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District. |Benbansi.| Janwâr.| Panwâr.| Others.| Total.
~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~
| | | | |
Gorakhpur | 218 | 292 | 200 | 73 | 783
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Dhânuk [308] (Sans. dhanuska, “an archer”), a low tribe who work as
watchmen, musicians at weddings, and their women as midwives. They are
most numerous in the Agra division, but are found all over the Province
except in the Benares, Gorakhpur, and Faizâbâd divisions, and in the
hills. Their origin is very uncertain. According to Dr. Buchanan [309]
they are a “pure agricultural tribe, who from their name, implying
archers, were probably in former times the militia of the country, and
are perhaps not essentially different from the Kurmis; for any Jaiswâr
Kurmi, who from poverty sells himself or his children is admitted among
the Dhânuks. All the Dhânuks were at one time probably slaves, and many
have been recruited to fill up the military ranks—a method of
recruiting that has been long prevalent in Asia, the armies of
Parthians having been composed almost entirely of slaves, and the
custom is, I believe, still pretty general among the Turks. A great
many of the Dhânuks are still slaves; but some annually procure their
liberty by the inability of their masters to maintain them, and by
their unwillingness to sell their fellow-creatures. I have already
mentioned that the Dhanushkas or Dhamin Brâhmans are probably the
original priests of the tribe.” Mr. Risley [310] admits that the only
evidence from Bihâr in support of Dr. Buchanan’s theory of the
connection between the Dhânuks and the Kurmis is that, according to
some authorities, the Chhilatiya sub-caste is also known by the name of
Jaiswâr. Considering, however, how wide-spread the term Jaiswâr is for
the sub-castes and sections of the minor castes, this piece of evidence
is of little value.
[Internal structure.] 2. At the last Census the Dhânuks were recorded
in the following important sub-castes:—Dhâkara, Dusâdh, Kaithiya,
Kathariya, Kori, and Râwat. The complete lists show three hundred and
twenty sections of the usual, mixed type, some the names of well known
tribes, others of local derivation. A full list received from Etâwah
names twenty sub-divisions—Laungbarsa (the name means “raining cloves,”
and is said to arise from the custom prevailing in this sub-division of
tying a string of cloves round the necks of the bride and bridegroom
during marriage. They do not, however, appear to treat the clove
otherwise, with any particular respect, and do not forbear from naming,
eating, burning, or otherwise destroying it), Hazâri, Kathariha,
Lakariha, Bhuseli, Garuhaiya, Hâthichighar, Garpetha, Atariha,
Pichhauriha, Jashar, Jalâliya, Kachhwâha, Jugeli, Ruriha, Kharaiha,
Tahelê, Dunhân, Bagheli. Sir H. M. Elliot gives the seven sub-divisions
as follows:—Laungbasta (probably the same as the Laungbarsa of the
Etâwah list), Mathuriya, Kathariya, Jaiswâr, Magahi, Dojwâr,
Chhilatiya. In the east of the Province another list [311] gives
Jaiswâr, Dhânuk, Magahi, Dojwâr and Chhilatiya. The Dhânuks have no
tradition of the origin of these names, and it is dangerous to
speculate on such a subject. But there seems no doubt that the
Kathariya or Kathariha are so-called because they make a sort of mat
called kathri, which is one of the special handicrafts of this
sub-division to the present day. The Lakariha and Bhuseli have
obviously something to do with wood and chaff. The Hâthichighar are
elephant keepers; the Kachhwâha and Baghelê must have taken their names
from the similar Râjput tribes; while the Jaiswâr and Magahi are
clearly local names derived from the town of Jais and the country of
Magadha, respectively. There is little or no resemblance between these
lists and the Bihâr list given by Mr. Risley, a sufficient proof, if
proof were needed, of the astonishing facility by which tribes of this
social status modify their internal structure.
[Marriage rules.] 3. The rule of exogamy as stated by the Dhânuks of
Etâwah is that (a) no man or woman can marry in their own sub-division;
(b) no child can be married in a family in which the father or mother
have been married. The age of marriage is usually between seven and
eleven. No one can have more than two wives at the same time.
Unchastity on the part of an unmarried girl is punished by a fine
imposed on the parents by the tribal council. A man can get rid of his
wife for adultery, but a wife cannot abandon her husband for this
cause. Divorced women and widows can be remarried by the form known as
dharauna or dharukh. The levirate under the usual restrictions is
permitted. If a widow marry an outsider she loses all right to the
goods of her first husband. If he leave children they are his heirs; if
he dies childless his elder brother, or if he himself be the eldest,
then the brother next to him in age succeeds. If she marry the levir he
takes the goods of his deceased elder brother unless he has left
children. There is no fiction that children by the levir are attributed
to his late brother.
[Birth.] 4. There are no ceremonies during pregnancy. The mother is
attended by some old woman of the tribe. The only purificatory ceremony
is the chhathi on the sixth day after delivery. There is no trace of
the couvade. The only observance at adoption is the feeding of the
clansmen.
[Marriage.] 5. The marriage ceremonies are of the common low caste
type. In the respectable form (shâdi, biwâh) the ceremony, the binding
part of which is the revolutions (bhanwar), is done at the house of the
bride; in dola it is done at that of the bridegroom.
[Death.] 6. They burn their adult and bury the unmarried dead. The
ashes are thrown into any river or stream. They perform srâddha for the
repose of the souls of the dead. The malevolent dead are propitiated in
the months of Mâgh and Bhâdon. The service is done in the daytime but
secretly with all the doors closed. A fire is lighted and to it cakes
(pûri) are offered, and then eaten by the worshippers. On this occasion
if the house-holder be a rich man, he entertains the brotherhood; if he
is poor, he feeds only his sister’s or daughter’s husband—a custom
which may be a survival of descent in the female line. The ashes of the
fire made on this occasion are carefully preserved, and if any sickness
come upon the household during the year, they are rubbed on the part
affected, and a vow is made to repeat the service when the next
anniversary comes round. During the first fifteen days of the month of
Kuâr water is thrown daily on the ground, in honour of the dead, and
flour, butter, etc., are given to Brâhmans that they by consuming them
may convey them to the hungry dead in the other world. A fire is
lighted and cakes offered to it, and a piece of a cake is attached to
the wall in the place where marks have been made representing the
deceased ancestors of the family.
[Religion.] 7. The Dhânuks are Hindu by religion and are classed as
Sâktas because they are worshippers of Devi. But none of them are ever
regularly initiated. They make pilgrimages to the tomb of Madâr Sâhib
at Makhanpur, in the Cawnpur District, and in the month of Mâgh offer a
sort of pudding (malîda) and money which are taken by the Khâdims in
charge of the shrine. They also worship the two Miyâns: the great or
Bara Miyân has his tomb at Jalesar, in the Etah District, and the
little or Chhota at Amroha, in Morâdâbâd. These saints are worshipped
after child-birth; if the child happened to be a son they offer a
he-goat; for a daughter the offering is a kind of cake (gulgula). These
are consumed by the worshippers, and so is the goat, which is the right
of Devi. They are firm believers in the demoniacal theory of disease.
In such cases a sorcerer is sent for; he sits down with a broom in his
hand, which he waves while he smokes a huqqa, and thus drives off the
evil spirit which is the cause of the mischief. In cases of disease
caused by the Evil Eye the procedure is similar with this addition that
some chillies are waved seven times round the head of the patient and
then thrown on the fire, when the evil influence incontinently
disappears in the stench. Another plan is for the magician to summon
one of his domesticated spirits, which puts him under its influence,
and he is then able to announce with certainty the evil spirit which
has affected the patient. Another approved plan is to burn a hair from
the patient’s head, and this invariably gives relief.
[Agricultural customs.] 8. When they sink a well they erect an image of
Hanumân near the spot, and on the completion of the work feed Brâhmans
and distribute charity. Before sowing a little grain is sifted through
a sieve, and when the work is done the oxen are washed and the plough
worshipped. Before the grain is garnered a little is given to the poor
and to Brâhmans.
[Social rules.] 9. Dhânuks will eat mutton, pork, the flesh of the
cloven-footed animals, and fish. They drink freely. They will not eat
the flesh of monkeys, beef, flesh of uncloven-footed animals, fowls,
crocodiles, snakes, lizards, jackals, rats, vermin, or the leavings of
other people. Their salutation is Râm! Râm! They have the usual
ceremonial taboos. Elder relatives are addressed not by their names but
by their title of relationship. Younger persons and all male strangers
are addressed by name. All female strangers are addressed by name when
spoken to by women; but when men address them they call them
“so-and-so’s wife” or “so and-so’s mother.” If they are unmarried they
are addressed by name. So a husband calls his wife “so-and-so’s
mother.”
[Occupation.] 10. Their occupation is playing on trumpets at weddings
and other occasions of festivity. They act as servants, day-labourers,
village watchmen, and their women do midwifery. Some hold land as
tenants and work as field labourers. Many receive a patch of land
rent-free in lieu of wages.