The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

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5. Conclusion.

The author of the above account is not given, and it apparently
emanates from a follower of the saint, but there seems little reason
to doubt its substantial accuracy, and it certainly demonstrates the
high estimation in which he was held. After his death his disciples
erected Chauras or resthouses and monuments to his memory in all the
villages and beneath all the trees where he had at any time made any
stay in Gujarat; and here he is worshipped by the sect. In 1901 the
sect had about 300,000 adherents in Gujarat. In the Central Provinces
a number of persons belong to it in Nimar, principally of the Teli
caste. The Telis of Nimar are anxious to improve their social position,
which is very low, and have probably joined the sect on account of
its liberal principles on the question of caste.

Vaishnava, Vishnuite Sect

1. Vishnu as representing the sun.

_Vaishnava, Vishnuite Sect_.--The name given to Hindus whose
special deity is the god Vishnu, and to a number of sects which have
adopted various special doctrines based on the worship of Vishnu
or of one of his two great incarnations, Rama and Krishna. Vishnu
was a personification of the sun, though in ancient literature
the sun is more often referred to under another name, as Savitri,
Surya and Aditya. It may perhaps be the case that when the original
sun-god develops into a supreme deity with the whole heavens as
his sphere, the sun itself comes to be regarded as a separate and
minor deity. His weapon of the _chakra_ or discus, which was probably
meant to resemble the sun, supports the view of Vishnu as a sun-god,
and also his _vahan_, the bird Garuda, on which he rides. This is
the Brahminy kite, a fine bird with chestnut plumage and white head
and breast, which has been considered a sea-eagle. Mr. Dewar states
that it remains almost motionless at a great height in the air for
long periods; and it is easy to understand how in these circumstances
primitive people mistook it for the spirit of the sky, or the vehicle
of the sun-god. It is propitious for a Hindu to see a Brahminy kite,
especially on Sunday, the sun's day, for it is believed that the bird
is then returning from Vishnu, whom it has gone to see on the previous
evening. [401] A similar belief has probably led to the veneration
of the eagle in other countries and its association with the god of
the sky or heavens, as in the case of Zeus. Similarly the Gayatri,
the most sacred Hindu prayer, is addressed to the sun, and it could
hardly have been considered so important unless the luminary was
identified with one of the greatest Hindu gods. Every Brahman prays
to the sun daily when he bathes in the morning. Vishnu's character
as the preserver and fosterer of life is probably derived from the
sun's generative power, so conspicuous in India.

As the sun is seen to sink every night into the earth, so it was
thought that he could come down to earth, and Vishnu has done this
in many forms for the preservation of mankind.

2. His incarnations.

He is generally considered to have had ten incarnations, of which nine
are past and one is still to come. The incarnations were as follows:

1. As a great fish he guided the ark in which Manu the primeval man
escaped from the deluge.

2. As a tortoise he supported the earth and poised it in its present
position; or according to another version he lay at the bottom of
the sea while the mountain Meru was set on its peak on his back,
and with the serpent Vasuki as a rope round the mountain the ocean
was churned by the gods for making the divine Amrit or nectar which
gives immortality.

3. As a boar he dived under the sea and raised the earth on his tusks
after it had been submerged by a demon.

4. As Narsingh, the man-lion, he delivered the world from the tyranny
of another demon.

5. As Waman or a dwarf he tricked the King Bali, who had gained
possession over the earth and nether world and was threatening the
heavens, by asking for as much ground as he could cover in three
steps. When his request was derisively granted he covered heaven and
earth in two steps, but on Bali's intercession left him the nether
regions and refrained from making the third step which would have
covered them.

6. As Parasurama [402] he cleared the earth of the Kshatriyas,
who had oppressed the Brahman hermits and stolen the sacred cow,
by a slaughter of them thrice seven times repeated.

7. As Rama, the divine king of Ajodhia or Oudh, he led an expedition
to Ceylon for the recovery of his wife Sita, who had been abducted
by Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon. This story probably refers to
an early expedition of the Aryans to southern India, in which they
may have obtained the assistance of the Munda tribes, represented by
Hanuman and his army of apes.

8. As Krishna he supported the Pandavas in their war against the
Kauravas, and at the head of the Yadava clan founded the city of
Dwarka in Gujarat, where he was afterwards killed. The popular group
of legends about Krishna in his capacity of a cowherd in the forests of
Mathura was perhaps at first distinct and afterwards combined with the
story of the Yadava prince. [403] But it is in this latter character as
the divine cowherd that Krishna is most generally known and worshipped.

9. As Buddha he was the great founder of the religion known by his
name; the Brahmans, by making Buddha an incarnation of Vishnu, have
thus provided a connecting link between Buddhism and Hinduism.

In his tenth incarnation he will come again as Nishka-lanki or the
stainless one for the final regeneration of the world, and his advent
is expected by some Hindus, who worship him in this form.

3. Worship of Vishnu and Vaishnava doctrines.

In the Central Provinces Vishnu is worshipped as Narayan Deo, who is
identified with the sun, or as Parmeshwar, the supreme beneficent
god. He is also much worshipped in his incarnations as Rama and
Krishna, and their images, with those of their consorts, Sita and
Radha, are often to be found in his temples as well as in their
own. These images are supposed to be subject to all the conditions and
necessities incident to living humanity. Hence in the daily ritual
they are washed, dressed, adorned and even fed like human beings,
food being daily placed before them, and its aroma, according to
popular belief, nourishing the god present in the image.

The principal Vishnuite sects are described in the article on Bairagi,
and the dissenting sects which have branched off from these in special
articles. [404] The cult of Vishnu and his two main incarnations is
the most prominent feature of modern Hinduism. The orthodox Vaishnava
sects mainly differed on the point whether the human soul or spirit
was a part of the divine soul or separate from it, and whether it
would be reabsorbed into the divine soul, or have a separate existence
after death. But they generally regarded all human souls as of one
quality, and hence were opposed to distinctions of caste. Animals
also have souls or spirits, and the Vishnuite doctrine is opposed to
the destruction of animal life in any form. In the Bania caste the
practices of Vaishnava Hindus and Jains present so little difference
that they can take food together, and even intermarry. The creed is
also opposed to suicide.

Faithful worshippers of Vishnu will after his death be transported
to his heaven, Vaikuntha, or to Golaka, the heaven of Krishna. The
sect-mark of the Vaishnavas usually consists of three lines down
the forehead, meeting at the root of the nose or below it. All three
lines may be white, or the centre one black or red, and the outside
ones white. They are made with a kind of clay called Gopichandan,
and are sometimes held to be the impress of Vishnu's foot. To put
on the sect-mark in the morning is to secure the god's favour and
protection during the day.

Vam-Margi, Bam-Margi, Vama-Chari Sect.

_Vam-Margi, Bam-Margi, Vama-Chari Sect._ [405]--A sect who follow the
worship of the female principle in nature and indulge in sensuality
at their rites according to the precepts of the Tantras. The name
signifies 'the followers of the crooked or left-handed path.' Their
principal sacred text is the Rudra-Yamal-Damru Tantra, which is said
to have been promulgated by Rudra or Siva through his Damru or drum
at the end of his dance in Kailas, his heaven in the Himalayas. The
Tantras, according to Professor Monier-Williams, inculcate an exclusive
worship of Siva's wife as the source of every kind of supernatural
faculty and mystic craft. The principle of female energy is known
as Sakti, and is personified in the female counterparts of all the
Gods of the Hindu triad, but is practically concentrated in Devi or
Kali. The five requisites for Tantra worship are said to be the five
Makaras or words beginning with M: Madya, wine; Mansa, flesh; Matsya,
fish; Mudra, parched grain and mystic gesticulation; and Maithuna,
sexual indulgence. Among the Vam-Margis both men and women are said
to assemble at a secret meeting-place, and their rite consists in the
adoration of a naked woman who stands in the centre of the room with a
drawn sword in her hand. The worshippers then eat fish, meat and grain,
and drink liquor, and thereafter indulge in promiscuous debauchery. The
followers of the sect are mainly Brahmans, though other castes may be
admitted. The Vam-Margis usually keep their membership of the sect a
secret, but their special mark is said to be a semicircular line or
lines of red powder or vermilion on the forehead, with a red streak
half-way up the centre, and a circular spot of red at the root of
the nose. They use a rosary of rudraksha or of coral beads, but of no
greater length than can be concealed in the hand, or they keep it in
a small purse or bag of red cloth. During worship they wear a piece
of red silk round the loins and decorate themselves with garlands of
crimson flowers. In their houses they worship a figure of the double
triangle drawn on the ground or on a metal plate and make offerings
of liquor to it.

They practise various magical charms by which they think they can kill
their enemies. Thus fire is brought from the pyre on which a corpse
has been burnt, and on this the operator pours water, and with the
charcoal so obtained he makes a figure of his enemy in a lonely place
under a pipal tree or on the bank of a river. He then takes an iron
bar, twelve finger-joints long, and after repeating his charms pierces
the figure with it. When all the limbs have been pierced the man whose
effigy has been so treated will die. Other methods will procure the
death of an enemy in a certain number of months or cause him to lose
a limb. Sometimes they make a rosary of 108 fruits of the _dhatura_
[406] and pierce the figure of the enemy through the neck after
repeating charms, and it is supposed that this will kill him at once.

Wahhabi Sect

_Wahhabi Sect._ [407]--A puritan sect of Muhammadans. The sect was not
recorded at the census, but it is probable that it has a few adherents
in the Central Provinces. The Wahhabi sect is named after its founder,
Muhammad Abdul Wahhab, who was born in Arabia in A.D. 1691. He set
his face against all developments of Islam not warranted by the Koran
and the traditional utterances of the Companions of the Prophet, and
against the belief in omens and worship at the shrines of saints,
and condemned as well all display of wealth and luxury and the
use of intoxicating drugs and tobacco. He denied any authority to
Islamic doctrines other than the Koran itself and the utterances of
the Companions of the Prophet who had received instruction from his
lips, and held that in the interpretation and application of them
Moslems must exercise the right of private judgment. The sect met
with considerable military success in Arabia and Persia, and at one
time threatened to spread over the Islamic world. The following is an
account of the taking of Mecca by Saud, the grandson of the founder,
in 1803: "The sanctity of the place subdued the barbarous spirit
of the conquerors, and not the slightest excesses were committed
against the people. The stern principles of the reformed doctrines
were, however, strictly enforced. Piles of green huqqas and Persian
pipes were collected, rosaries and amulets were forcibly taken from
the devotees, silk and satin dresses were demanded from the wealthy
and worldly, and the whole, piled up into a heterogeneous mass,
were burnt by the infuriated reformers. So strong was the feeling
against the pipes and so necessary did a public example seem to be,
that a respectable lady, whose delinquency had well-nigh escaped
the vigilant eye of the Muhtasib, was seized and placed on an ass,
with a green pipe suspended from her neck, and paraded through the
public streets--a terrible warning to all of her sex who might be
inclined to indulge in forbidden luxuries. When the usual hour of
prayer arrived the myrmidons of the law sallied forth, and with
leathern whips drove all slothful Moslems to their devotions. The
mosques were filled. Never since the days of the Prophet had the
sacred city witnessed so much piety and devotion. Not one pipe, not
a single tobacco-stopper, was to be seen in the streets or found in
the houses, and the whole population of Mecca prostrated themselves
at least five times a day in solemn adoration."

The apprehensions of the Sultan of Turkey were aroused and an army
was despatched against the Wahhabis, which broke their political
power, their leader, Saud's son, being executed in Constantinople in
1818. But the tenets of the sect continued to be maintained in Arabia,
and in 1822 one Saiyad Ahmad, a freebooter and bandit from Rai Bareli,
was converted to it on a pilgrimage to Mecca and returned to preach
its doctrines in India. Being a Saiyad and thus a descendant of the
Prophet, he was accepted by the Muhammadans of India as the true
Khalifa or Mahdi, awaited by the Shiahs. Unheeded by the British
Government, he traversed our provinces with a numerous retinue of
devoted disciples and converted the populace to his reformed doctrine
by thousands, Patna becoming a centre of the sect. In 1826 he declared
a _jihad_ or religious war against the Sikhs, but after a four years'
struggle was defeated and killed. The sect gave some trouble in the
Mutiny, but has not since taken any part in politics. Its reformed
doctrines, however, have obtained a considerable vogue, and still
exercise a powerful influence on Muhammadan thought. The Wahhabis deny
the authority of Islamic tradition after the deaths of the Companions
of the Prophet, do not illuminate or pay reverence to the shrines of
departed saints, do not celebrate the birthday of Muhammad, count
the ninety-nine names of God on their fingers and not on a rosary,
and do not smoke.

PART I

Glossary of Minor Castes and Other Articles, Synonyms, Subcastes,
Titles and Names of Exogamous Septs or Clans

_Note_.--In this Glossary the references under each heading are to
the detailed articles on castes, religions and sects, in Part I. and
Part II. of the work. The synonyms, subcastes and titles have been
taken from the main articles and are arranged here in index form as
an aid to identification. Section or clan names, however, will not
usually be found in the main articles. They have been selected from
an alphabetical list prepared separately, and are included as being
of some interest, in addition to those contained in the articles. The
Glossary also serves the purpose of indicating how subcaste and clan
names are common to several castes and tribes.

GLOSSARY

_Abhimanchkul_.--A section of Komti in Chanda. They abstain from
using a preparation of lead which is generally ground to powder and
applied to wounds.

_Abhira_.--An immigrant nomad tribe from which the modern Ahir caste
is believed to have originated. A division of Maratha and Gujarati
Brahmans, so called because they are priests of the Abhiras or the
modern Ahirs.

_Abdhut_.--Name for a religious mendicant. Applied to Gosains, _q.v._

_Acharya_, _Acharaj_.--(Superintendent of ceremonies.) Title of
the heads of the Swami-Narayan sect. A surname of Adi Gaur Brahmans
in Saugor.

_Adhia_.--(Half.) A subcaste of Telis considered to be illegitimate
in Betul.

_Adhaighar_, _Arhaighar_.--(2 1/2 houses.) A subdivision of Saraswat
Brahmans.

_Adhali_.--A name given to Malyars by outsiders.

_Adigaur_.--A subdivision of Brahman, probably a branch of the Gaur
Brahmans, though in Saugor they are considered to be Kanaujias.

_Adkandh_, _Adikandh_.--(Superior Khonds.) A subcaste of Khonds,
being the most Hinduised section of this tribe. A title of Khond.

_Adnath_, _Adinath_.--A subdivision of Jogi. Adinath was the father
of Matsyendranath and grandfather of Gorakhnath, the first great Jogi.

_Agamudayan_.--A large Tamil cultivating caste, of which a few members
reside in the Central Provinces in Jubbulpore and Raipur. They are the
families of Madras sepoys who have retired from regiments stationed
in these places. The Agamudayans sometimes call themselves by the
title of Pillai, which means 'Son of a god' and was formerly reserved
to Brahmans.

_Agarwala_, _Agarwal_.--A subcaste of Bania. See Bania-Agarwala.

_Agastya_.--An eponymous section of Brahmans.

_Aghorpanthi_.--Synonym for Aghori.

_Agnihotri_.--A surname of Kanaujia and Jijhotia Brahmans in
Saugor. (One who performs the sacrifice to Agni or the god of fire.)

_Agnikula_.--A name given to four clans of Rajputs said to have been
born from the fire-pit on Mount Abu. See article Panwar Rajput.

_Agrahari_.--A subcaste of Bania found chiefly in Jubbulpore District
and Raigarh State. Their name has been connected with the cities of
Agra and Agroha.

_Agrajanma_.--(First-born.) A synonym for Brahmans.

_Aharia_.--Clan of Rajput. Synonym for Sesodia.

_Ahir_.--The professional caste of herdsmen. A clan of Maratha. A
subcaste of Rawat and Salewar Koshti in Nimar. A subcaste of Bishnoi,
Gurao, and Sunar.

_Ahirwar_.--A resident of the old town of Ahar in the Bulandshahr
district. Subcaste of Kori.

_Ahivasi_, _Ahiwasi_.--(From Ahiwas, 'The abode of the dragon,'
the hermitage of Sanbhari Rishi in Mathura.) A Brahmanical or
pseudo-Brahmanical tribe. They are said to be sprung from a Brahman
father and a Kshatriya mother, and were formerly pack-carriers. Found
in Jubbulpore and the Nerbudda Valley.

_Ahke_.--(Seduced.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul. They
are said to be so named because their priests once seduced a Dhurwa
girl, and her son was given this name.

_Aithana_.--A subcaste of Kayasth.

_Ajodhia_.--Subcaste of Jadam.

_Ajudhiabasi_.--See Audhia.

_Akali_.--Order of Sikh devotees. See article Sikh.

_Akhadewale_.--A class of Bairagis who do not marry. Also known
as Nihang.

_Akhroti_.--A subdivision of Pathans. (From _akhrot_, walnut.)

_Akre_.--A bastard Khatik. Title of a child a Khatik gets by a woman
of another caste.

_Alia_.--A grower of the _al_ plant. A subcaste of Bania and Kachhi,
a synonym of Chasa.

_Alia_, _Alkari_.--These terms are derived from the _al_ or Indian
mulberry (_Morinda citrifolia_). The Alias are members of the
Kachhi caste who formerly grew the _al_ plant in Nimar for sale
to the dyers. Its cultivation then yielded a large profit and the
Alias devoted themselves solely to it, while they excommunicated
any of their members who were guilty of selling or giving away the
seed. The imported alizarin has now almost entirely superseded the
indigenous dye, and _al_ as a commercial product has been driven from
the market. Alkari is a term applied to Banias and others in the Damoh
District who were formerly engaged in the cultivation of the _al_
plant. The members of each caste which took to the cultivation of this
plant were somewhat looked down upon by the others and hence became a
distinct group. The explanation generally given of the distaste for
the crop is that in the process of boiling the roots to extract the
dye a number of insects have to be killed. A further reason is that
the red dye is considered to resemble or be equivalent to blood, the
second idea being a necessary consequence of the first in primitive
modes of thought, and hence to cause a certain degree of pollution
to those who prepare it. A similar objection is held to the purveying
of lac-dye as shown in the article on Lakhera. Notwithstanding this,
clothes dyed red are considered lucky, and the _al_ dye was far more
commonly used by Hindus than any other, prior to the introduction of
aniline dyes. Tents were also coloured red with this dye. The tents
of the Mughal Emperors and royal princes were of red cloth dyed with
the roots of the _al_ plant. [408] Similarly Nadir Shah, the victor
of Panipat, had his field headquarters and lived in one small red
tent. In these cases the original reason for colouring the tents
red may probably have been that it was a lucky colour for battles,
and the same belief may have led to the adoption of red as a royal
and imperial colour.

_Alkari_.--Synonym for Alia.

_Alua_.--A subcaste of Uriya Brahmans, so named because their
forefathers grew the _alu_ or potato.

_Amal_.--A section of Komti. The members of this section do not eat
the plantain.

_Ambadar_.--(Mango-branch.) A section of Rawat (Ahir).

_Ambashta_.--A subcaste of Kayasth.

_Amethia_.--(From Amethi, a pargana in Lucknow District.) A sept of
Rajputs, who are Chauhans according to Sir H.M. Elliott, but others
say they are a branch of the Chamar Gaur.

_Amisht_.--A subcaste of Kayasth.

_Amnait_.--Subcaste of Bhatra.

_Amrite_.--(From Amrit nectar.) A section of Kirar.

_Anapa_.--(Leather-dealers.) Subcaste of Madgi.

_Anavala_.--A subdivision of Gujarati or Khedawal Brahmans. They
derive their name from the village Anaval in Baroda. They are otherwise
known as Bhatela, Desai or Mastan.

_Andhra_, _Tailanga_.--One of the five orders of the Panch Dravid
Brahmans inhabiting the Telugu country.

_Antarvedi_.--A resident of Antarved or the Doab, the tract of land
between the Ganges and the Jumna rivers. Subcaste of Chamar.

_Apastambha_.--A Sutra of the Vedas. A subdivision of Brahmans
following that Sutra and forming a caste subdivision. But they marry
with Rig-Vedis, though the Sutra belongs to the Black Yajur-Vedi.

_Atharvarvedi_, _Antharwarvedi_.--A subcaste of Brahmans who follow
the Atharvar-Veda and are very rarely met with.

_Arab_.--This designation is sometimes returned by the descendants
of the Arab mercenaries of the Bhonsla kings. These were at one time
largely employed by the different rulers of southern India and made
the best of soldiers. In the Maratha armies [409] their rate of
pay was Rs. 12 a month, while the ordinary infantry received only
Rs. 5. General Hislop stated their character as follows: [410]

"There are perhaps no troops in the world that will make a stouter
or more determined stand at their posts than the Arabs. They are
entirely unacquainted with military evolutions, and undisciplined;
but every Arab has a pride and heart of his own that never forsakes
him as long as he has legs to stand on. They are naturally brave and
possess the greatest coolness and quickness of sight: hardy and fierce
through habit, and bred to the use of the matchlock from their boyhood:
and they attain a precision and skill in the use of it that would
almost exceed belief, bringing down or wounding the smallest object
at a considerable distance, and not unfrequently birds with a single
bullet. They are generally armed with a matchlock, a couple of swords,
with three or four small daggers stuck in front of their belts, and
a shield. On common occasions of attack and defence they fire but
one bullet, but when hard pressed at the breach they drop in two,
three, and four at a time, from their mouths, always carrying in
them from eight to ten bullets, which are of a small size. We may
calculate the whole number of Arabs in the service of the Peshwa
and the Berar Raja at 6000 men, a loose and undisciplined body,
but every man of them a tough and hardy soldier. It was to the Arabs
alone those Provinces looked, and placed their dependence on. Their
own troops fled and abandoned them, seldom or never daring to meet
our smallest detachment. Nothing can exceed the horror and atarm with
which some of our native troops view the Arab. At Nagpur in November
1817 the Arabs alone attacked us on the defence and reduced us to the
last extremity, when we were saved by Captain Fitzgerald's charge. The
Arabs attacked us at Koregaon and would have certainly destroyed us had
not the Peshwa withdrawn his troops on General Smith's approach. The
Arabs kept General Doveton at bay with his whole army at Nagpur for
several days, repulsing our attack at the breach, and they gained
their fullest terms. The Arabs worsted us for a month at Malegaon
and saved their credit. They terrified the Surat authorities by their
fame alone. They gained their terms of money from Sir John Malcolm at
Asirgarh. They maintained to the last for their prince their post at
Alamner and nobly refused to be bought over there. They attacked us
bravely, but unfortunately at Talner. They attacked Captain Spark's
detachment on the defence and destroyed it. They attacked a battalion
of the 14th Madras Infantry with 26-pounders and compelled them to
seek shelter in a village; and they gave us a furious wind-up at
Asirgarh. Yet the whole of these Arabs were not 6000."