The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 2 (of 4)

Chapter VII: Front Matter (7)

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[Occupation.] 22. Their business is ploughing (halwâhi) and doing earthwork on embankments and tanks, in which men, women, and children join. When they take service as ploughmen they get on the first day a pot (hânri) full of grain and a rupee in cash, and the same when sowing is over. Their daily wages are three sers of barley or sâwân millet. The Biyârs are a very quiet, respectable tribe, and are very seldom seen in our Courts.

23. They have a sort of local organisation (eka) in which three or four villages join, but it is weak and ineffective, and as a tribe they are little more than serfs, ascripti glebæ; a few are now beginning to cultivate as sub-tenants.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BIYÂRS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Bohra.—(Sanskrit, vyavahâraka, “a trader”).—A general term for any trader or money-lender. Those recorded under this name at the last Census are almost entirely confined to the Meerut Division. They claim to be and are usually admitted to be Brâhmans. Of them Sir H. M. Elliot [144] writes—“The Bohras of these Provinces either come from the neighbourhood of Jaypur, or are descendants of the original settlers from that quarter, and preserve some peculiarities of speech and dress by which they are readily known. An inferior class of Bohras is called Kaiyân, who are said to take their name from their trick of constantly saying Kahi, Kaîn, ‘Why?’ or Rahti—the continually revolving nature of their dealings and monthly visits to their debtors have with reference to the constant revolutions of the rahat or Persian wheel and buckets procured them the designation of Rahti.” Another name for them is Athwariya because they take interest every eighth (âthwen) day. The Bohras, according to Sir H. M. Elliot, have larger dealings and with higher classes than the Rahtis have, but, like the latter, are generally eager to acquire possession of profitable estates. There is, however, this difference between them, that the Rahtis lend and will take in return only money; whereas the Bohras are ready to receive every marketable article, including the produce of the soil as well as cattle, among which may be enumerated horses, camels, sheep and goats in payment of their debts.

2. Those in the Upper Ganges Jumna Duâb, claim to be Paliwâl Gaur Brâhmans, from Pâli, in Râjputâna. [145] Trade is not lawful for a Brâhman except in times of scarcity and under certain conditions. [146] Hence to mark their separation from Brâhmans with whom they do not mess or intermarry, they associate with the Mahâbrâhman, who is an abomination to the Hindu on account of his functions as a funeral priest.

3. In Kumâun the Bohras call themselves Khasiya Râjputs, but claim to have been originally money-lenders. They are now thriving agriculturists. [147] To the east of the Province the trading Brâhmans are called Bâona, and are analogous to the Bâbhan or Bhuînhâr. [148] Quite distinct from these trading Brâhmans are the Bohras of Central India, who are Musalmâns. They are wholesale merchants of the first class, as well as pedlars. They render implicit obedience to their elected Mullas. They are of the Hasani tribe,—once so dreaded in Egypt and Persia for acts of murder and desperation. The principal Bohra colony is at Ujjain, where they have four special quarters (muhala.) [149] In the Panjâb, as in these Provinces, all the Bohras are Hindus.

4. Their exogamous sections would lead to the conclusion that their origin is mixed. The Kâchhi and Khangâr seem to represent a non-Aryan element. Besides these are the Bachguâr, Balâi, Bâtham (from Srâvasti), Bhatiya, Charwâr, Dasâti, Deswâl, Kama, Kâsib, Kundal, Maheswari, Nâgar, Samel, Syâmi, and Sundi.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BOHRAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Boriya.—A tribe of village servants and cultivators found chiefly in the Cawnpur and Hardoi Districts. Their sub-castes show that they are closely connected with, if not an offshoot of, the great Pâsi tribe. Thus we find among their sub-divisions Arakh, Baheliya, Gûjar, Khangâr, Kisân, Luniya, Pâsi, Râjpâsi, Rakhpâsi. Some, again, are local sections, such as Ajudhyabâsi, Antarbedi, Baiswâr, Banârasi, Brijbâsi, Kanaujiya, Mahobiya; others imply some connection with other tribes as Bhurtiya, Chauhân, Ghosi, Hâra, Kaithiya, Kathwâns, and Sombansi. Others are occupational, as Ghurcharha, “horsemen;” Khetwâl, “field men.”

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BORIYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

===========+==========+==========+======+=======+======
District. |Kaithwâns.|Pârasrâmi.| Pâsi.|Others.|Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~
Cawnpur | 2,990| 6,831| 4,739| 3,591|18,151
Fatehpur | 985| 232| 349| 86| 1,652
Hamîrpur | ... | ... | ... | 2| 2
Hardoi | ... | ... | 7,031| 69| 7,100
Bahrâich | ... | ... | ... | 4| 4
+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~
Total | 3,975| 7,063|12,119| 3,752|26,909
===========+==========+==========+======+=======+======

Brâhman. [150]—The levite class of the Hindu caste system. The word Brâhmana is derived from Brâhman (root brih, vrih,) “religious devotion regarded as an impulse or feeling gradually growing up and expanding so as to fill the soul.” To quote one of the latest and best authorities [151]—“The common term used in the Veda for the officiating priest is Brâhman (masculine, nominative singular, Brahma) originally denoting, it would seem, ‘one who prays,’ ‘worshipper,’ or ‘the composer or reciter of a hymn.’ In some passages the word also signifies a special class of priests who officiated as superintendents during sacrificial ceremonies, the complicated nature of which required the co-operation of several priests. The fact that the terms Brâhmana and Brahmaputra, both denoting the son of a Brâhman, are used in certain hymns as synonymous of Brâhman, seems to justify the assumption that the profession had already to a certain degree become hereditary at the time when the hymns were composed.” The term Brâhman, as Dr. Muir [152] remarks, must have been originally applied to the same persons who are elsewhere in the Vedic hymns spoken of as Rishi, Kavi, etc., and have denoted devout worshippers and contemplative sages who composed prayers and hymns which they themselves recited in praise of the gods. Afterwards when the ceremonial gradually became more complicated and a division of sacred functions took place, the word was more ordinarily employed for a minister of public worship, and at length came to signify one particular kind of priest with special duties. The original Aryan priest was the house father, and we still find among the lower Dravidian races that the family worship is done either by the head of the household or by the son-in-law or brother-in-law; and it was only when the service of the gods became a more complicated and difficult function that a special class of officiants was created for this purpose. This differentiation of function took place, of course, at an early date in the history of the development of Hinduism. Dr. Haug [153] believes that the differentiation of the functions of the classes of priests, Hotris, or repeaters of the Rik verses, the Udgâtris, the chanters of the Rik verses, and the Adhvaryus, or manual labourers and sacred cooks must have been at an early date, certainly not posterior to the collection of the Mantras, and the dicta of the Brâhman priests into separate works.

2. But, as Dr. Muir goes on to say: [154]—“Though towards the close of the Vedic period the priesthood probably became a profession, the texts do not contain anything which necessarily implies that the priests formed an exclusive caste or at least a caste separated from of all others by insurmountable barriers as in later times. There is a wide difference between a profession and even a hereditary order in caste in the fully developed Brâhmanical sense. There is, therefore, no difficulty in supposing that in the Vedic era the Indian priesthood, even if we admit its members to have been for the most part sprung from priestly families, may have often admitted aspirants to the sacerdotal character from other classes of their countrymen.” This theory, then, that even the Brâhmans themselves are probably of mixed origin, and that the caste, as we find it now, is in a great measure occupational in origin, goes to the very root of the Brâhmanical caste system of modern India, and deserves to be established by some examples from the immense mass of evidence which might be adduced in support of it.

[Composite origin of Brâhmans.] 3. In the first place it may be noted that under the general head of Brâhman are included various classes which are almost generally admitted to be of distinct origin, such are the Mahâbrâhman or funeral priest who, on account of his functions, is detested by all Hindus who pretend to purity; the various kinds of beggars and astrologers, such as the Joshi, Dakaut, and his brethren, and the Ojha or devil priest, who is almost certainly the Baiga or ghost-finder of the Dravidian races, who has been imported into Hinduism. Next, the supposition that the early so-called Brâhmans were strictly endogamous, is contradicted by much evidence. Dr. Muir [155] on the evidence of the early texts, shows that they not only intermarried with women of their own order or even with women who had previously remained single, but were in the habit of forming connections with the widows of Rajanyas or Vaisyas, if they did not even take possession of the wives of such men while they were still alive.

4. Secondly, we have a mass of facts pointing to the creation of certain classes of Brâhmans in comparatively modern times. Thus in Partâbgarh [156] there is a current legend that the celebrated Oudh chieftain, Mânik Chand, created Brâhmans wholesale out of various Kurmis, Ahîrs, and Bhars. A similar case occurred in Fatehpur. [157] In Unâo, again, a story is told of Râja Tilok Chand, that one day while hunting he was very thirsty, and having no attendant he asked a Lodha, who was present there, to fetch him some water, which he brought in his own drinking vessel. The Râja after drinking the water discovered that the owner of the vessel was a low caste man, so he asked him to call himself a Brâhman under the title of Pâthak of Amtara, as he was watching the mango (âm) trees. This title still remains with his descendants, who are acknowledged as Brâhmans. [158] Sir J. Malcolm [159] in Central India found many low caste female slaves in Brâhman houses, the owners of which had treated them as belonging to their own caste. Under the head of Dusâdh a reference has been made to the curious Bihâr story of the clever Dusâdh girl who married a Brâhman. [160]

5. Thirdly, this intermixture of castes comes out very clearly in the earlier legends of the race. Thus we find that the Angirasas, or sons of Angiras, were Brâhmans as well as Kshatriyas. So the descendants of Garga, although Kshatriyas by birth, became Brâhmans. [161] In the Mahâbhârata Bhîma is married by his brother Yudhishthira to the Asura woman Hidimbi, and the marriage rites were regularly performed, and Draupadi, a Kshatriya girl, accepts as a husband in the Swayamvara Arjuna, who pretends to be a Brâhman. [162] According to a passage in the Mahâbhârata [163] all castes become Brâhmans when once they have crossed the Gomati on a visit to the hermitage of Vasishtha. The Brâhman Drona acts the part of a Kshatriya in the great war. Kakshîvat was the son of Dirghatamas by Usij, a female servant of the Queen of the Kalinga Râja, whom her husband had desired to submit to the embraces of the sage in order that he might beget a son. The Queen substituted her bondmaid Usij. The sage, cognisant of the deception, consecrated Usij, and begot by her a son named Kakshîvat, who through his affiliation to the Râja was a Kshatriya; but as the son of Dirghatamas was a Brâhman. [164] So Visvâmitra, a Kshatriya, by the force of his austerities, compelled Brahma to admit him into the Brâhmanical order in order that he might be on a level with Vasishtha, with whom he had quarrelled. [165] Even up to the time that Vasishtha wrote the legality of a twice-born man marrying a Sûdra woman seems to have been at least arguable. [166] Numerous instances of similar mutability of caste in comparatively modern times might easily be given. [167]

[Legendary origin of Brâhmans.] 6. The legends throw little light on the origin of Brâhmans as a caste except to establish the substantial unity of the Aryan peoples. By one account the Brâhman was produced from the mouth of the Supreme Being, the Kshatriya from his arms, the Vaisya from his thigh, and the Sûdra from his foot. In the Purusha Sukta hymn of the Rig Veda the primæval man is hewed by the gods into four parts, which form the four great divisions of the race. A later legend bases the division on purely moral grounds, and degraded those Brâhmans who gave themselves up to anger and pride into Kshatriyas; those who lived by agriculture and flock tending, the yellow Vaisyas; and those who gave way to lying and immorality, the black Sûdras.

[Division of Brâhmans.] 7. The usual division of Brâhmans is into ten great orders. First the five Drâvidas south of the Vindhyan range, consisting of the Mahârâshtras who dwell in the country where Marâthi is spoken; the Andras or Tailangas of the Telugu country; the Karnâtas of the Canarese country; and the Gurjaras of Gurjarâshtra or Gujarât. Secondly, the five Gauda or Gaur, north of the Vindhyas, consisting of the Sarasvatas, who take their name from the Sarasvati river; the Kanyakubjas or Kanaujiyas, from Kanyakubja or Kanauj; the Gaudas or Gaurs who are said to take their name either from Gaur in Bengal or Gonda in Oudh; the Utkalas of Orissa, and the Maithilas of Mithila, the modern Bihâr and its neighbourhood.

8. At the last Census the Brâhmans of these Provinces were recorded under twenty-one main sub-castes,—Bangâli, Chaubê, Drâvira, Gangaputra, Gaur, Gujarâti, Jhijhautiya, Kanaujiya, Karnâtak, Kashmîri, Khandelwâl, Mahârâshtra, Maithila, Ojha, Palliwâl, Sakaldîpi, Sanâdh, Saraswata, Sarwariya, and Utkal. Besides these divisions, which are in a large degree territorial, there are others, such as Achârya, Hotri, etc., which are occupational. The Brâhmanic sub-castes will, for the sake of convenience, be discussed in separate articles. The complete lists give no less than nine hundred and two Brâhmanical divisions, but here tribes and gotras are inextricably compounded.

9. Among the sub-divisions of local importance, we find in Dehra Dûn the Gangâri; in Muzaffarnagar, the Achârya, Dakaut, and Taga; in Meerut, the Achârya, Bohra, Chaurasiya, Dakaut, Dasa, and Gautam; in Aligarh, the Abhinâshi, Agnihotri, Barwâna, Gautam, Parâsara, Pâthak, and Upâdhya; in Mathura, the Gautam and Nâgar; in Agra, the Chaurasiya and Gautam; in Farrukhâbâd, the Mahâbrâhman; in Etah, the Dichhit, Gautam, Rajauriya, and Upâdhya; in Budâun, the Parâsara, Pâthak, Tiwâri, and Upâdhya; in Morâdâbâd, the Gautam and Mahâbrâhman; in Hamîrpur, the Bhagorê and Sanaurhiya; in Allahâbâd, the Mâlawi and Râthi; in Jhânsi, the Bhagorê, Dakkhini, Karâri, and Sagarmodi; in Jâlaun, the Aiwâsi; in Lalitpur, the Bhagor and Singirekh or Sringirishi; in Benares, the Audich, Bhâradwâja, Nâgar, and Vedi; in Mirzapur, the Sândil; in Jaunpur, the Kantil and Rajbhât; in Ghâzipur, the Bhâradwâja, Chhatri, Gautam, Pachhaiyân, Parâsaragotra, Sândil, Vedi, and Yajurvedi; in Ballia, the Gautam; in Basti, the Sândil; in Bahrâich, the Belwâr; and in the Hills, the Bais, Bhal, Bhât, Gangâri, Joshi, Khas, Lakhpâl, Lohni, Pânrê, Panth, Pâthak, Sarola, Tripâthi, Tiwâri, Upâdhya, Upreti. Of many of these some account will be found in other articles.

[Brâhmanic exogamy.] 10. The great sub-castes already named are for the most part endogamous; but the rule appears to be occasionally relaxed when the scantiness of brides in the small local group is an obstacle to marriage. Thus there seems to be no doubt that in parts of the country at least the Gaur and Saraswata sub-castes intermarry. According to Manu persons are forbidden to marry who stand in the relationship of sapindas, that is, who are within five degrees of affinity on the side of the mother, and seven on that of the father. The person himself constitutes one of these degrees; that is to say, two persons stand to each other in the sapinda relationship if their common ancestor, being a male, is not further removed from either of them than six degrees, or four degrees when the common ancestor is a female. This rule reinforces the principle that the gotra is an exogamous unit. It is needless to say that this gotra system has been developed to an extraordinary extent, and they have become so numerous that it is practically impossible to procure any well established list of the gotras of any of the chief tribes. The word gotra means primarily a “cow-pen,” and has hence been extended to the descendants of a common ancestor. Most of them are what has been called eponymous, that is to say, they claim to be descended from and to derive their names from some Rishi, or saint, who is supposed to have been their first ancestor. All the Brâhmanical gotras have eight great ancestors only—Visvamitra, Jamadagni, Bharadwâja, Gautama, Atri, Vasishtha, Kasyapa, and Agastya. [168] These occupy with the Brâhmans about the same position as the twelve sons of Jacob with the Jews, and only he whose descent from one of these great Rishis was beyond doubt could become the founder of a gotra. The Brâhmanical system of gotras has, again, by a fiction been extended to other tribes, such as the Râjput, Banya, Khatri, or Kâyasth, but among them the institution is exotic, and naturally much less vigorous than among the tribe from whom it was derived.

11. There is again another Brâhmanical division, that of the charana or sâkha and the pravara. The sâkha or charana is usually applied to the body of persons who follow one of the various schools of Vedic teaching, which are said to be as many as 1,130, of which there are 1,000 for the Sama Veda, 100 for the Yajur Veda, 21 for the Rig Veda, and 9 for the Atharva Veda. The institution of the pravara is, again, purely religious. The pravara or arsheya, which are generally regarded as synonymous terms are those sacrificial fires which several gotras had in common. It was left to their own choice to which they wished to repair.

[Domestic ceremonies.] 12. Under the articles dealing with the separate Brâhmanical tribes an account of some of the domestic ceremonies has been given. A few points may here be noticed, principally derived from the customs of the Sarwariya Brâhmans of the Eastern Districts of the Province.

[The Rajodarsan: garbhadâna.] 13. What is commonly known as the rajodarsan (rajas, “pollution,” darsana, “seeing”) is the time during which women remain impure for four days after the menstrual period, and while in this state do not touch the drinking water or cook for the household. This is, it is hardly necessary to say, consistent with the common practice of the most primitive tribes. [169] The pollution is removed by the rajasnân or ceremonial bathing on the fourth day. Immediately on marriage follows the “impregnation rite,” garbhadâna. In ancient times no bridegroom approached the bride till the fourth night after the completion of the marriage ceremony. This interval is prescribed by Gobhila. The present interval of two, three, or four years in the case of child-marriages is quite unsupported by the authority of ancient lawyers. Dhanvantari (in the Susruta) declares that the Garbhadâna should not take place till a girl is sixteen. Dr. Bühler has shown from the Vivaha Mantras that, in olden times girls were married long after they had reached the age of puberty, and infant marriages were unknown; moreover that the human husband is the fourth husband, the three gods, Soma, Visvavasu, and Agni, being the first three at the period of a girl’s becoming marriageable. As it should take place on the fourth day, the consummation rite was sometimes called Chaturthi karma. During the previous day the young married woman was made to look towards the sun, or in some way exposed to the rays. In the evening she was required to bathe. Her husband also performed his ablution and went through other prescribed forms. Before approaching his wife he was careful to secure the solemn imprimatur of religion on an act which might lead to the introduction of another human being into the world. He therefore repeated two mantras or texts of the Rig Veda (X, 184), the first of which may be thus translated,—“Let (all-pervading) Vishnu prepare her womb; let the Creator shape its forms; let Prajapati be the Impregnator; let the Creator give the embryo.” [170] At present, in Bengal, the girl is subjected to a period of isolation which exactly corresponds to that described by Mr. Frazer in the case of various primitive races, the idea being that at this period of her life dangerous influences emanate from the girl which it is necessary to counteract. In Upper India the rite appears to consist in the worship of the kula devata or family god, and if the head of the family is rich or illiterate, a Brâhman is employed to read the Durgapâtha or songs in honour of the goddess Durga. This rite is intended to obviate the danger of a miscarriage.

[Sîmanta pum savana.] 14. Next follows, in the sixth month of pregnancy, the sîmanta pum savana, or the rite of male production, done with the object of securing a male heir, the desire of every Hindu mother. The expectant mother is bathed, dressed in red clothes which are sent from her father’s house, and some fruit, the emblem of prolificacy, is placed in her lap. She then goes to the family shrine and worships the household god.

[Nandimukh srâddha.] 15. When the child is born, and before the cord is cut, the head of the family does the nandimukh srâddha. He lays some kusa grass on the ground and offers a pinda over it. After this the cord is cut and it is buried in the room in which the delivery took place. Over it a fire (pasanghi) is lighted, and wood of the tendu tree is burnt. For twelve days the lamp is fed with nîm oil. During this time the mother is fed with cakes (pûri, halwa), caudle (achhwâni), and ginger (sonth). Bread and pulse cannot be given to her, because during the period of pollution only substances cooked with ghi, milk, or parched grain, can be taken from the family cookhouse. The members of the family are impure for twelve days after a confinement in the house; during this time no Deota can be worshipped, nor can any one drink water from their hands. After the sixth day the Chamâr midwife is dismissed, the mother and child are bathed, and after that the Nâin or barber’s wife attends on her. But it is not absolutely necessary that this rite should take place on the sixth day in case the omens are adverse. In that case it is postponed for one or two days. At this rite one of the women of the house waves some barley in a sieve or basket over the mother and child, and this grain is given to the midwife. If the first child die, the next born is usually put in a sieve, or it is weighed in a scale against barley, which is given to the midwife. The general rule appears to be that if a child die within six days after birth the corpse is buried; if it die between that time and the investiture with the sacred cord (janeû) it is thrown into a river (jal pravâh); after investiture the dead are cremated. The corpses of girls up to the age of seven are thrown into running water; if over that age or married they are cremated.

[Barahi.] 16. On the twelfth day after birth is the barahi, when the mother and child are bathed and the baby is shown to its male relations, who are expected to put a money present in its hand. The maternal grandmother sends a yellow sheet (pîari dhoti) for the mother, and for the child a little coat (jhola), and a cap (topi). On that day all the women friends collect and have their nails cut, while a barber woman rubs them with a mixture of oil and turmeric (ubtan). If the baby be a boy, the lady friends give the wife’s mother, or in her absence the father, two annas each; in the case of a girl, the contribution is half that amount. This is known as “the nail cutting” (nakh katiya, nakh tarâshi). A list of these donations is made at the time, so that the receiver may reciprocate them when a similar occasion occurs in the family of the donor. The women also give a pice or two to the barber’s wife, who does the anointing. All the women then sit down and sing the birth song (sohar, Sans.: sobha). This is the only song (râg) which can be sung at any time of the day; for the others appropriate times are fixed.

[Mûla sânti.] 17. If the child be born in the asterism of Mûla, the mûla sânti rite is performed to obviate the ill-luck attaching to this period. In this case the woman and child are kept in the delivery room for twenty-seven days from the date of birth, and during that period the father is not allowed to see the face of the baby; he is also not allowed to shave or change his clothes. There are two kinds of the Mûla asterism, “the light” (halka, lâg); the other “heavy” (bhâri, drik). If the birth occur in the latter, he must not see his child for twelve years, and in that interval can neither shave nor change his clothes. Many persons, under such unfortunate circumstances, become Jogis. On the day of the mûla sânti rite everything follows the number twenty-seven, the number of the asterisms (Nakshatra); water is drawn from twenty-seven wells, the wood of twenty-seven varieties of trees, sieves made with twenty-seven kinds of knots, blankets of twenty-seven breadths, earth from both banks of the Ganges, clay that has been pressed by the foot of a horse or elephant, and from the King’s gateway, which at Chunâr is the main gate of the fort, are collected. The child’s father bathes and goes into the courtyard. There a barber woman makes a square of flour, and in it places a stool for him to sit on. Near him is placed a jar (kalsa) filled with Ganges water. The Purohit or family priest then worships Gauri and Ganesa. The earth and blankets are put into the sieves and laid on the father’s head, while over him is poured the water drawn from twenty-seven wells. After this the barber’s wife receives the blankets as her perquisite, and a small money present. This done, the father is considered pure, and he is allowed to come out, shave, and bathe. Then he returns to the square, where he worships a small brass or gold image of Vishnu. Near him is placed a brass saucer (katori) which is filled with ghi from a black cow. The ghi is melted until it becomes quite thin. The saucer is placed before the father, who keeps his eyes fixed upon it. The mother comes up from behind with the child in her arms, and she holds the baby so that the father may see its image reflected in the ghi. After this the child is seated in his lap, and he makes it a present in money. In case the child is born in Mûl, the twelfth day rite is postponed, and carried out with the observance on the twenty-seventh day. The ceremony ends with the feeding of twenty-seven Brâhmans, and the presenting of gifts to the friends and relatives who have attended the ceremony.

[Dolarohana.] 18. In the families of learned Brâhmans, such as Pandits, when the child is two months old it is dressed in a new cap and coat and placed in a swing (hindola). Up to that time it remains on a bed. This rite is known as dola rohana. On that day the family god is worshipped, and rich food (pûri, bakhîr) is cooked for the household.

[Vâhir nisarana.] 19. Pandits have also another rite known as “the bringing out,” vâhirnisarana. The usual custom is that the child is not brought out of the house until “the grain feeding,” annaprâsana. But if it is desired to bring the child out before it is fed on grain, he performs this rite. The baby is dressed in a new coat and cap of blue cloth, the colour of the sky. These clothes are first dedicated at the house shrine (diukari), and then the child’s forehead is marked with lamp-black (kâjal) and a necklace of holy seeds (bajarbatta) and tiger’s claws (baghnaha) tied round its throat. All these are devices to repel the Evil Eye. It is then brought out; but as an additional precaution a black piece of cloth, a colour which frightens evil spirits, is hung round its neck, or at any rate the coat is bound with black braid. In former times this bringing of the child into the open air was known as the nishkramana.

[The Annaprâsana.] 20. According to the early ritual the “food-giving” rite or annaprâsana was performed in the sixth month after birth. “The child was carried in the arms of its father and placed in the midst of a party of friends, including the family priest, who offered prayers for its welfare and presented it gifts. A little food (generally rice) was then for the first time placed in its mouth, and various qualities were supposed to be imparted, according to the nature of the food given, whether rice, butter, honey, milk, or the flesh of partridges or goats.” [171] Now-a-days in the sixth month a lucky day is selected. Rich food (pûri, bakhîr) is cooked; the waist string of some old member of the family is broken and tied round the waist of the baby to ensure its long life. Then a tray containing rich food is laid before the oldest man in the family. He takes a little out, and after making a holy circle round it with water, offers it to Vishnu. The reason of this is that there was once a foolish Brâhman whose children used to die one after the other, so he made a vow that if his child lived, he would eat its ordure. The child did live, and he was fain to avoid performing his rash vow; so he went to a learned Pandit at Benares, who directed him to take out a little of his food that day in this manner, and so his vow would be satisfied. Hence Brâhmans before eating always take out a little food in this way, and offer it to the Thâkur. After this has been done the old man before whom the food has been placed takes up a little of the food on one of the silver coins of the ancient kings or on a gold mohur of the Emperor Akbar, and puts it into the child’s mouth. No English coin will answer the purpose. After this, if the family can afford it, a few Brâhmans are fed. If they are poor they consume the food which has been prepared for the rite, and give a Brâhman some raw grain. Until the annaprâsana is done the child is never left alone lest the witch Jamhua, who is really the impersonation of the infant lock-jaw, which is so fatal to children owing to the cutting of the cord with a blunt instrument and the neglect of all antiseptic treatment, should carry off the baby. Hence a woman or child is always left in charge. As an additional precaution, they also place near the bed an iron lamp-black box (kajrauta), and anoint the child four or five times with a mixture of oil and turmeric (ubtan) in the belief that as it is rubbed its strength will increase.

[The Mûnran and kanchhedan.] 21. In the fifth year the rites of head-shaving (mûnran) and ear-piercing (kanchhedan) are performed. The regular ritual prescribes that the tonsure, shaving and cutting off the hair should be done separately. They were known as chaula, chûdakarma, kesanta, and kshaur. “When performed for the first time they were held to have a purificatory effect on the whole character. In the case of a Brâhman the ceremony of tonsure was performed in the third year, but was often delayed, and sometimes did not take place till the seventh or eighth year. According to Asvalayana the child was to be placed on the lap of its mother to the west of the sacred fire. The father was to take up his station to the south of the mother, holding in his hands twenty-one stalks of kusa grass. He was to sprinkle the head of the child three times with a mixture of warm water, butter, and curds. He was to insert three stalks of kusa grass into the child’s hair on the right side, saying,—‘O divine grass! protect him.’ Then he was to cut off a portion of the hair and give it to the mother with the recitation of various texts, leaving one lock (sikha, chuda) on the top of the head, or occasionally three or five locks, according to the custom of the family.” [172] At present it is usual for the Eastern Brâhmans to have this rite performed at some shrine, such as that of Devi of Bindhâchal. For three days before the shaving rite a song is sung in honour of Devi, and many Brâhmans who have lost children, vow that if the life of the last is spared, the mother will carry the whole way to the shrine a clay pot (bursi) full of fire, and will eat nothing on the road but parched grain. When they reach the courtyard of Devi’s temple, they place the fire pot before the Panda, whose parishioners they may happen to be. Next day, after bathing the child in the Ganges, the parents take it to the temple, and the Panda instructs them how to perform the usual circumambulation (parikrama). After this the baby is seated in its father’s lap near the shrine, and a barber shaves its head. A few sweets (laddu) are given to the child, and then a Sunâr comes up from behind and pierces both its ears. They take home with them a striped handkerchief (chundari) which they tie round their necks for good luck, and some sweetmeats, which they distribute among their friends as the holy food (prasâd) of the goddess.

[The Pâthana rite.] 22. The rites of childhood close usually with the Pâthana or commencement of learning. A lucky day is selected, and with earth and water from the Ganges a little platform (chabûtra) is made. When it is ready some dry earth is sprinkled over it. Below the platform the child is seated facing east, while the family priest faces west. Ganesa, the deity of good luck, is first worshipped. Then a cowry shell is placed on the platform and worshipped. Next the priest puts the shell in the boy’s hand and makes him write with it five times the words Sri Ganesa namah. This he has to obliterate with his right hand. Some Brâhmans are fed if the family can afford it; and from that day the boy’s education begins.

[The Upanayana rite.] 23. After this comes the important rite of initiation known as upanayana. A Brâhman should be initiated when he comes to be eight years old, dating from the time of conception. A time should be selected when the stars are auspicious, and it should not be performed in the evening or during a thunder-storm. First of all a shed (mânro) is erected with bamboo supports. In the centre a ploughshare is placed, and near it a jar (kalsa) filled with water. Under the thatch a square (chauk) is marked out with flour, and on this two leaf mats (patari) are laid, and under them some grains of barley are sprinkled. On these mats the parents of the boy sit with the corners of their garments knotted together and facing the east. The father wears a yellow loin-cloth, and has a handkerchief (angochha) over his left shoulder. The mother wears a yellow sheet. Then the officiating Purohit places in the father’s right hand some holy rice (achhat) and flowers, repeating at the same time some texts and directing him to pour the contents of his hand on the ground. Next the Purohit puts some gold or copper coins in his hands, and reads the sankalpa or formula of dedication. Then he invokes Dharitri Mâta or Mother Earth, and the father puts the money on the ground, which he touches reverently. He then sprinkles the earth with water from a bunch of kusa grass, and offers Malayagir or Malabar sandal-wood and incense to Mother Earth. Then Ganesa is worshipped in the form of a representation of an elephant which is made on the water jar (kalsa). The picture is drawn with red lead or turmeric. Then an image of Gauri is made of cow-dung and placed near the water jar. Some make seven images of cow-dung to represent Gauri and her sisters.

24. Next the jar is filled with water by the father of the boy, and over the mouth is placed a saucer containing some of the sacred grains, the sâwân millet, unhusked rice or barley. This is followed by the worship of the nine planets (navagraha). To the north-east of the jar is made an altar (vedi), and on it a square is marked out with flour, in which images of the planets are made in various ways. That of the Sun is made of flour; Mangal or Mars of red lead; that of the Moon of rice-flour; that of Vrihaspati or Jupiter of turmeric; that of Budha or Mercury of turmeric; that of Venus or Sukra of rice-flour; that of Sanischara or Saturn and Râhu and Ketu, the ascending and descending nodes, of til or sesamum. Then with the recital of appropriate texts offerings are made to each,—to the Sun, a cow, copper, wheat, red sandal, and red cloth; to the Moon, a conch shell, Malabar sandal, white cloth, a white cow, and rice; to Mangal, a red ox, red cloth, copper, treacle, and rice; to Budha, camphor, mûng pulse, green cloth, a black cow, and gold; to Vrihaspati, a yellow cow, yellow cloth, gram, and turmeric; to Sukra, Malabar sandal, white cloth, rice, and a white horse; to Sanischara, oil, sesamum, black cloth, a black cow, and iron; to Râhu, a buffalo, or goat, a blanket, cotton and its seed, urad pulse, and sesamum; to Ketu, cloth of various colours, grain, iron, sesamum, and urad pulse.

25. All these offerings, except those made to the last three deities, are taken by ordinary Brâhmans; those to Sanischara by the Bhanderiya or Dakaut.

26. When the offerings are complete, the parents are dismissed, and the boy who desires initiation is called. All his hair is shaved, and he is invested with a waist-string (kardhana) of mûnj fibre, a small loin cloth (kopin), and he is given a dand or bamboo stick, to the end of which is tied a cloth containing some rice and pulse. This signifies that he has adopted the role of the Sannyâsi. The Purohit repeats texts, and five other Brâhmans sprinkle the eight parts of his body with a mixture of rice and turmeric. Then another square is made, and seven lamps and twigs of mango are tied together and placed within it. Beside them are laid seven images of Gauri made of cow-dung, and he worships the lights and the images of the goddess. Next he worships the water jar, and goes to the house door, on each side of which seven images of Gauri are made. These he worships with an offering of cakes (pûri), red lead, sacred grass, incense, lamps and naivedya or a mixture of treacle, curds, ghi, honey, and water. After this he returns to the house, and in the inner room (kohabar) worships ten images of Gauri in the same way. Next he pours ghi on the images of all the deities whom he has up to this time worshipped. Then his parents are recalled, the corners of their garments are knotted together, and they are made to sit in a square facing the south. All the ancestors are invited to appear and sit on leaf mats placed close by for their reception. When their spirits are supposed to have taken their places, some rice, ber fruit, treacle, ghi, honey, and sesamum are mixed together and formed into a lump. This is offered to the sainted dead, and afterwards placed in the shed. Again the parents are dismissed, and the boy is called in. Eight Brâhmans are called in and fed on pakki under the shed. The boy sits in the midst of them, and each Brâhman gives him a morsel of his food, which he eats. On this occasion the boy is not allowed to eat salt. When the meal is finished, the floor is again plastered.

27. Next three altars are made in the shed. Each altar should be the length of the distance of the point of the thumb from that of the ring finger. The father entrusts his son to a priest of the Achârya grade, and humbly requests him to instruct the lad and make him a full Brâhman. The Achârya signifies his consent by taking the boy by the arm, and the lad has to make an offering of eight Brâhmanical threads (janeû). One is offered to the sacred water jar, one to Ganesa, five to five Brâhmans, and one the lad keeps himself. Further, the lad presents a full suit of clothes to the Purohit, Guru and Achârya, and one to another Brâhman, who is regarded as the representation of Brahma. Then beginning from the north-east he spreads kusa grass evenly on the three altars, and the Achârya calls for fire, which is brought in a vessel made of bell metal (kânsa). Upon this is heaped up wood of the madâr (asclepias gigantea), palâsa (butea frondosa), khair (acacia catechu), chirchiri (achyranthus aspera), pîpal, gûlar, sami, and some dûb grass. This collection of wood is technically known as samidh. When this is ready the lad makes a present to the Brâhman who represents Brahma, and asks him to watch over the sacrifice and prevent any interruption of it. Then the Achârya repeats the appropriate text one hundred and eight times, and all the time keeps pouring ghi on the wood. This oblation of ghi is known as ahuti, and is done with a leaf or twig of mango. Pieces of dry cow-dung (goitha) and three sticks of palâsa wood are also thrown on the fire, and so with all the kusa grass which had been spread on the altars. On the top are placed some betel and cocoanuts. On this five Brâhmans hold a Brâhmanical thread and invest the lad with it, repeating the appropriate text.

28. After this the lad is bathed with water from eight jars, and he puts on another sacred thread. He is dressed in yellow garments and golden ornaments and wears wooden sandals (kharaun) stained with turmeric. He next begs from all present.

29. He then runs out in the guise of a Brahmachâri with the object of attaining religious knowledge, and is dissuaded by his parents from adopting the life of a recluse. When he consents to return the women of the house put treacle and washed rice in his hands, and kiss the eight parts of his body. The deities and sainted ancestors who have graced the rite with their presence are humbly requested to return to their own abodes, and the rite is complete.

30. The ceremony, though disguised by an elaborate Brâhmanical ritual, is obviously based on the same general principles of which an elaborate account, derived from the usages of various primitive races, has been given by Mr. Frazer. [173]

[Other domestic ceremonies.] 31. Some account of the other domestic ceremonies of Brâhmans has been given in connection with the Brâhmanical tribes, and need not be repeated here.

[The functions of the Brâhmans.] 32. The religious functions of the Brâhman are various. If the word is, as Professor Schrader [174] suggests, philologically the same as the Flamen of Rome, we have a link with the religious practices of two branches of the great Aryan race. We have first, the Upâdhyâya or Pâdha, who is the officiating priest, with whom may be classed the Achârya, Hotri, and similar functionaries whose business it is to superintend the more elaborate and mysterious rites of the faith which can be performed by none but those deeply conversant with the Vedic ritual. Next comes the Parohit or Purohit, “one placed in front,” the prepositus or praeses of the Roman world. The institution of the Purohita, who was not only a mere house priest, but a political functionary, goes back to the early Aryan times. In Vedic times he was regarded as a confidential and virtuous minister of state; but by the time of Manu [175] he had fallen to a lower status, and was regarded as inferior to other Brâhmans. His duties consist in superintending the domestic rites at birth, initiation, and marriage. He must be acquainted with the appropriate mantras or texts which are used on these occasions, and he generally knows a modicum of astrology (jyotish) by which he is enabled to cast horoscopes and announce the lucky and unlucky days for the performance of the various family rites, the commencement of agricultural operations, and the like. The ordinary village Purohit is, it is hardly necessary to say, very seldom proficient in Sanskrit or religious learning. He is able to mumble a few texts without understanding them; but he rarely makes any attempt to inculcate morality or improve the lives of his parishioners. This duty, so far as it is done at all, he leaves to the Guru, who may or may not be a Brâhman. The lowest class of semi-religious Brâhman is that which, as Mr. Ibbetson [176] says, “exist only to be fed. They consist of the younger members of the Purohit families, and of Brâhmans who have settled as cultivators or otherwise in villages where they have no hereditary clients. These men are always ready to tender their services as recipients of a dinner, thus enabling the peasant to entertain the desired number of Brâhmans on occasions of rejoicing, as a propitiatory offering, in token of thanksgiving, for the repose of his deceased father’s spirit, and so forth. The veneration for Brâhmans runs through the whole social as well as religious life of the Hindu peasant, and takes the practical form of either offerings or food. No child is born, named, betrothed, or married; nobody dies or is burnt; no journey is undertaken or auspicious day selected; no house is built, no agricultural operation of importance begun, or harvest gathered in, without the Brâhmans being fed; a portion of the produce is set apart for their use; they are consulted in sickness and in health; they are feasted in sorrow and in joy; and though I believe them to possess but little real influence with the people, a considerable portion of the wealth of the Province is diverted into their useless pockets.” This is pretty much the state of the Brâhmans further east. As Mr. Sherring [177] says of the Benares Brâhman:—“Light in complexion in comparison with the rest of the people, frequently tall in stature, with the marks of a clear penetrating intelligence depicted plainly, and sometimes in a striking manner, upon his countenance, erect, proud, self-conscious, the Brâhman walks along with the air of a man unlike any I have ever seen, in which self-sufficiency, a sense of superiority and a conviction of inherent purity and sanctity are combined.”

33. Besides these sacerdotal Brâhmans there are, it is needless to say, numbers who have no religious functions whatever, who serve as soldiers or messengers, clerks in our offices, and the like. There is also a large body of Brâhman agriculturists, though most of them will not themselves touch the plough.

DISTRIBUTION OF BRÂHMANS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+=============================
District. | Number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 15,027
Sahâranpur | 44,250
Muzaffarnagar | 41,427
Meerut | 108,071
Bulandshahr | 92,000
Aligarh | 131,798
Mathura | 113,936
Agra | 122,636
Farrukhâbâd | 78,220
Mainpuri | 56,301
Etâwah | 91,019
Etah | 53,313
Bareilly | 47,085
Bijnor | 27,118
Budâun | 57,002
Morâdâbâd | 43,578
Shâhjahânpur | 60,453
Pilibhît | 25,147
Cawnpur | 178,399
Fatehpur | 68,180
Bânda | 99,041
Hamîrpur | 49,570
Allahâbâd | 196,349
Jhânsi | 34,633
Jâlaun | 48,269
Lalitpur | 21,745
Benares | 102,978
Mirzapur | 165,885
Jaunpur | 150,908
Ghâzipur | 68,379
Ballia | 103,547
Gorakhpur | 265,550
Basti | 196,412
Azamgarh | 110,103
Kumâun | 134,841
Garhwâl | 97,581
Tarâi | 6,705
Lucknow | 44,414
Unâo | 122,056
Sîtapur | 103,850
Hardoi | 113,190
Kheri | 69,654
Faizâbâd | 159,637
Gonda | 230,507
Bahrâich | 87,481
Sultânpur | 162,509
Partâbgarh | 124,424
Bârabanki | 86,091
+~~~~~~~~~
| { Males 2,455,791
Total |4,719,882 {
| { Females 2,264,091
==============+=============================

Brindabani.—A sub-caste of Gusâîns who take their name from Brindaban, in the Mathura District (vrindavana, “the grove of tulasi” or basil). It is not quite clear to which section of the Vaishnavas the term is applied. The relation of Brindaban to the modern school of Hindu reformers has been elaborately discussed by Mr. Growse. [178]

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRINDABANI GUSÂÎNS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Bughâna.—A class of Hill Brâhmans who by one account are descended from Gaur Brâhmans of Benares; others say that they have the same origin as the Naithâna Brâhmans (q.v.). They have the same relations with Sarolas and Gangâris, are intelligent, and, when educated, make useful clerks and officials. [179]

Bundela. [180]—A sept of Râjputs almost entirely confined to the Bundelkhand country, to which they have given their name, now included in the Allahâbâd Division. According to the Mirzapur tradition they are descended from a family of Gaharwâr Râjputs, resident at the village of Gaura, near Bindhâchal. Of their ancestors one took service with the Râja of Panna, an independent state between Bânda and Jabalpur. The Râja died childless, and the Gaharwâr adventurer took possession of his fort. He had no son, and being disgusted with life, he made a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Vindhyabâsini Devi, at Bindhâchal, where he offered his head to the goddess. Out of the drops of his blood which fell upon the altar a boy was born, who was called Bundela, because he sprang from the drops (bûnd) of blood. He returned to Panna and founded the clan which bears his name. In their own country they are known among themselves as Bundela, but by outsiders as Gaharwâr. They do not marry among Baghels, Bais, Gaur, Umath, or Sengar Râjputs, who are known as the Sakuri group. They intermarry with Panwârs, Dhanderas, or Chauhâns. Mr. Sherring’s assertion that they are endogamous is contradicted by them. The prohibitions against marriage are the loss of religion, residence among foreign peoples, disregard of tribal custom, and engaging in occupations practised by low caste people. The Bundelkhand branch represent themselves to be the descendants of Pancham, Râja of Benares. During the reign of Nasir-ud-din Mahmûd, Emperor of Delhi, (1246–1266 A.D.) Arjuna Pâla, a descendant of Râja Pancham, left Benares for Mahoni, and made that place his capital. One of his descendants became Râja of Kudâr; his name was Saho Pâl and his descendant founded Orchha, and thence his descendants spread over Bundelkhand.

[Marriage.] 2. The stages in the marriage ceremony are—

1st.—Phaldân, the betrothal, when the family priest of the bride’s family gives the bridegroom a sacred thread (janeû), some rupees, cloth, and a betel-nut, in the presence of the elders of his family. The money is distributed as alms among the Brâhmans.

2nd.—Lagan patrika, or the fixing of the date for the marriage.

3rd.—Paurparsatkâr, the reception of the party (bârât) of the bridegroom at the door of the bride’s house.

4th.—Charhau, offering of ornaments by the relatives of the bride to the bridegroom.

5th.—Suhâg, the rubbing of red lead by the bridegroom on the parting of the bride’s hair.

6th.—Kanyâdân, the giving away of the bride to her husband by her father.

7th.—Panigrahana, the holding of the bride’s right hand by the bridegroom as an indication that he promises to support her as long as she lives.

8th.—Ahuti karna, the making of the fire sacrifice.

9th.—Parikrama, the revolutions of the pair round the sacred fire.

10th.—Dhruva sakshi karna, the promise of the bridegroom, in the presence of fire, water, the sun, and other natural objects, that he will be faithful to her and she to him.

11th.—Sayyadân, the presenting of a bed to the married pair.

12th.—Daija, dahej, or jahez dena, the giving of the dowry. Women can be divorced for adultery, impurity, violation of tribal rules, and neither divorced women nor widows are allowed to remarry.

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The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 2 (of 4)Chapter VII: Front Matter (7)

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