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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24. The cultivating status that of the Vaishya.

The suggested conclusion from the above argument is that the main
body of the Aryan immigrants, that is the Vaishyas, settled down in
villages by exogamous clans or septs. The cultivators of each village
believed themselves to be kinsmen descended from a common ancestor, and
also to be akin to the god of the village lands from which they drew
their sustenance. Hence their order had an equal right to cultivate
the village land and their children to inherit it, though they did
not conceive of the idea of ownership of land in the sense in which
we understand this phrase.

The original status of the Vaishya, or a full member of the Aryan
community who could join in sacrifices and employ Brahmans to perform
them, was gradually transferred to the cultivating member of the
village communities. In process of time, as land was the chief source
of wealth, and was also regarded as sacred, the old status became
attached to castes or groups of persons who obtained or held land
irrespective of their origin, and these are what are now called the
good cultivating castes. They have now practically the same status,
though, as has been seen, they were originally of most diverse origin,
including bands of robbers and freebooters, cattle-lifters, non-Aryan
tribes, and sections of any castes which managed to get possession
of an appreciable quantity of land.

25. Higher professional and artisan castes.

The second division of the group of pure or good castes, or those from
whom a Brahman can take water, comprises the higher artisan castes:

Barhai.
Bharbhunja.
Halwai.
Kasar.
Komti.
Sansia.
Sunar.
Tamera.
Vidur.

The most important of these are the Sunar or goldsmith; the Kasar
or worker in brass and bell-metal; the Tamera or coppersmith; the
Barhai or carpenter; and the Halwai and Bharbhunja or confectioner
and grain-parcher. The Sansia or stone-mason of the Uriya country
may perhaps also be included. These industries represent a higher
degree of civilisation than the village trades, and the workers may
probably have been formed into castes at a later period, when the
practice of the handicrafts was no longer despised. The metal-working
castes are now usually urban, and on the average their members are
as well-to-do as the cultivators. The Sunars especially include a
number of wealthy men, and their importance is increased by their
association with the sacred metal, gold; in some localities they
now claim to be Brahmans and refuse to take food from Brahmans. [62]
The more ambitious members abjure all flesh-food and liquor and wear
the sacred thread. But in Bombay the Sunar was in former times one
of the village menial castes, and here, before and during the time
of the Peshwas, Sunars were not allowed to wear the sacred thread,
and they were forbidden to hold their marriages in public, as it was
considered unlucky to see a Sunar bridegroom. Sunar bridegrooms were
not allowed to see the state umbrella or to ride in a palanquin, and
had to be married at night and in secluded places, being subject to
restrictions and annoyances from which even Mahars were free. Thus
the goldsmith's status appears to vary greatly according as his
trade is a village or urban industry. Copper is also a sacred metal,
and the Tameras rank next to the Sunars among the artisan castes,
with the Kasars or brass-workers a little below them; both these
castes sometimes wearing the sacred thread. These classes of artisans
generally live in towns. The Barhai or carpenter is sometimes a village
menial, but most carpenters live in towns, the wooden implements of
agriculture being made either by the blacksmith or by the cultivators
themselves. Where the Barhai is a village menial he is practically
on an equality with the Lohar or blacksmith; but the better-class
carpenters, who generally live in towns, rank higher. The Sansia or
stone-mason of the Uriya country works, as a rule, only in stone,
and in past times therefore his principal employment must have been
to build temples. He could not thus be a village menial, and his
status would be somewhat improved by the sanctity of his calling. The
Halwai and Bharbhunja or confectioner and grain-parcher are castes of
comparatively low origin, especially the latter; but they have to be
given the status of ceremonial purity in order that all Hindus may be
able to take sweets and parched grain from their hands. Their position
resembles that of the barber and waterman, the pure village menials,
which will be discussed later. In Bengal certain castes, such as the
Tanti or weaver of fine muslin, the Teli or oil-presser, and the Kumhar
or potter, rank with the ceremonially pure castes. Their callings
have there become important urban industries. Thus the Tantis made the
world-renowned fine muslins of Dacca; and the Jagannathia Kumhars of
Orissa provide the earthen vessels used for the distribution of rice
to all pilgrims at the temple of Jagannath. These castes and certain
others have a much higher rank than that of the corresponding castes
in northern and Central India, and the special reasons indicated seem
to account for this. Generally the artisan castes ranking on the same
or a higher level than the cultivators are urban and not rural. They
were not placed in a position of inferiority to the cultivators by
accepting contributions of grain and gifts from them, and this perhaps
accounts for their higher position. One special caste may be noticed
here, the Vidurs, who are the descendants of Brahman fathers by women
of other castes. These, being of mixed origin, formerly had a very
low rank, and worked as village accountants and patwaris. Owing to
their connection with Brahmans, however, they are a well-educated
caste, and since education has become the door to all grades of
advancement in the public service, the Vidurs have taken advantage
of it, and many of them are clerks of offices or hold higher posts
under Government. Their social status has correspondingly improved;
they dress and behave like Brahmans, and in some localities it is
said that even Maratha Brahmans will take water to drink from Vidurs,
though they will not take it from the cultivating castes. There are
also several menial or serving castes from whom a Brahman can take
water, forming the third class of this group, but their real rank is
much below that of the cultivators, and they will be treated in the
next group.

26. Castes from whom a Brahman cannot take water; the village menials.

The third main division consists of those castes from whom a
Brahman cannot take water, though they are not regarded as impure
and are permitted to enter Hindu temples. The typical castes of this
group appear to be the village artisans and menials and the village
priests. The annexed list shows the principal of these.

_Village menials_.

Lohar--Blacksmith.
Barhai--Carpenter.
Kumhar--Potter.
Nai--Barber.
Dhimar--Waterman.
Kahar--Palanquin-bearer.
Bari--Leaf-plate maker.
Bargah--Household servant.
Dhobi--Washerman.
Darzi--Tailor.
Basor or Dhulia--Village musician.
Bhat and Mirasi--Bard and genealogist.
Halba--House-servant and farm-servant.

_Castes of village watchmen_.

Khangar.
Chadar.
Chauhan.
Dahait.
Panka.

_Village priests and mendicants_.

Joshi--Astrologer.
Garpagari--Hail-averter.
Gondhali--Musician.

Manbhao
Jangam
Basdewa Wandering priests and mendicants.
Satani
Waghya

_Others_.

Mali--Gardener and maker of garlands.
Barai--Betel-vine grower and seller.

_Other village traders and artisans_.

Kalar--Liquor-vendor.
Teli--Oil-presser.

Hatwa
Manihar Pedlar.

Banjara--Carrier.

Bahelia
Pardhi Fowlers and hunters.

Bahna--Cotton-cleaner.
Chhipa--Calico-printer and dyer.
Chitrakathi--Painter and picture-maker.
Kachera--Glass bangle-maker.
Kadera--Fireworks-maker.
Nat--Acrobat.

Gadaria
Dhangar Shepherds.
Kuramwar

Beldar
Murha Diggers, navvies, and salt-refiners.
Nunia

The essential fact which formerly governed the status of this group
of castes appears to be that they performed various services for the
cultivators according to their different vocations, and were supported
by contributions of grain made to them by the cultivators, and by
presents given to them at seed-time and harvest. They were the clients
of the cultivators and the latter were their patrons and supporters,
and hence ranked above them. This condition of things survives only
in the case of a few castes, but prior to the introduction of a metal
currency must apparently have been the method of remuneration of all
the village industries. The Lohar or blacksmith makes and mends the
iron implements of agriculture, such as the ploughshare, axe, sickle
and goad. For this he is paid in Saugor a yearly contribution of 20
lbs. of grain per plough of land held by each cultivator, together with
a handful of grain at sowing-time and a sheaf at harvest from both the
autumn and spring crops. In Wardha he gets 50 lbs. of grain per plough
of four bullocks or 40 acres. For new implements he must either be
paid separately or at least supplied with the iron and charcoal. In
Districts where the Barhai or carpenter is a village servant he is
paid the same as the Lohar and has practically an equal status. The
village barber receives in Saugor 20 lbs. of grain annually from each
adult male in the family, or 22 1/2 lbs. per plough of land besides
the seasonal presents. In return for this he shaves each cultivator
over the head and face about once a fortnight. The Dhobi or washerman
gets half the annual contribution of the blacksmith and carpenter, with
the same presents, and in return for this he washes the clothes of the
family two or three times a month. When he brings the clothes home he
also receives a meal or a wheaten cake, and well-to-do families give
him their old clothes as a present. The Dhimar or waterman brings water
to the house morning and evening, and fills the earthen water-pots
placed on a wooden stand or earthen platform outside it. When the
cultivators have marriages he performs the same duties for the whole
wedding party, and receives a present of money and clothes according to
the means of the family, and his food every day while the wedding is
in progress. He supplies water for drinking to the reapers, receiving
three sheaves a day as payment, and takes sweet potatoes and boiled
plums to the field and sells them. The Kumhar or potter is not now paid
regularly by dues from the cultivators like other village menials,
as the ordinary system of sale has been found to be more convenient
in his case. But he sometimes takes for use the soiled grass from
the stalls of the cattle and gives pots free to the cultivator in
exchange. On Akti day, at the beginning of the agricultural year,
the village Kumhar in Saugor presents five pots with covers on them
to each cultivator and is given 2 1/2 lbs. of grain. He presents the
bride with seven new pots at a wedding, and these are filled with
water and used in the ceremony, being considered to represent the
seven seas. At a funeral he must supply thirteen vessels which are
known as _ghats_, and must replace the household earthen vessels,
which are rendered impure on the occurrence of a death in the house,
and are all broken and thrown away. In the Punjab and Maratha country
the Kumhar was formerly an ordinary village menial.

27. The village watchmen.

The office of village watchman is an important one, and is usually
held by a member of the indigenous tribes. These formerly were the
chief criminals, and the village watchman, in return for his pay,
was expected to detect the crimes of his tribesmen and to make good
any losses of property caused by them. The sections of the tribes who
held this office have developed into special castes, as the Khangars,
Chadars and Chauhans of Chhattisgarh. These last are probably of
mixed descent from Rajputs and the higher castes of cultivators with
the indigenous tribes. The Dahaits were a caste of gatekeepers and
orderlies of native rulers who have now become village watchmen. The
Pankas are a section of the impure Ganda caste who have embraced the
doctrines of the Kabirpanthi sect and formed a separate caste. They
are now usually employed as village watchmen and are not regarded as
impure. Similarly those members of the Mahar servile caste who are
village watchmen tend to marry among themselves and form a superior
group to the others. The village watchman now receives a remuneration
fixed by Government and is practically a rural policeman, but in former
times he was a village menial and was maintained by the cultivators
in the same manner as the others.

28. The village priests. The gardening castes.

The village priests are another class of this group. The regular
village priest and astrologer, the Joshi or Parsai, is a Brahman, but
the occupation has developed a separate caste. The Joshi officiates
at weddings in the village, selects auspicious names for children
according to the constellations under which they were born, and points
out the auspicious moment or _mahurat_ for weddings, name-giving
and other ceremonies, and for the commencement of such agricultural
operations as sowing, reaping, and threshing. He is also sometimes
in charge of the village temple. He is supported by contributions of
grain from the villagers and often has a plot of land rent-free from
the proprietor. The social position of the Joshis is not very good,
and, though Brahmans, they are considered to rank somewhat below the
cultivating castes. The Gurao is another village priest, whose fortune
has been quite different. The caste acted as priests of the temples
of Siva and were also musicians and supplied leaf-plates. They were
village menials of the Maratha villages. But owing to the sanctity
of their calling, and the fact that they have become literate
and taken service under Government, the Guraos now rank above the
cultivators and are called Shaiva Brahmans. The Gondhalis are the
village priests of Devi, the earth-goddess, who is also frequently
the tutelary goddess of the village. They play the kettle-drum and
perform dances in her honour, and were formerly classed as one of
the village menials of Maratha villages, though they now work for
hire. The Garpagari, or hail-averter, is a regular village menial, his
duty being to avert hail-storms from the crops, like the qalazof'ulax
in ancient Greece. The Garpagaris will accept cooked food from Kunbis
and celebrate their weddings with those of the Kunbis. The Jogis,
Manbhaos, Satanis, and others, are wandering religious mendicants, who
act as priests and spiritual preceptors to the lower classes of Hindus.

With the village priests may be mentioned the Mali or gardener. The
Malis now grow vegetables with irrigation or ordinary crops, but
this was not apparently their original vocation. The name is derived
from _mala_, a garland, and it would appear that the Mali was first
employed to grow flowers for the garlands with which the gods and
also their worshippers were adorned at religious ceremonies. Flowers
were held sacred and were an essential adjunct to worship in India
as in Greece and Rome. The sacred flowers of India are the lotus,
the marigold and the _champak_ [63] and from their use in religious
worship is derived the custom of adorning the guests with garlands at
all social functions, just as in Rome and Greece they wore crowns on
their heads. It seems not unlikely that this was the purpose for which
cultivated flowers were first grown, at any rate in India. The Mali
was thus a kind of assistant in the religious life of the village,
and he is still sometimes placed in charge of the village shrines and
is employed as temple-servant in Jain temples. He would therefore
have been supported by contributions from the cultivators like the
other village menials and have ranked below them, though on account
of the purity and sanctity of his occupation Brahmans would take
water from him. The Mali has now become an ordinary cultivator, but
his status is still noticeably below that of the good cultivating
castes and this seems to be the explanation. With the Mali may be
classed the Barai, the grower and seller of the _pan_ or betel-vine
leaf. This leaf, growing on a kind of creeper, like the vine, in
irrigated gardens roofed with thatch for protection from the sun,
is very highly prized by the Hindus. It is offered with areca-nut,
cloves, cardamom and lime rolled up in a quid to the guests at all
social functions. It is endowed by them with great virtues, being
supposed to prevent heartburn, indigestion, and other stomachic and
intestinal disorders, and to preserve the teeth, while taken with
musk, saffron and almonds, the betel-leaf is held to be a strong
aphrodisiac. The juice of the leaf stains the teeth and mouth red,
and the effect, though repulsive to Europeans, is an indispensable
adjunct to a woman's beauty in Hindu eyes. This staining of the mouth
red with betel-leaf is also said to distinguish a man from a dog. The
idea that betel preserves the teeth seems to be unfounded. The teeth of
Hindus appear to be far less liable to decay than those of Europeans,
but this is thought to be because they generally restrict themselves
to a vegetable diet and always rinse out their mouths with water after
taking food. The betel-leaf is considered sacred; a silver ornament
is made in its shape and it is often invoked in spells and magic. The
original vine is held to have grown from a finger-joint of Basuki,
the Queen of the Serpents, and the cobra is worshipped as the tutelary
deity of the _pan_-garden, which this snake is accustomed to frequent,
attracted by the moist coolness and darkness. The position of the
Barai is the same as that of the Mali; his is really a low caste,
sometimes coupled with the contemned Telis or oil-pressers, but he
is considered ceremonially pure because the betel-leaf, offered to
gods and eaten by Brahmans and all Hindus, is taken from him. The
Barai or Tamboli was formerly a village menial in the Maratha villages.

29. Other village traders and menials.

The castes following other village trades mainly fall into this
group, though they may not now be village menials. Such are the
Kalar or liquor-vendor and Teli or oil-presser, who sell their
goods for cash, and having learnt to reckon and keep accounts, have
prospered in their dealings with the cultivators ignorant of this
accomplishment. Formerly it is probable that the village Teli had the
right of pressing all the oil grown in the village, and retaining a
certain share for his remuneration. The liquor-vendor can scarcely
have been a village menial, but since Manu's time his trade has
been regarded as a very impure one, and has ranked with that of the
Teli. Both these castes have now become prosperous, and include a
number of landowners, and their status is gradually improving. The
Darzi or tailor is not usually attached to the village community; sewn
clothes have hitherto scarcely been worn among the rural population,
and the weaver provides the cloths which they drape on the body and
round the head. [64] The contempt with which the tailor is visited in
English proverbial lore for working at a woman's occupation attaches
in a precisely similar manner in India to the weaver. [65] But in
Gujarat the Darzi is found living in villages and here he is also a
village menial. The Kachera or maker of the glass bangles which every
Hindu married woman wears as a sign of her estate, ranks with the
village artisans; his is probably an urban trade, but he has never
become prosperous or important. The Banjaras or grain-carriers were
originally Rajputs, but owing to the mixed character of the caste
and the fact that they obtained their support from the cultivators,
they have come to rank below these latter. The Wanjari cultivators
of Berar have now discarded their Banjara ancestry and claim to be
Kunbis. The Nat or rope-dancer and acrobat may formerly have had
functions in the village in connection with the crops. In Kumaon
[66] a Nat still slides down a long rope from the summit of a cliff
to the base as a rite for ensuring the success of the crops on the
occasion of a festival of Siva. Formerly if the Nat or Badi fell to
the ground in his course, he was immediately despatched with a sword
by the surrounding spectators, but this is now prohibited. The rope
on which he slid down the cliff is cut up and distributed among
the inhabitants of the village, who hang the pieces as charms on
the eaves of their houses. The hair of the Nat is also taken and
preserved as possessing similar virtues. Each District in Kumaon has
its hereditary Nat or Badi, who is supported by annual contributions
of grain from the inhabitants. Similarly in the Central Provinces it
is not uncommon to find a deified Nat, called Nat Baba or Father Nat,
as a village god. A Natni, or Nat woman, is sometimes worshipped; and
when two sharp peaks of hills are situated close to each other, it is
related that there was once a Natni, very skilful on the tight-rope,
who performed before the king; and he promised her that if she would
stretch a rope from the peak of one hill to that of the other, and
walk across it, he would marry her and make her wealthy. Accordingly
the rope was stretched, but the queen from jealousy went and cut
it nearly through in the night, and when the Natni started to walk,
the rope broke, and she fell down and was killed. Having regard to
the Kumaon rite, it may be surmised that these legends commemorate
the death of a Natni or acrobat during the performance of some feat of
dancing or sliding on a rope for the magical benefit of the crops. And
it seems possible that acrobatic performances may have had their
origin in this manner. The point bearing on the present argument is,
however, that the Nat performed special functions for the success of
the village crops, and on this account was supported by contributions
from the villagers, and ranked with the village menials.

30. Household servants.

Some of the castes already mentioned, and one or two others having
the same status, work as household servants as well as village
menials. The Dhimar is most commonly employed as an indoor servant
in Hindu households, and is permitted to knead flour in water and
make it into a cake, which the Brahman then takes and puts on the
girdle with his own hands. He can boil water and pour pulse into the
cooking-pot from above, so long as he does not touch the vessel after
the food has been placed in it. He will take any remains of food
left in the cooking-pot, as this is not considered to be polluted,
food only becoming polluted when the hand touches it on the dish after
having touched the mouth. When this happens, all the food on the dish
becomes _jutha_ or leavings of food, and as a general rule no caste
except the sweepers will eat these leavings of food of another caste
or of another person of their own. Only a wife, whose meal follows
her husband's, will eat his leavings. As a servant, the Dhimar is
very familiar with his master; he may enter any part of the house,
including the cooking-place and the women's rooms, and he addresses
his mistress as 'Mother.' When he lights his master's pipe he takes
the first pull himself, to show that it has not been tampered with,
and then presents it to him with his left hand placed under his
right elbow in token of respect. Maid-servants frequently belong
also to the Dhimar caste, and it often happens that the master of
the household has illicit intercourse with them. Hence there is a
proverb: 'The king's son draws water and the water-bearer's son sits
on the throne,'--similar intrigues on the part of high-born women
with their servants being not unknown. The Kahar or palanquin-bearer
was probably the same caste as the Dhimar. Landowners would maintain
a gang of Kahars to carry them on journeys, allotting to such men
plots of land rent-free. Our use of the word 'bearer' in the sense
of a body-servant has developed from the palanquin-bearer who became
a personal attendant on his master. Well-to-do families often have a
Nai or barber as a hereditary family servant, the office descending
in the barber's family. Such a man arranges the marriages of the
children and takes a considerable part in conducting them, and acts
as escort to the women of the family when they go on a journey. Among
his daily duties are to rub his master's body with oil, massage his
limbs, prepare his bed, tell him stories to send him to sleep, and so
on. The barber's wife attends on women in childbirth after the days
of pollution are over, and rubs oil on the bodies of her clients,
pares their nails and paints their feet with red dye at marriages
and on other festival occasions. The Bari or maker of leaf-plates
is another household servant. Plates made of large leaves fastened
together with little wooden pins and strips of fibre are commonly used
by the Hindus for eating food, as are little leaf-cups for drinking;
glazed earthenware has hitherto not been commonly manufactured, and
that with a rougher surface becomes ceremonially impure by contact
with any strange person or thing. Metal vessels and plates are the
only alternative to those made of leaves, and there are frequently
not enough of them to go round for a party. The Baris also work as
personal servants, hand round water, and light and carry torches at
entertainments and on journeys. Their women are maids to high-caste
Hindu ladies, and as they are always about the zenana are liable to
lose their virtue.