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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Kunjra

_Kunjra_. [44]--A caste of greengrocers, who sell country vegetables
and fruit and are classed as Muhammadans. Mr. Crooke derives the
name from the Sanskrit _kunj_, 'a bower or arbour.' They numbered
about 1600 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, principally in
the Jubbulpore Division. The customs of the Kunjras appear to combine
Hindu and Muhammadan rites in an indiscriminate medley. It is reported
that marriage is barred only between real brothers and sisters and
foster brothers and sisters, the latter rule being known as _Dudh
bachana_, or 'Observing the tie of the milk.' At their betrothal
presents are given to the parties, and after this a powder of henna
leaves is sent to the boy, who rubs it on his fingers and returns
it to the girl that she may do the same. As among the Hindus, the
bodies of the bridal couple are anointed with oil and turmeric at
their respective houses before the wedding. A marriage-shed is made
and the bridegroom goes to the bride's house wearing a cotton quilt
and riding on a bullock. The barber holds the umbrella over his
head and must be given a present before he will fold it, but the
wedding is performed by the Kazi according to the Nikah ceremony
by the repetition of verses from the Koran. The wedding is held at
four o'clock in the morning, and as a preliminary to it the bride
is presented with some money by the boy's father, which is known as
the Meher or dowry. On its conclusion a cup of sherbet is given to
the bridegroom, of which he drinks half and hands the remainder to
the bride. The gift of the Meher is considered to seal the marriage
contract. When a widow is married the Kazi is also employed, and he
simply recites the Kalama or Muhammadan profession of belief, and the
ceremony is completed by the distribution of dates to the elders of
the caste. Divorce is permitted and is known as _talaq_. The caste
observe the Muhammadan festivals, and have some favourite saints of
their own to whom they make offerings of _gulgula_ a kind of pudding,
with sacrifices of goats and fowls. Participation in these rites is
confined to members of the family. Children are named on the day of
their birth, the Muhammadan Kazi or a Hindu Brahman being employed
indifferently to select the name. If the parents lose one or more
children, in order to preserve the lives of those subsequently born,
they will allow the _choti_ or scalp-lock to grow on their heads in the
Hindu fashion, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan saints. Others
will put a _hasli_ or silver circlet round the neck of the child
and add a ring to this every year; a strip of leather is sometimes
also tied round the neck. When the child reaches the age of twelve
years the scalp-lock is shaved, the leather band thrown into a river
and the silver necklet sold. Offerings are made to the saints and
a feast is given to the friends of the family. The dead are buried,
camphor and attar of roses being applied to the corpse. On the _Tija_
and _Chalisa_, or third and fortieth days after a death, a feast is
given to the caste-fellows, but no mourning is observed, neither
do the mourners bathe nor perform ceremonies of purification. On
the _Tija_ the Koran is also read and fried grain is distributed to
children. For the death of a child the ordinary feasts need not be
given, but prayers are offered for their souls with those of the other
dead once a year on the night of Shab-i-Barat or the fifteenth day
of the month Shaban, [45] which is observed as a vigil with prayer,
feasts and illuminations and offerings to the ancestors. Kunjra men
are usually clean-shaven with the exception of the beard, which is
allowed to grow long below the chin. Their women are not tattooed. In
the cities, Mr. Crooke remarks, [46] their women have an equivocal
reputation, as the better-looking girls who sit in the shops are said
to use considerable freedom of manners to attract customers. They are
also very quarrelsome and abusive when bargaining for the sale of their
wares or arguing with each other. This is so much the case that men
who become very abusive are said to be behaving like Kunjras; while
in Dacca Sir H. Risley states [47] that the word Kunjra has become a
term of abuse, so that the caste are ashamed to be known by it, and
call themselves Mewa-farosh, Sabzi-farosh or Bepari. When two women
are having an altercation, their husbands and other male relatives
are forbidden to interfere on pain of social degradation. The women
never sit on the ground, but on small wooden stools or _pirhis_. The
Kunjras belong chiefly to the north of the Province, and in the
south their place is taken by the Marars and Malis who carry their
own produce for sale to the markets. The Kunjras sell sugarcane,
potatoes, onions and all kinds of vegetables, and others deal in the
dried fruits imported by Kabuli merchants.

Kuramwar

_Kuramwar_. [48]--The shepherd caste of southern India, who are
identical with the Tamil Kurumba and the Telugu Kuruba. The caste is an
important one in Madras, but in the Central Provinces is confined to
the Chanda District where it numbered some 4000 persons in 1911. The
Kuramwars are considered to be the modern representatives of the
ancient Pallava tribe whose kings were powerful in southern India in
the seventh century. [49]

The marriage rules of the Kuramwars are interesting. If a girl
reaches adolescence while still single, she is finally expelled
from the caste, her parents being also subjected to a penalty for
readmission. Formerly it is said that such a girl was sacrificed to
the river-goddess by being placed in a small hut on the river-bank
till a flood came and swept her away. Now she is taken to the river
and kept in a hut, while offerings are made to the river-goddess,
and she may then return and live in the village though she is out of
caste. In Madras, as a preliminary to the marriage, the bridegroom's
father observes certain marks or 'curls' on the head or hair of the
bride proposed. Some of these are believed to forecast prosperity
and others misery to the family into which she enters. They are
therefore very cautious in selecting only such girls as possess curls
(_suli_) of good fortune. The writer of the _North Arcot Manual_ [50]
after recording the above particulars, remarks: "This curious custom
obtaining among this primitive tribe is observed by others only in
the case of the purchase of cows, bulls and horses." In the Central
Provinces, however, at least one parallel instance can be given from
the northern Districts where any mark resembling the V on the head
of a cobra is considered to be very inauspicious. And it is told
that a girl who married into one well-known family bore it, and to
this fact the remarkable succession of misfortunes which has attended
the family is locally attributed. Among the Kuramwars marriages can
be celebrated only on four days in the year, the fifth day of both
fortnights of Phagun (February), the tenth day of the second fortnight
of the same month and the third day of Baisakh (April). At the marriage
the bride and bridegroom are seated together under the canopy, with
the shuttle which is used for weaving blankets between them, and they
throw coloured rice at each other. After this a miniature swing is put
up and a doll is placed in it in imitation of a child and swung to and
fro. The bride then takes the doll out and gives it to the bridegroom,
saying: 'Here, take care of it, I am now going to cook food'; while
after a time the boy returns the doll to the girl, saying, 'I must
now weave the blanket and go to tend the flock.' The proceeding
seems a symbolic enactment of the cares of married life and the
joint tending of the baby, this sort of symbolism being particularly
noticeable in the marriage ceremonies of the people of Madras. Divorce
is not permitted even though the wife be guilty of adultery, and if
she runs away to her father's house her husband cannot use force to
bring her back if she refuses to return to him. The Kuramwars worship
the implements of their calling at the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi,
and if any family fails to do this it is put out of caste. They also
revere annually Mallana Deva and Mallani Devi who guard their flocks
respectively from attacks of tigers and epidemics of murrain. The
shrines of these deities are generally built under a banyan tree
and open to the east. The caste are shepherds and graziers and also
make blankets. They are poor and ignorant, and the Abbe Dubois [51]
says of them: "Being confined to the society of their woolly charge,
they seem to have contracted the stupid nature of the animal, and from
the rudeness of their nature they are as much beneath the other castes
of Hindus as the sheep by their simplicity and imperfect instruction
are beneath the other quadrupeds." Hence the proverbial comparison
'As stupid as a Kuramwar.' When out of doors the Kuramwar retains the
most primitive method of eating and drinking; he takes his food in a
leaf and licks it up with his tongue, and sucks up water from a tank
or river with his mouth. They justify this custom by saying that on one
occasion their god had taken his food out of the house on a leaf-plate
and was proceeding to eat it with his hands when his sheep ran away
and he had to go and fetch them back. In the meantime a crow came and
pecked at the food and so spoilt it. It was therefore ordained that
all the caste should eat their food straight off the leaf, in order
to do which they would have to take it from the cooking-pot in small
quantities and there would be no chance of leaving any for the crows
to spoil. The story is interesting as showing how very completely
the deity of the Kuramwars is imagined on the principle that god
made man in his own image. Or, as a Frenchman has expressed the idea,
'_Dieu a fait l'homme a son image, mais l'homme le lui a bein rendu._'
The caste are dark in colour and may be distinguished by their caps
made from pieces of blankets, and by their wearing a woollen cord
round the waist over the loin-cloth. They speak a dialect of Canarese.

Kurmi

List of Paragraphs

1. _Numbers and derivation of name._
2. _Functional character of the caste._
3. _Sub castes._
4. _Exogamous groups._
5. _Marriage rules. Betrothal_.
6. _The marriage-shed or pavillion._
7. _The marriage cakes_.
8. _Customs at the wedding_.
9. _Walking round the sacred post_.
10. _Other ceremonies_.
11. _Polygamy, widow-marriage and divorce_.
12. _Impurity of women_.
13. _Pregnancy rites_.
14. _Earth-eating._
15. _Customs at birth_.
16. _Treatment of mother and child_.
17. _Ceremonies after birth_.
18. _Suckling children_.
19. _Beliefs about twins_.
20. _Disposal of the dead_.
21. _Funeral rites_.
22. _Burning the dead_.
23. _Burial_.
24. _Return of the soul_.
25. _Mourning_.
26. _Shaving, and presents to Brahmans_.
27. _End of mourning_.
28. _Anniversaries of the dead_.
29. _Beliefs in the hereafter_.
30. _Religion. Village gods_.
31. _Sowing the Jawaras or gardens of Adonis_.
32. _Rites connected with the crops. Customs of cultivation_.
33. _Agricultural superstitions_.
34. _Houses_.
35. _Superstitions about houses_.
36. _Furniture._
37. _Clothes_.
38. _Women's clothes_.
39. _Bathing_.
40. _Food_.
41. _Caste feasts_.
42. _Hospitality_.
43. _Social customs. Tattooing_.
44. _Caste penalties_.
45. _The cultivating status_.
46. _Occupation_.
_Appendix. List of exogamous clans._

1. Numbers and derivation of name

_Kurmi_. [52]--The representative cultivating caste of Hindustan or
the country comprised roughly in the United Provinces, Bihar arid the
Central Provinces north of the Nerbudda. In 1911 the Kurmis numbered
about 300,000 persons in the Central Provinces, of whom half belonged
to the Chhattisgarh Division and a third to the Jubbulpore Division;
the Districts in which they were most numerous being Saugor, Damoh,
Jubbulpore, Hoshangabad, Raipur, Bilaspur and Drug. The name is
considered to be derived from the Sanskrit _krishi_, cultivation,
or from _kurma_, the tortoise incarnation of Vishnu, whether because
it is the totem of the caste or because, as suggested by one writer,
the Kurmi supports the population of India as the tortoise supports
the earth. It is true that many Kurmis say they belong to the Kashyap
_gotra_, Kashyap being the name of a Rishi, which seems to have been
derived from _kachhap_, the tortoise; but many other castes also
say they belong to the Kashyap _gotra_ or worship the tortoise,
and if this has any connection with the name of the caste it is
probable that the caste-name suggested the _gotra_-name and not the
reverse. It is highly improbable that a large occupational caste should
be named after an animal, and the metaphorical similitude can safely
be rejected. The name seems therefore either to come from _krishi_,
cultivation, or from some other unknown source.

2. Functional character of the caste

There seems little reason to doubt that the Kurmis, like the Kunbis,
are a functional caste. In Bihar they show traces of Aryan blood,
and are a fine-looking race. But in Chota Nagpur Sir H. Risley
states: "Short, sturdy and of very dark complexion, the Kurmis
closely resemble in feature the Dravidian tribes around them. It
is difficult to distinguish a Kurmi from a Bhumij or Santal, and
the Santals will take cooked food from them." [53] In the Central
Provinces they are fairly dark in complexion and of moderate height,
and no doubt of very mixed blood. Where the Kurmis and Kunbis meet the
castes sometimes amalgamate, and there is little doubt that various
groups of Kurmis settling in the Maratha country have become Kunbis,
and Kunbis migrating to northern India have become Kurmis. Each caste
has certain subdivisions whose names belong to the other. It has
been seen in the article on Kunbi that this caste is of very diverse
origin, having assimilated large bodies of persons from several other
castes, and is probably to a considerable extent recruited from the
local non-Aryan tribes; if then the Kurmis mix so readily with the
Kunbis, the presumption is that they are of a similar mixed origin,
as otherwise they should consider themselves superior. Mr. Crooke
gives several names of subcastes showing the diverse constitution of
the Kurmis. Thus three, Gaharwar, Jadon and Chandel are the names of
Rajput clans; the Kori subcaste must be a branch of the low weaver
caste of that name; and in the Central Provinces the names of such
subcastes as the Agaria or iron-workers, the Lonhare or salt-refiners,
and the Khaira or catechu-collectors indicate that these Kurmis are
derived from low Hindu castes or the aboriginal tribes.

3. Subcastes

The caste has a large number of subdivisions. The Usrete belonged
to Bundelkhand, where this name is found in several castes; they are
also known as Havelia, because they live in the rich level tract of
the Jubbulpore Haveli, covered like a chessboard with large embanked
wheat-fields. The name Haveli seems to have signified a palace or
headquarters of a ruler, and hence was applied to the tract surrounding
it, which was usually of special fertility, and provided for the
maintenance of the chief's establishment and household troops. Thus in
Jubbulpore, Mandia and Betul we find the forts of the old Gond rulers
dominating an expanse of rich plain-country. The Usrete Kurmis abstain
from meat and liquor, and may be considered as one of the highest
subcastes. Their name may be derived from _a-sreshtha,_ or not the
best, and its significance would be that formerly they were considered
to be of mixed origin, like most castes in Bundelkhand. The group of
Sreshtha or best-born Kurmis has now, however, died out if it ever
existed, and the Usretes have succeeded in establishing themselves in
its place. The Chandnahes of Jubbulpore or Chandnahus of Chhattisgarh
are another large subdivision. The name may be derived from the village
Chandnoha in Bundelkhand, but the Chandnahus of Chhattisgarh say that
three or four centuries ago a Rajput general of the Raja of Ratanpur
had been so successful in war that the king allowed him to appear
in Durbar in his uniform with his forehead marked with sandalwood,
as a special honour. When he died his son continued to do the same,
and on the king's attention being drawn to it he forbade him. But
the son did not obey, and hence the king ordered the sandalwood to be
rubbed from his forehead in open Durbar. But when this was done the
mark miraculously reappeared through the agency of the goddess Devi,
whose favourite he was. Three times the king had the mark rubbed
out and three times it came again. So he was allowed to wear it
thereafter, and was called Chandan Singh from _chandan_, sandalwood;
and his descendants are the Chandnahu Kurmis. Another derivation is
from Chandra, the moon. In Jubbulpore these Chandnahes sometimes kill
a pig under the palanquin of a newly married bride. In Bilaspur they
are prosperous and capable cultivators, but are generally reputed to
be stingy, and therefore are not very popular. Here they are divided
into the Ekbahinyas and Dobahinyas, or those who wear glass bangles
on one or both arms respectively. The Chandraha Kurmis of Raipur
are probably a branch of the Chandnahus. They sprinkle with water
the wood with which they are about to cook their food in order to
purify it, and will eat food only in the _chauka_ or sanctified place
in the house. At harvest when they must take meals in the fields,
one of them prepares a patch of ground, cleaning and watering it,
and there cooks food for them all.

The Singrore Kurmis derive their name from Singror, a place near
Allahabad. Singror is said to have once been a very important town,
and the Lodhis and other castes have subdivisions of this name. The
Desha Kurmis are a group of the Mungeli tahsil of Bilaspur. Desh
means one's native country, but in this case the name probably
refers to Bundelkhand. Mr. Gordon states [54] that they do not rear
poultry and avoid residing in villages in which their neighbours keep
poultry. The Santore Kurmis are a group found in several Districts,
who grow _san_-hemp, [55] and are hence looked down upon by the
remainder of the caste. In Raipur the Manwa Kurmis will also do
this; Mana is a word sometimes applied to a loom, and the Manwa
Kurmis may be so called because they grow hemp and weave sacking
from the fibres. The Pataria are an inferior group in Bilaspur, who
are similarly despised because they grow hemp and will take their
food in the fields in _patris_ or leaf-plates. The Gohbaiyan are
considered to be an illegitimate group; the name is said to signify
'holding the arm.' The Bahargaiyan, or 'those who live outside the
town,' are another subcaste to which children born out of wedlock
are relegated. The Palkiha subcaste of Jubbulpore are said to be
so named because their ancestors were in the service of a certain
Raja and spread his bedding for him; hence they are somewhat looked
down on by the others. The name may really be derived from _palal_,
a kind of vegetable, and they may originally have been despised for
growing this vegetable, and thus placing themselves on a level with
the gardening castes. The Masuria take their name from the _masur_
or lentil, a common cold-weather crop in the northern Districts,
which is, however, grown by all Kurmis and other cultivators; and the
Agaria or iron-workers, the Kharia or catechu-makers, and the Lonhare
or salt-makers, have already been mentioned. There are also numerous
local or territorial subcastes, as the Chaurasia or those living
in a Chaurasi [56] estate of eighty-four villages, the Pardeshi or
foreigners, the Bundelkhandi or those who came from Bundelkhand, the
Kanaujias from Oudh, the Gaur from northern India, and the Marathe and
Telenge or Marathas and Telugus; these are probably Kunbis who have
been taken into the caste. The Gabel are a small subcaste in Sakti
State, who now prefer to drop the name Kurmi and call themselves simply
Gabel. The reason apparently is that the other Kurmis about them sow
_san_-hemp, and as they have ceased doing this they try to separate
themselves and rank above the rest. But they call the bastard group
of their community Rakhaut Kurmis, and other people speak of all of
them as Gabel Kurmis, so that there is no doubt that they belong to
the caste. It is said that formerly they were pack-carriers, but have
now abandoned this calling in favour of cultivation.

4. Exogamous groups

Each subcaste has a number of exogamous divisions and these present
a large variety of all types. Some groups have the names of Brahman
saints as Sandil, Bharadwaj, Kausil and Kashyap; others are called
after Rajput septs, as Chauhan, Rathor, Panwar and Solanki; other
names are of villages, as Khairagarhi from Khairagarh, Pandariha from
Pandaria, Bhadaria, and Harkotia from Harkoti; others are titular,
as Sondeha, gold-bodied, Sonkharchi, spender of gold, Bimba Lohir,
stick-carrier, Banhpagar, one wearing a thread on the arm, Bhandari,
a store-keeper, Kumaria, a potter, and Shikaria, a hunter; and a
large number are totemistic, named after plants, animals or natural
objects, as Sadaphal, a fruit; Kathail from _kath_ or catechu; Dhorha,
from _dhor_, cattle; Kansia, the _kans_ grass; Karaiya, a frying-pan;
Sarang, a peacock; Samundha, the ocean; Sindia, the date-palm tree;
Dudhua from _dudh_, milk, and so on. Some sections are subdivided;
thus the Tidha section, supposed to be named after a village, is
divided into three subsections named Ghurepake, a mound of cowdung,
Dwarparke, door-jamb, and Jangi, a warrior, which are themselves
exogamous. Similarly the Chaudhri section, named after the title of
the caste headman, is divided into four subsections, two, Majhgawan
Bamuria, named after villages, and two, Purwa Thok and Pascham Thok,
signifying the eastern and western groups. Presumably when sections
get so large as to bar the marriage of persons not really related to
each other at all, relief is obtained by subdividing them in this
manner. A list of the sections of certain subcastes so far as they
have been obtained is given at the end of the article.

5. Marriage rules. Betrothal

Marriage is prohibited between members of the same section and between
first and second cousins on the mother's side. But the Chandnahe
Kurmis permit the wedding of a brother's daughter to a sister's
son. Most Kurmis forbid a man to marry his wife's sister during her
lifetime. The Chhattisgarh Kurmis have the practice of exchanging
girls between two families. There is usually no objection to marriage
on account of religious differences within the pale of Hinduism,
but the difficulty of a union between a member of a Vaishnava sect
who abstains from flesh and liquor, and a partner who does not,
is felt and expressed in the following saying:

Vaishnava purush avaishnava nari
Unt beil ki jot bichari,

or 'A Vaishnava husband with a non-Vaishnava wife is like a camel
yoked with a bullock.' Muhammadans and Christians are not retained
in the caste. Girls are usually wedded between nine and eleven, but
well-to-do Kurmis like other agriculturists, sometimes marry their
daughters when only a few months old. The people say that when a
Kurmi gets rich he will do three things: marry his daughters very
young and with great display, build a fine house, and buy the best
bullocks he can afford. The second and third methods of spending his
money are very sensible, whatever may be thought of the first. No
penalty is imposed for allowing a girl to exceed the age of puberty
before marriage. Boys are married between nine and fifteen years,
but the tendency is towards the postponement of the ceremony. The
boy's father goes and asks for a bride and says to the girl's father,
'I have placed my son with you,' that is, given him in adoption;
if the match be acceptable the girl's father replies, 'Yes, I will
give my daughter to collect cowdung for you'; to which the boy's
father responds, 'I will hold her as the apple of my eye.' Then the
girl's father sends the barber and the Brahman to the boy's house,
carrying a rupee and a cocoanut. The boy's relatives return the
visit and perform the '_God bharna_,' or 'Filling the lap of the
girl.' They take some sweetmeats, a rupee and a cocoanut, and place
them in the girl's lap, this being meant to induce fertility. The
ceremony of betrothal succeeds, when the couple are seated together
on a wooden plank and touch the feet of the guests and are blessed
by them. The auspicious date of the wedding is fixed by the Brahman
and intimation is given to the boy's family through the _lagan_
or formal invitation, which is sent on a paper coloured yellow with
powdered rice and turmeric. A bride-price is paid, which in the case
of well-to-do families may amount to as much as Rs. 100 to Rs. 400.