Religion
[General character of popular beliefs.]
The religion of the Kachári race is distinctly of the type
commonly known as "animistic," and its underlying principle is
characteristically one of fear or dread. The statement "Timor fecit
deos" certainly holds good of this people in its widest and strictest
sense; and their religion thus stands in very marked, not to say
violent, contrast [23] with the teaching of the Faith in Christ. In the
typical Kachári village as a rule neither idol nor place of worship
is to be found; but to the Kachári mind and imagination earth, air,
and sky are alike peopled with a vast number of invisible spiritual
beings, known usually as "Modai," all possessing powers and faculties
far greater than those of man, and almost invariably inclined to use
these powers for malignant and malevolent, rather than benevolent,
purposes. In a certain stage of moral and spiritual development men
are undoubtedly influenced far more by what they fear than by what
they love; and this truth certainly applies to the Kachári race in
the most unqualified way. The Kachári Duars of this district (Darrang)
were in earlier days looked upon as being especially unhealthy, and to
some extent they retain that character still. It has repeatedly fallen
to the lot of the writer, when entering a Kachári village to find one
or more of its inhabitants prostrate with malarial fever of a virulent
type; and on asking what was wrong the reply has very commonly been
"modai [24] hamdang," i.e., an (evil) spirit has got hold (of me). And
this reply may be looked upon as typical and characteristic, and as
accurately expressing the very spirit and true inwardness of Kachári
religion. Of sin, i.e., the conscious violation of the moral Law of
a righteous God, the Kachári has of course no idea whatever. But he
does believe in the existence and active interference in the affairs
of men of certain invisible spiritual beings who are the authors
of sickness, famine, earthquakes, &c.; who are for the most part
influenced by malevolent motives, and whose ill-will towards mankind
must be propitiated and bought off by frequent offerings of rice,
plantains, pigs, goats, poultry, &c., in ways regarding which some
little information is given below.
[Worship of ancestors.]
1. Ancestor-worship would not seem to be in vogue to any extent among
the Kacháris of this district, though perhaps it is not altogether
unknown; e.g., when the head of a family or other man of note passes
away, it is not unusual at certain festivals to place on a platform
a small quantity of the viands of which the deceased was known to
be fond during his lifetime on earth, presumably for his use and
behoof. No adult members of the village community will ever presume
to touch these viands, though the village children are apparently at
liberty to consume them at their pleasure.
[Worship of natural forces.]
2. The worship of natural forces also would seem to be not at all
common, though some traces of it may perhaps be noted here and
there. For instance, (A) in connection with the popular festival
known as the April (Vaisákh) Bihu, there takes place what is called
the "Parwa" show or bhotheli, a festival apparently common to Hindu
and Kachári alike. The parwa is a tall bamboo pole draped with rags,
flags, &c., taken from the village on the last day of the Bihu, and
put up in a field alongside a tree, where the people amuse themselves
by dancing, wrestling, and tom-toming, &c., around it. It is possible
that this may be a relic or survival of phallic worship, the parwa
taking the place of the lingam or phallus. (B) Again, water would seem
to have about it something of a sacred character in the mind of the
average Kachári. The dead are often buried or cremated on or near the
banks of running streams, which are also favourite localities for the
celebration of the greater pujas. This reverence for water is perhaps
specially marked among the Kacháris of North-east Bengal (Jalpaiguri,
&c), in which part of the Province, Mr. Bryan Hodgson informs us,
all the smaller streams are regarded as a kind of lesser deities (dii
inferiores), whilst the Brahmaputra is looked upon as the mother of
them all (mater magna). It may be noted also in this connection that
one of the principal branches of the widely spread Bara race, i.e.,
the people of the North Cachar Hills, still speak of themselves as
Di-má-sá, i.e., "sons of the big river," or "children of the great
water," even though none of them would seem now to dwell anywhere near
a large river or lake, &c. It may therefore perhaps be safely inferred
that the element of water, though now apparently not often actually
worshipped, has ever been held in special regard by the Kachári race.
[Worship of deities.]
The Kachári Pantheon is a very extensive one, though it seems probable
that only a comparatively small number are strictly of tribal or
national origin, many having obviously been borrowed from their
Hindu neighbours. The popular Kachári deities fall naturally into
two classes, i.e., (1) household gods (na-ni madái); (2) village gods
(gámi-ni madái). [25] The former are worshipped inside the house, or
at least in the homestead (compound); the latter by the whole village
collectively, outside the house, and usually near the sacred grove of
trees or bamboos, often to be seen some fifteen or twenty yards from
the village, and known as the thansali. A long list of these gods
is given in an interesting paper by Maulvi Mahibuddin Ahmed, some
nineteen names of household gods being therein enumerated, whilst the
village gods number no fewer than sixty-five. Only a small proportion
of these deities would, however, seem to obtain recognition in this
district (Darrang), and it hardly seems necessary to mention by name
more than a few of them.
A. Household Deities.
Among the household deities may be placed the following:--
1. Bátháu brai, old Bátháu.
2. Maináo, otherwise known as Bhulli Buri, and looked upon
as Bátháu's wife.
3. Ásu Maináo.
4. Sáli Maináo.
5. Song Rájá.
6. Song Brái.
7. Burá Bágh Rájá, &c., &c., &c.
1. Bátháu (Siju, i.e., Euphorbia splendens).
Of these household gods by far the most important is the
first-mentioned, i.e., Bátháu, who is pre-eminently the guardian of
the family interests and family honour. He is never represented in
idol form, but is well in evidence through his living symbol, the
siju (hiju) tree (Euphorbia splendens), which is often to be seen
in the Kachári homestead surrounded by a circular fence of split
bamboo. Among the Meches of Goalpara, almost every home, it is said,
has its Bátháu (siju), though in Darrang it is less frequently met
with. Bátháu is said not to be worshipped separately, but always in
conjunction with Ai-Deo. Inside the house a slightly raised altar,
called dhám, is often erected in honour of Song Rájá, and at this women
especially pay their devotions and make offerings, particularly at the
monthly periods (menses). All offerings, however, made to Song Rájá
are finally brought outside the house, and laid at the foot of Bátháu;
and the writer has often seen such offerings in the form of heads of
goats, pigs, fowls, &c., as well as plantains, támul-nuts, pán-leaves,
gazi (i.e., a mixture of rice and pulse), &c., humbly laid down for
Bátháu's acceptance. In this way it is held that disease, famine,
and misfortunes of all kinds may be kept at bay, through the influence
of this powerful guardian of the family interest and well-being.
It may be added that it is apparently only among the northern section
of the Kachári race that the siju tree is regarded with special
reverence. The Garos are said to know this tree and to use certain
parts of it for medical purposes e.g., the preparation of poultices,
&c.; but to them it is never an object of worship. The Dimásá of the
North Cachar Hills, on the other hand, seem to have no special regard
for the siju or any other tree.
2. Maináo (Ceres).
Only second to Bátháu is his good consort, Maináo, though, unlike
her husband, she has no special emblem visible to the human eye. Her
special function is that of "Guardian of the rice-fields"; [26]
and among a purely agricultural community like that of the Kacháris,
she of course is held in very high regard. She is, in short, to the
Kachári peasant very much what Ceres was to the old heathen Roman
cultivator. Eggs are the offering that finds most favour in her eyes,
and these are presented to her in unstinted quantity. She is apparently
especially worshipped at the period of harvesting the ásu and sáli
crops; hence the twofold designation given above (Nos. 3 and 4,
household gods), Ásu Maináo, and Sáli Maináo.
Of the other domestic deities above mentioned, it is not necessary
to say much. Nos. 5 and 6 (Song Rájá and Song Brái) seem to be the
especial objects of devotion to women, worshipped for the most part
inside the house, whilst No. 7 (Burá Bágh Rájá) is apparently merely
the name of the tiger, often spoken of with bated breath as the
"monarch of the woods" (banar-rájá), especially by men travelling at
night, when danger from the tiger may well be apprehended.
B. Village Deities.
There would seem to be little need to dwell much on the village
deities; for no small proportion of them have evidently been adopted
from the Hindu Pantheon, as will be obvious from the names given
below. Some sixty-five such names are given in the valuable paper
above mentioned of village deities recognised in Kamrup, though the
writer only knows of some three or four of these gods as reverenced
in this district (Darrang). Among these may perhaps be mentioned
the following:--
1. Mero rájá.
2. Burá Mahádeo.
3. Burá gosain.
4. Jal Kubér.
5. Thal Kubér.
6. Ih Kubér.
7. Bih Kubér.
8. Kuber brai (masculine).
9. Kuber brui (feminine).
10. Sila Rai, &c., &c., &c., &c.
It is needless to continue the list, for almost all the names
are obviously borrowed from popular Hinduism; e.g., Kuber is
almost certainly the Hindu god of wealth and of the lower regions
(Pluto). Others are in all likelihood merely names of deified mortals
of some pre-eminence above their fellow men; cf. Ram, Krishna, &c. A
notable illustration of this principle of deification is probably
that given as No. 10 in the above list, i.e., Sila Rai. [27] This is
almost certainly the name of the well-known Commander-in-Chief of the
most famous of the Koch Kings, Nar Narayan, in whose time the Koch
kingdom reached the zenith of its power. As a soldier and commander
this man (Sila Rai) seems to have been the foremost captain of his
time in North-east India; and his striking personality would seem so
to have impressed the minds and imaginations of his contemporaries
as to lead to his apotheosis after death.
As might be expected among a purely agricultural community, the great
annual pujas, which are three in number, are directly connected with
the ingathering of the three chief rice crops of the year, i.e., the
Áhu, Pharma, and Sáli crops. The dates for these annual pujas do not
seem to be at all rigidly fixed, but are apparently settled by the
village elders to meet the public convenience. There is no prescribed
form of religious worship; indeed, the whole gathering is rather of
the nature of a village merry-making than a religious service; and
there is invariably a very large consumption of the national beverage
(rice-beer) at all these gatherings.
There is said to be another puja known as morong-puja, of which the
special object is to propitiate the cholera demon, to whom are made
offerings of he-goats, pigeons, fowls and betel-nuts, &c. In addition
to these, flowers, eggs, pounded rice-flour, &c., are sometimes
placed on rafts and set afloat on a river; and occasionally animals
(goats, &c.) are exposed in this way on rafts as an oblation to the
river god (doi-ni madai). [28] It may be taken for granted that,
whenever these rafts are found on streams in the Kachári country,
cholera or other malignant disease is or has been doing its deadly
work among the people. In addition to the pujas above mentioned,
which are more or less of a general character, offerings of goats,
chickens, and a mixture of pulse and rice known as gazi, are often
placed at the foot of certain trees, usually old trees, and finally
left there. As a rule, only the heads of the goats, chicken, &c.,
so offered will be found at the foot of such trees, the bodies of the
slaughtered animals being consumed by the offerers. These oblations
are made, not by the village community as a whole, but by the heads
of individual families, some one member of which is in severe trouble
from sickness or other like cause. The money value of such offerings
is sometimes not inconsiderable.
Priesthood
There is no authorised priestly caste among the Kacháris, nor are
Brahmins ever employed in their religious ceremonies, these latter
indeed being generally of a social, and even festive, rather than
a religious character. In Kamrup, however, one of the recognised
sub-tribes is, or was, known as "Brahmaroi," a name which seems
to point to Brahmins as having a certain standing in the Bådå
community. All religious offices are now discharged by Deoris or
Deodáis, who are usually men of a certain age and recognised social
position in the village community; village elders in fact. The office
is not hereditary, and any one versed in the usual forms of exorcism,
&c., can discharge it. Another class of persons employed in religious
ceremonies is known as the Ojhá or Ojhá-Burá, who is generally armed
with shells, cowries, &c., by the manipulation of which he professes
to be able to foretell prosperity or the reverse to those who consult
him. These officials are supposed to be competent to deal with the
ordinary ailments of village life by indicating the approximate method
of propitiating the offended deity (modai), whose anger is held to
be the cause of all the ills that flesh is heir to.
But in times of special emergency, e.g., plague, pestilence, famine,
&c., the services of the "possessed" woman, [29] the Deodáni, are
called into action for a special puja organised on a somewhat large
scale. These gatherings are not very common, but when they do occur
the order of the proceedings is something as follows, as occasionally
witnessed by the writer. A piece of ground about fifteen or twenty
yards square, usually on the bank of a running stream, is selected for
the purpose. The surface of the soil is carefully removed, and a rude
screen of cotton cloth some six or eight feet high erected on bamboos
at the western side of the cleared ground. At the eastern side a slight
earthwork embankment, some three or four inches high and about a foot
broad is thrown up; and on this a number of figures, usually seven
or nine, but always an odd number, bearing a rude resemblance to the
outlines of the human form, are placed in an upright position. These
figures are roughly made of jungle grass twisted together, and are
about one foot in height. Before each figure is placed a layer of
the plantain tree with its concave side upwards, and in this are
deposited the heads of slaughtered goats, pigeons, chickens, with
salt, sugar-cane, plantains, gazi (a mixture of rice and pulse),
&c., the whole being freely sprinkled with blood and pounded rice
flour (pitháguri). The Deodáni, a somewhat weird-looking figure,
with dishevelled hair, and vermilion-stained forehead, wearing a
long petticoat, dances up and down to and fro before these figures,
keeping time roughly with the music of cymbals and tom-toms played
by four or five men, who act as her assistants. The ceremony is a
prolonged one, often extending over many hours: and the Deodáni,
whose faculties are apparently quite absorbed in what she is doing
and who seems for the time to be lifted above the world of time and
sense, gradually works herself up to a state of excitement bordering
on frenzy. At this stage, which is only slowly attained, a goat is
brought forward and taken up before one of the figures above mentioned,
when the Deodáni, with one stroke of the long sacrificial sword, known
as the imfi and reserved exclusively for such purposes, severs the
victim's head from the body. Most of the blood is held to be offered
in sacrifice to the madái, before whose emblem the animal has been
slaughtered; but some part is said to be sprinkled on the persons of
the assembled worshippers. It is at this climax of the puja, i.e.,
at the sacrificial slaughtering of the goat, that the Deodáni is
supposed to become possessed of the knowledge she is in search of,
i.e., the name of the offended deity who has brought about the plague,
&c., and also the best method of propitiating his anger; which usually
involves an offering of pigs, goats, &c., to the angered god, and the
giving of a feast to the whole village community, the expense being
defrayed by a general contribution.
1. Ceremonies Attending Birth.
In a Kachári village community there would seem to be no formally
recognised midwives (dháis), any respectable and competent matron
being at liberty to give attendance and assistance to the patient
in such cases. In severing the umbilical cord no scissors, knife,
or other implement of steel is ever used, nor is the severance
effected at one stroke, but in a succession of slight cuts, seven
such cuts being made in the case of a girl, and only five in that of
a boy. The cutting instruments consist of thin hard strips of bamboo,
[30] shaped roughly into the form of a knife; and a separate bamboo
knife must be used in making each slight cut, seven such knives being
thus made use of for a female child and five for a male. It is not
unusual for one of the bystanders to give a name to the newly-born
child at the severing of the umbilical cord. The good matron who
officiates as midwife receives no money payment for her services,
but on the mother becoming convalescent a feast is given at the
parent's expense, in which pork and other flesh meat is always present
in abundance; and at this feast the officiating midwife is accorded
the place of honour, as some recognition of the value of her kindly
ministrations in her neighbour's hour of trial and need.
For about a month or six weeks, (the period seems to vary within
these limits) after giving birth to a child, the mother is held
to be technically "unclean," and is subjected to certain social
and religious limitations; e.g., she may not approach the dhám or
domestic altar commonly found inside a Kachári's dwelling-house,
and on which she is ordinarily in the habit of making offerings of
eggs, chickens, &c., in times of trouble. This period of ceremonial
uncleanness is usually terminated by the use of the water of peace
(sánti-jal). The deori freely sprinkles the mother as well as the
house and its contents with this holy water, after which she is fully
at liberty to resume social intercourse with her neighbours. [31]
Naming.
There does not seem to be any special principle underlying the giving
of names to children, nor do such names as a rule resemble those
of their fathers. Like some of the lower castes among their Hindu
neighbours, children often take the name of the day or the month in
which they were born. [32] Hence we often find such names as Deobar,
Mangal, Budhu, as also Mághuá, Pháguná (names of months), &c., in use
among the Kacháris. Other names are obviously adopted from the Hindus,
e.g., Gangá Rám, Sáti Rám, &c. Others, again, were probably given by
the mother in infancy expressive of some peculiarity in the new-born
child's mental or physical temperament. Of this type, probably,
is a very common name, "Khángkhoá," i.e., the "voracious one," the
"great eater." [33] Another illustration is the name Gáb-grá, i.e.,
the weeper, the crier, &c., &c. In short, any unusually prominent
physical peculiarity is often seized upon to become the name by which
the child is known throughout his whole after-life.
3. Marriage.
[A. The marriage contract.]
From certain scattered scraps of information on the subject that
have incidentally come to the writer's knowledge during the past
forty years, it would seem that marriage by capture was largely, if
not universally, in vogue among the Kacháris in earlier days. Some
traces of this practice would seem to survive in the ordinary marriage
ceremonial which still to a large extent holds the field. A case
somewhat of this character came to the writer's knowledge some
twenty-five or thirty years ago. A young Kachári, employed as a
village pandit some thirty miles from Tezpur, carried off a girl
from the house of her parents some ten miles away. No actual violence
apparently occurred in the matter, and very likely there had existed
for some time previously a private understanding between the two young
people concerned. But what was done clearly had not the approval of
the girl's parents; for these latter laid a complaint on the subject
before the writer, and claimed redress for the wrong done to them. When
the offending pandit was called to account for his conduct, he simply
pleaded in defence that what he had done was quite in accordance with
the time-honoured custom of his forefathers: and on payment of the
usual bride-price, at a somewhat enhanced rate, the parents raised
no further objection to their daughter's union with the pandit.
But in modern times "marriage by capture" is rapidly passing out of
vogue, if indeed it be not already absolutely a thing of the past;
and the marriage contract is usually entered into in one of the four
following ways:--
(a) The young people occasionally take the matter into their own hands,
as in the case above mentioned, ignoring the wishes of their parents
on either side. This procedure is looked upon by the community as
blameworthy and irregular, but not invalid. The bride's parents claim
an immediate payment of Rs. 5/- from the bridegroom, and also exact
the bride-price at a higher rate than usual. But if these conditions
are duly complied with, no further objections are as a rule made to
the union.
(b) The more usual practice is as follows. When the son of the
house attains a marriageable age, i.e., from fifteen to twenty
years, his parents at once set to work to find a suitable bride for
him. Having made their choice, they pay a visit to the prospective
bride's parents, taking with them certain presents in the form of rice,
liquor, betel-nuts, &c., and formally ask the daughter's hand for their
son. If the presents are accepted by the girl's parents, it is assumed
that the proposal is favourably received, and the respective parents
at once proceed to settle the amount of the bride-price (gádhan),
[34] which is always paid by the bridegroom's family to the parents
of the bride. In Darrang the amount so paid rarely exceeds Rs. 40/-
to Rs. 60/-, though in Kamrup and Goalpara it is said to be often
double these sums; and even larger still among the Rábhás, Saraniyás,
&c. In paying this formal visit to the prospective bride's parents,
those of the bridegroom are always accompanied by some of the elders
or leading men of their own village, these latter acting as witnesses
of the marriage contract, and so constituting in their own persons
a very effective, if irregular, system of marriage registration. The
stipulated "bride-price" need not be paid at once, nor does the actual
union take place for some months after the marriage-contract has been
entered into. And in no case does the bride leave her parents' home
until puberty has been attained; so that the manifold and obvious evils
inseparable from the system of infant betrothals, and the prohibition
of the marriage of child-widows among the higher castes of Hindus,
happily find no place whatever in the more wholesome domestic life
of the Kacháris.
(c) In cases where the bridegroom or his parents are unable to pay
the bride-price demanded by the girl's parents, it is usual for
the young man to give the equivalent in personal service in the
house of the bride's parents, much as Jacob [35] served in Laban's
house seven years for Rachel. The period of service is a matter of
arrangement between the parents of the parties concerned, and seems
to vary greatly, i.e., from three or four to upwards of twelve or
fifteen years. Cohabitation, however, is allowed after about twelve or
eighteen months' service, and at the conclusion of the full period,
the young people are free to depart whithersoever they will, though
they usually return to the house of the bridegroom's parents. This
form of service is known commonly as "Olaó ghar-jiyá."
(d) A modification of the above form of service is that which is
known as "mál ghar-jiya" (Darrang) or "Khasrot-tháka ghar-jiya"
(Kamrup). In this case the prospective bridegroom severs all connection
with his own family, and identifies himself completely with that of
his bride, in whose house he serves until the death of her parents,
when with his wife he is entitled to the whole or the usual share of
their property. On that of his own parents or relatives he retains
no claim whatever.
The actual ceremony of marriage among the Kacháris can perhaps hardly
be looked upon as of a religious character, but must be regarded
as more of the nature of a social and festive gathering. The order
of proceedings is somewhat as follows:--On a fixed day a party of
the bridegroom's friends, numbering some four or five women and
thirty or forty men, set out for the house of the bride's parents or
guardians. The bridegroom may himself accompany the party but more
frequently does not. The immediate object of the journey is to bring
the bride to the bridegroom's house. The party take with them nine
loads of viands, i.e., two men carry a pig, other two a large jar
containing rice-liquor, four men carry loads of támal-pan, whilst the
last man carries a quantity of eatables meant for the men and cowherds,
who, it is supposed, might otherwise attempt to prevent the marriage
party from reaching the bride's house. Two women called bairati are in
charge of these materials for the wedding feast. [36] On reaching the
bride's house her people pour freely on the whole party an irritating
liquid known as kachu páni (water mixed with the juice of the kachu
plant) and to this somewhat rough welcome the bridegroom's party are
bound to submit without complaining, although the liquid causes much
irritation to, and even blisters, the skin. Finally the good things
brought by the bridegroom's party are taken charge of by the bride's
people, and the wedding feast is forthwith duly prepared. The village
elders sit in front of the assembly, often a large one, and the younger
people behind, each guest having in front of him either a brass plate
or (more usually) a plantain leaf. On each of these plates the bride
places a quantity of rice and curry, serving the elders first; and when
all are duly provided for she makes obeisance to the assembled company,
and sometimes kneels in their midst for their sanction and approval
on entering upon the duties of married life, her husband when present
kneeling with her. Then one of the village elders, acting as Deori,
makes a short address on the obligations of the married state, ending
by wishing every blessing, &c., to the newly wedded pair, the whole
assembly joining in at the end with one voice "eroina záthang," i.e.,
"so may it be," (Amen). The rest of the day is spent in feasting and
merry-making, but towards evening the bride is formally taken to the
bridegroom's house. If on the journey she has to cross a river, road,
or embankment (áli), &c., she is given at each such crossing nine areca
nuts and nine pan-leaves as presents to overcome her assumed reluctance
to proceed further. (Perhaps another relic of the "marriage by capture"
practice.) Before the bride enters the bridegroom's house, those who
bring her are entitled to receive a jar of molasses as well as one of
rice-liquor, and are hospitably entertained for the night. It is said
that Kachári custom sanctions a certain interval of time, sometimes
amounting to five days, between the bride's entering her husband's
house and the consummation of the marriage. All expenses attending
the marriage festival, which may extend to Rs. 200/- and upwards,
are borne by the family of the bridegroom, the bride's people as a
rule contributing nothing.
4. Death.
Immediately after death occurs, the corpse is carefully washed by
the nearest relatives, the arms and legs straightened out, the head
anointed with oil, and the hair reverently combed. A fowl or a pigeon
is killed, and from its flesh a curry is prepared with vegetables
and condiments. A portion of this food is then placed close by the
deceased's head, and the act of feeding him with a little of it is
carried out up to a certain point, though no food is as a matter of
fact actually placed within his lips. This act is repeated some ten
or twelve times, and what remains of the curry, &c., is then thrown
away, no one being allowed to consume it. The dead man's body is
then clothed with the best garments he owned in his lifetime, and
the whole covered with a perfectly new cloth; and in this condition
it is taken outside the homestead for final disposal.
[Disposal of the dead.]
There are two recognised way of disposing of the dead, i.e., (1) Burial
and (2) Cremation. The latter is looked upon as the more correct and
respectable, though from motives of economy the former is by far the
more common. [1. Burial] When burial is decided upon the corpse is
carried to its last resting place, which is often but not always on
the banks of a running stream, by the nearest surviving relatives,
no women being permitted to attend. Should it be necessary for the
burial party to cross a river or irrigation canal, a cord is usually
stretched from bank to bank at the crossing place, either above or
below the water, to serve a kind of bridge for the spirit (jiwa),
should he be at any time disposed to revisit the scenes amid which
his earthly life has been passed. [37] Arrived at a suitable place
(there are no recognised cemeteries for the interment), some pice are
thrown on the spot, to purchase the ground from the deity (madái) to
whom it is supposed to belong. The body is laid on the ground and the
grave duly dug, but before placing the corpse therein, the friends and
relatives make a solemn procession around it, five times in the case
of a man and seven in that of a woman. The body is then placed in the
grave, a somewhat shallow one, and the nearest relatives proceed to
fill it with earth. In carrying out this process a certain precaution
is taken, i.e., a hollow reed or a stalk of jungle grass (kher) is
placed perpendicularly in the grave extending from the nose of the
deceased to a point somewhat above the natural level of the ground;
and in filling the grave with earth, great care is taken not to injure
or displace this reed, so that the deceased's spirit may be able to
breathe should he so desire. After filling the grave four posts are
erected over it, one at each corner; and threads passed around them,
in order to prevent the spirits of other men from interfering with the
repose of the deceased. In the case of well-to-do people a certain
number of rupees are usually buried with the corpse, and even the
poorer classes make offerings of pice, &c., for this pious purpose;
whilst brass and other utensils needed in every-day life are almost
always left on the grave, it being supposed that the deceased may
require the use of these things in the new state of existence on which
he has recently entered. Finally, a rough shed of thatch is put up
close by the grave to shelter the deceased's spirit from rain and sun.
[2. Cremation.]
Very much the same procedure is in vogue in the case of cremation,
which is looked upon as the more respectable method of disposing
of the dead among the wealthier members of the community. Cremation
usually takes place on or near the banks of running streams, and is
prefaced by the formal buying of the land from the deity (madái) of
the locality. Here too a certain difference is made in disposing of
the corpse of a man and of a woman respectively; for in the case of a
woman seven layers of wood are placed under the body and seven above
it, whilst in dealing with a man's corpse five such layers under and
five above the body are held to be sufficient. After placing the body
on the funeral pile, the deceased's friends and relatives pass round
it in procession, five times in the case of a man and seven in that
of a woman (see above). The funeral pile is then set on fire on all
four sides at once, and the fire carefully fed until every vestige
of the deceased's body is consumed. The ashes are not carried away,
but four posts are usually placed in the ground enclosing the oblong
space on which the cremation has been carried out; and on the tops
of these a cloth is spread, which is held to shelter the spirit of
the deceased from sun and rain.
[Indications of belief in life after death.]
From what has been written above, it would certainly seem that the
Kachári has some idea, however vague and unsatisfactory, of a life
prolonged after the great change we commonly call "death," though
his notion of the future life is merely that of the "first (earthly)
life renewed." It has obviously little or nothing in common with
the hope of life eternal in Christ, i.e., life in God, life with
God, life like God, given us in the New Testament (see 1 Cor. xv.;
Phil. iii. 20, 21; 1 John iii. 2).
[Festivities. 1. Domestic.]
From such information as the writer has been able to ascertain,
there would seem to be few well-marked domestic festivities among
the Kacháris, though the race is a very sociable and hospitable one,
and the people entertain each other freely and frequently.
The two following may perhaps be mentioned:--
A. "Mikham gadán zánái," i.e., the "eating of the new rice." This is
a feast held about December 10th (there is apparently no fixed date),
in celebration of the commencement of the cutting of the great rice
crop of the year (sáli dhán). It is on this occasion that the proceeds
of the newly harvested rice are first partaken of as an actual article
of food. There is perhaps nothing of a religious character about it,
its main feature being a very free consumption of rice-beer, often
resulting in much drunkenness.
B. "Mahu hanai" (or thàmfoi hasa-nai K), i.e., "the driving away
of mosquitoes." This is a form of merry-making got up mainly by
the young people of a village about the latter part of November
or early in December, to celebrate the departure of the mosquito
plague for the cold season. Some twenty-five years ago the writer
was passing the night in a school-shed, and was aroused from sleep
by much shouting, dancing, &c., just outside the door. On looking out
into the moonlight he saw a group of fantastic figures, some of them
clothed in dry plantain leaves, and wearing a head-dress made of thatch
of preposterous proportions resembling an enormous conical-shaped
"dunce cap." On inquiring the reason of the gathering, he was told
that the performers were "driving away the mosquitoes." No doubt
this is an amusement got up by the younger members of the community,
who are sometimes rewarded for their efforts by small gifts of money,
food, &c., from their elders (cf. "Guy Fawkes," at home).
[2. Tribal.]
There would seem to be no distinctively tribal festivals characteristic
of the Kacháris of this district (Darrang), unless the January and
April Bihus can be regarded as such. The origin of these two festivals
is still somewhat obscure and uncertain, and further light on the
subject is greatly to be desired. Certainly they are not exclusively
Kachári festivals, for they are observed by the Hindus in this
neighbourhood as well as by the Kacháris. [38] Among the latter the
January Bihu is usually celebrated about the 12th of that month. For
weeks previously the young people have been busy building "Bihu huts"
of jungle thatch; also in erecting tall bamboos, sometimes surmounted
by ragged flags, &c., while straw, thatch and other combustibles
are piled up around these bamboos to the height of many feet. On the
appointed Bihu night these sheds, &c., are all set fire to amid much
rejoicing, dancing, singing, &c., and of course there is, as on all
like occasions, a liberal consumption of the national rice-beer. For a
month or two previously to this festival, the village boys and young
people have had to guard the growing and ripening rice crops night
and day; and in all likelihood this merry-making, which is very much
of the nature of a "Harvest home," is largely an expression of their
joy and gladness at being relieved from this hard and irksome duty.
The April Bihu, the origin of which it is not so easy to account for,
seem to be a "Saturnalia" of much more objectionable character. The
people abandon themselves freely both to drunkenness and other forms of
licentiousness, and cases of serious assault and riot have been known
to accompany and follow these gatherings. Among the Darrang Kacháris,
this festival lasts for seven days, during which little or no work
is done, the whole period being given up to merry-making, dancing,
feasting, &c. As is the practice among their Hindu neighbours,
on the opening day all cattle are taken to the nearest river or
tank, and there formally bathed, and afterwards sprinkled with a
preparation compounded of rice-beer (zu), tomatoes, and turmeric. The
horns are smeared with oil, and occasionally oil, ashes, and pounded
rice-flour are applied in patches to the bodies of the cattle. This
duty discharged, the people abandon themselves to sheer merriment,
the younger folks especially giving themselves up to dancing and
singing, &c. The verses sung at these festivals seem for the most
part to be little better than mere meaningless jingle-jangle rhymes,
made up on the spur of the moment, though occasionally some of them
give an insight into the peculiar humour of the Kachári character and
temperament. One or two samples of what is sung at these gatherings
are given below:--
1. Agoi, Boisági, faidá nang.
Dána bathar jánai-khai rang zágan zang.
2. Adá Puá Rám, laga laga thángdang;
Gámsá hádang, fáli hádang, mána brábdang?
3. Ádá Ráguna, fáriyá, ai fáriyá,
Námoisa, gunoisa, fáriyá, ádá fáriyá;
Áma máseyakhosa zuriyá, ádá zuriyá;
Dáosá máseyá-khosa zuriyá ádá zuriyá,
&c. &c. &c.
The above represents an exchange of playful banter between two members
(brother and sister) of a Kachári family who are about to take part in
a Bihu festival or some similar merry-making. The brother, Puá Rám,
with all a young man's impatience and eagerness to enjoy the fun,
calls to his sister, Boisagi, to come out from the house and join
him at once, while she from within (couplet two) pleads womanlike for
a few minutes longer grace to complete her personal adornment. Both
brother and sister then join in calling on a near relative, a mauzadár,
not to shirk his social responsibilities, but at once to provide the
ways and means for a plentiful Bihu feast. The general sense of the
three couplets, somewhat freely translated, is given below:--
1. Sister Boisagi, come out and play;
This is our Bihu holiday;
Don't move inside the house all day.
2. Dear brother mine, I'll come anon
I'm putting my best sari on;
Five minutes' grace; don't harshly press;
We ladies must have time to dress.
3. Uncle's a wealthy mauzadár;
Long has he served the great Sirkar;
He'll gladly give a bounteous feast,
A round half-dozen pigs at least.
&c. &c. &c.
II
The following couplet, which is not connected with the foregoing, calls
perhaps for some explanation. The words, of which a free translation is
appended, are supposed to be uttered by a Kachári damsel, the village
belle, to a fickle lover, who, after paying court to her for a time,
deserts her and marries another. The faithless swain is a man of
some little importance in the village community as a dang daliya, or
drum-major, one of his functions being to beat the big drum (madal)
at all festivals, marriage processions, &c. He has the misfortune
to lose his wife after a month or two of wedded life, and then would
fain return to the "old love."
Armed therefore with his big drum of office and apparelled in his
gayest attire, he presents himself before the Kachári belle and renews
his suit for her hand. Now the average Kachári maiden has a wholesome
sense of her own value (in married life she is not unfrequently the
"better man" of the two), and no more relishes being "jilted" than
her sisters in other and more civilised parts of the world. She
at once, therefore, repels his advances in the most positive and
unqualified way; and not only so, but in the presence of a large bevy
of scornful village maidens, all highly resentful of the faithless
lover's fickleness, she proceeds to pour contempt on his suit in the
following severely sarcastic couplet ("facit indignatio versus"):--
Dáng-dáliyá, dángdáliyá.
Mozáng mozáng gán-blá-ba
Náng-kho náng-li-yá; nang-li-yá
Handsome raiment though you wear,
I'm not for you, I do declare.
(The original Kachári verse is singularly emphatic.)
Or
"You come to me in bright array:
I'm not for you; be off, I say.
This dandy swain my mate would be?
No 'second-hand lover,' girls, for me."
The above couplets may perhaps be fairly looked upon as typical
illustrations of the Kachári temperament and character, and it may
be inferred from them that human nature among this interesting race
does not greatly differ from human nature in other and more civilised
countries of the world.
It may perhaps be added that whilst the Garos living in the plains
observe both the January and the April Bihus, their brethren in the
Hills ignore both, though they would seem to have certain special
harvest festivals of their own. The people of the North Cachar
Hills, on the other hand, seem to observe only one annual Bihu,
of the nature of a harvest home, at any time between October and
December. These Kachári festivals are almost always attended by an
immoderate consumption of the national rice-beer, not to say by actual
drunkenness in not a few cases. On the other hand, they have their
good side in that they help to keep the people to some extent beyond
the influence of the destructive vortex of Hinduism, in which their
simple primitive virtues might otherwise be so readily engulfed, and
the adoption of which in whole or in part is invariably accompanied
by a grave and deep-seated deterioration in conduct and character.