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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5. Betrothal

The first ceremony for a marriage is known as _pan bandhi_ or the
settling of the price; for which the boy's father, accompanied by
some men of his village to represent _the panch_ or elders, goes to
the girl's house. Father Dehon states that the bride-price is five
rupees and four maunds of grain. When this has been settled the
rejoicings begin. "All the people of the village are invited; two
boys come and anoint the visitors with oil. From every house of the
village that can afford it a _handia_ or pot of rice-beer is brought,
and they drink together and make merry. All this time the girl has been
kept inside, but now she suddenly sallies forth carrying a _handia_
on her head. A murmur of admiration greets her when stepping through
the crowd she comes and stands in front of her future father-in-law,
who at once takes the _handia_ from her head, embraces her, and gives
her one rupee. From that time during the whole of the feast the girl
remains sitting at the feet of her father-in-law. The whole party
meanwhile continue drinking and talking; and voices rise so high
that they cannot hear one another. As a diversion the old women of
the village all come tumbling in, very drunk and wearing fantastic
hats made of leaves, gesticulating like devils and carrying a straw
manikin representing the bridegroom. They all look like old witches,
and in their drunken state are very mischievous."

6. Marriage ceremony

The marriage takes place after about two years, visits being exchanged
twice a year in the meantime. When the day comes the bridegroom
proceeds with a large party of his friends, male and female, to the
bride's house. Most of the males have warlike weapons, real or sham,
and as they approach the village of the bride's family the young men
from thence emerge, also armed, as if to repel the invasion, and a
mimic fight ensues, which like a dissolving view blends pleasantly
into a dance. In this the bride and bridegroom join, each riding on
the hips of one of their friends. After this they have a feast till
late in the night. Next morning bread cooked by the bride's mother
is taken to the _dari_ or village spring, where all the women partake
of it. When they have finished they bring a vessel of water with some
leaves of the mango tree in it. Meanwhile the bride and bridegroom are
in the house, being anointed with oil and turmeric by their respective
sisters. When everybody has gathered under the marriage-bower the
boy and girl are brought out of the house and a heap is made of
a plough-yoke, a bundle of thatching-grass and a curry-stone. The
bride and bridegroom are made to stand on the curry-stone, the boy
touching the heels of the bride with his toes, and a long piece of
cloth is put round them to screen them from the public. Only their
heads and feet can be seen. A goblet full of vermilion is presented
to the boy, who dips his finger in it and makes three lines on
the forehead of the girl; and the girl does the same to the boy,
but as she has to reach him over her shoulder and cannot see him,
the boy gets it anywhere, on his face, which never fails to provoke
hearty bursts of laughter. "When this is complete," Dalton states,
"a gun is fired and then by some arrangement vessels full of water,
placed over the bower, are upset, and the young couple and those
near them receive a drenching shower-bath, the women shouting,
'The marriage is done, the marriage is done.' They now retire into
an apartment prepared for them, ostensibly to change their clothes,
but they do not emerge for some time, and when they do appear they
are saluted as man and wife."

7. Special Customs

Meanwhile the guests sit round drinking _handias_ or earthen pots full
of rice-beer. The bride and bridegroom come out and retire a second
time and are called out for the following rite. A vessel of beer
is brought and the bride carries a cupful of it to the bridegroom's
brother, but instead of giving it into his hand she deposits it on
the ground in front of him. This is to seal a kind of tacit agreement
that from that time the bridegroom's brother will not touch his
sister-in-law, and was probably instituted to mark the abolition of
the former system of fraternal polyandry, customs of an analogous
nature being found among the Khonds and Korkus. "Then," Father Dehon
continues, "comes the last ceremony, which is called _khiritengna
handia_ or the _handia_ of the story, and is considered by the Oraons
to be the true form of marriage which has been handed down to them by
their forefathers. The boy and girl sit together before the people,
and one of the elder men present rises and addressing the boy says:
'If your wife goes to fetch _sag_ and falls from a tree and breaks her
leg, do not say that she is disfigured or crippled. You will have to
keep and feed her.' Then turning to the girl: 'When your husband goes
hunting, if his arm or leg is broken, do not say, "He is a cripple,
I won't live with him." Do not say that, for you have to remain with
him. If you prepare meat, give two shares to him and keep only one for
yourself. If you prepare vegetables, give him two parts and keep only
one part for yourself. If he gets sick and cannot go out, do not say
that he is dirty, but clean his mat and wash him.' A feast follows,
and at night the girl is brought to the boy by her mother, who says
to him, 'Now this my child is yours; I do not give her for a few days
but for ever; take care of her and love her well.' A companion of the
bridegroom's then seizes the girl in his arms and carries her inside
the house."

8. Widow-remarriage and divorce

It is uncommon for a man to have two wives. Divorce is permitted,
and is usually effected by the boy or girl running away to the Duars
or Assam. Widow-remarriage is a regular practice. The first time a
widow marries again, Father Dehon states, the bridegroom must pay
Rs. 3-8 for her; if successive husbands die her price goes down by
a rupee on each fresh marriage, so that a fifth husband would pay
only eight annas. Cases of adultery are comparatively rare. When
offenders are caught a heavy fine is imposed if they are well-to-do,
and if they are not, a smaller fine and a beating.

9. Customs at birth

"The Oraons," Father Dehon continues, "are a very prolific race, and
whenever they are allowed to live without being too much oppressed
they increase prodigiously. What strikes you when you come to an Oraon
village is the number of small dirty children playing everywhere,
while you can scarcely meet a woman that does not carry a baby on her
back. The women seem, to a great extent, to have been exempted from the
curse of our first mother: 'Thou shalt bring forth, etc.' They seem
to give birth to their children with the greatest ease. There is no
period of uncleanness, and the very day after giving birth to a child,
you will see the mother with her baby tied up in a cloth on her back
and a pitcher on her head going, as if nothing had happened, to the
village spring." This practice, it may be remarked in parenthesis,
may arise from the former observance of the Couvade, the peculiar
custom prevailing among several primitive races, by which, when a
child is born, the father lies in the house and pretends to be ill,
while the mother gets up immediately and goes about her work. The
custom has been reported as existing among the Oraons by one observer
from Bilaspur, [361] but so far without confirmation.

10. Naming a child

"A child is named eight or ten days after birth, and on this day
some men of the village and the members of the family assemble at
the parents' house. Two leaf-cups are brought, one full of water
and the other of rice. After a preliminary formula grains of rice
are let fall into the cup, first in the name of the child and then
successively in those of his ancestors in the following order:
paternal grandfather, paternal great-grandfather, father, paternal
uncle, maternal grandfather, other relatives. When the grain dropped
in the name of any relative meets the first one dropped to represent
the child, he is given the name of that relative and is probably
considered to be a reincarnation of him."

11. Branding and tattooing

"When a boy is six or seven years old it is time for him to become a
member of the Dhumkuria or common dormitory. The eldest boys catch hold
of his left arm and, with burning cloth, burn out five deep marks on
the lower part of his arm. This is done so that he may be recognised
as an Oraon at his death when he goes into the other world." The
ceremony was probably the initiation to manhood on arrival at puberty,
and resembled those prevalent among the Australian tribes. With this
exception men are not tattooed, but this decoration is profusely
resorted to by women. They have three parallel vertical lines on the
forehead which form a distinctive mark, and other patterns on the arms,
chest, knees and ankles. These usually consist of lines vertical and
horizontal as shown below:

The marks on the knees are considered to be steps by which the wearer
will ascend to heaven after her death. If a baby cries much it is
also tattooed on the nose and chin.

12. Dormitory discipline

The Dhumkuria fraternity, Colonel Dalton remarks, are, under the
severest penalties, bound down to secrecy in regard to all that takes
place in their dormitory; and even girls are punished if they dare
to tell tales. They are not allowed to join in the dances till the
offence is condoned. They have a regular system of fagging in this
curious institution. The small boys serve those of larger growth,
shampoo their limbs, comb their hair, and so on, and they are sometimes
subjected to severe discipline to make men of them.

13. Disposal of the dead

The Oraons either bury or burn the dead. As the corpse is carried
to the grave, beginning from the first crossroads, they sprinkle a
line of rice as far as the grave or pyre. This is done so that the
soul of the deceased may find its way back to the house. Before the
burial or cremation cooked food and some small pieces of money are
placed in the mouth of the corpse. They are subsequently, however,
removed or recovered from the ashes and taken by the musicians
as their fee. Some clothes belonging to the deceased and a vessel
with some rice are either burnt with the corpse or placed in the
grave. As the grave is being filled in they place a stalk of _orai_
[362] grass vertically on the head of the corpse and gradually draw
it upwards as the earth is piled on the grave. They say that this is
done in order to leave a passage for the air to pass to the nostrils
of the deceased. This is the grass from which reed pens are made,
and the stalk is hard and hollow. Afterwards they plant a root of
the same grass where the stalk is standing over the head of the
corpse. On the tenth day they sacrifice a pig and fowl and bury the
legs, tail, ears and nose of the pig in a hole with seven balls of iron
dross. They then proceed to the grave scattering a little parched rice
all the way along the path. Cooked rice is offered at the grave. If
the corpse has been burnt they pick up the bones and place them in a
pot, which is brought home and hung up behind the dead man's house. At
night-time a relative sits inside the house watching a burning lamp,
while some friends go outside the village and make a miniature hut
with sticks and grass and set fire to it. They then call out to the
dead man, 'Come, your house is being burnt,' and walk home striking
a mattock and sickle together. On coming to the house they kick down
the matting which covers the doorway; the man inside says, 'Who are
you?' and they answer, 'It is we.' They watch the lamp and when the
flame wavers they believe it to show that the spirit of the deceased
has followed them and has also entered the house. Next day the bones
are thrown into a river and the earthen pot broken against a stone.

14. Worship of ancestors

The _pitras_ or ancestors are worshipped at every festival, and when
the new rice is reaped a hen is offered to them. They pray to their
dead parents to accept the offering and then place a few grains of
rice before the hen. If she eats them, it is a sign that the ancestors
have accepted the offering and a man kills the hen by crushing its head
with his closed fist. This is probably, as remarked by Father Dehon, in
recollection of the method employed before the introduction of knives,
and the same explanation may be given of the barbaric method of the
Baigas of crushing a pig to death by a beam of wood used as a see-saw
across its body, and of the Gond bride and bridegroom killing a fowl
by treading on it when they first enter their house after the wedding.

15. Religion. The supreme deity

The following account of the tribal religion is abridged from Father
Dehon's full and interesting description:

"The Oraons worship a supreme god who is known as Dharmes; him they
invoke in their greatest difficulties when recourse to the village
priests and magicians has proved useless. Then they turn to Dharmes
and say, 'Now we have tried everything, but we have still you who can
help us.' They sacrifice to him a white cock. They think that god is
too good to punish them, and that they are not answerable to him in any
way for their conduct; they believe that everybody will be treated in
the same way in the other world. There is no hell for them or place
of punishment, but everybody will go to _merkha_ or heaven. The Red
Indians speak of the happy hunting-grounds and the Oraons imagine
something like the happy ploughing-grounds, where everybody will have
plenty of land, plenty of bullocks to plough it with, and plenty of
rice-beer to drink after his labour. They look on god as a big zamindar
or landowner, who does nothing himself, but keeps a _chaprasi_ as an
agent or debt-collector; and they conceive the latter as having all
the defects so common to his profession. Baranda, the _chaprasi_,
exacts tribute from them mercilessly, not exactly out of zeal for
the service of his master, but out of greed for his _talbana_ or
perquisites. When making a sacrifice to Dharmes they pray: 'O god,
from to-day do not send any more your _chaprasi_ to punish us. You
see we have paid our respects to you, and we are going to give him
his _dasturi_ (tip).'

16. Minor godlings

"But in the concerns of this world, to obtain good crops and freedom
from sickness, a host of minor deities have to be propitiated. These
consist of _bhuts_ or spirits of the household, the sept, the village,
and common deities, such as the earth and sun. Chola Pacho or the
lady of the grove lives in the _sarna_ or sacred grove, which has
been left standing when the forest was cleared. She is credited with
the power of giving rain and consequently good crops. Churel is the
shade of a woman who has died while pregnant or in childbirth. She
hovers over her burial-place and is an object of horror and fright to
every passer-by. It is her nature to look out for a companion, and she
is said always to choose that member of a family whom she liked best
during her lifetime. She will then come at night and embrace him and
tickle him under the arms, making him laugh till he dies. Bhula or the
wanderers are the shades of persons who have died an unnatural death,
either having been murdered, hanged, or killed by a tiger. They all
keep the scars of their respective wounds and one can imagine what a
weird-looking lot they are. They are always on the move, and are, as
it were, the mendicant portion of the invisible community. They are
not very powerful and are responsible only for small ailments, like
nightmares and slight indispositions. When an Ojha or spirit-raiser
discovers that a Bhula has appeared in the light of his lamp he shows
a disappointed face, and says: 'Pshaw, only Bhula!' No sacrifice
is offered to him, but the Ojha then and there takes a few grains
of rice, rubs them in charcoal and throws them at the flame of his
lamp, saying, 'Take this, Bhula, and go away.' Murkuri is the thumping
_bhut_. Europeans to show their kindness and familiarity thump people
on the back. If this is followed by fever or any kind of sickness
it will be ascribed to the passing of Murkuri from the body of the
European into the body of the native.

"_Chordewa_ is a witch rather than a _bhut_. It is believed that
some women have the power to change their soul into a black cat,
who then goes about in the houses where there are sick people. Such a
cat has a peculiar way of mewing, quite different from its brethren,
and is easily recognised. It steals quietly into the house, licks
the lips of the sick man and eats the food which has been prepared
for him. The sick man soon gets worse and dies. They say it is very
difficult to catch the cat, as it has all the nimbleness of its nature
and the cleverness of a _bhut_. However, they sometimes succeed, and
then something wonderful happens. The woman out of whom the cat has
come remains insensible, as it were in a state of temporary death,
until the cat re-enters her body. Any wound inflicted on the cat will
be inflicted on her; if they cut its ears or break its legs or put
out its eyes the woman will suffer the same mutilation. The Oraons
say that formerly they used to burn any woman who was suspected of
being a _Chordewa_.

17. Human sacrifice

"There is also Anna Kuari or Mahadhani, who is in our estimation
the most cruel and repulsive deity of all, as she requires human
sacrifice. Those savage people, who put good crops above everything,
look upon her in a different light. She can give good crops and make a
man rich, and this covers a multitude of sins. People may be sceptical
about it and say that it is impossible that in any part of India under
the British Government there should still be human sacrifices. Well,
in spite of all the vigilance of the authorities, there are still
human sacrifices in Chota Nagpur. As the vigilance of the authorities
increases, so also does the carefulness of the Urkas or Otongas
increase. They choose for their victims poor waifs or strangers,
whose disappearance no one will notice. April and May are the months
in which the Urkas are at work. Doisa, Panari, Kukra and Sarguja have
a very bad reputation. During these months no strangers will go about
the country alone and during that time nowhere will boys and girls
be allowed to go to the jungle and graze the cattle for fear of the
Urkas. When an Urka has found a victim he cuts his throat and carries
away the upper part of the ring finger and the nose. Anna Kuari finds
votaries not only among the Oraons, but especially among the big
zamindars and Rajas of the Native States. When a man has offered a
sacrifice to Anna Kuari she goes and lives in his house in the form
of a small child. From that time his fields yield double harvest,
and when he brings in his paddy he takes Anna Kuari and rolls her
over the heap to double its size. But she soon becomes restless and
is only pacified by new human sacrifices. At last after some years she
cannot bear remaining in the same house any more and kills every one."

18. Christianity

In Jashpur State where the Oraons number 47,000 about half the total
number have become Christians. The non-Christians call themselves
Sansar, and the principal difference between them is that the
Christians have cut off the pigtail, while the Sansar retain it. In
some families the father may be a Sansar and the son a Kiristan,
and they live together without any distinction. The Christians belong
to the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Missions, but though they all know
their Church, they naturally have little or no idea of the distinctions
of doctrine.

19. Festivals. The Karma or May-day

The principal festivals are the Sarhul, celebrated when the _sal_
tree [363] flowers, the Karma or May-day when the rice is ready for
planting out, and the Kanihari or harvest celebration.

"At the Karma festival a party of young people of both sexes," says
Colonel Dalton, "proceed to the forest and cut a young _karma_ tree
(_Nauclea parvifolia_) or the branch of one; they bear this home
in triumph and plant it in the centre of the Akhara or wrestling
ground. Next morning all may be seen at an early hour in holiday
array, the elders in groups under the fine old tamarind trees that
surround the Akhara, and the youth of both sexes, arm-linked in a
huge circle, dancing round the _karma_ tree, which, festooned with
garlands, decorated with strips of coloured cloth and sham bracelets
and necklets of plaited straw, and with the bright faces and merry
laughter of the young people encircling it, reminds one of the
gift-bearing tree so often introduced at our own great festival." The
tree, however, probably corresponds to the English Maypole, and the
festival celebrates the renewal of vegetation.

20. The _sal_ flower festival

At the Sarhul festival the marriage of the sun-god and earth-mother
is celebrated, and this cannot be done till the _sal_ tree gives
the flowers for the ceremony. It takes place about the beginning of
April on any day when the tree is in flower. A white cock is taken
to represent the sun and a black hen the earth; their marriage is
celebrated by marking them with vermilion, and they are sacrificed. The
villagers then accompany the Pahan or Baiga, the village priest, to
the _sarna_ or sacred grove, a remnant of the old _sal_ forest in
which is located Sarna Burhi or 'The old women of the grove.' "To
this dryad," writes Colonel Dalton, "who is supposed to have great
influence over the rain (a superstition not improbably founded on the
importance of trees as cloud-compellers), the party offer five fowls,
which are afterwards eaten, and the remainder of the day is spent
in feasting. They return laden with the flowers of the _sal_ tree,
and next morning with the Baiga pay a visit to every house, carrying
the flowers. The women of the village all stand on the threshold of
their houses, each holding two leaf-cups; one empty to receive the
holy water; the other with rice-beer for the Baiga. His reverence
stops at each house, and places flowers over it and in the hair of
the women. He sprinkles the holy water on the seeds that have been
kept for the new year and showers blessings on every house, saying,
'May your rooms and granary be filled with paddy that the Baiga's name
may be great.' When this is accomplished the woman throws a vessel
of water over his venerable person, heartily dousing the man whom the
moment before they were treating with such profound respect. This is no
doubt a rain-charm, and is a familiar process. The Baiga is prevented
from catching cold by being given the cup of rice-beer and is generally
gloriously drunk before he completes his round. There is now a general
feast, and afterwards the youth of both sexes, gaily decked with the
_sal_ blossoms, the pale cream-white flowers of which make the most
becoming of ornaments against their dusky skins and coal-black hair,
proceed to the Akhara and dance all night."

21. The harvest festival

The Kanihari, as described by Father Dehon, is held previous
to the threshing of the rice, and none is allowed to prepare his
threshing-floor until it has been celebrated. It can only take place
on a Tuesday. A fowl is sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the
new rice. In the evening a common feast is held at which the Baiga
presides, and when this is over they go to the place where Mahadeo
is worshipped and the Baiga pours milk over the stone that represents
him. The people then dance. Plenty of rice-beer is brought, and a scene
of debauchery takes place in which all restraint is put aside. They
sing the most obscene songs and give vent to all their passions. On
that day no one is responsible for any breach of morality.

22. Fast for the crops

Like other primitive races, and the Hindus generally, the Oraons
observe the Lenten fast, as explained by Sir J.G. Frazer, after sowing
their crops. Having committed his seed with every propitiatory rite to
the bosom of Mother Earth, the savage waits with anxious expectation
to see whether she will once again perform on his behalf the yearly
miracle of the renewal of vegetation, and the growth of the corn-plants
from the seed which the Greeks typified by the descent of Proserpine
into Hades for a season of the year and her triumphant re-emergence to
the upper air. Meanwhile he fasts and atones for any sin or shortcoming
of his which may possibly have offended the goddess and cause her to
hold her hand. From the beginning of _Asarh_ (June) the Oraons cease
to shave, abstain from eating turmeric, and make no leaf-plates for
their food, but eat it straight from the cooking-vessel. This they now
say is to prevent the field-mice from consuming the seeds of the rice.

23. Physical appearance and costume of the Oraons

"The colour of most Oraons," Sir H. Risley states, "is the darkest
brown approaching to black; the hair being jet-black, coarse and
rather inclined to be frizzy. Projecting jaws and teeth, thick
lips, low narrow foreheads, and broad flat noses are the features
characteristic of the tribe. The eyes are often bright and full,
and no obliquity is observable in the opening of the eyelids."