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District. | Number.
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Allahâbâd | 423
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Bidua.—A functional division of Brâhmans, the consecrator of images and
idols, wells, tanks, and mango orchards. “His name seems a corruption
of Vidya, an ancient synonym for Veda. The idol intended for
consecration undergoes various forms of ablution: first in water from
some sacred river, then in panchamrita or ‘five drinks of
immortality’—milk, cream, melted butter, honey, and sugar dissolved in
holy water. No one is allowed to bathe in a tank, drink water from a
well, or eat the fruit of an orchard until the above liquids have been
thrown into them. Brâhmans are also fed, and the homa sacrifice
performed. At such times seven places are assigned,—(a) for the
navagraha, the nine planets including the sun and moon; (b) the
asterisms (nakshatra); (c) the seven saints (Sapta Rishi); (d) the
three hundred and thirty millions of deities of the Hindu pantheon; (e)
the ancestral ghosts (pitri); (f) the deities of the quarters (dikpati,
dikpâla); (g) the sacred rivers of India and of the celestial
firmament.” [111]
Bihishti.—(Usually derived from Persian bihisht, Sanskrit vasishtha,
“Paradise;” but Major Temple points out [112] that bihishti in Persian
does not mean waterman, and suggests a derivation from the Sanskrit
vish, to sprinkle.)—The Musalmân water-carrier class, also known as
Saqqa, from the Arabic saqqi, “to give to drink.” The caste does not
admit outsiders, and has a large number of exogamous sections, of which
one hundred and twenty-six are returned in the lists of the last
Census. Many of these are well-known Muhammadan sub-divisions, such as
the Abbâsi, Bahlîmi, Bangash, Begi, Fârûqi, Ghori, Hanafi, Khurâsâni,
Quraishi, Mughal, Pathân, Shaikh, Sadîqi, Sayyid, Turki, and Turkomân,
to which none of the caste can have any real claim. Many are the names
of Hindu tribes, as Bais, Banjâra, Bhatti, Chauhân, Gaur, Gûjar, Guâl,
Jâdon, Janghâra, Jât, Katheriya, Mewâti, Mukeri, Panwâr, and Tomar.
Others, again, are local, as Dilliwâl, Gangapâri, and Kanaujiya. These
sections appear, however, to have little or no effect on marriage.
[Marriage.] 2. Their marriages are regulated by the standard Muhammadan
exogamic formula, and performed by the regular ritual. The levirate is
permitted, but is not compulsory. Divorce is permitted in the cause of
proved infidelity on the part of the wife, established to the
satisfaction of the tribal council.
[Religion.] 3. To the east of the Province they worship the Pânchonpîr
with a sacrifice of a fowl, gram pulse, and ordinary food. They bury
their dead according to the standard Muhammadan rules, and offer food
to the spirits of ancestors at the festival of the Shab-i-barât. They
are Musalmâns of the Sunni sect. They worship their leathern water bag
(mashk) as a sort of fetish, and burn incense (ubân) before it on
Fridays. They conform to Muhammadan rules regarding food. They will eat
food prepared by high class Hindus, but not by menials like Chamârs or
Mehtars.
[Occupation.] 4. Their occupation is acting as domestic servants and
supplying water on payment to Muhammadans and Christians,—a duty which
for Hindus is performed by the Kahâr. The trade must be a very ancient
one, as the leather bag is mentioned in the Veda and Manu. [113] There
is a legend that the Bihishti who saved Humâyun’s life at Chausa, and
was rewarded by sitting on the Imperial throne for half a day, employed
his short tenure of power in providing for his family and friends, and
caused his leather bag to be cut up into rupees, which were gilt and
stamped with his name and the date of his reign. The Bihishti is very
seldom before the Courts, and enjoys with the Kharâdi or turner the
reputation of never being sent to jail.