The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 4

The caste worship the principal Hindu deities. Either Bhagwan or Parmeshwar is usually referred to as the supreme deity, as we speak of God. Bhagwan appears to be Vishnu or the...

If the hair was considered to be the special source of strength and hence frequently of life, that of the kings and priests, in whose existence the primitive tribe believed its...

If a woman greatly desires a child she will go to a shrine and lay a stone on it which she calls the _dharna_ or deposit or pledge. Then she thinks that she has put the god unde...

"I have to state that from former times these people following their profession have resided in my territory and in the states of other native princes; and they have always foll...

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...

Each subcaste has a number of exogamous septs or clans which serve as a table of affinities in regulating marriage. The vernacular term for these is _kul_. Some of the septs are...

_Teli._ [664]--The occupational caste of oil-pressers and sellers. The Telis numbered nearly 900,000 persons in 1911, being the fifth caste in the Province in point of populatio...

The great object of the treatment after birth is to prevent the mother and child from catching cold. They appear to confuse the symptoms of pneumonia and infantile lockjaw in a...

When a man has been killed by a tiger (_bagh_) he is deified and worshipped as Bagh Deo. A hut is made in the yard of the house, and an image of a tiger is placed inside and wor...

_Manbhao_. [177]--A religious sect or order, which has now become a caste, belonging to the Maratha Districts of the Central Provinces and to Berar. Their total strength in Indi...

The more ambitious members of the caste abjure all flesh and liquor, and wear the sacred thread. These will not take cooked food even from a Brahman. Others do not observe these...

The caste worship Viswakarma, the celestial architect, and on four principal festivals they revere their trade-implements and the book on architecture, by which they work. At Da...

Marriage within the sept is forbidden, and they permit the intermarriage of the children of a brother and sister, but not of those of two sisters, though their husbands may be o...

The principal deity of the Ramosis is Khandoba, the Maratha god of war. [586] He is the deified sword, the name being _khanda-aba_ or sword-father. An oath taken on the Bhandar...

A body of Pardhis are sometimes employed by all the cultivators of a village jointly for the purpose of watching the spring crops during the day and keeping black-buck out of th...

On the sixth day after birth they believe that Chhathi or Satwai Devi, the Sixth-day Goddess, comes at midnight and writes on the child's forehead its fate in life, which writin...

_Pardhi, [407] Bahelia, Mirshikar, Moghia, Shikari, Takankar._--A low caste of wandering fowlers and hunters. They numbered about 15,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Ber...

As is well known the method of the Thugs was to attach themselves to travellers, either single men or small parties, and at a convenient opportunity to strangle them, bury the b...

"The chief military force of the Marathas consists in their cavalry, which may be divided into four distinct classes: First the Khasi Pagah or household forces of the prince; th...

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 betwe...

After this they spread to various places in northern India, and to the Central Provinces and Bombay. The modern state of Dhar is or was recently still held by a Panwar family, w...

_Rajput, Chauhan_.--The Chauhan was the last of the Agnikula or fire-born clans, According to the legend: "Again Vasishtha seated on the lotus prepared incantations; again he ca...

The Marathas are a caste formed from military service, and it seems probable that they sprang mainly from the peasant population of Kunbis, though at what period they were forme...

During an eclipse the sweepers reap a good harvest; for it is believed that Rahu, the demon who devours the sun and moon and thus causes an eclipse, was either a sweeper or the...

The principal occupations of the Mahars are the weaving of coarse country cloth and general labour. They formerly spun their own yarn, and their fabrics were preferred by the cu...

The Thugs believed that the wishes of the deity were constantly indicated to them by the appearance or cries of a large number of wild animals and birds from which they drew the...

_Nunia, Lunia._ [351]--A mixed occupational caste of salt-makers and earth-workers, made up of recruits from the different non-Aryan tribes of northern India. The word _non_ mea...

The Rajputs abstain from alcoholic liquor, though some of the lower class, as the Bundelas, drink it. In classical times there is no doubt that they drank freely, but have had t...

The Prabhus wear the sacred thread. In Bombay boys receive it a short time before their marriage without the ceremonies which form part of the regular Brahman investiture. On th...

Landowners usually have a long coat known as _angarkha_ reaching to the knees, with flaps folding over the breasts and tied with strings. The _bandi_ is a short coat like this b...

_Nai, Nao, Mhali, Hajjam, Bhanari, Mangala_. [292]--The occupational caste of barbers. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit _napita_ according to some a corruption o...

Infant-marriage is the custom of the caste, and the ceremony is that prevalent among the agricultural castes of the locality. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and they hav...

_Murha._--A Dravidian, caste of navvies and labourers found in Jubbulpore and the adjoining Districts, to the number of about 1500 persons. The name Murha has been held to show...

And again: "The most extraordinary trait in the characters of these people is not this that they can look back upon all the murders they have perpetrated without any feelings of...

In 1814, Prinsep states, [439] the actual military force at the disposal of the Pindaris amounted to 40,000 horse, inclusive of the Pathans, who though more orderly and better d...

In the Central Provinces they have become landholders and are addressed by the honorific title of Thakur, ranking with the higher cultivating castes. Several Lodhi landholders i...

Formerly Sunars were employed for counting and testing money in the public treasuries, and in this capacity they were designated as Potdar and Saraf or Shroff. Before the introd...

_Rajput, Nagvansi_.--This clan are considered to be the descendants of the Tak or Takshac, which is one of the thirty-six royal races, and was considered by Colonel Tod to be of...

In Mandla at a wedding the barber comes and cuts the bride's nails, and the cuttings are rolled up in dough and placed in a little earthen pot beside the marriage-post. The brid...

_Waghya,_ [722] _Vaghe, Murli._--An order of mendicant devotees of the god Khandoba, an incarnation of Siva; they belong to the Maratha Districts and Bombay where Khandoba is wo...

_Rajput, Solankhi, Solanki, Chalukya._--This clan was one of the Agnikula or fire-born, and are hence considered to have probably been Gurjaras or Gujars. Their original name is...

Marriage is forbidden between members of the same sept and between first and second cousins. Girls are generally betrothed in childhood and should be married before maturity. In...

"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 w...

_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...

Gangajal Ganges water. Bimba Lohir Bearer of a lathi (stick). Sarang Peacock. Raja Rawat Royal prince. Singur Beauty. Bank pagar With a thread on the arm. Samundha Ocean. Parasr...

_Naoda._ [336]--A small caste found in the Nimar District and in Central India. The name means a rower and is derived from _nao_, a boat. The caste are closely connected with th...

_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 distri...

In Wardha and Berar the customs of the Kunbis show in several respects the influence of Islam, due no doubt to the long period of Muhammadan dominance in the country. To this ma...

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The caste especially venerate the goddess Devi. They apparently identify Devi with Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, and they have a story to the effect that once Brahma wished...

The following tradition is related by the Pasis themselves in Mirzapur and the Central Provinces: One day a man was going to kill a number of cows. Parasurama was at that time p...

At least six of the thirty-six royal races, the Sarweya, Silar, Doda or Dor, Dahia, Johia and Mohil, were extinct in Colonel Tod's time, and others were represented only by smal...

_Mala._--A low Telugu caste of labourers and cotton-weavers. They numbered nearly 14,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, belonging mainly to the Chanda, Nagpur, Jubbul...

"To explain this rude and ancient rite the following legend was told. At the moment when Pluto carried off Proserpine, a swineherd called Eubuleus chanced to be herding his swin...

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 usuall...

_Mirasi._--A Muhammadan caste of singers, minstrels and genealogists, of which a few members are found in the Central Provinces. General Cunningham says that they are the bards...

The Telis will take cooked food from Kurmis and Kunbis, and in some localities from a Lohar or Barhai. Dhimars are the highest caste which will take food from them. In Mandla if...

_Rajput, Baghel._--The Baghel Rajputs, who have given their name to Baghelkhand or Rewah, the eastern part of Central India, are a branch of the Chalukya or Solankhi clan, one o...

[221] Lit. armour-bearers. Colonel Tone writes: "I apprehend from the meaning of this term that it was formerly the custom of this nation, as was the case in Europe, to appear i...

[572] _Rajasthan_ i. pp, 398, 399. The death of the young princess was mainly the work of Amir Khan Pindari who brought pressure on the Rana to consent to it in order to save hi...