Chapter XVIII: Part 18

During childbirth the mother sits on the ground with her legs apart, and her back against the wall or supported by another woman. The umbilical cord is cut by the midwife: if the parents wish the boy to become eloquent she buries it in the village Council-place; or if they wish him to be a good trader, in the market; or if they desire him to be pious, before some shrine; in the case of a girl the cord is usually buried in a dung-heap, which is regarded as an emblem of fertility. As is usual in Chhattisgarh, the mother receives no food or water for three days after the birth of a child. On the fifth day she is given regular food and on that day the house is purified. Five months after birth the lips of the child are touched with rice and milk and it is named. When twins are born a metal vessel is broken to sever the connection between them, as it is believed that otherwise they must die at the same time. If a boy is born after three girls he is called titura, and a girl after three boys, tituri. There is a saying that 'A titura child either fills the storehouse or empties it'; that is, his parents either become rich or penniless. To avert ill-luck in this case oil and salt are thrown away, and the mother gives one of her bangles to the midwife.

7. Disposal of the dead.

The dead are usually buried, though well-to-do families have adopted cremation. The corpse is laid on its side in the grave, with head to the north and face to the east. A little til, cotton, urad and rice are thrown on the grave to serve as seed-grain for the dead man's cultivation in the other world. A dish, a drinking vessel and a cooking-pot are placed on the grave with the same idea, but are afterwards taken away by the Dhobi (washerman). They observe mourning for ten days for a man, nine days for a woman, and three days for children under three years old. During the period of mourning the chief mourner keeps a knife beside him, so that the iron may ward off the attacks of evil spirits, to which he is believed to be peculiarly exposed. The ordinary rules of abstinence and retirement are observed during mourning. In the case of cremation the ceremonies are very elaborate and generally resemble those of the Hindus. When the corpse is half burnt, all the men present throw five pieces of wood on to the pyre, and a number of pieces are carried in a winnowing fan to the dead man's house, where they are touched by the women and then brought back and thrown on to the fire. After the funeral the mourners bathe and return home walking one behind the other in Indian file. When they come to a cross-road, the foremost man picks up a pebble with his left foot, and it is passed from hand to hand down the line of men until the hindmost throws it away. This is supposed to sever their connection with the spirit of the deceased and prevent it from following them home. On the third day they return to the cremation ground to collect the ashes and bones. A Brahman is called who cooks a preparation of milk and rice at the head of the corpse, boils urad pulse at its feet, and bakes eight wheaten chapatis at the sides. This food is placed in leaf-cups at two corners of the ground. The mourners sprinkle cow's urine and milk over the bones, and picking them up with a palas (Butea frondosa) stick, wash them in milk and deposit them in a new earthen pot until such time as they can be carried to the Ganges. The bodies of men dying of smallpox must never be burnt, because that would be equivalent to destroying the goddess, incarnate in the body. The corpses of cholera patients are buried in order to dispose of them at once, and are sometimes exhumed subsequently within a period of six months and cremated. In such a case the Kawars spread a layer of unhusked rice in the grave, and address a prayer to the earth-goddess stating that the body has been placed with her on deposit, and asking that she will give it back intact when they call upon her for it. They believe that in such cases the process of decay is arrested for six months.

8. Laying spirits.

When a man has been killed by a tiger they have a ceremony called 'Breaking the string,' or the connection which they believe the animal establishes with a family on having tasted its blood. Otherwise they think that the tiger would gradually kill off all the remaining members of the family of his victim, and when he had finished with them would proceed to other families in the same village. This curious belief is no doubt confirmed by the tiger's habit of frequenting the locality of a village from which it has once obtained a victim, in the natural expectation that others may be forthcoming from the same source. In this ceremony the village Baiga or medicine-man is painted with red ochre and soot to represent the tiger, and proceeds to the place where the victim was carried off. Having picked up some of the blood-stained earth in his mouth, he tries to run away to the jungle, but the spectators hold him back until he spits out the earth. This represents the tiger being forced to give up his victim. The Baiga then ties a string round all the members of the dead man's family standing together; he places some grain before a fowl saying, 'If my charm has worked, eat of this'; and as soon as the fowl has eaten some grain the Baiga states that his efforts have been successful and the attraction of the man-eater has been broken; he then breaks the string and all the party return to the village. A similar ceremony is performed when a man has died of snake-bite.

9. Religion.

The religion of the Kawars is entirely of an animistic character. They have a vague idea of a supreme deity whom they call Bhagwan and identify with the sun. They bow to him in reverence, but do no more as he does not interfere with men's concerns. They also have a host of local and tribal deities, of whom the principal is the Jhagra Khand or two-edged sword, already mentioned. The tiger is deified as Bagharra Deo and worshipped in every village for the protection of cattle from wild animals. They are also in great fear of a mythical snake with a red crest on its head, the mere sight of which is believed to cause death. It lives in deep pools in the forest which are known as Shesk Kund, and when it moves the grass along its track takes fire. If a man crosses its track his colour turns to black and he suffers excruciating pains which end in death, unless he is relieved by the Baiga. In one village where the snake was said to have recently appeared, the proprietor was so afraid of it that he never went out to his field without first offering a chicken. They have various local deities, of which the Mandwa Rani or goddess of the Mandwa hill in Korba zamindari may be noticed as an example. She is a mild-hearted maiden who puts people right when they have gone astray in the forest, or provides them with food for the night and guides them to the water-springs on her hill. Recently a wayfarer had lost his path when she appeared and, guiding him into it, gave him a basket of brinjals. [420] As the traveller proceeded he felt his burden growing heavier and heavier on his head, and finally on inspecting it found that the goddess had played a little joke on him and the brinjals had turned into stones. The Kawars implicitly believe this story. Rivers are tenanted by a set of goddesses called the Sat Bahini or seven sisters. They delight in playing near waterfalls, holding up the water and suddenly letting it drop. Trees are believed to be harmless sentient beings, except when occasionally possessed by evil spirits, such as the ghosts of man-eating tigers. Sometimes a tree catches hold of a cow's tail as the animal passes by and winds it up over a branch, and many cattle have lost their tails in this way. Every tank in which the lotus grows is tenanted by Purainha, the godling who tends this plant. The sword, the gun, the axe, the spear have each a special deity, and, in fact, in the Bangawan, the tract where the wilder Kawars dwell, it is believed that every article of household furniture is the residence of a spirit, and that if any one steals or injures it without the owner's leave, the spirit will bring some misfortune on him in revenge. Theft is said to be unknown among them, partly on this account and partly, perhaps, because no one has much property worth stealing. Instances of deified human beings are Kolin Sati, a Kol concubine of a zamindar of Pendra who died during pregnancy, and Sarangarhni, a Ghasia woman who was believed to have been the mistress of a Raja of Sarangarh and was murdered. Both are now Kawar deities. Thakur Deo is the deity of agriculture, and is worshipped by the whole village in concert at the commencement of the rains. Rice is brought by each cultivator and offered to the god, a little being sown at his shrine and the remainder taken home and mixed with the seed-grain to give it fertility. Two bachelors carry water round the village and sprinkle it on the brass plates of the cultivators or the roofs of their houses in imitation of rain.

10. Magic and witchcraft.

The belief in witchcraft is universal and every village has its tonhi or witch, to whom epidemic diseases, sudden illnesses and other calamities are ascribed. The witch is nearly always some unpopular old woman, and several instances are known of the murder of these unfortunate creatures, after their crimes had been proclaimed by the Baiga or medicine-man. In the famine of 1900 an old woman from another village came and joined one of the famine-kitchens. A few days afterwards the village watchman got ill, and when the Baiga was called in he said the old woman was a witch who had vowed the lives of twenty children to her goddess, and had joined the kitchen to kill them. The woman was threatened with a beating with castor-oil plants if she did not leave the village, and as the kitchen officer refused to supply her with food, she had to go. The Baiga takes action to stop and keep off epidemics by the methods common in Chhattisgarh villages. When a woman asks him to procure her offspring, the Baiga sits dharna in front of Devi's shrine and fasts until the goddess, wearied by his importunity, descends on him and causes him to prophesy the birth of a child. They have the usual belief in imitative and sympathetic magic. If a person is wounded by an axe he throws it first into fire and then into cold water. By the first operation he thinks to dry up the wound and prevent its festering, and by the second to keep it cool. Thin and lean children are weighed in a balance against moist cowdung with the idea that they will swell out as the dung dries up. In order to make a bullock's hump grow, a large grain-measure is placed over it. If cattle go astray an iron implement is placed in a pitcher of water, and it is believed that this will keep wild animals off the cattle, though the connection of ideas is obscure. To cure intermittent fever a man walks through a narrow passage between two houses. If the children in a family die, the Baiga takes the parents outside the village and breaks the stem of some plant in their presence. After this they never again touch that particular plant, and it is believed that their children will not die. Tuesday is considered the best day for weddings, Thursday and Monday for beginning field-work and Saturday for worshipping the gods. To have bats in one's granary is considered to be fortunate, and there is a large harmless snake which, they say, produces fertility when it makes its home in a field. If a crow caws on the house-top they consider that the arrival of a guest is portended. A snake or a cat crossing the road in front and a man sneezing are bad omens.

11. Dress.

The dress of the Kawars presents no special features calling for remark. Women wear pewter ornaments on the feet, and silver or pewter rings on the neck. They decorate the ears with silver pendants, but as a rule do not wear nose-rings. Women are tattooed on the breast with a figure of Krishna, on the arms with that of a deer, and on the legs with miscellaneous patterns. The operation is carried out immediately after marriage in accordance with the usual custom in Chhattisgarh.

12. Occupation and social rules.

The tribe consider military service to be their traditional occupation, but the bulk of them are now cultivators and labourers. Many of them are farmers of villages in the zamindaris. Rautias weave ropes and make sleeping-cots, but the other Kawars consider such work to be degrading. They have the ordinary Hindu rules of inheritance, but a son claiming partition in his father's lifetime is entitled to two bullocks and nothing more. When the property is divided on the death of the father, the eldest son receives an allowance known as jithai over and above his share, this being a common custom in the Chhattisgarh country where the Kawars reside. The tribe do not admit outsiders with the exception of Kaurai Rawat girls married to Kawars. They have a tribal panchayat or committee, the head of which is known as Pardhan. Its proceedings are generally very deliberate, and this has led to the saying: "The Ganda's panchayat always ends in a quarrel; the Gond's panchayat cares only for the feast; and the Kawar's panchayat takes a year to make up its mind." But when the Kawars have decided, they act with vigour. They require numerous goats as fines for the caste feast, and these, with fried urad, form the regular provision. Liquor, however, is only sparingly consumed. Temporary exclusion from caste is imposed for the usual offences, which include going to jail, getting the ears split, or getting maggots in a wound. The last is the most serious offence, and when the culprit is readmitted to social intercourse the Dhobi (washerman) is employed to eat with him first from five different plates, thus taking upon himself any risk of contagion from the impurity which may still remain. The Kawar eats flesh, fowls and pork, but abjures beef, crocodiles, monkeys and reptiles. From birds he selects the parrot, dove, pigeon, quail and partridge as fit for food. He will not eat meat sold in market because he considers it halali or killed in the Muhammadan fashion, and therefore impure. He also refuses a particular species of fish called rechha, which is black and fleshy and has been nicknamed 'The Teli's bullock.' The higher subtribes have now given up eating pork and the Tanwars abstain from fowls also. The Kawars will take food only from a Gond or a Kaurai Rawat, and Gonds will also take food from them. In appearance and manners they greatly resemble the Gonds, from whom they are hardly distinguished by the Hindus. Dalton [421] described them as "A dark, coarse-featured, broad-nosed, wide-mouthed and thick-lipped race, decidedly ugly, but taller and better set up than most of the other tribes. I have also found them a clean, well-to-do, industrious people, living in comfortable, carefully-constructed and healthily-kept houses and well dressed."

Of their method of dancing Ball [422] writes as follows: "In the evening some of the villagers--Kaurs they were I believe--entertained us with a dance, which was very different from anything seen among the Santals or Kols. A number of men performed a kind of ladies' chain, striking together as they passed one another's pronged sticks which they carried in their hands. By foot, hand and voice the time given by a tom-tom is most admirably kept."

KAYASTH

List of Paragraphs

1. General notice and legend of origin.
2. The origin of the caste.
3. The rise of the Kayasths under foreign rulers.
4. The original profession of the Kayasths.
5. The caste an offshoot from Brahmans.
6. The success of the Kayasths and their present position.
7. Subcastes.
8. Exogamy.
9. Marriage customs.
10. Marriage songs.
11. Social rules.
12. Birth Customs.
13. Religion.
14. Social customs.
15. Occupation.

1. General notice and legend of origin.

Kayasth, [423] Kaith, Lala.--The caste of writers and village accountants. The Kayasths numbered 34,000 persons in 1911 and were found over the whole Province, but they are most numerous in the Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts. In the Maratha country their place is to some extent taken by the Prabhus, the Maratha writer caste, and also by the Vidurs. No probable derivation of the name Kayasth appears to have been suggested. The earliest reference to Kayasths appears in an inscription in Malwa dated A.D. 738-739. The inscription is of a Maurya king, and the term Kayasth is used there as a proper noun to mean a writer. Another dated A.D. 987 is written by a Kayasth named Kanchana. An inscription on the Delhi Siwalik pillar dated A.D. 1164 is stated to have been written by a Kayasth named Sispati, the son of Mahava, by the king's command. The inscription adds that the Kayasth was of Gauda (Bengal) descent, and the term Kayasth is here used in the sense of a member of the Kayasth caste and not simply meaning a writer as in the Malwa inscription. [424] From the above account it seems possible that the caste was of comparatively late origin. According to their own legend the first progenitor of the Kayasths was Chitragupta, who was created by Brahma from his own body and given to Yama the king of the dead, to record the good and evil actions of all beings, and produce the result when they arrived in the kingdom of the dead. Chitragupta was called Kayastha, from kaya stha, existing in or incorporate in the body, because he was in the body of Brahma. Chitragupta was born of a dark complexion, and having a pen and ink-pot in his hand. He married two wives, the elder being the granddaughter of the sun, who bore him four sons, while the younger was the daughter of a Brahman Rishi, and by her he had eight sons. These sons were married to princesses of the Naga or snake race; the Nagas are supposed to have been the early nomad invaders from Central Asia, or Scythians. The twelve sons were entrusted with the government of different parts of India and the twelve subcastes of Kayasths are named after these localities.

2. The origin of the caste.

There has been much discussion on the origin of the Kayasth caste, which now occupies a high social position owing to the ability and industry of its members and their attainment of good positions in the public services. All indications, however, point to the fact that the caste has obtained within a comparatively recent period a great rise in social status, and formerly ranked much lower than it does now. Dr. Bhattacharya states: [425] "The Kayasths of Bengal are described in some of the Hindu sacred books as Kshatriyas, but the majority of the Kayasth clans do not wear the sacred thread, and admit their status as Sudra also by the observance of mourning for thirty days. But whether Kshatriya or Sudra, they belong to the upper layer of Hindu society, and though the higher classes of Brahmans neither perform their religious ceremonies nor enlist them among their disciples, yet the gifts of the Kayasths are usually accepted by the great Pandits of the country without hesitation." There is no doubt that a hundred years ago the Kayasths of Bengal and Bihar were commonly looked upon as Sudras. Dr. Buchanan, an excellent observer, states this several times. In Bihar he says that the Kayasths are the chief caste who are looked upon by all as pure Sudras and do not reject the appellation. [426] And again that "Pandits in Gorakhpur insist that Kayasths are mere Sudras, but on account of their influence included among gentry (Ashraf). All who have been long settled in the district live pure and endeavour to elevate themselves; but this has failed of success as kindred from other countries who still drink liquor and eat meat come and sit on the same mat with them." [427] Again he calls the Kayasths the highest Sudras next to Vaidyas. [428] And "In Bihar the penmen (Kayasthas) are placed next to the Kshatris and by the Brahmans are considered as illegitimate, to whom the rank of Sudras has been given, and in general they do not presume to be angry at this decision, which in Bengal would be highly offensive. [429] Colebrooke remarks of the caste: "Karana, from a Vaishya by a woman of the Sudra class, is an attendant on princes or secretary. The appellation of Kayastha is in general considered as synonymous with Karana; and accordingly the Karana tribe commonly assumes the name of Kayastha; but the Kayasthas of Bengal have pretensions to be considered as true Sudras, which the Jatimala seems to authorise, for the origin of the Kayastha is there mentioned before the subject of mixed castes is introduced, immediately after describing the Gopa as a true Sudra." [430] Similarly Colonel Dalton says: "I believe that in the present day the Kayasths arrogate to themselves the position of first among commoners, or first of the Sudras, but their origin is involved in some mystery. Intelligent Kayasths make no pretension to be other than Sudras." [431] In his Census Report of the United Provinces Mr. R. Burn discusses the subject as follows: [432] "On the authority of these Puranic accounts, and in view of the fact that the Kayasths observe certain of the Sanskars in the same method as is prescribed for Kshatriyas, the Pandits of several places have given formal opinions that the Kayasths are Kshatriyas. On the other hand, there is not the slightest doubt that the Kayasths are commonly regarded either as a mixed caste, with some relationship to two if not three of the twice-born castes, or as Sudras. This is openly stated in some of the reports, and not a single Hindu who was not a Kayasth of the many I have personally asked about the matter would admit privately that the Kayasths are twice-born, and the same opinion was expressed by Muhammadans, who were in a position to gauge the ordinary ideas held by Hindus, and are entirely free from prejudice in the matter. One of the most highly respected orthodox Brahmans in the Provinces wrote to me confirming this opinion, and at the same time asked that his name might not be published in connection with it. The matter has been very minutely examined in a paper sent up by a member of the Benares committee who came to the conclusion that while the Kayasths have been declared to be Kshatriyas in the Puranas, by Pandits, and in several judgments of subordinate courts, and to be Sudras by Manu and various commentators on him, by public opinion, and in a judgment of the High Court of Calcutta, they are really of Brahmanical origin. He holds that those who to-day follow literary occupations are the descendants of Chitragupta by his Brahman and Kshatriya wives, that the so-called Unaya Kayasths are descended from Vaishya mothers, and the tailors and cobblers from Sudra mothers. It is possible to trace to some extent points which have affected public opinion on this question. The Kayasths themselves admit that in the past their reputation as hard drinkers was not altogether unmerited, but they deserve the highest credit for the improvements which have been effected in this regard. There is also a widespread belief that the existing general observance by Kayasths of the ceremonies prescribed for the twice-born castes, especially in the matter of wearing the sacred thread, is comparatively recent. It is almost superfluous to add that notwithstanding the theoretical views held as to their origin and position, Kayasths undoubtedly rank high in the social scale. All European writers have borne testimony to their excellence and success in many walks of life, and even before the commencement of British power many Kayasths occupied high social positions and enjoyed the confidence of their rulers."

3. The rise of the Kayasths under foreign rulers.

It appears then a legitimate conclusion from the evidence that the claim of the Kayasths to be Kshatriyas is comparatively recent, and that a century ago they occupied a very much lower social position than they do now. We do not find them playing any prominent part in the early or mediæval Hindu kingdoms. There is considerable reason for supposing that their rise to importance took place under the foreign or non-Hindu governments in India. Thus a prominent Kayasth gentleman says of his own caste: [433] "The people of this caste were the first to learn Persian, the language of the Muhammadan invaders of India, and to obtain the posts of accountants and revenue collectors under Muhammadan kings. Their chief occupation is Government service, and if one of the caste adopts any other profession he is degraded in the estimation of his caste-fellows." Malcolm states: [434] "When the Muhammadans invaded Hindustan and conquered its Rajput princes, we may conclude that the Brahmans of that country who possessed knowledge or distinction fled from their intolerance and violence; but the conquerors found in the Kayastha or Kaith tribe more pliable and better instruments for the conduct of the details of their new Government. This tribe had few religious scruples, as they stand low in the scale of Hindus. They were, according to their own records, which there is no reason to question, qualified by their previous employment in all affairs of state; and to render themselves completely useful had only to add the language of their new masters to those with which they were already acquainted. The Muhammadans carried these Hindus into their southern conquests, and they spread over the countries of Central India and the Deccan; and some families who are Kanungos [435] of districts and patwaris of villages trace their settlement in this country from the earliest Muhammadan conquest." Similarly the Bombay Gazetteer states that under the arrangements made by the Emperor Akbar, the work of collecting the revenues of the twenty-eight Districts subordinate to Surat was entrusted to Kayasths. [436] And the Mathur Kayasths of Gujarat came from Mathura in the train of the Mughal viceroys as their clerks and interpreters. [437] Under the Muhammadans and for some time after the introduction of English rule, a knowledge of Persian was required in a Government clerk, and in this language most of the Kayasths were proficient, and some were excellent clerks. [438] Kayasths attained very high positions under the Muhammadan kings of Bengal and were in charge of the revenue department under the Nawabs of Murshidabad; while Rai Durlao Ram, prime minister of Ali Verdi Khan, was a Kayasth. The governors of Bihar in the period between the battle of Plassey and the removal of the exchequer to Calcutta were also Kayasths. [439] The Bhatnagar Kayasths, it is said, came to Bengal at the time of the Muhammadan conquest. [440] Under the Muhammadan kings of Oudh, too, numerous Kayasths occupied posts of high trust. [441] Similarly the Kayasths entered the service of the Gond kings of the Central Provinces. It is said that when the Gond ruler Bakht Buland of Deogarh in Chhindwara went to Delhi, he brought a number of Kayasths back with him and introduced them into the administration. One of these was appointed Bakshi or paymaster to the army of Bakht Buland. His descendant is a leading landholder in the Seoni District with an estate of eighty-four villages. Another Kayasth landholder of Jubbulpore and Mandla occupied some similar position in the service of the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla.

Finally in the English administration the Kayasths at first monopolised the ministerial service. In the United Provinces, Bengal and Bihar, it is stated that the number of Kayasths may perhaps even now exceed that of all other castes taken together. [442] And in Gujarat the Kayasths have lost in recent years the monopoly they once enjoyed as Government clerks. [443] The Mathura Kayasths of Gujarat are said to be declining in prosperity on account of the present keen competition for Government service, [444] of which it would thus appear they formerly had as large a share as they desired. The Prabhus, the writer-caste of western India corresponding to the Kayasths, were from the time of the earliest European settlements much trusted by English merchants, and when the British first became supreme in Gujarat they had almost a monopoly of the Government service as English writers. To such an extent was this the case that the word Prabhu or Purvu was the general term for a clerk who could write English, whether he was a Brahman, Sunar, Prabhu, Portuguese or of English descent. [445] Similarly the word Cranny was a name applied to a clerk writing English, and thence vulgarly applied in general to the East Indians or half-caste class from among whom English copyists were afterwards chiefly recruited. The original is the Hindi karani, kirani, which Wilson derives from the Sanskrit karan, a doer. Karana is also the name of the Orissa writer-caste, who are writers and accountants. It is probable that the name is derived from this caste, that is the Uriya Kayasths, who may have been chiefly employed as clerks before any considerable Eurasian community had come into existence. Writers' Buildings at Calcutta were recently still known to the natives as Karani ki Barik, and this supports the derivation from the Karans or Uriya Kayasths, the case thus being an exact parallel to that of the Prabhus in Bombay. [446]

4. The original profession of the Kayasths.

From the above argument it seems legitimate to deduce that the Kayasths formerly occupied a lower position in Hindu society. The Brahmans were no doubt jealous of them and, as Dr. Bhattacharya states, would not let them learn Sanskrit. [447] But when India became subject to foreign rulers the Kayasths readily entered their service, learning the language of their new employers in order to increase their efficiency. Thus they first learnt Persian and then English, and both by Muhammadans and English were employed largely, if not at first almost exclusively, as clerks in the public offices. It must be remembered that there were at this time practically only two other literate castes among Hindus, the Brahmans and the Banias. The Brahmans naturally would be for long reluctant to lower their dignity by taking service under foreign masters, whom they regarded as outcaste and impure; while the Banias down to within the last twenty years or so have never cared for education beyond the degree necessary for managing their business. Thus the Kayasths had at first almost a monopoly of public employment under foreign Governments. It has been seen also that it is only within about the last century that the status of the Kayasths has greatly risen, and it is a legitimate deduction that the improvement dates from the period when they began to earn distinction and importance under these governments. But they were always a literate caste, and the conclusion is that in former times they discharged duties to which literacy was essential in a comparatively humble sphere. "The earliest reference to the Kayasths as a distinct caste," Sir H. Risley states, "occurs in Yajnavalkya, who describes them as writers and village accountants, very exacting in their demands from the cultivators." The profession of patwari or village accountant appears to have been that formerly appertaining to the Kayasth caste, and it is one which they still largely follow. In Bengal it is now stated that Kayasths of good position object to marry their daughters in the families of those who have served as patwaris or village accountants. Patwaris, one of them said to Sir H. Risley, however rich they may be, are considered as socially lower than other Kayasths, e.g. Kanungo, Akhauri, Pande or Bakshi. Thus it appears that the old patwari Kayasths are looked down upon by those who have improved their position in more important branches of Government service. Kanungo, as explained, is a sort of head of the patwaris; and Bakshi, a post already noticed as held by a Kayasth in the Central Provinces, is the Muhammadan office of paymaster.

Similarly Mr. Crooke states that while the higher members of the caste stand well in general repute, the village Lala (or Kayasth), who is very often an accountant, is in evil odour for his astuteness and chicanery. In Central India, as already seen, they are Kanungos of Districts and patwaris of villages; and here again Malcolm states that these officials were the oldest settlers, and that the later comers, who held more important posts, did not intermarry with them. [448] In Gujarat the work of collecting the revenue in the Surat tract was entrusted to Kayasths. Till 1868, in the English villages, and up to the present time in the Baroda villages, the subdivisional accountants were mostly Kayasths. [449] In the Central Provinces the bulk of the patwaris in the northern Districts and a large proportion in other Districts outside the Maratha country are Kayasths. If the Kayasths were originally patwaris or village accountants, their former low status is fully explained. The village accountant would be a village servant, though an important one, and would be supported like the other village artisans by contributions of grain from the cultivators. This is the manner in which patwaris of the Central Provinces were formerly paid. His status would technically be lower than that of the cultivators, and he might be considered as a Sudra or a mixed caste.

5. The caste an offshoot from Brahmans.

As regards the origin of the Kayasths, the most probable hypothesis would seem to be that they were an offshoot of Brahmans of irregular descent. The reason for this is that the Kayasths must have learnt reading and writing from some outside source, and the Brahmans were the only class who could teach it them. The Brahmans were not disposed to spread the benefits of education, which was the main source of their power, with undue liberality, and when another literate class was required for the performance of duties which they disdained to discharge themselves, it would be natural that they should prefer to educate people closely connected with them and having claims on their support. In this connection the tradition recorded by Sir H. Risley may be noted to the effect that the ancestors of the Bengal Kayasths were five of the caste who came from Kanauj in attendance on five Brahmans who had been summoned by the king of Bengal to perform for him certain Vedic ceremonies. [450] It may be noted also that the Vidurs, another caste admittedly of irregular descent from Brahmans, occupy the position of patwaris and village accountants in the Maratha districts. The names of their subcastes indicate generally that the home of the Kayasths is the country of Hindustan, the United Provinces, and part of Bengal. This is also the place of origin of the northern Brahmans, as shown by the names of their most important groups. The Rajputs and Banias on the other hand belong mainly to Rajputana, Gujarat and Bundelkhand, and in most of this area the Kayasths are immigrants. It has been seen that they came to Malwa and Gujarat with the Muhammadans; the number of Kayasths returned from Rajputana at the census was quite small, and it is doubtful whether the Kayasths are so much as mentioned in Tod's Rajasthan. The hypothesis therefore of their being derived either from the Rajputs or Banias appears to be untenable. In the Punjab also the Kayasths are found only in small numbers and are immigrants. As stated by Sir H. Risley, both the physical type of the Kayasths and their remarkable intellectual attainments indicate that they possess Aryan blood; similarly Mr. Sherring remarks: "He nevertheless exhibits a family likeness to the Brahman; you may not know where to place him or how to designate him; but on looking at him and conversing with him you feel quite sure that you are in the presence of a Hindu of no mean order of intellect." [451] No doubt there was formerly much mixture of blood in the caste; some time ago the Kayasths were rather noted for keeping women of other castes, and Sir H. Risley gives instances of outsiders being admitted into the caste. Dr. Bhattacharya states [452] that, "There are many Kayasths in eastern Bengal who are called Ghulams or slaves. Some of them are still attached as domestic servants to the families of the local Brahmans, Vaidyas and aristocratic Kayasths. Some of the Ghulams have in recent times become rich landholders, and it is said that one of them has got the title of Rai Bahadur from Government. The marriage of a Ghulam generally takes place in his own class, but instances of Ghulams marrying into aristocratic Kayasth families are at present not very rare."

Further, the Dakshina Rarhi Kayasths affect the greatest veneration for the Brahmans and profess to believe in the legend that traces their descent from the five menial servants who accompanied the five Brahmans invited by king Adisur. The Uttara Rarhi Kayasths or those of northern Burdwan, on the other hand, do not profess the same veneration for Brahmans as the southerners, and deny the authenticity of the legend. It was this class which held some of the highest offices under the Muhammadan rulers of Bengal, and several leading zamindars or landholders at present belong to it. [453] It was probably in this capacity of village accountant that the Kayasth incurred the traditional hostility of one or two of the lower castes which still subsists in legend. [454] The influence which the patwari possesses at present, even under the most vigorous and careful supervision and with the liability to severe punishment for any abuse of his position, is a sufficient indication of what his power must have been when supervision and control were almost nominal. On this point Sir Henry Maine remarks in his description of the village community: "There is always a village accountant, an important personage among an unlettered population; so important indeed, and so conspicuous that, according to the reports current in India, the earliest English functionaries engaged in settlements of land were occasionally led, by their assumption that there must be a single proprietor somewhere, to mistake the accountant for the owner of the village, and to record him as such in the official register. [455] In Bihar Sir H. Risley shows that Kayasths have obtained proprietary right in a large area.

6. The success of the Kayasths and their present position.

It may be hoped that the leading members of the Kayasth caste will not take offence, because in the discussion of the origin of their caste, one of the most interesting problems of Indian ethnology, it has been necessary to put forward a hypothesis other than that which they hold themselves. It would be as unreasonable for a Kayasth to feel aggrieved at the suggestion that centuries ago their ancestors were to some extent the offspring of mixed unions as for an Englishman to be insulted by the statement that the English are of mixed descent from Saxons, Danes and Normans. If the Kayasths formerly had a comparatively humble status in Hindu society, then it is the more creditable to the whole community that they should have succeeded in raising themselves by their native industry and ability without adventitious advantages to the high position in which by general admission the caste now stands. At present the Kayasths are certainly the highest caste after Brahman, Rajput and Bania, and probably in Hindustan, Bengal and the Central Provinces they may be accounted as practically equal to Rajputs and Banias. Of the Bengal Kayasths Dr. Bhattacharya wrote: [456] "They generally prove equal to any position in which they are placed. They have been successful not only as clerks but in the very highest executive and judicial offices that have yet been thrown open to the natives of this country. The names of the Kayastha judges, Dwarka Nath Mitra, Ramesh Chandra Mitra and Chandra Madhava Ghose are well known and respected by all. In the executive services the Kayasths have attained the same kind of success. One of them, Mr. R. C. Dutt, is now the Commissioner of one of the most important divisions of Bengal. Another, named Kalika Das Datta, has been for several years employed as Prime Minister of the Kuch Bihar State, giving signal proofs of his ability as an administrator by the success with which he has been managing the affairs of the principality in his charge." In the Central Provinces, too, Kayasth gentlemen hold the most important positions in the administrative, judicial and public works departments, as well as being strongly represented in the Provincial and subordinate executive services. And in many Districts Kayasths form the backbone of the ministerial staff of the public offices, a class whose patient laboriousness and devotion to duty, with only the most remote prospects of advancement to encourage them to persevere, deserve high commendation.

7. Subcastes.

The northern India Kayasths are divided into the following twelve subcastes, which are mainly of a territorial character:

(a) Srivastab.
(b) Saksena.
(c) Bhatnagar.
(d) Ambastha or Amisht.
(e) Ashthana or Aithana.
(f) Balmik or Valmiki.
(g) Mathur.
(h) Kulsreshtha.
(i) Suryadhwaja.
(k) Karan.
(l) Gaur.
(m) Nigum.

(a) The Srivastab subcaste take their name from the old town of Sravasti, now Sahet-Mahet, in the north of the United Provinces. They are by far the most numerous subcaste both there and here. In these Provinces nearly all the Kayasths are Srivastabs except a few Saksenas. They are divided into two sections, Khare and Dusre, which correspond to the Bisa and Dasa groups of the Banias. The Khare are those of pure descent, and the Dusre the offspring of remarried widows or other irregular alliances.

(b) The Saksena are named from the old town of Sankisa, in the Farukhabad District. They also have the Khare and Dusre groups, and a third section called Kharua, which is said to mean pure, and is perhaps the most aristocratic. A number of Saksena Kayasths are resident in Seoni District, where their ancestors were settled by Bakht Buland, the Gond Raja of Deogarh in Chhindwara. These constituted hitherto a separate endogamous group, marrying among themselves, but since the opening of the railway negotiations have been initiated with the Saksenas of northern India, with the result that intermarriage is to be resumed between the two sections.

(c) The Bhatnagar take their name from the old town of Bhatner, near Bikaner. They are divided into the Vaishya or Kadim, of pure descent, and the Gaur, who are apparently the offspring of intermarriage with the Gaur subcaste.

(d) Ambastha or Amisht. These are said to have settled on the Girnar hill, and to take their name from their worship of the goddess Ambaji or Amba Devi. Mr. Crooke suggests that they may be connected with the old Ambastha caste who were noted for their skill in medicine. The practice of surgery is the occupation of some Kayasths. [457] It is also supposed that the names may come from the Ameth pargana of Oudh. The Ambastha Kayasths are chiefly found in south Bihar, where they are numerous and influential. [458]

(e) Ashthana or Aithana. This is an Oudh subcaste. They have two groups, the Purabi or eastern, who are found in Jaunpur and its neighbourhood, and the Pachhauri or western, who live in or about Lucknow.

(f) Balmik or Valmiki. These are a subcaste of western India. Balmik or Valmik was the traditional author of the Ramayana, but they do not trace their descent from him. The name may have some territorial meaning. The Valmiki are divided into three endogamous groups according as they live in Bombay, Cutch or Surat.

(g) The Mathur subcaste are named after Mathura or Muttra. They are also split into the local groups Dihlawi of Delhi, Katchi of Cutch and Lachauli of Jodhpur.

(h) The Kulsreshtha or 'well-born' Kayasths belong chiefly to the districts of Agra and Etah. They are divided into the Barakhhera, or those of twelve villages, and the Chha Khera of six villages.

(i) The Suryadhwaja subcaste belong to Ballia, Ghazi-pur and Bijnor. Their origin is obscure. They profess excessive purity, and call themselves Sakadwipi or Scythian Brahmans.

(k) The Karan subcaste belong to Bihar, and have two local divisions, the Gayawale from Gaya, and the Tirhutia from Tirhut.

(l) The Gaur Kayasths, like the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs, apparently take their name from Gaur or Lakhnauti, the old kingdom of Bengal. They have the Khare and Dusre subdivisions, and also three local groups named after Bengal, Delhi and Budaun.

(m) The Nigum subcaste, whose name is apparently the same as that of the Nikumbh Rajputs, are divided into two endogamous groups, the Kadim or old, and the Unaya, or those coming from Unao. Sometimes the Unaya are considered as a separate thirteenth subcaste of mixed descent.

8. Exogamy.

Educated Kayasths now follow the standard rule of exogamy, which prohibits marriage between persons within five degrees of affinity on the female side and seven on the male. That is, persons having a common grandparent on the female side cannot intermarry, while for those related through males the prohibition extends a generation further back. This is believed to be the meaning of the rule but it is not quite clear. In Damoh the Srivastab Kayasths still retain exogamous sections which are all named after places in the United Provinces, as Hamirpur ki baink (section), Lucknowbar, Kashi ki Pande (a wise man of Benares), Partabpuria, Cawnpore-bar, Sultanpuria and so on. They say that the ancestors of these sections were families who came from the above places in northern India, and settled in Damoh; here they came to be known by the places from which they had immigrated, and so founded new exogamous sections. A man cannot marry in his own section, or that of his mother or grandmother. In the Central Provinces a man may marry two sisters, but in northern India this is prohibited.

9. Marriage customs.

Marriage may be infant or adult, and, as in many places husbands are difficult to find, girls occasionally remain unmarried till nearly twenty, and may also be mated to boys younger than themselves. In northern India a substantial bridegroom-price is paid, which increases for a well-educated boy, but this custom is not so well established in the Central Provinces. However, in Damoh it is said that a sum of Rs. 200 is paid to the bridegroom's family. The marriage ceremony is performed according to the proper ritual for the highest or Brahma form of marriage recognised by Manu with Vedic texts. When the bridegroom arrives at the bride's house he is given sherbet to drink. It is said that he then stands on a pestle, and the bride's mother throws wheat-flour balls to the four points of the compass, and shows the bridegroom a miniature plough, a grinding pestle, a churning-staff and an arrow, and pulls his nose. The bridegroom's struggles to prevent his mother-in-law pulling his nose are the cause of much merriment, while the two parties afterwards have a fight for the footstool on which he stands. [459] An image of a cow in flour is then brought, and the bridegroom pierces its nostrils with a little stick of gold. Kayasths do not pierce the nostrils of bullocks themselves, but these rites perhaps recall their dependence on agriculture in their capacity of village accountants.

After the wedding the bridegroom's father takes various kinds of fruit, as almonds, dates and raisins, and fills the bride's lap with them four times, finally adding a cocoanut and a rupee. This is a ceremony to induce fertility, and the cocoanut perhaps represents a child.

10. Marriage songs.

The following are some specimens of songs sung at weddings. The first is about Rama's departure from Ajodhia when he went to the forests:

Now Hari (Rama) has driven his chariot forth to the jungle.
His father and mother are weeping.
Kaushilya [460] stood up and said, 'Now, whom shall I call my
diamond and my ruby?'
Dasrath went to the tower of his palace to see his son;
As Rama's chariot set forth under the shade of the trees, he
wished that he might die.
Bharat ran after his brother with naked feet.
He said, 'Oh brother, you are going to the forest, to whom do
you give the kingdom of Oudh?'
Rama said, 'When fourteen years have passed away I shall come
back from the jungles. Till then I give the kingdom to you.'

The following is a love dialogue:

Make a beautiful garden for me to see my king.
In that garden what flowers shall I set?
Lemons, oranges, pomegranates, figs.
In that garden what music shall there be?
A tambourine, a fiddle, a guitar and a dancing girl.
In that garden what attendants shall there be?
A writer, a supervisor, a secretary for writing letters. [461]

The next is a love-song by a woman:

How has your countenance changed, my lord?
Why speak you not to your slave?
If I were a deer in the forest and you a famous warrior, would
you not shoot me with your gun?
If I were a fish in the water and you the son of a fisherman,
would you not catch me with your drag-net?
If I were a cuckoo in the garden and you the gardener's son,
would you not trap me with your liming-stick?

The last is a dialogue between Radha and Krishna. Radha with her maidens was bathing in the river when Krishna stole all their clothes and climbed up a tree with them. Girdhari is a name of Krishna:

R. You and I cannot be friends, Girdhari; I am wearing a
silk-embroidered cloth and you a black blanket.

You are the son of old Nand, the shepherd, and I am a princess
of Mathura.

You have taken my clothes and climbed up a kadamb tree. I am
naked in the river.

K. I will not give you your clothes till you come out of the water.

R. If I come out of the water the people will laugh and clap at me.
All my companions seeing your beauty say, 'You have vanquished us;
we are overcome.'

11. Social rules.

Polygamy is permitted but is seldom resorted to, except for the sake of offspring. Neither widow-marriage nor divorce are recognised, and either a girl or married woman is expelled from the caste if detected in a liaison. A man may keep a woman of another caste if he does not eat from her hand nor permit her to eat in the chauk or purified place where he and his family take their meals. The practice of keeping women was formerly common but has now been largely suppressed. Women of all castes were kept except Brahmans and Kayasths. Illegitimate children were known as Dogle or Surait and called Kayasths, ranking as an inferior group of the caste. And it is not unlikely that in the past the descendants of such irregular unions have been admitted to the Dusre or lower branch of the different subcastes.

12. Birth customs.

During the seventh month of a woman's pregnancy a dinner is given to the caste-fellows and songs are sung. After this occasion the woman must not go outside her own village, nor can she go to draw water from a well or to bathe in a tank. She can only go into the street or to another house in her own village.

On the sixth day after a birth a dinner is given to the caste and songs are sung. The women bring small silver coins or rupees and place them in the mother's lap. The occasion of the first appearance of the signs of maturity in a girl is not observed at all if she is in her father's house. But if she has gone to her father-in-law's house, she is dressed in new clothes, her hair after being washed is tied up, and she is seated in the chauk or purified space, while the women come and sing songs.

13. Religion.

The Kayasths venerate the ordinary Hindu deities. They worship Chitragupta, their divine ancestor, at weddings and at the Holi and Diwali festivals. Twice a year they venerate the pen and ink, the implements of their profession, to which they owe their great success. The patwaris in Hoshangabad formerly received small fees, known as diwat puja, from the cultivators for worshipping the ink-bottle on their behalf, presumably owing to the idea that, if neglected, it might make a malicious mistake in the record of their rights.

14. Social customs.