They are generally termed Koonbees, and on the whole they are better
informed than the lower classes of our own countrymen; they certainly
far surpass them in propriety and orderliness of demeanour. They are
mild and unobtrusive in their manners, and quickly shrink from any thing
like an opposite behaviour in others. Litigation is not a marked part of
their character. They are forgetful of injury; or if they harbour
animosity, they are seldom hurried by it into acts of violence or
cruelty. Custom has taught them not to have much respect for their
women, or rather, indeed, to look on them with contempt; but they are
always indulgent to them, and never put any restraint on their liberty.
The great attachment they have to their children forms an amiable part
of their character. They are usually frugal, inclining to parsimony, and
not improvident; but at their marriage feasts they are lavish and
profuse, and on these and other occasions often contract debts that are
a burden to them for life. Their religion strongly enjoins charity, and
they are disposed to be hospitable, but their extreme poverty is a bar
to their being extensively so. No person, however, would ever be in
want of a meal amongst them, and they are always kind and attentive to
strangers when there is nothing offensive in their manners. They are
just in their dealings amongst themselves, but would not be scrupulous
in overreaching government or those without. Theft is scarcely known
amongst them, and the voice of the community is loud against all
breaches of decorum, and attaches weight and respectability to virtuous
conduct in its members. The vices of this people, which they owe chiefly
to their government, are dissimulation, cunning, and a disregard to
truth. They are naturally timid, and will endeavour to redress their
wrongs rather by stratagem than more generous means; when roused,
however, they will be found not without courage, nor by any means
contemptible enemies. Although not remarkable for sharpness, they are
not wanting in intelligence. They are all minutely informed in every
thing that relates to their own calling. They are fond of conversation,
discuss the merits of different modes of agriculture, the characters of
their neighbours, and every thing that relates to the concerns of the
community, and many of them are not without a tolerable knowledge of the
leading events of the history of their country.
The Hindu husbandman rises at cock crow, washes his hands, feet, and
face, repeats the names of some of his gods, and perhaps takes a whiff
of his pipe or a quid of tobacco, and is now ready to begin his labour.
He lets loose his oxen, and drives them leisurely to his fields,
allowing them to graze, if there is any grass on the ground, as they go
along, and takes his breakfast with him tied up in a dirty cloth, or it
is sent after him by one of his children, and consists of a cake (made
unleavened of the flour of Badjeree or Juwaree,) and some of the cookery
of the preceding day, or an onion or two. On reaching his field it is
perhaps seven or eight o’clock; he yokes his oxen, if any of the
operations of husbandry require it, and works for an hour or two, then
squats down and takes his breakfast, but without loosing his cattle. He
resumes his work in a quarter of an hour, and goes on till near twelve
o’clock, when his wife arrives with his dinner. He then unyokes his
oxen, drives them to drink, and allows them to graze or gives them
straw; and takes his dinner by the side of a well or a stream, or under
the shade of a tree if there happens to be one, and is waited on during
his meal by his wife. After his dinner he is joined by any of his
fellow labourers who may be near, and after a chat takes a nap on his
spread cumley or jota for half an hour, while his wife eats what he has
left. He yokes his cattle again about two or half-past two o’clock, and
works till sunset, when he proceeds leisurely home, ties up and feeds
his oxen, then goes himself to a brook, bathes and washes, or has hot
water thrown over him by his wife at home. After his ablutions, and
perhaps on holidays anointing himself with sandal wood oil, he prays
before his household gods, and often visits one or more of the village
temples. His wife by this time has prepared his supper, which he takes
in company with the males of the family. His principal enjoyment seems
to be between this meal and bed-time, which is nine or ten o’clock. He
now fondles and plays with his children, visits or is visited by his
neighbours, and converses about the labour of the day and concerns of
the village, either in the open air or by the glimmering light of a
lamp, learns from the shopkeeper or beadle what strangers have passed or
stopped at the village, and their history, and from any of the community
that may have been at the city (Poohnah) what news he has brought. In
the less busy times, which are two or three months in the year, the
cultivators take their meals at home, and have sufficient leisure for
amusement. They then sit in groups in the shade and converse, visit
their friends in the neighbouring villages, go on pilgrimages, &c. &c.
The women of the cultivators, like those of other Asiatics, are seldom
the subject of gallantry, and are looked on rather as a part of their
live stock than as companions, and yet, contrary to what might be
expected, their condition seems far from being unhappy. The law allows a
husband to beat his wife, and for infidelity to maim her or else put her
to death; but these severities are seldom resorted to, and rarely any
sort of harsh behaviour. A man is despised who is seen much in company
with women. A wife, therefore, never looks for any fondling from her
husband; it is thought unbecoming in him even to mention her name, and
she is never allowed to eat in company with him, from the time of their
wedding dinner; but patiently waits on him during his meals, and makes
her repast on what he leaves. But setting aside these marks of contempt,
she is always treated with kindness and forbearance, unless her conduct
is very perverse and bad, and she has her entire liberty. The women have
generally the sole direction of household affairs, and if clever,
notwithstanding all their disadvantages, not unfrequently gain as great
an ascendancy over their lords as in other parts of the world.[203]
[203] Mr. Coates in Trans. Bombay Lit. Soc.
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