==============+=============================
District. | Number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 15,027
Sahâranpur | 44,250
Muzaffarnagar | 41,427
Meerut | 108,071
Bulandshahr | 92,000
Aligarh | 131,798
Mathura | 113,936
Agra | 122,636
Farrukhâbâd | 78,220
Mainpuri | 56,301
Etâwah | 91,019
Etah | 53,313
Bareilly | 47,085
Bijnor | 27,118
Budâun | 57,002
Morâdâbâd | 43,578
Shâhjahânpur | 60,453
Pilibhît | 25,147
Cawnpur | 178,399
Fatehpur | 68,180
Bânda | 99,041
Hamîrpur | 49,570
Allahâbâd | 196,349
Jhânsi | 34,633
Jâlaun | 48,269
Lalitpur | 21,745
Benares | 102,978
Mirzapur | 165,885
Jaunpur | 150,908
Ghâzipur | 68,379
Ballia | 103,547
Gorakhpur | 265,550
Basti | 196,412
Azamgarh | 110,103
Kumâun | 134,841
Garhwâl | 97,581
Tarâi | 6,705
Lucknow | 44,414
Unâo | 122,056
Sîtapur | 103,850
Hardoi | 113,190
Kheri | 69,654
Faizâbâd | 159,637
Gonda | 230,507
Bahrâich | 87,481
Sultânpur | 162,509
Partâbgarh | 124,424
Bârabanki | 86,091
+~~~~~~~~~
| { Males 2,455,791
Total |4,719,882 {
| { Females 2,264,091
==============+=============================
Brindabani.—A sub-caste of Gusâîns who take their name from Brindaban,
in the Mathura District (vrindavana, “the grove of tulasi” or basil).
It is not quite clear to which section of the Vaishnavas the term is
applied. The relation of Brindaban to the modern school of Hindu
reformers has been elaborately discussed by Mr. Growse. [178]
DISTRIBUTION OF THE BRINDABANI GUSÂÎNS ACCORDING
TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.
==============+========
District. |Number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~
Muzaffarnagar | 2
Cawnpur | 1
Mirzapur | 24
Kheri | 11
+~~~~~~~~
Total | 38
==============+========
Bughâna.—A class of Hill Brâhmans who by one account are descended from
Gaur Brâhmans of Benares; others say that they have the same origin as
the Naithâna Brâhmans (q.v.). They have the same relations with Sarolas
and Gangâris, are intelligent, and, when educated, make useful clerks
and officials. [179]
Bundela. [180]—A sept of Râjputs almost entirely confined to the
Bundelkhand country, to which they have given their name, now included
in the Allahâbâd Division. According to the Mirzapur tradition they are
descended from a family of Gaharwâr Râjputs, resident at the village of
Gaura, near Bindhâchal. Of their ancestors one took service with the
Râja of Panna, an independent state between Bânda and Jabalpur. The
Râja died childless, and the Gaharwâr adventurer took possession of his
fort. He had no son, and being disgusted with life, he made a
pilgrimage to the shrine of the Vindhyabâsini Devi, at Bindhâchal,
where he offered his head to the goddess. Out of the drops of his blood
which fell upon the altar a boy was born, who was called Bundela,
because he sprang from the drops (bûnd) of blood. He returned to Panna
and founded the clan which bears his name. In their own country they
are known among themselves as Bundela, but by outsiders as Gaharwâr.
They do not marry among Baghels, Bais, Gaur, Umath, or Sengar Râjputs,
who are known as the Sakuri group. They intermarry with Panwârs,
Dhanderas, or Chauhâns. Mr. Sherring’s assertion that they are
endogamous is contradicted by them. The prohibitions against marriage
are the loss of religion, residence among foreign peoples, disregard of
tribal custom, and engaging in occupations practised by low caste
people. The Bundelkhand branch represent themselves to be the
descendants of Pancham, Râja of Benares. During the reign of
Nasir-ud-din Mahmûd, Emperor of Delhi, (1246–1266 A.D.) Arjuna Pâla, a
descendant of Râja Pancham, left Benares for Mahoni, and made that
place his capital. One of his descendants became Râja of Kudâr; his
name was Saho Pâl and his descendant founded Orchha, and thence his
descendants spread over Bundelkhand.
[Marriage.] 2. The stages in the marriage ceremony are—
1st.—Phaldân, the betrothal, when the family priest of the bride’s
family gives the bridegroom a sacred thread (janeû), some rupees,
cloth, and a betel-nut, in the presence of the elders of his family.
The money is distributed as alms among the Brâhmans.
2nd.—Lagan patrika, or the fixing of the date for the marriage.
3rd.—Paurparsatkâr, the reception of the party (bârât) of the
bridegroom at the door of the bride’s house.
4th.—Charhau, offering of ornaments by the relatives of the bride to
the bridegroom.
5th.—Suhâg, the rubbing of red lead by the bridegroom on the parting of
the bride’s hair.
6th.—Kanyâdân, the giving away of the bride to her husband by her
father.
7th.—Panigrahana, the holding of the bride’s right hand by the
bridegroom as an indication that he promises to support her as long as
she lives.
8th.—Ahuti karna, the making of the fire sacrifice.
9th.—Parikrama, the revolutions of the pair round the sacred fire.
10th.—Dhruva sakshi karna, the promise of the bridegroom, in the
presence of fire, water, the sun, and other natural objects, that he
will be faithful to her and she to him.
11th.—Sayyadân, the presenting of a bed to the married pair.
12th.—Daija, dahej, or jahez dena, the giving of the dowry. Women can
be divorced for adultery, impurity, violation of tribal rules, and
neither divorced women nor widows are allowed to remarry.
[Religion.] 3. They belong to the Vaishnava sect, and are either
Râmâwats or worshippers of Râdha Krishna. In all respects they follow
the ceremonial usages of high class Hindus.
[Social rules.] 4. They believe their original profession to have been
soldiering, and some of them serve in our Native regiments. They hold
land as landlords and tenants. They will eat the flesh of goats, deer,
wild pig, and fish; but those who abstain from meat are considered more
respectable. Spirits are forbidden. They eat kachchi and pakki from the
hands of Brâhmans, and can eat pakki with Banyas and Khatris, by which
is meant that they will eat with them on the same floor, but not from
the same dish. They can drink water from the hands of Kahârs and Nâis.
They smoke only out of a pipe used by their clansmen. The Bundelas, on
the whole, are a fairly respectable Râjput sept, but they are
occasionally given to lawlessness, dacoity, and similar crimes of
violence.
5. In Jâlaun they give brides to the Dhandhera and Panwâr septs, from
whom also they take wives. They profess to belong to the Kasyapa gotra.
These Panwârs with whom they intermarry are the Râj Panwârs of inferior
grade in Bundelkhand.