Chapter XIII: Part 13

The higher castes have two names, one given by the Joshi, which is called rashi-ka-nam or the ceremonial name, rashi meaning the Nakshatra or moon's daily mansion under which the child was born. This is kept secret and only used in marriage and other ceremonies, though the practice is now tending to decay. The other is the chaltu or current name, and may either be a second ordinary name, such as those already given, or it may be taken from some peculiarity of the child. Names of the latter class are: Bhura, brown; Putro, a doll, given to a pretty child; Dukali, born in famine-time; Mahinga, dear or expensive; Chhota, little; Babu, equivalent to little prince or noble; Papa, father; Kakku, born in the cucumber season; Lada, pet; Pattu, a somersault; Judawan, cooling, and so on. Bad names are also given to avert ill-luck and remove the enmity of the spirits hostile to children, if the mother's previous babies have been lost. Instances of these are Raisa, short in stature; Lula, having a maimed arm; Ghasita, dragged along on a board; Damru, bought for a farthing; Khairati, alms; Dukhi, pain; Kubra, hunch-back; Gudri, rag; Kana, one-eyed; Birla, thin or lean; Bisahu, bought or purchased; and Bulaki and Chedi, having a pierced nostril; these names are given to a boy whose nostril has been pierced to make him resemble a girl and thus decrease his value. [227] Further instances of such names have been given in other articles.

Julaha

Julaha, Momin.--A low Muhammadan caste of weavers resident mainly in Saugor and Burhanpur. They numbered about 4000 persons in 1911. In Nagpur District the Muhammadan weavers generally call themselves Momin, a word meaning 'orthodox.' In northern India and Bengal Julahas are very numerous and the bulk of them are probably converted Hindus. Mr. (Sir Denzil) Ibbetson remarks: "We find Koli-Julahas, Chamar-Julahas, Morhi-Julahas, Ramdasi-Julahas, and so forth; and it is probable that after a few generations these men will drop the prefix which denotes their low origin and become Julahas pure and simple." [228] The Julahas claim Adam as the founder of their craft, inasmuch as when Satan made him realise his nakedness he taught the art of weaving to his sons. And they say that their ancestors came from Arabia. In Nimar the Julahas or Momins assert that they do not permit outsiders to be admitted as members of the caste, but the accuracy of this is doubtful, while in Saugor any Muhammadan who wishes to do so may become a Julaha. They follow the Muhammadan laws of marriage and inheritance. Unions between relatives are favoured, but a man may not marry his sister, niece, aunt or foster-sister. The Julaha or Momin women observe no purda, and are said to be almost unique among Muhammadans in this respect.

"The Musalman [229] weaver or Julaha," Sir G. Grierson writes, "is the proverbial fool of Hindu stories and proverbs. He swims in the moonlight across fields of flowering linseed, thinking the blue colour to be caused by water. He hears his family priest reading the Koran, and bursts into tears to the gratification of the reader. When pressed to tell what part affected him most, he says it was not that, but that the wagging beard of the old gentleman so much reminded him of a favourite goat of his which had died. When forming one of a company of twelve he tries to count them and finding himself missing wants to perform his own funeral obsequies. He finds the rear peg of a plough and wants to set up farming on the strength of it. He gets into a boat at night and forgets to pull up the anchor. After rowing till dawn he finds himself where he started, and concludes that the only explanation is that his native village could not bear to lose him and has followed him. If there are eight weavers and nine huqqas, they fight for the odd one. Once on a time a crow carried off to the roof of the house some bread which a weaver had given his child. Before giving the child any more he took the precaution of removing the ladder. Like the English fool he always gets unmerited blows. For instance, he once went to see a ram-fight and got butted himself, as the saying runs:

Karigah chhor tamasa jay
Nahak chot Julaha khay.

'He left his loom to see the fun and for no reason got a bruising.' Another story (told by Fallon) is that being told by a soothsayer that it was written in his fate that his nose would be cut off with an axe, the weaver was incredulous and taking up an axe, kept flourishing it, saying--

Yon karba ta gor katbon
Yon karba ta hath katbon
Aur yon karba tab na----

'If I do so I cut off my leg, if I do so I cut off my hand, but unless I do so my no----,' and his nose was off. Another proverb Julaha janathi jo katai, 'Does a weaver know how to cut barley,' refers to a story (in Fallon) that a weaver unable to pay his debt was set to cut barley by his creditor, who thought to repay himself in this way. But instead of reaping, the stupid fellow kept trying to untwist the tangled barley stems. Other proverbs at his expense are; 'The Julaha went out to cut the grass at sunset, when even the crows were going home.' 'The Julaha's brains are in his backside.' His wife bears an equally bad character, as in the proverb: 'A wilful Julahin will pull her own father's beard.'"

Kachera

1. Origin of the caste.

Kachera, [230] Kachara (from kanch, glass).--The functional caste of makers of glass bangles. The Kacheras numbered 2800 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, of whom 1800 were found in the Jubbulpore District. The caste say that in former times glass bangles were made only by Turk or Muhammadan Kacheras. The present name of Turkari is probably derived from Turk. But when Gauri Parvati was to be married to Mahadeo, she refused to wear the bangles made by a Turkari. So Mahadeo constructed a vedi or furnace, and from this sprang the first Hindu Kachera, who was employed to make bangles for Parvati. A later variant of the legend, having a sufficiently obvious deduction, is that Mahadeo did not create a man, but caught hold of a Kshatriya who happened to be present and ordered him to make the bangles. His descendants followed the new profession and thus came to be known as Kacheras. It is a possible conclusion from the story that the art of making glass bangles was introduced by the Muhammadans and, as suggested in the article on Lakhera, it may be the case that Hindu women formerly wore ornaments made of lac.

2. Exogamous groups.

The exogamous sections of the Kacheras show that the caste is of very mixed origin. Several of them are named after other castes, as Bharia (forest tribe), Gadaria (shepherd), Sunar, Naua (Nai), Thakurel (Thakur or Rajput), Kachhwaha and Chauhan (septs of Rajputs), and Kuria or Kori (weaver), and indicate that members of these castes took to the profession of bangle-making and became Kacheras. It may be surmised that, in the first instance perhaps, when the objection to using the product of the Muhammadan workman arose, if the theory of the prior use of lac bangles be correct, members of different castes took to supplying bangles for their own community, and from these in the course of time the Kachera caste was developed. Other names of sections worth mentioning are Jharraha, one who frets or worries; Kharraha, a choleric person; Dukesha, one who carries a begging-bowl; Thuthel, a maimed man, and Khajha, one suffering from the itch.

3. Social customs.

The exogamous sections are known as baink. The marriage of persons belonging to the same section and of first cousins is forbidden. Girls are generally married at an early age, as there is a scarcity of women in the caste, and they are snapped up as soon as available. As a natural consequence a considerable bride-price is paid, and the desire of the Kachera to make a profit by the marriage of his daughter is ridiculed in the following saying, supposed to be his prayer: "O God, give me a daughter. In exchange for her I shall get a pair of bullocks and a potful of rupees, and I shall be rich for the rest of my life. As her dowry I shall give her a sickle, a hoe and a spinning-machine, and these will suffice for my daughter to earn her livelihood." The usual sum paid for a girl is Rs. 50. The marriage ceremony is performed by walking round the sacred pole, and after it the couple try their strength against each other, the bride trying to push a stone pestle on to a slab with her foot and the groom pushing it off with his. At the end of the wedding an omen is taken, a silver ornament known as dhal [231] which women wear in the ear being fixed on to a wall and milk poured over it. If the ornament is displaced by the stream of milk and falls down, it is considered that the union will be a happy one. The proceeding perhaps symbolises roughly the birth of a child. The marriage of widows is permitted, and in consequence of the scarcity of women the widow is usually married to her late husband's younger brother, if there be one, even though he may be only a child. Divorce is permitted. Liaisons within the caste are usually overlooked, but a woman going wrong with an outsider is expelled from the community. The Kacheras commonly burn the dead. They employ Brahmans for ceremonial purposes, but their social status is low and no high caste will take water from them. They eat flesh and fish, and some of them drink liquor, while others have given it up. They have a caste committee or panchayat for the punishment of social offences, which is headed by officials known as Malik and Diwan. Their favourite deity is Devi, and in her honour they sow the Jawaras or pots of wheat corresponding to the gardens of Adonis during the nine days prior to the Ramnaomi and Dasahra festivals in March and September. Some of them carry their devotion so far as to grow the plants of wheat on their bodies, sitting in one posture for nine days and almost giving up food and drink. At the Diwali festival they worship the furnace in which glass bangles are made.

4. Occupation.

The traditional occupation of the caste is the manufacture of glass bangles. They import the glass in lumps from northern India and melt it in their furnace, after which the colouring matter is applied and the ring is turned on a slab of stone. Nearly all Hindu married women have glass bangles, which are broken or removed if their husbands die. But the rule is not universal, and some castes do not wear them at all. Marwari women have bangles of ivory, and Dhangar (shepherd) women of cocoanut-shell. Women of several castes who engage in labour have glass bangles only on the left wrist and metal ones on the right, as the former are too fragile. Low-caste women sometimes wear the flat, black bangles known as khagga on the upper arm. In many castes the glass bangles are also broken after the birth of a child. Bangles of many colours are made, but Hindus usually prefer black or indigo-blue. Among Hindus of good caste a girl may wear green bangles while she is unmarried; at her wedding black bangles are put on her wrists, and thereafter she may have them of black, blue, red or yellow, but not green. Muhammadans usually wear black or dark-green bangles. A Hindu woman has the same number of bangles on each wrist, not less than five and more if she likes. She will never leave her arms entirely without bangles, as she thinks this would cause her to become a widow. Consequently when a new set are purchased one or two of the old ones are kept on each arm. Similarly among castes who wear lac bangles like Banjaras, five should be worn, and these cover the greater part of the space between the wrist and the elbow. The men of the caste usually stay at home and make the bangles, and the women travel about to the different village markets, carrying their wares on little ponies if they can afford them. It is necessary that the seller of bangles should be a woman, as she has to assist her customers to work them on to their wrists, and also display her goods to high-caste women behind the purda in their homes.

The Kacheras' bangles are very cheap, from two to fourteen being obtainable for a pice (farthing), according to quality. Many are also broken, and the seller has to bear the loss of all those broken when the purchaser is putting them on, which may amount to 30 per cent. And though an improvement on the old lac bangles, the colours are very dull, and bracelets of better and more transparent glass imported from Austria now find a large sale and tend to oust the indigenous product. The Kachera, therefore, is, as a rule, far from prosperous. The incessant bending over the furnace tends to undermine his constitution and often ruins his eyesight. There is in fact a Hindi saying to the effect that, "When the Kachera has a son the rejoicings are held in the Kundera's (turner's) house. For he will go blind and then he will find nothing else to do but turn the Kundera's lathe."

KACHHI

List of Paragraphs

1. General notice.
2. Subdivisions.
3. Marriage customs.
4. Child-birth.
5. Ear-piercing.
6. Disposal of the dead.

1. General notice.

Kachhi.--An important cultivating caste of the northern Districts, who grow vegetables and irrigated crops requiring intensive cultivation. The distinction between the Kachhis and Malis of the Hindustani Districts is that the former grow regular irrigated crops, while the latter confine their operations to vegetables and flower-gardens; whereas the Mali or Marar of the Maratha country is both a cultivator and a gardener. The Kachhis numbered about 120,000 persons in 1911, and resided mainly in the Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts. The word Kachhi may be derived from kachhar, the name given to the alluvial land lying on river banks, which they greatly affect for growing their vegetables. Another derivation is from kachhni, a term used for the process of collecting the opium from the capsules of the poppy. [232] The caste are probably an offshoot of the Kurmis. Owing to the resemblance of names they claim a connection with the Kachhwaha sept of Rajputs, but this is not at all probable.

2. Subdivisions.

The caste is divided into a number of subcastes, most of which take their names from special plants which they grow. Thus the Hardia Kachhis grow haldi or turmeric; the Alias cultivate the al or Indian madder, from which the well-known red dye is obtained; the Phulias are flower-gardeners; the Jirias take their name from jira or cumin; the Murai or Murao Kachhis are called after the muli or radish; the Pirias take their name from the piria or basket in which they carry earth; the Sanias grow san or hemp; the Mor Kachhis are those who prepare the maur or marriage-crown for weddings; and the Lilia subcaste are called after the indigo plant (il or nil). In some localities they have a subcaste called Kachhwahi, who are considered to have a connection with the Rajputs and to rank higher than the others.

3. Marriage customs.

The social customs of the Kachhis resemble those of the Kurmis. The descendants of the same parents do not intermarry for three generations. A man may have two sisters to wife at the same time. In the Damoh District, on the arrival of the bridegroom's party, the bride is brought into the marriage-shed, and is there stripped to the waist while she holds a leaf-cup in her hand; this is probably done so that the bridegroom may see that the bride is free from any bodily defect. Girls are usually married before they are ten years old, and if the parents are too poor to arrange a match for their daughter, the caste-fellows often raise a subscription when she attains this age and get her married. The bridegroom should always be older than the bride, and the difference is generally from five to ten years. The bridegroom wears a loin-cloth and long coat reaching to the ground, both of which are stained yellow with turmeric; the bride wears a red cloth or one in which red is the main colour. The girl's father gives her a dowry of a cow or jewels, or at least two rupees; while the boy's father pays all the expenses of the wedding with the exception of one feast. The bridegroom gives the bride a present of three shoulder-cloths and three skirts, and one of these is worn by her at the wedding; this is the old northern method of dress, but married women do not usually adhere to it and have adopted the common sari or single body-cloth. The principal ceremony is the bhanwar or walking round the sacred post. While the bride and bridegroom are engaged in this the parents and elderly relatives shut themselves into the house and weep. During the first four rounds of the post the bride walks in front bowing her head and the bridegroom places his right hand on her back; while during the last three the bridegroom walks in front holding the bride by her third finger. After this the bride is hidden somewhere in the house and the bridegroom has to search for her. Sometimes the bride's younger sister is dressed up in her clothes and the bridegroom catches her in mistake for his wife, whereupon the old women laugh and say to him, 'Do you want her also?' If finally he fails to find the bride he must give her some ornament.

After the wedding the bridegroom's marriage-crown is hung to the roof in a basket. And on the sixth day of the following month of Bhadon (August), he again dresses himself in his wedding clothes, and taking his marriage-crown on a dish, proceeds to the nearest stream or river accompanied by his friends. Here he throws the crown into the water, and the wedding coat is washed clean of the turmeric and unsewn and made up into ordinary clothes. This ceremony is known as moschatt and is common to Hindu castes generally. Widows are permitted to marry again, and the most usual match is with the younger brother of the deceased husband. Divorce is allowed at the instance either of the husband or wife, and may be effected by a simple declaration before the caste committee.

4. Childbirth.

After a birth neither the mother nor child are given anything to eat the first day; and on the second they bring a young calf and give a little of its urine to the child, and to the mother a little sugar and the half of a cocoanut. In the evening of this day they buy all kinds of hot spices and herbs from a Bania and make a cake with them and give it to the mother to eat. On the second day the child begins to drink its mother's milk. The navel-string is cut and buried in the room on the first day, and over it a fire is kept burning continuously during the period of impurity. The small piece which falls from the child's body is buried beneath the mother's bed. The period of impurity after the birth of a girl lasts for four days and five days for a boy. On the sixth day the mother is given rice to eat. Twelve days after a child is born the barber's wife cuts its nails for the first time and throws the clippings away.

5. Ear-piercing

The ears of boys and girls are pierced when they are four or five years old; until this is done they are not considered as members of the caste and may take food from anyone. The ear is always pierced by a Sunar (goldsmith), who travels about the country in the pursuit of this calling. A brass pin is left in the ear for fifteen days, and is then removed and a strip of wood is substituted for it in a boy's ear and a peacock's feather in that of a girl to enlarge the hole. Girls do not have their nostrils pierced nor wear nose-rings, as the Kachhis are a comparatively low caste. They are tattooed before or after marriage with patterns of a scorpion, a peacock, a discus, and with dots on the chin and cheek-bones. During the period of her monthly impurity a girl is secluded in the house and does not eat flesh or fish. When the time is finished she goes to the river and bathes and dresses her hair with earth, which is a necessary ceremony of purification.

6. Disposal of the dead.

The bodies of children under five and of persons dying from smallpox, snake-bite or cholera are buried, and those of others are cremated. In Chhindwara they do not wash or anoint the corpses of the dead, but sprinkle on them a little turmeric and water. On the day of the funeral or cremation the bereaved family is supplied with food by friends. The principal deity of the Kachhis is Bhainsasur, who is regarded as the keeper of the vegetable garden and is represented by a stone placed under a tree in any part of it. He is worshipped once a year after the Holi festival with offerings of vermilion, areca-nuts and cocoanuts, and libations of liquor. The Kachhis raise all kinds of vegetables and garden crops, the principal being chillies, turmeric, tobacco, garlic, onions, yams and other vegetables. They are diligent and laborious, and show much skill in irrigating and manuring their crops.

Kadera

1. Historical notice.

Kadera, Kandera, Golandaz, Bandar, Hawaidar. [233]--A small occupational caste of makers of fireworks. The Kaderas numbered 2200 persons in 1911, and were most numerous in the Narsinghpur District. They consider themselves to have come from Bundelkhand, where the caste is also found, but it is in greatest strength in the Gwalior State. In former times Kaderas were employed to manufacture gunpowder and missiles of iron, and serve cannon in the Indian armies. The term Golandaz or 'ball-thrower' was also applied to native artillerymen. The Bandar or 'rocket-throwers' were a separate class, who fired rockets containing missiles, the name being derived from van, an arrow. With them may be classed the Deg-andaz or 'mortar-throwers,' who used thick earthenware pots filled with powder and having fuses attached, somewhat resembling the modern bomb--missiles which inflicted dreadful wounds. [234] Mr. Irvine writes of the Mughal artillery as follows: "The fire was never very rapid. Orme speaks of the artillery firing once in a quarter of an hour. In 1721 the usual rate of fire of heavy guns was once every three hours. Artillery which fired once in two gharis or forty-four minutes was praised for its rapidity of action. The guns were usually posted behind the clay walls of houses; or they might take up a commanding position on the top of a brick-kiln; or a temporary entrenchment might be formed out of the earthen bank and ditch which usually surround a grove of mango-trees." Hawaidar is a term for a maker of fireworks, while the name Kandera itself may perhaps be derived from kand, an arrow.

2. Subdivisions.

In Narsinghpur the Kaderas have three subcastes, Rajput or Dangiwara, Dhunka, and Matwala. The first claim to be Rajputs, but the alternative name of Dangiwara indicates that they are a mixed group, perhaps partly of Rajput descent like the Dangis of Saugor. It is by no means unlikely that the lower classes of Rajputs should have been employed in the avocations of the Kaderas. The term Dhunka signifies a cotton-cleaner, and some of the Kaderas may have taken up this calling, when they could no longer find employment in the native armies. Matwala means a drinker of country liquor, in which members of this group indulge. But with the exception of the Rajput Kaderas in Narsinghpur, other members of the caste also drink it.

3. Social customs.

They celebrate their marriages by walking round the sacred post. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. They have a caste committee, with a headman called Chaudhri or Mehtar, and an inferior officer known as Diwan. When a man has been put out of caste the Chaudhri first takes food with him on readmission, and for this is entitled to a fee of a rupee and a turban, while the Diwan receives a smaller cloth. These offices are hereditary. The Kaderas have no purda system, and a wife may speak freely to her father-in-law. They bury the milk-teeth of children below the ghinochi, or stand for water-pots, with the idea probably of preventing heat and inflammation in the gums. A child's jhala or birth-hair is usually cut for the first time on the occasion of some marriage in the family, and is thrown into the Nerbudda or buried at a temple. Names are given by the Brahman on the day of birth or soon afterwards, and a second pet name is commonly used in the family. If a child sees a lamp on the chhati or sixth day after its birth they think that it will squint.

4. Religion and occupation.

The caste employ Brahmans for religious ceremonies, but their social position is low, and they rank with castes from whom a Brahman cannot take water. On the tenth day of Jeth (May) they worship Lukman Hakim, a personage whom they believe to have been the inventor of gunpowder. He is popularly identified with Solomon, and is revered with Muhammadan rites in the shop and not in the house. A Fakir is called in who sacrifices a goat, and makes an offering of the head, which becomes his perquisite; sugar-cakes and sweet rice are also offered and given away to children, and the flesh of the goat is eaten by the family of the worshipper. Since the worship is paid only in the shop it would appear that Lukman Hakim is considered a deity foreign to the domestic religion, and is revered as having invented the substance which enables the caste to make their livelihood; and since he is clearly a Muhammadan deity, and is venerated according to the ritual of this religion by the Kaderas, who are otherwise Hindus, a recognition seems to be implied that as far at least as the Kaderas are concerned the introduction of gunpowder into India is attributed to the Muhammadans. It is not stated whether or not the month of May was selected of set purpose for the worship of the inventor of gunpowder, but it is at any rate a most appropriate season in India. At present the Kadera makes his own gunpowder and manufactures fireworks, and in this capacity he is also known as Atashbaz. The ingredients for gunpowder in Narsinghpur are a pound of saltpetre, two ounces of sulphur, and four ounces of charcoal of a light wood, such as saleh [235] or the stalks of arhar. [236] Water is sprinkled on the charcoal and the ingredients are pounded together in a mortar, a dangerous proceeding which is apt to cause occasional vacancies in the family circle. Arsenic and potash are also used for different fireworks, and sesamum oil is added to prevent smoke. Fireworks form a very popular spectacle in India, and can be obtained of excellent quality even in small towns. Bharbhunjas or grain-parchers now also deal in them.

Kahar

1. Origin and statistics.

Kahar, [237] Bhoi.--The caste of palanquin-bearers and watermen of northern India. No scientific distinction can be made between the Kahars and Dhimars, both names being applied to the same people. In northern India the term Kahar is generally used, and Mr. Crooke has an article on Kahar, but none on Dhimar. In the Central Provinces the latter is the more common name for the caste, and in 1911 23,000 Kahars were returned as against nearly 300,000 Dhimars. Berar had also 27,000 Kahars. The social customs of the caste are described in the article on Dhimar, but a short separate notice is given to the Kahars on account of their special social interest. Some Kahars refuse to clean household cooking-vessels and hence occupy a slightly higher social position than the Dhimars generally. Mr. Crooke derives the name of the caste from the Sanskrit Skandha-kara, or 'One who carries things on his shoulder.' The Brahmanical genealogists represent the Kahar as descended from a Brahman father and a Chandal or sweeper mother, and this is typical of the position occupied by the caste, who, though probably derived from the primitive non-Aryan tribes, have received a special position on account of their employment as household servants, so that all classes may take water and cooked food at their hands. As one of Mr. Crooke's correspondents remarks: "This caste is so low that they clean the vessels of almost all castes except menials like the Chamar and Dhobi, and at the same time so high that, except Kanaujia Brahmans, all other castes eat pakki and drink water at their hands." Sir D. Ibbetson says of the Kahar: "He is a true village menial, receiving customary dues and performing customary service. His social standing is in one respect high; for all will drink water at his hands. But he is still a servant, though the highest of his class." This comparatively high degree of social purity appears to have been conferred on the Kahars and Dhimars from motives of convenience, as it would be intolerable to have a palanquin-bearer or indoor servant from whom one could not take a drink of water.

2. The doli or palanquin.

The proper occupation of the Kahar is that of doli or litter-bearer. When carts could not travel owing to the absence of roads this was the regular mode of conveyance of those who could afford it and did not ride. Buchanan remarks: "Few or none except some chief native officers of Government keep bearers in constant pay; but men of large estates give farms at low rents to their bearers, who are ready at a call and receive food when employed." [238] A superior kind of litter used by rich women had a domed roof supported on eight pillars with side-boards like Venetian blinds; and was carried on two poles secured to the sides beneath the roof. This is perhaps the progenitor of the modern Calcutta ghari or four-wheeler, just as the body of the hansom-cab was modelled on the old sedan-chair. It was called Kharkhariya in imitation of the rattling of the blinds when in motion. [239] The palki or ordinary litter consisted of a couch slung under a long bamboo, which formed an arch over it. Over the arch was suspended a tilt made of cloth, which served to screen the passenger from sun and rain. A third kind was the Chaupala or square box open at the sides and slung on a bamboo; the passenger sat doubled up inside this. If as was sometimes the case the Chaupala was hung considerably beneath the bamboo the passenger was miserably draggled by dust and mud. Nowadays regular litters are so little used that they are not to be found in villages; but when required because one cannot ride or for travelling at night they are readily improvised by slinging a native wooden cot from two poles by strings of bamboo-fibre. Most of the Kahars and Dhimars have forgotten how to carry a litter, and proceed very slowly with frequent stops to change shoulders or substitute other bearers. But the Kols of Mandla still retain the art, and will do more than four miles an hour for several hours if eight men are allowed. Under native governments the privilege of riding in a palanquin was a mark of distinction; and a rule was enforced that no native could thus enter into the area of the forts in Madras and Bombay without the permission of the Governor; such permission being recorded in the order book at the gates of the fort and usually granted only to a few who were lame or otherwise incapacitated. When General Medows assumed the office of Governor of Bombay in 1788 some Parsis waited on him and begged for the removal of this restriction; to which the Governor replied, "So long as you do not force me to ride in this machine he may who likes it"; and so the rule was abrogated. [240] A passage from Hobson-Jobson, however, shows that the Portuguese were much stricter in this respect: "In 1591 a proclamation of the Viceroy, Matthias d'Albuquerque, ordered: 'That no person of what quality or condition soever, shall go in a palanquy without my express licence, save they be over sixty years of age, to be first proved before the Auditor-General of Police ... and those who contravene this shall pay a penalty of 200 cruzados, and persons of mean estate the half, the palanquys and their belongings to be forfeited, and the bois or mouços who carry such palanquys shall be condemned to His Majesty's galleys.'" [241] The meaning of the last sentence appears to be that the bearers were considered as slaves, and were forfeited to the king's service as a punishment to their owner. As the unauthorised use of this conveyance was so severely punished it would appear that riding in a palanquin must have been a privilege of nobility. Similarly to ride on a horse was looked upon in something of the same light; and when a person of inferior consequence met a superior or a Government officer while riding, he had to dismount from his horse as a mark of respect until the other had passed. This last custom still obtains to some extent, though it is rapidly disappearing.

As a means of conveyance the litter would be held sacred by primitive people, and Mr. Crooke gives an instance of the regard paid to it: "At the Holi festival eight days before Diwali in the western Districts the house is plastered with cowdung and figures of a litter (doli) and bearers are made on the walls with four or five colours, and to them offerings of incense, lights and flowers are given." [242] Even after passable roads were made tongas or carts drawn by trotting-bullocks were slow in coming into general use owing to the objection felt by the Hindus to harnessing the sacred ox.

3. Female bearers.

At royal courts women were employed to carry the litters of the king and the royal ladies into the inner precincts of the palace, the male bearers relinquishing their charge outside. "Another class of attendants at the palace peculiar to Lucknow were the female bearers. Their occupation was to carry the palanquins and various covered conveyances of the king and his ladies into the inner courts of the harem. These female bearers were also under military discipline. They had their officers, commissioned and non-commissioned. The head of them, a great masculine woman of pleasing countenance, was an especial favourite of the king. The badinage which was exchanged between them was of the freest possible character--not fit for ears polite, of course; but the extraordinary point in it was that no one hearing it or witnessing such scenes could have supposed it possible that a king and a slave stood before him as the two chief disputants." [243] Similarly female sepoys were employed to guard the harem, dressed in ordinary uniform and regularly drilled and taught to shoot. [244] A battalion of female troops for guarding the zenana is still maintained in Hyderabad. [245]

4. Indoor servants.

From being a palanquin-bearer the Kahar became the regular indoor servant of Hindu households. Originally of low caste, and derived from the non-Aryan tribes, they did not object to eat the leavings of food of their masters, a relation which is naturally very convenient, if not essential, in poor Hindu houses. Sir H. Risley notes, however, that in Bengal a Kahar engaged in personal service with a Brahman, Rajput, Babhan, Kayasth or Agarwal, will only eat his master's leavings so long as he is himself unmarried. [246] It seems that the marriage feast may be considered as the sacrificial meal conferring full membership of the caste, after which the rules against taking food from other castes must be strictly observed. Slaves were commonly employed as indoor servants, and hence the term Kahar came to be almost synonymous with a slave. "In the eighteenth century the title Kahar was at Patna the distinctive appellation of a Hindu slave, as Maulazadah was of a Muhammadan, and the tradition in 1774 was that the Kahar slavery took its rise when the Muhammadans first invaded northern India." [247]

As the Kahar was the common indoor servant in Hindu houses so apparently he came to be employed in the same capacity by the English. But he was of too high a caste to serve the food of a European, which would have involved touching the cooked flesh of the cow, and thus lost him his comparatively good status and social purity among the Hindus. Hence arose the anomaly of a body servant who would not touch his master's food, and confined himself to the duties of a valet; while the name of bearer given to this servant indicates clearly that he is the successor of the old-time Kahar or palanquin-bearer. The Uriya bearers of Bengal were well known as excellent servants and most faithful; but in time the inconvenience of their refusal to wait at table has led to their being replaced by low-caste Madrasis and by Muhammadans. The word 'boy' as applied to Indian servants is no doubt of English origin, as it is also used in China and the West Indies; but the South Indian term boyi or Hindi bhoi for a palanquin-bearer also appears to have been corrupted into boy and to have made this designation more common. The following instances of the use of the word 'boy' from Hobson-Jobson [248] may be quoted in conclusion: "The real Indian ladies lie on a sofa, and if they drop their handkerchief they just lower their voices and say 'Boy,' in a very gentle tone" (Letters from Madras in 1826). 'Yes, Sahib, I Christian Boy. Plenty poojah do. Sunday time never no work do' (Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow, in 1866). The Hindu term Bhoi or bearer is now commonly applied to the Gonds, and is considered by them as an honorific name or title. The hypothesis thus appears to be confirmed that the Kahar caste of palanquin-bearers was constituted from the non-Aryan tribes, who were practically in the position of slaves to the Hindus, as were the Chamars and Mahars, the village drudges and labourers. But when the palanquin-bearer developed into an indoor servant, his social status was gradually raised from motives of convenience, until he grew to be considered as ceremonially pure, and able to give his master water and prepare food for cooking. Thus the Kahars or Dhimars came to rank considerably above the primitive tribes from whom they took their origin, their ceremonial purity being equal to that of the Hindu cultivating castes, while the degrading status of slavery which had at first attached to them gradually fell into abeyance. And thus one can understand why the Gonds should consider the name of Bhoi or bearer as a designation of honour.

Kaikari

1. Origin and traditions.

Kaikari, Kaikadi (also called Bargandi by outsiders). [249]--A disreputable wandering tribe, whose ostensible profession is to make baskets. They are found in Nimar and the Maratha Districts, and number some 2000 persons in the Central Provinces. The Kaikaris here, as elsewhere, claim to have come from Telingana or the Deccan, but there is no caste of this name in the Madras Presidency. They may not improbably be the caste there known as Korva or Yerukala, whose occupations are similar. Mr. Kitts [250] has stated that the Kaikaris are known as Koravars in Arcot and as Korvas in the Carnatic. The Kaikaris speak a gipsy language, which according to the specimen given by Hislop [251] contains Tamil and Telugu words. One derivation of Kaikari is from the Tamil kai, hand, and kude, basket, and if this is correct it is in favour of their identification with the Korvas, who always carry their tattooing and other implements in a basket in the hand. [252] The Kaikaris of the Central Provinces say that their original ancestor was one Kanoba Ramjan who handed a twig to his sons and told them to earn their livelihood by it. Since then they have subsisted by making baskets from the stalks of the cotton-plant, the leaves of the date-palm and grass. They themselves derive their name from Kai, standing for Kanoba Ramjan and kadi, a twig, an etymology which may be dismissed with that given in the Berar Census Report [253] that they are the remnants of the Kaikeyas, who before the Christian era dwelt north of the Jalandhar Doab. Two subcastes exist in Nimar, the Marathas and the Phirasti or wandering Kaikaris, the former no doubt representing recruits from Maratha castes, not improbably from the Kunbis. The Maratha Kaikaris look down on the Phirastis as the latter take cooked food from a number of castes including the Telis, while the Marathas refuse to do this. In the Nagpur country there are several divisions which profess to be endogamous, as the Kamathis or those selling toys made of palm-leaves, the Bhamtis or those who steal from bazars, the Kunbis or cultivators, the Tokriwalas or makers and sellers of baskets and the Boriwalas or those who carry bricks, gravel and stone. Kunbi and Bhamti are the names of other castes, and Kamathi is a general term applied in the Maratha country to Telugu immigrants; the names thus show that the Kaikaris, like other vagrant groups, are largely recruited from persons expelled from their own caste for social offences. These groups cannot really be endogamous as yet, but as in the case of several other wandering tribes they probably have a tendency to become so. In Berar [254] an entirely different set of 12 1/2 subcastes is recorded, several of which are territorial, and two, the Pungis or blowers of gourds, and the Wajantris or village musicians, are occupational. In Nimar as in Khandesh [255] the Kaikaris have only two exogamous clans, Jadon and Gaikwar, who must marry with each other. In the southern Districts there are a number of exogamous divisions, as Jadon, Mane, Kumre, Jeshti, Kade, Dane and others. Jadon is a well-known Rajput sept, and the Kaikaris do not explain how they came by the name, but claim to have fought as soldiers under several kings, during which occasions the name may have been adopted from some Rajput leader in accordance with the common practice of imitation. Mane and Gaikwar are family names of the Maratha caste. The names and varied nomenclature of the subdivisions show that the Kaikaris, as at present constituted, are a very mixed caste, though they may not improbably have been originally connected with the Korvas of Madras.

2. Marriage.

Marriage within the same gotra or section is prohibited, but with one or two exceptions there are no other restrictions on intermarriage between relatives. A sister's son may marry a brother's daughter, but not vice versa. A man may not marry his wife's elder sister either during his wife's lifetime or after her death, and he may marry her younger sister, but not the younger but one. Girls are generally married between 8 and 12 years of age. If a girl cannot get a partner nothing is done, but when the marriage of a boy has not been arranged, a sham rite is performed with an akao plant (swallow-wort) or with a silver ring, all the ceremonies of a regular marriage being gone through. The tree is subsequently carefully reared, or the ring worn on the finger. Should the tree die or the ring be lost, funeral obsequies are performed for it as for a member of the family. A bride-price is paid which may vary from Rs. 20 to Rs. 100. In the southern Districts the following custom is in vogue at weddings. After the ceremony the bridegroom pretends to be angry and goes out of the mandap or shed, on which the bride runs after him, and throwing a piece of cloth round his neck, drags him back again. Her father then gives him some money or ornaments to pacify him. After this the same performance is gone through with the bride. The bride is taken to her husband's house, but is soon brought back by her relatives. On her second departure the husband himself does not go to fetch her, and she is brought home by his father and other relations, her own family presenting her with new clothes on this occasion. Widow-marriage is permitted, and the widow is expected to marry the next younger brother of the deceased husband. She may not marry any except the next younger, and if another should take her he is expelled from the caste until the connection is severed. If she marries somebody else he must repay to her late husband's brother a half of the expenses incurred on the first marriage. In the southern Districts she may not marry a brother of her husband's at all. A widow cannot be married in her late husband's house, but is taken to her parents' house and married from there. In Nimar her family do not take anything, but in the south they are paid a small sum. Here also the marriage is performed at the second husband's house; the woman carries to it a new earthen pitcher filled with water, and, placing it on the chauk or pattern of lines traced with flour in the courtyard, touches the feet of the Panch or caste committee, after which her skirt is tied to her husband's cloth. The pair are seated on a blanket and new bangles are placed on the woman's wrist, widows officiating at the ceremony. The couple then leave the village and pass the night outside it, returning next morning, when the woman manages to enter the house without being perceived by a married woman or unmarried girl. A bachelor marrying a widow must first go through the ceremony with a ring or akao plant, as already described, this being his real marriage; if he omits the rite his daughters by the widow will not be considered as members of the caste, though his sons will be admitted. Polygamy is allowed, but the consent of the first wife must be obtained to the taking of a second, and she may require a written promise of good treatment after the second marriage. A second wife is usually only taken if the first is barren, and if she has children her parents usually interfere to dissuade the husband, while other parents are always averse to giving their daughter in marriage to a man under such circumstances. Divorce is permitted for the usual reasons, a deed being drawn up and attested by the panchayat, to whom the husband pays a fine of Rs. 8 or Rs. 10.

3. Religion.

The tutelary god of the Kaikaris is the Nag or cobra, who is worshipped at marriages and on the day of Nag-Panchmi. Every family has in the house a platform dedicated to Khandoba, the Maratha god of war. They also worship Marimata, to whom flowers are offered at festivals, and a little ghi is poured out in her honour by way of incense. When the juari harvest is gathered, dalias or cakes of boiled juari and a ewe are offered to Marimata. They do not revere the Hindu sacred trees, the pipal and banyan, nor the basil plant, and will readily cut them down. They both burn and bury the dead. The Jadons burn all married persons, but if they cannot afford firewood they touch the corpse with a burning cinder and then bury it. The Gaikwars always bury their dead, the corpse being laid naked on its back with the feet pointing to the south. On returning from the burial-ground each relative of the deceased gives one roti or wheaten cake to the bereaved family, and they eat, sharing the cakes with the panchayat. Bread is also presented on the second day, and on the third the family begin to cook again. Mourning lasts for ten days, and on the last day the house is cleaned and the earthen pots thrown out; the clothes of the family are washed and the males are shaved. Ten balls of rice cooked in milk are offered to the soul of the dead person and a feast is given to the caste. After a birth the mother remains impure for five weeks. For the first five days both the mother and child are bathed daily. The navel cord and after-birth are buried by the midwife in a rubbish heap. When the milk teeth fall out they are placed in a ball of the dung of an ass and thrown on to the roof of the house. It is considered that the rats or mice, who have very good and sharp teeth, will take them and give the child good teeth in exchange. Women are impure for five days during the menstrual period. When a girl attains maturity a ceremony called god-bharni is performed. The neighbours are invited and songs are sung and the girl is seated in the chauk or pattern of lines traced with flour. She is given new clothes and bangles by her father, or her father-in-law if she is married, and rice and plantains, cocoanuts and other fruits are tied up in her skirt. This is no doubt done so that the girl may in like manner be fruitful, the cocoanuts perhaps being meant to represent human heads, as they usually do.

4. Social customs and position.

The Kaikaris eat flesh, including pork and fowls, but not beef. In Nimar the animals which they eat must have their throats cut by a Muhammadan with the proper formula, otherwise it is considered as murder to slaughter them. Both men and women drink liquor. They take food cooked with water from Kunbis and Malis and take water from the same castes, but not from Dhimars, Nais or Kahars. No caste will take food from a Kaikari. Their touch is considered to defile a Brahman, Bania, Kalar and other castes, but not a Kunbi. They are not allowed to enter temples but may live inside the village. Their status is thus very low. They have a caste panchayat or committee, and punishments are imposed for the usual offences. Permanent exclusion from caste is rarely or never inflicted, and even a woman who has gone wrong with an outsider may be readmitted after a peculiar ceremony of purification. The delinquent is taken to a river, tank or well, and is there shaved clean. Her tongue is branded with a ring or other article of gold, and she is then seated under a wooden shed having two doors. She goes in by one door and sits in the shed, which is set on fire. She must remain seated until the whole shed is burning and is then allowed to escape by the other door. A young boy of the caste is finally asked to eat from her hand, and thus purified she is readmitted to social intercourse. Fire is the great purifier, and this ceremony probably symbolises the immolation of the delinquent and her new birth. A similar ordeal is practised among the Korvas of Bombay, and this fact may be taken as affording further evidence of the identity of the two castes. [256] The morals of the caste are, however, by no means good, and some of them are said to live by prostituting their women. The dog is held especially sacred as with all worshippers of Khandoba, and to swear by a dog is Khandoba's oath and is considered the most binding. The Kaikaris are of dark colour and have repulsive features. They do not bathe or change their clothes for days together. They are also quarrelsome, and in Bombay the word Kaikarin is a proverbial term for a dirty shrew. Women are profusely tattooed, because tattooing is considered to be a record of the virtuous acts performed in this world and must be displayed to the deity after death. If no marks of tattooing are found the soul is sent to hell and punished for having acquired no piety.

5. Occupation.