Chapter D (5)

[Sub-castes of the Himalayan Doms.] 42. The complete Census Returns show as the main sections of the Hill Doms the Auji, Badhai, Bera, Baroda, Chamâr, Chunara, Darzi, Das, Dhaki, Dhobi, Dholi, Dhunâr, Kamar, Koli, Lohâr, Mochi, Nâth, Pahariya, Sahiya, Tamoli, Tamta, and Teli, most of which are occupational. In Garhwâl, according to Mr. Atkinson, [354] they are divided in popular estimation into four classes. To the first belong the Kolis, Tamotas, Lohârs, Orhs, and Dhârhis. The Kolis weave cloth, keep pigs and fowls, and are agricultural labourers. The Tamotas or Tamtas represent the Thatheras of the plains, and are workers in brass and copper. The Lohârs are workers in iron. The Orhs comprise both masons and carpenters. Dhârhis, though socially ranked with Doms, do not belong to them, for they properly include only those Khasiyas who have been put out of caste for some offence, and their offspring form a new caste with the addition of the fresh avocation. To the second class belong the Bhûls, Chunyârs, Ruriyas, Agaris, and Pahris. The Bhûls represent the Telis of the plains, but also do field work. They are also called Bâryas. The Chunyâras are turners, and make wooden vessels and the bottoms of huqqas. The Ruriyas make various kinds of bamboo baskets and sieves. The Agaris are iron smelters, and must be carefully discriminated from the Dravidian Agariyas of Mirzapur. They are Doms attached to the service of the mines by the former Râjas, but are gradually exchanging a very ill-paid and dangerous avocation for that of road-making and other profitable work. The Pahris are village messengers, and are the same as the Chamâr village watchmen of the plains. To the third class belong the Mallâhs, Daryas, and Chamârs. The Mallâhs are also called Dhunârs, and are for the most part engaged in agriculture. The Daryas are village sorcerers, and conjure away hailstorms and the like, for which service they receive annual dues of grain. The Chamârs call themselves Bairsawa, and will never acknowledge the name of Chamâr. They sew leather and perform all the usual service duties of the Dom.

43. The fourth class includes the professional beggars and vagrant musicians of the Hills—the Bâdi, Hurkiya, Darzi, and Dholi. The Bâdi is the village musician; in the plains he is considered to be a Nat. He plays on various instruments and sings at festivals. He goes from village to village begging from door to door, and belongs to the class of sturdy beggars who, if they do not get what they expect, lampoon the people of the house and abuse them. For these reasons they are, to some extent, feared, and are able to maintain themselves at the expense of their neighbours. They also snare fowl and fish. The Hurkiya are so called from the small double drum (huruk, huruka) shaped like an hourglass which he carries. This is an archaic musical instrument like the damaru, which is one of Siva’s emblems. They never take to agriculture, and wander about with their women, who dance and sing. The Darzi, also called Auji and Suji, lives by tailoring, though often solely by agriculture. To the Darzi class belongs the Dholi so called from beating the drum (dholak). This is done by way of incantation to cause sprites and ghosts to enter or leave the person of any one, and so induce that person to give money to the performer. The Darya, Bâdi, Hurkiya, and Dholi are all Doms, and “are in the hills the recognised priests of the malignant spirits of the hill and glen, whose aid is always sought after before anything serious is undertaken or any difficult task is attempted. It is the Doms who preserve to the present day the pure demonism of the aborigines, while the Khasiyas temper it with the worship of the village deities, the named and localised divine entities, and furnish from their ranks the priests. Most of the Barhais belong to the Orh division of the Doms, and the Chunapaz or lime-burners belong to the Agari and Lohâr branches of the Doms. Finally there is a class known as Domjogi, who are beggars. The portion of the village site assigned to Doms is in the hills known as Domaura or Domtola, like the Chamrauti where the Chamârs of the plains congregate.”

44. Most of these divisions of the Doms of the hills are thus purely occupational, and, as might have been expected, the enumeration varies. Thus Pandit Juâla Dat Joshi writing of the Doms of Kumâun says that Doms usually do not use the term Dom in speaking of themselves, but call themselves Bairsawa, or Tallijâti or Bâbarjâti, “outcasts,” or they call themselves by their occupation Orh, Lohâr, and so on. He enumerates the Kumâun Doms under the heads of Sarki Dotiwâla, who work in leather; Tamta, workers in brass; Lohâr, workers in iron; Orh and Bârele masons; Tirua, who do tinning and making of horse shoes; Bhûl, oilmen; Mochi, workers in leather; Koli, cloth-weavers; Bâruri, makers of bamboo baskets, Dhuni, Dhuni Dom, and ordinary Doms who are said to be a mixed race of men from the plains and ordinary Hill Doms who work as ploughmen and day labourers; Dholi, who play on drums at festivals; Hurkiya, who play and sing and prostitute their women; Chamâr, who skin animals; Bâdi, who play on drums and work as tailors. He adds that the reason of the increase of this caste is that they admit outcasts from the superior tribes. The Baura are separate from the Dom, and say that they were originally Jâts.

According to the same authority, the Orh, Tamta, Lohâr, Bârê, Bhûl, Tirua, Mochi, Dhuni, Koli, and Bâruri are exogamous, but as they advance in wealth, they show a tendency to break up into endogamous groups. The Chamâr, Dholi, Bâdi, and Hurkiya are endogamous, and will eat kachchi and pakki only from members of their own sub-caste. Their rule of exogamy is simply that the recognised descendants of one common ancestor will not intermarry. Some of them, as they are becoming more Hinduised, have adopted the rule of not intermarrying within five generations on the side of the mother and seven on the side of the father. They can marry as many wives as they please, of whom the youngest and best-looking is regarded as head. He says that the Doms do not prostitute their women before marriage; but that among the Bhotiyas it used to be the habit for young men and girls to meet in a special house in the village, where, after drinking, each youth selected a girl and cohabited with her in perfect freedom. The custom is now disappearing. We have here a good example of that form of promiscuity before marriage, of which Dr. Westermarck has collected numerous instances. [355]

46. Girls, he goes on to say, are married between the age of eight and ten. When the parties are of that age, their relatives arrange the marriage for them; but when a girl has passed the age of puberty she may choose a husband for herself. There are two recognised forms of marriage, the superior, in which the father of the bride gives her away with a dowry, and the less respectable form in which the relatives of the bridegroom pay one-third of the expenses of the marriage.

47. They put away a woman when she is attacked with leprosy, becomes a lunatic or loses caste. A divorced woman, provided she has not been divorced on account of disease, may be taken on as a concubine, but she cannot be married again by any of the regular forms. The levirate and widow-marriage are recognised, and the children of a widow regularly married and of a widow rank equally; but the children of a concubine hold a lower rank, as they cannot join in the worship of deceased ancestors. A widow taken over by a man is known as rakhui, and it is said to be the custom for widows not to live with a man unless they have no one to support them.

[Domestic ceremonies: Himalayan Doms.] 48. When a woman comes to the seventh month of pregnancy she is forbidden to cook for her family or to perform the domestic worship. When the child is born, a lump of coarse sugar is distributed to those present; the child is bathed, and red powder (rori) applied to its head and to that of the mother and all the women of the house. For eleven days the male members of the family are considered impure. In the case of the birth of twins, they perform a propitiatory ceremony.

49. The marriage ceremony is in the form usual among the lower castes. No Brâhman officiates, and his place is taken by the sister’s son who receives a fee for his services. The binding portion of the ceremony is the feeding of the brethren.

50. They burn their dead and dispose of the ashes into a neighbouring stream. In this case also the sister’s son or the son-in-law of the dead man officiates and is given a loin cloth and some money. The death impurity lasts for eleven days. At her first menstruation a girl is impure for eleven days, and only for four days at each subsequent occurrence of the menses.

[Religion of the Himalayan Doms.] 51. According to Mr. Atkinson, [356] “their montane and non-Brâhmanical origin is sufficiently shown by the names of the deities worshipped by them—Ganganâth, Bholanâth, Masân, Khabîsh, Goril, Kshetrpâl, Saim, Airi Kalbisht or Kaluwa, Chaumu, Badhân, Hâru, Latu, Bheliya, the Katyûri Râjas, Rûniya, Bâlchan, Kâlchan, Bhausi, Chhurmal. Ganganâth is the favourite deity of the Doms and his origin is thus accounted for. The son of Bhabichand, Râja of Doti, quarrelled with his family and became a religious mendicant. In the course of his wanderings he arrived at Adoli, a village in Patti Sâlam, and there saw and fell in love with the wife of one Krishna Joshi. This Joshi was a servant at Almora, and the Jogi disguised himself and took service in the house in which the woman lived. When Krishna heard of the intrigue, he set out for Adoli, and, with the aid of one Jhaparna Lohâr, murdered his wife and her lover. Like Bholanâth and his companions, the Jogi, his mistress, and the unborn child became goblins and vexed the people so that they built a temple and instituted a regular service in honour of the three sprites. From Adoli the cult of Ganganâth spread over Kumâun, and at Takuriya Lwâli and Narai in his home patti we have temples in his honour. He is supposed especially to harass the young and beautiful, if they do not propitiate him. When any one is aggrieved by the wicked or powerful, he goes to Ganganâth for aid, who invariably punishes the evil-doer. He sometimes possesses a follower, and through him promises all that they desire to those who offer the following articles—to Ganganâth himself a kid, cakes, sweetmeats, beads, a bag and a pair of Jogi’s ear rings; to his mistress Bhâna, a petticoat, a sheet, and a nose ring; and to the child a coat and amulets—altogether forming a fair spoil to the Ghantuwa or astrologer who conducts the ceremonies.

52. “The current legend regarding the origin of the local deity Bholanâth and his consort Barhini forms one of the connecting links between the Brâhmanical system of the present day and the universal hierarchy of sprites and goblins common to all mountainous countries. With the better classes Bholanâth is recognised as a form of Mahâdeva, and Barhini as a form of his Sâkti, [357] thus meeting the requirements of the popular worship and the demands of the orthodox school, but it is evident that the idea of deifying mortals is an old one, and in this case merely localised to explain the origin of a class of temples which are acknowledged not to belong to the orthodox forms of Mahâdeva. One story tells us how Uday Chand, Râja of Almora, had two queens, each of whom bore him a son. When the children arrived at man’s estate, the elder of the two took to evil courses and was disinherited and left Kumâun. The younger in course of time succeeded his father as Gyân Chand, and his administration gave great satisfaction and relief to the people. Gyân Chand had been some years on the throne when his elder brother returned to Almora, and took up his quarters there in the guise of a religious mendicant. In spite of his disguise several recognised the disinherited prince, and conveyed the news of his arrival to his brother Gyân Chand. He became alarmed and gave orders for the assassination of his brother which was carried out by a man of the Bariya or gardener caste. The elder prince and his pregnant mistress were both slain near the temple of Sîtala Devi. The mistress was the wife of a Brâhman, and her connection with the Chand prince was considered something more than adulterous. After death the elder brother became a bhût. A small iron trident is sometimes placed in the corner of a cottage as an emblem of Bholanâth, and is usually resorted to when any sudden or unexpected calamity attacks the inmates.

53. “The demon Masân is usually found at burning grounds. He is supposed to be of black colour and hideous appearance. He comes from the remains of a funeral pyre and chases people passing by who sometimes die of fright, others linger for a few days and some even go mad. When a person becomes possessed by Masân, the people invoke the beneficent spirit of the house to come and take possession of some member of the family, and all begin to dance. At length some one works himself into a state of frenzy and commences to torture and belabour the body of the person possessed by Masân, until at length a cure is effected or the patient perishes under this drastic treatment.

54. “Khabîsh resembles Masân in his malignant nature and fondness for charnel grounds. He is also met with in dark glens and forests in various shapes. Sometimes he imitates the bellow of a buffalo, or the cry of a goat-herd or neat-herd, and sometimes he grunts like a wild pig. At other times he assumes the guise of a religious mendicant and joins travellers on their way, but his conversation (like that of all the Indian bhûts who speak through their nose) is always unintelligible. Like Masân he often frightens people and sometimes possesses unfortunate travellers who get benighted.”

55. Goril, Goriya, Gwel, Gwâll or Gol is another deified mortal of whom the legend is given by Mr. Atkinson. He was beaten out of Garhwâl by Sudarsan Sâh. The idea that a bhût can be driven out by beating is embodied in two well-known Hindi proverbs—Mâr kê âge bhût bhâgta hai, “A thrashing makes a bhût run;” and Lâton kê bhût bâton sê nahîn mântê, “Goblins that want kicking won’t mind words.”

56. Khetrpâl is the same as Bhûmiya, the protector of field and homestead, extensively worshipped in the western districts. Saim or Sayam, “the black one” (Sans. shyâma) is another form of the same deity. He sometimes possesses people, and his sign is that the hair of the scalp-lock becomes hopelessly entangled.

57. Kalbisht or Kaluwa is said to have been a neat-herd who lived some two hundred years ago. His enemies persuaded his brother-in-law Himmat to drive a peg into the hoof of one of Kalbisht’s buffaloes, intending that he should be killed in attempting to extract it, but no harm ensued. Himmat next attacked him from behind with an axe, and so wounded him on the neck that he died, but not before he had torn the treacherous Himmat limb from limb. He has now become a benevolent sprite, and his name is used by herdsmen as a charm against wild beasts, and oppressed persons resort to his temple for justice against their oppressors.

58. Chaumu is also a deified mortal and a god of cattle; so is Badhân. On the eleventh day after the birth of a calf his linga is washed first with water and then milk and cakes, rice and milk are offered at his temples. Hâru is the deified Haris Chandra, Râja of Champawat who built the sacred bathing place at Hardwâr. Lâtu was his brother. The Katyûri Râjas are the defied last independent Râjas of Katyûr. Rûniya is a malignant bhût who wanders from village to village on coursers formed of huge boulders, and at night especially exercises his noisy steeds. He attacks only females, and should any woman attract his attentions she invariably wastes away, haunted by her ghostly lover and joins him in the spirit land. Bâlchan, Kâlchan, Bhasni, and Chhurmal are malignant bhûts of the same kind.

[Religious and social customs of the Himalayan Doms.] 59. To quote again Mr. Atkinson’s excellent account of this caste—“Doms do not wear the sacred thread or the bracelet (râkhi) nor do they have caste marks or wear, as a rule, the top-knot (sikha), and in a rough way they imitate the customs of the better classes, especially those who have made money in their contracts with Government. Their offerings to deceased ancestors (srâddha), when made at all, are performed at the Amâwas or last day of the Kanyâgat of Kuâr. The sister’s son, younger sister’s husband or son-in-law act as Brâhmans on the occasion and receive gifts as such. Doms eat the flesh of all animals, use their skins, and eat food from all classes except the Bhangi, Musalmân, and Christian. There is no fixed time for marriage. When an elder brother dies the younger takes the widow to wife whether she has children or not; hence the proverb Mal bhîr adhari ber, talai chîr men onchhi “When the upper walls fall they come on the lower wall.” When the elder brother dies, the burden falls upon the younger. The elder brother cannot, however, take to wife the widow of a deceased younger brother, and contracts a stain if even her shadow crosses his path. He transfers her to some other of the brotherhood, but if during the lifetime of her second husband he or she be dissatisfied, another may take her by paying the cost of her marriage. This may be repeated several times. The prohibited degrees are only a daughter, sister, uncle, aunt, brother, and these they cannot eat or smoke with.”

60. To this may be added from the notes of Pandit Juâla Dat Joshi that their greatest oath is to place the hand on the head of their son; others say: “If I swear falsely may I eat your flesh.” They also swear by placing their hands on the grain mortar (okhli), flour mill (chakki), or on a bell. When there is a dispute about boundaries they write a curse (bunda) on a piece of paper and holding it on the head of a son recite the words which run as follows—“If the land in dispute be mine may I and my children enjoy it, if it be not mine may Parameswar prevent me from enjoying it.” They believe in the Evil Eye and remove it by waving some mustard over the patient and then burning it near him in a pan. They fully believe in the demoniacal theory of disease, and patients are treated by an exorcisor known as Gannua. They salute one another by the term pâlâgan; Brâhmans by the word seva and English and Musalmâns by salâm. Many of them in addition cultivate and some practise a kind of nomadic cultivation by burning down patches of jungle.

[Connection between the Doms and Gypsies.] 61. There seems reason to believe that some at least of the Gypsy tribes of Europe are akin to the Magahiya Doms; and a connection has been traced between their languages. Much speculation has been devoted to the term Romani, the designation of the European gypsies. According to one theory it means Roman or Roumanian. According to another “the word Rom in all the gypsy dialects of Europe has a twofold meaning signifying “man” and “husband” as well as “gypsy.” A satisfactory connection has still to be found for it, that connected with Râma, the incarnate Vishnu of the Hindus being discountenanced by the authority of Professor Ascoli of Milan. By a curious and unexplained coincidence the identical word Rom or Rome occurs with the meaning “man” in modern Coptic, and according to Herodotus belonged also to the language of the ancient Egyptians. Although this isolated fact in no way affects the general bearing of the question, it is worth noting as an etymological curiosity. It is not impossible that among the original elements of the Aryan mother speech may have existed a root ro or rom, expressive of power, the survival of which we can discern in the Greek romê, “strength,” the Latin robur, and perhaps in the illustrious name of Rome itself.” On the other hand Dr. Schrader [358] suggests that the word robur in the sense of “oak” is the equivalent of arbor “a tree.” At the same time there seems some reason for believing that Romani in the sense of “a gypsy” may be connected with our Indian terms Dom and Domra. [359]

DISTRIBUTION OF THE DOMS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+=========+=========+=========+============+========= Districts. |Benbansi.| Dhânuk. | Others. |Muhammadans.| Total. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~ Dehra Dûn | ... | ... | 18,438 | 210 | 18,648 Sahâranpur | ... | ... | 59 | 2,482 | 2,541 Muzaffarnagar | ... | ... | 254 | 2,299 | 2,553 Meerut | ... | ... | ... | 4,257 | 4,257 Bulandshahr | ... | ... | ... | 5,663 | 5,663 Aligarh | ... | ... | 21 | 995 | 1,016 Mathura | ... | ... | 8 | 873 | 881 Agra | ... | ... | 15 | 869 | 884 Farrukhâbâd | ... | ... | 3 | 117 | 120 Mainpuri | ... | ... | ... | 152 | 152 Etâwah | 6 | ... | 20 | 143 | 169 Etah | ... | ... | ... | 95 | 95 Bareilly | ... | ... | ... | 538 | 538 Bijnor | ... | ... | ... | 2,929 | 2,929 Budâun | ... | ... | ... | 603 | 603 Morâdâbâd | ... | ... | 4 | 3,488 | 3,492 Shâhjahânpur | ... | ... | ... | 307 | 307 Pilibhît | ... | ... | ... | 295 | 295 Cawnpur | ... | ... | 26 | 96 | 122 Fatehpur | ... | ... | ... | 58 | 58 Bânda | ... | ... | ... | 8 | 8 Hamîrpur | ... | ... | 20 | 27 | 47 Allahâbâd | ... | ... | 205 | 108 | 313 Jhânsi | ... | ... | 8 | 4 | 12 Jâlaun | ... | ... | 18 | 20 | 38 Lalitpur | ... | ... | 26 | ... | 26 Benares | ... | ... | 1,078 | 76 | 1,154 Mirzapur | ... | ... | 8,039 | 3 | 8,042 Jaunpur | ... | ... | 3,157 | 135 | 3,292 Ghâzipur | 158 | 11 | 2,968 | 37 | 3,174 Ballia | 36 | ... | 1,671 | ... | 1,707 Gorakhpur | ... | ... | 7,817 | 72 | 7,889 Basti | ... | ... | 82 | 101 | 183 Azamgarh | 3 | ... | 1,234 | 135 | 1,372 Kumâun | ... | ... | 137,760 | ... | 137,760 Garhwâl | ... | ... | 66,529 | ... | 66,529 Tarâi | ... | ... | 4,996 | 519 | 5,515 Lucknow | ... | 751 | 908 | 12 | 1,671 Unâo | ... | 1,285 | 1,904 | 30 | 3,219 Râê Bareli | ... | 1,411 | 4,084 | 51 | 5,546 Sîtapur | ... | ... | 12 | 21 | 33 Hardoi | ... | ... | 3 | 24 | 27 Gonda | ... | 129 | 1,790 | 27 | 1,946 Bahrâich | 8 | 17 | 327 | 109 | 461 Sultânpur | ... | ... | ... | 102 | 102 Partâbgarh | ... | 16 | 24 | 1 | 41 Bârabanki | ... | 780 | 2,441 | 272 | 3,493 +~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~ Total | 211 | 4,400 | 265,949 | 28,363 | 298,923 ==============+=========+=========+=========+============+=========

Domar.—A caste recorded at the last Census in Allahâbâd Division. The Census returns show their sections as Lod in Fatehpur; in Bânda, Bânsphor, Basor, Benbansi, Janwâr, Malik, Saijâd, Sûpabhagat, Thail, and Tharkâri. This shows that they are really only a sub-caste of the great Dom race.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE DOMAR ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

============+==========+=========+========
Districts. | Turaiha. | Others. | Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~
Cawnpur | 18 | 141 | 159
Fatehpur | 349 | 1,745 | 2,094
Bânda | ... | 10,371 | 10,371
Hamîrpur | ... | 2,308 | 2,308
Allahâbâd | ... | 19 | 197
+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~
Total | 367 | 14,762 | 15,129
============+==========+=========+========

Donwâr; Dunwâr.—A mixed Râjput-Bhuînhâr sept found in the districts of Gorakhpur, Ghâzipur, and Azamgarh. According to Sir H. M. Elliot [360] at one time they were strong enough to establish a principality on the Kosi in Western Tirhût, and there are several monuments still existing in that neighbourhood which attest the power of the Donwâr Râja Karna Deva. In Ghâzipur [361] the Râjput and Bhuînhâr branches are quite distinct. They have a dark complexion and a cast of countenance which is not what is usually called Aryan. In Azamgarh [362] both sects admit descent from common ancestors, Sonpâl being the father of the Râjput, and Kuspâl of the Bhuînhâr. The Râjput branch say that they came from Don Darauli in Sâran, and are descended from Mayûra Bhatta, the mythical ancestor of the Bisen family of Salempur Majhauli, who, however, disclaim all connection with them. Among Râjputs they are of little consideration. The Bhuînhâr branch say that they came from Raindih near Delhi, but they admit their connection with the Donwârs of Tirhût and Sâran, and speak of themselves as the descendants of Jham Bhatta, whom they connect in a vague way with Mayûra Bhatta. They are sometimes known as Rainiya from the village of Raini in Pargana Muhammadâbâd, an early settlement in Azamgarh.

Dor.—A Râjput sept, now almost all Muhammadans, who before the coming of the Bargûjars were the chief owners of the country now included in the Aligarh and Bulandshahr Districts. Colonel Tod [363] remarks “that though occupying a place in all the genealogies, time has destroyed all knowledge of the past history of a tribe to gain a victory over whom was deemed by Prithivi Râja worthy of a tablet.” The local traditions in Aligarh and Bulandshahr agree that they were lords of a large tract of country between the Ganges and Jumna long anterior to the Muhammadan invasion. They were at all times probably subordinate to the Delhi Râjas; and in Bulandshahr their power had been weakened, and their possessions encroached upon by the attacks of the Mewâtis, and the colonisation of their territories by the Bargûjars, Jâts, and other races. In and about Koil at least they seem to have retained some remnant of their former authority until the defeat of Prithivi Râja and the conquest of Delhi and Ajmer. [364] They claim kinship with the Panwârs and say that they came from the Upper to the Middle Duâb in the tenth century. They have a curious legend that their name is derived from the fact that one of their kings offered his head to the local goddess, Dor being a corruption of Dûnd, “headless.” Haradatta was their king at the time of the invasion of Mahmûd of Ghazni, and most of the ruined forts in the Central Duâb are attributed to him and his descendants. They were finally, in the middle of the twelfth century, expelled by the Mîna Meos, Bargûjars, and Gahlots, and their power was finally broken by Shahâb-ud-dîn Ghori. They have now little influence. A clan of Gûjars of the same name in Khandesh claim their origin from them. [365]

Dorha; Daurha; Dauraha. [366]—A small caste found only in the Kheri District, who are so called because they make baskets (dauri). They have no sub-divisions. They call themselves Râjputs, the descendants of Râja Vena, who was the old world Brâhmanical type of impiety. They allege that the poorer members of the tribe were obliged by poverty to settle down in the Kheri District and take to their present occupation. Their rules of intermarriage and social position are very much the same as that of the Gorchhas (q.v.). Their present occupation is the making and selling of fans, baskets, boxes, etc. A few of them have taken to agriculture. They marry in the ordinary Hindu form, and employ a village Pandit to take the auspices. The essential part of the rite is the sevenfold perambulation of the bride and bridegroom round the central pole of the marriage shed (mando). The widow usually lives with her younger brother-in-law. The only rite at such marriages is investing her with a new set of glass bangles (chûri) and feeding the brethren. A wife can be turned out for misconduct, and can then marry again like a widow. They eat mutton and goat’s flesh, fowls and fish, and drink spirits. They will not eat the flesh of the cow, monkey, pig, or vermin like crocodiles, jackals, snakes, lizards, rats or the leavings of other people. No one will eat, drink, or smoke with them. They number only 68 souls in the Kheri District.

Drâvira.—One of the five sub-castes of Brâhmans which go to make up what is called the Pancha Drâvira, one of the two great Brâhmanic groups. According to Dr. Wilson, [367] connected with their Vedic relations, they are divided into Rig Vedis, Krishna Yajur Vedis, Shukla Yajur Vedis, Sama Vedis, Drâvida Atharva Vedis, and Nunbis. And by sect they are either Smârtas, Vaishnavas, Sri Vaishnavas, Bhâgvatas or Sâktas. “The Drâvira Brâhmans profess to be the most scrupulous in India in reference to caste observance and practice, and in support of their pretensions in this respect they exhibit all kinds of absurdities and puerilities. They are great opponents of the re-marriage of widows and other proposals of reform.” Their country lies to the south of Tailangâna and Maisûr and to the east of the Cochin and Travancore territories.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE DRÂVIRA BRÂHMANS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

============+=========
Districts. | Number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Sahâranpur | 1
Mathura | 61
Bareilly | 1
Morâdâbâd | 7
Cawnpur | 2
Fatehpur | 1
Bânda | 5
Jâlaun | 1
Ghâzipur | 7
Garhwâl | 22
Unâo | 181
Faizâbâd | 1
Bahrâich | 7
+~~~~~~~~~
Total | 297
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Dugdha.—A tribe of inferior Brâhmans on the borders of Fatehpur and Allahâbâd. “They date their origin from the time of Jay Chand, who figures in so many fabulous legends of those parts. A certain Pânrê Brâhman by name Barru, set up his abode as a recluse in Parsakhi, between Shâhzâdpur and the Ganges, and withdrew himself entirely from worldly concerns. His credit as a holy man was so great that Jay Chand became anxious to see him, and promised to reward any one who would bring him into his presence. After several unsuccessful attempts by all the chief officers of his Court, a woman of the Râjput tribe, and of great personal charms, ventured on the difficult undertaking. Her wiles and blandishments could not be withstood, and before long, the holy hermit confessed himself the father of several children; and as the lady succeeded in the object of introducing him to an audience with Jay Chand, a grant of several villages was bestowed upon her. On the death of the hermit, she is said to have married a Qâzi, but it is not probable that such a connection took place at the early period of the Muhammadan conquest. However, she divided the inheritance, it is asserted, amongst her children. Those by the Pânrê, who were Dugdha Brâhmans (i.e., of mixed blood) received forty-eight villages, of the greater part of which they are in possession to this day. The Musalmân descendants also retain some of the villages said to have been granted at the same time. The Dugdhas are reckoned in no repute as Brâhmans; indeed they are properly Bhuînhârs and are very indifferent about the rank of the families with which they intermarry, not unfrequently receiving the daughters of Râjputs as wives.” [368]

Durgbansi.—A Râjput sept found in the eastern part of the Province and Oudh. They are said to be a branch of the Dikhit sept. In Oudh it is said that they take their name from Râja Durga Vâhan Dikhit of Ajudhya; according to the Partâbgarh story, they are really an offshoot from the Bilkhariya sept, and are named from their ancestor Durga Dâs, the second son of Râja Râmdeo. Their social position may be judged from their giving daughters in marriage to the Chamar Gaur, Bandhalgoti, Tilokchandi Bais, Sombansi, Sûrajbansi, Sirnet, Baghel, and the Gaharwâr of Kantit. Their sons marry in the septs of Chandel, Puâr, Gautam, Raghubansi, Ujjaini, and the inferior grades of Bais. [369]

Dusâdh. [370]—A menial tribe found to the east of the province. An attempt has been made to derive the name from the Sanskrit dush “to be corrupted” and ad “to eat;” or from dauh-sâdhika, “a porter.” But the name is more probably of non-Aryan origin. By the account current among themselves they are the descendants of Duhsâsana, the son of Dhritarashtra, who, when the Pândavas lost their wife Draupadi, in gambling with Duryodhana, dragged her forward by the hair and otherwise misused her. By another story they are the descendants of Bhîmsen. In the hills they call themselves Khasiya Râjputs, and say they are so called because they lived on the borders of Kumâun and Garhwâl. Another legend makes them the descendants of the hero Salhes, who is connected with the Lorik cycle. He was the companion of Harua and Barua who were defeated by Lorik.

[Legend of Bâwan Ganga.] 2. There is another famous tribal legend which is thus told by Mr. Beglar. [371] “There was a Dusâdh living in Râjgir, whose daughter used to take the household pigs out in the field to feed. It happened that as she was so engaged on the day of the full moon of a certain great festival, she saw a Brâhman walking on very rapidly. On questioning him he replied that he was going to bathe in the Ganges on the full moon. The girl replied “You cannot possibly reach the Ganges in time; but if you believe me and your mind be full of faith, this is the exact moment of the full moon, and here is a pool (in which her pigs were wallowing); dip into it and you will realise the full fruits of bathing in the Ganges at this auspicious moment.” The Brâhman did as she desired and when he was in the pool, she said “Now is the exact moment. Dive in and see what you get.” The Brâhman did as desired and found the bottom full of valuable gems, of which he clutched a handful and came up. “Dive again,” said the girl. He dived again and found only mud at the bottom. “You see,” said the girl, “that I told you only the truth, when I said you will be too late if you go to the Ganges, for at the moment of your first dive the moon was at its exact full and you got your reward.”

3. “The Brâhman was astonished and seeing her as lovely as she was wise proposed marriage. She referred him to her father who refused, saying he could not presume to ally his daughter of low caste to a high caste Brâhman. The Brâhman thereupon threatened to kill himself, and the Dusâdh fearful of incurring the guilt of Brahmahatya, consented after consulting his friends; the marriage was duly solemnised, and the girl then taught her husband to ask no dowry of her father except a particular cow, a particular pig, and a particular parrot. The Dusâdh, on bidding his daughter good-bye and Godspeed when they were departing, desired his son-in-law to ask for any gift she chose. The Brâhman refused, but being pressed, he bound the Dusâdh by a promise to grant his request, and then asked for the cow, the pig and the parrot, as he had been taught. The Dusâdh being taken aback was bound by his promise to give them up.

4. “The parrot was an extraordinary one, as he would daily go to Indra’s palace and bring the news of what took place there to his mistress; the pig was the leader of all the pigs in the country, and the cow was no other than the famous Surabhi. One day the parrot told his mistress that Indra had given orders that during the approaching rainy season, it should rain nowhere in the district except on the sterile valleys and stony slopes of Râjgir. The girl on hearing this immediately called her pig and directed him to dig up the whole of the stony valleys and hill slopes of Râjgir; the pig with the aid of his subject pigs did as she desired. She then directed her husband to go and scatter paddy in all these places, explaining the object to her husband. He did as desired. When it rained the paddy seed sprouted and the whole of stony Râjgir was full of paddy, while outside not a blade of paddy was to be found owing to want of rain. It being reported to Indra that within Râjgir enough of paddy had been grown to stave off famine, he ordered an army of mice and rats to be sent to destroy the crops; but the girl informed of this order by her parrot, got her husband to procure an army of cats as guard; when it was reported to Indra that this plan of destroying the crops had failed, he directed that when cut, each load of the paddy sheaves should produce only one-and-a-quarter ser of clean paddy. The girl informed by her parrot of this order, directed her husband to make bundles of only two stalks of paddy each tied end to end. The order of Indra having gone forth and become irrevocable, each of these bundles produced one-and-a-quarter sers of paddy. Indra informed of this and seeing himself outwitted, ordered a furious storm to blow and scatter all the paddy which had been threshed out ready for storing. The girl informed of this and aware that no wattle hut would resist the storm should he store it in such, directed her husband to dig the deep moat now seen round Râjgir. When the storm blew it naturally carried all the paddy into these trenches where it lay safe till the storm had blown over, and thus was the country saved from famine through the cleverness of this girl, in memory of whom the pool where her pigs used to wallow was named Bâwan Ganga or the fifty-two Ganges.” This story is interesting as it marks the custom which still prevails among the Dusâdhs of introducing men of higher caste than their own into their tribe, and this is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to fix their position ethnologically, and to lay down with certainty whether they are a degraded Aryan race or of genuine Dravidian stock. The tribe is clearly very much mixed and is probably a compound of many different races.

[Tribal organisation.] 5. At the last Census the Dusâdhs entered themselves under seven sub-castes beside others whose numbers were not sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the returns. These sub-castes are Bharsiya, Dhârhi, Gondar, Kanaujiya, Madhesiya, Magahiya and Rajar. Of these we have the Dhârhi separately noticed and the Gondar perhaps mark a Dravidian branch akin to the Gonds and Mânjhis. Another Mirzapur enumeration gives the sub-castes, which as usual are supposed to amount to the mystical number seven, as Magahiya or “residents of Magadha”; Kanaujiya from Kanauj; Dârhi, Dhârh or Dhârhi which may correspond to the drummers and singers of that name; Baheliya who have been separately described as a tribe of hunters and fowlers; Tirhûtiya or those of Tirabhukti or Tirhût; Palwâr which is also the name of a sept of Râjputs, and Gondar. A third Mirzapur list supplied by a member of the tribe gives the sub-castes as Dusâdh, Khatîk, Pâsi, Pahri, Kuchaniya, Kujra, and Dharkâr, where we have a mixture of various well known tribes. The detailed Census lists show the sub-castes of local importance as the Gujahua and Panwâr of Mirzapur; the Barwâr and Belwâr of Ballia and the Bangariya, Gauriya, Katoraha, Khariya, and Kotiya of Gorakhpur. All this goes to corroborate the theory of the mixed character of the tribe. These sub-castes are now endogamous, but there is some reason to believe that this process of fission into endogamous groups may, in some instances at least, be of comparatively recent origin. Thus in Mirzapur they assert that up to modern times the Magahiya and Kanaujiya Dusâdhs used to intermarry; but now they have ceased to do so because when the Kanaujiyas gave their daughters to the Magahiyas, they would not allow them to return home with their husbands, but insisted on their sons-in-law coming to live with their fathers-in-law; in other words beena marriage was the rule in these two groups. The result of this is said to have been that marriage ceased between them and the groups became endogamous. The Mirzapur Dusâdhs fix their original home in Magadha or Bihâr, and left it when their ancestor Râhu, of whom more will be said later on, who used to live in a place called Kedallean in Bengal was shut up in the temple of Jagannâth at Puri. He sometimes comes out, and only ten years ago, he appeared to a Dusâdh lad in Mirzapur who was ploughing in the field for his master. The godling took pity upon him and showed him where a pot of gold was buried, wherewith he purchased his freedom from slavery. Another of their revered ancestors was one Churla of whom many stories are told. He fell in love with the daughter of a Râja and was killed by him; since then he has become a tribal godling.

[Tribal council.] 6. The Dusâdhs have a tribal council known as Panchâyat, of which the Chairman is known as Sardâr or Mâjan, a corruption of Mahâjan or “great man.” Under him a summoner or wand bearer, the Chharidâr, who summons the members to the meetings of the council. All adult members of the tribe have a seat on the council; but minors are not allowed to attend. The council deals with theft, adultery, eating and drinking with a stranger, keeping a daughter unmarried or not allowing her to join her husband or seducing another man’s wife. The case is decided by the votes of all the members present. The usual punishment is a fine which varies from five to twenty rupees. Besides this the culprit has to give a feast to the members of the council. Money realised by fines is spent in providing spirits for the entertainment of the council. Those members who are too poor to pay a fine, are punished with a shoe-beating which is administered by one of the members. The council, as in all these tribes, act as compurgators and use the knowledge they themselves have obtained in deciding a case. When the Chairman whose office is hereditary is a minor, his duties are discharged by one of his adult relations.

[Marriage rules.] 7. They do not marry in the family of their maternal uncle, of their father’s sister, of their sister, till three generations have expired since the last connection by marriage, and in their own family (kul) as long as any recollection of a marriage relationship exists. They can marry a second wife in the lifetime of the first if she be barren. The second wife is known as adheli or only half a wife, and her position is very much inferior to that of the first wife. They are not allowed to keep a concubine of a tribe lower in the scale than their own; but a man can keep a woman of a higher caste, and she and her children are admitted to full caste privileges when the man who cohabits with her gives a tribal feast. Marriage is, as a rule, adult, and if a girl has long passed the age of puberty, she is usually treated as a widow and married by the inferior sagâi form. The parents of the bridegroom in Mirzapur pay a bride-price which is fixed by established caste custom at five rupees in cash, three sheets, and four rupees worth of sweetmeats. The consent of the parents is in all cases necessary to make a marriage valid. The occurrence of any physical defect after marriage is a valid ground for repudiating the woman; but such conduct is discouraged, and in all cases such proceedings must have the sanction of the council. A man can expel a wife who is detected in adultery, and such women may marry again by the sagâi form; but before this is allowed, the parents of the guilty pair have to feed the brethren. It is remarkable among them that the offspring of the adheli or second wife are excluded from inheritance in the estate of their father.

[Widow marriage.] 8. Widows and divorced women, if the fine have been discharged, are married by the sagâi form. Usually a widow is married to a widower. The match is arranged by a member of the tribe. A Pandit is called in to announce a lucky date. Then the man with a few friends goes to the house of the widow and gives her parents some clothes and sweetmeats. Then the friends on both sides are entertained and at night the bride is taken into a dark room where the bridegroom goes and gropes about until he catches her and smears some red lead on her forehead. It is the etiquette for her to avoid him for some time. This smearing of powder is usually done in the Deoghar or room devoted to the worship of the tribal godling. Next morning the bridegroom takes the bride home and when he has feasted the clansmen the marriage is recognised as valid.

[Birth ceremonies.] 9. The umbilical cord is cut by a Chamârin, and if a woman of the caste were to perform this duty, she would be turned out of caste. She puts it in an earthen pot, the mouth of which she closes tightly and carries it to the bank of a tank where she buries it secretly in the ground. In the confinement room a fire is lighted in which a piece of iron is placed. At the door of the room a branch of a thorny shrub called senhar is tied, and some hang a bunch of onions. All these precautions are taken to bar the entrance of the evil spirit Jamhua, which clutches, in the form of an owl, the throat of the child and chokes it. Jamhua appears to take its name from Yama, the god of death. The disease is really infantile tetanus, which is caused by the careless cutting of the cord with a blunt instrument and the neglect of all antiseptic precautions. The disease runs a course of about twelve days, and this accounts among this and the allied castes for the selection of the twelfth day (barahi) for the performance of ceremonies to ward off the evil spirit. The Chamârin attends for six days and for twelve days the mother is daily rubbed with the condiment called ubtan. On the sixth day is the Chhathi, when the women of the tribe are provided with oil to rub their heads and red lead to smear on the parting of their hair. On this occasion some treacle is distributed among them. The mother and child are bathed while the women sing the sohar or birth song. The Chamârin receives as her perquisite the old clothes of the mother. The ceremonies of the sixth day are repeated on the twelfth day, and the house is purified in the usual way. On both these occasions, they worship the clan deities Parameswari and Bandi-Bhawâni in the family oratory (Deoghar) and offer to them balls of ground rice mixed with sugar and water. Some add a burnt offering (hom) with flowers and betel. In the same way they worship Gangaji and all rivers generally in connection with marriage. The women go in procession to the river side, and there are met by the Dafâli who sings songs in honour of the Ganges, and the women offer sweets (laddu), flowers, betel leaves, and make a burnt offering. All these things are the perquisite of the Dafâli. On their return home the women of the tribe are entertained on cakes (pûri) and rice boiled with sugar (mîtha bhât).

[Adoption.] 10. Adoption is common among Dusâdhs. Usually the boy adopted is the son of a brother or other near relative. All the members of the caste resident in the villages are invited, and after the adoption has been announced, they are entertained on spirits, boiled rice, and pork. They say that the ceremonies on the sixth and twelfth day after birth amount to an initiation into the caste equivalent to the Brâhmanical investiture with the sacred thread (janeû), and they have a great contempt for any one in whose case these ceremonies have not been duly performed. When a boy is two years old, they get a goldsmith to pierce his ears at the Khichari festival. The child is seated facing the east, and is given some sweets during the operation. The goldsmith receives as his remuneration one anna and a ration of uncooked grain.

[Betrothal.] 11. Matches are arranged by one of the men of the caste, who is known as the agua. [372] On an auspicious day fixed by the Pandit, the father of the girl goes to the house of the boy accompanied by three or four friends, and when he has inspected the boy, and approved of him, he gives him some sweets. That day the date of the formal betrothal, which they call hardi dhân, is fixed. On that day a square is made in the courtyard and the two fathers sit inside it. A Pandit is called in and he recites a few verses (mantra). The fathers each exchange five handfuls of paddy, and the Pandit places a packet of betel in the hand of each. Then the fathers rush together and each puts his packet of betel leaves in the breast of the other. They each tie up the paddy in a handkerchief, and salute each other with Râm!, Râm! Next comes the changing of cups (piyâla badalna), when the fathers sit in the square each with a cup of spirits in his hand. They exchange cups and drink the contents, and the friends are treated to a drink. Then at the house of the boy a dinner of rice, pulse, and pork is given, and next day the Pandit fixes an auspicious day for the wedding.

[Marriage ceremonies.] 12. The marriage ceremonies begin with the digging of the sacred earth (matti khan), which is done by the women, each of whom receives some oil and red lead to decorate the parting of her hair. The earth is brought and placed in the marriage shed (mânro), in the centre of which a ploughshare is erected. Each woman gets some cakes and in return presents four annas as a contribution to the expenses of the wedding. The marriage ritual is of the normal type. When the boy starts to fetch his bride, he is armed with a dagger (katâr). He is accompanied by a party of musicians (bajaniya). On their arrival at the bride’s house, the boy’s father sends the bride some cheap jewelry, known as dal, which is placed in the marriage shed. The friends all get drunk that night. At the actual wedding, the bride’s father worships the feet of the bridegroom, and then an offering is made to Gauri and Ganesa. The pair have their clothes knotted and walk five times round the shed. After this the bridegroom goes into the oratory (deoghar) and worships the family gods of the bride. At the door as he comes out, the bride’s sister bars the way and will not let him pass until she receives a present, apparently a survival of marriage by capture. After the husband brings his wife home, the brethren are fed and Gangaji is worshipped in the way already described. [373]