Part 16

In the above passage the community described by Colonel Tod were Charans, but he identified them with Banjaras, using the name alternatively. He mentions their large herds of pack-bullocks, for the management of which the Charans, who were graziers as well as bards, would naturally be adapted; the name given to the camp, tanda, is that generally used by the Banjaras; the women wore ivory bangles, which the Banjara women wear. In commenting on the way in which the women threw their scarves over him, making him a prisoner, Colonel Tod remarks: "This community had enjoyed for five hundred years the privilege of making prisoner any Rana of Mewar who may pass through Murlah, and keeping him in bondage until he gives them a got or entertainment. The patriarch (of the village) told me that I was in jeopardy as the Rana's representative, but not knowing how I might have relished the joke had it been carried to its conclusion, they let me escape." Mr. Ball notes a similar custom of the Banjara women far away in the Bastar State of the Central Provinces: "Today I passed through another Banjara hamlet, from whence the women and girls all hurried out in pursuit, and a brazen-faced powerful-looking lass seized the bridle of my horse as he was being led by the sais in the rear. The sais and chaprasi were both Muhammadans, and the forward conduct of these females perplexed them not a little, and the former was fast losing his temper at being thus assaulted by a woman." Colonel Mackenzie in his account of the Banjara caste remarks: "It is certain that the Charans, whoever they were, first rose to the demand which the great armies of northern India, contending in exhausted countries far from their basis of supply, created, viz. the want of a fearless and reliable transport service.... The start which the Charans then acquired they retain among Banjaras to this day, though in very much diminished splendour and position. As they themselves relate, they were originally five brethren, Rathor, Turi, Panwar, Chauhan and Jadon. But fortune particularly smiled on Bhika Rathor, as his four sons, Mersi, Multasi, Dheda and Khamdar, great names among the Charans, rose immediately to eminence as commissariat transporters in the north. And not only under the Delhi Emperors, but under the Satara, subsequently the Poona Raj, and the Subahship of the Nizam, did several of their descendants rise to consideration and power." It thus seems a reasonable hypothesis that the nucleus of the Banjara caste was constituted by the Charans or bards of Rajputana. Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam also identifies the Charans and Banjaras, but I have not been able to find the exact passage. The following notice by Colonel Tone is of interest in this connection:

"The vast consumption that attends a Maratha army necessarily superinduces the idea of great supplies; yet, notwithstanding this, the native powers never concern themselves about providing for their forces, and have no idea of a grain and victualling department, which forms so great an object in a European campaign. The Banias or grain-sellers in an Indian army have always their servants ahead of the troops on the line of march, to purchase in the circumjacent country whatever necessaries are to be disposed of. Articles of consumption are never wanting in a native camp, though they are generally twenty-five per cent dearer than in the town bazars; but independent of this mode of supply the Vanjaris or itinerant grain-merchants furnish large quantities, which they bring on bullocks from an immense distance. These are a very peculiar race, and appear a marked and discriminated people from any other I have seen in this country. Formerly they were considered so sacred that they passed in safety in the midst of contending armies; of late, however, this reverence for their character is much abated and they have been frequently plundered, particularly by Tipu."

The reference to the sacred character attaching to the Banjaras a century ago appears to be strong evidence in favour of their derivation from the Charans. For it could scarcely have been obtained by any body of commissariat agents coming into India with the Muhammadans. The fact that the example of disregarding it was first set by a Muhammadan prince points to the same conclusion.

Mr. Irvine notices the Banjaras with the Mughal armies in similar terms: "It is by these people that the Indian armies in the field are fed, and they are never injured by either army. The grain is taken from them, but invariably paid for. They encamp for safety every evening in a regular square formed of the bags of grain of which they construct a breastwork. They and their families are in the centre, and the oxen are made fast outside. Guards with matchlocks and spears are placed at the corners, and their dogs do duty as advanced posts. I have seen them with droves of 5000 bullocks. They do not move above two miles an hour, as their cattle are allowed to graze as they proceed on the march."

One may suppose that the Charans having acted as carriers for the Rajput chiefs and courts, both in time of peace and in their continuous intestinal feuds, were pressed into service when the Mughal armies entered Rajputana and passed through it to Gujarat and the Deccan. In adopting the profession of transport agents for the imperial troops they may have been amalgamated into a fresh caste with other Hindus and Muhammadans doing the same work, just as the camp language formed by the superposition of a Persian vocabulary on to a grammatical basis of Hindi became Urdu or Hindustani. The readiness of the Charans to commit suicide rather than give up property committed to their charge was not, however, copied by the Banjaras, and so far as I am aware there is no record of men of this caste taking their own lives, though they had little scruple with those of others.

3. Charan Ranjarans employed with the Mughal armies.

The Charan Banjaras, Mr. Cumberlege states, first came to the Deccan with Asaf Khan in the campaign which closed with the annexation by the Emperor Shah Jahan of Ahmadnagar and Berar about 1630. Their leaders or Naiks were Bhangi and Jhangi of the Rathor and Bhagwan Das of the Jadon clan. Bhangi and Jhangi had 180,000 pack-bullocks, and Bhagwan Das 52,000. It was naturally an object with Asaf Khan to keep his commissariat well up with his force, and as Bhangi and Jhangi made difficulties about the supply of grass and water to their cattle, he gave them an order engraved on copper in letters of gold to the following effect:

Ranjan ka pani Chhappar ka ghas Din ke tin khun muaf; Aur jahan Asaf Jah ke ghore Wahan Bhangi Jhangi ke bail,

which may be rendered as follows: "If you can find no water elsewhere you may even take it from the pots of my followers; grass you may take from the roofs of their huts; and I will pardon you up to three murders a day, provided that wherever I find my cavalry, Bhangi and Jhangi's bullocks shall be with them." This grant is still in the possession of Bhangi Naik's descendant who lives at Musi, near Hingoli. He is recognised by the Hyderabad Court as the head Naik of the Banjara caste, and on his death his successor receives a khillat or dress-of-honour from His Highness the Nizam. After Asaf Khan's campaign and settlement in the Deccan, a quarrel broke out between the Rathor clan, headed by Bhangi and Jhangi, and the Jadons under Bhagwan Das, owing to the fact that Asaf Khan had refused to give Bhagwan Das a grant like that quoted above. Both Bhangi and Bhagwan Das were slain in the feud and the Jadons captured the standard, consisting of eight thans (lengths) of cloth, which was annually presented by the Nizam to Bhangi's descendants. When Mr. Cumberlege wrote (1869), this standard was in the possession of Hatti Naik, a descendant of Bhagwan Das, who had an estate near Muchli Bunder, in the Madras Presidency. Colonel Mackenzie states that the leaders of the Rathor clan became so distinguished not only in their particular line but as men of war that the Emperors recognised their carrying distinctive standards, which were known as dhal by the Rathors themselves. Jhangi's family was also represented in the person of Ramu Naik, the patel or headman of the village of Yaoli in the Yeotmal District. In 1791-92 the Banjaras were employed to supply grain to the British army under the Marquis of Cornwallis during the siege of Seringapatam, and the Duke of Wellington in his Indian campaigns regularly engaged them as part of the commissariat staff of his army. On one occasion he said of them: "The Banjaras I look upon in the light of servants of the public, of whose grain I have a right to regulate the sale, always taking care that they have a proportionate advantage."

4. Internal structure.

Mr. Cumberlege gives four main divisions of the caste in Berar, the Charans, Mathurias, Labhanas and Dharis. Of these the Charans are by far the most numerous and important, and included all the famous leaders of the caste mentioned above. The Charans are divided into the five clans, Rathor, Panwar, Chauhan, Puri and Jadon or Burthia, all of these being the names of leading Rajput clans; and as the Charan bards themselves were probably Rajputs, the Banjaras, who are descended from them, may claim the same lineage. Each clan or sept is divided into a number of subsepts; thus among the Rathors the principal subsept is the Bhurkia, called after the Bhika Rathor already mentioned; and this is again split into four groups, Mersi, Multasi, Dheda and Khamdar, named after his four sons. As a rule, members of the same clan, Panwar, Rathor and so on, may not intermarry, but Mr. Cumberlege states that a man belonging to the Banod or Bhurkia subsepts of the Rathors must not take a wife from his own subsept, but may marry any other Rathor girl. It seems probable that the same rule may hold with the other subsepts, as it is most unlikely that intermarriage should still be prohibited among so large a body as the Rathor Charans have now become. It may be supposed therefore that the division into subsepts took place when it became too inconvenient to prohibit marriage throughout the whole body of the sept, as has happened in other cases. The Mathuria Banjaras take their name from Mathura or Muttra and appear to be Brahmans. "They wear the sacred thread, know the Gayatri Mantra, and to the present day abstain from meat and liquor, subsisting entirely on grain and vegetables. They always had a sufficiency of Charans and servants (Jangar) in their villages to perform all necessary manual labour, and would not themselves work for a remuneration otherwise than by carrying grain, which was and still is their legitimate occupation; but it was not considered undignified to cut wood and grass for the household. Both Mathuria and Labhana men are fairer than the Charans; they wear better jewellery and their loin-cloths have a silk border, while those of the Charans are of rough, common cloth." The Mathurias are sometimes known as Ahiwasi, and may be connected with the Ahiwasis of the Hindustani Districts, who also drive pack-bullocks and call themselves Brahmans. But it is naturally a sin for a Brahman to load the sacred ox, and any one who does so is held to have derogated from the priestly order. The Mathurias are divided according to Mr. Cumberlege into four groups called Pande, Dube, Tiwari and Chaube, all of which are common titles of Hindustani Brahmans and signify a man learned in one, two, three and four Vedas respectively. It is probable that these groups are exogamous, marrying with each other, but this is not stated. The third division, the Labhanas, may derive their name from lavana, salt, and probably devoted themselves more especially to the carriage of this staple. They are said to be Rajputs, and to be descended from Mota and Mola, the cowherds of Krishna. The fourth subdivision are the Dharis or bards of the caste, who rank below the others. According to their own story their ancestor was a member of the Bhat caste, who became a disciple of Nanak, the Sikh apostle, and with him attended a feast given by the Mughal Emperor Humayun. Here he ate the flesh of a cow or buffalo, and in consequence became a Muhammadan and was circumcised. He was employed as a musician at the Mughal court, and his sons joined the Charans and became the bards of the Banjara caste. "The Dharis," Mr. Cumberlege continues, "are both musicians and mendicants; they sing in praise of their own and the Charan ancestors and of the old kings of Delhi; while at certain seasons of the year they visit Charan hamlets, when each family gives them a young bullock or a few rupees. They are Muhammadans, but worship Sarasvati and at their marriages offer up a he-goat to Gaji and Gandha, the two sons of the original Bhat, who became a Muhammadan. At burials a Fakir is called to read the prayers."

5. Minor subcastes.

Besides the above four main divisions, there are a number of others, the caste being now of a very mixed character. Two principal Muhammadan groups are given by Sir H. Elliot, the Turkia and Mukeri. The Turkia have thirty-six septs, some with Rajput names and others territorial or titular. They seem to be a mixed group of Hindus who may have embraced Islam as the religion of their employers. The Mukeri Banjaras assert that they derive their name from Mecca (Makka), which one of their Naiks, who had his camp in the vicinity, assisted Father Abraham in building. Mr. Crooke thinks that the name may be a corruption of Makkeri and mean a seller of maize. Mr. Cumberlege says of them: "Multanis and Mukeris have been called Banjaras also, but have nothing in common with the caste; the Multanis are carriers of grain and the Mukeris of wood and timber, and hence the confusion may have arisen between them." But they are now held to be Banjaras by common usage; in Saugor the Mukeris also deal in cattle. From Chanda a different set of subcastes is reported called Bhusarjin, Ladjin, Saojin and Kanhejin; the first may take their name from bhusa, the chaff of wheat, while Lad is the term used for people coming from Gujarat, and Sao means a banker. In Sambalpur again a class of Thuria Banjaras is found, divided into the Bandesia, Atharadesia, Navadesia and Chhadesia, or the men of the 52 districts, the 18 districts, the 9 districts and the 6 districts respectively. The first and last two of these take food and marry with each other. Other groups are the Guar Banjaras, apparently from Guara or Gwala, a milkman, the Guguria Banjaras, who may, Mr. Hira Lal suggests, take their name from trading in gugar, a kind of gum, and the Bahrup Banjaras, who are Nats or acrobats. In Berar also a number of the caste have become respectable cultivators and now call themselves Wanjari, disclaiming any connection with the Banjaras, probably on account of the bad reputation for crime attached to these latter. Many of the Wanjaris have been allowed to rank with the Kunbi caste, and call themselves Wanjari Kunbis in order the better to dissociate themselves from their parent caste. The existing caste is therefore of a very mixed nature, and the original Brahman and Charan strains, though still perfectly recognisable, cannot have maintained their purity.

6. Marriage: betrothal.

At a betrothal in Nimar the bridegroom and his friends come and stay in the next village to that of the bride. The two parties meet on the boundary of the village, and here the bride-price is fixed, which is often a very large sum, ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 1000. Until the price is paid the father will not let the bridegroom into his house. In Yeotmal, when a betrothal is to be made, the parties go to a liquor-shop and there a betel-leaf and a large handful of sugar are distributed to everybody. Here the price to be paid for the bride amounts to Rs. 40 and four young bullocks. Prior to the wedding the bridegroom goes and stays for a month or so in the house of the bride's father, and during this time he must provide a supply of liquor daily for the bride's male relatives. The period was formerly longer, but now extends to a month at the most. While he resides at the bride's house the bridegroom wears a cloth over his head so that his face cannot be seen. Probably the prohibition against seeing him applies to the bride only, as the rule in Berar is that between the betrothal and marriage of a Charan girl she may not eat or drink in the bridegroom's house, or show her face to him or any of his relatives. Mathuria girls must be wedded before they are seven years old, but the Charans permit them to remain single until after adolescence.

7. Marriage.

Banjara marriages are frequently held in the rains, a season forbidden to other Hindus, but naturally the most convenient to them, because in the dry weather they are usually travelling. For the marriage ceremony they pitch a tent in lieu of the marriage-shed, and on the ground they place two rice-pounding pestles, round which the bride and bridegroom make the seven turns. Others substitute for the pestles a pack-saddle with two bags of grain in order to symbolise their camp life. During the turns the girl's hand is held by the Joshi or village priest, or some other Brahman, in case she should fall; such an occurrence being probably a very unlucky omen. Afterwards, the girl runs away and the Brahman has to pursue and catch her. In Bhandara the girl is clad only in a light skirt and breast-cloth, and her body is rubbed all over with oil in order to make his task more difficult. During this time the bride's party pelt the Brahman with rice, turmeric and areca-nuts, and sometimes even with stones; and if he is forced to cry with the pain, it is considered lucky. But if he finally catches the girl, he is conducted to a dais and sits there holding a brass plate in front of him, into which the bridegroom's party drop presents. A case is mentioned of a Brahman having obtained Rs. 70 in this manner. Among the Mathuria Banjaras of Berar the ceremony resembles the usual Hindu type. Before the wedding the families bring the branches of eight or ten different kinds of trees, and perform the hom or fire sacrifice with them. A Brahman knots the clothes of the couple together, and they walk round the fire. When the bride arrives at the bridegroom's hamlet after the wedding, two small brass vessels are given to her; she fetches water in these and returns them to the women of the boy's family, who mix this with other water previously drawn, and the girl, who up to this period was considered of no caste at all, becomes a Mathuria. Food is cooked with this water, and the bride and bridegroom are formally received into the husband's kuri or hamlet. It is possible that the mixing of the water may be a survival of the blood covenant, whereby a girl was received into her husband's clan on her marriage by her blood being mixed with that of her husband. Or it may be simply symbolical of the union of the families. In some localities after the wedding the bride and bridegroom are made to stand on two bullocks, which are driven forward, and it is believed that whichever of them falls off first will be the first to die.

8. Widow remarriage.

Owing to the scarcity of women in the caste a widow is seldom allowed to go out of the family, and when her husband dies she is taken either by his elder or younger brother; this is in opposition to the usual Hindu practice, which forbids the marriage of a woman to her deceased husband's elder brother, on the ground that as successor to the headship of the joint family he stands to her, at least potentially, in the light of a father. If the widow prefers another man and runs away to him, the first husband's relatives claim compensation, and threaten, in the event of its being refused, to abduct a girl from this man's family in exchange for the widow. But no case of abduction has occurred in recent years. In Berar the compensation claimed in the case of a woman marrying out of the family amounts to Rs. 75, with Rs. 5 for the Naik or headman of the family. Should the widow elope without her brother-in-law's consent, he chooses ten or twelve of his friends to go and sit dharna (starving themselves) before the hut of the man who has taken her. He is then bound to supply these men with food and liquor until he has paid the customary sum, when he may marry the widow. In the event of the second husband being too poor to pay monetary compensation, he gives a goat, which is cut into eighteen pieces and distributed to the community.

9. Birth and death.

After the birth of a child the mother is unclean for five days, and lives apart in a separate hut, which is run up for her use in the kuri or hamlet. On the sixth day she washes the feet of all the children in the kuri, feeds them and then returns to her husband's hut. When a child is born in a moving tanda or camp, the same rule is observed, and for five days the mother walks alone after the camp during the daily march. The caste bury the bodies of unmarried persons and those dying of smallpox and burn the others. Their rites of mourning are not strict, and are observed only for three days. The Banjaras have a saying: "Death in a foreign land is to be preferred, where there are no kinsfolk to mourn, and the corpse is a feast for birds and animals"; but this may perhaps be taken rather as an expression of philosophic resignation to the fate which must be in store for many of them, than a real preference, as with most people the desire to die at home almost amounts to an instinct.

10. Religion: Banjari Devi.

One of the tutelary deities of the Banjaras is Banjari Devi, whose shrine is usually located in the forest. It is often represented by a heap of stones, a large stone smeared with vermilion being placed on the top of the heap to represent the goddess. When a Banjara passes the place he casts a stone upon the heap as a prayer to the goddess to protect him from the dangers of the forest. A similar practice of offering bells from the necks of cattle is recorded by Mr. Thurston: "It is related by Moor that he passed a tree on which were hanging several hundred bells. This was a superstitious sacrifice of the Banjaras (Lambaris), who, passing this tree, are in the habit of hanging a bell or bells upon it, which they take from the necks of their sick cattle, expecting to leave behind them the complaint also. Our servants particularly cautioned us against touching these diabolical bells, but as a few of them were taken for our own cattle, several accidents which happened were imputed to the anger of the deity to whom these offerings were made; who, they say, inflicts the same disorder on the unhappy bullock who carries a bell from the tree, as that from which he relieved the donor." In their houses the Banjari Devi is represented by a pack-saddle set on high in the room, and this is worshipped before the caravans set out on their annual tours.

11. Mithu Bhukia.

Another deity is Mithu Bhukia, an old freebooter, who lived in the Central Provinces; he is venerated by the dacoits as the most clever dacoit known in the annals of the caste, and a hut was usually set apart for him in each hamlet, a staff carrying a white flag being planted before it. Before setting out for a dacoity, the men engaged would assemble at the hut of Mithu Bhukia, and, burning a lamp before him, ask for an omen; if the wick of the lamp drooped the omen was propitious, and the men present then set out at once on the raid without returning home. They might not speak to each other nor answer if challenged; for if any one spoke the charm would be broken and the protection of Mithu Bhukia removed; and they should either return to take the omens again or give up that particular dacoity altogether. It has been recorded as a characteristic trait of Banjaras that they will, as a rule, not answer if spoken to when engaged on a robbery, and the custom probably arises from this observance; but the worship of Mithu Bhukia is now frequently neglected. After a successful dacoity a portion of the spoil would be set apart for Mithu Bhukia, and of the balance the Naik or headman of the village received two shares if he participated in the crime; the man who struck the first blow or did most towards the common object also received two shares, and all the rest one share. With Mithu Bhukia's share a feast was given at which thanks were returned to him for the success of the enterprise, a burnt offering of incense being made in his tent and a libation of liquor poured over the flagstaff. A portion of the food was sent to the women and children, and the men sat down to the feast. Women were not allowed to share in the worship of Mithu Bhukia nor to enter his hut.

12. Siva Bhaia.

Another favourite deity is Siva Bhaia, whose story is given by Colonel Mackenzie as follows: "The love borne by Mari Mata, the goddess of cholera, for the handsome Siva Rathor, is an event of our own times (1874); she proposed to him, but his heart being pre-engaged he rejected her; and in consequence his earthly bride was smitten sick and died, and the hand of the goddess fell heavily on Siva himself, thwarting all his schemes and blighting his fortunes and possessions, until at last he gave himself up to her. She then possessed him and caused him to prosper exceedingly, gifting him with supernatural power until his fame was noised abroad, and he was venerated as the saintly Siva Bhaia or great brother to all women, being himself unable to marry. But in his old age the goddess capriciously wished him to marry and have issue, but he refused and was slain and buried at Pohur in Berar. A temple was erected over him and his kinsmen became priests of it, and hither large numbers are attracted by the supposed efficacy of vows made to Siva, the most sacred of all oaths being that taken in his name." If a Banjara swears by Siva Bhaia, placing his right hand on the bare head of his son and heir, and grasping a cow's tail in his left, he will fear to perjure himself, lest by doing so he should bring injury on his son and a murrain on his cattle.

13. Worship of cattle.