Part 46

12. Social status.

The social status of the Dhimar is somewhat peculiar. Owing to his employment as palanquin-bearer, cook and household servant he has been promoted to the group of castes who are ceremonially clean, so that Brahmans in northern India will take water and food cooked in butter from his hands. But by origin he no doubt belongs to the primitive or non-Aryan tribes, a fact which he shows by his appearance and also by his customs. In diet he is the reverse of fastidious, eating crocodiles, tortoises and crabs, and also pork in the Maratha Districts, though in the north where he is employed by Brahmans as a personal servant he abstains from this food. With all this, however, the Dhimars practise in some social matters a pharasaical strictness. In Jubbulpore Mr. Pancham Lal records that among the four subcastes of Rekwar, Bant, Barmaian and Pabeha a woman of one subcaste will not partake of any food cooked by one of another division. A man will take any kind of food cooked by a man of another subcaste, but from a woman only such as is not mixed with water. A woman will drink the water held in the metal vessel of a woman of another division, but not in an earthen vessel; and in a metal vessel only provided that it is brought straight from the well and not taken from the ghinochi or water-stand of such woman's house. A man will take water to drink from the metal or earthen vessel of any other Dhimar, male or female. In Berar again Mr. Kitts states that a Bhoi considers it pollution to eat or drink at the house of a Lohar (blacksmith), a Sutar (carpenter), a Bhat (bard), a washerman or a barber; he will not even carry their palanquins at a marriage.

Once a year at the Muharram festival the Dhimars will eat at the hands of Muhammadans. They go round and beg for offerings of food and take them to the Fakir, who places a little before the tazia or tomb of Husain and distributes the remainder to the Dhimars and other Hindus and Muhammadans who have been begging. Except on this occasion they will eat nothing touched by a Muhammadan. The Dhimar, the Nai or barber, and the Bari or indoor servant are the three household menials of the northern Districts, and are known as Pauni Parja. Sometimes the Ahir or grazier is an indoor servant and takes the place of the Dhimar or the Bari. These menials are admitted to the wedding and other family feasts and allowed to eat at them. They sit in a line apart from the members of the caste and one member of the family is deputed to wait on them. Their food is brought to them in separate dishes and no food from these dishes is served to guests of the caste.

Permanent expulsion from caste is inflicted only for marrying, or eating regularly, with a man or woman of some other low caste; but in the case of unmarried persons the latter offence may also be expiated. Temporary exclusion is imposed for killing a cat, dog or squirrel, getting maggots in a wound, being sentenced to imprisonment or committing adultery with a person of any low caste. One who has committed any of the above offences must be purified by the Batta of the caste, that is a person who takes the sins of others upon himself. The Batta conducts the culprit to a river and then causes him to bathe, cuts off a lock of his hair, breaks a cocoanut as a sacrifice, and gives him a little cowdung and milk to eat. Then they proceed to eat together; the Batta eats five mouthfuls first and declares that he has taken the sin of the offender on himself; the latter gives the Batta Rs. 1-4 as his fee, and is once more a proper member of the community. In Berar a Bhoi who has been put out of caste is received back by his fellows when he has drunk the water touched by a Brahman's toe, and has feasted them with a bout of liquor. In towns the caste are generally addicted to drink, and no marriage or other social function is held without a sufficient supply of liquor. They also smoke ganja (Indian hemp).

13. Legend of the caste.

The Dhimars are proverbially of a cheerful disposition, though simple and easily cheated. When carrying palkis or litters at night they talk continually or sing monotonous songs to lighten the tedium of the way. In illustration of these qualities the following story is told: One day when Mahadeo and Parvati were travelling the goddess became very tired, so Mahadeo created four men from the dust, who bore her in a litter. On the way they talked and laughed, and Parvati was very pleased with them, so when she got home she told them to wait while she sent them out a reward. The Bhois found that they could get plenty of liquor, so they went on drinking it and forgot all about going for the reward. In the meantime a Marwari Bania who had heard what the goddess said, waited at the door of the palace, and when the servants brought out a bag of money he pretended that he was one of the Bhois and got them to give him the money, with which he made off. After a time the Bhois remembered about the reward and went to the door of the palace to get it, when the goddess came out and found out what had happened. The Bhois then wept and asked for another reward, but the goddess refused and said that as they had been so stupid their caste would always be poor, but at the same time they would be cheerful and happy.

Dhoba

List of Paragraphs

1. General notice. 2. Exogamous divisions. 3. Marriage customs. 4. Funeral rites. 5. Caste panchayat and social penalties. 6. Occupation and social customs.

1. General notice.

Dhoba. --A small caste belonging to the Mandla District and apparently an offshoot from one of the primitive tribes. They have never been separately classified at the census but always amalgamated with the Dhobi or washerman caste. But the Mandla Dhobas acknowledge no connection with Dhobis, nor has any been detected. One Dhoba has indeed furnished a story to the Rev. E. Price that the first ancestor of the caste was a foundling boy, by appearance of good lineage, who was brought up by some Dhobis, and, marrying a Dhobi girl, made a new caste. But this is not sufficient to demonstrate the common origin of the Dhobas and Dhobis. The Dhobas reside principally in a few villages in the upper valley of the Burhner River, and members of the caste own two or three villages. They are dark in complexion and have, though in a less degree, the flat features, coarse nose and receding forehead of the Gond; but they are taller in stature and not so strongly built, and are much less capable of exertion.

2. Exogamous divisions.

The caste has twelve exogamous septs, though the list is probably not complete. These appear to be derived from the names of villages. Marriage is forbidden between the Baghmar and Baghcharia septs, the Maratha and Khatnagar and Maralwati septs and the Sonwani and Sonsonwani septs. These septs are said to have been subdivided and to be still related. The names Baghmar and Baghcharia are both derived from the tiger; Sonnwani is from Sona-pani or gold-water, and the Sonsonwani sept seems therefore to be the aristocratic branch or creme de la creme of the Sonwanis. The children of brothers and sisters may marry but not those of two sisters, because a man's maternal aunt or mausi is considered as equivalent to his mother. A man may also marry his step-sister on the mother's side, that is the daughter of his own mother by another husband either prior to or subsequent to his father, the step-sister being of a different sept. This relaxation may have been permitted on account of the small numbers of the caste and the consequent difficulty of arranging marriages.

3. Marriage customs.

The bridegroom goes to the bride's house for the wedding, which is conducted according to the Hindu ritual of walking round the sacred post. The cost of a marriage in a fairly well-to-do family, including the betrothal, may be about Rs. 140, of which a quarter falls on the bride's people. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. A pregnant woman stops working after six months and goes into retirement. After a birth the woman is impure for five or six days. She does not appear in public for a month, and takes no part in outdoor occupations or field-work until the child is weaned, that is six months after its birth.

4. Funeral rites.

The dead are usually buried, and all members of the dead man's sept are considered to be impure. After the funeral they bathe and come home and have their food cooked for them by other Dhobas, partaking of it in the dead man's house. On the ninth, eleventh or thirteenth day, when the impurity ends, the male members of the sept are shaved on the bank of a river and the hair is left lying there. When they start home they spread some thorns and two stones across the path. Then, as the first man steps over the thorns, he takes up one of the stones in his hand and passes it behind him to the second, and each man successively passes it back as he steps over the thorns, the last man throwing the stone behind the thorns. Thus the dead man's spirit in the shape of the stone is separated from the living and prevented from accompanying them home. Then a feast is held, all the men of the dead man's sept sitting opposite to the panchayat at a distance of three feet. Next day water in which gold has been dipped is thrown over the dead man's house and each member of the sept drinks a little and is pure.

5. Caste panchayat and social penalties.

The head of the caste is always a member of the Sonwani sept and is known as Raja. It is his business to administer water in which gold has been dipped (sona-pani) to offenders as a means of purification, and from this the name of the sept is derived. The Raja has no deputy, and officiates in all ceremonies of the caste; he receives no contribution from the caste, but a double share of food and sweetmeats when they are distributed. The other members of the Panch he is at liberty to choose from any got or sept he likes. When a man has been put out of caste for a serious offence he has to give three feasts for readmission. The first meal consists of a goat with rice and pulse, and is eaten on the bank of a stream; on this occasion the head of the offender is shaved clean and all the hair thrown into the stream. The second meal is eaten in the yard of his house, and consists of cakes fried in butter with rice and pulse. The offender is not allowed to partake of either the first or second meal. On the third day the Raja gives the offender gold-water, and he is then considered to be purified and cooks food himself, which the caste-people eat with him in his house. A man is not put out of caste when he is sent to jail, as this is considered to be an order of the Government. A man keeping a woman of another caste is expelled and not reinstated until he has put her away, and even then it is said that they will consider his character before taking him back. A man who gets maggots in a wound may be readmitted to caste only during the months of Chait and Pus.

6. Occupation and social customs.

The Dhobas act as priests of the Gonds and are also cultivators. Their social position is distinctly higher than that of the Gonds and some of them have begun to employ Brahmans for their ceremonies. They will eat the flesh of most animals, except those of the cow-tribe, and also field-mice, and most of them drink liquor, though the more prominent members have begun to abstain. The origin of the caste is very obscure, but it would appear that they must be an offshoot of one of the Dravidian tribes. In this connection it is interesting to note that Chhattisgarh contains a large number of Dhobis, though the people of this tract have until recently worn little in the way of clothing, and usually wash it themselves when this operation is judged necessary. Many of the Dhobis of Chhattisgarh are cultivators, and it seems possible that a proportion of them may also really belong to this Dhoba caste.

Dhobi

List of Paragraphs

1. Character and structure of the caste. 2. Marriage customs. 3. Other social customs. 4. Religion. 5. Occupation: washing clothes. 6. Social position. 7. Proverbs about the Dhobi. 8. Wearing and lending the clothes of customers.

1. Character and structure of the caste.

Dhobi, Warthi, Baretha, Chakla, Rajak, Parit.--The professional caste of washermen. The name is derived from the Hindi dhona, and the Sanskrit dhav, to wash. Warthi is the Maratha name for the caste, and Bareth or Baretha is an honorific or complimentary term of address. Rajak and Parit are synonyms, the latter being used in the Maratha Districts. The Chakla caste of Madras are leather-workers, but in Chanda a community of persons is found who are known as Chakla and are professional washermen. In 1911 the Dhobis numbered 165,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, or one to every hundred inhabitants. They are numerous in the Districts with large towns and also in Chhattisgarh, where, like the Dhobas of Bengal, they have to a considerable extent abandoned their hereditary profession and taken to cultivation and other callings. No account worth reproduction has been obtained of the origin of the caste. In the Central Provinces it is purely functional, as is shown by its subdivisions; these are generally of a territorial nature, and indicate that the Dhobis like the other professional castes have come here from all parts of the country. Instances of the subcastes are: Baonia and Beraria from Berar; Malwi, Bundelkhandi, Nimaria, Kanaujia, Udaipuria from Udaipur; Madrasi, Dharampuria from Dharampur, and so on. A separate subcaste is formed of Muhammadan Dhobis. The exogamous groups known as khero are of the usual low-caste type, taking their names from villages or titular or professional terms.

2. Marriage customs.

Marriage within the khero is prohibited and also the union of first cousins. It is considered disgraceful to accept a price for a bride, and it is said that this is not done even by the parents of poor girls, but the caste will in such cases raise a subscription to defray the expenses of her marriage. In the northern Districts the marriages of Dhobis are characterised by continuous singing and dancing at the houses of the bridegroom and bride, these performances being known as sajnai and birha. Some man also puts on a long coat, tight down to the waist and loose round the hips, to have the appearance of a dancing-girl, and dances before the party, while two or three other men play. Mr. Crooke considers that this ritual, which is found also among other low castes, resembles the European custom of the False Bride and is intended to divert the evil eye from the real bride. He writes: "Now there are numerous customs which have been grouped in Europe under the name of the False Bride. Thus among the Esthonians the false bride is enacted by the bride's brother dressed in woman's clothes; in Polonia by a bearded man called the Wilde Braut; in Poland by an old woman veiled in white and lame; again among the Esthonians by an old woman with a brickwork crown; in Brittany, where the substitutes are first a little girl, then the mistress of the house, and lastly the grandmother.