Chhattisgarh

“ Though the Baigas are now mainly returned from Mandla and Bālāghāt, it seems likely that these Districts were not their original home, and that they emigrated from Chhattīsgarh into the Satpūra hills on the western borders of the plain. The hill country of Mandla and the Maikal range of Bālāghāt form one of the wildest and most inhospitable tracts in the Province, and it is unlikely that the Baigas would have made their first settlements here and spread thence into the fertile plain of Chhattīsgarh. Migration in the opposite direction would be more natural and probable. ”

“ Over most of India the term Hindu is contrasted with Muhammadan, but in Chhattīsgarh to call a man a Hindu conveys primarily that he is not a Chamār, or Chamara according to the contemptuous abbreviation in common use. A bitter and permanent antagonism exists between the two classes, and this the Chamār cultivators carry into their relations with their Hindu landlords by refusing to pay rent. ”

“ In Chhattīsgarh the ordinary Rāwats will clean the cooking-vessels even of Muhammadans, but the Thethwār or pure Rāwats refuse this menial work. In Mandla, when a man is to be brought back into caste after a serious offence, such as getting vermin in a wound, he is made to stand in the middle of a stream, while some elderly relative pours water over him. [35] He then addresses the members of the caste panchāyat or committee, who are standing on the bank, saying to them, ‘Will you leave me in the mud or will you take me out?’ Then they tell him to come out, and he has to give a feast. ”

“ They collect contributions and have a feast. In Chhattīsgarh among the Gonds and Rāwats (Ahīrs) there is from time to time a kind of feminist movement, which is called the Stiria-Rāj or kingdom of women. The women pretend to be soldiers, seize all the weapons, axes and spears that they can get hold of, and march in a body from village to village. ”

“ The people still show great hospitality, and it is the custom of many mālguzārs, at least in Chhattīsgarh, to afford food and a night’s rest to all travellers who may require it. When a Brāhman comes to the village such mālguzārs will give him one or two annas, and to a Pandit or learned man as much as a rupee. ”

“ The farmservant in Chhattīsgarh has a very definite position, his engagement being permanent and his wages consisting always in a fourth share of the produce, which is divided among them when several are employed. The caste have a peculiar dialect of their own, which Dr. Grierson describes as follows:5 [188] “Linguistic evidence also points to the fact that the Halbas are an aboriginal tribe, who have adopted Hinduism and an Aryan language. Their dialect is a curious mixture of Uriya, Chhattīsgarhi and Marāthi, the proportions varying according to the locality. ”

“ Chhattīsgarhia, Kosaria, Ratanpuria (from the old town of Ratanpur in Bilāspur) , and Raipuria (from Raipur town) , all names for residents in Chhattīsgarh; and so on. Brāhmans are divided into ten main divisions, named after different tracts in the north and south of India where they reside;88 and these are further subdivided, as the Mahārāshtra Brāhmans of the Marātha country of Bombay into the subcastes of Deshasth (belonging to the country) applied to those of the Poona country above the western Ghāts ”

“ In the Central Provinces, at least, the Darzi caste is practically confined to the towns, and though cotton jackets are worn even by labourers and shirts by the better-to-do, these are usually bought ready-made at the more important markets. Women, more conservative in their dress than men, have only one garment prepared with the needle, the small bodice known as choli or angia. And in Chhattīsgarh, a landlocked tract very backward in civilisation, the choli has hitherto not been worn and is only now being introduced. ”

“ The Nagpur country, drained by the Wardha and Wainganga rivers, contains towards the west the shallow black soil in which autumn crops like cotton and the large millet, juar, which do not require excessive moisture, can be successfully cultivated. The eastern part of the Nagpur country and the Chhattisgarh plain, comprising the Mahanadi basin, form the great rice tract of the province, its heavy rainfall and hard yellowish soil rendering it excellently adapted for the growth of this crop. ”

“ Though slovenly cultivators and with little energy or forethought, the Chamārs have the utmost fondness for land and an ardent ambition to obtain a holding, however small. The possession of land is a hall-mark of respectability in India, as elsewhere, and the low castes were formerly incapable of holding it; and it may be surmised that the Chamār feels himself to be raised by his tenant-right above the hereditary condition of village drudge and menial. But for the restraining influence of the British power, the Satnāmi movement might by now have developed in Chhattīsgarh into a social war. ”

“ In order to avoid this contingency a bachelor who espouses a widow in Kānker is first wedded to a spear. Turmeric and oil are rubbed on his body and on the spear, and he walks round it seven times. Divorce is freely permitted in Chhattīsgarh at the instance of either party and for the most trivial reasons, as a mere allegation of disagreement; but if a husband puts away his wife when she has not been unfaithful to him he must give her something for her support. ”

“ Protected on both sides by ranges of hills, the district was, until late years, the least known portion of the most obscure division of India, but recently it has been opened up by the Bengal-Nagpur railway, and has developed into a great grain-producing country. Its population is almost pure Hindu, except in the two great tracts of hill and forest, where the aboriginal tribes retired before the Aryan invasion. ”

“ It is said that he seldom has much cause to congratulate himself.” But the caste have now become ashamed of this custom and it is being abandoned. In Chhattīsgarh the Marārs, like other castes, have the forms of marriage known as the Badi Shādi and Chhoti Shādi or great and small weddings. The former is an elaborate form of marriage, taking place at the house of the bride. Those who cannot afford the expense of this have a ‘Small Wedding’ at the house of the bridegroom, at which the rites are curtailed and the expenditure considerably reduced. ”

“ But their social position is very low, as none except the most debased castes will take food or water from their hands, and their hereditary calling of village watchman would not be practised by any respectable caste. By outsiders they are considered little, if at all, superior to the Pankas and Gāndas, and the most probable theory of their origin is that they are the descendants of irregular alliances between immigrant Rājpūt adventurers and the women of the country. Their social customs resemble those of other low castes in Chhattīsgarh. ”

“ Owing to the abstinence of the Pankas from flesh and liquor they rank above the Gāndas and other impure castes. In Bilāspur they are generally held to be quiet and industrious.3 In Chhattīsgarh the Pankas are considered above the average in intelligence and sometimes act as spokesmen for the village people and as advisers to zamīndārs and village proprietors. Some of them become religious mendicants and act as gurus or preceptors to Kabīrpanthis.4 [330]
1 This article is compiled from papers by Pyāre Lāl Misra, Ethnographic clerk, and Hazari Lāl, Manager, Court of Wards, Chānda. ”

“ The curing and tanning of hides is the primary occupation of the Chamār, but in 1911 only 80,000 persons, or about a seventh of the actual workers of the caste, were engaged in it, and by Satnāmis the trade has been entirely eschewed. The majority of the Chhattīsgarhi Chamārs are cultivators with tenant right, and a number of them have obtained villages. In the northern Districts, however, the caste are as a rule miserably poor, and none of them own villages. A very few are tenants, and the vast majority despised and bullied helots. ”

“ Marriage. 5. Childbirth 6. Disposal of the dead. 7. Religion. 8. Occupation: fisherman. 9. Water-carrier. 10. Palanquin-bearer and personal servant. 11. Other occupations. 12. Social status. 13. Legend of the caste.
1. General notice.
Dhīmar, Kahār, Bhoi, Pālewār, Baraua, Machhandar.—The caste of fishermen and palanquin-bearers. In 1911 the Dhīmars numbered 284,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berār, being most numerous in the Marātha Districts. In the north of the Province we find in place of the Dhīmars the Kahārs and Mullāhs, and in the east or Chhattīsgarh country the Kewats. ”

“ Surely the evidence, confirmed as it is by tradition and history, will suffice to prove the interesting fact that the Chhattris are a compound The social forces then which in Hindustan have thus amalgamated races so widely apart are not to be impeached as baving done nothing but divide the human race and suppress human sympathies in some doubt- In one instance at any rate, different races united into one caste, extending the bounds of fraternity at a time when other castes with diverse professions, and often opposing interests, were being formed out of one nation. ”

“ Gūjar colonies are settled in the Hoshangābād and Nīmār districts of the Central Provinces. The Gūjars are inveterate cattle-lifters, and always ready to take advantage of any relaxation of the bonds of order to prey upon their neighbours. Many sections of the caste have adopted the Muhammadan faith.
40. The small state of Chhatarpur lies to the south of the Hamīrpur district, between the Dasān and Ken rivers. The town of Chhatarpur, on the military road from Bānda to Sāgar, is remarkable for the mausoleum and ruined palace of Rājā Chhatarsāl, after whom the town is named. ”

“ Kshatriya. The second, or military caste, in the theoretical or fourfold division of the Hindus. [But the word is more commonly applied to a mercantile caste, which has its origin in the Punjab, but is found in considerable numbers in other parts of India. Whether they are really of Kshatriya descent is a matter on which there is much difference of opinion. See Crooke, Tribes and Castes of N.W.P., iii. 264 seqq.] The Χατριαῖοι whom Ptolemy locates apparently towards Rājputānā are probably Kshatriyas.
[1623.—"They told me Ciautru was a title of honour."—P. della Valle, Hak. Soc. ii. 312.] ”

“ Such was the origin of the caste system in India, in the second period of Hindu history. The system arose out of weakness and lifelessness among the people, and, to a certain extent, it has perpetuated that weakness ever since. At the close of the period, however, there appears to have been a reaction, and the Kshatriyas at last tried to prove their equality with the Brahmans in learning and religious culture. WeaWearied with the rituals and ceremonials prescribed by priests, the Kshatriyas started new speculations and bold inquiries after the truth. ”

“ Where the Hindu immigration has only been partial and the forests have not been cleared, as in Chota Nāgpur and the Central Provinces, they may keep their old villages and tribal organisation and be admitted as a body into the hierarchy of caste, ranking above the impure castes but below the Hindu cultivators. ”

“ These tribes were formerly turbulent, and a source of trouble to the Mahommedan governors of Bengal and Behar; but the introduction of British rule has secured peace and security, and the aboriginal races of Chota Nagpur are now peaceful and orderly subjects. The principal agricultural products are rice, Indian corn, pulses, oil-seeds and potatoes. A small quantity of tea is grown in Hazaribagh and Ranchi districts. Lac and tussur silk-cloth are largely manufactured. The climate of Chota Nagpur is dry and healthy. ”

“ In these parts, the caste system prevails in all its vigors but if you go still further west into the heart of the Province of Chota-Nagpur you come upon a half-savage people, the offscouring of humanity who have been driven into the hills and forests by the conquering Aryans of the plains. ”

“ The claim to the title is not confined to the old military classes desirous of asserting their former position, for we find it put forward by such castes as Vannias and Shānāns, the one a caste of farmers and labourers, the other toddy-drawers. It is not possible to distribute these pseudo-Kshatriyas among their proper castes, as 70,394 of them have given Kshatriya as the sub-division also." It is noted, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, that "Parasurāma is said to have slain all the Kshatriyas seven times over, but 80,000 persons have returned themselves as such in this Presidency alone. ”

“ Raja and Nawab had no chance against the free men of the Chhattri commonwealth. Ali Akbar fled northwards towards Pilibhít where he begged aid from the Rohillas of the Dubb. This race was then in the height of their prosperity. Five years previously they had fought on the victorious side with Ahmad Shah, Daurâni, at Panipat, and crushed the great Hindu revival of the Mahrattas south of the Ganges. They were not likely to look on quietly while a Chhattri clan mastered all north Oudh, soon to carry the war doubtless into the borders of Rohil- khand. ”

“ It united India, and the great nationalist movement was born in Bengal in that same year. Chatterji's novel became the inspiration of this revolutionary movement. Not only in Bengal but all over India men dedicated themselves to the task of making Chatterji's dream come true. ”