Chapter 23

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 deity of the sweepers, and alms given to them at this time will appease him and cause him to let the luminaries go. Or, according to another account, the sun and moon are in Rahu's debt, and he comes and duns them, and this is the eclipse; and the alms given to sweepers are a means of paying the debt. In Gujarat as soon as the darkening sets in the Bhangis go about shouting, '_Garhandan, Vastradan, Rupadan_,' or 'Gifts for the eclipse, gifts of clothes, gifts of silver.' [252] The sweepers are no doubt derived from the primitive or Dravidian tribes, and, as has been seen, they also practise the art of making bamboo mats and baskets, being known as Bansphor in Bombay on this account. In the Punjab the Chuhras are a very numerous caste, being exceeded only by the Jats, Rajputs and Brahmans. Only a small proportion of them naturally find employment as scavengers, and the remainder are agricultural labourers, and together with the vagrants and gipsies are the hereditary workers in grass and reeds. [253] They are closely connected with the Dhanuks, a caste of hunters, fowlers and village watchmen, being of nearly the same status. [254] And Dhanuk, again, is in some localities a complimentary term for a Basor or bamboo-worker. It has been seen that Valmiki, the patron saint of the sweepers, was a low-caste hunter, and this gives some reason for the supposition that the primary occupations of the Chuhras and Bhangis were hunting and working in grass and bamboo. In one of the legends of the sweeper saint Balmik or Valmiki given by Mr. Greeven, [255] Balmik was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers, and was persuaded by the others to remove the body of a calf which had died in their courtyard. But after he had done so they refused to touch him, so he went into the wilderness with the body; and when he did not know how to feed himself the carcase started into life and gave him milk until he was full grown, when it died again of its own accord. Balmik burst into tears, not knowing how he was to live henceforward, but a voice cried from heaven saying, "Of the sinews (of the calf's body) do thou tie winnows (_sup_), and of the caul do thou plait sieves (_chalni_)." Balmik obeyed, and by his handiwork gained the name of Supaj or the maker of winnowing-fans. These are natural occupations of the non-Aryan forest tribes, and are now practised by the Gonds.

Meo

_Meo, Mewati._--The Muhammadan branch of the Mina tribe belonging to the country of Mewat in Rajputana which is comprised in the Alwar, Bharatpur and Jaipur States and the British District of Gurgaon. A few Meos were returned from the Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts in 1911, but it is doubtful whether any are settled here, as they may be wandering criminals. The origin of the Meo is discussed in the article on the Mina tribe, but some interesting remarks on them by Mr. Channing and Major Powlett in the _Rajputana Gazetteer_ may be reproduced here. Mr. Channing writes: [256]

"The tribe, which has been known in Hindustan according to the Kutub Tawarikh for 850 years, was originally Hindu and became Muhammadan. Their origin is obscure. They themselves claim descent from the Rajput races of Jadon, Kachhwaha and Tuar, and they may possibly have some Rajput blood in their veins; but they are probably, like many other similar tribes, a combination from ruling and other various stocks and sources, and there is reason to believe them very nearly allied with the Minas, who are certainly a tribe of the same structure and species. The Meos have twelve clans or _pals_, the first six of which are identical in name and claim the same descent as the first six clans of the Minas. Intermarriage between them both was the rule until the time of Akbar, when owing to an affray at the marriage of a Meo with a Mina the custom was discontinued. Finally, their mode of life is or was similar, as both tribes were once notoriously predatory. It is probable that the original Meos were supplemented by converts to Islam from other castes. It is said that the tribe were conquered and converted in the eleventh century by Masud, son of Amir Salar and grandson of Sultan Mahmud Subaktagin on the mother's side, the general of the forces of Mahmud of Ghazni. Masud is still venerated by the Meos, and they swear by his name. They have a mixture of Hindu and Muhammadan customs. They practise circumcision, _nikah_ [257] and the burial of the dead. They make pilgrimages to the tomb of Masud in Bahraich in Oudh, and consider the oath taken on his banner the most binding. They also make pilgrimages to Muhammadan shrines in India, but never perform the _Haj_. Of Hindu customs they observe the Holi or Diwali; their marriages are never arranged in the same _got_ or sept; and they permit daughters to inherit. They call their children indiscriminately by both Muhammadan and Hindu names. They are almost entirely uneducated, but have bards and musicians to whom they make large presents. These sing songs known as Ratwai, which are commonly on pastoral and agricultural subjects. The Meos are given to the use of intoxicating drinks, and are very superstitious and have great faith in omens. The dress of the men and women resembles that of the Hindus. Infanticide was formerly common among them, but it is said to have entirely died out. They were also formerly robbers by avocation; and though they have improved they are still noted cattle-lifters."

In another description of them by Major Powlett it is stated that, besides worshipping Hindu gods and keeping Hindu festivals, they employ a Brahman to write the Pili Chhitthi or yellow note fixing the date of a marriage. They call themselves by Hindu names with the exception of Ram; and Singh is a frequent affix, though not so common as Khan. On the Amawas or monthly conjunction of the sun and moon, Meos, in common with Hindu Ahirs and Gujars, cease from labour; and when they make a well the first proceeding is to erect a _chabutra_ (platform) to Bhaironji or Hanuman. However, when plunder was to be obtained they have often shown little respect for Hindu shrines and temples; and when the sanctity of a threatened place has been urged, the retort has been, '_Tum to Deo, Ham Meo_' or 'You may be a Deo (God), but I am a Meo.'

Meos do not marry in their _pal_ or clan, but they are lax about forming connections with women of other castes, whose children they receive into the community. As already stated, Brahmans take part in the formalities preceding a marriage, but the ceremony itself is performed by a Kazi. As agriculturists Meos are inferior to their Hindu neighbours. The point in which they chiefly fail is in working their wells, for which they lack patience. Their women, whom they do not confine, will, it is said, do more field-work than the men; indeed, one often finds women at work in the crops when the men are lying down. Like the women of low Hindu castes they tattoo their bodies, a practice disapproved by Musalmans in general. Abul Fazl writes that the Meos were in his time famous runners, and one thousand of them were employed by Akbar as carriers of the post.

Mina

1. The Minas locally termed Deswa

_Mina, Deswali, Maina._--A well-known caste of Rajputana which is found in the Central Provinces in the Hoshangabad, Nimar and Saugor Districts. About 8000 persons of the caste were returned in 1911. The proper name for them is Mina, but here they are generally known as Deswali, a term which they probably prefer, as that of Mina is too notorious. A large part of the population of the northern Districts is recruited from Bundelkhand and Marwar, and these tracts are therefore often known among them as 'Desh' or native country. The term Deswali is applied to groups of many castes coming from Bundelkhand, and has apparently been specially appropriated as an _alias_ by the Minas. The caste are sometimes known in Hoshangabad as Maina, which Colonel Tod states to be the name of the highest division of the Minas. The designation of Pardeshi or 'foreigner' is also given to them in some localities. The Deswalis came to Harda about A.D. 1750, being invited by the Maratha Amil or governor, who gave one family a grant of three villages. They thus gained a position of some dignity, and this reaching the ears of their brothers in Jaipur they also came and settled all over the District. [258] In view of the history and character of the Minas, of which some account will be given, it should be first stated that under the _régime_ of British law and order most of the Deswalis of Hoshangabad have settled down into steady and honest agriculturists.

2. Historical notice of the Mina tribe

The Minas were a famous robber tribe of the country of Mewat in Rajputana, comprised in the Alwar and Bharatpur States and the British District of Gurgaon. [259] They are also found in large numbers in Jaipur State, which was formerly held by them. The Meos and Minas are now considered to be branches of one tribe, the former being at least nominally Muhammadans by religion and the latter Hindus. A favourite story for recitation at their feasts is that of Darya Khan Meo and Sasibadani Mini, a pair of lovers whose marriage led to a quarrel between the tribes to which they belonged, in the time of Akbar. This dispute caused the cessation of the practice of intermarriage between Meos and Minas which had formerly obtained. Both the Meos and Minas are divided into twelve large clans called _pal_, the word _pal_ meaning, according to Colonel Tod, 'a defile in a valley suitable for cultivation or defence.' In a sandy desert like Rajputana the valleys of streams might be expected to be the only favourable tracts for settlement, and the name perhaps therefore is a record of the process by which the colonies of Minas in these isolated patches of culturable land developed into exogamous clans marrying with each other. The Meos have similarly twelve _pals_, and the names of six of these are identical with those of the Minas. [260] The names of the _pals_ are taken from those of Rajput clans, [261] but the recorded lists differ, and there are now many other _gots_ or septs outside the _pals_. The Minas seem originally to have been an aboriginal or pre-Aryan tribe of Rajputana, where they are still found in considerable numbers. The Raja of Jaipur was formerly marked on the forehead with blood taken from the great toe of a Mina on the occasion of his installation. Colonel Tod records that the Amber or Jaipur State was founded by one Dholesai in A.D. 967 after he had slaughtered large numbers of the Minas by treachery. And in his time the Minas still possessed large immunities and privileges in the Jaipur State. When the Rajputs settled in force in Rajputana, reducing the Minas to subjection, illicit connections would naturally arise on a large scale between the invaders and the women of the conquered country. For even when the Rajputs only came as small isolated parties of adventurers, as into the Central Provinces, we find traces of such connections in the survival of castes or subcastes of mixed descent from them and the indigenous tribes. It follows therefore that where they occupied the country and settled on the soil the process would be still more common. Accordingly it is generally recognised that the Minas are a caste of the most mixed and impure descent, and it has sometimes been supposed that they were themselves a branch of the Rajputs. In the Punjab when one woman accuses another of illicit intercourse she is said '_Mina dena_,' or to designate her as a Mina. [262] Further it is stated [263] that "The Minas are of two classes, the Zamindari or agricultural and the Chaukidari or watchmen. These Chaukidari Minas are the famous marauders." The office of village watchman was commonly held by members of the aboriginal tribes, and these too furnished the criminal classes. Another piece of evidence of the Dravidian origin of the tribe is the fact that there exists even now a group of Dhedia or impure Minas who do not refuse to eat cow's flesh. The Chaukidari Minas, dispossessed of their land, resorted to the hills, and here they developed into a community of thieves and bandits recruited from all the outcastes of society. Sir A. Lyall wrote [264] of the caste as "a Cave of Adullam which has stood open for centuries. With them a captured woman is solemnly admitted by a form of adoption into one circle of affinity, in order that she may be lawfully married into another." With the conquest of northern India by the Muhammadans, many of the Minas, being bound by no ties to Hinduism, might be expected to embrace the new and actively proselytising religion, while their robber bands would receive fugitive Muhammadans as recruits as well as Hindus. Thus probably arose a Musalman branch of the community, who afterwards became separately designated as the Meos. As already seen, the Meos and Minas intermarried for a time, but subsequently ceased to do so. As might be expected, the form of Islam professed by the Meos is of a very bastard order, and Major Powlett's account of it is reproduced in a short separate notice of that tribe.

3. Their robberies

The crimes and daring of the Minas have obtained for them a considerable place in history. A Muhammadan historian, Zia-ud-din Bami, wrote of the tribe: [265] "At night they were accustomed to come prowling into the city of Delhi, giving all kinds of trouble and depriving people of their rest, and they plundered the country houses in the neighbourhood of the city. Their daring was carried to such an extent that the western gates of the city were shut at afternoon prayer and no one dared to leave it after that hour, whether he travelled as a pilgrim or with the display of a king. At afternoon prayer they would often come to the Sarhouy, and assaulting the water-carriers and girls who were fetching water they would strip them and carry off their clothes. In turn they were treated by the Muhammadan rulers with the most merciless cruelty. Some were thrown under the feet of elephants, others were cut in halves with knives, and others again were flayed alive from head to foot." Regular campaigns against them were undertaken by the Muhammadans, [266] as in later times British forces had to be despatched to subdue the Pindaris. Babar on his arrival at Agra described the Mewati leader Raja Hasan Khan as 'the chief agitator in all these confusions and insurrections'; and Firishta mentions two terrible slaughters of Mewatis in A.D. 1259 and 1265. In 1857 Major Powlett records that in Alwar they assembled and burnt the State ricks and carried off cattle, though they did not succeed in plundering any towns or villages there. In British territory they sacked Firozpur and other villages, and when a British force came to restore order many were hanged. Sir D. Ibbetson wrote of them in the Punjab: [267]

"The Minas are the boldest of our criminal classes. Their headquarters so far as the Punjab is concerned are in the village of Shahjahanpur, attached to the Gurgaon District but surrounded on all sides by Rajputana territory. There they until lately defied our police and even resisted them with armed force. Their enterprises are on a large scale, and they are always prepared to use violence if necessary. In Marwar they are armed with small bows which do considerable execution. They travel great distances in gangs of from twelve to twenty men, practising robbery and dacoity even as far as the Deccan. The gangs usually start off immediately after the Diwali feast and often remain absent the whole year. They have agents in all the large cities of Rajputana and the Deccan who give them information, and they are in league with the carrying castes of Marwar. After a successful foray they offer one-tenth of the proceeds at the shrine of Kali Devi."

Like other criminals they were very superstitious, and Colonel Tod records that the partridge and the _maloli_ or wagtail were their chief birds of omen. A partridge clamouring on the left when he commenced a foray was a certain presage of success to a Mina. Similarly, Mr. Kennedy notes that the finding of a dried goatskin, either whole or in pieces, among the effects of a suspected criminal is said to be an infallible indication of his identity as a Mina, the flesh of the goat's tongue being indispensable in connection with the taking of omens. In Jaipur the Minas were employed as guards, as a method of protection against their fellows, for whose misdeeds they were held responsible. Rent-free lands were given to them, and they were always employed to escort treasure. Here they became the most faithful and trusted of the Raja's servants. It is related that on one occasion a Mina sentinel at the palace had received charge of a basket of oranges. A friend of the same tribe came to him and asked to be shown the palace, which he had never seen. The sentinel agreed and took him over the palace, but when his back was turned the friend stole one orange from the basket. Subsequently the sentinel counted the oranges and found one short; on this he ran after his friend and taxed him with the theft, which being admitted, the Mina said that he had been made to betray his trust and had become dishonoured, and drawing his sword cut off his friend's head. The ancient treasure of Jaipur or Amber was, according to tradition, kept in a secret cave in the hills under a body of Mina guards who alone knew the hiding-place, and would only permit any part of it to be withdrawn for a great emergency. Nor would they accept the orders of the Raja alone, but required the consent of the heads of the twelve principal noble families of Amber, branches of the royal house, before they would give up any part of the treasure. The criminal Minas are said to inhabit a tract of country about sixty-five miles long and forty broad, stretching from Shahpur forty miles north of Jaipur to Guraora in Gurgaon on the Rohtak border. The popular idea of the Mina, Mr. Crooke remarks, [268] is quite in accordance with his historical character; his niggardliness is shown in the saying, 'The Meo will not give his daughter in marriage till he gets a mortar full of silver'; his pugnacity is expressed in, 'The Meo's son begins to avenge his feuds when he is twelve years old'; and his toughness in, 'Never be sure that a Meo is dead till you see the third-day funeral ceremony performed.'

4. The Deswalis of the Central Provinces

As already stated, the Deswalis of the Central Provinces have abandoned the wild life of their ancestors and settled down as respectable cultivators. Only a few particulars about them need be recorded. Girls are usually married before they are twelve years old and boys at sixteen to twenty. A sum of Rs. 24 is commonly paid for the bride, and a higher amount up to Rs. 71 may be given, but this is the maximum, and if the father of the girl takes more he will be fined by the caste and made to refund the balance. A triangle with some wooden models of birds is placed on the marriage-shed and the bridegroom strikes at these with a stick; formerly he fired a gun at them to indicate that he was a hunter by profession. A Brahman is employed to celebrate the marriage. A widow is usually taken by her late husband's younger brother, but if there be none the elder brother may marry her, contrary to the general rule among Hindus. The object is to keep the woman in the family, as wives are costly. If she is unwilling to marry her brother-in-law, however, no compulsion is exercised and she may wed another man. Divorce is allowed, and in Rajputana is very simply effected. If tempers do not assimilate or other causes prompt them to part, the husband tears a shred from his turban which he gives to his wife, and with this simple bill of divorce, placing two jars of water on her head, she takes whatever path she pleases, and the first man who chooses to ease her of her load becomes her future lord. '_Jehur nikala_,' 'Took the jar and went forth,' is a common saying among the mountaineers of Merwara. [269]

The dead are cremated, the corpse of a man being wrapped in a white and that of a woman in a coloured cloth. They have no _shraddh_ ceremony, but mourn for the dead only on the last day of Kartik (October), when they offer water and burn incense. Deswalis employ the Parsai or village Brahman to officiate at their ceremonies, but owing to their mixed origin they rank below the cultivating castes, and Brahmans will not take water from them. In Jaipur, however, Major Powlett says, their position is higher. They are, as already seen, the trusted guards of the palace and treasury, and Rajputs will accept food and water from their hands. This concession is no doubt due to the familiarity induced by living together for a long period, and parallel instances of it can be given, as that of the Panwars and Gonds in the Central Provinces. The Deswalis eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain from fowls and pork. When they are invited to a feast they do not take their own brass vessels with them, but drink out of earthen pots supplied by the host, having the liquor poured on to their hands held to the mouth to avoid actual contact with the vessel. This is a Marwari custom and the Jats also have it. Before the commencement of the feast the guests wait until food has been given to as many beggars as like to attend. In Saugor the food served consists only of rice and pulse without vegetables or other dishes. It is said that a Mina will not eat salt in the house of another man, because he considers that to do so would establish the bond of _Nimak-khai_ or salt-eating between them, and he would be debarred for ever from robbing that man or breaking into his house. The guests need not sit down together as among other Hindus, but may take their food in batches; so that the necessity of awaiting the arrival of every guest before commencing the feast is avoided. The Deswalis will not kill a black-buck nor eat the flesh of one, but they assign no reason for this and do not now worship the animal. The rule is probably, however, a totemistic survival. The men may be known by their manly gait and harsh tone of voice, as well as by a peculiar method of tying the turban; the women have a special ornament called _rakhdi_ on the forehead and do not wear spangles or toe-rings. They are said also to despise ornaments of the baser metals as brass and pewter. They are tattooed with dots on the face to set off the fair-coloured skin by contrast, in the same manner as patches were carried on the face in Europe in the eighteenth century. A tattoo dot on a fair face is likened by a Hindu poet to a bee sitting on a half-opened mango.

Mirasi