Chapter 29

_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_ means salt, and is a corruption of the Sanskrit _lavana_, 'the moist,' which first occurs as a name for sea-salt in the Atharva Veda. [352] In the oldest prose writings salt is known as Saindhava or 'that which is brought from the Indus,' this perhaps being Punjab rock-salt. The Nunias are a fairly large caste in Bengal and northern India, numbering 800,000 persons, but the Central Provinces and Berar contain only 3000, who are immigrants from Upper India. Here they are navvies and masons, a calling which they have generally adopted since the Government monopoly has interfered with their proper business of salt-refining. The mixed origin of the caste is shown by the list of their subdivisions in the United Provinces, which includes the names Mallah, Kewat, Kuchbandhia, Bind, Musahar, Bhuinhar and Lodha, all of which are distinct castes, besides a number of territorial subcastes. A list of nearly thirty subcastes is given by Mr. Crooke, and this is an instance of the tendency of migratory castes to split up into small groups for the purpose of arranging marriages, owing to the difficulty of ascertaining the status and respectability of each other's families, and the unwillingness to contract alliances with those whose social position may turn out to be not wholly satisfactory. "The internal structure of the caste," Mr. Crooke remarks, "is far from clear; it would appear that they are still in a state of transition, and the different endogamous subcastes are not as yet fully recognised." In Bilaspur the Nunias have three local subcastes, the Bandhaiya, the Ratanpuria and the Kharodhia. The two last, deriving their names from the towns of Ratanpur and Kharod in Bilaspur, are said to have been employed in former times in the construction of the temples and other buildings which abound in these localities, and have thus acquired a considerable degree of professional skill in masonry work; while the Bandhaiya, who take their name from Bandhogarh, confine themselves to the excavation of tanks and wells. The exogamous divisions of the caste are also by no means clearly defined; in Mirzapur they have a system of local subdivisions called _dih_, each subdivision being named after the village which is supposed to be its home. The word _dih_ itself means a site or village. Those who have a common _dih_ do not intermarry. [353] This fact is interesting as being an instance of the direct derivation of the exogamous clan from residence in a parent village and not from any heroic or supposititious ancestor.

The caste have a legend which shows their mixed origin. Some centuries ago, they say, a marriage procession consisting of Brahmans, Rajputs, Banias and Gosains went to a place near Ajodhya. After the ceremony was over the bride, on being taken to the bridegroom's lodging, scraped up a little earth with her fingers and put it in her mouth. She found it had a saltish taste, and spat it out on the ground, and this enraged the tutelary goddess of the village, who considered herself insulted, and swore that all the bride's descendants should excavate salt in atonement; and thus the caste arose.

In Bilaspur the caste permit a girl to be married to a boy younger than herself. A price of five rupees has to be paid for the bride, unless her family give a girl in exchange. The bridegroom is taken to the wedding in a palanquin borne by Mahars. After its conclusion the couple are carried back in the litter for some distance, after which the bridegroom gets out and walks or rides. When he goes to fetch his wife on her coming of age the bridegroom wears white clothes, which is rather peculiar, as white is not a lucky colour among the Hindus. The Nunias employ Brahmans at their ceremonies, and they have a caste _panchayat_ or committee, whose headman is known as Kurha. The Bilaspur section of the caste has two Kurhas. Here Brahmans take water from them, but not in all places. They consider their traditional occupation to have been the extraction of salt and saltpetre from saline earth. At present they are generally employed in the excavation of tanks and the embankment of fields, and they also sink wells, build and erect houses, and undertake all kinds of agricultural labour.

Ojha

_Ojha._--The community of soothsayers and minstrels of the Gonds. The Ojhas may now be considered a distinct subtribe, as they are looked down upon by the Gonds and marry among themselves. They derive their name from the word _ojh_ meaning 'entrail,' their original duty having been, like that of the Roman augurs, to examine the entrails of the victim immediately after it had been slain as an offering to the gods. In 1911 the Ojhas numbered about 5000 persons distributed over all Districts of the Central Provinces. At present the bulk of the community subsist by beggary. The word Ojha is of Sanskrit and not of Gond origin and is applied by the Hindus to the seers or magicians of several of the primitive tribes, while there is also a class of Ojha Brahmans who practise magic and divination. The Gond Ojhas, who are the subject of this article, originally served the Gonds and begged from them alone, but in some parts of the western Satpuras they are also the minstrels of the Korkus. Those who beg from the Korkus play on a kind of drum called _dhank_ while the Gond Ojhas use the _kingri_ or lyre. Some of them also catch birds and are therefore known as Moghia. Mr. Hislop [354] remarks of them: "The Ojhas follow the two occupations of bard and fowler. They lead a wandering life and when passing through villages they sing from house to house the praises of their heroes, dancing with castanets in their hands, bells at their ankles and long feathers of jungle birds in their turbans. They sell live quails and the skins of a species of Buceros named Dhan-chiria; these are used for making caps and for hanging up in houses in order to secure wealth (_dhan_), while the thigh-bones of the same bird when fastened round the waists of children are deemed an infallible preservative against the assaults of devils and other such calamities. Their wives tattoo the arms of Hindu and Gond women. Among them there is a subdivision known as the Mana Ojhas, who rank higher than the others. Laying claim to unusual sanctity, they refuse to eat with any one, Gonds, Rajputs or even Brahmans, and devote themselves to the manufacture of rings and bells which are in request among their own race, and even of _lingas_ (phallic emblems) and _nandis_ (bull images), which they sell to all ranks of the Hindu community. Their wives are distinguished by wearing the cloth of the upper part of the body over the right shoulder, whereas those of the common Ojhas and of all the other Gonds wear it over the left."

Mr. Tawney wrote of the Ojhas as follows: [355] "The Ojha women do not dance. It is only men who do so, and when thus engaged they put on special attire and wear anklets with bells. The Ojhas like the Gonds are divided into six or seven god _gots_ (classes or septs), and those with the same number of gods cannot intermarry. They worship at the same Deokhala (god's threshing-floor) as the Gonds, but being regarded as an inferior caste they are not allowed so near the sacred presence. Like the Gonds they incorporate the spirits of the dead with the gods, but their manner of doing so is somewhat different, as they make an image of brass to represent the soul of the deceased and keep this with the household gods. As with the Gonds, if a household god makes himself too objectionable he is quietly buried to keep him out of mischief and a new god is introduced into the family. The latter should properly bear the same name as his degraded predecessor, but very often does not. The Ojhas are too poor to indulge in the luxury of burning their deceased friends and therefore invariably bury them."

The customs of the Ojhas resemble those of the Gonds. They take the bride to the bridegroom's house to be married, and a widow among them is expected, though not obliged, to wed her late husband's younger brother. They eat the flesh of fowls, pigs, and even oxen, but abstain from that of monkeys, crocodiles and jackals. They will not touch an ass, a cat or a dog, and consider it sinful to kill animals which bark or bray.

They will take food from the hands of all except the most impure castes, and will admit into the community any man who has taken an Ojha woman to live with him, even though he be a sweeper, provided that he will submit to the prescribed test of begging from the houses of five Gonds and eating the leavings of food of the other Ojhas. They will pardon the transgression of one of their women with an outsider of any caste whatever, if she is able and willing to provide the usual penalty feast. They have no _sutak_ or period of impurity after a death, but merely take a mouthful of liquor and consider themselves clean. In physical appearance the Ojhas resemble the Gonds but are less robust. They rank below the Gonds and are considered as impure by the Hindu castes. In 1865, an Ojha held a village in Hoshangabad District which he had obtained as follows: [356] "He was singing and dancing before Raja Raghuji, when the Raja said he would give a rent-free village to any one who would pick up and chew a quid of betel-leaf which he (the Raja) had had in his mouth and had spat out. The Ojha did this and got the village."

The Maithil or Tirhut Brahmans who are especially learned in Tantric magic are also sometimes known as Ojha, and a family bearing this title were formerly in the service of the Gond kings of Mandla. They do not now admit that they acted as augurs or soothsayers, but state that their business was to pray continuously for the king's success when he was engaged in any battle, and to sit outside the rooms of sick persons repeating the sacred Gayatri verse for their recovery. This is often repeated ten times, counting by a special method on the joints of the fingers and is then known as _Jap_. When it is repeated a larger number of times, as 54 or 108, a rosary is used.

Oraon

[_Authorities_: The most complete account of the Oraons is a monograph entitled, _The Religion and Customs of the Oraons_, by the late Rev. Father P. Dehon, published in 1906 in the _Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. i. No. 9. The tribe is also described at length by Colonel Dalton in _The Ethnography of Bengal_, and an article on it is included in Mr. (Sir H.) Risley's _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. References to the Oraons are contained in Mr. Bradley-Birt's _Chota Nagpur_, and Mr. Ball's _Jungle Life in India_. The Kurukh language is treated by Dr. Grierson in the volume of the Linguistic Survey on _Munda and Dravidian Languages_. The following article is principally made up of extracts from the accounts of Father Dehon and Colonel Dalton. Papers have also been received from Mr. Hira Lal, Mr. Balaram Nand, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Sambalpur, Mr. Jeorakhan Lal, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Bilaspur, and Munshi Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer Office.]

List of Paragraphs

1. _General notice_. 2. _Settlement in Chota Nagpur_. 3. _Subdivisions_. 4. _Pre-nuptial licence_. 5. _Betrothal_. 6. _Marriage ceremony_. 7. _Special customs_. 8. _Widow-remarriage and divorce_. 9. _Customs at birth_. 10. _Naming a child_. 11. _Branding and tattooing_. 12. _Dormitory discipline_. 13. _Disposal of the dead_. 14. _Worship of ancestors_. 15. _Religion_. _The supreme deity_. 16. _Minor godlings_. 17. _Human sacrifice_. 18. _Christianity_. 19. _Festivals_. _The Karma or May-day_. 20. _The Sal flower festival_. 21. _The harvest festival_. 22. _Fast for the crops_. 23. _Physical appearance and costume of the Oraons_. 24. _Dress of women_. 25. _Dances_. 26. _Social customs_. 27. _Social rules_. 28. _Character_. 29. _Language_.

1. General notice

_Oraon, Uraon, Kurukh, Dhangar, Kuda, Kisan._--The Oraons are an important Dravidian tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau, numbering altogether about 750,000 persons, of whom 85,000 now belong to the Central Provinces, being residents of the Jashpur and Sarguja States and the neighbouring tracts. They are commonly known in the Central Provinces as Dhangar or Dhangar-Oraon. In Chota Nagpur the word Dhangar means a farmservant engaged according to a special customary contract, and it has come to be applied to the Oraons, who are commonly employed in this capacity. Kuda means a digger or navvy in Uriya, and enquiries made by Mr. B.C. Mazumdar and Mr. Hira Lal have demonstrated that the 18,000 persons returned under this designation from Raigarh and Sambalpur in 1901 were really Oraons. The same remark applies to 33,000 persons returned from Sambalpur as Kisan or cultivator, these also being members of the tribe. The name by which the Oraons know themselves is Kurukh or Kurunkh, and the designation of Oraon or Orao has been applied to them by outsiders. The meaning of both names is obscure. Dr. Halm [357] was of opinion that the word _kurukh_ might be identified with the Kolarian _horo_, man, and explained the term Oraon as the totem of one of the septs into which the Kurukhs were divided. According to him Oraon was a name coined by the Hindus, its base being _orgoran_, hawk or cunny bird, used as the name of a totemistic sept. Sir G. Grierson, however, suggested a connection with the Kaikari, _urupai_, man; Burgandi _urapo_, man; _urang_, men. The Kaikaris are a Telugu caste, and as the Oraons are believed to have come from the south of India, this derivation sounds plausible. In a similar way Sir. G. Grierson states, Kurukh may be connected with Tamil _kurugu_, an eagle, and be the name of a totemistic clan. Compare also names, such as Korava, Kurru, a dialect of Tamil, and Kudagu. In the Nerbudda valley the farmservant who pours the seed through the tube of the sowing-plough is known as Oraya; this word is probably derived from the verb _urna_ to pour, and means 'one who pours.' Since the principal characteristic of the Oraons among the Hindus is their universal employment as farmservants and labourers, it may be suggested that the name is derived from this term. Of the other names by which they are known to outsiders Dhangar means a farmservant, Kuda a digger, and Kisan a cultivator. The name Oraon and its variant Orao is very close to Oraya, which, as already seen, means a farmservant. The nasal seems to be often added or omitted in this part of the country, as Kurukh or Kurunkh.

2. Settlement in Chota Nagpur

According to their own traditions, Mr. Gait writes, [358] "The Kurukh tribe originally lived in the Carnatic, whence they went up the Nerbudda river and settled in Bihar on the banks of the Son. Driven out by the Muhammadans, the tribe split into two divisions, one of which followed the course of the Ganges and finally settled in the Rajmahal hills: while the other went up the Son and occupied the north-western portion of the Chota Nagpur plateau, where many of the villages they occupy are still known by Mundari names. The latter were the ancestors of the Oraons or Kurukhs, while the former were the progenitors of the Male or Saonria as they often call themselves." Towards Lohardaga the Oraons found themselves among the Mundas or Kols, who probably retired by degrees and left them in possession of the country. "The Oraons," Father Dehon states, "are an exceedingly prolific tribe and soon become the preponderant element, while the Mundas, being conservative and averse to living among strangers, emigrate towards another jungle. The Mundas hate zamindars, and whenever they can do so, prefer to live in a retired corner in full possession of their small holding; and it is not at all improbable that, as the zamindars took possession of the newly-formed villages, they retired towards the east, while the Oraons, being good beasts of burden and more accustomed to subjection, remained." In view of the fine physique and martial character of the Larka or Fighting Kols or Mundas, Dalton was sceptical of the theory that they could ever have retired before the Oraons; but in addition to the fact that many villages in which Oraons now live have Mundari names, it may be noted that the headman of an Oraon village is termed Munda and is considered to be descended from its founder, while for the Pahan or priest of the village gods, the Oraons always employ a Munda if available, and it is one of the Pahan's duties to point out the boundary of the village in cases of dispute; this is a function regularly assigned to the earliest residents, and seems to be strong evidence that the Oraons found the Mundas settled in Chota Nagpur when they arrived there. It is not necessary to suppose that any conquest or forcible expropriation took place; and it is probable that, as the country was opened up, the Mundas by preference retired to the wilder forest tracts, just as in the Central Provinces the Korkus and Baigas gave way to the Gonds, and the Gonds themselves relinquished the open country to the Hindus. None of the writers quoted notice the name Munda as applied to the headman of an Oraon village, but it can hardly be doubted that it is connected with that of the tribe; and it would be interesting also to know whether the Pahan or village priest takes his name from the Pans or Gandas. Dalton says that the Pans are domesticated as essential constituents of every Ho or Kol village community, but does not allude to their presence among the Oraons. The custom in the Central Provinces, by which in Gond villages the village priest is always known as Baiga, because in some localities members of the Baiga tribe are commonly employed in the office, suggests the hypothesis of a similar usage here. In villages first settled by Oraons, the population, Father Dehon states, is divided into three _khunts_ or branches, named after the Munda, Pahan and Mahto, the founders of the three branches being held to have been sons of the first settler. Members of each branch belong therefore to the same sept or _got_. Each _khunt_ has a share of the village lands.

3. Subdivisions

The Oraons have no proper subcastes in the Central Provinces, but the Kudas and Kisans, having a distinctive name and occupation, sometimes regard themselves as separate bodies and decline intermarriage with other Oraons. In Bengal Sir H. Risley gives five divisions, Barga, Dhanka, Kharia, Khendro and Munda; of these Kharia and Munda are the names of other tribes, and Dhanka may be a variant for Dhangar. The names show that as usual with the tribes of this part of the country the law of endogamy is by no means strict. The tribe have also a large number of exogamous septs of the totemistic type, named after plants and animals. Members of any sept commonly abstain from killing or eating their sept totem. A man must not marry a member of his own sept nor a first cousin on the mother's side.

4. Pre-nuptial licence

Marriage is adult and pre-nuptial unchastity appears to be tacitly recognised. Oraon villages have the institution of the Dhumkuria or Bachelors' dormitory, which Dalton describes as follows: [359] "In all the older Oraon villages when there is any conservation of ancient customs, there is a house called the Dhumkuria in which all the bachelors of the village must sleep under penalty of a fine. The huts of the Oraons have insufficient accommodation for a family, so that separate quarters for the young men are a necessity. The same remark applies to the young unmarried women, and it is a fact that they do not sleep in the house with their parents. They are generally frank enough when questioned about their habits, but on this subject there is always a certain amount of reticence, and I have seen girls quietly withdraw when it was mooted. I am told that in some villages a separate building is provided for them like the Dhumkuria, in which they consort under the guardianship of an elderly duenna, but I believe the more common practice is to distribute them among the houses of the widows, and this is what the girls themselves assert, if they answer at all when the question is asked; but however billeted, it is well known that they often find their way to the bachelors' hall, and in some villages actually sleep there. I not long ago saw a Dhumkuria in a Sarguja village in which the boys and girls all slept every night." Colonel Dalton considered it uncertain that the practice led to actual immorality, but the fact can hardly be doubted. Sexual intercourse before marriage, Sir H. Risley says, is tacitly recognised, and is so generally practised that in the opinion of the best observers no Oraon girl is a virgin at the time of her marriage. "To call this state of things immoral is to apply a modern conception to primitive habits of life. Within the tribe, indeed, the idea of sexual morality seems hardly to exist, and the unmarried Oraons are not far removed from the condition of modified promiscuity which prevails among many of the Australian tribes. Provided that the exogamous circle defined by the totem is respected, an unmarried woman may bestow her favours on whom she will. If, however, she becomes pregnant, arrangements are made to get her married without delay, and she is then expected to lead a virtuous life." [360] According to Dalton, however, _liaisons_ between boys and girls of the same village seldom end in marriage, as it is considered more respectable to bring home a bride from a distance. This appears to arise from the primitive rule of exogamy that marriage should not be allowed between those who have been brought up together. The young men can choose for themselves, and at dances, festivals and other social gatherings they freely woo their sweethearts, giving them flowers for the hair and presents of grilled field-mice, which the Oraons consider to be the most delicate of food. Father Dehon, however, states that matches are arranged by the parents, and the bride and bridegroom have nothing to say in the matter. Boys are usually married at sixteen and girls at fourteen or fifteen. The girls thus have only about two years of preliminary flirtation or Dhumkuria life before they are settled.

5. Betrothal

The first ceremony for a marriage is known as _pan bandhi_ or the settling of the price; for which the boy's father, accompanied by some men of his village to represent _the panch_ or elders, goes to the girl's house. Father Dehon states that the bride-price is five rupees and four maunds of grain. When this has been settled the rejoicings begin. "All the people of the village are invited; two boys come and anoint the visitors with oil. From every house of the village that can afford it a _handia_ or pot of rice-beer is brought, and they drink together and make merry. All this time the girl has been kept inside, but now she suddenly sallies forth carrying a _handia_ on her head. A murmur of admiration greets her when stepping through the crowd she comes and stands in front of her future father-in-law, who at once takes the _handia_ from her head, embraces her, and gives her one rupee. From that time during the whole of the feast the girl remains sitting at the feet of her father-in-law. The whole party meanwhile continue drinking and talking; and voices rise so high that they cannot hear one another. As a diversion the old women of the village all come tumbling in, very drunk and wearing fantastic hats made of leaves, gesticulating like devils and carrying a straw manikin representing the bridegroom. They all look like old witches, and in their drunken state are very mischievous."

6. Marriage ceremony