Jakkulas, among whom it was, at Tenali in the Kistna district,
formerly customary for each family to give up one girl for
prostitution. Under the influence of social reform, a written
agreement was a few years ago entered into to give up the practice.
Adapapa. Female attendants on the ladies of the families of
Zamindars, who, as they are not allowed to marry, lead a life of
prostitution. Their sons call themselves Balijas. In some places,
e.g., the Kistna and Godavari districts, this class is known as
Khasa or Khasavandlu.
Santa Kavarai. Returned as Balijas in the Chingleput district.
Ravut. Returned in the Salem district. Said to have been formerly
soldiers under the Poligars.
Like other Telugu castes, the Balijas have exogamous septs (intiperu)
and gotras. Of the former, the following are examples:--
Tupakala, musket.
Samudram, ocean.
Pappu, split pulse.
Gantla, bell.
Puli, tiger.
Balli, lizard.
Avula, cow.
Gandham, sandal paste or powder.
Jilakara, cummin seeds.
Miriyala, pepper.
Mutyala, pearls.
Narikella, cocoanut.
Nemili, peacock.
Pagadala, coral.
Pattindla, silk house.
Ratnala, precious stones.
Ungarala, rings.
Yenumala, buffalo.
There is a saying that a Balija who has no gotra must take the name of
the Pasuleti, or Pasupuleti gotra. In like manner, a Brahman orphan,
whose gotra cannot be traced, is made to adopt the Vathsa gotra.
Among the Musu Kammas, the consent of both the maternal uncle and
elder sister's husband must be obtained before a girl is given in
marriage. At the betrothal ceremony, the future bridegroom's relations
proceed to the house of the girl, carrying the following articles
on an odd number of trays beneath a cloth canopy (ulladam): mustard,
fenugreek (Trigonella Foenumgræcum), cummin seeds, curds, jaggery, dhal
(Cajanus indicus), balls of condiments, tamarinds, pepper, twenty-one
cakes, eleven cocoanuts, salt, plantains, flowers, a new cloth,
black beads, a palm-leaf roll for the ear lobe, turmeric, a comb,
and kunkumam (colour powder). A few rupees, called kongu mudi, to be
given to the future mother-in-law, are also placed on the tray. The
contracting parties exchange betel and a cocoanut, of which the latter
is taken away by a member of the bridegroom's party, tied up in his
body-cloth. The girl is seated on a plank, goes through the ceremony
(nalagu) of being anointed with oil and paste, and is presented with
a new cloth. Wearing this, she sits on the plank, and betel, flowers,
jewels, etc., are placed in her lap. A near female relation then
ties a string of black beads round her neck. Among the Musu Kammas,
the milk-post, consisting of a green bamboo, with sometimes a branch
of Odina Wodier, must be set up two days before the commencement of
the marriage ceremonies. It is worshipped, and to it are tied an iron
ring, and a string of cotton and wool twisted together (kankanam). A
small framework, called dhornam, made of two sticks, across which
cotton threads or pieces of cloth are stretched, is brought by a
washerwoman, and given to the maternal uncle of the bridegroom,
who ties it to the marriage booth. The marriage pots are brought
from a potter's house beneath a cloth canopy (ulladam), and given to
married couples, closely related to the bridegroom, who fetch water,
and place the pots on the dais. Some married women pour rice on a
clean white cloth spread on the floor, and rub off the bran with their
hands, while they sing songs. The cloth to be worn by the bridegroom
is dipped in turmeric water by these women and dried. The Balijas are
very particular about the worship of their female ancestors (perantalu)
and no auspicious ceremony can be commenced until perantalu puja has
been performed. Among the Musu Kammas, five women, who are closely
related to the bridal couple, take only one meal a day, and try to
keep free from pollution of all sorts. They go through the nalagu
ceremony, and are presented with new cloths. Among other sections,
the wall is simply painted with turmeric dots to represent the
ancestors. The ancestor worship concluded, the finger and toe-nails
of the bridegroom are cut, and a Musu Kamma bridegroom is conducted
to a temple of Vigneswara (Ganesa), if there is one near at hand. By
other sections it is considered sufficient, if Vigneswara worship is
performed at the marriage booth. The Musu Kamma bridegroom is dressed
up at the temple, and a bashingam (chaplet) tied on his forehead. An
old-fashioned turban (paghai) is placed on his head, and a dagger
(jimthadu) stuck into his waist-cloth. It is said that, in olden times,
the Balijas used to worship the dagger, and sacrifice sheep or goats
at marriages. The bridegroom is next brought to the house where the
wedding is being celebrated, and his brother-in-law washes his feet,
and, after throwing flowers and rice over them, puts toe-rings and
shoes thereon. The Brahman purohit lights the sacred fire (homam),
and pours ghi (clarified butter) therein, while he utters some
verses, Vedic or other. He then ties the kankanam (thread) on the
bridegroom's wrist. The parents of the bride next proceed with the
dharadhattam (gift of the girl) by pouring water and grains of rice
into the hands of the bridegroom. Vigneswara is then worshipped,
and the bottu (marriage badge) is blessed by those assembled, and
handed to the bridegroom. He, placing his right foot on that of
the bride, who is separated from him by a screen, ties it round her
neck. The couple then exchange seats, and rice is thrown in front of
them. They next go thrice round the dais and milk-post, and, at the
end of the first and second rounds, the foot of the bride is placed
on a grinding stone. After the third round they gaze at the pole-star
(Arundati). Into one of the marriage pots are put a pap-bowl, ring, and
bracelet, which are picked out by the couple. If the pap-bowl is first
got hold of by the bridegroom, the first-born child will be a boy; if
the ring, it will be a girl. This rite concluded, the bridegroom makes
a mark on the bride's forehead with collyrium. On the second day, the
bridegroom makes a pretence of being angry, and stays in a garden or
house near that in which the marriage ceremonies are conducted. The
bride, and some of her relations, go to him in procession, and,
treating him with great respect, bring him back. The sacred fire is
lighted, and the bride enters the room in which the marriage pots
(araveni) are kept. The bridegroom is stopped at the entrance thereto
by a number of married women, and has to call his wife by her name,
and pay a small sum of money for the arathi (coloured water), which
is waved by the women, to ward off the evil eye. In some places,
the sister of the bridegroom extracts a promise that his coral
(daughter) shall be given in marriage to her pearl (son). He is then
permitted to enter the room. On the third day, after homam has been
performed by the Brahman priest, the newly married couple go through
a burlesque imitation of domestic life, after they have worshipped
the posts of the booth, and perform a mimic ploughing ceremony,
the bridegroom stirring up some earth in a basket with a stick or
miniature plough. This, in some places, his sister tries to prevent
him from doing by covering the basket with a cloth, and he has to say
"I will give my coral to your pearl." His brother-in-law tries to
squeeze his fingers between a pair of sticks called kitti, which
was, in former times, a very popular form of torture as a means
of extracting confession. The bride gives her husband some conji
(rice-gruel) to refresh him after his pretended labour.
At a marriage among the Perikes (q.v.), a gunny-bag is said to be
worshipped before the bottu is tied. A quantity of rice is measured
on the first day of the ceremonies and tied up in a cloth. On the
third day, the cloth is opened, and it is considered an auspicious
sign if the quantity of rice exceeds that which was originally put
into it. Among the Rajamahendram Balijas, just before the nalagu
ceremony, the knees, shoulders, and cheeks of the bride and bridegroom
are touched with a pestle, while the names of their septs are called
out. On the third day, the same process is repeated, but in the reverse
order. A Gazula Balija bride must, when the bottu is tied, be dressed
in a white cloth with red stripes, called sanna pappuli. With other
sections, a white cloth dyed with turmeric is de rigeur.
Balija, it may be noted, is, in the North Arcot Manual, returned
as a division of Dasaris and Idigas. The better classes of Medaras
(cane-splitters and mat-makers) are also taking to calling themselves
Balijas, and assume the title Chetti. Oddes and Upparas sometimes
style themselves Odde Balija and Uppara Balija. They belong to the
right-hand section, which is headed by the Desayi, who is a Balija,
and so describe themselves as belonging to the Setti or Chetti samayam
(section). Some members of the Mila and Vada fishing castes have
adopted Oda or Vada (boat) Balija as their caste name.
Ballala.--Ballala, or Bellala, was returned, at the census, 1901,
as the caste name of a number of individuals, indicating their claim
to descent from the Hoysal Ballal kings of Mysore. Ballal is a title
assumed by Bant families of position. There is a proverb that, when
a Bant becomes powerful, he becomes a Ballal. [96]
Ballem (spear).--An exogamous sept of Mala.
Balli (lizard).--An exogamous sept of Balija.
Balolika.--A synonym of Rajapuri.
Balu (bear).--A sept of Domb.
Bana (big pot).--An exogamous sept of Togatas, and a name for Telugu
washermen, who are sometimes called Bana Tsakala. Bana is the Telugu
name for the pot which they use for boiling the clothes in.
Banajiga (vanik, tradesman).--Canarese traders, many of whom are
Lingayats. See Linga Balija.
Banda.--Banda, as applied to the Mondi mendicant class, seems to be
used in the sense of an obstinate fellow. Some, however, maintain
that it refers to a beggar who carries about a stone, and threatens
to beat his brains out, if alms are not forthcoming. Banda, meaning
a rock, also occurs as an exogamous sept of Odde.
Bandari.--Bandari, denoting apparently the shrub Dodondæa viscosa,
is an exogamous sept of Odde. It further occurs, in the sense of a
temple treasurer, as an exogamous sept of Devangas and Padma Sales,
for whom the Bandari acts as caste messenger. It is also the name
of the assistant to the headman, or Pattakar, of the Okkiliyans,
a title of Konkani Brahmans, and a synonym of Kelasis.
Bandekara.--A synonym for Konkani Vanis (traders), who are said, in the
Madras Census Report, 1901, to ape the Brahmanical customs, and call
themselves by the curious hybrid name of Vasiya (or Vaisya) Brahman.
Bandi (cart).--An exogamous sept of Kapu, Kavarai, Korava, Kumbara,
Kurni, Kuruba, Mala, Odde, Stanika, and Yanadi. It further occurs
as a name for Koravas, who drag the temple car at times of religious
festival. Vandikkaran (cartmen) is an occupational name for Nayars,
who work as cartmen for carrying fuel.
Bangaru Mukkara (gold nose ornament).--A sub-division of Kamma.
Baniya.--The Baniyas or Bunyas are immigrant traders and money-lenders
(sowcars) from Northern India, who have settled down in the southern
bazars, where they carry on a lucrative business, and wax sleek and
wealthy. Bania also occurs as a synonym for the South Indian trading
caste, the Komatis.
It may be noted, as a little matter of history, that, in 1677, the
Court of Directors, in a letter to Fort St. George, offered "twenty
pounds reward to any of our servants or soldiers as shall be able to
speak, write, and translate the Banian language, and to learn their
arithmetic." [97]
Banjari.--A synonym of Lambadi.
Banka (gum).--An exogamous sept of Motati Kapu.
Bannagara (a painter).--A synonym of Chitrakara.
Bannan.--A synonym of Vannan or Mannan, recorded at times of
census. In like manner Bannata occurs as a Canarese form of the
Malayalam Veluttedan or Vannattan.
Banni or Vanni (Prosopis spicigera).--An exogamous sept of Kuruba and
Kurni. The tree is worshipped because on it "the five Pandava princes
hung up their arms when they entered Virat Nagra in disguise. On the
tree the arms turned to snakes, and remained untouched till the owners
returned." (Lisboa.)
Bant.--For the following account of the Bants I am mainly indebted
to Mr. H. A. Stuart's description of them in the Manual of South
Canara. The name Bant, pronounced Bunt, means in Tulu a powerful man
or soldier, and indicates that the Bants were originally a military
class corresponding to the Nayars of Malabar. The term Nadava instead
of Bant in the northern portions of South Canara points, among other
indications, to a territorial organisation by nads similar to that
described by Mr. Logan as prevailing in Malabar. "The Nayars," he
writes, "were, until the British occupied the country, the militia
of the district. Originally they seem to have been organised into
'Six Hundreds,' and each six hundred seems to have had assigned to
it the protection of all the people in a nad or country. The nad was
in turn split up into taras, a Dravidian word signifying originally
a foundation, the foundation of a house, hence applied collectively
to a street, as in Tamil teru, in Telugu teruvu, and in Canarese
and Tulu teravu. The tara was the Nayar territorial unit for civil
purposes." It has been stated that "the Malabar Nair chieftain of old
had his nad or barony, and his own military class; and the relics
of this powerful feudal system still survive in the names of some
of the taluks (divisions) of modern Malabar, and in the official
designations of certain Nair families, whose men still come out with
quaint-looking swords and shields to guard the person of the Zamorin on
the occasion of the rice-throwing ceremony, which formally constitutes
him the ruler of the land. Correspondingly, the Bants of the northern
parts of Canara still answer to the territorial name of Nad Bants,
or warriors of the nad or territory. It is necessary to explain that,
in both ancient Keralam and Tulu, the functions of the great military
and dominant classes were so distributed that only certain classes
were bound to render military service to the ruling prince. The rest
were lairds or squires, or gentleman farmers, or the labourers and
artisans of their particular community, though all of them cultivated
a love of manly sports." [98]
Few traces of any such organisation as has been indicated now
prevail, great changes having been made when the Vijayanagar
Government introduced, more than five hundred years ago, a system
of administration under which the local Jain chiefs, though owing
allegiance to an overlord, became more independent in their relations
with the people of the country. Under the Bednur kings, and still more
under the Mysore rule, the power of the chiefs was also swept away,
but the old organisation was not reverted to.
The Bants are now the chief land-owning and cultivating class in South
Canara, and are, with the exception of the Billavas or toddy-drawers,
the most numerous caste in the district. "At the present day, the Bants
of Canara are largely the independent and influential landed gentry,
some would say, perhaps, the substantial yeomanry. They still retain
their manly independence of character, their strong and well developed
physique, and they still carry their heads with the same haughty toss
as their forefathers did in the stirring fighting days when, as an
old proverb had it, 'The slain rested in the yard of the slayer,'
and when every warrior constantly carried his sword and shield. Both
men and women of the Bant community are among the comeliest of Asiatic
races, the men having high foreheads and well-turned aquiline noses."
In a note on the agricultural economy of South Canara, Rao Sahib
T. Raghaviah writes [99] that "the ryot (cultivator) of South Canara
loves to make his land look attractive, and every field is lined with
the lovely areca, and the stately palm. The slopes adjoining the rich
fields are studded with plantations of jack, mango, cashew, plantain
and other fruit and shade trees, and the ryot would not even omit to
daub his trees with the alternate white and red bands, with which the
east coast women love to adorn a marriage house or temple wall. These,
with the regularly laid out and carefully embanked water-courses and
streams, lend an air of enchantment to the whole scene. The ignorance
prevailing among the women of the richer section of the landed classes
(on the east coast) is so great that it is not uncommon to ridicule
a woman by saying that what she knows about paddy (rice) is that it
grows on a tree. But, in a district like South Canara, the woman that
does not know agriculture is the exception. I have often come across
respectable women of the landed classes like the Bants, Shivallis,
and Nairs, managing large landed estates as efficiently as men. The
South Canara woman is born on the land, and lives on it. She knows
when to sow, and when to reap; how much seed to sow, and how much
labour to employ to plough, to weed, or to reap. She knows how to
prepare her seed, and to cure her tobacco, to garner her grain,
and to preserve her cucumbers through the coming monsoon. She knows
further how to feed her cow, and to milk it, to treat it when sick,
and to graze it when hale. She also knows how to make her manure, and
how to use it without wasting a bit of it. She knows how to collect
green leaves for her manure, and to help the fuel reserve on the hill
slope above her house grow by a system of lopping the branches and
leaving the standards. She knows also how to collect her areca nuts,
and to prepare them for the market, and to collect her cocoanuts, and
haggle for a high price for them with her customers. There is, in fact,
not a single thing about agriculture which the South Canara man knows,
and which the South Canara woman does not know. It is a common sight,
as one passes through a paddy flat or along the adjoining slope, to
see housewives bringing out handfuls of ashes collected in the oven
over night, and depositing them at the root of the nearest fruit tree
on their land."
Most of the Bants are Hindus by religion, and rank as Sudras, but
about ten thousand of them are Jains. Probably they originally assumed
Jainism as a fashionable addition to the ancestral demon worship, to
which they all still adhere, whether they profess to be Vaishnavites,
Saivites, or Jains. It is probable that, during the political supremacy
of the Jains, a much larger proportion of the Bants professed adherence
to that religion than now-a-days.
There are four principal sub-divisions of the caste, viz., Masadika,
who are the ordinary Bants of Tuluva; Nadava or Nad, who speak
Canarese, and are found in the northern part of South Canara; the
Parivara, who do not follow the aliya santana system of inheritance;
and the Jains. Members of these sub-divisions may not intermarry, but
instances have occurred of marriage between members of the Masadika
and Nad sub-divisions.
Nothing very definite is known of the origin of the Bants, but
Tuluva seems, in the early centuries of the Christian era, to have
had kings who apparently were sometimes independent and sometimes
feudatories of overlords, such as the Pallavas, the early Kadambas,
the early Chalukyans, the later Kadambas, the western Chalukyans,
the Kalachurians, and the Hoysal Ballals. This indicates a constant
state of fighting, which would account for an important class of the
population being known as Bantaru or warriors; and, as a matter of
course, they succeeded in becoming the owners of all the land which
did not fall to the share of the priestly class, the Brahmans. Ancient
inscriptions speak of kings of Tuluva, and the Bairasu Wodears of
Karakal, whose inscriptions have been found at Kalasa as early as
the twelfth century, may have exercised power throughout Tuluva or
the greater part of it. But, when the Vijayanagar dynasty became
the overlords of Canara in 1336, there were then existing a number
of minor chiefs who had probably been in power long before, and the
numerous titles still remaining among the Bants and Jains, and the
local dignities known as Pattam and Gadi, point to the existence
from very early times of a number of more or less powerful local
chieftains. The system peculiar to the west coast under which all
property vests in females, and is managed by the seniors of the family,
was also favourable to the continuance of large landed properties,
and it is probable that it is only within comparatively recent times
that sub-division of landed property became anything like as common
as it is now. All the Bants, except the Parivara and a few Jains
follow this aliya santana system of inheritance, [100] a survival of
a time when the military followers of conquering invaders or local
chiefs married women of the local land-owning classes, and the most
important male members of the family were usually absent in camp or
at court, while the women remained at the family house on the estate,
and managed the farms. The titles and the pattams or dignities have
always been held by the male members, but, as they also go with the
landed property, they necessarily devolve on the sister's son of
a deceased holder, whence has arisen the name aliya santana, which
means sister's son lineage. A story is embodied in local traditions,
attributing the origin of the system to the fiat of a king named Bhutal
Pandya, until whose time makkala santana, or inheritance from father to
son, generally obtained. "It is said that the maternal uncle of this
prince, called Deva Pandya, wanted to launch his newly constructed
ships with valuable cargo in them, when Kundodara, king of demons
demanded a human sacrifice. Deva Pandya asked his wife's permission
to offer one of his sons, but she refused, while his sister Satyavati
offered her son Jaya Pandya for the purpose. Kundodara, discovering
in the child signs of future greatness, waived the sacrifice, and
permitted the ships to sail. He then took the child, restored to him
his father's kingdom of Jayantika, and gave him the name of Bhutal
Pandya. Subsequently, when some of the ships brought immense wealth,
the demon again appeared, and demanded of Deva Pandya another human
sacrifice. On the latter again consulting his wife, she refused to
comply with the request, and publicly renounced her title and that of
her children to the valuable property brought in the ships. Kundodara
then demanded the Deva Pandya to disinherit his sons of the wealth
which had been brought in the ships, as also of the kingdom, and
to bestow all on his sister's son, Jaya or Bhutal Pandya. This was
accordingly done. And, as this prince inherited his kingdom from his
maternal uncle and not from his father, he ruled that his own example
should be followed by his subjects, and it was thus that the aliya
santana law was established about A.D. 77." [101]
It is noted by Mr. L. Moore [102] that various judicial decisions
relating to the aliya santana system are based to a great extent on
a book termed Aliya Santanada Kattu Kattale, which was alleged to be
the work of Bhutala Pandiya, who, according to Dr. Whitley Stokes, the
learned scholar who edited the first volume of the Madras High Court
Reports, lived about A.D. 78, but which is in reality a very recent
forgery compiled about 1840. As to this, Dr. A. C. Burnell observes
as follows in a note in his law of partition and succession. "One
patent imposture yet accepted by the Courts as evidence is the Aliya
Santanada Kattu Kattale, a falsified account of the customs of South
Canara. Silly as many Indian books are, a more childish or foolish
tract it would be impossible to discover; it is about as much worthy of
notice in a law court as 'Jack the Giant Killer.' That it is a recent
forgery is certain.... The origin of the book in its present state is
well-known; it is satisfactorily traced to two notorious forgers and
scoundrels about thirty years ago, and all copies have been made from
the one they produced. I have enquired in vain for an old manuscript,
and am informed, on the best authority, that not one exists. A number
of recent manuscripts are to be found, but they all differ essentially
one from another. A more clumsy imposture it would be hard to find,
but it has proved a mischievous one in South Canara, and threatens to
render a large amount of property quite valueless. The forgers knew the
people they had to deal with, the Bants, and, by inserting a course
that families which did not follow the Aliya Santana shall become
extinct, have effectually prevented an application for legislative
interference, though the poor superstitious folk would willingly
(it is said) have the custom abolished." [103]
As a custom similar to aliya santana prevails in Malabar, it no doubt
originated before Tuluva and Kerala were separated. The small body
of Parivara Bants, and the few Jain Bants that do not follow the
aliya santana system, are probably the descendants of a few families
who allowed their religious conversion to Hinduism or Jainism to
have more effect on their social relations than was commonly the
case. Now that the ideas regarding marriage among the Bants are in
practice assimilated to a great extent to those of most other people,
the national rule of inheritance is a cause of much heart-burning and
quarrelling, fathers always endeavouring to benefit their own offspring
at the cost of the estate. A change would be gladly welcomed by many,
but vested interests in property constitute an almost insuperable
obstacle.
The Bants do not usually object to the use of animal food, except, of
course, the flesh of the cow, and they do not as a rule wear the sacred
thread. But there are some families of position called Ballals, amongst
whom heads of families abstain from animal food, and wear the sacred
thread. These neither eat nor intermarry with the ordinary Bants. The
origin of the Ballals is explained by a proverb, which says that when a
Bant becomes powerful, he becomes a Ballal. Those who have the dignity
called Pattam, and the heads of certain families, known as Shettivalas
or Heggades, also wear the sacred thread, and are usually managers
or mukhtesars of the temples and bhutasthans or demon shrines within
the area over which, in former days, they are said to have exercised
a more extended jurisdiction, dealing not only with caste disputes,
but settling numerous civil and criminal matters. The Jain Bants are
strict vegetarians, and they abstain from the use of alcoholic liquors,
the consumption of which is permitted among other Bants, though the
practice is not common. The Jain Bants avoid taking food after sunset.
The more well-to-do Bants usually occupy substantial houses on their
estates, in many of which there is much fine wood-work, and, in some
cases, the pillars of the porches and verandahs, and the doorways are
artistically and elaborately carved. These houses have been described
as being well built, thatched with palm, and generally prettily
situated with beautiful scenic prospects stretching away on all sides.
The Bants have not as a rule largely availed themselves of European
education, and consequently there are but few of them in the Government
service, but among these few some have attained to high office, and
been much respected. As is often the case among high spirited people
of primitive modes of thought, party and faction feeling run high,
and jealousy and disputes about landed property often lead to hasty
acts of violence. Now-a-days, however, the last class of disputes
more frequently lead to protracted litigation in the Courts.
The Bants are fond of out-door sports, football and buffalo-racing
being amongst their favourite amusements. But the most popular
of all is cock-fighting. Every Bant, who is not a Jain, takes an
interest in this sport, and large assemblages of cocks are found
at every fair and festival throughout South Canara. "The outsider,"
it has been said, [104] "cannot fail to be struck with the tremendous
excitement that attends a village fair in South Canara. Large numbers
of cocks are displayed for sale, and groups of excited people may
be seen huddled together, bending down with intense eagerness to
watch every detail in the progress of a combat between two celebrated
village game-cocks." Cock fights on an elaborate scale take place on
the day after the Dipavali, Sankaranthi or Vinayakachathurthi, and
Gokalashtami festivals, outside the village boundary. At Hiriadaka,
in October, 1907, more than a hundred birds were tethered by the leg
to the scrub jungle composed of the evergreen shrub Ixora coccinea,
or carried in the arms of their owners or youngsters. Only males, from
the town and surrounding villages, were witnesses of the spectacle. The
tethered birds, if within range of each other, excited by the constant
crowing and turmoil, indulged in an impromptu fight. Grains of rice
and water were poured into the mouths and over the heads of the birds
before the fight, and after each round. The birds were armed with
cunningly devised steel spurs, constituting a battery of variously
curved and sinuous weapons. It is believed that the Bhuta (demon)
is appeased, if the blood from the wounds drops on the ground. The
men, whose duty it is to separate the birds at the end of a round,
sometimes receive nasty wounds from the spurs. The tail feathers of
a wounded bird are lifted up, and a palm leaf fan or towel is waved
to and fro over the cloacal orifice to revive it. The owner of a
victorious bird becomes the possessor of the vanquished bird, dead
or alive. At an exhibition of the products of South Canara, during
a recent visit of the Governor of Madras to Mangalore, a collection
of spurs was exhibited in the class "household implements."
For the following note on buffalo races, I am indebted to
Mr. H. O. D. Harding. "This is a sport that has grown up among a race
of cultivators of wet land. It is, I believe, peculiar to South Canara,
where all the cultivation worth mentioning is wet. The Bants and Jains,
and other landowners of position, own and run buffaloes, and the
Billava, or toddy drawer, has also entered the racing world. Every
rich Bant keeps his kambla field consecrated to buffalo-racing,
and his pair of racing buffaloes, costing from Rs. 150 to Rs. 500,
are splendid animals; and, except for an occasional plough-drawing
at the beginning of the cultivation season, are used for no purpose
all the year, except racing. The racing is for no prize or stakes,
and there is no betting, starter, judge, or winning post. Each pair
of buffaloes runs the course alone, and is judged by the assembled
crowd for pace and style, and, most important of all, the height and
breadth of the splash which they make. Most people know the common
levelling plank used by the ryots (cultivators) all over India
to level the wet field after ploughing. It is a plank some 4 or 5
feet long by 1 or 1 1/2 feet broad, and on it the driver stands to
give it weight, and the buffaloes pull it over the mud of a flooded
rice-field. This is the prototype of the buffalo-racing car, and any
day during the cultivating season in the Tulu country one may see two
boys racing for the love of the sport, as they drive their levelling
boards. From this the racing car has been specialised, and, if a work
of art for its own purpose, is not a car on which any one could or
would wish to travel far. The leveller of utility is cut down to a
plank about 1 1/2 by 1 foot, sometimes handsomely carved, on which
is fixed a gaily decorated wooden stool about 6 inches high and 10
inches across each way, hollowed out on the top, and just big enough
to afford good standing for one foot. In the plank, on each side,
are holes to let the mud and water through. The plank is fixed to a
pole, which is tied to the buffalo's yoke. The buffaloes are decorated
with coloured jhuls and marvellous head-pieces of brass and silver
(sometimes bearing the emblems of the sun and moon), and ropes which
make a sort of bridle. The driver, stripping himself to the necessary
minimum of garments, mounts, while some of his friends cling, like ants
struggling round a dead beetle, to the buffaloes. When he is fairly up,
they let go, and the animals start. The course is a wet rice-field,
about 150 yards long, full of mud and water. All round are hundreds,
or perhaps thousands of people, including Pariahs who dance in groups
in the mud, play stick-game, and beat drums. In front of the galloping
buffaloes the water is clear and still, throwing a powerful reflection
of them as they gallop down the course, raising a perfect tornado of
mud and water. The driver stands with one foot on the stool, and one
on the pole of the car. He holds a whip aloft in one hand, and one
of the buffaloes' tails in the other. He drives without reins, with
nothing but a waggling tail to hold on to and steer by. Opening his
mouth wide, he shouts for all he is worth, while, to all appearances,
a deluge of mud and water goes down his throat. So he comes down the
course, the plank on which he stands throwing up a sort of Prince of
Wales' feathers of mud and water round him. The stance on the plank
is no easy matter, and not a few men come to grief, but it is soft
falling in the slush. Marks are given for pace, style, sticking to
the plank, and throwing up the biggest and widest splash. Sometimes a
kind of gallows, perhaps twenty feet high, is erected on the course,
and there is a round of applause if the splash reaches up to or
above it. Sometimes the buffaloes bolt, scatter the crowd, and
get away into the young rice. At the end of the course, the driver
jumps off with a parting smack at his buffaloes, which run up the
slope of the field, and stop of themselves in what may be called the
paddock. At a big meeting perhaps a hundred pairs, brought from all
over the Tulu country, will compete, and the big men always send their
buffaloes to the races headed by the local band. The roads are alive
with horns and tom-toms for several days. The proceedings commence
with a procession, which is not infrequently headed by a couple of
painted dolls in an attitude suggestive of that reproductiveness,
which the races really give thanks for. They are a sort of harvest
festival, before the second or sugge crop is sown, and are usually
held in October and November. Devils must be propitiated, and the
meeting opens with a devil dance. A painted, grass-crowned devil
dancer, riding a hobby-horse, proceeds with music round the kambla
field. Then comes the buffalo procession, and the races commence. At
a big meeting near Mangalore, the two leading devil dancers were
dressed up in masks, and coat and trousers of blue mission cloth,
and one had the genitalia represented by a long piece of blue cloth
tipped with red, and enormous testes. Buffaloes, young and old, trained
and untrained, compete, some without the plank attached to them, and
others with planks but without drivers. Accidents sometimes happen,
owing to the animals breaking away among the crowd. On one occasion,
a man who was in front of a pair of buffaloes which were just about
to start failed to jump clear of them. Catching hold of the yoke,
he hung on to it by his hands, and was carried right down the course,
and was landed safely at the other end. If he had dropped, he would
have fallen among four pairs of hoofs, not to mention the planks,
and would probably have been brained. It is often a case of owners up,
and the sons and nephews of big Bants, worth perhaps Rs. 10,000 a year,
drive the teams."
To the above account, I may add a few notes made at a buffalo
race-meeting near Udipi, at which I was present. Each group of
buffaloes, as they went up the track to the starting-point, was
preceded by the Koraga band playing on drum, fife and cymbals,
Holeyas armed with staves and dancing, and a man holding a flag
(nishani). Sometimes, in addition to the flag, there is a pakke
or spear on the end of a bamboo covered with strips of cloth, or a
makara torana, i.e., festooned cloths between two bamboos. The two
last are permitted only if the buffaloes belong to a Bant or Brahman,
not if they are the property of a Billava. At the end of the races,
the Ballala chief, in whose field they had taken place, retired in
procession, headed by a man carrying his banner, which, during the
races, had been floating on the top of a long bamboo pole at the far
end of the track. He was followed by the Koraga band, and the Holeyas
attached to him, armed with clubs, and dancing a step dance amid
discordant noises. Two Nalkes (devil-dancers), dressed up in their
professional garb, and a torch-bearer also joined in the procession,
in the rear of which came the Ballala beneath a decorated umbrella. In
every village there are rakshasas (demons), called Kambla-asura, who
preside over the fields. The races are held to propitiate them, and,
if they are omitted, it is believed that there will be a failure of the
crop. According to some, Kambla-asura is the brother of Maheshasura,
the buffalo-headed giant, from whom Mysore receives its name. The
Koragas sit up through the night before the Kambla day, performing
a ceremony called panikkuluni, or sitting under the dew. They sing
songs to the accompaniment of the band, about their devil Nicha,
and offer toddy and a rice-pudding boiled in a large earthen pot,
which is broken so that the pudding remains as a solid mass. This
pudding is called kandel adde, or pot pudding. On the morning of the
races, the Holeyas scatter manure over the field, and plough it. On
the following day, the seedlings are planted, without, as in ordinary
cases, any ploughing. To propitiate various devils, the days following
the races are devoted to cock-fighting. The Kamblas, in different
places, have various names derived from the village deity, the chief
village devil, or the village itself, e.g., Janardhana Devara, Daivala,
or Udiyavar. The young men, who have the management of the buffaloes,
are called Bannangayi Gurikara (half-ripe cocoanut masters) as they
have the right of taking tender cocoanuts, as well as beaten rice
to give them physical strength, without the special permission of
their landlord. At the village of Vandar, the races take place in a
dry field, which has been ploughed, and beaten to break up the clods
of earth. For this reason they are called podi (powder) Kambla.
A pair of buffaloes, belonging to the field in which the races take
place, should enter the field first, and a breach of this observance
leads to discussion and quarrels. On one occasion, a dispute arose
between two Bants in connection with the question of precedence. One
of them brought his own pair of buffaloes, and the other a borrowed
pair. If the latter had brought his own animals, he would have
had precedence over the former. But, as his animals were borrowed,
precedence was given to the man who brought his own buffaloes. This
led to a dispute, and the races were not commenced until the delicate
point at issue was decided. In some places, a long pole, called pukare,
decorated with flags, flowers, and festoons of leaves, is set up in
the Kambla field, sometimes on a platform. Billavas are in charge of
this pole, which is worshipped, throughout the races, and others may
not touch it.
Fines inflicted by the Bant caste council are, I am informed, spent
in the celebration of a temple festival. In former days, those found
guilty by the council were beaten with tamarind switches, made to
stand exposed to the sun, or big red ants were thrown over their
bodies. Sometimes, to establish the innocence of an accused person,
he had to take a piece of red-hot iron (axe, etc.) in his hand,
and give it to his accuser.
At a puberty ceremony among some Bants the girl sits in the courtyard
of her house on five unhusked cocoanuts covered with the bamboo
cylinder which is used for storing paddy. Women place four pots filled
with water, and containing betel leaves and nuts, round the girl,
and empty the contents over her head. She is then secluded in an
outhouse. The women are entertained with a feast, which must include
fowl and fish curry. The cocoanuts are given to a washerwoman. On the
fourth day, the girl is bathed, and received back at the house. Beaten
rice, and rice flour mixed with jaggery (crude sugar) are served out
to those assembled. The girl is kept gosha (secluded) for a time,
and fed up with generous diet.
Under the aliya santana system of inheritance, the High Court has ruled
that there is no marriage within the meaning of the Penal Code. But,
though divorce and remarriage are permitted to women, there are formal
rules and ceremonies observed in connection with them, and amongst
the well-to-do classes divorce is not looked upon as respectable,
and is not frequent. The fictitious marriage prevailing amongst the
Nayars is unknown among the Bants, and a wife also usually leaves
the family house, and resides at her husband's, unless she occupies
so senior a position in her own family as to make it desirable that
she should live on the family estate.
The Bants are divided into a number of balis (exogamous septs), which
are traced in the female line, i.e., a boy belongs to his mother's, not
to his father's bali. Children belonging to the same bali cannot marry,
and the prohibition extends to certain allied (koodu) balis. Moreover,
a man cannot marry his father's brother's daughter, though she belongs
to a different bali. In a memorandum by Mr. M. Mundappa Bangera,
[105] it is stated that "bali in aliya santana families corresponds to
gotra of the Brahmins governed by Hindu law, but differs in that it is
derived from the mother's side, whereas gotra is always derived from
the father's side. A marriage between a boy and girl belonging to the
same bali is considered incestuous, as falling within the prohibited
degrees of consanguinity. It is not at all difficult to find out the
bali to which a man or woman belongs, as one can scarcely be found
who does not know one's own bali by rote. And the heads of caste,
who preside at every wedding party, and who are also consulted by
the elders of the boy or girl before an alliance is formed, are such
experts in these matters that they decide at once without reference
to any books or rules whether intermarriages between persons brought
before them can be lawfully performed or not." As examples of balis
among the Bants, the following may be cited:--
Bellathannaya, jaggery.
Bhuthiannaya, ashes.
Chaliannaya, weaver.
Edinnaya, hornet's nest.
Karkadabennai, scorpion.
Kayerthannaya (Strychnos Nux-vomica).
Kochattabannayya, or Kajjarannayya, jack tree (Artocarpus
integrifolia).
Koriannaya, fowl.
Pathanchithannaya, green peas.
Perugadannaya, bandicoot rat.
Poyilethannaya, one who removes the evil eye.
Puliattannaya, tiger.
Ragithannaya, ragi (Eleusine Coracana).
Infant marriage is not prohibited, but is not common, and both men
and girls are usually married after they have reached maturity. There
are two forms of marriage, one called kai dhare for marriages between
virgins and bachelors, the other called budu dhare for the marriage
of widows. After a match has been arranged, the formal betrothal,
called ponnapathera or nischaya tambula, takes place. The bridegroom's
relatives and friends proceed in a body on the appointed day to the
bride's house, and are there entertained at a grand dinner, to which
the bride's relatives and friends are also bidden. Subsequently the
karnavans (heads) of the two families formally engage to perform the
marriage, and plates of betel leaves and areca nuts are exchanged,
and the betel and nuts partaken of by the two parties. The actual
marriage ceremony is performed at the house of the bride or bridegroom,
as may be most convenient. The proceedings commence with the bridegroom
seating himself in the marriage pandal, a booth or canopy specially
erected for the occasion. He is there shaved by the village barber,
and then retires and bathes. This done, both he and the bride are
conducted to the pandal by their relations, or sometimes by the
village headman. They walk thrice round the seat, and then sit down
side by side. The essential and binding part of the ceremony, called
dhare, then takes place. The right hand of the bride being placed
over the right hand of the bridegroom, a silver vessel (dhare gindi)
filled with water, with a cocoanut over the mouth and the flower of
the areca palm on the cocoanut, is placed on the joined hands. The
parents, the managers of the two families, and the village headmen
all touch the vessel, which, with the hands of the bridal pair,
is moved up and down three times. In certain families the water is
poured from the vessel into the united hands of the couple, and this
betokens the gift of the bride. This form of gift by pouring water
was formerly common, and was not confined to the gift of a bride. It
still survives in the marriage ceremonies of various castes, and the
name of the Bant ceremony shows that it must once have been universal
among them. The bride and bridegroom then receive the congratulations
of the guests, who express a hope that the happy couple may become
the parents of twelve sons and twelve daughters. An empty plate, and
another containing rice, are next placed before the pair, and their
friends sprinkle them with rice from the one, and place a small gift,
generally four annas, in the other. The bridegroom then makes a gift
to the bride. This is called sirdachi, and varies in amount according
to the position of the parties. This must be returned to the husband,
if his wife leaves him, or if she is divorced for misconduct. The
bride is then taken back in procession to her home. A few days later
she is again taken to the bridegroom's house, and must serve her
husband with food. He makes another money present to her, and after
that the marriage is consummated.
According to another account of the marriage ceremony among some
Bants, the barber shaves the bridegroom's face, using cow's milk
instead of water, and touches the bride's forehead with razor. The
bride and bridegroom bathe, and dress up in new clothes. A plank
covered with a newly-washed cloth supplied by a washerman, a tray
containing raw rice, a lighted lamp, betel leaves and areca nuts,
etc., are placed in the pandal. A girl carries a tray on which are
placed a lighted lamp, a measure full of raw rice, and betel. She is
followed by the bridegroom conducted by her brother, and the bride,
led by the bridegroom's sister. They enter the pandal and, after
going round the articles contained therein five times, sit down on the
plank. An elderly woman, belonging to the family of the caste headman,
brings a tray containing rice, and places it in front of the couple,
over whom she sprinkles a little of the rice. The assembled men and
women then place presents of money on the tray, and sprinkle rice over
the couple. The right hand of the bride is held by the headman, and
her uncle, and laid in that of the bridegroom. A cocoanut is placed
over the mouth of a vessel, which is decorated with mango leaves and
flowers of the areca palm. The headman and male relations of the bride
place this vessel thrice in the hands of the bridal couple. The vessel
is subsequently emptied at the foot of a cocoanut tree.
The foregoing account shows that the Bant marriage is a good deal
more than concubinage. It is indeed as formal a marriage as is to be
found among any people in the world, and the freedom of divorce which
is allowed cannot deprive it of its essential character. Widows are
married with much less formality. The ceremony consists simply of
joining the hands of the couple, but, strange to say, a screen is
placed between them. All widows are allowed to marry again, but it
is, as a rule, only the young women who actually do so. If a widow
becomes pregnant, she must marry or suffer loss of caste.
The Bants all burn their dead, except in the case of children under
seven, and those who have died of leprosy or of epidemic disease
such as cholera or small-pox. The funeral pile must consist at
least partly of mango wood. On the ninth, eleventh or thirteenth
day, people are fed in large numbers, but the Jains now substitute
for this a distribution of cocoanuts on the third, fifth, seventh,
or ninth day. Once a year--generally in October--a ceremony called
agelu is performed for the propitiation of ancestors.
From a detailed account of the Bant death ceremonies, I gather that
the news of a death is conveyed to the caste people by a Holeya. A
carpenter, accompanied by musicians, proceeds to cut down a mango tree
for the funeral pyre. The body is bathed, and laid out on a plank. Clad
in new clothes, it is conveyed with music to the burning-ground. A
barber carries thither a pot containing fire. The corpse is set down
near the pyre and divested of the new clothes, which are distributed
between a barber, washerman, carpenter, a Billava and Holeya. The
pyre is kindled by a Billava, and the mat on which the corpse has
been lying is thrown thereon by a son or nephew of the deceased. On
the third day the relations go to the burning-ground, and a barber
and washerman sprinkle water over the ashes. Some days later, the
caste people are invited to attend, and a barber, washerman, and
carpenter build up on the spot where the corpse was burnt a lofty
structure, made of bamboo and areca palm, in an odd number of tiers,
and supported on an odd number of posts. It is decorated with cloths,
fruits, tender cocoanuts, sugarcane, flowers, mango leaves, areca
palm flowers, etc., and a fence is set up round it. The sons and
other relations of the deceased carry to the burning-ground three
balls of cooked rice (pinda) dyed with turmeric and tied up in a
cloth, some raw rice dyed with turmeric, pieces of green plantain
fruit, and pumpkin and a cocoanut. They go thrice round the structure,
carrying the various articles in trays on their heads, and deposit them
therein. The relations then throw a little of the coloured rice into
the structure, and one of the caste men sprinkles water contained in
a mango leaf over their hands. After bathing, they return home. The
clothes, jewels, etc., of the deceased are laid on a cloth spread
inside the house. A piece of turmeric is suspended from the ceiling by
a string, and a tray containing water coloured yellow placed beneath
it. Round this the females seat themselves. A cocoanut is broken, and a
barber sprinkles the water thereof contained in a mango leaf over those
assembled. On the following day, various kinds of food are prepared,
and placed on leaves, with a piece of new cloth, within a room of the
house. The cloth remains there for a year, when it is renewed. The
renewal continues until another death occurs in the family.
In the following table, the cephalic index of the Bants is compared
with that of the Billavas and Shivalli Brahmans:--
===========================================
-- | Average. | Maximum. | Minimum.
===========+==========+==========+=========
Brahman | 80.4 | 96.4 | 72
Billava | 80.1 | 91.5 | 71
Bant | 78 | 91.2 | 70.8
===========+==========+==========+=========
The headman among the Bants is generally called Guttinayya, meaning
person of the guttu or site. Every village, or group of villages,
possesses a guttu, and the Bant who occupies, or holds in possession
the house or site set apart as the guttu is the Guttinayya. When
this passes to another by sale or inheritance, the office of headman
passes with it. It is said that, in some instances, the headmanship
has in this way passed to classes other than Bants, e.g., Brahmans and
Jains. In some villages, the headman is, as among some other castes,
called Gurikara, whose appointment is hereditary.
A few supplementary notes may be added on the Parivara, Nad, and
Masadika Bants. The Parivaras are confined to the southern taluks of
the South Canara district. They may interdine, but may not intermarry
with the other section. The rule of inheritance is makkalakattu
(in the male line). Brahman priests are engaged for the various
ceremonials, so the Parivaras are more Brahmanised than the Nad or
Masadika Bants. The Parivaras may resort to the wells used by Brahmans,
and they consequently claim superiority over the other sections. Among
the Nad Bants, no marriage badge is tied on the neck of the bride. At
a Parivara marriage, after the dhare ceremony, the bridegroom ties a
gold bead, called dhare mani, on the neck of the bride. The remarriage
of widows is not in vogue. In connection with the death ceremonies,
a car is not, as among the Nad and Masadika sections, set up over
the mound (dhupe). On the eleventh day, the spreading of a cloth on
the mound for offerings of food must be done by Nekkaras, who wash
clothes for Billavas.
The Nad or Nadava and Masadika Bants follow the aliya santana
law of succession, and intermarriage is permitted between the
two sections. The names of the balis, which have already been
given, are common among the Masadikas, and do not apply to the
Nads, among whom different sept names occur, e.g., Honne, Shetti,
Koudichi, etc. Elaborate death ceremonies are only performed if the
deceased was old, or a respected member of the community. The corpse
is generally cremated in one of the rice-fields belonging to the
family. After the funeral, the male members of the family return home,
and place a vessel containing water and light in a room. One or two
women must remain in this room, and the light must be kept burning
until the bojja, or final death ceremonies, are over. The water in
the vessel must be renewed twice daily. At the final ceremonies,
a feast is given to the castemen, and in some places, the headman
insists on the people of the house of mourning giving him a jewel as
a pledge that the bojja will be performed on the ninth, eleventh, or
thirteenth day. The headman visits the house on the previous day, and,
after examination of the provisions, helps in cutting up vegetables,
etc. On the bojja day, copper and silver coins, and small pieces
of gold, are buried or sown in the field in which the ceremony
is performed. This is called hanabiththodu. The lofty structure,
called gurigi or upparige, is set up over the dhupe or ashes heaped
up into a mound, or in the field in which the body was cremated,
only in the event of the deceased being a person of importance. In
some places, two kinds of structure are used, one called gurigi,
composed of several tiers, for males, and the other called delagudu,
consisting of a single tier, for females. Devil-dancers are engaged,
and the commonest kola performed by them is the eru kola, or man and
hobby-horse. In the room containing the vessel of water, four sticks
are planted in the ground, and tied together. Over the sticks a cloth
is placed, and the vessel of water placed beneath it. A bit of string
is tied to the ceiling, and a piece of turmeric or a gold ring is
attached to the end of it, and suspended so as to touch the water in
the vessel. This is called nir neralu (shadow in water), and seems
to be a custom among various Tulu castes. After the bojja ceremony,
all those who are under death pollution stand in two rows. A Madavali
(washerman) touches them with a cloth, and a Kelasi (barber) sprinkles
water over them. In this manner, they are freed from pollution.
The most common title among the Bants is Chetti or Setti, but many
others occur, e.g., Heggade, Nayaka, Bangera, Rai, Ballalaru, etc.
Barang Jhodia.--A sub-division of Poroja.
Bardeshkar (people of twelve countries).--Some families among Konkani
Brahmans go by this name.
Bariki.--Bariki is the name for village watchmen in Southern Ganjam,
whose duty it further is to guide the traveller on the march from
place to place. In the Bellary Manual, Barika is given as the name
for Canarese Kabberas, who are village servants, who keep the village
chavadi (caste meeting-house) clean, look after the wants of officials
halting in the village, and perform various other duties. In the
Census Report, 1901, the Barikas are said to be usually Boyas. The
Barika of Mysore is defined by Mr. L. Rice as [106] "a menial among
the village servants; a deputy talari, who is employed to watch the
crops from the growing crop to the granary."
It is recorded, in the Gazetteer of the Bellary district, that "in
the middle of the threshold of nearly all the gateways of the ruined
fortifications round the Bellary villages will be noticed a roughly
cylindrical or conical stone, something like a lingam. This is the
boddu-rayi, literally the navel stone, and so the middle stone. It
was planted there when the fort was built, and is affectionately
regarded as being the boundary of the village site. Once a year, in
May, just before the sowing season begins, a ceremony takes place in
connection with it. Reverence is first made to the bullocks of the
village, and in the evening they are driven through the gateway past
the boddu-rayi with tom-toms, flutes, and all kinds of music. The
Barike next does puja (worship) to the stone, and then a string
of mango leaves is tied across the gateway above it. The villagers
now form sides, one party trying to drive the bullocks through the
gate, and the other trying to keep them out. The greatest uproar and
confusion naturally follow, and, in the midst of the turmoil, some
bullock or other eventually breaks through the guardians of the gate,
and gains the village. If that first bullock is a red one, the red
grains on the red soils will flourish in the coming season. If he
is white, white crops like cotton and white cholam will prosper. If
he is red-and-white, both kinds will do well. When the rains fail,
and, in any case, on the first full moon in September, rude human
figures drawn on the ground with powdered charcoal may be seen at
cross-roads and along big thoroughfares. They represent Jokumara the
rain-god, and are made by the Barikes--a class of village servants,
who are usually of the Gaurimakkalu sub-division of the Kabberas. The
villagers give the artists some small remuneration, and believe that
luck comes to those who pass over the figures."
Barike.--A title of Gaudos and other Oriya castes.
Barrellu (buffaloes).--An exogamous sept of Kapu.
Basala.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as Telugu beggars
and soothsayers in Vizagapatam. The word is apparently a corruption
of Basa-valu, a sage. The Basa-valu pretend to be messengers of Indra,
the chief of the Devatas, and prognosticate coming events.
Basari (fig tree).--A gotra of Kurni.
Basava Golla.--A name for certain Koyis of the Godavari district,
whose grandfathers had a quarrel with some of their neighbours,
and separated from them. The name Basava is said to be derived from
bhasha, a language, as these Koyis speak a different language from
the true Gollas. [107] In like manner, Basa Kondhs are those who speak
their proper language, in contradistinction to those who speak Oriya,
or Oriya mixed with Kui.
Basavi.--See Deva-dasi.
Basiya Korono.--A sub-division of Korono.
Basruvogaru (basru, belly).--An exogamous sept of Gauda.
Baththala (rice).--An exogamous sept of Kamma.
Batlu (cup).--An exogamous sept of Kuruba.
Bauri.--There are found in the Madras Presidency nomad gangs of Bauris
or Bawariyas, who are described [108] as "one of the worst criminal
tribes of India. The sphere of their operations extends throughout the
length and breadth of the country. They not only commit robberies,
burglaries and thefts, but also practice the art of manufacturing
and passing counterfeit coin. They keep with them a small quantity
of wheat and sandal seeds in a small tin or brass case, which they
call Devakadana or God's grain, and a tuft of peacock's feathers,
all in a bundle. They are very superstitious, and do not embark on
any enterprise without first ascertaining by omens whether it will be
attended with success or not. This they do by taking at random a small
quantity of grains out of their Devakadana and counting the number
of grains, the omen being considered good or bad according as the
number of seeds is odd or even. For a detailed record of the history
of this criminal class, and the methods employed in the performance
of criminal acts, I would refer the reader to the accounts given by
Mr. Paupa Rao [109] and Mr. W. Crooke. [110]
Bavaji.--The Bavajis are Bairagi or Gosayi beggars, who travel about
the country. They are known by various names, e.g., Bairagi, Sadu, etc.
Bavuri.--The Bavuris, or Bauris, are a low class of Oriya
basket-makers, living in Ganjam, and are more familiarly known as
Khodalo. They are a polluting class, living in separate quarters,
and occupy a position lower than the Samantiyas, but higher than
the Kondras, Dandasis, and Haddis. They claim that palanquin (dhooly
or duli) bearing is their traditional occupation, and consequently
call themselves Boyi. "According to one story," Risley writes, [111]
"they were degraded for attempting to steal food from the banquet
of the gods; another professes to trace them back to a mythical
ancestor named Bahak Rishi (the bearer of burdens), and tells how,
while returning from a marriage procession, they sold the palanquin
they had been hired to carry, got drunk on the proceeds, and assaulted
their guru (religious preceptor), who cursed them for the sacrilege,
and condemned them to rank thenceforward among the lowest castes of
the community." The Bavuris are apparently divided into two endogamous
sections, viz., Dulia and Khandi. The former regard themselves as
superior to the latter, and prefer to be called Khodalo. Some of these
have given up eating beef, call themselves Dasa Khodalos, and claim
descent from one Balliga Doss, a famous Bavuri devotee, who is said
to have worked wonders, analogous to those of Nandan of the Paraiyan
community. To this section the caste priests belong. At Russelkonda,
a woman, when asked if she was a Bavuri, replied that the caste is so
called by others, but that its real name is Khodalo. Others, in reply
to a question whether they belonged to the Khandi section, became
angry, and said that the Khandis are inferior, because they eat frogs.
The Bavuris gave the name of two gotras, saptha bhavunia and naga,
which are said to be exogamous. The former offer food to the gods on
seven leaves of the white gourd melon, Benincasa cerifera (kokkara),
and the latter on jak (Artocarpus integrifolia: panasa) leaves. All
over the Oriya country there is a general belief that house-names or
bamsams are foreign to the Oriya castes, and only possessed by the
Telugus. But some genuine Oriya castes, e.g., Haddis, Dandasis and
Bhondaris, have exogamous bamsams.
For every group of villages (muttah), the Bavuris apparently have a
headman called Behara, who is assisted by Naikos or Dolo Beharas,
or, in some places, Dondias or Porichas, who hold sway over a
smaller number of villages. Each village has its own headman, called
Bhollobhaya (good brother), to whose notice all irregularities are
brought. These are either settled by himself, or referred to the Behara
and Naiko. In some villages, in addition to the Bhollobhaya, there
is a caste servant called Dangua or Dogara. For serious offences,
a council-meeting is convened by the Behara, and attended by the
Bhollobhayas, Naikos, and a few leading members of the community. The
meeting is held in an open plain outside the village. Once in two
or three years, a council-meeting, called mondolo, is held, at which
various matters are discussed, and decided. The expenses of meetings
are defrayed by the inhabitants of the villages in which they take
place. Among the most important matters to be decided by tribunals
are adultery, eating with lower castes, the re-admission of convicts
into the caste, etc. Punishment takes the form of a fine, and trial
by ordeal is apparently not resorted to. A man, who is convicted
of committing adultery, or eating with a member of a lower caste,
is received back into the caste on payment of the fine. A woman,
who has been proved guilty of such offences, is not so taken back. It
is said that, when a member of a higher caste commits adultery with
a Bavuri woman, he is sometimes received into the Bavuri caste. The
Behara receives a small fee annually from each village or family,
and also a small present of money for each marriage.
Girls are married either before or after puberty. A man may marry
his maternal uncle's, but not his paternal aunt's daughter. At an
adult marriage, the festivities last for four days, whereas, at an
infant marriage, they are extended over seven days. When a young man's
parents have selected a girl for him, they consult a Brahman, and,
if he decides that the marriage will be auspicious, they proceed to
the girl's home, and ask that a day be fixed for the betrothal. On
the appointed day the amount of money, which is to be paid by the
bridegroom-elect for jewels, etc., is fixed. One or two new cloths
must be given to the girl's grandmother, and the man's party must
announce the number of feasts they intend to give to the castemen. If
the family is poor, the feasts are mentioned, but do not actually take
place. The marriage ceremony is always celebrated at night. On the
evening of the day prior thereto, the bride and bridegroom's people
proceed to the temple of the village goddess (Takurani), and, on their
way home, go to seven houses of members of their own or some higher
caste, and ask them to give them water, which is poured into a small
vessel. This vessel is taken home, and hung over the bedi (marriage
dais). The water is used by the bride and bridegroom on the following
morning for bathing. On the marriage day, the bridegroom proceeds to
the bride's village, and is met on the way by her party, and escorted
by his brother-in-law to the dais. The Bhollobhaya enquires whether
the bride's party have received everything as arranged, and, when
he has been assured on this point, the bride is brought to the dais
by her maternal uncle. She carries with her in her hands a little
salt and rice; and, after throwing these over the bridegroom, she
sits by his side. The grandfathers of the contracting couple, or a
priest called Dhiyani, officiate. Their palms are placed together,
and the hands united by a string dyed with turmeric. The union of
the hands is called hasthagonti, and is the binding portion of the
ceremony. Turmeric water is poured over the hands seven times from a
chank or sankha shell. Seven married women then throw over the heads
of the couple a mixture of Zizyphus Jujuba (borkolipathro) leaves, rice
smeared with turmeric, and Cynodon Dactylon (dhuba) culms. This rite is
called bhondaivaro, and is performed at all auspicious ceremonies. The
fingers of the bride and bridegroom are then linked together, and
they are led by the wife of the bride's brother seven times round
the bedi. The priest then proclaims that the soot can soon be wiped
off the cooking-pot, but the connection brought about by the marriage
is enduring, and relationship is secured for seven generations. The
pair are taken indoors, and fed. The remaining days of the marriage
ceremonies are given up to feasting. The remarriage of widows is
permitted. A widow is expected to marry the younger brother of her
deceased husband, or, with his permission, may marry whom she likes.
When a girl attains maturity, she is seated on a new mat, and Zizyphus
Jujuba leaves are thrown over her. This ceremony is sometimes repeated
daily for six days, during which sweets, etc., are given to the girl,
and women who bring presents are fed. On the seventh day, the girl
is taken to a tank (pond), and bathed.
The dead are either buried or burnt. The corpse is, at the funeral,
borne in the hands, or on a bier, by four men. Soon after the village
boundary has been crossed, the widow of the deceased throws rice over
the eyes of the corpse, and also a little fire, after taking it three
times round. She usually carries with her a pot and ladle, which she
throws away. If an elderly woman dies, these rites are performed
by her daughter-in-law. At the burial-ground, the corpse is taken
seven times round the grave, and, as it is lowered into it, those
present say "Oh! trees, Oh! sky, Oh! earth, we are laying him in. It
is not our fault." When the grave has been filled in, the figures of
a man and woman are drawn on it, and all throw earth over it, saying
"You were living with us; now you have left us. Do not trouble the
people." On their return home, the mourners sprinkle cowdung water
about the house and over their feet, and toddy is partaken of. On the
following day, all the old pots are thrown away, and the agnates eat
rice cooked with margosa (Melia Azadirachta) leaves. Food is offered
to the dead person, either at the burial-ground or in the backyard of
the house. On the tenth day, the Dhiyani, as the priest is called, is
sent for, and arrives with his drum (dhiyani). A small hut is erected
on a tank bund (embankment), and food cooked seven times, and offered
seven times on seven fragments of pots. A new cloth is spread, and on
it food, fruits, a chank shell, etc., are placed, and offered to the
deceased. The various articles are put into a new pot, and the son,
going into the water up to his neck, throws the pot into the air,
and breaks it. The celebrants of the rite then return to the house,
and stand in a row in front thereof. They are there purified by means
of milk smeared over their hands by the Dhiyani. On the twelfth day,
food is offered on twelve leaves.
The Bavuris do not worship Jagannathaswami, or other of the higher
deities, but reverence their ancestors and the village goddesses or
Takuranis. Like other Oriya classes, the Bavuris name their children
on the twenty-first day. Opprobrious names are common among them,
e.g., Ogadu (dirty fellow), Kangali (wretched fellow), Haddia (Haddi,
or sweeper caste).
Bedar or Boya.--"Throughout the hills," Buchanan writes, [112]
"northward from Capaladurga, are many cultivated spots, in which,
during Tippoo's government, were settled many Baydaru or hunters,
who received twelve pagodas (£4 5s.) a year, and served as irregular
troops whenever required. Being accustomed to pursue tigers and deer
in the woods, they were excellent marksmen with their match-locks,
and indefatigable in following their prey; which, in the time of war,
was the life and property of every helpless creature that came in
their way. During the wars of Hyder and his son, these men were
chief instruments in the terrible depredations committed in the
lower Carnatic. They were also frequently employed with success
against the Poligars (feudal chiefs), whose followers were of a
similar description." In the Gazetteer of the Anantapur district it
is noted that "the Boyas are the old fighting caste of this part of
the country, whose exploits are so often recounted in the history
books. The Poligars' forces, and Haidar Ali's famous troops were
largely recruited from these people, and they still retain a keen
interest in sport and manly exercises."