In past times the Dahaits were the personal attendants on the
king. They fanned him with the _chaur_ or yak-tail whisk when he sat in
state on the royal cushion. This implement is held sacred and is also
used by Brahmans to fan the deities. On ordinary occasions the Raja
was fanned by a pankha made of _khaskhas_ grass and wetted, but not
so that the water fell on his head. They also acted as gate-keepers
of the palace, and had the title of Darwan. The gate-keeper's post
was a responsible one, as it lay on him to see that no one with evil
intentions or carrying secret arms was admitted to the palace. Whenever
a chief or noble came to visit the king he deposited his arms with
the porter or door-keeper. The necessity of a faithful door-keeper is
shown in the proverb: "With these five you must never quarrel: your
Guru, your wife, your gate-keeper, your doctor and your cook." The
reasons for the inclusion of the others are fairly clear. On the
other hand the gate-porter had usually to be propitiated before
access was obtained to his master, like the modern chuprassie; and the
resentment felt at his rapacity is shown in the proverb: "The broker,
the octroi moharrir, the door-keeper and the bard: these four will
surely go to hell." The Darwan or door-keeper would be given the
right to collect dues, equivalent to those of a village watchman,
from forty or fifty villages. The Dahaits also carried the _chob_
or silver mace before the king. This was about five feet long with
a knob at the upper end as thick as a man's wrist. The mace-bearer
was known as Chobdar, and it was his duty to carry messages and
announce visitors; this latter function he performed with a degree of
pomposity truly Asiatic, dwelling with open mouth very audibly on some
of the most sounding and emphatic syllables in a way that appeared to
strangers almost ludicrous, [493] as shown in the following instance:
"On advancing, the Chobdars or heralds proclaimed the titles of this
princely cow-keeper in the usual hyperbolical style. One of the most
insignificant-looking men I ever saw then became the destroyer of
nations, the leveller of mountains, the exhauster of the ocean. After
commanding every inferior mortal to make way for this exalted prince,
the heralds called aloud to the animal creation, 'Retire, ye serpents;
fly, ye locusts; approach not, iguanas, lizards and reptiles, while
your lord and master condescends to set his foot on the earth.'" [494]
The Dahaits ran before the Raja's chariot or litter to clear the way
for him and announce his coming; and it was also a principal business
of the caste to carry the royal umbrella above the head of the king.