The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 1 (of 4)

Chapter VI: Forms of Hindu Marriage (7)

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District. |Mâdhava |Nimâwat.|Râmanandi.|Others.|Total.
|Achârya.| | | |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | ... | ... | 530 | 139 | 669
Sahâranpur | ... | ... | ... | 43 | 43
Muzaffarnagar| ... | ... | 541 | 446 | 987
Meerut | ... | 156 | 1,586 | 2,396 | 4,138
Bulandshahr | ... | ... | 429 | 2,279 | 2,708
Aligarh | ... | ... | 974 | 3,183 | 4,157
Agra | 4 | ... | 496 | 1,259 | 1,769
Farrukhâbâd | ... | 12 | 60 | 233 | 305
Mainpuri | ... | 9 | ... | 89 | 98
Etâwah | ... | ... | 22 | 268 | 290
Etah | 1 | 1 | 35 | 160 | 197
Bareilly | ... | ... | 148 | 610 | 758
Bijnor | ... | ... | ... | 539 | 539
Budâun | ... | 2 | 120 | 397 | 519
Morâdâbâd | 3 | ... | 1 | 239 | 243
Shâhjahânpur | ... | ... | 241 | 600 | 841
Pilibhît | ... | 12 | 57 | 335 | 404
Cawnpur | ... | ... | 61 | 389 | 450
Fatehpur | ... | ... | 17 | 128 | 145
Bânda | 1 | ... | 52 | ... | 53
Hamîrpur | ... | ... | 45 | 163 | 208
Allahâbâd | 2 | 1 | 58 | 312 | 373
Jhânsi | ... | 3 | 58 | 109 | 170
Jâlaun | 2 | 28 | 22 | 183 | 234
Lalitpur | ... | 4 | 39 | 224 | 267
Benares | ... | ... | ... | 141 | 141
Mirzapur | ... | ... | 28 | 149 | 177
Jaunpur | ... | ... | ... | 204 | 204
Ghâzipur | ... | ... | 82 | 826 | 908
Ballia | ... | ... | ... | 257 | 257
Gorakhpur | ... | 33 | 295 | 1,122 | 1,450
Basti | ... | ... | 1 | 1,286 | 1,287
Azamgarh | ... | ... | ... | 9 | 9
Kumâun | ... | ... | ... | 25 | 25
Garhwâl | ... | ... | ... | 105 | 165
Tarâi | ... | ... | 24 | 24 | 48
Lucknow | ... | ... | 291 | 1,439 | 1,730
Unâo | ... | ... | 17 | ... | 17
Râê Bareli | ... | ... | 27 | 6 | 33
Sîtapur | ... | ... | 161 | 335 | 496
Hardoi | ... | ... | ... | 337 | 337
Kheri | ... | ... | 348 | 396 | 744
Faizâbâd | ... | ... | 1,474 | 543 | 2,017
Gonda | ... | ... | 877 | 64 | 941
Bahrâich | ... | ... | 19 | 201 | 220
Sultânpur | ... | ... | 47 | 69 | 116
~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~
Total | 13 | 261 | 9,283 |22,321 |31,878
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Bais.—(Sans. Vaishya, “one who occupies the soil”.)—A very important and influential sept of Râjputs, widely distributed all over the Province. Their legend is thus given by Sir C. Elliott [197]:—“The Bais assert themselves to be descended from Sâlivâhana, the mythic son of a snake who conquered the great Râja Vikramaditya, of Ujjain, and fixed his own era in A.D. 55. About 1250 A.D. the Gautam Râja of Argal refused to pay tribute to the Lodi King of Delhi, and defeated the Governor of Oudh, who sent a force against him. Soon after this defeat, the Râni, without his knowledge and without fitting escort, went secretly to bathe, at Baghsar, in the Ganges, on the festival of the new moon. Baghsar is close to Dundiya Khera. Sir H. M. Elliot places the locale of this story at Allahâbâd; but the other is the tradition current in Baiswâra, and seems more probable, because Baghsar is closer to Argal, and is the nearest bathing place she could have gone to, and, secondly, Allahâbâd being a much-frequented place of pilgrimage, she would hardly have gone there in any case without an escort, particularly as it was the head-quarters of the Muhammadan Governor. The Governor of Oudh heard of her arrival and sent men to capture her. Her escorts were dispersed, and she was on the point of being made prisoner, when she lifted the covering of her litter and cried,—“Is there no Chhatri who will rescue me from the barbarian, and save my honour?” Abhay Chand and Nirbhay Chand, two Bais Râjputs, from Mungipatan, heard her, and came to her rescue, beat off her assailants, and guarded her litter till she arrived safely at her home in Argal, in the Fatehpur District. Nirbhay Chand died of his wounds, but Abhay Chand recovered, and the Râja, in gratitude for his gallant rescue, gave him his daughter in marriage, and with her as dowry all the lands on the north of the Ganges, over which the Gautam bore rule. He also conferred on his son-in-law the title of Râo, which is still the highest dignity among the Bais. Abhay Chand fixed his home in Dundiya Khera, and the title and estates descended, in an unbroken line, to Tilok Chand, the great eponymous hero of the clan, who are called after him Tilok Chandi Bais, in contradistinction to other branches of the same tribe. He lived about 1,400 A.D., and extended the Bais dominion over all the surrounding country, and it is from his victories that the limits of Baiswâra became definitively fixed. The tract is universally said to include twenty-two Parganas, and though there is considerable discrepancy in the various lists of these Parganas, which are furnished from different quarters, the following list is probably correct:—

Râê Bareli and Unâo Districts:—Dundiya Khera, Unchhgâon, Kumhi, Bâr, Kahanjar, Ghâtampur, Serhupur, Makraid, Dalmau, Bareli, Bihâr, Pathân, Panhan, Sathanpur, Harha, Purwa, Morâwan, Sirwan, Asoha, Gorinda, Parsandan.

Lucknow District:—Bijnaur.”

Tilok Chand was the premier Râja of Oudh, and his descendants are never weary of telling stories of his almost divine and unequalled power. He once turned the Kahârs, who carried his palanquin, into Râjputs; and one account of the Bhâlê Sultân sept in Faizâbâd is that they were Bâris, or link-boys, in his service.

[Origin.] 2. In Faizâbâd the Bais say that they came from Baiswâra about five hundred years ago, and expelled the Bhars; but this story is disbelieved by Mr. Carnegy [198] on the ground that there were few Bais even in Baiswâra in those days. He believes the Faizâbâd colony to be of local origin. They are divided into two great families, the Eastern and the Western, who, though they eat together, recognise no relationship, and retain the memory of bitter border warfare with each other. The Pargana of Mangalsi is overrun by different independent Bais colonies, the members of which say they came from the West (no one knows from where) and expelled the Bhars two or three centuries or, according to their pedigree tables, sixteen generations ago. There are traditions of a Gautam (Sombansi) colony founded by Mangalsen, from whom the Pargana takes its name, who is said to have been a cadet of the great Fatehpur house of Argal. But the Gautams were long ago pushed across the river Ghâgra. It is noteworthy that the Muhammadans, who produce title deeds more than three hundred years old, declare that Mangalsen was not a Gautam but a Bhar. Another curious fact is that both the Muhammadans and the few Gautams who are left are shown by Mr. Woodburn to pay the feudal tribute (bhent) to the Bais headmen. How long they have done so is not very clear, but the conclusion from all this is, according to Mr. Carnegy, that the local Bais are the indigenous Bhars; that the Bhars became Bais about or after the Muhammadan conquest; the Gautam footing was by marriage with the Bais, and the Muhammadans succeeded to the Bais Bhars. These conclusions of Mr. Carnegy must be received with some degree of caution. That the Bais of the Faizâbâd District may have some admixture of indigenous blood is more than probable; but at the same time that they have a large basis of Râjput blood may be regarded as quite certain.

[Customs.] 3. Of the sept in Râê Bareli we read:—“The Bais clan differ from all other Râjputs somewhat in their customs. Neither men nor women, rich or poor, will put a hand to cultivation or labour of any sort; the women wear one long cloth, which is fastened round their waists about the middle, the lower folds covering the lower portions of the person, and the upper parts being thrown over the shoulders. They are supposed to be more addicted to the crime of infanticide than other Râjputs, and they divide their inheritance according to a system of primogeniture by which the three elder sons receive larger shares than the younger ones.”

[Bais of Mainpuri.] 4. The Bais of Bewar, in the Mainpuri District, are immigrants from Dundiya Khera, and as far back as 1391–92 A.D., in concert with the Râthaurs, they created such a disturbance here that it was found necessary to send out large bodies of Imperial troops to quell them. Deoli, their chief seat in Barnahal, is mentioned in the Târîkh-i-Mabârik Shâh as a very strong place, in the possession of infidels, and as having been attacked and destroyed in 1420 A.D. by Sultân Khizr Khân on his march from Koil to Etâwah. [199]

[Sâlivâhana.] 5. The tribal hero of the sept is Sâlivâhana. He appears to have been an historical character, and has been identified by General Cunningham [200] with Gotamiputra Satakarni of the Kanheri and Nâsik inscriptions. The tradition is thus told by a writer in the Oudh Gazetteer [201]:—“A son of the great world serpent was born under the roof of a potter of Mûngi Pâtan, which, by one account, is on the Narbada, and, by another, is on the Godâvari, in the Ahmadnagar District, and early showed, by his wit and strength, that he was destined to be a king. As a judge among his youthful companions, by what would now be considered a simple process of cross-examination, he excited the wonder of a people unaccustomed to law courts; and deserved and received the same kind of honour that was accorded to Daniel by the Jews of the Captivity after his successful investigation of the case of Susanna and the Elders. His amusement was to make clay figures of elephants, horses, and men-at-arms, and before he had well reached manhood, he led his fictile army to do battle with the great King Vikramaditya. When the hosts met, the clay of the young hero became living brass, and the weapons of his enemies fell harmless on the hard material. Vikramaditya fled and took refuge in a large temple of Siva, whither he was pursued by Sâlivâhana. At the mere sound of the boy’s voice the ponderous gates of the temple rolled back, and Vikramaditya acknowledged his conqueror with appropriate homage. A reasonable arrangement was made on the spot for the partition of the royal power, and on the elder king’s death, Sâlivâhana became undisputed Râja of India. Later in life he conquered the Panjâb and died and was buried at Siâlkot.” This tradition of serpent origin is perpetuated in the tribal tradition that “no snake has or ever can destroy one of the family. They seem to take no precautions against the bite, except hanging a vessel of water over the head of the sufferer, with a small tube in the bottom, from which the water is poured on his head as long as he can bear it.” [202] The cobra is in fact the tribal totem.

[Other Settlements of the Bais.] 6. The Farrukhâbâd story is that the emigrants from Dundiya Khera were led by two brothers, Hansrâj and Bachrâj, that they were first subject to the aboriginal Bhyârs, but finally turned against them and established themselves in Sakatpur and Saurikh, and also in a few villages across the Isan Nadi. [203] In Budaun there are two sub-divisions, Chaudhari and Râê, so called from the two sons of their traditional leader, Dalîp Sinh, of Baiswâra. They dated their immigration in Basti only five or six generations before Dr. Buchanan wrote. [204] In Gorakhpur some call themselves Nâgbansi, and say that they are sprung from the nose of the mythical cow, Kâmdhenu, which belonged to the Rishi Vasishtha. The Ghâzipur branch claim descent from Baghel Râê, who came from Baiswâra fifteen generations ago, and colonized the jungle. [205] Their emigration into Rohilkhand is not placed earlier than the time of Akbar.

[Sub-divisions of the Bais.] 7. Numerous castes in the Faizâbâd and Gonda Districts, such as the Gandhariyas, the Naipuriyas, the Barwârs, and the Châhus, claim to have been originally Bais, while the equal lengths of their pedigrees show that they were established in these districts at about the beginning of the sixteenth century. There are, besides, numerous families of small landowners in the east of Râê Bareli, who call themselves Bharadih Bais, and whose want of any tradition of emigration and peculiar religion distinguish them from the pure Bais of the west. Another division is that of Bhîtariya and Bâhariya or “the outer” and “the inner” Bais. [206] “The Brâhmans of Sultânpur relate that Tilok Chand in his old age, like another king of distinguished wisdom, supported the prodigious responsibility of an establishment of three hundred wives, and became the father of a family countless as the sands of the sea. The Princesses of Rîwa and Mainpuri, to whom he had originally been married, disgusted by an association in which the dignity of castes had not been respected, fled from his castle and gave rise to a distinction between the Bais from within (Bhîtariya) and the Bais from without (Bâhariya); those from without being the offspring of pure Râjput blood, while those from within were of contaminated lineage, and occupied a doubtful position in the castes system.” But the most important distinction is between the Tilokchandi Bais or the descendants of Tilok Chand, and Kath Bais, or “wooden” Bais. Of these Colonel MacAndrew writes [207]:—“These call themselves Tilokchandi Bais to distinguish them from the Kath Bais, who are supposed to be the offspring of the real Bais by women of inferior caste. The Tilokchandi Bais will neither eat nor intermarry with them. An instance of this was exemplified the other day when the proposal was made that the Bais should erect a bridge over the Sâi at Râê Bareli. The Tilokchandis proposed that the Kath Bais should subscribe. The latter at once expressed their willingness to do so, provided the Tilokchandis would acknowledge them to be Bais by eating with them. Nothing more was heard of the proposal that they should subscribe.” The Tilokchandi Bais according to Sir H. M. Elliot, [208] are sub-divided into four clans, Râo, Râwat, Naihatha, and Sainbansi, all of whom profess to derive their rights from the Gautam Râja of Argal. He says that beside the Tilokchandi, there are said to be no less than three hundred and sixty sub-divisions of the Bais, the descendants of as many wives of Sâlivâhana. Among these the most noted are the Tilsâri, Chak Bais, Nânwag, Bhanwag, Bach, Parsariya, Patsariya, Bijhoniya, Bhatkariya, Chanamiya, or Gargbans, but it may be doubted if these are really Bais.

[Religion and social standing.] 8. There is nothing peculiar about the religion of the Bais except their tribal worship of the snake, and their reverence for a clan goddess, Mathotê, who is worshipped at the Mathotepur fair, in the Sîtapur District. She became a Sati at the death of her consort. The ordinary Bais give their daughters in marriage, amongst others, to the Sengar, Bhadauriya, Chauhân, Kachhwâha, Gautam, Parihâr, Dikhit and Gaharwâr Râjputs, and receive daughters in marriage from the Banâphar, Janwâr, Khîchar, Raghubansi, Raikwâr, Karchauli, and Gahlot. The Tilokchandi Bais ally themselves only with septs of the bluest blood. The Bais in Faizâbâd take brides from the Bachgoti, Bhâlê Sultân, Kalhans, and Kânhpuriya septs, and they give their daughters to the Gaharwâr, Bisen, Sombansi, Bhadauriya, Chauhân, and Kachhwâha septs. In Ballia they take wives from the Ujjaini, Haihobans, Kinwâr, Nikumbh, Sengar, Kausik, Râghubansi, Sûrajbansi, Bhrigubansi, Barhauliya, Gaharwâr, Gautam, Kâkan, Donwâr, Jâdon, Kachhwâha, Chauhân, Bisen, Nâgbansi, Sakarwâr, Baghel, Sombansi, Udmatiya, Solankhi, Chandel, Parihâr, and give brides to the Sirnet, Râjkumâr, Drigbansi, Maunas, Kachhwâha, and, in rare cases, to the Ujjaini. Their gotra is Bhâradwâja.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BAIS RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

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District. | Hindus. |Muhammadans.| Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 1 | 48 | 49
Sahâranpur | 185 | 65 | 250
Muzaffarnagar| 109 | 250 | 359
Meerut | 578 | ... | 578
Bulandshahr | 178 | 197 | 375
Aligarh | 707 | 11 | 718
Mathura | 231 | 16 | 247
Agra | 1,022 | 4 | 1,026
Farrukhâbâd | 6,688 | 10 | 6,698
Mainpuri | 4,073 | 5 | 4,078
Etâwah | 1,828 | 9 | 1,837
Etah | 2,050 | 80 | 2,130
Bareilly | 1,673 | 15 | 1,688
Bijnor | 678 | ... | 678
Budâun | 8,301 | 212 | 8,513
Morâdâbâd | 819 | 1 | 820
Shâhjahânpur | 1,111 | 173 | 1,284
Pilibhît | 315 | ... | 315
Cawnpur | 6,323 | 15 | 6,338
Fatehpur | 7,495 | 672 | 8,167
Bânda | 15,857 | 224 | 16,081
Hamîrpur | 14,285 | 24 | 14,309
Allahâbâd | 11,882 | 60 | 11,942
Jhânsi | 703 | ... | 703
Jâlaun | 1,133 | 21 | 1,154
Lalitpur | 1,097 | ... | 1,097
Benares | 11,225 | 125 | 11,350
Mirzapur | 5,844 | ... | 5,844
Jaunpur | 13,863 | 258 | 14,121
Ghâzipur | 6,329 | 375 | 6,704
Ballia | 9,334 | 59 | 9,393
Gorakhpur | 12,246 | 1,708 | 13,954
Basti | 5,873 | 9,954 | 15,827
Azamgarh | 24,730 | 2,091 | 26,821
Tarâi | 47 | ... | 47
Lucknow | 3,898 | 23 | 3,921
Unâo | 10,319 | 376 | 10,695
Râê Bareli | 27,022 | 1,141 | 28,163
Sîtapur | 3,887 | 309 | 4,196
Hardoi | 4,408 | 90 | 4,498
Kheri | 1,073 | 503 | 1,576
Faizâbâd | 18,126 | 1,734 | 19,860
Gonda | 55 | 146 | 201
Bahrâich | 3,896 | 1,239 | 5,135
Sultânpur | 6,447 | 2,514 | 8,961
Partâbgarh | 8,339 | 560 | 8,899
Bârabanki | 12,171 | 1,254 | 13,425
~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Total | 278,454 | 26,571 | 305,025
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Baiswâr.—A tribe found in the hill country of Mirzapur, whose origin is doubtful. Their own account is that they are Râjputs of the famous Bais stock of Dundiya Khera, [209] and that two brothers being condemned to death by the Râja escaped into Rîwa, where the Râja gave them estates. For the last eight or nine generations they have been migrating into Mirzapur. They admit that they are now endogamous, and have no connection with Baiswâra. Their tribal worship is conducted at a temple of Bhawâni, in Bardi, the south eastern division of Rîwa abutting on Mirzapur. It is very doubtful if they have really any Râjput blood. In appearance they are dark, and have much of the characteristic look of the Dravidian races by whom they are surrounded.

[Tribal organization.] 2. Besides this, their sub-divisions, some of which are totemistic, point to a non-Aryan origin. The Khandit take their name from the sword (Khanda), which they hold in great respect. The Bansit respect the bamboo (bâns), from which they say the ancestor of this sept was produced. These, they say, are the two original septs, out of which the remaining five have been derived. The Chaudharis are said to be the offspring of a connection between a Kurmi man and a Baiswâr woman. The Bannait say they are so called because they were residents in the forest. The remaining three septs—Rautiha, Sohâgpuriha, and Piparaha—are said to take their names from three villages in which they settled in Bundelkhand, Revati, Sohâgpur, and Pipara. The Khandit is the most respectable sept, and the others by the rule of hypergamy pay to get wives from them. The septs are exogamous in theory, but apparently the rule is not certain. When one daughter has been married into a family other daughters are, if possible, married into the same family, but this is not the case with sons. The tribal council (panchâyat) is presided over by a headman (mahto), who is of the Khandit sept. The offence of adultery is dealt with much less severely than that of eating with another caste. The tribal punishments are to give seven recitations of parts of the Bhâgavata, to bathe in the Ganges, or to undertake a pilgrimage to Benares, Prayâg, or Mathura. Polygamy is allowed, but monogamy is the rule. The head wife alone joins in family worship. Concubinage and polyandry are prohibited. The marriage age for boys or girls is ten or twelve. There is no purchasing of brides, but her relations have to give a dowry, and it is considered discreditable not to provide this to a suitable amount. Adultery in husband or wife, and eating or smoking with a strange caste, are grounds for divorce. A divorced woman cannot re-marry. Widow marriage in the sagâi form is allowed. The only ceremony is that with a recitation of the Satya Nârâyana the clothes of the pair are knotted together in the presence of the clansmen. Widow marriage outside the family is allowed only if the levir does not claim his sister-in-law under the usual restrictions. Adoption and succession are recognized under the usual local rules of Hindu law.

[Domestic ceremonies, Birth and Marriage.] 3. The mother after birth is attended for six days by the Chamâin midwife, and then for six days by the barber’s wife. On the twelfth day the usual ceremony of purification is performed. The husband is debarred from cohabitation with his wife for six months after birth. When the child is able to walk, the ear-boring ceremony is performed, and after that the child must eat according to caste rules. Marriages are arranged by the family priest (purohit) and barber. When the proposal is accepted the envoys get a feast (bhâji) in the house of the bride. The betrothal is confirmed by the ceremony of marking (tîka) the forehead of the bridegroom by the father or one of the male relatives of the bride. Next day her envoys (tilakahru) after being entertained return home. Five days before the wedding is the matmangar, which is performed in the usual way, [210] except that after worshipping the drum of the Chamâr, which is carried in the women’s procession, by marking it with red lead, the earth is dug by the oldest woman in the family, and carried by her and placed in the marriage shed. In the centre of the shed is fixed a branch of the sacred cotton tree (semal), and near it the holy water vessel (kalsa) is placed on a mound formed of the sacred earth. The usual anointing of bride and bridegroom, which is started by the Pandit, follows. A day before the wedding is the mantri pûja. In a special room some lumps of cowdung are fixed on the wall, and in them some blades of the dûb grass, mango leaves, and a bit of yellow cloth are fastened. On these the bridegroom pours a little butter, and then the worship of the sword (kharag) is done. A relative of the bride holds the sword in both his hands, and the bridegroom’s mother marks it with a mixture of ground rice and turmeric. Then an earthen pot full of sesamum grain is broken with the handle of the sword, and the grain scattered: an emblem, it is said, of the manner in which the enemies of the bridegroom who may dare to interfere with his marriage are to be scattered abroad. The sword is then placed in the middle of the marriage shed, an obvious survival of marriage by capture. After this a goat is sacrificed to the sword. In the evening there is a general feast known as bhatwân. This consists of rice and pulse, and must include cakes made of the urad pulse (bara). Before the bridegroom starts for the bride’s house he is bathed by the barber, and the water thus used is collected in a vessel and taken to the bride’s house, where it is mixed with that in which the bride is bathed. As the bridegroom starts his mother does the usual wave ceremony (parachhan) over him. At the bride’s village they are met by her friends, led by the barber, who brings a yellow cloth, which he lays on the roof of the bridegroom’s litter. At the bride’s door the bridegroom sits in a square and worships Gauri and Ganesa, which concluded, his future father-in-law marks his forehead with curds and rice. After this, food (kalewa) is sent from the bride’s house for the bridegroom and the boys with him, and in return his father sends five articles of jewellery for the bride, and a sheet (sâri) for her and her mother. With this is sent the water in which the bridegroom has been bathed. The bride is bathed in this and dressed in the sheet and jewels. The bridegroom then comes to the marriage shed, where his father-in-law washes his feet, and seats him in the square (chauk) on his left hand, while the bride sits on her father’s right hand. The pair then worship the household gods, of whom images are made in dough, and both mark the water jar and the branch of the cotton tree with red lead. Their clothes are knotted together, and they do the usual five revolutions round the cotton tree, while the bridegroom holds a winnowing fan (sûp) into which the bride’s brother pours a little parched rice each time as they go round. The bride sprinkles this grain on the ground out of the fan, and both retire into the retiring room (kohabar), the walls of which are decorated. There his mother-in-law takes off the bridegroom’s crown (maur) and gives him a present. Next day follows the confarreatio ceremony (khichari), which is done in the usual way. Next day the bridegroom takes home his bride, but before he starts his father goes and shakes down one of the poles of the marriage shed, for which he gets a present (mânro hilâi). On the fourth day after they return the ceremony ends by the barber’s wife taking the sacred jar (kalsa) and the festoons (bandanwâr) of the marriage shed, and throwing them into a neighbouring stream. On their return husband and wife offer a burnt sacrifice (homa) to the local gods (dih).

[Death.] 4. The dead are cremated in the standard Hindu form. After the cremation all the mourners touch fire with the eight parts of their bodies, and sit for an hour in silence with the chief mourner. Next morning the chief mourner goes to the pyre, collects the ashes, and throws them into an adjoining stream. They set up an earthen vessel on a pîpal tree through which water drops for the refreshment of the thirsty spirit. While in the state of impurity, the chief mourner is armed with a stick, pointed with iron, to enable him to keep off ghosts. Every day he lays out food for the ghost along the road to the cremation ground. On the tenth day he offers lumps of rice and milk, which he throws into a tank, and all the mourners shave. On the eleventh day the Mahâpâtra receives all the personal effects of the dead man, which he is supposed to pass on to the deceased in the land of the dead. On the twelfth day the chief mourner offers sixteen balls (pinda) to ancestors, and returning, feasts the Mahâpâtra and gives him a cow and a loin cloth. On the thirteenth day Brâhmans are fed. During the fortnight (pitri-paksha), sacred to the manes, in the month of Kuâr, the ground under the eaves of the house is plastered, and some water and a tooth brush stick is left out; and flowers and rice are scattered about for the use of the dead visitors. On the fifteenth day of Kuâr Brâhmans are feasted.

[Religion.] 5. They principally worship Devi through Brâhmans. The local gods (dih) they worship through the Baiga with sacrifices of pigs and goats.

[Superstitions.] 6. Their superstitions are similar to those of the surrounding castes. They swear by touching their sons’ heads, the feet of a Brâhman, the tail of a cow, or by standing in running water. They believe in the Evil-eye, which is obviated by an Ojha blowing on some dust, and sprinkling it over the person attacked, and repeating appropriate spells (mantra).

[Taboos.] 7. Very few drink liquor: none eat beef or pork. They will not touch the wife of a younger brother or the wife of an elder brother-in-law. They will not eat the flesh of the lizard, alligator, snake, jackal, or rat. The women eat separate from the men.

[Status.] 8. They rank as respectable high caste Hindus. They are either landholders or tenants with occupancy rights. They dress and wear ornaments like ordinary Râjputs, and among the low tribes around them their claim to that rank is generally accepted.

Bâjgi. [211]—A tribe of musicians found in the lower ranges of the Hills. They are possibly akin to the Nats. The name of the tribe is derived from Hindi bajâna, “to play a musical instrument.” In Dehra Dûn they consider themselves indigenous to the district.

[Marriage rules.] 2. They have several exogamous gotras, and are not allowed to marry in their own gotra, or in the family of the maternal uncle, until at least two generations have passed since the last connection by marriage. A man may have as many wives as he can support. Widows of the tribe may be married in the karâo form. Marriages take place when the parties attain the age of puberty. The parents and guardians of the boy have to pay a bride price which varies from forty to fifty rupees, and the price rises according to the youth and beauty of the bride. If a marriage is annulled after consummation, and she marries another man she has to repay the bride price, or as much of it as the tribal council award as compensation to the first husband. Children by a karâo marriage rank equally for inheritance with the offspring of a regular marriage. It has been asserted that the rule of the levirate is so far relaxed that the widow can be claimed by the elder as well as by the younger brother of her late husband; but this assertion is in such direct opposition to the practice current among allied tribes that it is probably incorrect.

[Birth.] 3. There are no ceremonies during pregnancy. The women act as midwives to their own people as well as to other castes; and they have no custom of adoption, initiation, or betrothal.

[Marriage.] 4. The marriage ceremonies are of the most simple type. The boy’s father pays the bride price, and forthwith takes the girl home; and the marriage is recognised when a few of the clansmen have been fed.

[Death.] 5. Persons who die of cholera, small-pox, or snake-bite, are buried, because they are supposed to be under the direct influence of the deities who rule these diseases, and no purification by fire is necessary. Persons who die a natural death in other ways are cremated. They do not use a regular pyre, but make a thatch of bamboos, and under it light some wood; when the fire is well alight they put on it the body, covered with a white cloth, and let it burn. They have no special cremation places, but consume the corpse wherever it is most convenient, and pay no regard to the ashes, which are left on the site of the cremation.

[Impurity.] 6. Women remain impure after childbirth for seven days, and the person who sets fire to the pyre for three days. As long as a woman has not given birth to a child she is considered impure during her menses; but once she is a mother her menstruation is disregarded, and she is not kept apart or prevented from doing her ordinary house work.

[Religion.] 7. Bâjgis consider themselves to be Hindus. They chiefly reverence Devi, and her worship is carried on by a tribal subscription with which goats, rams, and spirits are bought and used in sacrifice. A little of the blood and spirits is poured upon the ground, and the rest is consumed by the worshippers. They have no priests or temples, but each household has a shelf, on which is placed a trident (trisûl) with an iron lamp and an earthenware vessel containing some beads, which represent the goddess. These articles serve as a representation of Nâga Râja, the serpent godling, who is regarded as their tribal deity. Nâga Râja is a most powerful godling, and, unless he is propitiated, brings misfortune, disease, and death. The special offering to Nâga Râja and Devi is a goat, while Nar Sinh Deo is worshipped with the sacrifice of fowl. Any adult member of the tribe may make these offerings.

[Festivals.] 8. They have only two festivals, the Naurâtra and the Basant Panchami. Some of them regard Makar-ki-Sankrânt, or the passage of the sun into the sign of Capricornus, a holiday. On these days they eat meat and drink spirits. Of ancestor worship they know little; but they are, like similar races, in great dread of the spirits of the departed, and do not care to say much about them. Like the Doms of Dehra Dûn, they keep in their houses, as a sort of household guardian, some rude wooden images representing the five Pândavas—Yudhishthira, Bhîma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. They know little of omens.

[Oaths.] 9. Their chief oath is on the cow; in less serious cases they swear on the bamboo. The violation of an oath is believed to cause the death of the eldest son of the perjurer.

[Demonology.] 10. They have the usual beliefs characteristic of races in the same phase of culture regarding dreams, the Evil-eye, and demoniacal possession, leading to disease and death.

[Social rules.] 11. They will not eat beef; but as to any other kind of food they have no scruples. Men and women eat apart. They will eat pakki and kachchi from any one but a Dom or a Chamâr. No other caste will eat or drink from their hands.

[Occupation.] 12. Their occupation is singing and dancing, and their women, as has been said already, act as midwives.

Bâlâhar, Bulâhar.— [212] A tribe found in parts of the Duâb and Bundelkhand. The name seems to mean “crier” or “summoner” (Hindi, bulâna, “to call”). In Cawnpur they are also known as Domar or Basor, which connect them with Doms and Bânsphors and Toraiha, because part of their business is to blow the long trumpet or “cholera horn” (turi, turai, turhi) at weddings. In Cawnpur they have four exogamous septs—Suyador, Laungbasa, Kudkaha, and Banha—of the meaning of which they can give no explanation.

The Census returns record 85 sections. Many of these are taken from well-known tribes, such as Baghel, Bais, Bâhman Gaur, Chamar Gaur, Khatîk; others are of local origin, like Abâdpura, Baksariya, Indauriya, Purabiya. Curiously enough they do not seem to have retained the distinctively totemistic sections of the Doms, Bânsphors, and Basors.

[Marriage rules.] 2. Besides the rule that a man cannot marry within his sept he cannot marry in a family which is known to be descended from the same parents as his own, or which can be traced to a common ancestor. He cannot marry in the family of his maternal uncle or of his father’s sister. He cannot marry two sisters at the same time, but he can marry the younger sister of his deceased wife.

[Traditions.] 3. Their traditions show clearly that they are a branch of the great Dom tribe, and they refer their origin to Sûpa Bhagat, who, in Bengal, is regarded more as the Guru than the progenitor of the Doms.

[Marriage.] 4. Marriage is both infant and adult. Sexual license before marriage is neither recognised nor tolerated. Polyandry is repudiated; polygamy without any condition or limit is allowed. They marry by the ordinary low caste form. Widows are married by the form known as Dola or Dharauna. The levirate, on the usual conditions, is recognised; but it is not compulsory on the widow to marry the younger brother of her late husband. At the Dola marriage the binding part of the ceremony is the feast to the brethren. A woman can be turned out of the house for infidelity, and this is the only form of divorce. A divorced woman can marry again like a widow.

[Religion.] 5. They are not initiated into any sect, but are commonly classed as Sâktas. Their tribal godling is Jakhaiya, to whom pigs are offered on a Monday. On Monday and Friday goats are sacrificed to Devi. There appears to be no worship special to women and children.

[Death ceremonies.] 6. Some of them bury and some burn the dead. The corpse is buried with the feet to the south. When cremation is performed the ashes are thrown into some river. They have no particular ceremony to appease the spirits of the dead. Some of them do the ordinary srâddha.

[Occupation.] 7. Their occupation is to act as village messengers (gorait). They blow the long trumpet at marriages and festivals. Some make bamboo baskets; some are pure village menials, and work in consideration of receiving a small patch of rent-free land.

[Social rules.] 8. They eat meat and drink spirits. They practically eat anything, even the leavings of other people. They will eat kachchi only with their own castes; they take pakki from sweepers. No other caste will touch anything from their hands.

DISTRIBUTION OF BALÂHARS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Mathura 509
Cawnpur 1,428
Hamîrpur 105
Jâlaun 317
~~~~~
Total 2,359

Balâi, Balâhi [213].—A tribe of weavers and labourers in the Central Duâb. They have no exogamous or endogamous divisions. They marry only in their own caste, but not in the gotra of their mother or grandmother. They can marry two sisters. There is no prohibition of marriage based on social position, occupation, or sectarial belief. They say themselves that they are the descendants of Panwâr Râjputs, and that their original home is Kota Bûndi and Bikâner. They are settled and not nomadic. They do not admit outsiders into the caste. Marriage is both infant and adult, and sexual license both before and after marriage is not tolerated. Polyandry is prohibited, and polygamy to the extent of two wives is allowed.

[Marriage.] 2. The marriage is celebrated in the usual way, and the binding part of it is the seven perambulations (bhanwar) round the sacred fire. A Brâhman priest officiates. Marriage under the form known as Dharaicha is also permitted. This is the form used in widow marriage. The widow can, if she please, live with the younger brother of her late husband; but she can, if she chooses, marry an outsider to the family, and her right of choice is fully recognized. A woman can be expelled for infidelity, and she has the right of appeal to the tribal council. Such a divorced woman can marry again by the Dharaicha form.

[Religion.] 3. They are Hindus of the Vaishnava sect, and their chief god is Bhagwân. They worship Hanumân every Tuesday and Saturday, and Devi in the months of Chait and Kuâr. Zâhir Pîr is venerated on the ninth of the first half of Bhâdon. The offerings consist of flowers, sweetmeats, fruits, etc., and after presentation they are consumed by the worshippers. They employ Brâhmans as priests who do not incur any social discredit by serving them.

[Disposal of the dead.] 4. The dead are cremated. Poor people leave the ashes at the pyre; wealthier people send them to the Ganges. They perform the usual annual srâddha in the month of Kuâr.

[Occupation.] 5. Weaving is their main occupation, but some of them work as masons and day-labourers.

[Social rules.] 6. They eat pork and flesh of cloven-footed animals, except the cow. They drink spirits. They will not eat the flesh of monkeys, fish, fowls, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, rats or other vermin, or the leavings of other people. The lowest well known caste with which the caste will eat pakki is the Nâi. They eat kachchi cooked by Kâyasths, Gûjars or Ahîrs.

Bâm-Mârgi.—(Sans. Vâma-mârgi, “the left hand path”).—The notorious left hand or Sâkti sect, which presents one of the most degraded forms of modern Hinduism. On these Sir Monier Williams [214] writes:—“It can scarcely be doubted that Sâktism is Hinduism arrived at its worst and most corrupt stage of development. To follow out the whole process of evolution would not be easy. Suffice it to say that just as Hinduism resolved itself into two great systems, Saivism and Vaishnavism, so the adherents of these two systems respectively separated into two great classes. The first are now called “followers of the right hand path” (Dakshina-mârgis). These make the Purânas their real Veda (Nigama), and are devoted to either Siva or Vishnu in their double nature as male and female. But they do not display undue preference for the female or left-hand side of the deity; nor are they addicted to mystic or secret rites. The second class are called “followers of the left-hand path” (Vâma-mârgis). These make the Tantras their peculiar Veda (Agama), tracing back their doctrines to the Kaula Upanishad, which is held to be the original authority for their opinions, whence their system is called Kaula as well as Sâkta, and they call themselves Kaulikas.

2. “And it is these left-hand worshippers who, I repeat, devote themselves to the exclusive worship of the female side of Siva and Vishnu; that is the goddess Durga or Kâli (Amba Devi) rather than to Siva; to Râdha rather than to Krishna; to Sîta rather than to Râma; but above all to Amba or Devi, the mother goddess, sometimes confounded with Siva’s consort, but rather, in her more comprehensive character, the great power (Sakti) of Nature, the one mother of the Universe (Jaganmâta, Jagadamba), the mighty mysterious force, whose function is to direct and control two quite distinct operations; namely, first, the working of the natural appetites and passions, whether for the support of the body by eating and drinking, or for the propagation of living organisms through sexual cohabitation; secondly, the acquisition of supernatural faculties (Siddhi), whether for man’s own individual exaltation or for the annihilation of his opponents.”

The sect devotes itself to what are technically known as the five Ms. which are named in the verse,—

Madyam mânsam cha minam cha mudrâ maithun mewa cha;
Êtê pânch makârasyur mokshadâ hi yuge yuge.

“Wine, fish, flesh, enjoyment and cohabitation—these are the givers of salvation in every age.” For each of these there is a slang or technical term. Thus wine is tîrtha or “pilgrimage;” flesh, sudhi or “pure;” fish, pushpa or “flowers;” mudra is chaturthi or “fourth;” and cohabitation, panchami or “fifth.” Their principal form of worship is known as Bhairavi chakra or “the wheel of Bhairava;” and they assert that whoever takes part in it becomes for the time a Brâhman. A jug of spirits is placed within the figure of a triangle or quadrangle, and worshipped with the mantra, Brahm shapam bimocha tha—“O wine! thou art free from the curse of Brahma.” Again the secret form of the ritual consists in the worship of a naked woman, and similarly, a naked man is worshipped by the women. A vessel is filled with water and a large dish with meat, and the leader, the wine cup in his hand, says, Bhairavoham Sivoham, “I am Bhairava and Siva.” He drinks first, and all the congregation does the same. A man and woman stand naked with swords in their hands, and are worshipped. The pair are supposed to represent Devi and Mahâdeva. Then follows indiscriminate license, and the subsequent ritual takes even more disgusting forms. To free themselves from the risk of subsequent transmigration, they perform a particular charm (prayoga), which consists in placing bottles of liquor at separate places in the house and drinking till intoxication results. The mantra of initiation is said to be Dam Durge namah, or Bham Bhairavâya namah, “I salute Durga. I salute Bhairava.” In Bengal they also use the mystic formula Hrin, Srin, Klin. Another of their mystic formulas is Hram, hrim, hrum, bagala muhhai phat swâha, or Hum phat swâha. The charm to kill an enemy is to make an image of flour or earth and stick razors into the breast, navel and throat, with pegs in the eyes, hands and feet. Then they make an image of Bhairava or Durga, holding a three-pronged fork (trisûl) in the hand, and place it so close to the image of the person to whom evil is intended that the fork pierces its breast. A fire sacrifice is made with meat and a charm recited, which runs—“Kill, kill; estrange, and make him hated of all; make him subservient to my will; devour him, consume him, break him, destroy him; make my enemies obey me.” At one time they were supposed to make human sacrifices to Kâli, and the records of our Criminal Courts show that such practices have not entirely ceased. In this they are closely connected with the Aghoris, who eat human flesh. One division of them the Choli-mârgi, make the women place their boddices (choli) in a jar, and thus allot them by chance to the male worshippers. Of another, the Bîjmârgi, the bestiality of the ritual defies description.

3. There seems, unhappily, reason to believe that this brutal form of so-called worship is spreading in Upper India under the example of Bengâli immigrants, who have introduced it from its head-quarters in Bengal. At the last census, 1,576 persons avowed themselves worshippers of the left-hand path.

Banâphar.—A famous sept of Yadubansi Râjputs confined almost entirely to the Bundelkhand country now included in the Allahâbâd and Benares Divisions. According to their own account they derive their name from their ancestor, a certain Rishi who used to live on the wild fruits of the jungle (vanaphala). Their original settlement is said to have been Orai and Chausa, in the Jâlaun District. The story of their emigration to Mahoba is thus told:—Two men of the tribe once went into the forest to hunt; their names were Jasar and Sorhar. They came upon two buffalos fighting, and as they watched the combat two Ahîr girls came up, and by main force separated the furious animals. The Thâkurs were so pleased with the bravery and strength of the girls that they took them to wife. Their sons were the famous Alha and Udal, whose adventures form the subject of the great Bundelkhand epic. They are the heroes of the famous war between the Chandels and Chauhâns. In the course of this campaign the Chauhân chieftain, Prithivi Râja, conquered the King of Mahoba, Paramarddi Deva, or Parmal, as he is familiarly called by the bard Chand, and the later annalists at a battle at Sirswagarh, on the Pahoj, or at Bairagarh near Orai. [215] The names of the Ahîr girls, their mothers, are said to have been Devala and Brahma. When the Râja found that his men had contracted a low marriage with Ahîrins they were turned out of caste, and took service with Parmal of Mahoba. [216] At that time Mahoba was besieged by the hosts of the Râja of Jambudwîpa, one of the seven islands or continents of which the world is made up, having Mount Meru for its centre and including Bharata-varsha or India. The Banâphar heroes drove back the enemy, and were rewarded by the gift of an estate known as the Daspurwa, or ten hamlets. Subsequently two other Banâphar soldiers of fortune, Râma Sinh and Dhana Sinh, came to Benares from Chausa and took service with Bandâl, the Râja of Benares. They rose in his favour, and by and by proposed to him to attack and expel the Bhar Râja of Kantit, in the Mirzapur District. For this purpose they invited some of their relations and made them take service with the Bhar Râja. According to the stock legend which explains the conquest of the Aborigines by the Aryan invaders, they drugged the liquor of the Bhars and overcame them while sunk in drunken sleep. Thus Râja Bandâl acquired the territories of the Bhars. Bandâl conferred on the Banâphar warriors the villages of Râjpur and Hariharpur. Dânu Sinh succeeded Bandâl, and held Dhana Sinh in high favour. One day the Râja was at his devotions and a kite dropped a morsel of flesh on him, whereupon Dhana Sinh killed it with his arrow. This so pleased the Râja that he conferred more estates upon him. These have been gradually lost until the sept now hold a very inconsiderable landed property in the Benares Division.

2. The Banâphars hold only a moderately respectable rank among Râjputs. In Jâlaun they will, it is said, take brides by the dola form from all the poor Râjputs of the District, and receive the bride price. They marry their sons to the girls of the Bais, Gautam, Dikhit, and Bisen septs. In Hamîrpur they profess to belong to the Kasyapa gotra, and give brides to the Gautam, Dikhit Bais, and Chandel, while they take wives from the Nandwâni, Bâhman Gaur, and Bais. In Bânda they give brides to the Dikhit, Gautam, Gaur, and Kachhwâha; and take girls of the Panwâr Bais, Dikhit, and Sombansi septs.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BANÂPHAR RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Banarwâr, Bandarwâr.—A sub-caste of Banyas found principally in the Benares Division. They have thirty-six sections, which are thus given in Mirzapur—Mâlhan, Sothiyân, Sanbhariya, Abakahon, Rupiya, Katariya, Patsariya, Thagwariya, Manihariya, Narihiya, Nakthariya, Khatwatiya, Khelaniya, Burbak, Manipariya, Jhatwatiya, Purwar, Deriya, Puriya, Kalyâniya, Dhângar, Sonmukhiya, Chaudhariya, Sethiyân, Bairah, Naiphiriya, Katholiya, Beriya, Kakariya, Badana, Kasauliya, Lohkhariya, Panchlatiya, Dhenk, Bajâj, Motariya, and lastly those who have no knowledge of their gotra call themselves Akâsh Bhânwari. These sections marry indiscriminately. They are often initiated into the Râmanandi sect of Vaishnavas. To the East they worship, as a sort of fetish (apparently from some fancied connection of name), the bandi or chain worn by women on the forehead. To this on the day of the Nâgpanchami they offer prayers, cakes (pûri), usually one hundred and eight in number, and garlands of flowers. They worship Mahâbîr and the Pânchonpîr in the usual way. Their priests are Tiwâri Brâhmans who are said to serve the royal family of Rîwa. They make their living as brokers, and by selling brass vessels, cloth, money-changing and similar mercantile business. Those who live towards the North eat meat, but the others do not. Drinking is prohibited. They eat pakki cooked by Brâhmans, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas. They will eat kachchi cooked only by members of their own sub-caste. Some Brâhmans, and Kshatriyas will eat pakki cooked by them. Kahârs and Nâis will eat kachchi cooked by them.

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The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 1 (of 4)Chapter VI: Forms of Hindu Marriage (7)

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