_Bhulia, [376] Bholia, Bhoriya, Bholwa, Mihir, Mehar._--A caste of
weavers in the Uriya country. In 1901 the Bhulias numbered 26,000
persons, but with the transfer of Sambalpur and the Uriya States to
Bengal this figure has been reduced to 5000. A curious fact about the
caste is that though solely domiciled in the Uriya territories, many
families belonging to it talk Hindi in their own houses. According to
one of their traditions they immigrated to this part of the country
with the first Chauhan Raja of Patna, and it may be that they are
members of some northern caste who have forgotten their origin and
taken to a fresh calling in the land of their adoption. The Koshtas of
Chhattisgarh have a subcaste called Bhoriya, and possibly the Bhulias
have some connection with these. The caste sometimes call themselves
Devang, and Devang or Devangan is the name of another subcaste of
Koshtis. Various local derivations of the name are current, generally
connecting it with _bhulna_, to forget. The Bhulias occupy a higher
rank than the ordinary weavers, corresponding with that of the Koshtis
elsewhere, and this is to some extent considered to be an unwarranted
pretension. Thus one saying has it: "Formerly a son was born from a
Chandal woman; at that time none were aware of his descent or rank,
and so he was called Bhulia (one who is forgotten). He took the loom
in his hands and became the brother-in-law of the Ganda." The object
here is obviously to relegate the Bhulia to the same impure status
as the Ganda. Again the Bhulias affect the honorific title of Meher,
and another saying addresses them thus: "Why do you call yourself
Meher? You make a hole in the ground and put your legs into it and
are like a cow with foot-and-mouth disease struggling in the mud." The
allusion here is to the habit of the weaver of hollowing out a hole for
his feet as he sits before the loom, while cattle with foot-and-mouth
disease are made to stand in mud to cool and cleanse the feet.
The caste have no subcastes, except that in Kalahandi a degraded
section is recognised who are called Sanpara Bhulias, and with whom
the others refuse to intermarry. These are, there is little reason
to doubt, the progeny of illicit unions. They say that they have two
_gotras_, Nagas from the cobra and Kachhap from the tortoise. But these
have only been adopted for the sake of respectability, and exercise
no influence on marriage, which is regulated by a number of exogamous
groups called _vansa_. The names of the _vansas_ are usually either
derived from villages or are titles or nicknames. Two of them, Bagh
(tiger) and Kimir (crocodile), are totemistic, while two more, Kumhar
(potter) and Dhuba (washerman), are the names of other castes. Examples
of titular names are Bankra (crooked), Ranjujha (warrior), Kodjit
(one who has conquered a score of people) and others. The territorial
names are derived from those of villages where the caste reside at
present. Marriage within the _vansa_ is forbidden, but some of the
_vansas_ have been divided into _bad_ and _san_, or great and small,
and members of these may marry with each other, the subdivision having
been adopted when the original group became so large as to include
persons who were practically not relations. The binding portion of
the wedding ceremony is that the bridegroom should carry the bride
in a basket seven times round the _hom_ or sacrificial fire. If he
cannot do this, the girl's grandfather carries them both. After the
ceremony the pair return to the bridegroom's village, and are made to
sleep on the same bed, some elder woman of the family lying between
them. After a few days the girl goes back to her parents and does
not rejoin her husband until she attains maturity. The remarriage
of widows is permitted, and in Native States is not less costly to
the bridegroom than the regular ceremony. In Sonpur the suitor must
proceed to the Raja and pay him twenty rupees for his permission,
which is given in the shape of a present of rice and nuts. Similar
sums are paid to the caste-fellows and the parents of the girl, and
the Raja's rice and nuts are then placed on the heads of the couple,
who become man and wife. Divorce may be effected at the instance of the
husband or the wife's parents on the mere ground of incompatibility of
temper. The position of the caste corresponds to that of the Koshtas;
that is, they rank below the good cultivating castes, but above the
menial and servile classes. They eat fowls and the flesh of wild pig,
and drink liquor. A _liaison_ with one of the impure castes is the
only offence entailing permanent expulsion from social intercourse. A
curious rule is that in the case of a woman going wrong with a man of
the caste, the man only is temporarily outcasted and forced to pay a
fine on readmission, while the woman escapes without penalty. They
employ Brahmans for ceremonial purposes. They are considered
proverbially stupid, like the Koris in the northern Districts, but
very laborious. One saying about them is: "The Kewat catches fish
but himself eats crabs, and the Bhulia weaves loin-cloths but himself
wears only a rag"; and another: "A Bhulia who is idle is as useless
as a confectioner's son who eats sweetmeats, or a moneylender's son
with a generous disposition, or a cultivator's son who is extravagant."