The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Part 56

_Sanjogi_.--A cla.s.s of Bairagis or mendicants who marry, also called Grihastha.

_Sankrita_.--An eponymous section of Kanaujia Brahmans.

_Sanp_.--(Snake.) A sept of Gond and Kawar.

_Santal, Saonta, Sonthal._--An important tribe of Bengal, belonging to the Munda family. The transfer of five of the Chota Nagpur States has brought more than 10,000 Santals into the Central Provinces. They belong princ.i.p.ally to the Sarguja State and a few are returned from Udaipur State and from the Bilaspur District, but in all those tracts they are known as Saonta and appear to have been cut off from the main tribe for a considerable period. According to Mr. Skrefsrud the name Santal is a corruption of Saontar and was given to the tribe by the Bengalis because they lived in the country about Saont in Midnapur. Sir H. Risley held that the tribe might equally well have given its name to the locality, and there was no means of ascertaining which theory was correct. The forms Santal and Sonthal are only used by natives who have come into contact with Europeans. Santals call themselves '_harko_,'

men, or '_harhapan_,' man-child. [488] At the present day when a Santal is asked to what caste he belongs he will almost invariably reply Manjhi, which means a village headman, and is the common t.i.tle of the tribe; if further explanation is demanded, he will add Santal Manjhi. Whether the term Santal was derived from the Saont pargana or not, it is therefore at any rate a name conferred by the Hindus and affords no evidence in favour of a separate origin of the tribe.

There seems good reason to hold that the Santals are only a branch of the Kols or Mundas, who have been given a distinct designation by their Hindu neighbours, while their customs and traditions have been modified either by long separation from the Mundas of Chota Nagpur or by contact with Hindu influences. Sir G. Grierson's account of the two dialects Santali and Mundari shows that they closely resemble each other and differ only in minor particulars. The difference is mainly to be found in the vocabulary borrowed from Aryan neighbours, and in the grammatical modifications occasioned by the neighbouring Aryan forms of speech. [489] Of Mundari he says: "Aspirated letters are used as in Santali, the semi-consonants are apparently p.r.o.nounced in the same way as in Santali; genders and numbers are the same, the personal p.r.o.nouns are the same, the inflexion of verbs is mainly the same." [490] Some points of difference are mentioned by Sir G. Grierson, but they appear to be of minor importance. The Mundas, like the Santals, call themselves _hara-ko_ or men. In the vocabulary of common words of Mundari and Santali given by Colonel Dalton [491]

a large proportion of the words are the same. Similarly in the list of sept-names of the tribes given by Sir H. Risley [492] several coincide. Among the 15 names of main septs of the Santals, Besra, a hawk, Murmu nilgai, or stag, and Aind, eel, are also the names of Munda septs. The Santal sept Hansda, a wild goose, is nearly identical with the Munda sept Hansa, a swan; the Santal septs Kisku and Tudu are sept-names of the Hos, a branch of the Mundas; and in one or two other names there is a great resemblance. The princ.i.p.al deity of the Santals, Marang Buru, is a Munda G.o.d. In the inheritance of property both tribes have the same rule of the exclusion of daughters. In his article on Ho, Sir H. Risley indeed states that the Santals, Hos and Mundas are local branches of the same tribe.

The Saontas of Sarguja and Bilaspur appear to have been separated from the parent tribe for some generations and to have a.s.similated some of the customs of the Gonds. They have some Gond sept-names, as Markam and Dhurwa. Those of Pendra zamindari have no traditions of their origin beyond saying that the adjoining Kenda zamindari was their original home. They profess to revere only the sun, fire and water. In order to worship the Jal-deota or water-G.o.d they pour water round the fire and then throw a little b.u.t.ter on the fire in his name. Mr. C.U. Wills, Settlement Officer, records of them the following curious custom: When a man is at the point of death or actually dead, they sometimes set fire to the hut in which his body is lying and run away, no doubt to save themselves from being haunted and troubled by his spirit, to the attainment of which end so large a part of funeral ritual is everywhere directed.

The following short account of them by Colonel Dalton may be reproduced for reference: [493]

"The name Saont or Saonta directs us to the Santal branch of the Kols, and, as I have already noticed, there is in Sarguja a small tribe so called. They are the sole inhabitants of the magnificent tableland forming the southern barrier of Sarguja, called the Mainpat or more correctly perhaps the Manipat. They are a small tribe living scattered over the vast area of the plateau in about a dozen hamlets, and they are strong in the belief that they were especially created to dwell there, or that they and the plateau somehow sprang into existence together, and cannot be separated. I saw a number of them when I was last in Sarguja, and from their features I should be inclined to cla.s.s them as Kols, but they have some customs and notions which they must have derived from the Dravidian Gonds. They acknowledge Dulha Deo as a household G.o.d, and follow the customs of the Gonds and other southerners in their marriage ceremonies.

"They worship the sun as Bhagwan, and like the Kharias offer sacrifices to that luminary in an open place with an ant-hill for an altar. The Mainpat is their Marang Buru, and as it is 16 miles long, 12 miles broad, and rises 3850 feet above the sea-level, it is not unworthy of the name, but they do not use that or any other Kol term. The great Mainpat is their fatherland and their G.o.d. They have it all to themselves except during the summer months, when it becomes a vast grazing field for the cattle of Mirzapur and Bihar.

"The Saonts are armed like the Korwas with bows and arrows, and the peculiar battle-axe of the country, but it is against the beasts of the forest that these weapons are used. Formerly the Mainpat was a magnificent hunting field, especially noted for its herds of antelope and gaur. The late Maharaja of Sarguja strictly preserved it, but on his death it fell into the hands of his widow, a very money-loving old lady, who allowed it to become one of the great grazing tracts, and the pasturage alone gives her an income of 250 a year; but the wild animals have in consequence withdrawn from it.

"The position of the Saonts is altogether very curious, and though they now speak no language but a rude Hindi, the evidence is, on the whole, favourable to their being a remnant of the ancient Kol aborigines of Sarguja, cut off from connection with those people by successive inroads of other races or tribes. Their subst.i.tution of a Hindi dialect for their own language seems to indicate that they were first subjugated by Aryans. The Gond chiefs only count about twenty-four generations in Sarguja, and they have all adopted the Hindi language."

_Sanyasi_.--(A religious recluse.) Synonym for Gosain.

_Sao_.--(For _sahu_, a banker, a rich man.) A subcaste of Kalar and Teli. An honorific t.i.tle of Chhipa or Rangari. A sept of Gond.

_Saojin_.--(From _sao_, a banker.) Subcaste of Banjara.

_Saonr_.--Synonym of Savar.

_Saonta_.--Name by which the Santal tribe is known in Bilaspur. A subcaste of Dhanwar.

_Sapera_.--(A snake-charmer.) Name of a clan of Nats, who exhibit snakes. A section of Basor and Khatik.

_Saraf_.--(A money-changer and tester.) A synonym of Sunar.

_Saraia_ (Angler.) From _sarai_, a bamboo fishing-rod. Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Sarangarhia_.--(From Sarangarh.) A subtribe of Gonds in Khairagarh. A subcaste of Dewar.

_Saraogi_.--A name by which Jain laymen are known. Subcaste of Bania.

_Saras_.--(A large crane.) A section of Chamar.

_Saraswat_.--One of the five orders of Panch Gaur Brahmans inhabiting the country of the river Saraswati. One of the ten orders of Gosains.

_Sarati_.--A sept of Gond and Pardhan.

_Sariyam_.--A subsept of the Dhurwa clan of Gonds in Betul, said to be so called because the road to the place of the G.o.ds was swept by their priests.

_Sarolia_ or _Sarwaria_.--(Inferior or mixed.) Subcaste of Agharia.

_Saroti_.--A sept of Pardhans said to be named after _sarra_, a whip, because their priest once struck a man with a whip.

_Sarsatia_.--(From the Saraswati river.) Subcaste of Bahna.

_Satani_. [494]--A Telugu caste of priests and mendicants of which 900 persons were returned, princ.i.p.ally from the Chanda District, in 1911. In the Central Provinces, Ayawar, Satani and Dasari have been taken as one caste, but elsewhere they are considered as distinct. Ayawar is a term of respect a.n.a.logous to the Hindustani Maharaj, and is applied to the Satanis and other religious orders. The Satanis and Dasaris are distinguished in Madras; Satani is stated [495]

to be a corruption of Sattadavan, which means 'One who does not wear'

(_e.g._ the sacred thread and scalp-lock). It is a mixed religious order recruited from any caste except the Pariahs, leather-workers and Muhammadans. The Dasaris [496] are said to be the reputed descendants of a wealthy Sudra of one of the northern Districts, who, being childless, vowed that if offspring should be granted to him he would devote a son to the service of the G.o.d. After this he had several children, one of whom he consecrated to the deity, calling him Dasan (the obedient servant). Dasan and his offspring made their livelihood by begging. This order, like that of the Satanis, is reinforced by idle members of the lower Sudra castes, who become Dasaris by being branded by the Guru of Tirupatti and other shrines. In the Central Provinces the Dasaris are stated to be recruited from the impure Mala caste of the Telugu country, and hence to rank below the Satanis. Many of the Madrasi servants in European households call themselves Dasaris. Members of the agricultural castes are usually admitted into the Satani order and its status is almost equal to theirs. The caste, in spite of its small numbers, has several subdivisions, as the Sale Satanis, who are weavers, the Bukkas, who are sellers of _kunku_ or red powder, and five other subdivisions who are all beggars. Some of these eat together but do not intermarry. They have exogamous family groups, usually named after sacred places in Madras or celebrated Gurus (spiritual preceptors) or deities, as Tirupatti, Ramanujamwar, Shaligramwar and so on. The caste marry in the ordinary way and do not observe celibacy. Widow-marriage is allowed, but a widow must marry a widower, and the officiating priest at the ceremony must also be a widower. The Satanis princ.i.p.ally revere Vishnu, whom they worship on Fridays. Their priests are taken from their own order and form a separate subcaste under the name of Parmastwar. A novice, on being initiated to the order, is branded with the figures of a Sankha (conch-sh.e.l.l) and Chakra (discus). They both burn and bury the dead, and the spirits of female as well as of male ancestors are propitiated. This is done by calling a married woman by the name of the dead female, putting red powder on her forehead and worshipping her. Among the Satanis a widow accompanies the corpse of her husband to the grave. They officiate at funerals, and a Satani priest applies the caste-mark to the body of the corpse and also to that of the four persons who are to carry it. He receives presents in the name of the dead man, and takes the red cloth with which the corpse is covered. At the funeral feast the Satani offers cooked food, including flesh and also liquor, to the G.o.d, and the a.s.sembled guests then partake of them. The Satani drinks liquor only and does not eat the food, and since he must stay to the end of the feast he sometimes becomes intoxicated. The Satanis are priests and mendicants. Though they do not wear the sacred thread themselves, the manufacture of it is one of their hereditary occupations. They collect alms in a _lota_ or bra.s.s vessel, on which representations of the conch and discus are drawn. The Dasaris wander about, singing hymns to a monotonous accompaniment upon a leather instrument called _tappai_ (perhaps a tabor). They are engaged by some Sudra castes to sing their chants in front of the corpse at funerals. Others exhibit what is called the _Panda sewai_, that is, they become possessed by the deity and beat themselves over the body with a flaming torch. A few train young bulls to perform tricks and travel about exhibiting them. Some have become masons and goldsmiths. Men have the mark of the trident on the forehead, the two outer lines being white and the middle one red or yellow. They shave the head and face clean, not retaining the scalp-lock. Women have a vertical streak on the forehead and do not wear gla.s.s bangles nor the necklace of black beads. Neither men nor women are tattooed. The Satanis have a fairly good social position and the lower castes will take food from them.

_Satbhuiyan_ or _Utar_.--Subcaste of Khond.

_Satdeve_.--A clan of Gonds worshipping seven G.o.ds and paying special reverence to the porcupine.

_Satghare_.--(Seven houses.) A division of the Maratha caste, consisting of seven of the highest clans who marry among themselves and sometimes take daughters from the other ninety-six clans.

_Satnami_.--A religious sect, which now practically forms a subcaste of Chamar.

_Satputia_.--(Having seven sons.) A section of Lonare Mali.

_Satyanath_. A subcaste of Jogi or Nath.

_Savar_, _Savara_.--A tribe.

_Sawalakh_.--(1 1/4 lakhs.) A section of Dhobi.

_Sawara_.--Synonym for Savar. Subcaste of Kol.

_Segidi_, [497] _Shegadi_.--The Telugu caste of toddy-drawers and distillers, of which a few representatives were returned from the Nagpur District in 1901. They will draw _tari_ or palm-juice only from the _sindi_ palm (_Phoenix sylvestris_) and not from the palmyra palm (_Bora.s.sics flabelliformis_). This is the occupation of a separate caste, the Yatas, from whom the Segidis will not even take water. At a Segidi marriage the bride is shown the polar star, which is believed to be the wife of Rishi Vasishtha, the model of conjugal excellence. She is then made to step on to a stone slab to remind her how Ahalya, the beautiful wife of Rishi Gautama, was turned to a stone for committing adultery. Widow-marriage is permitted, and, by a very curious exception to the ordinary rule, a widow may marry her deceased husband's elder brother but not his younger one. The usual prohibition on a widow marrying her husband's elder brother is based on the ground that he is looked on as her father; the Segidis say, on the other hand, that his younger brother is as her son. If an unmarried adult male dies, the ceremony of marriage is performed between the corpse and a plantain tree; and if an unmarried woman dies she is married to a sword. A corpse is always buried with the head to the east and the feet to the west. This peculiar practice may be a reminiscence of Vedic times, when the west was considered to be the abode of the departed, the sun being the first mortal who died and went to the west as recorded in the Rig-Veda. The Segidis are also cultivators, traders or soldiers. They have a method of divining a boy's proper calling in his infancy. When his mouth is touched with grain as food for the first time, they put a sword, a pen, a book, food and other articles, being the symbols of different professions, on the ground and place the child in front of them. And his vocation in life is held to be determined by the article which he touches first.

_Senapati_.--(General.) Honorific t.i.tle of Sundi.

_Sendia_.--t.i.tle of caste headman of Panwar Rajput.

_Sendur_.--A section of Ahir or Rawat.

_Senduria_.--Subcaste of Nagasia. They mark the forehead of the bride with vermilion (_sendur_).

_Sengar._--A clan of Rajputs belonging to Saugor and Jubbulpore.

_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.