List Group 4

Bharia (Bharia -Bhumia) - Bhat (Rao, Jasondhi) - Bhat (Bhât) - Bhatiya - Bhatra - Bhatrâzu (Bhâts, Bhatrâzus,or Bhatrâjus) - Bhavaiya - Bhíl (Bhíl or Bhilódi) - Bhilâla - Bhopa - Bhot (Bot, Bhotiya) - Bhotiya - Bhuiya (Bhuinhâr, Bhumia) - Bhulas

Bharia: -Bharia - Bhumia [3] - A Dravidian tribe numbering about 50,000 persons and residing principally in the Jubbulpore district, which contains half of the total number. The others are found in Chhindwâra and Bilâspur. The proper name of the tribe is Bharia, but they are often called Bharia-Bhumia, because many of them hold the office of Bhumia or priest of the village gods and of the lower castes in Jubbulpore, and the Bharias prefer the designation of Bhumia as being the more respectable. The term Bhumia or 'Lord of the soil' is an alternative for Bhuiya, the name of another Dravidian tribe, and no doubt came to be applied to the office of village priest because it was held by members of this tribe; the term Baiga has a similar signification in Mandla and Bâlâghât, and is applied to the village priest though he may not belong to the Baiga tribe at all. The Bharias have forgotten their original affinities, and several stories of the origin of the tribe are based on far-fetched derivations of the name. One of these is to the effect that Arjun, when matters were going badly with the Pândavas in their battle against the Kauravas, took up a handful of bharru grass and, pressing it, produced a host of men who fought in the battle and became the ancestors of the Bharias. And there are others of the same historical value. But there is no reason to doubt that Bharia is the contemptuous form of Bhar, as Telia for Teli, Jugia for Jogi, Kuria for Kori, and that the Bharias belong to the great Bhar tribe who were once dominant in the eastern part of the United Provinces, but are now at the bottom of the social scale, and relegated by their conquerors to the degrading office of swineherds. The Râjjhars, who appear to have formed a separate caste as the landowning subdivision of the Bhars, like the Râj-Gonds, are said to be the descendants of a Râja and a Bharia woman.

[1] Oudh Gasetteer, I., 341.

[2] On this custom see Lubbook, Origin of Civilisation, 465; and compare Korw0. a, para. 1

[3] See Russell. This article is complied from notes taken by Mr. Hira Lâl, Assistant Gazatter superintendent in Jubbul-pore, and from a paper by Râm Lâl sharma, schoolmaster, Bilâspur.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 159

The Râjjhars form a separate caste in the Central Provinces, and the Bharias acknowledge some connection with them but refuse to take water from their hands, as they consider them to be of impure blood. The Bharias also give Mahoba or Bândhogarh as their former home, and these places are in the country of the Bhars. According to tradition Râja Karna Deva, a former king of Dâhal, the classical name of the Jubbulpore country, was a Bhar, and it may be that the immigration of the Bharias into Jubbulpore dates from his period, which is taken as 1040 to 1080 A.D. Which then it may be considered as fairly certain that the Bharias are merely the Bhar tribe with a variant of the name, it is clear from the titles of their family groups, which will shortly be given, that they are an extermely mixed class and consist largely of the descendants of members of other castes, who having lost their own social position, have taken refuge among the Bharias at the bottom of the social scale. Mr. Crooke says of the Bhars:[1] "The most probable supposition is that the Bhars were a Dravidian race closely allied to the Kols, Cheros and Seoris, who at an early date succumbed to the invading Aryans. This is born out by their appearance and physique, which closely resemble that of the undoubted non-Aryan aborigines of the Vindhyan-Kaimír plateau." In the Central Provinces the Bharias have been commonly considered to belong to that tribe. Thus Mr. Drysdale says of them: [2] 'The Bharias were the wildest of the wild Gonds and were inveterate dhayâ [3] cutters.' Although, however, they have to some extent intermarried with the Gonds, the Bharias were originally quite a distinct tribe, and would belong to the Kolarian or Munda group but that they have entirely forgotten their own language and speak only Hindi, though with a peculiar intonation especially noticeable in the case of their women.

The structure of the tribe is a very loose one, and though the Bharias say that they are divided into subsets, there are none in reality. Members of all castes except the very lowest may become Bharias, and one Bharia will recognise another as a fellow-tribesman if he can show relationship to any person admitted to occupy that position. But a division is in process of formation in Bilâspur based on the practice of eating beef, from which some abstain, and in consequence look down on the others who are regular eaters of it, and call them Dhur Bharias, the term dhur meaning cattle. The abstainers form beef now refuse to marry with the others. The tribe is divided into a number of exogamous groups, and the names of these indicate the very heterogeneous clements of which it consists. Out of fifty-one groups reported not less than fifteen or sixteen have names derived form other castes or clans, showing almost certainly that such groups were formed by a mixed marriage or the admission of a family of outsiders. Such names are: Agaria, from the Agarias or iron-workers: this clan worships Loha-Sur, the god of the Agarias; Ahirwâr, or the descendants of an Ahír: this clan worships the Ahír gods; Bamhania, born of a Brâhman ancestor; Binjhwâr or Binjha, perhaps from the tribe of the name; Chandel, from a Râjpít clan; Dagdoha, a synonym of Basor: persons of this sept hang a piece of bamboo and a curved knife to the waist of the bride at their marriages; Dhurua, born of a Dhurua Gond; Kuânpa, born of an Ahír subcaste of that name; Kurka, of Korku parentage; Marâvi, the named of Gond clan; Râthor from a Râjpít clan; Samarba from a Chamâr; and Yarkara, the name of a Gond clan. These names sufficiently indicate the diverse elements of which the tribe is made up. Other group names with meanings are: Gambhele, or those who seclude their women in a separate house during the menstrual period; Kaitha, from the kaith tree (Feronia clephantum): Karondiha, from the karonda plant (Carissa Carandas); Magarha, from magar a crocodile: members of this group worship an image of a crocodile made with flour and fried in oil; Sonwâni, from sona gold: members of this group perform the ceremony of re-admission of persons temporarily put out of caste by sprinkling on them little water in which gold has been dipped. Any person who does not know his clan name calls himself a Chandel, and this group, though bearing the name of a distinguished Râjpít clan, is looked upon as the lowest. But although the rule of

[1] Tribes and Castes fo the N.W.P., art. Bhar.

[2] C.P. Census Report, 1881, p. 188.

[3] Dhayâ means the system of shifting scltivation, which unil prohibited was so injurious to the forests.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 160

exogamy in marriage is recognised, it is by no means strictly adhered to, and many cases are known in which unions have taken place between members of the same clan. So long as people can recollect a relationship between themselves, they do not permit their families to intermarry. But the memory of the Bharia does not extend beyond the third generation.

Marriages are adult, and the proposal comes from the boy's father, who has it conveyed to the girl's father through some friend in his village. If a betrothal is arranged the bride's father invites the father and friends of the bridegroom to dinner; on this occasion the boy's father brings some necklaces of lac beads and spangles and presents them to the bride's female relatives, who then come out and tie the necklaces round his neck and those of his friends, place the spangles on their foreheads. and then, catching hold of their cheeks, press and twist them violently. Some turmeric powder is also thrown on their faces. This the binding portion of the betrothal ceremony. The date of marriage is fixed by a Brâhman, this being the only purpose for which he is employed, and a bride-price varying from six to twelve rupees is paid. On this occasion the women draw caricatures with turmeric or charcoal on the loin-cloth of the boy's father, which they manage to purloin. The marriage ceremony follows generally the Hindu form. The bride-groom puts on women's ornaments and carries with him an iron nut-cracker or dagger to keep off evil spirits. After the wedding, the midua, a sort of burlesque dance, is held. The girl's mother gets the dress of the boy's father and puts it on, together with a false beard and moustaches, and dances, holding a wooden ladle in one hand and a packet of ashes in the other. Every time she approaches the bridegroom's father on her rounds she spills some of the ashes over him, and occasionally gives him a crack on the head with her ladle, these actions being accompanied by bursts of laughter from the party and frenzied playing by the musicians. When the party reach the bridegroom's house on their return, his mother and the other women come out and burn a little mustard and human hair in a lamp, the unpleasant smell emitted by these articles being considered potent to drive away evil spirits. Every time the bride leaves her father's house she must weep, and must cry separately with each one of her caste-sisters when taking leave of them. When she returns home she must be weeping loudly on the boundary of the village, and continue doing so until she has embraced each of her relatives and friends, a performance which in a village containing a large number of Bharias may take from three to six hours. These tears are, however, considered to be a manifestation of joy, and the girl who cannot produce enough of them is often ridiculed. A prospective son-in-law who serves for his wife is known as Gharjiân. The work given him is always very heavy, and the Bharias have a saying which compares his treatment with that awarded to an ox obtained on hire. If a girl is seduced by a man of the tribe, she may be married to him by the ceremony prescribed for the remarriage of a widow, which consists merely in the placing of bangles on the wrists and a present of a new cloth, together with a feast to the caste-fellows.

Similarly if she is seduced by a man of another caste who would be allowed to be a Bharia, she can be married as a widow to any man of the tribe. A widow is expected to marry her late husband's younger brother, but no compulsion is exercised. If a bachelor espouses a widow, he first goes through the ceremony of marriage with a ring to which a twig of the date-palm is tied, by carrying the ring seven times round the marriage post. This is necessary to save him from the sin of dying unmarried, as the union with a widow is not reckoned as a true marriage. In Jubbulpore divorce is said to be allowed only for conjugal misbehaviour, and a Bharia will pass over three transgressions on his wife's part before finally turning her out of his house. A woman who wishes to leave her husband simply runs away from him and lives with somebody else. In this case the third party must pay a goat to the husband by way of compensation and give a feast to the cast-fellows. The carelessness of the Bharias in the matter of child birth is notorious, and it is said that mothers commonly went on working up to the moment of childbirth and delivered children in the fields. Now, however, the woman lies up for three days, and come ceremonies of purification are performed. In Chhattísgarh infants are branded on the day of their birth, under the impression that this will cause them to digest the food they have taken in the

---------

page 161

womb. The child is named six months after birth by the father's sister, and its lips are then touched with cooked food for the first time.

The tribe both burn and bury the dead, and observe mourning for an adult for then days, during which time they daily put out a leaf-cup containing food for the use of the deceased. In the third year after the death, the mangan or caste beggar visits the relatives of the deceased, and receives what they call one limb (ang), or half his belongings; the ang consists of a loin-cloth, a brass vessel and dish, an axe, a scythe and a wrist-ring.

The Bharias call themselves Hindus and worship the village deities of the locality, and on the day of Diwâli offer a black chicken to their family god, who may be Bura Deo, Dílha Deo or Karua, the cobra. For this snake they profess great reverence, and say that he was actually born in a Bharia family. As he could not work in the fields he was usually employed on errands. One day he was sent to the house, and surprised one of his younger brother's wives, who had not heard him coming, without her veil. She reproached him, and he retired in dudgeon to the oven, where he was presently burnt to death by another woman, who kindled a fire under it not knowing that he was there. So he has been deified and is worshipped by the tribe. The Bharias also venerate Bâgheshwar, the tiger god, and believe that no tiger will eat a Bharia. On the Diaw¡li day they invite the tiger to drink some gruel which they place ready for him behind their houses, at the same time warning the other villagers not to stir out of doors. In the morning the display the empty vessels as a proof that the tiger has visited them. They practise various magical devices, believing that they can kill a man by discharging at him a míth or handful of charmed objects such as lemons, vermilion and seeds of urad. This ball will travel through the air and, descending on the house of the person at whom it is aimed, will kill him outright unless he can avert its power by stronger magic, and perhaps even cause it to recoil in the same manner on the head of the sender, They exorcise the Sudhiniyas or the drinkers of human blood. A person troubled by one of these is seated near the Bharia, who places two pots with their mouths joined over a fire. He recites incantations and the pots begin to boil, emitting blood. This result is obtained by placing a herb in the pot whose juice stains the water red. The blood-sucker is thus successfully exorcised. To drive away the evil eye they burn a mixture of chillies, salt, human hair and the husks of kokon, which emits a very evil smell. Such devices are practised by members of the tribe who hold the office of Bhumia or village priest. The Bharias are well-known thieves, and they say that the dark spots on the moon are caused by a banyan tree, which God planted with the object of diminishing her light and giving thieves a chance to ply their trade. If a Bhumia wishes to detect a thief, he sits clasping hands with a friend, while a pitcher is supported on their hands. An oblation is offered to the deity to guide the ordeal correctly, and the names of suspected persons are recited one by one, the name at which the pitcher topples over being that of the thief, But before employing this method of detection the Bhumia proclaims his intention of doing so on a certain date, and in the meantime places a heap of ashes in some lonely place and invites the thief to deposit the stolen article in the ashes to save himself from exposure. By common custom each person in the village is required to visit the heap and mingle a handful of ashes with it, and not infrequently the thief, frightened at the Bhumia's powers of detection, takes the stolen article and buries it in the ash-heap where it is duly found, the necessity for resorting to the further method of divination being thus obviated. Occasionally the Bharia in his character of a Hindu will make a vow to pay for a recitation of the Satya Nârâyan Katha or some other holy work. But the understands nothing of it, and if the Bhâhman employed takes a longer time than he had bargained for over the recitation he becomes extremely bored and irritated.

The scantiness of the Bharia's dress is proverbial, and the saying is 'Bharia bhwâka, pwânda langwâta,' or 'The Bharia is verily a devil, who only covers his loins with a strip of cloth.' But lately he has assumed more clothing. Formerly an iron ring carried on the wrist to exorcise the evil spirits was his only ornament. Women wear usually only one coarse cloth dyed red, spangles on the forehead and ears, bead necklaces, and cheap metal bracelets and anklets.

---------

page 162

Some now have Hindu ornaments, but in common with other low castes they do not usually wear a nose-ring, out of respect to the higher castes. Women, though they work in the fields, do not commonly wear shoes; and if these are necessary to protect the feet from thorns, they take them off and carry them in the presence of an elder or a man of higher caste. They are tattooed with various devices, as a cock, a crown, a native chair, a pitcher stand, a sieve and a figure called dhandha, which consists of six dots joined by lines, and appears to be a representation of a man, one dot standing for the head, one for the body, two for the arms and two for the legs. This device is also used by other castes, and they evince reluctance if asked to explain its meaning, so that it may be intended as a representation of the girl's future husband. The Bharia is considered very ugly, and a saying about him is: "The Bharia came down from the hills and got burnt by a cinder, so that his face is black." He does not bathe for months on end, and lives in a dirty hovel, infested by the fowls which he loves to rear. His food consists of coarse grain, often with boiled leaves as a vegetable, and he consumes much whey, mixing it with his scanty portion of grain. Members of all except the lowest castes are admitted to the Bharia community on presentation of pagri and some money to the headman together with a fast to the caste-fellows. The Bharias do not eat monkey, beef or the leftovers of others, but they freely consume fowls and pork. They are not considered as impure, but rank above those castes only whose touch conveys pollution. For the slaughter of a cow the Bilâspur Bharias inflict the severe punishment of nine daily feasts to the caste, or one for each limb of the cow, the limbs being held to consist of the legs, ears, horns and tail. They have an aversion for the horse and will not remove its dung. To account for this they tell a story to the effect that in the beginning God gave them a horse to ride and fight upon. But they did not know how to mount the horse because it was so high. The wisest man among them then proposed to cut notches in the side of the animal by which they cold climb up, and they did this. But God, when he saw it, was very angry with them, and ordered that they should never be soldiers, but should be given a winnowing-fan and broom to sweep the grain out of the grass and make their livelihood in that way.

The Bharias are usually farm servants and field-labourers, and their services in these capacities are in much request. They are hardy and industrious, and so simple that it is an easy matter for their masters to involve them in perpetual debt, and thus to keep them bound to service from generation to generation. They have no understanding of accounts, and the saying, 'Pay for the marriage of a Bharia and he is your bond-slave for ever,' sufficiently explains the methods adopted by their employers and creditors.

Bhat: -Rao, Jasondhi.: -The caste of bards and Geneslogists .[1] In 1911 the Bhâts 29,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berâr, being distributed over all Districts and States, with a slight preponderance in large towns such as Nâgpur, Jubbulpore and Amraoti. The name Bhât is derived form the Sanskrit Bhatta, a lord. the origin of the Bhâts has been discussed in detail by Sir H. Risley. Some, no doubt, are derived from the Brâhman caste as stated by Mr. Nesfield: "They are an offshoot from those secularised Brâhmans who frequented the courts of princes and the camps of warriors, recited their praises in public, and kept records of their genealogies. Such, without much variation, is the function of the Bhât at the present day. The Mahâbhârata speaks of a band of bards and eulogists marching in front of Yudishthira as he made his progress from the field of Kurukshetra towards Hastinapur. But these very men are spoken of in the same poem as Brâhmans. Naturally as time went on these courtier priests become hereditary bards, receded from the parent stem and founded a new caste." "The best modern opinion," Sir H. Risley states, [2] "seems disposed to find the germ of the Brâhman caste in the bards, ministers and family priests, who were attached to the king's household in Vedic times.

[1] See Russell

[2] Tribes and Castes of Bengal , art. Brâhman.

-------------------------------------------------

page 163

The characteristic profession of the Bhâts has an ancient and distinguished history. The literature of both Greece and India owes the preservation of its oldest treasures to the singers who recited poems in the households of the chiefs, and doubtless helped in some measure to shape the masterpieces which they handed down. Their place was one of marked distinction. In the days when writing was unknown, the man who could remember many verses was held in high honour by the tribal chief, who depended upon the memory of the bard for his personal amusement, for the record of his own and his ancestors' prowess, and for the maintenance of the genealogy which established the purity of his descent. The bard, like the herald, was not lightly to be slain, and even Odysseus in the heat of his vengeance spares the aot∂o`s Phemius, 'who sang among the wooers of necessity." [1]

Bhâts and Chârans.

There is no reason to doubt that the Birm or Baram Bhâts are an offshoot of Brâhmans, their name being merely a corruption of the term Brâhman. But the caste is a very mixed one, and another large section, the Chârans, are almost certainly derived from Râjpîts. Malcolm states that according to the fable of their origin, Mahâdeo first created Bhâts to attend his lion and bull; but these could not prevent the former from killing the latter, which was a source of infinite vexation and trouble, as it compelled Mahâdeo to create new ones. He therefore formed the Châran, equally devout with the Bhât, but of bolder spirti, and gave him in charge these favourite animals. From that time no bull was ever destroyed by the lion. [2] This fable perhaps indicates that while the peaceful Bhâts were Brâhmans, the more warlike Chârans were Râjpîts. It is also said that some Râjpîts disguised themselves as bards to escape the vengeance of Parasurâma. [3] The Mâru Chârans intermarry with Râjpîts, and their name appears to be derived from Mâru, the term for the Râjputâna desert, which is also found in Mârwâr. Malcolm states [4] that when the Râjpîts migrated from the bands of the Ganges to Râjputâna, their Brâhman priests did not accompany them in any numbers, and hence the Chârans arose and supplied their place. They had to understand the rites of worship, particularly of Siva and Pârvati, the favourite deities of the Râjpîts, and were taught to read and write. One class became merchants and travelled with large convoys of goods, and the others were the bards and genealogists of the Râjpîts. Their songs were in the rudest metre, and their language was the local dialect, understood by all. All this evidence shows that the Chârans were a class of Râjpît bards.

Lower-class Bhâts.

But besides the Birm or Brâhman Bhâts and the Râjpît Chârans there is another large body of the caste of mixed origin, who serve as bards of the lower castes and are probably composed to a great extent of members of these castes. These are known as the Brid-dhari or begging Bhâts. They beg from such castes as Lodhis, Telis, Kurmis, Ahírs and so on, each caste having a separate section of Bhâts to serve it; the Bhâts of each caste take food from the members of the caste, but they also eat and intermarry with each other. Again, there are Bairâgi Bhâts who beg from Bairâgis, and keep the genealogies of the temple-priests and their successors. Yet another class are the Dasaundhis or Jasondhis, who sing songs in honour of Devi, play on musical instruments and practise astrology. These rank below the cultivating castes and sometimes admit members of such castes who have taken religious vows.

Social Status of the Caste. The Brâhman or Birm-Bhâts form a separate subcaste, and the Râjpîts are sometimes called Râjbhât. These wear the sacred thread, which the Brid-Bhâts and Jasondhis do not. The social status of the Bhâts appears to vary greatly.

[1] Malcola, Central India , ii. p. 132.

[2] Art. Bhât.

[3] Râjasthân , ii, p. 406.

[4] Malcolm, ii. p. 135

-------------------------------------

page 164

Sir. H. Risley states that they rank immediately below Kâyasths, and Brâhmans will take water from their hands. The Chârans are treated by the Râjpîts with the greatest respect; [1] The highest ruler rises when one of this class enters or leaves an assembly, and the Châran is invited to eat first at a Râjpît feast. He smokes from the same huqqa as Râjpîts, and only caste-fellows can do this, as the smoke passes through water on its way to the mouth. In past times the Châran acted as a herald, and his person was inviolable. He was addressed as Mahârâj, [2] and could sit on the Singhâsan or Lion's Hide, the ancient term for a Râjpît throne, as well as on the hides of the tiger, panther and black antelope. The Râjpîts held him in equal estimation with the Brâhman or perhaps even greater. [3] This was because they looked to him to enshrine their heroic deeds in his songs and hand them down to posterity. His sarcastic references to a defeat in battle or any act displaying a want of courage inflamed their passions as nothing else could do. On the other hand, the Brid-Bhâts, who serve the lower castes, occupy an inferior position. This is because they beg at weddings and other feasts, and accept cooked food from members of the caste who are their clients. Such an act constitutes an admission of inferior status, and as the Bhâts eat together their position becomes equivalent to that of the lowest group among them. Thus if other Bhâts eat with the Bhâts of Telis or Kalârs, who have taken cooked food from their clients, they are all in the position of having taken food from Telis and Kalârs, a thing which only the lowest castes will do. If the Bhât of any caste, such as the Kurmis, keeps a girl of that caste, she can be admitted into the community, which is therefore of a very mixed character. Such a caste as the Kurmis will not even take water from the hands of the Bhâts who serve them. This rule applies also where a special section of the caste itself act as bards and minstrels. Thus the Pardhâns are the bards of the Gonds, but rank below ordinary Gonds, who give them food and will not take it from them. And the Sânsias, the bards of the Jâts, and the Mirâsis, who are employed in this capacity by the lower castes, occupy a very inferior position, and are sometimes considered impure.

Social Customs.

The customs of the Bhâts resemble those of other castes of corresponding status. The higher Bhâts forbid the remarriage of widows, and expel a girl who becomes pregnant before marriage. They carry a dagger, the special emblem of the Chârans, in order to be distinguished from low-class Bhâts. The Bhâts generally display the chaur or yak-tail whisk and the chhadi or silver-plated rod on ceremonial occasions, and they worship these emblems of their calling on the principal festivals. The former is waved over the bridegroom at a wedding, and the latter is borne before him. The Brâhman Bhâts abstain from flesh of any kind and liquor, and other Bhâts usually have the same rules about food as the caste whom they serve. Brâhman Bhâts and Chârans alone wear the sacred thread. The high status sometimes assigned to this division of the caste is shown in the saying:

Age Brâhman píchhe Bhât

tâke píchhe aur jât,

Or, 'First comes the Brâhman, then the Bhât, and after them the other castes.'

The Bhât's Business.

The business of a Bhât in former times is thus described by Forbes:[4] "When the rainy season closes and traveling becomes practicable, the bard sets off on this yearly tour from his residence in the Bhâtwâra or bard's quarter of some city or town. One by one he visits each of the Râjpît chiefs who are his patrons, and from whom he has received portions of land or annual grants of money, timing his arrival, if possible, to suit occasions of marriage or other domestic festivals. After he has received the usual courtesies he produces the Wai, a book written in his own crabbed hieroglyphics or in those of his father, which contains the descent of the house from its founder, interspersed with many a verse or ballad, the dark sayings contained in which are chanted forth in musical cadence to a delighted audience, and are then orally interpreted by the bard with many an illustrative anecdote or tale.

[1] Malcola, Central India , ii. p. 132.

[2] Art. Bhât.

[3] Râjasthân , ii, p. 406.

[4] Malcolm, ii. p. 135

-----------------------------------------

page 165

The Wai, however, is not merely a source for the gratification of family pride or even of love of song; it is also a record by which questions of relationship are determined when a marriage is in prospect, and disputes relating to the division of ancestral property are decided, intricate as these last necessarily are form the practice of polygamy and the rule that all the sons of a family are entitled to a share. It is the duty of the bard at each periodical visit to register the births, marriages and deaths which have taken place in the family since his last circuit, as well as to chronicle all the other events worthy of remark which have occurred to affect the fortunes of his patron; nor have we ever heard even a doubt suggested regarding the accurate, much less the honest fulfilment of this duty by the bard. The manners of the bardic tribe are very similar to those of their Râjpît clients; their dress is nearly the same, but the bard seldom appears without the katâr or dagger, a representation of which is scrawled beside his signature, and often rudely engraved upon his monumental stone, in evidence of his death in the sacred duty of trâga (suicide)." [1]

Their Extortionate Practices.

The Bhât thus fulfilled a most useful function as registrar of births and marriages. But his merits were soon eclipsed by the eviis produced by his custom of extolling liberal patrons and satirising those who gave inadequately. The desire of the Râjpîts to be handed down to fame in the Bhât's songs was such that no extravagance was spared to satisfy him. Chand, the great Râjpît bard, sang of the marriage of Prithwi Râj, king of Delhi, that the bride's father emptied his coffers in gifts, but he filled them with the praises of mankind. A lakh of rupees [2] was given to the chief bard, and this became a precedent for similar occasions. "Until vanity suffers itself to be controlled," Colonel Tod wrote, [3] "and the aristocratic Râjpîts submit to republican simplicity, the evils arising from nuptial profusion will not cease. Unfortunately those who should check it find their interest in stimulating it, namely, the whole crowd of mângtas or beggars, beggars, bards, minstrels, jugglers, Brâhmans, who assemble on these occasions, and pour forth their epithalamiums in praise of the volume of precedent is always resorted to by citing the liberality of former chiefs; while the dread of their satire [4] shuts the eyes of the chief to consequences, and they are only anxious to maintain the reputation of their ancestors, though fraught with future ruin." Owing to this insensate liberality in the desire to satisfy the bards and win their praises, a Râjpît chief who had to marry a daughter was often practically ruined; and the desire to avoid such obligations led to the general practice of female infanticide, formerly so prevalent in Râjputâna. The importance of the bards increased their voracity; Mr. Nesfield describes them as "Rapacious and conceited mendicants, too proud to work but not too proud to beg." The Dholis [5] or minstrels were one of the seven great evils which the famous king Sidhrâj expelled from Anhilwâda Pâtan in Gujarât; the 6 Dâkans or witches were another. [6] Malcolm states that "They give praise and fame in their songs to those who are liberal to them, while they visit those who neglect or injure them with satires in which the victims are usually reproached with illegitimate birth and meanness of character.

[1] See later in this article.

[2] This present of a lakh of rupees is known as Lâkh Pasâru, and it is not usually given in cash but in kind. It is made up of grain, land, carriages, jewellery, horses, camels and elephants, and varies in value from Rs. 30,000 to Rs 70,000. A living bard, Mahamahopadhyaya Murar Dâs, has received three Lakh Pasârus from the Râjas of Jodhpur and has refused one from the Râna of Udaipur in view of the fact that he was made ayachaka by the Jodhpur Râja. Ayachaka means literally 'not a beggar,' and when a bard has once been made ayachaka he cannot accept gifts from any person other than his own patron. An ayachaka was formerly known as polpat , as it became his bounden duty to sing the praises of his patron constantly form the gate (pol ) of the donor's fort or castle. (Mr. Híra Lâl )

[3] Râjasthân , ii. p. 548.

[4] Viserva , lit. poison.

[5] From dhol , a drum.

[6] Râjasthân , ii. p. 184.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 166

Sometimes the Bhât, if very seriously offended, fixes an effigy of the person he desires to degrade on a long pole and appends to it a slipper as a mark of disgrace. In such cases the song of the Bhât records the infamy of the object of his revenge. This image usually travels the country till the party or his friends purchase the cessation of the curses and ridicule thus entailed. It is not deemed in these countries within the power of the prince, much less any other person, to stop a Bhât or even punish him for such a proceeding. In 1812 Sevak Râm Seth, a banker of Holkar's court, offended one of these Bhâts, pushing him rudely out of the shop where the man had come to ask alms. The man made a figure [1] of him to which he attached a slipper and carried it to court, and everywhere sang the infamy of the Seth. The latter, though a man of wealth and influence, could not prevent him, but obstinately refused to purchase his forbearance. His friends after some months subscribed Rs. 80 and the Bhât discontinued his execrations, but said it was too late, as his curses had taken effect; and the superstitious Hindus ascribe the ruin of the banker, which took place some years afterwards, to this unfortunate event." The loquacity and importunity of the Bhâts are shown in the saying, 'Four Bhâts make a crowd'; and their insincerity in the proverb quoted by Mr. Crooke, "The bard, the innkeeper and the harlot have no heart; they are polite when customers arrive, but neglect those leaving (after they have paid)" [2] The Bhât women are as bold, voluble and ready in retort as the men. When a Bhât woman passes a male caste fellow on the road, it is the latter who raises a piece of cloth to his face till the woman is out of sight. [3]

The Jasondhis.

Some of the lower classes of Bhâts have become religious mendicants and musicians, and perform ceremonial functions. Thus the Jasondhis, who are considered a class of Bhâts, take their name from the jas or hymns sung in praise of Devi. They are divided into various sections, as the Nakíb of flag-bearers in a procession, the Nâzir or ushers who introduced visitors to the Râja, the Nagâria or players on kettle-drums, the Karaola who pour sesamum oil on their clothes and beg, and the Panda, who serve as priests of Devi, and beg carrying an image of the goddess in their hands. There is also a section of Muhammadan Bhâts who serve as bards and genealogists for Muhammadan castes. Some Bhâts, having the rare and useful qualification of literacy so that they can read the old Sanskrit medical works, have, like a number of Brâhmans, taken to the practice of medicine and are known as Kavirâj.

The Chârans as Carriers.

As already stated, the persons of the Chârans in the capacity of bard and herald were sacred, and they travelled from court to court without fear of molestation from robbers or enemies. It seems likely that the Chârans may have united the breeding of cattle to their calling of bard; but in any case the advantage derived from their sanctity was so important that they gradually became the chief carriers and traders of Râjputâna and the adjoining tracts. They further, in virtue of their holy character, enjoyed a partial exemption form the perpetual and harassing imposts levied by carry petty State on produce entering its territory; and the combination of advantages thus obtained was such as to give them almost a monopoly in trade. They carried merchandise on large droves of Bullocks all over Râjputâna and the adjoining countries; and in course of time the carriers restricted themselves to their new profession, splitting off from the Chârns and forming the caste of Banjâras.

Suicide and the Fear of Ghosts.

But the mere reverence for their calling would not have sufficed for a permanent safeguard to the Chârans from destitute and unscrupulous robbers. They preserved it by the customs of Chandi or Trâga and Dharna . These consisted in their readiness to mutilate, starve or kill themselves rather than give up property entrusted to their care; and it was a general belief that their ghosts would then haunt the persons whose ill deeds had forced them to take their own lives.

[1] Lit. putli or doll.

[2] Tribes and Castes , art. Bhât.

[3] Ibidem , Veiling the face is a sing of modesty.

------------------------------------------------

page 167

It seems likely that this belief in the power of a suicide or murdered man to avenge himself by haunting any persons who had been responsible for his death may have had a somewhat wide prevalence and been partly accountable for the reprobation attaching in early times to the murderer and the act of self-slaughter. The haunted murderer would be impure and would bring ill-fortune on all who had to do with him, while the injury which a suicide would inflict on his relatives in haunting them would cause this act to be regarded as a sin against one's family and tribe. Even the ordinary fear of the ghosts of people who die in the natural course, and especially of those who are killed by accident, is so strong that a large part of the funeral rites is devoted to placating and laying the ghost of the dead man; and in India the period of observance of mourning for the dead is perhaps in reality that time during which the spirit of the dead man is supposed to haunt his old abode and render the survivors of his family impure. It was this fear of ghosts on which the Chârans relied, nor did they hesitate a moment to sacrifice their lives in defence of any obligation they had undertaken or of property committed to their care. When plunderers carried off any cattle belonging to the Chârans, the whole community would proceed to the spot where the robbers resided; and in failure of having their property restored would cut off the heads of several of their old men and women. Frequent instances occurred of a man dressing himself in cotton-quilted cloths steeped in oil which he set on fire at the bottom, and thus danced against the person against whom trâga was performed until the miserable creature dropped down and was burnt to ashes. On one occasion a Cutch chieftain, attempting to escape with his wife and child from a village, was overtaken by his enemy when about to leap a precipice; immediately turning he cut off his wife's head with his scimitar and, flourishing his reeking blade in the face of his pursuer, denounced against him the curse of the trâga which he had so fearfully performed.[1] In this case it was supposed that the wife's ghost would haunt the enemy who had driven the husband to kill her.

Instances of Haunting and Laying Ghosts.

The following account in the Râsmâla [2] is an instance of suicide and of the actual haunting by the ghost: A Châran asserted a claim against the chief of Siela in Kâthiawâr, which the latter refused to liquidate. The bard thereupon, taking forty of his caste with him, went to Siela with the intention of sitting Dharna at the chief's door and preventing any one from coming out or going in until the claim should be discharged. However, as they approached the town, the chief, becoming aware of their intention, caused the gates to be closed. The bards remained outside and for three days abstained from food; on the fourth day they proceeded to perform trâga as follows: some hacked their own arms; others decapitated three old women of the party and hung their heads up at the gate as a garland; certain of the women cut off their own breasts. The bards also pierced the throats of four of their old men with spikes, and they took two young girls by the heels, and dashed out their brains against the town gate. The Châran to whom the money was due dressed himself in clothes wadded with cotton which he steeped in oil and then set on fire. He thus burned himself to death. But as he died he cried out, "I am now dying; but I will become a headless ghost (Kuvís ) in the palace, and will take the chief's life and cut off his posterity." After this sacrifice the rest of the bards returned home. On the third day after the Châran's death his Bhît (ghost) threw the Râni downstairs so that she was very much injured. Many other persons also beheld the headless phantom in the palace. At last he entered the chief's head and set him trembling. At night he would throw stones at the palace, and he killed a female servant outright. At length, in consequence of the various acts of oppression which he committed, none dared to approach the chief's mansion even in broad daylight. In order to exorcise the Bhît, Jogis, Fakírs and Brâhmans were sent for from many different places; but whoever attempted the cure was immediately assailed by the Bhît in the chief's body, and that so furiously that the exorcist's courage failed him. The Bhît would also cause the chief to tear the flesh of his own arms with his teeth. Besides this, four or five persons died of injuries received from the Bhît; but nobody had the power to expel him. At length a foreign Jyotishi (astrologer) came who had a great reputation for charms and magic, and the chief sent for him and paid him honour.

[1] Postans, Cutch , p. 172.

[2] Vol. ii. pp. 392-394.

----------------------------

page 168

First he tied all round the house threads which he had charged with a charm; then he drove a charmed iron nail into the ground at each corner of the mansion, and two at the door. He purified the house and continued his charms and incantations for forty-one days, every day making sacrifices at the cemetery to the Bhît's spirit. The Joshi lived in a room securely fastened up; but people say that while he was muttering his charms stones would fall and strike the windows. Finally the Joshi brought the chief, who had been living in a separate room, and tried to exorcise the spirit. The patient began to be very violent, but the Joshi and his people spared no pains in thrashing him until they had rendered him quite docile. A sacrificial fire-pit was made and a lemon placed between it and the chief. The Joshi commanded the Bhît to enter the lime. The possessed, however, said, 'Who are you; if one of your Deos (gods) were to come, I would not quit this person.' thus they went on from morning till noon. At last they came outside, and, burning various kinds of incense and sprinkling many charms, the Bhît was got out into the lemon. When the lemon began to jump about, the whole of the spectators praised the Joshi, crying out: "The Bhît has gone into the lemon! The Bhît has gone into the lemon!" The possessed person himself, when he saw the lemon hopping about, was perfectly satisfied that the Bhît had left his body and gone out into the lemon. The Joshi then drove the lemon outside the city, followed by drummers and trumpeters; if the lemon left the road, he would touch it with his stick and put it into the right way again. One the track they sprinkled mustard and salt and finally buried the lemon is a pit seven cubits deep, throwing into the hole above it mustard and salt, and over these dust and stones, and filling in the space between the stones with lead. At each corner, too, the Joshi drove in an iron nail, two feet long, which he had previously charmed. The lemon buried, the people returned home, and not one of them ever saw the Bhît thereafter. According to the recorder of the tale, the cure was effected by putting quicksilver into the lemon. When a man is attacked with fever or becomes speechless or appears to have lockjaw, his friends conclude from these indications that he is possessed by a Bhît.

In another case some Bhâts had been put in charge, by the chief of a small State, of a village which was coveted by a neighbouring prince, the Râna of Dânta. The latter sent for the Bhâts and asked them to guard one or two of his villages, and having obtained their absence by this pretext he raided their village, carrying off hostages and cattle. When the Bhâts got back they collected to a hundred of their own people and began to perform Dharna against the Râna. They set out from their village, and at every two miles as they advanced they burned a man, so that by the time they got to the Râna's territory seven or eight men had been burnt. They were then pacified by his people and induced to go back. The Râna offered them presents, but they refused to accept them, as they said the guilt of the death of their fellows who had been burned would thereby be removed form the Râna. The Râna lost all the seven sons born to him and died childless, and it was generally held to be on account of this sin. [1]

The Chârans as Sureties.

Such was the certainty attaching to the Châran's readiness to forfeit his life rather than prove false to a trust, and the fear entertained of the offence of causing him to do so and being haunted by his ghost, that his security was eagerly coveted in every kind of transaction. "No traveller could journey unattended by these guards, who for a small sum were satisfied to conduct him in safety.[2] The guards, called Valâvas, were never backward in inflicting the most grievous wounds and even causing the death of their old men and women if the robbers persisted in plundering those under their protection; but this seldom happened, as the wildest Koli, Kâthi or Râjpît held the person of a Châran sacred. Besides becoming safeguards to travellers and goods, they used to stand security to the amount of many lakhs of rupees.

[1] Râsmâla , ii. p. 143,144

[2] Bombay Gazetteer , Hindus of Gujarât , Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparâm, pp. 217, 219.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 169

When rents and property were concerned, the Râjpîts preferred a Châran's bond to that of the wealthiest banker. They also gave security for good behaviour, called châlu zâmin , and for personal attendance in court called hâzar zâmin. The ordinary trâga went no farther than a cut on the arm with the katâr or crease; the forearms of those who were in the habit of becoming security had generally several cuts from the elbow downwards. the Chârans, both men and women wounded themselves, committed suicide and murdered their relations with the most complete self-devotion. In 1812 the Marâthas brought a body of troops to impose a payment on the village of Pânchpipla. [1] The Chârans resisted the demand, but finding the Marâthas determined to carry their point, after a remonstrance against paying any kind of revenue as being contrary to their occupation and principles, they at last cut the throats of ten young children and threw them at the feet of the Marâthas, exclaiming, 'These are our riches and the only payment we can make.' The Chârans were immediately seized and confined in irons at Jambusar." As was the cast with the Bhât and the Brâhman, the source of the Châran's power lay in the widespread fear that a Châran's blood brought ruin on him who caused the blood to be spilt. It was also sometimes considered that the Châran was possessed by his deity, and the caste were known as Deoputra or sons of God, the favourite dwelling of the guardian spirti.

Suicide as a Means of Revenge.

Such a belief enhanced the guilt attaching to the act of causing or being responsible for a Châran's death. Suicide from motives of revenge has been practised in other countries. "Another common form of suicide which is admired as heroic in China is that committed for the purpose of taking revenge upon and enemy who is otherwise out of reach-according to Chinese ideas a most effective mode of revenge, not only because the law throws the responsibility of the deed on him who occasioned it, but also because the disembodied soul supposed to be better able than the living man to persecute the enemy." [2] Similarly, among the Hos or Mundas the suicide of young married women is or was extremely common, and the usual motive was that the girl, being unhappy in her husband's house, jumped down a well or otherwise did away with herself in the belief that she would take revenge on his family by haunting them after her death. The treatment of the suicide's body was sometimes directed to prevent his spirit from causing trouble. "According to Jewish custom persons who had killed themselves were left unburied till sunset, perhaps for fear lest the spirit of the deceased otherwise might find its way back to the old home." [3] At Athens the right hand of a person who had taken his own life was struck off and buried apart form the rest of the body, evidently in order to make him harmless after death. [4] Similarly, in England suicides were buried with a spike through the chest to prevent their spirits from rising, and at cross-roads, so that the ghost might not be able to find its way home. This fear appears to have partly underlain the idea that suicide was a crime or an offence against society and the state, though, as shown by Dr. Westermarck, the reprobation attaching to it was far from universal; while in the cultured communities of ancient Greece and Rome, and among such military peoples as the Japanese suicide was considered at all times a legitimate and, on occasion, a highly meritorious a praiseworthy act.

That condition of mind which leads to the taking of one's own life from motives of revenge is perhaps a fruit of ignorance and solitude. The mind becomes distorted, and the sufferer attributes the unhappiness really caused by accident or his own faults or defects to the persecution of a malignant fate or the ill-will of his neighbours and associates. And long brooding over his wrongs eventuates in his taking the extreme step. The crime known as "running amok" appears to be the outcome of a similar state of mind. Here too the criminal considers his wrongs or misery as the result of injury or unjust treatment from his fellow-men, and, careless of his own life, determines to be revenged on them.

[1] In Broach.

[2] Westermarck, Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas , ii. p. 242.

[3] Westermarck ibidem , p. 246.

[4] Westermarck ibidem , p. 248

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 170

Such hatred of one's kind is cured by education, leading to a truer appreciation of the circumstances and environment which determine the course of life, and by the more cheerful temper engendered by social intercourse. All these crimes of vengeance tend to die out with the advance of civilisation.

Dharan.

Analogous to the custom of trâga was that of Dharna , which was frequently and generally resorted to for the redress of wrongs and offences at a time when the law made little provision for either. The ordinary method of Dharna was to sit starving oneself in front of the door of the person from whom redress was sought until he gave it from fear of causing the death of the suppliant and being haunted by his ghost. It was, naturally, useless unless the person seeking redress was prepared to go to extremes, and has some analogy to the modern hunger-strike with the object of getting out of jail. Another common device was to thrust a spear-blade through both cheeks, and in this state to dance before the person against whom Dharna was practised. The pain had to be borne without a sign of suffering, which, if displayed, would destroy its efficacy. Or a creditor would proceed to the door of his debtor and demand payment, and if not appeased would stand up in his presence with an enormous weight upon his head, which he had brought with him for the purpose, swearing never to alter his position until satisfaction was given and denouncing at the same time the most horrible execrations on his debtor, should he suffer him to expire in that situation. This seldom failed to produce the desired effect, but should he actually die while in Dharna , the debtor's house was razed to the earth and he and his family sold for the satisfaction of the creditor's heirs. Another and more desperate form of Dharna , only occasionally resorted to, was to erect a large pile of wood before the house of the debtor, and after the customary application for payment had been refused the creditor tied on the top of the pile a cow or a calf, or very frequently an old woman, generally his mother of other relation, swearing at the same time to set fire to it if satisfaction was not instantly given. All the time the old woman denounced the bitterest curses, threatening to persecute the wretched debtor both here and hereafter. [1]

The word dharna Means 'to place or lay on,' and hence 'a pledge.' Mr. Híra Lâl suggests that the standing with a weight on the head may have been the original form of the penance, from which the other and severer methods were subsequently derive. Another custom known as dharna is that of a suppliant placing a stone on the shrine of a god or tomb of a saint. He makes his request and, laying the stone on the shrine, says, "Here I place this stone until you fulfil my prayer; if I do not remove it, the shame is on you." If the prayer is afterwards fulfilled, he takes away the stone and offers a cocoanut. It seems clear that the underlying idea of this custom is the same as that of standing with a stone on the head as described above, but it is difficult to say which was the earlier or original form.

Casting out Spirits.

As a general rule, if the guilt of having caused a suicide was at a man's door, he should expiate it by going to the Ganges to bathe. When a man was haunted by the ghost of anyone whom he had wronged, whether such a person had committed suicide or simply died of grief at being unable to obtain redress, it was said of him Brahm laga , or that Brahma had possessed him. The spirit of a Br¡ahman boy, who has died unmarried, is also accustomed to haunt any person who walks over his grave in an impure condition or otherwise defiles it, and when a man is haunted in such a manner it is called Brahm laga . Then an exorcist is called, who sprinkles water over the possessed man, and this burns the Brahm Deo or spirit inside him as if it were burning oil. The spirit cries out, and the exorcist orders him to leave the man. Then the spirit states how he had been injured by the man, and refuses to leave him. The exorcist asks him what he requires on condition of leaving the man, and he asks for some good food or something else, and is given it.

[1] The above account of Dharna is taken from Colonel Tone's Letter on the Marâthas (India Office Tracts)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 171

The exorcist takes a nail and goes to a pípal tree and orders the Brahm Deo to go into the tree. Brahm Deo obeys, and the exorcist drives the nail into the tree and the spirit remains imprisoned there until somebody takes the nail out, when he will come out again and haunt him. The Hindus think that the god Brahma lives in the foots of the pípal tree, Siva in its branches, and Vishnu in the choti or scalp-knot, that is the topmost foliage.

Sulking. Going Bankrupt.

Another and mild form of Dharna is that known as Khâtpâti . When a woman is angry with her husband on account of his having refused her some request, she will put her bed in a corner of the room and go and lie on it, turning her face to the wall, and remain so, not answering when spoken to nor taking food. The term Khâtpâti signifies keeping to one side of the bed, and there she will remain until her husband accedes to her request, unless indeed he should decide to beat her instead. This is merely and exaggerated form of the familiar display of temper known as sulking. It is interesting to note the use of the phrase turning one's face to the wall, with something of the meaning attached to it in the Bible. A custom similar to that of Dharna was called Diwâla nikâlna or going bankrupt. When a merchant had had heavy losses and could not meet his liabilities, he would place the lock of his door outside, reversing it, and sit in the veranda with a piece of sackcloth over his head. Or he wrapped round him the floor-carpet of his room. When he had displayed these signs of ruin and self-abasement his creditors would not sue him, but he would never be able to borrow money again.

Bhât Songs.

In conclusion a few specimens of Bhât songs may be given. The following is an account of the last king of Nâgpur, Raghuji III., commonly known as Bâji Rao:

They made a picture of Bâji Rao;

Bâji Rao was the finest king to see;

The Brâhmans told lies about him,

They sent a letter from Nâgpur to Calcutta,

They made Bâji Rao go on a pilgrimage.

Brothers! the great Sirdârs who were with him,

They brought a troop of five hundred horses!

The Tuesday fair in Benâres was held with fireworks,

They made the Ganges pink with rose-petals.

Bâji Rao's gifts were splendid,

His turban and coat were of brocaded silk,

A pair of diamonds and emeralds

He gave to the Brâhmans emeralds

Oh brothers! the Râja sat in a covered howdah bound on an elephant ~

Many fans waved over his head;

How charitable a king he was !

In the above song a note of regret is manifest for the parade and display of the old court of Nâgpur, English rule being less picturesque. The next is a song about the English:

The English have taken the throne of Nâgpur,

The fear of the English is great.

In a moment's time they conquer countries.

The guns boomed, the English came strong and warlike,

They give wealth to all

They ram the ramrods in the guns.

They conquered also Tippoo's dominions,

The English are ruling in the fort of Gâwilgarh.

--------------------

page 172

The following is another song about the English, not quite so complimentary:

The English became our kings and have made current the kaldâr (milled) rupee.

The menials are favoured and the Bhâts have lost their profession,

The mango has lost its taste, the milk has lost its sweetness,

The rose has lost its scent.

Bâji Rao of Nâgpur he also is gone,

No longer are the drums beaten at the place gate.

Poona customs have come in.

Brâhmans knowing the eighteen Purâns have become Christians;

The son thinks himself better than his father,

The daughter-in-law on longer respects her mother-in law,

The wife fights with her husband.

The English have made the railways and telegraph;

The people wondered at the silver rupees and all the country prospered.

The following is a song about the Nerbudda at Mandla, Rewa being another name for the

river:

The stream of the world springs out breaking apart the hills;

The Rewa cuts her path through the soil, the air is darkened with her spray.

All the length of her banks are the seats of saints; hermits and pilgrims worship her.

On seeing the holy river a man's sins fall away as wood is cut by a saw;

By bathing in her he plucks the fruit of holiness.

When boats are caught in her flood, the people pray: 'We are sinners,

O Rewa, bring us safely the bank !'

When the Nerbudda is in flood, Mandla is an island and the people think their end has come:

The rain pours down on all sides, earth and sky become dark as smoke, and men call on

Râma.

The bard says: 'Let it rain as it may, some one will save us as Krishna saved the people of

Brindâwan !'

This is a description of a beautiful woman:

A beautiful woman is loved by her neighbours,

But she will let none come to her and answers them not.

They say: 'Since God has made you so beautiful, open your litter and let yourself be seen!'

He who sees her is struck as by lightning, she shoots her lover with the darts of her eyes,

invisible herself.

She will not go to her husband's house till he has her brought by the Government.

When she goes her father's village is left empty.

She is so delicate she faints at the sight of a flower,

Her body cannot bear the weight of her cloth,

The garland of jasmine-flowers is a burden on her neck,

The red powder on he feet is too heavy for them.

It is interesting to note that weakness and delicacy in a woman are emphasised as an

attraction, as in English literature of the eighteenth century.

The last is a gentle intimation that poets, like other people, have to live:

It is useless to adorn oneself with sandalwood on an empty belly,

Nobody's body gets fat from the scent of flowers;

the singing of songs excites the mind,

But if the body is not fed all these are vain and hollow.

All Bhâts recite their verses in a high-pitched sing-song tone, which renders it very difficult

for their hearers to grasp the sense unless they know it already. The Vedas and all other

sacred verses are spoken in this manner, perhaps as a mark of respect and to distinguish

them from ordinary speech. The method has some resemblance to intoning. Women use the

same tone when mourning for the dead.

-----------

page 173

Bhat.: -Bhât (Sansk. bhatta, a title of respect, probably connected with bhartri, a 'supporter or master'), a caste of genealogists [1] and family bards usually supposed to have spring from the intercourse of a Kshatriya with a Brahman widow. Others believe them to be the modern representatives of the Mâgadha spoken of in Manu, x, 17, as the off-spring of a Vaisya father and a Kshatriya mother. Lassen regards this mythical pedigree as merely a theoretical explanation of the fact the professional singers of the praises of great men had come by Manus time to be looked upon as a distinct class. Zimmer, [2] on the other hand, seems to take the tradition more seriously, and speaks of the Mâgadha as a "mixed caste, out of which, as we learn from numerous passages in later writings, a guild of singers arose, who, devoting themselves to the deeds of the Kosala-Videha and Kuru-Panchâla, may have laid the foundation of the epic poems." [3] Other authorities say that they were produced to amuse Parvati from the drops of sweat on Siva's brow, but as they chose to sing his praises rather that hers, they were expelled from heaven and condemned to live a wandering life as bards on earth. Sir John Malcolm, Central India, vol. ii, p. 132, says: "According to the fable of their origin, Mahâdeva first created Bhâts to attend his lion and bull; but the former killing the latter every day gave him infinite vexation and trouble in creating new ones. He therefore formed the Châran, equally devout as the Bhât, but of bolder spirit, and gave him in charge these favourite animals. From that period no bull was ever destroyed by the lion." [4]

Mr. Nesfield's theory.

In his brief view of the caste system of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Mr, J. C. Nesfield propounds the original view that the Bhâts are an offshoot "from those secularised Brahmans who frequented the courts of princes and the camps of warriors, recited their praises in public, and kept records of their genealogies. Such without much variation, is the function of the Bhât at the present day. The ancient epic knows as the Mahâbhârata speaks of a band of bards and eulogists marching in front of Yudhishthira as he made his progress from the field of Kuru-Kshetra towards Hastinâpur. But these very men are spoken of in the same poem as Brahmans. Nothing could be more natural than that, as time went on, these courtier priests should have become hereditary bards, who receded from the parent stem and founded a new caste bound together by mutual interests and sympathies." In support of this theory of the origin of the caste Mr. Nesfield refers to the facts that one of the sub-castes is called Baram-Bhât; that some Gaur-Brahmans still act as bards and genealogists; that the Bhât still wears the sacred thread, and is addressed by the lower classes as Mahârâj-an honour generally only accorded to Brahmans; and lastly, that by an obvious survival of Brahmanical titles the Bhât's employer is called jajmân,, 'he who gives the sacrifice,' while the Bhât himself is called jagwâ`, jâjak, or jâchak, ' the priest by whom the sacrifices is performed.'

Supported by Dr. Wise.

Strong testimony in favour of Mr. Nesfield's view comes to us from Eastern Bengal, where, according to Dr. Wise, the Bhâts repudiate the traditional descent from a Kshatriya and Brahman widow, and claim to be the offspring of the aboriginal Brahmans employed as ghataks or marriage-brokers by the other members of the sacred order. They say that they retired or were driven to the borders of Bengal for refusing to accept the reforms of Ballâl Sen.

[1] See Risley.

[2] Lassen, Ind. Alt. i, 777.

[3] Zimmer, Alt-Indisches Leben, 35, quoting Weber, Ind, Stud. i, 185.

[4] Elliot's Glossary, vol. i. p. 18.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

page 174

In Silhet the Rârhi Brahmans still eat with the Bhâts, but in Dacca the latter are reckoned unclean; and in Tipperah, having fallen in rank, they earn a precarious livelihood by making umbrellas. It is a curious fact that the Bhât would consider himself dishonoured by acting as a pujâri or priest of a temple, or as a purohit.

Further discussion

Admitting the force of this evidence, and fully recognising how great an advance Mr. Nesfield has made on the traditional methods of dealing with such questions, I find some difficulty in reconciling his theory as stated above with the internal structure of the Bhât caste. If the Bhâts of the present day are descended solely from a class of degraded Brahmans- if, in other words, they are a homogeneous offshoot from the priestly caste- how do they come to have a number of sections, which are certainly not Brahmanical, and which appear rather to resemble the territorial exogamous groups common among the Rajputs? Brahmans, however degraded, hold fast to their characteristic series of eponymous sections, and I know of no case in which it can be shown that they have adopted section-names of a different type. On the other hand, there is nothing specially improbable in the conjecture that Rajputs may have taken up the profession of bard of the chiefs of their tribe, and this may in course of time have become incorporated in the Bhât caste. It will be seen that this solutions of the difficulty in no way conflicts with Mr. Nesfield's view, but merely modifies it by introducing a second factor into the formation of the caste. Mr. Nesfield regards the Bhâts as a homogenous functional group thrown off by the Brahmans. I look upon them as a heterogeneous group made up of Brahmans and Rajputs welded together into one caste in virtue of their exercising similar functions. I may add, however, that the inviolability of the Bhât's person, which was admitted in Western India towards the end of the last century, makes rather for Mr. Nesfield's view that for mine; while the theory of Roth and Zimmer, that the first germ of the Brahman caste is to be sought in the singers of Vedic times, may perhaps be deemed to support in same conclusion.[1]

Internal Structure.

The sections of the caste are shown in Appendix I. A man may not marry a woman of his own section, nor any one descended from his sister, paternal aunt, paternal grandmother, aunt, maternal grandfather, and maternal great-grandfather (mother's mother's father) as long as any relationship can be traced. The endogamous divisions of the caste are somewhat obscure. Two sub-castes appear to be known in Behar-Râjbhât and Baram-Bhât. To these may be added the Turk-Bhât, who are converts to Islâm and perform the same functions in Mahommedan households as the Hindu Bhâts for men of their own religion. The wives of Mahommedan Bhâts sing in public on certain occasions. There seems to be no marked difference of occupation between the Râjbhâts and Baram-Bhâts, but I understand that they do not intermarry. Regarding the Bhâts of the North-West Provinces Sir Henry Elliot says: "By some tribes the Bhât and Jâga are considered synonymous; but those who pretend to greater accuracy distinguish them by calling the former Birmbhât or Badi`, and the latter Jâgabhât. The former recite the deeds of ancestors at weddings and other festive occasions; the latter keep the family record, particularly of Rajputs, and are entitled by right of succession to retain the office, whereas the Birmbhâts are hired and paid for the particular occasion. Jâgabhâts pay visits to their constituents every two or three years, and receive the perquisites to which they are entitled. After having recorded all the births which have taken place since their last tour, they are remunerated with rupees, cattle, or clothes, according to the ability of the registering party." In another place Sir Henry Elliot mentions a number of subdivisions of the caste, which are shown in a note in the Appendix.

Marriage.

Bhâts usually marry their daughters between the ages of nine and twelve; but in exceptional cases, where a girl's parents are poor, it may happen that she is not married until after the age of puberty.

[1] Zimmer, Alt-Indisches Leben, p. 168. See also art. Brahman below.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

page 175

The marriage ceremony is of the orthodox type, and kanyâdân , or the presentation of the bride to the bridegroom and his acceptance of the gift, is reckoned to be the essential and binding portion of the ritual. Polygamy is not supposed to be allowed, but a man may take a second wife if the first is barren or suffers from an incurable disease. Widows are not allowed to marry again, nor is divorce recognised. An adulterous wife is turned out of the caste and ceases thenceforth to be a member of respectable society.

Succession.

In questions concerning the devolution of property, the caste are guided for the most part by the standard Hindu law recognised in the area where they live; that is to say, in Bengal they follow the Dâyabhâga, and in Behar the Mitâksharâ Code. In one point, however, they observe a peculiar usage of their own. Where under the ordinary law a daughter's son would succeed, Bhât custom holds him to be excluded by the nearest male relative of the same section. It is remarkable that this customs should have survived, as the Bhâts are not governed by panchâyat or caste councils to the same extent as the lower castes, and thus lack the most effective machinery for preserving peculiar usages, which the courts tend on the whole to destroy.

Religion.

The religion of the Bhâts of Behar differs little from that of the average middle-class Hindu. Representatives of all the regular sects are found among their numbers, and caste cannot be said to favour the tenets of any particular body. In Eastern Bengal, on the other hand, they are said to be mostly Sakti worshippers, and to be greatly inclined to intemperance. They employ Brahmans for religious and ceremonial purpose, who are received on equal terms by other members of the sacred order. Their minor gods are Bandi or Sanvardhir and Bariji, who are worshipped on the 22nd Srâvan and the 24th Chait with offerings of he-goats, wheaten cakes, ilchauri made molasses, coloured cloths, and vermilion. The eatable portion of the offerings is divided among the ceremony of srâddh is performed on the thirteenth day after death.

Social Status.

In point of social precedence Bhâts rank immediately below Kâyasths. Their own rules concerning diet are the same as are observed by the higher castes, and, like them, they will take water and certain sweetmeats from Kurmis, Kahars, and castes of corresponding status.

Occupation.

The characteristic profession of the Bhâts has an ancient and distinguished history. The literature of both Greece and India owes the preservation of its oldest treasures to the singers, who recited poems in the households of the chief, and doubtless helped in some measure to shape the masterpieces which they handed down. Their place was one of marked distinction. In the days when writing was unknown, the man who could remember many verses was held in high honour by the tribal chief, who depended upon the memory of his bard for his personal amusement, for the record of his own and his ancestors' prowess, and for the maintenance of the genealogy which established the purity of his descent. The bard, like the herald, was not lightly to be slain, and even Odysseus, in the heat of his vengeance, spares the aoido`s Phemius, "who sang among the wooers of necessity." [1] Possibly the duties of bard and herald may often have been discharged by the same person. However this may be, it is curious to find that about the middle of the sixteenth century the person of a Bhât was deemed inviolable by highway robbers in Rajputana and Guzerat, so that a member of that caste could protect a caravan of traders from attack by threatening to kill himself if they were molested; while as late as 1775 many of them made their living by pledging themselves as

[1] Odyssey , xxii, 331.

----------------------------

page 176

hostages for the payment of revenue, the performance of treaties and bonds, and the general good behaviour of princes of private individuals. [1] In most parts of modern India, except perhaps in Rajputana, the Bhâts have fallen from their former state, and are now the tawdriest parody on the Homeric âoido`s. Mr. Nesfield describes them as "rapacious and conceited mendicants, too proud to work, but not proud to beg." Mr. Sherring says they "are notorious for their rapacity as beggars, and are much dreaded by their employers on account of the power they have of distorting family history at public recitations if they choose to do so, and of subjecting any member to general ridicule." Dr. Wise's notes contain a telling sketch of the Bhâts of Eastern Bengal: "In January they leave their homes, travelling to all parts of eastern Bengal, and, being in great request, are fully engaged during the subsequent Hindu matrimonial season. Each company receives a fixed yearly sum from every Hindu household within a definite area, amounting usually to eight annas. In return they are expected to visit the house and recite Kavitâs, or songs extolling the worth and renown of the family. Satirical songs are great favourites with Hindus, and none win more applause than those laying bare the foibles and well-intentioned vagaries of the English rule or the eccentricities and irascibility of some local magnate. Very few bards can sing extemporary songs, their effusions, usually composed by one and learned by heart by the others, being always metrical, often humorous, and generally seasoned with puns and equivocal words. Their sole occupation is the recital of verses, unaccompanied by instrumental music. They are met with everywhere when Hindu families celebrate a festival or domestic event, appearing on such occasions uninvited, and exacting by their noisy importunity a share of the food and charity that is being doled to the poor. Their shamelessness in this respect is incredible. During the Durgâ Pu`gâ they force their way into respectable houses and make such a horrid uproar with singing that the residents gladly pay something to be rid of them. Should this persecution have no effect on the rich man inside, they by means of a brass o`tâ and an iron rod madden the most phlegmatic Bâbu, who pays iberally for their departure. The Bengali Bhât is as a rule uneducated, and very few know Sanskrit."

At weddings in Behar it is one of the duties of the Bhât to march out several miles to meet the bridegroom's procession, bearing with him a letter of welcome from the bride's father, and to conduct them to the bride's house. For these services, and for reciting verses and making himself generally useful, he receives presents of money and clothes. In some Behar districts and in parts of Chota Nagpur, Bhâts hold small parcels of land, usually about three or four bighâs in extent, rent-free under the tenure known as bhâtottar. Such grants are mostly of rather ancient date, and are regarded with disfavour by the landholders of to-day, who look more to Government as the fountain of honour, and do not make much account of the Bhâts. A few Bhâts have risen to be zamindars or tenure-holders, but the bulk of the caste are occupancy raiyats, cultivating by means of hired labourers and disdaining to touch the plough themselves.

Bhatiya: -A tribe of money-dealers and traders found in these Provinces only in Mathura [2]. Of those in the Panjâb Mr. Ibbetson writes: [3] "The Bhatiyas are a class of Râjputs, originally coming from Bhatner, Jaysalmer, and the Rajputâna Desert, who have taken to domestic pursuits. The name would seem to show that they were Bhâtis (called Bhatti in the Panjâb); but be that as it may, their Râjput origin seems to be unquestioned. They are numerous in Sindh and Gujarât, where they appear to form the leading mercantile element, and to hold the place which the Aroras occupy higher up the Indus. They have spread into the Panjâb along the lower valleys of the Indus and Sutlej, and up the whole length of the Chenâb as high as its debouchure into the plains, being indeed most numerous in Siâlkot and Gujarât.

[1] Yule, Anglo-Indian Glossary , s.v. Bha`t.

[2] See Crooke, entirely based on a note by Munshi Atma Râm, Head Master, High School, Mathura

[3] Panjâb Ethnography, 297.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 177

They stand distinctively below the Khatri, and perhaps below the Arora, and are for the most part engaged in petty shop-keeping, though the Bhatiyas of Dehra Ismail Khân are described as belonging to a widely-spread and enterprising mercantile community. They are often supposed to be Khatris, and in Jahlam they are said to follow the Khatri divisions of Bhari, Bunjâhi, Dhâighar, Chârzâti, etc. They are very strict Hindus, far more so than the other trading classes of the Western Punjâb; and eschew meat and liquor. They do not practise widow-marriage."

Tribal Tradition Of The Mathura Bhatiyas.

The Bhatiyas Mathura claim to be descended from a personage called Bhâti Sinh, from whom they take their name. He was the founder of the city and kingdom of Jaysalmer. It is related that the Yaduvansis, or descendants of Yadu, engaged in a deadly internal quarrel, and of them only two escaped the general destruction- Odhu and Bajarnâbh. The latter lived at the time at the house of his maternal grandfather, Râja Bânâsura. In return for the services which Sri Krishna, himself a Yaduvansi, had once rendered to Râja Parikshit, in protecting him while still in his mother's womb, the latter brought Bajarnâbh from Bânsura's house and delivered to him the kingdom of Mathura and Indraprastha. Bajarnâbh ruled wisely and protected his subjects, and raised a temple in honor of Sri Krishna at Dwârika. Eighty of his successors ruled in succession at Mathura; but during the reign of the last, Râja Jay Sinh, Râja Ajaypâl of Biyâna invaded Mathura, and, in the battle which ensued, Jay Sinh was killed, and his three sons, Bijaypâl, Ajây Râj, and Bijay Râj, fled to Karauli. Bijaypâl, the eldest of the three, gained the kingdom of Karauli, but he quarrelled with his brothers, and they retired to a forest in the neighbourhood of Karauli, where they devoted themselves to the worship of Ambâmâna Devi. At the end of a year of devotion, when they failed to propitiate the goddess they determined to gain her favour by offering their heads to her in a furnace (bhatti). Pleased with this final act of piety the deity appeared to them and desired them to request a boon of her. They answered that as Kshatriyas they needed a kingdom. Whereupon the Devi ordered Ajay Râj to go towards the West and found a kingdom in the Rajputâna Desert, and henceforth to call himself Bhâti Sinh, as he had been saved from the burning fiery furnace. He followed the orders and founded the kingdom of Jaysalmer, and there established his tribe under the name of Bhattis or Bhatiyas.

Here it may be noted that the Jaysalmer tradition is different from this. [1] "Pryâg or Allahâbâd was the cradle of the race, after which Mathura remained the seat of the Yaduvansi power for a long period. On the death of Sri Krishna, the deified leader of the Jâdons, from whom the Bhatti Râjputs claim descent, the tribe became dispersed; Many of them abandoned Hindustân, among them two of the sons of Krishna, who proceeded northward along the Indus, and settled there. Some time after this, one of their descendants was defeated and killed in a battle, and the tribe was driven southward into the Panjâb, where Sâlivâhana, son of Gag, founded a town called after his name, and conquered the whole region. His grandson was named Bhatti, and he was a great warrior and conquered many of the neighbouring princes, and from him the patronymic was changed, and the tribe was changed, and the tribe was henceforth distinguished by his name. Shortly after this the tribe was again driven southward by the King of Ghazni, and crossing the Sutlej found refuge in the Indian Desert, which was henceforth to be their home. This traditional account may represent in outline the early migrations of the Bhatti tribe, which may be supposed to have entered India from the north-west under heroic leaders now deified as the sons of Krishna, and to have settled for some time in the Panjâb. One of the grand expeditions of Mahmíd of Ghazni was against the city of Bhattia, also called Bhera, which place is said to have been on the left bank of the Jahlam, opposite the Salt Range. Mr. E. Thomas considers that the four last Hindu Kings of Kâbul, before the Ghaznavis, may have been Bhatiya Râjputs."

[1] Râjputana Gazetteer , II., 170.

------------------------------------------

page 178

Internal Organisation.

The Mathura story tells that when the Bhatiyas left their Western home and came to Mathura they had considerable difficulty in finding alliances for their children, because having by this time taken to trade the Râjputs of the neighbourhood were unwilling to intermarry with them. They accordingly convened a meeting of the caste at Multân, and there consulted learned Brâhmans and the books of the law, and it was after great discussion decided that a man might marry within his own tribe in a family removed from himself by forty-nine degrees, and that the families thus removed should each form a unkh or exogamous group. These nukhs were designated after some person, village, or occupation, such as the nakh Râéhariya was named after Râé Hari Singh; Râé Gajariya after the village Gajariya, and Râé Tâmbol after Tâmboli or seller of betel. This story describes in a very interesting way the manner in which new exogamous and endogamous groups are formed.

The following are the names of the Mathura gotras with the nukhs which each includes:

(1)

Parâsara gotra including twenty-three nukhs: Râé Gajariya: Râé Panchloriya: Râé Gagla; Râé Sarâki; Râé Soni: Râé Suphla; Râé Jiya; Râé Mogaya; Râé Ghaga; Râé Ríka; Râé Jaydhan; Râé Korhaiya; Râé Kova; Râé Rariya; Râé Kajariya; Râé Sijballa; Râé Jiyâla; Râé Malan; Râé Dhava; Râé Dhíran; Râé Jagta; Râé Nisât.

(2)

Sanras gotra containing eleven nukhs as follows: Râé Dutaya; Râé Jabba; Râé Nâgobabla ' Râé Suâra; Râé Dhawan; Râé Danda; Râé Dhaga; Raé Kandhiya; Râé Udesi; Râé Bâdhícha; Râé Balâyé.

(3)

Bhâradwâj gotra with the following eighteen nukhs: Râé Hariya; Râé Padamshi; Râé Maidaya; Râé Chandan; Râé Khiyâra; Râé Thula; Râé Sodhiya; Râé Bora; Râé Mochha; Râé Tâmbol; Râé Lakhanbanta; Râé Dahkkar; Râé Bhudariya; Râé Mota; Râé Anghar; Râé Dhadhâl; Degchanda; Râé Asar.

(4)

Sudharvans gotra with the following eight nukhs: Râé Sapta; Râé Chhachhaiya; Râé Parmala; Râé Potha; Râé Ponrdhagga; Râé Mathura.

(5)

Madhobadhas gotra including the following eleven unkhs: Râé Ved; Râé Surya; Râé Gugalgandhi; Râé Nâégandhi; Râé Panchal; Râé Phurâsgândhi; Râé Parégândhi; Râé Jujargândhi; Râé Praima; Râé Bibal; Râé Povar.

(6)

Devdâs gotra including the following nine nukhs: Râé Ramaiya; Râé Pawâr; Râé Râja; Râé Parijiya; Râé Kapír; Râé Gurugulâb; Râé Dhâdhar; Râé Kartari; Râé Kukaur.

(7)

Rishivans gotra consisting of the following four nukhs: Râé Multâni; Râé Chamuja; Râé Daiya; Râé Karangona.

The Census Returns supply them with a set of sections most of which are of the Banya type, such as Agarwâla, Belwâr, Bhâlé, Bhorâr, Bhudi, Bohar, Gaur, Jaysalmer, Kain, Mâdkul, Maheswari, Mârwâri, Oswâl, Pallwâl, Râhtu, Sahasri.

Marriage Rules.

Marriages may take place between members of the same gotra , but not of the same nukh . There is no exact formula of exogamy; but a man cannot marry among his near relations on the father's or mother's side, and the same rule applies to women. Differences of religion, provided both parties are followers of some form of hinduism, and changes of occupation are not a bar to intermarriage; but differences of local or geographical position are a bar. Thus intermarrinages between Bhatiyas of Bombay, Kachh, and Gujarât, and those of the Panjâb, Sindh, and the North-Western Provinces, are not permitted. Thus Bhatiyas may be divided into the following two endogamous groups based on geographical position: The first group consists of Kâchhis, Halâis, Paijas, Kathiâwâris and Bhatiyas of Dhârangânw. The second group consists of Bhatiyas of Jaysalmer, Sindh, the Panjâb, and the North-Western Provinces. As a rule no Bhatiya can take a second wife in the lifetime of the first, unless she be barren or unfaithful to her husband, in which case she will be expelled from caste. In no case can the number exceed two, and that limit is seldom reached. When a Bhatiya happens to have two wives they live under the same roof and enjoy the same privileges in every respect. In the case of girls, marriage must be performed before the age of twelve: there is no time fixed in the case of males.

---------------

page 179

Marriage is arranged by the friends in both sides, and there are no marriage brokers. The children of both marriages, should a man have two wives, rank equally for purposes of inheritance. Widow marriage is not allowed, and the offspring of an illicit connection are not admitted into the caste, and do not rank as heirs to the estate of their father. An unfaithful wife is excommunicated, and so is a man who openly keeps a concubine.

Marriage Ceremonies.

At the betrothal the father of the girl sends what is called the sagun , consisting of one rupee, a cocoanut, and some coarse sugar, for the boy, which is given to him in the presence of the brethren, who are invited to be in attendance, and the betrothal is thus complete. The ceremony presupposes the mutual consent of the parents of the parties. Betrothal is generally not reversible, and is not annulled except on the discovery of some very serious physical defect in either bride or bridegroom and, if annulled, the expenses are repaid by the party breaking the engagement, though there is no distinct rule on the subject. Betrothal may take place any time before marriage. The marriage ceremony is of the orthodox type, and the binding part of it is the giving away of the bride (kanyâdâu ) and the circling (pheron phirna ) of the sacred fire. The marriage is complete and irreversible when the fourth circuit is finished. Pokhagné Brâhmans act as priests at marriage and other ceremonies.

The chief occupation of the Bhatiyas is money-lending, and to this they add trade of all kinds: agriculture, landholding, and Government service. Many of them go on expeditions to Arabia, Kâbul, Bokhâra, and other distant places on business. Many in Bombay carry on trade with Zanzibar, Java, and the Malay Peninsula. Their religion continues to be mainly Vedik; but some have become followers of Vallabhachârya. The Bhatiyas of these Provinces in appearance, customs, and dress, strongly resemble Khatris; but between the two castes there seems to be no real connection.

Bhatra: -A primitive tribe of the Bastar State and the south of Raipur District, akin to the Gonds .[1] They numbered 33,000 persons in 1891, and in subsequent enumerations have been amalgamated with the Gonds. Nothing is known of their origin except a legend that they came with the Râjas of Bastar from Warangal twenty-three generations age. The word Bhatra is said to mean a servant, and the tribe are employed as village watchmen and household and domestic servants. They have three divisions, the Pít, Amnâit and Sân Bhatras, who rank one below the other, the Pít being the highest and the Sân the lowest. The Pít Bhatras base their superiority on the fact that they decline to make grass mats, which the Amnâit Bhatras will do, while the Sân Bhatras are considered to be practically identical with the Muria Gonds. Members of the three groups will eat with each other before marriage, but afterwards they will take only food cooked without water from a person belonging to another group. They have the usual set of exogamous septs named after plants and animals. Formerly, it is said, they were tattooed with representations of the totem plant and animal, and the septs named after the tiger and snake ate the flesh of these animals at a sacrificial meal. These customs have fallen into disuse, but still if they kill their totem animal they will make apologies to it, and break their cooking-pots, and bury or burn the body. A man of means will distribute alms in the name of the deceased animal. In some localities members of the Kâchhun or tortoise sept will not eat a pumpkin which drops from a tree because it is considered to resemble a tortoise. But if they can break it immediately on touching the ground they may partake of the fruit, the assumption being apparently that it has not had time to become like a tortoise.

[1] See Russell. This is article is compiled from papers drawn up by Rai Bahâdur Panda Baijnâth, Superintendent, Bastar State ; Mr. Ravi Shankar, Settlement Officer, Bastar ; and Mr. Gopâl Krishna, Assistant Superintendent, Bastar.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 180

Admission Of Outsiders.

Outsiders are not as a rule admitted. But a women of equal or higher caste who enters the house of a Bhatra will be recognised as his wife, and a man of the Panâra, or gardener caste, can also become a member of the community if he lives with a Bhatra woman and eats from her hand.

Arrangement Of Marriages.

In Raipur a girl should be married before puberty, and if no husband is immediately available, they tie a few flowers into her cloth and consider this a marriage. If an unmarried girl becomes pregnant she is debarred from going through the wedding ceremony, and will simply go and live with her lover or any other man. Matches are usually arranged by the parents, but if a daughter is not pleased with the prospective bridegroom, who may sometimes be a well-to-do man much older than herself, she occasionally runs away and goes through the ceremony on her own account with the man of her choice. If no one has asked her parents for her hand she may similarly select a husband for herself and make her wishes known, but in that case she is temporarily put out of caste until the chosen bridegroom signifies his acquiescence by giving the marriage feast. What happens if he definitely fails to respond is not stated, but presumably the young woman tries elsewhere until she finds herself accepted.

The Counter Of Posts.

The date and hour of the wedding are fixed by an official known as the Meda Gantia, or Counter of Posts. He is a sort of illiterate village astrologer, who can foretell the character of the rainfall, and gives auspicious dates for sowing and harvest. He goes through some training, and as a test of his capacity is required by his teacher to tell at a glance the number of posts in an enclosure which he has not seen before. Having done this correctly he qualifies as a Meda Gantia. Apparently the Bhatras, being unable at one time to count themselves, acquired and exaggerated reverence for the faculty of counting, and thought that if a man could only count far enough he could reckon into the future; or it might be thought that as he could count and name future days, he thus obtained power over them, and could tell what would happen on them just as one can obtain power over a man and work him injury by knowing his real name.

Marriage Customs.

At a wedding the couple walk seven times round the sacred post, which must be of wood of the mahus [1] tree, and on its conclusion the post is taken to a river or stream and consigned to the water. The Bhatras, like the Gonds, on doubt revere this tree because their intoxication liquor is make from its flowers. The couple wear marriage crowns make from the leaves of the date palm and exchange these. A little turmeric and flour are mixed with water in a plate, and the bride, taking the bridegroom's right hand, dips it into the coloured paste and strikes it against the wall. The action is repeated five times, and then the bridegroom does the same with the bride's hand. By this rite the couple pledge to each other reciprocative behavior during married life. From the custom of making an impression of the hand on a wall in token of a vow may have arisen that of clasping hands as a symbol of a bargain assented to, and hence of shaking hands, by persons who meet, as a pledge of amity and the absence of hostile intentions. Usually the hand is covered with red ochre, which is probably a substitute for blood; and the impression of the hand is made on the wall of a temple in token of a vow. This may be a survival of the covenant made by the parties dipping their hands in the blood of the sacrifice and laying them on the god. A pit about a foot deep is dug close to the marriage shed, and filled with mud or wet earth. The bride conceals a nut in it and the bridegroom has to find it, and the hiding and finding are repeated by both parties. This rite may have the signification of looking for children. The remainder of the day is spent in eating, drinking and dancing. On the way home after the wedding the bridegroom has to shoot a deer, the animal being represented by a branch of a tree thrown across the path by one of the party.

[1] Bassia latifolia

------------------

page 181

But if a real deer happens by any chance to come by he has to shoot this. The bride goes up to the real or sham deer and pulls out the arrow, and presents her husband with water and a tooth-pick, after which he takes her in his arms and they dance home together. On arrival at the house the bridegroom's maternal uncle or his son lies down before the door covering himself with a blanket. He is asked what he wants, and says he will have the daughter of the bridegroom to wife. The bridegroom promises to give a daughter if he has one, and if he has a son to give him for a friend. The tribe consider that a man has a right to marry the daughter of his maternal uncle, and formerly if the girl was refused by her parents he abducted her and married her forcibly. The bride remains at her husband's house for a few days and then goes home, and before she finally takes up her abode with him the gauna or going-away ceremony must be performed. The hands of the bride and bridegroom are tied together, and an arrow is held upright on them and some oil poured over it. The foreheads of the couple are marked with turmeric and rice, this rite being known as tíka or anointing, and presents are given to the bride's family.

Propitiation Of Ghosts.

The dead are buried, the corpse being laid on its back with the head to the north. Some rice, cowrie-shells, a winnowing-far and other articles are placed on the grave. The tribe probably consider the winnowing-fan to have some magical property, as it also forms one of the presents given to the bride at the betrothal. If a man is killed by a tiger his spirit must be propitiated. The priest ties strips of tiger-skin to his arms, and the feathers of the peacock and blue jay to his waist, and jumps about pretending to be a tiger. A package of a hundred seers (200 lbs.) of rice is made up, and he sits on this and finally takes it away with him. If the dead man had any ornaments they must all be given, however valuable, lest his spirit should hanker after then and return to look for them in the shape of the tiger. The large quantity of rice given to the priest is also probably intended as a provision of the best food for the dead man's spirit, lest it be hungry and come in the shape of the tiger to satisfy its appetite upon the surviving relatives. The laying of the ghosts of persons killed by tigers is thus a very profitable business for the priests.

Religion. Ceremonies At Hunting.

The tribe worship the god of hunting, who is known as Mâti Deo and resides in as separate tree in each village. At the Bíjphítni (threshing) or harvest festival in the month of Chait (March) they have a ceremonial hunting party. All the people of the village collect, each man having a bow and arrow slung to his back and hatchet on his shoulder. They spread out a long net in the forest and beat the animals into this, usually catching a deer, wild pig or hare, and quails and other birds. They return and cook the game before the shrine of the god and offer to him a fowl and a pig. A pit is dug and water poured into it, and a person from each house is soaked in the mud, and after the feast is over this person is taken and returned to the householder with words of abuse, a small present of two or three pice being received from him. The seed is no doubt thus consecrated for the next sowing. The tribe also have joint ceremonial fishing excursions. Their ideas of a future life are very vague, and they have no belief in a place of reward or punishment after death. They propitiate the spirits of their ancestors on the 15th of Asârh (June) with offerings of a little rice and incense.

Superstitious Remedies.

To cure the evil eye they place a little gunpowder in water and apply it to the sufferer's eyes, the idea perhaps being that the fiery glance from the evil eye which struck his is quenched like the gunpowder. To bring on rain they perform a frog marriage, tying two frogs to a pestle and pouring oil and turmeric over them as in a real marriage. The children carry them round begging from door to door and finally deposit them in water. They say that when rain falls and the sun shines together the jackals are being married. Formerly a woman suspected of being a witch was tied up in a bag and thrown into a river of tank at various places set apart for the purpose. If she sank she was held to be innocent, and if she floated, guilty. In the latter case she had to defile herself by taking the bone of a cow and the tail of a ping in her mouth, and it was supposed that this drove out the magic-working spirit.

--------------------

page 182

In the case of illness in their children or cattle, or the failure of crops, they consult the Pujâri or priest and make an offering. He applies some flowers or grains of rice to the forehead of the deity, and when one of these falls down he diagnoses from it the nature of the illness, and gives it to the sufferer to wear as a charm.

Occupation.

The tribe are cultivators and farmservants, and practise shifting cultivation. They work as village watchmen and also as the Mâjhi or village headman and the Pujâri or village priest. These officials are paid by contributions of grain form the cultivators. And as already seen, the Bhatras are employed as household servants and will clean cooking vessels. Since they act as village priests, it may perhaps be concluded that the Bhatras like the Parjas are older residents of Bastar than the bulk of the Gonds, and they have become the household servants of the Hindu immigrants, which the Gonds would probably disdain to do. Some of them wear the sacred thread, but in former times the Bastar Râja would invest any man with this for a fee of four or five rupees, and the Bhatras therefore purchases the social distinction. They find it inconvenient, however, and lay it aside when proceeding to their work or going out to hunt. If a man breaks his thread he must wait till a Brâhman comes round, when he can purchase another.

Names.

Among a list of personal names given by Mr. Baijnâth the following are of some interest: Pillu, one of short stature; Matola, one who learnt to walk late; Phagu, born in Phâgun (February); Ghinu, dirty-looking; Dasru, born on the Dasahra festival; Ludki, one with a fleshy ear; Dalu, big-bellied; Mudi, a ring, this name having been given to a child which cried much after birth, but when its nose was pierced and a ring put in it stopped crying; Chhi, given to a child which sneezed immediately after birth; Nunha, a posthumous child; and Bhuklu, a child which began to play almost as soon as born. The above instances indicate that it is a favourite plan to select the name from any characteristic displayed by the child soon after birth, or from any circumstance or incident connected with its birth. Among names of women are: Cherangi, thin; Fundi, one with swollen cheeks; Kandri, one given to crying; Mahína (Month), a child born a month late; Batai, one with large eyes; Gaida, fat; Pakli, of fair colour; Boda, one with crooked legs; Jhunki, one with small eyes: Rupi, a girl who was given a nose-ring of silver as her brothers had died; Paro, born on a field-embankment; Dango, tall. A women must not call by their names her father-in-law, mother-in-law, her husband's brothers and elder sisters and the sons and daughters of her husband's brothers and sisters.

Bhatrâzu.: -The Bhâts, Bhatrâzus, or Bhatrâjus [1] are described, in the Mysore Census Reports, 1891 and 1901, as musicians and ballad-reciters, who "speak Telugu, and are supposed to have come from the Northern Circars. They were originally attached to the courts of the Hindu princes as bards or professional troubadours, reciting ballads in poetry in glorification of the wondrous deeds of local princes and heroes. Hyder Ali, although not a Hindu, delighted to be constantly preceded by them, and they are still an appendage to the state of Hindu and Mussalman Chiefs. They have a wonderful faculty in speaking improvisatore, on any subject proposed to them, a declamation in measures, which may be considered as a sort of medium between blank verse and modulated verse. But their profession is that of chanting the exploits of former days in front of the troops while marshalling them for battle, and inciting them to emulate the glory of their ancestors. Now many of them are mendicants." In the Madras Census Report, 1871, the Bhat Râjahs are said to "wear the pavitra or sacred thread.

[1] See Thurston.

-------------------------

page 183

They are the bards and minstrels, who sing the praises of the Kshatriya race, or indeed of great men in general, and especially of those who liberally reward the singers. They are a wandering class, gaining a living by attaching themselves to the establishments of great men, or in chanting the folklore of the people. They are mostly Vishnu worshippers, and in only one district is it reported that they worship village deities." In the Madras Census Report, 1891, the Bhatrâzus are summed up as being "a class of professional bards, spread all over the Telugu districts. They are the representatives of the Bhat caste of other parts of India. They are called Râzus, because they are supposed to be the offspring of a Kshatriya female by a Vaisya male. They are well versed in folklore, and in the family histories and legends of the ancient Rajahs. Under the old Hindu Râjahs the Bhatrâzus were employed as bards, eulogists, and reciters of family genealogy and tradition. Most of them are now cultivators, and only a few are ballad-reciters. They will eat with the Kâpus and Velamas. Their ceremonies of birth, death and marriage are more or less the same as those of the Kâpus. Râzu is the general name of the caste."

The Bhatrâzus, Mr. W. Francis writes, [1] "are also called Bhâts or Mâgadas. They have two endogamous sub-divisions, called Vandi, Râja or Telagânya, and Mâgada, Kani or Agrahârekala. [Some Bhatrâzus maintain that Vandi and Mâgada were individuals who officiated as heralds at the marriage of Siva.]

Each of these is again split up into several exogamous septs or gótras, among which are Atréya, Bhâradwâja, Gautama, Kâsyapa and Kaundinya. All of these are Brâhmanical gótras, which goes to confirm the story in Manu that the caste is the offspring of a Vaisya father and a Kshatriya mother. Bhatrâzus nevertheless do not all wear the sacred thread now-a-days, or recite the gâyatri. [2] They employ Brahman priests for their marriages, but Jangams and Sâtânis for funerals, and in all these ceremonies they follow the lower or Purânic instead of the higher Védic ritual. Widow marriage is strictly forbidden, but they eat fish, mutton and pork, though not beef. These contradictions are, however, common among Oriya castes, and the tradition is that the Bhatrâzus were a northern caste which was first invited south by King Pratâpa Rîdra of the Kshatriya dynasty of Wârangal (1295-1323 A. D.). After the downfall of that kingdom they seem to have become court bards and panegyrists under the Reddi and Velama feudal chiefs, who had by that time carved out for themselves small independent principalities in the Telugu country. As a class they were fairly educated in the Telugu literature, and even produced poets such as Râmarâja Bhîshana, the author of the well-known Vasu-Charitram. Their usual title is Bhat, sometimes with the affix Râzu or Mîrti."

Of the Bhatrâzus in the North Arcot district, Mr. H. A. Stuart states [3] that "they now live by cultivation, and by singing the fabulous traditions current regarding the different Sîdra castes at their marriages and other ceremonies, having probably invented most of them. They profess to be Kshatriyas. But it is known that several are Musalmans or members of other castes, who, possessing an aptitude for extemporeneous versification, were taken by Rajahs to sing their praises, and so called themselves Bhatturâzus. They resemble the Râzus in their customs, but are said to bury their dead." In the Gazetteer of Anantapur, the Bhatrâzus are described as touring round the villages, making extemporeneous verses in praise of the principal householders, and being rewarded by gifts of old clothes, grain, and money. It is stated in the Kurnool Manual that "the high-caste people (Kammas) are bound to pay the Batrâjulu certain fees on marriage occasions. Some of the Batrâjas have shotriems and inâms." Shotriem is land given as a gift for proficiency in the Vedas or learning, and inâm is land given free of rent.

In connection with the special attachment of the Bhatrâzus to the Velama, Kamma, and Kâpu castes, the following story is narrated. Once upon a time there was a man named Pillala Marri Bethâla Reddi, who had three sons, of whom two took to cultivation.

[1] Madras Cdnsus Report, 1901.

[2] Sanskrit hymn rejpeated a number of times during daily ablutions.

[3] Manual of the North Arcot district.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 184

The third son adopted a military life, and had seventy-four sons, all of whom became commanders. On one occasion during the reign of Pratâpa Rîdra, when they were staying at the fort of Wârangal, they quarrelled among themselves, and became very rebellious. On learning this, the king summoned them to his court. He issued orders that a sword should by tied across the gate. The commanders were reluctant to go under a sword, as it would be a sign of humiliation. Some of them ran against the sword, and killed themselves. A Bhatrâzu, who witnessed this, promised to help the remaining commanders to gain entrance without passing under the sword. He went to the king, and said that a Brahman wished to pay him a visit. An order was accordingly issued that the sword should be removed. The services of the Bhatrâzu greatly pleased the commanders, and they came to regard the Bhatrâzus as their dependants, and treated them with consideration. Even at the present day, at a marriage among the Kâpus, Kammas, and Velamas, a Bhatrâzu is engaged. His duties are to assist the bridegroom in his wedding toilette, to paint sectarian marks on his forehead, and to remain as his personal attendant throughout the marriage ceremonies. He further sings stanzas from the Râmayana of Mahâbhârata, and songs in praise of Brahmans and the caste to which the bridal couple belong. The following was sung at a Kâpu wedding. "Anna Vema Reddi piled up money like a mountain, and, with his brother Pinna Brahma Reddi, constructed agrahârams. Gone Buddha Reddi spent large sums of money for the reading of the Râmayana, and heard it with much interest. Panta Malla Reddi caused several tanks to be dug. You, their descendants, are all prosperous, and very charitable." In the houses of Kammas, the following is recited, "Of the seventy-seven sons, Bobbali Narasanna was a very brave man, and was told to go in search of the kamma (an ornament) without using abusive language. Those who ran away are Velamas, and those who secured it Kammas."

In their ceremonial observances, the Bhatrâzus closely follow the standard Telugu type. At marriages, the bridal couple sit on the dais on a plank of juvvi (Ficus Tsiela ) wood. They have the Telugu Janappans as their disciples, and are the only non-Brahman caste, except Jangams and Pandârams, which performs the duties of guru or religious instructor. The badge of the Bhatrâzus, a Conjeeveram, is a silver stick.[1] In the Madras Census Report, 1901, Bhâto, Kani Râzu, Kannâji Bhat and Padiga Râju appear as synonyms, and Annâji Bhat as a sub-caste of Bhatrâzus. The following account of a criminal class, calling themselves Batturâjas or Battu Turakas, was published in the Police Weekly Circular, Madras, in 1881. [2]"They are known to the Cuddapah and North Arcot Police as criminals, and a note is made whenever an adult leaves his village; but, as they commit their depredations far from home, and convert their spoil into hard cash before they return, it is difficult to get evidence against them. Ten or twelve of these leave home at once; they usually work in parties of three or four, and they are frequently absent for months together. They have methods of communicating intelligence to their associated when separated from them, but the only one of these methods that is known is by means of their leaf plates, which they sew in a peculiar manner, and leave after use in certain places previously agreed upon. These leaf plates can be recognised by experts, but all that these experts can learn from them is that Battu Turakas have been in the neighbourhood recently. On their return to their village, an account of their proceedings is rendered, and their spoil is divided equally among the whole community, a double share , however, is given to the actual thief or thieves. They usually disguise themselves as Brahmans, and, in the search of some of their houses silk cloths worn only by Brahmans were found together with other articles necessary for the purpose of disguise (rudrâksha necklaces, sâlagrâma stones, etc.). They are also instructed in Sanskrit, and in all the outward requistes of Brâhmanism. A Telugu Brahman would soon find out that they are not Brahmans, and it is on this account that they confine their depredations to the Tamil country, where allowance is made for them as rude uncivilized Telugus. They frequent choultries (travellers' resting-places), where their very respectable appearance disarms suspicion, and watch for

[1] J. S. F. Mackenzie, Ind. Ant . IV 1875.

[2] See F. S. Mullaly. Notes on Criminal Classes of the Madras Presidency.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

page 185

opportunities of committing thefts, substituting their own bags of bundles (filled with rubbish) for those they carry off."

To this account Mr. M. Paupa Rao Naidu adds [1] that "it is during festivals and feasts that they very often commit thefts of the jewels and cloths of Persons bathing in the tanks. They are thus known as Kolamchuthi Pâpar, meaning that they are Brahmins that live by stealing around the tanks. Before the introduction of railways, their depredations were mostly confined to the choultries and tanks."

Concerning the Bhattu Turakas of the North Arcot district, Mr. H. A. Stuart writes [2] that "a few of this very intelligent and educated criminal class are fund in the north of punganîr. They are really Muhammadans, but never worship according to the rules of that religion, and know little about its tenets. They have no employment save cheating, and in this they are incomparably clever. They speak several languages with perfect fluency, have often studied Sanskrit, and are able to impersonate any caste. Having marked down a well-to-do householder, they take an opportunity of entering his service, and succeed at last in gaining his confidence. They then they abuse it by absconding with what they can lay hands upon. They often take to false coining and forgery, pretend to know medicine, to have the power of making gold or precious stones, or of turning currency notes into others of higher value."

Bhavaiya: -They move around Gujarat. They are religious actors of dramas and comedies.

Bhíl: -(Sanskrit, Bhilla ) [3] _ We have in these Provinces only a few fragments of the great Bhíl race of Central India. Professor Lassen identifies them with the Phyllitæ of Ptolemy, whom Colonel Yule classes with the Pulinda, a general term for various aboriginal races. According to Dr. Caldwell the name Bhilla (vil, bil ) means "a bow." [4]There is a curious early Hindu legend, which, however, in not found in the Mahâbhârata, which tells how Drona, the preceptor of the Pândavas, was jealous of the skill of the Bhíl Râja in archery, and ordered him and his subjects to cut off the forefinger of the right hand. [5] Another story tells that Mahâdeva was one day reclining sick in the forest, when a beautiful damsel appeared, the first sight of whom effected a cure for all his pain. The result of their meeting was the birth of many children, one of whom, distinguished for his ugliness, slew the favourite bull of Mahâdeva, for which crime he was expelled to the woods and mountains, and his descendants have been the outcast Bhíls, They still call themselves "thieves of Mahâdeva." [6] There can be little doubt that they are a branch of the great Dravidian race which is found along the mountains of Central India, and are akin to the Gonds, Kharwârs, Mânjhis, Cheros, and Santâls, who live further to the east. Sir J. Malcolm [7] thinks that they have emigrated from Jodhpur and Udaypur to their present territory, and as a proof that they were originally lords of the land, he points to the fact of their giving the tíka to some of the existing Râjput princes. The most solemn form of oath among them is mixing cowdung, salt, and the jawâri millet, and lifting the mixture over their heads.[8]

[1] History of Railway Thieves, Madras, 1904.

[2] Manual of the North Arcot district..

[3] See Crooke

[4] Indian Antiquary , XIII., 361. General Cunningham takes Phyllitæ to correspond to parna and to mean " leaf clad" like the Juangs up to the present day. Dr. Oppert seems to consider Phyllitæ as derived from Bhîl. Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsa , 80, sq

[5] Wheeler, History of India , (., 84, sq ; Westminster Review , 1868, page 387.

[6] Captain Hunter, Journal Royal Asiatic Society , VIII., 181 : Malcolm, Central India . I., 526.

[7] Ibid , I., 519.

[8] Forsyth, Highlands of Central India , 127.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------page 186

They have, like many of the indigenous tribes, some relations with the local gods, and are priests to one of the most ancient temples in Omkâr. According to Sir A. Lyall [1]they are divided into a variety of distinct groups, a few based on a reputed common descent, but most of them apparently muddled together by simple contiguity of habitation, or the natural banding together of the number necessary for maintaining and defending themselves. Sir J. Malcolm says that the Bhíl women are invariably the advocates of the cause of good order. They have much influence, and the principal hope of an enemy's escape lies in the known humanity of the women. They worship peculiarly Sítala, the small-pox goddess, and Mahâdeva, from whom they claim descent. [2] The chief historical tradition regarding them in these Provinces is that they were formerly rulers in Rohilkhand, whence they were expelled by the Janghâra Râjputs. [3] The clans recorded at the last Census in these Provinces were the Guranawa, Jaiswâr, Karâwai, Majhûraya, Munaharbhâl, Râma, and Râwat.

Manners And Customs.

The best available account of the manners and customs of the real Bhíls is that given by a writer in the Rajputâna Gazetteer: [4] "All Bhíls go about armed with the tribal weapons, bows and arrows; except the headmen and others of consequence, who carry swords. They are a dirty race. The men wear their hair long, and hanging in uncombed masses from their shoulders. Their women are small and ugly, those of rank being distinguishable by the number of brass rings on their legs, often extending from the ankle to the knee. They kill and eat kine and are much addicted to spirits, vast quantities of which are consumed on festive occasions, which frequently end in quarrels and bloodshed. Fond of fighting, they resort to their weapons on the slightest provocation, but their most serious frays arise out of cattle-lifting and the abduction of women. If a Bhíl run away with a betrothed girl, a feud will frequently ensue, which will not end till the villages of both sides have been burnt and many lives lost. As a rule they keep tolerably quiet in the winter and the rainy season; but in the summer, between the gathering in of the last harvest and the sowing of the next, they begin raiding on each other; and even the richest think this time, which hangs heavily on their hands, favourable for paying off old scores. There are sixty different sections of the Bhíl tribe in Bânswâra.

Marriage.

"Bhíl children are not betrothed by their parents in their childhood. A Bhíl girl is often unmarried up to the age of twenty or twenty-five. Her father can take no steps of his own accord for his daughter's marriage; were he to do, suspicion would be aroused that there was something wrong with the girl. His friends can take steps on his behalf, but he himself must wait for a proposal from the father of some eligible lad, which he can entertain or not as he pleases. Should he accept the proposal, the lad's father, having provided himself with a couple of pots of liquor, will return to complete the ceremony of betrothal (sagari ), sitting down under some large tree or other cool spot in the village. The girl's father and his friends join them, and the question as to the amount of money to be paid by the father of the lad to the father of the girl is there and then disposed of. This amount varies according to the means and status of the parties concerned from thirty to sixty rupees. When this is settled, the father of the boy makes a cup of leaves of the Dhâk tree (Butea frondosa ), and placing it on the top of the pot of liquor, puts inside it two annas worth of copper coins. The girl's brother or some other boy among her relations then takes the coins and turns the cup of leaves upside down. The betrothal is then complete; and nothing remains but to drink the liquor, which is done on the spot. The girl's father then kills a goat and gives a feast to his future son-in-law and his father, after which the latter return home.

[1] Asiatic Studies . 160.

[2] Ibid , II., 180, sq .

[3] Bareilly Settlement Report , 19 : Gazetteer , North-West Provinces , V., 578, sq .

[4] I., 177, sqq ; III., 64, 114

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 187

"Some four or six months after this, the betrothal arrangements for the wedding are made. The boy's father takes a present of clothes, a cloth (sâri ), a petticoat, and a corset for the girl, who at once puts them on. Her father, if well off, kills a buffallo, or if he's poor, a goat, and gives a feast to all the village, and to the boy's father and all his friends. On this occasion a Brâhman is called in, and on receipt of four annas from each father, fixes some auspicious day for the wedding. Half the amount previously fixed upon is now paid to the girl's father in cash, and the remainder in kind, in the shape of a bullock, etc. On the day fixed by the Brâhman for the wedding, the boy, after being well annointed with pít, a mixture of turmeric, flour, etc., proceeds to the girl's house accompanied by all his friends and relations. They halt at the borders of the village, whither the girl's father, with all his friends, and accompanied by drummers and women singing, proceeds to meet them; and after performing the ceremony of tilak- that is, marking the boy on the forehead with saffron- escorts them into the village, and settles them down under some large tree or in some other convenient spot. The girl's father then returns to his house, and the boy's father pays certain customary dues. "On the evening of the wedding day a great feast is given by the bride's father; and the bride and bridegroom are provided with a separate hut for the night, while their friends get drunk. The next morning the bride's father presents his daughter with a bullock or a cow, or with any other worldly goods with which he may wish to endow her, and after presenting the boy's father with a turban gives him leave to depart.

Funeral Rites.

"The following are the ceremonies said to be performed by the Bhíls on occasions of death. When a man dies a natural death, his corpse is covered with white cloths, and a supply of food in the shape of flour, clarified butter and sugar, uncooked (called sâra), is placed by his side for use on his journey to the next world. They are afterwards thrown into the water by the side of which he is burnt. A small copper coin is also thrown on the ground when the corpse in burnt, apparently as a sort of fee for the use of the ground for the purpose. Three days after the body has been burnt, the ashes are thrown into the water, and a cairn is raised on the spot by the people present, who wring out their clothes over the stones after bathing. On the twelfth day after death, all friends, far and near, assemble for the kâta or mortuary feast, for which the heir of the deceased, if he was well-to-do in the world, will have provided some two hundred rupees worth of spirits. In the morning the ceremony of the arad is commenced, and lasts generally throughout the day. "The Bhopa, or witch-finder of the village, is seated on a wooden platform, and places near him a big earthen pot with a brass dish over the mouth of it. A couple of Bhíls beat this with drum sticks, at the same time singing funeral dirges. The spirit of the deceased is now supposed to enter the heart of the Bhopa, and through him to demand whatever it may want. Should the man have died a natural death, the spirit will call for milk, ghi, etc., and will repeat through the Bhopa the words he said just before his death. Whatever is demanded is at once supplied to the Bhopa, who smells the articles given to him and puts them down by his side. Should the deceased have died a violent death, the Bhopa generally calls for a bow and arrows, or for a gun, whichever the deceased was killed with, and works himself up into much excitement, going through the motions of firing, shouting the war cry, etc. The spirits of the ancestors of the deceased are also called up by the Bhopa, and the same ceremonies are gone through with them. In the evening the Bhíl Jogi appears on the scene and goes through various ceremonies. He is first of all provided with twelve sers of wheat flour and five sers maize flour, which he places in front of the bier of the deceased. The Jogi then plants his brass image of a horse on the top of the flour and sticks an arrow in front of it, and also some small copper coins. Two empty jars, the mouths tied up, one with red and the other with white cloth, are also placed by him in front of the horse. A rope is next tied round the horse's neck. The Jogi then calls out the names of the ancestors of the deceased, at the same time signifying to the heir that now is the time for him to give alms or religious grants to the memory of his father or ancestors, which appeal is generally responded to; and a cow is given to the Jogi. The heir after this directs the Jogi to provide the deceased with food. The Jogi cooks some rice and milk and pours it into a hole he has dug in the ground.

-----------------

page 188

He also pours in an ewer full of liquor and drops in a copper coin and then fills up the hole again with earth. Other mystic rites follow; the heir makes presents to the Jogi, and the family friends give presents to the heir. The ceremonies conclude with some hard drinking. The next day the relatives of the deceased give a feast to the village, each relation providing something towards this feast: one rice, another ghi, and so forth. The honour of providing a buffalo belongs to the son-in-law of the deceased and failing him, the brother-in-law and the brother.

Widow Marriage.

"The widow of the deceased, if young, is now asked by all the relatives whether she wishes to remain in her late husband's house or to be married again in a ceremony called nâtra . As she generally does wishes to be married again, she replies that she will return to her father's house. If the deceased has a younger brother, he will at once step forward and assert that he will not allow her to go away to any other man's house; and going up to her he throws his cloak over the widow, who thus becomes his wife, and is taken away by him to his house there and then. Eight days afterwards, when she in supposed to have done mourning for her late husband, her new husband supplies her with a set of armlets in the place of those given by her former lord, which are taken off. The nâtra is then complete. The younger brother is not, however, compelled to keep his brother's widow should he not wish to do so, but it is such a point of honour that a boy even will claim and exercise the right. Should the deceased have no younger brother, then the widow is taken away by her father or relations eight days after the kâta . She will remain at her father's house for a month or two, when either she will be given away in nâtra to some man with her father's consent or she will run off and take up her quarters in some man's house without his consent. The man she flies to may not wish her to come, and may have no idea of her intention to do so; but nevertheless, once she has placed herself under his protection he is in honour bound to keep her, and she remains as his wife. The widow can go to any man she pleases provided he be of a different section to that of her father." Should the father have given his widowed daughter away in nâtra, her late husband's heir will at once pick a quarrel and demand satisfaction from him. As a preliminary step the heir generally attacks the widow's father and burns down his house, after which, in course of time, a committee (panchâyat) is generally appointed to settle the dispute, when a sum of money, varying from fifty to two hundred rupees, according to the means of the parties, is awarded to the heir in compensation. The father will then in his turn demand repayment from his son-in-law, and should the latter refuse to pay up, he proceeds to burn down his house and make himself otherwise objectionable till his claim is satisfied. Should the widow run off, as she generally does, without her father's or relatives' consent, her deceased husband's heir will at once attack the man to whose protection she has gone. "Should some unmarried and unbetrothed girl take a fancy to and run off with some young man, her father and brother, as soon as they have found out where she has gone to, at once attack and burn his house, or in the event of their being unable to do that they burn any house in the village which comes handy. This most probably is resented and retaliated, and the quarrel may be prolonged for some time, but, as a rule, a panchâyat is sooner or later appointed to settle the dispute. The compensation awarded to the girl's father never exceeds one hundred rupees. A hole is dug in the ground and filled with water. The girl's father and his son-in-law then each drop a stone into it, and their quarrel is finally settled. The panchâyat and party then consume some liquor at the son-in-law's expense, and depart in peace. "Should an unmarried and unbetrothed girl refuse to run off with a man when asked to do so, the man will generally shout out in the village that he has taken so-and-so's daughter's hand, and woe to him who dares to marry her. A panchâyat is then assembled, and the father generally gives his daughter to the man, receiving double the compensation that would have been awarded had the girl consented to marry him in the first instance. Should an unmarried girl who has been betrothed, run off with somebody else, the man to whom she was betrothed at once attacks and possibly kills the man whom she has run off with, and burns both his and the girl's father's huts.

-------------------

page 189

The quarrel often goes on for years, and leads to retaliation, till the entire village community on either side are drawn into the quarrel and turn out and attack each other. "Should a wife run away from her husband to somebody else, the injured husband and his friends often burn the whole of the village in which the recipient of the faithless wife's paramour lives. Eventually, when a panchâyat is formed, the wife is often given up and taken back by her husband, any children that she may have borne in the meantime being left with their father. Should the man refuse to give her up, then some two hundred rupees is awarded to the husband in compensation by the panchâyat, not to mention the liquor required by the latter during their consultation.

Death Customs.

"The Bhíls erect stone tablets in memory of their male dead (never to deceased women) and, as a rule, the figure of the deceased is carved on the stone. He is often represented on horseback with sword, lance, or shield, sometimes on foot, but invariably clothed in the best of long clothes and armed with a sword and shield, a style of dress he was quite unaccustomed to in the flesh. Tablets are also erected to boys who have died while still minors; but instead of a figure of the deceased, a large hooded snake is carved on the stone.

Religion.

"Bhíls will eat the flesh of all animals, even that of a dead camel. Bhíls and Mínas having no order of priesthood, resort to the Guru of the Chamârs. These Gurus assume the appellations and badges of Brâhmans. They do not adopt disciples; but the office is hereditary, descending from the father to all the sons. The minstrel of the Bhíls is called Kamriya. The principal deities of the Bhíls and Mínas are Mâtâji and Devi. They also worship Agru. The Chauhân warrior-saint Gûgaji is much worshipped in Sirohi as a protector from the bite of the nâg sânp or cobra. He is worshipped under the form of a warrior on horseback and also under the form of a cobra." [1]

Bhíl.: -The Bhíls, a kolarian tribe [2] . An indigenous or non-Aryan tribe which has been much in contact with the Hindus and is consequently well known. The home of the Bhíls is the country in the hill ranges comprised of Khândesh, Central India and Râjputâna, west from the Strpíras to the sea in Gujarât. The total number of Bhíls in India exceeds a million and a half, of which the great bulk belong to Bombay, Râjputâna and Central India. The Central Provinces have only about 28,000, practically all of whom reside in the Nimâr district, on the hills forming the western end of the Satpíra range and adjoining the Râjpipla hills of Khândesh. As the southern slopes of these hills lie in Berâr, a few Bhíls are also found there. The name Bhíl seems to occur for the first time about A. D. 600. It is supposed to be derived from the Dravidian word for a bow, which is the characteristic weapon of the tribe. It has been suggested that the Bhíls are the Pygmies referred to by Ktesias (400 B.C.) and the Phyllitae of Ptolemy (A.D. 150). The Bhíls are recognised as the oldest inhabitants of southern Râjputâna and parts of Gujarât, and are usually spoken of in conjunction with the Kolis, who inhabit the adjoining tracts of Gujarât. The most probable hypothesis of the origin of the Kolis is that they are a western branch of the Kol or Munda tribe who have spread from Chota Nâgpur, through Mandla and Jubbulpore, Central India and Râjputâna to Gujarât and the sea. If this is correct the Kolis would be a Kolarian tribe. The Bhíls have lost their own language, so that it cannot be ascertained whether it was Kolarian or Dravidian. But there is nothing against its being Kolarian in Sir G. Grierson's opinion; and in view of the length of residence of the tribe, the fact that they have abandoned their own language and their association with the Kolis, this view may be taken as generally probable.

[1] Some account of Gûga, known also as Zâhir Diwân, will be found in the Introduction to Popular Religion and Folklore , 133. At the last Census 122,991 persons returned themselves as his votaries.

[2] See Russell. The principal authorities on the Bhíls are, An Account of the Mewâr Bhíls , by Major P. H. Hendley, J. A. S. B. Vol. xliv., pp. 347-385 ; the Bombay Gazetteer , Vol. ix., Hindus of Gujarât ; and notices in Colonel Tod's Râjasthân , Mr. A. L. Forbes's Râsmâla , and The Khândesh Bhíl Corps , by Mr. A. H. A. Simcox , C. S.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 190

The Dravidian tribes have not penetrated so far west as Central India and Gujarât in appreciable numbers.

Râjpîts Deriving Their Title To The Land From The Bhíls.

The Râjpîts still recognise the Bhíls and the former residents and occupiers of the land by the fact that some Râjpît chiefs must be marked on the brow with a Bhíl's blood on accession the Gaddi or regal cushion. Tod relates how Goha, [1] the eponymous ancestor of the Sesodia Râjpîts, took the state of Idar in Gujarât from a Bhíl: "At this period Idar was governed by a chief of the savage race of Bhíls. The young Goha frequented the forests in company with the Bhíls, whose habits better assimilated with his daring nature than those of the Brâhmans. He became a favourite with these vena-putras or sons of the forest, who resigned to him Idar with its woods and mountains. The Bhíls having determined in sport to elect a king, their choice fell on Goha; and one of the young savages, cutting his finger, applied the blood as the badge (kíka ) of sovereignty to his forehead. What was done in sport was confirmed by the old forest chief. The sequel fixes on Goha the stain of ingratitude, for he slew his benefactor, and no motive is assigned in the legend for the deed." [2] The legend is of course a euphemism for the fact that the Râjpîts conquered and dispossessed the Bhíls of Idar. But it is interesting as an indication that they did not consider themselves to derive a proper title to the land merely from the conquest, but wished also to show that it passed to them by the designation and free consent of the Bhíls. The explanation is perhaps that they considered the gods of the Bhíls to be the tutelary guardians and owners of the land, whom they must conciliate before they could hope to enjoy it in peace and prosperity. This token of the devolution of the land from its previous holders, the Bhíls, was till recently repeated on the occasion of each succession of a Sesodia chief. "The Bhíl landholders of Oguna and Undri still claim the privilege of performing the tíka for the Sesodias. The Oguna Bhíl makes the mark of sovereignty on the chief's forehead with blood drawn from his own thumb, and then takes the chief by the arm and seats him on the throne, while the Undri Bhíl holds the salver of spices and sacred grains of rice used in making the badge. [3] The story that Goha killed the old Bhíl chief, his benefactor, who had adopted him as heir and successor, which fits in very badly with the rest of the legend, is probably based on another superstition. Sir J. G. Frazer has shown in The Golden Bough that in ancient times it was a common superstition that any one who killed the king had a right to succeed him. The belief was that the king was the god of the country, on whose health, strength and efficiency its prosperity depended. When the king grew old and weak it was time for a successor, and he who could kill the king proved in this manner that the divine power and strength inherent in the late king had descended to him, and he was therefore the fit person to be king. [4] An almost similar story is told of the way in which the Kachhwâha Râjpîts took the territory of Amber State from the Mína tribe. The infant Râjpít prince had been deprived of Narwar by his uncle, and his mother wandered forth carrying him in a basket, till she came to the capital of the Minas, where she first obtained employment in the chiefs kitchen. But owing to her good cooking she attracted his wife's notice and ultimately disclosed her identity and told her story. The Mína chief then adopted her as his sister and the boy as his nephew. This boy, Dhola Rai, on growing up obtained a few Râjpít adherents and slaughtered all the Mínas while they were bathing at the feast of Diwâli, after which he usurped their country. [5] The repetition both of the adoption and the ungrateful murder shows the importance attached by the Râjpîts to both beliefs as necessary to the validity of their succession and occupation of the land.

[1] The old man name of the Sesodia clan, Gahlot, is held to be derived from this Goha. See the article Râjpît Sesodia for a notice of the real origin of the clan.

[2] Râjasthân , i. p. 184

[3] Ibidem , p. 186

[4] Reference may be made to The Golden Bough for the full explanation and illustration of this superstition.

[5] Râjasthân , ii. pp. 320, 321

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 191

The position of the Bhíls as the earliest residents of the country was also recognised by their employment in the capacity of village watchmen. One of the duties of this official is to know the village boundaries and keep watch and wars over them, and it was supposed that the oldest class of residents would know them best. The Bhíls worked in the office of mânkar, the superior village watchman, in Nimâr and also in Berâr, Grant Duff states [1] that the Râmosi or Bhíl was employed as village guard by the Marâthas, and the Râmosis were a professional caste of village policemen, probably derived from the Bhíls and Kolis.

Historical Notice.

The Râjpîts seem at first to have treated the Bhíls leniently. Intermarriage was frequent, especially in the families of Bhíl chieftains, and a new caste called Bhilâla [2] has arisen, which is composed of the descendants of mixed Râjpít and Bhíl marriages. Chiefs and landholders in the Bhíl country now belong to this caste, and it is possible that some pure Bhíl families may have been admitted to it. The Bhilâlas rank above the Bhíls, on a level with the cultivating castes. Instances occasionally occurred in which the children of a Râjpít by a Bhíl wife became Râjpîts. When Colonel Tod wrote, Râjpîts would still take food with Ujla Bhíls 3 or those of pure aboriginal descent, and all castes would take water from them.[3] But as Hinduism came to be more orthodox in Râjputâna, the Bhíls decended to the position of outcastes. Their custom of eating beef had always caused them to be much despised. A tradition is related that one day the god Mahâdeo or Siva, sick and unhappy, was reclining in a shady forest when a beautiful woman appeared, the first sight of whom effected a cure of all his complaints. An intercourse between the god and the strange female was established, the result of which was many children; one of whom, from infancy distinguished alike by his ugliness and vice, slew the favourite bull of Mahâdeo, for which crime he was expelled to the woods and mountains, and his descendants have ever since been stigmatised by the names of Bhíl and Nishâda. Nishâda [4] is a term of contempt applied to the lowest outcastes. Major Hendley, writing in 1875, states: "Sometime since a Thâkur (chief) cut off the legs of two Bhíls, eaters of the sacred cow, and plunged the stumps into boiling oil." [5] When the Marâthas began to occupy Central India they treated the Bhíls with great cruelty. A Bhíl caught in a disturbed part of the country was without inquiry flogged and hanged. Hundreds were thrown off high cliffs, and large bodies of them, assembled under promise of pardon, were beheaded or shot with guns. Their women were mutilated or smothered by smoke, and their children smashed to death against the stones. [6]This treatment may to some extent have been deserved owing to the predatory habits and cruelty of the Bhíls, but its result was to make them utter savages with their hand against every man, as they believed that every one's was against them. From their strongholds in the hills they laid waste the plain country, holding villages and towns to ransom and driving off cattle; nor did any travellers pass with impunity through the hills except in convoys too large to be attacked. In Khândesh, during the disturbed period of the wars of Sindhia and Holkar, about A. D. 1800, the Bhíls betook themselves to highway robbery and lived in bands either in mountains or in villages immediately beneath them. The revenue contractors were unable or unwilling to spend money in the maintenance of soldiers to protect the country, and the Bhíls in a very short time became so bold as to appear in bands of hundreds and attack towns, carrying of either cattle or hostages, for whom they demanded handsome rensoms.[7]

[1] History of the Marâthas , i. p. 28

[2] See article.

[3] Râjasthân , ii. p. 466

[4] Malcolm, Memoir of central India , i. p. 518

[5] An Account of the Bhíls , J. A. S. B . (1875), p. 369

[6] Hyderâbâd Census Report (1891), p. 218.

[7] The Khândesh Bhíl Corps , by Mr A. H. A. Simcox,

----------------------------------------------------------

page 192

In Gujarât another writer described the Bhíls and Kolis as hereditary and professional plunderers- 'Soldiers of the night,' as they themselves said they were. [1] Malcolm said of them, after peace had been restored to Central India:[2] "Measures are in progress that will, it is expected, soon complete the reformation of a class of men who, believing themselves doomed to be thieves and plunderers, have been confirmed in their destiny by the oppression and cruelty of neighbouring governments, increased by an avowed contempt for them as outcasts. The feeling this system of degradation has produced must be changed; and no effort has been left untried to restore this face of men to a better sense of their condition than that which they at present entertain. The common answer of a Bhíl when charged with theft or robbery is, 'I am not to blame; I am the thief of Mahâdeo'; in other words, 'My destiny as a thief has been fixed by God.'" The Bhíl chiefs, who were known as Bhumia, exercised the most absolute power, and their orders to commit the most atrocious crimes were obeyed by their ignorant but attached subjects without a conception on the part of the latter that they had an option when he whom they termed their Dhunni (Lord) issued the mandates.[3] Firearms and swords were only used by the chiefs and headmen of the tribe, and their national weapon was the bamboo bow having the bowstring made from a thin strip of its elastic bark. The quiver was a piece of strong bamboo matting, and would contain sixty barbed arrows a yard long, and tipped with an iron spike either flattened and sharpened like a knife or rounded like a nail; other arrows, used for knocking over birds, had knob-like heads. Thus armed, the Bhíls would lie in wait in some deep ravine by the roadside, and an infernal yell announced their attack to the unwary traveller. [4] Major Hendley states that according to tradition in the Mahâbhârata the god Krishna was killed by a Bhíl's arrow, when he was fighting against them in Gujarât with the Yâdavas; and on this account it was ordained that the Bhíl should never again be able to draw the bow with the forefinger of the right hand. "Times have changed since then, but I noticed in examining their hands that few could move the forefinger without the second finger; indeed the fingers appeared useless as independent members of the hands. In connection with this may be mentioned their apparent inability to distinguish colours or count 5 numbers, due alone to their want of words to express themselves." [5]

General Outram And The Khândesh Bhíl Corps.

The reclamation and pacification of the Bhíls is inseparably associated with the name of Lieutenant Sir James Outram, later knighted Sir James. The Khandesh Bhíl Corps was first raised by him in 1825, when Bhíl robber bands were being hunted down by small parties of troops, and those who were willing the surrender were granted a free pardon for past offences, and given grants of land for cultivation and advances for the purchase of seed and bullocks. When the first attempts to raise the corps were made, the Bhíls believed that the object was to link them in line like galley-slaves with a view to extirpate the race, that blood was in high demand as a medicine in the country of their foreign masters, and so on. Indulging the wild men with feasts and entertainments, and delighting them with his matchless urbanity, Captain Outram at length contrived to draw over to the cause nine recruits, one of whom was a notorious plunderer who had a short time before successfully robbed the officer commanding a detachment sent against him. This infant corps soon became strongly attached to the person of their new chief and entirely devoted to his wishes; their goodwill had been won by his kind and conciliatory manners, while their admiration and respect had been thoroughly roused and excited by his prowess and valour in the chase. On one occasion, it is recorded, word was brought to Outram of the presence of a panther in some prickly-pear shrubs on the side of a hill near his station. He went to shoot it with a friend, Outram being on foot and his friend on horseback searching through the bushes.

[1] Forbes, Râsmâla, i. p. 104.

[2] Memoir of Central India , i. pp. 525,526.

[3] Ibidem , i. p. 550

[4] Hobson-Jobson , art. Bhíl.

[5] An Account of the Bhíls , p. 369.

---------------------------------------------

page 193

When they closed in on the animal, Outram's friend fired and missed, on which the panther sprang forward roaring and seized Outram, and they rolled down the hill together. Being released from the claws of the furious beast for a moment, Outram with great presence of mind drew a pistol which he had with him, and shot the panther dead. The Bhíls, on seeing that he had been injured, were one and all loud in their grief and expressions of regret, when Outram quieted them with the remark, 'What do I care for the clawing of a cat?' and this saying long remained a proverb among the Bhíls. [1] By his kindness and sympathy, listening freely to all that each single man in the corps had to say to him, Outram at length won their confidence, convinced them of his good faith and dissipated their fears of treachery. Soon the ranks of the corps became full, and for every vacant place there were numbers of applicants. The Bhíls freely hunted down and captured their friends and relations who continued to create disturbances, and brought them in for punishment. Outram managed to check their propensity for liquor by paying them every day just enough for their food, and giving them the balance of their pay at the end of the month, when some might have a drinking bout, but many preferred to spend the money on ornaments and articles of finery. With the assistance of the corps the marauding tendencies of the hill Bhíls were suppressed and tranquillity restored to Khândesh, which rapidly became one of the most fertile parts of India. During the Mutiny the Bhíl corps remained loyal, and did good service in checking the local outbursts which occurred in Khândesh. A second battalion was raised at this time, but was disbanded three years afterwards. After this the corps had little or nothing to do, and as the absence of fighting and the higher wages which could be obtained by ordinary labour ceased to render it attractive to the Bhíls, it was finally converted into police in 1891. [2]

Subdivisions.

The Bhíls of the Central Provinces have now only two subdivisions, the Muhammadan Bhíls, who were forcibly converted to Islâm during the time of Aurângzeb, and the remainder, who though retaining many animistic beliefs and superstitions, have practically become Hindus. The Muhammadan Bhíls only number about 3000 out of 28,000. They are known as Tadvi, a name which was formerly applied to a Bhíl headman, and is said to be derived from tâd, meaning a separate branch or section. These Bhíls marry among themselves and not with any other Muhammadans. They retain many Hindu and animistic usages, and are scarcely Muhammadan in more than name. Both classes are divided into groups or septs, generally named after plants or animals to which they still show reverence. Thus the Jâmania sept, named after the jâman tree, [3] will not cut or burn any part of this tree, and at their weddings the dresses of the bride and bridegroom are taken and rubbed against the tree before being worn. Similarly the Rohini sept worship the rohan [4] tree, the Avalia sept the aonla [5] tree, the Meheda sept the bahera [6] tree, and so on. The Mori sept worship the peacock. They go into the jungle and look for the tracks of a peacock, and spreading a piece of red cloth before the footprint, lay their offerings of grain upon it. Members of this sept may not be tattooed, because they think the splashes of colour on the peacock's feathers are tattoo-marks. Their women must veil themselves if they see a peacock, and they think that if any member of the sept irreverently treads on a peacock's foot-prints he will fall ill. The Ghodmârya (Horse-killer) sept may not tame a horse nor ride one. The Masrya sept will not kill or eat fish. The Sanyân or cat sept have a tradition that one of their ancestors was once chasing a cat, which ran for protection under a cover which had been put over the stone figure of their goddess. The goddess turned the cat into stone and sat on it, and since then members of the sept will not touch a cat except to save it from harm, and they will not eat anything which has been touched by a cat. The Ghattaya sept worship the grinding mill at their weddings and also on festival days.

[1] The Khândesh Bhíl Corps , p. 71.

[2] Ibidem , p. 275

[3] Eugenia jambolana .

[4] Soymida febrifuga .

[5] Phyllanthus emblica .

[6] Terminalia belerica .

-----------------------------------

page 194

The Solia sept, whose name is apparently derived from the sun, are split up into four subsepts: the Ada Solia, who hold their weddings at sunrise; the Japa Solia, who hold them at sunset; the Taria Solia, who hold them when stars have become visible after sunset; and the Tar Solia, who believe their name is connected with cotton thread and wrap several skeins of raw thread round the bride and bridegroom at the wedding ceremony. The Moharia sept worship the local goddess at the village of Moharia in Indore State, who is known as the Moharia Mâta; at their weddings they apply turmeric and oil to the ringers of the goddess before rubbing them on the bride and bridegroom. The Maoli sept worship a goddess of that name in Barwâni town. Her shrine is considered to be in the shape of a kind of grain-basket known as kilia , and members of the sept may never make or use baskets of this shape, nor may they be tattooed with representations of it. Women of the sept are not allowed to visit the shrine of the goddess, but may worship her at home. Several septs have the names of Râjpít clans, as Sesodia, Panwâr, Mori, and appear to have originated in mixed unions between Râjpîts and Bhíls.

Exogamy And Marriage Customs.

A man must not marry in his own sept nor in the families of his mothers and grandmothers. The union of first cousins is thus prohibited, nor can girls be exchanged in marriage between two families. A wife's sister may also not be married to the same man during the wife's lifetime. The Muhammadan Bhíls permit a man to marry his maternal uncle's daughter, and though he cannot marry his wife's sister he may keep her as a concubine. Marriages may be infant or adult, but the former practice is becoming prevalent and girls are often wedded before they are eleven. Matches are arranged by the parents of the parties in consultation with the caste panchâyat; but in Bombay girls may select their own husbands, and they have also a recognised custom of elopement at the Tosina fair in the month of the Mahi Kântha. If a Bhíl can persuade a girl to cross the river there with him he may claim her as his wife; but if they are caught before getting across he is liable to be punished by the bride's father.[1] The betrothal and wedding ceremonies now follow the ordinary ritual of the middle and lower castes in the Marâtha country. [2] The bride must be younger then the bridegroom except in the case of a widow. A bride-price is paid which may vary from Rs. 9 to 20; in the case of Muhammadan Bhíls the bridegroom is said to give a dowry of Rs. 20 to 25. When the ovens are made with the sacred earth they roast some of the large millet juâri [3] for the family feast, calling this Juâri Mâta or the grain goddess. Offerings of this are made to the family gods, and it is partaken of only by the members of the bride's and bridegroom's septs respectively at their houses. No outsider may even see this food being eaten. the leftovers of food, with the leaf-plates on which it was eaten, are buried inside the house, as it is believed that if they should fall into the hands of any outsider the death or blindness of one of the family will ensue. When the bridegroom reaches the bride's house he strikes the marriage-shed with a dagger or other sharp instrument. A goat is killed and he steps in its blood as he enters the shed. A day for the wedding is selected by the priest, but it may also take place on any Sunday in the eight fine months. If the wedding takes place on the eleventh day of Kârtik, that is, on the expiration of the four rainy months when marriages are forbidden, they make a little hut of eleven stalks of Juâri with their cobs in the shape of a cone, and the bride and bridegroom walk around this. The services of a Brâhman are not required for such a wedding. Sometimes the bridegroom is simply seated in a grain basket and the bride in a winnowing-fan; then their hands are joined as the sun is half set, and the marriage is completed. The bridegroom takes the basket and fan home with him. On the return of the wedding couple, their kankans or wristbands are taken off at Hanumân's temple. The Muhammadan Bhíls perform the same ceremonies as the Hindus, but at the end they call in the Kâzi or registrar, who repeats the Muhammadan prayers and records the dowry agreed upon. The practice of the bridegroom serving for his wife is in force among both classes of Bhíls.

[1] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarât , p. 309.

[2] See article Kunbi.

[3]Sorghum vulgare

----------------------

page 195

Window Marriage, Divorce And Polygamy.

The remarriage of widows is permitted, but the widow may not marry any relative of her first husband. She returns to her father's house, and on her remarriage they obtain a bride-price of Rs. 40 or 50, a quarter of which goes in a feast to the tribesmen. The wedding of a widow is held on the Amâwas or last day of the dark fortnight of the month, or on a Sunday. A wife may be divorced for adultery without consulting the panchâyat . It is said that a wife cannot otherwise be divorced on any account, nor can woman divorce her husband, but she may desert him and go and live with a man. In this case all that is necessary is that the second husband should repay to the first as compensation the amount expended by the latter on his marriage with the woman. Polygamy is permitted, and a second wife is sometimes taken in order to obtain children, but this number is seldom of ever exceeded. It is stated that the Bhíl married women are generally chaste and faithful to their husbands, and any attempt to tamper with their virtue on the part of an outsider is strongly resented by the man.

Religion.

The Bhíl worship the ordinary Hindu deities and the village godlings of the locality. The favourite both with Hindu and Muhammadan Bhíls is Khande Rao or Khandoba, the war-god of the Marâthas, who is often represented by a sword. The Muhammadans and the Hindu Bhíls also to a less extent worship the Pírs or spirits of Muhammadan saints at their tombs, of which there are a number in Nimâr. Major Hendley states that in Mewâr the seats or sthâns of the Bhíl gods are on the summits of high hills, and are represented by heaps of stones, solid or hollowed out in the centre, or mere platforms, in or near which are found numbers of clay or mud images of horses. [1] In some places clay lamps are burnt in front of the images of horses, from which it may be concluded that the horse itself is or was worshipped as a god. Colonel Tod states that the Bhíls will eat nothing white in colour, as a white sheep or goat; and their grand adjuration is 'By the white ram. [2] ' Sir A. Lyall [3] says that their principal oath is 'by the dog.' The Bhíl sepoys told Major Hendley that they considered it of little use to go on worshipping their own gods, and the power of these had declined since the English became supreme. They thought the strong English gods were too much for the weak deities of their country, hence they were desirous of embracing Brâhmanism, which would also raise them in the social scale and give them a better chance of promotion in regiments where there were Brâhman officers.

Witchcraft And Amulets.

They wear charms and amulets to keep off evil spirits; the charms are generally pieces of blue string with seven knots in them, which their witch-finder or Badwa ties, reciting an incantation on each; the knots were sometimes covered with metal to keep them undefiled and the charms were tied on at the Holi, Dasahra or some other festival. [4] In Bombay the Bhíls still believe in witches as the agents of any misfortunes that may befall them. If a man was sick and thought some woman had bewítched him, the suspected woman was thrown into a stream or swung from a tree. If the branch broke and the woman fell and suffered serious injury, or if she could not swim across the stream and sank, she was considered to be innocent and efforts were made to save her. But if she escaped without injury she was held to be a witch, and it frequently happened that the woman would admit herself to be one either from fear of the infliction of a harder ordeal, or to keep up the belief in her powers as a witch, which often secured her a free supper of milk and chickens. She would then admit that she bewitched the sick man and undertake to cure him on some sacrifice being made.

[1] loc . cit . p. 347.

[2] Western India .

[3] Asiatic Studies , first series, p. 174.

[4] Asiatic Studies , first series, p. 352

-----------------------------------------

page 196

If he recovered, the animal named by the witch was sacrificed and its blood given her to drink while still warm; either from fear or in order to keep up the character she would drink it, and would be permitted to stay on in the village. If, on the other hand, the sick person died, the witch would often be driven into the forest to die of hunger or to be devoured by wild animals. [1]These practices have now disappeared in the Central Provinces, though occasionally murders of suspected witches amy still occur. The Bhíls are firm believers in omens, the nature of which is much the same as among the Hindus. When a Bhíl is persistently unlucky in hunting, he sometimes says 'Nat laga ,' meaning that some bad spirit is causing his ill-success. Then he will make an image of a man in the sand or dust of the road, or sometimes two images of a man and woman, and throwing straw or grass over the images set it alight, and pound it down of them with a stick with abusive yells. This he calls killing his bad luck. [2] Major Hendley notes that the men danced before the different festivals and before battles. The men danced in a ring holding sticks and striking them against each other, much like the Baiga dance. Before battle they had a war-dance in which the performers were armed and imitated a combat. To be carried on the shoulders of one of the combatants was a great honour, perhaps because it symbolised being on horseback. The dance was probably in the nature of a magical rite, designed to obtain success in battle by going through an imitation of it beforehand. The priests are the chief physicians among the Bhíls, though most old men were supposed to know something about medicine. [3]

Funeral Rites.

The dead are usually buried lying on the back, with the head pointing to the south. Cooked food is placed on the bier and deposited on the ground half-way to the cemetery. Upon returning, each family of the sept brings a wheaten cake to the mourners and these are eaten. On the third day they place on the grave a thick cake of wheaten flour, water in an earthen pot and tobacco or any other stimulant which the deceased was in the habit of using in his life.

Social Customs.

The Hindu Bhíls say that they do not admit outsiders into the caste, but the Muhammadans will admit a man of any but the impure castes. The neophyte must be shaved and circumcised, and the Kâzi gives him some holy water to drink and teaches him the profession of belief in Islâm. If a man is not circumcised, the Tadvi or Muhammadan Bhíls will not bury his body. Both classes of Bhíls employ Brâhmans at their ceremonies. The tribe eat almost all kinds of flesh and drink liquor, but the Hindus now abjure beef and the Muhammadans pork. Some Bhíls now refuse to take the skins off dead cattle, but others will do so. The Bhíls will take food from any caste except the impure ones, and none except these castes will now take food from them. Temporary or permanent exclusion from caste is imposed for the same offences as among the Hindus.

Appearance And Characteristics.

The typical Bhíl is small, dark, broad-nosed and ugly, but well built and active. The average height of 128 men measured by Major Hendley was 5 feet 6.4 inches. The hands are somewhat small and the legs fairly developed, those of the women being the best. "The Bhíl is an excellent woodsman, knows the shortest cuts over the Bhíls, can walk the roughest paths and climb the steepest crags without slipping or feeling distressed. He is often called in old Sanskrit works Venaputra, 'child of the forest,' or Pâl Indra, 'lord of the pass.' These names well describe his character. His country is approached through narrow defiles (pâl ), and through these none could pass without his permission. In former days he always levied rakhwâli or blackmail, and even now native travellers find him quite ready to assert what he deems his just rights. The Bhíl is a capital huntsman, tracking and marking down tigers, panthers and bears, knowing all their haunts, the best places to shoot them, the paths they take and all those points so essential to success in big-game shooting; they will remember for years the spots where tigers have been disposed of, and all the circumstances connected with their deaths.

[1] Bombay gazetteer , Hindus of Gujarât , p. 302.

[2] Bombay Gazetteer , vol. xii. p 87.

[3] An Account of the Bhíls , pp. 362, 363.

--------------------------------------------------

page 197

The Bhíl will himself attack a leopard, and with his sword, aided by his friends, cut him to pieces." [1] Their agility impressed the Hindus, and an old writer says: "Some Bhíl chieftains who attended the camp of Sidhrâj, king of Gujarât, astonished him with their feats of activity; in his army they seemed as the followers of Hanumân in attendance upon Râm." [2]

Occupation.

The Bhíls have now had to abandon their free use of the forests, which was highly destructive in its effects, and their indiscriminate slaughter of game. Many of them live in the open country and have become farmservants and field labourers. A certain proportion are tenants, but very few own villages. Some of the Tadvi Bhíls, however, still retain villages which were originally granted free of revenue on condition of their keeping the hill-passes of the Satpíras open and safe for travellers. These are known as Hattiwâla. Bhíls also serve as village watchmen in Nimâr and the adjoining tracts of the Berâr Districts. Captain Forsyth, Writing in 1868, described the Bhíls as follows; "The Muhammadan Bhíls are with few exceptions a miserable lot, idle and thriftless, and steeped in the deadly vice of opium-eating. The unconverted Bhíls are held to be tolerably reliable. When they borrow money or stock for cultivation they seldom abscond fraudulently from their creditors, and this simple honesty of theirs tends, I fear, to keep numbers of them still in a state little above serfdom." [3]

Language

The Bhíls have now entirely abandoned their own language and speak a corrupt dialect based on the Aryan vernaculars current around them. The Bhíl dialect is mainly derived from Gujarâti, but it is influenced by Mârwâri and Marâthi; In Nimâr especially it becomes a corrupt form of Marâthi. Bhíli, as this dialect is called, contains a number of non-Aryan words, some of which appear to come from the Mundâri, and others from the dravidian languages; but these are insufficient to form any basis for a deduction as to whether the Bhíls belonged to the Kolarian or Dravidian race.

Bhíl.: -or Khândés`í dialects. The border country between Rajputâna, Central India, the Central Provinces, and the Bombay Presidency is inhabited by many tribes known under various names, such as Bhíls and so forth.

Area Within Which Bhil is Spoken.

Their home may be described as an irregularly shaped triangle, with the apex in the Aravalli Hills, and the base roughly corresponding to the south-eastern frontier of the district of Khandesh. The frontier line goes south-westwards from the Aravalli Range, including the south-eastern corner of Sirohi, and, farther to the south, including Mahikantha and the eastern portion of Rewakantha. The population of the Surat District and the Surat Agency, and of the Nawsari division of the Baroda State, is mostly Bhíl, and we also find them in Thana and Jawhar, and even further south, in Ahmednagar. From the south of Dharampur, in the Surat Agency, the frontier of the Bhíl-Ahír country proper turns first eastward and then northward including the north-western strip of the district of Nasik. It then crosses Nasik, leaving the greater southern part of that district to Marâ†hí, follows the south-eastern frontier of Khandesh, includes a strip of the Melkapur Taluka of Buldana and the Burhanpur Tahsíl of Nimar.

[1] Account of the Mewâr Bhíls , pp. 357, 358

[2] Forbes , Râsmâla , i. p. 113.

[3] Nimâr settlement Report , pp. 246.

[4] Sir G. Grierson, Linguistic Survey of India , vol. ix. part iii. pp. 6-9.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

page 198

Thence it turns northwards to the Nerbudda. In Bhopawar, however, Nimârí is spoken in a large, circular, area to the west of the Nimar district. The frontier line then follows the Nerbudda towards the east, and then goes northwards to the Vindhya, where it turns westwards up to near the town of Indore, whence it runs in an irregular bow up to the Aravalli Hills, including the western portion of Jhabua and Ratlam, Banswara and the west of Partabgarh, Dungarpur and the hilly tracts of the Mewar State. Outside of this territory we find Bhíl tribes in various districts of Berar, and similar dialects are spoken by wandering tribes in the Punjab, the United Provinces, and even in the Midnapore district of Bengal. Ahírs are found all over Northern India, but it is only in Cutch that their dialect resembles that spoken by the various Bhíl tribes and by the inhabitants of Khandesh.

Number Of Speakers. The number of speakers of the various dialects will be given in detail in the following pages. We shall here only state the general results. They are as follows:

Bhíl dialects 2,689,109

Khândâs``í (and its sub-dialects) 1,253,066

-------------

Total 3,942,175

Linguistic Boundaries.

The dialects in question are mostly bounded towards the north and east by the various dialects of Râjasthâní, towards the south by Marâ†hí, and towards the west by Marâ†hí and Gujarâtí.

Relation To Other Indo-Aryan Vernaculars.

Among the dialects spoken within the territory sketched above there is one, viz ., Khândés``í, which has hitherto been classed as a form of Marâ†hi. The ensuing pages will show, however, that on the one side, the so-called Bhíl dialects gradually merge into the language of Khandesh, on the other that Khândés``í itself is not a Marâ†hí dialect. Several suffixes, it is true, are identical with those used in Marâ†hí. But most suffixes and the basic form of the language more closely resemble Gujarâtí. The northern and eastern dialects connect Gujarâtí with Râjasthâní, while, in the west, there runs a continuous line of dialects southwards towards the broken Marâ†hí dialects of Thana. The influence of Marâ†hí increases as we go southwards, and these forms of speech are thus a link between that language and Gujarâtí. This latter language is, however, everywhere the original base, and the gradual approaching the principles of Marâ†hí in structure and inflexional system seems to be due to a secondary development. It should, however, be remembered that the inner Indo-Aryan languages and those of the outer circle have, at an early date, met and influenced each other in Gujarat and the adjoining districts.

Bhílí or Bhilódí

The Bhíls are known under a bewildering variety of names. On account of their dark colour they are often called Kâí paraj , the black people. The only comprehensive name is, however, Bhíl , from the Sanskrit Bhilla . [1] Ethnographically they are sometimes stated to be Dravidians, and sometimes to belong to the Mundâ stock. Accounts of the various tribes are found in the Census Reports and the District Gazetteers. In this place we have only to do with their language. Whatever their original speech may have been, there can be no doubt that, at the present day, they speak an Aryan dialect, closely related to Gujarâtí and Râjasthâní.

[1] It is not impossible that Bhilla itself is really a Prakrit corruption of Abhíra , which has been adopted again, inthis form, by Sanskrit.

--------------------

page 199

Number Of Speakers.

Bhílí has been reported from the following localities:

No. of speakers.

Mewar State 101,500

Banswara and Kushalgarh 136,700

Dungarpur 67,000

Partabgarh 26,000

Western Malwa Agency 56,000

Bhopawar Agency 440,500

Mahikantha 10,200

The Dangs 970

Nasik 37,000

Ahmednagar 1,000

Panch Mahals 108,300

Rewakantha 101,000

Khandesh 55,000

Buldana 575

Ellichpur 252

Basim 375

Nimar 12,500

Total 1,163,872

To this total must be added the speakers of several minor dialects which have been honoured with separate names. The details will be found under the single dialects.

The general facts are as follows:-

Name of dialect

Where spoken

No. of speakers

Ahírí

Cutch

30,500

Anârya (i . e . 'Non-Aryan')

or Pahâdí

Rewakantha

34,500

Bâorí

Punjab, Rajputana, and

United Provinces

34,000

Barél

Chhota Udaipur

1,000

Châraní

Panch Mahals and Thana

1,200

Chódharí

Surat and Nawsari

121,258

Déhâwalí

Khandesh

45,000

Dhódiâ

Surat and Thana

60,000

Dublí

Thana and Jawhar

14,050

Gâmatí

Surat and Nawsari

48,715

Girâsiâ

Marwar and Sirohi

90,700

Hâburâ

United Provinces

2,596

Kónkaní

Nawsari, Surat, Surgana, Nasik, Khandesh

232,613

Kó†lí

Khandesh

40,000

Magarâ kí bólí

Merwara

44,500

Mâwachí

Merwara

30,000

Nâharí or Bâglaní

Nasik and Surgana

13,000

Nâkadí

Rewakantha, Panch, Mahals, and Surat

12,100

Panchâlí

Buldana

560

Pâradhí

Berar and Chanda

5,410

Pâwarí

Khandesh

25,000

Ranâwat

Nimar

500

Râní Bhíl

Nawsari

87,540

Râ†haví

Rewakantha

8,000

Siyâlgír

Midnapore

120

Wâgadí

Rajputana, Central India, and Bombay Presidency

525,375

Total

1,526,237

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 200

By adding these figures to those given above we arrive at the following grand total:-

Bhílí 1,163,872

Minor Dialects 1,525,237

--------------

Total 2,689,109

Bhíl Dialects.

The territory occupied by the Bhíl tribes is a rather extensive one, and there are, as might be expected, differences of dialect in the different parts of the Bhíl country. Towards the north and east the dialects of the Bhíls gradually merge into the various forms of Râjasthâní. In the west and south the influence of Marâ†hí gradually increases. Thus the southern forms of Kó©kan∑í are almost Marâ†hí and gradually merge into some broken dialects of the Northern Konkan, such as Vâr a lí, Phuπ a gí, Sâmvédí, and Vâπ a val, which have now become real Marâ†hí dialects, though their original base must have resembled Bhílí. More towards the east the Bhíl dialects gradually approach Khândés``í, and at the Khandesh frontier, in Northern Nasik and in the Dangs, they are almost pure Khândés``í. The Bhíl dialects, therefore, form a continuous chain, between Râjasthâní, through Gujarâtí and Khândâs``í, and Marâ†hí. In most cases, however, the Marâ†hí influence is only of a quite superficial kind, and the general character of the dialect remains Gujarâtí. In Nimar, the Bhílí seems to have been more strongly influenced by Marâ†hí than elsewhere.

Non- Aryan Element.

It should be borne in mind that the Bhíls are not of Aryan origin, and that they have, accordingly, adopted a foreign tongue. We cannot under such circumstances expect the same consistency as in the case of the genuine Aryan vernaculars, and as a matter of fact we often meet with a state of affairs that reminds us of the mixed languages of other aboriginal tribes, which have, in the course of time, adopted the speech of their Aryan neighbours. The Bhíls have sometimes been considered as originally a Dravidian race, and sometimes as belonging to the Mundâ stock. We are not as yet in a position to settle the question. The various Bhíl dialects contain several words which do not appear to be of Aryan origin. Some of them seem to be Mundâ; thus, †âhí , a cow; bódó , back. Compare Mundârí tâhi , to milk a cow; Kha®iâ bód , back. In other cases there is apparently a certain connexion between Bhílí and Dravidian. Compare talpâ , head; †óí , a cow; âkh a ló , a bull; with Tamil taleí , head; G¡óndí †âlí , a cow; Kanarese âkau , a cow, and so forth. It would not, however, be safe to base any conclusion on such stray instances of correspondence. We have not, as yet, sufficient insight into the relationship between the vocabularies of the Dravidian and Mundâ families. There can be no doubt that both have several words in common, especially in those districts where the two families meet. We are not, however, justified on concluding from such facts that these forms of speech are derived from the same base. It seems much more probable that they are both to some extent mixed languages, representing the dialects of the different races which have, in the course of time, invaded India. Each new race to some extent absorbed the old inhabitants, whose language left its mark in the grammar and vocabulary of the new invaders. We must, therefore, leave the question about the origin of the non-Aryan element in Bhílí vocabulary open until further investigations have thrown more light upon the relationship of the different linguistic families of India. There are, on the other hand, a few points in Bhílí grammar which apparently show some connexion with Dravidian forms of speech. They are not, however, numerous and quite insufficient to prove a closer connexion. The principal ones are as follows.

-----------------

page 201

Soft aspirated letters are commonly hardened. Thus, khóró , a horse; phâí , a brother. A similar hardening of unaspirated soft letters occurs in some Bhíl dialects. See below. This state of affairs can perhaps be compared with the hardening of initial soft consonants in Dravidian. Compare, for example, Telugu kâramu , Sanskrit gharma , heat. The neuter gender is sometimes used to denote female beings, just as is the case in Telugu, Góndí, etc. Thus, bairu , a wife; bairê , wives. The same is also the case in the Marâ†hí dialects of the coast where Dravidian influence is probably. In this connexion we may also note the fact that the pronoun hâ , this, has the same form for the feminine and neuter singular, just as is the case with the demonstrative pronouns in Telugu. The pronoun du , this, can further be compared with Tamil a -du ,that i -du , this, and similar forms in other Dravidian languages. Finally, we may note the suffix n of the past tense. It is, of course, quite possible that this suffix is identical with the Aryan l in Marâ†hí and other languages. On the other hand, it can also be compared with the Dravidian suffix n . Compare Tamil óπu -nén, I ran. The Dravidian n -suffix has, in other dialects, a very wide use, and this fact can perhaps be adduced in order to explain the occurrence of the n -suffix in Bhílí in other tenses than the past. The Aryan l -suffix is, however, also used outside the past tense and was originally a common derivative suffix. It would not be safe to urge such points. They are not of sufficient importance to furnish a conclusive proof. We should, however, remember that the Bhíls belong to Western India where we might reasonably expect to find remnants of the old Dravidian population, and such strong grammatical characteristics as have just been mentioned make the supposition the more plausible that the Bhíls have once spoken a Dravidian dialect. It is even possible that their original language was a Mundâ form of speech, Which was in its turn superseded by a Dravidian tongue.

Bhilâla: - A small caste found in the Nimâr and Hoshangâbâd Districts of the Central Provinces and in Central India [1] . The total strength of the Bhilâlas is about 150,000 persons, most of whom reside in the Bhopâwâr Agency, adjoining Nimâr. Only 15,000 were reported from the Central Provinces in 1911. The Bhilâlas are commonly considered, and the general belief may in their case be accepted as correct, to be a mixed caste sprung from the alliances of immigrant Râjputs with the Bhíls of the Central India hills. The original term was not improbably Bhílwâla, and may have been applied to those Râjpît chiefs, a numerous body, who acquired small estates in the Bhil country, or to those who took the daughters of Bhíl chieftains to wife, the second course being often no doubt a necessary preliminary to the first. Several Bhilâla families hold estates in Nima¡r and Indore, and their chiefs now claim to be pure Râjpîts. The principal Bhilâla houses, as those of Bhâmgarh, Selâni and Mandhâta, do not intermarry with the rest of the caste, but only among themselves and with other families of the same standing in Mâlwa and Holkar's Nimâr. On succession to the Gaddi or headship of the house, representatives of these families are marked with a tíka or badge on the forehead and are sometimes presented with a sword, and the investiture may be carried out by custom by the head of another house. Bhilâla landholders usually have the title of Rao or Râwat. They do not admit that a Bhilâla can now spring from intermarriage between a Râjpît and a Bhíl. The local Brâhmans will take water from them and they are occasionally invested with the sacred thread at the time of marriage. The Bhilâla Rao of Mandhâta is hereditary custodian of the great shrine of Siva at Onkâr Mandhâta on an island in the Nerbudda. According to the traditions of the family, their ancestor Bhârat Singh was a Chauhân Râjpít, who took Mandhâta from Nâthu Bhíl in A. D. 1165, and restored the worship of Siva to the island, which had been made inaccessible to pilgrims by the terrible deities, Kâli and Bhairava, devourers of human flesh.

[ 1] See Russel. This article is based mainly on Captain Forsyth's Nimâr Settlement Report , and a paper by Mr. T. T. Korke, Pleader, Khandwa.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 202

In such legends may be recognised the propagation of Hinduism by the Râjpít adventurers and the reconsecration of the aboriginal shrines to its deities. Bhârat Singh is said to have killed Nâthu Bhíl, but it is more probable that he only married his daughter and founded a Bhilâla family. Similar alliances have taken place among other tribes, as the Korku chiefs of the Gâwilgarh and Mahâdeo hills, and the Gond princes of Garha Mandla. The Bhilâlas generally resemble other Hindus in appearance, showing no marked signs of aboriginal descent. Very probably they have all an infusion of Râjpît blood, as the Râjpîts settled in the Bhíl country in some strength at an early period of history. The caste have, however, totemistic group names; they will eat fowls and drink liquor; and they bury their dead with the feet to the north, all these customs indicating a Dravidian origin. Their subordinate position in past times is shown by the fact that they will accept cooked food from a Kunbi or a Gíjar; and indeed the status of all except the chiefs families would naturally have been a low one, as they were practically the offspring of kept women. As already stated, the landowning families usually arrange alliances among themselves. Below these comes the body of the caste and below them is a group known as the Chhoti Tad or bastard Bhilâlas, to which are relegated the progeny of irregular unions and persons expelled from the caste for social offences.

Marriage.

The caste, for the purpose of avoiding marriages between relations, are also divided into exogamous groups called kul or kuri , several of the names of which are of totemistic origin of derived from those of animals and plants. Members of the Jâmra kuri will not cut or burn the jâmun tree [1] ; those of the Saniyâr kuri will not grow san -hemp, while the Astaryas revere the sona tree [2] and the pipalâday, the pípal tree. Some of the kuris have Râjpît sept names, as Mori, Baghel and Solanki. A man is forbidden to take a wife from within his own sept or that of his mother, and the union of first cousins is also prohibited. The customs of the Bhilâlas resemble those of the Kunbis and other cultivating castes. At their weddings four cart-yokes are arranged in a square, and inside this are placed two copper vessels filled with water and considered to represent the Ganges and Jumna. When the sun is half set, the bride and the bridegroom clasp hands and then walk seven times round the square of cart-yokes. The water of the pots is mixed and this is considered to represent the mingling of the bride's and bridegroom's personalities as the Ganges and Jumna meet at Allahâbâd. A sum of about Rs. 60 is usually paid by the parents of the bridegroom to those of the bride and is expended on the ceremony. The ordinary Bhilâlasl have, Mr. Korke states, a simple form of wedding which may be gone through without consulting a Brâhman on the Ekâdashi or eleventh of Kârtik (October); this is the day on which the gods awake from sleep and marks the commencement of the marriage season. A cone is erected of eleven plants of juâri, roots and all, and the couple simply walk round this seven times at night, when the marriage is complete. The remarriage of widows is permitted. The woman's forehead is marked with cowdung by another widow, probably as a rite of purification, and the cloths of the couple are tied together.

Social Customs.

The caste commonly bury the dead and erect memorial stones at the heads of graves which they worship in the month of Chait (April), smearing them with vermilion and making an offering of flowers. This may either be a Dravidian usage or have been adopted by imitation from the Muhammadans. The caste worship the ordinary Hindu deities, but each family has a Kul-devi or household god, Mr. Korke remarks, to which they pay special reverence. The offerings made to the Kul-devi must be consumed by the family alone, but married daughters are allowed to participate. They employ Nimâri Brâhmans as their priests, and also have gurus or spiritual preceptors, who are Gosains or Bairâgis. They will take food cooked with water from Brâhmans, Râjpîts, Munda Gíjars and Tirole Kunbis. The last two groups are principal agricultural castes of the locality and the Bhilâlas are probably employed by them as farmservants, and hence accept cooked food from their masters in accordance with a common custom.

[ 1] Eugenia jambolana

[2] Bauhinia racemosa

-----------------------------

page 203

The local Brâhmans of the Nâgar, Nâramdeo, Baísa and other subcastes will take water from the hand of a Bhilâla. Temporary excommunication from caste is imposed for the usual offences, such as going to jail, getting maggots in a wound, killing a cow, a dog, or a squirrel, committing homicide, being beaten by a man of low caste, selling shoes at a profit, committing adultery, and allowing a cow to die with a rope round its neck; and further, for touching the corpses of a cow, cat or horse, or a Barhai (carpenter) or Chamâr (tanner). They will not swear by a dog, a cat or a squirrel, and if either of the first two animals dies in a house, it is considered to be impure for a month and a quarter. The head of the caste committee has the designation of Mandloi, which is a territorial title borne by several families in Nimâr. He receives a share of the fine levied for the Sarni or purification ceremony, when a person temporarily expelled in readmitted into caste. Under the Mandloi is the Kotwâl whose business is to summon the members to the caste assemblies; he also is paid out of the fines and his office is hereditary.

Occupation And Character.

The caste are cultivators, farmservants and field-labourers, and Bhilâla also usually held the office of Mânkar, a superior kind of Kotwâr or village watchman. The Mânkar did no dirty work and would not touch hides, but attended on any officer who came to the village and acted as a guide. Where there was a village sarai or rest-house, it was in charge of the Mânkar, who was frequently also known as zamíndâr. This may have been a recognition of the ancient rights of the Bhilâlas and Bhíls to the country.

Character.

Captain Forsyth, Settlement Officer of Nimâr, described the Bhilâlas as proverbial for dishonesty in agricultural engagements and worse drunkards than any of the indigenous 1 tribes. This judgment was probably somewhat too severe, but they are poor cultivators, and 2 a Bhilâla's field may often be recognised by its slovenly appearance. A century ago Sir J. Malcolm also wrote very severely of the Bhilâlas: "The Bhilâla and Lundi chiefs were the only robbers in Mâlwa who, under no circumstances, travellers could trust. There are oaths of a sacred but obscure kind among those that are Râjpîts or who boast their blood, which are almost a disgrace to take, but which, they assert, the basest was never known to break before Mandrup Singh, a Bhilâla, and some of his associates, plunderers on the Nerbudda, set the precedent. The vanity of this race has lately been flattered by their having risen into such power and consideration that neighbouring Râjpît chiefs found it their interest to forget their prejudices and to condescend so far as to eat and drink with them. Hatti Singh, Grassia chief of Nowlâna, a Khíchi Râjpît, and several others in the vicinity cultivated the friendship of Nâdir, the late formidable Bhilâla robber-chief of the Vindhya range; and among other sacrifices made by the Râjpîts, was eating and drinking with him. On seeing this take place in my camp, I asked Hatti Singh whether he was not degraded by doing so; he said no, but 3 that Nâdir was elevated." [3]

Bhopa: -They go around singing about religion, myths and stories of gods and heroes. In Rajasthan they use scrolls of cloth (4’-6’ wide and 10’ to 20’ long) painted with mineral and herbal colours, to show the main scenes of the epics which they sing whole night. Their 'sacrificium laudis' keeps away diseases and epidemics.

[ 1] Settlement Report (1869), para. 411.

[ 2] Mr. Montgomerie's Nimâr Settlement Report .

[ 3] Memoir of Central India , ii. p. 156.

--------------------------------------------------

page 204

Bhot: -Bot, Bhotiya [1] -(Sanskrit, Bhota). --A tribe originally of Hill origin. In the Panjâb, those who in the Spiti and Lahîl Districts returned themselves as Bot, merely imply that they are Tibetans. The proper mane of the tract of Chinese territory, which we call Tibet, is Bodyul, or Bod land, and the people Bodpas, corrupted by the Indians into Bhotiyas--a name now applied to the Tibetans living on the borders between India and Tibet, while the people of Tibet Proper are called Buniyas, and the country Hundes. Boti is the name for the language, and Bot for the people; but they rarely apply it to themselves. "If they did," says Mr. Diack, "it would be like a Panjâbi describing himself as an Asiatic." There they consist of four classes--Jocho, Loupa, Chhazang, Loban. [ 2] In these Provinces a tribe of the same name is found in small numbers in the Kumaun Division. There they usually call themselves Raghubansi Râjputs, and trace their origin to Bhutwal in Nepâl. They fix their emigration into Northern Oudh in the reign of Nawâb Asaf-ud-daula (1775-1797). They now present a curious instance of a tribe of non-Aryan origin who have in a very short time become completely Brahmanised. Among some of them the rule of exogamy is that they do not marry their sons into families to which, within the memory of man, they have given daughters as brides. But others have adopted the complete Hindu law of exogamy, and the creation of a full set of Brâhmanical gotras is probably only a question of time.

Marriage Ceremonies.

These are of the usual Hindu type. When the bride's palanquin arrives at the house of her husband the gods are worshipped, and then she is admitted into the house. Some rice, silver, or gold, is put in the hands of the bridegroom, which he passes on to the bride. She places them in a winnowing fan, and makes them over as a present to the wife of the barber. This ceremony is known as Karja bharna. A man can have three wives and no more. The wife of the first marriage is the head wife, and she receives by inheritance a share one-tenth in excess of that given to the other wives. Marriage is generally performed under the age of fifteen, but no special age is fixed. No price is paid on either side. Concubinage and the levirate are allowed. There is no form of divorce, and though a man or woman is excommunicated if detected in illicit intercourse, they can be restored to caste on giving a tribal feast. The marriage ceremonies are in the standard form. Respectable people marry by the common charhana ritual, which begins with the ceremonies at the door of the bride's house (darwâza châr or duâr châr). When they come to the marriage shed (mânro), the officiating Brâhman does the usual worship. The bride's younger brother sprinkles parched grain over the pair, and receives from the father of the bride a sheet, which is known as lâi bhujuâ, or the remuneration for parching rice. Then the bridegroom rolls a stone over the parched rice on the ground, and this is known as the "line of the stone" (patthar kí lakír), which is the binding part of the ceremony. Then follows the tying of the clothes (ganth bandhan), and the circumambulation of the fire (bhanwari). Next comes the pâsa sâr, where the bride and bridegroom exchange jewels--a survival of the gambling custom which appears in the standard ritual. Then follows the feeding of the bridegroom (bâsi khilâna), and the feast to the clansmen. After the marriage is over, on an auspicious day, the grass used as thatch for the wedding shed and other things are thrown into a river or tank by the women. This is called maur serwâna, "the setting afloat of the marriage crown." The lower kind of marriage is called pair pîjna, in which all the ceremonies are done at the house of the husband. The last form, dharaua, is simple concubinage. Persons who have not been married till they are of advanced years very often keep a woman in this way.

Disposal Of The Dead.

Children and those who die of cholera or snake-bite, are buried; others are cremated. There is no fixed burial-ground, and no ceremonies are performed at the time of burial. Richer people keep the ashes for removal to some sacred stream; others bury them. After the cremation a stalk of kusa grass is fixed in the ground near a tank, and water and sesamum is poured upon it for ten days so as to convert it into a refuge for the spirit until the rites are completed.

[1] See Crooke. Chiefly based on notes by Munshi Badri Nath, Deputy collector, Kheri, and Munshi Mahadeo Prasâd,

Head Master, Zillah School, Pilibhit.

[2] Panjâb Consus report, 1891, page 295, sq.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 205

Religion.

They employ Brâhmans as priests. Their chief object of worship is Devi, to whom goats are sacrificed. Young pigs are also occasionally offered to her. The worshippers make the sacrifice and consume the meat themselves. They observe the festivals. On the Barsâti Amâwas, on the fifteenth of Jeth, women worship a banyan tree by walking round it and tying a thread round the trunk. This they do to increase the life of their husbands. Women fast on the Tíja, or third day of Bhâdon. At the Godiya, on the fifth of Kârttik, they worship the dragon, Nâg Deota, and girls offer dolls to Devi and Mahâdeva. The care of malignant spirits is the business of the exorcisor (nâwat). Women revere the bargad or banyan tree, because its name (bargad) is supposed to be connected with their husbands (bar).

Social Customs.

They do not eat turnips (shalgham). They will not touch a Dhobi, Bhangi, Chamâr, or Kori. They eat the flesh of goats, sheep, hare, deer, water-birds, and fish; they will not eat monkeys, cows, pigs, fowl, crocodiles, snakes, lizards, rats, or other vermin. Intoxicating liquors are forbidden; bhang and gânja are used, but excess is reprobated.

Occupation.

Their occupation is agriculture; they do not hold land as zamíndârs but as tenants, and some work as field labourers. They practice no handicraft.

Bhotiya.: -See Bhot

Bhuiya.: -Bhuinhâr, Bhumia. [ 1] -Bhuinhâr, Bhumia. - The name of a very important tribe of Chota Nâgpur, Bengal and Orissa. The Bhuiyas numbered more than 22,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, being mainly found in the Sargîja and Jashpur States. In Bengal and Bihâr the Bhuiyas' actual number is about half a million persons, while the Mîsahar and Khandait castes, both of whom are mainly derived from the Bhuiyas, total together well over a million. The name Bhuiya means 'Lord of the soil,' or 'belonging to the soil,' and is a Sanskrit derivative. The tribe have completely forgotten their original name, and adopted this designation conferred on them by the immigrant Aryans. The term Bhuiya, however, is also employed by other tribes and by some Hindus as a title for landholders, being practically equivalent to zamíndâr. And hence a certain confusion arises, and classes or individuals may have the name of Bhuiya without belonging to the tribe at all. "In most parts of Chota Nâgpur," Sir H. Risley says, " there is a well-known distinction between a Bhuiya by tribe and a Bhuiya by title. The Bhuiyas of Bonai and Keonjhar described by Colonel Dalton belong to the former category; the Bhuiya Mundas and Oraons to the latter. The distinction will be made somewhat clearer if it is explained that every ' tribal Bhuiya' will as a matter of course describe himself as Bhuiya, while a member of another tribe will only do so if he is speaking with reference to a question of land, or desires for some special reason to lay stress on his status as land-holder or agriculturist."

[ 1] See Russell. This article is compiled partly from Colonel Dalton's Ethnology of Bengal and Sir H. Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal ; a monograph has also been furnished by Mr. B. C. Mazumdâr, pleader, Sambalpur, and papers by Mr. A. B. Napier, Deputy Commissioner, Raipur, and MR. Híra Lâl.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 206

We further find in Bengal and Benâres a caste of landholders known as Bhuinhâr or Bâbhan, who are generally considered as a somewhat mixed and inferior group of Brâhman and Râjpît origin. Both Sir H. Risley and Mr. Crooke adopt this view and deny any connection between the Bhuinhârs and the Bhuiya tribes. Bâbhan appears to be a corrupt form of Brâhman. Mr. Mazumdâr, however, states that Bhuiya is never used in Bengali as an equivalent for zamíndâr or landholder, and he considers that the Bhuinhârs and also the Bârah Bhuiyas, a well-known group of twelve landholders of Eastern Bengal and Assam, belonged to the Bhuiya tribe. He adduces from Sir E. Gait's History of Assam the fact that the Chutias and Bhuiyas were dominant in that country prior to its conquest by the Ahoms in the thirteenth century, and considers that these Chutias gave their name to Chutia or Chota Nâgpur. I am unable to express any opinion on Mr. Mazumdâr's argument, and it is also unnecessary as the question does not concern the Central Provinces.

Distribution Of The Tribe.

The principal home of the Bhuiya tribe proper is the south of the Chota Nâgpur plateau, comprised in the Gângpur, Bonai, Keonjhar and Bâmra States. "The chiefs of these States," Colonel Dalton says," now call themselves Râjpîts; if they be so, they are strangely isolated families of Râjpîts. The country for the most part belongs to the Bhuiya sub-proprietors. They are a privileged class, holding as hereditary the principal offices of the State, and are organised as a body of militia. The chiefs have no right to exercise any authority till they have received the tilak or token of investiture from their powerful Bhuiya vassals. Their position altogether renders their claim to be considered Râjpîts extremely doubtful, and the stories told to account for their acquisition of the dignity are palpable, though they certainly do not look like Râjpîts." Members of the tribe are the household servants of the Bâmra Râja's family, and it is said that the first Râja of Bâmra was a child of the Patna house, who was stolen from his home and anointed king of Bâmra by the Bhuiyas and Khonds. Similarly Colonel Dalton records the legend that the Bhuiyas twenty-seven generations ago stole a child of the Moharbhanj Râja's family, brought it up amongst them and made him their Râja. He was freely admitted to intercourse with Bhuiya girls, and the children of this intimacy are the progenitors of the Râjkuli branch of the tribe.. But they are not considered first among Bhuiyas because they are not of pure Bhuiya descent. Again the Râjas of Keonjhar are always installed by the rules of Chota Nâgpur and are recognised as the oldest inhabitants of the country. From this centre they have southern Bihâr, where large numbers of Bhuiyas are encountered on whom the opprobrious designation of Mîsahar or 'rat-eater' has been conferred by their Hindu neighbours. Others of the tribe who travelled south from Chota Nâgpur experienced more favourable conditions, and here the tendency has been for the Bhuiyas to rise rather than to decline in social status. "Some of their leading families," Sir H. Risley states, "have come to be chiefs of the petty States of Orissa, and have now sunk the Bhuiya in the Khandait or swordsman, a caste of admitted respectability in Orissa and likely in course of time to transform itself into some variety of Râjpît."

Example Of The Position Of The Aborigines In Hindu Society.

The varying status of the Bhuiyas in Bihâr, Chota Nâgpîr and Orissa is a good instance of the different ways in which the primitive tribes have fared in contact with the immigrant Aryans. Where the country has been completely colonised and populated by Hindus, as in Bihâr, the aboriginal residents have commonly become transformed into village drudges, relegated to the meanest occupations, and despised as impure by the Hindu cultivators, like the Chamârs of northern India and the Mahârs of the Marâtha Districts. Where the Hindu immigration has only been partial and the forests have not been cleared, as in Chota Nâgpur and the Central Provinces, they may keep their old villages and tribal organisation and be admitted as a body into the hierarchy of caste, ranking above the impure castes but below the Hindu cultivators. This is the position of the Gonds, Baigas and other tribes in these tracts. While, if the Hindus come only as colonists and not as rulers, the indigenous residents may retain the overlordship of the soil and the landed proprietors among them may be formed into a caste ranking with the good cultivating castes of the Aryans. Instances of such are the Khandaits of Orissa, the Binjhwârs of Chhattísgarh, and the Bhilâlas of Nimâr and Indore.

----------------

page 207

The Bhuiyas A Kolarian Tribe.

The Bhuiyas have now entirely forgotten their own language and speak Hindu, Uriya and Bengali accordingly, as each is the dominant vernacular of their Hindu neighbours. They cannot therefore on the evidence of language be classified as a Munda or Kolarian or as a Dravidian tribe. Colonel Dalton was inclined to consider them as Dravidian:[1] "Mr. Stirling in his account of Orissa classes them among the Kols; but there are no grounds that I know of for so connecting them. As I have said above, they appear to me to be linked with the Dravidian rather than with the Kolarian tribes." His account, however, does not appear to contain any further evidence in support of this view; and, on the other hand, he identifies the Bhuiyas with the Savars or Saonrs. Speaking of the Bendkars or Savars of Keonjhar, he says: "It is difficult to regard them other than as members of the great Bhuiya family, and thus connecting them we link the Bhuiyas and Savaras and give support to the conjecture that the former are Dravidian." But it is now shown in the Linguistic Survey that the Savars have a Munda dialect. In Chota Nâgpur this has been forgotten, and the tribe speak Hindi or Uriya like the Bhuiyas, but it remains in the hilly tracts of Ganjâm and Vizagapatâm.[2] The Savaras must therefore be classed as a Munda or Kolarian tribe, and since Colonel Dalton identified the Bhuiyas with the Savars of Chota Nâgpur, his evidence appears really to be in favour of the Kolarian origin of the Bhuiyas. He notes further that the ceremony of naming children 3 among the Bhuiyas is identical with that of the Mundas and Hos. [3]

Mr. Mazumdâr writes: "Judging from the external appearances and general physical type one would be sure to mistake a Bhuiya for a Munda. Their habits and customs are essentially Mundâri. The Bhuiyas who live in and around the District of Mânbhîm are not much ashamed to admit they are Kol people; and Bhumia Kol is the name that has been given them there by the Hindus. The Mundas and Larka-Kols of Chota Nâgpur tell us that they first established themselves there by driving out the Bhuiyas; and it seems likely that the Bhuiyas formed the first batch of the Munda immigrants in Chota Nâgpur and became greatly Hinduised there, and on that account were not recognised by the Mundas as people of their kin." If the tradition of the Mundas and Kols is that they came to Chota Nâgpur after the Bhuiyas be accepted, and tradition on the point of priority of immigration is often trustworthy, then it follows that the Bhuiyas must be a Munda tribe. For the main distinction other than that of language between the Munda and Dravidian tribes is that immigrants. The claim of the Bhuiyas to be the earliest residents of Chota Nâgpur is supported by the fact that they officiate as priests in certain temples. Because in primitive religion the jurisdiction of the gods is entirely local, foreigners bringing their own gods with them are ignorant of the character and qualities of the local deities, with which the indigenous residents are, on the other hand, well acquainted. Hence the tendency of later settlers to employ these latter in the capacity of priests of the godlings of the earth, corn, forests and hills. Colonel Dalton Writes:[4] "It is strange that these Hinduised Bhuiyas retain in their own hands the priestly duties of certain old shrines to the exclusion of Brâhmans. This custom has no doubt descended in Bhuiya families from the time when Brâhmans were not, or had obtained no footing amongst them, and when the religion of the land and the temples were not Hindu; they are now indeed dedicated to Hindu deities, but there are evidences of the temples having been originally occupied by other images. At some of these shrines human sacrifices were offered every third year and this continued till the country came under British rule." And again of the Pauri Bhuiyas of Keonjhar: "The Pauris dispute with the Juângs the claim to be the first settlers in Keonjhar, and boldly aver that the country belongs to them.

[1] Ethnology of Bengal , p. 140.

[2] Linguistic Survey , vol. xiv. Munda and Dravidian Languages , p. 217.

[3] Page 142.

[4] Ibidem, p. 141.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

pag 208

They assert that the Râja is of their creation and that the prerogative of installing every new Râja on his accession is theirs, and theirs alone. That the Hindu population of Keonjhar is in excess of the Pauris is admitted by all; even Brâhmans and Râjpîts respectfully acknowledge it, and the former by the addition of Brâhmanical rites to the wild ceremonies of the Bhuiyas affirm and sanctify their installation." In view of this evidence it seems a probable hypothesis that the Bhuiyas are the earliest residents of these parts of Chota Nâgpur and that they are a Kolarian tribe.

The Baigas And The Bhuiyas. Chhattísgarh, The Home Of The Baigas.

There appears to be considerable reason for supposing that the Baiga tribe of the Central Provinces are really a branch of the Bhuiyas. Though the Baigas are now mainly returned from Mandla and Bâlâghât, it seems likely that these Districts were not their original home, and that they emigrated from Chhattísgarh into the Satpîra hills on the western borders of the plain. The hill country of Mandla and the Maikal range of B¡âlâghât form one of the wildest and most inhospitable tracts in the Province, and it is unlikely that the Baigas would have made their first settlements here and spread thence into the fertile plain of Chhattísgarh. Migration in the opposite direction would be more natural and probable. But it is fairly certain that the Baiga tribe were among the earliest if not the earliest residents of the Chhattísgarh plain and the hills north and east of it. The Bhaina, Bhunjia and Binjhwâr tribes who still reside in this country can all be recognised as offshoots of the Baigas. In the article on Bhaina it is shown that some of the oldest forts in Bilâspur are attributed to the Bhainas and a chief of this tribe is remembered as having ruled in Bilaigarh south of the Mahânadi. They are said to have been dominant in Pendra where they are still most numerous, and to have been expelled from Phuljhar in Raipur by the Gonds. The Binjhwârs or Binjhâls again are an aristocratic subdivision of the Baigas, belonging to the hills east of Chhattísgarh and the Uriya plain country of Sambalpur beyond them. The zamíndârs of Bodâsâmar, Râmpur, Bhatgaon and other estates to the south and east of the Chhattísgarh plain are members of this tribe. Both the Bhainas and Binjhwârs are frequently employed as priests of the village deities all over this area, and may therefore be considered as older residents than the Gond and Kawar tribes and the Hindus. Sir G. Grierson also states that the language of the Baigas of Mandla and Bâlâghât is a form of Chhattísgarhi, and this is fairly conclusive evidence of their first having belonged to Chhattísgarh. [1] It seems not unlikely that the Baigas retreated into the hills round Chhattígarh after the Hindu invasion and establishment of the Haihaya Râjpît dynasty of Ratanpur, which is now assigned to the ninth century of the Christian era; just as the Gonds retired from the Nerbudda valley and the Nâgpur plain before the Hindus several centuries later. Sir H. Risley states that the Binjhia moved from Ratanpur twenty generations ago. [2]

Baiga And Bhuiyas In Chhattísgarh.

But the Chhattísgarh plain and the hills north and east of it are adjacent to and belong to the same tract of country as the Chota Nâgpur States, which are the home of the Bhuiyas. Sir H. Risley gives Baiga as a name for a sorcerer, and as a synonym or title of the Khairwâr tribe in Chota Nâgpur, possibly having reference to the idea that they, being among the original inhabitants of the country, are best qualified to play the part of sorcerer and propitiate the local gods. It has been suggested in the article on Khairwâr that the tribe is a mongrel offshoot of the Santâls and Cheros, but the point to be noticed here is the use of the term Baiga in Chota Nâgpur for a sorcerer; and a sorcerer may be taken as practically equivalent for a priest of the indigenous deities, all tribes who act in this capacity being considered as sorcerers by the Hindus. If the Bhuiyas of Chota Nâgpur had the title of Baiga, it is possible that it may have been substituted for the proper tribal name on their migration tot he central Provinces. Mr. Crooke distinguishes two tribes in Mírzâpur whom he calls the Bhuiyas and Bhuiyârs.

[ 1] In the article on Binjhwâr, it was supposed that the Baigas migrated east from the Satpîra hills into Chhattísgarh. But the evidence adduced above appears to show that this view is incorrect.

[ 2] Tribes and Castes , art. Binjhia.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

pag 209

The Bhuiya of Mírzâpur seem to be clearly a branch of the Bhuiya tribe of Chota Nâgpur, with whom their section-name establish their identity. [1]

Mr. Crooke states that the Bhuiyas are distinguished with very great difficulty from the Bhuiyârs with who they are doubtless very closely connected. [2] Of the Bhuiyârs [3] he writes that the tribe is also known as Baiga, because large numbers of the aboriginal local priests are derived from this caste. He also states that "Most Bhuiyârs are Baigas and officiate in their own as well as allied tribes; in fact, as already stated, one general name for the tribe is Baiga." [4] It seems not unlikely that these Bhuiyârs are the Baigas of the Central Provinces and that they went to Mírzâpur from here with the Gonds. Their original name may have been preserved or revived there, while it has dropped out of use in this Province. The name Baiga in the Central provinces is sometimes applied to members of other tribes who serve as village priests, and, as has already been seen, it is used in the same sense in Chota Nâgpur. The Baigas of Mandla are also known as Bhumia, which is only a variant of Bhuiya, having the same meaning of "lord of the soil" or "belonging to the soil." Both Bhuiya and Bhumia are in fact nearly equivalent to our word 'aboriginal,' and both are names given to the tribe by the Hindus and not originally that by which its members called themselves. It would be quite natural that a branch of the Bhuiyas, who settled in the Central provinces and were commonly employed as village priests by the Hindus and Gonds should have adopted the name of the office, Baiga, as their tribal designation; just as the title of Munda or village headman has become the name of one branch of the Kol tribe, and Bhumij, another term equivalent to Bhuiya, of a second branch. Mr. A. F. Hewitt, Settlement Officer of Raipur, considered that the Buniyas of that District were the same tribe as the Bhuiyas of the Garhjât States. [5] By Buniya he must apparently have meant the Bhunjia tribe of Raipur, who as already stated are an offshoot of the Baigas. Colonel Dalton describes the dances of the Bhuiyas of Chota Nâgpur as follows:[6] " The men have each a wide kind of tambourine. They march round in a circle, beating these and singing a very simple melody in a minor key on four notes. The women dance opposite to them with their heads covered and bodies much inclined, touching each other like soldiers in line but not holding hands or wreathing arms like the Kols." This account applies very closely to the Sela and Rína dances of the Baigas. The Sela dance is danced by men only who similarly march round in a circle, though they do not carry tambourines in the Central Provinces. Here, however, they sometimes carry sticks and march round in opposite directions, passing in and out and hitting their sticks against each other as they meet, the movement being exactly like the grand chain in the Lancers. Similarly the Baiga women dance the Rína dance themselves, standing close to each other and bending forward, but not holding each other by the hands and arms, just as described by Colonel Dalton. The Gonds now also have the Sela and Rína dances, but admit that they are derived from the Baigas. Another point of some importance is that the Bhuiyas of Chota Nâgpur and the Baigas and the tribe derived from them in the Central Provinces have all completely abandoned their own language and speak a broken form of their Hindu neighbours. As has been seen, too, the Bhuiyas are commonly as priests in Chota Nâgpur, and there seems therefore to be a strong case for the original identity of the two tribes. [7] Both the Baigas and Bhuiyas, however, have now become greatly mixed with the surrounding tribes, the Baigas of Mandla and Bâlâghât having a strong Gond element.

[ 1] Crooke, Tribes and Castes , art. Bhuiya, para. 4.

[ 2] Ibidem , para. 3.

[ 3] Ibidem, art. Bhuiyâr, para. l.

[ 4] Ibidem, para. 16.

[ 5] Dalton, p. 147.

[ 6] Page 142.

[ 7] The question of the relation of the Baiga tribe to Mr. Crooke's Bhuiyârs was first raised by Mr. E. a. Blunt, Census Superintendent, United Provinces.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

page 210

Tribal Subdivisions.

In Singhbhîm the Bhuiyas call themselves Pâwan-bans or 'The Children of the Wind,' and in connection with Hanumân's title of Pâwan-ka-pît or 'The Son of the Wind,' are held to be the veritable apes of the Râmâyana who, under the leadership of Hanumân, the monkey-god, assisted the Aryan hero Râma on his expedition to Ceylon. This maybe compared with the name given to the Gonds of the Central Provinces of Râwanbansi, or descendants or Râwan, the idea being that their ancestors were the subjects of Râwan, the demon king of Ceylon, who was conquered by Râma. "All Bhuiyas," Air H. Risley states, "affect great reverence for the memory of Rikhmun or Rikhiasan, whom they regard, some as a patron deity, others as a mythical ancestor, whose name distinguishes one of the divisions of the tribe. It seems probable that in the earliest stage of belief Rikhmun was the bear-totem of a sept of the tribe, that later on he was transformed into an ancestral hero, and finally promoted to the rank of a tribal god." The Rikhiasan Mahatwâr subtribe of the Bhuiyas in the Central Provinces are named after this hero Rikhmun; the designation of Mahatwâr signifies that they are the Mahtos or leaders of the Bhuiyas. The Khandaits or Pâiks are another subcaste formed from those who became soldiers; in Orissa they are now, as already stated, a separate caste of fairly high rank. The Parja or 'subject people' are the ordinary Bhuiyas, probably those living in Hindu tracts. The Dhur or 'dust' Gonds, and the Parja Gonds of Bastar may be noted as a parallel in nomenclature. The Rautadi are a territorial group, taking their name from a place called Raotal. The Khandaits practise hypergamy with the Rautadi, taking daughters from them, but not giving their daughters to them. The Pâbudia or Mâdhai are the hill Bhuiyas, and are the most wild and backward portion of the tribe. Dalton writes of them in Keonjhar: "They are not bound to fight for the Râja, though they occasionally take up arms against him. Their duty is to attend on him and carry his loads when he travels about, and so long as they are satisfied with his person and his rule, no more willing or devoted subjects could be found. They are then in Keonjhar, as in Bonai, a race whom you cannot help liking and taking an interest in from the primitive simplicity of their customs, their amenability and their anxiety to oblige; but unsophisticated as they are they wield an extraordinary power in Keonjhar, and when they take it into their heads to use that power, the country may be said be governed by an oligarchy composed of the sixty chiefs of the Pawri Desh, the village in the name of the sixty chiefs throws the entire country into commotion, and the order verbally communicated in connection with it is as implicitly obeyed as if it emanated from the most potent despot." This knotted string is known as Gânthi. The Pâbudias say that their ancestors were twelve brothers belonging to Keonjhar, of whom eight went to an unknown country, while the remaining four divided among themselves all the territory of which they had knowledge, this being comprised in the four existing states of Keonjhar, Bâmra, Palahâra and Bonai. Any Pâbudia who takes up his residence permanently beyond the boundaries of these four states is considered to lose his caste, like Hindus in former times who went to dwell in the foreign country beyond the Indus. [1] But if the wandering Pâbudia returns in two years, and proves that he has not drunk water from any other caste, he is taken back into the fold. Other subdivisions are the Kâti or Khatti and the Bâthudia, these last being an inferior group who are said to be looked down on because they have taken food from other low castes. No doubt they are really the offspring of irregular unions.

Exogamous Septs. In Raigarh the Bhuiyas appear to have no exogamous divisions. When they wish to arrange a marriage they compare the family gods of the parties, and if these are not identical and there is no recollection of a common ancestor for the three generations, the union is permitted. In Sambalpur, however, Mr. Mazumdâr states, all Bhuiyas are divided into the following twelve septs: Thâkur, or the clan of royal blood; Saont, from sâmanta, a viceroy; Padhân, a village headman; Nâik, a military leader; Kâlo, wizard or priest; Dehri, also a priest; Chatria, one who carried the royal umbrella; Sâhu, a moneylender; Mâjhi, a headman; Behra, manager of the household; Amâta, counsellor; and Dandsena, a police official. The Dehrin sept still worship the village gods on behalf of the tribe.

[1] Mr. Mazumdâr's monograph.

--------------------------------

page 211

Marriage Customs.

Marriage is adult, but the more civilised Bhuiyas are gradually adopting Hindu usages, and parents arrange matches for their children while they still young. Among the Pâbudias some primitive customs survive. They have the same system as the Oraons, by which all the bachelors of the village sleep in one large dormitory; this is known as Dhângarbâsa, dhângar meaning a farmservant or young man, or Mândarghar, the house of the drums, because these instruments are kept in it. " Some villages," Colonel Dalton states, "have a Dhângaria bâsa, or house for maidens, which, strange to say, they are allowed to occupy without any one to look after them. They appear to have very great liberty, and slips of morality, so long as they are confined to the tribe, are not much heeded." This intimacy between boys and girls of the same village does not, however, commonly end in marriage, for which a partner should be sought from another village. For this purpose the girls go in a body, taking with them some ground rice decorated with flowers. They lay this before the elders of the village they have entered, saying, 'Keep this or throw it into the water, as you prefer.' the old men pick up the flowers, placing them behind their ears. In the evening all the boys of the village come and dance with the girls, with intervals for courtship, half the total number of couples dancing and sitting out alternately. This goes on all night, and in the morning any couples who have come to an understanding run away together for a day or two. The boy's father must present a rupee and a piece of cloth to the girl's mother, and the marriage is considered to be completed. Among the Pâbudia or Madhai Bhuiyas the bride-price consists of two bullocks or cows, one of which is given to the girl's father and the other to her brother. The boy's father makes the proposal for marriage, and the consent of the girl is necessary. At the wedding turmeric and rice are offered to the sun; some rice is then placed on the girl's head and turmeric rubbed on her body, and a brass ring is placed on her finger. The bridegroom's father says to him, "This girl is ours now: if in future she becomes one-eyed, lame or deaf, she will still be ours." The ceremony concludes with the usual feast and drinking bout. If the boy's father cannot afford the bride-price the couple sometimes run away from home for two or three days, when their parents go in search of them and they are brought back and married in the boys house.

Widow-Marriage And Divorce.

A widow is often taken by the younger brother of the deceased husband, though no compulsion is exerted over her. But the match is common because the Bhuiyas have the survival of fraternal polyandry, which consists in allowing unmarried younger brothers to 1 have access to an elder brother's wife during his lifetime. [1] Divorce is allowed for misconduct on the part of the wife or mutual disagreement.

Religion.

The Bhuiyas commonly take as their principal deity the spirit of the nearest mountain overlooking their village, and make offerings to it of butter, rice and fowls. In April they present the first-fruits of the mango harvest. They venerate the sun as Dharam Deota, but no offerings are made to him. Nearly all Bhuiyas worship the cobra, and some of them call it their mother and think they are descended from it. They will not touch or kill a cobra, and do not swear by it. In Rairakhol they venerate a goddess, Rambha Devi, who may be a corn-goddess, as the practice of burning down successive patches of jungle and sowing seed on each for two or three years is here known as rambha . They think that the sun and moon are sentient beings, and that fire and lightning are the children of the sun, and the stars the children of the moon. One day the moon invited the sun to dinner and gave him very nice food, so that the sun asked what it was. The moon said she had cooked her own children, and on this the sun went home and cooked all his children and ate them, and this is reason why there are no stars during they day. But his eldest son, fire, went and hid in a rengal tree, and his daughter, the lightning, darted hither and thither so that the sun could not catch her.

[1] From Mr. Mazumdâr's monograph.

------------------------------------------

page 212

And when night came again, and the stars came out, the sun saw how the moon had deceived him and cursed her, saying that she should die for fifteen days in every month. And this is the reason for the waxing and waning of the moon. Ever since this event fire has remained hidden in a rengal tree, and when the Bhuiyas want him they rub two pieces of its wood together and he comes out. This is the Bhuiya explanation of the production of fire from the friction of wood.

Religious Dancing.

In the month of Kârkit (October), or the next month, they bring from the forest a branch of the karm tree and venerate it and perform the karma dance in front of it. They think that this worship and dance will cause the karma tree, the mango, the jack-fruit and the mahua to bear a full crop of fruit. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are considered the proper days for worshipping the deities, and children are often named on a Friday.

Funeral Rites And Inheritance. The dead are either buried or burnt, the corpse being placed always with the feet pointing to its native village. On the tenth day the soul of the dead person is called back to the house. But if a man is killed by a tiger or by falling from a tree no mourning is observed for him, and his soul is not brought back. To perish from snake-bite is considered a natural death, and in such cases the usual obsequies are awarded. This is probably because they revere the cobra as their first mother. The Pâbudia Bhuiyas throw four to eight annas' worth of copper on to the pyre or into the grave, and if the deceased had a cow some ghí or melted butter. No division of property can take place during the lifetime of either parent, when both have died the children divide the inheritance, the eldest son taking two shares and the others one equal share each.

Physical Appearance And Occupation.

Colonel Dalton describes the Bhuiyas as "A dark-brown, well-proportioned race, with black, straight hair, plentiful on the head, but scant on the face, of middle height, figures well knit and capable of enduring great fatigue, but light-framed like the Hindu rather than presenting the usual muscular development of the hillman." Their dress is scanty, and in the Tributary States Dalton saves that the men and women all wear dresses of brown cotton cloth. This may be because white is a very conspicuous in the forests. They wear ornaments and beads, and distinctive in that neither men nor women practise tattooing, though in some localities this rule is not observed. In Bâmra the Bhuiya still practise shifting cultivation, for which they burn the forest growth from the hillsides and sow oilseeds in the fresh soil. This method of agriculture is called locally Khasrathumi. They obtain their lands free from the Râja in return for acting as luggage porters and coolies. In Bâmra they will not serve as farm-servants or labourers for hire, but elsewhere they are more docile.

Social Customs.

A woman divorced for adultery is not again admitted to caste intercourse. Her parents take her to their village, where she has to live in a separate hut and earn her own livelihood. If any Bhuiya steals from a Kol, Gânda or Ghasia he is permanently put out of caste, while for killing a cow the period of expulsion is twelve years. The emblem of the Bhuiyas is a sword, in reference to their employment as soldiers, and this they affix to documents in place of their signature.

Bhulas: -Originally they were hunters. A sub - section of the Doshadhs (see Risley). In Bihar Bhulas is another name of the Baheliyas.

-------------

page 213