The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I Part 24

3. Wors.h.i.+p of Vishnu and Vaishnava doctrines.

In the Central Provinces Vishnu is wors.h.i.+pped as Narayan Deo, who is identified with the sun, or as Parmeshwar, the supreme beneficent G.o.d. He is also much wors.h.i.+pped in his incarnations as Rama and Krishna, and their images, with those of their consorts, Sita and Radha, are often to be found in his temples as well as in their own. These images are supposed to be subject to all the conditions and necessities incident to living humanity. Hence in the daily ritual they are washed, dressed, adorned and even fed like human beings, food being daily placed before them, and its aroma, according to popular belief, nouris.h.i.+ng the G.o.d present in the image.

The princ.i.p.al Vishnuite sects are described in the article on Bairagi, and the dissenting sects which have branched off from these in special articles. [404] The cult of Vishnu and his two main incarnations is the most prominent feature of modern Hinduism. The orthodox Vaishnava sects mainly differed on the point whether the human soul or spirit was a part of the divine soul or separate from it, and whether it would be reabsorbed into the divine soul, or have a separate existence after death. But they generally regarded all human souls as of one quality, and hence were opposed to distinctions of caste. Animals also have souls or spirits, and the Vishnuite doctrine is opposed to the destruction of animal life in any form. In the Bania caste the practices of Vaishnava Hindus and Jains present so little difference that they can take food together, and even intermarry. The creed is also opposed to suicide.

Faithful wors.h.i.+ppers of Vishnu will after his death be transported to his heaven, Vaikuntha, or to Golaka, the heaven of Krishna. The sect-mark of the Vaishnavas usually consists of three lines down the forehead, meeting at the root of the nose or below it. All three lines may be white, or the centre one black or red, and the outside ones white. They are made with a kind of clay called Gopichandan, and are sometimes held to be the impress of Vishnu's foot. To put on the sect-mark in the morning is to secure the G.o.d's favour and protection during the day.

Vam-Margi, Bam-Margi, Vama-Chari Sect.

_Vam-Margi, Bam-Margi, Vama-Chari Sect._ [405]--A sect who follow the wors.h.i.+p of the female principle in nature and indulge in sensuality at their rites according to the precepts of the Tantras. The name signifies 'the followers of the crooked or left-handed path.' Their princ.i.p.al sacred text is the Rudra-Yamal-Damru Tantra, which is said to have been promulgated by Rudra or Siva through his Damru or drum at the end of his dance in Kailas, his heaven in the Himalayas. The Tantras, according to Professor Monier-Williams, inculcate an exclusive wors.h.i.+p of Siva's wife as the source of every kind of supernatural faculty and mystic craft. The principle of female energy is known as Sakti, and is personified in the female counterparts of all the G.o.ds of the Hindu triad, but is practically concentrated in Devi or Kali. The five requisites for Tantra wors.h.i.+p are said to be the five Makaras or words beginning with M: Madya, wine; Mansa, flesh; Matsya, fish; Mudra, parched grain and mystic gesticulation; and Maithuna, s.e.xual indulgence. Among the Vam-Margis both men and women are said to a.s.semble at a secret meeting-place, and their rite consists in the adoration of a naked woman who stands in the centre of the room with a drawn sword in her hand. The wors.h.i.+ppers then eat fish, meat and grain, and drink liquor, and thereafter indulge in promiscuous debauchery. The followers of the sect are mainly Brahmans, though other castes may be admitted. The Vam-Margis usually keep their members.h.i.+p of the sect a secret, but their special mark is said to be a semicircular line or lines of red powder or vermilion on the forehead, with a red streak half-way up the centre, and a circular spot of red at the root of the nose. They use a rosary of rudraksha or of coral beads, but of no greater length than can be concealed in the hand, or they keep it in a small purse or bag of red cloth. During wors.h.i.+p they wear a piece of red silk round the loins and decorate themselves with garlands of crimson flowers. In their houses they wors.h.i.+p a figure of the double triangle drawn on the ground or on a metal plate and make offerings of liquor to it.

They practise various magical charms by which they think they can kill their enemies. Thus fire is brought from the pyre on which a corpse has been burnt, and on this the operator pours water, and with the charcoal so obtained he makes a figure of his enemy in a lonely place under a pipal tree or on the bank of a river. He then takes an iron bar, twelve finger-joints long, and after repeating his charms pierces the figure with it. When all the limbs have been pierced the man whose effigy has been so treated will die. Other methods will procure the death of an enemy in a certain number of months or cause him to lose a limb. Sometimes they make a rosary of 108 fruits of the _dhatura_ [406] and pierce the figure of the enemy through the neck after repeating charms, and it is supposed that this will kill him at once.

Wahhabi Sect

_Wahhabi Sect._ [407]--A puritan sect of Muhammadans. The sect was not recorded at the census, but it is probable that it has a few adherents in the Central Provinces. The Wahhabi sect is named after its founder, Muhammad Abdul Wahhab, who was born in Arabia in A.D. 1691. He set his face against all developments of Islam not warranted by the Koran and the traditional utterances of the Companions of the Prophet, and against the belief in omens and wors.h.i.+p at the shrines of saints, and condemned as well all display of wealth and luxury and the use of intoxicating drugs and tobacco. He denied any authority to Islamic doctrines other than the Koran itself and the utterances of the Companions of the Prophet who had received instruction from his lips, and held that in the interpretation and application of them Moslems must exercise the right of private judgment. The sect met with considerable military success in Arabia and Persia, and at one time threatened to spread over the Islamic world. The following is an account of the taking of Mecca by Saud, the grandson of the founder, in 1803: "The sanct.i.ty of the place subdued the barbarous spirit of the conquerors, and not the slightest excesses were committed against the people. The stern principles of the reformed doctrines were, however, strictly enforced. Piles of green huqqas and Persian pipes were collected, rosaries and amulets were forcibly taken from the devotees, silk and satin dresses were demanded from the wealthy and worldly, and the whole, piled up into a heterogeneous ma.s.s, were burnt by the infuriated reformers. So strong was the feeling against the pipes and so necessary did a public example seem to be, that a respectable lady, whose delinquency had well-nigh escaped the vigilant eye of the Muhtasib, was seized and placed on an a.s.s, with a green pipe suspended from her neck, and paraded through the public streets--a terrible warning to all of her s.e.x who might be inclined to indulge in forbidden luxuries. When the usual hour of prayer arrived the myrmidons of the law sallied forth, and with leathern whips drove all slothful Moslems to their devotions. The mosques were filled. Never since the days of the Prophet had the sacred city witnessed so much piety and devotion. Not one pipe, not a single tobacco-stopper, was to be seen in the streets or found in the houses, and the whole population of Mecca prostrated themselves at least five times a day in solemn adoration."

The apprehensions of the Sultan of Turkey were aroused and an army was despatched against the Wahhabis, which broke their political power, their leader, Saud's son, being executed in Constantinople in 1818. But the tenets of the sect continued to be maintained in Arabia, and in 1822 one Saiyad Ahmad, a freebooter and bandit from Rai Bareli, was converted to it on a pilgrimage to Mecca and returned to preach its doctrines in India. Being a Saiyad and thus a descendant of the Prophet, he was accepted by the Muhammadans of India as the true Khalifa or Mahdi, awaited by the s.h.i.+ahs. Unheeded by the British Government, he traversed our provinces with a numerous retinue of devoted disciples and converted the populace to his reformed doctrine by thousands, Patna becoming a centre of the sect. In 1826 he declared a _jihad_ or religious war against the Sikhs, but after a four years'

struggle was defeated and killed. The sect gave some trouble in the Mutiny, but has not since taken any part in politics. Its reformed doctrines, however, have obtained a considerable vogue, and still exercise a powerful influence on Muhammadan thought. The Wahhabis deny the authority of Islamic tradition after the deaths of the Companions of the Prophet, do not illuminate or pay reverence to the shrines of departed saints, do not celebrate the birthday of Muhammad, count the ninety-nine names of G.o.d on their fingers and not on a rosary, and do not smoke.

PART I

Glossary of Minor Castes and Other Articles, Synonyms, Subcastes, t.i.tles and Names of Exogamous Septs or Clans

_Note_.--In this Glossary the references under each heading are to the detailed articles on castes, religions and sects, in Part I. and Part II. of the work. The synonyms, subcastes and t.i.tles have been taken from the main articles and are arranged here in index form as an aid to identification. Section or clan names, however, will not usually be found in the main articles. They have been selected from an alphabetical list prepared separately, and are included as being of some interest, in addition to those contained in the articles. The Glossary also serves the purpose of indicating how subcaste and clan names are common to several castes and tribes.

GLOSSARY

_Abhimanchkul_.--A section of Komti in Chanda. They abstain from using a preparation of lead which is generally ground to powder and applied to wounds.

_Abhira_.--An immigrant nomad tribe from which the modern Ahir caste is believed to have originated. A division of Maratha and Gujarati Brahmans, so called because they are priests of the Abhiras or the modern Ahirs.

_Abdhut_.--Name for a religious mendicant. Applied to Gosains, _q.v._

_Acharya_, _Acharaj_.--(Superintendent of ceremonies.) t.i.tle of the heads of the Swami-Narayan sect. A surname of Adi Gaur Brahmans in Saugor.

_Adhia_.--(Half.) A subcaste of Telis considered to be illegitimate in Betul.

_Adhaighar_, _Arhaighar_.--(2 1/2 houses.) A subdivision of Saraswat Brahmans.

_Adhali_.--A name given to Malyars by outsiders.

_Adigaur_.--A subdivision of Brahman, probably a branch of the Gaur Brahmans, though in Saugor they are considered to be Kanaujias.

_Adkandh_, _Adikandh_.--(Superior Khonds.) A subcaste of Khonds, being the most Hinduised section of this tribe. A t.i.tle of Khond.

_Adnath_, _Adinath_.--A subdivision of Jogi. Adinath was the father of Matsyendranath and grandfather of Gorakhnath, the first great Jogi.

_Agamudayan_.--A large Tamil cultivating caste, of which a few members reside in the Central Provinces in Jubbulpore and Raipur. They are the families of Madras sepoys who have retired from regiments stationed in these places. The Agamudayans sometimes call themselves by the t.i.tle of Pillai, which means 'Son of a G.o.d' and was formerly reserved to Brahmans.

_Agarwala_, _Agarwal_.--A subcaste of Bania. See Bania-Agarwala.

_Agastya_.--An eponymous section of Brahmans.

_Aghorpanthi_.--Synonym for Aghori.

_Agnihotri_.--A surname of Kanaujia and Jijhotia Brahmans in Saugor. (One who performs the sacrifice to Agni or the G.o.d of fire.)

_Agnikula_.--A name given to four clans of Rajputs said to have been born from the fire-pit on Mount Abu. See article Panwar Rajput.

_Agrahari_.--A subcaste of Bania found chiefly in Jubbulpore District and Raigarh State. Their name has been connected with the cities of Agra and Agroha.

_Agrajanma_.--(First-born.) A synonym for Brahmans.

_Aharia_.--Clan of Rajput. Synonym for Sesodia.

_Ahir_.--The professional caste of herdsmen. A clan of Maratha. A subcaste of Rawat and Salewar Koshti in Nimar. A subcaste of Bishnoi, Gurao, and Sunar.

_Ahirwar_.--A resident of the old town of Ahar in the Bulandshahr district. Subcaste of Kori.

_Ahivasi_, _Ahiwasi_.--(From Ahiwas, 'The abode of the dragon,'

the hermitage of Sanbhari Ris.h.i.+ in Mathura.) A Brahmanical or pseudo-Brahmanical tribe. They are said to be sprung from a Brahman father and a Kshatriya mother, and were formerly pack-carriers. Found in Jubbulpore and the Nerbudda Valley.

_Ahke_.--(Seduced.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul. They are said to be so named because their priests once seduced a Dhurwa girl, and her son was given this name.