The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 2 (of 4)

Chapter D (7)

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Gandhi (Sanskrit, gandhika, gandha “perfume”), the manufacturer of incenses and perfumes.—“The tendency to supplant Hindustâni by Persian words has given rise to the use of many other terms—’Itrfarosh, Khushbusâz, ’Itrsâz, and ’Attâr used in a perverted sense.” [398] They are both Shaikh and Sayyid Musalmâns, who marry only among themselves. Some of the more advanced follow the Musalmân rules of exogamy, but among those who live much with Hindus there is a tendency to revert to the recognised Hindu formula, and they will not marry the daughter of the uncles or aunts on both sides. The final Census Returns include a number of sections which, however, do not appear to influence marriage. These are among the Hindu branch, which is not separately marked off in the returns, Dinâr: and among the Muhammadans Deswâli, Gandhikâr, Jagbasa, Kapariya, Kanju, Shaikh, Sadîqi, Sikhri, and Unta. They believe themselves to be descended from two ancient worthies, Shaikh Sana and Shaikh Zainuddîn, to whom at various seasons of the year they make offerings of food and sweetmeats. In the Eastern Districts they look on Jaunpur as their head-quarters. Widow-marriage is forbidden. Marriage is performed in the forms known as shâdi or charhauwa, and the dola, but by the Musalmân ritual women of other castes are admitted by reading passages of the Qurân over them and making them eat the leavings of a Gandhi. Wives are divorced for adultery, but the custom of wives divorcing their husbands is unknown.

[Religion.] 2. They principally venerate Imâm Husain, ‘Ali and Ghâzi Miyân. To these are offered sweetmeats, cakes (malîda), and a special kind of prepared rice called tinchâwali. On the ‘Îd, Shab-i-barât, and Baqar ‘Îd they make offerings of food to the spirits of their dead ancestors.

[Occupation and social status.] 3. The process of manufacture is distillation as practised at liquor distilleries, but the still (bhabka, bhapka) used in distilling perfumes is of peculiar construction. “I can best describe it as a gigantic goblet (surâhi) made of copper. In this is placed what is called the zâmin or mâwa of all perfumes, viz., Sandal ‘Itr, which is made at Kanauj. The flowers from which the perfume is to be extracted are thrown into water in the cauldron on the fire, and then perfume comes off in steam and passes through the worm into the copper bhapka and combines with the Sandal ‘Itr. When the bhapka is removed the perfumed oil is separated from the water in the bhapka by skimming the surface with the hands.” [399] They follow the Musalmân rules regarding food, but will not eat food cooked by Muhammadan Mehtars.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE GANDHIS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

1. Gandhîla (Sanskrit gandha, “smell,” in the sense of “fetid,” “mal-odorous”).—A vagrant tribe which was at the last Census found in small numbers in the Meerut and Muzaffarnagar Districts. Their home appears to be in the Panjâb. They are said by Sir H. M. Elliot [400] to be a few degrees more respectable than the Bâwariyas; but in this assertion he was certainly mistaken. According to Mr. Ibbetson, [401] “they wander about bare-headed and bare-footed, beg, work in grass and straw, catch quails, clean and sharpen knives and swords, cut wood, and generally do odd jobs. They are said to eat tortoises and vermin. They also keep donkeys (whence their other name Gadahla), and even engage in trade in a small way. It is said that in some parts they lead about performing bears, but this I doubt. They have curious traditions which are reported to me from distant parts of the Province, regarding a kingdom which the tribe once possessed, and which they seem inclined to place beyond the Indus. They say they are under a vow not to wear shoes or turbans till their possessions are restored to them.” Of the same people Major Temple [402] writes:—“They are usually described in the courts as “homeless sweepers.” They are Musalmâns of a very low order of intelligence, and in appearance more like beasts than men. They come principally from the Montgomery District, and are inveterate thieves, especially of dogs, which they eat. They will also eat animals which have died a natural death, and putrid flesh.”

2. In these Provinces [403] they are all Hindus. Some of them pretend to have gotras within which a man cannot marry, but of these they can give no list, and it would seem that they have no law of exogamy except a vague injunction that they should not marry near relations. In the detailed Census Returns four gotras are recorded—Abri, Chauhân, Gandena, and Gohal. They wander about with little huts made of reed (sirki), and seldom stay more than a few days in the same place. They call themselves indigenous to the Upper Ganges-Jumna Duâb. They freely admit outsiders into their community, and the only ceremony of initiation is that the new comer has to drink with the members of the tribe. Marriage takes place both in infancy and when they become adults. As a rule they prostitute their girls, and infidelity is little regarded. They allow the marriage of widows and divorced women by the karâo form. They do not employ Brâhmans in any of their domestic ceremonies, and the duty at marriages is performed by the brother-in-law or son-in-law of the bridegroom known as dhiyâna.

3. They call themselves Hindus; but they worship none of the ordinary Hindu gods, except Parameswar, who is worshipped by the women and children in times of sickness or trouble. All their other ceremonies are performed by the Dhiyâna above described. They do not perform the srâddha; but they lay out a little food for the ghosts of the dead and then eat it themselves. They eat any kind of carrion and vermin of all kinds which they catch. They live by begging and prostituting their women, and have only the most elementary industries, such as plaiting straw into baskets, sieves, and the like; but of this they do little. No other caste will eat with them; but it is said that some of them eat food from the hands of Kanjars, Sânsiyas, and similar vagrants.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE GANDHÎLAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

==============+======= Districts. |Number. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~ Sahâranpur | 71 Muzaffarnagar | 63 +~~~~~~~ Total | 134 ==============+=======

1. Gangâputra, “son of the Ganges.”—A class of Brâhmans who preside over the bathing, srâddha, and other ceremonies which are performed on the banks of the Ganges at Benares and elsewhere along its course. They say themselves that when Bhagîratha brought the Ganges from heaven, he worshipped certain Brâhmans, and gave them the right in future to receive all offerings made to the sacred river. They are also known as Ghatiya, because they occupy ghâts or bathing-places along the Ganges bank. The right to seats at such places is very valuable, and disputes about them often come before the Courts. The Gangâputras belong to no special tribe of Brâhman. They may be Gaur, Sarwariya, or Kanaujiya, and though their profession is very lucrative, they have an evil reputation for roguery and rapacity, and not finding it easy to intermarry with respectable Brâhmans, there is a tendency among them towards endogamy.

2. His principal business is to act as the cicerone of pilgrims who come to bathe. He keeps a book in which he records the name and address of pilgrims who have accepted his ministrations, and about the time of bathing festivals, he and his emissaries beset the roads leading to the holy places and endeavour to attract visitors, whom he entertains for a consideration, and personally conducts round the various shrines and sacred bathing places. At his ghât he keeps a cow which the pilgrim touches as he goes to bathe, and he provides the worshipper with a little kusa grass and the materials for the pinda, which he usually offers up to his deceased relations. In his occupation the Gangâputra closely resembles the Gayawâl who acts as an emissary for the owners of the shrines at Gaya, and wanders about the country inducing villagers to undertake the pilgrimage, and personally conducting his constituents. A similar functionary is the Prayâgwâl, who officiates at the bathing festivals at Prayâgji or Allahâbâd and the Mathuriya Chaubê of Mathura.

3. Another class of these mendicant Brâhmans is known as Sarvanriya Gangâputra. There is some doubt whether they are really Brâhmans at all, and some connect them with other mendicant singers like the Khapariyas. They claim, however, to be Brâhmans and wear the Brâhmanical cord. They carry about a pair of sticks called kadalkâth, which they rattle together very much in the same way as the “bones” used by negro minstrels. Some have an iron rattle called charua, with bells (ghunghru) which ring as they walk along. Most of them wear an iron bangle on the right wrist, which is used to keep off the evil spirits who surround them, attracted by their singing. They derive their name from their custom of going about and singing songs in commemoration of the tragic legend of Sravana, who is sometimes known as Sravana Rishi. He is by one account said to be the sister’s son of Râja Dasaratha, of the solar race and King of Ajudhya. His father and mother were blind, and prayed to the gods for a son, which was granted; but it was decreed at the same time that their son’s wife should be faithless. So when he came of age Sravana refused to marry; but his parents insisted on his taking a wife. When he brought her home she turned out to be an evil woman, faithless to her husband and harsh in conduct to his parents. She had a dish made with two compartments, one of which she filled with good food for her husband, and the other with foul scraps for his father and mother. One day the food was changed by accident, and Sravana discovered her deception. So, as the old people were near their end, their dutiful son resolved to take them in a basket (kanwari) slung across his shoulder to the Ganges. On the way he came to the village of Sarwan, in the Unâo District, where the legend is now localised, and laid his burden by the banks of a tank while he went into the jungle to rest. It so chanced that Râja Dasaratha was hunting in the forest, and hearing something move in the brushwood, he discharged an arrow, which killed Sravana. His parents, in their despair, cursed the Râja, and to their curse is said to be due the trouble which afterwards fell on the royal house. “From that day to this no Kshatriya has lived in the town which is founded on the spot and is called Sarwan. Many Râjputs have tried it, but evil has overtaken them in one way or another. The tank remains to this day, and by it lies under a tree the body of Sravana, a figure of stone; and as he died with his thirst unquenched, so, if water is poured into the navel of the stone figure, the hole can never be filled up, but is inexhaustible in its demand.” [404]

Sravanriya Gangâputras used formerly to go about begging and singing from about 2 o’clock in the morning. They acquired an evil reputation for snatching nose-rings and other jewelry from pious women who got up to minister to their wants: they now usually defer their visits to a later hour. It is considered meritorious among Hindus to listen to the songs of the dutiful Sravana early in the morning, and on such occasions, the singers are given alms, which usually consist of uncooked grain, but seldom of money. Formerly they were, it is said, in the habit of sitting dharna at the doors of people who refused to give them alms. They find it dangerous to carry on such practices at present. It is needless to say that they bear a most indifferent reputation.

DISTRIBUTION OF GANGÂPUTRAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Gangâri.—A class of hill Brâhmans, who are inferior to the Sarolas, and are so called because they live on the banks of the Ganges. “Those who have settled in Chândpur and Lohoa call themselves Sarolas however, and it would appear that the latter are the section of the Brâhmans living along the Ganges, who obtained employment at the courts of the petty Râjas. The offspring of any Sarola who sinks by intermarriage with a lower family becomes simply a Gangâri. The offspring of a Sarola and a concubine also becomes a Gangâri. Thus, if a Gairola, a sub-caste of the Sarola, marries, his offspring by a lawful wife will be called Sarola Gangâri, whilst his offspring by a concubine are called Gangâri Gairola. Indeed the inhabitants of the sub-divisions away from the river call all the people living along the Alaknanda, whether Brâhmans, Râjputs, Banyas, or Doms, by the generic name Gangâri or Gangâl, and there is no marked line of difference between the Sarola and Gangâri. The principal sub-divisions of the latter are the Ghildyâl, the Dâdai, and the Malâsi, who came from the Tarâi. The Ghildyâls serve the temple of Kânsmardini Devi; the Unyâls at the temples of Mahikhmardini, Kâlika, Râjrajeswari, Gharârî, and Damanda Unyâl; the Aswâls at Jwâlpa and several Bhairava temples. Two explanations are given of the superior position generally assigned to the Sarolas: one that they were selected as the parent clan to prepare food for the Râjas of Garhwâl, and hence their name; another is that when a standing army became necessary, they were appointed to cook for the troops in the field by Râja Abhaya Pâl, who further enjoined that all should eat from one vessel the food prepared by his Brâhman cooks—a custom generally observed to the present day. All the Brâhmans in Garhwâl are commonly styled Gangâris, but the better classes call themselves Sarolas, amongst whom the following sub-divisions are found—Kotyâl, Simwâl, Gairala, usually cooks; Kanyûris, attached to the civil administration of the Râjas; Nautyâls, teachers; Maithânis, servants; Thapalyâls, Ratûris, Dobhâls, Chamolis, Hatwâls, Dyondis, Malaguris, Karyâls, Naunis, Somaltis, cooks; Bijilwârs, Dhurânas, Manûris, Bhattalwâlis, Mahinya ke Joshis, and Dimris. Most of these names are derived from the village of origin (thât) of the sub-division. The Dimris are the cooks of Badari Nâth, and the food prepared by them may be eaten by all classes. Some are temple priests and claim to belong to the Dravira division, the Kasyapa gotra and Madhindiniya sâkha, and to follow the Yajur veda. Many Dimris claim a southern origin for themselves, and others state that the Dimris are the offspring of the celibate Râwals of the temple and the Brâhman female attendants who settled in the village of Dimar, and hence the name. They are now the servants of Badari Nâth in particular, and some have taken to agriculture, while others wander all over India, asking for alms and selling images of the deity stamped on metal, or exposing them for the worship of the faithful. The Ratûris derive their name from Ratûra, a village of Chândpur, and claim to have come there from Mahârâshtra in the time of the Pâla Râjas to visit Badari Nâth, and to have remained in the service of the Chândpur Râja. They belong to the Bhâradvâja gotra. They now occupy themselves with agriculture and service and as priests. They and the Dimris intermarry with other Sarolas. The Gangâris, like the Khasiyas, serve in the temples of the village deities and as priests of Bhairava; but the Sarolas, though not very orthodox in their ritual, only worship the orthodox deities. The Garhwâl Brâhmans have a reputation for gaining their ends by servile flattery, and the Khasiya section are reckoned so stupid and stubborn as to be only managed by fear; hence the proverb—Garhwâl samândâta nahîn, bina lâthi deta nahîn. “The Garhwâl Brâhman will give only when you stand over him with a cudgel.” [405]

Gâra (gârna, “to bury”).—A tribe of industrious cultivators practically confined to the Sahâranpur and Muzaffarnagar Districts. Of them Sir H. M. Elliot writes: [406]—“They are Musalmâns, and are frequently considered to be, like the Jhojhas, converted slaves. They themselves assert that they were formerly Sombansi Râjputs; that they came from Nagara Bambera, to the west of Delhi, and that Akbar located them in desert tracts, which have now been cleared by their industry. There seems reason to believe that they are the progeny of Râjput clans, because among themselves they have the sub-divisions of Bargûjar, Chauhân, etc., but there are also perhaps among them descendants of several inferior castes. All those on being converted to Muhammadanism, were called (perhaps contemptuously) Gâra, from the new practice they had adopted of burying, instead of burning, their dead. They now apply the term to themselves, but endeavour to disguise its origin by pretending to high birth. The Gâras generally intermarry in their own clan; but there is a set of villages in Sahâranpur, called Sayyid Gâra, from the fact of the daughters of Gâras marrying into Sayyid families.” The complete Census Returns name 51 sections. Some of them are local, such as Chaurasiya, Multâni; others are those of well-known castes and septs, such as Bargûjar, Bhâl, Bhatti, Chandela, Chauhân, Julâha, Pundîr, Râjput, Râthaur; others are purely Muhammadan, as Ansâri, Azîz, Bahlîm, Ghori, Mughal, Mughal-Bharsawa, Muhammadi, Shaikh, Shaikh Haidar, and Yâr Muhammad.

2. The Gâras are good cultivators, but very quarrelsome and litigious. This is recorded in the native proverb that a Gâra is as great a nuisance in a village as thorns in a field—Gânw men Gâra; Khet men jhâra.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE GÂRAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Garg; Gargbansi.—A sept of Râjputs. They represent themselves to be the descendants of the Rishi Garga who was the father of Sini, from whom, according to the Vishnu Purâna, the Gârgyas and Sainyas, “Brâhmans of Kshatriya race,” were sprung. The statement of the Bhâgavata is that Gârgya from a Kshatriya became a Brâhman. With him we reach an age when the modern distinctions of caste were unknown. In the Gargbansi are sometimes included the Chanamiya (q.v.). In Faizâbâd [407] the sept assert that their ancestor the Rishi was summoned from Kanauj by Râja Dasaratha to assist him in performing the horse sacrifice; others say that Vikramaditya sent for him from Kaikaides on his restoration to Ajudhya. In the Eastern Districts of the North-West Provinces [408] they are both Bhuînhârs and Chhatris, and in the latter caste they do not rank high. [409] Those of the Garg Bhuînhârs, whose blood has not been tainted by admixture with inferior races, take a fair rank among Bhuînhârs. There can be no doubt that both are of the same stock. One division of the Chhatri branch is called Surhaniya, from Surhan in Pargana Mahul of Azamgarh. In Faizâbâd they are reputed to be thieves. The Chhatri sept are generally regarded as Bais of inferior stock.

2. In Sultânpur they are reported to marry girls of Bilkhariya, Tashaiya, Chandauriya, Kath Bais, and Bhâlê Sultân, Panwâr, Chandel, Palwâr; and to give brides to the Tilokchandi Bais, Mainpuri Chauhâns, Sûrajbansi of Mahul, Bisens of Majhauli, Râjkumâr, and Bachgoti. In Faizâbâd they marry Palwâr, Raghubansi and Chandel brides, and give girls to the Bachgoti, Sombansi, and Bais septs.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE GARGBANSI RÂJPUTS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1895.

Gaur; Gauda. [410]—One of the five divisions of the Northern Brâhmans which make up what is known as the Pancha Gauda, as distinguished from the Pancha Dravira or Southern Brâhmans. There has been much controversy as to the origin of the name. The tribal traditions all point to the ruined city of Gaur or Lakhnauti, in Mâlda, which was once the capital of Bengal, whence the story runs that they emigrated to the neighbourhood of Delhi in the time of the Pândavas. By another account they emigrated to Bengal on the invitation of Râja Agarsen, the eponymous founder of Agarwâla Banyas. The objections to this account of their origin are two-fold. In the first place their supposed emigration from east to west reverses the usual course of the Brâhmanical movements, and, secondly, it is difficult to understand how they could have passed through the intervening Brâhmanical tribes, such as the Sarwariya and Kanaujiya. This is not avoided by Mr. Colebrooke’s supposition that Gauda was the name of a division of the country in the neighbourhood of the modern Patna. And still less probable is Sir G. Campbell’s theory, that the name is derived from their residence on the banks of the Ghâghar, a tributary of the Sâraswati, the lost river of the Western India desert. Perhaps the most plausible explanation is that of General Cunningham, who writes: [411]—“These apparent discrepancies are satisfactorily explained when we learn that Gauda is only a sub-division of Uttara Kosila, and that the ruins of Srâvasti have actually been found in the district of Gauda, which is the Gonda of the Maps. I presume therefore that both the Gauda Brâhmans and the Gauda Tagas must have belonged to this district originally, and not to the mediæval city of Gauda in Bengal. Brâhmans of this name are still numerous in Ajudhya and Jahângîrâbâd, on the right bank of the Ghâghra river, in Gonda, Pâkhapur, and Jaisni, of the Gonda District, and in many parts of the neighbouring division of Gorakhpur.” Our last Census Returns show the Gaur Brâhmans most numerous in the Meerut Division, and in decreasing numbers as we come through Rohilkhand and the lower Ganges-Jumna Duâb.

[Divisions of the Gaur Brâhmans.] 2. The divisions of this branch of the Brâhmans are very intricate, and the tribe itself is, as a rule, so illiterate and unintelligent, that it is very difficult to ascertain their tribal constitution. Dr. J. Wilson [412] divides them into eleven divisions:—

(1) The Gaudas or Kevala Gaudas, who are said to be Yajur Vedis, and to have their head-quarters at Hardwâr. (2) The Adi Gaudas or “original” Gaudas, who follow the white Yajur Veda, and are by sect Smârttas, Sâktas, or Vallabhachâryas. (3) The Suklwâla, who are a branch of the Adi Gaudas and come from Jaypur. Of these there are two sections—Ojha and Joshi. (4) The Sanâdhya, who have been separately enumerated at the last Census and form the subject of a special article. (5) The Sri Gaudas or “honourable” Gaudas, of which one division is called Tamboli, and deals in betel leaf, and another Adi Sri Gauda, found at Delhi, Mathura, and Brindaban. (6) The Gûjar or Gûrjjara Gaudas. (7) The Tekbâra Gaudas. (8) The Chamar Gaudas, who serve the Chamârs as priests. (9) The Hariyâna Gaudas, who take their name from the country of Hariyâna, in the Hissâr and Rohtak Districts of the Panjâb. (10) The Kirtâniya Gaudas, who wander about these Provinces and Râjputâna as singers, reciters, and players upon instruments. (11) The Sukal Gaudas, who live by mendicity, accepting alms from Brâhmans, but not from Kshatriyas, Banyas, or people of other castes.

3. According to Sir H. M. Elliot the chief Gaur tribes in these Provinces are the Adi Gaur, Jugad Gaur, Kaithal Gaur, Gûjar Gaur, Dharam Gaur, and Siddh Gaur. A list obtained from a member of the tribe at Mirzapur makes them out to be divided into Gûjar Gaur, Dadhicha or Dâima, Sikhwâl, Pârikh, Khandelwâl or Adi Gaur, and Sâraswata. Of these the Dadhicha are classed by Dr. Wilson [413] among the Gujjara Brâhmans; the Pârikhas or Purohita Parikhas are the family priests of the Râjas of Jaypur, in whose territory they are especially abundant. “They claim to be descended from Vasishtha. When his hundred sons with their wives were destroyed through the jealousy of his rival Visvamitra, a son named Sava fell from the womb of one of these wives, who had Parâsara as his son, the father of Vyâsa.” The Sârasvatas, again, are generally classed as distinct from the Gaur, and have been so recorded at the last Census.

[The Dadhicha.] 4. Adopting this classification, it may be noted that the Dadhicha of these provinces claim descent from Dadhicha, the son of Atharvan, who was son of Brahma. The story runs that Dadhyang or Dadhicha had a wife, Satya Prabha, who was left pregnant when her husband died. She tore her womb open, and taking out the child, which she laid at the foot of a pîpal tree, joined her husband in heaven. After some time she remembered her child and prayed to Mûl Devi or Sâkti, who promised that the child should be incarnated out of a human skull. From being laid beside the pîpal tree he came to be known as Pippalayana, and begot twelve sons, who were the ancestors of the twelve gotras of the tribe. Each of these sons had twelve sons, and from these one hundred and forty-four persons are named the sections (al). The following are the gotras and als as far as it has been possible to ascertain their names:—

(1) Gautama gotra with sections—Patodya; Palod; Nahawâl; Kumbhya;
Kanth; Badâdhara; Khatod; Badsaran; Bagadya; Bedwant; Banrasidara;
Ledodya; Kakarah; Gagwâri; Bhuwâl; Disiyel; Masya; Mang.
(2) Vatsa gotra with sections—Ratâwa; Koliwâl; Baldawa; Rolaryân;
Cholankhya; Jopat; Ithodya; Polgala; Nasara; Namawâl; Ajmera;
Kukarân; Tararâyân; Abdig; Didiyil; Musya; Maug.
(3) Bharadwâja gotra with sections—Pedwâl; Sukl; Malodya;
Asopadyaki; Barmota; Indokhwâl; Halsara; Bhatalya; Godiya;
Solyarin.
(4) Bhârgava gotra with sections—Inaryân; Patharyân; Kasalya;
Silrondya; Kurarawa; Jagodya; Khewar; Bisâwa; Ladrawân; Baragarân;
Kadalawa; Kaprodya.
(5) Kavacha gotra with sections—Didwâryân; Malodya; Ghawarodya;
Jatalya; Dobha; Murel; Maurjawâl; Sosi; Gotecha; Kudâl; Tretawâl.
(6) Kasyapa gotra with sections—Choraida; Dirolya; Jamawâl;
Shergota; Rajthala; Barawa; Balaya; Chaulankhya.
(7) Sândilya gotra with sections—Rarawa; Bediya; Bed; Gotharawâl;
Dahwâl.
(8) Asraya gotra with sections—Sulwâl; Yajrodya; Dubarya; Sukalya.
(9) Parâsara gotra with sections—Bhera; Parâsara.
(10) Kavala gotra with section—Chipara.
(11) Gorga gotra, with section—Talachhya.
(12) Mamraka gotra of which the sections have disappeared.

[The Gûjar Gaur.] 5. A list from Mirzapur gives the gotras and sections (al) of the Gûjar Gaur as follows:—

(1) Kausika gotra with sections—Jakhimo; Kurakyo; Tadukyo;
Karadolya; Surolya; Modharyân; Sarsu; Guhadra; Katasala;
Jirawalya.
(2) Kausika gotra with sections—Chahadhota; Gobalya; Nagavalya;
Kaitha; Kalaitha; Tetrawa; Nilsanda; Kethuryân; Dudu.
(3) Vasishtha gotra with sections—Paghlida; Dughahasya; Khuraryân;
Akodra; Jhujhrodyân; Rihdoliya; Pandurya; Sankhwat; Achraundya;
Laiwâl; Poparudyân; Rachhtinari; Khiyaryân; Phaguryân.
(4) Sândilya gotra with sections—Nausalya; Pachaswa; Gâlswa;
Jajpura; Nanera; Kathoriwâl; Sânpa; Jhamkolya; Karauriwâl;
Kusumbhiwâl.
(5) Kausika gotra with sections—Bhairjwâl; Kânoilya; Naugra;
Dughdolya; Gumtaryân; Adharûpa; Jodha; Harkhahi; Jastaryân.
(6) Bharadwâja gotra with sections—Pisa; Gauryân; Jagala; Raurinja;
Bapraundya; Lâd; Kalbadra; Silaura; Jigaryân; Chitaryân;
Gugauryân; Pijuryân; Kajaura; Gauhandya; Bagda.
(7) Gautama gotra with sections—Bhawânlya; Jajada; Bijaryân;
Thinksara; Bilovaryân; Pandaita; Dikhat; Bilu; Umtaryân;
Mandovasya.
(8) Kasyapa gotra with sections—Bararaila; Rewal; Gunwâl;
Sanbharya; Bajagya; Thariwâl; Lohdolya; Aimalya; Sajiganwa;
Dewalya; Jâjandya; Matâryân; Rajdolya; Rihdolya.
(9) Vatsa gotra with sections—Kântra; Bachh; Kaimalya; Chatsuwa;
Dodwadra; Vyâs; Ghil; Gutaradya; Paiwâl; Chanwadra; Didwaryân;
Chhichhâwata; Palhat; Chulhat; Suraulya; Rainhata; Sarsuda;
Khinwasara; Chhadak; Bagada.
(10) Atrima gotra with sections—Bardundhya; Bagherwâl; Akodra;
Karaudiwâl; Priyalauja; Babherwâl; Dabhadra; Kunjaudra;
Ichharmarua.
(11) Muhrila gotra with sections—Surtaryân; Bhutâryan; Dhamauntya;
Thâwalya; Lohawa; Bamhaurya; Kundera; Gadaryân; Raiswâl; Kunjodra;
Muth; Pipalya.
(12) Parâsara gotra with sections—Khataud; Daigya; Pahadra;
Narâryân; Kuchila; Baresura; Kachraudya; Dewalya; Dobarhatta;
Gumataryân.
(13) Garga gotra with sections—Gudnâda; Kacharya; Ladaryân; Laiwâl;
Bhangdolya; Ukhairwâl.

[Marriage.] 6. Gaur Brâhmans are, as a rule, endogamous, but they are singularly liberal in their views as contrasted with the Kanaujiya, and as in Bihâr, where the groups consist of limited numbers, they have commenced to intermarry with the Sâraswata. In other respects they practise the ordinary rule of exogamy common to other Brâhmans. When the bride is introduced into the house of her husband there is a solemn confarreatio rite known as dûdhabhâti. Their domestic ceremonies are of the usual orthodox type.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE GAUR BRÂHMANS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Gaur.—A sept of Râjputs who are supposed to take their name from the kingdom of Gauda, in Bengal; but as shown in the articles on Gaur Brâhmans, their name may be derived from Gauda, the modern Gonda in Northern Oudh. Colonel Tod [414] ranks them among the thirty-six royal races and remarks:—“The tribe was once respected in Rajasthân, though it never attained to any considerable eminence. The ancient kings of Bengal were of this race, and gave their name to the capital Lakhnauti. We have every reason to believe that they were possessors of the land afterwards occupied by the Chauhâns, as they are styled in the old Chronicles, The Gaur of Ajmer. Repeated mention is made of them in the wars of Prithivi Râja as leaders of considerable renown, one of whom formed a small state in the centre of India, which survived through seven centuries of Mughal domination, till it at length fell a prey indirectly to the successes of the British over the Marhattas, when Sindhiya in 1809 annihilated the power of the Gaur and took possession of his capital Sûpar.” He gives the five sâkha of the Gaur as Untahir, Silhala, Tunwar, Dasena, and Budâno.

[The Gaurs of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.] 2. According to Sir H. M. Elliot [415] they fall into three sub-divisions, the Bhat Gaur, Bâhman Gaur, and Chamar Gaur, names derived from some intercourse with Bhâts, Brâhmans, and Chamârs. “To these are sometimes added the Katheriya Gaur, descended from a Katheri, or carpenter. But it may be doubted if the Katheriya are really Gaurs. No argument, however, can be derived from the fact that daughters of Gaurs marry in Katheriya families, because the Chamar Gaur and Bâhman Gaur also intermarry.” The Katheriya really take their name from Katehar, the old name of Rohilkhand. “The Chamar Gaur, who are divided into Râja and Râê, rank the highest,” which is accounted for by the legend already given in the special article on that sept. In Farrukhâbâd [416] they call themselves Râthauriya, and are said to have come from Shâhjahânpur under the brothers Sârhê and Bârhê. Each received a Chaurâsi or block of eighty-four villages. Bârhê’s descendants chiefly settled in the country now forming the Pargana of Shamsâbâd West, while Sârhê kept to the south in Shamsâbâd East and Bhojpur. The Etâwah branch say they came from Sûpar in the west as early as 650 A.D., having expelled the Meos, and they allege that their power was broken by the Banâphar heroes, Alha and Udal, early in the 12th century. [417]

[The Gaurs of Oudh.] 3. As regards the Gaurs of Oudh, the Hardoi tradition [418] runs that Kuber Sâh Gaur was deputed by Jay Chand of Kanauj to collect tribute from Thatheras. While he was at Kanauj twin sons were born to him. Of these the Brâhmans in attendance on the Thathera chief predicted that they would achieve greatness and expel him from his kingdom. To avert such disaster the Thathera Chief ordered the babes to be done away with; and the Brâhmans, giving out that if Kuber Sâh should return and look upon his children’s faces he would die, caused them to be buried alive. Hardly had the deed been done when Kuber Sâh returned, heard the evil news, and had the babes dug up. Both were still alive. One of them had lost an eye and was hence named Kâna,—“one-eyed.” The other was named Anâi or Pakhni,—“under the wall.” From them are sprung the Kâna and Anâi or Pakhni sub-divisions of the Gaurs. One family in Unâo [419] profess to hold their lands by virtue of a grant from the Emperor Bâbar. They are Bâhman Gaurs of the Modal gotra. There is another colony of Gaurs in Pargana Harba, who are claimed by the others as an offshoot from themselves. They also are Bâhman Gaurs of the same gotra, but give a different account of their origin. According to them Banthar was formerly inhabited by a race of Gaddis or cow-herds who lived by the pasturage and paid an annual tribute of ghi to the Government. One year, whether with intent to defraud or to show their insubordination, they filled the vessels in which the tribute was sent with cowdung and covered it over with a small quantity of ghi. The fraud was discovered at court, and Gorapdes Gaur, who held a military command at Delhi, was directed to raise a body of followers and extirpate the offenders. After performing this service, he received a grant of the conquered villages and settled there with his clan.

[Religion.] 4. In the village of Dudhâwal, in the Lucknow [420] District, stands a pîpal tree, and there is a small monument, a memorial of the place where the Bâhman Gaur widows used to perform sati, to which the Bâhman Gaur to this day bring offerings for the old family priests of their tribe on the occasion of a marriage or any other solemn ceremony in their house.

5. In Sîtapur they appear usually to give brides to the Tomar and Ahban septs, and to take brides from the Bâchhal, Janwâr, and occasionally from the Ahban. In Farrukhâbâd the Katheriya Gaur give their daughters to the Sombansi, Bais, and Bamtelê, and receive girls from the Chandel and Kaithiya septs. In Hamîrpur they give brides to the Chauhân, Bhadauriya, Kachhwâha, Parihâr, Chandel, Râthaur, and Chamar Gaur, and take wives from the Dikhit, Nandwâni, and Bais. In Hardoi they claim to belong to the Bharadwâja gotra, marry girls of the Raikwâr, Chandel, Dhâkrê, Janwâr, Kachhwâha, and Gaharwâr septs, while they give wives to the Sombansi, Chauhân, Pramâr, Râthaur, Dhâkrê, Nikumbh, and Raikwâr.

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

Gaurahar.—A small Râjput sept found in Rohilkhand and the borders of Aligarh. They are supposed to be descended from the Chamar Gaur, and it is sometimes added, by way of reproach, that they have a little Ahîr blood in their veins. They trace their origin to Kainûr in the west, whence they say they came to serve the Emperors of Delhi. [421]

Gauriya; Bangâli Gusâîn.—A Vaishnava order of recent origin. This community “has had a more marked influence on Brindaban than any of the others, since it was Chaitanya, the founder of the sect, whose immediate disciples were its first temple builders. He was born at Nadiya, in Bengal, in 1485 A.D., and in his youth is said to have married a daughter of Vallabhachârya. However that may be, when he had arrived at the age of twenty-four he formally resigned all connection with secular and domestic affairs and commenced his career as a religious teacher. After spending six years in pilgrimage between Mathura and Jagannâth he finally settled down at the latter place, where, in 1527 A.D., being then only forty-two years old, he disappeared from the world. There is reason to believe that he was drowned in the sea, into which he had walked in an ecstacy, mistaking it for the shallow waters of the Jamuna, where he saw in a vision Krishna sporting with the Gopis. His life and doctrines are recorded in a most voluminous Bengâli work entitled Chaitanya Charitâmrita, composed in 1590 by one of his disciples Krishna Dâs. Two of his colleagues Adwaitanand and Nityanand, who like himself are styled Mahâ Prabhus, presided over his establishments in Bengal, while other six Gusâîns settled at Brindaban. Apart from metaphysical subtleties, which naturally have but little hold on the minds of the populace, the special tenet of the Bengali Vaishnavas is the all-sufficiency of faith in the divine Krishna; such faith being adequately expressed by the mere repetition of his name without any added prayer or concomitant feeling of genuine devotion. Thus roughly stated, the doctrine appears absurd; and possibly its true bearing is as little regarded by many of the more ignorant among the Vaishnavas themselves, as it is by the majority of superficial outside observers. It is, however, a legitimate deduction from sound principles; for it may be presumed that the formal act of devotion would never have been commenced, had it not been prompted at the outset by a devotional intention, which intention is virtually continued so long as the act is in performance. The sectarial mark consists of two white perpendicular streaks down the forehead united at the root of the nose and continued to near the tip. Another characteristic is the use of a rosary of one hundred and eight beads made of the wood of the tulasi.” [422]

2. The order takes its name from the city of Gaur, the ancient capital of Bengal, which now lies a mass of ruins in the Mâlda District.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE GAURIYA GUSÂÎNS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891.

Gaurua.—Hardly the name of a special Râjput sept, but a general term applied to those Râjputs who have lost rank by the practice of widow-marriage (karâo). Those to the west of the Jumna are said to have emigrated from Jaypur about nine hundred years ago. In Mathura some call themselves Kachhwâha, others Jasâwat, others again Sisodiya. Towards Delhi they are said to be particularly quarrelsome, but sturdy in build and clannish in disposition. [423]

Gautam.—A sept of Râjputs who claim as their eponymous ancestor the Rishi Gautama. They are usually treated as one of the Chandrabans, but not in the thirty-six royal races. Their original home is Fatehpur, and they claim to have been originally Brâhmans, the descendants of the Rishi Gautama. By another account they are descended from the Rishi Siringi. The descendant in the sixth degree from Gautama is said to have married the daughter of Ajaypâl, the Gaharwâr Râja of Kanauj, and to have received as her dowry the whole extent of the country from Prayâg (Allahâbâd) to Hardwâr. From this event the sept ceased to be Brâhmans and became Râjputs; the issue of the marriage took the title of Râja of Argal, a village in the ravines of the River Rind, about thirty miles west of Fatehpur. [424] Sir H. M. Elliot [425] distrusts the story of their connection with Siringi Rishi or with the Gaharwârs, because it is, in the first place, impossible that Siringi Rishi could have been the contemporary of any Gaharwâr Râja; and in the second place, it is highly improbable that the Gaharwârs could have preceded the occupation of the Gautams. Nevertheless the story is devoutly believed by many Gautams. In Oudh [426] they were certainly very early settlers. They claim to be an offshoot from the Argal Râj, but their traditions as to the cause and manner of their occupancy are too faint and varying for record. In the Eastern Districts of the Province [427] there is both a Chhatri and a Bhuînhâr branch: the former ignore the latter, and say that they themselves came from Argal. The Bhuînhârs allege that they are all one stock of Sarwariya Brâhmans, the Chhatris having assumed their present caste only when the ancestor of the Râja of Azamgarh became a Muhammadan and rose into power. In the Ayîn-i-Akbari they are described as zamîndârs in Pargana Nizâmâbâd. The Cawnpur branch is said to have emigrated from Argal four and-a-half centuries ago, and to have expelled the Arakhs.

2. The Sakyas of Kapilavastu also reckoned the saint Gautama among their forefathers, and they are represented by the existing Gautamiyas. [428] These Gautamiyas are an inferior branch. They seem to be Gautams, who from the low marriages of their daughters or other reasons have fallen from a higher status or Chhatris of inferior stock who have adopted the patronymic of the more famous clan. The real Gautams hold a respectable rank among Râjputs. Those of the Eastern Districts give their daughters in marriage to the Sombansi, Bachgoti, Bhandhalgoti, Rajwâr, and Râjkumâr. Those of the Duâb give their daughters to the Bhadauriya, Kachhwâha, Râthaur, Gahlot, Chauhân, and Tomar. To the east they marry their daughters in the Sirnet, Bisen, Gaharwâr, Sûrajbansi, Baghel, and Chandel septs, and take brides from the Kalhans, Palwâr, Râjkumâr, Kausik, Chauhân, and Sengar. In Fatehpur they give their daughters to the Chauhân, Parihâr, Bhadauriya, Kachhwâha, and Jâdon septs, and marry wives from the Bais, Panwâr, Dikhit, Sombansi, Chandel, Bisen, and Khichi. In Bundelkhand they especially worship Gajpati Râê Durga at the Naurâtra of Kuâr and Chait. Nothing but a sword is kept in the temple, and it is worshipped with prayers and offerings of sandalwood, rice, perfumes, incense, and lamps. On the first lunar day of Kuâr a decorated jar (kalsa) is placed in her temple, and ten Pandits, sitting round it, recite the praises of Durga Devi: a buffalo and a he-goat are daily sacrificed during the feast. On the ninth day twenty or more buffaloes and fifty or sixty he-goats are sacrificed. None but a Gautam can perform this sacrifice; and only a man of the Bargâh caste, who are the hereditary servants of the clan, is allowed to hold the victim. Before offering the sacrifice the sacred sword is worshipped. On the last day (naumîn) the Râja himself offers the sacrifice. The heads of the victims are buried deep in the ground, but the goat-meat is regarded as holy (prasâd) and divided among the worshippers. Only Chamârs eat the meat of the buffaloes offered to the goddess. It is believed that if anyone but a Râja perform this sacrifice, he will be destroyed root and branch.

3. In Lucknow they worship a tribal saint Bâba Nahuk, of Nigohan, and burn a light daily at his shrine. [429]

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

==============+==========+==============
Districts. | Hindus. | Muhammadans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 1 | ...
Sahâranpur | 8 | ...
Muzaffarnagar | 5 | ...
Meerut | 13 | ...
Bulandshahr | 73 | 2
Aligarh | 26 | ...
Mathura | 3 | ...
Agra | 30 | ...
Farrukhâbâd | 75 | ...
Mainpuri | 217 | 5
Etâwah | 16 | ...
Etah | 57 | ...
Bareilly | 755 | 4
Budâun | 7,730 | 2
Morâdâbâd | 1,377 | 12
Shâhjahânpur | 843 | ...
Pilibhît | 178 | 43
Cawnpur | 4,964 | 1
Fatehpur | 11,513 | 1,833
Bânda | 2,880 | 45
Hamîrpur | 2,129 | ...
Allahâbâd | 854 | ...
Jhânsi | 21 | 1
Jâlaun | 110 | ...
Lalitpur | 4 | ...
Benares | 2,293 | 92
Mirzapur | 2,772 | ...
Jaunpur | 3,694 | 19
Ghâzipur | 7,777 | 238
Ballia | 8,467 | ...
Gorakhpur | 2,610 | 411
Basti | 5,204 | 778
Azamgarh | 6,248 | 223
Tarâi | 3 | ...
Lucknow | 1,785 | 8
Unâo | 2,691 | 7
Râê Bareli | 3,348 | 23
Sîtapur | 151 | 361
Hardoi | 235 | ...
Kheri | 534 | 714
Faizâbâd | 849 | ...
Gonda | 530 | 129
Bahrâich | 240 | 20
Sultânpur | 1,192 | 84
Partâbgarh | 990 | 10
Bârabanki | 430 | 5
+~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Total | 85,925 | 5,070
| \~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~/
GRAND TOTAL | 90,995
==============+====================

Gharûk.—A sub-caste of Kahârs, but they have now so completely separated from the parent stock that they may be most conveniently treated as an absolutely distinct group. Their only vague tradition is that they are the descendants of the Pândavas, and they allege that there is a temple at Hastinapur dedicated to Kâli Durga, at which they worship. They have a tribal council (Panchâyat) presided over by a chairman (mahant) who is elected by the members of the caste. They do not marry in the families of their maternal uncle, father’s sister, and mother’s sister. They can marry two sisters, but not at the same time. Polygamy is permitted to an unlimited extent. Incontinence before marriage is seriously dealt with, and the girl’s parents have to pay a fine to the tribal council, and so has the man who subsequently marries her. Divorce is allowed, and divorced women may remarry by the lower form: such wives are called urhari. Widows can marry again, and the levirate is allowed under the usual restrictions.

2. Their domestic ceremonies are of the normal type. They live much in fear of ghosts, demons, and the Evil Eye, the effects of which are removed by the sorcerer. Their oath is by the Ganges. Their chief object of worship is Kâli Durga. They drink spirits, but will not eat pork, beef, fowls, or vermin. They abstain from meat and wine during the fortnight in the month of Kuâr sacred to the sainted dead. They will not eat from the hands of low castes, like the Chamâr, Bhangi, or Pâsi; but they can eat from the hands of Brâhmans, Râjputs, and Bhurjis. Their chief occupation is fishing; some do a little cultivation; and they supply many of the bearers in the service of Europeans.

Ghasiya.—A Dravidian tribe found in the hill country of Mirzapur. They do not appear in the returns of the last Census, and it is now impossible to say among which of the allied Dravidian castes they were included. Under the name of Ghâsi they are found in the adjoining Bengal districts. [430] In Mandla one of their septs, Markâm, is the title of a sept of Gonds. [431] They extend as far as Bastar, where they are described as an inferior caste who serve as horsekeepers and also make and mend brass vessels. They dress like the Mariya Gonds, and subsist partly by cultivation and partly by labour. [432] Dr. Ball describes them in Singhbhûm as gold-washers and musicians. [433] Colonel Dalton speaks of them as “an extraordinary tribe, foul parasites of the Central Indian hill tribes, and submitting to be degraded even by them. If the Chandâlas of the Purânas, though descended from the union of a Brâhmani and a Sûdra are “the lowest of the low,” the Ghâsis are Chandâlas, and the people further south, who are called Pariahs, are no doubt of the same distinguished lineage. If, as I surmise, they were Aryan helots, their offices in the household or communities must have been of the lowest and most degrading kinds. It is to be observed that the institution of caste necessitated the organisation of a class to whom such offices could be assigned, and, when formed, stringent measures would be requisite to keep the servitors in their position. We might thence expect that they would avail themselves of every opportunity to escape, and no safer asylums could be found than the retreats of the forest tribes. [434]” In the uncertainty that still prevails as to the connection between the forest tribes and the menial castes of Hindu society, it is premature to deny the possibility of this theory; but their totemistic system of septs and their appearance generally, which approximates closely to that of the tribes which surround them, point to the supposition that they are of local Dravidian origin and not refugees driven into the jungles before the advancing Aryans. The legend recorded by Colonel Tickell makes them of common origin with Kols, Bhuiyas, and Santâls. [435] The word Ghasiya appears to mean a grass-cutter. (Hindi ghâs, grass: Sanskrit ghâsa).

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The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 2 (of 4)Chapter D (7)

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