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

R >> R.V. Russell >> The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

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There is no doubt that the Arabs are one of the finest fighting
races of the world. Their ancestors were the Saracens who gained
a great empire in Europe and Asia. Their hardihood and powers of
endurance are brought to the highest pitch by the rigours of desert
life, while owing to their lack of nervous sensibility the shock
and pain of wounds affect them less than civilised troops. And in
addition their religion teaches that all who die in battle against the
infidel are transported straight to a paradise teeming with material
and sensual delights. Arab troops are still employed in Hyderabad
State. Mr. Stevens notices them as follows in his book _In India_:
"A gang of half-a-dozen, brilliantly dishevelled, a faggot of daggers
with an antique pistol or two in each belt, and a six-foot matchlock
on each shoulder. They serve as irregular troops there, and it must
be owned that if irregularity is what you want, no man on earth can
supply it better. The Arab irregulars are brought over to serve their
time and then sent back to Arabia; there is one at this moment, who
is a subaltern in Hyderabad, but as soon as he crosses the British
border gets a salute of nine guns; he is a Sheikh in his own country
near Aden."

The Arabs who have been long resident here have adopted the ways
and manners of other Musalmans. Their marriages are in the Nikah
form and are marked by only one [411] dinner, following the example
of the Prophet, who gave a dinner at the marriage of his daughter
the Lady Fatimah and Ali. In obedience to the order of the Prophet
a death is followed by no signs of mourning. Arabs marry freely
with other Sunni Muhammadans and have no special social or religious
organisation. The battle-cry of the Arabs at Sitabaldi and Nagpur was
'_Din, Din, Muhammad_.'

_Arakh_.--A caste. A subcaste of Dahait, Gond and Pasi.

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

_Are_.--A cultivating caste of the Chanda District, where they numbered
2000 persons in 1911. The caste are also found in Madras and Bombay,
where they commonly return themselves under the name of Marathi; this
name is apparently used in the south as a generic term for immigrants
from the north, just as in the Central Provinces people coming from
northern India are called Pardeshi. Mr. (Sir H.) Stuart says [412]
that Are is a synonym for Arya, and is used as an equivalent of a
Maratha and sometimes in a still wider sense, apparently to designate
an immigrant Aryan into the Dravidian country of the south. The Ares of
the Central Provinces appear to be Kunbis who have migrated into the
Telugu country. The names of their subcastes are those of the Kunbis,
as Khaire, Tirelle, a form of Tirole, and Dhanoj for Dhanoje. Other
subdivisions are called Kayat and Kattri, and these seem to be the
descendants of Kayasth and Khatri ancestors. The caste admit Brahmans,
Banias, and Komtis into the community and seem to be, as shown by
Mr. Stuart, a mixed group of immigrants from Maharashtra into the
Telugu country. Some of them wear the sacred thread and others do
not. Some of their family names are taken from those of animals and
plants, and they bury persons who die unmarried, placing their feet
towards the north like the forest tribes.

_Arka_.--A sept of Gonds in Chanda who worship the saras crane.

_Armachi_.--(The _dhaura_ tree.) A totemistic sept of Gonds.

_Arora_, _Rora_.--An important trading and mercantile caste of the
Punjab, of which a few persons were returned from the Nimar District in
1901. Sir D. Ibbetson was of opinion that the Aroras were the Khatris
of Aror, the ancient capital of Scinde, represented by the modern
Rori. He described the Arora as follows: [413] "Like the Khatri and
unlike the Bania he is no mere trader; but his social position is
far inferior to theirs, partly no doubt because he is looked down
upon simply as being a Hindu in the portions of the Province which
are his special habitat. He is commonly known as a Kirar, a word
almost synonymous with coward, and even more contemptuous than is
the name Bania in the east of the province. The Arora is active and
enterprising, industrious and thrifty.... 'When an Arora girds up
his loins he makes it only two miles from Jhang to Lahore.' He will
turn his hand to any work, he makes a most admirable cultivator,
and a large proportion of the Aroras of the lower Chenab are purely
agricultural in their avocations. He is found throughout Afghanistan
and even Turkistan and is the Hindu trader of those countries; while
in the western Punjab he will sew clothes, weave matting and baskets,
make vessels of brass and copper and do goldsmith's work. But he is a
terrible coward, and is so branded in the proverbs of the countryside:
The thieves were four and we eighty-four; the thieves came on and we
ran away; and again: To meet a Rathi armed with a hoe makes a company
of nine Kirars (Aroras) feel alone. Yet the peasant has a wholesome
dread of the Kirar when in his proper place: Vex not the Jat in his
jungle, nor the Kirar at his shop, nor the boatman at his ferry;
for if you do they will break your head. Again: Trust not a crow,
a dog or a Kirar, even when asleep. So again: You can't make a friend
of a Kirar any more than a _sati_ of a prostitute."

_Asathi_.--A subcaste of Bania. They are both Jains and Hindus.

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

_Ashthana_.--A subcaste of Kayasth.

_Atharadesia_.--(A man of eighteen districts.) Subcaste of Banjara.

_Athbhaiya_.--(Eight brothers.) A subdivision of Saraswat Brahman
in Hoshangabad. An Athbhaiya cannot take a wife from the Chaubhaiya
subdivision, to whom the former give their daughters in marriage.

_Athia_.--A subcaste of Chadar, so named because they worship their
goddess Devi on the 8th day (Athain) of Kunwar (September), and
correspond to the Brahmanical Sakta sect, as opposed to the other
Chadar subcaste Parmasuria, who correspond to the Vaishnavas.

_Audhalia_.--Synonym for Audhelia.

_Audhia_, _Ajudhiabasi_.--A resident of Oudh. Subcaste of Bania and
of Kasar and Sunar.

_Audichya_.--A subcaste of Brahmans coming from Oudh.

_Aughad_.--A subdivision of Jogi. They resemble the Aghoris with the
difference that they may not eat human flesh.

_Aughar_.--A subdivision of Jogi.

_Aukule_.--A subcaste of Koshtis. They are also called Vidurs, being
of mixed descent from Koshtas and other castes.

_Aulia_.--(A favourite of God.) Title of Muhammadan saints.

_Baba_.--Synonym of Gosain.

_Babhan_.--Synonym for Bhuinhar, being the name of a landholding
caste in Bengal. Used as a title by Bhuiyas.

_Babuan_.--Title for the descendants of the former ruling families
of the Chero tribe.

_Bachhalya_, _Bachhap_, _Bachhilia_.--(From _bachha_, a calf.) A
section of Bania, Chadar and Khangar. A section of Patwa in
Raipur. They do not castrate bullocks.

_Bad_.--(High or great.) Subcaste of Agharia and Sudh.

_Bad_ or _Bhand_.--A caste. Title of Khatik.

_Bad_.--(Banyan tree.) A section of Joshi.

_Badaria_.--(From _badar_, cloud.) A section of Kandera.

_Badgainya_.--(From Badgaon (_bara gaon_), a large village.) A surname
of Sarwaria Brahmans. A section of Basdewa, Gadaria and Kurmi.

_Badgujar_.--(From _bada_, great.) One of the thirty-six royal races
of Rajputs. A subcaste of Gujar, also of Gaur Brahman. A section
of Mehtar.

_Badhaiya_.--(Barhai, carpenter.) A subcaste of Lohar and Kol. A sept
of Savar.

_Badharia_.--A resident of Badhas in Mirzapur. Subcaste of Bahna
and Dhuri.

_Badi_.--(A rope-walker.) Synonym of Nat.

_Badkur_.--Title used in the Dhobi caste.

_Badwaik_.--(The great ones.) A subcaste of Mana. A title of Dhobi
and Pan or Ganda.

_Bagaria_.--(A young buffalo.) A sept of Dhanwar and Sonkar.

_Bagh_, _Baghwa_.--(Tiger.) A totemistic sept of Ahir, Bhatra, Kawar,
Munda, Oraon, Sonkar, Teli and Turi.

_Baghel_, _Baghela_.--(A tiger or tiger-cub.) A clan of Rajputs
which has given its name to Baghelkhand. A subcaste of Audhia Sunar
and Chamar. A section of Bhilala, Dhanwar, Gond, Lodhi, Mali, and
Panwar Rajput.

_Baghmar_, _Baghmarya_, _Bagmar_.--(A tiger-slayer.) A section of
Oswal Bania, Basor, Chamar, Dhimar, Koilabhuti Gond, and Teli. A
subsept of Nika Gonds in Betul, who abstain from killing tigers.

_Bagri_.--A clan of Rajputs. A subcaste of Jat. One of the 72 1/2
sections of Maheshri Banias. People belonging to the Badhak or Bawaria,
and Pardhi castes are sometimes known by this name.

_Bahargainyan_.--(From _Bahar gaon_, outside the village.) A subcaste
of Kurmi.

_Baharketu_.--(Bush-cutter.) A subcaste of Korwa.

_Bahelia_.--The caste of fowlers and hunters in northern India. In the
Central Provinces the Bahelias are not to be distinguished from the
Pardhis, as they have the same set of exogamous groups named after the
Rajput clans, and resemble them in all other respects. The word Bahelia
is derived from the Sanskrit Vyadha, 'one who pierces or wounds,' hence
a hunter. Pardhi is derived from the Marathi _paradh_, hunting. The
latter term is more commonly used in the Central Provinces, and has
therefore been chosen as the title of the article on the caste.

_Bahre_.--(Outside the walls.) A subdivision of Khedawal Brahmans.

_Bahrup_.--Subcaste of Banjara.

_Bahrupia_.--A small class of mendicant actors and quick-change
artists. They are recruited from all classes of the population,
and though a distinct caste of Bahrupias appears to exist, people of
various castes also call themselves Bahrupia when they take to this
occupation. In Berar the Mahar, Mang and Maratha divisions of the
Bahrupias are the most common: [414] the former two begging only from
the castes from which they take their name. In Gujarat they appear
to be principally Muhammadans. Sir D. Ibbetson says of them: [415]
"The name is derived from the Sanskrit _bahu_, many, and _rupa_,
form, and denotes an actor, a mimic or one who assumes many forms
or characters. One of their favourite devices is to ask for money,
and when it is refused to ask that it may be given if the Bahrupia
succeeds in deceiving the person who refused it. Some days later the
Bahrupia will again visit the house in the disguise of a pedlar,
a milkman or what not, sell his goods without being detected,
throw off his disguise and claim the stipulated reward." In Gujarat
"they are ventriloquists and actors with a special skill of dressing
one side of their face like a man and the other side like a woman,
and moving their head about so sharply that they seem to be two
persons." [416] Mr. Kitts states that "the men are by profession
story-tellers and mimics, imitating the voices of men and the notes
of animals; their male children are also trained to dance. In payment
for their entertainment they are frequently content with cast-off
clothes, which will of course be of use to them in assuming other
characters." [417] Occasionally also they dress up in European clothes
and can successfully assume the character of a Eurasian.

_Baid_.--(Physician.) A surname of Sanadhia and Maratha Brahmans in
Saugor. A section of Oswal Bania, and Darzi.

_Bairagi_.--A caste or religious order. Subcaste of Bhat.

_Bais_.--A clan of Rajputs.

_Bajania_.--(One who plays on musical instruments.) Subcaste of Panka.

_Bajanya_.--(Drummer.) A subcaste of Panka in Balaghat.

_Bajarha_.--(Bazar.) A section of Daraiha in Bilaspur.

_Bajna_, _Bajgari_.--(Musicians at feasts and marriages.) Subcaste
of Ganda.

_Bajpai_.--(A priest officiating at the horse sacrifice.) A surname of
Kanaujia Brahmans. A section of Brahmans. Title of some old families
whose ancestors were sacrificial priests.

_Bakar Kasai_.--(Goat-butcher.) A subcaste of Khatik.

_Bakra_.--(Goat.) A totemistic sept of Bhatra and Halba.

_Baksaria_.--From Buxar in Bengal. A clan of Rajputs. A section of
Daraiha and Lodhi.

_Balla_.--One of the 36 Rajkuls or royal clans of Rajputs noted in
Tod's _Rajasthan_.

_Balnik_.--Subcaste of Kayasth.

_Balusudia_.--(Shaven.) Title of Khond.

_Balutedar_.--Name for a village menial in Berar. Title of Dhobi.

_Balwanda_.--(Quarrelsome.) A section of Teli.

_Bam-Margi._--Synonym for the Vam-Margi sect.

_Baman_ or _Brahman_. Subcaste of Bishnoi, Darzi and Gondhali.

_Bamania_.--(From Brahman.) A section of Ahir. They do not touch the
pipal tree. A section of Mahar and of Rajjhar in Hoshangabad.

_Bamhan Gour_ or _Brahman Gour_.--A clan of Rajputs in Saugor and
Narsinghpur.

_Bamhania_.--A subcaste of Kasar, from Bamhan or Brahman. A section
of Katia.

_Bamnaiha_.--(Belonging to a Brahman.) A section of Basor.

_Banaphar_, _Banafar_.--A clan of Rajputs. A section of Daharia.

_Banbhainsa_.--(Wild buffalo.) A section of Rawat (Ahir).

_Banda_.--(Tailless.) A section of Kirar.

_Banda Bagh_.--(Tailless tiger.) A section of Teli.

_Bandar_.--(A rocket-thrower.) Synonym of Kadera.

_Bandarwale_.--(One who catches monkeys.)--Subcaste of Pardhi.

_Bandesia_.--(A man of 52 districts.) Subcaste of Banjara.

_Bandhaiya_.--A subcaste of Nunia who confine themselves to the
excavation of tanks and wells. Also a subcaste of Dhimar.

_Bandhaiya_.--(From Bandhogarh.) Subcaste of Nai.

_Bandhia_--(From _bandh_, an embankment.) A subcaste of Darzi and
Dhimar. A section of Chamar.

_Bandrele_.--(Monkey.) A section of Basor, and Barai.

_Banghore_.--(Wild horses.) A section of Dom (Mehtar).

_Bania_.--A caste. Subcaste of Bishnoi. A synonym of Sunar in
Sambalpur. A subcaste of Banjara. A section of Nandvansi Gauli.

_Banka_.--A small caste found principally in the Kalahandi State
which now forms part of Bengal. The caste was formed from military
service like the Khandaits, Paiks and Marathas, and some families
bear the names of different castes, as Brahman Banka, Kumhar Banka,
and so on. They were formerly notorious freebooters, but have now
settled down to cultivation. Each man, however, still carries a sword
or knife on his person, and in Kalahandi they are permitted to do
this without taking out a licence.

_Banku_.--(One who frequents sequestered parts of forests.) A sept
of Korku.

_Bansberia_.--(One who performs acrobatic feats on a stick or
bamboo.) Synonym of Kolhati.

_Bansia_.--(Angler.) From _bansi_, a fishing-hook. Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Bansphor_.--(A breaker of bamboos.) Synonym of Basor. Subcaste of
Mehtar and Mahli.

_Banstalai_.--(A tank with bamboo trees on its bank.) A section
of Teli.

_Bant_.--Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Bantia_.--(From _banat_, a red woollen blanket.) A section of
Oswal Bania.

_Baone_ or _Baonia_.--From the phrase _Bawan Berar_, a term applied
to the Province by the Mughals, because it paid fifty-two lakhs of
revenue, as against only eight lakhs realised from the adjoining
Jhadi or hilly country in the Central Provinces. Subcaste of Kunbi,
Mahar and Mali.

_Baoria_.--Synonym of Badhak.

_Bara-hazar._--(Twelve thousand.) Subcaste of Chero.

_Barade, Berari_.--A resident of Berar. Subcaste of Bahna, Barhai,
Chamar, Dhangar, Dhobi, Khatik, Mang and Nai.

_Baram_ or _Birm_.--Subcaste of Bhat.

_Barapatre_.--(A large leaf-plate.) A section of Koshti.

_Baraua_.--(A fisherman.) Synonym of Dhimar; title of Dhimar.

_Bardhia_.--(From _bardh_, a term for the edge of a weapon.) Synonym
of Sikligar.

_Bardia_.--One who uses bullocks for transport. Subcaste of Kumhar.

_Baretha_.--(A washerman.) Synonym for Dhobi.

_Barga_.--Subcaste of Oraon.

_Bargah_, [418] _Bargaha_, _Barghat_.--A small caste of cultivators
belonging principally to the Bilaspur District. They appear to
be immigrants from Rewah, where the caste is numerically strong,
and they are also found in the adjacent Districts of the United
Provinces and Bengal. In the United Provinces they are employed as
higher domestic servants and make leaf-plates, while their women act
as midwives. [419] Here they claim kinship with the Goala Ahirs, but
in the Central Provinces and Bengal they advance pretensions to be
Rajputs. They have a story, however, which shows their connection
with the Ahirs, to the effect that on one occasion Brahma stole
Krishna's cows and cowherds. Krishna created new ones to replace them,
exactly similar to those lost, but Brahma subsequently returned the
originals, and the Bargahas are the descendants of the artificial
cowherds created by Krishna. In Sarguja, Bargaha is used as a title
by Ahirs, while in Rewah the Bargahs are looked on as the bastard
offspring of Baghel Rajputs. Dr. Buchanan writes of them as follows:
[420] "In Gorakhpur the Rajput chiefs have certain families of Ahirs,
the women of which act as wet-nurses to their children, while the men
attend to their persons. These families are called Bargaha; they have
received, of course, great favours and many of them are very rich,
but others look down upon them as having admitted their women to too
great familiarity with their chiefs." In the United Provinces they
also claim to be Rajputs, as they returned themselves as a clan of
Rajputs in 1881. [421] Their position as described by Buchanan is
precisely the same as that of the Dauwa Ahirs, who are the household
servants of Bundela Rajputs in Bundelkhand, and the facts set forth
above leave little or no doubt that the Bargahs are a mixed caste,
arising from the connection of Rajputs with the Ahir women who were
their personal servants. In the Central Provinces no subdivisions of
the caste exist at present, but a separate and inferior subcaste is in
process of formation from those who have been turned out of caste. They
are divided for the purpose of marriage into exogamous _gotras_ or
clans, the names of which correspond to those of Rajputs, as Kaunsil,
Chandel, Rana, Bundela, Rathor, Baghel, Chauhan and others. Marriage
between members of the same clan and also between first cousins is
prohibited. The custom of _guranwat_ or exchanging girls in marriage
between families is very prevalent, and as there is a scarcity of girls
in the caste, a man who has not got a daughter must pay Rs. 100 to
Rs. 200 to obtain a bride for his son. On the arrival of the marriage
procession the bridegroom touches with a dagger a grass mat hung in
front of the marriage-shed. During the marriage the bridegroom's father
presents him with a grass ring, which he places on his wrist. The
hands of the bridegroom and bride are tied one over the other with a
piece of thread, and the bride's parents catching the hands say to the
bridegroom, 'We have given you our daughter; protect her.' The couple
then walk seven times round a sacrificial fire and a pestle and slab
containing seven pieces of turmeric, nuts and heaps of coloured rice,
the bride leading and kicking over a heap of rice from the slab at
each turn. The other common ceremonies are also performed. The Bargahs
do not tolerate sexual offences and expel a girl or married woman
who goes wrong. The Bargahs are usually cultivators in the Central
Provinces, but they consider it beneath their dignity to touch the
plough with their own hands. Many of them are mlguzrs or village
proprietors. They take food cooked without water from a Brahman,
and water only from a Rajput. Rajputs take water from their hands,
and their social position is fairly high.

_Bargandi_,--Synonym for Kaikari.

_Barghat_.--Synonym of Bargah.

_Barki_.--High. Subcaste of Rautia.

_Barkia_.--(A spinner of fine thread.) Subcaste of Mahar.

_Barmaiyan, Barmian, Malaiya_.--Subcaste of Basor, Dhimar and Gadaria.

_Baroni_.--Title of a female Dhimar.

_Barora_ or _Warkara_.--(Wild cat.) A subsept of the Uika clan of
Gonds in Betul.

_Barpaihi_.--(_Bar,_ banyan tree.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds
in Betul, so named because their priest offered food to their gods
on the leaves of a banyan tree.

_Barwa_.--Synonym for Garpagari. One who wards off hailstones from
the standing crops. Subcaste of Jogi.

_Bashishta_.--See Vasishta. A section of Vidur.

_Bastarha_.--A resident of Bastar State. Subcaste of Halba.

_Bathri_.--(From _batkur_, a vegetable.) A subcaste of Dhobi and Teli.

_Bathudia_.--Subcaste of Bhuiya.

_Batri_.--A grower of _batar_, a kind of pea. Subcaste of Teli.

_Batti_.--(A ball.) A subsept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul,
so named because their priest stole balls of cooked mahua. They do
not kill or eat goats or sheep, and throw away anything smelt by them.

_Bawan, Bawanjaye_.--_(Bawan_-52.) A subcaste of Saraswat Brahmans.

_Bawaria_.--A dweller of Bhanwargarh tract in Betul district. Subcaste
of Korku.

_Bawisa_.--(Twenty-two.) A subcaste of Gujarati Brahmans in Hoshangabad
and Makrai State.

_Bayar, Biyar, Biar_.--A small caste of labourers belonging to
the eastern Districts of the United Provinces, of whom about 200
persons were returned from Bilaspur in 1891. They are found in the
Korba zamindari, and are professional diggers or navvies, like the
Murhas. They are apparently a mixed caste derived from the primitive
tribes with some Hindu blood. They eat fowls and pork, but will not
take food from any other caste. They work by contract on the _dangri_
system of measurement, a _dangri_ being a piece of bamboo five cubits
long. For one rupee they dig a patch 8 _dangris_ long by one broad
and a cubit in depth, or 675 cubic feet. But this rate does not allow
for lift or lead.

_Bazigar_.--(An acrobat.) Synonym of Nat.

_Behar_.--(Cat.) A totemistic sept of Kawar.

_Behera_.--A subcaste of Taonla. A section of Tiyar. A title of Khadal.

_Belwar, Bilwar_.--A small caste of carriers and cattle-dealers
belonging to Oudh, whose members occasionally visit the northern
Districts of the Central Provinces. They say that their ancestors were
Sanadhya Brahmans, who employed bullocks as pack-animals, and hence,
being looked down on by the rest of the caste, became a separate body,
marrying among themselves.

_Benaika, Binaika_.--A subcaste of Parwar Bania, consisting of the
offspring of remarried widows or illegitimate unions. Probably also
found among other subcastes of Bania.

_Benatia_.--A subcaste of Sansia in Sambalpur.

_Bendiwala_.--Name of a minor Vishnuite order. See Bairagi.

_Benetiya, Benatia_.--Subcaste of Chasa and Sansia.

_Bengali_.--Bengali immigrants are usually Brahmans or Kayasths.

_Bengani_.--(Brinjal.) One of the 1444 sections of Oswal Bania.

_Benglah_.--An immigrant from Bengal. Subcaste of Bharbhunja.

_Beora Basia_.--(Hawk.) A totemistic sept of Bhatra.

_Beraria_, _Beradia_.--(Belonging to Berar.) A subcaste of Bahna,
Barai, Barhai, Chamar, Dhangar, Dhimar, Kasar and Kunbi.

_Beria_.--A caste of gipsies and vagrants, whose women are
prostitutes. Hence sometimes used generally to signify a prostitute. A
subcaste of Nat.

_Besra_.--(Hawk.) A totemistic sept of Bhatra and Rawat (Ahir).

_Besta_.--A Telugu caste of fishermen. They are also called Bhoi and
Machchnaik, and correspond to the Dhimars. They are found only in the
Chanda District, where they numbered 700 persons in 1911, and their
proper home is Mysore. They are a low caste and rear pigs and eat
pork, crocodiles, rats and fowls. They are stout and strong and dark
in colour. Like the Dhimars they also act as palanquin-bearers, and
hence has arisen a saying about them, 'The Besta is a great man when
he carries shoes,' because the head of a gang of palanquin-bearers
carries the shoes of the person who sits in it. At their marriages
the couple place a mixture of cummin and jaggery on each other's
heads, and then gently press their feet on those of the other seven
times. Drums are beaten, and the bridegroom places rings on the toes
of the bride and ties the _mangal-sutram_ or necklace of black beads
round her neck. They are seated side by side on a plough-yoke, and the
ends of their cloths are tied together. They are then taken outside
and shown the Great Bear, the stars of which are considered to be
the spirits of the seven principal Hindu Saints, and the pole-star,
Arundhati, who represents the wife of Vasishtha and is the pattern of
feminine virtue. On the following two days the couple throw flowers
at each other for some time in the morning and evening. Before the
marriage the bridegroom's toe-nails are cut by the barber as an act of
purification. This custom, Mr. Thurston [422] states, corresponds among
the Sudras to the shaving of the head among the Brahmans. The Bestas
usually take as their principal deity the nearest large river and call
it by the generic term of Ganga. On the fifth day after a death they
offer cooked food, water and sesamum to the crows, in whose bodies
the souls of the dead are believed to reside. The food and water are
given to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul, while the sesamum
is supposed to give it coolness and quench its heat. On the tenth day
the ashes are thrown into a river. The beard of a boy whose father is
alive is shaved for the first time before his marriage. Children are
tattooed with a mark on the forehead within three months of birth,
and this serves as a sect mark. A child is named on the eleventh day
after birth, and if it is subsequently found to be continually ailing
and sickly, the name is changed under the belief that it exercises
an evil influence on the child.