year, when the baskets of wheat\nor Gardens of Adonis are sown in the name of Devi, she descends on\nsome of her worshippers, and they become possessed and pierce their\ncheeks with the trident, sometimes leaving it in the face for hours,\nwith one or two men standing beside to support it. When the trident\nis taken out a quid of betel is given to the wounded man, and the\npart is believed to heal up at once. These Kols also employ Brahmans\nfor their ceremonies. Before sowing their fields they say--\n\n\n Thuiya, Bhuiya, [550] Dharti Mata, Thakur Deo, Bhainsa Sur;\n khub paida kariye Maharaj;\n\n\nthat is, they invoke Mother Earth, Thakur Deo, the corn-god, and\nBhainsasur, the buffalo demon, to give them good crops; and as they say\nthis they throw a handful of grain in the air in the name of each god.\n\n\n\n\n13. Witchcraft.\n\n\"Among the Hos,\" Colonel Dalton states, \"all disease in men or animals\nis attributed to one of two causes--the wrath of some evil spirit\nwho has to be appeased, or the spell of some witch or sorcerer who\nshould be destroyed or driven out of the land. In the latter case\na sokha or witch-finder is employed to ascertain who has cast the\nspell, and various methods of divination are resorted to. In former\ntimes the person denounced and all his family were put to death\nin the belief that witches breed witches and sorcerers. The taint\nis in the blood. When, during the Mutiny, Singhbhum District was\nleft for a short time without officers, a terrible raid was made\nagainst all who had been suspected for years of dealing with the\nevil one, and the most atrocious murders were committed. Young men\nwere told off for the duty by the elders; neither age nor sex were\nspared. When order was restored, these crimes were brought to light,\nand the actual perpetrators punished; and since then we have not only\nhad no recurrence of witch murders, but the superstition itself is\ndying out in the Kolhan.\" Mr. H. C. Streatfeild states that among\nthe Mundas witches used to be hung head downwards from a pipal tree\nover a slow fire, the whole village dancing as they were gradually\nroasted, but whether this ceremony was purely vindictive or had any\nother significance there is nothing to show. [551]\n\n\n\n\n14. Funeral rites.\n\nThe Hos of Chota Nagpur were accustomed to place large slabs of stone\nas tombstones over their graves, and a collection of these massive\ngravestones indelibly marks the site of every Ho or Mundari village,\nbeing still found in parts of the country where there have been no\nKols for ages. In addition to this slab, a megalithic monument is\nset up to the deceased in some conspicuous spot outside the village;\nthe pillars vary in height from five or six to fifteen feet, and\napparently fragments of rock of the most fantastic shape are most\nfavoured. All the clothes, ornaments and agricultural implements of\nthe dead man were buried with the body. The funeral rites were of a\nsomewhat touching character: [552] \"When all is ready, a funeral party\ncollects in front of the deceased's house, three or four men with\nvery deep-toned drums, and a group of about eight young girls. The\nchief mourner comes forth, carrying the bones exposed on a decorated\ntray, and behind him the girls form two rows, carrying empty or broken\npitchers or battered brass vessels, while the men with drums bring up\nthe rear. The procession advances with a ghostly dancing movement,\nslow and solemn as a minuet, in time to the beat of the deep-toned\ndrums, not straight forward, but mysteriously gliding--now right,\nnow left, now marking time, all in the same mournful cadence. In\nthis manner the remains are taken to the house of every friend\nand relative of the deceased within a circle of a few miles, and\nto every house in the village. As the procession approaches each\nhouse in the manner described, the inmates all come out, and the\ntray having been placed on the ground at their door, they kneel over\nit and mourn. The bones are also thus conveyed to all his favourite\nhaunts, the fields he cultivated, the grove he planted, the tank he\nexcavated, the threshing-floor where he worked with his people, the\nAkhara or dancing-arena where he made merry with them, and each spot\nwhich is hallowed with reminiscences of the deceased draws forth fresh\ntears.\" In Sambalpur [553] the dead body of a Munda is washed in wine\nbefore interment, and a mark of vermilion is made on the forehead. The\nmourners drink wine sitting by the grave. They then bathe, and catch\na small fish and roast it on a fire, smearing their hands with oil\nand warming them at the fire. It would appear that this last rite\nis a purification of the hands after contact with the dead body, but\nwhether the fish is meant to represent the deceased and the roasting\nof it is a substitute for the rite of cremation is not clear. During\nthe eight days of mourning the relatives abstain from flesh-meat,\nbut they eat fish. The Kols of Jubbulpore now bury or burn the dead,\nand observe mourning exactly like ordinary Hindus.\n\n\n\n\n15. Inheritance.\n\nSuccession among the Mundas passes to sons only. Failing these,\nthe property goes to the father or brothers if any. At partition the\neldest son as a rule gets a slightly larger share than the other sons,\na piece of land, and in well-to-do families a yoke of plough cattle,\nor only a bullock or a goat, and sometimes a bundle of paddy weighing\nfrom 10 to 16 maunds. [554] Partition cannot usually be made till the\nyoungest son is of age. Daughters get no share in the inheritance,\nand are allotted among the sons just like live-stock. Thus if a man\ndies leaving three sons and three daughters and thirty head of cattle,\non a division each son would get ten head of cattle and one sister;\nbut should there be only one sister, they wait till she marries and\ndivide the bride-price. A father may, however, in his lifetime make\npresents of cash or movables to a daughter, though not of land. It\nis doubtful whether these rules still obtain among the Hinduised Kols.\n\n\n\n\n16. Physical appearance.\n\n\"The Mundas,\" Colonel Dalton states, \"are one of the finest of the\naboriginal tribes. The men average something like 5 feet 6 inches,\nand many of them are remarkably well developed and muscular. Their\nskin is of the darkest brown, almost black in many cases, and their\nfeatures coarse, with broad flat noses, low foreheads and thick lips,\npresenting as a rule a by no means prepossessing appearance. The women\nare often more pleasing, the coarseness of the features being less\naccentuated or less noticeable on account of the extreme good-nature\nand happy carelessness that seldom fail to mark their countenance. They\nare fond of ornament, and a group of men and girls fully decked out\nfor a festival makes a fine show. Every ornament in the shape of bead\nnecklace, silver collar, bracelet, armlet and anklet would seem to have\nbeen brought out for the occasion. The head-dress is the crowning point\nof the turn-out. The long black hair is gathered up in a big coil, most\noften artificially enlarged, the whole being fastened at the right-hand\nside of the back of the head just on a level with and touching the\nright ear. In this knot are fastened all sorts of ornaments of brass\nand silver, and surmounting it, stuck in every available space, are\ngay plumes of feathers that nod and wave bravely with the movements\nof the dance. The ears are distorted almost beyond recognition by huge\nearrings that pierce the lobe and smaller ones that ornament them all\nround.\" In Mandla women are tattooed with the figure of a man or a\nman on horseback, and on the legs behind also with the figure of a\nman. They are not tattooed on the face. Men are never tattooed.\n\n\n\n\n17. Dances.\n\n\"Dancing is the inevitable accompaniment of every gathering, and they\nhave a great variety suitable to the special times and seasons. The\nmotion is slow and graceful, a monotonous sing-song being kept up all\nthrough. The steps are in perfect time and the action wonderfully\neven and regular. This is particularly noticeable in some of the\nvariations of the dances representing the different seasons and\nthe necessary acts of cultivation that each brings with it. In one\nthe dancers bending down make a motion with their hands as though\nthey were sowing the grain, keeping step with their feet all the\ntime. Then come the reaping of the crop and the binding of the sheaves,\nall done in perfect time and rhythm, and making with the continuous\ndroning of the voices a quaint and picturesque performance.\" In the\nCentral Provinces the Kols now dance the Karma dance of the Gonds,\nbut they dance it in more lively fashion. The step consists simply\nin advancing or withdrawing one foot and bringing the other up or\nback beside it. The men and women stand opposite each other in two\nlines, holding hands, and the musicians alternately face each line\nand advance and retreat with them. Then the lines move round in a\ncircle with the musicians in the centre.\n\n\n\n\n18. Social rules and offences.\n\nMunda boys are allowed to eat food cooked by other castes, except the\nvery lowest, until they are married, and girls until they let their\nhair grow long, which is usually at the age of six or seven. After\nthis they do not take food as a tribe from any other caste, even a\nBrahman, though some subtribes accept it from certain castes as the\nTelis (oil-pressers) and Sundis or liquor-vendors. In Jubbulpore\nthe Kols take food from Kurmis, Dhimars and Ahirs. The Mundas will\neat almost all kinds of flesh, including tigers and pigs, while in\nRaigarh they consider monkey as a delicacy, hunting these animals\nwith dogs. In the Central Provinces they have generally abjured beef,\nin deference to Hindu prejudice, and sometimes refuse field-mice,\nto which the Khonds and Gonds are very partial. Neither Kols nor\nMundas are, however, considered impure and the barber and washerman\nwill work for them. In Sambalpur a woman is finally expelled from\ncaste for a liaison with one of the impure Gandas, Ghasias or Doms,\nand a man is expelled for taking food from a woman of these castes,\nbut adultery with her may be expiated by a big feast. Other offences\nare much the same as among the Hindus. A woman who gets her ear torn\nthrough where it is pierced is put out of caste for six months or a\nyear and has to give two feasts on readmission.\n\n\n\n\n19. The caste panchayat.\n\nIn Mandla the head of the panchayat is known as Gaontia, a name for\na village headman, and he is always of the Bargaiya sept, the office\nbeing usually hereditary. When a serious offence is committed the\nGaontia fixes a period of six months to a year for the readmission of\nthe culprit, or the latter begs for reinstatement when he has obtained\nthe materials for the penalty feast. A feast for the whole Rautele\nsubcaste will entail 500 seers or nearly 9 cwt. of kodon, costing\nperhaps Rs. 30, and they say there would not be enough left for a cold\nbreakfast for the offender's family in the morning. When a man has a\npetition to make to the Gaontia, he folds his turban round his neck,\nleaving the head bare, takes a piece of grass in his mouth, and with\nfour prominent elders to support him goes to the Gaontia and falls\nat his feet. The others stand on one leg behind him and the Gaontia\nasks them for their recommendation. Their reverence for the caste\npanchayat is shown by their solemn form of oath, 'Sing-Bonga on high\nand the Panch on earth.' [555] The Kols of Jubbulpore and Mandla are\nnow completely conforming to Hindu usage and employ Brahmans for their\nceremonies. They are most anxious to be considered as good Hindus and\nape every high-caste custom they get hold of. On one occasion I was\nbeing carried on a litter by Kol coolies and accompanied by a Rajput\nchuprassie and was talking to the Kols, who eagerly proclaimed their\nrigid Hindu observances. Finally the chuprassie said that Brahmans\nand Rajputs must have three separate brushes of date-palm fibre for\ntheir houses, one to sweep the cook-room which is especially sacred,\none for the rest of the house, and one for the yard. Lying gallantly\nthe Kols said that they also kept three palm brushes for cleaning\ntheir houses, and when it was pointed out that there were no date-palms\nwithin several miles of their village, they said they sent periodical\nexpeditions to the adjoining District to bring back fibre for brushes.\n\n\n\n\n20. Names.\n\nColonel Dalton notes that the Kols, like the Gonds, give names\nto their children after officers visiting the village when they\nare born. Thus Captain, Major, Doctor are common names in the\nKolhan. Mr. Mazumdar gives an instance of a Kol servant of the Raja\nof Bamra who greatly admired some English lamp-chimneys sent for by\nthe Raja and called his daughter 'Chimney.' They do not address any\nrelative or caste-man by his name if he is older than themselves,\nbut use the term of relationship to a relative and to others the\nhonorific title of Gaontia.\n\n\n\n\n21. Occupation.\n\nThe Mundari language has no words for the village trades nor for\nthe implements of cultivation, and so it may be concluded that prior\nto their contact with the Hindus the Mundas lived on the fruits and\nroots of the forests and the pursuit of game and fish. Now, however,\nthey have taken kindly to several kinds of labour. They are much\nin request on the Assam tea-gardens owing to their good physique\nand muscular power, and they make the best bearers of dhoolies or\npalanquins. Kol bearers will carry a dhoolie four miles an hour\nas against the best Gond pace of about three, and they shake the\noccupant less. They also make excellent masons and navvies, and are\ngenerally more honest workers than the other jungle tribes. A Munda\nseldom comes into a criminal court.\n\n\n\n\n22. Language.\n\nThe Kols of the Central Provinces have practically abandoned their\nown language, Mundari being retained only by about 1000 persons in\n1911. The Kols and Mundas now speak the Hindu vernacular current in\nthe tracts where they reside. Mundari, Santali, Korwa and Bhumij are\npractically all forms of one language which Sir G. Grierson designates\nas Kherwari. [556]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKOLAM\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice of the tribe.\n 2. Marriage.\n 3. Disposal of the dead.\n 4. Religion and superstitions.\n 5. Social position.\n 6. Miscellaneous customs.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice of the tribe.\n\nKolam. [557]--A Dravidian tribe residing principally in the Wun taluk\nof the Yeotmal District. They number altogether about 25,000 persons,\nof whom 23,000 belong to Wun and the remainder to the adjoining\ntracts of Wardha and Hyderabad. They are not found elsewhere. The\ntribe are generally considered to be akin to the Gonds [558] on the\nauthority of Mr. Hislop. He wrote of them: \"The Kolams extend all\nalong the Kandi Konda or Pindi Hills on the south of the Wardha river\nand along the table-land stretching east and north of Manikgad and\nthence south to Dantanpalli, running parallel to the western bank\nof the Pranhita. The Kolams and the common Gonds do not intermarry,\nbut they are present at each other's nuptials and eat from each\nother's hand. Their dress is similar, but the Kolam women wear fewer\nornaments, being generally content with a few black beads of glass\nround their neck. Among their deities, which are the usual objects of\nGond adoration, Bhimsen is chiefly honoured.\" Mr. Hislop was, however,\nnot always of this opinion, because he first excluded the Kolams from\nthe Gond tribes and afterwards included them. [559] In Wardha they are\nusually distinguished from the Gonds. They have a language of their\nown, called after them Kolami. Sir G. Grierson [560] describes it as,\n\"A minor dialect of Berar and the Central Provinces which occupies a\nposition like that of Gondi between Canarese, Tamil and Telugu. The\nso-called Kolami, the Bhili spoken in the Pusad taluk of Basim and\nthe so-called Naiki of Chanda agree in so many particulars that\nthey can almost be considered as one and the same dialect. They are\nclosely related to Gondi. The points in which they differ from that\nlanguage are, however, of sufficient importance to make it necessary\nto separate them from that form of speech. The Kolami dialect differs\nwidely from the language of the neighbouring Gonds. In some points\nit agrees with Telugu, in other characteristics with Canarese and\nconnected forms of speech. There are also some interesting points of\nanalogy with the Toda dialect of the Nilgiris, and the Kolams must,\nfrom a philological point of view, be considered as the remnants of\nan old Dravidian tribe who have not been involved in the development\nof the principal Dravidian languages, or of a tribe who have not\noriginally spoken a Dravidian form of speech.\"\n\nThe family names of the tribe also are not Gondi, but resemble those\nof Maratha castes. Out of fifty sept names recorded, only one, Tekam,\nis found among the Gonds. \"All their songs and ballads,\" Colonel\nMackenzie says, \"are borrowed from the Marathas: even their women when\ngrinding corn sing Marathi songs.\" In Wun their dress and appearance\nresembles that of the Kunbis, but in some respects they retain very\nprimitive customs. Colonel Mackenzie states that until recently in\nBerar they had the practice of capturing husbands for women who would\notherwise have gone unwedded, this being apparently a survival of the\nmatriarchate. It does not appear that the husbands so captured were\never unphilosophical enough to rebel under the old regime, though\nBritish enlightenment has taught them otherwise. Widows and widowers\nwere exempt from capture and debarred from capturing. In view of the\nconnection mentioned by Sir G. Grierson between the Kolami dialect\nand that of the Todas of the Nilgiri hills who are a small remnant of\nan ancient tribe and still practise polyandry, Mr. Hira Lal suggests\nthat the Kolams may be connected with the Kolas, a tribe akin to the\nTodas [561] and as low in the scale of civilisation, who regard the\nKolamallai hills as their original home. [562] He further notes that\nthe name of the era by which the calendar is reckoned on the Malabar\ncoast is Kolamba. In view of Sir G. Grierson's statement that the\nKolami dialect is the same as that of the Naik Gonds of Chanda it\nmay be noted that the headman of a Kolam village is known as Naik,\nand it is possible that the Kolams may be connected with the so-called\nNaik Gonds.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriage.\n\nThe Kolams have no subtribes, but are divided for purposes of marriage\ninto a number of exogamous groups. The names of these are in the\nMarathi form, but the tribe do not know their meaning. Marriage between\nmembers of the same group is forbidden, and a man may not marry two\nsisters. Marriage is usually adult, and neither a betrothal nor a\nmarriage can be concluded in the month of Poush (December), because\nin this month ancestors are worshipped. Colonel Mackenzie states that\nmarriages should be celebrated on Wednesdays and Saturdays at sundown,\nand Monday is considered a peculiarly inauspicious day. If a betrothal,\nonce contracted, is broken, a fine of five or ten rupees must be paid\nto the caste-fellows together with a quantity of liquor. Formerly,\nas stated above, the tribe sometimes captured husbands, and they still\nhave a curious method of seizing a wife when the father cannot procure\na mate for his son. The latter attended by his comrades resorts to\nthe jungle where his wife-elect is working in company with her female\nrelations and friends. It is a custom of the tribe that the sexes\nshould, as a rule, work in separate parties. On catching sight of her\nthe bridegroom pursues her, and unless he touches her hand before she\ngets back to her village, his friends will afford him no assistance. If\nhe can lay hold of the girl a struggle ensues between the two parties\nfor her possession, the girl being sometimes only protected by women,\nwhile on other occasions her male relatives hear of the fray and come\nto her assistance. In the latter case a fight ensues with sticks,\nin which, however, no combatant may hit another on the head. If the\ngirl is captured the marriage is subsequently performed, and even\nif she is rescued the matter is often arranged by the payment of a\nfew rupees to the girl's father. Nowadays the whole affair tends to\ndegenerate into a pretence and is often arranged beforehand by the\nparties. The marriage ceremony resembles that of the Kunbis except\nthat the bridegroom takes the bride on his lap and their clothes are\ntied together in two places. After the ceremony each of the guests\ntakes a few grains of rice, and after touching the feet, knees and\nshoulders of the bridal couple with the rice, throws it over his own\nback. The idea may be to remove any contagion of misfortune or evil\nspirits who may be hovering about them. A widow can remarry only with\nher parents' consent, but if she takes a fancy to a man and chooses\nto enter his house with a pot of water on her head he cannot turn her\nout. A man cannot marry a widow unless he has been regularly wedded\nonce to a girl, and once having espoused a widow by what is known\nas the pat ceremony, he cannot again go through a proper marriage. A\ncouple who wish to be divorced must go before the caste panchayat or\ncommittee with a pot of liquor. Over this is laid a dry stick and the\ncouple each hold an end of it. The husband then addresses his wife as\nsister in the presence of the caste-fellows, and the wife her husband\nas brother; they break the stick and the divorce is complete.\n\n\n\n\n3. Disposal of the dead.\n\nThe tribe bury their dead, and observe mourning for one to five\ndays in different localities. The spirits of deceased ancestors are\nworshipped on any Monday in the month of Poush. The mourner goes and\ndips his head into a tank or stream, and afterwards sacrifices a fowl\non the bank, and gives a meal to the caste-fellows. He then has the\nhair of his face and head shaved. Sons inherit equally, and if there\nare no sons the property devolves on daughters.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion and superstitions.\n\nThe Kolams, Colonel Mackenzie states, recognise no god as a principle\nof beneficence in the world; their principal deities are Sita, to\nwhom the first-fruits of the harvest are offered, and Devi who is the\nguardian of the village, and is propitiated with offerings of goats\nand fowls to preserve it from harm. She is represented by two stones\nset up in the centre of the village when it is founded. They worship\ntheir implements of agriculture on the last day of Chait (April),\napplying turmeric and vermilion to them. In May they collect the stumps\nof juari from a field, and, burning them to ashes, make an offering\nof the same articles. They have a curious ceremony for protecting\nthe village from disease. All the men go outside the village and on\nthe boundary at the four points pointing north-east, north-west and\nopposite place four stones known as bandi, burying a fowl beneath each\nstone. The Naik or headman then sacrifices a goat and other fowls to\nSita, and placing four men by the stones, proceeds to sprinkle salt\nall along the boundary line, except across one path on which he lays\nhis stick. He then calls out to the men that the village is closed\nand that they must enter it only by that path. This rule remains in\nforce throughout the year, and if any stranger enters the village by\nany other than the appointed route, they consider that he should pay\nthe expenses of drawing the boundary circuit again. But the rule is\noften applied only to carts, and relaxed in favour of travellers on\nfoot. The line marked with salt is called bandesh, and it is believed\nthat wild animals cannot cross it, while they are prevented from\ncoming into the village along the only open road by the stick of\nthe Naik. Diseases also cannot cross the line. Women during their\nmonthly impurity are made to live in a hut in the fields outside\nthe boundary line. The open road does not lead across the village,\nbut terminates at the chauri or meeting-house.\n\n\n\n\n5. Social position.\n\nThough the Kolams retain some very primitive customs, those of Yeotmal,\nas already stated, are hardly distinguishable from the Kunbis or\nHindu cultivators. Colonel Mackenzie notes that they are held to be\nlower than the Gonds, because a Kolam will take food from a Gond,\nbut the latter will not return the compliment. They will eat the\nflesh of rats, tigers, snakes, squirrels and of almost any animals\nexcept dogs, donkeys and jackals. In another respect they are on a\nlevel with the lowest aborigines, as some of them do not use water\nto clean their bodies after performing natural functions, but only\nleaves. Yet they are not considered as impure by the Hindus, are\npermitted to enter Hindu temples, and hold themselves to be defiled\nby the touch of a Mahar or a Mang. A Kolam is forbidden to beg by\nthe rules of the tribe, and he looks down on the Mahars and Mangs,\nwho are often professional beggars. In Wardha, too, the Kolams will\nnot collect dead-wood for sale as fuel.\n\n\n\n\n6. Miscellaneous customs.\n\nHere their houses contain only a single room with a small store-house,\nand all the family sleep together without privacy. Consequently\nthere is no opportunity at night for conjugal intimacy, and husband\nand wife seek the solitude of the forest in the daytime. Colonel\nMackenzie states: \"All Kolams are great smokers, but they are not\nallowed to smoke in their own houses, but only at the chauri or\nmeeting-house, where pipes and fire are kept; and this rule is\nenforced so that the Naik or headman can keep an eye on all male\nmembers of the community; if these do not appear at least once a day,\nsatisfactory reasons are demanded for their absence, and from this\nrule only the sick and infirm are exempt. The Kolams have two musical\ninstruments: the tapate or drum, and the wass or flute, the name of\nwhich is probably derived from the Sanskrit waunsh, meaning bamboo\n(of which the instrument is made). In old times all Kolams could read\nand write, and it is probably only poverty which prevents them from\nhaving all their children educated now.\" This last statement must,\nhowever, be accepted with reserve in the absence of intimation of\nthe evidence on which it is based. At present they are, as a rule,\nquite illiterate. The Naik or headman formerly had considerable\npowers, being entrusted with the distribution of land among the\ncultivators, and exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction with\nthe assistance of the panchayat. His own land was ploughed for him\nby the villagers. Even now they seldom enter a court of justice\nand their disputes are settled by the panchayat. A strong feeling\nof clannishness exists among them, and the village unites to avenge\nan injury done to one of its members. Excommunication from caste is\nimposed for the usual offences, and the ceremony of readmission is\nas follows: The offender dips his head in a river or stream and the\nvillage barber shaves his head and moustaches. He then sits beside a\nlighted pile of wood, being held to be purified by the proximity of the\nholy element, and afterwards bathes, and drinks some water into which\nthe caste-fellows have dipped their toes. A woman has to undergo the\nsame ceremony and have her head shaved. If an unmarried girl becomes\nwith child by a member of the caste, she is married to him by the\nsimple rite used for widow-remarriage. A Kolam must not swear by a\ndog or cat, and is expelled from caste for killing either of these\ntwo animals. A Kolam does not visit a friend's house in the evening,\nas he would be suspected in such an event of having designs upon his\nwife's virtue. The tribe are cultivators and labourers. They have\nnot a very good reputation for honesty, and are said to be addicted\nto stealing the ripe cotton from the bolls. They never wear shoes,\nand the soles of their feet become nearly invulnerable and capable\nof traversing the most thorny ground without injury. They have an\nexcellent knowledge of the medicinal and other uses of all trees,\nshrubs and herbs.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKOLHATI\n\n\n[Bibliography: Mr. Kitts' Berar Census Report (1881); Major Gunthorpe's\nCriminal Tribes of Bombay, Berar and the Central Provinces (Times\nPress, Bombay).]\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Introductory notice.\n 2. Internal structure.\n 3. Marriage.\n 4. Funeral rites.\n 5. Other customs.\n 6. Occupation.\n\n\n\n\n1. Introductory notice.\n\nKolhati, Dandewala, Bansberia, Kabutari. [563]--The name by which\nthe Beria caste of Northern and Central India is known in Berar. The\nBerias themselves, in Central India at any rate, are a branch of the\nSansias, a vagrant and criminal class, whose traditional occupation\nwas that of acting as bards and genealogists to the Jat caste. The\nmain difference between the Sansias and Berias is that the latter\nprostitute their women, or those of them who are not married. [564]\nThe Kolhatis of Berar, who also do this, appear to be a branch of\nthe Beria caste who have settled in the Deccan and now have customs\ndiffering in several respects from those of the parent caste. It\nis therefore desirable to reproduce briefly the main heads of the\ninformation given about them in the works cited above. In 1901 the\nKolhatis numbered 1300 persons in Berar. In the Central Provinces\nthey were not shown separately, but were included with the Nats. But\nin 1891 a total of 250 Kolhatis were returned. The word Kolhati is\nsaid to be derived from the long bamboo poles which they use for\njumping, known as Kolhat. The other names, Dandewala and Bansberia,\nmeaning those who perform feats with a stick or bamboo, also have\nreference to this pole. Kabutari as applied to the women signifies\nthat their dancing resembles the flight of a pigeon (kabutar). They\nsay that once on a time a demon had captured some Kunbis and shut\nthem up in a cavern. But the Kunbis besought Mahadeo to save them,\nand he created a man and a woman who danced before the demon and\nso pleased him that he promised them whatever they should ask;\nand they thus obtained the freedom of the Kunbis. The man and woman\nwere named Kabutar and Kabutari on account of their skilful dancing,\nand were the ancestors of the Kolhatis. The Kolhatis of the Central\nProvinces appear to differ in several respects from those of Berar,\nwith whom the following article is mainly concerned.\n\n\n\n\n2. Internal structure.\n\nThe caste has two main divisions in Berar, the Dukar Kolhatis and the\nKham or Pal Kolhatis. The name of the former is derived from dukar,\nhog, because they are accustomed to hunt the wild pig with dogs and\nspears when these animals become too numerous and damage the crops of\nthe villagers. They also labour for themselves by cultivating land and\ntaking service as village watchmen; and they are daring criminals and\ncommit dacoity, burglary and theft; but they do not steal cattle. The\nKham Kolhatis, on the other hand, are a lazy, good-for-nothing class\nof men, who, beyond making a few combs and shuttles of bone, will set\ntheir hands to no kind of labour, but subsist mainly by the immoral\npursuits of their women. At every large fair may be seen some of\nthe portable huts of this tribe, made of rusa grass, [565] the women\ndecked in jewels and gaudy attire sitting at each door, while the men\nare lounging lazily at the back. The Dukar Kolhati women, Mr. Kitts\nstates, also resort to the same mode of life, but take up their abode\nin villages instead of attending fairs. Among the Dukar Kolhatis the\nsubdivisions have Rajput names; and just as a Chauhan Rajput may not\nmarry another Chauhan so also a Chauhan Dukar Kolhati may not marry\na person of his own clan. In Bilaspur they are said to have four\nsubcastes, the Marethi or those coming from the Maratha country, the\nBansberia or pole-jumpers, the Suarwale or hunters of the wild pig,\nand the Muhammadan Kolhatis, none of whom marry or take food with\neach other. Each group is further subdivided into the Asal and Kamsal\n(Kam-asal), or the pure and mixed Kolhatis, who marry among themselves,\noutsiders being admitted to the Kamsal or mixed group.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage.\n\nThe marriage ceremony in Berar [566] consists simply in a feast at\nwhich the bride and bridegroom, dressed in new clothes, preside. Much\nliquor is consumed and the dancing-girls of the tribe dance before\nthem, and the happy couple are considered duly married according to\nKolhati rites. Married women do not perform in public and are no less\nmoral and faithful than those of other castes, while those brought\nup as dancing-girls do not marry at all. In Bilaspur weddings are\narranged through the headman of the village, who receives a fee for\nhis services, and the ceremony includes some of the ordinary Hindu\nrites. Here a widow is compelled to marry her late husband's younger\nbrother on pain of exclusion from caste. People of almost any caste may\nbecome Kolhatis. When an outsider is admitted he must have a sponsor\ninto whose clan he is adopted. A feast is given to the caste, and\nthe applicant catches the right little finger of his sponsor before\nthe assembly. Great numbers of Rajputs and Muhammadans join them, and\non the other hand a large proportion of the fair but frail Kolhatis\nembrace the Muhammadan faith. [567]\n\n\n\n\n4. Funeral rites.\n\nThe bodies of children are buried, and those of the adult dead may\nbe either buried or cremated. Mr. Kitts states that on the third day,\nif they can afford the ceremony, they bring back the skull and placing\nit on a bed offer to it powder, dates and betel-leaves; and after a\nfeast lasting for three days it is again buried. According to Major\nGunthorpe the proceedings are more elaborate: \"Each division of the\ncaste has its own burial-ground in some special spot, to which it is\nthe heart's desire of every Kolhati to carry, when he can afford it,\nthe bones of his deceased relatives. After the cremation of an adult\nthe bones are collected and buried pending such time as they can be\nconveyed to the appointed cemetery, if this be at a distance. When the\ntime comes, that is, when means can be found for the removal, the bones\nare disinterred and placed in two saddle-bags on a donkey, the skull\nand upper bones in the right bag and the leg and lower bones in the\nleft. The ass is then led to the deceased's house, where the bags of\nbones are placed under a canopy made ready for their reception. High\nfestival, as for a marriage, is held for three days, and at the end\nof this time the bags are replaced on the donkey, and with tom-toms\nbeating and dancing-girls of the tribe dancing in front, the animal\nis led off to the cemetery. On arrival, the bags, with the bones in\nthem, are laid in a circular hole, and over it a stone is placed to\nmark the spot, and covered with oil and vermilion; and the spirit\nof the deceased is then considered to be appeased.\" They believe\nthat the spirits of dead ancestors enter the bodies of the living\nand work evil to them, unless they are appeased with offerings. The\nDukar Kolhatis offer a boar to the spirits of male ancestors and a sow\nto females. An offering of a boar is also made to Bhagwan (Vishnu),\nwho is the principal deity of the caste and is worshipped with great\nceremony every second year. [568]\n\n\n\n\n5. Other customs.\n\nAlthough of low caste the Kolhatis refrain from eating the flesh of the\ncow and other animals of the same tribe. The wild cat, mongoose, wild\nand tame pig and jackal are considered as delicacies. The caste have\nthe same ordeals as are described in the article on the Sansias. As\nmight be expected in a class which makes a living by immoral practices\nthe women considerably outnumber the men. No one is permanently\nexpelled from caste, and temporary exclusion is imposed only for a\nfew offences, such as an intrigue with or being touched by a member\nof an impure caste. The offender gives a feast, and in the case of a\nman the moustache is shaved, while a woman has five hairs of her head\ncut off. The women have names meant to indicate their attractions,\nas Panna emerald, Munga coral, Mehtab dazzling, Gulti a flower, Moti\na pearl, and Kesar saffron. If a girl is detected in an intrigue with\na caste-fellow they are fined seven rupees and must give a feast to\nthe caste, and are then married. When, however, a girl is suspected\nof unchastity and no man will take the responsibility on himself,\nshe is put to an ordeal. She fasts all night, and next morning is\ndressed in a white cloth, and water is poured over her head from a new\nearthen pot. A piece of iron is heated red hot between cowdung cakes,\nand she must take up this in her hand and walk five steps with it, also\napplying it to the tip of her tongue. If she is burnt her unchastity\nis considered to be proved, and the idea is therefore apparently that\nif she is innocent the deity will intervene to save her.\n\n\n\n\n6. Occupation.\n\nThe Dukar Kolhati males, Major Gunthorpe states, are a fine manly\nset of fellows. They hunt the wild boar with dogs, the men armed with\nspears following on foot. They show much pluck in attacking the boar,\nand there is hardly a man of years who does not bear scars received in\nfights with these animals. The villagers send long distances for a gang\nto come and rid them of the wild pig, which play havoc with the crops,\nand pay them in grain for doing so. But they are also much addicted\nto crime, and when they have decided on a dacoity or house-breaking\nthey have a good drinking-bout and start off with their dogs as if\nto hunt the boar. And if they are successful they bury the spoil,\nand return with the body of a pig or a hare as evidence of what they\nhave been doing. Stolen property is either buried at some distance\nfrom their homes or made over to the safe keeping of men with whom\nthe women of the caste may be living. Such men, who become intimate\nwith the Kolhatis through their women, are often headmen of villages\nor hold other respectable positions, and are thus enabled to escape\nsuspicion. Boys who are to become acrobats are taught to jump from\nearly youth. The acrobats and dancing-girls go about to fairs and other\ngatherings and make a platform on a cart, which serves as a stage for\ntheir performances. The dancing-girl is assisted by her admirers, who\naccompany her with music. Some of them are said now to have obtained\nEuropean instruments, as harmoniums or gramophones. They do not give\ntheir performances on Thursdays and Mondays, which are considered\nto be unlucky days. In Bombay they are said to make a practice of\nkidnapping girls, preferably of high caste, whom they sell or bring\nup as prostitutes. [569]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKOLI\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice of the caste.\n 2. Subdivisions.\n 3. Exogamous divisions.\n 4. Widow-marriage or divorce.\n 5. Religion.\n 6. Disposal of the dead.\n 7. Social rules.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice of the caste.\n\nKoli.--A primitive tribe akin to the Bhils, who are residents of the\nwestern Satpura hills. They have the honorific title of Naik. They\nnumbered 36,000 persons in 1911, nearly all of whom belong to\nBerar, with the exception of some 2000 odd, who live in the Nimar\nDistrict. These have hitherto been confused with the Kori caste. The\nKoris or weavers are also known as Koli, but in Nimar they have the\ndesignation of Khangar Koli to distinguish them from the tribe of\nthe same name. The Kolis proper are found in the Burhanpur tahsil,\nwhere most villages are said to possess one or two families, and\non the southern Satpura hills adjoining Berar. They are usually\nvillage servants, their duties being to wait on Government officers,\ncleaning their cooking-vessels and collecting carts and provisions. The\nduties of village watchman or kotwar were formerly divided between\ntwo officials, and while the Koli did the most respectable part of the\nwork, the Mahar or Balahi carried baggage, sent messages, and made the\nprescribed reports to the police. In Berar the Kolis acted for a time\nas guardians of the hill passes. A chain of outposts or watch towers\nran along the Satpura hills to the north of Berar, and these were\nheld by Kolis and Bhils, whose duties were to restrain the predatory\ninroads of their own tribesmen, in the same manner as the Khyber\nRifles now guard the passes on the North-West Frontier. And again\nalong the Ajanta hills to the south of the Berar valley a tribe of\nKolis under their Naiks had charge of the ghats or gates of the ridge,\nand acted as a kind of local militia paid by assignments of land in\nthe villages. [570] In Nimar the Kolis, like the Bhils, made a trade\nof plunder and dacoity during the unsettled times of the eighteenth\ncentury, and the phrase 'Nahal, Bhil, Koli' is commonly used in old\nMarathi documents to designate the hill-robbers as a class. The priest\nof a Muhammadan tomb in Burhanpur still exhibits an imperial Parwana\nor intimation from Delhi announcing the dispatch of a force for the\nsuppression of the Kolis, dated A.D. 1637. In the Bombay Presidency,\nso late as 1804, Colonel Walker wrote: \"Most Kolis are thieves by\nprofession, and embrace every opportunity of plundering either public\nor private property.\" [571] The tribe are important in Bombay, where\ntheir numbers amount to more than 1 1/2 million. It is supposed that\nthe common term 'coolie' is a corruption of Koli, [572] because the\nKolis were usually employed as porters and carriers in western India,\nas 'slave' comes from Slav. The tribe have also given their name to\nColaba. [573] Various derivations have been given of the meaning of the\nword Koli, [574] and according to one account the Kolis and Mairs were\noriginally the same tribe and came from Sind, while the Mairs were the\nsame as the Meyds or Mihiras who entered India in the fifth century\nas one of the branches of the great White Hun horde. \"Again, since\nthe settlement of the Mairs in Gujarat,\" the writer of the Gujarat\nGazetteer continues, \"reverses of fortune, especially the depression\nof the Rajputs under the yoke of the Muhammadans in the fourteenth\ncentury, did much to draw close the bond between the higher and middle\ngrades of the warrior class. Then many Rajputs sought shelter among\nthe Kolis and married with them, leaving descendants who still claim\na Rajput descent and bear the names of Rajput families. Apart from\nthis, and probably as the result of an original sameness of race,\nin some parts of Gujarat and Kathiawar intermarriage goes on between\nthe daughters of Talabda Kolis and the sons of Rajputs.\" Thus the\nThakur of Talpuri Mahi Kantha in Bombay calls himself a Pramara Koli,\nand explains the term by saying that his ancestor, who was a Pramara\nor Panwar Rajput, took water at a Koli's house. [575] As regards\nthe origin of the Kolis, however, whom the author of the Gujarat\nGazetteer derives from the White Huns, stating them to be immigrants\nfrom Sind, another and perhaps more probable theory is that they are\nsimply a western outpost of the great Kol or Munda tribe, to which\nthe Korkus and Nahals and perhaps the Bhils may also belong. Mr. Hira\nLal suggests that it is a common custom in Marathi to add or alter so\nas to make names end in i. Thus Halbi for Halba, Koshti for Koshta,\nPatwi for Patwa, Wanjari for Banjara, Gowari for Goala; and in the\nsame manner Koli from Kol. This supposition appears a very reasonable\none, though there is little direct evidence. The Nimar Kolis have no\ntradition of their origin beyond the saying--\n\n\n Siva ki jholi\n Us men ka Koli,\n\n\nor 'The Koli was born from Siva's wallet.'\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions.\n\nIn the Central Provinces the tribe have the five subdivisions of\nSurajvansi, Malhar, Bhilaophod, Singade, and the Muhammadan Kolis. The\nSurajvansi or 'descendants of the sun' claim to be Rajputs. The Malhar\nor Panbhari subtribe are named from their deity Malhari Deo, while\nthe alternative name of Panbhari means water-carrier. The Bhilaophod\nextract the oil from bhilwa [576] nuts like the Nahals, and the Singade\n(sing, horn, and gadna, to bury) are so called because when their\nbuffaloes die they bury the horns in their compounds. As with several\nother castes in Burhanpur and Berar, a number of Kolis embraced Islam\nat the time of the Muhammadan domination and form a separate subcaste.\n\nIn Berar the principal group is that of the Mahadeo Kolis, whose name\nmay be derived from the Mahadeo or Pachmarhi hills. This would tend to\nconnect them with the Korkus, and through them with the Kols. They are\ndivided into the Bhas or pure and the Akaramase or impure Kolis. [577]\nIn Akola most of the Kolis are stated to belong to the Kshatriya group,\nwhile other divisions are the Naiks or soldiers, the begging Kolis,\nand the Watandars who are probably hereditary holders of the post of\nvillage watchman. [578]\n\n\n\n\n3. Exogamous divisions.\n\nThe tribe have exogamous septs of the usual nature, but they have\nforgotten the meaning of the names, and they cannot be explained. In\nBombay their family names are the same as the Maratha surnames, and the\nwriter of the Ahmadnagar Gazetteer [579] considers that some connection\nexists between the two classes. A man must not marry a girl of his\nown sept nor the daughter of his maternal uncle. Girls are usually\nmarried at an early age. A Brahman is employed to conduct the marriage\nceremony, which takes place at sunset: a cloth is held between the\ncouple, and as the sun disappears it is removed and they join hands\namid the clapping of the assembled guests. Afterwards they march seven\ntimes round a stone slab surrounded by four plough-yokes. Among the\nRewa Kantha Kolis the boy's father must not proceed on his journey\nto find a bride for his son until on leaving his house he sees\na small bird called devi on his right hand; and consequently he\nis sometimes kept waiting for weeks, or even for months. When the\nbetrothal is arranged the bridegroom and his father are invited to\na feast at the bride's house, and on leaving the father must stumble\nover the threshold of the girl's door; without this omen no wedding\ncan prosper. [580]\n\n\n\n\n4. Widow-marriage or divorce.\n\nThe remarriage of widows is permitted, and the ceremony consists\nsimply in tying a knot in the clothes of the couple; in Ahmadabad all\nthey need do is to sit on the ground while the bridegroom's father\nknocks their heads together. [581] Divorce is allowed for a wife's\nmisconduct, and if she marries her fellow delinquent he must repay to\nthe husband the expenses incurred by him on his wedding. Otherwise the\ncaste committee may inflict a fine of Rs. 100 on him and put him out\nof caste for twelve years in default of payment, and order one side\nof his moustache to be shaved. In Gujarat a married woman who has an\nintrigue with another man is called savasan, and it is said that a\npractice exists, or did exist, for her lover to pay her husband a price\nfor the woman and marry her, though it is held neither respectable nor\nsafe. [582] In Ahmadabad, if one Koli runs away with another's wife,\nleaving his own wife behind him, the caste committee sometimes order\nthe offender's relatives to supply the bereaved husband with a fresh\nwife. They produce one or more women, and he selects one and is quite\ncontent with her. [583]\n\n\n\n\n5. Religion.\n\nThe Kolis of Nimar chiefly revere the goddess Bhawani, and almost every\nfamily has a silver image of her. An important shrine of the goddess\nis situated in Ichhapur, ten or twelve miles from Burhanpur, and here\nmembers of the tribe were accustomed to perform the hook-swinging\nrite in honour of the goddess. Since this has been forbidden they\nhave an imitation ceremony of swinging a bundle of bamboos covered\nwith cloth in lieu of a human being.\n\n\n\n\n6. Disposal of the dead.\n\nThe Kolis both bury and burn the dead, but the former practice is more\ncommon. They place the body in the grave with head to the south and\nface to the north. On the third day after the funeral they perform the\nceremony called Kandhe kanchhna or 'rubbing the shoulder.' The four\nbearers of the corpse come to the house of the deceased and stand as\nif they were carrying the bier. His widow smears a little ghi (butter)\non each man's shoulder and rubs the place with a small cake which\nshe afterwards gives to him. The men go to a river or tank and throw\nthe cakes into it, afterwards bathing in the water. This ceremony is\nclearly designed to sever the connection established by the contact\nof the bier with their shoulders, which they imagine might otherwise\nrender them likely to require the use of a bier themselves. On the\neleventh day a Brahman is called in, who seats eleven friends of the\ndeceased in a row and applies sandal-paste to their foreheads. All\nthe women whose husbands are alive then have turmeric rubbed on their\nforeheads, and a caste feast follows.\n\n\n\n\n7. Social rules.\n\nThe Kolis eat flesh, including fowls and pork, and drink liquor. They\nwill not eat beef, but have no special reverence for the cow. They\nwill not remove the carcase of a dead cow or a dead horse. The social\nstatus of the tribe is low, but they are not considered as impure,\nand Gujars, Kunbis, and even some Rajputs will take water from\nthem. Children are named on the twelfth day after birth. Their hair\nis shaved in the month of Magh following the birth, and on the first\nday of the next month, Phagun, a little oil is applied to the child's\near, after which it may be pierced at any time that is convenient.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKolta\n\n\n1. Origin and traditions.\n\nKolta, [584] Kolita, Kulta.--An agricultural caste of the Sambalpur\nDistrict and the adjoining Uriya States. In 1901 the Central Provinces\ncontained 127,000 Koltas out of 132,000 in India, but since the\ntransfer of Sambalpur the headquarters of the caste belong to Bihar\nand Orissa, and only 36,000 remain in the Central Provinces. In Assam\nmore than two lakhs of persons were enumerated under the caste name\nof Kalita in 1901, but in spite of the resemblance of the name the\nKalitas apparently have no connection with the Uriya country, while\nthe Koltas know nothing of a section of their caste in Assam. The\nKoltas of Sambalpur say that they immigrated from Baud State,\nwhich they regard as their ancestral home, and a member of their\ncaste formerly held the position of Diwan of the State. According\nto one of their legends their first ancestors were born from the\nleavings of food of the legendary Raja Janak of Mithila or Tirhut,\nwhose daughter Sita married King Rama of Ajodhya, the hero of the\nRamayana. Some Koltas went with Sita to Ajodhya and were employed as\nwater-bearers in the royal household. When Rama was banished they\naccompanied him in his wanderings, and were permitted to settle in\nthe Uriya country at the request of the Raghunathia Brahmans, who\nwanted cultivators to till the soil. Another legend is that once upon\na time, when Rama was wandering in the forests of Sambalpur, he met\nthree brothers and asked them to draw water for him. The first brought\nwater in a clean brass pot, and was called Sudh (good-mannered). The\nsecond made a cup of leaves and drew water from a well with a rope;\nhe was called Dumal, from dori-mal, a coil of rope. The third brought\nwater only in a hollow gourd, and he was named Kolta, from ku-rita,\nbad-mannered. This story serves to show that the Koltas, Sudhs and\nDumals acknowledge some connection, and in the Sambalpur District they\nwill take food together at festivals. But this degree of intimacy\nmay simply have arisen from their common calling of agriculture,\nand may be noticed among the cultivating castes elsewhere, as the\nKirars, Gujars and Raghuvansis in Hoshangabad. The most probable\ntheory of the origin of the Koltas is that they are an offshoot of\nthe great Chasa caste, the principal cultivating caste of the Uriya\ncountry, corresponding to the Kurmis and Kunbis in Hindustan and the\nDeccan. Several of their family names are identical with those of the\nChasas, and there is actually a subcaste of Kolita Chasas. Mr. Hira\nLal conjectures that the Koltas may be those Chasas who took to\ngrowing kultha (Dolichos uniflorus), a favourite pulse in Sambalpur;\njust as the Santora Kurmis are so named from their growing san-hemp,\nand the Alia Banias and Kunbis from the al or Indian madder. This\nhypothesis derives some support from the fact that the Koltas have no\nsubcastes, and the formation of the caste may therefore be supposed\nto have occurred at a comparatively recent period.\n\n\n\n\n2. Exogamous groups.\n\nThe Koltas have both family names or gotras and exogamous sections or\nbargas. The gotras are generally named after animals or other objects,\nas Dip (lamp), Bachhas (calf), Hasti (elephant), Bharadwaj (blue-jay),\nand so on. Members of the Bachhas gotra must not yoke a young bullock\nto the plough for the first time, but must get this done by somebody\nelse. The names of the bargas are generally derived from villages or\nfrom offices or titles. In one or two cases they show the admission of\nmembers of other castes; thus the Rawat barga are the descendants of a\nRawat (herdsman) who was in the service of the Raja of Sambalpur. The\nRaja had brought him up from infancy, and, wishing to make him a Kolta,\nmarried him to a Kolta girl, despite the protests of the caste. The\nancestor of the Hinmiya Bhoi barga had a mistress of the Khond tribe,\nwho left him some property, and is still worshipped in the family. The\nnumber of gotras is smaller than that of the bargas, and some gotras,\nas the Nag or cobra, the tortoise and the pipal tree, are common to\nmany bargas. Marriage is forbidden between members of the same barga,\nand between first cousins on the father's side. To have the same\ngotra is no bar to marriage.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage\n\nGirls should be wedded before maturity, as among most of the Uriya\ncastes, and if no suitable husband is forthcoming a nominal marriage is\nsometimes arranged with an old man, and the girl is afterwards disposed\nof as a widow. The boy's father makes the proposal for the marriage,\nand if this is accepted the following formal ceremony takes place. He\ngoes to the girl's village, accompanied by some friends, and taking a\nquantity of gur (raw sugar), and staying at some other house, sends\na messenger known as Jalangia to the girl's father, intimating that\nhe has a request to make. The girl's father pretends not to know what\nit is, and replies that if he has anything to say the elders of the\nvillage should be called to hear it. These assemble, and the girl's\nfather informs them that a stranger from another village has come to\nask something of him, and as he is ignorant of its purport, he has\nasked them to do him the favour of being present. The boy's father then\nopens a parable, saying that he was carried down a river in flood, and\nsaved himself by grasping a tree on the bank. The girl's father replies\nthat the roots of a riverside tree are weak, and he fears that the tree\nitself would go down in the flood. The boy's father replies that in\nthat case he would be content to perish with the tree. Thereupon the\ncaste priest places a nut and some sacred rice cooked at Jagannath's\ntemple in the hands of the parties, who stand together facing the\ncompany, and the girl's father says he has no objection to giving\nhis daughter in marriage, provided that she may not be abandoned\nif she should subsequently become disfigured. The nut is broken and\ndistributed to all present in ratification of the agreement. After\nthis, other visits and a formal interchange of presents take place\nprior to the marriage proper. This is performed with the customary\nceremonial of the Uriya castes. The marriage altar is made of earth\nbrought from outside the village by seven married women. Branches of\nthe mahua tree are placed on the altar, and after the conclusion of\nthe ceremony are thrown into a tank. The women also take a jar of water\nto a tank and, emptying it, fill the jar with the tank water. They go\nround to seven houses, and at each empty and refill the jar with water\nfrom the house. The water finally brought back is used for bathing\nthe bride and bridegroom, and is believed to protect them from all\nsupernatural dangers. An image of the family totem made from powdered\nrice is anointed with oil and turmeric, and worshipped daily while\nthe marriage is in progress. If the boy or girl is the eldest child,\nthe parents go through a mock marriage ceremony which the child is not\nallowed to see. When the couple are brought into the marriage-shed,\nthey throw seven handfuls of rice mixed with mung [585] and salt\non each other. The priest ties the hands of the couple with thread\nspun by virgins, and the relatives then pour water over the knot. The\nbride's brother comes up and unties the knot, and gives the bridegroom\na blow on the back. This is meant to show his anger at being deprived\nof his sister. He is given a piece of cloth and goes away. Presents\nare made to the pair, and the women throw rice on them. They are\nthen taken inside the house and set to gamble with cowries. If the\nbridegroom wins he promises an ornament to the bride. If she wins\nshe promises to serve him. The boy then asks her to sit with him on\na bench, and she at first refuses, and agrees when he promises her\nother presents. Next day the bride's mother singes the cheeks of the\nbridegroom with betel-leaves heated over a lamp, and throws cowdung\nand rice over the couple to protect them from evil. The party takes\nits departure for the bridegroom's village, and on arrival there his\nsisters hold a cloth over the door of the house and will not let the\ncouple in till they are given a present. The bridegroom then shoots\nan arrow at an image of a monkey or a deer, made of powdered rice,\nwhich is brought back, cooked and eaten. The bride goes home in a\nday or two, and the Bandapana ceremony is performed when she finally\ndeparts to live with her husband on arrival at maturity. The Koltas\nallow widow-marriage, but the husband has to pay a sum of about Rs. 100\nto the caste-people, the bulk of which is expended in feasting. Divorce\nmay be effected in the presence of the caste committee.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion.\n\nThe caste worship the goddess Ramchandi, whose principal shrine is\nat Sarsara in Baud State. In order to establish a local Ramchandi,\na handful of earth must be brought from her shrine at Sarsara and made\ninto a representation of the goddess. Some consider that Ramchandi is\nthe personification of Mother Earth, and the Koltas will not swear by\nthe earth. They worship the plough in the month of Shrawan, washing\nit with water and milk, and applying sandal-paste with offerings\nof flowers and food. The Puajiuntia festival is observed in Kunwar\nfor the well-being of a son. On this occasion barren women try to\nascertain whether they will get a son. A hole is made in the ground\nand filled with water, and a living fish is placed in it. The woman\nsits by the hole holding her cloth spread out, and if the fish in\nstruggling jumps into her cloth, it is held to prognosticate the\nbirth of a son. The caste worship their family gods and totems on the\n10th day of Asarh, Bhadon, Kartik and Magh, which are called the pure\nmonths. They employ Brahmans for religious ceremonies. Every man has\na guru who is a Bairagi, and he must be initiated by his guru before\nhe is allowed to marry. The caste both burn and bury the dead. They\neat flesh and fish, but generally abstain from liquor and the flesh\nof unclean animals, though in some places they are known to eat rats\nand crocodiles, and also the leavings of Brahmans. Brahmans will take\nwater from Koltas, and their social standing is equal to that of the\ngood agricultural castes.\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation.\n\nThe Koltas are skilful cultivators and have the usual characteristics\nbelonging to the cultivating castes, of frugality, industry, hunger\nfor land, and readiness to resort to any degree of litigation rather\nthan relinquish a supposed right to it. They strongly appreciate\nthe advantages of irrigation and show considerable public spirit in\nconstructing tanks which will benefit the lands of their tenants as\nwell as their own. Nevertheless they are not popular, probably because\nthey are generally more prosperous than their neighbours. The rising\nof the Khonds of Kalahandi in 1882 was caused by their discontent at\nbeing ousted from their lands by the Koltas. The Raja of Kalahandi\nhad imported a number of Kolta cultivators, and these speedily got the\nKhond headmen and ryots into their debt, and possessed themselves of\nall the best land in the Khond villages. In May 1882 the Khonds rose\nand slaughtered more than 80 Koltas, while 300 more were besieged\nin the village of Norla, the Khonds appearing with portions of the\nscalp and hair of the murdered victims hanging to their bows. On the\narrival of a body of police which had been summoned from Vizagapatam,\nthey dispersed, and the outbreak was soon afterwards suppressed,\nseven of the ringleaders being arrested, tried and hanged by the\nPolitical Officer. A settlement was made of the grievances of the\nKhonds and tranquillity was restored.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKomti\n\n\nKomti, Komati.--The Madras caste of traders corresponding to Banias. In\n1911 they numbered 11,000 persons in the Central Provinces, principally\nin the Chanda and Yeotmal Districts. The Komtis claim to be of the same\nstatus as Banias and to belong to the Vaishya division of the Aryans,\nbut this is a very doubtful pretension. Mr. Francis remarks of them:\n[586] \"Three points which show them to be of Dravidian origin are\ntheir adherence to the custom of obliging a boy to marry his paternal\nuncle's daughter, however unattractive she may be, a practice which is\ncondemned by Manu; their use of the Puranic or lower ritual instead\nof the Vedic rites in their ceremonies; and the fact that none of\nthe 102 gotras into which the caste is divided are those of the\ntwice-born, while some at any rate seem to be totemistic as they are\nthe names of trees and plants, and the members of each gotra abstain\nfrom touching or using the plant or tree after which their gotra is\ncalled.\" They are also of noticeably dark complexion. Komati is said\nto be a corruption of Gomati, a tender of cows. [587] The caste have,\nhowever, a great reputation for cunning and astuteness, and hence have\narisen the popular derivations of ko-mati, fox-minded, and go-mati,\ncow-minded. The real meaning of the word is obscure. In Mysore the\ncaste have the title of Setti or Chetty, which is a corruption of\nthe Sanskrit Sreshtha, good, and in the Central Provinces their names\noften terminate with Appa.\n\nThe Komtis have the following story about themselves: Long ago,\nin the Kaliyuga era, there lived a Rajput king of Rajahmundry, who\non his travels saw a beautiful Vaishya girl and fell in love with\nher. Her father refused him, saying that they were of different\ncastes. But the king persisted and would not be denied. On which\nthe maiden determined to sacrifice herself to save her honour, and\nher clansmen resolved to die with her. So she told the king that she\nwould marry him if he would agree to the hom sacrifice being performed\nat the ceremony. When the fire was kindled the girl threw herself on\nit and perished, followed by a hundred and two of her kinsmen. But\nthe others were cowardly and fled from the fire. Before she died the\ngirl cursed the king and her caste-fellows who had fled, and they\nand their families were cut off from the earth. But from those who\ndied the hundred and two clans of the Komtis are descended, and they\nworship the maiden as Kanika Devi. She is considered to have been an\nincarnation of Parvati and is the heroine of the Kanikya Puran. It\nis also said that she ordained that henceforth all Komtis should be\nblack, so that none of their women might come to harm by being desired\nfor their beauty as she had been. It is said that the caste look out\nfor a specially dark girl as a bride, and think that she will bring\nluck to her husband and cause him to make money. Another explanation\nof their dark colour is that they originally lived in Ceylon, and\nwhen the island was set on fire by Rama their faces were blackened\nin the smoke. The hundred and two clans have each a particular kind\nof flower or tree which they do not grow, eat, touch or burn, and the\nexplanation they give of this custom is that their ancestors who went\ninto the fire were transformed into these trees and plants. The names\nof the plants revered by each clan in the Central Provinces appear\nto be the same as in Mysore. They include the brinjal, the mango,\nthe cotton-plant, wheat, linseed and others.\n\nThe caste have several subcastes, among which are the Yajna, or those\nwhose ancestors went into the fire; the Patti, who are apparently\nthread-sellers; the Jaina, or those who follow the Jain faith; and\nthe Vidurs, a half-caste section, who are the offspring of a Yajna\nfather and a mother of some low caste. There is a scarcity of girls,\nand a bride-price of Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 is often paid. Perhaps for\nthe same reason the obligation to give a daughter to a sister's son is\nstrictly enforced, and a man who refuses to do this is temporarily put\nout of caste. The gotras of the mothers of the bride and bridegroom\nshould not be the same, and there should be no 'Turning back of the\ncreeper,' as they say, that is, when a girl has married into a family,\nthe latter cannot give a girl in marriage to that girl's family ever\nafterwards. Before the regular betrothal when a girl has been selected,\nthey appoint a day and the bridegroom's party proceed outside the\nvillage to take the omens. If a bad omen occurs, they give up the\nidea of the match and choose another girl. When the bridegroom has\narrived at the bride's village, before the marriage takes place, he\nperforms the Kashi-Yatra or Going to Benares. He is dressed as for\na journey and carries a small handful of rice and other provisions\ntied up in packages in his upper garment. Thus accoutred, he sets\nout with a stick and umbrella on a pretended visit to Benares, for\nthe purpose of devoting his life to study. The parents of the bride\nmeet him and beg him to give up the journey, promising him their\ndaughter in marriage. [588] The binding function of the marriage is\nthe tying of the mangal-sutram or piece of gold strung on a thread\nround the bride's neck by the bridegroom. This gold piece is called\npushti and must never be taken off. If a woman loses it, she should\nhide herself from everybody until it is replaced. On the way to her\nhusband's house, the bride should upset with her foot a measure of\nrice kept on purpose in the way, perhaps with the idea of showing that\nthere will be so much grain in her household that she can afford to\nwaste it. [589] The Komtis did not eat in kitchens in the famines,\nbut accepted dry rations of food with great reluctance. They wear the\nsacred thread and have caste-marks on their foreheads. They usually\nrub powdered turmeric on their face and hands, and this lends an\nunpleasant greenish tinge to the skin.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKori\n\n\n1. Description of the caste.\n\nKori.--The Hindu weaving caste of northern India, as distinct\nfrom the Julahas or Momins who are Muhammadans. In 1911 the Koris\nnumbered 35,000 persons, and resided mainly in Jubbulpore, Saugor and\nDamoh. Mr. Crooke states that their name has been derived from that\nof the Kol caste, of whom they have by some been assumed to be an\noffshoot. [590] The Koris themselves trace their origin from Kabir,\nthe apostle of the weaving castes. He, they say, met a Brahman girl\non the bank of a tank, and, being saluted by her, replied, 'May God\ngive you a son.' She objected that she was a virgin and unmarried,\nbut Kabir answered that his word could not fail; and a boy was born\nout of her hand, whom she left on the bank of the tank. He was suckled\nby a heifer and subsequently adopted by a weaver and was the ancestor\nof the Koris. Therefore the caste say of themselves: \"He was born of\nan undefiled vessel, and free from passion; he lowered his body and\nentered the ocean of existence.\" This legend is a mere perversion of\nthe story of Kabir himself, designed to give the Koris a distinguished\npedigree. In the Central Provinces the caste appears to be almost\nentirely a functional group, made up of members of other castes who\nwere either expelled from their own community or of their own accord\nadopted the profession of weaving. The principal subdivision is the\nAhirwar, taking its name from the old town of Ahar in the Bulandshahr\nDistrict. Among the others are Kushta (Koshta), Chadar, Katia, Mehra,\nDhimar and Kotwar, all of which, except the last, are the names of\ndistinct castes; while the Kotwars represent members of the caste\nwho became village watchmen, and considering themselves somewhat\nsuperior to the others, have formed a separate subcaste. None of the\nsubcastes will eat together or intermarry, and this fact is in favour\nof the supposition that they are distinct groups amalgamated into a\ncaste by their common profession of weaving. The caste seem to have\na fairly close connection with Chamars in some localities. A number\nof Koris belong to the sect of Rohidas, and some of their family\nnames are the same, while a Chamar will often call himself a Kori to\nconceal his identity. For the purposes of marriage they are divided\ninto a number of bainks or septs, the names of which are territorial\nor totemistic. Among the latter may be mentioned the Kulhariya from\nkulhari, an axe, and the Barmaiya from the bar or banyan tree; members\nof these septs pay reverence to an axe and a banyan tree respectively\nat weddings.\n\n\n\n\n2. Marriages\n\nThe marriage of persons belonging to the same sept and also that of\nfirst cousins is prohibited, while a family will not, if they can\nhelp it, marry a daughter into the sept from which a son has taken\na wife. The rule of exogamy is thus rather wide in its action, as\nis often found to be the case among the lowest and most primitive\ncastes. At the betrothal the father of the girl produces a red cloth\nfolded up, and on this the boy's father lays a rupee. This is passed\nround to five members of the caste who cry, 'So-and-so's daughter and\nSo-and-so's son, Har bolo (In the name of Vishnu).' This completes the\nbetrothal, the father of the boy giving three rupees for a feast to\nthe caste-fellows. A girl who is made pregnant by a man of the caste\nor any higher caste may be disposed of in marriage as a widow, but if\nthe man is of a lower caste than the Koris she is finally expelled. The\nlagan or paper fixing the date of the marriage is written by a Brahman\nand must not be shown to the bridegroom in the interval, lest he should\ngrow as thin as the paper bearing his name. While he is being anointed\nand rubbed with turmeric the bridegroom is wrapped in a black blanket,\nand his bridal dress consists of a yellow shirt, pyjamas of red cloth,\nand red shoes, while he carries in his hand a dagger, nut-cracker or\nknife. As he leaves his house to proceed to the bride's village he\nsteps on two clay lamp-saucers, crushing them with his foot. When the\nparty arrives the fathers of the bride and bridegroom sit together with\na pot full of curds between them and give each other to drink from it\nas a mark of amity. The binding portion of the marriage consists in\nwalking round the sacred pole and the other ceremonies customary in\nthe northern Districts are performed. The bride does not return with\nher husband unless she is adult; otherwise the usual gauna ceremony is\nheld subsequently. When she arrives at her husband's house she makes\nprints of her hands smeared with turmeric on the wall before entering\nit for the first time. The remarriage of widows is freely permitted;\nthe second husband takes the widow to his house after sunset, and here\nshe is washed by the barber's wife and puts on glass bangles again,\nand new jewellery and clothes, if any are provided. No married woman\nmay see her as she enters the house. The husband must give a feast to\nthe caste-fellows, or at least to the panchayat or committee. Divorce\nis freely permitted on payment of a fine to the panchayat. When a man\ntakes a second wife a sot or silver image of the deceased first wife\nis hung round her neck when she enters his house, and is worshipped\non ceremonial occasions.\n\n\n\n\n3. Customs at birth and death.\n\nA child is named on the day after its birth by some woman of the\ncaste; a Brahman is asked whether the day is auspicious, and he also\nchooses the name. If this is the same as that of any living relation\nor one recently dead, another name is given for ordinary use. A\ndaughter-in-law is usually given a new name when she goes to her\nhusband's house, such as Badi (elder), Manjhli (second son's wife),\nBari (innocent or simple), Jabalpurwali (belonging to Jubbulpore), and\nso on. If a woman has borne only female children, the umbilical cord is\nsometimes put in a small earthen pot and buried at a place where three\ncross-roads meet, and it is supposed that the birth of a male child\nwill follow. Children whose shaving ceremony has not been performed,\nand adults dying from snake-bite, cholera, smallpox or leprosy, are\nburied, while others are burnt. Children are carried to the grave in\ntheir parents' arms. On the return of a funeral party, liquor, provided\nby the relatives of the family, is drunk at the house of the deceased.\n\n\n\n\n4. Religion.\n\nThe Koris worship the ordinary Hindu deities and especially Devi. They\nbecome inspired by this goddess at the Jawara festival and pierce their\ncheeks with iron needles and tridents. Every family has a household god\nor Kul-Deo to whom a small platform is erected; offerings other than\nanimal sacrifices are made to him on festivals and on the celebration\nof a marriage.\n\n\n\n\n5. Occupation and social status.\n\nThose of the caste who are Kabirpanthis abstain from animal food,\nbut the others eat the flesh of most animals except tame pig, and\nalso drink liquor. Their social status is very low, but they are\nnot usually considered as impure. Their women are tattooed on the\nright arm before marriage, and on the left after arrival at their\nhusband's house. Like several other low castes, they do not wear\nnose-rings. The principal occupation of the caste is the weaving\nof coarse country cloth, but as the trade of the hand-weaver is\nnowadays precarious and unprofitable many of them have forsaken it\nand taken to cultivation or daily labour. Mr. Nesfield says of them:\n\"The material used by the Kori is the thread supplied by the Dhunia\n(Bahna); and thus the weaver caste has risen imperceptibly out of\nthat of the cotton-carder, in the same way as the cobbler caste has\nrisen out of the tanner. The art of weaving and plaiting threads\nis very much the same process as that of plaiting osiers, reeds and\ngrass, and converting them into baskets and mats. This circumstance\nexplains the puzzle why the weaver caste in India stands at such\na low social level. He, however, ranks several degrees above the\nChamar or tanner; as, among Hindus, herbs and their products (cotton\nbeing of course included) are invariably considered pure, while the\nhides of dead animals are regarded as a pollution.\" This argument is\npart of Mr. Nesfield's theory that the rank of each caste depends on\nthe period of civilisation at which its occupation came into being,\nwhich is scarcely tenable. The reason why the weavers rank so low may,\nperhaps, be that the Aryans when they settled in villages in northern\nIndia despised all handicrafts as derogatory to their dignity. These\nwere left to the subject tribes, and as a large number of weavers\nwould be required, the industry would necessarily be embraced by\nthe bulk of those who formed the lowest stratum of the population,\nand has ever since remained in their hands. If cloth was first woven\nfrom the tree-cotton plant growing wild, the business of picking\nand weaving it would naturally have fallen to the non-Aryan jungle\ntribes, who afterwards became the impure menial and labouring castes\nof the villages.\n\nThe weaver is the proverbial butt of Hindu ridicule, like the tailor\nin England. 'One Gadaria will account for ten weavers'; 'Four weavers\nwill spoil any business.' The following story also illustrates their\nstupidity: Twenty weavers got into a field of kans grass. They thought\nit was a tank and began swimming. When they got out they said, \"Let\nus all count and see how many we are, in case anybody has been left\nin the tank.\" They counted and each left out himself, so that they\nall made out nineteen. Just then a Sowar came by, and they cried,\nto him, 'Oh, Sir, we were twenty, and one of us has been drowned in\nthis tank.' The Sowar seeing that there was only a field of grass,\ncounted them and found there were twenty; so he said, 'What will you\ngive me if I find the twentieth?' They promised him a piece of cloth,\non which the Sowar, taking his whip, lashed each of the weavers across\nthe shoulders, counting as he did so. When he had counted twenty he\ntook the cloth and rode away. Another story is that a weaver bought a\nbuffalo for twenty rupees. His brother then came to him and wanted a\nshare in the buffalo. They did not know how he should be given a share\nuntil at last the weaver said, \"You go and pay the man who sold me the\nbuffalo twenty rupees; and then you will have given as much as I have\nand will be half-owner of the buffalo.\" Which was done. The ridicule\nattaching to the weaver's occupation is due to its being considered\nproper for a woman rather than a man, and similar jests were current\nat the tailor's expense in England. In India the weaver probably takes\nthe tailor's place because woven and not sewn clothes have hitherto\nbeen generally worn, as explained in the article on Darzi.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKORKU\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. Distribution and origin.\n 2. Tribal legends.\n 3. Tribal subdivisions.\n 4. Marriage. Betrothal.\n 5. The marriage ceremony.\n 6. Religion.\n 7. The Bhumka.\n 8. Magical practices.\n 9. Funeral rites.\n 10. Appearance and social customs.\n 11. Character.\n 12. Inheritance.\n 13. Occupation.\n 14. Language.\n\n\n\n\n1. Distribution and origin.\n\nKorku. [591]--A Munda or a Kolarian tribe akin to the Korwas, with whom\nthey have been identified in the India Census of 1901. They number\nabout 150,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, and belong\nto the west of the Satpura plateau, residing only in the Hoshangabad,\nNimar, Betul and Chhindwara Districts. About 30,000 Korkus dwell in\nthe Berar plain adjoining the Satpuras, and a few thousand belong\nto Bhopal. The word Korku means simply 'men' or 'tribesmen,' koru\nbeing their term for a man and ku a plural termination. The tribe\nhave a language of their own, which resembles that of the Kols of\nChota Nagpur. The language of the Korwas, another Munda tribe found\nin Chota Nagpur, is also known as Koraku or Korku, and one of their\nsubcastes has the same name. [592] Some Korkus or Mowasis are found\nin Chota Nagpur, and Colonel Dalton considered them a branch of the\nKorwas. Another argument may be adduced from the sept names of the\nKorkus which are in many cases identical with those of the Kols\nand Korwas. There is little reason to doubt then that the Korkus\nare the same tribe as the Korwas, and both of these may be taken to\nbe offshoots of the great Kol or Munda tribe. The Korkus have come\nmuch further west than their kinsmen, and between their residence\non the Mahadeo or western Satpura hills and the Korwas and Kols,\nthere lies a large expanse mainly peopled by the Gonds and other\nDravidian tribes, though with a considerable sprinkling of Kols in\nMandla, Jubbulpore and Bilaspur. These latter may have immigrated in\ncomparatively recent times, but the Kolis of Bombay may not improbably\nbe another offshoot of the Kols, who with the Korkus came west at a\nperiod before the commencement of authentic history. [593] One of the\nlargest subdivisions of the Korkus is termed Mowasi, and this name\nis sometimes applied to the whole tribe, while the tract of country\nwhere they dwell was formerly known as the Mowas. Numerous derivations\nof this term have been given, and the one commonly accepted is that\nit signifies 'The troubled country,' and was applied to the hills\nat the time when bands of Koli or Korku freebooters, often led by\ndispossessed Rajput chieftains, harried the rich lowlands of Berar\nfrom their hill forts on the Satpuras, exacting from the Marathas,\nwith poetical justice, the payments known as 'Tankha Mowasi' for the\nransom of the settled and peaceful villages of the plains. The fact,\nhowever, that the Korkus found in Chota Nagpur are also known as Mowasi\nmilitates against this supposition, for if the name was applied only\nto the Korkus of the Satpura plateau it would hardly have travelled\nas far east as Chota Nagpur. Mr. Hislop derived it from the mahua\ntree. But at any rate Mowasi meant a robber to Maratha ears, and the\nforests of Kalibhit and Melghat are known as the Mowas.\n\n\n\n\n2. Tribal legends.\n\nAccording to their own traditions the Korkus like so many other early\npeople were born from the soil. They state that Rawan, the demon\nking of Ceylon, observed that the Vindhyan and Satpura ranges were\nuninhabited and besought Mahadeo [594] to populate them. Mahadeo\ndespatched his messenger, the crow Kageshwar, to find for him an\nant-hill made of red earth, and the crow discovered such an ant-hill\nbetween the Saoligarh and Bhanwargarh ranges of Betul. Mahadeo went\nto the place, and, taking a handful of red earth, made images in the\nform of a man and a woman, but immediately two fiery horses sent by\nIndra rose from the earth and trampled the images to dust. For two\ndays Mahadeo persisted in his attempts, but as often as the images\nwere made they were destroyed in a similar manner. But at length the\ngod made an image of a dog and breathed into it the breath of life,\nand this dog kept off the horses of Indra. Mahadeo then made again\nhis two images of a man and woman, and giving them human life, called\nthem Mula and Mulai with the surname of Pothre, and these two became\nthe ancestors of the Korku tribe. Mahadeo then created various plants\nfor their use, the mahul [595] from whose strong and fibrous leaves\nthey could make aprons and head-coverings, the wild plantain whose\nleaves would afford other clothing, and the mahua, the chironji, the\nsewan and kullu [596] to provide them with food. Time went on and Mula\nand Mulai had children, and being dissatisfied with their condition as\ncompared with that of their neighbours, besought Mahadeo to visit them\nonce more. When he appeared Mula asked the god to give him grain to eat\nsuch as he had heard of elsewhere on the earth. Mahadeo sent the crow\nKageshwar to look for grain, and he found it stored in the house of\na Mang named Japre who lived at some distance within the hills. Japre\non hearing what was required besought the honour of a visit from the\ngod himself. Mahadeo went, and Japre laid before him an offering of 12\nkhandis [597] of grain, 12 goats and 12 buckets of water, and invited\nMahadeo to eat and drink. The god was pleased with the offering and\nunwilling to reject it, but considered that he could not eat food\ndefiled by the touch of the outcaste Mang, so Parvati created the\ngiant Bhimsen and bade him eat up the food offered to Mahadeo. When\nBhimsen had finished the offering, however, it occurred to him that\nhe also had been defiled by taking food from a Mang, and in revenge\nhe destroyed Japre's house and covered the site of it with d\u00e9bris\nand dirt. Japre then complained to Mahadeo of this sorry requital of\nhis offering and prayed to have his house restored to him. Bhimsen\nwas ordered to do this, and agreed to comply on condition that Mula\nshould pay to him the same honour and worship as he accorded to Rawan,\nthe demon king. Mula promised to do so, and Bhimsen then sent the crow\nKageshwar to the tank Daldal, bidding him bring thence the pig Buddu,\nwho being brought was ordered to eat up all the dirt that covered\nJapre's house. Buddu demurred except on condition that he also should\nbe worshipped by Mula and his descendants for ever. Mula agreed to pay\nworship to him every third year, whereupon Buddu ate up all the dirt,\nand dying from the effects received the name of Mahabissum, under which\nhe is worshipped to the present day. Mahadeo then took some seed from\nthe Mang and planted it for Mula's use, and from it sprang the seven\ngrains--kodon, kutki, gurgi, mandgi, barai, rala and dhan [598] which\nthe Korkus principally cultivate. It may be noticed that the story\ningeniously accounts for and sheds as it were an orthodox sanction on\nthe custom of the Korkus of worshipping the pig and the local demon\nBhimsen, who is placed on a sort of level with Rawan, the opponent\nof Rama. After recounting the above story Mr. Crosthwaite remarks:\n\"This legend given by the Korkus of their creation bears a curious\nanalogy to our own belief as set forth in the Old Testament. They\neven give the tradition of a flood, in which a crow plays the part of\nNoah's dove. There is a most curious similarity between their belief\nin this respect and that found in such distant and widely separated\nparts as Otaheite and Siberia. Remembering our own name 'Adam,' which I\nbelieve means in Hebrew 'made of red earth,' it is curious to observe\nthe stress that is laid in the legend on the necessity for finding\nred earth for the making of man.\" Another story told by the Korkus\nwith the object of providing themselves with Rajput ancestry is to\nthe effect that their forefathers dwelt in the city of Dharanagar,\nthe modern Dhar. It happened one day that they were out hunting and\nfollowed a sambhar stag, which fled on and on until it finally came\nto the Mahadeo or Pachmarhi hills and entered a cave. The hunters\nremained at the mouth waiting for the stag to come out, when a hermit\nappeared and gave them a handful of rice. This they at once cooked\nand ate as they were hungry from their long journey, and they found\nto their surprise that the rice sufficed for the whole party to eat\ntheir fill. The hermit then told them that he was the god Mahadeo,\nand had assumed the form of a stag in order to lead them to these\nhills, where they were to settle and worship him. They obeyed the\ncommand of the god, and a Korku zamindar is still the hereditary\nguardian of Mahadeo's shrine at Pachmarhi. This story has of course\nno historical value, and the Korkus have simply stolen the city of\nDharanagar for their ancestral home from their neighbours the Bhoyars\nand Panwars. These castes relate similar stories, which may in their\ncase be founded on fact.\n\n\n\n\n3. Tribal subdivisions.\n\nAs is usual among the forest tribes the Korkus formerly had a\nsubdivision called Raj-Korku, who were made up of landowning members of\nthe caste and were admitted to rank among those from whom a Brahman\nwould take water, while in some cases a spurious Rajput ancestry\nwas devised for them, as in the story given above. The remainder of\nthe tribe were called Potharia, or those to whom a certain dirty\nhabit is imputed. These main divisions have, however, become more\nor less obsolete, and have been supplanted by four subcastes with\nterritorial names, Mowasi, Bawaria, Ruma and Bondoya. The meaning of\nthe term Mowasi has already been given, and this subcaste ranks as the\nhighest, probably owing to the gentlemanly calling of armed robbery\nformerly practised by its members. The Bawarias are the dwellers in\nthe Bhanwargarh tract of Betul, the Rumas those who belong to Basim\nand Gangra in the Amraoti District, and the Bondoyas the residents of\nthe Jitgarh and Pachmarhi tract. These last are also called Bhovadaya\nand Bhopa, and this name has been corrupted into Bopchi in the Wardha\nDistrict, a few hundred Bondoya Korkus who live there being known\nas Bopchi and considered a distinct caste. Except among the Mowasis,\nwho usually marry in their own subcaste, the rule of endogamy is not\nstrictly observed. The above description refers to Betul and Nimar,\nbut in Hoshangabad, Mr. Crosthwaite says: \"Four-fifths of the Korkus\nhave been so affected by the spread of Brahmanical influence as to\nhave ceased to differ in any marked way from the Hindu element in the\npopulation, and the Korku has become so civilised as to have learnt\nto be ashamed of being a Korku.\" Each subcaste has traditionally 36\nexogamous septs, but the numbers have now increased. The sept names\nare generally taken from those of plants and animals. These were no\ndoubt originally totemistic, but the Korkus now say that the names are\nderived from trees and other articles in or behind which the ancestors\nof each sept took refuge after being defeated in a great battle. Thus\nthe ancestor of the Atkul sept hid in a gorge, that of the Bhuri Rana\nsept behind a dove's nest, that of the Dewda sept behind a rice plant,\nthat of the Jambu sept behind a jamun tree, [599] that of the Kasada\nsept in the bed of a river, that of the Takhar sept behind a cucumber\nplant, that of the Sakum sept behind a teak tree, and so on. Other\nnames are Banku or a forest-dweller; Bhurswa or Bhoyar, perhaps from\nthe caste of that name; Basam or Baoria, the god of beehives; and\nMarskola or Mawasi, which the Korkus take to mean a field flooded by\nrain. One sept has the name Killibhasam, and its ancestor is said to\nhave eaten the flesh of a heifer half-devoured by a tiger and parched\nby a forest fire. In Hoshangabad the legend of the battle is not\nknown, and among the names given by Mr. Crosthwaite are Akandi, the\nbenighted one; Tandil, a rat; and Chuthar, the flying black-bug. In\na few cases the names of septs are Hindi or Marathi words, these\nperhaps affording a trace of the foundation of separate families\nby members of other castes. No totemistic usages are followed as a\nrule, but one curious instance may be given. One sept has the name\nlobo, which means a piece of cloth. But the word lobo also signifies\n'to leak.' If a person says a sentence containing the word lobo in\neither signification before a member of the sept while he is eating,\nhe will throw away the food before him as if it were contaminated and\nprepare a meal afresh. Ten of the septs [600] consider the regular\nmarriage of girls to be inauspicious, and the members of these simply\ngive away their daughters without performing a ceremony.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage Betrothal.\n\nMarriage between members of the same sept is prohibited and also the\nunion of first cousins. The preliminaries to a marriage commence with\nthe bali-dudna or arrangement of the match. The boy's father having\nselected a suitable bride for his son sends two elders of the caste\nto propose the match to her father, who as a matter of etiquette\ninvariably declines it, swearing with great oaths that he will not\nallow his daughter to get married or that he will have a son-in-law\nwho will serve for her. The messengers depart, but return again and\nagain until the father's obduracy is overcome, which may take from six\nmonths to two years, while from nine to twelve months is considered a\nrespectable period. When his consent is finally obtained the residents\nof the girl's village are called to hear it, and the compact is sealed\nwith large potations of liquor. A ceremony of betrothal follows at\nwhich the daij or dowry is arranged, this signifying among the Korkus\nthe compensation to be paid to the girl's father for the loss of her\nservices. It is computed by a curious system of symbolic higgling. The\nwomen of the girl's party take two plates and place on them two\nheaps containing respectively ten and fifty seeds of a sort used for\nreckoning. The ten seeds on the first plate represent five rupees\nfor the panchayat and five cloths for the mother, brother, paternal\naunt and paternal and maternal uncles of the girl. The heap of fifty\nseeds indicates that Rs. 50 must be paid to the girl's father. When\nthe plates are received by the boy's party they take away forty-five\nof the seeds from the larger heap and return the plate, to indicate\nthat they will only pay five rupees to the girl's father. The women\nadd twenty-five seeds and send back the plate again. The men then take\naway fifteen, thus advancing the bride-price to fifteen rupees. The\nwomen again add twenty-five seeds and send back the plate, and the\nmen again take away twenty, and returning the remaining twenty which\nare taken as the sum agreed upon, in addition to the five cloths\nand five rupees for the panchayat. The total amount paid averages\nabout Rs. 60. Wealthy men sometimes refuse this payment or exchange a\nbride for a bridegroom. The dowry should be paid before the wedding,\nand in default of this the bridegroom's father is made not a little\nuncomfortable at that festival. Should a betrothed girl die before\nmarriage, the dowry does not abate and the parents of the girl have\na right to stop her burial until it is paid. But if a father shows\nhimself hard to please and refuses eligible offers, or if a daughter\nhas fallen in love, as sometimes happens, she will leave her home\nquietly some morning and betake herself to the house of the man of her\nchoice. If her young affections have not been engaged, she may select\nof her own accord a protector whose circumstances and position make\nhim attractive, and preferably one whose mother is dead. Occasionally a\ngirl will install herself in the house of a man who does not want her,\nand his position then is truly pitiable. He dare not turn her out as he\nwould be punished by the caste for his want of gallantry, and his only\ncourse is to vacate his own house and leave her in possession. After\na time his relations represent to her that the man she wants has gone\non a journey and will not be back for a long time, and induce her to\nreturn to the paternal abode. But such a case is very rare.\n\n\n\n\n5. The marriage ceremony.\n\nThe marriage ceremony resembles that of the Hindus but has one or two\nspecial features. After the customary cleaning of the house which\nshould be performed on a Tuesday, the bridegroom is carried to the\nheap of stones which represents Mutua Deo, and there the Bhumka or\npriest invokes the various sylvan deities, offering to them the blood\nof chickens. Again when he is dressed for the wedding the boy is given\na knife or dagger carrying a pierced lemon on the blade, and he and his\nparents and relatives proceed to a ber [601] or wild plum tree. The\nboy and his parents sit at the foot of the tree and are tied to it\nwith a thread, while the Bhumka again spills the blood of a fowl on\nthe roots of the tree and invokes the sun and moon, whom the Korkus\nconsider to be their ultimate ancestors. The ber fruit may perhaps\nbe selected as symbolising the red orb of the setting sun. The party\nthen dance round the tree. When the wedding procession is formed the\nfollowing ceremony takes place: A blanket is spread in the yard of\nthe house and the bridegroom and his elder brother's wife are made\nto stand on it and embrace each other seven times. This may probably\nbe a survival of the modified system of polyandry still practised\nby the Khonds, under which the younger brothers are allowed access\nto the elder brother's wife until their own marriage. The ceremony\nwould then typify the cessation of this intercourse at the wedding of\nthe boy. The procession must reach the bride's village on a Monday, a\nWednesday or a Friday, a breach of this rule entailing a fine of Rs. 8\non the boy's father. On arrival at the bride's village its progress is\nbarred by a rope stretched across the road by the bride's relatives,\nwho must be given two pice each before it is removed. The bridegroom\ntouches the marriage-shed with a bamboo fan. Next day the couple\nare seated in the shed and covered with a blanket on to which water\nis poured to symbolise the fertilising influence of rain. The groom\nties a necklace of beads to the girl's neck, and the couple are then\nlifted up by the relatives and carried three times round the yard of\nthe house, while they throw yellow-coloured rice at each other. Their\nclothes are tied together and they proceed to make an offering to Mutua\nDeo. In Hoshangabad, Mr. Crosthwaite states, the marriage ceremony\nis presided over by the bridegroom's aunt or other collateral female\nrelative. The bride is hidden in her father's house. The aunt then\nenters carrying the bridegroom and searches for the bride. When the\nbride is found the brother-in-law of the bridegroom takes her up, and\nbride and bridegroom are then seated under a sheet. The rings worn on\nthe little finger of the right hand are exchanged under the sheet and\nthe clothes of the couple are knotted together. Then follow the sapta\npadi or seven steps round the post, and the ceremony concludes with\na dance, a feast and an orgy of drunkenness. A priest takes no part\nin a Korku marriage ceremony, which is a purely social affair. If\na man has only one daughter, or if he requires an assistant for his\ncultivation, he often makes his prospective son-in-law serve for his\nwife for a period varying from five to twelve years, the marriage\nbeing then celebrated at the father-in-law's expense. If the boy runs\naway with the girl before the end of his service, his parents have to\npay to the girl's father five rupees for each year of the unexpired\nterm. Marriage is usually adult, girls being wedded between the\nages of ten and sixteen and boys at about twenty. Polygamy is freely\npractised by those who are well enough off to afford it, and instances\nare known of a man having as many as twelve wives living. A man must\nnot marry his wife's younger sister if she is the widow of a member of\nhis own sept nor his elder brother's widow if she is his wife's elder\nsister. Widow-marriage is allowed, and divorce may be effected by a\nsimple proclamation of the fact to the panchayat in a caste assembly.\n\n\n\n\n6. Religion.\n\nThe Korkus consider themselves as Hindus, and are held to have a better\nclaim to a place in the social structure of Hinduism than most of the\nother forest tribes, as they worship the sun and moon which are Hindu\ndeities and also Mahadeo. In truth, however, their religion, like that\nof many low Hindu castes, is almost purely animistic. The sun and moon\nare their principal deities, the name for these luminaries in their\nlanguage being Gomaj, which is also the term for god or a god. The head\nof each family offers a white she-goat and a white fowl to the sun\nevery third year, and the Korkus stand with the face to the sun when\nbeginning to sow, and perform other ceremonies with the face turned to\nthe east. The moon has no special observances, but as she is a female\ndeity she is probably considered to participate in those paid to the\nsun. These gods are, however, scarcely expected to interest themselves\nin the happenings of a Korku's daily life, and the local godlings who\nare believed to regulate these are therefore propitiated with greater\nfervour. The three most important village deities are Dongar Deo,\nthe god of the hills, who resides on the nearest hill outside the\nvillage and is worshipped at Dasahra with offerings of cocoanuts,\nlimes, dates, vermilion and a goat; Mutua Deo, who is represented by a\nheap of stones within the village and receives a pig for a sacrifice,\nbesides special oblations when disease and sickness are prevalent;\nand Mata, the goddess of smallpox, to whom cocoanuts and sweetmeats,\nbut no animal sacrifices, are offered.\n\n\n\n\n7. The Bhumka.\n\nThe priests of the Korkus are of two kinds--Parihars and Bhumkas. The\nParihar may be any man who is visited with the divine afflatus\nor selected as a mouthpiece by the deity; that is to say, a man\nof hysterical disposition or one subject to epileptic fits. He\nis more a prophet than a priest, and is consulted only on special\noccasions. Parihars are also rare, but every village has its Bhumka,\nwho performs the regular sacrifices to the village gods and the\nspecial ones entailed by disease or other calamities. On him devolves\nthe dangerous duty of keeping tigers out of the boundaries. When\na tiger visits the village the Bhumka repairs to Bagh Deo [602]\nand makes an offering to the god, promising to repeat it for so\nmany years on condition that the tiger does not appear for that\ntime. The tiger on his part never fails to fulfil the contract thus\nsilently made, for he is pre-eminently an honourable upright beast,\nnot faithless and treacherous like the leopard whom no contract can\nbind. Some Bhumkas, however, masters of the most powerful spells,\nare not obliged to rely on the traditional honour of the tiger, but\ncompel his attendance before Bagh Deo; and such a Bhumka has been\nseen as a very Daniel among tigers muttering his incantations over\ntwo or three at a time as they crouched before him. Of one Bhumka in\nKalibhit it is related that he had a fine large saj tree, into which,\nwhen he uttered his spells, he would drive a nail, and on this the\ntiger came and ratified the compact with his enormous paw, with which\nhe deeply scored the bark. In this way some have lost their lives,\nvictims of misplaced confidence in their own powers. [603] If a man is\nsick and it is desired to ascertain what god or spirit of an ancestor\nhas sent the malady, a handful of grain is waved over the sick man and\nthen carried to the Bhumka. He makes a heap of it on the floor, and,\nsitting over it, swings a lighted lamp suspended by four strings from\nhis fingers. He then repeats slowly the name of the village deities and\nthe sick man's ancestors, pausing between each, and the name at which\nthe lamp stops swinging is that of the offended one. He then inquires\nin a similar manner whether the propitiation shall be a pig, a chicken,\na goat, a cocoanut and so on. The office of Bhumka is usually, but not\nnecessarily, hereditary, and a new one is frequently chosen by lot,\nthis being also done when a new village is founded. All the villagers\nthen sit in a line before the shrine of Mutua Deo, to whom a black and\na white chicken are offered. The Parihar, or, if none be available,\nthe oldest man present, then sets a pai [604] rolling before the\nline of men, and the person before whom it stops is marked out by\nthis intervention of the deity as the new Bhumka. When a new village\nis to be founded a pai measure is filled with grain to a level with\nthe brim, but with no head (this being known as a mundi or bald pai),\nand is placed before Mutua Deo in the evening and watched all night. In\nthe morning the grain is poured out and again replaced in the measure;\nif it now fills this and also leaves enough for a head, and still more\nif it brims and runs over, it is a sign that the village will be very\nprosperous and that every cultivator's granaries will run over in the\nsame way. But it is an evil omen if the grain does not fill up to the\nlevel of the rim of the measure. The explanation of the difference\nin bulk may be that the grains increase or decrease slightly in size\naccording as the atmosphere is moist or dry, or perhaps the Bhumka\nworks the oracle. The Bhumka usually receives contributions in grain\nfrom all the houses in the village; but occasionally each cultivator\ngives him a day's ploughing, a day's weeding and a day's wood-cutting\nfree. The Bhumka is also employed in Hindu villages for the service\nof the village gods. But the belief in the powers of these deities\nis decaying, and with it the tribute paid to the Bhumka for securing\ntheir favour. Whereas formerly he received substantial contributions\nof grain on the same scale as a village menial, the cultivator will\nnow often put him off with a basketful or even a handful, and say,\n'I cannot spare you any more, Bhumka; you must make all the gods\ncontent with that.' In curing diseases the Parihar resorts to swindling\ntricks. He will tell the sick man that a sacrifice is necessary, asking\nfor a goat if the patient can afford one. He will say it must be of a\nparticular colour, as all black, white or red, so that the sick man's\nfamily may have much trouble in finding one, and they naturally think\nthe sacrifice is more efficacious in proportion to the difficulty\nthey experience in arranging for it. If they cannot afford a goat the\nParihar tells them to sacrifice a cock, and requires one whose feathers\ncurl backwards, as they occasionally do. If the family is very poor\nany chicken which has come out of the shell, so long as it has a beak,\nwill do duty for a cock. If a man has a pain in his body the Parihar\nwill suck the place and produce small pieces of bone from his mouth,\nstained with vermilion to imitate blood, and say that he has extracted\nthem from the patient's body. Perhaps the idea may be that the bones\nhave been caused to enter his body and make him ill by the practice\nof magic. Formerly the Parihar had to prove his supernatural powers by\nwhipping himself on the back with a rope into which the ends of nails\nwere twisted, and to continue this ordeal for a period long enough\nto satisfy the villagers that he could not have borne it without some\ndivine assistance. But this salutary custom has fallen into abeyance.\n\n\n\n\n8. Magical practices.\n\nThe Korkus have the same belief in the efficacy of imitative and\nsympathetic magic as other primitive peoples. [605] Thus to injure an\nenemy, a clay image of him is made and pierced with a knife, in the\nbelief that the real person will suffer in the same manner. If the\nclay can be taken from a place where his foot has made an impression\nin walking, or the image wrapped round with his hair, the charm\nis more efficacious. Or an image may be made with charcoal on some\nstolen portion of his apparel, and similarly wrapped in his hair; it\nis then burnt in the belief that the real person will be attacked by\nfever. Sometimes the image is buried in a place where it is likely\nthat the victim will walk over it, when the same result is hoped\nfor. In order to produce rain, a frog, as the animal delighting in the\nelement of water, is caught and slung on a stick; the boys and girls\nthen carry it from house to house and the householders pour water over\nit. If it is desired to stop rain a frog is caught and buried alive,\nthis being done by a naked boy. Another device for producing rain\nis to yoke two naked women to a plough, who are then driven across a\nfield like bullocks and goaded by a third naked woman. This device may\npossibly be intended to cause the gods to send rain, by showing how\nthe natural order of the world is upset and reversed by the continued\ndrought. In order to stop rain an unmarried youth collects water in\na new earthen pot from the eaves and buries it below the hearth so\nthat the water may disappear by evaporation and the rain may cease\nin the same manner. Another method is to send a man belonging to the\nKasada sept--Kasada meaning slime--to bring a plough from the field\nand place it in his house. He also stops bathing or washing for the\nperiod for which a break in the rains is required, and the idea is\nperhaps that as the man whose name and nature are mud or slime is\ndry so the mud on the earth will dry up; and as the plough is dry,\nthe ploughed fields which have been in contact with it will also\nbecome dry. In order to produce a quarrel the quills of a porcupine\nare smoked with the burnt parings of an enemy's nails and deposited in\nthe eaves of his house. And as the fretful porcupine raises his quills\nwhen angry with an enemy, these will have the effect of causing strife\namong the members of the household. If a person wishes to transfer his\nsickness to another, he obtains the latter's cloth and draws on it with\nlamp-black two effigies, one upright and the other upside down. As soon\nas the owner puts on the cloth, he will fall a victim to the ailment\nof the person who drew the effigies. In order to obtain children the\nhair of a woman who has borne several is secured by a barren woman\nand buried below her bathing-stone, when the quality of fertility\nwill be transferred to her from the owner of the hair. In order to\nfacilitate child-birth a twisted thread is untwined before the eyes of\nthe pregnant woman with the idea that the delivery will thus be made\ndirect and easy; or she is given water to drink in which her husband's\nleft leg, a gun-barrel, a pestle, or a thunder-bolt has been washed;\nit being supposed that as each of these articles has the quality\nof direct and powerful propulsion, this quality will be conveyed\nto the woman and enable her to propel the child from her womb. The\nKorkus also trust largely to omens. It is inauspicious when starting\nout on some business to see a black-faced monkey or a hare passing\neither on the left or right, or a snake crossing in front. A person\nseeing any of these will usually return and postpone his business\nto a more favourable occasion. It is a bad omen for a hen to cackle\nor lay eggs at night. One sneeze is a bad omen, but two neutralise\nthe effect and are favourable. An empty pot is a bad omen and a full\none good. To break a pot when commencing any business is fatal, and\nshows that the work will come to naught. Thursdays and Fridays are\nfavourable days for working, and Mondays and Tuesdays for propitiating\none's ancestors. Odd numbers are lucky. In order to lay to rest the\nspirit of a dead person, who it is feared may trouble the living,\nfive pieces of bamboo are taken as representing the bones of the dead\nman, and these with five crab's legs, five grains of rice and other\narticles are put into a basket and thrust into a crab's hole under\nwater. The occasion is made an excuse for much feasting and drinking,\nand the son or other representative who lays the spirit works himself\nup into a state of drunken excitement before he enters the water to\nsearch for a suitable hole. The fat of a tiger is considered to be an\nexcellent medicine for rheumatism and sprains, and much store is set by\nit. The tiger's tongue is also supposed to be a very powerful tonic or\nstrengthening medicine for weakly children. It is cooked, pounded up,\nand a small quantity administered in milk or water. When a tiger has\nbeen killed the Gonds and Korkus will singe off his whiskers, as they\nthink this will prevent the tiger's spirit from haunting them. Another\nidea is that the whiskers if chopped up and mixed in the food of an\nenemy will poison him. They frequently object to touch a man who has\nbeen injured or mauled by a tiger, as they think that to do so would\nbring down the tiger's vengeance on them. And in some places any Gond\nor Korku who touches a man mauled by a tiger is put temporarily out\nof caste and has to be purified and give a feast on readmission.\n\n\n\n\n9. Funeral rites.\n\nThe dead are usually buried, two pice being first thrown into the\ngrave to buy the site. The body is laid on its back, naked and with\nthe head pointing to the south. The earth is mixed with briars and\nthorns while being filled in so as to keep off hyenas, and stones\nare placed over the grave. No fixed period of mourning is observed,\nbut after the lapse of some days, the deceased's family or relatives\ngo to the burial-place, taking with them a piece of turmeric. This\nthey cut into strips, and, placing them in a leaf-cup, pour water\nover them. As the water falls on the tomb, a god is called to witness\nthat this day the dead man's spirit has been sent to live with the\nancestors. The pieces of turmeric are then tied in a cloth which,\nafter receiving an oblation of fowl's blood, is suspended from the\nmain beam of the house, this being considered the dwelling-place of\nthe departed. This ceremony, called Pitar Miloni, is the first rite\nfor the admission of the deceased with the spirits of his ancestors,\nand is preliminary to the final ceremony of Sedoli which may be\nperformed at any time between four months and fifteen years after\nthe death. But until it is complete the spirit of the deceased has\nnot been laid finally to rest and has the power of sending aches and\npains to molest the bodies of its living relatives. Each sept has a\nplace in which the Sedoli rites must be performed, and however far\nthe Korku may have wandered from the original centre of his tribe,\nhe must return there to set his father's spirit at rest and enable it\nto join the ancestral ghosts. When the Sedoli is to be performed an\nunblemished teak or salai [606] tree is selected and wrapped round with\na thread, while seven circuits of it are made and a bottle of liquor\nand two pice are offered as purchase money. It is then cut down and\nbrought home, and from it a smooth stake called munda is fashioned,\n24 to 30 inches high, and squared or pointed at the top, often being\narrow-headed. On it are carved representations of the sun and moon,\na spider and a human ear, and below these a figure representing the\nprincipal person in whose honour the stake is erected, on horseback\nwith weapons in his hand. The proper method is to have one munda for\neach ancestor, but poor persons make one do for several and their\nfigures are then carved below. But care must be taken that the total\nnumber of figures representing the dead does not exceed that of the\nmembers of the family who have died during the period for which the\nSedoli is performed. For in that case another person is likely to die\nfor each extra figure. The little bags of turmeric representing the\nancestors are then taken from the main beam of the house and carried\nwith the munda to the burial-place. There a goat is sacrificed and\nthese articles are besmeared with its blood, after which a feast is\nheld accompanied by singing and dancing. Next day the party again go\nto the burial-place and plant the munda in it, placing two pice in\nthe hole beneath it. They then proceed to the riverside, and, making a\nlittle ball from the flesh of the sacrificed animal, place it together\nwith the bags of turmeric on a leaf platter, and throw the whole into\nthe river saying, 'Ancestors, find your home.' If the ball sinks at\nonce they consider that the ancestors have been successful, but if\nany delay takes place, they attribute it to the difficulty experienced\nby the ancestors in the selection of a home and throw in two pice to\nassist them. The pith of a bamboo may be substituted for turmeric to\nrepresent the bones. The dead are supposed to inhabit a village of\ntheir own similar to that in which they dwelt on earth and to lead\nthere a colourless existence devoid alike of pleasure and of pain.\n\n\n\n\n10. Appearance and social customs.\n\nThe following description of the Korkus is given by Major Forsyth\nin the Nimar Settlement Report of 1868-69, with the addition of\nsome remarks made by other observers. The Korkus are well built and\nmuscular. The average Korku has a round face, a nose rather wide but\nnot flat like a negro's, prominent cheek-bones, a scanty moustache\nand his head shaved after the Hindu fashion. They are slightly taller\nthan the Gond, a shade darker and a good many shades dirtier. In\nthe wilder parts one may come across some quite too awful Korkus,\nfrom whom an intervening space of fifty yards is an insufficient\nprotection, though strange to say there are no less than six words\nin their language which mean 'to wash'; one to wash the whole body,\none the limbs, one for the face, one for the mouth, one for the hair\nand one for the clothes, besides a word for scouring the body with a\nstone and another word for bathing in a stream. Their habitations on\nthe other hand present quite a contrast to their individual want of\ncleanliness. They build their villages of a close bamboo wattle-work\nand with almost Swisslike neatness, a picturesque site being usually\nchosen, and the plan being one long street with a wide open roadway,\nor several such parallel with each other. The villages are kept\nremarkably clean, in striking contrast to the habitations of other\naboriginal tribes. The average village contains about twenty huts,\nand it is the custom to bind these so closely together that forest\nfires often sweep through a whole village before a hut can be removed\nto check their course. The average hut is about fifteen feet square\nwith a rather flat roof covered with loose grass over a layer of leaves\nand pressed down by outside poles. No nails are required as the posts\nare bound firmly together with bamboo or creeper fibre. The inmates\ngenerally sleep on the ground, and a few low stools carved from teak\nwood serve them for pillows. Every village has a few pigs and fowls\nrunning about, both of which are eaten after being sacrificed. The\nKorku is an adept in the crude process of distillation in which\nthe only apparatus required consists of two gharas or earthen pots,\na hollow bamboo, some mahua flowers, water and a fire. By this means\nthe Korku manages to produce liquor upon which he can effectually get\ndrunk. They are by no means particular about what they eat. Fowls,\npork, fish, crabs and tortoise are all consumed, and beef and rats\nare eaten in some localities but not in others. The Ruma and Bondoya\nKorkus eat buffaloes, and the latter add monkeys to an already\ncomprehensive dietary. The lowest caste with whom they are said\nto eat are Kolis. They do not eat with Gonds. Gonds, Mangs, Basors\nand a few other low castes take food from them and also, it is said,\nBhils. The Korkus will freely admit members of the higher castes into\nthe community, and a woman incurs no social penalty for a liaison\nwith a member of any caste from which a Korku can take food. But\nif she goes wrong with a low-caste man she is permanently expelled\nand a fine of Rs. 40 is exacted from the parents before they are\nreadmitted to social intercourse. In the case of adultery with a\nmember of the caste, if the husband does not wish to keep his wife,\nthe offending parties have a lock of hair cut off and give a dinner,\nand are then considered to be married. But if the husband does not\nturn his wife away, he, on his wife's account, and the seducer must\ngive a joint dinner to the caste. They have a tribal council or\npanchayat which inflicts the usual penalties for social offences,\nwhile in very serious cases, such as intercourse with a low caste,\nit causes the offender to be born again. He is placed inside a large\nearthen pot which is sealed up, and when taken out of this he is\nsaid to be born again from his mother's womb. He is then buried in\nsand and comes out as a fresh incarnation from the earth, placed in\na grass hut which is fired, and from within which he runs out as\nit is burning, immersed in water, and finally has a tuft cut from\nhis scalp-lock and is fined two and a half rupees. The Korkus as a\nrace are very poor, and a poor Korku manages to exist with even less\nclothing than a poor Gond. A loincloth of the scantiest and a wisp\nof turban coiled on the top of the head and leaving the centre of the\nskull uncovered form his complete costume for dry weather. Sometimes\na large brass chain is worn in the turban or attached to the waist,\nand to it are suspended a flint and steel and a small dry gourd full\nof cotton--the implements for obtaining fire. It is also common to\nwear a large brass ring in one ear. A special habit of the Korku in\nNimar, Major Forsyth states, is to carry a small bamboo flute behind\nthe ear like a pen, from which he discourses a not unpleasant strain,\nchiefly when drunk or engaged in propitiating Bagh Deo, Devi or any\nother dread power whom he reverences. The women as a rule wear only\na dirty white sari and are loaded with cheap ornaments. Necklaces of\nbeads are worn on the neck, covering the chest, while the arms and\nlegs are weighed down with brass and iron.\n\n\n\n\n11. Character.\n\nLike most hill tribes the Korkus are remarkably honest and truthful,\nslow at calculation and very indignant at being cheated. They are\nvery improvident and great drunkards, and it is the latter habit\nwhich has aggravated the obstacles to their improvement.\n\n\n\n\n12. Inheritance.\n\nThe Korku law of inheritance differs somewhat from that of the\nHindus. Among them a grandson does not inherit the property of his\ngrandfather unless it is openly and clearly granted to him during\nthe latter's lifetime. A married son living separately from his\nfather has no right of succession to the paternal property, but if\nhe is unmarried, he receives half the share of a son who is living\nwith his father. A daughter or a daughter's son does not inherit the\nfather's property unless it is granted to either of them by a deed\nof gift. The sons and mother share equally.\n\n\n\n\n13. Occupation.\n\nThe Korkus formerly lived principally by hunting, and practised the\nshifting cultivation in the forests which is now forbidden. Very few\nof them are landowners, but some large zamindari estates in Hoshangabad\nand Chhindwara are held by Korku proprietors, who are protected by the\nprohibition of alienation. Though too improvident and lazy to be good\ncultivators, they are in great request as farmservants and ploughmen,\nbeing too honest to defraud their master of labour or material. A\nremarkable change has thus taken place from their former character of\nnotorious robbers. They cultivate mainly in the hilly tracts and grow\nlight grains, though some have colonised the waste lands of the upper\nTapti valley in Nimar and raise good crops of wheat. They do not as\na rule keep cattle other than the few oxen required for cultivating\nthe soil and hauling out timber. Game of all kinds is caught by means\nof heavy log traps for the larger varieties such as sambhar, bear\nand spotted deer and even leopard; while hares, jungle-fowl and the\nsmaller sort of game are caught under heavy stones held up by nicely\nadjusted strings. Occasionally, when in search of meat, a whole village\nwill sally out into the forest. The shikari has generally a matchlock\nconcealed in some hiding-place in the jungle, and once he is posted the\nothers beat towards him and any animal that turns up is shot at. In\nthe hot weather the water-hole and the bow and arrow play no small\npart in helping to fill the Korku larder. Another method of catching\nbirds is to spread the pounded fruit of a certain parasitic airplant\non a rock. A thick shining gum exudes which so entangles the feet of\nthe smaller birds as to prevent their escape. Fish dams are built when\nthe water subsides after the rains, and a cylindrical basket six or\neight feet in length being adjusted at the outlet, the fish are driven\ninto this from above. During the hot season the fruit of the ghetu\nis thrown into the pools, and this stupefies the fish and causes them\nto float on the surface of the water, where they are easily caught.\n\n\n\n\n14. Language.\n\nThe Korkus have a language of their own which belongs to the Kolarian\nor Munda sub-family. Dr. Grierson says of it: \"The Munda, sometimes\ncalled the Kolarian family, is probably the older branch of the\nDravido-Munda languages. It exhibits the characteristics of an\nagglutinative language to an extraordinarily complete degree.\" In\nthe Central Provinces nearly 90 per cent of Korkus were returned\nas speaking their own language in 1911. Mr. Crosthwaite remarks:\n\"The language is in a state of decay and transition, and Hindi and\nMarathi terms have crept into its vocabulary. But very few Gondi words\nhave been adopted. A grammar of the Korku language by Drake has been\nprinted at the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKORWA\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice.\n 2. Physical appearance.\n 3. Subdivisions.\n 4. Marriage customs.\n 5. Funeral rites.\n 6. Religion.\n 7. Social customs.\n 8. Dancing.\n 9. Occupation.\n 10. Dacoity.\n 11. Folk-tales.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nKorwa. [607]--A Kolarian tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau. In 1911\nabout 34,000 Korwas were returned in the Central Provinces, the great\nbulk of whom belong to the Sarguja and Jashpur States and a few to the\nBilaspur District. The Korwas are one of the wildest tribes. Colonel\nDalton writes of them: [608] \"Mixed up with the Asuras and not greatly\ndiffering from them, except that they are more cultivators of the\nsoil than smelters, we first meet the Korwas, a few stragglers of the\ntribe which under that name take up the dropped links of the Kolarian\nchain, and carry it on west, over the Sarguja, Jashpur and Palamau\nhighlands till it reaches another cognate tribe, the Kurs (Korkus)\nor Muasis of Rewah and the Central Provinces, and passes from the\nVindhyan to the Satpura range.\n\n\"In the fertile valleys that skirt and wind among the plateaus other\ntribes are now found intermixed with the Korwas, but all admit that\nthe latter were first in the field and were at one time masters of the\nwhole; and we have good confirmatory proof of their being the first\nsettlers in the fact that for the propitiation of the local spirits\nKorwa Baigas are always selected. There were in existence within the\nlast twenty years, as highland chiefs and holders of manors, four Korwa\nnotables, two in Sarguja and two in Jashpur; all four estates were\nvaluable, as they comprised substantial villages in the fertile plains\nheld by industrious cultivators, and great tracts of hill country on\nwhich were scattered the hamlets of their more savage followers. The\nSarguja Korwa chiefs were, however, continually at strife with the\nSarguja Raja, and for various acts of rebellion against the Lord\nParamount lost manor after manor till to each but one or two villages\nremained. The two Jashpur thanes conducted themselves right loyally at\nthe crucial period of the Mutiny and they are now prosperous gentlemen\nin full enjoyment of their estates, the only Korwa families left that\nkeep up any appearance of respectability. One of them is the hereditary\nDiwan of Jashpur, lord of the mountain tract of Khuria and Maini,\nand chief of perhaps two-thirds of the whole tribe of Korwas. The\nother holds an estate called Kakia comprising twenty-two villages.\n\n\n\n\n2. Physical appearance.\n\n\"The hill Korwas are the most savage-looking of all the Kolarian\ntribes. They are frightfully wild and uncouth in their appearance,\nand have good-humouredly accepted the following singular tradition to\naccount for it. They say that the first human beings that settled in\nSarguja, being very much troubled by the depredations of wild beasts on\ntheir crops, put up scarecrows in their fields, figures made of bamboos\ndangling in the air, the most hideous caricatures of humanity that they\ncould devise to frighten the animals. When the great spirit saw the\nscarecrow he hit on an expedient to save his votaries the trouble of\nreconstructing them. He animated the dangling figures, thus bringing\ninto existence creatures ugly enough to frighten all the birds and\nbeasts in creation, and they were the ancestors of the wild Korwas.\"\n\nThis legend is not peculiar to the Korwas but is also told by the\nHalbas, Lodhis and other castes, and is a favourite Brahmanical device\nfor accounting for the existence of the autochthonous tribes.\n\n\"The Korwas,\" Dalton continues, \"are short of stature and dark brown in\ncomplexion, strongly built and active, with good muscular development,\nbut, as appeared to me, disproportionately short-legged. The\naverage height of twenty Sarguja Korwas that I measured was 5 feet 3\ninches and of their women 4 feet 9 inches only. Notwithstanding the\nscarecrow tradition the Korwas are, as a rule, better-looking than\nthe Gonds and Oraons. The males, I noticed, were more hirsute than\nthe generality of their cognates, many of them cultivating beards or\nrather not interfering with their spontaneous growth, for in truth in\ntheir toilets there is nothing like cultivation. They are as utterly\nungroomed as the wildest animals. The neglected back hair grows in\nmatted tails which fall behind like badly-frayed ropes, or is massed\nin a chignon of gigantic proportions, as preposterous as any that the\npresent tasteless period has produced; sticking out behind sometimes\na foot from the back of the head.\n\n\"The women appear ground down by the hard work imposed on them, stunted\nin growth, black, ugly, and wretchedly clad, some having only a few\ndirty rags tied round their persons, and in other respects untidy\nand unclean.\"\n\nIt is noticeable that the Korwas have a subtribe called Koraku,\nand like the Korkus of the Satpura range they are called Muasi, a\nterm having the meaning of raider or robber. Mr. Crooke thinks that\nthe Korwas and Korkus are probably branches of the same tribe, but\nSir G. Grierson dissents from this opinion. He states that the Korwa\ndialect is most closely related to Asuri and resembles Mundari and\nSantali. The Korwas have the honorific title of Manjhi, also used by\nthe Santals. The Korba zamindari in Bilaspur is probably named after\nthe Korwas.\n\n\n\n\n3. Subdivisions.\n\nThe principal subdivisions of the tribe are the Diharia or Kisan\nKorwas, those who live in villages (dih) and cultivate, and the\nPaharia Korwas of the hills, who are also called Benwaria from their\npractising bewar or shifting cultivation. Two minor groups are the\nKoraku or young men, from kora, a young man, and the Birjias, who\nare probably the descendants of mixed marriages between Korwas and\nthe tribe of that name, themselves an offshoot of the Baigas. The\ntribe is also divided into totemistic exogamous septs.\n\n\n\n\n4. Marriage customs.\n\nMarriage within the sept is forbidden, but this appears to be the only\nrestriction. In Korba the Paharia Korwas are said to marry their own\nsisters on occasion. The ordinary bride-price is Rs. 12. In Bilaspur\nthere is reported to be no regular marriage feast, but the people dance\ntogether round a big earthen drum, called mandhar, which is played in\nthe centre. This is bound with strips of leather along the sides and\nleather faces at the ends to be played on by the hands. They dance in\na circle taking hands, men and women being placed alternately. Among\nthe Paharia Korwas of Sarguja, Mr. Kunte states, the consent of\nthe parents is not required, and boys and girls arrange their own\nweddings. Men who can afford the bride-price have a number of wives,\nsometimes as many as eight or ten. After she has had a child each\nwife lives and cooks her food separately, but gives a part of it to\nher husband. The women bring roots and herbs from the forest and feed\ntheir husbands, so that the man with several wives enjoys a larger\nshare of creature comforts. Among these people adultery is said to be\nvery rare, but if a woman is detected in adultery she is at once made\nover to the partner of her act and becomes his wife. Divorce and the\nremarriage of widows are permitted, and a widow usually marries her\nlate husband's younger brother, though she is not obliged to do so. A\nhusband divorcing his wife is obliged to feed the caste for five days.\n\n\n\n\n5. Funeral rites.\n\nThe tribe bury the dead, placing the corpse in the grave with the head\nto the south. A little rice is buried with the corpse. In Bilaspur the\ndead are buried in the forest, and the graves of old men are covered\nwith branches of the sal [609] tree. Then they go to a little distance\nand make a fire, and pour ghi and incense on it as an offering to the\nancestors, and when they hear a noise in the forest they take it to\nbe the voice of the dead man. When a man dies his hut is broken down\nand they do not live in it again. The bodies of children under five\nare buried either in the house or under the shade of a banyan tree,\nprobably with the idea that the spirit will come back and be born\nagain. They say that a banyan tree is chosen because it lives longest\nof all trees and is evergreen, and hence it is supposed that the\nchild's spirit will also live out its proper span instead of being\nuntimely cut off in its next birth.\n\n\n\n\n6. Religion.\n\nThe Korwas worship Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god of the Gonds, and in\nSarguja their principal deity is Khuria Rani, the tutelary goddess of\nthe Khuria plateau. She is a bloodthirsty goddess and requires animal\nsacrifices; formerly at special sacrifices 30 or 40 buffaloes were\nslaughtered as well as an unlimited number of goats. [610] Thakur Deo,\nwho is usually considered a corn-god, dwells in a sacred grove, of\nwhich no tree or branch may be cut or broken. The penalty for breach\nof the rules is a goat, but an exception is allowed if an animal has\nto be pursued and killed in the grove. Thakur Deo protects the village\nfrom epidemic disease such as cholera and smallpox. The Korwas have\nthree festivals: the Deothan is observed on the full moon day of Pus\n(December), and all their gods are worshipped; the Nawanna or harvest\nfestival falls in Kunwar (September), when the new grain is eaten;\nand the Faguwa or Holi is the common celebration of the spring and\nthe new vegetation.\n\n\n\n\n7. Social customs.\n\nThe Korwas do not admit outsiders into the tribe. They will take food\nfrom a Gond or Kawar, but not from a Brahman. A man is permanently\nexpelled from caste for a liaison with a woman of the impure Ganda\nand Ghasia castes, and a woman for adultery with any person other\nthan a Korwa. Women are tattooed with patterns of dots on the arms,\nbreasts and feet, and a girl must have this operation done before\nshe can be married. Neither men nor women ever cut their hair.\n\n\n\n\n8. Dancing.\n\nOf their appearance at a dance Colonel Dalton states: [611] \"Forming\na huge circle, or rather coil, they hooked on to each other and\nwildly danced. In their hands they sternly grasped their weapons,\nthe long stiff bow and arrows with bright, broad, barbed heads and\nspirally-feathered reed shafts in the left hand, and the gleaming\nbattle-axe in the right. Some of the men accompanied the singing on\ndeep-toned drums and all sang. A few scantily-clad females formed\nthe inner curl of the coil, but in the centre was the Choragus who\nplayed on a stringed instrument, promoting by his grotesque motions\nunbounded hilarity, and keeping up the spirit of the dancers by his\nunflagging energy. Their matted back hair was either massed into a\nchignon, sticking out from the back of the head like a handle, from\nwhich spare arrows depended hanging by the bands, or was divided\ninto clusters of long matted tails, each supporting a spare arrow,\nwhich, flinging about as they sprang to the lively movements of\nthe dance, added greatly to the dramatic effect and the wildness of\ntheir appearance. The women were very diminutive creatures, on the\naverage a foot shorter than their lords, clothed in scanty rags,\nand with no ornaments except a few tufts of cotton dyed red taking\nthe place of flowers in the hair, a common practice also with the\nSantal girls. Both tribes are fond of the flower of the cockscomb\nfor this purpose, and when that is not procurable, use the red cotton.\"\n\nThey dance the karma dance in the autumn, thinking that it will procure\nthem good crops, the dance being a kind of ritual or service and\naccompanied by songs in praise of the gods. If the rains fail they\ndance every night in the belief that the gods will be propitiated\nand send rain.\n\n\n\n\n9. Occupation.\n\nOf their occupation Colonel Dalton states: \"The Korwas cultivate newly\ncleared ground, changing their homesteads every two or three years to\nhave command of virgin soil. They sow rice that ripens in the summer,\nvetches, millets, pumpkins, cucumbers--some of gigantic size--sweet\npotatoes, yams and chillies. They also grow and prepare arrowroot and\nhave a wild kind which they use and sell. They have as keen a knowledge\nof what is edible among the spontaneous products of the jungle as have\nmonkeys, and have often to use this knowledge for self-preservation,\nas they are frequently subjected to failure of crops, while even in\nfavourable seasons some of them do not raise sufficient for the year's\nconsumption; but the best of this description of food is neither\npalatable nor wholesome. They brought to me nine different kinds of\nedible roots, and descanted so earnestly on the delicate flavour and\nnutritive qualities of some of them, that I was induced to have two\nor three varieties cooked under their instructions and served up, but\nthe result was far from pleasant; my civilised stomach indignantly\nrepelled the savage food, and was not pacified till it had made me\nsuffer for some hours from cold sweat, sickness and giddiness.\" [612]\n\n\n\n\n10. Dacoity.\n\nThe Korwas in the Tributary States have other resources than\nthese. They are expert hunters, and to kill a bird flying or an\nanimal running is their greatest delight. They do not care to kill\ntheir game without rousing it first. They are also very fond of\ndacoity and often proceed on expeditions, their victims being usually\ntravellers, or the Ahirs who bring large herds of cattle to graze in\nthe Sarguja forests. These cattle do much damage to the village crops,\nand hence the Korwas have a standing feud with the herdsmen. They\nthink nothing of murder, and when asked why he committed a murder,\na Korwa will reply, 'I did it for my pleasure'; but they despise both\nhouse-breaking and theft as cowardly offences, and are seldom or never\nguilty of them. The women are also of an adventurous disposition\nand often accompany their husbands on raids. Before starting they\ntake the omens. They throw some rice before a chicken, and if the\nbird picks up large solid grains first they think that a substantial\nbooty is intended, but if it chooses the thin and withered grains\nthat the expedition will have poor results. One of their bad omens\nis that a child should begin to cry before the expedition starts;\nand Mr. Kunte, who has furnished the above account, relates that on\none occasion when a Korwa was about to start on a looting expedition\nhis two-year-old child began to cry. He was enraged at the omen, and\npicking up the child by the feet dashed its brains out against a stone.\n\n\n\n\n11. Folk-tales.\n\nBefore going out hunting the Korwas tell each other hunting tales,\nand they think that the effect of doing this is to bring them success\nin the chase. A specimen of one of these tales is as follows: There\nwere seven brothers and they went out hunting. The youngest brother's\nname was Chilhra. They had a beat, and four of them lay in ambush\nwith their bows and arrows. A deer came past Chilhra and he shot\nan arrow at it, but missed. Then all the brothers were very angry\nwith Chilhra and they said to him, \"We have been wandering about\nhungry for the whole day, and you have let our prey escape.\" Then\nthe brothers got a lot of mahul [613] fibre and twisted it into rope,\nand from the rope they wove a bag. And they forced Chilhra into this\nbag, and tied up the mouth and threw it into the river where there\nwas a whirlpool. Then they went home. Now Chilhra's bag was spinning\nround and round in the whirlpool when suddenly a sambhar stag came\nout of the forest and walked down to the river to drink opposite the\npool. Chilhra cried out to the sambhar to pull his bag ashore and\nsave him. The sambhar took pity on him, and seizing the bag in his\nteeth pulled it out of the water on to the bank. Chilhra then asked\nthe sambhar after he had quenched his thirst to free him from the\nbag. The sambhar drank and then came and bit through the mahul ropes\ntill Chilhra could get out. He then proposed to the sambhar to try\nand get into the bag to see if it would hold him. The sambhar agreed,\nbut no sooner had he got inside than Chilhra tied up the bag, threw\nit over his shoulder and went home. When the brothers saw him they\nwere greatly astonished, and asked him how he had got out of the bag\nand caught a sambhar, and Chilhra told them. Then they killed and ate\nthe sambhar. Then all the brothers said to Chilhra that he should tie\nthem up in bags as he had been tied and throw them into the river,\nso that they might each catch and bring home a sambhar. So they made\nsix bags and went to the river, and Chilhra tied them up securely and\nthrew them into the river, when they were all quickly drowned. But\nChilhra went home and lived happily ever afterwards.\n\nIn this story we observe the low standard of moral feeling noticeable\namong many primitive races, in the fact that the ingratitude displayed\nby Chilhra in deceiving and killing the sambhar who had saved his life\nconveys no shock to the moral sense of the Korwas. If the episode had\nbeen considered discreditable to the hero Chilhra, it would not have\nfound a place in the tale.\n\nThe following is another folk-tale of the characteristic type of\nfairy story found all over the world. This as well as the last has\nbeen furnished by Mr. Narbad Dhanu Sao, Assistant Manager, Uprora:\n\nA certain rich man, a banker and moneylender (Sahu), had twelve\nsons. He got them all married and they went out on a journey to\ntrade. There came a holy mendicant to the house of the rich man and\nasked for alms. The banker was giving him alms, but the saint said\nhe would only take them from his son or son's wife. As his sons were\naway the rich man called his daughter-in-law, and she began to give\nalms to the saint. But he caught her up and carried her off. Then\nher father-in-law went to search for her, saying that he would not\nreturn until he had found her. He came to the saint's house upon a\nmountain and said to him, 'Why did you carry off my son's wife?' The\nsaint said to him, 'What can you do?' and turned him into stone by\nwaving his hand. Then all the other brothers went in turn to search\nfor her down to the youngest, and all were turned into stone. At last\nthe youngest brother set out to search but he did not go to the saint,\nbut travelled across the sea and sat under a tree on the other side. In\nthat tree was the nest with young of the Raigidan and Jatagidan [614]\nbirds. A snake was climbing up the tree to eat the nestlings, and the\nyoungest brother saw the snake and killed it. When the parent birds\nreturned the young birds said, \"We will not eat or drink till you\nhave rewarded this boy who killed the snake which was climbing the\ntree to devour us.\" Then the parent birds said to the boy, 'Ask of\nus whatever you will and we will give it to you.' And the boy said,'\nI want only a gold parrot in a gold cage.' Then the parent birds said,\n\"You have asked nothing of us, ask for something more; but if you\nwill accept only a gold parrot in a gold cage wait here a little\nand we will fly across the sea and get it for you.\" So they brought\nthe parrot and cage, and the youngest brother took them and went\nhome. Immediately the saint came to him and asked him for the gold\nparrot and cage because the saint's soul was in that parrot. Then the\nyoungest brother told him to dance and he would give him the parrot;\nand the saint danced, and his legs and arms were broken one after the\nother, as often as he asked for the parrot and cage. Then the youngest\nbrother buried the saint's body and went to his house and passed his\nhands before all the stone images and they all came to life again.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKOSHTI\n\n\nList of Paragraphs\n\n 1. General notice.\n 2. Subdivisions.\n 3. Marriage.\n 4. Funeral customs.\n 5. Religion.\n 6. Superstitions.\n 7. Clothes, etc.\n 8. Social rules and status.\n 9. Occupation.\n\n\n\n\n1. General notice.\n\nKoshti, Koshta, Salewar. [615]--The Maratha and Telugu caste of\nweavers of silk and fine cotton cloth. They belong principally to\nthe Nagpur and Chhattisgarh Divisions of the Central Provinces, where\nthey totalled 157,000 persons in 1901, while 1300 were returned from\nBerar. Koshti is the Marathi and Salewar the Telugu name. Koshti may\nperhaps have something to do with kosa or tasar silk; Salewar is said\nto be from the Sanskrit Salika, a weaver, [616] and to be connected\nwith the common word sari, the name for a woman's cloth; while the\nEnglish 'shawl' may be a derivative from the same root. The caste\nsuppose themselves to be descended from the famous Saint Markandi\nRishi, who, they say, first wove cloth from the fibres of the lotus\nflower to clothe the nakedness of the gods. In reward for this he\nwas married to the daughter of Surya, the sun, and received with\nher as dowry a giant named Bhavani and a tiger. But the giant was\ndisobedient, and so Markandi killed him, and from his bones fashioned\nthe first weaver's loom. [617] The tiger remained obedient to Markandi,\nand the Koshtis think that he still respects them as his descendants;\nso that if a Koshti should meet a tiger in the forest and say the name\nof Markandi, the tiger will pass by and not molest him; and they say\nthat no Koshti has ever been killed by a tiger. On their side they\nwill not kill or injure a tiger, and at their weddings the Bhat or\ngenealogist brings a picture of a tiger attached to his sacred scroll,\nknown as Padgia, and the Koshtis worship the picture. A Koshti will\nnot join in a beat for tiger for the same reason; and other Hindus say\nthat if he did the tiger would single him out and kill him, presumably\nin revenge for his breaking the pact of peace between them. They also\nworship the Singhwahini Devi, or Devi riding on a tiger, from which it\nmay probably be deduced that the tiger itself was formerly the deity,\nand has now developed into an anthropomorphic goddess.\n\n\n\n\n2. Subdivisions.\n\nThe caste have several subdivisions of different types. The Halbis\nappear to be an offshoot of the primitive Halba tribe, who have taken\nto weaving; the Lad Koshtis come from Gujarat, the Gadhewal from Garha\nor Jubbulpore, the Deshkar and Martha from the Maratha country, while\nthe Dewangan probably take their name from the old town of that name\non the Wardha river. The Patwis are dyers, and colour the silk thread\nwhich the weavers use to border their cotton cloth. It is usually dyed\nred with lac. They also make braid and sew silk thread on ornaments\nlike the separate Patwa caste. And the Onkule are the offspring\nof illegitimate unions. In Berar there is a separate subcaste named\nHatghar, which may be a branch of the Dhangar or shepherd caste. Berar\nalso has a group known as Jain Koshtis, who may formerly have professed\nthe Jain religion, but are now strict Sivites. [618] The Salewars are\nsaid to be divided into the Sutsale or thread-weavers, the Padmasale\nor those who originally wove the lotus flower and the Sagunsale,\na group of illegitimate descent. The above names show that the caste\nis of mixed origin, containing a large Telugu element, while a body\nof the primitive Halbas has been incorporated into it. Many of the\nMaratha Koshtis are probably Kunbis (cultivators) who have taken up\nweaving. The caste has also a number of exogamous divisions of the\nusual type which serve to prevent the marriage of near relatives.\n\n\n\n\n3. Marriage.\n\nAt a Koshti wedding in Nagpur, the bride and bridegroom with their\nparents sit in a circle, and round them a long hempen rope is\ndrawn seven times; the bride's mother then holds a lamp, while the\nbridegroom's mother pours water from a vessel on to the floor. The\nSalewars perform the wedding ceremony at the bridegroom's house, to\nwhich the bride is brought at midnight for this purpose. A display of\nfireworks is held and the thun or log of wood belonging to the loom\nis laid on the ground between the couple and covered with a black\nblanket. The bridegroom stands facing the east and places his right\nfoot on the thun, and the bride stands opposite to him with her left\nfoot upon it. A Brahman holds a curtain between them and they throw\nrice upon each other's heads five times and then sit on the log. The\nbride's father washes the feet of the bridegroom and gives him a cloth\nand bows down before him. The wedding party then proceed with music\nand a display of fireworks to the bridegroom's house and a round of\nfeasts is given continuously for five days.\n\nThe remarriage of widows is freely permitted. In Chanda if the widow\nis living with her father he receives Rs. 40 from the second husband,\nbut if with her father-in-law no price is given. On the day fixed for\nthe wedding he fills her lap with nuts, cocoanuts, dates and rice,\nand applies vermilion to her forehead. During the night she proceeds\nto her new husband's house, and, emptying the fruit from her lap into\na dish which he holds, falls at his feet. The wedding is completed\nthe next day by a feast to the caste-fellows. The procedure appears\nto have some symbolical idea of transferring the fruit of her womb to\nher new husband. Divorce is allowed, but is very rare, a wife being\ntoo valuable a helper in the Koshti's industry to be put away except\nas a last resort. For a Koshti who is in business on his own account\nit is essential to have a number of women to assist in sizing the\nthread and fixing it on the loom. A wife is really a factory-hand\nand a well-to-do Koshti will buy or occasionally steal as many women\nas he can. In Bhandara a recent case is known where a man bought\na girl and married her to his son and eight months afterwards sold\nher to another family for an increased price. In another case a man\nmortgaged his wife as security for a debt and in lieu of interest, and\nshe lived with his creditor until he paid off the principal. Quarrels\nover women not infrequently result in cases of assault and riot.\n\n\n\n\n4. Funeral customs.\n\nMembers of the Lingayat and Kabirpanthi sects bury their dead and\nthe others cremate them. With the Tirmendar Koshtis on the fifth\nday the Ayawar priest goes to the cremation-ground accompanied\nby the deceased's family and worships the image of Vishnu and the\nTulsi or basil upon the grave; and after this the whole party take\ntheir food at the place. Mourning is observed during five days for\nmarried and three for unmarried persons; and when a woman has lost\nher husband she is taken on the fifth day to the bank of some river\nor tank and her bangles are broken, her bead necklace is taken off,\nthe vermilion is rubbed off her forehead, and her foot ornaments\nare removed; and these things she must not wear again while she is\na widow. On the fourth day the Panch or caste elders come and place\na new turban on the head of the chief mourner or deceased's heir;\nthey then take him round the bazar and seat him at his loom, where he\nweaves a little. After this he goes and sits with the Panch and they\ntake food together. This ceremony indicates that the impurity caused\nby the death is removed, and the mourners return to common life. The\ncaste do not perform the shraddh ceremony, but on the Akhatij day\nor commencement of the agricultural year a family which has lost a\nmale member will invite a man from some other family of the caste,\nand one which has lost a female member a woman, and will feed the\nguest with good food in the name of the dead. In Chhindwara during\nthe fortnight of Pitripaksh or the worship of ancestors, a Koshti\nfamily will have a feast and invite guests of the caste. Then the\nhost stands in the doorway with a pestle and as the guest comes he\nbars his entrance, saying: 'Are you one of my ancestors; this feast\nis for my ancestors?' To which the guest will reply: 'Yes, I am your\ngreat-grandfather; take away the pestle.' By this ingenious device\nthe resourceful Koshti combines the difficult filial duty of the\nfeeding of his ancestors with the entertainment of his friends.\n\n\n\n\n5. Religion.\n\nThe principal deity of the Koshtis is Gajanand or Ganpati, whom they\nrevere on the festival of Ganesh Chathurthi or the fourth day of the\nmonth of Bhadon (August). They clean all their weaving implements and\nworship them and make an image of Ganpati in cowdung to which they\nmake offerings of flowers, rice and turmeric. On this day they do not\nwork and fast till evening, when the image of Ganpati is thrown into\na tank and they return home and eat delicacies. Some of them observe\nthe Tij or third day of every month as a fast for Ganpati, and when\nthe moon of the fourth day rises they eat cakes of dough roasted on\na cowdung fire and mixed with butter and sugar, and offer these to\nGanpati. Some of the Salewars are Vaishnavas and others Lingayats: the\nformer employ Ayawars for their gurus or spiritual preceptors and are\nsometimes known as Tirmendar; while the Lingayats, who are also called\nWoheda, have Jangams as their priests. In Balaghat and Chhattisgarh\nmany of the Koshtis belong to the Kabirpanthi sect, and these revere\nthe special priests of the sect and abstain from the use of flesh and\nliquor. They are also known as Ghatibandhia, from the ghat or string\nof beads of basil-wool (tulsi) which they tie round their necks. In\nMandla the Kabirpanthi Koshtis eat flesh and will intermarry with\nthe others, who are known distinctively as Saktaha. The Gurmukhis\nare a special sect of the Nagpur country and are the followers of a\nsaint named Koliba Baba, who lived at Dhapewara near Kalmeshwar. He is\nsaid to have fed five hundred persons with food which was sufficient\nfor ten and to have raised a Brahman from the dead in Umrer. Some\nBrahmans wished to test him and told him to perform a miracle, so he\nhad a lot of brass pots filled with water and put a cloth over them,\nand when he withdrew it the water had changed into curded milk. The\nGurmukhis have a descendant of Koliba Baba for their preceptor,\nand each of them keeps a cocoanut in his house, which may represent\nKoliba Baba or else the unseen deity. To this he makes offerings of\nsandalwood, rice and flowers. The Gurmukhis are forbidden to venerate\nany of the ordinary Hindu deities, but they cannot refrain from making\nofferings to Mata Mai when smallpox breaks out, and if any person has\nthe disease in his house they refrain from worshipping the cocoanut\nso long as it lasts, because they think that this would be to offer a\nslight to the smallpox goddess who is sojourning with them. Another\nsect is that of the Matwales who worship Vishnu as Narayan, as well\nas Siva and Sakti. They are so called because they drink liquor at\ntheir religious feasts. They have a small platform on which fresh\ncowdung is spread every day, and they bow to this before taking their\nfood. Once in four or five years after a wedding offerings are made\nto Narayan Deo on the bank of a tank outside the village; chickens\nand goats are killed and the more extreme of them sacrifice a pig,\nbut the majority will not join with these. Offerings of liquor are\nalso made and must be drunk by the worshippers. Mehras and other\nlow castes also belong to this sect, but the Koshtis will not eat\nwith them. But in Chhindwara it is said that on the day after the\nPola festival in August, when insects are prevalent and the season of\ndisease begins, the Koshtis and Mangs go out together to look for the\nnarbod shrub, [619] and here they break a small piece of bread and\neat it together. In Bhandara the Koshtis worship the spirit of one\nKadu, patel or headman of the village of Mohali, who was imprisoned in\nthe fort of Ambagarh under an accusation of sorcery in Maratha times\nand died there. He is known as Ambagarhia Deo, and the people offer\ngoats and fowls to him in order to be cured of diseases. The above\nnotice indicates that the caste are somewhat especially inclined\nto religious feeling and readily welcome reformers striving against\nHindu polytheism and Brahman supremacy. This is probably due in part\nto the social stigma which attaches to the weaving industry among the\nHindus and is resented as an injustice by the Koshtis, and in part\nalso to the nature of their calling, which leaves the mind free for\nthought during long hours while the fingers are playing on the loom;\nand with the uneducated serious reflection must almost necessarily be\nof a religious character. In this respect the Koshti may be said to\nresemble his fellow-weavers of Thrums. In Nagpur District the Koshtis\nobserve the Muharram festival, and many of them go out begging on the\nfirst day with a green thread tied round their body and a beggar's\nwallet. They cook the grain which is given to them on the tenth day\nof the festival, giving a little to the Muhammadan priest and eating\nthe rest. This observance of a Muhammadan rite is no doubt due to\ntheir long association with followers of that religion in Berar.\n\n\n\n\n6. Superstitions.\n\nBefore beginning work for the day the Salewar makes obeisance to his\nloom and implements, nor may he touch them without having washed\nhis face and hands. A woman must not approach the loom during her\nperiodical impurity, and if anybody sneezes as work is about to\nbe begun, they wait a little time to let the ill luck pass off. In\nNagpur they believe that the posts to which the ends of the loom are\nfastened have magical powers, and if any one touches them with his\nleg he will get ulcers up to the knee. If a woman steps on the kuchi\nor loom-brush she is put out of caste and a feast has to be given to\nthe community before she is readmitted. To cure inflammation in the\neyes they take a piece of plaited grass and wrap it round with cotton\nsoaked in oil. Then it is held before the sufferer's eyes and set\non fire and the drops of oil are allowed to fall into water, and as\nthey get cold and congeal the inflammation is believed to abate. Among\nsome classes of Koshtis the killing of a cat is a very serious offence,\nalmost equivalent to killing a cow. Even if a man touches a dead cat he\nhas to give two feasts and be fully purified. The sanctity of the cat\namong Hindus is sometimes explained on the ground that it kills rats,\nwhich attract snakes into the house. But the real reason is probably\nthat primitive people regard all domestic animals as sacred. The\nKoshti also reveres the dog and jackal.\n\n\n\n\n7. Clothes, etc.\n\nThe Salewars of the Godavari tract wrap a short rectangular piece\nof cloth round their head as a turban. Formerly, Mr. Raghunath Waman\nstates, the caste had a distinctive form of turban by which it could\nbe recognised, but under British administration these rules of dress\nare falling into abeyance. A few of the Salewars put on the sacred\nthread, but it is not generally worn. Salewar women have a device\nrepresenting a half-moon tattooed on the forehead between the ends\nof the eyebrows; the cheeks are marked with a small dot and the arms\nadorned with a representation of the sacred tulsi or basil.\n\n\n\n\n8. Social rules and status.\n\nThe caste eat flesh and fish and drink liquor, and in the Maratha\nDistricts they will eat chickens like most castes of this country. In\nMandla they have recently prohibited the keeping of fowls, under pain\nof temporary expulsion. Those who took food in charity-kitchens during\nthe famine of 1900 were readmitted to the community with the penalty\nof shaving the beard and moustaches in the case of a man, and cutting\na few hairs from the head in that of a woman. In Berar the Lad, Jain\nand Katghar Koshtis are all strict vegetarians. The Koshtis employ\nBrahmans for their ceremonies, but their social status is about on a\nlevel with the village menials, below the cultivating castes. This,\nhowever, is a very good position for weavers, as most of the weaving\ncastes are stigmatised as impure. But the Koshtis live in towns and not\nin villages and weave the finer kinds of cloth for which considerable\nskill is required, while in former times their work also yielded a good\nremuneration. These facts probably account for their higher status;\nsimilarly the Tantis or weavers of Bengal who produce the fine muslins\nof Dacca, so famous in Mughal times, have obtained such a high rank\nthere that Brahmans will take water from their hands; [620] while\nthe few Tantis who are found in the Central Provinces are regarded as\nimpure and are not touched. The caste are of a turbulent disposition,\nperhaps on account of their comparatively light work, which does not\ntire their bodies like cultivation and other manual labour. One or\ntwo serious riots have been caused by the Koshtis in recent years.\n\n\n\n\n9. Occupation.\n\nThe standard occupation of the caste is the weaving of the fine\nsilk-bordered cloths which are universally worn on the body by Brahmans\nand other well-to-do persons of the Maratha country. The cloth is\nusually white with borders of red silk. They dye their own thread with\nlac or the flowers of the palas tree (Butea frondosa). The price of a\npair of loin-cloths of this kind is Rs. 14, and of a pair of dupattas\nor shoulder-cloths Rs. 10, while women's saris also are made. Each\ncolony of Koshtis in a separate town usually only weave one kind of\ncloth of the size for which their looms are made. The silk-bordered\nloin-cloths of Umrer and Pauni are well known and are sent all over\nIndia. The export of hand-woven cloth from all towns of the Nagpur\nplain has been estimated at Rs. 5 lakhs a year. The rich sometimes\nhave the cloths made with gold lace borders. The following account\nof the caste is given in Sir R. Craddock's Nagpur Settlement Report:\n\"The Koshti is an inveterate grumbler, and indeed from his point of\nview he has a great deal to complain of. On the one hand the price of\nraw cotton and the cost of his living have increased very largely;\non the other hand, the product of his loom commands no higher price\nthan it did before, and he cannot rely on selling it when the market\nis slack. He cannot adapt himself to the altered environment and clings\nto his loom. He dislikes rough manual labour and alleges, no doubt with\ntruth, that it deprives him of the delicacy of touch needed in weaving\nthe finer cloths. If prices rise he is the first to be distressed,\nand on relief works he cannot perform the requisite task and has to\nbe treated with special indulgence. The mills have been established\nmany years in Nagpur, but very few of the older weavers have sought\nemployment there. They have begun to send their children, but work\nat home themselves, though they really all use machine-spun yarn. The\nKoshtis are quarrelsome and addicted to drink, and they have generally\nbeen the chief instigators of grain riots when prices rise. They often\nmarry several wives and their houses swarm with a proportionate number\nof children. But although the poorer members of the community are in\nstruggling circumstances and are put to great straits when prices of\nfood rise, those who turn out the fine silk-bordered work are fairly\nprosperous in ordinary times.\"\n\n\n END OF VOL. III\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] This article is based on information collected by Mr. Hira Lal\nin Jubbulpore, and the author in Mandla.\n\n[2] The word Dishai really means direction or cardinal point, but\nas the goddess dwells in the sheep-pen it is probable that she was\noriginally the sheep itself.\n\n[3] The following particulars are taken from the Central Provinces\nMonograph on Woollen Industries, by Mr. J. T. Marten.\n\n[4] A Naturalist on the Prowl, 3rd ed., p. 219. In the quotation\nthe Hindustani word kammal, commonly used in the Central Provinces,\nis substituted for the Marathi word kambli.\n\n[5] This article is compiled from an excellent monograph contributed\nby Surgeon-Major Mitchell of Bastar State, with extracts from Colonel\nGlasfurd's Report on Bastar (Selections from the Records of the\nGovernment of India in the Foreign Department, No. 39 of 1863).\n\n[6] India Census Report (1901), p. 283.\n\n[7] Madras Census Report (1891), p. 253.\n\n[8] Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 22.\n\n[9] Madras Census Report (1891), p. 253.\n\n[10] Report on the Dependency of Bastar, p. 37.\n\n[11] Report on the Dependency of Bastar, p. 37.\n\n[12] Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 270.\n\n[13] Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Pan.\n\n[14] The human sacrifices of the Khonds were suppressed about 1860. See\nthe article on that tribe.\n\n[15] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Jhanjhan Rai,\nTahsildar, Sarangarh, and Satyabadi Misra of the Sambalpur Census\noffice.\n\n[16] Mund-jhulana, to swing the head.\n\n[17] Based on notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal at Chanda and the notices\nof the Garpagari in the District Gazetteers.\n\n[18] Village watchman.\n\n[19] Dr. Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion, p. 171.\n\n[20] The Golden Bough, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 68, quoting from French\nauthorities.\n\n[21] This article is based on papers by Mr. Jeorakhan Lal, Deputy\nInspector of Schools, Bilaspur, and Bhagwan Singh, Court of Wards\nClerk, Bilaspur.\n\n[22] The Celestial Physician.\n\n[23] This article is compiled partly from papers by Munshis Pyare\nLal Misra and Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer Office.\n\n[24] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Ghasi.\n\n[25] Central Provinces Gazetteer (1871), p. 273.\n\n[26] Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, p. 325.\n\n[27] Ficus glomerata.\n\n[28] Cynodon dactylon.\n\n[29] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Ghasi.\n\n[30] This article is based partly on a paper by Khan Bahadur Imdad Ali,\nPleader, Damoh.\n\n[31] Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 272.\n\n[32] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Ghosi.\n\n[33] From a note by Mr. Hira Lal.\n\n[34] This article is compiled from papers by Kanhya Lal of the\nGazetteer Office, and Madho Rao, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Balaghat.\n\n[35] Balaghat District Gazetteer (C. E. Low), p. 80.\n\n[36] Linguistic Survey of India, vol. iv. Dravidian Language, p. 386.\n\n[37] The country of Gondwana properly included the Satpura plateau\nand a section of the Nagpur plain and Nerbudda valley to the south\nand west.\n\n[38] Early History of India, 3rd ed. p. 337.\n\n[39] Art. Gondwana.\n\n[40] Linguistic Survey, Munda and Dravidian Languages, iv. p. 285.\n\n[41] Notes, p. 15.\n\n[42] Garha is six miles from Jubbulpore.\n\n[43] See article on Kol.\n\n[44] Mr. Standen's Betul Settlement Report.\n\n[45] The argument in this section will be followed more easily if\nread after the legend in the following paragraphs.\n\n[46] Highlands of Central India (Chapman & Hall).\n\n[47] Deo-khulla or threshing-floor of the gods. See section on\nReligion.\n\n[48] Passage from Mr. Hislop's version.\n\n[49] Dhupgarh in Pachmarhi might be indicated, which has a steep\nsummit.\n\n[50] Terminalia arjuna.\n\n[51] This extract is reproduced by permission of the publishers,\nMessrs. Chapman & Hall, London.\n\n[52] Tekam the teak tree, Markam the mango tree, and Telengam the\nTelugu. These are the names of well-known exogamous septs.\n\n[53] See section on Religion.\n\n[54] See also art. Kahar.\n\n[55] The theory is stated and explained in vol. iv. of Exogamy and\nTotemism.\n\n[56] See para. 15.\n\n[57] Boswellia serrata.\n\n[58] Semecarpus anacardium.\n\n[59] Anogeissus latifolia.\n\n[60] Diosypyros tomentosa.\n\n[61] One rupee = 1s. 4d.\n\n[62] From Mr. Langhorne's monograph.\n\n[63] The above rite has some resemblance to the test required of the\nsuitors of Penelope in the Odyssey of bending the bow of Odysseus\nand shooting an arrow through the axes, which they could not perform.\n\n[64] The information on child-birth is obtained from papers by\nMr. Durga Prasad Pande, Extra Assistant Commissioner, and the\nRev. Mr. Franzen of Chhindwara, and from notes taken in Mandla.\n\n[65] See articles on Kunbi, Kurmi, and Mehtar.\n\n[66] Boswellia serrata.\n\n[67] The following examples of names were furnished by the\nRev. Mr. Franzen and Mr. D. P. Pande.\n\n[68] See article on Kurmi.\n\n[69] Boswellia serrata.\n\n[70] Deputy-Commissioner, Chhindwara. The note was contributed to\nthe Central Provinces Census Report for 1881 (Mr. Drysdale).\n\n[71] Ghora, a horse.\n\n[72] Diospyros tomentosa.\n\n[73] Cassia fistula.\n\n[74] This is incorrect, at present at any rate, as the Karma is\ndanced during the harvest period. But it is probable that the ritual\nobservances for communal fishing and hunting have now fallen into\nabeyance.\n\n[75] C. P. Gazetteer (1871), Introduction, p. 130.\n\n[76] This section contains some information furnished by R. B. Hira\nLal.\n\n[77] Notes on the Gonds, pp. 15, 16.\n\n[78] Indian Caste, i. p. 325.\n\n[79] See article Birhor.\n\n[80] See article Bhunjia.\n\n[81] Notes, p. 1.\n\n[82] Highlands of Central India, p. 156.\n\n[83] Report on Bastar Dependency, p. 41.\n\n[84] Assessment of revenue for land.\n\n[85] Quoted in C.P. Gazetteer (1871), Introduction, p. 113.\n\n[86] Chhindwara Settlement Report.\n\n[87] Report on Bastar Dependency, p. 43.\n\n[88] Ind. Ant. (1876), p. 359.\n\n[89] See para. 65, Tattooing.\n\n[90] See para. 41, Religion.\n\n[91] Balaghat District Gazetteer, p. 87.\n\n[92] Rawan was the demon king of Ceylon who fought against Rama,\nand from whom the Gonds are supposed to be descended. Hence this song\nmay perhaps refer to a Gond revolt against the Hindus.\n\n[93] The amaltas or Cassia fistula, which has flowers like a\nlaburnum. The idea is perhaps that its leaves are too small to make\na proper leaf-cup, and she will not take the trouble to get suitable\nleaves.\n\n[94] Hislop, Notes, p. 2.\n\n[95] Chhindwara Settlement Report.\n\n[96] This article is based on a paper by Pandit Pyare Lal Misra.\n\n[97] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Kesho Rao Joshi,\nHeadmaster, City School, Nagpur, and Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic\nClerk.\n\n[98] Page 67.\n\n[99] In the Maratha Districts the term Ganges sometimes signifies\nthe Wainganga.\n\n[100] Dam apparently here means life or breath.\n\n[101] Gunthorpe, p. 91.\n\n[102] This article contains material from Mr. J. C. Oman's Mystics,\nAscetics and Saints of India, Sir E. Maclagan's Punjab Census Report,\n1891, and Dr. J. N. Bhattacharya's Hindu Castes and Sects (Calcutta,\nMessrs. Thacker, Spink and Co.).\n\n[103] Elaeocarpus.\n\n[104] Mr. Marten's C.P. Census Report (1911), p. 79.\n\n[105] Orph\u00e9us, p. 137.\n\n[106] Oman, Mystics, Ascetics and Saints, p. 269.\n\n[107] Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 380.\n\n[108] Bhattacharya, ibidem, and Oman, Mystics, Ascetics and Saints,\npp. 160, 161.\n\n[109] Buchanan, Eastern India, i. pp. 197, 198.\n\n[110] Nesfield, Brief View of the Caste System, p. 86.\n\n[111] J. C. Oman, Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India (London,\nT. Fisher Unwin), p. 11.\n\n[112] Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India, pp. 156, 157.\n\n[113] Sir E. Maclagan, Punjab Census Report (1891), p. 112.\n\n[114] This article is based on notes by Mr. Percival, Assistant\nConservator of Forests, and Rai Bahadur Hira Lal.\n\n[115] For further details see article on Gond Gowari.\n\n[116] See article on Kunbi.\n\n[117] Early History of India, 3rd ed. pp. 409, 411.\n\n[118] Mr. Smith ascribes this discovery to Messrs. A. M. T. Jackson\n(Bombay Gazetteer, vol. i. Part I., 1896, p. 467); D. R. Bhandarkar,\nGurjaras (J. Bo. R.A.S. vol. xx.); and Epigraphic Notes (ibidem,\nvol. xxi.); and Professor Kielhorn's paper on the Gwalior Inscription\nof Mihira Bhoja in a German journal.\n\n[119] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, Appendix B, The Gujars.\n\n[120] The Khazars were known to the Chinese as Yetas, the beginning\nof Yeta-i-li-to, the name of their ruling family, and the nations of\nthe west altered this to Hyatilah and Ephthalite. Campbell, ibidem.\n\n[121] See article on Panwar Rajput, para. 1.\n\n[122] Campbell, loc. cit. p. 495.\n\n[123] Tribes and Castes, article Gujar, para. 12. The description\nis mainly taken from Elliott's History of India as told by its own\nHistorians.\n\n[124] Description of the Kangra Gujars by Mr. Barnes. Quoted in\nIbbetson's Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 481.\n\n[125] Census Report, para. 481.\n\n[126] Cf. Krishna's epithet of Murlidhar or the flute-player, and\nthe general association of the flute with herdsmen and shepherds in\nGreek and Roman mythology.\n\n[127] Ibidem.\n\n[128] Hoshangabad Settlement Report, para. 16.\n\n[129] Nimar Settlement Report (1868).\n\n[130] This article is based partly on a paper by Mr. Abdus Subhan Khan,\nTahsildar, Hinganghat, and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office.\n\n[131] The trifoliate leaf of Aegle Marmelos.\n\n[132] Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xviii. p. 266.\n\n[133] History of the Marathas, vol. i. p. 26, footnote.\n\n[134] Bombay Gazetteer, vol. x. p. 119.\n\n[135] Bombay Ethnographic Survey, Monograph on Gurao.\n\n[136] Sesamum.\n\n[137] Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xix. p. 101.\n\n[138] This article is compiled principally from a monograph by Munshi\nKanhya Lal, Assistant Master, Raipur High School, and formerly of\nthe Gazetteer Office; and also from papers by Mr. Panda Baijnath,\nSuperintendent of Bastar State, and Mr. Gokul Prasad, Tahsildar of\nDhamtari. The descriptions of marriage, funeral and birth customs\nare taken from Munshi Kanhya Lal's monograph.\n\n[139] By the Rev. G. K. Gilder of the Methodist Episcopal Mission\nof Raipur.\n\n[140] Chalki is said to have been a Brahman who gave shelter to the\npregnant fugitive widow of a Raja; and her child was the ancestor of\nthe Bastar dynasty. But the name may also be taken from the Chalukya\nRajput clan.\n\n[141] The Rawats or Ahirs are graziers, and the Bhatra, Parja and\nMuria are primitive tribes allied to the Gonds.\n\n[142] Linguistic Survey, vol. vii. p. 331, and a note kindly furnished\nby Sir G. Grierson at the time of the census.\n\n[143] Buchanania latifolia.\n\n[144] Bassia latifolia. Both these trees are valued because the fruit\nof the first and the flowers of the second afford food.\n\n[145] A black pulse.\n\n[146] The Hindus number the days of each lunar fortnight separately.\n\n[147] It is simply water in which gold has been dipped.\n\n[148] Crooke, ii. 481.\n\n[149] Brief View, p. 31.\n\n[150] Buchanania latifolia.\n\n[151] Based principally on the account of the Hatkars on p. 200 of\nSir A. Lyall's Berar Gazetteer, with some notes taken by Mr. Hira\nLal in Buldana.\n\n[152] Colonel Meadows Taylor, Tara, p. 404.\n\n[153] Ain-i-Akbari, quoted in Berar Gazetteer, p. 200.\n\n[154] Berar Gazetteer.\n\n[155] Partly based on a paper by Munshi Kanhaya Lal of the Gazetteer\nOffice.\n\n[156] Muhammadans of Gujarat, by Khan Bahadur Fazalullah Lutfullah\nFaridi, pp. 21, 22.\n\n[157] Rasmala, ii. p. 90.\n\n[158] Faridi, ibidem.\n\n[159] See article on Bhat.\n\n[160] Acacia arabica.\n\n[161] The late Mr. A. M. T. Jackson's notes, Ind. Ant., August 1912,\np. 56.\n\n[162] Laws of Manu, xi. p. 175, quoted in The Origin and Development\nof the Moral Ideas, ii. p. 476.\n\n[163] Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas,\nii. p. 470.\n\n[164] Ibidem, ii. p. 471.\n\n[165] Ibidem, ii. pp. 481, 482.\n\n[166] Ibidem, ii. pp. 487-489.\n\n[167] This article is compiled from a paper by Mr. Babu Rao, Deputy\nInspector of Schools, Seoni District.\n\n[168] In this year only 33 Holias were returned as against more than\n4000 in 1891; but, on the other hand, in 1901 the number of Golars\nwas double that of the previous census.\n\n[169] Mysore Census Report (1891), p. 254.\n\n[170] Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 258.\n\n[171] This article is principally based on information collected by\nMr. Hira Lal in Bhandara.\n\n[172] A corruption of Uika.\n\n[173] See the articles Mahar and Kunbi.\n\n[174] This article is partly based on a paper by Bihari Lal, Patwari,\nof Hoshangabad.\n\n[175] Semaria is a common name of villages, and is of course as such\nderived from the semar tree, but the argument is that the Jadams took\nthe name from the village and not from the tree. Totem is perhaps\nrather a strong word for the kind of veneration paid; the vernacular\nterm used in Bombay is devak.\n\n[176] This article is based on an account of the Jaduas by\nMr. A. Knyvett, Superintendent of Police, Patna, and kindly\ncommunicated by Mr. C. W. C. Plowden, Deputy Inspector-General of\nPolice, Bengal, through Mr. G. W. Gayer, in charge of the Central\nProvinces Criminal Investigation Department.\n\n[177] Sherring, Castes and Tribes, iii. p. 123.\n\n[178] The nut of Eleocarpus lanceolatus.\n\n[179] Aegle marmelos.\n\n[180] Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies, 1897 ed. p. 118.\n\n[181] This article is partly based on information contributed by\nMr. Debendra Nath Dutt, Pleader, Narsinghpur; Mr. Ganga Singh, Extra\nAssistant Commissioner, Hoshangabad; and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the\nGazetteer Office. The correct pronunciation of the caste name is Jat,\nbut in the Central Provinces it is always called Jat.\n\n[182] Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 421.\n\n[183] Early History of India.\n\n[184] Mahabharata, viii. 2026, et seq., translated by Professor\nH. H. Wilson, and quoted in vol. i. pp. 260, 262 of Dr. J. Wilson's\nIndian Caste.\n\n[185] Ibidem, paras. 422-424.\n\n[186] Kashyap was a Rishi or saint, but he may probably have developed\ninto an eponymous hero from Kachhap, a tortoise.\n\n[187] Hoshangabad Settlement Report, p. 62.\n\n[188] Aegle marmelos.\n\n[189] Hoshangabad Settlement Report, loc. cit.\n\n[190] This article is entirely based on an account of the caste\nfurnished by Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath, Superintendent, Bastar State.\n\n[191] Bassia latifolia.\n\n[192] Boswellia serrata.\n\n[193] This has been fully demonstrated by Sir J. G. Frazer in The\nGolden Bough.\n\n[194] Colebrooke's Essays.\n\n[195] Quoting from Dr. George Smith's Life of Dr. Wilson, p. 74.\n\n[196] Ibidem, pp. 13-15.\n\n[197] Weber's Indian Literature, p. 239.\n\n[198] Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap, lxiii.\n\n[199] Republished in the Theosophist.\n\n[200] Eastern India, ii. p. 756.\n\n[201] Travels in the Mughal Empire, Constable's edition, p. 316.\n\n[202] Rajasthan, ii. p. 19.\n\n[203] Maclagan, l.c. p. 115.\n\n[204] Ibidem, l.c.\n\n[205] Maclagan, l.c.\n\n[206] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Kanphata.\n\n[207] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Jogi.\n\n[208] Sleeman, Report on the Badhaks, pp. 332, 333.\n\n[209] These proverbs are taken from Temple and Fallon's Hindustani\nProverbs.\n\n[210] Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xxi. p. 184.\n\n[211] Phaseolus radiatus.\n\n[212] Newcomb's Astronomy for Everybody, p. 33.\n\n[213] Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the sidereal year is\nnot the same as the solar year, being about 20 minutes longer. That\nis, the sun passes a particular star a second time in a period of 365\ndays 6 hours and 9 minutes, while it passes the equatorial point in\n365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 49 seconds, this latter period being the\nsolar year. The difference is due to slight changes in the direction of\nthe earth's axis, which change the position of the celestial equator\nand of the equinoctial point where the sun crosses it. It is not\nclear how the Hindus get over this difficulty, but the point does\nnot affect the general account.\n\n[214] The stars corresponding to the nakshatras and their symbols are\nmainly taken from Mr. L. D. Barnett's Antiquities of India, pp. 190,\n191, compared with the list in Mr. W. Brennand's Hindu Astronomy,\npp. 40, 42.\n\n[215] Taken from Professor Newcomb's Astronomy for Everybody.\n\n[216] The moon's orbit is really an ellipse like that of the earth\nand all the planets.\n\n[217] Barnett, op. cit. p. 190.\n\n[218] The Indian Calendar, by Messrs. Sewell and Dikshit, pp. 11\nand 25.\n\n[219] Brennand's Hindu Astronomy, p. 100.\n\n[220] The Indian Calendar, Sewell and Dikshit, p. 28 and Table I.\n\n[221] This seems to have been done by some ancient Indian astronomers.\n\n[222] The Indian Calendar, p. 29.\n\n[223] Taken from Brennand's Hindu Astronomy, p. 39.\n\n[224] Barnett, Antiquities of India, p. 193.\n\n[225] The above particulars regarding the measurement of time by the\ngharial are taken from 'An Account of the Hindustani Horometry' in\nAsiatic Researches, vol. v. p. 81, by John Gilchrist, Esq. The account\nappears to be to some extent controversial, and it is possible that\nthe arrangement of the gharis may have varied in different localities.\n\n[226] The information contained in this paragraph is taken from Captain\nMackintosh's Report on the Ramosis, chap. iii. (India Office Library\nTracts), in which a large variety of rules are given.\n\n[227] Some of these names and also some of the women's names have\nbeen taken from Colonel Temple's Proper Names of the Punjabis.\n\n[228] Punjab Ethnography, para. 612.\n\n[229] This passage is taken from Sir G. Grierson's Peasant Life in\nBihar, p. 64.\n\n[230] This article is based on a paper by Mr. Pancham Lal,\nnaib-tahsildar, Murwara, with extracts from the Central Provinces\nMonograph on Pottery and Glassware, by Mr. Jowers, and some information\ncollected by Mr. Hira Lal.\n\n[231] Dhal means a shield, and the ornament is of this shape.\n\n[232] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, article Kachhi.\n\n[233] Partly based on a paper by Munshi Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer\noffice.\n\n[234] Irvine, Army of the Mughals, pp. 158, 159.\n\n[235] Boswellia serrata.\n\n[236] Sesamum indicum.\n\n[237] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Sarat Chandra Sanyal,\nSessions Judge, Nagpur, and Mr. Abdul Samad, Tahsildar, Sohagpur.\n\n[238] Eastern India, ii. 426.\n\n[239] Ibidem, iii. pp. 119, 120.\n\n[240] Moor, Hindu Infanticide, p. 91.\n\n[241] Yule and Burnell's Hobson-Jobson, Crooke's edition, s.v. Boy.\n\n[242] Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P., art. Kahar.\n\n[243] Private Life of an Eastern King, p. 207.\n\n[244] Ibidem, pp. 200, 202.\n\n[245] Stevens, In India, p. 313.\n\n[246] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kahar.\n\n[247] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, ibidem.\n\n[248] S.v. Boy.\n\n[249] This article is partly compiled from papers by Mr. G. Falconer\nTaylor, Forest Divisional Officer, and by Kanhya Lal, Clerk in the\nGazetteer office.\n\n[250] Berar Census Report (1881), p. 141.\n\n[251] Hislop papers. Vocabulary.\n\n[252] North Arcot Manual, p. 247.\n\n[253] 1881, p. 141.\n\n[254] Ibidem.\n\n[255] Bombay Gazetteer (Campbell), vol. xii. p. 120.\n\n[256] Bombay Gazetteer (Campbell), vol. xxi. p. 172.\n\n[257] Berar Census Report (1881), p. 141.\n\n[258] Some information for this article has been supplied by Babu Lal,\nExcise Sub-Inspector, Mr. Aduram Chaudhri, Tahsildar, and Sundar Lal\nRicharia, Sub-Inspector of Police.\n\n[259] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kalar.\n\n[260] Bassia latifolia, the tree from whose flowers fermented liquor\nis made.\n\n[261] The headquarters of the Sanjari tahsil in Drug District.\n\n[262] Phulbaba, lit. 'flower-father.'\n\n[263] This story is only transplanted, a similar one being related by\nColonel Tod in the Annals of the Bundi State (Rajasthan, ii. p. 441).\n\n[264] Saccharum spontaneum.\n\n[265] Settlement Report, p. 26.\n\n[266] Mr. (Sir E.) Maclagan's Punjab Census Report (1891).\n\n[267] Religions of India, p. 113.\n\n[268] Apparently also called Sarcostemma viminalis.\n\n[269] Bombay Gazetteer, Parsis of Guiarat, by Messrs. Nasarvanji\nGirvai and Behramji Patel, p. 228, footnote.\n\n[270] Ibidem.\n\n[271] Hopkins, loc. cit. p. 213.\n\n[272] Rajendra Lal Mitra, Indo-Aryans, ii. p. 419.\n\n[273] Deussen, Outlines of Indian Philosophy, p. 12.\n\n[274] Indo-Aryans, i. p. 393.\n\n[275] Ibidem, p. 396.\n\n[276] Ibidem, p. 402.\n\n[277] Indo-Aryans, i. p. 411.\n\n[278] Garrett's Classical Dictionary, s.v. Varuni and Vishnu.\n\n[279] The Golden Bough, 2nd edition, i. pp. 359, 360.\n\n[280] Indo-Aryans, pp. 408, 409.\n\n[281] Ibidem, pp. 404, 405.\n\n[282] Indo-Aryans, pp. 405, 406.\n\n[283] Bombay Gazetteer, Poona, p. 549.\n\n[284] Cannabis sativa.\n\n[285] A liquor made from the flowers of the hemp plant, commonly\ndrunk in the hot weather.\n\n[286] See Mr. E. Clodd's Myths and Dreams, under Dreams.\n\n[287] A name of Siva or Mahadeo.\n\n[288] 'Victory to Shankar.'\n\n[289] A preparation of opium for smoking.\n\n[290] T. H. Hendley, Account of the Bhils, J.A.S.B. xliv., 1875,\np. 360.\n\n[291] M. Salomon Reinach in Orph\u00e9us, p. 120.\n\n[292] Sir James Frazer in Attis, Adonis, Osiris, ii. p. 241.\n\n[293] Book IV., chap. lxxv., quoted in Lane's Modern Egyptians, p. 347.\n\n[294] Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 348.\n\n[295] Eastern India, iii. p. 163.\n\n[296] Sir G. Watt's Commercial Products of India, s.v. Nicotiana.\n\n[297] Ind. Ant., January 1911, p. 39.\n\n[298] Tobacco is no doubt a derivative from some American word,\nand Platts derives the Hindi tanbaku or tambaku from tobacco. The\nfact that tanbaku is also Persian for tobacco militates against the\nSanskrit derivation suggested by Mr. Ganpat Rai and others, and tends\nto demonstrate its American importation.\n\n[299] This article is based on papers drawn up by Mr. Hira Lal,\nExtra Assistant Commissioner, Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic Clerk,\nand a very full account of the tribe by Mr. Ganpati Giri, Manager of\nBindranawagarh, which has furnished the greater part of the article,\nespecially the paragraphs on birth, religion and social customs.\n\n[300] Jungle Life in India, p. 588.\n\n[301] Criminal Tribes, p. 78.\n\n[302] Criminal Classes.\n\n[303] Berar Census Report (1881), p. 140.\n\n[304] Page 139.\n\n[305] See art. Beria, para. 1.\n\n[306] Ibbetson, Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 527.\n\n[307] Ibidem.\n\n[308] Art. Kanjar, para. 3.\n\n[309] Ibbetson.\n\n[310] Crooke, art. Dom, para. 21.\n\n[311] Lectures, p. 59.\n\n[312] Bombay Gazetteer, Muhammadans of Gujarat, p. 83.\n\n[313] Kennedy, Criminal Tribes of Bombay, p. 257.\n\n[314] Criminal Tribes, p. 46.\n\n[315] Berar Census Report (1881), p. 140.\n\n[316] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Dom.\n\n[317] Nesfield, l.c. p. 393.\n\n[318] Ind. Ant. xvi. p. 37.\n\n[319] Ind. Ant. xv. p. 15.\n\n[320] In Sir G. Grierson's account the Bhojpuri version is printed in\nthe Nagari character; but this cannot be reproduced. It is possible\nthat one or two mistakes have been made in transliteration.\n\n[321] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's article on Dom.\n\n[322] Gayer, Lectures, p. 59.\n\n[323] Gunthorpe, p. 81. Mr. Kennedy says: \"Sansia and Beria women have\na clove (lavang) in the left nostril; the Sansias, but not the Berias,\nwear a bullaq or pendant in the fleshy part of the nose.\"\n\n[324] Gayer, l.c. p. 61.\n\n[325] Crooke, l.c. para. 3.\n\n[326] In a footnote Mr. Nesfield states: \"The Kanjar who communicated\nthese facts said that the child used to open out its neck to the\nknife as if it desired to be sacrificed to the deity.\"\n\n[327] Butea frondosa.\n\n[328] It is not, I think, used for weaving now, but only for stuffing\nquilts and cushions.\n\n[329] But elsewhere Mr. Nesfield says that the brushes are made from\nthe khas-khas grass, and this is, I think, the case in the Central\nProvinces.\n\n[330] This article is compiled principally from a note by Mr. Paiku,\nInspector of Police, Chanda.\n\n[331] This article is based principally on a paper by Nand Kishore,\nBohidar, Sambalpur.\n\n[332] Hobson-Jobson, art. Cranny.\n\n[333] Eragrostis cynosuroides.\n\n[334] (London, A. & C. Black.)\n\n[335] This definition of totemism is more or less in accord with that\nheld by the late Professor Robertson Smith, but is not generally\naccepted. The exhaustive collection of totemic beliefs and customs\ncontained in Sir J. G. Frazer's Totemism and Exogamy affords, however,\nsubstantial evidence in favour of it among tribes still in the hunting\nstage in Australia, North America and Africa. The Indian form of\ntotemism is, in the writer's opinion, a later one, arising when the\ntotem animal has ceased to be the main source of life, and when the\nclan come to think that they are descended from their totem animal and\nthat the spirits of their ancestors pass into the totem animal. When\nthis belief arises, they cease eating the totem as a mark of veneration\nand respect, and abstain from killing or injuring it. Finally the totem\ncomes to be little more than a clan-name or family name, which serves\nthe purpose of preventing marriage between persons related through\nmales, who believe themselves to be descended from a common ancestor.\n\n[336] Orph\u00e9us (Heinemann), p. 197.\n\n[337] Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 248.\n\n[338] Orph\u00e9us, p. 47.\n\n[339] Ibidem, p. 50.\n\n[340] B. G. Parsis of Gujarat, pp. 232, 241.\n\n[341] Orph\u00e9us, pp. 101, 102.\n\n[342] Ibidem, p. 204.\n\n[343] Ibidem, p. 144.\n\n[344] Ibidem, p. 169.\n\n[345] D. M. Flinders-Petrie, Egypt and Israel, p. 61.\n\n[346] Gomme, Folk-lore as a Historical Science, p. 161.\n\n[347] Haug's Essays on the Parsis, p. 286.\n\n[348] Golden Bough, ii. pp. 299-301. See article on Kumhar.\n\n[349] Orph\u00e9us, p. 139.\n\n[350] Orph\u00e9us, pp. 119, 120.\n\n[351] Ibidem, p. 144.\n\n[352] Religions, Ancient and Modern, Ancient Rome, Cyril Bailey, p. 86.\n\n[353] Religions, Ancient and Modern, Ancient Egypt, Professor\nFlinders-Petrie, p. 22.\n\n[354] Religions, Ancient and Modern, Ancient Egypt, Professor\nFlinders-Petrie, pp. 24, 26.\n\n[355] Vide article on Bania.\n\n[356] Dowson's and Garrett's Classical Dictionaries, art. Kartikeya.\n\n[357] Religion of the Semites, p. 265.\n\n[358] Ibidem, pp. 269, 270.\n\n[359] Religion of the Semites, pp. 270, 271.\n\n[360] Ibidem, pp. 273, 274.\n\n[361] Religion of the Semites, p. 289.\n\n[362] Ibidem, p. 313.\n\n[363] Religion of the Semites, p. 271.\n\n[364] Religion of the Semites, p. 275.\n\n[365] Golden Bough, ii. p. 321.\n\n[366] Vide art. Kumhar.\n\n[367] Religion of the Semites, p. 338.\n\n[368] Ibidem, p. 281.\n\n[369] Dr Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion, p. 150.\n\n[370] Religion of the Semites, p. 285.\n\n[371] Orph\u00e9us, pp. 123, 125.\n\n[372] In following the explanation of the Passover given by Professor\nRobertson Smith and M. Reinach, it is necessary with great diffidence\nto dissent from the hypothesis of Sir J. G. Frazer that the lamb was\na substitute for the previous sacrifice by the Israelites of their\nfirst-born sons.\n\n[373] Orph\u00e9us, p. 272; Religion of the Semites, p. 311.\n\n[374] Religion of the Semites, p. 304.\n\n[375] Ibidem, pp. 305, 306.\n\n[376] Religion of the Semites, pp. 296, 297.\n\n[377] Golden Bough, ii. p. 313.\n\n[378] When the blood of the animal was poured out before the god as\nhis share.\n\n[379] Religion of the Semites, p. 246.\n\n[380] Vide article on Dhanwar.\n\n[381] Sir G. Robertson, Kafirs of the Hindu Kush, pp. 450, 451.\n\n[382] Ibidem, p. 460.\n\n[383] Dalton, Ethnology of Bengal, p. 176.\n\n[384] Grant-Duff, History of the Marathas, vol. i. p. 27. Mr. Hira\nLal notes that owing to the predominance of Muhammadans in Berar\nthe practice of slaughtering all animals by the method of halal and\nthe regular employment of the Mullah to pronounce the sacred text\nbefore slaughter may have grown up for their convenience. And, as in\nother instances, the Hindus may have simply imitated the Muhammadans\nin regarding this method of slaughter as necessary. This however\nscarcely seems to impair the force of the argument if the Hindus\nactually refused to eat animals not killed by halal; they must in\nthat case have attached some religious significance or virtue to the\nrite, and the most probable significance is perhaps that stated in\nthe text. As Mr. Hira Lal points out, the Hindu sacred books provide\nan elaborate ritual for the sacrifice of animals, but this may have\nfallen into abeyance with the decline in the custom of eating meat.\n\n[385] Vide article on Mochi.\n\n[386] V. A. Smith, Asoka, p. 56.\n\n[387] Ibidem, p. 58.\n\n[388] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Rajaram Gangadhar,\nTahsildar, Arvi; Mr. Sadasheo Jairam, Sanskrit Professor, Hislop\nCollege; and Mr. Deodatta Namdar, Manager, Court of Wards, Chauri.\n\n[389] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Thathera.\n\n[390] Crooke's art. Thathera.\n\n[391] A part of the information contained in this article is furnished\nby Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office.\n\n[392] Madras Census Report (1901), p. 151, quoting from South Indian\nInscriptions, Buchanan's Mysore, Canara and Malabar, and Elliot's\nHistory of India.\n\n[393] Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, ii. pp. 444, 445.\n\n[394] The Golden Bough, vol. ii. p. 205 et seq.\n\n[395] Garrett's Classical Dictionary of the Hindus, p. 322.\n\n[396] Westermarck, ibidem, quoting Ward's Hindus, p. 134.\n\n[397] Wheeler's History of India, vol. iv. part ii. pp. 324, 325.\n\n[398] Forbes, Rasmala, i. p. 247.\n\n[399] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Tawaif.\n\n[400] Extract from the Dasa Kumara Charita or Adventures of the Ten\nYouths, in A Group of Hindu Stories, p. 72.\n\n[401] S. M. Edwardes, By-ways of Bombay, p. 31.\n\n[402] Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, p. 93.\n\n[403] Eastern India, i. p. 119.\n\n[404] Ibidem, iii. p. 107.\n\n[405] Ibidem, ii. p. 930.\n\n[406] Persian Travels, book iii. chap. xvii.\n\n[407] From a review of A German Staff Officer in India, written by\nSir Evelyn Wood in the Saturday Review, 5th February 1910.\n\n[408] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Vaishnava. The notice, as\nstated, refers only to the lowest section of Bairagis.\n\n[409] Memoir of Central India.\n\n[410] Tribes and Castes of the N.-W. P., art. Katwa.\n\n[411] Temple and Fallon's Hindustani Proverbs.\n\n[412] Perhaps a leather strap or belt.\n\n[413] A revolution or circuit.\n\n[414] A thousand.\n\n[415] The third Baisakh (June).\n\n[416] Butea frondosa.\n\n[417] A description of the ceremony is given in the article on Kurmi.\n\n[418] This article is based almost entirely on a monograph contributed\nby Mr. Hira Lal.\n\n[419] Ethnology, p. 158.\n\n[420] Fruit of the egg-plant.\n\n[421] Ethnology, pp. 136, 137.\n\n[422] Jungle Life in India, pp. 315, 316.\n\n[423] This article is based partly on papers by Munshi Kanhya Lal of\nthe Gazetteer office, Mr. Sundar Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner,\nSaugor, and Mr. J. N. Sil, Pleader, Seoni.\n\n[424] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 59, quoting from Ind. Ant. vi. 192-193.\n\n[425] Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 175.\n\n[426] Eastern India, i. p. 162.\n\n[427] Ibidem, ii. p. 466.\n\n[428] Ibidem, ii. p. 736.\n\n[429] Ibidem, ii. p. 122.\n\n[430] Essays, vol. ii. p. 182.\n\n[431] Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 312, 313.\n\n[432] United Provinces Census Report (1901), pp. 222-223.\n\n[433] Lala Jwala Prasad, Extra Assistant Commissioner, in Sir\nE. A. Maclagan's Punjab Census Report for 1891.\n\n[434] Memoir of Central India, vol. ii. pp. 165-166.\n\n[435] The Kanungo maintains the statistical registers of land-revenue,\nrent, cultivation, cropping, etc., for the District as a whole which\nare compiled from those prepared by the patwaris for each village.\n\n[436] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 60.\n\n[437] Ibidem, p. 64.\n\n[438] Ibidem, p. 61.\n\n[439] Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 177. It is true\nthat Dr. Bhattacharya states that the Kayasths were also largely\nemployed under the Hindu kings of Bengal, but he gives no authority\nfor this. The Gaur Kayasths also claim that the Sena kings of Bengal\nwere of their caste, but considering that these kings were looked on\nas spiritual heads of the country and one of them laid down rules for\nthe structure and intermarriage of the Brahman caste, it is practically\nimpossible that they could have been Kayasths. The Muhammadan conquest\nof Bengal took place at an early period, and very little detail is\nknown about the preceding Hindu dynasties.\n\n[440] Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bihar Kayasth.\n\n[441] Sherring, Tribes and Castes, vol. iii. pp. 253-254.\n\n[442] Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Tribes, p. 177.\n\n[443] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 81.\n\n[444] Ibidem, p. 67.\n\n[445] Ibidem, p. 68, and Mackintosh, Report in the Ramosis, India\nOffice Tracts, p. 77.\n\n[446] Hobson-Jobson, s.v. Cranny.\n\n[447] Hobson-Jobson, p. 167.\n\n[448] Memoir of Central India, loc. cit.\n\n[449] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 60.\n\n[450] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bengal Kayasth. The Kayasths\ndeny the story that the five Kayasths were servants of the five\nBrahmans, and say that they were Kshatriyas sent on a mission from\nthe king of Kanauj to the king of Bengal. This, however, is improbable\nin view of the evidence already given as to the historical status of\nthe Kayasths.\n\n[451] Tribes and Castes, ibidem.\n\n[452] Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 155.\n\n[453] Ibidem, pp. 375, 380.\n\n[454] See articles on Ghasia and Dhobi.\n\n[455] Village Communities, p. 125.\n\n[456] Hindu Castes and Sects, ibidem, p. 177.\n\n[457] Tribes and Castes, art. Kayasth.\n\n[458] Bhattacharya, loc. cit., p. 188.\n\n[459] Hindus of Gujarat, p. 72.\n\n[460] Dasrath and Kaushilya were the father and mother of Rama.\n\n[461] These are the occupations of the Kayasths.\n\n[462] Geography and Astronomy.\n\n[463] Quoted from the Matsapuran in a criticism by Babu Krishna\nNag Verma.\n\n[464] This article is based on papers by Mr. Mahfuz Ali, tahsildar,\nRajnand-gaon, Mr. Jowahir Singh, Settlement Superintendent, Sambalpur,\nand Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office.\n\n[465] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kaibartta.\n\n[466] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kewat.\n\n[467] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, ibidem.\n\n[468] A curved stick carried across the shoulders, from which are\nsuspended two panniers.\n\n[469] This article is based on Mr. Crooke's and Colonel Dalton's\naccounts, and some notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal at Raigarh.\n\n[470] Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 128, 129.\n\n[471] Ibidem, pp. 209, 210.\n\n[472] Tribes and Castes, art. Kharwar.\n\n[473] Tribes and Castes of Bengal.\n\n[474] From bhuj, an arm, and jangh, a thigh. These are Hindi words,\nand the whole story is obviously a Brahmanical legend. Balrai seems\na corruption of Balaram, the brother of Krishna.\n\n[475] Estate held on feudal tenure.\n\n[476] Religion and Folklore of Northern India, vol. ii. p. 170.\n\n[477] Crooke, Tribes and Castes.\n\n[478] Saccharum spontaneum.\n\n[479] Tribes and Castes, art. Birhor.\n\n[480] The above instances are reproduced from Sir J. G. Frazer's\nPsyche's Task (London, 1909). These cases are all of homicide, but\nit seems likely that the action of the Khairwars may be based on the\nsame motives, as the fear of ghosts is strong among these tribes.\n\n[481] Risley, loc. cit.\n\n[482] Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 128, 129.\n\n[483] Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Khairwa. Quoting from Bombay\nGazetteer, x. 48 and iii. 310.\n\n[484] Loc. cit.\n\n[485] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Khandait. In 1911, after\nthe transfer of Sambalpur, only 18 Khandaits remained in the Central\nProvinces.\n\n[486] The following particulars are from a paper by Mr. Kashinath\nBohidar, Assistant Settlement Superintendent, Sonpur.\n\n[487] Compiled principally from a paper by Kanhya Lal, clerk in the\nGazetteer Office.\n\n[488] Carthamus tinctorius.\n\n[489] In the Ethnographic Appendices to the India Census Report of\n1901 a slightly different version of the story is given by Captain\nLuard. The Dangis, it must be remembered, are a high caste ranking\njust below Rajputs.\n\n[490] This article is mainly based on notes taken by Rai Bahadur\nHira Lal at Raigarh, with extracts from Colonel Dalton's and Sir\nH. Risley's accounts of the tribe.\n\n[491] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kharia.\n\n[492] Saccharum spontaneum. This grass infests cultivated fields and\nis very difficult to eradicate.\n\n[493] Melia indica.\n\n[494] Ethnology of Bengal.\n\n[495] Jungle Life in India, p. 89.\n\n[496] Linguistic Survey, vol. iv. Munda and Dravidian Languages, p. 22.\n\n[497] Ibidem, p. 129.\n\n[498] Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Khatik.\n\n[499] Census Report (1881), para. 502.\n\n[500] This statement does not apply to the Chamars of the Central\nProvinces.\n\n[501] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Khatik.\n\n[502] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, pp. 55, 56.\n\n[503] Tribes and Castes, art. Khatri.\n\n[504] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 55.\n\n[505] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 189.\n\n[506] Ibidem, pp. 58, 59.\n\n[507] Hindus of Gujarat, pp. 58, 59.\n\n[508] This article consists mainly of extracts from Mr. F. L. Faridi's\nfull account of the Khojahs in the Bombay Gazetteer, Muhammadans\nof Gujarat.\n\n[509] Kandh is the Uriya spelling, and Kond or Khond that of the\nTelugus.\n\n[510] Linguistic Survey of India.\n\n[511] Narsingha means a man-lion and is one of Vishnu's incarnations;\nthis subsept would seem, therefore, to have been formed since the\nKhonds adopted Hinduism.\n\n[512] In Orissa, however, relationship through females is a bar to\nmarriage, as recorded in Sir H. Risley's article.\n\n[513] Report on the Khonds, p. 56.\n\n[514] Report, p. 59.\n\n[515] Sir H. Risley notes that the elephant represented the\nearth-goddess herself, who was here conceived in elephant form. In the\nhill tracts of Gumsur she was represented in peacock form, and the post\nto which the victim was bound bore the effigy of a peacock. Macpherson\nalso records that when the Khonds attacked the victim they shouted,\n'No sin rests on us; we have bought you with a price.'\n\n[516] Golden Bough, 2nd ed. vol. ii. p. 241 sq.\n\n[517] Pages 517-519. Published 1906.\n\n[518] Journal, A. S. of Bengal, 1898.\n\n[519] Sir G. A. Grierson's Linguistic Survey, Munda and Dravidian\nLanguages.\n\n[520] This article is compiled principally from a paper by Pandit\nSakharam, Revenue Inspector, Hoshangabad District.\n\n[521] Tod's Rajasthan, vol. ii. p. 327.\n\n[522] Elliott's Hoshangabad Settlement Report, p. 60.\n\n[523] Compiled from papers by Mr. Mulchand, Deputy Inspector of\nSchools, Betul; Mr. Shams-ul-Husain, Tahsildar, Sohagpur; Mr. Kalyan\nChand, Manager, Court of Wards, Betul; and Kanhya Lal, clerk in the\nGazetteer Office.\n\n[524] Hoshangabad Settlement Report (1867), p. 60.\n\n[525] History of the Sikhs, p. 15, footnote.\n\n[526] Ibbetson's Census Report (1881), p. 297.\n\n[527] Nagpur Settlement Report, p. 24.\n\n[528] Mr. Lawrence's Bhandara Settlement Report (1867), p. 46.\n\n[529] Bombay Gazetteer, Satara, p. 106.\n\n[530] See article on Kunbi.\n\n[531] Bhandara District Gazetteer, para. 90.\n\n[532] Bhandara Settlement Report.\n\n[533] Ibidem.\n\n[534] Subordinate revenue officer.\n\n[535] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bhumij.\n\n[536] The Mundas and their Country, p. 400.\n\n[537] Linguistic Survey, Munda and Dravidian Languages, vol. vi. p. 7.\n\n[538] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Munda.\n\n[539] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, p. 15.\n\n[540] Introduction to The Mundas and their Country, p. 9.\n\n[541] Introduction to The Mundas and their Country, p. 9.\n\n[542] Garha is six miles from Jubbulpore.\n\n[543] The Mundas and their Country, p. 124.\n\n[544] Rasmala, i. p. 113.\n\n[545] Two baskets slung from a stick across the shoulders.\n\n[546] Dalton, Ethnology of Bengal, p. 166.\n\n[547] Dalton, p. 152.\n\n[548] November, January and February.\n\n[549] Tribes and Castes, art. Munda.\n\n[550] Thuiya, Bhuiya is a mere jingle.\n\n[551] J.A.S.B., No. 1 of 1903, p. 31.\n\n[552] Dalton, ibidem.\n\n[553] Mr. B. C. Mazumdar's Monograph.\n\n[554] Roy, ibidem, p. 428.\n\n[555] The Mundas and their Country, p. 121.\n\n[556] Linguistic Survey, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages,\np. 27.\n\n[557] This article includes some extracts from notes made by Colonel\nMackenzie when Commissioner of Berar, and subsequently published in\nthe Pioneer newspaper; and information collected for the District\nGazetteers in Yeotmal and Wardha.\n\n[558] Papers relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central\nProvinces, p. 10.\n\n[559] Ibidem, Editor's Note.\n\n[560] Linguistic Survey, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages,\np. 561.\n\n[561] India Census Report (1901), p. 287.\n\n[562] Hunter's Imperial Gazetteer, art. Kolamallai hills.\n\n[563] Based partly on papers by Mr. Bihari Lal, Naib-Tahsildar,\nBilaspur, and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer Office.\n\n[564] For further information the articles on Sansia and Beria may\nbe consulted.\n\n[565] Andropagon Schoenanthus.\n\n[566] Gunthorpe, loc. cit.\n\n[567] Ibidem, p. 49.\n\n[568] Kitts, loc. cit.\n\n[569] Ind. Ant. iii. p. 185, Satara Gazetteer, p. 119.\n\n[570] Lyall's Berar Gazetteer, pp. 103-5.\n\n[571] Kathiawar Gazetteer, p. 140.\n\n[572] Crooke's edition of Hobson-Jobson, art. Koli.\n\n[573] Bombay City Census Report (1901) (Edwards).\n\n[574] Gujarat Gazetteer, p. 238.\n\n[575] Golden Book of India, s.v.\n\n[576] Semecarpus anacardium, the marking-nut tree.\n\n[577] Kitts, Berar Census Report (1881), p. 131.\n\n[578] Akola Gazetteer (Mr. C. Brown), p. 116.\n\n[579] P. 197.\n\n[580] Hindus of Gujarat, l.c.\n\n[581] Indian Antiquary, vol. iii. p. 236.\n\n[582] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 250.\n\n[583] Indian Antiquary, vol. iii. p. 236.\n\n[584] This article is largely compiled from an interesting paper\nsubmitted by Mr. Parmanand Tiwari, Extra Assistant Commissioner and\nAssistant Settlement Officer, Sambalpur.\n\n[585] Phaseolus mungo.\n\n[586] Madras Census Report (1901), p. 162.\n\n[587] Mysore Ethnographic Survey, Komati caste (H. V. Nanjundayya).\n\n[588] H. V. Nanjundayya, loc. cit.\n\n[589] H. V. Nanjundayya, loc. cit.\n\n[590] Tribes and Castes of the North-West Provinces, iii. 316.\n\n[591] This article is largely based on a monograph contributed by\nMr. H. R. Crosthwaite, Assistant Commissioner, Hoshangabad, and\ncontains also extracts from a monograph by Mr. Ganga Prasad Khatri,\nForest Divisional Officer, Betul, and from the description of the\nKorkus given by Mr. (Sir Charles) Elliott in the Hoshangabad Settlement\nReport (1867), and by Major Forsyth in the Nimar Settlement Report\n(1868-69).\n\n[592] Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Appendix V.: Korwa.\n\n[593] See also art. Kol.\n\n[594] The local term for the god Siva.\n\n[595] Bauhinia Vahlii.\n\n[596] Bassia latifolia, Buchanania latifolia, Gmelina arborea and\nSterculia urens.\n\n[597] Nearly 3 1/2 tons.\n\n[598] Paspalum scrobiculatum, Panicum psilopodium, Coix Lachryma,\nEleusine coracana, Saccharum officianarum, Setaria italica, Oryza\nsativa.\n\n[599] Eugenia jambolana.\n\n[600] Makyatotha, Jondhratotha, Dharsiima, Changri, Lobo, Khambi,\nDagde, Kullya, Bursuma and Killibhasam.\n\n[601] Zizyphus jujuba.\n\n[602] The tiger-god.\n\n[603] The above passage is taken from Mr. (Sir Charles) Elliott's\nHoshangabad Settlement Report written in 1867. Since that time the\nbelief in the magical powers of the Bhumka has somewhat declined.\n\n[604] A small measure for grain.\n\n[605] Most of the information in this paragraph is taken from Mr. Ganga\nPrasad Khatri's Report.\n\n[606] Boswellia serrata.\n\n[607] This article is based on Colonel Dalton's account of the tribe\nand on notes by Mr. N. T. Kunte, Jailor, Sarguja, and Mr. Narbad\nDhanu Sao, Assistant Manager, Uprora.\n\n[608] Ethnology of Bengal, p. 221.\n\n[609] Shorea robusta.\n\n[610] Dalton, loc. cit. p. 229.\n\n[611] Ethnology of Bengal, p. 228.\n\n[612] Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 228, 229.\n\n[613] Bauhinia Vahlii.\n\n[614] Believed to be some kind of vulture.\n\n[615] This article is based on a good paper by Mr. Raghunath Waman\nVaidya, schoolmaster, Hinganghat, and others by Mr. M. E. Hardas,\nTahsildar, Umrer, and Messrs. Aduram Chaudhri and Pyare Lal Misra of\nthe Gazetteer Office.\n\n[616] V. Nanjundayya, Monograph on the Sale Caste (Mysore\nEthnographical Survey).\n\n[617] With this may be compared the tradition of the sweeper caste\nthat winnowing fans and sieves were first made out of bones and sinews.\n\n[618] Kitts, Berar Census Report (1881), p. 127.\n\n[619] Bauhinia Rusa.\n\n[620] Sir H. Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Tanti.","title":"The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 3","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":228269}