=================+========+=========+=========
District. | Mahra. | Bhoksa. | Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 599 | | 599
Morâdâbâd | 8 | | 8
Allahâbâd | 92 | | 92
Tarâi | | 1,208 | 1,208
+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Total | 699 | 1,208 | 1,907
=================+========+=========+=========
1. Bhot, Bot, Bhotiya [66]—(Sanskrit, Bhota).—A tribe originally of
Hill origin. In the Panjâb, those who in the Spiti and Lahûl Districts
returned themselves as Bot, merely imply that they are Tibetans. The
proper name of the tract of Chinese territory, which we call Tibet, is
Bodyul, or Bod land, and the people Bodpas, corrupted by the Indians
into Bhotiyas—a name now applied to the Tibetans living on the borders
between India and Tibet, while the people of Tibet Proper are called
Huniyas, and the country Hundes. Boti is the name for the language, and
Bot for the people; but they rarely apply it to themselves. “If they
did,” says Mr. Diack, “it would be like a Panjâbi describing himself as
an Asiatic.” There they consist of four classes—Jocho, Lonpa, Chhazang,
Loban. [67] In these Provinces a tribe of the same name is found in
small numbers in the Kumâun Division. There they usually call
themselves Raghubansi Râjputs, and trace their origin to Bhutwal in
Nepâl. They fix their emigration into Northern Oudh in the reign of
Nawâb Asaf-ud-daula (1775–1797). They now present a curious instance of
a tribe of non-Aryan origin, who have in a very short time become
completely Brâhmanised. Among some of them the rule of exogamy is that
they do not marry their sons into families to which, within the memory
of man, they have given daughters as brides. But others have adopted
the complete Hindu law of exogamy, and the creation of a full set of
Brâhmanical gotras is probably only a question of time.
[Marriage ceremonies.] 2. These are of the usual Hindu type. When the
bride’s palanquin arrives at the house of her husband the gods are
worshipped, and then she is admitted into the house. Some rice, silver,
or gold, is put in the hands of the bridegroom, which he passes on to
the bride. She places them in a winnowing fan, and makes them over as a
present to the wife of the barber. This ceremony is known as Karja
bharna. A man can have three wives and no more. The wife of the first
marriage is the head wife, and she receives by inheritance a share
one-tenth in excess of that given to the other wives. Marriage is
generally performed under the age of fifteen, but no special age is
fixed. No price is paid on either side. Concubinage and the levirate
are allowed. There is no form of divorce, and though a man or woman is
excommunicated if detected in illicit intercourse, they can be restored
to caste on giving a tribal feast.
[Marriage ceremonies.] 3. The marriage ceremonies are in the standard
form. Respectable people marry by the common charhana ritual, which
begins with the ceremonies at the door of the bride’s house (darwâza
châr or duâr châr). When they come to the marriage shed (mânro), the
officiating Brâhman does the usual worship. The bride’s younger brother
sprinkles parched grain over the pair, and receives from the father of
the bride a sheet, which is known as lâi bhujua, or the remuneration
for parching rice. Then the bridegroom rolls a stone over the parched
rice on the ground, and this is known as the “line of the stone”
(patthar kî lakîr), which is the binding part of the ceremony. Then
follows the tying of the clothes (ganth bandhan), and the
circumambulation of the fire (bhanwari). Next comes the pâsa sâr, where
the bride and bridegroom exchange jewels—a survival of the gambling
custom which appears in the standard ritual. Then follows the feeding
of the bridegroom (bâsi khilâna), and the usual feast to the clansmen.
After the marriage is over, on an auspicious day, the grass used as
thatch for the wedding shed and other things are thrown into a river or
tank by the women. This is called maur serwâna, “the setting afloat of
the marriage crown.” The lower kind of marriage is called pair pûjna,
in which all the ceremonies are done at the house of the husband. The
last form, dharaua, is simple concubinage. Persons who have not been
married till they are of advanced years very often keep a woman in this
way.
[Disposal of the dead.] 4. Those who die of cholera or snake-bite, and
young children, are buried; others are cremated. There is no fixed
burial-ground, and no ceremonies are performed at the time of burial.
Richer people keep the ashes for removal to some sacred stream; others
bury them. After the cremation a stalk of kusa grass is fixed in the
ground near a tank, and water and sesamum is poured upon it for ten
days so as to convert it into a refuge for the spirit until the rites
are completed.
[Religion.] 5. They employ Brâhmans as priests. Their chief object of
worship is Devi, to whom goats are sacrificed. Young pigs are also
occasionally offered to her.
The worshippers make the sacrifice and consume the meat themselves.
They observe the usual festivals. On the Barsâti Amâwas, on the
fifteenth of Jeth, women worship a banyan tree by walking round it and
tying a thread round the trunk. This they do to increase the life of
their husbands. Women fast on the Tîja, or third day of Bhâdon. At the
Godiya, on the fifth of Kârttik, they worship the dragon, Nâg Deota,
and girls offer dolls to Devi and Mahâdeva. The care of malignant
spirits is the business of the exorcisor (nâwat). Women reverence the
bargad or banyan tree, because its name (bargad) is supposed to be
connected with their husbands (bar).
[Social customs.] 6. They do not eat the turnip (shalgham). They will
not touch a Dhobi, Bhangi, Chamâr, or Kori. They eat the flesh of
goats, sheep, hare, deer, water-birds, and fish; they will not eat the
monkey, cow, pig, fowl, crocodile, snake, lizard, rat, or other vermin.
Intoxicating liquors are forbidden; bhang and gânja are used, but
excess is reprobated.
[Occupation.] 7. Their occupation is agriculture; they do not hold land
as zamîndârs but as tenants, and some work as field labourers. They
practice no handicraft.