The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I Part 59

_Tandan_.--A subdivision of Saraswat Brahmans in Hoshangabad, perhaps so called from their being priests of the Tandan Khatris.

_Tankiwala_.--(A sharpener of grindstones.) Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Tanti_.--(_Tanta_, weaver's loom.) A caste. A subcaste of Bhulia and Mahli.

_Tanti, Tatwa_ (from Sanskrit _tantu_, a fibre).--The great weaver caste of Bengal and Bihar. A few Tantis were enumerated in Raipur District in 1911. Sir H. Risley is of opinion that the Tantis are probably a functional group developed under the pressure of the natural demand for fine woven cloth. [507] One tradition of their origin is that the first ancestor of the caste was begotten by the celestial architect Viswakarma on a low Sudra woman. Viswakarma is regarded as the tutelary deity of the caste, and is worshipped twice a year with offerings of flowers, rice and sugar. Images are sometimes made of him, but more commonly the weaver's loom or some of the tools of the craft are regarded as the dwelling-place or symbol of the G.o.d. In past times the Tantis made the famous fine cotton cloth, known as _abrawan_ or 'running water,' which was supplied only to the imperial zenana at Delhi. Sir H. Risley relates the following stories ill.u.s.trating its gossamer texture. On one occasion a daughter of Aurangzeb was reproached on entering the room for her immodest attire, through which her limbs could be seen, and excused herself by the plea that she had on seven folds of cloth over her body. Again in the reign of Alivardi Khan (1742-56), a Dacca Tanti was flogged and banished from the city for not preventing his cow from eating up a piece of _abrawan_ cloth which had been laid out to bleach on the gra.s.s. The famous female spinners who used to wind the fine native thread were still to be found in 1873, but their art has now died out. In ill.u.s.tration of their delicate touch it is told that one of them wound 88 yards of thread on a reel, and the whole weight of the thread was only one _rati_ or two grains. Nowadays the finest thread spun weighs 70 yards to the _rati_. The best cloths were woven by the Dacca Tantis, to whom the Koshtis of Burhanpur in the Central Provinces stood second. The Bamanmara tank in the old village of Dhanpur in Pendra zamindari of Bilaspur is so named from the fact that about a century ago some Brahman traders were murdered on its bank for the sake of the fine cloths they were carrying rolled up in hollow bamboo sticks. In Bengal the Tantis are included among the castes from whom a Brahman can take water. Sir H. Risley is of opinion that they have to some extent raised themselves to this position by their own influence, their trade being prosperous and lucrative, and having long ago attained to the development of an urban industry. The ordinary status of the weaving castes being at the bottom of the social scale, the superior position of the Bengal Tantis is an interesting exception. It is a.n.a.logous to that of the Koshtis in the Central Provinces, also a cla.s.s of urban weavers, who rank above the impure castes, though they have not attained to the position of the Tantis, as Brahmans will not take water from them.

_Tanwar_.--A subcaste of Kawar, to which zamindars belong.

_Tanwat, Tanwatkari_.--A synonym for Panchal Sunar.

_Tarane_.--Synonym of Dobaile Teli.

_Tasa_.--Synonym of Chasa.

_Tatwa_.--Synonym for Tanti. (From Sanskrit _tantu_, a fibre.)

_Tawaif_.--(A prost.i.tute.) Synonym for Kasbi.

_Tekam_.--(The teak tree.) One of the commonest clans of Gonds. A sept of Baiga, Bharewa, Binjhwar and Pardhan. A subdivision of Majhwar.

_Telenga Dora_.--(Telugu Lord.) A designation used by the Velama caste.

_Telenge_.--A Telugu name used by Balijas and other Telugu castes. Subcaste of Nai.

_Telha_.--Subcaste of Nagasia. The members of this subcaste mark the forehead of the bride with _tel_ or oil at the marriage ceremony.

_Teli_.--A caste of oil-pressers. Subcaste of Barhai, Dangri and Gondhali.

_Teli-Bania._--A group of the Teli caste who have taken to shopkeeping. Subcaste of Teli.

_Teli-Kalar._--A mixed group of the Kalar and Teli castes. Subcaste of Teli.

_Teli-Marar._--A subcaste of Marar.

_Telkala_.--Subcaste of Gandli.

_Terah-hazar_ or _Birbandhi_.--(Thirteen thousand.) Subcaste of Chero.

_Thakur_.--(Lord.) The common t.i.tle of Rajputs. This t.i.tle is also used by Lodhis, Raj-Gonds and other landowning castes. A surname of Karhara Brahmans in Saugor. A section of Ahir, Marar (Mali), Panwar Rajput and Sudh.

_Thakuria_.--(Lordling.) A subcaste of Murao. A subcaste of Kol and Parja. A section of Darzi and Katia.

_Thanapati_.--(Master of the sacred place.) Synonym for Gandhmali.

_Thapak_.--A surname of Sanadhia Brahmans in Saugor. (From Sthapak, the consecrator of idols.)

_Thapatkari_.--Synonym of Beldar.

_Thathari_.--A caste of coppersmiths in Sambalpur.

_Thatia_.--A subtribe of Gonds, also called Gaiki or Mahato in Betul.

_Thethwar_.--(One who follows the straight path.) A subcaste of Rawat (Ahir) in Chhattisgarh.

_Thotia, Thothia_.--(Maimed.) A subdivision of Gonds and Pardhans, who live by begging from the Gonds.

_Thuria_.--Subcaste of Banjara in Sambalpur.

_Tilokchandi_.--(Bais.) A subdivision of the Bais clan of Rajputs.

_Tirelle_.--(Tirole.) Subcaste of Are.

_Tirgam_.--A subsept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul. A sept of Pardhan.

_Tirmale, Tirmalle_.--A small caste of wandering Telugu beggars. Nearly 400 were returned in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911. Tirmales take about performing bulls. The animal is decorated with bra.s.s ornaments and bells, and his back is covered with a patched quilt of different colours. The Tirmale has a red turban with a scarf round his neck, and a follower carries a drum. The bull is cleverly trained and performs various tricks. The caste do this in the mornings, but in the afternoon they appear as Bairagis or ordinary beggars, and in the evening as sellers of various sacred articles, such as sandalwood, Ganges water and rudraksha beads. They take water from the Ganges in small phials and go down to the south of India selling it. On this account they are known in Poona as Kashi Kawadi or those who carry banghys from Kashi (Benares). In Telugu they are called Gangeddulu and in Tamil Endandi, both words meaning people who beg with bulls. They may properly be considered as a subcaste of Dasaris. [508] The Tirmales travel with their families like the Banjaras, and live in tents or sheds outside the village. Their marriages are generally celebrated in the month of Shrawan in the rains, when they return from their wanderings. They speak a corrupt Telugu among themselves, but Marathi to outsiders. They eat flesh and drink liquor. The dead are buried.

_Tirmalle_.--Synonym of Tirmale.

_Tirtha_.--Name of one of the ten orders of Gosains.

_t.i.tha_.--(From _t.i.tahri_, a sandpiper.) A section of Basor.

_Tiwari_.--(Learned in three Vedas.) A family name of Kanaujia and Gaur Brahmans.

_Tiyar_.--A boating and fishing caste of Sambalpur and Bengal. In the Central Provinces they numbered 700 in 1911. The caste is a numerous one in Bengal and has been fully described by Sir H. Risley, [509] so that no detailed notice of it is necessary here. The name is derived from the Sanskrit _tivara_, a hunter, the Tiyars styling themselves the hunters of the sea. They came to the Central Provinces from Angul in Orissa, and they offer to the G.o.ddess Durga in Angul an oblation of 60 to 100 _jian_ fish and a headload of lotus flowers on her special festival. In honour of Durga they observe a fast on the four Tuesdays of the months of Chait and Kunwar (March and September). In Chait they also worship their hooks and nets. At their marriages when a father has selected a bride for his son he consults an astrologer to compare their horoscopes. If the conjunction is unsatisfactory he will change the boy's name to suit the astrological calculations. The wedding is celebrated in the common fashion of the Uriya castes. If a bachelor marries a widow he first goes through the form of wedlock with a bunch of flowers. Among their caste penalties, that imposed for the killing of a cow may be mentioned. It is called the Gocharan Brit, and the offender is required to consort with cows for twenty-one days. He must mix and take his meals in the cowshed, and must copy the behaviour of the cows, lying down when they lie down, standing up when they stand up, following them when they walk about, and so on. At the expiration of this period he makes a pilgrimage to a certain village, and on his return partakes of the five products of the sacred cow and gives a feast to the caste. The Tiyars are a low caste, and eat fowls and drink liquor. They will admit a member of any higher caste on his giving a feast to the community. In the Central Provinces they have exogamous sections within which marriage is prohibited; these generally have t.i.tular names, as Padhan chief, Das slave, Guru preceptor, and so on. They catch fish with the _ghani benda_, a large bamboo basket covered with palm-tree bark, which is sunk under water and secured in the bed of the stream.

_Todasai_.--(Worshipper of six G.o.ds.) A section of Raj-Gond.

_Tomara, Tuar, Tawar_.--(_Tomar_, a club.) A well-known clan of Rajputs. A sept of Gond.

_Toriya_.--A name given to Gonds who worship twelve G.o.ds in Chanda.

_Tumram_.--(_Tumria_, a pumpkin.) A clan of Gond, said to be those who worship six G.o.ds.

_Turi_.--A caste. A synonym for Basors or bamboo-workers. A section of Kalanga.

_Turk_.--(Muhammadan.) A section of Panwa Rajput in Balaghat.

_Turkan_.--A subcaste of Bahna, so called because their forefathers are said to have been soldiers in the army of the king of Delhi.

_Turkia, Kurkanya_.--A Muhammadan group. Subcaste of Banjara, Chamar.

_Uchla_.--(A lifter.) t.i.tle for Bharota.

_Uchle_.--(Pickpocket.) Subcaste of Mang.

_Uchodia_.--A subcaste of Bhand.