Sunar, [639] Sonar, Soni, Hon-Potdar, Saraf.--The occupational caste
of goldsmiths and silversmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit
_Suvarna kar_, a worker in gold. In 1911 the Sunars numbered 96,000
persons in the Central Provinces and 30,000 in Berar. They live all
over the Province and are most numerous in the large towns. The caste
appears to be a functional one of comparatively recent formation,
and there is nothing on record as to its origin, except a collection
of Brahmanical legends of the usual type. The most interesting of
these as related by Sir H. Risley is as follows: [640]
"In the beginning of time, when the goddess Devi was busy with the
construction of mankind, a giant called Sonwa-Daitya, whose body
consisted entirely of gold, devoured her creations as fast as she
made them. To baffle this monster the goddess created a goldsmith,
furnished him with the tools of his art, and instructed him how to
proceed. When the giant proposed to eat him, the goldsmith suggested
to him that if his body were polished his appearance would be vastly
improved, and asked to be allowed to undertake the job. With the
characteristic stupidity of his tribe the giant fell into the trap,
and having had one finger polished was so pleased with the result that
he agreed to be polished all over. For this purpose, like Aetes in the
Greek legend of Medea, he had to be melted down, and the goldsmith,
who was to get the body as his perquisite, giving the head only to
Devi, took care not to put him together again. The goldsmith, however,
overreached himself. Not content with his legitimate earnings, he
must needs steal a part of the head, and being detected in this by
Devi, he and his descendants were condemned to be for ever poor." The
Sunars also have a story that they are the descendants of one of two
Rajput brothers, who were saved as boys by a Saraswat Brahman from
the wrath of Parasurama when he was destroying the Kshatriyas. The
descendants of the other brother were the Khatris. This is the same
story as is told by the Khatris of their own origin, but they do not
acknowledge the connection with Sunars, nor can the Sunars allege that
Saraswat Brahmans eat with them as they do with Khatris. In Gujarat
they have a similar legend connecting them with Banias. In Bombay
they also claim to be Brahmans, and in the Central Provinces a caste
of goldsmiths akin to the Sunars call themselves Vishwa Brahmans. On
the other hand, before and during the time of the Peshwas, Sunars
were not allowed to wear the sacred thread, and they were forbidden to
hold their marriages in public, as it was considered unlucky to see a
Sunar bridegroom. Sunar bridegrooms were not allowed to see the state
umbrella or to ride in a palanquin, and had to be married at night and
in secluded places, being subject to restrictions and annoyances from
which even Mahars were free. [641] Their _raison d'être_ may possibly
be found in the fact that the Brahmans, all-powerful in the Poona
state, were jealous of the pretensions of the Sunars, and devised
these rules as a means of suppressing them. It may be suggested that
the Sunars, being workers at an important urban industry, profitable
in itself and sanctified by its association with the sacred metal
gold, aspired to rank above the other artisans, and put forward the
pretensions already mentioned, because they felt that their position
was not commensurate with their deserts. But the Sunar is included
in Grant-Duff's list of the twenty-four village menials of a Maratha
village, and consequently he would in past times have ranked below
the cultivators, from whom he must have accepted the annual presents
of grain.