Chapter XV: Part 15

They worship Dulha Deo and Devi, and have a firm belief in magic. They tell a curious story about the origin of the world, which recalls that of the Flood. They say that in the beginning God created a man and a woman to whom two children of opposite sex were born in their old age. Mahadeo, however, sent a deluge over the world in order to drown a jackal who had angered him. The old couple heard that there was going to be a deluge, so they shut up their children in a hollow piece of wood with provision of food to last them until it should subside. They then closed up the trunk, and the deluge came and lasted for twelve years, the old couple and all other living things on the earth being drowned, but the trunk floated on the face of the waters. After twelve years Mahadeo created two birds and sent them to see whether his enemy the jackal had been drowned. The birds flew over all the corners of the world, but saw nothing except a log of wood floating on the surface of the water, on which they perched. After a short time they heard low and feeble voices coming from inside the log. They heard the children saying to each other that they only had provision for three days left. So the birds flew away and told Mahadeo, who then caused the flood to subside, and taking out the children from the log of wood, heard their story. He thereupon brought them up, and they were married, and Mahadeo gave the name of a different caste to every child who was born to them, and from them all the inhabitants of the world are descended. The fact that the Kamars should think their deity capable of destroying the whole world by a deluge, in order to drown a jackal which had offended him, indicates how completely they are wanting in any exalted conception of morality. They are said to have no definite ideas of a future life nor any belief in a resurrection of the body. But they believe in future punishment in the case of a thief, who, they say, will be reborn as a bullock in the house of the man whose property he has stolen, or will in some other fashion expiate his crime. They think that the sun and moon are beings in human shape, and that darkness is caused by the sun going to sleep. They also think that a railway train is a live and sentient being, and that the whistle of the engine is its cry, and they propitiate the train with offerings lest it should do them some injury. When a man purposes to go out hunting, Mr. Ganpati Giri states, he consults the village priest, who tells him whether he will fail or succeed. If the prediction is unfavourable he promises a fowl or a goat to his family god in order to obtain his assistance, and then confidently expects success. When an animal has been killed and brought home, the hunter cuts off the head, and after washing it with turmeric powder and water makes an offering of it to the forest god. Ceremonial fishing expeditions are sometimes held, in which all the men and women of the village participate, and on such occasions the favour of the water-goddess is first invoked with an offering of five chickens and various feminine adornments, such as vermilion, lamp-black for the eyes, small glass bangles and a knot of ribbons made of cotton or silk, after which a large catch of fish is anticipated. The men refrain from visiting their wives on the day before they start for a hunting or fishing expedition.

8. Veneration of iron and liquor.

The tribe have a special veneration for iron, which they now say is the emblem of Durga Mata or the goddess of smallpox. On their chief festivals of Hareli and Dasahra all iron implements are washed and placed together in the house, where they are worshipped with offerings of rice, flowers and incense; nor may any iron tool be brought into use on this day. On the day appointed for the worship of Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, or other important deities, and on the Dasahra festival, they will not permit fire or anything else to be taken out of the house. Before drinking liquor they will pour a few drops on the ground, making a libation first to mother-earth, then to their family and other important gods, and lastly to their ancestors.

9. Social customs and caste penalties.

The Kamars will eat with all except the very lowest castes, and do not refuse any kind of food. The Bundhrajias, however, abstain from the flesh of snakes, crocodiles and monkeys, and on this account claim to be superior to the Makadias who eat these animals. Temporary exclusion from caste is imposed for the usual offences, and in serious cases, such as adultery with a woman of impure caste or taking food from her, the penalty is severe. The offender puts a straw and a piece of iron between his teeth, and stands before the elders with one leg lifted in his clasped hands. He promises never to repeat the offence nor permit his children to do so, and falls prostrate at the feet of each elder, imploring his forgiveness. He supplies the elders with rice, pulse, salt and vegetables for two days, and on the third day he and his family prepare a feast with one or more goats and two rupees' worth of liquor. The elders eat of this in his house, and readmit him to social intercourse.

10. Tattooing.

The women are tattooed either before or after marriage, the usual figures being a peacock on the shoulders, a scorpion on the back of the hand, and dots representing flies on the fingers. On their arms and legs they have circular lines of dots representing the ornaments usually worn, and they say that if they are destitute in the other world they will be able to sell these. This indicates that the more civilised of them, at any rate, now believe in a future life. They also have circular dotted lines round the knees which they say will help them to climb to heaven. Like the Gonds the men scarify their bodies by burning the outer skin of the forearm in three or four places with a small piece of burning cloth.

11. Hair.

The men shave the whole head on the death of a father or other venerable relative, but otherwise they never cut their hair, and let it grow long, twisting it into a bunch at the back of the head. They shave off or eradicate the hair of the face and pubes, but that on other parts of the body is allowed to remain. The hair of the head is considered to be sacred.

12. Occupation and manner of life.

The tribe wear only the narrowest possible strip of cloth round the loins, and another strip on the head, one end of which is often allowed to hang down over the ear. Formerly they lived by dahya cultivation, burning down patches of forest and scattering seed on the ground fertilised by the ashes, and they greatly resent the prohibition of this destructive method. They have now taken to making baskets and other articles from the wood of the bamboo. They are of dirty habits, and seldom wash themselves. Forty years ago their manner of life was even ruder than at present, as shown in the following notice [300] of them by Mr. Ball in 1876:

"Proceeding along the bed of the valley I came upon two colonies of a wild race of people called Kamars by their neighbours. They were regular Troglodytes in their habits, dwelling in caves and existing chiefly on roots and fish. It is singular to observe how little the people of these wild races do to protect themselves from the inclemency of the weather. In one of these caves the sole protection from the air was a lean-to of loosely placed branches. The people seemed to be very timid, hiding themselves on our approach. I did not therefore like to attempt an examination of their dwellings. After some calling on our part one man was induced to make his appearance. He was a most wretched-looking, leprous object, having lost several fingers and toes. He could give no very definite explanation as to his means of subsistence. All he could say was that he lived 'by picking up odds and ends here and there.' However, he seemed to be able to afford himself the solace of tobacco. A few cocks and hens at one of the caves, and a goat at the other, were the only domestic animals which I saw."

13. Their skill with bows and arrows.

The tribe are of small stature. They are very fond of hunting, and are expert at using their bows and arrows, with which they have killed even bison. Mr. W. E. Ley, C.S., relates the following particulars of a recent murder by a Kamar in Raipur: Two Hindus went to a Kamar's house in the jungle to dun him for a debt. He could not pay the debt, but invited them to take food in his house. At the meal the creditor's companion said the food was bad, and a quarrel thereupon ensuing, slapped the Kamar in the face. The latter started up, snatched up his bow and arrow and axe, and ran away into the jungle. The Hindus then set out for home, and as they were afraid of being attacked by the Kamar, they took his brother with them as a protection. Nevertheless the Kamar shot one of them through the side, the arrow passing through the arm and penetrating the lung. He then shot the other through the chest, and running in, mutilated his body in a shocking manner. When charged with the murders he confessed them freely, saying that he was a wild man of the woods and knew no better.

KANJAR

[Bibliography: Mr. J. C. Nesfield's The Kanjars of Upper India, Calcutta Review, vol. lxxvii., 1883; Mr. Crooke's Castes and Tribes, art. Kanjar; Major Gunthorpe's Criminal Tribes; Mr. Kitts' Berar Census Report (1881); Mr. Gayer's Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces.]

List of Paragraphs

1. Derivation of the Kanjars from the Doms.
2. The Kanjars and the Gipsies.
3. The Thugs derived from the Kanjars.
4. The Doms.
5. The criminal Kanjars.
6. The Kunchband Kanjars.
7. Marriage and religion.
8. Social customs.
9. Industrial arts.

1. Derivation of the Kanjars from the Doms.

Kanjar.--A name applied somewhat loosely to various small communities of a gipsy character who wander about the country. In 1911 about 1000 Kuchbandhia Kanjars were returned in the Province. In Berar the Kanjars seem to be practically identical with the Sansias; Major Gunthorpe [301] gives Kanjar and Sansia as alternative names of the same caste of criminals, and this is also done by Mr. Kennedy in Bombay. [302] Mr. Kitts writes of them: [303] "The Deccani and Marwari Kanjars were originally Bhats (bards) of the Jat tribe; and as they generally give themselves out to be Bhats are probably not included at all among the Kanjars returned at the census. They are a vagrant people, living in tents and addicted to crime. The women are good-looking; some are noted for their obscene songs, filthy alike in word and gesture; while others, whose husbands play on the sarangi, lead a life of immorality. The men are often skilful acrobats." And in another passage: [304] "The Sansia family or the 'Long Firm' of India includes two principal divisions represented in Berar by the Kanjars and Kolhatis respectively. They will eat, drink and smoke together, and occasionally join in committing dacoity. They eat all kinds of meat and drink all liquors; they are lax of morals and loose of life." Now in northern India the business of acting as bards to the Jats and begging from them is the traditional function of the Sansias; and we may therefore conclude that so far as Berar and the Maratha Districts are concerned the Kanjars are identical with the Sansias, while the Kolhatis mentioned by Mr. Kitts are the same people as the Berias, as shown in the article on Kolhati, and the Berias themselves are another branch of the Sansias. [305] There seems some reason to suppose that these four closely allied groups, the Kanjar or Sansia, and the Kolhati or Beria, may have their origin from the great Dom caste of menials and scavengers in Hindustan and Bengal. In the Punjab the Doms are the regular bards and genealogists of the lower castes, being known also as Mirasi: "The two words are used throughout the Province as absolutely synonymous. The word Mirasi is derived from the Arabic miras or inheritance; and the Mirasi is to the inferior agricultural castes and the outcaste tribes what the Bhat is to the Rajputs." [306] In the article on Sansia it is shown that the primary calling of the Sansias was to act as bards and genealogists of the Jats; and this common occupation is to some extent in favour of the original identity of the two castes Dom and Sansia, though Sir D. Ibbetson was not of this opinion. [307] In the United Provinces Mr. Crooke gives the Jallad or executioners as one of the main divisions of the Kanjars; [308] and the Jallads of Umballa are said to be the descendants of a Kanjar family who were attached to the Delhi Court as executioners. [309] But the Jallad or supwala is also a name of the Doms. "The term Jallad, which is an Arabic name for 'A public flogger,' is more especially applied to those Doms who are employed in cities to kill ownerless dogs and to act as public executioners." [310] Mr. Gayer states that as the result of special inquiries made by an experienced police-officer it would appear that these Jallad Kanjars are really Doms. [311] In Gujarat the Mirs or Mirasis are also known as Dom after the tribe of that name; they were originally of two classes, one the descendants of Gujarat Bhats or bards, the other from northern India, partly of Bhat descent and partly connected with the Doms. [312] And the Sansias and Berias in Bombay when accompanied by their families usually pass themselves off as Gujarati Bhats, that is, bards of the Jat caste from Marwar or of the Kolis from Gujarat. [313] Major Gunthorpe states that the Kolhatis or Berias of Berar appear to be the same as the Domras of Bengal; [314] and Mr. Kitts that the Kham Kolhatis are the Domarus of Telingana. [315] In writing of the Kanjar bards Sherring also says: "These are the Kanjars of Gondwana, the Sansis of northern India; they are the most desperate of all dacoits and wander about the country as though belonging to the Gujarati Domtaris or showmen." The above evidence seems sufficient to establish a prima facie case in favour of the Dom origin of these gipsy castes. It may be noticed further that the Jallad Kanjars of the United Provinces are also known as Supwala or makers of sieves and winnowing-fans, a calling which belongs specially to the Doms, Bhangis, and other sweeper castes. Both Doms and Bhangis have divisions known as Bansphor or 'breaker of bamboos,' a name which has the same signification as Supwala. Again, the deity of the criminal Doms of Bengal is known as Sansari Mai. [316]

2. The Kanjars and the Gipsies.

The Kanjars and Berias are the typical gipsy castes of India, and have been supposed to be the parents of the European gipsies. On this point Mr. Nesfield writes: "The commonly received legend is that multitudes of Kanjars were driven out of India by the oppressions of Tamerlane, and it is inferred that the gipsies of Europe are their direct descendants by blood, because they speak like them a form of the Hindi language." [317] Sir G. Grierson states: [318] "According to the Shah-nama, the Persian monarch Bahram Gaur received in the fifth century from an Indian king 12,000 musicians who were known as Luris, and the Luris or Lulis, that is gipsies, of modern Persia are the descendants of these." These people were also called Lutt, and hence it was supposed that they were the Indian Jats. Sir G. Grierson, however, shows it to be highly improbable that the Jats, one of the highest castes of cultivators, could ever have furnished a huge band of professional singers and dancers. He on the contrary derives the gipsies from the Dom tribe: [319] "Mr. Leland has made a happy suggestion that the original gipsies may have been Doms of India. He points out that Romany is almost letter for letter the same as Domni, the plural of Dom. Domni is the plural form in the Bhojpuri dialect of the Bihari language. It was originally a genitive plural; so that Romany-Rye, 'A gipsy gentleman,' may be well compared with the Bhojpuri Domni Rai, 'A king of the Doms.' The Bhojpuri-speaking Doms are a famous race, and they have many points of resemblance with the gipsies of Europe. Thus they are darker in complexion than the surrounding Biharis, are great thieves, live by hunting, dancing and telling fortunes, their women have a reputation for making love-philtres and medicines to procure abortion, they keep fowls (which no orthodox Hindu will do), and are said to eat carrion. They are also great musicians and horsemen. The gipsy grammar is closely connected with Bhojpuri, and the following mongrel, half-gipsy, half-English rhyme will show the extraordinary similarity of the two vocabularies: [320]

Gipsy. The Rye (squire) he mores (hunts) adrey the wesh (wood) Bhojpuri. Rai mare andal besh (Pers. bysh)

Gipsy. The kaun-engro (ear-fellow, hare) and chiriclo (bird). Bhojpuri. Kanwala chirin

Gipsy. You sovs (sleep) with leste (him) drey (within) the wesh (wood) Bhojpuri. soe andal besh

Gipsy. And rigs (carry) for leste (him) the gono (sack, game-bag). Bhojpuri. gon

Gipsy. Oprey (above) the rukh (tree) adrey (within) the wesh (wood) Bhojpuri. Upri rukh andal besh

Gipsy. Are chiriclo (male-bird) and chiricli (female-bird). Bhojpuri. chirin chirin

Gipsy. Tuley (below) the rukh (tree) adrey (within) the wesh (wood) Bhojpuri. Tule rukh andal besh

Gipsy. Are pireno (lover) and pireni (lady-love). Bhojpuri. pyara pyari

In the above it must be remembered that the verbal terminations of the gipsy text are English and not gipsy."

Sir G. Grierson also adds (in the passage first quoted): "I may note here a word which lends a singular confirmation to the theory. It is the gipsy term for bread, which is manro or manro. This is usually connected either with the Gaudian manr 'rice-gruel' or with manrua, the millet (Eleusine coracana). Neither of these agrees with the idea of bread, but in the Magadhi dialect of Bihari, spoken south of the Ganges in the native land of these Maghiya Doms, there is a peculiar word manda or manra which means wheat, whence the transition to the gipsy manro, bread, is eminently natural."

The above argument renders it probable that the gipsies are derived from the Doms; and as Mr. Nesfield gives it as a common legend that they originated from the Kanjars, this is perhaps another connecting link between the Doms and Kanjars. The word gipsy is probably an abbreviation of 'Egyptian,' the country assigned as the home of the gipsies in mediaeval times. It has already been seen that the Doms are the bards and minstrels of the lower castes in the Punjab, and that the Kanjars and Sansias, originally identical or very closely connected, were in particular the bards of the Jats. It is a possible speculation that they may have been mixed up with the lower classes of Jats or have taken their name, and that this has led to the confusion between the Jats and gipsies. Some support is afforded to this suggestion by the fact that the Kanjars of Jubbulpore say that they have three divisions, the Jat, Multani and Kuchbandia. The Jat Kanjars are, no doubt, those who acted as bards to the Jats, and hence took the name; and if the ancestors of these people emigrated from India they may have given themselves out as Jat.

3. The Thugs derived from the Kanjars.

In the article on Thug it is suggested that a large, if not the principal, section of the Thugs were derived from the Kanjars. At the Thug marriages an old matron would sometimes repeat, "Here's to the spirits of those who once led bears and monkeys; to those who drove bullocks and marked with the godini (tattooing-needle); and those who made baskets for the head." And these are the occupations of the Kanjars and Berias. The Goyandas of Jubbulpore, descendants of Thug approvers, are considered to be a class of gipsy Muhammadans, akin to or identical with the Kanjars, of whom the Multani subdivision are also Muhammadans. Like the Kanjar women the Goyandas make articles of net and string. There is also a colony of Berias in Jubbulpore, and these are admittedly the descendants of Thugs who were located there. If the above argument is well founded, we are led to the interesting conclusion that four of the most important vagrant and criminal castes of India, as well as the Mirasis or low-class Hindu bards, the gipsies, and a large section of the Thugs, are all derived from the great Dom caste.

4. The Doms.

The Doms appear to be one of the chief aboriginal tribes of northern India, who were reduced to servitude like the Mahars and Chamars. Sir H. M. Elliot considered them to be "One of the original tribes of India. Tradition fixes their residence to the north of the Ghagra, touching the Bhars on the east in the vicinity of the Rohini. Several old forts testify to their former importance, and still retain the names of their founders, as, for instance, Domdiha and Domingarh in the Gorakhpur district. Ramgarh and Sahukot on the Rohini are also Dom forts." [321] Sir G. Grierson quotes Dr. Fleet as follows: "In a south Indian inscription a king Rudradeva is said to have subdued a certain Domma, whose strength evidently lay in his cavalry. No clue is given as to who this Domma was, but he may have been the leader of some aboriginal tribe which had not then lost all its power"; and suggests that this Domma may have been a leader of the Doms, who would then be shown to have been dominant in southern India. As already seen there is a Domaru caste of Telingana, with whom Mr. Kitts identified the Berias or Kolhatis. In northern India the Doms were reduced to a more degraded condition than the other pre-Aryan tribes as they furnished a large section of the sweeper caste. As has been seen also they were employed as public executioners like the Mangs. This brief mention of the Doms has been made in view of the interest attaching to them on account of the above suggestions, and because there will be no separate article on the caste.

5. The criminal Kanjars.

In Berar two main divisions of the Kanjars may be recognised, the Kunchbandhia or those who make weavers' brooms and are comparatively honest, and the other or criminal Kanjars. [322] The criminal Kanjars may again be divided into the Marwari and Deccani groups. They were probably once the same, but the Deccanis, owing to their settlement in the south, have adopted some Maratha or Gujarati fashions, and speak the Marathi language; their women wear the angia or Maratha breast-cloth fastening behind, and have a gold ornament shaped like a flower in the nose; [323] while the Marwari Kanjars have no breast-cloth and may not wear gold ornaments at all. The Deccani Kanjars are fond of stealing donkeys, their habit being either to mix their own herds with those of the village and drive them all off together, or, if they catch the donkeys unattended, to secrete them in some water-course, tying their legs together, and if they remain undiscovered to remove them at nightfall. The animals are at once driven away for a long distance before any attempt is made to dispose of them. The Marwari Kanjars consider it derogatory to keep donkeys and therefore do not steal these animals. They are preeminently cattle-lifters and sheep-stealers, and their encampments may be recognised by the numbers of bullocks and cows about them. Their women wear the short Marwari petticoat reaching half-way between the knees and ankles. Their hair is plaited over the forehead and cowrie shells and brass ornaments like buttons are often attached in it. Bead necklaces are much worn by the women and bead and horse-hair necklets by the men. A peculiarity about the women is that they are confirmed snuff-takers and consume great quantities of the weed in this form. The women go into the towns and villages and give exhibitions of singing and dancing; and picking up any information they can acquire about the location of property, impart this to the men. Sometimes they take service, and a case was known in Jubbulpore of Kanjar women hiring themselves out as pankha-pullers, with the result that the houses in which they were employed were subsequently robbed. [324] It is said, however, that they do not regularly break into houses, but confine themselves to lurking theft. I have thought it desirable to record here the above particulars of the criminal Kanjars, taken from Major Gunthorpe's account; for, though the caste is, as already stated, identical with the Sansias, their customs in Berar differ considerably from those of the Sansias of Central India, who are treated of in the article on that caste.

6. The Kunchband Kanjars.

We come, finally, to the Kunchband Kanjars, the most representative section of the caste, who as a body are not criminals, or at any rate less so than the others. The name Kunchband or Kuchband, by which they are sometimes known, is derived from their trade of making brushes (kunch) of the roots of khas-khas grass, which are used by weavers for cleaning the threads entangled on the looms. This has given rise to the proverb 'Kori ka bigari Kunchbandhia' or 'The Kunchbandhia must look to the Kori (weaver) as his patron'; the point being that the Kori is himself no better than a casual labourer, and a man who is dependent on him must be in a poor way indeed. The Kunchbandhias are also known in northern India as Sankat or Patharkat, because they make and sharpen the household grinding-stones, this being the calling of the Takankar Pardhis in the Maratha Districts, and as Goher because they catch and eat the goh, the large lizard or iguana. [325] Other divisions are the Dhobibans or washerman's race, the Lakarhar or wood-cutters, and the Untwar or camelmen.

7. Marriage and religion.

In the Central Provinces there are other divisions, as the Jat and Multani Kanjars. They say they have two exogamous divisions, Kalkha and Malha, and a member of either of these must take a wife from the other division. Both the Kalkhas and Malhas are further divided into kuls or sections, but the influence of these on marriage is not clear. At a Kanjar marriage, Mr. Crooke states, the gadela or spade with which they dig out the khas-khas grass and kill wolves or vermin, is placed in the marriage pavilion during the ceremony. The bridegroom swears that he will not drive away nor divorce his wife, and sometimes a mehar or dowry is also fixed for the bride. The father-in-law usually, however, remits a part or the whole of this subsequently, when the bridegroom goes to take food at his house on festival occasions. Mr. Nesfield states that the principal deity of the Kanjars is the man-god Mana, who was not only the teacher and guide, but also the founder and ancestor of the tribe. He is buried, as some Kanjars relate, at Kara in the Allahabad District, not far from the Ganges and facing the old city of Manikpur on the opposite bank. Mana is worshipped with special ceremony in the rainy season, when the tribe is less migratory than in the dry months of the year. On such occasions, if sufficient notice is circulated, several encampments unite temporarily to pay honour to their common ancestor. The worshippers collect near a tree under which they sacrifice a pig, a goat, a sheep, or a fowl, and make an offering of roasted flesh and spirituous liquor. Formerly, it is said, they used to sacrifice a child, having first made it insensible with fermented palm-juice or toddy. [326] They dance round the tree in honour of Mana, and sing the customary songs in commemoration of his wisdom and deeds of valour.

8. Social customs.

The dead are usually buried, both male and female corpses being laid on their faces with the feet pointing to the south. Kanjars who become Muhammadans may be readmitted to the community after the following ceremony. A pit is dug and the convert sits in it and each Kanjar throws a little curds on to his body. He then goes and bathes in a river, his tongue is touched or branded with heated gold and he gives a feast to the community. A Kanjar woman who has lived in concubinage with a Brahman, Rajput, Agarwal Bania, Kurmi, Ahir or Lodhi may be taken back into the caste after the same ceremony; but not one who has lived with a Kayasth, Sunar or Lohar or any lower caste. A Kanjar is not put out of caste for being imprisoned, nor for being beaten by an outsider, nor for selling shoes. If a man touches his daughter-in-law even accidentally he is fined the sum of Rs. 2-8.

9. Industrial arts.

The following account of the industries of the vagrant Kanjars was written by Mr. Nesfield in 1883. In the Central Provinces many of them are now more civilised, and some are employed in Government service. Their women also make and retail string-net purses, balls and other articles.

"Among the arts of the Kanjar are making mats of the sirki reed, baskets of wattled cane, fans of palm-leaves and rattles of plaited straw: these last are now sold to Hindu children as toys, though originally they may have been used by the Kanjars themselves (if we are to trust to the analogy of other backward races) as sacred and mysterious implements. From the stalks of the munj grass and from the roots of the palas [327] tree they make ropes which are sold or bartered to villagers in exchange for grain and milk. They prepare the skins of which drums are made and sell them to Hindu musicians; though, probably, as in the case of the rattle, the drum was originally used by the Kanjars themselves and worshipped as a fetish; for even the Aryan tribes, who are said to have been far more advanced than the indigenous races, sang hymns in honour of the drum or dundubhi as if it were something sacred. They make plates of broad leaves which are ingeniously stitched together by their stalks; and plates of this kind are very widely used by the inferior Indian castes and by confectioners and sellers of sweetmeats. The mats of sirki reed with which they cover their own movable leaf huts are models of neatness and simplicity and many of these are sold to cart-drivers. The toddy or juice of the palm tree, which they extract and ferment by methods of their own and partly for their own use, finds a ready sale among low-caste Hindus in villages and market towns. They are among the chief stone-cutters in Upper India, especially in the manufacture of the grinding-mill which is very widely used. This consists of two circular stones of equal diameter; the upper one, which is the thicker and heavier, revolves on a wooden pivot fixed in the centre of the lower one and is propelled by two women, each holding the same handle. But it is also not less frequent for one woman to grind alone." It is perhaps not realised what this business of grinding her own grain instead of buying flour means to the Indian woman. She rises before daybreak to commence the work, and it takes her perhaps two or three hours to complete the day's provision. Grain-grinding for hire is an occupation pursued by poor women. The pisanhari, as she is called, receives an anna (penny) for grinding 16 lbs. of grain, and can get through 30 lbs. a day. In several localities temples are shown supposed to have been built by some pious pisanhari from her earnings. "The Kanjars," Mr. Nesfield continues, "also gather the white wool-like fibre which grows in the pods of the semal or Indian cotton tree and twist it into thread for the use of weavers. [328] In the manufacture of brushes for the cleaning of cotton-yarn the Kanjars enjoy almost a complete monopoly. In these brushes a stiff mass of horsehair is attached to a wooden handle by sinews and strips of hide; and the workmanship is remarkably neat and durable. [329] Another complete or almost complete monopoly enjoyed by Kanjars is the collection and sale of sweet-scented roots of the khas-khas grass, which are afterward made up by the Chhaparbands and others into door-screens, and through being continually watered cool the hot air which passes through them. The roots of this wild grass, which grows in most abundance on the outskirts of forests or near the banks of rivers, are dug out of the earth by an instrument called khunti. This has a handle three feet long, and a blade about a foot long resembling that of a knife. The same implement serves as a dagger or short spear for killing wolves or jackals, as a tool for carving a secret entrance through the clay wall of a villager's hut in which a burglary is meditated, as a spade or hoe for digging snakes, field-rats, and lizards out of their holes, and edible roots out of the earth, and as a hatchet for chopping wood."

Kapewar

Kapewar, [330] Munurwar.--A great cultivating caste of the Telugu country, where they are known as Kapu or Reddi, and correspond to the Kurmi in Hindustan and the Kunbi in the Maratha Districts. In the Central Provinces about 18,000 persons of the caste were enumerated in the Chanda District and Berar in 1911. The term Kapu means a watchman, and Reddi is considered to be a corruption of Rathor or Rashtrakuta, meaning a king, or more properly the headman of a village. Kapewar is simply the plural form of Kapu, and Munurwar, in reality the name of a subcaste of Kapewars, is used as a synonym for the main caste in Chanda. They are divided into various occupational subcastes, as the Upparwars or earth-diggers, from uppar, earth; the Gone, who make gonas or hemp gunny-bags; the Elmas, who are household servants; the Gollewars, who sell milk; and the Gamadis or masons. The Kunte or lame Kapewars, the lowest group, say that their ancestor was born lame; they are also called Bhiksha Kunte or lame beggars and serve as the bards of the caste besides begging from them. They are considered to be of illegitimate origin. No detailed account of the caste need be given here, but one or two interesting customs reported from Chanda may be noted. Girls must be married before they are ten years old, and in default of this the parents are temporarily put out of caste and have to pay a penalty for readmission. But if they take the girl to some sacred place on the Godavari river and marry her there the penalty is avoided. Contrary to the usual custom the bride goes to the bridegroom's house to be married. On the fourth night of the marriage ceremony the bridegroom takes with him all the parts of a plough as if he was going out to the field, and walks up the marriage-shed to the further end followed by the bride, who carries on her head some cooked food tied up in a cloth. The skirts of the couple are knotted together. On reaching the end of the shed the bridegroom makes five drills in the ground with a bullock-goad and sows cotton and juari seeds mixed together. Then the cooked food is eaten by all who are present, the bridal couple commencing first, and the seed is irrigated by washing their hands over it. This performance is a symbolical portrayal of the future life of the couple, which will be spent in cultivation. In Chanda a number of Kapewars are stone-masons, and are considered the most proficient workers at this trade in the locality. Major Lucie Smith, the author of the Chanda Settlement Report of 1869, thought that the ancestors of the caste had been originally brought to Chanda to build the fine walls with ramparts and bastions which stretch for a length of six or seven miles round the town. The caste are sometimes known as Telugu Kunbis. Men may be distinguished by the single dot which is always tattooed on the forehead during their infancy. Men of the Gowari caste have a similar mark.

Karan

Karan, [331] Karnam, Mahanti.--The indigenous writer caste of Orissa. In 1901 a total of 5000 Karans were enumerated in Sambalpur and the Uriya States, but the bulk of these have since passed under the jurisdiction of Bihar and Orissa, and only about 1000 remain in the Central Provinces. The total numbers of the caste in India exceed a quarter of a million. The poet Kalidas in his Raghuvansa describes Karans as the offspring of a Vaishya father and a Sudra mother. The caste fulfils the same functions in Orissa as the Kayasths elsewhere, and it is said that their original ancestors were brought from northern India by Yayati Kesari, king of Orissa (A.D. 447-526), to supply the demand for writers and clerks. The original of the word Karan is said to be the Hindi karani, kiran, which Wilson derives from Sanskrit karan, 'a doer.' The word karani was at one time applied by natives to the junior members of the Civil Service--'Writers,' as they were designated. And the 'Writers' Buildings' of Calcutta were known as karani kibarik. From this term a corruption 'Cranny' came into use, and was applied in Bengal to a clerk writing English, and thence to the East Indians or half-castes from whom English copyists were subsequently recruited. [332] The derivation of Mahanti is obscure, unless it be from maha, great, or from Mahant, the head of a monastery. The caste prefer the name of Karan, because that of Mahanti is often appropriated by affluent Chasas and others who wish to get a rise in rank. In fact a proverb says: Jar nahin Jati, taku bolanti Mahanti, or 'He who has no caste calls himself a Mahanti.' The Karans, like the Kayasths, claim Chitragupta as their first ancestor, but most of them repudiate any connection with the Kayasths, though they are of the same calling. The Karans of Sambalpur have two subcastes, the Jhadua or those of the jhadi or jungle and the Utkali or Uriyas. The former are said to be the earlier immigrants and are looked down on by the latter, who do not intermarry with them. Their exogamous divisions or gotras are of the type called eponymous, being named after well-known Rishis or saints like those of the Brahmans. Instances of such names are Bharadwaj, Parasar, Valmik and Vasishtha. Some of the names, however, are in a manner totemistic, as Nagas, the cobra; Kounchhas, the tortoise; Bachas, a calf, and so on. These animals are revered by the members of the gotra named after them, but as they are of semi-divine nature, the practice may be distinguished from true totemism. In some cases, however, members of the Bharadwaj gotra venerate the blue-jay, and of the Parasar gotra, a pigeon. Marriage is regulated according to the table of prohibited degrees in vogue among the higher castes. Girls are commonly married before they are ten years old, but no penalty attaches to the postponement of the ceremony to a later age. The binding portion of the marriage is Hastabandhan or the tying of the hands of the couple together with kusha grass, [333] and when this has been done the marriage cannot be annulled. The bride goes to her husband's house for a few days and then returns home until she attains maturity. Divorce and remarriage of widows are prohibited, and an unfaithful wife is finally expelled from the caste. The Karans worship the usual Hindu gods and call themselves Smarths. Some belong to the local Parmarth and Kumbhipatia sects, the former of which practises obscene rites. They burn their dead, excepting the bodies of infants, and perform the shraddh ceremony. The caste have a high social position in Sambalpur, and Brahmans will sometimes take food cooked without water from them. They wear the sacred thread. They eat fish and the flesh of clean animals but do not drink liquor. Bhandaris or barbers will take katcha food from a Karan. They are generally engaged in service as clerks, accountants, schoolmasters or patwaris. Their usual titles are Patnaik or Bohidar. The Karans are considered to be of extravagant habits, and one proverb about them is--

Mahanti jati, udhar paile kinanti hathi,

or, 'The Mahanti if he can get a loan will at once buy an elephant.' Their shrewdness in business transactions and tendency to overreach the less intelligent cultivating castes have made them unpopular like the Kayasths, and another proverb says--

Patarkata, Tankarkata, Paniota, Gaudini mai
E chari jati ku vishwas nai,

or, 'Trust not the palm-leaf writer (Karan), the weaver, the liquor-distiller nor the milk-seller.'

KASAI

List of Paragraphs

1. General notice of the caste.
2. The cattle-slaughtering industry.
3. Muhammadan rite of zibah or halal.
4. Animism.
5. Animal-gods. The domestic animals.
6. Other animals.
7. Animals worshipped in India.
8. The sacrificial meal.
9. Primitive basis of kinship.
10. The bond of food.
11. The blood-feud.
12. Taking food together and hospitality.
13. The Roman sacra.
14. The Hindu caste-feasts.
15. Sacrifice of the camel.
16. The joint sacrifice.
17. Animal sacrifices in Greece.
18. The Passover.
19. Sanctity of domestic animals.
20. Sacrificial slaughter for food.
21. Animal-fights.
22. The sacrificial method of killing.
23. Animal sacrifices in Indian ritual.

1. General notice of the caste.

Kasai, Kassab.--The caste of Muhammadan butchers, of whom about 4000 persons were returned from the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911. During the last decade the numbers of the caste have very greatly increased owing to the rise of the cattle-slaughtering industry. Two kinds of Kasais may be distinguished, the Gai Kasai or cow-killers and the Bakar Kasai or mutton butchers. The latter, however, are usually Hindus and have been formed into a separate caste, being known as Khatik. Like other Muhammadans who have adopted professions of a not too reputable nature, the Kasais have become a caste, partly because the ordinary Muhammadan declines to intermarry with them, and partly no doubt in imitation of the Hindu social system. The Kasais are one of the lowest of the Muhammadan castes, and will admit into their community even low-caste Hindu converts. They celebrate their weddings by the nikah form, but until recently many Hindu rites were added to it. The Kazi is employed to conduct the marriage, but if his services are not available a member of the caste may officiate instead. Polygamy is permitted to the number of four wives. A man may divorce his wife simply for disobedience, but if a woman wishes to divorce her husband she must forego the Meher or dowry promised at the time of the wedding. The Kasai women, perhaps owing to their meat diet, are noticeably strong and well nourished, and there is a saying to the effect that, 'The butcher's daughter will bear children when she is ten years old.' The deities of the Kasais are a number of Muhammadan saints, who are known as Aulia or Favourites of God. The caste bury the dead, and on the third day they read the Kalma over some parched grain and distribute this to the caste-fellows, who eat it in the name of the deceased man, invoking a blessing upon him. On the ninth day after the death they distribute food to Muhammadan Fakirs or beggars, and on the twentieth and fortieth days two more feasts are given to the caste and a third on the anniversary of the death. Owing to what is considered the degrading nature of his occupation, the social position of the Kasai is very low, and there is a saying--

Na dekha ho bagh, to dekh belai;
Na dekha ho Thag, to dekh Kasai,

or, 'If you have not seen a tiger, look at a cat; and if you have not seen a Thug, look at a butcher.' Many Hindus have a superstition that leprosy is developed by the continual eating of beef.

2. The cattle-slaughtering industry.

In recent years an extensive industry in the slaughter of cattle has sprung up all over the Province. Worn-out animals are now eagerly bought up and killed; their hides are dried and exported, and the meat is cured and sent to Madras and Burma, a substantial profit being obtained from its sale. The blood, horns and hoofs are other products which yield a return. The religious scruples of the Hindus have given way to the temptation of obtaining what is to them a substantial sum for a valueless animal, and, with the exception perhaps of Brahmans and Banias, all castes now dispose of their useless cattle to the butchers. At first this was done by stealth, and efforts were made to impose severe penalties on anybody guilty of the crime of being accessory to the death of the sacred kine, while it is said that the emissaries of the butchers were sent to the markets disguised as Brahmans or religious mendicants, and pretended that they wished to buy cattle in order to preserve their lives as a meritorious act. But such attempts at restriction have generally proved fruitless, and the trade is now openly practised and acquiesced in by public opinion. In spite of many complaints of the shortage of plough cattle caused by the large numbers of animals slaughtered, the results of this traffic are probably almost wholly advantageous; for the villages no longer contain a horde of worn-out and decrepit animals to deprive the valuable plough and milch cattle of a share of the too scanty pasturage. Kasais themselves are generally prosperous.

3. Muhammadan rite of zibah or halal.

When killing an animal the butcher lays it on the ground with its feet to the west and head stretched towards the north and then cuts its throat saying:

In the name of God;
God is great.

This method of killing an animal is known as zibah. The Muhammadan belief that an animal is not fit for food unless its throat has been cut so that the blood flows on to the ground is thus explained in Professor Robertson Smith's Religion of the Semites [334]: "In heathen Canaan all the animals belonged to the god of the country; but it was lawful to kill them if payment was made to the god by pouring out their life or blood on the ground." The Arabs are of the same Semitic stock, and this may be partly the underlying idea of their rite of zibah. It seems doubtful, however, whether the explanation suffices to explain its continuance for so long a period among the Muhammadans who have long ceased to reverence any earth-deity, and in a foreign country where the soil cannot be sacred to them; and a short summary of Dr. Robertson Smith's luminous explanation of the underlying principle of animal sacrifice in early times seems requisite to its full understanding.

4. Animism.

Primitive man did not recognise any difference of intelligence and self-consciousness between himself and the lower animals and even plants, but believed them all to be possessed of consciousness and volition as he was. He knew of no natural laws of the constitution of matter and the action of forces, and therefore thought that all natural phenomena, the sun, moon and stars, the wind and rain, were similarly appearances, manifestations or acts of volition of beings conscious like himself. This is what is meant by animism. Among several races the community was divided into totem-clans, and each clan held sacred some animal or bird, which was considered as a kinsman. All the members of the clan were kin to each other through the tie formed by their eating their totem animal, which in the hunting stage was probably their chief means of subsistence, and from which they consequently thought that they derived their common life. [335] In process of time the animals which were domesticated, such as the horse, the sheep, the cow and the camel, acquired a special sanctity, and became, in fact, the principal deities of the community, such as the calf-god Apis, the cow-goddess Isis-Hathor, and the ram-god Amen in Egypt, Hera, probably a cow-goddess, and Dionysus, who may be the deified bull or goat (or a combination of them) in Greece, and so on.

5. Animal-gods. The domestic animals.