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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2. Subdivisions

In Raigarh and Sarangarh of the Central Provinces the above subcastes
are not found, and there are no distinct endogamous groups; but
the more Hinduised members of the caste have begun to marry among
themselves and call themselves Turia, while they look down on the
others to whom they restrict the designation Turi. The names of
subcastes given by Sir H. Risley appear to indicate that the Turis
are an offshoot from the Mundas, with an admixture of Doms and other
low Uriya castes. Among themselves the caste is also known as Husil,
a term which signifies a worker in bamboo. The caste say that their
original ancestor was created by Singbonga, the sun, and had five sons,
one of whom found a wooden image of their deity in the Baranda forest,
near the Barpahari hill in Chota Nagpur. This image was adopted as
their family deity, and is revered to the present day as Barpahari
Deo. The deity is thus called after the hill, of which it is clear that
he is the personified representative. From the five sons are descended
the five main septs of the Turis. The eldest was called Mailuar, and
his descendants are the leaders or headmen of the caste. The group
sprung from the second son are known as Chardhagia, and it is their
business to purify and readmit offenders to caste intercourse. The
descendants of the third son conduct the ceremonial shaving of such
offenders, and are known as Surennar, while those of the fourth son
bring water for the ceremony and are called Tirkuar. The fifth group
is known as Hasdagia, and it is said that they are the offspring of
the youngest brother, who committed some offence, and the four other
brothers took the parts which are still played by their descendants in
his ceremony of purification. Traces of similar divisions appear to be
found in Bengal, as Sir H. Risley states that before a marriage can
be celebrated the consent of the heads of the Madalwar and Surinwar
sections, who are known respectively as Raja and Thakur, is obtained,
while the head of the Charchagiya section officiates as priest. The
above names are clearly only variants of those found in the Central
Provinces. But besides the above groups the Turis have a large number
of exogamous septs of a totemistic nature, some of which are identical
with those of the Mundas.

3. Marriage

Marriage is adult, and the bride and bridegroom are usually about
the same age; but girls are scarce in the caste, and betrothals are
usually effected at an early age, so that the fathers of boys may
obtain brides for their sons. A contract of betrothal, once made,
cannot be broken without incurring social disgrace, and compensation
in money is also exacted. A small bride-price of three or four rupees
and a piece of cloth is payable to the girl's father. As in the case
of some other Uriya castes the proposal for a marriage is couched in
poetic phraseology, the Turi bridegroom's ambassador announcing his
business with the phrase: 'I hear that a sweet-scented flower has
blossomed in your house and I have come to gather it'; to which the
bride's father, if the match be acceptable, replies: 'You may take
away my flower if you will not throw it away when its sweet scent
has gone.' The girl then appears, and the boy's father gives her
a piece of cloth and throws a little liquor over her feet. He then
takes her on his lap and gives her an anna to buy a ring for herself,
and sometimes kisses her and says, 'You will preserve my lineage.' He
washes the feet of her relatives, and the contract of betrothal
is thus completed, and its violation by either party is a serious
matter. The wedding is performed according to the ritual commonly
practised by the Uriya castes. The binding portion of it consists
in the perambulation of the sacred pole five or seven times. After
each circle the bridegroom takes hold of the bride's toe and makes
her kick away a small heap of rice on which a nut and a pice coin
are placed. After this a cloth is held over the couple and each rubs
vermilion on the other's forehead. At this moment the bride's brother
appears, and gives the bridegroom a blow on the back. This is probably
in token of his wrath at being deprived of his sister. A meal of rice
and fowls is set before the bridegroom, but he feigns displeasure,
and refuses to eat them. The bride's parents then present him with a
pickaxe and a crooked knife, saying that these are the implements of
their trade, and will suffice him for a livelihood. The bridegroom,
however, continues obdurate until they promise him a cow or a bullock,
when he consents to eat. The bride's family usually spend some twenty
or more rupees on her wedding, and the bridegroom's family about fifty
rupees. A widow is expected to marry her Dewar or deceased husband's
younger brother, and if she takes somebody else he must repay to the
Dewar the expenditure incurred by the latter's family on her first
marriage. Divorce is permitted for misconduct on the part of the wife
or for incompatibility of temper.

4. Funeral rites

The caste bury the dead, placing the head to the north. They make
libations to the spirits of their ancestors on the last day of Phagun
(February), and not during the fortnight of Pitripaksh in Kunwar
(September) like other Hindu castes. They believe that the spirits of
ancestors are reborn in children, and when a baby is born they put a
grain of rice into a pot of water and then five other grains in the
names of ancestors recently deceased. When one of these meets the
grain representing the child they hold that the ancestor in question
has been born again. The principal deity of the caste is Singbonga, the
sun, and according to one of their stories the sun is female. They say
that the sun and moon were two sisters, both of whom had children, but
when the sun gave out great heat the moon was afraid that her children
would be burnt up, so she hid them in a _handi_ or earthen pot. When
the sun missed her sister's children she asked her where they were,
and the moon replied that she had eaten them up; on which the sun
also ate up her own children. But when night came the moon took her
children out of the earthen pot and they spread out in the sky and
became the stars. And when the sun saw this she was greatly angered
and vowed that she would never look on the moon's face again. And it
is on this account that the moon is not seen in the daytime, and as
the sun ate up all her children there are no stars during the day.

5. Occupation

The caste make and sell all kinds of articles manufactured from the
wood of the bamboo, and the following list of their wares will give an
idea of the variety of purposes for which this product is utilised:
_Tukna_, an ordinary basket; _dauri_, a basket for washing rice
in a stream; _lodhar_, a large basket for carrying grain on carts;
_chuki_, a small basket for measuring grain; _garni_ and _sikosi_,
a small basket for holding betel-leaf and a box for carrying it in
the pocket; _dhitori_, a fish-basket; _dholi_, a large bamboo shed
for storing grain; _ghurki_ and _paili_, grain measures; _chhanni_,
a sieve; _taji_) a balance; _pankha_ and _bijna_, fans; _pelna_, a
triangular frame for a fishing-net; _choniya_, a cage for catching
fish; _chatai_) matting; _chhata_, an umbrella; _chhitori_, a leaf
hat for protecting the body from rain; _pinjra_, a cage; _khunkhuna_,
a rattle; and _guna_, a muzzle for bullocks.

Most of them are very poor, and they say that when Singbonga made
their ancestors he told them to fetch something in which to carry
away the grain which he would give them for their support; but the
Turis brought a bamboo sieve, and when Singbonga poured the grain
into the sieve nearly the whole of it ran out. So he reproved them
for their foolishness, and said, '_Khasar, khasar, tin pasar_,'
which meant that, however hard they should work, they would never
earn more than three handfuls of grain a day.

6. Social status

The social status of the Turis is very low, and their touch is regarded
as impure. They must live outside the village and may not draw water
from the common well; the village barber will not shave them nor
the washerman wash their clothes. They will eat all kinds of food,
including the flesh of rats and other vermin, but not beef. The
rules regarding social impurity are more strictly observed in the
Uriya country than elsewhere, owing to the predominant influence of
the Brahmans, and this is probably the reason why the Turis are so
severely ostracised. Their code of social morality is not strict, and
a girl who is seduced by a man of the caste is simply made over to him
as his wife, the ordinary bride-price being exacted from him. He must
also feed the caste-fellows, and any money which is received by the
girl's father is expended in the same manner. Members of Hindu castes
and Gonds may be admitted into the community, but not the Munda tribes,
such as the Mundas themselves and the Kharias and Korwas; and this,
though the Turis, as has been seen, are themselves an offshoot of the
Munda tribe. The fact indicates that in Chota Nagpur the tribes of the
Munda family occupy a lower social position than the Gonds and others
belonging to the Dravidian family. When an offender of either sex is
to be readmitted into caste after having been temporarily expelled for
some offence he or she is given water to drink and has a lock of hair
cut off. Their women are tattooed on the arms, breast and feet, and
say that this is the only ornament which they can carry to the grave.

Velama

1. Origin and social status

_Velama, Elama, Yelama._--A Telugu cultivating caste found in
large numbers in Vizagapatam and Ganjam, while in 1911 about 700
persons were returned from Chanda and other districts in the Central
Provinces. The caste frequently also call themselves by the honorific
titles of Naidu or Dora (lord). The Velamas are said formerly to
have been one with the Kamma caste, but to have separated on the
question of retaining the custom of _parda_ or _gosha_ which they had
borrowed from the Muhammadans. The Kammas abandoned _parda_, and,
signing a bond written on palm-leaf to this effect, obtained their
name from _kamma_, a leaf. The Velamas retained the custom, but a
further division has taken place on the subject, and one subcaste,
called the Adi or original Velamas, do not seclude their women. The
caste has at present a fairly high position, and several important
Madras chiefs are Velamas, as well as the zamindar of Sironcha in the
Central Provinces. They appear, however, to have improved their status,
and thus to have incurred the jealousy of their countrymen, as is
evidenced by some derogatory sayings current about the caste. Thus
the Balijas call them Guni Sakalvandlu or hunchbacked washermen,
because some of them print chintz and carry their goods in a bundle
on their backs. [714] According to another derivation _guna_ is
the large pot in which they dye their cloth. Another story is that
the name of the caste is Velimala, meaning those who are above or
better than the Dhers, and was a title conferred on them by the Raja
of Bastar in recognition of the bravery displayed by the Velamas in
his army. These stories are probably the outcome of the feeling of
jealousy which attaches to castes which have raised themselves in
the social scale. The customs of the Velamas do not indicate a very
high standard of ceremonial observance, as they eat fowls and pork
and drink liquor. They are said to take food from Bestas and Dhimars,
while Kunbis will take it from them. The men of the caste are tall and
strong, of a comparatively fair complexion and of a bold and arrogant
demeanour. It is said that a Velama will never do anything himself
which a servant can do for him, and a story is told of one of them who
was smoking when a spark fell on his moustache. He called his servant
to remove it, but by the time the man came, his master's moustache had
been burnt away. These stories and the customs of the Velamas appear
to indicate that they are a caste of comparatively low position, who
have gone up in the world, and are therefore tenacious in asserting
a social position which is not universally admitted. Their subcastes
show that a considerable difference in standing exists in the different
branches of the caste. Of these the Racha or royal Velamas, to whom
the chiefs and zamindars belong, are the highest. While others are the
Guna Velamas or those who use a dyer's pot, the Eku or 'Cotton-skein'
who are weavers and carders, and the Tellaku or white leaf Velamas,
the significance of this last name not being known. It is probable
that the Velamas were originally a branch of the great Kapu or Reddi
caste of cultivators, corresponding in the Telugu country to the Kurmis
and Kunbis, as many of their section names are the same as those of
the Kapus. The Velamas apparently took up the trades of weaving and
dyeing, and some of them engaged in military service and acquired
property. These are now landowners and cultivators and breed cattle,
while others dye and weave cloth. They will not engage themselves
as hired labourers, and they do not allow their women to work in
the fields.

2. Marriage and social customs

The caste are said to have 77 exogamous groups descended from the 77
followers or spearsmen who attended Raja Rudra Pratap of Bastar when
he was ousted from Warangal. These section names are eponymous,
territorial and totemistic, instances of the last kind being
Cherukunula from _cheruku_, sugarcane, and Pasapunula from _pasapu_,
turmeric, and _nula_, thread. Marriage within the section or _gotra_
is prohibited, but first cousins may intermarry. Marriage is usually
adult, and the binding portion of the ceremony consists in the tying
of the _mangal-sutram_ or happy thread by the bridegroom round the
bride's neck. At the end of the marriage the _kankans_ or bracelets
of the bridegroom and bride are taken off in signification that all
obstacles to complete freedom of intercourse and mutual confidence
between the married pair have been removed. In past years, when the
Guna Velamas had a marriage, they were bound to pay the marriage
expenses of a couple of the Palli or fisherman caste, in memory of
the fact that on one occasion when the Guna Velamas were in danger of
being exterminated by their enemies, the Pallis rescued them in their
boats and carried them to a place of safety. But now it is considered
sufficient to hang up a fishing-net in the house when a marriage
ceremony of the Guna Velamas is being celebrated. [715] The caste do
not permit the marriage of widows, and divorce is confined to cases
in which a wife is guilty of adultery. The Velamas usually employ
Vaishnava Brahmans as their priests. They burn the bodies of those
who die after marriage, and bury those dying before it. Children are
named on the twenty-first day after birth, the child being placed in
a swing, and the name selected by the parents being called out three
times by the oldest woman present. On this day the mother is taken
to a well and made to draw a bucket of water by way of declaration
that she is fit to do household work.

Vidur

List of Paragraphs

1. _Origin and traditions_.
2. _The Purads, Golaks and Borals_.
3. _Illegitimacy among Hindustani castes_.
4. _Legend of origin_.
5. _Marriage_.
6. _Social rules and occupation_.

1. Origin and traditions

_Vidur, [716] Bidur_.--A Maratha caste numbering 21,000 persons in
the Central Provinces in 1911, and found in the Nagpur Division and
Berar. They are also returned from Hyderabad and Bombay. Vidur means
a wise or intelligent man, and was the name of the younger brother
of Pandu, the father of the Pandava brothers. The Vidurs are a caste
of mixed descent, principally formed from the offspring of Brahman
fathers with women of other castes. But the descendants of Panchals,
Kunbis, Malis and others from women of lower caste are also known
as Vidurs and are considered as different subcastes. Each of these
groups follow the customs and usually adopt the occupation of the
castes to which their fathers belonged. They are known as Kharchi or
Khaltatya, meaning 'Below the plate' or 'Below the salt,' as they are
not admitted to dine with the proper Vidurs. But the rule varies in
different places, and sometimes after the death of their mother such
persons become full members of the caste, and with each succeeding
generation the status of their descendants improves. In Poona the
name Vidur is restricted to the descendants of Brahman fathers, and
they are also known as Brahmanja or 'Born from Brahmans.' Elsewhere
the Brahman Vidurs are designated especially as Krishnapakshi, which
means 'One born during the dark fortnight,' The term Krishnapakshi
is or was also used in Bengal, and Buchanan defined it as follows:
"Men of the Rajput, Khatri and Kayasth tribes, but no others, openly
keep women slaves of any pure tribe, and the children are of the
same caste with their father, but are called Krishnapakshis and can
only marry with each other." [717] In Bastar a considerable class
of persons of similar illegitimate descent also exist, being the
offspring of the unions of immigrant Hindus with women of the Gond,
Halba and other tribes. The name applied to them, however, is Dhakar,
and as their status and customs are quite different from those of
the Maratha Vidurs they are treated in a short separate article.

2. The Purads, Golaks and Borals

Another small group related to the Vidurs are the Purads of Nagpur;
they say that their ancestor was a Brahman who was carried away
in a flooded river and lost his sacred thread. He could not put on
a new thread afterwards because the sacred thread must be changed
without swallowing the spittle in the interval. Hence he was put out
of caste and his descendants are the Purads, the name being derived
from _pur_, a flood. These people are mainly shopkeepers. In Berar
two other groups are found, the Golaks and Borals. The Golaks are
the illegitimate offspring of a Brahman widow; if after her husband's
decease she did not shave her head, her illegitimate children are known
as Rand [718] Golaks; if her head was shaved, they are called Mund
(shaven) Golaks; and if their father be unknown, they are named Kund
Golaks. The Golaks are found in Malkapur and Balapur and number about
400 persons. A large proportion of them are beggars. A Boral is said
to be the child of a father of any caste and a mother of one of those
in which widows shave their heads. As a matter of fact widows, except
among Brahmans, rarely shave their heads in the Central Provinces,
and it would therefore appear, if Mr. Kitts' definition is correct,
that the Borals are the offspring of women by fathers of lower caste
than themselves; a most revolting union to Hindu ideas. As, however,
the Borals are mostly grocers and shopkeepers, it is possible that
they may be the same class as the Purads. In 1881 they numbered only
163 persons and were found in Darhwa, Mehkar and Chikhli taluks.

3. Illegitimacy among Hindustani castes

There is no caste corresponding to the Vidurs in the Hindi Districts
and the offspring of unions which transgress the caste marriage
rules are variously treated. Many castes both in the north and south
say that they have 12 1/2 subdivisions and that the half subcaste
comprises the descendants of illicit unions. Of course the twelve
subdivisions are as a rule mythical, the number of subcastes being
always liable to fluctuate as fresh endogamous groups are formed
by migration or slight changes in the caste calling. Other castes
have a Lohri Sen or degraded group which corresponds to the half
caste. In other cases the illegitimate branch has a special name;
thus the Niche Pat Bundelas of Saugor and Chhoti Tar Rajputs of Nimar
are the offspring of fathers of the Bundela and other Rajput tribes
with women of lower castes; both these terms have the same meaning as
Lohri Sen, that is a low-caste or bastard group. Similarly the Dauwa
(wet-nurse) Ahirs are the offspring of Bundela fathers and the Ahir
women who act as nurses in their households. In Saugor is found a class
of persons called Kunwar [719] who are descended from the offspring
of the Maratha Brahman rulers of Saugor and their kept women. They
now form a separate caste and Hindustani Brahmans will take water
from them. They refuse to accept _katcha_ food (cooked with water)
from Maratha Brahmans, which all other castes will do. Another class
of bastard children of Brahmans are called Dogle, and such people
commonly act as servants of Maratha Brahmans; as these Brahmans do
not take water to drink from the hands of any caste except their own,
they have much difficulty in procuring household servants and readily
accept a Dogle in this capacity without too close a scrutiny of his
antecedents. There is also a class of Dogle Kayasths of similar,
origin, who are admitted as members of the caste on an inferior
status and marry among themselves. After several generations such
groups tend to become legitimised; thus the origin of the distinction
between the Khare and Dusre Srivastab Kayasths and the Dasa and Bisa
Agarwala Banias was probably of this character, but now both groups
are reckoned as full members of the caste, one only ranking somewhat
below the other so that they do not take food together. The Parwar
Banias have four divisions of different social status known as the
Bare, Manjhile, Sanjhile and Lohri Seg or Sen, or first, second,
third and fourth class. A man and woman detected in a serious social
offence descend into the class next below their own, unless they can
pay the severe penalties prescribed for it. If either marries or forms
a connection with a man or woman of a lower class they descend into
that class. Similarly, one who marries a widow goes into the Lohri Seg
or lowest class. Other castes have a similar system of divisions. Among
the great body of Hindus cases of men living with women of different
caste are now very common, and the children of such unions sometimes
inherit their father's property. Though in such cases the man is
out of caste this does not mean that he is quite cut off from social
intercourse. He will be invited to the caste dinners, but must sit in
a different row from the orthodox members so as not to touch them. As
an instance of these mixed marriages the case of a private servant, a
Mali or gardener, may be quoted. He always called himself a Brahman,
and though thinking it somewhat curious that a Brahman should be
a gardener, I took no notice of it until he asked leave to attend
the funeral of his niece, whose father was a Government menial,
an Agarwala Bania. It was then discovered that he was the son of a
Brahman landowner by a mistress of the Kachhi caste of sugarcane and
vegetable growers, so that the profession of a private or ornamental
gardener, for which a special degree of intelligence is requisite,
was very suitable to him. His sister by the same parents was married
to this Agarwala Bania, who said his own family was legitimate and he
had been deceived about the girl. The marriage of one of this latter
couple's daughters was being arranged with the son of a Brahman, father
and Bania mother in Jubbulpore; while the gardener himself had never
been married, but was living with a girl of the Gadaria (shepherd)
caste who had been married in her caste but had never lived with her
husband. Inquiries made in a small town as to the status of seventy
families showed that ten were out of caste on account of irregular
matrimonial or sexual relations; and it may therefore be concluded
that a substantial proportion of Hindus have no real caste at present.

4. Legend of origin

The Vidurs say that they are the descendants of a son who was born
to a slave girl by the sage Vyas, the celebrated compiler of the
Mahabharata, to whom the girl was sent to provide an heir to the
kingdom of Hastinapur. This son was named Vidur and was remarkable
for his great wisdom, being one of the leading characters in the
Mahabharata and giving advice both to the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

5. Marriage

As already stated, the Vidurs who are sprung from fathers of different
castes form subcastes marrying among themselves. Among the Brahman
Vidurs also, a social difference exists between the older members
of the caste who are descended from Vidurs for several generations,
and the new ones who are admitted into it as being the offspring of
Brahman fathers from recent illicit unions, the former considering
themselves to be superior and avoiding intermarriage with the latter
as far as possible. The Brahman Vidurs, to whom this article chiefly
relates, have exogamous sections of different kinds, the names being
eponymous, territorial, titular and totemistic. Among the names of
their sections are Indurkar from Indore; Chaurikar, a whisk-maker;
Acharya and Pande, a priest; Menjokhe, a measurer of wax; Mine,
a fish; Dudhmande, one who makes wheaten cakes with milk; Goihe, a
lizard; Wadabhat, a ball of pulse and cooked rice; Diwale, bankrupt;
and Joshi, an astrologer. The Brahman Vidurs have the same sect groups
as the Maratha Brahmans, according to the Veda which they especially
revere. Marriage is forbidden within the section and in that of the
paternal and maternal uncles and aunts. In Chanda, when a boy of one
section marries a girl of another, all subsequent alliances between
members of the two sections must follow the same course, and a girl
of the first section must not marry a boy of the second. This rule
is probably in imitation of that by which their caste is formed,
that is from the union of a man of higher with a woman of lower
caste. As already stated, the reverse form of connection is considered
most disgraceful by the Hindus, and children born of it could not
be Vidurs. On the same analogy they probably object to taking both
husbands and wives from the same section. Marriage is usually infant,
and a second wife is taken only if the first be barren or if she is
sickly or quarrelsome. As a rule, no price is paid either for the
bride or bridegroom. Vidurs have the same marriage ceremony as Maratha
Brahmans, except that Puranic instead of Vedic _mantras_ or texts
are repeated at the service. As among the lower castes the father of
a boy seeks for a bride for his son, while with Brahmans it is the
girl's father who makes the proposal. When the bridegroom arrives he
is conducted to the inner room of the bride's house; Mr. Tucker states
that this is known as the _Gaurighar_ because it contains the shrine of
Gauri or Parvati, wife of Mahadeo; and here he is received by the bride
who has been occupied in worshipping the goddess. A curtain is held
between them and coloured rice is thrown over them and distributed,
and they then proceed to the marriage-shed, where an earthen mound or
platform, known as Bohala, has been erected. They first sit on this
on two stools and then fire is kindled on the platform and they walk
five times round it. The Bohala is thus a fire altar. The expenses of
marriage amount for the bridegroom's family to Rs. 300 on an average,
and for the bride's to a little more. Widows are allowed to remarry,
but the second union must not take place with any member of the family
of the late husband, whose property remains with his children or,
failing them, with his family. In the marriage of a widow the common
_pat_ ceremony of the Maratha Districts is used. A price is commonly
paid to the parents of a widow by her second husband. Divorce is
allowed on the instance of the husband by a written agreement, and
divorced women may marry again by the _pat_ ceremony. In Chanda it
is stated that when a widower marries again a silver or golden image
is made of the first wife and being placed with the household gods
is daily worshipped by the second wife.