Karan, [331] Karnam, Mahanti.--The indigenous writer caste of
Orissa. In 1901 a total of 5000 Karans were enumerated in Sambalpur
and the Uriya States, but the bulk of these have since passed under
the jurisdiction of Bihar and Orissa, and only about 1000 remain
in the Central Provinces. The total numbers of the caste in India
exceed a quarter of a million. The poet Kalidas in his Raghuvansa
describes Karans as the offspring of a Vaishya father and a Sudra
mother. The caste fulfils the same functions in Orissa as the
Kayasths elsewhere, and it is said that their original ancestors
were brought from northern India by Yayati Kesari, king of Orissa
(A.D. 447-526), to supply the demand for writers and clerks. The
original of the word Karan is said to be the Hindi karani, kiran,
which Wilson derives from Sanskrit karan, 'a doer.' The word karani
was at one time applied by natives to the junior members of the
Civil Service--'Writers,' as they were designated. And the 'Writers'
Buildings' of Calcutta were known as karani kibarik. From this term
a corruption 'Cranny' came into use, and was applied in Bengal to a
clerk writing English, and thence to the East Indians or half-castes
from whom English copyists were subsequently recruited. [332] The
derivation of Mahanti is obscure, unless it be from maha, great,
or from Mahant, the head of a monastery. The caste prefer the name of
Karan, because that of Mahanti is often appropriated by affluent Chasas
and others who wish to get a rise in rank. In fact a proverb says:
Jar nahin Jati, taku bolanti Mahanti, or 'He who has no caste calls
himself a Mahanti.' The Karans, like the Kayasths, claim Chitragupta
as their first ancestor, but most of them repudiate any connection
with the Kayasths, though they are of the same calling. The Karans
of Sambalpur have two subcastes, the Jhadua or those of the jhadi
or jungle and the Utkali or Uriyas. The former are said to be the
earlier immigrants and are looked down on by the latter, who do not
intermarry with them. Their exogamous divisions or gotras are of the
type called eponymous, being named after well-known Rishis or saints
like those of the Brahmans. Instances of such names are Bharadwaj,
Parasar, Valmik and Vasishtha. Some of the names, however, are in
a manner totemistic, as Nagas, the cobra; Kounchhas, the tortoise;
Bachas, a calf, and so on. These animals are revered by the members
of the gotra named after them, but as they are of semi-divine nature,
the practice may be distinguished from true totemism. In some cases,
however, members of the Bharadwaj gotra venerate the blue-jay, and of
the Parasar gotra, a pigeon. Marriage is regulated according to the
table of prohibited degrees in vogue among the higher castes. Girls
are commonly married before they are ten years old, but no penalty
attaches to the postponement of the ceremony to a later age. The
binding portion of the marriage is Hastabandhan or the tying of the
hands of the couple together with kusha grass, [333] and when this
has been done the marriage cannot be annulled. The bride goes to
her husband's house for a few days and then returns home until she
attains maturity. Divorce and remarriage of widows are prohibited,
and an unfaithful wife is finally expelled from the caste. The Karans
worship the usual Hindu gods and call themselves Smarths. Some belong
to the local Parmarth and Kumbhipatia sects, the former of which
practises obscene rites. They burn their dead, excepting the bodies of
infants, and perform the shraddh ceremony. The caste have a high social
position in Sambalpur, and Brahmans will sometimes take food cooked
without water from them. They wear the sacred thread. They eat fish
and the flesh of clean animals but do not drink liquor. Bhandaris or
barbers will take katcha food from a Karan. They are generally engaged
in service as clerks, accountants, schoolmasters or patwaris. Their
usual titles are Patnaik or Bohidar. The Karans are considered to be
of extravagant habits, and one proverb about them is--
Mahanti jati, udhar paile kinanti hathi,
or, 'The Mahanti if he can get a loan will at once buy an
elephant.' Their shrewdness in business transactions and tendency
to overreach the less intelligent cultivating castes have made them
unpopular like the Kayasths, and another proverb says--
Patarkata, Tankarkata, Paniota, Gaudini mai
E chari jati ku vishwas nai,
or, 'Trust not the palm-leaf writer (Karan), the weaver, the
liquor-distiller nor the milk-seller.'