The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II Part 20

1. Origin and tribal legend.

_Bharia, Bharia-Bhumia._ [277]--A Dravidian tribe numbering about 50,000 persons and residing princ.i.p.ally in the Jubbulpore District, which contains a half of the total number. The others are found in Chhindwara and Bilaspur. The proper name of the tribe is Bharia, but they are often called Bharia-Bhumia, because many of them hold the office of Bhumia or priest of the village G.o.ds and of the lower castes in Jubbulpore, and the Bharias prefer the designation of Bhumia as being the more respectable. The term Bhumia or 'Lord of the soil'

is an alternative for Bhuiya, the name of another Dravidian tribe, and no doubt came to be applied to the office of village priest because it was held by members of this tribe; the term Baiga has a similar signification in Mandla and Balaghat, and is applied to the village priest though he may not belong to the Baiga tribe at all. The Bharias have forgotten their original affinities, and several stories of the origin of the tribe are based on far-fetched derivations of the name. One of these is to the effect that Arjun, when matters were going badly with the Pandavas in their battle against the Kauravas, took up a handful of _bharru_ gra.s.s and, pressing it, produced a host of men who fought in the battle and became the ancestors of the Bharias. And there are others of the same historical value. But there is no reason to doubt that Bharia is the contemptuous form of Bhar, as Telia for Teli, Jugia for Jogi, Kuria for Kori, and that the Bharias belong to the great Bhar tribe who were once dominant in the eastern part of the United Provinces, but are now at the bottom of the social scale, and relegated by their conquerors to the degrading office of swineherds. The Rajjhars, who appear to have formed a separate caste as the landowning subdivision of the Bhars, like the Raj-Gonds among Gonds, are said to be the descendants of a Raja and a Bharia woman. The Rajjhars form a separate caste in the Central Provinces, and the Bharias acknowledge some connection with them, but refuse to take water from their hands, as they consider them to be of impure blood. The Bharias also give Mahoba or Bandhogarh as their former home, and these places are in the country of the Bhars. According to tradition Raja Karna Deva, a former king of Dahal, the cla.s.sical name of the Jubbulpore country, was a Bhar, and it may be that the immigration of the Bharias into Jubbulpore dates from his period, which is taken as 1040 to 1080 A.D. While then it may be considered as fairly certain that the Bharias are merely the Bhar tribe with a variant of the name, it is clear from the t.i.tles of their family groups, which will shortly be given, that they are an extremely mixed cla.s.s and consist largely of the descendants of members of other castes, who, having lost their own social position, have taken refuge among the Bharias at the bottom of the social scale. Mr. Crooke says of the Bhars: [278] "The most probable supposition is that the Bhars were a Dravidian race closely allied to the Kols, Cheros and Seoris, who at an early date succ.u.mbed to the invading Aryans. This is borne out by their appearance and physique, which closely resemble that of the undoubted non-Aryan aborigines of the Vindhyan-Kaimur plateau." In the Central Provinces the Bharias have been so closely a.s.sociated with the Gonds that they have been commonly considered to belong to that tribe. Thus Mr. Drysdale says of them: [279] 'The Bharias were the wildest of the wild Gonds and were inveterate _dhaya_ [280]

cutters.' Although, however, they have to some extent intermarried with the Gonds, the Bharias were originally quite a distinct tribe, and would belong to the Kolarian or Munda group but that they have entirely forgotten their own language and speak only Hindi, though with a peculiar intonation especially noticeable in the case of their women.

2. Tribal subdivisions.

The structure of the tribe is a very loose one, and though the Bharias say that they are divided into subcastes, there are none in reality. Members of all castes except the very lowest may become Bharias, and one Bharia will recognise another as a fellow-tribesman if he can show relations.h.i.+p to any person admitted to occupy that position. But a division is in process of formation in Bilaspur based on the practice of eating beef, from which some abstain, and in consequence look down on the others who are addicted to it, and call them Dhur Bharias, the term _dhur_ meaning cattle. The abstainers from beef now refuse to marry with the others. The tribe is divided into a number of exogamous groups, and the names of these indicate the very heterogeneous elements of which it consists. Out of fifty-one groups reported not less than fifteen or sixteen have names derived from other castes or clans, showing almost certainly that such groups were formed by a mixed marriage or the admission of a family of outsiders. Such names are: Agaria, from the Agarias or iron-workers: this clan wors.h.i.+ps Loha-Sur, the G.o.d of the Agarias; Ahirwar, or the descendants of an Ahir: this clan wors.h.i.+ps the Ahir G.o.ds; Bamhania, born of a Brahman ancestor; Binjhwar or Binjha, perhaps from the tribe of that name; Chandel, from a Rajput clan; Dagdoha, a synonym of Basor: persons of this sept hang a piece of bamboo and a curved knife to the waist of the bride at their marriages; Dhurua, born of a Dhurua Gond; Kuanpa, born of an Ahir subcaste of that name; Kurka, of Korku parentage; Maravi, the name of a Gond clan; Rathor from a Rajput clan; Samarba from a Chamar; and Yarkara, the name of a Gond clan. These names sufficiently indicate the diverse elements of which the tribe is made up. Other group names with meanings are: Gambhele, or those who seclude their women in a separate house during the menstrual period; Kaitha, from the _kaith_ tree (_Feronia elephantum_); Karondiha, from the _karonda_ plant (_Carissa Carandas_); Magarha, from _magar_ a crocodile: members of this group wors.h.i.+p an image of a crocodile made with flour and fried in oil; Sonwani, from _sona_ gold: members of this group perform the ceremony of readmission of persons temporarily put out of caste by sprinkling on them a little water in which gold has been dipped. Any person who does not know his clan name calls himself a Chandel, and this group, though bearing the name of a distinguished Rajput clan, is looked upon as the lowest. But although the rule of exogamy in marriage is recognised, it is by no means strictly adhered to, and many cases are known in which unions have taken place between members of the same clan. So long as people can recollect a relations.h.i.+p between themselves, they do not permit their families to intermarry. But the memory of the Bharia does not extend beyond the third generation.

3. Marriage.

Marriages are adult, and the proposal comes from the boy's father, who has it conveyed to the girl's father through some friend in his village. If a betrothal is arranged the bride's father invites the father and friends of the bridegroom to dinner; on this occasion the boy's father brings some necklaces of lac beads and spangles and presents them to the bride's female relatives, who then come out and tie the necklaces round his neck and those of his friends, place the spangles on their foreheads, and then, catching hold of their cheeks, press and twist them violently. Some turmeric powder is also thrown on their faces. This is the binding portion of the betrothal ceremony. The date of marriage is fixed by a Brahman, this being the only purpose for which he is employed, and a bride-price varying from six to twelve rupees is paid. On this occasion the women draw caricatures with turmeric or charcoal on the loin-cloth of the boy's father, which they manage to purloin. The marriage ceremony follows generally the Hindu form. The bridegroom puts on women's ornaments and carries with him an iron nut-cracker or dagger to keep off evil spirits. After the wedding, the _midua_, a sort of burlesque dance, is held. The girl's mother gets the dress of the boy's father and puts it on, together with a false beard and moustaches, and dances, holding a wooden ladle in one hand and a packet of ashes in the other. Every time she approaches the bridegroom's father on her rounds she spills some of the ashes over him, and occasionally gives him a crack on the head with her ladle, these actions being accompanied by bursts of laughter from the party and frenzied playing by the musicians. When the party reach the bridegroom's house on their return, his mother and the other women come out and burn a little mustard and human hair in a lamp, the unpleasant smell emitted by these articles being considered potent to drive away evil spirits. Every time the bride leaves her father's house she must weep, and must cry separately with each one of her caste-sisters when taking leave of them. When she returns home she must begin weeping loudly on the boundary of the village, and continue doing so until she has embraced each of her relatives and friends, a performance which in a village containing a large number of Bharias may take from three to six hours. These tears are, however, considered to be a manifestation of joy, and the girl who cannot produce enough of them is often ridiculed. A prospective son-in-law who serves for his wife is known as Gharjian. The work given him is always very heavy, and the Bharias have a saying which compares his treatment with that awarded to an ox obtained on hire. If a girl is seduced by a man of the tribe, she may be married to him by the ceremony prescribed for the remarriage of a widow, which consists merely in the placing of bangles on the wrists and a present of a new cloth, together with a feast to the caste-fellows. Similarly if she is seduced by a man of another caste who would be allowed to become a Bharia, she can be married as a widow to any man of the tribe. A widow is expected to marry her late husband's younger brother, but no compulsion is exercised. If a bachelor espouses a widow, he first goes through the ceremony of marriage with a ring to which a twig of the date-palm is tied, by carrying the ring seven times round the marriage post. This is necessary to save him from the sin of dying unmarried, as the union with a widow is not reckoned as a true marriage. In Jubbulpore divorce is said to be allowed only for conjugal misbehaviour, and a Bharia will pa.s.s over three transgressions on his wife's part before finally turning her out of his house. A woman who wishes to leave her husband simply runs away from him and lives with somebody else. In this case the third party must pay a goat to the husband by way of compensation and give a feast to the caste-fellows.

4. Childbirth.

The carelessness of the Bharias in the matter of childbirth is notorious, and it is said that mothers commonly went on working up to the moment of childbirth and were delivered of children in the fields. Now, however, the woman lies up for three days, and some ceremonies of purification are performed. In Chhattisgarh infants are branded on the day of their birth, under the impression that this will cause them to digest the food they have taken in the womb. The child is named six months after birth by the father's sister, and its lips are then touched with cooked food for the first time.

5. Funeral ceremonies.

The tribe both burn and bury the dead, and observe mourning for an adult for ten days, during which time they daily put out a leaf-cup containing food for the use of the deceased. In the third year after the death, the _mangan_ or caste beggar visits the relatives of the deceased, and receives what they call one limb (_ang_), or half his belongings; the _ang_ consists of a loin-cloth, a bra.s.s vessel and dish, an axe, a scythe and a wrist-ring.

6. Religion and magic.

The Bharias call themselves Hindus and wors.h.i.+p the village deities of the locality, and on the day of Diwali offer a black chicken to their family G.o.d, who may be Bura Deo, Dulha Deo or Karua, the cobra. For this snake they profess great reverence, and say that he was actually born in a Bharia family. As he could not work in the fields he was usually employed on errands. One day he was sent to the house, and surprised one of his younger brother's wives, who had not heard him coming, without her veil. She reproached him, and he retired in dudgeon to the oven, where he was presently burnt to death by another woman, who kindled a fire under it not knowing that he was there. So he has been deified and is wors.h.i.+pped by the tribe. The Bharias also venerate Bagheshwar, the tiger G.o.d, and believe that no tiger will eat a Bharia. On the Diwali day they invite the tiger to drink some gruel which they place ready for him behind their houses, at the same time warning the other villagers not to stir out of doors. In the morning they display the empty vessels as a proof that the tiger has visited them. They practise various magical devices, believing that they can kill a man by discharging at him a _muth_ or handful of charmed objects such as lemons, vermilion and seeds of urad. This ball will travel through the air and, descending on the house of the person at whom it is aimed, will kill him outright unless he can avert its power by stronger magic, and perhaps even cause it to recoil in the same manner on the head of the sender. They exorcise the Sudhiniyas or the drinkers of human blood. A person troubled by one of these is seated near the Bharia, who places two pots with their mouths joined over a fire. He recites incantations and the pots begin to boil, emitting blood. This result is obtained by placing a herb in the pot whose juice stains the water red. The blood-sucker is thus successfully exorcised. To drive away the evil eye they burn a mixture of chillies, salt, human hair and the husks of kodon, which emits a very evil smell. Such devices are practised by members of the tribe who hold the office of Bhumia or village priest. The Bharias are well-known thieves, and they say that the dark spots on the moon are caused by a banyan tree, which G.o.d planted with the object of diminis.h.i.+ng her light and giving thieves a chance to ply their trade. If a Bhumia wishes to detect a thief, he sits clasping hands with a friend, while a pitcher is supported on their hands. An oblation is offered to the deity to guide the ordeal correctly, and the names of suspected persons are recited one by one, the name at which the pitcher topples over being that of the thief. But before employing this method of detection the Bhumia proclaims his intention of doing so on a certain date, and in the meantime places a heap of ashes in some lonely place and invites the thief to deposit the stolen article in the ashes to save himself from exposure. By common custom each person in the village is required to visit the heap and mingle a handful of ashes with it, and not infrequently the thief, frightened at the Bhumia's powers of detection, takes the stolen article and buries it in the ash-heap where it is duly found, the necessity for resorting to the further method of divination being thus obviated. Occasionally the Bharia in his character of a Hindu will make a vow to pay for a recitation of the Satya Narayan Katha or some other holy work. But he understands nothing of it, and if the Brahman employed takes a longer time than he had bargained for over the recitation he becomes extremely bored and irritated.

7. Social life and customs.

The scantiness of the Bharia's dress is proverbial, and the saying is '_Bharia bhwaka, pwanda langwata_', or 'The Bharia is verily a devil, who only covers his loins with a strip of cloth.' But lately he has a.s.sumed more clothing. Formerly an iron ring carried on the wrist to exorcise the evil spirits was his only ornament. Women wear usually only one coa.r.s.e cloth dyed red, spangles on the forehead and ears, bead necklaces, and cheap metal bracelets and anklets. Some now have Hindu ornaments, but in common with other low castes they do not usually wear a nose-ring, out of respect to the higher castes. Women, though they work in the fields, do not commonly wear shoes; and if these are necessary to protect the feet from thorns, they take them off and carry them in the presence of an elder or a man of higher caste. They are tattooed with various devices, as a c.o.c.k, a crown, a native chair, a pitcher stand, a sieve and a figure called _dhandha_, which consists of six dots joined by lines, and appears to be a representation of a man, one dot standing for the head, one for the body, two for the arms and two for the legs. This device is also used by other castes, and they evince reluctance if asked to explain its meaning, so that it may be intended as a representation of the girl's future husband. The Bharia is considered very ugly, and a saying about him is: 'The Bharia came down from the hills and got burnt by a cinder, so that his face is black.' He does not bathe for months together, and lives in a dirty hovel, infested by the fowls which he loves to rear. His food consists of coa.r.s.e grain, often with boiled leaves as a vegetable, and he consumes much whey, mixing it with his scanty portion of grain. Members of all except the lowest castes are admitted to the Bharia community on presentation of a _pagri_ and some money to the headman, together with a feast to the caste-fellows. The Bharias do not eat monkeys, beef or the leavings of others, but they freely consume fowls and pork. They are not considered as impure, but rank above those castes only whose touch conveys pollution. For the slaughter of a cow the Bilaspur Bharias inflict the severe punishment of nine daily feasts to the caste, or one for each limb of the cow, the limbs being held to consist of the legs, ears, horns and tail. They have an aversion for the horse and will not remove its dung. To account for this they tell a story to the effect that in the beginning G.o.d gave them a horse to ride and fight upon. But they did not know how to mount the horse because it was so high. The wisest man among them then proposed to cut notches in the side of the animal by which they could climb up, and they did this. But G.o.d, when he saw it, was very angry with them, and ordered that they should never be soldiers, but should be given a winnowing-fan and broom to sweep the grain out of the gra.s.s and make their livelihood in that way.

8. Occupation.

The Bharias are usually farmservants and field-labourers, and their services in these capacities are in much request. They are hardy and industrious, and so simple that it is an easy matter for their masters to involve them in perpetual debt, and thus to keep them bound to service from generation to generation. They have no understanding of accounts, and the saying, 'Pay for the marriage of a Bharia and he is your bond-slave for ever,' sufficiently explains the methods adopted by their employers and creditors.

Bhat

List of Paragraphs

1. _Origin of the Bhats._ 2. _Bhats and Charans._ 3. _Lower-cla.s.s Bhats._ 4. _Social status of the caste._ 5. _Social customs._ 6. _The Bhat's business._ 7. _Their extortionate practices._ 8. _The Jasondhis._ 9. _The Charans as carriers._ 10. _Suicide and the fear of ghosts._ 11. _Instances of haunting and laying ghosts._ 12. _The Charans as sureties._ 13. _Suicide as a means of revenge._ 14. _Dharna._ 15. _Casting out spirits._ 16. _Sulking. Going bankrupt._ 17. _Bhat songs._

1. Origin of the Bhats.

_Bhat, Rao, Jasondhi._--The caste of bards and genealogists. In 1911 the Bhats numbered 29,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, being distributed over all Districts and States, with a slight preponderance in large towns such as Nagpur, Jubbulpore and Amraoti. The name Bhat is derived from the Sanskrit Bhatta, a lord. The origin of the Bhats has been discussed in detail by Sir H. Risley. Some, no doubt, are derived from the Brahman caste as stated by Mr. Nesfield: "They are an offshoot from those secularised Brahmans who frequented the courts of princes and the camps of warriors, recited their praises in public, and kept records of their genealogies. Such, without much variation, is the function of the Bhat at the present day. The Mahabharata speaks of a band of bards and eulogists marching in front of Yudishthira as he made his progress from the field of Kurukshetra towards Hastinapur. But these very men are spoken of in the same poem as Brahmans. Naturally as time went on these courtier priests became hereditary bards, receded from the parent stem and founded a new caste." "The best modern opinion," Sir H. Risley states, [281] "seems disposed to find the germ of the Brahman caste in the bards, ministers and family priests, who were attached to the king's household in Vedic times. The characteristic profession of the Bhats has an ancient and distinguished history. The literature of both Greece and India owes the preservation of its oldest treasures to the singers who recited poems in the households of the chiefs, and doubtless helped in some measure to shape the masterpieces which they handed down. Their place was one of marked distinction. In the days when writing was unknown, the man who could remember many verses was held in high honour by the tribal chief, who depended upon the memory of the bard for his personal amus.e.m.e.nt, for the record of his own and his ancestors'

prowess, and for the maintenance of the genealogy which established the purity of his descent. The bard, like the herald, was not lightly to be slain, and even Odysseus in the heat of his vengeance spares the aoidos Phemius, 'who sang among the wooers of necessity.'" [282]

2. Bhats and Charans.

There is no reason to doubt that the Birm or Baram Bhats are an offshoot of Brahmans, their name being merely a corruption of the term Brahman. But the caste is a very mixed one, and another large section, the Charans, are almost certainly derived from Rajputs. Malcolm states that according to the fable of their origin, Mahadeo first created Bhats to attend his lion and bull; but these could not prevent the former from killing the latter, which was a source of infinite vexation and trouble, as it compelled Mahadeo to create new ones. He therefore formed the Charan, equally devout with the Bhat, but of bolder spirit, and gave him in charge these favourite animals. From that time no bull was ever destroyed by the lion. [283] This fable perhaps indicates that while the peaceful Bhats were Brahmans, the more warlike Charans were Rajputs. It is also said that some Rajputs disguised themselves as bards to escape the vengeance of Parasurama. [284] The Maru Charans intermarry with Rajputs, and their name appears to be derived from Maru, the term for the Rajputana desert, which is also found in Marwar. Malcolm states [285] that when the Rajputs migrated from the banks of the Ganges to Rajputana, their Brahman priests did not accompany them in any numbers, and hence the Charans arose and supplied their place. They had to understand the rites of wors.h.i.+p, particularly of Siva and Parvati, the favourite deities of the Rajputs, and were taught to read and write. One cla.s.s became merchants and travelled with large convoys of goods, and the others were the bards and genealogists of the Rajputs. Their songs were in the rudest metre, and their language was the local dialect, understood by all. All this evidence shows that the Charans were a cla.s.s of Rajput bards.

3. Lower-cla.s.s Bhats.

But besides the Birm or Brahman Bhats and the Rajput Charans there is another large body of the caste of mixed origin, who serve as bards of the lower castes and are probably composed to a great extent of members of these castes. These are known as the Brid-dhari or begging Bhats. They beg from such castes as Lodhis, Telis, Kurmis, Ahirs and so on, each caste having a separate section of Bhats to serve it; the Bhats of each caste take food from the members of the caste, but they also eat and intermarry with each other. Again, there are Bairagi Bhats who beg from Bairagis, and keep the genealogies of the temple-priests and their successors. Yet another cla.s.s are the Dasaundhis or Jasondhis, who sing songs in honour of Devi, play on musical instruments and practise astrology. These rank below the cultivating castes and sometimes admit members of such castes who have taken religious vows.

4. Social status of the caste.

The Brahman or Birm-Bhats form a separate subcaste, and the Rajputs are sometimes called Rajbhat. These wear the sacred thread, which the Brid-Bhats and Jasondhis do not. The social status of the Bhats appears to vary greatly. Sir H. Risley states that they rank immediately below Kayasths, and Brahmans will take water from their hands. The Charans are treated by the Rajputs with the greatest respect; [286] the highest ruler rises when one of this cla.s.s enters or leaves an a.s.sembly, and the Charan is invited to eat first at a Rajput feast. He smokes from the same huqqa as Rajputs, and only caste-fellows can do this, as the smoke pa.s.ses through water on its way to the mouth. In past times the Charan acted as a herald, and his person was inviolable. He was addressed as Maharaj, [287] and could sit on the Singhasan or Lion's Hide, the ancient term for a Rajput throne, as well as on the hides of the tiger, panther and black antelope. The Rajputs held him in equal estimation with the Brahman or perhaps even greater. [288] This was because they looked to him to enshrine their heroic deeds in his songs and hand them down to posterity. His sarcastic references to a defeat in battle or any act displaying a want of courage inflamed their pa.s.sions as nothing else could do. On the other hand, the Brid-Bhats, who serve the lower castes, occupy an inferior position. This is because they beg at weddings and other feasts, and accept cooked food from members of the caste who are their clients. Such an act const.i.tutes an admission of inferior status, and as the Bhats eat together their position becomes equivalent to that of the lowest group among them. Thus if other Bhats eat with the Bhats of Telis or Kalars, who have taken cooked food from their clients, they are all in the position of having taken food from Telis and Kalars, a thing which only the lowest castes will do. If the Bhat of any caste, such as the Kurmis, keeps a girl of that caste, she can be admitted into the community, which is therefore of a very mixed character. Such a caste as the Kurmis will not even take water from the hands of the Bhats who serve them. This rule applies also where a special section of the caste itself act as bards and minstrels. Thus the Pardhans are the bards of the Gonds, but rank below ordinary Gonds, who give them food and will not take it from them. And the Sansias, the bards of the Jats, and the Mirasis, who are employed in this capacity by the lower castes generally, occupy a very inferior position, and are sometimes considered as impure.