================+===============================+==============+========
Districts. | Hindus. | Muhammadans. | Total.
+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+ |
| Dusâdh. | Madhesya. | Others. | |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~
Bulandshahr | ... | ... | ... | 3 | 3
Mathura | ... | ... | ... | 5 | 5
Agra | ... | ... | ... | 86 | 86
Farrukhâbâd | ... | ... | 12 | 67 | 79
Mainpuri | ... | ... | ... | 16 | 16
Etah | ... | ... | ... | 32 | 32
Budâun | ... | ... | 1 | ... | 1
Shâhjahânpur | ... | ... | ... | 180 | 180
Cawnpur | ... | ... | ... | 38 | 38
Bânda | ... | ... | ... | 31 | 31
Hamîrpur | ... | ... | 3 | 3 | 6
Allahâbâd | ... | ... | 1 | 48 | 49
Jhânsi | ... | ... | ... | 2 | 2
Jâlaun | ... | ... | ... | 4 | 4
Benares | ... | ... | 8 | ... | 8
Ghâzipur | ... | ... | ... | 34 | 34
Gorakhpur | 1,490 | 943 | 1,502 | 2 | 3,937
Basti | ... | ... | 2,294 | ... | 2,294
Azamgarh | ... | 17 | 54 | ... | 71
Lucknow | ... | ... | ... | 107 | 107
Unâo | ... | ... | ... | 35 | 35
Râê Bareli | ... | ... | ... | 115 | 115
Sîtapur | ... | ... | ... | 80 | 80
Hardoi | ... | ... | ... | 91 | 91
Kheri | ... | ... | ... | 128 | 128
Faizâbâd | ... | ... | ... | 36 | 36
Gonda | 988 | 4,273 | 1,384 | 93 | 6,738
Bahrâich | ... | ... | 2 | 5 | 7
Sultânpur | ... | ... | ... | 74 | 74
Partâbgarh | ... | ... | ... | 7 | 7
+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~
Total | 2,478 | 5,233 | 5,261 | 1,322 | 14,294
================+=========+===========+=========+==============+========
Dharkâr [312] (Hindi dhar, Sanskrit dhara, “a rope,” kâra, “maker”) a
sub-caste of the Eastern Doms. They are also known as Bentbansi,
because they work in cane (bent), which some corrupt into Benbansi or
of the race of Râja Vena. Their sections in Mirzapur are quite distinct
from those recorded by Mr. Risley in Bihâr. [313] South of the Son
there are four sections (kuri) which are exogamous: Aril, which is said
to be the name of a fine kind of bamboo used in making winnowing fans,
baskets, sieves, etc.: Neoriya, said to be derived from newar, a young
soft bamboo: Dauriha, said to take its name from dauriwa, a strong hard
bamboo used for baskets (dauri) which is not attacked by weevils:
Nagarha, from nagar, a very high thick bamboo. These sections
intermarry on equal terms, except the Aril, which is the highest, and
with it the others practise hypergamy. This rule of exogamy is
reinforced by the restriction against intermarrying in the family of
the maternal uncle (mâmu) and father’s sister’s husband (phûpha) for at
least three generations. In Oudh the rule of exogamy is said to be that
a man cannot marry the daughter of his sister and a son cannot be
married in a family to which a bride has been given until three or four
generations have passed. Two sisters cannot be married at the same
time; but a man may marry the sister of his deceased wife. They also
very often marry by exchanging sisters in the form known as Gurâwat,
the simplest form of marriage by purchase. [314] North of the Son they
name three sections which are endogamous—Benbans, Barua and Dom; but
the Benbans have developed under the influence of Hinduism regular
exogamous gotras, of which they know only two,—Bilkhariya and Matâr. To
the whole tribe, as is shown more particularly in the sections south of
the Son, the bamboo is a sort of totem and is treated with great
respect. [315]
The Mirzapur Dharkârs say that when Parameswar created their ancestor
he seated him under a bamboo and gave him the curved knife (bânka) with
which he was to make his living by basket making, etc.
[Tribal council.] 2. The tribal council (panchâyat) with a permanent
president (mahto) and an assistant (dîwân) is very powerful. The
council hears the evidence and gives its opinion, which may or not be
accepted by the Mahto, who gives the final order. The usual punishment
is an order to feed the clansmen for two days on goat’s flesh and rice.
For a second offence excommunication for twelve years is the sentence,
and during this time, unless he make humble submission and receive
pardon from the council, all marriages in his family are stopped, he is
not allowed to eat or smoke with his clansmen, and cannot sit on the
tribal mat (tât) at meetings of the council. In Oudh, however, it would
appear that they have no regularly constituted council. Whenever a case
affecting caste discipline occurs, a meeting of the adult householders
of the neighbourhood is convened: they appoint a Chairman for the
meeting and decide the case. They have a sort of local organization
(eka) for marriages, which generally take place within an assigned
local area. They seldom go any considerable distance to find wives.
[316]
[Marriage rules.] 3. A man may have as many wives as he can afford: but
monogamy is the rule. In Oudh they say that no man can have more than
seven wives at one time; but it is needless to say that very few
Dharkârs can afford more than one. If a man marries more than one wife,
the senior wife (jethi mehrâru) rules the household. Concubinage and
polyandry are prohibited. Women have considerable freedom, and
intertribal fornication is visited by a fine of a two days’ feast to
the clansmen. The lover has to pay the girl’s father in such cases
eight rupees in cash and to give her mother a cloth—an arrangement so
common apparently that there is a special name for it,—mâi kâpar, or
“the mother’s cloth.” He then feeds the council on goat’s flesh and
rice, and after this the young couple are recognized as man and wife.
Dharkârs practise adult marriage, the age being seventeen or eighteen.
The marriage is arranged by the father’s sister’s husband (phûpha) of
the bridegroom. The bride-price paid by the boy’s father is fixed—eight
rupees in cash, one loin cloth (dhoti), and one hundred cakes (pûri).
This is used in the marriage feast, and the cloth goes to the girl. The
parties are so carefully examined before marriage that no physical
defect subsequently ascertained is a bar to marriage. If the wife
without reason shown to the satisfaction of the council refuse to live
with her husband, her father has to refund the cash bride-price. If the
husband refuses to keep his wife, the council will punish him and
compel him to bring her home. If either husband or wife habitually
commit adultery, the injured party may divorce the other, but before
they can do so the case must be heard by the council and the Mahto must
give his permission, which will not be granted unless the fact is
proved by the evidence of eye-witnesses. If a woman is divorced, she
may be remarried in the tribe by the form known as sagâi or dharauna.
The children of a regular wife and a widow taken in sagâi rank equally
as heirs. If a man keep a concubine or even eat from her hand, he is
put out of caste and not restored till he gives a tribal feast.
Illegitimate children follow the father, but such a child cannot eat or
marry in the tribe. Only a widower can marry a woman by the sagâi form.
He goes to the widow’s house and proposes for her in a regular
form—hamâr ghar basâdê, “make my home inhabited.” Her father receives
the same bride-price as in a regular marriage. Her father gives a feast
and assembles the council. If at this meeting any person entitled to
claim the right of the levirate comes forward and says,—“Why are you
giving my woman to a stranger?” the council order her father to pay him
the bride-price. Then her lover takes her home, puts red lead on her
forehead and palm leaf ornaments (tarki) in her ears, and after feeding
the clansmen on goat’s flesh and rice the connection is legalised. The
levirate is recognised under the usual restrictions, and there is no
fiction of the affiliation of the children to the former husband. A
childless man can adopt his brother’s son. The sons are heirs, but the
eldest son gets something in excess as determined by the council.
Daughters have no rights, and after marriage even the claim to
maintenance is not recognized. The mother has a life interest if there
are no brothers of the deceased. The heirs of a sonless man are his
associated brothers and they are supposed to give the widow something
unless she is remarried, which is usually the case, unless she is
disabled by age or infirmity.
[Relationship.] 4. The father is called dauwa: the grandfather bâba:
the mother dâi: the grandmother barki dâi: the father’s elder brother
bara or barka (“great”). The wife is always called “the mother of
so-and-so,” her son. They call a daughter bahin or sister, which
perhaps points to loose ideas of family life. The wife’s father is
mahto, “leader.”
Relations generally are mit or yâr (“friends”). In particular they call
mit all persons who have the same name as themselves, and with such
they are particularly friendly. People resident in the same village are
gaunwa pariwâr.
[Birth ceremonies.] 5. When the birth pains begin they worship the
ancestors with the sacrifice of a he-goat and a cock, and bathe the
woman’s hands and feet or, in bad cases, her whole body with a
decoction of the bark of the Rohina or fig tree. The child is born on
the ground and the cord is cut by a Chamârin midwife, who buries it in
the place the child was born, placing a bit of iron and a copper pice
in the earthen fire pot. On the sixth day (chhathi) the Chamârin
retires and the mother is bathed by her husband’s sister (nanad), who
cleans the delivery-room (saur). The house earthen vessels are
replaced, and one or two of the clansmen fed. On the twelfth day
(barahi) the woman is again bathed and the house cleaned. On that day
she cooks for the family and is pure. Her husband does not cohabit with
her for six months after her confinement. They have the usual horror of
touching menstrual blood or clothes defiled at child-birth. The only
puberty ceremony is the ear-boring [317] (kanchhedan), which is done at
the age of eight or ten, after which the child must conform to caste
rules about food.
[Marriage.] 6. The betrothal is sealed by the exchange between the two
fathers of platters of liquor, one containing two rupees placed there
by the boy’s father, which the girl’s father takes. They have the usual
matmangar ceremony. [318] The usual anointing of bride and bridegroom
follows, which is begun by the fathers on each side taking up a little
oil in a wisp of dûb grass and sprinkling it on the bride or
bridegroom, as the case may be. During this time he calls out,—“If my
son or daughter is happily married we will worship the ancestors
(pitra) with a fire offering of butter and a goat or fowl.” Here
follows a curious emblematical ceremony. The boy’s mother sits on a
grain mortar (okhari) in the centre of the marriage shed, and her son
is seated in her lap. Then the boy, his mother, and the wedding
water-pot (kalsa) are all tied together with a string and a fire
sacrifice (hom) is done with sugar and butter. The boy’s sister holds
her hand over the blaze and collects some lampblack on her fingers,
which she rubs on her brother’s eyes. Then the mother comes under the
influence of the goddess Amina Bhawâni and begins to tremble, on which
her friends throw some rice over her and take her into the house,
whence she soon emerges again to do the wave ceremony (parachhan). She
holds a vessel (lota) full of water, a grain pounder (mûsal), and a
tray (thâli), on which is placed a lighted lamp. First she waves a lump
of dough five times over her son’s head; she does the same with the
lota, and pours the water on the ground. Then she moves the
rice-pounder five times over him, and with it touches the spot on the
ground where the water was poured out. He finally salutes her with the
pâêlagi form, and she says,—“Go son! Go son!” When he arrives at the
bride’s door her father meets him with a new basket, the emblem of his
craft, in which is a new loin-cloth dyed with turmeric. This is put on
the bridegroom, and the basket is handed to one of his friends. All the
friends on both sides stand at the bride’s door, beat drums and dance.
In this dance the men fasten rattling bangles (ghungru) on their ankles
and play on the tambourine (dafla), flute (bânsuli), and large drum
(mândar), while they leap high in the air and shout. Then they retire
to rest under a tree outside the village. One of the bride’s friends
then comes and washes their feet, after which the boy’s father sends a
loin cloth (dhoti) and one hundred cakes (pûri) to the bride. These,
when they arrive, are carefully counted, and twenty-five are sent back
to the bridegroom, who gives a piece to each of his friends.
7. At night the bride and bridegroom are seated in a square (chauk) in
the bride’s courtyard. The father’s sister’s husbands (apparently a
survival of the matriarchate) who manage the business, sit on each side
of the pair. They join the hands of the boy and girl, and putting a
ring of grass on her finger pour water over their hands while they cry
Bar kanya chiranji rahen—“Long life to bride and bridegroom.” This is
said five times, and water is poured over their hands five times. Then
the pair walk five times round a branch of the cotton tree (semal)
which is fixed up in the marriage shed. [319] Next a curry stone is
placed before the pair and on it is laid a piece of betel-nut. The
bridegroom holds the bride’s foot and knocks this off with her toe.
This is known as kuri metna—“to obliterate the pile,” and is said to
imply that the rule of the prohibited degrees has been observed in the
marriage. [320] Next the bridegroom takes some red lead and rubs the
girl with it from the tip of her nose up to the crown of her head,
while her sister comes forward and collects (sendur bahorna) any loose
grains in the corner of her sheet. For this she gets a fee of two
annas. Next the pair go into the kohabar or retiring room, where a good
deal of coarse merriment goes on at the expense of the bridegroom.
[321] The ceremony winds up with a feast and the escort of the bride to
her husband’s house. A day or two after bride and bridegroom take the
two wedding jars (kalsa) to a neighbouring tank. The bride stands with
her back to her husband and with an affectation of secrecy throws her
jar into the water (kalsa dulâna). He then stands with his back to her
and throws in his jar. Both proceed to search for them, and when they
find them fill them with water and bring them home. On the way they
rest them on the ground and pour a little of the bundiya sweetmeat made
of gram flour and butter on the ground. Then they proceed to the tree
under which is the shrine of Deonâth, the tribal god, and there make a
fire offering (hom) with sugar and butter. This closes the marriage
ritual, the binding portion of which is the application of red lead
(sendurdân) to the parting of the bride’s hair. [322]
[Death ceremonies.] 8. The tribe appears to be in the transition stage
between burial and cremation of the dead. In Oudh they bury: in
Mirzapur they usually burn the corpse. The dead are cremated in the
usual way on the bank of a neighbouring stream. After the cremation is
over they pour some oil on their toe-rings, which they take off and
warm over a fire and then return to the house of the deceased, where
they sit silent for some time before dispersing. On the third day the
chief mourner collects the ashes and throws them into running water,
and plants near the stream a few stalks of reed grass (jhurai) as a
receptacle for the vagrant spirit. Water is poured on this daily for
ten days. On the tenth day is the Ghât ceremony when the clansmen shave
each other, no barber being employed. Three balls (pinda) of flour are
thrown into the water by the chief mourner, and he pours three handfuls
of water on the ground in the name of the dead. While he does this he
turns his hands backwards. No Brâhman is employed and the part of
priest is taken by the sister’s son of the deceased (another survival
of the matriarchate), [323] for which he receives as his fee an axe and
a knife. After this the relations and members of the council sit round
the chief mourner, and his sister’s husband (bahnoi) ties a turban on
his head in proof that he has taken the place of his father.
[Ancestor worship.] 8. They are in great fear of the ghosts of the dead
who appear in dreams and worry people if they are not propitiated.
Their sacrifice is done at the Phagua (Holi) festival when a goat,
fowl, and some spirits are offered to them. When people are sick they
make vows to the sainted dead (purkha log), and, when they recover,
make offerings to them. In Oudh they are beginning to get a low Brâhman
to perform a sort of Srâddha.
[Religion.] 9. The Dharkârs call themselves Hindus but have a special
pantheon of their own, the functions of which are exceedingly vague.
Pahâr Pando is a sort of mountain god. Dûrasin is possibly a local
development of Jarasandha, the deified King of Magadha. Banhiya Bîr
(the hero of the arm—bânh) and Deonâth are deified tribal worthies.
Angârmati Bhawâni (“the goddess of the blazing charcoal”) is a vague
female divinity. Further north towards the Ganges they worship Birtiya,
a vague deity who is apparently merely a guardian godling (Sans.
vritti, “support, maintenance”), Dulha Deo, the god of marriage, and
the five saints of Islâm (Pânchonpîr), especially Parihâr. Dulha Deo is
worshipped on a Saturday in the light half of Kârttik or Baisâkh, when
a castrated goat (khasi) is offered in the house and the worshippers
consume the flesh. He is also propitiated with a loin-cloth dyed in
turmeric: and when the worshipper puts this on he gets into a state of
frenzy, shakes his head and announces oracles. If Dulha Deo is not
worshipped he sends fever and sundry other diseases. The Pânchonpîr are
worshipped with the sacrifice of a cock and cakes (rot); all who
worship them keep a house shrine in their honour. In Oudh they worship
Devi with an offering of a goat.
10. The more Southern Dharkârs worship the pantheon above described
collectively every second or third year in the house. First they make a
burnt sacrifice (hom) with butter and treacle, then offer a goat and
cock, and pour spirits on the ground. Any one can do this worship, and
no Brâhman or Baiga is employed. They worship the sainted dead at the
Holi, Dasahra, and in the month of Kuâr. On these occasions they all
get drunk and dance in a special way with rattling bangles (ghungru)
attached to their ankles to the music of the tambourine (dafla) and the
flute (bânsuli). Then they visit in procession the houses of the
respectable people in the village, dance, and receive fees (phirihri).
The usual allowance is a sieve (sûp) full of any kind of grain. They
believe sunstroke to be due to the attack of Angârmati Bhawâni, who
rides in her chariot through the sky in the hot weather. She is
appeased on such occasions with a burnt offering (hom) and the
sacrifice of a goat. All the collective godlings of their pantheon have
their abode in a mud platform (chaura) erected in the dwelling house.
Traces of tree worship are found in their adoration at marriages of a
branch of the cotton tree which has the special name of Kalyâni or “the
auspicious one.” Among the myriad ghosts which surround them they
particularly fear the ghosts of drowned people (bûrna) who infest tanks
where people have been drowned and push in unwary travellers.
11. Fields have also their special Bhûts, and the shrine of a person
killed by a tiger (baghaut) is specially reverenced. Their special
worship of the bamboo consists in their cutting one bamboo in the month
of Aghan when the general cutting begins. This they bring home with
marked respect and make a burnt offering (hom) before it with butter
and treacle. After this bamboo-cutting and basket-making go on. The
women tattoo themselves in the usual way: if they do not, Bhagwân
brands them with a torch when they die. Friday is their lucky day, and
on that day they commence bamboo-cutting. They have the usual meeting
omens and the ordinary ideas about the quarters of the heavens. They
believe in the demoniacal theory of disease. In such cases they get the
Baiga to do a sacrifice to the collective village gods (deohâr): a goat
or cock is the usual offering. In specially bad cases of illness the
Baiga or Ojha is called in and recognises the particular Bhût, which
causes trouble, by shaking about and counting some grains of barley in
a sieve. When a person is attacked by the Evil Eye they get some
cow-dung ashes, blow into it five times in the name of the sainted
dead, and then rub it on the child. In very bad cases a special
offering is made to the spirits of the dead (purkha log).
[Social customs.] 12. The women wear pewter anklets (pairi), glass or
lac bangles (chûri) on the wrists, and brass rings (churla) on the
upper arm, with a pewter ring on the big toe. They abandon this ring on
widowhood, and, as has been seen in treating of the death ceremonies,
it is supposed to have some mystic significance. On the toe next the
big toe women wear a small pewter ring (chhutki). This is also taken
off at widowhood. On their foreheads they wear spangles (tikuli), palm
leaf ornaments (tarki) in the ears, and beads (guriya) round the neck.
They swear by putting a bamboo on the head, and think that if they
forswear themselves they lose their children and property. They have
now prohibited eating beef and punish its use by excommunication: but
this is quite recent, and hardly prevails generally among the less
Hinduised branch of the tribe south of the Son. In Oudh some of them
will not eat meat during the fortnight (pitrapaksha) sacred to the
dead. They will not eat food cooked in butter (pakka khâna) if touched
by a Chamâr, Dhobi, Patâri, Bhuiya, or Dom. They consider themselves
much superior to the Doms, as they have abandoned the filthy habits
common to the ordinary Doms. Food cooked in water (kachcha khâna) they
will eat only if cooked by one of their own caste. They have the usual
Dom prejudice against the Dhobi. They will not touch their younger
brother’s wife, their wife’s elder sister or the mother (samdhin) of
their sons’ or daughters’ wives and husbands. They use spirits and
tobacco freely. Men and women eat apart; men first and women after
them: but a very old woman is allowed to eat with the men. Seniors they
salute in the pâêlagi form, and receive the blessing (asîs) in return.
They are very hospitable and will borrow to entertain a guest. As a
rule they treat women fairly well, but beat them if they misbehave
themselves. They are respectful to the old. No Dharkâr was ever known
to read or write. They have a very strong tribal council, and very
seldom come before the courts. They work only in bamboo, not in reed
(sentha). They make winnowing fans (sûp), baskets (dauri), boxes
(petâra), betel boxes (bilahra), and red lead boxes (pauti). These in
the villages are made always on grain wages, and it is only in towns
that they are paid in cash.