The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume IV Part 7

38. Women's clothes

Women, in the northern Districts wear a skirt made of coa.r.s.e cloth, usually red or blue, and a shoulder-cloth of the same material. Hand-woven cloth is still commonly used in the interior. The skirt is sometimes drawn up through the legs behind so as to give it a divided appearance; this is called _kachhota_. On the upper part of the body they wear an _angia_ or breast-cloth, that is a short, tight, sleeveless jacket reaching only to below the b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The _angia_ is tied behind, while the Maratha _choli_, which is the same thing, is b.u.t.toned or tied in front. High-caste women draw their shoulder-cloth right over the head so that the face cannot be seen. When a woman goes before a person of position she covers her head, as it is considered immodest to leave it bare. Women of respectable families wear a sheet of fine white, yellow, or red cloth drawn over the head and reaching to the ankles when they go on a journey, this being known as _pichhora_. In Chhattisgarh all the requirements of fashion among women are satisfied by one cloth from 8 to 12 yards long and about a yard wide, which envelops the person in one fold from the waist to below the knee, hanging somewhat loosely. It is tied at the waist, and the remaining half is spread over the breast and drawn across the right shoulder, the end covering the head like a sheet and falling over the left shoulder. The simplicity of this solitary garment displays a graceful figure to advantage, especially on festival days, when those who can afford it are arrayed in tasar silk. When a girl is married the bridegroom's family give her expensive clothes to wear at festivals and her own people give her ordinary clothes, but usually not more than will last a year. Whenever she goes back to her father's house after her marriage, he gives her one or two cloths if he can afford it. Women of the middle and lower cla.s.ses wear ornaments of bell-metal, a mixture of copper and zinc, which are very popular. Some women wear bra.s.s and zinc ornaments, and well-to-do persons have them of silver or gold.

39. Bathing

Hot water is not used for bathing in Saugor, except by invalids, but is customary in Betul and other Districts. The bathing-place in the courtyard is usually a large square stone on which the bather sits; he has a big circular bra.s.s vessel by him called _gangal_, [76] and from this he takes water either in a cup or with his hands and throws it over himself, rubbing his body. Where there is a tank or stream people go to bathe in it, and if there is none the poorer cla.s.ses sometimes bathe at the village well. Each man or woman has two body-or loin-cloths, and they change the cloth whenever they bathe--going into the water in the one which they have worn from the previous day, and changing into the other when they come out; long practice enables them to do this in public without any undue exposure of the body. A good tank or a river is a great amenity to a village, especially if it has a _ghat_ or flight of stone steps. Many people will spend an hour or so here daily, disporting themselves in the water or on the bank, and wedding and funeral parties are held by it, owing to the facilities for ceremonial bathing.

40. Food

People who do not cultivate with their own hands have only two daily meals, one at midday and the other at eight or nine in the evening. Agriculturists require a third meal in the early morning before going out to the fields. Wheat and the millets juari and kodon are the staple foods of the cultivating cla.s.ses in the northern Districts, and rice is kept for festivals. The millets are made into thick _chapatis_ or cakes, their flour not being sufficiently adhesive for thin ones, and are eaten with the pulses, lentils, arhar, [77] mung [78] and urad. [79] The pulses are split into half and boiled in water, and when they get soft, chillies, salt and turmeric are mixed with them. Pieces of _chapati_ are broken off and dipped into this mixture. Various vegetables are also eaten. When pulse is not available the _chapatis_ are simply dipped into b.u.t.termilk. If _chapatis_ cannot be afforded at both meals, _ghorna_ or the flour of kodon or juar boiled into a paste with water is subst.i.tuted for them, a smaller quant.i.ty of this being sufficient to allay hunger. Wheat-cakes are fried in _ghi_ (clarified b.u.t.ter) as a luxury, and at other times in sesamum oil. Rice or ground gram boiled in b.u.t.termilk are other favourite foods.

In Chhattisgarh rice is the common food: it is eaten with pulses at midday and with vegetables cooked in _ghi_ in the evening. In the morning they drink a rice-gruel, called _basi>_ which consists of the previous night's repast mixed with water and taken cold. On festivals rice is boiled in milk. Milk is often drunk at night, and there is a saying, "He who drinks water in the morning and milk at night and takes _harra_ before he sleeps will never need a doctor." A little powdered _harra_ or myrobalan acts as an aperient. The food of landowners and tenants is much the same, except that the former have more b.u.t.ter and vegetables, according to the saying, '_Raja praja ka ekhi khana_' or 'The king and peasant eat the same food.' Those who eat flesh have an occasional change of food, but most Kurmis abstain from it. Farmservants eat the gruel of rice or kodon boiled in water when they can afford it, and if not they eat mahua flowers. These are sometimes boiled in water, and the juice is then strained off and mixed with half-ground flour, and they are also pounded and made into _chapatis_ with flour and water. The leaves of the young gram-plants make a very favourite vegetable and are eaten raw, either moist or dried. In times of scarcity the poorer cla.s.ses eat tamarind leaves, the pith of the banyan tree, the seeds of the bamboo, the bark of the _semar_ tree, [80] the fruit of the _babul_, [81] and other articles. A cultivator will eat 2 lbs. of grain a day if he can get it, or more in the case of rice. Their stomachs get distended owing to the large quant.i.ties of boiled rice eaten at one time. The leaves of the _chirota_ or _chakora_ a little plant [82] which grows thickly at the commencement of the rains near inhabited sites, are also a favourite vegetable, and a resource in famine time. The people call it '_Gaon ka thakur_,' or 'lord of the village,' and have a saying:

Amarbel aur kamalgata, Gaon ka thakur, gai ka matha, Nagar sowasan, unmen milai, Khaj, dad, sehua mit jawe.

_Amarbel_ is an endless creeper, with long yellow strings like stalks, which infests and destroys trees; it is called _amarbel_ or the immortal, because it has no visible root. _Kamalgata_ is the seed of the lotus; _gai ka matha_ is b.u.t.termilk; _nagar sowasan_, 'the happiness of the town,' is turmeric, because married women whose husbands are alive put turmeric on their foreheads every day; _khaj, dad_ and _sehua_ are itch, ringworm and some kind of rash, perhaps measles; and the verse therefore means:

"Eat _amarbel_, lotus seeds, chirota, b.u.t.termilk and turmeric mixed together, and you will keep off itch, ringworm and measles." Chirota is good for the itch.

41. Caste-feasts

At the commencement of a marriage or other ceremonial feast the host must wash the feet of all the guests himself. If he does not do this they will be dissatisfied, and, though they will eat at his house, will consider they have not been properly welcomed. He takes a large bra.s.s plate and placing the feet of his guest on it, pours water over them and then rubs and dries them; the water is thrown away and fresh water poured out for the next guest unless they should be brothers. Little flat stools about three inches high are provided for the guests, and if there are not enough of them a carpet is spread; or _baithkis_ or sitting-mats plaited from five or six large leaves are set out. These serve as a mark of attention, as it would be discourteous to make a man sit on the ground, and they also prevent the body-cloth from getting wet. The guests sit in the _chauk_ or yard of the house inside, or in the _angan_ or outside yard, either in lines or in a circle; members of the same caste sit with their crossed knees actually touching those of the man on either side of them to emphasise their brotherhood; if a man sat even a few inches apart from his fellows people would say he was out of caste--and this is how a man who is put out of caste actually does sit. Before each guest may be set two plates of leaves and eight _donas_ or leaf-cups. On the plates are heaped rice, cakes of wheat fried in b.u.t.ter, and of husked urad pulse cooked with tilli or sesamum oil, and the pulse of gram and lentils. In the cups will be sugar, _ghi_, _dahi_ or curded milk, various vegetables, pumpkins, and _besin_ or ground gram cooked with b.u.t.termilk. All the male members of the host's family serve the food and they take it round, heaping and pouring it into each man's plates or cups until he says enough; and they continue to give further helpings as required. All the food is served at once in the different plates and cups, but owing to the number of guests a considerable time elapses before all are fully served, and the dinner lasts about two hours. The guests eat all the different dishes together with their fingers, taking a little of each according to their fancy. Each man has his _lota_ or vessel of water by him and drinks as he eats. When the meal is finished large bra.s.s plates are brought in, one being given to about ten guests, and they wash their hands over these, pouring water on them from their vessels. A fresh carpet is then spread in the yard and the guests sit on it, and betel-leaf and tobacco are distributed. The huqqa is pa.s.sed round, and _chilams_ and _chongis_ (clay pipe-bowls and leaf-pipes) are provided for those who want them. The women do not appear at the feast but stay inside, sitting in the _angan_ or inner court, which is behind the _purda_.

42. Hospitality

The people still show great hospitality, and it is the custom of many malguzars, at least in Chhattisgarh, to afford food and a night's rest to all travellers who may require it. When a Brahman comes to the village such malguzars will give him one or two annas, and to a Pandit or learned man as much as a rupee. Formerly it is said that when any stranger came through the village he was at once offered a cup of milk and told to drink it or throw it away. But this custom has died out in Chhattisgarh, though one has met with it once or twice in Sambalpur. When District Officers go on tour, well-to-do landowners ask to be allowed to supply free provisions for the whole camp at least for a day, and it is difficult to refuse them gracefully. In Mandla, Banias and malguzars in villages near the Nerbudda sometimes undertake to give a pound of grain to every _parikramawasi_ or pilgrim perambulating the Nerbudda. And as the number of these steadily increases in consequence, they often become impoverished as a result of such indiscriminate charity.

43. Social customs. Tattooing

The Kurmis employ Brahmans for their ceremonies. They have _gurus_ or spiritual preceptors who may be Brahmans or Bairagis; the _guru_ is given from 8 annas to Rs. 5 when he initiates a neophyte, as well as his food and a new white cloth. The _guru_ is occasionally consulted on some religious question, but otherwise he does nothing for his disciple except to pay him an occasional visit, when he is hospitably entertained. The Kurmis of the northern Districts do not as a rule eat meat and also abstain from alcohol, but in Chhattisgarh they eat the flesh of clean animals and fish, and also of fowls, and drink country liquor. Old men often give up flesh and wine as a mark of piety, when they are known as Bhagat or holy. They will take food cooked with water only from Brahmans, and that cooked without water from Rajputs, Banias and Kayasths as well. Brahmans and Rajputs will take water from Kurmis in the northern Districts though not in Chhattisgarh. Here the Kurmis do not object to eating cooked food which has been carried from the house to the fields. This is called _rengai roti_, and castes which will eat it are considered inferior to those who always take their food in the _chauka_ or purified place in the house. They say 'Ram, Ram' to each other in greeting, and the Raipur Kurmis swear by a dog or a pig. Generally they do not plough on the new or full moon days. Their women are tattooed after marriage with dots on the cheeks, marks of flies on the fingers, scorpions on the arms, and other devices on the legs.

44. Caste penalties

Permanent expulsion from caste is inflicted for a change of religion, taking food or having s.e.xual intercourse with a member of an impure caste, and for eating beef. For killing a man, a cow, a buffalo, an a.s.s, a horse, a squirrel, a cat or a monkey a man must purify himself by bathing in the Ganges at Allahabad or Benares and giving a feast to the caste. It will be seen that all these are domestic animals except the monkey, who is the G.o.d Hanuman. The squirrel is counted as a domestic animal because it is always about the house, and the souls of children are believed to go into squirrels. One household animal, the dog, is omitted, and he appears to be less sacred than the others. For getting maggots in a wound the offender must bathe in a sacred river, such as the Nerbudda or Mahanadi, and give a feast to the caste. For eating or having intercourse with a member of any caste other than the impure ones, or for a _liaison_ within the caste, or for divorcing a wife or marrying a widow, or in the case of a woman for breaking her bangles in a quarrel with her husband, a penalty feast must be given. If a man omits to feast the caste after a death in his family a second feast is imposed, and if he insults the _panchayat_ he is fined.

45. The cultivating status

The social status of the Kurmi appears to be that of the cultivator. He is above the menial and artisan castes of the village and the impure weaving and labouring castes; he is theoretically equal to the artisan castes of towns, but one or two of these, such as the Sunar or goldsmith and Kasar or bra.s.s-worker, have risen in the world owing to the prosperity or importance of their members, and now rank above the Kurmi. The Kurmi's status appears to be that of the cultivator and member of the village community, but a large proportion of the Kurmis are recruited from the non-Aryan tribes, who have obtained land and been admitted into the caste, and this tends to lower the status of the caste as a whole. In the Punjab Kurmis apparently do not hold land and are employed in gra.s.s-cutting, weaving, and tending horses, and are even said to keep pigs. [83] Here their status is necessarily very low as they follow the occupations of the impure castes. The reason why the Kurmi as cultivator ranks above the village handicraftsmen may perhaps be that industrial pursuits were despised in early times and left to the impure Sudras and to the castes of mixed descent; while agriculture and trade were the occupations of the Vaishya. Further, the village artisans and menials were supported before the general use of current coin by contributions of grain from the cultivators and by presents of grain at seed-time and harvest; and among the Hindus it is considered very derogatory to accept a gift, a man who does so being held to admit his social inferiority to the giver. Some exception to this is made in the case of Brahmans, though even with them the rule partly applies. Of these two reasons for the cultivator's superiority to the menial and artisan castes the former has to a large extent lost its force. The handicrafts are no longer considered despicable, and, as has been seen, some of the urban tradesmen, as the Sunar and Kasar, now rank above the Kurmi, or are at least equal to him. Perhaps even in ancient times these urban artificers were not despised like the village menials, as their skill was held in high repute. But the latter ground is still in full force and effect in the Central Provinces at least: the village artisans are still paid by contributions from the cultivator and receive presents from him at seed-time and harvest. The remuneration of the village menials, the blacksmith, carpenter, washerman, tanner, barber and waterman is paid at the rate of so much grain per plough of land according to the estimated value of the work done by them for the cultivators during the year. Other village tradesmen, as the potter, oilman and liquor-vendor, are no longer paid in grain, but since the introduction of currency sell their wares for cash; but there seems no reason to doubt that in former times when no money circulated in villages they were remunerated in the same manner. They still all receive presents, consisting of a sowing-basketful of grain at seed-time and one or two sheaves at harvest. The former are known as _Bijphuti_, or 'the breaking of the seed,' and the latter as _Khanvar_, or 'that which is left.' In Bilaspur the Kamias or village menials also receive as much grain as will fill a winnowing-fan when it has been threshed. When the peasant has harvested his grain all come and beg from him. The Dhimar brings waternut, the Kachhi or market-gardener some chillies, the Teli oil and tobacco, the Kalar some liquor if he drinks it, the Bania some sugar, and all receive grain in excess of the value of their gifts. The village menials come for their customary dues, and the Brahman, the Nat or acrobat, the Gosain or religious mendicant, and the Fakir or Muhammadan beggar solicit alms. On that day the cultivator is like a little king in his fields, and it is said that sometimes a quarter of the crop may go in this way; but the reference must be only to the spring crop and not to the whole holding. In former times grain must have been the princ.i.p.al source of wealth, and this old custom gives us a reason for the status of the cultivator in Hindu society. There is also a saying:

Uttam kheti, madhyam ban, Kanisht chakri, bhik nidan,

or 'Cultivation is the best calling, trade is respectable, service is menial, and begging is degraded.'

46. Occupation

The Kurmi is the typical cultivator. He loves his land, and to lose it is to break the mainspring of his life. His land gives him a freedom and independence of character which is not found among the English farm-labourers. He is industrious and plodding, and inured to hardship. In some Districts the excellent tilth of the Kurmi's fields well portrays the result of his persevering labour, which he does not grudge to the land because it is his own. His wife is in no way behind him; the proverb says, "Good is the caste of the Kurmin; with a hoe in her hand she goes to the fields and works with her husband." The Chandnahu Kurmi women are said to be more enterprising than the men, keeping them up to their work, and managing the business of the farm as well as the household.

Appendix

List of Exogamous Clans

Sections of the Chandnahu subcaste:

Chanwar bambar Fly fan.

Sandil Name of a Rishi.

Gaind Ball.

Sadaphal A fruit.

Sondeha Gold-bodied.

Sonkharchi Spender of gold.

Kathail Kath, wood, or kaththa, catechu.

Kashi enares. The Desha Kurmis are all of this gotra. It may also be a corruption of Kachhap, tortoise.

Dhorha Dhor, cattle.

Sumer A mountain.