_Sansia_. [606]--A small caste of wandering criminals of northern
India, who live by begging and dealing in cattle. They also steal and
commit dacoities, house-breaking and thefts on railway trains. The
name Sansia is borne as well by the Uriya or Od masons of the Uriya
country, but these are believed to be quite a distinct group from the
criminal Sansias of Central India and are noticed in another short
article. Separate statistics of the two groups were not obtained at
the census. The Sansias are closely connected with the Berias, and
say that their ancestors were two brothers Sains Mul and Sansi, and
that the Berias are descended from the former and the Sansias from the
latter. They were the bards of the Jat caste, and it was their custom
to chronicle the names of the Jats and their ancestors, and when they
begged from Jat families to recite their praises. The Sansias, Colonel
Sleeman states, had particular families (of the Jats) allotted to them,
from whom they had not only the privilege of begging, but received
certain dues; some had fifty, some a hundred houses appointed to them,
and they received yearly from the head of each house one rupee and a
quarter and one day's food. When the Jats celebrated their marriages
they were accustomed to invite the Sansias, who as their minstrels
recited the praises of the ancestors of the Jats, tracing them up to
the time of Punya Jat; and for this they received presents, according
to the means of the parties, of cows, ponies or buffaloes. Should
any Jat demur to paying the customary dues the Sansias would dress
up a cloth figure of his father and parade with it before the house,
when the sum demanded was generally given; for if the figure were
fastened on a bamboo and placed over the house the family would lose
caste and no one would smoke or drink water with them. [607]
The Sansias say that their ancestors have always resided in Marwar
and Ajmer. About twenty-four miles distant from Ajmer are two towns,
Pisangan and Sagun; on their eastern side is a large tank, and the
bones of all persons of the Sansia tribe who died in any part of the
country were formerly buried there, being covered by a wooden platform
with four pillars. [608] On one occasion a quarrel had arisen over
a Sansia woman, and a large number of the caste were killed in this
place. So they left Marwar, and some of them came to the Deccan,
where they took to house-breaking and dacoity; and so successful
were they that the other Sansias followed them and gave up all their
former customs, even those of reciting the praises of and begging
from the Jats.