Chapter XII: Part 12

In another case some Bhats had been put in charge, by the chief of a small State, of a village which was coveted by a neighbouring prince, the Rana of Danta. The latter sent for the Bhats 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 Bhats got back they collected to the number of a hundred and began to perform _Dharna_ against the Rana. 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 Rana's territory seven or eight men had been burnt. They were then pacified by his people and induced to go back. The Rana 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 from the Rana. The Rana lost all the seven sons born to him and died childless, and it was generally held to be on account of this sin. [301]

12. The Charans as sureties.

Such was the certainty attaching to the Charan'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. [302] The guards, called Valavas, 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, Kathi or Rajput held the person of a Charan sacred. Besides becoming safeguards to travellers and goods, they used to stand security to the amount of many lakhs of rupees. When rents and property were concerned, the Rajputs preferred a Charan's bond to that of the wealthiest banker. They also gave security for good behaviour, called _chalu zamin_, and for personal attendance in court called _hazar zamin_. The ordinary _traga_ went no farther than a cut on the arm with the _katar_ or crease; the forearms of those who were in the habit of becoming security had generally several cuts from the elbow downwards. The Charans, both men and women, wounded themselves, committed suicide and murdered their relations with the most complete self-devotion. In 1812 the Marathas brought a body of troops to impose a payment on the village of Panchpipla. [303] The Charans resisted the demand, but finding the Marathas 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 Marathas, exclaiming, 'These are our riches and the only payment we can make.' The Charans were immediately seized and confined in irons at Jambusar."

As was the case with the Bhat and the Brahman, the source of the Charan's power lay in the widespread fear that a Charan's blood brought ruin on him who caused the blood to be spilt. It was also sometimes considered that the Charan was possessed by his deity, and the caste were known as Deoputra or sons of God, the favourite dwelling of the guardian spirit.

13. Suicide as a means of revenge.

Such a belief enhanced the guilt attaching to the act of causing or being responsible for a Charan'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 an 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 is supposed to be better able than the living man to persecute the enemy." [304] 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 made 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." [305] At Athens the right hand of a person who had taken his own life was struck off and buried apart from the rest of the body, evidently in order to make him harmless after death. [306] 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 and 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. 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. And these crimes of vengeance tend to die out with the advance of civilisation.

14. _Dharna._

Analogous to the custom of _traga_ 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 or 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. [307]

The word _dharna_ means 'to place or lay on,' and hence 'a pledge.' Mr. Hira Lal 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 derived. 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.

15. 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 any one 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 Brahman 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 has 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. The exorcist takes a nail and goes to a _pipal_ 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 roots of the _pipal_ tree, Siva in its branches, and Vishnu in the _choti_ or scalp-knot, that is the topmost foliage.

16. Sulking. Going bankrupt.

Another and mild form of _Dharna_ is that known as _Khatpati_. 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 Khatpati 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 an 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 _Diwala nikalna_ 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 him. 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.

17. Bhat songs.

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

They made a picture of Baji Rao;
Baji Rao was the finest king to see;
The Brahmans told lies about him,
They sent a letter from Nagpur to Calcutta,
They made Baji Rao go on a pilgrimage.
Brothers! the great Sirdars who were with him,
They brought a troop of five hundred horse!
The Tuesday fair in Benares was held with fireworks,
They made the Ganges pink with rose-petals.
Baji Rao's gifts were splendid,
His turban and coat were of brocaded silk,
A pair of diamonds and emeralds
He gave to the Brahmans of Benares.
Oh brothers! the Raja 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 Nagpur, English rule being less picturesque. The next is a song about the English:

The English have taken the throne of Nagpur,
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 Gawilgarh.

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

The English became our kings and have made current the _kaldar_
(milled) rupee.
The menials are favoured and the Bhats have lost their profession,
The mango has lost its taste, the milk has lost its sweetness,
The rose has lost its scent.
Baji Rao of Nagpur he also is gone,
No longer are the drums beaten at the palace gate.
Poona customs have come in.
Brahmans knowing the eighteen Purans have become Christians;
The son thinks himself better than his father,
The daughter-in-law no longer respects her mother-in-law.
The wife fights with her husband.
The English have made the railways and telegraphs;
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 to 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 Rama.
The bard says: 'Let it rain as it may, some one will save us as
Krishna saved the people of Brindawan!'

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 her 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 Bhats 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.

Bhatra

List of Paragraphs

1. _General notice and structure of the caste._ 2. _Admission of outsiders._ 3. _Arrangement of marriages._ 4. _The Counter of Posts._ 5. _Marriage customs._ 6. _Propitiation of ghosts._ 7. _Religion. Ceremonies at hunting._ 8. _Superstitious remedies._ 9. _Occupation._ 10. _Names._

1. General notice and structure of the caste.

_Bhatra._ [308]--A primitive tribe of the Bastar State and the south of Raipur District, akin to the Gonds. 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 Rajas of Bastar from Warangal twenty-three generations ago. 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 Pit, Amnait and San Bhatras, who rank one below the other, the Pit being the highest and the San the lowest. The Pit Bhatras base their superiority on the fact that they decline to make grass mats, which the Amnait Bhatras will do, while the San 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 abeyance, 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 substance will distribute alms in the name of the deceased animal. In some localities members of the Kachhun 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.

2. Admission of outsiders.

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

3. 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 as 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.

4. 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 an 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.

5. Marriage customs.

At a wedding the couple walk seven times round the sacred post, which must be of wood of the mahua [309] tree, and on its conclusion the post is taken to a river or stream and consigned to the water. The Bhatras, like the Gonds, no doubt revere this tree because their intoxicating liquor is made from its flowers. The couple wear marriage crowns made 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 each other for their mutual behaviour 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 the mud 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. 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-stick, 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 _tika_ or anointing, and presents are given to the bride's family.

6. 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-fan 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 them 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.

7. Religion. Ceremonies at hunting.

The tribe worship the god of hunting, who is known as Mati Deo and resides in a separate tree in each village. At the Bijphutni (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 a 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 must stand in the mud. A little seed taken from each house is also soaked in the mud, and after the feast is over this 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 Asarh (June) with offerings of a little rice and incense.

8. 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 him 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 or 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 pig in her mouth, and it was supposed that this drove out the magic-working spirit. In the case of illness of their children or cattle, or the failure of crops, they consult the Pujari 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.

9. Occupation.

The tribe are cultivators and farmservants, and practise shifting cultivation. They work as village watchmen and also as the Majhi or village headman and the Pujari or village priest. These officials are paid by contributions of grain from 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 Raja would invest any man with this for a fee of four or five rupees, and the Bhatras therefore purchased 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 Brahman comes round, when he can purchase another.

10. Names.

Among a list of personal names given by Mr. Baijnath the following are of some interest: Pillu, one of short stature; Matola, one who learnt to walk late; Phagu, born in Phagun (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; Mahina (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 woman 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.

Bhil

List of Paragraphs

1. _General notice. The Bhils a Kolarian tribe._ 2. _Rajputs deriving their title to the land from the Bhils._ 3. _Historical notice._ 4. _General Outram and the Khandesh Bhil Corps._ 5. _Subdivisions._ 6. _Exogamy and marriage customs._ 7. _Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy._ 8. _Religion._ 9. _Witchcraft and amulets._ 10. _Funeral rites._ 11. _Social customs._ 12. _Appearance and characteristics._ 13. _Occupation._ 14. _Language._

1. General notice. The Bhils a Kolarian tribe.

_Bhil._ [310]--An indigenous or non-Aryan tribe which has been much in contact with the Hindus and is consequently well known. The home of the Bhils is the country comprised in the hill ranges of Khandesh, Central India and Rajputana, west from the Satpuras to the sea in Gujarat. The total number of Bhils in India exceeds a million and a half, of which the great bulk belong to Bombay, Rajputana and Central India. The Central Provinces have only about 28,000, practically all of whom reside in the Nimar district, on the hills forming the western end of the Satpura range and adjoining the Rajpipla hills of Khandesh. As the southern slopes of these hills lie in Berar, a few Bhils are also found there. The name Bhil 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 Bhils are the Pygmies referred to by Ktesias (400 B.C.) and the Phyllitae of Ptolemy (A.D. 150). The Bhils are recognised as the oldest inhabitants of southern Rajputana and parts of Gujarat, and are usually spoken of in conjunction with the Kolis, who inhabit the adjoining tracts of Gujarat. 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 Nagpur, through Mandla and Jubbulpore, Central India and Rajputana to Gujarat and the sea. If this is correct the Kolis would be a Kolarian tribe. The Bhils 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. The Dravidian tribes have not penetrated so far west as Central India and Gujarat in appreciable numbers.

2. Rajputs deriving their title to the land from the Bhils.

The Rajputs still recognise the Bhils as the former residents and occupiers of the land by the fact that some Rajput chiefs must be marked on the brow with a Bhil's blood on accession to the _Gaddi_ or regal cushion. Tod relates how Goha, [311] the eponymous ancestor of the Sesodia Rajputs, took the state of Idar in Gujarat from a Bhil: "At this period Idar was governed by a chief of the savage race of Bhils. The young Goha frequented the forests in company with the Bhils, whose habits better assimilated with his daring nature than those of the Brahmans. He became a favourite with these _vena-putras_ or sons of the forest, who resigned to him Idar with its woods and mountains. The Bhils 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 (_tika_) 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." [312]

The legend is of course a euphemism for the fact that the Rajputs conquered and dispossessed the Bhils 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 Bhils. The explanation is perhaps that they considered the gods of the Bhils to be the tutelary guardians and owners of the land, whom they must conciliate before they could hope to enjoy it in quiet and prosperity. This token of the devolution of the land from its previous holders, the Bhils, was till recently repeated on the occasion of each succession of a Sesodia chief. "The Bhil landholders of Oguna and Undri still claim the privilege of performing the _tika_ for the Sesodias. The Oguna Bhil 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 Bhil holds the salver of spices and sacred grains of rice used in making the badge." [313] The story that Goha killed the old Bhil 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. [314] An almost similar story is told of the way in which the Kachhwaha Rajputs took the territory of Amber State from the Mina tribe. The infant Rajput 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 Mina chief then adopted her as his sister and the boy as his nephew. This boy, Dhola Rai, on growing up obtained a few Rajput adherents and slaughtered all the Minas while they were bathing at the feast of Diwali, after which he usurped their country. [315] The repetition both of the adoption and the ungrateful murder shows the importance attached by the Rajputs to both beliefs as necessary to the validity of their succession and occupation of the land.

The position of the Bhils 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 ward over them, and it was supposed that the oldest class of residents would know them best. The Bhils worked in the office of Mankar, the superior village watchman, in Nimar and also in Berar. Grant Duff states [316] that the Ramosi or Bhil was employed as village guard by the Marathas, and the Ramosis were a professional caste of village policemen, probably derived from the Bhils or from the Bhils and Kolis.

3. Historical notice.

The Rajputs seem at first to have treated the Bhils leniently. Intermarriage was frequent, especially in the families of Bhil chieftains, and a new caste called Bhilala [317] has arisen, which is composed of the descendants of mixed Rajput and Bhil marriages. Chiefs and landholders in the Bhil country now belong to this caste, and it is possible that some pure Bhil families may have been admitted to it. The Bhilalas rank above the Bhils, on a level with the cultivating castes. Instances occasionally occurred in which the children of Rajput by a Bhil wife became Rajputs. When Colonel Tod wrote, Rajputs would still take food with Ujla Bhils or those of pure aboriginal descent, and all castes would take water from them. [318] But as Hinduism came to be more orthodox in Rajputana, the Bhils sank 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 Mahadeo 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 Mahadeo, for which crime he was expelled to the woods and mountains, and his descendants have ever since been stigmatised by the names of Bhil and Nishada. [319] Nishada is a term of contempt applied to the lowest outcastes. Major Hendley, writing in 1875, states: "Some time since a Thakur (chief) cut off the legs of two Bhils, eaters of the sacred cow, and plunged the stumps into boiling oil." [320] When the Marathas began to occupy Central India they treated the Bhils with great cruelty. A Bhil caught in a disturbed part of the country was without inquiry flogged and hanged. Hundreds were thrown over high cliffs, and large bodies of them, assembled under promise of pardon, were beheaded or blown from guns. Their women were mutilated or smothered by smoke, and their children smashed to death against the stones. [321] This treatment may to some extent have been deserved owing to the predatory habits and cruelty of the Bhils, 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 Khandesh, during the disturbed period of the wars of Sindhia and Holkar, about A.D. 1800, the Bhils 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 Bhils in a very short time became so bold as to appear in bands of hundreds and attack towns, carrying off either cattle or hostages, for whom they demanded handsome ransoms. [322] In Gujarat another writer described the Bhils and Kolis as hereditary and professional plunderers--'Soldiers of the night,' as they themselves said they were. [323] Malcolm said of them, after peace had been restored to Central India: [324] "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 race of men to a better sense of their condition than that which they at present entertain. The common answer of a Bhil when charged with theft or robbery is, 'I am not to blame; I am the thief of Mahadeo'; in other words, 'My destiny as a thief has been fixed by God.'" The Bhil 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. [325] 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 Bhils would lie in wait in some deep ravine by the roadside, and an infernal yell announced their attack to the unwary traveller. [326] Major Hendley states that according to tradition in the Mahabharata the god Krishna was killed by a Bhil's arrow, when he was fighting against them in Gujarat with the Yadavas; and on this account it was ordained that the Bhil 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 numbers, due alone to their want of words to express themselves." [327]

4. General Outram and the Khandesh Bhil Corps.

The reclamation and pacification of the Bhils is inseparably associated with the name of Lieutenant, afterwards Sir James, Outram. The Khandesh Bhil Corps was first raised by him in 1825, when Bhil robber bands were being hunted down by small parties of troops, and those who were willing to 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 Bhils 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. When close 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 Bhils, 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 Bhils. [328] 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 Bhils 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 sufficient 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 Bhils were suppressed and tranquillity restored to Khandesh, which rapidly became one of the most fertile parts of India. During the Mutiny the Bhil corps remained loyal, and did good service in checking the local outbursts which occurred in Khandesh. 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 Bhils, it was finally converted into police in 1891. [329]

5. Subdivisions.

The Bhils of the Central Provinces have now only two subdivisions, the Muhammadan Bhils, who were forcibly converted to Islam during the time of Aurangzeb, and the remainder, who though retaining many animistic beliefs and superstitions, have practically become Hindus. The Muhammadan Bhils only number about 3000 out of 28,000. They are known as Tadvi, a name which was formerly applied to a Bhil headman, and is said to be derived from _tad_, meaning a separate branch or section. These Bhils 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 Jamania sept, named after the _jaman_ tree, [330] 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_ [331] tree, the Avalia sept the _aonla_ [332] tree, the Meheda sept the _bahera_ [333] 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 footprints he will fall ill. The Ghodmarya (Horse-killer) sept may not tame a horse nor ride one. The Masrya sept will not kill or eat fish. The Sanyan 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. 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 Mata; at their weddings they apply turmeric and oil to the fingers of the goddess before rubbing them on the bride and bridegroom. The Maoli sept worship a goddess of that name in Barwani 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 Rajput clans, as Sesodia, Panwar, Mori, and appear to have originated in mixed unions between Rajputs and Bhils.

6. Exogamy and marriage customs.