The Rajputs abstain from alcoholic liquor, though some of the lower
class, as the Bundelas, drink it. In classical times there is no doubt
that they drank freely, but have had to conform to the prohibition
of liquor imposed by the Brahmans on high-caste Hindus. In lieu of
liquor they became much addicted to the noxious drugs, opium and ganja
or Indian hemp, drinking the latter in the form of the intoxicating
liquid known as _bhangs_, which is prepared from its leaves. _Bhang_
was as a rule drunk by the Rajputs before battle, and especially as a
preparation for those last sallies from a besieged fortress in which
the defenders threw away their lives. There is little reason to doubt
that they considered the frenzy and carelessness of death produced by
the liquor as a form of divine possession. Opium has contributed much
to the degeneration of the Rajputs, and their relapse to an idle,
sensuous life when their energies were no longer maintained by the
need of continuous fighting for the protection of their country. The
following account by Forbes of a Rajput's daily life well illustrates
the slothful effeminacy caused by the drug: [477] "In times of peace
and ease the Rajput leads an indolent and monotonous life. It is
usually some time after sunrise before he bestirs himself and begins
to call for his hookah; after smoking he enjoys the luxury of tea
or coffee, and commences his toilet and ablutions, which dispose
of a considerable part of the morning. It is soon breakfast-time,
and after breakfast the hookah is again in requisition, with but
few intervals of conversation until noon. The time has now arrived
for a siesta, which lasts till about three in the afternoon. At
this hour the chief gets up again, washes his hands and face, and
prepares for the great business of the day, the distribution of the
red cup, _kusumba_ or opium. He calls together his friends into the
public hall, or perhaps retires with them to a garden-house. Opium
is produced, which is pounded in a brass vessel and mixed with water;
it is then strained into a dish with a spout, from which it is poured
into the chief's hand. One after the other the guests now come up,
each protesting that _kusumba_ is wholly repugnant to his taste and
very injurious to his health, but after a little pressing first one
and then another touches the chief's hand in two or three places,
muttering the names of Deos (gods), friends or others, and drains the
draught. Each after drinking washes the chief's hand in a dish of
water which a servant offers, and after wiping it dry with his own
scarf makes way for his neighbour. After this refreshment the chief
and his guests sit down in the public hall, and amuse themselves
with chess, draughts or games of chance, or perhaps dancing-girls
are called in to exhibit their monotonous measures, or musicians and
singers, or the never-failing favourites, the Bhats and Charans. At
sunset the torch-bearers appear and supply the chamber with light,
upon which all those who are seated therein rise and make obeisance
towards the chief's cushion. They resume their seats, and playing,
singing, dancing, story-telling go on as before. At about eight the
chief rises to retire to his dinner and his hookah, and the party is
broken up." There is little reason to doubt that the Rajputs ascribed
a divine character to opium and the mental exaltation produced by
it, as suggested in the article on Kalar in reference to the Hindus
generally. Opium was commonly offered at the shrines of deified Rajput
heroes. Colonel Tod states: "_Umul lar khana_, to eat opium together,
is the most inviolable, pledge, and an agreement ratified by this
ceremony is stronger than any adjuration." [478] The account given by
Forbes of the manner in which the drug was distributed by the chief
from his own hand to all his clansmen indicates that the drinking
of it was the renewal of a kind of pledge or covenant between them,
analogous to the custom of pledging one another with wine, and a
substitute for the covenant made by taking food together, which
originated from the sacrificial meal. It has already been seen that
the Rajputs attached the most solemn meaning and virtue to the act
of partaking of the chief's food, and it is legitimate to infer that
they regarded the drinking of a sacred drug like opium from his hand
in the same light. The following account [479] of the drinking of
healths in a Highland clan had, it may be suggested, originally the
same significance as the distribution of opium by the Rajput chief:
"Lord Lovat was wont in the hall before dinner to have a kind of
herald proclaiming his pedigree, which reached almost up to Noah,
and showed each man present to be a cadet of his family, whilst after
dinner he drank to every one of his cousins by name, each of them in
return pledging him--the better sort in French claret, the lower class
in husky (whisky)." Here also the drinking of wine together perhaps
implied the renewal of a pledge of fealty and protection between the
chief and his clansmen, all of whom were held to be of his kin. The
belief in the kinship of the whole clan existed among the Rajputs
exactly as in the Scotch clans. In speaking of the Rathors Colonel
Tod states that they brought into the field fifty thousand men, _Ek
bap ka beta_, the sons of one father, to combat with the emperor of
Delhi; and remarks: "What a sensation does it not excite when we know
that a sentiment of kindred pervades every individual of this immense
affiliated body, who can point out in the great tree the branch of
his origin, of which not one is too remote from the main stem to
forget his pristine connection with it." [480]
The taking of opium and wine together, as already described, thus
appear to be ceremonies of the same character, both symbolising the
renewal of a covenant between kinsmen.