The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II Part 18

The Beldars of Chhattisgarh are divided into the Odia or Uriya, Larhia, Kuchbandhia, Matkuda and Karigar groups. Uriya and Larhia are local names, applied to residents of the Uriya country and Chhattisgarh respectively. Odia is the name of a low Madras caste of masons, but whether it is a corruption of Uriya is not clear. Karigar means a workman, and Kuchbandhia is the name of a separate caste, who make loom-combs for weavers. The Odias pretend to be fallen Rajputs. They say that when Indra stole the sacrificial horse of Raja Sagar and kept it in the underworld, the Raja's thousand sons dug great holes through the earth to get it. Finally they arrived at the underworld and were all reduced to ashes by the Rishi Kapil Muni, who dwelt there. Their ghosts besought him for life, and he said that their descendants should always continue to dig holes in the earth, which would be used as tanks; and that whenever a tank was dug by them, and its marriage celebrated with a sacrifice, the savour of the sacrifice would descend to the ghosts and would afford them sustenance. The Odias say that they are the descendants of the Raja's sons, and unless a tank is dug and its marriage celebrated by them it remains impure. These Odias have their tutelary deity in Rewah State, and at his shrine is a flag which none but an Odia of genuine descent from Raja Sagar's sons can touch without some injury befalling him. If any Beldaar therefore claims to belong to their caste they call on him to touch the flag, and if he does so with impunity they acknowledge him as a brother.

4. Other Chhattisgarhi Beldars.

The other group of Chattisgarhi Beldars are of lower status, and clearly derived from the non-Aryan tribes. They eat pigs, and at intervals of two or three years they celebrate the worship of Gosain Deo with a sacrifice of pigs, the deity being apparently a deified ascetic or mendicant. On this occasion the Dhimars, Gonds, and all other castes which eat pig's flesh join in the sacrifice, and consume the meat together after the fashion of the rice at Jagannath's temple, which all castes may eat together without becoming impure. These Beldars use a.s.ses for the transport of their bricks and stones, and on the Diwali day they place a lamp before the a.s.s and pay reverence to it. They say that at their marriages a bride-price of Rs. 100 or Rs. 200 must always be paid, but they are allowed to give one or two donkeys and value them at Rs. 50 apiece. They make grindstones (_chakki_), combs for straightening the threads on the loom, and frames for stretching the threads. These frames are called _dongi_, and are made either wholly or partly from the horns of animals, a fact which no doubt renders them impure.

5. Munurwar and Telenga.

In Chanda the princ.i.p.al castes of stone-workers are the Telengas (Telugus), who are also known as Thapatkari (tapper or chiseller), Telenga Kunbi and Munurwar. They occupy a higher position than the ordinary Beldar, and Kunbis will take water from them and sometimes food. They say that they came into Chanda from the Telugu country along the G.o.davari and Pranhita rivers to build the great wall of Chanda and the palaces and tombs of the Gond kings. There is no reason to doubt that the Munurwars are a branch of the Kapu cultivating caste of the Telugu country. Mr. A. K. Smith states that they refuse to eat the flesh of an animal which has been skinned by a Mahar, a Chamar, or a Gond; the Kunbis and Marathas also consider flesh touched by a Mahar or Chamar to be impure, but do not object to a Gond. Like the Berar Kunbis, the Telengas prefer that an animal should be killed by the rite of _halal_ as practised by Muhammadan butchers. The reason no doubt is that the _halal_ is a method of sacrificial slaughter, and the killing of the animal is legitimised even though by the ritual of a foreign religion. The Thapatkaris appear to be a separate group, and their original profession was to collect and retail jungle fruits and roots having medicinal properties. Though the majority have become stone- and earth-workers some of them still do this.

6. Vaddar.

The Vaddars or Wadewars are a branch of the Odde caste of Madras. They are almost an impure caste, and a section of them are professional criminals. Their women wear gla.s.s bangles only on the left arm, those on the right arm being made of bra.s.s or other metal. This rule has no doubt been introduced because gla.s.s bangles would get broken when they were supporting loads on the head. The men often wear an iron bangle on the left wrist, which they say keeps off the lightning. Mr. Thurston states that "Women who have had seven husbands are much respected among the Oddes, and their blessing on a bridal pair is greatly prized. They work in gangs on contract, and every one, except very old and very young, shares in the labour. The women carry the earth in baskets, while the men use the pick and spade. The babies are usually tied up in cloths, which are suspended, hammock-fashion, from the boughs of trees. A woman found guilty of immorality is said to have to carry a basketful of earth from house to house before she is readmitted to the caste. The stone-cutting Vaddars are the princ.i.p.al criminals, and by going about under the pretence of mending grindstones they obtain much useful information as to the houses to be looted or parties of travellers to be attacked. In committing a highway robbery or dacoity they are always armed with stout sticks." [256]

7. Pathrot.

In Berar besides the regular Beldars two castes of stone-workers are found, the Pathrawats or Pathrots (stone-breakers) and the Takaris, who should perhaps be cla.s.sed as separate castes. Both make and sharpen millstones and grindstones, and they are probably only occupational groups of recent formation. The Takaris are connected with the Pardhi caste of professional hunters and fowlers and may be a branch of them. The social customs of the Pathrots resemble those of the Kunbis. "They will take cooked food from a Sutar or a k.u.mbhar. Imprisonment, the killing of a cow or criminal intimacy of a man with a woman of another caste is punished by temporary outcasting, readmission involving a fine of Rs. 4 or Rs. 5. Their chief deity is the Devi of Tulj.a.pur and their chief festival Dasahra; the implements of the caste are worshipped twice a year, on Gudhi Padwa and Diwali. Women are tattooed with a crescent between the eyebrows and dots on the right side of the nose, the right cheek, and the chin, and a basil plant or peac.o.c.k is drawn on their wrists." [257]

8. Takari.

"The Takaris take their name from the verb _takne_, to reset or rechisel. They mend the handmills (_chakkis_) used for grinding corn, an occupation which is sometimes shared with them by the Langoti Pardhis. The Takari's avocation of chiselling grindstones gives him excellent opportunities for examining the interior economy of houses, and the position of boxes and cupboards, and for gauging the wealth of the inmates. They are the most inveterate house-breakers and dangerous criminals. A form of crime favoured by the Takari, in common with many other criminal cla.s.ses, is that of decoying into a secluded spot outside the village the would-be receiver of stolen property and robbing him of his cash--a trick which carries a wholesome lesson with it." [258] The chisel with which they chip the grindstones furnishes, as stated by Mr. D. A. Smyth, D.S.P., an excellent implement for breaking a hole through the mud wall of a house.

Beria, Bedia.

[_Bibliography_: Sir H. Risley's _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_; Rajendra Lal Mitra in _Memoirs, Anthropological Society of London_, iii. p. 122; Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh_; Mr. Kennedy's _Criminal Cla.s.ses of the Bombay Presidency_; Major Gunthorpe's _Criminal Tribes_; Mr. Gayer's _Lectures on some Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_; Colonel Sleeman's _Report on the Badhak or Bagri Dacoits_.]

1. Historical notice.

A caste of gipsies and thieves who are closely connected with the Sansias. In 1891 they numbered 906 persons in the Central Provinces, distributed over the northern Districts; in 1901 they were not separately cla.s.sified but were identified with the Nats. "They say that some generations ago two brothers resided in the Bhartpur territory, of whom one was named Sains Mul and the other Mullanur. The descendants of Sains Mul are the Sansias and those of Mullanur the Berias or Kolhatis, who are vagrants and robbers by hereditary profession, living in tents or huts of matting, like Nats or other vagrant tribes, and having their women in common without any marriage ceremonies or ties whatsoever. Among themselves or their relatives the Sansias or descendants of Sains Mul, they are called Dholi or Kolhati. The descendants of the brothers eat, drink and smoke together, and join in robberies, but never intermarry." So Colonel Sleeman wrote in 1849, and other authorities agree on the close connection or ident.i.ty of the Berias and Sansias of Central India. The Kolhatis belong mainly to the Deccan and are apparently a branch of the Berias, named after the _Kolhan_ or long pole with which they perform acrobatic feats. The Berias of Central India differ in many respects from those of Bengal. Here Sir H. Risley considers Beria to be 'the generic name of a number of vagrant, gipsy-like groups'; and a full description of them has been given by Babu Rajendra Lal Mitra, who considers them to resemble the gipsies of Europe. "They are noted for a light, elastic, wiry make, very uncommon in the people of this country. In agility and hardness they stand unrivalled. The men are of a brownish colour, like the bulk of Bengalis, but never black. The women are of lighter complexion and generally well-formed; some of them have considerable claims to beauty, and for a race so rude and primitive in their habits as the Berias, there is a sharpness in the features of their women which we see in no other aboriginal race in India. Like the gipsies of Europe they are noted for the symmetry of their limbs; but their offensive habits, dirty clothing and filthy professions give them a repulsive appearance, which is heightened by the reputation they have of kidnapping children and frequenting burial-grounds and places of cremation.... Familiar with the use of bows and arrows and great adepts in laying snares and traps, they are seldom without large supplies of game and flesh of wild animals of all kinds. They keep the dried bodies of a variety of birds for medical purposes; mongoose, squirrels and flying-foxes they eat with avidity as articles of luxury. Spirituous liquors and intoxicating drugs are indulged in to a large extent, and chiefs of clans a.s.sume the t.i.tle of Bhangi or drinkers of hemp (_bhang_) as a mark of honour.... In lying, thieving and knavery the Beria is not a whit inferior to his brother gipsy of Europe. The Beria woman deals in charms for exorcising the devil and palmistry is her special vocation. She also carries with her a bundle of herbs and other real or pretended charms against sickness of body or mind; and she is much sought after by village maidens for the sake of the philtre with which she restores to them their estranged lovers; while she foretells the date when absent friends will return and the s.e.x of unborn children. They practise cupping with buffalo horns, pretend to extract worms from decayed teeth and are commonly employed as tattooers. At home the Beria woman makes mats of palm-leaves, while her lord alone cooks.... Beria women are even more circ.u.mspect than European gipsies. If a wife does not return before the jackal's cry is heard in the evening, she is subject to severe punishment. It is said that a _faux pas_ among her own kindred is not considered reprehensible; but it is certain that no Berini has ever been known to be at fault with any one not of her own caste." This last statement is not a little astonishing, inasmuch as in Central India and in Bundelkhand Berni is an equivalent term for a prost.i.tute. A similar diversity of conjugal morality has been noticed between the Bagris of northern India and the Vaghris of Gujarat. [259]

2. Criminal tendencies in the Central Provinces.

In other respects also the Berias of Bengal appear to be more respectable than the remainder of the caste, obtaining their livelihood by means which, if disreputable, are not actually dishonest; while in Central India the women Berias are prost.i.tutes and the men house-breakers and thieves. These latter are so closely connected with the Sansias that the account of that caste is also applicable to the Berias. In Jubbulpore, Mr. Gayer states, the caste are expert house-breakers, bold and daring, and sometimes armed with swords and matchlocks. They sew up stolen property in their bed-quilts and secrete it in the hollow legs of their sleeping-cots, and the women habitually conceal jewels and even coins in the natural pa.s.sages of the body, in which they make special _saos_ or receptacles by practice. The Beria women go about begging, and often break open the doors of unoccupied houses in the daytime and steal anything they can find. [260] Both Sansia and Beria women wear a _laong_ or clove in the left nostril.

3. Social customs.

As already stated, the women are professional prost.i.tutes, but these do not marry, and on arrival at maturity they choose the life which they prefer. Mr. Crooke states, [261] however, that regular marriages seldom occur among them, because nearly all the girls are reserved for prost.i.tution, and the men keep concubines drawn from any fairly respectable caste. So far is this the rule that in some localities if a man marries a girl of the tribe he is put out of caste or obliged to pay a fine to the tribal council. This last rule does not seem to obtain in the Central Provinces, but marriages are uncommon. In a colony of Berias in Jubbulpore [262] numbering sixty families it was stated that only eight weddings could be remembered as having occurred in the last fifty years. The boys therefore have to obtain wives as best they can; sometimes orphan girls from other castes are taken into the community, or any outsider is picked up. For a bride from the caste itself a sum of Rs. 100 is usually demanded, and the same has to be paid by a Beria man who takes a wife from the Nat or Kanjar castes, as is sometimes done. When a match is proposed they ask the expectant bridegroom how many thefts he has committed without detection; and if his performances have been inadequate they refuse to give him the girl on the ground that he will be unable to support a wife. At the betrothal the boy's parents go to the girl's house, taking with them a potful of liquor round which a silver ring is placed and a pig. The ring is given to the girl and the head of the pig to her father, while the liquor and the body of the pig provide a feast for the caste. They consult Brahmans at their birth and marriage ceremonies. Their princ.i.p.al deities appear to be their ancestors, whom they worship on the same day of the month and year as that on which their death took place. They make an offering of a pig to the G.o.ddess Dadaju or Devi before starting on their annual predatory excursions. Some rice is thrown into the animal's ear before it is killed, and the direction in which it turns its head is selected as the one divinely indicated for their route. Prost.i.tution is naturally not regarded as any disgrace, and the women who have selected this profession mix on perfectly equal terms with those who are married. They occupy, in fact, a more independent position, as they dispose absolutely of their own earnings and property, and on their death it devolves on their daughters or other female relatives, males having no claim to it, in some localities at least. Among the children of married couples daughters inherit equally with sons. A prost.i.tute is regarded as the head of the family so far as her children are concerned. Outsiders are freely admitted into the caste on giving a feast to the community. In Saugor the women of the caste, known as Berni, are the village dancing-girls, and are employed to give performances in the cold weather, especially at the Holi festival, where they dance the whole night through, fortified by continuous potations of liquor. This dance is called _rai_, and is accompanied by most obscene songs and gestures.

Bhaina

List of Paragraphs

1. _The tribe derived from the Baigas._ 2. _Closely connected with the Kawars._ 3. _Internal structure. Totemism._ 4. _Marriage._ 5. _Religious superst.i.tions._ 6. _Admission of outsiders and caste offences._ 7. _Social customs._

1. The tribe derived from the Baigas.

_Bhaina._ [263]--A primitive tribe peculiar to the Central Provinces and found princ.i.p.ally in the Bilaspur District and the adjoining area, that is, in the wild tract of forest country between the Satpura range and the south of the Chota Nagpur plateau. In 1911 about 17,000 members of the tribe were returned. The tribe is of mixed descent and appears to have been derived princ.i.p.ally from the Baigas and Kawars, having probably served as a city of refuge to persons expelled from these and other tribes and the lower castes for irregular s.e.xual relations. Their connection with the Baigas is shown by the fact that in Mandla the Baigas have two subdivisions, which are known as Rai or Raj-Bhaina, and Kath, or catechu-making Bhaina. The name therefore would appear to have originated with the Baiga tribe. A Bhaina is also not infrequently found to be employed in the office of village priest and magician, which goes by the name of Baiga in Bilaspur. And a Bhaina has the same reputation as a Baiga for sorcery, it being said of him--

Mainhar ki manjh Bhaina ki pang

or 'The magic of a Bhaina is as deadly as the powdered _mainhar_ fruit,' this fruit having the property of stupefying fish when thrown into the water, so that they can easily be caught. This reputation simply arises from the fact that in his capacity of village priest the Bhaina performs the various magical devices which lay the ghosts of the dead, protect the village against tigers, ensure the prosperity of the crops and so on. But it is always the older residents of any locality who are employed by later comers in this office, because they are considered to have a more intimate acquaintance with the local deities. And consequently we are ent.i.tled to a.s.sume that the Bhainas are older residents of the country where they are found than their neighbours, the Gonds and Kawars. There is other evidence to the same effect; for instance, the oldest forts in Bilaspur are attributed to the Bhainas, and a chief of this tribe is remembered as having ruled in Bilaigarh; they are also said to have been dominant in Pendra, where they are still most numerous, though the estate is now held by a Kawar; and it is related that the Bhainas were expelled from Phuljhar in Raipur by the Gonds. Phuljhar is believed to be a Gond State of long standing, and the Raja of Raigarh and others claim to be descended from its ruling family. A ma.n.u.script history of the Phuljhar chiefs records that that country was held by a Bhaina king when the Gonds invaded it, coming from Chanda. The Bhaina with his soldiers took refuge in a hollow underground chamber with two exits. But the secret of this was betrayed to the Gonds by an old Gond woman, and they filled up the openings of the chamber with gra.s.s and burnt the Bhainas to death. On this account the tribe will not enter Phuljhar territory to this day, and say that it is death to a Bhaina to do so. The Binjhwars are also said to have been dominant in the hills to the east of Raipur District, and they too are a civilised branch of the Baigas. And in all this area the village priest is commonly known as Baiga, the deduction from which is, as already stated, that the Baigas were the oldest residents. [264] It seems a legitimate conclusion, therefore, that prior to the immigration of the Gonds and Kawars, the ancient Baiga tribe was spread over the whole hill country east and north of the Mahanadi basin.

2. Closely connected with the Kawars.

The Bhainas are also closely connected with the Kawars, who still own many large estates in the hills north of Bilaspur. It is said that formerly the Bhainas and Kawars both ate in common and intermarried, but at present, though the Bhainas still eat rice boiled in water from the Kawars, the latter do not reciprocate. But still, when a Kawar is celebrating a birth, marriage or death in his family, or when he takes in hand to make a tank, he will first give food to a Bhaina before his own caste-men eat. And it may safely be a.s.sumed that this is a recognition of the Bhaina's position as having once been lord of the land. A Kawar may still be admitted into the Bhaina community, and it is said that the reason of the rupture of the former equal relations between the two tribes was the disgust felt by the Kawars for the rude and uncouth behaviour of the Bhainas. For on one occasion a Kawar went to ask for a Bhaina girl in marriage, and, as the men of the family were away, the women undertook to entertain him. And as the Bhainas had no axes, the daughter proceeded to crack the sticks on her head for kindling a fire, and for gra.s.s she pulled out a wisp of thatch from the roof and broke it over her thigh, being unable to chop it. This so offended the delicate susceptibilities of the Kawar that he went away without waiting for his meal, and from that time the Kawars ceased to marry with the Bhainas. It seems possible that the story points to the period when the primitive Bhainas and Baigas did not know the use of iron and to the introduction of this metal by the later-coming Kawars and Gonds. It is further related that when a Kawar is going to make a ceremonial visit he likes always to take with him two or three Bhainas, who are considered as his retainers, though not being so in fact. This enhances his importance, and it is also said that the stupidity of the Bhainas acts as a foil, through which the superior intelligence of the Kawar is made more apparent. All these details point to the same conclusion that the primitive Bhainas first held the country and were supplanted by the more civilised Kawars, and bears out the theory that the settlement of the Munda tribes was prior to those of the Dravidian family.