==============+=======
Districts. |Number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 3
Sahâranpur | 12
Aligarh | 6
Mathura | 72
Agra | 46
Etâwah | 5
Morâdâbâd | 92
Shâhjahânpur | 3
Hamîrpur | 1
Allahâbâd | 4
Jâlaun | 1
Benares | 469
Jaunpur | 1
Ghâzipur | 3
Basti | 1
Azamgarh | 1
Lucknow | 11
Sîtapur | 1
Bahrâich | 1
+~~~~~~~
Total | 723
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Gujarâti.—A territorial division of Brâhmans, those of Gurjarâshtra or
Gujarât. Of the Gurjara Brâhmans Dr. Wilson says [483]—“In the general
classification of the Brâhmans usually current the Gurjara Brâhmans are
said to belong to the Pancha Dravida, though the greater portion of
Gujarât lies to the north of the River Narmada and the Vindhya range.
An examination of them in detail shows, however, that not a few of
their castes belong to the Pancha Gauda, while some of them have been
so long isolated from the other Brâhmanical fraternities that they have
lost sight altogether of their former connections. They are generally
estimated at eighty-four in number.”
[The Bombay Gujarâti Brâhmans.] 2. To quote the best account of this
class of Brâhmans in their native home [484]—“In Sholapur the Gujarâti
Brâhmans are divided into Audich Nâgar, and Srimali. The names of their
family stocks are Bharadvâja, Kapila, and Vasishtha, and persons
belonging to the same family stock cannot intermarry. Their surnames
are Achârya, Bhat, Pandya, Râul, Thâkur, and Vyâs; and families bearing
the same surname can intermarry provided their family stock or gotra is
different both on the father’s and on the mother’s sides. They are
generally fair, with regular features, and neither very strong nor
tall. The men wear the moustache, whiskers and beard. The topknot
covers three-fourths of the head, and the hair is black and sometimes
curly. The women are fairer than the men, with delicate features, oval
face, and small hands and feet.
3. “Their home tongue is Gujarâti, but out-of-doors they speak
Hindustâni or Marâthi mixed with Gujarâti. They do not own houses, but
live in houses of the middle sort, one story high with mud and stone
walls and flat roofs. Their house goods consist of a wooden box or two,
one or two cotton bags, a carpet, some pieces of sack-cloth, woollen
waistcloths, and a few metal vessels. They keep neither servants nor
domestic animals. They are vegetarians, and their staple food is rice,
wheat-bread, pulse, butter, sugar or molasses. Their favourite spices
are black pepper, cloves, and cinnamon. They generally eat once in the
afternoon. They avoid onions, garlic, and masûr pulse, and use no
intoxicating drinks. Many drink hemp water at midday and in the
afternoon, but eat opium often twice a day—in the morning after bathing
and in the afternoon. They neither chew nor smoke tobacco.
3. “The men dress in an irregular, carelessly folded turban, with the
end left dangling a foot or a foot and-a-half from the head. It is
shorter and not half so broad as the Deccan turban, and is called batti
or “the lamp,” because if twisted it would be no thicker than an
ordinary lampwick. They wear a fine, white coat reaching to the knees,
with creases at the waist; the waistcloth, which is twelve feet long,
is worn doubled as Kunbis wear it; the shoulder-cloth is an old
waistcloth doubled to make it look short; and their shoes are not
double-toed like the Deccan shoes, and have a top to the heel. They
generally wear a rudrâksha rosary round their neck. Their women wear
the hair in a braid, which they afterwards either twist into a knot, or
leave hanging down the waist. They do not wear false hair, or deck
their heads either with ornaments or flowers. Their dress includes a
petticoat or a short robe, whose skirt they do not pass between the
feet; they draw a cloak (orhni) over the head, and wear a
short-sleeved, open-backed boddice. The robe is twelve feet long, or
only half as long as a Deccan woman’s robe. They sometimes buy a Deccan
robe, cut it in two and wear the cut end inside, and the bordered or
ornamental end outside, drawn from the left over the head, leaving the
left arm bare. The left arm is loaded with ornaments, while the right
has no ornaments. Their ornaments are worth Rs. 200–1,000, or more.
4. “These Gujarâti Brâhmans are extremely careful and frugal; they are
neither neat nor clean, but sober, thrifty and orderly. They are
beggars, astrologers, family priests, and cooks. They are well paid by
their Banya patrons, and are free from debt, and generally carry back
considerable sums to their native country. They are a religious people.
Their family deities are Amba Bâi and Bâlaji, and they worship all
Brâhman gods and goddesses, and keep all fasts and festivals. Their
priests belong to their own caste, and they go on pilgrimage to
Benares, Nâsik, Pândharpur, and Tuljapur. They believe in sorcery,
witchcraft, soothsaying, omens and lucky and unlucky days, and consult
oracles. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling, and settle
social disputes at meetings of caste men, and punish breaches of caste
rules by fines varying from one to fifty rupees, which are spent on
sweetmeats or in the repairs of their temples. They send their boys to
school, but do not keep them long there. They take to no new pursuits,
and are in easy circumstances.”
[The Gujarâti Brâhmans in the Panjâb.] 5. “The Gujarâti or Byâs
Brâhmans who come from Gujarât in Sindh are in some respects the
highest of all Brâhmans; they are always fed first; and they bless a
Gaur when they meet him, while they will not eat ordinary food from his
hands. They are fed on the twelfth day after death, and the Gaurs will
not eat on the thirteenth day if this has not been done. But they take
inauspicious offerings. To them appertain especially the Râhu offerings
made at an eclipse. They will not take oil, sesame, goats, or green or
dirty clothes; but will take old clothes, if washed, buffaloes, and the
seven varieties of grain (satnaja). They also take a special offering
to Râhu made by a sick person, who puts gold in ghi, looks at his face
in it, and gives it to a Gujarâti, or who weighs himself against
satnaja and makes an offering of the grain. A buffalo which has been
possessed by a devil to that degree that he has got on the top of a
house (no difficult feat in a village) or a foal dropped in the month
of Sâwan, or buffalo calf in Mâgh, are given to the Gujarâti as being
unlucky. No Gaur would take them. At every harvest the Gujarâti takes a
small allowance (seori) of grain from the threshing floor, just as does
the Gaur.” [485]
[The Central India Gujarâti Brâhmans.] 6. Of the Gujarâti Brâhmans of
Central India Sir J. Malcolm writes [486]:—“Some are employed in the
offices of religion, while others trade and gain a respectable
livelihood as writers and accountants. Many of the Mârwâr and Jodhpur
Brâhmans are also traders; but the great mass from that country as well
as from Udaypur are labourers and cultivators, forming indeed a very
considerable proportion of the most industrious husbandmen of Central
India.”
[The Gujarâti Brâhmans of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.] 7. The
Gujarâti Brâhmans of these Provinces are most numerous according to the
last Census in the Upper and Central Ganges-Jumna Duâb. They trace
their origin to a sacrifice said to have been performed by Râja Mûla
Deva or Mûl Râj Solankhi, who reigned early in the 10th century A.D.
For this rite he is said to have collected one thousand Brâhmans, of
whom two hundred were Kanaujiya, one hundred from Benares, one hundred
and five from the Duâb, one hundred from Mathura, one hundred
Sarwariya, sixty-nine from Kurukshetra, one hundred from Ajudhya, and
one hundred and thirty-two from Pushkar. He worshipped their feet and
settled them in his kingdom. To some he gave Sihor, and their
descendants form the Sihoriya branch; a few rejected his gifts for a
time; but he persuaded them at last and gave them Cambay and twelve
dependent villages. They were called Tolakiya and form a separate
division. Some others he settled at Sidhpur, and they are hence called
Sidhpuriya. The following is a list of the gotras of the Sidhpuriya
Gujarâtis as far as it has been possible to ascertain them in these
Provinces—Bhrigu, with the title Dûbê; Bhârgava, Dûbê; Kausika, Pânrê;
Daribhya, Tivâri; Gautam, Dûbê; Vatsa, Thâkur; Parâsara, Dûbê;
Bharadwâja, Dûbê; Sândilya, Thâkur; Saunaka, Pânrê; Vasishtha, Tivâri;
Maunas, Thâkur; Jani, Garggotra; Katasas, Dûbê; Udvah, Dûbê;
Krishnâtri, Dûbê; Kaudinya, Dûbê; Mandavya, Pânrê or Pandit; Upamanyu,
Pânrê; Svetatreya, Dûbê. This, it will be seen, differs considerably
from Mr. Sherring’s Benares lists, and illustrates the difficulty of
obtaining precise information on such points.
8. The Sihoriya Gujarâtis are again divided into the following
gotras:—Krishnâtri, Garga, Bharadwâja, Svetatri.
9. It is also said that after their emigration into these provinces
they fell into two groups, the Bara Samudaya, or superior group, and
the Chhota Samudaya, or inferior group. One colony of them, settled at
Anupshahr, in the Bulandshahr District, are said to use arms like
Kshatriyas, and to devote most of their time to athletic exercises,
which is not the case with the ordinary Gujarâtis.
[The Nâgar Brâhmans.] 10. The Nâgar Brâhmans, again, are usually
classed as a sub-tribe of the Gujarâtis. “Nâgara,” writes Dr. Wilson,
[487] “is the adjective form of nagar, “a city.” It is applied to
several principal castes of Brâhmans in Gujarât, getting their
designations respectively from certain towns in the north-east portion
of that province.” Thus there are the Vadanagara, who take their name
from the city of Vadanagar, lying to the east of Anhilvâda Pattana; the
Visalnagar, from the town of Visal; the Satodra, from the town of
Satod, on the Narmada; the Prashnora of Prashnora; the Krishnora of
Krishnapura; the Chitroda of Chitrod; the Barada, the result of a split
between the Visalnagar and the Vadanagara.
11. In Gujarât [488] the “Nâgar Brâhmans will not take food from any
other Brâhman, and are very strict in their observances. Of these the
most strict is what is called the naven or purity in respect of food.
Having bathed he dresses himself in silk or woollen clothes, or, if he
is required to use cotton garments, they must be dipped in water, wrung
out and dried in some place where nothing impure can touch them. Thus
habited he sits down to dinner; but he must preserve himself from
numerous accidents which would render him impure and compel him to
desist from his meal. If he touch an earthen vessel he is impure,
unless the vessel have never contained water. The touch of a piece of
cotton cloth, or of a piece of leather or paper, which he may have
accidentally sat down upon, renders him impure. But if Hindu letters
have been written on the paper, they preserve him from defilement,
because they represent Sâraswati. If, however, letters be written on
cloth or leather, they remain impure. Thus, if the Gîta or any portion
of Scripture be required for use at the time, it must be bound with
silk and not with cotton; leather must be avoided, and instead of a
common paste of flour and water the binder must employ paste of pounded
tamarind seed. A printed book will not answer his purpose, because
printing ink contains impure matter. Some think that the touch of a
deer or tiger skin does not defile. Raw cotton does not render him
impure; but if it has been twisted for the wick of a lamp by a person
not in a state of ceremonial purity, it does; and, again, if it have
been dipped in oil or clarified butter, it does not. Bones defile, but
women’s ivory armlets do not, except in those parts of the country
where they are not usually worn. The touch of a child of the same
caste, who has not learned to eat grain, does not defile, but if the
child have eaten grain, it does. The touch of donkey, a pig, or a dog
defiles; some say that the touch of a cat also defiles; others are
inclined to think it does not, because, in truth, it is not easy to
keep the cat out. If a Brâhman who is pure be eating or if he has risen
from eating, the touch of his person defiles another Brâhman who is
pure, but has not begun his dinner.”
12. The Benares Nâgar Brâhmans are said to be divided into two distinct
classes, the Bhikhshu or “mendicants,” and the Mahta. The latter
opposed Mahmûd of Ghazni when he attacked Vadanagara, and thus lost the
peaceful habits of life which still characterise the Bhikhshu class.
[Domestic ceremonies of the Gujarâti Brâhmans. Birth.] 13. The
following account of the domestic rites of the Gujarâti Brâhmans was
given by a member of the tribe resident at Mirzapur:—“When a bride
after joining her husband menstruates, she becomes pure by bathing on
the fourth day. At the same time she worships Ganesa and the patron
goddesses of the tribe. Ganesa is worshipped with an offering of water,
washed rice, sandalwood, flowers, incense, and lamps. The worship of
the goddesses is more intricate. A red cloth is spread over a wooden
seat (pîrha), and on it sixteen compartments are marked out with
powdered rice. In each compartment is placed some rice dyed with red
(rori), and on the top of each pile of rice a betel-nut. The seat is
placed beside the wall of the room. On the wall a set of spots of red
are made in the form of a triangle, of which the base has seven marks,
diminishing by one at a time up to the apex. On these marks the woman
pours an oblation of ghi. This is known as basodhara. Next the
betel-nuts on the seat are worshipped with an offering of incense,
lights, sandalwood, curds, sugar, and rice. This done the woman is pure
and is allowed to return to her house work.
14. “When a woman becomes pregnant for the first time, and when the
eighth month of pregnancy arrives, the srimant rite is performed. This
is accompanied by the nandi mukh srâddha and the graha sânti—rites
intended to guard the embryo from injury. Some fruit of the Dhâk and
Anwla trees, millet, curd, washed rice and saffron are pounded and
mixed in a ball. Then twelve betel-nuts are placed on twelve
betel-leaves, and a portion of the mixture is offered to each. These
twelve betel-nuts are supposed to represent the twelve relations of the
unborn child, that is, six generations on the side of the father and
six on that of the mother. After this a fire sacrifice (homa) is
performed, and two Brâhmans are fed in the name of each of the twelve
ancestors. This constitutes the nandimukh srâddha.
15. “Next the expectant father and mother make nine compartments on a
board, and each of the nine planets [489] is represented by a piece of
cloth of a different colour. Each of these receives an appropriate
offering. Then Sâraswati is worshipped in the form of a water jar with
a spout, and to her the same offerings are made as to Ganesa. Then the
officiating Brâhman repeats texts and sprinkles washed rice over the
father and mother, and the jar (kalasa) is worshipped with an offering
of a cocoanut, the emblem of fertility, and some red cloth.
16. “A small raised platform is next made in the courtyard, and on it
three lines are drawn. From each line they take a pinch of dust and
throw it on the ground. Some mango wood is then lighted on the
platform. On the north side is placed a sacrificial vessel made of wood
and known as pranîta parokshoni. With this a mixture of five different
kinds of fruits, ghi, sugar, and incense are poured upon the fire. An
offering is made in this way to all the deities, and the rite concludes
with the feeding of Brâhmans.
17. “When the child is born the parents are instructed by the
officiating priest to worship Ganesa and the tribal goddesses in the
manner already described. They then worship the knife with which the
umbilical cord was cut by the midwife, and to it is made the usual
offering of incense, flowers, sandalwood, as in other cases. The mother
during the period of seclusion after child-birth bathes three times—on
the sixth, ninth, and twelfth day. At the sixth-day bath she offers an
oblation of water (argha) to the Sun-god, Sûrya. She also does this at
the subsequent bathings. On the twelfth day after bathing and making
the oblation, four women of the tribe move over the head of the child
the family pestle in order to scare evil spirits. The Chamâr midwife
attends for three days, and after that her place is taken by the wife
of the barber. If the child be a boy the midwife’s fee is one rupee;
for a girl four annas. On the twelfth day the Purohit or family priest
produces the horoscope (janam-pattri) of the child, and is suitably
rewarded.
[The grain-feeding.] 18. “When the child, if a boy, is six months’ old,
the rite of “grain-feeding” (annaprâsana) is performed. Ganesa and the
goddesses are worshipped in the way already described, by the parents,
and then the father marks the baby’s forehead with red powder. Then the
mother, or some other lady of the house, takes the child in her lap and
makes it lick some rice milk from a mango leaf.
[The shaving.] 19. “In the third year the mûnran or hair shaving is
done. The barber is sent for on an auspicious day and the parents do
worship to his razor. After the shaving is over the child is bathed and
the usual worship of Ganesa and the tribal goddesses is performed. A
fire sacrifice is done by the Brâhmans.
[The ear-piercing.] 20. “In the fifth year comes the rite of
ear-piercing (karnabedha). The usual worship is performed; the child’s
ears are bored by a Sunâr; Brâhmans are fed, and the Sunâr gets a
present.
[Investiture with the sacred cord.] 21. “In the eighth year of the
boy’s life comes the upanayana or investiture with the sacred cord. The
usual worship of Ganesa and the tribal goddesses is performed as
already described. Then the women of the household go to the house of
the potter and worship his wheel (châk), which is regarded as an emblem
of fertility. From there they bring two earthen jars, which are placed
in a holy square (chauk) in the courtyard. This is done some twelve
days or more before the actual initiation. On the day of the rite these
jars are worshipped with the same offerings as those given to Ganesa.
On the day of the rite the officiating priest makes two platforms of
sand and clay facing north and south. The candidate for initiation with
three other Brâhman boys is seated on the platform, and is fed on milk
and boiled rice. The candidate is then shaved by the barber and bathes.
He takes his seat on the platform and worships Ganesa and the nine
planets. Then the officiating priest invests the boy with a sacred cord
made of mûnj fibre (Saccharum munja) and a deer skin, thereby implying
that he has entered the stage of the Brahmachâri. He again worships
Ganesa and puts off the mûnj cord and the deer skin and receives a
cotton cord. Next a stick of the wood of the palâsa (Butea frondosa),
to the end of which a coloured thread (raksha) is tied, is placed on
his shoulder, the inference being that he has reached the Sannyâsi
stage. Then the priest whispers the gâyatri mantra into his ear at the
first platform known as the upanayana and at the second (rambha vedi);
he again worships Ganesa, and the priest putting some rice in a dish
with his finger writes on it the gâyatri mantra. He is then made to do
the fire sacrifice with the recital of the appropriate texts. Next the
priest sprinkles the boy from the sacred jars with a bunch of kusa
grass. In this water he bathes and cleans his teeth. He dresses, takes
a bamboo stick (dand), and pretends to go to Benares to learn. He is
dissuaded from doing this by his maternal uncle, who promises to get
him married. With the final worship of the tribal goddesses the rite
concludes.
[Marriage rites.] 22. “The age for marriage is fourteen or sixteen for
a boy and nine or ten for a girl. After the preliminary comparison of
the horoscopes a day is fixed for the betrothal (sagâi). This is done
by the girl’s father sending to the father of the boy through his
priest or some relative a sum in money, a cocoanut, and some
sweetmeats. A piece of ground is plastered in the boy’s courtyard, and
upon that he sits and worships Ganesa. The girl’s representative marks
his forehead with red (rori) and puts the presents in the corner of his
robe (dopatta), while the friends who have been admitted to the
ceremony chant songs. The boy eats the sweetmeats and the friends are
entertained. This completes the betrothal.
23. “After this the boy’s father sends invitations to the persons who
are asked to attend the procession (bârât). Distant friends usually
come four days before the date fixed for this event. Then the boy’s
father informs the father of the bride of the date fixed for the rite
of “setting up the little and the great Ganesa,” presently to be
described, and for the marriage.
24. “The bridegroom, his father and other friends go to the house of
the bride four days before the wedding day. They are lodged in a garden
or empty house close by. On their arrival some sharbat is sent for
their refreshment from the house of the bride. Then the two fathers
meet and embrace. Contrary to usual custom the ladies of the
bridegroom’s family also go on this occasion. They are also treated to
sharbat by the ladies of the bride’s household, and the mothers of the
pair meet and embrace. Then the bride’s father sets up in his courtyard
a pole of bamboo fixed in the direction of the sun as pointed out by
the family astrologer. On this pole wooden images of birds, parrots,
etc., are fixed. The pole is stained with turmeric and near it is
placed a water jar (kalsa) and a cocoanut. The technical name of the
pole is stambha. In the room of the house reserved for the worship of
the tribal goddesses two water jars are placed; one represents the
great Ganesa, Bara Ganesa; the other the little Ganesa, Chhota Ganesa.
Near them is a wooden seat (pîrha), on which is laid a cocoanut covered
with a piece of red cloth. This represents some woman of the family who
in former times has committed Sati. The father and mother of the bride
offer to this Sati washed rice, sandalwood, water, flowers, and a burnt
offering (homa). Then the Navagraha or the nine planets are worshipped
in the courtyard, and the father and mother of the bride, after bathing
and putting on new clothes, do the fire sacrifice before them. Next all
the ladies of the family and their female friends go to the potter’s
house and worship his wheel (châk) with water, washed rice, sandal,
incense, flowers, and a lamp, and smear it with red powder (rori). Then
they take twenty-eight jars from the potter, and on each of them a
representation of Ganesa is made. The potter receives a suitable
present. In each of these pitchers betel-nut and washed rice is placed,
and on the mouth of each a small earthen saucer (matuki) is laid. The
pitchers are then arranged in a square, seven on each side, and each
row is bound together with a piece of bamboo. This is known as chauri.
Inside this square the pair are made to sit. Before she takes her seat
her mother and four other women of the tribe sprinkle her with a
mixture of oil and turmeric from a wisp of kusa grass. The other women
sing songs while this is being done. Then her body is rubbed with
barley-flour, turmeric, and oil. The same rite is gone through for the
boy in the place (janwânsa) where he is staying with his friends.
25. “When the lucky time for the marriage comes the pair are dressed in
new clothes and a crown (maur, mukut) is placed on their heads. The boy
goes to the house of the bride mounted on a mare. At the bride’s door
is placed a pole on which are hung some wooden images of birds. This
the bridegroom knocks down with a stick—possibly a survival of marriage
by capture. This pole is known as toran. When the bridegroom alights
his mother-in-law comes to the door, holds him by his nose, and leading
him in marks his forehead with red powder. Then he takes his seat in
the square of vessels and does the fire sacrifice. The bride also comes
into the square and sits on his left side. She also does a fire
sacrifice. Then some henna (menhdi) is powdered and rubbed on her
hands, and the hands of the bridegroom are laid on her hands, while the
priest recites the appropriate verses. Their robes are knotted together
and they walk four times round the fire and do the fire sacrifice. Then
they go into the family oratory and worship the household deities, and
the bride goes with the bridegroom to the place where his party are
staying, and there worships his family gods.
26. “Next morning the bridegroom bathes, and puts on a silk (pitambar)
loin-cloth. The bride puts on a similar dress, and her husband comes to
her house and sits in the square (chauri) already described. The bride
sits on his left, and her mother lays before them a dish of boiled rice
and milk. Each of the pair feeds the other with this. This is known as
the “rite of the fourth” (chaturthi karma). The dowry is next paid
over; and if the bride is nubile, which is usually the case, she
returns to his house with her husband. Next day he worships the Ganges
or some other river, and the marriage rites come to an end.”
[Death ceremonies.] 27. The dead are cremated in the ordinary way. When
the burning is over the chief mourner offers to the spirit of the
deceased a jar of water and a lamp for his use during the period of
mourning. This pitcher he breaks with a stone. The stone is placed at
the ghât where the chief mourner usually bathes. For ten days he pours
water and sesamum (tilanjuli) on the stone, and on the tenth day, after
offering a holy ball (pinda), he throws the stone into the river or
tank near which it has been placed. On the eleventh day he offers
eleven pindas, and the tribesmen are fed. On the twelfth day is the
pitra nirauni, when four pindas are offered; three in the name of
deceased ancestors and one in the name of the deceased. After offering
them the chief mourner says:—“The deceased has now joined his sainted
ancestors.” Brâhmans are then fed. On the thirteenth day the chief
mourner worships Ganesa, the nine planets, and the water jar (kalasa).
The oldest man in the family marks his forehead, and he is invested
with a turban, showing that he has taken the place of the dead man.
Then he pours the water out of the sacred jar at the root of a nîm
tree. Verses are repeated, and the rites are concluded with the worship
of the tribal deity and the feeding of Brâhmans.