[The Banjâras of the Dakkhin.] 2. Before considering the tribe as found

in these Provinces, it may be well to put together some of the

information about them obtainable from the Dakkhin, where they retain

much more of their primitive manners and customs than the small branch

which remains in these Provinces, where they have been much modified by

association with other races. The chief authority for the Dakkhin

branch is the report of Mr. Cumberlege, District Superintendent of

Police at Wun, in the Berârs. [224] He explains that the Banjâras of

the Dakkhin fall into three grand Hindu tribes, Mathuriya or “those

from Mathura”; Lavâna who probably derive their name from being

carriers of salt (Sans. lavana), and Châran (Sans. chârana, “a

wanderer, pilgrim;” châra, “a spy”). “The three Hindu tribes all trace

their descent from the great Brâhman and Râjput races of Upper India,

and, as usual, ascribe their tribe segregation to some irregular

marriage of a legendary kind contracted by their first ancestors. In

these stories Guru Nânak, the Sikh Prophet, usually figures as the

opportune miracle-worker and spiritual adviser. No doubt these stories

of descent are founded on fact. It is most probable that some irregular

marriage, made by adventurous wanderers into distant countries, did

first cut off these branches from the parent stock, and plant them

apart as distinct communities. From Mr. Cumberlege’s memoir it may be

conjectured, however, that the emigration which settled the Banjâra

upon Dakkhin soil took place when these grain carriers came down with

the Mughal armies early in the seventeenth century.” (As a

corroboration of this it may be noticed that the first mention of

Banjâras in Muhammadan history is in Sikandar’s attack on Dholpur in

1504 A.D. [225]) “In fact they seem to have derived their whole origin

and organisation from the long wars of the Delhi Emperors in the South,

and the restoration of peace and prosperity is breaking them up.

Neither their trade nor their tribal system can survive another

generation of British predominance. Wherefore some account of their

more striking peculiarities has at least the interest that attaches to

a picture of things which we shall never see again.”

[The Châran Banjâras of the Dakkhin.] 3. “Of the Châran tribe the

Râthaur family,” says Mr. Cumberlege, “is the strongest, and holds sway

in Berâr, for all the Dakkhin is parcelled out among different Banjâra

tribes, and no camp (tânda) trades or grazes cattle beyond its own

border. The Chârans evidently came to the Dakkhin with Âsaf Jân,

sometimes called Âsa Khân, the Wazîr Shâhjahân; and in the year 1630,

or thereabouts, Bhangi and Jhangi Nâiks (represented to have been

brothers, but certainly not such, though perhaps related) had with them

180,000 bullocks, and Bhagwân Dâs, the Burthiya Nâik, only 52,000. They

accompanied Âsaf Jân, carrying his provisions during his raid into the

Dakkhin. It was an object of Âsaf Jân to keep these bullocks well up

with his force, and he was induced to give an order to Bhangi and

Jhangi Nâiks, as they put forward excuses regarding the difficulty of

obtaining grass and water for their cattle. This order was engraved on

copper and in gold letters as follows:—

Ranjan ka pâni,

Chhappar ka ghâs,

Din ka tîn khûn mu’âf;

Aur jahân Âsaf Jân kê ghorê,

Wahan Bhangi Jhangi kâ bail.

This is still in the possession of the descendants of Bhangi, who are

still recognised by the Haidarâbâd Court; and on the death of the

representative of the family his successor receives a dress of honor

(khillat) from His Highness the Nizâm. The meaning of the inscription

seems to be—“If you can find no water elsewhere, you may even take it

from the pots of my followers; grass you may take from the roofs of

their huts; and if you commit three murders a day I will even pardon

this, provided that where I find my cavalry I can always find Bhangi

Jhangi’s bullocks.”

[Witchcraft among the Dakkhin Banjâras.] 4. On this Mr. Cumberlege

writes:—“Though not to such an extent as in former years, witchcraft

still obtains in Berâr. I can confidently say this, as I had a case in

this district wherein all the features coincided exactly with what I am

told is still the practice of Banjâras when they fancy a woman a

sorceress. The woman was knocked down and strangled by three or four

men deputed by the Nâik of the camp, on her husband refusing to kill

her, to kill and bury her: this they did, and the husband had

afterwards to appear before the council (panchâyat), where he was

mulcted of all he possessed, amounting in cattle and cash to about

Rs.2,000. Even when attacked by a bad fever or determined dysentery,

they often put it down to foul play by some sorceress, and on such

occasions the sufferer sends for some one who knows some spell (mantra)

or is supposed to know something of sorcery (jâdu). A betel-quid is

given to the sufferer and some spell is repeated. Should the sufferer

not recover now, he sends for the Nâik, mentions the name of the person

he suspects, or not, as the case may be, who sends five or six men,

taken from each family in the camp, to any Châran Bhagat to enquire of

him who is the sorceress; and, to place this fact beyond doubt, as this

deputation goes along they bury a bone or any other article on the

road, and make the Bhagat presently state where it was buried, and what

the article was. On arriving at the Bhagat’s residence, he tells each

man his name, class, gotra, and denomination; that he knows they have

come to enquire what has caused the illness of the person (mentioning

his name and caste) who is suffering. This he must do directly after

the salâms are exchanged, and before the others speak again. A relative

of the sick man now places a rupee before a lighted wick; the Bhagat

takes it up, looks steadily at it, and begins to sway about, make

contortions of the face and body, etc., while the goddess Mariyâi (Mahâ

Kâli) is supposed to have entered his body. He now puts down the rupee,

and, being inspired, commences to state the date and hour on which the

sick man got ill, the nature of the complaint, etc., and in an

indignant tone asks them why they buried a certain article (mentioning

it) on the road. Sometimes they acknowledge that he is a true Bhagat

now, but generally the men call for some further proofs of his

abilities. A goat in kid is then brought, the Bhagat mentions the sex

of, and any distinguishing marks upon the kid; the goat is then killed,

and if he has guessed right the deputation becomes clamorous and

requires the name of the sorceress. But the Bhagat keeps them waiting

now and goes on to mention the names of other people residing in their

camp, their children, and sometimes the names of any prized cows or

bullocks; he also tells the representative of what family he has

married into, etc. On this the latter presents his nazar; this was

fixed at Rs.25 formerly, but greed dictates the sum now, which is often

as much as Rs.40.

5. “The Bhagat now begins chanting some song, which he composes as he

goes on, and introduces into it the names of the different families in

the camp, having a word or two to say about each. The better portion

get vile abuse, are called a bad lot, and disposed of quickly; but he

now assumes an ironical appearance, begins to extol the virtues of a

certain family, becomes facetious, and praises the representative of

that family who is before him. All know that the sorceress is a member

of that family; and its representative puts numberless questions to the

Bhagat relative to his family and connections, his worldly goods, and

what gods he worships; the name of the sorceress he calls for; inquires

who taught her sorcery (jâdu); and how and why it was practised in this

particular instance. The business is now closed by a goat being killed

and offered up to Biroliya, and then all return to their camp.

6. “Even now a man may refuse to acknowledge this Bhagat, and will, if

the sorceress be a wife or daughter to whom he is attached, should he

have money to take the business on to another tribunal. But as he has

to pay the expenses of all the men who accompany him, all cannot afford

to question a Bhagat’s decision. Sometimes the man will tell his wife,

if he is certain she will obey him, to commit suicide; and as she knows

full well the punishment is death, and that she must meet it in some

form almost at once, when thus enjoined she will obey generally.

Otherwise the husband with a witness or two, taking advantage of the

first opportunity when she has left the camp, kills and buries her with

all her clothing and ornaments. A meeting of the council is held, the

witnesses declare the business has been completed satisfactorily, and

the husband may or may not agree to the judgment of the council with

regard to his pecuniary liabilities. He has to pay all the expenses of

the deputation; by the Bhagat is fined Rs.100 or Rs.150; and if he has

refused to do the deed himself, and others have had to do it for him,

or the sick man dies, he has to give a large sum besides to the man’s

family for their support. This fine originally belonged to Bhangi

Nâik’s representative, Râmu Nâik; but it is often kept by the different

Nâiks themselves now. Râmu has still great influence; but he has used

his power so cruelly that many have seceded from his control, and have

Nâiks of their own, whom they now obey almost implicitly. There are men

in this district well known to me who have been fined six or eight

thousand rupees for small misdemeanours, and it is hardly to be

wondered at that this thing could not continue for ever.” It is

satisfactory to note that under the influence of British law these

cruel proceedings are now practically unknown; but those best

acquainted with the facts are certain that there would be an immediate

recrudescence of it if the pressure of our administration were relaxed.

[Human sacrifice among the Banjâras of the Dakkhin.] 7. Up to our own

day the Banjâras of the Dakkhin practised human sacrifice. General

Sleeman [226] tells a story that the fort and part of the town of Sâgar

stands on a wall said to have been built by a Banjâra. He was told that

the lake would continue dry until he consented to sacrifice his

daughter and her affianced husband. He built them up in a shrine and

the waters rose, but no Banjâra will touch the water. Their women, even

to the present day, are notorious for necromancy. They are, according

to Sir Alfred Lyall, [227] “terribly vexed by witchcraft, to which

their wandering and precarious existence especially exposes them in the

shape of fever, rheumatism, and dysentery. Solemn enquiries are still

held in the wild jungles where these people camp out like gypsies, and

many an unlucky hag has been strangled by the sentence of their secret

tribunals.”

[Religion of the Dakkhin Banjâras.] 8. According to Mr. Cumberlege,

“the Chârans are all deists. There are Hindu gods they worship as

having been holy men; but they only acknowledge one God, and look on

Guru Nânak as the propagandist of their religion; Guru Nânak is

supreme; but they worship Bâlaji, Mariyâi (Mahâ Kâli), Tulja Devi, Siva

Bhaiya, Mitthu Bhûkiya, and Sati. There are smaller gods worshipped

also, but the above are the only gods worshipped by the Chârans of

Berâr. They have heard of Siva Dâs, but do not worship him as the men

of the Telinga country and Central Provinces do. The reason is seen at

a glance. Ours is the Râthaur country, those parts belong mostly to the

Burthiya class; in fact the Telinga country is entirely theirs, and

Siva Dâs was a Burthiya, not a Râthaur, I believe. The oath most sacred

to them is taken in the name of Siva Bhaiya, a holy man who resided at

Pohora, in the Wûn District, where there are still temples, I believe,

to Siva Bhaiya and Mariyâi, and where a nephew of Siva Bhaiya, by name

Sûka Bhaiya, still officiates. There are numbers of Bhagats, of varied

celebrity, to whom they go on any serious difficulty; otherwise their

own Nâiks, or the Nâik to whom the former is subordinate, adjudicates.”

[Ceremonies prior to crime.] 9. “There is a hut set apart in every camp

and devoted to Mitthu Bhûkiya, an old free-booter. No one may eat,

drink, or sleep in this hut; and it is simply used for devotional

purposes. In front of this hut is a flag-staff, to which a piece of

white cloth is attached. By all criminals Mitthu Bhûkiya is worshipped

as a clever free-booter; but he is more thought of on the other side of

the Wârdha than here. However, where the white flag is seen in front of

the hut, it is a sign that the camp worships Mitthu Bhûkiya, and

should, therefore, be watched carefully when they are suspected of

having committed crime. The men who have agreed and arranged the

particulars regarding the carrying out of their scheme meet at night at

this hut, where an image of Sati is produced; clarified butter (ghi) is

put into a saucer, and into this a wick is placed, very broad at the

bottom and tapering upwards: this wick, standing erect, is lit, an

appeal is made to Sati for an omen, those worshipping mentioning in a

low tone to the god where they are going and what the purpose. The wick

is then carefully watched, and should it drop at all the omen is

propitious. All immediately get up and make an obeisance to the flag,

and start then and there for the business they have agreed on. They are

unable to return to their homes before they start, because they must

not speak to any one till their business has been carried through. And

here we have a reason why Banjâras are rarely known to speak when

engaged in a robbery, for, if challenged, these men, who have gone

through the ceremony, may not reply. Should they have reached their

destination, whether a village, hamlet, or unprotected cart, and are

challenged, if any one of them reply, the charm is broken and all

return home. They must again take the omens now and worship again or

give up the attempt altogether. But, I am told, they generally prefer

to make certain of the man who is venturesome enough to challenge them

by knocking him down and either killing him or injuring him so severely

that he cannot interfere, and would not wish to meddle with their other

arrangements. If one of the gang sneezes on the road it is also fatal;

they must return to their camp at once.” For further details regarding

the methods of criminality of these Dakkhin Banjâras a reference may be

made to Major E. J. Gunthorpe’s “Notes on the Criminal Tribes residing

in or frequenting the Bombay Presidency, Berâr and the Central

Provinces.”

[Central Indian Banjâras. Worship of the ox.] 10. The Banjâras of

Central India have a curious form of ox worship. [228] “When sickness

occurs they lead the sick man to the feet of the bullock called

Hatâdiya (Sans. Hatya-âdhya, ‘which it is an extra sin to slay’), for

though they say that they pay reverence to images and that their

religion is that of the Sikhs, the object of their worship is the

Hatâdiya, a bullock devoted to the god Bâlaji. On this animal no burden

is ever laid, but he is decorated with streamers of red-dyed silk and

tinkling bells with many brass chains and rings on neck and feet, and

strings of kauri shells, and silken tassels hanging in all directions;

he moves steadily at the head of the convoy, and the place where he

lies down on when he is tired, that they make their halting place for

the day; at his feet they make their vows when difficulties overtake

them, and, in illness, whether of themselves or cattle, they trust to

his worship for a cure.”

[Banjâras of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.] 11. The Banjâras of

these Provinces have been classified at the last Census under the heads

of Chauhân, Bahrûp, Guâr, Jâdon, Panwâr, Râthaur, and Tunwar. Of these,

all, except the Bahrûp and Guâr, are well-known Râjput septs, and, as

we have seen in the case of the Dakkhin Banjâras, the tribal tradition

points to a Râjput origin. There is also a general tradition that they

at one time held considerable territories in Oudh and the other

submontane districts. Thus they are said to have been very early

settlers in Bareilly, whence they were expelled by the Janghâra

Râjputs. [229] In Kheri [230] the Jângrê Râjputs acquired Khairagarh

from their allies the Banjâras. In Bahrâich [231] they were finally

expelled from the Sijauli Pargana by the Chakladâr Hakîm Mehndi about

1821 A.D. In the Nânpâra Pargana of the same district they were finally

coerced by Rasûl Khân, the Afghân, in 1632 A.D. [232] In the Dûn [233]

they have a story that they attended to the commissariat of the

Pândavas after their exile from Hastinapur, and were the founders of

the town of Deoband, in the Sahâranpur District. In the Banjâra Tola of

the town of Gopamau, in the Hardoi District, there are some Banjâras

who call themselves Sayyid Salâri, and say that they are descended from

the followers of the Saint. [234] On the other hand, those in Madras

describe themselves as the descendants of Sugriva, the monkey chieftain

who was the ally of Râma. [235] There can be no reasonable doubt that

they are a very mixed race, composed of various elements, as is the

case in Central India, where Sir Alfred Lyall speaks of them as “made

up of contingents from various other castes and tribes, which may have

at different times joined the profession.” [236] The Census report

gives the most important local sub-castes as—in Muzaffarnagar the

Dhankûta, or “rice pounders,” and the Labâna; in Aligarh, the

Nandbansi; in Etâwah, the Jât; in Pilibhît, the Labâna; in the Tarâi,

the Bhukiya (who take their name from their leader Mitthu Bhukiya),

Guâl, Kotwâr, Labâna, and Râjput; in Kheri, the Guâr, Kora, and Mujhar;

and in Bahrâich, the Mujhar.

[Tribal organisation of the North-Western Provinces Banjâras.] 12. The

best account of the Banjâra tribes of these provinces is that given by

Sir H. M. Elliot. He divides them into five great tribes as follows:—

(1) The Turkiya, “Turkish” or Muhammadan, with thirty-six sub-tribes or

gotras, viz., Tomar or Tunwar, Chauhân, Gahlot, Dilwâri, Alwi, Kanothi,

Burki, Durki, Shaikh, Nathamîr, Aghwân, Badan, Chakirâha, Bahrâri,

Padar, Kanîkê, Gharê, Chandaul, Teli, Charkha, Dhangya, Dhankikya,

Gaddi, Tîtar, Hindiya, Râha, Marauthiya, Khakhara, Kareya, Bahlîm,

Bhatti, Bandwâri, Bargadda, Aliya, Khilji. “These assert that they came

originally from Multân, and left their newly-chosen country of the

Dakkhin under a leader called Rustam Khân, and first of all took up

their abode at Badli Tânda, near Morâdâbâd, from which they have

gradually spread to Bilâspur, Richho, and the neighbouring tracts. They

are for the most part occupied as carriers.”

(2) “The Baid Banjâras came from Bhatner under a leader called Dualha.

Of them are eleven gotras—Jhaloi, Tandar, Hatâr, Kapâhi, Danderi,

Kachni, Tarîn, Dharpâhi, Kîri, and Bahlîm. Their occupations are more

various than those of the Turkiyas, as they are occasionally employed

as doctors and weavers. They are found in Pilibhît, Kant, and in the

neighbourhood of those places.”

(3) “The Labâna Banjâras have also eleven gotras. They state that they

are descended from Gaur Brâhmans, and came in Aurangzeb’s time from

Rintambûr. They engage almost entirely in agricultural pursuits alone.”

Of these people Mr. Ibbetson [237] writes:—“These men are generally

associated with the Banjâras. With the exception of Muzaffargarh and

Bahâwalpur, they are almost wholly confined to the hill and submontane

districts. They are the carriers and hawkers of the hills, and are

merely the Panjâbi representatives of that class of Banjâras, already

mentioned, who inhabit the submontane tracts east of the Ganges.” The

Labânas of Gujarât are thus described by Captain Mackenzie:—“The

Labânas are also a peculiar people. Their status among Sikhs is much

the same as that of the Mahtams. They correspond to the Banjâras of

Hindustân, carrying on an extensive trade by means of large herds of

laden bullocks. Latterly they have taken to agriculture, but as an

additional means of livelihood, not as a substitute for trade. As a

section of the community they deserve every encouragement and

consideration. They are generally fine, substantially built people.

They also possess much spirit. In anarchical times, when the freaks and

feuds of petty Governors would drive the Jâts or Gûjars to seek

temporary abiding places away from their ancestral village, the Labânas

would stand their ground, and perhaps improve the opportunity by

extending their grasp over the best lands of the village, in which

their shorter sighted and less provident lords of the manor had, in

former periods, permitted them to take up their abode for purposes of

commerce. Several cases of this kind came to light during settlement,

and in most of them the strength and spirit of progress were as

apparent in the Labânas as were the opposite qualities conspicuous in

their Gûjar opponents. Their principal village is Tânda (which means “a

large caravan of laden bullocks”) and is an instance of what I have

above alluded to. Allowed by the Gûjar proprietors of Mota, they have

got possession of the soil, built a town, and in every point of

importance swamped the original proprietors. They have been recognised

as proprietors, but feudatory to their former landlords, the Gûjars of

Mota, paying them annually in recognition thereof a sum equal to

one-tenth of the Government demand.” This tribe of Banjâras take their

name from their business of carrying salt (lavana). Sir J. Malcolm

[238] says that the Banjâras and Labânas are Râjputs of various tribes,

Râthaur, Jalaur, Panwâr, etc. “The Labânas who live in villages

sometimes mix with other cultivators and sometimes have a village

exclusively to themselves, are Sûdras, originally from Gujarât, a quiet

inoffensive race differing widely from the Banjâras, though engaged in

the same trade. The Labânas are also cultivators, but follow no other

occupation. The Banjâras preserve both in dresses and usages a marked

separation and independence. They often engage in great speculations on

their own account, and are deemed honest in their dealings, though very

ignorant and barbarous. They trust much to the bankers and merchants

with whom they are concerned, and few keep accounts; but habit has made

them very acute, and their memory is, from continual exercise,

extremely retentive of the minutest particulars of their extended

transactions.”

[The Mukeris.] (4) Of them Sir H. M. Elliot says:—“The Mukeri Banjâras

in the northern parganas of Bareilly assert that they derive their name

from Mecca (Makka), which one of their Nâiks, who had his camp (Tânda)

in the vicinity, assisted Father Abraham in building. Leaving Mecca,

they came and resided in Jhajjar, where their illustrious name became

corrupted from Makkai to Mukeri. Their fabulous history is not worth

recording, but their names also betray a strange compound of tribes,

Musalmân and Hindu—Aghwân, Mughal, Khokhara, Chauhân, Simli Chauhân,

Chotya Chauhân, Panjtakya Chauhân, Tanhar, Katheriya, Pathân, Tarîn

Pathân, Ghori, Ghoriwâl, Bangaroa, Kanthya, Bahlîm.” These are

apparently the same people who are called Mukris, in Sholapur. [239]

There another explanation of the word is current. It is said to be

derived from a word Mukerna, “to deny,” which does not appear in the

Hindustâni dictionaries. The story goes that a servant of Tipu Sultân

bought a quarter of corn from a Mukri, and found it, when he weighed it

at home, ten pounds short. He brought the fact to the notice of the

Sultân, who sent for the corn dealer and demanded for explanation. The

Mukri denied the fact and made the full weight in the presence of the

king, who had twice weighed the corn before and found it short. The

king was embarrassed, and had nothing to say against the man, and gave

him the name of the “Denier.” A third, and perhaps, more probable

explanation is, that it is a corruption of Makkeri, and means nothing

more than a seller of maize (makka). Something more will be said of the

Mukris later on.

[Bahrûp Banjâras.] (5) Of whom Sir H. M. Elliot says:—“They are, for

the most part, Hindus, and lead a more wandering life than the

Musalmâns. They are divided into the tribes of Râthaur, Chauhân or

Kuri, Panwâr, Tomar, and Bhurtiya. The origin of the first four is

sufficiently apparent from their names. The fifth is said to be derived

from a Gaur Brâhman. Of these tribes again there are several

ramifications. Of the Râthaur there are four—Muchhâri, Bâhuki,

Murhâwat, and Panot: of the Muchhâri there are fifty-two divisions; of

the Bâhuki there are twenty-seven; of the Murhâwat there are fifty-six;

and of the Panot there are twenty-three. The Chauhâns, who have

forty-two gotras, are unanimous in saying that they came from Mainpuri.

The Panwârs have twenty gotras, and state that they came from Delhi.

The Bhurtiya have fifty-two gotras. They claim Chithor as their

original seat. The Bahrûp Banjâras, like all the other clans,

intermarry, but do not allow of any connection between members of the

same gotra. They receive the daughters of Nats in marriage, but do not

allow their own daughters to marry into Nat families; and they have

some curious customs at their marriages which need not be detailed in

this place.”

[Nâik Banjâras.] 13. In addition to the five main tribes described by

Sir H. M. Elliot there is another which is usually classed as an

offshoot of them, the Nâiks. There is a tribe of this name in the

Panjâb. Mr. Ibbetson says that the “headmen of both Thoris and Banjâras

are called Nâik.” This, as we have already seen, is the name used for

them throughout the Dakkhin and Central India. Mr. Maclagan [240]

says:—“In Rohtak they are said to be a branch of Hindu Dhânuks, who

come from Jaypur. They were also represented to me as an agricultural

tribe of Râjputs. Mr. Fagan, who kindly made enquiries for me, says

they may be taken to be Aheris, that they state that they were

originally Râjputs, and have the same gotras as Râjputs, and that they

generally act as village watchmen; while those returned at Fîrozpur

were labourers on the Sirhind Canal.” They take their name from the

Sanskrit nayaka, “a leader.” In the Gorakhpur Division, where they are

principally found, they assert that they are Sanâdh Brâhmans, and fix

their original settlement in Pilibhît. Polygamy is allowed; polyandry

prohibited. They appear to follow the customs of orthodox Hindus. If an

unmarried girl is detected in an intrigue, her parents have to give a

tribal feast and a recitation of the Satyanârâyana Katha. A sum of

money, known as tilak, is paid by the relatives of the bride to those

of the bridegroom. A man can put away his wife for adultery by leave of

the tribe or council. Such women cannot remarry in the tribe, and widow

marriage is forbidden. They have the usual birth, death, and marriage

ceremonies. They burn their dead and perform the srâddha. They employ

Sarwariya Brâhmans as their family priests, and appear to be in all

points orthodox Hindus. They are landlords, cultivators, and dealers in

grain and other country produce.

[The Mukeri Banjâras.] 14. We have already seen that they claim to have

originally come from Makka. Another story told in Mirzapur is that

their ancestor was one Makka Banjâra, who helped Father Abraham to

build Mecca; and that they emigrated into India with the armies of the

early Muhammadan invaders. Another name which they arrogate to

themselves is Ahl-i-Quraish, or that of the Arabian tribe, from which

Muhammad was descended (see Shaikh). They have two endogamous

sub-castes—the Purbiya or “Eastern,” and the Pachhiwâha or “Western.”

The Purbiya Mukeris have two sections, Banaudhiya and Malwariya, which

they derive from two towns named Banaudh and Malwar, in the Arrah

District of Bengal. From this it may be gathered that their last

movement was from East to West, and that they have forgotten their real

origin, which was probably from the West; the Malwariyas being from

Mârwâr, and the Banaudhiyas from Banaudh, which included Southern Oudh

and the Districts of Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Benares. The Pachhiwâhas are

also divided into two sections, Khân and Shaikh. They do not, now at

least, admit outsiders into their community. Marriage among them

usually takes place at the age of seven. They follow the Muhammadan

religious and social rules, and, of course, allow widow marriage. They

have, however, the Hindu rules of succession to property. They are

professedly Muhammadans of the Sunni sect, but they retain many Hindu

usages. They worship the Pânchonpîr in the manner common to all the

inferior Muhammadan tribes of the Eastern Districts; but they also make

sacrifices to Kâli Bhawâni at the Naurâtra of Chait. They bury their

dead and offer to them sweets (halwa) and cakes at the Shab-i-barât.

Their occupation is grinding and selling flour and other provisions,

and dealing in grain. They follow the Muhammadan rules regarding food,

and drink spirits.

[Other Hindu Banjâras of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.] 15. In

Kheri they are known as Banjâra and Byopâri or “dealer.” They trace

their origin to Jaypur and Jodhpur. They have three endogamous

sections—Kora, Muchhâri and Miyân. They visit periodically a temple of

Lalita Devi, at a place called Tilokpur, somewhere in the Râjputâna

country. There also, when they can afford it, they get the birth hair

of their children shaved. In Cawnpur they give their endogamous

sub-castes as Râthaur, Panwâr-Chauhân, Gaur, and Kachhwâha, which are

all the names of well-known Râjput septs. Their rule of exogamy is

stated to be that they cannot marry within a family which is known to

be descended from the same parents, or which can be traced to a common

ancestor; nor in the family of the maternal uncle or father’s sister;

nor two sisters at the same time; but a man may marry the sister of his

deceased wife. When the bride is introduced into the family of her

husband she has to cook sweetened rice, with which she feeds all the

clansmen. A man may marry as many wives as he can afford to keep. There

is no bride price, except in the case of elderly men, who have a

difficulty in finding wives. Widow marriage and the levirate are both

allowed under the usual conditions.

16. In Kheri at the marriage ceremony they place four pitchers (ghara)

one on the top of the other in seven piles, and in the centre two

pestles (mûsar), and a water jar (kalsa). Close to this the Pandit

makes a holy square (chauk), and performs the fire sacrifice (hom).

After this the pair, with their clothes tied, walk seven times round

the pestles, and the father of the bride worships the feet of the

bridegroom and makes him an offering of two or four rupees. This is the

respectable form. In the inferior form, known as Dharauna, the bride is

taken to the house of the bridegroom, and the marriage is completed by

a feast given to the brotherhood.

17. The funeral ceremonies are of the normal type. The Kheri Banjâras

are reported not to perform the srâddha or to employ Brâhmans at death;

in Cawnpur, on the contrary, they carry out the orthodox ritual.

[Religion.] 18. In Cawnpur they worship Hardeo or Hardaur Lâla,

Zâhirpîr, the Miyân of Amroha, and Kâlu Deo, who is said to have a

shrine somewhere in the Dakkhin. Goats are offered to Kâlu Deo and

Miyân by any one but women. Sometimes only the ear of the animal is cut

and a drop or two of blood sprinkled on the altar, and sometimes a

cocoanut is substituted for a goat. In Kheri they are reported to

prefer the worship of Bhagwân and Parameswara, and to be initiated in a

temple in the Sahâranpur District. Their religious guides are Brâhmans

of their own, who teach them only to worship Bhagwân and not to tell

lies. They occasionally offer goats to Devi. They swear on the Ganges

or by standing in water or walking through fire.

[Social customs of Hindu Banjâras.] 19. In Kheri they eat the flesh of

wild pigs and goats, but not fowls. They drink spirits and use opium,

and the hemp intoxicants bhang and gânja, freely. In Cawnpur they will

eat kachchi and pakki with Brâhmans, and will smoke only with their

brethren. Some of them are traders, and a few are now taking to

agriculture, as the profits of the carrying trade are gradually

becoming reduced.

[Other Muhammadan Banjâras.] 20. Those in Bareilly and Pilibhît say

that they were driven there by Ahmad Shâh Durrâni’s invasion. They are

divided into two endogamous sub-castes—Gaurithân and Baidguâr. [241]

They follow the orthodox rules of the Muhammadan faith, and work as

cultivators, carriers of, and dealers in, grain.

[Banjâras and crime.] 21. In former times the Banjâras especially in

Gorakhpur and the neighbouring districts, had an evil reputation for

dakaiti and similar offences. [242] This is in a great measure a thing

of the past. In recent years they have come under the notice of the

police in connection with the kidnapping of girls. There can be little

doubt that most, if not all of them, occasionally introduce girls of

other castes into the tribe. Quite recently the police in the Agra

District have found reason to suspect that some of them in the guise of

Commissariat contractors carry on an extensive trade in stolen cattle,

and are in the habit of appropriating and changing the brands on the

so-called Brâhmani bulls which are released by Hindus on the occasion

of a death.

[Cattle trade.] 22. One of the most important trades carried on in the

present day by the Banjâras is that of the purchase and sale of cattle

used for agricultural purposes. Cattle are largely bred along the Jumna

in the direction of Agra and Mathura. These are bought up by Banjâras,

who drive them in large herds to great distances about the time when

the agricultural seasons are commencing. They sell them on credit with

a promise of payment when the crop is ripe. At such times they come

round to realise their debts. They seldom or never take bonds or resort

to the law courts; but they appear at the houses of their creditors,

and if not promptly paid, practise a form of coercion known as dharna,

by encamping close to the house of the defaulter and using vile

language to his womenkind wherever they venture to show themselves.

This form of pressure appears to be effective with even the most

callous debtor, and it is understood that they generally succeed in

realising their money. This result is brought about by the popular fear

felt for the Banjâra, who is a wild-looking semi-savage who can make

his presence most disagreeably felt.

[Appearance and manners.] 23. With the partial disappearance of the

Banjâra carrier before our roads and railways a most picturesque

element is being lost in the generally squalid life of our bâzârs. No

one who sees them in their original state can help being struck by

their resemblance in figure and dress to some of the Western gypsies.

To Dr. Ball [243] a camp of Labânas immediately recalled to his memory

the Zingari of the lower Danube and Wallachia. And he was particularly

impressed by the peculiar minor key of the music which is so

characteristic of these people. In these Provinces the women are

skilled in a peculiar form of woollen embroidery, and pride themselves

on their bright coloured boddices (choli) and jackets (angi) ornamented

in this way. Some wear a sort of horn made of wood in their hair, over

which the sheet (châdar) is draped in a very peculiar and graceful

fashion. The women, who are much taller and more robust than the people

among whom they live, stride along the roads in a particularly bold and

independent way. But their characteristic dress is seen to most

advantage in their seats in the Dakkhin. Mr. Mullaly [244] writes of

the women as “comely and above the average height of the women of this

country. They are easily distinguished by their dress and a profusion

of jewellery they wear. Their costume is the gown (lahnga) of khârua

cloth, red or green, with a quantity of embroidery. The boddice, with

embroidery on the front and on the shoulders, covers the bosom, and is

tied by variegated cords at the back, the ends of the cords being

ornamented with cowries and beads; a covering cloth of khârua cloth,

with embroidery, is fastened in at the waist, and hangs at the side

with a quantity of tassels, and strings of cowries. Their jewels are

very numerous, and include strings of beads of ten or twenty rows with

a cowrie as a pendant threaded on horse hair, a silver necklace

(hansli), a sign of marriage. They wear brass or horn bracelets, ten or

twelve in number, extending to the elbow on either arm, with a piece of

embroidered silk, one inch wide, tied to the right wrist. Anklets of

ivory or bone are only worn by the married women; they are removed on

the death of the husband. Silk embroidery adorned with tassels and

cowries is also worn as an anklet by all women. Their other jewels are

a nose ornament, a silver pendant from the upper part of the ear,

attached to a silver chain which hangs to the shoulder, and a profusion

of silver, brass, and lead rings. Their hair is, in the case of

unmarried women, unadorned, brought up and tied in a knot at the top of

the head; with married women it is fastened in like manner with a

cowrie or a brass button, and heavy pendants are fastened to the

temple. The latter is an essential sign of marriage, and its absence is

a sign of widowhood.” There is no doubt that they have a patois of

their own; but it has as yet not been fully collected. Dr. Ball says

that he was “informed by a Russian Prince, who travelled in India in

1874, that one of his companions, a Hungarian nobleman, found himself

able to converse with the Banjâras of Central India in consequence of

his knowledge of the Zingari language.” He also states that “the Dîwân

of Kudibuga told me that the strong-minded Banjâra women are in the

habit of inflicting severe chastisement on their husbands with their

very large sticks (bari bari lâthi), a custom which also prevails in

the Nicobar Islands.”

DISTRIBUTION OF BANJÂRAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+=====+=====+=====+===+=====+=====+===+======+======+======

District. |Chauhân.

| |Bahrûp.

| | |Guâr.

| | | |Jâdon.

| | | | |Panwâr.

| | | | | |Râthaur.

| | | | | | |Tunwar.

| | | | | | | |Others.

| | | | | | | | |Muhammadans.

| | | | | | | | | |Total.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~

Dehra Dûn | 2| ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 936| 939| 1,877

Sahâranpur | 578|1,865| ... |...| 178| 528| 10| 3,836| 3,494|10,489

Muzaffarnagar | 380| 112| ... | 53| 769| 637|107| 1,708| 88| 3,854

Meerut | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | 98|...| 253| 353| 704

Bulandshahr | 356| ... | ... | 1| 1| 95|...| 27| 83| 563

Aligarh | 102| ... | 123| 2| 50|1,146|363| 844| 17| 2,647

Mathura | 166| ... | 1| 21| 78| 205| 2| 108| 770| 1,351

Agra | 140| ... | 6|347| 92| 319|...| 225| 207| 1,336

Farrukhâbâd | 215| ... | ... | 23| 50| 31| 3| 353| 170| 875

Mainpuri | ... | ... | ... | 94| ... | 281|...| 311| 31| 717

Etâwah | 550| ... | 1|352| 204| 538|...| 763| 28| 2,436

Etah | 393| ... | 2| 43| 166| 590| 21| 617| 50| 1,882

Bareilly | ... | ... | 67|...| ... | ... |...| ... | 7,915| 7,982

Bijnor | ... | ... | 154|...| 335| 966|...| 1,126| 2,606| 5,187

Budâun | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| ... | 13| 13

Morâdâbâd | ... | ... | 189|...| ... | ... |...| 375| 2,598| 3,162

Shâhjahânpur | ... | ... | 1|...| 8| 53| 3| 45| 149| 259

Pilibhît | 99| 31| 459| 23| 270|1,343|...| 1,664| 5,506| 9,395

Cawnpur | 25| ... | 124| 2| 112| 154|...| 11| 2| 430

Allahâbâd | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 3| ... | 3

Jhânsi | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 16| ... | 16

Ghâzipur | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| ... | 1| 1

Ballia | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 10| ... | 10

Gorakhpur | 6| ... | 10|...| ... | ... |...| 63| 36| 115

Basti | 3| 68| ... |...| ... | 39|...| 1| 48| 159

Tarâi | ... | ... | 36|...| ... | 190| 3| 2,747| 911|38,887

Lucknow | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 34| ... | 34

Unâo | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| ... | 142| 142

Râê Bareli | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 2| 42| 44

Sîtapur | 16| ... | 2|...| ... | ... |...| 27| 199| 244

Hardoi | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| ... | 25| 25

Kheri | 40| 102| 918|...| 465|1,273|...| 1,422| 407| 4,627

Faizâbâd | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 8| ... | 8

Gonda | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 5| 43| 48

Bahrâich | 64| ... | 56|...| 685| 446| 6| 934| 80| 2,271

Partâbgarh | 33| ... | ... |...| ... | 2|...| ... | ... | 35

+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~

Total |3,198|2,178|2,149|961|3,463|8,934|518|18,474|26,953|66,828

==============+=====+=====+=====+===+=====+=====+===+======+======+======

Bânsphor. [245]—(Bâns, “bamboo,” phorna, “to split”).—A sub-caste of

Doms who may be considered separately as they have been separately

enumerated at the last Census. Those in Mirzapur represent themselves

to be immigrants from a place called Bisurpur or Birsupur in the Native

State of Panna, which, according to some, is identical with Birsinhpur,

a place north-west of the town of Rîwa. In Gorakhpur they call

themselves Gharbâri, or “settled” Doms, in contradistinction to the

Magahiya, or vagrant branch of the tribe. Their immigration from the

west is said in Mirzapur to have commenced some four generations ago

and still continues. They profess to undertake occasional pilgrimages

to their old settlement to worship a local Mahâdeva. In Gorakhpur they

have a story that they are the descendants of one Supach Bhagat, who

was a votary of Râmchandra. He had two wives, Mân Devi and Pân Devi,

the first of whom was the ancestress of the Bânsphors. They freely,

like other Doms, admit outsiders into the caste, and this is generally

the result of an intrigue with one of their women. The applicant for

admission has to give a feast of rice, pulse, pork, and spirits to the

brotherhood, and when he has drunk with them he is admitted to full

caste rights.

[Internal organization.] 2. The sub-caste being a purely occupational

offshoot from the original Dom tribe, their internal organization is

rather vague. Thus at the last Census they were enumerated under one

main sub-caste, the Dhânuk, who, though possibly allied to the Dom

race, are generally treated as distinct, and the Benbansi of Gonda. In

Bhâgalpur, according to Mr. Risley, [246] they have a number of

exogamous sections (pangat); but other Bânsphors on the Nepâl frontier

regulate their marriages by local sections (dih); while others in the

town of Bhâgalpur have neither pangat nor dih. In Mirzapur they

enumerate eight exogamous sections: Mahâwati, Chamkel, Gausel, Samudra,

Nahar, Kalai, Magariha, and Saraiha; and they reinforce the rule of

section exogamy by prohibiting marriages with the daughter of the

maternal uncle, of their father’s sister, and of their own sister; also

they do not intermarry with a family in which one of these relations

marries until at least one or two generations have passed. Similarly,

in Hardoi, where they have no sub-castes or sections, they are reported

to prohibit marriage with first cousins on both the father’s and

mother’s sides. In Gorakhpur they name, like so many castes of this

social grade, seven endogamous sub-castes: Bânsphor; Mangta, or

“begging” Doms; Dharkâr, which has been treated as a separate caste;

Nâtak, or dancers; Tasiha; Halâlkhor, “one to whom all food is lawful;”

and Kûnchbandhiya, or makers of the brushes constructed out of the

roots of the kans grass used by weavers for cleaning the thread.

[Tribal Council.] 3. The Bânsphors on the whole agree with the customs

of the Doms and Dharkârs, of whom an account has been separately given;

but, as might be expected from their living a more settled life than

the vagrant Doms, they are more completely Hinduised. Their caste

council, under a hereditary president (Chaudhari), is a very powerful

and influential body, the members of which are, however, only a sort of

assessors to the president, who, after consultation with them, gives

any orders he pleases. If a man is caught in an intrigue with a Dhobin

or Domin he is permanently excommunicated, and the same rule applies to

a woman detected in an amour with a man of either of these castes.

Intrigues with persons of more respectable castes involve expulsion

only until the necessary feasts of expiation are given to the brethren.

In addition to the feast the offender has always, in Mirzapur, to pay a

cash fine of one-and-a-quarter rupees. Monogamy is the rule, but there

is no restriction against a man having as many wives as he can marry

and support. Concubinage with a woman of another caste is prohibited,

and the caste look on the very idea of polyandry with such horror that

it is more than doubtful if it could ever have been a tribal

institution. If an unmarried girl is detected in an intrigue with a

clansman she is married to him by order of the council, and her father

has to give a dinner to the brethren. When a married woman offends in

this way, both her husband and father have to give a feast; but, as

among all these tribes, inter-tribal infidelity is lightly regarded; a

woman is not condemned except on the actual evidence of eye-witnesses.

[Marriage rules.] 4. Marriage takes place usually in infancy; and, in

Mirzapur, if a girl is not married by the time she comes to puberty,

her parents are put out of caste. Marriages are arranged by the

brother-in-law of the boy’s father, and the bride-price is fixed in

Mirzapur by tribal custom at four-and-a-quarter rupees, four annas

being added as siwâi for good luck. If a wife habitually commit

adultery, eat with a low-caste person, or give her husband food in an

impure dish, she is put away with the sanction of the council. A woman

is allowed to leave her husband only if he be put out of caste. It is

said, in Mirzapur, that a divorced wife cannot marry again. This is

true, so far as that, of course, she cannot go through the regular

service which is restricted to virgin brides; but she can live with a

man by the sagâi form, and the connection, after it has been ratified

by a feast, is binding, and her children are legitimate. Widows are

married by the sagâi, or dharauna form, generally to a widower, and

their children are recognised as heirs. The only ceremony is that the

husband gives the woman a new suit of clothes, which are put on her

inside the house at night, in secret, and he then eats with the family

of his father-in-law. Next day he takes his bride home, and feeds his

clansmen, on which the union is recognised. The levirate prevails under

the usual restrictions. Even if a widow be taken over by the younger

brother, her children by the first marriage inherit the estate of their

father. A man may adopt his brother’s, or daughter’s, not his sister’s,

son. A woman can adopt if there be no one in her husband’s family to

support her.

[Birth ceremonies.] 5. In their birth ceremonies the Bânsphors agree

with the Dharkârs. The mother, during her confinement is, in Mirzapur,

attended by a woman of the Basor caste. There is no rite performed on

the sixth day, and the mother is impure till the twelfth day (barahi).

They have the usual dread of the menstrual and parturition impurity. On

the twelfth day a hog is sacrificed to the deceased ancestors of the

family, and the brethren eat the flesh boiled with rice. The woman has

to worship the well from which water is drawn for the use of the family

by walking five times round it in the course of the sun and marking it

with red lead. A man does not cohabit with his wife for two months

after her confinement. The only approach to a puberty ceremony is the

ear-boring, which takes place at the age of three or five, but in some

cases is delayed to a later date, and it marks an approach to Hinduism,

that they ask the Pandit to fix a lucky time for its performance. From

that time the child is regarded as a member of the tribe and must

conform to caste usages regarding food.

[Marriage.] 6. In the same way the Pandit draws auspices (ganana ganna)

of marriages. The betrothal is settled by the father of the boy

exchanging with the girl’s father a leaf platter full of liquor in

which a rupee is placed, and the brother-in-law of the bridegroom ties

a turban on the head of the bride’s father. The marriage ceremony

resembles that of Dharkârs (q.v.). It is preceded by the matmangara

ceremony. The earth is dug by the bridegroom’s mother, who offers a

burnt sacrifice (homa) to the village deities (dih). In the centre of

the marriage shed (mânro) is fixed up a branch of the fig tree (gûlar)

and the cotton tree (semal). The usual anointing precedes the marriage.

The bride’s nails are solemnly cut (nahchhu) and her feet are coloured

with lac dye (mahâwar). The usual wave ceremony (parachhan) is done

with a pestle (mûsar) and a water jar (kalsa). At the bride’s door her

father makes a mark (tîka) on the forehead of the bridegroom with rice

and curds. The bride’s father washes the feet of the bride and

bridegroom in a square in the court-yard. They sit facing east, and the

bride’s father worships the fig tree branch, and then, in imitation of

Hindus, Gauri and Ganesa. Then holding some kusa grass in his hand he

formally gives away the bride (kanyâdâna). The clothes of the pair are

knotted together, and they walk five times round the fig and cotton

branches, while at each revolution the girl’s brother sprinkles a

little parched rice into a sieve which the bridegroom holds. This he

scatters on the ground, and the ceremony ends by the bridegroom marking

the girl’s head with red lead, which is the binding portion of the

ceremony. Then they go into the retiring room (kohabar), where jokes

are played on the bridegroom, and he receives a present from his

mother-in-law. As is usual with these tribes they have the ceremony of

plunging the wedding jars (kalsa dubâna) into water a day or two after

the wedding.

[Death ceremonies.] 7. The dead are cremated, except young children or

those who die of epidemic disease, whose bodies are thrown into a river

or buried. After the cremation they chew leaves of the nîm tree as a

mark of mourning. The death pollution lasts ten days, during which the

mourner every night lays out a platter of food on the road by which the

corpse was removed for its use. On the tenth day the chief mourner

throws five lumps (pinda) of rice boiled in milk (khîr) into water in

the name of the dead, and, on returning home, sacrifices a hog in the

name of the deceased, which is boiled with rice and eaten by the

clansmen. No Brâhmans are employed at any of these ceremonies. In the

festival of the dead (pitripaksha) in Kuâr they pour off water on the

ground every day for fifteen days in honour of deceased ancestors; and

on the ninth day they offer cakes (pûri), sweet rice (bakhîr), and

pork, to their ancestors. These are laid out in the court-yard for

their use. On the fifteenth day they offer rice, pulse, bread, and

pork, if obtainable, in the same way. Any senior member of the family

presents the offering.

[Religion.] 8. Their chief deity, in Mirzapur, is the Vindhyabâsini

Devi, of Bindhâchal, whom they worship on the ninth day of Chait, with

hogs, goats, cakes (pûri), and pottage (lapsi). They honour the village

gods (dih) with a sacrifice of a hog or goat; butter, barley, and

treacle are burnt in a fire offering. On the fifth of Sâwan they lay

milk and parched rice near a snake’s hole. They respect the pîpal tree,

and will not cut or injure it. In Gorakhpur they worship Kâlika and

Samai. The former is worshipped at marriages, child-birth, etc., with

an offering of a young pig, one-and-a-quarter jars of liquor, flowers,

and ground rice boiled in treacle and milk (pithi). To Samai is offered

a yearling pig. Maidens and widows married by the Sagâi form are not

permitted to join in this worship, which takes place in a corner of the

house set apart for the purpose. They do not employ Brâhmans in their

domestic ceremonies, which are carried out by some old man (syâna) of

the family. In Hardoi their tribal deity is Kâla Deo, whose image is

painted on the wall of the house, and worshipped at any event, such as

marriage, birth, etc., in the family. They also sometimes sacrifice a

goat or sheep to Devi, and the worshippers consume the offerings. Their

holidays are the Phagua or Holi, at which they get drunk and eat choice

food; the Râmnaumi, on the ninth of Chait, when they worship the

Vindhyabâsini Devi; the Tîj, on the third of Sâwan, when women pray for

the long life of their husbands, and the Kajari, on the third of

Bhâdon, when women get drunk, and all rules of sexual morality are

ignored. In Hardoi, on the Karwa Chauth feast, the women fast and

worship the moon by pouring water out of an earthen pot (karwa), whence

the name of the festival. At the Guriya feast girls make dolls of rags,

which are beaten with sticks by boys on the banks of a tank. The dolls

are believed to represent snakes, and the feast is in commemoration of

the destruction of serpents by Garuda. They worship the dead by laying

out food in seven leaf platters and letting the children or crows eat

it. They have a great respect for the village shrine, and never dare to

tread on the pieces of earthenware horses, etc., with which it is

decorated. They also, as is shown in the birth ceremonies, worship

wells. The sainted dead specially delight in the savour of pork, and

give trouble if not honoured with this sacrifice.

[Social customs.] 9. Women wear in the ears the ornaments known as

utarna and karnphûl, bead necklaces (dharkauwa), and bangles (chûri) on

the arms: anklets (pairi), brass rings on their fingers. Boys and girls

have two names, one for ordinary use and one kept secret. They swear on

the sun or the heads of their children. Those who break an oath become

smitten with leprosy or lose their property. Disease, generally due to

demoniacal possession, is treated by the Ojha, who also prescribes in

cases of the Evil-eye. They will not eat beef, nor touch a Dom, Dhobi,

the wife of a younger brother, the wife of the elder brother-in-law, or

the wife of their sister’s son. They will not mention their eldest son

by his name. To do so is regarded as a sin. They eat pork, fowls,

goats, and other animals, but not the cow, monkey, alligator, snake,

lizard, jackal, or rat. Men eat before women. They salute their

castemen in the form Râm! Râm!

[Occupation.] 10. Some work as ordinary day-labourers, but their

business is making fans, baskets, and boxes of bamboo. Some work as

sweepers and remove night-soil. No other caste will touch food or water

from their hands.

DISTRIBUTION OF BÂNSPHORS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+=======+=======+============+=======

District. |Dhânuk.|Others.|Muhammadans.| Total.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~

Dehra Dûn | ...| 156| ...| 156

Sahâranpur | ...| 5| 87| 92

Farrukhâbâd | ...| 94| ...| 94

Mainpuri | ...| 19| ...| 19

Bareilly | ...| 7| ...| 7

Morâdâbâd | ...| ... | 20| 20

Shâhjahânpur | ...| 66| ...| 66

Pilibhît | ...| 353| ...| 353

Cawnpur | ...| 44| ...| 44

Banda | ...| 4| ...| 4

Lalitpur | ...| 4,360| ...| 4,360

Mirzapur | ...| 64| ...| 64

Ghâzipur | ...| 28| ...| 28

Ballia | ...| 447| ...| 447

Gorakhpur | ...| 466| 1| 467

Basti | ...| 7| ...| 7

Azamgarh | ...| 67| ...| 67

Lucknow | 1,102| 729| ...| 1,831

Unâo | ...| 36| ...| 36

Râê Bareli | 422| 7| ...| 429

Sîtapur | 308| 853| ...| 1,161

Kheri | ...| 6| ...| 6

Gonda | 295| 327| ...| 622

Bahrâich | 1,534| 728| 3| 2,265

Partâbgarh | 4,467| 218| 1| 4,686

+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~

Total | 8,128| 9,093| 112| 17,333

==============+=======+=======+============+=======

Banya.—(Sanskrit, banija, vanija.)—The great trading class of Northern

India. Pedantically the Banya is known as Baqqâl—a term applied in

Arabia and Persia to greengrocers. When he becomes a large merchant he

is known as Mahâjan. Banya is, in fact, a generic term including a

large number of endogamous sub-castes, of whom some account has been

given in separate articles. The Banya has rather an indifferent

reputation in the country-side, where he is hated and despised for his

habits of money-grubbing, meanness, and rapacity. But at the same time

he is an indispensable element in the social life of the people whose

trade and business he finances. The modern Banya does not seem to have

changed much since the time of Tavernier, [247] who writes:—“Those of

this caste are so subtle and nimble in trade that the Jews may be their

’prentices. They accustom their children betimes to fly idleness, and

instead of suffering them to lose their time by playing in the streets,

as we generally do, they teach them arithmetic, which they are so

perfect at, that without making use either of pen or ink or counters,

but only of their memories, they will in a moment cast up the most

difficult account that can be imagined. They always live with their

fathers, who instruct them in trade, and do nothing but what they show

them. If any man in the heat of passion chafe at them, they will hear

him patiently without making any reply, and parting coldly from him

will not see him again till three or four days, when they think their

passion may be over. They never eat anything that has life, nay, they

would rather die than kill the smallest animal or vermin, being in that

point above all things the most zealous observers of the law. They

never fight nor go to war, neither will they eat or drink at the house

of a Râjput.”

2. The current proverbs abound with chaff at the Banya:—Na Banya mît na

besva sati—“A Banya is as little a friend as a prostitute is chaste”;

Banya mârê jan, thag mârê anjân—“The Banya cheats his friends, and the

rogue, strangers,” and so on.

3. At the same time some of the Banya sub-divisions, like the Agarwâla

and Oswâl, are perhaps some of the purest races in Northern India.

4. In his social habits the Banya is very precise in the matter of

food. In religion he is either a Hindu or Jain, or, as he calls

himself, a Sarâogi, a word derived from the Sanskrit srâvaka, “a

disciple of the Buddha.”

DISTRIBUTION OF BANYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+===========+=========+===========

District. | Hindu. | Jain. | Total.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~

Dehra Dûn | 3,212 | 234 | 3,446

Sahâranpur | 31,170 | 6,075 | 37,245

Muzaffarnagar | 31,997 | 9,388 | 41,385

Meerut | 51,943 | 16,378 | 68,321

Bulandshahr | 39,579 | 1,265 | 40,844

Aligarh | 46,472 | 2,507 | 48,979

Mathura | 39,602 | 2,041 | 41,643

Agra | 45,060 | 13,371 | 58,431

Farrukhâbâd | 25,137 | 1,048 | 26,185

Mainpuri | 21,452 | 5,759 | 27,211

Etâwah | 27,608 | 2,117 | 29,725

Etah | 23,864 | 4,933 | 28,797

Bareilly | 22,191 | 4 | 22,195

Bijnor | 18,331 | 998 | 19,329

Budâun | 31,307 | 229 | 31,536

Morâdâbâd | 31,970 | 1,002 | 32,972

Shâhjahânpur | 23,573 | 36 | 23,609

Pilibhît | 7,303 | 11 | 7,314

Cawnpur | 33,939 | 415 | 34,354

Fatehpur | 19,338 | 83 | 19,421

Bânda | 22,274 | 282 | 22,556

Hamîrpur | 14,667 | 107 | 14,774

Allahâbâd | 46,131 | 568 | 46,699

Jhânsi | 13,556 | 2,521 | 16,077

Jâlaun | 14,304 | 164 | 14,468

Lalitpur | 1,893 | 9,546 | 11,439

Benares | 21,263 | 138 | 21,401

Mirzapur | 23,754 | 281 | 24,035

Jaunpur | 23,745 | 6 | 23,751

Ghâzipur | 32,685 | 27 | 32,712

Ballia | 44,248 | ... | 44,248

Gorakhpur | 100,209 | 40 | 100,249

Basti | 53,155 | ... | 53,155

Azamgarh | 38,380 | ... | 38,380

Kumâun | 4,925 | ... | 4,925

Garhwâl | 1,920 | 2 | 1,922

Tarâi | 2,850 | 39 | 2,889

Lucknow | 17,231 | 797 | 18,028

Unâo | 15,805 | 8 | 15,813

Râê Bareli | 16,512 | 23 | 16,535

Sîtapur | 15,013 | 234 | 15,247

Hardoi | 27,175 | ... | 27,175

Kheri | 13,473 | 10 | 13,483

Faizâbâd | 34,771 | 161 | 34,932

Gonda | 33,108 | ... | 33,108

Bahrâich | 20,263 | 48 | 20,311

Sultânpur | 23,524 | ... | 23,524

Partâbgarh | 13,420 | 130 | 13,550

Bârabanki | 13,944 | 950 | 14,894

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~

Total | 1,279,246 | 83,976 | 1,363,222

==============+===========+=========+==========

Bârahseni.—(Bârah, twelve; sena, an army).—A sub-caste of Banyas found

principally in the Western Districts. The last Census shows none in

Benares; but Mr. Sherring [248] speaks of them as a considerable colony

of bankers:—“They state that their original home was Agroha. In Benares

they are of the Garga gotra.”

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BÂRAHSENI BANYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+=========

District. | Number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~

Sahâranpur | 8

Meerut | 3

Bulandshahr | 1,791

Aligarh | 12,936

Mathura | 4,383

Agra | 315

Farrukhâbâd | 11

Mainpuri | 625

Etah | 2,329

Bareilly | 3

Bijnor | 12

Budâun | 5,798

Morâdâbâd | 4,511

Shâhjahânpur | 33

Pilibhît | 13

Tarâi | 12

+~~~~~~~~~

Total | 32,783

==============+=========

Barai, Baraiya.—(Sanskrit vritti, “occupation, maintenance.”)—The caste

engaged in the cultivation of the piper betel, usually known as pân

(Sanskrit, parna), the leaf par excellence. The distinction generally

made between the Barai and the Tamboli is that the former grows the

plant, while the latter sells the leaves. But this distinction does not

seem to be always observed. It would seem that the Barai hardly ever

sells the leaves, while the Tamboli sometimes cultivates the plant. Mr.

Sherring denies that the distinction prevails in Benares, and says that

there the Tamboli sells betel-nut as well as pân, and appears to be

more of a wholesale dealer than the Barai. [249] The Barais are

replaced in the Meerut, Agra, and Rohilkhand Divisions by the Tambolis.

[Traditions of origin.] 2. In the eastern part of the Province they

have a curious legend to explain their origin:—“There were two Brâhman

brothers so devout that after bathing they used to throw their loin

cloths up to the skies, where they dried and came down when they were

wanted. One day the brothers were in the forest and were athirst. The

elder brother directed the younger to climb a mahua tree and see if

there was any water in the cavities of the trunk. He did so and found

water, which in his greediness he drank, and, lying to his elder

brother, denied that there was any water in the tree. Next day they

threw their loin cloths up to the sky as usual, and when they wanted

them only that of the elder brother came down. So he knew that his

brother had lied unto him. The younger brother denied the charge. Then

Parameswar came down from heaven, and, convicting the younger brother

of falsehood, ordered that the elder brother should remain a Brâhman,

while the younger should tend the nâg bel or pân plant, which he formed

out of the sacred thread of the offender, and that the elder brother

should serve the younger brother as his priest.” Another story is that

Brahma created them to save Brâhmans from the labour of growing the

plant. Traditionally the Tâmbûlika or seller of betel is descended from

a Sûdra woman by a Vaisya man. The caste is probably occupational and

of mixed origin. In Gorakhpur they say that once a Brâhman had three

sons. He came down with them from fairy land and was able to support

them only by growing betel, for which he was excommunicated. They

explain the name of the caste as derived from baraitha, the betel

conservatory, which comes from the Sanskrit vriti. The Gorakhpur branch

fix on Bîrbhânpur, in the Azamgarh District, as their head-quarters.

[Internal structure.] 3. In the last Census returns the Barais were

recorded in no less than one hundred and forty-seven sub-castes. Of

these a large number are local, such as the Aharwâr of Ahâr, the

Ajudhyabâsi of Ajudhya, the Audha of Awadh, the Bindrabanbâsi of

Bindraban, the Chaurasiya of Chaurâsi, in Mirzapur, the Dakkhinâha or

“Southern,” the Gorakhpuri, Jaiswâr, Jaunpuri, Kânhpuriya, of Cawnpur,

Mahobiya, Pachhwâhân or “Western”; Sarjupâri or “residents beyond the

river Sarju,” Sribâstab of Srâvasti; and Uttarâha or “Northern.” Many,

again, are connected by origin or function with other tribes, as the

Banya, Banjariya, Baiswâr, Chauhân, Donwâr, Gaderiya, Gahlot, Gauriya,

Gondar, Jâdubansi, Katheriya, Karwâra, Kokâs, Maharwa, Nâgbansi,

Nânakshâhi, Ummar, Pansariya, Panwariya, Râjbansi, Rauteli, Sândil,

Shuklabans. This will give some idea of the diverse elements out of

which the caste has been composed.

4. In Mirzapur they name seven endogamous sub-castes, Partâbgarhi (from

Partâbgarh), Chaurâsi (the Chaurasiya of Benares) [250], Jaiswâr or

Jaiswâra Nâsarkhâni (the Nâsalkâni of Benares), Tâmboli, Uttarâha

(“Northern”), Pachhiwâha (“Western”). Mr. Sherring adds Sribâstava

(from Srâvasti), Bherihâra (“tenders of sheep”), Magahiya (from

Magadha), Phuihâra, and Dhanwariya. Of these three, the Magahiya,

Chaurasiya, and Jaiswâr appear in Behâr, where there are two others,

Semariya and Sokhwa. In the Central Duâb they are divided into the

Chaurasiya, who prepare betel, and the Katyâr, who sell it. In

Gorakhpur we have the Kanaujiya, Chaurasiya, and Jaiswâr.

[Marriage rules.] 5. Marriage within the endogamous sub-castes is

regulated by a rule of exogamy, which forbids marriage in the family of

the paternal and maternal uncle and paternal and maternal aunt as long

as there is any recollection of relationship, which is usually after

five or six generations. But at the same time they usually marry

locally in the families of those with whom they are accustomed to eat

and smoke. In Mirzapur the Partâbgarhi are distinguished from the

Chaurâsi, inasmuch that the former permit the use of spirits while the

latter prohibit it. They marry their daughters at the age of eight or

nine, and their sons at twelve or thirteen. A man cannot take a second

wife unless he proves to the satisfaction of the tribal council that

the first wife is barren, disobedient, extravagant, or a thief, and

even then he has to pay a fine to the council, which is spent in a

tribal feast. They seldom take more than two wives. They have the usual

forms of marriage,—Charhauwa for the well-to-do, Dola for poor people,

and Sagâi for widows. In both the regular forms of virgin marriage the

binding portions of the ceremony are the worshipping of the

bridegroom’s feet (pair pûja, pânw pûja) by the father of the bride,

and marking of the parting of the bride’s hair with red lead

(sindurdan). In Sagâi the only ceremony is dressing the bride in a suit

of clothes and ornaments provided by the bridegroom, and the feeding of

his relations and clansmen. Intertribal infidelity is lightly regarded

and is condoned by a tribal feast, but fornication with an outsider

involves excommunication. They have the extraordinary rule that a woman

who poisons her husband is excommunicated. If a man, in spite of the

admonition and punishment administered by the tribal council, refuses

to support his wife or loses caste, the council permit the woman to

leave her husband, and, if she so pleases, to marry again by the Sagâi

form.

[Religion.] 6. They are seldom initiated into any special sect. Like

all Hindus of the same class, when the men get old they undergo a

process of initiation and become devotees (bhagat: Sanskrit, bhakta).

The only effect of this is that they abstain from meat and fish, and

attend more carefully to their religious duties, such as attending

temples, ceremonial bathing, etc. To the east of the Province their

special deities are Mahâbîr, the Pânchonpîr, Bhawâni, Hardiha Deva, or

Hardaur, Sokha Bâba and Nâgbeli. Sokha Bâba is the special deity of the

Nâsarkhâni sub-caste, and, if neglected, ruins their pân gardens. They

can tell nothing about him. He seems to be a deified exorciser or

magician, sokha (Sanskrit: sukshma, “acute, subtle”) being the

equivalent of Ojha. Nâgbel or Nâgarbel is the special deity of the pân

plant. Hardiha is the special deity of the Barais of South Mirzapur.

Mahâbîr receives an offering of sweetened bread (rota), gram,

Brâhmanical threads (janeû), and loin cloths. His holy day is Tuesday.

The Pânchonpîr receive rice cooked in milk (jawar), and fried cakes

(puri), which are offered on Wednesday. Bhawâni is honoured with the

sacrifice of a he-goat or ram, and sweets and cakes (halwa-puri).

Hardiha is worshipped in secret inside the house on Monday. On

Wednesday they fast in honour of the Pânchonpîr. Sokha Bâba is said to

have a temple in Magadha (Behâr). His offering consists of sweets and

cakes (halwa-puri). These deities are worshipped only by that member of

the family who is under the influence of the special divinity—a fact

shown by his getting into a state of ecstasy and uttering oracles. Only

those who cultivate pân worship Nâgbel by lighting a lamp in the

conservatory and making a burnt-offering (hom). The special day for the

Nâgbel worship is the fifth of the first half of Sâwan. The greater

gods are worshipped through Tiwâri Brâhmans, and the minor deities by

some specially inspired member of the family. They cremate their dead

in the ordinary way, and some go to Gaya to perform the srâddha

ceremony.

[Occupation.] 7. Betel is the term applied to the leaf of the piper

betel chewed with the areca nut, which is hence improperly called

betel-nut. The word, according to the authorities is Malayâlam,

vettila, i.e., veru + ila = “simple or mere leaf,” and comes to us

through the Portuguese betre and betle. [251] Areca is the seed, or, in

common parlance, the nut, of the palm areca catechu. The word is

Malayâlam, addakka, and comes to us through the Portuguese. [252] There

are various methods of preparing the compound known as pân supâri.

“Garcias da Horta says distinctly:—‘In chewing betre they mix areca

with it and a little lime; some add licio (i.e., catechu); but the rich

and grandees add some Borneo camphor, and also some lign aloes, musk,

and ambergris.’” [253] Abul Fazl says:—“They also put some betel-nut

and kath (catechu) on one leaf and some lime paste on another and roll

them up: this is called a berah (bîra). Some put camphor and musk into

it, and tie up both leaves with a silk thread.” [254] This is very much

the modern practice, except that the two leaves are very generally

fastened together with a clove. The conservatory in which the pân is

grown is treated with great reverence by the grower. [255] They do not

allow women to enter it, and permit no one to touch the plant or throw

the leaves into fire. Very often they are given rent-free holdings by

rich landlords to tempt them to settle in their neighbourhood. The

women have an indifferent reputation, as they manage shops, and those

who are attractive secure the most custom. They eat pakki cooked by all

Brâhmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, except Kalwârs. In Gorakhpur, it is

said, they eat pakki only from the hands of Brâhmans and Kshatriyas.

They eat kachchi only if cooked by members of their own caste. Ghatiya

Brâhmans and Râjputs eat pakki cooked by them. The highest caste which

will eat kachchi cooked by them is the Nâi. They eat mutton and goat’s

flesh, and some indulge in spirituous liquors.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARAIS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

=============+=============================+========

| Sub-Castes. |

District. |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Total.

|Chaurasiya.|Jaiswâr.| Others.|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~

Mathura | ... | ... | 327 | 327

Fatehpur | 142 | ... | 32 | 174

Bânda | 379 | ... | 22 | 401

Hamîrpur | 1,088 | ... | 142 | 1,230

Allahâbâd | 6,768 | 16 | 922 | 7,706

Jhânsi | 163 | ... | 193 | 356

Lalitpur | 970 | ... | 298 | 1,268

Benares | 2,608 | 62 | 245 | 2,915

Mirzapur | 4,329 | 11 | 25 | 4,365

Jaunpur | 5,734 | 927 | 225 | 6,886

Ghâzipur | 5,580 | 32 | 643 | 6,255

Ballia | 5,512 | 426 | 461 | 6,399

Gorakhpur | 12,856 | 9,884 | 6,258 | 28,998

Basti | ... | 26,859 | 1,054 | 27,913

Azamgarh | ... | 8,760 | 1,977 | 10,737

Lucknow | 95 | ... | 163 | 258

Unâo | 579 | ... | ... | 579

Sîtapur | 780 | ... | 461 | 1,241

Hardoi | 5,177 | ... | 253 | 5,430

Kheri | 462 | ... | 216 | 678

Faizâbâd | 80 | 10,612 | 122 | 10,814

Gonda | 7 | 16,594 | 23 | 16,624

Bahrâich | ... | 21 | 1,045 | 1,066

Sultânpur | 2,800 | 1,478 | 478 | 4,756

Partâbgarh | 5,746 | 6 | 190 | 5,942

Bârabanki | ... | 103 | ... | 103

+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~

Total | 61,855 | 75,791 | 15,775 | 153,421

=============+===========+========+========+=========

Baranwâl, Baranwâr.—A sub-caste of Banyas who take their name from the

old town of Baran, the modern Bulandshahr. They are principally found

in the Rohilkhand, Benares, and Gorakhpur Divisions. Curiously enough

they have entirely avoided Bulandshahr, their old home. As illustrating

the domestic customs of Banyas the following account from Mirzapur may

be given:—

[Birth customs.] 2. When a woman is in the eighth month of pregnancy

the Athmâsa ceremony is performed. Two or three days before it

commences the women sing songs. On the day of the ceremony the Pandit

makes a square in the courtyard, in which the husband and his wife are

seated with their clothes knotted together. The Pandit makes them

worship Gauri and Ganesa, and sweetmeats are sent to the houses of the

clansmen. In the evening a feast is given to the clansmen. When the

child is born, what is called the Nandi mukh srâddha is performed, and

then the Chamârin midwife is called in to cut the navel cord. She

attends the mother only on the first day. Then follow the usual sixth

and twelfth day ceremonies (chhathi, barahi), when the mother bathes,

the house is purified, and she returns to her household duties. When

the child is one or three years old comes the shaving (mûnran). All the

women of the family and their friends go to the temple of some goddess

and worship her; then they worship the barber’s razor, and offer a

rupee to it, which is the perquisite of the barber. Then he shaves the

boy’s head, and the mother receives the hair on a cake made of unbaked

dough. But more generally this is done by the sister or father’s sister

of the boy. The boy and his mother then put on yellow garments and

return home. A feast is given, and some small sums distributed to

Brâhmans. In some families the ceremony of ear-boring (kanchhedan) is

done at the same time as the mûnran; sometimes it is deferred till the

boy is five years old. The boring is done by a Sunâr, and the friends

are entertained. When the boy is six months old the anna-prâsana

ceremony is performed. The mother cooks some rice milk (khîr), and the

eldest member of the family puts some of it on a rupee and makes the

child lick it. The function ends with the distribution of betel and

cardamoms among the guests.

[Occupation.] 3. The Baranwâls are bâzâr traders of the ordinary type,

and deal in grain and various kinds of merchandise.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARANWÂL BANYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

=============+========

District. | Number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~

Agra | 26

Etah | 28

Budâun | 439

Morâdâbâd | 1,825

Cawnpur | 80

Bânda | 1

Benares | 776

Mirzapur | 590

Jaunpur | 2,140

Ghâzipur | 1,337

Gorakhpur | 466

Basti | 1,880

Azamgarh | 5,206

Râê Bareli | 46

Faizâbâd | 173

Partâbgarh | 131

~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~

Grand Total | 15,144

=============+========

Bargâh, Bargâha, Bargâhi.—(Probably connected with Bâri, q.v.)—A caste

of personal servants and makers of leaf platters (dauna). To the east

of the province they trace their origin to Kanauj, and say that they

emigrated with the Gaharwâr Râjputs. Their women act as wet-nurses to

the Gaharwârs, and their men pass round betel at entertainments, and do

other kinds of higher domestic service. They claim kinship with the

Guâl Ahîrs. Thus, in Gorakhpur, Dr. Buchanan [256] says:—“The Râjput

chiefs have certain families of the Ahîrs, the women of which serve as

wet-nurses to their children, and the men attend to their persons.

These families are called Bargâha; they have received, of course, great

favours, and several of them are very rich; but others look down upon

them as having admitted their women to too great familiarity with their

chiefs.”

2. They marry in their own tribe; but they have no sections, and their

rule of exogamy is not to marry in a family with which they have been

once connected in marriage as long as any recollection of relationship

exists. The marriage customs are of the usual type. In Mirzapur they

practise adult marriage. The ceremony occupies three days—the sil,

main, and bârât. On the day of the sil the grindstone and rice pounder

(sil batta) are placed in the courtyard, and a Brâhman worships Gauri.

The clansmen are fed on rice and pulse. On the main day the mâtri pûja

and worship of deceased ancestors is performed, and a second feast is

given. On the third day, the bârât, the procession, goes to the house

of the bride. The pair are seated in a shed (mânro); the bride’s father

worships the feet of the bridegroom and presents him with fruits, etc.,

the garments of the pair are knotted, and they revolve seven times

round the shed. The bride’s father then marks the forehead of the

bridegroom with turmeric and rice, and takes him and the bride into the

retiring room (kohabar), a relic of the custom of immediately

consummating the marriage. There the women of the family make the

bridegroom join the lights of two lighted wicks as a sign of lasting

affection between the pair. The girl is then sent off at once with her

husband. They do not allow widow marriage or the levirate. Their death

customs are of the usual orthodox type.

3. The Bargâhs are all Hindus, and appear chiefly to worship Mahâbîr,

the Pânchonpîr and the Dih, or the collective body of the village

godlings.

4. They live principally by domestic service, and are known to be

courageous and faithful. Many of them take to agriculture. In Chota

Nâgpur, according to Mr. Risley, [257] they claim to be Râjputs and act

as domestic servants to the local Râjas.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARGÂHS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+========

District. | Number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~

Hamîrpur | 392

Mirzapur | 383

Basti | 243

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~

Total | 1,018

==============+========

Bargaiyân.—A sept of Râjputs who are found principally in the Ghâzipur

district. There they claim to be of the Chauhân family, and to be

emigrants from Mainpuri. The name is probably derived from some place

called Baragâon, or “the great village.” They have a very absurd folk

etymology, and say that they are so called because their ancestors

performed some great exploit (bara kâm kiya). They are now poor and

discontented. [258]

DISTRIBUTION OF BARGAIYÂN RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

===========+=======

District. |Number.

~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~

Benares | 2

Ghâzipur | 2,659

Ballia | 280

Râê Bareli | 123

Faizâbâd | 76

Sultânpur | 10

Partâbgarh | 4

+~~~~~~~

Total | 3,154

===========+=======

Bargala.—A sept of Râjputs found chiefly in the Bulandshahr [259]

District. They are a spurious branch of the Lunar race and are ranked

as Gaurua, because they practise widow marriage. They claim descent

from two brothers, Drigpâl and Battipâl, who are said to have been

emigrants from Indor, in Mâlwa, and commanded the royal force at Delhi

in the attack on Râo Pithaura. A number were converted to Islâm in the

time of Aurangzeb. They are a turbulent, disorderly sept, and lost most

of their villages in the Mutiny.

2. In the Upper Duâb, they are reported to give brides to the Bhâlê

Sultân, Jaiswâr, and Bâchhal, and to take wives from the Jaiswâr.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARGALA RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+=======

District. |Number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~

Sahâranpur | 2

Muzaffarnagar | 2

Bulandshahr | 8,250

Morâdâbâd | 6

+~~~~~~~

Total | 8,260

==============+=======

Bargi.—A tribe found only in Mathura, according to the last Census,

where they numbered 1,076. They are said to live by service,

cultivation, and hunting. They are probably, if not identical, closely

connected with the Bâri and Bargâh.

Bargûjar.—(Sanskrit, vriddha; Hindi, bara, “great.”)—An important sept

of Râjputs classed as one of the thirty-six royal races, and descended,

like their opponents, the Kachhwâhas, from Râma, but through Lava, the

second son. Sir H. M. Elliot [260] writes:—“Colonel Tod says that it

was in Anûpshahr that the Bargûjars, on their expulsion by the

Kachhwâhas from Rajor, found refuge; and that is still the chief town

of the Bargûjar family. But as this expulsion occurred only in the time

of the illustrious Siwâi Jay Sinh, in the beginning of the last

century, the chief of Rajor must have chosen for his residence a part

of the country already in the occupation of his brethren; for Bargûjars

are mentioned, even in Akbar’s time, as the Zamîndârs of Khurja, Dibâi,

and Pahâsu. Their own assertion is that they came from Rajor, the

capital of Deoti, in the Macheri country, under Râja Pratâp Sinh, and

first resided in Kheriya, near Pitampur, and that the Râja, after

marrying at Koil into a Râjput family of the Dor tribe, which at that

time occupied the whole country between Koil and Bulandshahr, obtained

favour in the sight of the Dors and got authority to establish himself

as far eastward as he chose. Having, in consequence, exterminated the

Mewâtis and Bhihars, who are represented to have been in previous

occupation, he was so successful as to acquire the possession of

sixteen hundred villages, eight hundred on the east and eight hundred

on the west of the Ganges. At the time of his death Chaundera, near

Pahâsu (in the Bulandshahr District), was reckoned the chief possession

of the Bargûjars, and one of the descendants of Pratâp Sinh, Râja

Sâlivâhana, gave his name to a Pargana, which comprised the present

divisions of Pîtampur, Pahâsu, and Birauli. Râja Pratâp Sinh left two

sons, Jatu and Rânu. Jatu took up his abode in Katehar or Rohilkhand,

and Rânu remained as chief of Chaundera.

2. “The antiquity of the Katehar Bargûjars may be surmised from a

passage in the Râthaur Genealogies:—

‘Bharat, the eleventh grandson of Nain Pâl, the Râthaur, at the age of

sixty-one conquered Kanaksir, under the Northern Hills, from Rudra Sen,

of the Bargûjar tribe.’ Nain Pâl is supposed to have lived in the fifth

Century. Though there appears no reason for ascribing to his reign so

early a date, he must, at any rate, have preceded the final Muhammadan

conquest of Kanauj.

3. “While the Katehar Bargûjars and the Anûpshahr family have preserved

their ancient faith, nearly all the Duâb tribes which preceded the

expulsion of their chief from Rajor have turned Muhammadans; and the

early opponents of the British in Kamona and Pindrâwal were Bargûjars

of that persuasion. They still, however, appear proud of their Râjput

lineage; for they assume the appellation of Thâkur. Thus we hear the

strange combination of Thâkur Akbar’ Ali Khân and Thâkur Mardan’ Ali

Khân. At their marriages they paint on their doors the image of a

Kahârin or female bearer, under whose instructions they executed a

stratagem by which they exterminated the Mewâtis, who had been engaged

in a drunken revel during the Holi. Some of the Musalmân families have

of late discontinued this custom. The Bargûjars to the west of

Muzaffarnagar were all converted to the Muhammadan faith in the time of

Alâ-ud-dîn Khilji; but they still retain most of their old Hindu

customs. A stricter conformity to the Musalmân tenets was endeavoured

to be introduced by some reformers, and all Hindu observances were

sedulously proscribed by them; but when it was found, as they

themselves assert, that all their children became blind and maimed in

consequence of their apostacy, they were induced to revert to their

ancestral customs, and still adhere to them with so much pertinacity,

that it is almost doubtful which faith prevails most.

4. “The Muzaffarnagar Bargûjars state that they came from Dobandesar,

near Dhain Dawâsa, south of the Alwar country, under one Kura Sen,

whose ancestor, Bâba Megha, is still invoked when they make their

offerings at the time of naming their children. They intermarry with

the converted Pundîr Râjputs of Sakrauda in Sahâranpur, and the Râo

Bargûjars, in Farîdâbâd, of Balabhgarh, to the south of Delhi. They

seem to know but little of their brethren who reside in the

neighbourhood of Anûpshahr.

5. “The place whence they migrated may be easily traced, for Dawâsa or

Deosa lies on the Bânganga river about thirty miles east of Jeypur, and

Dhain is about eight miles south of Deosa. Deosa is famous as being the

first place belonging to the Bargûjars, which was occupied by the

Kachhwâhas, after their emigration from Narwar, in the middle of the

tenth Century. It is not improbable that the Kachhwâhas may at this

period have compelled the Bargûjars to emigrate in search of other

seats, and they, in turn, may have wreaked their vengeance on the

Kachhwâhas of the Upper Duâb, and established their Chaurâsi among the

brethren of their distant foe. Certain it is that tradition assigns a

large tract of country in these parts to the Kachhwâhas before the

Bargûjars, Jâts, and Pathâns obtained possession.

6. “The Sikarwâl Râjputs state that they are a branch of the Bargûjars;

but they are separately entered among the thirty-six royal races in

Colonel Tod’s list. It is to be observed, however, that in some of the

other lists which he has given neither Bargûjars nor Sikarwâls are

entered.”

7. In Mathura [261] the Hindu branch are classed as pure because they

do not practise widow marriage. The Rohilkhand [262] branch have

various traditions of their origin, some claiming Tomar and some

Sûrajbansi descent. They seem to have pushed across the Ganges from

Anûpshahr about the same time that the Katehriyas occupied Bareilly.

8. In Bulandshahr they give brides to the Gahlot, Bhatti, Tomar,

Chauhân, Katiyâr, Punwâr, and Pundîr; and take wives from the Gahlot,

Pundîr, Chauhân, Bais, Janghâra, and Bâchhal. In Aligarh they take

brides from the Janghâra, Gahlot, and Chauhân, and give wives to the

Chauhân and Gahlot.

DISTRIBUTION OF BARGÛJAR RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

===============+========+============+======

District. |Hindus. |Muhammadans.|Total.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~

Dehra Dûn | ... | 9 | 9

Sahâranpur | 55 | 64 | 119

Muzaffarnagar | 166 | 1,092 | 1,258

Meerut | 1,443 | ... | 1,443

Bulandshahr | 12,064 | 4,006 |16,070

Aligarh | 3,363 | 9 | 3,372

Mathura | 383 | 140 | 523

Agra | 588 | 9 | 597

Farrukhâbâd | 227 | 6 | 233

Mainpuri | 556 | 1 | 557

Etâwah | 90 | 3 | 93

Etah | 1,689 | 106 | 1,795

Bareilly | 883 | 321 | 1,204

Bijnor | 4 | ... | 4

Budâun | 2,790 | 363 | 3,153

Morâdâbâd | 6,477 | 156 | 6,633

Shâhjahânpur | 171 | ... | 171

Pilibhît | 78 | 40 | 118

Cawnpur | 19 | ... | 19

Jhânsi | 26 | ... | 26

Jâlaun | 68 | ... | 68

Lalitpur | 24 | ... | 24

Benares | 2 | ... | 2

Jaunpur | 8 | ... | 8

Tarâi | 59 | ... | 59

Lucknow | 6 | ... | 6

Faizâbâd | ... | 3 | 3

Kheri | 102 | ... | 102

+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~

Total | 31,341 | 6,328 |37,669

===============+========+============+======

Barhai, [263] Barhi, Badhi.—(Sanskrit, vardhika; root vardh, “to

cut.”)—The carpenter class, also known as Tarkhân in the Panjab, Mistri

(which is probably a corruption of the English “Master, Mr.”), and

Lakarkata or “wood-cutter” (lakri-kâtna). The term Gokain is generally

applied to a wood carver: it is derived by Mr. Nesfield from the Hindi

khonchna, “to scoop out,” but is more possibly connected with gaukh,

Sanskrit, gavâksha, “a window frame.” Traditionally they claim descent

from Viswakarma, son of Brahma (who is identified with Twashtri, the

divine artisan), through Vikramajît, who is said to have espoused a

Kshatriya woman. As the sub-divisions show, the caste is probably a

functional group recruited from various castes following the common

occupation of carpentry.

[Internal structure.] 2. The Barhais have broken up into an enormous

number of endogamous sub-castes, of which the last Census returns

enumerate eight hundred and fifty-nine in the Hindu and seventy-nine in

the Muhammadan branch. Of these locally the most important are in

Sahâranpur, the Bandariya, Dholi, Multâni, Nagar, and Tarloiya; in

Muzaffarnagar, the Dhalwâl or “shield-makers,” and Lota; in Meerut, the

Janghâra, the name of a Râjput sept; in Bulandshahr, the Bhîl; in

Aligarh, the Chauhân; in Mathura, the Bâhman or Brâhman sub-caste, and

the Sosaniya; in Agra, the Nagar, Janghâra, and Uprautya; in

Farrukhâbâd, the Paretiya or “reel-makers”; in Mainpuri, the Umariya;

in Etah, the Agwariya, Barmaniyân, Bisari, Jalesariya (from the town of

Jalesar), and the Usarbhola; in Bareilly, the Jalesariya; in Ballia,

the Gokalbansi; in Basti, the Dakkhinâha or “Southern,” and the

Sarwariya, or those who come from beyond the Sarju river; in Gonda, the

Kairâti, which is possibly a corruption of Kharâdi, and the Sondi; in

Bârabanki, the Jaiswâr. In Mirzapur they name five,—Kokâsbansi,

Magadhiya, or Magahiya (from Magadha), Purbiha or Purbiya (Eastern),

Uttarâha (Northern), and Khâti (Sanskrit Kshatri; root, kshad, “to

cut”). Of these the Khâti specially work as wheel-wrights. In Bareilly

we have Mathuriya, Dhanman, and Khâti; in Bijnor, Dahman, Mathuriya,

Lahori, and Kokâs; in Basti, Kokâsbans, and Lohâr Barhai. Another

enumeration [264] gives Kokâs, Mahur, Tânk, Khâti, Uprautiya, Bâmhan

Barhai or Mathuriya, Ojha Gaur, and Chamar Barhai. Of these the Bâmhan

and Ojha Gaur claim a Brâhmanical origin, and the Chamar Barhai are

perhaps an offshoot from the Chamârs. In Benares, [265] again, we have

the Janeûdhâri, (wearers of the Brâhmanical cord, janeû), who eat no

meat, wear the sacred cord, and regard themselves far superior to the

others: they are said to come from the Duâb. The Khâti are

wheel-wrights. The Kokâs come from Delhi, and make chairs and tables.

Those designated Setbanda Rameswar manufacture puppets and dolls, on

which they perform in public: they have a character for begging, and

are, therefore, not a reputable branch of the caste. In the Hills some

Barhais are emigrants from the plains; but most of them are of the Orh

division of the Doms. [266] To the west of the Province, the Ojha or

Ujhâdon Barhais claim Brâhmanical descent, and wear the Brâhmanical

cord. In some of the Western towns they have recently refused to do

such degrading work as the repairs of conservancy carts, etc. In

Morâdâbâd there is a sub-caste known as Khâti Bishnoi, who make a

speciality of making cart-wheels like those of the same name to the

east of the Province: in Bulandshahr the Khâti are said to be

considered so low that water touched by them is not drunk by the higher

castes. [267] In the same district are also found the Tânk, Ukât, and

Dibhân, as well as the Jânghra, who claim kindred with the Janghâra

Râjputs. In the Central Duâb, again, we have, besides the Ujhâdon

Brâhman sub-caste, three others known as Dhîmar, Mâhar, and Khâti.

These names illustrate the composite character of the caste, the Ojha

claiming to be Brâhmans, the Janghra Râjputs, the Dhîmar Kâhars, the

Chamar Barhai, Chamârs, and so on. Akin again to these are the class of

turners—Kharâdi (Arabic, kharât, “a lathe”), Kuner, Kundera, and, in

the Hills, Chunyâra. In Mirzapur this sub-caste are occupied in making

the stems of the huqqa pipe out of the wood of the acacia (khair). They

appear to take their name from Sanskrit kunda, a bowl.

[Marriage rules.] 3. To the east of the Province Barhais marry their

daughters usually at the age of seven, nine, or eleven; and boys, at

nine, eleven, and thirteen. They will not intermarry with a member of

their own family or that of their maternal uncle or father’s sister as

long as there is any recollection of relationship. They have four forms

of marriage: Charhauwa, which is the respectable form; Dola, for poor

people, Adala Badala, when two families exchange brides, and Sagâi, for

widows.

The levirate is permitted but not enforced, and the widow’s right of

selecting her second partner is recognised. The rules of morality are

strict, and a woman intriguing with a clansman or a stranger is liable

to excommunication. Those who are guilty of an intrigue with a member

of the clan can be restored to caste by paying money to Brâhmans, and

bathing in a sacred stream: in bad cases a pilgrimage to Prayâg

(Allahâbâd), Benares, or Ajudhya, is necessary. When a woman is

expelled for an intrigue with a clansman, and conducts herself

respectably for some time, she is re-admitted to caste by the council,

and allowed to contract a sagâi marriage.

[Religion.] 4. Barhais who live in cities are usually Saivas, because

they are not prohibited from the use of meat and wine. The village

Barhais seldom become initiated into any regular sect. Their clan

deities in the Eastern Districts are the Pânchonpîr, Mahâbîr, Devi,

Dulha Deo, and a deity of rather uncertain functions, known as Bibiha

Deva, or the “lady god.” They also worship Viswakarma, their divine

ancestor, and he is represented by the wooden yard measure (gaz, gaj).

This has a special worship in the month of Sâwan. A square is made in

which it is placed, and to it are offered sandalwood, flowers, red lead

(rori), and sweetmeats (halwa). This worship is supported by a general

contribution. The worship is done by a Brâhman, and the sweets

distributed among the worshippers. In the month of Kuâr, the other

tribal deities are worshipped. Sweetmeats (halwa), sweet bread, gram,

and some sugar balls (laddu) are offered to Mahâbîr on a Tuesday.

Bhawâni or Devi receives the sacrifice of a goat or ram, garlands of

flowers, and coloured cloth (chunari). Rice milk (khîr), and cakes

(pûri) are dedicated to the Pânchonpîr. Only wives married in the

regular (charhauwa) form are allowed to share in the worship of the

tribal deities. In Basti they worship Mahâbîr, Purabi Deota or “the

Eastern godling,” and Phûlmati Bhawâni. Purabi Deota gets an offering

of clothes and rude ornaments on a Saturday: Phûlmati and Mahâbîr get,

respectively, sweets and flowers on Monday and Tuesday. Mâlis, Gusâîns,

and Brâhmans receive the offerings made to Mahâbîr and Phûlmati, while

the offerings to Purabi Deota are taken home and consumed by the

worshippers themselves. Their priests are Tiwâri Brâhmans, who hold a

low rank in the caste. The dead are cremated, and the ashes thrown into

the Ganges or one of its tributaries. Water is poured on the ground in

honour of the sainted dead during the first fortnight of Kuâr: lumps of

rice and milk are offered on the thirteenth day, and uncooked grain is

given to Brâhmans. Those who die of cholera or small-pox are either

buried or their bodies thrown into running water. When the epidemic is

over, they, as well as a person dying in a foreign land, are burnt in

effigy in the regular way. This must be done within six months after

the death.

[Occupational and social status.] 5. Carpentry is one of the ancient

Hindu trades, and is mentioned in the Rigveda. [268] The village

carpenter is one of the recognised village menials and receives dues of

grain at each harvest from his constituents (jajmân), whose

agricultural implements he is bound to keep in order. The rate in Oudh

is thirty village sers at each crop from each plough. This is known as

tihâi. He also receives one ser of each kind of grain from each

cultivator’s threshing floor before it is removed. This is called

anjali. For seven months, Jeth to Aghan—May to November, his services

are required. For the remaining five months he works at his own

business, making cots (chârpai), carts (gâri), domestic utensils, and

house carpentry. For this he receives special wages. [269] In the

Eastern Districts it is about twelve sers per plough. In Bareilly it is

seven-and-a-half to twelve large (pakka) sers per plough per harvest.

[270] Some city carpenters who set up workshops and employ workmen do a

good business in making conveyances, furniture, etc. They eat pakki or

food cooked with butter by all Brâhmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas,

except Kalwârs. They eat kachchi cooked by Brâhmans and castemen. All

Hindus drink water from their hands. Some Brâhmans will eat pakki

cooked by them. Inferior Hindus, such as the Chamâr, Nâi, or Bâri, will

eat kachchi cooked by them. In the villages many hold land as tenants

in addition to their hereditary trade.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARHAIS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

=============+=====+======+=====+===+=====+======+=======+=====+======+======+=====+=====+======+======+=======

District. |Ajudhyabâsi.

| |Dhaman.

| | |Gaur.

| | | |Golê.

| | | | |Kanaujiya.

| | | | | |Khâti.

| | | | | | |Kokâs.

| | | | | | | |Maithil.

| | | | | | | | |Mathuriya.

| | | | | | | | | |Ojha.

| | | | | | | | | | |Suthar.

| | | | | | | | | | | |Tânk.

| | | | | | | | | | | | |Others.

| | | | | | | | | | | | | |Muhammadans.

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~~

Dehra Dûn | ... | 1,243| ... |...| ...| 130| 65| ... | ...| ... | ... | ... | 2,004| 65| 3,507

Sahâranpur | ... |12,367| ... | 7| ...| 198| 14| 6 | ...| ... | ... | ... | 4,641| 1,538| 18,771

Muzaffarnagar| ... | 6,954| 21| 10| 10| 2,333| ...| ... | ...| ... | ... | ... | 2,082| 3,162| 14,572

Meerut | ... | 446| ... |...| ...| 2,719| ...| ... | ...| ... | ... |3,212| 4,059|13,242| 23,678

Bulandshahr | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| 164| ...| ... | 421| 351| ... | 628| 4,824|11,473| 17,861

Aligarh | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| 159| ...|2,864| ...| 3,782| ... | ... |12,794| 7| 19,606

Mathura | ... | ... |1,078| 4| ...| ...| 50|2,219| 2,855| 4,776| ... | ... | 3,017| 3| 14,002

Agra | 106| ... |1,638|...| ...| 4| 8| 498| 2,189|10,957| ... | ... | 3,679| 7| 19,086

Farrukhâbâd | 136| ... | ... |...| 35| 10| 2,874| ... | 4,580| 240| ... | ... | 263| 2| 8,140

Mainpuri | 904| ... | 107 |509| ...| 4| 342| 56 | 1,072|10,474| ... | ... | 1,395| ... | 14,857

Etâwah |1,109| ... | ... |...| ...| 154| 948| ... | 2,422| 3,430| 6 | ... | 2,271| ... | 10,340

Etah | ... | 73| 380 |295| 4| 20| 55| 372 | 8,590| 1,268| 31 | ... | 3,647| ... | 14,735

Bareilly | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| 82| 1,502| ... |17,284| 48| ... | ... | 691| 1,999| 21,606

Bijnor | ... |14,496| ... |...| ...| 75| ...| ... | ...| ... | ... | 8 | 624| 2,746| 17,949

Budâun | ... | 28| ... |...| ...| ...| ...| ... |13,820| 703| ... | ... | 2,114| 1,005| 17,670

Morâdâbâd | ... | 1,133| ... |...| ...| 213| ...| 1 | 1,809| 45| ... | 424 | 1,578|17,305| 22,508

Shâhjahânpur | 58| 3| 8 |...| 12| ...| 1,107| ... | 4,677| 32| ... | ... | 334| 34| 16,228

Pilibhît | ... | ... | 2 |...| ...| 110| 3,754| ... | 6,011| 9| ... | 20 | 282| 176| 10,364

Cawnpur | ... | ... | ... |...| 12| 51| 9,104| ... | 83| 5| ... | ... | 760| ... | 10,015

Fatehpur | ... | ... | ... |...| 11| ... | 2,920| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 367| ... | 3,298

Bânda | ... | ... | ... | 48| ...| 20| 6,174| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 616| ... | 6,860

Hamîrpur | ... | ... | 3 |...| ...| 29| 3,366| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1,393| ... | 4,791

Allahâbâd | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| 17| 1,237| ... | 3| ... | ... | ... | 566| ... | 1,823

Jhânsi | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| 407| 3,617| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 2,385| 2| 6,411

Jâlaun | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| 1,491| 1,984| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1,550| ... | 5,025

Lalitpur | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| 2,308| 2,507| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 790| ... | 5,605

Benares | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 320| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 261| ... | 581

Mirzapur | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 352| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 224| ... | 576

Jaunpur | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 1,315| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 70| ... | 1,385

Ghâzipur | ... | ... | ... |...| 114| ... | 947| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 258| ... | 1,319

Ballia | ... | ... | ... |...| 83| ... | 3,674| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 947| ... | 4,704

Gorakhpur | 11| ... | 1 |...| 483| ... | 23,058| ... | ... | ... | 80| ... | 1,926| 748| 26,307

Basti | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 24,277| ... | ... | ... | 927| ... | 3,093| ... | 28,297

Azamgarh | ... | ... | ... |...| 649| ... | 8,295| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1,625| 26| 10,595

Garhwâl | ... | 32 | ... |...| ...| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ...| ... | ...| ...| 32

Tarâi | ... | 434 | ... |...| ...| 8 | ... | ... | 680 | ... | ...| 118 | 127| 2,890| 4,257

Lucknow | ... | 5 | ... | 21| 9| 80 | 6,162| ... | 244 | ... | 378| ... | 2,175| 81| 9,155

Unâo | ... | ... | ... |...| 20| ... | 12,335| ... | ... | ... | ...| ... | 842| 1| 13,198

Râê Bareli | ... | ... | ... |...| 130| ... | 8,411| ... | 6 | ... |1,199| ... | 1,537| 117| 11,400

Sîtapur | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 10,823| ... | 40 | ... | 358| ... | 973| 2| 12,196

Hardoi | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 11,913| ... | 519 | ... | 26| ... | 491| ...| 12,949

Kheri | 13 | ... | ... |...| 7| ... | 12,296| ... | 4 | ... | ...| ... | 171| ...| 12,491

Faizâbâd | ... | ... | ... |...| 207| ... | 10,029| ... | ... | ... |2,659| ... | 291| ...| 13,186

Gonda | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 23,190| ... | ... | ... | 5| ... | 987| 2,469| 26,651

Bahrâich | ... | ... | ... | 4| ...| 3 | 10,884| ... | ... | ... | 108| ... | 731| 618| 12,348

Sultânpur | ... | ... | ... |...| 69| ... | 8,268| ... | ... | ... |1,123| ... | 1,529| ... | 10,989

Partâbgarh | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 843| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 553| 1| 1,397

Bârabanki | ... | ... | ... |...| ...| ... | 13,825| ... | ... | ... |1,082| ... | 476| 180| 15,563

+~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~~

Total |2,339|37,214|3,232|898|1,855|10,789|242,808|6,016|67,309|36,120|7,982|4,410|78,013|59,899|558,884

=============+=====+======+=====+===+=====+======+=======+=====+======+======+=====+=====+======+======+=======

Barhiya.—A small sept of Râjputs. The last Census shows them only in

Hamîrpur and Lalitpur. Sir H. M. Elliot [271] mentions a sept called

Barhiya or Barhaiya in the Sikandarpur and Badâun Parganas of the

Azamgarh District, and Sayyidpur Bhitri of Ghâzipur. Dr. Buchanan [272]

says that they are not numerous in Gorakhpur, north of the Sarju; “but

there are said to be many near Kopa in the southern part of the

District. They are but a low race.”

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARHIYA RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

=========+=======

District.|Number.

~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~

Agra | 13

Hamîrpur | 28

Lalitpur | 22

+~~~~~~~

Total | 63

=========+=======

Barholiya, Barhauliya.—A Râjput sept, who are a branch of the

Bhrigubansi stock, and the chief proprietors of Barhaul, in Benares,

from the principal town of which Pargana they derive their name. They

are said to have come from Rengarh, in Mârwâr, and were on their way to

Jagannâth, when their chief, Narotham Râê, accepted service with the

Seori or Chero Râja. [273] The head of the sept, in Bârabanki, where

they are most numerous, is the Râja of Sûrajpur. There they are classed

as a branch of the Bais stock.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARHOLIYA RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

===========+=======

District. |Number.

~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~

Jâlaun | 2

Azamgarh | 104

Lucknow | 19

Râê Bareli | 199

Sîtapur | 1

Faizâbâd | 40

Gonda | 22

Bahrâich | 39

Bârabanki | 2,316

+~~~~~~~

Total | 2,742

===========+=======

Bâri. [274]—A tribe of household servants to Hindus and makers of the

leaf-platters used at Hindu feasts. The name of the caste is derived

from the Hindi bâlna, or bârna, which means “to set a thing alight,” as

one of their chief occupations is acting as torch-bearers. According to

Mr. Nesfield, “they are an off-shoot from the semi-savage tribes known

as Banmânush and Musahar. He still associates with them at times, and

if the demand for plates and cups (owing to some temporary cause, such

as a local fair or an unusual number of marriages) happens to become

larger than he can at once supply, he gets them secretly made by his

ruder kinsfolk, and retails them at a higher rate, passing them off as

his own production.” That the origin of the caste is functional is very

probable; but there is as yet no satisfactory evidence, such as that

based on anthropometry, which would conclusively establish their

connection with the jungle races; and if they are ultimately akin to

the Musahar, the type must have been very considerably changed. The

Bâri, in fact, looks very much like the ordinary Chamâr of the plains,

and he has lost in a great measure the distinctive cast of features

which characterises the Musahar.

[Traditions of origin.] 2. In the Eastern Districts the Bâris have a

curiously naïve legend to account for their origin. “Once upon a time,”

so the legend runs, “Parameswar was offering rice milk to the spirits

of his ancestors. In the course of this duty the celebrant has to make

a gift known as Vikraya dâna, which no one cares to accept. Parameswar

offered the gift to some Brâhmans, who refused it. Then he made a man

of clay, and blowing upon the image invested it with life. Parameswar

asked the man whom he had created to accept the offering, and he agreed

on condition that all men should drink with him and recognise his claim

to caste. Parameswar then told him to bring water in a cup, and drank

of it in the presence of all the castes. Ever since Hindus drink water

from the hands of the Bâri, though he himself eats the leavings of many

castes.” They say that this first ancestor of theirs was named Sundar

on account of his personal beauty. According to the Oudh legend, when

Bhagwân had created the world he took a survey of it and reflected that

he had created all manner of men except the menial, who would consume

the leavings, which would otherwise be wasted. To remove this defect,

he made a man of sand and called him Sundar. The caste derives its name

from having been made of sand (bâlu bâru), a folk etymology which is

probably at the bottom of the story. They say that the descendants of

this Sundar lived at Ajudhya until the reign of Râja Dasaratha; after

that they dispersed all over the country. The Purânic legend represents

them as descended from a barber and a tobacconist girl. In Oudh they

fix their head-quarters at Tulasipur, in the Kheri District.

[Marriage rules.] 3. The Census returns include no less than five

hundred and three exogamous sections. Of these the most important

locally are the Bilkhariya, who take their name from Bilkhar in Oudh,

the Hinduiya and the Kariya in Ballia; the Kanaujiya, in Gorakhpur: the

Desi and Sarwariya in Basti; the Dakkhinâha and Sarwariya in Râê

Bareli; the Ghorcharha or “riders on horses,” and in Gonda and Bahrâich

the Chauhân. Besides these, are the Donwâr, which is also the name of a

sub-tribe of Bhuînhârs; the Mathuriya from Mathura; the Pattariha or

makers of leaf-platters (pattar); the Râwat, and Sundar, whose name is

that of their founder. To the east the rule of gotra exogamy appears to

be reinforced by the condition that they do not intermarry with a

family with whom previous relationship by marriage is established and

admitted. In Mathura persons of the same gotra cannot intermarry, and

the gotras of a man’s mother and grandmother are also barred. Marriage

with two sisters is permitted. Sexual license before marriage is

everywhere prohibited. Polyandry is nowhere recognized; and, while

polygamy is allowed, it is restricted to cases when the first wife is

barren or permanently disabled by disease. The actual marriage ceremony

is of the usual low caste type. In the eastern districts, prior to the

marriage, they have what is known as the panchmangari or timangari

performed, as the name implies on the fifth or third day before the

wedding, when the women bring clay from the village clay pit and lay it

in the nuptial shed (mâro), where it is used for making the fireplace

on which the food for the wedding feast is cooked. In the respectable

form of marriage, called charhaua, where the bride is given away by her

father, and the pair revolve round the sacred fire; there are in Oudh

three stages—Barrachha or Barraksha, “fixing or holding of the

bridegroom,” in which the father of the bride gives the boy a rupee as

a sort of earnest money; the actual betrothal known as “the cup”

(katora), because the friends on both sides drink sharbat together.

Then follows what is the binding part of the function—the rubbing of

the parting of the bride’s hair with red lead, and the walking round

the sacred fire.

[Widow marriage.] 4. From Mathura it is reported that the caste now

prohibits widow marriage. This is not the case elsewhere. In the

Benares Division widows marry by sagâi, and the levirate is recognised

but not enforced; in Oudh, irregular connections of widows are allowed.

It is not called marriage; she is merely said to “take her seat” (baith

jâna) in the house of her paramour. She is not obliged to form such a

connection unless she pleases, and the preference is given to the

younger brother of the late husband; those widows who set up house with

an outsider are known as Urhari, a term which seems usually to bear a

contemptuous meaning.

[Disposal of the dead.] 5. The dead are cremated, but only those who

are well off are careful about disposing of the ashes in the Ganges or

Jumna.

[Religion.] 6. The Bâris are Hindus. To the east of the Province they

are seldom initiated into any recognised sect; if they are initiated

they give the preference for the Saiva or Sâkta. They worship various

local deities. Thus, in Jaunpur, they worship a form of the female

energy known as Bibiha Devi, “Our Lady”; in South Mirzapur, Hardiha

Deva or Hardaul Lâla, the cholera godling; and many of them worship

Mahâbîr. Sacrifices of rams and goats are offered to Hardiha, with

sweetmeats and a Brâhmanical thread (janeû). To Mahâbîr is offered a

head-dress (muraith), a small loin cloth (langot), sweet bread (rot),

and sweetmeats. Those only are allowed to worship Mahâbîr who do not

eat the leavings of other people. Another local deity, Birtiya,

receives a sacrifice of a young pig, once a year, in the month of

Sâwan. The worship of all these clan deities is performed annually in

the month of Sâwan (July–August) and Kuâr (September–October). Their

family priests are Tiwâri Brâhmans, who are, as a rule, not received on

equal terms by their brethren. In Mathura they worship Devi in the

months of Chait and Kuâr with an offering of flowers and sweetmeats,

the latter being consumed by the worshippers after dedication. They

follow the tenets of the Vaishnava sect. In Unâo their clan deities are

Bhitarihâi Devi, “the goddess of the inner house,” and Nara Sinh or the

man-lion incarnation of Vishnu. These deities are worshipped on the

eighth day of the waxing moon in the months of Chait and Kuâr. The

offering to Devi consists of the sacrifice of goats and the burning of

incense. Nara Sinha prefers the offering of parched barley mixed with

treacle. This worship is done by the eldest son of the family. Their

priests are Brâhmans, who are received on terms of equality by their

brethren.

[Occupation.] 7. Their primary occupation is the making and sale of

leaf-cups (dauna, pattari, gadaura) used at Hindu feasts, and in which

articles such as sweetmeats, curds, etc., are commonly sold in bâzârs.

They serve respectable Hindus as domestic servants and hand round

water. They light and carry torches at marriages, entertainments, and

on journeys, and perform many of the functions discharged by our house

bearers. Their occupation as domestic servants seems to be on the

decline, and many are taking to cultivation. Their women act as maids

to high caste Hindu ladies, and, as they are always about the zenâna,

they bear a somewhat equivocal reputation. To the east of the Province

they certainly eat the leavings of Brâhmans, Banyas, Râjputs and, it is

said, now-a-days even of Kâyasths. In Mathura they seem to be

abandoning the practice of eating the leavings of other castes. In

Mirzapur all Hindus drink water touched by them, and all, except

Sarwariya and Kanaujiya Brâhmans, eat food cooked by them in the form

of pakki, i.e., cooked with butter. Kachchi roti or food cooked in

water by them is eaten by Chamârs and other menial castes. In Unâo, it

is said that they will eat kachchi and pakki from the hands of a

barber, but that no high caste Hindu takes anything but water from

their hands. In Mathura they will eat kachchi cooked by a Banya or

Kâyasth. Their loyalty and fidelity to their master is proverbial, and

they rank high among the classes of Hindus who devote themselves to

domestic service.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BÂRIS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

===============+========+==========+==========+=======+==========+========+========

District. |Donwâr. |Mathuriya.|Pattariha.|Râwat. | Sundar. |Others. | Total.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~

Sahâranpur | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 19 | 19

Meerut | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 88 | 88

Bulandshahr | ... | ... | ... | 43 | ... | 61 | 104

Aligarh | ... | ... | ... | 51 | ... | 239 | 290

Mathura | ... | ... | ... | 10 | ... | 139 | 149

Agra | ... | 2 | ... | 123 | 2 | 828 | 955

Farrukhâbâd | 7 | 15 | ... | 119 | 125 | 705 | 971

Mainpuri | 65 | 385 | 3 | 169 | ... | 309 | 931

Etâwah | 1 | 57 | 12 | 152 | 19 | 1,773 | 2,014

Etah | 30 | 14 | ... | 42 | 2 | 195 | 283

Bareilly | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 450 | 450

Bijnor | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 43 | 43

Budâun | ... | 8 | ... | 24 | ... | 269 | 301

Morâdâbâd | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 224 | 224

Shâhjahânpur | 2 | ... | ... | 35 | 182 | 279 | 498

Pilibhît | ... | ... | ... | ... | 40 | 122 | 162

Cawnpur | ... | 12 | 217 | 52 | 22 | 2,323 | 2,626

Fatehpur | ... | ... | ... | ... | 83 | 599 | 682

Bânda | ... | ... | 2 | 53 | 1 | 62 | 118

Hamîrpur | ... | ... | ... | 28 | ... | 87 | 115

Allahâbâd | ... | ... | 26 | 7 | 393 | 1,024 | 1,450

Jhânsi | ... | ... | ... | 37 | ... | 84 | 121

Jâlaun | ... | ... | ... | 185 | 2 | 578 | 765

Lalitpur | ... | ... | ... | 4 | ... | 45 | 49

Benares | 174 | ... | 10 | 175 | ... | 1,971 | 2,330

Mirzapur | ... | ... | ... | ... | 16 | 1,906 | 1,922

Jaunpur | 351 | ... | 390 | 673 | 68 | 578 | 2,060

Ghâzipur | 214 | ... | ... | 73 | 127 | 1,577 | 1,991

Ballia | 597 | ... | ... | 38 | 10 | 1,457 | 2,102

Gorakhpur | 3,280 | 4 | 21 | ... | 205 | 4,454 | 7,964

Basti | 379 | ... | 3,612 | ... | ... | 1,615 | 5,606

Azamgarh | 418 | ... | ... | ... | 59 | 2,992 | 3,469

Lucknow | ... | ... | ... | ... | 918 | 382 | 1,300

Unâo | 69 | 2 | 127 | ... | 374 | 1,581 | 2,153

Râê Bareli | ... | ... | 318 | 24 | 1,214 | 1,901 | 3,457

Sîtapur | ... | ... | 26 | ... | 921 | 601 | 1,548

Hardoi | ... | ... | ... | ... | 211 | 299 | 510

Kheri | ... | ... | ... | ... | 821 | 211 | 1,032

Faizâbâd | 1,946 | ... | 138 | ... | ... | 165 | 2,249

Gonda | 2,574 | ... | 1,635 | ... | ... | 2,138 | 6,347

Bahrâich | 338 | ... | 537 | ... | 455 | 2,297 | 3,627

Sultânpur | ... | ... | ... | 196 | 263 | 1,879 | 2,338

Partâbgarh | ... | ... | ... | ... | 31 | 2,182 | 2,213

Bârabanki | ... | ... | 362 | 22 | 471 | 1,219 | 2,074

+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~

Total | 10,445 | 499 | 7,436 | 2,335 | 7,035 | 41,950 | 69,700

===============+========+==========+==========+=======+==========+========+========

Barua, Barwa.—A tribe of mendicant Brâhmans who are found in Sahâranpur

and the neighbourhood. They bear an indifferent reputation on account

of the vileness of the abuse which they shower on people who refuse to

give them alms.

Barwâr. [275]—A notorious criminal tribe found in Northern Oudh. There

is much difference of opinion as to the meaning of the word. According

to one theory it means “a bearer of burdens” (bârwâla); according to

others it comes from the Hindi Baryara in the sense of “violent.”

[Traditional origin.] 2. The story the Barwârs tell of themselves is as

follows:—Some centuries ago the ancestor of the tribe, a Kurmi by

caste, lived at the village of Yahyapur, which is said to be situated

in the Sâran District, east of the river Nârâyani. One day he was

ploughing his field near the river when the wife of a rich Mahâjan came

down to bathe. She took off her pearl necklace and stepped into the

water. A kite swooped down, and, carrying it off, dropped it in the

field where the Kurmi was ploughing. When he saw the treasure he began

to think that it was easier to live by thieving than by farming. From

that time his prosperity increased, and his clan became known as

Suvarna or golden. They began then to be known as Barwâr or men of

violence. It happened one day that a Kingariya or Nat musician attended

the death ceremony of a Barwâr at Yahyapur, and was given an empty

purse as a present by the relatives of the deceased. By chance the

Kingariya came to the village where the purse with two gold coins had

been stolen. The owner recognized it; and enquiries proving that the

theft had been committed by the Barwârs, they were expelled from

Yahyapur. After this they divided into two sections. One went to Basti,

in the North-Western Provinces, and settled at Barauli, which is four

miles west of Basti. The other gang went to Hardoi, in Oudh, and

settled there. After their arrival in Hardoi that section were given

the name of Gânjar, which is said to mean “hoarders,” and by which they

are still known. In Barauli the Barwârs lived for some two centuries,

and supported themselves by thieving. At last, one day, they robbed the

camp of the Râja of Basti, and he had them expelled from his territory.

They then came to Gonda and settled at Dhanaipur, thirteen miles north

of Gonda. They now occupy fifty-four villages in the Gonda District.

They were again at one time forced to change their quarters by the

influence of a money-lender named Sobha Sukl, whose name is still held

in abhorrence among them. Another legend makes the Barwârs to be the

descendants of a woman of low caste named Goli, by a Kurmi father.

There seems nothing improbable in the story that they are a branch of

the Kurmis, who separated from the parent stock owing to their bad

character, or for some other reason. That the tribe is very much mixed

is admitted on all sides. The Barwârs, in former times, were certainly

in the habit of recruiting their numbers by kidnapping young children

of various castes. These became a separate class known either as

Ghulâm, an Arabic term meaning “slave,” or Tahla, a Hindi word meaning

“one who walks about in attendance,” “a follower.” In contradistinction

to this servile class the pure Barwâr calls himself Swâng, which in

their slang means “master.” It would appear that the recruitment of

these Ghulâms has ceased in recent years, and that the pure Barwârs and

the Ghulâms no longer intermarry. While the custom prevailed among the

Gonda branch the other divisions of the tribe would not intermarry with

them. At present it is said that they neither give their daughters in

marriage nor take girls from the Ghulâms, who have become themselves an

endogamous section. Below the Ghulâms again is another section known as

Tilâms or Talâms, who are the descendants of children kidnapped by the

Ghulâms. These ostracised Ghulâms and Tilâms are the only members who

have been as yet allowed by the tribe to enlist in the Police. Ghulâms

will eat food prepared by Barwârs, but the latter will not touch a dish

prepared by the former. Male Ghulâms and Tilâms both get their equal

share of plunder from the thieving gangs they join. A dowry is given

with the Ghulâm bride, but not with the bridegroom. The Tilâms possess

the same privileges in every way as their kidnappers, the Ghulâms. The

Ghulâms are still believed occasionally to seduce girls of other

castes, such as Brâhmans, Chhatris, Murâos, Kurmis, Ahîrs and Kahârs.

These are received and adopted into the community. The more respectable

Barwârs are also known as Thakuriya in Gonda.