The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 2

A text of Manu prescribes: [409] "If a young woman marry while she is pregnant, whether her pregnancy be known or unknown, the male child in her womb belongs to the bridegroom a...

Before setting out on an expedition it was their regular custom to take the omens, and the following account may be quoted of the preliminaries to an expedition of the great lea...

Among the special deities of the Ahirs is Kharak Deo, who is always located at the _khirkha_, or place of assembly of the cattle, on going to and returning from pasture. He appe...

The following account in the _Rasmala_ [300] is an instance of suicide and of the actual haunting by the ghost: A Charan asserted a claim against the chief of Siela in Kathiawar...

Besides the above four main divisions, there are a number of others, the caste being now of a very mixed character. Two principal Muhammadan groups are given by Sir H. Elliot, t...

Among the Birjhias a trunk of mahua with two branches is erected in the marriage-shed, and on this a dagger is placed in a winnowing-fan filled with rice, the former representin...

The Rangaris say that when Parasurama, the Brahman, was slaying the Kshatriyas, two brothers of the warrior caste took refuge in a temple of Devi. One of them, called Bhaosar, t...

Being literate, the Banias were not infrequently employed as ministers and treasurers in Rajput states. Forbes says, in an account of an Indian court: "Beside the king stand the...

These Beldars will not take food from any caste but their own, and will not take water from a Brahman, though they will accept it from Kurmis, Gujars and similar castes. Sir H....

The cultivators rarely get fair treatment from the Banias, as the odds are too much against them. They must have money to sow their land, and live while the crops are growing, a...

Colonel Sleeman writes elsewhere [46] of the leader of the above exploit: "This Gajraj had risen from the vocation of a _bandarwala_ (monkey showman) to be the Robin Hood of Gwa...

The head of the caste is always a member of the Sonwani sept and is known as Raja. It is his business to administer water in which gold has been dipped (_sona-pani_) to offender...

The tribe has two subdivisions of a territorial nature, Laria or Chhattisgarhi, and Uriya. The Uriya Bhainas will accept food cooked without water from the Sawaras or Saonrs, an...

Although the Binjhwar subcaste now profess Hinduism, the religion of the Baigas is purely animistic. Their principal deity is Bura Deo, [92] who is supposed to reside in a _saj_...

The caste is also divided into a large number of exogamous groups or sections, whose names, as might be expected, present a great diversity of character. Some are borrowed from...

The Banjara caste is not closed to outsiders, but the general rule is to admit only women who have been married to Banjara men. Women of the lowest and impure castes are exclude...

According to Mr. Faridi, from whose description the remainder of this article is mainly taken, the Memans or more correctly Muamins or 'Believers' are converts from the Hindu ca...

Infant-marriage is in vogue, and polygamy is permitted only if the first wife be barren. The betrothal is cemented by an exchange of betel-leaves and areca-nuts between the fath...

Adult marriage is usual, and if a husband cannot be found for a girl who has reached maturity she is given to her sister's husband as a second wife, or to any other married pers...

The third great order is that of the Madhavas, named after a saint called Madhavacharya in southern India. He attempted to reconcile the warring Sivites and Vishnuites by combin...

The scantiness of the Bharia's dress is proverbial, and the saying is '_Bharia bhwaka, pwanda langwata_', or 'The Bharia is verily a devil, who only covers his loins with a stri...

The Rajputs seem at first to have treated the Bhils leniently. Intermarriage was frequent, especially in the families of Bhil chieftains, and a new caste called Bhilala [317] ha...

It cannot necessarily be assumed that all the above traditions relate to the Abhira tribe proper, of which the modern Ahir caste are scarcely more than the nominal representativ...

_Bharbhunja._ [271]--The occupational caste of grain-parchers. The name is derived from the Sanskrit _bhrastra_, a frying-pan, and _bharjaka_, one who fries. The Bharbhunjas num...

One of the principal deities of the Dhimars [541] as of other low castes is Dulha Deo, the deified bridegroom. They fashion his image of _kadamb_ [542] wood and besmear it with...

_Bania, Lad._--This subcaste numbers about 5000 persons in the Central Provinces, being settled in Nimar, Nagpur and all the Berar Districts. The Lad Banias came from Gujarat, a...

In return for his perquisite of the hides of cattle the Chamar has to act as the general village drudge in the northern Districts and is always selected for the performance of _...

_Dhanuk._--A low caste of agriculturists found principally in the Narsinghpur District, which contained three-fourths of the total of nearly 7000 persons returned in 1911. The h...

"Here is the daily life of one of the twenty-five thousand Brahmans of Benares. He rises before the dawn, and his first care is to look at an object of good omen. If he sees a c...

_Brahman, Sanadhya, Sanaurhia._--The Sanadhyas are considered in the Central Provinces to be a branch of the Kanaujia division. Their home is in the Ganges-Jumna Doab and Rohilk...

But the Chhattisgarh plain and the hills north and east of it are adjacent to and belong to the same tract of country as the Chota Nagpur States, which are the home of the Bhuiy...

_Basdewa, [246] Wasudeo, Harbola, Kaparia, Jaga, Kapdi._--A wandering beggar caste of mixed origin, who also call themselves Sanadhya or Sanaurhia Brahmans. The Basdewas trace t...

_Dangri._ [508]--A small caste of melon and vegetable growers, whose name is derived from _dangar_ or _dangra_, a water-melon. They reside in the Wardha and Bhandara Districts,...

The principal deities of the Dhanwars are Thakur Deo, the god of agriculture, and Dulha Deo, the deity of the family and hearth. Twice a year the village Baiga or medicine-man,...

or 'Half a Hindu and half a Muhammadan, that is he who is a Dhunak Pathan.' They have a grotesque imitation of the Muhammadan rite of _halal_, or causing an animal's blood to fl...

_Bohra, Bohora._ [388]--A Muhammadan caste of traders who come from Gujarat and speak Gujarati. At the last census they numbered nearly 5000 persons, residing principally in the...

"Some kind of umbrella was, however, occasionally used by ladies at least so far back as 1709; and a fact not generally known is that from about the year 1717 onwards, a 'parish...

In former times the Brahman was supposed to confine himself to priestly duties, learning the Vedas and giving instruction to the laity. His subsistence was to be obtained from g...

_Bania, Agrahari._ [137]--This subcaste numbered nearly 2000 persons in 1911, resident principally in Jubbulpore, Raipur and Bilaspur, and some of the Feudatory States. Mr. Croo...

The typical Bhil is small, dark, broad-nosed and ugly, but well built and active. The average height of 128 men measured by Major Hendley was 5 feet 6.4 inches. The hands are so...

Marriage within the exogamous section and also with first cousins is forbidden, though in some places the union of a sister's son with a brother's daughter is permitted. Child m...

_Bhunjia. [377]_--A small Dravidian tribe residing in the Bindranawagarh and Khariar zamindaris of the Raipur District, and numbering about 7000 persons. The tribe was not retur...

The social customs of the Arakhs resemble those of other low Hindu castes, and need not be given in detail. Their weddings are held near a temple of Maroti, or if there be none...

Like the Mahars, the Balahis must not kill a dog or a cat under pain of expulsion; but it is peculiar that in their case the bear is held equally sacred, this being probably a r...

Agaria (_Iron-worker_) 3 Agharia (_Cultivator_) 8 Aghori (_Religious mendicant_) 13 AHIR (_Herdsman and milkman_) 18 Andh (_Tribe, now cultivators_) 38 Arakh (_Hunter_) 40 Atari...

_Bania, Umre._--This Hindu subcaste belongs to Damoh and Jubbulpore. They are perhaps the same as the Ummar Banias of the United Provinces, who reside in the Meerut, Agra and Ku...

It would appear also that in some cases the caste priests of different castes have become Brahmans. Thus the Saraswat Brahmans of the Punjab are the priests of the Khatri caste....

Marriage within the _gotra_ or exogamous group and within three degrees of relationship between persons connected through females is prohibited. Girls are usually wedded before...

The different orders of Fakirs are not strictly endogamous, and marriages can take place between their members, though the Madaris prefer to confine marriage to their own order....

Outsiders are not as a rule admitted. But a woman of equal or higher caste who enters the house of a Bhatra will be recognised as his wife, and a man of the Panara, or gardener...

Marriage within the _kul_ or family group is forbidden, as also the union of first cousins. Girls are usually married young, and sometimes infants of one or two months are given...

[291] This present of a lakh of rupees is known as Lakh Pasaru, and it is not usually given in cash but in kind. It is made up of grain, land, carriages, jewellery, horses, came...