Part 1

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The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India

R.V. Russell Of the Indian Civil Service Superintendent of Ethnography, Central Provinces Assisted by Rai Bahadur Hira Lal Extra Assistant Commissioner

Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration

In Four Volumes Vol. II.

Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London.

1916

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II

Articles on Castes and Tribes of the Central Provinces in Alphabetical Order

The articles which are considered to be of most general interest are shown in capitals

Agaria (Iron-worker) 3 Agharia (Cultivator) 8 Aghori (Religious mendicant) 13 AHIR (Herdsman and milkman) 18 Andh (Tribe, now cultivators) 38 Arakh (Hunter) 40 Atari (Scent-seller) 42 Audhelia (Labourer) 45 BADHAK (Robber) 49 BAHNA (Cotton-cleaner) 69 Baiga (Forest tribe) 77 Bairagi (Religious mendicants) 93 Balahi (Labourer and village watchman) 105 Balija (Cultivator) 108 BANIA (Merchant and moneylender) 111 Subcastes of Bania

Agarwala. Agrahari. Ajudhiabasi. Asathi. Charnagri. Dhusar. Dosar. Gahoi. Golapurab. Kasarwani. Kasaundhan. Khandelwal. Lad. Lingayat. Maheshri. Nema. Oswal. Parwar. Srimali. Umre.

BANJARA (Pack-carrier) 162 Barai (Betel-vine grower and seller) 192 Barhai (Carpenter) 199 Bari (Maker of leaf-plates) 202 Basdewa (Cattle-dealer and religious mendicant) 204 Basor (Bamboo-worker) 208 Bedar (Soldier and public service) 212 Beldar (Digger and navvy) 215 Beria (Vagabond gipsy) 220 Bhaina (Forest tribe) 225 Bhamta (Criminal tribe and labourers) 234 Bharbhunja (Grain-parcher) 238 Bharia (Forest tribe) 242 BHAT (Bard and genealogist) 251 Bhatra (Forest tribe) 271 BHIL (Forest tribe) 278 Bhilala (Landowner and cultivator) 293 Bhishti (Water-man) 298 Bhoyar (Cultivator) 301 Bhuiya (Forest tribe) 305 Bhulia (Weaver) 319 Bhunjia (Forest tribe) 322 Binjhwar (Cultivator) 329 Bishnoi (Cultivator) 337 Bohra (Trader) 345 BRAHMAN (Priest) 351 Subcastes of Brahman

Ahivasi. Jijhotia. Kanaujia, Kanyakubja. Khedawal. Maharashtra. Maithil. Malwi. Nagar. Naramdeo. Sanadhya. Sarwaria. Utkal.

Chadar (Village watchman and labourer) 400 CHAMAR (Tanner and labourer) 403 Chasa (Cultivator) 424 Chauhan (Village watchman and labourer) 427 Chhipa (Dyer and calico-printer) 429 CHITARI (Painter) 432 Chitrakathi (Picture showman) 438 Cutchi (Trader and shopkeeper) 440 DAHAIT (Village watchman and labourer) 444 Daharia (Cultivator) 453 Dangi (Landowner and cultivator) 457 Dangri (Vegetable-grower) 463 DARZI (Tailor) 466 Dewar (Beggar and musician) 472 Dhakar (Illegitimate, cultivator) 477 Dhangar (Shepherd) 480 Dhanuk (Bowman, labourer) 484 Dhanwar (Forest tribe) 488 DHIMAR (Fisherman, water-carrier, and household servant) 502 Dhoba (Forest tribe, cultivator) 515 DHOBI (Washerman) 519 Dhuri (Grain-parcher) 527 Dumal (Cultivator) 530 Fakir (Religious mendicant) 537

ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II

31. Aghori mendicant 14 32. Ahirs decorated with cowries for the Stick Dance at Diwali 18 33. Image of Krishna as Murlidhar or the flute-player, with attendant deities 28 34. Ahir dancers in Diwali costume 32 35. Pinjara cleaning cotton 72 36. Baiga village, Balaghat District 88 37. Hindu mendicants with sect-marks 94 38. Anchorite sitting on iron nails 98 39. Pilgrims carrying water of the river Nerbudda 100 40. Coloured Plate: Examples of Tilaks or sect-marks worn on the forehead 102 41. Group of Marwari Bania women 112 42. Image of the god Ganpati carried in procession 116 43. The elephant-headed god Ganpati. His conveyance is a rat, which can be seen as a little blob between his feet 120 44. Mud images made and worshipped at the Holi festival 126 45. Bania's shop 128 46. Banjara women with the singh or horn 184 47. Group of Banjara women 188 48. Basors making baskets of bamboo 210 49. Bhat with his putla or doll 256 50. Group of Bhils 278 51. Tantia Bhil, a famous dacoit 282 52. Group of Bohras at Burhanpur (Nimar) 346 53. Brahman worshipping his household gods 380 54. Brahman bathing party 384 55. Brahman Pujaris or priests 390 56. Group of Maratha Brahman men 392 57. Group of Naramdeo Brahman women 396 58. Group of Naramdeo Brahman men 398 59. Chamars tanning and working in leather 416 60. Chamars cutting leather and making shoes 418 61. Chhipa or calico-printer at work 430 62. Dhimar or fisherman's hut 502 63. Fishermen in dug-outs or hollowed tree trunks 506 64. Group of Gurujwale Fakirs 538

PRONUNCIATION

a has the sound of u in but or murmur. a has the sound of a in bath or tar. e has the sound of e in ecarte or ai in maid. i has the sound of i in bit, or (as a final letter) of y in sulky i has the sound of ee in beet. o has the sound of o in bore or bowl. u has the sound of u in put or bull. u has the sound of oo in poor or boot.

The plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words is formed by adding s in the English manner according to ordinary usage, though this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural.

Note.--The rupee contains 16 annas, and an anna is of the same value as a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing. Rs. 1-8 signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred thousand, and a krore ten million.

PART II

ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES

AGARIA--FAKIR

Agaria

1. Origin and subdivisions.

Agaria. --A small Dravidian caste, who are an offshoot of the Gond tribe. The Agarias have adopted the profession of iron-smelting and form a separate caste. They numbered 9500 persons in 1911 and live on the Maikal range in the Mandla, Raipur and Bilaspur Districts.

The name probably signifies a worker with ag or fire. An Agaria subcaste of Lohars also exists, many of whom are quite probably Gonds, but they are not included in the regular caste. Similar Dravidian castes of Agarias are to be found in Mirzapur and Bengal. The Agarias are quite distinct from the Agharia cultivating caste of the Uriya country. The Raipur Agarias still intermarry with the Rawanbansi Gonds of the District. The Agarias think that their caste has existed from the beginning of the world, and that the first Agaria made the ploughshare with which the first bullocks furrowed the primeval soil. The caste has two endogamous divisions, the Patharia and the Khuntia Agarias. The Patharias place a stone on the mouth of the bellows to fix them in the ground for smelting, while the Khuntias use a peg. The two subcastes do not even take water from one another.