The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Part 58

_Sonpakar_.--(A tree.) A totemistic sept of Kawar and Chero.

_Sonratan_.--(Gold jewel.) A section of Chandnahu Kurmi.

_Sonthaga_.--(Gold-cheat.) A subdivision of Pardhans in Kawardha. They cheated people by pa.s.sing false gold, and hence were so named.

_Sonthal_.--Synonym for Santal.

_Sonwani_.--(_Sona-pani_, gold-water.) This is a common sept among the primitive tribes and castes derived from them. The members of this sept occupy a quasi-priestly position, and readmit offenders into caste by giving them water to drink in which gold has been dipped. They also purify those who have got vermin in a wound by sprinkling this water over them. A section of Ahir and of Rawat or Chhattisgarhi Ahir; a sept of Dhoba, Dhanwar, Gond and Kawar; a section of Kalanga, k.u.mhar, Panka and Teli.

_Sori_.--A sept of Gond and Pardhan. Sori and Khusro are the two subsepts of the Markam sept.

_Soyam_.--(Wors.h.i.+pper of seven G.o.ds.) A division of Gond in Chanda.

_Sravaka_.--A Jain layman.

_Sri Gaur Mala_.--(A resident of Malwa.) Subcaste of Barhai.

_Srimali_.--(From the old city of Srimal in Rajputana.) A subcaste of Gujarati Brahman and Bania.

_Srivastab, Sriwastab_.--(From the old city of Sravasti in the north of Oudh.) A well-known subcaste of Kayasth. A subcaste of Bharbhunja, Darzi and Teli.

_Sua_.--(Parrot.) A section of Chadar, Khangar and Kasar. A sept of Bhatra and Kawar.

_Suda_.--Synonym of Sudh.

_Sudh_.--A caste. A subcaste of Kolta and Lohar.

_Sudha_.--Synonym of Sudh.

_Sudho_.--Synonym of Sudh.

_Sudra_.--The lowest of the four traditional castes. See Introduction. There is no Sudra caste at present in the Central Provinces. A subcaste of Barai.

_Suibadiwa_.--(_Sui_, porcupine.) A totemistic sept of the Dhurwa Gonds in Betul.

_Suji_.--(From _sui_, a needle.) Synonym for Darzi.

_Sukul, Shukul_.--(White.) A surname of Kanaujia Brahmans.

_Sulankhi_.--Subcaste of Mahli.

_Sunar_.--A caste of goldsmiths. Subcaste of Bishnoi.

_Sundhi_.--Synonym of Sundi.

_Sungaria_.--(One who keeps pigs.) Subcaste of k.u.mhar.

_Sunni_.--One of the two princ.i.p.al sects of Muhammadans who follow the orthodox traditions, Sunni meaning traditionist.

_Sunri_.--Synonym of Sundi.

_Surait_.--A name signifying persons of impure or mixed descent. A subcaste of Dhakar and Halba. A subcaste of Jharia Rawat (Ahir) in Bastar, being the offspring of Jharia Rawat fathers by women of other Rawat subcastes. A subcaste of Sonkar in Kanker, consisting of the offspring of illegitimate unions. A subcaste of Jhadi Telenga, k.u.mhar and Marar (Mali).

_Suraj, Surya_.--(The sun.) A section of Binjhwar, Gond, Khangar, Marar, Mowar, Rawat (Ahir) and Sansia (in Sambalpur).

_Surajdhwaja_.--A subcaste of Kayasth.

_Surajvansi_.--(Descendants of the Sun.) Name of one of the two great divisions of Rajputs. A clan of Rajputs. A subcaste of Barai, Khairwar and Kalar. A section of Chamar, Dhanwar, Gond and Koli.

_Suratha_.--A subdivision of Valmiki Kayasth.

_Sureyam_.--A Gond sept named after the _sui_ or porcupine, because, it is said, a porcupine pa.s.sed by when they were wors.h.i.+pping their G.o.d.

_Surkhi_.--(Red.) A clan of Surajvansi Rajputs.

_Sutar_.--The name of a carpenter in the Maratha Districts. Synonym of Barhai.

_Suthra Shahi_.--Synonym for Nanakpanthi.

_Sutsale_.--(A thread-weaver.) Subcaste of Koshti.

_Suvarha_.--Named after the _suar_ or pig. Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Swami_ or _Aiya (Iyer)_.--(Master.) A t.i.tle given to leaders of the religious orders. A t.i.tle of Sanadhya Brahmans in Saugor. A subcaste of Jangam.

_Swetambari_.--A sect of Jains who put clothes on their images.

_Tadvi_.--A name for Muhammadan Bhils.

_Tak, Takshac_.--A clan of Rajputs, now extinct.

_Takankar, Takari_.--(From _takna_, to tap, to roughen the face of a mill-stone.) A synonym or subcaste of Pardbi. A synonym for the Pathrot or Pathrawat stone-workers in Berar, who are cla.s.sed with Beldars.

_Takle_.--(Fallen.) A subcaste of Kasar, said to consist of the descendants of persons excommunicated for s.e.xual offences.

_Tamashawala_.--(Showman.) A name given to Nats.

_Tambatkar_.--(A coppersmith.) Synonym for Tamera.

_Tamboli, Tamoli_.--(A seller of the prepared betel-leaves.) Synonym for Barai.

_Tandan_.--A subdivision of Saraswat Brahmans in Hoshangabad, perhaps so called from their being priests of the Tandan Khatris.

_Tankiwala_.--(A sharpener of grindstones.) Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Tanti_.--(_Tanta_, weaver's loom.) A caste. A subcaste of Bhulia and Mahli.

_Tanti, Tatwa_ (from Sanskrit _tantu_, a fibre).--The great weaver caste of Bengal and Bihar. A few Tantis were enumerated in Raipur District in 1911. Sir H. Risley is of opinion that the Tantis are probably a functional group developed under the pressure of the natural demand for fine woven cloth. [507] One tradition of their origin is that the first ancestor of the caste was begotten by the celestial architect Viswakarma on a low Sudra woman. Viswakarma is regarded as the tutelary deity of the caste, and is wors.h.i.+pped twice a year with offerings of flowers, rice and sugar. Images are sometimes made of him, but more commonly the weaver's loom or some of the tools of the craft are regarded as the dwelling-place or symbol of the G.o.d. In past times the Tantis made the famous fine cotton cloth, known as _abrawan_ or 'running water,' which was supplied only to the imperial zenana at Delhi. Sir H. Risley relates the following stories ill.u.s.trating its gossamer texture. On one occasion a daughter of Aurangzeb was reproached on entering the room for her immodest attire, through which her limbs could be seen, and excused herself by the plea that she had on seven folds of cloth over her body. Again in the reign of Alivardi Khan (1742-56), a Dacca Tanti was flogged and banished from the city for not preventing his cow from eating up a piece of _abrawan_ cloth which had been laid out to bleach on the gra.s.s. The famous female spinners who used to wind the fine native thread were still to be found in 1873, but their art has now died out. In ill.u.s.tration of their delicate touch it is told that one of them wound 88 yards of thread on a reel, and the whole weight of the thread was only one _rati_ or two grains. Nowadays the finest thread spun weighs 70 yards to the _rati_. The best cloths were woven by the Dacca Tantis, to whom the Koshtis of Burhanpur in the Central Provinces stood second. The Bamanmara tank in the old village of Dhanpur in Pendra zamindari of Bilaspur is so named from the fact that about a century ago some Brahman traders were murdered on its bank for the sake of the fine cloths they were carrying rolled up in hollow bamboo sticks. In Bengal the Tantis are included among the castes from whom a Brahman can take water. Sir H. Risley is of opinion that they have to some extent raised themselves to this position by their own influence, their trade being prosperous and lucrative, and having long ago attained to the development of an urban industry. The ordinary status of the weaving castes being at the bottom of the social scale, the superior position of the Bengal Tantis is an interesting exception. It is a.n.a.logous to that of the Koshtis in the Central Provinces, also a cla.s.s of urban weavers, who rank above the impure castes, though they have not attained to the position of the Tantis, as Brahmans will not take water from them.