But naturally not all the Badhaks could do things in the style of
Meherban Singh. The disguise which they most often assumed in the north
was that of carriers of Ganges water, while in Central India they often
pretended to be Banjaras travelling with pack-bullocks, or pilgrims,
or wedding-parties going to fetch the bride or bridegroom. Sometimes
also they took the character of religious mendicants, the leader being
the high priest and all the rest his followers and disciples. One
such gang, described by Colonel Sleeman, [50] had four or five
tents of white and dyed cloth, two or three pairs of _nakkaras_
or kettle-drums and trumpets, with a great number of buffaloes,
cows, goats, sheep and ponies. Some were clothed, but the bodies
of the greater part were covered with nothing but ashes, paint and
a small cloth waistband. But they always provided themselves with
five or six real Bairagis, whose services they purchased at a very
high price. These men were put forward to answer questions in case
of difficulty and to bully the landlords and peasantry; and if the
people demurred to the demands of the Badhaks, to intimidate them by
tricks calculated to play upon the fears of the ignorant. They held
in their hands a preparation of gunpowder resembling common ashes; and
when they found the people very stubborn they repeated their _mantras_
over this and threw it upon the thatch of the nearest house, to which
it set fire. The explosion was caused by a kind of fusee held in the
hand which the people could not see, and taking it for a miracle
they paid all that was demanded. Another method was to pretend to
be carrying the bones of dead relatives to the Ganges. The bones or
ashes of the deceased, says [51] Colonel Sleeman, are carried to the
Ganges in bags, coloured red for females and white for males. These
bags are considered holy, and are not allowed to touch the ground
upon the way, and during halts in the journey are placed on poles or
triangles. The carriers are regarded with respect as persons engaged
upon a pious duty, and seldom questioned on the road. When a gang
assumed this disguise they proceeded to their place of rendezvous
in small parties, some with red and some with white bags, in which
they carried the bones of animals most resembling those of the human
frame. These were supported on triangles formed of the shafts on which
the spear-heads would be fitted when they reached their destination
and had prepared for action.