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

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

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Captain Mackintosh also relates that "About A.D. 1780, a Brahman named
Anand Rishi, an inhabitant of Paithan on the Godavari, maltreated
a Manbhao, who came to ask for alms at his door. This Manbhao,
after being beaten, proceeded to his friends in the vicinity, and
they collected a large number of brethren and went to the Brahman
to demand satisfaction; Anand Rishi assembled a number of Gosains
and his friends, and pursued and attacked the Manbhaos, who fled and
asked Ahalya Bai, Rani of Indore, to protect them; she endeavoured to
pacify Anand Rishi by telling him that the Manbhaos were her _gurus_;
he said that they were Mangs, but declared that if they agreed to
his proposals he would forgive them; one of them was that they were
not to go to a Brahman's house to ask for alms, and another that if
any Brahman repeated Anand Rishi's name and drew a line across the
road when a Manbhao was advancing, the Manbhao, without saying a
word, must return the road he came. Notwithstanding this attempt to
prevent their approaching a Brahman's house, they continue to ask
alms of the Brahmans, and some Brahmans make a point of supplying
them with provisions."

This story endeavours to explain a superstition still observed by
the caste. This is that when a Manbhao is proceeding along a road,
if any one draws a line across the road with a stick in front of him
the Manbhao will wait without passing the line until some one else
comes up and crosses it before him. In reality this is probably a
primitive superstition similar to that which makes a man stop when
a snake has crossed the road in front of him and efface its track
before proceeding. It is said that the members of the order also
carry their sticks upside down, and a saying is repeated about them:

Manbhao hokar kale kapre darhi muchi mundhata hai,
Ulti lakri hath men pakri woh kya Sahib milta hai;

or, "The Manbhao wears black clothes, shaves his face and holds his
stick upside down, and thinks he will find God that way."

This saying is attributed to Kabir.

Mang

List of Paragraphs

1. _Origin and traditions_.
2. _Subdivisions_.
3. _Marriage_.
4. _Widow-marriage._
5. _Burial_.
6. _Occupation_.
7. _Religion and social status_.

1. Origin and traditions

_Mang._ [181]--A low impure caste of the Maratha Districts, who
act as village musicians and castrate bullocks, while their women
serve as midwives. The Mangs are also sometimes known as Vajantri
or musician. They numbered more than 90,000 persons in 1911, of whom
30,000 belonged to the Nagpur and Nerbudda Divisions of the Central
Provinces, and 60,000 to Berar. The real origin of the Mangs is
obscure, but they probably originated from the subject tribes and
became a caste through the adoption of the menial services which
constitute their profession. In a Maratha book called the Shudra
Kamlakar [182], it is stated that the Mang was the offspring of
the union of a Vaideh man and an Ambashtha woman. A Vaideh was the
illegitimate child of a Vaishya father and a Brahman mother, and an
Ambashtha of a Brahman father and a Vaishya mother. The business
of the Mang was to play on the flute and to make known the wishes
of the Raja to his subjects by beat of drum. He was to live in the
forest or outside the village, and was not to enter it except with
the Raja's permission. He was to remove the dead bodies of strangers,
to hang criminals, and to take away and appropriate the clothes and
bedding of the dead. The Mangs themselves relate the following legend
of their origin as given by Mr. Sathe: Long ago before cattle were used
for ploughing, there was so terrible a famine upon the earth that all
the grain was eaten up, and there was none left for seed. Mahadeo took
pity on the few men who were left alive, and gave them some grain for
sowing. In those days men used to drag the plough through the earth
themselves. But when a Kunbi, to whom Mahadeo had given some seed, went
to try and sow it, he and his family were so emaciated by hunger that
they were unable, in spite of their united efforts, to get the plough
through the ground. In this pitiable case the Kunbi besought Mahadeo
to give him some further assistance, and Mahadeo then appeared, and,
bringing with him the bull Nandi, upon which he rode, told the Kunbi to
yoke it to the plough. This was done, and so long as Mahadeo remained
present, Nandi dragged the plough peaceably and successfully. But as
soon as the god disappeared, the bull became restive and refused to
work any longer. The Kunbi being helpless, again complained to Mahadeo,
when the god appeared, and in his wrath at the conduct of the bull,
great drops of perspiration stood upon his brow. One of these fell to
the ground, and immediately a coal-black man sprang up and stood ready
to do Mahadeo's bidding. He was ordered to bring the bull to reason,
and he went and castrated it, after which it worked well and quietly;
and since then the Kunbis have always used bullocks for ploughing,
and the descendants of the man, who was the first Mang, are employed
in the office for which he was created. It is further related that
Nandi, the bull, cursed the Mang in his pain, saying that he and
his descendants should never derive any profit from ploughing with
cattle. And the Mangs say that to this day none of them prosper by
taking to cultivation, and quote the following proverb: '_Keli kheti,
Zhali mati_,' or, 'If a Mang sows grain he will only reap dust.'

2. Subdivisions

The caste is divided into the following subcastes: Dakhne, Khandeshe
and Berarya, or those belonging to the Deccan, Khandesh and Berar;
Ghodke, those who tend horses; Dafle, tom-tom players; Uchle,
pickpockets; Pindari, descendants of the old freebooters; Kakarkadhe,
stone-diggers; Holer, hide-curers; and Garori. The Garoris [183] are
a sept of vagrant snake-charmers and jugglers. Many are professional
criminals.

3. Marriage

The caste is divided into exogamous family groups named after animals
or other objects, or of a titular nature. One or two have the names
of other castes. Members of the same group may not intermarry. Those
who are well-to-do marry their daughters very young for the sake
of social estimation, but there is no compulsion in this matter. In
families which are particularly friendly, Mr. Sathe remarks, children
may be betrothed before birth if the two mothers are with child
together. Betel is distributed, and a definite contract is made,
on the supposition that a boy and girl will be born. Sometimes the
abdomen of each woman is marked with red vermilion. A grown-up girl
should not be allowed to see her husband's face before marriage. The
wedding is held at the bride's house, but if it is more convenient
that it should be in the bridegroom's village, a temporary house is
found for the bride's party, and the marriage-shed is built in front
of it. The bride must wear a yellow bodice and cloth, yellow and red
being generally considered among Hindus as the auspicious colours
for weddings. When she leaves for her husband's house she puts on
another or going-away dress, which should be as fine as the family
can afford, and thereafter she may wear any colour except white. The
distinguishing marks of a married woman are the _mangal-sutram_ or holy
thread, which her husband ties on her neck at marriage; the _garsoli_
or string of black beads round the neck; the silver toe-rings and glass
bangles. If any one of these is lost, it must be replaced at once, or
she is likely soon to be a widow. The food served at the wedding-feast
consists of rice and pulse, but more essential than these is an ample
provision of liquor. It is a necessary feature of a Mang wedding
that the bridegroom should go to it riding on a horse. The Mahars,
another low caste of the Maratha Districts, worship the horse, and
between them and the Mangs there exists a long-standing feud, so that
they do not, if they can help it, drink of the same well. The sight
of a Mang riding on a horse is thus gall and wormwood to the Mahars,
who consider it a terrible degradation to the noble animal, and this
fact inflaming their natural enmity, formerly led to riots between
the castes. Under native rule the Mangs were public executioners,
and it was said to be the proudest moment of Mang's life when he
could perform his office on a Mahar.

The bride proceeds to her husband's house for a short visit immediately
after the marriage, and then goes home again. Thereafter, till such
time as she finally goes to live with him, she makes brief visits for
festivals or on other social occasions, or to help her mother-in-law,
if her assistance is required. If the mother-in-law is ill and requires
somebody to wait on her, or if she is a shrew and wants some one to
bully, or if she has strict ideas of discipline and wishes personally
to conduct the bride's training for married life, she makes the girl
come more frequently and stay longer.

4. Widow marriage

The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow may marry any one
except persons of her own family group or her husband's elder brother,
who stands to her in the light of a father. She is permitted, but
not obliged, to marry her husband's younger brother, but if he has
performed the dead man's obsequies, she may not marry him, as this act
has placed him in the relation of a son to her deceased husband. More
usually the widow marries some one in another village, because the
remarriage is always held in some slight disrepute, and she prefers
to be at a distance from her first husband's family. Divorce is said
to be permitted only for persistent misconduct on the part of the wife.

5. Burial

The caste always bury the dead and observe mourning only for three
days. On returning from a burial they all get drunk, and then go to
the house of the deceased and chew the bitter leaves of the _nim_
tree (_Melia indica_). These they then spit out of their mouths to
indicate their complete severance from the dead man.

6. Occupation

The caste beat drums at village festivals, and castrate cattle,
and they also make brooms and mats of date-palm and keep leeches for
blood-letting. Some of them are village watchmen and their women act
as midwives. As soon as a baby is born, the midwife blows into its
mouth, ears and nose in order to clear them of any impediments. When
a man is initiated by a _guru_ or spiritual preceptor, the latter
blows into his ear, and the Mangs therefore say that on account of
this act of the midwife they are the _gurus_ of all Hindus. During
an eclipse the Mangs beg, because the demons Rahu and Ketu, who
are believed to swallow the sun and moon on such occasions, were
both Mangs, and devout Hindus give alms to their fellow-castemen in
order to appease them. Those of them who are thieves are said not to
steal from the persons of a woman, a bangle-seller, a Lingayat Mali
or another Mang. [184] In Maratha villages they sometimes take the
place of Chamars, and work in leather, and one writer says of them:
"The Mang is a village menial in the Maratha villages, making all
leather ropes, thongs and whips, which are used by the cultivators;
he frequently acts as watchman; he is by profession a thief and
executioner; he readily hires himself as an assassin, and when he
commits a robbery he also frequently murders." In his menial capacity
he receives presents at seed-time and harvest, and it is said that the
Kunbi will never send the Mang empty away, because he represents the
wrath of Mahadeo, being made from the god's sweat when he was angry.

7. Religion and social status

The caste especially venerate the goddess Devi. They apparently
identify Devi with Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, and they have a
story to the effect that once Brahma wished to ravish his daughter
Saraswati. She fled from him and went to all the gods, but none of
them would protect her for fear of Brahma. At last in despair she
came to a Mang's house, and the Mang stood in the door and kept off
Brahma with a wooden club. In return for this Saraswati blessed him
and said that he and his descendants should never lack for food. They
also revere Mahadeo, and on every Monday they worship the cow, placing
vermilion on her forehead and washing her feet. The cat is regarded as
a sacred animal, and a Mang's most solemn oath is sworn on a cat. A
house is defiled if a cat or a dog dies or a cat has kittens in it,
and all the earthen pots must be broken. If a man accidentally kills
a cat or a dog a heavy penance is exacted, and two feasts must be
given to the caste. To kill an ass or a monkey is a sin only less
heinous. A man is also put out of caste if kicked or beaten with a
shoe by any one of another caste, even a Brahman, or if he is struck
with the _kathri_ or mattress made of rags which the villagers put
on their sleeping-cots. Mr. Gayer remarks [185] that "The Mangs show
great respect for the bamboo; and at a marriage the bridal couple
are made to stand in a bamboo basket. They also reverence the _nim_
tree, and the Mangs of Sholapur spread _hariali_ [186] grass and _nim_
leaves on the spot where one of their caste dies." The social status
of the Mangs is of the lowest. They usually live in a separate quarter
of the village and have a well for their own use. They may not enter
temples. It is recorded that under native rule the Mahars and Mangs
were not allowed within the gates of Poona between 3 P.M. and 9 A.M.,
because before nine and after three their bodies cast too long a
shadow; and whenever their shadow fell upon a Brahman it polluted him,
so that he dare not taste food or water until he had bathed and washed
the impurity away. So also no low-caste man was allowed to live in
a walled town; cattle and dogs could freely enter and remain but not
the Mahar or Mang. [187] The caste will eat the flesh of pigs, rats,
crocodiles and jackals and the leavings of others, and some of them
will eat beef. Men may be distinguished by the _senai_ flute which they
carry and by a large ring of gold or brass worn in the lobe of the
ear. A Mang's sign-manual is a representation of his _bhall-singara_
or castration-knife. Women are tattooed before marriage, with dots on
the forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, and with figures of a date-palm
on the forearm, a scorpion on the palm of the hand, and flies on the
fingers. The caste do not bear a good character, and it is said of
a cruel man, '_Mang-Nirdayi_,' or 'Hardhearted as a Mang.'

Mang-Garori

_Mang-Garori._--This is a criminal subdivision of the Mang caste,
residing principally in Berar. They were not separately recorded at
the census. The name Garori appears to be a corruption of Garudi,
and signifies a snake-charmer. [188] Garuda, the Brahminy kite, the
bird on which Vishnu rides, was the great subduer of snakes, and hence
probably snake-charmers are called Garudi. Some of the Mang-Garoris are
snake-charmers, and this may have been the original occupation of the
caste, though the bulk of them now appear to live by dealing in cattle
and thieving. The following notice of them is abstracted from Major
Gunthorpe's _Notes on Criminal Tribes_. [189] They usually travel about
with small _pals_ or tents, taking their wives, children, buffaloes
and dogs with them. The men are well set up and tall. Their costume
is something like that worn by professional gymnasts, consisting
of light and short reddish-brown drawers (_chaddi_), a waistband
with fringe at either end (_katchhe_), and a sheet thrown over the
shoulders. The Naik or headman of the camp may be recognised by his
wearing some red woollen cloth about his person or a red shawl over his
shoulders. The women have short _saris_ (body-cloths), usually of blue,
and tied in the Telugu fashion. They are generally very violent when
any attempt is made to search an encampment, especially if there is
stolen property concealed in it. Instances have been known of their
seizing their infants by the ankles and swinging them round their
heads, declaring they would continue doing so till the children died,
if the police did not leave the camp. Sometimes also the women of a
gang have been known to throw off all their clothing and appear in a
perfect state of nudity, declaring they would charge the police with
violating their modesty. Men of this tribe are expert cattle-lifters,
but confine themselves chiefly to buffaloes, which they steal while out
grazing and very dexterously disguise by trimming the horns and firing,
so as to avoid recognition by their rightful owners. To steal goats
and sheep is also one of their favourite occupations, and they will
either carry the animals off from their pens at night or kill them
while out grazing, in the following manner: having marked a sheep or
goat which is feeding farthest away from the flock, the thief awaits
his opportunity till the shepherd's back is turned, when the animal is
quickly captured. Placing his foot on the back of the neck near the
head, and seizing it under the chin with his right hand, the thief
breaks the animal's neck by a sudden jerk; he then throws the body
into a bush or in some dip in the ground to hide it, and walks away,
watching from a distance. The shepherd, ignorant of the loss of one
of his animals, goes on leisurely driving his flock before him, and
when he is well out of sight the Mang-Garori removes the captured
carcase to his encampment. Great care is taken that the skin, horns
and hoofs should be immediately burnt so as to avoid detection. Their
ostensible occupation is to trade in barren half-starved buffaloes
and buffalo calves, or in country ponies. They also purchase from
Gaoli herdsmen barren buffaloes, which they profess to be able to make
fertile; if successful they return them for double the purchase-money,
but if not, having obtained if possible some earnest-money, they
abscond and sell the animals at a distance. [190] Like the Bhamtas,
the Mang-Garoris, Major Gunthorpe states, make it a rule not to give
a girl in marriage until the intended husband has proved himself
an efficient thief. Mr. Gayer [191] writes as follows of the caste:
"I do not think Major Gunthorpe lays sufficient emphasis on the part
taken by the women in crimes, for they apparently do by far the major
part of the thieving, Sherring says the men never commit house-breaking
and very seldom rob on the highway: he calls them 'wanderers, showmen,
jugglers and conjurors,' and describes them as robbers who get their
information by performing before the houses of rich bankers and
others. Mang-Garori [192] women steal in markets and other places of
public resort. They wait to see somebody put down his clothes or bag
of rupees and watch till his attention is attracted elsewhere, when,
walking up quietly between the article and its owner, they drop their
petticoat either over or by it, and manage to transfer the stolen
property into their basket while picking up the petticoat. If an
unfavourable omen occurs on the way when the women set out to pilfer
they place a stone on the ground and dash another on to it saying,
'If the obstacle is removed, break'; if the stone struck is broken,
they consider that the obstacle portended by the unfavourable omen
is removed from their path, and proceed on their way; but if not,
they return. Stolen articles are often bartered at liquor-shops for
drink, and the Kalars act as receivers of stolen property for the
Mang-Garoris."

The following are some particulars taken from an old account of the
criminal Mangs; [193] Their leader or headman was called the _naik_
and was elected by a majority of votes, though considerable regard
was paid to heredity. The _naik's_ person and property were alike
inviolable; after a successful foray each of the gang contributed a
quarter of his share to the _naik_, and from the fund thus made up
were defrayed the expenses of preparation, religious offerings and
the triumphal feast. A pair of shoes were usually given to a Brahman
and alms to the poor. To each band was attached an informer, who was
also receiver of the stolen goods. These persons were usually bangle-
or perfume-sellers or jewellers. In this capacity they were admitted
into the women's apartments and so enabled to form a correct notion
of the topography of a house and a shrewd guess as to the wealth
of its inmates. Like all barbarous tribes and all persons addicted
to criminal practices the Mangs were extremely superstitious. They
never set out on an expedition on a Friday. After the birth of a child
the mother and another woman stood on opposite sides of the cradle,
and the former tossed her child to the other, commending it to the
mercy of Jai Gopal, and waited to receive it back in like manner in
the name of Jai Govind. Both Gopal and Govind are names of Krishna,
The Mangs usually married young in life. If a girl happened to hang
heavy on hand she was married at the age of puberty to the deity. In
other words, she was attached as a prostitute to the temple of the god
Khandoba or the goddess Yellama. Those belonging to the service of
the latter were wont in the month of February to parade the streets
in a state of utter nudity. When a bachelor wished to marry a widow
he was first united to a swallow-wort plant, and this was immediately
dug up and transplanted, and withering away left him at liberty to
marry the widow. If a lady survived the sorrow caused by the death
of two or three husbands she could not again enter the holy state
unless she consented to be married with a fowl under her armpit;
the unfortunate bird being afterwards killed to appease the manes of
her former consorts.

Manihar

_Manihar._ [194]--A small caste of pedlars and hawkers. In northern
India the Manihars are makers of glass bangles, and correspond to the
Kachera caste of the Central Provinces. Mr. Nesfield remarks [195]
that the special industry of the Manihars of the United Provinces is
the making of glass bangles or bracelets. These are an indispensable
adjunct to the domestic life of the Hindu woman; for the glass bangle
is not worn for personal ornament, but as the badge of the matrimonial
state, like the wedding-ring in Europe. But in the Central Provinces
glass bangles are made by the Kacheras and the Muhammadan Turkaris
or Sisgars, and the Manihars are petty hawkers of stationery and
articles for the toilet, such as miniature looking-glasses, boxes,
stockings, needles and thread, spangles, and imitation jewellery; and
Hindu Jogis and others who take to this occupation are accustomed to
give their caste as Manihar. In 1911 nearly 700 persons belonging to
the caste were returned from the northern Districts of the Central
Provinces. The Manihars are nominally Muhammadans, but they retain
many Hindu customs. At their weddings they erect a marriage-tent,
anoint the couple with oil and turmeric and make them wear a _kankan_
or wrist-band, to which is attached a small purse containing a little
mustard-seed and a silver ring. The mustard is intended to scare away
the evil spirits. When the marriage procession reaches the bride's
village it is met by her people, one of whom holds a bamboo in his
hands and bars the advance of the procession. The bridegroom's father
thereupon makes a present of a rupee to the village _panchayat_,
and his people are allowed to proceed. When the bridegroom reaches
the bride's house he finds her younger sister carrying a _kalas_
or pot of water on her head; he drops a rupee into it and enters the
house. The bride's sister then comes holding above her head a small
frame like a _tazia_ [196] with a cocoanut core hanging inside. She
raises the frame as high as she can to prevent the bridegroom from
plucking out the cocoanut core, which, however, he succeeds in doing
in the end. The girl applies powdered _mehndi_ or henna to the little
finger of the boy's right hand, in return for which she receives a
rupee and a piece of cloth. The Kazi then recites verses from the
Koran which the bridegroom repeats after him, and the bride does the
same in her turn. This is the Nikah or marriage proper, and before
it takes place the bridegroom's father must present a nose-ring to
the bride. The parents also fix the Meher or dowry, which, however,
is not a dowry proper, but a stipulation that if the bridegroom
should put away his wife after marriage he will pay her a certain
agreed sum. After the Nikah the bridegroom is given some spices,
which he grinds on a slab with a roller. He must do the grinding very
slowly and gently so as to make no noise, or it is believed that
the married life of the couple will be broken by quarrels. A widow
is permitted to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband,
but not his elder brother. The caste bury their dead with the head to
the north. The corpse is first bathed and wrapped in a new white sheet,
with another sheet over it, and is then laid on a cot or in a _janaza_
or coffin. While it is being carried to the cemetery the bearers are
changed every few steps, so that every man who accompanies the funeral
may carry the corpse for a short distance. When it is lowered into
the grave the sheet is taken off and given to a Fakir or beggar. When
the body is covered with earth the priest reads the funeral verses
at a distance of forty steps from the grave. Feasts are given to the
caste-fellows on the third, tenth, twentieth and fortieth days after
the death. The Manihars observe the Shabrat festival by distributing to
the caste-fellows _halua_ or a mixture of melted butter and flour. The
Shabrat is the middle night of the month Shaban, and Muhammad declared
that on this night God registers the actions which every man will
perform during the following year, and all those who are fated to die
and the children who are to be born. Like Hindu widows the Manihar
women break their bangles when their husband's corpse is removed to
the burial-ground. The Manihars eat flesh, but not beef or pork; and
they also abstain from alcoholic liquor. If a girl is seduced and made
pregnant before marriage either by a man of the caste or an outsider,
she remains in her father's house until her child has been born,
and may then be married either to her paramour or any other man of
the caste by the simple repetition of the Nikah or marriage verses,
omitting all other ceremonies. The Manihars will admit into their
community converted Hindus belonging even to the lowest castes.