_Mallah, Malha_. [172]--A small caste of boatmen and fishermen in
the Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts, which numbered about 5000
persons in 1911. It is scarcely correct to designate the Mallahs as a
distinct caste, as in both these Districts it appears from inquiry that
the term is synonymous with Kewat. Apparently, however, the Mallahs
do form a separate endogamous group, and owing to many of them having
adopted the profession of growing hemp, a crop which respectable Hindu
castes usually refuse to cultivate, it is probable that they would
not be allowed to intermarry with the Kewats of other Districts. In
the United Provinces Mr. Crooke states that the Mallahs, though, as
their Arabic name indicates, of recent origin, have matured into a
definite social group, including a number of endogamous tribes. The
term Mallah has nothing to do with the Mulla or Muhammadan priest
among the frontier tribes, but comes from an Arabic word meaning
'to be salt,' or, according to another derivation, 'to move the wings
as a bird.' [173] The Mallahs of the Central Provinces are also, in
spite of their Arabic name, a purely Hindu caste. In Narsinghpur they
say that their original ancestor was one Bali or Baliram, who was a
boatman and was so strong that he could carry his boat to the river
and back under his armpit. On one occasion he ferried Rama across the
Ganges in Benares, and it is said that Rama gave him a horse to show
his gratitude; but Baliram was so ignorant that he placed the bridle on
the horse's tail instead of the head. And from this act of Baliram's
arose the custom of having the rudder of a boat at the stern instead
of at the bow. The Mallahs in the Central Provinces appear from their
family names to be immigrants from Bundelkhand. Their customs resemble
those of lower-class Hindus. Girls are usually married under the age
of twelve years, and the remarriage of widows is permitted, while
divorce may be effected in the presence of the _panchayat_ or caste
committee by the husband and wife breaking a straw between them. They
are scantily clothed and are generally poor. A proverb about them says:
Jahan bethen Malao
Tahan lage alao,
or, 'Where Mallahs sit, there is always a fire.' This refers to their
custom of kindling fires on the river-bank to protect themselves from
cold. In Narsinghpur the Mallahs have found a profitable opening
in the cultivation of hemp, a crop which other Hindu castes until
recently tabooed on account probably of the dirty nature of the process
of cleaning out the fibre and the pollution necessarily caused to
the water-supply. They sow and cut hemp on Sundays and Wednesdays,
which are regarded as auspicious days. They also grow melons, and
will not enter a melon-field with their shoes on or allow a woman
during her periodical impurity to approach it. The Mallahs are poor
and illiterate, but rank with Dhimars and Kewats, and Brahmans will
take water from their hands.