The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I Part 57

_Sesodia_.--A famous clan of Rajputs.

_Seth_.--(Banker or moneylender.) A t.i.tle of Bania.

_Setti_.--A corruption of the Sanskrit Shreshta, good. t.i.tle of Komti caste.

_Sewak_.--(Servant.) The name given to an inferior cla.s.s of Brahmans who serve in Vaishnava temples.

_Shaikh, Sheikh_.--One of the four tribes of Muhammadans. A subcaste of Mehtar.

_Shaiva, Saiva_.--(A worshipper of Siva.) The term Shaiva Brahman is applied to Guraos.

_Shandilya, Sandilya_.--An eponymous _gotra_ or section of Brahmans. A section of Darzi, Raj-Gond, Rawat (Ahir) and Sunar.

_Shegudi_.--See Segidi.

_Shendia_.--A section of Teli and Otari (Kasar).

_Shenvi_.--A subcaste of Maratha Brahmans in Hoshangabad.

_Sheohare_ or _Sivahare_.--Subcaste of Kalar.

_Shiah_.--One of the two great sects of Muhammadans.

_Shikari_.--(A hunter.) A synonym for Pardhi or Bahelia.

_Shimpi_.--(A tailor.) Synonym for Darzi in the Maratha country.

_Shishi ke Telwale_.--Subcaste of Pardhi. They sell oil obtained from the bodies of crocodiles.

_Siddi, Sidi, Habshi._--The name given to Africans, whether Abyssinians or Negroes. Habshi means one coming from El Habish, the Arabic name for North-East Africa. Siddi is a corruption of Saiyad, the designation of a descendant of the Prophet, and is commonly used as a term of respectful address in North Africa, like Sahib in India. The _Bombay Gazetteer_ states [498] that about the middle of the fifteenth century, when the Bahmani dynasty became independent of Delhi and intercourse with Northern India ceased, the fashion arose of bringing to Western India large numbers of Abyssinians and other East Africans. Though most of the Habshis came to India as slaves, their faithfulness, courage and energy often raised them to positions of high trust in the Bahmani court. According to Orme, the successful Abyssinians gathered round them all of their countrymen whom they could procure either by purchase or invitation, including negroes from other parts of Africa, as well as Abyssinians. From their marriages, first with natives of India and afterwards among their own families, there arose a separate community, distinct from other Muhammadans in figure, colour and character. As soon as they were strong enough they formed themselves into an aristocratic republic and produced some of the most skilful and daring soldiers and sailors of Western India. The rulers of Janjira and Sachin States in Bombay are Siddis by descent.

They are now employed as stokers and firemen on steamers and as fitters and mechanics in the dockyards of Bombay, and are described [499] as "A hardy race with muscular frames, thick lips and crisp black hair--the very last men whom you would wish to meet in a rough-and-tumble, and yet withal a jovial people, well-disposed and hospitable to any one whom they regard as a friend." In other parts of India the Siddis are usually beggars and are described as 'Fond of intoxicating drinks, quarrelsome, dirty, unthrifty and pleasure-loving, obstinacy being their leading trait.' They worship Baba Ghor, an Abyssinian saint. [500]

It is recorded that the medicine called Silajit, a nervine tonic for the generative power, was formerly believed to be prepared from the flesh of Abyssinian boys. Mr. Hooper writes: "Silajit is allied to another ancient drug named Momiayi which has long been employed in the East. The original drug is said to have been made from Egyptian mummies, and subsequently to have been prepared by boiling down and extracting the essence of Abyssinian boys. Since the last source of supply has become scarce, several bituminous exudations are reported to have been subst.i.tuted." [501] The drug is now said to be made from the gum of some stone in Hardwar, and this must be the bitumen referred to by Mr. Hooper. The virtue ascribed to the flesh of Abyssinian boys was no doubt based on their superior bodily strength and perhaps partly on the prolificacy of the negroes. In the case of mummies, as the body of the mummy was believed to have retained life or the capacity of life for many ages, its material would naturally possess extraordinary vitality and should be capable of imparting this quality to others when a.s.similated into their bodies.

_Sidhira_, _Sithira_.--A small occupational caste of Sambalpur and the Uriya States. The caste is not found elsewhere in India. They are braziers by trade, and in spite of their small numbers say they have three subcastes, one of which, the Luhura, works in iron. They are an impure caste, whose touch conveys pollution in Sambalpur. They accept alms from a Munda or Oraon on the occasion of a death in the latter's family, and have totemistic septs. They eat fowls and rats and consume much liquor. They also admit outsiders into the caste. It may be concluded, therefore, that they are an occupational caste formed from the tribes above mentioned or others, through adopting the calling of bra.s.s-workers. The adultery of a Sidhira woman with a man of any higher caste is looked upon as an absolutely trifling offence, and this is a common feature of low castes of mixed origin. As among many primitive tribes, one particular sept performs the ceremony of readmitting offenders to caste intercourse by sprinkling a little Ganges water over them. The man fulfilling this office is known as the Baikar, and after a wedding the bridal pair go to the Baikar's house and he pours two jars full of water over their heads and bodies. They go inside the house, and the bridegroom then comes out and gives the wet clothes to the Baikar with a small present. This appears to be a sort of purificatory ceremony at marriage.

_Sidi_.--Synonym of Siddi.

_Silpi_.--(A stone-mason.) Subcaste of Kammala.

_Sindhi_.--(Performers of dramas.) Subcaste of Madgi.

_Sindhupushkar_.--A subcaste of Brahmans in Khairagarh State, perhaps the same as the Marwari Pushkama Brahmans. It is said that Sindhu has the meaning of a lake.

_Singade_.--(From _singh_, horn, and _gadna_, to bury.) Subcaste of Koli. The members of this group, when their buffaloes die, bury the horns in their compound.

_Singar_.--(A fish.) A totemistic sept of Kawar. A section of Agharia.

_Singaria_.--Those who cultivate the _Singara_ nut. Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Singh_.--(A lion.) The usual suffix to the names of Rajputs, Sikhs and castes which claim Rajput rank, such as Lodhis.

_Singh, Singhi_.--(Horn.) A totemistic sept of Dhanwar. A section of Kurmi, and of Oswal and Maheshri Bania.

_Singhal_.--(Ceylon.) A section of Brahmans in Damoh.

_Singrore_.--Subcaste of Kunbi and Lodhi.

_Sikligar_, _Bardhia_, _Saiqalgar_. [502]--A small caste of armourers and knife-grinders. The name Saiqalgar comes from the Arabic _saiqal_, a polisher, and Bardhia is from _bardh_, the term for the edge of a weapon. They number only about 450 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, and reside mainly in the large towns, as Jubbulpore and Nagpur. The caste is partly Hindu and partly Muhammadan, but very few members of it in the Central Provinces profess the latter religion. In Bombay [503] the Muhammadan Sikligars are said to be Ghisaris or tinkers who were forcibly converted by Aurangzeb. The writer of the Belgaum Gazetteer [504] says that they are scarcely more than Muhammadans in name, as they practically never go to the mosque, keep Hindu G.o.ds in their houses, eschew beef, and observe no special Muhammadan rites other than circ.u.mcision. The Hindu Sikligars claim to be Rajputs and have Rajput sept names, and it is not unlikely that in old times the armourer's calling should have been adopted by the lower cla.s.ses of Rajputs. The headquarters of the caste is in Gwalior, where there is probably still some scope for their ancient trade. But in British territory the Sikligar has degenerated into a needy knife-grinder. Mr. Crooke [505] describes him as "A trader of no worth. His whole stock-in-trade is a circular whetstone worked by a strap between two posts fixed in the ground. He sharpens knives, razors, scissors and sometimes swords."

_Sirdar_.--t.i.tle of the Kawar caste.

_Siriswar_.--(From _siris_, a tree.) A section of Gadaria.

_Sirnet_.--A clan of Rajputs.

_Sirwa_.--(A resident of the ancient city of Sravasti in Gonda district.) Subcaste of Teli.

_Sita Padri_.--t.i.tle of Vaishnava mendicants.

_Sithira_.--Synonym of _Sidhira_.

_Solaha_. [506]--A very small caste numbering less than a hundred persons in the Raipur District. The caste only deserves mention as affording an instance of an attempt to rise in the social scale. The Solahas are certainly of Gond origin. Their name appears to be a corruption of Tolaha, from _tol_, which means leather in Gondi or Telugu. Their exogamous sections, as Markam, Warai, Wika, Sori, Kunjam, are also Gond names, and like the Agarias they are an occupational offshoot of that great tribe, who have taken to the special profession of leather-curing and primitive carpentry. But they claim to belong to the Barhai caste and say that their ancestors immigrated from Benares at the time of a great famine there. In pursuance of the claim some of them employ inferior Brahmans as their priests. They also say that they accept food only from Brahmans and Rajputs, though they eat fowls, pork and even rats. Women of any other caste can be admitted into the community, but not men. The fact that they are not Barhais is sufficiently shown by their ignorance of carpentering tools. They do not even know the use of a rope for turning the drill and do it by hand with a pointed nail. They have no planes, and smooth wood with a chisel. Their business is to make musical instruments for the Gonds, which consist of hollow pieces of wood covered with skin to act as single or double drums. They use sheep and goat-skins, and after letting them dry sc.r.a.pe off the hair and rub them with a paste of boiled rice and powdered iron filings and gla.s.s.

_Solanki, Solankhi_.--A well-known clan of Rajputs, also called Chalukya. The name is perhaps derived from _Sulakshana_, one bearing an auspicious mark. A section of Pardhi and Gujar.

_Sompura_.--A subdivision of Gujarati Brahmans in Jubbulpore. They take their name from Somnath in Kathiawar.

_Somvansi_.--(Children of the Moon.) Subcaste of Mahar. A clan of Rajputs.

_Sonar_.--Synonym for Sunar in the Maratha country.

_Sonbarha_.--(Gold pig.) A section of Teli in Khairagarh, so named as they presented a golden pig to their king Bharam Deo.

_Sonboyir_.--(Gold plum.) A section of Teli in Nandgaon, so called because their ancestor presented a gold plum to their Raja.

_Sonbukra_.--(Yellow goat.) A totemistic sept of Kawar.

_Sondi_.--(_Sondi_, tiger.) A sept of Gonds in Raipur. It is said to be of mixed descent from all the septs, and can intermarry with any other.

_Sondhi_.--Synonym for Sundi.

_Songainda_.--(Gold unicorn.) A section of Teli in Khairagarh, so named because they presented a golden unicorn to their king Bharam Deo.

_Sonha_; _Sonkutta_.--(Wild dog.) A sept of Dhanwar, Kawar, Saonta or Santal, and Chero.

_Soni_.--Synonym for Sunar.