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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"The Oraon youths," Dalton states, "though with features very far
from being in accordance with the statutes of beauty, are of a
singularly pleasing class, their faces beaming with animation and
good humour. They are a small race, averaging 4 feet 5 inches, but
there is perfect proportion in all parts of their form, and their
supple, pliant, lithe figures are often models of symmetry. There
is about the young Oraon a jaunty air and mirthful expression that
distinguishes him from the Munda or Ho, who has more of the dignified
gravity that is said to characterise the North American Indian. The
Oraon is particular about his personal appearance only so long as he
is unmarried, but he is in no hurry to withdraw from the Dhumkuria
community, and generally his first youth is passed before he resigns
his decorative propensities.

"He wears his hair long like a woman, gathered in a knot behind,
supporting, when he is in gala costume, a red or white turban. In the
knot are wooden combs and other instruments useful and ornamental,
with numerous ornaments of brass. [364] At the very extremity of the
roll of hair gleams a small circular mirror set in brass, from which,
and also from his ears, bright brass chains with spiky pendants dangle,
and as he moves with the springy elastic step of youth and tosses his
head like a high-mettled steed in the buoyancy of his animal spirits,
he sets all his glittering ornaments in motion and displays as he
laughs a row of teeth, round, white and regular, that give light and
animation to his dusky features. He wears nothing in the form of a
coat; his decorated neck and chest are undraped, displaying how the
latter tapers to the waist, which the young dandies compress within
the smallest compass. In addition to the cloth, there is always round
the waist a girdle of cords made of tasar-silk or of cane. This is
now a superfluity, but it is no doubt the remnant of a more primitive
costume, perhaps the support of the antique fig-leaves.

"Out of the age of ornamentation nothing can be more untidy or more
unprepossessing than the appearance of the Oraon. The ornaments are
nearly all discarded, hair utterly neglected, and for raiment any
rags are used. This applies both to males and females of middle age.

24. Dress of women

"The dress of the women consists of one cloth, six yards long,
gracefully adjusted so as to form a shawl and a petticoat. The upper
end is thrown over the left shoulder and falls with its fringe and
ornamented border prettily over the back of the figure. Vast quantities
of red beads and a large, heavy brass ornament shaped like a _torque_
are worn round the neck. On the left hand are rings of copper,
as many as can be induced on each finger up to the first joint, on
the right hand a smaller quantity; rings on the second toe only of
brass or bell-metal, and anklets and bracelets of the same material
are also worn." The women wear only metal and not glass bangles, and
this with the three vertical tattoo-marks on the forehead and the fact
that the head and right arm are uncovered enables them to be easily
recognised. "The hair is made tolerably smooth and amenable by much
lubrication, and false hair or some other substance is used to give
size to the mass into which it is gathered not immediately behind,
but more or less on one side, so that it lies on the neck just behind
and touching the right ear; and flowers are arranged in a receptacle
made for them between the roll of hair and the head." Rings are worn
in the lobes of the ear, but not other ornaments. "When in dancing
costume on grand occasions they add to their head-dress plumes of
heron feathers, and a gay bordered scarf is tightly bound round the
upper part of the body."

25. Dances

"The tribe I am treating of are seen to best advantage at the great
national dance meetings called Jatras, which are held once a year at
convenient centres, generally large mango groves in the vicinity of old
villages. As a signal to the country round, the flags of each village
are brought out on the day fixed and set upon the road that leads
to the place of meeting. This incites the young men and maidens to
hurry through their morning's work and look up their _jatra_ dresses,
which are by no means ordinary attire. Those who have some miles to
go put up their finery in a bundle to keep it fresh and clean, and
proceed to some tank or stream in the vicinity of the tryst grove;
and about two o'clock in the afternoon may be seen all around groups
of girls laughingly making their toilets in the open air, and young
men in separate parties similarly employed. When they are ready the
drums are beaten, huge horns are blown, and thus summoned the group
from each village forms its procession. In front are young men with
swords and shields or other weapons, the village standard-bearers
with their flags, and boys waving yaks' tails or bearing poles with
fantastic arrangements of garlands and wreaths intended to represent
umbrellas of dignity. Sometimes a man riding on a wooden horse is
carried, horse and all, by his friends as the Raja, and others assume
the form of or paint themselves up to represent certain beasts of
prey. Behind this motley group the main body form compactly together
as a close column of dancers in alternate ranks of boys and girls,
and thus they enter the grove, where the meeting is held in a cheery
dashing style, wheeling and countermarching and forming lines, circles
and columns with grace and precision. The dance with these movements
is called _kharia_, and it is considered to be an Oraon rather than
a Munda dance, though Munda girls join in it. When they enter the
grove the different groups join and dance the _kharia_ together,
forming one vast procession and then a monstrous circle. The drums
and musical instruments are laid aside, and it is by the voices alone
that the time is given; but as many hundreds, nay, thousands, join,
the effect is imposing. In serried ranks, so closed up that they
appear jammed, they circle round in file, all keeping perfect step,
but at regular intervals the strain is terminated by a _hururu_,
which reminds one of Paddy's 'huroosh' as he 'welts the floor,' and
at the same moment they all face inwards and simultaneously jumping
up come down on the ground with a resounding stamp that makes the
finale of the movements, but only for a momentary pause. One voice
with a startling yell takes up the strain again, a fresh start is
made, and after gyrating thus till they tire of it the ring breaks
up, and separating into village groups they perform other dances
independently till near sunset, and then go dancing home."

26. Social customs

But more often they go on all night. Mr. Ball mentions their dance
as follows: [365] "The Oraon dance was distinct from any I had seen
by the Santals or other races. The girls, carefully arranged in lines
by sizes, with the tallest at one end and the smallest at the other,
firmly grasp one another's hands, and the whole movements are so
perfectly in concert that they spring about with as much agility
as could a single individual." Father Dehon gives the following
interesting notice of their social customs: "The Oraons are very
sociable beings, and like to enjoy life together. They are paying
visits or _pahis_ to one another nearly the whole year round. In these
the _handia_ (beer-jar) always plays a great part. Any man who would
presume to receive visitors without offering them a _handia_ would be
hooted and insulted by his guests, who would find a sympathising echo
from all the people of the village. One may say that from the time of
the new rice at the end of September to the end of the marriage feast
or till March there is a continual coming and going of visitors. For a
marriage feast forty _handias_ are prepared by the groom's father, and
all the people of the village who can afford it supply one also. Each
_handia_ gives about three gallons of rice-beer, so that in one day and
a half, in a village of thirty houses, about 200 gallons of rice-beer
are despatched. The Oraons are famous for their dances. They delight
in spending the whole night from sunset till morning in this most
exciting amusement, and in the dancing season they go from village to
village. They get, as it were, intoxicated with the music, and there is
never any slackening of the pace. On the contrary, the evolutions seem
to increase till very early in the morning, and it sometimes happens
that one of the dancers shoots off rapidly from the gyrating group, and
speeds away like a spent top, and, whirlwind-like, disappears through
paddy-fields and ditches till he falls entirely exhausted. Of course
it is the devil who has taken possession of him. One can well imagine
in what state the dancers are at the first crow of the cock, and when
'_L'aurore avec ses doigts de rose entr'ouvre les portes de l'orient,_'
she finds the girls straggling home one by one, dishevelled, _trainant
l'aile_, too tired even to enjoy the company of the boys, who remain
behind in small groups, still sounding their tom-toms at intervals
as if sorry that the performance was so soon over. And, wonderful to
say and incredible to witness, they will go straight to the stalls,
yoke their bullocks, and work the whole morning with the same spirit
and cheerfulness as if they had spent the whole night in refreshing
sleep. At eleven o'clock they come home, eat their meal, and stretched
out in the verandah sleep like logs until two, when poked and kicked
about unmercifully by the people of the house, they reluctantly get
up with heavy eyes and weary limbs to resume their work."

27. Social rules

The Oraons do not now admit outsiders into the tribe. There is no
offence for which a man is permanently put out of caste, but a woman
living with any man other than an Oraon is so expelled. Temporary
expulsion is awarded for the usual offences. The head of the caste
_panchayat_ is called Panua, and when an offender is reinstated,
the Panua first drinks water from his hand, and takes upon himself
the burden of the erring one's transgression. For this he usually
receives a fee of five rupees, and in some States the appointment is
in the hands of the Raja, who exacts a fine of a hundred rupees or
more from a new candidate. The Oraons eat almost all kinds of food,
including pork, fowls and crocodiles, but abstain from beef. Their
status is very low among the Hindus; they are usually made to live
in a separate corner of the village, and are sometimes not allowed to
draw water from the village well. As already stated, the dress of the
men consists only of a narrow wisp of cloth round the loins. Some of
them say, like the Gonds, that they are descended from the subjects
of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon; this ancestry having no doubt
in the first instance been imputed to them by the Hindus. And they
explain that when Hanuman in the shape of a giant monkey came to
the assistance of Rama, their king Rawan tried to destroy Hanuman
by taking all the loin-cloths of his subjects and tying them soaked
in oil to the monkey's tail with a view to setting them on fire and
burning him to death. The device was unsuccessful and Hanuman escaped,
but since then the subjects of Rawan and their descendants have never
had a sufficient allowance of cloth to cover them properly.

28. Character

"The Oraons," Colonel Dalton says, "if not the most virtuous, are
the most cheerful of the human race. Their lot is not a particularly
happy one. They submit to be told that they are especially created as
a labouring class, and they have had this so often dinned into their
ears that they believe and admit it. I believe they relish work if
the taskmaster be not over-exacting. Oraons sentenced to imprisonment
without labour, as sometimes happens, for offences against the excise
laws, insist on joining the working gangs, and wherever employed,
if kindly treated, they work as if they felt an interest in their
task. In cold weather or hot, rain or sun, they go cheerfully about it,
and after some nine or ten hours of toil (seasoned with a little play
and chaff among themselves) they return blithely home in flower-decked
groups holding each other by the hand or round the waist and singing."

29. Language

The Kurukh language, Dr. Grierson states, has no written character,
but the gospels have been printed in it in the Devanagri type. The
translation is due to the Rev. F. Halm, who has also published a
Biblical history, a catechism and other small books in Kurukh. More
than five-sixths of the Oraons are still returned as speaking their
own language.

Paik

_Paik._--A small caste of the Uriya country formed from military
service, the term _paik_ meaning 'a foot-soldier.' In 1901 the
Paiks numbered 19,000 persons in the Kalahandi and Patna States and
the Raipur District, but since the transfer of the Uriya States to
Bengal less than 3000 remain in the Central Provinces. In Kalahandi,
where the bulk of them reside, they are called Nalia Sipahis from
the fact that they were formerly armed with _nalis_ or matchlocks by
the State. After the Khond rising of 1882 in Kalahandi these were
confiscated and bows and arrows given in lieu of them. The Paiks
say that they were the followers of two warriors, Kalmir and Jaimir,
who conquered the Kalahandi and Jaipur States from the Khonds about
a thousand years ago. There is no doubt that they formed the rough
militia of the Uriya Rajas, a sort of rabble half military and half
police, like the Khandaits. But the Khandaits were probably the leaders
and officers, and, as a consequence, though originally only a mixed
occupational group, have acquired a higher status than the Paiks and
in Orissa rank next to the Rajputs. The Paiks were the rank and file,
mainly recruited from the forest tribes, and they are counted as
a comparatively low caste, though to strangers they profess to be
Rajputs. In Sambalpur it is said that Rajputs, Sudhs, Bhuiyas and
Gonds are called Paiks. In Kalahandi they wear the sacred thread,
being invested with it by a Brahman at the time of their marriage,
and they say that this privilege was conferred on them by the Raja. It
is reported, however, that social distinctions may be purchased in
some of the Uriya States for comparatively small sums. A Bhatra or
member of a forest tribe was observed wearing the sacred thread,
and, on being questioned, stated that his grandfather had purchased
the right from the Raja for Rs. 50. The privileges of wearing gold
ear ornaments, carrying an umbrella, and riding on horseback were
obtainable in a similar manner. It is also related that when one
Raja imported the first pair of boots seen in his State, the local
landholders were allowed to wear them in turn for a few minutes on
payment of five rupees each, as a token of their right thereafter to
procure and wear boots of their own. In Damoh and Jubbulpore another
set of Paiks is to be found who also claim to be Rajputs, and are
commonly so called, though true Rajputs will not eat or intermarry
with them. These are quite distinct from the Sambalpur Paiks, but have
probably been formed into a caste in exactly the same manner. The
sept or family names of the Uriya Paiks sufficiently indicate their
mixed descent. Some of them are as follows: Dube (a Brahman title),
Chalak Bansi (of the Chalukya royal family), Chhit Karan (belonging
to the Karans or Uriya Kayasths), Sahani (a sais or groom), Sudh (the
name of an Uriya caste), Benet Uriya (a subdivision of the Uriya or Od
mason caste), and so on. It is clear that members of different castes
who became Paiks founded separate families, which in time developed
into exogamous septs. Some of the septs will not eat food cooked with
water in company with the rest of the caste, though they do not object
to intermarrying with them. After her marriage a girl may not take
food cooked by her parents nor will they accept it from her. And at a
marriage party each guest is supplied with grain and cooks it himself,
but everybody will eat with the bride and bridegroom as a special
concession to their position. Besides the exogamous clans the Paiks
have totemistic _gots_ or groups named after plants and animals, as
Harin (a deer), Kadamb (a tree), and so on. But these have no bearing
on marriage, and the bulk of the caste have the Nagesh or cobra as
their sept name. It is said that anybody who does not know his sept
considers himself to be a Nagesh, and if he does not know his clan,
he calls himself a Mahanti. Each family among the Paiks has also a
Sainga or title, of a high-sounding nature, as Naik (lord), Pujari
(worshipper), Baidya (physician), Raut (noble), and so on. Marriages
are generally celebrated in early youth, but no penalty is incurred
for a breach of this rule. If the signs of adolescence appear in
a girl for the first time on a Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday, it is
considered a bad omen, and she is sometimes married to a tree to avert
the consequences. Widow-marriage and divorce are freely permitted. The
caste burn their dead and perform the _shraddh_ ceremony. The women
are tattooed, and men sometimes tattoo their arms with figures of
the sun and moon in the belief that this will protect them from
snake-bite. The Paiks eat flesh and fish, but abstain from fowls and
other unclean animals and from liquor. Brahmans will not take water
from them, but other castes generally do so. Some of them are still
employed as armed retainers and are remunerated by free grants of land.

Panka

List of Paragraphs

1. _Origin of the caste._
2. _Caste subdivisions._
3. _Endogamous divisions._
4. _Marriage._
5. _Religion._
6. _Other customs._
7. _Occupation._

1. Origin of the caste

_Panka._ [366]--A Dravidian caste of weavers and labourers found
in Mandla, Raipur and Bilaspur, and numbering 215,000 persons in
1911. The name is a variant on that of the Pan tribe of Orissa
and Chota Nagpur, who are also known as Panika, Chik, Ganda and by
various other designations. In the Central Provinces it has, however,
a peculiar application; for while the Pan tribe proper is called Ganda
in Chhattisgarh and the Uriya country, the Pankas form a separate
division of the Gandas, consisting of those who have become members
of the Kabirpanthi sect. In this way the name has been found very
convenient, for since Kabir, the founder of the sect, was discovered by
a weaver woman lying on the lotus leaves of a tank, like Moses in the
bulrushes, and as a newly initiated convert is purified with water,
so the Pankas hold that their name Is _pani ka_ or 'from water.' As
far as possible then they disown their connection with the Gandas,
one of the most despised castes, and say that they are a separate
caste consisting of the disciples of Kabir. This has given rise to
the following doggerel rhyme about them:

Pani se Panka bhae, bundan rache sharir,
Age age Panka bhae, pachhe Das Kabir.

Which may be rendered, 'The Panka indeed is born of water, and his body
is made of drops of water, but there were Pankas before Kabir.' Or
another rendering of the second line is, 'First he was a Panka,
and afterwards he became a disciple of Kabir,' Nevertheless the
Pankas have been successful in obtaining a somewhat higher position
than the Gandas, in that their touch is not considered to convey
impurity. This is therefore an instance of a body of persons from
a low caste embracing a new religion and thereby forming themselves
into a separate caste and obtaining an advance in social position.

2. Caste subdivisions

Of the whole caste 84 per cent are Kabirpanthis and these form
one subcaste; but there are a few others. The Manikpuria say that
their ancestors came from Manikpur in Darbhanga State about three
centuries ago; the Saktaha are those who profess to belong to the
Sakta sect, which simply means that they eat flesh and drink liquor,
being unwilling to submit to the restrictions imposed on Kabirpanthis;
the Bajania are those who play on musical instruments, an occupation
which tends to lower them in Hindu eyes; and the Dom Pankas are
probably a section of the Dom or sweeper caste who have somehow
managed to become Pankas. The main distinction is however between
the Kabirha, who have abjured flesh and liquor, and the Saktaha,
who indulge in them; and the Saktaha group is naturally recruited
from backsliding Kabirpanthis. Properly the Kabirha and Saktaha do
not intermarry, but if a girl from either section goes to a man of
the other she will be admitted into the community and recognised as
his wife, though the regular ceremony is not performed. The Saktaha
worship all the ordinary village deities, but some of the Kabirha at
any rate entirely refrain from doing so, and have no religious rites
except when a priest of their sect comes round, when he gives them
a discourse and they sing religious songs.

3. Endogamous divisions

The caste have a number of exogamous septs, many of which are named
after plants and animals: as Tandia an earthen pot, Chhura a razor,
Neora the mongoose, Parewa the wild pigeon, and others. Other septs
are Panaria the bringer of betel-leaf, Kuldip the lamp-lighter,
Pandwar the washer of feet, Ghughua one who eats the leavings of the
assembly, and Khetgarhia, one who watches the fields during religious
worship. The Sonwania or 'Gold-water' sept has among the Pankas, as
with several of the primitive tribes, the duty of readmitting persons
temporarily put out of caste; while the Naurang or nine-coloured
sept may be the offspring of some illegitimate unions. The Sati sept
apparently commemorate by their name an ancestress who distinguished
herself by self-immolation, naturally a very rare occurrence in so
low a caste as the Pankas. Each sept has its own Bhat or genealogist
who begs only from members of the sept and takes food from them.

4. Marriage

Marriage is prohibited between members of the same sept and also
between first cousins, and a second sister may not be married during
the lifetime of the first. Girls are usually wedded under twelve
years of age. In Mandla the father of the boy and his relatives go to
discuss the match, and if this is arranged each of them kisses the
girl and gives her a piece of small silver. When a Saktaha is going
to look for a wife he makes a fire offering to Dulha Deo, the young
bridegroom god, whose shrine is in the cook-room, and prays to him
saying, 'I am going to such and such a village to ask for a wife; give
me good fortune.' The father of the girl at first refuses his consent
as a matter of etiquette, but finally agrees to let the marriage take
place within a year. The boy pays Rs. 9, which is spent on the feast,
and makes a present of clothes and jewels to the bride. In Chanda a
_chauka_ or consecrated space spread with cowdung with a pattern of
lines of flour is prepared and the fathers of the parties stand inside
this, while a member of the Pandwar sept cries out the names of the
_gotras_ of the bride and bridegroom and says that the everlasting
knot is to be tied between them with the consent of five caste-people
and the sun and moon as witnesses. Before the wedding the betrothed
couple worship Mahadeo and Parvati under the direction of a Brahman,
who also fixes the date of the wedding. This is the only purpose
for which a Brahman is employed by the caste. Between this date and
that of the marriage neither the boy nor girl should be allowed to
go to a tank or cross a river, as it is considered dangerous to their
lives. The superstition has apparently some connection with the belief
that the Pankas are sprung from water, but its exact meaning cannot
be determined. If a girl goes wrong before marriage with a man of the
caste, she is given to him as wife without any ceremony. Before the
marriage seven small pitchers full of water are placed in a bamboo
basket and shaken over the bride's head so that the water may fall on
her. The principal ceremony consists in walking round the sacred pole
called _magrohan_, the skirts of the pair being knotted together. In
some localities this is done twice, a first set of perambulations
being called the Kunwari (maiden) Bhanwar, and the second one of
seven, the Byahi (married) Bhanwar. After the wedding the bride and
her relations return with the bridegroom to his house, their party
being known as Chauthia. The couple are taken to a river and throw
their tinsel wedding ornaments into the water. The bride then returns
home if she is a minor, and when she subsequently goes to live with her
husband the _gauna_ ceremony is performed. Widow-marriage is permitted,
and divorce may be effected for bad conduct on the part of the wife,
the husband giving a sort of funeral feast, called _Marti jiti ka
bhat_, to the castefellows. Usually a man gives several warnings to
his wife to amend her bad conduct before he finally casts her off.

5. Religion

The Pankas worship only Kabir. They prepare a _chauka_ and, sitting in
it, sing songs in his praise, and a cocoanut is afterwards broken and
distributed to those who are present. The assembly is presided over
by a Mahant or priest and the _chauka_ is prepared by his subordinate
called the Diwan. The offices of Mahant and Diwan are hereditary, and
they officiate for a collection of ten or fifteen villages. Otherwise
the caste perform no special worship, but observe the full moon days
of Magh (January), Phagun (February) and Kartik (October) as fasts
in honour of Kabir. Some of the Kabirhas observe the Hindu festivals,
and the Saktahas, as already stated, have the same religious practices
as other Hindus. They admit into the community members of most castes
except the impure ones. In Chhattisgarh a new convert is shaved and
the other Pankas wash their feet over him in order to purify him. He
then breaks a stick in token of having given up his former caste
and is invested with a necklace of _tulsi_ [367] beads. A woman
of any such caste who has gone wrong with a man of the Panka caste
may be admitted after she has lived with him for a certain period on
probation, during which her conduct must be satisfactory, her paramour
also being put out of caste for the same time. Both are then shaved and
invested with the necklaces of _tulsi_ beads. In Mandla a new convert
must clean and whitewash his house and then vacate it with his family
while the Panch or caste committee come and stay there for some time
in order to purify it. While they are there neither the owner nor any
member of his family may enter the house. The Panch then proceed to
the riverside and cook food, after driving the new convert across the
river by pelting him with cowdung. Here he changes his clothes and
puts on new ones, and coming back again across the stream is made to
stand in the _chauk_ and sip the urine of a calf. The _chauk_ is then
washed out and a fresh one made with lines of flour, and standing in
this the convert receives to drink the _dal_, that is, water in which
a little betel, raw sugar and black pepper have been mixed and a piece
of gold dipped. In the evening the Panch again take their food in
the convert's house, while he eats outside it at a distance. Then he
again sips the _dal_, and the Mahant or priest takes him on his lap
and a cloth is put over them both; the Mahant whispers the _mantra_
or sacred verse into his ear, and he is finally considered to have
become a full Kabirha Panka and admitted to eat with the Panch.