Chapter XIX: Part 19

The dead are burnt, and the proper offerings are made on the anniversaries, according to the prescribed Hindu ritual. Kayasth names usually end in Prasad, Singh, Baksh, Sewak, and Lala in the Central Provinces. Lala, which is a term of endearment, is often employed as a synonym for the caste. Dada or uncle is a respectful term of address for Kayasths. Two names are usually given to a boy, one for ceremonial and the other for ordinary use.

The Kayasths will take food cooked with water from Brahmans, and that cooked without water (pakki) from Rajputs and Banias. Some Hindustani Brahmans, as well as Khatris and certain classes of Banias, will take pakki food from Kayasths. Kayasths of different subcastes will sometimes also take it from each other. They will give the huqqa with the reed in to members of their own subcaste, and without the reed to any Kayasth. The caste eat the flesh of goats, sheep, fish, and birds. They were formerly somewhat notorious for drinking freely, but a great reform has been effected in this respect by the community itself through the agency of their caste conference, and many are now total abstainers.

15. Occupation.

The occupations of the Kayasths have been treated in discussing the origin of the caste. They set the greatest store by their profession of writing and say that the son of a Kayasth should be either literate or dead. The following is the definition of a Lekhak or writer, a term said to be used for the Kayasths in Puranic literature:

"In all courts of justice he who is acquainted with the languages of all countries and conversant with all the Shastras, who can arrange his letters in writing in even and parallel lines, who is possessed of presence of mind, who knows the art of how and what to speak in order to carry out an object in view, who is well versed in all the Shastras, who can express much thought in short and pithy sentences, who is apt to understand the mind of one when one begins to speak, who knows the different divisions of countries and of time, [462] who is not a slave to his passions, and who is faithful to the king deserves the name and rank of a Lekhak or writer." [463]

Kewat

1. General notice.

Kewat, Khewat, Kaibartta. [464]--A caste of fishermen, boatmen, grain-parchers, and cultivators, chiefly found in the Chhattisgarh Districts of Drug, Raipur, and Bilaspur. They numbered 170,000 persons in 1911. The Kewats or Kaibarttas, as they are called in Bengal, are the modern representatives of the Kaivartas, a caste mentioned in Hindu classical literature. Sir H. Risley explains the origin of the name as follows: [465] "Concerning the origin of the name Kaibartta there has been considerable difference of opinion. Some derive it from ka, water, and vartta, livelihood; but Lassen says that the use of ka in this sense is extremely unusual in early Sanskrit, and that the true derivation is Kivarta, a corruption of Kimvarta, meaning a person following a low or degrading occupation. This, he adds, would be in keeping with the pedigree assigned to the caste in Manu, where the Kaivarta, also known as Margava or Dasa, is said to have been begotten by a Nishada father and an Ayogavi mother, and to subsist by his labour in boats. On the other hand, the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana gives the Kaibartta a Kshatriya father and a Vaishya mother, a far more distinguished parentage; for the Ayogavi having been born from a Sudra father and a Vaishya mother is classed as pratiloma, begotten against the hair, or in the inverse order of the precedence of the castes." The Kewats are a mixed caste. Mr. Crooke says that they merge on one side into the Mallahs and on the other into the Binds. In the Central Provinces their two principal subdivisions are the Laria and Uriya, or the residents of the Chhattisgarh and Sambalpur plains respectively. The Larias are further split up into the Larias proper, the Kosbonwas, who grow kosa or tasar silk cocoons, and the Binjhwars and Dhuris (grain-parchers). The Binjhwars are a Hinduised group of the Baiga tribe, and in Bhandara they have become a separate Hindu caste, dropping the first letter of the name, and being known as Injhwar. The Binjhwar Kewats are a group of the same nature. The Dhuris are grain-parchers, and there is a separate Dhuri caste; but as grain-parching is also a traditional occupation of the Kewats, the Dhuris may be an offshoot from them. The Kewats are so closely connected with the Dhimars that it is difficult to make any distinction; in Chhattisgarh it is said that the Dhimars will not act as ferrymen, while the Kewats will not grow or sell singara or water-nut. The Dhimars worship their fishing-nets on the Akti day, which the Kewats will not do. Both the Kewats and Dhimars are almost certainly derived from the primitive tribes. The Kewats say that formerly the Hindus would not take water from them; but on one occasion during his exile Rama came to them and asked them to ferry him across a river; before doing so they washed his feet and drank the water, and since that time the Hindus have considered them pure and take water from their hands. This story has no doubt been invented to explain the fact that Brahmans will take water from the non-Aryan Kewats, the custom having in reality been adopted as a convenience on account of their employment as palanquin-bearers and indoor servants. But in Saugor, where they are not employed as servants, and also grow san-hemp, their position is distinctly lower and no high caste will take water from them.

2. Exogamous divisions and marriage.

The caste have also a number of exogamous groups, generally named after plants or animals, or bearing some nickname given to the reputed founder. Instances of the first class are Tuma, a gourd, Karsayal, a deer, Bhalwa, a bear, Ghughu, an owl, and so on. Members of such a sept abstain from injuring the animal after which the sept is named or eating its flesh; those of the Tuma sept worship a gourd with offerings of milk and a cocoanut at the Holi festival. Instances of titular names are Garhtod, one who destroyed a fort, Jhagarha quarrelsome, Dehri priest, Kala black, and so on. One sept is named Rawat, its founder having probably belonged to the grazier caste. Members of this sept must not visit the temple of Mahadeo at Rajim during the annual fair, but give no explanation of the prohibition. Others are the Ahira, also from the Ahir (herdsman) caste; the Rautele, which is the name of a subdivision of Kols and other tribes; and the Sonwani or 'gold water' sept, which is often found among the primitive tribes. In some localities these three have now developed into separate subcastes, marrying among themselves; and if any of their members become Kabirpanthis, the others refuse to eat and intermarry with them. The marriage of members of the same sept is prohibited, and also the union of first cousins. Girls are generally married under ten years of age, but if a suitable husband cannot be found for a daughter, the parents will make her over to any member of the caste who offers himself on condition that he bears the expenses of the marriage. In Sambalpur she is married to a flower. Sir H. Risley notes [466] the curious fact that in Bihar it is deemed less material that the bridegroom should be older than the bride than that he should be taller. "This point is of the first importance, and is ascertained by actual measurement. If the boy shorter than the girl, or if his height is exactly the same as hers, it is believed that the union of the two would bring ill-luck, and the match is at once broken off." The marriage is celebrated in the customary manner by walking round the sacred pole, after which the bridegroom marks the forehead of the bride seven times with vermilion, parts her hair with a comb, and then draws her cloth over her head. The last act signifies that the bride has become a married woman, as a girl never covers her head. In Bengal [467] a drop of blood is drawn from the fingers of the bride and bridegroom and mixed with rice, and each eats the rice containing the blood of the other. The anointing with vermilion is probably a substitute for this. Widow-remarriage and divorce are permitted. In Sambalpur a girl who is left a widow under ten years of age is remarried with full rites as a virgin.

3. Social customs.

The Kewats worship the ordinary Hindu deities and believe that a special goddess, Chaurasi Devi, dwells in their boats and keeps them from sinking. She is propitiated at the beginning of the rains and in times of flood, and an image of her is painted on their boats. They bury the dead, laying the corpse with the feet to the south, while some clothes, cotton, til and salt are placed in the grave, apparently as a provision for the dead man's soul. They worship their ancestors at intervals on a Monday or a Saturday with an offering of a fowl. As is usual in Chhattisgarh, their rules as to food are very lax, and they will eat both fowls and pork. Nevertheless Brahmans will take water at their hands and eat the rice and gram which they have parched. The caste consider fishing to have been their original occupation, and tell a story to the effect that their ancestors saved the deity in their boat on the occasion of the Deluge, and in return were given the power of catching three or four times as many fish as ordinary persons in the same space of time. Some of them parch gram and rice, and others act as coolies and banghy-bearers. [468] Kewats are usually in poor circumstances, but they boast that the town of Bilaspur is named after Bilasa Keotin, a woman of their caste. She was married, but was sought after by the king of the country, so she held out her cloth to the sun, calling on him to set it on fire, and was burnt alive, preserving her virtue. Her husband burnt himself with her, and the pair ascended to heaven.

KHAIRWAR

[Authorities: Colonel Dalton's Ethnology of Bengal; Sir H. Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal; Mr. Crooke's Tribes and Castes of the N.-W.P. and Oudh.]

List of Paragraphs

1. Historical notice of the tribe.
2. Its origin.
3. Tribal subdivisions.
4. Exogamous septs.
5. Marriage.
6. Disposal of the dead.
7. Religion.
8. Inheritance.
9. The Khairwas of Damoh.

1. Historical notice of the tribe.

Khairwar, Kharwar, Khaira, Khairwa. [469]--A primitive tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau and Bihar. Nearly 20,000 Khairwars are now under the jurisdiction of the Central Provinces, of whom two-thirds belong to the recently acquired Sarguja State, and the remainder to the adjoining States and the Bilaspur District. A few hundred Khairwars or Khairwas are also returned from the Damoh District in the Bundelkhand country. Colonel Dalton considers the Khairwars to be closely connected with the Cheros. He relates that the Cheros, once dominant in Gorakhpur and Shahabad, were expelled from these tracts many centuries ago by the Gorkhas and other tribes, and came into Palamau. "It is said that the Palamau population then consisted of Kharwars, Gonds, Mars, Korwas, Parheyas and Kisans. Of these the Kharwars were the people of most consideration. The Cheros conciliated them and allowed them to remain in peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sarguja; all the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained military service grants of land, which they still retain. It is popularly asserted that at the commencement of the Chero rule in Palamau they numbered twelve thousand families and the Kharwars eighteen thousand, and if an individual of one or the other is asked to what tribe he belongs, he will say not that he is a Chero or a Kharwar, but that he belongs to the twelve thousand or the eighteen thousand, as the case may be. Intermarriages between Chero and Kharwar families have taken place. A relative of the Palamau Raja married a sister of Maninath Singh, Raja of Ramgarh, and this is among themselves an admission of identity of origin, as both claiming to be Rajputs they could not intermarry till it was proved to the satisfaction of the family priest that the parties belonged to the same class.... The Rajas of Ramgarh and Jashpur are members of this tribe, who have nearly succeeded in obliterating their Turanian traits by successive intermarriages with Aryan families. The Jashpur Raja is wedded to a lady of pure Rajput blood, and by liberal dowries has succeeded in obtaining a similar union for three of his daughters. It is a costly ambition, but there is no doubt that the liberal infusion of fresh blood greatly improves the Kharwar physique." [470] This passage demonstrates the existence of a close connection between the Cheros and Khairwars. Elsewhere Colonel Dalton connects the Santals with the Khairwars as follows: [471] "A wild goose coming from the great ocean alighted at Ahiri Pipri and there laid two eggs. From these two eggs a male and female were produced, who were the parents of the Santal race. From Ahiri Pipri our (Santal) ancestors migrated to Hara Dutti, and there they greatly increased and multiplied and were called Kharwar." This also affords some reason for supposing that the Khairwars are an offshoot of the Cheros and Santals. Mr. Crooke remarks, "That in Mirzapur the people themselves derive their name either from their occupation as makers of catechu (khair) or on account of their emigration from some place called Khairagarh, regarding which there is a great difference of opinion. If the Santal tradition is to be accepted, Khairagarh is the place of that name in the Hazaribagh District; but the Mirzapur tradition seems to point to some locality in the south or west, in which case Khairagarh may be identified with the most important of the Chhattisgarh Feudatory States, or with the pargana of that name in the Allahabad District." [472] According to their own traditions in Chota Nagpur, Sir H. Risley states that, [473] "The Kharwars declare their original seat to have been the fort of Rohtas, so called as having been the chosen abode of Rohitaswa, son of Harischandra, of the family of the Sun. From this ancient house they also claim descent, calling themselves Surajvansis, and wearing the Janeo or caste thread distinguishing the Rajputs. A less flattering tradition makes them out to be the offspring of a marriage between a Kshatriya man and a Bhar woman contracted in the days of King Ben, when distinctions of caste were abolished and men might marry whom they would." A somewhat similar story of themselves is told by the tribe in the Bamra State. Here they say that their original ancestors were the Sun and a daughter of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, who lived in the town of Sara. She was very beautiful and the Sun desired her, and began blowing into a conch-shell to express his passion. While the girl was gaping at the sight and sound, a drop of the spittle fell into her mouth and impregnated her. Subsequently a son was born from her arm and a daughter from her thigh, who were known as Bhujbalrai and Janghrai. [474] Bhujbalrai was given great strength by the Sun, and he fought with the people of the country, and became king of Rathgarh. But in consequence of this he and his family grew proud, and Lakshmi determined to test them whether they were worthy of the riches she had given them. So she came in the guise of a beggar to the door, but was driven away without alms. On this she cursed them, and said that their descendants, the Khairwars, should always be poor, and should eke out a scanty subsistence from the forests. And in consequence the Khairwars have ever since been engaged in boiling wood for catechu. Mr. Hira Lal identifies the Rathgarh of this story with the tract of Rath in the north of the Raigarh State and the town of Sara, where Lakshmi's daughter lived and her children were born, with Saria in Sarangarh.

2. Its origin.

On the information available as to the past history of the tribe it seems probable that the Khairwars may, as suggested by Sir H. Risley, be an offshoot from some other group. The most probable derivation of the name seems to be from the khair or catechu tree (Acacia catechu); and it may be supposed that it was the adoption as a calling of the making of catechu which led to their differentiation. Mr. Crooke derives their name either from the khair tree or a place called Khairagarh; but this latter name almost certainly means 'The fort of the khair trees.' The Khairwas or Khairwars of the Kaimur hills, who are identified by Colonel Dalton and in the India Census of 1901 with the Khairwars of Chota Nagpur, are certainly named after the tree; they are generally recognised as being Gonds who have taken to the business of boiling catechu, and are hence distinguished, being a little looked down upon by other Gonds. Mr. Crooke describes them in Mirzapur as "Admittedly a compound of various jungle tribes who have taken to this special occupation; while according to another account they are the offspring of the Saharias or Saonrs, with whom their sept names are said to be identical." He also identifies them with the Kathkaris of Bombay, whose name means 'makers of katha or prepared catechu.' The Khairwars of Chota Nagpur have everywhere a subdivision which makes catechu, this being known as Khairchura in the Central Provinces, Khairi in Bengal and Khairaha in the United Provinces. This group is looked down upon by the other Khairwars, who consider their occupation to be disreputable and do not marry with them. Possibly the preparation of catechu, like basket- and mat-making, is despised as being a profession practised by primitive dwellers in forests, and so those Khairwars who have become more civilised are now anxious to disclaim it. Sir H. Risley has several times pointed out the indeterminate nature of the constitution of the Chota Nagpur tribes, between several of whom intermarriage is common. And it seems certain that the tribes as we know them now must have been differentiated from one or more common stocks much in the same fashion as castes, though rather by the influence of local settlement than by differences of occupation, and at a much earlier date. And on the above facts it seems likely that the Khairwars of Chota Nagpur are an occupational offshoot of the Cheros and Santals, as those of the Kaimur hills are of the Gonds and Savars.

3. Tribal subdivisions.

Colonel Dalton states that the tribe had four subdivisions, Bhogta, Mahto, Rawat and Manjhi. Of these Mahto simply means a village headman, and is used as a title by many castes and tribes; Rawat is a term meaning chief, and is in common use as a title; and Manjhi too is a title, being specially applied to boatmen, and also means a village headman among the Santals. These divisions, too, afford some reason for considering the tribe to be a mixed group. Other occupational subtribes are recorded by Sir H. Risley, and are found in the Central Provinces, but these apparently have grown up since Colonel Dalton's time.

The most important group in Bengal are the Bhogtas, who are found, says Colonel Dalton, "In the hills of Palamau, skirting Sarguja, in Tori and Bhanwar Pahar of Chota Nagpur and other places. They have always had an indifferent reputation. The head of the clan in Palamau was a notorious freebooter, who, after having been outlawed and successfully evaded every attempt to capture him, obtained a jagir [475] on his surrendering and promising to keep the peace. He kept to his engagement and died in fair repute, but his two sons could not resist the opportunity afforded by the disturbances of 1857-58. After giving much trouble they were captured; one was hanged, the other transported for life and the estate was confiscated." Mr. Crooke notes that the Khairwars since adopting Hinduism performed human sacrifices to Kali. Some of our people who fell into their hands during the Mutiny were so dealt with. [476]

In the Central Provinces there is a group known as Surajvansi or Descendants of the Sun, or Janeodhari, 'Those who wear the sacred thread.' This is the aristocratic division of the caste, to which the chiefs and zamindars belong, and according to the usual practice they have consolidated their higher position by marrying only among themselves. Other groups are the Dualbandhi, who say that they are so called because they make a livelihood by building the earthen diwals or walls for houses and yards; but in Mirzapur they derive the name from dual, a leather belt which is supposed to have been the uniform of their forefathers when serving as soldiers. [477] The Patbandhi or silk-makers, according to their own story, are thus named because their ancestors were once very rich and wore silk; but a more probable hypothesis is that they were rearers of tasar silk cocoons. The Beldar or Matkora work as navvies, and are also known as Kawarvansi or 'Descendants of the Kawars,' another tribe of the locality; and last come the Khairchura, who take their name from the khair tree and are catechu-makers.

4. Exogamous septs.

The tribe have a large number of exogamous groups named after plants and animals. Members of the mouse, tortoise, parrot, pig, monkey, vulture, banyan tree and date-palm septs worship their totem animal or tree, and when they find the dead body of the animal they throw away an earthen cooking-pot to purify themselves, as is done when a member of the family dies. Those of the Dhan (rice), Non (salt), Dila (plough) and Dhenki (rice pounding-lever) septs cannot dispense with the use of these objects, but make a preliminary obeisance before employing them. Those of the Kansi sept sprinkle water mixed with kans [478] grass over the bride and bridegroom at the marriage ceremony, and those of the Chandan or sandalwood sept apply sandal-paste to their foreheads. They cannot clearly explain the meaning of these observances, but some of them have a vague idea that they are descended from the totem object.

5. Marriage.

Marriage is either infant or adult, and in the latter case a girl is not disposed of without her consent. A bride-price varying from five to ten rupees is paid, and in the case of a girl given to a widower the amount is doubled. The Hindu ceremonial has been adopted for the wedding, and an auspicious day is fixed by a Brahman. In Bengal Sir H. Risley notes that "Remnants of non-Aryan usage may be discerned in the marriage ceremony itself. Both parties must first go through the form of marriage to a mango tree or at least a branch of the tree; and must exchange blood mixed with sindur, though in the final and binding act sindur alone is smeared by the bridegroom upon the bride's forehead and the parting of her hair." As has been pointed out by Mr. Crooke, the custom of smearing vermilion on the bride's forehead is a substitute for an earlier anointing with blood; just as the original idea underlying the offering of a cocoanut was that of substitution for a human head. In some cases blood alone is still used. Thus Sir H. Risley notes that among the Birhors the marriage rite is performed by drawing blood from the little fingers of the bride and bridegroom and smearing it on each of them. [479] The blood-covenant by which a bride was admitted to her husband's sept by being smeared with his blood is believed to have been a common rite among primitive tribes.

6. Disposal of the dead.

As a rule, the tribe bury the dead, though the Hindu custom of cremation is coming into fashion among the well-to-do. Before the interment they carry the corpse seven times round the grave, and it is buried with the feet pointing to the north. They observe mourning for ten days and abstain from animal food and liquor during that period. A curious custom is reported from the Bilaspur District, where it is said that children cut a small piece of flesh from the finger of a dead parent and swallow it, considering this as a requital for the labour of the mother in having carried the child for nine months in her womb. So in return they carry a piece of her flesh in their bodies. But the correct explanation as given by Sir J. G. Frazer is that they do it to prevent themselves from being haunted by the ghosts of their parents. "Thus Orestes, [480] after he had gone mad from murdering his mother, recovered his wits by biting off one of his own fingers; since his victim was his own mother it might be supposed that the tasting of his own blood was the same as hers; and the furies of his murdered mother, which had appeared black to him before, appeared white as soon as he had mutilated himself in this way. The Indians of Guiana believe that an avenger of blood who has slain his man must go mad unless he tastes the blood of his victim, the notion apparently being that the ghost drives him crazy. A similar custom was observed by the Maoris in battle. When a warrior had slain his foe in combat, he tasted his blood, believing that this preserved him from the avenging spirit (atua) of his victim; for they imagined that 'the moment a slayer had tasted the blood of the slain, the dead man became a part of his being and placed him under the protection of the atua or guardian-spirit of the deceased.' Some of the North American Indians also drank the blood of their enemies in battle. Strange as it may seem, this truly savage superstition exists apparently in Italy to this day. There is a widespread opinion in Calabria that if a murderer is to escape he must suck his victim's blood from the reeking blade of the dagger with which he did the deed."

7. Religion.

The religion of the tribe is of the usual animistic type. Colonel Dalton notes that they have, like the Kols, a village priest, known as Pahan or Baiga. He is always one of the impure tribes, a Bhuiya, a Kharwar or a Korwa, and he offers a great triennial sacrifice of a buffalo in the sacred grove, or on a rock near the village. The fact that the Khairwars employed members of the Korwa and Bhuiya tribes as their village priests may be taken to indicate that the latter are the earlier residents of the country, and are on this account employed by the Khairwars as later arrivals for the conciliation of the indigenous deities. Colonel Dalton states that the Khairwars made no prayers to any of the Hindu gods, but when in great trouble they appealed to the sun. In the Central Provinces the main body of the tribe, and particularly those who belong to the landholding class, profess the Hindu religion.

8. Inheritance.

The Khairwars have now also adopted the Hindu rule of inheritance, and have abandoned the tribal custom which Sir H. Risley records as existing in Bengal. "Here the eldest son of the senior wife, even if younger than one of the sons of the second wife, inherits the entire property, subject to the obligation of providing for all other legitimate children. If the inheritance consists of land, the heir is expected to create separate maintenance grants in favour of his younger brothers. Daughters can never inherit, but are entitled to live in the ancestral home till they are married." [481]

9. The Khairwas of Damoh.

The Khairwas or Khairwars of the Kaimur hills are derived, as already seen, from the Gonds and Savars, and therefore are ethnologically a distinct group from those of the Chota Nagpur plateau, who have been described above. But as nearly every caste is made up of diverse ethnological elements held together by the tie of a common occupation, it does not seem worth while to treat these groups separately. Colonel Dalton, who also identifies them with the main tribe, records an interesting notice of them at an earlier period: [482]

"There is in the seventh volume of the Asiatic Researches a notice of the Kharwars of the Kaimur hills in the Mirzapur District, to the north of the Son river, by Captain J. P. Blunt, who in his journey from Chunar to Ellora in A.D. 1794, met with them and describes them as a very primitive tribe. He visited one of their villages consisting of half a dozen poor huts, and though proceeding with the utmost caution, unattended, to prevent alarm, the inhabitants fled at his approach. The women were seen, assisted by the men, carrying off their children and moving with speed to hide themselves in the woods. It was observed that they were nearly naked, and the only articles of domestic use found in the deserted huts were a few gourds for water-vessels, some bows and arrows, and some fowls as wild as their masters. With great difficulty, by the employment of Kols as mediators, some of the men were induced to return. They were nearly naked, but armed with bows and arrows and a hatchet."

In Damoh the Khairwars are said to come from Panna State. During the working season they live in temporary sheds in the forest, and migrate from place to place as the supply of trees is exhausted. Having cut down a tree they strip off the bark and cut the inner and tender wood into small pieces, which are boiled for two or three days until a thick black paste is obtained. From this the water is allowed to drain off, and the residue is made into cakes and dried in the sun. It is eaten in small pieces with betel-leaf and areca-nut. Duty is levied by the Forest Department at the rate of a rupee per handi or pot in which boiling is carried on. In Bombay various superstitious observances are connected with the manufacture of catechu; and Mr. Crooke quoted the following description of them from the Bombay Gazetteer: [483] "Every year on the day after the Holi the chulha ceremony takes place. In a trench seven feet long by three, and about three deep, khair logs are carefully stacked and closely packed till they stand in a heap about three feet above ground. The pile is then set on fire and allowed to burn to the level of the ground. The village sweeper breaks a cocoanut, kills a couple of fowls and sprinkles a little liquor near the pile. Then, after washing their feet, the sweeper and the village headman walk barefoot hurriedly across the fire. After this strangers come to fulfil vows, and giving one anna and a half cocoanut to the sweeper, and the other half cocoanut to the headman, wash their feet, and turning to the left, walk over the pile. The fire seems to cause none of them any pain." The following description of the Kathkaris as hunters of monkeys is also taken by Mr. Crooke from the Bombay Gazetteer: [484] "The Kathkaris represent themselves as descended from the monkeys of Rama. Now that their legitimate occupation of preparing catechu (kath) has been interfered with, they subsist almost entirely by hunting, and habitually kill and eat monkeys, shooting them with bows and arrows. In order to approach within range they are obliged to have recourse to stratagems, as the monkeys at once recognise them in their ordinary costume. The ruse usually adopted is for one of the best shots to put on a woman's robe (sari), under the ample folds of which he conceals his murderous weapons. Approaching the tree in which the monkeys are seated, the sportsman affects the utmost unconcern, and busies himself with the innocent occupation of picking up twigs and leaves, and thus disarming suspicion he is enabled to get a sufficiently close shot to render success a certainty."

Khandait

Khandait, Khandayat.--The military caste of Orissa, the word Khandait meaning 'swordsman,' and being derived from the Uriya khanda, a sword. Sir H. Risley remarks of the Khandaits: [485] "The caste is for the most part, if not entirely, composed of Bhuiyas, whose true affinities have been disguised under a functional name, while their customs, their religion and in some cases even their complexion and features have been modified by long contact with Hindus of relatively pure Aryan descent. The ancient Rajas of Orissa kept up large armies and partitioned the land on strictly military tenures. These armies consisted of various castes and races, the upper ranks being officered by men of good Aryan descent, while the lower ones were recruited from the low castes alike of the hills and the plains. In the social system of Orissa, the Sresta or 'best' Khandaits rank next to the Rajputs, who have not the intimate connection with the land which has helped to raise the Khandaits to their present position." The Khandaits are thus like the Marathas, and the small body of Paiks in the northern Districts, a caste formed from military service; and though recruited for the most part originally from the Dravidian tribes, they have obtained a considerable rise in status owing to their occupation and the opportunity which has been afforded to many of them to become landholders. The best Khandaits now aspire to Rajput rank, while the bulk of them have the position of cultivators, from whom Brahmans will take water, or a much higher one than they are entitled to by descent. In [486] the Central Provinces the Khandaits have no subcastes, and only two gotras or clans, named after the Kachhap or tortoise and the Nagas or cobra respectively. These divisions appear, however, to be nominal, and do not regulate marriage, as to which the only rule observed is that persons whose descent can be traced from the same parent should not marry each other. Early marriage is usual, and if a girl arrives at adolescence without a husband having been found for her, she goes through the ceremony of wedlock with an arrow. Polygamy is permitted, but a person resorting to it is looked down on and nicknamed Maipkhia or wife-eater. The essential portion of the marriage ceremony is the bandan or tying of the hands of the bride and bridegroom together with kusha grass. The bridegroom must lift up the bride and walk seven times round the marriage altar carrying her. Widow-marriage and divorce are permitted in the Central Provinces, and Brahmans are employed for religious and ceremonial purposes.

KHANGAR

List of Paragraphs

1. Origin and traditions.
2. Caste subdivisions.
3. Marriage.
4. Religion.
5. Social status.
6. Occupation.

1. Origin and traditions.

Khangar, [487] called also Kotwal, Jemadar or Darbania (gatekeeper).--A low caste of village watchmen and field-labourers belonging to Bundelkhand, and found in the Saugor, Damoh, Narsinghpur and Jubbulpore Districts. They numbered nearly 13,000 in 1911. The Khangars are also numerous in the United Provinces. Hindu ingenuity has evolved various explanations of the word Khangar, such as 'khand,' a pit, and 'gar,' maker, digger, because the Khangar digs holes in other people's houses for the purposes of theft. The caste is, however, almost certainly of non-Aryan origin, and there is little doubt also that Bundelkhand was its original home. It may be noted that the Munda tribe have a division called Khangar with which the caste may have some connection. The Khangars themselves relate the following story of their origin. Their ancestors were formerly the rulers of the fort and territory of Kurar in Bundelkhand, when a Bundela Rajput came and settled there. The Bundela had a very pretty daughter whom the Khangar Raja demanded in marriage. The Bundela did not wish to give his daughter to the Khangar, but could not refuse the Raja outright, so he said that he would consent if all the Khangars would agree to adopt Bundela practices. This the Khangars readily agreed to do, and the Bundela thereupon invited them all to a wedding feast, and having summoned his companions and plied the Khangars with liquor until they were dead drunk, cut them all to pieces. One pregnant woman only escaped by hiding in a field of kusum or safflower, [488] and on this account the Khangars still venerate the kusum and will not wear cloths dyed with saffron. She fled to the house of a Muhammadan eunuch or Fakir, who gave her shelter and afterwards placed her with a Dangi landowner. The Bundelas followed her up and came to the house of the Dangi, who denied that the Khangar woman was with him. The Bundelas then asked him to make all the women in his house eat together to prove that none of them was the Khangarin, on which the Dangi five times distributed the maihar, a sacrificial cake which is only given to relations, to all the women of the household including the Khangarin, and thus convinced the Bundelas that she was not in the house. The woman who was thus saved became the ancestor of the whole Khangar caste, and in memory of this act the Khangars and Nadia Dangis are still each bidden to eat the maihar cake at the weddings of the other, or at least so it is said; while the Fakirs, in honour of this great occasion when one of their number acted as giver rather than receiver, do not beg for alms at the wedding of a Khangar, but on the contrary bring presents. The basis of the story, that the Khangars were the indigenous inhabitants of Bundelkhand and were driven out and slaughtered by the immigrant Bundelas, may not improbably be historically correct. It is also said that no Khangar is even now allowed to enter the fort of Kurar, and that the spirit of the murdered chief still haunts it; so that if a bed is placed there in the evening with a tooth-stick, the tooth-stick will be split in the morning as after use, and the bed will appear as if it had been slept in. [489]

2. Caste subdivisions.

The caste has four subdivisions, named Rai, Mirdha or Nakib, Karbal and Dahat. The Rai or royal Khangars are the highest group and practise hypergamy with families of the Mirdha and Karbal groups, taking daughters from them in marriage but not giving their daughters to them. The Mirdhas or Nakibs are so called because they act as mace-bearers and form the bodyguard of princes. Very few, if any, are to be found in the Central Provinces. The Karbal are supposed to be especially valorous. The Dahats have developed into a separate caste called Dahait, and are looked down on by all the other divisions as they keep pigs. The caste is also divided into numerous exogamous septs, all of which are totemistic; and the members of the sept usually show veneration to the object from which the sept takes its name. Some of the names of septs are as follows: Bachhiya from bachhra a calf; Barha from barah a pig, this sept worshipping the pig; Belgotia from the bel tree; Chandan from the sandalwood tree; Chirai from chiriya a bird, this sept revering sparrows; Ghurgotia from ghora a horse (members of this sept touch the feet of a horse before mounting it and do not ride on a horse in wedding processions); Guae from the iguana; Hanuman from the monkey god; Hathi from the elephant; Kasgotia from kansa bell-metal (members of this sept do not use vessels of bell-metal on ceremonial occasions nor sell them); Mahiyar from maihar fried cakes (members of this sept do not use ghi at their weddings and may not sell ghi by weight though they may sell it by measure); San after san-hemp (members of this sept place pieces of hemp near their family god); Sandgotia from sand a bullock; Tambagotia from tamba copper; and Vishnu from the god of that name, whom the sept worship. The names of 31 septs in all are reported and there are probably others. The fact that two or three septs are named after Hindu deities may be noticed as peculiar.

3. Marriage.

The marriage of members of the same sept is prohibited and also that of first cousins. Girls are usually married at about ten years of age, the parents of the girl having to undertake the duty of finding a husband. The ceremonial in vogue in the northern Districts is followed throughout, an astrologer being consulted to ascertain that the horoscopes of the pair are favourable, and a Brahman employed to draw up the lagan or auspicious paper fixing the date of the marriage. The bridegroom is dressed in a yellow gown and over-cloth, with trousers of red chintz, red shoes, and a marriage-crown of date-palm leaves. He has the silver ornaments usually worn by women on his neck, as the khangwari or silver ring, and the hamel or necklace of rupees. In order to avert the evil eye he carries a dagger or nutcracker, and a smudge of lampblack is made on his forehead to disfigure him and thus avert the evil eye, which it is thought would otherwise be too probably attracted by his exquisitely beautiful appearance in his wedding garments. The binding portion of the ceremony is the bhanwar or walking round the sacred post of the munga tree (Moringa pterygosperma). This is done six times by the couple, the bridegroom leading, and they then make a seventh turn round the bedi or sacrificial fire. If the bride is a child this seventh round is omitted at the marriage and performed at the Dusarta or going-away ceremony. After the marriage the haldi ceremony takes place, the father of the bridegroom being dressed in women's clothes; he then dances with the mother of the bride, while they throw turmeric mixed with water over each other. Widow-marriage is allowed, and the widow may marry anybody in the caste; the ceremony consists in the placing of bangles on her wrist, and is always performed at night, a Wednesday being usually selected. A feast must afterwards be given to the caste-fellows. Divorce is also permitted, and may be effected at the instance of either party in the presence of the caste panchayat or committee. When a husband divorces his wife he must give a feast.

4. Religion.

The Khangars worship the usual Hindu deities and especially venerate Dulha Deo, a favourite household godling in the northern Districts. Pachgara Deo is a deity who seems to have been created to commemorate the occasion when the Dangi distributed the marriage cakes five times to the fugitive ancestress of the caste. His cult is now on the decline, but some still consider him the most important deity of all, and it is said that no Khangar will tell an untruth after having sworn by this god. Children dying unmarried and persons dying of leprosy or smallpox are buried, while others are buried or burnt according as the family can afford the more expensive rite of cremation or not. As among other castes a corpse must not be burnt between sunset and sunrise, as it is believed that this would cause the soul to be born blind in the next birth. Nor must the corpse be wrapped in stitched clothes, as in that case the child in which it is reincarnated would be born with its arms and legs entangled. The corpse is laid on its back and some ghi, til, barley cakes and sandalwood, if available, are placed on the body. The soul of the deceased is believed to haunt the house for three days, and each night a lamp and a little water in an earthen pot are placed ready for it. When cremation takes place the ashes are collected on the third day and the burning ground is cleaned with cowdung and sprinkled with milk, mustard and salt, in order that a cow may lick over the place and the soul of the deceased may thus find more easy admission into Baikunth or heaven. Well-to-do persons take the bones of the dead to the Ganges, a few from the different parts of the body being selected and tied round the bearer's neck. Mourning is usually only observed for three days.

5. Social status.

The Khangars do not admit outsiders into the caste, except children born of a Khangar father and a mother belonging to one of the highest castes. A woman going wrong with a man of another caste is finally expelled, but liaisons within the caste may be atoned for by the usual penalty of a feast. The caste eat flesh and drink liquor but abjure fowls, pork and beef. They will take food cooked without water from Banias, Sunars and Tameras, but katchi roti only from the Brahmans who act as their priests. Such Brahmans are received on terms of equality by others of the caste. Khangars bathe daily, and their women take off their outer cloth to eat food, because this is not washed every day. Food cooked with water must be consumed in the chauka or place where it is prepared, and not carried outside the house. Men of the caste often have the suffix Singh after their names in imitation of the Rajputs. Although their social observances are thus in some respects strict, the status of the caste is low, and Brahmans do not take water from them.

6. Occupation.

The Khangars say that their ancestors were soldiers, but at present they are generally tenants, field-labourers and village watchmen. They were formerly noted thieves, and several proverbs remain in testimony to this. "The Khangar is strong only when he possesses a khunta (a pointed iron rod to break through the wall of a house)." 'The Sunar and the Khangar only flourish together'; because the Sunar acts as a receiver of the property stolen by the Khangar. They are said to have had different ways of breaking into a house, those who got through the roof being called chhappartor, while others who dug through the side walls were known as khonpaphor. They have now, however, generally relinquished their criminal practices and settled down to live as respectable citizens.

KHARIA

List of Paragraphs

1. General notice.
2. Legend of origin.
3. Subcastes.
4. Exogamy and totemism.
5. Marriage.
6. Taboos as to food.
7. Widow-marriage and divorce.
8. Religion.
9. Funeral rites.
10. Bringing back the souls of the dead.
11. Social customs.
12. Caste rules and organisation.
13. Occupation and character.
14. Language.

1. General notice.

Kharia. [490]--A primitive Kolarian tribe, of which about 900 persons were returned from the Central Provinces in 1911. They belong to the Bilaspur District and the Jashpur and Raigarh States. The Kharias are one of the most backward of the Kolarian tribes, and appear to be allied to the Mundas and Savars. Colonel Dalton says of them: "In the Chota Nagpur estate they are found in large communities, and the Kharias belonging to these communities are far more civilised than those who live apart. Their best settlements lie near the southern Koel river, which stream they venerate as the Santals do the Damudar, and into it they throw the ashes of their dead." Chota Nagpur is the home of the Kharias, and their total strength is over a lakh. They are found elsewhere only in Assam, where they have probably migrated to the tea-gardens.

2. Legend of origin.

The Kharia legend of origin resembles that of the Mundas, and tends to show that they are an elder branch of that tribe. They say that a child was born to a woman in the jungle, and she left it to fetch a basket in which to carry it home. On her return she saw a cobra spreading its hood over the child to protect it from the sun. On this account the child was called Nagvansi (of the race of the cobra), and became the ancestor of the Nagvansi Rajas of Chota Nagpur. The Kharias say this child had an elder brother, and the two brothers set out on a journey, the younger riding a horse and the elder carrying a kawar or banghy with their luggage. When they came to Chota Nagpur the younger was made king, on which the elder brother also asked for a share of the inheritance. The people then put two caskets before him and asked him to choose one. One of the caskets contained silver and the other only some earth. The elder brother chose that which contained earth, and on this he was told that the fate of himself and his descendants would be to till the soil, and carry banghys as he had been doing. The Kharias say that they are descended from the elder brother, while the younger was the ancestor of the Nagvansi Rajas, who are really Mundas. They say that they can never enter the house of the Nagvansi Rajas because they stand in the relation of elder brother-in-law to the Ranis, who are consequently prohibited from looking on the face of a Kharia. This story is exactly like that of the Parjas in connection with the Rajas of Bastar. And as the Parjas are probably an older branch of the Gonds, who were reduced to subjection by the subsequent Raj-Gond immigrants under the ancestors of the Bastar Rajas, so it seems a reasonable hypothesis that the Kharias stood in a similar relationship to the Mundas or Kols. This theory derives some support from the fact that, according to Sir H. Risley, the Mundas will take daughters in marriage from the Kharias, but will not give their daughters to them, and the Kharias speak of the Mundas as their elder brethren. [491] Mr. Hira Lal suggests that the name Kharia is derived from kharkhari, a palanquin or litter, and that the original name Kharkharia has been contracted into Kharia. He states that in the Uriya country Oraons, who carry litters, are also called Kharias. This derivation is in accordance with the tradition of the Kharias that their first ancestor carried a banghy, and with the fact that the Kols are the best professional dhoolie-bearers.

3. Subcastes.

In Raigarh the Kharias have only two subtribes, the Dudh, or milk Kharias, and the Delki. Of these the Delki are said to be of mixed origin. They take food from Brahmans, and explain that they do so because an ancestress went wrong with a Brahman. It seems likely that they may be descended from the offspring of immigrant Hindus in Chota Nagpur with Kharia women, like similar subdivisions in other tribes. The Delkis look down on the Dudh Kharias, saying that the latter eat the flesh of tigers and monkeys, from which the Delkis abstain. In Bengal the tribe have two other divisions, the Erenga and Munda Kharias.

4. Exogamy and totemism.

The tribe is divided, like others, into totemistic exogamous septs, which pay reverence to their totems. Thus members of the Kulu (tortoise), Kiro (tiger), Nag (cobra), Kankul (leopard) and Kuto (crocodile) septs abstain from killing their totem animal, fold their hands in obeisance when they meet it, and taking up some dust from the animal's track place it on their heads as a mark of veneration. Certain septs cannot wholly abstain from the consumption of their sept totem, so they make a compromise. Thus members of the Baa, or rice sept, cannot help eating rice, but they will not eat the scum which gathers over the rice as it is being boiled. Those of the Bilum or salt sept must not take up a little salt on one finger and suck it, but must always use two or more fingers for conveying salt to the mouth, presumably as a mark of respect. Members of the Suren or stone sept will not make ovens with stones but only with clods of earth. The tribe do not now think they are actually descended from their totems, but tell stories accounting for the connection. Thus the Katang Kondai or bamboo sept say that a girl in the family of their ancestors went to cut bamboos and never came back. Her parents went to search for her and heard a voice calling out from the bamboos, but could not find their daughter. Then they understood that the bamboo was of their own family and must not be cut by them. The supposition is apparently that the girl was transformed into a bamboo.

5. Marriage.