The Kacháris

12. Goi-bári-ároi (goi = the areca-palm14). The areca-folk; formerly devoted to the cultivation of the areca, of which they perhaps held the monopoly.

In addition to the above sub-tribes, all at one time strictly endogamous, though now no longer so, the following may be mentioned. It may be noted that these are recognised, in Kamrup at least, mostly to the north of the great earthwork embankment known as the “Gossain Kamla Ali,” though the writer has been unable to find any trace of their separate existence in this (Darrang) district.

13. Rámshároi. Rámshá folk. Rámshá is said to be the name of a Mauza in Kamrup.15 It may be noted further that Rám-sá (?Ram’s people) is the name by which the Kacháris living in the plains are known to their brethren in the North Cachar Hills.

14. Brahm-ároi. Brahma folk. Said to be a quasi-priestly class, found chiefly in Upper Assam. This name, like the preceding, is obviously of Hindu origin.

15. Bánhbárá-roi.16 Bamboo-grove-folk. (Bānhbāri = Assamese) is the sacred bamboo grove, found near many Kachári villages, where the worship of the gods is carried on at certain seasons.

16. Dhekiábári-ároi. (Dhekiá fern), the fern-folk. The totem of this sub-tribe was probably the fern, still sometimes used in the preparation of the fatiká spirit.

17. Máómará-roi. The Máó-fish folk, perhaps originally the dwellers near the Moamári bil.17

18. Kherkhathá-roi (Kerketuá,18 squirrel). The squirrel-folk. Said to be a low caste and more or less criminal. One of their functions is to cut the horns of cattle.

19. Fadam-ároi. The fadam folk. The fadam is said to be identical with the tree known as sáchi in Assamese.

20. Mohilá-roi. Mohilá folk. Mohilá is a word of uncertain origin and meaning. It is said to be the equivalent of Maháldár, and to be applied to fishery lessees, and petty traders in areca-nut and betel-leaves and dried fish (nā-grān).

It may perhaps be added that among the Meches in Gowálpárá some sixteen of these subdivisions are recognised, all formerly exogamous.19 In designating these subdivisions the same suffix (ároi or roi) is used as that characteristic of the Kamrup and Darrang Kacháris: indeed, the names correspond closely in every respect, e. g.—

• Swarg-ároi,

• Masá-roi,

• Doimá-roi,

• Goibári-roi,

which seems to be practically identical with class-names Nos. 1, 3, 8 and 12, given above.

But it is among the Dimásá of the North Cachar Hills and the Hojais of the Nowgong district that this minute subdivision of the clans would seem to attain its highest development. In this portion of the Bara race some eighty clans are recognised, of whom forty are known as men’s clans (sengfáng) and forty as women’s (zŭlu). All the members of these different clans eat and drink together freely, and are, or were, all strictly exogamous.20 The only exception to this strict rule of exogamy is that of the so-called royal clan, known as Há-chum-sá,21 i. e., “black earth folk,” all the members of which were compelled to marry within their own sub-tribe, marriage with a member of a subject clan being of old absolutely forbidden. (Cf. the analogous restrictions enforced by various “Royal Marriage” Acts in other communities.)

In partial explanation of the terms used (their number might probably be largely added to on further inquiry), it will be observed that the first two are obviously of Hindu origin, the Kachári affix ároi (people, folk) being attached to the Sanskrit words Swarga and Vasumati respectively. Most of the designations applied to the other sub-tribes merely indicate the occupation, probably hereditary, by which the members of these sub-tribes obtained their livelihood. But in almost every case, in these modern days, any special reverence for the totem has very largely become a thing of the past. There is, perhaps, one exception to this rule, that of the tiger-folk (Mosároi or Bāghlároi). (The l in this latter word is probably merely euphonic, so that the two words have exactly the same meaning). Kacháris of the old-fashioned conservative school still think it a duty to show respect to their totem (the tiger) by formally going into mourning whenever they learn that one of these animals has died in the immediate vicinity of their village. The period of mourning is indeed but a short one, seldom exceeding twenty-four hours; but during this brief period the sorrowing would seem to be very real, and not a little material loss is sometimes involved. No solid food whatever must be taken, in itself no slight privation to the Kachári, who is as a rule provided with an ample appetite. At the end of the mourning the floor and walls of each house must be carefully smeared with a freshly prepared compost of mud and cow-dung, a work usually carried out by the women. All articles of clothing, as well as all household utensils made of brass, must be thoroughly cleansed in running water, whilst all earthenware vessels except those which are quite new and have never yet been used for cooking purposes, must be broken up and thrown away. Then one of the elder members of the community, acting as Deori (minister), solemnly distributes the “water of peace” (Śánti-Jal)22 to be drunk by all in turn; and the buildings themselves and all articles of clothing, &c., are freely sprinkled with this preparation. The service is finally consummated by the sacrifice of a fowl or pig, to be partaken of by all in common; after which relations of ordinary social intercourse with the neighbours may be quietly resumed.

Marriage, Endogamy, Exogamy

It is said that each of the sub-tribes mentioned above was in early times strictly endogamous; for though members of all these subdivisions might freely eat and drink together, intermarriage between them was absolutely forbidden. But all such restrictions on marriage seem to have passed away long since, so that the whole subject has nowadays little more than an antiquarian interest.

No formal hypergamy is recognised, though Kacháris occasionally take wives from the cognate tribes known as Rábhas (Totlás), Koches (Madáhis), and Saraniyas, &c. But such alliances are as a rule not looked upon with favour, and the bridegroom in such cases has generally to make his peace with his fellow-villagers by providing them with a feast in which rice-beer (Zu) and pork are certain to take a prominent place. Children born of such mixed marriages become in all cases members of the father’s subdivision of the Bodo race.

There is little or nothing specially distinctive in the laws of consanguinity or affinity in their bearing on the marriage relationship. A widower may marry his deceased wife’s younger sister, but not the elder, whom he is taught to regard conventionally in the light of a mother. Much the same principle holds good in the case of the re-marriage of widows, which is freely permitted, the one limitation being that a widow may marry her deceased husband’s younger brother, but not the elder.

Polygamy

As a rule the Kacháris are a strictly monogamous race, though cases of men having two wives have occasionally come under the writer’s notice. These cases are, however, almost invariably limited to men of a somewhat high social position or great wealth, such as Mauzadárs, Mandals, &c. Where, too, a first wife proves childless, Kachári custom sanctions the taking of a second, mainly with a view to handing down the father’s name to posterity. On the other hand, polyandry would seem to be absolutely prohibited, though it is known to prevail in the adjoining regions of Bhutan, Tibet, &c.

Adoption

Children, more especially orphans, are occasionally adopted, usually by near relatives, but sometimes by absolute strangers. In such cases the children so adopted are treated as full members of the family, and the foster-parents are considered by the community to have done a highly meritorious act. Several pleasing instances of adoption of this character have come under the writer’s notice, and in all such cases the adopted children seem to have found a very happy home.

Female Chastity

As stated above, the standard of chastity among the Kacháris, both men and women, is by no means a low one. As a rule the young people, in the villages at least, lead pure lives before marriage, and are faithful to their marriage vows in after-life. In cases where there are several unmarried girls in a family, and one of them is suspected of having broken the law of chastity, the following plan for detecting the offender is sometimes adopted. The whole family gathers in the evening around the sacred siju tree (Euphorbia splendens), which is often to be seen growing in the court-yard, surrounded by a fence of split bamboo. At the foot of this revered tree a quantity of rice (uncooked) is solemnly buried and allowed to remain there over night. Early next morning this rice is carefully disinterred, and a certain quantity given to each grown-up girl (sikhlá) to be masticated. The offender, under the pressure of the fear of imminent detection, is unable to masticate her portion of rice, the faculty of secreting saliva failing her in her terror of discovery and disgrace.

She is then made to disclose the name of her paramour, whom Kachári public opinion compels to marry his victim forthwith, the bride-price (pan: see below) being in this case considerably enhanced as some slight compensation to the girl’s parents for the injury done to the honour of the family. A similar procedure is sometimes resorted to in cases of suspected theft or other like misdemeanours in the family circle.

In some cases where the parents are unwilling to part with their daughter to a prospective son-in-law of somewhat objectionable character, the matter is referred for decision to the village elders, who impose a fine of Rs. 20/– to Rs. 25/– on the offender. But whenever pregnancy follows offences against the law of chastity, marriage becomes absolutely compulsory, and the seducer is made to feel that he has brought disgrace upon the village, and is distinctly under a cloud. In this way a wholesome respect for chastity is maintained, and Kachári domestic life is kept comparatively pure.

Divorce

Divorce sometimes takes place by mutual consent, but cannot be effected without a certain formality. Man and wife appear before the village elders and state their case, concluding by tearing a pan-leaf into two pieces, fáthoi fesínai, (K.) pán chirá (Assamese), a symbolic act indicating that, as the sundered leaf can never reunite, so their own married life is severed for ever. Should the husband divorce his wife for causes which seem to the village elders inadequate or capricious, he forfeits all claim to reimbursement of his marriage expenses, and even when the divorce is approved of, he must pay a certain small sum (Rs. 5/– to 10/-) for his freedom, the amount being divided between the village pancháyat and the divorced woman. On the other hand, if the woman is divorced for just and sufficient reasons, e. g., for unfaithfulness to her marriage obligations, the injured husband is entitled to recover whatever he may have expended at his marriage, a sum amounting sometimes to Rs. 140/– or upwards to Rs. 200/-. The man who may afterwards marry the divorced woman is held to be responsible for the payment of this money; and so long as this latter condition is duly fulfilled, the divorcée is fully at liberty to live with a second husband.

Inheritance of Property

Among the Kacháris the laws and customs relating to the inheritance of property seem to be very vague, and it is not at all easy to obtain any definite information on the subject. Generally speaking, on the decease of the head of the household the eldest son takes charge of all property, making a home for the time for his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters. In this way the family may be kept together for some years; but eventually it breaks up as the children grow up and marry, in which case the father’s property is broken up into equal shares, the eldest son taking one share and a half, while what remains is divided fairly among the other brothers. The daughters, especially if married, can claim nothing. When a man dies without sons, the property usually passes to his eldest surviving brother, who generally makes some provision for the deceased man’s widow and daughters.

Disputes, whether matrimonial or otherwise (e. g., inheritance of property, &c.), are almost invariably referred to the council of village elders, whose members are not necessarily limited to five or other definite number; and the decision of this rural council is very rarely questioned or opposed in any way. It might be well to develop and enlarge this simple and very effective way of settling disputes, so that the villagers may be to a great extent saved from the necessity of coming under the contaminating, demoralising influence of our civil and criminal courts. As all the Kacháris of this district (Darrang) are ordinary cultivators, holding land directly under Government like their Hindu and Musulman neighbours, no remarks are needed under the head of “tenure of land, and laws regarding land.” So too with the sections dealing with “war, and head-hunting,” it is only necessary to say that the latter practice (head-hunting) is quite unknown here, though it would seem to have been very common in earlier days among the closely cognate race known to us as Garos.

SECTION IV

Religion

General character of popular beliefs. The religion of the Kachári race is distinctly of the type commonly known as “animistic,” and its underlying principle is characteristically one of fear or dread. The statement “Timor fecit deos” certainly holds good of this people in its widest and strictest sense; and their religion thus stands in very marked, not to say violent, contrast23 with the teaching of the Faith in Christ. In the typical Kachári village as a rule neither idol nor place of worship is to be found; but to the Kachári mind and imagination earth, air, and sky are alike peopled with a vast number of invisible spiritual beings, known usually as “Modai,” all possessing powers and faculties far greater than those of man, and almost invariably inclined to use these powers for malignant and malevolent, rather than benevolent, purposes. In a certain stage of moral and spiritual development men are undoubtedly influenced far more by what they fear than by what they love; and this truth certainly applies to the Kachári race in the most unqualified way. The Kachári Duars of this district (Darrang) were in earlier days looked upon as being especially unhealthy, and to some extent they retain that character still. It has repeatedly fallen to the lot of the writer, when entering a Kachári village to find one or more of its inhabitants prostrate with malarial fever of a virulent type; and on asking what was wrong the reply has very commonly been “modai24 hāmdang,” i. e., an (evil) spirit has got hold (of me). And this reply may be looked upon as typical and characteristic, and as accurately expressing the very spirit and true inwardness of Kachári religion. Of sin, i. e., the conscious violation of the moral Law of a righteous God, the Kachári has of course no idea whatever. But he does believe in the existence and active interference in the affairs of men of certain invisible spiritual beings who are the authors of sickness, famine, earthquakes, &c.; who are for the most part influenced by malevolent motives, and whose ill-will towards mankind must be propitiated and bought off by frequent offerings of rice, plantains, pigs, goats, poultry, &c., in ways regarding which some little information is given below.

Worship of ancestors. 1. Ancestor-worship would not seem to be in vogue to any extent among the Kacháris of this district, though perhaps it is not altogether unknown; e. g., when the head of a family or other man of note passes away, it is not unusual at certain festivals to place on a platform a small quantity of the viands of which the deceased was known to be fond during his lifetime on earth, presumably for his use and behoof. No adult members of the village community will ever presume to touch these viands, though the village children are apparently at liberty to consume them at their pleasure.

Worship of natural forces. 2. The worship of natural forces also would seem to be not at all common, though some traces of it may perhaps be noted here and there. For instance, (A) in connection with the popular festival known as the April (Vaisákh) Bihu, there takes place what is called the “Parwa” show or bhotheli, a festival apparently common to Hindu and Kachári alike. The parwa is a tall bamboo pole draped with rags, flags, &c., taken from the village on the last day of the Bihu, and put up in a field alongside a tree, where the people amuse themselves by dancing, wrestling, and tom-toming, &c., around it. It is possible that this may be a relic or survival of phallic worship, the parwa taking the place of the lingam or phallus. (B) Again, water would seem to have about it something of a sacred character in the mind of the average Kachári. The dead are often buried or cremated on or near the banks of running streams, which are also favourite localities for the celebration of the greater pujas. This reverence for water is perhaps specially marked among the Kacháris of North-east Bengal (Jalpaiguri, &c), in which part of the Province, Mr. Bryan Hodgson informs us, all the smaller streams are regarded as a kind of lesser deities (dii inferiores), whilst the Brahmaputra is looked upon as the mother of them all (mater magna). It may be noted also in this connection that one of the principal branches of the widely spread Bara race, i. e., the people of the North Cachar Hills, still speak of themselves as Di-má-sá, i. e., “sons of the big river,” or “children of the great water,” even though none of them would seem now to dwell anywhere near a large river or lake, &c. It may therefore perhaps be safely inferred that the element of water, though now apparently not often actually worshipped, has ever been held in special regard by the Kachári race.

Worship of deities. The Kachári Pantheon is a very extensive one, though it seems probable that only a comparatively small number are strictly of tribal or national origin, many having obviously been borrowed from their Hindu neighbours. The popular Kachári deities fall naturally into two classes, i. e., (1) household gods (nă-ni madái); (2) village gods (gámi-ni madái).25 The former are worshipped inside the house, or at least in the homestead (compound); the latter by the whole village collectively, outside the house, and usually near the sacred grove of trees or bamboos, often to be seen some fifteen or twenty yards from the village, and known as the thānsāli. A long list of these gods is given in an interesting paper by Maulvi Mahibuddin Ahmed, some nineteen names of household gods being therein enumerated, whilst the village gods number no fewer than sixty-five. Only a small proportion of these deities would, however, seem to obtain recognition in this district (Darrang), and it hardly seems necessary to mention by name more than a few of them.

A. Household Deities

Among the household deities may be placed the following: —

1. Bátháu brai, old Bátháu.

2. Maináo, otherwise known as Bhulli Buri, and looked upon as Bátháu’s wife.

3. Áśu Maináo.

4. Śáli Maináo.

5. Song Rájá.

6. Song Brái.

7. Burá Bágh Rájá, &c., &c., &c.

1. Bátháu (Siju, i.e., Euphorbia splendens)

Of these household gods by far the most important is the first-mentioned, i. e., Bátháu, who is pre-eminently the guardian of the family interests and family honour. He is never represented in idol form, but is well in evidence through his living symbol, the siju (hiju) tree (Euphorbia splendens), which is often to be seen in the Kachári homestead surrounded by a circular fence of split bamboo. Among the Meches of Goalpara, almost every home, it is said, has its Bátháu (siju), though in Darrang it is less frequently met with. Bátháu is said not to be worshipped separately, but always in conjunction with Ai-Deo. Inside the house a slightly raised altar, called dhám, is often erected in honour of Song Rájá, and at this women especially pay their devotions and make offerings, particularly at the monthly periods (menses). All offerings, however, made to Song Rájá are finally brought outside the house, and laid at the foot of Bátháu; and the writer has often seen such offerings in the form of heads of goats, pigs, fowls, &c., as well as plantains, támul-nuts, pán-leaves, gazi (i. e., a mixture of rice and pulse), &c., humbly laid down for Bátháu’s acceptance. In this way it is held that disease, famine, and misfortunes of all kinds may be kept at bay, through the influence of this powerful guardian of the family interest and well-being.

It may be added that it is apparently only among the northern section of the Kachári race that the siju tree is regarded with special reverence. The Garos are said to know this tree and to use certain parts of it for medical purposes e. g., the preparation of poultices, &c.; but to them it is never an object of worship. The Dimásá of the North Cachar Hills, on the other hand, seem to have no special regard for the siju or any other tree.

2. Maináo (Ceres)

Only second to Bátháu is his good consort, Maináo, though, unlike her husband, she has no special emblem visible to the human eye. Her special function is that of “Guardian of the rice-fields”;26 and among a purely agricultural community like that of the Kacháris, she of course is held in very high regard. She is, in short, to the Kachári peasant very much what Ceres was to the old heathen Roman cultivator. Eggs are the offering that finds most favour in her eyes, and these are presented to her in unstinted quantity. She is apparently especially worshipped at the period of harvesting the áśu and śáli crops; hence the twofold designation given above (Nos. 3 and 4, household gods), Ásu Maináo, and Śáli Maináo.

Of the other domestic deities above mentioned, it is not necessary to say much. Nos. 5 and 6 (Song Rájá and Song Brái) seem to be the especial objects of devotion to women, worshipped for the most part inside the house, whilst No. 7 (Burá Bágh Rájá) is apparently merely the name of the tiger, often spoken of with bated breath as the “monarch of the woods” (banar-rájá), especially by men travelling at night, when danger from the tiger may well be apprehended.

B. Village Deities

There would seem to be little need to dwell much on the village deities; for no small proportion of them have evidently been adopted from the Hindu Pantheon, as will be obvious from the names given below. Some sixty-five such names are given in the valuable paper above mentioned of village deities recognised in Kamrup, though the writer only knows of some three or four of these gods as reverenced in this district (Darrang). Among these may perhaps be mentioned the following: —

1. Mero rájá.

2. Burá Mahádeo.

3. Burá gosain.

4. Jal Kubér.

5. Thal Kubér.

6. Ih Kubér.

7. Bih Kubér.

8. Kuber brai (masculine).

9. Kuber brui (feminine).

10. Sila Rai, &c., &c., &c., &c.

It is needless to continue the list, for almost all the names are obviously borrowed from popular Hinduism; e. g., Kuber is almost certainly the Hindu god of wealth and of the lower regions (Pluto). Others are in all likelihood merely names of deified mortals of some pre-eminence above their fellow men; cf. Ram, Krishna, &c. A notable illustration of this principle of deification is probably that given as No. 10 in the above list, i. e., Sila Rai.27 This is almost certainly the name of the well-known Commander-in-Chief of the most famous of the Koch Kings, Nar Narayan, in whose time the Koch kingdom reached the zenith of its power. As a soldier and commander this man (Sila Rai) seems to have been the foremost captain of his time in North-east India; and his striking personality would seem so to have impressed the minds and imaginations of his contemporaries as to lead to his apotheosis after death.