Chapter I: Part 1

The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India

By

R.V. Russell
Of the Indian Civil Service Superintendent of Ethnography, Central
Provinces
Assisted by
Rai Bahadur Hira Lal
Extra Assistant Commissioner

Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration

In Four Volumes
Vol. II.

Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London.

1916

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II

Articles on Castes and Tribes of the Central Provinces in Alphabetical Order

The articles which are considered to be of most general interest are shown in capitals

Agaria (_Iron-worker_) 3
Agharia (_Cultivator_) 8
Aghori (_Religious mendicant_) 13
AHIR (_Herdsman and milkman_) 18
Andh (_Tribe, now cultivators_) 38
Arakh (_Hunter_) 40
Atari (_Scent-seller_) 42
Audhelia (_Labourer_) 45
BADHAK (_Robber_) 49
BAHNA (_Cotton-cleaner_) 69
Baiga (_Forest tribe_) 77
Bairagi (_Religious mendicants_) 93
Balahi (_Labourer and village watchman_) 105
Balija (_Cultivator_) 108
BANIA (_Merchant and moneylender_) 111
Subcastes of Bania

Agarwala.
Agrahari.
Ajudhiabasi.
Asathi.
Charnagri.
Dhusar.
Dosar.
Gahoi.
Golapurab.
Kasarwani.
Kasaundhan.
Khandelwal.
Lad.
Lingayat.
Maheshri.
Nema.
Oswal.
Parwar.
Srimali.
Umre.

BANJARA (_Pack-carrier_) 162
Barai (_Betel-vine grower and seller_) 192
Barhai (_Carpenter_) 199
Bari (_Maker of leaf-plates_) 202
Basdewa (_Cattle-dealer and religious mendicant_) 204
Basor (_Bamboo-worker_) 208
Bedar (_Soldier and public service_) 212
Beldar (_Digger and navvy_) 215
Beria (_Vagabond gipsy_) 220
Bhaina (_Forest tribe_) 225
Bhamta (_Criminal tribe and labourers_) 234
Bharbhunja (_Grain-parcher_) 238
Bharia (_Forest tribe_) 242
BHAT (_Bard and genealogist_) 251
Bhatra (_Forest tribe_) 271
BHIL (_Forest tribe_) 278
Bhilala (_Landowner and cultivator_) 293
Bhishti (_Water-man_) 298
Bhoyar (_Cultivator_) 301
Bhuiya (_Forest tribe_) 305
Bhulia (_Weaver_) 319
Bhunjia (_Forest tribe_) 322
Binjhwar (_Cultivator_) 329
Bishnoi (_Cultivator_) 337
Bohra (_Trader_) 345
BRAHMAN (_Priest_) 351
Subcastes of Brahman

Ahivasi.
Jijhotia.
Kanaujia, Kanyakubja.
Khedawal.
Maharashtra.
Maithil.
Malwi.
Nagar.
Naramdeo.
Sanadhya.
Sarwaria.
Utkal.

Chadar (_Village watchman and labourer_) 400
CHAMAR (_Tanner and labourer_) 403
Chasa (_Cultivator_) 424
Chauhan (_Village watchman and labourer_) 427
Chhipa (_Dyer and calico-printer_) 429
CHITARI (_Painter_) 432
Chitrakathi (_Picture showman_) 438
Cutchi (_Trader and shopkeeper_) 440
DAHAIT (_Village watchman and labourer_) 444
Daharia (_Cultivator_) 453
Dangi (_Landowner and cultivator_) 457
Dangri (_Vegetable-grower_) 463
DARZI (_Tailor_) 466
Dewar (_Beggar and musician_) 472
Dhakar (_Illegitimate, cultivator_) 477
Dhangar (_Shepherd_) 480
Dhanuk (_Bowman, labourer_) 484
Dhanwar (_Forest tribe_) 488
DHIMAR (_Fisherman, water-carrier, and household servant_) 502
Dhoba (_Forest tribe, cultivator_) 515
DHOBI (_Washerman_) 519
Dhuri (_Grain-parcher_) 527
Dumal (_Cultivator_) 530
Fakir (_Religious mendicant_) 537

ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II

31. Aghori mendicant 14
32. Ahirs decorated with cowries for the Stick Dance at Diwali 18
33. Image of Krishna as Murlidhar or the flute-player, with
attendant deities 28
34. Ahir dancers in Diwali costume 32
35. Pinjara cleaning cotton 72
36. Baiga village, Balaghat District 88
37. Hindu mendicants with sect-marks 94
38. Anchorite sitting on iron nails 98
39. Pilgrims carrying water of the river Nerbudda 100
40. _Coloured Plate_: Examples of Tilaks or sect-marks worn on
the forehead 102
41. Group of Marwari Bania women 112
42. Image of the god Ganpati carried in procession 116
43. The elephant-headed god Ganpati. His conveyance is a rat,
which can be seen as a little blob between his feet 120
44. Mud images made and worshipped at the Holi festival 126
45. Bania's shop 128
46. Banjara women with the _singh_ or horn 184
47. Group of Banjara women 188
48. Basors making baskets of bamboo 210
49. Bhat with his _putla_ or doll 256
50. Group of Bhils 278
51. Tantia Bhil, a famous dacoit 282
52. Group of Bohras at Burhanpur (Nimar) 346
53. Brahman worshipping his household gods 380
54. Brahman bathing party 384
55. Brahman Pujaris or priests 390
56. Group of Maratha Brahman men 392
57. Group of Naramdeo Brahman women 396
58. Group of Naramdeo Brahman men 398
59. Chamars tanning and working in leather 416
60. Chamars cutting leather and making shoes 418
61. Chhipa or calico-printer at work 430
62. Dhimar or fisherman's hut 502
63. Fishermen in dug-outs or hollowed tree trunks 506
64. Group of Gurujwale Fakirs 538

PRONUNCIATION

_a_ has the sound of _u_ in _but_ or _murmur_.
_a_ has the sound of _a_ in _bath_ or _tar_.
_e_ has the sound of _é_ in _écarté_ or _ai_ in _maid_.
_i_ has the sound of _i_ in _bit_, or (as a final letter)
of _y_ in _sulky_
_i_ has the sound of _ee_ in _beet_.
_o_ has the sound of _o_ in _bore_ or _bowl_.
_u_ has the sound of _u_ in _put_ or _bull_.
_u_ has the sound of _oo_ in _poor_ or _boot_.

The plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words is formed by adding _s_ in the English manner according to ordinary usage, though this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural.

Note.--The rupee contains 16 annas, and an anna is of the same value as a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing. Rs. 1-8 signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred thousand, and a krore ten million.

PART II

ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES

AGARIA--FAKIR

Agaria

1. Origin and subdivisions.

Agaria. [1]--A small Dravidian caste, who are an offshoot of the Gond tribe. The Agarias have adopted the profession of iron-smelting and form a separate caste. They numbered 9500 persons in 1911 and live on the Maikal range in the Mandla, Raipur and Bilaspur Districts.

The name probably signifies a worker with _ag_ or fire. An Agaria subcaste of Lohars also exists, many of whom are quite probably Gonds, but they are not included in the regular caste. Similar Dravidian castes of Agarias are to be found in Mirzapur and Bengal. The Agarias are quite distinct from the Agharia cultivating caste of the Uriya country. The Raipur Agarias still intermarry with the Rawanbansi Gonds of the District. The Agarias think that their caste has existed from the beginning of the world, and that the first Agaria made the ploughshare with which the first bullocks furrowed the primeval soil. The caste has two endogamous divisions, the Patharia and the Khuntia Agarias. The Patharias place a stone on the mouth of the bellows to fix them in the ground for smelting, while the Khuntias use a peg. The two subcastes do not even take water from one another.

Their exogamous sections have generally the same names as those of the Gonds, as Sonwani, Dhurua, Tekam, Markam, Uika, Purtai, Marai, and others. A few names of Hindi origin are also found, as Ahindwar, Ranchirai and Rathoria, which show that some Hindus have probably been amalgamated with the caste. Ahindwar or Aindwar and Ranchirai mean a fish and a bird respectively in Hindi, while Rathoria is a _gotra_ both of Rajputs and Telis. The Gond names are probably also those of animals, plants or other objects, but their meaning has now generally been forgotten. Tekam or _teka_ is a teak tree. Sonwani is a sept found among several of the Dravidian tribes, and the lower Hindu castes. A person of the Sonwani sept is always chosen to perform the ceremony of purification and readmission into caste of persons temporarily excommunicated. His duty often consists in pouring on such a person a little water in which gold has been placed to make it holy, and hence the name is considered to mean Sonapani or gold-water. The Agarias do not know the meanings of their section names and therefore have no totemistic observances. But they consider that all persons belonging to one _gotra_ are descended from a common ancestor, and marriage within the _gotra_ is therefore prohibited. As among the Gonds, first cousins are allowed to marry.

2. Marriage.

Marriage is usually adult. When the father of a boy wishes to arrange a marriage he sends emissaries to the father of the girl. They open the proceedings by saying, 'So-and-so has come to partake of your stale food.' [2] If the father of the girl approves he gives his consent by saying, 'He has come on foot, I receive him on my head.' The boy's father then repairs to the girl's house, where he is respectfully received and his feet are washed. He is then asked to take a drink of plain water, which is a humble method of offering him a meal. After this, presents for the girl are sent by a party accompanied by tomtom players, and a date is fixed for the marriage, which, contrary to the usual Hindu rule, may take place in the rains. The reason is perhaps because iron-smelting is not carried on during the rains and the Agarias therefore have no work to do. A few days before the wedding the bride-price is paid, which consists of 5 seers each of _urad_ and til and a sum of Rs. 4 to Rs. 12. The marriage is held on any Monday, Tuesday or Friday, no further trouble being taken to select an auspicious day. In order that they may not forget the date fixed, the fathers of the parties each take a piece of thread in which they tie a knot for every day intervening between the date when the marriage day is settled and the day itself, and they then untie one knot for every day. Previous to the marriage all the village gods are propitiated by being anointed with oil by the Baiga or village priest. The first clod of earth for the ovens is also dug by the Baiga, and received in her cloth by the bride's mother as a mark of respect. The usual procedure is adopted in the marriage. After the bridegroom's arrival his teeth are cleaned with tooth-sticks, and the bride's sister tries to push _saj_ leaves into his mouth, a proceeding which he prevents by holding his fan in front of his face. For doing this the girl is given a small present. A _paili_ [3] measure of rice is filled alternately by the bride and bridegroom twelve times, the other upsetting it each time after it is filled. At the marriage feast, in addition to rice and pulse, mutton curry and cakes of _urad_ pulse fried in oil are provided. _Urad_ is held in great respect, and is always given as a food at ceremonial feasts and to honoured guests. The greater part of the marriage ceremony is performed a second time at the bridegroom's house. Finally, the decorations of the marriage-shed and the palm-leaf crowns of the bride and bridegroom are thrown into a tank. The bride and bridegroom go into the water, and each in turn hides a jar under water, which the other must find. They then bathe, change their clothes, and go back to the bridegroom's house, the bride carrying the jar filled with water on her head. The boy is furnished with a bow and arrows and has to shoot at a stuffed deer over the girl's shoulder. After each shot she gives him a little sugar, and if he does not hit the deer in three shots he must pay 4 annas to the _sawasa_ or page. After the marriage the bridegroom does not visit his wife for a month in order to ascertain whether she is already pregnant. They then live together. The marriage expenses usually amount to Rs. 15 for the bridegroom's father and Rs. 40 for the bride's father. Sometimes the bridegroom serves his father-in-law for his wife, and he is then not required to pay anything for the marriage, the period of service being three years. If the couple anticipate the ceremony, however, they must leave the house, and then are recalled by the bride's parents, and readmitted into caste on giving a feast, which is in lieu of the marriage ceremony. If they do not comply with the first summons of the parents, the latter finally sever connection with them. Widow marriage is freely permitted, and the widow is expected to marry her late husband's younger brother, especially if he is a bachelor. If she marries another man with his consent, the new husband gives him a turban and shoulder-cloth. The children by the first husband are made over to his relatives if there are any. Divorce is permitted for adultery or extravagance or ill-treatment by either party. A divorced wife can marry again, but if she absconds with another man without being divorced the latter has to pay Rs. 12 to the husband.

3. Birth and death ceremonies.

When a woman becomes pregnant for the first time, her mother goes to her taking a new cloth and cakes and a preparation of milk, which is looked on as a luxurious food, and which, it is supposed, will strengthen the child in the womb. After birth the mother is impure for five days. The dead are usually burnt, but children under six whose ears have not been pierced, and persons dying a violent death or from cholera or smallpox are buried. When the principal man of the family dies, the caste-fellows at the mourning feast tie a cloth round the head of his successor to show that they acknowledge his new position. They offer water to the dead in the month of Kunwar (September-October).

4. Religion and social customs.

They have a vague belief in a supreme God but do not pay much attention to him. Their family god is Dulha Deo, to whom they offer goats, fowls, cocoanuts and cakes. In the forest tracts they also worship Bura Deo, the chief god of the Gonds. The deity who presides over their profession is Loha-Sur, the Iron demon, who is supposed to live in the smelting-kilns, and to whom they offer a black hen. Formerly, it is said, they were accustomed to offer a black cow. They worship their smelting implements on the day of Dasahra and during Phagun, and offer fowls to them. They have little faith in medicine, and in cases of sickness requisition the aid of the village sorcerer, who ascertains what deity is displeased with them by moving grain to and fro in a winnowing-fan and naming the village gods in turn. He goes on repeating the names until his hand slackens or stops at some name, and the offended god is thus indicated. He is then summoned and enters into the body of one of the persons present, and explains his reason for being offended with the sick person, as that he has passed by the god's shrine without taking off his shoes, or omitted to make the triennial offering of a fowl or the like. Atonement is then promised and the offering made, while the sick person on recovery notes the deity in question as one of a vindictive temper, whose worship must on no account be neglected. The Agarias say that they do not admit outsiders into the caste, but Gonds, Kawars and Ahirs are occasionally allowed to enter it. They refuse to eat monkeys, jackals, crocodiles, lizards, beef and the leavings of others. They eat pork and fowls and drink liquor copiously. They take food from the higher castes and from Gonds and Baigas. Only Bahelias and other impure castes will take food from them. Temporary excommunication from caste is imposed for conviction of a criminal offence, getting maggots in a wound, and killing a cow, a dog or a cat. Permanent excommunication is imposed for adultery or eating with a very low caste. Readmission to caste after temporary exclusion entails a feast, but if the offender is very poor he simply gives a little liquor or even water. The Agarias are usually sunk in poverty, and their personal belongings are of the scantiest description, consisting of a waist-cloth, and perhaps another wisp of cloth for the head, a brass _lota_ or cup and a few earthen vessels. Their women dress like Gond women, and have a few pewter ornaments. They are profusely tattooed with representations of flowers, scorpions and other objects. This is done merely for ornament.

5. Occupation.

The caste still follow their traditional occupation of iron-smelting and also make a few agricultural implements. They get their ore from the Maikal range, selecting stones of a dark reddish colour. They mix 16 lbs. of ore with 15 lbs. of charcoal in the furnace, the blast being produced by a pair of bellows worked by the feet and conveyed to the furnace through bamboo tubes; it is kept up steadily for four hours. The clay coating of the kiln is then broken down and the ball of molten slag and charcoal is taken out and hammered, and about 3 lbs. of good iron are obtained. With this they make ploughshares, mattocks, axes and sickles. They also move about from village to village with an anvil, a hammer and tongs, and building a small furnace under a tree, make and repair iron implements for the villagers.

Agharia

1. Origin.

_Agharia_ [4] (a corruption of Agaria, meaning one who came from Agra).--A cultivating caste belonging to the Sambalpur District [5] and adjoining States. They number 27,000 persons in the Raigarh and Sarangarh States and Bilaspur District of the Central Provinces, and are found also in some of the Chota Nagpur States transferred from Bengal. According to the traditions of the Agharias their forefathers were Rajputs who lived near Agra. They were accustomed to salute the king of Delhi with one hand only and without bending the head. The king after suffering this for a long time determined to punish them for their contumacy, and summoned all the Agharias to appear before him. At the door through which they were to pass to his presence he fixed a sword at the height of a man's neck. The haughty Agharias came to the door, holding their heads high and not seeing the sword, and as a natural consequence they were all decapitated as they passed through. But there was one Agharia who had heard about the fixing of the sword and who thought it better to stay at home, saying that he had some ceremony to perform. When the king heard that there was one Agharia who had not passed through the door, he sent again, commanding him to come. The Agharia did not wish to go but felt it impossible to decline. He therefore sent for a Chamar of his village and besought him to go instead, saying that he would become a Rajput in his death and that he would ever be held in remembrance by the Agharia's descendants. The Chamar consented to sacrifice himself for his master, and going before the king was beheaded at the door. But the Agharia fled south, taking his whole village with him, and came to Chhattisgarh, where each of the families in the village founded a clan of the Agharia caste. And in memory of this, whenever an Agharia makes a libation to his ancestors, he first pours a little water on the ground in honour of the dead Chamar. According to another version of the story three brothers of different families escaped and first went to Orissa, where they asked the Gajpati king to employ them as soldiers. The king caused two sheaths of swords to be placed before them, and telling them that one contained a sword and the other a bullock-goad, asked them to select one and by their choice to determine whether they would be soldiers or husbandmen. From one sheath a haft of gold projected and from the other one of silver. The Agharias pulled out the golden haft and found that they had chosen the goad. The point of the golden and silver handles is obvious, and the story is of some interest for the distant resemblance which it bears to the choice of the caskets in _The Merchant of Venice_. Condemned, as they considered, to drive the plough, the Agharias took off their sacred threads, which they could no longer wear, and gave them to the youngest member of the caste, saying that he should keep them and be their Bhat, and they would support him with contributions of a tenth of the produce of their fields. He assented, and his descendants are the genealogists of the Agharias and are termed Dashanshi. The Agharias claim to be Somvansi Rajputs, a claim which Colonel Dalton says their appearance favours. "Tall, well-made, with high Aryan features and tawny complexions, they look like Rajputs, though they are more industrious and intelligent than the generality of the fighting tribe." [6]

2. Subdivisions.

Owing to the fact that with the transfer of the Sambalpur District, a considerable portion of the Agharias have ceased to be residents of the Central Provinces, it is unnecessary to give the details of their caste organisation at length. They have two subdivisions, the Bad or superior Agharias and the Chhote, Sarolia or Sarwaria, the inferior or mixed Agharias. The latter are a cross between an Agharia and a Gaur (Ahir) woman. The Bad Agharias will not eat with or even take water from the others. Further local subdivisions are now in course of formation, as the Ratanpuria, Phuljharia and Raigarhia or those living round Ratanpur, Phuljhar and Raigarh. The caste is said to have 84 _gotras_ or exogamous sections, of which 60 bear the title of Patel, 18 that of Naik, and 6 of Chaudhri. The section names are very mixed, some being those of eponymous Brahman _gotras_, as Sandilya, Kaushik and Bharadwaj; others those of Rajput septs, as Karchhul; while others are the names of animals and plants, as Barah (pig), Baram (the pipal tree), Nag (cobra), Kachhapa (tortoise), and a number of other local terms the meaning of which has been forgotten. Each of these sections, however, uses a different mark for branding cows, which it is the religious duty of an Agharia to rear, and though the marks now convey no meaning, they were probably originally the representations of material objects. In the case of names whose meaning is understood, traces of totemism survive in the respect paid to the animal or plant by members of the sept which bears its name. This analysis of the structure of the caste shows that it was a very mixed one. Originally consisting perhaps of a nucleus of immigrant Rajputs, the offspring of connections with inferior classes have been assimilated; while the story already quoted is probably intended to signify, after the usual Brahmanical fashion, that the pedigree of the Agharias at some period included a Chamar.

3. Marriage customs.

Marriage within the exogamous section and also with first cousins is forbidden, though in some places the union of a sister's son with a brother's daughter is permitted. Child marriage is usual, and censure visits a man who allows an unmarried daughter to arrive at adolescence. The bridegroom should always be older than the bride, at any rate by a day. When a betrothal is arranged some ornaments and a cloth bearing the _swastik_ or lucky mark are sent to the girl. Marriages are always celebrated during the months of Magh and Phagun, and they are held only once in five or six years, when all children whose matches can be arranged for are married off. This custom is economical, as it saves expenditure on marriage feasts. Colonel Dalton also states that the Agharias always employ Hindustani Brahmans for their ceremonies, and as very few of these are available, they make circuits over large areas, and conduct all the weddings of a locality at the same period. Before the marriage a kid is sacrificed at the bride's house to celebrate the removal of her status of maidenhood. When the bridegroom arrives at the bride's house he touches with his dagger the string of mango-leaves suspended from the marriage-shed and presents a rupee and a hundred betel-leaves to the bride's _sawasin_ or attendant. Next day the bridegroom's father sends a present of a bracelet and seven small earthen cups to the bride. She is seated in the open, and seven women hold the cups over her head one above the other. Water is then poured from above from one cup into the other, each being filled in turn and the whole finally falling on the bride's head. This probably symbolises the fertilising action of rain. The bride is then bathed and carried in a basket seven times round the marriage-post, after which she is seated in a chair and seven women place their heads together round her while a male relative winds a thread seven times round the heads of the women. The meaning of this ceremony is obscure. The bridegroom makes his appearance alone and is seated with the bride, both being dressed in clothes coloured yellow with turmeric. The bridegroom's party follows, and the feet of the couple are washed with milk. The bride's brother embraces the bridegroom and changes cloths with him. Water is poured over the hands of the couple, the girl's forehead is daubed with vermilion, and a red silk cloth is presented to her and the couple go round the marriage-post. The bride is taken for four days to the husband's house and then returns, and is again sent with the usual _gauna_ ceremony, when she is fit for conjugal relations. No price is usually paid for the bride, and each party spends about Rs. 100 on the marriage ceremony. Polygamy and widow marriage are generally allowed, the widow being disposed of by her parents. The ceremony at the marriage of a widow consists in putting vermilion on the parting of her hair and bangles on her wrists. Divorce is allowed on pain of a fine of Rs. 50 if the divorce is sought by the husband, and of Rs. 25 if the wife asks for it. In some localities divorce and also polygamy are said to be forbidden, and in such cases a woman who commits adultery is finally expelled from the caste, and a funeral feast is given to symbolise her death.

4. Religious and social customs.

The family god of the Agharias is Dulha Deo, who exists in every household. On the Haraiti day or the commencement of the agricultural year they worship the implements of cultivation, and at Dasahra the sword if they have one. They have a great reverence for cows and feed them sumptuously at festivals. Every Agharia has a _guru_ or spiritual guide who whispers the _mantra_ or sacred verse into his ear and is occasionally consulted. The dead are usually burnt, but children and persons dying of cholera or smallpox are buried, males being placed on the pyre or in the grave on their faces and females on their backs, with the feet pointing to the south. On the third day the ashes are thrown into a river and the bones of each part of the body are collected and placed under the pipal tree, while a pot is slung over them, through which water trickles continually for a week, and a lighted lamp, cooked food, a leaf-cup and a tooth-stick are placed beside them daily for the use of the deceased during the same period. Mourning ends on the tenth day, and the usual purification ceremonies are then performed. Children are mourned for a shorter period. Well-to-do members of the caste feed a Brahman daily for a year after a death, believing that food so given passes to the spirit of the deceased. On the anniversary of the death the caste-fellows are feasted, and after that the deceased becomes a _purkha_ or ancestor and participates in devotions paid at the _shradhh_ ceremony. When the head of a joint family dies, his successor is given a turban and betel-leaves, and his forehead is marked by the priest and other relations with sandalwood. After a birth the mother is impure for twenty-one days. A feast is given on the twelfth day, and sometimes the child is named then, but often children are not named until they are six years old. The names of men usually end in _Ram_, _Nath_ or _Singh_, and those of women in _Kunwar_. Women do not name their husbands, their elderly relations, nor the sons of their husband's eldest brother. A man does not name his wife, as he thinks that to do so would tend to shorten his life in accordance with the Sanskrit saying, 'He who is desirous of long life should not name himself, his _guru_, a miser, his eldest son, or his wife.' The Agharias do not admit outsiders into the caste. They will not take cooked food from any caste, and water only from a Gaur or Rawat. They refuse to take water from an Uriya Brahman, probably in retaliation for the refusal of Uriya Brahmans to accept water from an Agharia, though taking it from a Kolta. Both the Uriya Brahmans and Agharias are of somewhat doubtful origin, and both are therefore probably the more concerned to maintain the social position to which they lay claim. But Kewats, Rawats, Telis and other castes eat cooked food from Agharias, and the caste therefore is admitted to a fairly high rank in the Uriya country. The Agharias do not drink liquor or eat any food which a Rajput would refuse.

5. Occupation.

As cultivators they are considered to be proficient. In the census of 1901 nearly a quarter of the whole caste were shown as malguzars or village proprietors and lessees. They wear a coarse cloth of homespun yarn which they get woven for them by Gandas; probably in consequence of this the Agharias do not consider the touch of the Ganda to pollute them, as other castes do. They will not grow turmeric, onions, garlic, _san_-hemp or tomatoes, nor will they rear tasar silk-cocoons. Colonel Dalton says that their women do no outdoor work, and this is true in the Central Provinces as regards the better classes, but poor women work in the fields.

Aghori

1. General accounts of the caste.

_Aghori, Aghorpanthi._ [7]--The most disreputable class of Saiva mendicants who feed on human corpses and excrement, and in past times practised cannibalism. The sect is apparently an ancient one, a supposed reference to it being contained in the Sanskrit drama _Malati Madhava_, the hero of which rescues his mistress from being offered as a sacrifice by one named Aghori Ghanta. [8] According to Lassen, quoted by Sir H. Risley, the Aghoris of the present day are closely connected with the Kapalika sect of the Middle Ages, who wore crowns and necklaces of skulls and offered human sacrifices to Chamunda, a form of Devi. The Aghoris now represent their filthy habits as merely giving practical expression to the abstract doctrine that the whole universe is full of Brahma, and consequently that one thing is as pure as another. By eating the most horrible food they utterly subdue their natural appetites, and hence acquire great power over themselves and over the forces of nature. It is believed that an Aghori can at will assume the shapes of a bird, an animal or a fish, and that he can bring back to life a corpse of which he has eaten a part. The principal resort of the Aghoris appears to be at Benares and at Girnar near Mount Abu, and they wander about the country as solitary mendicants. A few reside in Saugor, and they are occasionally met with in other places. They are much feared and disliked by the people owing to their practice of extorting alms by the threat to carry out their horrible practices before the eyes of their victims, and by throwing filth into their houses. Similarly they gash and cut their limbs so that the crime of blood may rest on those who refuse to give. "For the most part," Mr. Barrow states, [9] "the Aghorpanthis lead a wandering life, are without homes, and prefer to dwell in holes, clefts of rocks and burning-_ghats_. They do not cook, but eat the fragments given them in charity as received, which they put as far as may be into the cavity of the skull used as a begging-bowl. The bodies of _chelas_ (disciples) who die in Benares are thrown into the Ganges, but the dead who die well off are placed in coffins. As a rule, Aghoris do not care what becomes of their bodies, but when buried they are placed in the grave sitting cross-legged. The Aghori _gurus_ keep dogs, which may be of any colour, and are said to be maintained for purposes of protection. The dogs are not all pariahs of the streets, although some _gurus_ are followed by three or four when on pilgrimage. Occasionally the dogs seem to be regarded with real affection by their strange masters. The Aghori is believed to hold converse with all the evil spirits frequenting the burning-_ghats_, and funeral parties must be very badly off who refuse to pay him something. In former days he claimed five pieces of wood at each funeral in Benares; but the Doms interfere with his perquisites, and in some cases only let him carry off the remains of the unburned wood from each pyre. When angered and excited, Aghoris invoke Kali and threaten to spread devastation around them. Even among the educated classes, who should know better, they are dreaded, and as an instance of the terror which they create among the ignorant, it may be mentioned that in the Lucknow District it is believed that if alms are refused them the Aghoris will cause those who refuse to be attacked with fever.

"On the other hand, their good offices may secure benefits, as in the case of a zamindar of Muzaffarnagar, who at Allahabad refused to eat a piece of human flesh offered to him by an Aghori; the latter thereupon threw the flesh at the zamindar's head, on which it stuck. The zamindar afterwards became so exceedingly wealthy that he had difficulty in storing his wealth."

2. Instances of cannibalism.

In former times it is believed that the Aghoris used to kidnap strangers, sacrifice them to the goddess and eat the bodies, and Mr. Barrow relates the following incident of the murder of a boy: [10] "Another horrible case, unconnected with magic and apparently arising from mere blood-thirst, occurred at Neirad in June 1878. An Aghori mendicant of Dwarka staying at the temple of Sitaram Laldas seized a boy of twelve, named Shankar Ramdas, who was playing with two other boys, threw him down on the _oatla_ of the temple, ripped open his abdomen, tore out part of his entrails, and, according to the poor little victim's dying declaration, began to eat them. The other boys having raised an alarm, the monster was seized. When interrogated by the magistrate as to whether he had committed the crime in order to perform Aghorbidya, the prisoner said that as the boy was Bhakshan he had eaten his flesh. He added that if he had not been interrupted he would have eaten all the entrails. He was convicted, but only sentenced to transportation for life. The High Court, however, altered the sentence and ordered the prisoner to be hanged."

The following instance, quoted by Mr. Barrow from Rewah, shows how an Aghori was hoist with his own petard: "Some years ago, when Maharaja Bishnath Singh was Chief of Rewah, a man of the Aghori caste went to Rewah and sat _dharna_ on the steps of the palace; having made ineffectual demands for alms, he requested to be supplied with human flesh, and for five days abstained from food. The Maharaja was much troubled, and at last, in order to get rid of his unwelcome visitor, sent for Ghansiam Das, another Aghori, a Fakir, who had for some years lived in Rewah. Ghansiam Das went up to the other Aghori and asked him if it was true that he had asked to be supplied with human flesh. On receiving a reply in the affirmative, Ghansiam Das said: 'Very well, I too am extremely partial to this form of food; here is my hand, eat it and I will eat you'; and at the same time he seized hold of the other's hand and began to gnaw at it. The Aghori on this became much alarmed and begged to be excused. He shortly afterwards left Rewah and was not heard of again, while Ghansiam Das was rewarded for his services."

The following recent instance of an Aghori devouring human corpses is reported from the Punjab: [11] "The loathsome story of a human ghoul from Patiala shows that the influence of the Aghorpanthi has not yet completely died out in this country. It is said that for some time past human graves have been found robbed of their contents, and the mystery could not be solved until the other day, when the police succeeded in arresting a man in the act of desecrating a child's grave, some forty miles distant from the capital (Patiala). The ghoul not only did not conceal the undevoured portion of the corpse he had with him, but told his captors the whole story of his gruesome career. He is a low-caste Hindu named Ram Nath, and is, according to a gentleman who saw him, 'a singularly mild and respectful-looking man, instead of a red-eyed and ravenous savage,' as he had expected to find him from the accounts of his disgusting propensities. He became an orphan at five and fell into the hands of two Sadhus of his own caste, who were evidently Aghorpanthis. They taught him to eat human flesh, which formed the staple of their food. The meat was procured from the graves in the villages they passed through. When Ram Nath was thoroughly educated in this rank the Sadhus deserted him. Since then he had been living on human carrion only, roaming about the country like a hungry vulture. He cannot eat cooked food, and therefore gets two seers of raw meat from the State every day. It is also reported that the Maharaja has now prohibited his being given anything but cooked food with a view to reforming him."

Sir J. B. Fuller relates the following incident of the employment of an Aghori as a servant: [12] "There are actually ten thousand persons who at census time classed themselves as Aghoris. All of them do not practise cannibalism and some of them attempt to rise in the world. One of them secured service as a cook with a British officer of my acquaintance. My friend was in camp in the jungle with his wife and children, when his other servants came to him in a body and refused to remain in service unless the cook was dismissed, since they had discovered, they declared, that during the night-time he visited cemeteries and dug up the bodies of freshly buried children. The cook was absent, but they pointed to a box of his that emitted a sickening smell. The man was incontinently expelled, but for long afterwards the family were haunted by reminiscences of the curries they had eaten."

Ahir

List of Paragraphs

1. _General notice._
2. _Former dominance of the Abhiras._
3. _Ahir dialects._
4. _The Yadavas and Krishna._
5. _The modern Ahirs an occupational caste._
6. _Subcastes._
7. _The Dauwa or wet-nurse Ahirs. Fosterage._
8. _Exogamy._
9. _Marriage customs._
10. _Birth customs._
11. _Funeral rites. Bringing back the soul._
12. _Religion. Krishna and other deified cowherds._
13. _Caste deities._
14. _Other deities._
15. _The Diwali festival._
16. _Omens._
17. _Social customs._
18. _Ornaments._
19. _Occupation._
20. _Preparations of milk._

1. General notice.

_Ahir, [13] Gaoli, Guala, Golkar, Gaolan, Rawat, Gahra, Mahakul._--The caste, of cowherds, milkmen and cattle-breeders. In 1911 the Ahirs numbered nearly 750,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, being the sixth caste in point of numbers. This figure, however, excludes 150,000 Gowaris or graziers of the Maratha Districts, and if these were added the Ahirs would outnumber the Telis and rank fifth. The name Ahir is derived from Abhira, a tribe mentioned several times in inscriptions and the Hindu sacred books. Goala, a cowherd, from Gopala, [14] a protector of cows, is the Bengali name for the caste, and Gaoli, with the same signification, is now used in the Central Provinces to signify a dairyman as opposed to a grazier. The Gaolans appear to be an inferior class of Gaolis in Berar. The Golkars of Chanda may be derived from the Telugu Golars or graziers, with a probable admixture of Gond blood. They are described as wild-looking people scattered about in the most thickly forested tracts of the District, where they graze and tend cattle. Rawat, a corruption of Rajputra or a princeling, is the name borne by the Ahir caste in Chhattisgarh; while Gahra is their designation in the Uriya country. The Mahakul Ahirs are a small group found in the Jashpur State, and said to belong to the Nandvansi division. The name means 'Great family.'

2. Former dominance of the Abhiras.

The Abhiras appear to have been one of the immigrant tribes from Central Asia who entered India shortly before or about the commencement of the Christian era. In the Puranas and Mahabharata they are spoken of as Dasyu or robbers, and Mlechchhas or foreigners, in the story which says that Arjuna, after he had burned the dead bodies of Krishna and Balaram at Dwarka, was proceeding with the widows of the Yadava princes to Mathura through the Punjab when he was waylaid by the Abhiras and deprived of his treasures and beautiful women. [15] An inscription of the Saka era 102, or A.D. 180, speaks of a grant made by the Senapati or commander-in-chief of the state, who is called an Abhira, the locality being Sunda in Kathiawar. Another inscription found in Nasik and assigned by Mr. Enthoven to the fourth century speaks of an Abhira king, and the Puranas say that after the Andhrabhrityas the Deccan was held by the Abhiras, the west coast tract from the Tapti to Deogarh being called by their name. [16] In the time of Samudragupta in the middle of the fourth century the Abhiras were settled in Eastern Rajputana and Malwa. [17] When the Kathis arrived in Gujarat in the eighth century, they found the greater part of the country in the possession of the Ahirs. [18] In the Mirzapur District of the United Provinces a tract known as Ahraura is considered to be named after the tribe; and near Jhansi another piece of country is called Ahirwar. [19] Elliot states that Ahirs were also Rajas of Nepal about the commencement of our era. [20] In Khandesh, Mr. Enthoven states, the settlements of the Ahirs were important. In many castes there is a separate division of Ahirs, such as the Ahir Sunars, Sutars, Lohars, Shimpis, Salis, Guraos and Kolis. The fort of Asirgarh in Nimar bordering on Khandesh is supposed to have been founded by one Asa Ahir, who lived in the beginning of the fifteenth century. It is said that his ancestors had held land here for seven hundred years, and he had 10,000 cattle, 20,000 sheep and 1000 mares, with 2000 followers; but was still known to the people, to whom his benevolence had endeared him, by the simple name of Asa. This derivation of Asirgarh is clearly erroneous, as it was known as Asir or Asirgarh, and held by the Tak and Chauhan Rajputs from the eleventh century. But the story need not on that account, Mr. Grant says, [21] be set down as wholly a fable. Firishta, who records it, has usually a good credit, and more probably the real existence of a line of Ahir chieftains in the Tapti valley suggested a convenient ethnology for the fortress. Other traditions of the past domination of the pastoral tribes remain in the Central Provinces. Deogarh on the Chhindwara plateau was, according to the legend, the last seat of Gaoli power prior to its subversion by the Gonds in the sixteenth century. Jatba, the founder of the Deogarh Gond dynasty, is said to have entered the service of the Gaoli rulers, Mansur and Gansur, and subsequently with the aid of the goddess Devi to have slain them and usurped their kingdom. But a Gaoli chief still retained possession of the fort of Narnala for a few years longer, when he also was slain by the Muhammadans. Similarly the fort of Gawilgarh on the southern crest of the Satpuras is said to be named after a Gaoli chief who founded it. The Saugor traditions bring down the Gaoli supremacy to a much later date, as the tracts of Etawa and Khurai are held to have been governed by their chieftains till the close of the seventeenth century.

3. Ahir dialects.

Certain dialects called after the Abhiras or Ahirs still remain. One, known as Ahirwati, is spoken in the Rohtak and Gurgaon Districts of the Punjab and round Delhi. This is akin to Mewati, one of the forms of Rajasthani or the language of Rajputana. The Malwi dialect of Rajasthani is also known as Ahiri; and that curious form of Gujarati, which is half a Bhil dialect, and is generally known as Khandeshi, also bears the name of Ahirani. [22] The above linguistic facts seem to prove only that the Abhiras, or their occupational successors, the Ahirs, were strongly settled in the Delhi country of the Punjab, Malwa and Khandesh. They do not seem to throw much light on the origin of the Abhiras or Ahirs, and necessarily refer only to a small section of the existing Ahir caste, the great bulk of whom speak the Aryan language current where they dwell. Another authority states, however, that the Ahirs of Gujarat still retain a dialect of their own, and concludes that this and the other Ahir dialects are the remains of the distinct Abhira language.

4. The Yadavas and Krishna.

It cannot necessarily be assumed that all the above traditions relate to the Abhira tribe proper, of which the modern Ahir caste are scarcely more than the nominal representatives. Nevertheless, it may fairly be concluded from them that the Abhiras were widely spread over India and dominated considerable tracts of country. They are held to have entered India about the same time as the Sakas, who settled in Gujarat, among other places, and, as seen above, the earliest records of the Abhiras show them in Nasik and Kathiawar, and afterwards widely spread in Khandesh, that is, in the close neighbourhood of the Sakas. It has been suggested in the article on Rajput that the Yadava and other lunar clans of Rajputs may be the representatives of the Sakas and other nomad tribes who invaded India shortly before and after the Christian era. The god Krishna is held to have been the leader of the Yadavas, and to have founded with them the sacred city of Dwarka in Gujarat. The modern Ahirs have a subdivision called Jaduvansi or Yaduvansi, that is, of the race of the Yadavas, and they hold that Krishna was of the Ahir tribe. Since the Abhiras were also settled in Gujarat it is possible that they may have been connected with the Yadavas, and that this may be the foundation for their claim that Krishna was of their tribe. The Dyashraya-Kavya of Hemachandra speaks of a Chordasama prince reigning near Junagarh as an Abhira and a Yadava. But this is no doubt very conjectural, and the simple fact that Krishna was a herdsman would be a sufficient reason for the Ahirs to claim connection with him. It is pointed out that the names of Abhira chieftains given in the early inscriptions are derived from the god Siva, and this would not have been the case if they had at that epoch derived their origin from Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu. "If the Abhiras had really been the descendants of the cowherds (Gopas) whose hero was Krishna, the name of the rival god Siva would never have formed components of the names of the Abhiras, whom we find mentioned in inscriptions. Hence the conclusion may safely be drawn that the Abhiras were by no means connected with Krishna and his cowherds even as late as about A.D. 300, to which date the first of the two inscriptions mentioned above is to be assigned. Precisely the same conclusion is pointed to by the contents of the Harivansha and Bhagwat Purana. The upbringing of Krishna among the cowherds and his flirtations with the milkmaids are again and again mentioned in these works, but the word Abhira does not occur even once in this connection. The only words we find used are Gopa, Gopi and Vraja. This is indeed remarkable. For the descriptions of the removal of Krishna as an infant to Nanda, the cowherd's hut, of his childhood passed in playing with the cowherd boys, and of his youth spent in amorous sports with the milkmaids are set forth at great length, but the word Abhira is not once met with. From this only one conclusion is possible, that is, that the Abhiras did not originally represent the Gopas of Krishna. The word Abhira occurs for the first time in connection with the Krishna legend about A.D. 550, from which it follows that the Abhiras came to be identified with the Gopas shortly before that date." [23]

This argument is interesting as showing that Abhira was not originally an occupational term for a herdsman, nor a caste name, but belonged to an immigrant tribe. Owing apparently to the fact that the Abhiras, like the Gujars, devoted themselves to a pastoral mode of life in India, whereas the previous Aryan immigrants had settled down to cultivation, they gave their name to the great occupational caste of herdsmen which was subsequently developed, and of which they may originally have constituted the nucleus. The Gujars, who came to India at a later period, form a parallel case; although the Gujar caste, which is derived from them, is far less important than the Ahir, the Gujars have also been the parents of several Rajput clans. The reason why the early Mathura legends of Krishna make no mention of the Ahirs may be that the deity Krishna is probably compounded of at least two if not more distinct personalities. One is the hero chief of the Yadavas, who fought in the battle of the Pandavas and Kauravas, migrated to Gujarat and was killed there. As he was chief of the Yadavas this Krishna must stand for the actual or mythical personality of some leader of the immigrant nomad tribes. The other Krishna, the boy cowherd, who grazed cattle and sported with the milkmaids of Brindaban, may very probably be some hero of the indigenous non-Aryan tribes, who, then as now, lived in the forests and were shepherds and herdsmen. His lowly birth from a labouring cowherd, and the fact that his name means black and he is represented in sculpture as being of a dark colour, lend support to this view. The cult of Krishna, Mr. Crooke points out, was comparatively late, and probably connected with the development of the worship of the cow after the decay of Buddhism. This latter Krishna, who is worshipped with his mother as a child-god, was especially attractive to women, both actual and prospective mothers. It is quite probable therefore that as his worship became very popular in Hindustan in connection with that of the cow, he was given a more illustrious origin by identification with the Yadava hero, whose first home was apparently in Gujarat. In this connection it may also be noted that the episodes connected with Krishna in the Mahabharata have been considered late interpolations.

5. The modern Ahirs an occupational caste.

But though the Ahir caste takes its name and is perhaps partly descended from the Abhira tribe, there is no doubt that it is now and has been for centuries a purely occupational caste, largely recruited from the indigenous tribes. Thus in Bengal Colonel Dalton remarks that the features of the Mathuravasi Goalas are high, sharp and delicate, and they are of light-brown complexion. Those of the Magadha subcaste, on the other hand, are undefined and coarse. They are dark-complexioned, and have large hands and feet. "Seeing the latter standing in a group with some Singhbhum Kols, there is no distinguishing one from the other. There has doubtless been much mixture of blood." [24] Similarly in the Central Provinces the Ahirs are largely recruited from the Gonds and other tribes. In Chanda the Gowaris are admittedly descended from the unions of Gonds and Ahirs, and one of their subcastes, the Gond-Gowaris, are often classed as Gonds. Again, the Kaonra Ahirs of Mandla are descended from the unions of Ahirs either with the Gonds or Kawars, and many of them are probably pure Gonds. They have Gond sept-names and eat pork. Members of one of their subdivisions, the Gond-Kaonra, will take water from Gonds, and rank below the other Kaonras, from whom they will accept food and water. As cattle have to go into the thick jungles to graze in the hot weather, the graziers attending them become intimate with the forest tribes who live there, and these latter are also often employed to graze the cattle, and are perhaps after a time admitted to the Ahir caste. Many Ahirs in Mandla are scarcely considered to be Hindus, living as they do in Gond villages in sole company with the Gonds.

6. Subcastes.