The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 1 (of 4)

Chapter VI: Forms of Hindu Marriage (9)

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[Banjâras and crime.] 21. In former times the Banjâras especially in Gorakhpur and the neighbouring districts, had an evil reputation for dakaiti and similar offences. [242] This is in a great measure a thing of the past. In recent years they have come under the notice of the police in connection with the kidnapping of girls. There can be little doubt that most, if not all of them, occasionally introduce girls of other castes into the tribe. Quite recently the police in the Agra District have found reason to suspect that some of them in the guise of Commissariat contractors carry on an extensive trade in stolen cattle, and are in the habit of appropriating and changing the brands on the so-called Brâhmani bulls which are released by Hindus on the occasion of a death.

[Cattle trade.] 22. One of the most important trades carried on in the present day by the Banjâras is that of the purchase and sale of cattle used for agricultural purposes. Cattle are largely bred along the Jumna in the direction of Agra and Mathura. These are bought up by Banjâras, who drive them in large herds to great distances about the time when the agricultural seasons are commencing. They sell them on credit with a promise of payment when the crop is ripe. At such times they come round to realise their debts. They seldom or never take bonds or resort to the law courts; but they appear at the houses of their creditors, and if not promptly paid, practise a form of coercion known as dharna, by encamping close to the house of the defaulter and using vile language to his womenkind wherever they venture to show themselves. This form of pressure appears to be effective with even the most callous debtor, and it is understood that they generally succeed in realising their money. This result is brought about by the popular fear felt for the Banjâra, who is a wild-looking semi-savage who can make his presence most disagreeably felt.

[Appearance and manners.] 23. With the partial disappearance of the Banjâra carrier before our roads and railways a most picturesque element is being lost in the generally squalid life of our bâzârs. No one who sees them in their original state can help being struck by their resemblance in figure and dress to some of the Western gypsies. To Dr. Ball [243] a camp of Labânas immediately recalled to his memory the Zingari of the lower Danube and Wallachia. And he was particularly impressed by the peculiar minor key of the music which is so characteristic of these people. In these Provinces the women are skilled in a peculiar form of woollen embroidery, and pride themselves on their bright coloured boddices (choli) and jackets (angi) ornamented in this way. Some wear a sort of horn made of wood in their hair, over which the sheet (châdar) is draped in a very peculiar and graceful fashion. The women, who are much taller and more robust than the people among whom they live, stride along the roads in a particularly bold and independent way. But their characteristic dress is seen to most advantage in their seats in the Dakkhin. Mr. Mullaly [244] writes of the women as “comely and above the average height of the women of this country. They are easily distinguished by their dress and a profusion of jewellery they wear. Their costume is the gown (lahnga) of khârua cloth, red or green, with a quantity of embroidery. The boddice, with embroidery on the front and on the shoulders, covers the bosom, and is tied by variegated cords at the back, the ends of the cords being ornamented with cowries and beads; a covering cloth of khârua cloth, with embroidery, is fastened in at the waist, and hangs at the side with a quantity of tassels, and strings of cowries. Their jewels are very numerous, and include strings of beads of ten or twenty rows with a cowrie as a pendant threaded on horse hair, a silver necklace (hansli), a sign of marriage. They wear brass or horn bracelets, ten or twelve in number, extending to the elbow on either arm, with a piece of embroidered silk, one inch wide, tied to the right wrist. Anklets of ivory or bone are only worn by the married women; they are removed on the death of the husband. Silk embroidery adorned with tassels and cowries is also worn as an anklet by all women. Their other jewels are a nose ornament, a silver pendant from the upper part of the ear, attached to a silver chain which hangs to the shoulder, and a profusion of silver, brass, and lead rings. Their hair is, in the case of unmarried women, unadorned, brought up and tied in a knot at the top of the head; with married women it is fastened in like manner with a cowrie or a brass button, and heavy pendants are fastened to the temple. The latter is an essential sign of marriage, and its absence is a sign of widowhood.” There is no doubt that they have a patois of their own; but it has as yet not been fully collected. Dr. Ball says that he was “informed by a Russian Prince, who travelled in India in 1874, that one of his companions, a Hungarian nobleman, found himself able to converse with the Banjâras of Central India in consequence of his knowledge of the Zingari language.” He also states that “the Dîwân of Kudibuga told me that the strong-minded Banjâra women are in the habit of inflicting severe chastisement on their husbands with their very large sticks (bari bari lâthi), a custom which also prevails in the Nicobar Islands.”

DISTRIBUTION OF BANJÂRAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+=====+=====+=====+===+=====+=====+===+======+======+====== District. |Chauhân. | |Bahrûp. | | |Guâr. | | | |Jâdon. | | | | |Panwâr. | | | | | |Râthaur. | | | | | | |Tunwar. | | | | | | | |Others. | | | | | | | | |Muhammadans. | | | | | | | | | |Total. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~ Dehra Dûn | 2| ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 936| 939| 1,877 Sahâranpur | 578|1,865| ... |...| 178| 528| 10| 3,836| 3,494|10,489 Muzaffarnagar | 380| 112| ... | 53| 769| 637|107| 1,708| 88| 3,854 Meerut | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | 98|...| 253| 353| 704 Bulandshahr | 356| ... | ... | 1| 1| 95|...| 27| 83| 563 Aligarh | 102| ... | 123| 2| 50|1,146|363| 844| 17| 2,647 Mathura | 166| ... | 1| 21| 78| 205| 2| 108| 770| 1,351 Agra | 140| ... | 6|347| 92| 319|...| 225| 207| 1,336 Farrukhâbâd | 215| ... | ... | 23| 50| 31| 3| 353| 170| 875 Mainpuri | ... | ... | ... | 94| ... | 281|...| 311| 31| 717 Etâwah | 550| ... | 1|352| 204| 538|...| 763| 28| 2,436 Etah | 393| ... | 2| 43| 166| 590| 21| 617| 50| 1,882 Bareilly | ... | ... | 67|...| ... | ... |...| ... | 7,915| 7,982 Bijnor | ... | ... | 154|...| 335| 966|...| 1,126| 2,606| 5,187 Budâun | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| ... | 13| 13 Morâdâbâd | ... | ... | 189|...| ... | ... |...| 375| 2,598| 3,162 Shâhjahânpur | ... | ... | 1|...| 8| 53| 3| 45| 149| 259 Pilibhît | 99| 31| 459| 23| 270|1,343|...| 1,664| 5,506| 9,395 Cawnpur | 25| ... | 124| 2| 112| 154|...| 11| 2| 430 Allahâbâd | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 3| ... | 3 Jhânsi | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 16| ... | 16 Ghâzipur | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| ... | 1| 1 Ballia | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 10| ... | 10 Gorakhpur | 6| ... | 10|...| ... | ... |...| 63| 36| 115 Basti | 3| 68| ... |...| ... | 39|...| 1| 48| 159 Tarâi | ... | ... | 36|...| ... | 190| 3| 2,747| 911|38,887 Lucknow | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 34| ... | 34 Unâo | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| ... | 142| 142 Râê Bareli | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 2| 42| 44 Sîtapur | 16| ... | 2|...| ... | ... |...| 27| 199| 244 Hardoi | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| ... | 25| 25 Kheri | 40| 102| 918|...| 465|1,273|...| 1,422| 407| 4,627 Faizâbâd | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 8| ... | 8 Gonda | ... | ... | ... |...| ... | ... |...| 5| 43| 48 Bahrâich | 64| ... | 56|...| 685| 446| 6| 934| 80| 2,271 Partâbgarh | 33| ... | ... |...| ... | 2|...| ... | ... | 35 +~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~+~~~~~~ Total |3,198|2,178|2,149|961|3,463|8,934|518|18,474|26,953|66,828 ==============+=====+=====+=====+===+=====+=====+===+======+======+======

Bânsphor. [245]—(Bâns, “bamboo,” phorna, “to split”).—A sub-caste of Doms who may be considered separately as they have been separately enumerated at the last Census. Those in Mirzapur represent themselves to be immigrants from a place called Bisurpur or Birsupur in the Native State of Panna, which, according to some, is identical with Birsinhpur, a place north-west of the town of Rîwa. In Gorakhpur they call themselves Gharbâri, or “settled” Doms, in contradistinction to the Magahiya, or vagrant branch of the tribe. Their immigration from the west is said in Mirzapur to have commenced some four generations ago and still continues. They profess to undertake occasional pilgrimages to their old settlement to worship a local Mahâdeva. In Gorakhpur they have a story that they are the descendants of one Supach Bhagat, who was a votary of Râmchandra. He had two wives, Mân Devi and Pân Devi, the first of whom was the ancestress of the Bânsphors. They freely, like other Doms, admit outsiders into the caste, and this is generally the result of an intrigue with one of their women. The applicant for admission has to give a feast of rice, pulse, pork, and spirits to the brotherhood, and when he has drunk with them he is admitted to full caste rights.

[Internal organization.] 2. The sub-caste being a purely occupational offshoot from the original Dom tribe, their internal organization is rather vague. Thus at the last Census they were enumerated under one main sub-caste, the Dhânuk, who, though possibly allied to the Dom race, are generally treated as distinct, and the Benbansi of Gonda. In Bhâgalpur, according to Mr. Risley, [246] they have a number of exogamous sections (pangat); but other Bânsphors on the Nepâl frontier regulate their marriages by local sections (dih); while others in the town of Bhâgalpur have neither pangat nor dih. In Mirzapur they enumerate eight exogamous sections: Mahâwati, Chamkel, Gausel, Samudra, Nahar, Kalai, Magariha, and Saraiha; and they reinforce the rule of section exogamy by prohibiting marriages with the daughter of the maternal uncle, of their father’s sister, and of their own sister; also they do not intermarry with a family in which one of these relations marries until at least one or two generations have passed. Similarly, in Hardoi, where they have no sub-castes or sections, they are reported to prohibit marriage with first cousins on both the father’s and mother’s sides. In Gorakhpur they name, like so many castes of this social grade, seven endogamous sub-castes: Bânsphor; Mangta, or “begging” Doms; Dharkâr, which has been treated as a separate caste; Nâtak, or dancers; Tasiha; Halâlkhor, “one to whom all food is lawful;” and Kûnchbandhiya, or makers of the brushes constructed out of the roots of the kans grass used by weavers for cleaning the thread.

[Tribal Council.] 3. The Bânsphors on the whole agree with the customs of the Doms and Dharkârs, of whom an account has been separately given; but, as might be expected from their living a more settled life than the vagrant Doms, they are more completely Hinduised. Their caste council, under a hereditary president (Chaudhari), is a very powerful and influential body, the members of which are, however, only a sort of assessors to the president, who, after consultation with them, gives any orders he pleases. If a man is caught in an intrigue with a Dhobin or Domin he is permanently excommunicated, and the same rule applies to a woman detected in an amour with a man of either of these castes. Intrigues with persons of more respectable castes involve expulsion only until the necessary feasts of expiation are given to the brethren. In addition to the feast the offender has always, in Mirzapur, to pay a cash fine of one-and-a-quarter rupees. Monogamy is the rule, but there is no restriction against a man having as many wives as he can marry and support. Concubinage with a woman of another caste is prohibited, and the caste look on the very idea of polyandry with such horror that it is more than doubtful if it could ever have been a tribal institution. If an unmarried girl is detected in an intrigue with a clansman she is married to him by order of the council, and her father has to give a dinner to the brethren. When a married woman offends in this way, both her husband and father have to give a feast; but, as among all these tribes, inter-tribal infidelity is lightly regarded; a woman is not condemned except on the actual evidence of eye-witnesses.

[Marriage rules.] 4. Marriage takes place usually in infancy; and, in Mirzapur, if a girl is not married by the time she comes to puberty, her parents are put out of caste. Marriages are arranged by the brother-in-law of the boy’s father, and the bride-price is fixed in Mirzapur by tribal custom at four-and-a-quarter rupees, four annas being added as siwâi for good luck. If a wife habitually commit adultery, eat with a low-caste person, or give her husband food in an impure dish, she is put away with the sanction of the council. A woman is allowed to leave her husband only if he be put out of caste. It is said, in Mirzapur, that a divorced wife cannot marry again. This is true, so far as that, of course, she cannot go through the regular service which is restricted to virgin brides; but she can live with a man by the sagâi form, and the connection, after it has been ratified by a feast, is binding, and her children are legitimate. Widows are married by the sagâi, or dharauna form, generally to a widower, and their children are recognised as heirs. The only ceremony is that the husband gives the woman a new suit of clothes, which are put on her inside the house at night, in secret, and he then eats with the family of his father-in-law. Next day he takes his bride home, and feeds his clansmen, on which the union is recognised. The levirate prevails under the usual restrictions. Even if a widow be taken over by the younger brother, her children by the first marriage inherit the estate of their father. A man may adopt his brother’s, or daughter’s, not his sister’s, son. A woman can adopt if there be no one in her husband’s family to support her.

[Birth ceremonies.] 5. In their birth ceremonies the Bânsphors agree with the Dharkârs. The mother, during her confinement is, in Mirzapur, attended by a woman of the Basor caste. There is no rite performed on the sixth day, and the mother is impure till the twelfth day (barahi). They have the usual dread of the menstrual and parturition impurity. On the twelfth day a hog is sacrificed to the deceased ancestors of the family, and the brethren eat the flesh boiled with rice. The woman has to worship the well from which water is drawn for the use of the family by walking five times round it in the course of the sun and marking it with red lead. A man does not cohabit with his wife for two months after her confinement. The only approach to a puberty ceremony is the ear-boring, which takes place at the age of three or five, but in some cases is delayed to a later date, and it marks an approach to Hinduism, that they ask the Pandit to fix a lucky time for its performance. From that time the child is regarded as a member of the tribe and must conform to caste usages regarding food.

[Marriage.] 6. In the same way the Pandit draws auspices (ganana ganna) of marriages. The betrothal is settled by the father of the boy exchanging with the girl’s father a leaf platter full of liquor in which a rupee is placed, and the brother-in-law of the bridegroom ties a turban on the head of the bride’s father. The marriage ceremony resembles that of Dharkârs (q.v.). It is preceded by the matmangara ceremony. The earth is dug by the bridegroom’s mother, who offers a burnt sacrifice (homa) to the village deities (dih). In the centre of the marriage shed (mânro) is fixed up a branch of the fig tree (gûlar) and the cotton tree (semal). The usual anointing precedes the marriage. The bride’s nails are solemnly cut (nahchhu) and her feet are coloured with lac dye (mahâwar). The usual wave ceremony (parachhan) is done with a pestle (mûsar) and a water jar (kalsa). At the bride’s door her father makes a mark (tîka) on the forehead of the bridegroom with rice and curds. The bride’s father washes the feet of the bride and bridegroom in a square in the court-yard. They sit facing east, and the bride’s father worships the fig tree branch, and then, in imitation of Hindus, Gauri and Ganesa. Then holding some kusa grass in his hand he formally gives away the bride (kanyâdâna). The clothes of the pair are knotted together, and they walk five times round the fig and cotton branches, while at each revolution the girl’s brother sprinkles a little parched rice into a sieve which the bridegroom holds. This he scatters on the ground, and the ceremony ends by the bridegroom marking the girl’s head with red lead, which is the binding portion of the ceremony. Then they go into the retiring room (kohabar), where jokes are played on the bridegroom, and he receives a present from his mother-in-law. As is usual with these tribes they have the ceremony of plunging the wedding jars (kalsa dubâna) into water a day or two after the wedding.

[Death ceremonies.] 7. The dead are cremated, except young children or those who die of epidemic disease, whose bodies are thrown into a river or buried. After the cremation they chew leaves of the nîm tree as a mark of mourning. The death pollution lasts ten days, during which the mourner every night lays out a platter of food on the road by which the corpse was removed for its use. On the tenth day the chief mourner throws five lumps (pinda) of rice boiled in milk (khîr) into water in the name of the dead, and, on returning home, sacrifices a hog in the name of the deceased, which is boiled with rice and eaten by the clansmen. No Brâhmans are employed at any of these ceremonies. In the festival of the dead (pitripaksha) in Kuâr they pour off water on the ground every day for fifteen days in honour of deceased ancestors; and on the ninth day they offer cakes (pûri), sweet rice (bakhîr), and pork, to their ancestors. These are laid out in the court-yard for their use. On the fifteenth day they offer rice, pulse, bread, and pork, if obtainable, in the same way. Any senior member of the family presents the offering.

[Religion.] 8. Their chief deity, in Mirzapur, is the Vindhyabâsini Devi, of Bindhâchal, whom they worship on the ninth day of Chait, with hogs, goats, cakes (pûri), and pottage (lapsi). They honour the village gods (dih) with a sacrifice of a hog or goat; butter, barley, and treacle are burnt in a fire offering. On the fifth of Sâwan they lay milk and parched rice near a snake’s hole. They respect the pîpal tree, and will not cut or injure it. In Gorakhpur they worship Kâlika and Samai. The former is worshipped at marriages, child-birth, etc., with an offering of a young pig, one-and-a-quarter jars of liquor, flowers, and ground rice boiled in treacle and milk (pithi). To Samai is offered a yearling pig. Maidens and widows married by the Sagâi form are not permitted to join in this worship, which takes place in a corner of the house set apart for the purpose. They do not employ Brâhmans in their domestic ceremonies, which are carried out by some old man (syâna) of the family. In Hardoi their tribal deity is Kâla Deo, whose image is painted on the wall of the house, and worshipped at any event, such as marriage, birth, etc., in the family. They also sometimes sacrifice a goat or sheep to Devi, and the worshippers consume the offerings. Their holidays are the Phagua or Holi, at which they get drunk and eat choice food; the Râmnaumi, on the ninth of Chait, when they worship the Vindhyabâsini Devi; the Tîj, on the third of Sâwan, when women pray for the long life of their husbands, and the Kajari, on the third of Bhâdon, when women get drunk, and all rules of sexual morality are ignored. In Hardoi, on the Karwa Chauth feast, the women fast and worship the moon by pouring water out of an earthen pot (karwa), whence the name of the festival. At the Guriya feast girls make dolls of rags, which are beaten with sticks by boys on the banks of a tank. The dolls are believed to represent snakes, and the feast is in commemoration of the destruction of serpents by Garuda. They worship the dead by laying out food in seven leaf platters and letting the children or crows eat it. They have a great respect for the village shrine, and never dare to tread on the pieces of earthenware horses, etc., with which it is decorated. They also, as is shown in the birth ceremonies, worship wells. The sainted dead specially delight in the savour of pork, and give trouble if not honoured with this sacrifice.

[Social customs.] 9. Women wear in the ears the ornaments known as utarna and karnphûl, bead necklaces (dharkauwa), and bangles (chûri) on the arms: anklets (pairi), brass rings on their fingers. Boys and girls have two names, one for ordinary use and one kept secret. They swear on the sun or the heads of their children. Those who break an oath become smitten with leprosy or lose their property. Disease, generally due to demoniacal possession, is treated by the Ojha, who also prescribes in cases of the Evil-eye. They will not eat beef, nor touch a Dom, Dhobi, the wife of a younger brother, the wife of the elder brother-in-law, or the wife of their sister’s son. They will not mention their eldest son by his name. To do so is regarded as a sin. They eat pork, fowls, goats, and other animals, but not the cow, monkey, alligator, snake, lizard, jackal, or rat. Men eat before women. They salute their castemen in the form Râm! Râm!

[Occupation.] 10. Some work as ordinary day-labourers, but their business is making fans, baskets, and boxes of bamboo. Some work as sweepers and remove night-soil. No other caste will touch food or water from their hands.

DISTRIBUTION OF BÂNSPHORS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+=======+=======+============+=======
District. |Dhânuk.|Others.|Muhammadans.| Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | ...| 156| ...| 156
Sahâranpur | ...| 5| 87| 92
Farrukhâbâd | ...| 94| ...| 94
Mainpuri | ...| 19| ...| 19
Bareilly | ...| 7| ...| 7
Morâdâbâd | ...| ... | 20| 20
Shâhjahânpur | ...| 66| ...| 66
Pilibhît | ...| 353| ...| 353
Cawnpur | ...| 44| ...| 44
Banda | ...| 4| ...| 4
Lalitpur | ...| 4,360| ...| 4,360
Mirzapur | ...| 64| ...| 64
Ghâzipur | ...| 28| ...| 28
Ballia | ...| 447| ...| 447
Gorakhpur | ...| 466| 1| 467
Basti | ...| 7| ...| 7
Azamgarh | ...| 67| ...| 67
Lucknow | 1,102| 729| ...| 1,831
Unâo | ...| 36| ...| 36
Râê Bareli | 422| 7| ...| 429
Sîtapur | 308| 853| ...| 1,161
Kheri | ...| 6| ...| 6
Gonda | 295| 327| ...| 622
Bahrâich | 1,534| 728| 3| 2,265
Partâbgarh | 4,467| 218| 1| 4,686
+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~
Total | 8,128| 9,093| 112| 17,333
==============+=======+=======+============+=======

Banya.—(Sanskrit, banija, vanija.)—The great trading class of Northern India. Pedantically the Banya is known as Baqqâl—a term applied in Arabia and Persia to greengrocers. When he becomes a large merchant he is known as Mahâjan. Banya is, in fact, a generic term including a large number of endogamous sub-castes, of whom some account has been given in separate articles. The Banya has rather an indifferent reputation in the country-side, where he is hated and despised for his habits of money-grubbing, meanness, and rapacity. But at the same time he is an indispensable element in the social life of the people whose trade and business he finances. The modern Banya does not seem to have changed much since the time of Tavernier, [247] who writes:—“Those of this caste are so subtle and nimble in trade that the Jews may be their ’prentices. They accustom their children betimes to fly idleness, and instead of suffering them to lose their time by playing in the streets, as we generally do, they teach them arithmetic, which they are so perfect at, that without making use either of pen or ink or counters, but only of their memories, they will in a moment cast up the most difficult account that can be imagined. They always live with their fathers, who instruct them in trade, and do nothing but what they show them. If any man in the heat of passion chafe at them, they will hear him patiently without making any reply, and parting coldly from him will not see him again till three or four days, when they think their passion may be over. They never eat anything that has life, nay, they would rather die than kill the smallest animal or vermin, being in that point above all things the most zealous observers of the law. They never fight nor go to war, neither will they eat or drink at the house of a Râjput.”

2. The current proverbs abound with chaff at the Banya:—Na Banya mît na besva sati—“A Banya is as little a friend as a prostitute is chaste”; Banya mârê jan, thag mârê anjân—“The Banya cheats his friends, and the rogue, strangers,” and so on.

3. At the same time some of the Banya sub-divisions, like the Agarwâla and Oswâl, are perhaps some of the purest races in Northern India.

4. In his social habits the Banya is very precise in the matter of food. In religion he is either a Hindu or Jain, or, as he calls himself, a Sarâogi, a word derived from the Sanskrit srâvaka, “a disciple of the Buddha.”

DISTRIBUTION OF BANYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+===========+=========+===========
District. | Hindu. | Jain. | Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 3,212 | 234 | 3,446
Sahâranpur | 31,170 | 6,075 | 37,245
Muzaffarnagar | 31,997 | 9,388 | 41,385
Meerut | 51,943 | 16,378 | 68,321
Bulandshahr | 39,579 | 1,265 | 40,844
Aligarh | 46,472 | 2,507 | 48,979
Mathura | 39,602 | 2,041 | 41,643
Agra | 45,060 | 13,371 | 58,431
Farrukhâbâd | 25,137 | 1,048 | 26,185
Mainpuri | 21,452 | 5,759 | 27,211
Etâwah | 27,608 | 2,117 | 29,725
Etah | 23,864 | 4,933 | 28,797
Bareilly | 22,191 | 4 | 22,195
Bijnor | 18,331 | 998 | 19,329
Budâun | 31,307 | 229 | 31,536
Morâdâbâd | 31,970 | 1,002 | 32,972
Shâhjahânpur | 23,573 | 36 | 23,609
Pilibhît | 7,303 | 11 | 7,314
Cawnpur | 33,939 | 415 | 34,354
Fatehpur | 19,338 | 83 | 19,421
Bânda | 22,274 | 282 | 22,556
Hamîrpur | 14,667 | 107 | 14,774
Allahâbâd | 46,131 | 568 | 46,699
Jhânsi | 13,556 | 2,521 | 16,077
Jâlaun | 14,304 | 164 | 14,468
Lalitpur | 1,893 | 9,546 | 11,439
Benares | 21,263 | 138 | 21,401
Mirzapur | 23,754 | 281 | 24,035
Jaunpur | 23,745 | 6 | 23,751
Ghâzipur | 32,685 | 27 | 32,712
Ballia | 44,248 | ... | 44,248
Gorakhpur | 100,209 | 40 | 100,249
Basti | 53,155 | ... | 53,155
Azamgarh | 38,380 | ... | 38,380
Kumâun | 4,925 | ... | 4,925
Garhwâl | 1,920 | 2 | 1,922
Tarâi | 2,850 | 39 | 2,889
Lucknow | 17,231 | 797 | 18,028
Unâo | 15,805 | 8 | 15,813
Râê Bareli | 16,512 | 23 | 16,535
Sîtapur | 15,013 | 234 | 15,247
Hardoi | 27,175 | ... | 27,175
Kheri | 13,473 | 10 | 13,483
Faizâbâd | 34,771 | 161 | 34,932
Gonda | 33,108 | ... | 33,108
Bahrâich | 20,263 | 48 | 20,311
Sultânpur | 23,524 | ... | 23,524
Partâbgarh | 13,420 | 130 | 13,550
Bârabanki | 13,944 | 950 | 14,894
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~
Total | 1,279,246 | 83,976 | 1,363,222
==============+===========+=========+==========

Bârahseni.—(Bârah, twelve; sena, an army).—A sub-caste of Banyas found principally in the Western Districts. The last Census shows none in Benares; but Mr. Sherring [248] speaks of them as a considerable colony of bankers:—“They state that their original home was Agroha. In Benares they are of the Garga gotra.”

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BÂRAHSENI BANYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Barai, Baraiya.—(Sanskrit vritti, “occupation, maintenance.”)—The caste engaged in the cultivation of the piper betel, usually known as pân (Sanskrit, parna), the leaf par excellence. The distinction generally made between the Barai and the Tamboli is that the former grows the plant, while the latter sells the leaves. But this distinction does not seem to be always observed. It would seem that the Barai hardly ever sells the leaves, while the Tamboli sometimes cultivates the plant. Mr. Sherring denies that the distinction prevails in Benares, and says that there the Tamboli sells betel-nut as well as pân, and appears to be more of a wholesale dealer than the Barai. [249] The Barais are replaced in the Meerut, Agra, and Rohilkhand Divisions by the Tambolis.

[Traditions of origin.] 2. In the eastern part of the Province they have a curious legend to explain their origin:—“There were two Brâhman brothers so devout that after bathing they used to throw their loin cloths up to the skies, where they dried and came down when they were wanted. One day the brothers were in the forest and were athirst. The elder brother directed the younger to climb a mahua tree and see if there was any water in the cavities of the trunk. He did so and found water, which in his greediness he drank, and, lying to his elder brother, denied that there was any water in the tree. Next day they threw their loin cloths up to the sky as usual, and when they wanted them only that of the elder brother came down. So he knew that his brother had lied unto him. The younger brother denied the charge. Then Parameswar came down from heaven, and, convicting the younger brother of falsehood, ordered that the elder brother should remain a Brâhman, while the younger should tend the nâg bel or pân plant, which he formed out of the sacred thread of the offender, and that the elder brother should serve the younger brother as his priest.” Another story is that Brahma created them to save Brâhmans from the labour of growing the plant. Traditionally the Tâmbûlika or seller of betel is descended from a Sûdra woman by a Vaisya man. The caste is probably occupational and of mixed origin. In Gorakhpur they say that once a Brâhman had three sons. He came down with them from fairy land and was able to support them only by growing betel, for which he was excommunicated. They explain the name of the caste as derived from baraitha, the betel conservatory, which comes from the Sanskrit vriti. The Gorakhpur branch fix on Bîrbhânpur, in the Azamgarh District, as their head-quarters.

[Internal structure.] 3. In the last Census returns the Barais were recorded in no less than one hundred and forty-seven sub-castes. Of these a large number are local, such as the Aharwâr of Ahâr, the Ajudhyabâsi of Ajudhya, the Audha of Awadh, the Bindrabanbâsi of Bindraban, the Chaurasiya of Chaurâsi, in Mirzapur, the Dakkhinâha or “Southern,” the Gorakhpuri, Jaiswâr, Jaunpuri, Kânhpuriya, of Cawnpur, Mahobiya, Pachhwâhân or “Western”; Sarjupâri or “residents beyond the river Sarju,” Sribâstab of Srâvasti; and Uttarâha or “Northern.” Many, again, are connected by origin or function with other tribes, as the Banya, Banjariya, Baiswâr, Chauhân, Donwâr, Gaderiya, Gahlot, Gauriya, Gondar, Jâdubansi, Katheriya, Karwâra, Kokâs, Maharwa, Nâgbansi, Nânakshâhi, Ummar, Pansariya, Panwariya, Râjbansi, Rauteli, Sândil, Shuklabans. This will give some idea of the diverse elements out of which the caste has been composed.

4. In Mirzapur they name seven endogamous sub-castes, Partâbgarhi (from Partâbgarh), Chaurâsi (the Chaurasiya of Benares) [250], Jaiswâr or Jaiswâra Nâsarkhâni (the Nâsalkâni of Benares), Tâmboli, Uttarâha (“Northern”), Pachhiwâha (“Western”). Mr. Sherring adds Sribâstava (from Srâvasti), Bherihâra (“tenders of sheep”), Magahiya (from Magadha), Phuihâra, and Dhanwariya. Of these three, the Magahiya, Chaurasiya, and Jaiswâr appear in Behâr, where there are two others, Semariya and Sokhwa. In the Central Duâb they are divided into the Chaurasiya, who prepare betel, and the Katyâr, who sell it. In Gorakhpur we have the Kanaujiya, Chaurasiya, and Jaiswâr.

[Marriage rules.] 5. Marriage within the endogamous sub-castes is regulated by a rule of exogamy, which forbids marriage in the family of the paternal and maternal uncle and paternal and maternal aunt as long as there is any recollection of relationship, which is usually after five or six generations. But at the same time they usually marry locally in the families of those with whom they are accustomed to eat and smoke. In Mirzapur the Partâbgarhi are distinguished from the Chaurâsi, inasmuch that the former permit the use of spirits while the latter prohibit it. They marry their daughters at the age of eight or nine, and their sons at twelve or thirteen. A man cannot take a second wife unless he proves to the satisfaction of the tribal council that the first wife is barren, disobedient, extravagant, or a thief, and even then he has to pay a fine to the council, which is spent in a tribal feast. They seldom take more than two wives. They have the usual forms of marriage,—Charhauwa for the well-to-do, Dola for poor people, and Sagâi for widows. In both the regular forms of virgin marriage the binding portions of the ceremony are the worshipping of the bridegroom’s feet (pair pûja, pânw pûja) by the father of the bride, and marking of the parting of the bride’s hair with red lead (sindurdan). In Sagâi the only ceremony is dressing the bride in a suit of clothes and ornaments provided by the bridegroom, and the feeding of his relations and clansmen. Intertribal infidelity is lightly regarded and is condoned by a tribal feast, but fornication with an outsider involves excommunication. They have the extraordinary rule that a woman who poisons her husband is excommunicated. If a man, in spite of the admonition and punishment administered by the tribal council, refuses to support his wife or loses caste, the council permit the woman to leave her husband, and, if she so pleases, to marry again by the Sagâi form.

[Religion.] 6. They are seldom initiated into any special sect. Like all Hindus of the same class, when the men get old they undergo a process of initiation and become devotees (bhagat: Sanskrit, bhakta). The only effect of this is that they abstain from meat and fish, and attend more carefully to their religious duties, such as attending temples, ceremonial bathing, etc. To the east of the Province their special deities are Mahâbîr, the Pânchonpîr, Bhawâni, Hardiha Deva, or Hardaur, Sokha Bâba and Nâgbeli. Sokha Bâba is the special deity of the Nâsarkhâni sub-caste, and, if neglected, ruins their pân gardens. They can tell nothing about him. He seems to be a deified exorciser or magician, sokha (Sanskrit: sukshma, “acute, subtle”) being the equivalent of Ojha. Nâgbel or Nâgarbel is the special deity of the pân plant. Hardiha is the special deity of the Barais of South Mirzapur. Mahâbîr receives an offering of sweetened bread (rota), gram, Brâhmanical threads (janeû), and loin cloths. His holy day is Tuesday. The Pânchonpîr receive rice cooked in milk (jawar), and fried cakes (puri), which are offered on Wednesday. Bhawâni is honoured with the sacrifice of a he-goat or ram, and sweets and cakes (halwa-puri). Hardiha is worshipped in secret inside the house on Monday. On Wednesday they fast in honour of the Pânchonpîr. Sokha Bâba is said to have a temple in Magadha (Behâr). His offering consists of sweets and cakes (halwa-puri). These deities are worshipped only by that member of the family who is under the influence of the special divinity—a fact shown by his getting into a state of ecstasy and uttering oracles. Only those who cultivate pân worship Nâgbel by lighting a lamp in the conservatory and making a burnt-offering (hom). The special day for the Nâgbel worship is the fifth of the first half of Sâwan. The greater gods are worshipped through Tiwâri Brâhmans, and the minor deities by some specially inspired member of the family. They cremate their dead in the ordinary way, and some go to Gaya to perform the srâddha ceremony.

[Occupation.] 7. Betel is the term applied to the leaf of the piper betel chewed with the areca nut, which is hence improperly called betel-nut. The word, according to the authorities is Malayâlam, vettila, i.e., veru + ila = “simple or mere leaf,” and comes to us through the Portuguese betre and betle. [251] Areca is the seed, or, in common parlance, the nut, of the palm areca catechu. The word is Malayâlam, addakka, and comes to us through the Portuguese. [252] There are various methods of preparing the compound known as pân supâri. “Garcias da Horta says distinctly:—‘In chewing betre they mix areca with it and a little lime; some add licio (i.e., catechu); but the rich and grandees add some Borneo camphor, and also some lign aloes, musk, and ambergris.’” [253] Abul Fazl says:—“They also put some betel-nut and kath (catechu) on one leaf and some lime paste on another and roll them up: this is called a berah (bîra). Some put camphor and musk into it, and tie up both leaves with a silk thread.” [254] This is very much the modern practice, except that the two leaves are very generally fastened together with a clove. The conservatory in which the pân is grown is treated with great reverence by the grower. [255] They do not allow women to enter it, and permit no one to touch the plant or throw the leaves into fire. Very often they are given rent-free holdings by rich landlords to tempt them to settle in their neighbourhood. The women have an indifferent reputation, as they manage shops, and those who are attractive secure the most custom. They eat pakki cooked by all Brâhmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, except Kalwârs. In Gorakhpur, it is said, they eat pakki only from the hands of Brâhmans and Kshatriyas. They eat kachchi only if cooked by members of their own caste. Ghatiya Brâhmans and Râjputs eat pakki cooked by them. The highest caste which will eat kachchi cooked by them is the Nâi. They eat mutton and goat’s flesh, and some indulge in spirituous liquors.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARAIS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

=============+=============================+========
| Sub-Castes. |
District. |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Total.
|Chaurasiya.|Jaiswâr.| Others.|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Mathura | ... | ... | 327 | 327
Fatehpur | 142 | ... | 32 | 174
Bânda | 379 | ... | 22 | 401
Hamîrpur | 1,088 | ... | 142 | 1,230
Allahâbâd | 6,768 | 16 | 922 | 7,706
Jhânsi | 163 | ... | 193 | 356
Lalitpur | 970 | ... | 298 | 1,268
Benares | 2,608 | 62 | 245 | 2,915
Mirzapur | 4,329 | 11 | 25 | 4,365
Jaunpur | 5,734 | 927 | 225 | 6,886
Ghâzipur | 5,580 | 32 | 643 | 6,255
Ballia | 5,512 | 426 | 461 | 6,399
Gorakhpur | 12,856 | 9,884 | 6,258 | 28,998
Basti | ... | 26,859 | 1,054 | 27,913
Azamgarh | ... | 8,760 | 1,977 | 10,737
Lucknow | 95 | ... | 163 | 258
Unâo | 579 | ... | ... | 579
Sîtapur | 780 | ... | 461 | 1,241
Hardoi | 5,177 | ... | 253 | 5,430
Kheri | 462 | ... | 216 | 678
Faizâbâd | 80 | 10,612 | 122 | 10,814
Gonda | 7 | 16,594 | 23 | 16,624
Bahrâich | ... | 21 | 1,045 | 1,066
Sultânpur | 2,800 | 1,478 | 478 | 4,756
Partâbgarh | 5,746 | 6 | 190 | 5,942
Bârabanki | ... | 103 | ... | 103
+~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Total | 61,855 | 75,791 | 15,775 | 153,421
=============+===========+========+========+=========

Baranwâl, Baranwâr.—A sub-caste of Banyas who take their name from the old town of Baran, the modern Bulandshahr. They are principally found in the Rohilkhand, Benares, and Gorakhpur Divisions. Curiously enough they have entirely avoided Bulandshahr, their old home. As illustrating the domestic customs of Banyas the following account from Mirzapur may be given:—

[Birth customs.] 2. When a woman is in the eighth month of pregnancy the Athmâsa ceremony is performed. Two or three days before it commences the women sing songs. On the day of the ceremony the Pandit makes a square in the courtyard, in which the husband and his wife are seated with their clothes knotted together. The Pandit makes them worship Gauri and Ganesa, and sweetmeats are sent to the houses of the clansmen. In the evening a feast is given to the clansmen. When the child is born, what is called the Nandi mukh srâddha is performed, and then the Chamârin midwife is called in to cut the navel cord. She attends the mother only on the first day. Then follow the usual sixth and twelfth day ceremonies (chhathi, barahi), when the mother bathes, the house is purified, and she returns to her household duties. When the child is one or three years old comes the shaving (mûnran). All the women of the family and their friends go to the temple of some goddess and worship her; then they worship the barber’s razor, and offer a rupee to it, which is the perquisite of the barber. Then he shaves the boy’s head, and the mother receives the hair on a cake made of unbaked dough. But more generally this is done by the sister or father’s sister of the boy. The boy and his mother then put on yellow garments and return home. A feast is given, and some small sums distributed to Brâhmans. In some families the ceremony of ear-boring (kanchhedan) is done at the same time as the mûnran; sometimes it is deferred till the boy is five years old. The boring is done by a Sunâr, and the friends are entertained. When the boy is six months old the anna-prâsana ceremony is performed. The mother cooks some rice milk (khîr), and the eldest member of the family puts some of it on a rupee and makes the child lick it. The function ends with the distribution of betel and cardamoms among the guests.

[Occupation.] 3. The Baranwâls are bâzâr traders of the ordinary type, and deal in grain and various kinds of merchandise.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARANWÂL BANYAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Bargâh, Bargâha, Bargâhi.—(Probably connected with Bâri, q.v.)—A caste of personal servants and makers of leaf platters (dauna). To the east of the province they trace their origin to Kanauj, and say that they emigrated with the Gaharwâr Râjputs. Their women act as wet-nurses to the Gaharwârs, and their men pass round betel at entertainments, and do other kinds of higher domestic service. They claim kinship with the Guâl Ahîrs. Thus, in Gorakhpur, Dr. Buchanan [256] says:—“The Râjput chiefs have certain families of the Ahîrs, the women of which serve as wet-nurses to their children, and the men attend to their persons. These families are called Bargâha; they have received, of course, great favours, and several of them are very rich; but others look down upon them as having admitted their women to too great familiarity with their chiefs.”

2. They marry in their own tribe; but they have no sections, and their rule of exogamy is not to marry in a family with which they have been once connected in marriage as long as any recollection of relationship exists. The marriage customs are of the usual type. In Mirzapur they practise adult marriage. The ceremony occupies three days—the sil, main, and bârât. On the day of the sil the grindstone and rice pounder (sil batta) are placed in the courtyard, and a Brâhman worships Gauri. The clansmen are fed on rice and pulse. On the main day the mâtri pûja and worship of deceased ancestors is performed, and a second feast is given. On the third day, the bârât, the procession, goes to the house of the bride. The pair are seated in a shed (mânro); the bride’s father worships the feet of the bridegroom and presents him with fruits, etc., the garments of the pair are knotted, and they revolve seven times round the shed. The bride’s father then marks the forehead of the bridegroom with turmeric and rice, and takes him and the bride into the retiring room (kohabar), a relic of the custom of immediately consummating the marriage. There the women of the family make the bridegroom join the lights of two lighted wicks as a sign of lasting affection between the pair. The girl is then sent off at once with her husband. They do not allow widow marriage or the levirate. Their death customs are of the usual orthodox type.

3. The Bargâhs are all Hindus, and appear chiefly to worship Mahâbîr, the Pânchonpîr and the Dih, or the collective body of the village godlings.

4. They live principally by domestic service, and are known to be courageous and faithful. Many of them take to agriculture. In Chota Nâgpur, according to Mr. Risley, [257] they claim to be Râjputs and act as domestic servants to the local Râjas.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARGÂHS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Bargaiyân.—A sept of Râjputs who are found principally in the Ghâzipur district. There they claim to be of the Chauhân family, and to be emigrants from Mainpuri. The name is probably derived from some place called Baragâon, or “the great village.” They have a very absurd folk etymology, and say that they are so called because their ancestors performed some great exploit (bara kâm kiya). They are now poor and discontented. [258]

DISTRIBUTION OF BARGAIYÂN RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Bargala.—A sept of Râjputs found chiefly in the Bulandshahr [259] District. They are a spurious branch of the Lunar race and are ranked as Gaurua, because they practise widow marriage. They claim descent from two brothers, Drigpâl and Battipâl, who are said to have been emigrants from Indor, in Mâlwa, and commanded the royal force at Delhi in the attack on Râo Pithaura. A number were converted to Islâm in the time of Aurangzeb. They are a turbulent, disorderly sept, and lost most of their villages in the Mutiny.

2. In the Upper Duâb, they are reported to give brides to the Bhâlê Sultân, Jaiswâr, and Bâchhal, and to take wives from the Jaiswâr.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BARGALA RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Bargi.—A tribe found only in Mathura, according to the last Census, where they numbered 1,076. They are said to live by service, cultivation, and hunting. They are probably, if not identical, closely connected with the Bâri and Bargâh.

Bargûjar.—(Sanskrit, vriddha; Hindi, bara, “great.”)—An important sept of Râjputs classed as one of the thirty-six royal races, and descended, like their opponents, the Kachhwâhas, from Râma, but through Lava, the second son. Sir H. M. Elliot [260] writes:—“Colonel Tod says that it was in Anûpshahr that the Bargûjars, on their expulsion by the Kachhwâhas from Rajor, found refuge; and that is still the chief town of the Bargûjar family. But as this expulsion occurred only in the time of the illustrious Siwâi Jay Sinh, in the beginning of the last century, the chief of Rajor must have chosen for his residence a part of the country already in the occupation of his brethren; for Bargûjars are mentioned, even in Akbar’s time, as the Zamîndârs of Khurja, Dibâi, and Pahâsu. Their own assertion is that they came from Rajor, the capital of Deoti, in the Macheri country, under Râja Pratâp Sinh, and first resided in Kheriya, near Pitampur, and that the Râja, after marrying at Koil into a Râjput family of the Dor tribe, which at that time occupied the whole country between Koil and Bulandshahr, obtained favour in the sight of the Dors and got authority to establish himself as far eastward as he chose. Having, in consequence, exterminated the Mewâtis and Bhihars, who are represented to have been in previous occupation, he was so successful as to acquire the possession of sixteen hundred villages, eight hundred on the east and eight hundred on the west of the Ganges. At the time of his death Chaundera, near Pahâsu (in the Bulandshahr District), was reckoned the chief possession of the Bargûjars, and one of the descendants of Pratâp Sinh, Râja Sâlivâhana, gave his name to a Pargana, which comprised the present divisions of Pîtampur, Pahâsu, and Birauli. Râja Pratâp Sinh left two sons, Jatu and Rânu. Jatu took up his abode in Katehar or Rohilkhand, and Rânu remained as chief of Chaundera.

2. “The antiquity of the Katehar Bargûjars may be surmised from a passage in the Râthaur Genealogies:—

‘Bharat, the eleventh grandson of Nain Pâl, the Râthaur, at the age of sixty-one conquered Kanaksir, under the Northern Hills, from Rudra Sen, of the Bargûjar tribe.’ Nain Pâl is supposed to have lived in the fifth Century. Though there appears no reason for ascribing to his reign so early a date, he must, at any rate, have preceded the final Muhammadan conquest of Kanauj.

3. “While the Katehar Bargûjars and the Anûpshahr family have preserved their ancient faith, nearly all the Duâb tribes which preceded the expulsion of their chief from Rajor have turned Muhammadans; and the early opponents of the British in Kamona and Pindrâwal were Bargûjars of that persuasion. They still, however, appear proud of their Râjput lineage; for they assume the appellation of Thâkur. Thus we hear the strange combination of Thâkur Akbar’ Ali Khân and Thâkur Mardan’ Ali Khân. At their marriages they paint on their doors the image of a Kahârin or female bearer, under whose instructions they executed a stratagem by which they exterminated the Mewâtis, who had been engaged in a drunken revel during the Holi. Some of the Musalmân families have of late discontinued this custom. The Bargûjars to the west of Muzaffarnagar were all converted to the Muhammadan faith in the time of Alâ-ud-dîn Khilji; but they still retain most of their old Hindu customs. A stricter conformity to the Musalmân tenets was endeavoured to be introduced by some reformers, and all Hindu observances were sedulously proscribed by them; but when it was found, as they themselves assert, that all their children became blind and maimed in consequence of their apostacy, they were induced to revert to their ancestral customs, and still adhere to them with so much pertinacity, that it is almost doubtful which faith prevails most.

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The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 1 (of 4)Chapter VI: Forms of Hindu Marriage (9)

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