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Russell
THE TRIBES AND CASTES
OF THE
CENTRAL PROVINCES OF INDIA
MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited
LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MADRAS • MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO
DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
THE
TRIBES AND CASTES
OF THE
CENTRAL PROVINCES
OF INDIA
BY
R. V. RUSSELL
OF THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE
SUPERINTENDENT OF ETHNOGRAPHY, CENTRAL PROVINCES
ASSISTED BY
RAI BAHADUR HIRA LAL
EXTRA ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER
PUBLISHED UNDER THE ORDERS OF THE CENTRAL
PRO VINCES ADMIN1STRA TION
IN FOUR VOLUMES
VOL. Ill
MACMILLAN AND CO, LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
i 9 i 6
COPYRIGHT
CONTENTS OF VOLUME III
Articles on Castes and Tribes of the Central
Provinces in Alphabetical Order
The articles which are considered to be of most general interest
are shown in capitals
PAGE
Gadaria (Shepherd) ...... 3
Gadba (Forest tribe) ...... 9
Ganda ( Weaver and labourer) . . . ...14
Gandhmali ( Uriya village priests and temple servants) . . 17
GARPAGARI (Averter of hailstorms) . . . .19
Gauria (Snake-charmer and juggler-) . . . .24
Ghasia (Grass-cutter) . . . . . .27
Ghosi (Buffalo-herdsman) . . . . .32
Golar (Herdsman) . . . . . -35
GOND (Forest tribe and cultivator) . . . -39
Gond-Gowari (Herdsman) . . . . .143
Gondhali (Religious mendicant) . . . .144
Gopal (Vagrant criminal caste) . . . .147
Gosain (Religious mendicant) . . . . .150
Gowari (Herdsman) . . . . . .160
Gujar (Cultivator) . . . . . .166
Gurao (Village priest) . . . . . .175
Halba (Forest tribe, labourer) . . . . .182
Halwai (Confectioner) . . . . . .201
Hatkar (Soldier, shepherd) . . . . .204
Hijra (Eunuch, rnendicant) . . . .206
Holia (Labourer, curing hides) . . . . .212
Injhwar (Boatman and fisherman) . . . .213
CONTENTS
Jadam {Cultivator)
Jiidua {Criminal caste)
Jangam {Priest of the Lingayat sect)
Jat {Landowner and cultivator)
Jhadi Telenga (Illegitimate^ labourer) .
Jogi {Religious mendicant and pedlar) .
J OS HI {Astrologer and village priest) .
Julaha ( Weaver)
Kachera {Maker of glass bangles)
Kachhi {Vegetable-grower)
Kadera {Firework-maker)
Kahar {Palanquin-bearer and household servant)
Kaikari {Basket-maker and vagrant)
Kalanga {Soldier, cultivator) .
Kalar {Liquor vendor)
Kamar {Forest tribe) .
Kan jar {Gipsies and prostitutes)
Kapewar {Cultivator) .
Karan ( Writer and clerk)
Kasai {Butcher)
Kasar ( Worker in brass)
Kasbi {Prostitute)
Katia {Cotton-spinner) .
Kawar {Forest tribe and cultivator)
Kayasth ( Village accountant, writer and clerk)
Kewat {Boatman and fisherman)
Khairwar {Forest tribe ; boilers of catechu)
Khandait {Soldier, cultivator) .
Khangar ( Village watchman and labourer)
Kharia {Forest tribe, labourer) .
Khatlk {Mutton-butcher)
Khatri {Merchant)
Khojah {Trader and shopkeeper)
KHOND (Forest tribe, cultivator)
Kir {Cultivator)
Kirar {Cultivator)
Kohli {Cultivator)
Kol (Forest tribe, labourer)
CONTENTS
Kolam (Forest tribe, cultivator)
Kolhati (Acrobat)
Koli {Forest tribe, cultivator) .
Kolta (Landowner and cultivator)
Komtv (Merchant and shopkeeper)
Kori ( Weaver and labourer)
Korku {Forest tribe, labourer)
Korwa (Forest tribe, cultivator)
Koshti ( Weaver)
vn
I'AGE
520
527
532
537
542
545
55o
57i
581
ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME III
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71-
72.
73-
74-
75-
76.
77-
78.
79-
80.
83.
34.
85.
86.
90,
Gond women grinding corn
Palace of the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla at Ramnagar
Gonds on a journey ....
Killing of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, from whom the
Gonds are supposed to be descended
Woman about to be swung round the post called Meghnath
Climbing the pole for a bag of sugar
Gonds with their bamboo carts at market .
Gond women, showing tattooing on backs of legs .
Maria Gonds in dancing costume .
Gondhali musicians and dancers
Gosain mendicant ....
Alakhwale Gosains with faces covered with ashes .
Gosain mendicants with long hair .
Famous Gosain Mahant. Photograph taken after death
Gujar village proprietress and her land agent
Guraos with figures made at the Holi festival called
Gangour ....
Group of Gurao musicians with their instruments
Ploughing with cows and buffaloes in Chhattlsgarh
Halwai or confectioner's shop
Jogi mendicants of the Kanphata sect
Jogi musicians with sarangi or fiddle
Kaikaris making baskets
Kanjars making ropes
A group of Kasars or brass-workers
Dancing girls and musicians
Girl in full dress and ornaments
42
46
114
116
118
122
126
136
144
150
152
154
156
168
176
180
182
202
244
250
298
332
37o
374
378
ILLUSTRATIONS
91. Old type of sugarcane mill
92. Group of Kol women
93. Group of Kolfims .
94. Korkus of the Melghat hills
95. Korku women in full dress
96. Koshti men dancing a figure, holding strings and beating
sticks ....•••
494
512
520
556
582
PRONUNCIATION
a has the sound of u in but or murmur.
a
> 5)
a in bath or tar.
e
> ■>■>
6 in ecarte or ai in maid.
i
> J)
i in bit, or (as a final letter) of y in sulky.
i
1 JJ
ee in beet.
0
> >J
o in bore or &w/.
u
) ))
u in put or ^«//.
u
) J)
oo in poor or &?<?/.
The plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words
is formed by adding s in the English manner according to ordinary
usage, though this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural.
Note. — The rupee contains 16 annas, and an anna is of the same
value as a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing.
Rs. 1-8 signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred
thousand, and a krore ten million.
\
PART II
ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES
GADARIA— KOSHTI
VOL. Ill
GADARIA
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i. General 7iotice. 5. Social customs.
2. Subdivisions. 6. Goats and sheep.
3. Marriage customs. 7. Blanket-weaving.
4. Religion and funeral rites . 8. Sanctity of wool.
Gadaria, Gadri.1 — The occupational shepherd caste of 1. General
northern India. The name is derived from the Hindi gddar notlce-
and the Sanskrit gandhara, a sheep, the Sanskrit name being
taken from the country of Gandhara or Kandahar, from
which sheep were first brought. The three main shepherd
castes all have functional names, that of the Dhangars or
Maratha shepherds being derived from dhan, small stock,
while the Kuramwars or Telugu shepherds take their name
like the Gadarias from kuruba, a sheep. These three castes
are of similar nature and status, and differ only in language
and local customs. In 191 1 the Gadarias numbered 41,000
persons. They are found in the northern Districts, and
appear to have been amongst the earliest settlers in the
Nerbudda valley, for they have given their name to several
villages, as Gadariakheda and Gadarwara.
The Gadarias are a very mixed caste. They themselves 2. Sub-
say that their first ancestor was created by Mahadeo to tend divisi0ns-
his rams, and that he married three women who were fascin-
ated by the sight of him shearing the sheep. These belonged
to the Brahman, Dhimar and Barai castes respectively, and
became the ancestors of the Nikhar, Dhengar and Barmaiyan
subcastes of Gadarias. The Nikhar subcaste are the highest,
their name meaning pure. Dhengar is probably, in reality,
a corruption of Dhangar, the name of the Maratha shepherd
1 This article is based on information collected by Mr. Hira Lai in Jubbulpore,
and the author in Mandla.
3
4 GAP ARIA part
caste. They have other subdivisions of the common terri-
torial type, as Jheria or jungly, applied to the Gadarias of
Chhattlsgarh ; Desha from desk, country, meaning those who
came from northern India ; Purvaiya or eastern, applied to
immigrants from Oudh ; and Malvi or those belonging to
M.ilwa. Nikhar and Dhengar men take food together, but
not the women ; and if a marriage cannot be otherwise
arranged these subcastes will sometimes give daughters to
each other. A girl thus married is no longer permitted to
take food at her father's house, but she may eat with the
women of her husband's subcaste. Many of their exogamous
groups are named after animals or plants, as Hiranwar, from
kirarty a deer ; Sapha from the cobra, Moria from the peacock,
Nahar from the tiger, Phulsungha, a flower, and so on.
Others are the names of Rajput septs and of other castes, as
Ahirwar (Ahlr) and Bamhania (Brahman).
Another more ambitious legend derives their origin from
the Bania caste. They say that once a Bania was walking
along the road with a cocoanut in his hand when Vishnu
met him and asked him what it was. The Bania answered
that it was a cocoanut. Vishnu said that it was not a
cocoanut but wool, and told him to break it, and on breaking
the cocoanut the Bania found that it was filled with wool.
The Bania asked what he should do with it, and Vishnu told
him to make a blanket out of it for the god to sit on. So
he made a blanket, and Vishnu said that from that day he
should be the ancestor of the Gadaria caste, and earn his
bread by making blankets from the wool of sheep. The
Bania asked where he should get the sheep from, and the
god told him to go home saying 'Elian, Elian, EMn,' all
the way, and when he got home he would find a flock of
sheep following him ; but he was not to look behind him all
the way. And the Bania did so, but when he had almost
got home he could not help looking behind him to see if
there were really any sheep. And he saw a long line of
sheep following him in single file, and at the very end was a
ram with golden horns just rising out of the ground. But
as he looked it sank back again into the ground, and he
went back to Vishnu and begged for it, but Vishnu said that
as he had looked behind him he had lost it. And this was
customs.
ii MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 5
the origin of the Gadaria caste, and the Gadarias always say
' Ehan, Elian', as they lead their flocks of sheep and goats
to pasture.
Marriage within the clan is forbidden and also the union 3- M^r-
of first cousins. Girls may be married at any age, and are "^ol
sometimes united to husbands much younger than themselves.
Four castemen of standing carry the proposal of marriage
from the boy's father, and the girl's father, being forewarned,
sends others to meet them. One of the ambassadors opens
the conversation by saying, ' We have the milk and you have
the milk-pail ; let them be joined.' To which the girl's
party, if the match be agreeable, will reply, " Yes, we have
the tamarind and you have the mango ; if the panches agree
let there be a marriage." The boy's father gives the girl's
father five areca-nuts, and the latter returns them and they
clasp each other round the neck. When the wedding pro-
cession reaches the bride's village it is met by their party,
and one of them takes the sarota or iron nut-cutter, which
the bridegroom holds in his hand, and twirls it about in the
air several times. The ceremony is performed by walking
round the sacred pole, and the party return to the bride-
groom's lodging, where his brother-in-law fills the bride's lap
with sweetmeats and water-nut as an omen of fertility. The
maihar or small wedding-cakes of wheat fried in sesamum
oil are distributed to all members of the caste present at the
wedding. While the bridegroom's party is absent at the
bride's house, the women who remain behind enjoy amuse-
ments of their own. One of them strips herself naked, tying
up her hair like a religious mendicant, and is known as Baba
or holy father. In this state she romps with her companions
in turn, while the others laugh and applaud. Occasionally
some man hides himself in a place where he can be a witness
of their play, but if they discover him he is beaten severely
with belnas or wooden bread-rollers. Widow-marriage and
divorce are permitted, the widow being usually expected
to marry her late husband's younger brother, whether he
already has a wife or not. Sexual offences are not severely
reprobated, and may be atoned for by a feast to the caste-
fellows.
The Gadarias worship the ordinary Hindu deities and
customs.
6 GAD ARIA part
4. Keii- also Dishai Devi, the goddess of the sheep-pen. No Gadaria
gion and m j to the sheep-pen with his shoes on. On entering
funeral J ° ... ,, , ,
it in the morning they make obeisance to the sheep, and
these customs seem to indicate that the goddess Dishai Devi x
is the deified sheep. When the sheep are shorn and the
fleeces are lying on the ground they take some milk from
one of the ewes and mix rice with it and sprinkle it over
the wool. This rite is called Jimai, and they say that it is
feeding the wool, but it appears to be really a sacrificial
offering to the material. The caste burn the dead when
they can afford to do so, and take the bones to the Ganges
or Nerbudda, or if this is not practicable, throw them into
the nearest stream.
5. social Well-to-do members of the caste employ Brahmans for
ceremonial purposes, but others dispense with their services.
The Gadarias eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain from
fowls and pork. They will take food cooked with water
from a Lodhi or a Dangi, members of these castes having
formerly been their feudal chieftains in the Vindhyan Dis-
tricts and Nerbudda valley. Brahmans and members of
the good cultivating castes would be permitted to become
Gadarias if they should so desire. The head of the caste
committee has the title of Mahton and the office is hereditary,
the holder being invariably consulted on caste questions even
if he should be a mere boy. The Gadarias rank with those
castes from whom a Brahman cannot take water, but above
the servile and labouring castes. They are usually somewhat
stupid, lazy and good-tempered, and are quite uneducated.
Owing to their work in cleaning the pens and moving about
among the sheep, the women often carry traces of the peculiar
smell of these animals. This is exemplified in the saying,
' Ek to Gadaria, dusre lahsan Mae,' or ' Firstly she is a
Gadaria and then she has eaten garlic ' ; the inference being
that she is far indeed from having the scent of the rose.
The regular occupations of the Gadarias are the breed-
ing and grazing of sheep and goats, and the weaving of
country blankets from sheep's wool. The flocks are usually
1 The word Dishai really means probable that she was originally the
direction or cardinal point, but as the sheep itself,
goddess dwells in the sheep-pen it is
ii GOATS AND SHEEP 7
tended by the children, while the men and women spin and
weave the wool and make blankets. Goats are bred in
larger numbers than sheep in the Central Provinces, being
more commonly used for food and sacrifices, while they
are also valuable for their manure. Any Hindu who thinks
an animal sacrifice requisite, and objects to a fowl as un-
.clean, will choose a goat ; and the animal after being
sacrificed provides a feast for the worshippers, his head
being the perquisite of the officiating priest. Muhammadans
and most castes of Hindus will eat goat's meat when they
can afford it. The milk is not popular and there is very
little demand for it locally, but it is often sold to the
confectioners, and occasionally made into butter and ex-
ported. Sheep's flesh is also eaten, but is not so highly
esteemed. In the case of both sheep and goats there is
a feeling against consuming the flesh of ewes. Sheep are
generally black in colour and only occasionally white.
Goats are black, white, speckled or reddish-white. Both
animals are much smaller than in Europe. Both sheep
and goats are in brisk demand in the cotton tracts for
their manure in the hot-weather months, and will be kept
continually on the move from field to field for a month at
a time. It is usual to hire flocks at the rate of one rupee a
hundred head for one night ; but sometimes the cultivators
combine to buy a large flock, and after penning them on
their fields in the hot weather, send them to Nagpur in the
beginning of the rains to be disposed of. The Gadaria was
formerly the bete noir of the cultivator, on account of the
risk incurred by the crops from the depredations of his sheep
and goats. This is exemplified in the saying :
Ahlr, Gadaria, Past,
Yeh tinon satyandsi,
or, ' The Ahlr (herdsman), the Gadaria and the Pasi, these
three are the husbandmen's foes.' And again :
A Mr, Gadaria, Gujar,
Yeh tinon chahen ujar,
or 'The Ahlr, the Gadaria and the Gujar want waste land,' that
is for grazing their flocks. But since the demand for manure
has arisen, the Gadaria has become a popular personage
S GADARIA part
in the village. The shepherds whistle to their flocks to
guide them, and hang bells round the necks of goats but not
of sheep. Some of them, especially in forest tracts, train
ordinary pariah dogs to act as sheep-dogs. As a rule, rams
and he-goats are not gelt, but those who have large flocks
sometimes resort to this practice and afterwards fatten the
animals up for sale. They divide their sheep into five
classes, as follows, according to the length of the ears :
Kanari, with ears a hand's length long ; Semri, somewhat
shorter ; Burhai, ears a forefinger's length ; Churia, ears as
long as the little finger ; and N^ori, with ears as long only
as the top joint of the forefinger. Goats are divided into two
classes, those with ears a hand's length long being called
Bangalia or Bagra, while those with small ears a forefinger's
length are known as Gujra.
7. Blanket- While ordinary cultivators have now taken to keeping
goats, sheep are still as a rule left to the Gadarias. These
are of course valued principally for their wool, from which
the ordinary country blanket is made. The sheep1 are shorn
two or sometimes three times a year, in February, June and
September, the best wool being obtained in February from
the cold weather coat. Members of the caste commonly shear
for each other without payment. The wool is carded with a
kamtha, or simple bow with a catgut string, and spun by the
women of the household. Blankets are woven by men on a
loom like that used for cotton cloth. The fabric is coarse
and rough, but strong and durable, and the colour is usually
a dark dirty grey, approaching black, being the same as that
of the raw material. Every cultivator has one of these,
and the various uses to which it may be put are admirably
described by ' Eha ' as follows : 2
"The kammal is a home-spun blanket of the wool of
black sheep, thick, strong, as rough as a farrier's rasp, and
of a colour which cannot get dirty. When the Kunbi
(cultivator) comes out of his hole in the morning it is
wrapped round his shoulders and reaches to his knees,
1 The following particulars are taken ed., p. 219. In the quotation the
from the Central P, .,/ Hindustani word kammal, commonly
on Woollen Industries, by Mr. J. T. used in the Central Provinces, is sub-
Marten, stituted for the Marathi word kambli.
'-' A Naturalist on the Prowl, 3rd
ii GADBA 9
guarding him from his great enemy, the cold, for the thermo-
meter is down to 6o° Fahrenheit. By- and -by he has a
load to carry, so he folds his kammal into a thick pad and
puts it on the top of his head. Anon he feels tired, so he
lays down his load, and arranging his kammal as a cushion,
sits with comfort on a rugged rock or a stony bank, and has
a smoke. Or else he rolls himself in it from head to foot,
like a mummy, and enjoys a sound sleep on the roadside.
It begins to rain, he folds his kammal into an ingenious cowl
and is safe. Many more are its uses. I cannot number
them all. Whatever he may be called upon to carry, be it
forest produce, or grain or household goods, or his infant
child, he will make a bundle of it with his kammal and poise
it on his head, or sling it across his back, and trudge away."
Wool is a material of some sanctity among the Hindus. 8. Sanctity
It is ceremonially pure, and woollen clothing can be worn ofw°o1-
by Brahmans while eating or performing sacred functions.
In many castes the bridegroom at a wedding has a string
of wool with a charm tied round his waist. Religious
mendicants wear jatas or wigs of sheep's wool, and often
carry woollen charms. The beads used for counting prayers
are often of wool. The reason for wool being thus held
sacred may be that it was an older kind of clothing used
before cotton was introduced, and thus acquired sanctity by
being worn at sacrifices. Perhaps the Aryans wore woollen
clothing when they entered India.
Gadba, Gadaba.1 — A primitive tribe classified as Mundari i. Descrip-
or Kolarian on linguistic grounds. The word Gadba, 5^^
Surgeon-Major Mitchell states, signifies a person who carries of the
loads on his shoulders. The tribe call themselves Guthau.
They belong to the Vizagapatam District of Madras, and in
the Central Provinces are found only in the Bastar State,
into which they have immigrated to the number of some
700 persons. They speak a Mundari dialect, called Gadba,
after their tribal name, and are one of the two Mundari
tribes found so far south as Vizagapatam, the other being
1 This article is compiled from an Report on Bastar (Selections from the
excellent monograph contributed by Sur- Records of the Government of India in
geon-Major Mitchell of Bastar State, the Foreign Department, No. 39 of
with extracts from Colonel Glasfurd's 1863).
nage,
IO GADHA PART
the Savars.1 Their tribal organisation is not very strict,
and a Bhatra, a Parja, a Muria, or a member of any superior
caste may become a Gadba at an expenditure of two or
three rupees. The ceremony consists of shaving the body
of the novice, irrespective of sex, clean of hair, after which
he or she is given to eat rice cooked in the water of the
Ganges. This is followed by a feast to the tribe in which a
pig must be killed. The Gadbas have totemistic exogamous
septs, usually named after animals, as gutal dog, angivan
bear, dungra tortoise, surangai tiger, gumal snake, and so
on. Members of each sept abstain from killing or injuring
the animal or plant after which it is named, but they have
no scruple in procuring others to do this. Thus if a snake
enters the hut of a person belonging to the Gumal sept, he
will call a neighbour of another sept to kill it. He may not
touch its carcase with his bare hand, but if he holds it
through a piece of rag no sin is incurred.
Mar- Marriage is adult, but the rule existing in Madras that
a girl is not permitted to marry until she can weave her
own cloth does not obtain in the Central Provinces.2 As a
rule the parents of the couple arrange the match, but the
wishes of the girl are sometimes consulted and various
irregular methods of union are recognised. Thus a man
is permitted with the help of his friends to go and carry off
a girl and keep her as his wife, more especially if she is a
relation on the maternal side more distant than a first
cousin. Another form is the Paisa Mundi, by which a
married or unmarried woman may enter the house of a
man of her caste other than her husband and become his
wife ; and the Upaliya, when a married woman elopes with
a lover. The marriage ceremony is simple. The bride-
groom's party go to the girl's house, leaving the parents
behind, and before they reach it are met and stopped by a
bevy of young girls and men in their best clothes from the
bride's village. A girl comes forward and demands a ring,
which one of the men of the wedding party places on her
finger, and they then proceed to the bride's house, where the
bridegroom's presents, consisting of victuals, liquor, a cloth,
1 India Census Report (1901), p. 2 Madras Census Report (1891), p
283. 253.
ii RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND FESTIVALS u
and two rupees, are opened and carefully examined. If any
deficiency is found, it must at once be made good. The
pair eat a little food together, coloured rice is applied to
their foreheads, and on the second day a new grass shed is
erected, in which some rice is cooked by an unmarried girl.
The bride and bridegroom are shut up in this, and two pots
of water are poured over them from the roof, the marriage
being then consummated. If the girl is not adult this cere-
mony is omitted. Widow-marriage is permitted by what is
called the tika form, by which a few grains of rice coloured
with turmeric are placed on the foreheads of the pair and
they are considered as man and wife. There is no regular
divorce, but if a married woman misbehaves with a man of
the caste, the husband goes to him with a few friends and
asks whether the story is true, and if the accusation is ad-
mitted demands a pig and liquor for himself and his friends
as compensation. If these are given he does not turn his
wife out of his house. A liaison of a Gadba woman with a
man of a superior caste is also said to involve no penalty,
but if her paramour is a low -caste man she is excom-
municated for ever. In spite of these lax rules, however,
Major Mitchell states that the women are usually very
devoted to their husbands. Mr. Thurston l notes that
among the Bonda Gadabas a young man and a maid retire
to the jungle and light a fire. Then the maid, taking a
burning stick, places it on the man's skin. If he cries out
he is unworthy of her, and she remains a maid. If he does
not, the marriage is at once consummated. The application
of the brand is probably light or severe according to the
girl's feelings towards the young man.
The Gadbas worship Burhi Mata or Thakurani Mata, 3- Reii-
who is the goddess of smallpox and rinderpest. They offer bdiefs and
to her flowers and incense when these diseases are prevalent festivals.
among men or cattle, but if the epidemic does not abate
after a time, they abuse the goddess and tell her to do her
worst, suspending the offerings. They offer a white cock
to the sun and a red one to the moon, and various other
deities exercise special functions, Bhandarin being the
goddess of agriculture and Dharni of good health, while
1 Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, p. 22.
1 2 GADBA part
Bharwan is the protector of cattle and Dand Devi of men
from the attacks of wild beasts. They have vague notions
of a heaven and hell where the sinful will be punished, and
also believe in re -birth. But these ideas appear to be
borrowed from their Hindu neighbours. When the new
rice crop is ripe, the first-fruits are cooked and served to
the cattle in new bamboo baskets, and are then partaken of
by men. The ripening of the mango crop is also an im-
portant festival. In the bright fortnight of Chait (March)
the men go out hunting, and on their return cook the game
before Matideo, the god of hunting, who lives in a tree.
In Madras the whole male population turn out to hunt, and
if they come back without success the women pelt them
with cowdung on their return. If successful, however, they
have their revenge on the women in another way.1 On
festival days men and women dance together to the music
of a pipe and drum. Sometimes they form a circle, holding
long poles, and jump backwards and forwards to and from
the centre by means of the pole ; or the women dance
singly or in pairs, their hands resting on each other's waists.
A man and woman will then step out of the crowd and sing
at each other, the woman reflecting on the man's ungainly
appearance and want of skill as a cultivator or huntsman,
while the man retorts by reproaching her with her ugliness
and slatternly habits.2
4. Disposal The dead are buried with their feet to the west, ready
to start for the region of the setting sun. On their return
from the funeral the mourners stop on the way, and a fish
is boiled and offered to the dead. An egg is cut in half
and placed on the ground, and pieces of mango bark are
laid beside it on which the mourners tread. The women
accompany the corpse, and in the meantime the house of
the dead person is cleaned with cowdung by the children
left behind. On the first day food is supplied to the
mourners by their relatives, and in the evening some cooked
rice and vegetables are offered to the dead. The mourning
lasts for nine days, and on the last day a cow or bullock is
killed with the blunt head of an axe, the performance of
> Madras Census Report (1891), p. 2 Report on the Dependency of Bastar,
253- p. 37.
of the
dead.
ii OCCUPATION AND MODE OF LIVING 13
this function being hereditary in certain families of the caste.
Some blood from the animal and some cooked rice are put
in leaf-cups and placed on the grave by the head of the
corpse. The animal is cooked and eaten by the grave, and
they then return to the cooking shed and place its jawbone
under a stick .supported on two others, blood and cooked
rice being again offered. The old men and women bathe in
warm water, and all return to the place where the dead man
breathed his last. Here they drink and have another meal
of rice and beef, which is repeated on the following day, and
the business of committing the dead to the ancestors is
complete. Liquor is offered to the ancestors on feast days.
The caste are cultivators and labourers, while some are s. occupa-
employed as village watchmen, and others are hereditary tlon and
_ j . . . mode of
pal.kz-bea.rers to the Raja of Bastar, enjoying a free grant of living.
land. They practise shifting cultivation, cleaning a space by
indiscriminate felling in the forest, and roughly ploughing
the ground for a single broad -cast crop of rice ; in the
following year the clearing is usually abandoned. Their
dress is simple, though they now wear ordinary cloth. Forty
years ago it is said that they wore coverings made from the
bark of the kuring tree and painted with horizontal bands of
red, yellow and blue.1 A girdle of the thickness of a man's
arm made from fine strips of bark is still worn and is a dis-
tinguishing feature of the Gadba women. They also carry
a circlet round their forehead of the seeds of kusa grass
threaded on a string. Both men and women wear enormous
earrings, the men having three in each ear. The Gadbas are
almost omnivorous, and eat flesh, fish, fowls, pork, buffaloes
crocodiles, non-poisonous snakes, large lizards, frogs, sparrows,
crows and large red ants. They abstain only from the flesh
of monkeys, horses and asses. A Gadba must not ride on a
horse under penalty of being put out of caste. Mr. Thurston 2
gives the following reason for this prejudice : — " The Gadbas
of Vizagapatam will not touch a horse, as they are palanquin-
bearers, and have the same objection to a rival animal as a
cart-driver has to a motor-car." They will eat the leavings of
other castes and take food from all except the impure ones,
1 Report on the Dependency of Bastar,' 2 Ethnographic Notes in Southern
p. 37- India, p. 270.
,4 gAnda rART
but like the Mehtars and Ghasias elsewhere they will not
take food or water from a Kayasth. Only the lowest castes
will eat with Gadbas, but they are not considered as impure,
and are allowed to enter temples and take part in religious
ceremonies.
, Distri- Ganda. — A servile and impure caste of Chota Nagpur
bution and an(j the xjrjya Districts. They numbered 278,000 persons
in 1 90 1, resident largely in Sambalpur and the Uriya States,
but since the transfer of this territory to Bengal, only about
150,000 Gandas remain in the Central Provinces in Raipur,
Bilaspur and Raigarh. In this Province the Gandas have
become a servile caste of village drudges, acting as watchmen,
weavers of coarse cloth and musicians. They are looked on
as an impure caste, and are practically in the same position
as the Mehras and Chamars of other Districts. In Chota
Nagpur, however, they are still in some places recognised as
a primitive tribe,1 being generally known here as Pan, Pab
or Chik. Sir H. Risley suggests that the name of Ganda may
be derived from Gond, and that the Pans may originally
have been an offshoot of that tribe, but no connection between
the Gandas and Gonds has been established in the Central
Provinces.
The subcastes reported differ entirely from those recorded
in Orissa. In the Central Provinces they are mainly occupa-
tional. Thus the Bajna or Bajgari are those who act as
musicians at feasts and marriages ; the Mang or Mangia
make screens and mats, while their women serve as mid-
wives ; the Dholias make baskets ; the Doms skin cattle and
the Nagarchis play on nakkaras or drums. Panka is also re-
turned as a subcaste of Ganda, but in the Central Provinces
the Pankas are now practically a separate caste, and consist
of those Gandas who have adopted Kabirpanthism and have
thereby obtained some slight rise in status. In Bengal Sir
H. Risley mentions a group called Patradias, or slaves and
menials of the Khonds, and discusses the Patradias as
follows : — " The group seems also to include the descendants
of Pans, who sold themselves as slaves or were sold as Merias
or victims to the Khonds. We know that an extensive
1 Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Pan.
MARRIAGE
IS
traffic in children destined for human sacrifice used to go on
in the Khond country, and that the Pans were the agents
who sometimes purchased, but more frequently kidnapped,
the children, whom they sold to the Khonds, and were so
debased that they occasionally sold their own offspring,
though they knew of course the fate that awaited them.1
Moreover, apart from the demand for sacrificial purposes, the
practice of selling men as agricultural labourers was until a
few years ago by no means uncommon in the wilder parts
of the Chota Nagpur Division, where labour is scarce and
cash payments are almost unknown. Numbers of formal
bonds have come before me, whereby men sold themselves
for a lump sum to enable them to marry." The above
quotation is inserted merely as an interesting historical
reminiscence of the Pans or Gandas.
The Gandas have exogamous groups or septs of the usual 3. Mar-
low-caste type, named after plants, animals or other inanimate riage-
objects. Marriage is prohibited within the sept, and between
the children of two sisters, though the children of brothers
and sisters may marry. If a girl arrives at maturity without
a husband having been found for her, she is wedded to a
spear stuck up in the courtyard of the house, and then given
away to anybody who wishes to take her. A girl going
wrong with a man of the caste is married to him by the
ceremony employed in the case of widows, while her parents
have to feed the caste. But a girl seduced by an outsider is
permanently expelled. The betrothal is marked by a present
of various articles to the father of the bride. Marriages
must not be celebrated during the three rainy months of
Shrawan, Bhadon or Kunwar, nor during the dark fortnight
of the month, nor on a Saturday or Tuesday. The marriage-
post is of the wood of the mahua tree, and beneath it are
placed seven cowries and seven pieces of turmeric. An
elderly male member of the caste known as the Sethia con-
ducts the ceremony, and the couple go five times round the
sacred pole in the morning and thrice in the evening. When
the bride and bridegroom return home after the wedding, an
image of a deer is made with grass and placed behind the
1 The human sacrifices of the Khonds were suppressed about i860. See the
article on that tribe.
l6 GANDA part
car of the bride. The bridegroom then throws a toy arrow
at it made of grass or thin bamboo, and is allowed seven
shots. If he fails to knock it out of her ear after these the
bride's brother takes it and runs away and the bridegroom
must follow and catch him. This is clearly a symbolic
process representing the chase, of the sort practised by the
Khonds and other primitive tribes, and may be taken as a
reminiscence among the Gandas of their former life in the
forests. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and the
younger brother of the deceased husband takes his widow if
he wishes to do so. Otherwise she may marry whom she
pleases. A husband may divorce his wife for adultery before
the caste committee, and if she marries her lover he must
repay to the husband the expenses incurred by the latter
on his wedding.
4. Reii- The Gandas principally worship Dulha Deo, the young
bridegroom who was carried off by a tiger, and they offer
a goat to him at their weddings. They observe the Hindu
fasts and festivals, and at Dasahra worship their musical
instruments and the weaver's loom. Being impure, they
do not revere the tulsi plant nor the banyan or pipal trees.
Children are named on the sixth day after birth without
any special ceremony. The dead are generally buried from
motives of economy, as with most families the fuel required
for cremation would be a serious item of expenditure. A
man is laid on his face in the grave and a woman on her
back. Mourning is observed for three days, except in the
case of children under three years old, whose deaths entail
no special observances. On the fourth day a feast is given,
and when all have been served, the chief mourner takes
a little food from the plate of each guest and puts it in
a leaf-cup. He takes another leaf-cup full of water and
places the two outside the house, saying ' Here is food for
you ' to the spirit of the departed.
5. Occupa- The Gandas are generally employed either in weaving
Jociaind coarse clotn or as village musicians. They sing and dance
status. to the accompaniment of their instruments, the dancers
generally being two young boys dressed as women. They
have long hair and put on skirts and half-sleeved jackets,
with hollow anklets round their feet filled with stones to
ii GANDHMALI 17
make them tinkle. On their right shoulders are attached
some peacocks' feathers, and coloured cloths hang from
their back and arms and wave about when they dance.
Among their musical instruments is the sing-bdja, a single
drum made of iron with ox-hide leather stretched over
it ; two horns project from the sides for purposes of
decoration and give the instrument its name, and it is
beaten with thick leather thongs. The dafla is a wooden
drum open on one side and covered with a goat-skin on
the other, beaten with a cane and a bamboo stick. The
timki is a single hemispherical drum of earthenware ; and
the sahnai is a sort of bamboo flute. The Gandas of
Sambalpur have strong criminal tendencies which have
recently called for special measures of repression. Never-
theless they are usually employed as village watchmen in
accordance with long-standing custom. They are considered
as impure and, though not compelled actually to live apart
from the village, have usually a separate quarter and are
not permitted to draw water from the village well or to
enter Hindu temples. Their touch defiles, and a Hindu
will not give anything into the hands of one of the caste
while holding it himself, but will throw it down in front
of the Ganda, and will take anything from him in the same
manner. They will admit outsiders of higher rank into the
caste, taking from them one or two feasts. And it is
reported that in Raipur a Brahman recently entered the
caste for love of a Ganda girl.
Gandhmali,1 Thanapati. — The caste of village priests
of the temples of Siva or Mahadeo in Sambalpur and the
Uriya States. They numbered about 700 persons in the
Central Provinces in 191 1. The caste appears to be an
offshoot of the Malis or gardeners, differentiated from
them by their special occupation of temple attendants. In
Hindustan the priests of Siva's temples in villages are often
Malis, and in the Maratha country they are Guraos, another
special caste, or Phulmalis. Some members of the caste
in Sambalpur, however, aspire to Rajput origin and wear
1 This article is compiled from Sarangarh, and Satyabadi Misra of the
papers by Mr. Jhanjhan Rai, Tahsildar, Sambalpur Census office.
VOL. Ill C
,3 GANDHMALI part
the sacred thread. These prefer the designation of Thana-
pati or ' Master of the sacred place,' and call the others
who do not wear the thread Gandhmalis. Gandh means
incense. The Thanapatis say that on one occasion a Rajput
prince from Jaipur made a pilgrimage to the temple of
Jagannath at Puri, and on his return stopped at the
celebrated temple of Mahadeo at Huma near Sambalpur.
Mahadeo appeared before the prince and asked him to
become his priest ; the Rajput asked to be excused as he
was old, but Mahadeo promised him three sons, which he
duly obtained and in gratitude dedicated them to the
service of the god. From these sons the Thanapatis say
that they are descended, but the claim is no doubt quite
illusory. The truth is, probably, that the Thanapatis are
priests of the temples situated in towns and large villages,
and owing to their calling have obtained considerable social
estimation, which they desire to justify and place on an
enduring basis by their claim to Rajput ancestry ; while
the Gandhmalis are village priests, more or less in the
position of village menials and below the cultivating castes,
and any such pretensions would therefore in their case be
quite untenable. There are signs of the cessation of
intermarriage between the two groups, but this has not
been brought about as yet, probably owing to the paucity of
members in the caste and the difficulty of arranging matches.
Three functional subdivisions also appear to be in process
of formation, the Pujaris or priests of Mahadeo's temples,
the Bandhadias or those who worship him on the banks
of tanks, and the Mundjhulas x or devotees of the goddess
Somlai in Sambalpur, on whom the inspiration of the
goddess descends, making them shake and roll their heads.
When in this state they are believed to drink the blood
flowing from goats sacrificed in the temple. For the
purposes of marriage the caste is divided into exogamous
groups or bargas, the names of which are usually titles
or designations of offices. Marriage within the barga is
prohibited. When the bride is brought to the altar in the
marriage ceremony, she throws a garland of jasmine flowers
on the neck of the bridegroom. This custom resembles
1 Mund-jkul&na, to swiri" the head.
ii GARPAGARI 19
the old Swayamwara form of marriage, in which a girl
chose her own husband by throwing a garland of flowers
round his neck. But it probably has no connection with
this and merely denotes the fact that the caste are gardeners
by profession, similar ceremonies typifying the caste calling
being commonly performed at marriages, especially among
the Telugu castes. Girls should be married before adoles-
cence and, as is usual among the Uriya castes, if no suitable
husband is forthcoming a symbolic marriage is celebrated ;
the Thanapatis make her go through the form with her
maternal grandfather or sister's husband, and in default of
them with a tree. She is then immediately divorced and
disposed of as a widow. Divorce and the remarriage of
widows are permitted. A bachelor marrying a widow must
first go through the ceremony with a flower. The Gandh-
malis, as the priests of Mahadeo, are generally Saivas and
wear red clothes covered with ochre. They consider that
their ultimate ancestor is the Nag or cobra and especially
observe the festival of Nag-Panchmi, abstaining from any
cooked food on that day. They both burn and bury the
dead and perform the shradhh ceremony or the offering of
sacrificial cakes. They eat flesh but do not drink liquor.
Their social position is fairly good and Brahmans will take
water from their hands. Many of them hold free grants
of land in return for their services at the temples. A few
are ordinary cultivators.
Garpagari.1 — A caste of village menials whose function *• Origin
it is to avert hailstorms from the crops. They are found °c^.
principally in the Maratha Districts of the Nagpur country
and Berar, and numbered 9000 persons in 191 1. The name
is derived from the Marathi gar, hail. The Garpagaris are
really Naths or Jogis who have taken to this calling and
become a separate caste. They wear clothes coloured with
red ochre, and a garland of rudrdksha beads, and bury their
dead in a sitting posture. According to their tradition the
first Garpagari was one Raut, a Jogi, who accompanied a
Kunbi malguzar on a visit to Benares, and while there he
1 Based on notes taken by Mr. HIra Lai at Chanda and the notices of the
Garpagari in the District Gazetteers.
nacre.
20 GARPAGARI part
prophesied that on a certain day all the crops of their village
would be destroyed by a hailstorm. The Kunbi then be-
sought him to save the crops if he could, and he answered
that by his magic he could draw off the hail from the rest
of the village and concentrate it in his own field, and he
agreed to do this if the cultivators would recompense him
for his loss. When the two came home to their village they
found that there had been a severe hailstorm, but it had all
fallen in the Jogi's field. His loss was made good to him
and he adopted this calling as a profession, becoming the
first Garpagari, and being paid by contributions from the
proprietor and tenants. There are no subcastes except
that the Kharchi Garpagari are a bastard group, with whom
the others refuse to intermarry.
Mar- Marriage is regulated by exogamous groups, two of
which, Watari from the Otari or brass-worker, and Dhankar
from the Dhangar or shepherds, are named after other castes.
Some are derived from the names of animals, as Harnya
from the black-buck, and Wagh from the tiger. The Diunde
group take their name from diundi, the kotwar's 1 drum.
They say that their ancestor was so named because he killed
his brother, and was proclaimed as an outlaw by beat of
drum. The marriage of members of the same group is for-
bidden and also that of the children of two sisters, so long
as the relationship between them is remembered. The caste
usually celebrate their weddings after those of the Kunbis,
on whom they depend for contributions to their expenses.
Widow -marriage is permitted, but the widow sometimes
refuses to marry again, and, becoming a Bhagat or devotee,
performs long pilgrimages in male attire. Divorce is per-
mitted, but as women are scarce, is rarely resorted to. The
Garpagaris say, " If one would not throw away a vegetable
worth a damri (one-eighth of a pice or farthing), how shall
one throw away a wife who is 3 J- cubits long." A divorced
wife is allowed to marry again.
The caste worship Mahadeo or Siva and Mahablr or
Hanuman, and do not usually distinguish them. Their
principal festival is called Mahi and takes place on the first
day of Poush (December), this being the day from which
1 Village watchman.
gion.
ii OCCUPATION 21
hailstorms may be expected to occur ; and next to this
Mando Amawas, or the first day of Chait (March), after
which hailstorms need not be feared. They offer goats to
Mahadeo in his terrible form of Kal Bhairava, and during
the ceremony the Kunbis beat the ddheka, a small drum
with bells, to enhance the effect of the sacrifice, so that their
crops may be saved. When a man is at the point of death
he is placed in the sitting posture in which he is to be
buried, for fear that after death his limbs may become so
stiff that they cannot be made to assume it. The corpse is
carried to the grave in a cloth coloured with red ochre. A
gourd containing pulse and rice, a pice coin, and a small
quantity of any drug to which the deceased may have been
addicted in life are placed in the hands, and the grave is
filled in with earth and salt. A lamp is lighted on the place
where the death occurred, for one night, and on the third day
a cocoanut is broken there, after which mourning ends and
the house is cleaned. A stone brought from the bed of a
river is plastered down on to the grave with clay, and this
may perhaps represent the dead man's spirit.
The occupation of the Garpagari is to avert hailstorms, 4. Occupa-
and he was formerly remunerated by a customary contribu-
tion of rice from each cultivator in the village. He received
the usual presents at seed-time and harvest, and two pice
from each tenant on the Basant-Panchmi festival. When
the sky is of mixed red and black at night like smoke and
flame, the Garpagari knows that a hailstorm is coming.
Then, taking a sword in his hand, he goes and stands before
Mahablr, and begs him to disperse the clouds. When en-
treaties fail, he proceeds to threats, saying that he will kill
himself, and throws off his clothes. Sometimes his wife and
children go and stand with him before Mahablr' s shrine and
he threatens to kill them. Formerly he would cut and
slash himself, so it is said, if Mahablr was obdurate, but now
the utmost he does is to draw some blood from a finger.
He would also threaten to sacrifice his son, and instances
are known of his actually having done so.
Two ideas appear to be involved in these sacrifices of
the Garpagari. One is the familiar principle of atonement,
the blood being offered to appease the god as a substitute
22 GARPAGAR1 part
for the crops which he seems about to destroy. But when
the Garpagari threatened to kill himself, and actually killed
his son, it was not merely as an atonement, because in that
case the threats would have had no meaning. His intention
seems rather to have been to lay the guilt of homicide upon
the god by slaying somebody in front of his shrine, in case
nothing less would move him from his purpose of destroying
the crops. The idea is the same as that with which people
committed suicide in order that their ghosts might haunt
those who had driven them to the act. As late as about
the year 1905 a Gond Bhumka or village priest was hanged
in Chhindwara for killing his two children. He owed a
debt of Rs. 25 and the creditor was pressing him and he
had nothing to pay. So he flew into a rage and exclaimed
that the gods would do nothing for him even though he was
a Bhumka, and he seized his two children and cut off their
heads and laid them before the god. In this it would appear
that the Bhumka's intention was partly to take revenge on
his master for the neglect shown to him, the god's special
servant. The Garpagari diverts the hail by throwing a
handful of grain in the direction in which he wishes it to go.
When the storm begins he will pick up some hailstones,
smear them with his blood and throw them away, telling
them to rain over rivers, hills, forests and barren ground.
When caterpillars or locusts attack the crops he catches one
or two and offers them at Mahablr's shrine, afterwards throw-
ing them up in the air. Or he buries one alive and this is
supposed to stay the plague. When rust appears in the crops,
one or two blades are in like manner offered to Mahablr, and
it is believed that the disease will be stayed. Or if the rice
plants do not come into ear a few of them are plucked and
offered, and fresh fertile blades then come up. He also has
various incantations which are believed to divert the storm
or to cause the hailstones to melt into water. In some
localities, when the buffalo is slaughtered at the Dasahra
festival, the Garpagari takes seven different kinds of spring-
crop seeds and dips them in its blood. He buries them in
a spot beside his hearth, and it is believed that when a hail-
storm threatens the grains move about and give out a
humming sound like water boiling. Thus the Garpagari has
ii OCCUPATION 23
warning of the storm. If the Garpagari is absent and
a storm comes his wife will go and stand naked before
Mahablr's shrine. The wives know the incantations, but they
must not learn them from their husbands, because in that
case the husband would be in the position of a guru or
spiritual preceptor to his wife and the conjugal relation could
no longer continue. No other caste will learn the incanta-
tions, for to make the hailstones melt is regarded as
equivalent to causing an abortion, and as a sin for which
heavy retribution would be incurred in a future life.
In Chhattisgarh the Baiga or village priest of the abori-
ginal tribes averts hailstorms in the same manner as the
Garpagari, and elsewhere the Barais or betel-vine growers
perform this function, which is especially important to them
because their vines are so liable to be injured by hailstorms.
In ancient Greece there existed a village functionary, the
CJialazo phulax, who kept off hailstorms in exactly the same
manner as the Garpagari. He would offer a victim, and if
he had none would draw blood from his own fingers to
appease the storm.1
The same power has even been imputed to Christian
priests as recorded by Sir James Frazer : " In many villages
of Provence the priest is still required to possess the faculty
of averting storms. It is not every priest who enjoys this
reputation ; and in some villages when a change of pastors
takes place, the parishioners are eager to learn whether the
new incumbent has the power (pouder) as they call it. At
the first sign of a heavy storm they put him to the proof by
inviting him to exorcise the threatening clouds ; and if the
result answers to their hopes, the new shepherd is assured
of the sympathy and respect of his flock. In some parishes
where the reputation of the curate in this respect stood
higher than that of the rector, the relations between the
two have been so strained in consequence that the bishop
has had to translate the rector to another benefice." 2
Of late years an unavoidable scepticism as to the Garpa-
gari's efficiency has led to a reduction of his earnings, and the
cultivators now frequently decline to give him anything, or
1 Dr. Jevons, Introduction to the 2 The Golden Bough, 2nd cd. vol. i.
History of Religion, p. 171. p. 68, quoting from French authorities.
24 GA URIA part
only a sheaf of corn at harvest. Some members of the caste
have taken to weaving newdr or broad tape for beds, and
others have become cultivators.
The Garpagaris eat flesh and drink liquor. They will
take cooked food from a Kunbi, though the Kunbis will not
take even water from them. They are a village menial
caste and rank with others of the same position, though on
a somewhat lower level because they beg and accept cooked
food at the weddings of Kunbis. Their names usually end
in natJi, as Ramnath, Kisannath and so on.
Gauria.1 — A small caste of snake-charmers and jugglers
who are an offshoot of the Gond tribe. They number about
500 persons and are found only in Chhattisgarh. They have
the same exogamous septs as the Gonds, as Markam, Marai,
Netam, Chhedaiha, Jagat, Purteti, Chichura and others. But
they are no doubt of very mixed origin, as is shown by the
fact that they do not eat together at their feasts, but the
guests all cook their own food and eat it separately. And
after a daughter has been married her own family even will
not take food from her hand because they are doubtful of
her husband's status. It is said that the Gaurias were
accustomed formerly to beg only from the Kewat caste,
though this restriction is no longer maintained. The fact
may indicate that they are partly descended from the unions
of Kewats with Gond women.
Adult marriage is the general rule of the caste and a
fixed bride-price of sixteen rupees is paid. The couple go
away together at once and six months afterwards return to
visit the bride's parents, when they are treated as outsiders
and not allowed to touch the food cooked for the family, while
they reciprocally insist on preparing their own. Male
Gaurias will take food from any of the higher castes, but the
women will eat only from Gaurias. They will admit out-
siders belonging to any caste from whom they can take food
into the community. And if a Gauria woman goes wrong
with a member of any of these castes they overlook the
matter and inflict only a feast as a penalty.
1 This article is based on papers by of Schools, Bilaspur, and Bhagwan
Mr. Jeorakhan Lai, Deputy Inspector Singh, Court of Wards Clerk, Bilaspur.
ii GAURIA 25
Their marriage ceremony consists merely in the placing" of
bangles on the woman's wrists, which is the form by which
a widow is married among other castes. If a widow marries
a man other than her husband's younger brother, the new
husband must pay twelve rupees to her first husband's family,
or to her parents if she has returned to them. If she takes
with her a child born of her first husband with permission to
keep it, the second husband must pay eight rupees to the
first husband's family as the price of the child. But if the
child is to be returned as soon as it is able to shift for itself
the second husband receives eight rupees instead of paying
it, as remuneration for his trouble in rearing the baby. The
caste bury their dead with the feet to the south, like the
Hindus. The principal business of the Gaurias is to catch
and exhibit snakes, and they carry a damru or rattle in the
shape of an hour-glass, which is considered to be a distinctive
badge of the caste. If a Gauria saw an Ojha snake-charmer
carrying a damru he would consider himself entitled to take
it from the Ojha forcibly if he could. A Gauria is forbidden
to exhibit monkeys under penalty of being put out of
caste. Their principal festival is the Nag-Panchmi, when the
cobra is worshipped. They also profess to know charms for
curing persons bitten by snakes. The following incantation
is cried by a Gauria snake-doctor three times into the ears
of his patient in a loud voice :
" The bel tree and the bel leaves are on the other side
of the river. All the Gaurias are drowned in it. The
breast of the koil ; over it is a net. Eight snakes went to
the forest. They tamed rats on the green tree. The snakes
are flying, causing the parrots to fly. They want to play, but
who can make them play? After finishing their play they
stood up ; arise thou also, thou sword. I am waking you
(the patient) up by crying in your ear, I conjure you by the
name of Dhanvantari l to rise carefully."
Similar meaningless charms are employed for curing the
bites of scorpions and for exorcising bad spirits and the
influence of the evil eye.
The Gaurias will eat almost all kinds of flesh, including
pigs, rats, fowls and jackals, but they abstain from beef.
1 The Celestial Physician.
26
GA URIA
PART II
Their social status is so low that practically no caste will
take food or water from them, but they are not considered
as impure. They are great drunkards, and are easily known
by their damrus or rattles and the baskets in which they
carry their snakes.
GHASIA
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i . Description of the caste. 5 . Religion and superstitions.
2. Subcastes. 6. Occupation.
3. Exogamous sections. 7. Social customs.
4. Marriage. 8. Ghasias and Kdyasths.
Ghasia, Sais.1 — A low Dravidian caste of Orissa and 1. Descrip-
Central India who cut grass, tend horses and act as village tj°enc°ste
musicians at festivals. In the Central Provinces they
numbered 43,000 in 191 1, residing principally in the
Chhattlsgarh Division and the adjoining Feudatory States.
The word Ghasia is derived from g/tds (grass) and means a
grass-cutter. Sir H. Risley states that they are a fishing
and cultivating caste of Chota Nagpur and Central India, who
attend as musicians at weddings and festivals and also perform
menial offices of all kinds.2 In Bastar they are described as
an inferior caste who serve as horse-keepers and also make
and mend brass vessels. They dress like the Maria Gonds
and subsist partly by cultivation and partly by labour.3
Dr. Ball describes them in Singhbhum as gold-washers and
musicians. Colonel Dalton speaks of them as " An extra-
ordinary tribe, foul parasites of the Central Indian hill
tribes and submitting to be degraded even by them. If
the Chandals of the Puranas, though descended from the
union of a Brahmini and a Sudra, are the lowest of the low,
the Ghasias are Chandals and the people further south
who are called Pariahs are no doubt of the same distin-
guished lineage." 4
1 This article is compiled partly from 3 Central Provinces Gazetteer ( 1 87 1 ),
papers by Munshis Pyare Lai Misra and p. 273.
Kanhya Lai of the Gazetteer Office. 4 Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal,
2 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. p. 325.
Ghasi.
27
2S GHASIA part
a. sub- The Ghasias generally, however, appear now to be a
harmless caste of labourers without any specially degrading
or repulsive traits. In Mandla their social position and
customs are much on a par with those of the Gonds, from
whom a considerable section of the caste seems to be
derived. In other localities they have probably immigrated
into the Central Provinces from Bundelkhand and Orissa.
Among their subdivisions the following may be mentioned :
the Udia, who cure raw hides and do the work of sweepers and
are generally looked down on; the Dingkuchia, who castrate
cattle and ponies ; the Dolboha, who carry dhoolies or
palanquins ; the Nagarchi, who derive their name from
the nakkara or kettle-drum and are village musicians ; the
Khaltaha or those from Raipur ; the Laria, belonging to
Chhattlsgarh, and the Uria of the Uriya country ; the
Ramgarhia, who take their name from Ramgarh in the Mandla
District, and the Mahobia from Mahoba in Bundelkhand.
Those members of the caste who work as grooms have
become a separate group and call themselves Sais, dropping
the name of Ghasia. They rank higher than the others
and marry among themselves, and some of them have
become cultivators or work as village watchmen. They
are also called Thanwar by the Gonds, the word meaning
stable or stall. In Chota Nagpur a number of Ghasias have
become tailors and are tending to form a separate subcaste
under the name of Darzi.
3. Exo- Their septs are of the usual low-caste type, being named
fectionl after animals> inanimate objects or nicknames of ancestors.
One of them is Panch-biha or ' He who had five wives,'
and another Kul-dlp or ' The sept of the lamp.' Members
of this sept will stop eating if a lamp goes out. The Janta
Ragda take their name from the mill for grinding corn and
will not have a grinding-mill in their houses. They say
that a female ancestor was delivered of a child when sitting
near a grinding-mill and this gave the sept its name. Three
septs are named after other castes : Kumharbans, descended
from a potter ; Gandbans, from a Ganda ; and Luha, from a
Lohar or blacksmith, and which names indicate that members
of these castes have been admitted into the community.
Marriage is forbidden within the sept, but is permitted
ii MARRIAGE 29
between the children of brothers and sisters. Those 4. Mar-
members of the caste who have become Kablrpanthis may nage'
also marry with the others. Marriages may be infant or
adult. A girl who is seduced by a member of the caste
is married to him by a simple ceremony, the couple stand-
ing before a twig of the umar1 tree, while some women
sprinkle turmeric over them. If a girl goes wrong with an
outsider she is permanently expelled and a feast is exacted
from her parents. The boy and his relatives go to the girl's
house for the betrothal, and a present of various articles of
food and dress is made to her family, apparently as a sort
of repayment for their expenditure in feeding and clothing
her. A gift of clothes is also made to her mother, called
dudh-sari, and is regarded as the price of the milk with
which the mother nourished the girl in her infancy. A
goat, which forms part of the bride-price, is killed and eaten
by the parties and their relatives. The binding portion of
the marriage is the bhdnwar ceremony, at which the couple
walk seven times round the marriage -post, holding each
other by the little fingers. When they return to the bride-
groom's house, a cock or a goat is killed and the head
buried before the door ; the foreheads of the couple are
marked with its blood and they go inside the house. If
the bride is not adult, she goes home after a stay of two
days, and the gauna or going-away ceremony is performed
when she finally leaves her parents' house. The remarriage
of widows is permitted, no restriction being imposed on the
widow in her choice of a second husband. Divorce is per-
mitted for infidelity on the part of the wife.
Children are named on the sixth day after birth, special 5. Reii-
names being given to avert ill-luck, while they sometimes ^p^stl
go through the ceremony of selling a baby for five cowries tions.
in order to disarm the jealousy of the godlings who are
hostile to children. They will not call any person by name
when they think an owl is within hearing, as they believe
that the owl will go on repeating the name and that this
will cause the death of the person bearing it. The caste
generally revere Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, whose
altar stands near the cooking place, and the goddess Devi.
1 Flats glomerata.
3o GHASIA part
Once in three years they offer a white goat to Bura Deo,
the great god of the Gonds. They worship the sickle, the
implement of their trade, at Dasahra, and offer cocoanuts
and liquor to Ghasi Sadhak, a godling who lives by the peg
to which horses are tied in the stable. He is supposed to
protect the horse from all kinds of diseases. At Dasahra
they also worship the horse. Their principal festival is
called Karma and falls on the eleventh day of the second
half of Bhadon (August). On this day they bring a branch
of a tree from the forest and worship it with betel, areca-
nut and other offerings. All through the day and night the
men and women drink and dance together. They both
burn and bury the dead, throwing the ashes into water.
For the first three days after a death they set out rice and
pulse and water in a leaf cup for the departed spirit. They
believe that the ghosts of the dead haunt the living, and to
cure a person possessed in this manner they beat him with
shoes and then bury 'an effigy of the ghost outside the
village.
6. Occupa- The Ghasias usually work as grass-cutters and grooms
to horses, and some of them make loom-combs for weavers.
These last are looked down upon and called Madarchawa.
They make the kuncJi or brushes for the loom, like the
Kuchbandhias, from the root of the babai or khas-khas grass,
and the rachh or comb for arranging the threads on the
loom from the stalks of the bharru grass. Other Ghasias
make ordinary hair combs from the kathai, a grass which
grows densely on the borders of streams and springs. The
frame of the comb is of bamboo and the teeth are fixed in
either by thread or wire, the price being one pice (farthing)
in the former case and two in the latter.
7. Social The caste admit outsiders by a disgusting ceremony
in which the candidate is shaved with urine and forced to
eat a mixture of cowdung, basil leaves, dub1 grass and
water in which a piece of silver or gold has been dipped.
The women do not wear the choli or breast-cloth nor the
nose-ring, and in some localities they do not have spangles
on the forehead. Women are tattooed on various parts of
the body before marriage with the idea of enhancing their
1 Cynodon dactylon.
tion
customs.
ii GHASIAS AND KAYASTHS 31
beauty, and sometimes tattooing is resorted to for curing
a pain in some joint or for rheumatism. A man who is
temporarily put out of caste is shaved on readmission, and
in the case of a woman a lock of her hair is cut. To touch
a dead cow is one of the offences entailing temporary
excommunication. They employ a Brahman only to fix
the dates of their marriages. The position of the caste is
very low and in some places they are considered as impure.
The Ghasias are very poor, and a saying about them is
' GJiasia ki jindagi hasia,' or ' The Ghasia is supported by his
sickle,' the implement used for cutting grass. The Ghasias
are perhaps the only caste in the Central Provinces outside
those commonly returning themselves as Mehtar, who con-
sent to do scavenger's work in some localities.
The caste have a peculiar aversion to Kayasths and 8. Ghasias
will not take food or water from them nor touch a Kayasth's kayasths
bedding or clothing. They say that they would not serve
a Kayasth as horse-keeper, but if by any chance one of
them was reduced to doing so, he at any rate would not
hold his master's stirrup for him to mount. To account for
this hereditary enmity they tell the following story :
On one occasion the son of the Kayasth minister of the
Raja of Ratanpur went out for a ride followed by a Ghasia
sais (groom). The boy was wearing costly ornaments, and
the Ghasia's cupidity being excited, he attacked and murdered
the child, stripped him of his ornaments and threw the body
down a well. The murder was discovered and in revenge
the minister killed every Ghasia, man, woman or child that
he could lay his hands on. The only ones who escaped
were two pregnant women who took refuge in the hut of a
Ganda and were sheltered by him. To them were born a
boy and a girl and the present Ghasias are descended from
the pair. Therefore a Ghasia will eat even the leavings of a
Ganda but will accept nothing from the hands of a Kayasth.
This story is an instance of the process which has been
called the transplantation of myth. Sir H. Risley tells a
similar legend of the Ghasias of Orissa,1 but in their case
it was a young Kayasth bridegroom who was killed, and
before dying he got leave from his murderers to write a
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Ghasi.
GHOSI part
5"
letter to his relatives informing them of his death, on con-
dition that he said nothing as to its manner. But in the
letter he disclosed the murder, and the Ghasias, who could
not read, were duly brought to justice. In the Ratanpur
story as reported from Bilaspur it was stated that " Some-
how, even from down the well, the minister's son managed
to get a letter sent to his father telling him of the murder."
And this sentence seems sufficient to establish the fact that
the Central Provinces story has merely been imported from
Orissa and slightly altered to give it local colour. The real
reason for the traditional aversion felt by the Ghasias and
other low castes for the Kayasths will be discussed in the
article on that caste.
Ghosi.1 — A caste of herdsmen belonging to northern
India and found in the Central Provinces in Saugor and
other Districts of the Jubbulpore and Nerbudda Divisions.
In 191 1 they numbered 10,000 persons in this Province
out of a strength of about 60,000 in India. The name
is said to be derived from the Sanskrit root ghush, to
shout, the word ghosha meaning one who shouts as he
herds his cattle. A noticeable fact about the caste is that,
while in Upper India they are all Muhammadans — and it
is considered to be partly on account of the difference in
religion that they have become differentiated into a
separate caste from the Ahlrs — in the Central Provinces
they are nearly all Hindus and show no trace of Muhamma-
dan practices. A few Muhammadan Ghosis are found
in Nimar and some Muhammadans who call themselves
Gaddi in Mandla are believed to be Ghosis. And as the
Ghosis of the northern Districts of the Central Provinces must
in common with the bulk of the population be descended
from immigrants from northern India, it would appear that
they must have changed their religion, or rather abandoned
one to which their ancestors had only been imperfectly
proselytised, when it was no longer the dominant faith of the
locality in which they lived. Sir D. Ibbetson says that in the
Punjab the name Ghosi is used only for Muhammadans, and
1 This article is based partly on a paper by Khan Bahadur Imdad Ali,
Pleader, Damoh.
ii GHOSI 33
is often applied to any cowherd or milkman of that religion,
whether Gujar, Ahir or of any other caste, just as Goala is used
for a Hindu cowherd. It is said that Hindus will buy pure
milk from the Musalman Ghosi, but will reject it if there is
any suspicion of its having been watered by the latter, as
they must not drink water at his hands.1 But in Berar
Brahmans will now buy milk and curds from Muhammadan
milkmen. Mr. Crooke remarks that most of the Ghosis are
Ahirs who have been converted to Islam. To the east of the
United Provinces they claim a Gujar origin, and here they
will not eat beef themselves nor take food with any Muham-
madans who consume it. They employ Brahmans to fix
the auspicious times for marriage and other ceremonies.
The Ghosis of Lucknow have no other employment but the
keeping of milch cattle, chiefly buffaloes of all kinds, and they
breed buffaloes.2 This is the case also in Saugor, where
the Ghosis are said to rank below ordinary Ahirs because
they breed and tend buffaloes instead of cows. Those of
Narsinghpur, however, are generally not herdsmen at all but
ordinary cultivators. In northern India, owing to the large
number of Muhammadans who, other things being equal,
would prefer to buy their milk and ghi from co-religionists,
there would be an opening for milkmen professing this faith,
and on the facts stated above it may perhaps be surmised
that the Ghosi caste came into existence to fill the position.
Or they may have been forcibly converted as a number of
Ahirs in Berar were forcibly converted to Islam, and still
call themselves Muhammadans, though they can scarcely
repeat the Kalma and only go to mosque once a year.3
But when some of the Ghosis migrated into the Central
Provinces, they would find, in the absence of a Musalman
clientele, that their religion, instead of being an advantage,
was a positive drawback to them, as Hindus would be
reluctant to buy milk from a Muhammadan who might
be suspected of having mixed it with water ; and it would
appear that they have relapsed naturally into Hinduism, all
traces of their profession of Islam being lost. Even so, how-
1 Punjab Ce>isus Report (1881), Ghosi.
para. 272.
2 Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. 3 From a note by Mr, Hira Lai.
VOL. Ill D
34 GHOSI part
ever, in Narsinghpur they have had to abandon their old calling
and become ordinary cultivators, while in Saugor, perhaps
on account of their doubtful status, they are restricted
to keeping buffaloes. If this suggestion turned out to be
well founded, it would be an interesting instance of a
religion being changed to secure a professional advantage.
But it can only be considered as a guess. A parallel to the
disadvantage of being unable to water their milk without
rendering it impure, which attaches to the Ghosis of the
Punjab, may be adduced in the case of the Telis of the small
town of Multai in Betul District. Here the dairyman's
business is for some reason in the hands of Telis (oilmen) and
it is stated that from every Teli who engages in it a solemn
oath is exacted that he will not put water in the milk, and
any violation of this would be punished by expulsion from
caste. Because if the Hindus once found that they had been
rendered impure by drinking water touched by so low a
caste as the Telis, they would decline any longer to purchase
milk from them. It is curious that the strict rule of
ceremonial purity which obtains in the case of water has
apparently no application to milk.
In the Central Provinces the Ghosis have two subcastes,
the Havelia or those living in open wheat country, and the
Birchheya or residents of jungle tracts. In Saugor they have
another set of divisions borrowed from the Ahirs, and here
the Muhammadan Ghosis are said to be a separate subcaste,
though practically none were returned at the census. They
have the usual system of exogamous groups with territorial
names derived from those of villages. At their marriages
the couple walk six times round the sacred post, reserving
the seventh round, if the bride is a child, to be performed
subsequently when she goes to her husband. But if she is
adult, the full number may be completed, the ceremony known
as lot pata coming between the sixth and seventh rounds.
In this the bride sits first on the right of her husband and
then changes seats so as to be on his left ; and she is thus
considered to become joined to her husband as the left part
of his body, which the Hindus consider the wife to be,
holding the same belief as that expressed in Genesis. After
this the bride takes some child of the household into her lap
ii GOLAR 35
and then makes it over to the bridegroom saying, ' Take care
of the baby while I go and do the household work.' This
ceremony, which has been recorded also of the Kapus in
Chanda, is obviously designed as an auspicious omen that the
marriage may be blessed with children. Like other castes of
their standing, the Ghosis permit polygamy, divorce and the
remarriage of widows, but the practice of taking two wives is
rare. The dead are burnt, with the exception that the bodies
of young children whose ears have not been pierced and of
persons dying of smallpox are buried. Children usually have
their ears pierced when they are three or four years old. A
corpse must not be taken to the pyre at night, as it is thought
that in that case it would be born blind in the next birth.
The caste have bards and genealogists of their own who are
known as Patia. In Damoh the Ghosis are mainly cart-
drivers and cultivators and very few of them sell milk. In
Nimar there are some Muhammadan Ghosis who deal in
milk. Their women are not secluded and may be known by
the number of little rings worn in the ear after the Muham-
madan custom. Like the Ahirs, the Ghosis are considered
to be somewhat stupid. They call themselves Ghosi Thakur,
as they claim to be Rajputs, and outsiders also sometimes
address them as Thakur. But in Saugor and Damoh these
aspirations to Kshatriya rank are so widespread that when
one person asks another his caste the usual form of the
question is ' What Thakur are you ? ' The questioner thus
politely assumes that his companion must be a Rajput of
some sort and leaves it to him to admit or deny the soft
impeachment. Another form of this question is to say
' What dudh, or milk, are you ? '
Golar,1 Gollam, Golla, Gola, Golkar. — The great
shepherd caste of the Telugu country, which numbers nearly
i-^r million of persons in Madras and Hyderabad. In the
Central Provinces there were under 3000 Golars in 1901,
and they were returned principally from the Balaghat and
Seoni Districts. But 2500 Golkars, who belonged to Chanda
and were classified under Ahirs in 1901, may, in view of the
1 This article is compiled from Office, and Madho Rao, Deputy In-
papers by Kanhya Lai of the Gazetteer spector of Schools, Balaghat.
36
GOLAR
information now available, be considered to belong to the
Golar caste. Some 2000 Golars were enumerated in Berar.
They are a nomadic people and frequent Balaghat, owing to
the large area of grazing land found in the District. The
caste come from the south and speak a dialect of Canarese.
Hindus liken the conversation of two Golars to two cocks
crowing at each other.1 They seem to have no subcastes
except that in Chanda the Yera and Nana, or black and
white Golkars, are distinguished. Marriage is regulated by
the ordinary system of exogamous groups, but no meaning
can be assigned to the names of these. In Seoni they say
that their group-names are the same as those of the Gonds,
and that they are related to this great tribe ; but though
both are no doubt of the same Dravidian stock, there is no
reason for supposing any closer affinity to exist, and the
statement may be explained by the fact that Golars frequently
reside in Gond villages in the forest; and in accordance with
a practice commonly found among village communities the
fiction of relationship has grown up. The children of
brothers and sisters are allowed to marry, but not those of
two sisters, the reason stated for this prohibition being that
during the absence of the mother her sister nurses her
children ; the children of sisters are therefore often foster
brothers and sisters, and this is considered as equivalent to
the real relationship. But the marriage of a brother's son
to a sister's daughter is held, as among the Gonds, to be a
most suitable union. The adult marriage of girls involves
no stigma, and the practice of serving for a wife is sometimes
followed. Weddings may not be held during the months of
Shrawan, Bhadon, Kunwar and Pus. The marriage altar is
made of dried cowdung plastered over with mud, in honour
perhaps of the animal which affords the Golars their liveli-
hood. The clothes of the bridegroom and bride are knotted
together and they walk five times round the altar. In
Bhandara the marriages of Golars are celebrated both at
the bride's house and the bridegroom's. The bridegroom
rides on a horse, and on arrival at the marriage-shed is
presented by his future mother-in-law with a cup of milk.
The bride and bridegroom sit on a platform together, and
1 Balaghat District Gazetteer (C. E. Low), p. 80.
ii GOLAR 37
each gets up and sits down nine times, whoever accomplishes
this first being considered to have won. The bridegroom
then takes the bride's little finger in his hand and they walk
nine times round the platform. He afterwards falls at the
girl's feet, and standing up carries her inside the house,
where they eat together out of one dish. After three days
the party proceeds to the bridegroom's house, where the
same ceremonies are gone through. Here the family barbers
of the bride and bridegroom take the couple up in their arms
and dance, holding them, and all the party dance too. The
remarriage of widows is permitted, a sum of Rs. 25 being
usually paid to the parents of the woman by her second
husband. Divorce may be effected at the option of either
party, and documents are usually drawn up on both sides.
The Golars worship Mahadeo and have a special deity,
Hularia, who protects their cattle from disease and wild
beasts. A clay image of Hularia is erected outside the
village every five or ten years and goats are offered to it.
Each head of a family is supposed to offer on the first
occasion two goats, and on the second and subsequent ones,
five, seven, nine and twelve goats respectively. But when a
man dies his son starts afresh with an offering of two. The
flesh of the animals offered is consumed by the caste-fellows.
The name Hularia Deo has some connection with the Holias,
a low Telugu caste of leather-workers to whom the Golars
appear to be related, as they have the same family names.
When a Golar dies a plate of cooked rice is laid on his body
and then carried to the burning-^v^. The Holias belonging
to the same section go with it, and before arrival the plate
of rice is laid on the ground and the Holias eat it. The
Golars have various superstitions, and on Saturdays, Sundays
and Mondays they will not give salt, fire, milk or water to
any one. They usually burn the dead, the corpse being
laid with the head to the south, though in some localities
the Hindu custom of placing the head to the north has
been adopted. They employ Brahmans for religious and
ceremonial purposes. The occupation of the caste is to
breed and tend buffaloes and cattle, and they also deal in
live-stock, and sell milk, curds and ghl. They were formerly
addicted to dacoity and cattle-theft. They have a caste
38 GOLAR part ii
panckayat, the head of which is designated as Mokasi.
Formerly the Mokasi received Rs. I 5 on the marriage of a
widow, and Rs. 5 when a person temporarily outcasted was
readmitted to social intercourse, but these payments are now
only occasionally made. The caste drink liquor and eat
flesh, including pigs and fowls, but not beef. They employ
Brahmans for ceremonial purposes, but their social status is
low and they are practically on a level with the Dravidian
tribes. The dialect of Canarese spoken by the Golars is
known as Golari, Holia or Komtau, and is closely related to
the form which that language assumes in Bijapur ; 1 but to
outsiders they now speak Hindi.
1 Linguistic Survey of India, vol. iv. Dravidian Language, p. 386.
GOND
[Bibliography. — The most important account of the Gond tribe is that con-
tained in the Rev. Stephen Hislop's Papers on the Aboriginal Tribes of the
Central Provinces, published after his death by Sir R. Temple in 1866. Mr.
Hislop recorded the' legend of Lingo, of which an abstract has been reproduced.
Other notices of the Gonds are contained in the ninth volume of General
Cunningham's Archaeological Survey Reports, Sir C. Grant's Central Provinces
Gazetteer of 1S71 (Introduction), Colonel Ward's Manilla Settlement Report
(186S), Colonel Lucie Smith's Chanda Settlement Report (1870), and Mr. C.
W. Montgomerie's Chhindwara Settlement Report (1900). An excellent mono-
graph on the Bastar Gonds was contributed by Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath
Superintendent of the State, and other monographs by Mr. A. E. Nelson, C.S.
Mandla ; Mr. Ganga Prasad Khatri, Forest Divisional Officer, Betul ; Mr. J
Langhorne, Manager, Ahiri zamindari, Chanda ; Mr. R. S. Thiikur, tahslldar
Balaghat ; and Mr. Din Daya.1, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Nandgaon State
Papers were also furnished by the Rev. A. Wood of Chanda ; the Rev. H. J
Molony, Mandla; and Major W. D. Sutherland, I. M.S., Saugor. Notes were
also collected by the writer in Mandla. Owing to the inclusion of many small
details from the different papers it has not been possible to acknowledge them
separately.]
Numbers and distribution.
Gondwana.
Derivation of name and origin
of the Gonds.
History of the Gonds.
Mythical traditions. Story of
Lingo.
Legend of the creation.
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
(a) Origin and History
7
Creation of the Gonds and their
imprisonment by Mahddeo.
8. The birth a?id history of Lingo.
9. Death and resurrection of
Lingo.
: o. He releases the Gonds shut tip
in the cave and constitutes
the tribe.
1 1.
12.
13-
Subcastes.
Exogamy.
Totemism.
(b) Tribal Subdivisions
14. Connection of totemism with
the e~ods.
(c) Marriage Customs
15- Prohibitions on intermarriage, 17. Marriage. Arrangement of
and unions of relations. matches.
16. Irregular marriages. 18. The marriage ceremony.
39
4o
GOND
PART
(c) Marriage Customs — continued
19-
20.
.2 !.
22.
27.
23. Serving for a wife.
24. Widow remarriage.
25. Divorce.
26. Polygamy.
Wedding expenditure.
Special customs.
Taking omens.
Marriage by capture. Weep-
ing and hiding.
(d) Birth and Pregnancy
Menstruation. 29. Procedure at a birth.
28. Superstitions about pregnancy 30. Names.
and childbirth. 31. Superstitions about children.
(e) Funeral Rites
32-
33-
34-
35-
40.
41.
42.
43-
44-
45-
46.
47-
Disposal of the dead. 36.
Funeral ceremony. 37.
Mourning and offerings to the 38.
dead.
Memorial stones to the dead. 39.
House abandoned after a death.
Bringing back the soul.
The dead absorbed in Bura
Deo.
Belief in a future life.
(/) Religion
Nature of the Gond religion.
The gods.
Tribal gods, and their place of
residence.
Household gods.
Nag Deo.
Narayan Deo.
Bura I 'i'i>.
Charms and magic.
Omens.
(g) Appearance and Character
57. Physical type.
58. Character.
59. Shyness and ignorance.
60. Villages and houses.
6 1 . Clothes and ornaments.
62. Far-piercing.
63. Hair.
64. Bathing and washi?7g clothes.
65. Tattooing.
66. Special system of tattooing.
67. Branding.
68. Food.
69. Liquor.
48. Agricultural superstitions.
49. Magical or religious observ-
ances in fishing and hunting.
5 o. Witchcraft.
5 1 . Human sacrifice.
52. Cannibalism.
53. Festivals. The new crops.
54. The Holi Festival.
5 5. The Mcghnath swinging rite.
56. The Karma and other rites.
and Social Rules and Customs
70. Admission of outsiders and
sexual morality.
7 1 . Common sleeping-houses.
72. Methods of greeting and ob-
servances betiveen relatives.
7 3 . The caste panchdyat and social
offences.
7 4 . Caste penalty feasts.
75. Special purification ceremony.
76. Dancing.
77. Songs.
78. Language.
79. Cultivation.
80. Patch cultivation.
(h) Occupation
8 1 . Hunting:
Traps for animals.
ii NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION 41
{ii) Origin and History
Gond. — The principal tribe of the Dravidian family, and 1. Num-
perhaps the most important of the non-Aryan or forest tribes distn'bu-
in India. In 191 1 the Gonds were three million strong, ti?°-
and they are increasing rapidly. The Kolis of western
India count half a million persons more than the Gonds,
and if the four related tribes Kol, Munda, Ho, and Santal
were taken together, they would be stronger by about the
same amount. But if historical importance be considered
as well as numbers, the first place should be awarded to the
Gonds. Of the whole caste the Central Provinces contain.
2,300,000 persons, Central India, and Bihar and Orissa
about 235,000 persons each, and they are returned in small
numbers from Assam, Madras and Hyderabad. The 50,000
Gonds in Assam are no doubt immigrant labourers on the
tea-gardens.
In the Central Provinces the Gonds occupy two main 2. Gond-
tracts. The first is the wide belt of broken hill and forest wana'
country in the centre of the Province, which forms the
Satpura plateau, and is mainly comprised in the Chhindwara,
Betul, Seoni and Mandla Districts, with portions of several
others adjoining them. And the second is the still wider
and more inaccessible mass of hill ranges extending south
of the Chhattisgarh plain, and south - west down to the
Godavari, which includes portions of the three Chhattisgarh
Districts, the Bastar and Ranker States, and a great part of
Chanda. In Mandla the Gonds form nearly half the popu-
lation, and in Bastar about two-thirds. There is, however,
no District or State of the Province which does not contain
some Gonds, and it is both on account of their numbers and
the fact that Gond dynasties possessed a great part of its
area that the territory of the Central Provinces was formerly
known as Gondwana, or the country of the Gonds.1 The
existing importance of the Central Provinces dates from
recent years, for so late as 1853 it was stated before the
Royal Asiatic Society that " at present the Gondwana high-
1 The country of Gondwana pro- Nerbudda valley to the south and
perly included the Satpura plateau and west.
a section of the Nagpur plain and
42 GOND part
lands and jungles comprise such a large tract of unexplored
country that they form quite an oasis in our maps." So
much of this lately unexplored country as is British territory
is now fairly well served by railways, traversed almost
throughout by good roads, and provided with village schools
at distances of five to ten miles apart, even in the wilder
tracts.
3. Deriva- The derivation of the word Gond is uncertain. It is the
110,1 of , name eiven to the tribe by the Hindus or Muhammadans,
name and "»■«"- fc>,,^' /
origin of as their own name for themselves is Koitur or Koi. General
* Cunningham considered that the name Gond probably came
from Gauda, the classical term for part of the United
Provinces and Bengal. A Benares inscription relating to
one of the Chedi kings of Tripura or Tewar (near Jubbul-
pore) states that he was of the Haihaya tribe, who lived on
the borders of the Nerbudda in the district of the Western
Gauda in the Province of Malwa. Three or four other
inscriptions also refer to the kings of Gauda in the same
locality. Gauda, however, was properly and commonly
used as trie name of part of Bengal. There is no evidence
beyond a few doubtful inscriptions of its having ever been
applied to any part of the Central Provinces. The principal
passage in which General Cunningham identifies Gauda with
the Central Provinces is that in which the king of Gauda
came to the assistance of the ruler of Malwa against the
king of Kanauj, elder brother of the great Harsha Vardhana,
and slew the latter king in A.D. 605. But Mr. V. A. Smith
holds that Gauda in this passage refers to Bengal and not
to the Central Provinces ; * and General Cunningham's
argument on the locality of Gauda is thus rendered extremely
dubious, and with it his derivation of the name Gond. In
fact it seems highly improbable that the name of a large
tribe should have been taken from a term so little used and
known in this special application. Though in the Imperial
Gazetteer 2 the present writer reproduced General Cunning-
ham's derivation of the term Gond, it was there characterised
as speculative, and in the light of the above remarks now
seems highly improbable. Mr. Hislop considered that the
name Gond was a form of Kond, as he spelt the name of
1 Early History of India, 3rd ed. p. 337. 2 Art Gondvvana.
ii DERIVA TION OF NAME 43
the Khond tribe. He pointed out that k and g are inter-
changeable. Thus Gotalghar, the empty house where the
village young men sleep, comes from Kotal, a led horse, and
ghar, a house. Similarly, Koikopal, the name of a Gond
subtribe who tend cattle, is from Koi or Gond, and gopal,
a cowherd. The name by which the Gonds call themselves is
Koi or Koitur, while the Khonds call themselves Ku, which
word Sir G. Grierson considers to be probably related to the
Gond name Koi. Further, he states that the Telugu people
call the Khonds, Gond or Kod (Kor). General Cunningham
points out that the word Gond in the Central Provinces is
frequently or, he says, usually pronounced Gaur, which is
practically the same sound as god, and with the change
of G to K would become Kod. Thus the two names Gond
and Kod, by which the Telugu people know the Khonds,
are practically the same as the names Gond and God of the
Gonds in the Central Provinces, though Sir G. Grierson does
not mention the change of g to k in his account of either
language. It seems highly probable that the designation
Gond was given to the tribe by the Telugus. The Gonds
speak a Dravidian language of the same family as Tamil,
Canarese and Telugu, and therefore it is likely that they
come from the south into the Central Provinces. Their
route may have been up the Godavari river into Chanda ;
from thence up the Indravati into Bastar and the hills south
and east of the Chhattlsgarh plain ; and up the Wardha and
Wainganga to the Districts of the Satpura Plateau. In
Chanda, where a Gond dynasty reigned for some centuries,
they would be in contact with the Telugus, and here they
may have got their name of Gond, and carried it with them
into the north and east of the Province. As already seen,
the Khonds are called Gond by the Telugus, and Kandh by
the Uriyas. The Khonds apparently came up more towards
the east into Ganjam and Kalahandi. Here the name of
Gond or Kod, given them by the Telugus, may have been
modified into Kandh by the Uriyas, and from the two
names came the English corruption of Khond. The Khond
and Gondi languages are now dissimilar. Still they present
certain points of resemblance, and though Sir G. Grierson
does not discuss their connection, it appears from his highly
44
GOND part
interesting genealogical tree of the Dravidian languages
that Khond or Kui and Gondi are closely connected.
These two languages, and no others, occupy an intermediate
position between the two great branches sprung from the
original Dravidian language, one of which is mainly repre-
sented by Telugu and the other by Tamil, Canarese and
Malayalam.1 Gondi and Khond are shown in the centre
as the connecting link between the two great branches.
Gondi is more nearly related to Tamil and Khond to
Telugu. On the Telugu side, moreover, Khond approaches
most closely to Kolami, which is a member of the Telugu
branch. The Kolams are a tribe of Wardha and Berar,
sometimes considered an offshoot of the Gonds ; at any
rate, it seems probable that they came from southern India
by the same route as the Gonds. Thus the Khond lan-
guage is intermediate between Gondi and the Kolami dialect
of Wardha and Berar, though the Kolams live west of the
Gonds and the Khonds east. And a fairly close relation-
ship between the three languages appears to be established.
Hence the linguistic evidence appears to afford strong sup-
port to the view that the Khonds and Gonds may originally
have been one tribe. Further, Mr. Hislop points out that a
word for god, pen, is common to the Gonds and Khonds ;
and the Khonds have a god called Bura Pen, who might
be the same as Bura Deo, the great god of the Gonds.
Mr. Hislop found Kodo Pen and Pharsi Pen as Gond gods,2
while Pen or Pennu is the regular word for god among the
Khonds. This evidence seems to establish a probability
that the Gonds and Khonds were originally one tribe in the
south of India, and that they obtained separate names and
languages since they left their original home for the north.
The fact that both of them speak languages of the Dravidian
family, whose home is in southern India, makes it probable
that the two tribes originally belonged there, and migrated
north into the Central Provinces and Orissa. This hypothesis
is supported by the traditions of the Gonds.
4. History As stated in the article on Kol, it is known that Rajput
Gollds. dynasties were ruling in various parts of the Central Provinces
1 Linguistic Survey, Munda and Dravidian Languages, iv. p. 285.
2 Notes, p. 15.
ii HISTORY OF THE GONDS 45
from about the sixth to the twelfth centuries. They then
disappear, and there is a blank till the fourteenth century or
later, when Gond kingdoms are found established at Kherla
in Betul, at Deogarh in Chhlndwara, at Garha-Mandla,1 in-
cluding the Jubbulpore country, and at Chanda, fourteen
miles from Bhandak. It seems clear, then, that the Hindu
dynasties were subverted by the Gonds after the Muham-
madan invasions of northern India had weakened or de-
stroyed the central powers of the Hindus, and prevented
any assistance being afforded to the outlying settlements.
There is some reason to suppose that the immigration of
the Gonds into the Central Provinces took place after the
establishment of these Hindu kingdoms, and not before,
as is commonly held.2 But the point must at present be con-
sidered doubtful. There is no reason however to doubt that
the Gonds came from the south through Chanda and Bastar.
During the fourteenth century and afterwards the Gonds
established dynasties at the places already mentioned in the
Central Provinces. For two or three centuries the greater
part of the Province was governed by Gond kings. Of
their method of government in Narsinghpur, Sleeman said :
" Under these Gond Rajas the country seems for the most
part to have been distributed among feudatory chiefs, bound
to attend upon the prince at his capital with a stipulated
number of troops, to be employed wherever their services
might be required, but to furnish little or no revenue in
money. These chiefs were Gonds, and the countries they
held for the support of their families and the payment of
their troops and retinue little more than wild jungles. The
Gonds seem not to have been at home in open country, and
as from the sixteenth century a peaceable penetration of
Hindu cultivators into the best lands of the Province
assumed large dimensions, the Gonds gradually retired to
the hill ranges on the borders of the plains." The head-
quarters of each dynasty at Mandla, Garha, Kherla, Deogarh
and Chanda seem to have been located in a position
strengthened for defence either by a hill or a great river,
and adjacent to an especially fertile plain tract, whose
1 Garha is six miles from Jubbulpore.
2 See article on Kol.
46 GOND part
produce served for the maintenance of the ruler's household
and headquarters establishment. Often the site was on
other sides bordered by dense forest which would afford a
retreat to the occupants in case it fell to an enemy. Strong
and spacious forts were built, with masonry tanks and wells
inside them to provide water, but whether these buildings
were solely the work of the Gonds or constructed with the
assistance of Hindu or Muhammadan artificers is uncertain.
But the Hindu immigrants found Gond government tolerant
and beneficent. Under the easy eventless sway of these
princes the rich country over which they ruled prospered,
its flocks and herds increased, and the treasury filled. So
far back as the fifteenth century we read in Firishta that
the king of Kherla, who, if not a Gond himself, was a king
of the Gonds, sumptuously entertained the Bahmani king and
made him rich offerings, among which were many diamonds,
rubies and pearls. Of the Rani Durgavati of Garha-Mandla,
Sleeman said : " Of all the sovereigns of this dynasty she
lives most in the page of history and in the grateful recol-
lections of the people. She built the great reservoir which
lies close to Jubbulpore, and is called after her Rani Talao
or Queen's pond ; and many other highly useful works were
formed by her about Garha." When the castle of Chaura-
garh was sacked by one of Akbar's generals in 1564, the
booty found, according to Firishta, comprised, independently
of jewels, images of gold and silver and other valuables,
no fewer than a hundred jars of gold coin and a thousand
elephants. Of the Chanda rulers the Settlement officer who
has recorded their history wrote that, " They left, if we
forget the last few years, a well-governed and contented
kingdom, adorned with admirable works of engineering skill
and prosperous to a point which no aftertime has reached.
They have left their mark behind them in royal tombs,
lakes and palaces, but most of all in the seven miles of
battlemented stone wall, too wide now for the shrunk city
of Chanda within it, which stands on the very border-line
between the forest and the plain, having in front the rich
valley of the Wardha river, and behind and up to the city
walls deep forest extending to the east." According to
local tradition the great wall of Chanda and other buildings,
ii HISTORY OF THE GONDS 47
such as the tombs of the Goncl kings and the palace at
Junona, were built by immigrant Telugu masons of the
Kapu or Munurvvar castes. Another excellent rule of the
Gond kings was to give to any one who made a tank a
grant of land free of revenue of the land lying beneath it.
A large number of small irrigation tanks were constructed
under this inducement in the Wainganga valley, and still
remain. But the Gond states had no strength for defence,
as was shown when in the eighteenth century Maratha
chiefs, having acquired some knowledge of the art of war
and military training by their long fighting against the
Mughals, cast covetous eyes on Gondwana. The loose
tribal system, so easy in time of peace, entirely failed to
knit together the strength of the people when united action
was most required, and the plain country fell before the
Maratha armies almost without a struggle. In the strong-
holds, however, of the hilly ranges which hem in every part
of Gondwana the chiefs for long continued to maintain an
unequal resistance, and to revenge their own wrongs by indis-
criminate rapine and slaughter. In such cases the Maratha
plan was to continue pillaging and harassing the Gonds
until they obtained an acknowledgment of their supremacy
and the promise, at least, of an annual tribute. Under this
treatment the hill Gonds soon lost every vestige of civilisa-
tion, and became the cruel, treacherous savages depicted
by travellers of this period. They regularly plundered and
murdered stragglers and small parties passing through the
hills, while from their strongholds, built on the most in-
accessible spurs of the Satpuras, they would make a dash into
the rich plains of Bcrar and the Nerbudda valley, and after
looting and killing all night, return straight across country
to their jungle fortresses, guided by the light of a bonfire on
some commanding peak.1 With the pacification of the
country and the introduction of a strong and equable system
of government by the British, these wild marauders soon
settled down and became the timid and inoffensive labourers
which they now are.
Mr. Hislop took down from a Pardhan priest a Gond 5- Mythical
myth of the creation of the world and the origin of the story of
1 Mr. Standcn's Betid Settlement Report. L,ng0
48
GOND
Gonds, and their liberation from a cave, in which they had
been shut up by Siva, through the divine hero Lingo.
General Cunningham said that the exact position of the
cave was not known, but it would seem to have been some-
where in the Himalayas, as the name Dhawalgiri, which
means a white mountain, is mentioned. The cave, according
to ordinary Gond tradition, was situated in Kachikopa
Lohagarh or the Iron Valley in the Red Hill. It seems
clear from the story itself that its author was desirous of
connecting the Gonds with Hindu mythology, and as Siva's
heaven is in the Himalayas, the name Dhawalgiri, where he
located the cave, may refer to them. It is also said that the
cave was at the source of the Jumna. But in Mr. Hislop's
version the cave where all the Gonds except four were shut
up is not in Kachikopa Lohagarh, as the Gonds commonly
say ; but only the four Gonds who escaped wandered to this
latter place and dwelt there. And the story does not show
that Kachikopa Lohagarh was on Mount Dhawalgiri or the
Himalayas, where it places the cave in which the Gonds
were shut up, or anywhere near them. On the contrary, it
would be quite consonant with Mr. Hislop's version if
Kachikopa Lohagarh were in the Central Provinces. It
may be surmised that in the original Gond legend their
ancestors really were shut up in Kachikopa Lohagarh, but
not by the god Siva. Very possibly the story began with
them in the cave in the Iron Valley in the Red Hill. But
the Hindu who clearly composed Mr. Hislop's version wished
to introduce the god Siva as a principal actor, and he there-
fore removed the site of the cave to the Himalayas. This
appears probable from the story itself, in which, in its
present form, Kachikopa Lohagarh plays no real part, and
only appears because it was in the original tradition and has
to be retained.1 But the Gonds think that their ancestors
were actually shut up in Kachikopa Lohagarh, and one
tradition puts the site at Pachmarhi, whose striking hill
scenery and red soil cleft by many deep and inaccessible
ravines would render it a likely place for the incident.
Another version locates Kachikopa Lohagarh at Darekasa
1 The argument in this section will be followed more easily if read after the
legend in the following paragraphs.
ii LEGEND OF THE CREATION 49
in Bhandara, where there is a place known as Kachagarh or
the iron fort. But Pachmarhi is perhaps the more probable,
as it has some deep caves, which have always been looked
upon as sacred places. The point is of some interest,
because this legend of the cave being in the Himalayas is
adduced as a Gond tradition that their ancestors came from
the north, and hence as supporting the theory of the im-
migration of the Dravidians through the north-west of India.
But if the view now suggested is correct, the story of the
cave being in the Himalayas is not a genuine Gond tradition
at all, but a Hindu interpolation. The only other ground
known to the writer for asserting that the Gonds believed
their ancestors to have come from the north is that they
bury their dead with the feet to the north. There are other
obvious Hindu accretions in the legend, as the saintly
Brahmanic character of Lingo and his overcoming the gods
through fasting and self-torture, and also the fact that Siva
shut up the Gonds in the cave because he was offended
by their dirty habits and bad smell. But the legend still
contains a considerable quantity of true Gond tradition, and
though somewhat tedious, it seems necessary to give an
abridgment of Mr. Hislop's account, with reproduction of
selected passages. Captain Forsyth also made a modernised
poetical version,1 from which one extract is taken. Certain
variations from another form of the legend obtained in
Bastar are included.
In the beginning there was water everywhere, and God 6. Legend
was born in a lotus-leaf and lived alone. One day he °rfe^on
rubbed his arm and from the rubbing made a crow, which
sat on his shoulder ; he also made a crab, which swam out
over the waters. God then ordered the crow to fly over the
world and bring some earth. The crow flew about and
could find no earth, but it saw the crab, which was supporting
itself with one leg resting on the bottom of the sea. The
crow was very tired and perched on the crab's back, which
was soft so that the crow's feet made marks on it, which are
still visible on the bodies of all crabs at present. The crow
asked the crab where any earth could be found. The crab
said that if God would make its body hard it would find
1 Highlands of Central India (Chapman & Hall).
VOL. Ill E
5o GOND part
some earth. God said he would make part of the crab's
body hard, and he made its back hard, as it still remains.
The crab then dived to the bottom of the sea, where it found
Kenchna, the earth-worm. It caught hold of Kenchna by
the neck with its claws and the mark thus made is still to
be seen on the earth-worm's neck. Then the earth-worm
brought up earth out of its mouth and the crab brought this
to God, and God scattered it over the sea and patches of
land appeared. God then walked over the earth and a boil
came on his hand, and out of it Mahadeo and Parvati were-
born.
7. Creation From Mahadeo's urine numerous vegetables began to
Gonds and spring up. Parvati ate of these and became pregnant and
their gave birth to eighteen threshing-floors 1 of Brahman gods
men^'by" and twelve threshing-floors of Gond gods. All the Gonds
Mahadeo. Were scattered over the jungle. They behaved like Gonds
and not like good Hindus, with lamentable results, as
follows : 2
Hither and thither all the Gonds were scattered in the jungle.
Places, hills, and valleys were filled with these Gonds.
Even trees had their Gonds. How did the Gonds conduct themselves ?
Whatever came across them they must needs kill and eat it ;
They made no distinction. If they saw a jackal they killed
And ate it ; no distinction was observed ; they respected not antelope,
sambhar and the like.
They made no distinction in eating a sow, a quail, a pigeon,
A crow, a kite, an adjutant, a vulture,
A lizard, a frog, a beetle, a cow, a calf, a he- and she-buffalo,
Rats, bandicoots, squirrels — all these they killed and ate.
So began the Gonds to do. They devoured raw and ripe things ;
They did not bathe for six months together ;
They did not wash their faces properly, even on dunghills they would
fall down and remain.
Such were the Gonds born in the beginning. A smell was spread over
the jungle
When the Gonds were thus disorderly behaved ; they became disagree-
able to Mahadeva,
Who said : " The caste of the Gonds is very bad ;
I will not preserve them ; they will ruin my hill Dhawalgiri."
Mahadeo then determined to get rid of the Gonds. With
this view he invited them all to a meeting. When they sat
1 Deo-khulla or threshing-floor of the gods. See section on Religion.
2 Passage from Mr. Hislop's version.
ii THE BIRTH AND HISTORY OF LINGO 51
down Mahadeo made a squirrel from the rubbings of his
body and let it loose in the middle of the Gonds. All the
Gonds at once got up and began to chase it, hoping for a
meal. They seized sticks and stones and clods of earth, and
their unkempt hair flew in the wind. The squirrel dodged
about and ran away, and finally, directed by Mahadeo, ran
into a large cave with all the Gonds after it. Mahadeo then
rolled a large stone to the mouth of the cave and shut up
all the Gonds in it. Only four remained outside, and they
fled away to Kachikopa Lohagarh, or the Iron Cave in the
Red Hill, and lived there. Meanwhile Parvati perceived
that the smell of the Gonds, which had pleased her, had
vanished from Dhawalgiri. She desired it to be restored
and commenced a devotion. For six months she fasted and
practised austerities. Bhagwan (God) was swinging in a
swing. He was disturbed by Parvati's devotion. He sent
Narayan (the sun) to see who was fasting. Narayan came and
found Parvati and asked her what she wanted. She said that
she missed her Gonds and wanted them back. Narayan told
Bhagwan, who promised that they should be given back.
The yellow flowers of the tree Pahindi were growing 8 The
on Dhawalgiri. Bhagwan sent thunder and lightning, and bhth and
the flower conceived. First fell from it a heap of turmeric Lingo.
or saffron. In the morning the sun came out, the flower
burst open, and Lingo was born. Lingo was a perfect
child. He had a diamond on his navel and a sandalwood
mark on his forehead. He fell from the flower into the
heap of turmeric. He played in the turmeric and slept in a
swing. He became nine years old. He said there was
no one there like him, and he would go where he could find
his fellows. He climbed a needle-like hill,1 and from afar
off he saw Kachikopa Lohagarh and the four Gonds. He
came to them. They saw he was like them, and asked him
to be their brother. They ate only animals. Lingo asked
them to find for him an animal without a liver, and they
searched all through the forest and could not. Then Lingo
told them to cut down trees and make a field. They tried
to cut down the anjan 2 trees, but their hands were blistered
1 Dhupgarh in Pachmarhi might be indicated, which has a steep summit.
2 Terminalia arjuna.
52 GOND part
and they could not go on. Lingo had been asleep. He
woke up and saw they had only cut down one or two
trees. He took the axe and cut down many trees, and
fenced a field and made a gate to it. Black soil appeared.
It began to rain, and rained without ceasing for three days.
All the rivers and streams were filled. The field became
green with rice, and it grew up. There were sixteen score
of nilgai or blue-bull. They had two leaders, an old bull
and his nephew. The young bull saw the rice of Lingo's
field and wished to eat it. The uncle told him not to eat of
the field of Lingo or all the nilgai would be killed. But the
young bull did not heed, and took off all the nilgai to eat
the rice. When they got to the field they could find no
entrance, so they jumped the fence, which was five cubits high.
They ate all the rice from off the field and ran away. The
young bull told them as they ran to put their feet on leaves
and stones and boughs and grass, and not on the ground, so
that they might not be tracked. Lingo woke up and went to
see his field, and found all the rice eaten. He knew the
nilgai had done it, and showed the brothers how to track
them by the few marks which they had by accident made
on the ground. They did so, and surrounded the nilgai and
killed them all with their bows and arrows except the old
uncle, from whom Lingo's arrow rebounded harmlessly on
account of his innocence, and one young doe. From these
two the nilgai race was preserved. Then Lingo told the
Gonds to make fire and roast the deer as follows :
He said, I will show you something ; see if anywhere in your
Waistbands there is a flint ; if so, take it out and make fire.
But the matches did not ignite. As they were doing this, a watch of the
night passed.
They threw down the matches, and said to Lingo, Thou art a Saint ;
Show us where our fire is, and why it does not come out.
Lingo said : Three koss (six miles) hence is Rikad Gawadi the giant.
There is fire in his field ; where smoke shall appear, go there,
Come not back without bringing fire. Thus said Lingo.
They said, We have never seen the place, where shall we go ?
\ e have never seen where this fire is ? Lingo said ;
I will discharge an arrow thither.
Go in the direction of the arrow ; there you will get fire.
He applied the arrow, and having pulled the bow, he discharged one :
It crashed on, breaking twigs and making its passage clear.
n THE BIRTH AND HISTORY OF LINGO 53
Having cut through the high grass, it made its way and reached the old
man's place (above mentioned).
The arrow dropped close to the fire of the old man, who had daughters.
The arrow was near the door. As soon as they saw it, the daughters
came and took it up,
And kept it. They asked their father : When will you give us in
marriage ?
Thus said the seven sisters, the daughters of the old man.
I will marry you as I think best for you ;
Remain as you are. So said the old man, the Rikad Gawadi.
Lingo said, Hear, O brethren ! I shot an arrow, it made its way.
Go there, and you will see fire ; bring thence the fire.
Each said to the other, I will not go ; but (at last) the youngest went.
He descried the fire, and went to it ; then beheld he an old man looking
like the trunk of a tree.
He saw from afar the old man's field, around which a hedge was made.
The old man kept only one way to it, and fastened a screen to the
entrance, and had a fire in the centre of the field.
He placed logs of the Mahua and Anjun and Saj trees on the fire,
Teak faggots he gathered, and enkindled flame.
The fire blazed up, and warmed by the heat of it, in deep sleep lay the
Rikad Gawadi.
Thus the old man like a giant did appear. When the young Gond
beheld him, he shivered ;
His heart leaped ; and he was much afraid in his mind, and said :
If the old man were to rise he will see me, and I shall be eaten up ;
I will steal away the fire and carry it off, then my life will be safe.
He went near the fire secretly, and took a brand of tendu wood tree.
When he was lifting it up a spark flew and fell on the hip of the old
man.
That spark was as large as a pot ; the giant was blistered ; he awoke
alarmed.
And said : I am hungry, and I cannot get food to eat anywhere ; I feel
a desire for flesh ;
Like a tender cucumber hast thou come to me. So said the old man to
the Gond,
Who began to fly. The old man followed him. The Gond then threw
away the brand which he had stolen.
He ran onward, and was not caught. Then the old man, being tired,
turned back.
Thence he returned to his field, and came near the fire and sat, and said,
What nonsense is this ?
A tender prey had come within my reach ;
I said I will cut it up as soon as I can, but it escaped from my hand !
Let it go ; it will come again, then I will catch it. It has gone now.
Then what happened ? the Gond returned and came to his brethren.
And said to them : Hear, O brethren, I went for fire, as you sent me, to
that field ; I beheld an old man like a giant.
With hands stretched out and feet lifted up. I ran. I thus survived
with difficulty.
54 GOND part
The brethren said to Lingo, We will not go. Lingo said, Sit ye here.
O brethren, what sort of a person is this giant ? I will go and see him.
So saying, Lingo went away and reached a river.
He thence arose and went onward. As he looked, he saw in front three
gourds.
Then he saw a bamboo stick, which he took up.
When the river was flooded
It washed away a gourd tree, and its seed fell, and each stem produced
bottle-gourds.
He inserted a bamboo stick in the hollow of the gourd and made a guitar.
He plucked two hairs from his head and strung it.
He held a bow and fixed eleven keys to that one stick, and played on it.
Lingo was much pleased in his mind.
Holding it in his hand, he walked in the direction of the old man's field.
He approached the fire where Rikad Gawadi was sleeping.
The giant seemed like a log lying close to the fire ; his teeth were
hideously visible ;
His mouth was gaping. Lingo looked at the old man while sleeping.
His eyes were shut. Lingo said, This is not a good time to carry off
the old man while he is asleep.
In front he looked, and turned round and saw a tree
Of the plpal sort standing erect ; he beheld its branches with wonder,
and looked for a fit place to mount upon.
It appeared a very good tree ; so he climbed it, and ascended to the top
of it to sit.
As he sat the cock crew. Lingo said, It is daybreak ;
Meanwhile the old man must be rising. Therefore Lingo took the
guitar in his hand,
And held it ; he gave a stroke, and it sounded well ; from it he drew
one hundred tunes.
It sounded well, as if he was singing with his voice.
Thus (as it were) a song was heard.
Trees and hills were silent at its sound. The music loudly entered into
The old man's ears ; he rose in haste, and sat up quickly ; lifted up his
eyes,
And desired to hear (more). He looked hither and thither, but could
not make out whence the sound came.
The old man said : Whence has a creature come here to-day to sing like
the maina bird ?
He saw a tree, but nothing appeared to him as he looked underneath it.
He did not look up ; he looked at the thickets and ravines, but
Saw nothing. He came to the road, and near to the fire in the midst or
his field and stood.
Sometimes sitting, and sometimes standing, jumping, and rolling, he
began to dance.
The music sounded as the day dawned. His old woman came out in
the morning and began to look out.
She heard in the direction of the field a melodious music playing.
When she arrived near the edge of her field, she heard music in her ears.
That old woman called her husband to her.
ii DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF LINGO 55
With stretched hands, and lifted feet, and with his neck bent down, he
danced.
Thus he danced. The old woman looked towards her husband, and
said, My old man, my husband,
Surely, that music is very melodious. I will dance, said the old woman.
Having made the fold of her dress loose, she quickly began to dance
near the hedge.
Then Lingo disclosed himself to the giant and became
friendly with him. The giant apologised for having tried to 9. Death
eat his brother, and called Lingo his nephew. Lingo invited ^ionTf
him to come and feast on the flesh of the sixteen scores of Lingo.
nilgai. The giant called his seven daughters and offered
them all to Lingo in marriage. The daughters produced
the arrow which they had treasured up as portending a
husband. Lingo said he was not marrying himself, but he
would take them home as wives for his brothers. So they
all went back to the cave and Lingo assigned two of the
daughters each to the three elder brothers and one to the
youngest. Then the brothers, to show their gratitude, said
that they would go and hunt in the forest and bring meat
and fruit and Lingo should lie in a swing and be rocked by
their seven wives. But while the wives were swinging
Lingo and his eyes were shut, they wished to sport with him
as their husbands' younger brother. So saying they pulled
his hands and feet till he woke up. Then he reproached
them and called them his mothers and sisters, but they cared
nothing and began to embrace him. Then Lingo was filled
with wrath and leapt up, and seeing a rice-pestle near he
seized it and beat them all with it soundly. Then the
women went to their houses and wept and resolved to be
revenged on Lingo. So when the brothers came home
they told their husbands that while they were swinging Lingo
he had tried to seduce them all from their virtue, and they
were resolved to go home and stay no longer in Kachikopa
with such a man about the place. Then the brothers were ex-
ceedingly angry with Lingo, who they thought had deceived
them with a pretence of virtue in refusing a wife, and they re-
solved to kill him. So they enticed him into the forest with a
story of a great animal which had put them to flight and asked
him to kill it, and there they shot him to death with their
arrows and gouged out his eyes and played ball with them.
56
GOND
10. He
releases
the Gonds
shut up in
the cave
and consti-
tutes the
tribe.
But the god Bhagwan became aware that Lingo was not
praying to him as usual, and sent the crow Kageshwar to
look for him. The crow came and reported that Lingo was
dead, and the god sent him back with nectar to sprinkle it
over the body and bring it to life again, which was done.
Lingo then thought he had had enough of the four
brothers, so he determined to go and find the other sixteen
score Gonds who were imprisoned somewhere as the brothers
had told him. The manner of his doing this may be told
in Captain Forsyth's version : 1
And our Lingo redivivus
Wandered on across the mountains,
Wandered sadly through the forest
Till the darkening of the evening,
Wandered on until the night fell.
Screamed the panther in the forest,
Growled the bear upon the mountain,
And our Lingo then bethought him
Of their cannibal propensities.
Saw at hand the tree Niruda,
Clambered up into its branches.
Darkness fell upon the forest,
Bears their heads wagged, yelled the jackal
Kolyal, the King of Jackals.
Sounded loud their dreadful voices
In the forest-shade primeval.
Then the Jungle-Cock Gugotee,
Mull the Peacock, Kurs the Wild Deer,
Terror-stricken, screeched and shuddered,
In that forest-shade primeval.
But the moon arose at midnight,
Poured her flood of silver radiance,
Lighted all the forest arches,
Through their gloomy branches slanting ;
Fell on Lingo, pondering deeply
On his sixteen scores of Koiturs.
Then thought Lingo, I will ask her
For my sixteen scores of Koiturs.
' Tell me, O Moon ! ' said Lingo,
' Tell, O Brightener of the darkness !
Where my sixteen scores are hidden.'
But the Moon sailed onwards, upwards,
And her cold and glancing moonbeams
Said, ' Your Gonds, I have not seen them.'
& IIalThL0CnciraCt * rCpr°duced by Permissi°n of the publishers, Messrs. Chapman
LINGO RELEASES THE GONDS 57
And the Stars came forth and twinkled
Twinkling eyes above the forest.
Lingo said, " O Stars that twinkle !
Eyes that look into the darkness,
Tell me where my sixteen scores are."
But the cold Stars twinkling ever,
Said, ' Your Gonds, we have not seen them.'
Broke the morning, the sky reddened,
Faded out the star of morning,
Rose the Sun above the forest,
Brilliant Sun, the Lord of morning,
And our Lingo quick descended,
Quickly ran he to the eastward,
Fell before the Lord of Morning,
Gave the Great Sun salutation —
' Tell, O Sun ! ' he said, ' Discover
Where my sixteen scores of Gonds are.'
But the Lord of Day reply made —
" Hear, O Lingo, I a Pilgrim
Wander onwards, through four watches
Serving God, I have seen nothing
Of your sixteen scores of Koiturs."
Then our Lingo wandered onwards
Through the arches of the forest ;
Wandered on until before him
Saw the grotto of a hermit,
Old and sage, the Black Kumait,
He the very wise and knowing,
He the greatest of Magicians,
Born in days that are forgotten,
In the unremembered ages,
Salutation gave and asked him —
'Tell, O Hermit! Great Kumait!
Where my sixteen scores of Gonds are.
Then replied the Black Magician,
Spake disdainfully in this wise —
" Lingo, hear, your Gonds are asses
Eating cats, and mice, and bandicoots,
Eating pigs, and cows, and buffaloes ;
Filthy wretches ! wherefore ask me ?
If you wish it I will tell you.
Our great Mahadeva caught them,
And has shut them up securely
In a cave within the bowels
Of his mountain Dewalgiri,
With a stone of sixteen cubits,
And his bulldog fierce Basmasur ;
Serve them right, too, I consider,
Filthy, casteless, stinking wretches ! "
And the Hermit to his grotto
58
GOND
Back returned, and deeply pondered
On the days that are forgotten,
On the un remembered ages.
But our Lingo wandered onwards,
Fasting, praying, doing penance ;
Laid him on a bed of prickles,
Thorns long and sharp and piercing.
Fasting lay he devotee-like,
Hand not lifting, foot not lifting,
Eye not opening, nothing seeing.
Twelve months long thus lay and fasted,
Till his flesh was dry and withered,
And the bones began to show through.
Then the great god Mahadeva
Felt his seat begin to tremble,
Felt his golden stool, all shaking
From the penance of our Lingo.
Felt, and wondered who on earth
This devotee was that was fasting
Till his golden stool was shaking.
Stepped he down from Dewalgiri,
Came and saw that bed of prickles
Where our Lingo lay unmoving.
Asked him what his little game was,
Why his golden stool was shaking.
Answered Lingo, " Mighty Ruler !
Nothing less will stop that shaking
Than my sixteen scores of Koiturs
Rendered up all safe and hurtless
From your cave in Dewalgiri."
Then the Great God, much disgusted,
Offered all he had to Lingo,
Offered kingdom, name, and riches,
Offered anything he wished for,
' Only leave your stinking Koiturs
Well shut up in Dewalgiri.'
But our Lingo all refusing
Would have nothing but his Koiturs ;
Gave a turn to run the thorns a
Little deeper in his midriff.
Winced the Great God : " Very well, then,
Take your Gonds — but first a favour.
By the shore of the Black Water
Lives a bird they call Black Bindo,
Much I wish to see his young ones,
Little Bindos from the sea-shore ;
For an offering bring these Bindos,
Then your Gonds take from my mountain."
Then our Lingo rose and wandered,
Wandered onwards through the forest,
LINGO RELEASES THE GONDS 59
Till he reached the sounding sea-shore,
Reached the brink of the Black Water,
Found the Bingo birds were absent
From their nest upon the sea-shore,
Absent hunting in the forest,
Hunting elephants prodigious,
Which they killed and took their brains out,
Cracked their skulls, and brought their brains to
Feed their callow little Bindos,
Wailing sadly by the sea-shore.
Seven times a fearful serpent,
Bhawarnag the horrid serpent,
Serpent born in ocean's caverns,
Coming forth from the Black Water,
Had devoured the little Bindos —
Broods of callow little Bindos
Wailing sadly by the sea-shore —
In the absence of their parents.
Eighth this brood was. Stood our Lingo,
Stood he pondering beside them —
" If I take these little wretches
In the absence of their parents
They will call me thief and robber.
No ! I'll wait till they come back here."
Then he laid him down and slumbered
By the little wailing Bindos.
As he slept the dreadful serpent,
Rising, came from the Black Water,
Came to eat the callow Bindos,
In the absence of their parents.
Came he trunk-like from the waters,
Came with fearful jaws distended,
Huge and horrid, like a basket
For the winnowing of corn.
Rose a hood of vast dimensions
O'er his fierce and dreadful visage.
Shrieked the Bindos young and callow,
Gave a cry of lamentation ;
Rose our Lingo ; saw the monster ;
Drew an arrow from his quiver,
Shot it swift into his stomach,
Sharp and cutting in the stomach,
Then another and another ;
Cleft him into seven pieces,
Wriggled all the seven pieces,
Wriggled backward to the water.
But our Lingo, swift advancing,
Seized the headpiece in his arms,
Knocked the brains out on a boulder ;
Laid it down beside the Bindos,
6o GOND
Callow, wailing, little Bindos.
On it laid him, like a pillow,
And began again to slumber.
Soon returned the parent Bindos
From their hunting in the forest ;
Bringing brains and eyes of camels
And of elephants prodigious,
For their little callow Bindos
Wailing sadly by the sea-shore.
But the Bindos young and callow
Brains of camels would not swallow ;
Said — " A pretty set of parents
You are truly ! thus to have us
Sadly wailing by the sea-shore
To be eaten by the serpent —
Bhawarnag the dreadful serpent —
Came he up from the Black Water,
Came to eat us little Bindos,
When this very valiant Lingo
Shot an arrow in his stomach,
Cut him into seven pieces —
Give to Lingo brains of camels,
Eyes of elephants prodigious."
Then the fond paternal Bindo
Saw the head-piece of the serpent
Under Lingo's head a pillow,
And he said, ' O valiant Lingo,
Ask whatever you may wish for.'
Then he asked the little Bindos
For an offering to the Great God,
And the fond paternal Bindo,
Much disgusted first refusing,
Soon consented ; said he'd go too
With the fond maternal Bindo —
Take them all upon his shoulders,
And fly straight to Dewalgiri.
Then he spread his mighty pinions,
Took his Bindos up on one side
And our Lingo on the other.
Thus they soared away together
From the shores of the Black Water,
And the fond maternal Bindo,
O'er them hovering, spread an awning
With her broad and mighty pinions
O'er her offspring and our Lingo.
By the forests and the mountains
Six months' journey was it thither
To the mountain Dewalgiri.
Half the day was scarcely over
Ere this convoy from the sea-shore
ii LINGO RELEASES THE GONDS 61
Lighted safe on Dewalgiri ;
Touched the knocker to the gateway
Of the Great God, Mahadeva.
And the messenger Narayan
Answering, went and told his master —
" Lo, this very valiant Lingo !
Here he is with all the Bindos,
The Black Bindos from the sea-shore."
Then the Great God, much disgusted,
Driven quite into a corner,
Took our Lingo to the cavern,
Sent Basmasur to his kennel,
Held his nose, and moved away the
Mighty stone of sixteen cubits ;
Called those sixteen scores of Gonds out
Made them over to their Lingo.
And they said, " O Father Lingo !
What a bad time we've had of it,
Not a thing to fill our bellies
In this horrid gloomy dungeon."
But our Lingo gave them dinner,
Gave them rice and flour of millet,
And they went off to the river,
Had a drink, and cooked and ate it.
The next episode is taken from a slightly different
local version :
And while they were cooking their food at the river a
great flood came up, but all the Gonds crossed safely
except the four gods, Tekam, Markam, Pusam and Telengam.1
These were delayed because they had cooked their food with
ghl which they had looted from the Hindu deities. Then
they stood on the bank and cried out,
O God of the crossing,
O Boundary God !
Should you be here,
Come take us across.
Hearing this, the tortoise and crocodile came up to them,
and offered to take them across the river. So Markam and
Tekam sat on the back of the crocodile and Pusam and
Telengam on the back of the tortoise, and before starting
the gods made the crocodile and tortoise swear that they
would not eat or drown them in the sea. But when they
1 Tekam the teak tree, Markam the These are the names of well-known
mango tree, and Telengam the Telugu. exogamous septs.
62 GOND part
got to the middle of the river the tortoise and crocodile
began to sink, with the idea that they would drown the
Gonds and feed their young with them. Then the Gonds
cried out, and the Raigldhni or vulture heard them. This
bird appears to be the same as the Bindo, as it fed its young
with elephants. The Raigldhni flew to the Gonds and took
them up on its back and flew ashore with them. And in
its anger it picked out the tongue of the crocodile and
crushed the neck of the tortoise. And this is why the
crocodile is still tongueless and the tortoise has a broken
neck, which is sometimes inside and sometimes outside its
shell. Both animals also have the marks of string on their
backs where the Gond gods tied their necks together when
they were ferried across. Thus all the Gonds were happily
reunited and Lingo took them into the forest, and they
founded a town there, which grew and prospered. And
Lingo divided all the Gonds into clans and made the oldest
man a Pardhan or priest and founded the rule of exogamy.
He also made the Gond gods, subsequently described,1 and
worshipped them with offerings of a calf and liquor, and
danced before them. He also prescribed the ceremonies of
marriage which are still observed, and after all this was done
Lingo went to the gods.
(b) Tribal Subdivisions
ii. Sub- Out of the Gond tribe, which, as it gave its name to a
province, may be considered as almost a people, a number
of separate castes have naturally developed. Among them
are several occupational castes such as the Agarias or iron-
workers, the Ojhas or soothsayers, Pardhans or priests and
minstrels, Solahas or carpenters, and Koilabhutis or dancers
or prostitutes. These are principally sprung from the Gonds,
though no doubt with an admixture of other low tribes or
castes. The Parjas of Bastar, now classed as a separate tribe,
appear to represent the oldest Gond settlers, who were
subdued by later immigrants of the race ; while the Bhatras
and Jhadi Telengas are of mixed descent from Gonds and
Hindus. Similarly the Gowari caste of cattle -graziers
1 See section on Religion.
BT I.J*/ . ;!"--. ,.. , '. v .
-,v . -
;^: ; '
vv * *s
ii SUB CASTES 63
originated from the alliances of Gond and Ahlr graziers.
The Mannewars and Kolams are other tribes allied to the
Gonds. Many Hindu castes and also non-Aryan tribes
living in contact with the Gonds have a large Gond
element ; of the former class the Ahlrs, Basors, Barhais and
Lohars, and of the latter the Baigas, Bhunjias and Khairwars
are instances.
Among the Gonds proper there are two aristocratic
subdivisions, the Raj -Gonds and Khatolas. According to
Forsyth the Raj-Gonds are in many cases the descendants
of alliances between Rajput adventurers and Gonds. But
the term practically comprises the landholding subdivision of
the Gonds, and any proprietor who was willing to pay for the
privilege could probably get his family admitted into the
Raj -Gond group. The Raj-Gonds rank with the Hindu
cultivating castes, and Brahmans will take water from them.
They sometimes wear the sacred thread. In the Telugu
country the Raj -Gond is known as Durla or Durlasattam.
In some localities Raj-Gonds will intermarry with ordinary
Gonds, but not in others. The Khatola Gonds take their
name from the Khatola state in Bundelkhand, which is said
to have once been governed by a Gond ruler, but is no longer
in existence. In Saugor they rank about equal with the
Raj-Gonds and intermarry with them, but in Chhindwara it
is said that ordinary Gonds despise them and will not marry
with them or eat with them on account of their mixed
descent from Gonds and Hindus. The ordinary Gonds in
most Districts form one endogamous group, and are known
as the Dhur or ' dust ' Gonds, that is the common people.
An alternative name conferred on them by the Hindus is
Rawanvansi or of the race of Rawan, the demon king of
Ceylon, who was the opponent of Rama. The inference
from this name is that the Hindus consider the Gonds to
have been among the people of southern India who opposed
the Aryan expedition to Ceylon, which is preserved in the
legend of Rama ; and the name therefore favours the hypo-
thesis that the Gonds came from the south and that their
migration northward was sufficiently recent in date to permit
of its being still remembered in tradition. There are several
other small local subdivisions. The Koya Gonds live on the
64 GOND part
border of the Telugu country, and their name is apparently
a corruption of Koi or Koitur, which the Gonds call them-
selves. The Gaita are another Chanda subcaste, the word
Gaite or Gaita really meaning a village priest or headman.
Gattu or Gotte is said to be a name given to the hill Gonds
of Chanda, and is not a real subcaste. The Darwe or Naik
Gonds of Chanda were formerly employed as soldiers, and
hence obtained the name of Naik or leader. Other local
groups are being formed such as the Larhia or those of
Chhattisgarh, the Mandlaha of Mandla, the Lanjiha from
Lanji and so on. These are probably in course of becoming
endogamous. The Gonds of Bastar are divided into two
groups, the Maria and the Muria. The Maria are the
wilder, and are apparently named after the Mad, as the hilly
country of Bastar is called. Mr. Hlra Lai suggests the
derivation of Muria from mur, thefia/as tree, which is common
in the plains of Bastar, or from mur, a root. Both deriva-
tions must be considered as conjectural. The Murias are
the Gonds who live in the plains and are more civilised
than the Marias. The descendants of the Raja of Deogarh
Bakht Buland, who turned Muhammadan, still profess that
religion, but intermarry freely with the Hindu Gonds. The
term Bhoi, which literally means a bearer in Telugu, is used
as a synonym for the Gonds and also as an honorific title.
In Chhindwara it is said that only a village proprietor is
addressed as Bhoi. It appears that the Gonds were used as
palanquin-bearers, and considered it an honour to belong to
the Kahar or bearer caste, which has a fairly good status.1
The Gond rules of exogamy appear to preserve traces of
the system found in Australia, by which the whole tribe is
split into two or four main divisions, and every man in one
or two of them must marry a woman in the other one or two.
This is considered by Sir J. G. Frazer to be the beginning
of exogamy, by which marriage was prohibited, first, between
brothers and sisters, and then between parents and children,
by the arrangement of these main divisions.2
Among the Gonds, however, the subdivision into small
exogamous septs has been also carried out, and the class
1 See also art. Kahar.
2 The theory is stated and explained in vol. iv. of Exogamy and Totemism.
j^aniy.
ii EXOGAMY 65
system, if the surmise that it once existed be correct, remains
only in the form of a survival, prohibiting marriage between
agnates, like an ordinary sept. In one part of Bastar all
the septs of the Maria Gonds are divided into two great
classes. There are ninety septs in A Class and sixty-nine in
B Class, though the list may be incomplete. All the septs of
A Class say that they are Bhaiband or Dadabhai to each
other, that is in the relation of brothers, or cousins being the
sons of brothers. No man of Class A can marry a woman
of any sept in Class A. The septs of Class A stand in
relation of Mamabhai or Akomama to those of Class B.
Mamabhai means a maternal uncle's son, and Akomama
apparently signifies having the same maternal grandfather.
Any man of a sept in Class A can marry any woman of a
sept in Class B. It will thus be seen that the smaller septs
seem to serve no purpose for regulating marriage, and are
no more than family names. The tribe might just as well
be divided into two great exogamous clans only. Marriage
is prohibited between persons related only through males ;
but according to the exogamous arrangement there is no
other prohibition, and a man could marry any maternal
relative. Separate rules, however, prohibit his marriage with
certain female relatives, and these will be given subsequently.1
It is possible that the small septs may serve some purpose
which has not been elicited, though the inquiry made by Rai
Bahadur Panda Baijnath was most careful and painstaking.
In another part of Bastar there were found to be five
classes, and each class had a small number of septs in it.
The people who supplied this information could not give the
names of many septs. Thus Class A had six septs, Class B
five, Classes C and D one each, Class E four, and Class F two.
A man could not marry a woman of any sept belonging to
his own class.
The Muria Gonds of Bastar have a few large exogamous
septs or clans named in Hindi after animals, and each of
these clans contains several subsepts with Gondi names.
Thus the Bakaravans or Goat race contains the Garde,
Kunjami, Karrami and Vadde septs. The Kachhimvans
or Tortoise race has the Netami, Kawachi, Usendi and
1 See para. 15
VOL. Ill F
66
GOND
Tekami septs ; the Ndgvans or Cobra race includes the
Maravi, Potari, Karanga, Nurethi, Dhurwa and others. Other
exogamous races are the Sodi (or tiger), Behainsa (buffalo),
Netam (dog in Gondi), Chamchidai (bat) and one or two
more. In this case the exogamous clans with Hindi names
would appear to be a late division, and have perhaps been
adopted because the meaning of the old Gondi names had
been forgotten, or the septs were too numerous to be
remembered.
In Chanda a classification according to the number of
gods worshipped is found. There are four main groups
worshipping seven, six, five and four gods respectively, and
each group contains ten to fifteen septs. A man cannot
marry a woman of any sept which worships the same number
of gods as himself. Each group has a sacred animal which
the members revere, that of the seven-god worshippers being
a porcupine, of the six-god worshippers a tiger, of the five-
god worshippers the saras crane, and of the four-god wor-
shippers a tortoise. As a rule the members of the different
groups do not know the names of their gods, and in practice
it is doubtful whether they restrict themselves to the proper
number of gods of their own group. Formerly there were
three-, two- and one-god worshippers, but in each of these
classes it is said that there were only one or two septs, and
they found that they were much inconvenienced by the
paucity of their numbers, perhaps for purposes of communal
worship and feasting, and hence they got themselves enrolled
in the larger groups. In reality it would appear that the
classification according to the number of gods worshipped is
being forgotten, and the three lowest groups have disappeared.
This conjecture is borne out by the fact that in Chhindwara
and other localities only two large classes remain who worship
six and seven gods respectively, and marry with each other,
the union of a man with a woman worshipping the same
number of gods as himself being prohibited. Here, again,
the small septs included in the groups appear to serve no
purpose for regulating marriages. In Mandla the division
according to the number of gods worshipped exists as in
Chanda ; but many Gonds have forgotten all particulars
as to the gods, and say only that those septs which worship
ism.
ii TOT EM ISM 67
the same number of gods are bhaiband, or related to each
other, and therefore cannot intermarry. In Betul the division
by numbers of gods appears to be wholly in abeyance.
Here certain large septs, especially the Uika and Dhurwa,
are subdivided into a number of subsepts, within each of
which marriage is prohibited.
Many of the septs are named after animals and plants. 13. Totem-
Among the commonest septs in all Districts are Markam,
the mango tree ; Tekam, the teak tree ; Netam, the dog ;
Irpachi, the mahua tree ; Tumrachi, the tendu tree ; War-
kara, the wild cat, and so on. Generally the members of a
sept do not kill or injure their totem animals, but the rule
is not always observed, and in some cases they now have
some other object of veneration, possibly because they have
forgotten the meaning of the sept name, or the object after
which it is named has ceased to be sacred. Thus the
Markam sept, though named after the mango, now venerate
the tortoise, and this is also the case with the Netam sept
in Bastar, though named after the dog. In Bastar a man
revering the tortoise, though he will not catch the animal
himself, will get one of his friends to catch it, and one rever-
ing the goat, if he wishes to kill a goat for a feast, will kill
it not at his own house but at a friend's. The meaning of
the important sept names Marabi, Dhurwa and Uika has
not been ascertained, and the members of the sept do not
know it. In Mandla the Marabi sept are divided into the
Eti Marabi and Padi Marabi, named after the goat and pig.
The Eti or goat Marabi will not touch a goat nor sacrifice one
to Bura Deo. They say that once their ancestors stole a goat
and were caught by the owner, when they put a basket over
it and prayed Bura Deo to change it into a pig, which he
did. Therefore they sacrifice only pigs to Bura Deo, but
apparently the Padi Marabi also both sacrifice and eat pigs.
The Dhurwa sept are divided into the Tumrachi and Nabalia
Dhurwa, named after the tendu tree and the dwarf date-palm.
The Nabalia Dhurwas will not cut a dwarf date-palm nor
eat its fruit. They worship Bura Deo in this tree instead
of in the saj tree, making an iron doll to represent him and
covering it with palm-leaves. The Uika sept in Mandla say
that they revere no animal or plant, and can eat any animal
68 GOND part
or cut down any plant except the sdj tree,1 the tree of Bura
Deo ; but in Betul they are divided into several subsepts,
each of which has a totem. The Parted sept revere the
crocodile. When a marriage is finished they make a sacri-
fice to the crocodile, and if they see one lying dead they
break their earthen pots in token of mourning. The War-
kara sept revere the wild cat ; they also will not touch a
village cat nor keep one in their house, and if a cat comes
in they drive it out at once. The Kunjam sept revere the
rat and do not kill it.
14. Con- In Betul the Gonds explain the totemistic names of
nection of ^e[Y septs by saying that some incident connected with the
totemism r J J °
with the animal, tree or other object occurred to the ancestor or
priest of the sept while they were worshipping at the Deo-
khulla or god's place or threshing-floor. Mr. Ganga Prasad
Khatri has made an interesting collection of these. The
reason why these stories have been devised may be that the
totem animals or plants have ceased to be revered on their own
merits as ancestors or kinsmen of the sept, and it was there-
fore felt necessary to explain the sept name or sanctity
attaching to the totem by associating it with the gods. If
this were correct the process would be analogous to that by
which an animal or plant is first held sacred of itself, and,
when this feeling begins to decay with some recognition of
its true nature, it is associated with an anthropomorphic god
in order to preserve its sanctity. The following are some
examples recorded by Mr. Ganga Prasad Khatri. Some of
the examples are not associated with the gods.
Gajjami, subsept of Dhurwa sept. From gaj\ an arrow.
Their first ancestor killed a tiger with an arrow.
Gouribans Dhurwa. Their first ancestor worshipped his
gods in a bamboo clump.
Kasadya Dhurwa. {Kosa, tasar silk cocoon.) The first
ancestor found a silk cocoon on the tree in which he wor-
shipped his gods.
Kohkapath. Kohka is the fruit of the bhilawa1 or marking-
nut tree, and path, a kid. The first ancestor worshipped his
gods in a bhilawa tree and offered a kid to them. Members
of this sept do not eat the fruit or flowers of the bhilawa tree.
1 Boswellia serrata. s Semecarpus anacardian.
ii CONNECTION OF TOTE MIS M WITH THE GODS 69
Jaglya. One who keeps awake, or the awakener. The
first ancestor stayed awake the whole night in the Deo-khulla,
or god's threshing-floor.
Sariyam. (Sarri, a path.) The first ancestor swept the
path to the Deo-khulla.
Gudddm. Gudda is a place where a hen lays her eggs.
The first ancestor's hen laid eggs in the Deo-khulla.
Irpachi. The mahua tree. A mahua tree grew in the
Deo-khulla or worshipping-place of this sept.
Admachi. The dhaura tree.1 The first ancestor wor-
shipped his gods under a dhaura tree. Members of the sept
do not cut this tree nor burn its wood.
Sarati Dhurwa. (Sardti, a whip.) The first ancestor
whipped the priest of the' gods.
Suibadiwa. (Sui, a porcupine.) The first ancestor's
wife had a porcupine which went and ate the crop of an old
man's field. He tried to catch it, but it went back to her.
He asked the name of her sept, and not being able to find
it out called it Suibadiwa.
Watka. (A stone.) Members of this sept worship five
stones for their gods. Some say that the first ancestors
were young boys who forgot where the Deo-khulla was and
therefore set up five stones and offered a chicken to them.
As they did not offer the usual sacrifice of a goat, members
of this sept abstain from eating goats.
Tumrecha Uika. (The tendu tree.2) It is said that the
original ancestor of this sept was walking in the forest with
his pregnant wife. She saw some tendu fruit and longed
for it and he gave it to her to eat. Perhaps the original
idea may have been that she conceived through swallowing
a tendu fruit. Members of this sept eat the fruit of the
tendu tree, but do not cut the tree nor make any use of its
leaves or branches.
Tumdan Uika. Tumdan is a kind of pumpkin or gourd.
They say that this plant grows in their Deo-khulla. The
members drink water out of this gourd in the house, but do
not carry it out of the house.
Kadfa-chor Uika. (Stealer of the kadfa.) Kadfa is the
sheaf of grain left standing in the field for the gods when
1 Anogeissics latifolia. 2 Diosypyros tomeniosa.
7o GOND part
the crop is cut. The first ancestor stole the kadfa and
offered it to his gods.
Gadhamar Uika. (Donkey-slayer.) Some say that the
gods of the sept came to the Deo-khulla riding on donkeys,
and others that the first ancestor killed a donkey in the
Deo-khulla.
Eti-kumra. Eti is a goat. The ancestors of the sept
used to sacrifice a Brahman boy to their gods. Once they
were caught in the act by the parents of the boy they had
stolen, and they prayed to the gods to save them, and the
boy was turned into a goat. They do not kill a goat nor
eat its flesh, nor sacrifice it to the gods.
Alike, This word means ' on the other side of a river.'
They say that a man of the Dhurwa sept abducted a girl of the
Uika sept from the other side of a river and founded this sept.
Tirgam. The word means fire. They say that their
ancestor's hand was burnt in the Deo-khulla while cooking
the sacrifice.
Tekam. (The teak tree.) The ancestor of the sept had
his gods in this tree. Members of the sept will not eat
food off teak leaves, but they will use them for thatching, and
also cut the tree.
Manapa. In Gondi mani is a son and apa a father.
They say that their ancestors sacrificed a Brahman father
and son to their gods and were saved by their being turned
into goats like the Eti-kumra sept. Members of the sept
do not kill or eat a goat.
Korpachi. The droppings of a hen. The ancestors of
the sept offered these to his gods.
Mandani. The female organ of generation. The ancestor
of the sept slept with his wife in the Deo-khulla.
Paiyam. Paiya is a heifer which has not borne a calf,
such as is offered to the gods. Other Gonds say that the
people of this sept have no gods. They are said not only
to marry a girl from any other subsept of the Dhurwas and
Uikas, but from their own sept and even their own sisters,
though this is probably no longer true. They are held to be
the lowest of the Gonds. Except in this instance, as already
seen, the subsepts of the Dhurwa and Uika septs do not
intermarry with each other.
ii PROHIBITIONS ON INTERMARRIAGE 71
(V) Marriage Customs
A man must not marry in his own sept, nor in one which 15- Pro-
worships the same number of gods, in localities where the on inter.
classification of septs according to the number of gods marriage,
worshipped obtains. Intermarriage between septs which are ofrelations.
bhaiband or brothers to each other is also prohibited. The
marriage of first cousins is considered especially suitable.
Formerly, perhaps, the match between a brother's daughter
and sister's son was most common ; this is held to be a
survival of the matriarchate, when a man's sister's son was
his heir. But the reason has now been generally forgotten,
and the union of a brother's son to a sister's daughter has
also become customary, while, as girls are scarce and have to
be paid for, it is the boy's father who puts forward his claim.
Thus in Mandla and Bastar a man thinks he has a right to
his sister's daughter for his son on the ground that his family
has given a girl to her husband's family, and therefore they
should give one back. This match is known as Dudh lautdna
or bringing back the milk ; and if the sister's daughter
marries any one else her maternal uncle sometimes claims
what is known as ' milk money,' which may be a sum of Rs. 5,
in compensation for the loss of the girl as a wife for his son.
This custom has perhaps developed out of the former match
in changed conditions of society, when the original relation
between a brother and his sister's son has been forgotten and
girls have become valuable. But it is said that the dudh
or milk money is also payable if a brother refuses to give his
daughter to his sister's son. In Mandla a man claims his
sister's daughter for his son and sometimes even the daughter
of a cousin, and considers that he has a legitimate grievance
if the girl is married to somebody else. Frequently, if he
has reason to apprehend this, he invites the girl to his house
for some ceremony or festival, and there marries her to his
son without the consent of her parents. As this usually
constitutes the offence of kidnapping under the Penal Code,
a crop of criminal cases results, but the procedure of arrest
without warrant and the severe punishment imposed by the
Code are somewhat unsuitable for a case of this kind, which,
according to Gond ideas, is rather in the nature of a civil
Irregular
marriages
72 GOND PART
wrong, and a sufficient penalty would often be the payment
of an adequate compensation or bride-price for the girl. The
children of two sisters cannot, it is said, be married, and a
man cannot marry his wife's elder sister, any aunt or niece,
nor his mother-in-law or her sister. But marriage is not
prohibited between grandparents and grandchildren. If an
old man marries a young wife and dies, his grandson will
marry her if she is of proper age. In this there would be
no blood-relationship, but it is doubtful whether even the
existence of such relationship would prevent the match. It
is said that even among Hindu castes the grandfather will
flirt with his granddaughter, and call her his wife in jest, and
the grandmother with her grandson. In Bastar a man can
marry his daughter's daughter or maternal grandfather's or
grandmother's sister. He could not marry his son's daughter
or paternal grandfather's sister, because they belong to
the same sept as himself.
In the Maria country, if a girl is made pregnant by a
man of the caste before marriage, she simply goes to his
house and becomes his wife. This is called P ait kit or enter-
ing. The man has to spend Rs. 2 or 3 on food for the caste
and pay the price for the girl to her parents. If a girl has
grown up and no match has been arranged for her to which
she agrees, her parents will ask her maternal uncle's or
paternal aunt's son to seize her and take her away. These
two cousins have a kind of prescriptive claim to the girl, and
apparently it makes no difference whether the prospective
husband is already married or not. He and his friends lie
in wait near her home and carry her off, and her parents
afterwards proceed to his house to console their daughter
and reconcile her to the match. Sometimes when a woman
is about to become what is known as a Paisamundi or kept
woman, without being married, the relations rub her and the
man whose mistress she is with oil and turmeric, put marriage
crowns of palm-leaves on their heads, pour water on them
from the top of a post, and make them go seven times round
a mahua branch, so that they may be considered to be married.
When a couple are very poor they may simply go and live
together without any wedding, and perform the ceremony
afterwards when they have means, or they distribute little
ii MARRIAGE— THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY 73
pieces of bread to the tribesmen in lieu of the marriage
feast.
Marriage is generally adult. Among the wild Maria 17. Mar-
Gonds of Bastar the consent of the girl is considered an ^faen
essential preliminary to the union. She gives it before a ment of
council of elders, and if necessary is allowed time to make
up her mind. The boy must also agree to the match.
Elsewhere matches are arranged by the parents, and a bride-
price which amounts to a fairly substantial sum in com-
parison with the means of the parties is usually paid. But
still the girls have a considerable amount of freedom. It is
generally considered that if a girl goes of her own accord
and pours turmeric and water over a man, it is a valid
marriage and he can take her to live in his house. Married
women also sometimes do this to another man if they wish
to leave their husbands.
The most distinctive feature of a Gond marriage is that l8- The
1 • 11 r ii'i)i 11 marriage
the procession usually starts from the bride s house and the ceremony.
wedding is held at that of the bridegroom, in contradistinction
to the Hindu practice. It is supposed that this is a survival
of the custom of marriage by capture, when the bride was
carried off from her own house to the bridegroom's, and any
ceremony which was requisite was necessarily held at the
house of the latter. But the Gonds say that since Dulha
Deo, the bridegroom god and one of the commonest village
deities, was carried off by a tiger on his way to his wedding,
it was decided that in future the bride must go to the bride-
groom to be married in order to obviate the recurrence of
such a calamity. Any risk incidental to the journey thus falls
to the lady. Among the wilder Maria Gonds of Bastar the
ritual is very simple. The bride's party arrive at the bride-
groom's village and occupy some huts made ready for them.
His father sends them provisions, including a pig and fowls,
and the day passes in feasting. In the evening they go to
the bridegroom's house, and the night is spent in dancing by
the couple and the young people of the village. Next
morning the bride's people go back again, and after another
meal her parents bring her to the bridegroom's house and
push her inside, asking the boy's father to take charge of
her, and telling her that she now belongs to her husband's
74 GOND part
family and must not come back to them alone. The girl
cries a little for form's sake and acquiesces, and the business
is over, no proper marriage rite being apparently performed at
all. Among the more civilised Marias the couple are seated
for the ceremony side by side under a green shed, and water
is poured on them through the shed in imitation of the
fertilising action of rain. Some elder of the village places
his hands on them and the wedding is over. But Hindu
customs are gradually being adopted, and the rubbing of
powdered turmeric and water on the bodies of the bride and
bridegroom is generally essential to a proper wedding. The
following description is given of the Gonds of Ranker. On
the day fixed for the marriage the pair, accompanied by
the Dosi or caste priest, proceed to a river, in the bed of
which two reeds five or six feet high are placed just so far
apart that a man can lie down between them, and tied
together with a thread at the top. The priest lies down
between the reeds, and the bride and bridegroom jump seven
times over his body. After the last jump they go a little
way off, throw aside their wet clothes, and then run naked
to a place where their dry clothes are kept ; they put them
on and go home without looking back. Among the Gonds
in Khairagarh the pair are placed in two pans of a balance
and covered with blankets. The caste priest lifts up the
bridegroom's pan and her female relatives the bride's, and
walk round with them seven times, touching the marriage-
post at each time. After this they are taken outside the
village without being allowed to see each other. They are
placed standing at a little distance with a screen between
them, and liquor is spilt on the ground to make a line from
one to the other. After a time the bridegroom lifts up the
screen, rushes on the bride, gives her a blow on the back
and puts the ring on her finger, at the same time making a
noise in imitation of the cry of a goat. All the village then
indulge in bacchanalian orgies, not sparing their own
relations.
19. Wed- In Bastar it is said that the expenses of a wedding vary
pendkurc. from Rs- 5 to Rs. 20 for the bride's family and from Rs. 10
to Rs. 50 for the bridegroom's, according to their means.1
1 One rupee=is. 4d.
ii WEDDING EXPENDITURE 75
In a fairly well-to-do family the expenditure of the bride-
groom's family is listed as follows : liquor Rs. 20, rice
Rs. 12, salt Rs. 2, two goats Rs. 2, chillies Rs. 2, ghi Rs. 4,
turmeric Rs. 2, oil Rs. 3, three cloths for the bride Rs. 8,
two sheets and a loin-cloth for her relatives Rs. 5, payment
to the Kumhar for earthen pots Rs. 5, the bride-price Rs.
10, present to the bride's maternal uncle when she is not
married to his son Rs. 2, and something for the drummers.
The total of this is Rs. 76, and any expenditure on
ornaments which the family can afford may be added. In
wealthier localities the bride-price is Rs. 15 to 20 or more.
Sometimes if the girl has been married and dies before the
bride-price has been paid, her father will not allow her body
to be buried until it is paid. The sum expended on a
wedding probably represents the whole income df the family
for at least six months, and often for a considerably longer
period. In Chanda * the bride's party on arrival at the
bridegroom's village receive the Bara jaw a or marriage
greeting, every one present being served with a little rice-
water, an onion and a piece of tobacco. At the wedding
the bridegroom has a ring either of gold, silver or copper,
lead not being permissible, and places this on the bride's
finger. Often the bride resists and the bridegroom has to
force her fist open, or he plants his foot on hers in order
to control her while he gets the ring on to her finger.
Elsewhere the couple hold each other by the little fingers
in walking round the marriage -post, and then each places
an iron ring on the other's little finger. The couple then
tie strings, coloured yellow with turmeric, round each other's
right wrists. On the second day they are purified with
water and put on new clothes. On the third day they go to
worship the god, preceded by two men who carry a chicken
in a basket. This chicken is called the Dhendha or associate
of the bridal couple, and corresponds to the child which in
Hindu marriages is appointed as the associate of the bride-
groom. Just before their arrival at the temple the village
jester snatches away the chicken, and pretends to eat it.
At the temple they worship the god, and deposit before him
the strings coloured with turmeric which had been tied on
1 From Mr. Langhorne's monograph.
76
GOND
their wrists. In Chhindwara the bride is taken on a bullock
to the bridegroom's house. At the wedding four people
hold out a blanket in which juari, lemons and eggs are
placed, and the couple walk round this seven times, as in
the Hindu bhanwar ceremony. They then go inside the
house, where a chicken is torn asunder and the blood
sprinkled on their heads. At the same time the bride
crushes a chicken under her foot. In Mandla the bride on
entering the marriage-shed kills a chicken by cutting off its
head either with an axe or a knife. Then all the gods of
her house enter into her and she is possessed by them, and
for each one she kills a chicken, cutting off its head in the
same manner. The chickens are eaten by all the members
of the bride's party who have come with her, but none
belonging to the bridegroom's party may partake of them.
Here the marriage-post is made of the wood of the mahua
tree, round which a toran or string of mango leaves is twisted,
and the couple walk seven times round this. In Wardha
the bride and bridegroom stand on the heap of refuse
behind the house and their heads are knocked together. In
Bhandara two spears are placed on the heap of refuse and
their ends are tied together at the top with the entrails of
a fowl. The bride and bridegroom have to stand under
the spears while water is poured over them, and then run
out. Before the bride starts the bridegroom must give her
a blow on the back, and if he can do this before she runs
out from the spears it is thought that the marriage will be
lucky. The women of the bride's and bridegroom's party
also stand one at each end of a rope and have a competition
in singing. They sing against each other and see which can
go on the longest. Brahmans are not employed at a Gond
wedding. The man who officiates is known as Dosi, and is
the bridegroom's brother-in-law, father's sister's husband or
some similar relative. A woman relative of the bride helps
her to perform her part and is known as Sawasin. To the
Dosi and Sawasin the bride and bridegroom's parties present
an earthen vessel full of kodon. The donors mark the pots,
take them home and sow them in their own fields, and then
give the crop to the Dosi and Sawasin.
Some years ago in Balaghat the bride and bridegroom
ii SPECIAL CUSTOMS 77
sat and ate food together out of two leaf-plates. When 20. Special
they had finished the bride took the leaf-plates, ran with custonis-
them to the marriage-shed, and fixed them in the woodwork
so that they did not fall down. The bridegroom ran after
her, and if she did not put the plates away quickly, gave her
one or two blows with his fist. This apparently was a
symbolical training of the bride to be diligent and careful
in her household work. Among the Raj-Gonds of Saugor,
if the bridegroom could not come himself he was accustomed
to send his sword to represent him. The Sawasin carried
the sword seven times round the marriage -post with the
bride and placed a garland on her on its behalf, and the
bride put a garland over the sword. This was held to be a
valid marriage. In a rich Raj-Gond or Khatola Gond family
two or three girls would be given with the bride, and they
would accompany her and become the concubines of the
bridegroom. Among the Maria Gonds of Chanda the
wedded pair retire after the ceremony to a house allotted
to them and spend the night together. Their relatives and
friends before leaving shout and make merry round the
house for a time, and throw all kinds of rubbish and dirt on
it. In the morning the couple have to get up early and
clear all this off, and clean up the house. A curious
ceremony is reported from one part of Mandla. When a
Gond girl is leaving to be married, her father places inside
her litter a necklace of many strings of blue and yellow
beads, with a number of cowries at the end, and an iron
ring attached to it. On her arrival at the bridegroom's
house his father takes out the necklace and ring. Sometimes
it is said that he simply passes a stone through the ring,
but often he hangs it up in the centre of a room, and the
bridegroom's relatives throw stones at it until one of them
goes through the ring, or they throw long bamboo sticks
or shoot arrows at it, or even fire bullets from a gun. In a
recent case it is said that a man was trying to fire a bullet
through the ring and killed a girl. Until a stone, stick,
arrow or bullet has been sent through the ring the marriage
cannot take place, nor can the bridegroom or his father touch
the bride, and they go on doing this all night until some-
body succeeds. When the feat has been done they pour a
78 GOND part
bottle of liquor over the necklace and ring, and the bride's
relatives catch the liquor as it falls, and drink it. The girl
wears the necklace at her wedding, and thereafter so long as
her husband lives, and when he dies she tears the string to
pieces and throws it into the river. The iron ring must be
made by a Gondi Lohar or blacksmith, and he will not
accept money in payment for it, but must be given a cow,
calf, or buffalo. The symbolical meaning of this rite does
not appear to require explanation.1 In many places the
bride and bridegroom go and bathe in a river or tank on
the day after the wedding, and throw mud and dirt over each
other, or each throws the other down and rolls him or her
in the mud. This is called Chikhal-Mundi or playing in
the mud. Afterwards the bride has to wash the bridegroom's
muddy clothes, roll them up in a blanket, and carry them
on her head to the house. A see-saw is then placed in the
marriage-shed, and the bridegroom's father sits on it. The
bride makes the see-saw move up and down, while her
relations joke with her and say, ' Your child is crying.'
Elsewhere the bridegroom's father sits in a swing. The
bride and bridegroom swing him, and the bystanders exclaim
that the old man is the child of the new bride. It seems
possible that both customs are meant to portray the rocking
of a baby in a cradle or swinging it in a swing, and hence it
is thought that through performing them the bride will soon
rock or swing a real baby.
21. Taking In Bastar an omen is taken before the wedding. The
village elders meet on an auspicious day as Monday,
Thursday or Friday, and after midnight they cook and eat
food, and go out into the forest. They look for a small
black bird called Usi, from which omens are commonly
taken. When anybody sees this bird, if it cries ' Sun, Sun,'
on the right hand, it is thought that the marriage will be
lucky. If, however, it cries ' Chi, Chi" or 'Fie, Fie," the proposed
match is held to be of evil omen, and is cancelled. The
Koya Gonds of Bastar distil mahua liquor before arranging
for a match. If the liquor is good they think the marriage
The above rite has some resem- bending the bow of Odysseus and
blance to the test required of the .shooting an arrow through the axes,
suitors of Penelope in the Odyssey of which they could not perform.
n MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE 79
will be lucky, and take the liquor with them to cement the
betrothal ; but if it is bad they think the marriage will be
unlucky, and the proposal is dropped. Mondays, Wednes-
days and Fridays are held to be lucky days for marriages,
and they are celebrated in the hot- weather months of Baisakh,
Jesth and Asar, or April, May and June, or in Pus (December),
and rarely in Magh (January). A wedding is only held in
Kartik (October) if the bride and bridegroom have already
had sexual intercourse, and cannot take place in the
rains.
Survivals of the custom of marriage by capture are to be 22. Mar-
found in many localities. In Bastar the prospective bride- capture"
groom collects a party of his friends and lies in wait for the Weeping
girl, and they catch her when she comes out and gets a andhldins-
little distance from her house. The girl cries out, and
women of the village come and rescue her and beat the
boys with sticks till they have crossed the boundary of the
village. The boys neither resist nor retaliate on the women,
but simply make off with the girl. When they get home a
new cloth is given to her, and the boys have a carouse on
rice-beer, and the marriage is considered to be complete.
The parents do not interfere, but as a rule the affair is
prearranged between the girl and her suitor, and if she really
objects to the match they let her go. A similar procedure
occurs in Chanda. Other customs which seem to preserve
the idea that marriage was once a forcible abduction are
those of the bride weeping and hiding, which are found in
most Districts. In Balaghat the bride and one or two
friends go round to the houses of the village and to other
villages, all of them crying, and receive presents from their
friends. In Wardha the bride is expected to cry con-
tinuously for a day and a night before the wedding, to show
her unwillingness to leave her family. In Kanker it is said
that before marriage the bride is taught to weep in different
notes, so that when that part of the ceremony arrives in
which weeping is required, she may have the proper note at
her command. In Chhindwara the bridegroom's party go
and fetch the bride for the wedding, and on the night before
her departure she hides herself in some house in the village.
The bridegroom's brother and other men seek all through
8o GOND part
the village for her, and when they find her she runs and
clings to the post of the house. The bridegroom's brother
carries her off by force, and she is taken on a bullock to the
bridegroom's house. In Seoni the girl hides in the same
manner, and calls out ' Coo, coo,' when they are looking for
her. After she is found, the bridegroom's brother carries
her round on his back to the houses of his friends in the
village, and she weeps at each house. When the bride's
party arrive at the bridegroom's village the latter's party
meet them and stop them from proceeding further. After
waving sticks against each other in a threatening manner
they fall on each other's necks and weep. Then two
spears are planted to make an arch before the door, and
the bridegroom pushes the bride through these from be-
hind, hitting her to make her go through, while she hangs
back and feigns reluctance. In Mandla the bride some-
times rides to the wedding on the shoulders of her sister's
husband, and it is supposed that she never gets down all
the way.
23. Serving The practice of Lamsena, or serving for a wife, is
for a wife. commonly adopted by boys who cannot afford to buy one.
The bridegroom serves his prospective father-in-law for an
agreed period, usually three to five or even six years, and at
its expiry he should be married to the girl without expense.
During this time he is not supposed to have access to the
girl, but frequently they become intimate, and if this happens
the boy may either stay and serve his unexpired term or
take his wife away at once ; in the latter case his parents
should pay the girl's father Rs. 5 for each year of the
bridegroom's unexpired service. The Lamsena custom does
not work well as a rule, since the girl's parents can break
their contract, and the Lamsena has no means of redress.
Sometimes if they are offered a good bride-price they will
marry the girl to another suitor when he has served the
greater part of his term, and all his work goes for
nothing.
r2e4ma^idow The remarriage of widows is freely permitted. As a
riage. rule it is considered suitable that she should marry her
deceased husband's younger brother, but she may not marry
his elder brother, and in the south of Bastar and Chanda
1 1 WW O W RE MA RRIA GE 8 1
the union with the younger brother is also prohibited. In
Mandla, if she will not wed the younger brother, on the
eleventh day after the husband's death he puts the tarkhi
or palm-leaf earrings in her ears, and states that if she
marries anybody else he will claim dawa-bunda or compensa-
tion. Similarly in Bastar, if an outsider marries the widow,
he first goes through a joint ceremony with the younger
brother, by which the latter relinquishes his right in favour
of the former. The widow must not marry any man whom
she could not have taken as her first husband. After her
husband's death she resides with her parents, and a price
is usually paid to them by any outsider who wishes to
marry her. In Bastar there is a fixed sum of Rs. 24, half
of which goes to the first husband's family and half to the
caste panchayat. The payment to the panchayat perhaps
comes down from the period when widows were considered
the property of the state or the king, and sold by auction
for the benefit of the treasury. It is said that the descendants
of the Gond Rajas of Chanda still receive a fee of Rs. 1-8
from every Gond widow who is remarried in the territories
over which their jurisdiction extended. In Bastar when a
widow marries again she has to be transferred from the
gods of her first husband's sept to those of her second
husband. For this two leaf-cups are filled with water and
mahua liquor respectively, and placed with a knife between
them. The liquor and water are each poured three times
from one cup to the other and back until they are thoroughly
mixed, and the mixture is then poured over the heads of
the widow and her second husband. This symbolises her
transfer to the god of the new sept. In parts of Bastar
when a man has been killed by a tiger and his widow
marries again, she goes through the ceremony not with her
new husband but with a lance, axe or sword, or with a dog.
It is thought that the tiger into which her first husband's
spirit has entered will try to kill her second husband, but
owing to the precaution taken he will either simply carry
off the dog or will himself get killed by an axe, sword or
lance. In most localities the ceremony of widow-marriage
is simple. Turmeric is rubbed on the bodies of the couple
and they may exchange a pair of rings or their clothes.
VOL. Ill G
8 2 GOND part
Divorce is freely allowed on various grounds, as for
Divorce. acjuitery on the wife's part, a quarrelsome disposition, care-
lessness in the management of household affairs, or if a
woman's children continue to die, or she is suspected of
being a witch. Divorce is, however, very rare, for in order
to get a fresh wife the man would have to pay for another
wedding, which few Gonds can afford, and he would also
have difficulty in getting a girl to marry him. Therefore
he will often overlook even adultery, though a wife's adultery
not infrequently leads to murder among the Gonds. In
order to divorce his wife the nusband sends for a few caste-
men, takes a piece of straw, spits on it, breaks it in two and
throws it away, saying that he has renounced all further
connection with his wife. If a woman is suspected of being
a witch she often has to leave the village and go to some
place where she is not known, and in that case her husband
must either divorce her or go with her. There is no regular
procedure for a wife divorcing her husband, but she can,
if sufficiently young and attractive, take matters into her
own hands, and simply leave her husband's house and go
and live with some one else. In such a case the man who
takes her has to repay to the husband the sum expended by
the latter on his marriage, and the panchayat may even decree
that he should pay double the amount. When a man
divorces his wife he has no liability for her maintenance,
and often takes back any ornaments he may have given
her. And a man who marries a divorced woman may be
expected to pay her husband the expenses of his marriage.
Instances are known of a bride disappearing even during
the wedding, if she dislikes her partner ; and Mr. Lampard
of the Baihir Mission states that one night a Gond wedding
party came to his house and asked for the loan of a lantern
to look for the bride who had vanished.
26. Poly- Polygamy is freely allowed, and the few Gonds who can
afford the expense are fond of taking a number of wives.
Wives are very useful for cultivation as they work better
than hired servants, and to have several wives is a sign of
wealth and dignity. A man who has a number of wives
will take them all to the bazar in a body to display his
importance. A Gond who had seven wives in Balaghat
MENSTR UA TION
was accustomed always to take them to the bazar like this,
walking- in a line behind him.
id) Birth and Pregnancy
In parts of Mandla the first appearance of the signs of 27. Men-
puberty in a girl is an important occasion. She stays apart struatlon-
for four days, and during this time she ties up one of her
body-cloths to a beam in the house in the shape of a cradle,
and swings it for a quarter or half an hour every day in the
name of Jhulan Devi, the cradle goddess. On the fifth day
she goes and bathes, and the Baiga priest and his wife go
with her. She gives the Baiga a hen and five eggs and
a bottle of wine, and he offers them to Jhulan Devi at her
shrine. To the Baigan she gives a hen and ten eggs and
a bottle of liquor, and the Baigan tattoos the image of
Jhulan Devi on each side of her body. A black hen with
feathers spotted with white is usually chosen, as they say
that this hen's blood is of a darker colour and that she lays
more eggs. All this ceremonial is clearly meant to induce
fertility in the girl. The Gonds regard a woman as impure
for as long as the menstrual period lasts, and during this
time she cannot draw water nor cook food, nor go into a
cowshed or touch cowdung. In the wilder Maria tracts
there is, or was till lately, a building out of sight of the
village to which women in this condition retired. Her
relatives brought her food and deposited it outside the hut,
and when they had gone away she came out and took it.
It was considered that a great evil would befall any one
who looked on the face of a woman during the period of
this impurity. The Raj-Gonds have the same rules as
Hindus regarding the menstrual periods of women.1
No special rites are observed during pregnancy, and the 28. Super-
superstitions about women in this condition resemble those st^T
of the Hindus.2 A pregnant woman must not go near a pregnancy
horse or elephant, as they think that either of these animals birth*'1*1"
would be excited by her condition and would assault her.
1 The information on child-birth is of Chhindwara, and from notes taken in
obtained from papers by Mr. Durga Mandla.
Prasad Pande, Extra Assistant Com- 2 See articles on Kunbi, Kurmi,
missioner, and the Rev. Mr. Franzen and Mehtar.
g4 GOND part
In cases where labour is prolonged they give the woman water
to drink from a swiftly flowing stream, or they take pieces of
wood from a tree struck by lightning or by a thunder-bolt,
and make a necklace of them and hang it round her neck.
In these instances the swiftness of the running water, or of the
lightning or thunder-bolt, is held to be communicated to the
woman, and thus she will obtain a quick delivery. Or else
they ask the Gunia or sorcerer to discover what ancestor
will be reborn in the child, and when he has done this he
calls on the ancestor to come and be born quickly. If a
woman is childless they say that she should worship Bura
Deo and fast continually, and then on the termination of
her monthly impurity, after she has bathed, if she walks
across the shadow of a man she will have a child. It is
thus supposed that the woman can be made fertile by the
man's shadow, which will be the father of the child. Or
she should go on a Sunday night naked to a sdj tree * and
pray to it, and she may have a child. The sdj is the tree in
which Bura Deo resides, and was probably in the beginning
itself the god. Hence it is supposed that the woman is
impregnated by the spirit of the tree, as Hindu women think
that they can be made fertile by the spirits of unmarried
Brahman boys living in plpal trees. Or she may have
recourse to the village priest, the Bhumka or the Baiga, who
probably finds that her barren condition is the work of an
evil spirit and propitiates him. If a woman dies in the
condition of pregnancy they cut her belly open before burial,
so that the spirit of the child may escape. If she dies
during or soon after delivery they bury her in some remote
jungle spot, from which her spirit will find it difficult to return
to the village. The spirit of such a woman is supposed to
become a Churel and to entice men, and especially drunken
men, to injury by causing them to fall into rivers or get shut
up in hollow trees. The only way they can escape her is
to offer her the ornaments which a married woman wears.
Her enmity to men is due to the fact that she was cut off
when she had just had the supreme happiness of bearing a
child, and the present of these ornaments appeases her.
The spirit of a woman whose engagement for marriage has
1 Boswellia serrata.
ii PROCEDURE AT A BIRTH 85
been broken off, or who has deserted her husband's house
for another man's, is also supposed to become a Churel. If
an abortion occurs, or a child is born dead or dies very
shortly after birth, they put the body in an earthen pot, and
bury it under the heap of refuse behind the house. They
say that this is done to protect the body from the witches,
who if they get hold of it will raise the child's spirit, and
make it a Bir or familiar spirit. Witches have special power
over the spirits of such children, and can make them enter
the body of an owl, a cat, a dog, or a headless man, and in
this form cause any injury which the witch may desire to
inflict on a human being. The real reason for burying the
bodies of such children close to the house is probably, how-
ever, the belief that they will thus be born again in the
same family. If the woman is fat and well during pregnancy
they think a girl will be born, but if she is ailing and thin,
that the child will be a boy. If the nipples of her breasts
are of a reddish colour they think the birth of a boy is
portended, but if of blackish colour, a girl. When a birth
occurs another woman carefully observes the knots or pro-
tuberances on the navel - cord. It is supposed that the
number of them indicates the further number of children
which will be born to the mother. A blackish knot inclining
downwards portends a boy, and a reddish one inclining
upwards a girl. It is supposed that an intelligent midwife
can change the order of these knots, and if a woman has
only borne girl-children can arrange that the next one shall
be a boy.
Professional midvvives are not usually employed at child- 29. Pro-
birth, and the women look after each other. Among the ce?"":f at
' ° a birth.
Maria Gonds of Bastar the father is impure for a month
after the birth of a child and does not go to his work. A
Muria Gond father is impure until the navel-cord drops ; he
may reap his crop, but cannot thresh or sow. This is perhaps
a relic of the custom of the Couvade. The rules for the
treatment of the mother resemble those of the Hindus, but
they do not keep her so long without food. On some day
from the fifth to the twelfth after the birth the mother is
purified and the child is named. On this day its hair is
shaved by the son-in-law or husband's or wife's brother-in-
86 GOND part
law. The mother and child are washed and rubbed with
oil and turmeric, and the house is freshly whitewashed and
cleaned with cowdung. They procure a winnowing-fan full
of kodon and lay the child on it, and the mother ties this
with a cloth under her arm. In the Nagpur country the
impurity of the mother is said to last for a month, during
which time she is not allowed to cook food and no one
touches her. Among the poorer Gonds the mother often
does not lie up at all after a birth, but eats some pungent
root as a tonic and next day gees on with her work.
30. Xames. On the Sor night, or that of purification, the women of
the village assemble and sing. The mother holds the child
in her lap, and they each put a pice (^d.) in a dish as a
present to it. A name is chosen, and an elderly woman
announces it. Names are now often Hindu words, and are
selected very much at random.1 If the child was born on a
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Sunday the name of the
day is often given, as Mangal, Budhu, Sukhiya, Itwari ; or if
born in the month of Magh (January), Phagun (February),
Chait (March), Baisakh (April), Jesth (May), or Pus
(December), the name may be from the month, as Mahu,
Phagu, Chaitia, Baisakhu, Jetha and Puso. The names of
the other months are also given, but are less common. If
any Government official is in the village when the child is
born it may be named after his office, as Daroga, Havildar
(head - constable), Vaccinator, Patwari (village surveyor),
Jemadar (head process-server), or Munshi (clerk). If a
European officer is in the village the child may be called
Gora (red) or Bhura (brown). Other names are Zamlndar
(landholder) or Kirsan (tenant). Or the child may be
named after any peculiarity, as Ghurman, fat, Kaluta, black,
Chatua, one who kicks, and so on. Or it may be given a
bad name in order to deceive the evil spirits as to its value,
as Ghurha, a heap of cowdung, Jharu, sweepings, Dumre or
Bhangi, a sweeper, Chamari, a Chamar or tanner, and so on.
If the mother has got the child after propitiating a spirit, it
may be called Bhuta, from bhfit, a spirit or ghost. Nick-
names are also given to people when they grow up, as
1 The following examples of names were furnished by the Rev. Mr. Franzen
and Mr. D. P. Pande.
ii SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT CHILDREN 87
Dariya, long-footed, Bobdi, fat and sluggish, Putchi, having
a tail or cat-like, Bera, an idiot, and so on. Such names
come into general use, and the bearers accept and answer to
them without objection. All the above names are Hindi.
Names taken from the Gond language are rare or non-
existent, and it would appear either that they have been com-
pletely forgotten, or else that the Gonds had not advanced
to the stage of giving every individual a personal name prior
to their contact with the Hindus.
If a child is born feet first its feet are supposed to have 31. Super-
special power, and people suffering from pain in the back about
come and have their backs touched by the toes of the child's children.
left foot. This power is believed to be retained in later
life. If a woman gets a child when the signs of menstruation
have not appeared, the child is called Lamka, and is held to
be in danger of being struck by lightning. In order to
avert this fate an offering of a white cock is made to the
lightning during the month of Asarh (June) following the
birth, when thunderstorms are frequent, and prayer is made
that it will accept this sacrifice in lieu of the life of the child.
They think that the ancestors who have been mingled with
Bura Deo may be born again. Sometimes such an ancestor
appears in a dream and intimates that he is coming back to
earth. Then if a newborn child will not drink its mother's
milk, they think it is some important male ancestor, and that
he is vexed at being in such a dependent position to a
woman over whom he formerly had authority. So they call
the Gunia or sorcerer, and he guesses what ancestor has
been reborn by measuring a stick. He says that if the
length of the stick is an even number of times the breadth
of his hand, or more or less than half a hand-breadth over,
such and such an ancestor is reborn in the child. Then he
measures his hand along the stick breadthwise, and when
the measurement comes to that foretold for a particular
ancestor he says that this one has been reborn ; or if they
find any mark on the body of the child corresponding to one
they remember to have been borne by a particular ancestor,
they identify it with this ancestor. Then they wash the
child's feet as a token of respect, and pass their hands over
its head and say to it, ' Drink milk, and we will give you a
88 GOND part
ring and clothes and jewels.' Sometimes they think that an
ancestor has been born again in a calf, and the Gunia
ascertains who he is in the same manner. Then this calf is
not castrated if a bull, nor put to the plough if it is a cow,
and when it dies they will not take off its hide for sale but
bury it with the hide on.
It is believed that if a barren woman can get hold of
the first hair of another woman's child or its navel-cord, she
can transfer the mother's fertility to herself, so they dispose
of these articles very carefully. If they wish the child to
grow fat, they bury the navel-cord in a manure-heap. The
upper milk teeth are thrown on to the roof, and the lower
ones buried under a water-pot. They say that the upper
ones should be in a high place, and the lower ones in a low
place. The teeth thrown on the roof may be meant for the
rats, who in exchange for them will give the child strong
white teeth like their own, while those thrown under the
water-pot will cause the new teeth to grow large and quickly,
like the grass under a water-pot. Diseases of children are
attributed to evil spirits. The illness called Sukhi, in which
the body and limbs grow weak and have a dried-up appear-
ance, is very common, and is probably caused by malnutrition.
They attribute it to the machinations of an owl which has
heard the child's name or obtained a piece of its soiled
clothing. If a stone or piece of wood is thrown at the owl
to scare it away, it will pick this up, and after wetting it in
a stream, put it out in the sun to dry. As the stone or
wood dries up, so will the child's body dry up and wither.
In order to cure this illness they use charms and amulets,
and also let the child wallow in a pig-sty so that it may
become as fat as the pigs. They say that they always beat
a brass dish at a birth so that the noise may penetrate the
child's ears, and this will remove any obstruction there may
be to its hearing. If the child appears to be deaf, they lay
it several times in a deep grain-bin for about half an hour at
a time ; when it cries the noise echoes in the bin, and this is
supposed to remove the obstruction to its power of hearing.
If they wish the boy to be a good dancer, they get a little of
the flesh of the kingfisher or hawk which hangs poised in the
air over water by the rapid vibration of its wings, on the
ii DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 89
look-out for a fish, and give him this to eat. If they
wish him to speak well, they touch his finger with the tip of
a razor, and think that he will become talkative like a barber.
If they want him to run fast, they look for a stone on which
a hare has dropped some dung and rub this on his legs, or
they get a piece of a deer's horn and hang it round his neck
as a charm. If a girl or boy is very dark-coloured, they get
the branches of a creeper called malkangni, and express the
oil from them, and rub it on the child's face, and think it
will make the face reddish. Thus they apparently consider
a black colour to be ugly.
(<?) Funeral Rites
Burial of the dead has probably been the general custom 32- Dis-
of the Gonds in the past, and the introduction of cremation f^e dead,
may be ascribed to Hindu influence. The latter method of
disposal involves greater expense on account of the fuel,
and is an honour reserved for elders and important men,
though in proportion as the body of the tribe in any locality
becomes well-to-do it may be more generally adopted. The
dead are usually buried with the feet pointing to the north
in opposition to the Hindu practice, and this fact has been
adduced in evidence of the Gond belief that their ancestors
came from the north. The Maria Gonds of Bastar, however,
place the feet to the west in the direction of the setting sun,
and with the face upwards. In some places the Hindu
custom of placing the head to the north has been adopted.
Formerly it is said that the dead were buried in or near the
house in which they died, so that their spirits would thus the
more easily be born again in children, but this practice has
now ceased. In most British Districts Hindu ceremonial 1
tends more and more to be adopted, but in Bastar State and
Chanda some interesting customs remain.
Among the Maria Gonds a drum is beaten to announce 33- Funeral
a death, and the news is sent to relatives and friends in other Ci
villages. The funeral takes place on the second or third
day, when these have assembled. They bring some pieces
of cloth, and these, together with the deceased's own clothes
1 See article on Kurmi.
9°
GOND
and some money, are buried with him, so that they may
accompany his spirit to the other world. Sometimes the
women will put a ring of iron on the body. The body is
borne on a hurdle to the burial- or burning-ground, which is
invariably to the east of the village, followed by all the men
and women of the place. Arrived there, the bearers with
the body on their shoulders face round to the west, and
about ten yards in front of them are placed three saj leaves
in a line with a space of a yard between each, the first
representing the supreme being, the second disembodied
spirits, and the third witchcraft. Sometimes a little rice is
put on the leaves. An axe is struck three times on the
ground, and a villager now cries to the corpse to disclose the
cause of his death, and immediately the bearers, impelled, as
they believe, by the dead man, carry the body to one of the
leaves. If they halt before the first, then the death was in
the course of nature ; if before the second, it arose from the
anger of offended spirits ; if before the third, witchcraft was
the cause. The ordeal may be thrice repeated, the arrange-
ment of the leaves being changed each time. If witchcraft
is indicated as the cause of death, and confirmed by the
repeated tests, the corpse is asked to point out the sorcerer
or witch, and the body is carried along until it halts before
some one in the crowd, who is at once seized and disposed of
as a witch. Sometimes the corpse may be carried to the
house of a witch in another village to a distance of eight or
ten miles. In Mandla in such cases a Gunia or exorciser
formerly called on the corpse to go forward and point out
the witch. The bearers then, impelled by the corpse, made
one step forward and stopped. The exorciser then again
adjured the corpse, and they made a step, and this was
repeated again and again until they halted in front of the
supposed witch. AIL: the beholders and the bearers them-
selves thus thought that they were impelled by the corpse,
and the episode is a good illustration of the power of sugges-
tion. Frequently the detected witch was one of the
deceased's wives. In Mandla the cause of the man's death
was determined in the digging of his grave. When piling in
the earth removed for the grave after burial, if it reached
exactly to the surface of the ground, they thought that the
ii FUNERAL CEREMONY 9i
dead man had died after living the proper span of his life.
If the earth made a mound over the hole, they thought he
had lived beyond his allotted time and called him Slgpur,
that is a term for a measure of grain heaped as high as it
will stand above the brim. But if the earth was insufficient
and did not reach to the level of the ground, they held that
he had been prematurely cut off, and had been killed by
an enemy or by a witch through magic.
Children at breast are buried at the roots of a mahua
tree, as it is thought that they will suck liquor from them
and be nourished as if by their mother's milk. The mahua
is the tree from whose flowers spirits are distilled. The
body of an adult may also be burnt under a mahua tree so
that the tree may give him a supply of liquor in the next
world. Sometimes the corpse is bathed in water, sprinkled
over with milk and then anointed with a mixture of mahua
oil, turmeric and charcoal, which will prevent it from being
reincarnated in a human body. In the case of a man killed
by a tiger the body is burned, and a bamboo image of a tiger
is made and thrown outside the village. None but the
nearest relatives will touch the body of a man killed by a
tiger, and they only because they are obliged to do so.
None of the ornaments are removed from the corpse, and
sometimes any other ornaments possessed by the deceased
are added to them, as it is thought that otherwise the tiger
into which his spirit passes will come back to look for them
and kill some other person in the house. In some localities
any one who touches the body of a man killed or even
wounded by a tiger or panther is put temporarily out of
caste. Yet the Gonds will eat the flesh of tigers and
panthers, and also of animals killed and partly devoured by
them. When a man has been killed by a tiger, or when he
has died of disease and before death vermin have appeared
in a wound, the whole family are temporarily out of caste
and have to be purified by an elaborate ceremony in which
the Bhumka or village priest officiates. The method of
laying the spirit of a man killed by a tiger resembles that
described in the article on Baiga.
Mourning is usually observed for three days. The
mourners abstain from work and indulgence in luxuries, and
92 GOND PART
»4. Muum- the house is cleaned and washed. The Gonds often take
ing and foocj on the Sp0t after the burial or burning of a corpse and
the dead, they usually drink liquor. On the third day a feast is
given. In Chhindwara a bullock or cow is slaughtered on
the death of a male or female Gond respectively. They tie
it up by the horns to a tree so that its forelegs are in the
air, and a man slashes it across the head once or twice until
it dies. The head is buried under a platform outside the
village in the name of the deceased. Sometimes the spirit
of the dead man is supposed to enter into one of the persons
present and inform the party how he died, whether from
witchcraft or by natural causes. He also points out the
place where the bullock's or cow's head is to be buried, and
here they make a platform to his spirit with a memorial
stone. Red lead is applied to the stone and the blood of a
chicken poured over it, and the party then consume the
bodies of the cow and chicken. In Mandla the mourners
are shaved at the grave nine or ten days after the death by
the brother-in-law or son-in-law of the deceased, and they
cook and eat food there and drink liquor. Then they come
home and put oil on the head of the heir and tie a piece of
new cloth round his head. They give the dead man's clothes
and also a cow or bullock to the Pardhan priest, and offer a
goat to the dead man, first feeding the animal with rice, and
saying to the dead man's spirit, ' Your son- or brother-in-law
has given you this.' Sometimes the rule is that the priest
should receive all the ornaments worn on the right side of a
man or the left side of a woman, including those on the head,
arm and leg. If they give him a cow or bullock, they will
choose the one which goes last when the animals are let out
to graze. Then they cook and eat it in the compound.
They have no regular anniversary ceremonies, but on the
new moon of Kunwar (September) they will throw some rice
and pulse in front of the house and pour, water on it in
honour of the dead. The widow breaks her glass bangles
when the funeral takes place, and if she is willing she may
be married to the dead man's younger brother on the expiry
of the period of mourning.
In Bastar, at some convenient time after the death, a
stone is set up in memory of any' dead person who was an
ii MEMORIAL STONES TO THE DEAD 93
adult, usually by the roadside. Families who have emigrated 35-
to other localities often return to their parent village for stones to
setting up these stones. The stones vary according to the the dead-
importance of the deceased, those for prominent men being
sometimes as much as eight feet high. In some places a
small stone seat is made in front, and this is meant for the
deceased to sit on, the memorial stone being his house.
After being placed in position the stone is anointed with
turmeric, curds, gJil and oil, and a cow or pig is offered to it.
Afterwards irregular offerings of liquor and tobacco are made
to the dead man at the stone by the family and also by
strangers passing by. They believe that the memorial stones
sometimes grow and increase in size, and if this happens
they think that the dead man's family will become extinct,
as the stone and the family cannot continue to grow together.
Elsewhere a long heap of stones is made in honour of a dead
man, sometimes with a flat-topped post at the head. This
is especially done for men who have died from epidemic
disease or by an accident, and passers-by fling stones on the
heap with the idea that the dead man's spirit will thereby
be kept down and prevented from returning to trouble the
living. In connection with the custom of making a seat at
the deceased's tomb for his spirit to sit upon, Mr. A. K. Smith
writes : " It is well known to every Gond that ghosts and
devils cannot squat on the bare ground like human beings,
and must be given something to sit on. The white man
who requires a chair to sit on is thus plainly akin to the
world of demons, so one of the few effective ways of getting
Gonds to open their mouths and talk freely is to sit on the
ground among them. Outside every Gond house is placed
a rough bench for the accommodation of any devils that may
be flitting about at night, so that they may not come indoors
and trouble the inmates."
If one or two persons die in a house in one year, the 36- House
family often leave it and make another house. On quitting H^"^0111
the old house they knock a hole in the back wall to go out, death.
so as to avoid going out by the front door. This is usually
done when the deaths have been due to an epidemic, and it
is presumably supposed that the dead men's spirits will haunt
the house and cause others to die, from spite at their own
94 GOND PART
untimely end. If an epidemic visits a village, the Gonds
will also frequently abandon it, and make a new village on
another site.
37. Bring- They believe that the spirits of ancestors are reincarnated
tag back j children or in animals. Sometimes they make a mark
the soul.
with soot or vermilion on the body of a dead man, and if
some similar mark is subsequently found on any newborn
child it is held that the dead man's spirit has been reborn
in it. In Bastar, on some selected day a short time after
the death, they obtain two small baskets and set them out
at night, placing a chicken under one and some flour of
wheat or kutki under the other. The householder then
says, " I do the work of those old men who died. O spirits,
I offer a chicken to you to-day ; be true and I will perform
your funeral rites to-morrow." On the next morning the
basket placed over the flour is lifted up, and if a mark re-
sembling a footprint of a man or any animal be found, they
think that the deceased has become incarnate in a human
being or in that animal. Subsequently they sacrifice a cow
to the spirit as described. In other places on the fifth day
after death they perform the ceremony of bringing back the
soul. The relatives go to the riverside and call aloud the
name of the dead person, and then enter the river, catch a
fish or insect and, taking it home, place it among the sainted
dead of the family, believing that the spirit of the dead
person has in this manner been brought back to the house.
The brother-in-law or son-in-law of the dead man will make
a miniature grass hut in the compound and place the fish or
insect inside it. He will then sacrifice a pig, killing it with
a rice-husker, and with not more than three blows. The
animal is eaten, and next morning he breaks down the hut
and throws away the earthen pots from the house. They
will spread some flour on the ground and in the morning
bring a chicken up to it If the animal eats the flour they
say that the soul of the deceased has shown his wish to
remain in the house, and he is enshrined there in the shape
of a stone or copper coin. If it does not eat, then they say
that the spirit will not remain in the house. They take the
stone or coin outside the village, sacrifice a chicken to it and
bury it under a heap of stones to prevent it from returning.
ii BRINGING BACK THE SOUL 95
Sometimes at the funeral ceremony one of the party is pos-
sessed by the spirit of the dead man, and a little white mark
or a small caterpillar appears on his hand, and they say
that it is the soul of the dead man come back. Then the
caterpillar vanishes again, and they say that the dead man
has been taken among the gods, and go home. Occasionally
some mark may appear on the hand of the dead man's son
after a period of time, and he says that his father's soul has
come back, and gives another funeral feast. The good souls
are quickly appeased and their veneration is confined to
their descendants. But the bad ones excise a wider interest
because their evil influences may be extended to others.
And the same fear attaches to the spirits of persons who
have died a violent or unnatural death. The soul of a man
who has been eaten by a tiger must be specially propitiated,
and ten or twelve days are occupied in bringing it back.
To ascertain when this has been done a thread is tied to a
beam and a copper ring is suspended from it, being secured
by twisting the thread round it and not by a knot. A pot
full of water is placed below the ring. Songs are then sung
in propitiation and a watch is kept day and night. When
the ring falls from the thread and drops into the water it is
considered that the soul has come back. If the ring delays
to fall they adjure the dead man to come back and ask
where he has gone to and why he is tarrying. Animals
are offered to the ring and their blood poured over it, and
when it finally falls they rejoice greatly and say that the
dead man has come back. The ancestors are represented
by small pebbles kept in a basket in the kitchen, which is
considered the holiest part of the house, or they may be
pice copper coins (£d.) tied up in a little bundle. They
are daubed with vermilion and worshipped occasionally.
A man who has been killed by a tiger or cobra may receive
general veneration, with the object of appeasing his spirit,
and become a village god. And the same honour may be
accorded to any prominent man, such as the founder of a
village.
In Mandla the dead are sometimes mingled with Bura 38. The
Deo or the Great God. On the occasion of a communal s^becHn
sacrifice to Bura Deo a stalk of charra grass is picked in Bura Deo.
96 GOND part
the name of each of the dead ancestors, and tied to the
little bundle containing a pice and a piece of turmeric, which
represents the dead ancestor in the house. The stalk of
grass and the bundle is called kunda ; and all the kundas
arc then hidden in grass or under stones in the adjacent
forest. Then Bura Deo comes on some man and possesses
him, and he waves his arms about and goes and finds all
the kundas. Some of them he throws down beside Bura
Deo, and these they say have been absorbed in Bura Deo
and are disposed of. Others he throws apart, and these are
said not to have been absorbed into the god. For the latter,
as well as for all persons who have died a violent death,
a heap of stones should be made outside the village, and
wine and a fowl are offered at the heap, and passers-by
cast additional stones on it to keep down their spirits,
which remain unquiet because they have not been absorbed
in the god, and are apt to wander about and trouble the
living.
39. Belief The Gonds seem originally to have had no idea of a
place of abode for the spirits of the dead, that is a heaven
or hell. So far as can be conjectured, their primary view
of the fate of the spirits of the dead, after they had come to
consider the soul or spirit as surviving the death of the body,
was that they hung about the houses and village where they
had dwelt, and were able to exert considerable influence on
the lives and fortunes of their successors. An alternative
or subsequent view was that they were reincarnated, most
frequently in the bodies of children born in the same family,
and less frequently in animals. Whether or no this doctrine
of reincarnation is comparatively late and borrowed from
Hinduism cannot be decided. In Bastar, however, they
have now a conception of retribution after death for the souls
of evil-doers. They say that the souls are judged after death,
and the sinful are hurled down into a dense forest without
any sulphi trees. The sulphi tree appears to be that variety
of palm from which palm-liquor or toddy is obtained in
Bastar, and the Gond idea of a place of punishment for
departed sinners is, therefore, one in which no alcoholic
liquor is to be had.
in a future
life.
NATURE OF GOND RELIGION 97
(/) Religion
The religious practices of the Gonds present much variety. 40. Nature
The tribal divisions into groups worshipping seven, six, five r>eii^ion°nd
and four gods, already referred to, are generally held to refer The gods.
to the number of gods which a man has in his house. But
very few Gonds can name the gods of their sect, and the
prescribed numbers are seldom adhered to. The worship
of ancestors is an integral part of their religion and is
described in the section on funeral customs. Bura Deo,
their great god in most localities, was probably at first the
saj tree,1 but afterwards the whole collection of gods were
sometimes called Bura Deo. He is further discussed subse-
quently. The other Gond gods proper appear to be princi-
pally implements and weapons of the chase, one or two
animals, and deified human beings. A number of Hindu
deities have now also been admitted into the Gond pantheon.
The following account of the gods is largely taken from a
note written by Mr. J. A. Tawney.2 The worship of the
Gonds may be summarised as that of the gods presiding
over the village destinies, the crops, and epidemic disease,
the spirits of their forefathers and the weapons and creatures
of the chase. The village gods are generally common to
the Gonds and Hindus. They consist of stones, or mud
platforms, placed at a convenient distance from the village
under the shade of some appropriate tree, and often having
a red or white flag, made of a piece of cloth, tied to the end
of a pole to indicate their position. The principal village
gods have been given in the article on Kurmi. Besides
these in Gond villages there is especially Bhlmsen, who is
held to be Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers, and is
the god of strength. Ghor Deo 3 is the horse god, and
Holera, who is represented by a wooden bullock's bell, is
the god of cattle. Ghansiam Deo is a god much worshipped
in Mandla. He is said to have been a prince who was
killed by a tiger on his way to his wedding like Dulha
Deo. In northern Bastar the Gonds worship the spirit of a
1 Boswellia serrata. the Central Provinces Census Report
2 Deputy - Commissioner, Chhind- for 1881 (Mr. Drysdale).
wara. The note was contributed to 3 GAora, a horse.
VOL. Ill H
98 GOND part
Muhammadan doctor under the name of Doctor Deo. A
Gond of the place where the doctor died is occasionally
possessed by his spirit, and on such occasions he can talk
fluent Urdu. This man's duty is to keep off cholera, and
when the epidemic breaks out he is ordered by the Raja to
drive it away. The local method of averting cholera is to
make a small litter covered with cloth, and in it to place a
brass or silver image of the cholera goddess, Marai Mata.
When the goddess is thus sent from one village to another
it is supposed that the epidemic is similarly transferred.
The man possessed by Doctor Deo has the power of prevent-
ing the approach of this litter to villages in Bastar, and
apparently also can drive away the epidemic, though his
method of doing this is not explained. The dealings of the
Gonds with the Government of India are mainly conducted
through chuprassies or peons, who come to collect their
revenue, obtain supplies and so on. The peons have in the
past been accustomed to abuse their authority and practise
numerous petty extortions, which is a very easy business
with the ignorant Gonds of the wilder tracts. Regarding
the peons as the visible emblem of authority, the Gonds,
like the Oraons, have similarly furnished the gods with a
peon, who is worshipped under the name of Kalha Deo with
offerings of liquor and fowls. Besides this if a tiger makes
himself troublesome a stone is set up in his honour and he
receives a small offering ; and if a platform has been erected
to the memory of the founder of the village he is included
with the others. The cholera and smallpox deities are
worshipped when an epidemic breaks out. The worship of
the village gods is communal, and in Chhlndwara is per-
formed at the end of the hot weather before seed is sown,
houses thatched, or the new mahua oil eaten by the Gonds.
All the villagers subscribe, and the Bhumka or village priest
conducts the rite. If in any year the community cannot
afford a public worship they hang up a little grass over the
god just to intimate that they have not forgotten him, but
that he will have to wait till next year.
41. Tribal _ ■ J
gods, and Besides the village gods worshipped in common with the
their j>iace Hindus, the Gonds have also their special tribal gods. These
dence. are sometimes kept at a Deo-khulla, which is said to mean
ii TRIBAL GODS, AND THEIR PLACE OF RESIDENCE 99
literally the threshing-floor of the gods, and is perhaps so
called because the place of meeting of the worshippers is
cleaned and plastered like a threshing-floor in the fields.
The gods most commonly found are Pharsi Pen, the battle-
axe god ; Matiya, the great god of mischief; Ghangra, the
bell god ; Chawar, the cow's tail, which is also used as a
whisk ; Palo, who consists of a piece of cloth used to cover
spear-heads ; and Sale, who may be the god who presides
over cattle-pens {said). The Deo-khulla of a six-god Gond
should have six, and that of a seven-god Gond seven gods,
but this rule is not regularly observed, and the Deo-khullas
themselves now tend to disappear as the Gonds become
Hinduised and attention is concentrated on the village and
household gods. The collection of gods at a Deo-khulla,
Mr. Tawney remarks, is called Bura Deo, and when a Gond
swears by Bura Deo, he swears by all the gods of his sect.
" The gods," Mr. Tawney writes, " are generally tied up in
grass and fixed in the fork of the sdj tree, or buried in some
recess in the forest, except Palo, who is put in a bag to
prevent his getting wet, and Chawar the cow's tail. The
Bhumkas or priests are somewhat shy of showing the gods
at the Deo-khulla, and they may have some reason for this,
for not long since, a young scamp of a Muhammadan, having
determined to put to a test the reputed powers of the Gond
gods for evil, hid himself in a tree near the Deo-khulla during
a meeting, and afterwards took the gods out and threw them
bag and baggage down a well. However, when I went there,
the Bhumka at Mujawar after some parley retired into the
forest, and came out quite confidingly with an armful of gods.
The Deo-khulla gods are generally all of iron, and those at
Mujawar were all spear-shaped except Palo, who is a piece of
cloth, and Ghangra, who is of bell-metal and in form like the
bells ordinarily put round the necks of bullocks. When a
spear-head has been lost, and another is not available, anything
in the shape of a pike or spear will do, and it does not appear
to make any difference so long as iron is the metal used.
Women may not worship at the Deo-khulla. It seems clear
that the original gods were, with the exception of Ghangra,
hunting-weapons and representations of animals. Ghangra
may be venerated because of his association with bullocks
100 GOND part
and also on account of the melodious sound made by bullock-
bells. Of all the gods the most remarkable probably is Palo.
He is made of cloth and acts as a covering for the spear-
heads at the time of worship. The one I saw was a small
cloth, about 30 by 18 inches, and in the form of a shield.
He is a very expensive god and costs from Rs. 50 to Rs. 80,
his outside value perhaps being Rs. 5. When a new one is
required it has to be made by a Katia or Raj-Pardhan, who
must live in a separate house and not go near his own till
its completion. He must also be naked while he is working
and may not eat, drink, smoke or perform natural functions
till he has finished for the day. While engaged on the cloth
he is well fed by the Gonds and supplied with fowls and
spirits ; it is not surprising, therefore, that the god is never
finished in six months, though I would engage to make one
in a week. The cloth is embroidered with figures in coloured
silk, with a stitch or two of red silk in each animal, which
will subsequently represent blood. The animals I saw
embroidered were a bullock, some sort of deer, a gouty-
looking snake with a body as thick as the elephant's, and the
latter animal barely distinguishable from it by having two
legs and a trunk. When ready the cloth Palo is taken to
the Deo-khulla and a great worship is held, during which
blood is seen to flow from the figures on the cloth and they
are supposed to be endowed with life." The animals
embroidered on the cloth are probably those principally
revered by the Gonds, as the elephant, snake, deer and
bullock, while the worship of the cloth itself and the em-
broidery on it indicates that they considered the arts of
weaving and sewing as divinely revealed accomplishments.
And the fact that the other gods were made of iron shows a
similar reverence for this metal, which they perhaps first dis-
covered in India. At any rate the quarrying and refining
of indigenous iron-ore is at present carried out by the
Agarias, a caste derived from the Gonds. The spear-
head shape of most of the gods and that of Palo like a shield
show their veneration for these weapons of war, which are
themselves sacred.
42. House- "In almost every house," Mr. Tawney states, "there is
also a set of gods for everyday use. They are often the same
ii NAG DEO 101
as the village gods or those of the Deo-khulla and also include
deified ancestors. These household gods have a tendency to
increase, as special occasions necessitate the creation of a new
god, and once he is enthroned in the house he never seems to
leave it of his own accord. Thus if a man is killed by a cobra ;
he or the cobra becomes a household god and is worshipped
for many generations. If a set of gods does not work satis-
factorily, they are also, some or all of them, discarded and a
new lot introduced. The form of the gods varies consider-
ably, the only constant thing about them being the vermilion
with which they are all daubed. They are sometimes all
earthen cones and vary from that to miniature wooden tables.
I may mention that it is somewhat difficult to get a Gond
either to confess that he has any household gods or to show
them. The best way is to send off the father of the family
on some errand, and then to ask his unsuspecting wife to
bring out the gods. You generally get them on a tray and
some of the villagers will help her to name them." In
Mandla in every Gond's house there is a Deothana or god's
place, where all the gods are kept. Those who have children
include Jhulan Devi, or the cradle goddess, among their
household deities. In the Deothana there is always a vessel
full of water and a stick, and when a man comes in from
outside he goes to this and sprinkles a little water over his
body to free himself from any impurity he may have con-
tracted abroad.
On one of the posts of the house the image of Nag Deo, 43. Nag
the cobra god, is made in mud. In Asarh (June) the first De0-
month of the rains, which the Gonds consider the beginning
of the year, snakes frequently appear. In this month they
try to kill a cobra, and will then cut off the head and tail,
and offer them to Nag Deo, inside the house, while they
cook and eat the body. They think that the eating of the
snake's body will protect them from the effects of eating any
poisonous substance throughout the year.
Narayan Deo or the sun is also a household deity. He 44-
has a little platform inside the threshold of the house. He D^}a
may be worshipped every two or three years, but if a snake
appears in the house or any one falls ill they think that
Narayan Deo is impatient and perform his worship. A
102 GOND PART
young pig is offered to him and is sometimes fattened up
beforehand by feeding it on rice. The pig is laid on its
back over the threshold of the door and a number of men
press a heavy beam of wood on its body till it is crushed to
death. They cut off the tail and testicles and bury them
near the threshold. The body of the pig is washed in a hole
dug in the yard, and it is then cooked and eaten. They
sing to the god, " Eat, Narayan Deo, eat this rice and meat,
and protect us from all tigers, snakes and bears in our
houses ; protect us from all illnesses and troubles." Next
day the bones and any other remains of the pig are buried
in the hole in the compound and the earth is well stamped
down over it.
45. Bura Bura Deo, the great god of the Gonds, is sometimes,
as seen, a name for all the gods in the Deo-khulla. But he
is usually considered as a single god, and often consists of
a number of brass or iron balls suspended to a ring and
hung on a sdj tree. Again, he may be represented by a
few links of a roughly forged iron chain also hung on the
tree, and the divine power of the chain is shown by the
fact that it can move of itself, and occasionally descends to
rest on a stone under the tree or migrates to a neighbour-
ing nullah (stream). Nowadays in Mandla Bura Deo is found
as an iron doll made by a neighbouring blacksmith instead
of a chain. It would appear, however, that he was originally
the sdj tree {Boswellia serrata), an important forest tree
growing to a considerable height, which is much revered by
the Gonds. They do not cut this tree, nor its branches, except
for ceremonial purposes, and their most sacred form of oath
is to swear by the name of Bura Deo, holding a branch of the
sdj tree above the head. If Bura Deo was first the sdj tree,
then we may surmise that when the Gonds discovered iron
they held it more sacred than the tree because it was more
important, as the material from which their axes and spears
were made. And therefore Bura Deo became an iron chain
hanging on the sdj tree. The axe is a Gond's most valuable
implement, as with it he cut down the forest to clear a space
for his shifting cultivation, and also provided himself with
wood for hutting, fuel and other purposes. The axe and
spear were also his weapons of war. Hence the discovery
ii BURA DEO 103
of iron was an enormous step forward in civilisation, and this
may account for the reverence in which it is held by the
Gonds. The metamorphosis of Bura Deo from an iron
chain to an iron doll may perhaps be considered to mark
the arrival of the Gonds at the stage of religion when
anthropomorphic gods are worshipped. Bura Deo is some-
times represented with Mahadeo or Siva and Parvati, two
of the greatest Hindu deities, in attendance on him on each
side. Communal sacrifices of pigs and also of goats are
made to him at intervals of one or two years ; the animals
are stretched out on their backs and killed by driving a
stake of saj or tendu 1 wood through the belly. Sometimes
a goat is dedicated to him a year beforehand, and allowed
to wander loose in the village in the name of Bura Deo, and
given good food, and even called by the name of the god.
It would appear that the original sacrificial animal was the
pig, and the goat was afterwards added or substituted.
Bura Deo is also worshipped on special occasions, as when
a man has got vermin in a wound, or, as the people of the
country say, when god has remembered him. In this case
the sufferer must pay all the expenses of the ceremony
which is necessary for his purification. The dead are also
mingled in Bura Deo, as described in the section on funeral
rites. Bura Deo is believed to protect the Gonds from
wild animals ; and if members of a family meet a tiger, snake
or other dangerous animal several times within a fairly
short period, they think that Bura Deo is displeased with
them and have a special sacrifice in his honour. Ordinarily
when the Panda or priest sacrifices an animal he severs its
head with an axe and holds the head over the image or
symbol of the god to allow the blood to drop on it. ' Before
sacrificing a chicken he places some grain before it and says,
' If I have committed no fault, eat,' and if the chicken does
not eat of itself he usually forces it to pick a grain. Then
he says that the sacrifice is acceptable to the god.
When they think a child has been overlooked they fetch 46. Charms
a strip of leather from the Chamar's house, make it into a ai
little bag, fill it with scrapings from a clean bit of leather,
and hang it round the child's neck. If a child is ill they
1 Diospyros tomentosa.
Io4 GOND part
sometimes fetch from the Chamar's house water which has
been used for tanning and give it him to drink. If a man
is possessed by an evil spirit, they will take some coins,
silver for preference, and wave them round his head with
a lamp, and take them out and bury them in a waste place.
They throw one or two more rupees on the surface of the
soil in which they have buried the coins. Then they think
the spirit will leave the sufferer, and if any one picks up
the coins on the surface of the ground the spirit will possess
him. Hindus who find such buried coins frequently refuse
to take them, even though they may be valuable, from fear
of being possessed by the spirit. Occasionally a man of
a treacherous disposition may transfer an evil spirit, which is
haunting him, with a daughter in marriage. The husband's
family suspect this if a spirit begins to trouble them. A
Vaddai or magician is called, and he tries to transfer the
spirit to a fowl or goat by giving the latter some rice to eat.
If the spirit then ceases troubling they conclude that it was
transferred by the bride's father, and go to him and reproach
him. If he admits that he had a spirit in his family which
has given no trouble lately, they ask him to take it back,
even though he may not have intended its transfer. The
goat or fowl to which the spirit was transferred is then
sacrificed in its name and the meat is eaten only by the
father-in-law's family, to whom the spirit thus returns. A
miniature hut is built for the spirit in his yard, and a pot,
a lamp and a knife are placed in the hut for its use, and an
offering of a goat is made to the spirit occasionally at festivals.
In order to injure an enemy they will make an image
of him in clay, preferably taken from underneath his foot-
print, and carry it to the cemetery. Here they offer red
lead, red thread, bangles, and various kinds of grain and
pulse to the ghosts and say to them, " Male and female
deities, old and newly buried, maimed -and lame, spirits of
the wind, I pronounce this charm with your help." Then
they pierce the figure with arrows in the chest and cut it
with a knife in the region of the liver and think that their
enemy will die. Another method is to draw the likeness
of an enemy on cloth with lime or charcoal, and bury it in
a pot in front of his house on a Sunday or Tuesday night
ii OMENS 105
so that he may walk on it in the morning, when they hope
that the same result will be achieved.
In order to breed a quarrel in an enemy's house they
get the feathers of a crow, or the seeds of the amaltas} or
porcupine needles, and after smoking them over a fire in
which some nails have been placed, tie them to the eaves
of his house, repeating some charm. The seeds of the
amaltas rattle in their pods in the wind, and hence it is
supposed that they will produce a noise of quarrelling.
Porcupine's quills are sharp and prickly, and crow's feathers
are perhaps efficacious because the crow is supposed to be
a talkative and quarrelsome bird. The nails in the fire,
being sharp-pointed, may be meant to add potency to the
charm. One who wishes to transfer sickness to another
person obtains a cloth belonging to the latter and draws
two human figures on it, one right side up and the other
upside down, in lamp-black. After saying charms over the
cloth he puts it back surreptitiously in the owner's house.
When people are ill they make a vow to some god that if
they recover they will sacrifice a certain number of animals
proportionate to the severity of the illness. If the patient
then recovers, and the vow is for a larger number of animals
than he can afford, he sets fire to a piece of forest so that
a number of animals may be burnt as an offering to the god,
and his vow may thus be fulfilled. This practice has no
doubt gone out owing to the conservation of forests.
If a Gond, when starting on a journey in the morning, 47. Omens,
should meet a tiger, cat, hare, or a four-horned deer, he will
return and postpone his journey ; but if he meets one of
these animals when he is well on the way it is considered to
be lucky. Rain falling at a wedding or some other festival
is believed to be unlucky, as it is as if somebody were
crying. In Mandla, if a cock crows in the night, a man will
get up at once, catch it and twist its neck, and throw it over
the house as far away as he can. Apparently the cock is
supposed to be calling to evil spirits. If a hen cackles, or
lays eggs at night, it is also considered inauspicious, and the
bird is often killed or given away. They think they can
acquire strength by carrying the shoulder-bones of a tiger
1 Cassia fistula.
io6 GOND part
on their shoulders or drinking a little of the bone-dust
pounded in water. If there is disease in the village, the
Bhumka or village priest performs the ceremony of Gaon
bdndhna or tying up the village. Accompanied by a party
of men he drives a pig all round the village boundary,
scattering grains of urad pulse and mustard seed on the
way. The pig is then sacrificed, its blood is sprinkled on
all the village gods, and it is eaten by the party. No man
or animal may go outside the village on the day of this
ceremony, which should be performed on a Sunday or
Wednesday. When cattle disease breaks out the Bhumka
makes an arch of three poles, to which is hung a string of
mango leaves, and all the cattle of the village are driven
under it to avert the disease.
48. Agri- When there is drought two boys put a pestle across their
shoulders, tie a living frog to it with a rag, and go from house
supersti- fc> fc> &> & ^
tions. to house accompanied by other boys and girls singing :
Mendak Bhai ftani de,
Dhan, kodon pakne de,
Mere byah hone de,
or ' Brother Frog give rain ; let the rice and kodon ripen ;
let my marriage be held.' The frog is considered to be able
to produce rain because it lives in water and therefore has
control over its element. The boy's point in asking the frog
to let his marriage be held is that if the rains failed and the
crops withered, his parents would be unable to afford the
expense. Another method of obtaining rain is for two
naked women to go and harness themselves to a plough at
night, while a third naked woman drives the plough and
pricks them with a goad. This does not appear capable of
explanation on any magical basis, so far as I know, and the
idea may possibly be to force the clemency of the gods by
showing their extraordinary sufferings, or to show that the
world is topsy-turvy for want of rain. A leather rope is
sometimes tied to a plough and harrow, and the boys and
girls pull against one another on the rope in a tug-of-war.
If the girls win they think that rain will soon come, but it
the boys win that it will not. In order to stop excessive
rain, a naked bachelor collects water from the eaves in a new
earthen pot, covers the pot with a lid or with mud, and buries
ii OBSERVANCES IN FISHING AND HUNTING 107
it beneath the earth ; or the pot may be rilled with salt.
Here it may perhaps be supposed that, as the water dries up in
the pot or the salt gets dry, so the rain will stop and the world
generally become dry. The reason for employing women
to produce rain, and men to stop it, may be that women, as
they give milk, will be more potent in obtaining the other
liquid, water. Nakedness is a common element in magic,
perhaps because clothes are considered a civilised appanage,
and unsuitable for a contest with the powers of nature ; a
certain idea of impurity may also attach to them. If a crow
in carrying a straw to build its nest holds it in the middle,
they think that the rains will be normal and adequate ; but
if the straw is held towards one end, that the rains will be
excessive or deficient. If the titahri or sandpiper lays four
eggs properly arranged, they think that sufficient rain will
fall in all the four monsoon months. If only one, two or
three eggs are laid, or only this number properly placed in
the nest and the others at the side, then the rains will be
good only in an equivalent number of months.
At the beginning of the harvest they pluck an ear of corn
and say, ' Whatever god is the guardian of this place, this is
your share, take it, and do not interfere.' The last plants
in the field are cut and sent home by a little girl and put at
the bottom of the grain-bin of the house. Chitkuar Devi is
the goddess of the threshing-floor, and before beginning to
winnow the grain they sacrifice a pig and a chicken to her,
cutting the throats of the animals and letting their blood
drop on to the central post of the threshing-floor. When
they are about to take the kodon home, they set aside a
basketful and give it to the sister's son or sister's husband
of the owner, placing a bottle of liquor on the top, and he
takes it home to the house, and there they drink one or
two bottles of liquor, and then begin eating the new grain.
In Mandla the Gonds still perform, or did till recently, 49- Magi-
various magical or religious rites to obtain success in fishing reiigious
and hunting. The men of a village were accustomed to go observ-
out fishing as a communal act. They arrived at the river fishing and
before sunrise, and at midday their women brought them hunting.
pej or gruel. On returning the women made a mound or
platform before the house of the principal man of the party.
io8 GOND part
All the fish caught were afterwards laid on this platform and
the leader then divided them, leaving one piece on the
platform. Next morning this piece was taken away and
placed on the grave of the leader's ancestor. If no fish were
caught on the first day, then on the next day the women
took the men no food. And if they caught no fish for two
or three days running, they went and dug up the platform
erected in front of the leader's house and levelled it with the
ground. Then the next morning early all the people of the
village went to another village and danced the Sela dance
before the tombs of the ancestors of that village. Some-
times they went on to a third village and did the same.
The headman of the village visited levied a contribution
from his people, and gave them food and drink and a present
of Rs. 1-4. With this they bought liquor, and coming back
to their own village, offered it in front of the platform which
they had levelled, and drank it. Next morning they went
fishing again, but said that they did not care whether they
caught anything or not, as they had pleased their god.
Next year all the people of the village they had visited
would come and dance the Sela dance at their village the
whole day, and the hosts had to give the visitors food and
drink. This was said to be from gratitude to the headman
of the other village for placating their god with an offering
of Rs. 1-4. And the visit might even be repeated annually
so long as the headman of the other village was alive.
Apparently in this elaborate ritual the platform especially
represented the forefathers of the village, whose spirits were
supposed to give success in fishing. If the fishers were
unsuccessful, they demolished the platform to show their
displeasure to the spirits, and went and danced before the
ancestors of another village to intimate the transfer of their
allegiance from their own ancestors to these latter. The
ancestors would thus feel themselves properly snubbed and
discarded for their ill-nature in not giving success to the
fishing party. But when they had been in this condition
for a day or so the headman of the other village sent them
an offering of liquor, and it was thus intimated to them that,
though their own descendants had temporarily transferred
their devotion, they were not entirely abandoned. It would
ii OBSERVANCES IN FISHING AND HUNTING 109
be hoped that the ancestors would lay the lesson to heart,
and, placated by the liquor, be more careful in future of the
welfare of their descendants. The season for fishing was
in Kunwar and Kartik, and it sometimes extended into
Aghan (September to November). During these months,
from the time the new kodon was cut at the beginning-
of the period, they danced the Sela, and they did not
dance this dance at any other time of the year.1 At
other seasons they would dance the Karma. The Sela
dance is danced by men alone ; they have sticks and form
two circles, and walk in and out in opposite directions,
beating their sticks together as they pass. Sometimes
other men sit on the shoulders of the dancers and beat their
sticks. Sela is said to be the name of the stick. In the
Sela dance the singing is in the form of Dadaria, that is, one
party recites a line and the other party replies ; this is not
done in the Karma dance, for which they have regular songs.
It seems possible that the Sela dance was originally a mimic
combat, danced before they went out to fight in order to
give them success in the battle. Subsequently it might be
danced before they went out hunting and fishing with the
same object. If there was no stream to which they could
go fishing they would buy some fish and offer it to the god,
and have a holiday and eat it, or if they could not go fishing
they might go hunting in a party instead. When a single
Gond intends to go out hunting in the forest he first lights a
lamp before his household god in the house, or if he has no
oil he will kindle a fire, and the lamp or fire must be kept
burning all the time he is out. If he returns successful he
offers a chicken to the god and extinguishes the lamp. But
if he is unsuccessful he keeps the lamp burning all night, and
goes out again early next morning. If he gets more game
this time he will offer the chicken, but if not he will extin-
guish the lamp, put his gun outside and not touch it again
for eight days. A Gond never takes food in the morning
before going out hunting, but goes out in a fasting condition
perhaps in order that the god, seeing his hunger, may send
1 This is incorrect, at present at probable that the ritual observances
any rate, as the Karma is danced for communal fishing and hunting have
during the harvest period. But it is now fallen into abeyance.
craft
, 10 GOND PART
him some game to eat. Nor will a Gond visit his wife the
night before he goes out hunting. When a Baiga goes out
hunting he bangs his liquor-gourd on the ground before his
household god and vows that, if successful, he will offer to
the o-od the gourd full of liquor and a chicken. But if he
returns empty-handed, instead of doing this he fills the gourd
with earth and throws it over the god to show his wrath.
Then if he is successful on the next day, he will scrape off the
earth and offer the liquor and chicken as promised. A
Baiga should worship his god and go out hunting at the
new moon, and then he will hunt the whole month. But if
he has not worshipped his god at the new moon, and still
goes out hunting and is unsuccessful, he will hunt no more
that month. Some Gonds before they go hunting draw an
image of Mahablr or Hanuman, the monkey god and the
god of strength, on their guns, and rub it out when they get
home again.
50. Witch- The belief in witchcraft has been till recently in full
force and vigour among the Gonds, and is only now showing
symptoms of decline. In 1871 Sir C. Grant wrote:1 "The
wild hill country from Mandla to the eastern coast is believed
to be so infested by witches that at one time no prudent
father would let his daughter marry into a family which
did not include among its members at least one of the
dangerous sisterhood. The non-Aryan belief in the power
of evil here strikes a ready chord in the minds of their
conquerors, attuned to dread by the inhospitable appearance
of the country and the terrible effect of its malicious in-
fluences upon human life. In the wilds of Mandla there are
many deep hillside caves which not even the most intrepid
Baiga hunter would approach for fear of attracting upon
himself the wrath of their demoniac inhabitants ; and where
these hillmen, who are regarded both by themselves and by
others as ministers between men and spirits, are afraid, the
sleek cultivator of the plains must feel absolute repulsion.
Then the suddenness of the epidemics to which, whether from
deficient water-supply or other causes, Central India seems
so subject, is another fruitful source of terror among an
ignorant people. When cholera breaks out in a wild part
1 C. P. Gazetteer (1871), Introduction, p. 130.
n WITCHCRAFT m
of the country it creates a perfect stampede — villages, roads,
and all works in progress are deserted ; even the sick are
abandoned by their nearest relations to die, and crowds fly
to the jungles, there to starve on fruits and berries till the
panic has passed off. The only consideration for which their
minds have room at such times is the punishment of the
offenders, for the ravages caused by the disease are un-
hesitatingly set down to human malice. The police records
of the Central Provinces unfortunately contain too many sad
instances of life thus sacrificed to a mad unreasoning terror."
The detection of a witch by the agency of the corpse, when
the death is believed to have been caused by witchcraft, has
been described in the section on funeral rites. In other
cases a lamp was lighted and the names of the suspected
persons repeated ; the flicker of the lamp at any name was
held to indicate the witch. Two leaves were thrown on the
outstretched hand of a suspected person, and if the leaf
representing her or him fell above the other suspicion was
deepened. In Bastar the leaf ordeal was followed by sewing
the person accused into a sack and letting her down into
shallow water ; if she managed in her struggles for life to
raise her head above water she was finally adjudged to be
guilty. A witch was beaten with rods of the tamarind or
castor-oil plants, which were supposed to be of peculiar
efficacy in such cases ; her head was shaved cross-wise from
one ear to the other over the head and down to the neck ; her
teeth were sometimes knocked out, perhaps to prevent her
from doing mischief if she should assume the form of a tiger
or other wild animal ; she was usually obliged to leave the
village, and often murdered. Murder for witchcraft is now
comparatively rare as it is too often followed by detection
and proper punishment. But the belief in the causation of
epidemic disease by personal agency is only slowly declining.
Such measures as the disinfection of wells by permanganate of
potash during a visitation of cholera, or inoculation against
plague, are sometimes considered as attempts on the part of
the Government to reduce the population. When the first
epidemic of plague broke out in Mandla in 191 1 it caused a
panic among the Gonds, who threatened to attack with their
axes any Government officer who should come to their village,
II2 GOND PART
in the belief that all of them must be plague-inoculators. In
the course of six months, however, the feeling of panic died
down under a system of instruction by schoolmasters and
other local officials and by circulars ; and by the end of the
period the Gonds began to offer themselves voluntarily for
inoculation, and would probably have come to do so in fairly
large numbers if the epidemic had not subsided.
Si. Human The Gonds were formerly accustomed to offer human
sacrifice.1 sacrifices> especially to the goddess Kali and to the goddess
Danteshwari, the tutelary deity of the Rajas of Bastar. Her
shrine was at a place called Dcmtewara, and she was probably
at first a local goddess and afterwards identified with the
Hindu goddess Kali. An inscription recently found in Bastar
records the grant of a village to a Medipota in order to
secure the welfare of the people and their cattle. This
man was the head of a community whose business it was,
in return for the grants of land which they enjoyed, to
supply victims for human sacrifice either from their own
families or elsewhere. Tradition states that on one occa-
sion as many as 101 persons were sacrificed to avert
some great calamity which had befallen the country. And
sacrifices also took place when the Raja visited the temple.
During the period of the Bhonsla rule early in the nineteenth
century the Raja of Bastar was said to have immolated
twenty-five men before he set out to visit the Raja of Nagpur
at his capital. This would no doubt be as an offering for
his safety, and the lives of the victims were given as a sub-
stitute for his own. A guard was afterwards placed on the
temple by the Marathas, but reports show that human
sacrifice was not finally stamped out until the Nagpur
territories lapsed to the British in 1853. At Chanda and
Lanji also, Mr. Hislop states, human sacrifices were offered
until well into the nineteenth century 2 at the temples of
Kali. The victim was taken to the temple after sunset and
shut up within its dismal walls. In the morning, when the
door was opened, he was found dead, much to the glory of
the great goddess, who had shown her power by coming
during the night and sucking his blood. No doubt there
1 This section contains some information furnished by R. B. Hira Lai.
2 Notes on the Gonds, pp. 15, 16.
1 1 HUM A N SA CRIFICE 1 1 3
must have been some of her servants hid in the fane whose
business it was to prepare the horrid banquet. It is said
that an iron plate was afterwards put over the face of the
goddess to prevent her from eating up the persons going
before her. In Chanda the legend tells that the families
of the town had each in turn to supply a victim to the
goddess. One day a mother was weeping bitterly because
her only son was to be taken as the victim, when an Ahlr
passed by, and on learning the cause of her sorrow offered
to go instead. He took with him the rope of hair with
which the Ahirs tie the legs of their cows when milking
them and made a noose out of it. When the goddess came
up to him he threw the noose over her neck and drew it
tight like a Thug. The goddess begged him to let her go,
and he agreed to do so on condition that she asked for no more
human victims. No doubt, if the legend has any foundation,
the Ahlr found a human neck within his noose. It has
been suggested in the article on Thug that the goddess
Kali is really the deified tiger, and if this were so her
craving for human sacrifices is readily understood. All the
three places mentioned, Dante wara, Lanji and Chanda, are
in a territory where tigers are still numerous, and certain
points in the above legends favour the idea of this animal
origin of the goddess. Such are the shutting of the victim
in the temple at night as an animal is tied up for a tiger-
kill, and the closing of her mouth with an iron plate as the
mouths of tigers are sometimes supposed to be closed by
magic. Similarly it may perhaps be believed that the Raja
of Bastar offered human sacrifices to protect himself and his
party from the attacks of tigers, which would be the principal
danger on a journey to Nagpur. In Mandla there is a
tradition that a Brahman boy was formerly sacrificed at
intervals to the god Bura Deo, and the forehead of the god
was marked with his hair in place of sandalwood, and the
god bathed in his blood and used his bones as sticks for
playing at ball. Similarly in Bindranawagarh in Raipur the
Gonds are said to have entrapped strangers and offered them
to their gods, and if possible a Brahman was obtained as the
most suitable offering. These legends indicate the traditional
hostility of the Gonds to the Hindus, and especially to the
VOL. Ill I
H4 GOND part
Brahmans, by whom they were at one time much oppressed
and ousted from their lands. According to tradition, a Gond
Raja of Garha-Mandla, Madhkur Shah, had treacherously
put his elder brother to death. Divine vengeance over-
took him and he became afflicted with chronic pains in
the head. No treatment was of avail, and he was finally
advised that the only means of appeasing a justly incensed
deity was to offer his own life. He determined to be burnt
inside the trunk of the sacred pipal tree, and a hollow trunk
sufficiently dry for the purpose having been found at Deogarh,
twelve miles from Mandla, h^ shut himself up in it and was
burnt to death. The story is interesting as showing how
the neurotic or other pains, which are the result of remorse
for a crime, are ascribed to the vengeance of a divine
providence.
52. Canni- Mr. Wilson quotes 1 an account, written by Lieutenant
bah'sm. Prendergast in 1820, in which he states that he had dis-
covered a tribe of Gonds who were cannibals, but ate only
their own relations. The account was as follows : " In May
1820 I visited the hills of Amarkantak, and having heard
that a particular tribe of Gonds who lived in the hills were
cannibals, I made the most particular inquiries assisted by
my clerk Mohan Singh, an intelligent and well-informed
Kayasth. We learned after much trouble that there was
a tribe of Gonds who resided in the hills of Amarkantak and
to the south-east in the Gondwana country, who held very
little intercourse with the villagers and never went among
them except to barter or purchase provisions. This race
live in detached parties and seldom have more than eight or
ten huts in one place. They are cannibals in the real
sense of the word, but never eat the flesh of any person not
belonging to their own family or tribe ; nor do they do this
except on particular occasions. It is the custom of this
singular people to cut the throat of any person of their
family who is attacked by severe illness and who they think
has no chance of recovering, when they collect the whole of
their relations and friends, and feast upon the body. In
like manner when a person arrives at a great age and
becomes feeble and weak, the Halalkhor operates upon him,
1 Indian Caste, i. p. 325.
Bemrose, Cotlo., Der/y.
KILLING OF RAWAN, THE DEMON KING OF
CEYLON, FROM WHOM THE GONDS ARE
SUPPOSED TO BE DESCENDED.
ii FESTIVALS: THE NEW CROPS 115
when the different members of the family assemble for the
same purpose as above stated. In other respects this is a
simple race of people, nor do they consider cutting the
throats of their sick relations or aged parents any sin ; but
on the contrary an act acceptable to Kali, a blessing to their
relatives, and a mercy to their whole race."
It may be noted that the account is based on hearsay
only, and such stories are often circulated about savage
races. But if correct, it would indicate probably only a
ritual form of cannibalism. The idea of the Gonds in eating
the bodies of their relatives would be to assimilate the lives
of these as it were, and cause them to be reborn as children
in their own families. Possibly they ate the bodies of their
parents, as many races ate the bodies of animal gods, in
order to obtain their divine virtues and qualities. No
corroboration of this custom is known in respect of the
Gonds, but Colonel Dalton records 1 a somewhat similar
story of the small Birhor tribe who live in the Chota
Nagpur hills not far from Amarkantak, and it has been seen
that the Bhunjias of Bilaspur eat small portions of the bodies
of their dead relatives.2
The original Gond festivals were associated with the 53. Festi-
first eating of the new crops and fruits. In Chait (March) vals- The
. . K ' new crops.
a festival called Chaitrai is observed in Bastar. A pig or
fowl with some liquor is offered to the village god, and the
new urad and semi beans of the year's crop are placed before
him uncooked. The people dance and sing the whole night
and begin eating the new pulse and beans. In Bhadon
(August) is the Nawakhai or eating of the new rice. The
old and new grain is mixed and offered raw to the ancestors,
a goat is sacrificed, and they begin to eat the new crop of
rice. Similarly when the mahua flowers, from which country
spirit is made, first appear, they proceed to the forest and
worship under a saj tree.
Before sowing rice or millet they have a rite called
Bljphutni or breaking the seed. Some grain, fowls and a
pig are collected from the villagers by subscription. The
grain is offered to the god and then distributed to all the
villagers, who sow it in their fields for luck.
1 See article Birhor. 2 See article Bhunjia.
n6 GOND part
54. The The Holi festival, which corresponds to the Carnival,
Holi being held in spring at the end of the Hindu year, is
observed by Gonds as well as Hindus. In Bilaspur a Gond
or Baiga, as representing the oldest residents, is always
employed to light the Holi fire. Sometimes it is kindled in
the ancient manner by the friction of two pieces of wood.
In Mandla, at the Holi, the Gonds fetch a green branch of
the semar or cotton tree and plant it in a little hole, in
which they put also a pice (farthing) and an egg. They
place fuel round and burn up the branch. Then next day
they take out the egg and give it to a dog to eat and say
that this will make the dog as swift as fire. They choose a
dog whom they wish to train for hunting. They bring the
ploughshare from the house and heat it red-hot in the Holi
fire and take it back. They say that this wakes up the
ploughshare, which has fallen asleep from rusting in the
house, and makes it sharp for ploughing. Perhaps when
rust appears on the metal they think this a sign of its
being asleep. They plough for the first time on a Monday
or Wednesday and drive three furrows when nobody is
looking.
ss. The In the western Districts on one of the five days following
Meghnath ^he Holi the swinging rite is performed. For this they
swinging o o r •
rite. bring a straight teak or saj tree from the forest, as long as
can be obtained, and cut from a place where two trees are
growing together. The Bhumka or village priest is shown in
a dream where to cut the tree. It is set up in a hole seven
feet deep, a quantity of salt being placed beneath it. The
hole is coloured with geru or red ochre, and offerings of
goats, sheep and chickens are made to it by people who
have vowed them in sickness. A cross-bar is fixed on to
the top of the pole in a socket and the Bhumka is tied to
one end of the cross-bar. A rope is attached to the other
end and the people take hold of this and drag the Bhumka
round in the air five times. When this has been done the
village proprietor gives him a present of a cocoanut, and
head- and body-clothes. If the pole falls down it is considered
that some great misfortune, such as an epidemic, will ensue.
The pole and ritual are now called Meghnath. Meghnath
is held to have been the son of Rawan, the demon king of
Bemrosc, Collo., Derby.
WOMAN ABOUT TO BE SWUNG ROUND THE POST
CALLED MEGHNATH.
ii THE KARMA AND OTHER RITES 117
Ceylon, from whom the Gonds are supposed by the Hindus
to be descended, as they are called Rawanvansi, or of the
race of Rawan. After this they set up another pole, which is
known as Jheri, and make it slippery with oil, butter and
other things. A little bag containing Rs. 1-4 and also a
seer (2 lbs.) of gill or butter are tied to the top, and the men
try to climb the pole and get these as a prize. The women
assemble and beat the men with sticks as they are climbing
to prevent them from doing so. If no man succeeds in
climbing the pole and getting the reward, it is given to the
women. This seems to be a parody of the first or Meghnath
rite, and both probably have some connection with the
growth of the crops.
During Bhadon (August), in the rains, the Gonds bring a 56. The
branch of the kalmi or of the Juxldu tree from the forest and an^™her
wrap it up in new cloth and keep it in their houses. They rites.
have a feast and the musicians play, and men and women
dance round the branch singing songs, of which the theme
is often sexual. The dance is called Karma and is the
principal dance of the Gonds, and they repeat it at intervals
all through the cold weather, considering it as their great
amusement. A further notice of it is given in the section on
social customs. The dance is apparently named after the
tree,' though it is not known whether the same tree is always
selected. Many deciduous trees in India shed their leaves
in the hot weather and renew them in the rains, so that this
season is partly one of the renewal of vegetation as well as
of the growth of crops.
In Kunwar (September) the Gond girls take an earthen
pot, pierce it with holes, and put a lamp inside and also the
image of a dove, and go round from house to house singing
and dancing, led by a girl carrying the pot on her head.
They collect contributions and have a feast. In Chhattisgarh
among the Gonds and Rawats (Ahlrs) there is from time to
time a kind of feminist movement, which is called the
Stiria-Raj or kingdom of women. The women pretend to
be soldiers, seize all the weapons, axes and spears that they
can get hold of, and march in a body from village to village.
At each village they kill a goat and send its head to another
village, and then the women of that village come and join
,i8 GOND part
them. During this time they leave their hair unbound and
think that they are establishing the kingdom of women.
After some months the movement subsides, and it is said to
occur at irregular intervals with a number of years between
each. The women are commonly considered to be out of
their senses.
(g) Appearance and Character, and Social
Rules and Customs
57. Physi- Hislop describes the Gonds as follows : 1 " All are a little
cai type. Deiow the average size of Europeans and in complexion
darker than the generality of Hindus. Their bodies are
well proportioned, but their features rather ugly. They have
a roundish head, distended nostrils, wide mouth, thickish lips,
straight black hair and scanty beard and moustache. It has
been supposed that some of the aborigines of Central India
have woolly hair ; but this is a mistake. Among the
thousands I have seen I have not found one with hair like
a negro." Captain Forsyth says : 2 " The Gond women
differ among themselves more than the men. They are
somewhat lighter in colour and less fleshy than Korku
women. But the Gond women of different parts of the
country vary greatly in appearance, many of them in the
open tracts being great robust creatures, finer animals by far
than the men ; and here Hindu blood may fairly be expected.
In the interior again bevies of Gond women may be seen
who are more like monkeys than human beings. The
features of all are strongly marked and coarse. The girls
occasionally possess such comeliness as attaches to general
plumpness and a good-humoured expression of face ; but
when their short youth is over all pass at once into a hideous
age. Their hard lives, sharing as they do all the labours of
the men except that of hunting, suffice to account for this."
There is not the least doubt that the Gonds of the more open
and civilised country, comprised in British Districts, have a
large admixture of Hindu blood. They commonly work as
farmservants, women as well as men, and illicit connections
with their Hindu masters have been a natural result. This
1 Notes, p. 1. 2 Highlands of Central India, p. 156.
1MHHMH
Bemrose, Colin., Derby,
CLIMBING THE POLE FOR A BAG OF SUGAR.
ii CHARACTER 119
interbreeding, as well as the better quality of food which
those who have taken to regular cultivation obtain, have
perhaps conduced to improve the Gond physical type. Gond
men as tall as Hindus, and more strongly built and with
comparatively well -cut features, are now frequently seen,
though the broad fiat nose is still characteristic of the tribe
as a whole. Most Gonds have very little hair on the face.
Of the Maria Gonds, Colonel Glasfurd wrote : that " They s8- Char-
are a timid, quiet race, docile, and though addicted to drink-
ing they are not quarrelsome. Without exception they are
the most cheerful, light-hearted people I have met with,
always laughing and joking among themselves. Seldom
does a Maria village resound with quarrels or wrangling
among either sex, and in this respect they present a marked
contrast to those in more civilised tracts. They, in common
with many other wild races, bear a singular character for
truthfulness and honesty, and when once they get over the
feeling of shyness which is natural to them, are exceedingly
frank and communicative." Writing in 1825 Sleeman said :
" Such is the simplicity and honesty of character of the wildest
of these Gonds that when they have agreed to a jama 2 they
will pay it, though they sell their children to do so, and will
also pay it at the precise time that they agreed to. They
are dishonest only in direct theft, and few of them will refuse
to take another man's property when a fair occasion offers,
but they will immediately acknowledge it." 3 The more
civilised Gonds retain these characteristics to a large extent,
though contact with the Hindus and the increased complexity
of life have rendered them less guileless. Murder is a com-
paratively frequent crime among Gonds, and is usually due
either to some quarrel about a woman or to a drunken affray.
The kidnapping of girls for marriage is also common, though
hardly reckoned as an offence by the Gonds themselves.
Otherwise crime is extremely rare in Gond villages as a rule.
As farmservants the Gonds are esteemed fairly honest and
hardworking ; but unless well driven they are constitutionally
averse to labour, and care nothing about provision for the
1 Report on Bastar Dependency, 3 Quoted in C.P. Gazetteer (1871),
p. 41. Introduction, p. 113.
2 Assessment of revenue for land.
I2o GOND PART
future. The proverb says, ' The Gond considers himself a
king as long as he has a pot of grain in the house,' meaning
that while he has food for a day or two he will not work for
any more. During the hot weather the Gonds go about in
parties and pay visits to their relatives, staying with them
several days, and the time is spent simply in eating, drinking
when liquor is available, and conversation. The visitors take
presents of grain and pulse with them and these go to aug-
ment the host's resources. The latter will kill a chicken or,
as a great treat, a young pig. Mr. Montgomerie writes of
the Gonds as follows •} " They are a pleasant people, and
leave kindly memories in those who have to do with them.
Comparatively truthful, always ready for a laugh, familiar
with the paths and animals and fruits of the forest, lazy
cultivators on their own account but good farmservants
under supervision, the broad-nosed Gonds are the fit inhabit-
ants of the hilly and jungly tracts in which they are found.
With a marigold tucked into his hair above his left ear, with
an axe in his hand and a grin on his face, the Gond turns
out cheerfully to beat for game, and at the end of the day
spends his beating pay on liquor for himself or on sweetmeats
for his children. He may, in the previous year, have been
subsisting largely on jungle fruits and roots because his
harvest failed, but he does not dream of investing his modest
beating pay in grain."
In the wilder tracts the Gonds were, until recently,
extremely shy of strangers, and would fly at their approach.
Their tribute to the Raja of Bastar, paid in kind, was collected
once a year by an officer who beat a tom-tom outside the
village and forthwith hid himself, whereupon the inhabitants
brought out whatever they had to give and deposited it on
an appointed spot. Colonel Glasfurd notes that they had
great fear of a horse, and the sight of a man on horseback
would put a whole village to flight.2 Even within the writer's
experience, in the wilder forest tracts of Chanda Gond women
picking up mahua would run and climb a tree at one's
approach on a pony. As displaying the ignorance of the
Gonds, Mr. Cain relates 3 that about forty years ago a Gond
1 Chhlndwara Settlement Report. p. 43.
2 Report on Bastar Dependency, 3 Ind. Ant. (1876), p. 359.
and itmor-
ii VILLAGES AND HOUSES 121
was sent with a basket of mangoes from Palvatsa to Bhadra-
chalam, and was warned not to eat any of the fruit, as it
would be known if he did so from a note placed in the basket.
On the way, however, the Gond and his companion were
overcome by the attraction of the fruit, and decided that if
they buried the note it would be unable to see them eating.
They accordingly did so and ate some of the mangoes, and
when taxed with their dishonesty at the journey's end, could
not understand how the note could have known of their eating
the mangoes when it had not seen them.
The Gonds can now count up to twenty, and beyond
that they use the word kori or a score, in talking of cattle,
grain or rupees, so that this, perhaps, takes them up to twenty
score. They say they learnt to count up to twenty on their
ten fingers and ten toes.
When residing in the centre of a Hindu population the 60. Vil-
Gonds inhabit mud houses, like the low-class Hindus. But !a§es and
houses.
in the jungles their huts are of bamboo matting plastered
with mud, with thatched roofs. The internal arrangements
are of the simplest kind, comprising two apartments separated
from each other by a row of tall baskets, in which they store
up their grain. Adjoining the house is a shed for cattle, and
round both a bamboo fence for protection from wild beasts.
In Bastar the walls of the hut are only four or five feet high,
and the door three feet. Here there are one or two sheds, in
which all the villagers store their grain in common, and no
man steals another's grain. In Gond villages the houses are
seen perched about on little bluffs or other high ground, over-
looking the fields, one, two and three together. The Gond
does not like to live in a street. He likes a large bari or
fenced enclosure, about an acre in size, besides his house.
In this he will grow mustard for sale, or his own annual
supply of tobacco or vegetables. He arranges that the
village cattle shall come and stand in the bari on their
way to and from pasture, and that the cows shall be milked
there for some time. His family also perform natural
functions in it, which the Hindus will not do in their fields.
Thus the bari gets well manured and will easily give two crops
in the year, and the Gond sets great store by this field. When
building a new house a man plants as the first post a pole
and orna
tnents.
12 2 GOND PART
of the saj tree, and ties a bundle of thatching-grass round it,
and buries a pice (^d.) and a bhilawa nut beneath it. They
feed two or three friends and scatter a little of the food over
the post. The post is called Khirkhut Deo, and protects the
house from harm.
A brass or pewter dish and lota or drinking-vessel of the
same material, a few earthen cooking-pots, a hatchet and a
clay chilam or pipe-bowl comprise the furniture of a Gond.
61. Clothes In Sir R. Jenkins' time, a century ago, the Gonds were
represented as naked savages, living on roots and fruits, and
hunting for strangers to sacrifice. About fifty years later,
when Mr. Hislop wrote, the Maria women of the wilder tracts
were said only to have a bundle of leafy twigs fastened with
a string round their waist to cover them before and behind.
Now men have a narrow strip of cloth round the waist and
women a broader one, but in the south of Bastar they still
leave their breasts uncovered. Here a woman covers her
breasts for the first time when she becomes pregnant, and if
a young woman did it, she would be thought to be big with
child. In other localities men and women clothe themselves
more like Hindus, but the women leave the greater part of
the thighs bare, and men often have only one cloth round
the loins and another small rag on the head. They have
bangles of glass, brass and zinc, and large circlets of brass
round the legs, though these are now being discarded. In
Bastar both men and women have ten to twenty iron and
brass hoops round their necks, and on to these rings of
the same metal are strung. Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath
counted 181 rings on one hoop round an old woman's
neck. In the Maria country the boys have small separate
plots of land, which they cultivate themselves and use the
proceeds as their pocket-money, and this enables them to
indulge in a profusion of ornaments sometimes exceeding
those worn by the girls. In Mandla women wear a number
of strings of yellow and bluish -white beads. A married
woman has both colours, and several cowries tied to the end
of the necklace. Widows and girls may only wear the
bluish-white beads without cowries, and a remarried widow
may not have any yellow beads, but she can have one cowrie
on her necklace. Yellow beads are thus confined to married
ii EAR-PIERCING 123
women, yellow being the common wedding- colour. A
Gond woman is not allowed to wear a cJwli or little
jacket over the breasts. If she does she is put out of
caste. This rule may arise from opposition to the adoption
of Hindu customs and desire to retain a distinctive feature of
dress, or it may be thought that the adoption of the cJioli
might make Gond women weaker and unfitted for hard
manual labour, like Hindu women. A Gond woman must
not keep her cloth tucked up behind into her waist when she
meets an elderly man of her own family, but must let it
down so as to cover the upper part of her legs. If she omits
to do this, on the occasion of the next wedding the Bhumka
or caste priest will send some men to catch her, and when
she is brought the man to whom she was disrespectful will
put his right hand on the ground and she must make obeisance
to it seven times, then to his left hand, then to a broom and
pestle, and so on till she is tired out. When they have a
sprain or swelling of the arm they make a ring of tree-fibre
and wear this on the arm, and think that it will cure the
sprain or swelling.
The ears of girls are pierced by a thorn, and the hole is 62. Ear-
enlarged by putting in small pieces of wood or peacock's Piercins-
feathers. Gond women wear in their ears the tarkhiox a little
slab in shape like a palm-leaf, covered with coloured glass and
fixed on to a stalk of hemp-fibre nearly an inch thick, which
goes through the ear ; or they wear the silver shield-shaped
ornament called dhara, which is described in the article on
Sunar. In Bastar the women have their ears pierced in a
dozen or more places, and have a small ring in each hole.
If a woman gets her ear torn through she is simply put out
of caste and has to give a feast for readmission, and is not
kept out of caste till it heals, like a Hindu woman.
Gond men now cut their hair. Before scissors were 63. Hair,
obtainable it is said that they used to tie it up on their heads
and chop off the ends with an axe, or burn them off. But the
wilder Gonds often wear their hair long, and as it is seldom
combed it gets tangled and matted. The Pandas or priests
do not cut their hair. Women wear braids of false hair, of
goats or other animals, twisted into their own to improve their
appearance. In Mandla a Gond girl should not have her hair
I24 GOND part
parted in the middle till she is married. When she is married
this is done for the first time by the Baiga, who subsequently
tattoos on her forehead the image of Chandi Mata.1
Gonds, both men and women, do not bathe daily, but
only wash their arms and legs. They think a complete bath
once a month is sufficient. If a man gets ill he may think
the god is angry with him for not bathing, and when he
recovers he goes and has a good bath, and sometimes gives
a feast. Hindus say that a Gond is only clean in the rains,
when he gets a compulsory bath every day. In Bastar they
seldom wash their clothes, as they think this impious, or else
that the cloth would wear out too quickly if it were often
washed. Here they set great store by their piece of cloth,
and a woman will take it off before she cleans up her house,
and do her work naked. It is probable that these wild
Gonds, who could not weave, regarded the cloth as some-
thing miraculous and sacred, and, as already seen, the god
Palo is a piece of cloth.2
65. Tattoo- Both men and women were formerly much tattooed
among the Gonds, though the custom is now going out
among men. Women are tattooed over a large part of the
body, but not on the hips or above them to the waist.
Sorcerers are tattooed with some image or symbol of their
god on their chest or right shoulder, and think that the god
will thus always remain with them and that any magic
directed against them by an enemy will fail. A woman
should be tattooed at her father's house, if possible before
marriage, and if it is done after marriage her parents should
pay for it. The tattooing is done with indigo in black or
blue, and is sometimes a very painful process, the girl being
held down by her friends while it is carried out. Loud
shrieks, Forsyth says, would sometimes be heard by the
OO
OO
traveller issuing from a village, which proclaimed that some
young Gondin was being operated upon with the tattooing-
1 See/rtra. 65, Tattooing. 2 See/ara. 41, Religion..
ii SPECIAL SYSTEM OF TATTOOING 125
needle. Patterns of animals and also common articles of
household use are tattooed in dots and lines. In Mandla
the legs are marked all the way up behind with sets of parallel
lines, as shown above. These are called ghats or steps, and
sometimes interspersed at intervals is another figure called
sankal or chain. Perhaps their idea is to make the legs
strong for climbing.
Tattooing seems to have been originally a magical means 66. Special
of protecting the body against real and spiritual dangers, s-vstem of
much in the same manner as the wearing of ornaments. It
is also supposed that people were tattooed with images of
their totem in order the better to identify themselves with it.
The following account is stated to have been taken from the
Baiga priest of a popular shrine of Devi in Mandla. His
wife was a tattooer of both Baigas and Gonds, and considered
it the correct method for the full tattooing of a woman,
though very few women can nowadays be found with it. The
magical intent of tattooing is here clearly brought out : —
On the sole of the right foot is the annexed device :
It represents the earth, and will have the effect of preventing
the woman's foot from being bruised and cut when she walks
about barefoot.
On the sole of the left foot is this pattern :
It is meant to be in the shape of a foot, and is called
Padam Sen Deo or the Foot-god. This deity is represented
by stones marked with two footprints under a tree outside
the village. When they have a pain in the foot they go to
him, rub his two stones together and sprinkle the dust from
them on their feet as a means of cure. The device tattooed
on the foot no doubt performs a similar protective function.
On the upper part of the foot five dots are made, one on
each toe, and a line is drawn round the foot from the big toe
to the little toe. This sign is said to represent Gajkaran
,26 GOND part
Deo, the elephant god, who resides in cemeteries. He is a
strong god, and it is probably thought that his symbol on the
feet will enable them to bear weight. On the legs behind
they have the images of the Baiga priest and priestess.
These are also supposed to give strength for labour, and when
they cannot go into the forest from fever or weakness they
say that Bura Deo, as the deified priest is called, is angry
with them. On the upper legs in front they tattoo the
image of a horse, and at the back a saddle between the knee
and the thigh. This is Koda Deo the horse-god, whose
image will make their thighs as strong as those of a horse.
If they have a pain or weakness in the thigh they go and
worship Koda Deo, offering him a piece of saddle-cloth.
On the outer side of each upper arm they tattoo the image of
Hanuman, the deified monkey and the god of strength, in
the form of a man. Both men and women do this, and
men apply burning cowdung to the tattoo-mark in order to
burn it effectually into the arm. This god makes the arms
strong to carry weights. Down the back is tattooed an
oblong figure, which is the house of the god Bhimsen, with
an opening at the lower end just above the buttocks to
represent the gate. Inside this on the back is the image of
Bhimsen's club, consisting of a pattern of dots more or less
in the shape of an Indian club. Bhimsen is the god of the
cooking -place, and the image of his club, in white clay
stained green with the leaves of the semar tree, is made on
the wall of the kitchen. If they have no food, or the food
is bad, they say that Bhimsen is angry with them. The
pattern tattooed on the back appears therefore to be meant
to facilitate the digestion of food, which the Gonds apparently
once supposed to pass down the body along the back. On
the breast in front women tattoo the image of Bura Deo, as
shown, the head on her neck and the body finishing at her
breast-bone. The marks round the body represent stones,
because the symbol of Bura Deo is sometimes a basket
Bcmrose, t olio., Derby.
GOND WOMEN. SHOWING TATTOOING ON
BACKS OF LEGS.
ii BRANDING 127
plastered with mud and rilled with stones. On each side of
the body women have the image of Jhulan Devi, the cradle
goddess, as shown by the small figures attached to Bura
Deo. But a woman cannot have the image of Jhulan Devi
tattooed on her till she has borne a child. The place where
the image is tattooed is that where a child rests against its
mother's body when she carries it suspended in her cloth,
and it is supposed that the image of the goddess supports
and protects the child, while the mother's arms are left free
for work.
Round the neck they have Kanteshwar Mata, the god-
dess of the necklace. She consists of three to six lines of
dots round the neck representing bead necklaces.
On the face below the mouth there is sometimes the
image of a cobra, and it is supposed that this will protect
them from the effects of eating any poisonous thing.
On the forehead women have the image of Chandi Mata.
This consists of a dot at the forehead at the parting of the
hair, from which two lines of dots run down to the ears on
each side, and are continued along the sides of the face to
the neck. This image can only be tattooed after the hair of
a woman has been parted on her marriage, and they say that
Chandi Mata will preserve and guard the parting of the hair,
that is the life of the woman's husband, because the parting
can only be worn so long as her husband is alive. Chandi
means the moon, and it seems likely that the parting of the
hair may be considered to represent the bow of the moon.
The elaborate system of tattooing here described is rarely
found, and it is perhaps comparatively recent, having been
devised by the Baiga and Pardhan priests as their intelligence
developed and their theogony became more complex.
Men are accustomed to brand themselves on the joints 67. Brand-
of the wrists, elbows and knees with burning wood of the ing-
semar tree from the Holi fire in order to render their joints
supple for dancing. It would appear that the idea of supple-
ness comes from the dancing of the flames or the swift burn-
ing of the fire, while the wood is also of very light weight.
Men are also accustomed to burn two or three marks on
each wrist with a piece of hare's dung, perhaps to make the
joints supple like the legs of a hare.
128 GOND PART
68. Food. The Gonds have scarcely any restriction on diet. They
will eat fowls, beef, pork, crocodiles, certain kinds of snakes,
lizards, tortoises, rats, cats, red ants, jackals and in some
places monkeys. Khatola and Raj-Gonds usually abstain
from beef and the flesh of the buffalo and monkey. They
consider field-mice and rats a great delicacy, and will take
much trouble in finding and digging out their holes. The
Maria Gonds are very fond of red ants, and in Bastar give
them fried or roasted to a woman during her confinement.
The common food of the labouring Gond is a gruel of rice or
small millet boiled in water, the quantity of water increasing
in proportion to their poverty. This is about the cheapest
kind of food on which a man can live, and the quantity
of grain taken in the form of this gruel or pej which will
suffice for a Gond's subsistence is astonishingly small.
They grow the small grass-millets kodon and kutki for their
subsistence, selling the more valuable crops for rent and
expenses. The flowers of the mahua tree are also a staple
article of diet, being largely eaten as well as made into
liquor, and the Gond knows of many other roots and fruits
of the forest. He likes to eat or drink his pej several times
a day, and in Seoni, it is said, will not go more than three
hours without a meal.
Gonds are rather strict in the matter of taking food
from others, and in some localities refuse to accept it even
from Brahmans. Elsewhere they will take it from most
Hindu castes. In Hoshangabad the men may take food
from the higher Hindu castes, but not the women. This,
they say, is because the woman is a wooden vessel, and if
a wooden vessel is once put on the fire it is irretrievably
burnt. A woman similarly is the weaker vessel and will
sustain injury from any contamination. The Raj-Gond
copies Hindu ways and outdoes the Hindu in the
elaboration of ceremonial purity, even having the fuel with
which his Brahman cook prepares his food sprinkled with
water to purify it before it is burnt. Mr. A. K. Smith states
that a Gond will not eat an antelope if a Chamar has
touched it, even unskinned, and in some places they are
so strict that a wife may not eat her husband's leavings of
food. The Gonds will not eat the leavings of any Hindu
ii LIQUOR 129
caste, probably on account of a traditional hostility arising
out of their subjection by the Hindus. Very few Hindu
castes will take water or food from the Gonds, but some
who employ them as farmservants do this for convenience.
The Gonds are not regarded as impure, even though from
a Hindu point of view some of their habits are more
objectionable than those of the impure castes. This is
because the Gonds have never been completely reduced to
subjection, nor converted into the village drudges, who
are consigned to the most degraded occupations. Large
numbers of them hold land as tenants and estates as
zamlndars ; and the greater part of the Province was once
governed by Gond kings. The Hindus say that they could
not consider a tribe as impure to which their kings once
belonged. Brahmans will take water from Raj-Gonds and
Khatola Gonds in many localities. This is when it is
freshly brought from the well and not after it has been
put in their houses.
Excessive drinking is the common vice of the Gonds 69. Liquor,
and the principal cause which militates against their suc-
cessfully competing with the Hindus. They drink the
country spirit distilled from the flowers of the mahua tree,
and in the south of the Province toddy or the fermented
juice of the date-palm. As already seen, in Bastar their
idea of hell is a place without liquor. The loss of the
greater part of the estates formerly held by Gond proprietors
has been due to this vice, which many Hindu liquor-sellers
have naturally fostered to their own advantage. No festival
or wedding passes without a drunken bout, and in Chanda
at the season for tapping the date-palm trees the whole
population of a village may be seen lying about in the
open dead drunk. They impute a certain sanctity to the
mahua tree, and in some places walk round a post of it at
their weddings. Liquor is indispensable at all ceremonial
feasts, and a purifying quality is attributed to it, so that it
is drunk at the cemetery or bathing-^/zez/ after a funeral.
The family arranges for liquor, but mourners attending from
other families also bring a bottle each with them, if possible.
Practically all the events of a Gond's life, the birth of a
child, betrothals and weddings, recovery from sickness, the
VOL. Ill K
,30 GOND PART
arrival of a guest, bringing home the harvest, borrowing
money or hiring bullocks, and making contracts for cultiva-
tion, are celebrated by drinking. And when a Gond has
once begun to drink, if he has the money he usually goes
on till he is drunk, and this is why the habit is such a
curse to him. He is of a social disposition and does not
like to drink alone. If he has drunk something, and has
no more money, and the contractor refuses to let him have
any more on credit as the law prescribes, the Gond will
sometimes curse him and swear never to drink in his shop
again. Nevertheless, within a few days he will be back,
and when chaffed about it will answer simply that he could
not resist the longing. In spite of all the harm it does
him, it must be admitted that it is the drink which gives
most of the colour and brightness to a Gond's life, and
without this it would usually be tame to a degree.
When a Gond drinks water from a stream or tank, he
bends down and puts his mouth to the surface and does
not make a cup with his hands like a Hindu.
70. Admis- Outsiders are admitted into the tribe in some localities
in Bastar, and also the offspring of a Gond man or woman
outsiders r "
and with a person of another caste, excepting the lowest. But
morality some people will not admit the children of a Gond woman
by a man of another caste. Not much regard is paid to
the chastity of girls before marriage, though in the more
civilised tracts the stricter Hindu views on the subject are
beginning to prevail. Here it is said that if a girl is
detected in a sexual intrigue before marriage she may be
taken into caste, but may not participate in the worship of
Bura Deo nor of the household god. But this is probably
rather a counsel of perfection than a rule actually enforced.
If a daughter is taken in the sexual act, they think some
misfortune will happen to them, as the death of a cow or
the failure of crops. Similarly the Maria Gonds think that
if tigers kill their cattle it is a punishment for the adultery
of their wives, and hence if a man loses a head or two he
looks very closely after his wife, and detection is often
followed by murder. Here probably adultery was originally
considered an offence as being a sin against the tribe,
because it contaminated the tribal blood, and out of this
ii COMMON SLEEPING-HOUSES 131
attitude marital jealousy has subsequently developed.
Speaking generally, the enforcement of rules of sexual
morality appears to be comparatively recent, and there is
no doubt that the Baigas and other tribes who have lived
in contact with the Gonds, as well as the Ahlrs and other
low castes, have a large admixture of Gond blood. In
Bastar a Gond woman formerly had no feelings of modesty
as regards her breasts, but this is now being acquired.
Laying the hand on a married woman's shoulder gives
great offence. Mr. Low writes : x "It is difficult to say
what is not a legal marriage from a Gond point of view ;
but in spite of this laxity abductions are frequent, and
Colonel Bloomfield mentions one particularly noteworthy
case where the abductor, an unusually ugly Gond with a
hare-lip, was stated by the complainant to have taken
off first the latter's aunt, then his sister and finally his
only wife."
Many Gond villages in Chhattlsgarh and the Feudatory 7i. com-
States have what is known as a gotalghar. This is a larre mon sleeP-
. & mg-nouses.
house near the village where unmarried youths and maidens
collect and dance and sing together at night. Some villages
have two, one for the boys and one for the girls. In Bastar
the boys have a regular organisation, their captain being
called Sirdar, and the master of the ceremonies Kotwar,
while they have other officials bearing the designation of the
State officers. After supper the unmarried boys go first to
the gotalghar and are followed by the girls. The Kotwar
receives the latter and directs them to bow to the Sirdar,
which they do. Each girl then takes a boy and combs his
hair and massages his hands and arms to refresh him, and
afterwards they sing and dance together until they are tired
and then go to bed. The girls can retire to their own house
if they wish, but frequently they sleep in the boys' house.
Thus numerous couples become intimate, and if on discovery
the parents object to their marriage, they run away to the
jungle, and it has to be recognised. In some villages, how-
ever, girls are not permitted to go to the gotalghar. In one
part of Bastar they have a curious rule that all males, even
the married, must sleep in the common house for the eight
1 Balaghat District Gazetteer, p. 87.
72.
j 32 GOND PART
months of the open season, while their wives sleep in their
own houses. A Maria Gond thinks it impious to have sexual
intercourse with his wife in his house, as it would be an
insult to the goddess of wealth who lives in the house, and
the effect would be to drive her away. Their solicitude for
this goddess is the more noticeable, as the Maria Gond's
house and furniture probably constitute one of the least
valuable human habitations on the face of the globe.
When two Gond friends or relatives meet, they clasp each
Methods of other jn their arms and lean against each shoulder in turn.
greeting °
and ob- A man will then touch the knees of an elder male relative
benve"^5 w^tn n*s fingers> carrying them afterwards to his own forehead,
relatives. This is equivalent to falling at the other's feet, and is a token
of respect shown to all elder male relatives and also to a
son-in-law, sister's husband, and a samhdi, that is the father
of a son- or daughter-in-law. Their term of salutation is
Johar, and they say this to each other. Another method of
greeting is that each should put his fingers under the other's
chin and then kiss them himself. Women also do this when
they meet. Or a younger woman meeting an elder will
touch her feet, and the elder will then kiss her on the forehead
and on each cheek. If they have not met for some time
they will weep. It is said that Baigas will kiss each other
on the cheek when meeting, both men and women. A Gond
will kiss and caress his wife after marriage, but as soon as she
has a child he drops the habit and never does it again. When
husband and wife meet after an absence the wife touches her
husband's feet with her hand and carries it to her forehead,
but the husband makes no demonstration. The Gonds kiss
their children. Among the Maria Gonds the wife is said
not to sleep on a cot in her husband's house, which would
be thought disrespectful to him, but on the ground. Nor
will a woman even sit on a cot in her own house, as if any
male relative happened to be in the house it would be dis-
respectful to him. A woman will not say the name of her
husband, his elder or younger brother, or his elder brother's
sons. A man will not mention his wife's name nor that of
her elder sister.
The tribe have pancliayats or committees for the settle-
ment of tribal disputes and offences. A member of the
ii CASTE PANCHAYAT AND SOCIAL OFFENCES 133
panchayat is selected by general consent, and holds office 73^ The
during good behaviour. The office is not hereditary, and Qp^ch&yat
generally there does not seem to be a recognised head of the and social
panchayat. In Mandla there is a separate panchayat for each
village, and every Gond male adult belongs to it, and all have
to be summoned to a meeting. When they assemble five
leading elderly men decide the matter in dispute, as repre-
senting the assembly. Caste offences are of the usual Hindu
type with some variations. Adultery, taking another man's
wife or daughter, getting vermin in a wound, being sent to
jail and eating the jail food, or even having handcuffs put
on, a woman getting her ear torn, and eating or even smoking
with a man of very low caste, are the ordinary offences.
Others are being beaten by a shoe, dealing in the hides of
cattle or keeping donkeys, removing the corpse of a dead
horse or donkey, being touched by a sweeper, cooking in the
earthen pots of any impure caste, a woman entering the
kitchen during her monthly impurity, and taking to wife the
widow of a younger brother, but not of course of an elder
brother.
In the case of septs which revere a totem animal or
plant, any act committed in connection with that animal or
plant by a member of the sept is an offence within the
cognisance of the panchayat. Thus in Mandla the Kumhra
sept revere the goat and the Markam sept the crocodile and
crab. If a member of one of these septs touches, keeps, kills
or eats the animal which his sept reveres, he is put out of
caste and comes before the pancJiayat. In practice the
offences with which the panchayat most frequently deals are
the taking of another man's wife or the kidnapping of a
daughter for marriage, this last usually occurring between
relatives. Both these offences can also be brought before
the regular courts, but it is usually only when the aggrieved
person cannot get satisfaction from the panchayat, or when
the offender refuses to abide by its decision, that the case
goes to court. If a Gond loses his wife he will in the
ordinary course compromise the matter if the man who takes
her will repay his wedding expenses ; this is a very serious
business for him, as his wedding is the principal expense of
a man's life, and it is probable that he may not be able to
i34 GOND part
afford to buy another girl and pay for her wedding. If he
cannot get his wedding expenses back through the panchayat
he files a complaint of adultery under the Penal Code, in the
hope of being repaid through a fine inflicted on the offender,
and it is perfectly right and just that this should be done.
When a girl is kidnapped for marriage, her family can usually
be induced to recognise the affair if they receive the price
they could have got for the girl in an ordinary marriage, and
perhaps a little more, as a solace to their outraged feelings.
The panchayat takes no cognisance of theft, cheating,
forgery, perjury, causing hurt and other forms of crime.
These are not considered to be offences against the caste,
and no penalty is inflicted for them. Only if a man is
arrested and handcuffed, or if he is sent to jail for any such
crime, he is put out of caste for eating the jail food and
subjected in this latter case to a somewhat severe penalty.
It is not clear whether a Gond is put out of caste for murder,
though Hindu panchayats take cognisance of this offence.
74. Caste The punishments inflicted by the panchayat consist of
penalty feasts, and in the case of minor offences of a fine. This
last, subject perhaps to some commission to the members
for their services, is always spent on liquor, the drinking of
which by the offender with the caste-fellows will purify him.
The Gonds consider country liquor as equivalent to the
Hindu Amrita or nectar.
The penalty for a serious offence involves three feasts.
The first, known as the meal of impurity, consists of sweet
wheaten cakes which are eaten by the elders on the bank of
a stream or well. The second or main feast is given in the
offender's courtyard to all the castemen of the village and
sometimes of other villages. Rice, pulse, and meat, either of a
slaughtered pig or goat, are provided at this. The third feast
is known as ' The taking back into caste ' and is held in the
offender's house and may be cooked by him. Wheat, rice
and pulses are served, but not meat or vegetables. When
the panchayat have eaten this food in the offender's house
he is again a proper member of the caste. Liquor is
essential at each feast. The nature of the penalty feasts is
thus very clear. They have the effect of a gradual purifica-
tion of the offender. In the first meal he can take no part,
ii SPECIAL PURIFICATION CEREMONY 135
nor is it served in his house, but in some neutral place.
For the second meal the castemen go so far as to sit in his
compound, but apparently he does not cook the food nor
partake of it. At the third meal they eat with him in his
house and he is fully purified. These three meals are pre-
scribed only for serious offences, and for ordinary ones only
two meals, the offender partaking of the second. The three
meals are usually exacted from a woman taken in adultery
with an outsider. In this case the woman's head is shaved
at the first meal by the Sharmia, that is her son-in-law, and
the children put her to shame by throwing lumps of cowdung
at her. She runs away and bathes in a stream. At the
second meal, taken in her courtyard, the Sharmia sprinkles
some blood on the ground and on the lintel of the door as
an offering to the gods and in order that the house may be
pure for the future. If a man is poor and cannot afford the
expense of the penalty feasts imposed on him, the pancJiayat
will agree that only a few persons will attend instead of the
whole community. The procedure above described is prob-
ably borrowed to a large extent from Hinduism, but the
working of a pcmchayat can be observed better among the
Gonds and lower castes than among high-caste Hindus, who
are tending to let it lapse into abeyance.
The following detailed process of purification had to be 75- Special
undergone by a well-to-do Gond widow in Mandla who had ceremony11
been detected with a man of the Panka caste, lying drunk
and naked in a liquor-shop. The Gonds here consider the
Pankas socially beneath themselves. The ritual clearly
belongs to Hinduism, as shown by the purifying virtue
attached to contact with cows and bullocks and cowdung,
and was directed by the Panda or priest of Devi's shrine,
who, however, would probably be a Gond. First, the
offending woman was taken right out of the village across a
stream ; here her head was shaved with the urine of an all-
black bullock and her body washed with his dung, and she
then bathed in the stream, and a feast was given on its bank
to the caste. She slept here, and next day was yoked to the
same bullock and taken thus to the Kharkha or standing-
place for the village cattle. She was rolled over the surface
of the Kharkha about four times, again rubbed with cowdung,
I36 GOND TART
another feast was given, and she slept the night on the spot,
without being washed. Next day, covered with the dust
and cowdung of the Kharkha, she crouched underneath the
black bullock's belly and in this manner proceeded to the
gate of her own yard. Here a bottle of liquor and fifteen
chickens were waved round her and afterwards offered at
Devi's shrine, where they became the property of the Panda
who was conducting the ceremony. Another feast was given
in her yard and the woman slept there. Next day the
woman, after bathing, was placed standing with one foot
outside her threshold and the other inside ; a feast was
given, called the feast of the threshold, and she again slept
in her yard. On the following day came the final feast of
purification in the house. The woman was bathed eleven
times, and a hen, a chicken and five eggs were offered by
the Panda to each of her household gods. Then she drank
a little liquor from a cup of which the Panda had drunk,
and ate some of the leavings of food of which he had eaten.
The black bullock and a piece of cloth sufficient to cover it
were presented to the Panda for his services. Then the
woman took a dish of rice and pulse and placed a little in
the leaf-cup of each of the caste-fellows present, and they all
ate it and she was readmitted to caste. Twelve cow-buffaloes
were sold to pay for the ceremony, which perhaps cost
Rs. 600 or more.
76. Dane- Dancing and singing to the dance constitute the social
ing' amusement and recreation of the Gonds, and they are
passionately fond of it. The principal dance is the Karma,
danced in celebration of the bringing of the leafy branch of a
tree from the forest in the rains. They continue to dance it
as a recreation during the nights of the cold and hot weather,
whenever they have leisure and a supply of liquor, which is
almost indispensable, is forthcoming. The Marias dance, men
and women together, in a great circle, each man holding
the girl next him on one side round the neck and on the
other round the waist. They keep perfect time, moving
each foot alternately in unison throughout the line, and
moving round in a slow circle. Only unmarried girls may
join in a Maria dance, and once a woman is married she can
never dance again. This is no doubt a salutary provision
$*
*
ii SONGS 137
for household happiness, as sometimes couples, excited by
the dance and wine, run away from it into the jungle and
stay there for a day or two till their relatives bring them
home and consider them as married. At the Maria dances
the men wear the skins of tigers, panthers, deer and other
animals, and sometimes head-dresses of peacock's feathers.
They may also have a girdle of cowries round the waist,
and a bell tied to their back to ring as they move. The
musicians sit in the centre and play various kinds of drums
and tom-toms. At a large Maria dance there may be as
many as thirty musicians, and the provision of rice or kodon
and liquor may cost as much as Rs. 50. In other localities
the dance is less picturesque. Men and women form two
long lines opposite each other, with the musicians in the
centre, and advance and retreat alternately, bringing one
foot forward and the other up behind it, with a similar
movement in retiring. Married women may dance, and the
men do not hold the women at any time. At intervals they
break off and liquor is distributed in small leaf-cups, or if
these are not available, it is poured into the hands of the
dancers held together like a cup. In either case a consider-
able proportion of the liquor is usually spilt on to the ground.
All the time they are dancing they also sing in unison, 77- Songs,
the men sometimes singing one line and the women the
next, or both together. The songs are with few exceptions
of an erotic character, and a few specimens are subjoined.
a. Be not proud of your body, your body must go away above (to
death).
Your mother, brother and all your kinsmen, you must leave them
and go.
You may have lakhs of treasure in your house, but you must leave
it all and go.
b. The musicians play and the feet beat on the earth.
A pice (^d.) for a divorced woman, two pice for a kept woman, for
a virgin many sounding rupees.
The musicians play and the earth sounds with the trampling of feet.
c. Raja Darwa is dead, he died in his youth.
Who is he that has taken the small gun, who has taken the big bow ?
Who is aiming through the harra and bahera trees, who is aiming
on the plain ?
Who has killed the quail and partridge, who has killed the peacock ?
1 38 GOND part
Raja Darwa has died in the prime of his youth.
The big brother says, ' I killed him, I killed him ' ; the little brother
shot the arrow.
Raja Darwa has died in the bloom of his youth.
d. Rawan l is coming disguised as a Bairagi ; by what road will Rawan
come ?
The houses and castles fell before him, the ruler of Bhanwargarh
rose up in fear.
He set the match to his powder, he stooped and crept along the
ground and fired.
e. Little pleasure is got from a kept woman ; she gives her lord pej
(gruel) of kutki to drink.
She gives it him in a leaf-cup of laburnum ; 2 the cup is too small
for him to drink.
She put two gourds full of water in it, and the gruel is so thin that
it gives him no sustenance.
f. Man speaks :
The wife is asleep and her Raja (husband) is asleep in her lap.
She has taken a piece of bread in her lap and water in her vessel.
See from her eyes will she come or not ?
Woman :
I have left my cow in her shed, my buffalo in her stall.
I have left my baby at the breast and am come alone to follow you.
g. The father said to his son, ' Do not go out to service with any
master, neither go to any strange woman.
I will sell my sickle and axe, and make you two marriages.'
He made a marriage feast for his son, and in one plate he put rice,
and over it meat, and poured soup over it till it flowed out of
the plate.
Then he said to the men and women, young and old, ' Come and
eat your fill.'
In 191 1 Gondi was spoken by 1,500,000 persons, or
more than half the total number of Gonds in India. The
other Gonds of the Central Provinces speak a broken Hindi.
Gondi is a Dravidian language, having a common ancestor
with Tamil and Canarese, but little immediate connection
1 Rawan was the demon king of 2 The amallas or Cassia fistula,
Ceylon who fought against Rama, and which has flowers like a laburnum,
from whom the Gonds are supposed to The idea is perhaps that its leaves are
be descended. Hence this song may too small to make a proper leaf-cup,
perhaps refer to a Gond revolt against and she will not take the trouble to
the Hindus. get suitable leaves.
ii CULTIVATION 139
with its neighbour Telugu ; the specimens given by Sir G.
Grierson show that a large number of Hindi words have
been adopted into the vocabulary of Gondi, and this tendency
is no doubt on the increase. There are probably few Gonds
outside the Feudatory States, and possibly a few of the
wildest tracts in British Districts, who could not understand
Hindi to some extent. And with the extension of primary
education in British Districts Gondi is likely to decline still
more rapidly. Gondi has no literature and no character of
its own ; but the Gospels and the Book of Genesis have been
translated into it and several grammatical sketches and
vocabularies compiled. In Saugor the Hindus speak of
Gondi as Farsi or Persian, apparently applying this latter
name to any foreign language.
(/*) Occupation
The Gonds are mainly engaged in agriculture, and the 79. Cui-
great bulk of them are farmservants and labourers. In the tlvatlon-
hilly tracts, however, there is a substantial Gond tenantry,
and a small number of proprietors remain, though the
majority have been ousted by Hindu moneylenders and
liquor-sellers. In the eastern Districts many important
zamindari estates are owned by Gond proprietors. The
ancestors of these families held the wild hilly country on
the borders of the plains in feudal tenure from the central
rulers, and were responsible for the restraint of the savage
hillmen under their jurisdiction, and the protection of the
rich and settled lowlands from predatory inroads from with-
out. Their descendants are ordinary landed proprietors,
and would by this time have lost their estates but for the
protection of the law declaring them impartible and inalien-
able. A few of the Feudatory Chiefs are also Gonds.
Gond proprietors are generally easy-going and kind-hearted
to their tenants, but lacking in business acumen and energy,
and often addicted to drink and women. The tenants are
as a class shiftless and improvident and heavily indebted.
But they show signs of improvement, especially in the
ryotwari villages under direct Government management, and
it may be hoped that primary education and more temperate
i4o GOND PART
habits will gradually render them equal to the Hindu
cultivators.
80. Patch In the Feudatory States and some of the zamlndaris the
cultivation. Qon(]s retain the dahia or bewar method of shifting cultiva-
tion, which has been prohibited everywhere else on account
of its destructive effects on the forests. The Maria Gonds
of Bastar cut down a patch of jungle on a hillside about
February, and on its drying up burn all the wood in April
or May. Tying strips of the bark of the saj tree to their
feet to prevent them from being burnt, they walk over the
smouldering area, and with long bamboo sticks move any
unburnt logs into a burning patch, so that they may all be
consumed. When the first showers of rain fall they scatter
seed of the small millets into the soft covering of wood
ashes, and the fertility of the soil is such that without further
trouble they get a return of a hundred-fold or more. The
same patch can be sown for three years in succession with-
out ploughing, but it then gives out, and the Gonds move
themselves and their habitations to a fresh one. When the
jungle has been allowed to grow on the old patch for ten
or twelve years, there is sufficient material for a fresh
supply of wood -ash manure, and they burn it over again.
Teak yields a particularly fertilising ash, and when standing
the tree is hurtful to crops grown near it, as its large, broad
leaves cause a heavy drip and wash out the grain. Hence
the Gonds were particularly hostile to this tree, and it is
probably to their destructive efforts that the poor growth of
teak over large areas of the Provincial forests is due.1 The
Maria Gonds do not use the plough, and their only agri-
cultural implement is a kind of hoe or spade. Elsewhere
the Gonds are gradually adopting the Hindu methods of
cultivation, but their land is generally in hilly and jungly
tracts and of poor quality. They occupy large areas of the
wretched barra or gravel soil which has disintegrated from
the rock of the hillsides, and covers it in a thin sheet mixed
with quantities of large stones. The Gonds, however, like
this land, as it is so shallow as to entail very little trouble
in ploughing, and it is suitable for their favourite crops of
the small millets, kodon and kutki, and the poorer oilseeds.
1 Hislop, Notes, p. 2.
n HUNTING: TRAPS FOR ANIMALS 141
After three years of cropping it must be given an equal or
longer period of fallow before it will again yield any return.
The Gonds say it is narang or exhausted. In the new
ryotwari villages formed within the last twenty years the
Gonds form a large section, and in Mandla the great
majority, of the tenantry, and have good black-soil fields
which grow wheat and other valuable crops. Here, perhaps,
their condition is happier than anywhere else, as they are
secured in the possession of their lands subject to the pay-
ment of revenue, liberally assisted with Government loans
at low interest, and protected as far as possible from the
petty extortion and peculation of Hindu subordinate officials
and moneylenders. The opening of a substantial number
of primary schools to serve these villages will, it may be
hoped, have the effect of making the Gond a more in-
telligent and provident cultivator, and counteract the ex-
cessive addiction to liquor which is the great drawback to
his prosperity. The fondness of the Gond for his bdri or
garden plot adjoining his hut has been described in the
section on villages and houses.
The primary occupation of the Gonds in former times 81. Hunt-
was hunting and fishing, but their opportunities in this j.ng : traps
respect have been greatly circumscribed by the conservation animals.
of the game in Government forests, which was essential if
it was not to become extinct, when the native shikaris had
obtained firearms. Their weapons were until recently bows
and arrows, but now Gond hunters usually have an old
matchlock gun. They have several ingenious devices for
trapping animals. It is essential for them to make a
stockade round their patch cultivation fields in the forests,
or the grain would be devoured by pig and deer. At one
point in this they leave a narrow opening, and in front of it
dig a deep pit and cover it with brushwood and grass ;
then at the main entrance they spread some sand. Coming
in the middle of the night they see from the footprints in
the sand what animals have entered the enclosure ; if these
are worth catching they close the main gate, and make as
much noise as they can. The frightened animals dash
round the enclosure and, seeing the opening, run through it
and fall into the pit, where they are easily despatched with
14-
GOND
clubs and axes. They also set traps across the forest
paths frequented by animals. The method is to take a
strong raw-hide rope and secure one end of it to a stout
sapling, which is bent down like a spring. The other end
is made into a noose and laid open on the ground, often
over a small hole. It is secured by a stone or log of wood,
and this is so arranged by means of some kind of fall-trap
that on pressure in the centre of the hole it is displaced and
releases the noose. The animal comes and puts his foot in
the hole, thus removing the trap which secured the noose.
This flies up and takes the animal's foot with it, being
drawn tight in mid-air by the rebound of the sapling. The
animal is thus suspended with one foot in the air, which it
cannot free, and the Gonds come and kill it. Tigers are
sometimes caught in this manner. A third very cruel kind
of trap is made by putting up a hedge of thorns and grass
across a forest-path, on the farther side of which they plant
a few strong and sharply-pointed bamboo stakes. A deer
coming up will jump the hedge, and on landing will be im-
paled on one of the stakes. The wound is very severe and
often festers immediately, so that the victim dies in a few
hours. Or they suspend a heavy beam over a forest path
held erect by a loose prop which stands on the path. The
deer comes along and knocks aside the prop, and the beam
falls on him and pins him down. Mr. Montgomerie writes
as follows on Gond methods of hunting : x " The use of the
bow and arrow is being forgotten owing to the restrictions
placed by Government on hunting. The Gonds can still
throw an axe fairly straight, but a running hare is a difficult
mark and has a good chance of escaping. The hare, how-
ever, falls a victim to the fascination of fire. The Gond
takes an earthen pot, knocks a large hole in the side of it,
and slings it on a pole with a counterbalancing stone at the
other end. Then at night he slings the pole over one
shoulder, with the earthen pot in front containing fire, and
sallies out hare-hunting. He is accompanied by a man who
bears a bamboo. The hare, attracted and fascinated by the
light, comes close and watches it stupidly till the bamboo
descends on the animal's head, and the Gonds have hare for
1 Chhindwara Settlement Report.
ii GOND-GOWARI 143
supper." Sometimes a bell is rung as well, and this is said
to attract the animals. They also catch fish by holding a
lamp over the water on a dark night and spearing them
with a trident.
Gond-Gowari.1 — A small hybrid caste formed from
alliances between Gonds and Gowaris or herdsmen of the
Maratha country. Though they must now be considered
as a distinct caste, being impure and thus ranking lower
than either the Gonds or Gowaris, they are still often
identified with either of them. In 1901 only 3000 were
returned, principally from the Nagpur and Chanda Districts.
In 191 1 they were amalgamated with the Gowaris, and this
view may be accepted as their origin is the same. The
Gowaris say that the Gond-Gowaris are the descendants of
one of two brothers who accidentally ate the flesh of a cow.
Both the Gonds and Gowaris frequent the jungles for long
periods together, and it is natural that intimacies should
spring up between the youth of either sex. And the progeny
of these irregular connections has formed a separate caste,
looked down upon by both its progenitors. The Gond-
Gowaris have no subcastes, and for purposes of marriages
are divided into exogamous septs, all bearing Gond names.
Like the Gonds, the caste is also split into two divisions,
worshipping six and seven gods respectively, and members
of septs worshipping the same number of gods must not
marry with each other. The deities of the six and seven
god-worshippers are identical, except that the latter have
one extra called Durga or Devi, who is represented by a
copper coin of the old Nagpur dynasty. Of the other deities
Bura Deo is a piece of iron, Khoda and Khodavan are both
pieces of the kadamb tree (Nanclea parvifolia), Supari is the
areca-nut, and Kaipen consists of two iron rings and counts
as two deities. It seems probable, therefore, from the double
set of identical deities that two of the original ones have
been forgotten. The gods are kept on a small piece of red
cloth in a closed bamboo basket, which must not be opened
except on days of worship, lest they should work some
mischief; on these special days they are rendered harmless
1 This article is based on a paper by Pandit Pyare Lai Misra.
,44 GONDHALI part
for the time being by the homage which is rendered to them.
Marriage is adult, and a bride-price of nine rupees and some
grain is commonly paid by the boy's family. The ceremony
is a mixture of Gond and Maratha forms ; the couple walk
seven times round a bohla or mound of earth and the guests
clap their hands. At a widow-marriage they walk three and
a half times round a burning lamp, as this is considered to
be only a kind of half-marriage. The morality of the caste
is very loose, and a wife will commonly be pardoned any
transgression except an intrigue with a man of very low
caste. Women of other castes, such as Kunbis or Barhais,
may be admitted to the community on forming a connection
with a Gond-Gowari. The caste have no prescribed observ-
ance of mourning for the dead. The Gond-Gowaris are
cultivators and labourers, and dress like the Kunbis. They
are considered to be impure and must live outside the village,
while other castes refuse to touch them. The bodies of
the women are disfigured by excessive tattooing, the legs
being covered with a pattern of dots and lines reaching up
to the thighs. In this matter they simply follow their Gond
ancestors, but they say that a woman who is not tattooed is
impure and cannot worship the deities.
Gondhali.1 — A caste or order of wandering beggars
and musicians found in the Maratha Districts of the
Central Provinces and in Berar. The name is derived
from the Marathi word gondharne, to make a noise. In
191 i the Gondhalis numbered about 3000 persons in
Berar and 500 in the Central Provinces, and they are
also found in Bombay. The origin of the caste is obscure,
but it appears to have been recruited in recent times
from the offspring of Waghyas and Murlis or male and
female children devoted to temples by their parents in
fulfilment of a vow. Mr. Kitts states in the Berar Census
Report^ of 1 88 1 that the Gondhalis are there attached
either to the temple of Tukai at Tuljapur or the temple
of Renuka at Mahur, and in consequence form two
1 This article is compiled from and Pyare Lai Misra, Ethnographic
papers by Mr. Kesho Rao Joshi, Clerk.
Headmaster, City School, Nagpur, 2 Page 67.
ii GONDHALI 145
subcastes, the Kadamrai and Renurai, who do not inter-
marry. In the Central Provinces, however, besides these
two there are a number of other subcastes, most of which
bear the names of distinct castes, and obviously consist
of members of that caste who became Gondhalis, or of
their descendants. Thus among the names of subcastes
reported are the Brahman, Maratha, Mane Kunbi, Khaire
Kunbi, Teli, Mahar, Mang and Vidur Gondhalis, as well
as others like the Deshkars, or those coming from
the Deccan, the Gangapare,1 or those from beyond the
Ganges, and the Hijade or eunuchs. It is clear, therefore,
that members of these castes becoming Gondhalis attempt to
arrange their marriages with other converts from their own
caste and to retain their relative social position. There
is little doubt that all Gondhalis are theoretically meant to
be equal, a principle which at their first foundation applies
to nearly all sects and orders, but here as elsewhere the
social feeling of caste has been too strong to permit of its
retention. It may be doubted, however, whether in view
of the small total numbers of the caste all these groups
can be strictly endogamous. The Kunbi Gondhalis can
take food from the ordinary Kunbis, but they rank
below them, as being mendicants. The caste has also
a number of exogamous groups or gotras, the names
of which may be classified as titular or territorial.
Instances of the former kind are Dokiphode or one who
broke his head while begging, Sukt (thin, emaciated),
Muke (dumb), Jabal (one with long hair like a JogI),
and Panchange (one who has five limbs). Girls are
married as a rule before adolescence, and the cere-
mony resembles that of the Kunbis, but a special prayer
is offered to the deity Renuka, and the boy is invested
with a necklace of cowries by five married men of the
caste. Till this has been done he is not considered to
be a proper Gondhali. Celibacy is not a tenet of the
order. The remarriage of widows is allowed, and the
ceremony consists in the husband placing a string of
small black glass beads round the woman's neck, while
she holds out a pair of new shoes for him to put his feet
1 In the Maratha Districts the term Ganges sometimes signifies the Wainganga.
VOL. Ill L
I46 GONDHALI part
into. The second wife often wears a small silver or golden
image of the first wife round her neck, and worships it
before she eats 'by touching it with food ; she also asks its
permission before going to sleep with her husband. The
goddess Bhawani or Devi is especially revered by the caste,
and they fast in her honour on Tuesdays and Fridays. They
worship their musical instruments at Dasahra with an offer-
ing of a goat, and afterwards sing and dance for the whole
night, this being their principal festival. They also observe
the nine days' fasts in honour of Devi in Chait (March)
and Kunwar (September) and sow the Jawaras or pots of
wheat. The Gondhalis are mendicant musicians, and are
engaged on the occasion of marriages among the higher
castes to perform their gondhal or dance accompanied by
music. Four men are needed for it, one being the dancer
who is dressed in a long white robe with a necklace of
cowries and bells on his ankles, while the other three stand
behind him, two of them carrying drums and the third a
sacred torch called dioti. The torch -bearer serves as a
butt for the witticisms of the dancer. Their instruments
are the chonka, an open drum carrying an iron string which
is beaten with a small wooden pin, and two sambals or
double drums of iron, wood or earth, one of which emits a
dull and the other a sharp sound. The dance is performed
in honour of the goddess Bhawani. They set up a wooden
stool on the stage arranged for the performance, covered
with a cloth on which wheat is spread, and over this is placed
a brass vessel containing water and a cocoanut. This repre-
sents the goddess. After the performance the Gondhalis take
away and eat the cocoanut and wheat ; their regular fee for
an engagement is Rs. 1-4, and the guests give them presents
of a few pice (farthings). They are engaged for important
ceremonies such as marriages, the Barsa or name - giving
of a boy, and the Shantik or maturity of a girl, and also
merely for entertainment ; but in this case the stool and
cocoanut representing the goddess are not set up. The
following is a specimen of a Gondhali religious song :
Where I come from and who am I,
This mystery none has solved ;
Father, mother, sister and brother, these are all illusions.
ii GOPAL r47
I call them mine and am lost in my selfish concerns.
Worldliness is the beginning of hell, man has wrapped himself in it with-
out reason.
Remember your guru, go to him and touch his feet.
Put on the shield of mercy and compassion and take the sword of
knowledge.
God is in every human body.
The caste beg between dawn and noon, wearing a long
white or red robe and a red turban folded from twisted
strings of cloth like the Marathas. Their status is some-
what low, but they are usually simple and honest Occasion-
ally a man becomes a Gondhali in fulfilment of a vow without
leaving his own caste ; he will then be initiated by a
member of the caste and given the necklace of cowries, and on
every Tuesday he will wear this and beg from five persons
in honour of the goddess Devi ; while except for this observ-
ance he remains a member of his own caste and pursues
his ordinary business.
Gopal, BOFekar. Bibliography : Major Gunthorpe's Criminal
Tribes; Mr. Kitt's Berar Census Report, 1881.
A small vagrant and criminal caste of Berar, where they
numbered about 2000 persons in 1901. In the Central
Provinces they were included among the Nats in 1901, but
in 1 89 1 a total of 681 were returned. Here they belong
principally to the Nimar District, and Major Gunthorpe
considers that they entered Berar from Nimar and Indore.
They are divided into five classes, the Marathi, Vlr,
Pangul, Pahalwan, or Kham, and Gujarati Gopals. The
ostensible occupation of all the groups is the buying and
selling of buffaloes. The word Gopal means a cowherd and
is a name of Krishna. The Marathi Gopals rank higher
than the rest, and all other classes will take food from them,
while the Vlr Gopals eat the flesh of dead cattle and are
looked down upon by the others. The ostensible occupa-
tion of the Vlr Gopals is that of making mats from
the leaves of the date-palm tree. They build their huts of
date-leaves outside a village and remain there for one or two
years or more until the headman tells them to move on. The
name Borekar is stated to have the meaning of mat-maker.
The Pangul Gopals also make mats, but in addition to this
t48 GOPAL part
they are mendicants, begging from off trees, and must be the
same as the Harbola mendicants of the Central Provinces.
The Pangul spreads a cloth below a tree and climbing it
sits on some high branch in the early morning. Here he
sings and chants the praises of charitable persons until some-
body throws a small present on to the cloth. This he does
only between cock-crow and sunrise and not after sunrise.
Others walk through the streets, ejaculating dam ! 1 dam ! and
begging from door to door. With the exception of shaving
after a death they never cut the hair either of their head or
face. Their principal deity is Dawal Malik, but they also
worship Khandoba ; and they bury the bodies of their dead.
The corpse is carried to the grave in a jholi or wallet and
is buried in a sitting posture. In order to discover whether
a dead ancestor has been reborn in a child they have
recourse to magic. A lamp is suspended from a thread, and
the upper stone of the grinding-mill is placed standing upon
the lower one. If either of them moves when the name of
the dead ancestor is pronounced they consider that he has
been reborn. One section of the Panguls has taken to agricul-
ture, and these refuse to marry with the mendicants, though
eating and drinking with them. The Pahalwan Gopals live
in small tents and travel about, carrying their belongings on
buffaloes. They are wrestlers and gymnasts, and belong
mainly to Hyderabad.2 The Kham Gopals are a similar
group also belonging to Hyderabad ; and are so named
because they carry about a long pole {kham) on which they
perform acrobatic feats. They also have thick canvas bags,
striped blue and white, in which they carry their property.
The Gujarati Gopals are lower than the other divisions,
who will not take food from them. They are tumblers and
do feats of strength and also perform, on the tight-rope. All
five groups, Major Gunthorpe states, are inveterate cattle-
thieves ; and have colonies of their people settled on the
Indore and Hyderabad borders and between them along the
foot of the Satpura Hills. Buffaloes or other animals which
they steal are passed along from post to post and taken to
foreign territory in an incredibly short space of time. A
1 Dam apparently here means life or breath.
2 Gunthorpe, p. 91.
ii GOPAL 149
considerable proportion of them, however, have now taken to
agriculture, and their proper traditional calling is to sell milk
and butter, for which they keep buffaloes. Gopal is a name
of Krishna, and they consider themselves to be descended
from the herdsmen of Brindaban.
GOSAIN
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
I.
Names for the Gosains.
7-
The Rawanvansis.
2.
The te?i orders.
8.
Monasteries.
3-
Initiation.
9-
The fghting Gosains.
4-
Dress.
IO.
Burial.
5-
Methods of begging and greet-
11.
Sexual indulgence.
ings.
12.
Missionary work.
6.
The Dandis.
13-
The Gosain caste.
i. Names Gosain, Gusain, Sanniasi, Dasnami.1 — A name for the
f°r the orders of religious mendicants of the Sivite sect, from which
Gosains. 0
a caste has now developed. In 191 1 the Gosains numbered
a little over 40,000 persons in the Central Provinces and
Berar, being distributed over all Districts. The name
Gosain signifies either gao-swami, master of cows, or go-
swami, master of the senses. Its significance sometimes
varies. Thus in Bengal the heads of Bairagi or Vaishnava
monasteries are called Gosain, and the priests of the
Vishnuite Vallabhacharya sect are known as Gokulastha
Gosain. But over most of India, as in the Central Provinces,
Gosain appears to be a name applied to members of the
Sivite orders. Sanniasi means one who abandons the
desires of the world and the body. Properly every Brahman
should become a Sanniasi in the fourth stage or ashram of
his life, when after marrying and begetting a son to celebrate
his funeral rites in the second stage, he should retire to the
forest, become a hermit and conquer all the appetites and
passions of the body in the third stage. Thereafter, when
1 This article contains material from J. N. Bhattacharya's Hindu Castes and
Mr. J. C. Oman's Mystics, Ascetics Sects (Calcutta, Messrs. Thacker, Spink
and Saints of India, Sir E. Maclagan's and Co.).
Punjab Census Report, 189 1, and Dr.
150
GOSAIN MENDICANT.
part ii THE TEN ORDERS 151
the process of mortification is complete he should beg his
bread as a Sanniasi. But only those who enter the religious
orders now become Sanniasis, and the name is therefore
confined to them. Dasnami means the ten names, and
refers to the ten orders in which the Gosains or Sivite
anchorites are commonly classified. Sadhu is a generic
term for a religious mendicant. The name Gosain is now
more commonly applied to the married members of the
caste, who pursue ordinary avocations, while the mendicants
are known as Sadhu or Sanniasi.
The Gosains consider their founder to have been Shankar 2. The ten
Acharya, the great apostle of the revival of the worship of orders-
Siva in southern India, who lived between the eighth and
tenth centuries. He had four disciples from whom the ten
orders of Gosains are derived. These are commonly stated
as follows :
1. Giri (peak or top of a hill).
2. Puri (a town).
3. Parbat (a mountain).
4. Sagar (the ocean).
5. Ban or Van (the forest).
6. Tlrtha (a shrine of pilgrimage).
7. Bharthi (the goddess of speech).
8. Saras wati (the goddess of learning).
9. Aranya (forest).
10. Ashram (a hermitage).
The names may perhaps be held to refer to the different
places in which the members of each order would pursue
their austerities. The different orders have their head-
quarters at great shrines. The Saraswati, Bharthi and Puri
orders are supposed to be attached to the monastery at
Sringeri in Mysore ; the Tlrtha and Ashram to that at
Dwarka in Gujarat ; the Ban and Aranya to the Govardhan
monastery at Puri ; and the Giri, Parbat and Sagara to the
shrine of Badrinath in the Himalayas.
Dandi is sometimes shown as one of the ten orders, but
it seems to be the special designation of certain ascetics who
carry a staff and may belong to either the Tlrtha, Ashram,
Bharthi or Saraswati groups. Another name for Gosain
IS2 GO SAIN part
ascetics is Abdhut, or one who has separated himself from
the world. The term Abdhut is sometimes specially
applied to followers of the Maratha saint, Dattatreya, an
incarnation of Siva.
The commonest orders in the Central Provinces are
Giri, Puri and Bharthi, and the members frequently use
the name of the order as their surname. Members of the
Aranya, Sagara and Parbat orders are rarely met with at
present.
3. initia- A notice of the Gosains who have become an ordinary
tion- caste will be given later. Formerly only Brahmans or
members of the twice-born castes could become Gosains,
but now a man of any caste, as Kurmi, Kunbi or Mali,
from whom a Brahman takes water, may be admitted. In
some localities it is said that Gonds and Kols can now be
made Gosains, and hence the social position of the Gosains
has greatly fallen, and high- caste Hindus will not take
water from them. It is supposed, however, that the Giri
order is still recruited only from Brahmans.
At initiation the body of a neophyte is cleaned with the
five products of the sacred cow, milk, curds, g/iz, dung and
urine. He drinks water in which the great toe of his guru
has been dipped and eats the leavings of the latter's food,
thus severing himself from his own caste. His sacred thread
is taken off and broken, and it is sometimes burned and he
eats the ashes. All the hair of his head is shaved, including
the scalp-lock, which every secular Hindu wears. A mantra
or text is then whispered or blown into his ear.
4. Dress. The novice is dressed in a cloth coloured with geru or
red ochre, such as the Gosains usually wear. It is probable
that the red or pink colour is meant to symbolise blood and
to signify that the Gosains allow the sacrifice of animals
and the consumption of flesh, and on this account they are
called Lai Padri or red priest, while Vishnuite mendicants,
who dress in white, are called Slta Padri. He has a
necklace or rosary of the seeds of the rudrakhsa tree,1
sacred to Siva, consisting of 32 or 64 beads. These are
like nuts with a rough indented shell. On his forehead
he marks with bhabhut or ashes three horizontal lines to
1 Elaeocarptis.
ii DRESS i S3
represent the trident of Siva, or sometimes the eye of the
god. Others make only two lines with a dot above or
below, and this sign is said to represent the phallic emblem.
A crescent moon or a triangle may also be made.1 The
marks are often made in sandalwood, and the Gosains say
that the original sandalwood grows on a tree in the
Himalayas, which is guarded by a great snake so that
nobody can approach it ; but its scent is so strong that
all the surrounding trees of the grove are scented with it
and sandalwood is obtained from them. Those who
worship Bhairon make a round mark with vermilion
between the eyes, taking it from beneath the god's foot.
A mendicant usually has a begging- bowl and a pair of
tongs, which are useful for kindling a fire. Those who
have visited Badrinath or one of the other Himalayan
shrines have a ring of iron, brass or copper on the arm,
often inscribed with the image of a deity. If they have
been to the temple of Devi at Hinglaj in the Lasbela State
of Beluchistan they have a necklace of little white stone
beads called thumra ; and one who has made a pilgrimage
to Rameshwaram at the extreme southern point of India
has a ring of conch -shell on the wrist. When he can
obtain it a Gosain also carries a tiger- or panther-skin, which
he wears over his shoulders and uses to sit and lie down
on. Among the ancient Greeks it was the custom to sleep
in a temple or its avenue either on the bare ground or on
the skin of a sacred animal, in order to obtain visions or
appearances of the god in a dream or to be cured of
diseases.2 Formerly the Gosains were accustomed to go
about naked, and at the religious festivals they would go
in procession naked to bathe in the river. At Amarnath
in the Punjab they would throw themselves naked on the
block of ice which represented Siva.3 The Naga Gosains,
so called because they were once accustomed to go naked
into battle, were a famous fighting corps. Though they
shave the head and scalp-lock on initiation the Gosains
usually let the hair grow, and either have it hanging down
1 Mr. Marten's C.P. Census Report 3 Oman, Mystics, Ascetics and
(191 1), p. 79. Saints, p. 269.
- Orphhts, p. 137.
i54 GOSAIN part
in matted locks over the shoulders, which gives them a
wild and unkempt appearance, or wind it on the top of
the head into a coil often thickened with strips of sheep's
wool. They say that they let the hair grow in imitation of
the ancient forest ascetics, who could not but let it grow as
they had no means to shave it, and also of the matted locks
of the god Siva. Sometimes they let the hair grow during
the whole period of a pilgrimage, and on arrival at the shrine
of their destination shave it off and offer it to the god.
Those who are initiated on the banks of the Nerbudda
5. Methods throw the hair cut from their head into the sacred river.
They have various rules about begging. Some will
and greet- J t>o &
ings. never turn back to receive alms. They may also make a
rule only to accept the surplus of food cooked for the
family, and to refuse any of special quality or cooked
expressly for them. One Gosain, noticed by Mr. A. K.
Smith, always begged hopping, and only from five houses ;
he took from them respectively two handfuls of flour, a
pinch of salt, and sufficient quantities of vegetables, spices
and butter for his meal, and then went hopping home.
Those who are performing the perikrama or circuit of the
Nerbudda from its source to its mouth and back, do not
cut their hair or nails during the whole period of about
three years. They may not enter the Nerbudda above
their knees nor wash their vessels in it. After crossing any
tributary river or stream in their path they may not re-cross
this ; and if they have forgotten or left any article behind,
must abandon it unless they can persuade somebody to go
back and fetch it for them. Some carry a gourd with a
single string stretched on a stick, on which they twang
some notes ; others have a belt of sheep's hair hung with
the bells of bullocks which they tie round the waist, so
that the tinkling of the bells may announce their coming. A
common begging cry is Alakh, which is said to mean ' apart,'
and to refer to themselves as being apart or separated from the
world. The beggar gives this cry and stands at the door of
the house for half a minute, shaking his body about all the
time. If no alms are brought in this time he moves on.
When an ordinary Hindu meets a Gosain he says
' Namu Narayan ' or ' I go to Narayan,' and the Gosain
ii THE DANDIS—THE RAWANVANSIS 155
answers ' Narayan.' Narayan is a name of Vishnu, and its
use by the Gosains is curious. Those who have performed
the circuit of the Nerbudda say ' Har Nerbudda,' and the
person addressed answers ' Nerbudda Mai ki Jai ' or ' Victory
to Mother Nerbudda.'
The Dandis are a special group of ascetics belonging 6. The
to several of the ten orders. According to one account
a novice who desires to become a Sanniasi must serve a
period of probation for twelve years as a Dandi. Others
say that only a Brahman can be a Dandi, while members
of other castes may become Sanniasis, and a Brahman can
only become one if he is without father, mother, wife or
child.1 The Dandi is so called because he has a dand or
bamboo staff like the ancient Vedic students. He must
always carry this and never lay it down, but when sleeping
plant it in the ground. Sometimes a piece of red cloth is
tied round the staff. The Dandi should live in the forest,
and only come once a day to beg at a Brahman's house for a
part of such food as the family may have cooked. He should
not ask for food if any one else, even a dog, is waiting for it.
He must not accept money, or touch fire or any metal.
As a matter of fact these rules are disregarded, and the
Dandi frequents towns and is accompanied by companions
who will accept all kinds of alms on his behalf.2 Dandis
and Sanniasis do not worship idols, as they are themselves
considered to have become part of the deity. They repeat
the phrase ' Sevoham,' which signifies ' I am Siva.'
Another curious class of Gosains are the Rawanvansis,
who go about in the character of Rawan, the demon king of i- The
Ceylon, as he was when he carried off Slta. The legend is vansjs.
that in order to do this, Rawan first sent his brother in the
shape of a golden deer before Rama's palace. Slta saw it
and said she must have the head of the deer, and sent Rama
to kill it. So Rama pursued it to the forest, and from there
Rawan cried out, imitating Rama's voice. Then Slta
thought Rama was being attacked and told his brother
Lachman to go to his help. But Lachman had been left
1 Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Mystics, Ascetics and Saints, pp. 160,
Sects, p. 3 So. 161.
- Bhattacharya, ibidem, and Oman,
1 56
GO SAIN
8. Monas-
teries.
9. The
fighting
Gosains.
in charge of her by Rama and refused to leave her, till Sita
said he was hoping Rama would be killed, so that he might
marry her. Then he drew a circle round her on the ground,
and telling her not to step outside it until his return, went
off. Then Rawan took the disguise of a beggar and came
and begged for alms from Sita. She told him to come
inside the magic circle and she would give him alms, but he
refused. So finally Sita came outside the circle, and Rawan
at once seized her and carried her off to Ceylon. The
Rawanvansi Gosains wear rings of hair all up their arms
and a rope of hair round the waist, and the hair of their
head hanging down. It would appear that they are
intended to represent some animal. They smear vermilion
on the forehead, and beg only at twilight and never at any
other time, whether they obtain food or not. In begging
they will never move backwards, so that when they have
passed a house they cannot take alms from it unless the
householder brings the gift to them.
Unmarried Sanniasis often reside in Maths or monasteries.
The superior is called Mahant, and he appoints his successor
by will from the members. The Mahant admits all those
willing and qualified to enter the order. If the applicant is
young the consent of the parents is usually obtained ; and
parents frequently vow to give a child to the order. Many
convents have considerable areas of land attached to them,
and also dependent institutions. The whole property of the
convent and its dependencies seems to be at the absolute
disposal of the Mahant, but he is bound to give food, raiment
and lodging to the inmates, and he entertains all travellers
belonging to the order.1
In former times the Gosains often became soldiers and
entered the service of different military chiefs. The most
famous of these fighting priests were the Naga Gosains of
the Jaipur State of Rajputana, who are said to have been
under an obligation from their guru or religious chief to
fight for the Raja of Jaipur whenever required. They
received rent-free lands and pay of two pice (|d.) a day,
which latter was put into a common treasury and expended
on the purchase of arms and ammunition whenever needed
1 Buchanan, Eastern India, i. pp. 197, 198.
FAMOUS GOSAIN MAHANT, PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN
AFTER DEATH.
ii THE FIGHTING GO SAINS 157
for war. They would also lend money, and if a debtor
could not pay would make him give his son to be enrolled
in the force. The 7000 Naga Gosains were placed in the
vanguard of the Jaipur army in battle. Their weapons
were the bow, arrow, shield, spear and discus. The Gosain
proprietor of the Deopur estate in Raipur formerly kept up
a force of Naga Gosains, with which he used to collect the
tribute from the feudatory chiefs of Chhattlsgarh on behalf of
the Raja of Nagpur. It is said that he once invaded Bastar
with this object, where most of the Gosains died of cholera.
But after they had fasted for three days, the goddess
Danteshwari appeared to them and promised them her
protection. And they took the goddess away with them
and installed her in their own village in Raipur. Forbes
records that in Gujarat an English officer was in command
of a troop known as the Gosain's wife's troops. These
Naga Gosains wore only a single white garment, like a
sleeveless shirt reaching to the knees, and hence it is said
that they were called naked. The Gosains and Bairagis, or
adherents of Siva and Vishnu, were often engaged in religious
quarrels on the merits of their respective deities, and some-
times came to blows. A favourite point of rivalry was the
right of bathing first in the Ganges on the occasion of one
of the great religious fairs at Allahabad or Hardwar. The
Gosains claim priority of bathing, on the ground that the
Ganges flows from the matted locks of Siva ; while the
Bairagis assert that the source of the river is from Vishnu's
foot. In 1760 a pitched battle on this question ended in
the defeat of the Bairagis, of whom 1800 were slain. Again
in 1796 the Gosains engaged in battle with the Sikh
pilgrims and were defeated with the loss of 500 men.1
During the reign of Akbar a combat took place in the
Emperor's presence between the two Sivite sects of Gosains,
or Sanniasis and Jogis, having been apparently arranged for
his edification, to decide which sect had the best ground for
its pretensions to supernatural power. The Jogis were
completely defeated.2
1 Nesfield, Brief View of the Caste Superstitions of India (London, T.
System, p. 86. Fisher Unwin), p. 11.
2 J. C. Oman, Cults, Customs and
I58 GO SAIN part
10. Burial. A dead Sanniasi is always buried in the sitting attitude
of religious contemplation with the legs crossed. The grave
may be dug with a side receptacle for the corpse so that the
earth, on being filled in, does not fall on it The corpse is
bathed and rubbed with ashes and clad in a new reddish-
coloured shirt, with a rosary round the neck. The begging-
wallet with some flour and pulse are placed in the grave,
and also a gourd and staff. Salt is put round the body to
preserve it, and an earthen pot is put over the head.
Sometimes cocoanuts are broken on the skull, to crack it
and give exit to the soul. Perhaps the idea of burial and
of preserving the corpse with salt is that the body of an
ascetic does not need to be purified by fire from the appetites
and passions of the flesh like that of an ordinary Hindu ; it
is already cleansed of all earthly frailty by his austerities,
and the belief may therefore have originally been that such
a man would carry his body with him to the afterworld or
to absorption with the deity. The burial of a Sanniasi is
often accompanied with music and signs of rejoicing ; Mr.
Oman describes such a funeral in which the corpse was
seated in a litter, open on three sides so that it could be
seen ; it was tied to the back of the litter, and garlands of
flowers partly covered the body, but could not conceal the
hideousness of death as the unconscious head rolled helplessly
from side to side with the movement of the litter. The
procession was headed by a European brass band and by
men carrying censers of incense.1
Sexual Celibacy is the rule of the Gosain orders, and a man's
property passes in inheritance to a selected chela or disciple.
But the practice of keeping women is very common, even
outside the large section of the community which now
recognises marriage. Women could be admitted into the
order, when they had to shave their heads, assume the ochre-
coloured shirt and rub their bodies with ashes. Afterwards,
with the permission of the guru and on payment of a fine, they
could let their hair grow again, at least temporarily. These
women were supposed to remain quite chaste and live in
nunneries, but many of them lived with men of the order.
It is not known to what extent women are admitted at
1 Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India, pp. 156, 157.
indulgence.
ii MISSIONARY WORK— THE GOSAIN CASTE 159
present. The sons born of such unions would be adopted
as chelas or disciples by other Gosains, and made their heirs
by a reciprocal arrangement. Women who are convicted of
some social offence, or who wish to leave their husbands,
often join the order nominally and live with a Gosain or are
married into the caste. Many of the wandering mendicants
lead an immoral life, and scandals about their enticing away
the wives of rich Hindus are not infrequent.1 During their
visits to villages the)/ also engage in intrigues, and a ribald Gond
song sung at the Holi festival describes the pleasure of the
village women at the arrival of a Gosain owing to the sexual
gratification which they expected to receive from him.
Nevertheless the wandering Gosains have done much to 12. Mis-
foster and maintain the Hindu religion among the people. sum**y
They are the gurus or spiritual preceptors of the middle and
lower castes, and though their teaching may be of little
advantage, it perhaps quickens and maintains to some extent
the religious feelings of their clients. In former times the
Gosains travelled over the wildest tracts of country, pro-
selytising the primitive non-Aryan tribes, for whose conversion
to Hinduism they are largely responsible. On such journeys
they necessarily carried their lives in their hands, and not
infrequently lost them.
The majority of the Gosains are, however, now married 13. The
and form an ordinary caste. Buchanan states that the ten c.°te'n
different orders became exogamous groups, the members of
which married with each other, but it is doubtful whether
this is the case at present. It is said that all Giri Gosains
marry, whether they are mendicants or not, while the Bharthi
order can marry or not as they please. They prohibit any
marriage between first cousins, but permit widow remarriage
and divorce. They eat the flesh of all clean animals and also of
fowls, and drink liquor, and will take cooked food from the
higher castes, including Sunars and Kunbis. Hence they do
not rank high socially, and Brahmans do not take water from
them, but their religious character gives them some prestige.
Many Gosains have become landholders, obtaining their
estates either as charitable grants from clients or through
moneylending transactions. In this capacity they do not
1 Sir E. Maclagan, Punjab Census Report (1S91), p. 112.
caste.
!6o GO WAR I PART
usually turn out ,/ell, and are often considered harsh land-
lords and grasping creditors.
Origin Gowari.1 — The herdsman or grazier caste of the Maratha
of the country, corresponding to the Ahirs or Gaolis. The name is
derived from gai or gao, the cow, and means a cowherd.
The Gowaris numbered more than 150,000 persons in 191 1,
of whom nearly 120,000 belonged to the Nagpur division
and nearly 30,000 to Berar. In localities where the
Gowaris predominate, Ahirs or Gaolis, the regular herdsman
caste, are found only in small numbers. The honorific title
of the Gowaris is Dhare, which is said to mean ' One who
keeps cattle.' The Gowaris rank distinctly below the Ahirs
or Gaolis. The legend of their origin is that an Ahlr,
who was tending the cows of Krishna, stood in need of a
helper. He found a small boy in the forest and took him
home and brought him up. He then gave to the boy the
work of grazing cows in the jungle, while he himself stayed
at home and made milk and butter. This boy was the
ancestor of the Gowari caste. His descendants took to
eating fowls and peacocks and drinking liquor, and hence
were degraded below the Gaolis. But the latter will allow
Gowaris to sit at their feasts and eat, they will carry the
corpse of a Gowari to the grave, and they will act as
members of the panchdyat in readmitting a Gowari who has
been put out of caste. In the Maratha country any man
who touches the corpse of a man of another caste is
temporarily excommunicated, and the fact that a Gaoli will
do this for a Gowari demonstrates the close relationship of
the castes. The legend, in fact, indicates quite clearly and
correctly the origin of the Gowaris. The small boy in the
forest was a Gond, and the Gowari caste is of mixed descent
from Ahirs and Gonds. The Ahirs or Gaolis of the Maratha
country have largely abandoned the work of grazing cattle
in the forest, and have taken to the more profitable business
of making milk and ghi. The herdsman's duties have been
relegated to the mixed class of Gowaris, produced from the
unions of Ahirs and Gonds in the forests, and not improbably
1 This article is based on notes by Mr. Percival, Assistant Conservator of
Forests, and Rai Bahadur Hira Lai.
ii SUBCASTES—TOTEMISM AND EXOGAMY 161
including a considerable section of pure Gond blood. At
present only Gaolis and no other caste are admitted into
the Gowari community, though there is evidence that the
rule was not formerly so strict.
The Gowaris have three divisions, the Gai Gowari, Inga, 2. sut>
and Maria or Gond Gowari. The Gai or cow Gowaris are castes-
the highest and probably have more Gaoli blood in them.
The Inga and Maria or Gond Gowaris are more directly
derived from the Gonds. Maria is the name given to a
large section of the Gond tribe in Chanda. Both the other
two subcastes will take cooked food from the Gai Gowaris
and the Gond Gowaris from the Inga, but the Inga subcaste
will not take it from the Gond, nor the Gai Gowaris from
either of the other two. The Gond Gowaris have been
treated as a distinct caste and a separate article is given on
them, but at the census Mr. Marten has amalgamated them
with the Gowaris. This is probably more correct, as they are
locally held to be a branch of the caste. But their customs
differ in some points from those of the other Gowaris. They
will admit outsiders from any respectable caste and worship
the Gond gods,1 and there seems no harm, therefore, in
allowing the separate article on them to remain.
The Gowaris have exogamous sections of the titular 3- Totem-
and totemistic types, such as Chachania from chachan, a ^^
bird, Lohar from loJia iron, Ambadare a mango-branch,
Kohria from the Kohri or Kohli caste, Sarwaina a Gond
sept, and Rawat the name of the Ahlr caste in Chhattlsgarh.
Some septs do not permit intermarriage between their
members, saying that they are Dudh-Bhais or foster-brothers,
born from the same mother. Thus the Chachania, Kohria,
Senwaria, Sendua (vermilion) and Wagare (tiger) septs
cannot intermarry. They say that their fathers were
different, but their mothers were related or one and the same.
This is apparently a relic of polyandry, and it is possible
that in some cases the Gonds may have allowed Ahirs
sojourning in the forest to have access to their wives during
the period of their stay. If this was permitted to Ahirs
of different sections coming to the same Gond village in
successive years, the offspring might be the ancestors of
1 For further details see article on Gond Gowari.
VOL. Ill M
riage
customs.
162 GOWARI part
sections who consider themselves to be related to each
other in the manner of the Gowari sections.
Marriage is prohibited within the same section or kur, and
between sections related to each other as Dudh-Bhais in the
manner explained above. A man can marry his daughter to
his sister's son, but cannot take her daughter for his son.
The children of two sisters cannot be married.
4. Mar- Girls are usually married after attaining maturity, and
a bride-price is paid which is normally two kliandis (800 lbs.)
of grain, Rs. 16 to 20 in cash, and a piece of cloth. The
auspicious date of the wedding is calculated by a Mahar
Mohturia or soothsayer. Brahmans are not employed, the
ceremony being performed by the bJianya or sister's son of
either the girl's father or the boy's father. If he is not
available, any one whom either the girl's father or the boy's
father addresses as bhdnja or nephew in the village, accord-
ing to the common custom of addressing each other by terms
of relationship, even though he may be no relative and
belong to another caste, may be substituted ; and if no such
person is available a son-in-law of either of the parties.
The peculiar importance thus attached to the sister's son
as a relation is probably a relic of the matriarchate, when
a man's sister's son was his heir. The substitution of a
son-in-law who might inherit in the absence of a sister's
son perhaps strengthens this view. The wedding is held
mainly according to the Maratha ritual.1 The procession
goes to the girl's house, and the bridegroom is wrapped in
a blanket and carries a spear, in the absence of which the
wedding cannot be held. A spear is also essential among
the Gonds. The ancestors of the caste are invited to the
wedding by beating a drum and calling on them to attend.
The original ancestors are said to be Kode Kodwan, the names
of two Gond gods, Baghoba (the tiger-god), and Meghnath,
son of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, after whom the
Gonds are called Rawanvansi, or descendants of Rawan.
The wedding costs about Rs. 50, all of which is spent by
the boy's father. The girl's father only gives a feast to the
caste out of the amount which he receives as bride -price.
Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted.
1 See article on Kunbi.
ii FUNERAL RITES— RELIGION 163
The dead are either buried or burnt, burial being more 5. Funeral
common. The corpse is laid with head to the south and ntes'
feet to the north. On returning from the funeral they go
and drink at the liquor-shop, and then kill a cock on the
spot where the deceased died, and offer some meat to his
spirit, placing it outside the house. The caste-fellows sit
and wait until a crow comes and pecks at the food, when
they think that the deceased has enjoyed it, and begin to
eat themselves. If no crow comes before night the food
may be given to a cow, and the party can then begin to
eat. When the next wedding is held in the family, the
deceased is brought down from the skies and enshrined
among the deified ancestors.
The principal deities of the Gowaris are the Kode 6. Reii-
Kodwan or deified ancestors. They are worshipped at the g101
annual festivals, and also at weddings. When a man or
woman dies without children their spirits are known as
Dhal, and are worshipped in the families to which they
belonged. A male Dhal is represented by a stick of bamboo
with one cross-piece at the top, and a female Dhal by a
stick with two others crossing each other lashed to it at the
top. These sticks are worshipped at the Diwali festival,
and carried in procession. Dudhera is a godling worshipped
for the protection of cattle. He is represented by a clay
horse placed near a white ant-hill. If a cow stops giving
milk her udder is smoked with the burning wood of a tree
called sdnwal, and this is supposed to drive away the spirits
who drink the milk from the udder. All Gowaris revere the
haryal, or green pigeon. They say that it gives a sound
like a Gowari calling his cows, and that it is a kinsman.
They would on no account kill this bird. They say that
the cows will go to a tree from which green pigeons are
cooing, and that on one occasion when a thief was driving
away their cows a green pigeon cooed from a tree, and
the cows turned round and came back again. This is like
the story of the sacred geese at Rome, who gave warning
of the attack of the Goths.
The head of the caste committee is known as Shendia, 7. Caste
from shendi, a scalp-lock or pig-tail, perhaps because he is ™^sthe
at the top of the caste as the scalp-lock is at the top of the panchayat.
1 64 GO WAR I part
head. The Shendia is elected, and holds office for life.
He has to readmit offenders into caste by being the first
to eat and drink with them, thus taking their sins on him-
self. On such occasions it is necessary to have a little
opium, which is mixed with sugar and water, and distributed
to all members of the caste. If the quantity is insufficient
for every one to drink, the man responsible for preparing it is
fined, and this mixture, especially the opium, is indispensable
on all such occasions. The custom indicates that a sacred
or sacrificial character is attributed to the opium, as the
drinking of the mixture together is the sign of the readmis-
sion of a temporary outcaste into the community. After
this has been drunk he becomes a member of the caste,
even though he may not give the penalty feast for some time
afterwards. The Ahlrs and Sunars of the Maratha country
have the same rite of purification by the common drinking
of opium and water. A caste penalty is incurred for the
removal of bital or impurity arising from the usual offences,
and among others for touching the corpse of a man of any
other caste, or of a buffalo, horse, cow, cat or dog, for using
abusive language to a casteman at any meeting or feast, and
for getting up from a caste feast without permission from
the headman. For touching the corpse of a prohibited
animal and for going to jail a man has to get his head,
beard and whiskers shaved. If a woman becomes with
child by a man of another caste, she is temporarily expelled,
but can be readmitted after the child has been born and
she has disposed of it to somebody else. Such children
are often made over for a few rupees to Muhammadans,
who bring them up as menial servants in their families, or,
if they have no child of their own, sometimes adopt them.
On readmission a lock of the woman's hair is cut off. In
the same case, if no child is born of the liaison, the woman
is taken back with the simple penalty of a feast. Permanent
expulsion is imposed for taking food from, or having an
intrigue with a member of an impure caste as Madgi, Mehtar,
Pardhan, Mahar and Mang.
8. Social The Gowaris eat pork, fowls, rats, lizards and peacocks,
stoms. ancj abstain only from beef and the flesh of monkeys,
crocodiles and jackals. They will take food from a Mana,
ii SOCIAL CUSTOMS 165
Marar or Kohli, and water from a Gond. Kunbis will take
water from them, and Gonds, Dhlmars and Dhobis will
accept cooked food. All Gowari men are tattooed with a
straight vertical line on the forehead, and many of them
have the figures of a peacock, deer or horse on the right
shoulder or on both shoulders. A man without the mark
on the forehead will scarcely be admitted to be a true
Gowari, and would have to prove his birth before he was
allowed to join a caste feast. Women are tattooed with a
pattern of straight and crooked lines on the right arm
below the elbow, which they call Slta's arm. They have
a vertical line standing on a horizontal one on the forehead,
and dots on the temples.
GOJAR
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i. Historical notice of the caste. 4. Subdivisions.
2. The Giijars a?id the Khazars. 5. Marriage.
3. Predatory character of the 6. Disposal of the dead.
Giijars in Northern India. 7. Religion.
8. Character.
1. Histori- Gujar. — A great historical caste who have given their
cai notice name to the Gujarat District and the town of Gujaranwala
caste. in the Punjab, the peninsula of Gujarat or Kathiawar and
the tract known as Gujargarh in Gvvalior. In the Central
Provinces the Giijars numbered 56,000 persons in 191 1, of
whom the great majority belonged to the Hoshangabad and
Nimar Districts. In these Provinces the caste is thus
practically confined to the Nerbudda Valley, and they
appear to have come here from Gwalior probably in the
middle of the sixteenth century, to which period the first
important influx of Hindus into this area has been ascribed.
But some of the Nimar Giijars are immigrants from Gujarat.
Owing to their distinctive appearance and character and
their exploits as cattle-raiders, the origin of the Giijars has
been the subject of much discussion. General Cunningham
identified them with the Yueh-chi or Tochari, the tribe of
Indo-Scythians who invaded India in the first century of
the Christian era. The king Kadphises 1. and his successors
belonged to the Kushan section of the Yueh-chi tribe, and
their rule extended over north-western India down to
Gujarat in the period 45-225 A.D. Mr. V. A. Smith,
however, discards this theory and considers the Gujars or
Gurjaras to have been a branch of the white Huns who
166
part ii HISTORICAL NOTICE OF THE CASTE 167
* invaded India in the fifth and sixth centuries. He writes : J
" The earliest foreign immigration within the limits of the
historical period which can be verified is that of the Sakas
in the second century B.C. ; and the next is that of the
Yueh-chi and Kushans in the first century A.u. Probably
none of the existing Rajput clans can carry back their
genuine pedigrees so far. The third recorded great irrup-
tion of foreign barbarians occurred during the fifth century
and the early part of the sixth. There arc indications that
the immigration from Central Asia continued during the
third century, but, if it did, no distinct record of the event
has been preserved, and, so far as positive knowledge goes,
only three certain irruptions of foreigners on a large scale
through the northern and north-western passes can be
proved to have taken place within the historical period
anterior to the Muhammadan invasions of the tenth and
eleventh centuries. The first and second, as above observed,
were those of the Sakas and Yueh-chi respectively, and the
third was that of the Hunas or white Huns. It seems to be
clearly established that the Hun group of tribes or hordes
made their principal permanent settlements in the Punjab
and Rajputana. The most important element in the group
after the Huns themselves was that of the Gurjaras, whose
name still survives in the spoken form Gujar as the designa-
tion of a widely diffused middle-class caste in north-western
India. The prominent position occupied by Gurjara
kingdoms in early mediaeval times is a recent discovery.
The existence of a small Gurjara principality in Bharoch
(Broach), and of a larger state in Rajputana, has been
known to archaeologists for many years, but the recognition
of the fact that Bhoja and the other kings of the powerful
Kanauj dynasty in the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries
were Gurjaras is of very recent date and is not yet general.
Certain misreadings of epigraphic dates obscured the true
history of that dynasty, and the correct readings have been
established only within the last two or three years. It
is now definitely proved that Bhoja {arc. A.D. 840-890),
his predecessors and successors belonged to the Pratihara
(Parihar) clan of the Gurjara tribe or caste, and, consequently,
1 Early History of India, 3rd ed. pp. 409, 411.
1 68 GUJAR part
that the well-known clan of Parihar Rajputs is a branch of
the Gurjara or Gujar stock." l
2. The Sir J. Campbell identified the Gujars with the Khazar
Gujars tribe of Central Asia : 2 " What is known of the early
Khazars. history of the Gujaras in India points to their arrival
during the last quarter of the fifth or the first quarter of
the sixth century (a.D. 470-520). That is the Gujaras
seem to have formed part of the great horde of which the
Juan-Juan or Avars, and the Ephthalites, Yetas or White
Hunas were leading elements. The question remains :
How far does the arrival of the Gujara in India, during
the early sixth century, agree with what is known of the
history of the Khazar ? The name Khazar appears under
the following forms : Among Chinese as Kosa, among
Russians as Khwalisses, among Byzantines as Chozars or
Chazars, among Armenians as Khazirs and among Arabs as
Khozar. Other variations come closer to Gujara. These
are Gazar, the form Kazar takes to the north of the sea of
Asof ; Ghysar, the name for Khazars who have become Jews ;
and Ghusar, the form of Khazar in use among the Lesghians
of the Caucasus. Howarth and the writer in the Encyclopedia
Britannica follow Klaproth in holding that the Khazars are
the same as the White Hunas. . . .
" Admitting that the Khazar and White Huna are one, it
must also be the case that the Khazars included two distinct
elements, a fair or Ak-Khazar, the Akatziroi or Khazaroi of
Byzantine historians, and a dark or Kara Khazar. The
Kara Khazar was short, ugly and as black as an Indian.
He was the Ughrian nomad of the steppes, who formed the
rank and file of the army. The White Khazar or White
Huna was fair-skinned, black -haired and beautiful, their
women (in the ninth and tenth centuries) being sought after
in the bazars of Baghdad and Byzantium. According to
Klaproth, a view adopted by the writer in the Encyclopedia
Britannica, the White Khazar represented the white race
1 Mr. Smith ascribes this discovery Kielhorn's paper on the Gwalior In-
to Messrs. A. M. T. Jackson {Bombay scription of Mihira Bhoja in a German
Gazetteer, vol. i. Part I., 1896, p. journal.
467) ; D. R. Bhandarkar, Gurjaras {J. 2 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of
Bo. B.A.S. vol. xx.) ; and Epigraphic Gujarat, Appendix B, The Gujars.
Notes {ibidem, vol. xxi.) ; and Professor
•
^l»
PREDATORY CHARACTER OF THE GUJARS
169
which, since before Christ, has been settled round the Caspian.
As White Hunas, Ephthalites,1 White Ughrians and White
Bulgars, this white race were the carriers between Europe
and East Asia ; they were also the bearers of the brunt of
the Tartar inroads. A trace both of the beautiful and
coarse clans seems to survive in the complimentary Marwar
proverb, ' Handsome as a Huna,' and in the abusive Gujarat
proverb, 'Yellow and short as a Huna's beard.' Under its
Hindu form Gurjara, Khazar appears to have become the
name by which the great bulk of the sixth -century horde
was known." Sir J. Campbell was of opinion that the
Sesodia or Gahlot Rajputs, the most illustrious of all the
clans, were of Gujar stock, as well as the Parihar, Chauhan,
and Chalukya or Solanki ; these last were three of the
Agnikula clans or those created from the firepit,2 and a
Solanki dynasty ruled in Gujarat. He also considered the
Nagar Brahmans of Gujarat to be derived from the Gujars
and considerable sections of the Ahir and Kunbi castes.
The Badgujar (great Gujar) clan of Rajputs is no doubt
also an aristocratic branch of the caste. In Ajmere it is said
that though- all Gujars are not Rajputs, no Rajput becomes
a hero unless he is suckled by a Gujar woman. Gitjarika
dudh, nahari ka dudh ; or ' Gujar' s milk is tiger's milk.' A
Rajput who has not been suckled by a Gujar woman is a
gidar or jackal.3
The fact of the White Huns being tall and of fine features, 3. Preda-
in contrast to the horde which invaded Europe under Attila, ^'Jracter
accounts for these characteristics being found among the of the
highest Rajput clans, who, as has been seen, are probably northern"
derived from them. The Gujar caste generally is now, India. ,
however, no doubt of mixed and impure blood. They were
distinguished in the past as vagrant and predatory marauders,
and must have assimilated various foreign elements.
Mr. Crooke writes of them : 4 " The Gujars as a tribe
have always been noted for their turbulence and habit of
1 The Khazars were known to the
Chinese as Yetas, the beginning of
Yeta-i-li-to, the name of their ruling
family, and the nations of the west
altered this to Hyatilah and Ephthalite.
Campbell, ibidem.
2 See article on Panwar Rajput,
para. I .
3 Campbell, loc. cit. p. 495.
4 Tribes and Castes, article Gujar,
para. 12. The description is mainly
taken from Elliott's History of India as
told by its own Historians.
172 GUJAR part
Then Krishna created fresh cowherds and the Lilorhias
were made from the sweat of his forehead (lilat). After-
wards Brahma restored the original cowherds, who were
known as Murelia, because they were the first
players on the murli or flute.1 The Badgujars or highest
branch of the clan are descendants of these Murelias.
The caste have also a set of exogamous groups, several of
which bear the names of Rajput clans, while others are
called after villages, titles or nicknames or natural objects.
A man is not permitted to marry any one belonging either
to his own sept or that of his mother or grandmother.
s. Mar- At a Gujar wedding four plough-yokes are laid out to
nage. form a square under the marriage booth, with a copper pot
full of water in the centre. At the auspicious moment the
bride's hand is placed on that of the bridegroom, and the
two walk seven times round the pot, the bridegroom leading
for the first four rounds and the bride for the last three.
Widows are allowed to remarry, and, as girls are rather
scarce in the caste, a large price is often paid for the widow
to her father or guardian, though this is not willingly
admitted. As much as Rs. 3000 is recorded to have been
paid. A widow marriage is known as Natra or Pat. A
woman is forbidden to marry any relative of her first
husband. When the marriage of a widow is to take place
a fee of Rs. 1-4 must be paid to the village proprietor to
obtain his consent. The Gujars of the Bulandshahr
District of the United Provinces furnish, Mr. Crooke says,2
perhaps the only well - established instance of polyandry
among the Hindus of the plains. Owing to the scarcity of
women in the caste it was customary for the wife of one
brother, usually the eldest, to be occasionally at the disposal
of other unmarried brothers living in the house. The custom
arose owing to the lack of women caused by the prevalence
of female infanticide, and now that this has been stopped it
is rapidly dying out, while no trace of it is believed to
exist in the Central Provinces.
6. Disposal The bodies of unmarried persons are buried, and also
of the
dead. . *
1 Cf. Krishna s epithet of Murhdhar and shepherds in Greek and Roman
or the flute-player, and the general mythology.
association of the flute with herdsmen 2 Ibidem.
ion.
ii RELIGION i73
of those who die of any epidemic disease. Others
are cremated. The funeral of an elderly man of good
means and family is an occasion for great display. A
large feast is given and the Brahman priests of the
caste go about inviting all the Gujars to attend. Some-
times the number of guests rises to three or four thousand.
At the conclusion of the feast one of the hosts claps
his hands and all the guests then get up and im-
mediately depart without ceremony or saying farewell.
Such an occasion is known as Gujarwada, and the Gujars
often spend as much, or more, on a funeral as on a wedding,
in the belief that the outlay is of direct benefit to the
dead man's spirit. This idea is inculcated and diligently
fostered by the family priests and those Brahmans who
receive gifts for the use of the dead, the greed of these
cormorants being insatiable.
The household goddess of the caste is known as Kul 7. Re
Devi, the word kul meaning family. To her a platform is llg
erected inside the house, and she must be worshipped by
the members of the family alone, no stranger being present.
Offerings of cocoanuts, rice, turmeric and flowers are made
to her, but no animal sacrifices. When a son of the family
dies unmarried, an image of him, known as Mujia, is made
on a piece of silver, copper or brass, and is worshipped on
Mondays and Fridays during the month of Magh (January).
On one of these days also a feast is given to the caste.
Each member of the caste has a guru or spiritual preceptor,
who visits him every second or third year and receives a
small present of a cocoanut or a piece of cloth. But he
does not seem to perform any duties. The guru may
belong to any of the religious mendicant castes. A man
who is without a guru is known as Nugra and is looked
down on. To meet him in the morning is considered un-
lucky and portends misfortune. Sir C. Elliot l characterised
the Mundle Gujars as " A very religious race ; they never
plough on the new moon nor on the 8 th of the month,
because it is Krishna's birthday. Their religious and social
head is the Mahant of the Ramjidas temple at Hoshangabad."
In Nimar many of the Gujars belong to the Pirzada sect,
1 Hoshangabad Settlement Report, para. 16.
acter.
174 GUJAR PART II
which is a kind of reformed creed, based on a mixture of
Hinduism and Islam.
8. Char- The Gujars wear the dress of northern India and their
women usually have skirts (lahenga) and not saris or body-
cloths. Married women have a number of strings of black
beads round the neck and widows must change these for
red ones. As a rule neither men nor women are tattooed.
The men sometimes have their hair long and wear beards
and whiskers. The Gujars are now considered the best
cultivators of the Nimar District. They are fond of
irrigation and sink unfaced wells to water their land and
get a second crop off it. They are generally prosperous
and make good landlords. Members of the caste have the
custom of lending and borrowing among themselves and not
from outsiders, and this no doubt conduces to mutual
economy and solvency. Like keen cultivators elsewhere,
such as the Pan wars and Kurmis, the Gujar sets store by
having a good house and good cattle. The return from a
Mundle Gujar's wedding, Captain Forsyth wrote,1 is a sight
to be seen. Every Gujar from far and near has come with
his whole family in his best bullock-cart gaily ornamented,
and, whatever the road may be, nothing but a smash will
prevent a breakneck race homewards at full gallop, cattle
which have won in several such races acquiring a much
coveted reputation throughout the District.
1 Nimar Settlement Report (1868).
GURAO
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i . Origin of the caste. 4. Birth customs.
2. Internal structure. 5. The sacred thread.
3. Marriage and ceremonies 6. Funeral customs.
of adolescence. 7. Social position.
8. The fain Guraos.
Gurao.1 — A caste of village priests of the temples of 1. Origin
Mahadeo in the Maratha Districts. They numbered about °asltee
14,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 191 1.
The Guraos say that they were formerly Brahmans and
worshippers of Siva, but for some negligence or mistake in
his ritual they were cursed by the god and degraded from
the status of Brahmans, though subsequently the god
relented and permitted them to worship him and take the
offerings made to him.
It is related that a certain Brahman, who was a votary
of Siva, had to go on a journey. He left his son behind
and strictly enjoined on him to perform the worship of the
god at midday. The son had bathed and purified himself
for this purpose, when shortly before midday his wife
came to him and so importuned him to have conjugal
intercourse with her that he was obliged to comply. It
was then midday and in his impure condition the son went
to the shrine of the god to worship him. But Siva cursed
him and said that his descendants should be degraded from
the status of Brahmans, though he afterwards relented so
far as to permit of their continuing to act as his priests ;
and this was the origin of the Guraos. It seems doubtful,
1 This article is based partly on a Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer
paper by Mr. Abdus Subhan Khan, Office.
Tahsildar, Hinganghat, and Mr.
!75
i76 GURAO part
however, whether the caste are really of Brahman origin.
They were formerly village priests, and Grant-Duff gives
the Gurao as one of the village menials in the Maratha
villages. They have the privilege of taking the Naivedya
or offerings of cooked food made to the god Mahadeo, which
Brahmans will not accept. They also sell leaf-plates and
flowers and bel leaves 1 which are offered at the temples of
Mahadeo ; and on the festival of Shivratri and during the
month of Shrawan (July) they take round the bel leaves which
the cultivators require for their offerings and receive presents
in return. In Wardha the Guraos get small gifts of grain
from the cultivators at seed-time and harvest. They also act
as village musicians and blow the conch-shell, beat the drum
and play other musical instruments for the morning and
evening worship at the temple. They play on the cymbals
and drums at the marriages of Brahmans and other high
castes. In the Bombay Presidency 2 some are astrologers
and fortune-tellers, and others make the basing or coronet
of flowers which the bridegroom wears. Sometimes they
play on the drum or fiddle for their spiritual followers, the
dancing-girls or Kalavants. When a dancing-girl became
pregnant she worshipped the Gurao, and he, in return,
placed the missi or tooth-powder made from myrobalans
on her teeth. If this was not done before her child was
born, a Kalavantin was put out of caste. In some localities
the Guraos will take food from Kunbis. And further, as
will be seen subsequently, the caste have no proper golras
or exogamous sections, but in arranging their marriages they
simply avoid persons having a common surname. All
these considerations point to the fact that the caste is not
of Brahmanical origin but belongs to a lower class of the
population. Nevertheless in Wardha they are known as
Shaiva Brahmans and rank above the Kunbis. They may
study the Sama Veda only and not the others, and may
repeat the Rudra Gayatri or sacred verse of Siva. Clearly
the Brahmans could not accept the offerings of cooked food
made at Siva's shrine ;. though the larger temples of this
deity have Brahman priests. It seems uncertain whether
1 The trifoliate leaf of Aegle Marmelos.
2 Bombay Gazette,,-. v>! wiii. p. ?h>>.
ii INTERNAL STRUCTURE 177
Siva or Mahadco was first a village deity and was sub-
sequently exalted to the position of a member of the
supreme Hindu Trinity, or whether the opposite process
took place and the Guraos obtained their priestly functions
on his worship being popularised. But in any case it
would appear that they were originally a class of village
priests regarded as the servants of the cultivating com-
munity, by whose gifts and offerings they were maintained.
Grant- Duff in enumerating the village servants says :
" Ninth, the Gurao, who is a Sudra employed to wash the
ornaments and attend the idol in the village temples, and
on occasions of feasting to prepare the patraolz or leaves
which the Hindus substitute for plates. They are also
trumpeters by profession and in this capacity arc much
employed in Maratha armies."1
The caste has several subdivisions which are principally 2. internal
of a territorial nature, as Warade from Berar ; J hade, inhabit- structure-
ants of the forest or rice country ; Telanga, of the Telugu
country; Dakshne, from the Deccan ; Marwari, from Marwar,
and so on. Other subcastes are the AhTr and Jain Guraos,
of whom the former are apparently Ahlrs who have adopted
the priestly profession, while the Jain Guraos are held in
Bombay to be the descendants of Jain temple servants who
entered the caste when their own deities were thrown out
and their shrines annexed by the votaries of Siva.2 In
Bombay, Mr. Enthoven states " That the Koli and Maratha
ministrants at the temples of Siva and other deities often
describe themselves as Guraos, but they have not formed
themselves into separate castes and are members of the
general Koli or Maratha community. They cease to call
themselves Guraos when they cease to minister at temples."3
In the Central Provinces one of the subcastes is known as
Vajantri because they act as village musicians. The caste
have no regular exogamous sections, but a number of sur-
names which answer the same purpose. These are of a pro-
fessional type, as Lokhandes, an iron-dealer ; Phulzares,
a maker of fireworks ; Sontake, a gold-merchant ; Gaikwad,
1 History of the Marathas, vol. i. 3 Bombay Ethnographic Survey,
p. 26, footnote. Monograph on Gurao.
- Bombay Gazetteer, vol. x. p. 119.
VOL. Ill N
i78
GURAO
3. Mar-
riage and
ceremonies
of adoles-
cence.
4. Birth
customs.
a cowherd ; Nakade, long - nosed, and so on. They say
they all belong to the same gotra, Sankhiayan, named after
Sankhiaya Rishi, the ancestor of the caste.
Marriage is avoided between persons having the same
surname and those within six degrees of descent from a
common ancestor whether male or female. The marriage
ceremony generally resembles that of the Brahmans. Before
the wedding the bridegroom's father prepares an image of
Siva from rice and til-seed,1 covers it with a cloth and sends
it to the bride's house. In return her mother prepares and
sends back a similar image of Gauri, Siva's consort. Girls
are married as infants, and when a woman arrives at adoles-
cence the following ritual is observed : She goes to her
husband's house and is there secluded for three or four days
while her impurity lasts. On its termination she is bathed
and clothed in a green dress and yellow choli or breast-cloth,
and seated in a gaily decked wooden frame. Her lap is
filled with wheat and a cocoanut, and her female friends and
relatives and father and father-in-law give her presents of
sweets and clothes. This is known as the Shantik ceremony
and is practised by the higher castes in the Maratha country.
It may continue for as long as sixteen days. Finally, on an
auspicious day the bride and bridegroom are given delicate
food and dressed in new clothes. The fire sacrifice is offered
and they are taken into a room where a bed, the gift of the
bride's parents, has been prepared for them, and left to con-
summate the marriage. This is known as Garbhadhan.
Next day the bride's parents give new clothes and a feast
to the bridegroom's family ; this feast is known as Godai,
and after giving it the bride's parents may eat at their
daughter's house. A girl seduced by a man of the caste
may be properly married to him after her parents have
performed Prdyaschit or atonement. But if she has a child
out of wedlock, he is relegated to the Vidur or illegitimate
group. Even if a girl be seduced by a stranger, provided he
be of higher or equal caste, as the Kunbis and Marathas, she
may be taken back into the community.
If a child is born at an unlucky season, they take two
winnowing-fans and tie the baby between them with a thread
] Sesamum.
ii THE SACRED THREAD 179
wound many times round about. A cow is brought and
made to lick the child, which is thus supposed to have been
born again from it as a calf, the evil omen of the first birth
being removed. The father performs the fire sacrifice, and
a human figure is made from cooked rice and worshipped.
A burning wick is placed in its stomach and it is taken out
and left at cross-roads, this being probably a substitute for
the member of the family whose death was presaged by the
untimely birth of the child. Similarly if any one dies at the
astronomical period known as Panchak, they make five
figures of wheat-flour and burn or bury them with the body,
as it is thought that otherwise five members of the family
would die.
Boys are invested with the sacred thread at the age of 5. The
five, seven or nine years, and until that time they are ^cre^
considered to be Sudras and not members of the caste.
From a hundred to three hundred rupees may be spent on
the investiture. On the day before the ceremony a Brahman
and his wife are invited to take food, and a yellow thread
with a mango leaf is tied round the boy's wrist. The spirits
of other boys who died before their thread ceremony was
performed and of women of the family who died before their
husbands are invited to attend. These are represented by
young boys and married women of other families who come
to the house and are bathed and anointed with turmeric and
oil, and given presents of sugar and new clothes. Next day
the initiate is seated on a platform in a shed erected for the
purpose and puts on the sacred thread made of cotton and
also a strip of the skin of the black-buck with a silk apron
and cap. The boy's father takes him on his lap and whispers
or, as the Hindus say, blows the Gayatri mantra or sacred
text into his ear. A sacrifice is performed, and the friends
and fellow-castemen of the family make presents to the boy
of copper and silver coin. The amount thus given is not
used by the parents, but is spent on the boy's education or
on the purchase of an ornament for him. On the conclusion
of the ceremony the boy mounts a wooden model of a horse
and pretends to set out for Benares. His paternal uncle
then says to him, ' Why are you going away ? ' And the
boy replies, ' Because you have not married me.' His uncle
customs.
1 80 GURAO i'art
then promises to find a bride for him and he gives up his
project. The part played by the maternal uncle in this
ceremony is probably a survival of the period of the matri-
archate, when a man's property descended to his sister's son.
He would thus naturally claim the boy as a husband for his own
daughter, and such a marriage apparently became customary
and in course of time acquired binding force. And although
all recollection of the rule of inheritance through women has
long been forgotten, the marriage of a brother's daughter to
a sister's son is still considered peculiarly suitable, and the
idea that it is the duty of the maternal uncle to find a bride
for his nephew appears to be simply a development of this.
The above account also gives reason for supposing that the
investiture with the sacred thread was originally a ceremony
of puberty.
6. Funeral The dead are burnt and the ashes thrown into water
or carried to the Ganges. A small piece of gold, two or
three small pearls, and some basil leaves are put into the
mouth, and flowers, red powder and betel leaves are spread
over the corpse. The son or male heir of the deceased
walks in front carrying fire in an earthen pot. At a small
distance from the burning-ground, when the bearers change
places, he picks up a stone, known as the life-stone or
jivkhada. This is afterwards buried at the burning-ghat
until the priest comes to effect the purification of the
mourners on the tenth day. It is then dug up, set up and
worshipped, and thrown into a well. A man is burnt naked ;
a woman in a robe and bodice. The heads of widows
are not shaved as a rule, but on the tenth day after her
husband's death a widow is asked whether she would like
her head shaved ; if she refuses, the people conclude that
she intends to marry again. But if the deceased left no
male heir to carry behind his bier the burning wood with
which the funeral pyre is to be kindled, then the widow
must be shaved before the funeral starts and perform this
duty. If there is no male relative and no widow, the pot
containing fire is tied to the bier. When the corpse of a
woman who has died in child -bed is being carried to the
burning-ground various rites are observed to prevent her
spirit from becoming a Churel and troubling the living.
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■
HALBA
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
Traditions of the caste. I I .
Halba landowners in Bastar 12.
and Bhanddra. 13.
Internal structure. Subcastes.
Exogamous sections. 14.
Theory of the origin of the 1 5.
caste. 16.
Marriage. 1 7.
Importance of the sister's son. 18.
The wedding ceremony. 19.
Going-away ceremony. 20.
Widow-marriage and divorce. 2 1 .
Religion.
Disposal of the dead.
Propitiating the spirits of those
who havedieda violent death.
Impurity of women.
Childbirth.
Names.
Social status.
Caste panchdyat.
Dress.
Tattooing.
Occupation.
Halba, Halbi.1 — A caste of cultivators and farmservants
whose home is the south of the Raipur District and the
Kanker and Bastar States ; from here small numbers of
them have spread to Bhandara and parts of Berar. In
191 1 they numbered 100,000 persons in the combined
Provinces. The Halbas have several stories relating to
their own origin. One of these, reported by Mr. Gokul
Prasad, is as follows : One of the Uriya Rajas had erected
four scarecrows in his field to keep off the birds. One
night Mahadeo and Parvati were walking on the earth and
happened to pass that way, and Parvati saw them and asked
what they were. When it was explained to her she thought
that as they had excited her interest something should be
done for them, and at her request Mahadeo gave them life
1 This article is compiled principally
from a monograph by Munshi Kanhya
Lai, Assistant Master, Raipur High
School, and formerly of the Gazetteer
Office ; and also from papers by Mr.
Panda Baijnath, Superintendent of
Bastar State, and Mr. Gokul Prasad,
Tahsildar of Dhamtari. The descrip-
tions of marriage, funeral and birth
customs are taken from Munshi Kanhya
Lai's monograph.
1S2
ii INTERNAL STRUCTURE : SUBCASTES 185
Daryao Deo's reign, about 125 years back, the Halbas
rebelled and many were thrown down a waterfall ninety
feet high, one only of these escaping with his life. The
eyes of some were also put out as a punishment for the
oppression they had exercised, and a stone inscription
at Donger records the oath of fealty taken by the
Halbas before the image of Dantcshwari, the tutelary deity
of Bastar, after their insurrection was put down in
Samvat 1836 or A.D. 1779. The Halbas were thus a caste
of considerable influence, since they could attempt to subvert
the ruling dynasty. In Bhandara again the caste have
quite a different story, and say that they came from the
United Provinces or, according to another version, the
Makrai State, where they were of the status of Rajputs and
wore the sacred thread. There a girl of their family, of
great beauty, was asked in marriage by a Muhammadan
king. The father could not refuse the king, but would not
give his daughter in marriage to one not of his own caste.
So he fled south and took asylum with the Gond Raja
of Chanda, from whom the Halba zamlndars subsequently
received their estates. It seems unnecessary to attach any
importance to this story ; the tale of the beautiful daughter
is most hackneyed, and the whole has probably been devised
by the Brahmans to give the Halba zamlndars of Bhandara
a more respectable ancestry than they could claim if they
admitted having come from Bastar, certainly no home of
Rajputs. But if this supposition is correct it is interesting to
note how a legend may show a caste as originating in some
place with which it never had any connection whatever ;
and it seems a necessary conclusion that no importance can
be attached to such traditions without corroborating evidence.
The caste have local divisions known as Bastarha, 3. internal
Chhattlsgarhia and Marethia, according as they live in s1™01111"61
0 ' & J subcastes.
Bastar, Chhattlsgarh, or Bhandara and the other Maratha
Districts. The last two groups, however, intermarry, so
only the Bastar Halbas really form a separate subcaste.
But the caste is also everywhere divided into two groups of
pure and mixed Halbas. These are known in Bastar and
Chhattisgarh as Purait or Nekha, and Surait or Nfiyak, re-
spectively, and in Bhandara as Barpangat and Khalpangat or
1 86 HA LB A part
those of good and bad stock. The Suraits or Khalpangats
are said to be of mixed origin, born from Halba fathers and
women of other castes. But in past times unions of Halba
mothers and men of other castes were perhaps not less fre-
quent. These two sets of groups do not intermarry. A
Surait Halba will take food from a Purait, but the Puraits do
not return the compliment ; though in some localities they
will accept food which does not contain salt. The two
divisions will take water from each other and exchange leaf-
pipes. In Bhandara the Barpangat or pure Halbas have now
further split into two groups, the zamlndari families having
constituted themselves into a separate subdivision ; they
practise hypergamy with the others, taking daughters from
them in marriage but not giving their daughters to them.
This is simply of a piece with their claim to be Rajputs,
hypergamy being a custom of northern India.
4. Exo- The exogamous sections of the caste afford further
gamous evj(jence 0f their mixed origin. Many of the names recorded
sections. ° -'
are those of other castes, as Baretha (a washerman), Bhoyar
(Bhoi or bearer), Rawat (herdsman), Barhai (carpenter), Malia
(Mali or gardener), Dhakar (Vidur or illegitimate Brahman),
Bhandari (barber), Pardhan (Gond), Mankar (title of various
tribes), Sahara (Saonr), Kanderi (turner), Agri (Agarwala
Bania), Baghel (a sept of Rajputs), Elmia (from Velama,
Telugu cultivators), and Chalki and Ponwar (Chalukya and
Panwar Rajputs). It may be concluded that these groups
are descended from ancestors of the caste after which they
are named. There are also a number of territorial and titular
names of the usual type, and many totemistic names, as Gho-
rapatia (a horse), Kawaliha (lotus), Aurila (tamarind), Lendia
(a tree), Gohi (a lizard), Manjur (a peacock), Bhringraj (a black-
bird) and so on. In Bastar they revere the animal or plant
after which their sept is named and will not kill or injure it.
If a man accidentally kills his devak or sacred animal he will
tear off a small piece of his cloth and throw it away to
make a shroud for the corpse. A few of them will break
their earthen pots as if a relative had died in their house,
but this is not general. In Bastar the totemistic groups are
named barags, and many men also belong to a thok, having
some titular name which they use as a surname. Nowadays
ii THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE CASTE 187
marriage is avoided by persons having the same tJwk or sur-
name as well as between those of the same barag.
In view of the information available the most probable s- Theory
theory of the origin of the Halbas is that they were a mixed ° • ^ of
caste, born of irregular alliances between the Uriya Rajas the caste,
and their retainers with the women of their household
servants and between the different servants themselves. Mr.
Gokul Prasad points out that many of the names of Halba
sections are those of the haguas or household menials of the
Uriya chiefs. The Halbas, according to their own story,
came here in attendance on one of the chiefs, and are still
employed as household servants in Ranker and Bastar. They
are clearly a caste of mixed origin as they still admit women
of other castes married by Halba men into the community,
and one of their two subcastes in each locality consists of
families of impure descent. The Dhakars of Bastar are the
illegitimate offspring of Brahmans with women of the country
who have grown into a caste, and Mr. Panda Baijnath quotes
a proverb, saying that ' The Halbas and Dhakars form two
portions of a bedsheet.' Instances of other castes similarly
formed are the Audhelias of Bilaspur, who are said to be the
offspring of Daharia Rajputs by their kept women, and the
Bargahs, descended from the nurses of Rajput families. The
name Halba might be derived from hal, a plough, and be a
variant for harwaha, the common term for a farmservant in
the northern Districts. This derivation they give themselves
in one of their stories, saying that their first ancestor was
created from a sod of earth on the plough of Balaram or
Haladhara, the brother of Krishna ; and it has also the
support of Sir G. Grierson. The caste includes no doubt a
number of Gonds, Rawats (herdsmen) and others, and it may
be partly occupational, consisting of persons employed as
farmservants by the Hindu settlers. The farmservant in
Chhattlsgarh has a very definite position, his engagement
being permanent and his wages consisting always in a
fourth share of the produce, which is divided among them
when several are employed. The caste have a peculiar dia-
lect of their own, which Dr. Grierson describes as follows :
1 Linguistic Survey, vol. vii. p. Sir G. Grierson at the time of the
331, and a note kindly furnished by census.
1 88 HALBA part
" Linguistic evidence also points to the fact that the H albas
are an aboriginal tribe, who have adopted Hinduism and
an Aryan language. Their dialect is a curious mixture
of Uriya, Chhattlsgarhi and Marathi, the proportions vary-
ing according to the locality. In Bhandara it is nearly all
Marathi, but in Bastar it is much more mixed and has some
forms which look like Telugu." If the home of the Halbas
was in the debateable land between Chhattlsgarh and the
Uriya country to the east and south of the Mahanadi, their
dialect might, as Mr. Hira Lai points out, have originated
here. They themselves give the ruined but once important
city of Sihawa on the banks of the Mahanadi in this tract as
that of their first settlement ; and Uriya is spoken to the east
of Sihawa and Marathi to the west, while Chhattlsgarhi is
the language of the locality itself and of the country extend-
ing north and south. Subsequently the Halbas served as
soldiers in the armies of the Ratanpur kings and their posi-
tion no doubt considerably improved, so that in Bastar they
became an important landholding caste. Some of these
soldiers may have migrated west and taken service under the
Gond kings of Chanda, and their descendants may now be
represented by the Bhandara zamindars, who, however, if
this theory be correct, have entirely forgotten their origin.
Others took up weaving and have become amalgamated with
the Koshti caste in Bhandara and Berar.
6. Mar- Girls are not usually married until they are above
nage. |-en years 0\^f or nearly adult as age goes in India ; but
there is no rule on the subject. Many girls reach twenty
without entering wedlock. If the parents are too poor to
pay for their daughter's marriage the neighbours will sub-
scribe. In Bastar, however, the Uriya custom prevails, and
an unmarried girl in whom the signs of puberty appear is
put out of caste. In such a case her father marries her to
a mahua tree. The strictness of the rule on this subject
among the Uriyas is probably due to the strength of
Brahmanical influence, the priestly caste possessing more
power and property in Sambalpur and Orissa than in almost
any part of India. If a death occurs in the family of the
bridegroom just before the date fixed for the wedding, and
the ceremonies of purification cannot be completed prior to
ii IMPORTANCE OF THE SISTER'S SON 189
it, the bride is formally wedded to an achar ' or mahua tree ; L'
the marriage crown is tied on to the tree, and the bride
walks round it seven times. After the bridegroom's puri-
fication the couple are taken to the same tree, and here the
forehead of the bridegroom is marked with turmeric paste
and rice. The couple sit one on each side of the tree,
and the Tikawan ceremony or presentation of gifts by the
relatives and friends is performed, and the marriage is con-
sidered to be complete. If an unmarried girl goes wrong
with an outsider of low caste she is expelled from the
community ; but if with a member of a caste from whom a
Halba can take water she may be readmitted to caste, pro-
vided she has not eaten food cooked in an earthen pot from
the hands of her seducer; but not if she has done so. If
there be a child of the seducer she must wait until it be
weaned and either taken by the putative father or given
away to a Chamar or Gond. The girl can then be given
in marriage to any Halba as a widow. Women of other
castes married by Halbas are admitted into the community.
This happens most frequently in the case of women of the
Rawat (herdsman) caste.
A match which is commonly arranged where practic- 7. import-
able is that of a brother's daughter to a sister's son. And a.nfe ,of the
° sister s son.
a man always shows a special regard and respect for his
sister's son, touching his feet as to a superior, while, when-
ever he desires to make a gift as an offering of thanks or
atonement or as a meritorious action, the sister's son is the
recipient. At his death he usually leaves a substantial
legacy, such as one or two buffaloes, to his sister's son, the
remainder of the property going to his own family. This
recognition of a special relationship is probably a survival of
the matriarchate, when property descended through women,
and a sister's son would be his uncle's heir. Thus a man
would naturally desire to marry his daughter to his nephew
in order that she might participate in his property, and
hence arose the custom of making this match, which is still
the most favoured among the Halbas and Gonds, though
1 Buchanania latifolia. are valued because the fruit of the first
and the flowers of the second afford
2 Bassia latifolia. Both these trees food.
igo HA LB A i'art
the reasons which led to it have been forgotten for several
centuries.
8. The Matches are usually arranged on the initiative of the
wedding bov's father through a mutual friend who resides in the
ceremony. / . »
girl's village, and is known as the Mahalia or matchmaker.
When the contract is concluded the boy's father sends a
present of fixed quantities of grain to the girl, which are in
the nature of a bride-price, and subsequently on an auspicious
day selected by the family priest he and his friends proceed
to the girl's village. The girl meets them, standing at the
entrance of the principal house, dressed in the new clothes
sent on behalf of the bridegroom, and holding out her cloth
for the reception of presents. The boy's father goes up to
her and smooths her hair with his hand, chucks her under
the chin with his right hand, and makes a noise with his
lips as if he were kissing her. He then touches her feet,
places a rupee on the skirt of her cloth, and retires. The
other members of his party follow his example, giving small
presents of copper, and afterwards the women of the girl's
party treat the bridegroom in the same manner, but they
actually kiss him {chumnd). Betrothals can be held only in
the five months from Magh (January) to Jeth (May), while
marriages may be celebrated during the eight dry months.
The auspicious date is selected by the Joshi or caste-priest,
who is chosen by the community for his personal qualities.
If the names of the couple do not point to an auspicious
union the bridegroom's name may be changed either
temporarily or permanently. The Joshi takes two pieces
of cloth, which should be torn from the scarf of the boy's
father, and ties up in each of them some rice, areca nuts,
turmeric and dub grass {Cynodon dactylori). One of these
is marked with red lead, and is intended for the bride, and
the other, which is left plain, is for the bridegroom. At
the wedding some of this rice with pulse is placed with a
twig of mahua in a hole in the marriage-shed and addressed :
' You are the goddess Lachhmi ; you have come to assist in
the marriage.'
The Halbas, like the other lower castes of Chhattlsgarh,
have two forms of wedding, known as the ' Small ' and ' Large,'
the former bein^; held at the bridegroom's house with cur-
ii THE WEDDING CEREMONY 191
tailed ceremonies, and being much cheaper than the latter or
Hindu marriage proper, which is held at the bride's house.
The ' small ' wedding is more popular among the Halbas,
and for this the bride, accompanied by some of her girl and
boy friends, arrives at the bridegroom's village in the evening,
her parents following her only on the third day. On entering
the lands of the village her party begin singing obscene
songs filled with abuse of the bridegroom's parents and
relatives. Nobody goes to receive or welcome them, and
on reaching the bridegroom's house they enter it without
ceremony and sit down in the room where the family gods
are kept. All this time they continue singing, and the
musicians keep up a deafening din in accompaniment. Sub-
sequently the bride's party are shown to their lodging, known
as the DulJii-kuria or bride's apartments, and here the bride-
groom's father visits her and washes her big toes first with
milk and then with water. The practice of washing the feet
of guests, which strikes strangely on our minds when we
meet it in Scripture, was obviously a welcome attention when
travellers went bare-footed, or at most wore sandals, and
arrived at their journey's end with the feet soiled and bruised
by the rigours of the way. Another of the bridegroom's
friends pretends to act as a barber, and shaves all the bride's
men friends with a piece of straw as if it were a razor. For
the marriage ceremony proper the bride and bridegroom
stand facing each other by the marriage hut with a sheet
held between them ; the Joshi or caste-priest takes two lamps
and mingles their flames, and the cloth between the couple
being pulled down the bridegroom drags the bride over to him.
If the wedding is held on a Sunday, Tuesday or Saturday
the bridegroom stands facing the east, and if on a Monday,
Thursday or Friday, to the north. After this the cloths of
the couple are tied together, or the end of the bridegroom's
scarf is tucked in the bride's waistcloth, and they go round
the marriage-post seven times, the bride following the bride-
groom throughout. A plough-yoke is then brought and
placed close by the marriage-post and the couple take their
seats on it, the bride sitting on the left of the bridegroom.
The bundles of rice consecrated by the Joshi are given to
them and they throw it over each other. The bridegroom
192 HA LB A part
takes some red lead and smears the bride's face with it,
making a line from the end of her nose up across her forehead
and along the parting of her hair. He says her name aloud
and covers her head with her cloth. This signifies that she
is a married woman, as in Chhattlsgarh unmarried girls go
about with the head bare. After this the mother and father
of the bride come and wash the feet of the couple with milk
and water. This ceremony is known as Dharam Tlka, and
after its completion the bride's parents will take food in the
bridegroom's house, which they abstain from doing from the
date of the betrothal up to this washing of the feet. It is on
this account that they do not accompany the bride but only
follow her on the third day, but the reason for the rule is by
no means clear. On the following day more ceremonies are
performed, and the friends of the couple touch their foreheads
with rice and make presents to them of cowries. Last of all
the bride's parents come and give them cattle and other
articles according to their means. These gifts are known
as Tikawan and remain the separate property of the bride
which she can dispose of as she pleases. The ceremonies
usually extend over four days, the wedding itself taking
place on the third. The bride's party then go home, leaving
her with her husband, and after a week or so they return
and take the couple to the bride's house for the ceremony
known as Pinar Dhawai or getting their yellow wedding
clothes washed. The bridegroom stays here two or three
weeks, and during this time he must work at building or
repairing the walls of his father-in-law's house. The custom
of serving for a wife still obtains among the Halbas, and the
above rule may perhaps indicate that it was once more
general. At the end of the bridegroom's visit his father-in-
law gives him a new cloth and pair of shoes and sends him
back to his parents' house with his wife. The expenses
of the wedding average about fifty rupees for the bride-
groom's family and from five to thirty rupees for the bride's
family.
9. Going- After the wedding if the bride is grown up she lives
with her husband at once ; but if she is a child she goes
ceremony. °
back to her parents until her adolescence, when the ceremony
of Pathoni or ' Going away ' is performed. On this occasion
ii GOING-A WA V CEREMONY 193
some people from the bridegroom's home go to fetch her
and their number must be even, so that when she returns
with them the party may be an odd one, which is lucky.
They take a new cloth for the bride and stay the night at
her house ; next morning the bride's parents put some rice,
pulse, oil and a comb in a basket for her, and she sets out
with the party, wearing her new cloth. But when she gets
outside the village this is taken off her and placed in the
basket, which she has to carry on her head as far as her
husband's house. As she enters his village the people
stretch a rope across the way and prevent her passage until
her father-in-law gives them a present. On arriving at his
house her feet are washed by her mother-in-law, and she is
then made to cook the food brought in her basket. After a
fortnight she again goes back to her parents' house and
stays with them for another year, before finally taking up
her abode with her husband. It has been remarked that
this return of a married woman to her parents' house for
such lengthened periods is likely to be a pregnant source of
immorality, and the advantage of the custom has been ques-
tioned ; the explanation may perhaps be that it is an out-
come of the joint family system by which young married
couples live with the bridegroom's parents, and that the
object is to accustom the girl gradually to the habits of a
fresh household and the yoke, necessarily irksome, of her
mother-in-law. The proverb with reference to a young
wife, ' If your husband loves you your mother-in-law can
do nothing,' indicates how formidable this may be in the
event of any cooling of marital affection ; and it is well
known that if she does not please her husband's family a
young wife may be treated as little better than a slave. To
throw a young girl, therefore, into a family of complete
strangers is probably too severe a trial, and this is the reason
of the goings and returnings of the bride after her wedding
between her husband's home and her own.
The remarriage of a widow must be held during io. Widow-
the bright fortnight of the month, and on any odd day of ™adrnage
the fortnight excluding the first. The couple are seated divorce,
together on a yoke in a part of the courtyard cleaned with
cowdung, and their clothes are tied together, while the
VOL. Ill O
194
//ALBA
husband rubs vermilion on his wife's hair. A bachelor
should not take a widow in marriage, and if he does so he
must at the same time also wed a maiden with the regular
ceremony, as otherwise he is likely after death to become a
masan or evil spirit. In order to avoid this contingency a
bachelor who espouses a widow in Ranker is first wedded
to a spear. Turmeric and oil are rubbed on his body and
on the spear, and he walks round it seven times. Divorce
is freely permitted in Chhattlsgarh at the instance of either
party and for the most trivial reasons, as a mere allegation
of disagreement ; but if a husband puts away his wife when
she has not been unfaithful to him he must give her some-
thing for her support. In some localities no ceremony is
performed at all, but a wife or husband who tires of wedlock
simply leaves the other as the case may be. In Bastar a
wife cannot divorce her husband. A divorced woman does
not break her glass bangles until she marries again, when
new ones are given to her by her second husband.
ii. Reii- A large proportion of the H albas of Chhattlsgarh belong
glon- to the KabTrpanthi sect. These are known as Kabirhas
and abjure the consumption of flesh and alcoholic liquor ;
while the others who indulge in these articles are known
as Sakatha or Sakta, that is, a worshipper of Devi or Durga.
These latter, however, also revere all the village godlings of
Chhattlsgarh.
12. Dis- The dead are always buried by the Kablrpanthis and
posal °j, usually by other Halbas, cremation being reserved by the
latter as a special mark of respect for elders and heads of
families. A dead body is wrapped in a new white cloth and
laid on an inverted cot. The Kablrpanthis lay plantain leaves
at the sides of the cot and over the body to cover it. One of
the mourners carries a burning cowdung cake with the party.
Before burial the thread which every male wears round his
waist is broken, the clothes are taken off the corpse and
given to a sweeper, and the body is wrapped in the shroud
and laid in the grave, salt being sprinkled under and over it.
If the dead body should be touched by any person of
another caste, the deceased's family has to pay a fine or
give a penal caste-feast. After the interment the mourners
bathe and return to the deceased's house in their wet clothes.
ii PROPITIATING SPIRITS 195
Before entering it they wash their feet in water, which is
kept for that purpose at the door, and chew the leaves of
the nlm tree {Melia indica). They smoke their clwngis or
leaf-pipes and console the deceased's family and then return
home, washing their feet again and changing their clothes at
their own houses. On the third day, known as Tij Abakan,
the male members of the family with the relatives and
mourners walk in Indian file to a river or tank, where they
are all shaved by the barber, the sons of the dead man or
woman having the entire head and face cleared of hair,
while in the case of other relatives, the scalp-lock and
moustache may be left, and the mourning friends are only
shaved as on ordinary occasions. For his services the
barber receives a cow or a substantial cash present, which
he divides with the washerman. The latter subsequently
washes all clothes worn at the funeral and on this occasion.
On the Akti festival, or commencement of the agricultural
year, libations of water and offerings of urad l cakes are
made to the spirits of ancestors. A feast is given to women
in honour of all departed female ancestors on the ninth
day of the Pitripaksh or mourning fortnight of Kunwar
(September), and feasts for male ancestors may be held on
the same day of the fortnight as that on which they died
at any other time of the year.2 Such observances are
practised only by the well-to-do. Nothing is done for
persons who die before their marriage or without children,
unless they trouble some member of the family and appear
in a dream to demand that these honours be paid to them.
During an epidemic of cholera all funeral and mourning
ceremonies are suspended, and a general purification of the
village takes place on its conclusion.
If a person has been killed by a tiger, the people go 13. Pro-
out, and if any remains of the body are found, these are Ke^Srits
burnt on the spot. The Baiga is then invoked to bring of those
back the spirit of the deceased, a most essential precaution ^ed a
as will shortly be seen. In order to do this he suspends a violent
copper ring on a long thread above a vessel of water and
then burns butter and sugar on the fire, muttering incanta-
1 A black pulse.
2 The Hindus number the days of each lunar fortnight separately.
196
HA LB A
14. Im-
purity of
women.
15. Child-
birth.
tions, while the people sing songs and call on the spirit of
the dead man to return. The thread swings to and fro, and
at length the copper ring falls into the pot, and this is taken
as a sign that the spirit has come and entered the vessel.
The mouth of this is immediately covered and it is buried
or kept in some secure place. The people believe that
unless the dead man's spirit is secured it will accompany
the tiger and lure solitary travellers to destruction. This is
done by calling out and offering them tobacco to smoke,
and when they proceed in the direction of the voice the
tiger springs out and kills them. And they think that a
tisrer directed in this manner grows fiercer and fiercer with
every person whom it kills. When somebody has been
killed by a tiger the relatives will not even remove the
ornaments from the corpse, for they think that these would
constitute a link by which its spirit would cause the tiger
to track them down. The malevolence thus attributed to
persons killed by tigers is explained by their bitter wrath at
having encountered such an untimely death and consequent
desire to entice others to the same.
During the monthly period of menstruation women are
spoken of as ' Mund maili ' or having the head dirty, and
are considered to be impure for four or five days, for which
time they sleep on the ground and not on cots. In Ranker
they are secluded in a separate room, and forbidden to cook
or to touch the clothes or persons of other members of the
family. They must not walk on a ploughed field, nor will
the men of their family drive the plough or sow seed during
the time of their impurity. On the fifth day they wash
their heads with earth and boil their clothes in water
mixed with wood ashes. Cloth stained with the menstrua]
blood is usually buried underground ; if it is burnt it is
supposed that the woman to whom it belonged will become
barren, and if a barren woman should swallow the ashes
of the cloth the fertility of its owner would be transferred
to her.
When pregnant women experience longings for strange
kinds of food, it is believed that these really come from
the child in the womb and must be satisfied if its develop-
ment is not to be retarded. Consequently in the fifth
ii CHILD-BIRTH 197
month of a wife's first pregnancy, or shortly before delivery,
her mother takes to her various kinds of rich food and
feeds her with them. It is a common custom also for
pregnant women, driven by perverted appetite, to eat earth
of a clayey texture, or the ordinary black cotton soil, or
dried clay scraped off the walls of houses, or the ashes of
burnt cowdung cakes. This is done by low-caste women
in most parts of the Province, and if carried to excess leads
to severe intestinal derangement which may prove fatal.
A pregnant woman must not cross a river or eat anything
with a knife, and she must observe various precautions
against the machinations of witches. At the time of
delivery the woman sits on the ground and is attended by
a midwife, who may be a Chamar, Mahar or Ganda by
caste. The navel cord is burnt in the lying-in room, but
the after-birth, known as Phul, is usually buried in a rubbish
pit outside the house. The portion of the cord attached to
the child's body is also burnt when it falls off, but in the
northern Districts it is preserved and used as a cure for the
child if it suffers from sore eyes. If a woman who has
borne only girl children can obtain the dried navel-string
of a male child and swallow it, they believe that she will
have a son, and that the mother of the boy will henceforth
bear only daughters. This is the reason why the cord is
carefully secreted and not simply thrown away. In Bastar
on the sixth or naming day the female relatives and friends
of the family are invited to take food at the house. The
father touches the feet of the child with blades of dub grass
{Cynodon dactyloti) steeped first in milk or melted butter,
then in sandal -paste, and finally in water, and each time
passes the blade over his head as a mark of respect. The
blades of grass are afterwards thrown over the roof of the
house, so that they may not be trampled under foot.
The women guests then bring leaf-cups containing rice and
a few copper coins, which they offer to the mother, the
younger ones bowing before her with a prayer that the
child may grow as old as the speaker. All the women
kiss the child, and the elder ones the mother also. The
offerings of rice and coins are taken by the midwife.
The names of the Halbas are. of the ordinary type 16. Names.
i98 HA LB A part
found in Chhattlsgarh, but at present they often add the
termination Sinha or Singh in imitation of the Rajputs.
Two names are sometimes given, one for daily use and
the other for comparison with that of the girl when the
marriage is to be arranged. As already seen, either the
bride's or bridegroom's name may be changed to make
their union auspicious. When a daughter-in-law comes into
her husband's house she is usually not called by her own
name, but by some nickname or that of her home, as
Jabalpurwali, Raipurwali (she who comes from Jabalpur or
Raipur), and so on. Sometimes men of the caste are
addressed by the name of the clan or section and not by
their own. A woman must not utter the names of her
husband, his parents or brothers, nor of the sons of his
elder brother and his sisters. But for these last as well as
for her own son-in-law she may invent fictitious names.
These rules she observes to show her respect for her
husband's relatives. A child must not be called by name
at night, because if an owl hears the name and repeats it
the child will probably die. The owl is everywhere regarded
as a bird of the most evil omen. Its hoot is unlucky, and
a house in which its nest is built will be destroyed or
deserted. If it perches on the roof of a house and hoots,
some one of the family will probably fall ill, or if a member
of the household is already ill, he or she will probably die.
17. Social The social customs of the caste present some differ-
ences. In Bastar, where they have a fairly high status,
the Purait Halbas abstain from liquor, though they
will eat the flesh of clean animals and of the wild pig.
The Halbas of Raipur on the other hand, who are usually
farmservants, will eat fowls, pigs and rats, and abstain only
from beef and the leavings of others. In Bastar, Sunars,
Kurmis and castes of similar position will take water from
the hands of a Halba, and Kosaria Rawats will eat all
kinds of food with them. In Chhattlsgarh the Halbas will
accept water from Telis, Kahars and other like castes, and
will also allow any of them to become a Halba. In
Chhattlsgarh they will take even food cooked with water
from the hands of a man of these castes, provided that they
are not in their own villages. These differences of custom
status.
ii CASTE PANCHAYAT— DRESS 199
are probably due to the varying social status of the caste.
In Bastar they hold land and behave accordingly, while in
Chhattlsgarh they are only labourers. They do not employ
Brahmans for ceremonial purposes but have their own caste
priest, known as Joshi, while among the Kablrpanthis the
local Mahant or Bairagi of the sect takes his place.
They have a caste pandiayat or committee, the head- 18. Caste
man of which is known as Kursha ; he has jurisdiction *an
over ten or twenty villages, and is usually chosen from the
Kotwar, Chanap or Naik sections. It is the duty of the
men of these sections to scatter the sonpdni or ' water of
gold ' l as an act of purification over persons who have been
temporarily put out of caste for social offences. They are
also the first to eat food with such offenders on readmission
to social intercourse, and thereby take the sins of these
persons upon their own heads. In order to counteract the
effect of this the purifier usually asks three or four other
men to eat with him at his own house, and passes on a part
of his burden to them. For such duties he receives a pay-
ment of money varying from four annas to a rupee and a
half. Among the offences punished with temporary exclusion
from caste are those of rearing the lac insect and tasar silk
cocoons, probably because such work involves the killing of
the insects and caterpillars which produce the dye and silk.
In Bastar a man loses his caste if he is beaten with a shoe
except by a Government servant, and is not readmitted to
it. If a man seduces a married woman and is beaten with
a shoe by her husband he is also finally expelled from
caste. But happily, Mr. Panda Baijnath remarks, shoes are
very scarce in the State, and hence such cases do not often
arise. They never yoke cows to the plough as other castes
do in Bastar, nor do they tie up two cows with the same
rope.
The dress of the Halbas, as of other Chhattlsgarh castes, 19. Dress,
is scanty, and most of them have only a short cloth about
the loins and another round the shoulders. They dispense
with both shoes and head-cloth, but every man must have
a thread tied round his waist. To this thread in former
times, Colonel Dalton remarks, the apron of leaves was not
1 It is simply water in which gold has been clipped.
200 HALF, A part
improbably suspended. The women do not wear nose -rings,
spangles on the forehead or rings on the toes ; but girl children
have the left nostril pierced, and this must always be done
on the full moon day of the month of Pus (December). A
copper ring is inserted in the nostril and worn for a few
months, but must be removed before the girl's marriage.
A married woman has a cloth over her head, and smears
vermilion on the parting of her hair and also on her fore-
head. An unmarried girl may have the copper ring already
mentioned, and may place a dab of vermilion on her forehead,
but must not smear it on the parting of her hair. She goes
bare-headed till marriage, as is the custom in Chhattisgarh.
A widow should not have vermilion on her face at all, noi
should she use glass bangles or ornaments about the ankles.
She may have a string of glass beads about her neck. A
woman's cloth is usually white with a broad red border all
round it. The Gonds and Halbas tie the cloth round the
waist and carry the slack end from the left side behind
up the back and over the head and right shoulder ; while
women of higher castes take the cloth from the right side
over the head and left shoulder.
Girls are tattooed before marriage, usually at the age
of four or five years, with dots on the left nostril and
centre of the chin, and three dots in a line on the right
shoulder. A girl is again tattooed after marriage, but before
leaving for her husband's house. On this occasion four
pairs of parallel lines are made on the leg above the ankle,
in front, behind, and on the sides. As a rule, the legs are
not otherwise tattooed, nor the trunk of the body. Groups
of dots, triangles and lines are made on the arms, and on
the left arm is pricked a zigzag line known as the sikri or
chain, the pattern of which is distinctive. Teli and Gahra
(Ahlr) women also have the sikri, but in a slightly different
form. The tattooing is done by a woman of the Dewar
caste, and she receives some corn and the cloth worn by the
girl at the time of the operation. If a child is slow in
learning to walk they tattoo it on the loins above the hips,
and believe that this is efficacious. Men who suffer from
rheumatism also get the affected joints tattooed, and are
said to experience much relief. The tattooing acts no
ii HALWAI 20 1
doubt as a blister, and may produce a temporarily beneficial
effect. It may be compared to the bee-sting cure U>v
rheumatism now advocated in England. Tattooing is
believed to enhance the beauty of women, and it is also
said that the tattoo marks are the only ornament which will
accompany the soul to the other world. From this belief
it seems clear that they expect to have the same body in
the after-life.
Nearly all the Halbas are now engaged in agri- 21. Occu-
culture as tenants and labourers. Seven zamlndari estates pat
are held by members of the caste, six in Bhandara and one
in Chanda, and they also have some villages in the south
of the Raipur and Drug Districts. It is probable that they
obtained this property in reward for military service, at the
period when they were employed in the armies of the
Ratanpur kings and of the Gond dynasty of Chanda. In
the forest tracts of Dhamtari they are considered the best
cultivators next to the Telis, and they show themselves
quite able to hold their own in the open country, where
their villages are usually prosperous. In Bastar they still
practise shifting cultivation, sowing their crops on burnt-out
patches of forest. Though hunting is not now one of their
regular occupations, Mr. Gokul Prasad describes them as
catching game by the following method : Six or seven men
go out together at night, tying round their feet ghunghunias
or two small hollow balls of brass with stones inside which
tinkle as they move, such as are worn by postal runners.
They move in Indian file, the first man carrying a lantern
and the others walking behind him in its shadow. They
walk with measured tread, and the ghunghunias give out
a rhythmical harmonious sound. Hares and other small
animals are attracted by the sound, and at the same time
half-blinded by the light, so that they do not see the line
of men. They approach, and are knocked over or caught
by the men following the leader.
Halwai. — The occupational caste of confectioners,
numbering about 3000 persons in the Central Provinces and
Berar in 191 1. The Halwai takes his name from hakua, a
sweet made of flour, clarified butter and sugar, coloured with
202 HALWAI PART
saffron and flavoured with almonds, raisins and pistachio-
nuts.1 The caste gives no account of its origin in northern
India, but it is clearly a functional group composed of
members of respectable middle-class castes who adopted the
profession of sweetmeat-making. The Halwais are also
called Mithaihas, or preparers of sweets, and in the Uriya
country are known as Guria from gur or unrefined sugar.
The caste has several subdivisions with territorial names,
generally derived from places in northern India, as Kanaujia
from Kanauj, and Jaunpuria from Jaunpur ; others are
Kandu, a grain-parcher, and Dubisya, meaning two score.
One of the Guria subdivisions is named Haldia from haldi,
turmeric, and members of this subcaste are employed to pre-
pare the inahap}'asdd or cooked rice which is served at the
temple of Jagannath and which is eaten by all castes together
without scruple. The Gurias have exogamous divisions or
bargas, the names of which are generally functional, as
Darban, door-keeper ; Saraf, treasurer ; Bhitarya, one who
looks to household affairs, and others. Marriage within the
barga is forbidden, but the union of first cousins is not pro-
hibited. Marriage may be infant or adult. A girl who has
a liaison with a man of the caste may be wedded #to him by
the form used for the remarriage of a widow, but if she goes
wrong with an outsider she is finally expelled. Widow-
marriage is allowed, and divorce may be effected for mis-
conduct on the part of the wife.
The social standing of the Halwai is respectable. " His
art," says Mr. Nesfield,2 " implies rather an advanced state of
culture, and hence his rank in the social scale is a high one.
There is no caste in India which considers itself too pure
to eat what a confectioner has made. In marriage banquets
it is he who supplies a large part of the feast, and at all
times and seasons the sweetmeat is a favourite food to a
Hindu requiring a temporary refreshment. There is a kind
of bread called pnri, consisting of wheaten dough fried in
melted butter, which is taken as a substitute for the diapati
or wheaten pancake by travellers and others who happen to
be unable to have their bread cooked at their own fire, and
is made by the Halwais."
1 Crooke, ii. 481. 2 Brief View, p. 31.
ii HALWAI 203
The real reason why the Halvvai occupies a good position
perhaps simply results from the necessity that other castes
should be able to take cakes from him. Among the higher
castes food cooked with water should not be eaten except
at the hearth after this has been specially cleansed and spread
with cowdung, and those who are to eat have bathed and
otherwise purified themselves. But as the need continuously
arises for travellers and others to take a meal abroad where
they cannot cook it for themselves, sweetmeats and cakes
made without water are permitted to be eaten in this way,
and the Halwai, as the purveyor of these, has been given the
position of a pure caste from whose hands a Brahman can
take water. In a similar manner, water may be taken from
the hands of the Dhlmar who is a household servant, the
Kahar or palanquin -bearer, the Barai or betel -leaf seller,
and the Bharbhunja or rice-parcher, although some of these
castes have a very low origin and occupy the humble posi-
tion of menial servants.
The Halwai's shop is one of the most familiar in an
Indian bazar, and in towns a whole row of them may be seen
together, this arrangement being doubtless adopted for the
social convenience of the caste-fellows, though it might be
expected to decrease the custom that they receive. His
wares consist of trays full of white and yellow-coloured
sweetmeats and cakes of flour and sugar, very unappetising
to a European eye, though Hindu boys show no lack of
appreciation of them. The Hindus are very fond of sweet
things, which is perhaps a common trait of an uneducated
palate. Hindu children will say that such sweets as choco-
late almonds are too bitter, and their favourite drink, sherbet,
is simply a mixture of sugar and water with some flavouring,
and seems scarcely calculated to quench the thirst pro-
duced by an Indian hot weather. Similarly their tea is so
sweetened with sugar and spices as to be distasteful to a
European.
The ingredients of a Halwai's sweets are wheat and
gram-flour, milk and country sugar. Those called batasJias
consist merely of syrup of sugar boiled with a little flour,
which is taken out in spoonfuls and allowed to cool. They
are very easy to make and are commonly distributed to
204 HA TKAR part
schoolbo}rs on any occasion of importance, and are some-
thing like a meringue in composition. The kind called barafi
or ice is made from thick boiled milk mixed with sugar,
and is more expensive and considered more of a treat than
batdshas. Laddus are made from gram-flour which is mixed
with water and dropped into boiling butter, when it hardens
into lumps. These are taken out and dipped in syrup of
sugar and allowed to cool. Pheni is a thin strip of dough
of fine wheat-flour fried in butter and then dipped in syrup
of sugar. Other sweets are made from the flour of singdra
or water-nut and from chironji, the kernel of the acJidr 1 nut,
coated with sugar. Of ordinary sweets the cheaper kinds
cost 8 annas a seer of 2 lb. and the more expensive ones
10 or 12 annas. Sweets prepared by Bengali confectioners
are considered the best of all. The Halwai sits on a board
in his shop surrounded by wooden trays of the different
kinds of sweets. These are often covered with crowds of
flies and in some places with a variety of formidable-looking
hornets. The latter do not appear to be vicious, however,
and when he wishes to take sweets off a tray the Halwai
whisks them off with a palm-leaf brush. Only if one of
them gets into his cloth, or he unguardedly pushes his hand
down into a heap of sweets and encounters a hornet, he may
receive a sting of which the mark remains for some time.
The better-class confectioners now imitate English sweets,
and at fairs when they retail boiled grain and gJil they
provide spoons and little basins for their customers.
1. Deriva- Hatkar, Hatgar.2 — A small caste of Berar, numbering
historical a°out 14,000 persons in 191 1. They are found principally
notice. in the Pusad taluk of Yeotmal District, their villages being
placed like a line of outposts along the Hyderabad border.
The Hatkars are a branch of the Dhangar or shepherd caste,
and in some localities they are considered as a subcaste of
Dhangars. The derivation of the name Hatkar is obscure,
but the Hatkars appear to be those Dhangars who first
took to military service under Sivaji and hence became a
1 Buchanania latifolia. Lyall's Berar Gazetteer, with some
2 Based principally on the account notes taken by Mr. Hlra Lai in Bul-
of the Hatkars on p. 200 of Sir A. dana.
ii GAUL/ HATKARS REVERENCE FOR CATTLE 205
distinct group. " Undisciplined, often unarmed, men of the
Mawals or mountain valleys above the Ghauts who were
called Mawallecs, and of those below the mountains towards
the sea, called Hetkurees, joined the young leader." l The
Hatkars were thus the soldiers of the Konkan in Sivaji's
army. The Ain-i-Akbari states that the Hatkars were
driven westward across the Wardha by the Gonds. At
this time (A.D. 1600) they were holding the country round
Basim by force of arms, and are described as a refractory
and perfidious race.2 " The Hatkars of Berar are all Bargi
or Bangi Dhangars, the shepherds with the spears. They
say that formerly when going on any expedition they took
only a blanket seven cubits long and a bear-spear. They
would appear to have been all footmen. The Naiks or
village headman of Basim were principally Hatkars. The
duty of a Naik was to maintain order and stop robbery ;
but in time they became law-breakers and their men the
dacoits of the country. Some of them were very powerful,
and in 1 8 1 8 Nowsaji Naik's troops gave battle to the
Nizam's regular forces under Major Pitman before Umarkhar.
He was beaten and sent to Hyderabad, where he died, and
the power of the Naiks was broken by Major Sutherland.
He hanged so many that the Naiks pronounce his name to
this day with awe. To some of the Naiks he gave money
and told them to settle down in certain villages. Others
who also came, expecting money, were at once hanged." 3
But it would appear that only those leaders were hanged
who did not come in before a certain fixed date.
The Hatkars are also called Bangi Dhangars, and in 2. The
Berar rank above other Dhangars because they took to H'™k'ai.-S
soldiering and obtained grants of land, just as the Marathas reverence
rank above the Kunbis. Another group have given up
sheep-tending and keep cattle, which is a more respectable
occupation on account of the sanctity of cattle, and these
call themselves Gauli Hatkars. These Gauli Hatkars have
given up drinking liquor and eating fowls. They will not
touch or sell the milk of buffaloes and cows before sunset
on Mondays, the day on which they worship Krishna. If
1 Colonel Meadows Taylor, Tara, p. 404.
2 Ain-i-Akbari, quoted in Berar Gazetteer, p. 200. 3 Berar Gazetteer.
206
HTJRA
3. Funeral
rites.
4. Exo-
gamous
groups.
any one is in need of milk on that day they will let him milk
the animal himself, but will take no price for the milk. On
a Monday also they will not give fire from their house to
any member of a low caste, such as a Mahar. On the day
of Diwali they worship their cows, tying a bunch of wool to
the animal's forehead and putting rice on it ; they make a
mud image of Govardhan, the mountain held up by Krishna
as an umbrella to protect the people from the rain, and then
let the cows trample it to pieces with their hoofs. If a
bullock dies with the rope halter through its nose, the owner
is put out of caste ; this rule al.:o obtains among the Ahlrs
and Gaulis, and is perhaps responsible for the objection felt
in some localities to putting string through the nostrils of
plough- and cart-bullocks, though it is the only means of
obtaining any control over them.
Formerly the Hatkars burned the corpses only of men
who died in battle or the chase or subsequently of their
wounds, cremation being reserved for this honourable end.
Others were buried sitting cross-legged, and a small piece of
gold was placed in the mouth of the corpse. Now they
either burn or bury the dead according to their means.
Most of them at the time they were soldiers never allowed
the hair on their face to be cut.
The Hatkars of Berar are said to be divided into three
exogamous clans who apparently marry with each other,
their names being Poli, Gurdi and Muski. In the Central
Provinces they have a set of exogamous sections with
titular names of a somewhat curious nature ; among them
are Hakkya, said to be so called because their ancestor was
absent when his cow gave birth to a calf ; Wakmar, one
who left the Pangat or caste feast while his fellows were
eating ; and Polya, one who did not take off his turban at
the feast.
Hijra, Khasua.1 — The class of eunuchs, who form a
separate community, recruited by the admission of persons
born with this deformity or reduced to the like condition by
amputation. In Saugor it is said that the Khasuas are
natural and the Hijras artificial eunuchs, and the Khasuas
1 Partly based on a paper by Munshi Kanhaya Lai of the Gazetteer Office.
ii HIJRA 207
deny that they admit Hijras into their society. They may
be either Hindus or Muhammadans by birth, but all become
Muhammadans. Children born in the condition of eunuchs
are usually made over to the Khasuas by their parents.
The caste are beggars, and also sing and dance at weddings
and at the births of male children, and obtain presents of
grain from the cultivators at seedtime and harvest. They
wear female clothes and ornaments and assume the names
of women. They are admitted to mosques, but have to
stand behind the women, and in Saugor they have their own
mosque. They observe Muhammadan rites and festivals
generally, and are permitted to smoke from the huqqas
of other Muhammadans. They are governed by a caste
panclidyat or committee, which imposes fines but does not
expel any member from the community. Each Khasua has
a beat or locality reserved to him for begging and no other
may infringe on it, violations of this rule being punished by
the committee. Sometimes a well-to-do Khasua adopts an
orphan and celebrates the child's marriage with as much
expense and display as he can afford, and the Kazi officiates
at the ceremony.
The Hijras form apparently a separate group, and the
following account of them is mainly taken from the Bombay
Gazetteer} In Gujarat they are the emasculated male
votaries of the goddess Bouchera or Behechra, a sister of
Devi. She is the spirit of a martyred Charan or Bhat
woman. Some Charan women were travelling from Sul-
khunpur in Gujarat when they were attacked and plundered
by Kolis. One of the women, of the name of Bouchera,
snatched a sword from a boy who attended her and with it
cut off both her breasts. She immediately perished, and
was deified and worshipped as a form of Devi in the
Chunwal.2 The Hijras usually mutilate themselves in the
performance of a religious vow, sometimes taken by the
mother as a means of obtaining children, and in rare cases
by the boy himself to obtain recovery by the favour of the
goddess from a dangerous illness.3 Hence it is clear that
1 Miihannnadaiis of Gujarat, by 2 R&smala, ii. p. 90.
Khan Bahadur Fazalullah Lutfullah
Faridi, pp. 21, 22. 3 Faridi, ibidem.
2o8 HIJRA PART
they worship Boucheraji on the ground that she obtained
divine honours by self-mutilation and should enable her
votaries to do the same. But the real reason for the
Charan woman cutting off her breasts was no doubt that
her ghost might haunt and destroy the Koli robbers, in
accordance with the usual practice of the Charans.1 As a
further fulfilment of their vow the Hijras pull out the hair
of their beards and moustaches, bore their ears and noses
for female ornaments, and affect female speech and manners.
The meaning of the vow would appear to be that the
mother sacrifices her great blessing of a boy child and
transforms him after a fashion into a girl, at the same time
devoting him to the service of the goddess. Similarly, as a
much milder form of the same idea, a mother whose sons
have died will sometimes bore the nose of a later-born son
and put a small nose-ring in it to make believe he is a girl.
But in this case the aim is also partly to cheat the goddess
or the evil spirits who cause the death of children, and
make them think the boy is a girl and therefore not worth
taking.
The rite of mutilation is described by Mr. Farldi as
follows : " The initiation takes place at the temple of the
goddess Behechra about 60 miles from Ahmadabad, where
the neophyte repairs under the guardianship or adoption
of some older member of the brotherhood. The lad is
called the daughter of the old Hijra his guardian. The
emasculation is a secret rite and takes place under the
direction of the chief Hijra priest of Behechra. It is said
that the operation and initiation are held in a house with
closed doors, where all the Hijras meet in holiday dress.
A special dish of fried pastry is cooked, and the neophyte
is bathed, dressed in red female attire, decked with flower-
garlands and seated on a stool in the middle of the room,
while the others sing to the accompaniment of a small
drum and copper cymbals. Another room is prepared for
the operation, soft ashes being spread on the floor and piled
in a heap in the centre. When the time for the operation
approaches, the neophyte is led to the room and is made to
lie on his back on the ash-heap. The operator approaches
1 See article on Bhat.
ii HIJRA 209
chewing betel-leaf. The hands and legs of the neophyte
are firmly held by some one of the fraternity, and the
operator, carelessly standing near with an unconcerned air,
when he finds the attention of his patient otherwise occupied,
with great dexterity and with one stroke completely cuts off
the genital organs. He spits betel and areca juice on the
wound and staunches the bleeding with a handful of the
ashes of the babill} The operation is dangerous and not
uncommonly fatal." Another method is to hold the organs
in a cleft bamboo and slice them off. The Hijras are
beggars like the Khasuas, and sometimes become very
importunate. Soon after the birth of a child in Gujarat
the hated Hijras or eunuchs crowd round the house for
gifts. If the demand of one of them is refused the whole
rank and file of the local fraternity besiege the house with
indecent clamour and gesture. Their claim to alms rests,
as with other religious mendicants, in the sacred character
which attaches to them. In Bombay there is also a belief
that the god Hanuman cries out once in twelve years, and
that those men who hear him are transformed into eunuchs.2
Some of them make money by allowing spectators to look
at the mutilated part of their body, and also by the practice
of pederasty.
Homosexual practices are believed to be distinctly rare
among Hindus, and not common among Muhammadans of
the Central Provinces. For this the early age of marriage
may probably be considered a principal cause. The Hindu
sacred books, however, do not attach severe penalties to this
offence. " According to the Laws of Manu, a twice-born
man who commits an unnatural offence with a male, or
has intercourse with a female in a cart drawn by oxen,
in water or in the daytime, shall bathe, dressed in his
clothes ; and all these are reckoned as minor offences." s
In his Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas Dr.
Westermarck shows that, apart from the genuine cases of
sexual perversion, as • to the frequency of which opinions
differ, homosexual love frequently arises in three conditions
1 Acacia arabica. 3 Laws of M ami, xi. p. 175, quoted
2 The late Mr. A. M. T. Jackson's in The Origin and Development of the
notes, Ind. Ant., August 1912, p. 56. Moral Ideas, ii. p. 476-
VOL. Ill P
2IO HIJRA PART
of society. These are, when women are actually scarce, as
among the Australian aborigines and other primitive races ;
when the men are frequently engaged in war or in predatory
expeditions and are separated from their wives for long
periods, a condition which accounts for its prevalence
among the Sikhs and Pathans ; and lastly, when women
are secluded and uneducated and hence their society affords
little intellectual pleasure to men. This was the case in
ancient Greece where women received no education and
had no place at the public spectacles which wrere the chief
means of culture ; T and the same reason probably accounts
for the frequency of the vice among the Persians and
modern Egyptians. " So also it seems that the ignorance
and dulness of Muhammadan women, which is a result of
their total lack of education and their secluded life, is a
cause of homosexual practices ; Moors are sometimes heard
to defend pederasty on the plea that the company of boys,
who have always news to tell, is so much more entertaining
than the company of women." 2
The Christian Church in this as in other respects has
set a very high standard of sexual morality. Unnatural
crimes were regarded with peculiar horror in the Middle
Ages, and the punishments for them in English law were
burying and burning alive, though these were probably
seldom or never enforced.3 The attitude of the Church,
which was reflected in the civil law, was partly inherited from
the Jews of the Old Testament, and reinforced by similar
conditions in mediaeval society. In both cases this crime
was especially associated with the heathen and heretics, as
shown in Dr. Westermarck's interesting account : 4
" According to Genesis, unnatural vice was the sin of
a people who were not the Lord's people, and the Levitical
legislation represents Canaanitish abominations as the chief
reason why the Canaanites were exterminated. Now we
know that sodomy entered as an element in their religion.
Besides kedesJwth, or female prostitutes, there were kedeshim
or male prostitutes, attached to their temples. The word
1 Westermarck, The Origin and 2 Ibidem, ii. p. 471.
Development of the Moral Ideas, ii. 3 Ibidem, ii. pp. 481, 482.
P- 47o. • * Ibidem, ii. pp. 487-489.
ii HIJRA 211
kddesh, translated ' Sodomite,' properly denotes a man
dedicated to a deity ; and it appears that such men were
consecrated to the mother of the gods, the famous Dea
Syria, whose priests or devotees they were considered to
be. The male devotees of this and other goddesses were
probably in a position analogous to that occupied by the
female devotees of certain gods, who also, as we have seen,
have developed into libertines ; and the sodomitic acts
committed with these temple prostitutes may, like the
connections with priestesses, have had in view to transfer
blessings to the worshippers. In Morocco supernatural
benefits are expected not only from heterosexual, but also
from homosexual intercourse with a holy person. The
kedeshim are frequently alluded to in the Old Testament,
especially in the period of the monarchy, when rites of
foreign origin made their way into both Israel and Judah.
And it is natural that the Yahveh worshipper should regard
their practices with the utmost horror as forming part of an
idolatrous cult.
" The Hebrew conception of homosexual love to some
extent affected Muhammadanism, and passed into Christi-
anity. The notion that it is a form of sacrilege was here
strengthened by the habits of the Gentiles. St. Paul found
the abominations of Sodom prevalent among nations who
had ' changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped
and served the creature more than the creator.' During
the Middle Ages heretics were accused of unnatural vice
as a matter of course. Indeed, so closely was sodomy
associated with heresy that the same name was applied to
both. In La Coutume de Touraine- Anjou the word
herite, which is the ancient form of herc'tique, seems to be
used in the sense of ' sodomite ' ; and the French bongre
(from the Latin Bulgarus, Bulgarian), as also its English
synonym, was originally a name given to a sect of heretics
who came from Bulgaria in the eleventh century and was
afterwards applied to other heretics, but at the same time
it became the regular expression for a person guilty of
unnatural intercourse. In mediaeval laws sodomy was
also repeatedly mentioned together with heresy, and the
punishment was the same for both. It. thus remained a
212 HO LI A PART
religious offence of the first order. It was not only a
' vitium nefandum et super omnia detestandum,' but it was
one of the four ' clamantia peccata,' or crying sins, a
' crime de Majestie, vers le Roy celestre.' Very naturally,
therefore, it has come to be regarded with somewhat greater
leniency by law and public opinion in proportion as they
have emancipated themselves from theological doctrines.
And the fresh light which the scientific study of the sexual
impulse has lately thrown upon the subject of homosexuality
must also necessarily influence the moral ideas relating to
it, in so far as no scrutinising judge can fail to take into
account the pressure which a powerful non-volitional desire
exercises upon an agent's will."
Holia.1 — A low caste of drummers and leather-workers
who claim to be degraded Golars or Telugu Ahlrs, under which
caste most of the Holias seem to have returned themselves
in 1 90 1.2 The Holias relate the following story of their
origin. Once upon a time two brothers, Golar by caste, set
out in search of service, having with them a bullock. On
the way the elder brother went to worship his tutelary deity
Holiari Deva ; but while he was doing so the bullock acci-
dentally died, and the ceremony could not be proceeded with
until the carcase was removed. Neither a Chamar nor any-
body else could be got to do this, so at length the younger
brother was prevailed upon by the elder one to take away
the body. When he returned, the elder brother would not
touch him, saying that he had lost his caste. The younger
brother resigned himself to his fate and called himself Holu,
after the god whom he had been worshipping at the time he
lost his caste. His descendants were named Holias. But
he prayed to the god to avenge him for the treachery of his
brother, and from that moment misfortunes commenced to
shower upon the Golar until he repented and made what
reparation he could ; and in memory of this, whenever a
Golar dies, the Holias are feasted by the other Golars to the
present day. The story indicates a connection between the
1 This article is compiled from a returned as against more than 4000 in
paper by Mr. Babu Rao, Deputy In- 1891; but, on the other hand, in 1901
spector of Schools, Seoni District. the number of Golars was double that
2 In this year only 33 Holias were of the previous census.
ii INJHWAR 213
castes, and it is highly probable that the Holias are a degraded
class of Golars who took to the trade of tanning and leather-
working. When a Holia goes to a Golar's house he must
be asked to come in and sit down or the Golar will be
put out of caste ; and when a Golar dies the house must be
purified by a Holia. The caste is a very numerous one in
Madras. Here the Holia is superior only to the Madiga or
Chamar.1 In the Central Provinces they are held to be
impure and to rank below the Mahars, and they live on the
outskirts of the village. Their caste customs resemble
generally those of the Golars. They believe their traditional
occupation to be the playing of leathern drums, and they still
follow this trade, and also make slippers and leather thongs
for agricultural purposes. But they must not make or mend
shoes on pain of excommunication from caste. They are of
middle stature, dark in colour, and very dirty in their person
and habits. Like the Golars, the Holias speak a dialect of
Canarese, which is known as Golari, Holia or Komtau. Mr.
Thurston gives the following interesting particulars about the
Holias : 2 " If a man of another caste enters the house of a
Mysore Holia, the owner takes care to tear the intruder's
cloth, and turn him out. This will avert any evil which might
have befallen him. It is said that Brahmans consider great
luck will wait upon them if they can manage to pass through
a Holia village unmolested. Should a Brahman attempt to
enter their quarters, the Holias turn him out, and slipper
him, in former times it is said to death."
Injhwap.3 — A caste of agricultural labourers and fisher- 1. Origin
men found in the Maratha tract of the Wainganga Valley,
comprised in the Bhandara and Balaghat Districts. In 1901
they numbered 8500 persons as against 11,000 in 1891.
The name Injhwar is simply a Marathi corruption of Binjh-
war, as is for bis (twenty) and Ithoba for Bithoba or Vithoba.
In his Census Report of 1891 Sir Benjamin Robertson
remarked that the name was often entered in the census
books as Vinjhwar, and in Marathi B and V are practically
1 Mysore Census Report (1891), p. 3 This article is principally based on
254. information collected by Mr. Ilira Lai
, 2 Ethnographic Notes in Southern in Bhandara.
India, p. 258.
caste.
2i4 INJHWAR part
interchangeable. The Injhwars are thus a caste formed from
the Binjhwars or highest subdivision of the Baiga tribe of
Balaghat ; they have adopted the social customs of the
Marathi-speaking people among whom they live, and have
been formed into a separate caste through a corruption of
their name. They still worship Injha or Vindhya Devi, the
tutelary deity of the Vindhyan hills, from which the name of
the Binjhwars is derived. The Injhwars have also some
connection with the Gowari or cowherd caste of the Maratha
country. They are sometimes known as Dudh-Gowari, and
say that this is because an InjLwar woman was a wet-nurse
of the first-born Gowari. The Gowaris themselves, as a low
caste of herdsmen frequenting the jungles, would naturally be
brought into close connection with both the Baigas and Gonds.
Their alliances with the Gonds have produced the distinct
caste of Gond-Gowari, and it is not improbable that one fact
operating to separate the Injhwars from their parent tribe of
the Baigas was an admixture of Gowari blood. But they
rank higher than the Gond-Gowaris, who are regarded as
impure ; this is probably on account of the superior position
of the Binjhwars, who form the aristocracy of the Baiga tribe,
and, living in the forests, were never reduced to the menial
and servile condition imposed on the Gond residents in
Hindu villages. The Injhwars, however, admit the superiority
of the Gowaris by taking food from their hands, a favour
which the latter will not reciprocate. Several of the sept or
family names of the caste are also taken from the Gonds, and
this shows an admixture of Gond blood ; the Injhwars are
thus probably a mixed group of Gonds, Gowaris, and
Binjhwars or Baigas.
Sub- The Injhwars have four subcastes, three of the territorial
and one of the occupational class. These are the Lanjiwar,
or those living round Lanji in Balaghat ; the Korre, or those
of the Korai hill tract in Seoni ; the Chandewar or Maratha
Injhwars who belong to Chanda, and are distinguished by
holding their weddings only in the evening after the Maratha
custom, while other Injhwars will perform the ceremony at
any time of day ; and the Sonjharias, or those who have
taken to washing for gold in the beds of streams. Of their
sept or family names some, as already stated, are taken from
divisions.
n MARRIAGE AND OTHER CUSTOMS 215
the Gonds, as Mesram, Tekam, Marai, Ukya.1 Three names,
Bhoyar, Kawara and Kohrya (from Kohli), are the names of
other castes or tribes, and indicate that members of these
became Injhwars and founded families ; and others are of
the territorial, titular and totemistic types. Among them
may be mentioned the Plthvalyas, from pith, flour ; all
families of this sept should steal a little rice from somebody
else's field as soon as it is ripe, husband and wife making a
joint expedition for the purpose. They must not speak a
word to each other from the time they start until they have
brought back the rice, pounded and cooked it, offered it to
the god and made their meal. The Paunpats, named after
the lotus, will not touch the flowers or leaves of the lotus
plants, or even drink water from a tank in which the lotus
grows. The Dobokria Rawats are so named because they
make an offering of two goats to their gods.- Some of the
septs are subdivided. Thus the Sonwani or gold-water sept,
whose members readmit social culprits, is divided into the
Paunpat or lotus Sonwanis ; the Gurhiwal, who revere a
brass vessel tied to a bamboo on the first day of the year ;
the Sati Sonwani, who worship the spirit of a sati woman
ancestor ; and the Mungphatia Sonwanis, whose token is the
broken mung pulse. At present these subsepts cannot
intermarry, the union of any two Sonwanis being forbidden,
but it seems likely that intermarriage may be permitted in
the course of time.
The social customs of the Injhwars resemble those of 3. Mar-
the lower Maratha castes.'2 Marriage is forbidden between nage and
53 other
members of the same sept and first cousins, and a man should customs.
also not take a wife from the sept of his brother or sister-in-
law. This rule prevents the marriage of two brothers to
two sisters, to which there is of course no objection on the
ground of affinity. Girls are usually not married until they
are grown up ; but in places where .they have been much
subjected to Hindu influences, the Injhwars will sometimes
wed an adult girl to a basil plant in order to avoid the
stigma of keeping her in the house unmarried. The boy's
father goes to make a proposal of marriage, and the girl's
father, if he approves it, intimates his consent by washing
1 A corruption of Uika. 2 See the articles Mahar and Kunbi.
2i6 INJHWAR part
his visitor's feet. A bride-price of about Rs. 20 is usually
paid, which is increased somewhat if the bridegroom is a
widower, and decreased if the bride has been seduced before
marriage. The marriage is performed by throwing coloured
rice over the couple. Divorce and the remarriage of widows
are permitted. A bachelor who marries a widow must
first go through the ceremony with an arka or swallow-
wort plant, this being considered his real marriage. The
Injhwars usually bury the dead, and in accordance with
Dravidian custom place the corpse in the grave with the feet
to the north. When the body is that of a young girl, the
face is left exposed as it is carried to the grave. The
regular ceremonies are performed for the welfare of the
deceased's soul, and they try to ascertain its fate in the next
incarnation by spreading flour on the ground overnight and
looking in the morning for anything resembling the foot-
mark of a human being, animal or bird. On the festival of
Akhatlj and in the month of Kartik (October) they offer
libations to the dead, setting out a large pitcher of water
for a male and a small one for a female. On the former
they paint five lines of sandalwood to represent a man's
caste-mark, and on the latter five splashes of kunku or the
red powder which women rub on their foreheads. A burning
lamp is placed before the pitchers, and they feed a male
Mali or gardener as representative of a dead man and a
female for a woman.
4. Occupa- The Injhwars are generally labourers and cultivators,
non and while the Soniharias wash for gold. The women of the
social J ...
status. Maratha or Chandewar subcaste serve as midwives. Their
social status is low, and in the forest tracts they will eat
snakes and crocodiles, and in fact almost anything except
beef. They will admit members of the Brahman, Dhimar
(waterman), Mali and Gowari castes into the community on
payment of a premium of five to fifteen rupees and a dinner
to the caste-fellows. The candidate for admission, whether
male or female, must have his head shaved clean. Both
men and women can obtain pardon for a liaison with an
outsider belonging to any except the most impure castes by
giving a feast to the community. To be beaten with a shoe
involves temporary excommunication from caste, unless the
ii J AD AM 217
striker be a Government official, when no penalty is inflicted.
If a man kills a cat, he is required to have an image of it
made in silver, which, after being worshipped, is presented
to a temple or thrown into a river.
Jadam.1 — A branch of the well-known Yadu or Yadava
sept of Rajputs which has now developed into a caste in the
Nerbudda valley. Colonel Tod describes the Yadu as the
most illustrious of all the tribes of India, this name having
been borne by the descendants of Buddha, progenitor of the
Lunar race. The Yadavas were the herdsmen of Mathura,
and Krishna was born in this tribe. His son was Bharat,
from whom the classical name of Bharatavarsha for India
is held to be derived. It is related that when Krishna was
about to ascend to heaven, he reflected that the Yadavas had
multiplied exceedingly and would probably cause trouble
to the world after he had left it. So he decided to reduce
their numbers, and one day he persuaded one of his
companions to dress up as a pregnant woman in jest, and
they took him to the hermitage of the saint Durvasa and
asked the saint to what the woman would give birth.
Durvasa, who was of a very irascible temper, divined that
he was being trifled with, and replied that a rice-pestle
would be born by which the Yadavas would be destroyed.
On the return of the party they found to their astonishment
that a pestle had actually, as it were, been born from the
man. So they were alarmed at the words of the saint and
tried to destroy the pestle by rubbing it on a stone. But
as the sawdust of the pestle fell on the ground there sprang
up from it the shoots of the Gondla or Elephant grass,
which grows taller than the head of a man on horseback.
And some time afterwards a quarrel arose among the
Yadavas, and they tore up the stalks of this grass and slew
each other with it. Only one woman escaped, whose son
was afterwards the King of Mathura and the ancestor of the
existing tribe. Another body, however, with whom was
Krishna, fled to Gujarat, and on the coast there built the
great temple of Dwarka, in the place known as Jagat Khant.
1 This article is partly based on a paper by Bihari Lai, Patwari, of
Hoshangabad.
same resemblance to
Thebes.
: duvansi
: I'.hatti chiefs of
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J.lDUA
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also exacted, and the couple are then considcn (I to be married.
The remarriage of widows is permitted, but it is known by
the opprobrious name of Kukar-gauna or ' dog-marria
signifying that it is held to be little or no better than a
simple illicit connection. Divorce is also somewhat common
in the caste, notwithstanding that the person who occupies
the position of co-respondent must repay to the husband
the expenses incurred by him on the marriage ceremony.
Some women are known to have had ten or twelve liu tbands.
The Jadams are proprietors, tenants and labourer., and
are reckoned to be efficient cultivators ; they plough with
their own hands and allow their women to work in the fields.
They will also eat food cooked with water in the field, which
is against the practice of the higher castes. They eat flesh,
including that of the wild pig, and fish, but abstain from
liquor, and will take food cooked with water only from
Jijhotia or Sanadhya Brahmans who are their family
priests. A Brahman will take water from the hands of a
Jadam in a metal, but not in an earthen, vessel. Boys are
invested with the sacred thread at the time of tl.
a common practice among the higher agricultural
and one pointing to the hypoth
on Gurao that the investiture with the sacred thread wai
its origin a rite of puberty. The iliar
dress know as sawang, conshtir. irt of ab
six feet of cloth and a long body-e
waist and over the
spangles ;head than c
of the caste are emancipate
ated that they c
market for shoppir.: ;/ent tK
Dr. Hunter describes the J
bad agriculturist bat in the
-ted less highly, and a
' Patta kliat;.
. . ■-. -
2 ,8 J AD AM I'ART
or the World's End. The story has some resemblance to
that of the sowing of the dragon's teeth by Cadmus at Thebes.
The principal branches of the Yadavas are the Yaduvansi
chiefs of Karauli, in Rajputana, and the Bhatti chiefs of
Jaisalmer. The Jadams of Hoshangabad say that they
immigrated from Karauli State about 700 years ago, having
come to the country on a foray for plunder and afterwards
settled here. They have now developed into a caste,
marrying among themselves. In Hoshangabad the caste
has two subdivisions, the Kachhotia who belong principally
to the Sohagpur tahsil, and the Adhodias who live in Seoni
and Harda. These two groups are endogamous and do not
marry with each other. The Kachhotia are the offspring of
irregular unions and are looked down upon by the others.
They say that they have fifty-two exogamous groups or
sections, but this number is used locally as an expression of
indefinite magnitude. All the sections appear to be named
after villages where their ancestors once lived, but the pre-
ference for totemism has led some of the groups to connect
their names with natural objects. Thus the designation of
the Semaria section may be held to be derived from a
village of that name, both on account of its form, and
because the other known section -names are taken from
villages. But the Semaria Jadams have adopted the semar
or cotton-tree as their totem and pay reverence to this.1
Infant-marriage is favoured in the caste, and polygamy
is also prevalent. This is often the case among the agri-
cultural castes, where a man will marry several wives in
order to obtain their assistance in his cultivation, a wife
being a more industrious and reliable worker than a hired
servant. No penalty is, however, imposed for allowing a
girl to reach adolescence before marriage, and this not
infrequently happens. If a girl becomes with child through
a man of the caste she is united to him by a simple rite
known as gunda, in which she merely gives him a ring or
throws a garland of flowers over his neck. A caste feast is
1 Semaria is a common name of Totem is perhaps rather a strong word
villages, and is of course as such derived for the kind of veneration paid ; the
from the semar tree, but the argument vernacular term used in Bombay is
is that the Jadams took the name from devak.
the village and not from the tree.
ii JADUA 221
they have come to do homage to him as he had turned their
silver and brass ornaments into gold. The dupe at once
goes with them in search of the Brahman, and is greatly
impressed by seeing the landholder worship him with
profound respect and make him presents of cloth, money
and cattle. He at once falls into the trap and says that he
too has a quantity of silver which he would like to have
turned into gold. The Brahman pretends reluctance, but
eventually yields to the dupe's entreaties and allows himself
to be led to the latter's house, where with his chela he takes
up his quarters in an inner room, dark and with a mud floor.
A variety of tricks are now resorted to, to impress the dupe
with the magic powers of the swindlers. Sometimes he is
directed to place a rupee on his forehead and go to the door
and look at the sun for five minutes, being assured that
when he returns the Brahman will have disappeared by
magic. Having looked at the sun for five minutes he can
naturally see nothing on returning to a dark room and
expresses wonder at the Brahman's disappearance and
gradual reappearance as his eyes get accustomed to the
darkness. Or if the trick to be practised is the production
of buried treasure, a rupee may be buried in the ground and
after various incantations two rupees are produced from the
same spot by sleight of hand. Or by some trickery the
victim is shown the mouth of an earthen vessel containing
silver or gold coins in a hole dug in the ground. He is told
that the treasure cannot be obtained until more treasure has
been added to it and religious rites have been performed.
Sometimes the victim is made to visit a secluded spot, where
he is informed that after repeating certain incantations Sivaji
will appear before him. A confederate, dressed in tinsel and
paint, appears before the victim posing as Sivaji, and informs
him that there is treasure buried in his house, and it is only
necessary to follow the instructions of the holy Brahman in
order to obtain it. The silver ornaments, all that can be
collected, are then made over to the Brahman, who pretends
to tie them in a cloth or place them in an earthen pot and
bury them in the floor of the room. If buried treasure is to
be found the Brahman explains that it is first necessary to
bury more treasure in order to obtain it, and if the ornaments
2 22 JANG AM PART
arc to be turned into gold they are buried for the purpose
of transmutation. During the process the victim is induced
on some pretence to leave the room or cover himself with a
sheet, when a bundle containing mud or stones is substituted
for the treasure. The Brahman calls for ghl, oil and incense,
and lights a fire over the place where the ornaments are
supposed to be buried, bidding his victim watch over it for
some hours or days until his return. The Brahman and his
disciple, with the silver concealed about them, then leave
the house, join their confederates and make their escape.
The duped villager patiently watches the fire until he
becomes tired of waiting for the Brahman's return, when he
digs up the earth and finds nothing in the cloth but stones
and rubbish.
Jangam, Jangama. — A Sivite order of wandering
religious mendicants. The Jangams are the priests or
gurus of the Sivite sect of Lingayats. They numbered
3500 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 191 1,
and frequent the Maratha country. The Jangam is said to
be so called because he wears a movable emblem of Siva
(Jana gama, to come and go) in contradistinction to the
Sthawar or fixed emblems found in temples. The Jangams
discard many of the modern phases of Hinduism. They
reject the poems in honour of Vishnu, Rama and Krishna,
such as the Bhagavad Glta and Ramayana ; they also deny
the authority of Brahmans, the efficacy of pilgrimage and
self-mortification, and the restrictions of caste ; while they
revere principally the Vedas and the teaching of the great
Sivite reformer Shankar Acharya.1 Like other religious
orders, the Jangams have now become a caste, and are divided
into two groups of celibate and married members. The
Gharbaris (married members) celebrate their weddings in
the usual Maratha fashion, except that they perform no
horn or fire sacrifice. They permit the remarriage of widows.
The Jangams wear ochre -coloured or badami clothes and
long necklaces of seeds called rudraksha 2 beads, which
resemble a nutmeg in size, in colour and nearly in shape ;
1 Sherring, Castes and Tribes, iii. p. 123.
2 The nut of Eleocarpus lanceolatus.
ii JANGAM 223
they besmear their forehead, arms and various other parts
of the body with cowdung ashes. They wear the lingam or
phallic sign of Siva either about the neck or loins in a little
casket of gold, silver, copper or brass. As the lingam is
supposed to represent the god and to be eternal, they are
buried and not burnt after death, because the lingam must
be buried with them and must not be destroyed in the fire.
If any Jangam loses the lingam he or she must not eat or
drink until it has been replaced by the guru or spiritual
preceptor. It must be worshipped thrice a day, and ashes
and del1 leaves are offered to it, besides food when the
owner is about to partake of this himself. The Jangams
worship no deity other than Siva or Mahadeo, and their
great festival is the Shivratri. Some of them make pilgrim-
ages to Pachmarhi, to the Mahadeo hills. Most of them
subsist by begging and singing songs in praise of Mahadeo.
Grant-Duff gives the Jangam as one of the twenty-four
village servants in a Maratha village, perhaps as the priest
of the local shrine of Siva, or as the caste priest of the
Lingayats, who are numerous in some Districts of Bombay.
He carries a wallet over the shoulder and a conch-shell and
bell in the hand. On approaching the door of a house he
rings his bell to bring out the occupant, and having received
alms proceeds on his way, blowing his conch-shell, which is
supposed to be a propitious act for the alms-giver, and to
ensure his safe passage to heaven. The wallet is meant to
hold the grain given to him, and on returning home he
never empties it completely, but leaves a little grain in it
as its own share. The Jangams are strict vegetarians, and
take food only from the hands of Lingayats. They bless
their food before eating it and always finish it completely,
and afterwards wash the dish with water and drink down
the water. When a child is born, the priest is sent for and
his feet are washed with water in a brass tray. The water
is then rubbed over the bodies of those present, and a few
drops sprinkled on the walls of the house as a ceremony of
purification. The priest's great toes are then washed in a
cup of water, and he dips the lingam he wears into this,
and then sips a few drops of the water, each person present
1 Aegle marmelos.
224 JANGAM part ii
doing the same. This is called karuna or sanctification.
He then dips a new lingam into the holy water, and ties it
round the child's neck for a minute or two, afterwards
handing it to the mother to be kept till the child is old
enough to wear it. The dead are buried in a sitting posture,
the lingam being placed in the palm of the hand. On the
third day a clay image of Mahadeo is carried to the grave,
and food and flowers are offered to it, as well as any intoxi-
cants to which the deceased person may have been addicted.
The following notice of the Jangams more than a century
ago may be quoted from the Abb6 Dubois, though the
custom described does not, so far as is known, prevail at
present, at least in the Central Provinces : * " The gurus
or priests of Siva, who are known in the Western Provinces
by the name of Jangams, are for the most part celibates.
They have a custom which is peculiar to themselves, and
curious enough to be worth remarking. When a guru
travels about his district he lodges with some member of
the sect, and the members contend among themselves for
the honour of receiving him. When he has selected the
house he wishes to stay in, the master and all the other
male inmates are obliged, out of respect for him, to leave
it and go and stay elsewhere. The holy man remains there
day and night with only the women of the house, whom
he keeps to wait on him and cook for him, without creating
any scandal or exciting the jealousy of the husbands. All
the same, some scandal-mongers have remarked that the
Jangams always take care to choose a house where the
women are young." The Jangams are not given to
austerities, and go about well clad.
1 Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies, 1897 ed. p. 118.
J AT
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i . Theories of the origin of the 6. Brahmanical legend of origin.
caste. 7. The fats in the Central Pro-
2. Sir D. Ibbetsons description of vinces.
the caste. 8. Marriage customs.
3. Are the fats and Rajputs dis- 9. Funeral rites.
tinct? 10. The Paida cere7no?iy.
4. The position of the fat in the 1 1 . Customs at birth.
Punjab. 1 2. Religion.
5. Social status of the fats. 13. Social customs.
1 4. Occupation.
Jat.1 — The representative cultivating caste of the Punjab, 1. Theories
corresponding to the Kurmi of Hindustan, the Kunbi of the ° ■ .* of
Deccan, and the Kapu of Telingana. In the Central Pro- the caste,
vinces 10,000 Jats were returned in 191 1, of whom 5000
belonged to Hoshangabad and the bulk of the remainder
to Narsinghpur, Saugor and Jubbulpore. The origin of
the Jat caste has been the subject of much discussion.
Sir D. Ibbetson stated some of the theories as follows : 2
" Suffice it to say that both General Cunningham and Major
Tod agree in considering the Jats to be of Indo-Scythian
stock. The former identifies them with the Zanthii of
Strabo and the Jatii of Pliny and Ptolemy ; and holds that
they probably entered the Punjab from their home on the
Oxus very shortly after the Meds or Mands, who also were
I ndo- Scythians, and who moved into the Punjab about a
century before Christ. . . . Major Tod classes the Jats as
1 This article is partly based on in- Office. The correct pronunciation of
formation contributed by Mr. Debendra the caste name is Jat, but in the
Niith Dutt, Pleader, Narsinghpur ; Mr. Central Provinces it is always called
Ganga Singh, Extra Assistant Com- Jat.
missioner, Hoshangabad; and Mr. - J'unjabCensus Report (18S1), para.
Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer 421.
VOL. HI 225 Q
226 jAT PARI
one of the great Rajput tribes, and extends his identification
with the Getae to both races ; but here General Cunningham
differs, holding the Rajputs to belong to the original Aryan
stock, and the Jats to a later wave of immigrants from
the north-west, probably of Scythian race." It is highly
probable that the Jats may date their settlement in the
Punjab from one of the three Scythian inroads mentioned
by Mr. V. A. Smith,1 but I do not know that there is as yet
considered to be adequate evidence to identify them with
any particular one.
The following curious passage from the Mahabharata
would appear to refer to the Jats : 2
" An old and excellent Brahman reviling the countries
Bahlka and Madra in the dwelling of Dhritarashtra, related
facts long known, and thus described those nations.
External to the Himavan, and beyond the Ganges, beyond
the Sarasvati and Yamuna rivers and Kurukshetra, between
five rivers, and the Sindhu as the sixth, are situated the
Bahlkas, devoid of ritual or observance, and therefore to be
shunned. Their figtree is named Govardhana {i.e. the place
of cow-killing) ; their market-place is Subhadram (the place
of vending liquor : at least so say the commentators), and
these give titles to the doorway of the royal palace. A
business of great importance compelled me to dwell amongst
the Bahlkas, and their customs are therefore well known to
me. The chief city is called Shakala, and the river Apaga.
The people are also named Jarttikas ; and their customs are
shameful. They drink spirits made from sugar and grain,
and eat meat seasoned with garlic ; and live on flesh and
wine : their women intoxicated appear in public places, with
no other garb than garlands and perfumes, dancing and
singing, and vociferating indecencies in tones more harsh
than those of the camel or the ass ; they indulge in
promiscuous intercourse and are under no restraint. They
clothe themselves in skins and blankets, and sound the
cymbal and drum and conch, and cry aloud with hoarse
voices : ' We will hasten to delight, in thick forests and in
1 Early History of India. translated by Professor H. H. Wilson,
and quoted in vol. i. pp. 260, 262 of
2 Mahabharata, viii. 2026, et seq., Dr. J. Wilson's Indian Caste.
ii THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF THE CASTE 227
pleasant places ; we will feast and sport ; and gathering on
the highways spring upon the travellers, and spoil and
scourge them!' In Shakala, a female demon (a Rakshasi)
on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight sings aloud : ' I
will feast on the flesh of kine, and quaff the inebriating spirit
attended by fair and graceful females.' The Sudra-like
Bahlkas have no institutes nor sacrifices ; and neither deities,
manes, nor Brahmans accept their offerings. They eat out of
wooden or earthen plates, nor heed their being smeared with
wine or viands, or licked by dogs, and they use equally in
its various preparations the milk of ewes, of camels and of
asses. Who that has drunk milk in the city Yugandhara
can hope to enter Svarga ? Bahi and Hika were the names
of two fiends in the Vipasha river ; the Bahlkas are their
descendants and not of the creation of Brahma. Some say
the Arattas are the name of the people and Bahlka of the
waters. The Vedas are not known there, nor oblation, nor
sacrifice, and the gods will not partake of their food. The
Prasthalas (perhaps borderers), Madras, Gandharas, Arattas,
Khashas, Vasas, Atisindhus (or those beyond the Indus),
Sauvlras, are all equally infamous. There one who is by
birth a Brahman, becomes a Kshatriya, or a Vaishya, or a
Sudra, or a Barber, and having been a barber becomes a
Brahman again. A virtuous woman was once violated by
Aratta ruffians, and she cursed the race, and their women
have ever since been unchaste. On this account their heirs
are their sisters' children, not their own. All countries have
their laws and gods : the Yavanas are wise, and pre-
eminently brave ; the Mlechchas observe their own ritual,
but the Madrakas are worthless. Madra is the ordure of
the earth : it is the region of inebriety, unchastity, robbery,
and murder : fie on the Panchanada people ! fie on the
Aratta race ! "
In the above account the country referred to is clearly
the Punjab, from the mention of the five rivers and the
Indus. The people are called Bahlka or Jarttika, and would
therefore seem to be the Jats. And the account would
appear to refer to a period when they were newly settled in
the Punjab and had not come under Hindu influence. But
at the same time the Aryans or Hindus had passed through
228 JAT PART
the Punjab and were settled in Hindustan. And it would
therefore seem to be a necessary inference that the Jats were
comparatively late immigrants, and were one of the tribes
who invaded India between the second century B.C. and the
fifth century A.D. as suggested above.
2. Sir d. Sir D. Ibbetson held that the Jats and Rajputs must be,
ibbetson's to some extent at least, of the same blood. Though the
description . , .,
of the Jats are represented in the Central Provinces only by a small
body of immigrants it will be permissible to quote the follow-
ing passages from his admirable and classical account of the
caste : 1
" It may be that the original Rajput and the original
Jiit entered India at different periods in its history, though
to my mind the term Rajput is an occupational rather than
an ethnological expression. But if they do originally re-
present two separate waves of immigration, it is at least
exceedingly probable, both from their almost identical phy-
sique and facial character and from the close communion
which has always existed between them, that they belong to
one and the same ethnic stock ; while, whether this be so
or not, it is almost certain that they have been for many
centuries and still are so intermingled and so blended into
one people that it is practically impossible to distinguish
them as separate wholes. It is indeed more than probable
that the process of fusion has not ended here, and that the
people who thus in the main resulted from the blending of
the Jat and the Rajput, if these two were ever distinct, is by
no means free from foreign elements. . . .
3. Are the " But whether Jats and Rajputs were or were not
Rajpats originally distinct, and whatever aboriginal elements may
distinct? have been affiliated to their society, I think that the two now
form a common stock, the distinction between Jat and Rajput
being social rather than ethnic. I believe that those families
of that common stock whom the tide of fortune has raised to
political importance have become Rajputs almost by mere
virtue of their rise ; and that their descendants have retained
the title and its privileges on the condition, strictly enforced,
of observing the rules by which the higher are distinguished
from the lower castes in the Hindu scale of precedence ; of
1 Ibidem, paras. 422-424.
ii THE POSITION OF THE J AT IN THE PUNJAli 229
preserving their purity of blood by refusing to marry with
families of inferior social rank, of rigidly abstaining from
widow-marriage, and of refraining from degrading occupa-
tions. Those who transgressed these rules have fallen from
their high position and ceased to be Rajputs ; while such
families as, attaining a dominant position in their territory,
began to affect social exclusiveness and to observe the rules,
have become not only Rajas but also Rajputs or sons of
Rajas. For the last seven centuries at least the process of
elevation has been almost at a standstill. Under the Delhi
Emperors king-making was practically impossible. Under
the Sikhs the Rajput was overshadowed by the Jat, who
resented his assumption of superiority and his refusal to join
him on equal terms in the ranks of the Khalsa, deliberately
persecuted him wherever and whenever he had the power,
and preferred his title of Jat Sikh to that of the proudest
Rajput. On the frontier the dominance of Pathans and
Biloches and the general prevalence of Muhammadan feelings
and ideas placed recent Indian origin at a discount, and led
the leading families who belonged to neither of these two
races to claim connection not with the Kshatriyas of the
Sanskrit classics but with the Mughal conquerors of India
or the Qureshi cousins of the Prophet ; in so much that even
admittedly Rajput tribes of famous ancestry, such as the
Khokha, have begun to follow the example. But in the hills,
where Rajput dynasties, with genealogies perhaps more
ancient and unbroken than can be shown by any other
royal families in the world, retained their independence till
yesterday, and where many of them still enjoy as great
social authority as ever, the twin processes of degradation
from and elevation to Rajput rank are still to be seen in
operation. The Raja is there the fountain not only of
honour but also of caste, which is the same thing in
India. . . .
" The Jat is in every respect the most important of the 4- The
Punjab peoples. In point of numbers he surpasses the EhTjSbi
Rajput, who comes next to him, in the proportion of nearly the Punjab,
three to one ; while the two together constitute twenty-seven
per cent of the whole population of the Province. Politically
he ruled the Punjab till the Khalsa yielded to our arms.
23O J AT PART
Ethnologically he is the peculiar and most prominent product
of the plain of the five rivers. And from an economical and
administrative point of view he is the husbandman, the
peasant, the revenue -payer par excellence of the Province.
His manners do not bear the impress of generations of wild
freedom which marks the races of our frontier mountains.
But he is more honest, more industrious, more sturdy, and
no less manly than they. Sturdy independence indeed and
patient, vigorous labour are his strongest characteristics.
The Jat is of all Punjab races the most impatient of tribal or
communal control, and the one which asserts the freedom of
the individual most strongly. In tracts where, as in Rohtak,
the Jat tribes have the field to themselves, and are compelled,
in default of rival castes as enemies, to fall back upon each
other for somebody to quarrel with, the tribal ties are strong.
But as a rule a Jat is a man who does what seems right in
his own eyes and sometimes what seems wrong also, and
will not be said nay by any man. I do not mean, however,
that he is turbulent ; as a rule he is very far from being so.
He is independent and he is self-willed ; but he is reasonable,
peaceably inclined if left alone, and not difficult to manage.
He is usually content to cultivate his fields and pay his
revenue in peace and quietness if people will let him do so ;
though when he does go wrong he takes to anything from
gambling to murder, with perhaps a preference for stealing
other people's wives and cattle. As usual the proverbial
wisdom of the villages describes him very fairly though
perhaps somewhat too severely: 'The soil, fodder, clothes,
hemp, grass-fibre, and silk, these six are best beaten ; and
the seventh is the Jat' ' A Jat, a Bhat, a caterpillar, and a
widow woman ; these four are best hungry. If they eat
their fill they do harm.' ' The Jat, like a wound, is better
when bound.' In agriculture the Jat is pre-eminent. The
market-gardening castes, the Arain, the Mali, the Saini are
perhaps more skilful cultivators on a small scale ; but they
cannot rival the Jat as landowners and yeoman cultivators.
The Jat calls himself zamindar or ' husbandman ' as often as
Jat, and his women and children alike work with him in the
fields : ' The Jat's baby has a plough-handle for a plaything.'
' The Jat stood on his corn heap and said to the king's
1 1 SOCIA L S TA TUS OF THE J, I 7 'S 2 3 1
elephant - drivers, Will you sell those little donkeys ? '
Socially the Jat occupies a position which is shared by the
Ror, the Gujar, and the Ahlr, all four eating and smoking
together. He is, of course, far below the Rajput, from the
simple fact that he practises widow- marriage. The Jat
father is made to say in the rhyming proverbs of the
countryside, ' Come, my daughter, and be married ; if
this husband dies there are plenty more.' But among the
widow-marrying castes he stands first. The Bania with
his sacred thread, his strict Hinduism, and his twice-born
standing, looks down on the Jat as a Sudra. But the Jat
looks down upon the Bania as a cowardly, spiritless money-
grubber, and society in general agrees with the Jat. The
Khatri, who is far superior to the Bania in manliness and
vigour, probably takes precedence of the Jat. But among
the races or tribes of purely Hindu origin, I think that
the Jat stands next after the Brahman, the Rajput, and the
Khatri."
The above account clearly indicates the social position 5. Social
of the Jat. His is the highest caste except the aristocracy ^Tats'
consisting of the Brahmans and Rajputs, the Khatris who
are derived from the Rajputs, and the Banias who are
recognised as ranking not much below the Rajputs. The
derivation of some of the Rajput clans from the Jats seems
highly probable, and is confirmed by other instances of
aristocratic selection in such castes as the Marathas and
Kunbis, the Raj-Gonds and Gonds, and so on. If, how-
ever, the Rajputs are a Jat aristocracy, it is clear that the
Jats were not the Sudras, who are described as wholly
debased and impure in the Hindu classics ; and the present
application of the term Sudra to them is a misnomer arising
from modern errors in classification by the Hindus them-
selves. The Jats, if Sir D. Ibbetson's account be accepted,
must have been the main body of the invading host,
whether Aryan or Scythian, of whom the Rajputs were the
leaders. They settled on the land and formed village
communities, and the status of the Jat at present appears
to be that of a member of the village community and
part -holder of its land. A slightly undue importance
may perhaps have been given in the above passage to the
2 32 J AT PART
practice of widow-marriage as determining the position of
a great caste like the Jats. Some Rajputs, Kayasths and
Banias permit widow-marriage, and considerable sections
of all these castes, and Brahmans also, permit the practice
of keeping widows, which, though not called a marriage,
does not differ very widely from it. The Jat probably
finds his women too valuable as assistants in cultivation
to make a pretence at the abolition of widow-marriage in
order to improve his social status as some other castes do.
The Jat, of course, ranks as what is commonly called a pure
caste, in that Brahmans take water to drink from him.
But his status does not depend on this, because Brahmans
take water from such menials as barbers, Kahars or bearers,
Baris or household servants, and so on, who rank far below
the Jat, and also from the Malis and other gardening castes
who are appreciably below him. The Jat is equal to the
Gujar and Ahir so far as social purity is concerned, but
still above them, because they are graziers and vagrants,
while he is a settled cultivator. It is from this fact that
his status is perhaps mainly derived ; and his leading
characteristics, his independence, self-sufficiency, dogged-
ness, and industry, are those generally recognised as typical
of the peasant proprietor. But the Jat, in the Punjab at
any rate, has also a higher status than the principal
cultivating castes of other provinces, the Kurmi and the
Kunbi. And this may perhaps be explained by his purer
foreign descent, and also by the fact that both as Jat and
as Sikh his caste has been a military and dominant one in
history and has furnished princes and heads of states.
The Jats themselves relate the following Brahmanical
legend of their origin. On one occasion when Himachal
or Daksha Raja, the father-in-law of Mahadeo, was per-
forming a great sacrifice, he invited all the gods to be
present except his son-in-law Mahadeo (Siva). The latter's
wife Parvati was, however, very anxious to go, so she asked
Mahadeo to let her attend, even though she had not been
invited. Mahadeo was unwilling to do this, but finally
consented. But Daksha treated Parvati with great want
of respect at the sacrifice, so she came home and told
Mahadeo about him. When Mahadeo heard this he was
n THE J ATS IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES 233
filled with wrath, and untying his matted hair (jata) dashed
it on the ground, when two powerful beings arose from it.
He sent them to destroy Daksha's sacrifice and they went
and destroyed it, and from these were descended the race
of the Jats, and they take their name from the matted locks
{jata) of the lord Mahadeo. Another saying of the caste
is that " The ancestor of the Rajputs was Kashyap 1 and of
the Jats Siva. In the beginning these were the only two
races of India."
No detailed description of the Jats need be attempted 7- The
here, but some information which has been obtained on central
their customs in this Province may be recorded. They Provinces,
entered the Hoshangabad District, Sir C. Elliot states,2 in
the eighteenth century, and came originally from Bharatpur
(Bhurtpur), but halted in Marwar on the way. " They are
the best cultivators in the District after the Pardeshi
Kurmis, and though they confine themselves to ordinary
crops they are very laborious, and the tilth of their fields is
pleasant to look on." For the purposes of marriage the
caste is divided into exogamous sections in the usual
manner. The bulk of the section -names cannot be ex-
plained, being probably corrupted forms of the names of
villages, but it is noticeable that several pairs of them are
considered to be related so that their members cannot
intermarry. Thus no marriages can take place between
the Golia and Gwalwa, the Choyala and Sarana, the
Bhukar and Bhari, and the Lathial and Lalar sections, as
each pair is considered to be descended from a common
ancestor.
A man may not take a wife either from his own section 8. Mar-
or that of his mother or his grandmother, nor from those "usfoms.
of the husbands of his father's sisters. For a Jat wedding
a square enclosure is marked out with pegs, and a thread
is wound seven times round the pegs touching the ground,
and covered over with rice or wheat so that it may
not be burnt. The enclosure is known as Chaonri, and
inside it the Jwm or fire sacrifice is performed with butter,
1 Kashyap was a Rlshi or saint, but tortoise,
he may probably have developed into 2 Hoshangabad Settlement Report,
an eponymous hero from Kachhap, a p. 62.
234
JAT
barley, sesamum, sugar and saffron placed on the top of
a heap of wheat -flour. After the sacrifice the bride and
bridegroom walk seven times round the Chaonri with their
right hands inwards. After this tufts of cotton are thrown
over the bodies of the bridegroom and bride and they have
to pick it off each other, the one who finishes first being
considered the winner. This is apparently a symbolical
imitation of the agricultural operation of cotton -picking.
The remarriage of widows is permitted, the ceremony being
usually performed on a Saturday. A bachelor who is to
marry a widow must first wall: seven times round a plpal
tree. Contrary to the usual custom, a widow is forbidden
to espouse her deceased husband's younger brother or any
of his relations within three degrees of consanguinity.
The dead are burnt, with the exception of children
under seven whose bodies are buried. After the death of a
married man his widow walks round his body seven times
with her left hand inwards, or in the reverse direction to the
perambulation of the Chaonri at marriage. This ceremony
is therefore, as it were, a sort of undoing of the marriage.
The women wear lac or ivory bangles, and the widow
breaks a few of these when the corpse of her husband is
lifted up to be carried outside the house. She breaks the
remaining ones on the twelfth day after the death and
throws them on the chiilha or earthen hearth.
An important occasion for display among the Jats is
known as the Paida ceremony. This is sometimes per-
formed by wealthy families when the head of the household
or his wife dies or a daughter is married. They get a long
pole of teakwood and plant it in the ground so that it
stands some forty feet high. Before being raised the pole
is worshipped with offerings of milk ; a cart-wheel is tied to
the upper end and it is then pulled erect with ropes, and if
any difficulty is experienced the celebrant believes himself to
be in fault and gives away some cows in charity. On the
axle of the cart-wheel is secured a brass pot called kaseri,
containing wheat and money, with a cloth tied over the
mouth. The pole is left standing for three days, and during
this time the celebrant feasts the Bhats or genealogists
of the caste and all the caste-fellows from his own and
ii CUSTOMS AT BIRTH 235
the surrounding villages. If the occasion of the ceremony
be a death, male and female calves are taken and their
marriage is performed ; oil and turmeric are rubbed on
their bodies, and they are led seven times round the high
pole. The heifer is then given to a Brahman, and the male,
being first branded on one flank with a figure of a trident
and on the other with a representation of the sun and moon,
is set at liberty for life, and no Hindu will injure it. This
last practice is, however, falling into desuetude, owing to the
injury which such animals inflict on the crops. A Jat who
performs the Paida ceremony obtains great consideration in
the community, and his opinion is given weight in caste
disputes. A similar liberality is observed in other ways by
wealthy men ; thus one rich proprietor in Hoshangabad,
whose son was to be married, gave a feast to all the residents
of every village through which the wedding procession passed
on its way to the bride's house. Another presented each of
his wedding guests with new cloth to the value of ten or
twelve rupees, and as in the case of a prominent family the
number of guests may be a thousand or more, the cost of
such liberality can be easily realised. Similarly Colonel Tod
states that on the occasion of their weddings the Jats of
Bikaner even blocked up the highways to obtain visitors,
whose numbers formed the measure of the liberality and
munificence of the donor of the fete. Indeed, the desire for
the social distinction which accrues to generous hosts on such
occasions has proved to be the undoing of many a once
notable family.
If a woman is barren, she is taken to the meeting of the n. Cus-
boundaries of three villages and bathed there. On the birth !on'R at
° birth.
of a boy a brass dish is hammered to announce the event,
but on that of a girl only a winnowing-fan. The navel-
string is buried in the lying-in room. When the newborn
child is a few days old, it is taken out of doors and made to
bow to the sun. When a man proposes to adopt a son the
caste-fellows are invited, and in their presence the boy is
seated in his lap, while music is played and songs are sun-
by the women. Each of the guests then comes up and pre-
sents the boy with a cocoanut, while sugar is distributed and
a feast is afterwards given.
customs.
036 J AT PART
12. Reii- The favourite deity of the caste is Siva or Mahadeo,
whom they consider to be their ultimate ancestor. On the
festival of Shivratri (Siva's night) they observe a total fast,
and pass the whole day and night singing songs in hon-
our of the god, while offerings of del1 leaves, flowers, rice
and sandalwood are made on the following morning. In
Hoshangabad the caste have two minor deities, Ramji Deo
and Bairam Deo, who are presumably the spirits of defunct
warriors. These are worshipped on the eleventh day of
every month, and many Jats wear an impression of their
images on a piece of gold or silver round the neck. On the
Dasahra festival the caste worship their swords and horses
in memory of their soldier ancestors, and they revere their
implements of husbandry on the Akshaya Tritiya of Baisakh
(June), the commencement of the agricultural year, while
each cultivator does the same on the days that he completes
the sowing of his rain crops and winter crops.
13. Social The caste employ Brahmans for the performance of their
ceremonies, and also as their gurus or spiritual preceptors.
They eat flesh and drink liquor in the Central Provinces, but
in Hoshangabad they do not consume either birds or fish ;
and when they eat mutton or the flesh of the wild pig, they
do this only outside the house, in order not to offend their
women, who will not eat flesh. In Hoshangabad the Jats,
like other immigrants from Marwar, commonly wear their
hair long and keep the face unshaven, and this gives them
rather a wild and farouche appearance among the neatly
shorn Hindus of the Nerbudda Valley.2 They are of light
complexion, the difference in shade between the Jats and
ordinary residents in the locality being apparent to the casual
observer. Their women are fond of the hollow anklets
known as bora, which contain small balls or pebbles, and
tinkle as they walk. Girls are tattooed before marriage, and
while the operation is being carried out the women of the
caste collect and sing songs to divert the sufferer's attention
from the pain. The men have pagris or turbans made of many
little strings of twisted cloth, which come down over the
ears. If a man kills a cow or a squirrel, he must stay out-
side the village for five weeks and nobody looks upon his
1 Aegle marmelos. 2 Hoshangabad Settlement Report, loc. cit.
ir SOCIAL CUSTOMS 237
face. After this he should go and bathe in the Ganges, but
if he is too poor the Nerbudda may be substituted for it with
the permission of the caste committee. The penalty for
killing a cat is almost as severe, but to slay a dog involves
no sin. If a man who has committed a murder escapes con-
viction but his guilt is known to the caste, it is absolutely
incumbent on him to go and bathe in the Ganges and be
purified there, having his head and face shaved. After this
he may be readmitted to caste intercourse. The caste
observe some curious rules or taboos : they never drink the
milk of a black cow ; their women do not have their noses
bored for nose-rings, but if a woman loses several children
she will have the nose bored of the next one which is born ;
women never wear glass bangles, but have them made of
ivory or lac and clay ; they never wear the bdzuband or
armlet with bars crossed on hinges which can be pulled in
or out, but instead of it the kara or rigid bangle ; and the
caste never keep a basil plant in the house for worship,
though they may revere it outside the house. As the basil
is the emblem of Vishnu, and the Jats consider themselves
to be descended from Siva, they would naturally not be in-
clined to pay any special respect to the plant.
The Jats are good cultivators, and at the thirty years' 14. Occu-
settlement (1865) several members of the caste held con- Patlon-
'siderable estates ; but a number of these have now been lost,
owing probably to extravagance of living. In Saugor the
Jats are commonly employed as masons or navvies.
JHADI telenga
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i . General notice.
2. Exogamoiis divisions.
3. A (/mission of outsiders.
4. Marriage.
5 . Religion.
6. Names.
7 . Magical devices.
8. Occupation.
Jhadi Teleng'a.1 — A small caste in the Bastar State who
appear to be a mixture of Gonds and the lower Telugu
castes, the name meaning ' The jungly Telugus.' Those
living in the open country are called Mandar Telengas. In
the census of 1901 these Telengas were wrongly classified
under the Balji or Balija caste. They numbered about
5000 persons. The caste have three divisions according to
their comparative purity of descent, which are named Purait,
Surait and Pohni. The son of a Purait by a woman
of different caste will be a Surait, and the son of a Surait
by such a woman will be a Pohni. Such alliances are now,
however, infrequent, and most of the Telengas in Bastar
belong to the Purait or legitimate group. A Pohni will
take cooked food from the two higher groups and a Surait
from a Purait. The last will take water from the two lower
groups, but not food.
For the purposes of marriage the caste is divided into
the usual exogamous septs, and these are further arranged
in two groups. The first group contains the following
septs : Kudmulwadu, from kudmul, a preparation of rice ;
Kolmulwadu, from kolmul, a treasure-pit ; Lingawadu, from
the linga emblem ; and Nagulwadu, a ploughman. The
second group contains the following septs: Kodamajjiwadu,
1 This article is entirely based on Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath, Super-
an account of the caste furnished by intendent, Bastar State.
238
part ii ADMISSION OF OUTSIDERS -M. / RRIAGE 239
a hunter and trapper of animals ; Wargaiwadu, one who
makes ropes from wood-fibre; Paspulwadu, one who
prepares turmeric ; Pankiwadu, one who distributes cooked
food ; Bhandariwadu, a rich man ; and one or two others.
The rule is that no man or woman of a sept belonging to
the first group should marry in any other sept of that group,
but always from some sept of the other. This, therefore,
appears to be a relic of the classificatory system of marriage,
which obtains among the Australian aborigines. The rule
is now, however, sometimes violated. The caste say that
their ancestors came from Warangal with the ruling family
of Bastar.
They will admit Brahmans, Rajputs and Halbas into 3- Admis
the community. If a man of any of these castes has a child outsiders
by a Telenga woman, this child will be considered to belong
to the same group of the Jhadi Telengas as its mother. If a
man of lower caste, such as Rawat, Dhakar, Jangam, Kumhar
or Kalar has such a child it will be admitted into the next
lower group than that to which the mother belonged. Thus
the child of a Purait woman by one of these castes will
become a Surait. A Telenga woman having a child by a
Gond, Sunar, Lobar or Mehra man is put out of caste.
A girl cannot be properly married unless the ceremony 4- Mar-
is performed before she arrives at puberty. After this she nage'
can only be married by an abridged rite, which consists of
rubbing her with oil and turmeric, investing her with glass
bangles and a new cloth, and giving a feast to the caste.
In such a case the bridegroom first goes through a sham
marriage with the branch of a mahua tree. The boy's father
looks out for a girl, and the most suitable match is considered
to be his sister's daughter. Before giving away his daughter
he must ask his wife's brother and his own sister whether
they want her for one of their sons. When setting out to
make a proposal they take the omens from a bird called Usi.
The best omen is to hear this bird's call on both sides of
them as they go into the jungle. When asking for the girl
the envoys say to her father, ' You have got rice and pulse ;
give them to us for our friend's son.' The wedding should be
held on a Monday or Thursday, and the bridegroom should
arrive at the bride's village on a Sunday, Tuesday, Wednes-
24o J HAD I TELENGA part
day or Friday. The sacred post in the centre of the marriage-
shed must be of the mahua T tree, which is no doubt held
sacred by these people, as by the Gonds, because spirituous
liquor is made from its fruit. A widow must mourn her
husband for a month, and can then marry again. But she
may not marry her late husband's brother, nor his first cousin,
nor any member of her father's sept. Divorce is allowed,
but no man will divorce his wife unless she leaves him of
her own accord or is known to be intriguing with a man
of lower caste.
5. Rdi- Each sept has a deity of its own who is usually some local
gicm- god symbolised by a wooden post or a stone. Instances of
these are Kondraj of Santoshpur represented by a wooden
pillar carved into circular form at the top ; Chikat Raj of
Bijapur by two bamboos six feet in length leaning against
a wall ; Kaunam Raj of Gongla by a stone image, and at
fairs by a bamboo with peacock's feathers tied at the top.
They offer incense, rice and a fowl to their ancestors in their
own houses in Chait (March) at the new year, and at the
festival of the new rice in Bhadon (August). At the sowing
festival they go out hunting, and those who return empty-
handed think they will have ill-luck. Each tenant also
worships the earth-goddess, whose image is then decorated
with flowers and vermilion. He brings a goat, and rice is
placed before it at her shrine. If the animal eats the
sacrifice is held to be accepted, but if not it is returned
to the owner, and it is thought that some misfortune will
befall him. The heads of all the goats offered are taken by
the priest and the bodies returned to the worshippers to be
consumed at a feast. Each village has also its tutelary god,
having a hut to himself. Inside this a post of mahua wood
is fixed in the ground and roughly squared, and a peg is
driven into it at the top. The god is represented by another
bamboo peg about two inches long, which is first worshipped
in front of the post and then suspended from it in a
receptacle. In each village the smallpox goddess is also
present in the form of a stone, either with or without a
hut over it. A Jangam or devotee of the Lingayat sect is
usually the caste priest, and at a funeral he follows the
1 Bassia latifolia.
ii NAMES—MAGICAL DEVICES 241
corpse ringing his bell. If a man is put out of caste through
getting maggots in a wound or being beaten by a shoe, he
must be purified by the Jangam. The latter rubs some
ashes on his own body and places them in the offender's
mouth, and gives him to drink some water from his own
lota in place of water from a sacred river. For this the
offender pays a fee of five rupees and a calf to the Jangam
and must also give a feast to the caste. The dead are
either buried or burnt, the head being placed to the east.
The eldest son has his head and face shaved on the death
of the father of the family, and the youngest on that of the
mother.
A child is named on the seventh or eighth day after 6. Names.
birth by the old women. If it is much given to crying they
consider the name unsuitable and change it, repeating those
of deceased relatives. When the child stops crying at the
mention of a particular name, they consider that the relative
mentioned has been born again in the child and name
it after him. Often the name of the sept is combined
with the personal name as Lingam-Lachha, Lingam-Kachchi,
Panki-Samaya, Panki-Ganglu, Panki-Buchcham, Nagul-Sama,
Nagul-Mutta.
When a man wishes to destroy an enemy he makes an 7. Magical
image of him with earth and offers a pig and goat to the dev,ces-
family god, praying for the enemy's destruction. Then the
operator takes a frog or a tree-lizard which has been kept
ready, and breaks all its limbs, thinking that the limbs of
his enemy will similarly be broken and that the man will
die. Or he takes some grains of kossa, a small millet, and
proceeds to a sdj1 or mahua tree. A pigeon is offered to
the tree and to the family god, and both are asked to
destroy the foe. The man then ascends the tree, and mutter-
ing incantations throws the grains in the direction of his
enemy thinking that they will enter his body and destroy
him. To counteract these devices a man who thinks himself
bewitched calls in the aid of a wizard, who sucks out of
his body the grains or other evil things which have been
caused to enter it as shown above. Occasionally a man will
promise a human sacrifice to his god. For this he must get
1 Boswellia serrata.
VOL. Ill K ^
tion
242 JHADI TELENGA part 11
some hair or a piece of cloth belonging to somebody else
and wash it in water in the name of the god, who may then
kill the owner of the hair or cloth and thus obtain the
sacrifice. Or the sacrificer may pick a quarrel and assault
the other person so as to draw blood from him. He picks
up a drop or two of the blood and offers it to the deity with
the same end in view.
Occupa- The caste are cultivators and farmservants, and are, as a
rule, very poor, living from hand to mouth. They practise
shifting cultivation and are too lazy to grow the more
valuable crops. They eat grain twice a day during the four
months from October to January only, and at other times eke
out their scanty provision with edible roots and leaves, and
hunt and fish in the forest like the Muria and Maria Gonds.
JOGI
[Bibliography: Sir E. Maclagan's Punjab Census Report (1S91) ; Mr.
Crooke's Tribes and Castes, articles Jogi, Kanphata and Aghorpanthi ; Mr. Kitts'
Berar Census Report (1881) ; Professor Oman's Mystics, Ascetics and Sai>i/s
of India (London : T. Fisher Unwin).]
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1 . The Yoga philosophy. 8. Burial.
2. Abstraction of the senses or n. Festivals.
autohypnotism. 1Q Caste subdivisions.
3. Breathing through either nostril. „
11 i3ecrPrin<r
4. Self-torture of the fogis. ' bi> s'
5. Resort to them for oracles. J 2- 0ther occupations.
6. Divisions of the order. x 3- Swindling practices.
7. Hair and clothes. 14. Proverbs about Jogis.
Jogi, Yogi. — The well-known order of religious mendi- r. The
cants and devotees of Siva. The Jogi or Yogi, properly so ^a
called, is a follower of the Yoga system of philosophy founded
by Patanjali, the main characteristics of which are a belief
in the power of man over nature by means of austerities and
the occult influences of the will. The idea is that one who
has obtained complete control over himself, and entirely
subdued all fleshly desires, acquires such potency of mind
and will that he can influence the forces of nature at his
pleasure. The Yoga philosophy has indeed so much sub-
stratum of truth that a man who has complete control of
himself has the strongest will, and hence the most power to
influence others, and an exaggerated idea of this power is
no doubt fostered by the display of mesmeric control and
similar phenomena. The fact that the influence which can be
exerted over other human beings through their minds in no
way extends to the physical phenomena of inanimate nature
is obvious to us, but was by no means so to the uneducated
243
tion of the
senses or
244 JOGI PART
Hindus, who have no clear conceptions of the terms mental
and physical, animate and inanimate, nor of the ideas con-
noted by them. To them all nature was animate, and all
its phenomena the results of the actions of sentient beings,
and hence it was not difficult for them to suppose that men
could influence the proceedings of such beings. And it is
a matter of common knowledge that savage peoples believe
their magicians to be capable of producing rain and fine
weather, and even of controlling the course of the sun.1 The
Hindu sacred books indeed contain numerous instances of
ascetics who by their austerities acquired such powers as to
compel the highest gods themselves to obedience.
Abstrac- The term Yoga is held to mean unity or communion
with God, and the Yogi by virtue of his painful discipline
auto- and mental and physical exercises considered himself divine.
hypnotism. „ ^& acjept acquires the knowledge of everything past and
future, remote or hidden ; he divines the thoughts of others,
gains the strength of an elephant, the courage of a lion, and
the swiftness of the wind ; flies into the air, floats in the
water, and dives into the earth, contemplates all worlds at
one glance and performs many strange things." 2
The following excellent instance of the pretensions of
the Yogis is given by Professor Oman : 3 " Wolff went also
with Mr. Wilson to see one of the celebrated Yogis who
was lying in the sun in the street, the nails of whose hands
were grown into his cheeks and a bird's nest upon his head.
Wolff asked him, ' How can one obtain the knowledge of
God?' He replied, 'Do not ask me questions; you may
look at me, for I am God.'
"It is certainly not easy at the present day," Professor
Oman states,4 " for the western mind to enter into the spirit
of the so-called Yoga philosophy ; but the student of
religious opinions is aware that in the early centuries of our
era the Gnostics, Manichaeans and Neo-Platonists derived
their peculiar tenets and practices from the Yoga-vidya of
India, and that at a later date the Sufi philosophy of Persia
drew its most remarkable ideas from the same source.5 The
1 This has been fully demonstrated 3 Quoting from Dr. George Smith's
by Sir J. G. Frazer in The Golden Life of Dr. Wilson, p. 74.
Bough. J i Ibidem, pp. 13-15.
2 Colebrooke's Essays. 6 Weber's Indian Literature, p. 239.
2. Abstrac-
tion of the
senses or
auto-
hypnotism.
244
Hindus, who h;
and physical, a
noted by them
its phenomena
and hence it wi
could influence
a matter of cor
their magician:
weather, and ev
Hindu sacred
ascetics who b}
compel the hig
The term
with God, and
and mental anc
" The adept ac
future, remote
gains the stren
the swiftness c
water, and dive
one glance and
The fol
the Yogis is t
with Mr. Wils
was lying in tl
were grown ir
Wolff asked
God ? ' He
look at me, 1
"It
O
of
-;-
tfr
to the subject in
ia and the monks
Ided that in total
d body, the pure
Ision of the Deity.
I of Mount Athos
f an abbot, who
n thou art alone
ut thy door, and
above all things
land chin on thy
iwards the middle
[ larch the place of
a will be dark and
ad night, you will
; ie soul discovered
nvolve in a mystic and
iuctio;of a distempered
stomal and an empty
s as th pure and perfect
lecessar) details, many of
ill quoteas samples, a few
red to b followed by the
luce a st:e of Samadhi —
is the cor.ition or state in
promised rivileges of Yoga.
e on the Y^a philosophy by
nder Pal." 2
i the right tlgh, and the right
d with the riat hand the right
ft hand the ft great toe (the
che back and cissing each other) ;
avicular space,ind fix the sight
left nostril, fill he stomach with
act of deglution, suspend the
Fall of the Roman Em re, chap. Ixiii.
lished in the Theosophis
ii SELF-TORTURE OF THE J r0G IS 247
is also the case with Hindus generally, as various rules con-
cerning it are prescribed for the daily prayers of Brfihmans.
To have both nostrils free and be breathing through them at
the same time is not good, and one should not begin any
business in this condition. If one is breathing only through
the right nostril and the left is closed, the condition is pro-
pitious for the following actions : To eat and drink, as diges-
tion will be quick ; to fight ; to bathe ; to study and read ;
to ride on a horse ; to work at one's livelihood. A sick
man should take medicine when he is breathing through his
right nostril. To be breathing only through the left nostril
is propitious for the following undertakings : To lay the
foundations of a house and to take up residence in a new
house ; to put on new clothes ; to sow seed ; to do service
or found a village ; to make any purchase. The Jogis prac-
tise the art of breathing in this manner by stopping up their
right and left nostril alternately with cotton-wool and breath-
ing only through the other. If a man comes to a Brahman
to ask him whether some business or undertaking will
succeed, the Brahman breathes through his nostrils on to his
hand ; if the breath comes through the right nostril the
omen is favourable and the answer yes ; if through the left
nostril the omen is unfavourable and the answer no.
The following account of the austerities of the Jogis 4. Sdf-
during the Mughal period is given by Bernier : ' " Among
the vast number and endless variety of Fakirs or Dervishes,
and holy men or Gentile hypocrites of the Indies, many live
in a sort of convent, governed by superiors, where vows of
chastity, poverty, and submission are made. So strange is
the life led by these votaries that I doubt whether my
description of it will be credited. I allude particularly to
the people called 'Jogis,' a name which signifies 'United to
God.' Numbers are seen day and night, seated or lying on
ashes, entirely naked ; frequently under the large trees near
talabs or tanks of water, or in the galleries round the Deuras
or idol temples. Some have hair hanging down to the calf
of the leg, twisted and entangled into knots, like the coats of
our shaggy dogs. I have seen several who hold one, and
some who hold both arms perpetually lifted above the head,
1 Travels in the Mughal Empire, Constable's edilion, p. 316.
torture of
the Jogis.
248 JOGI PART
the nails of their hands being twisted and longer than half
my little finger, with which I measured them. Their arms
are as small and thin as the arms of persons who die in a
decline, because in so forced and unnatural a position they
receive not sufficient nourishment, nor can they be lowered
so as to supply the mouth with food, the muscles having
become contracted, and the articulations dry and stiff.
Novices wait upon these fanatics and pay them the utmost
respect, as persons endowed with extraordinary sanctity. No
fury in the infernal regions can be conceived more horrible
than the Jogis, with their naked and black skin, long hair,
spindle arms, long twisted nails, and fixed in the posture
which I have mentioned.
" I have often met, generally in the territory of some
Raja, bands of these naked Fakirs, hideous to behold. Some
have their arms lifted up in the manner just described ; the
frightful hair of others either hung loosely or was tied and
twisted round their heads ; some carried a club like the
Hercules, others had a dry and rough tiger-skin thrown over
their shoulders. In this trim I have seen them shamelessly
walk stark naked through a large town, men, women, and
girls looking at them without any more emotion than may
be created when a hermit passes through our streets.
Females would often bring them alms with much devotion,
doubtless believing that they were holy personages, more
chaste and discreet than other men.
" Several of these Fakirs undertake long pilgrimages not
only naked but laden with heavy iron chains, such as are put
about the legs of elephants. I have seen others who, in con-
sequence of a particular vow, stood upright during seven or
eight days without once sitting or lying down, and without
any other support than might be afforded by leaning forward
against a cord for a few hours in the night ; their legs in the
meantime were swollen to the size of their thighs. Others,
again, I have observed standing steadily, whole hours
together, upon their hands, the head down and the feet in
the air. I might proceed to enumerate various other posi-
tions in which these unhappy men place their body, many
of them so difficult and painful that they could not be
imitated by our tumblers ; and all this, let it be recollected,
ii RESORT TO THEM FOR ORACLES 249
is performed from an assumed feeling of piety, of which
there is not so much as the shadow in any part of the
Indies."
The forest ascetics were credited with prophetic powers, 5. Resort
and were resorted to by Hindu princes to obtain omens and ^^.^ '
oracles on the brink of any important undertaking. This
custom is noticed by Colonel Tod in the following passage
describing the foundation of Jodhpur : x " Like the Druids of
the cells, the vana-perist Jogis, from the glades of the forest
{yanct) or recess in the rocks (gopha), issue their oracles to
those whom chance or design may conduct to their solitary
dwellings. It is not surprising that the mandates of such
beings prove compulsory on the superstitious Rajput ; we do
not mean those squalid ascetics who wander about India
and are objects disgusting to the eye, but the genuine Jogi,
he who, as the term imports, mortifies the flesh, till the wants
of humanity are restricted merely to what suffices to unite
matter with spirit, who had studied and comprehended the
mystic works and pored over the systems of philosophy,
until the full influence of Maia (illusion) has perhaps un-
settled his understanding ; or whom the rules of his sect have
condemned to penance and solitude ; a penance so severe
that we remain astonished at the perversity of reason which
can submit to it. We have seen one of these objects, self-
condemned never to lie down during forty years, and there
remained but three to complete the term. He had travelled
much, was intelligent and learned, but, far from having
contracted the moroseness of the recluse, there was a
benignity of mien and a suavity and simplicity of manner
in him quite enchanting. He talked of his penance with no
vainglory and of its approaching term without any sensation.
The resting position of this Druid (vana-perisC) was by
means of a rope suspended from the bough of a tree in the
manner of a swing, having a cross-bar, on which he reclined.
The first years of this penance, he says, were dreadfully
painful ; swollen limbs affected him to that degree that he
expected death, but this impression had long since worn off.
To these, the Druids of India, the prince and the chieftain
would resort for instruction. Such was the ascetic who re-
1 Rajasthan, ii. p. 19.
250 JOG/ PART
commended Joda to erect his castle of Jodhpur on the ' Hill
of Strife' (Jodaglr), a projecting elevation of the same range
on which Mundore was placed, and about four miles south
of it."
6. Divisions About i 5,ooo Jogis were returned from the Central Pro-
of the vinces in 191 I. They are said to be divided into twelve
Panths or orders, each of which venerates one of the twelve
disciples of Gorakhnath. But, as a rule, they do not know
the names of the Panths. Their main divisions are the
Kanphata and Aughar Jogis. The Kanphatas,1 as the name
denotes, pierce their ears and wear in them large rings
{inuudra), generally of wood, stone or glass ; the ears of a
novice are pierced by the Guru, who gets a fee of Rs. 1-4.
The earring must thereafter always be worn, and should it
be broken must be replaced temporarily by a model in cloth
before food is taken. If after the ring has been inserted the
ear tears apart, they say that the man has become useless, and
in former times he was buried alive. Now he is put out of
caste, and no tomb is erected over him when he dies. It is
said that a man cannot become a Kanphata all at once, but
must first serve an apprenticeship of twelve years as an
Aughar, and then if his Guru is satisfied he will be initiated
as a Kanphata. The elect among the Kanphatas are known
as Darshani. These do not go about begging, but remain
in the forest in a cave or other abode, and the other Jogis go
there and pay their respects ; this is called darshan, the term
used for visiting a temple and worshipping the idol. These
men only have cooked food when their disciples bring it to
them, otherwise they live on fruits and roots. The Aughars
do not pierce their ears, but have a string of black sheep's
wool round the neck to which is suspended a wooden whistle
called nadh ; this is blown morning and evening and before
meals.2 The names of the Kanphatas end in Nath and those
of the Aughars in Das.
7. Hair When a novice is initiated all the hair of his head is
clothes shaved, including the scalp-lock. If the Ganges is at hand
the Guru throws the hair into the Ganges, giving a great
feast to celebrate the occasion ; otherwise he keeps the hair
in his wallet until he and his disciple reach the Ganges and
1 Maclagan, /.c p. 115. 2 Ibidem, I.e.
ii HAIR AND CLOTHES BURIAL 251
then throws it into the river and gives the feast. After this
the Jogi lets all his hair grow until he comes to some great
shrine, when he shaves it off clean and gives it as an offering
to the god. The Jogis wear clothes coloured with red ochre
like the Jangams, Sanniasis and all the Sivite orders. The
reddish colour perhaps symbolises blood and may denote that
the wearers still sacrifice flesh and consume it. The Vaish-
navite orders usually wear white clothes, and hence the Jogis
call themselves Lai Padris (red priests), and they call the
Vaishnava mendicants Sita Padris, apparently because Sita
is the consort of Rama, the incarnation of Vishnu. When
a Jogi is initiated the Guru gives him a single bead of
rudraksha wood which he wears on a string round his neck.
He is not branded, but afterwards, if he visits the temple of
Dwarka in Gujarat, he is branded with the mark of the
conch-shell on the arm ; or if he goes on pilgrimage to the
shrine of Badri-Narayan in the Himalayas he is branded on
the chest. Copper bangles are brought from Badri-Narayan
and iron ones from the shrine of Kedarnath. A necklace
of small white stones, like juari-seeds, is obtained from the
temple of Hinglaj in the territories of the Jam of Lasbela
in Beluchistan. During his twelve years' period as a
Brahmachari or acolyte, a Jogi will make either one or
three parikramas of the Nerbudda ; that is, he walks from
the mouth at Broach to the source at Amarkantak on
one side of the river and back again on the other
side, the journey usually occupying about three years.
During each journey he lets his hair grow and at the end
of it makes an offering of all except the choti or scalp-lock
to the river. Even as a full Jogi he still retains the scalp-
lock, and this is not finally shaved off until he turns into a
Sanniasi or forest recluse. Other Jogis, however, do not
merely keep the scalp-lock but let their hair grow, plaiting
it with ropes of black wool over their heads into what is
called the jata, that is an imitation of Siva's matted locks.1
The Jogis are buried sitting cross-legged with the face 8. Burial,
to the north in a tomb which has a recess like those of
Muhammadans. A gourd full of milk and some bread in a
wallet, a crutch and one or two earthen vessels are placed in
1 Maclasjan, I.e.
252 JOGI PART
the grave for the sustenance of the soul. Salt is put on the
body and a ball of wheat-flour is laid on the breast of the
corpse and then deposited on the top of the grave.
9. The Jogis worship Siva, and their principal festival is
Festivals. ^e Shivratri, when they stay awake all night and sing songs
in honour of Gorakhnath, the founder of their order. On
the Nag-Panchmi day they venerate the cobra and they take
about snakes and exhibit them.
10. Caste A large proportion of the Jogis have now developed
jUb". into a caste, and these marry and have families. They are
divisions. J J
divided into subcastes according to the different professions
they have adopted. Thus the Barwa or Garpagari Jogis
ward off hailstorms from the standing crops ; the Manihari
are pedlars and travel about to bazars selling various small
articles ; the Rltha Bikanath prepare and sell soap-nut for
washing clothes ; the Patbina make hempen thread and
gunny - bags for carrying grain on bullocks ; and the
Ladaimar hunt jackals and sell and eat their flesh. These
Jogis rank as a low Hindu caste of the menial group. No
good Hindu caste will take food or water from them, while
they will accept cooked food from members of any caste of
respectable position, as Kurmis, Kunbis or Malis. A person
belonging to any such caste can also be admitted into the
Jogi community. Their social customs resemble those of
the cultivating castes of the locality. They permit widow-
marriage and divorce and employ Brahmans for their cere-
monies, with the exception of the Kanphatas, who have
priests of their own order.
11. Beg- Begging is the traditional occupation of the Jogis, but
glng' they have now adopted many others. The Kanphatas beg
and sell a woollen string amulet (ganda), which is put round
the necks of children to protect them from the evil eye.
They beg only from Hindus and use the cry ' Alakh,' ' The
invisible one.' l The Nandia Jogis lead about with them a
deformed ox, an animal with five legs or some other mal-
formation. He is decorated with ochre-coloured rags and
cowrie shells. They call him Nandi or the bull on which
Mahadeo rides, and receive gifts of grain from pious Hindus,
half of which they put into their wallet and give the other
1 Crooke's Tribes and Castes, ait. Kanphata.
ii OTHER OCCUPATIONS—SWINDLING PRACTICES 253
half to the animal. They usually carry on a more profitable
business than other classes of beggars. The ox is trained
to give a blessing to the benevolent by shaking its head and
raising its leg when its master receives a gift.1 Some of
the Jogis of this class carry about with them a brush of
peacock's feathers which they wave over the heads of children
afflicted with the evil eye or of sick persons, muttering texts.
This performance is known as jharna (sweeping), and is the
commonest method of casting out evil spirits.
Many Jogis have also adopted secular occupations, as 12. other
has already been seen. Of these the principal are the °joCnuspa'
Manihari Jogis or pedlars, who retail small hand-mirrors,
spangles, dyeing-powders, coral beads and imitation jewellery,
pens, pencils, and other small articles of stationery. They
also bring pearls and coral from Bombay and sell them in
the villages. The Garpagaris, who protect the crops from
hailstorms, have now become a distinct caste and are the
subject of a separate article. Others make a living by
juggling and conjuring, and in Saugor some Jogis perform
the three-card trick in the village markets, employing a con-
federate who advises customers to pick out the wrong card.
They also play the English game of Sandown, which is
known as ' Animur,' from the practice of calling out ' Any
more ' as a warning to backers to place their money on the
board before beginning to turn the fish.
These people also deal in ornaments of base metal and 13. Swind-
practise other swindles. One of their tricks is to drop a p"fctices
ring or ornament of counterfeit gold on the road. Then
they watch until a stranger picks it up and one of them
goes up to him and says, " I saw you pick up that gold ring,
it belongs to so-and-so, but if you will make it worth my
while I will say nothing about it." The finder is thus often
deluded into giving him some hush-money and the Jogis
decamp with this, having incurred no risk in connection with
the spurious metal. They also pretend to be able to con-
vert silver and other metals into gold. They ingratiate
themselves with the women, sometimes of a number of
households in one village or town, giving at first small quan-
tities of gold in exchange for silver, and binding them to
1 Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. Jogi.
254 JOG I PART II
secrecy. Then each is told to give them all the ornaments
which she desires to be converted on the same night, and
having collected as much as possible from their dupes the
Jogis make off before morning. A very favourite device
some years back was to personate some missing member of
a family who had gone on a pilgrimage. Up to within a
comparatively recent period a large proportion of the pilgrims
who set out annually from all over India to visit the famous
shrines at Benares, Jagannath and other places perished by
the way from privation or disease, or were robbed and mur-
dered, and never heard of again by their families. Many
households in every town and village were thus in the
position of having an absent member of whose fate they
were uncertain. Taking advantage of this, and having
obtained all the information he could pick up among the
neighbours, the Jogi would suddenly appear in the character
of the returned wanderer, and was often successful in keeping
up the imposture for years.1
14. Pro- The Jogi is a familiar figure in the life of the people
jogis a °Ut and there are various sayings about him:2 Jogi Jogi lar en,
khopron ka dam, or ' When Jogis fight skulls are smashed,'
that is, the skulls which some of them use as begging-cups,
not their own skulls, and with the implication that they have
nothing else to break ; Jogi jitgat jani nahhi, kapre range, to
kya hua, ' If the Jogi does not know his magic, what is the
use of his dyeing his clothes ? ' Jogi ka larka kfielega, to
sdnp se, or, ' If a snake-charmer's son plays, he plays with a
snake.'
1 Sleeman, Report on the Badkaks, Temple and Fallon's Hindustani Pro-
PP- 332, 333- verbs.
2 These proverbs are taken from
JOSHI
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
I. The village priest and astro- 9. The days of the week.
loger. 10. The lunar year.
1 . The apparent path of the sun. 1 1 . Intercalary months.
The ecliptic or zodiac. 12. Superstitions about numbers.
3. Inclination of the ecliptic to 13. The Hindu months.
the equator. 14. The solar nakshatras.
4. The orbits of the moon and 15. Lunar fortnights and days.
planets. 16. Divisions of the day.
5. The signs of the zodiac. 17. The foshi's calculations.
6. The Sankrants. 1 8. Personal names.
7. The nakshatras or constella- 19. Terminations of names.
tions of the moon's path. 20. JVomen's names.
8. The revolution of the moon. 21. Special names and bad names.
Joshi, Jyotishi, Bhadri, Parsai. — The caste of village i. The
priests and astrologers. They numbered about 6000 Vll.lase
* ° J priest and
persons in 191 1, being distributed over all Districts. The astrologer.
Joshis are nearly all Brahmans, but have now developed
into a separate caste and marry among themselves. Their
social customs resemble those of Brahmans, and need not
be described in detail. The Joshi officiates at weddings in
the village, selects auspicious names for children according
to the nakshatra or constellation of the moon under which
they were born, and points out the auspicious time or
mahurat for all such ceremonies and for the commencement
of agricultural operations. He is also sometimes in charge of
the village temples. He is supported by the contributions
from the villagers, and often has a plot of land rent-free
from the proprietor. The social position of the Joshis
is not very good, and, though Brahmans, they arc con-
sidered to rank somewhat below the cultivating castes,
255
;>56 JO SHI PART
the Kurmis and Kunbis, by whose patronage they are
supported.1
The Bhadris are a class of Joshis who wander about
and live by begging, telling fortunes and giving omens.
They avert the evil influences of the planet Saturn and
accept the gifts offered to this end, which are always black,
as black blankets, charcoal, tilli or sesamum oil, the nrad
pulse,2 and iron. People born on Saturday or being
otherwise connected with the planet are especially subject to
his malign influence. The Joshi ascertains who these un-
fortunate persons are from their horoscopes, and neutralises
the evil influence of the planet by the acceptance of the
gifts already mentioned, while he sometimes also receives a
buffalo or a cow. He computes by astrological calculations
the depth at which water will be found when a cultivator
wishes to dig a well. He also practises palmistry, classify-
ing the whorls of the fingers into two patterns, called the
Shank or conch-shell and Chakra or discus of Vishnu. The
Shank is considered to be unfortunate and the Chakra
fortunate. The lines on the balls of the toes and on the
forehead are similarly classified. When anything has been
lost or stolen the Joshi can tell from the daily nakshatra
or mansion of the moon in which the loss or theft occurred
whether the property has gone to the north, south, east or
west, and within what interval it is likely to be found. The
people have not nowadays much faith in his prophetic
powers, and they say, " If clouds come on Friday, and the
sky is black on Saturday, then the Joshi foretells that it
will rain on Sunday." The Joshi's calculations are all based
on the rasliis or signs of the zodiac through which the sun
passes during the year, and the naksliatras or those which
mark the monthly revolutions of the moon. These are
given in all Hindu almanacs, and most Joshis simply work
from the almanac, being quite ignorant of astronomy.
Since the measurement of the sun's apparent path on the
ecliptic, and the moon's orbit mapped out by the constella-
tions are of some interest, and govern the arrangement of
the Hindu calendar, it has been thought desirable to give
some account of them. And in order to make this in-
1 Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xxi. p. 184. - Phaseolus radiatus.
ii THE APPARENT PATH OF THE SI X 257
telligible it is desirable first to recapitulate some elementary
facts of astronomy.
The universe may be conceived for the purpose of 2. The
understanding the sun's path among the stars as if it were a p^thof*
huge ball, of which looking from the earth's surface we see the sun.
part of the inside with the stars marked on it, as on the ecliptic or
inside of a dome. This imaginary inside of a ball is called zodiac,
the celestial sphere, and the ancients believed that it actually
existed, and also, in order to account for the varying
distances of the stars, supposed that there were several of
them, one inside the other, and each with a number of stars
fixed to it. The sun and earth may be conceived as smaller
solid balls suspended inside this large one. Then looking
from the surface of the earth we see the sun outlined against
the inner surface of the imaginary celestial sphere. And as
the earth travels round the sun in its orbit, the appearance
to us is that the sun moves over the surface of the celestial
sphere. The following figure will make this clear.1
Aj?IUS' caprico^
Fig. 1. — The Orbit of the Earth and the Zodiac.
Thus when the earth is at A in its orbit the sun will
appear to be at M, and as the earth travels from A to B
the sun will appear to move from M to N on the line of the
ecliptic. It will be seen that as the earth in a year makes a
1 Newcomb's Astronomy for Everybody, p. 33.
VOL. Ill S
258 JOSHI PART
complete circuit round the sun, the sun will appear to have
made a complete circuit among the stars, and have come
back to its original position. This apparent movement is
annual, and has nothing to do with the sun's apparent
diurnal course over the sky, which is caused by the earth's
daily rotation on its axis. The sun's annual path among
the stars naturally cannot be observed during the day.
Professor Newcomb says : " But the fact of the motion will
be made very clear if, day after day, we watch some particular
fixed star in the west. We shall find that it sets earlier
and earlier every day ; in other words, it is getting con-
tinually nearer and nearer the sun. More exactly, since
the real direction of the star is unchanged, the sun seems to
be approaching the star.
"If we could see the stars in the daytime all round the
sun, the case would be yet clearer. We should see that if
the sun and a star were together in the morning, the sun
would, during the day, gradually work past the star in an
easterly direction. Between the rising and setting it would
move nearly its own diameter, relative to the star. Next
morning we should see that it had got quite away from the
star, being nearly two diameters distant from it. This
motion would continue month after month. At the end of
the year the sun would have made a complete circuit relative
to the star, and we should see the two once more together.
This apparent motion of the sun in one year round the
celestial sphere was noticed by the ancients, who took much
trouble to map it out. They imagined a line passing round
the celestial sphere, which the sun always followed in its
annual course, and which was called the ecliptic. They
noticed that the planets followed nearly the same course as
the sun among the stars. A belt extending on each side
of the ecliptic, and broad enough to contain all the known
planets, as well as the sun, was called the zodiac. It was
divided into twelve signs, each marked by a constellation.
The sun went through each sign in a month, and through
all twelve signs in a year. Thus arose the familiar signs of
the zodiac, which bore the same names as the constellations
among which they are situated. This is not the case at
present, owing to the precession of the equinoxes." It
ii INCLINATION OF ECLIPTIC TO THE EQUATOR 259
was by observing the paths of the sun and moon round
the celestial sphere along the zodiac that the ancients
came to be able to measure the solar and lunar months
and years.
As is well known, the celestial sphere is imagined to be 3. inclina-
spanned by an imaginary line called the celestial equator, d°?°fthe
,.,.., 1 ecliptic
which is in the same plane as the earth's equator, and as it to the
were, a vast concentric circle. The points in the celestial e(^uator-
sphere opposite the north and south terrestrial poles are
called the north and south celestial poles, and the celestial
equator is midway between these. Owing to the special
form of the earth the north celestial pole is visible to us
in the northern hemisphere, and marked very nearly by the
pole-star, its height above the horizon being equal to the
latitude of the place where the observer stands. Owing to
the daily rotation of the earth the whole celestial sphere
seems to revolve daily on the axis of the north and south
celestial poles, carrying the sun, moon and stars with it.
To this the apparent daily course of the sun and moon is
due. Their course seems to us oblique, as we are north of
the equator.
If the earth's axis were set vertically to the plane of its
orbit round the sun, then it would follow that the plane of
the equator would pass through the centre of the sun,
and that the line drawn by the sun in its apparent revolution
against the background of the celestial sphere would be in
the same plane. That is, the sun would seem to move
round a circle in the heavens in the same plane as the
earth's equator, or round the celestial equator. But the
earth's axis is inclined at 23^-° to the plane of its orbit,
and therefore the apparent path traced by the sun in
the celestial sphere, which is the same path as the earth
would really follow to an observer on the surface of the sun,
is inclined at 23^-° to the celestial equator. This is the
ecliptic, and is really the line of the plane of the earth's orbit
extended to cut the celestial sphere.
All the planets move round the sun in orbits whose 4. The
planes are slightly inclined to that of the earth, the plane of ^momi
Mercury having the greatest inclination of 6°. The plane and
of the moon's orbit round the earth is also inclined at 5° 9/ pa
26o
JOSHI
5; The
signs of
the zodiac.
to the ecliptic. The orbits of the moon and all the planets
must necessarily intersect the plane of the earth's orbit on
the ecliptic at two points, and these are called the nodes
of the moon and each planet respectively. In consequence
of the inclination being so slight, though the course of the
moon and planets is not actually on the ecliptic, they are
all so close to it that they are included in the belt of the
zodiac. Thus the moon and all the planets follow almost
the same apparent course on the zodiac or belt round the
ecliptic in the changes of position resulting from their own
and the earth's orbital movements with reference to what
are called the fixed stars.
As the sun completes his circuit of the ecliptic or zodiac
in the course of a year, it followed that if his course could
be measured and divided into periods, these periods would
form divisions of time for the year. This was what the
ancients did, and it is probable that the measurement and
division of time was the primary object of the science of
astronomy, as apart from the natural curiosity to ascertain
the movements of the sun, moon and planets, when they
were looked upon as divine beings controlling the world.
They divided the zodiac or the path of the sun into twelve
parts, and gave to each part the name of the principal
constellation situated on, or adjacent to, that section of the
line of the ecliptic. When they had done this and observed
the dates of the sun's entry into each sign or rashi, as it is
called in Hindi, they had divided the year into twelve solar
months. The following are the Hindu names and meanings
of the sisms of the zodiac :
I.
Aries.
The ram.
Mesha.
2.
Taurus.
The bull.
Vrisha.
3.
Gemini.
The twins.
Mithuna.
4.
Cancer.
The crab.
Karkati.
5-
Leo.
The lion.
Sinha.
6.
Virgo.
The virgin.
Kanya.
7-
Libra.
The balance.
Tula.
8.
Scorpio.
The scorpion.
Vrischika.
9-
Sagittarius.
The archer.
Dhanus or Chapa.
10.
Capricornus.
The goat.
Makara (said to mean a sea-
monster).
1 1.
Aquarius.
The water-bearer.
Kumbha (a water-pot).
12.
Pisces.
The fishes.
Mina.
ii THE SAN KR A NTS 261
The signs of the zodiac were nearly the same among
the Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians and Indians.
They are supposed to have originated in Chaldea or
Babylonia, and the fact that the constellations are indicated
by nearly the same symbols renders their common origin
probable. It seems likely that the existing Hindu zodiac
may have been adopted from the Greeks.
The solar year begins with the entrance of the sun into 6. The
Mesha or Aries.1 The day on which the sun passes into Sankn,nt?-
a new sign is called Sankrant, and is to some extent
observed as a holy day. But the Til Sankrant or entry of
the sun into Makara or Capricorn, which falls about the
15th January, is a special festival, because it marks approxi-
mately the commencement of the sun's northern progress
and the lengthening of the days, as Christmas roughly does
with us. On this day every Hindu who is able bathes in
a sacred river at the hour indicated by the Joshis of the
sun's entrance into the sign. Presents of til or sesamum
are given to the Joshi, owing to which the day is called Til
Sankrant. People also sometimes give presents to each
other.
The Sankrants do not mark the commencement of the 7. The
Hindu months, which are still lunar and are adjusted to the ** constel-
solar year by intercalation. It is probable that long before lations of
they were able to measure the sun's progress along the th>
ecliptic the ancients had observed that of the moon, which
it was much easier to do, as she is seen among the stars at
night. Similarly there is little reason to doubt that the
first division of time was the lunar month, which can be
remarked by every one. Ancient astronomers measured
the progress of the moon's path along the ecliptic and
divided it into twenty-seven sections, each of which repre-
sented roughly a day's march. Each section was dis-
1 Owing to the precession of the the solar year. The difference is due
equinoxes, the sidereal year is not the to slight changes in the direction of
same as the solar year, being about the earth's axis, which change the
20 minutes longer. That is, the sun position of the celestial equator and
passes a particular star a second time of the equinoctial point where the sun
in a period of 365 days 6 hours and crosses it. It is not clear how the
9 minutes, while it passes the equatorial Hindus get over this difficulty, but
point in 365 days 5 hours 4S minutes the point does not affect the general
49 seconds, this latter period being account.
262
JOSHI
tinguishcd by a group of stars either on the ecliptic or so
near it, either in the northern or southern hemisphere, as to
be occultated by the moon or capable of being in conjunction
with it or the planets. These constellations are called
nakshatras. Naturally, some of these constellations are
the same as those subsequently chosen to mark the sun's
path or the signs of the zodiac. In some cases a zodiacal
constellation is divided into two nakshatras. Like the
signs, the nakshatras were held to represent animals or
natural objects. The following is a list of them with their
corresponding stars, and the object which each was supposed
to represent : 1
Nakshatra.
Constellation.
Object.
Corresponding
zodiacal sign.
I.
Aswini.
(3 and y Arietis.
A horse's head.
Aries.
2.
Bharani.
35, 39 and 41
Arietis.
Pudendum
muliebre.
Aries.
3-
Krittika.
Pleiades.
A knife.
Part of
Taurus.
4-
Rohini.
a, y, 8, e, 6 Tauri
(Aldebaran).
A wheeled car-
riage or a
temple.
Taurus.
5-
Mrigasiras.
A, <f>v (f>q, Orionis
(Orion's head).
A deer's head.
6.
Ardra.
Betelgeux or a
Orionis (one of
Orion's arms).
A gem.
7-
Punarvasu.
Gemini or Castor
and Pollux.
A house.
Gemini.
8.
Pushya.
y, 8 and 6 Cancri.
An arrow.
Cancer.
9-
Aslesha.
8, e, iq, p and 0-
Hydrae.
A wheel.
IO.
Magha.
a, 7, e, & 1 and I1
Leonis.
A house.
Leo.
1 1.
Purva Phal-
guni.
8 and 9 Leonis.
A couch.
Leo.
12.
Uttara Phal-
guni.
/3 and 93 Leonis.
A bed.
Leo.
13-
Hasta.
a, /?, y, 8 and e
Corvi.
A hand.
14.
Chitra.
Spica (a Virginis).
A pearl.
Virgo.
15-
Swati.
Arcturus (a Bootis).
1 —
A coral bead.
1 The stars corresponding to the
nakshatras and their symbols are
mainly taken from Mr. L. D. Barnett's
Antiquities of India, pp. 190, 19 1,
compared with the list in Mr. W.
Brennand's Hindu Astronomy, pp.
40, 42.
THE REVOLUTION OF THE MOON
263
Nakshatra.
Constellation.
(
Object.
Torres ponding
zodiacal sign.
16.
Visacha.
u,/3, y and 1 Librae.
A garland.
Libra.
17.
Anuradha.
(3, 8 and tt Scor-
pionis.
A sacrifice or
offering.
Scorpio.
18.
Jyestha.
a, a- and t Scor-
pionis.
An earring.
Scorpio.
19.
Mula.
e9 t, >?> #> l> K> ^j /*>
v, Scorpionis.
A lion's tail.
Scorpio.
20.
Purva As-
hadha.
S and c Sagittarii.
A couch or an
elephant's
tusk.
Sagittarius.
21.
Uttara As-
hadha.
£ and cr Sagittarii.
An elephant's
tusk or the
singara nut.
Sagittarius,
22.
Sravana.
a, /3 and y Aquilae.
The footprint of
Vishnu.
23-
Dhanishtha.
a, (3, y and S
Delphinis.
A drum.
24.
Sata-bhishaj.
A Aquarii.
A circular jewel
or a circle.
Aquarius.
25.
Purva Bha-
drapada.
a and (3 Pegasi.
A two-faced
image.
26.
Uttara Bha-
y Pegasi and
A two-faced
drapada.
a Andromedae.
image or a
couch.
27.
Revati.
/■ Piscium.
A tabor.
Pisces.
All the zodiacal constellations are thus included in the s. The
nakshatras except Capricorn, for which Aquila and Delphinis r(:v"lutl0n
are substituted. These, as well as Hydra, are a considerable moon,
distance from the ecliptic, but may perhaps be nearer the
moon's path, which, as already seen, slightly diverges from
it. But this point has not been ascertained by me. The
moon completes the circuit of the heavens in its orbit round
the earth in a little less than a lunar month or 27 days
8 hours. As twenty-seven nakshatras were demarcated,
it seems clear that a nakshatra was meant to represent the
distance travelled by the moon in a day. Subsequently a
twenty-eighth small nakshatra was formed called Abhijit,
out of Uttarashadha and Sravana, and this may have been
meant to represent the fractional part of the day. The
days of the lunar month have each, as a matter of fact, a
naksJiatra allotted to them, which is recorded in all Hindu
almanacs, and enters largely into the Joshi's astrological
calculations. It may have been the case that prior to the
:64
JOSHI
naming- of the days of the week, the days of the lunar month
were distinguished by the names of their nakshatras, but
this could only have been among the learned. For though
there was a naksJiatra for every day of the moon's path
round the ecliptic, the same days in successive months could
not have the same nakshatras on account of what is called
the synodical revolution of the moon. The light of the
moon comes from the sun, and we see only that part of it
which is illuminated by the sun. When the moon is
between the earth and the sun, the light hemisphere is
invisible to us, and there is no moon. When the moon is
on the opposite side of the earth to the sun we see the
whole of the illuminated hemisphere, and it is full moon.
Thus in the time between one new moon and the next, the
moon must proceed from its position between the earth and
the sun to the same position again, and to do this it has
to go somewhat more than once round the ecliptic, as is
shown by the following figure.1
Fig. 2. — Revolution of the Moon round the Earth.
9. The As during the moon's circuit of the earth, the earth
week° 'e is a^so travelling on its orbit, the moon will not be
between the earth and the sun again on completion of its
1 Taken from Professor Newcomb's Astronomy for Everybody.
ii THE DA YS OF THE WEEK 265
orbit, but will have to traverse the further arc shown in the
figure to come between the earth and the sun. When the
moon has completed the circle of the ecliptic from the
position ME, its position relative to the earth has become
as NF and it has not yet come between the earth and the
sun. Hence while the moon completes the circuit of the
ecliptic : in 27 days 8 hours, the time from one new moon to
another is 29 days 13 hours. Hence the nakshatras will
not fall on the same days in successive lunar months, and
would not be suitable as names for the days. It seems
that, recognising this, the ancient astronomers had to find
other names. They had the lunar fortnights of 14 or
1 5 days from new to full and full to new moon. Hence
apparently they hit on the plan of dividing these into half
and regulating the influence which the sun, moon and planets
were believed to exercise over events in the world by allotting
one day to each of them. They knew of five planets besides
the sun and moon, and by giving a day to each of them the
seven-day week was formed. The term planet signifies a
wanderer, and it thus perhaps seemed suitable that they
should give their names to the days which would revolve
endlessly in a cycle, as they themselves did in the heavens.
The names of the days are :
Etwar or Raviwar.
Sunday.
(Ravi — the sun.)
Somvvar.
Monday.
(Soma — the moon.)
Mangalwar.
Tuesday.
(Mangal or Bhauma — Mars.)
Budhwar.
Wednesday.
(Buddha — Mercury. )
Brihaspatwar or Guru.
Thursday.
(Brihaspat or Guru — Jupiter.)
Shukurwar.
Friday.
(Shukra — Venus. )
Saniwar or Sanichara.
Saturday.
(Sani — Saturn.)
The termination vara means a day. The weekdays were
similarly named in Rome and other countries speaking Aryan
languages, and they are readily recognised in French. In
English three days are named after the sun, moon and
Saturn, but four, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,
are called after Scandinavian deities, the last three being
Woden or Odin, Thor and Freya. I do not know whether
these were identified with the planets. It is supposed that
the Hindus obtained the seven-day week from the Greeks."
1 The moon's orbit is really an planets,
ellipse like that of the earth and all the 2 Barnett, op. cit. p. 1 90.
266
JOSHI
10. The
lunar
year.
ii. Inter-
calary
months.
Four seven-day weeks were within a day and a fraction
of the lunar month, which was the nearest that could be got.
The first method of measuring the year would be by twelve
lunar months, which would bring it back nearly to the same
period. But as the lunar month is 29 days 13 hours,
twelve months would be 354 days 12 hours, or nearly
eleven days less than the tropical solar year. Hence if the
lunar year was retained the months would move back round
the year by about eleven days annually. This is what
actually happens in the Muhammadan calendar where the
twelve lunar months have been retained and the Muharram
and other festivals come earlier every year by about eleven
days.
In order to reconcile the lunar and solar years the
Hindus hit upon an ingenious device. It was ordained that
any month in which the sun did not enter a new sign of the
zodiac would not count and would be followed by another
month of the same name. Thus in the month of Chait the
sun must enter the sign Mesha or Aries. If he does not
enter it during the lunar month there will be an intercalary
Chait, followed by the proper month of the same name
during which the sun will enter Mesha.1 Such an intercalary
month is called Adhika. An intercalary month, obtained
by having two successive lunar months of the same name,
occurs approximately once in three years, and by this
means the reckoning by twelve lunar months is adjusted
to the solar year. On the other hand, the sun very
occasionally passes two Sankrants or enters into two fresh
signs during the lunar month. This is rendered possible by
the fact that the time occupied by the sun in passing through
different signs of the zodiac varies to some extent. It is
said that the zodiac was divided into twelve equal signs of
30° each or i° for each day, as at this period it was
considered that the year was 360 days.2 Possibly in
adjusting the signs to 365 odd days some alterations may
have been made in their length, or errors discovered. At
any rate, whatever may be the reason, the length of the
sun's periods in the signs, or of the solar months, varies from
1 The Indian Calendar, by Messrs.
Sewell and Dikshit, pp. n and 25.
Brennand's Hindu Astronomy, p.
ii SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT NUMBERS 267
31 clays 14 hours to 29 days 8 hours. Three of the
months are less than the lunar month, and hence it is
possible that two Sankrants or passages of the sun into a
fresh sign may occasionally occur in the same lunar month.
When this happens, following the same rule as before, the
month to which the second Sankrant properly belongs, that
is the one following that in which two Sankrants occur, is
called a Kshaya or eliminated month and is omitted from
the calendar. Intercalary months occur generally in the
3rd, 5th, 8th, nth, 14th, 16th and 18th years of a cycle
of nineteen years, or seven times in nineteen years. It is
found that in each successive cycle only one or two months
are changed, so that the same month remains intercalary for
several cycles of nineteen years and then gives way generally
to one of the months preceding and rarely to the following
month. Suppressed months occur at intervals varying from
19 to 141 years, and in a year when a suppressed month
occurs there must always be one intercalary month and not
infrequently there are two.1
This method of adjusting the solar and lunar years,
though clumsy, is so far scientific that the solar and lunar
years are made to agree without any artificial intercalation
of days. It has, however, the great disadvantages of the
frequent intercalary month, and also of the fact that the lunar
months begin on different dates in the English solar calendar,
varying by nearly twenty days.
It seems not improbable that the unlucky character of 12. Super-
the number thirteen may have arisen from its being the ^bom b
number of the intercalary month. Though the special numbers.
superstition against sitting down thirteen to a meal is, no
doubt, associated particularly with the Last Supper, the
number is generally unlucky as a date and in other connec-
tions. And this is not only the case in Europe, but the Hindus,
Persians and Parsis also consider thirteen an unlucky number ;
and the Muhammadans account for a similar superstition by
saying that Muhammad was ill for the first thirteen days of
the month Safar. Twelve, as being the number of the
months in the lunar and solar years, is an auspicious number ;
thirteen would be one extra, and as being the intercalary
1 The Indian Calendar, Sewell and Dikshit, p. 28 and Table I.
268
JOSHI
month would be here this year and missing next year.
Hence it might be supposed that one of thirteen persons met
together would be gone at their next meeting like the
month. Similarly, the auspicious character of the number
seven may be due to its being the total of the sun, moon
and five planets, and of the days of the week named after
them. And the number three may have been invested with
mystic significance as representing the sun, moon and earth.
In the Hindu Trinity Vishnu and Siva are the sun and
moon, and Brahma, who created the earth, and has since
remained quiescent, may have been the personified repre-
sentative of the earth itself.
13. The The names of the Hindu months were selected from
Hin<^!1 among those of the nakshatras. every second or third being
months. t> » J &
taken and the most important constellations apparently
chosen. The following statement shows the current names
for the months, the nakshatras from which they are derived,
and the constellations they represent :
Month.
Nakshatra.
Constellation.
I.
Chait.
Chitra.
Virgo.
2.
Baisakh.
Visacha.
Libra.
3-
Jeth.
Jyestha.
Scorpio.
4-
Asarh.
JPiirva Ashadha. ^
(Uttara Ashadha./
Sagittarius.
5-
Shrawan.
Sravana.
Aquila.
6.
Bhadon.
/Piirva (E) Bhadrapada. 1
\Uttara (N) Bhadrapada./
Pegasus.
7-
Kunwar or A
swln.
Aswini.
Aries.
8.
Kartik.
Krittika.
Pleiades (Part of
Taurus).
9-
Aghan or
Ma
rgashlr.
Mrigasiras.
Orion.
10.
Pus.
Pushya.
Cancer.
1 1.
Magh.
Magha.
Leo.
12.
Phagun.
\ Purva (E) Phalguni. )
\Uttara (N) Phalguni./
Leo.
Thus if the Pleiades are reckoned as part of Taurus,1
eight zodiacal signs give their names to months as well as
Orion, Pegasus and Aquila, while two months are included
in Leo. It appears that in former times the year began with
Pus or December, as the month Margashlr was also called
Aghan or Agrahana, or ' That which went before,' that is
1 This seems to have been done by some ancient Indian astronomers.
THE HINDU MONTHS
269
the month before the new year. But the renewal of vegeta-
tion in the spring has exercised a very powerful effect on the
primitive mind, being marked by the Holi festival in India,
corresponding to the Carnival in Europe. The vernal
equinox was thus perhaps selected as the most important
Fig. 3. — The Hindu Ecliptic showing the relative position of Zodiacal Signs
and Nakshatras,
occasion and the best date for beginning the new year, which
now commences in northern India with the new moon of
Chait, immediately following the Holi festival, when the sun
is in the sign of Mesha or Aries. At first the months
appear to have travelled round the year, but subsequently
they were fixed by ordaining that the month of Chait should
begin with the new moon during the course of which the
sun entered the sign Aries.1 The constellation Chitra, from
1 The Indian Calendar, p. 29.
270 JOS HI PART
which the sign is named, is nearly opposite to this in the
zodiac, as shown by the above figure.1
Consequently, the full moon, being nearly opposite the
sun on the ecliptic, would be in the sign Chitra or near it.
In southern India the months begin with the full moon, but
in northern India with the new moon ; it seems possible that
the months were called after the nakshatra, of the full moon
to distinguish them from the solar months which would be
called after the sign of the zodiac in which the sun was.
But no authoritative explanation seems to be available.
Similarly, the naksJiatras after which the other months are
named, fall nearly opposite to them at the new moon, while
the full moon would be in or near them.
14. The The periods during which the sun passes through each
solar nak- naks1iatra are also recorded, and they are of course constant
shatras.
in date like the solar months. As there are twenty-seven
nakshatras, the average time spent by the sun in each is about
13^ days. These periods are well known to the people as
they have the advantage of not varying in date like the
lunar months, while over most of India the solar months are
not used. The commencement of the various agricultural
operations is dated by the solar nakshatras, and there are
several proverbs about them in connection with the crops.
The following are some examples : " If it does not rain in
Pushya and Punarvasu Nakshatras the children of Nimar
will go without food." ' Rain in Magha Nakshatra (end of
August) is like food given by a mother,' because it is so
beneficial. "If there is no wind in Mrigasiras (beginning of
June), and no heat in Rohini (end of May), sell your plough-
cattle and go and look for work." ' If it rains during Uttara
(end of September) dogs will turn up their noses at grain,'
because the harvest will be so abundant. " If it rains during
Aslesha (first half of August) the wheat-stalks will be as
stout as drum-sticks " (because the land will be well ploughed).
' If rain falls in Chitra or Swati Nakshatras (October) there
won't be enough cotton for lamp-wicks.'
15. Lunar The lunar month was divided into two fortnights called
and^a^ paksha or wing. The period of the waxing moon was
known as sukla or sudi paksha, that is the light fortnight,
1 Taken from Brennand's Hindu Astronomy, p. 39.
ii DIVISIONS OF THE DAY 271
and that of the waning moon as krishna or budi paks/ta, that
is the dark fortnight.
Each lunar month was also divided into thirty equal
periods, called tithis or lunar days. Since there are less
than thirty days in the lunar month, a tithi does not corre-
spond to an ordinary day, but begins and ends at odd hours
of the day. Nevertheless the tithis are printed in all
almanacs, and are used for the calculation of auspicious
moments.1
The day is divided for ordinary purposes of measuring 16.
time into eight pahars or watches, four of the day and four D'vlMons
, . , , . . 7 ' of the day.
of the night; and into sixty gharis or periods of twenty-four
minutes each. The pahars, however, are not of equal length.
At the equinox the first and fourth paJiar of the' day and
night each contain eight gharis, and the two middle ones
seven gharis. In summer the first and fourth pahars of the
day contain nine gharis each, and the two middle ones eight
each, while the first and fourth pahars of the night contain
seven and the two middle ones six each. Thus in summer
the four day pahars contain 13 hours 36 minutes and the
night ones 10 hours 24 minutes. And in winter the exact
opposite is the case, the night pahars being lengthened and
the day ones shortened in precisely the same manner. No
more unsatisfactory measure of time could well be devised.
The termination of the second watch or do pahar always
corresponds with midday and midnight respectively.
The apparatus with which the hours were measured and
announced consisted of a shallow metal pan, named from its
office, gharial, and suspended so as to be easily struck with
a wooden mallet by the gharid/i. He measured the passing
of a ghari by an empty thin brass cup or katori, perforated
at the bottom, and placed on the surface of a large vessel
filled with water, where nothing could disturb it ; the water
came through the small hole in the bottom of the cup and
filled it, causing it to sink in the period of one ghari. At
the expiration of each ghari the gharial struck its number
from one to nine with a mallet on a brass plate, and at the
end of each pahar he struck a gujar or eight strokes to
announce the fact, followed by one to four hollow-sounding
1 Barnett, Antiquities of India, p. 193.
culations.
272 JOSHI PART
strokes to indicate the number of the pahar. This custom is
still preserved in the method by which the police-guards of
the public offices announce the hours on a" gong and subse-
quently strike four, eight and twelve strokes to proclaim
these hours of the day and night by our clock. Only
rich men could afford to maintain a gharial, as four persons
were required to attend to it during the day and four at
night.1
17. The The Joshi calculates auspicious 2 seasons by a considera-
joshi'scai- tjon Qf the sun's zodiacal sign, the moon's nakshatra or
daily mansion, and other rules. From the monthly zodiacal
signs and daily nakshatras in which children are born, as
recorded in their horoscopes, he calculates whether their
marriage will be auspicious. Thus the zodiacal signs are
supposed to be divided among the four castes, Pisces, Cancer
and Scorpio belonging to the Brahman ; Aries, Leo and
Sagittarius to the Kshatriya ; Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn
to the Vaishya ; and Gemini, Libra and Aquarius to the
Sudra. If the boy and girl were born under any of the
three signs of the same caste it is a happy conjunction. If the
boy's sign was of a caste superior to the girl's, it is suitable,
but if the girl's sign is of a superior caste to the boy's it is an
omen that she will rule the household ; and though the mar-
riage may take place, certain ceremonies should be performed
to obviate this effect. There is also a division of the zodiacal
signs according to their nature. Thus Virgo, Libra, Gemini,
Aquarius and half of Sagittarius are considered to be of the
nature of man, or formed by him ; Aries, Taurus, half of
Sagittarius and half of Capricorn are of the nature of
animals ; Cancer, Pisces and half of Capricorn are of a
watery nature ; Leo is of the desert or wild nature ; and
Scorpio is of the nature of insects. If the boy and girl were
both born under signs of the same nature their marriage will
be auspicious, but if they were born under signs of different
1 The above particulars regarding the gharis may have varied in different
the measurement of time by the gharial localities.
are taken from ' An Account of the '2 The information contained in this
Hindustani Horometry ' in Asiatic paragraph is taken from Captain
Researches, vol. v. p. 81, by John Mackintosh's Report on the Rdmosis,
Gilchrist, Esq. The account appears chap. iii. (India Office Library Tracts),
to be to some extent controversial, and in which a large variety of rules are
it is possible that the arrangement of given.
ii PERSONAL NAMES 273
natures, they will share only half the blessings and comforts
of the marriage state, and may be visited by strife, enmity,
misery or distress. As Leo and Scorpio are looked upon
as being enemies, evil consequences are much dreaded from
the marriage of a couple born under these signs. There are
also numerous rules regarding the naks/iatras or mansions
of the moon and days of the week under which the boy and
girl were born, but these need not be reproduced. If on the
day of the wedding the sun or any of the planets passes
from one zodiacal sign to another, the wedding must be
delayed for a certain number of gharis or periods of twenty-
four minutes, the number varying for each planet. The
hours of the day are severally appointed to the seven planets
and the twelve zodiacal signs, and the period of ascendancy
of a sign is known as lagan ; this name is also given to the
paper specifying the day and hour which have been calculated
as auspicious for the wedding. It is stated that no weddings
should be celebrated during the period of occultation of the
planets Jupiter and Venus, nor on the day before new moon,
nor the Sankrant or day on which the sun passes from one
zodiacal sign to another, nor in the Singhast year, when the
planet Jupiter is in the constellation Leo. This takes place
once in twelve years. Marriages are usually prohibited
during the four months of the rainy season, and sometimes
also in Pus, Jeth or other months.
The Joshi names children according to the moon's daily 18. Per-
nakshatra under which they were born, each nakshatra sonal
J m names.
having a letter or certain syllables allotted to it with which
the name must begin. Thus Magha has the syllables Ma, Mi,
Mu and Me, with which the name should begin, as Mansaram,
Mithu Lai, Mukund Singh, Meghnath ; Purwa Phalguni has
Mo and Te, as Moji Lai and Tegi Lai ; Punarvasu has Ke,
Ko, Ha and Hi, as Kesho Rao, Koshal Prasad, Hardyal and
Hlra Lai, and so on. The primitive idea connecting a name
with the thing or person to which it belongs is that the name
is actually a concrete part of the person or object, containing
part of his life, just as the hair, nails and all the body are
believed to contain part of the life, which is not at first
localised in any part of the body nor conceived of as separate
from it. The primitive mind could conceive no abstract
VOL. Ill T
274 JOSHI PART
idea, that is nothing that could not be seen or heard, and it
could not think of a name as an abstract appellation. The
name was thought of as part of that to which it was applied.
Thus, if one knew a man's name, it was thought that one
could use it to injure him, just as if one had a piece of his
hair or nails he could be injured through them because they
all contained part of his life ; and if a part of the life was
injured or destroyed the remainder would also suffer injury,
just as the whole body might perish if a limb was cut off.
For this reason savages often conceal their real names, so as
to prevent an enemy from obtaining power to injure them
through its knowledge. By a development of the same
belief it was thought that the names of gods and saints con-
tained part of the divine life and potency of the god or saint
to whom they were applied. And even separated from the
original owner the name retained that virtue which it had
acquired in association ; hence the power assigned to the
names of gods and superhuman beings when used in spells
and incantations. Similarly, if the name of a god or saint
was given to a child it was thought that some part of the
nature and virtue of the god might be conferred on the child.
Thus Hindu children are most commonly named after gods
and goddesses under the influence of this idea ; and though
the belief may now have decayed the practice continues.
Similarly the common Muhammadan names are epithets of
Allah or god or of the Prophet and his relations. Jewish
children are named after the Jewish patriarchs. In European
countries the most common male names are those of the
Apostles, as John, Peter, James, Paul, Simon, Andrew and
Thomas ; and the names of the Evangelists were, until
recently, also given. The most common girl's name in
several European countries is Mary, and a generation or two
ago other Biblical names, as Sarah, Hannah, Ruth, Rachel,
and so on, were very usually given to girls. In England
the names next in favour for boys and girls are those of
kings and queens, and the same idea perhaps originally
underlay the application of these names. The following are
some of the best-known Hindu names, taken from those
of gods : —
PERSONAL NAMES 275
Names of Vishnu.
Narayan. Probably ' The abode of mortals,' or else
' He who dwelt on the waters (before creation) ' ; now
applied to the sun.
Waman. The dwarf, one of Vishnu's incarnations.
Janardan. Said to mean protector of the people.
Narsingh. The man-lion, one of Vishnu's incarnations.
Hari. Yellow or gold-colour or green. Perhaps applied
to the sun.
Parashram. From Parasurama or Rama with the axe,
one of the incarnations of Vishnu.
Gadadhar. Wielder of the club or gada.
Jagannath. Lord of the world.
Dlnkar. The sun, or he who makes the days {din karnd).
Bhagwan. The fortunate or illustrious.
Anant. The infinite or eternal.
Madhosudan. Destroyer of the demon Madho (Madho
means honey or wine).
Pandurang. Yellow-coloured.
Names of Rama, or Vishnu's Great Incarnation as King
Rama of Ayodhia.
Ramchandra, the moon of Rama, and Rambaksh, the
gift of Rama, are the commonest Hindu male names.
Atmaram. Soul of Rama.
Sitaram. Rama and Sita his wife.
Ramcharan. The footprint of Rama.
Sakharam. The friend of Rama.
Sewaram. Servant of Rama.
Names of Krishna.
Krishna and its diminutive Kishen are very common
names.
Kanhaiya. A synonym for Krishna.
Damodar. Because his mother tied him with a rope
to a large tree to keep him quiet and he pulled up the
tree, roots and all.
Balkishen. The boy Krishna.
276 JOSHI part
Ghansiam. The dark-coloured or black one (like dark
clouds) ; probably referring to the belief that Krishna
belonged to the non-Aryan races.
Madan Mohan. The enchanter of love.
Manohar. The heart-stealer.
Yeshwant. The glorious.
Kesho. Having long, fine hair. A name of Krishna.
Also the destroyer of the demon Keshi, who was
covered with hair. It would appear that the epithet
was first applied to Krishna himself and afterwards to
a demon whom he war supposed to have destroyed.
Balwant. Strong. An epithet of Krishna, used in
conjunction with other names.
Madhava. Honey -sweet or belonging to the spring,
vernal.
Girdhari. He who held up the mountain. Krishna
held up the mountain Govardhan, balancing the peak
on his finger to protect the people from the destruc-
tive rains sent by India.
Shiamsundar. The dark and beautiful one.
Nandkishore, Nandkumar. Child of Nand the cowherd,
Krishna's foster-father.
Names of Siva.
Sadasheo. Siva the everlastinsf.
Mahadeo. The great god.
Trimbak. The three-eyed one (?).
Gangadhar. The holder of the Ganges, because it flows
from Siva's hair.
Kashinath. The lord of Benares.
Kedarnath. The lord of cedars (referring to the pine-
forests of the Himalayas).
Nllkanth. The blue-jay sacred to Siva. Name of Siva
because his throat is bluish-black either from swallow-
ing poison at the time of the churning of the ocean or
from drinking large quantities of bhang.
Shankar. He who gives happiness.
Vishwanath. Lord of the universe.
Sheo Prasad. Gift of Siva.
ii TERMINATIONS OF NAMES 277
Names of Ganpati or Ganesk.
Ganpati is itself a very common name.
Vidhyadhar. The lord of learning.
Vinayak. The remover of difficulties.
Ganesh Prasad. Gift of Ganesh. A child born on the
fourth day of any month will often be given this
name, as Ganesh was born on the 4th Bhadon (August).
Names of Hanuman.
Hanuman itself is a very common name.
Maroti, son of Marut the god of the wind.
Mahavlra or Mahablr. The strong one.
Other common sacred names are : Amrit, the divine
nectar, and Moreshwar, lord of the peacock, perhaps an
epithet of the god Kartikeya. Men are also often named
after jewels, as : Hlra Lai, diamond ; Panna Lai, emerald ;
Ratan Lai, a jewel ; Kundan Lai, fine gold. A child born
on the day of full moon may be called Puran Chand, which
means full moon. There are of course many other male
names, but those here given are the commonest. Children
are also frequently named after the day or month in which
they were born.
Common terminations of male names are : Charan, foot- 19. Ter-
print ; Das, slave ; Prasad, food offered to a god ; Lai, JUJJJS"
dear ; Datta, gift, commonly used by Maithil Brfihmans ;
Din or Baksh, which also means gift; Nath, lord of; and
Dulare, dear to. These are combined with the names of
gods, as : Kalicharan, footprint of Kali ; Ram Prasad or
Kishen Prasad, an offering to Rama or Krishna ; Bishen
Lai, dear to Vishnu ; Ganesh Datta, a gift from Ganesh ;
Ganga Din, a gift from the Ganges ; Sheo Dulare, dear to
Siva ; Vishwanath, lord of the universe. Boys are some-
times given the names of goddesses with such terminations,
as Lachmi or Janki Prasad, an offering to these goddesses.
A child born on the 8th of light Chait (April) will be
called Durga Prasad, as this day is sacred to the goddess
Durga or Devi.
Women are also frequently named after goddesses, as :
278 JOSHI PART
20. Parvati, the consort of Siva ; Slta, the wife of Rama ;
nameSenS Janki, apparently another name for Slta; Lakshmi, the
consort of Vishnu, and the goddess of wealth ; Saraswati,
the goddess of wisdom ; Radha, the beloved of Krishna ;
Dasoda, the foster - mother of Krishna ; Dewaki, who is
supposed to have been the real mother of Krishna ; Durga,
another name for Siva's consort ; Devi, the same as Durga
and the earth-goddess ; Rukhmini, the bright or shining
one, a consort of Vishnu ; and Tulsi, the basil-plant, sacred
to Vishnu.
Women are also named after the sacred rivers, as :
Ganga, Jamni or Yamuni (Jumna) ; Gomti, the river on which
Lucknow stands ; Godha or Gautam, after the Godavari
river ; and Bhagirathi, another name for the Ganges. The
river Nerbudda is commonly found as a man's name,
especially in places situated on its banks. Other names of
women are : Sona, gold ; Puna, born at the full moon ;
Manohra, enchanting ; Kamala, the lotus ; Indumati, a
moonlight night ; Sumati, well - minded ; Sushila, well-
intentioned ; Srimati, wealthy ; Amrita, nectar ; Phulwa, a
flower ; Imlia, the tamarind ; Malta, jasmine ; and so on.
If a girl is born after four sons she will be called Pancho
or fifth, and one born in the unlucky Mul Nakshatra is
called Mulia. When a girl is married and goes to her
husband's house her name is always changed there. If
two girls have been married into the household, they may
be called Bari Bohu and Choti Bohu, or the elder and
younger daughters-in-law ; or a girl may be called after the
place from which she comes, as Jabalpurwali, Raipurwali,
and so on.
21. Special The higher castes have two names, one given by the
Joshi, which is called rashi-ka-nam or the ceremonial name,
rasJii meaning the Nakshatra or moon's daily mansion under
which the child was born. This is kept secret and only
used in marriage and other ceremonies, though the practice
is now tending to decay. The other is the chaltu or current
name, and may either be a second ordinary name, such as
those already given, or it may be taken from some peculiarity
of the child. Names of the latter class are : Bhura, brown ;
Putro, a doll, given to a pretty child ; Dukali, born in
names and
bad names
ii JULAIIA 279
famine-time ; Mahinga, dear or expensive ; Chhota, little ;
Babu, equivalent to little prince or noble ; Papa, father ;
Kakku, born in the cucumber season ; Lada, pet ; Pattu, a
somersault ; Judawan, cooling, and so on. Bad names arc
also given to avert ill-luck and remove the enmity of the
spirits hostile to children, if the mother's previous babies
have been lost. Instances of these are Raisa, short in
stature ; Lula, having a maimed arm ; Ghasita, dragged
along on a board ; Damru, bought for a farthing ; Khairati,
alms ; Dukhi, pain ; Kubra, hunch-back ; Gudri, rag ; Kana,
one-eyed ; Birla, thin or lean ; Bisahu, bought or purchased ;
and Bulaki and Chedi, having a pierced nostril ; these names
are given to a boy whose nostril has been pierced to make
him resemble a girl and thus decrease his value.1 Further
instances of such names have been given in other articles.
Julaha, Momin. — A low Muhammadan caste of weavers
resident mainly in Saugor and Burhanpur. They numbered
about 4000 persons in 191 1. In Nagpur District the
Muhammadan weavers generally call themselves Momin, a
word meaning ' orthodox.' In northern India and Bengal
Julahas are very numerous and the bulk of them are
probably converted Hindus. Mr. (Sir Denzil) Ibbetson
remarks : " We find Koli-Julahas, Chamar-Julahas, Morhi-
Julahas, Ramdasi-Julahas, and so forth ; and it is probable
that after a few generations these men will drop the prefix
which denotes their low origin and become Julahas pure
and simple."2 The Julahas claim Adam as the founder of
their craft, inasmuch as when Satan made him realise his
nakedness he taught the art of weaving to his sons. And
they say that their ancestors came from Arabia. In Nimar
the Julahas or Momins assert that they do not permit out-
siders to be admitted as members of the caste, but the accu-
racy of this is doubtful, while in Saugor any Muhammadan
who wishes to do so may become a Julaha. They follow
the Muhammadan laws of marriage and inheritance. Unions
between relatives are favoured, but a man may not marry
1 Some of these names and also Names of the Punjabis.
some of the women's names have been
taken from Colonel Temple's Proper 2 Punjab Ethnography, para. 612.
280 J U LA HA part
his sister, niece, aunt or foster-sister. The Julaha or Momin
women observe no purda, and are said to be almost unique
among Muhammadans in this respect.
" The Musalman l weaver or Julaha," Sir G. Grierson
writes, " is the proverbial fool of Hindu stories and proverbs.
He swims in the moonlight across fields of flowering linseed,
thinking the blue colour to be caused by water. He hears
his family priest reading the Koran, and bursts into tears to
the gratification of the reader. When pressed to tell what
part affected him most, he says it was not that, but that the
wagging beard of the old gentleman so much reminded him
of a favourite goat of his which had died. When forming
one of a company of twelve he tries to count them and
finding himself missing wants to perform his own funeral
obsequies. He finds the rear peg of a plough and wants
to set up farming on the strength of it. He gets into a
boat at night and forgets to pull up the anchor. After
rowing till dawn he finds himself where he started, and
concludes that the only explanation is that his native
village could not bear to lose him and has followed
him. If there are eight weavers and nine huqqas, they
fight for the odd one. Once on a time a crow carried off
to the roof of the house some bread which a weaver had
given his child. Before giving the child any more he took
the precaution of removing the ladder. Like the English
fool he always gets unmerited blows. For instance, he once
went to see a ram-fight and got butted himself, as the saying
runs :
Karigah chhor taniasa jay
Nahak chot Julaha khay.
' He left his loom to see the fun and for no reason got a
bruising.' Another story (told by Fallon) is that being told
by a soothsayer that it was written in his fate that his nose
would be cut off with an axe, the weaver was incredulous and
taking up an axe, kept flourishing it, saying —
Yon karba ta gor katbon
Yon karba ta hath katbon
Aur yon karba tab net
1 This passage is taken from Sir G. Grierson's Peasant Life in Bihar,
p. 64.
ii KACHERA 28 1
1 If I do so I cut off my leg, if I do so I cut off my hand, but
unless I do so my no / and his nose was off. Another
proverb Julaha janathi jo katai, ' Does a weaver know how
to cut barley,' refers to a story (in Fallon) that a weaver
unable to pay his debt was set to cut barley by his creditor,
who thought to repay himself in this way. But instead of
reaping, the stupid fellow kept trying to untwist the tangled
barley stems. Other proverbs at his expense are : ' The
Julaha went out to cut the grass at sunset, when even the
crows were going home.' 'The Julaha's brains are in his
backside.' His wife bears an equally bad character, as in
the proverb : ' A wilful Julahin will pull her own father's
beard.' "
Kachera,1 Kachara (from kanch, glass). — The functional i. Origin
caste of makers of glass bangles. The Kacheras numbered °astge
2800 persons in the Central Provinces in 191 1, of whom
1800 were found in the Jubbulpore District. The caste say
that in former times glass bangles were made only by Turk
or Muhammadan Kacheras. The present name of Turkari
is probably derived from Turk. But when Gauri Parvati
was to be married to Mahadeo, she refused to wear the
bangles made by a Turkari. So Mahadeo constructed a
vedi or furnace, and from this sprang the first Hindu
Kachera, who was employed to make bangles for Parvati.
A later variant of the legend, having a sufficiently obvious
deduction, is that Mahadeo did not create a man, but caught
hold of a Kshatriya who happened to be present and ordered
him to make the bangles. His descendants followed the
new profession and thus came to be known as Kacheras.
It is a possible conclusion from the story that the art of
making glass bangles was introduced by the Muhammadans
and, as suggested in the article on Lakhcra, it may be the
case that Hindu women formerly wore ornaments made
of lac.
The exogamous sections of the Kacheras show that the 2. Exo-
caste is of very mixed origin. Several of them are named ground
1 This article is based on a paper Pottery and Glassware, by Mr. Jowers,
by Mr. Pancham Lai, naib-tahsildar, and some information collected by Mr.
Murwiira, with extracts from the Hira Lai.
Central Provinces Monograph on
customs.
282 KACHERA part
after other castes, as Bharia (forest tribe), Gadaria (shepherd),
Sunar, Naua (Nai), Thakurel (Thakur or Rajput), Kachhwaha
and Chauhan (septs of Rajputs), and Kuria or Kori (weaver),
and indicate that members of these castes took to the pro-
fession of bangle-making and became Kacheras. It may be
surmised that, in the first instance perhaps, when the objection
to using the product of the Muhammadan workman arose, if
the theory of the prior use of lac bangles be correct, members
of different castes took to supplying bangles for their own
community, and from these in the course of time the Kachera
caste was developed. Other names of sections worth mention-
ing are Jharraha, one who frets or worries ;. Kharraha, a
choleric person ; Dukesha, one who carries a begging-bowl ;
Thuthel, a maimed man, and Khajha, one suffering from
the itch.
3. Social The exogamous sections are known as baink. The
marriage of persons belonging to the same section and of
first cousins is forbidden. Girls are generally married at an
early age, as there is a scarcity of women in the caste, and
they are snapped up as soon as available. As a natural
consequence a considerable bride-price is paid, and the desire
of the Kachera to make a profit by the marriage of his
daughter is ridiculed in the following saying, supposed to be
his prayer : " O God, give me a daughter. In exchange
for her I shall get a pair of bullocks and a potful of rupees,
and I shall be rich for the rest of my life. As her dowry I
shall give her a sickle, a hoe and a spinning-machine, and
these will suffice for my daughter to earn her livelihood."
The usual sum paid for a girl is Rs. 50. The marriage
ceremony is performed by walking round the sacred pole,
and after it the couple try their strength against each other,
the bride trying to push a stone pestle on to a slab with her
foot and the groom pushing it off with his. At the end of
the wedding an omen is taken, a silver ornament known as
dhalx which women wear in the ear being fixed on to a
wall and milk poured over it. If the ornament is displaced
by the stream of milk and falls down, it is considered that
the union will be a happy one. The proceeding perhaps
symbolises roughly the birth of a child. The marriage of
1 Dhal means a shield, and the ornament is of this shape.
ii OCCUPATION 283
widows is permitted, and in consequence of the scarcity of
women the widow is usually married to her late husband's
younger brother, if there be one, even though he may be
only a child. Divorce is permitted. Liaisons within the
caste are usually overlooked, but a woman going wrong with
an outsider is expelled from the community. The Kacheras
commonly burn the dead. They employ Brahmans for
ceremonial purposes, but their social status is low and no
high caste will take water from them. They eat flesh and
fish, and some of them drink liquor, while others have given
it up. They have a caste committee or panchayat for the
punishment of social offences, which is headed by officials
known as Malik and Dlwan. Their favourite deity is Devi,
and in her honour they sow the Jawaras or pots of wheat
corresponding to the gardens of Adonis during the nine days
prior to the Ramnaomi and Dasahra festivals in March and
September. Some of them carry their devotion so far as to
grow the plants of wheat on their bodies, sitting in one
posture for nine days and almost giving up food and drink.
At the Diwali festival they worship the furnace in which
glass bangles are made.
The traditional occupation of the caste is the manufacture 4- Occupa-
of glass bangles. They import the glass in lumps from
northern India and melt it in their furnace, after which the
colouring matter is applied and the ring is turned on a slab of
stone. Nearly all Hindu married women have glass bangles,
which are broken or removed if their husbands die. But the
rule is not universal, and some castes do not wear them at
all. Marvvari women have bangles of ivory, and Dhangar
(shepherd) women of cocoanut - shell. Women of several
castes who engage in labour have glass bangles only on the
left wrist and metal ones on the right, as the former are too
fragile. Low-caste women sometimes wear the flat, black
bangles known as khagga on the upper arm. In many
castes the glass bangles are also broken after the birth of a
child. Bangles of many colours are made, but Hindus usually
prefer black or indigo-blue. Among Hindus of good caste a
girl may wear green bangles while she is unmarried ; at
her wedding black bangles are put on her wrists, and there-
after she may have them of black, blue, red or yellow, but
2S4 KACHERA part n
not green. Muhammadans usually wear black or dark-green
bangles. A Hindu woman has the same number of bangles
on each wrist, not less than five and more if she likes. She
will never leave her arms entirely without bangles, as she
thinks this would cause her to become a widow. Conse-
quently when a new set are purchased one or two of the old
ones are kept on each arm. Similarly among castes who
wear lac bangles like Banjaras, five should be worn, and these
cover the greater part of the space between the wrist and the
elbow. The men of the caste usually stay at home and make
the bangles, and the women trnvel about to the different
village markets, carrying their wares on little ponies if
they can afford them. It is necessary that the seller of
bangles should be a woman, as she has to assist her customers
to work them on to their wrists, and also display her goods
to high-caste women behind the purda in their homes.
The Kacheras' bangles are very cheap, from two to
fourteen being obtainable for a pice (farthing), according to
quality. Many are also broken, and the seller has to bear the
loss of all those broken when the purchaser is putting them
on, which may amount to 30 per cent. And though an
improvement on the old lac bangles, the colours are very dull,
and bracelets of better and more transparent glass imported
from Austria now find a large sale and tend to oust the
indigenous product. The Kachera, therefore, is, as a rule, far
from prosperous. The incessant bending over the furnace
tends to undermine his constitution and often ruins his eye-
sight. There is in fact a Hindi saying to the effect that,
" When the Kachera has a son the rejoicings are held in the
Kundera's (turner's) house. For he will go blind and then
he will find nothing else to do but turn the Kundera's lathe."
KACHHI
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i. Gc7ieral notice. 4. Child-birth.
2. Subdivisions. 5. Ear-Piercing.
3. Marriage customs. 6. Disposal of the dead.
Kaehhi. — An important cultivating caste of the northern 1. General
Districts, who grow vegetables and irrigated crops requiring
intensive cultivation. The distinction between the Kachhis
and Malis of the Hindustani Districts is that the former grow
regular irrigated crops, while the latter confine their operations
to vegetables and flower-gardens; whereas the Mali or Marar
of the Maratha country is both a cultivator and a gardener.
The Kachhis numbered about 120,000 persons in 191 1, and
resided mainly in the Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore and Nar-
singhpur Districts. The word Kaehhi may be derived from
kachhar, the name given to the alluvial land lying on river
banks, which they greatly affect for growing their vegetables.
Another derivation is from kachlini, a term used for the
process of collecting the opium from the capsules of the
poppy.1 The caste are probably an offshoot of the Kurmis.
Owing to the resemblance of names they claim a connection
with the Kachhwaha sept of Rajputs, but this is not at all
probable.
The caste is divided into a number of subcastes, most of 2. Sub-
which take their names from special plants which they grow.
Thus the Hardia Kachhis grow haldi or turmeric ; the Alias
cultivate the al or Indian madder, from which the well-known
red dye is obtained ; the Phulias are flower-gardeners ; the
Jirias take their name from jira or cumin ; the Murai or
Murao Kachhis are called after the mali or radish ; the Pirias
1 Crooke's Tribes and Castes, article Kaehhi.
285
nage
customs
286 KACHHI part
take their name from the piria or basket in which they carry
earth ; the Sanias grow san or hemp ; the Mor Kachhis are
those who prepare the maur or marriage-crown for weddings ;
and the Lilia subcaste are called after the indigo plant (In
or nil). In some localities they have a subcaste called
Kachhwahi, who are considered to have a connection with the
Rajputs and to rank higher than the others.
3. Mar- The social customs of the Kachhis resemble those of the
Kurmis. The descendants of the same parents do not inter-
marry for three generations. A man may have two sisters
to wife at the same time. In the Damoh District, on the
arrival of the bridegroom's party, the bride is brought into
the marriage-shed, and is there stripped to the waist while she
holds a leaf-cup in her hand ; this is probably done so that
the bridegroom may see that the bride is free from any bodily
defect. Girls are usually married before they are ten years
old, and if the parents are too poor to arrange a match for
their daughter, the caste-fellows often raise a subscription
when she attains this age and get her married. The bride-
groom should always be older than the bride, and the
difference is generally from five to ten years. The bridegroom
wears a loin-cloth and long coat reaching to the ground, both
of which are stained yellow with turmeric ; the bride wears
a red cloth or one in which red is the main colour. The
girl's father gives her a dowry of a cow or jewels, or at least
two rupees ; while the boy's father pays all the expenses of
the wedding with the exception of one feast. The bridegroom
gives the bride a present of three shoulder-cloths and three
skirts, and one of these is worn by her at the wedding ; this
is the old northern method of dress, but married women do not
usually adhere to it and have adopted the common sari or
single body-cloth. The principal ceremony is the bhanwar
or walking round the sacred post. While the bride and
bridegroom are engaged in this the parents and elderly
relatives shut themselves into the house and weep. During
the first four rounds of the post the bride walks in front
bowing her head and the bridegroom places his right hand
on her back ; while during the last three the bridegroom
walks in front holding the bride by her third finger. After
this the bride is hidden somewhere in the house and the
ii CHILD-BIRTH 287
bridegroom has to search for her. Sometimes the bride's
younger sister is dressed up in her clothes and the bridegroom
catches her in mistake for his wife, whereupon the old women
laugh and say to him, ' Do you want her also ? ' If finally he
fails to find the bride he must give her some ornament.
After the wedding the bridegroom's marriage-crown is
hung to the roof in a basket. And on the sixth day of the
following month of Bhadon (August), he again dresses himself
in his wedding clothes, and taking his marriage-crown on
a dish, proceeds to the nearest stream or river accompanied by
his friends. Here he throws the crown into the water, and
the wedding coat is washed clean of the turmeric and unsewn
and made up into ordinary clothes. This ceremony is
known as moscJiatt and is common to Hindu castes generally.
Widows are permitted to marry again, and the most usual
match is with the younger brother of the deceased husband.
Divorce is allowed at the instance either of the husband or
wife, and may be effected by a simple declaration before the
caste committee.
After a birth neither the mother nor child are given 4. Chiid-
any thing to eat the first day ; and on the second they bring ir '
a young calf and give a little of its urine to the child, and to
the mother a little sugar and the half of a cocoanut. In the
evening of this day they buy all kinds of hot spices and herbs
from a Bania and make a cake with them and give it to the
mother to eat. On the second day the child begins to drink
its mother's milk. The navel-string is cut and buried in the
room on the first day, and over it a fire is kept burning con-
tinuously during the period of impurity. The small piece
which falls from the child's body is buried beneath the
mother's bed. The period of impurity after the birth of a
girl lasts for four days and five days for a boy. On the
sixth day the mother is given rice to eat. Twelve days
after a child is born the barber's wife cuts its nails for the
first time and throws the clippings away.
The ears of boys and girls are pierced when they are 5. Ear-
four or five years old ; until this is done they are not con- Piercm£-
sidered as members of the caste and may take food from
any one. The ear is always pierced by a Sunar (goldsmith),
who travels about the country in the pursuit of this calling.
of the
dead.
288 KADERA PART
A brass pin is left in the ear for fifteen days, and is then
removed and a strip of wood is substituted for it in a boy's
ear and a peacock's feather in that of a girl to enlarge the
hole. Girls do not have their nostrils pierced nor wear nose-
rings, as the Kachhis are a comparatively low caste. They
are tattooed before or after marriage with patterns of a
scorpion, a peacock, a discus, and with dots on the chin and
cheek-bones. During the period of her monthly impurity a
girl is secluded in the house and does not eat flesh or fish.
When the time is finished she goes to the river and bathes
and dresses her hair with earth, which is a necessary ceremony
of purification.
6. Disposal The bodies of children under five and of persons dying
from smallpox, snake-bite or cholera are buried, and those of
others are cremated. In Chhindwara they do not wash or
anoint the corpses of the dead, but sprinkle on them a little
turmeric and water. On the day of the funeral or cremation
the bereaved family is supplied with food by friends. The
principal deity of the Kachhis is Bhainsasur, who is regarded
as the keeper of the vegetable garden and is represented by
a stone placed under a tree in any part of it. He is wor-
shipped once a year after the Holi festival with offerings of
vermilion, areca-nuts and cocoanuts, and libations of liquor.
The Kachhis raise all kinds of vegetables and garden crops,
the principal being chillies, turmeric, tobacco, garlic, onions,
yams and other vegetables. They are diligent and laborious,
and show much skill in irrigating and manuring their crops.
1. Histori- Kadera, Kandera, Golandaz, Bandar, Hawaidar.1 —
cai notice, j^ sman occupational caste of makers of fireworks. The
Kaderas numbered 2200 persons in 191 1, and were most
numerous in the Narsinghpur District. They consider them-
selves to have come from Bundelkhand, where the caste is
also found, but it is in greatest strength in the Gwalior State.
In former times Kaderas were employed to manufacture
gunpowder and missiles of iron, and serve cannon in the
Indian armies. The term Golandaz or ' ball-thrower ' was
also applied to native artillerymen. The Bandar or ' rocket-
throwers ' were a separate class, who fired rockets containing
1 Partly based on a paper by Munshi Kanhya Lai of the Gazetteer office.
ii SUBDIVISIONS— SOCIAL CUSTOMS 289
missiles, the name being derived from van, an arrow. With
them may be classed the Deg-anda/. or ' mortar-throwers,'
who used thick earthenware pots filled with powder and
having fuses attached, somewhat resembling the modern bomb
— missiles which inflicted dreadful wounds.1 Mr. Irvine
writes of the Mughal artillery as follows : " The fire was
never very rapid. Orme speaks of the artillery firing once
in a quarter of an hour. In 172 1 the usual rate of fire of
heavy guns was once every three hours. Artillery which
fired once in two gharis or forty-four minutes was praised
for its rapidity of action. The guns were usually posted
behind the clay walls of houses ; or they might take up
a commanding position on the top of a brick-kiln ; or a
temporary entrenchment might be formed out of the earthen
bank and ditch which usually surround a grove of mango-
trees." Hawaidar is a term for a maker of fireworks, while
the name Kandera itself may perhaps be derived from kand,
an arrow.
In Narsinghpur the Kaderas have three subcastes, 2. Sub-
Rajput or Dangiwara, Dhunka, and Matwala. The first
claim to be Rajputs, but the alternative name of Dangiwara
indicates that they are a mixed group, perhaps partly of
Rajput descent like the Dangis of Saugor. It is by no
means unlikely that the lower classes of Rajputs should have
been employed in the avocations of the Kaderas. The
term Dhunka signifies a cotton -cleaner, and some of the
Kaderas may have taken up this calling, when they could
no longer find employment in the native armies. Matwala
means a drinker of country liquor, in which members of
this group indulge. But with the exception of the Rajput
Kaderas in Narsinghpur, other members of the caste also
drink it.
They celebrate their marriages by walking round the 3. Social
sacred post. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are
permitted. They have a caste committee, with a headman
called Chaudhri or Mehtar, and an inferior officer known
as Diwan. When a man has been put out of caste the
Chaudhri first takes food with him on readmission, and for
this is entitled to a fee of a rupee and a turban, while the
1 Irvine, Army of the Mughals, pp. 158, 159.
VOL. Ill U
2go K AD ERA part
Diwan receives a smaller cloth. These offices are hereditary.
The Kaderas have no purda system, and a wife may speak
freely to her father-in-law. They bury the milk-teeth of
children below the ghinochi, or stand for water-pots, with the
idea probably of preventing heat and inflammation in the
gums. A child's jhala or birth-hair is usually cut for the
first time on the occasion of some marriage in the family,
and is thrown into the Nerbudda or buried at a temple.
Names are given by the Brahman on the day of birth or
soon afterwards, and a second pet name is commonly used
in the family. If a child sees a lamp on the chhati or sixth
day after its birth they think that it will squint.
4. Reii- The caste employ Brahmans for religious ceremonies,
gion and j-,^ their social position is low, and they rank with castes
from whom a Brahman cannot take water. On the tenth
day of Jeth (May) they worship Lukman Hakim, a personage
whom they believe to have been the inventor of gunpowder.
He is popularly identified with Solomon, and is revered
with Muhammadan rites in the shop and not in the house.
A Fakir is called in who sacrifices a goat, and makes an
offering of the head, which becomes his perquisite ; sugar-
cakes and sweet rice are also offered and given away to
children, and the flesh of the goat is eaten by the family of
the worshipper. Since the worship is paid only in the
shop it would appear that Lukman Hakim is considered a
deity foreign to the domestic religion, and is revered as
having invented the substance which enables the caste to
make their livelihood ; and since he is clearly a Muham-
madan deity, and is venerated according to the ritual of
this religion by the Kaderas, who are otherwise Hindus, a
recognition seems to be implied that as far at least as the
Kaderas are concerned the introduction of gunpowder into
India is attributed to the Muhammadans. It is not stated
whether or not the month of May was selected of set purpose
for the worship of the inventor of gunpowder, but it is at
any rate a most appropriate season in India. At present
the Kadera makes his own gunpowder and manufactures
fireworks, and in this capacity he is also known as Atashbaz.
The ingredients for gunpowder in Narsinghpur are a pound
of saltpetre, two ounces of sulphur, and four ounces of char-
ii KAIL \R 291
coal of a light wood, such as saleJi 1 or the stalks of arharr
Water is sprinkled on the charcoal and the ingredients arc
pounded together in a mortar, a dangerous proceeding which
is apt to cause occasional vacancies in the family circle.
Arsenic and potash are also used for different fireworks, and
sesamum oil is added to prevent smoke. Fireworks form a
very popular spectacle in India, and can be obtained of
excellent quality even in small towns. Bharbhunjas or
grain-parchers now also deal in them.
Kahar,3 Bhoi. — The caste of palanquin -bearers and 1. Origin
watermen of northern India. No scientific distinction can f:n5 sta"
tistics.
be made between the Kahars and Dhlmars, both names being
applied to the same people. In northern India the term
Kahar is generally used, and Mr. Crooke has an article on
Kahar, but none on Dhimar. In the Central Provinces the
latter is the more common name for the caste, and in 191 1
23,000 Kahars were returned as against nearly 300,000
Dhlmars. Berar had also 27,000 Kahars. The social
customs of the caste are described in the article on
Dhimar, but a short separate notice is given to the Kahars
on account of their special social interest. Some Kahars
refuse to clean household cooking-vessels and hence occupy
a slightly higher social position than the Dhlmars generally.
Mr. Crooke derives the name of the caste from the Sanskrit
Skandha-kara, or ' One who carries things on his shoulder.'
The Brahmanical genealogists represent the Kahar as de-
scended from a Brahman father and a Chandal or sweeper
mother, and this is typical of the position occupied by the
caste, who, though probably derived from the primitive non-
Aryan tribes, have received a special position on account of
their employment as household servants, so that all classes
may take water and cooked food at their hands. As one
of Mr. Crooke's correspondents remarks : " This caste is so
low that they clean the vessels of almost all castes except
menials like the Chamar and Dhobi, and at the same time
so high that, except Kanaujia Brahmans, all other castes eat
1 Boswellia serrata. by Mr. Sarat Chandra Sanya.1, Sessions
2 Sesamum indicum. Tudgc> Nagpur, and Mr. Abdul Samad,
3 This article is compiled from papers Tahsildar, Sohagpur.
292
KAHAR
pakki and drink water at their hands." Sir D. Ibbetson
says of the Kahar : " He is a true village menial, receiving
customary dues and performing customary service. His
social standing is in one respect high ; for all will drink
water at his hands. But he is still a servant, though the
highest of his class." This comparatively high degree of
social purity appears to have been conferred on the Kahars
and Dhlmars from motives of convenience, as it would be
intolerable to have a palanquin-bearer or indoor servant from
whom one could not take a drink of water.
The proper occupation of the Kahar is that of doli or
litter-bearer. When carts could not travel owing to the
absence of roads this was the regular mode of conveyance of
those who could afford it and did not ride. Buchanan re-
marks : " Few or none except some chief native officers of
Government keep bearers in constant pay ; but men of large
estates give farms at low rents to their bearers, who are ready
at a call and receive food when employed." x A superior kind
of litter used by rich women had a domed roof supported on
eight pillars with side-boards like Venetian blinds ; and was
carried on two poles secured to the sides beneath the roof.
This is perhaps the progenitor of the modern Calcutta ghari
or four-wheeler, just as the body of the hansom-cab was
modelled on the old sedan-chair. It was called Kharkhariya
in imitation of the rattling of the blinds when in motion.2
The pdlki or ordinary litter consisted of a couch slung under
a long bamboo, which formed an arch over it. Over the
arch was suspended a tilt made of cloth, which served to
screen the passenger from sun and rain. A third kind was
the Chaupala or square box open at the sides and slung on
a bamboo ; the passenger sat doubled up inside this. If as
was sometimes the case the Chaupala was hung considerably
beneath the bamboo the passenger was miserably draggled by
dust and mud. Nowadays regular litters are so little used
that they are not to be found in villages ; but when required
because one cannot ride or for travelling at night they are
readily improvised by slinging a native wooden cot from
two poles by strings of bamboo-fibre. Most of the Kahars and
Dhlmars have forgotten how to carry a litter, and proceed very
1 Eastern India, ii. 426. 2 Ibidem, iii. pp. 119, 120.
ii THE DOLT OR PALANQUIN 293
slowly with frequent stops to change shoulders or substitute
other bearers. But the Kols of Manclla still retain the art, and
will do more than four miles an hour for several hours if eight
men are allowed. Under native governments the privilege
of riding in a palanquin was a mark of distinction ; and a rule
was enforced that no native could thus enter into the area of
the forts in Madras and Bombay without the permission of
the Governor ; such permission being recorded in the order
book at the gates of the fort and usually granted only to a
few who were lame or otherwise incapacitated. When General
Medows assumed the office of Governor of Bombay in 1788
some Parsis waited on him and begged for the removal of
this restriction ; to which the Governor replied, " So long as
you do not force me to ride in this machine he may who
likes it " ; and so the rule was abrogated.1 A passage from
Hobson-Jobson, however, shows that the Portuguese were
much stricter in this respect : "In 1 59 1 a proclamation of
the Viceroy, Matthias d'Alboquerque, ordered : ' That no
person of what quality or condition soever, shall go in a
palanquy without my express licence, save they be over sixty
years of age, to be first proved before the Auditor-General of
Police . . . and those who contravene this shall pay a penalty
of 200 cruzados, and persons of mean estate the half, the
palanquy s and their belongings to be forfeited, and the bois
or moucos who carry such palanquy s shall be condemned to
His Majesty's galleys.' " 2 The meaning of the last sentence
appears to be that the bearers were considered as slaves, and
were forfeited to the king's service as a punishment to their
owner. As the unauthorised use of this conveyance was so
severely punished it would appear that riding in a palanquin
must have been a privilege of nobility. Similarly to ride on
a horse was looked upon in something of the same light ;
and when a person of inferior consequence met a superior
or a Government officer while riding, he had to dismount
from his horse as a mark of respect until the other had
passed. This last custom still obtains to some extent,
though it is rapidly disappearing.
As a means of conveyance the litter would be held sacred
1 Moor, Hindu Infanticide, p. 91.
2 Yule and Burnell's Hobson-Jobson, Crooke's edition, s.v. Boy.
294
KAHAR
3. Female
bearers.
4. Indoor
servants.
by primitive people, and Mr. Crooke gives an instance of the
regard paid to it : " At the Holi festival eight days before
Diwali in the western Districts the house is plastered with
cowdung and figures of a litter {dolt) and bearers are made
on the walls with four or five colours, and to them offerings
of incense, lights and flowers are given." 1 Even after pass-
able roads were made tongas or carts drawn by trotting-
bullocks were slow in coming into general use owing to the
objection felt by the Hindus to harnessing the sacred ox.
At royal courts women were employed to carry the litters
of the king and the royal ladies into the inner precincts
of the palace, the male bearers relinquishing their charge
outside. " Another class of attendants at the palace
peculiar to Lucknow were the female bearers. Their
occupation was to carry the palanquins and various covered
conveyances of the king and his ladies into the inner courts
of the harem. These female bearers were also under
military discipline. They had their officers, commissioned
and non-commissioned. The head of them, a great mascu-
line woman of pleasing countenance, was an especial favourite
of the king. The badinage which was exchanged between
them was of the freest possible character — not fit for ears
polite, of course ; but the extraordinary point in it was that
no one hearing it or witnessing such scenes could have
supposed it possible that a king and a slave stood before
him as the two chief disputants." 2 Similarly female sepoys
were employed to guard the harem, dressed in ordinary
uniform and regularly drilled and taught to shoot.3 A
battalion of female troops for guarding the zenana is still
maintained in Hyderabad.4
From being a palanquin-bearer the Kahar became the
regular indoor servant of Hindu households. Originally of
low caste, and derived from the non-Aryan tribes, they did
not object to eat the leavings of food of their masters, a
relation which is naturally very convenient, if not essential, in
poor Hindu houses. Sir H. Risley notes, however, that in
Bengal a Kahar engaged in personal service with a Brahman,
1 Tribes and Castes of the N. IV. P.,
art. Kahar.
2 Private Life of an Eastern King.
p. 207.
3 Ibidem, pp. 200, 202.
4 Stevens, In India, p. 313.
ii INDOOR SERVANTS 295
Rajput, Babhan, Kayasth or Agarwal, will only cat his
master's leavings so long as he is himself unmarried.1 It
seems that the marriage feast may be considered as the sacri-
ficial meal conferring full membership of the caste, after
which the rules against taking food from other castes must
be strictly observed. Slaves were commonly employed as
indoor servants, and hence the term Kahar came to be
almost synonymous with a slave. " In the eighteenth century
the title Kahar was at Patna the distinctive appellation of a
Hindu slave, as Maulazadah was of a Muhammadan, and the
tradition in 1774 was that the Kahar slavery took its rise
when the Muhammadans first invaded northern India." '
As the Kahar was the common indoor servant in Hindu
houses so apparently he came to be employed in the same
capacity by the English. But he was of too high a caste
to serve the food of a European, which would have involved
touching the cooked flesh of the cow, and thus lost him
his comparatively good status and social purity among the
Hindus. Hence arose the anomaly of a body servant who
would not touch his master's food, and confined himself to the
duties of a valet ; while the name of bearer given to this servant
indicates clearly that he is the successor of the old-time Kahar
or palanquin -bearer. The Uriya bearers of Bengal were
well known as excellent servants and most faithful ; but in
time the inconvenience of their refusal to wait at table has
led to their being replaced by low-caste Madrasis and by
Muhammadans. The word ' boy ' as applied to Indian
servants is no doubt of English origin, as it is also used in
China and the West Indies ; but the South Indian term boyi
or Hindi bhoi for a palanquin-bearer also appears to have
been corrupted into boy and to have made this designation
more common. The following instances of the use of the
word ' boy ' from Hobson-Johnson 3 may be quoted in con-
clusion : " The real Indian ladies lie on a sofa, and if they
drop their handkerchief they just lower their voices and say
' Boy,' in a very gentle tone " {Letters from Madras in 1826).
' Yes, Sahib, I Christian Boy. Plenty poojah do. Sunday
time never no work do ' (Trevelyan, The Daivk Bmigalow,
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. 2 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, ibidem.
Kahar. 3 S.v. Boy.
296
KAIKARI
in 1 866). The Hindu term Bhoi or bearer is now commonly
applied to the Gonds, and is considered by them as an hono-
rific name or title. The hypothesis thus appears to be
confirmed that the Kahar caste of palanquin-bearers was con-
stituted from the non-Aryan tribes, who were practically in
the position of slaves to the Hindus, as were the Chamars and
Mahars, the village drudges and labourers. But when the
palanquin-bearer developed into an indoor servant, his social
status was gradually raised from motives of convenience,
until he grew to be considered as ceremonially pure, and able
to give his master water and prepare food for cooking. Thus
the Kahars or Dhimars came to rank considerably above the
primitive tribes from whom they took their origin, their cere-
monial purity being equal to that of the Hindu cultivating
castes, while the degrading status of slavery which had at
first attached to them gradually fell into abeyance. And
thus one can understand why the Gonds should consider
the name of Bhoi or bearer as a designation of honour.
1. Origin
and
traditions.
Kaikari, Kaikadi (also called Bapgandi by outsiders).1 —
A disreputable wandering tribe, whose ostensible profession
is to make baskets. They are found in Nimar and the
Maratha Districts, and number some 2000 persons in the
Central Provinces. The Kaikaris here, as elsewhere, claim
to have come from Telingana or the Deccan, but there is no
caste of this name in the Madras Presidency. They may
not improbably be the caste there known as Korva or
Yerukala, whose occupations are similar. Mr. Kitts 2 has
stated that the Kaikaris are known as Koravars in Arcot
and as Korvas in the Carnatic. The Kaikaris speak a gipsy
language, which according to the specimen given by Hislop 3
contains Tamil and Telugu words. One derivation of
Kaikari is from the Tamil kai, hand, and hide, basket, and
if this is correct it is in favour of their identification with
the Korvas, who always carry their tattooing and other
implements in a basket in the hand.4 The Kaikaris of the
1 This article is partly compiled
from papers by Mr. G. Falconer Taylor,
Forest Divisional Officer, and by
Kanhya Lai, Clerk in the Gazetteer
office.
Berar Census Report (1881), p.
141.
:; Hi slop papers. Vocabulary.
4 Noi-th Arcot Manual, p. 247.
ORIGIN AND TRADITIONS
297
Central Provinces say that their original ancestor was one
Kanoba Ramjan who handed a twig to his sons and told
them to earn their livelihood by it. Since then they have
subsisted by making baskets from the stalks of the cotton-
plant, the leaves of the date-palm and grass. They them-
selves derive their name from Kai, standing for Kanoba
Ramjan and kadi, a twig, an etymology which may be
dismissed with that given in the Berar Census Report l that
they are the remnants of the Kaikeyas, who before the
Christian era dwelt north of the Jalandhar Doab. Two
subcastes exist in Nimar, the Marathas and the Phirasti
or wandering Kaikaris, the former no doubt representing
recruits from Maratha castes, not improbably from the
Kunbis. The Maratha Kaikaris look down on the Phirastis
as the latter take cooked food from a number of castes
including the Telis, while the Marathas refuse to do this.
In the Nagpur country there are several divisions which
profess to be endogamous, as the Kamathis or those
selling toys made of palm-leaves, the Bhamtis or those who
steal from bazars, the Kunbis or cultivators, the Tokriwalas
or makers and sellers of baskets and the Boriwalas or those
who carry bricks, gravel and stone. Kunbi and Bhamti are
the names of other castes, and Kamathi is a general term
applied in the Maratha country to Telugu immigrants ; the
names thus show that the Kaikaris, like other vagrant groups,
are largely recruited from persons expelled from their
own caste for social offences. These groups cannot really
be endogamous as yet, but as in the case of several other
wandering tribes they probably have a tendency to become
so. In Berar 2 an entirely different set of 1 2^ subcastes
is recorded, several of which are territorial, and two, the
Pungis or blowers of gourds, and the Wajantris or village
musicians, are occupational. In Nimar as in Khandcsh :!
the Kaikaris have only two exogamous clans, Jadon and
Gaikwar, who must marry with each other. In the southern
Districts there are a number of exogamous divisions, as
Jadon, Mane, Kumre, Jeshti, Kade, Dane and others. Jadon
is a well-known Rajput sept, and the Kaikaris do not explain
1 1 88 1, p. 141. - Ibidem.
3 Bombay Gazetteer (Campbell), vol. xii. p. 120.
296 KAIKARI part
in 1 866). The Hindu term Bhoi or bearer is now commonly
applied to the Gonds, and is considered by them as an hono-
rific name or title. The hypothesis thus appears to be
confirmed that the Kahar caste of palanquin-bearers was con-
stituted from the non-Aryan tribes, who were practically in
the position of slaves to the Hindus, as were the Chamars and
Mahars, the village drudges and labourers. But when the
palanquin-bearer developed into an indoor servant, his social
status was gradually raised from motives of convenience,
until he grew to be considered as ceremonially pure, and able
to give his master water and prepare food for cooking. Thus
the Kahars or Dhlmars came to rank considerably above the
primitive tribes from whom they took their origin, their cere-
monial purity being equal to that of the Hindu cultivating
castes, while the degrading status of slavery which had at
first attached to them gradually fell into abeyance. And
thus one can understand why the Gonds should consider
the name of Bhoi or bearer as a designation of honour.
Kaikari, Kaikadi (also called Bargandi by outsiders).1 —
A disreputable wandering tribe, whose ostensible profession
is to make baskets. They are found in Nimar and the
Maratha Districts, and number some 2000 persons in the
Central Provinces. The Kaikaris here, as elsewhere, claim
to have come from Telingana or the Deccan, but there is no
caste of this name in the Madras Presidency. They may
not improbably be the caste there known as Korva or
Yerukala, whose occupations are similar. Mr. Kitts2 has
stated that the Kaikaris are known as Koravars in Arcot
and as Korvas in the Carnatic. The Kaikaris speak a gipsy
language, which according to the specimen given by Hislop 3
contains Tamil and Telugu words. One derivation of
Kaikari is from the Tamil kai, hand, and kude, basket, and
if this is correct it is in favour of their identification with
the Korvas, who always carry their tattooing and other
implements in a basket in the hand.4 The Kaikaris of the
1 This article is partly compiled 2 Berar Census Report (1SS1), p.
from papers by Mr. G. Falconer Taylor, 141.
Forest Divisional Officer, and by o „. , . . . ,T , ,
Kanhya Lai, Clerk in the Gazetteer Hislop papers. Vocabulary,
office. * North Arcot Manual, p. 247.
MM
ii MARRIAGE— RELIGION 299
another should take her he is expelled from the caste until
the connection is severed. If she marries somebody else he
must repay to her late husband's brother a half of the
expenses incurred on the first marriage. In the southern
Districts she may not marry a brother of her husband's at
all. A widow cannot be married in her late husband's
house, but is taken to her parents' house and married from
there. In Nimar her family do not take anything, but in
the south they are paid a small sum. Here also the marriage
is performed at the second husband's house ; the woman
carries to it a new earthen pitcher filled with water, and,
placing it on the chauk or pattern of lines traced with flour
in the courtyard, touches the feet of the Panch or caste
committee, after which her skirt is tied to her husband's
cloth. The pair are seated on a blanket and new bangles
are placed on the woman's wrist, widows officiating at the
ceremony. The couple then leave the village and pass the
night outside it, returning next morning, when the woman
manages to enter the house without being perceived by
a married woman or unmarried girl. A bachelor marry-
ing a widow must first go through the ceremony with a ring
or akao plant, as already described, this being his real
marriage ; if he omits the rite his daughters by the widow
will not be considered as members of the caste, though his
sons will be admitted. Polygamy is allowed, but the
consent of the first wife must be obtained to the taking of
a second, and she may require a written promise of good
treatment after the second marriage. A second wife is
usually only taken if the first is barren, and if she has
children her parents usually interfere to dissuade the
husband, while other parents are always averse to giving
their daughter in marriage to a man under such circumstances.
Divorce is permitted for the usual reasons, a deed being
drawn up and attested by the panchayat, to whom the
husband pays a fine of Rs. 8 or Rs. 10.
The tutelary god of the Kaikaris is the Nag or 3. Reii
cobra, who is worshipped at marriages and on the day of glon-
Nag-Panchmi. Every family has in the house a platform
dedicated to Khandoba, the Maratha god of war. They
also worship Marlmata, to whom flowers are offered at
300 KAIKARI part
festivals, and a little ghi is poured out in her honour by
way of incense. When the juari harvest is gathered, dalias
or cakes of boiled juari and a ewe are offered to Marlmata.
They do not revere the Hindu sacred trees, the plpal and
banyan, nor the basil plant, and will readily cut them down.
They both burn and bury the dead. The Jadons burn all
married persons, but if they cannot afford firewood they
touch the corpse with a burning cinder and then bury it.
The Gaikwars always bury their dead, the corpse being
laid naked on its back with the feet pointing to the south.
On returning from the burial-ground each relative of the
deceased gives one roti or wheaten cake to the bereaved
family, and they eat, sharing the cakes with the panchayat.
Bread is also presented on the second day, and on the third
the family begin to cook again. Mourning lasts for ten
days, and on the last day the house is cleaned and the
earthen pots thrown out ; the clothes of the family are
washed and the males are shaved. Ten balls of rice cooked
in milk are offered to the soul of the dead person and a
feast is given to the caste. After a birth the mother
remains impure for five weeks. For the first five days both
the mother and child are bathed daily. The navel cord
and after-birth are buried by the midwife in a rubbish heap.
When the milk teeth fall out they are placed in a ball of
the dung of an ass and thrown on to the roof of the house.
It is considered that the rats or mice, who have very good
and sharp teeth, will take them and give the child good
teeth in exchange. Women are impure for five days
during the menstrual period. When a girl attains maturity
a ceremony called god-bhami is performed. The neighbours
are invited and songs are sung and the girl is seated in the
chauk or pattern of lines traced with flour. She is given
new clothes and bangles by her father, or her father-in-law
if she is married, and rice and plantains, cocoanuts and
other fruits are tied up in her skirt. This is no doubt
done so that the girl may in like manner be fruitful, the
cocoanuts perhaps being meant to represent human heads,
as they usually do.
The Kaikaris eat flesh, including pork and fowls, but
not beef. In Nimar the animals which they eat must have
ii SOCIAL CUSTOMS AND POSITION 301
their throats cut by a Muhammadan with the proper 4- Social
formula, otherwise it is considered as murder to slaughter '
them. Both men and women drink liquor. They take tion.
food cooked with water from Kunbis and Malis and take
water from the same castes, but not from Dhlmars, Nais
or Kahars. No caste will take food from a Kaikari. Their
touch is considered to defile a Brahman, Bania, Kalar and
other castes, but not a Kunbi. They are not allowed to
enter temples but may live inside the village. Their status
is thus very low. They have a caste pandiayat or com-
mittee, and punishments are imposed for the usual offences.
Permanent exclusion from caste is rarely or never inflicted,
and even a woman who has gone wrong with an outsider
may be readmitted after a peculiar ceremony of purification.
The delinquent is taken to a river, tank or well, and is there
shaved clean. Her tongue is branded with a ring or other
article of gold, and she is then seated under a wooden shed
having two doors. She goes in by one door and sits in
the shed, which is set on fire. She must remain seated
until the whole shed is burning and is then allowed to
escape by the other door. A young boy of the caste is
finally asked to eat from her hand, and thus purified she is
readmitted to social intercourse. Fire is the great purifier,
and this ceremony probably symbolises the immolation of
the delinquent and her new birth. A similar ordeal is
practised among the Korvas of Bombay, and this fact may
be taken as affording further evidence of the identity of
the two castes.1 The morals of the caste are, however, by
no means good, and some of them are said to live by
prostituting their women. The dog is held especially sacred
as with all worshippers of Khandoba, and to swear by a
dog is Khandoba's oath and is considered the most binding.
The Kaikaris are of dark colour and have repulsive features.
They do not bathe or change their clothes for days together.
They are also quarrelsome, and in Bombay the word
Kaikarin is a proverbial term for a dirty shrew. Women
are profusely tattooed, because tattooing is considered to be
a record of the virtuous acts performed in this world and
must be displayed to the deity after death. If no marks
1 Bombay Gazetteer (Campbell), vol. xxi. p. 172.
3o2 KALANGA part
of tattooing are found the soul is sent to hell and punished
for having acquired no piety.
5. Occupa- Basket-making is the traditional occupation of the
tion. Kaikaris and is still followed by them. They do not
however make baskets from bamboos, but from cotton-stalks,
palm-leaves and grass. In the south they are principally
employed as carriers of stone, lime, bricks and gravel. Like
most wandering castes they have a bad character. In
Berar the Ran Kaikaris are said to be the most criminal
class.1 They act under a chief who i^ elected for life, and
wander about in the cold weather, usually carrying their
property on donkeys. Their ostensible occupations are
to make baskets and mend grinding mills. A notice ol
them in Lawrence's Settlement Report of Bhandara (1867)
stated that they were then professional thieves, openly
avowing their dependence on predatory occupations for
subsistence, and being particularly dexterous at digging
through the walls of houses and secret pilfering.
l origin. Katanga. — A cultivating caste of Chhattlsgarh number-
ing 1800 persons in 191 1. In Sambalpur they live prin-
cipally in the Phuljhar zamlndari on the border, between
Chhattlsgarh and the Uriya track. The Kalangas appear
to be a Dravidian tribe who took up military service
and therefore adopted a territorial name, Kalanga being
probably derived from Kalinga, the name of the sea-board
of the Telugu country. The Kalangas may be a branch
of the great Kalingi tribe of Madras. They have mixed
much with the Kawars, and in Phuljhar say that they have
three branches, the Kalingia, Kawar and Chero Kalangas ;
Kawar and Chero are names for the same tribe, and the
last two branches are thus probably a mixture of Kalingis
and Kawars, while the first comprises the original Kalingis.
The Kalangas themselves, like the Kawars, say that they
are the descendants of the Kauravas of the Mahabharata,
and that they came from northern India with the Rajas
of Patna, whom they still serve. But their features indicate
their Dravidian descent as also their social customs,
especially that of killing a cock with the bare hands on
1 Berar Census Report (1881), p. 141.
ii SUBDIVISIONS— MARRIAGE 303
the birth of a child, and anointing the infant's forehead with
its blood. They have not retained their Telugu language,
however, and like the Kawars now speak a dialect of
Chhattlsgarhi at home, while many also know Uriya.
The Kalangas have no real endogamous divisions but 2. Sub-
a large number of exogamous groups or bargas, the names dmsions-
of which are derived from animals, plants, or material
objects, nicknames, occupations or titles. Instances of the
totemistic groups are Barha the wild boar, Magar the
crocodile, Bichhi the scorpion, Saria a variety of rice, Chhati
a mushroom, Khumri a leaf umbrella, and several others.
The members of the group revere the animal, plant or other
object from which it takes its name and would refuse to
injure it or use it for food. They salute the object
whenever they see it. Instances of other group names are
Manjhi a headman, Behra a cook, Gunda dusty, Kapat a
shutter, Bhundi a hole, Chlka muddy, Bhil a tribe, Rendia
quarrelsome, and Bersia a Thug or strangler. Some of the
nicknames or titles are curious, as for instance Kapat, a
shutter, which stands for gate-keeper, and Bhundi, a hole,
which indicates a defective person. Some of the group
names are those of other castes, and this probably indicates
the admission of families of other castes among the Kalangas.
One of the groups is called Kusundi, the meaning of which is
not known, but whenever any one of the caste gets maggots
in a wound and is temporarily expelled, it is a member
of the Kusundi group, if one is available, who gives him
water on his readmission into caste. This is a dangerous
service, because it renders the performer liable to the burden
of the other's sin, and when no Kusundi is present five
or seven men of other groups combine in doing it so as
to reduce the risk to a fraction. But why this function of
a scapegoat should be imposed upon the Kusundi group, or
whether it possesses any peculiar sanctity which protects it
from danger, cannot be explained.
Marriage within the same barga or group is prohibited 3. Mar-
and also the union of first cousins. Marriage is usually riasc-
adult and matches are arranged between the parents of the
parties. A considerable quantity of grain with five pieces
of cloth and Rs. 5 are given to the father of the bride. A
3°4
K A LANG A
marriage-shed is erected and a post of the mahua tree fixed
inside it. Three days before the wedding a Ganda goes
to the shed with some pomp and worships the village gods
there. In the ceremony the bridegroom and bride proceed
separately seven times round the post, this rite being
performed for three days running. During the four days
of the wedding the fathers of the bride and bridegroom
each give one meal to the whole caste on two days, while
the other meal on all four days is given to the wedding
party by the members of the caste resident in the village.
This may be a survival of the time when all members of
the village community were held to be related. Widow-
marriage is allowed, but the widow must obtain the consent
of the caste people before taking a second husband, and a
feast must be given to them. If the widow has no children
and there are no relatives to succeed to her late husband's
property, it is expended on feeding the caste people.
Divorce is permitted and is effected by breaking the*
woman's bangles in front of the caste panchayat. In
memory perhaps of their former military profession the
Kalangas worship the sword on the 15 th day of Shrawan
and the 9th day of Kunwar. Offerings are made to the
dead in the latter month, but not to persons who have died
a violent death. The spirits of these must be laid lest they
should trouble the living, and this is done in the following
manner : a handful of rice is placed at the threshold of the
house, and a ring is suspended by at hread so as to touch
the rice. A goat is then brought up, and when it eats the
rice, the spirit of the dead person is considered to have
entered into the goat, which is thereupon killed and eaten
by the family so as to dispose of him once for all. If the
goat will not eat the rice it is made to do so. The spirit
of a man who has been killed by a tiger must, however,
be laid by the Sulia or sorcerer of the caste, who goes
through the formula of pretending to be a tiger and of
mauling another sorcerer.
4. Social The Kalangas are at present cultivators and many of
position, them are farmservants. They do not now admit outsiders
into the caste, but they will receive the children begotten on
any woman by a Kalanga man. They take food cooked
ii SOCIAL POSITION 305
without water from a Guria, but katchi food from nobody.
Only the lowest castes will take food from them. They
drink liquor and eat fowls and rats, but not beef or pork. A
man who gets his ear torn is temporarily excluded from
caste, and this penalty is also imposed for the other usual
offences. A woman committing adultery with a man of
another caste is permanently expelled. The Kalangas are
somewhat tall in stature. Their features are Dravidian, and
in their dress and ornaments they follow the Chhattlsgarhi
style.
VOL. Ill X
KALAR
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i. Strength of the caste. 8. Drunkenness and divine in-
i. Internal structure. spiration.
3. Dandsena Kalars in Chhattis- 9. Sanctity of liquor among the
garh. Gonds and other castes.
4. Social customs. 10. Drugs also considered divine.
5 . Liquor held divine in Vedic 1 1 . Opium and ganja.
times. 12. Tobacco.
6. Subsequent prohibition of 13. Customs in con7iecfio?i with
alcohol. drinking.
7. Spirits habitually drunk in
ancient times.
I
1. strength Kalar, Kalwar:1 — The occupational caste of distillers and
of the sellers of fermented liquor. In 1 9 1 1 the Kalars numbered
nearly 200,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar,
or rather more than one per cent of the population ; so
they are a somewhat important caste numerically. The
name is derived from the Sanskrit Kalyapala, a distiller of
liquor.
2. internal The caste has a number of subdivisions, of which the
bulk are of the territorial type, as Malvi or the immigrants
from Malwa, Lad those coming from south Gujarat, Daharia
belonging to Dahar or the Jubbulpore country, Jaiswar and
Kanaujia coming from Oudh. The Rai Kalars are an
aristocratic subcaste, the word Rai signifying the highest
or ruling group like Raj. But the Byahut or ' Married ' are
perhaps really the most select, and are so called because
they forbid the remarriage of widows, their women being
thus married once for all. In Bengal they also decline to
1 Some information for this article TahsTldar, and Sundar Lai Richaria,
has been supplied by Babu Lai, Excise Sub-Inspector of Police.
Sub-Inspector, Mr. Aduram Chaudhri,
306
structure.
part ii KALAR 307
distil or sell liquor.1 The Chauske Kalars are said to be
so called because they prohibit the marriage of persons
having a common ancestor up to the fourth generation. The
name of the Seohare or Sivahare subcaste is perhaps a
corruption of Somhare or dealers in Soma, the sacred fer-
mented liquor of the Vedas ; or it may mean the worshippers
of the god Siva. The Seohare Kalars say that they are
connected with the Agarwala Banias, their common ancestors
having been the brothers Seoru and Agru. These brothers
on one occasion purchased a quantity of mahua 2 flowers ;
the price afterwards falling heavily. Agru sold his stock at
a discount and cut the loss ; but Seoru, unwilling to suffer it,
distilled liquor from his flowers and sold the liquor, thus
recouping himself for his expenditure. But in consequence
of his action he was degraded from the Bania caste and his
descendants became Kalars. The Jaisvvar, Kanaujia and
Seohare divisions are also found in northern India, and the
Byahut both there and in Bengal. Mr. Crooke states that
the caste may be an offshoot from the Bania or other Vaishya
tribes ; and a slight physical resemblance may perhaps be
traced between Kalars and Banias. It may be noticed also
that some of the Kalars are Jains, a religion to which scarcely
any others except Banias adhere. Another hypothesis, how-
ever, is that since the Kalars have become prosperous and
wealthy they devised a story connecting them with the Bania
caste in order to improve their social position.
In Chhattlsgarh the principal division of the Kalars is 3. Dand-
that of the Dandsenas or ' Stick-carriers,' and in explanation ^aiars in
of the name they relate the following story : " A Kalar boy Chhattis-
was formerly the Mahaprasad or bosom friend of the son of s"
the Rajput king of Balod.3 But the Raja's son fell in love
with the Kalar boy's sister and entertained evil intentions
towards her. Then the Kalar boy went and complained to
the Raja, who was his Phulbaba,4 the father of his friend,
saying, ' A dog is always coming into my house and defiling
it, what am I to do?' The Raja replied that he must kill
the dog. Then the boy asked whether he would be punished
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. made.
Kalar. 3 The headquarters of the Sanjari
2 Bassia latifolia, the tree from tahsll in Drug District.
whose flowers fermented liquor is 4 Phulbaba, lit. ' flower-father.'
customs.
308 KALAR part
for killing him, and the Raja said, No. So the next day as
the Rajput boy was entering his house to get at his sister,
the Kalar boy killed him, though he was his dearest friend.
Then the Rajputs attacked the Kalars, but they were led only
by the queen, as the king had said that the Kalar boy might
kill the dog. But the Rajputs were being defeated and so the
Raja intervened, and the Kalars then ceased fighting as the
Raja had broken his word. But they left Balod, saying that
they would drink no more of its waters, which they have not
done to this day." l And the Kalars are called Dandsena,
because in this fight sticks were their only weapons.
4. Social The marriage customs of the caste follow the ordinary
Hindu ritual prevalent in the locality and are not of special
interest. Before a Kalar wedding procession starts a cere-
mony known as marrying the well is performed. The mother
or aunt of the bridegroom goes to the well and sits in the
mouth with her legs hanging down inside it and asks what
the bridegroom will give her. He then goes round the well
seven times, and a stick of kdns 2 grass is thrown into it at
each turn. Afterwards he promises the woman some hand-
some present and she returns to the house. Another ex-
planation of the story is that the woman pretends to be
overcome with grief at the bridegroom's departure and
threatens to throw herself into the well unless he will give
her something. The well-to-do marry their daughters at an
early age, but no stigma attaches to those who have to post-
pone the ceremony. A bride-price is not customary, but if
the girl's parents are poor they sometimes receive help from
those of the boy in order to carry out the wedding. Matches
are usually arranged at the caste feasts, and a Brahman
officiates at the ceremony. Divorce is recognised and
widows are allowed to marry again except by the Byahut
subcaste. The Kalars worship the ordinary Hindu deities,
and those who sell liquor revere an earthen jar filled with
wine at the Holi festival. The educated are usually Vaish-
navas by sect, and as already stated a few of them belong to
the Jain religion. The social status of the Kalars is equiva-
1 This story is only transplanted, a (Rafastkan, ii. p. 441).
similar one being related by Colonel
Tod in the Annals of the Bundi State 2 Saccharum spontanenm.
ii SOCIAL CUSTOMS 309
lent to that of the village menials, ranking below the good
cultivating castes. Brahmans do not take water from their
hands. But in Mandla, where the Kalars are important
and prosperous, certain Sarwaria Brahmans who were their
household priests took water from them, thus recognising
them as socially pure. This has led to a split among the
local Sarwaria Brahmans, the families who did not take
water from the Kalars refusing to intermarry with those
who did so.
While the highest castes of Hindus eschew spirituous
liquor the cultivating and middle classes are divided, some
drinking it and others not ; and to the menial and labouring
classes, and especially to the forest tribes, it is the principal
luxury of their lives. Unfortunately they have not learnt
to Indulge in moderation and nearly always drink to excess
if they have the means, while the intoxicating effect of
even a moderate quantity is quickly perceptible in their
behaviour.
In the Central Provinces the liquor drunk is nearly all
distilled from the flowers of the mahua tree (Bassia latzfolia),
though elsewhere it is often made from cane sugar. The
smell of the fermented ■ mahua and the refuse water lying
about make the village liquor -shop an unattractive place.
But the trade has greatly profited the Kalars by the influence
which it has given them over the lower classes. " With the
control of the liquor- supply in their hands," Mr. Mont-
gomerie writes, " they also controlled the Gonds, and have
played a more important part in the past history of the
Chhindwara District than their numbers would indicate." ]
The Kalar and Teli (oil-presser) are usually about on the
same standing ; they are the creditors of the poorer tenants
and labourers, as the Bania is of the landowners and sub-
stantial cultivators. These two of the village trades are not
suited to the method of payment by annual contributions of
grain, and must from an early period have been conducted
by single transactions of barter. Hence the Kalar and Teli
learnt to keep accounts and to appreciate the importance
of the margin of profit. This knowledge and the system of
dealing on credit with the exaction of interest have stood
1 Settlement Report, p. 26.
3io KALAR part
them in good stead and they have prospered at the expense
of their fellow- villagers. The Kalars have acquired sub-
stantial property in several Districts, especially in those
mainly populated by Gonds, as Mandla, Betiil and Chhind-
wara. In British Districts of the Central Provinces they
own 750 villages, or about 4 per cent of the total. In former
times when salt was highly taxed and expensive the Gonds
had no salt. The Kalars imported rock-salt and sold it to
the Gonds in large pieces. These were hung up in the Gond
houses just as they are in stables, and after a meal every
one would go up to the lump of salt and lick it as ponies
do. When the Gonds began to wear cloth instead of leaves
and beads the Kalars retailed them thin strips of cloth just
sufficient for decency, and for the cloth and salt a large
proportion of the Gond's harvest went to the Kalar. When
a Gond has threshed his grain the Kalar takes round liquor
to the threshing-floor and receives a present of grain much
in excess of its value. Thus the Gond has sold his birthright
for a mess of pottage and the Kalar has taken his heritage.
Only a small proportion of the caste are still supported by
the liquor traffic, and a third of the whole are agriculturists.
Others have engaged in the timber trade, purchasing teak
timber from the Gonds in exchange for liquor, a form of
commerce which has naturally redounded to their great
advantage. A few are educated and have risen to good
positions in Government service. Sir D. Ibbetson describes
them as ' Notorious for enterprise, energy and obstinacy.
Death may budge, but a Kalar won't.' The Sikh Kalars,
who usually call themselves Ahluwalia, contain many men
who have attained to high positions under Government,
especially as soldiers, and the general testimony is that they
make brave soldiers.1 One of the ruling chiefs of the Punjab
belongs to this caste. Until quite recently the manufacture
of liquor, except in the large towns, was conducted in small
pot-stills, of which there was one for a circle of perhaps two
dozen villages with subordinate shops. The right of manu-
facture and vend in each separate one of these stills was sold
annually by auction at the District headquarters, and the
Kalars assembled to bid for it. And here instances of their
1 Mr. (Sir E.) Maclagan's Punjab Census Report (1891).
ii LIQUOR HELD DIVINE IN VEDIC TIMES 311
dogged perseverance could often be noticed ; when a man
would bid up for a licence to a sum far in excess of the
profits which he could hope to acquire from it, rather than
allow himself to be deprived of a still which he desired
to retain.
Though alcoholic liquor is now eschewed by the higher s. Liquor
castes of Hindus and forbidden by their religion, this has by held dlvlne
J t> » J ln Vedic
no means always been the case. In Vedic times the liquor times.
known as Soma was held in so much esteem by the Aryans
that it was deified and worshipped as one of their principal
gods. Dr. Hopkins summarises x the attributes of the divine
wine, Soma, as follows, from passages in the Rig- Veda :
" This offering of the juice of the Soma-plant in India was
performed thrice daily. It is said in the Rig-Veda that
Soma grows upon the mountain Mujawat, that its or his
father is Parjanya, the rain-god, and that the waters are his
sisters. From this mountain, or from the sky, accounts differ,
Soma was brought by a hawk. He is himself represented in
other places as a bird ; and as a divinity he shares in the
praise given to Indra. It was he who helped Indra to slay
Vritra, the demon that keeps back the rain. Indra, intoxi-
cated by Soma, does his great deeds, and indeed all the gods
depend on Soma for immortality. Divine, a weapon-bearing
god, he often simply takes the place of Indra and other gods
in Vedic eulogy. It is the god Soma himself who slays
Vritra, Soma who overthrows cities, Soma who begets the
gods, creates the sun, upholds the sky, prolongs life, sees all
things, and is the one best friend of god and man, the divine
drop (indu)> the friend of Indra. As a god he is associated
not only with Indra but also with Agni, Rudra and Pushan.
A few passages in the later portion of the Rig- Veda show
that Soma already was identified with the moon before the
end of this period. After this the lunar yellow god was
regularly regarded as the visible and divine Soma of heaven
represented on earth by the plant." Mr. Hopkins discards
the view advanced by some commentators that it is the moon
and not the beverage to which the Vedic hymns and worship
are addressed, and there is no reason to doubt that he is
right.
1 Religions of India, p. 113.
3i2 KALAR tart
The soma plant has been thought to be the Asclepias
adda,1 a plant growing in Persia and called horn in Persian.
The early Persians believed that the horn plant gave great
energy to body and mind.2 An angel is believed to preside
over the plant, and the* Horn Yast is devoted to its praises.
Twigs of it are beaten in water in the smaller Agiari or fire-
temple, and this water is considered sacred, and is given to
newborn children to drink.3 Dr. Hopkins states, however,
that the horn or Asclepias acida was not the original so?na,
as it does not grow in the Punjab region, but must have been
a later substitute. Afterwards again another kind of liquor,
sura, became the popular drink, and soma, which was now
not so agreeable, was reserved as the priests' (gods') drink, a
sacrosanct beverage not for the vulgar, and not esteemed by
the priests except as it kept up the rite.4
Soma is said to have been prepared from the juice of
the creeper already mentioned, which was diluted with
waiter, mixed with barley meal, clarified butter and the flour
of wild rice, and fermented in a jar for nine days.5 Sura
was simply arrack prepared from rice-flour, or rice-beer.
6. Sub- Though in the cold regions of Central Asia the cheering
sequent an(j warmjncr liquor had been held divine, in the hot plains
prohibition .
of alcohol, of India the evil effects of alcohol were apparently soon
realised. " Even more bold is the scorn of the gods in
Hymn x. 119 of the Rig- Veda, which introduces Indra in
his merriest humour, ready to give away everything, ready
to destroy the earth and all that it contains, boasting of his
greatness in ridiculous fashion — all this because, as the
refrain tells us, he is in an advanced state of intoxication
caused by excessive appreciation of the soma offered to him.
Another Hymn (vii. 103) sings of the frogs, comparing their
voices to the noise of a Brahmanical school and their hopping
round the tank to the behaviour of drunken priests celebrat-
ing a nocturnal offering of soma" G It seems clear, there-
fore, that the evil effects of drunkenness were early realised,
1 Apparently also called Sarcostemma 3 Ibidem.
viminalis. * Hopkins, he. cit. p. 213.
5 Rajendra Lai Mitra, Indo-Aryans,
2 Bombay Gazetteer, Parsis of Gu- ii. p. 419.
iarat, by Messrs. Nasarvanji Girvai and 6 Deussen, Outlines of Indian Philo-
Behramji Patel, p. 228, footnote. sophy, p. 12.
1 1 SPIR1 TS HA BITUA LL V DR UNK IN A NCI E NT TIMES 3 1 3
and led to a religious prohibition of alcohol. Dr. Rajendra
Lai Mitra writes : * " But the fact remains unquestioned
that from an early period the Hindus have denounced in
their sacred writings the use of wine as sinful, and two of
their greatest law-givers, Manu and Yajnavalkya, held that
the only expiation meet for a Brahman who had polluted
himself by drinking spirit was suicide by a draught of spirit
or water or cow's urine or milk, in a boiling state taken in
a burning hot metal pot. Angira, Vasishtha and Paithurasi
restricted the drink to boiling spirits alone. Dewala went
a step farther and prescribed a draught of molten silver,
copper or lead as the most appropriate. . . . Manu likewise
provides for the judicial cognisance of such offences by
Brahmans, and ordains excommunication, and branding on
the forehead the figure of a bottle as the most appropriate
punishment."
Nevertheless the consumption of alcohol was common in 7- Spirits
classical times. Bharadwaja, a great sage, offered wine to drUnktny
Bharata and his soldiers when they spent a night under his ancient
roof.2 When Sita crossed the Ganges on her way to the
southern wilderness she begged the river for a safe passage,
saying, " Be merciful to me, O Goddess, and I shall on my
return home worship thee with a thousand jars of arrack
and dishes of well-dressed flesh meat." When crossing the
Jumna she said, " Be auspicious, O Goddess ; I am crossing
thee. When my husband has accomplished his vow I shall
worship thee with a thousand head of cattle and a hundred
jars of arrack." Similarly the companions of Krishna, the
Yadavas, destroyed each other when they were overcome by
drink ; and many other instances are given by Dr. Rajendra
Lai Mitra. The Puranas abound in descriptions of wine
and drinking, and though the object of many of them is to
condemn the use of wine the inference is clear that there
was a widespread malady which they proposed to overcome.3
Pulastya, an ancient sage and author of one of the original
Smritis, enumerates twelve different kinds of liquor, besides
the soma beer which is not usually reckoned under the
head of madya or wine, and his successors have added
1 Indo- Aryans, i. p. 393. 2 Ibidem, p. 396.
3 Ibidem, p. 402.
314
KALAR
largely to the list. The twelve principal liquors of this
sage are those of the jack fruit, the grape, honey or mead,
date-liquor, palm-liquor or toddy, sugarcane-liquor, mahua-
liquor, rum and those made from long-pepper, soap-berries
and cocoanuts.1 All these drinks were not merely fermented,
but distilled and flavoured with different kinds of spices,
fruits and herbs ; they were thus varieties of spirits or
liqueurs. It is probable that without the use of glass
bottles and corks it would be very difficult to keep fermented
wine for any length of time in the Indian climate. But
spirits drunk neat as they were would produce more
markedly evil results in a hot country, and would strengthen
and accelerate the reaction against alcoholic liquor, which
has gone so far that probably a substantial majority at least
of the inhabitants of India are total abstainers. To this
good result the adoption of Buddhism as stated by Dr.
Mitra no doubt largely contributed. This was for some
centuries the state religion, and was a strong force in aid of
temperance as well as of abstention from flesh. The Sivite
revival reacted in favour of liquor drinking as well as of the
consumption of drugs. But the prohibition of alcohol 'has
again been a leading tenet of practically all the Vaishnava
reforming sects.
8. Drunk- The intoxication of alcohol is considered by primitive
enness and pe0ple as a form of divine inspiration or possession like
inspiration, epileptic fits and insanity. This is apparently the explana-
tion of the Vedic liquor, Soma, being deified as one of the
greatest gods. In later Hindu mythology, Varuni, the
goddess of wine, was produced when the gods churned the
ocean with the mountain Mandara as a churning-stick on
the back of the tortoise, Vishnu, and the serpent as a rope,
for the purpose of restoring to man the comforts lost during
the great flood.2 Varuni was considered to be the consort
of Varuna, the Vedic Neptune.
Similarly the Bacchantes in their drunken frenzy were
considered to be possessed by the wine - god Dionysus.
" The Aztecs regarded pulque or the wine of the country as
bad, on account of the wild deeds which men did under its
1 l 'ndo- Aryans, i. p. 411.
2 Garrett's Classical Dictionary, s.v. Varuni and Vishnu.
ii DRUNKENNESS AND DIVINE INSPIRATION 315
influence. But these wild deeds were believed to be the
acts, not of the drunken man, but of the wine-god by whom
he was possessed and inspired ; and so seriously was this
theory of inspiration held that if any one spoke ill of or
insulted a tipsy man, he was liable to be punished for
disrespect to the wine -god incarnate in his votary." 1
Sir James Frazer thinks that the grape-juice was also
considered to be the blood of the vine. At one time
the arrack or rice-beer liquor was also considered by
the Hindus as holy and purifying. Siva says to his
consort : " Oh, sweet-speaking goddess, the salvation of
Brahmans depends on drinking wine. . . . No one becomes
a Brahman by repeating the Gayatri, the mother of the
Vedas ; he is called a Brahman only when he has know-
ledge of Brahma. The ambrosia of the gods is their
Brahma, and on earth it is arrack, and because one attains
the character of a god {suratvd) therefore is arrack called
sttra." 2 , The Sakta Tantras insist upon the use of wine as
an element of devotion. The Kaulas, who are the most
ardent followers of the Sakta Tantras, celebrate their rites
at midnight in a closed room, when they sit in a circle
round a jar of country arrack, one or more young women of
a lewd character being in the company ; they drink, drink
and drink until they fall down on the ground in utter
helplessness, then rising again they drink in the hope of
never having a second birth.3 " I knew a highly respectable
widow lady, connected with one of the most distinguished
families in Calcutta, who belonged to the Kaula sect, and
had survived the 75 th anniversary of her birthday, who
never said her prayers (and she did so regularly every
morning and evening) without touching the point of her
tongue with a tooth-pick dipped in a phial of arrack, and
sprinkling a few drops of the liquor on the flowers which
she offered to her god. I doubt very much if she had ever
drunk a wine-glassful of arrack at once in all her life, and
certain it is that she never had any idea of the pleasures of
drinking ; but as a faithful Kaula she felt herself in duty
bound to observe the mandates of her religion with the
1 The Golden Bough, 2nd edition, 2 Indo-Aryans, pp. 408, 409.
i. pp. 359, 360. 3 Ibidem, pp. 404, 405.
ii6
KALAR
g. Sanctity
of liquor
among
the Gonds
and other
castes.
greatest scrupulousness." a In this case it seems clear that
the liquor was considered to have a purifying effect, which
was perhaps especially requisite for the offerings of a widow.
Similarly the Gonds and Baigas revere the mahua tree
and consider the liquor distilled from its flowers as sacred
and purificatory. At a Gond wedding the sacred post round
which the couple go is made of the wood of the mahua tree.
The Bhatras of Bastar also use the mahua for the wedding
post, and the Sonkars of Chhattlsgarh a forked branch of the
tree. Minor caste offences are expiated among the Gonds
by a fine of liquor, and by drinking it the culprit is purified.
At a Gond funeral one man may be seen walking with a bottle
or two of liquor slung to his side ; this is drunk by all the
party on the spot after the burial or burning of the corpse
as a means of purification. Among the Korwas and other
tribes the Baiga or priest protects the village from ghosts by
sprinkling a line of liquor all round the boundary, over which
the ghosts cannot pass. Similarly during epidemics of
cholera liquor is largely used in the rites of the Baigas for
averting the disease and is offered to the goddess. At their
weddings the Mahars drink together ceremoniously, a pot of
liquor being placed on a folded cloth and all the guests
sitting round it in a circle. An elder man then lays a new
piece of cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup
of the liquor himself and hands round a cupful to every
person present. At the Hareli or festival of the new green
vegetation in July the Gonds take the branches of four kinds
of trees and place them at the corners of their fields and also
inside the house over the door. They pour ghl (butter) on
the fire as incense and an offering to the deities. Then they
go to the meeting-place of the village and there they all take
a bottle or two of liquor each and drink together, having
first thrown a little on the ground as an offering. Then
they invite each other to their houses to take food. The
Baigas do not observe Hareli, but on any moonlight night
in Shrawan (July) they will go to the field where they have
sown grain and root up a few plants and bring them to the
house, and, laying them on a clean place, pour ghi and a
little liquor over them. Then they take the corn plants back
1 Indo- Aryans, pp. 405, 406.
ii DRUGS ALSO CONSIDERED DIVINE 317
to the field and replace them. For these rites and for
offerings to the deities of disease the Gonds say that the
liquor should be distilled at home by the person who offers
the sacrifice and not purchased from the Government con-
tractor. This is a reason or at any rate an excuse for the
continuance of the practice of illicit distillation. Hindus
generally make a libation to Devi before drinking liquor.
They pour a little into their hand and sprinkle it in a circle
on the ground, invoking the goddess. The palm-tree is also
held sacred on account of the tori or toddy obtained from it.
" The shreds of the holy palm-tree, holy because liquor-
yielding, are worn by some of the early Konkan tribes and
by some of the Konkan village gods. The strip of palm-leaf
is the origin of the shape of one of the favourite Hindu gold
bracelet patterns." 1
The abstinence from liquor enjoined by modern Hinduism 10. Drugs
to the higher castes of Hindus has unfortunately not extended 5^°^""
to the harmful drugs, opium, and ganja2 or Indian hemp with divine,
its preparations. On the contrary ganja is regularly con-
sumed by Hindu ascetics, whether devotees of Siva or
Vishnu, though it is more favoured by the Sivite Jogis. The
blue throat of Siva or Mahadeo is said to be due to the
enormous draughts of bhangz which he was accustomed to
swallow. The veneration attached to these drugs may prob-
ably be explained by the delusion that the pleasant dreams
and visions obtained under their influence are excursions of
the spirit into paradise. It is a common belief among
primitive people that during sleep the soul leaves the body
and that dreams are the actual experiences of the soul when
travelling over the world apart from the body.4 The
principal aim of Hindu asceticism is also the complete con-
quest of all sensation and movement in the body, so that
while it is immobile the spirit freed from the trammels of the
body and from all worldly cares and concerns may, as it is
imagined, enter into communion with and be absorbed in the
deity. Hence the physical inertia and abnormal mental
exaltation produced by these drugs would be an ideal con-
1 Bombay Gazettee?; Poona, p. 549. the hemp plant, commonly chunk in
„ _ . . , . the hot weather.
* Cannabis sativa. , c ,, ^ ,-,, ,,, „, ., ,
* See Mr. E. Clodd s Myths and
3 A liquor made from the flowers of Dreams, under Dreams.
3i8 KALAR part
dition to the Hindu ascetic ; the body is lulled to immobility
and it is natural that he should imagine that the delightful
fantasies of his drugged brain are beatific visions of heaven.
Ganja and bhang are now considered sacred as being con-
sumed by Mahadeo, and are offered to him. Before smoking
ganja a Hindu will say, ' May it reach you, Shankar,' l that is,
the smoke of the ganja, like the sweet savour of a sacrifice ;
and before drinking bhang he will pour a little on the ground
and say 'Jai Shankar.'2 Similarly when cholera visits a
village and various articles of dress with food and liquor are
offered to the cholera goddess, Marhai Mata, smokers of
ganja and madak3 will offer a little of their drugs. Hindu
ascetics who smoke ganja are accustomed to mix with it
some seeds of the dhatura {Datura alba), which have a
powerful stupefying effect. In large quantities these
seeds are a common narcotic poison, being administered
to travellers and others by criminals. This tree is sacred
to Siva, and the purple and white flowers are offered on
his altars, and probably for this reason it is often found
growing in villages so that the poisonous seeds are readily
available. Its sanctity apparently arises from the narcotic
effects produced by the seeds.
The conclusion of hostilities and ratification of peace
after a Bhll fight was marked by the solemn administration
of opium to all present by the Jogi or Gammaiti priests.4
This incident recalls the pipe of peace of the North American
Indians, among whom a similar divine virtue was no doubt
ascribed to tobacco. In ancient Greece the priestesses of
Apollo consumed the leaves of the laurel to produce the
prophetic ecstasy ; the tree was therefore held sacred and
associated with Apollo and afterwards developed into a
goddess in the shape of Daphne pursued by Apollo and
transformed into a laurel.5 The laurel was also con-
sidered to have a purifying or expiatory effect like alcoholic
liquor in India. Wreaths of laurel were worn by such
heroes as Apollo and Cadmus before engaging in battle
to cleanse themselves from the pollution of bloodshed, and
1 A name of Siva or Mahadeo. 4 T. H. Hendley, Account of the
2 'Victory to Shankar.' Bhlls,J.A.S.B. xliv., 1875, p. 360.
3 A preparation of opium for 5 M. Salomon Reinach in Orphtus,
smoking. p. 120.
n OPIUM AND GANJA 319
hence the laurel-wreath afterwards became the crown of
victory.1
In India bluing was regularly drunk by the Rajputs before
going into battle, to excite their courage and render them
insensible to pain. The effects produced were probably held
to be caused by divine agency. Herodotus says that the
Scythians had a custom of burning the seeds of the hemp
plant in religious ceremonies and that they became intoxi-
cated with the fumes.2 Ganja is the hashish of the Old Man
of the Mountain and of Monte Cristo. The term hashshdsh,
meaning ' a smoker or eater of hemp,' was first applied to
Arab warriors in Syria at the time of the Crusades ; from its
plural Jiashshasheen our word assassin is derived.3
The sacred or divine character attributed to the Indian „. opium
drugs in spite of their pernicious effects has thus probably and SanJa-
prevented any organised effort for their prohibition.
Buchanan notes that " No more blame follows the use of
opium and ganja than in Europe that of wine ; yet smoking
tobacco is considered impure by the highest castes." 4 It is
said, however, that a Brahman should abstain from drugs
until he is in the last or ascetic stage of life. In India opium
is both eaten and smoked. It is administered to children
almost from the time of their birth, partly perhaps because
its effects are supposed to be beneficial and also to prevent
them from crying and keep them quiet while their parents
are at work. One of the favourite methods of killing female
children was to place a fatal dose of opium on the nipple
of the mother's breast. Many children continue to receive
small quantities of opium till they are several years old, some-
times eight or nine, when it is gradually abandoned. It can
scarcely be doubted that the effect of the drug must be to
impair their health and enfeeble their vitality. The effect of
eating opium on adults is much less pernicious than when
the habit of smoking it is acquired. Madak or opium pre-
pared for smoking may not now be sold, but people make it
for themselves, heating the opium in a little brass cup over
a fire with an infusion of tamarind leaves. It is then made
1 Sir James Frazer in Attis, Adonis, Lane's Modern Egyptians, p. 347.
Osiris, ii. p. 241. 3 Lane, Modern Egypt 'ictus, p. 348.
2 Book IV., chap, lxxv., quoted in 4 Eastern India, iii. p. 163.
Tobacco.
320 KALAR part
into little balls and put into the pipe. Opium-smokers are
gregarious and par.take of the drug together. As the fumes
mount to their brains, their intellects become enlivened, their
tongues unloosed and the conversation ranges over all
subjects in heaven and earth. This factitious excitement
must no doubt be a powerful attraction to people whose lives
are as dull as that of the average Hindu. And thus they
become madakis or confirmed opium-smokers and are of no
more use in life. Dhlmars or fishermen consume opium
and ganja largely under the impression that these drugs
prevent them from taking cold. Ganja is smoked and is
usually mixed with tobacco. It is much less injurious than
opium in the same form, except when taken in large quantities,
and is also slower in acquiring a complete hold over its
votaries. Many cultivators buy a little ganja at the weekly
bazar and have one pipeful each as a treat. Sweepers are
greatly addicted to ganja, and their patron saint Lalbeg was
frequently in a comatose condition from over-indulgence in
the drug. Ahlrs or herdsmen also smoke it to while away
the long days in the forests. But the habitual consumers
of either kind of drug are now only a small fraction of
the population, while English education and the more
strenuous conditions of modern life have effected a substantial
decline in their numbers, at least among the higher classes.
At the same time a progressive increase is being effected
by Government in the retail price of the drugs, and the
number of vend licences has been very greatly reduced.
The prohibition of wine to Muhammadans is held to
include drugs, but it is not known how far the rule is strictly
observed. But addiction to drugs is at any rate uncommon
among Muhammadans.
No kind of sanctity attaches to tobacco and, as has been
seen, certain classes of Brahmans are forbidden to smoke
though they may chew the leaves. Tobacco is prohibited
by the Sikhs, the Satnamis and some other Vaishnava sects.
The explanation of this attitude is sinlple if, as is supposed,
tobacco was first introduced into India by the Portuguese in
the fifteenth century.1 In this case as a new and foreign
product it could have no sacred character, only those things
1 Sir G. Watt's Commercial Products of India, s.v. Nicotiana.
CUSTOMS IN CONNECTION WITH DRINKING 321
•
13. Cus-
toms in
connection
being held sacred and the gifts of the gods whose origin is
lost in antiquity. In a note on the subject1 Mr. Ganpat Rai
shows that several references to smoking and also to the
huqqa are found in ancient Sanskrit literature ; but it does
not seem clear that the plant smoked was tobacco and, on
the other hand, the similarity of the vernacular to the English
name 2 is strong evidence in favour of its foreign origin.
The country liquor, consisting of spirits distilled from
the flowers of the mahua tree, is an indispensable adjunct to
marriage and other ceremonial feasts among the lower castes with
of Hindus and the non- Aryan tribes. It is usually drunk
before the meal out of brass vessels, cocoanut-shells or leaf-
cups, water being afterwards taken with the food itself. If
an offender has to give a penalty feast for readmission to
caste but the whole burden of the expense is beyond his
means, other persons who may have committed minor
offences and owe something to the caste on that account are
called upon to provide the liquor. Similarly at the funeral
feast the heir and chief mourner may provide the food and
more distant relatives the liquor. The Gonds never take
food while drinking, and as a rule one man does not drink
alone. Three or four of them go to the liquor-shop together
and each in turn buys a whole bottle of liquor which they
share with each other, each bottle being paid for by one of
the company and not jointly. And if a friend from another
village turns up and is invited to drink he is not allowed to
pay anything. In towns there will be in the vicinity of the
liquor-shop retailers of little roasted balls of meat on sticks
and cakes of gram-flour fried in salt and chillies. These the
customers eat, presumably to stimulate their thirst or as a
palliative to the effects of the spirit. Illicit distillation is
still habitual among the Gonds of Mandla, who have been
accustomed to make their own liquor from time immemorial.
In the rains, when travelling is difficult and the excise
officers cannot descend on them without notice, they make
the liquor in their houses. In the open season they go to
j-
1 Ind. Ant. , January 191 1, p. 39.
2 Tobacco is no doubt a derivative
from some American word, and Platts
derives the Hindi tanbaku or tambaku
from tobacco. The fact that tanbaku
VOL. Ill
is also Persian for tobacco militates
against the Sanskrit derivation sug-
gested by Mr. Ganpat Rai and others,
and tends to demonstrate its American
importation.
Tobacco.
320 KALAR part
into little balls and put into the pipe. Opium-smokers are
gregarious and par.take of the drug together. As the fumes
mount to their brains, their intellects become enlivened, their
tongues unloosed and the conversation ranges over all
subjects in heaven and earth. This factitious excitement
must no doubt be a powerful attraction to people whose lives
are as dull as that of the average Hindu. And thus they
become madakis or confirmed opium-smokers and are of no
more use in life. Dhlmars or fishermen consume opium
and ganja largely under the impression that these drugs
prevent them from taking cold. Ganja is smoked and is
usually mixed with tobacco. It is much less injurious than
opium in the same form, except when taken in large quantities,
and is also slower in acquiring a complete hold over its
votaries. Many cultivators buy a little ganja at the weekly
bazar and have one pipeful each as a treat. Sweepers are
greatly addicted to ganja, and their patron saint Lalbeg was
frequently in a comatose condition from over-indulgence in
the drug. Ahirs or herdsmen also smoke it to while away
the long days in the forests. But the habitual consumers
of either kind of drug are now only a small fraction of
the population, while English education and the more
strenuous conditions of modern life have effected a substantial
decline in their numbers, at least among the higher classes.
At the same time a progressive increase is being effected
by Government in the retail price of the drugs, and the
number of vend licences has been very greatly reduced.
The prohibition of wine to Muhammadans is held to
include drugs, but it is not known how far the rule is strictly
observed. But addiction to drugs is at any rate uncommon
among Muhammadans.
No kind of sanctity attaches to tobacco and, as has been
seen, certain classes of Brahmans are forbidden to smoke
though they may chew the leaves. Tobacco is prohibited
by the Sikhs, the Satnamis and some other Vaishnava sects.
The explanation of this attitude is sirrtple if, as is supposed,
tobacco was first introduced into India by the Portuguese in
the fifteenth century.1 In this case as a new and foreign
product it could have no sacred character, only those things
1 Sir G. Watt's Commercial Products of India, s.v. Nicotiana.
KAMAR
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1. Origin and traditions. 9. Social customs and caste
2. Subdivisions and marriage. penalties.
3. The sister's son. 10. Tattooing.
4. Menstruation. 11. Hair.
5. Birth customs. 12. Occupation and 7nanner of
6. Death and inheritance. life.
7. Religious beliefs. 13. Their skill with bows and
8. Veneration of iron and liquor. arrows.
Kamar. — A small Dravidian tribe exclusively found in 1. Origin
the Raipur District and adjoining States. They numbered anc\. .
r jo j traditions.
about 7000 persons in 191 1, and live principally in the
Khariar and Bindranawagarh zamlndaris of Raipur. In
Bengal and Chota Nagpur the term Kamar is merely
occupational, implying a worker in iron, and similarly
Kammala in the Telugu country is a designation given to
the five artisan castes. Though the name is probably the
same the Kamars of the Central Provinces are a purely
aboriginal tribe and there is little doubt that they are an
offshoot of the Gonds, nor have they any traditions of ever
having been metal-workers. They claim to be autochthonous
like most of the primitive tribes. They tell a long story
of their former ascendancy, saying that a Kamar was the
original ruler of Bindranawagarh. But a number of
Kamars one day killed the bhimraj bird which had been
tamed and taught hawking by a foreigner from Delhi. He
demanded satisfaction, and when it was refused went to
1 This article is based on papers Ganpati Giri, Manager of Bindrana-
drawn up by Mr. Hira Lai, Extra wagarh, which has furnished the
Assistant Commissioner, Pyare Lai greater part of the article, especially
Misra, Ethnographic Clerk, and a the paragraphs on birth, religion and
very full account of the tribe by Mr. social customs.
323
3-4
KAMAR
Delhi and brought man-eating soldiers from there, who ate
up all the Kamars except one pregnant woman. She took
refuge in a Brahman's hut in Patna and there had a son,
whom she exposed on a dung-heap for fear of scandal, as
she was a widow at the time. Hence the boy was called
Kachra-Dhurwa or rubbish and dust. This name may be
a token of the belief of the Kamars that they were born
from the earth as insects generate in dung and decaying
organisms. Similarly one great subtribe of the Gonds are
called Dhur or dust Gonds. Kachra-Dhurwa was endowed
with divine strength and severed the head of a goat made
of iron with a stick of bamboo. On growing up he collected
his fellow-tribesmen and slaughtered all the cannibal soldiers,
regaining his ancestral seat in Bindranawagarh. It is
noticeable that the Kamars call the cannibal soldiers Aghori,
the name of a sect of ascetics who eat human flesh. They
still point to various heaps of lime-encrusted fossils in
Bindranawagarh as the bones of the cannibal soldiers. The
state of the Kamars is so primitive that it does not seem
possible that they could ever have been workers in iron,
but they may perhaps, like the Agarias, be a group of the
Gonds who formerly quarried iron and thus obtained their
distinctive name.
They have two subdivisions, the Bundhrajia and Makadia.
The latter are so called because they eat monkeys and are
looked down on by the others. They have only a few gots
or septs, all of which have the same names as those of Gond
septs. The meaning of the names has now been forgotten.
Their ceremonies also resemble those of the Gonds, and
there can be little doubt that they are an offshoot of that
tribe. Marriage within the sept is prohibited, but is per-
mitted between the children of brothers and sisters or of
two sisters. Those who are well-to-do marry their children
at about ten years old, but among the bulk of the caste
adult-marriage is in fashion, and the youths and maidens are
sometimes allowed to make their own choice. At the
betrothal the boy and girl are made to stand together so
that the caste panchayat or elders may see the suitability
of the match, and a little wine is sprinkled in the name of
the gods. The marriage ceremony is a simple one, the
ii THE SISTER'S SON— MENSTRUATION 325
marriage-post being erected at the boy's house. The party-
go to the girl's house to fetch her, and there is a feast,
followed by a night of singing and dancing. They then
return to the boy's house and the couple go round the
sacred pole and throw rice over each other seven times.
All the guests also throw rice over the couple with the
object, it is said, of scaring off the spirits who are always
present on this occasion, and protecting the bride and bride-
groom from harm. But perhaps the rice is really meant to
give fertility to the match. The wife remains with her
husband for four days and then they return to the house of
her parents, where the wedding clothes stained yellow with
turmeric must be washed. After this they again proceed to
the bridegroom's house and live together. Polygamy and
widow-marriage are allowed, the ceremony in the marriage
of a widow consisting simply in putting bangles on her
wrists and giving her a piece of new cloth. The Kamars
never divorce their wives, however loose their conduct may
be, as they say that a lawful wife is above all suspicion.
They also consider it sinful to divorce a wife. The liaison
of an unmarried girl is passed over even with a man outside
the caste, unless he is of a very low caste, such as a Ganda.
As among some of the other primitive tribes, a man 3. The
stands in a special relation to his sister's children. The sisters:
marriage of his children with his sister's children is con-
sidered as the most suitable union. If a man's sister is
poor he will arrange for the wedding of her children. He
will never beat his sister's children, however much they may
deserve it, and he will not permit his sister's son or daughter
to eat from the dish from which he eats. This special
connection between a maternal uncle and his nephew is held
to be a survival of the matriarchate, when a man stood in
the place a father now occupies to his sister's children, the
real father having nothing to do with them.
During the period of her monthly impurity a woman is 4. Men-
secluded for eight days. She may not prepare food nor
draw water nor worship the gods, but she may sweep the
house and do outdoor work. She sleeps on the ground and
every morning spreads fresh cowdung over the place where
she has slept. The Kamars think that a man who touched
struation.
^26
KAMAR
a woman in this condition would be destroyed by the house-
hold god. When a woman in his household is impure in
this manner a man will bathe before going into the forest
lest he should pollute the forest gods.
A woman is impure for six days after a birth until the
performance of the Chathi or sixth-day ceremony, when the
child's head is shaved and the mother and child are bathed
and their bodies rubbed with oil and turmeric. After this
a woman can go about her work in the house, but she may
not cook food nor draw water for two and a half months
after the birth of a male child, nor for three months after
that of a female one. Till the performance of the Chathi
ceremony the husband is also impure, and he may not worship
the gods or go hunting or shooting or even go for any
distance into the forest. If a child is born within six
months of the death of any person in the family, they think
that the dead relative has been reborn in the child and give
the child the same name, apparently without distinction of
sex. If a mother's milk runs dry and she cannot suckle
her child they give her fresh fish and salt to eat, and think
that this will cause the milk to flow. The idea of eating the
fish is probably that being a denizen of the liquid element it
will produce liquid in the mother's body, but it is not clear
whether the salt has any special meaning.
The dead are buried with the head to the north, and
mourning is nominally observed for three days. But they
have no rules of abstinence, and do not even bathe to purify
themselves as almost all castes do. Sons inherit equally,
and daughters do not share with sons. But if there are no
sons, then an unmarried daughter or one married to a
Lamsena, or man who has served for her, and living in the
house, takes the whole property for her lifetime, after which
it reverts to her father's family. Widows, Mr. Ganpati Giri
states, only inherit in the absence of male heirs.
7. Reiigi- They worship Dulha Deo and Devi, and have a firm
ous beliefs, belief in magic. They tell a curious story about the origin
of the world, which recalls that of the Flood. They say
that in the beginning God created a man and a woman to
whom two children of opposite sex were born in their old
age. Mahadeo, however, sent a deluge over the world in
ii RELIGIOUS BELIEFS 327
order to drown a jackal who had angered him. The old
couple heard that there was going to be a deluge, so they
shut up their children in a hollow piece of wood with provision
of food to last them until it should subside. They then
closed up the trunk, and the deluge came and lasted for
twelve years, the old couple and all other living things on
the earth being drowned, but the trunk floated on the face
of the waters. After twelve years Mahadeo created two
birds and sent them to see whether his enemy the jackal had
been drowned. The birds flew over all the corners of the
world, but saw nothing except a log of wood floating on the
surface of the water, on which they perched. After a short
time they heard low and feeble voices coming from inside
the log. They heard the children saying to each other that
they only had provision for three days left. So the birds
flew away and told Mahadeo, who then caused the flood to
subside, and taking out the children from the log of wood,
heard their story. He thereupon brought them up, and
they were married, and Mahadeo gave the name of a different
caste to every child who was born to them, and from them
all the inhabitants of the world are descended. The fact
that the Kamars should think their deity capable of destroying
the whole world by a deluge, in order to drown a jackal
which had offended him, indicates how completely they are
wanting in any exalted conception of morality. They are
said to have no definite ideas of a future life nor any
belief in a resurrection of the body. But they believe in
future punishment in the case of a thief, who, they say, will
be reborn as a bullock in the house of the man whose
property he has stolen, or will in some other fashion expiate
his crime. They think that the sun and moon are beings in
human shape, and that darkness is caused by the sun going
to sleep. They also think that a railway train is a live and
sentient being, and that the whistle of the engine is its cry,
and they propitiate the train with offerings lest it should do
them some injury. When a man purposes to go out hunting,
Mr. Ganpati Giri states, he consults the village priest, who
tells him whether he will fail or succeed. If the prediction
is unfavourable he promises a fowl or a goat to his family
god in order to obtain his assistance, and then confidently
KAMAR
8. Venera-
tion of
iron and
liquor.
9. Social
customs
and caste
penalties.
expects success. When an animal has been killed and
brought home, the hunter cuts off the head, and after washing
it with turmeric powder and water makes an offering of it
to the forest god. Ceremonial fishing expeditions are some-
times held, in which all the men and women of the village
participate, and on such occasions the favour of the water-
goddess is first invoked with an offering of five chickens and
various feminine adornments, such as vermilion, lamp-black
for the eyes, small glass bangles and a knot of ribbons made
of cotton or silk, after which a large catch of fish is
anticipated. The men refrain from visiting their wives
on the day before they start for a hunting or fishing
expedition.
The tribe have a special veneration for iron, which they
now say is the emblem of Durga Mata or the goddess of
smallpox. On their chief festivals of Hareli and Dasahra
all iron implements are washed and placed together in the
house, where they are worshipped with offerings of rice,
flowers and incense ; nor may any iron tool be brought into
use on this day. On the day appointed for the worship of
Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, or other important deities,
and on the Dasahra festival, they will not permit fire or
anything else to be taken out of the house. Before drinking
liquor they will pour a few drops on the ground, making a
libation first to mother-earth, then to their family and other
important gods, and lastly to their ancestors.
The Kamars will eat with all except the very lowest
castes, and do not refuse any kind of food. The Bundhrajias,
however, abstain from the flesh of snakes, crocodiles and
monkeys, and on this account claim to be superior to the
Makadias who eat these animals. Temporary exclusion
from caste is imposed for the usual offences, and in serious
cases, such as adultery with a woman of impure caste or
taking food from her, the penalty is severe. The offender
puts a straw and a piece of iron between his teeth, and
stands before the elders with one leg lifted in his clasped
hands. He promises never to repeat the offence nor permit
his children to do so, and falls prostrate at the feet of each
elder, imploring his forgiveness. He supplies the elders with
rice, pulse, salt and vegetables for two days, and on the
ii TATTOOING— OCCUPATION AND MANNER OF LIFE 329
third day he and his family prepare a feast with one or
more goats and two rupees' worth of liquor. The elders eat
of this in his house, and readmit him to social intercourse.
The women are tattooed either before or after marriage, 10. Tattoo-
the usual figures being a peacock on the shoulders, a scorpion lng'
on the back of the hand, and dots representing flies on the
fingers. On their arms and legs they have circular lines of
dots representing the ornaments usually worn, and they say
that if they are destitute in the other world they will be able
to sell these. This indicates that the more civilised of them,
at any rate, now believe in a future life. They also have
circular dotted lines round the knees which they say will help
them to climb to heaven. Like the Gonds the men scarify
their bodies by burning the outer skin of the forearm in three
or four places with a small piece of burning cloth.
The men shave the whole head on the death of a father n. Hair.
or other venerable relative, but otherwise they never cut their
hair, and let it grow long, twisting it into a bunch at the
back of the head. They shave off or eradicate the hair of
the face and pubes, but that on other parts of the body is
allowed to remain. The hair of the head is considered to
be sacred.
The tribe wear only the narrowest possible strip of cloth 12. Occu-
round the loins, and another strip on the head, one end of Pat,on and
1 ' manner
which is often allowed to hang down over the ear. Formerly of life,
they lived by daJiya cultivation, burning down patches of
forest and scattering seed on the ground fertilised by the
ashes, and they greatly resent the prohibition of this destruc-
tive method. They have now taken to making baskets and
other articles from the wood of the bamboo. They are of
dirty habits, and seldom wash themselves. Forty years ago
their manner of life was even ruder than at present, as shown
in the following notice 1 of them by Mr. Ball in 1876 :
" Proceeding along the bed of the valley I came upon two
colonies of a wild race of people called Kamars by their
neighbours. They were regular Troglodytes in their habits,
dwelling in caves and existing chiefly on roots and fish. It
is singular to observe how little the people of these wild races
do to protect themselves from the inclemency of the weather.
1 Jungle Hfe iJl India, p. 588.
KAMAR
expects success. When an animal has been killed and
brought home, the hunter cuts off the head, and after washing
it with turmeric powder and water makes an offering of it
to the forest god. Ceremonial fishing expeditions are some-
times held, in which all the men and women of the village
participate, and on such occasions the favour of the water-
goddess is first invoked with an offering of five chickens and
various feminine adornments, such as vermilion, lamp-black
for the eyes, small glass bangles and a knot of ribbons made
of cotton or silk, after which a large catch of fish is
anticipated. The men refrain from visiting their wives
on the day before they start for a hunting or fishing
expedition.
The tribe have a special veneration for iron, which they
now say is the emblem of Durga Mata or the goddess of
smallpox. On their chief festivals of Hareli and Dasahra
all iron implements are washed and placed together in the
house, where they are worshipped with offerings of rice,
flowers and incense ; nor may any iron tool be brought into
use on this day. On the day appointed for the worship of
Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, or other important deities,
and on the Dasahra festival, they will not permit fire or
anything else to be taken out of the house. Before drinking
liquor they will pour a few drops on the ground, making a
libation first to mother-earth, then to their family and other
important gods, and lastly to their ancestors.
The Kamars will eat with all except the very lowest
castes, and do not refuse any kind of food. The Bundhrajias,
however, abstain from the flesh of snakes, crocodiles and
monkeys, and on this account claim to be superior to the
Makadias who eat these animals. Temporary exclusion
from caste is imposed for the usual offences, and in serious
cases, such as adultery with a woman of impure caste or
taking food from her, the penalty is severe. The offender
puts a straw and a piece of iron between his teeth, and
stands before the elders with one leg lifted in his clasped
hands. He promises never to repeat the offence nor permit
his children to do so, and falls prostrate at the feet of each
elder, imploring his forgiveness. He supplies the elders with
rice, pulse, salt and vegetables for two days, and on the
Doms.
KANJAR
[Bibliography: Mr. J. C. Nesfield's The Kanjars of Upper India, Calcutta
Review, vol. lxxvii., 1883 > Mr. Crooke's Castes and Tribes, art. Kanjar ;
Major Gunthorpe's Criminal Tribes; Mr. Kitts' Berar Census Report (1881) ;
Mr. Gayer's Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces.]
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1. Derivation of the Kanjars from 4. The Doms.
the Doms. 5 . The criminal Kanjars.
1. The Kanjars and the Gipsies. 6. The Kunchband Kanjars.
3. The Thugs derived from the 7. Marriage and religion.
Kanjars. 8. Social customs.
9. Industrial arts.
Kanjar. — A name applied somewhat loosely to various i. Deriva-
small communities of a gipsy character who wander about ^miais
the country. In 191 I about 1000 Kuchbandhia Kanjars from the
were returned in the Province. In Berar the Kanjars seem
to be practically identical with the Sansias; Major Gunthorpe1
gives Kanjar and Sansia as alternative names of the same
caste of criminals, and this is also done by Mr. Kennedy in
Bombay.2 Mr. Kitts writes of them : :! " The Deccani and
Marwari Kanjars were originally Bhats (bards) of the Jat
tribe ; and as they generally give themselves out to be Bhats
are probably not included at all among the Kanjars returned
at the census. They are a vagrant people, living in tents
and addicted to crime. The women are good-looking ; some
are noted for their obscene songs, filthy alike in word and
gesture ; while others, whose husbands play on the sdrangi,
lead a life of immorality. The men are often skilful acrobats."
And in another passage : 4 " The Sansia family or the ' Long
Firm ' of India includes two principal divisions represented
1 Criminal Tribes, p. 78. 3 Berar Census Report (1881), p. 140.
2 Criminal Classes. * Page 139.
331
332 KANJAR part
in Berar by the Kanjars and Kolhatis respectively. They
will eat, drink and smoke together, and occasionally join in
committing dacoity. They eat all kinds of meat and drink
all liquors ; they are lax of morals and loose of life." Now
in northern India the business of acting as bards to the Jats
and begging from them is the traditional function of the
Sansias ; and we may therefore conclude that so far as Berar
and the Maratha Districts are concerned the Kanjars are
identical with the Sansias, while the Kolhatis mentioned by
Mr. Kitts are the same people as the Berias, as shown in the
article on Kolhati, and the Berias themselves are another
branch of the Sansias.1 There seems some reason to suppose
that these four closely allied groups, the Kanjar or Sansia,
and the Kolhati or Beria, may have their origin from the
great Dom caste of menials and scavengers in Hindustan
and Bengal. In the Punjab the Doms are the regular bards
and genealogists of the lower castes, being known also as
Mirasi : " The two words are used throughout the Province
as absolutely synonymous. The word Mirasi is derived
from the Arabic viirds or inheritance ; and the Mirasi is to
the inferior agricultural castes and the outcaste tribes what
the Bhat is to the Rajputs." 2 In the article on Sansia it is
shown that the primary calling of the Sansias was to act as
bards and genealogists of the Jats ; and this common occu-
pation is to some extent in favour of the original identity of the
two castes Dom and Sansia, though Sir D. Ibbetson was not of
this opinion.3 In the United Provinces Mr. Crooke gives the
Jallad or executioners as one of the main divisions of the
Kanjars ; 4 and the Jallads of Umballa are said to be the
descendants of a Kanjar family who were attached to the
Delhi Court as executioners.5 But the Jallad or sfipwala is also
a name of the Doms. " The term Jallad, which is an Arabic
name for 'A public flogger,' is more especially applied to those
Doms who are employed in cities to kill ownerless dogs and
to act as public executioners." 6 Mr. Gayer states that as the
result of special inquiries made by an experienced police-officer
it would appear that these Jallad Kanjars are really Doms.7
1 See art. Beria, para. i. 4 Art. Kanjar, para. 3.
- Ibbetson, Punjab Census Repoii 6 Ibbetson.
(1 88 1), para. 527. c Crooke, art. Dom, para. 21.
3 Ibidem. 7 Lectures, p. 59.
ii THE KANJARS AND THE GIPSIES 333
In Gujarat the Mlrs or Mirasis are also known as Dom after
the tribe of that name ; they were originally of two classes,
one the descendants of Gujarat Bhats or bards, the other
from northern India, partly of Bhat descent and partly
connected with the Doms.1 And the Sansias and Berias in
Bombay when accompanied by their families usually pass
themselves off as Gujarati Bhats, that is, bards of the Jat
caste from Marwar or of the Kolis from Gujarat.2 Major
Gunthorpe states that the Kolhatis or Berias of Berar appear
to be the same as the Domras of Bengal ; 3 and Mr. Kitts
that the Kham Kolhatis are the Domarus of Telingana.4 In
writing of the Kanjar bards Sherring also says : " These are
the Kanjars of Gondwana, the Sansis of northern India ;
they are the most desperate of all dacoits and wander about
the country as though belonging to the Gujarati Domtaris or
showmen." The above evidence seems sufficient to establish
a prima facte case in favour of the Dom origin of these gipsy
castes. It may be noticed further that the Jallad Kanjars
of the United Provinces are also known as Supwala or
makers of sieves and winnowing-fans, a calling which belongs
specially to the Doms, Bhangis, and other sweeper castes.
Both Doms and Bhangis have divisions known as Bansphor
or ' breaker of bamboos,' a name which has the same
signification as Supwala. Again, the deity of the criminal
Doms of Bengal is known as Sansari Mai.5
The Kanjars and Berias are the typical gipsy castes of 2. The
India, and have been supposed to be the parents of the KanJ^rs
European gipsies. On this point Mr. Nesfield writes : Gipsies.
" The commonly received legend is that multitudes of
Kanjars were driven out of India by the oppressions of
Tamerlane, and it is inferred that the gipsies of Europe are
their direct descendants by blood, because they speak like
them a form of the Hindi language." ° Sir G. Grierson
states :7 "According to the Shah-nama, the Persian monarch
Bahram Gaur received in the fifth century from an Indian
1 Bombay Gazetteer, Muhamniadans * Berar Census Report (1881), p.
of Gujarat, p. 83. 140.
2 T- j . 6 Tiibes and Castes of Bengal, art.
J Kennedy, Criminal Tribes of -p. J * '
Bombay, p. 2 e.7. » Jt c u •»
•" r J/ 6 Nesheld, I.e. p. 393.
3 Criminal Tribes, p. 46. i Ind. Ant. xvi. p. 37,
334 KANJAR part
king 1 2,000 musicians who were known as Luris, and the
Luris or Lulis, that is gipsies, of modern Persia are the
descendants of these." These people were also called Lutt,
and hence it was supposed that they were the Indian Jats.
Sir G. Grierson, however, shows it to be highly improbable
that the Jats, one of the highest castes of cultivators, could
ever have furnished a huge band of professional singers and
dancers. He on the contrary derives the gipsies from the
Dom tribe : 1 " Mr. Leland has made a happy suggestion
that the original gipsies may have been Doms of India. He
points out that Romany is almost letter for letter the same
as Domni (;gwrt), the plural of Dom. Domni is the plural
form in the Bhojpuri dialect of the Bihari language. It was
originally a genitive plural ; so that Romany-Rye, ' A gipsy
gentleman,' may be well compared with the Bhojpuri Domni
Rai, ' A king of the Doms.' The Bhojpuri-speaking Doms
are a famous race, and they have many points of resemblance
with the gipsies of Europe. Thus they are darker in com-
plexion than the surrounding Biharis, are great thieves, live
by hunting, dancing and telling fortunes, their women have
a reputation for making love- philtres and medicines to pro-
cure abortion, they keep fowls (which no orthodox Hindu
will do), and are said to eat carrion. They are also great
musicians and horsemen. The gipsy grammar is closely
connected with Bhojpuri, and the following mongrel, half-
gipsy, half- English rhyme will show the extraordinary
similarity of the two vocabularies : 2
Gipsy. "^ The Rye (squire) he mores (hunts) adrey the wesh (wood)
Bhojpuri. J Rai mare andal besh (Pers. , $,?>)
Gipsy. "^ The kaun-engro (ear-fellow, hare) and chiriclo (bird).
Bhojpuri. j Kanwala chirin
Gipsy. "1 You sovs (sleep) with leste (him) drey (within) the wesh (wood)
Bhojpuri. / soe andal besh
Gipsy. Y And rigs (carry) for leste (him) the gono (sack, game-bag).
Bhojpuri. ) gon
1 Ind. Ant. xv. p. 15. Nagari character ; but this cannot be
reproduced. It is possible that one
- In Sir G. Grierson's account the or two mistakes have been made in
Bhojpuri version is printed in the transliteration.
a THE KANJARS AND THE GIPSIES 335
Gipsy. "I Oprey (above) the rukh (tree) adrey (within) the wesh (wood)
Bhojpuri. / Upri rukh andal bcsh
Gipsy. ^Are chiriclo (male-bird) and chiricli (female-bird).
Bhojpuri. j chirin ehirin
Gipsy. \ Tuley (below) the rukh (tree) adrey (within) the wesh (wood)
Bhojpuri. j Tule rukh andal bcsh
Gipsy. ^ Are pireno (lover) and pireni (lady-love).
Bhojpuri. / ftyara ftyari
In the above it must be remembered that the verbal termina-
tions of the gipsy text are English and not gipsy."
Sir G. Grierson also adds (in the passage first quoted) :
" I may note here a word which lends a singular confirmation
to the theory. It is the gipsy term for bread, which is manro
or manro. This is usually connected either with the Gaudian
manr ' rice-gruel ' or with manrua, the millet {Eleusine cora-
cana). Neither of these agrees with the idea of bread, but
in the Magadhi dialect of Bihari, spoken south of the Ganges
in the native land of these Maghiya Doms, there is a peculiar
word manda or manra which means wheat, whence the
transition to the gipsy manro, bread, is eminently natural."
The above argument renders it probable that the gipsies
are derived from the Doms ; and as Mr. Nesfield gives it as
a common legend that they originated from the Kanjars,
this is perhaps another connecting link between the Doms
and Kanjars. The word gipsy is probably an abbreviation
of ' Egyptian,' the country assigned as the home of the
gipsies in mediaeval times. It has already been seen that
the Doms are the bards and minstrels of the lower castes in
the Punjab, and that the Kanjars and Sansias, originally
identical or very closely connected, were in particular the
bards of the Jats. It is a possible speculation that they
may have been mixed up with the lower classes of Jats or
have taken their name, and that this has led to the confusion
between the Jats and gipsies. Some support is afforded to
this suggestion by the fact that the Kanjars of Jubbulpore
say that they have three divisions, the Jat, Multani and
Kuchbandia. The Jat Kanjars are, no doubt, those who
acted as bards to the Jats, and hence took the name ; and if
the ancestors of these people emigrated from India they may
have given themselves out as Jat.
336
KANJAR
In the article on Thug it is suggested that a large, if not
the principal, section of the Thugs were derived from the
Kanjars. At the Thug marriages an old matron would
sometimes repeat, " Here's to the spirits of those who once
led bears and monkeys ; to those who drove bullocks and
marked with the godini (tattooing-needle) ; and those who
made baskets for the head." And these are the occupations
of the Kanjars and Berias. The Goyandas of Jubbulpore,
descendants of Thug approvers, are considered to be a class
of gipsy Muhammadans, akin to or identical with the Kanjars,
of whom the Multani subdivision are also Muhammadans.
Like the Kanjar women the Goyandas make articles of net
and string. There is also a colony of Berias in Jubbulpore,
and these are admittedly the descendants of Thugs who
were located there. If the above argument is well founded,
we are led to the interesting conclusion that four of the most
important vagrant and criminal castes of India, as well as
the Mirasis or low-class Hindu bards, the gipsies, and a large
section of the Thugs, are all derived from the great Dom
caste.
The Doms appear to be one of the chief aboriginal tribes
of northern India, who were reduced to servitude like the
Mahars and Chamars. Sir H. M. Elliot considered them
to be " One of the original tribes of India. Tradition fixes
their residence to the north of the Ghagra, touching the
Bhars on the east in the vicinity of the Rohini. Several old
forts testify to their former importance, and still retain the
names of their founders, as, for instance, Domdiha and
Domingarh in the Gorakhpur district. Ramgarh and
Sahukot on the Rohini are also Dom forts." l Sir G.
Grierson quotes Dr. Fleet as follows : "In a south Indian
inscription a king Rudradeva is said to have subdued a
certain Domma, whose strength evidently lay in his cavalry.
No clue is given as to who this Domma was, but he may
have been the leader of some aboriginal tribe which had not
then lost all its power " ; and suggests that this Domma may
have been a leader of the Doms, who would then be shown
to have been dominant in southern India. As already seen
there is a Domaru caste of Telingana, with whom Mr. Kitts
1 Quoted in Mr. Crooke's article on Dom.
ii THE CRIMINAL KANJARS yj
identified the Berias or Kolhatis. In northern India the
Doms were reduced to a more degraded condition than the
other pre-Aryan tribes as they furnished a large section of
the sweeper caste. As has been seen also they were em-
ployed as public executioners like the Mangs. This brief
mention of the Doms has been made in view of the interest
attaching to them on account of the above suggestions, and
because there will be no separate article on the caste.
In Berar two main divisions of the Kanjars may be 5- The
recognised, the Kunchbandhia or those who make weavers' Kanjars
brooms and are comparatively honest, and the other or
criminal Kanjars.1 The criminal Kanjars may again be
divided into the Marwari and Deccani groups. They were
probably once the same, but the Deccanis, owing to their
settlement in the south, have adopted some Maratha or
Gujarati fashions, and speak the Marathi language ; their
women wear the angia or Maratha breast-cloth fastening
behind, and have a gold ornament shaped like a flower in
the nose;2 while the Marwari Kanjars have no breast-cloth
and may not wear gold ornaments at all. The Deccani
Kanjars are fond of stealing donkeys, their habit being either
to mix their own herds with those of the village and drive
them all off together, or, if they catch the donkeys unattended,
to secrete them in some water-course, tying their legs together,
and if they remain undiscovered to remove them at nightfall.
The animals are at once driven away for a long distance
before any attempt is made to dispose of them. The
Marwari Kanjars consider it derogatory to keep donkeys
and therefore do not steal these animals. They are pre-
eminently cattle-lifters and sheep-stealers, and their encamp-
ments may be recognised by the numbers of bullocks and
cows about them. Their women wear the short Marwari
petticoat reaching half-way between the knees and ankles.
Their hair is plaited over the forehead and cowrie shells
and brass ornaments like buttons are often attached in it.
Bead necklaces are much worn by the women and bead and
horse-hair necklets by the men. A peculiarity about the
1 Gayer, Lectures, p. 59. a clove (Iavang) in the left nostril ; the
Sansias, but not the Berias, wear a
2 Gnnthorpe, p. 81. Mr. Kennedy bullaq or pendant in the fleshy part of
says : " Sansia and Beria women have the nose."
VOL. Ill Z
338 KANJAR tart
women is that they are confirmed snuff-takers and consume
great quantities of the weed in this form. The women go
into the towns and villages and give exhibitions of singing
and dancing ; and picking up any information they can
acquire about the location of property, impart this to the
men. Sometimes they take service, and a case was known
in Jubbulpore of Kanjar women hiring themselves out as
pankha-pullers, with the result that the houses in which they
were employed were subsequently robbed.1 It is said, how-
ever, that they do not regularly break into houses, but confine
themselves to lurking theft. I have thought it desirable to
record here the above particulars of the criminal Kanjars,
taken from Major Gunthorpe's account ; for, though the caste
is, as already stated, identical with the Sansias, their customs
in Berar differ considerably from those of the Sansias of
Central India, who are treated of in the article on that caste.
6. The We come, finally, to the Kunchband Kanjars, the most
Kunch- representative section of the caste, who as a body are not
band L X
Kanjars. criminals, or at any rate less so than the others. The name
Kunchband or Kuchband, by which they are sometimes
known, is derived from their trade of making brushes (kiinch)
of the roots of khas-khas grass, which are used by weavers
for cleaning the threads entangled on the looms. This has
given rise to the proverb ' Kori ka bigdri Kilnchbandhia ' or
' The Kunchbandhia must look to the Kori (weaver) as his
patron ' ; the point being that the Kori is himself no better
than a casual labourer, and a man who is dependent on him
must be in a poor way indeed. The Kunchbandhias are also
known in northern India as Sankat or Patharkat, because
they make and sharpen the household grinding-stones, this
being the calling of the Takankar Pardhis in the Maratha
Districts, and as Goher because they catch and eat the goli, the
large lizard or iguana.2 Other divisions are the Dhobibans
or washerman's race, the Lakarhar or wood-cutters, and the
Untwar or camelmen.
Mar- In the Central Provinces there are other divisions, as the
Jat and Multani Kanjars. They say they have two exo-
gamous divisions, Kalkha and Malha, and a member of
either of these must take a wife from the other division.
1 Gayer, I.e. p. 6i. * Crooke, I.e. para. 3.
riage and
religion
i j SOCIAL CUSTOMS 339
Both the Kalkhas and Malhas are further divided into kids
or sections, but the influence of these on marriage is not clear.
At a Kanjar marriage, Mr. Crooke states, the gadela or spade
with which they dig out the kJias-klias grass and kill wolves
or vermin, is placed in the marriage pavilion during the
ceremony. The bridegroom swears that he will not drive
away nor divorce his wife, and sometimes a mehar or dowry
is also fixed for the bride. The father-in-law usually, how-
ever, remits a part or the whole of this subsequently, when
the bridegroom goes to take food at his house on festival
occasions. Mr. Nesfield states that the principal deity of the
Kanjars is the man-god Mana, who was not only the teacher
and guide, but also the founder and ancestor of the tribe.
He is buried, as some Kanjars relate, at Kara in the Alla-
habad District, not far from the Ganges and facing the old
city of Manikpur on the opposite bank. Mana is worshipped
with special ceremony in the rainy season, when the tribe is
less migratory than in the dry months of the year. On such
occasions, if sufficient notice is circulated, several encamp-
ments unite temporarily to pay honour to their common
ancestor. The worshippers collect near a tree under which
they sacrifice a pig, a goat, a sheep, or a fowl, and make an
offering of roasted flesh and spirituous liquor. Formerly, it
is said, they used to sacrifice a child, having first made it
insensible with fermented palm-juice or toddy.1 They dance
round the tree in honour of Mana, and sing the customary
songs in commemoration of his wisdom and deeds of valour.
The dead are usually buried, both male and female 8. Social
corpses being laid on their faces with the feet pointing to customs-
the south. Kanjars who become Muhammadans may be
readmitted to the community after the following ceremony.
A pit is dug and the convert sits in it and each Kanjar throws
a little curds on to his body. He then goes and bathes in
a river, his tongue is touched or branded with heated gold
and he gives a feast to the community. A Kanjar woman
who has lived in concubinage with a Brahman, Rajput,
Agarwal Bania, Kurmi, Ahir or Lodhi may be taken back
1 In a footnote Mr. Nesfield states: out its neck to the knife as if it desired
" The Kanjar who communicated these to be sacrificed to the deity."
facts said that the child used to open
arts.
34o KANJAR part
into the caste after the same ceremony ; but not one
who has lived with a Kayasth, Sunar or Lohar or any lower
caste. A Kanjar is not put out of caste for being im-
prisoned, nor for being beaten by an outsider, nor for
selling shoes. If a man touches his daughter-in-law even
accidentally he is fined the sum of Rs. 2-8.
9. in- The following account of the industries of the vagrant
dustriai Kanjars was written by Mr. Nesfield in 1883. In the
Central Provinces many of them are now more civilised,
and some are employed in Government service. Their
women also make and retail string-net purses, balls and other
articles.
" Among the arts of the Kanjar are making mats of the
sirki reed, baskets of wattled cane, fans of palm-leaves and
rattles of plaited straw : these last are now sold to Hindu
children as toys, though originally they may have been used
by the Kanjars themselves (if we are to trust to the analogy
of other backward races) as sacred and mysterious imple-
ments. From the stalks of the munj grass and from the
roots of the palas 1 tree they make ropes which are sold or
bartered to villagers in exchange for grain and milk. They
prepare the skins of which drums are made and sell them
to Hindu musicians ; though, probably, as in the case of the
rattle, the drum was originally used by the Kanjars them-
selves and worshipped as a fetish ; for even the Aryan tribes,
who are said to have been far more advanced than the
indigenous races, sang hymns in honour of the drum or
dundubhi as if it were something sacred. They make plates
of broad leaves which are ingeniously stitched together by
their stalks ; and plates of this kind are very widely used
by the inferior Indian castes and by confectioners and sellers
of sweetmeats. The mats of sirki reed with which they cover
their own movable leaf huts are models of neatness and
simplicity and many of these are sold to cart-drivers. The
toddy or juice of the palm tree, which they extract and
ferment by methods of their own and partly for their own
use, finds a ready sale among low-caste Hindus in villages
and market towns. They are among the chief stone-cutters
in Upper India, especially in the manufacture of the grinding-
1 Bit tea frondosa.
ii INDUSTRIAL ARTS 341
mill which is very widely used. This consists of two
circular stones of equal diameter ; the upper one, which is
the thicker and heavier, revolves on a wooden pivot fixed
in the centre of the lower one and is propelled by two
women, each holding the same handle. But it is also not
less frequent for one woman to grind alone." It is perhaps
not realised what this business of grinding her own grain
instead of buying flour means to the Indian woman. She
rises before daybreak to commence the work, and it takes
her perhaps two or three hours to complete the day's pro-
vision. Grain-grinding for hire is an occupation pursued
by poor women. The pisanhdri, as she is called, receives
an anna (penny) for grinding 16 lbs. of grain, and can get
through 30 lbs. a day. In several localities temples are
shown supposed to have been built by some pious pisanhari
from her earnings. " The Kanjars," Mr. Nesfield continues,
" also gather the white wool-like fibre which grows in the
pods of the semal or Indian cotton tree and twist it into
thread for the use of weavers.1 In the manufacture of
brushes for the cleaning of cotton-yarn the Kanjars enjoy
almost a complete monopoly. In these brushes a stiff mass
of horsehair is attached to a wooden handle by sinews and
strips of hide ; and the workmanship is remarkably neat and
durable.2 Another complete or almost complete monopoly
enjoyed by Kanjars is the collection and sale of sweet-
scented roots of the kJias-klias grass, which are afterward
made up by the Chhaparbands and others into door-screens,
and through being continually watered cool the hot air which
passes through them. The roots of this wild grass, which
grows in most abundance on the outskirts of forests or near
the banks of rivers, are dug out of the earth by an instru-
ment called kJiunti. This has a handle three feet long, and
a blade about a foot long resembling that of a knife. The
same implement serves as a dagger or short spear for
killing wolves or jackals, as a tool for carving a secret
entrance through the clay wall of a villager's hut in which
a burglary is meditated, as a spade or hoe for digging
1 It is not, I think, used for weaving that the brushes are made from the
now, but only for stuffing quilts and khas-khas grass, and this is, I think, the
cushions. case in the Central Provinces.
2 But elsewhere Mr. Nesfield says
342 KAPE WAR part
snakes, field-rats, and lizards out of their holes, and edible
roots out of the earth, and as a hatchet for chopping wood."
Kapewar,1 Munurwar. — A great cultivating caste of
the Telugu country, where they are known as Kapu or Reddi,
and correspond to the Kurmi in Hindustan and the Kunbi
in the Maratha Districts. In the Central Provinces about
18,000 persons of the caste were enumerated in the Chanda
District and Berar in 191 1. The term Kapu means a
watchman, and Reddi is considered to be a corruption of
Rathor or Rashtrakuta, meaning a king, or more properly
the headman of a village. Kapewar is simply the plural
form of Kapu, and Munurwar, in reality the name of a
subcaste of Kapewars, is used as a synonym for the main
caste in Chanda. They are divided into various occupational
subcastes, as the Upparwars or earth-diggers, from uppar,
earth ; the Gone, who make gonas or hemp gunny-bags ;
the Elmas, who are household servants ; the Gollewars, who
sell milk ; and the Gamadis or masons. The Kunte or lame
Kapewars, the lowest group, say that their ancestor was
born lame ; they are also called Bhiksha Kunte or lame
besrears and serve as the bards of the caste besides
begging from them. They are considered to be of
illegitimate origin. No detailed account of the caste
need be given here, but one or two interesting customs
reported from Chanda may be noted. Girls must be
married before they are ten years old, and in default of
this the parents are temporarily put out of caste and have
to pay a penalty for readmission. But if they take the girl
to some sacred place on the Godavari river and marry her
there the penalty is avoided. Contrary to the usual custom
the bride goes to the bridegroom's house to be married. On
the fourth night of the marriage ceremony the bridegroom
takes with him all the parts of a plough as if he was going
out to the field, and walks up the marriage-shed to the further
end followed by the bride, who carries on her head some
cooked food tied up in a cloth. The skirts of the couple
are knotted together. On reaching the end of the shed the
1 This article is compiled principally from a note by Mr. Paiku, Inspector of
Police, Chanda.
n KARAN 343
bridegroom makes five drills in the ground with a bullock-
goad and sows cotton and juari seeds mixed together. Then
the cooked food is eaten by all who are present, the bridal
couple commencing first, and the seed is irrigated by washing
their hands over it. This performance is a symbolical
portrayal of the future life of the couple, which will be spent
in cultivation. In Chanda a number of Kapewars are stone-
masons, and are considered the most proficient workers at
this trade in the locality. Major Lucie Smith, the author
of the Chanda Settlement Report of 1 869, thought that
the ancestors of the caste had been originally brought to
Chanda to build the fine walls with ramparts and bastions
which stretch for a length of six or seven miles round the
town. The caste are sometimes known as Telugu Kunbis.
Men may be distinguished by the single dot which is
always tattooed on the forehead during their infancy. Men
of the Gowari caste have a similar mark.
Karan,1 Karnam, Mahanti. — The indigenous writer caste
of Orissa. In 1901 a total of 5000 Karans were enumer-
ated in Sambalpur and the Uriya States, but the bulk of
these have since passed under the jurisdiction of Bihar and
Orissa, and only about 1000 remain in the Central Provinces.
The total numbers of the caste in India exceed a quarter of
a million. The poet Kalidas in his Raghuvansa describes
Karans as the offspring of a Vaishya father and a Sudra
mother. The caste fulfils the same functions in Orissa as
the Kayasths elsewhere, and it is said that their original
ancestors were brought from northern India by Yayati
Kesari, king of Orissa (a.D. 447-526), to supply the demand
for writers and clerks. The original of the word Karan is
said to be the Hindi kardni, kirdn, which Wilson derives from
Sanskrit karan, ' a doer.' The word kardni was at one time
applied by natives to the junior members of the Civil
Service — ' Writers,' as they were designated. And the
' Writers' Buildings ' of Calcutta were known as kardni ki-
barik. From this term a corruption ' Cranny ' came into
use, and was applied in Bengal to a clerk writing English,
1 This article is based principally on a paper by Nand Kishore, Bohidar,
Sambalpur.
344 KARAN part
and thence to the East Indians or half-castes from whom
English copyists were subsequently recruited.! The derivation
of Mahanti is obscure, unless it be from maha, great, or from
Mahant, the head of a monastery. The caste prefer the name
of Karan, because that of Mahanti is often appropriated by
affluent Chasas and others who wish to get a rise in rank.
In fact a proverb says : Jar nahin Jati, tdku bolanti Mahanti,
or ' He who has no caste calls himself a Mahanti.' The
Karans, like the Kayasths, claim Chitragupta as their first
ancestor, but most of them repudiate any connection with the
Kayasths, though they are of the same calling. The Karans
of Sambalpur have two subcastes, the Jhadua or those of the
jhadi or jungle and the Utkali or Uriyas. The former are
said to be the earlier immigrants and are looked down on by
the latter, who do not intermarry with them. Their exoga-
mous divisions or gotras are of the type called eponymous,
being named after well-known Rishis or saints like those of
the Brahmans. Instances of such names are Bharadwaj,
Parasar, Valmik and Vasishtha. Some of the names, however,
are in a manner totemistic, as Nagas, the cobra ; Kounchhas,
the tortoise ; Bachas, a calf, and so on. These animals are
revered by the members of the gotra named after them, but
as they are of semi-divine nature, the practice may be dis-
tinguished from true totemism. In some cases, however,
members of the Bharadwaj gotra venerate the blue-jay, and
of the Parasar gotra, a pigeon. Marriage is regulated
according to the table of prohibited degrees in vogue among
the higher castes. Girls are commonly married before they
are ten years old, but no penalty attaches to the postpone-
ment of the ceremony to a later age. The binding portion
of the marriage is Hastabandhan or the tying of the hands
of the couple together with kusha grass,2 and when this has
been done the marriage cannot be annulled. The bride
goes to her husband's house for a few days and then returns
home until she attains maturity. Divorce and remarriage
of widows are prohibited, and an unfaithful wife is finally
expelled from the caste. The Karans worship the usual
Hindu gods and call themselves Smarths. Some belong to
the local Parmarth and Kumbhipatia sects, the former of
1 Hobson-Jobson, art. Cranny. 2 Eragrostis cynosuroides.
KARAN
345
which practises obscene rites. They burn their dead, except-
ing the bodies of infants, and perform the shrdddh ceremony.
The caste have a high social position in Sambalpur, and
Brahmans will sometimes take food cooked without water
from them. They wear the sacred thread. They eat fish
and the flesh of clean animals but do not drink liquor.
Bhandaris or barbers will take katclia food from a Karan.
They are generally engaged in service as clerks, accountants,
schoolmasters or patwaris. Their usual titles are Patnaik
or Bohidar. The Karans are considered to be of extra-
vagant habits, and one proverb about them is —
Mahattti jati, itdhar paile kinanti Jiathi,
or, ' The Mahanti if he can get a loan will at once buy
an elephant.' Their shrewdness in business transactions
and tendency to overreach the less intelligent cultivating
castes have made them unpopular like the Kayasths, and
another proverb says —
Patarkata, Tankarkata, Paniota, Gaudini mat
E chari jati kit vishwas naz,
or, ' Trust not the palm-leaf writer (Karan), the weaver,
the liquor-distiller nor the milk-seller.'
KASAI
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1. Genera! notice of the caste. 12. Taking food together and hos-
2. The cattle -slaughtering in- pitality.
dustry. 1 3. Tlie Roman sacra.
3. Muhammadan rite of zibah x 4. The Hindu caste-feasts.
or JialCil. 1 5 . Sacrifice of the camel.
4. Animism. 16. The joint sacrifice.
5. Animal-gods. The domestic 17 • Animal sacrifices in Greece.
animals. 1 8. The Passover.
6. Other animals. 19- Sanctity of domestic animals.
7. Animals worshipped in India. ' . , ~ , '
21. Animal-fights.
8. I he sacrificial meal. ^, .,- . , ,7 , r
^ 11. Ihe sacrificial method of
9. Primitive basis of kinship. killing'
10. The bond of food. 23. Animal sacrifices in Indian
1 1. 77zd? blood-feud. ritual.
Kasai, Kassab. — The caste of Muhammadan butchers, of
whom about 4000 persons were returned from the Central
Provinces and Berar in 191 1. During the last decade the
numbers of the caste have very greatly increased owing to
the rise of the cattle-slaughtering industry. Two kinds of
Kasais may be distinguished, the Gai Kasai or cow-killers
and the Bakar Kasai or mutton butchers. The latter, how-
ever, are usually (Hindus and have been formed into a
separate caste, being known as Khatlk. Like other Muham-
madans who have adopted professions of a not too reputable
nature, the Kasais have become a caste, partly because the
ordinary Muhammadan declines to intermarry with them,
and partly no doubt in imitation of the Hindu social system.
The Kasais are one of the lowest of the Muhammadan
castes, and will admit into their community even low-caste
Hindu converts. They celebrate their weddings by the
nikah form, but until recently many Hindu rites were added
346
part ii THE CATTLE-SLAUGHTERING INDUSTRY 347
to it. The Kazi is employed to conduct the marriage, but
if his services are not available a member of the caste may
officiate instead. Polygamy is permitted to the number of
four wives. A man may divorce his wife simply for dis-
obedience, but if a woman wishes to divorce her husband
she must forego the Meher or dowry promised at the time
of the wedding. The Kasai women, perhaps owing to their
meat diet, are noticeably strong and well nourished, and
there is a saying to the effect that, ' The butcher's daughter
will bear children when she is ten years old.' The deities
of the Kasais are a number of Muhammadan saints, who
are known as Aulia or Favourites of God. The caste bury
the dead, and on the third day they read the Kalma over
some parched grain and distribute this to the caste-fellows,
who eat it in the name of the deceased man, invoking a
blessing upon him. On the ninth day after the death they
distribute food to Muhammadan Fakirs or beggars, and on
the twentieth and fortieth days two more -feasts are given
to the caste and a third on the anniversary of the death.
Owing to what is considered the degrading nature of his
occupation, the social position of the Kasai is very low, and
there is a saying —
Na dekha ho bagh, to dekh belaij
Na dekha ho Thag, to dekh Kasai)
or, ' If you have not seen a tiger, look at a cat ; and if you
have not seen a Thug, look at a butcher.' Many Hindus
have a superstition that leprosy is developed by the continual
eating of beef.
In recent years an extensive industry in the slaughter of 2. The
cattle has sprung up all over the Province. Worn-out cfttle;
r 11 slaughter-
animals are now eagerly bought up and killed ; their hides ing
are dried and exported, and the meat is cured and sent to llKlustlT-
Madras and Burma, a substantial profit being obtained from
its sale. The blood, horns and hoofs are other products
which yield a return. The religious scruples of the Hindus
have given way to the temptation of obtaining what is to
them a substantial sum for a valueless animal, and, with the
exception perhaps of Brahmans and Banias, all castes now
dispose of their useless cattle to the butchers. At first this
348 KASAI tart
was done by stealth, and efforts were made to impose severe
penalties on anybody guilty of the crime of being accessory
to the death of the sacred kine, while it is said that the
emissaries of the butchers were sent to the markets disguised
as Brahmans or religious mendicants, and pretended that
they wished to buy cattle in order to preserve their lives as
a meritorious act. But such attempts at restriction have
generally proved fruitless, and the trade is now openly prac-
tised and acquiesced in by public opinion. In spite of many
complaints of the shortage of plough cattle caused by the
large numbers of animals slaughtered, the results of this
traffic are probably almost wholly advantageous ; for the
villages no longer contain a horde of worn-out and decrepit
animals to deprive the valuable plough and milch cattle of
a share of the too scanty pasturage. Kasais themselves are
generally prosperous.
3. Muham- When killing an animal the butcher lays it on the ground
S«S/lte with its feet to the west and head stretched towards the
or Midi, north and then cuts its throat saying :
In the name of God ;
God is great.
This method of killing an animal is known as zibali.
The Muhammadan belief that an animal is not fit for food
unless its throat has been cut so that the blood flows on to
the ground is thus explained in Professor Robertson Smith's
Religion of the Semites1 : " In heathen Canaan all the animals
belonged to the god of the country ; but it was lawful to
kill them if payment was made to the god by pouring out
their life or blood on the ground." The Arabs are of the
same Semitic stock, and this may be partly the underlying
idea of their rite of zibah. It seems doubtful, however,
whether the explanation suffices to explain its continuance
for so long a period among the Muhammadans who have
long ceased to reverence any earth-deity, and in a foreign
country where the soil cannot be sacred to them ; and a
short summary of Dr. Robertson Smith's luminous explana-
tion of the underlying principle of animal sacrifice in early
times seems requisite to its full understanding.
1 (London, A. & C. Black.)
ii ANIMISM 349
Primitive man did not recognise any difference of in- 4- Anim-
telligence and self- consciousness between himself and the lb
lower animals and even plants, but believed them all to be
possessed of consciousness and volition as he was. He
knew of no natural laws of the constitution of matter and
the action of forces, and therefore thought that all natural
phenomena, the sun, moon and stars, the wind and rain,
were similarly appearances, manifestations or acts of volition
of beings conscious like himself. This is what is meant by
animism. Among several races the community was divided
into totem-clans, and each clan held sacred some animal or
bird, which was considered as a kinsman. All the members
of the clan were kin to each other through the tie formed
by their eating their totem animal, which in the hunting
stage was probably their chief means of subsistence, and
from which they consequently thought that they derived
their common life.1 In process of time the animals which
were domesticated, such as the horse, the sheep, the cow
and the camel, acquired a special sanctity, and became, in
fact, the principal deities of the community, such as the
calf-god Apis, the cow-goddess Isis-Hathor, and the ram-
god Amen in Egypt, Hera, probably a cow-goddess, and
Dionysus, who may be the deified bull or goat (or a com-
bination of them) in Greece, and so on.
It is easy to see how these domestic animals would 5. Animal-
overshadow all others in importance when the tribe had s°ds~ ,rhe
r domestic
arrived at the pastoral or agricultural stage ; thus in the animals,
former the camel, horse, goat or sheep, and in the latter
pre-eminently the bull and cow, as the animals which
afforded subsistence to the whole tribe, would become their
1 This definition of totemism is more the clan come to think that they are
or less in accord with that held by the descended from their totem animal and
late Professor Robertson Smith, but is that the spirits of their ancestors pass
not generally accepted. The exhaustive into the totem animal. When this
collection of totemic beliefs and customs belief arises, they cease eating the
contained in Sir J. G. Frazer's Totem- totem as a mark of veneration and
ism and Exogamy affords, however, respect, and abstain from killing or
substantial evidence in favour of it injuring it. Finally the totem comes
among tribes still in the hunting stage to be little more than a clan-name or
in Australia, North America and Africa. family name, which serves the purpose
The Indian form of totemism is, in the of preventing marriage between persons
writer's opinion, a later one, arising related through males, who Relieve
when the totem animal has ceased to themselves to be descended from a
be the main source of life, and when common ancestor.
15°
KASAI
greatest gods. It must be presumed that men forgot that
their ancestors had tamed these animals, and looked on
them as divine helpers who of their own free will had come
to give mankind their aid in gaining a subsistence. Those
who have observed the reverence paid to the cow and bull
in India will have no difficulty in realising this point of
view. Many other instances can be obtained. Thus in
the Vedic religion of the Aryans the Ashvins, from ashva,
a horse, were the divine horsemen of the dawn or of the
sun. The principal sacrifice was that of the horse, con-
sidered, perhaps, as the representative of the sun or carrier
of celestial fire. In a hymn the horse is said to be sprung
from the gods. In Greece Phaethon was the charioteer of
the horses of the sun. Mars, as the Roman god of war,
may perhaps have been the deified horse, as suggested later.
The chieftains of the Anglo-Saxon invaders of England,
Hengist and Horsa, were held to be descended from the
god Odin, to whom horses were sacrificed ; Hengist means
a stallion and Horsa a horse, the word having survived in
modern English. Other mythical kings in Bede's chronicle
have names derived from that of the horse (vicg.)} The
camel does not seem to have become an anthropomorphic
god, but the Arabs venerated it and refrained from killing
it except as a sacrifice, when it was offered to the Morning-
Star and partaken of sacramentally by the worshippers as
will be seen subsequently. The ox as the tiller of the
ground, with the cow as milk-giver and mother of the ox,
are especially venerated by races in the early agricultural
stage. Egyptian and Greek instances have already been
given. In modern Egypt, as in India, bulls are let loose
and held sacred. " Sometimes a peasant vows that he will
sacrifice, for the sake of a saint, a calf which he possesses,
as soon as it is full grown and fatted. It is let loose, by
consent of all his neighbours, to pasture where it will, even
in fields of young wheat ; and at last, after it has been
sacrificed, a public feast is made with its meat. Many a
large bull is thus given away." 2 Dionysus Zagreus was a
young bull devoured by the Titans, whom Zeus raised again
1 Orpheus (Heinemann), p. 197.
2 Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 248.
ii • ANIMAL-GODS 351
to a glorious life.1 The Babylonians had a bull-god, Ninit.2
Brazen images of bulls were placed in Babylonian temples.
The Parsis hold the bull sacred, and a child is made to
drink a bull's urine as a rite of purification. After a funeral
the mourners free themselves from the impurity caused by
contact with the dead in a similar manner.3 The mono-
theistic religion of Persia, Mitraism, which was an outcome
of the faith of Zoroaster, and being introduced 'by the
Emperors Commodus and Julian into the Roman world
contended for some time with Christianity, was apparently
sun-worship, Mitra being the sun-god of the ancient Aryans
and Iranians ; M. Reinach says : " Mitra is born from a
rock ; he makes water flow from the rock by striking it
with an arrow, makes an alliance with the sun, and enters
into a struggle with a bull, whom he conquers and sacrifices.
The sacrifice of the bull appears to indicate that the worship
of Mitra in its most ancient form was that of a sacred bull,
conjoined to or representing the sun, which was sacrificed
as a god, and its flesh and blood eaten in a sacrificial meal.
Mitra, the slayer of the bull, figures in a double role as
one finds in all the religions which have passed from
totemism to anthropomorphism." 4 In Scandinavia the god
Odin and his brothers were the grandsons of a divine cow,
born from the melting ice in the region of snow and dark-
ness.5 In Rome a white bull was sacrificed to the Feriae
Latinae, apparently the spirit of the Latin holy days, and
distributed among all the towns of Latium.6 Altars of the
ancient Celts or Gauls have been found in France carved
with the image of a bull.7 In Palestine there is the familiar
instance of the golden calf. In the open court of Solomon's
temple stood the brazen sea on twelve oxen, and figures of
lions, oxen and cherubim covered the portable tanks.8 The
veneration of the bull survived into Christian England in
the Middle Ages. " At St. Edmundsbury a white bull,
which enjoyed full ease and plenty in the fields, and was
never yoked to the plough nor employed in any service, was
1 Orphhis, p. 47. 5 Ibidem, p. 204.
2 Ibidem, p. 50. ° Ibidem, p. 144.
s E.G. Parsis of Gujarat, pp. 232, 7 Ibidem, p. 169.
241. 8 D. M. Flinders- Petrie, Egypt and
4 Orpheus, pp. 1 01, 102. Israel, p. 61.
352
KASAI
led in procession in the chief streets of the town to the
principal gate of the monastery, attended by all the monks
singing and a shouting crowd.1 " Such remedies as cowdung
and cow's urine have been used on the continent of Europe
by peasant physicians down to our times " ; 2 and the belief
in their efficacy must apparently have arisen from the
sanctity attaching to the animal. In India Siva rides upon
the bull'' Nandi, and when the Kunbis were too weak from
famine to plough the fields, he had Nandi castrated and
harnessed to the plough, thus teaching them to use oxen
for ploughing ; the image of Nandi is always carved in
stone in front of Siva, and there seems little reason to doubt
that in his beneficent aspect of Mahadeo the god was
originally the deified bull. Bulls were let loose in his
honour and allowed to graze where they would, and formerly
a good Hindu would not even sell a bull, though this rule
has fallen into abeyance. The sacred cow, Kamdhenu, was
the giver of all wealth in Hindu mythology, and Lakshmi,
the goddess of wealth, is considered to have been the deified
cow. Hindus are purified from grave offences by drinking
the five products of the sacred cow, milk, curds, butter,
dung and urine ; and the floors of Hindu houses are daily
plastered with cowdung to the same end.
Of the exaltation of minor animals into anthropomorphic
gods and goddesses only a few instances need be given.
As is shown by Sir J. G. Frazer, Demeter and Proserpine
probably both represent the deified pig.3 " The Greek drama
has arisen from the celebrations of Dionysus. In the
beginning the people sacrificed a goat totem-god, that is
to say, Dionysus himself ; they wept for his death and then
celebrated his resurrection with transports of joy." 4 And
again M. Reinach states : " There are more than mere vestiges
of totemism in ancient Greece. We may take first the
attendant animals of the gods, the eagle of Zeus, the owl of
Athena, the fawn of Artemis, the dolphin of Poseidon, the
dove of Aphrodite and so on ; the sacred animal can develop
into the companion of the god, but also into his enemy or
1 Gomme, Folk-lore as a Historical 3 Golden Bough, ii. pp. 299-301.
Science, p. 161. See article on Kumhar.
2 Haug's Essays on the Parsis, p.
286. 4 Orpheus, p. 139.
ii OTHER ANIMALS 353
victim ; thus Apollo Sauroctonos is, as the epithet shows, a
killer of lizards ; but in the beginning it was the lizard itself
which was divine. We have seen that the boar before
becoming the slayer of Adonis had been Adonis himself." l
In early Rome "The wolf was the animal most venerated.
Its association with Mars, as the sacrifice most pleasing to
him, leaves no doubt as to the primitive nature of the god.
It was a wolf which acted as guide to the Samnites in their
search for a place to settle in, and these Samnites called
themselves Hirpi or Hirpini, that is to say, wolves. Romulus
and Remus, sons of the wolf Mars and the she-wolf Silvia
(the forest-dweller), are suckled by a she-wolf." 2 It seems
possible that Mars as the deified wolf was at first an agri-
cultural deity, the wolf being worshipped by the shepherd
and farmer because he was their principal enemy, as the
sambhar stag and the wild buffalo are similarly venerated
by Indian cultivators. At a later period, in becoming the
god of war, he may have represented the deified horse as
well. Races of war-horses were held at his festivals on
14th March and 27th February, and a great race on the
Ides of October when the winner was solemnly slain.3 " In
Egypt the baboon was regarded as the emblem of Tahuti,
the god of wisdom ; the serious expression and human ways
of the large baboons are an obvious cause for their being
regarded as the wisest of animals. Tahuti is represented
as a baboon from the earliest dynasty down to late times ;
and four baboons were sacred in his temple at Heliopolis." 4
" The hippopotamus was the goddess Ta-urt, ' the great one,'
the patroness of pregnancy, who is never shown in any
other form. Rarely this animal appears as the emblem df
the god Set. The jackal haunted the cemeteries on the
edge of the desert, and so came to be taken as the guardian
of the dead and identified with Anubis, the god of departing
souls. The vulture was the emblem of maternity as being
supposed to care especially for her young. Hence she is
identified with Mut, the mother-goddess of Thebes. The
cobra serpent was sacred from the earliest times to the
1 Orphhis, pp. 119, 120. 4 Religions, Ancient and Modern,
2 Ibidem, p. 144. Ancient Egypt, Professor Flinders-
3 Religions, Ancient and Modern, Petrie, p. 22.
Ancient Rome, Cyril Bailey, p. 86.
VOL. Ill 2 A
)
554
KASAI
present day. It was never identified with any of the great
deities, but three goddesses appear in serpent form." l
7. Animals Finally, in India we have Hanuman, originally the
worshipped deified ape about whose identity there can be no doubt as
in India. ... , ., . ,, , t>i •
he still retains his monkey s tail in all sculpture. J3hairon,
the watchman of Mahadeo's temples, rides on a black dog,
and was perhaps originally the watch-dog, or in his more
terrible character of the devourer of human beings, the wolf.
Ganesh or Ganpati has the head of an elephant and rides
on a rat and appears to have derived his divine attributes
from both these animals, as will be explained elsewhere ; 2
Kartikeya, the god of war, rides on a peacock, and as the
peacock is sacred, he may originally have been that bird,
perhaps because its plumes were a favourite war emblem.
Among his epithets are Sarabhu, born in the thicket, Dwada-
sakara and Dwadasaksha, twelve-handed and twelve-eyed.
He was fostered by the maidens who make the Pleiades, and
his epithet of twelve-eyed may be taken from the eyes in the
peacock's feathers.3 But, like the Greek gods, the Hindu
gods have now long become anthropomorphic, and only
vestiges remain of their animal associations. Enough has
been said to show that most of the pantheons are largely
occupied by deified animals and birds.
The original sacrifice was that in which the community
of kinsmen ate together the flesh of their divine or totem
animal-god and drank its blood. In early religion the tribal
god was the ancestor and relative of the tribe. He protected
and fostered the tribe in its public concerns, but took no
special care of individuals ; the only offences of which he
took cognisance were those against the tribe as a whole,
such as shedding a kinsman's blood. At periodical intervals
the tribe renewed their kinship with the god and each other
by eating his flesh together at a sacrificial meal by which
they acquired his divine attributes ; and every tribesman
was not only invited, but bound, to participate. " According
to antique ideas those who eat and drink together are by
this very act tied to one another by a bond of friendship
8. The
sacrificial
meal.
1 Religions, Ancient and Modern,
Ancient Egypt, Professor Flinders-
Fetrie, pp. 24, 26.
2 Vide article on Bania.
3 Dowson's and Garrett's Classical
Dictionaries, art. Kartikeya.
THE SACRIFICIAL MEAL
355
and mutual obligation. Hence when we find that in ancient
religions all the ordinary functions of worship are summed
up in the sacrificial meal, and that the ordinary intercourse
between gods and men has no other form, we are to
remember that the act of eating and drinking together is
the solemn and stated expression of the fact that all who
share the meal are brethren, and that the duties of friend-
ship and brotherhood are implicitly acknowledged in their
common act.1 The one thing directly expressed in the
sacrificial meal is that the god and his worshippers are
commensals, but every other point in their mutual relations
is included in what this involves. Those who sit at meat
together are united for all social effects ; those who do not
eat together are aliens to one another, without fellowship
in religion and without reciprocal social duties. The extent
to which this view prevailed among the ancient Semites, and
still prevails among the Arabs, may be brought out most
clearly by reference to the law of hospitality. Among the
Arabs every stranger whom one meets in the desert is a
natural enemy, and has no protection against violence except
his own strong hand or the fear that his tribe will avenge
him if his blood be spilt. But if I have eaten the smallest
morsel of food with a man I have nothing further to fear
from him ; ' there is salt between us,' and he is bound not
only to do me no harm, but to help and defend me as if I
were his brother. So far was this principle carried by the
old Arabs that Zaid-al-Khail, a famous warrior in the days
of Muhammad, refused to slay a vagabond who carried off
his camels, because the thief had surreptitiously drunk from
his father's milk-bowl before committing the theft." 2 It is
in this idea that the feeling of hospitality originally arose.
Those who ate together the sacred food consisting of the
body of the god were brothers, and bound to assist each
other and do each other no harm ; and the obligation
extended in a modified form to all food partaken of together,
more especially as with some races, as the ancient Romans
and the Hindus, all the regular household meals are sacred ;
they may only be partaken of after purifying the body, and
a portion of the food at each meal is offered to the gods.
1 Religion of the Semites, p. 265. 2 Ibidem, pp. 269, 270.
554
KASAI
present day. It was never identified with any of the great
deities, but three goddesses appear in serpent form." ]
7. Animals Finally, in India we have Hanuman, originally the
worshipped deified ape, about whose identity there can be no doubt as
he still retains his monkey's tail in all sculpture. Bhairon,
the watchman of Mahadeo's temples, rides on a black dog,
and was perhaps originally the watch-dog, or in his more
terrible character of the devourer of human beings, the wolf.
Ganesh or Ganpati has the head of an elephant and rides
on a rat and appears to have derived his divine attributes
from both these animals, as will be explained elsewhere ; 2
Kartikeya, the god of war, rides on a peacock, and as the
peacock is sacred, he may originally have been that bird,
perhaps because its plumes were a favourite war emblem.
Among his epithets are Sarabhu, born in the thicket, Dwada-
sakara and Dwadasaksha, twelve-handed and twelve-eyed.
He was fostered by the maidens who make the Pleiades, and
his epithet of twelve-eyed may be taken from the eyes in the
peacock's feathers.3 But, like the Greek gods, the Hindu
gods have now long become anthropomorphic, and only
vestiges remain of their animal associations. Enough has
been said to show that most of the pantheons are largely
occupied by deified animals and birds.
8. The The original sacrifice was that in which the community
sacrificial Qf kjnsmen ate together the flesh of their divine or totem
meal. °
animal-god and drank its blood. In early religion the tribal
god was the ancestor and relative of the tribe. He protected
and fostered the tribe in its public concerns, but took no
special care of individuals ; the only offences of which he
took cognisance were those against the tribe as a whole,
such as shedding a kinsman's blood. At periodical intervals
the tribe renewed their kinship with the god and each other
by eating his flesh together at a sacrificial meal by which
they acquired his divine attributes ; and every tribesman
was not only invited, but bound, to participate. " According
to antique ideas those who eat and drink together are by
this very act tied to one another by a bond of friendship
1 Religions, Ancient and Modern, 2 Vide article on Bania.
Ancient Egypt, Professor Flinders- 3 Dowson's and Garrett's Classical
Petrie, pp. 24, 26. Dictionaries, art. Kartikeya.
n THE BOND OF FOOD— THE BLOOD-FEUD 357
and that of kinship are identical. The sanctity of a
kinsman's life and the sanctity of the godhead are not two
things but one ; for ultimately the only thing which is
sacred is the common tribal life or the common blood which
is identified with the life. Whatever being partakes in this
life is holy, and its holiness may be described indifferently
as participation in the divine life and nature, or as participa-
tion in the kindred blood." 1
" At a later period the conception is found current that 10. The
any food which two men partake of together, so that the ^°°? of
same substance enters into their flesh and blood, is enough
to establish some sacred unity of life between them ; but in
ancient times this significance seems to be always attached
to participation in the flesh of a sacrosanct victim, and the
solemn mystery of its death is justified by the consideration
that only in this way can the sacred cement be procured
which creates or keeps alive a living bond of union between
the worshippers and their god. This cement is nothing less
than the actual life of the sacred and kindred animal, which
is conceived as residing in its flesh, but especially in its
blood, and so, in the sacred meal, is actually distributed
among all the participants, each of whom incorporated a
particle of it with his own individual life." 2
It thus appears that the sacrifice of the divine animal u. The
which was the god of the tribe or clan, and the eating of its blood-feud-
flesh and drinking of its blood together, was the only tangible
bond or obligation on which such law and morality as existed
in primitive society was based. Those who participated in
this sacrifice were brothers and forbidden to shed each other's
blood, because in so doing they would have spilt the blood
of the god impiously and unlawfully ; the only lawful occasion
on which it could be shed being by participation of all the
clan or kinsmen in the sacrificial meal. All other persons
outside the clan were strangers or enemies, and no rights
or obligations existed in connection with them ; the only
restraint on killing them being the fear that their kinsmen
would take blood-revenge, not solely on the murderer, but
on any member of his clan. A man's life was protected
only by this readiness of his clansmen to avenge him ; if he
1 Religion of the Semites, p. 289. - Ibidem, p. 313.
358 KASAI part
slew a fellow-kinsman, thus shedding the blood of the god
which flowed in the veins of every member, or committed
an)' other great impiety against the god, he was outlawed,
and henceforth there was no protection for his life except
such as he could afford himself by his own strength. This
reflection puts the importance of the blood-feud in primitive
society in a clear light. It was at that time really a bene-
ficent institution, being the only protection for human life ;
and its survival among such backward races as the Pathans
and Corsicans, long after the State has undertaken the pro-
tection and avenging of life and the blood-feud has become
almost wholly useless and evil, is more easily understood.
12. Taking The original idea of the sacrificial meal was that the
food to- kinsmen in concert partook of the body of the god, thereby
gether and l . i
hospitality, renewing their kinship with him and with each other. By
analogy, however, the tie thus formed was extended to the
whole practice of eating together. It has been seen how a
stranger who partook of food with an Arab became sacred
and as a kinsman to his host and all the latter's clan for
such time as any part of the food might remain in his system,
a period which was conventionally taken as about three days.
" The Old Testament records many cases where a covenant
was sealed by the parties eating and drinking together. In
most of these the meal is sacrificial, and the deity is taken
in as a third party to the covenant. But in Joshua i. 14
the Israelites enter into alliance with the Gibeonites by tak-
ing of their victuals without consulting Jehovah. A formal
league confirmed by an oath follows, but by accepting the
proffered food the Israelites are already committed to the
alliance." 1 From the belief in the strength and sanctity
of the tie formed by eating together the obligation of
hospitality appears to be derived. And this is one of the
few moral ideas which are more binding in primitive than in
civilised society.
13. The " A good example of the clan sacrifice, in which a whole
kinship periodically joins, is afforded by the Roman sacra
gentilicia. As in primitive society no man can belong to
more than one kindred, so among the Romans no one could
share in the sacra of two gcntes — to do so was to confound
1 Religion of the Semites, p. 271.
ii THE HINDU CASTE FEASTS 359
the ritual and contaminate the purity of the gens. The sacra
consisted in common anniversary sacrifices, in which the clans-
men honoured the gods of the clan, and after them the whole
kin, living and dead, were brought together in the service." '
The intense importance thus attached to eating in I4. The
common on ceremonial occasions has a very familiar ring to Hindu
... T . . caste-
ar.y one possessing some acquaintance with the Indian caste- feasts,
system. The resemblance of the gotra or clan and the sub-
caste to the Greek phratry and pliule and the Roman gens
aid curia or tribe has been pointed out by M. Emile Senart
ii Les Castes dans Vlnde. The origin of the subcaste or
group, whose members eat together and intermarry, cannot
oe discussed here. But it seems probable that the real bond
vhich unites it is the capacity of its members to join in the
ceremonial feasts at marriages, funerals, and the readmission
of members temporarily excluded, which are of a type closely
esembling and seemingly derived from the sacrificial meal.
3efore a wedding the ancestors of the family are formally
hvited, and when the wedding-cakes are made they are
offered to the ancestors and then partaken of by all rela-
ives of the family as in the Roman sacra. In this case grain
vould take the place of flesh as the sacrificial food among
1 people who no longer eat the flesh of animals. Thus Sir
[. G. Frazer states : " At the close of the rice harvest in the
East Indian island of Buro each clan (fenna) meets at a
common sacramental meal, to which every member of the clan
is bound to contribute a little of the new rice. This meal is
called ' eating the soul of the rice,' a name which clearly
indicates the sacramental character of the repast. Some of
the rice is also set apart and offered to the spirits." '' Grain
cooked with water is sacred food among the Hindus. The
bride and bridegroom worship Gauri, perhaps a corn-goddess,
and her son Ganesh, the god of prosperity and full granaries.
It has been suggested that yellow is the propitious Hindu
colour for weddings, because it is the colour of the corn.3
At the wedding feast all the guests sit knee to knee touch-
ing each other as a sign of their brotherhood. Sometimes
the bride eats with the men in token of her inclusion in the
1 Religion of the Semites, p. 275. 2 Golden Bough, ii. p. 321.
3 Vide art. Kumhar.
360 KASAI PART
brotherhood. In most castes the feast cannot begin until
all the guests have come, and every member of the subcaste
who is not under the ban of exclusion must be invited. V.
any considerable number of the guests wilfully abstain from
attending it is an insult to the host and an implication tint
his own position is doubtful. Other points of resemblance
between the caste feast and the sacrificial meal will be dis-
cussed elsewhere.
15. Sacri- The sacrifice of the camel in Arabia, about the period of
camel tne fourth century, is thus described : " The camel chosen as
the victim is bound upon a rude altar of stones piled togethc,
and when the leader of the band has thrice led the wor-
shippers round the altar in a solemn procession accompanied
with chants, he inflicts the first wound while the last words
of the hymn are still upon the lips of the congregation, anc
in all haste drinks of the blood that gushes forth. Forth
with the whole company fall on the victim with their swords
hacking off pieces of the quivering flesh and devouring then
raw, with such wild haste that in the short interval betweer
the rise of the day-star, which marked the hour for the
service to begin, and the disappearance of its rays before
the rising sun, the entire camel, body and bones, skin, blood
and entrails, is wholly devoured." 1
In this case the camel was offered as a sacrifice tc
Venus or the Morning Star, and it had to be devoured while
the star was visible. But it is clear that the camel itself
had been originally revered, because except for the sacrifice
it was unlawful for the Arabs to kill the camel otherwise
than as a last resort to save themselves from starvation.
" The ordinary sustenance of the Saracens was derived from
pillage or from hunting and from the milk of their herds.
Only when these supplies failed they fell back on the flesh
of their camels, one of which was slain for each clan or for
each group which habitually pitched their tents together —
always a fraction of a clan — and the flesh was hastily de-
voured by the kinsmen in dog-like fashion, half raw and
merely softened over the fire." 2 In Bhopal it is stated that
a camel is still sacrificed annually in perpetuation of the
ancient rite. Hindus who keep camels revere them like
1 Religion of the Semites, p. 338. 2 Ibidem, p. 281.
;i ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN GREECE 361
other domestic animals. When one of my tent-camels had
broken its leg by a fall and had to be killed, I asked the
camelman, to whom the animal belonged, to shoot it ; but he
positively refused, saying, ' How shall I kill him who gives
me my bread ' ; and a Muhammadan orderly finally shot it.
The camel was devoured raw almost before the life had 16. The
left the body, so that its divine life and blood might be Sacrifice
absorbed by the worshippers. The obligation to devour the
whole body perhaps rested on the belief that its slaughter
otherwise than as a sacrifice was impious, and if any part of
the body was left unconsumed the clan would incur the
guilt of murder. Afterwards, when more civilised stomachs
revolted against the practice of devouring the whole body,
the bones were buried or burnt, and it is suggested that our
word bonfire comes from bone-fire.1 Primitive usage required
the presence of every clansman, so that each might partici-
pate in shedding the sacred blood. Neither the blood of
the god nor of any of the kinsmen might be spilt by private
violence, but only by consent of the kindred and the kindred
god. Similarly in shedding the blood of a member of the
kin all the others were required to share the responsibility,
and this was the ancient Hebrew form of execution where
the culprit was stoned by the whole congregation.2
M. Salomon Reinach gives the following explanation of 17. Animal
Greek myths in connection with the sacrificial meal : " The Q^g65
primitive sacrifice of the god, usually accompanied by the
eating of the god in fellowship, was preserved in their
religious rites, and when its meaning had been forgotten
numerous legends were invented to account for it. In order
to understand their origin it is necessary to remember that
the primitive worshippers masqueraded as the god and took
his name. As the object of the totem sacrifice is to make
the participants like the god and confer his divinity on them,
the faithful endeavoured to increase the resemblance by
taking the name of the god and covering themselves with
the skins of animals of his species. Thus the Athenian
damsels celebrating the worship of the bear Artemis dressed
themselves in bear-skins and called themselves bears ; the
1 Dr. Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion, p. 1 50.
2 Religion of the Semites, p. 285.
362 KASAI part
Maenads who sacrificed the doe Penthea were clad in doe-
skins. Even in the later rites the devotees of Bacchus
called themselves Bacchantes. A whole series of legends
can be interpreted as semi-rationalistic explanations of the
sacrificial meal. Actaeon was really a great stag sacrificed
by women devotees who called themselves the great hind
and the little hinds ; he became the rash hunter who surprised
Artemis at her bath, and was transformed into a stag and
devoured by his own dogs. The dogs are a euphemism ; in
the early legend they were the human devotees of the sacred
stag who tore him to pieces and devoured him with their
bare teeth. These feasts of raw flesh survived in the secret
religious cults of Greece long after uncooked meat had ceased
to be consumed in ordinary life. Orpheus {ophretts, the
haughty), who appears in art with the skin of a fox on his
head, was originally a sacred fox devoured by the women of
the fox totem-clan ; these women call themselves Bassarides
in the legend, and bassareus is one of the old names of the
fox. Zagreus is a son of Zeus and Persephone who trans-
formed himself into a bull to escape from the Titans, excited
against him by Hera ; the Titans, worshippers of the divine
bull, killed and ate him ; Zagreus was invoked in his worship
as the ' good bull,' and when Zagreus by the grace of Zeus
was reborn as Dionysus, the young god carried on his fore-
head the horns which bore witness to his animal nature.
Hippolytus in the fable is the son of Theseus who repels
the advances of Phaedra, his stepmother, and was killed by
his runaway horses because Theseus, deceived by Phaedra,
invoked the anger of a god upon him. But Hippolytus in
Greek means ' One torn to pieces by horses.' Hippolytus is
himself a horse whom the worshippers of the horse, calling
themselves horses and disguised as such, tore to pieces and
devoured. Phaethon (The Shining One) is a son of Apollo,
who demands leave to drive the chariot of the sun, drives it
badly, nearly burns up the world, and finally falls and perishes
in the sea. This legend is the product of an old rite at
Rhodes, the island of the sun, where every year a white
horse and a burning chariot were thrown into the sea to
help the sun, fatigued by his labours." x
1 Orphans, pp. 123, 125.
II THE PASSOVER 363
M. Reinach points out that the Passover of the Israelites 18. Tin-
was in its origin a similar sacrifice. A lamb or kid, the
first-fruit of the flocks, was eaten entire without the bones
being broken, the blood smeared on the doorway being an
offering to the god. The story connecting this sacrifice with
the death of the first-born in Egypt was of later origin,
devised to account for it when the real meaning had been
forgotten.1 The name Rachel 2 means a ewe, and it would
appear that the children of Israel in the pastoral stage had
the sheep for their totem deity and supposed themselves to
be descended from it, as the Jats consider themselves to be
descended from Siva, probably in his form of Mahadeo, the
deified bull. As held in Canaan, the festival may have been
a relic of the former migratory life of the Israelites when
they tended flocks and regarded the sheep, or goat, as their
most important domestic animal. It may have been in
memory of this wandering life that the festival was accom-
panied by the eating of unleavened bread, and the sacrifice
was consumed with loins girded up and staffs in their hands,
as if in readiness for a journey. The Banjaras retain in
their marriage and other customs various reminiscences of
their former migratory life, as shown in the article on that
caste. The Gadarias of the Central Provinces worship a
goddess called Dishai Devi, who is represented by a stone
platform just outside the sheep-pen. She has thus probably
developed from the deified sheep or goat, which itself was
formerly worshipped. On the eighth day of the fasts in
Chait and Kunwar the Gadarias offer the goddess a virgin
she-goat. They wash the goat's feet in water and rub
turmeric on its feet and head. It is given rice to eat and
brought before the goddess, and water is poured over its
body ; when the goat begins to shiver they think that the
goddess has accepted the offering, and cut its throat with a
sickle or knife. Then the animal is roasted whole and eaten in
the veranda of the house, nothing being thrown away but the
bones. Only men may join in this sacrifice, and not women.
1 In following the explanation of the lamb was a substitute for the previous
Passover given by Professor Robertson sacrifice by the Israelites of their first-
Smith and M. Reinach, it is necessary born sons.
with great diffidence to dissent from the 2 Orph&ts, p. 272; Religion of the
hypothesis of Sir J. G. Frazer that the Semites, p. 31 1.
364
KASAI
19. Sanc-
tity of
domestic
animals.
Thus it was a more or less general rule among several
races that the domestic animals were deified and held sacred,
and were slain only at a sacrifice. It followed that it was
sinful to kill these animals on any other occasion. It has
already been seen that the Arabs forbore to kill their
worn-out camels for food except when driven to it by hunger
as a last resort. " That it was once a capital offence to
kill an ox, both in Attica and the Peloponnesus, is attested by
Varro. So far as Athens is concerned, this statement seems
to be drawn from the legend that was told in connection
with the annual sacrifice at the Diipolia, where the victim
was a bull and its death was followed by a solemn inquiry
as to who was responsible for the act. In this trial every-
one who had anything to do with the slaughter was called
as a party ; the maidens who drew water to sharpen the axe
and knife threw the blame on the sharpeners, they put it on
the man who handed the axe, he on the man who struck
down the victim, and he again on the one who cut its throat,
who finally fixed the responsibility on the knife, which was
accordingly found guilty of murder and cast into the sea." x
" At Tenedos the priest who offered a bull-calf to Dionysus
antJiroporraistes was attacked with stones and had to flee for
his life ; and at Corinth, in the annual sacrifice of a goat to
Hera Acraea, care was taken to shift the responsibility of
the death off the shoulders of the community by employing
hirelings as ministers. Even they did no more than hide
the knife in such a way that the goat, scraping with its feet,
procured its own death." 2 " Agatharchides, describing the
Troglodytes of East Africa, a primitive pastoral people in
the polyandrous state of society, tells us that their whole
sustenance was derived from their flocks and herds. When
pasture abounded, after the rainy season, they lived on milk
mingled with blood (drawn apparently, as in Arabia, from the
living animal), and in the dry season they had recourse to
the flesh of aged or weakly beasts. Further, ' they gave the
name of parent to no human being, but only to the ox
and cow, the ram and ewe, from whom they had their
nourishment' Among' the Caffres the cattle kraal is
sacred ; women may not enter it, and to defile it is a
1 Religion of the Semites, p. 304. - Ibidem, pp. 305, 306.
ii SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER FOR FOOD 365
capital offence." ] Among the Egyptians also cows were
never killed.2
Gradually, however, as the reverence for animals declined 20. Sacri-
and the true level of their intelligence compared to that of swhter
man came to be better appreciated, the sanctity attaching to for food.
their lives no doubt grew weaker. Then it would become
permissible to kill a domestic animal privately and otherwise
than by a joint sacrifice of the clan ; but the old custom of
justifying the slaughter by offering it to the god would still
remain. " At this stage,3 at least among the Hebrews, the
original sanctity of the life of domestic animals is still recog-
nised in a modified form, inasmuch as it is held unlawful to
use their flesh for food except in a sacrificial meal. But
this rule is not strict enough to prevent flesh from becoming
a familiar luxury. Sacrifices are multiplied on trivial occa-
sions of religious gladness or social festivity, and the rite of
eating at the sanctuary loses the character of an exceptional
sacrament, and means no more than that men are invited to
feast and be merry at the table of their god, or that no feast
is complete in which the god has not his share." 4 This is
the stage reached by the Hebrews in the time of Samuel, as
described by Professor Robertson Smith, and it bears much
resemblance to that of the lower Hindu castes and the Gonds
at the present time. They too, when they can afford to kill
a goat or a pig, cows being prohibited in deference to Hindu
susceptibility, take it to the shrine of some village deity and
offer it there prior to feasting on it with their friends. At
intervals of a year or more many of the lower castes sacrifice
a goat to Dulha Deo, the bridegroom-god, and Thakur Deo,
the corn-god, and eat the body as a sacrificial meal within
the house, burying the bones and other remnants beneath
the floor of the house.5 Among the Kafirs of the Hindu
Kush, when a man wishes to become a Jast, apparently a
revered elder or senator, he must give a series of feasts to
the whole community, so expensive that many men utterly
ruin themselves in becoming Jast. The initiatory pro-
ceedings are sacrifices of bulls and male goats to Glsh, the
1 Religion of the Semites, pp. 296, 3 When the blood of the animal was
297. poured out before the god as his share.
4 Religion of the Semites, p. 246.
2 Golden Bough, ii. p. 313. 5 Vide article on Dhanwar.
366 KASAI part
war-god, at the village shrine. The animals are examined
with jealous eyes by the spectators, to see that they come up
to the prescribed standard of excellence. After the sacrifice
the meat is divided among the people, who carry it to
their homes. These special sacrifices at the shrine recur at
intervals ; but the great slaughterings are at the feast-giver's
own house, where he entertains sometimes the Jast exclu-
sively and sometimes the whole tribe, as already mentioned.1
Even in the latter case, however, after a big distribution at
the giver's house one or two goats are offered to the war-god
at his shrine ; and while the animals are being killed at the
house offerings are made on a sacrificial fire, and as each
soat is slain a handful of its blood is taken and thrown on
the fire.2 The Kafirs would therefore appear to be in the
stage when it is still usual to kill domestic animals as a
sacrifice to the god, but no longer obligatory.
21. Animal Finally animals are recognised for what they are, all
fights' sanctity ceases to attach to them, and they are killed for food
in an ordinary manner. Possibly, however, such customs as
roasting an ox whole, and the sports of bull-baiting and bull-
fighting, may be relics of the ancient sacrifice. Formerly
the buffaloes sacrificed at the shrine of the goddess Rankini
or Kali in Dalbhum zamlndari of Chota Nagpur were made
to fight. " Two male buffaloes are driven into a small en-
closure and on a raised stage adjoining and overlooking it
the Raja and his suite take up their position. After some
ceremonies the Raja and his family priest discharge arrows
at the buffaloes, others follow their example, and the
tormented and enraged beasts fall to and gore each other
whilst arrow after arrow is discharged. When the animals
are past doing very much mischief, the people rush in and
hack at them with battle-axes till they are dead." 3
22. The Muhammadans however cannot eat the flesh of an animal
methocTof unless its throat is cut and the blood allowed to flow before
killing. it dies. At the time of cutting the throat a sacred text
or invocation must be repeated. It has been seen that
in former times the blood of the animal was offered to
the god and scattered on the altar or collected in a pit at its
1 Sir G. Robertson, Kafirs of the 2 Ibidem, p. 460.
Hindu Kush, pp. 450, 451. 3 ~Da\\ox\, Ethnology of Bengal, p. 1^6.
ii THE SACRIFICIAL METHOD OF KILLING 367
foot. It may be suggested that the method of killing which
still survives was that formerly practised in offering the
sacrifice, and that the necessity of allowing the blood to flow
is a relic of the blood offering. When it no longer became
necessary to sacrifice every animal at a shrine the sacrificial
method of slaughter and the invocation to the god might be
retained as removing the impiety of the act. At present it
is said that unless an animal's blood flows it is a murda or
corpse, and hence not suitable for food. But this idea may
have grown up to account for the custom when its original
meaning had been forgotten. The Gonds, when sacrificing
a fowl, hold it over the sacred post or stone, which represents
the god, and let the blood drop upon it. And when sacrific-
ing a pig they first cut its tongue and let the blood fall upon
the symbol of the god. In Chhattisgarh, when a Hindu is
ill he makes a vow of the affected limb to the god ; then on
recovering he goes to the temple, and cutting this limb, lets
the blood fall on to the symbol of the god as an offering.
Similarly the Sikhs are forbidden to eat flesh unless the
animal has been killed by jatka or cutting off the head with
one stroke, and the same rule is observed by some of the
lower Hindu castes. In Hindu sacrifices it is often custom-
ary that the head of the animal should be made over to the
officiating priest as his share, and so in killing the animal he
would naturally cut off its head. The above rule may there-
fore be of the same character as the rite of Jialal anions the
Muhammadans, and here also the sacrificial method of killing
an animal may be retained to legalise its slaughter after the
sacrifice itself has fallen into desuetude. In Berar some
time ago the Mullah or Muhammadan priest was a village
servant and the Hindus paid him dues. In return he was
accustomed to kill the goats and sheep which they wished
to sacrifice at temples, or in their fields to propitiate the
deities presiding over them. He also killed animals for the
Khatlk or mutton-butcher and the latter exposed them for
sale. The Mullah was entitled to the heart of the animal
killed as his perquisite and a fee of two pice. Some of the
Marathas were unmindful of the ceremony, but in general
they professed not to eat flesh unless the sacred verse had
been pronounced either by the Mullah or some Muhammadan
368 KASAI part
capable of rendering it haltxl or lawful to be eaten.1 Hence
it would appear that the Hindus, unprovided by their own
religion with any sacrificial mode of legalising the slaughter
of animals, adopted the ritual of a foreign faith in order to
make animal sacrifices acceptable to their own deities. The
belief that it is sinful to kill a domestic animal except with
some religious sanction is thus clearly shown in full force.
23. Animal Among high-caste Hindus also sacrifices, including the
sacrifices killing of cows, were at one time legal. This is shown by
in Indian ° „ ,...- „ r
ritual. several legends," and is also a historical fact. One of
Asoka's royal edicts prohibited at the capital the celebration
of animal sacrifices and merry-makings involving the use of
meat, but in the provinces apparently they continued to be
lawful.3 This indicates that prior to the rise of Buddhism
such sacrifices had been customary, and also that when a
feast was to be given, involving the consumption of meat,
the animal was offered as a sacrifice. It is noteworthy that
Asoka's rules do not forbid the slaughter of cows.4 In
ancient times also the most important royal sacrifice was
that of the horse. The development of religious belief and
practice in connection with the killing of domestic animals
has thus proceeded on exactly opposite lines in India as
compared with most of the world. Domestic animals have
become more instead of less sacred and several of them
cannot be killed at all. The reason usually given to account
for this is the belief in the transmigration of souls, leading
to the conclusion that the bodies of animals might be
tenanted by human souls. Probably also Buddhism left
powerful traces of its influence on the Hindu view of the
1 Grant-Duff, History of the Mara- refused to eat animals not killed by
thas, vol. i. p. 27. Mr. Hlra Lai halal ; they must in that case have
notes that owing to the predominance attached some religious significance or
of Muhammadans in Berar the practice virtue to the rite, and the most probable
of slaughtering all animals by the significance is perhaps that stated in
method of halal and the regular em- the text. As Mr. Hlra Lai points out,
ployment of the Mullah to pronounce the Hindu sacred books provide an
the sacred text before slaughter may elaborate ritual for the sacrifice of
have grown up for their convenience. animals, but this may have fallen into
And, as in other instances, the Hindus abeyance with the decline in the custom
may have simply imitated the Muham- of eating meat,
madans in regarding this method of 2 Vide article on Mochi.
slaughter as necessary. This however
scarcely seems to impair the force of * V- A< Smith> Asoka, p. 56.
the argument if the Hindus actually * Ibidem, p. 58.
ii KASAR 369
sanctity of animal life even after it had ceased to be the state
religion. Perhaps the Brahmans desired to make their faith
more popular and took advantage of the favourite reverence of
all cultivators for the cow to exalt her into one of their most
powerful deities, and at the same time to extend the local cult
of Krishna, the divine cowherd, thus following exactly the
contrary course to that taken by Moses with the golden calf.
Generally the growth of political and national feeling has
mainly operated to limit the influence of the priesthood, and
the spread of education and development of reasoned criti-
cism and discussion have softened the strictness of religious
observance and ritual. Both these factors have been almost
entirely wanting in Hindu society, and this perhaps explains
the continued sanctity attaching to the lives of domestic
animals as well as the unabated power of the caste system.
Kasar, Kasera, Kansari, Bharewa.1 — The professional ,. Distri-
caste of makers and sellers of brass and copper vessels. In huUou ;1'ui
1 x origin of
191 1 the Kasars numbered 20,000 persons in the Central the caste.
Provinces and Berar, and were distributed over all Districts,
except in the Jubbulpore division, where they are scarcely
found outside Mandla. Their place in the other Districts
of this division is taken by the Tameras. In Mandla the
Kasars are represented by the inferior Bharewa group. The
name of the caste is derived from kdnsa, a term now applied
to bell-metal. The kindred caste of Tameras take their
name from tdmba, copper, but both castes work in this
metal indifferently, and in Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore
no distinction exists between the Kasars and Tameras, the
same caste being known by both names. A similar con-
fusion exists in northern India in the use of the correspond-
ing terms Kasera and Thathera." In Wardha the Kasars
are no longer artificers, but only dealers, employing Panchals
to make the vessels which they retail in their shops. And
the same is the case with the Maratha and Deshkar sub-
castes in Nagpur. The Kasars are a respectable caste,
ranking next to the Sunars among the urban craftsmen.
1 This article is compiled from Mr. Deodatla Namdar, Manager,
papers by Mr. Rajaram Gangadhar, Court of Wards, Chauri.
TahsTldar, Arvi ; Mr. Sadasheo Jairam, 2 Crookc's Tribes and Castes, art.
Sanskrit Professor, I lislop College ; and Thathera.
VOL. Ill 2 B
370 KASAR part
According to a legend given by Mr. Sadasheo Jairam
they trace their origin from Dharampal, the son of Sahasra
Arjun or Arjun of the Thousand Arms. Arjun was the
greatgrandson of Ekshvaku, who was born in the forests of
Kalinga, from the union of a mare and a snake. On this
account the Kasars of the Maratha country say that they all
belong to the Ahihaya clan (Ahi, a snake ; and Haya, a
mare). Arjun was killed by Parasurama during the slaughter
of the Kshatriyas and DharampaTs mother escaped with
three other pregnant women. According to another version
all the four women were the wives of the king of the
Somvansi Rajputs who stole the sacred cow Kamdhenu.
Their four sons on growing up wished to avenge their
father and prayed to the Goddess Kali for weapons. But
unfortunately in their prayer, instead of saying ban, arrow,
they said van, which means pot, and hence brass pots were
given to them instead of arrows. They set out to sell the
pots, but got involved in a quarrel with a Raja, who killed
three of them, but was defeated by the fourth, to whom he
afterwards gave his daughter and half his kingdom ; and this
hero became the ancestor of the Kasars. In some localities
the Kasars say that Dharampal, the Rajput founder of their
caste, was the ancestor of the Haihaya Rajput kings of
Ratanpur ; and it is noticeable that the Thatheras of the
United Provinces state that their original home was a place
called Ratanpur, in the Deccan.1 Both Ratanpur and
Mandla, which are very old towns, have important brass
and bell -metal industries, their bell -metal wares being
especially well known on account of the brilliant polish
which is imparted to them. And the story of the Kasars
may well indicate, as suggested by Mr. Hlra Lai, that
Ratanpur was a very early centre of the brass -working
industry, from which it has spread to dther localities in this
part of India.
2. internal The caste have a number of subdivisions, mainly of a
structure, territorial nature. Among these are the Maratha Kasars ;
the Deshkar, who also belong to the Maratha country ; the
Pardeshi or foreigners, the J hade or residents of the forest
country of the Central Provinces, and the Audhia or
1 Crooke's art. Thathera.
n SOCIAL CUSTOMS 371
Ajudhiabasi who are immigrants from Oudh. Another
subdivision, the Bharewas, are of a distinctly lower status
than the body of the caste, and have non-Aryan customs,
such as the eating of pork. They make the heavy brass
ornaments which the Gonds and other tribes wear on their
legs, and are probably an occupational offshoot from one of
these tribes. In Chanda some of the Bharewas serve as
grooms and are looked down upon by the others. They have
totemistic septs, named after animals and plants, some of
which are Gond words ; and among them the bride goes to
the bridegroom's house to be married, which is a Gond
custom. The Bharewas may more properly be considered
as a separate caste of lower status. As previously stated,
the Maratha and Deshkar subcastes of the Maratha country
no longer make vessels, but only keep them for sale. One
subcaste, the Otaris, make vessels from moulds, while the
remainder cut and hammer into shape the imported sheets
of brass. Lastly comes a group comprising those members
of the caste who are of doubtful or illegitimate descent, and
these are known either as Takle (' Thrown out ' in Marathi),
Bidur, ' Bastard,' or Laondi Bachcha, ' Issue of a kept wife.'
In the Maratha country the Kasars, as already seen, say
that they all belong to one gotra, the Ahihaya. They have,
however, collections of families distinguished by different
surnames, and persons having the same surname are forbidden
to marry. In the northern Districts they have the usual
collection of exogamous septs, usually named after villages.
The marriages of first cousins are generally forbidden, 3. Social
as well as of members of the same sept. Divorce and the customs-
remarriage of widows are permitted. Devi or Bhawani is
the principal deity of the caste, as of so many Hindus. At
her festival of Mando Amawas or the day of the new moon
of Phagun (February), every Kasar must return to the
community of which he is a member and celebrate the feast
with them. And in default of this he will be expelled from
caste until the next Amawas of Phagun comes round. They
close their shops and worship the implements of their trade
on this day and also on the Pola day. The Kasars, as
already stated, rank next to the Sunars among the artisan
castes, and the Audhia Sunars, who make ornaments of bell-
Hon
372 KASAR part 11
metal, form a connecting link between the two groups. The
social status of the Kasars varies in different localities. In
some places Brahmans take water from them but not in
others. Some Kasars now invest boys with the sacred
thread at their weddings, and thereafter it is regularly worn.
4. Occupa- The caste make eating and drinking vessels, ornaments
and ornamental figures from brass, copper and bell-metal.
Brass is the metal most in favour for utensils, and it is
usually imported in sheets from Bombay, but in places it is
manufactured from a mixture of three parts of copper and
two of zinc. This is consideied the best brass, though it is
not so hard as the inferior kinds, in which the proportion of
zinc is increased. Ornaments of a grey colour, intended to
resemble silver, are made from a mixture of four parts of
copper with five of zinc. Bell-metal is an alloy of copper
and tin, and in Chanda is made of four parts of copper to
one part tin or tinfoil, the tin being the more expensive
metal. Bells of fairly good size and excellent tone are
moulded from this amalgam, and plates or saucers in which
anything acid in the way of food is to be kept are also made
of it, since acids do not corrode this metal as they do brass
and copper. But bell-metal vessels are fragile and some-
times break when dropped. They cannot also be heated in
the fire to clean them, and therefore cannot be lent to
persons outside the family ; while brass vessels may be lent
to friends of other castes, and on being received back pollution
is removed by heating them in the fire or placing hot ashes
in them. Brahmans make a small fire of grass for this
purpose and pass the vessels through the flame. Copper
cooking-pots are commonly used by Muhammadans but not
by Hindus, as they have to be coated with tin ; the Hindus
consider that tin is an inferior metal whose application to
copper degrades the latter. Pots made of brass with a
copper rim are called ' Ganga Jamni ' after the confluence
of the dark water of the Jumna with the muddy stream of
the Ganges, whose union they are supposed to symbolise.
Small figures of the deities or idols are also made of brass,
but some Kasars will not attempt this work, because they
are afraid of the displeasure of the god in case the figure
should not be well or symmetrically shaped.
KASBI
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1 . General notice. 5 . Caste custom!;.
2. Girls dedicated to temples. 6. First pregnancy.
3. Music and dancing. 7. Different classes of 'women.
4. Education of courtesans. 8. Dancing and singing.
Kasbi,1 Tawaif, Devadasi. — The caste of dancing-girls 1. General
and prostitutes. The name Kasbi is derived from the Arabic notlce-
kasab, prostitution, and signifies rather a profession than a
caste. In India practically all female dancers and singers
are prostitutes, the Hindus being still in that stage of the
development of intersexual relations when it is considered
impossible that a woman should perform before the public
and yet retain her modesty. It is not so long that this idea
has been abandoned by Western nations, and the fashion of
employing women actors is perhaps not more than two or
three centuries old in England. The gradual disappearance
of the distinctive influence of sex in the public and social
conduct of women is presumably a sign of advancing
civilisation, and is greatest in the West, the old standards
retaining more and more vitality as we proceed Eastward.
Among the Anglo-Saxon races women are almost entirely
emancipated from any handicap due to their sex,, and direct
their lives with the same freedom and independence as men.
Among the Latin races many people still object to girls
walking out alone in towns, and in Italy the number of
women to be seen in the streets is so small that it must be
considered improper for a young and respectable woman
to go about alone. Here also survives the mariage de
1 A part of the information con- Mr. Aduram Chaudbri of the Gazetteer
taineel in this article is furnished by Office.
373
374 KASBI part
convenance or arrangement of matches by the parents ; the
underlying reason for this custom, which also partly accounts
for the institution of infant-marriage, appears to be that it is
not considered safe to permit a young girl to frequent the
society of unmarried men with sufficient freedom to be able
to make her own choice. And, finally, on arrival in Egypt
and Turkey we find the seclusion of women still practised,
and only now beginning to weaken before the influence of
Western ideas. But again in the lowest scale of civilisation,
among the Gonds and other primitive tribes, women are
found to enjoy great freedom of social intercourse. This is
partly no doubt because their lives are too hard and rude
to permit of any seclusion of women, but also partly because
they do not yet consider it an obligatory feature of the
institution of marriage that a girl should enter upon it in the
condition of a virgin.
2. Girls In the Deccan girls dedicated to temples are called
dedicated Devadasis or ' Hand-maidens of the gods.' They are thus
to temples.
described by Marco Polo : " In this country, he says, " there
are certain abbeys in which are gods and goddesses, and
here fathers and mothers often consecrate their daughters to
the service of the deity. When the priests desire to feast
their god they send for those damsels, who serve the god
with meats and other goods, and then sing and dance before
him for about as long as a great baron would be eating his
dinner. Then they say that the god has devoured the
essence of the food, and fall to and eat it themselves." l
Mr. Francis writes of the Devadasis as follows : 1 "It is
one of the many inconsistences of the Hindu religion
that though their profession is repeatedly and vehemently
condemned by the Shastras it has always received the
countenance of the church. The rise of the caste and its
euphemistic name seem both of them to date from the ninth
and tenth centuries of our era, during which much activity
prevailed in southern India in the matter of building temples
and elaborating the services held in them. The dancing-
girls' duties then as now were to fan the idol with chamaras
1 Madras Census Report (1901), p. and Malabar, and Elliot's History of
151, quoting from South Indian hi- India,
scriptions, Buchanan's Mysore, Canara
ii GIRLS DEDICATED TO TEMPLES 375
or Thibetan ox-tails, to hold the sacred light called Kumbarti
and to sing and dance before the god when he was carried
in procession. Inscriptions show that in A.D. 1004 the
great temple of the Chola king Rajaraja at Tanjore had
attached to it 400 women of the temple who lived in free
quarters in the surrounding streets, and were given a grant
of land from the endowment. Other temples had similar
arrangements. At the beginning of last century there were
a hundred dancing-girls attached to the temple at Conjee-
veram, and at Madura, Conjeeveram and Tanjore there are
still numbers of them who receive allowances from the endow-
ments of the big temples at those places. In former days
the profession was countenanced not only by the church
but by the state. Abdur Razak, a Turkish ambassador
to the court of Vijayanagar in the fifteenth century, describes
women of this class as living in state-controlled institutions,
the revenue of which went towards the upkeep of the police."
The dedication of girls to temples and religious prostitu-
tion was by no means confined to India but is a common
feature of ancient civilisation. The subject has been men-
tioned by Dr. Westermarck in The Origin and Development
of the Moral Ideas, and fully discussed by Sir James Frazer
in A ttis, Adonis, Osiris. The best known and most peculiar
instance is that of the temple of Istar in Babylonia. " Hero-
dotus says that every woman born in that country was
obliged once in her life to go and sit down in the precinct of
Aphrodite and there consort with a stranger. A woman
who had once taken her seat was not allowed to return
home till one of the strangers threw a silver coin into her
lap and took her with him beyond the holy ground. The
silver coin could not be refused because, since once thrown,
it was sacred. The woman went with the first man who
threw her money, rejecting no one. When she had gone
with him and so satisfied the goddess, she returned home,
and from that time forth no gift, however great, would prevail
with her. In the Canaanitish cults there were women called
kedeshoth, who were consecrated to the deity with whose
temple they were associated, and who at the same time
acted as prostitutes." ' Other instances are given from
1 Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, ii. pp. 444, 445.
376 KASBI tart
Africa, Egypt and ancient Greece. The principal explana-
tion of these practices was that the act of intercourse,
according to the principle of sympathetic magic, produced
fertility, usually of the crops, though in the Babylonian case,
Dr. Westermarck thinks, of the woman herself. Several
instances have been recorded of people who perform the
sexual act as a preliminary or accompaniment to sowing the
crops,1 and there seems little doubt that this explanation is
correct. A secondary idea of religious prostitution may
have been to afford to the god the same sexual pleasures as
delighted an earthly king. Tins the Skanda Purana relates
that Kartikeya, the Hindu god of war, was sent by his
father to frustrate the sacrifice of Daksha, and at the in-
stigation of the latter was delayed on his way by beautiful
damsels, who entertained him with song and dance. Hence
it is the practice still for dancing-girls who serve in the
pagodas to be betrothed and married to him, after which
they may prostitute themselves but cannot marry a man.2
Similarly the Murlis or dancing-girls in Maratha temples
are married to Khandoba, the Maratha god of war. Some-
times the practice of prostitution might begin by the priests
of the temple as representatives of the god having inter-
course with the women. This is stated to have been the
custom at the temple of Jagannath in Orissa, where the
officiating Brahmans had adulterous connection with the
women who danced and sang before the god.3
Both music and dancing, like others of the arts, probably
originated as part of a religious or magical service or ritual,
and hence would come to be practised by the women attached
to temples. And it would soon be realised what potent
attractions these arts possessed when displayed by women,
and in course of time they would be valued as accomplish-
ments in themselves, and either acquired independently
by other courtesans or divorced from a sole application to
religious ritual. In this manner music, singing and dancing
may have grown to be considered as the regular attractions
of the courtesan and hence immoral in themselves, and not
1 The Golden Bough, vol. ii. p. 205 the Hindus, p. 322.
et seq. z Westermarck, ibidem, quoting
2 Garrett's Classical Dictionary of Ward's Hindus, p. 134.
li EDUCATION OF COURTESANS 377
suitable for display by respectable women. The Emperor
Shah Jahan is said to have delighted in the performances
of the Tawaif or Muhammadan singing and dancing girls,
who at that time lived in bands and occupied mansions
as large as palaces.1 Aurangzeb ordered them all to be
married or banished from his dominions, but they did not
submit without a protest ; and one morning as the Emperor
was going to the mosque he saw a vast crowd of mourners
marching in file behind a bier, and filling the air with
screams and lamentations. He asked what it meant, and
was told that they were going to bury Music ; their mother
had been executed, and they were weeping over her loss.
'Bury her deep,' the Emperor cried, ' she must never rise
again.'
The possession of these attractions naturally gave the 4. Educa-
courtesan an advantage over ordinary women who lacked tlon ,°
o J couri
them, and her society was much sought after, as shown in
the following description of a native court : ~ " Nor is the
courtesan excluded, she of the smart saying, famed for the
much-valued cleverness which is gained in ' the world,' who
when the learned fail is ever ready to cut the Gordian knot
of solemn question with the sharp blade of her repartee,
for — The sight of foreign lands ; the possession of a Pandit
for a friend ; a cotcrtesan ; access to the royal court ; patient
study of the Shastras ; the roots of cleverness are these
five." Mr. Crooke also remarks on the tolerance extended to
this class of women : " The curious point about Indian
prostitutes is the tolerance with which they are received into
even respectable houses, and the absence of that strong
social disfavour in which this class is held in European
countries. This feeling has prevailed for a lengthened
period. We read in the Buddhist histories of Ambapata, the
famous courtesan, and the price of her favours fixed at two
thousand masurans. The same feeling appears in the folk-
tales and early records of Indian courts."3 It may be
remarked, however, that the social ostracism of such women
has not always been the rule in Europe, while as regards
1 Wheeler's History of India, vol. :1 Crooke's Tribes ■• . art.
i\. part ii. pp. 324, 325. Tawaif.
2 Forbes, Rasmala, i. p. 247.
378 KASBI part
conjugal morality Indian society would probably appear to
great advantage beside that of Europe in the Middle Ages.
But when the courtesan is alone possessed of the feminine
accomplishments, and also sees much of society and can
converse with point and intelligence on public affairs, her
company must necessarily be more attractive than that of
the women of the family, secluded and uneducated, and able
to talk about nothing but the petty details of household
management. Education so far as women were concerned
was to a large extent confined to courtesans, who were
taught all the feminine attainments on account of the large
return to be obtained in the practice of their profession.
This is well brought out in the following passage from a
Hindu work in which the mother speaks : * " Worthy Sir,
this daughter of mine would make it appear that I am to
blame, but indeed I have done my duty, and have carefully
prepared her for that profession for which by birth she was
intended. From earliest childhood I have bestowed the
greatest care upon her, doing everything in my power to
promote her health and beauty. As soon as she was old
enough I had her carefully instructed in the arts of dancing,
acting, playing on musical instruments, singing, painting,
preparing perfumes and flowers, in writing and conversation,
and even to some extent in grammar, logic and philosophy.
She was taught to play various games with skill and
dexterity, how to dress well and show herself off to the
greatest advantage in public ; yet after all the time, trouble
and money which I have spent upon her, just when I was
beginning to reap the fruit of my labours, the ungrateful
girl has fallen in love with a stranger, a young Brahman
without property, and wishes to marry him and give up her
profession (of a prostitute), notwithstanding all my entreaties
and representations of the poverty and distress to which all
her family will be reduced if she persists in her purpose ;
and because I oppose this marriage, she declares that she
will renounce the world and become a devotee." Similarly
the education of another dancing-srir! is thus described : 2
■fc> fc>'
1 Extract from the Dasa Kumara p. 72.
Charita or Adventures of the Ten 2 S. M. Edwardes, By - ways of
Youths, in A Group of Hindti Stories, Bombay, p. 31.
Beuirose, <
GIRL IN FULL DRESS AND ORNAMENTS.
ii EDUCATION OF COURTESANS 379
" Gauhar Jan did her duty by the child according to her
lights. She engaged the best ' Gawayyas ' to teach her
music, the best ' Kathaks ' to teach her dancing, the best
' Ustads ' to teach her elocution and deportment, and the
best of Munshis to ground her in Urdu and Persian belles
lettres ; so that when Imtiazan reached her fifteenth year
her accomplishments were noised abroad in the bazar." It
is still said to be the custom for the Hindus in large towns,
as among the Greeks of the time of Pericles, to frequent the
society of courtesans for the charm of their witty and pointed
conversation. Betel-nut is provided at such receptions, and
at the time of departure each person is expected to deposit a
rupee in the tray. Of course it is in no way meant to assert
that the custom is at all generally prevalent among educated
men, as this would be quite untrue.
The association of all feminine charms and intellectual
attainments with public women led to the belief that they
were incompatible with feminine modesty ; and this was
even extended to certain ornamental articles of clothing such
as shoes. The Abbe Dubois remarks : l " The courtesans
are the only women in India who enjoy the privilege of
learning to read, to dance and to sing. A well-bred respect-
able woman would for this reason blush to acquire any one
of these accomplishments." Buchanan says : 2 " The higher
classes of Hindu women consider every approach to wearing
shoes as quite indecent ; so that their use is confined to
Muhammadans, camp trulls and Europeans, and most of
the Muhammadans have adopted the Hindu notion on this
subject ; women of low rank wear sandals." And again : "
" A woman who appears clean in public on ordinary occasions
may pretty confidently be taken for a prostitute ; such care
of her person would indeed be considered by her husband
as totally incompatible with modesty." ■ And as regards
accomplishments : 4 "It is considered very disgraceful for
a modest woman to sing or play on any musical instrument ;
the only time when such a practice is permitted is among
the Muhammadans at the Muharram, when women are
1 Hindu Manners, Customs and 3 Ibidem, iii. p. 107.
Ceremonies, p. 93.
2 Eastern India, i. p. 119. 4 Ibidem, ii. p. 930.
3So KASBI part
allowed to join in the praises of Fatima and her son."
And a current saying is : " A woman who sings in the
house as she goes about her work and one who is fond of
music can never be a Sati " ; a term which is here used as
an equivalent for a virtuous woman. Buchanan wrote a
hundred years ago, and things have no doubt improved since
his time, but this feeling appears to be principally responsible
for much of the prejudice against female education, which
has hitherto been so strong even among the literate classes
of Hindus ; and is only now beginning to break down as the
highly cultivated young men of the present day have learned
to appreciate and demand a greater measure of intelligence
from their wives.
Among the better class of Kasbis a certain caste feeling
and organisation exists. When a girl attains adolescence
her mother makes a bargain with some rich man to be her
first consort. Oil and turmeric are rubbed on her body for
five days as in the case of a bride. A feast is given to the
caste and the girl is married to a dagger, walking seven
times round the sacred post with it. Her human consort
then marks her forehead with vermilion and covers her head
with her head-cloth seven times. In the evening she goes
to live with him for as long as he likes to maintain her, and
afterwards takes up the practice of her profession. In this
case it is necessary that the man should be an outsider and
not a member of the Kasbi caste, because the quasi-marriage
is the formal commencement on the part of the woman of
her hereditary trade. As already seen, the feeling of shame
and degradation attaching to this profession in Europe
appears to be somewhat attenuated in India, and it is
counterbalanced by that acquiescence in and attachment
to the caste-calling which is the principal feature of Hindu
society. And no doubt the life of the dancing-girl has, at
any rate during youth, its attractions as compared with that
of a respectable married woman. Tavernier tells the story 1
of a Shah of Persia who, desiring to punish a dancing-girl
for having boxed the ears of one of her companions within
his hearing (it being clearly not the effect of the operation on
the patient which annoyed his majesty) made an order that
1 Persian Travels, book iii. chap. xvii.
ii FIRST PREGNANCY 38 1
she should be married And a more curious instance still
is the following from a recent review : l " The natives of
India are by instinct and custom the most conservative race
in the world. When I was stationed at Aurangabad — fifty
years ago it is true, but that is but a week in regard to this
question — a case occurred within my own knowledge which
shows the strength of hereditary feeling. An elderly wealthy
native adopted two baby girls, whose mother and family had
died during a local famine. The children grew up with his
own girls and were in all respects satisfactory, and apparently
quite happy until they arrived at the usual age for marriage.
They then asked to see their papa by adoption, and said to
him, ' We are very grateful to you for your care of us, but
we are now grown up. We are told our mother was a
Kasbi (prostitute), and we must insist on our rights, go out
into the world, and do as our mother did.' "
In the fifth or seventh month of the first pregnancy of a 6. First
Kasbi woman 108 fried wafers of flour and sugar, known as Pre§nanc>-
giljahs, are prepared, and are eaten by her as well as dis-
tributed to friends and relatives who are invited to the
house. After this they in return prepare similar wafers and
send them to the pregnant woman. Some little time before
the birth the mother washes her head with gram flour, puts
on new clothes and jewels, and invites all her friends to the
house, feasting them with rice boiled in milk, cakes and
sweetmeats.
Though the better-class Kasbis appear to have a sort of 7. Different
caste union, this is naturally quite indefinite, inasmuch as classes of
J 1 women.
marriage, at present the essential bond of caste-organisation,
is absent. The sons of Kasbis take up any profession that
they choose ; and many of them marry and live respectably
with their wives. Others become musicians and assist at the
performances of the dancing-girls, as the Bhadua who beats
the cymbals and sings in chorus and also acts as a pimp,
and the Sarangia, one who performs on the saraugi or fiddle.
The girls themselves are of different classes, as the Kasbi or
Gayan who are Hindus, the Tawaif who are Muhammadans,
and the Bogam or Telugu dancing-girls. Gond women are
1 From a review of A German Evelyn Wood in the Saturday Review,
Staff Officer in India, written by Sir 5th February 19 10.
382 KASBI part
known as Deogarhni, and are supposed to have come from
Deogarh in Chhindwara, formerly the headquarters of a
Gond dynasty. The Sarangias or fiddlers are now a
separate caste. In the northern Districts the dancing-girls
are usually women of the Beria caste and are known as
Berni. After the spring harvest the village headman hires
one or two of these girls, who dance and do acrobatic feats
by torchlight. They will continue all through the night,
stimulated by draughts of liquor, and it is said that one
woman will drink two or three bottles of the country spirit.
The young men of the village beat the drum to accompany
her dancing, and take turns to see how long they can go on
doing so without breaking down. After the performance
each cultivator gives the woman one or two pice (farthings)
and the headman gives her a rupee. Such a celebration is
known as Rai, and is distinctive of Bundelkhand.
In Bengal this class of women often become religious
mendicants and join the Vaishnava or Bairagi community,
as stated by Sir H. Risley : 1 " The mendicant members of
the Vaishnava community are of evil repute, their ranks
being recruited by those who have no relatives, by widows,
by individuals too idle or depraved to lead a steady working
life, and by prostitutes. Vaishnavi, or Baishtabi according
to the vulgar pronunciation, has come to mean a courtesan.
A few undoubtedly join from sincere and worthy motives,
but their numbers are too small to produce any appreciable
effect on the behaviour of their comrades. The habits of
these beggars are very unsettled. They wander from village
to village and from one akhara (monastery) to another,
fleecing the frugal and industrious peasantry on the plea of
religion, and singing songs in praise of Hari beneath the
village tree or shrine. Members of both sexes smoke
Indian hemp (gdnja), and although living as brothers and
sisters are notorious for licentiousness. There is every
reason for suspecting that infanticide is common, as children
are never seen. In the course of their wanderings they
entice away unmarried girls, widows, and even married
women on the pretence of visiting Sri Kshetra (Jagannath)
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. refers only to the lowest section of
Vaishnava. The notice, as stated, Bairagis.
ii DANCING AND SINGING 383
Brindaban or Benares, for which reason they are shunned
by all respectable natives, who gladly give charity to be rid
of them."
In large towns prostitutes belong to all castes. An old
list obtained by Rai Bahadur Hlra Lai of registered prosti-
tutes in Jubbulpore showed the following numbers of
different castes : Barai six, Dhlmar four, and Nai, Khangar,
Kachhi, Gond, Teli, Brahman, Rajput and Bania three each.
Each woman usually has one or two girls in training if she
can obtain them, with a view to support herself by their
earnings in the same method of livelihood when her own
attractions have waned. Fatherless and orphan girls run a
risk of falling into this mode of life, partly because their
marriages cannot conveniently be arranged, and also from
the absence of strict paternal supervision. For it is to be
feared that a girl who is allowed to run about at her will in
the bazar has little chance of retaining her chastity even up
to the period of her arrival at adolescence. This is no
doubt one of the principal considerations in favour of early
marriage. The caste-people often subscribe for the marriage
of a girl who is left without support, and it is said that in
former times an unmarried orphan girl might go and sit
dharna, or starving herself, at the king's gate until he
arranged for her wedding. Formerly the practice of obtain-
ing young girls was carried on to a much greater extent
than at present. Malcolm remarks : l " Slavery in Malwa
and the adjoining provinces is chiefly limited to females ;
but there is perhaps no part of India where there are
so many slaves of this sex. The dancing - girls are all
purchased, when young, by the Nakins or heads of the
different sets or companies, who often lay out large sums
in these speculations, obtaining advances from the bankers
on interest like other classes." But the attractions of the
profession and the numbers of those who engage in it have
now largely declined.
The better class of Kasbi women, when seen in public, s. Dancing
are conspicuous by their wealth of jewellery and their shoes sj'n(Ti ,
of patent leather or other good material. Women of other
castes do not commonly wear shoes in the streets. The
1 Memoir of Central India.
J84 KA TIA part
Kasbis are always well and completely clothed, and it has
n noticed elsewhere that the Indian courtesan is more
modestly dressed than most women. No doubt in this
matter she knows her business. A well-to-do dancing-girl
has a dress of coloured muslin or gauze trimmed with tinsel
lace, with a short waist, long straight sleeves, and skirts
which reach a little below the knee, a shawl falling from the
head over the shoulders and wrapped round the body, and
a pair of tight satin trousers, reaching to the ankles. The
feet are bare, and strings of small bells are tied round them.
They usually dance and sing to the accompaniment of the
tabla, sarangi and majlra. The tabla or drum is made of
two half-bowls — one brass or clay for the bass, and the other
of wood for the treble. They are covered with goat-skin
and played together. The sarangi is a fiddle. The majlra
(cymbals) consist of two metallic cups slung together and
used for beating time. Before a dancing -girl begins her
performance she often invokes the aid of Saraswati, the
goddess of music. She then pulls her ear as a sign of
remembrance of Tansen, India's greatest musician, and a
confession to his spirit of the imperfection of her own sense
of music. The movements of the feet are accompanied by
a continual opening and closing of henna-dyed hands ; and
at intervals the girl kneels at the feet of one or other of the
audience. On the festival of Basant Panchmi or the com-
mencement of spring these girls worship their dancing-dress
and musical instruments with offerings of rice, flowers and
a cocoanut.
i. General Katia, Katwa, Katua. — An occupational caste of
cotton - spinners and village watchmen belonging to the
Satpura Districts and the Nerbudda valley. In 1911 they
numbered 41,000 persons and were returned mainly from
the Hoshangabad, Seoni and Chhindwara Districts. The
caste is almost confined to the Central Provinces. The
name is derived from the Hindi kdtna, to spin thread, and
the Katias are an occupational group probably recruited
from the Mahars and Koris. They have a tradition, Mr.
Crooke states,1 that they were originally Bais Rajputs, whose
1 Tribes mid Castes of the N.-W. P., art. Katwa.
notice.
ii SUBCASTES AND EXOGAMOUS GROUPS 385
ancestors, having been imprisoned for resistance to authority,
were released on the promise that they would follow a
woman's occupation of spinning thread. In the Central
Provinces they are sometimes called Renhta Rajputs or
Knights of the Spinning Wheel. The tradition of Rajput
descent need not of course be taken seriously. The
drudgery of spinning thread was naturally imposed on any
widow in the household, and hence the saying, ' It is always
moving, like a widow's spinning-wheel.' 1
The Katias have several subcastes, with names generally 2. Sub-
derived from places in the Central Provinces, as Pathari castes and
1 ' exogamous
from a village in the Chhindwara District, Mandilwar from groups.
Mandla, Gadhewal from Garha, near Jubbulpore, and so on.
The Dulbuha group consist of those who were formerly
palanquin-bearers (from dolt, a litter). They have also more
than fifty exogamous septs, with names of the usual low-
caste type, derived from places, animals or plants, or natural
objects. Some of the septs are subdivided. Thus the
Nagotia sept, named after the cobra, is split up into the
Nagotia, Dirat 2 Nag, Bharowar 3 Nag, Kosam Karia and
Hazari 4 Nag groups. It is said that the different groups
do not intermarry ; but it is probable that they do, as other-
wise there seems to be no object in the subdivision. The
Kosam Karias worship a cobra at their weddings, but not
the others. The Singhotia sept, from sing/i, a horn, is
divided into the Bakaria (goat) and Ghagar-bharia (one who
fills an earthen vessel) subsepts. The Bakarias offer goats
to their gods ; and the Ghagar-bharias on the Akti 5 festival,
just before the breaking of the rains, fill an earthen vessel
and worship it, and consider it sacred for that day. Next
day it is brought into ordinary use. The Dongaria sept,
from dongar, a hill, revere the chheola tree.6 They choose
any tree of this species outside the village, and say that it is
placed on a hill, and go and worship it once a year. In
this case it would appear that a hill was first venerated as
an animate being and the ancestor of the sept. When hills
were no longer so regarded, a ckheola tree growing on a hill
1 Temple and Fallon's Hindustani < A thousand.
Proverbs.
2 Perhaps a leather strap or belt. '' The third Bais*kh (June)-
3 A revolution or circuit. ,; Butea frondosa.
VOL. Ill 2 C
customs.
386 KA TIA part
was substituted ; and now the tree only is revered, prob-
ably a good deal for form's sake, and so far as the hill is
concerned, the mere pretence that it is growing on a hill
is sufficient.
3. Mar- A main must not take a wife from his own sept nor from
that of his mother or grandmother. Girls are commonly
married between eight and twelve years of age ; and a cus-
tomary payment of Rs. 9 is made to the father of the bride,
double this amount being given by a widower. An un-
married girl seduced by a man of the caste is united to him
by the ceremony used for a widow, and a fine is imposed on
her parents ; if she goes wrong with an outsider she is ex-
pelled from the community. In the marriage ceremony the
customary ritual of the northern Districts is followed,1 and
the binding portion of it consists in the bride and bridegroom
walking seven times around the blianwar or sacred pole.
While she does this it is essential that the bride should wear
a string of black beads round her neck and brass anklets on
her feet. After the ceremony the bride's mother and other
women dance before the company. Whether the bride be a
child or young woman she always returns home after a stay
of a few days at her husband's house, and at her subsequent
final departure the Gauna or going-away ceremony is per-
formed. If the bridegroom dies after the wedding and before
the Gauna, his younger brother or cousin or anybody else
may come and take away the bride after performing this
ceremony, and she will be considered as fully married to
him. She is known as a Gonhyai wife, as distinguished from
a Byahta or one married in the ordinary manner, and a
Karta or widow married a second time. But the children of
all three inherit equally. A widow may marry again, and
take any one she pleases for her second husband. Widow-
marriages must not be celebrated in the rainy months of
Shrawan, Bhadon and Kunwar. No music is allowed at
them, and the husband must present a fee of a rupee and a
cocoanut to the malguzar (proprietor) of the village and four
annas to the kotwar or watchman. A bachelor who is to
marry a widow first goes through a formal ceremony with a
cotton plant. Divorce is permitted for mutual disagreement.
1 A description of the ceremony is given in the article on Kurmi.
ii FUNERAL RITES— SOCIAL RULES 387
The couple stand before the caste committee and each takes
a stick, breaks it in two halves, and throws them apart, say-
ing, " I have no further connection with my husband (or wife),
and I break my marriage with him (or her) as I break this
stick."
The dead may be either buried or burnt, as convenient, 4. Funeral
and mourning is always observed for three days. Before the mes-
corpse is removed a new earthen pot filled with rice is placed
on the bier. The chief mourner raises it, and addressing the
deceased informs him that after a certain period he will be
united to the sainted dead, and until that day his spirit should
abide happily in the pot and not trouble his family. The
mouth of the pot is then covered, and after the funeral the
mourners take it home with them. When the day appointed
for the final ceremony has come, a miniature platform is made
from sticks tied together, and garlands and offerings of cakes
are hung on to it. A small heap of rice is made on the plat-
form, and just above it a clove is suspended from a thread.
Songs are sung, and the principal relative opens the pot in
which the spirit of the deceased has been enclosed. The spirit
is called upon to join the sacred company of the dead, and the
party continue to sing and to adjure it with all their force.
The thread from which the clove is suspended begins to swing
backwards and forwards over the rice ; and a pig and two or
three chickens are crushed to death as offerings to the soul
of the deceased. Finally the clove touches the rice, and it
is believed that the spirit of the dead man has departed to
join the sainted dead. The Katias consider that after this
he requires nothing more from the living, and so they do not
make the annual offerings to the souls of the departed.
The caste sometimes employ a Brahman for the marriage 5 Social
ceremony ; but generally his services are limited to fixing an ru *
auspicious date, and the functions of a priest are undertaken
by members of the family. They invite a Brahman to give
a name to a boy, and call him by this name. They think
that if they changed the name they would not be able to get
a wife for the child. They will eat any kind of flesh, includ-
ing pork and fowls, but they are not considered to be impure.
They are generally illiterate, and dirty in appearance. Un-
married girls wear glass bangles on both hands, but married
388 KA TIA part ii
women wear metal bracelets on the right hand and glass on
the left. Girls are twice tattooed : first in childhood, and a
second time after marriage. The proper avocations of the
Katias were the spinning of cotton thread and the weaving
of the finer kinds of cloth ; but most of them have had to
abandon their ancestral calling from want of custom, and
they are now either village watchmen or cultivators and
labourers. A few of them own villages. The Katias think
themselves rather knowing ; but this opinion is not shared
by their neighbours, who say ironically of them, " A Katia
is eight times as wise as an ordinary man, and a Kayasth
thirteen times. Any one who pretends to be wiser than these
must be an idiot."
KAWAR1
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i. Tribal legend. 7- Disposal of the dead.
2. Tribal subdivisions. g. Laying spirits.
3. Exogamous groups. g Rdigio7U
a. Betrothal a?id marriage. „, . ■_> , *.
5. Other customs connected with IO" Magic and witchcraft.
marriage. 1 1 ■ Dress.
6. Childbirth. 12. Occupation and social rules.
Kawar, Kanwar, Kaur (honorific title, Sirdar). — A i. Tribal
primitive tribe living in the hills of the Chhattlsgarh Dis- leeend-
tricts north of the Mahanadi. The hill-country comprised in
the northern zamlndari estates of Bilaspur and the adjoining
Feudatory States of Jashpur, Udaipur, Sarguja, Chang Bhakar
and Korea is the home of the Kawars, and is sometimes known
after them as the Kamran. Eight of the Bilaspur zamlndars
are of the Kawar tribe. The total numbers of the tribe
are nearly 200,000, practically all of whom belong to the
Central Provinces. In Bilaspur the name is always pro-
nounced with a nasal as Kanwar. The Kawars trace their
origin from the Kauravas of the Mahabharata, who were
defeated by the Pandavas at the great battle of Hastinapur.
They say that only two pregnant women survived and fled
to the hills of Central India, where they took refuge in
the houses of a Rawat (grazier) and a Dhobi (washerman)
respectively, and the boy and girl children who were born
to them became the ancestors of the Kawar tribe. Conse-
quently, the Kawars will take food from the hands of Rawats,
especially those of the Kauria subcaste, who are in all
probability descended from Kawars. And when a Kawar
1 This article is based almost entirely on a monograph contributed by Mr.
Hira Lai.
389
39°
KA WAR
is put out of caste for having maggots in a wound, a Dhobi
is always employed to readmit him to social intercourse.
These facts show that the tribe have some close ancestral
connection with the Rawats and Dhobis, though the legend
of descent from the Kauravas is, of course, a myth based on
the similarity of the names. The tribe have lost their own
language, if they ever had one, and now speak a corrupt
form of the Chhattlsgarhi dialect of Hindi. It is probable
that they belong to the Dravidian tribal family.
The Kawars have the following eight endogamous
divisions : Tan war, Kamalban.~i, Paikara, Dudh- Kawar,
Rathia, Chanti, Cherwa and Rautia. The Tanwar group,
also known as Umrao, is that to which the zamlndars belong,
and they now claim to be Tomara Rajputs, and wear the
sacred thread. They prohibit widow-remarriage, and do not
eat fowls or drink liquor ; but they have not yet induced
Brahmans to take water from them or Rajputs to accept their
daughters in marriage. The name Tanwar is not improbably
simply a corruption of Kawar, and they are also altering
their sept names to make them resemble those of eponymous
Brahmanical gotras. Thus Dhangur, the name of a sept, has
been altered to Dhananjaya, and Sarvaria to Sandilya. Telasi
is the name of a sept to which four zamlndars belong, and is
on this account sometimes returned as their caste by other
Kawars, who consider it as a distinction. The zamindari
families have now, however, changed the name Telasi to
Kairava. The Paikaras are the most numerous subtribe,
being three-fifths of the total. They derive their name from
Paik, a foot-soldier, and formerly followed this occupation,
being employed in the armies of the Haihaivansi Rajas of
Ratanpur. They still worship a two-edged sword, known
as the Jhagra Khand, or ' Sword of Strife,' on the day of
Dasahra. The Kamalbansi, or ' Stock of the Lotus,' may be
so called as being the oldest subdivision ; for the lotus is
sometimes considered the root of all things, on account of
the belief that Brahma, the creator of the world, was himself
born from this flower. In Bilaspur the Kamalbansis are
considered to rank next after the Tanwars or zamlndars'
group. Colonel Dalton states that the term Dudh or ' Milk '
Kawar has the signification of ' Cream of the Kawars,' and
ii TRIBAL SUBDIVISIONS 391
he considered this subcaste to be the highest. The Rathias
are a territorial group, being immigrants from Rath, a wild
tract of the Raigarh State. The Rautias are probably the
descendants of Kawar fathers and mothers of the Rawat
(herdsman) caste. The traditional connection of the Kawars
with a Rawat has already been mentioned, and even now if a
Kawar marries a Rawat girl she will be admitted into the
tribe, and the children will become full Kawars. Similarly,
the Rawats have a Kauria subcaste, who are also probably
the offspring of mixed marriages ; and if a Kawar girl is
seduced by a Kauria Rawat, she is not expelled from the
tribe, as she would be for a liaison with any other man who
was not a Kawar. This connection is no doubt due to the
fact that until recently the Kawars and Rawats, who are
themselves a very mixed caste, were accustomed to inter-
marry. At the census persons returned as Rautia were
included in the Kol tribe, which has a subdivision of that
name. But Mr. Hlra Lai's inquiries establish the fact that
in Chhattlsgarh they are undoubtedly Kawars. The Cherwas
are probably another hybrid group descended from connections
formed by Kawars with girls of the Chero tribe of Chota
Nagpur. The Chanti, who derive their name from the ant,
are considered to be the lowest group, as that insect is the
most insignificant of living things. Of the above subcastes
the Tanwars are naturally the highest, while the Chanti,
Cherwa and Rautia, who keep pigs, are considered as the
lowest. The others occupy an intermediate position. None
of the subcastes will eat together, except at the houses of
their zamlndars, from whom they will all take food. But the
Kawars of the Chhuri estate no longer attend the feasts of
their zamindar, for the following curious reason. One of the
latter's village thekadars or farmers had got the hide taken
off a dead buffalo so as to keep it for his own use, instead of
making the body over to a Chamar (tanner). The caste-
fellows saw no harm in this act, but it offended the zamlndar's
more orthodox Hindu conscience. Soon afterwards, at some
marriage-feast of his family, when the Kawars of his zamlndari
attended in accordance with the usual custom, he remarked,
' Here come our Chamars,' or words to that effect. The
Chhuri Kawars were insulted, and the more so because the
392
KA WAR
Pendra zamlndar and other outsiders were present. So they
declined to take food any longer from their zamlndar. They
continued to accept it, however, from the other zamlndars,
until their master of Chhuri represented to them that this
would result in a slur being put upon his standing among
his fellows. So they have now given up taking food from
any zamlndar.
The tribe have a large number of exogamous septs,
which are generally totemistic or named after plants and
animals. The names of 1 1 7 septs have been recorded, and
there are probably even more. The following list gives a
selection of the names :
Andll . .
. Born from
an egg.
Hundar
. . A wolf.
Bagh . .
. Tiger.
Janta .
. Grinding-mill.
Bichhi .
. Scorpion.
Kothi .
. A store-house.
Bilwa .
Wild cat.
Khumari
. A leaf-umbrella.
Bokra
. Goat.
Lodha
. A wild dog.
Chandrama
. Moon.
Mama
. Maternal uncle.
Chanwar .
. A whisk.
Mahadeo
. The deity.
Chita .
. Leopard.
Nunmutai
ia . A packet of salt.
Chuva .
. A well.
Sendur .
. Vermilion.
Champa .
. A sweet-
scented
Sua
. A parrot.
flower.
Telasi
. Oily.
Dhenki
. A pounding-lever.
Thath Murra Pressed in a sugar-
Darpan .
. A mirror.
cane press.
Gobira
. A dung insect.
Generally it may be said that every common animal or
bird and even articles of food or dress and household imple-
ments have given their names to a sept. In the Paikara
subcaste a figure of the plant or animal after which the sept
is named is made by each party at the time of marriage.
Thus a bridegroom of the Bagh or tiger sept prepares a small
image of a tiger with flour and bakes it in oil ; this he shows
to the bride's family to represent, as it were, his pedigree, or
prove his legitimacy ; while she on her part, assuming that
she is, say, of the Bilwa or cat sept, will bring a similar image
of a cat with her in proof of her origin. The Andll sept make
a representation of a hen sitting on eggs. They do not
worship the totem animal or plant, but when they learn of
the death of one of the species, they throw away an earthen
cooking-pot as a sign of mourning. They generally think
themselves descended from the totem animal or plant, but
ii BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE 393
when the sept is called after some inanimate object, such as
a grinding-mill or pounding-lever, they repudiate the idea of
descent from it, and are at a loss to account for the origin
of the name. Those whose septs are named after plants or
animals usually abstain from injuring or cutting them, but
where this rule would cause too much inconvenience it is
transgressed : thus the members of the Karsayal or deer sept
find it too hard for them to abjure the flesh of that animal,
nor can those of the Bokra sept abstain from eating goats.
In some cases new septs have been formed by a conjunction
of the names of two others, as Bagh-Daharia, Gauriya-
Sonwani, and so on. These may possibly be analogous to
the use of double names in English, a family of one sept
when it has contracted a marriage with another of better
position adding the latter's name to its own as a slight
distinction. But it may also simply arise from the constant
tendency to increase the number of septs in order to remove
difficulties from the arrangement of matches.
Marriage within the same sept is prohibited and 4. Be-
also between the children of brothers and sisters. A trothf1_and
man may not marry his wife's elder sister but he can take
her younger one in her lifetime. Marriage is usually adult
and, contrary to the Hindu rule, the proposal for a
match always comes from the boy's father, as a man would
think it undignified to try and find a husband for his
daughter. The Kawar says, ' Shall my daughter leap over
the wall to get a husband.' In consequence of this girls
not infrequently remain unmarried until a comparatively late
age, especially in the zamlndari families where the provision
of a husband of suitable rank may be difficult. Having
selected a bride for his son the boy's father sends some
friends to her village, and they address a friend of the girl's
family, saying, " So-and-so (giving his name and village)
would like to have a cup of pej (boiled rice-water) from you ;
what do you say ? " The proposal is communicated to the
girl's family, and if they approve of it they commence prepar-
ing the rice-water, which is partaken of by the parties and
their friends. If the bride's people do not begin cooking
the pej, it is understood that the proposal is rejected. The
ceremony of betrothal comes next, when the boy's party go to
marriage.
394 KA WAR part
the girl's house with a present of bangles, clothes, and fried
cakes of rice and urad carried by a Kaurai Rawat. They also
take with them the bride -price, known as Suk, which is
made up of cash, husked or unhusked rice, pulses and oil. It is
a fixed amount, but differs for each subcaste, and the average
value is about Rs. 25. To this is added three or four goats
to be consumed at the wedding. If a widower marries a
girl, a larger bride-price is exacted. The wedding follows,
and in many respects conforms to the ordinary Hindu ritual,
but Brahmans are not employed. The bridegroom's party is
accompanied by tomtom-players on its way to the wedding,
and as each village is approached plenty of noise is made,
so that the residents may come out and admire the dresses,
a great part of whose merit consists in their antiquity,
while the wearer delights in recounting to any who will
listen the history of his garb and of his distinguished ances-
tors who have worn it. The marriage is performed by
walking round the sacred pole, six times on one day and
once on the following day. After the marriage the bride's
parents wash the feet of the couple in milk, and then drink
it in atonement for the sin committed in bringing their
daughter into the world. The couple then return home
to the bridegroom's house, where all the ceremonies are
repeated, as it is said that otherwise his courtyard would
remain unmarried. On the following day the couple go and
bathe in a tank, where each throws five pots full of water
over the other. And on their return the bridegroom shoots
arrows at seven straw images of deer over his wife's
shoulder, and after each shot she puts a little sugar in his
mouth. This is a common ceremony among the forest
tribes, and symbolises the idea that the man will support him-
self and his wife by hunting. On the fourth day the bride
returns to her father's house. She visits her husband for
two or three months in the following month of Asarh
(June-July), but again goes home to play what is known
as ' The game of Gauri,' Gauri being the name of Siva's
consort. The young men and girls of the village assemble
round her in the evening, and the girls sing songs while the
men play on drums. An obscene representation of Gauri
is made, and some of them pretend to be possessed by the
ii OTHER CUSTOMS CONNECTED WITH MARRIAGE 395
deity, while the men beat the girls with ropes of grass.
After she has enjoyed this amusement with her mates for
some three months, the bride finally goes to her husband's
house.
The wedding expenses come to about seventy rupees 5. Other
on the bridegroom's part in an ordinary marriage, while connected
the bride's family spend the amount of the bride -price with mar-
and a few rupees more. If the parties are poor the cere-
mony can be curtailed so far as to provide food for only
five guests. It is permissible for two families to effect an
exchange of girls in lieu of payment of the bride-price, this
practice being known as Gunrawat. Or a prospective bride-
groom may give his services for three or four years instead
of a price. The system of serving for a wife is known as
Gharjian, and is generally resorted to by widows having
daughters. A girl going wrong with a Kawar or with a
Kaurai Rawat before marriage may be pardoned with the
exaction of a feast from her parents. For a liaison with any
other outsider she is finally expelled, and the exception of
the Kaurai Ravvats shows that they are recognised as in
reality Kawars. Widow-remarria»e is permitted except in
the Tanwar subcaste. New bangles and clothes are given
to the widow, and the pair then stand under the eaves of the
house ; the bridegroom touches the woman's ear or puts a
rolled mango-leaf into it, and she becomes his wife. If a
widower marries a girl for his third wife it is considered
unlucky for her. An earthen image of a woman is there-
fore made, and he goes through the marriage ceremony with
it; he then throws the image to the ground so that it is
broken, when it is considered to be dead and its funeral
ceremony is performed. After this the widower may marry
the girl, who becomes his fourth wife. Such cases are
naturally very rare. If a widow marries her deceased
husband's younger brother, which is considered the most
suitable match, the children by her first husband rank
equally with those of the second. If she marries outside
the family her children and property remain with her first
husband's relatives.
Dalton l records that the Kawars of Sarguja had adopted
1 Ethnology, p. 158.
396 KA WAR part
the practice of sati : " I found that the Kawars of Sarguja
encouraged widows to become Satis and greatly venerated
those who did so. Sati shrines are not uncommon in the
Tributary Mahals. Between Partabpur and Jhilmili in
Sarguja I encamped in a grove sacred to a Kauraini Sati.
Several generations have elapsed since the self-sacrifice
that led to her canonisation, but she is now the principal
object of worship in the village and neighbourhood, and
I was informed that every year a fowl was sacrificed
to her, and every third year a black goat. The Hindus
with me were intensely amused at the idea of offering
fowls to a Sati ! " Polygamy is permitted, but is not
common. Members of the Tanwar subtribe, when they have
occasion to do so, will take the daughters of Kawars of other
groups for wives, though they will not give their daughters
to them. Such marriages are generally made clandestinely,
and it has become doubtful as to whether some families are
true Tanwars. The zamlndars have therefore introduced a
rule that no family can be recognised as a Tanwar for
purposes of marriage unless it has a certificate to that effect
signed by the zamlndar. Some of the zamlndars charge
considerable sums for these certificates, and all cannot afford
them ; but in that case they are usually unable to get
husbands for their daughters, who remain unwed. Divorce
is permitted for serious disagreement or bad conduct on the
part of the wife.
6. Child- During childbirth the mother sits on the ground with
her legs apart, and her back against the wall or supported
by another woman. The umbilical cord is cut by the mid-
wife : if the parents wish the boy to become eloquent she
buries it in the village Council-place ; or if they wish him to
be a good trader, in the market ; or if they desire him to be
pious, before some shrine ; in the case of a girl the cord is
usually buried in a dung-heap, which is regarded as an
emblem of fertility. As is usual in Chhattlsgarh, the mother
receives no food or water for three days after the birth of a
child. On the fifth day she is given regular food and on
that day the house is purified. Five months after birth the
lips of the child are touched with rice and milk and it is
named. When twins are born a metal vessel is broken to
birth.
ii DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 397
sever the connection between them, as it is believed that
otherwise they must die at the same time. If a boy is born
after three girls he is called titura, and a girl after three
boys, tituri. There is a saying that ' A titura child either
fills the storehouse or empties it ' ; that is, his parents either
become rich or penniless. To avert ill-luck in this case oil
and salt are thrown away, and the mother gives one of her
bangles to the midwife.
The dead are usually buried, though well-to-do 7. Disposal
families have adopted cremation. The corpse is laid on its ^j]e
side in the grave, with head to the north and face to the
east. A little tily cotton, urad and rice are thrown on the
grave to serve as seed-grain for the dead man's cultivation
in the other world. A dish, a drinking vessel and a cooking-
pot are placed on the grave with the same idea, but are
afterwards taken away by the Dhobi (washerman). They
observe mourning for ten days for a man, nine days for a
woman, and three days for children under three years old.
During the period of mourning the chief mourner keeps a
knife beside him, so that the iron may ward off the attacks
of evil spirits, to which he is believed to be peculiarly exposed.
The ordinary rules of abstinence and retirement are observed
during mourning. In the case of cremation the ceremonies
are very elaborate and generally resemble those of the
Hindus. When the corpse is half burnt, all the men present
throw five pieces of wood on to the pyre, and a number of
pieces are carried in a winnowing fan to the dead man's
house, where they are touched by the women and then
brought back and thrown on to the fire. After the funeral
the mourners bathe and return home walking one behind
the other in Indian file. When they come to a cross-road,
the foremost man picks up a pebble with his left foot, and
it is passed from hand to hand down the line of men until
the hindmost throws it away. This is supposed to sever
their connection with the spirit of the deceased and prevent
it from following them home. On the third day they return
to the cremation ground to collect the ashes and bones.
A Brahman is called who cooks a preparation of milk and
rice at the head of the corpse, boils urad pulse at its feet,
and bakes eight wheaten cliapdtis at the sides. This food
396
KA WAR
6. Child-
birth.
the practice of sati : " I found that the Kawars of Sarguja
encouraged widows to become Satis and greatly venerated
those who did so. Sati shrines are not uncommon in the
Tributary Mahals. Between Partabpur and Jhilmili in
Sarguja I encamped in a grove sacred to a Kauraini Sati.
Several generations have elapsed since the self-sacrifice
that led to her canonisation, but she is now the principal
object of worship in the village and neighbourhood, and
I was informed that every year a fowl was sacrificed
to her, and every third year a black goat. The Hindus
with me were intensely amused at the idea of offering
fowls to a Sati ! " Polygamy is permitted, but is not
common. Members of the Tanwar subtribe, when they have
occasion to do so, will take the daughters of Kawars of other
groups for wives, though they will not give their daughters
to them. Such marriages are generally made clandestinely,
and it has become doubtful as to whether some families are
true Tanwars. The zamlndars have therefore introduced a
rule that no family can be recognised as a Tanwar for
purposes of marriage unless it has a certificate to that effect
signed by the zamlndar. Some of the zamlndars charge
considerable sums for these certificates, and all cannot afford
them ; but in that case they are usually unable to get
husbands for their daughters, who remain unwed. Divorce
is permitted for serious disagreement or bad conduct on the
part of the wife.
During childbirth the mother sits on the ground with
her legs apart, and her back against the wall or supported
by another woman. The umbilical cord is cut by the mid-
wife : if the parents wish the boy to become eloquent she
buries it in the village Council-place ; or if they wish him to
be a good trader, in the market ; or if they desire him to be
pious, before some shrine ; in the case of a girl the cord is
usually buried in a dung-heap, which is regarded as an
emblem of fertility. As is usual in Chhattlsgarh, the mother
receives no food or water for three days after the birth of a
child. On the fifth day she is given regular food and on
that day the house is purified. Five months after birth the
lips of the child are touched with rice and milk and it is
named. When twins are born a metal vessel is broken to
I
DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD
397
sever the connection between them, as it is believed that
otherwise they must die at the same time. If a boy is born
after three girls he is called titura, and a girl after three
boys, tituri. There is a saying that ' A titura child either
fills the storehouse or empties it ' ; that is, his parents either
become rich or penniless. To avert ill-luck in this case oil
and salt are thrown away, and the mother gives one of her
bangles to the midwife.
The dead are usually buried, though well-to-do
families have adopted cremation. The corpse is laid on its
side in the grave, with head to the north and face to the
east. A little til, cotton, urad and rice are thrown on the
grave to serve as seed-grain for the dead man's cultivation
in the other world. A dish, a drinking vessel and a cooking-
pot are placed on the grave with the same idea, but are
afterwards taken away by the Dhobi (washerman). They
observe mourning for ten days for a man, nine days for a
woman, and three days for children under three years old.
During the period of mourning the chief mourner keeps a
knife beside him, so that the iron may ward off the attacks
of evil spirits, to which he is believed to be peculiarly exposed.
The ordinary rules of abstinence and retirement are observed
during mourning. In the case of cremation the ceremonies
are very elaborate and generally resemble those of the
Hindus. When the corpse is half burnt, all the men present
throw five pieces of wood on to the pyre, and a number of
pieces are carried in a winnowing fan to the dead man's
house, where they are touched by the women and then
brought back and thrown on to the fire. After the funeral
the mourners bathe and return home walking one behind
the other in Indian file. When they come to a cross-road,
the foremost man picks up a pebble with his left foot, and
it is passed from hand to hand down the line of men until
the hindmost throws it away. This is supposed to sever
their connection with the spirit of the deceased and prevent
it from following them home. On the third day they return
to the cremation ground to collect the ashes and bones.
A Brahman is called who cooks a preparation of milk and
rice at the head of the corpse, boils urad pulse at its feet,
and bakes eight wheaten chapdtis at the sides. This food
7. Disposal
of the
dead.
I
398 KAWAR part
is placed in leaf-cups at two corners of the ground. The
mourners sprinkle cow's urine and milk over the bones, and
picking them up with a palds {Butea frondosd) stick, wash
them in milk and deposit them in a new earthen pot until
such time as they can be carried to the Ganges. The
bodies of men dying of smallpox must never be burnt,
because that would be equivalent to destroying the goddess,
incarnate in the body. The corpses of cholera patients are
buried in order to dispose of them at once, and are some-
times exhumed subsequently within a period of six months
and cremated. In such a cas~ the Kawars spread a layer
of unhusked rice in the grave, and address a prayer to the
earth-goddess stating that the body has been placed with
her on deposit, and asking that she will give it back intact
when they call upon her for it. They believe that in such
cases the process of decay is arrested for six months.
8 Laving When a man has been killed by a tiger they have a
spirits. ceremony called ' Breaking the string,' or the connection
which they believe the animal establishes with a family on
having tasted its blood. Otherwise they think that the
tiger would gradually kill off all the remaining members of
the family of his victim, and when he had finished with
them would proceed to other families in the same village.
This curious belief is no doubt confirmed by the tiger's
habit of frequenting the locality of a village from which it
has once obtained a victim, in the natural expectation that
others may be forthcoming from the same source. In this
ceremony the village Baiga or medicine-man is painted with
red ochre and soot to represent the tiger, and proceeds to
the place where the victim was carried off. Having picked
up some of the blood-stained earth in his mouth, he tries to
run away to the jungle, but the spectators hold him back
until he spits out the earth. This represents the tiger being
forced to give up his victim. The Baiga then ties a string
round all the members of the dead man's family standing
together ; he places some grain before a fowl saying, ' If my
charm has worked, eat of this ' ; and as soon as the fowl
has eaten some grain the Baiga states that his efforts have
been successful and the attraction of the man-eater has been
broken ; he then breaks the string and all the party return
ii DRESS 401
by the methods common in Chhattisgarh villages. When a
woman asks him to procure her offspring, the Baiga sits
dharna in front of Devi's shrine and fasts until the goddess,
wearied by his importunity, descends on him and causes
him to prophesy the birth of a child. They have the usual
belief in imitative and sympathetic magic. If a person is
wounded by an axe he throws it first into fire and then into
cold water. By the first operation he thinks to dry up the
wound and prevent its festering, and by the second to keep
it cool. Thin and lean children are weighed in a balance
against moist cowdung with the idea that they will swell
out as the dung dries up. In order to make a bullock's
hump grow, a large grain-measure is placed over it. If
cattle go astray an iron implement is placed in a pitcher of
water, and it is believed that this will keep wild animals off
the cattle, though the connection of ideas is obscure. To
cure intermittent fever a man walks through a narrow
passage between two houses. If the children in a family
die, the Baiga takes the parents outside the village and
breaks the stem of some plant in their presence. After this
they never again touch that particular plant, and it is be-
lieved that their children will not die. Tuesday is considered
the best day for weddings, Thursday and Monday for
beginning field-work and Saturday for worshipping the gods.
To have bats in one's granary is considered to be fortunate,
and there is a large harmless snake which, they say, pro-
duces fertility when it makes its home in a field. If a crow
caws on the house-top they consider that the arrival of. a
guest is portended. A snake or a cat crossing the road in
front and a man sneezing are bad omens.
The dress of the Kawars presents no special features n. Dress,
calling for remark. Women wear pewter ornaments on the
feet, and silver or pewter rings on the neck. They decorate
the ears with silver pendants, but as a rule do not wear
nose-rings. Women are tattooed on the breast with a figure
of Krishna, on the arms with that of a deer, and on the
legs with miscellaneous patterns. The operation is carried
out immediately after marriage in accordance with the usual
custom in Chhattlsgarh.
The tribe consider military service to be their tradi-
VOL. Ill 2 D
■^■Hl
l
400
KA WAR
10. Magic
and witch-
craft.
I
animal passes by and winds it up over a branch, and many
cattle have lost their tails in this way. Every tank in
which the lotus grows is tenanted by Purainha, the godling
who tends this plant. The sword, the gun, the axe, the
spear have each a special deity, and, in fact, in the Banga-
wfm, the tract where the wilder Kawars dwell, it is believed
that every article of household furniture is the residence of
a spirit, and that if any one steals or injures it without the
owner's leave, the spirit will bring some misfortune on him
in revenge. Theft is said to be unknown among them,
partly on this account and partly, perhaps, because no one
has much property worth stealing. Instances of deified
human beings are Kolin Sati, a Kol concubine of a zamindar
of Pendra who died during pregnancy, and Sarangarhni, a
Ghasia woman who was believed to have been the mistress
of a Raja of Sarangarh and was murdered. Both are now
Kawar deities. Thakur Deo is the deity of agriculture,
and is worshipped by the whole village in concert at the
commencement of the rains. Rice is brought by each
cultivator and offered to the god, a little being sown at his
shrine and the remainder taken home and mixed with the
seed-grain to give it fertility. Two bachelors carry water
round the village and sprinkle it on the brass plates of the
cultivators or the roofs of their houses in imitation of rain.
The belief in witchcraft is universal and every
village has its tonhi or witch, to whom epidemic diseases,
sudden illnesses and other calamities are ascribed. The
witch is nearly always some unpopular old woman, and
several instances are known of the murder of these un-
fortunate creatures, after their crimes had been proclaimed
by the Baiga or medicine-man. In the famine of 1900 an
old woman from another village came and joined one of the
famine-kitchens. A few days afterwards the village watch-
man got ill, and when the Baiga was called in he said the
old woman was a witch who had vowed the lives of twenty
children to her goddess, and had joined the kitchen to kill
them. The woman was threatened with a beating with
castor-oil plants if she did not leave the village, and as the
kitchen officer refused to supply her with food, she had to
go. The Baiga takes action to stop and keep off epidemics
PRESS
401
by the methods common in Chhattisgarh villages. When a
woman asks him to procure her offspring, the Baiga sits
dharna in front of Devi's shrine and fasts until the goddess,
wearied by his importunity, descends on him and causes
him to prophesy the birth of a child. They have the usual
belief in imitative and sympathetic magic. If a person is
wounded by an axe he throws it first into fire and then into
cold water. By the first operation he thinks to dry up the
wound and prevent its festering, and by the second to keep
it cool. Thin and lean children are weighed in a balance
against moist cowdung with the idea that they will swell
out as the dung dries up. In order to make a bullock's
hump grow, a large grain-measure is placed over it. If
cattle go astray an iron implement is placed in a pitcher of
water, and it is believed that this will keep wild animals off
the cattle, though the connection of ideas is obscure. To
cure intermittent fever a man walks through a narrow
passage between two houses. If the children in a family
die, the Baiga takes the parents outside the village and
breaks the stem of some plant in their presence. After this
they never again touch that particular plant, and it is be-
lieved that their children will not die. Tuesday is considered
the best day for weddings, Thursday and Monday for
beginning field-work and Saturday for worshipping the gods.
To have bats in one's granary is considered to be fortunate,
and there is a large harmless snake which, they say, pro-
duces fertility when it makes its home in a field. If a crow
caws on the house-top they consider that the arrival of. a
guest is portended. A snake or a cat crossing the road in
front and a man sneezing are bad omens.
The dress of the Kawars presents no special features
calling for remark. Women wear pewter ornaments on the
feet, and silver or pewter rings on the neck. They decorate
the ears with silver pendants, but as a rule do not wear
nose-rings. Women are tattooed on the breast with a figure
of Krishna, on the arms with that of a deer, and on the
legs with miscellaneous patterns. The operation is carried
out immediately after marriage in accordance with the usual
custom in Chhattisgarh.
The tribe consider military service to be their tradi-
VOL. Ill 2 D
11. Dress.
4o2 KA WAR part
i cu- tional occupation, but the bulk of them are now cultivators
""' and labourers. Many of them are farmers of villages in the
zamlndaris. Rautias weave ropes and make sleeping-cots,
but the other Kawars consider such work to be degrading.
They have the ordinary Hindu rules of inheritance, but a
son claiming partition in his father's lifetime is entitled to
two bullocks and nothing more. When the property is
divided on the death of the father, the eldest son receives
an allowance known as jitliai over and above his share, this
being a common custom in the Chhattlsgarh country where
the Kawars reside. The tribe do not admit outsiders with
the exception of Kaurai Rawat girls married to Kawars.
They have a tribal panchdyat or committee, the head of
which is known as Pardhan. Its proceedings are generally
very deliberate, and this has led to the saying : " The
Ganda's panchdyat always ends in a quarrel ; the Gond's
panchdyat cares only for the feast ; and the Kawar's
pancJidyat takes a year to make up its mind." But when the
Kawars have decided, they act with vigour. They require
numerous goats as fines for the caste feast, and these, with
fried urad, form the regular provision. Liquor, however, is
only sparingly consumed. Temporary exclusion from caste
is imposed for the usual offences, which include going to
jail, getting the ears split, or getting maggots in a wound.
The last is the most serious offence, and when the culprit
is readmitted to social intercourse the Dhobi (washerman) is
employed to eat with him first from five different plates, thus
talking upon himself any risk of contagion from the impurity
which may still remain. The Kawar eats flesh, fowls and
pork, but abjures beef, crocodiles, monkeys and reptiles.
From birds he selects the parrot, dove, pigeon, quail and
partridge as fit for food. He will not eat meat sold in
market because he considers it haldli or killed in the
Muhammadan fashion, and therefore impure. He also
refuses a particular species of fish called rechha, which is
black and fleshy and has been nicknamed ' The Teli's
bullock.' The higher subtribes have now given up eating
pork and the Tanwars abstain from fowls also. The Kawars
will take food only from a Gond or a Kaurai Rawat, and
Gonds will also take food from them. In appearance and
part ii THE ORIGIN OF THE CASTE 405
here used in the sense of a member of the Kayasth caste
and not simply meaning a writer as in the Malwa inscrip-
tion.1 From the above account it seems possible that the caste
was of comparatively late origin. According to their own
legend the first progenitor of the Kayasths was Chitragupta,
who was created by Brahma from his own body and given
to Yama the king of the dead, to record the good and
evil actions of all beings, and produce the result when they
arrived in the kingdom of the dead. Chitragupta was called
Kayastha, from kaya stJia, existing in or incorporate in the
body, because he was in the body of Brahma. Chitragupta
was born of a dark complexion, and having a pen and
ink-pot in his hand. He married two wives, the elder being
the granddaughter of the sun, who bore him four sons, while
the younger was the daughter of a Brahman Rishi, and
by her he had eight sons. These sons were married to
princesses of the Naga or snake race ; the Nagas are
supposed to have been the early nomad invaders from
Central Asia, or Scythians. The twelve sons were entrusted
with the government of different parts of India and the
twelve subcastes of Kayasths are named after these localities.
There has been much discussion on the origin of the 2. The
Kayasth caste, which now occupies a high social position ^caste
owing to the ability and industry of its members and their
attainment of good positions in the public services. All
indications, however, point to the fact that the caste has
obtained within a comparatively recent period a great rise
in social status, and formerly ranked much lower than it
does now. Dr. Bhattacharya states : 2 " The Kayasths of
Bengal are described in some of the Hindu sacred books
as Kshatriyas, but the majority of the Kayasth clans do
not wear the sacred thread, and admit their status as Sudra
also by the observance of mourning for thirty days. But
whether Kshatriya or Sudra, they belong to the upper
layer of Hindu society, and though the higher classes of
Brahmans neither perform their religious ceremonies nor
enlist them among their disciples, yet the gifts of the
Kayasths are usually accepted by the great Pandits of the
1 Hindus of Gujarat, p. 59, quoting from Ind. Ant. vi. 1 92- 1 93.
2 Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 175.
4o6 KAYASTH part
country without hesitation." There is no doubt that a
hundred years ago the Kayasths of Bengal and Bihar
were commonly looked upon as Sudras. Dr. Buchanan,
an excellent observer, states this several times. In Bihar
he says that the Kayasths are the chief caste who are
looked upon by all as pure Sudras and do not reject the
appellation.1 And again that " Pandits in Gorakhpur insist
that Kayasths are mere Sudras, but on account of their
influence included among gentry (Ashraf). All who have
been long settled in the district live pure and endeavour to
elevate themselves ; but this hss failed of success as kindred
from other countries who still drink liquor and eat meat
come and sit on the same mat with them." 2 Again he
calls the Kayasths the highest Sudras next to Vaidyas.3
And " In Bihar the penmen (Kayasthas) are placed next
to the Kshatris and by the Brahmans are considered as
illegitimate, to whom the rank of Sudras has been given,
and in general they do not presume to be angry at this
decision, which in Bengal would be highly offensive.4
Colebrooke remarks of the caste : " Karana, from a Vaishya
by a woman of the Sudra class, is an attendant on princes
or secretary. The appellation of Kayastha is in general
considered as synonymous with Karana ; and accordingly
the Karana tribe commonly assumes the name of Kayastha ;
but the Kayasthas of Bengal have pretensions to be con-
sidered as true Sudras, which the Jatimala seems to authorise,
for the origin of the Kayastha is there mentioned before the
subject of mixed castes is introduced, immediately after
describing the Gopa as a true Sudra." 5 Similarly Colonel
Dalton says : " I believe that in the present day the
Kayasths arrogate to themselves the position of first among
commoners, or first of the Sudras, but their origin is involved
in some mystery. Intelligent Kayasths make no pretension
to be other than Sudras." 6 In his Census Report of the
United Provinces Mr. R. Burn discusses the subject as
follows : 7 " On the authority of these Puranic accounts, and
in view of the fact that the Kayasths observe certain of the
1 Eastern India, i. p. 162. •' Essays, vol. ii. p. 182.
2 Ibidem, ii. p. 466. 6 Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 312, 313.
3 Ibide?n, ii. p. 736. 7 United Provinces Census Report
4 Ibidem, ii. p. 122. (1901), pp. 222-223.
ii THE ORIGIN OF THE CASTE 407
Sanskars in the same method as is prescribed for Kshatriyas,
the Pandits of several places have given formal opinions
that the Kayasths are Kshatriyas. On the other hand, there
is not the slightest doubt that the Kayasths are commonly
regarded either as a mixed caste, with some relationship to
two if not three of the twice-born castes, or as Sudras. This
is openly stated in some of the reports, and not a single
Hindu who was not a Kayasth of the many I have
personally asked about the matter would admit privately
that the Kayasths are twice -born, and the same opinion
was expressed by Muhammadans, who were in a position to
gauge the ordinary ideas held by Hindus, and are entirely
free from prejudice in the matter. One of the most highly
respected orthodox Brahmans in the Provinces wrote to me
confirming this opinion, and at the same time asked that his
name might not be published in connection with it. The
matter has been very minutely examined in a paper sent up
by a member of the Benares committee who came to the
conclusion that while the Kayasths have been declared to
be Kshatriyas in the Puranas, by Pandits, and in several
judgments of subordinate courts, and to be Sudras by
Manu and various commentators on him, by public opinion,
and in a judgment of the High Court of Calcutta, they are
really of Brahmanical origin. He holds that those who
to-day follow literary occupations are the descendants of
Chitragupta by his Brahman and Kshatriya wives, that the
so-called Unaya Kayasths are descended from Vaishya
mothers, and the tailors and cobblers from Sudra mothers.
It is possible to trace to some extent points which have
affected public opinion on this question. The Kayasths
themselves admit that in the past their reputation as hard
drinkers was not altogether unmerited, but they deserve the
highest credit for the improvements which have been effected
in this regard. There is also a widespread belief that the
existing general observance by Kayasths of the ceremonies
prescribed for the twice-born castes, especially in the matter
of wearing the sacred thread, is comparatively recent. It
is almost superfluous to add that notwithstanding the theo-
retical views held as to their origin and position, Kayasths
undoubtededly rank high in the social scale. All European
408
KAYASTH
3. The rise
of the
Kayasths
undi-r
rulers.
writers have borne testimony to their excellence and success
in many walks of life, and even before the commencement of
British power many Kayasths occupied high social positions
and enjoyed the confidence of their rulers."
It appears then a legitimate conclusion from the evidence
that the claim of the Kayasths to be Kshatriyas is compara-
tively recent, and that a century ago they occupied a very
much lower social position than they do now. We do not
find them playing any prominent part in the early or mediaeval
Hindu kingdoms. There is considerable reason for sup-
posing that their rise to importance took place under the
foreign or non - Hindu governments in India. Thus a
prominent Kayasth gentleman says of his own caste : 1
" The people of this caste were the first to learn Persian, the
language of the Muhammadan invaders of India, and to
obtain the posts of accountants and revenue collectors under
Muhammadan kings. Their chief occupation is Government
service, and if one of the caste adopts any other profession he
is degraded in the estimation of his caste-fellows." Malcolm
states:2 "When the Muhammadans invaded Hindustan and
conquered its Rajput princes, we may conclude that the
Brahmans of that country who possessed knowledge or
distinction fled from their intolerance and violence ; but
the conquerors found in the Kayastha or Kaith tribe more
pliable and better instruments for the conduct of the details
of their new Government. This tribe had few religious
scruples, as they stand low in the scale of Hindus. They
were, according to their own records, which there is no
reason to question, qualified by their previous employment
in all affairs of state ; and to render themselves completely
useful had only to add the language of their new masters
to those with which they were already acquainted. The
Muhammadans carried these Hindus into their southern
conquests, and they spread over the countries of Central India
and the Deccan ; and some families who are Kanungos 3 of
1 Lala Jvvala Prasad, Extra Assistant
Commissioner, in Sir E. A Maclagan's
Punjab Census Report for 189 1.
2 Memoir of Centra/ India, vol. ii.
pp. 165-166.
3 The Kanungo maintains the
statistical registers of land -revenue,
rent, cultivation, cropping, etc., for
the District as a whole which are
compiled from those prepared by
the patwaris for each village.
ii THE RISE OF THE KAYASTHS 409
districts and patwaris of villages trace their settlement in
this country from the earliest Muhammadan conquest."
Similarly the Bombay Gazetteer states that under the arrange-
ments made by the Emperor Akbar, the work of collecting
the revenues of the twenty-eight Districts subordinate to Surat
was entrusted to Kayasths.1 And the Mathur Kayasths of
Gujarat came from Mathura in the train of the Mughal
viceroys as their clerks and interpreters.2 Under the
Muhammadans and for some time after the introduction of
English rule, a knowledge of Persian was required in a
Government clerk, and in this language most of the Kayasths
were proficient, and some were excellent clerks.3 Kayasths
attained very high positions under the Muhammadan kings
of Bengal and were in charge of the revenue department
under the Nawabs of Murshldabad ; while Rai Durlao
Ram, prime minister of Ali Verdi Khan, was a Kayasth.
The governors of Bihar in the period between the battle of
Plassey and the removal of the exchequer to Calcutta were
also Kayasths.4 The Bhatnagar Kayasths, it is said, came
to Bengal at the time of the Muhammadan conquest.5 Under
the Muhammadan kings of Oudh, too, numerous Kayasths
occupied posts of high trust.6 Similarly the Kayasths entered
the service of the Gond kings of the Central Provinces. It
is said that when the Gond ruler Bakht Buland of Deogarh
in Chhind wara went to Delhi, he brought a number of Kayasths
back with him and introduced them into the administration.
One of these was appointed Bakshi or paymaster to the
army of Bakht Buland. His descendant is a leading land-
holder in the Seoni District with an estate of eighty-four
villages. Another Kayasth landholder of Jubbulpore and
' Hindus of Gujarat, p. 60. country and one of them laid down
' Ibidem, p. 64. rules for the structure and inter -
3 Ibidem, p. 61. marriage of the Brahman caste, it is
4 Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and practically impossible that they could
Sects, p. 177. It is true that Dr. have been Kayasths. The Muham-
Bhattacharya states that the Kayasths madan conquest of Bengal took place
were also largely employed under the at an early period, and very little
Hindu kings of Bengal, but he gives detail is known about the preceding
no authority for this. The Gaur Hindu dynasties.
Kayasths also claim that the Sena 5 Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal,
kings of Bengal were of their caste, art. Bihar Kayasth.
but considering that these kings were 6 Sherring, Tribes and Castes, vol.
looked on as spiritual heads of the iii. pp. 253-254.
4io KAYASTH part
Mandla occupied some similar position in the service of the
Gond kings of Garha-Mandla.
Finally in the English administration the Kayasths at
first monopolised the ministerial service. In the United
Provinces, Bengal and Bihar, it is stated that the number of
Kayasths may perhaps even now exceed that of all other
castes taken together.1 And in Gujarat the Kayasths
have lost in recent years the monopoly they once enjoyed
as Government clerks.2 The Mathura Kayasths of Gujarat
are said to be declining in prosperity on account of the
present keen competition for Government service,3 of
which it would thus appear they formerly had as large a
share as they desired. The Prabhus, the writer -caste of
western India corresponding to the Kayasths, were from
the time of the earliest European settlements much trusted
by English merchants, and when the British first became
supreme in Gujarat they had almost a monopoly of the
Government service as English writers. To such an extent
was this the case that the word Prabhu or Purvu was the
general term for a clerk who could write English, whether
he was a Brahman, Sunar, Prabhu, Portuguese or of English
descent.4 Similarly the word Cranny was a name applied
to a clerk writing English, and thence vulgarly applied in
general to the East Indians or half-caste class from among
whom English copyists were afterwards chiefly recruited.
The original is the Hindi karani, kirani, which Wilson
derives from the Sanskrit karan, a doer. Karana is also
the name of the Orissa writer-caste, who are writers and
accountants. It is probable that the name is derived from
this caste, that is the Uriya Kayasths, who may have been
chiefly employed as clerks before any considerable Eurasian
community had come into existence. Writers' Buildings at
Calcutta were recently still known to the natives as Karani
ki Bank, and this supports the derivation from the Karans
or Uriya Kayasths, the case thus being an exact parallel to
that of the Prabhus in Bombay.5
From the above argument it seems legitimate to deduce
1 Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and 4 Ibidem, p. 68, and Mackintosh,
Tribes, p. 177. Report in the Ramosis, India Office
2 Hindus of Gujarat, p. 81. Tracts, p. 77.
3 Ibidem, p. 67. 5 Hobson-Jobson, s.v. Cranny.
ii ORIGINAL PROFESSION OF THE KAYASTHS 411
that the Kayasths formerly occupied a lower position in 4. The
Hindu society. The Brahmans were no doubt jealous of profession
them and, as Dr. Bhattacharya states, would not let them of the
learn Sanskrit.1 But when India became subject to foreign ayas
rulers the Kayasths readity entered their service, learning
the language of their new employers in order to increase
their efficiency. Thus they first learnt Persian and then
English, and both by Muhammadans and English were
employed largely, if not at first almost exclusively, as clerks
in the public offices. It must be remembered that there
were at this time practically only two other literate castes
among Hindus, the Brahmans and the Banias. The Brahmans
naturally would be for long reluctant to lower their dignity
by taking service under foreign masters, whom they regarded
as outcaste and impure ; while the Banias down to within
the last twenty years or so have never cared for education
beyond the degree necessary for managing their business.
Thus the Kayasths had at first almost a monopoly of public
employment under foreign Governments. It has been seen
also that it is only within about the last century that the
status of the Kayasths has greatly risen, and it is a legitimate
deduction that the improvement dates from the period when
they began to earn distinction and importance under these
governments. But they were always a literate caste, and
the conclusion is that in former times they discharged duties
to which literacy was essential in a comparatively humble
sphere. " The earliest reference to the Kayasths as a
distinct caste," Sir H. Risley states, " occurs in Yajnavalkya,
who describes them as writers and village accountants, very
exacting in their demands from the cultivators." The pro-
fession of patwari or village accountant appears to have been
that formerly appertaining to the Kayasth caste, and it is
one which they still largely follow. In Bengal it is now
stated that Kayasths of good position object to marry their
daughters in the families of those who have served as
patwaris or village accountants. Patwaris, one of them said
to Sir H. Risley, however rich they may be, are considered
as socially lower than other Kayasths, e.g. Kanungo, Akhauri,
Pande or Bakshi. Thus it appears that the old patwari
1 Hobson-Jobson, p. 167.
41
KAYASTH
5- The
caste an
offshoot
from
Brahmans.
Kayasths are looked down upon by those who have improved
their position in more important branches of Government
service. Kanungo, as explained, is a sort of head of the
patwaris ; and Bakshi, a post already noticed as held by a
Kayasth in the Central Provinces, is the Muhammadan office
of paymaster.
Similarly Mr. Crooke states that while the higher
members of the caste stand well in general repute, the
village Lala (or Kayasth), who is very often an accountant,
is in evil odour for his astuteness and chicanery. In Central
India, as already seen, they are Kanungos of Districts and
patwaris of villages ; and here again Malcolm states that
these officials were the oldest settlers, and that the later
comers, who held more important posts, did not intermarry
with them.1 In Gujarat the work of collecting the revenue
in the Surat tract was entrusted to Kayasths. Till 1868,
in the English villages, and up to the present time in the
Baroda villages, the subdivisional accountants were mostly
Kayasths.2 In the Central Provinces the bulk of the
patwaris in the northern Districts and a large proportion in
other Districts outside the Maratha country are Kayasths. If
the Kayasths were originally patwaris or village accountants,
their former low status is fully explained. The village
accountant would be a village servant, though an important
one, and would be supported like the other village artisans
by contributions of grain from the cultivators. This is the
manner in which patwaris of the Central Provinces were
formerly paid. His status would technically be lower than
that of the cultivators, and he might be considered as a
Sudra or a mixed caste.
As regards the origin of the Kayasths, the most probable
hypothesis would seem to be that they were an offshoot of
Brahmans of irregular descent. The reason for this is that
the Kayasths must have learnt reading and writing from
some outside source, and the Brahmans were the only class
who could teach it them. The Brahmans were not disposed
to spread the benefits of education, which was the main
source of their power, with undue liberality, and when
another literate class was required for the performance of
1 Memoir of Central India, lor. cit. 2 Hindus of Gujarat, p. 60.
ii THE CASTE AN OFFSHOOT FROM BRAHMANS 413
duties which they disdained to discharge themselves, it
would be natural that they should prefer to educate people
closely connected with them and having claims on their
support. In this connection the tradition recorded by Sir
H. Risley may be noted to the effect that the ancestors of
the Bengal Kayasths were five of the caste who came from
Kanauj in attendance on five Brahmans who had been
summoned by the king of Bengal to perform for him certain
Vedic ceremonies.1 It may be noted also that the Vidurs,
another caste admittedly of irregular descent from Brahmans,
occupy the position of patwaris and village accountants in
the Maratha districts. The names of their subcastes indicate
generally that the home of the Kayasths is the country of
Hindustan, the United Provinces, and part of Bengal. This
is also the place of origin of the northern Brahmans, as
shown by the names of their most important groups. The
Rajputs and Banias on the other hand belong mainly to
Rajputana, Gujarat and Bundelkhand, and in most of this
area the Kayasths are immigrants. It has been seen that
they came to Malwa and Gujarat with the Muhammadans ;
the number of Kayasths returned from Rajputana at the
census was quite small, and it is doubtful whether the
Kayasths are so much as mentioned in Tod's Rajasthan.
The hypothesis therefore of their being derived either from
the Rajputs or Banias appears to be untenable. In the
Punjab also the Kayasths are found only in small numbers
and are immigrants. As stated by Sir H. Risley, both the
physical type of the Kayasths and their remarkable intel-
lectual attainments indicate that they possess Aryan blood ;
similarly Mr. Sherring remarks : " He nevertheless exhibits
a family likeness to the Brahman ; you may not know
where to place him or how to designate him ; but on looking
at him and conversing with him you feel quite sure that you
are in the presence of a Hindu of no mean order of intellect."2
No doubt there was formerly much mixture of blood in the
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. the king of Bengal. This, however,
Bengal Kayasth. The Kayasths deny is improbable in view of the evidence
the story that the five Kayasths were already given as to the historical status
servants of the five Brahmans, and of the Kayasths.
say that they were Kshatriyas sent on
a mission from the king of Kanauj to - Tribes and Castes, ibidem.
4,4 KAYASTH part
caste ; some time ago the Kayasths were rather noted for
keeping women of other castes, and. Sir H. Risley gives
instances of outsiders being admitted into the caste. Dr.
Bhattacharya states1 that, "There are many Kayasths in
eastern Bengal who are called Ghulams or slaves. Some of
them are still attached as domestic servants to the families
of the local Brahmans, Vaidyas and aristocratic Kayasths.
Some of the Ghulams have in recent times become rich land-
holders, and it is said that one of them has got the title of
Rai Bahadur from Government. The marriage of a Ghulam
generally takes place in his own class, but instances of
Ghulams marrying into aristocratic Kayasth families are at
present not very rare."
Further, the Dakshina Rarhi Kayasths affect the greatest
veneration for the Brahmans and profess to believe in the
legend that traces their descent from the five menial
servants who accompanied the five Brahmans invited by
kino- Adisur. The Uttara Rarhi Kayasths or those of
northern Burdwan, on the other hand, do not profess the
same veneration for Brahmans as the southerners, and deny
the authenticity of the legend. It was this class which held
some of the highest offices under the Muhammadan rulers
of Bengal, and several leading zamlndars or landholders at
present belong to it.2 It was probably in this capacity of
village accountant that the Kayasth incurred the traditional
hostility of one or two of the lower castes which still subsists
in legend.3 The influence which the patwari possesses at
present, even under the most vigorous and careful supervision
and with the liability to severe punishment for any abuse of
his position, is a sufficient indication of what his power
must have been when supervision and control were almost
nominal. On this point Sir Henry Maine remarks in his
description of the village community : " There is always a
village accountant, an important personage among an
unlettered population ; so important indeed, and so con-
spicuous that, according to the reports current in India,
the earliest English functionaries engaged in settlements of
land were occasionally led, by their assumption that there
1 Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 155. 2 Ibidem, pp. 375, 380.
3 See articles on Ghasia and Dhobi.
ii THE SUCCESS OF THE KAYASTHS 415
must be a single proprietor somewhere, to mistake the
accountant for the owner of the village, and to record him
as such in the official register.1 In Bihar Sir H. Risley
shows that Kayasths have obtained proprietary right in a
large area.
It may be hoped that the leading members of the 6. The
Kayasth caste will not take offence, because in the dis- ^ces
cussion of the origin of their caste, one of the most interest- Kayasths
ing problems of Indian ethnology, it has been necessary p"^^^
to put forward a hypothesis other than that which they hold position,
themselves. It would be as unreasonable for a Kayasth to
feel aggrieved at the suggestion that centuries ago their
ancestors were to some extent the offspring of mixed unions
as for an Englishman to be insulted by the statement that
the English are of mixed descent from Saxons, Danes
and Normans. If the Kayasths formerly had a compara-
tively humble status in Hindu society, then it is the more
creditable to the whole community that they should have
succeeded in raising themselves by their native industry and
ability without adventitious advantages to the high position
in which by general admission the caste now stands. At
present the Kayasths are certainly the highest caste after
Brahman, Rajput and Bania, and probably in Hindustan,
Bengal and the Central Provinces they may be accounted
as practically equal to Rajputs and Banias. Of the Bengal
Kayasths Dr. Bhattacharya wrote : 2 " They generally prove
equal to any position in which they are placed. They have
been successful not only as clerks but in the very highest
executive and judicial offices that have yet been thrown
open to the natives of this country. The names of the
Kayastha judges, Dwarka Nath Mitra, Ramesh Chandra
Mitra and Chandra Madhava Ghose are well known and
respected by all. In the executive services the Kayasths
have attained the same kind of success. One of them, Mr.
R. C. Dutt, is now the Commissioner of one of the most
important divisions of Bengal. Another, named Kalika Das
Datta, has been for several years employed as Prime
Minister of the Kuch Bihar State, giving signal proofs of
1 Village Communities, p. 125.
2 Hindu Castes and Sects, ibidem, p. 177.
7
4l6 KAYASTH part
his ability as an administrator by the success with which he
has been managing the affairs of the principality in his
charge." In the Central Provinces, too, Kayasth gentlemen
hold the most important positions in the administrative,
judicial and public works departments, as well as being
strongly represented in the Provincial and subordinate execu-
tive services. And in many Districts Kayasths form the
backbone of the ministerial staff of the public offices, a class
whose patient laboriousness and devotion to duty, with only
the most remote prospects of advancement to encourage
them to persevere, deserve high commendation.
The northern India Kayasths are divided into the fol-
Sub- lowing twelve subcastes, which are mainly of a territorial
character
(a) Srivastab. {g) Mathur.
(b) Saksena. (k) Kulsreshtha.
(c) Bhatnagar. (z) Suryadhwaja.
id) Ambastha or Amisht. (k) Karan.
(e) Ashthana or Aithana. (/) Gaur.
(/) Balmik or Valmlki. (jn) Nigum.
{a) The Srivastab subcaste take their name from the old
town of Sravasti, now Sahet-Mahet, in the north of the
United Provinces. They are by far the most numerous
subcaste both there and here. In these Provinces nearly
all the Kayasths are Srivastabs except a few Saksenas.
They are divided into two sections, Khare and Dusre,
which correspond to the Blsa and Dasa groups of the
Banias. The Khare are those of pure descent, and the
Dusre the offspring of remarried widows or other irregular
alliances.
(b) The Saksena are named from the old town of San-
kisa, in the Farukhabad District. They also have the Khare
and Dusre groups, and a third section called Kharua, which
is said to mean pure, and is perhaps the most aristocratic.
A number of Saksena Kayasths are resident in Seoni Dis-
trict, where their ancestors were settled by Bakht Buland,
the Gond Raja of Deogarh in Chhlndwara. These consti-
tuted hitherto a separate endogamous group, marrying among
themselves, but since the opening of the railway negotiations
ii SUBCASTES 417
have been initiated with the Saksenas of northern India,
with the result that intermarriage is to be resumed between
the two sections.
(V) The Bhatnagar take their name from the old town of
Bhatner, near Bikaner. They are divided into the Vaishya or
Kadim, of pure descent, and the Gaur, who are apparently
the offspring of intermarriage with the Gaur subcaste.
(d) Ambastha or Amisht. These are said to have
settled on the Girnar hill, and to take their name from their
worship of the goddess Ambaji or Amba Devi. Mr. Crooke
suggests that they may be connected with the old Ambastha
caste who were noted for their skill in medicine. The prac-
tice of surgery is the occupation of some Kayasths.1 It is
also supposed that the names may come from the Ameth
pargana of Oudh. The Ambastha Kayasths are chiefly
found in south Bihar, where they are numerous and
influential.2
(e) Ashthana or Aithana. This is an Oudh subcaste.
They have two groups, the Purabi or eastern, who are found
in Jaunpur and its neighbourhood, and the Pachhauri or
western, who live in or about Lucknow.
(f) Balmlk or Valmiki. These are a subcaste of western
India. Balmlk or Valmlk was the traditional author of the
Ramayana, but they do not trace their descent from him.
The name may have some territorial meaning. The Valmiki
are divided into three endogamous groups according as they
live in Bombay, Cutch or Surat.
(g) The Mathur subcaste are named after Mathura or
Muttra. They are also split into the local groups Dihlawi
of Delhi, Katchi of Cutch and Lachauli of Jodhpur.
(/*) The Kulsreshtha or 'well-born' Kayasths belong
chiefly to the districts of Agra and Etah. They are divided
into the Barakhhera, or those of twelve villages, and the
Chha Khera of six villages.
(z) The Suryadhwaja subcaste belong to Ballia, Ghazi-
pur and Bijnor. Their origin is obscure. They profess
excessive purity, and call themselves Sakadwlpi or Scythian
Brahmans.
1 Tribes and Castes, art. Kayasth.
2 Bhallackarya, loc. cil., p. 188.
VOL. Ill 2 V,
4lS KAYASTH part
(/•) The Karan subcaste belong to Bihar, and have two
local divisions, the Gayawale from Gaya, and the Tirhutia
from Tirhut.
(/) The Gaur Kayasths, like the Gaur Brahmans and
Rajputs, apparently take their name from Gaur or Lakh-
nauti, the old kingdom of Bengal. They have the Khare
and Dusre subdivisions, and also three local groups named
after Bengal, Delhi and Budaun.
(;//) The Nigum subcaste, whose name is apparently
the same as that of the Nikumbh Rajputs, are divided into
two endogamous groups, the Kadlm or old, and the Unaya,
or those coming from Unao. Sometimes the Unaya are
considered as a separate thirteenth subcaste of mixed
descent.
3. Exo- Educated Kayasths now follow the standard rule of
gam7" exogamy, which prohibits marriage between persons within
five degrees of affinity on the female side and seven on the
male. That is, persons having a common grandparent on
the female side cannot intermarry, while for those related
through males the prohibition extends a generation further
back. This is believed to be the meaning of the rule but
it is not quite clear. In Damoh the Srivastab Kayasths
still retain exogamous sections which are all named after
places in the United Provinces, as Hamlrpur ki baink
(section), Lucknowbar, Kashi ki Pande (a wise man of
Benares), Partabpuria, Cawnpore-bar, Sultanpuria and so on.
They say that the ancestors of these sections were families
who came from the above places in northern India, and
settled in Damoh ; here they came to be known by the
places from which they had immigrated, and so founded new
exogamous sections. A man cannot marry in his own
section, or that of his mother or grandmother. In the
Central Provinces a man may marry two sisters, but in
northern India this is prohibited.
9. Mar- Marriage may be infant or adult, and, as in many places
husbands are difficult to find, girls occasionally remain un-
married till nearly twenty, and may also be mated to boys
younger than themselves. In northern India a substantial
bridegroom-price is paid, which increases for a well-educated
boy, but this custom is not so well established in the Central
ii MARRIAGE SONGS 419
Provinces. However, in Damoh it is said that a sum of
Rs. 200 is paid to the bridegroom's family. The marriage
ceremony is performed according to the proper ritual for the
highest or Brahma form of marriage recognised by Manu
with Vedic texts. When the bridegroom arrives at the
bride's house he is given sherbet to drink. It is said that
he then stands on a pestle, and the bride's mother throws
wheat-flour balls to the four points of the compass, and
shows the bridegroom a miniature plough, a grinding pestle,
a churning-staff and an arrow, and pulls his nose. The
bridegroom's struggles to prevent his mother-in-law pulling
his nose are the cause of much merriment, while the two
parties afterwards have a fight for the footstool on which he
stands.1 An image of a cow in flour is then brought, and
the bridegroom pierces its nostrils with a little stick of gold.
Kayasths do not pierce the nostrils of bullocks themselves,
but these rites perhaps recall their dependence on agriculture
in their capacity of village accountants.
After the wedding the bridegroom's father takes various
kinds of fruit, as almonds, dates and raisins, and fills the
bride's lap with them four times, finally adding a cocoanut
and a rupee. This is a ceremony to induce fertility, and
the cocoanut perhaps represents a child.
The following are some specimens of songs sung at 10. Mar-
weddings. The first is about Rama's departure from Aiodhia nage
0 r j songs.
when he went to the forests :
Now Hari (Rama) has driven his chariot forth to the jungle.
His father and mother are weeping.
Kaushilya 2 stood up and said, ' Now, whom shall I call my diamond
and my ruby ? '
Dasrath went to the tower of his palace to see his son ;
As Rama's chariot set forth under the shade of the trees, he wished that
he might die.
Bharat ran after his brother with naked feet.
He said, ' Oh brother, you are going to the forest, to whom do you give
the kingdom of Oudh ? '
Rama said, ' When fourteen years have passed away I shall come back
from the jungles. Till then I give the kingdom to you.'
The following is a love dialogue :
1 Hindus of Gujarat, p. 72.
2 Dasrath and Kaushilya were the father and mother of Rama.
420 KAYASTH part
Make a beautiful garden for me to see my king.
In that garden what flowers shall I set?
Lemons, oranges, pomegranates, figs.
In that garden what music shall there be ?
A tambourine, a fiddle, a guitar and a dancing girl.
In that garden what attendants shall there be ?
A writer, a supervisor, a secretary for writing letters.1
The next is a love-song by a woman :
How has your countenance changed, my lord ?
Why speak you not to your slave ?
If I were a deer in the forest and you a famous warrior, would you not
shoot me with your gun ?
If I were a fish in the water and you the son of a fisherman, would you
not catch me with your drag-net ?
If I were a cuckoo in the garden and you the gardener's son, would you
not trap me with your liming-stick ?
The last is a dialogue between Radha and Krishna.
Radha with her maidens was bathing in the river when
Krishna stole all their clothes and climbed up a tree with
them. Girdhari is a name of Krishna :
R. You and I cannot be friends, Girdhari ; I am wearing a silk-
embroidered cloth and you a black blanket.
You are the son of old Nand, the shepherd, and I am a princess of
Mathura.
You have taken my clothes and climbed up a kadamb tree. I am
naked in the river.
K. I will not give you your clothes till you come out of the water.
R. If I come out of the water the people will laugh and clap at me.
All my companions seeing your beauty say, ' You have vanquished us ;
we are overcome.'
ii. Social Polygamy is permitted but is seldom resorted to, except
for the sake of offspring. Neither widow- marriage nor
divorce are recognised, and either a girl or married woman
is expelled from the caste if detected in a liaison. A man
may keep a woman of another caste if he does not eat from
her hand nor permit her to eat in the chauk or purified
place where he and his family take their meals. The prac-
tice of keeping women was formerly common but has now
been largely suppressed. Women of all castes were kept
except Brahmans and Kayasths. Illegitimate children were
known as Dogle or Sura.it and called Kayasths, ranking as
1 These are the occupations of the Kayasths.
n RELIGION- SOCIAL CUSTOMS 421
an inferior group of the caste. And it is not unlikely that
in the past the descendants of such irregular unions have
been admitted to the Dusre or lower branch of the different
subcastes.
During the seventh month of a woman's pregnancy a 12. Birth
dinner is given to the caste-fellows and songs are sung. custonis-
After this occasion the woman must not go outside her own
village, nor can she go to draw water from a well or to
bathe in a tank. She can only go into the street or to
another house in her own village.
On the sixth day after a birth a dinner is given to the
caste and songs are sung. The women bring small silver
coins or rupees and place them in the mother's lap. The
occasion of the first appearance of the signs of maturity in a
girl is not observed at all if she is in her father's house.
But if she has gone to her father-in-law's house, she is
dressed in new clothes, her hair after being washed is tied
up, and she is seated in the cliaiik or purified space, while
the women come and sing songs.
The Kayasths venerate the ordinary Hindu deities. 13. Reii-
They worship Chitragupta, their divine ancestor, at weddings glon'
and at the Holi and Diwali festivals. Twice a year they
venerate the pen and ink, the implements of their profession,
to which they owe their great success. The patwaris in
Hoshangabad formerly received small fees, known as dizvat
pfija, from the cultivators for worshipping the ink-bottle on
their behalf, presumably owing to the idea that, if neglected,
it might make a malicious mistake in the record of their
rights.
The dead are burnt, and the proper offerings are made 14. Social
on the anniversaries, according to the prescribed Hindu customs-
ritual. Kayasth names usually end in Prasad, Singh, Baksh,
Sewak, and Lala in the Central Provinces. Lala, which is a
term of endearment, is often employed as a synonym for the
caste. Dada or uncle is a respectful term of address for
Kayasths. Two names are usually given to a boy, one for
ceremonial and the other for ordinary use.
The Kayasths will take food cooked with water from
Brahmans, and that cooked without water (pakki) from
Rajputs and Banias. Some Hindustani Brahmans, as well
422
KEWAT
15. Occu-
pation.
as Khatris and certain classes of Banias, will take pakki food
from Kayasths. Kayasths of different subcastes will some-
times also take it from each other. They will give the
huqqa with the reed in to members of their own subcaste,
and without the reed to any Kayasth. The caste eat the
flesh of goats, sheep, fish, and birds. They were formerly
somewhat notorious for drinking freely, but a great reform
has been effected in this respect by the community itself
through the agency of their caste conference, and many are
now total abstainers.
The occupations of the Kayasths have been treated in
discussing the origin of the caste. They set the greatest
store by their profession of writing and say that the son of
a Kayasth should be either literate or dead. The following
is the definition of a Lekhak or writer, a term said to be
used for the Kayasths in Puranic literature :
" In all courts of justice he who is acquainted with the
languages of all countries and conversant with all the
Shastras, who can arrange his letters in writing in even and
parallel lines, who is possessed of presence of mind, who
knows the art of how and what to speak in order to carry
out an object in view, who is well versed in all the Shastras,
who can express much thought in short and pithy sentences,
who is apt to understand the mind of one when one begins
to speak, who knows the different divisions of countries and
of time,1 who is not a slave to his passions, and who is
faithful to the king deserves the name and rank of a Lekhak
or writer." 2
1. General
notice.
Kewat, Khewat, Kaibartta.3— A caste of fishermen,
boatmen, grain-parchers, and cultivators, chiefly found in the
Chhattlsgarh Districts of Drug, Raipur, and Bilaspur. They
numbered 170,000 persons in 191 1. The Kewats or
Kaibarttas, as they are called in Bengal, are the
modern representatives of the Kaivartas, a caste mentioned
in Hindu classical literature. Sir H. Risley explains the
1 Geography and Astronomy. Mr. Mahfuz Ali, tahslldar, Rajnand-
2 Quoted from the Matsapuran in a £aon' Mr. Jowahir Singh, Settlement
criticism by Babu Krishna Nag Verma. Superintendent, Sambalpur, and Mr.
Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer
3 This article is based on papers by Office.
ii GENERAL NOTICE 423
origin of the name as follows : l " Concerning the origin of
the name Kaibartta there has been considerable difference
of opinion. Some derive it from ka, water, and vartta,
livelihood ; but Lassen says that the use of ka in this sense
is extremely unusual in early Sanskrit, and that the true
derivation is Kivarta, a corruption of Kimvarta, meaning a
person following a low or degrading occupation. This, he
adds, would be in keeping with the pedigree assigned to the
caste in Manu, where the Kaivarta, also known as Margava
or Dasa, is said to have been begotten by a Nishada father
and an Ayogavi mother, and to subsist by his labour in
boats. On the other hand, the Brahma- Vaivarta Purana
gives the Kaibartta a Kshatriya father and a Vaishya mother,
a far more distinguished parentage ; for the Ayogavi having
been born from a Sudra father and a Vaishya mother is
classed as pratiloma, begotten against the hair, or in the
inverse order of the precedence of the castes." The Kewats
are a mixed caste. Mr. Crooke says that they merge on
one side into the Mallahs and on the other into the Binds.
In the Central Provinces their two principal subdivisions are
the Laria and Uriya, or the residents of the Chhattisgarh
and Sambalpur plains respectively. The Larias are further
split up into the Larias proper, the Kosbonwas, who grow
kosa or tasar silk cocoons, and the Binjhwars and Dhuris
(grain-parchers). The Binjhwars are a Hinduised group of
the Baiga tribe, and in Bhandara they have become a separ-
ate Hindu caste, dropping the first letter of the name, and
being known as Injhwar. The Binjhwar Kewats are a
group of the same nature. The Dhuris are grain-parchers,
and there is a separate Dhuri caste ; but as grain-parching
is also a traditional occupation of the Kewats, the Dhuris
may be an offshoot from them. The Kewats are so closely
connected with the Dhlmars that it is difficult to make any
distinction ; in Chhattisgarh it is said that the Dhlmars will
not act as ferrymen, while the Kewats will not grow or sell
singara or water -nut. The Dhlmars worship their fishing-
nets on the Akti day, which the Kewats will not do. Both
the Kewats and Dhlmars are almost certainly derived from
the primitive tribes. The Kewats say that formerly the
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kaibartta.
424 KEWAT PART
Hindus would not take water from them ; but on one occa-
sion during his exile Rama came to them and asked them
to ferry him across a river ; before doing so they washed
his feet and drank the water, and since that time the Hindus
have considered them pure and take water from their hands.
This story has no doubt been invented to explain the fact
that Brahmans will take water from the non-Aryan Kewats,
the custom having in reality been adopted as a convenience
on account of their employment as palanquin-bearers and
indoor servants. But in Saugor, where they are not em-
ployed as servants, and also grow san-hemp, their position
is distinctly lower and no high caste will take water from
them.
The caste have also a number of exogamous groups,
generally named after plants or animals, or bearing some
id mar- nickname given to the reputed founder. Instances of the
first class are Tuma, a gourd, Karsayal, a deer, Bhalwa, a
bear, Ghughu, an owl, and so on. Members of such a sept
abstain from injuring the animal after which the sept is
named or eating its flesh ; those of the Tuma sept worship
a gourd with offerings of milk and a cocoanut at the Holi
festival. Instances of titular names are Garhtod, one who
destroyed a fort, Jhagarha quarrelsome, Dehri priest, Kala
black, and so on. One sept is named Rawat, its founder
having probably belonged to the grazier caste. Members of
this sept must not visit the temple of Mahadeo at Rajim
during the annual fair, but give no explanation of the
prohibition. Others are the Ahira, also from the Ahlr
(herdsman) caste ; the Rautele, which is the name of a sub-
division of Kols and other tribes ; and the Sonwani or ' gold
water ' sept, which is often found among the primitive tribes.
In some localities these three have now developed into
separate subcastes, marrying among themselves ; and if any
of their members become Kablrpanthis, the others refuse to
eat and intermarry with them. The marriage of members
of the same sept is prohibited, and also the union of first
cousins. Girls are generally married under ten years of age,
but if a suitable husband cannot be found for a daughter, the
parents will make her over to any member of the caste who
offers himself on condition that he bears the expenses of the
ii SOCIAL CUSTOMS 425
marriage. In Sambalpur she is married to a flower. Sir
H. Risley notes 1 the curious fact that in Bihar it is deemed
less material that the bridegroom should be older than the
bride than that he should be taller. " This point is of the
first importance, and is ascertained by actual measurement.
If the boy is shorter than the girl, or if his height is exactly
the same as hers, it is believed that the union of the two
would bring ill-luck, and the match is at once broken off."
The marriage is celebrated in the customary manner by
walking round the sacred pole, after which the bridegroom
marks the forehead of the bride seven times with vermilion,
parts her hair with a comb, and then draws her cloth over
her head. The last act signifies that the bride has become a
married woman, as a girl never covers her head. In Bengal
a drop of blood is drawn from the fingers of the bride and
bridegroom and mixed with rice, and each eats the rice
containing the blood of the other. The anointing with ver-
milion is probably a substitute for this. Widow-remarriage
and divorce are permitted. In Sambalpur a girl who is left
a widow under ten years of age is remarried with full rites
as a virgin.
The Kewats worship the ordinary Hindu deities and 3- Social
believe that a special goddess, Chaurasi Devi, dwells in their
boats and keeps them from sinking. She is propitiated at
the beginning of the rains and in times of flood, and an
image of her is painted on their boats. They bury the dead,
laying the corpse with the feet to the south, while some
clothes, cotton, til and salt are placed in the grave, apparently
as a provision for the dead man's soul. They worship their
ancestors at intervals on a Monday or a Saturday with an
offering of a fowl. As is usual in Chhattlsgarh, their rules
as to food are very lax, and they will eat both fowls and
pork. Nevertheless Brahmans will take water at their hands
and eat the rice and gram which they have parched. The
caste consider fishing to have been their original occupation,
and tell a story to the effect that their ancestors saved the
deity in their boat on the occasion of the Deluge, and in
return were given the power of catching three or four times
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kewat.
2 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, ibidem.
customs.
426 KEIVAT part ii
as mail}- fish as ordinary persons in the same space of time.
Some of them parch gram and rice, and others act as coolies
and banghy '-bearers.* Kewats are usually in poor circum-
stances, but they boast that the town of Bilaspur is named
after Bilasa Keotin, a woman of their caste. She was
married, but was sought after by the king of the country, so
she held out her cloth to the sun, calling on him to set it on
fire, and was burnt alive, preserving her virtue. Her husband
burnt himself with her, and the pair ascended to heaven.
1 A curved stick carried across the shoulders, from which are suspended two
panniers.
KHAIRWAR
[Authorities : Colonel Dalton's Ethnology of Bengal ; Sir H. Risley's Tribes
and Castes of Bengal ; Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes of the N.-M'.l'. and
OudA.]
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
I.
Historical notice of the tribe.
5-
Marriage.
2.
Its origin.
6.
Disposal of the dead.
:>■
Tribal subdivisions.
7-
Religion.
4-
Exogamous septs.
8.
Inheritance.
9. The KJiairwas of Dam oh.
Khairwar, Kharwar, Khaira, Khairwa.1 — A primitive 1. Histori-
tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau and Bihar. Nearly 20,000 ofthe
Khairwars are now under the jurisdiction of the Central tribe.
Provinces, of whom two-thirds belong to the recently acquired
Sarguja State, and the remainder to the adjoining States
and the Bilaspur District. A few hundred Khairvvars or
Khairwas are also returned from the Damoh District in the
Bundelkhand country. Colonel Dalton considers the Khair-
wars to be closely connected with the Cheros. He relates
that the Cheros, once dominant in Gorakhpur and Sha.ha.bad,
were expelled from these tracts many centuries ago by the
Gorkhas and other tribes, and came into Palamau. " It is
said that the Palamau population then consisted of Khar-
wars, Gonds, Mars, Korwas, Parheyas and Kisans. Of these
the Kharwars were the people of most consideration. The
Cheros conciliated them and allowed them to remain in
peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sarguja ;
all the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained
military service grants of land, which they still retain. It is
1 This article is based on Mr. and some notes taken by Mr. I lira Lai
Crooke's and Colonel Dalton's accounts, at Raigarh .
427
428 KHAIRWAR part
popularly asserted that at the commencement of the Chero
rule in Palamau they numbered twelve thousand families and
the Kharwars eighteen thousand, and if an individual of one
or the other is asked to what tribe he belongs, he will say not
that he is a Chero or a Kharwar, but that he belongs to the
twelve thousand or the eighteen thousand, as the case may
be. Intermarriages between Chero and Kharwar families
have taken place. A relative of the Palamau Raja married
a sister of Maninath Singh, Raja of Ramgarh, and this is
among themselves an admission of identity of origin, as both
claiming to be Rajputs they could not intermarry till it was
proved to the satisfaction of the family priest that the parties
belonged to the same class. . . . The Rajas of Ramgarh and
Jashpur are members of this tribe, who have nearly succeeded
in obliterating their Turanian traits by successive inter-
marriages with Aryan families. The Jashpur Raja is wedded
to a lady of pure Rajput blood, and by liberal dowries has
succeeded in obtaining a similar union for three of his
daughters. It is a costly ambition, but there is no doubt that
the liberal infusion of fresh blood greatly improves the
Kharwar physique." 1 This passage demonstrates the exist-
ence of a close connection between the Cheros and Khairwars.
Elsewhere Colonel Dalton connects the Santals with the Khair-
wars as follows : 2 "A wild goose coming from the great ocean
alighted at Ahiri Pipri and there laid two eggs. From these
two eggs a male and female were produced, who were the
parents of the Santal race. From Ahiri Pipri our (Santal)
ancestors migrated to Hara Dutti, and there they greatly
increased and multiplied and were called Kharwar." This
also affords some reason for supposing that the Khairwars
are an offshoot of the Cheros and Santals. Mr. Crooke
remarks, "That in Mirzapur the people themselves derive
their name either from their occupation as makers of
catechu {/chair) or on account of their emigration from
some place called Khairagarh, regarding which there
is a great difference of opinion. If the Santal tradi-
tion is to be accepted, Khairagarh is the place of that
name in the Hazaribagh District ; but the Mlrzapur
tradition seems to point to some locality in the south or
1 Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 128, 129. 2 mdevi, pp. 209, 210.
ii HISTORICAL NOTICE OF THE TRIBE 429
west, in which case Khairagarh may be identified with the
most important of the Chhattlsgarh Feudatory States, or
with the pargana of that name in the Allahabad District." l
According to their own traditions in Chota Nagpur, Sir H.
Risley states that,2 " The Kharwars declare their original seat
to have been the fort of Rohtas, so called as having been the
chosen abode of Rohitaswa, son of Harlschandra, of the
family of the Sun. From this ancient house they also claim
descent, calling themselves Surajvansis, and wearing the Janeo
or caste thread distinguishing the Rajputs. A less flattering
tradition makes them out to be the offspring of a marriage
between a Kshatriya man and a Bhar woman contracted in
the days of King Ben, when distinctions of caste were
abolished and men might marry whom they would." A
somewhat similar story of themselves is told by the tribe
in the Bamra State. Here they say that their original
ancestors were the Sun and a daughter of Lakshmi,the goddess
of wealth, who lived in the town of Sara. She was very
beautiful and the Sun desired her, and began blowing into a
conch-shell to express his passion. While the girl was
gaping at the sight and sound, a drop of the spittle fell into
her mouth and impregnated her. Subsequently a son was
born from her arm and a daughter from her thigh, who were
known as Bhujbalrai and Janghrai.3 Bhujbalrai was given
great strength by the Sun, and he fought with the people of
the country, and became king of Rathgarh. But in conse-
quence of this he and his family grew proud, and Lakshmi
determined to test them whether they were worthy of the
riches she had given them. So she came in the guise of a
beggar to the door, but was driven away without alms. On
this she- cursed them, and said that their descendants, the
Khairwars, should always be poor, and should eke out a
scanty subsistence from the forests. And in consequence
the Khairwars have ever since been engaged in boiling wood
for catechu. Mr. Hira Lai identifies the Rathgarh of this
story with the tract of Rath in the north of the Raigarh
1 Tribes and Castes, art. Kharwar. the whole story is obviously a Brah-
2 Tribes and Castes of Bengal. manical legend. Balrai seems a cor-
3 From bhuj, an arm, andj'angk, a ruption of Balariim, the brother of
thigh. These are Hindi words, and Krishna.
43o KHAIRWAR part
State and the town of Sara, where Lakshmi's daughter lived
and her children were born, with Saria in Sarangarh.
On the information available as to the past history of
the tribe it seems probable that the Khairwars may, as
su^csted by Sir H. Risley, be an offshoot from some other
group. The most probable derivation of the name seems
to be from the khair or catechu tree {Acacia catechu) ; and
it may be supposed that it was the adoption as a calling
of the making of catechu which led to their differentiation.
Mr. Crooke derives their name either from the khair tree
or a place called Khairagarh ; but this latter name almost
certainly means ' The fort of the khair trees.' The Khairwas
or Khairwars of the Kaimur hills, who are identified by
Colonel Dalton and in the India Census of 1901 with the
Khairwars of Chota Nagpur, are certainly named after the
tree ; they are generally recognised as being Gonds who
have taken to the business of boiling catechu, and are
hence distinguished, being a little looked down upon by
other Gonds. Mr. Crooke describes them in Mlrzapur as
" Admittedly a compound of various jungle tribes who have
taken to this special occupation ; while according to another
account they are the offspring of the Saharias or Saonrs,
with whom their sept names are said to be identical." He
also identifies them with the Kathkaris of Bombay, whose
name means ' makers of hatha or prepared catechu.' The
Khairwars of Chota Nagpur have everywhere a subdivision
which makes catechu, this being known as Khairchura in the
Central Provinces, Khairi in Bengal and Khairaha in the
United Provinces. This group is looked down upon by
the other Khairwars, who consider their occupation to be
disreputable and do not marry with them. Possibly the pre-
paration of catechu, like basket- and mat-making, is despised
as being a profession practised by primitive dwellers in forests,
and so those Khairwars who have become more civilised are
now anxious to disclaim it. Sir H. Risley has several times
pointed out the indeterminate nature of the constitution
of the Chota Nagpur tribes, between several of whom
intermarriage is common. And it seems certain that the
tribes as we know them now must have been differentiated
from one or more common stocks much in the same fashion
ii TRIBAL SUBDIVISIONS 431
as castes, though rather by the influence of local settlement
than by differences of occupation, and at a much earlier date.
And on the above facts it seems likely that the Khairwars of
Chota Nagpur are an occupational offshoot of the Cheros and
Santals, as those of the Kaimur hills are of the Gonds and
Savars.
Colonel Dalton states that the tribe had four subdivisions, 3. Tribal
Bhogta, Mahto, Ravvat and Manjhi. Of these Mahto simply ^ions.
means a village headman, and is used as a title by many
castes and tribes ; Rawat is a term meaning chief, and is in
common use as a title ; and Manjhi too is a title, being
specially applied to boatmen, and also means a village head-
man among the Santals. These divisions, too, afford some
reason for considering the tribe to be a mixed group. Other
occupational subtribes are recorded by Sir H. Risley, and are
found in the Central Provinces, but these apparently have
grown up since Colonel Dalton's time.
The most important group in Bengal are the Bhogtas,
who are found, says Colonel Dalton, " In the hills of Palamau,
skirting Sarguja, in Tori and Bhanwar Pahar of Chota Nagpur
and other places. They have always had an indifferent repu-
tation. The head of the clan in Palamau was a notorious
freebooter, who, after having been outlawed and successfully
evaded every attempt to capture him, obtained a.jagir 1 on his
surrendering and promising to keep the peace. He kept to his
engagement and died in fair repute, but his two sons could
not resist the opportunity afforded by the disturbances of
1857-58. After giving much trouble they were captured ;
one was hanged, the other transported for life and the estate
was confiscated." Mr. Crooke notes that the Khairwars since
adopting Hinduism performed human sacrifices to Kali. Some
of our people who fell into their hands during the Mutiny
were so dealt with."
In the Central Provinces there is a group known as
Surajvansi or Descendants of the Sun, or Janeodhari, ' Those
who wear the sacred thread.' This is the aristocratic division
of the caste, to which the chiefs and zamlndars belong, and
according to the usual practice they have consolidated their
1 Estate held on feudal tenure.
2 Religion and Folklore of Northern India, vol. ii. p. 170.
433 K HAIR WAR part
higher position by marrying only among themselves. Other
groups are the Dualbandhi, who say that they are so called
because they make a livelihood by building the earthen diwdls
or walls for houses and yards ; but in Mlrzapur they derive
the name from dual, a leather belt which is supposed to have
been the uniform of their forefathers when serving as soldiers.1
The Ffitbandhi or silk-makers, according to their own story,
are thus named because their ancestors were once very rich
and wore silk ; but a more probable hypothesis is that they
were rearers of tasar silk cocoons. The Beldar or Matkora
work as navvies, and are also known as Kawarvansi or
' Descendants of the Kawars,' another tribe of the locality ;
and last come the Khairchura, who take their name from the
khair tree and are catechu-makers.
4. Exo- The tribe have a large number of exogamous groups
;p.mous named after plants and animals. Members of the mouse,
septs.
tortoise, parrot, pig, monkey, vulture, banyan tree and date-
palm septs worship their totem animal or tree, and when they
find the dead body of the animal they throw away an earthen
cooking-pot to purify themselves, as is done when a member
of the family dies. Those of the Dhan (rice), Non (salt), Dila
(plough) and Dhenki (rice pounding-lever) septs cannot dis-
pense with the use of these objects, but make a preliminary
obeisance before employing them. Those of the Kami sept
sprinkle water mixed with kans 2 grass over the bride and
bridegroom at the marriage ceremony, and those of the
Chandan or sandalwood sept apply sandal -paste to their
foreheads. They cannot clearly explain the meaning of
these observances, but some of them have a vague idea that
they are descended from the totem object.
Marriage is either infant or adult, and in the latter case a
girl is not disposed of without her consent. A bride-price
varying from five to ten rupees is paid, and in the case of a
girl given to a widower the amount is doubled. The Hindu
ceremonial has been adopted for the wedding, and an auspicious
day is fixed by a Brahman. In Bengal Sir H. Risley notes
that " Remnants of non-Aryan usage may be discerned in the
marriage ceremony itself. Both parties must first go through
the form of marriage to a mango tree or at least a branch of
1 Crookc, Tribes and Castes. 2 Saccharum spontaneum.
riage.
i: DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 433
the tree ; and must exchange blood mixed with sindur, though
in the final and binding act sindur alone is smeared by the
bridegroom upon the bride's forehead and the parting of her
hair." As has been pointed out by Mr. Crooke, the custom
of smearing vermilion on the bride's forehead is a substitute
for an earlier anointing with blood ; just as the original idea
underlying the offering of a cocoanut was that of sub-
stitution for a human head. In some cases blood alone is
still used. Thus Sir H. Risley notes that among the Birhors
the marriage rite is performed by drawing blood from the
little fingers of the bride and bridegroom and smearing it
on each of them.1 The blood-covenant by which a bride
was admitted to her husband's sept by being smeared with
his blood is believed to have been a common rite among
primitive tribes.
As a rule, the tribe bury the dead, though the Hindu 6. Disposal
custom of cremation is coming into fashion among the well- dead
to-do. Before the interment they carry the corpse seven
times round the grave, and it is buried with the feet pointing
to the north. They observe mourning for ten days and
abstain from animal food and liquor during that period. A
curious custom is reported from the Bilaspur District, where
it is said that children cut a small piece of flesh from the
finger of a dead parent and swallow it, considering this as a
requital for the labour of the mother in having carried the
child for nine months in her womb. So in return they carry
a piece of her flesh in their bodies. But the correct explana-
tion as given by Sir J. G. Frazer is that they do it to prevent
themselves from being haunted by the ghosts of their parents.
" Thus Orestes,2 after he had gone mad from murdering his
mother, recovered his wits by biting off one of his own fingers ;
since his victim was his own mother it might be supposed
that the tasting of his own blood was the same as hers ; and
the furies of his murdered mother, which had appeared black
to him before, appeared white as soon as he had mutilated
himself in this way. The Indians of Guiana believe that an
1 Tribes and Castes, art. Birhor. all of homicide, but it seems likely that
the action of the Khairwars may be
2 The above instances are repro- based on the same motives, as the
duced from Sir J. G. Frazer's Psyche's fear of ghosts is strong among these
Task (London, 1909). These cases are tribes.
VOL. Ill 2 F
KHAIRWAR
■■■■ Inherit
»d who has slain his man musl go mad unless
I blood of his victim, the notion apparently being
thai Hi. ivii drives him crazy. A similar custom was
Maoris in battle. When a warrior had slain
his foi mbat, he tasted his blood, believing that this
from the avenging spirit [atud] of his victim;
for tin • mi iiM'd thai 'the moment a slayer had tasted the
in, the dead man became a part of his being
and [>lai cd In under the protei Hon of the atua or guardian-
spiril ed.' Someofthe North American Indians
also • blood ol their enemies in battle. Strange as
il in his trulj superstition exists apparently
in li is day. There is a widespread opinion in
< '.il.'i murderer is to es< ape he must suck his
victim's I from the reeking blade of the dagger with
win', li
Tin i .1 the tribe is of the usual animistic type.
Colonel i notes thai they have, like the Kols, a village
■ Pahan or Baiga. He is always one of the
impui i Bhuiya, a Kharwar or a Korwa, and he
1 nnial sacrifice of a buffalo in the sacred
roi I. near the village. The fact that the
Khairwn members ol the Korwa and Bhuiya
lnl" ■ Uage priests may be taken to indicate that
,l"' l-lHi • earliei residents of the country, and are on
lln ■'" ■ ; by the Khairwars as later arrivals for
thc ' ' oi the indigenous deities. Colonel Dalton
states th.-i I KhairwSrs made no prayers to any of the
lli,hl" ! when in greal trouble they appealed to the
••nn- '" ,1"- i ntral Provinces the main body of the tribe,
;"'(1 I who belong to the landholding class,
profess tin- I 1 1 in religion. _
'"'■ Lrs have now also ado- |hc Hindu rule of
mheritain I,,,,. aban.loneiU^. M CUstom which
j4 mj^ M. "Here
St SU" 1M J^'h Vofthc
to tin- oj^l IHT^...^H li,'
dren.
led to
Wyowwzcv
COD •
it I •'
Colo::. Dl
re: • . -
'ltai
w'r.
'km
THE K HAIR WAS
^t a*. '
■to ipq
^■^ opnwi
»Kob. .
icoftk
Com, audit
t sacra
brothers. Daughters can never inhei entitled to
live in the ancestral home till they are man .1." l
The Khairwas or Khairwars o\ the btimur hills are
derived, as already seen, from the Gond I Savars, and
therefore are ethnologically a distinc from tho
the Chota Nagpur plateau, who have icribed above.
But as nearly every caste is made up of d ;c ethnol<
elements held together by the tie m occupation,
it does not seem worth while to treat tl ips separately.
Colonel Dalton, who also identifies them \ the main tribe,
records an interesting notice of them at a pei iod :
" There is in the seventh volume of the ' tic Reseai
a notice of the Kharwars of the Kaimur hill i the Mlr/.apui
District, to the north of the Son river, by I in J. L\ Hlunt,
who in his journey from Chunar to Ellora ii ..i>. i; ro. |, mol
with them and describes them as a very pi vc tribe. He
visited one of their villages consisting oi i do en pooi
huts, and though proceeding with the mosl caution,
unattended, to prevent alarm, the ii ats fled al his
approach. The women were seen, as: by Lhe men,
carrying off their children and moving ipeed to hide
themselves in the woods. It was observe* h.it they were
nearly naked, and the only articles of dom use found in
the deserted huts were a few gourds foi Is some
bows and arrows, and some fowls as wild their masters
With great difficulty, by the emploj m mediators,
some of the men were induced to They
nearly naked, but armed with bows and irrows and a
hatchet."
In Damoh the Khairwars are said to coic from I'.uina
State. During the working season they in temporary
sheds in the forest, and migrate from placi place as the
supply of trees is exhausted. Having cul i n .1 trc< they
strip off the bark and cut the inner and wood into
small pieces, which are boiled for two or thi days until a
thick black paste is obtained. Froi tcr is all<
to drain off, and the residue is made ini
in the sun. It is eaten in small pieces v I leal and
areca-nut. Duty is levied by the Forest D< rtmenl al the
1 Risley, loc. cit. - Ethnolc
g Hu-
nt Damoh.
434
KHAIRWAR
avenger of blood who has slain his man must go mad unless
he tastes the blood of his victim, the notion apparently being
that the ghost drives him crazy. A similar custom was
observed by the Maoris in battle. When a warrior had slain
his foe in combat, he tasted his blood, believing that this
preserved him from the avenging spirit {atua) of his victim ;
for they imagined that ' the moment a slayer had tasted the
blood of the slain, the dead man became a part of his being
and placed him under the protection of the atua or guardian-
spirit of the deceased.' Some of the North American Indians
also drank the blood of their enemies in battle. Strange as
it may seem, this truly savage superstition exists apparently
in Italy to this day. There is a widespread opinion in
Calabria that if a murderer is to escape he must suck his
victim's blood from the reeking blade of the dagger with
which he did the deed."
7. Reii- The religion of the tribe is of the usual animistic type.
gion. Colonel Dalton notes that they have, like the Kols, a village
priest, known as Pahan or Baiga. He is always one of the
impure tribes, a Bhuiya, a Kharwar or a Korwa, and he
offers a great triennial sacrifice of a buffalo in the sacred
grove, or on a rock near the village. The fact that the
Khairwars employed members of the Korwa and Bhuiya
tribes as their village priests may be taken to indicate that
the latter are the earlier residents of the country, and are on
this account employed by the Khairwars as later arrivals for
the conciliation of the indigenous deities. Colonel Dalton
states that the Khairwars made no prayers to any of the
Hindu gods, but when in great trouble they appealed to the
sun. In the Central Provinces the main body of the tribe,
and particularly those who belong to the landholding class,
profess the Hindu religion.
8. inherit- The Khairwars have now also adopted the Hindu rule of
inheritance, and have abandoned the tribal custom which
Sir H. Risley records as existing in Bengal. " Here the
eldest son of the senior wife, even if younger than one of the
sons of the second wife, inherits the entire property, subject
to the obligation of providing for all other legitimate children.
If the inheritance consists of land, the heir is expected to
create separate maintenance grants in favour of his younger
ance.
ii K HAND A IT 437
from the Uriya klianda, a sword. Sir H. Risley remarks of
the Khandaits : * " The caste is for the most part, if not
entirely, composed of Bhuiyas, whose true affinities have been
disguised under a functional name, while their customs, their
religion and in some cases even their complexion and features
have been modified by long contact with Hindus of relatively
pure Aryan descent. The ancient Rajas of Orissa kept up
large armies and partitioned the land on strictly military
tenures. These armies consisted of various castes and races,
the upper ranks being officered by men of good Aryan
descent, while the lower ones were recruited from the low
castes alike of the hills and the plains. In the social system
of Orissa, the Sresta or ' best ' Khandaits rank next to the
Rajputs, who have not the intimate connection with the land
which has helped to raise the Khandaits to their present
position." The Khandaits are thus like the Marathas, and
the small body of Paiks in the northern Districts, a caste
formed from military service ; and though recruited for the
most part originally from the Dravidian tribes, they have
obtained a considerable rise in status owing to their occupa-
tion and the opportunity which has been afforded to many
of them to become landholders. The best Khandaits now
aspire to Rajput rank, while the bulk of them have the
position of cultivators, from whom Brahmans will take water,
or a much higher one than they are entitled to by descent.
In 2 the Central Provinces the Khandaits have no subcastes,
and only two gotras or clans, named after the Kachhap or
tortoise and the Nagas or cobra respectively. These divisions
appear, however, to be nominal, and do not regulate marriage,
as to which the only rule observed is that persons whose
descent can be traced from the same parent should not marry
each other. Early marriage is usual, and if a girl arrives at
adolescence without a husband having been found for her,
she goes through the ceremony of wedlock with an arrow.
Polygamy is permitted, but a person resorting to it is looked
down on and nicknamed Maipkhia or wife-eater. The
essential portion of the marriage ceremony is the bandan or
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. 2 The following particulars are from
Khandait. In 19 1 1, after the transfer a paper by Mr. Kashinath Bohidar,
of Sambalpur, only 18 Khandaits Assistant Settlement Superintendent,
remained in the Central Provinces. Sonpur.
438 KHANDAIT part ii
tying of the hands of the bride and bridegroom together with
kusha grass. The bridegroom must lift up the bride and
walk seven times round the marriage altar carrying her.
Widow-marriage and divorce are permitted in the Central
Provinces, and Brahmans are employed for religious and
ceremonial purposes.
KHANGAR
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i. Origin and traditions. 4. Religion.
1. Caste subdivisions. 5. Social status.
3. Marriage. 6. Occupaticm.
Khangar,1 called also Kotival, Jemadar or Darbania 1. Origin
(gatekeeper). — A low caste of village watchmen and field- ^r"ditions
labourers belonging to Bundelkhand, and found in the
Saugor, Damoh, Narsinghpur and Jubbulpore Districts.
They numbered nearly 13,000 in 191 I. The Khangars are
also numerous in the United Provinces. Hindu ingenuity
has evolved various explanations of the word Khangar, such
as ' kliand' a pit, and lgar,' maker, digger, because the
Khangar digs holes in other people's houses for the purposes
of theft. The caste is, however, almost certainly of non-
Aryan origin, and there is little doubt also that Bundelkhand
was its original home. It may be noted that the Munda
tribe have a division called Khangar with which the caste
may have some connection. The Khangars themselves
relate the following story of their origin. Their ancestors
were formerly the rulers of the fort and territory of Kurar
in 'Bundelkhand, when a Bundela Rajput came and settled
there. The Bundela had a very pretty daughter whom the
Khangar Raja demanded in marriage. The Bundela did
not wish to give his daughter to, the Khangar, but could not
refuse the Raja outright, so he said that he would consent
if all the Khangars would agree to adopt Bundela practices.
This the Khangars readily agreed to do, and the Bundela
thereupon invited them all to a wedding feast, and having
1 Compiled principally from a paper by Kanhyii Lai, clerk in the Gazetteer
Office.
439
44o K HANGAR part
summoned his companions and plied the Khangars with
liquor until they were dead drunk, cut them all to pieces.
One pregnant woman only escaped by hiding in a field of
kusutn or safflower,1 and on this account the Khangars still
venerate the kusutn and will not wear cloths dyed with
saffron. She fled to the house of a Muhammadan eunuch
or Fakir, who gave her shelter and afterwards placed her
with a Dangi landowner. The Bundelas followed her up
and came to the house of the Dangi, who denied that the
Khangar woman was with him. The Bundelas then asked
him to make all the women in his house eat together to
prove that none of them was the Khangarin, on which the
Dangi five times distributed the maihar, a sacrificial cake
which is only given to relations, to all the women of the
household including the Khangarin, and thus convinced the
Bundelas that she was not in the house. The woman who
was thus saved became the ancestor of the whole Khangar
caste, and in memory of this act the Khangars and Nadia
Dangis are still each bidden to eat the maihar cake at the
weddings of the other, or at least so it is said ; while the
Fakirs, in honour of this great occasion when one of their
number acted as giver rather than receiver, do not beg for
alms at the wedding of a Khangar, but on the contrary
bring presents. The basis of the story, that the Khangars
were the indigenous inhabitants of Bundelkhand and were
driven out and slaughtered by the immigrant Bundelas, may
not improbably be historically correct. It is also said that
no Khangar is even now allowed to enter the fort of Kurar,
and that the spirit of the murdered chief still haunts it ; so
that if a bed is placed there in the evening with a tooth-stick,
the tooth-stick will be split in the morning as after use, and
the bed will appear as if it had been slept in.2
2. Caste The caste has four subdivisions, named Rai, Mirdha or
Naklb, Karbal and Dahat. The Rai or royal Khangars
are the highest group and practise hypergamy with families
of the Mirdha and Karbal groups, taking daughters from
them in marriage but not giving their daughters to them.
1 Carthamas tinctorius. slightly different version of the story is
given by Captain Luard. The Dangis,
2 In the Ethnographic Appendices it must be remembered, are a high
to the India Census Report of 1901 a caste ranking just below Rajputs.
sub-
divisions.
,, MARRIAGE 44'
The Mirdhas or Naklbs are so called because they act as
mace-bearers and form the bodyguard of princes. Very few,
if any, are to be found in the Central Provinces. The
Karbal are supposed to be especially valorous. The Dahats
have developed into a separate caste called Dahait, and are
looked down on by all the other divisions as they keep pigs.
The caste is also divided into numerous exogamous septs,
all of which are totemistic ; and the members of the sept
usually show veneration to the object from which the sept
takes its name. Some of the names of septs are as follows :
Bachhiya from bachhra a calf; Barha from barah a pig, this
sept worshipping the pig ; Belgotia from the bel tree ;
Chandan from the sandalwood tree ; Chirai from chiriya a
bird, this sept revering sparrows ; Ghurgotia from gJwra a
horse (members of this sept touch the feet of a horse before
mounting it and do not ride on a horse in wedding pro-
cessions) ; Guae from the iguana ; Hanuman from the
monkey god ; Hathi from the elephant ; Kasgotia from
kansa bell-metal (members of this sept do not use vessels
of bell-metal on ceremonial occasions nor sell them); Mahiyar
from maihar fried cakes (members of this sept do not use
ghl at their weddings and may not sell ghi by weight though
they may sell it by measure) ; San after san-hemp (members
of this sept place pieces of hemp near their family god) ;
Sandgotia from sand a bullock ; Tambagotia from tamba
copper ; and Vishnu from the god of that name, whom the
sept worship. The names of 3 1 septs in all are reported
and there are probably others. The fact that two or three
septs are named after Hindu deities may be noticed as
peculiar.
The marriage of members of the same sept is prohibited 3. Mar-
and also that of first cousins. Girls are usually married at nage-
about ten years of age, the parents of the girl having to
undertake the duty of finding a husband. The ceremonial
in vogue in the northern Districts is followed throughout, an
astrologer being consulted to ascertain that the horoscopes
of the pair are favourable, and a Brahman employed to
draw up the lagan or auspicious paper fixing the date of the
marriage. The bridegroom is dressed in a yellow gown and
over-cloth, with trousers of red chintz, red shoes, and a
442 K HANGAR part
marriage-crown of date-palm leaves. He has the silver
ornaments usually worn by women on his neck, as the
khangwari or silver ring, and the hamel or necklace of
rupees. In order to avert the evil eye he carries a dagger
or nutcracker, and a smudge of lampblack is made on his
forehead to disfigure him and thus avert the evil eye, which
it is thought would otherwise be too probably attracted by
his exquisitely beautiful appearance in his wedding garments.
The binding portion of the ceremony is the bhanwar or
walking round the sacred post of the munga tree {Moringa
pterygospermd). This is done six times by the couple, the
bridegroom leading, and they then make a seventh turn
round the bedi or sacrificial fire. If the bride is a child this
seventh round is omitted at the marriage and performed at
the Dusarta or going-away ceremony. After the marriage
the haldi ceremony takes place, the father of the bridegroom
being dressed in women's clothes ; he then dances with the
mother of the bride, while they throw turmeric mixed with
water over each other. Widow-marriage is allowed, and the
widow may marry anybody in the caste ; the ceremony
consists in the placing of bangles on her wrist, and is always
performed at night, a Wednesday being usually selected. A
feast must afterwards be given to the caste-fellows. Divorce
is also permitted, and may be effected at the instance of
either party in the presence of the caste panchayat or
committee. When a husband divorces his wife he must
give a feast.
The Khangars worship the usual Hindu deities and
especially venerate Dulha Deo, a favourite household godling
in the northern Districts. Pachgara Deo is a deity who
seems to have been created to commemorate the occasion
when the Dangi distributed the marriage cakes five times to
the fugitive ancestress of the caste. His cult is now on the
decline, but some still consider him the most important deity
of all, and it is said that no Khangar will tell an untruth
after having sworn by this god. Children dying unmarried
and persons dying of leprosy or smallpox are buried, while
others are buried or burnt according as the family can afford
the more expensive rite of cremation or not. As among
other castes a corpse must not be burnt between sunset and
gion.
ii SOCIAL STATUS 443
sunrise, as it is believed that this would cause the soul to
be born blind in the next birth. Nor must the corpse be
wrapped in stitched clothes, as in that case the child in
which it is reincarnated would be born with its arms and
legs entangled. The corpse is laid on its back and some
ghi, til, barley cakes and sandalwood, if available, are placed
on the body. The soul of the deceased is believed to haunt
the house for three days, and each night a lamp and a little
water in an earthen pot are placed ready for it. When
cremation takes place the ashes are collected on the third
day and the burning ground is cleaned with cowdung and
sprinkled with milk, mustard and salt, in order that a cow
may lick over the place and the soul of the deceased may
thus find more easy admission into Baikunth or heaven.
Well-to-do persons take the bones of the dead to the Ganges,
a few from the different parts of the body being selected and
tied round the bearer's neck. Mourning is usually only
observed for three days.
The Khangars do not admit outsiders into the caste, s- Social
except children born of a Khangar father and a mother
belonging to one of the highest castes. A woman going
wrong with a man of another caste is finally expelled, but
liaisons within the caste may be atoned for by the usual
penalty of a feast. The caste eat flesh and drink liquor but
abjure fowls, pork and beef. They will take food cooked
without water from Banias, Sunars and Tameras, but katcJii
roti only from the Brahmans who act as their priests. Such
Brahmans are received on terms of equality by others of the
caste. Khangars bathe daily, and their women take off then-
outer cloth to eat food, because this is not washed every
day. Food cooked with water must be consumed in the
chanka or place where it is prepared, and not carried outside
the house. Men of the caste often have the suffix Singh
after their names in imitation of the Rajputs. Although
their social observances are thus in some respects strict, the
status of the caste is low, and Brahmans do not take water
from them.
The Khangars say that their ancestors were soldiers, but 6. Occupa-
at present they are generally tenants, field-labourers and tl0n'
village watchmen. They were formerly noted thieves, and
444
KHANGAR
several proverbs remain in testimony to this. " The Khangar
is strong only when he possesses a klmnta (a pointed iron
rod to break through the wall of a house)." ' The Sunar
and the Khangar only flourish together ' ; because the Sunar
acts as a receiver of the property stolen by the Khangar.
They are said to have had different ways of breaking into a
house', those who got through the roof being called cJihappartor,
while others who dug through the side walls were known as
khonpdphor. They have now, however, generally relinquished
their criminal practices and settled down to live as respectable
citizens.
KHARIA
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i . General notice. 8 . Religion.
2. Legend of origin. g. Funeral rites.
3. Subcastes. 1 o. Bringing back the souls of the
4. Exogamy and totemism. dead.
5. Marriage. 1 1. Social customs.
6. Taboos as to food. 12. Caste rules and organisation.
7. Widow-marriage and divorce. 13. Occupation and character.
14. Language.
Kharia.1 — A primitive Kolarian tribe, of which about 1. General
900 persons were returned from the Central Provinces in notlce-
191 1. They belong to the Bilaspur District and the Jashpur
and Raigarh States. The Kharias are one of the most
backward of the Kolarian tribes, and appear to be allied
to the Mundas and Savars. Colonel Dalton says of them :
" In the Chota Nagpur estate they are found in large com-
munities, and the Kharias belonging to these communities
are far more civilised than those who live apart. Their best
settlements lie near the southern Koel river, which stream
they venerate as the Santals do the Damudar, and into it
they throw the ashes of their dead." Chota Nagpur is the
home of the Kharias, and their total strength is over a lakh.
They are found elsewhere only in Assam, where they have
probably migrated to the tea-gardens.
The Kharia legend of origin resembles that of the 2. Legend
Mundas, and tends to show that they are an elder branch of °
that tribe. They say that a child was born to a woman in
the jungle, and she left it to fetch a basket in which to carry
it home. On her return she saw a cobra spreading its hood
1 This article is mainly based on Dalton's and Sir II. Risley's accounts
notes taken by Rai Bahadur Hira Lai of the tribe,
at Raigarh, with extracts from Colonel
445
446 KHARIA part
over the child to protect it from the sun. On this account
the child was called Nagvansi (of the race of the cobra), and
became the ancestor of the Nagvansi Rajas of Chota
Nacpur. The Kharias say this child had an elder brother,
and the two brothers set out on a journey, the younger
riding a horse and the elder carrying a kawar or banghy
with their luggage. When they came to Chota Nagpur the
younger was made king, on which the elder brother also
asked for a share of the inheritance. The people then put
two caskets before him and asked him to choose one. One
of the caskets contained silver and the other only some earth.
The elder brother chose that which contained earth, and on
this he was told that the fate of himself and his descendants
would be to till the soil, and carry banghys as he had been
doing. The Kharias say that they are descended from the
elder brother, while the younger was the ancestor of the
Nagvansi Rajas, who are really Mundas. They say that
they can . never enter the house of the Nagvansi Rajas
because they stand in the relation of elder brother-in-law to
the Ranis, who are consequently prohibited from looking on
the face of a Kharia. This story is exactly like that of the
Parjas in connection with the Rajas of Bastar. And as the
Parjas are probably an older branch of the Gonds, who were
reduced to subjection by the subsequent Raj-Gond im-
migrants under the ancestors of the Bastar Rajas, so it
seems a reasonable hypothesis that the Kharias stood in a
similar relationship to the Mundas or Kols. This theory
derives some support from the fact that, according to Sir H.
Risley, the Mundas will take daughters in marriage from
the Kharias, but will not give their daughters to them, and
the Kharias speak of the Mundas as their elder brethren.1
Mr. Hlra Lai suggests that the name Kharia is derived
from kh'arkhari, a palanquin or litter, and that the original
name Kharkharia has been contracted into Kharia. He
states that in the Uriya country Oraons, who carry litters,
are also called Kharias. This derivation is in accordance
with the tradition of the Kharias that their first ancestor
carried a banghy, and with the fact that the Kols are the
best professional d/ioo/ie-beavers.
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Kharia.
ii SUBCASTES— EXOGAMY AND TOTEM ISM 447
In Raigarh the Kharias have only two subtribes, the 3. Sub-
Dudh, or milk Kharias, and the Delki. Of these the Delki castes-
are said to be of mixed origin. They take food from
Brahmans, and explain that they do so because an ancestress
went wrong with a Brahman. It seems likely that they
may be descended from the offspring of immigrant Hindus
in Chota -Nagpur with Kharia women, like similar sub-
divisions in other tribes. The Delkis look down on the
Dudh Kharias, saying that the latter eat the flesh of tigers
and monkeys, from which the Delkis abstain. In Bengal
the tribe have two other divisions, the Erenga and Munda
Kharias.
The tribe is divided, like others, into totemistic exogamous 4. Exo-
septs, which pay reverence to their totems. Thus members f^^ism
of the Kulu (tortoise), Kiro (tiger), Nag (cobra), Kankul
(leopard) and Kuto (crocodile) septs abstain from killing
their totem animal, fold their hands in obeisance when they
meet it, and taking up some dust from the animal's track
place it on their heads as a mark of veneration. Certain
septs cannot wholly abstain from the consumption of their
sept totem, so they make a compromise. Thus members of
the Baa, or rice sept, cannot help eating rice, but they will
not eat the scum which gathers over the rice as it is being
boiled. Those of the Bilum or salt sept must not take up
a little salt on one finger and suck it, but must always use
two or more fingers for conveying salt to the mouth, pre-
sumably as a mark of respect. Members of the Suren or
stone sept will not make ovens with stones but only with
clods of earth. The tribe do not now think they are
actually descended from their totems, but tell stories
accounting for the connection. Thus the Katang Kondai
or bamboo sept say that a girl in the family of their
ancestors went to cut bamboos and never came back. Her
parents went to search for her and heard a voice calling out
from the bamboos, but could not find their daughter. Then
they understood that the bamboo was of their own family
and must not be cut by them. The supposition is appar-
ently that the girl was transformed into a bamboo.
Marriage between members of the same sept is forbidden, 5. Mar-
but the rule is not always observed. A brother's daughter nage"
448 KHARIA part
may marry a sister's son, but not vice versa. Marriage is
always adult, and overtures come from the boy's father.
The customary bride-price is twelve bullocks, but many
families cannot afford this, and resort is then made to a
fiction. The boy's party make twelve models of bullocks
in earth, and placing each in a leaf-plate send them to the
girl's party, who throw away two, saying that one has been
eaten by a tiger, and the other has fallen into a pit and
died. The remaining ten are returned to the bridegroom's
party, who throw away two, saying that they have been sold
to provide liquor for the Panch. For two of the eight now
left real animals are substituted, and for the other six one
rupee each, and the two cattle and six rupees are sent back
to the bride's party as the real bride-price. Poor families,
however, give four rupees instead of the two cattle, and ten
rupees is among them considered as the proper price, though
even this is reduced on occasion. The marriage party goes
from the bride's to the bridegroom's house, and consists of
women only. The men do not go, as they say that on one
occasion all the men of a Kharia wedding procession were
turned into stones, and they fear to undergo a similar fate.
The real reason may probably be that the journey of the
bride is a symbolic reminiscence of the time when she was
carried off by force, and hence it would be derogatory for
the men to accompany her. The bridegroom comes out to
meet the bride riding on the shoulders of his brother-in-law
or paternal aunt's husband, who is known as Dherha. He
touches the bride, and both of them perform a dance. At
the wedding the bridegroom stands on a plough-yoke, and
the bride on a grinding-slab, and the Dherha walks seven
times round them sprinkling water on them from a mango-
leaf. The couple are shut up alone for the night, and next
morning the girl goes to the river to wash her husband's
clothes. On her return a fowl is killed, and the couple
drink two drops of its blood in water mixed with turmeric,
as a symbol of the mixing of their own blood. A goat is
killed, and they step in its blood and enter their houses.
The caste-people say to them, " Whenever a Kharia comes
to your house, give him a cup of water and tobacco and food
if you have it," and the wedding is over.
u TABOOS AS TO FOOD— RELIGION 449
After a girl is married her own mother will not eat food 6. Taboos
cooked by her, as no two Kharias will take food together as t0 food'
unless they are of the same sept. When a married daughter
goes back to the house of her parents she cooks her food
separately, and does not enter their cook-room ; if she did all
the earthen pots would be defiled and would have to be
thrown away. A similar taboo marks the relations of a
woman towards her husband's elder brother, who is known
as Kura Sasur. She must not enter his house nor sit on a
cot or stool before him, nor touch him, nor cook food for
him. If she touches him a fine of a fowl with liquor is
imposed by the caste, and for his touching her a goat and
liquor. This idea may perhaps have been established as a
check on the custom of fraternal polyandry, when the idea
of the eldest brother taking the father's place as head of
the joint family became prevalent.
Widow- marriage is permitted at the price of a feast to 7. Widow-
the caste, and the payment of a small sum to the woman's ^nadrnage
family. A widow must leave her children with her first divorce,
husband's family if required to do so. If she takes them
with her they become entitled to inherit her second husband's
property, but receive only a half-share as against a full share
taken by his children. Divorce is permitted by mutual
agreement or for adultery of the woman. But the practice
is not looked upon with favour, and a divorced man or
woman rarely succeeds in obtaining another mate.
The principal deity of the Kharias is a hero called 8. Reii-
Banda. They say that an Oraon had vowed to give his glon'
daughter to the man who would clear the kdns1 grass off a
hillock. Several men tried, and at last Banda did it by
cutting out the roots. He then demanded the girl's hand,
but the Oraon refused, thinking that Banda had cleared the
grass by magic. Then Banda went away and the girl died,
and on learning of this Banda went and dug her out of her
grave, when she came to life and they were married. Since
then Banda has been worshipped. The tribe also venerate
their ploughs and axes, and on the day of Dasahra they
make offerings to the sun.
1 Saccharitm spout anaim. This grass infests cultivated fields and is very
difficult to eradicate.
VOL. Ill 2 G
45o
KHARIA
9. Funeral The tribe bury the dead, placing the head to the north,
ntes. When the corpse is taken out of the house two grains of
rice are thrown to each point of the compass to invite the
ancestors of the family to the funeral. And on the way,
where two roads meet, the corpse is set down and a little
rice and cotton-seed sprinkled on the ground as a guiding-
mark to the ancestors. Before burial the corpse is anointed
with turmeric and oil, and carried seven times round the
grave, probably as a symbol of marriage to it. Each
relative puts a piece of cloth in the grave, and the dead
man's cooking and drinking-pots, his axe, stick, pipe and
other belongings, and a basketful of rice are buried with him.
The mourners set three plants of oral or khas-khas grass on
the grave over the dead man's head, middle and feet, and then
they go to a tank and bathe, chewing the roots of this grass.
It would appear that the oral grass may be an agent of
purification or means of severance from the dead man's ghost,
like the leaves of the sacred nim 1 tree.
10. Bring- On the third day they bathe and are shaved, and catch
ing back feu which is divided among all the relatives, however
the souls ' &
of the small it may be, and eaten raw with salt, turmeric and garlic.
It seems likely that this fish may be considered to represent
the dead man's spirit, and is eaten in order to avoid being
haunted by his ghost or for some other object, and the fish
may be eaten as a substitute for the dead man's body, itself
consumed in former times. On the tenth night after the
death the soul is called back, a lighted wick being set in a
vessel at the cross-roads where the rice and cotton had been
sprinkled. They call on the dead man, and when the flame of
the lamp wavers in the wind they break the vessel holding the
lamp, saying that his soul has come and joined them, and go
home. On the following Dasahra festival, when ancestors are
worshipped, the spirit of the deceased is mingled with the
ancestors. A cock and hen are fed and let loose, and the
headman of the sept calls on the soul to come and join the
ancestors and give his protection to the family. When a
man is killed by a tiger the remains are collected and burnt
on the spot. A goat is sacrificed and eaten by the caste, and
thereafter, when a wedding takes place in that man's family,
1 Melia indica.
n CASTE RULES AND ORGANISATION 451
a goat is offered to his spirit. The Kharias believe that the
spirits of the dead are reborn in children, and on the Barhi
day, a month after the child's birth, they ascertain which
ancestor has been reborn by the usual method of divination
with grains of rice in water.
The strict taboos practised by the tribe as regards food n. SociaJ
have already been mentioned. Men will take food from one customs-
another, but not women. Men will also accept food cooked
without water from Brahmans, Rajputs and Bhuiyas. The
Kharias will eat almost any kind of flesh, including crocodile,
rat, pig, tiger and bear ; they have now generally abandoned
beef in deference to Hindu prejudice, and also monkeys,
though they formerly ate these animals, the Topno sept
especially being noted on this account.
Temporary expulsion from caste is imposed for the usual 12. Caste
offences, and also for getting shaved or bavins' clothes washed rules ?nd
' 00 o organisa-
by a barber or washerman other than a member of the caste, tion.
This rule seems to arise either from an ultra-strict desire for
social purity or from a hostile reaction against the Hindus
for the low estimation in which the Kharias are held. Again
it is a caste offence to carry the palanquin of a Kayasth, a
Muhammadan, a Koshta (weaver) or a Nai (barber), or to
carry the tdzias or representations of the tomb of Husain in
the Muharram procession. The caste have a headman who
has the title of Pardhan, with an assistant called Negi and a
messenger who is known as Ganda. The headman must
always be of the Samer sept, the Negi of the Suren sept, and
the Ganda of the Bartha or messenger sept. The head-
man's duty is to give water for the first time to caste offenders
on readmission, the Negi must make all arrangements for
the caste feast, and the Ganda goes and summons the tribes-
men. In addition to the penalty feast a cash fine is imposed
on an erring member ; of this rather more than half is given
to the assembled tribesmen for the purpose of buying murra
or fried grain on their way home on the following morning.
The remaining sum is divided between the three officers, the
Pardhan and Negi getting two shares each and the Ganda
one share. But the division is only approximate, as the
Kharias are unable to do the necessary calculation for an
odd number of rupees. The men have their hair tied in a
452
KHAR I A
knot on the right side of the head, and women on the left.
The women are tattooed, but not the men.
Colonel Dalton writes of the tribal dances : 1 " The
nuptial dances of the Kharias are very wild, and the gestures
of the dancers and the songs all bear more directly than
delicately on what is evidently considered the main object
of the festivities, the public recognition of the consummation
of the marriage. The bride and bridegroom are carried
through the dances seated on the hips of two of their
companions. Dancing is an amusement to which the
Kharias, like all Kolarians, are passionately devoted. The
only noticeable difference in their style is that in the energy,
vivacity and warmth of their movements they excel all their
brethren."
13. Occu- The Kharias say that their original occupation is to
pation and carTy dhoolies or litters, and this, as well as the social rules
character. J . .
prohibiting them from carrying those of certain castes, is in
favour of the derivation of the name from kliarkJiari, a litter.
They are also cultivators, and collect forest produce. They
are a wild and backward tribe, as shown in the following
extracts from an account by Mr. Ball : 2 " The first Kharias
I met with were encamped in the jungle at the foot of some
hills. The hut was rudely made of a few sal branches, its
occupants being one man, an old and two young women,
besides three or four children. At the time of my visit they
were taking their morning meal ; and as they regarded my
presence with the utmost indifference, without even turning
round or ceasing from their occupations, I remained for some
time watching them. They had evidently recently captured
some small animal, but what it was, as they had already eaten
the skin, I could not ascertain. As I looked on, the old
woman distributed to the others, on plates of sal leaves,
what appeared to be the entrails of the animal, and wrapping
up her own portion between a couple of leaves threw it on
the fire in order to give it a very primitive cooking. With
regard to their ordinary food the Kharias chiefly depend on
the jungle for a supply of fruits, leaves and roots.
" The Kharias never make iron themselves, but are
altogether dependent on the neighbouring bazars for their
1 Ethnology of Bengal. 2 Jungle Life in India, p. 89.
ii KHATIK 453
supplies. Had they at any period possessed a knowledge
of the art of making iron, conservative of their customs
as such races are, it is scarcely likely that they would have
forgotten it. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose
that there was a period prior to the advent of the Hindus
when iron was quite unknown to them — when, owing to the
absence of cultivation in the plains, they were even more
dependent on the supply of jungle food than they are at
present. In those times their axes and their implements
for grubbing up roots were in all probability made of stone,
and their arrows had tips of the same material.
" In their persons the Kharias are very dirty, seldom if
ever washing themselves. Their features are decidedly of a
low character, not unlike the Bhumij, but there seemed to
me to be an absence of any strongly-marked type in their
faces or build, such as enables one to know a Santal and
even a Kurmi at a glance."
Of the Kharia dialect Sir George Grierson states that i4. Lan-
it is closely allied to Savara, and has also some similarity to suage.
Korku and Juang : x " Kharia grammar has all the charac-
teristics of a language which is gradually dying out and
being superseded by dialects of quite different families.
The vocabulary is strongly Aryanised, and Aryan principles
have pervaded the grammatical structure. Kharia is no
longer a typical Munda language. It is like a palimpsest,
the original writing on which can only be recognised with
some difficulty." 2 An account of the Kharia dialect has
been published in Mr. G. B. Banerjee's Introduction to
the Kharia Language (Calcutta, 1894).
Khatik. — A functional caste of Hindu mutton-butchers
and vegetable sellers. They numbered nearly 13,000
persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 191 1, and
are, as might be expected, principally returned from the
Districts with a considerable urban population, Amraoti,
Jubbulpore, Nagpur and Saugor. The name is derived from
the Sanskrit Khattika,3 a butcher or hunter. In northern
1 Linguistic Survey, vol. iv. Munda 3 Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes,
and Dravidian Languages, p. 22. ail. Khatik.
- Ibidem, p. 129.
454 K HAT IK part
India Mr. Crooke states that the caste are engaged in
keeping and selling pigs and retailing vegetables and fruits,
and does not specially mention that they slaughter animals,
though in Agra one of their subcastes is named Buchar,
a corruption of the English word butcher. In the Punjab
Sir D. Ibbetson 1 says of them that, "They form a connecting
link between the scavengers and the leather-workers, though
they occupy a social position distinctly inferior to that of
the latter. They are great keepers of pigs and poultry,
which a Chamar would not keep.2 At the same time many
of them tan and dye leather and indeed are not seldom
confused with the Chamrang. The Khatik is said sometimes
to keep sheep and goats and twist their hair into waist-
bands for sale." Sir H. Risley again describes the Khatlks
of Bihar as a cultivating and vegetable-selling caste.3 The
differences in the principal occupations ascribed to the caste
are thus somewhat remarkable. In the Central Provinces
the Khatlks are primarily slaughterers of sheep and goats
and mutton-butchers, though they also keep pigs, and some
of them, who object to this trade, make their livelihood by
selling vegetables. Both in the United Provinces and
Punjab the Khatlks are considered to be connected with
the Pasis and probably an offshoot of that caste. In the
Central Provinces they are said to be an inferior branch of
the Gadaria or shepherd caste. The Gadarias state that
their old sheep were formerly allowed to die. Then they
appointed some poor men of the community to kill them
and sell the flesh, dividing the profits with the owner, and
thus the Khatik caste arose. The Khatlks accept cooked
food from the Gadarias, but the latter do not reciprocate.
The Khatlks are both Hindu and Muhammadan by
religion, the latter being also known as Gai-Khatlk or cow-
killer ; but these may more suitably be classed with the
Kasais or Muhammadan butchers. In the Maratha Districts
the Hindu Khatlks are divided into two subcastes, the
Beraria or those from Berar, and the Jhadi or those of the
forest country of the Wainganga valley. These will take
1 Census Report (18S1), para. 502. the Chamars of the Central Provinces.
3 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art.
2 This statement does not apply to Khatik.
ii KHAT'IK 455
food together, but do not intermarry. They have the usual
set of exogamous clans or septs, many of which are of a
totemistic nature, being named after plants, animals or
natural objects. In Jubbulpore, owing to their habit of
keeping pigs and the dirty state of their dwellings, one of
their divisions is named Lendha, which signifies the excre-
ment of swine. Here the sept is called ban, while in
Wardha it is known as kul or adnam. Marriage within the
sept is forbidden. When arranging a match they consider
it essential that the boy should be taller than the girl, but
do not insist on his being older. A bride-price is sometimes
paid, especially if the parents of the girl are poor, but the
practice is considered derogatory. In such a case the father
is thought to sell his daughter and he is called Bad or
Bhand. Marriages commonly take place on the fifth,
seventh or ninth day after the Holi festival, or on the
festival of Badsavitri, the third day of Baisakh (light fort-
night). When the bridegroom leaves the house to set out
for the wedding his mother or aunt waves a pestle and
churning-stick round him, puts a piece of betel-vine in his
mouth and gives him her breast to suck. He then steps on
a little earthen lamp-saucer placed over an egg and breaks
them, and leaves the house without looking back. These
rites are common to many castes, but their ^exact signifi-
cance is obscure. The pestle and churning-stick and egg
may perhaps be emblems of fertility. At the wedding the
fathers of the couple split some wood into shreds, and,
placing it in a little pit with cotton, set a light to it. If
it is all burnt up the ceremony has been properly performed,
but if any is left, the people laugh and say that the corpses
of the family's ancestors were not wholly consumed on the
pyre. To effect a divorce the husband and wife break a
stick in the presence of the caste panchayat or committee,
and if a divorced woman or one who has deserted her
husband marries again, the first husband has to give a feast
to the caste on the tenth day after the wedding ; this is
perhaps in the nature of a funeral feast to signify that she
is dead to him. The remarriage of widows is permitted.
A girl who is seduced by a member of the caste, even
though she may be delivered of a child, may be married
456 KHA TRT part
to him by the maimed rites used for widows. But she
cannot take part in auspicious ceremonies, and her feet are
not washed by married women like those of a proper bride.
Even if a girl be seduced by an outsider, except a Hindu
of the impure castes or a Muhammadan, she may be taken
back into the community and her child will be recognised
as a member of it. But they say that if a Khatik keeps
a woman of another caste he will be excommunicated until
he has put her away, and his children will be known as
Akre or bastard Khatiks, these being numerous in Berar.
The caste burn or bury the dead as their means permit,
and on the third day they place on the pyre some sugar,
cakes, liquor, sweets and fruit for the use of the dead man's
soul.
The occupation of the Khatik is of course horrible to
Hindu ideas, and the social position of the caste is very low.
In some localities they are considered impure, and high-caste
Hindus who do not eat meat will wash themselves if forced
to touch a Khatik. Elsewhere they rank just above the
impure castes, but do not enter Hindu temples. These
Khatiks slaughter sheep and goats and sell the flesh, but
they do not cure the skins, which are generally exported
to Madras. The Hindu Khatiks often refuse to slaughter
animals themselves and employ a Muhammadan to do so
by the rite of halal. The blood is sometimes sold to Gonds,
who cook and eat it mixed with grain. Other members of
the caste are engaged in cultivation, or retail vegetables and
grain.
i. Rajput Khatri. — A prominent mercantile caste of the Punjab,
whose members to the number of about 5000 have settled
in the Central Provinces and Berar, being distributed over
most Districts. The Khatris claim to be derived from
the Rajput caste, and say that their name is a corruption of
Kshatriya. At the census of 1901 Sir Herbert Risley
approved of their demand on the evidence laid before him
by the leading representatives of the caste. This view is
assented to by Mr. Crooke and Mr. Nesfield. In Gujarat
also the caste are known as Brahma-Kshatris, and their
Rajput origin is considered probable, while their appearance
ii CAMPBELLS ACCOUNT OF THE KHATRIS 457
bears out the claim to be derived either from the Aryans
or some later immigrants from Central Asia : " They are
a handsome fair-skinned class, some of them with blue or
grey eyes, in make and appearance like Vanias (Banias),
only larger and more vigorous." 1 Mr. Crooke states that,
" their women have a reputation for their beauty and fair
complexion. The proverb runs, ' A Khatri woman would
be fair without fine clothes or ornaments,' and, ' Only an albino
is fairer than a Khatri woman.' " 2 Their legend of origin
is as follows : " When Parasurama the Brahman was slay-
ing the Kshatriyas in revenge for the theft of the sacred cow
Kamdhenu and for the murder of his father, a pregnant .
Kshatriya woman took refuge in the hut of a Saraswat
Brahman. When Parasurama came up he asked the Brahman
who the woman was, and he said she was his daughter.
Parasurama then told him to eat with her in order to prove
it, and the Brahman ate out of the same leaf-plate as the
woman. The child to whom she subsequently gave birth
was the ancestor of the Khatris, and in memory of this
Saraswat Brahmans will eat with Khatris to the present
day." The Saraswat Brahman priests of the Khatris do as a
matter of fact take katcha food or that cooked with water
from them, and smoke from their huqqas, and this is another
strong argument in favour of their origin either from Brahmans
or Rajputs.
The classical account of the Khatris is that given in Sir
George Campbell's Ethnology of India, and it may be repro-
duced here as in other descriptions of the caste :
" Trade is their main occupation ; but in fact they have 2. sir
broader and more distinguishing features. Besides mono- c^S)ell's
polising the trade of the Punjab and the greater part of account
Afghanistan, and doing a good deal beyond those limits, Khatris<
they are in the Punjab the chief civil administrators, and
have almost all literate work in their hands. So far as the
Sikhs have a priesthood, they are, moreover, the priests or
gurus of the Sikhs. Both Nanak and Govind were, and
the Sodis and Bedis of the present day are, Khatris. Thus
then they are in fact in the Punjab, so far as a more
1 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, pp. 55> 5^-
2 Tribes and Castes, art. Khatri.
1
■■■
45S
KIM TR1
energetic race will permit them, all that Mahratta Brahmins
are in the Mahratta country, besides engrossing the trade
which the Mahratta Brahmins have not. They are not
usually military in their character, but are quite capable
of using the sword when necessary. Diwan Sawan Mai,
Governor of Multan, and his notorious successor Mulraj,
and very many of Ranjit Singh's chief functionaries were
Khatris.
" Even under Mahomedan rulers in the west they have
risen to high administrative posts. There is a record of a
Khatri Diwan of Badakshan or Kurdaz ; and, I believe, of
a Khatri Governor of Peshawar under the Afghans. The
Emperor Akbar's famous minister, Todarmal, was a Khatri ;
and a relative of that man of undoubted energy, the great
commissariat contractor of Agra, Joti Pershad, lately informed
me that he also is a Khatri. Altogether, there can be no
doubt that these Khatris are one of the most acute, energetic
and remarkable races in India, though in fact, except locally
in the Punjab, they are not much known to Europeans.
The Khatris are staunch Hindus, and it is somewhat singular
that, while giving a religion and priests to the Sikhs, they
themselves are comparatively seldom Sikhs. The Khatris
are a very fine, fair, handsome race, and, as may be gathered
from what I have already said, they are very generally
educated.
" There is a large subordinate class of Khatris, somewhat
lower, but of equal mercantile energy, called Rors or Roras.
The proper Khatris of higher grade will often deny all
connection with them, or at least only admit that they have
some sort of bastard kindred with Khatris, but I think there
can be no doubt that they are ethnologically the same, and
they are certainly mixed up with Khatris in their avocations.
I shall treat the whole kindred as generically Khatris.
" Speaking of the Khatris then thus broadly, they have,
as I have said, the whole trade of the Punjab and of most
of Afghanistan. No village can get on without the Khatri
who keeps the accounts, does the banking business, and buys
and sells the grain. They seem, too, to get on with the
people better than most traders and usurers of this kind.
In Afghanistan, among a rough and alien people, the Khatris
HIGHER AND LOWER GROUPS
459
are not
> they
erally
are as a rule confined to the position of humble dealers,
shopkeepers and moneylenders ; but in that capacity the
Pathans seem to look on them as a kind of valuable animal,
and a Pathan will steal another man's Khatri, not only for
the sake of ransom, as is frequently done on the frontier of
Peshawar and Hazara, but also as he might steal a milch-
cow, or as Jews might, I dare say, be carried off in the
Middle Ages with a view to render them profitable.
" I do not know the exact limits of Khatri occupation to
the West, but certainly in all Eastern Afghanistan they seem
to be just as much a part of the established community as
they are in the Punjab. They find their way far into
Central Asia, but the further they get the more depressed
and humiliating is their position. In Turkistan, Vambery
speaks of them with great contempt, as yellow-faced Hindus
of a cowardly and sneaking character. Under Turcoman
rule they could hardly be otherwise. They are the only
Hindus known in Central Asia. In the Punjab they are so
numerous that they cannot all be rich and mercantile ; and
many of them hold land, cultivate, take service, and follow
various avocations."
The Khatris have a very complicated system of sub- 3. Higher
divisions, which it is not necessary to detail here in view of ™oUpSvm
their small strength in the Province. As a rule they marry
only one wife, though a second may be taken for the purpose
of getting offspring. But parents are very reluctant to give
their daughters to a man who is already married. The re-
marriage of widows is forbidden and divorce also is not
recognised, but an unfaithful wife may be turned out of the
house and expelled from the caste. Though they practise
monogamy, however, the Khatris place no restrictions on the
keeping of concubines, and from the offspring of such
women inferior branches of the caste have grown up. In
Gujarat these are known as the Dasa and Pancha groups,
and they may not eat or intermarry with proper Khatris.1
The name Khatri seems there to be restricted to these
inferior groups, while the caste proper is called Brahma-
Kshatri. There is also a marked distinction in their occupa-
tion, for, while the Brahma-Kshatris are hereditary District
1 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 55.
I
458 KHA TRI part
energetic race will permit them, all that Mahratta Brahmins
are in the Mahratta country, besides engrossing the trade
which the Mahratta Brahmins have not. They are not
usually military in their character, but are quite capable
of using the sword when necessary. Diwan Sawan Mai,
Governor of Multan, and his notorious successor Mulraj,
and very many of Ranjit Singh's chief functionaries were
Khatris.
" Even under Mahomedan rulers in the west they have
risen to high administrative posts. There is a record of a
Khatri Diwan of Badakshan or Kurdaz ; and, I believe, of
a Khatri Governor of Peshawar under the Afghans. The
Emperor Akbar's famous minister, Todarmal, was a Khatri ;
and a relative of that man of undoubted energy, the great
commissariat contractor of Agra, Joti Pershad, lately informed
me that he also is a Khatri. Altogether, there can be no
doubt that these Khatris are one of the most acute, energetic
and remarkable races in India, though in fact, except locally
in the Punjab, they are not much known to Europeans.
The Khatris are staunch Hindus, and it is somewhat singular
that, while giving a religion and priests to the Sikhs, they
themselves are comparatively seldom Sikhs. The Khatris
are a very fine, fair, handsome race, and, as may be gathered
from what I have already said, they are very generally
educated.
" There is a large subordinate class of Khatris, somewhat
lower, but of equal mercantile energy, called Rors or Roras.
The proper Khatris of higher grade will often deny all
connection with them, or at least only admit that they have
some sort of bastard kindred with Khatris, but I think there
can be no doubt that they are ethnologically the same, and
they are certainly mixed up with Khatris in their avocations.
I shall treat the whole kindred as generically Khatris.
" Speaking of the Khatris then thus broadly, they have,
as I have said, the whole trade of the Punjab and of most
of Afghanistan. No village can get on without the Khatri
who keeps the accounts, does the banking business, and buys
and sells the grain. They seem, too, to get on with the
people better than most traders and usurers of this kind.
In Afghanistan, among a rough and alien people, the Khatris
n KHOJAH -K"
and with the point of his sword touches the outer doors of
seven houses, and then begins to search for his wife. The
time is one of much fun and merriment, the women of the
house bantering and taunting the bridegroom, especially
when he is long in finding his wife's hiding-place. When
she is found the bridegroom leads the bride to the marriage-
hall, and they sit there combing each other's hair."
In connection with their funeral ceremonies Mr. Bhlmbhai
Kirparam gives the following particulars of the custom of
beating the breasts : l " Contrary to the Gujarat practice of
beating only the breast, the Brahma-Kshatri women beat the
forehead, breast and knees. For thirteen days after a death
women weep and beat their breasts thrice a day, at morning,
noon and evening. Afterwards they weep and beat their
breasts every evening till a year has passed, not even
excepting Sundays, Tuesdays or Hindu holidays. During
this year of mourning the female relations of the deceased
used to eat nothing but millet-bread and pulse ; but this
custom is gradually being given up."
Khojah.2 — A small Muhammadan sect of traders be-
longing to Gujarat, who retain some Hindu practices. They
reside in Wardha, Nagpur and the Berar Districts, and
numbered about 500 persons in 191 1 as against 300 in
1 90 1. The Khojahs are Muhammadans of the Shia sect,
and their ancestors were converted Hindus of the Lohana
trading caste of Sind, who are probably akin to the Khatris.
As shown in the article on Cutchi, the Cutchi or Meman
traders are also converted Lohanas. The name Khojah is
a corruption of the Turkish Khwajah, Lord, and this is
supposed to be a Muhammadan equivalent for the title
Thakur or Thakkar applied to the Lohanas. The Khojahs
belong to the Nazarian branch of the Egyptian Ismailia
sect, and the founder of this sect in Persia was Hasan Sabah,
who lived at the beginning of the eleventh century and
founded the order of the Fidawis or devotees, who were the
Assassins of the Crusades. Hasan subsequently threw off
1 Hindus of Gujarat, pp. 58, 59. extracts from Mr. F. L. Farldi's full
account of the Khojahs in the Bombay
2 This article consists mainly of Gazetteer, Muhammadans of Gujarat.
462 KHOJAH part
his allegiance to the Egyptian Caliph and made himself the
head of his own sect with the title of Shaikh-ul-Jabal or Lord.
He was known to the Crusaders as the ' Old Man of the
Mountain.' His third successor Hasan (a.d. 1163) declared
himself to be the unrevealed Imam and preached that no
action of a believer in him could be a sin. It is through
this Hasan that His Highness the Aga Khan traces his
descent from Ali. Subsequently emissaries of the sect
came to India, and one Pir Sadr-ud-dm converted the
Lohanas. According to one account this man was a Hindu
slave of Imam Hasan. Sadr-ud-dln preached that his
master Hasan was the Nishkalanki or tenth incarnation of
Vishnu. The Adam of the Semitic story of the creation
was identified with the Hindu deity Vishnu, the Prophet
Muhammad with Siva, and the first five Imams of Ismailia
with the five Pandava brothers. By this means the new
faith was made more acceptable to the Lohanas. In 1845
Aga Shah Hasan Ali, the Ismailia unrevealed Imam, came
and settled in India, and his successor is His Highness the
Aga Khan.
The Khojahs retain some Hindu customs. Boys have
their ears bored and a lock of hair is left on a child's head
to be shaved and offered at some shrine. Circumcision and
the wearing of a beard are optional. They do not have
mosques, but meet to pray at a lodge called the Jama'at
Khana. They repeat the names of their Pirs or saints on
a rosary made of 1 o 1 beads of clay from Karbala, the scene
of the death of Hasan and Husain. At their marriages,
deaths and on every new-moon day, contributions are levied
which are sent to His Highness the Aga Khan. " A remark-
able feature at a Khojah's death," Mr. Faridi states, " is
the samarchhanta or Holy Drop. The Jama'at officer asks
the dying Khojah whether he wishes for the Holy Drop,
and if the latter agrees he must bequeath Rs. 5 to Rs. 500
to the Jama'at. The officer dilutes a cake of Karbala clay
in water and moistens the lips of the dying man with it,
sprinkling the remainder over his face, neck and chest.
The touch of the Holy Drop is believed to save the departing
soul from the temptation of the Arch-Fiend, and to remove
the death-agony as completely as among the Sunnis does
ii KHOJAH I*,;
the recital at a death-bed of the chapter of the Koran known
as the Surah-i-Ya-sIn. If the dead man is old and grey-
haired the hair after death is dyed with henna. A garland
of cakes of Karbala clay is tied round the neck of the
corpse. If the body is to be buried locally two small circular
patches of silk cloth cut from the covering of Husain's tomb,
called chasJimah or spectacles, are laid over the eyes. Those
Khojahs who can afford it have their bodies placed in air-
tight coffins and transported to the field of Karbala in
Persia to be buried there. The bodies are taken by steamer
to Baghdad, and thence by camel to Karbala.
" The Khojahs are keen and enterprising traders, and
are great travellers by land and sea, visiting and settling in
distant countries for purposes of trade. They have business
connections with Ceylon, Burma, Singapore, China and
Japan, and with ports of the Persian Gulf, Arabia and
East Africa. Khojah boys go as apprentices in foreign
Khojah firms on salaries of Rs. 200 to Rs. 2000 a year
with board and lodging."
KHOND1
[The principal authorities on the Khonds are Sir H. Risley's Tribes and
Castes of Bengal, Major-General Campbell's Wild Tribes of Khondistan, and
Major MacPherson's Report on the Khonds of the Districts of Ganjam and Cuttack
(Reprint, Madras Scottish United Press, 1863). When the inquiries leading up
to these volumes were undertaken, the Central Provinces contained a large body
of the tribe, but the bulk of these have passed to Bihar and Orissa with the transfer
of the Kalahandi and Patna States and the Sambalpur District. Nevertheless,
as information of interest had been collected, it has been thought desirable to
reproduce it, and Sir James Frazer's description of the human sacrifices formerly
in vogue has been added. Much of the original information contained in this
article was furnished by Mr. Panda Baijnath, Extra Assistant Commissioner,
when Dlwan of Patna State. Papers were also contributed by Rai Sahib
Dlnbandhu Patnaik, Dlwan of Sonpur, Mr. Mian Bhai, Extra Assistant Com-
missioner, Sambalpur, and Mr. Charu Chandra Ghose, Deputy Inspector of
Schools, Kalahandi.]
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1 . Traditions of the tribe.
2. Tribal divisions.
3. Exogamous septs.
4. Marriage.
5. Customs at birth.
6. Disposal of the dead.
7. Occupation.
15-
Tradi- Khond, Kandh.1 — A Dravidian tribe found in the Uriya-
speaking tract of the Sambalpur District and the adjoining
Feudatory States of Patna and Kalahandi, which up to 1905
were included in the Central Provinces, but now belong
to Bihar and Orissa. The Province formerly contained
168,000 Khonds, but the number has been reduced to about
10,000, residing mainly in the Khariar zamindari to the
south-east of the Raipur District and the Sarangarh State.
The tract inhabited by the Khonds was known generally
as the Kondhan. The tribe call themselves Kuiloka, or
1 Kandh is the Uriya spelling, and Kond or Khond that of the Telugus.
464
8.
A Khond combat.
9-
Social customs.
10.
Festivals.
1 1.
Religion.
12.
Human sac7'ifice.
13.
Last human sacrifices.
14.
Khond rising in 1882
Language.
tions of
the tribe.
part n TRIBAL DIVISIONS 4C5
Kuienju, which may possibly be derived from ko or k/1, a
Telusru word for a mountain.1 Their own traditions as to
their origin are of little historical value, but they were
almost certainly at one time the rulers of the country in
which they now reside. It was the custom until recently
for the Raja of Kalahandi to sit on the lap of a Khond on
his accession while he received the oaths of fealty. The
man who held the Raja was the eldest member of a
particular family, residing in the village of Gugsai Patna,
and had the title of Patnaji. The coronation of a new
Raja took place in this village, to which all the chiefs
repaired. The Patnaji would be seated on a large rock,
richly dressed, with a cloth over his knees on which the
Raja sat. The Diwan or minister then tied the turban of
state on the Raja's head, while all the other chiefs present
held the ends of the cloth. The ceremony fell into abeyance
when Raghu Kesari Deo was made Raja on the deposition
of his predecessor for misconduct, as the Patnaji refused to
install a second Raja, while one previously consecrated by
him was still living. The Raja was also accustomed to
marry a Khond girl as one of his wives, though latterly he
did not allow her to live in the palace. These customs
have lately been abandoned ; they may probably be inter-
preted as a recognition that the Rajas of Kalahandi derived
their rights from the Khonds. Many of the zamlndari
estates of Kalahandi and Sonpur are still held by members
of the tribe.
There is no strict endogamy within the Khond tribe. It 2. Tribal
has two main divisions : the Kutia Khonds who are hillmen dlvlslons-
and retain their primitive tribal customs, and the plain-
dwelling Khonds who have acquired a tincture of Hinduism.
The Kutia or hill Khonds are said to be so called because
they break the skulls of animals when they kill them for
food ; the word kutia meaning one who breaks or smashes.
The plain-dwelling Khonds have a number of subdivisions
which are supposed to be endogamous, though the rule is
not strictly observed. Among these the Raj Khonds are
the highest, and are usually landed proprietors. A man,
however, is not considered to be a Raj Khond unless he
1 Linguistic Survey of India.
VOL. Ill 2 II
466 KHOND part
possesses some land, and if ;i Raj Khond takes a bride
from another group he descends to it. A similar rule
applies among some of the other groups, a man being
relegated to his wife's division when he marries into one
which is lower than his own. The Dal Khonds may
probably have been soldiers, the word dal meaning an
army. They are also known as Adi Kandh or the superior
Khonds, and as Balusudia or ' Shaven.' At present they
usually hold the honourable position of village priest, and
have to a certain extent adopted Hindu usages, refusing to
eat fowls or buffaloes, and offering the leaves of the tulsi
(basil) to their deities. The Kandhanas are so called
because they grow turmeric, which is considered rather a
low thing to do, and the Pakhia because they eat the flesh
of the por or buffalo. The Gauria are graziers, and the
Nagla or naked ones apparently take their name from their
paucity of clothing. The Utar or Satbhuiyan are a degraded
group, probably of illegitimate descent ; for the other Khonds
will take daughters from them, but will not give their
daughters to them.
3. Exo- Traditionally the Khonds have thirty -two exogamous
feTs°US sePts> but the number has now increased. All the members
of one sept live in the same locality about some central
village. Thus the Tupa sept are collected round the village
of Teplagarh in the Patna State, the Loa sept round
Sindhekala, the Borga sept round Bangomunda, and so on.
The names of the septs are derived either from the names
of villages or from titles or nicknames. Each sept is further
divided into a number of subsepts whose names are of a
totemistic nature, being derived from animals, plants or
natural objects. Instances of these are Bachhas calf,
Chhatra umbrella, Hikoka horse, Kclka the kingfisher,
Konjaka the monkey, Mandinga an earthen pot, and so on.
It is a very curious fact that while the names of the septs
appear to belong to the Khond language, those of the
subsepts are all Uriya words, and this affords some ground
for the supposition that they are more recent than the septs,
an opinion to which Sir H. Risley inclines. On the other
hand, the fact that the subsepts have totemistic names
appears difficult of explanation under this hypothesis.
ii MARRIAGE 467
Members of the subsept regard the animal or plant after
which it is named as sacred. Those of the Kadam group
will not stand under the tree of that name. Those of the
Narsingha x sept will not kill a tiger or eat the meat of any
animal wounded or killed by this animal. The same subsept
will be found in several different septs, and a man may not
marry a woman belonging either to the same sept or subsept
as his own. But kinship through females is disregarded,
and he may take his maternal uncle's daughter to wife, and
in Kalahandi is not debarred from wedding his mother's
sister.2
Marriage is adult and a large price, varying from 1 2 4. Mar-
to 20 head of cattle, was formerly demanded for the bride. nage-
This has now, however, been reduced in some localities to
two or three animals and a rupee each in lieu of the others,
or cattle may be entirely dispensed with and some grain
given. If a man cannot afford to purchase a bride he may
serve his father-in-law for seven years as the condition of
obtaining her. A proposal for marriage is made by placing
a brass cup and three arrows at the door of the girl's father.
He will remove these once to show his reluctance, and they
will be again replaced. If he removes them a second time,
it signifies his definite refusal of the match, but if he allows
them to remain, the bridegroom's friends go to him and say,
' We have noticed a beautiful flower in passing through your
village and desire to pluck it.' The wedding procession
goes from the bride's to the bridegroom's house as among
the Gonds ; this custom, as remarked by Mr. Bell, is not
improbably a survival of marriage by capture, when the
husband carried off his wife and married her at his own
house. At the marriage the bride and bridegroom come
out, each sitting on the shoulders of one of their relatives.
The bridegroom pulls the bride to his side, when a piece of
cloth is thrown over them, and they are tied together with
a string of new yarn wound round them seven times. A
cock is sacrificed, and the cheeks of the couple are singed
with burnt bread. They pass the night in a veranda, and
1 Narsingha means a man-lion and Hinduism,
is one of Vishnu's incarnations ; this 2 In Orissa, however, relationship
suhsept would seem, therefore, to have through females is a liar to marriage,
been formed since the Khonds adopted as recorded in Sir II Risley's article.
468 KHOND part
next day are taken to a tank, the bridegroom being armed
with a bow and arrows. He shoots one through each of
seven cowdung cakes, the bride after each shot washing his
forehead and giving him a green twig for a tooth-brush
and some sweets. This is symbolical of their future course
of life, when the husband will procure food by hunting,
while the wife will wait on him and prepare his food.
Sexual intercourse before marriage between a man and girl
of the tribe is condoned so long as they are not within the
prohibited degrees of relationship, and in Kalahandi such
liaisons are a matter of ordinary occurrence. If a girl is
seduced by one man and subsequently married to another,
the first lover usually pays the husband a sum of seven to
twelve rupees as compensation. In Sambalpur a girl may
choose her own husband, and the couple commonly form an
intimacy while engaged in agricultural work. Such unions
are known as Udhlia or ' Love in the fields.' If the parents
raise any objection to the match the couple elope and return
as man and wife, when they have to give a feast to the caste,
and if the girl was previously betrothed to another man the
husband must pay him compensation. In the last case
the union is called Paisa molt or marriage by purchase. A
trace of fraternal polyandry survives in the custom by which
the younger brothers are allowed access to the elder brother's
wife till the time of their own marriage. Widow-marriage
and divorce are recognised.
5. Customs For one day after a child has been born the mother is
at birth. allowed no food. On the sixth day she herself shaves the
child's head and bites his nails short with her teeth, after
which she takes a bow and arrows and stands with the child
facing successively to the four points of the compass. The
idea of this is to make the child a skilful hunter when he
grows up. Children are named in their fifth or sixth year.
Names are sometimes given after some personal peculiarity,
as Lammudia, long-headed, or Khanja, one having six fingers;
or after some circumstance of the birth, as Ghosian, in com-
pliment to the Ghasia (grass-cutter) woman who acts as
midwife ; Jugi, because some holy mendicant (Yogi) was
halting in the village when the child was born ; or a child
may be named after the day of the week or month on which
ii DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 469
it was born. The tribe believe that the souls of the departed
are born again as children, and boys have on occasion been
named Majhian Budhi or the old head-woman, whom they
suppose to have been born again with a change of sex.
Major Macpherson observed the same belief: x "To determine
the best name for the child, the priest drops grains of rice
into a cup of water, naming with each grain a deceased
ancestor. He pronounces, from the movements of the seed
in the fluid, and from observations made on the person of
the infant, which of his progenitors has reappeared in him,
and the child generally, but not uniformly, receives the name
of that ancestor." When the children are named, they are
made to ride a goat or a pig, as a mark of respect, it is said,
to the ancestor who has been reborn in them. Names
usually recur after the third generation.
The dead are buried as a rule, but the practice of 6. Disposal
cremating the bodies of adults is increasing. When a body ^de
is buried a rupee or a copper coin is tied in the sheet, so
that the deceased may not go penniless to the other world.
Sometimes the dead man's clothes and bows and arrows are
buried with him. On the tenth day the soul is brought
back. Outside the village, where two roads meet, rice is
offered to a cock, and if it eats, this is a sign that the soul
has come. The soul is then asked to ride on a bowstick
covered with cloth, and is brought to the house and placed
in a corner with those of other relatives. The souls are fed
annually with rice on the harvest and Dasahra festivals.
In Sambalpur a ball of powdered rice is placed under a tree
with a lamp near it, and the first insect that settles on the
ball is taken to be the soul, and is brought home and
v/orshipped. The souls of infants who die before the
umbilical cord has dropped are not brought back, because
they are considered to have scarcely come into existence ;
and Sir E. Gait records that one of the causes of female
infanticide was the belief that the souls of girl-children thus
killed would not be born again, and hence the number of
future female births would decrease. This belief partially
conflicts with that of the change of sex on rebirth mentioned
above ; but the two might very well exist together. The
1 Report on the Khonds, p. 56.
47o
KHOND
7. Occupa-
tion.
8. A
Khond
combat.
souls of women who die during pregnancy or after a mis-
carriage, or during the monthly period of impurity are also
not brought back, no doubt because they are held to be
malignant spirits.
The Khond traditionally despises all occupations except
those of husbandry, hunting and war. " In Orissa," Sir H.
Risley states, " they claim full rights of property in the soil
in virtue of having cleared the jungle and prepared the land
for cultivation. In some villages individual ownership is
unknown, and the land is cultivated on a system of tem-
porary occupation subject to periodical redistribution under
the orders of the headman or malik'.' Like the other forest
tribes they are improvident and fond of drink.
Macpherson * described the Khonds as faithful to friends,
devoted to their chiefs, resolute, brave, hospitable and
laborious ; but these high qualities meet with no recognition
among the Uriya Hindus, who regard their stupidity as the
salient attribute of the Khonds and have various tales in
derision of them, like those told of the weavers. They
consider the Khonds as only a little superior to the impure
Doms (musicians and sweepers), and say, ' Kandli ghare
Domna Mantril or ' In a Kandh house the Dom is Prime
Minister.' This is paralleled by the similar relation between
the Gonds and Pardhans. The arms of the Khonds were a
light, long-handled sword with a blade very curiously carved,
the bow and arrow and the sling — no shields being used.
The axe also was used with both hands, to strike and guard,
its handle being partly defended by brass plates and wire
for the latter purpose. The following description of a
battle between rival Khond clans was recorded by Major
Macpherson as having been given to him by an eye-witness,
and may be reproduced for its intrinsic interest ; the fight
was between the hostile tribes of Bora Muta and Bora Des
in the Gumsur territory :
" At about 1 2 o'clock in the day the people of Bora
Des began to advance in a mass across the Salki river, the
boundary between the Districts, into the plain of KurmTngia,
where a much smaller force was arrayed to oppose them.
The combatants were protected from the neck to the loins
1 Report, p. 59.
ii A KHOND COMBAT 471
by skins, and cloth was wound round their legs down to the
heel, but the arms were quite bare. Round the heads of
many, too, cloth was wound, and for distinction the people of
Bora Muta wore peacock's feathers in their hair, while those
of Bora Des had cock's tail plumes. They advanced with
horns blowing, and the gongs beat when they passed a village.
The women followed behind carrying pots of water and food
for refreshments, and the old men who were past bearing
arms were there, giving advice and encouragement. As the
adverse parties approached, showers of stones, handed by the
women, flew from slings from either side, and when they
came within range arrows came in flights and many fell back
wounded. At length single combats sprang up betwixt
individuals who advanced before the rest, and when the first
man fell all rushed to dip their axes in his blood, and
hacked the body to pieces. The first man who himself
unwounded slew his opponent, struck off the latter's right
arm and rushed with it to the priest in the rear, who bore it
off as an offering to Loha Pennu (the Iron God or the God
of Arms) in his grove. The right arms of the rest who fell
were cut off in like manner and heaped in the rear beside
the women, and to them the wounded were carried for care,
and the fatigued men constantly retired for water. The
conflict was at length general. All were engaged hand-to-
hand, and now fought fiercely, now paused by common con-
sent for a moment's breathing. In the end the men of Bora
Des, although superior in numbers, began to give way, and
before four o'clock they were driven across the Salki, leaving
sixty men dead on the field, while the killed on the side of
the Bora Muta did not exceed thirty. And from the entire
ignorance of the Khonds of the simplest healing processes, at
least an equal number of the wounded died after the battle.
The right hands of the slain were hung up by both parties on
the trees of the villages and the dead were carried off to be
burned. The people of Bora Des the next morning flung a
piece of bloody cloth on the field of battle, a challenge to
renew the conflict which was quickly accepted, and so the
contest was kept up for three days." The above account
could, of course, find no place in a description of the Khonds
of this generation, but has been thought worthy of quota-
customs.
472 KHOND part
tion, as detailed descriptions of the manner of fighting of
these tribes, now weaned from war by the British Govern-
ment, are so rarely to be found.
9. Social The Khonds will admit into the community a male
orphan child of any superior caste, including the Binjhwars
and Gonds. A virgin of any age of one of these castes will
also be admitted. A Gond man who takes a Khond girl to
wife can become a Khond by giving a feast. As might be
expected the tribe are closely connected with the Gaurs or
Uriya shepherds, whose business leads them to frequent the
forests. Either a man or woman of the Gaurs can be taken
into the community on marrying a Khond, and if a Khond
girl marries a Gaur her children, though not herself, can be-
come members of that caste. The Khonds will eat all kinds
of animals, including rats, snakes and lizards, but with the
exception of the Kutia Khonds they have now given up beef.
In Kalahandi social delinquencies are punished by a fine
of so many field-mice, which the Khond considers a great
delicacy. The catching of twenty to forty field-mice to
liquidate the fine imposes on the culprit a large amount of
trouble and labour, and when his task is completed his
friends and neighbours fry the mice and have a feast with
plenty of liquor, but he himself is not allowed to participate.
Khond women are profusely tattooed with figures of trees,
flowers, fishes, crocodiles, lizards and scorpions on the calf
of the leg and the arms, hands and chest, but seldom on
the face. This is done for purposes of ornament. Husband
and wife do not mention each other's names, and a woman
may not speak the names of any of her husband's younger
brothers, as, if left a widow, she might subsequently have to
marry one of them. A paternal or maternal aunt may not
name her nephew, nor a man his younger brother's wife.
to. Festi- The tribe have three principal festivals, known as
the Semi Jatra, the Mahul Jatra and the Chawal Dhuba
Jatra. The Semi Jatra is held on the tenth day of the
waning moon of Aghan (November) when the new semi or
country beans are roasted, a goat or fowl is sacrificed, and
some milk or water is offered to the earth god. From this
day the tribe commence eating the new crop of beans.
Similarly the Mahul Jatra is held on the tenth of the waning
vals.
non.
ii RELIGION 473
moon of Chait (March), and until this date a Khond may-
eat boiled mahua flowers, but not roasted ones. The principal
festival is the Dasahra or Chawal Dhuba (boiled rice) on the
tenth day of the waning moon of Kunwar (September), which,
in the case of the Khonds, marks the rice-harvest. The new
rice is washed and boiled and offered to the earth god with
the same accompaniment as in the case of the Semi Jatra,
and until this date the Khond may not clean the new rice by
washing it before being boiled, though he apparently may-
partake of it so long as it is not washed or cleaned, this rule
and that regarding the mahua flowers being so made as con-
cessions to convenience.
The Khond pantheon consists of eighty- four gods, n. Reli-
of whom Dharni Deota, the earth god, is the chief. In
former times the earth goddess was apparently female and
was known as Tari Pennu or Bera Pennu. To her were
offered the terrible human sacrifices presently to be described.
There is nothing surprising in the change of sex of the
divine being, for which parallels are forthcoming. Thus in
Chhattlsgarh the deity of £he earth, who also received human
sacrifices, is either Thakur Deo, a god, or Thakurani Mai, a
goddess. Deota is an Aryan term, and the proper Khond
name for a god is Pennu. The earth god is usually accom-
panied by Bhatbarsi Deota, the god of hunting. Dharni
Deota is represented by a rectangular peg of wood driven into
the ground, while Bhatbarsi has a place at his feet in the
shape of a piece of conglomerate stone covered with circular
granules. Once in four or five years a buffalo is offered to
the earth god, in lieu of the human sacrifice which was
formerly in vogue. The animal is predestined for sacrifice
from its birth, and is allowed to wander loose and graze on
the crops at its will. The stone representing Bhatbarsi is
examined periodically, and when the granules on it appear
to have increased, it is decided that the time has come for
the sacrifice. In Kalahandi a lamb is sacrificed every year,
and strips of its flesh distributed to all the villagers, who bury
it in their fields as a divine agent of fertilisation, in the same
way as the flesh of the human victim was formerly buried.
The Khond worships his bow and arrows before he goes out
hunting, and believes that every hill and valley has its
474 A'/fOND part
separate deity, who must be propitiated with the promise of
a sacrifice before his territory is entered, or he will hide the
animals within it from the hunter, and enable them to escape
when wounded. These deities are closely related to each
other, and it is important when arranging for an expedition
to know the connection between them all ; this information
can be obtained from any one on whom the divine afflatus
from time to time descends.
12. Human The following account of the well-known system of
sacrifice, human sacrifice, formerly in vogue among the Khonds, is
contained in Sir James Frazer's Golden Bough, having been
compiled by him from the accounts of Major Macpherson
and Major- General John Campbell, two of the officers de-
puted to suppress it :
" The best known case of human sacrifices systemati-
cally offered to ensure good crops is supplied by the
Khonds or Kandhs, another Dravidian race in Bengal.
Our knowledge of them is derived from the accounts
written by British officers who, forty or fifty years ago,
were engaged in putting them down. The sacrifices
were offered to the Earth- Goddess, Tari Pennu or Bera
Pennu, and were believed to ensure good crops and im-
munity from all disease and accidents. In particular they
were considered necessary in the cultivation of turmeric, the
Khonds arguing that the turmeric could not have a deep
red colour without the shedding of blood. The victim or
Meriah was acceptable to the goddess only if he had been
purchased, or had been born a victim — that is the son of a
victim father — or had been devoted as a child by his father
or guardian. Khonds in distress often sold their children
for victims, ' considering the beatification of their souls
certain, and their death, for the benefit of mankind, the most
honourable possible.' A man of the Panua (Pan) tribe was
once seen to load a Khond with curses, and finally to spit
in his face, because the Khond had sold for a victim his
own child, whom the Panua had wished to marry. A party
of Khonds, who saw this, immediately pressed forward to
comfort the seller of his child, saying, ' Your child has died
that all the world may live, and the Earth-Goddess herself
will wipe that spittle from your face.' The victims were
ii HUMAN SACRIFICE 475
often kept for years before they were sacrificed. Being
regarded as consecrated beings, they were treated with
extreme affection, mingled with deference, and were wel-
comed wherever they went. A Meriah youth, on attaining
maturity, was generally given a wife, who was herself usually
a Meriah or victim, and with her he received a portion of
land and farm -stock. Their offspring were also victims.
Human sacrifices were offered to the Earth -Goddess by
tribes, branches of tribes, or villages, both at periodical
festivals and on extraordinary occasions. The periodical
sacrifices were generally so arranged by tribes and divisions
of tribes that each head of a family was enabled, at least
once a year, to procure a shred of flesh for his fields, generally
about the time when his chief crop was laid down. The
mode of performing these tribal sacrifices was as follows.
Ten or twelve days before the sacrifice, the victim was
devoted by cutting off his hair, which, until then, had been
kept unshorn. Crowds of men and women assembled to
witness the sacrifice ; none might be excluded, since the
sacrifice was declared to be for all mankind. It was pre-
ceded by several days of wild revelry and gross debauchery.
On the day before the sacrifice the victim, dressed in a
new garment, was led forth from the village in solemn
procession, with music and dancing, to the Meriah grove,
a clump of high forest trees standing a little way from
the village and untouched by the axe. Here they tied
him to a post, which was sometimes placed between two
plants of the sankissar shrub. He was then anointed with
oil, ghee and turmeric, and adorned with flowers ; and
' a species of reverence, which it is not easy to distinguish
from adoration,' was paid to him throughout the day. A
great struggle now arose to obtain the smallest relic from
his person ; a particle of the turmeric paste with which
he was smeared, or a drop of his spittle, was esteemed of
sovereign virtue, especially by the women. The crowd
danced round the post to music, and addressing the Earth
said, ' O God, we offer this sacrifice to you ; give us good
crops, seasons, and health.'
" On the last morning the orgies, which had been
scarcely interrupted during the night, were resumed and
476 KHOND part
coutinued till noon, when they ceased, and the assembly
proceeded to consummate the sacrifice. The victim was
a^ain anointed with oil, and each person touched the
anointed part, and wiped the oil on his own head. In
some places they took the victim in procession round
the village, from door to door, where some plucked hair from
his head, and others begged for a drop of his spittle, with
which they anointed their heads. As the victim might not
be bound nor make any show of resistance, the bones of his
arms and, if necessary, his legs were broken ; but often this
precaution was rendered unnecessary by stupefying him with
opium. The mode of putting him to death varied in different
places. One of the commonest modes seems to have been
strangulation, or squeezing to death. The branch of a green
tree was cleft several feet down the middle ; the victim's
neck (in other places, his chest) was inserted in the cleft,
which the priest, aided by his assistants, strove with all
his force to close. Then he wounded the victim slightly
with his axe, whereupon the crowd rushed at the wretch
and cut the flesh from the bones, leaving the head and
bowels untouched. Sometimes he was cut up alive. In
Chinna Kimedy he was dragged along the fields, surrounded
by the crowd, who, avoiding his head and intestines, hacked
the flesh from his body with their knives till he died.
Another very common mode of sacrifice in the same district
was to fasten the victim to the proboscis of a wooden elephant,
which revolved on a stout post, and, as it whirled round,
the crowd cut the flesh from the victim while life remained.
In some villages Major Campbell found as many as fourteen
of these wooden elephants, which had been used at sacrifices.1
In one district the victim was put to death slowly by fire.
A low stage was formed, sloping on either side like a roof ;
upon it they laid the victim, his limbs wound round with
cords to confine his struggles. Fires were then lighted and
hot brands applied, to make him roll up and down the
1 Sir H. Risley notes that the ele- victim was bound bore the effigy of a
phant represented the earth - goddess peacock. Macpherson also records
herself, who was here conceived in that when the Khonds attacked the
elephant form. In the hill tracts of victim they shouted, ' No sin rests
Gumsur she was represented in pea- on us ; we have bought you with a
cock form, and the post to which the price.'
:i HUMAN SACRIFICE 477
slopes of the stage as long as possible ; for the more tears he
shed the more abundant would be the supply of rain. Next
day the body was cut to pieces.
" The flesh cut from the victim was instantly taken home
by the persons who had been deputed by each village to
bring it. To secure its rapid arrival it was sometimes
forwarded by relays of men, and conveyed with postal
fleetness fifty or sixty miles. In each village all who
stayed at home fasted rigidly until the flesh arrived. The
bearer deposited it in the place of public assembly, where
it was received by the priest and the heads of families.
The priest divided it into two portions, one of which
he offered to the Earth-Goddess by burying it in a hole
in the ground with his back turned, and without looking.
Then each man added a little earth to bury it, and the
priest poured water on the spot from a hill gourd. The
other portion of flesh he divided into as many shares as
there were heads of houses present. Each head of a house
rolled his shred of flesh in leaves and buried it in his favourite
field, placing it in the earth behind his back without looking.
In some places each man carried his portion of flesh to the
stream which watered his fields, and there hung it on a
pole. For three days thereafter no house was swept ; and,
in one district, strict silence was observed, no fire might be
given out, no wood cut, and no strangers received. The
remains of the human victim (namely, the head, bowels and
bones) were watched by strong parties the night after the
sacrifice, and next morning they were burned along with a
whole sheep, on a funeral pile. The ashes were scattered
over the fields, laid as paste over the houses and granaries,
or mixed with the new corn to preserve it from insects.
Sometimes, however, the head and bones were buried, not
burnt. After the suppression of the human sacrifices, inferior
victims were substituted in some places ; for instance, in
the capital of Chinna Kimedy a goat took the place of a
human victim.
" In these Khond sacrifices the Meriahs are represented
by our authorities as victims offered to propitiate the Earth-
Goddess. But from the treatment of the victims both
before and after death it appears that the custom cannot
478 KHOND part
be explained as merely a propitiatory sacrifice. A part
of the flesh certainly was offered to the Earth-Goddess,
but the rest of the flesh was buried by each householder in
his fields, and the ashes of the other parts of the body were
scattered over the fields, laid as paste on the granaries, or
mixed with the new corn. These latter customs imply that
to the body of the Meriah there was ascribed a direct or
intrinsic power of making the crops to grow, quite inde-
pendent of the indirect efficacy which it might have as an
offering to secure the good -will of the deity. In other
words, the flesh and ashes of the victim were believed to be
endowed with a magical or physical power of fertilising the
land. The same intrinsic power was ascribed to the blood
and tears of the Meriah, his blood causing the redness of
the turmeric, and his tears producing rain ; for it can
hardly be doubted that, originally at least, the tears were
supposed to bring down the rain, not merely to prognosticate
it. Similarly the custom of pouring water on the buried
flesh of the Meriah was no doubt a rain -charm. Again,
magical power as an attribute of the Meriah appears
in the sovereign virtue believed to reside in anything
that came from his person, as his hair or spittle. The
ascription of such power to the Meriah indicates that he
was much more than a mere man sacrificed to propitiate a
deity. Once more, the extreme reverence paid him points
to the same conclusion. Major Campbell speaks of the
Meriah as ' being regarded as something more than mortal,'
and Major Macpherson says : ' A species of reverence, which
it is not easy to distinguish from adoration, is paid to him.'
In short, the Meriah appears to have been regarded as
divine. As such, he may originally have represented the
Earth-Goddess, or perhaps a deity of vegetation, though in
later times he came to be regarded rather as a victim offered
to a deity than as himself an incarnate god. This later view
of the Meriah as a victim rather than a divinity may perhaps
have received undue emphasis from the European writers
who have described the Khond religion. Habituated to the
later idea of sacrifice as an offering made to a god for the
purpose of conciliating his favour, European observers are
apt to interpret all religious slaughter in this sense, and to
ii LAST HUMAN SACRIFICES 479
suppose that wherever such slaughter takes place, there must
necessarily be a deity to whom the carnage is believed by
the slayers to be acceptable. Thus their preconceived ideas
unconsciously colour and warp their descriptions of savage
rites." 1
In his Ethnographic Notes in Southern India Mr. 13. Last
Thurston states:2 "The last recorded Meriah sacrifice in '"
sail
the Ganjam Maliahs occurred in 1852, and there are still
Khonds alive who were present at it. Twenty-five descend-
ants of persons who were reserved for sacrifice, but were
rescued by Government officers, returned themselves as
Meriah at the Census of 1901. The Khonds have now sub-
stituted a buffalo for a human being. The animal is hewn
to pieces while alive, and the villagers rush home to their
villages to bury the flesh in the soil, and so secure prosperous
crops. The sacrifice is not unaccompanied by risk to the
performers, as the buffalo, before dying, frequently kills one or
more of its tormentors. It was stated by the officers of the
Maliah Agency that there was reason to believe that the Raja
of Jaipur (Madras), when he was installed at his father's
decease in 1860-61, sacrificed a girl thirteen years of age at
the shrine of the Goddess Durga in the town of Jaipur. The
last attempted human sacrifice (which was nearly successful)
in the Vizagapatam District, among the Kutia Khonds, was,
I believe, in 1880. But the memory of the abandoned
practice is kept green by one of the Khond songs, for a
translation of which we are indebted to Mr. J. E. Friend-
Pereira : 3
At the time of the great Kiabon (Campbell) Sahib's coming, the country
was in darkness ; it was enveloped in mist.
Having sent paiks to collect the people of the land, they, having
surrounded them, caught the Meriah sacrificers.
Having caught the Meriah sacrificers, they brought them ; and again
they went and seized the evil councillors.
Having seen the chains and shackles, the people were afraid ; murder
and bloodshed were quelled.
Then the land became beautiful ; and a certain Mokodella (Macpherson)
Sahib came.
He destroyed the lairs of the tigers and bears in the hills and rocks, and
taught wisdom to the people.
1 Golden Bough, 2nd ed. vol. ii. 2 Pages 517-519. Published 1906.
P- 241 sq. ■'■Journal, A. S. of Bengal, 189S.
480 KHOND part
After the lapse of a month he built bungalows and schools ; and he
advised them to learn reading and law.
They learnt wisdom and reading ; they acquired silver and gold. Then
all the people became wealthy.
14. Khond In 1882 an armed rising of the Khonds of the Kala-
r™§ in handi State occurred as a result of agrarian trouble. The
Feudatory Chief had encouraged the settlement in the State
of members of the Kolta caste who are excellent cultivators
and keenly acquisitive of land. They soon got the Khonds
heavily indebted to them for loans of food and seed-grain,
and began to oust them from their villages. The Khonds,
recognising with some justice that this process was likely to
end in their total expropriation from the soil, concerted a
conspiracy, and in May 1882 rose and murdered the Koltas
of a number of villages. The signal for the outbreak was
given by passing a knotted string from village to village ;
other signals were a bent arrow and a branch of a mahua
tree. When the Khond leaders were assembled an axe was
thrown on to the ground and each of them grasping it in
turn swore to join in the rising and support his fellows. The
taint of cruelty in the tribe is shown by the fact that the
Kutia Khonds, on being requested to join in the rising, replied
that if plunder was the only object they would not do so,
but if the Koltas were to be murdered they agreed. Some
of the murdered Koltas were anointed with turmeric and
offered at temples, the Khonds calling them their goats, and
in one case a Kolta is believed to have been made a Meriah
sacrifice to the earth god. The Khonds appeared before
the police, who were protecting a body of refugees at the
village of Norla, with the hair and scalps of their murdered
victims tied to their bows. To the Political Officer, who was
sent to suppress the rising, the Khonds complained that the
Koltas had degraded them from the position of lords of the
soil to that of servants, and justified their plundering of the
Koltas on the ground that they were merely taking back the
produce of their own land, which the Koltas had stolen from
them. They said that if they were not to have back their
land Government might either drive them out of the country
or exterminate them, and that Koltas and Khonds could no
more live together than tigers and goats. Another grievance
ii KIR 481
was that a new Raja of Kalahandi had been installed without
their consent having been obtained. The Political Officer,
Mr. Berry, hanged seven of the Khond ringleaders and effected
a settlement of their grievances. Peace was restored and
has not since been broken. At a later date in the same year,
1882, and independently of the rising, a Khond landholder
was convicted and executed for having offered a five-year- .
old girl as a Meriah sacrifice.
The Khond or Kandh language, called Kui by the 15. Lang-
Khonds themselves, is spoken by rather more than half of uage'
the total body of the tribe. It is much more nearly related
to Telugu than is Gondi and has no written character.1
Kir.2 — A cultivating caste found principally in the 1. Origin
Hoshangabad District. They numbered about 7000 persons Virions
in 191 1. The Kirs claim to have come from the Jaipur
State, and this is borne out by the fact that they still
retain a dialect of Marwari, though they have been living
among the Hindi-speaking population of Hoshangabad for
several generations. According to their traditions they im-
migrated into the Central Provinces when Raja Man was
ruling at Jaipur. He was a contemporary of Akbar's and
died in A.D. 161 5. 3 This story tallies with Colonel Sleeman's
statement that the first important influx of Hindus into the
Nerbudda valley took place in the time of Akbar.4 The Kirs
are akin to the Kirars, and at the India Census of 1901
were amalgamated with them. Like the Kirars they claim
to be descended from the mythical Raja Karan of Jaipur.
Their story is that on a summer day Mahadeo and Parvati
created a melon-garden, and Mahadeo made a man and a
woman out of a piece of kusha grass (Eragrostis cynosuroides)
to tend the garden. From these the Kirs are descended.
The name may possibly be a corruption of karar, a river-bank.
The Kirs have no endogamous divisions. For the pur- 2. Mar-
pose of marriage the caste is divided into 12^ gotras or na§e'
sections. A man must not marry within his own gotra or in
1 Sir G. A. Grierson's Linguistic Revenue Inspector, Hoshangabad
Survey, Mitnda and Dravidian District.
Languages. 3 Tod's Rajasthdn, vol. ii. p. 327.
2 This article is compiled principally 4 Elliott's Hoshangabad Settlement
from a paper by Pandit Sakharam, Report, p. 60.
VOL. Ill 2 I
482 KIR PART
that to which his mother belonged. The names of the 12
gotras are as follows : Namchuria, Daima, Bania, Baman,
Nayar, Jat, Huwad, Gadri, Loharia, Hekdya, Mochi and
Mali, while the \\2M-g0tra contains the Bhats or genealogists
of the caste, who are not allowed to marry with the other
subdivisions and have now formed one of their own. Of the
■ twelve names of gotras at least seven — Baman (Brahman),
Bania, Mali, Mochi, Gadri (Gadaria), Loharia and Jat — are
derived from other castes, and this fact is sufficient to show
that the origin of the Kirs is occupational, and that they are
made up of recruits from different castes. Infant-marriage
is customary, but no penalty is incurred if a girl remains un-
married after puberty. Only the poorest members of the
caste, however, fail to marry their daughters at an early
age. For the marriage of girls who are left unprovided for, a
subscription is raised among the caste-fellows in accordance
with the usual Hindu practice, the giving of money for this
purpose being considered to be an especially pious act. At
the time of the betrothal a bride-price called chart, varying
between Rs. 14 and Rs. 20, is paid by the boy's father, and
the deed of betrothal, called lagan, is then drawn up in the
presence of the caste panchayat who are regaled with liquor
purchased out of the bride -price. A peculiarity of the
marriage ceremony is that the bridegroom is taken to the
bride's house riding on a buffalo. This custom is noteworthy,
since other Hindus will not usually ride on a buffalo, as being
the animal on which Yama, the god of death, rides. After
the marriage the bride returns to the bridegroom's house with
the wedding party and stays there for eight days, during
which period she worships the family gods of her father-in-
law's house. The cost of the marriage is usually Rs. 60 for
the boy's party and Rs. 40 for the girl's. But a widower on
his remarriage has to spend double this sum., The ceremonies
called Gauna and Rauna are both performed after the mar-
riage. The former generally takes place within a year, the
bride being dressed in special new clothes called ties, and
sent with ceremony to her husband's house on an auspicious
day fixed by a Brahman. She remains there for two months
and the marriage is consummated, when she returns to her
father's house. Four months afterwards the bridegroom
ii RELIGION 483
again goes to fetch her and takes her away permanently, this
being the Rauna ceremony. No social stigma attaches to
polygamy, and divorce is allowed on the usual grounds.
Widow -marriage is permitted, the ceremony consisting in
giving new clothes and ornaments to the widow and feeding
the Panch for a day.
The caste worships especially Bhairon and Devi, and 3: Reli-
each section of it reveres a special incarnation of Devi, and g
the Bhairon of some particular village. Thus, for instance,
the Namchurias worship the goddess Parvati and the
Bhairon of Jaria Gowara ; the Bania, Nayar, Hekdya and
Mochi septs worship Chamunda Mata and the Bhairon of
Jaipur, and so on. Members of the caste get triangular,
rectangular or round pieces of silver impressed with the
images of these gods, and wear them suspended by a thread
from their necks. A similar respect is paid to the Ahut or
the spirit of a relative who has met with a violent death or
died without progeny or as a bachelor, the spirits of such
persons being always prone to trouble their living relatives.
In order to appease them songs are sung in their praise on
important festivals, the members of the family staying awake
the whole night, and wearing their images on a silver piece
round the neck. When they eat and drink they first touch
the food with the image by way of offering it to the dead, so
that their spirits may be appeased and refrain from harassing
the living. Kirs revere and worship the cow and the plpal
tree. No Kir may sell a cow to a butcher. A man who is
about to die makes a present of a cow to a Brahman or a
temple in order that by catching hold of the tail of this cow
he may be able to cross the horrible river Vaitarni, the Styx
of Hinduism, which bars the passage to the nether regions.
The Kirs believe in magic, and some members of the caste
profess to cure snake-bite. The poison-curer, when sent for,
has a small space cleared and plastered with cowdung, on
which he draws lines with wheat flour. A new earthen
pot is then brought and placed over the drawing. On the
pot the operator draws a figure of Hanuman in vermilion,
and another figure on the nearest wall facing the pot. A
brass plate is put over the pot and the person who has been
bitten by the snake is brought near it The snake-charmer
484
KIR
4. Birth
and death
cere-
monies.
then begins to name various gods and goddesses and to play
upon the plate, which emits, it is said, a very melancholy
sound. This performance is called bharni and is supposed
to charm all beings, even gods and serpents. The snake
who has inflicted the bite is then believed to appear in an
invisible form to listen to the bharni, and to enter into the
sufferer. The sufferer is questioned, being supposed to be
possessed by the snake, and asked why the bite was inflicted
and how the snake can be appeased. The replies 'are
thought to be given by the snake, who explains that he
was trampled on, or something to that effect, and asks that
milk or some sweet-smelling article be placed at his hole.
The offering is promised, and the snake is asked not to kill
the sufferer, to which he agrees. The snake usually gives
the history of his former human birth, stating his name and
village and the cause of his transmigration into the body of
a serpent. The Kirs believe that human beings who commit
offences are re-born as snakes, and they think that snakes
live for a thousand years. After giving this information the
snake departs, and the person who has been bitten is sup-
posed to recover. The chief festivals of the Kirs are Diwali
and Sitala Athain. They worship their ancestors at Diwali,
making offerings of cooked food, kusha grass and lamps
made of dough at the river-side. The head of the family
sprinkles water and throws the kusha grass into the river,
lights the wicks placed in the lamps and burns a little food
in them, calling on the names of his ancestors. The rest of
the food he takes home and distributes to his caste-fellows.
Sitala Athain is observed on the seventh day of the dark fort-
night of Chait. Devi is worshipped at night with offerings
of milk and whey, and on the next day no food is cooked,
the remains of that of the previous day being eaten cold,
and the whole day is devoted to singing the praises of the
goddess.
The Kirs usually burn their dead, but children under
twelve are buried. The ashes and bones are either sent to the
Ganges or consigned to the nearest river or lake. Children
have only one name, which is given on the seventh day after
birth by a Brahman. During the birth ceremony the
husband's younger brother catches hold of the skirt of the
ii KIRAR 485
child's mother, who on this pays him a few pice and pulls
away her cloth. If this custom has any meaning it is
apparently in symbolical memory of polyandry, the women
bribing her husband's younger brother so that he may not
claim the child as his own.
The Kirs do not take food from any caste except the 5- Fo°d,
Dadharia Brahmans, who are Marwaris, and act as their occupation.
family priests. Brahmans and other high castes will drink
water brought in a brass vessel by a Kir. The Kirs eat no
meat except goats' flesh and fish, but are much addicted
to liquor, which is always conspicuous at their feasts and
festivals. They have a caste panchayat, which deals with
the ordinary offences. Temporary excommunication is
removed by the offender giving three feasts, on which an
amount varying with his social position and means must be
expended. The first of these is eaten on a river-bank, the
second in a garden, and the third, which confers complete
readmission to caste intercourse, in the offender's house.
The Kirs live along river-banks, where they grow melons
in the sand and castor and vegetables in alluvial soil. They
are considered very skilful at raising these crops, and fully
appreciate the use of manure. For their own consumption
they usually grow bdjra and arhar, being, like all Marwaris,
very fond of bdjra. The members of the caste are easily
distinguished by their dress, the men wearing a white mirzai
or short coat, a dhoti reaching to the knees, and a head-cloth
placed in a crooked position on the head, so as to leave the
hair of the scalp uncovered. They wear necklaces of black
wooden beads, besides the images of Bhairon and Devi.
The women wear Jaipur chunris or over-cloths and ghanghras
or skirts. They have red lac bangles on their wrists and
arms above the elbow, and ornaments called ramjhul on
their legs. The women have a gait like that of men. The
speech of the Kirs sounds like Marwari, and they are peculiar
in their preference for riding on buffaloes.
Kirar x or Kirad. — A cultivating caste found in the 1. origin
1 Compiled from papers by Mr. Manager, Court of Wards, Betul ; and traditions
Mulchand, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Kanhya Lai, clerk in the Gazetteer
Betul ; Mr. Shams-ul-Husain, Tahsil- Office,
dar, Sohagpur ; Mr. Kalyan Chand,
486
KIRAR
Narsinghpur, Hoshangabad, Betul, Seoni,,Chhindwara and
Nagpur Districts. They numbered 48,000 persons in 191 1.
The Kirars claim to be Dhakar or bastard Rajputs, and in
1 89 1 more than half of them returned themselves under this
designation. About a thousand persons who were returned
as Dhakar Rajputs from Hoshangabad in 1901 are prob-
ably Kirars. The caste say that they immigrated from
Gwalior, and this statement seems to be correct, as about
66,000 of them are found in that State. They claim to
have left Gwalior as early as Samvat 1525 or A.D. 1468,
when Alru and Dalru, the leaders of the migration into the
Central Provinces, abandoned their native village, Doderi
Kheda in Gwalior, and settled in Chandon, a village in the
Sohagpur tahsil of Hoshangabad. But according to the
story related to Mr. (Sir Charles) Elliott, the migration took
place in A.D. 1650 or at the beginning of Aurangzeb's
reign.1 He quotes the names of the leaders as Alrawat and
Dalrawat, and says that the migration took place from the
Dholpur country, but this is probably a mistake, as none
of the caste are now found in Dholpur. Elliott stated that
he could find no traces of any cultivating caste having
settled in Hoshangabad as far back as Akbar's time, though
Sir W. Sleeman was of opinion that the first great migra-
tion into the Nerbudda valley took place in that reign.
The truth is probably that the valley began to be regularly
colonised by Hindus during the years that Aurangzeb spent
at Burhanpur and in the Deccan, and the immigration of
the Kirars may most reasonably be attributed to this period.
The Kirars, Gujars, and Raghuvansis apparently entered
the Central Provinces together, and the fact that they still
smoke from the same huqqa and take water from each other's
drinking vessels may be a reminiscence of this bond of
fellowship. All these castes claim, and probably with truth,
to be degraded Rajputs. The Kirars' version is that they
took to widow -marriage and were consequently degraded.
According to another story they were driven from their
native place by a Muhammadan invasion. Mr. J. D.
Cunningham says that the word Kirar in Central India
literally means dalesmen or foresters, but during the lapse
1 Hoshangabad Settlement Report (1S67), p. 60.
ii MARRIAGE 487
of centuries has* become the name of a caste.1 Another
derivation is from Kirar, a corn-chandler, an occupation
which they may originally have followed in combination
with agriculture. In the Punjab the name Kirar appears
to be given to all the western or Punjabi traders as
distinct from a Bania of Hindustan, and is so used even in
the Kangra hills, but the Arora, who is the trader par
excellence of the south-west of the Punjab, is the person to
whom the term is most commonly applied.2 As a curiosity
of folk-etymology it may be stated that some derive the
caste-name from the fact that a holy sage's wife, who was
about to be delivered of a child, was being pursued by a
Rakshas or demon, and fell over the steep bank (kardr) of
a river and was thereupon delivered. The child was conse-
quently called Karar and became the ancestor of the Kirar
caste. The name may in fact be derived from the habit
which the Kirars have in some localities of cultivating on
the banks of rivers, like the Kirs, who are probably a branch
of the same caste.
In the Central Provinces the Kirars have no regular 2. Mar-
subcastes. In Chhindwara a subdivision is in course of nage'
formation from the illegitimate offspring of male Kirars,
who are known as Vidur or Saoneria. The Dhakar
Kirars do not marry or eat with Saonerias. The section-
names of the Kirars are not eponymous, as might be
anticipated from their claim to Rajput descent, but they
are generally territorial. Instances are Bankhedi, from
Bankhedi, a village in Hoshangabad ; Garhya, from Garha,
near Jubbulpore ; and Teharia, from Tehri, a State in
Bundelkhand. Other section -names are Chaudharia, from
Chaudhari, headman ; Khandait or swordsman, and Banda,
or tailless. Some gotras are derived from the names of
other castes or subcastes, or of Rajput septs, as Loharia,
from Lohar (blacksmith) ; Chauria, a subcaste of Kurmls ;
Lilorhia, a subcaste of Gujars ; and Solanki and Chauhan,
the names of Rajput septs. These names may probably be
taken to indicate the mixed origin of the caste, and record
the admission of families from other castes. A man cannot
1 History of the Sikhs, p. 15, footnote.
2 Ibbetsorfs Census Report (1881), p. 297.
488 K'/RAR part
marry in his own gotra nor in the families of his grand-
mother, paternal uncle or maternal aunt to three degrees of
consanguinity. Boys and girls are usually married between
the ages of five and twelve. Marriages take place so long
as the planet Venus or Shukra is visible at nights, i.e. between
the months of Aghan (November) and Asarh (June). The
proposal for marriage proceeds from the boy's father, who
ascertains the wishes of the girl's father through a barber.
If the latter is willing, the Sagai or betrothal ceremony is
performed at the girl's house. The boy's father proceeds
there with a rupee, two pice and a cocoanut-core, which he
presents to the girl, taking her into his lap. The fathers of
the boy and girl embrace, and this seals the compact of
betrothal. The date of the marriage is usually fixed in
consultation with a Brahman, who computes an auspicious
day from the ceremonial names of the couple. But if it is
desired to perform the marriage at once, it may take place
on Akhatlj, or the third day of the bright fortnight of Baisakh
(April-May), which is always auspicious. The lagan or
paper containing the date of the marriage is drawn up
ceremonially by a Brahman of the girl's house, and he also
writes another, giving the names of the relatives who are
selected to officiate at the ceremony. The first ceremony
at the marriage is that of Mangar Mati, or bringing earth
for ovens, the earth being worshipped by a burnt offering
of butter and sugar, and then dug up by the Sawasin or
girl's attendant for the marriage, and carried home by several
women in baskets. This is done in the morning, and in
the evening the boy and girl in their respective houses are
anointed with oil and turmeric, a little being first thrown
on the ground for the family gods. This ceremony is
repeated every evening for some three to fifteen days. The
mandwa or marriage-shed is then erected at both houses,
under which the ceremony of tel or touching the feet, knees,
shoulders and forehead of the boy and the girl with oil is
performed. Next day the kham or marriage-post is placed
in the mandwa, a little rice, turmeric and two pice being
put in the hole in which it is fixed, and the shed is covered
with leaves. The bridegroom, clad in a blanket and with
date-leaves tied on his head, is taken out for the binaiki or
ii MARRIAGE 489
the marriage procession on horseback. Before mounting,
he bows to Mata or Devi, Mahablr, Hardaul Lala, and Patel
Deo, the spirit of the deceased malguzar of the village.
He is taken round to the houses of friends and relatives,
who present him with a few pice. On his return he bathes
and puts on the marriage dress, which consists of a red or
yellow jama or gown, a pair of trousers, a pagrl, a maur
or marriage crown and a cloth about his waist. A few
women's ornaments are put on his neck, and he is furnished
with a katar or dagger, and in its absence a nutcracker or
knife. He then comes out of the house and the parchhan
ceremony is performed, the boy's mother putting her nipple
in his mouth and giving him a little ghi and sugar to eat as
a symbol of the termination of his infancy. The Barat or
marriage procession then sets out for the girl's village, being
met on its outskirts by the bride's father, and the forehead
of the bridegroom is marked with sandalwood paste. The
bridegroom touches the Mandwa with his hand or throws
a bamboo fan over it and returns with his followers to the
Janwasa or lodging given to the Barat. Next morning the
ceremony of Chadhao or decorating the bride is performed,
and the bridegroom's party give her the clothes and orna-
ments which they have brought for her, these being first
offered to an image of Ganesh made of cowdung. The
bride is then mounted on a horse provided by the bride-
groom's party and goes round to the houses of the friends
of the family, accompanied by music and the women of her
party, and receives small presents. The Bhanwar ceremony
is performed during the night, the couple being seated near
the marriage-post with their backs to the house. A ball of
kneaded flour is put in the girl's right hand, which is then
placed on the right hand of the bridegroom, and the bride's
brother pours water over their hands. The bride's maternal
uncle and aunt, with the skirts of their clothes tied together,
step forward and wash the feet of the couple and give them
presents. The other relatives follow suit, and this completes
the ceremony of Paon Pakhurai or Daija, that is giving the
dowry. The couple then go round the marriage-post seven
times, the girl leading for the first four rounds and the boy
for the last three. This is the Blianzvar ceremony or binding
49Q
KIRAR
portion of the marriage, and the polar star is called on
to make it inviolable. The bridegroom's party are then
feasted, the women meantime singing obscene songs. The
bride goes back to the bridegroom's house and stays there
for a few days, after which she returns to her parents' house
and does not leave it again until the gauna ceremony is
performed. On this occasion the bridegroom's party go to
the girl's house with a present of sweets and clothes which
they present to her parents, and they then take away the
girl. Even after this she is again sent back to her parents'
house, and the bridegroom comes a second time to fetch
her, on which occasion the parents of the bride have to make
a present in return for the sweets and clothes previously
given to them. The marriage expenses are said to average
between Rs. 50 and Rs. 100, but the extravagance of Kirars
is notorious. Sir R. Craddock says : that they are much
given to display, the richer members of the caste being
heavily weighted with jewellery, while a well-to-do Kirar
will think nothing of spending Rs. 1000 on his house, or
if he is a landowner Rs. 5000. Extravagance ruins a great
many of the Kirar community. This statement, however,
perhaps applies to those of the Nagpur District rather than
to their comrades of the Nerbudda valley and Satpura
highlands. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and
the widow may marry either her husband's younger brother
or any other member of the caste at her choice. The
ceremony takes place at night, the woman being brought
to her husband's house by the back door and given a new
cloth and bangles. Turmeric is then applied to her body,
and the clothes of the couple are tied together. When a
bachelor marries a widow, he must first be married to an
akau plant (swallow-wort). Divorce may be effected for
infidelity on the part of the wife or for serious disagreement.
A divorced woman may marry again. Polygamy is allowed,
and in Chhindwara is said to be restricted to three wives,
all living within the District, but elsewhere no such limita-
tion is enforced. A man seldom, however, takes more than
one wife, except for the sake of children.
3. Reii- They worship the ordinary Hindu gods and especially
gion.
1 Nagpur Settlement Report, p. 24.
ii RELIGION 491
Devi, to whom they offer female kids. During the months
of Baisakh and Jeth (April-June) those living in Betul and
Chhindwara make a pilgrimage to the Nag Deo or cobra
god, who is supposed to have his seat somewhere on the
border of the two Districts. Every third year they also
take their cattle outside the village, and turning their faces
in the direction of .the Nag Deo sprinkle a little water and
kill goats and fowls. They worship the Patel Deo or spirit
of the deceased malguzar of the village only on the occasion
of marriages. They consider the service of the village head-
man to be their traditional occupation besides agriculture,
and they therefore probably pay this special compliment to
the spirit of their employer. They worship their implements
of husbandry on some convenient day, which must be a
Wednesday or a Sunday, after they have sown the spring
crops. Those who grow sugarcane offer a goat or a cocoa-
nut to the crop before it is cut, and a similar offering is
made to the stock of grain after harvest, so that its bulk
may not decrease. They observe the ordinary festivals, and
like other Hindus cease to observe one on which a death
has occurred in the family, until some happy event such as
the birth of a child, or even of a calf, supervenes on the
same day. Unmarried children under seven and persons
dying of smallpox, snake-bite or cholera are buried, and
others are either buried or burnt according to the con-
venience of the family. Males are placed on the pyre or
in the grave on their faces and females on their backs, with
their feet pointing to the south in each case. In some
places the corpse is buried stark naked, and in others with
a piece of cloth wrapped round it, and two pice are usually
placed in the grave to buy the site. When a corpse is burnt
the head is touched with a bamboo before it is laid on the
funeral pyre, by way of breaking it in and allowing the
soul to escape if it has not already done so. For three
days the mourners place food, water and tobacco in cups
for the disembodied soul. Mourning is observed for children
for three days and for adults from seven to ten days.
During this period the mourners refrain from luxurious
food such as flesh, turmeric, vegetables, milk and sweets ;
they do not wear shoes, nor change their clothes, and males
492 KIRAR part
are not shaved until the last day of mourning. Balls of
rice are then offered to the dead, and the caste people are
feasted. Oblations of water are offered to ancestors in the
month of Kunwar (September-October).
4. Social The caste do not admit outsiders. In the matter of food
customs. tjiey eat flesh ancj fish} but abstain from liquor and from
eating fowls, except in the Maratha country. They will take
pakka food or that cooked without water from Gujars,
Raghuvansis and Lodhis. In the Nagpur country, where
the difference between katcha and pakka food is not usually
observed, they will not take it from any but Maratha Brah-
mans. Ahlrs and Dhlmars are said to eat with them, and the
northern Brahmans will take water from them. They have a
caste paneMy at or committee with a hereditary president called
Sethia, whose business it is to eat first when admitting a
person who has been put out of caste. Killing a cat or a
squirrel, selling a cow to a butcher, growing hemp or selling
shoes are offences which entail temporary excommunication
from caste. A woman who commits adultery with a man of
another caste is permanently excluded. The Kirars are tall
in stature and well and stoutly built. They have regular
features and are generally of a fair colour. They are regarded
as quarrelsome and untruthful, and as tyrannical landlords.
As agriculturists they are supposed to be of encroaching
tendencies, and the proverbial prayer attributed to them is, "O
God, give me two bullocks, and I shall plough up the common
way." Another proverb quoted in Mr. Standen's Beiiil Settle-
ment Report, in illustration of their avarice, is " If you put a
rupee between two Kirars, they become like mast buffaloes
in Kunwar." The men always wear turbans, while the women
may be distinguished in the Maratha country by their ad-
herence to the dress of the northern Districts. Girls are
tattooed on the back of their hands before they begin to live
with their husbands. A woman may not name her husband's
elder brother or even touch his clothes or the vessels in
which he has eaten food. They are not distinguished for
cleanliness.
5. Occupa- Agriculture and the service of the village headman are
the traditional occupations of Kirars. In Nagpur they are
considered to be very good cultivators, but they have no
tion.
ii KOHLI 493
special reputation in the northern Districts. About a
thousand of them are landowners, and the large majority are
tenants. They grow garden crops and sugarcane, but abstain
from the cultivation of hemp.
Kohli. — A small caste of cultivators found in the i, General
Marathi-speaking tracts of the Wainganga Valley, comprised
in the Bhandara and Chanda Districts. They numbered
about 26,000 persons in 191 1. The Kohlis are a notable
caste as being the builders of the great irrigation reservoirs
or tanks, for which the Wainganga Valley is celebrated.
The water is used for irrigating rice and sugarcane, the
latter being the favourite crop of the Kohlis. The origin
of the caste is somewhat doubtful. The name closely
resembles that of the Koiri caste of market-gardeners in
northern India ; and the terms Kohiri and Kohli are used
there as variations of the caste name Koiri. The caste
themselves have a tradition that they were brought to Bhan-
dara from Benares by one of the Gond kings of Chanda on
his return from a visit to that place;1 and the Kohlis
of Bhandara say that their first settlement in the Central
Provinces was at Lanji, which lies north of Bhandara in
Balaghat. But on the other hand all that is known of their
language, customs, and sept or family names points to a
purely Maratha origin, the caste being in all these respects
closely analogous to the Kunbis. The Settlement Officer
of Chanda, Colonel Lucie Smith, stated that they thought
their forefathers came from the south. They tie their
head-cloths in a similar fashion to the Gandlis, who are
oilmen from the Telugu country. If they belonged to the
south of India they might be an offshoot from the well-
known Koli tribe of Bombay, and this hypothesis appears
the more probable. As a general rule castes from northern
India settling in the Maratha country have not completely
abandoned their ancestral language and customs even after
a residence of several centuries. In the case of such castes
as the Panwars and Bhoyars their foreign extraction can be
detected at once ; and if the Kohlis had come from Hin-
dustan the rule would probably hold good with them. On
1 Mr. Lawrence's Bhandara Settlement Report (1867), p. 46.
494
KOHLI
the other hand the Kolis have in some parts of Bombay now
taken to cultivation and closely resemble the Kunbis. In
Satara it is said l that they associate and occasionally
eat with Kunbis, and their social and religious customs
resemble those of the Kunbi caste. They are quiet, orderly^
settled and hard-working. Besides fishing they work ferries
along the Krishna, are employed in villages as water-
carriers, and grow melons in river-beds with much skill.
The Kolis of Bombay are presumably the same tribe as
the Kols of Chota Nagpur, and they probably migrated to
Gujarat along the Vindhyan plateau, where they are found
in considerable numbers, and over the hills of Rajputana and
Central India. The Kols are one of the most adaptive of
all the non-Aryan tribes, and when they reached the sea they
may have become fishermen and boatmen, and practised these
callings also in rivers. From plying on rivers they might take
to cultivating melons and garden-crops on the stretches of
silt left uncovered in their beds in the dry season, which
is the common custom of the boating and fishing castes.
And from this, as seen in Satara, some of them attained
to regular cultivation and, modelling themselves on the
Kunbis, came to have nearly the same status. They may
thus have migrated to Chanda and Bhandara with the
Kunbis, as their language and customs would indicate,
and retaining their preference for irrigated and garden-
crops have become expert growers of sugarcane. The
description which has been received of the Kohlis of
Bhandara would be rather favourable than otherwise to the
hypothesis of their ultimate origin from the Kol tribe,
allowing for their having acquired the Maratha language and
customs from a lengthened residence in Bombay. It has
been mentioned above that the Kohlis have a legend of
their ancestors having come from Benares, but this story
appears to be not infrequently devised as a means of
obtaining increased social estimation, Benares being the
principal centre of orthodox Hinduism. Thus the Dangris,
a small caste of vegetable- and melon-growers who are
certainly an offshoot of the Kunbis, and therefore of Maratha
extraction, have the same story. As regards the tradition
1 Bombay Gazetteer, Satara, p. 106.
ii MARRIAGE AND OTHER CUSTOMS 495
of the Bhandara Kohlis that their first settlement was at
Lanji, this may well have been the case even though they
came from the south, as Lanji was an important place and
a centre of administration under the Marathas. It is prob-
able, however, that they first came to Chanda and from
here spread north to Lanji, as, if they had entered Bhandara
through Wardha and Nagpur, some of them would probably
have remained in these Districts.
The Kohlis have no subcastes. They are divided into the 2. Mar-
usual exogamous groups or septs with the object of preventing n^ge and
marriages between relations, and these have Marathi names customs.
of the territorial or titular type. Among them may be men-
tioned Handifode (one who breaks a cooking vessel), Sahre
(from shahar, a town), Nagpure (from Nagpur), Shende (from
skend, cowdung), Parwate (from parwat, mountain), Hatwade
(an obstinate man), Mungus - mare (one who killed a
mongoose), Pustode (one who broke a bullock's tail), and so
on. Marriage within the sept is prohibited. A brother's
daughter may be married to his sister's son, but not vice versa.
Girls are usually wedded before arriving at adolescence,
more especially as there is a great demand for brides. Like
other castes engaged in spade cultivation, the Kohlis marry
two or more wives when they can afford it, a wife being a
more willing servant than a hired labourer, apart from the
other advantages. If his wives do not get on together, the
Kohli gives them separate huts in his courtyard, where each
lives and cooks her meals for herself. He will also allot
them separate tasks, assigning to one the care of his house-
hold affairs, to another the watching of his sugarcane plot,
and so on. If he does this successfully the wives are kept
well at work and have not time to quarrel. It is said that
whenever a Kohli has a bountiful harvest he looks out for
another wife. This naturally leads to a scarcity of women
and the payment of a substantial bride-price. The recog-
nised amount is Rs. 30, but this is only formal, and from
Rs. 50 to Rs. 150 may be given according to the attractions
of the girl, the largest sum being paid for a woman of
full age who can go and live with her husband at once. As
a consequence of this state of things poor men are some-
times unable to get wives at all. Though they pay highly
496 KOHLI part
for their wives the Kohlis are averse to extravagant
expenditure on weddings, and all marriages in a village
are generally celebrated on the same day once a year,
the number of guests at each being thus necessarily
restricted. The officiating Brahman ascends the roof
of a house and, after beating a brass dish to warn the
parties, repeats the marriage texts as the sun goes down.
At this moment all the couples place garlands of flowers on
each other's shoulders, each bridegroom ties the mangal-
sutram or necklace of black beads round his bride's neck,
and the weddings are completed. The bride's brother
winds a thread round the marriage crowns of the couple
and is given two rupees for untying it. The services
of a Brahman are not indispensable, and an elder
of the caste may officiate as priest. Next day the barber
and washerman take the bridegroom and bride in their
arms and dance, holding them, to the accompaniment
of music, while the women throw red rose - powder over
the couple. At their weddings the Kohlis make models in
wood of a Chamar's rampi or knife and kJiurpa or scraper,
this custom perhaps indicating some connection with the
Chamars ; or it may have arisen simply on account of the
important assistance rendered by the Chamar to the cultiva-
tion of sugarcane, in supplying the mot or leather bag for
raising water from the well. After the wedding is over a
string of hemp from a cot is tied round the necks of the pair,
and their maternal uncles then run and offer it at the shrine
of Marai Mata, the goddess of cholera. Widows with any
remains of youth or personal attractions always marry again,
the ceremony being held at midnight according to the
customary ritual of the Maratha Districts.1 Sometimes the
husband does not attend at all, and the widow is united
to a sword or dagger as representing him. Otherwise the
widow may be conducted to her new husband's house by
five other widows, and in this case they halt at a stream by
the way and the bangles and beads are broken from off her
neck and wrists. On account, perhaps, of the utility of their
wives, and the social temptations which beset them from
being continually abroad at work, the Kohlis are lenient to
1 See article on Kunbi.
n THE KOHLIS AS TANK-IWILDERS 497
conjugal offences, and a woman going wrong even with an
outsider will be taken back by her husband and only a
trifling punishment imposed by the caste. A Kohli can also
keep a woman of any other caste, except of those regarded
as impure, without incurring any censure. Divorce is very
seldom resorted to and involves severe penalties to both
parties. As among the Panwars, a wife retains any property
she may bring to her husband and her wedding gifts at
her own disposal, this separate portion being known as
kliamora. The caste burn their dead when they can afford
it, placing the head of the corpse to the north on the pyre.
The bodies of those who have died from cholera or small-
pox are buried. Like the Panwars it is the custom of the
Kohlis on bathing after a funeral to have a meal of cakes
and sugar on the river-bank, a practice which is looked down
on by orthodox Hindus. After a month or so the deceased
person is considered to be united to the ancestors, and when
he was the head of the family his successor is inducted to
the position by the presentation of a new head-cloth and
a silver bangle. The bereaved family are then formally
escorted to the weekly market and are considered to have
resumed their regular social relations. The Kohlis revere
the ordinary Hindu deities, and on the day of Dasahra they
worship their axe, sickle and ploughshare by washing them
and making an offering of rice, flowers and turmeric. The
axe is no doubt included because it serves to cut the wood
for fencing the sugarcane garden.
The Kohlis were the builders of the great tanks of the 3. The
Bhandara District. The most importantof these are Nawegaon Kohhs as
with an area of five square miles and a circumference of builders.
seventeen, and Seoni, over seven miles round, while smaller
tanks are counted by thousands. Though the largest are the
work of the Kohlis, many of the others have been constructed
by the Panwars of this tract, who have also much aptitude for
irrigation. Built as they were without technical engineering
knowledge, the tanks form an enduring monument to the
native ability and industry of these enterprising cultivators.
" Working," Mr. Danks remarks,1 " without instruments,
unable even to take a level, finding out their mistakes by the
1 Bhandara District Gazetteer, para. 90.
VOL. Ill 2 K
498 KOHLI part
destruction of the works they had built, ever repairing,
reconstructing, altering, they have raised in every village a
testimony to their wisdom, their industry and their persever-
ance." Although Nawegaon tank has a water area of
seven square miles, the combined length of the two artificial
embankments is only 760 yards, and this demonstrates the
great skill with which the site has been selected. At some
fc>
of the tanks men are stationed day and night during the
rainy season to see if the embankment is anywhere weakened
by the action of the water, and in that case to give the alarm
to the village by beating a drum. The Nawegaon tank is
said to have been built at the commencement of the
eighteenth century by one Kolu Patel Kohli. As might be
expected, Kolu Patel has been deified as Kolasur Deo, and
his shrine is on one of the peaks surrounding the tank.
Seven other peaks are known as the Sat Bahini or ' Seven
Sisters,' and it is said that these deities assisted Kolu in
building the tank, by coming and working on the embankment
at night when the labourers had left. Some whitish-yellow
stones on Kolasur's hill are said to be the baskets of the
Seven Sisters in which they carried earth. " The Kohli," Mr.
Napier states,1 " sacrifices all to his sugarcane, his one ambi-
tion and his one extravagance being to build a large reservoir
which will contain water for the irrigation of his sugarcane
during the long, hot months." Each rates the other according
to the size of his tank and the strength of its embankment.
Under the Gond kings a man who built a tank received a
grant of the fields lying below it either free of revenue or on
a very light assessment. Such grants were known as Tukm,
and were probably a considerable incentive to tank-building.
Unfortunately sugarcane, formerly a most profitable crop, has
been undersold by the canal- and tank-irrigated product of
northern India, and at present scarcely repays cultivation.
4. Agricul- The Kohli villages are managed on a somewhat patriarchal
system, and the dealings between proprietors and cultivators
are regulated by their own custom without much regard
to the rules imposed by Government. Mr. Napier says of
them : 2 " The Kohlis are very good landlords as a general
rule ; but in their dealings with their tenants and their
1 Bhandara Settlement Report. 2 Ibide?n.
ii GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 499
labourers follow their own customs, while the provisions
of the Tenancy Act often remain in abeyance. They admit
no tenant right in land capable of being irrigated for sugar-
cane, and change the tenants as they please ; and in many
villages a large number of the labourers are practically
serfs, being fed, clothed and married by their employers,
for whom they and their children work all their lives
without any fixed wages. These customs are acquiesced
in by all parties, and, so far as I could learn, there was no
discontent. They have a splendid caste discipline, and
their quarrels are settled expeditiously by their panchayats
or committees without reference to courts of law."
In appearance and character the Kohlis cannot be said to 5. General
show much trace of distinction. The men wear a short white character-
lStlCS.
bandi or coat, and a small head-cloth only three feet long.
This is often scarcely more than a handkerchief which tightly
covers the crown, and terminates in knots, inelegant and
cheap. The women wear glass bangles only on the left
hand and brass or silver ones on the right, no doubt because
glass ornaments would interfere with their work and get
broken. Their cloth is drawn over the left shoulder instead
of the right, a custom which they share with Gonds, Kape-
wars and Buruds. In appearance the caste are generally
dirty. They are ignorant themselves and do not care that
their children should be educated. Their custom of poly-
gamy leads to family quarrels and excessive subdivision of
property ; thus in one village, Ashti, the proprietary right is
divided into 192 shares. On this account they are seldom
well-to-do. Their countenances are of a somewhat inferior
type and generally dark in colour. In character they are
peaceful and amenable, and have the reputation of being
very respectful to Government officials, who as a conse-
quence look on them with favour. ' Their heart is good,' a
tahslldar 1 of the Bhandara District remarked. If a guest
comes to a Kohli, the host himself offers to wash his feet,
and if the guest be a Brahman, will insist on doing so.
They eat flesh and fowls, but abstain from liquor. In social
status they are on a level with the Malis and a little below
the regular cultivating castes.
1 Subordinate revenue officer.
KOL
[This article is based mainly on Colonel Dalton's classical description of
the Mundas and Hos in the Ethnology of Bengal and on Sir H. Risley's article
on Manda in The Tribes and Castes of Bengal. Extracts have also been made
from Mr. Sarat Chandra Roy's exhaustive account in The Mundas and their
Country (Calcutta, 1912). Information on the Mundas and Kols of the Central
Provinces has been collected by Mr. Hlra Lai in Raigarh and by the author
in Mandla, and a monograph has been furnished by Mr. B. C. Mazumdar,
Pleader, Sambalpur. It should be mentioned that most of the Kols of the
Central Provinces have abandoned the old tribal customs and religion described-
by Colonel Dalton, and are rapidly coming to resemble an ordinary low Hindu
caste.]
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1. General notice. Strength of 10. Marriage customs.
the Kols in India. 1 1 . Divorce and widow '-marriage.
2. Names of the tribe. 12. Religion.
3. Origin of the Kolarian tribes. 13. Witchcraft.
4. TheKolarians andDravidiatis. 14. Funeral rites.
5 . Date of the Dravidian immi- 1 5 . Inheritattce.
gration. 1 6. Physical appearance.
6. Strength of the Kols in the 17. Dances.
Ce7itral Provinces. 1 8. Social rules and offences.
7. Legend of origin. 19. The caste panchdyat.
8. Tribal subdivisions. 20. Names.
9. Tolemism. 21. Occupation.
22. Language.
1. General Kol, Munda, Ho. — A great tribe of Chota Nagpur,
notice. which has given its name to the Kolarian family of tribes
Strength of & J
the Kols and languages. A part of the District of Singhbhum near
m India. Chaibasa is named the Kolhan as being the special home
of the Larka Kols, but they are distributed all over Chota
Nagpur, whence they have spread to the United Provinces,
Central Provinces and Central India. It seems probable
also that the Koli tribe of Gujarat may be an offshoot of
the Kols, who migrated there by way of Central India. If
500
part ii NAMES OF THE TRIBE 501
the total of the Kols, Mundas and Hos or Larka Kols be
taken together they number about a million persons in
India. The real strength of the tribe is, however, much
greater than this. As shown in the article on that tribe,
the Santals are a branch of the Kols, who have broken off
from the parent stock and been given a separate designation
by the Hindus. They numbered two millions in 191 1.
The Bhumij (400,000) are also probably a section of the
tribe. Sir H. Risley l states that they are closely allied
to if not identical with the Mundas. In some localities
they intermarry with the Mundas and are known as Bhumij
Munda.2 If the Kolis also be taken as an offshoot of the
Kol tribe, a further addition of nearly three millions is made
to the tribes whose parentage can be traced to this stock.
There is little doubt also that other Kolarian tribes, as the
Kharias, Khairwars, Korwas and Korkus, whose tribal
languages closely approximate to Mundari, were originally
one with the Mundas, but have been separated for so long
a period that their direct connection can no longer be
proved. The disintegrating causes, which have split up
what was originally one into a number of distinct tribes,
are probably no more than distance and settlement in
different parts of the country, leading to cessation of inter-
marriage and social intercourse. The tribes have then
obtained some variation in the original name or been given
separate territorial or occupational designations by the
Hindus and their former identity has gradually been
forgotten.
" The word Kol is probably the Santali Mr, a man. 2. Names
This word is used under various forms, such as har, hdra, tribe
ho and koro by most Munda tribes in order to denote
themselves. The change of r to / is familiar and does not
give rise to any difficulty." 3 The word Korku is simply a
corruption of Kodaku, young men, and there is every prob-
ability that the Hindus, hearing the Kol tribe call themselves
hor or horo, may have corrupted the name to a form more
familiar to themselves. An alternative derivation from the
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. p. 400.
Bhumij. 3 Linguistic Survey, Munda and
2 The Mundas and their Country, Dravidian Languages, vol. vi. p. 7.
502
KOL
Sanskrit word kola, a pig, is improbable. But it is pos-
sible, as suggested by Sir G. Grierson, that after the name
had been given, its Sanskrit meaning of pig may have
added zest to its employment by the Hindus. The word
Munda, Sir H. Risley states, is the common term employed
by the Kols for the headman of a village, and has come into
general use as an honorific title, as the Santals call themselves
Manjhi, the Gonds Bhoi, and the Bhangis and other sweepers
Mehtar. Munda, like Mehtar, originally a title, has become a
popular alternative name for the caste. In Chota Nagpur
those Kols who have partly adopted Hinduism and become
to some degree civilised are commonly known as Munda,
while the name Ho or Larka Kol is reserved for the branch of
the tribe in Singhbhum who, as stated by Colonel Dalton,
" From their jealous isolation for so many years, their
independence, their long occupation of one territory, and
their contempt for all other classes that come in contact
with them, especially the Hindus, probably furnish the best
illustration, not of the Mundaris in their present state,
but of what, if left to themselves and permanently located,
they were likely to become. Even at the present day the
exclusiveness of the old Hos is remarkable. They will not
allow aliens to hold land near their villages ; and indeed
if it were left to them no strangers would be permitted to
settle in the Kolhan."
It is this branch of the tribe whose members have
come several times into contact with British troops, and
on account of their bravery and warlike disposition they
are called the Larka or fighting Kols. The Mundas on the
other hand appear now to be a very mixed group. The list
of their subcastes given 1 by Sir H. Risley includes the
Khangar, Kharia, Mahali, Oraon and Savar Mundas, all of
which are the names of separate tribes, now considered
as distinct, though with the exception of the Oraons they
were perhaps originally offshoots of the Kols or akin to them ;
while the Bhuinhar or landholders and Nagvansi or Mundas
of the royal house are apparently the aristocracy of the
original tribe. It would appear possible from the list of sub-
tribes already given that the village headmen of other tribes,
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Munda.
ii ORIGIN OF THE KOLARIAN TRIBES 503
having adopted the designation of Munda and intermarried
with other headmen so as to make a superior group, have
in some cases been admitted into the Munda tribe, which
may enjoy a higher rank than other tribes as the Raja of
Chota Nagpur belongs to it ; but it is also quite likely that
these groups may have simply arisen from the intermarriages
of Mundas with other tribes, alliances of this sort being
common. The Kols of the Central Provinces probably
belong to the Munda tribe of Chota Nagpur, and not to
the Hos or Larka Kols, as the latter would be less likely
to emigrate. But quite a separate set of subcastes is found
here, which will be given later.
The Munda languages have been shown by Sir G. 3- Origin
Grierson to have originated from the same source as those Koiarian
spoken in the Indo-Pacific islands and the Malay Peninsula. tribes-
" The Mundas, the Mon-Khmer, the wild tribes of the Malay
Peninsula and the Nicobarese all use forms of speech which
can be traced back to a common source though they
mutually differ widely from each other." x It would appear
therefore that the Mundas, the oldest known inhabitants
of India, perhaps came originally from the south-east, the
islands of the Indian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula,
unless India was their original home and these countries
were colonised from it.
Sir E. Gait states : " Geologists tell us that the Indian
Peninsula was formerly cut off from the north of Asia by
sea, while a land connection existed on the one side with
Madagascar and on the other with the Malay Archipelago ;
and though there is nothing to show that India was then
inhabited we know that it was so in palaeolithic times,
when communication was probably still easier with the
countries to the north-east and south-west than with those
beyond the Himalayas." 2 In the south of India, however,
no traces of Munda languages remain at present, and it
seems therefore necessary to conclude that the Mundas of
the Central Provinces and Chota Nagpur have been separated
from the tribes of Malaysia who speak cognate languages
for an indefinitely long period, or else that they did not
1 Tribes and Castes of Bengal, -p. 15.
2 Introduction to The Mundas and their Country, p. 9.
504 KOL PART
come through southern India to these countries, but by way
of Assam and Bengal or by sea through Orissa. There is
good reason to believe from the names of places and from
local tradition that the Munda tribes were once spread over
Bihar and parts of the Ganges valley ; and if the Kolis are
an offshoot of the Kols, as is supposed, they also penetrated
across Central India to the sea in Gujarat and the hills of
the Western Ghats. It is presumed that the advance of the
Aryans or Hindus drove the Mundas from the open country
to the seclusion of the hills and forests. The Munda
and Dravidian languages are shown by Sir G. Grierson
to be distinct groups without any real connection.
4. The Though the physical characteristics of the two sets of
and^Dravi- tribes display no marked points of difference, it has been
dians. generally held by ethnologists who know them that they
represent two distinct waves of immigration, and the absence
of connection between their languages bears out this view.
It has always been supposed that the Mundas were in the
country of Chota Nagpur and the Central Provinces first,
and that the Dravidians, the Gonds, Khonds and Oraons
came afterwards. The grounds for this view are the more
advanced culture of the Dravidians ; the fact that where
the two sets of tribes are in contact those of the Munda
group have been ousted from the more open and fertile
country, of which according to tradition they were formerly
in possession ; and the practice of the Gonds and other
Dravidian tribes of employing the Baigas, Bhuiyas and
other Munda tribes for their village priests, which is an
acknowledgment that the latter as the earlier residents have
a more familiar acquaintance with the local deities, and can
solicit their favour and protection with more prospect of
success. Such a belief is the more easily understood when
it is remembered that these deities are not infrequently
either the human ancestors of the earliest residents or the
local animals and plants from which they supposed them-
selves to be descended.
5. Date of The Dravidian languages, Gondi, Kurukh and Khond,
dian immi- are °f one family with Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and
gration. Canarese, and their home is the south of India. As stated l
1 Introduction to The Mundas and their Country, p. 9.
ii DATE OF THE DR A VIDIAN IMMIGRATION 505
by Sir E. Gait, there is at present no evidence to show that
the Dravidians came to southern India from any other part
of the world, and for anything that is known to the contrary
the languages may have originated there. The existence
of the small Brahui tribe in Baluchistan, who speak a
Dravidian language but have no physical resemblance to
other Dravidian races, cannot be satisfactorily explained,
but as he points out this is no reason for holding that the
whole body of speakers of Dravidian languages entered
India from the north-west, and, with the exception of this
small group of Brahuis, penetrated to the south of India and
settled there without leaving any traces of their passage.
The Dravidian languages occupy a large area in Madras,
Mysore and Hyderabad, and they extend north into the
Central Provinces and Chota Nagpur, where they die out,
practically not being found west and north of this tract.
As the languages are more highly developed and the
culture of their speakers is far more advanced in the south,
it is justifiable to suppose, pending evidence to the contrary,
that the south is their home and that they have spread
thence as far north as the Central Provinces. The Gonds
and Oraons too have stories to the effect that they came
from the south. It has hitherto been believed, at least in
the Central Provinces, that both the Gonds and Baigas have
been settled in this territory for an indefinite period, that is,
from prior to any Aryan or Hindu immigration. Mr. H.
A. Crump, however, has questioned this assumption. He
points out that the Baiga tribe have entirely lost their own
language and speak a dialect of Chhattlsgarhi Hindi in
Mandla, while half the Gonds still speak Gondi. If the
Baigas and Gonds were settled here together before, the
arrival of any Hindus, how is it that the Baigas do not
speak Gondi instead of Hindi ? A comparison of the caste
and language tables of the census of 1901 shows that
several of the Munda tribes have entirely lost their own
language, among these being the Binjhwar, Baiga, Bhaina,
Bhuiya, Bhumij, Chero and Khairwar, and the Bhlls and
Kolis if these are held to be Munda tribes. None of these
tribes have adopted a Dravidian language, but all speak
corrupt forms of the current Aryan vernaculars derived
506 KOL PART
from Sanskrit. The Mundas and Hos themselves with the
Kharias, Santals and Korkus retain Munda languages. On
the other hand a half of the Gonds, nearly all the Oraons
and three-fourths of the Khonds still preserve their own
Dravidian speech. It would therefore seem that the Munda
tribes who speak Aryan vernaculars must have been in close
contact with Hindu peoples at the time they lost their own
language and not with Gonds or Oraons. In the Central
Provinces it is known that Rajput dynasties were ruling in
Jubbulpore from the sixth to the twelfth century, in Seoni
about the sixth century and in Bhandak near Chanda from
an early period as well as at Ratanpur in Chhattlsgarh.
From about the twelfth century these disappear and there
is a blank till the fourteenth century or later, when Gond
kingdoms are found established at Kherla in Betul, at
Deogarh in Chhindwara, at Garha-Mandla 1 including the
Jubbulpore country, and at Chanda fourteen miles from
Bhandak. It seems clear then that the Hindu dynasties
were subverted by the Gonds after the Muhammadan
invasions of northern India had weakened or destroyed
the central powers of the Hindus and prevented any
assistance being afforded to the outlying settlements. But
it seems prima facie more likely that the Hindu kingdoms
of the Central Provinces should have been destroyed by an
'invasion of barbarians from without rather than by successful
risings of their own subjects once thoroughly subdued. The
Haihaya Rajput dynasty of Ratanpur was the only one
which survived, all the others being supplanted by Gond
states. If then the Gond incursion was subsequent to the
establishment of the old Hindu kingdoms, its probable date
may be placed from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries,
the subjugation of the greater part of the Province being
no doubt a gradual affair. In favour of this it may be
noted that some recollection still exists of the settlement of
the Oraons in Chota Nagpur being later than that of the
Mundas, while if it had taken place long before this time
all tradition of it would probably have been forgotten. In
Chhindwara the legend still remains that the founder of the
Deogarh Gond dynasty, Jatba, slew and supplanted the
1 Garha is six miles from Jubbulpore.
ii DATE OF THE DRA VIDIAN IMMIGRATION 507
Gaoli kings Ransur and Ghansur, who were previously
ruling on the plateau. And the Bastar Raj-Gond Rajas
have a story that they came from Warangal in the south
so late as the fourteenth century, accompanied by the
ancestors of some of the existing Bastar tribes. Jadu Rai,
the founder of the Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla,
is supposed to have lived near the Godavari. A large
section of the Gonds of the Central Provinces are known as
Rawanvansi or of the race of Rawan, the demon king of
Ceylon, who was conquered by Rama. The Oraons also
claim to be descended from Rawan.1 This name and story
must clearly have been given to the tribes by the Hindus,
and the explanation appears to be that the Hindus con-
sidered the Dravidian Gonds and Oraons to have been the
enemy encountered in the Aryan expedition to southern
India and Ceylon, which is dimly recorded in the legend of
Rama. On the other hand the Bhuiyas, a Munda tribe,
call themselves Pdwan-ka-put or Children of the Wind,
that is of the race of Hanuman, who was the Son of the
Wind ; and this name would appear to show, as suggested
by Colonel Dalton, that the Munda tribes gave assistance
to the Aryan expedition and accompanied it, an alliance
which has been preserved in the tale of the exploits of
Hanuman and his army of apes. Similarly the name of
the Ramosi caste of Berar is a corruption of Ramvansi
or of the race of Rama ; and the Ramosis appear to be an
offshoot of the Bhlls or Kolis, both of whom are not
improbably Munda tribes. A Hindu writer compared the
Bhll auxiliaries in the camp of the famous Chalukya Rajput
king Sidhraj of Gujarat to Hanuman and his apes, on
account of their agility.2 These instances seem to be in
favour of the idea that the Munda tribes assisted the
Aryans, and if this were the case it would appear to be a
legitimate inference that at the same period the Dravidian
tribes were still in southern India and not mixed up with
the Munda tribes in the Central Provinces and Chota
Nagpur as at present. Though the evidence is perhaps not
very strong, the hypothesis, as suggested by Mr. Crump,
1 The Mundas and their Country, p. 124.
2 Rasmala, i. p. 113.
508
KOL
of the Kols
in the
Central
Provinces
7. Legend
of origin.
that the settlement of the Gonds in the Central Provinces
is comparatively recent and subsequent to the early Rajput
dynasties, is well worth putting forward.
6. strength In the Central Provinces the Kols and Mundas numbered
85,000 persons in 191 1. The name Kol is in general
use except in the Chota Nagpur States, but it seems
probable that the Kols who have immigrated here really
belong to the Munda tribe of Chota Nagpur. About 52,000
Kols, or nearly a third of the total number, reside in the
Jubbulpore District, and the remainder are scattered over all
Districts and States of the Province.
The Kol legend of origin is that Sing-Bonga or the Sun
created a boy and a girl and put them together in a cave to
people the world ; but finding them to be too innocent to
give hope of progeny he instructed them in the art of
making rice-beer, which inflames the passions, and in course
of time they had twelve sons and twelve daughters. The
divine origin ascribed by the Kols, in common with other
peoples, to their favourite liquor may be noticed. The
children were divided into pairs, and Sing-Bonga set before
them various kinds of food to choose for their sustenance
before starting out into the world ; and the fate of their
descendants depended on their choice. Thus the first and
second pairs took the flesh of bullocks and buffaloes, and
from them are descended the Kols and Bhumij ; one pair
took shell-fish and became Bhuiyas, two pairs took pigs and
were the ancestors of the Santals, one pair took vegetables
only and originated the Brahman and Rajput castes, and
other pairs took goats and fish, from whom the various
Sudra castes are sprung. One pair got nothing, and seeing
this the Kol pair gave them of their superfluity and the
descendants of these became the Ghasias, who are menials
in Kol villages and supported by the cultivators. The
Larka Kols attribute their strength and fine physique to the
fact that they eat beef. When they first met English soldiers
in the beginning of the nineteenth century the Kols were
quickly impressed by their wonderful fighting powers, and
finding that the English too ate the flesh of bullocks, paid
them the high compliment of assigning to them the same
pair of ancestors as themselves. The Nagvansi Rajas of
ii TRIBAL SUBDIVISIONS 509
Chota Nagpur say that their original ancestor was a snake-
god who assumed human form and married a Brahman's
daughter. But, like Lohengrin, the condition of his remain-
ing a man was that he should not disclose his origin, and
when he was finally brought to satisfy the incessant curiosity
of his wife, he reverted to his first shape, and she burned
herself from remorse. Their child was found by some wood-
cutters lying in the forest beneath a cobra's extended hood,
and was brought up in their family. He subsequently
became king, and his seven elder brothers attended him as
banghy-bearers when he rode abroad. The Mundas are
said to be descended from the seven brothers, and their sign-
manual is a kawar or banghy.1 Hence the Rajas of Chota
Nagpur regard the Mundas as their elder brothers, and the
Ranis veil their faces when they meet a Munda as to a
husband's elder brother. The probable explanation of the
story is that the Hos or Mundas, from whom the kings are
sprung, were a separate section of the tribe who subdued the
older Mundas. In memory of their progenitor the Nagvansi
Rajas wear a turban folded to resemble the coils of a snake
with a projection over the brow for its head.2
The subcastes of the Kols in the Central Provinces 8. Tribal
differ entirely from those in Chota Nagpur. Of the im- s"b.\
J oi divisions.
portant subcastes here the Rautia and Rautele take their
name from Rawat, a prince, and appear to be a military or
landholding group. In Chota Nagpur the Rautias are a
separate caste, holding land. The Rautia Kols practise
hypergamy with the Rauteles, taking their daughters in
marriage but not giving daughters. They will eat with
Rauteles at wedding feasts only and not on any other
occasion. The Thakuria, from thakiir, a lord, are said to
be the progeny of Rajput fathers and Kol mothers ; and the
Kagwaria to be named from kagwdr, an offering made to
ancestors in the month of Kunwar. The Desaha, from desk,
native country, belong principally to Rewah. In some
localities Bharias, Savars and Khairwars are found who
call themselves Kols and appear to be included in the tribe.
The Bharias may be an offshoot of the Bhar tribe of
1 Two baskets slung from a stick 2 Dalton, Ethnology of Bengal \ p.
across the shoulders. 166.
5io
KOL
northern India. It has already been seen that several
groups of other tribes have been amalgamated with the
Mundas of Chota Nagpur, probably in a great measure from
intermarriage, and a similar fusion seems to have occurred
in the Central Provinces. Intermarriage between the
different subtribes, though nominally prohibited, not infre-
quently takes place, and a girl forming a liaison with a man
of another division may be married to him and received into
it. The Rautias, however, say that they forbid this practice.
9. Totem- The Mandla Kols have a number of totemistic septs.
ism. The Bargaiyan are really called after a village Bargaon, but
they connect their name with the bar or banyan tree, and
revere it. At their weddings a branch of this tree is laid on
the roof of the marriage-shed, and the wedding-cakes are
cooked in a fire made of the wood of the banyan tree and
served to all the relations of the sept on its leaves. At other
times they will not pluck a leaf or a branch from a banyan
tree or even go beneath its shade. The Kathotia sept is named
after kathota, a bowl, but they revere the tiger. Bagheshwar
Deo, the tiger-god, resides on a little platform in their
verandas. They may not join in a tiger-beat nor sit up
for a tiger over a kill. In the latter case they think that
the tiger would not come and would be deprived of his food,
and all the members of their family would get ill. If a tiger
takes one of their cattle, they think there has been some
neglect in their worship of him. They say that if one of
them meets a tiger in the forest he will fold his hands and
say, ' Maharaj, let me pass,' and the tiger will then get out
of his way. If a tiger is killed within the limits of his
village a Kathotia Kol will throw away his earthen pots as
in mourning for a relative, have his head shaved and feed a
few men of his sept. The Katharia sept take their name
from kathri, a mattress. A member of this sept must never
have a mattress in his house nor wear clothes sewn in cross-
pieces as mattresses are sewn. The word kathri should
never be mentioned before him as he thinks some great mis-
fortune would thereby happen to his family, but this belief is
falling into abeyance. The name of the Mudia or Mudrundia
sept is said to mean shaven head, but they apparently revere
the white kumhra or gourd, perhaps because it has some
ii MARRIAGE CUSTOMS 511
resemblance to a shaven head. They give a white gourd to
a woman on the third day after she has borne a child, and
her family then do not eat this vegetable for three years.
At the expiration of the period the head of the family offers
a chicken to Dulha Deo, frying it with the feathers left on
the head, and eating the head and feet himself. Women
may not join in this sacrifice. The Kumraya sept revere
the brown kumhra or gourd. They grow this vegetable on
the thatch of their house-roof, and from the time of planting
it until the fruits have been plucked they do not touch it.
The Bhuwar sept are named after bhu or bhumi, the earth.
They must always sleep on the earth and not on cots.
Other septs are Nathunia, a nose-ring ; Karpatia, a kind of
grass ; and Binjhwar, from the tribe of that name. From
Raigarh a separate group of septs is reported, the names of
which further demonstrate the mixed nature of the tribe.
Among these are Bandi, a slave ; Kawar, Gond, Dhanuhar,
Birjhia, all of which are the names of distinct tribes ;
Sonwani, gold-water ; Keriari, or bridle ; Khunta, a peg ; and
Kapat, a shutter.
Marriage within the sept is prohibited, but violations of 10. Mar-
this rule are not infrequent. Outside the sept a man mav nage
^ r j customs.
marry any woman except the sisters of his mother or step-
mother. Where, as in some localities, the septs have been
forgotten, marriage is forbidden between those relatives to
whom the sacramental cakes are distributed at a wedding.
Among the Mundas, before a father sets out to seek a bride
for his son, he invites three or four relatives, and at midnight
taking a bottle of liquor pours a little over the household
god as a libation and drinks the rest with them. They go
to the girl's village, and addressing her father say that they
have come to hunt. He asks them in what jungle they
wish to hunt, and they name the sarna or sacred grove in
which the bones of his ancestors are buried. If the girl's
father is satisfied with the match, he then agrees to it. A
bride-price of Rs. 10-8 is paid in the Central Provinces.
Among the Hos of Chota Nagpur so large a number of
cattle was formerly demanded in exchange for a bride that
many girls were never married. Afterwards it was reduced
to ten head of cattle, and it was decided that one pair of
5I2
KOL
bullocks, one cow and seven rupees should be equivalent to
ten head, while for poor families Rs. 7 was to be the whole
price.1 Among the Mundas of Raigarh the price is three
or four bullocks, but poor men may give Rs. 1 2 or Rs. 1 8
in substitution. Here weddings may only be held in the
three months of Aghan, Magh and Phagun,2 and preferably
in Magh. Their marriage ceremony is very simple, the
bridegroom simply smearing vermilion on the bride's fore-
head, after which water is poured over the heads of the pair.
Two pots of liquor are placed beside them during the
ceremony. It is also a good marriage if a girl of her own
accord goes and lives in a man's house and he shows his
acceptance by dabbing vermilion on her. But her offspring
are of inferior status to those of a regular marriage. The
Kols of Jubbulpore and Mandla have adopted the regular
Hindu ceremony.
11. Divorce 'Divorce and widow-marriage are permitted. In Rai-
and widow- ^ ^ wjcjow js bound to marry her deceased husband's
marriage. => J
younger brother, but not elsewhere. Among these Mundas,
if divorce is effected by mutual consent, the husband must
give his wife a pair of loin-cloths and provisions for six
months. Polygamy is seldom practised, as women can earn
their own living, and if a wife is superseded she will often
run away home or set up in a house by herself. In Mandla
a divorce can be obtained by either party, the person in
fault having to pay a fee of Rs. 1 -4 to the panchayat ; the
woman then breaks her bangles and the divorce is complete.
12. Reii- At the head of the Munda pantheon, Sir H. Risley
glon' states,3 stands Sing-Bonga or the sun, a beneficent but in-
effective deity who concerns himself but little with human
affairs. But he may be invoked to avert sickness or calamity,
and to this end sacrifices of white goats or white cocks are
offered to him. Next to him comes Marang Buru, the
mountain god, who resides on the summit of the most
prominent hill in the neighbourhood. Animals are sacrificed
to him here, and the heads left and appropriated by the
priest. He controls the rainfall, and is appealed to in time
of drought and when epidemic sickness is abroad. Other
1 Dalton, p. 152. 2 November, January and February.
3 Tribes and Castes, art. Munda.
ii WITCHCRAFT 513
deities preside over rivers, tanks, wells and springs, and it is
believed that when offended they cause people who bathe
in the water to be attacked by leprosy and skin diseases.
Even the low swampy rice-fields are haunted by separate
spirits. Deswali is the god of the village, and he lives with
his wife in the Sarna or sacred grove, a patch of the primeval
forest left intact to afford a refuge for the forest gods. Every
village has its own Deswali, who is held responsible for the
crops, and receives an offering of a buffalo at the agri-
cultural festival. The Jubbulpore Kols have entirely aban-
doned their tribal gods and now worship Hindu deities.
Devi is their favourite goddess, and they carry her iron
tridents about with them wherever they go. Twice in the
year, when the baskets of wheat or Gardens of Adonis are
sown in the name of Devi, she descends on some of her
worshippers, and they become possessed and pierce their
cheeks with the trident, sometimes leaving it in the face for
hours, with one or two men standing beside to support it.
When the trident is taken out a quid of betel is given to
the wounded man, and the part is believed to heal up at
once. These Kols also employ Brahmans for their cere-
monies. Before sowing their fields they say —
Thuiya, Bhuiya} DJiarti Mixta, Tliakur Deo, B/iainsa
Sur ; khilb paida kariye Maharaj ;
that is, they invoke Mother Earth, Thakur Deo, the corn-
god, and Bhainsasur, the buffalo demon, to give them good
crops ; and as they say this they throw a handful of grain
in the air in the name of each god.
".Among the Hos," Colonel Dalton states, " all disease 13. Witch-
in men or animals is attributed to one of two causes — the craft'
wrath of some evil spirit who has to be appeased, or the
spell of some witch or sorcerer who should be destroyed or
driven out of the land. In the latter case a sokJia or witch-
finder is employed to ascertain who has cast the spell, and
various methods of divination are resorted to. In former
times the person denounced and all his family were put to
death in the belief that witches breed witches and sorcerers.
The taint is in the blood. When, during the Mutiny,
1 Thuiya, Bhuiya is a mere jingle.
VOL. Ill 2 L
rites
/
514 KOL I PART
Singhbhum District was left for a short time without officers,
a terrible raid was made against all who had been suspected
for years of dealing with the evil one, and the most atrocious
murders were committed. Young men were told off for the
duty by the elders ; neither age nor sex were spared. When
order was restored, these crimes were brought to light, and
the actual perpetrators punished ; and since then we have
not only had no recurrence of witch murders, but the super-
stition itself is dying out in the Kolhan." Mr. H. C. Streat-
feild states that among the Mundas witches used to be hung
head downwards from a plpal tree over a slow fire, the
whole village dancing as they were gradually roasted, but
whether this ceremony was purely vindictive or had any
other significance there is nothing to show.1
14. Funeral The Hos of Chota Nagpur were accustomed to place
large slabs of stone as tombstones over their graves, and a
collection of these massive gravestones indelibly marks the
site of every Ho or Mundari village, being still found in
parts of the country where there have been no Kols for
ages. In addition to this slab, a megalithic monument is
set up to the deceased in some conspicuous spot outside
the village ; the pillars vary in height from five or six to
fifteen feet, and apparently fragments of rock of the most
fantastic shape are most favoured. All the clothes, orna-
ments and agricultural implements of the dead man were
buried with the body. The funeral rites were of a some-
what touching character :2 "When all is ready, a funeral party
collects in front of the deceased's house, three or four men
with very deep-toned drums, and a group of about eight
young girls. The chief mourner comes forth, carrying the
bones exposed on a decorated tray, and behind him the
girls form two rows, carrying empty or broken pitchers or
battered brass vessels, while the men with drums bring up
the rear. The procession advances with a ghostly dancim
movement, slow and solemn as a minuet, in time to the
beat of the deep -toned drums, not straight forward, but
mysteriously gliding — now right, now left, now marking time,
all in the same mournful cadence. In this manner the
remains are taken to the house of every friend and relative
1 J.A.S.B., No. 1 of 1903, p. 31. 2 Dallon, ibidem.
ii INHERITANCE 515
of the deceased within a circle of a few miles, and to every
house in the village. As the procession approaches each
house in the manner described, the inmates all come out,
and the tray having been placed on the ground at their
door, they kneel over it and mourn. The bones are also
thus conveyed to all his favourite haunts, the fields he
cultivated, the grove he planted, the tank he excavated, the
threshing-floor where he worked with his people, the Akhara
or dancing-arena where he made merry with them, and
each spot which is hallowed with reminiscences of the
deceased draws forth fresh tears." In Sambalpur * the dead
body of a Munda is washed in wine before interment, and a
mark of vermilion is made on the forehead. The mourners
drink wine sitting by the grave. They then bathe, and
catch a small fish and roast it on a fire, smearing their
hands with oil and warming them at the fire. It would
appear that this last rite is a purification of the hands after
contact with the dead body, but whether the fish is meant
to represent the deceased and the roasting of it is a sub-
stitute for the rite of cremation is not clear. During the
eight days of mourning the relatives abstain from flesh-meat,
but they eat fish. The Kols of Jubbulpore now bury or
burn the dead, and observe mourning exactly like ordinary
Hindus.
Succession among the Mundas passes to sons only. 15. inherit-
Failing these, the property goes to the father or brothers if
any. At partition the eldest son as a rule gets a slightly
larger share than the other sons, a piece of land, and in
well-to-do families a yoke of plough cattle, or only a bullock
or a goat, and sometimes a bundle of paddy weighing from
10 to 16 maunds.2 Partition cannot usually be made till
the youngest son is of age. Daughters get no share in the
inheritance, and are allotted among the sons just like live-
stock. Thus if a man dies leaving three sons and three
daughters and thirty head of cattle, on a division each son
would get ten head of cattle and one sister ; but should
there be only one sister, they wait till she marries and
divide the bride-price. A father may, however, in his life-
time make presents of cash or movables to a daughter,
1 Mr. B. C. Mazumdar's Monograph. 2 Roy, ibidem, p. 42S.
ance.
516 KOL part
though not of land. It is doubtful whether these rules still
obtain among the Hinduised Kols.
16. Physi- " The Mundas," Colonel Dalton states, " are one of the
cai appear- fjnest 0f fae aboriginal tribes. The men average something
ance. ° .
like 5 feet 6 inches, and many of them are remarkably well
developed and muscular. Their skin is of the darkest brown,
almost black in many cases, and their features coarse, with
broad flat noses, low foreheads and thick lips, presenting as a
rule a by no means prepossessing appearance. The women
are often more pleasing, the coarseness of the features being
less accentuated or less noticeable on account of the extreme
good-nature and happy carelessness that seldom fail to mark
their countenance. They are fond of ornament, and a group
of men and girls fully decked out for a festival makes a fine
show. Every ornament in the shape of bead necklace, silver
collar, bracelet, armlet and anklet would seem to have been
brought out for the occasion. The head-dress is the
crowning point of the turn-out. The long black hair is
gathered up in a big coil, most often artificially enlarged,
the whole being fastened at the right-hand side of the
back of the head just on a level with and touching the
right ear. In this knot are fastened all sorts of ornaments
of brass and silver, and surmounting it, stuck in every
available space, are gay plumes of feathers that nod and
wave bravely with the movements of the dance. The ears
are distorted almost beyond recognition by huge earrings
that pierce the lobe and smaller ones that ornament them
all round." In Mandla women are tattooed with the figure
of a man or a man on horseback, and on the legs behind
also with the figure of a man. They are not tattooed on
the face. Men are never tattooed.
17. Dances. " Dancing is the inevitable accompaniment of every
gathering, and they have a great variety suitable to the special
times and seasons. The motion is slow and graceful, a
monotonous sing-song being kept up all through. The
steps are in perfect time and the action wonderfully even
and regular. This is particularly noticeable in some of the
variations of the dances representing the different seasons
and the necessary acts of cultivation that each brngs with it.
In one the dancers bending down make a motion with their
ii SOCIAL RULES AND OFFENCES 517
hands as though they were sowing the grain, keeping step
with their feet all the time. Then come the reaping of the
crop and the binding of the sheaves, all done in perfect time
and rhythm, and making with the continuous droning of
the voices a quaint and picturesque performance." In the
Central Provinces the Kols now dance the Karma dance of
the Gonds, but they dance it in more lively fashion. The
step consists simply in advancing or withdrawing one foot
and bringing the other up or back beside it. The men and
women stand opposite each other in two lines, holding
hands, and the musicians alternately face each line and
advance and retreat with them. Then the lines move round
in a circle with the musicians in the centre.
Munda boys are allowed to eat food cooked by other 18. social
castes, except the very lowest, until they are married, and offences,
girls until they let their hair grow long, which is usually at
the age of six or seven. After this they do not take food as
a tribe from any other caste, even a Brahman, though some
subtribes accept it from certain castes as the Tel is (oil-pressers)
and Sundis or liquor-vendors. In Jubbulpore the Kols
take food from Kurmis, Dhimars and Ahirs. The Mundas
will eat almost all kinds of flesh, including tigers and pigs,
while in Raigarh they consider monkey as a delicacy, hunting
these animals with dogs. In the Central Provinces they
have generally abjured beef, in deference to Hindu prejudice,
and sometimes refuse field-mice, to which the Khonds and
Gonds are very partial. Neither Kols nor Mundas are,
however, considered impure and the barber and washerman
will work for them. In Sambalpur a woman is finally
expelled from caste for a liaison with one of the impure
Gandas, Ghasias or Doms, and a man is expelled for taking
food from a woman of these castes, but adultery with her may
be expiated by a big feast. Other offences are much the
same as among the Hindus. A woman who gets her ear torn
through where it is pierced is put out of caste for six months
or a year and has to give two feasts on readmission.
In Mandla the head of the panchayat is known as 19. The
Gaontia, a name for a village headman, and he is always *:aste, . .
' ° J pancnavat.
of the Bargaiya sept, the office being usually hereditary.
When a serious offence is committed the Gaontia fixes a
5 18 KOL part
period of six months to a year for the readmission of the
culprit, or the latter begs for reinstatement when he has
obtained the materials for the penalty feast. A feast for the
whole Rautele subcaste will entail 500 seers or nearly 9 cwt.
of kodon, costing perhaps Rs. 30, and they say there would
not be enough left for a cold breakfast for the offender's
family in the morning. When a man has a petition to make
to the Gaontia, he folds his turban round his neck, leaving the
head bare, takes a piece of grass in his mouth, and with four
prominent elders to support him goes to the Gaontia and
falls at his feet. The others stand on one leg behind him
and the Gaontia asks them for their recommendation. Their
reverence for the caste panchayat is shown by their solemn
form of oath, ' Sing-Bonga on high and the Panch on earth.' 1
The Kols of Jubbulpore and Mandla are now completely
conforming to Hindu usage and employ Brahmans for their
ceremonies. They are most anxious to be considered as
good Hindus and ape every high-caste custom they get
hold of. On one occasion I was being carried on a litter
by Kol coolies and accompanied by a Rajput chuprassie
and was talking to the Kols, who eagerly proclaimed their
rigid Hindu observances. Finally the chuprassie said that
Brahmans and Rajputs must have three separate brushes of
date-palm fibre for their houses, one to sweep the cook-room
which is especially sacred, one for the rest of the house, and
one for the yard. Lying gallantly the Kols said that they
also kept three palm brushes for cleaning their houses, and
when it was pointed out that there were no date-palms within
several miles of their village, they said they sent periodical
expeditions to the adjoining District to bring back fibre for
brushes.
20. Names. Colonel Dalton notes that the Kols, like the Gonds, give
names to their children after officers visiting the village when
they are born. Thus Captain, Major, Doctor are common
names in the Kolhan. Mr. Mazumdar gives an instance of
a Kol servant of the Raja of Bamra who greatly admired
some English lamp - chimneys sent for by the Raja and
called his daughter ' Chimney.' They do not address any
relative or caste-man by his name if he is older than them-
1 The Mundas and their Country, p. 12 1.
1 1 OCCUPA TION—LANG UAGE 519
selves, but use the term of relationship to a relative and to
others the honorific title of Gaontia.
The Mundari language has no words for the village trades 21. Occu-
nor for the implements of cultivation, and so it may be pat
concluded that prior to their contact with the Hindus the
Mundas lived on the fruits and roots of the forests and
the pursuit of game and fish. Now, however, they have taken
kindly to several kinds of labour. They are much in re-
quest on the Assam tea-gardens owing to their good physique
and muscular power, and they make the best bearers of
dhoolies or palanquins. Kol bearers will carry a dhoolie
four miles an hour as against the best Gond pace of about
three, and they shake the occupant less. They also make
excellent masons and navvies, and are generally more honest
workers than the other jungle tribes. A Munda seldom
comes into a criminal court.
The Kols of the Central Provinces have practically 22. Langu-
abandoned their own language, Mundari being retained only age-
by about 1000 persons in 191 1. The Kols and Mundas
now speak the Hindu vernacular current in the tracts where
they reside. Mundari, Santali, Korwa and Bhumij are
practically all forms of one language which Sir G. Grierson
designates as Kherwari.1
1 Linguistic Survey, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages, p. 27.
KOLAM
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i. General notice of the tribe. 4. Religion and superstitions.
2. Marriage. 5. Social position.
3. Disposal of the dead. 6. Miscellaneous customs.
1. General Kolam.1 — A Dravidian tribe residing principally in the
notice of WQn taluk of the Yeotmal District. They number altogether
the tribe. tTt-
about 2 5,000 persons, of whom 2 3,000 belong to Wun and the
remainder to the adjoining tracts of Wardha and Hyderabad.
They are not found elsewhere. The tribe are generally
considered to be akin to the Gonds "2 on the authority of Mr.
Hislop. He wrote of them : " The Kolams extend all
along the Kandi Konda or Pindi Hills on the south of the
Wardha river and along the table-land stretching east and
north of Manikgad and thence south to Dantanpalli, running
parallel to the western bank of the Pranhlta. The Kolams
and the common Gonds do not intermarry, but they are
present at each other's nuptials and eat from each other's
hand. Their dress is similar, but the Kolam women wear
fewer ornaments, being generally content with a few black
beads of glass round their neck. Among their deities,
which are the usual objects of Gond adoration, Bhlmsen is
chiefly honoured." Mr. Hislop was, however, not always of
this opinion, because he first excluded the Kolams from the
Gond tribes and afterwards included them.3 In Wardha
they are usually distinguished from the Gonds. They have
a language of their own, called after them Kolami. Sir G.
1 This article includes some extracts for the District Gazetteers in Yeotmal
from notes made by Colonel Mackenzie and Wardha.
when Commissioner of Berar, and 2 Papers relating to the Aboriginal
subsequently published in the Pioneer Tribes of the Central Provinces, p. 10.
newspaper ; and information collected 3 Ibidem, Editor's Note,
520
Beiurose, Collo., Derby.
GROUP OF KOLAMS.
i'artii GENERAL NOTICE OF THE TRIBE 521
Grierson 1 describes it as, " A minor dialect of Berar and the
Central Provinces which occupies a position like that of
Gondi between Canarese, Tamil and Telugu. The so-called
Kolami, the Bhlli spoken in the Pusad taluk of Basim and
the so-called Naiki of Chanda agree in so many particulars
that they can almost be considered as one and the same
dialect. They are closely related to Gondi. The points in
which they differ from that language are, however, of sufficient
importance to make it necessary to separate them from that
form of speech. The Kolami dialect differs widely from the
language of the neighbouring Gonds. In some points it
agrees with Telugu, in other characteristics with Canarese
and connected forms of speech. There are also some
interesting points of analogy with the Toda dialect of the
Nllgiris, and the Kolams must, from a philological point of
view, be considered as the remnants of an old Dravidian
tribe who have not been involved in the development of the
principal Dravidian languages, or of a tribe who have not
originally spoken a Dravidian form of speech."
The family names of the tribe also are not Gondi, but
resemble those of Maratha castes. Out of fifty sept names
recorded, only one, Tekam, is found among the Gonds.
" All their songs and ballads," Colonel Mackenzie says, " are
borrowed from the Marathas : even their women when grind-
ing corn sing Marathi songs." In Wun their dress and
appearance resembles that of the Kunbis, but in some respects
they retain very primitive customs. Colonel Mackenzie
states that until recently in Berar they had the practice of
capturing husbands for women who would otherwise have
gone unwedded, this being apparently a survival of the
matriarchate. It does not appear that the husbands so
captured were ever unphilosophical enough to rebel under
the old regime, though British enlightenment has taught
them otherwise. Widows and widowers were exempt from
capture and debarred from capturing. In view of the con-
nection mentioned by Sir G. Grierson between the Kolami
dialect and that of the Todas of the Nilgiri hills who are a
small remnant of an ancient tribe and still practise polyandry,
Mr. Hira Lai suggests that the Kolams may be connected
1 Linguistic Survey, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages, p. 561.
522
KOLAM
with the Kolas, a tribe akin to the Todas x and as low in
the scale of civilisation, who regard the Kolamallai hills as
their original home.2 He further notes that the name of the
era by which the calendar is reckoned on the Malabar coast
is Kolamba. -In view of Sir G. Grierson's statement that the
Kolami dialect is the same as that of the Naik Gonds of
Chanda it may be noted that the headman of a Kolam
village is known as Naik, and it is possible that the Kolams
may be connected with the so-called Naik Gonds.
2. Mar- The Kolams have no subtribes, but are divided for pur-
poses of marriage into a number of exogamous groups.
The names of these are in the Marathi form, but the tribe
do not know their meaning. Marriage between members of
the same group is forbidden, and a man may not marry two
sisters. Marriage is usually adult, and neither a betrothal
nor a marriage can be concluded in the month of Poush
(December), because in this month ancestors are worshipped.
Colonel Mackenzie states that marriages should be celebrated
on Wednesdays and Saturdays at sundown, and Monday is
considered a peculiarly inauspicious day. If a betrothal,
once contracted, is broken, a fine of five or ten rupees must
be paid to the caste-fellows together with a quantity of liquor.
Formerly, as stated above, the tribe sometimes captured
husbands, and they still have a curious method of seizing a
wife when the father cannot procure a mate for his son.
The latter attended by his comrades resorts to the jungle
where his wife-elect is working in company with her female
relations and friends. It is a custom of the tribe that the
sexes should, as a rule, work in separate parties. On
catching sight of her the bridegroom pursues her, and unless
he touches her hand before she gets back to her village, his
friends will afford him no assistance. If he can lay hold of
the girl a struggle ensues between the two parties for her
possession, the girl being sometimes only protected by
women, while on other occasions her male relatives hear of
the fray and come to her assistance. In the latter case a
fight ensues with sticks, in which, however, no combatant
may hit another on the head. If the girl is captured the
1 India Census Report (1901), p. 287.
- Hunter's Imperial Gazetteer, art. Kolamallai hills.
I
nisrosAL of nil-: head
523
marriage is subsequently performed, ami even if she Is rescued
the matter is often arranged by the payment of a few rupees
to the girl's father. Nowadays the whole affair tends to
degenerate into a pretence and is often arranged beforehand
by the parties. The marriage ceremony resembles that of
the Kunbis except that the bridegroom takes the bride on
his lap and their clothes are tied together in two places.
After the ceremony each of the guests takes a few grains of
rice.andafter touching the feet,kneesand shoulders of the bridal
couple with the rice, throws it over his own back. The
idea may be to remove any contagion of misfortune or evil
spirits who may be hovering about them. A widow can
remarry only with her parents' consent, but if she takes a
fancy to a man and chooses to enter his house with a pot of
water on her head he cannot turn her out. A man cannot
marry a widow unless he has been regularly wedded once to
a girl, and once having espoused a widow by what is known
as the pat ceremony, he cannot again go through a proper
marriage. A couple who wish to be divorced must go
before the caste panchayat or committee with a pot of liquor.
Over this is laid a dry stick and the couple each hold an
end of it. The husband then addresses his wife as sister in
the presence of the caste-fellows, and the wife her husband as
brother ; they break the stick and the divorce is complete.
The tribe bury their dead, and observe mourning for
one to five days in different localities. The spirits of
deceased ancestors are worshipped on any Monday in the
month of Poush. The mourner goes and dips his head
into a tank or stream, and afterwards sacrifices a fowl on
the bank, and gives a meal to the caste-fellows. He then
has the hair of his face and head shaved. Sons inherit
equally, and if there are no sons the property devolves
on daughters.
The Kolams, Colonel Mackenzie states, recognise no
god as a principle of beneficence in the world ; their
principal deities are Slta, to whom the first - fruits of the
harvest are offered, and Devi who is the guardian of the
village, and is propitiated with offerings of goats and fowls
to preserve it from harm. She is represented by two stones
set up in the centre of the village when it is founded. They
3. Disposal
o( [he
dead.
4. Reli-
gion and
supersti-
tions.
C22
KOLAM
with the Kolas, a tribe akin to the Todas x and as low in
the scale of civilisation, who regard the Kolamallai hills as
their original home.2 He further notes that the name of the
era by which the calendar is reckoned on the Malabar coast
is Kolamba. • In view of Sir G. Grierson's statement that the
Kolami dialect is the same as that of the Naik Gonds of
Chanda it may be noted that the headman of a Kolam
village is known as Naik, and it is possible that the Kolams
may be connected with the so-called Naik Gonds.
2. Mar- The Kolams have no subtribes, but are divided for pur-
mge. poses of marriage into a number of exogamous groups.
The names of these are in the Marathi form, but the tribe
do not know their meaning. Marriage between members of
the same group is forbidden, and a man may not marry two
sisters. Marriage is usually adult, and neither a betrothal
nor a marriage can be concluded in the month of Poush
(December), because in this month ancestors are worshipped.
Colonel Mackenzie states that marriages should be celebrated
on Wednesdays and Saturdays at sundown, and Monday is
considered a peculiarly inauspicious day. If a betrothal,
once contracted, is broken, a fine of five or ten rupees must
be paid to the caste-fellows together with a quantity of liquor.
Formerly, as stated above, the tribe sometimes captured
husbands, and they still have a curious method of seizing a
wife when the father cannot procure a mate for his son.
The latter attended by his comrades resorts to the jungle
where his wife-elect is working in company with her female
relations and friends. It is a custom of the 'tribe that the
sexes should, as a rule, work in separate parties. On
catching sight of her the bridegroom pursues her, and unless
he touches her hand before she gets back to her village, his
friends will afford him no assistance. If he can lay hold of
the girl a struggle ensues between the two parties for her
possession, the girl being sometimes only protected by
women, while on other occasions her male relatives hear of
the fray and come to her assistance. In the latter case a
fight ensues with sticks, in which, however, no combatant
may hit another on the head. If the girl is captured the
1 India Census Report (1901), p. 287.
2 Hunter's Imperial Gazetteer, art. Kolamallai hills.
ii MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS 525
to enter Hindu temples, and hold themselves to be defiled
by the touch of a Mahar or a Mang. A Kolam is
forbidden to beg by the rules of the tribe, and he looks
down on the Mahars and Mangs, who are often professional
beggars. In Wardha, too, the Kolams will not collect dead-
wood for sale as fuel.
Here their houses contain only a single room with a 6. Miscei-
small store-house, and all the family sleep together without lanfous
J r ° customs.
privacy. Consequently there is no opportunity at night for
conjugal intimacy, and husband and wife seek the solitude
of the forest in the daytime. Colonel Mackenzie states :
" All Kolams are great smokers, but they are not allowed
to smoke in their own houses, but only at the diauri or
meeting-house, where pipes and fire are kept ; and this
rule is enforced so that the Naik or headman can keep
an eye on all male members of the community ; if these
do not appear at least once a day, satisfactory reasons
are demanded for their absence, and from this rule only
the sick and infirm arc exempt. The' Kolams have two
musical instruments : the tapate or drum, and the mass or
flute, the name of which is probably derived from the
Sanskrit wdunsh, meaning bamboo (of which the instru-
ment is made). In old times all Kolams could read and
write, and it is probably only poverty which prevents them
from having all their children educated now." This last
statement must, however, be accepted with reserve in the
absence of intimation of the evidence on which it is
based. At present they are, as a rule, quite illiterate.
The Naik or headman formerly had considerable powers,
being entrusted with the distribution of land among the
cultivators, and exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction
with the assistance of the panchayat. His own land was
ploughed for him by the villagers. Even now they seldom
enter a court of justice and their disputes are settled by the
pandiayat. A strong feeling of clannishness exists among
them, and the village unites to avenge an injury done to
one of its members. Excommunication from caste is
imposed for the usual offences, and the ceremony of readmis-
sion is as follows : The offender dips his head in a river
or stream and the village barber shaves his head and
526 KOLAM part ii
moustaches. He then sits beside a lighted pile of wood,
being held to be purified by the proximity of the holy
element, and afterwards bathes, and drinks some water into
which the caste-fellows have dipped their toes. A woman
has to undergo the same ceremony and have her head
shaved. If an unmarried girl becomes with child by a
member of the caste, she is married to him by the simple
rite used for widow-remarriage. A Kolam must not swear
by a dog or cat, and is expelled from caste for killing
either of these two animals. A Kolam does not visit a friend's
house in the evening, as he would be suspected in such an
event of having designs upon his wife's virtue. The tribe
are cultivators and labourers. They have not a very good
reputation for honesty, and are said to be addicted to
stealing the ripe cotton from the bolls. They never wear
shoes, and the soles of their feet become nearly invulnerable
and capable of traversing the most thorny ground without
injury. They have an excellent knowledge of the medicinal
and other uses of all trees, shrubs and herbs.
KOLHATI
[Bibliography: Mr. Kitts' Berar Census Report (1881); Major Gunthorpe's
Criminal Tribes of Bombay, Berar and the Central Provinces (Times Press,
Bombay).]
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1. Introductory notice. 4. Funeral rites.
2. Internal structure. 5. Other customs
3. Marriage. 6. Occupation.
Kolhati, Dandewala, Bansberia, Kabutari.1 — The name i. intro-
by which the Beria caste of Northern and Central India is ^^
known in Berar. The Berias themselves, in Central India at
any rate, are a branch of the Sansias, a vagrant and criminal
class, whose traditional occupation was that of acting as
bards and genealogists to the Jat caste. The main difference
between the Sansias and Berias is that the latter prostitute
their women, or those of them who are not married.2 The
Kolhatis of Berar, who also do this, appear to be a branch of
the Beria caste who have settled in the Deccan and now
have customs differing in several respects from those of the
parent caste. It is therefore desirable to reproduce briefly
the main heads of the information given about them in the
works cited above. In 1901 the Kolhatis numbered 1300
persons in Berar. In the Central Provinces they were not
shown separately, but were included with the Nats. But in
1 89 1 a total of 250 Kolhatis were returned. The word
Kolhati is said to be derived from the long bamboo poles
which they use for jumping, known as Kolhat. The other
names, Dandewala and Bansberia, meaning those who perform
feats with a stick or bamboo, also have reference to this
1 Based partly on papers by Mr. Gazetteer Office.
Bihari Lai, Naib-Tahslldar, Bilaspur, 2 For further information the articles
and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the on Sansia and Beria may be consulted.
527
5 28 KOLHATI part
pole. Kabutari as applied to the women signifies that their
dancing resembles the flight of a pigeon (kabiitar). They say
that once on a time a demon had captured some Kunbis
and shut them up in a cavern. But the Kunbis besought
Mahadeo to save them, and he created a man and a woman
who danced before the demon and so pleased him that he
promised them whatever they should ask ; and they thus
obtained the freedom of the Kunbis. The man and woman
were named Kabutar and Kabutari on account of their skilful
danciner, and were the ancestors of the Kolhatis. The
Kolhatis of the Central Provinces appear to differ in several
respects from those of Berar, with whom the following article
is mainly concerned.
2. internal The caste has two main divisions in Berar, the Dukar
structure. Kolhatis and the Kham or Pal Kolhatis. The name of the
former is derived from dukar, hog, because they are accus-
tomed to hunt the wild pig with dogs and spears when these
animals become too numerous and damage the crops of the
villagers. They also labour for themselves by cultivating
land and taking service as village watchmen ; and they are
daring criminals and commit dacoity, burglary and theft ;
but they do not steal cattle. The Kham Kolhatis, on the
other hand, are a lazy, good-for-nothing class of men, who,
beyond making a few combs and shuttles of bone, will set
their hands to no kind of labour, but subsist mainly by the
immoral pursuits of their women. At every large fair may
be seen some of the portable huts of this tribe, made of
rusa grass,1 the women decked in jewels and gaudy attire
sitting at each door, while the men are lounging lazily at
the back. The Dukar Kolhati women, Mr. Kitts states, also
resort to the same mode of life, but take up their abode
in villages instead of attending fairs. Among the Dukar
Kolhatis the subdivisions have Rajput names ; and just as
a Chauhan Rajput may not marry another Chauhan so also
a Chauhan Dukar Kolhati may not marry a person of his
own clan. In Bilaspur they are said to have four subcastes,
the Marethi or those coming from the Maratha country, the
Bansberia or pole-jumpers, the Suarwale or hunters of the
wild pig, and the Muhammadan Kolhatis, none of whom
1 Andropagon Schoenanthus.
ii MARRIAGE—FUNERAL RITES 529
marry or take food with each other. Each group is
further subdivided into the Asal and Kamsal (Kavi-asal),
or the pure and mixed Kolhatis, who marry among them-
selves, outsiders being admitted to the Kamsal or mixed
group.
The marriage ceremony in Berar1 consists simply in a 3. Mar-
feast at which the bride and bridegroom, dressed in new nage'
clothes, preside. Much liquor is consumed and the dancing-
girls of the tribe dance before them, and the happy couple
are considered duly married according to Kolhati rites.
Married women do not perform in public and are no less
moral and faithful than those of other castes, while those
brought up as dancing-girls do not marry at all. In Bilaspur
weddings are arranged through the headman of the village,
who receives a fee for his services, and the ceremony includes
some of the ordinary Hindu rites. Here a widow is com-
pelled to marry her late husband's younger brother on pain
of exclusion from caste. People of almost any caste may
become Kolhatis. When an outsider is admitted he must
have a sponsor into whose clan he is adopted. A feast is
given to the caste, and the applicant catches the right little
finger of his sponsor before the assembly. Great numbers of
Rajputs and Muhammadans join them, and on the other
hand a large proportion of the fair but frail Kolhatis embrace
the Muhammadan faith.2
The bodies of children are buried, and those of the adult 4. Funeral
dead may be either buried or cremated. Mr. Kitts states mes'
that on the third day, if they can afford the ceremony, they
bring back the skull and placing it on a bed offer to it powder,
dates and betel-leaves ; and after a feast lasting for three
days it is again buried. According to Major Gunthorpe the
proceedings are more elaborate : " Each division of the
caste has its own burial-ground in some special spot, to
which it is the heart's desire of every Kolhati to carry, when
he can afford it, the bones of his deceased relatives. After
the cremation of an adult the bones are collected and buried
pending such time as they can be conveyed to the appointed
cemetery, if this be at a distance. When the time comes,
that is, when means can be found for the removal, the bones
1 Gunthorpe, loc. cit. 2 Ibidem, p. 49.
VOL. Ill 2 M
53°
KOLHATI
are disinterred and placed in two saddle-bags on a donkey,
the skull and upper bones in the right bag and the leg and
lower bones in the left. The ass is then led to the deceased's
house, where the bags of bones are placed under a canopy
made ready for their reception. High festival, as for a
marriage, is held for three days, and at the end of this time
the bags are replaced on the donkey, and with tom-toms
beating and dancing-girls of the tribe dancing in front, the
animal is led off to the cemetery. On arrival, the bags, with
the bones in them, are laid in a circular hole, and over it a
stone is placed to mark the spot, and covered with oil and
vermilion ; and the spirit of the deceased is then considered
to be appeased." They believe that the spirits of dead
ancestors enter the bodies of the living and work evil to them,
unless they are appeased with offerings. The Dukar Kolhatis
offer a boar to the spirits of male ancestors and a sow to
females. An offering of a boar is also made to Bhagwan
(Vishnu), who is the principal deity of the caste and is
worshipped with great ceremony every second year.1
5. other Although of low caste the Kolhatis refrain from eating
customs, f-^g flesh 0f the cow and other animals of the same tribe.
The wild cat, mongoose, wild and tame pig and jackal are
considered as delicacies. The caste have the same ordeals
as are described in the article on the Sansias. As might
be expected in a class which makes a living by immoral
practices the women considerably outnumber the men. No
one is permanently expelled from caste, and temporary
exclusion is imposed only for a few offences, such as an
intrigue with or being touched by a member of an impure
caste. The offender gives a feast, and in the case of a man
the moustache is shaved, while a woman has five hairs of
her head cut off. The women have names meant to
indicate their attractions, as Panna emerald, Munga coral,
Mehtab dazzling, Gulti a flower. Moti a pearl, and Kesar
saffron. If a girl is detected in an intrigue with a caste-
fellow they are fined seven rupees and must give a feast
to the caste, and are then married. When, however, a girl
is suspected of unchastity and no man will take the
responsibility on himself, she is put to an ordeal. She
1 Kitts, loc. cit.
ii OCCUPATION 531
fasts all night, and next morning is dressed in a white cloth,
and water is poured over her head from a new earthen pot.
A piece of iron is heated red hot between cowdung cakes,
and she must take up this in her hand and walk five steps
with it, also applying it to the tip of her tongue. If she
is burnt her unchastity is considered to be proved, and the
idea is therefore apparently that if she is innocent the deity
will intervene to save her.
The Dukar Kolhati males, Major Gunthorpe states, are 6. Occupa-
a fine manly set of fellows. They hunt the wild boar with tlon-
dogs, the men armed with spears following on foot. They
show much pluck in attacking the boar, and there is hardly
a man of years who does not bear scars received in fighls
with these animals. The villagers send long distances for
a gang to come and rid them of the wild pig, which play
havoc with the crops, and pay them in grain for doing so.
But they are also much addicted to crime, and when they
have decided on a dacoity or house-breaking they have a
good drinking-bout and start off with their dogs as if to
hunt the boar. And if they are successful they bury the
spoil, and return with the body of a pig or a hare as
evidence of what they have been doing. Stolen property
is either buried at some distance from their homes or made
over to the safe keeping of men with whom the women of
the caste may be living. Such men, who become intimate
with the Kolhatis through their women, are often headmen
of villages or hold other respectable positions, and are thus
enabled to escape suspicion. Boys who are to become
acrobats are taught to jump from early youth. The
acrobats and dancing -girls go about to fairs and other
gatherings and make a platform on a cart, which serves as
a stage for their performances. The dancing-girl is assisted
by her admirers, who accompany her with music. Some of
them are said now to have obtained European instruments,
as harmoniums or gramophones. They do not give their
performances on Thursdays and Mondays, which are con-
sidered to be unlucky days. In Bombay they are said to
make a practice of kidnapping girls, preferably of high
caste, whom they sell or bring up as prostitutes.1
1 Ind. Ant. iii. p. 185, Satara Gazetteer, p. 119.
KOLI
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1 . General notice of the caste. 4. Widow-marriage or divorce.
2. Subdivisions. 5. Religion.
3. Exogamous divisions. 6. Disposal of the dead.
7. Social rules.
1. General Koli. — A primitive tribe akin to the Bhlls, who are
notice of residents of the western Satpura hills. They have the
the C3.St6
honorific title of Naik. They numbered 36,000 persons
in 1911, nearly all of whom belong to Berar, with the
exception of some 2000 odd, who live in the Nimar
District. These have hitherto been confused with the Kori
caste. The Koris or weavers are also known as Koli, but
in Nimar they have the designation of Khangar Koli to
distinguish them from the tribe of the same name. The
Kolis proper are found in the Burhanpur tahsll, where most
villages are said to possess one or two families, and on the
southern Satpura hills adjoining Berar. They are usually
village servants, their duties being to wait on Government
officers, cleaning their cooking-vessels and collecting carts
and provisions. The duties of village watchman or kotwar
were formerly divided between two officials, and while the
Koli did the most respectable part of the work, the Mahar
or Balahi carried baggage, went messages, and made the
prescribed reports to the police. In Berar the Kolis acted
for a time as guardians of the hill passes. A chain of
outposts or watch towers ran along the Satpura hills to
the north of Berar, and these were held by Kolis and Bhlls,
whose duties were to restrain the predatory inroads of their
own tribesmen, in the same manner as the Khyber Rifles
now guard the passes on the North-West Frontier. And
532
tart ii GENERAL NOTICE OF THE CASTE 533
again along the Ajanta hills to the south of the Berar
valley a tribe of Kolis under their Naiks had charge of the
ghats or gates of the ridge, and acted as a kind of local
militia paid by assignments of land in the villages.1 In
Nimar the Kolis, like the Bhlls, made a trade of plunder
and dacoity during the unsettled times of the eighteenth
century, and the phrase ' Nahal, Bhll, Koli ' is commonly
used in old Marathi documents to designate the hill-
robbers as a class. The priest of a Muhammadan tomb in
Burhanpur still exhibits an imperial Parwana or intimation
from Delhi announcing the dispatch of a force for the sup-
pression of the Kolis, dated A.D. 1637. In the Bombay
Presidency, so late as 1 804, Colonel Walker wrote : " Most
Kolis are thieves by profession, and embrace every oppor-
tunity of plundering either public or private property." 2 The
tribe are important in Bombay, where their numbers amount
to more than 1^- million. It is supposed that the common
term ' coolie ' is a corruption of Koli,3 because the Kolis were
usually employed as porters and carriers in western India,
as ' slave ' comes from Slav. The tribe have also given their
name to Colaba.4 Various derivations have been given of
the meaning of the word Koli,5 and according to one
account the Kolis and Mairs were originally the same
tribe and came from Sind, while the Mairs were the same
as the Meyds or Mihiras who entered India in the fifth
century as one of the branches of the great White Hun
horde. " Again, since the settlement of the Mairs in
Gujarat," the writer of the Gujarat Gazetteer continues,
" reverses of fortune, especially the depression of the
Rajputs under the yoke of the Muhammadans in the
fourteenth century, did much to draw close the bond
between the higher and middle grades of the warrior class.
Then many Rajputs sought shelter among the Kolis and
married with them, leaving descendants who still claim a
Rajput descent and bear the names of Rajput families.
Apart from this, and probably as the result of an original
sameness of race, in some parts of Gujarat and Kathiawar
1 Lyall's Berar Gazetteer, pp. 103-5. 4 Bombay City Census Report (1901)
2 Kathiazvar Gazetteer, p. 140. (Edwards).
3 Crooke's edition of Hobson-Jobson, ° Gujarat Gazetteer, p. 238.
art. Koli.
534 KOLI part
intermarriage goes on between the daughters of Talabda
Kolis and the sons of Rajputs." Thus the Thakur of
Talpuri Mahi Kantha in Bombay calls himself a Pramara
Koli, and explains the term by saying that his ancestor,
who was a Pramara or Panwar Rajput, took water at a
Koli's house.1 As regards the origin of the Kolis, however,
whom the author of the Gujarat Gazetteer derives from the
White Huns, stating them to be immigrants from Sind,
another and perhaps more probable theory is that they are
simply a western outpost of the great Kol or Munda tribe,
to which the Korkus and Nahals and perhaps the Bhlls
may also belong. Mr. Hlra Lai suggests that it is a common
custom in Marathi to add or alter so as to make names
end in i. Thus Halbi for Halba, Koshti for Koshta, Patwi
for Patwa, Wanjari for Banjara, Gowari for Goala ; and in
the same manner Koli from Kol. This supposition appears
a very reasonable one, though there is little direct evidence.
The Nimar Kolis have no tradition of their origin beyond
the saying —
Siva ki jholi
Us men ka Koli,
or ' The Koli was born from Siva's wallet'
In the Central Provinces the tribe have the five sub-
divisions of Surajvansi, Malhar, Bhilaophod, Singade, and the
Muhammadan Kolis. The Surajvansi or ' descendants of
the sun ' claim to be Rajputs. The Malhar or Panbhari sub-
tribe are named from their deity Malhari Deo, while the
alternative name of Panbhari means water-carrier. The
Bhilaophod extract the oil from bhilwa 2 nuts like the Nahals,
and the Singade {sing, horn, and gadna, to bury) are so called
because when their buffaloes die they bury the horns in their
compounds. As with several other castes in Burhanpur and
Berar, a number of Kolis embraced Islam at the time of the
Muhammadan domination and form a separate subcaste.
In Berar the principal group is that of the Mahadeo
Kolis, whose name may be derived from the Mahadeo or
Pachmarhi hills. This would tend to connect them with the
Korkus, and through them with the Kols. They are divided
1 Golden Book of India, s.v.
2 Semecarpus anacardium, the marking-nut tree.
divisions.
ii EXOGAMOUS DIVISIONS 535
into the Bhas or pure and the Akaramase or impure Kolis.1
In Akola most of the Kolis are stated to belong to the
Kshatriya group, while other divisions are the Naiks or
soldiers, the begging Kolis, and the Watandars who are
probably hereditary holders of the post of village watchman.2
The tribe have exogamous septs of the usual nature, but 3. Exo-
they have forgotten the meaning of the names, and they |f™°onS.
cannot be explained. In Bombay their family names are
the same as the Maratha surnames, and the writer of the
Ahmadnagar Gazetteer 3 considers that some connection
exists between the two classes. A man must not marry a
girl of his own sept nor the daughter of his maternal uncle.
Girls are usually married at an early age. A Brahman is
employed to conduct the marriage ceremony, which takes
place at sunset : a cloth is held between the couple, and as
the sun disappears it is removed and they join hands amid
the clapping of the assembled guests. Afterwards they
march seven times round a stone slab surrounded by four
plough-yokes. Among the Rewa Kantha Kolis the boy's
father must not proceed on his journey to find a bride for
his son until on leaving his house he sees a small bird called
devi on his right hand ; and consequently he is sometimes
kept waiting for weeks, or even for months. When the be-
trothal is arranged the bridegroom and his father are invited
to a feast at the bride's house, and on leaving the father
must stumble over the threshold of the girl's door ; without
this omen no wedding can prosper.4
The remarriage of widows is permitted, and the ceremony 4. widow-
consists simply in tying a knot in the clothes of the couple ; ^"J^rce.
in Ahmadabad all they need do is to sit on the ground
while the bridegroom's father knocks their heads together.5
Divorce is allowed for a wife's misconduct, and if she marries
her fellow delinquent he must repay to the husband the
expenses incurred by him on his wedding. Otherwise the
caste committee may inflict a fine of Rs. 100 on him and put
him out of caste for twelve years in default of payment, and
order one side of his moustache to be shaved. In Gujarat
1 Kitts, Berar Census Report ( 1 88 1 ), s I'- 1 97-
p. 131. 4 Hindus of Gujarat, I.e.
2 Akola Gazetteer (Mr. C. Brown), 6 Indian Antiquary, vol. iii. p.
p. 116. 236.
536 KOLI part
a married woman who has an intrigue with another man is
called savdsan, and it is said that a practice exists, or did
exist, for her lover to pay her husband a price for the woman
and marry her, though it is held neither respectable nor
safe.1 In Ahmadabad, if one Koli runs away with another's
wife, leaving his own wife behind him, the caste committee
sometimes order the offender's relatives to supply the
bereaved husband with a fresh wife. They produce one or
more women, and he selects one and is quite content with
her.2
5. Reii- The Kolis of Nimar chiefly revere the goddess Bhawani,
§lon- and almost every family has a silver image of her. An im-
portant shrine of the goddess is situated in Ichhapur, ten or
twelve miles from Burhanpur, and here members of the tribe
were accustomed to perform the hook-swinging rite in honour
of the goddess. Since this has been forbidden they have an
imitation ceremony of swinging a bundle of bamboos covered
with cloth in lieu of a human being.
6. Disposal The Kolis both bury and burn the dead, but the former
practice is more common. They place the body in the grave
with head to the south and face to the north. On the third
day after the funeral they perform the ceremony called
Kandhe kanchJina or ' rubbing the shoulder.' The four
bearers of the corpse come to the house of the deceased and
stand as if they were carrying the bier. His widow smears
a little glii (butter) on each man's shoulder and rubs the
place with a small cake which she afterwards gives to him.
The men go to a river or tank and throw the cakes into it,
afterwards bathing in the water. This ceremony is clearly
designed to sever the connection established by the contact
of the bier with their shoulders, which they imagine might
otherwise render them likely to require the use of a bier
themselves. On the eleventh day a Brahman is called in,
who seats eleven friends of the deceased in a row and
applies sandal -paste to their foreheads. All the women
whose husbands are alive then have turmeric rubbed on their
foreheads, and a caste feast follows.
7. Social The Kolis eat flesh, including fowls and pork, and drink
rules.
1 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of ~ Indian Antiqtiary, vol. iii. p.
Gujarat, p. 250. 236.
of the
dead.
ii KOLTA 537
liquor. They will not eat beef, but have no special reverence
for the cow. They will not remove the carcase of a dead
cow or a dead horse. The social status of the tribe is low,
but they are not considered as impure, and Gujars, Kunbis,
and even some Rajputs will take water from them. Children
are named on the twelfth day after birth. Their hair is
shaved in the month of Magh following the birth, and on the
first day of the next month, Phagun, a little oil is applied to
the child's ear, after which it may be pierced at any time
that is convenient.
Kolta,1 Kolita, Kulta. — An agricultural caste of the i. Origin
Sambalpur District and the adjoining Uriya States. In Editions
1 90 1 the Central Provinces contained 1 27,000 Koltas out
of 1 32,000 in India, but since the transfer of Sambalpur the
headquarters of the caste belong to Bihar and Orissa, and only
36,000 remain in the Central Provinces. In Assam more
than two lakhs of persons were enumerated under the caste
name of Kalita in 1901, but in spite of the resemblance
of the name the Kalitas apparently have no connection
with the Uriya country, while the Koltas know nothing of
a section of their caste in Assam. The Koltas of Sambalpur
say that they immigrated from Baud State, which they
regard as their ancestral home, and a member of their caste
formerly held the position of Dlwan of the State. Accord-
ing to one of their legends their first ancestors were born
from the leavings of food of the legendary Raja Janak of
Mithila or Tirhut, whose daughter Slta married King Rama
of Ajodhya, the hero of the Ramayana. Some Koltas went
with Slta to Ajodhya and were employed as water-bearers
in the royal household. When Rama was banished they
accompanied him in his wanderings, and were permitted
to settle in the Uriya country at the request of the
Raghunathia Brahmans, who wanted cultivators to till the
soil. Another legend is that once upon a time, when Rama
was wandering in the forests of Sambalpur, he met three
brothers and asked them to draw water for him. The first
1 This article is largely compiled ant Commissioner and Assistant Settle-
from an interesting paper submitted by ment Officer, Sambalpur.
Mr. Parmanand Tiwari, Extra Assist-
536
KOLI
5. Reli-
gion.
6. Disposal
of the
dead.
7. Social
rules.
a manic woman who has an intrigue with another mj
called saisan, and it is said that a practice exists, or
exist, foner lover to pay her husband a price for the woi
and maiy her, though it is held neither respectable
safe.1 1 Ahmadabad, if one Koli runs away with anothe
wife, lea-wg his own wife behind him, the caste commit
sometime order the offender's relatives to supply
bereaved msband with a fresh wife. They produce one
more woien, and he selects one and is quite content
her.2
The olis of Nimar chiefly revere the goddess Bha\
and alma every family has a silver image of her. An ii
portant --ine of the goddess is situated in Ichhapur, ten
twelve mis from Burhanpur, and here members of the
were accuomed to perform the hook-swinging rite in hon
of the go less. Since this has been forbidden they have
imitation sremony of swinging a bundle of bamboos co\
with clot1 in lieu of a human being.
The j^lis both bury and burn the dead, but the for
practice imore common. They place the body in the
with heacto the south and face to the north. On the
day afterthe funeral they perform the ceremony <
Kandlie mchhna or ' rubbing the shoulder.' The
bearers othe corpse come to the house of the deceasM
stand as ithey were carrying the bier. His widow s;
a little gt (butter) on each man's shoulder and rubs
place witla small cake which she afterwards gives
The men o to a river or tank and throw the cakes
afterward bathing in the water. This ceremony is
designed 1 sever the connection established by iK
of the bi- with their shoulders, which they imagin
otherwise :nder them likely to require the use
themselvc On the eleventh day a Brahman i-
eleven friends of the deceased in a
lal- paste to their foreheads. All t
whosehuj ^^alive then have turmeric rubl
fc^tt follows.
ing fowls and p(
II
liquor. Theywi'.: r.oic
- the cow. - ^T^
cow or a dead horse. The;
but they are not
and even some Raji
are named on the
shaved in the month of Magfc
first day of the nex-.
the child's ear, after »
that is convenient.
Kolta,1 Kolita, KuIul-
Sambalpur District and t:
1 90 1 the Central Provinces
of 1 32,000 in India, but li
headquarters of the caste bclo
36,000 remain in the Centra
than two lakhs of persons were
ated or
of \he
name of Kalita in 1 90 1,
of the name the Kalitas
with the Uriya country, \.
a section of their caste in .-V .
say that they immigrated
regard as their ancestral h<
formerly held the position of Diwan of tb
ing to one of their legends th<
from the leavings of food of the legeadwy
Mithila or Tirhut, whose
of Ajodhya, the hero of the Ramiyana. Sol
with Slta to Ajodhya and were employed m
in the royal household. V\
accompanied him in his vanda ±nd ><
to settle in the Uriya ;< ^
Raghunathia Brahma:
soil. Another legend is that once npoc
was wandering in the foresl
broifl
ro-
)se-
dis-
Hement.
I presents
4
/
538 KOLTA part
brought water in a clean brass pot, and was called Sudh
(good-mannered). The second made a cup of leaves and
drew water from a well with a rope ; he was called Dumal,
from dori-mdl, a coil of rope. The third brought water
only in a hollow gourd, and he was named Kolta, from
ku-rlta, bad-mannered. This story serves to show that the
Koltas, Sudhs and Dumals acknowledge some connection,
and in the Sambalpur District they will take food together
at festivals. But this degree of intimacy may simply have
arisen from their common calling of agriculture, and may
be noticed among the cultivating castes elsewhere, as the
Kirars, Gujars and Raghuvansis in Hoshangabad. The
most probable theory of the origin of the Koltas is that
they are an offshoot of the great Chasa caste, the principal
cultivating caste of the Uriya country, corresponding to
the Kurmis and Kunbis in Hindustan and the Deccan.
Several of their family names are identical with those of
the Chasas, and there is actually a subcaste of Kolita
Chasas. Mr. Hlra Lai conjectures that the Koltas may be
those Chasas who took to growing kultha (Dolichos uniflorus),
a favourite pulse in Sambalpur ; just as the Santora Kurmis
are so named from their growing san-hemp, and the Alia
Banias and Kunbis from the dl or Indian madder. This
hypothesis derives some support from the fact that the
Koltas have no subcastes, and the formation of the caste
may therefore be supposed to have occurred at a com-
paratively recent period.
2. Exo- The Koltas have both family names or gotras and
IroupsS exogamous sections or bargas. The gotras are generally
named after animals or other objects, as Dip (lamp), Bachhas
(calf), Hasti (elephant), Bharadwaj (blue-jay), and so on.
Members of the Bachhas gotra must not yoke a young
bullock to the plough for the first time, but must get this
done by somebody else. The names of the bargas are
generally derived from villages or from offices or titles. In
one or two cases they show the admission of members of
other castes ; thus the Rawat barga are the descendants of
a Rawat (herdsman) who was in the service of the Raja of
Sambalpur. The Raja had brought him up from infancy,
and, wishing- to make him a Kolta, married him to a Kolta
1 1 RELIGION— 0 CCUPA TION 5 4 1
is brought back, cooked and eaten. The bride goes home
in a day or two, and the Bandapana ceremony is performed
when she finally departs to live with her husband on arrival
at maturity. The Koltas allow widow-marriage, but the
husband has to pay a sum of about Rs. 100 to the caste-
people, the bulk of which is expended in feasting. Divorce
may be effected in the presence of the caste committee.
The caste worship the goddess Ramchandi, whose 4. Reli-
principal shrine is at Sarsara in Baud State. In order to glon-
establish a local Ramchandi, a handful of earth must be
brought from her shrine at Sarsara and made into a
representation of the goddess. Some consider that
Ramchandi is the personification of Mother Earth, and the
Koltas will not swear by the earth. They worship the
plough in the month of Shrawan, washing it with water
and milk, and applying sandal-paste with offerings of flowers
and food. The Puajiuntia festival is observed in Kunwar
for the well-being of a son. On this occasion barren
women try to ascertain whether they will get a son. A
hole is made in the ground and filled with water, and a
living fish is placed in it. The woman sits by the hole
holding her cloth spread out, and if the fish in struggling
jumps into her cloth, it is held to prognosticate the birth
of a son. The caste worship their family gods and totems
on the 10th day of Asarh, Bhadon, Kartik and Magh, which
are called the pure months. They employ Brahmans for
religious ceremonies. Every man has a guru who is a
Bairagi, and he must be initiated by his guru before he is
allowed to marry. The caste both burn and bury the
dead. They eat flesh and fish, but generally abstain from
liquor and the flesh of unclean animals, though in some
places they are known to eat rats and crocodiles, and also
the leavings of Brahmans. Brahmans will take water from
Koltas, and their social standing is equal to that of the
good agricultural castes.
The Koltas are skilful cultivators and have the usual 5. Occupa-
characteristics belonging to the cultivating castes, of frugality, tion-
industry, hunger for land, and readiness to resort to
any degree of litigation rather than relinquish a supposed
right to it. They strongly appreciate the advantages of
542 KOMTI part
irrigation and show considerable public spirit in constructing
tanks which will benefit the lands of their tenants as well
as their own. Nevertheless they are not popular, probably
because they are generally more prosperous than their
neighbours. The rising of the Khonds of Kalahandi in
1882 was caused by their discontent at being ousted from
their lands by the Koltas. The Raja of Kalahandi had
imported a number of Kolta cultivators, and these speedily
got the Khond headmen and ryots into their debt, and
possessed themselves of all the best land in the Khond
villages. In May 1882 the Khonds rose and slaughtered
more than 80 Koltas, while 300 more were besieged in the
village of Norla, the Khonds appearing with portions of the
scalp and hair of the murdered victims hanging to their
bows. On the arrival of a body of police which had been
summoned from Vizagapatam, they dispersed, and the out-
break was soon afterwards suppressed, seven of the ringleaders
being arrested, tried and hanged by the Political Officer.
A settlement was made of the grievances of the Khonds
and tranquillity was restored.
Komti, Komati. — The Madras caste of traders corres-
ponding to Banias. In 191 1 they numbered 11,000
persons in the Central Provinces, principally in the Chanda
and Yeotmal Districts. The Komtis claim to be of the
same status as Banias and to belong to the Vaishya division
of the Aryans, but this is a very doubtful pretension.
Mr. Francis remarks of them : * " Three points which show
them to be of Dravidian origin are their adherence to the
custom of obliging a boy to marry his paternal uncle's
daughter, however unattractive she may be, a practice which
is condemned by Manu ; their use of the Puranic or lower
ritual instead of the Vedic rites in their ceremonies ; and the
fact that none of the 102 gotras into which the caste is
divided are those of the twice-born, while some at any rate
seem to be totemistic as they are the names of trees and
plants, and the members of each gotra abstain from touching
or using the plant or tree after which their gotra is called."
They are also of noticeably dark complexion. Komati is
1 Madras Censtis Report (1901), p. 162.
ii KOMTI 543
said to be a corruption of Gomati, a tender of cows.1 The
caste have, however, a great reputation for cunning and
astuteness, and hence have arisen the popular derivations
of ko-mati, fox-minded, and go-mati, cow-minded. The
real meaning of the word is obscure. In Mysore the caste
have the title of Setti or Chetty, which is a corruption of
the Sanskrit Sreshtha, good, and in the Central Provinces
their names often terminate with Appa.
The Komtis have the following story about themselves :
Long ago, in the Kaliyuga era, there lived a Rajput king
of Rajahmundry, who on his travels saw a beautiful Vaishya
girl and fell in love with her. Her father refused him,
saying that they were of different castes. But the king
persisted and would not be denied. On which the maiden
determined to sacrifice herself to save her honour, and her
clansmen resolved to die with her. So she told the king- that
she would marry him if he would agree to the horn sacrifice
being performed at the ceremony. When the fire was kindled
the girl threw herself on it and perished, followed by a
hundred and two of her kinsmen. But the others were
cowardly and fled from the fire. Before she died the girl
cursed the king and her caste-fellows who had fled, and
they and their families were cut off from the earth. But
from those who died the hundred and two clans of the
Komtis are descended, and they worship the maiden as
Kanika Devi. She is considered to have been an incarnation
of Parvati and is the heroine of the Kanikya Puran. It is
also said that she ordained that henceforth all Komtis
should be black, so that none of their women might come
to harm by being desired for their beauty as she had been.
It is said that the caste look out for a specially dark girl
as a bride, and think that she will bring luck to her husband
and cause him to make money. Another explanation of
their dark colour is that they originally lived in Ceylon, and
when the island was set on fire by Rama their faces were
blackened in the smoke. The hundred and two clans have
each a particular kind of flower or tree which they do not
grow, eat, touch or burn, and the explanation they give of
this custom is that their ancestors who went into the fire
1 Mysore Ethnographic Survey, Komati caste (H. V, Nanjundayya),
544
KOMTI
were transformed into these trees and plants. The names
of the plants revered by each clan in the Central Provinces
appear to be the same as in Mysore. They include the
brinjal, the mango, the cotton-plant, wheat, linseed and
others.
The caste have several subcastes, among which are the
Yajna, or those whose ancestors went into the fire ; the
Patti, who are apparently thread-sellers ; the Jaina, or those
who follow the Jain faith ; and the Vidurs, a half-caste
section, who are the offspring of a Yajna father and a
mother of some low caste. There is a scarcity of girls, and
a bride-price of Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 is often paid. Perhaps
for the same reason the obligation to give a daughter to a
sister's son is strictly enforced, and a man who refuses to do
this is temporarily put out of caste. The gotras of the
mothers of the bride and bridegroom should not be the
same, and there should be no ' Turning back of the creeper,'
as they say, that is, when a girl has married into a family,
the latter cannot give a girl in marriage to that girl's family
ever afterwards. Before the regular betrothal when a girl
has been selected, they appoint a day and the bridegroom's
party proceed outside the village to take the omens. If a
bad omen occurs, they give up the idea of the match and
choose another girl. When the bridegroom has arrived
at the bride's village, before the marriage takes place, he
performs the Kashi-Yatra or Going to Benares. He is
dressed as for a journey and carries a small handful of rice
and other provisions tied up in packages in his upper
garment. Thus accoutred, he sets out with a stick and
umbrella on a pretended visit to Benares, for the purpose of
devoting his life to study. The parents of the bride meet
him and beg him to give up the journey, promising him
their daughter in marriage.1 The binding function of the
marriage is the tying of the mangal-sutram or piece of gold
strung on a thread round the bride's neck by the bridegroom.
This gold piece is called pusliti and must never be taken off.
If a woman loses it, she should hide herself from everybody
until it is replaced. On the way to her husband's house,
the bride should upset with her foot a measure of rice kept
1 H. V. Nanjundayya, loc. cit.
KORI
545
on purpose in the way, perhaps with the idea of showing that
there will be so much grain in her household that she can
afford to waste it.1 The Komtis did not eat in kitchens in
the famines, but accepted dry rations of food with great
reluctance. They wear the sacred thread and have caste-
marks on their foreheads. They usually rub powdered
turmeric on their face and hands, and this lends an un-
pleasant greenish tinge to the skin.
Kori. — The Hindu weaving caste of northern India, as i. Descrip-
distinct from the Julahas or Momins who are Muhammadans. Uo" of the
J caste.
In 191 1 the Koris numbered 35,000 persons, and resided
mainly in Jubbulpore, Saugor and Damoh. Mr. Crooke states
that their name has been derived from that of the Kol caste,
of whom they have by some been assumed to be an offshoot.2
The Koris themselves trace their origin from Kablr, the
apostle of the weaving castes. He, they say, met a
Brahman girl on the bank of a tank, and, being saluted by
her, replied, ' May God give you a son.' She objected that
she was a virgin and unmarried, but Kablr answered that
his word could not fail ; and a boy was born out of her
hand, whom she left on the bank of the tank. He was
suckled by a heifer and subsequently adopted by a weaver
and was the ancestor of the Koris. Therefore the caste say
of themselves : " He was born of an undefiled vessel, and
free from passion ; he lowered his body and entered the
ocean of existence." This legend is a mere perversion of
the story of Kablr himself, designed to give the Koris a
distinguished pedigree. In the Central Provinces the caste
appears to be almost entirely a functional group, made up of
members of other castes who were either expelled from their
own community or of their own accord adopted the pro-
fession of weaving. The principal subdivision is the Ahirwar,
taking its name from the old town of Ahar in the Buland-
shahr District. Among the others are Kushta (Koshta),
Chadar, Katia, Mehra, Dhimar and Kotwar, all of which,
except the last, are the names of distinct castes ; while the
Kotwars represent members of the caste who became village
1 H. V. Nanjundayya, loc. at.
2 Tribes and Castes of the North- West Provinces, iii. 316.
VOL. Ill 2 N
546 KORI part
watchmen, and considering themselves somewhat superior to
the others, have formed a separate subcaste. None of the
subcastes will eat together or intermarry, and this fact is in
favour of the supposition that they are distinct groups
amalgamated into a caste by their common profession of
weaving. The caste seem to have a fairly close connection
with Chamars in some localities. A number of Koris belong-
to the sect of Rohidas, and some of their family names are
the same, while a Chamar will often call himself a Kori to
conceal his identity. For the purposes of marriage they
are divided into a number of bainks or septs, the names of
which are territorial or totemistic. Among the latter may
be mentioned the Kulhariya from kulhari, an axe, and the
Barmaiya from the bar or banyan tree ; members of these
septs pay reverence to an axe and a banyan tree respectively
at weddings.
2. Mar- The marriage of persons belonging to the same sept and
riages. ajso t^X 0f first cousins is prohibited, while a family will
not, if they can help it, marry a daughter into the sept from
which a son has taken a wife. The rule of exogamy is thus
rather wide in its action, as is often found to be the case
among the lowest and most primitive castes. At the
betrothal the father of the girl produces a red cloth folded
up, and on this the boy's father lays a rupee. This is passed
round to five members of the caste who cry, ' So-and-so's
daughter and So-and-so's son, Har bolo (In the name of
Vishnu).' This completes the betrothal, the father of the boy
giving three rupees for a feast to the caste-fellows. A girl
who is made pregnant by a man of the caste or any higher
caste may be disposed of in marriage as a widow, but if the
man is of a lower caste than the Koris she is finally expelled.
The lagan or paper fixing the date of the marriage is written
by a Brahman and must not be shown to the bridegroom in
the interval, lest he should grow as thin as the paper bearing
his name. While he is being anointed and rubbed with
turmeric the bridegroom is wrapped in a black blanket, and
his bridal dress consists of a yellow shirt, pyjamas of red
cloth, and red shoes, while he carries in his hand a dagger,
nut-cracker or knife. As he leaves his house to proceed to
the bride's village he steps on two clay lamp-saucers, crushing
ii CUSTOMS AT BIRTH AND DEATH 547
them with his foot. When the party arrives the fathers of
the bride and bridegroom sit together with a pot full of curds
between them and give each other to drink from it as a
mark of amity. The binding portion of the marriage con-
sists in walking round the sacred pole and the other cere-
monies customary in the northern Districts are performed.
The bride does not return with her husband unless she is
adult ; otherwise the usual gauna ceremony is held subse-
quently. When she arrives at her husband's house she
makes prints of her hands smeared with turmeric on the
wall before entering it for the first time. The remarriage of
widows is freely permitted ; the second husband takes the
widow to his house after sunset, and here she is washed by
the barber's wife and puts on glass bangles again, and new
jewellery and clothes, if any are provided. No married
woman may see her as she enters the house. The husband
must give a feast to the caste-fellows, or at least to the
panchayat or committee. Divorce is freely permitted on
payment of a fine to the panchayat. When a man takes a
second wife a sot or silver image of the deceased first wife is
hung round her neck when she enters his house, and is wor-
shipped on ceremonial occasions.
A child is named on the day after its birth by some 3- Customs
woman of the caste ; a Brahman is asked whether the day and death
is auspicious, and he also chooses the name. If this is the
same as that of any living relation or one recently dead,
another name is given for ordinary use. A daughter-in-law is
usually given a new name when she goes to her husband's
house, such as Badi (elder), Manjhli (second son's wife), Bari
(innocent or simple), Jabalpurwali (belonging to Jubbulpore).
and so on. If a woman has borne only female children, the
umbilical cord is sometimes put in a small earthen pot and
buried at a place where three cross-roads meet, and it is
supposed that the birth of a male child will follow. Children
whose shaving ceremony has not been performed, and adults
dying from snake-bite, cholera, smallpox or leprosy, are
buried, while others are burnt. Children are carried to the
grave in their parents' arms. On the return of a funeral
party, liquor, provided by the relatives of the family, is
drunk at the house of the deceased.
548 KORI part
4. Reii- The Koris worship the ordinary Hindu deities and
especially Devi. They become inspired by this goddess at
the Jawara festival and pierce their cheeks with iron needles
and tridents. Every family has a household god or Kul-
Deo to whom a small platform is erected ; offerings other
than animal sacrifices are made to him on festivals and on
the celebration of a marriage.
5. Occupa- Those of the caste who are Kablrpanthis abstain from
tion and animal food, but the others eat the flesh of most animals
status. except tame pig, and also drink liquor. Their social status
is very low, but they are not usually considered as impure.
Their women are tattooed on the right arm before marriage,
and on the left after arrival at their husband's house. Like
several other low castes, they do not wear nose-rings. The
principal occupation of the caste is the weaving of coarse
country cloth, but as the trade of the hand-weaver is nowa-
days precarious and unprofitable many of them have for-
saken it and taken to cultivation or daily labour. Mr.
Nesfield says of them : " The material used by the Kori is
the thread supplied by the Dhunia (Bahna) ; and thus the
weaver caste has risen imperceptibly out of that of the
cotton-carder, in the same way as the cobbler caste has risen
out of the tanner. The art of weaving and plaiting threads
is very much the same process as that of plaiting osiers,
reeds and grass, and converting them into baskets and mats.
This circumstance explains the puzzle why the weaver caste
in India stands at such a low social level. He, however,
ranks several degrees above the Chamar or tanner ; as,
among Hindus, herbs and their products (cotton being of
course included) are invariably considered pure, while the
hides of dead animals are regarded as a pollution." This
argument is part of Mr. Nesfield's theory that the rank
of each caste depends on the period of civilisation at which
its occupation came into being, which is scarcely tenable.
The reason why the weavers rank so low may, perhaps, be
that the Aryans when they settled in villages in northern
India despised all handicrafts as derogatory to their dignity.
These were left to the subject tribes, and as a large number
of weavers would be required, the industry would necessarily
be embraced by the bulk of those who formed the lowest
ii OCCUPATION AND SOCIAL STATUS 549
stratum of the population, and has ever since remained in
their hands. If cloth was first woven from the tree-cotton
plant growing wild, the business of picking and weaving it
would naturally have fallen to the non-Aryan jungle tribes,
who afterwards became the impure menial and labouring
castes of the villages.
The weaver is the proverbial butt of Hindu ridicule, like
the tailor in England. ' One Gadaria will account for ten
weavers ' ; ' Four weavers will spoil any business.' The follow-
ing story also illustrates their stupidity : Twenty weavers
got into a field of kans grass. They thought it was a tank
and began swimming. When they got out they said, " Let
us all count and see how many we are, in case anybody has
been left in the tank." They counted and each left out him-
self, so that they all made out nineteen. Just then a Sowar came
by, and they cried to him, ' Oh, Sir, we were twenty, and one
of us has been drowned in this tank.' The Sowar seeing
that there was only a field of grass, counted them and found
there were twenty ; so he said, ' What will you give me if I
find the twentieth ? ' They promised him a piece of cloth, on
which the Sowar, taking his whip, lashed each of the weavers
across the shoulders, counting as he did so. When he had
counted twenty he took the cloth and rode away. Another
story is that a weaver bought a buffalo for twenty rupees.
His brother then came to him and wanted a share in the
buffalo. They did not know how he should be given a
share until at last the weaver said, " You go and pay the
man who sold me the buffalo twenty rupees ; and then you
will have given as much as I have and will be half-owner of
the buffalo." Which was done. The ridicule attaching to
the weaver's occupation is due to its being considered proper
for a woman rather than a man, and similar jests were
current at the tailor's expense in England. In India the
weaver probably takes the tailor's place because woven and
not sewn clothes have hitherto been generally worn, as
explained in the article on Darzi.
KORKU
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
1. Distribntio?i and origin. 8. Magical practices.
2. Tribal legends. 9. Funeral rites.
3. Tribal subdivisions. 10. Appearance and social customs.
4. Marriage. Betrothal. 1 1 . Character.
5. The marriage ceremony. 12. Inheritance.
6. Religion. 13. Occupation.
7. 7^<? Bhumka. 1 4. Language.
1. Distribu- Korku.1 — A Munda or a Kolarian tribe akin to the
tion and Korwas, with whom they have been identified in the India
origin.
Census of 1901. They number about 150,000 persons in
the Central Provinces and Berar, and belong to the west of
the Satpura plateau, residing only in the Hoshangabad,
Nimar, Betul and Chhindwara Districts. About 30,000
Korkus dwell in the Berar plain adjoining the Satpuras, and
a few thousand belong to Bhopal. The word Korku means
simply ' men ' or ' tribesmen,' koru being their term for a man
and ku z. plural termination. The tribe have a language of
their own, which resembles that of the Kols of Chota Nagpur.
The language of the Korwas, another Munda tribe found in
Chota Nagpur, is also known as Koraku or Korku, and one
of their subcastes has the same name.2 Some Korkus or
Mowasis are found in Chota Nagpur, and Colonel Dalton
considered them a branch of the Korwas. Another argu-
ment may be adduced from the sept names of the Korkus
1 This article is largely based on a of the Korkus given by Mr. (Sir
monograph contributed by Mr. H. R. Charles) Elliott in the Hoshangabad
Crosthwaite, Assistant Commissioner, Settlement Report { 1867), and by Major
Hoshangabad, and contains also Forsyth in the Nimar Settlement Report
extracts from a monograph by Mr. (1868-69).
Ganga Prasad Khatri; Forest Divisional 2 Risley's Tribes and Castes of
Officer, Betul, and from the description Bengal, Appendix V. : Konva.
550
Bemrose, Collo., Derby.
KORKUS OF THE MELGHAT HILLS.
part ii DISTRIBUTION AND ORIGIN 551
which are in many cases identical with those of the Kols and
Korwas. There is little reason to doubt then that the
Korkus are the same tribe as the Korwas, and both of these
may be taken to be offshoots of the great Kol or Munda
tribe. The Korkus have come much further west than their
kinsmen, and between their residence on the Mahadeo or
western Satpura hills and the Korwas and Kols, there lies
a large expanse mainly peopled by the Gonds and other
Dravidian tribes, though with a considerable sprinkling of
Kols in Mandla, Jubbulpore and Bilaspur. These latter
may have immigrated in comparatively recent times, but the
Kolis of Bombay may not improbably be another offshoot
of the Kols, who with the Korkus came west at a period
before the commencement of authentic history.1 One of
the largest subdivisions of the Korkus is termed Mowasi, and
this name is sometimes applied to the whole tribe, while the
tract of country where they dwell was formerly known as the
Mowas. Numerous derivations of this term have been given,
and the one commonly accepted is that it signifies ' The
troubled country,' and was applied to the hills at the time
when bands of Koli or Korku freebooters, often led by dis- .
possessed Rajput chieftains, harried the rich lowlands of
Berar from their hill forts on the Satpuras, exacting from the
Marathas, with poetical justice, the payments known as
' Tankha Mowasi ' for the ransom of the settled and peaceful
villages of the plains. The fact, however, that the Korkus
found in Chota Nagpur are also known as Mowasi militates
against this supposition, for if the name was applied only to
the Korkus of the Satpura plateau it would hardly have
travelled as far east as Chota Nagpur. Mr. Hislop derived
it from the mahua tree. But at any rate Mowasi meant a
robber to Maratha ears, and the forests of Kallbhlt and
Melghat are known as the Mowas.
According to their own traditions the Korkus like so 2. Tribal
many other early people were born from the soil. They egen s'
state that Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, observed that
the Vindhyan and Satpura ranges were uninhabited and
besought Mahadeo 2 to populate them. Mahadeo despatched
his messenger, the crow Kageshwar, to find for him an ant-
1 See also art. Kol. - The local term for the <rod Siva.
552
KORKU
hill made of red earth, and the crow discovered such an ant-
hill between the Saollgarh and Bhanwargarh ranges of Betul.
Mahadeo went to the place, and, taking a handful of red
earth, made images in the form of a man and a woman, but
immediately two fiery horses sent by Indra rose from the
earth and trampled the images to dust. For two days
Mahadeo persisted in his attempts, but as often as the images
were made they were destroyed in a similar manner. But
at length the god made an image of a dog and breathed
into it the breath of life, and this dog kept off the horses of
Indra. Mahadeo then made again his two images of a man
and woman, and giving them human life, called them Mula
and Mulai with the surname of Pothre, and these two
became the ancestors of the Korku tribe. Mahadeo then
created various plants for their use, the mahul1 from whose
strong and fibrous leaves they could make aprons and
head-coverings, the wild plantain whose leaves would afford
other clothing, and the mahua, the chironji, the sewan and
kullu 2 to provide them with food. Time went on and Mula
and Mulai had children, and being dissatisfied with their
condition as compared with that of their neighbours, besought
Mahadeo to visit them once more. When he appeared
Mula asked the god to give him grain to eat such as he had
heard of elsewhere on the earth. Mahadeo sent the crow
Kageshwar to look for grain, and he found it stored in the
house of a Mang named Japre who lived at some distance
within the hills. Japre on hearing what was required
besought the honour of a visit from the god himself.
Mahadeo went, and Japre laid before him an offering of
1 2 khandis 3 of grain, 1 2 goats and 1 2 buckets of water,
and invited Mahadeo to eat and drink. The god was
pleased with the offering and unwilling to reject it, but con-
sidered that he could not eat food defiled by the touch of
the outcaste Mang, so Parvati created the giant Bhimsen
and bade him eat up the food offered to Mahadeo. When
Bhimsen had finished the offering, however, it occurred to
him that he also had been defiled by taking food from a
1 Bauhinia Vaklii. folia, Gmelina ar-borea and Stercidia
urens.
2 Bassia latifolia, Biuhanania lati- 3 Nearly 3^ tons.
ii TRIBAL LEGENDS 553
Mang, and in revenge he destroyed Japre's house and covered
the site of it with debris and dirt. Japre then complained to
Mahadeo of this sorry requital of his offering and prayed
to have his house restored to him. Bhlmsen was ordered
to do this, and agreed to comply on condition that Mula
should pay to him the same honour and worship as he
accorded to Rawan, the demon king. Mula promised to do
so, and Bhlmsen then sent the crow Kageshwar to the tank
Daldal, bidding him bring thence the pig Buddu, who being
brought was ordered to eat up all the dirt that covered
Japre's house. Buddu demurred except on condition that
he also should be worshipped by Mula and his descendants
for ever. Mula agreed to pay worship to him every third
year, whereupon Buddu ate up all the dirt, and dying from
the effects received the name of Mahabissum, under which
he is worshipped to the present day. Mahadeo then took
some seed from the Mang and planted it for Mula's use,
and from it sprang the seven grains — kodon, kutki, gurgi,
mandgi, barai, rata and dhan l which the Korkus principally
cultivate. It may be noticed that the story ingeniously
accounts for and sheds as it were an orthodox sanction on
the custom of the Korkus of worshipping the pig and the
local demon Bhlmsen, who is placed on a sort of level with
Rawan, the opponent of Rama. After recounting the above
story Mr. Crosthwaite remarks : " This legend given by the
Korkus of their creation bears a curious analogy to our own
belief as set forth in the Old Testament. They even give
the tradition of a flood, in which a crow plays the part of
Noah's dove. There is a most curious similarity between
their belief in this respect and that found in such distant and
widely separated parts as Otaheite and Siberia. Remember-
ing our own name ' Adam,' which I believe means in Hebrew
1 made of red earth,' it is curious to observe the stress that is
laid in the legend on the necessity for finding red earth for
the making of man." Another story told by the Korkus
with the object of providing themselves with Rajput ancestry
is to the effect that their forefathers dwelt in the city of
Dharanagar, the modern Dhar. It happened one day that
1 Paspalum scrobiculatum, Paniciun coracana, Saccharum ojjiciaucu'uiu
psilopodium, Coix Lachryma, Eletisine Setaria italica, Oryza sativa.
554
KORKU
they were out hunting and followed a sambhar stag, which
fled on and on until it finally came to the Mahadeo or
Pachmarhi hills and entered a cave. The hunters remained
at the mouth waiting for the stag to come out, when a
hermit appeared and gave them a handful of rice. This
they at once cooked and ate as they were hungry from their
long journey, and they found to their surprise that the rice
sufficed for the whole party to eat their fill. The hermit
then told them that he was the god Mahadeo, and had
assumed the form of a stag in order to lead them to these
hills, where they were to settle and worship him. They
obeyed the command of the god, and a Korku zamlndar is
still the hereditary guardian of Mahadeo's shrine at Pach-
marhi. This story has of course no historical value, and the
Korkus have simply stolen the city of Dharanagar for their
ancestral home from their neighbours the Bhoyars and
Panwars. These castes relate similar stories, which may in
their case be founded on fact.
3. Tribal . As is usual among the forest tribes the Korkus formerly
had a subdivision called Raj-Korku, who were made up of
landowning members of the caste and were admitted to rank
among those from whom a Brahman would take water,
while in some cases a spurious Rajput ancestry was devised
for them, as in the story given above. The remainder of
the tribe were called Potharia, or those to whom a certain
dirty habit is imputed. These main divisions have, however,
become more or less obsolete, and have been supplanted by
four subcastes with territorial names, Mowasi, Bawaria,
Ruraa and Bondoya. The meaning of the term Mowasi has
already been given, and this subcaste ranks as the highest,
probably owing to the gentlemanly calling of armed robbery
formerly practised by its members. The Bawarias are the
dwellers in the Bhanwargarh tract of Betul, the Rumas those
who belong to Basim and Gangra in the Amraoti District,
and the Bondoyas the residents of the Jitgarh and Pach-
marhi tract. These last are also called Bhovadaya and
Bhopa, and this name has been corrupted into Bopchi in the
Wardha District, a few hundred Bondoya Korkus who live
there being known as Bopchi and considered a distinct
caste. Except among the Mowasis, who usually marry in
sub
divisions
ii TRIBAL SUBDIVISIONS 555
their own subcaste, the rule of endogamy is not strictly
observed. The above description refers to Betul and Nimar,
but in Hoshangabad, Mr. Crosthvvaite says : " Four-fifths
of the Korkus have been so affected by the spread of
Brahmanical influence as to have ceased to differ in any
marked way from the Hindu element in the population, and
the Korku has become so civilised as to have learnt to be
ashamed of being a Korku." Each subcaste has traditionally
36 exogamous septs, but the numbers have now increased.
The sept names are generally taken from those of plants
and animals. These were no doubt originally totemistic,
but the Korkus now say that the names are derived from
trees and other articles in or behind which the ancestors of
each sept took refuge after being defeated in a great battle.
Thus the ancestor of the Atkul sept hid in a gorge, that of
the Bhuri Rana sept behind a dove's nest, that of the Dewda
sept behind a rice plant, that of the Jambu sept behind a
jamun tree,1 that of the Kasada sept in the bed of a river,
that of the Takhar sept behind a cucumber plant, that of
the Sakum sept behind a teak tree, and so on. Other
names are Banku or a forest-dweller ; Bhurswa or Bhoyar,
perhaps from the caste of that name ; Basam or Baoria, the
god of beehives ; and Marskola or Mawasi, which the Korkus
take to mean a field flooded by rain. One sept has the
name Killibhasam, and its ancestor is said to have eaten the
flesh of a heifer half-devoured by a tiger and parched by a
forest fire. In Hoshangabad the legend of the battle is not
known, and among the names given by Mr. Crosthwaite are
Akandi, the benighted one ; Tandil, a rat ; and Chuthar, the
flying black-bug. In a few cases the names of septs are
Hindi or Marathi words, these perhaps affording a trace of
the foundation of separate families by members of other
castes. No totemistic usages are followed as a rule, but one
curious instance may be given. One sept has the name
lobo, which means a piece of cloth. But the word lobo also
signifies ' to leak.' If a person says a sentence containing
the word lobo in either signification before a member of the
sept while he is eating, he will throw away the food before
him as if it were contaminated and prepare a meal afresh.
1 Eugenia jambolana.
556 KORKU part
Ten of the septs * consider the regular marriage of girls to
be inauspicious, and the members of these simply give away
their daughters without performing a ceremony.*
4. Mar- Marriage between members of the same sept is prohibited
oage'.u 1 and also the union of first cousins. The preliminaries to a
Betrothal. _ r
marriage commence with the bali-diidna or arrangement of
the match. The boy's father having selected a suitable bride
for his son sends two elders of the caste to propose the match
to her father, who as a matter of etiquette invariably declines
it, swearing with great oaths that he will not allow his
daughter to get married or that he will have a son-in-law
who will serve for her. The messengers depart, but return
again and again until the father's obduracy is overcome,
which may take from six months to two years, while from
nine to twelve months is considered a respectable period.
When his consent is finally obtained the residents of the
girl's village are called to hear it, and the compact is sealed
with large potations of liquor. A ceremony of betrothal
follows at which the daij or dowry is arranged, this signifying
among the Korkus the compensation to be paid to the girl's
father for the loss of her services. It is computed by a
curious system of symbolic higgling. The women of the
girl's party take two plates and place on them two heaps
containing respectively ten and fifty seeds of a sort used for
reckoning. The ten seeds on the first plate represent five
rupees for the panchayat and five cloths for the mother,
brother, paternal aunt and paternal and maternal uncles of
the girl. The heap of fifty seeds indicates that Rs. 50 must
be paid to the girl's father. When the plates are received
by the boy's party they take away forty-five of the seeds
from the larger heap and return the plate, to indicate that
they will only pay five rupees to the girl's father. The
women add twenty-five seeds and send back the plate again.
The men' then take away fifteen, thus advancing the bride-
price to fifteen rupees. The women again add twenty-five
seeds and send back the plate, and the men again take away
twenty, and returning the remaining twenty which are taken
as the sum agreed upon, in addition to the five cloths and
1 Makyatotha, Jondhratotha, Dharslma, Changri, Lobo, Khambi, Dagde,
Kullya, Bursuma and Killlbhasam.
ii THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY 557
five rupees for the panchayat. The total amount paid
averages about Rs. 60. Wealthy men sometimes refuse this
payment or exchange a bride for a bridegroom. The dowry
should be paid before the wedding, and in default of this the
bridegroom's father is made not a little uncomfortable at
that festival. Should a betrothed girl die before marriage,
the dowry does not abate and the parents of the girl have
a right to stop her burial until it is paid. But if a father
shows himself hard to please and refuses eligible offers, or if
a daughter has fallen in love, as sometimes happens, she
will leave her home quietly some morning and betake herself
to the house of the man of her choice. If her young affections
have not been engaged, she may select of her own accord
a protector whose circumstances and position make him
attractive, and preferably one whose mother is dead.
Occasionally a girl will install herself in the house of a man
who does not want her, and his position then is truly pitiable.
He dare not turn her out as he would be punished by the
caste for his want of gallantry, and his only course is to
vacate his own house and leave her in possession. After a
time his relations represent to her that the man she wants
has gone on a journey and will not be back for a long time,
and induce her to return to the paternal abode. But such
a case is very rare.
The marriage ceremony resembles that of the Hindus 5- The
but has one or two special features. After the customary cerei^y.
cleaning of the house which should be performed on a
Tuesday, the bridegroom is carried to the heap of stones
which represents Mutua Deo, and there the Bhumka or priest
invokes the various sylvan deities, offering to them the blood
of chickens. Again when he is dressed for the wedding the
boy is given a knife or dagger carrying a pierced lemon on
the blade, and he and his parents and relatives proceed to
a ber1 or wild plum tree. The boy and his parents sit at
the foot of the tree and are tied to it with a thread, while the
Bhumka again spills the blood of a fowl on the roots of the
tree and invokes the sun and moon, whom the Korkus
consider to be their ultimate ancestors. The ber fruit may
perhaps be selected as symbolising the red orb of the setting
1 Zizyphns jujuba.
553
KORKU
sun. The party then dance round the tree. When the
wedding procession is formed the following ceremony takes
place : A blanket is spread in the yard of the house and the
bridegroom and his elder brother's wife are made to stand on
it and embrace each other seven times. This may probably
be a survival of the modified system of polyandry still
practised by the Khonds, under which the younger brothers
are allowed access to the elder brother's wife until their own
marriage. The ceremony would then typify the cessation
of this intercourse at the wedding of the boy. The procession
must reach the bride's village on a Monday, a Wednesday or
a Friday, a breach of this rule entailing a fine of Rs. 8 on
the boy's father. On arrival at the bride's village its progress
is barred by a rope stretched across the road by the bride's
relatives, who must be given two pice each before it is
removed. The bridegroom touches the marriage-shed with
a bamboo fan. Next day the couple are seated in the shed
and covered with a blanket on to which water is poured to
symbolise the fertilising influence of rain. The groom ties
a necklace of beads to the girl's neck, and the couple are then
lifted up by the relatives and carried three times round the
yard of the house, while they throw yellow-coloured rice at
each other. Their clothes are tied together and they pro-
ceed to make an offering to Mutua Deo. In Hoshangabad,
Mr. Crosthwaite states, the marriage ceremony is presided
over by the bridegroom's aunt or other collateral female
relative. The bride is hidden in her father's house. The
aunt then enters carrying the bridegroom and searches for
the bride. When the bride is found the brother-in-law of
the bridegroom takes her up, and bride and bridegroom are
then seated under a sheet. The rings worn on the little
finger of the right hand are exchanged under the sheet and
the clothes of the couple are knotted together. Then follow
the sapta padi or seven steps round the post, and the cere-
mony concludes with a dance, a feast and an orgy of drunken-
ness. A priest takes no part in a Korku marriage ceremony,
which is a purely social affair. If a man has only one
daughter, or if he requires an assistant for his cultivation, he
often makes his prospective son-in-law serve for his wife for
a period varying from five to twelve years, the marriage being
n RELIGION 559
then celebrated at the father-in-law's expense. If the boy-
runs away with the girl before the end of his service, his
parents have to pay to the girl's father five rupees for each
year of the unexpired term. Marriage is usually adult,
girls being wedded between the ages of ten and sixteen and
boys at about twenty. Polygamy is freely practised by
those who are well enough off to afford it, and instances are
known of a man having as many as twelve wives living.
A man must not marry his wife's younger sister if she is the
widow of a member of his own sept nor his elder brother's
widow if she is his wife's elder sister. Widow-marriage is
allowed, and divorce may be effected by a simple proclamation
of the fact to the pancJiayat in a caste assembly.
The Korkus consider themselves as Hindus, and are held 6. Reli-
to have a better claim to a place in the social structure of §lon'
Hinduism than most of the other forest tribes, as they worship
the sun and moon which are Hindu deities and also Mahadeo.
In truth, however, their religion, like that of many low Hindu
castes, is almost purely animistic. The sun and moon are
their principal deities, the name for these luminaries in their
language being Gomaj, which is also the term for god or a
god. The head of each family offers a white she-goat and
a white fowl to the sun every third year, and the Korkus
stand with the face to the sun when beginning to sow, and
perform other ceremonies with the face turned to the east.
The moon has no special observances, but as she is a female
deity she is probably considered to participate in those paid
to the sun. These gods are, however, scarcely expected to
interest themselves in the happenings of a Korku's daily life,
and the local godlings who are believed to regulate these are
therefore propitiated with greater fervour. The three most
important village deities are Dongar Deo, the god of the hills,
who resides on the nearest hill outside the village and is
worshipped at Dasahra with offerings of cocoanuts, limes,
dates, vermilion and a goat ; Mutua Deo, who is represented
by a heap of stones within the village and receives a pig for
a sacrifice, besides special oblations when disease and sickness
are prevalent ; and Mata, the goddess of smallpox, to whom
cocoanuts and sweetmeats, but no animal sacrifices, are
offered.
560 KORKU part
7. The The priests of the Korkus are of two kinds — Parihars
Bhumka. an(j Bhumkas. The Parihar may be any man who is
visited with the divine afflatus or selected as a mouthpiece
by the deity ; that is to say, a man of hysterical disposition
or one subject to epileptic fits. He is more a prophet than
a priest, and is consulted only on special occasions. Parihars
are also rare, but every village has its Bhumka, who performs
the regular sacrifices to the village gods and the special ones
entailed by disease or other calamities. On him devolves
the dangerous duty of keeping tigers out of the boundaries.
When a tiger visits the village the Bhumka repairs to Bagh
Deo 1 and makes an offering to the god, promising to repeat
it for so many years on condition that the tiger does not
appear for that time. The tiger on his part never fails to
fulfil the contract thus silently made, for he is pre-eminently
an honourable upright beast, not faithless and treacherous
like the leopard whom no contract can bind. Some Bhumkas,
however, masters of the most powerful spells, are not obliged
to rely on the traditional honour of the tiger, but compel
his attendance before Bagh Deo ; and such a Bhumka has
been seen as a very Daniel among tigers muttering his
incantations over two or three at a time as they crouched
before him. Of one Bhumka in Kalibhlt it is related that
he had a fine large saj tree, into which, when he uttered his
spells, he would drive a nail, and on this the tiger came
and ratified the compact with his enormous paw, with which
he deeply scored the bark. In this way some have lost
their lives, victims of misplaced confidence in their own
powers.2 If a man is sick and it is desired to ascertain
what god or spirit of an ancestor has sent the malady, a
handful of grain is waved over the sick man and then carried
to the Bhumka. He makes a heap of it on the floor, and,
sitting over it, swings a lighted lamp suspended by four
strings from his fingers. He then repeats slowly the name
of the village deities and the sick man's ancestors, pausing
between each, and the name at which the lamp stops swinging
is that of the offended one. He then inquires in a similar
1 The tiger-god. bad Settlement Report written ki 1867.
Since that time the belief in the
2 The above passage is taken from magical powers of the Bhumka has
Mr. (Sir Charles) Elliott's Hoshanga- somewhat declined.
ii THE BHUMKA 561
manner whether the propitiation shall be a pig, a chicken,
a goat, a cocoanut and so on. The office of Bhumka is
usually, but not necessarily, hereditary, and a new one is
frequently chosen by lot, this being also done when a
new village is founded. All the villagers then sit in a line
before the shrine of Mutua Deo, to whom a black and a
white chicken are offered. The Parihar, or, if none be
available, the oldest man present, then sets a paix rolling
before the line of men, and the person before whom it stops
is marked out by this intervention of the deity as the new
Bhumka. When a new village is to be founded a pat
measure is filled with grain to a level with the brim, but
with no head (this being known as a mundi or bald pat),
and is placed before Mutua Deo in the evening and watched
all night. In the morning the grain is poured out and
again replaced in the measure ; if it now fills this and also
leaves enough for a head, and still more if it brims and runs
over, it is a sign that the village will be very prosperous
and that every cultivator's granaries will run over in the
same way. But it is an evil omen if the grain does not fill
up to the level of the rim of the measure. The explanation
of the difference in bulk may be that the grains increase or
decrease slightly in size according as the atmosphere is
moist or dry, or perhaps the Bhumka works the oracle.
The Bhumka usually receives contributions in grain
from all the houses in the village ; but occasionally each
cultivator gives him a day's ploughing, a day's weeding
and a day's wood-cutting free. The Bhumka is also em-
ployed in Hindu villages for the service of the village gods.
But the belief in the powers of these deities is decaying, and
with it the tribute paid to the Bhumka for securing their
favour. Whereas formerly he received substantial contri-
butions of grain on the same scale as a village menial, the
cultivator will now often put him off with a basketful or
even a handful, and say, ' I cannot spare you any more,
Bhumka ; you must make all the gods content with that.'
In curing diseases the Parihar resorts to swindling tricks.
He will tell the sick man that a sacrifice is necessary, asking
for a goat if the patient can afford one. He will say it
1 A small measure for grain.
VOL. Ill 2 O
562 KORKU part
must be of a particular colour, as all black, white or red, so
that the sick man's family may have much trouble in finding
one, and they naturally think the sacrifice is more efficacious
in proportion to the difficulty they experience in arranging
for it. If they cannot afford a goat the Parihar tells them
to sacrifice a cock, and requires one whose feathers curl
backwards, as they occasionally do. If the family is very
poor any chicken which has come out of the shell, so long
as it has a beak, will do duty for a cock. If a man has a
pain in his body the Parihar will suck the place and produce
small pieces of bone from his mouth, stained with vermilion
to imitate blood, and say that he has extracted them from
the patient's body. Perhaps the idea may be that the
bones have been caused to enter his body and make him ill
by the practice of magic. Formerly the Parihar had to prove
his supernatural powers by whipping himself on the back
with a rope into which the ends of nails were twisted, and to
continue this ordeal for a period long enough to satisfy the
villagers that he could not have borne it without some divine
assistance. But this salutary custom has fallen into abeyance.
8. Magical The Korkus have the same belief in the efficacy of
practices, imitative and sympathetic magic as other primitive peoples.1
Thus to injure an enemy, a clay image of him is made and
pierced with a knife, in the belief that the real person will
suffer in the same manner. If the clay can be taken from
a place where his foot has made an impression in walking,
or the image wrapped round with his hair, the charm is
more efficacious. Or an image may be made with charcoal
on some stolen portion of his apparel, and similarly wrapped
in his hair ; it is then burnt in the belief that the real person
will be attacked by fever. Sometimes the image is buried
in a place where it is likely that the victim will walk over
it, when the same result is hoped for. In order to produce
rain, a frog, as the animal delighting in the element of
water, is caught and slung on a stick ; the boys and girls
then carry it from house to house and the householders pour
water over it. If it is desired to stop rain a frog is caught
and buried alive, this being done by a naked boy. Another
1 Most of the information in this paragraph is taken from Mr. Ganga Prasad
Khatri's Report.
ii MAGICAL PRACTICES 563
device for producing rain is to yoke two naked women to a
plough, who are then driven across a field like bullocks and
goaded by a third naked woman. This device may possibly
be intended to cause the gods to send rain, by showing how
the natural order of the world is upset and reversed by the
continued drought. In order to stop rain an unmarried
youth collects water in a new earthen pot from the eaves
and buries it below the hearth so that the water may dis-
appear by evaporation and the rain may cease in the same
manner. Another method is to send a man belonging to
the Kasada sept — Kasada meaning slime — to bring a plough
from the field and place it in his house. He also stops
bathing or washing for the period for which a break in the
rains is required, and the idea is perhaps that as the man
whose name and nature are mud or slime is dry so the mud
on the earth will dry up ; and as the plough is dry, the
ploughed fields which have been in contact with it will also
become dry. In order to produce a quarrel the quills of a
porcupine are smoked with the burnt parings of an enemy's
nails and deposited in the eaves of his house. And as the
fretful porcupine raises his quills when angry with an enemy,
these will have the effect of causing strife among the members
of the household. If a person wishes to transfer his sick-
ness to another, he obtains the latter's cloth and draws on
it with lamp-black two effigies, one upright and the other
upside down. As soon as the owner puts on the cloth, he
will fall a victim to the ailment of the person who drew the
effigies. In order to obtain children the hair of a woman
who has borne several is secured by a barren woman and
buried below her bathing-stone, when the quality of fertility
will be transferred to her from the owner of the hair. In
order to facilitate child-birth a twisted thread is untwined
before the eyes of the pregnant woman with the idea that
the delivery will thus be made direct and easy ; or she is
given water to drink in which her husband's left leg, a gun-
barrel, a pestle, or a thunder-bolt has been washed ; it being
supposed that as each of these articles has the quality of
direct and powerful propulsion, this quality will be conveyed
to the woman and enable her to propel the child from her
womb. The Korkus also trust largely to omens. It is
564 KORKU part
inauspicious when starting out on some business to see a
black-faced monkey or a hare passing either on the left or
right, or a snake crossing in front. A person seeing any
of these will usually return and postpone his business to a
more favourable occasion. It is a bad omen for a hen to
cackle or lay eggs at night. One sneeze is a bad omen,
but two neutralise the effect and are favourable. An
empty pot is a bad omen and a full one good. To break
a pot when commencing any business is fatal, and shows
that the work will come to naught. Thursdays and
Fridays are favourable days for working, and Mondays and
Tuesdays for propitiating one's ancestors. Odd numbers
are lucky. In order to lay to rest the spirit of a dead
person, who it is feared may trouble the living, five pieces
of bamboo are taken as representing the bones of the dead
man, and these with five crab's legs, five grains of rice and
other articles are put into a basket and thrust into a crab's
hole under water. The occasion is made an excuse for
much feasting and drinking, and the son or other representa-
tive who lays the spirit works himself up into a state of
drunken excitement before he enters the water to search
for a suitable hole. The fat of a tiger is considered to be
an excellent medicine for rheumatism and sprains, and
much store is set by it. The tiger's tongue is also supposed
to be a very powerful tonic or strengthening medicine for
weakly children. It is cooked, pounded up, and a small
quantity administered in milk or water. When a tiger has
been killed the Gonds and Korkus will singe off his whiskers,
as they think this will prevent the tiger's spirit from
haunting them. Another idea is that the whiskers if
chopped up and mixed in the food of an enemy will poison
him. They frequently object to touch a man who has been
injured or mauled by a tiger, as they think that to do so
would bring down the tiger's vengeance on them. And in
some places any Gond or Korku who touches a man mauled
by a tiger is put temporarily out of caste and has to be
purified and give a feast on readmission.
9- Funeral The dead are usually buried, two pice being first thrown
into the grave to buy the site. The body is laid on its
back, naked and with the head pointing to the south.
rites.
ii FUNERAL RITES 565
The earth is mixed with briars and thorns while being filled
in so as to keep off hyenas, and stones are placed over the
grave. No fixed period of mourning is observed, but after
the lapse of some days, the deceased's family or relatives go
to the burial-place, taking with them a piece of turmeric.
This they cut into strips, and, placing them in a leaf-cup,
pour water over them. As the water falls on the tomb, a
god is called to witness that this day the dead man's spirit
has been sent to live with the ancestors. The pieces
of turmeric are then tied in a cloth which, after receiving
an oblation of fowl's blood, is suspended from the main
beam of the house, this being considered the dwelling-
place of the departed. This ceremony, called Pitar Miloni,
is the first rite for the admission of the deceased with
the spirits of his ancestors, and is preliminary to the
final ceremony of Sedoli which may be performed at any
time between four months and fifteen years after the death.
But until it is complete the spirit of the deceased has not
been laid finally to rest and has the power of sending aches
and pains to molest the bodies of its living relatives. Each
sept has a place in which the Sedoli rites must be performed,
and however far the Korku may have wandered from the
original centre of his tribe, he must return there to set
his father's spirit at rest and enable it to join the ancestral
ghosts. When the Sedoli is to be performed an unblemished
teak or salaix tree is selected and wrapped round with a
thread, while seven circuits of it are made and a bottle of
liquor and two pice are offered as purchase money. It is
then cut down and brought home, and from it a smooth stake
called miinda is fashioned, 24 to 30 inches high, and squared
or pointed at the top, often being arrow-headed. On it are
carved representations of the sun and moon, a spider and
a human ear, and below these a figure representing the
principal person in whose honour the stake is erected, on
horseback with weapons in his hand. The proper method
is to have one miinda for each ancestor, but poor persons
make one do for several and their figures are then carved
below. But care must be taken that the total number of
figures representing the dead does not exceed that of the
1 Boswellia serrata.
566 KORKU part
members of the family who have died during the period
for which the Sedoli is performed. For in that case another
person is likely to die for each extra figure. The little
bags of turmeric representing the ancestors are then taken
from the main beam of the house and carried with the
munda to the burial-place. There a goat is sacrificed and
these articles are besmeared with its blood, after which a
feast is held accompanied by singing and dancing. Next
day the party again go to the burial-place and plant the
munda in it, placing two pice in the hole beneath it. They
then proceed to the riverside, and, making a little ball
from the flesh of the sacrificed animal, place it together
with the bags of turmeric on a leaf platter, and throw the
whole into the river saying, ' Ancestors, find your home.'
If the ball sinks at once they consider that the ancestors
have been successful, but if any delay takes place, they
attribute it to the difficulty experienced by the ancestors in
the selection of a home and throw in two pice to assist
them. The pith of a bamboo may be substituted for
turmeric to represent the bones. The dead are supposed
to inhabit a village of their own similar to that in which
they dwelt on earth and to lead there a colourless existence
devoid alike of pleasure and of pain.
10. Ap- The following description of the Korkus is given by
and'sodli MaJor Forsyth in the Nimar Settlement Report of 1868-69,
customs, with the addition of some remarks made by other observers.
The Korkus are well built and muscular. The average
Korku has a round face, a nose rather wide but not flat
like a negro's, prominent cheek-bones, a scanty moustache
and his head shaved after the Hindu fashion. They are
slightly taller than the Gond, a shade darker and a good
many shades dirtier. In the wilder parts one may come
across some quite too awful Korkus, from whom an inter-
vening space of fifty yards is an insufficient protection,
though strange to say there are no less than six words in
their language which mean ' to wash ' ; one to wash the
whole body, one the limbs, one for the face, one for the
mouth, one for the hair and one for the clothes, besides a
word for scouring the body with a stone and another word
for bathing in a stream. Their habitations on the other
ii APPEARANCE AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS 567
hand present quite a contrast to their individual want of
cleanliness. They build their villages of a close bamboo
wattle-work and with almost Swisslike neatness, a picturesque
site being usually chosen, and the plan being one long
street with a wide open roadway, or several such parallel
with each other. The villages are kept remarkably clean, in
striking contrast to the habitations of other aboriginal
tribes. The average village contains about twenty huts,
and it is the custom to bind these so closely together that
forest fires often sweep through a whole village before a hut
can be removed to check their course. The average hut is
about fifteen feet square with a rather flat roof covered with
loose grass over a layer of leaves and pressed down by
outside poles. No nails are required as the posts are bound
firmly together with bamboo or creeper fibre. The inmates
generally sleep on the ground, and a few low stools carved
from teak wood serve them for pillows. Every village has a
few pigs and fowls running about, both of which are eaten
after being sacrificed. The Korku is an adept in the crude
process of distillation in which the only apparatus required
consists of two gharas or earthen pots, a hollow bamboo,
some mahua flowers, water and a fire. By this means the
Korku manages to produce liquor upon which he can effectu-
ally get drunk. They are by no means particular about
what they eat. Fowls, pork, fish, crabs and tortoise are all
consumed, and beef and rats are eaten in some localities
but not in others. The Ruma and Bondoya Korkus eat
buffaloes, and the latter add monkeys to an already com-
prehensive dietary. The lowest caste with whom they are
said to eat are Kolis. They do not eat with Gonds.
Gonds, Mangs, Basors and a few other low castes take food
from them and also, it is said, Bhils. The Korkus will
freely admit members of the higher castes into the com-
munity, and a woman incurs no social penalty for a liaison
with a member of any caste from which a Korku can take
food. But if she goes wrong with a low-caste man she
is permanently expelled and a fine of Rs. 40 is exacted
from the parents before they are readmitted to social inter-
course. In the case of adultery with a member of the
caste, if the husband does not wish to keep his wife, the
568 KORKU part
offending parties have a lock of hair cut off and give a
dinner, and are then considered to be married. But if the
husband does not turn his wife away, he, on his wife's
account, and the seducer must give a joint dinner to the
caste. They have a tribal council or panchayat which
inflicts the usual penalties for social offences, while in
very serious cases, such as intercourse with a low caste,
it causes the offender to be born again. He is placed
inside a large earthen pot which is sealed up, and when
taken out of this he is said to be born again from his
mother's womb. He is then buried in sand and comes out
as a fresh incarnation from the earth, placed in a grass hut
which is fired, and from within which he runs out as it is
burning, immersed in water, and finally has a tuft cut from
his scalp- lock and is fined two and a half rupees. The
Korkus as a race are very poor, and a poor Korku manages
to exist with even less clothing than a poor Gond. A loin-
cloth of the scantiest and a wisp of turban coiled on the
top of the head and leaving the centre of the skull
uncovered form his complete costume for dry weather.
Sometimes a large brass chain is worn in the turban or
attached to the waist, and to it are suspended a flint and steel
and a small dry gourd full of cotton — the implements
for obtaining fire. It is also common to wear a large brass ring
in one ear. A special habit of the Korku in Nimar, Major
Forsyth states, is to carry a small bamboo flute behind the
ear like a pen, from which he discourses a not unpleasant
strain, chiefly when drunk or engaged in propitiating Bagh
Deo, Devi or any other dread power whom he reverences.
The women as a rule wear only a dirty white sari and
are loaded with cheap ornaments. Necklaces of beads
are worn on the neck, covering the chest, while the arms
and legs are weighed down with brass and iron.
ii. Char- Like most hill tribes the Korkus are remarkably honest
and truthful, slow at calculation and very indignant at being
cheated. They are very improvident and great drunkards,
and it is the latter habit which has aggravated the obstacles
to their improvement.
12. inherit- The Korku law of inheritance differs somewhat from
that of the Hindus. Among them a grandson does not
ance
n OCCUPATION
inherit the property of his grandfather unless it is opei
and clearly granted to him during the latter's lifetime,
married son living separately from his father has no rig
of succession to the paternal property, but if he is unmarried,
he receives half the share of a son who is living with his
father. A daughter or a daughter's son does not inherit
the father's property unless it is granted to either of them
by a deed of gift. The sons and mother share equally.
The Korkus formerly lived principally by hunting, and 13. Occu-
practised the shifting cultivation in the forests which is Patlon-
now forbidden. Very few of them are landowners, but
some large zamlndari estates in Hoshangabad and Chhindwara
are held by Korku proprietors, who are protected by the
prohibition of alienation. Though too improvident and
lazy to be good cultivators, they are in great request as
farmservants and ploughmen, being too honest to defraud
their master of labour or material. A remarkable change
has thus taken place from their former character of notorious
robbers. They cultivate mainly in the hilly tracts and
grow light grains, though some have colonised the waste
lands of the upper Tapti valley in Nimar and raise good
crops of wheat. They do not as a rule keep cattle other
than the few oxen required for cultivating the soil and
hauling out timber. Game of all kinds is caught by means
of heavy log traps for the larger varieties such as sambhar,
bear and spotted deer and even leopard ; while hares,
jungle-fowl and the smaller sort of game are caught under
heavy stones held up by nicely adjusted strings. Occasion-
ally, when in search of meat, a whole village will sally out
into the forest. The shikari has generally a matchlock-
concealed in some hiding-place in the jungle, and once he
is posted the others beat towards him and any animal that
turns up is shot at. In the hot weather the water-hole and
the bow and arrow play no small part in helping to fill the
Korku larder. Another method of catching birds is to
spread the pounded fruit of a certain parasitic airplant on a
rock. A thick shining gum exudes which so entangles
the feet of the smaller birds as to prevent their escape.
Fish dams are built when the water subsides after the rains,
and a cylindrical basket six or eight feet in length being
57o
KORKU
14. Langu-
age.
adjusted at the outlet, the fish are driven into this from
above. During the hot season the fruit of the ghetu is
thrown into the pools, and this stupefies the fish and causes
them to float on the surface of the water, where they are
easily caught.
The Korkus have a language of their own which belongs
to the Kolarian or Munda sub-family. Dr. Grierson says of
it : " The Munda, sometimes called the Kolarian family,
is probably the older branch of the Dravido-Munda languages.
It exhibits the characteristics of an agglutinative language
to an extraordinarily complete degree." In the Central
Provinces nearly 90 per cent of Korkus were returned as
speaking their own language in 191 1. Mr. Crosthwaite
remarks : " The language is in a state of decay and transition,
and Hindi and Marathi terms have crept into its vocabulary.
But very few Gondi words have been adopted. A grammar
of the Korku language by Drake has been printed at the
Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta."
KORWA
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
I.
General notice.
6.
Religion.
2.
Physical appearance.
7-
Social customs.
3-
Subdivisions.
8.
Dancing.
4-
Marriage customs.
9-
Occupation.
5-
Funeral rites.
1 1.
Folk-tales.
IO.
Dacoity.
notice.
Korwa.1 — A Kolarian tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau, i. General
In 191 1 about 34,000 Korwas were returned in the Central
Provinces, the great bulk of whom belong to the Sarguja
and Jashpur States and a few to the Bilaspur District. The
Korwas are one of the wildest tribes. Colonel Dalton writes
of them : 2 " Mixed up with the Asuras and not greatly
differing from them, except that they are more cultivators
of the soil than smelters, we first meet the Korwas, a few
stragglers of the tribe which under that name take up the
dropped links of the Kolarian chain, and carry it on west,
over the Sarguja, Jashpur and Palamau highlands till it
reaches another cognate tribe, the Kurs (Korkus) or Muasis
of Rewah and the Central Provinces, and passes from the
Vindhyan to the Satpura range.
" In the fertile valleys that skirt and wind among the
plateaus other tribes are now found intermixed with the
Korwas, but all admit that the latter were first in the field
and were at one time masters of the whole ; and we have
good confirmatory proof of their being the first settlers in
the fact that for the propitiation of the local spirits Korwa
1 This article is based on Colonel Sarguja, and Mr. Narbad Dhanu Sao,
Dalton's account of the tribe and on Assistant Manager, Uprora.
notes by Mr. N. T. Kunte, Jailor, 2 Ethnology of Bengal, p. 221.
571
572
KORWA
Baigas are always selected. There were in existence within
the last twenty years, as highland chiefs and holders of
manors, four Korwa notables, two in Sarguja and two in
Jashpur ; all four estates were valuable, as they comprised
substantial villages in the fertile plains held by industrious
cultivators, and great tracts of hill country on which were
scattered the hamlets of their more savage followers. The
Sarguja Korwa chiefs were, however, continually at strife
with the Sarguja Raja, and for various acts of rebellion
against the Lord Paramount lost manor after manor till to
each but one or two villages remained. The two Jashpur
thanes conducted themselves right loyally at the crucial
period of the Mutiny and they are now prosperous gentlemen
in full enjoyment of their estates, the only Korwa families
left that keep up any appearance of respectability. One
of them is the hereditary Diwan of Jashpur, lord of the
mountain tract of Khuria and Maini, and chief of perhaps
two-thirds of the whole tribe of Korwas. The other holds
an estate called Kakia comprising twenty-two villages.
2. Physi- " The hill Korwas are the most savage-looking of all
ancePPear the Kolarian tribes. They are frightfully wild and uncouth
in their appearance, and have good-humouredly accepted the
following singular tradition to account for it. They say
that the first human beings that settled in Sarguja, being
very much troubled by the depredations of wild beasts on
their crops, put up scarecrows in their fields, figures made
of bamboos dangling in the air, the most hideous caricatures
of humanity that they could devise to frighten the animals.
When the great spirit saw the scarecrow he hit on an
expedient to save his votaries the trouble of reconstructing
them. He animated the dangling figures, thus bringing
into existence creatures ugly enough to frighten all the
birds and beasts in creation, and they were the ancestors of
the wild Korwas."
This legend is not peculiar to the Korwas but is also
told by the Halbas, Lodhis and other castes, and is a
favourite Brahmanical device for accounting for the existence
of the autochthonous tribes.
" The Korwas," Dalton continues, " are short of stature
and dark brown in complexion, strongly built and active,
SUBDIVISIONS
573
with good muscular development, but, as appeared to me,
disproportionately short-legged. The average height of
twenty Sarguja Korwas that I measured was 5 feet 3 inches
and of their women 4 feet 9 inches only. Notwithstanding the
scarecrow tradition the Korwas are, as a rule, better-looking
than the Gonds and Oraons. The males, I noticed, were more
hirsute than the generality of their cognates, many of them
cultivating beards or rather not interfering with their spontane-
ous growth, for in truth in their toilets there is nothing like
cultivation. They are as utterly ungroomed as the wildest
animals. The neglected back hair grows in matted tails
which fall behind like badly-frayed ropes, or is massed in a
chignon of gigantic proportions, as preposterous as any
that the present tasteless period has produced ; sticking out
behind sometimes a foot from the back of the head.
" The women appear ground down by the hard work
imposed on them, stunted in growth, black, ugly, and
wretchedly clad, some having only a few dirty rags tied
round their persons, and in other respects untidy and
unclean."
It is noticeable that the Korwas have a subtribe called
Koraku, and like the Korkus of the Satpura range they are
called Muasi, a term having the meaning of raider or robber.
Mr. Crooke thinks that the Korwas and Korkus are probably
branches of the same tribe, but Sir G. Grierson dissents
from this opinion. He states that the Korwa dialect is
most closely related to Asuri and resembles Mundari and
Santali. The Korwas have the honorific title of Manjhi,
also used by the Santals. The Korba zamlndari in Bilaspur
is probably named after the Korwas.
The principal subdivisions of the tribe are the Diharia 3. Sub-
or Kisan Korwas, those who live in villages (dih) and dlvlsl0ns-
cultivate, and the Paharia Korwas of the hills, who are also
called Benwaria from their practising bewar or shifting
cultivation. Two minor groups are the Koraku or young
men, from kora, a young man, and the Birjias, who are
probably the descendants of mixed marriages between Korwas
and the tribe of that name, themselves an offshoot of the
Baigas. The tribe is also divided into totemistic exogamous
septs.
574
h'OR WA
4. Mai- Marriage within the sept is forbidden, but this appears
nage to ^g t^e only restriction. In Korba the Paharia Korwas
customs. , . . t,,
are said to marry their own sisters on occasion. lne
ordinary bride-price is Rs. 12. In Bilaspur there is reported
to be no regular marriage feast, but the people dance
together round a big earthen drum, called mandhar, which
is played in the centre. This is bound with strips of
leather along the sides and leather faces at the ends to be
played on by the hands. They dance in a circle taking
hands, men and women being placed alternately. Among
the Paharia Korwas of Sarguja, Mr. Kunte states, the
consent of the parents is not required, and boys and girls
arrange their own weddings. Men who can afford the
bride-price have a number of wives, sometimes as many as
eight or ten. After she has had a child each wife lives
and cooks her food separately, but gives a part of it to
her husband. The women bring roots and herbs from the
forest and feed their husbands, so that the man with
several wives enjoys a larger share of creature comforts.
Among these people adultery is said to be very rare, but
if a woman is detected in adultery she is at once made over
to the partner of her act and becomes his wife. Divorce
and the remarriage of widows are permitted, and a widow
usually marries her late husband's younger brother, though
she is not obliged to do so. A husband divorcing his wife
is obliged to feed the caste for five days.
5. Funeral The tribe bury the dead, placing the corpse in the grave
ntes- with the head to the south. A little rice is buried with the
corpse. In Bilaspur the dead are buried in the forest, and
the graves of old men are covered with branches of the sal1
tree. Then they go to a little distance and make a fire,
and pour ghi and incense on it as an offering to the
ancestors, and when they hear a noise in the forest they
take it to be the voice of the dead man. When a man
dies his hut is broken down and they do not live in it
again. The bodies of children under five are buried either
in the house or under the shade of a banyan tree, probably
with the idea that the spirit will come back and be born
again. They say that a banyan tree is chosen because it
1 Shorea robust a.
ii SOCIAL CUSTOMS— DANCING 575
lives longest of all trees and is evergreen, and hence it is
supposed that the child's spirit will also live out its proper
span instead of being untimely cut off in its next birth.
The Korwas worship Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god 6. Reii-
of the Gonds, and in Sarguja their principal deity is Khuria gl0n'
Rani, the tutelary goddess of the Khuria plateau. She is
a bloodthirsty goddess and requires animal sacrifices ;
formerly at special sacrifices 30 or 40 buffaloes were
slaughtered as well as an unlimited number of goats.1
Thakur Deo, who is usually considered a corn-god, dwells
in a sacred grove, of which no tree or branch may be
cut or broken. The penalty for breach of the rules is a
goat, but an exception is allowed if an animal has to be
pursued and killed in the grove. Thakur Deo protects the
village from epidemic disease such as cholera and smallpox.
The Korwas have three festivals : the Deothan is observed
on the full moon day of Pus (December), and all their gods
are worshipped ; the Nawanna or harvest festival falls in
Kunwar (September), when the new grain is eaten ; and
the Faguwa or Holi is the common celebration of the spring
and the new vegetation.
The Korwas do not admit outsiders into the tribe. 7. Social
They will take food from a Gond or Kawar, but not from customs-
a Brahman. A man is permanently expelled from caste
for a liaison with a woman of the impure Ganda and Ghasia
castes, and a woman for adultery with any person other
than a Korwa. Women are tattooed with patterns of dots
on the arms, breasts and feet, and a girl must have this
operation done before she can be married. Neither men
nor women ever cut their hair.
Of their appearance at a dance Colonel Dalton states : 2 8. Danc-
" Forming a huge circle, or rather coil, they hooked on ing-
to each other and wildly danced. In their hands they
sternly grasped their weapons, the long stiff bow and arrows
with bright, broad, barbed heads and spirally-feathered reed
shafts in the left hand, and the gleaming battle-axe in the
right. Some of the men accompanied the singing on
deep-toned drums and all sang. A few scantily-clad
females formed the inner curl of the coil, but in the centre
1 Dalton, he. cit. p. 229. 2 Ethnology of Bengal, p. 228.
576 KORWA part
was the Choragus who played on a stringed instrument,
promoting by his grotesque motions unbounded hilarity,
and keeping up the spirit of the dancers by his unflagging
energy. Their matted back hair was either massed into
a chignon, sticking out from the back of the head like a
handle, from which spare arrows depended hanging by the
bands, or was divided into clusters of long matted tails,
each supporting a spare arrow, which, flinging about as they
sprang to the lively movements of the dance, added greatly
to the dramatic effect and the wildness of their appearance.
The women were very diminutive creatures, on the average
a foot shorter than their lords, clothed in scanty rags, and
with no ornaments except a few tufts of cotton dyed red
taking the place of flowers in the hair, a common practice
also with the Santal girls. Both tribes are fond of the
flower of the cockscomb for this purpose, and when that is
not procurable, use the red cotton."
They dance the karma dance in the autumn, thinking
that it will procure them good crops, the dance being a
kind of ritual or service and accompanied by songs in praise
of the gods. If the rains fail they dance every night in the
belief that the gods will be propitiated and send rain.
9. Occupa- Of their occupation Colonel Dalton states : " The
tion. Korwas cultivate newly cleared ground, changing their
homesteads every two or three years to have command of
virgin soil. They sow rice that ripens in the summer,
vetches, millets, pumpkins, cucumbers — some of gigantic
size — sweet potatoes, yams and chillies. They also grow
and prepare arrowroot and have a wild kind which they use
and sell. They have as keen a knowledge of what is edible
among the spontaneous products of the jungle as have
monkeys, and have often to use this knowledge for self-
preservation, as they are frequently subjected to failure of
crops, while even in favourable seasons some of them do
not raise sufficient for the year's consumption ; but the best
of this description of food is neither palatable nor wholesome.
They brought to me nine different kinds of edible roots,
and descanted so earnestly on the delicate flavour and
nutritive qualities of some of them, that I was induced to
have two or three varieties cooked under their instructions
ii DACOITY— FOLK-TALES $77
and served up, but the result was far from pleasant ; my
civilised stomach indignantly repelled the savage food, and
was not pacified till it had made me suffer for some hours
from cold sweat, sickness and giddiness." x
The Korwas in the Tributary States have other resources io.Dacoity.
than these. They are expert hunters, and to kill a bird
flying or an animal running is their greatest delight. They
do not care to kill their game without rousing it first. They
are also very fond of dacoity and often proceed on expedi-
tions, their victims being usually travellers, or the Ahlrs who
bring large herds of cattle to graze in the Sarguja forests.
These cattle do much damage to the village crops, and
hence the Korwas have a standing feud with the herdsmen.
They think nothing of murder, and when asked why he
committed a murder, a Korwa will reply, ' I did it for my
pleasure ' ; but they despise both house-breaking and theft
as cowardly offences, and are seldom or never guilty of
them. The women are also of an adventurous disposition
and often accompany their husbands on raids. Before
starting they take the omens. They throw some rice
before a chicken, and if the bird picks up large solid grains
first they think that a substantial booty is intended, but
if it chooses the thin and withered grains that the expedi-
tion will have poor results. One of their bad omens is
that a child should begin to cry before the expedition
starts ; and Mr. Kunte, who has furnished the above
account, relates that on one occasion when a Korwa was
about to start on a looting expedition his two-year-old
child began to cry. He was enraged at the omen, and
picking up the child by the feet dashed its brains out
against a stone.
Before going out hunting the Korwas tell each other n. Folk-
hunting tales, and they think that the effect of doing this is tales-
to bring them success in the chase. A specimen of one of
these tales is as follows : There were seven brothers and
they went out hunting. The youngest brother's name was
Chilhra. They had a beat, and four of them lay in ambush
with their bows and arrows. A deer came past Chilhra and
he shot an arrow at it, but missed. Then all the brothers
1 Ethnology of Bengal, pp. 228, 229.
VOL. Ill 2 P
578 KORWA part
were very angry with Chilhra and they said to him, " We
have been wandering about hungry for the whole day, and
you have let our prey escape." Then the brothers got a lot
of mahul^ fibre and twisted it into rope, and from the rope
they wove a bag. And they forced Chilhra into this bag,
and tied up the mouth and threw it into the river where
there was a whirlpool. Then they went home. Now
Chilhra's bag was spinning round and round in the whirl-
pool when suddenly a sambhar stag came out of the forest
and walked down to the river to drink opposite the pool.
Chilhra cried out to the sambhar to pull his bag ashore and
save him. The sambhar took pity on him, and seizing the
bag in his teeth pulled it out of the water on to the bank.
Chilhra then asked the sambhar after he had quenched his
thirst to free him from the bag. The sambhar drank and
then came and bit through the maliul ropes till Chilhra
could get out. He then proposed to the sambhar to try
and get into the bag to see if it would hold him. The
sambhar agreed, but no sooner had he got inside than
Chilhra tied up the bag, threw it over his shoulder and went
home. When the brothers saw him they were greatly
astonished, and asked him how he had got out of the bag
and caught a sambhar, and Chilhra told them. Then they
killed and ate the sambhar. Then all the brothers said to
Chilhra that he should tie them up in bags as he had been
tied and throw them into the river, so that they might each
catch and bring home a sambhar. So they made six bags
and went to the river, and Chilhra tied them up securely
and threw them into the river, when they were all quickly
drowned. But Chilhra went home and lived happily ever
afterwards.
In this story we observe the low standard of moral
feeling noticeable among many primitive races, in the fact
that the ingratitude displayed by Chilhra in deceiving and
killing the sambhar who had saved his life conveys no shock
to the moral sense of the Korwas. If the episode had been
considered discreditable to the hero Chilhra, it would not
have found a place in the tale.
The following is another folk-tale of the characteristic
1 Bauhinia Vahlii.
FOLK-TALES
579
type of fairy story found all over the world. This as well
as the last has been furnished by Mr. Narbad Dhanu Sao,
Assistant Manager, Uprora :
A certain rich man, a banker and moneylender (Sahu),
had twelve sons. He got them all married and they went
out on a journey to trade. There came a holy mendicant
to the house of the rich man and asked for alms. The
banker was giving him alms, but the saint said he would
only take them from his son or son's wife. As his sons
were away the rich man called his daughter-in-law, and she
began to give alms to the saint. But he caught her up and
carried her off. Then her father-in-law went to search for
her, saying that he would not return until he had found her.
He came to the saint's house upon a mountain and said to
him, ' Why did you carry off my son's wife ? ' The saint
said to him, ' What can you do ? ' and turned him into stone
by waving his hand. Then all the other brothers went in
turn to search for her down to the youngest, and all were
turned into stone. At last the youngest brother set out to
search but he did not go to the saint, but travelled across
the sea and sat under a tree on the other side. In that
tree was the nest with young of the Raigidan and Jatagidan 1
birds. A snake was climbing up the tree to eat the nestlings,
and the youngest brother saw the snake and killed it. When
the parent birds returned the young birds said, " We will not
eat or drink till you have rewarded this boy who killed the
snake which was climbing the tree to devour us." Then the
parent birds said to the boy, ' Ask of us whatever you will
and we will give it to you.' And the boy said, ' I want only
a gold parrot in a gold cage.' Then the parent birds said,
" You have asked nothing of us, ask for something more ;
but if you will accept only a gold parrot in a gold cage
wait here a little and we will fly across the sea and get it
for you." So they brought the parrot and cage, and the
youngest brother took them and went home. Immediately
the saint came to him and asked him for the gold parrot
and cage because the saint's soul was in that parrot. Then
the youngest brother told him to dance and he would give
him the parrot ; and the saint danced, and his legs and
1 Believed to be some kind of vulture.
580
KORWA
arms were broken one after the other, as often as he
asked for the parrot and cage. Then the youngest brother
buried the saint's body and went to his house and passed
his hands before all the stone images and they all came to
life again.
KOSHTI
LIST OF PARAGRAPHS
i. Ge?iei-al notice. ■ 5. Religion.
2. Subdivisions. 6. Superstitions.
3. Marriage. 7. Clothes, etc.
4. Funeral customs. 8. Social rules and status.
9. Occupation.
Koshti, Koshta, Salewar.1 — The Maratha and Telugu 1. General
caste of weavers of silk and fine cotton cloth. They belong notice-
principally to the Nagpur and Chhattlsgarh Divisions of the
Central Provinces, where they totalled 1 5 7,000 persons in
1901, while 1300 were returned from Berar. Koshti is the
Marathi and Salewar the Telugu name. Koshti may perhaps
have something to do with kosa or tasar silk ; Salewar is
said to be from the Sanskrit Salika, a weaver," and to be
connected with the common word sari, the name for a
woman's cloth ; while the English ' shawl ' may be a
derivative from the same root. The caste suppose them-
selves to be descended from the famous Saint Markandi
Rishi, who, they say, first wove cloth from the fibres of the
lotus flower to clothe the nakedness of the gods. In reward
for this he was married to the daughter of Surya, the sun,
and received with her as dowry a giant named Bhavani and
a tiger. But the giant was disobedient, and so Markandi
killed him, and from his bones fashioned the first weaver's
loom.3 The tiger remained obedient to Markandi, and the
1 This article is based on a good 2 V. Nanjundayya, Monograph
paper by Mr. Raghunath Waman the Sale Caste (Mysore Ethnographical
Vaidya, schoolmaster, Hinganghat, and Survey).
others by Mr. M. E. Hardas, Tahsildar, ;i Willi this may be compared the
Umrer, and Messrs. Aduram Chaudhri tradition of the sweeper caste thai
and Pyare Lai Misra of the Gazetteer winnowing fans and sieves were first
Office. made out of bones and sinews.
581
divisions.
582 KOSHTI part
Koshtis think that he still respects them as his descendants ;
so that if a Koshti should meet a tiger in the forest and say
the name of Markandi, the tiger will pass by and not molest
him ; and they say that no Koshti has ever been killed by
a tiger. On their side they will not kill or injure a tiger,
and at their weddings the Bhat or genealogist brings a
picture of a tiger attached to his sacred scroll, known as
Padgia, and the Koshtis worship the picture. A Koshti
will not join in a beat for tiger for the same reason ; and
other Hindus say that if he did the tiger would single him
out and kill him, presumably in revenge for his breaking
the pact of peace between them. They also worship the
Singhwahini Devi, or Devi riding on a tiger, from which it
may probably be deduced that the tiger itself was formerly
the deity, and has now developed into an anthropomorphic
goddess.
2. Sub- The caste have several subdivisions of different types.
The Halbis appear to be an offshoot of the primitive Halba
tribe, who have taken to weaving ; the Lad Koshtis come
from Gujarat, the Gadhewal from Garha or Jubbulpore, the
Deshkar and Martha from the Maratha country, while the
Dewangan probably take their name from the old town of
that name on the Wardha river. The Patwis are dyers, and
colour the silk thread which the weavers use to border their
cotton cloth. It is usually dyed red with lac. They also
make braid and sew silk thread on ornaments like the separate
Patwa caste. And the Onkule are the offspring of illegiti-
mate unions. In Berar there is a separate subcaste named
Hatghar, which may be a branch of the Dhangar or shepherd
caste. Berar also has a group known as Jain Koshtis, who
may formerly have professed the Jain religion, but are now
strict Sivites.1 The Salewars are said to be divided into
the Sutsale or thread-weavers, the Padmasale or those who
originally wove the lotus flower and the Sagunsale, a group
of illegitimate descent. The above names show that the
caste is of mixed origin, containing a large Telugu element,
while a body of the primitive Halbas has been incorporated
into it. Many of the Maratha Koshtis are probably Kunbis
(cultivators) who have taken up weaving. The caste has
1 Kitts, Berar Census Report (iS8i), p. 127.
Ben •
KOSHTI MEN DANCING A FIGURE, HOLDING
STRINGS AND BEATING STICKS.
ii MARRIAGE 583
also a number of exogamous divisions of the usual type
which serve to prevent the marriage of near relatives.
At a Koshti wedding in Nagpur, the bride and bridegroom 3. Mar-
with their parents sit in a circle, and round them a long '
hempen rope is drawn seven times ; the bride's mother then
holds a lamp, while the bridegroom's mother pours water from
a vessel on to the floor. The Salewars perform the wedding
ceremony at the bridegroom's house, to which the bride is
brought at midnight for this purpose. A display of fireworks
is held and the thun or log of wood belonging to the loom is
laid on the ground between the couple and covered with a
black blanket. The bridegroom stands facing the east and
places his right foot on the thftn, and the bride stands opposite
to him with her left foot upon it. A Brahman holds a cur-
tain between them and they throw rice upon each other's
heads five times and then sit on the log. The bride's father
washes the feet of the bridegroom and gives him a cloth and
bows down before him. The wedding party then proceed
with music and a display of fireworks to the bridegroom's
house and a round of feasts is given continuously for five days.
The remarriage of widows is freely permitted. In
Chanda if the widow is living with her father he receives
Rs. 40 from the second husband, but if with her father-in-law
no price is given. On the day fixed for the wedding he
fills her lap with nuts, cocoanuts, dates and rice, and applies
vermilion to her forehead. During the night she proceeds
to her new husband's house, and, emptying the fruit from
her lap into a dish which he holds, falls at his feet. The
wedding is completed the next day by a feast to the caste-
fellows. The procedure appears to have some symbolical
idea of transferring the fruit of her womb to her new husband.
Divorce is allowed, but is very rare, a wife being too valuable
a helper in the Koshti's industry to be put away except as
a last resort. For a Koshti who is in business on his own
account it is essential to have a number of women to assist
in sizing the thread and fixing it on the loom. A wife is
really a factory-hand and a well-to-do Koshti will buy or
occasionally steal as many women as he can. In Bhandara
a recent case is known where a man bought a girl and
married her to his son and eight months afterwards sold her
customs.
584 KOSHTI PART
to another family for an increased price. In another case a
man mortgaged his wife as security for a debt and in lieu of
interest, and she lived with his creditor until he paid off the
principal. Quarrels over women not infrequently result in
cases of assault and riot.
4. Funeral Members of the Lingayat and Kabirpanthi sects bury
their dead and the others cremate them. With the Tirmen-
dar Koshtis on the fifth day the Ayawar priest goes to the
cremation-ground accompanied by the deceased's family and
worships the image of Vishnu and the Tulsi or basil upon
the grave ; and after this the whole party take their food at
the place. Mourning is observed during five days for married
and three for unmarried persons ; and when a woman has
lost her husband she is taken on the fifth day to the bank of
some river or tank and her bangles are broken, her bead
necklace is taken off, the vermilion is rubbed off her forehead,
and her foot ornaments are removed ; and these things she
must not wear again while she is a widow. On the fourth
day the Panch or caste elders come and place a new turban
on the head of the chief mourner or deceased's heir ; they
then take him round the bazar and seat him at his loom,
where he weaves a little. After this he goes and sits with
the Panch and they take food together. This ceremony
indicates that the impurity caused by the death is removed,
and the mourners return to common life. The caste do not
perform the shraddh ceremony, but on the Akhatij day or
commencement of the agricultural year a family which has
lost a male member will invite a man from some other family
of the caste, and one which has lost a female member a
woman, and will feed the guest with good food in the name
of the dead. In Chhindwara during the fortnight of Pitri-
paksh or the worship of ancestors, a Koshti family will have
a feast and invite guests of the caste. Then the host stands
in the doorway with a pestle and as the guest comes he bars
his entrance, saying : ■ Are you one of my ancestors ; this
feast is for my ancestors ? ' To which the guest will reply :
' Yes, I am your great-grandfather ; take away the pestle.'
By this ingenious device the resourceful Koshti combines the
difficult filial duty of the feeding of his ancestors with the
entertainment of his friends.
ii RELIGION 5 8 5
The principal deity of the Koshtis is Gajanand or Gan-
pati, whom they revere on the festival of Ganesh Chathurthi
or the fourth day of the month of Bhadon (August). They
clean all their weaving implements and worship them and
make an image of Ganpati in cowdung to which they make
offerings of flowers, rice and turmeric. On this day they do
not work and fast till evening, when the image of Ganpati is
thrown into a tank and they return home and eat delicacies.
Some of them observe the 77/ or third day of every month
as a fast for Ganpati, and when the moon of the fourth day
rises they eat cakes of dough roasted on a cowdung fire and
mixed with butter and sugar, and offer these to Ganpati.
Some of the Salewars are Vaishnavas and others Lingayats :
the former employ Ayawars for their gurus or spiritual pre-
ceptors and are sometimes known as Tirmendar ; while the
Lingayats, who are also called Woheda, have Jangams as their
priests. In Balaghat and Chhattlsgarh many of the Koshtis
belong to the Kablrpanthi sect, and these revere the special
priests of the sect and abstain from the use of flesh and
liquor. They are also known as Ghatibandhia, from the ghat
or string of beads of basil-wool (tulsi) which they tie round
their necks. In Mandla the Kablrpanthi Koshtis eat flesh
and will intermarry with the others, who are known dis-
tinctively as Saktaha. The Gurmukhis are a special sect of
the Nagpur country and are the followers of a saint named
Koliba Baba, who lived at Dhapewara near Kalmeshwar.
He is said to have fed five hundred persons with food which
was sufficient for ten and to have raised a Brahman from the
dead in Umrer. Some Brahmans wished to test him and
told him to perform a miracle, so he had a lot of brass pots
filled with water and put a cloth over them, and when he
withdrew it the water had changed into curded milk. The
Gurmukhis have a descendant of Koliba Baba for their pre-
ceptor, and each of them keeps a cocoanut in his house,
which may represent Koliba Baba or else the unseen deity.
To this he makes offerings of sandalwood, rice and flowers.
The Gurmukhis are forbidden to venerate any of the ordinary
Hindu deities, but they cannot refrain from making offerings
to Mata Mai when smallpox breaks out, and if any person
has the disease in his house they refrain from worshipping
586 KOSHTI part
the cocoanut so long as it lasts, because they think that this
would be to offer a slight to the smallpox goddess who is
sojourning with them. Another sect is that of the Matwales
who worship Vishnu as Narayan, as well as Siva and Sakti.
They are so called because they drink liquor at their religious
feasts. They have a small platform on which fresh cowdung
is spread every day, and they bow to this before taking their
food. Once in four or five years after a wedding offerings
are made to Narayan Deo on the bank of a tank outside the
village ; chickens and goats are killed and the more extreme
of them sacrifice a pig, but the majority will not join with
these. Offerings of liquor are also made and must be drunk
by the worshippers. Mehras and other low castes also belong
to this sect, but the Koshtis will not eat with them. But in
Chhindwara it is said that on the day after the Pola festival
in August, when insects are prevalent and the season of
disease begins, the Koshtis and Mangs go out together to look
for the narbod shrub,1 and here they break a small piece of
bread and eat it together. In Bhandara the Koshtis worship
the spirit of one Kadu, patel or headman of the village of
Mohali, who was imprisoned in the fort of Ambagarh under
an accusation of sorcery in Maratha times and died there.
He is known as Ambagarhia Deo, and the people offer goats
and fowls to him in order to be cured of diseases. The
above notice indicates that the caste are somewhat especially
inclined to religious feeling and readily welcome reformers
striving against Hindu polytheism and Brahman supremacy.
This is probably due in part to the social stigma which
attaches to the weaving industry among the Hindus and is
resented as an injustice by the Koshtis, and in part also to
the nature of their calling, which leaves the mind free for
thought during long hours while the fingers are playing on
the loom ; and with the uneducated serious reflection must
almost necessarily be of a religious character. In this
respect the Koshti may be said to resemble his fellow-
weavers of Thrums. In Nagpur District the Koshtis observe
the Muharram festival, and many of them go out begging
on the first day with a green thread tied round their body
and a beggar's wallet. They cook the grain which is given
1 Bauhlnia Rusa.
" SUPERSTITIONS— CLOTHES 587
to them on the tenth day of the festival, giving a little to
the Muhammadan priest and eating the rest. This observ-
ance of a Muhammadan rite is no doubt due to their long
association with followers of that religion in Berar.
Before beginning work for the day the Salewar makes 6. Supersti-
obeisance to his loom and implements, nor may he touch tlons-
them without having washed his face and hands. A woman
must not approach the loom during her periodical impurity,
and if anybody sneezes as work is about to be begun, they
wait a little time to let the ill luck pass off. In Nagpur
they believe that the posts to which the ends of the loom
are fastened have magical powers, and if any one touches
them with his leg he will get ulcers up to the knee. If a
woman steps on the kuchi or loom-brush she is put out of
caste and a feast has to be given to the community before
she is readmitted. To cure inflammation in the eyes they
take a piece of plaited grass and wrap it round with cotton
soaked in oil. Then it is held before the sufferer's eyes and
set on fire and the drops of oil are allowed to fall into water,
and as they get cold and congeal the inflammation is believed
to abate. Among some classes of Koshtis the killing of a
cat is a very serious offence, almost equivalent to killing a
cow. Even if a man touches a dead cat he has to give two
feasts and be fully purified. The sanctity of the cat among
Hindus is sometimes explained on the ground that it kills
rats, which attract snakes into the house. But the real
reason is probably that primitive people regard all domestic
animals as sacred. The Koshti also reveres the dog and
jackal.
The Salewars of the Godavari tract wrap a short rcct- 7- Clothes
angular piece of cloth round their head as a turban.
Formerly, Mr. Raghunath Waman states, the caste had a
distinctive form of turban by which it could be recognised, but
under British administration these rules of dress are falling
into abeyance. A few of the Salewars put on the sacred
thread, but it is not generally worn. Salewar women hi
a device representing a half-moon tattooed on the forehead
between the ends of the eyebrows ; the cheeks are marked
with a small dot and the arms adorned with a representation
of the sacred tulsi or basil.
etc.
588
KOSHTI
The caste eat flesh and fish and drink liquor, and in the
Maratha Districts they will eat chickens like most castes of
this country. In Mandla they have recently prohibited the
keeping of fowls, under pain of temporary expulsion. Those
who took food in charity-kitchens during the famine of 1900
were readmitted to the community with the penalty of
shaving the beard and moustaches in the case of a man, and
cutting a few hairs from the head in that of a woman. In
Berar the Lad, Jain and Katghar Koshtis are all strict
vegetarians. The Koshtis employ Brahmans for their cere-
monies, but their social status is about on a level with the
village menials, below the cultivating castes. This, however,
is a very good position for weavers, as most of the weaving
castes are stigmatised as impure. But the Koshtis live in
towns and not in villages and weave the finer kinds of cloth
for which considerable skill is required, while in former times
their work also yielded a good remuneration. These facts
probably account for their higher status ; similarly the Tantis
or weavers of Bengal who produce the fine muslins of Dacca,
so famous in Mughal times, have obtained such a high rank
there that Brahmans will take water from their hands ; 1
while the few Tantis who are found in the Central Provinces
are regarded as impure and are not touched. The caste are
of a turbulent disposition, perhaps on account of their com-
paratively light work, which does not tire their bodies like
cultivation and other manual labour. One or two serious
riots have been caused by the Koshtis in recent years.
The standard occupation of the caste is the weaving of
the fine silk-bordered cloths which are universally worn on
the body by Brahmans and other well-to-do persons of the
Maratha country. The cloth is usually white with borders
of red silk. They dye their own thread with lac or the
flowers of the palas tree {Butea frondosd). The price of a
pair of loin-cloths of this kind is Rs. 14, and of a pair of
dupattas or shoulder-cloths Rs. 10, while women's saris also
are made. Each colony of Koshtis in a separate town .
usually only weave one kind of cloth of the size for which
their looms are made. The silk-bordered loin-cloths of
Umrer and Pauni are well known and are sent all over
1 Sir H. Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Tanti.
ii OCCUPATION 589
India. The export of hand-woven cloth from all towns of
the Nagpur plain has been estimated at Rs. 5 lakhs a year.
The rich sometimes have the cloths made with gold lace
borders. The following account of the caste is given in Sir
R. Craddock's Nagpur Settlement Report : " The Koshti is an
inveterate grumbler, and indeed from his point of view he
has a great deal to complain of. On the one hand the
price of raw cotton and the cost of his living have increased
very largely ; on the other hand, the product of his loom
commands no higher price than it did before, and he cannot
rely on selling it when the market is slack. He cannot
adapt himself to the altered environment and clings to his
loom. He dislikes rough manual labour and alleges, no
doubt with truth, that it deprives him of the delicacy of
touch needed in weaving the finer cloths. If prices rise he
is the first to be distressed, and on relief works he cannot
perform the requisite task and has to be treated with special
indulgence. The mills have been established many years in
Nagpur, but very few of the older weavers have sought
employment there. They have begun to send their children,
but work at home themselves, though they really all use
machine - spun yarn. The Koshtis are quarrelsome and
addicted to drink, and they have generally been the chief
instigators of grain riots when prices rise. They often marry
several wives and their houses swarm with a proportionate
number pi children. But although the poorer members of
the community are in struggling circumstances and are put
to great straits when prices of food rise, those who turn out
the fine silk-bordered work are fairly prosperous in ordinary
times."
END OF VOL. Ill
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