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

Tirmalle.—Synonym of Tirmale.

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

Titha.—(From titahri, a sandpiper.) A section of Basor.

Tiwāri.—(Learned in three Vedas.) A family name of Kanaujia and Gaur Brāhmans.

Tiyar.—A boating and fishing caste of Sambalpur and Bengal. In the Central Provinces they numbered 700 in 1911. The caste is a numerous one in Bengal and has been fully described by Sir H. Risley,509 so that no detailed notice of it is necessary here. The name is derived from the Sanskrit tivara, a hunter, the Tiyars styling themselves the hunters of the sea. They came to the Central Provinces from Angul in Orissa, and they offer to the goddess Durga in Angul an oblation of 60 to 100 jiān fish and a headload of lotus flowers on her special festival. In honour of Durga they observe a fast on the four Tuesdays of the months of Chait and Kunwār (March and September). In Chait they also worship their hooks and nets. At their marriages when a father has selected a bride for his son he consults an astrologer to compare their horoscopes. If the conjunction is unsatisfactory he will change the boy’s name to suit the astrological calculations. The wedding is celebrated in the common fashion of the Uriya castes. If a bachelor marries a widow he first goes through the form of wedlock with a bunch of flowers. Among their caste penalties, that imposed for the killing of a cow may be mentioned. It is called the Gocharan Brit, and the offender is required to consort with cows for twenty-one days. He must mix and take his meals in the cowshed, and must copy the behaviour of the cows, lying down when they lie down, standing up when they stand up, following them when they walk about, and so on. At the expiration of this period he makes a pilgrimage to a certain village, and on his return partakes of the five products of the sacred cow and gives a feast to the caste. The Tiyars are a low caste, and eat fowls and drink liquor. They will admit a member of any higher caste on his giving a feast to the community. In the Central Provinces they have exogamous sections within which marriage is prohibited; these generally have titular names, as Padhān chief, Dās slave, Guru preceptor, and so on. They catch fish with the ghani benda, a large bamboo basket covered with palm-tree bark, which is sunk under water and secured in the bed of the stream.

Todasai.—(Worshipper of six gods.) A section of Rāj-Gond.

Tomara, Tuar, Tawar.—(Tomar, a club.) A well-known clan of Rājpūts. A sept of Gond.

Toriya.—A name given to Gonds who worship twelve gods in Chānda.

Tumram.—(Tumria, a pumpkin.) A clan of Gond, said to be those who worship six gods.

Turi.—A caste. A synonym for Basors or bamboo-workers. A section of Kalanga.

Turk.—(Muhammadan.) A section of Panwā Rājpūt in Bālāghāt.

Turkān.—A subcaste of Bahna, so called because their forefathers are said to have been soldiers in the army of the king of Delhi.

Turkia, Kurkanya.—A Muhammadan group. Subcaste of Banjāra, Chamār.

Uchla.—(A lifter.) Title for Bhārota.

Uchle.—(Pickpocket.) Subcaste of Māng.

Uchodia.—A subcaste of Bhānd.

Ud.—Subcaste of Chasa. See Odde.

Udaināth.—A subdivision of Jogi.

Udaiputria.—(One belonging to Udaipur.) Subcaste of Dhobi.

Udāsi.—A class of religious mendicants. See Nānakpanthi.

Uika, Oika.—A very common clan of Gonds, who are said to be worshippers of six gods.

Ukās.—A subcaste of Barhai.

Ulluka.—(An owl.) A totemistic sept of Sudh and Dumāl.

Umre.—A subcaste of Bania. See subordinate article to Bania. A subcaste of Kalār, Nai and Teli.

Unayo, Unnaya.—(From Unan in Oudh.) A subdivision of Nigam Kāyasth. It is also sometimes considered as a half subcaste, in addition to the twelve proper subcastes.

Unewāl.—A subdivision of Rhedāwāl Brāhmans found in Jubbulpore. They take their name from Una, a village in Kāthiāwār.

Upādhya.—(A teacher.) A surname of Kananjia and Sanādhya Brāhmans. A title of Mānbhao.

Upmanyu.—An eponymous section of Brāhmans.

Uraon.—Synonym of Oraon.

Uriya,—(A native of Orissa.) A synonym for the Sānsia caste of masons in Sambalpur. A subcaste of Gānda, Ghasia, Gond, Karan, Kewat, Koshti, Savar, Sundi and Sunār.

Urkara, Urkare.—(From Warkora, a wild cat in Gondi.) A section of Sunār and Gond.

Usrete.—A subcaste of Kurmi and Nai.

Uthaigira.—(A picker-up of that which has fallen.) Synonym of Sanaurhia.

Utkala.—(A resident of Orissa.) One of the five orders of Pānch Gaur Brāhmans inhabiting Orissa.

Vadar or Wadewār.—(A stone-cutter.) Synonym of Beldār.

Vade, Wade.—(A carpenter.) A sept of Māria Gonds.

Vadra.—(A carpenter.) Subcaste of Kammala.

Vāghe.—(From vāgh, a tiger.) See Wāghya.

Vaidika.—(Reciter of the Vedas.) A title of Brāhmans.

Vaishnava.—(A worshipper of Vishnu.) A name for the mendicant orders of Vishnuite devotees and Bairāgis.

Vaishnava Sunār.—A group of Sunārs who claim to be Brāhmans. See Panchāl.

Vaishya.—Name of the third of the four classical castes. See Introduction. There is no Vaishya caste at present, but the Bania caste are considered, perhaps incorrectly, to be descended from the Vaishyas.

Vajantri, Wajantri.—(Musician.) A subcaste of Gurao. A synonym and section of Māng.

Vallabkachārya.—A Vishnuite sect and order of religious mendicants. See article Bairāgi.

Valmīka, Valmīki.—A subdivision of Khedāwāl Brāhmans who take their name from the sage Valmīka. A subcaste of Kāyasths.

Vamachari Sect.—Synonym for Vām-Mārgi.

Vāni.—Synonym for Bania.

Varāde, Warāde.—(A resident of Berār, a variant of Berāri, q.v.) A subcaste of Simpi or Marātha Darzi. A subcaste of Dhangar and Nai.

Varendra or Barendra.—A subcaste of Bengali Brāhmans.

Vartāti.—(Pure.) Subcaste of Andh.

Vasishta or Vashishta.—Name of a famous saint in classical literature. An eponymous section of Brāhmans.

Vellāla.—The great cultivating caste of the Tamil country, to whom by general consent the first place in social esteem among the Tamil Sūdra castes is awarded. They have a strength of more than 2½ millions in India; in the Central Provinces there were in 1911 about 700 in Chānda, Nāgpur and other Districts. In the Madras Census Report of 1901, Mr. Francis gives an interesting description of the structure of the caste and its numerous territorial, occupational and other subdivisions. He shows also how groups from lower castes continually succeed in obtaining admission into the Vellāla community in the following passage: “Instances of members of other castes who have assumed the name and position of Vellālas are the Vettuva Vellālas, who are really Vettuvāns; the Puluva Vellālas, who are only Puluvāns; the Illam Vellālas, who are Panikkāns; the Karaiturai (lord of the shore) Vellālas, who are Karaiyāns; the Karukamattai (palmyra leaf stem) Vellālas, who are Balijas; the Guha (Rāma’s boatman) Vellālas, who are Sembadavāns; and the Irkuli Vellālas, who are Vannans. The children of dancing girls also often call themselves Mudali, and claim in time to be Vellālas, and even Paraiyāns assume the title of Pillai, and trust to its eventually enabling them to pass themselves off as members of the caste.” The Vellālas will not touch the plough with their own hands. Some of them abstain from flesh and liquor, and prohibit the remarriage of widows with a view to raising their social status.

Vidur.—A caste. A subcaste of Gondhali, Kasār, Komti, Kunbi, and Lohār, comprising persons of illegitimate descent.

Vīr.—Subcaste of Gopāl.

Vīrmushti.—A class of Bairāgis or religious mendicants.

Vishnu Swāmi.—A class of Bairāgis or religious mendicants.

Vishwāmitra.—Name of a famous saint in classical literature. An eponymous section of Brāhmans.

Vyās.—A section of Brāhmans and of Agharia.

Waddār.—A name for Telugu Oddes or navvies in Chānda. A subcaste of Beldār.

Wadewār.—Synonym of Odde or Beldār in Chānda.

Wāghe.—(Wāgh or bāgh, a tiger.) A section of Koshti and Māna, a clan of Marātha.

Wāghmāre.—(Tiger-killer.) A clan of Arakh, Gopāl and Mahār.

Wakkaliga, Okkiliyan.—A Canarese caste of cultivators, of which a few representatives were returned from Nāgpur. They reside mainly in the Madura and Coimbatore Districts. The name is derived from the Canarese okkalu,510 which means cultivation or agriculture.

Wakmar.—(One who left the pangat or caste feast while his fellows were eating.) Title of Hatkar.

Wāndhekar.—Subcaste of Kunbi.

Wanjāri.—Synonym for Banjāra. Subcaste of Kunbi.

Warāde.—(A resident of Berār.) Subcaste of Gurao.

Wārtki.—(A washerman.) Synonym for Dhobi in the Marātha country.

Wāsudeo, Wāsdeo.—The name of the father of Krishna, the Hindu god. Synonym of Basdewa. A subcaste of Joshi.

Watkari. See Otāri.

Wika.—Synonym for Uika, a well-known clan of Gonds.

Yādu, Yādava.—A well-known clan of Rājpūts.

Yādubansi.—(Of the Yadu race.) A subcaste of Ahīr.

Yādu-Bhatti.—Clan of Rājpūts. Synonym for Yādu.

Yajur-Vedi.—A subcaste of Brāhmans who follow the Yajur-Veda. They are also known as Madhyandan and Apastambha.

Yarande.—(One who presses the erandi or castor-oil seed.) Subcaste of Teli.

Yati.—(For Jati). A Jain ascetic.

Yelama.—Synonym of Velama.

Yogi.—Synonym of Jogi.

Yojna.—Subcaste of Komti.

1

Indian Caste, p. 12.

2

Dr. Wilson’s Indian Caste (Times Press and Messrs. Blackwood), 1875, p. 88, quoting from Rig-Veda.

3

Dr. Wilson’s Indian Caste (Times Press and Messrs. Blackwood), 1875, p. 88, quoting from Rig-Veda.

4

Rig-Veda, i. 11. Wilson, ibidem, p. 94.

5

Wilson, ibidem, p. 99.

6

Manu, ii. 17, 24.

7

Barbarians or foreigners.

8

See Burnett and Hopkins, Ordinances of Manu, s.v.

9

Wilson, Indian Caste, p. 170, quoting Weber, Indische Studien, i. 170.

10

A collection of rules for sacrifices and other rites, coming between the Vedas and the law-books, and dated by Max Müller between 600–200 B.C.

11

Wilson, Indian Caste, p. 182.

12

Wilson, p. 184, quoting from Shrauta-sūtra of Kātyayana, 1. 1. 6.

13

Manu, iv. 99; iii. 178.

14

Wilson, pp. 421, 422.

15

Wilson, p. 187, quoting from Hiranyakeshi Sūtra.

16

See article Mehtar in text.

17

Wilson, p. 363, quoting from Smriti of Angira.

18

Wilson, Indian Caste, p. 195, from Hiranyakeshi Sūtra.

19

Manu, viii. 417.

20

Wilson, p. 260, quoting Mahābhārata, viii. 1367 et seq.

21

Wilson, p. 403, quoting from Vyavahāra Mayūkha.

22

Wilson, p. 400, from Parāshara Smriti.

23

Wilson, p. 140, quoting from Atharva Veda, iv. 32. 1.

24

Wilson, p. 211.

25

Wilson, Indian Caste, referring to Ptolemy, vii. 1. 61 and vi. 120. 3.

26

Wilson, pp. 113, 114.

27

See for the impure castes para. 40 post.

28

The word “aboriginal” is used here for convenience and not as conveying any assertion as to the origin of the pre-Aryan population.

29

Bombay Gazetteer, Pārsis of Gujarāt, p. 213.

30

Rig-Veda, 6. 3. 16, quoted by Wilson, Indian Caste, p. 110.

31

Wilson, p. 109.

32

Monier-Williams, Sanskrit Dictionary, pointed out by Mr. Crooke.

33

Quoted by Wilson, p. 209. It would seem probable, however, that the Vaishyas must themselves have formed the rank and file of the fighting force, at least in the early period.

34

Manu, i. 90.

35

Wilson, Indian Caste, p. 193, quoting from Hiranyakeshi Sūtra.

36

Wilson, p. 260, quoting Mahābhārata, viii. 1367 et seq.

37

Mahābhārata, xii. 2749 et seq.

38

List of classes of Indian society given in the Purusha-Medha of the White Yajur-Veda, Wilson, pp. 126–135.

39

Manu, viii. 113.

40

Hopkin’s and Burnett’s Code of Manu, x. 64, 65, and footnotes.

41

Mahābhārata, xiii. 2510 et. seq., quoted by Wilson, p. 272.

42

Manu, ix. 149, 157.

43

Manu indeed declares that such children could not be initiated (x. 68), but it is clear that they must, as a matter of fact, have been capable of initiation or they could not possibly have been married in the father’s caste.

44

See article on Brāhman for some further details.

45

Wilson, Indian Caste, i. 440, quoting Brahma Vaivarrta Purāna.

46

See article Bhāt for further discussion of this point.

47

Dolichos uniflorus.

48

See article Jāt for a more detailed discussion of their status.

49

Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Khandait.

50

Proprietors of large landed estates.

51

See article on Kunbi, para. 1.

52

Village Communities, p. 127.

53

History of the Marāthas, vol. i. p. 25.

54

Village Communities, pp. 226, 227.

55

The Aryan Household, ed. 1891, p. 190.

56

Ibidem, p. 228. Professor Hearn followed Sir Henry Maine in thinking that the clan was an expansion of the patriarchal joint family; but the reasons against this view are given subsequently.

57

Memoir of Central India, vol. ii. p. 22.

58

La Cité antique, 21st ed. pp. 66, 68.

59

La Cité antique, 21 st ed. pp. 66, 68.

60

Nigeria, quoted in Saturday Review, 6th April 1912.

61

Religion of the Semites, p. 96.

62

See article Sunār for a discussion of the sanctity of gold and silver, and the ornaments made from them.

63

Michelia champaka, a variety of the jack or bread-fruit tree.

64

See article Darzi for further discussion of the use of sewn clothes in India.

65

See articles on Bhulia, Panka, Kori and Julāha.

66

Traill’s Account of Kumaon, Asiatic Researches, vol. xvi. (1828) p. 213.

67

Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Bāri.

68

Pointed out by Mr. Crooke.

69

The Marāthi name for the god Hanumān.

70

Linguistic Survey, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages, p. 7.

71

Acacia catechu.

72

See article on Gond.

73

Linguistic Survey, p. 15.

74

Introduction to The Mundas and their Country, p. 9.

75

Linguistic Survey, p. 277.

76

See for this the article on Kol, from which the above passage is abridged.

77

Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xii. p. 175.

78

Cochin Census Report, 1901, quoted in Sir H. Risley’s Peoples of India, 2nd ed. p. 115.

79

This was permissible in the time of Asoka, circa 250 B.C. Mr. V.A. Smith’s Asoka, pp. 56, 58.

80

Sir H. Risley’s Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Tānti.

81

See article Kanjar for a discussion of the connection of the gipsies and Thugs with the Kanjars.

82

See article Chamār, para. 1.

83

Loha, iron; tamba, copper; kānsa, brass or bell-metal; sona, gold.

84

Kānch, glass.

85

Phul, flower; haldi,turmeric; jira, cumin.

86

Crotalaria juncea. See article Lorha for a discussion of the objections to this plant.

87

Morinda citrifolia. The taboo against the plant is either because the red dye resembles blood, or because a number of insects are destroyed in boiling the roots to extract the dye.

88

See article on Brāhman.

89

Sonjhara is a separate caste as well as a subcaste of Dhīmar.

90

See article Kurmi, appendix, for some instances of territorial names.

91

Wilson’s Indian Caste, p. 439.

92

Vol. i. pp. 272, 276.

93

Studies in Ancient History, p. 123.

94

See lists of totems of Australian and Red Indian tribes. Sir J.G. Frazer notes that the majority are edible animals or plants.

95

Address to the British Association, 1902. I had not had the advantage of reading the address prior to the completion of this work.

96

M’Lennan, Studies in Ancient History, p. 123, quoting from Grant’s Origin and Descent of the Gael.

97

Totemism and Exogamy, i. pp. 112, 120, ii. p. 536, iii. pp. 100, 162; Native Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 209–10; Native Tribes of South-East Australia p. 145; Native Tribes of Northern Australia (Professor Baldwin Spencer), pp. 21, 197; J.H. Weeks, Among the Primitive Bakongo, p. 99.

98

See pp. II, 138, 190 (Edition 1891).

99

Totemism and Exogamy, ii. pp. 338, 339.

100

La Cité Antique, p. 254.

101

The Origin of Civilisation, 7th ed. p. 246.

102

W.W. Skeat, Malay Magic, pp. 52, 53.

103

I. p. 253.

104

2nd ed. vol. i. pp. 169, 174. See also Sir E.B. Tylor’s Primitive Culture, i. pp. 282, 286, 295; ii. pp. 170, 181, etc.

105

See also Primitive Culture, i. pp. 119, 121, 412, 413, 514.

106

Messrs. Spencer and Gillan, Native Tribes of Central Australia (London, Macmillan), p. 201.

107

Linguistic Survey of India, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages, pp. 40, 41, 45.

108

Linguistic Survey of India, vol. iv., Munda and Dravidian Languages, pp. 292, 294.

109

Dr. A.H. Keane, The World’s Peoples, London, Hutchinson, 1908, p. 50.

110

Nimār Settlement Report.

111

See also Primitive Culture, i. p. 408.

112

The Oraons, pp. 408, 409.

113

2nd ed. vol. ii. p. 457 et seq.

114

For instances of omens see article Thug and Index. Also Miss Harrison’s Themis, pp. 98, 99.

115

La Cité Antique, p. 225.

116

W.W. Skeat, Malay Magic, pp. 178, 571.

117

Early History of Mankind, 3rd ed. p. 143.

118

Ibidem, p. 125.

119

See article Joshi for examples of Hindu names.

120

La Cité Antique, p. 357.

121

p. 182, et seq.

122

See para. 61.

123

I. p. 430.

124

See article on Nai.

125

2nd ed. vol. i. p. 57.

126

Native Tribes of Central Australia, Introduction, p. 25.

127

Dr. A. H. Keane, The Worlds Peoples, p. 62.

128

For counting, see Primitive Culture, 5th ed. pp. 240, 254, 265, 266.

129

Account of the Mewār Bhils, J.A.S.B., vol. xxiv. (1875) p. 369.

130

Early History of Mankind, p. 293.

131

Ibidem, p. 294.

132

Ibidem, p. 295.

133

See also Primitive Culture, i. p. 493, ii. p. 431.

134

See article on Mochi for the Muhammadan reference. The Jewish reference is of course to the Second Commandment.

135

Native Tribes of Central Australia, p. 176.

136

Ibidem, pp. 181, 182.

137

The Golden Bough, 2nd ed. ii. p. 120.

138

The Golden Bough, 2nd ed. iii. p. 301.

139

Section on the Kol tribe in Dalton’s Ethnology of Bengal.