==============+=======
Districts. |Number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~
Morâdâbâd | 14
Cawnpur | 10
Gorakhpur | 1
Lucknow | 163
Râê Bareli | 5
Bahrâich | 1
+~~~~~~~
Total | 194
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Hâbûra. [496]—A vagrant thieving tribe found chiefly in the Central
Ganges-Jumna Duâb. The derivation of the name is very uncertain. It
possibly means a “bugaboo” (hawwa, which is probably through the
Prakrit the representative of the Sanskrit bhûta “an evil spirit”),
expressive of the fear in which they are held by their neighbours.
Ethnologically the Hâbûras are no doubt very closely connected with the
regular gypsy tribes of Sânsiya and Bhâtu; in fact there seems reason
to believe that these have only become quite recently endogamous
groups, and even now it is asserted that they occasionally marry.
Though the Hâbûras are now in much a superior grade to the Beriyas, who
live by prostituting their women, both the tribes have the same
traditional connection with the old ruined city of Noh-khera to the
north of Pargana Jalesar, in the Etah District, and many of the gangs
who traverse that part of the country make their way to Noh-khera
during the rainy season and there arrange marriages and other caste
matters in a series of general tribal councils.
[Legends of origin.] 2. According to one story their ancestor was a
certain Rig who one day went out hunting and pursued a hare into the
forest retreat then occupied by Sîta in her exile. She was so offended
at the intrusion, that she cursed him that all his descendants were to
be wanderers and live by the chase. By another account they were once
Chauhân Râjputs who lived at Jartauli in the Aligarh District. They
rebelled against the Emperor, and Alâ-ud-dîn sent a force to coerce
them. They were defeated, and most of them had to take refuge in the
jungle, where they lived on the game they killed. Meanwhile some of
their brethren compromised with the Emperor and returned to their
homes. They ascertained that one of their wild kinsmen had died, so
they went to see his widow become sati. When she was brought out she
saw a hare and immediately started after it with cries of hau! hau!
whence the tribe was called Hâbûra. The respectable Chauhâns were so
disgusted with her impiety that they excommunicated all the savage
branch of the tribe, and they have remained outcastes to the present
day.
[Tribal organization.] 3. They usually name four exogamous septs which
are all named after well-known Râjput tribes—Solanki Chauhân, Punwâr,
and Bhatti, also called Râthaur. The Census Returns give a list of
sections which illustrate the mixed elements out of which the caste has
been formed,—Ajudhyabâsi, Baddhik, Bahâdsiya, Bahâli, Bahâniya, Bâhas,
Banjâra, Banohra, Banwâr or Banwariya, Barchandi, Chauhân, Chiryamâr or
“bird-killers,” Dâli, Dom, Gauriya, Hindubalana, Jadwâr, Kalkanaur,
Kârgar or Kârigar, Khauna, Khaurkhâl, Lodh, Mardârbatti, Mârwâr,
Nahâli, Nandak, Phârli, and Tahali. These septs are exogamous. In
Bijnor they are said to have two endogamous sub-divisions: those who
wear a bead necklace (kanthi) and those who do not. According to
another account their only rule of exogamy is that they do not marry
blood relations, and it is very doubtful how far the sept system really
prevails. There is some reason to believe that all or at least some of
them practise a sort of group exogamy, not marrying in their own camp
or horde. They have a strong tribal council (panchâyat) under a
president (sardâr), who manages all caste business.
[Marriage.] 4. It is quite certain that up to modern times they were in
the habit of recruiting the clan by kidnapping girls of other castes;
since they have been placed under more careful supervision this has, it
is believed, in a great measure ceased, but there seems good reason to
believe, though the Hâbûras themselves are very reticent on the
subject, that they still introduce and marry in the tribe outcast women
of other castes. In Bijnor it is reported that people of other castes
introduced into the tribe in this way hold a lower social position than
the Hâbûras of legitimate descent. For a virgin bride the price fixed
by the tribal custom and payable by the father of the bridegroom is
twenty-five rupees, and he has also to pay the expenses of the marriage
feasting. The feeling against inter-tribal immorality appears to be
strong, and it is said that a man who seduces a married woman has to
pay as much as one hundred and twenty rupees before he will be
readmitted to caste. On the other hand the girls have considerable
liberty before marriage, and a faux pas is not very seriously dealt
with. Their women from their vagrant, mendicant life naturally bear an
indifferent character; but though not particularly virtuous, they are
not habitually prostituted by their male relatives as the Beriya women
are. Widows and divorced women are married in the tribe according to
the karâo or dharîcha form, and their children are regarded as
legitimate.
[Marriage ceremonies.] 5. The marriage is arranged by a go-between, who
is a member of the tribe and is called bichauliya. He takes two rupees
from the boy’s father to the father of the girl, and acceptance of this
constitutes the betrothal. If the relations of the bride break the
engagement they are fined from ten to twenty rupees by the tribal
council, and return the earnest money to the relations of the boy. The
marriage ritual is entirely carried out by the father of the girl and
the man who acted as marriage broker. No Brâhman is employed, and all
that is done is that the pair acknowledge in the presence of the
tribesmen that they are man and wife, and they then make five or seven
revolutions together round the marriage shed. In Etah a curious form of
marriage is reported. When the friends on both sides assemble, one of
the men mounts a horse and rides some distance on the plain close to
the camp. All the others, men and women, pursue him, and meanwhile the
bridegroom being left alone with the bride carries her into a grass hut
prepared for the purpose and immediately consummates the marriage. When
the friends return the event is celebrated with singing and dancing.
The ceremony at widow-marriage is the same as that prevailing among
other low castes.
[Birth.] 6. The mother during her confinement is attended by a midwife
of the Bhangi caste, and after that by the women of her own family.
They perform the usual sixth day ceremony (chhathi), and on the tenth
day the mother is taken to worship the well from which the family
supply of water is obtained. This is known as kuân pûja.
[Death ceremonies.] 7. Like the Beriyas, the Hâbûras are in the
intermediate stage between burial and cremation. In Mathura they either
cremate or throw the corpse into the Jumna. In Bijnor they either bury
or expose the corpse in the jungle. In no case is the Mahâbrâhman
called in. In Mathura when they cremate the dead they leave the ashes
where the corpse was burnt. They cover the corpse with cloth, tie it to
the bier, and fasten a number of wheaten cakes to it before they set
fire to the pyre. Then, on the next Monday or Thursday, whichever comes
first, the mourners are shaved and a dinner is given to those members
of the caste who joined in the funeral. On the twelfth day some
uncooked grain is given to Brâhmans and the brethren are feasted. Then,
in the month of Kuâr which next follows, on the date corresponding to
that of the death of the deceased, they do themselves a sort of srâddha
and pour water on the ground in the name of the dead. On this occasion,
too, uncooked grain is given to Brâhmans and the relatives are
entertained. In Aligarh, when they are well off and cremate the dead,
the relatives make an earthen platform on the site of the pyre, and
there they make periodical oblations in the name of the dead. From Etah
it is reported that when a man dies at home he is cremated, the bones
are buried on the spot, and a masonry platform erected over them. If a
man dies at a distance from home his bones are brought to one of the
regular camping places of the tribe, and are there buried as above
described. From the date of the burial of the bones the days of
mourning, including the Tîja or third day and the Terahwîn or
thirteenth, are fixed. The tombs of old men of the tribe are specially
venerated, and they are recognised as tribal godlings. When the bones
of an old and respected member of the tribe are being buried, the
senior man of the tribe who is present makes a sort of funeral oration
in which he dwells on the fact that the Hâbûras are the only really
free people in the country, as they are subject to none; and he thus
shows in detail how much superior they are even to Brâhmans and
Râjputs. Part of the speech is devoted to explaining one by one in what
respect other castes are inferior to them, and he ends by imploring
Parameswar that if it is fated that the soul of the dead man is to be
born again, he may be reborn as a Hâbûra.
[Religion.] 8. All the Hâbûras in these Provinces call themselves
Hindus; but, as we have seen, they accept little or no service from
Brâhmans. In Aligarh it is said that when a boy reaches the age of
twelve they initiate him before a Jogi and then begin to train him in
thieving. In Bijnor they usually worship Kâli Bhawâni. In Mathura they
have a local goddess, Kela Devi, to whom they make offerings in the
months of Kûar and Chait. These offerings are consumed by the
worshippers. But it is only on special occasions that they sacrifice a
buffalo or goat in her honour. This sacrifice is done at the house of
the person making the offerings; the goddess has no regular temple. The
victim is killed in her name, and the flesh distributed among the
relatives and friends. They celebrate the usual holidays—Salono, Holi,
Diwâli, and Dasahra. They never go to Gaya to propitiate the sacred
dead, but they bathe in the Ganges in their honour, and in Mathura
visit for the same purpose the temple of Dâûji.
[Social status and occupation.] 9. Like the Beriyas they appear to be
in a transitional stage as regards food. In Aligarh, it is reported
that they will eat almost any kind of food—the goh or iguana, the sânda
or lizard found in ûsar plains, the hedgehog, jackal, wild cat,
tortoise, buffalo, and deer; and that there are only four castes from
whose hands they will not take food—the Chamâr, Bhangi, Dhobi, and
Kalâr. They will not eat the cow or the donkey, and they have this much
respect for the cow that they will not geld an ox with their own hands.
It is also asserted that they do not drink spirits, which is almost
certainly incorrect. In Bijnor they drink spirits and eat pork, fowls,
the flesh of deer and goats, fish, the crocodile, jackal, and other
vermin, as well as the leavings of all respectable Hindus. They will
drink from the hands of all Hindus except Chamârs, Bhangis, Kanjars,
Sânsiyas, and the like. In Mathura they assert that they have given up
the use of vermin and eat the flesh of all cloven-footed animals,
except the cow, and fowls, and fish. As in other places, they will eat
the leavings of all high caste Hindus. The fact is that there are two
classes of Hâbûras: those who have settled down to agriculture and
become fairly respectable members of society, and those who still
preserve their vagrant mode of life. The former are gradually shedding
off the filthy habits and customs of their vagrant brethren under the
example of the Hindu castes by whom they are surrounded. By and by as
they become more civilised they will assert a descent from Râjputs, and
will, as they rise in the world, be accepted as such. From Etah it is
reported that if a member of the tribe commits an offence such as theft
or immorality, he is excommunicated for a certain time and is not
admitted until he draws blood from some part of his body, usually the
nose. Women are not allowed to eat goat’s flesh or rice, or to partake
in the funeral feasts. If any woman touches this food of the dead she
is expelled from the caste.
10. They do not use any medicine in disease but pray to Devi and Zâhir
Pîr. They attribute disease to the displeasure of their deceased
ancestors who have not been suitably propitiated. They have much fear
of the Evil Eye, and their remedy for it is to get a Faqîr or a Jogi to
blow on a vessel of water, which is then waved over the head of the
patient. In Aligarh if a woman is caught committing adultery with a
stranger to the tribe she is branded three times on the left arm with a
hot iron and has then to bathe in the Ganges, while her husband is
obliged to feast the brethren. Her paramour is not punished. When a boy
is born he is named on the tenth day by a Brâhman, who receives five
sers of grain. Then some wheat porridge is cooked with coarse sugar and
eaten only by the women. As a rule they are truthful among themselves,
but lie to others to procure the release of a clansman. Their oaths are
as follows:—The most binding is to light a lamp (chirâgh) and then blow
it out. By this he means,—“If I lie may my family be destroyed as I
blow out the light.” If a Hâbûra can be induced to take this oath, he
will never lie. Another is to cut the root of a pîpal tree. The third
is swearing by Devi.
[Criminal habits.] 11. The vagrant branch of the tribes supplies some
of the most audacious criminals in the Province. A recent report
says:—“They are the pest of the neighbourhoods which they frequent, are
continually pilfering, robbing standing crops, attacking carts and
passengers along the roads, committing robberies and even dakaities.”
It is preposterous to connect them, as has been done in this report,
with the Thârus, a particularly harmless, inoffensive race inhabiting
the Himalayan Tarâi. The boys are trained at first on field robbery,
and are then taken out on excursions for the purpose of burglary. When
they go to rob fields the gang consists of not less than twenty men.
When out for the purpose of burglary eight or nine go together. Unlike
the Sânsiyas the Hâbûras very seldom use violence except to save
themselves from arrest, and they never carry any weapons but bludgeons.
Mr. A. O. Hume [497] writes of them:—“They never worship Thâkurji
except in sickness or great misfortune, such as the visit of the Police
or of a Magistrate to their camp. At no time is their ritual a
complicated one; it consists of an extraordinary manipulation with
grains of wheat, the petitioners making at the same time a vow of
sacrificing a goat or a fowl, which is subsequently performed by half
roasting the offering in a flame of ghi in which salt and frankincense
are thrown, and then feasting upon it. If a crime has been committed
and traced to any horde, the chief immediately determines who are to be
given up. Usually a compromise is made with the Police; two out of six
or three out of eight are made over to justice, the rest escaping. All
the chief does is to repeat a form of words, and then taking two of the
grains of wheat offered to the god, he places them on the head of the
scapegoat. The oath of the brotherhood is upon him, and whether he be
guilty or not, he confesses to the Magistrate or Judge and goes to the
gallows or to a lifelong exile confident that his chief and brethren
will, as they are bound, feed and protect his wife and children that he
leaves behind even before their own. Marriage seems scarcely to be with
them a religious ceremony; it consists in placing four small coins in a
figure of diamond shape outside which a circle is drawn, and round this
the bride and bridegroom walk seven times.”
12. In Aligarh at the present day if a Hâbûra is killed in the
commission of any crime his accomplices give his widow one hundred and
fifty rupees; if he is only arrested they have to support his wife and
family until he is released. If an innocent man is convicted the real
offender has to support his wife and family while he is in prison. They
will not inform against each other; if anyone do so he is turned out of
the gang. Neither men nor women wear any jewellery. They do not go long
distances to commit crime, and in the daylight they can easily be
identified as Hâbûras, because both men and women wear the modicum of
clothes consistent with decency. They do not attempt to conceal their
movements from the Police; and if one of the gang be arrested, the
headman will at once give notice of the fact. The only stolen property
they bring into the camp is grain; jewellery, vessels, and clothes they
conceal in earthen vessels and bury them in the neighbourhood of the
encampment. They are generally supported by some landowner, who assists
them in the disposal of stolen property and gets a commission of four
annas in the rupee.
[Their argot.] 13. Hâbûras have a regular Thieves’ Latin of their own,
of which the following are examples:—
Corn of all kinds—kau.
Bread—tuk.
Mother—ai.
Father—bâbu.
Son—dikra.
Daughter—dikri.
Wife—dhaniyâni.
Husband—dhanni.
Son-in-law—pahuna (guest).
Vessels of all kinds—tanwara.
Clothes—lugariya.
Shoes—khakra.
Bullock—dhanda.
Cow—jengariya.
Go from here—paro hind.
Run away—nasija.
Policemen—kapâhi.
Police officer—Mota modhana.
[Schemes of reformation.] 14. A full account of the measures taken from
time to time with a view to the reclamation of the tribe will be found
in the report by Mr. D. T. Roberts appended to the report of the Police
Commission of 1890. In the Etah District they have been brought under
the operations of the Criminal Tribes Act but without much success, as
the only persons subjected to the Act were the settled branch of the
tribe who are, as a rule, comparatively harmless. A scheme for their
colonisation in the Morâdâbâd District seems to have met with
comparatively small success.