The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II Part 22

Another and mild form of _Dharna_ is that known as _Khatpati_. When a woman is angry with her husband on account of his having refused her some request, she will put her bed in a corner of the room and go and lie on it, turning her face to the wall, and remain so, not answering when spoken to nor taking food. The term Khatpati signifies keeping to one side of the bed, and there she will remain until her husband accedes to her request, unless indeed he should decide to beat her instead. This is merely an exaggerated form of the familiar display of temper known as sulking. It is interesting to note the use of the phrase turning one's face to the wall, with something of the meaning attached to it in the Bible.

A custom similar to that of _Dharna_ was called _Diwala nikalna_ or going bankrupt. When a merchant had had heavy losses and could not meet his liabilities, he would place the lock of his door outside, reversing it, and sit in the veranda with a piece of sackcloth over him. Or he wrapped round him the floor-carpet of his room. When he had displayed these signs of ruin and self-abas.e.m.e.nt his creditors would not sue him, but he would never be able to borrow money again.

17. Bhat songs.

In conclusion a few specimens of Bhat songs may be given. The following is an account of the last king of Nagpur, Raghuji III., commonly known as Baji Rao:

They made a picture of Baji Rao; Baji Rao was the finest king to see; The Brahmans told lies about him, They sent a letter from Nagpur to Calcutta, They made Baji Rao go on a pilgrimage.

Brothers! the great Sirdars who were with him, They brought a troop of five hundred horse!

The Tuesday fair in Benares was held with fireworks, They made the Ganges pink with rose-petals.

Baji Rao's gifts were splendid, His turban and coat were of brocaded silk, A pair of diamonds and emeralds He gave to the Brahmans of Benares.

Oh brothers! the Raja sat in a covered howdah bound on an elephant!

Many fans waved over his head; How charitable a king he was!

In the above song a note of regret is manifest for the parade and display of the old court of Nagpur, English rule being less picturesque. The next is a song about the English:

The English have taken the throne of Nagpur, The fear of the English is great.

In a moment's time they conquer countries.

The guns boomed, the English came strong and warlike, They give wealth to all.

They ram the ramrods in the guns.

They conquered also Tippoo's dominions, The English are ruling in the fort of Gawilgarh.

The following is another song about the English, not quite so complimentary:

The English became our kings and have made current the _kaldar_ (milled) rupee.

The menials are favoured and the Bhats have lost their profession, The mango has lost its taste, the milk has lost its sweetness, The rose has lost its scent.

Baji Rao of Nagpur he also is gone, No longer are the drums beaten at the palace gate.

Poona customs have come in.

Brahmans knowing the eighteen Purans have become Christians; The son thinks himself better than his father, The daughter-in-law no longer respects her mother-in-law.

The wife fights with her husband.

The English have made the railways and telegraphs; The people wondered at the silver rupees and all the country prospered.

The following is a song about the Nerbudda at Mandla, Rewa being another name for the river:

The stream of the world springs out breaking apart the hills; The Rewa cuts her path through the soil, the air is darkened with her spray.

All the length of her banks are the seats of saints; hermits and pilgrims wors.h.i.+p her.

On seeing the holy river a man's sins fall away as wood is cut by a saw; By bathing in her he plucks the fruit of holiness.

When boats are caught in her flood, the people pray: 'We are sinners, O Rewa, bring us safely to the bank!'

When the Nerbudda is in flood, Mandla is an island and the people think their end has come: The rain pours down on all sides, earth and sky become dark as smoke, and men call on Rama.

The bard says: 'Let it rain as it may, some one will save us as Krishna saved the people of Brindawan!'

This is a description of a beautiful woman:

A beautiful woman is loved by her neighbours, But she will let none come to her and answers them not.

They say: 'Since G.o.d has made you so beautiful, open your litter and let yourself be seen!'

He who sees her is struck as by lightning, she shoots her lover with the darts of her eyes, invisible herself.

She will not go to her husband's house till he has her brought by the Government.

When she goes her father's village is left empty.

She is so delicate she faints at the sight of a flower, Her body cannot bear the weight of her cloth, The garland of jasmine-flowers is a burden on her neck, The red powder on her feet is too heavy for them.

It is interesting to note that weakness and delicacy in a woman are emphasised as an attraction, as in English literature of the eighteenth century.

The last is a gentle intimation that poets, like other people, have to live:

It is useless to adorn oneself with sandalwood on an empty belly, n.o.body's body gets fat from the scent of flowers; The singing of songs excites the mind, But if the body is not fed all these are vain and hollow.

All Bhats recite their verses in a high-pitched sing-song tone, which renders it very difficult for their hearers to grasp the sense unless they know it already. The Vedas and all other sacred verses are spoken in this manner, perhaps as a mark of respect and to distinguish them from ordinary speech. The method has some resemblance to intoning. Women use the same tone when mourning for the dead.

Bhatra

List of Paragraphs

1. _General notice and structure of the caste._ 2. _Admission of outsiders._ 3. _Arrangement of marriages._ 4. _The Counter of Posts._ 5. _Marriage customs._ 6. _Propitiation of ghosts._ 7. _Religion. Ceremonies at hunting._ 8. _Superst.i.tious remedies._ 9. _Occupation._ 10. _Names._

1. General notice and structure of the caste.

_Bhatra._ [308]--A primitive tribe of the Bastar State and the south of Raipur District, akin to the Gonds. They numbered 33,000 persons in 1891, and in subsequent enumerations have been amalgamated with the Gonds. Nothing is known of their origin except a legend that they came with the Rajas of Bastar from Warangal twenty-three generations ago. The word Bhatra is said to mean a servant, and the tribe are employed as village watchmen and household and domestic servants. They have three divisions, the Pit, Amnait and San Bhatras, who rank one below the other, the Pit being the highest and the San the lowest. The Pit Bhatras base their superiority on the fact that they decline to make gra.s.s mats, which the Amnait Bhatras will do, while the San Bhatras are considered to be practically identical with the Muria Gonds. Members of the three groups will eat with each other before marriage, but afterwards they will take only food cooked without water from a person belonging to another group. They have the usual set of exogamous septs named after plants and animals. Formerly, it is said, they were tattooed with representations of the totem plant and animal, and the septs named after the tiger and snake ate the flesh of these animals at a sacrificial meal. These customs have fallen into abeyance, but still if they kill their totem animal they will make apologies to it, and break their cooking-pots, and bury or burn the body. A man of substance will distribute alms in the name of the deceased animal. In some localities members of the Kachhun or tortoise sept will not eat a pumpkin which drops from a tree because it is considered to resemble a tortoise. But if they can break it immediately on touching the ground they may partake of the fruit, the a.s.sumption being apparently that it has not had time to become like a tortoise.

2. Admission of outsiders.