The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 1

The apprehensions of the Sultan of Turkey were aroused and an army was despatched against the Wahhābis, which broke their political power, their leader, Saud’s son, being executed in Constantinople in 1818. But the tenets of the sect continued to be maintained in Arabia, and in 1822 one Saiyad Ahmad, a freebooter and bandit from Rai Bareli, was converted to it on a pilgrimage to Mecca and returned to preach its doctrines in India. Being a Saiyad and thus a descendant of the Prophet, he was accepted by the Muhammadans of India as the true Khalīfa or Mahdi, awaited by the Shiahs. Unheeded by the British Government, he traversed our provinces with a numerous retinue of devoted disciples and converted the populace to his reformed doctrine by thousands, Patna becoming a centre of the sect. In 1826 he declared a jihād or religious war against the Sikhs, but after a four years’ struggle was defeated and killed. The sect gave some trouble in the Mutiny, but has not since taken any part in politics. Its reformed doctrines, however, have obtained a considerable vogue, and still exercise a powerful influence on Muhammadan thought. The Wahhābis deny the authority of Islamic tradition after the deaths of the Companions of the Prophet, do not illuminate or pay reverence to the shrines of departed saints, do not celebrate the birthday of Muhammad, count the ninety-nine names of God on their fingers and not on a rosary, and do not smoke.

Part I

Glossary of Minor Castes and Other Articles, Synonyms, Subcastes, Titles and Names of Exogamous Septs or Clans

Note.—In this Glossary the references under each heading are to the detailed articles on castes, religions and sects, in Part I. and Part II. of the work. The synonyms, subcastes and titles have been taken from the main articles and are arranged here in index form as an aid to identification. Section or clan names, however, will not usually be found in the main articles. They have been selected from an alphabetical list prepared separately, and are included as being of some interest, in addition to those contained in the articles. The Glossary also serves the purpose of indicating how subcaste and clan names are common to several castes and tribes.

Glossary

Abhimanchkul.—A section of Komti in Chānda. They abstain from using a preparation of lead which is generally ground to powder and applied to wounds.

Abhīra.—An immigrant nomad tribe from which the modern Ahīr caste is believed to have originated. A division of Marātha and Gujarāti Brāhmans, so called because they are priests of the Abhīras or the modern Ahīrs.

Abdhūt.—Name for a religious mendicant. Applied to Gosains, q.v.

Achārya, Achāraj.—(Superintendent of ceremonies.) Title of the heads of the Swāmi-Nārāyan sect. A surname of Adi Gaur Brāhmans in Saugor.

Adhia.—(Half.) A subcaste of Telis considered to be illegitimate in Betūl.

Adhaighar, Arhaighar.—(2½ houses.) A subdivision of Sāraswat Brāhmans.

Adhāli.—A name given to Malyārs by outsiders.

Adigaur.—A subdivision of Brāhman, probably a branch of the Gaur Brāhmans, though in Saugor they are considered to be Kanaujias.

Adkandh, Adikandh.—(Superior Khonds.) A subcaste of Khonds, being the most Hinduised section of this tribe. A title of Khond.

Adnath, Adinath.—A subdivision of Jogi. Adināth was the father of Matsyendranāth and grandfather of Gorakhnāth, the first great Jogi.

Agamudayan.—A large Tamil cultivating caste, of which a few members reside in the Central Provinces in Jubbulpore and Raipur. They are the families of Madras sepoys who have retired from regiments stationed in these places. The Agamudayans sometimes call themselves by the title of Pillai, which means ‘Son of a god’ and was formerly reserved to Brāhmans.

Agarwāla, Agarwāl.—A subcaste of Bania. See Bania-Agarwāla.

Agastya.—An eponymous section of Brāhmans.

Aghorpanthi.—Synonym for Aghori.

Agnihotri.—A surname of Kanaujia and Jijhotia Brāhmans in Saugor. (One who performs the sacrifice to Agni or the god of fire.)

Agnikula.—A name given to four clans of Rājpūts said to have been born from the fire-pit on Mount Abu. See article Panwār Rājpūt.

Agrahari.—A subcaste of Bania found chiefly in Jubbulpore District and Raigarh State. Their name has been connected with the cities of Agra and Agroha.

Agrajanma.—(First-born.) A synonym for Brāhmans.

Ahāria.—Clan of Rājpūt. Synonym for Sesodia.

Ahīr.—The professional caste of herdsmen. A clan of Marātha. A subcaste of Rāwat and Sālewār Koshti in Nimār. A subcaste of Bishnoi, Gurao, and Sunār.

Ahīrwār.—A resident of the old town of Ahar in the Bulandshahr district. Subcaste of Kori.

Ahivāsi, Ahiwāsi.—(From Ahiwās, ‘The abode of the dragon,’ the hermitage of Sanbhari Rishi in Mathura.) A Brāhmanical or pseudo-Brāhmanical tribe. They are said to be sprung from a Brāhman father and a Kshatriya mother, and were formerly pack-carriers. Found in Jubbulpore and the Nerbudda Valley.

Ahke.—(Seduced.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betūl. They are said to be so named because their priests once seduced a Dhurwa girl, and her son was given this name.

Aithāna.—A subcaste of Kāyasth.

Ajodhia.—Subcaste of Jādam.

Ajudhiabāsi.—See Audhia.

Akāli.—Order of Sikh devotees. See article Sikh.

Akhādewāle.—A class of Bairāgis who do not marry. Also known as Nihang.

Akhroti.—A subdivision of Pathāns. (From akhrot, walnut.)

Akre.—A bastard Khatīk. Title of a child a Khatīk gets by a woman of another caste.

Alia.—A grower of the āl plant. A subcaste of Bania and Kāchhi, a synonym of Chasa.

Alia, Alkari.—These terms are derived from the āl or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia). The Alias are members of the Kāchhi caste who formerly grew the āl plant in Nimār for sale to the dyers. Its cultivation then yielded a large profit and the Alias devoted themselves solely to it, while they excommunicated any of their members who were guilty of selling or giving away the seed. The imported alizarin has now almost entirely superseded the indigenous dye, and āl as a commercial product has been driven from the market. Alkari is a term applied to Banias and others in the Damoh District who were formerly engaged in the cultivation of the āl plant. The members of each caste which took to the cultivation of this plant were somewhat looked down upon by the others and hence became a distinct group. The explanation generally given of the distaste for the crop is that in the process of boiling the roots to extract the dye a number of insects have to be killed. A further reason is that the red dye is considered to resemble or be equivalent to blood, the second idea being a necessary consequence of the first in primitive modes of thought, and hence to cause a certain degree of pollution to those who prepare it. A similar objection is held to the purveying of lac-dye as shown in the article on Lakhera. Notwithstanding this, clothes dyed red are considered lucky, and the āl dye was far more commonly used by Hindus than any other, prior to the introduction of aniline dyes. Tents were also coloured red with this dye. The tents of the Mughal Emperors and royal princes were of red cloth dyed with the roots of the āl plant.408 Similarly Nādir Shāh, the victor of Pānipat, had his field headquarters and lived in one small red tent. In these cases the original reason for colouring the tents red may probably have been that it was a lucky colour for battles, and the same belief may have led to the adoption of red as a royal and imperial colour.

Alkari.—Synonym for Alia.

Alua.—A subcaste of Uriya Brāhmans, so named because their forefathers grew the ālu or potato.

Amal.—A section of Komti. The members of this section do not eat the plantain.

Ambadār.—(Mango-branch.) A section of Rāwat (Ahīr).

Ambashta.—A subcaste of Kāyasth.

Amethia.—(From Amethi, a pargana in Lucknow District.) A sept of Rājpūts, who are Chauhāns according to Sir H.M. Elliott, but others say they are a branch of the Chamār Gaur.

Amisht.—A subcaste of Kāyasth.

Amnāit.—Subcaste of Bhatra.

Amrite.—(From Amrit nectar.) A section of Kirār.

Anapa.—(Leather-dealers.) Subcaste of Mādgi.

Anavala.—A subdivision of Gujarāti or Khedāwāl Brāhmans. They derive their name from the village Anaval in Baroda. They are otherwise known as Bhatela, Desai or Mastān.

Andhra, Tailanga.—One of the five orders of the Pānch Dravid Brāhmans inhabiting the Telugu country.

Antarvedi.—A resident of Antarved or the Doāb, the tract of land between the Ganges and the Jumna rivers. Subcaste of Chamār.

Apastambha.—A Sutra of the Vedas. A subdivision of Brāhmans following that Sutra and forming a caste subdivision. But they marry with Rig-Vedis, though the Sutra belongs to the Black Yajur-Vedi.

Athārvarvedi, Anthārwarvedi.—A subcaste of Brāhmans who follow the Athārvar-Veda and are very rarely met with.

Arab.—This designation is sometimes returned by the descendants of the Arab mercenaries of the Bhonsla kings. These were at one time largely employed by the different rulers of southern India and made the best of soldiers. In the Marātha armies409 their rate of pay was Rs. 12 a month, while the ordinary infantry received only Rs. 5. General Hislop stated their character as follows:410

“There are perhaps no troops in the world that will make a stouter or more determined stand at their posts than the Arabs. They are entirely unacquainted with military evolutions, and undisciplined; but every Arab has a pride and heart of his own that never forsakes him as long as he has legs to stand on. They are naturally brave and possess the greatest coolness and quickness of sight: hardy and fierce through habit, and bred to the use of the matchlock from their boyhood: and they attain a precision and skill in the use of it that would almost exceed belief, bringing down or wounding the smallest object at a considerable distance, and not unfrequently birds with a single bullet. They are generally armed with a matchlock, a couple of swords, with three or four small daggers stuck in front of their belts, and a shield. On common occasions of attack and defence they fire but one bullet, but when hard pressed at the breach they drop in two, three, and four at a time, from their mouths, always carrying in them from eight to ten bullets, which are of a small size. We may calculate the whole number of Arabs in the service of the Peshwa and the Berār Rāja at 6000 men, a loose and undisciplined body, but every man of them a tough and hardy soldier. It was to the Arabs alone those Provinces looked, and placed their dependence on. Their own troops fled and abandoned them, seldom or never daring to meet our smallest detachment. Nothing can exceed the horror and atarm with which some of our native troops view the Arab. At Nāgpur in November 1817 the Arabs alone attacked us on the defence and reduced us to the last extremity, when we were saved by Captain Fitzgerald’s charge. The Arabs attacked us at Koregaon and would have certainly destroyed us had not the Peshwa withdrawn his troops on General Smith’s approach. The Arabs kept General Doveton at bay with his whole army at Nāgpur for several days, repulsing our attack at the breach, and they gained their fullest terms. The Arabs worsted us for a month at Mālegaon and saved their credit. They terrified the Surat authorities by their fame alone. They gained their terms of money from Sir John Malcolm at Asīrgarh. They maintained to the last for their prince their post at Alamner and nobly refused to be bought over there. They attacked us bravely, but unfortunately at Tālner. They attacked Captain Spark’s detachment on the defence and destroyed it. They attacked a battalion of the 14th Madras Infantry with 26-pounders and compelled them to seek shelter in a village; and they gave us a furious wind-up at Asīrgarh. Yet the whole of these Arabs were not 6000.”

There is no doubt that the Arabs are one of the finest fighting races of the world. Their ancestors were the Saracens who gained a great empire in Europe and Asia. Their hardihood and powers of endurance are brought to the highest pitch by the rigours of desert life, while owing to their lack of nervous sensibility the shock and pain of wounds affect them less than civilised troops. And in addition their religion teaches that all who die in battle against the infidel are transported straight to a paradise teeming with material and sensual delights. Arab troops are still employed in Hyderābād State. Mr. Stevens notices them as follows in his book In India: “A gang of half-a-dozen, brilliantly dishevelled, a faggot of daggers with an antique pistol or two in each belt, and a six-foot matchlock on each shoulder. They serve as irregular troops there, and it must be owned that if irregularity is what you want, no man on earth can supply it better. The Arab irregulars are brought over to serve their time and then sent back to Arabia; there is one at this moment, who is a subaltern in Hyderābād, but as soon as he crosses the British border gets a salute of nine guns; he is a Sheikh in his own country near Aden.”

The Arabs who have been long resident here have adopted the ways and manners of other Musalmāns. Their marriages are in the Nikāh form and are marked by only one411 dinner, following the example of the Prophet, who gave a dinner at the marriage of his daughter the Lady Fātimah and Ali. In obedience to the order of the Prophet a death is followed by no signs of mourning. Arabs marry freely with other Sunni Muhammadans and have no special social or religious organisation. The battle-cry of the Arabs at Sitabaldi and Nāgpur was ‘Dīn, Dīn, Muhammad.’

Arakh.—A caste. A subcaste of Dahāit, Gond and Pāsi.

Aranya.—Name of one of the ten orders of Gosains.

Are.—A cultivating caste of the Chānda District, where they numbered 2000 persons in 1911. The caste are also found in Madras and Bombay, where they commonly return themselves under the name of Marāthi; this name is apparently used in the south as a generic term for immigrants from the north, just as in the Central Provinces people coming from northern India are called Pardeshi. Mr. (Sir H.) Stuart says412 that Are is a synonym for Arya, and is used as an equivalent of a Marātha and sometimes in a still wider sense, apparently to designate an immigrant Aryan into the Dravidian country of the south. The Ares of the Central Provinces appear to be Kunbis who have migrated into the Telugu country. The names of their subcastes are those of the Kunbis, as Khaire, Tirelle, a form of Tirole, and Dhanoj for Dhanoje. Other subdivisions are called Kāyat and Kattri, and these seem to be the descendants of Kāyasth and Khatri ancestors. The caste admit Brāhmans, Banias, and Komtis into the community and seem to be, as shown by Mr. Stuart, a mixed group of immigrants from Mahārāshtra into the Telugu country. Some of them wear the sacred thread and others do not. Some of their family names are taken from those of animals and plants, and they bury persons who die unmarried, placing their feet towards the north like the forest tribes.

Arka.—A sept of Gonds in Chānda who worship the sāras crane.

Armachi.—(The dhaura tree.) A totemistic sept of Gonds.

Arora, Rora.—An important trading and mercantile caste of the Punjab, of which a few persons were returned from the Nimār District in 1901. Sir D. Ibbetson was of opinion that the Aroras were the Khatris of Aror, the ancient capital of Scinde, represented by the modern Rori. He described the Arora as follows:413 “Like the Khatri and unlike the Bania he is no mere trader; but his social position is far inferior to theirs, partly no doubt because he is looked down upon simply as being a Hindu in the portions of the Province which are his special habitat. He is commonly known as a Kirār, a word almost synonymous with coward, and even more contemptuous than is the name Bania in the east of the province. The Arora is active and enterprising, industrious and thrifty.... ‘When an Arora girds up his loins he makes it only two miles from Jhang to Lāhore.’ He will turn his hand to any work, he makes a most admirable cultivator, and a large proportion of the Aroras of the lower Chenāb are purely agricultural in their avocations. He is found throughout Afghanistan and even Turkistan and is the Hindu trader of those countries; while in the western Punjab he will sew clothes, weave matting and baskets, make vessels of brass and copper and do goldsmith’s work. But he is a terrible coward, and is so branded in the proverbs of the countryside: The thieves were four and we eighty-four; the thieves came on and we ran away; and again: To meet a Rāthi armed with a hoe makes a company of nine Kirārs (Aroras) feel alone. Yet the peasant has a wholesome dread of the Kirār when in his proper place: Vex not the Jāt in his jungle, nor the Kirār at his shop, nor the boatman at his ferry; for if you do they will break your head. Again: Trust not a crow, a dog or a Kirār, even when asleep. So again: You can’t make a friend of a Kirār any more than a sati of a prostitute.”

Asāthi.—A subcaste of Bania. They are both Jains and Hindus.

Ashrām.—Name of one of the ten orders of Gosains.

Ashthāna.—A subcaste of Kāyasth.

Athāradesia.—(A man of eighteen districts.) Subcaste of Banjāra.

Athbhaiya.—(Eight brothers.) A subdivision of Sāraswat Brāhman in Hoshangābād. An Athbhaiya cannot take a wife from the Chaubhaiya subdivision, to whom the former give their daughters in marriage.

Athia.—A subcaste of Chadār, so named because they worship their goddess Devi on the 8th day (Athain) of Kunwār (September), and correspond to the Brāhmanical Sākta sect, as opposed to the other Chadār subcaste Parmasuria, who correspond to the Vaishnavas.

Audhalia.—Synonym for Audhelia.

Audhia, Ajudhiabāsi.—A resident of Oudh. Subcaste of Bania and of Kasār and Sunār.

Audichya.—A subcaste of Brāhmans coming from Oudh.

Aughad.—A subdivision of Jogi. They resemble the Aghoris with the difference that they may not eat human flesh.

Aughar.—A subdivision of Jogi.

Aukule.—A subcaste of Koshtis. They are also called Vidurs, being of mixed descent from Koshtas and other castes.

Aulia.—(A favourite of God.) Title of Muhammadan saints.

Bāba.—Synonym of Gosain.

Bābhan.—Synonym for Bhuinhār, being the name of a landholding caste in Bengal. Used as a title by Bhuiyas.

Bābuān.—Title for the descendants of the former ruling families of the Chero tribe.

Bachhalya, Bachhap, Bachhilia.—(From bachha, a calf.) A section of Bania, Chadār and Khangār. A section of Patwa in Raipur. They do not castrate bullocks.

Bad.—(High or great.) Subcaste of Agharia and Sudh.

Bād or Bhānd.—A caste. Title of Khatīk.

Bad.—(Banyan tree.) A section of Joshi.

Badaria.—(From badar, cloud.) A section of Kandera.

Badgainya.—(From Badgaon (bara gaon), a large village.) A surname of Sarwaria Brāhmans. A section of Basdewa, Gadaria and Kurmi.

Badgūjar.—(From bada, great.) One of the thirty-six royal races of Rājpūts. A subcaste of Gūjar, also of Gaur Brāhman. A section of Mehtar.

Badhaiya.—(Barhai, carpenter.) A subcaste of Lohār and Kol. A sept of Savar.

Badhāria.—A resident of Badhās in Mirzapur. Subcaste of Bahna and Dhuri.

Bādi.—(A rope-walker.) Synonym of Nat.

Badkur.—Title used in the Dhobi caste.

Badwāik.—(The great ones.) A subcaste of Māna. A title of Dhobi and Pān or Gānda.

Bagaria.—(A young buffalo.) A sept of Dhanwār and Sonkar.

Bāgh, Bāghwa.—(Tiger.) A totemistic sept of Ahīr, Bhatra, Kawar, Munda, Oraon, Sonkar, Teli and Turi.

Baghel, Baghela.—(A tiger or tiger-cub.) A clan of Rājpūts which has given its name to Baghelkhand. A subcaste of Audhia Sunār and Chamār. A section of Bhilāla, Dhanwār, Gond, Lodhi, Māli, and Panwār Rājpūt.

Bāghmār, Bāghmārya, Bāgmār.—(A tiger-slayer.) A section of Oswāl Bania, Basor, Chamār, Dhīmar, Koilabhuti Gond, and Teli. A subsept of Nika Gonds in Betūl, who abstain from killing tigers.

Bāgri.—A clan of Rājpūts. A subcaste of Jāt. One of the 72½ sections of Maheshri Banias. People belonging to the Badhak or Bawaria, and Pārdhi castes are sometimes known by this name.

Bāhargainyān.—(From Bāhar gaon, outside the village.) A subcaste of Kurmi.

Baharketu.—(Bush-cutter.) A subcaste of Korwa.

Bahelia.—The caste of fowlers and hunters in northern India. In the Central Provinces the Bahelias are not to be distinguished from the Pārdhis, as they have the same set of exogamous groups named after the Rājpūt clans, and resemble them in all other respects. The word Bahelia is derived from the Sanskrit Vyādha, ‘one who pierces or wounds,’ hence a hunter. Pārdhi is derived from the Marāthī pāradh, hunting. The latter term is more commonly used in the Central Provinces, and has therefore been chosen as the title of the article on the caste.

Bāhre.—(Outside the walls.) A subdivision of Khedāwāl Brāhmans.

Bahrūp.—Subcaste of Banjāra.

Bahrūpia.—A small class of mendicant actors and quick-change artists. They are recruited from all classes of the population, and though a distinct caste of Bahrūpias appears to exist, people of various castes also call themselves Bahrūpia when they take to this occupation. In Berār the Mahār, Māng and Marātha divisions of the Bahrūpias are the most common:414 the former two begging only from the castes from which they take their name. In Gujarāt they appear to be principally Muhammadans. Sir D. Ibbetson says of them:415 “The name is derived from the Sanskrit bahu, many, and rūpa, form, and denotes an actor, a mimic or one who assumes many forms or characters. One of their favourite devices is to ask for money, and when it is refused to ask that it may be given if the Bahrūpia succeeds in deceiving the person who refused it. Some days later the Bahrūpia will again visit the house in the disguise of a pedlar, a milkman or what not, sell his goods without being detected, throw off his disguise and claim the stipulated reward.” In Gujarāt “they are ventriloquists and actors with a special skill of dressing one side of their face like a man and the other side like a woman, and moving their head about so sharply that they seem to be two persons.”416 Mr. Kitts states that “the men are by profession story-tellers and mimics, imitating the voices of men and the notes of animals; their male children are also trained to dance. In payment for their entertainment they are frequently content with cast-off clothes, which will of course be of use to them in assuming other characters.”417 Occasionally also they dress up in European clothes and can successfully assume the character of a Eurasian.

Bahrūpia impersonating the goddess Kāli

Baid.—(Physician.) A surname of Sanadhia and Marātha Brāhmans in Saugor. A section of Oswāl Bania, and Darzi.

Bairāgi.—A caste or religious order. Subcaste of Bhāt.

Bais.—A clan of Rājpūts.

Bajania.—(One who plays on musical instruments.) Subcaste of Panka.