The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume IV Part 17

4. Widow marriage

The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow may marry any one except persons of her own family group or her husband's elder brother, who stands to her in the light of a father. She is permitted, but not obliged, to marry her husband's younger brother, but if he has performed the dead man's obsequies, she may not marry him, as this act has placed him in the relation of a son to her deceased husband. More usually the widow marries some one in another village, because the remarriage is always held in some slight disrepute, and she prefers to be at a distance from her first husband's family. Divorce is said to be permitted only for persistent misconduct on the part of the wife.

5. Burial

The caste always bury the dead and observe mourning only for three days. On returning from a burial they all get drunk, and then go to the house of the deceased and chew the bitter leaves of the _nim_ tree (_Melia indica_). These they then spit out of their mouths to indicate their complete severance from the dead man.

6. Occupation

The caste beat drums at village festivals, and castrate cattle, and they also make brooms and mats of date-palm and keep leeches for blood-letting. Some of them are village watchmen and their women act as midwives. As soon as a baby is born, the midwife blows into its mouth, ears and nose in order to clear them of any impediments. When a man is initiated by a _guru_ or spiritual preceptor, the latter blows into his ear, and the Mangs therefore say that on account of this act of the midwife they are the _gurus_ of all Hindus. During an eclipse the Mangs beg, because the demons Rahu and Ketu, who are believed to swallow the sun and moon on such occasions, were both Mangs, and devout Hindus give alms to their fellow-castemen in order to appease them. Those of them who are thieves are said not to steal from the persons of a woman, a bangle-seller, a Lingayat Mali or another Mang. [184] In Maratha villages they sometimes take the place of Chamars, and work in leather, and one writer says of them: "The Mang is a village menial in the Maratha villages, making all leather ropes, thongs and whips, which are used by the cultivators; he frequently acts as watchman; he is by profession a thief and executioner; he readily hires himself as an a.s.sa.s.sin, and when he commits a robbery he also frequently murders." In his menial capacity he receives presents at seed-time and harvest, and it is said that the Kunbi will never send the Mang empty away, because he represents the wrath of Mahadeo, being made from the G.o.d's sweat when he was angry.

7. Religion and social status

The caste especially venerate the G.o.ddess Devi. They apparently identify Devi with Saraswati, the G.o.ddess of wisdom, and they have a story to the effect that once Brahma wished to ravish his daughter Saraswati. She fled from him and went to all the G.o.ds, but none of them would protect her for fear of Brahma. At last in despair she came to a Mang's house, and the Mang stood in the door and kept off Brahma with a wooden club. In return for this Saraswati blessed him and said that he and his descendants should never lack for food. They also revere Mahadeo, and on every Monday they wors.h.i.+p the cow, placing vermilion on her forehead and was.h.i.+ng her feet. The cat is regarded as a sacred animal, and a Mang's most solemn oath is sworn on a cat. A house is defiled if a cat or a dog dies or a cat has kittens in it, and all the earthen pots must be broken. If a man accidentally kills a cat or a dog a heavy penance is exacted, and two feasts must be given to the caste. To kill an a.s.s or a monkey is a sin only less heinous. A man is also put out of caste if kicked or beaten with a shoe by any one of another caste, even a Brahman, or if he is struck with the _kathri_ or mattress made of rags which the villagers put on their sleeping-cots. Mr. Gayer remarks [185] that "The Mangs show great respect for the bamboo; and at a marriage the bridal couple are made to stand in a bamboo basket. They also reverence the _nim_ tree, and the Mangs of Sholapur spread _hariali_ [186] gra.s.s and _nim_ leaves on the spot where one of their caste dies." The social status of the Mangs is of the lowest. They usually live in a separate quarter of the village and have a well for their own use. They may not enter temples. It is recorded that under native rule the Mahars and Mangs were not allowed within the gates of Poona between 3 P.M. and 9 A.M., because before nine and after three their bodies cast too long a shadow; and whenever their shadow fell upon a Brahman it polluted him, so that he dare not taste food or water until he had bathed and washed the impurity away. So also no low-caste man was allowed to live in a walled town; cattle and dogs could freely enter and remain but not the Mahar or Mang. [187] The caste will eat the flesh of pigs, rats, crocodiles and jackals and the leavings of others, and some of them will eat beef. Men may be distinguished by the _senai_ flute which they carry and by a large ring of gold or bra.s.s worn in the lobe of the ear. A Mang's sign-manual is a representation of his _bhall-singara_ or castration-knife. Women are tattooed before marriage, with dots on the forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, and with figures of a date-palm on the forearm, a scorpion on the palm of the hand, and flies on the fingers. The caste do not bear a good character, and it is said of a cruel man, '_Mang-Nirdayi_,' or 'Hardhearted as a Mang.'

Mang-Garori

_Mang-Garori._--This is a criminal subdivision of the Mang caste, residing princ.i.p.ally in Berar. They were not separately recorded at the census. The name Garori appears to be a corruption of Garudi, and signifies a snake-charmer. [188] Garuda, the Brahminy kite, the bird on which Vishnu rides, was the great subduer of snakes, and hence probably snake-charmers are called Garudi. Some of the Mang-Garoris are snake-charmers, and this may have been the original occupation of the caste, though the bulk of them now appear to live by dealing in cattle and thieving. The following notice of them is abstracted from Major Gunthorpe's _Notes on Criminal Tribes_. [189] They usually travel about with small _pals_ or tents, taking their wives, children, buffaloes and dogs with them. The men are well set up and tall. Their costume is something like that worn by professional gymnasts, consisting of light and short reddish-brown drawers (_chaddi_), a waistband with fringe at either end (_katchhe_), and a sheet thrown over the shoulders. The Naik or headman of the camp may be recognised by his wearing some red woollen cloth about his person or a red shawl over his shoulders. The women have short _saris_ (body-cloths), usually of blue, and tied in the Telugu fas.h.i.+on. They are generally very violent when any attempt is made to search an encampment, especially if there is stolen property concealed in it. Instances have been known of their seizing their infants by the ankles and swinging them round their heads, declaring they would continue doing so till the children died, if the police did not leave the camp. Sometimes also the women of a gang have been known to throw off all their clothing and appear in a perfect state of nudity, declaring they would charge the police with violating their modesty. Men of this tribe are expert cattle-lifters, but confine themselves chiefly to buffaloes, which they steal while out grazing and very dexterously disguise by tr.i.m.m.i.n.g the horns and firing, so as to avoid recognition by their rightful owners. To steal goats and sheep is also one of their favourite occupations, and they will either carry the animals off from their pens at night or kill them while out grazing, in the following manner: having marked a sheep or goat which is feeding farthest away from the flock, the thief awaits his opportunity till the shepherd's back is turned, when the animal is quickly captured. Placing his foot on the back of the neck near the head, and seizing it under the chin with his right hand, the thief breaks the animal's neck by a sudden jerk; he then throws the body into a bush or in some dip in the ground to hide it, and walks away, watching from a distance. The shepherd, ignorant of the loss of one of his animals, goes on leisurely driving his flock before him, and when he is well out of sight the Mang-Garori removes the captured carcase to his encampment. Great care is taken that the skin, horns and hoofs should be immediately burnt so as to avoid detection. Their ostensible occupation is to trade in barren half-starved buffaloes and buffalo calves, or in country ponies. They also purchase from Gaoli herdsmen barren buffaloes, which they profess to be able to make fertile; if successful they return them for double the purchase-money, but if not, having obtained if possible some earnest-money, they abscond and sell the animals at a distance. [190] Like the Bhamtas, the Mang-Garoris, Major Gunthorpe states, make it a rule not to give a girl in marriage until the intended husband has proved himself an efficient thief. Mr. Gayer [191] writes as follows of the caste: "I do not think Major Gunthorpe lays sufficient emphasis on the part taken by the women in crimes, for they apparently do by far the major part of the thieving, Sherring says the men never commit house-breaking and very seldom rob on the highway: he calls them 'wanderers, showmen, jugglers and conjurors,' and describes them as robbers who get their information by performing before the houses of rich bankers and others. Mang-Garori [192] women steal in markets and other places of public resort. They wait to see somebody put down his clothes or bag of rupees and watch till his attention is attracted elsewhere, when, walking up quietly between the article and its owner, they drop their petticoat either over or by it, and manage to transfer the stolen property into their basket while picking up the petticoat. If an unfavourable omen occurs on the way when the women set out to pilfer they place a stone on the ground and dash another on to it saying, 'If the obstacle is removed, break'; if the stone struck is broken, they consider that the obstacle portended by the unfavourable omen is removed from their path, and proceed on their way; but if not, they return. Stolen articles are often bartered at liquor-shops for drink, and the Kalars act as receivers of stolen property for the Mang-Garoris."

The following are some particulars taken from an old account of the criminal Mangs; [193] Their leader or headman was called the _naik_ and was elected by a majority of votes, though considerable regard was paid to heredity. The _naik's_ person and property were alike inviolable; after a successful foray each of the gang contributed a quarter of his share to the _naik_, and from the fund thus made up were defrayed the expenses of preparation, religious offerings and the triumphal feast. A pair of shoes were usually given to a Brahman and alms to the poor. To each band was attached an informer, who was also receiver of the stolen goods. These persons were usually bangle- or perfume-sellers or jewellers. In this capacity they were admitted into the women's apartments and so enabled to form a correct notion of the topography of a house and a shrewd guess as to the wealth of its inmates. Like all barbarous tribes and all persons addicted to criminal practices the Mangs were extremely superst.i.tious. They never set out on an expedition on a Friday. After the birth of a child the mother and another woman stood on opposite sides of the cradle, and the former tossed her child to the other, commending it to the mercy of Jai Gopal, and waited to receive it back in like manner in the name of Jai Govind. Both Gopal and Govind are names of Krishna, The Mangs usually married young in life. If a girl happened to hang heavy on hand she was married at the age of p.u.b.erty to the deity. In other words, she was attached as a prost.i.tute to the temple of the G.o.d Khandoba or the G.o.ddess Yellama. Those belonging to the service of the latter were wont in the month of February to parade the streets in a state of utter nudity. When a bachelor wished to marry a widow he was first united to a swallow-wort plant, and this was immediately dug up and transplanted, and withering away left him at liberty to marry the widow. If a lady survived the sorrow caused by the death of two or three husbands she could not again enter the holy state unless she consented to be married with a fowl under her armpit; the unfortunate bird being afterwards killed to appease the manes of her former consorts.

Manihar

_Manihar._ [194]--A small caste of pedlars and hawkers. In northern India the Manihars are makers of gla.s.s bangles, and correspond to the Kachera caste of the Central Provinces. Mr. Nesfield remarks [195]

that the special industry of the Manihars of the United Provinces is the making of gla.s.s bangles or bracelets. These are an indispensable adjunct to the domestic life of the Hindu woman; for the gla.s.s bangle is not worn for personal ornament, but as the badge of the matrimonial state, like the wedding-ring in Europe. But in the Central Provinces gla.s.s bangles are made by the Kacheras and the Muhammadan Turkaris or Sisgars, and the Manihars are petty hawkers of stationery and articles for the toilet, such as miniature looking-gla.s.ses, boxes, stockings, needles and thread, spangles, and imitation jewellery; and Hindu Jogis and others who take to this occupation are accustomed to give their caste as Manihar. In 1911 nearly 700 persons belonging to the caste were returned from the northern Districts of the Central Provinces. The Manihars are nominally Muhammadans, but they retain many Hindu customs. At their weddings they erect a marriage-tent, anoint the couple with oil and turmeric and make them wear a _kankan_ or wrist-band, to which is attached a small purse containing a little mustard-seed and a silver ring. The mustard is intended to scare away the evil spirits. When the marriage procession reaches the bride's village it is met by her people, one of whom holds a bamboo in his hands and bars the advance of the procession. The bridegroom's father thereupon makes a present of a rupee to the village _panchayat_, and his people are allowed to proceed. When the bridegroom reaches the bride's house he finds her younger sister carrying a _kalas_ or pot of water on her head; he drops a rupee into it and enters the house. The bride's sister then comes holding above her head a small frame like a _tazia_ [196] with a cocoanut core hanging inside. She raises the frame as high as she can to prevent the bridegroom from plucking out the cocoanut core, which, however, he succeeds in doing in the end. The girl applies powdered _mehndi_ or henna to the little finger of the boy's right hand, in return for which she receives a rupee and a piece of cloth. The Kazi then recites verses from the Koran which the bridegroom repeats after him, and the bride does the same in her turn. This is the Nikah or marriage proper, and before it takes place the bridegroom's father must present a nose-ring to the bride. The parents also fix the Meher or dowry, which, however, is not a dowry proper, but a stipulation that if the bridegroom should put away his wife after marriage he will pay her a certain agreed sum. After the Nikah the bridegroom is given some spices, which he grinds on a slab with a roller. He must do the grinding very slowly and gently so as to make no noise, or it is believed that the married life of the couple will be broken by quarrels. A widow is permitted to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband, but not his elder brother. The caste bury their dead with the head to the north. The corpse is first bathed and wrapped in a new white sheet, with another sheet over it, and is then laid on a cot or in a _janaza_ or coffin. While it is being carried to the cemetery the bearers are changed every few steps, so that every man who accompanies the funeral may carry the corpse for a short distance. When it is lowered into the grave the sheet is taken off and given to a Fakir or beggar. When the body is covered with earth the priest reads the funeral verses at a distance of forty steps from the grave. Feasts are given to the caste-fellows on the third, tenth, twentieth and fortieth days after the death. The Manihars observe the Shabrat festival by distributing to the caste-fellows _halua_ or a mixture of melted b.u.t.ter and flour. The Shabrat is the middle night of the month Shaban, and Muhammad declared that on this night G.o.d registers the actions which every man will perform during the following year, and all those who are fated to die and the children who are to be born. Like Hindu widows the Manihar women break their bangles when their husband's corpse is removed to the burial-ground. The Manihars eat flesh, but not beef or pork; and they also abstain from alcoholic liquor. If a girl is seduced and made pregnant before marriage either by a man of the caste or an outsider, she remains in her father's house until her child has been born, and may then be married either to her paramour or any other man of the caste by the simple repet.i.tion of the Nikah or marriage verses, omitting all other ceremonies. The Manihars will admit into their community converted Hindus belonging even to the lowest castes.

Mannewar

_Mannewar._ [197]--A small tribe belonging to the south or Telugu-speaking portion of the Chanda District, where they mustered about 1600 persons in 1911. The home of the tribe is the Hyderabad State, where it numbers 22,000 persons, and the Mannewars are said to have once been dominant over a part of that territory. The name is derived from a Telugu word _mannem_, meaning forest, while _war_ is the plural termination in Telugu, Mannewar thus signifying 'the people of the forest.' The tribe appear to be the inferior branch of the Koya Gonds, and they are commonly called Mannewar Koyas as opposed to the Koya Doras or the superior branch, Dora meaning 'lord'

or master. The Koya Doras thus correspond to the Raj-Gonds of the north of the Province and the Mannewar Koyas to the Dhur or 'dust'

Gonds. [198] The tribe is divided into three exogamous groups: the Nalugu Velpulu wors.h.i.+pping four G.o.ds, the Ayidu Velpulu wors.h.i.+pping five, and the Anu Velpulu six. A man must marry a woman of one of the divisions wors.h.i.+pping a different number of G.o.ds from his own, but the Mannewars do not appear to know the names of these G.o.ds, and consequently no veneration can be paid to them at present, and they survive solely for the purpose of regulating marriage. When a betrothal is made a day is fixed for taking an omen. In the early morning the boy who is to be married has his face washed and turmeric smeared on his feet, and is seated on a wooden seat inside the house. The elders of the village then proceed outside it towards the rising sun and watch for any omen given by an animal or bird crossing their path. If this is good the marriage is celebrated, and if bad the match is broken off. In the former case five of the elders take their food on returning from the search for the omen and immediately proceed to the bride's village. Here they are met by the Pesamuda or village priest, and stay for three days, when the amount of the dowry is settled and a date fixed for the wedding. The marriage ceremony resembles that of the low Telugu castes. The couple are seated on a plough-yoke, and coloured rice is thrown on to their heads, and the bridegroom ties the _mangalya_ or bead necklace, which is the sign of marriage, round the neck of the bride. If a girl is deformed, or has some other drawback which prevents her from being sought in marriage, she is given away with her sister to a first cousin [199] or some other near relative, the two sisters being married to him together. A widow may marry any man of the tribe except her first husband's brothers. If a man takes a widow to his house without marrying her he is fined three rupees, while for adultery with a married woman the penalty is twenty rupees. A divorce can always be obtained, but if the husband demands it he is mulcted of twenty rupees by the caste committee, while a wife who seeks a divorce must pay ten rupees. The Mannewars make an offering of a fowl and some liquor to the ploughshare on the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. After the picking of the flowers of the mahua [200] they wors.h.i.+p that tree, offering to it some of the liquor distilled from the new flowers, with a fowl and a goat. This is known as the Burri festival. At the Holi feast the Mannewars make two human figures to represent Kami and Rati, or the G.o.d of love and his wife. The male figure is then thrown on to the Holi fire with a live chicken or an egg. This may be a reminiscence of a former human sacrifice, which was a common custom in many parts of the world at the spring festival. The caste usually bury the dead, but are beginning to adopt cremation. They do not employ Brahmans for their ceremonies and eat all kinds of food, including the flesh of pigs, fowls and crocodiles, but in view of their having nominally adopted Hinduism, they abstain from beef.

Maratha

List of Paragraphs

1. _Numerical statistics_.

2. _Double meaning of the term Maratha_.

3. _Origin and position of the caste_.

4. _Exogamous clans_.

5. _Other subdivisions_.

6. _Social customs_.

7. _Religion_.

8. _Present position of the caste_.

9. _Nature of the Maratha insurrection_.

10. _Maratha women in past times_.

11. _The Maratha horseman_.

12. _Cavalry in the field_.

13. _Military administration_.

14. _Sitting Dharna_.

15. _The infantry_.

16. _Character of the Maratha armies_.

1. Numerical statistics

_Maratha, Mahratta._--The military caste of southern India which manned the armies of Sivaji, and of the Peshwa and other princes of the Maratha confederacy. In the Central Provinces the Marathas numbered 34,000 persons in 1911, of whom Nagpur contained 9000 and Wardha 8000, while the remainder were distributed over Raipur, Hoshangabad and Nimar. In Berar their strength was 60,000 persons, the total for the combined province being thus 94,000. The caste is found in large numbers in Bombay and Hyderabad, and in 1901 the India Census tables show a total of not less than five million persons belonging to it.

2. Double meaning of the term Maratha

It is difficult to avoid confusion in the use of the term Maratha, which signifies both an inhabitant of the area in which the Marathi language is spoken, and a member of the caste to which the general name has in view of their historical importance been specifically applied. The native name for the Marathi-speaking country is Maharashtra, which has been variously interpreted as 'The great country' or 'The country of the Mahars.' [201] A third explanation of the name is from the Rashtrakuta dynasty which was dominant in this area for some centuries after A.D. 750. The name Rashtrakuta was contracted into Rattha, and with the prefix of Maha or Great might evolve into the term Maratha. The Rashtrakutas have been conjecturally identified with the Rathor Rajputs. The _Nasik Gazetteer_ [202] states that in 246 B.C. Maharatta is mentioned as one of the places to which Asoka sent an emba.s.sy, and Maharashtraka is recorded in a Chalukyan inscription of A.D. 580 as including three provinces and 99,000 villages. Several other references are given in Sir J. Campbell's erudite note, and the name is therefore without doubt ancient. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentioned before the thirteenth or fourteenth century. [203] The antiquity of the name would appear to militate against the derivation from the Rashtrakuta dynasty, which did not become prominent till much later, and the most probable meaning of Maharashtra would therefore seem to be 'The country of the Mahars.' Maharatta and Maratha are presumably derivatives from Maharashtra.

3. Origin and position of the caste

The Marathas are a caste formed from military service, and it seems probable that they sprang mainly from the peasant population of Kunbis, though at what period they were formed into a separate caste has not yet been determined. Grant-Duff mentions several of their leading families as holding offices under the Muhammadan rulers of Bij.a.pur and Ahmadnagar in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the Nimbhalkar, Gharpure and Bhonsla; [204] and presumably their clansmen served in the armies of those states. But whether or no the designation of Maratha had been previously used by them, it first became prominent during the period of Sivaji's guerilla warfare against Aurangzeb. The Marathas claim a Rajput origin, and several of their clans have the names of Rajput tribes, as Chauhan, Panwar, Solanki and Suryavansi. In 1836 Mr. Enthoven states, [205] the Sesodia Rana of Udaipur, the head of the purest Rajput house, was satisfied from inquiries conducted by an agent that the Bhonslas and certain other families had a right to be recognised as Rajputs. Colonel Tod states that Sivaji was descended from a Rajput prince Sujunsi, who was expelled from Mewar to avoid a dispute about the succession about A.D. 1300. Sivaji is shown as 13th in descent from Sujunsi. Similarly the Bhonslas of Nagpur were said to derive their origin from one Bunbir, who was expelled from Udaipur about 1541, having attempted to usurp the kingdom. [206]

As Rajput dynasties ruled in the Deccan for some centuries before the Muhammadan conquest, it seems reasonable to suppose that a Rajput aristocracy may have taken root there. This was Colonel Tod's opinion, who wrote: "These kingdoms of the south as well as the north were held by Rajput sovereigns, whose offspring, blending with the original population, produced that mixed race of Marathas inheriting with the names the warlike propensities of their ancestors, but who a.s.sume the names of their abodes as t.i.tles, as the Nimalkars, the Phalkias, the Patunkars, instead of their tribes of Jadon, Tuar, Puar, etc." [207]

This statement would, however, apply only to the leading houses and not to the bulk of the Maratha caste, who appear to be mainly derived from the Kunbis. In Sholapur the Marathas and Kunbis eat together, and the Kunbis are said to be b.a.s.t.a.r.d Marathas. [208] In Satara the Kunbis have the same division into 96 clans as the Marathas have, and many of the same surnames. [209] The writer of the _Satara Gazetteer_ says: [210] "The census of 1851 included the Marathas with the Kunbis, from whom they do not form a separate caste. Some Maratha families may have a larger strain of northern or Rajput blood than the Kunbis, but this is not always the case. The distinction between Kunbis and Marathas is almost entirely social, the Marathas as a rule being better off, and preferring even service as a constable or messenger to husbandry." Exactly the same state of affairs prevails in the Central Provinces and Berar, where the body of the caste are commonly known as Maratha Kunbis. In Bombay the Marathas will take daughters from the Kunbis in marriage for their sons, though they will not give their daughters in return. But a Kunbi who has got on in the world and become wealthy may by sufficient payment get his sons married into Maratha families, and even be adopted as a member of the caste. [211]

In 1798 Colonel Tone, who commanded a regiment of the Peshwa's army, wrote [212] of the Marathas: "The three great tribes which compose the Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd, and the Goala or cowherd; to this original cause may perhaps be ascribed that great simplicity of manner which distinguishes the Maratha people."

It seems then most probable that, as already stated, the Maratha caste was of purely military origin, const.i.tuted from the various castes of Maharashtra who adopted military service, though some of the leading families may have had Rajputs for their ancestors. Sir D. Ibbetson thought that a similar relation existed in past times between the Rajputs and Jats, the landed aristocracy of the Jat caste being gradually admitted to Rajput rank. The Khandaits or swordsmen of Orissa are a caste formed in the same manner from military service. In the _Imperial Gazetteer_ Sir H. Risley suggests that the Maratha people were of Scythian origin: