CENSUS OF INDIA 1961

VOLUME VIII

MADHYA PRADESH PART VI VILLAGE SURVEY MONOGRAPHS No.2 DISTRICT RAIPUR, TAH SIL RAIPUR, VILLAGE BENDRI

g.c. DUBEY Deputy Supefintenaent of Census OPerations M aahya Pradesh

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PUBl..1SHED BY THE MA~'AGBR OF PUBLICATIONS, DELHI-S PRINTED AT THE GOVERNMENT REGIONAL PRESS MADHY A PRADESH, GW ALlOR 1961 CENSUS PUBLICATIONS, MADHYA PRADESH ( All the Census Publications oj this State will bear Volume No. VIII)

PART I General Report including Subsidiary Tables. (in Sub-Parts) PARTII- A General Population Tables. PARTII-B Economic Tables. (in Sub-Parts) PART II-C Cultural and Migration Tables. (in Sub-Parts) PART III Household Economic Tables. PART IV Housing and Establishment Tables (including Subsidiary Tables) (in Sub-Parts) and Report. PARTV Special Tables for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. (in Sub-Parts) PART VI Village Survey Monographs. (A separate Sub-Part for each Village surveyed.) PART VII Survey of Handicrafts of the State. (A separate Sub-Part for each handicraft surveyed.) PART VIlI-A Administration Report-Enumeration. PARTVIII-B Administration Report-TabulatioD. PART IX Maps. CONTENTS Pages Foreword Village Surveys in Madhya Pradesh Preface Chapter I-General Description .. . . 3-- 5 Locativn oj the V illage-V illage-site-Village Settlement. Chapter II -Demography 6-9 Population statistics sil1ce 1901-Variation oj poPfll~tt"0n:- DistribfJb'on oj p,opulation in th~ , difjerent age groups-Marital status ojthe ,Poj,'ul(l.i1cn 111 dtjjtYctlt age-gro'Ut~-s1ze and compos1tton oj the households-size oj the Family-L1teracy-1he castes and commumhes. Chapter III-The People 10-18 A ccoul~t oj the castes itl e«isting literature-Kewat-Laria Kewats-Rawats--Brahmins-Xurmi-- Panka-Caste precedence and social contours. ' Chapter IV-Dress and Ornaments 19 26 DTess-Kewat-Rawal-Brahmin-K urmi-Panka- Further obsel vatt'ofls on dress-Ol f'.a111e1~ts­ K:;.wat-Rawat-Brahmi1j-}( urmi-Pal~ka- T attooil~g. Chapter V -The Social Structure '. 27-41 The jamily-Husbaml-wije relatioll,shiP- Pare1~t-child relationshiP-M other-itz-law and daughler-in·la'li' relationship-Father-i1:,-law and daughter-ill-law relationship-Some kil~ship terms-Head of the family-Lzfe-cycle rituals- Conceptiol1-Birth customs of the Kewats-of the Rawats--ofthe Brahmins-of the K 'ltrmis-oj the Pankas- Marriage customs- Jj;J arriage Rites- Marriage rit.3s of the Kewats-Regular marrige or Bihaw- Widow re-marriage by Choori- Elopement-- Pait/wo marriage or Marriage by i11trusiolt- Barandi marriage-Marriage rites of the Rawats- Regular marriage or Bihaw-Bade Bihaw-Chhote Bihau' or Theeka Bihau'-Tke Barandi marriage- Paithoo marriage-Choori marriage- Elope11lCltt atwi Abductiol~- Ma.vriage rites oj the Brahmins- Marriage rites of the K urmis-- Regular marriage-Gurau'at marriage- Divorce-Marriage customs oj the Pankas-Pre-marital and extra-marital sex-relatiof~-Some twtes on the marriage dnd divorce system in the village-Death and Funeral Rites-Death rituals of the Kewats-Death rituals of the Rawats-Death rituals of the Brahmins-Death rituals of Km mis- Death rituals of Panllas- Some jurther observations on the death cerenz01~y-PlaC£ng the dead body-Symbolical rites in the life-rituals-Use of Domnar (ficus) wood itt the preparation oj Kham or M agrohan ill the marri­ age-'God Bharna' or filli1tg thelapce1'emony of the Kurmis-Use of jal1Utnafid/or Mango leaves i,l roofing of the M@dwa-Breaking ot the Ma1td7.£!a-Burying the dead- Chapter VI-Village Economy 42-56 Eco1Jomic Pattan-Soil types-Caste-wise ownership--Agricultural implet1:ents--TraditiolJal occupations--..:.Household in~ustries, etc,-Vi,llage settlement and ~welli1tg places-Co1>structiolt oj houses -HM,sehold possesswns-Fo.od ha btts-Income, Expendtture and I ndebtedllCSs-Yearu:ise burdm of debt-Castewise burdett of debt-Sources of debt- Chapter VII-Religion, Festivals, Rites, Beliefs and Superstitions 57-62 Religio,~-The Poojas-Religious cerem01~ial calendar-Jau'ara-Family Gods and deities-Dulaha Deo-Sathi Deo -BttrlJa Deo-Satyanam Kabir-Mata-~Dewala-The Si'l.'a-Litlg-Idea about Hindu Gods and Goddesses-ChaU1'asi Devi and Jddewati- Other Religio1{s Rites- SG'lC'amya­ Hareli Amavas~a-.Khirka Deo-Deities of the Brahmins and Kurmis-- Chapter VIU-D.:mces, Songs and Recreations 63-68 Da11da-llach-The Rawat-nacJt-The Sua-1~ach-Sohar sOllg of the K urmis- SOl1gS fro'll1 the Bralzn;ins oj the village-Child-birth. Chapter IX-Communication, Trends and Opinions-Contact with outside 69-70 Conclusion 71-72 Appendix I~The Household Schedule 73-94 Appendix II-The Village Schedule 95--99 FOREWORD

Apart from laying the foundations of demography in this sub-continent, a hundred years of the Indian Census.. has also produced elaborate and scholarly accounts of the variegated phenomena of Indian life-sometimes with­ no st.atistics attached, but usually with just enough statistics to give empirical underpinning to their condusions... In a co~try, largely illiterate, where statistical or numerical comprehensiop of even such a simple thrrig as age was­ liable to be inaccurate, an understanding of the social structure was essential. It was more necessary to attain. a broad understanding of what was happening around oneself than to wrap oneself up in 'statistical ingenuity' or 'mathematical manipulation'. This explains why the Indian Census came to be interested in 'many bypaths.... and 'nearly every branch of scholarship, from anthropology and sociology to geography and religion'. In the last few decades the Census has increasingly turned its efforts to the presentation of village statistics.... This suits the temper of the times as well as our politica.l and economic structure. For even as we have a great dealt of centralisation on the one hand and decentralisation on the other, my colleagues tho~ht it would be a welcome continuation of the Census tradition to try to invest the dty bones of village statistics with flesh -and-blood accounts. Of social structure and social change. It was accordingly decided to select a few villages in every State for special study, where personal observation would be brought to bear on the interpretation of statistics to find out how much of a village was static and yet changing and how fast the winds of change were blowing and from where. Randomness of selection was, therefore, eschewed. There was no intention to build up a picture for the whole State in quantitative terms on the basis of vill~es selected statistically at random. The selection was avowedly purposive: the object being as much to find out what was!happeningandhowfast to those villages which had fewer. reasons to choose change and more to remain lodged in the past as to discover how the more 'normal' types of villages; werL changing. They were to be primarily type studies which, by virtue of their number and distribution, would: also give the reader a 'feel' of what was going on and some kind of a map of the country. A brief account of the tests of selecti0n will help to explain. A minimum of thirty-five villages was to be chosent with great care to represent adeqn.ate1y geographical, occupational a.nd even ethnic diversity. Of this minimum 01 thirty-five, the distribution was to be as follows :- . . (a) At least eight villages were to be SO selected that each of them would contain one dominant comm unity with one predominating occupation, e.g., fishermen, forest workers, jhum cultivators, potters, weavers, salt-makers" quarry workers, etc.. A village should have a minimum population of 400, the optim1.i.1ll being between 500 and 700~

(b) At least seven villages were to be of numerically prominent Scheduled Tribes of the State. Each vi11ag~ could represent a particular tribe. The minimum population should be 400, the optimum being between 500 and.. 700. (c) The third group of villages should each be of fair size, of an old and settled character and contain variegat ect occupations and be, if possible, multi-ethnic in composition. By fair size was· mean! a population of 500-700:­ persons or mOre. The Village should mainly depend on agriculture and be sufficiently away from the major sources of, modem communicatioh such as the district administr~tive headquarters ~d business centres. It shoJl).d b6. roughly a day's joUrney from the above places. The villages were to be selected with an eye to variation in terms. of size, proximity to city and other means of modern comm1tIlication, nearness to hills, jungles and major rivers. Thus there was to be a regional distribution throughout the State of this category of villages. If, howeveJ, a parti­ cular district contained significant ecological variations within its &rea, more than one village in the district might· be selected to study the special adjustment to them. It is a uniqu(rfeature of these -village surveys that they rapidly outgrew their original terms of reference. as my colleagues warmed up to their work. This proved for them an ~bsorbing voy~e of discovery and their Infectious., enthusiasm compelled me to enlarge the inquiry's scope again and "gain. It was just as well cautiously to feel one's way about at first <\nd then venture further afield, anct although it ClCCOW1ts to ~omc ~xient for a (;ertain Yllevenness in the qua1ity and coverage of the monographs, it served to compens8.te the purf"ly honor~ry and e~tra-mural rigo\1rS of- (ii) the task. For, the Survey, along with its many ancillaries like the survey of fairs and festivals, of small and rural industry and others, was an textra' over and above the crushing load of the 1961 Census.

It might be of interest to rel\ount briefly the stages by which the Survey enIarge~ its scope. At the first Census Conference in September 1959 the Survey set itself the task of what might be called ij. record in situ of material traits. like settlement patterns of the village; house types; diet, dress, ornaments and footwear; furniture and storing vessels; common means of transport of goods and passengers; domestication of animaJs and birds; markets attended; worship 'Of deities, festivals and fairs. There were to be recordings, of course, of cultural and social traits and occupational mobility. This was followed up in March 1960 by two specimen schedules, one for each household, the other for the village as a whole, which, apart from spelling out the mode of inquiry suggested in the September 1959 conference. introduced groups of questions aimed at sensing changes in attitude and behaviour in such fields as marriage, inheri­ tance, movable and immovable property, industry, indebtedness, education, community life and collective activity, social disabilities, forums of appeal over disputes, village leadership and organisation of cultural life. It was now plainly the intention to provide adequate statistical support to empirical 'feel', to approach qualitahve change through statistical quantities. It had been difficult to give thought to the importance of 'just enough statistics to give empirieal underpinning to conclusions', at a time when my colleagues were straining themselves to the utmost for the success of the main Census operations, but once the census count itself was left behind in March, 1961, a series of three regional seminars in Trivendrum (May 1961), Darjeeling and Srinagar (June 1961) restored their attention to this field and the importance of tracing social change through a number of well-devised statistical tables was once agahl Iecognised. This itself presupposed ~ fresh S\lfVey of villages already done; but it was w()lth the t:rouble in view of the possibilities that a close analysis of statistics offered. and also because the 'consanguinity' schedule Ie­ ~ed to be canvassed. By November 1961, however, mOCe was expected oi these SUfVeys than ever before. There W~ dissatisfaction on the one band with too muy general statements and a growif1c desire. on the other to. draw conclusions from statistics, to regard socia} and coooomic data as interrelated proces5f.S, and fina.11y to ex .. 'mine the social and economic processes set in mctiom through llmd-ref6l1lls and other laws, legislative and, adminis.­ trative measures, technological and cultural change. In the latter half of 1961 again was organised within the Census 'Commission a section on Social Studies which assumed the task of giving shape to the general frame of study and .providing technical help to SuperintendfDts of Census Operations in the matter of conducting Surveys, their analysis and presentation. This section headed by Dr. B. K. Roy Burman has been responsible for going through each monograph and ofiering helpful criticism and advice which were much welcomed by my colleagues. . Finally, a study camp was organised ill the last week ()1 December 1961 when the whole field was carefully gone through over again aBti a programme worked out closely knitting the various aims of the Survey together.

This gradual unfolding of the aimi of the Survey prev.mted myoolltnlgues from adoptilw aa Ulany vW.agtS as \bey had originally intended to. But I believe that what may have been lost in quantity has been more than made up for in quality. This is, perhaps, for the first time that such a Survey has been conduct~ln anyCO\Ultry, and that purely as a labour of love. It has succeeded in attaining what it set out t<1 achieve: to construet a map of villase india's social structllIe. One hopes that the volumes of this Survey will help to retain for the Indian Census its title to 'the mOISt fruitful &ingle source of information about the Country'. Apart frow other features. it will perha{>$ be -conceded that the Survey has set up a new (Ansus standard in piutorial and &raphic documentation.

The Schedules filially adopted for this monograph have ~n printed in Appendices I and II.

NEW DELHI: A. MITRA, the 24th May 1962. 'Rqistrar.GcDeral, India YILLAGE SURVEYS IN MADHYA PRADESH

In Madhya Pradesh, forty-nine villages were initially selected for survey on the hasis of four main considerations. The first was that the caste structure of the State should, to the extent possible, be reflected in the villages taken as a whole; it was, therefore, required that the castefs indicated for a particular district should be dominant in the village/so The princi pal castes of the district were determined on the basis of the 1931 Census returns as castewise or tribewise figures were not available i'n full for later censuses. The second, which was also sociologi.cal, was that the village should be, as far as poSSible, at a certain specified distance from the nearest urban area. It was felt that a study of villages at different distances from urban centres would help us understand the strength of the forces of urbanisation. The 43 districts of the State were arranged in the order of census location code numbers and a set of three distances (15, 25 and 35 miles) was repeated, only one figure appearing against each village. The hope was that this procedure would impart a somewhat random character to the sample in respect of urbanisation. Next came twO. administrative conSiderations: First, the village was to have a population within the range 250-400, yielding thereby some 50-80 households. It would have been impossible to cover a large number of households in the desirable degree of detail. Second, the village should not have been already surveyed by a different agency. Though normally it was to be one village per district, an extra village was selected in districts with a population of more than a million each so that the total number rose to 49.

2. It was never expected that it would be possible to stick to the exact distance (from the nearest urban centre) given for each village and the selection of a village of the given population size which also contained a large proportion of the members of a particular caste or tribe proved to be more difficult than expected. This to some extent has distorted the pattern of purposes that governed the selection. It was also difficult to re-do the selection because it was not certain that a second attempt would succeed. In the last thirty years, the compo­ sition of the population seems to have changed quite a lot in some areas. And, we had no figures whatever to go upon so far as the 1960-61 distribution of the population among castes/tribes in villages was concerned. In any case, the main purpose of these surveys was to obtain a detailed picture of present day rural life and the Statewise scatter of localities required for the purpose was ensured by making the district the primary group. Of the villages selected, 9 had each a dominant (scheduled) caste; 16 had each a dominant (sche­ duled) tribe; and the remaining were multi-caste and/or multi-tribal villages.

3. It was soon discovered that it would be impossible to make a reasonably good job of the survey in respect of all the 49 villages. We started with a very simple questionnaire which was expanded in due course to some 70 or 80 pages. An attempt was made to make them factual but whether the investigator's or somebody else's view of the hierarchical Level of a particular caste (or tribe) is objective enough to be considered a substantially valid fact is a difficult question to settle but inquiries of this kind were included. This basic survey was left to an official selected by the district authorities; in quite a few villages the results were not unsatisfactory. But the official of the Census Organisation who had to write the report found it necessary to go to the village once or twice again not only to go through most of the schedules right on the spot but also to collect some more information on particular aspects and prepare the pictorial part of the survey (photographs and drawings). It was at this stage generally that I came into the picture. I have also myself seen a few of the (#)

Yillages. My scrutiny of the first draft resulted in a number of suggestions which were incor­ porated, the draft finalised and sent up to the Registrar-General. The trouble with a survey of this kind is that there can be no end to it; it is no doubt microcosmic but, still, cosmic. We tried our best to modify the report again in the light of the criticism made by the Registrar­ General. What happened as a result of the approach was that the number of villages we could deal with was determined by the number of officials we had in the Census Organisation who could write at least presentable first drafts. The initial ambitious design was, therefore. ab~doned and the hope at present (October, 1963) is that we should be able to produce in Madhya Pradesh some 20-25 reports. The only apology I can offer for publishing them is that very hard work has gone into them even though a strictly sociological approach might . have yielded different results. In every survey. an attempt has been made to delineate the 'personality' of the village even if in the process the mere recording of information on various generally important aspects may have suffered. It is like striking out the heading, 'relation:­ ship', in a census enumeration schedule and entering 'squint-eyed' in that space! It seems to me that the Census Organisation should continue in coming censuses to supplement their macrocosmic operations with studies of this kind-which together wiIl probably give a better picture of the varied life of our people than mere statistical reports. For the results to be more satisfying than they have been in this census, it will be necessary to make a careful study of the present schedules and draw up a new one.

4. I have to acknowledge the debt of deep gratitude that we in State Census Organi­ sations owe to the Registrar-General. India, Shri Asok Mitra, who initiated and directed these studies. In this State, the main burden of dealing with matters relating to these surveys fell on 5hri K. C. Dubey, Deputy Superintendent of Census Operations, and Shri N. B. Basu. Chief Investigator (now District Organiser, Tribal Welfare, Durg) to both of whom I am extremely grateful. Dr. B. K. Roy Burman, who helped us with advice and criticism. deserves OUI' particular thanks.

Bendri (Raipur Tahsil, Raipur District), chosen because the principal caste of the village is Kewat (fisherman). is now purely agricultural-fishing, which reportedly is an inconstant and poor earner. is not even a subsidiary occupation. This phenomenon of a total jettisoning of an occupational tradition without any significant change either in the social status of the caste or in the beliefs and rituals which had been originally built up about, and consistently with. that tradition is common in present-day rural India. In Bendri. the Kewat is now often a vegetable grower catering for the Raipur market some ten miles away and the shift of occu­ pation is thus a response to the development of a proximate urban centre. Vegetables are usually grown in "baris" (small gardens) attached to the houses. Ordinary agricultural land in the village is owned for the most part by Brahmins and Kewats; the principal crop is rice and the next in importance, kollon, a cheap food-grain. There has not been much change either in net cultivated area or irrigated area during the last ten years (1950-51 to 1959-60) though double-cropped area has increased considerably (from about 141 acres in 1950-51 to about 183 acres in 1959-60). There is thus a tendency to practise more intensive forms of cultivation. The increase in gross cultivated area. is about 19% and the growth of population has been slightly greater (about 20%). Owing to the fact that neither the methods of culti­ vation nor the degree of capitalisation has ShOWfl any improvement, the only influence on standards of living should have been the higher agricultural prices over the years. Absentee landlordism does not seem to be on the way out yet. Thus, there have been no radical changes in the structure of the economy and, consequently, the kind of social tension that results from a conflict between a traditional outlook and rapid economic change does not appear to exist. One would not, in these conditions, expect any great change in the 'cultural climate' of the village and the survey shows that this impression is by and large not incorrect. There is, in ( ..it.) statistical terms, a significant improvement in literacy since 1951 (from 3% in 1951 to 12% in 1961). But neither this development nor urban influence has loosened the rigidity of the caste-system within the village though, outside it-particularly in the context of the anony­ mitv that a large urban mass confers-caste often ceases to be relevant; in fact, this kind of trar{sitional dualism in the attitude to caste is probably to be found all over India. It has been argued that social and religious factors alien to an experimental and rational outlook are themselves the cause rather than the result of economic backwardness and should be dealt with first if progress at some pace is to be possible. That there is an interaction between the two is undeniable but the conclusion to which one is led by this survey b that the retardatory power of non-economic factors is considerable. There is no evidence that any of the Villagers have tried. to obtain employment in the growing inJustrial township of Bhilainagar-not among those of the younger generation. . The difficult task of creating from within this milieu forces favourable to desirable change and to an outlook that does not shy away from the risks involved in drifting away from familiar moorings has yet to be tackled on the mass scale; Mahatma Gandhi performed this miracle in the political field by rnetamorphising the poli­ tician into a saint and a morally unmindful struggle for power into a meticulously scrupulous crusade for a cause. I t is imperative that a synthesis be achieved in the ~conornic field as well; otherwise~ developmental agencies of Government will continue to run their heads against a wall-with, as in recent years, damage more often to the heads concerned than to the wall. As Kaldor observes. 'the key to an accelerated growth of the underdeveloped areas of the world lies in bringing about fundamental changes in both the mental outlook and the technical knowledge and skill of their peasant populations' [Sinha, M. R.Ed. •A Decade of Economic Development and Planning in India' (1962), p. 21]. This inner dynamic still eludes us. The site on which the villagers live in Bendri is threatened by floods frequently but the unwilling­ ness even to look for a better one can only be explained by an unquestioning attachment to tradition whose obverse is often a fear of the new. The survey is a faithful picture of Bendri but, being the first of the Madhya Pradesh series of village surveys, has probably some of the deficiencies of a first efiort. But the earnestness of the effort to understand the village is transparent-though I should add that the villagers did not very much like the prying into their lives that is inevitable in investigations of this kind. In spite of this handicap and in 'spite of the fact that he was heavily burdened with other responsibilities during the period of the survey. Shri K. C. Dubey, Deputy Superintendent of Census Operationb, who is the author has done a commendable job. It is my belief that this is a valuable contribution to the contin~ nuing study of rural India.

Bhopal, Holi (Phalguna 8) 1885 G. JAGATHPATHI, (February 27, 1964) Superintendent of Census Operations~ Madhya Pradesh.

PREFACE

lJl t:k~ folJAwiug p~a is attem""te4 it. delin.eatlon

Bendri is the name of an actual village. In the pages that follow, no pse\ldo~y~ have be~J,l used and the word

Dated 31st January, 1964"

K. C. DUBEY. GLOSSARY Abadi The area reserved from time to time in a village in a non-urban area for the residence of the. inhabitants thereof or for purposes ancillary thereto. Alsi Linserd; Linum usitateiosimum. ArU A ritual in worship consisting in waiving a lighted lamp before the idol to the accompaniment of devotional music. Baiga Village priest, usually but not necessarily, a member of some tribe. Barat· Marriage-procession. Bhawwar Going round the marriage~post; a marriage-ritual. Bhal'ri Unembanked field. Bichhia Toe-rings; an ornament of the toes. Chatni Sauce. Chhi1ld P hoem'x acaulis. Choori Glass bangles. Dadaria Short couplets set to music. Dai Village midwife. Dancla-nach Stick-dance. DhatJ Paddy; Oryza sativa, L. Dheki Husking-lever. Diwala Shrine of the village-Goddess. Doha The poetical composition, usually consisting of two lines. Doomar Ficus glomerata. Dorsa A kind of soil which is a mixture of Kanhar and Matasi. Fulli An ornament of the nose. Ga11j Grain market in the towns. Gath-banclhatt A marriage-ritual of the Pankas. Gawan A ritual in marriage-cycle. Gayatri A sacred text. Ghee Clarified· butter. Godan Tattoo-marks. Hamel An ornament of the neck. Hardahi A ritual in marriage. Jamun Eugenia jambolana. Jav Barley. Jhalar The hair on the head of a llew-born babe. Jhatt}h A musical instrument. Jhumka An ornament of the ear. Jitl Soul. Juari Great millet; Sorghum vulgare. Juna Old. Kaclla In relation to food, the term refers to food which is not fried in oil or ghee.. Katlhar A black clay, very retentive of moisture. Kewat Fisherman. Kham Corruption of Hindi word Khamb meaning post or pj]]ar. Khooti An ornament of the ear. Khumr·j Rain-hood. [{odot~ PaHicum meliceum, L. Kosa Tasar Silk. Koth£ Grain-bin. K'lbri Bent. Kunu'ari Virgin. 2

Kurta Upper garment for males. Machana To mix well. Magrohan Marriage-post. Mandap Marriage-shed, also known as Madwa. Masoor A variety of pulse; Ervum lens. Mata dewala Shrine of the village-Goddess. Matasi A yellow soil, not retentive of moisture but with heavy rainfall giving a far better outtum of rice than any other soil. Mo'Ur Marriage-crown. Moharram A Muslim festival. Mouri Marriage-crown for the bride. Mukhia Headman. MUMan Head-shaving of the child, a birth-ritual. Munga Moringa pterygosperma. Nala Stream. Narva Same as N ala. Neem Melia indica. pacca or pakka Opposite of kacha. Means fried food. Paga Turban. Paf,bandhi A death ritual consisting in the election of a new head of the family (if the deceased was the head of the family); literally means 'turban-tying'. Paijama Trousers. Pair pakhara;ta A marriage-ritual; means' wasr.ing the feet'. Palkachhar An alluvial soil in which clay predominates over sand. Panchaflg Almanac. Pandit Priest. Para Ward. Pargana An administrative unit in Chhattisgarh in the pre-British and early British period. Parghafli Reception of marriage party. Parikrarma Same as 'bhanwar', Circumambulation. Pata An ornament of the wrist. Patparkachkar An alluvial soil where sand predominates over clay. Pej Rice-groal. Pi1~d-dal~ Symbolical offerings to the departed souls. Pipal Ficus religiosa. Pooja Worship. Purohit Priest. Rahar A pulse; Cajanus indicus. Rath Yatra A festival procession during this festival. Sa/ooka An upper garment for males. Sari Garment for females. Shiv ling Idol of God Shiva. Siyan Elderly person. Soota An ornament of the neck. Tahsil An administrative unit of the district. Teerath Place of pilgrimage. Til Seasamum indicu'ffl. Tonkin Witch. Urid Phaseolus mun}!o; a. kind of pulse. ("'0"\ ,...... t. o_'o TAH SIL :-. ) I I

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Bendri (p'opulation 315), the subject ot the present socio-economic study, is a medium· sized, predominantly Kewat village in the Raipur Tahsil of Raipur District, Madhya Pradesh, situated in the extreme western part of the country and 9 miles to the North- East of Raipur Town.

Situated on the banks of the river Kharult, the villag~ li~s in a highly erod~d terrain, the soil-erosion giving to the landscape the characters and features of . a ravined country in miniature. The perennial river Kh:Z'It1t fbws just within 200 yards of the Village and a small tributory Nala Bhutha Narva, which flows to the west of the village, joins the Kharun near the North-West corner of the village.

Though located in close proximity of Raipur Town, Bendri village is not connected with it by an all-weather road. The nearest all-weather Nagpur­ Bilaspur road is 6 miles away and this six-mile stretch of the feeder road can be negotiated by a jeep, cycle or bullock-cart, except in the rainy season when the only possible approach to the village is on foot. The nati ve means of transport continues to be bullock­ cart and there are 24 bullock-carts in the village. The carts except the one with the ex-maZgujar (coX-proprietor) of the village, are crudely designed and a journey on them even for two miles is not a very pleasant experience. 4

'Bendri' in Chhattis3arh dialect suggests a she­ present site in the face of this danger every year. monkey but the origin of the village name is obscure The reason probably is the attachment to land and and none of the villagers are able to throw any light early flooded con:iition of the river becoming an usual on the subject. The history of the village is equally and ordinary event. When asked as to why do they dark. No written or oral record exists as to when the not shift the village site, two replies are received. village came into existence. The following informa­ One is : 'The village is built by our fathers and fore tion extracted from the Settlem.::nt Report of 1869 fathers. They have lived and died here, enjoyed by Hewitt! may be of some interest. the life and faced the sorrows of it and they lie buried in the grounds here. How can we go?' The other "Prior to 1820, Raipur (then written as Raepore) answer is: 'Shifting necessarily involves money. District was divided into about 20 Divisions. Colonel We cannot manage it: The former answer is given Agrew, the then Superintendent, reduced this number by a Kewat and the latter one by a Brahmin. to 6 in 1820, but after the settlement operations the But a section of the population could not stand district seems to have been divided into 15 parganas. this persistent danger every year and the great Raipur pargana was one of these. Subsequently flood of Kharun in 1940 broke their morale. A new these parganas were constituted into four and Raipur settlem.::nt Nawadih was built in 1949 after this Tahsil was formed as an administrative unit. The flood and is located one and a half miles to the south. present village must have, therefore, been in the Nawadih means 'New Village' or 'New Site' (Nawa Raipur pargana and the old Raipur Tahsil. When in Chhattisgarhi dialect means 'new' and dih means the district took its present shape. the village 'site' or 'village')l. There are 45 houses in the old continued to be in Raipur Tahsil." village settlement and 22 in Nawadih. Village Bendri is now in the Patwari Circle 101 of In spite of its close proximity to Raipur, Bendri the Revenue Inspector Circle Dharsiwa of Raipur continues to be an usual Chhattisgarhi village. River Tahsil. It comes under the jurisdiction of Dharsiwa Kharun. is used for drinking water and for bathing by Police Station. A Development Block has started residents at the old site. In the rainy season, when functioning with its headquarters in Dharsiwa since there is knee-deep water in the village, the people 1958 and this village is included in the Block-area bathe in thy village itself. Residents of Nawadih, in the Urla Village-Level-Worker Circle. There is no however, have a private well for their drinking water. school in the village and the children have to go to the For bathing themselves and their cattle they go to Primary School at Urla village which is two miles the tank which is located nearby or else bathe near the distant. Urla village holds a weekly market on well. The river banks, the nala-terrain and the Thursday and it is to this market that inhabitants of nearby fields are used as lavatory-grounds. Bendri go for their transactions. The vlllage-sanitation cannot be said by any standards to be good. The dwellings, as usual, are Village Settlement.-Bendri village has now kept ordinarily clean and regularly washed with two settlements-Bendri proper or Juna Para and cow-dung and white-washed with clay (Chhuhi) Nawadih. Bendri proper, which is located just a once a year, but the village streets are not very tidy. furlong from river Kh;mm, is the original settlement The streets in Nawadih are not paved and in the and in the rainy season the village is in constant rainy season become very slushy paths. In the old danger from floods. site, however, the streets are paved and traversing becomes comparatively easy. But these also require Houses in Bendri proper are constructed on a care and repair. The villagers do not seem to be in more or les:;! even level of ground and when the river is a mood to develop the village with the help of Deve­ floode:l, there is almost knee-deep water in the village. lopment . Block locatd at Dharsiwa and since the The safest part of the village is the north-western village does not have any development work going on, cluster of houses, which, being built on slightly higher the Block officials have not been paying any atten­ ground, are not affected by ordinary floods. It is tion to it. On the whole the old settlement looks a little surprising to see the VIllagers clinging to the much cleaner than the new one. Though in existence

1. Re?ort on tile Lan:! Revenue Settlement of the 1. The Tribes and Casteq of the Central Provinces of Raepore District, Hewitt. 1869. India, Russell and Hiralal, Vol. I, p. 153. MAP SHDW/NO THE £OCAT/ON OF SENDR'

(ji) i> ~ NIRA~1i l rAu.A~~

REFERENCES . RO"lD& CART TRACKS _____ NAII.IIVAYS B.CAUC6_"';''''\ RIVERS ____ rANI<..s .. DTHER Gi4UC;E$ • 11 , .~~

CANAL _ SErrl.£NENTS ~ CDNTDUN.s SCA££ 1"..,.1 MIL E - 5

for 12 years Nawa lih still docs not possess the look of a typical village.

There is no temple nor do the villagers seem to feel any need for it. In the north of the village and between it and the river is a pipal tree with a chabtttra (platform) constructed beneath it. A Shiv lim!. is seen on this platform and provides the anI y place for offerings, etc. In the east of the village and by the side of the nata a JIata- Dewala exists under a pipal tree. It is small one-room low-roofed struct urC which is visited by the people at the time of J a wara festival or when some epidemic breaks out in the village.

In its eastern portion, the village has an open spacc. There is a ilCCJlt tree and some distance away from it there is a young banyan tree and a raised earthen platform around it. In the evenings or at noon-time the people of the village assemble here for idle gossiping and smoking. Here one can meet a good cross-section of the village population and talk to the Kewats, I~awats, Brahmins and K urmis at one place. CHAPTER II

DEltfOGRAPHY

At the Census of 18~1, Bendri had a population of 160. At the next decennial count, a marked decrease was recorded when the population was found to be 131. Since then there has been the usual population growth except for a temporary decline at the Census of 1921. The population statistics are shown in the table below :

Year Persons Males Females

1891 160 Not available 1901 . , 131 Not available 1911 234 116 118 1921 174 Not available 1')? 1951 262 ~~ 140 1961 315 146 169

It would be seen from the above statement that there is a fall of 18 % or by 29 persons in the count of 1901. The inter-censal period, 1891-1901 was not in any way congenial for general growth of the popula­ tion. « A succession of bad seasons culminated in the first great famine of 1896-97, which was followed, after a s'ngle year's respite, by the widespread cala­ mity of 1899-1900. Epidemics of cholera prevailed in seven years out of the period and malarial fever was on several occasions unusually frequent and severe. These disasters, coming upon a weak and impoverished people reduced their number ...... • "I This may not be entirely due to this reason. A sudden period was again a period of reduced birth rate.~ rise of 103 in the population in the Census of 1911 at There was high infant-mortality. The bi'rth and least suggests that at this census the decrease might death rates for the country as a whole are shown be due to migration of the people in search of liveli­ below: hood and their return with the coming in of a better period. Because, even granting that during the Year Birth Death period 1901-1911, the population in the Province had Rate Rate grown by 17'9 % and in Chhattisgarh Plain it had grown by 23-3 % , a rise of 103 is far too great. Average year 40'8 In 1921, the popula:ion of the village came down to 174 (-60). The cause of th is decrease aga in 1895 33 seems to lie in th~ unfav-3urable time:; in the inter­ 1896 32 49 censal period 1911-1921. The Census Report of 1 1897 27 69 1921 describes that "the abrupt cessation of rains 1898 30 in September 1918, resulted in a failure of Kharif 1899 47 crops over the whole of Central Provinces and a wide­ 1900 32 56'7 spread scarcity was experienced. The monsoons again failed in 1920 resulting in a second scarcity in the whole Province. The year of 1918 was again a The Chhattisgarh plain was not left untouched by year of severe influenza epidemic which took a toll these various calamities which affected the whole of 6 % of the populahon of the Province. The in­ country. In his Settlement Report of Raipur District, fluenza and the scarcity may thus account for the Mr. Hemmingway records that "in the famine of 1897 popUlation decrease at the 1921 Census. the price of rice was more than double what it had been two years prev;ously and the distress was very In the next three decades, i. e. in 1921-1951, the grel.t."3 D~~rel.3e in the p)?!lhtion in the year growth in population was 88 persons whereas in the 1901 was a general feature and the Report of 1921 period 1951-61 th·s growth is seen to be a little Census record:; a statistical picture of this decrease. more than 20 % or 53 persons. Population has thus increased most in the inter-censal period 1951-61. Variation of population per cent4

Year Percent Fr:MAlC t1I\L£ C.P. and Berar 1872-1881 22'5 1881-1891 10'1 1891-1901 - 7'9 1901-1911 -17'9 1911-1921 - 0'3 Chhattisgarh Plain 1872-1881 39'6 1881-1891 17'] . 1891-1901 -10'2 1901-1911 20'3 1911-1921 ·3

Therefore, the fall recorded in the population of 30 this village in 1901 reflects the general picture prevail- ing in the country; but it appears that the decrease Since the beginning of the century (as per recorded popUlation) there has been a preponderance of females 1. Census of India, 1901, Vol. I, Pt. I, Report, over males in this village and in 1951 the proportion p.60. was 117 females per 100 mlle3. In 1931 Cell3us this 2. Ibid, p. 61. proportion stood at 113 females per 100 male:;. The 3. Fina.l R3p:Jrt on the Land Revenue Settlement of sex-wise distribution of popUlation in the different R3.ipur District, Hemmingway, p. 4. 4. Census of India., 19'

age-groups is shown in the preceding graph and table It is, of course, not safe to make any generalisa­ below: tions on the basis of study of only on~ village; the Staten~nt shJwjn~ th~ distribution of popula- population pattern of this village conforms to the tion in the different age-groups general pattern in rural Chhattisgarh.

Age-group Total Male Female The very obvious feature, viz. the preponderance Years of females over males is common to the whole of Chha­ 0-4 45 26 19 ttisgarh region and the reasons cannot probably be 5-9 49 23 26 correctly stated unless detailed biological and dietatic 10-11 23 11 17 investigations are carried out over a wide region. 15-19 17 5 12 Hybridization in a society also tenus to increase the 20-24 20 11 9 proportion of females in the population. Hybridization 2,,-29 26 12 14 has no doubt been very active in the Chhattisgarh areas. 30-34 24 U) 14 Nothing, of course, can b~ said at present and, pending 35-3) 22 14 8 these investigations, Shoobert'sl conclusion that 40-44 17 5 12 "with ccrtlin exceptions, in tllO;;e (Castes and Tribes) 45-19 16 10 6 whose memb5'i generally follow sedentary occupa­ 50-54 10 5 5 tions th~re is arl e:'(ce-;~ of mctle.,". The rCJSOCi obvi­ 55-59 3 2 1 ollsly is tInt in sllch C:lste, rlr,)m~n are u.,u:111y secluded GO-B·l 10 3 7 and do not get proper air and exercise. In this pre­ GS-Gl) 12 4 8 dominantly Kewat village the women are used to a 71) anll :lbove 14 6 8

~-----~--~--~ - great d(~al of ol1tdo()r life.

Statement showing the marital status of the population in different age-groups

~\farital Staius Ag,'-gronp r------__..A.. ___ ----, in Y"Jr Never married i\farrieu Widowed Separated ,--- ____-A. __~ , __-A. ___ , , __-A. __ , , __-A. __, Male Female Male Female i\J ale Female i\Iale Female ()--~ 26 19 5-9 22 25 1 10-14 ~) :3 2 9 15-19 1 4 12 20-24 II 9 25-29 12 13 1 30-34 10 13 1 35-39 13 8 1 40-44 5 9 3 45-49 9 4 2 1 50-54 4 2 1 2 55-59 2 1 60-64 3 2 5 65-69 4 2 6 70 and over 5 2 6 Total 58 52 85 87 24 3 3

I. Census of India, 1931, Vol. XU, Part I, Shoobert. pp. 152-153. Marital Status.-The marital status of the population of Bendri is shown in the table on the preceding page. A stuuy of thi~ table reveals two important features:

(1) Child-marriage is not unknown though not (2) The marri''age-age for boys and girls is 12-15 common. years.

Statement showin~ the size and composition of the households

Category Composi tion Brahmin Kurmi Rawat Kewat Panka Gorkha

Very Small 3 members and below 1 2 17 Small 4-6 members 1 1 20 1 :\Iedium 7-9 members 1 2 10 Big 10-12 members Very big 13 and over 1

Size of the Family.-As indicated in tIle table The Castes and Communities.-Bendri is a ahove most of the families in the village nre very small predominantly Kewat village and the Kewats live here or medium. There is only one family with over ten with members of five other rastes, viz. Brahmins, members; rest of the families being of medinm size. Knrmis, R:1\vats, Pankas and Gorkha. The Gorkha family came to this village as an employee of the then Literacy.-Notwithstanding tlle fact that Bendri proprietor and since there are only two members has no school and children have to go to Urla village, in that family and the period of stay has not been such 2 miles away, there has been considerable increase in as to be of any social importance, the Gorkhas have literacy in the last decade. In1951, 8 males and not been dealt with i 1 any detail in this Report. 2 female,; were returned as literates in the village; At the e 1l1rn~ration of 1981, the village popUlation whereas, in 1961, 30 males and 7 f""'lales returned stood af 315, whereas according to the present survey themselves as literates. In terms o •. _fcentage the 282 persons have been returned. The difference bet­ lignres ,tand as below : ween the census figures and the present survey figures ------is due to the fact that 12 families had migrated towards Percentage of lite­ the Bhilai Steel Project and were not counted in the racy in survey. r------~----, Males Females

1951 6'5 19G1 20'5 CHAPTER III

THE PEOPLE

The caste-wise population in this village is shown in the statement below:

Caste Total Males Females persons Kewat 234 113 121 Rawat 22 11 11 Brahmin 14 6 8 Kurmi 5 2 3 Panka 5 2 3 Gorkha 2 1 1 Total .. 282 135 147

Account of the castes in existing~_literature.­ Account of the different castes in this village avail­ ~ able inexistiiigliteratureis"_bclnggivenbelowand the castes have been described in the same order as in the table above. Kewat.-HewiW in his Settlement Report of 1869 has shown the Kewats as a land-owning caste and, in the then Tahsil of Raepore, one village is shown as owned by -a Kewat 1 proprietor. Sherring2 descri­ bes the Kewats as "fishermen and boatmen; occasion­ ally traders ~likewise" .

l. Report of the Land Revenue Settlement of the Raepore Di~trict, 1869, Hewitt, pp. 42-43.

2. Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, M. A. Sherring, 1879, p. 119. r· -..

BATHli'\G THE VILLAGE CATTLE

"

KEWAT BOYS FROM NAWADIH 11

Russell and Hiralal in "Tribes and Castes of the th3.t the Kewats "tell a story to the effect that their Central Provinces"l give a fairly detailed account of ancestors saved the deity in their boat on the occasion the caste and describe them as "a caste of fishermen, of the Deluge, and in return were given the power of chiefly found in the Chhattisgarh districts of Drug, catching three or four times as m3.ny fish as ordinary Raipur and Bilaspur". They further say that "in persons in the same space of time". Parching~gram the Central Provinces their two principal sub-divi­ and rice is also a traditiona;l occupation. It is said sions are the Laria and Uriya, or the residents of that the town of Bilaspur is namej after Bilasa Chhattigarh and Sambalpur Plains respectively". Kewatin, a woman of the Kewat caste. The further division of the Laria Kewats is Th3 Kewats of B.:ndri village belong to the Laria shown below and is based on the description given group, but in ad::lition to the gats w:lich Russell in the "Tribe:; and Castes of C. P.". has listed sam ~ mor~ gots ar ~ found among the LARIA KEWATS Kewats and at least four more Got names were (Residents of Chhatlisgark) discovered here. These gots are Sarpa (based on snake which is a totem), Budka]alia (old thrower of the fishing net), Kasturiha (musk), and Vinayak. I I . I Kosbonwa I Dhun The last got name dearly appears to be a recent Laria (growers of I (grain par­ acquisition by the caste. Neither the persons re­ Kosa or Binjhwars chers) porting it nor any elders could give out its significance cocoons) or the totem for the got. But they, however, The above four divisions a.re endogamous groups admitted that as compared to other got names, the and they are again sub-divided into a number of term V inayak, which refers to God Ganesh, is very exogamous septs named after plants or animals. much a modern on~ and speaks of the effect of Hindu These exogamous septs are called Got and the word religion. appe3.rs to be a corruption of the word Gotra. The Gats found amongst the Kewats are classified below: In physical appearan ce the Kewats are of dark ( (1) Yuma (gourd) complexion, though the wheat-colour complexion is Based. on plants,! (2) Karsayal (deer) not uncommon. They are of medium height and or ammals ., (3) Bkalwa (bear) well-built. The shape of the nose in this caste is very characteristic and reminds one of Gond features. Ghugku (owl) L4) It is so conspicuous that the Kewat can be sep3.rated ((5) Garhtod (destroyer of fort) out in more than 90% of cases from a Rawlt or a · 1 J(6) Jhagarha (quarrelsome) Kurmi. The study of ethnic affiliations of this caste TItu ar names .. (7) Dehri (priest) I would make a very interesting study, and till that US) Kala (black) is done, it cannot be said with any degree of exactitude ((9) Rawat (Rawat caste) as to which tribal stock these people belong to. Pen­ J (10) AMra (grazier) ding that investigation, Russell's observation that Base d on castes ""'I • • • I (11) Rautele (sub-dlVlslOn of Kol) "both the Kewats and Dhimars are almost certainly l(12) Sonwani (a primitive tribe) derived from the primitive tribes," 1 would hold Russell's description of the Kewat marriage is good and it is this affiliation that probably has given probably based on the cusbm'> prevalent among the to the Kewats the flat, broad nose. 'Kewats' of B-mgal d~cribed by Sir H. Risley in Rawats.-The Rawats (pronounced also as a his "Tribes and Castes of Bengal" and these customs Raut) have not been described as a separate caste differ in material detail from those i'1 vogue among the by Russell and Hiralal, but have been put under the K~wat5 of Chhattisgarh. The differences will be dealt Ahir caste. These authors' state: "Rawats, a cor­ with later on in the discu;:;ion about the Kewat ruption of Rajputra or a princeling is the name marriage. borne by the Ahir caste in Chhattisgarh." HewiW The original occupation-of the Kewats is consi­ dered by the caste to be fishing and RusselP says 1. Ibtd, p. 423. 2. Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces, Russell and 1. The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of Hiralal, Vol. II, p. 19. India, Russell and Hirala.l, Vol. II, 1916, pp. 422-426. 3. Report on the Land Revenue Settlement of the 2. Ibid, p. 425. • Raepore District, 1869, Hewitt, p. 33. 12

has also described the Rawats as Ahirs but the term settled here frum time immemorial, whereas the 'Riwat' does not find any mention in Hewitt's des­ Kano/ia have been regarded as comparatively recent cription and only the term 'Aheer' or 'Gairas' is used. settler,. Russell derives the terms Jharia or The 'Gairas' of Hewitt is apparently the same as Jhadia .from the words Jungle or jhar; 'kosaria' 'Gahra' of Russell and refers to the Ahir of Uria from 'Koshal', the ancient name of Chhattisgarh country_ Whether the term Rawat has come into country_ vogue after the report of Hewitt (1869) cannot by' All the above three divisions have certain exoga­ any means be ascertained now. At the present day, mous sections with titular or totemistic names. It the caste is known only by the name Rawat or Raut. is really difficult to get a Rawat now who can tell us Some of them hlVe also started calling themselves as the names of all such sections and since these exoga­ Yadu, Yadava and Yaduvanshis; but t.hese terms mous divisions or gots have not been compiled i 11 have nut yet entered the villages. any work so far, it is indeed difficult to say if there The Rawats axe divided into three endogamous arc only these divisions. The 22 divisions that follow divisions known as Jharia, Kosaria and Kalto/ia. have been compiled after enquiry in this and oiher H-.:witt believe) the Jharia and J(osar£a to have vill

• •

•

I RAW4T'S LATHI WITH tHE DEERI "tAO ~. leU.Il' 5.00ATS HEAD 4 DfERS HEAD 5. ORDINARY LATH. 6 a 1. THE TWIN AND THI LONG FLUTrS OJ: TN' RAWATS ,. 13

(1) Amada!i (mango-branch) shops, etc. This description does not pertain to r" (2) Karsayal (dei:r) villag_; Bendri since there are no Kanoiias there. (3) Nag (snake) " Brahmins.-There ar~ three Brahmin families in _ Based on plants) (4) Sarpa (snake." the village and all the three belong to the class known and animalSlI (S) Baghwa (tiger) as Chhattisgarhi Brahmin. The Chhattisgarhi (6) Kamal (lotus) Brahmins are old immigrants into Chhattisgarh and (7) Ncwra (mangoose) they have adopted the Chhattisgarhi dialect and the (8) Bhodee (snake-hole) women have adopted the Chhattisgarhi dress in the r (9? Nayak sense that they do not umally w~ar a blouse or "Rased on castes~ (lOi Choudhary choU and the sari is worn slightly high, i.e. just I (11) Raut below the knees. The Chhattisgarhi sari is put l (12) SOlZwani on in a different fashion altogether. Because the (13) Katari (dagger) Chhattisgarhi Brahmins have long settled here, r(14) Besara their connection with the land of their origin is broken I (15) Gurbhelia (lump of gUY) and now they are an endogamous division of the' (16) Farsi (axe) Brahmins and do not marry out. Titular names (17) Sendur (vermilion) (18) CMachan Regarding Chhattisgarhi Brahmins, Hewitt says iI (19) Bakchoria that they are "residents of long standing in the (20) Jhounka district, whose families, as tradition asserts, were KanJj (21) Tekan brought from by Kullian Sen, the great Hyhybunsee Raja in the sixteenth century. These Il (22) Pahl'i Chhattisgarhi Brahmin<; are regarded as impure by Out of these, the three Rawat families of Bendri their brethren who have more recently left the land belong to the Jharia division and Karsayal Got. of orthodoxy and they are 'aid, I believe with truth, TllCir totem animal is the deer, which they refrain to be exceedingly: mmoral, but they make good land­ from killing ,mel revere as an eleler brother. lords and are not unpopular with their ryots." The following description of Chhattisgarhi Brahmins The Rawats of Chhattisgarh are a fine sturdy. Jccurs in the District Gazetteer of Bilaspur District: looking people. They are the occupational caste ot 'The Brahmins of Chhattisgarh belong to the kano jia 'gr;tziers' and those Rawat-; who continue this pro­ and sarwaria groups of Northern India. They say fession, as well as the Raw

Kurmi.-Kurmi3 are a r2preS~:1tative cultivat­ "The Kurmis and Kunbis ar.: in reality one class ing caste and are found in fairly large numbers in the of people and yet are 'known in various parts of the area around Dharsiwa. The etymological origin of country by these separate designations and under the word 'Kurmi' is not known. The Kurmis have in them are subdivided into numerous tribes, some of recent years shown great enlightenment and have which,do not inter-marry. They are very industrious one representative from here in the Vidhan Sabha. and persevering, commonly thrHty and frugal and Many of them have also become highly educated. living in the enjoyment of health and much social comfort."l The following extract about the Kurmis is taken frum the "Report on the Land Revenue Settlement Sherring then describes the divisions of Kurmis of the Raepore District, 1869" by Hewitt and is given and in it we find 4 divisions described as Chhattisgarh here in detail because it happens to be probably the and Raipur Kurmis. These divisions are: first description of the caste : "1. Kanojiya Kurmis-These are in Chhattis­ "The Koormees have next to the Chamars the garh and keep themselves aloof from other tribes. most strongly marked characteristics of all the in­ habitants of the district. They are indisputably the 2. ChandnehuKurmis-A tribe which immigrat­ be3t and the m::>3t enterprising cultivators; are ex­ ed into Chhattisgarh two or three hundred years ceedingly frugal and thrifty in their habits, make ago. They do not inter-marry with other Kurmis. money rapidly, and have indomitable perseverence. 6. Desaha K urmis-A tribe in Chhattisgarh. They do not appear to have been very long settled in 7. The Kurmis of Raepore-Consisting of six Raepore, as I have found no family who claim to have principal clans: been in the country for more than seven generations or about 200 years. They are divided into four (i) Monohas.-The most numerous and principal Gots who do not inter-marry or eat to­ enterpri~ing; found chiefly in the gether, called Monoha Churnao, Durreria and Simgah Tahsil. Singrowl, and all say that they first came here from (ii) The Charnaos .-Settled in the centre Bundelk and." Hewitt, in the next paragraph of of the district in the Patan pargannah his report describes the Koormee Gots and says: and in the east of Raepore, "Of the four Gots, the Monoha are the most num­ the south-west of erous and most enterprising and their thrift is prover­ (iii) The Darrerias.-In bial throughout the district. They are found chiefly Droog and in Dhumturry. An inferior class. in the south of the Simgah Tahseel, where they hold large number of villages. The Churnao Koormees (iv) Singrowls.-In the villages of Nawa­ are settled principally in the centre of the district in garh, to the north-west of the Simgah the Patan p2rgannah of the Doorg Tahseel and in Tahsil. the east of that of Raepore.",,, .".1 These Kurmis have been in Raipur for seven Reverend Sherring in his "Hindu Tribes and generations or about two hundred years. Castes" describes the Tribes and Castes of the Central (v) Tirole. Provinces and Berar and in the introductory portion (vi) Chan,darya." of the Chapter makes the following reference : Russell has given a very detailed description "The agricultural castes together form a very oi the Kmtmi caste in his "Tribes and Castes" and numerous community. Some of the chief of these a reference may be made to that excellent work for are Kunbis or Kurmis, Telis, Lodhis, Chamars, Koris, details. Uriyas and, of course, many of the Rajpoots. The most important of these castes as cultivators are the The two Kurttni households in this village belong Kurmis, who are the backbone of agriculture."z to Tirola or Tirole sub-caste which sub-caste, accor-d­ ing to Russell, has 10 sections. The Kurmis here say In his description of the caste, Sherring gives the following details: that they belong to Bhardwaj gotra and according to them the other gotras in the Tirolesare Mankhede, 1. Land Revenue Settlement of the Raepore District Kaktk and Dote. None of these terms are Chutteesagarh Division, Hewitt, 1869, p. 32. ' 2. Hindu Tribes and Castes, Sherring, 1879, p. 87. 1. Ibid, pp. 100-101. 15 found in the ten sections given by Russell. But in origin. The rhyme is : an earlier portion of his description of this caste, "Pani se Panka bhaye, bundan rache sharir, Russell says, "Each sub-caste has a number of Age age Panka bhaye, pachhe Das Kabir." exogamous divisions and these present a large variety of all types. Some groups have the names of Brahmin This rhyme when rendered would be 'the Panka saints as Sandil, Bhardwaj, Kaushik and Kashyap." indeed is born of water and his body is made of drops The origin of Bhardwaj gotra can thus be found of water, but there were Pankas before KabiL!" "The here but terms Hke Mankhede, Kakde:~and Dote derivation which is, of course, fanciful, appears to are not found in books and the two families here refer to the story of Kabir having been found as a are not able to give any explanation, for them. baby floating in a lotus-leaf on a tank. The saying may be supposed to indicate obscurely that prior Ramdin Kurmi, who is about 70 years old, stated to the rise of Kabir, the Pankas were Hindus of low that his fore fathers originally came from Delhi and caste."2 settled in Chhindwara. :FrO'm there they migrated Origin of the word 'Ganda' is obscure and inquiries to Nagpur and then came to Chhattisgarh. That in various villages of this region have not borne any is how, he said, the women used to wear choU (the fruit. Describing the 'Gandas', HtwiU says, "The rather short blouse as worn in Mahara!:htra) but Gandas, otherwise called Pankas, form that portion no such custom is prevalent now nor has Rarndin of the weaver caste who have accepted the Kubeer­ seen even his mother wearing it. This is, he said, puntee doctrines. Though they cultivate the land, due to contact with the customs of Chhatti~gaJh. they are not generally esteemed as cultivators, while Reference to the relevant literature does not support the few villages they hold as landholders are misela ble the assertions of Ramdin. According to this,l the in the extreme."3 Kunbis entered Khandesh fromGujeratin the eleventh Sherring4 describes the Panka as "properly century and from Khandesh they entered Berar and weavers, but although many ~till adhere to their adjoining areas in Nagpur and Wardha. Kurmis hereditary vocation, the majority of them have and Kunbis are probably the same caste seWEd in abandoned it for agriculture. They are a quiet and different regions and "where the Kurmis and Kunbis industrious people and in religion belong to the sect m~et the castes sometimes amalgamate and there of Kabir-panthis. They avoid the use of spirit is little doubt that various groups of Kurmis settling and meat, do not marry their children until they in the Maratha country have become Kunbis and have reached maturity and bury their dead. The Kunbis migrating to northern India have become Pankas make bad cultivators, and the vill2ges of I{UI'm,is."2 In the background of this authority, which they are proprietors are miserable in the extrmne. R1.m1in's asse rtions that his forefathers came from The Gandas are said to be an offshoQt of the Pankas." l}el4i dqes not appear to be based on facts. Russells has given a more detailed description of the caste. According to him the "Pankas form Panka.-There is one Panka family in the village, a separate division of the Gandas consisting of that of the village watchman. The Pankas follow those who have become meimbers of Kabir­ Kabirpanth, i.e. the sect of Kabir and now regard panthi sect". It is very difficult indeed to inves­ themselves as the highest caste below the Brahmin. tigate into the ethnic affiliation of the Pankas Their claim does not get any support in religious and (and the Gandas), because in the latter caste social literature where they are classed as Gonds quite a substantial amount of hybridizaiien las which is a verylowcaste. May be the assertion of being taken place. Neither of the castes preserve any a very high caste is an attempt of the Pankas to feature which may help in this inquiry; but both disown their connection with the 'Gandas' and ri~e in the social hierarchy. 1. The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, Russell and Hiralal. Vol. IV, p. 325. The etymological origin of the word Panka appears 2. Bilaspur District Gazetteer. to be from two words Pani-ka which means 'from 3. Report on the Land Revenue Settlement of the water'. There is a small rhyme which suggests this Raepore District, Hewitt, 1869, p. 34. 4. The Hindu Tribes al;ld Castes, Vol. II, Sherring, 1. Tribes and Castes. Russell and Hiralal, p. 17. 1879, p. 109. S. The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, p. 2. Ibid, 56. Russell and Hiralal, Vol. IV, 1916, pp. 324-329. 16 are being regarded as aboriginal people. The Census ground of this attempt towards pretentic us ,;ecia1 Report of 1931 contains the following reference: superiority, it becomes a little difficult to arri\'e at a scale of caste-hierarchy and caste-precedEnce. This "The Gandas and Pankas, aboriginal people who difficulty has to be faced in this village also where Inn L»t th'3ir id'3ntity and are not included in there are only five castes (excluding the Gorkha the list of primitive tribes, are regarded as un family}. touchable almost throughout the Province."1 There is only one Panka family in {I.e The Pankas do not find a place in the list of scheduL village, that of the village watchman (Kolte ar) ed castes of the Province. The Gandas, however, are Adhardas. In Raipur District the office 0·£ village scheduled in Chhindwata, Seoni, Betul, Jabalpur watchman is held by members of Ganda caste in Sagar, Daunoh, Mandla, Hoshangabad, Narsingpur Bindranawagarh, Mahasamund and Dhamtari Tahsils Nimar, Balaghat, Bilaspur, Durg, Bastar, Surguja: and by Pankas in Raipur and Baloda-bazar Raigarh and Raipur Districts. Tahsils. Melnbers of other castes make it to be a profession exclusively for these low-castes. The Pankas are divided into Ka,birhas and Saktahas. According to Russell!, "Pankas arc a separate The Saktahas worship some of the Hindu deities but division of the Gandas and consist of those of the the Kabirhas refrain from doing so. Other sub­ Gandas who have become members of Kabir-panthi iivisions are M anikpurias whose ancestors are believed sect. The Pankas have long been successful in to have come from Manikpur in Darbhanga State; disowning their connection with Gandas, but now the Eajonia who play on musical instruments and they have also started regarding theunselves higher Dom Pankas who are a section of the 'Dom' caste to other castes of Chhattisgarh. In this village become Pankas. the Kotwar Adhardas Panka regards his caste to The one Pankas in this village is a Kabirha be lower only to the Brahmin and higher to ·all Panka and calls himself Manikpuria. The chauka other castes. of the Pankas is described under the section of This tendency of false social-elevation is reflected religion later in this survey. in the following table based on the survey made in The Pankas are usually not an enterprising caste and th:ilS village and shows the Kurmis regarding Rawais "they are somewhat poorly esteemed by their neigh as lower while the Rawats believe the KUlmis to be . bours who say of thelIn, "Where a Panka can get lower: a little boiled rice and pumpkin, he will stay for

ever", {meaning that he is satisfied with this and will Cast~ Higher caste Lower cas1 e not work to get more. Another saying is, "The Panka felt brave and thought he would go to war, but he set out to fight a frog and was bEatm," Similarly Brahmin Rawat another saying is, "Every man tells one lie a day Kewat but the Ahir tells sixteen, the Chamar twenty and th Kurmi lies of the Pankas cannot be counted,"

Caste precedence and social contolJrs.- A Kurmi Brahmin Rawat everywhere else in rural India, caste divisions deterp Kewat ~ine alrsocial relations in this village alEDo Forsome Panka tIme past there is a growing tendency in some of the Rawat Brahmin Kurmi castes in Chhattisgarh towards social elevation Kewat eithe: ~y changing their caste-names, or by putting a Panka restnctJ~n on taking food with other castes or by ~~ando?mg some occupations. For example, the Kewat Brahmin, Kurmi Rawat Janda caste has started calling itself Devdas Chhetrapal and Dongi-Chauhan and the K : Panka Brahmin Rawat 11' urm} Kewat c:~ .lUg themselves as Verma; the Kanojia Rawats Kurmi gIVing up w::lrking as househoLd servants. In the back

1. The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, 1. Census of India, 1931, Vol. I, Pt. III., p, 69. Russell and Hiralal, Vol. IV, pp. 324-325. 17

But whatever the Pankas may regard themselves this alone not prove the caste-superiority of the to be, no other caste in the village would take water Rawats? The Kewats and Rawats assembled at from them and the Panka fully reciprocates the the time of enquiry were not willing to budge an courtesy. inch from their position on the issue and a statement The Brahmins are inrtispnta bly the highest caste that the Kewats are higher, brought acclaim from 30-40 in the Hindu social hierarchy and are being regarded Kewats assembled, whereas the statement that as such in thi's village also. Since no caste has any Rawats are superior brought smiles on the face of the objection in taking water from the hands of a mem­ two Rawats: ber of the Brahmin caste and since all the castes would take -kacha food at the Brahmins' place, the pJsition of th,; Brahmins is admitted. The Rawats and Kewats have n)thing to object regarding the Kurmis and are willing to place them below the Ca ,te/s in the vil­ Ca ;tc/; in vil­ Brahmins. Though the Brahmins do not take water lage from which it lage from which from th,; lnnds of a Kurmi, the Kurmis are definitely Caste will take pacca food it will ;'ccept higher than the Rawats from whom the Brahmins like sweeL, dry fried, kacha food CfJana etc. like boiled rice. take water. RusselJ and HiJjalaP dealing with the social gradation of castes divide the cast(s below the Brahmins into three categories; (i) the higher agricultural castes, (ii) higher artisan castes, and (iii) serving castes. The Kurmis definitely belong to the higher agricultural castes and the Rawats Brahmin.. Rawat, Kewat, None belong to the serving castes. In this village the Kunni Kunni will take pacca food only with a Brahmin, whereas a Rawat takes pacca food with Brahmin, Rawat Brahmin, Kewat, Brahmin Kewat and Kurmi and a Kewat takes pacca food Kurmi with Brahmin and Rawat. Secondly. the Kurmis regard only the Brahmins as higher castes and thereby the rites and customs of the Kurmis are Kurmi .• Brahmin Enll1nin more advanced; e.g. in marraige they employ a priest and use the sacred-post, known as the Kham. It Kewat Brahmin and Rawat. Brahmin is also likely that the Kurmis may have descended from a section of the Raj puts. All this helps to Panka None .. None determine the place of the Kurmis in the social hierarchy. Gorkha ., Brahmi 1 an j Rawat The difficulty lies in determining the relative p)sition of the Kewats and the Rawats in the caste­ hierarchy, because the Kewats are unwilling to accept th3 Rnvats as their superiors whereas the Rawats are equally strong in their opposition to Kewats' A study of the castes in this area, not in ... ny superiority in the scale. way con,nected with the present survey, indicates that th~ Rl.wats and Kewats are on the same level The statement alongsided and the statement in the preceding page show that the Rawats regard and the fact of Brahmins and others taking water Kewats as lower to them and the Kewats regard the from the hands of Rawats does not confirm a higher RalVats as lOWer to th~m. A q llestion was pllt to them status to that caste. for consideration. Even a Brahmin takes water from the hand of a Raw-at but not from Kewat. Should On the basis of this discussion these castes of this village or, for that matter, in this region, can 1. The Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces, Russell and Hiralal, 1916, Vol. I, p. 30. be arranged in the following order: Brahmins, I Kurmis ,I I l{awats-Kewats I I Panka

This scheme of~caste-hierarchy also receives sup­ port by the facts of salutations amongst different c].stes and the m3.nner in which the different caste­ members show respect towards each other. The Brahmin is greeted with pailagi (I touch your feet), the Rawats, Kewats and Pankas would greet a Kurmi with the words Jai Ramji ki (Hail to Ram), whereas between a Kewat and a Rawat the form of greeting is Ram Ram. According to the villagers of Bendri, the caste system is ordained by God and as such it cannot be destroyed. They say that.the people in the town do not appear to follow caste-system and do not observe formalities in regard to taking of food and this is the cause of ruin of the societies in the towns. They said, for example, that everybody takes food in the hotels where it is cooked by people from low castes. They also said that people in the towns do not observe the formalities of dresses and even the Brahmins Pllt on p:zi.iamas a.nd dresses alien to the cast~. CHAPTER IV

DRESS AND ORNAMENTS

Dress.-More and more urban contacts (urbani­ zation) bring about a laxity in the customs and tradi­ tions-both in the economic and in the social field. The laxity is, however, more marked in the social field. There is a decay of traditional occupations, religion and dress and newer and alien ways of life are adopted. Village Bendri, in very close proximity of Raipur, is no exception to this lag in traditions. The change here is slow, but still conspicuous.

Kewat.-The Kewat males ordinarily wear bandi (jacket) and panchha or patuka (smaller size of dnoti). Some Kewat males also use ready­ made mill banyans. Shirt is used when going out or when the work is over and they sit together for gossiping, etc. No special dress is prescribed for festive days but usually the clothes worn are all new. In marriage, the bridegroom wears kurta, dhoti, sa/a, (turban) :and maur and the bride puts on lugda, polka (blouse), maur and chappal.

Rawat.-Rawats have a distinctive wear in the jacket (bandi) which is usually of a black colour or some other gaudy cloth. During festivals, they put on red or yellow satin bandi. Bandi can ordinarily be worn over a kurta or shirt or usually alone. Kurta or shirt is worn when going out. The lower garments consist of dhoti which is worn up to knees The 20 dhoti is not worn on usual days, but only wh~n going one, an d not as ellborately prepared as that of the out to market. On average days, a smaller piece bridegroom. known as panchha is worn. This is put on for the Kurmi.-The Kurmi male uses shirt and the sake of convenie1.ce as well as from the point of view un:1er-garment knJwn as salaoka and dhoti. of economy. Ramiin Kurmi of Bendri uses Gandhi Cap as the h:ndgear. The female3 use lugda. The Kurmi An ordinary cloth turban, which is called paga, is females in Bendrl do not wear polka or blouse ordi­ put on by the Rawats; but this also is not an usual narily except during marriage. wear now. Panka.-There is only one Panka family, that The shoes are country-made. The usual village­ of th~ vlllage Katwar. The mlle garments are made shoe is called bhadai. It is cheaper and more kurta and shirt and dhoti and the female wears lasting. lugda and blouse. At festivals, Kotwar Adhardas puts on coat and puts a safa (turban) on. The female3 wear lugda which i., six-yards long and handloom made. Now, handloom lugdas have been Durins marriage, the Panka bridegroom puts on a substituted by mill dhotis. '! Lugda is the Chhattis­ gown which is known as anga. The anga of the Panka is garhi word for sari. Blouse is used by females when smaller in size than the jama of the Brahmin and can they go to Raipur or on festive occasions. On usual be made out of 3 yards of cloth as against 6 yards days, blouse i, not worn. Country-mlde chlppals, used in Brahmin's jama. Turban and mour is known as akataria, are kept for wearing when going also used by bridegroom. The bride put;; on sari, out to market or out of _the village. blouse, mouri (headgear) and chappal. The use of colouring the bridegroom's and bride's No special dres:; is "put on during festivals except dress with turmeric or yellow colour is prohibited in that new clothes ar~ used. During the dancing Pankn. The prescribed marriage-dre3s must be of period, of course, the Rawats put on a very special white cloth. dress. They put on the gaudy satin bandi with belts of cowries on chest, wri3ts and should.::rs and Further observations on dress.-It is noticed peacock feathers fixed in these belts. that mill-cloth has to a very great extent be::n substi­ tuted for hand loom cloth in thi3 village. The garments Brahmin.-The Brahmins have no distinctive of the mIles are practically all those of milI-cbth dress. They are the ex-proprietors and the clothes except the panchha and patuka. The shirt, kurta, they wear are got from Raipur. Usualgarment3 of the salaoka and bandi are all purchased readymade at male are th2 shirt,dhoti or trousers and shoes or chappals Raipur. Among the females, handloom lugda (sari) The females wear sari and blouse. Boys put on shirt is still quite comm~n. The size of sari in rural areas and half-pant or dhati and the girls wear saris. Frocks here is usually 6 yards and not five yards as are in are worn by children. use by women in urban areas. Polka or blouse is not generally used while working at home. The females always keep a kosa sari at home. This is supposed to be pure and is worn during cook­ An old ChhaUisgarhi proverb say;, "What will ing food and at pooJa ceremonies. Widows wear the washerman do in .a village where the people live white saris. There is no special dress prescribed for naked." This saying is no longer true. Previously f ~stivals. At Diwali festival new clothes are made and a cloth round the loins used to be the only item of put on. clothing of the men in the villages. Now the people have started wearing bigger size of cloth and use of During marriage, the bridegroom puts on a cotton dhoti has also become quite common. Shirts are gown called ] ama which is coloured yellow with tur­ also being used. The women previously uied to meric, and a new dhoti. For headgear, safa (turban) wear the sari of 8 to 12 yards' length and no blouse a'1d maur are u ,ed The gown and dhoti and turban was used. The sari used to envelop the person are col )ured yellow with turmeric, this being regarded in one fold from the waist to below the knee, hanging as auspicious. The mour· is made of Chhind leaves somewhat loosely and it also used to cover the upper and is got rea ;ymade from Raipur. The bride puts portion of the body. Now the length of sari has on a costly sari and blouse and her m ;ur is a smaller come down to 6 yards and the reaSOn \nr;idently is 21

ORNAMENTS

a:

Khinwd.. K hooti

500td

Choo.,..a Chutki 22

the cost. The use of blouse has also become quite are obtained from Raipur. The fact of these gold common and in this village the women invariably use khinwa and khutee speaks of the prosperity of the it when going out. Rawats and urban influences also because usually these ornaments are made of lac and the women Though modern designs of shoes have come in in the interior villages use khinwa and khuti made and factory-made shoes are not uncommon, the of lac. Hamel and soota are the silver ornaments bhadai shoes are stlU used in good numbers. Bhadais for neck. Hamel is a necklace consisting of old are country-made shoes and cost about Rs. 3 to silver coins interlaced with the help of thread. Soota Rs. 4 per pair. Sometimes in the shoe-sole, seeds or sutia is solid silver neck-band. For the wrist of sirsa (albizzia lebbek) or tamarind (tama,indus kada made of silver is used. 1'ndica) tree are put within two layers of leather. This arrangement gives a peculiar sound while Brahmins.-Kardhan (silver wai~t-band) and walking. Bhadai shoes are said to be of greater tabiz (amulet) of gold, both purchased from the comfort in long walks over rough roads. goldsmiths of Raipur are the only ornaments worn The country-made sandals for females known as by the males in the two Brahmin families. aktaria are still quite common. A pair of these costs about Rs. 2. The aktaria does not have Brahmin women use more ornaments than women a high sole and the reason is that high sole is not of other castes in the village. The ornaments of the very comfortable in long walks or during work. ear are made of gold, and are purchased from Raipur. They are designed by town goldsmiths and are of the Ornaments.-The women do not usually wear type of modem ornaments. Ear ornaments in use ornaments on the head. The ears are bored at the are the jhumka and ear-tops. The nose-wear is top and through the lobe. In the upper ear-bore, tutti. I t is also made of gold. Ornaments of the small rings are worn and in the lobe-bore large ear­ wrist in use are kada (wrist-bands) and pata (beat­ rings known as khinwa are used. The latter appear to en wrist-bands). Bichhia (toe-rings) are worn be more popular in this village. Nose-rings are not by Brahmin females. Pair-Patti, silver ornaments, popUlar, but in the nose-bore a small piece known as are used for leg-wear. tulli is worn. Among the men silver bracelet or kada and the amulet are the only pieces of ornaments. Kurmi.-There are two Kurmi families in the Kewat.-Ornaments are worn by males in about village, one consisting of a 70 years old male and 25 % of the Kewat families. In the rest, the males 65 years old female and the other family consisting do not wear any ornament. The commonest type of of a widow of 40 years of age. Because of this old ornaments Worn by Kewat males is gold or silver age and widowhOOd, the Kurmis of this Village do not amulet (tabiz). Silver choora (round wrist-band), wear any ornaments. The widow wears only silver silver kardhan (waist-band) and gold ear-rings are IPata (or beaten silver wrist-bands). the other ornaments worn by Kewat males. Panka.-Panka male Adhardas does not wear any Kewat women in the village use all the ornaments ornament. The Panka woman uses the largest number used by women of other castes, i.e. soota, hamel, of ornaments. All the ornaments have been des­ khinwa. khooti, kada, pata, kardhan, amulet cribed in connection with other castes. (tabiz). tulli, bichhia and chulki-chura, etc. In addition to these ornaments, the following other General.-The amulet (tabiz) appears to be the ornaments are also used by Kewat females in the commonest wear among males and is in use both by village. N agmori or the serpentine silver ornament grown-ups and children alike. Women also wear is worn on arm above the elbow. Haraiya is the hol­ this tabiz which is made of silver and is of rectangular low ornament worn on the wrist. shape. The tabiz is worn just as a piece of ornament Rawat.-Arnong the Rawats, ornaments do not and does not have any spiritual significance. Asked seem to be popular among the males and the only as to why it is then worn, one Rawat woman had piece of jewellery worn by Rawat males is the amulet said, "What to say of the number of ornaments worn (tabiz) made either of gold or silver. by a woman. Even Shambhooji gets defeated in adorning a woman." (" Douki man k~ jewar ke bat The Rawat women use khutee and khinwa ka kahibe. ] atika hey tateke thod hohi. Shambhooji for the ear. These ornaments are golden ones and ehi ma to hare he.") 23

Kada Nagmori andPata

ORNAMENTS OF HAND AND FOOT

Bichhiya and chutki Pairi 24

•• •••..+ ..: .f!:.. DESIGNS OF' TATT0011'1(C ·0...\

Tattooing.-Tattooing appears to be a common marks, it was difficult to make out a Hindu woman item of body-care. It is got done by the women of from a Muslim and to create this difference the prac­ all castes and by married and unmarried women tice of tattooing was started. alike. Tattooing of bodies is now being discarded by the Brahmins and Kurmis also do not look upon it with approval, but other castes still approve of it. Both the married and unmarried females get themselves tattooed but there are different des:gns on Tattooing is done by female members of the their bodies and some designs can only be got done by wandering Dewar caste who go about from place to married women. Before getting herself tattooed, place for this purpose. In this village it is believed a married woman first gets an unmarried girl tattooed that tattooing has come to be practised from the and pays the charge for it herself. This is known as Mughal Times when the Muslims used to abduct godan-dan. After the godan-dan the married Hindu women. Since there were no differentiating woman gets herself tattooed. DESIGNS OF TATTOOING

t 6 ~

/ 1. BHURS[, 2. PUROUN!. 3. MUTAKI.

: . •.._, . ••• 00·•••

" 25

Different designs in use are given here: for a married woman is pat a which is a silver For unmarried girls : ornament worn on the wrist. It is prohibited Mutaki.-One dot at the chin below the lips. for an unmarried girl. Vermilion placed in the Puroun(-One dot above the nose. hair-parting is, of course, a . sign of marfiage for a Bhvorsi or Bhoorsi-dakshina,-One dot above each woman allover these regions. The widows cannot eye-brow. wear bangles. An unmarried girl cannot get herself tattooed in The villagers differentiab the differen,t designs of any other part of the body except these. A married tattoos on unmarried girls' body; but they do not know woman can, however, get herself tattooed in the the terms for the various designs tattooed on the per­ wrist, arm, shoulder or leg. son of a married woman except the sita chouk. They say that the professional tattooers may be able The different designs of tattooing have been shown to give the terms for these different designs. in the accompanying diagrammatic sketches. Tattoo­ ing serves the purpose of both body decoration and Tattoos are sometimes made on the bodies of young as a distinguishing sign between a married and un­ children also. A female child hardly a year old had married woman. The other distinguishing ornament the bhursi-mutki-pu,ouni de3ign on her face. CHAPTER V

THE SOCIAL S1'RUCTURE

The family.-Families in the village are patrili­ neal and patrilocal and they present unilateral social groups consisting of the parents and their married sons and/or unmarried sons and daughters. A study of families of the predominant caste shows that the joint family system is still intact. The results of this study have been shown in the table (p. 28) but no typology is being offered.

As the table at page 9 of this Report would show, the usual size of a family is from very small to m~dium. The family property in a formal sense belongs to the man who is the head of the family. In the event of the death of the accepted head 'of the family, a rite known as Pagbandhi is held and the family, with the approvalofthecaste, 'elects' another head of the family. The women exclusively own all properly which they receive as a gift from their parents and when they run away or desert the husband, they take these ornaments with them and the husband has no claim over the~e.

The land and oth~r property are shared equally amongst the sons with the eldest one getting a little more than others. This greater share in the property which the eldest son gets by virtue of his being the eld­ est is known as Jethai. When a m'ln has no sons, his brothers share the property after his death; and when he has no brothers, the near relatives who preform the last rites share the property. 28

Description of the Family Brahmin Kunni Rawat Kewat Parika Gorkha

1. Husband and wife with unmarried issue or issues 1 1 14 2. Only husband and wife without any issue 1 4 1

3. Single-member family, widows living alone .. .~. 2 4. HUiSband/wife living with'married son or sons 2 12 5. Husband and wife living with married sonls and 1 9 1 their issues. 6. Husband and wife living with grandmother 1 7. Husband or wife living with daughter's issues 1 2 8. Husband and wife with husband's brother's 1 children. 9. Mother-in-law and/or father-in-law living with .. 1 3 son's-in-Iaw family. Total Families ... 3 2 3 48 1 1

Husband-wife relationship.-Customarily the .Father-in-law and daughter-in-law rela­ husband is regarded as superior to the wife. Polygamy tlonship.-A man and his daughter-in-law generally is permitted in the Kewat, Panka and Rawat castes avoid meeting each other and if the father-in-law is and in the village 4 Kewats have two wives each. met on the road, the daughter-in-law turns her face Both the wives may be married or one may be and keeps standing till he passes by. married and the other kept after choori ceremony. Some kinship terms used in the villages The husbands usually show great kindness towards the wives. Cases where a man beats his wife are Relationship Kinship T,rms extremely rare. Even when the wife is suspected Father Dada Or accused of immorality, the husband will give her many warnings before breaking away with her. Mother Dai Cases where separation has occuned are usually those Father's father Baba of the wife leaving the husband and cases where the Father's mother Budhi Dai husband leaves the wife are very very rare. Father's sister Pulu Dai Parent-child relationship.-The relations bet­ ween parents and children are extremely cordial and Father's sister's husband Pula loving. In the whole of Chhattisgarh region, the Mother's mother Mama Dai love that is given to the children is exemplary. A Mother's sister (elder) Bade Dai child is rarely beaten and if somebody beats a child, the entire locality will turn out and prevent it, Mother's sister (younger) Mousi sccld and ridicule the parent beating. The parents Mother's sister's (elder) husband .. Bade Dada take a very lenient attitude towards such habits of Mother's sister's (younger)husband Mousa the;r ~'J.i!dren as starting smoking at an early age or using vulgar language. Father's brother (elder) Bade Bap, Bade Kaka Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relation­ Father's brother (younger) Kaka ship.-Usually the relationship is cordial. Mothers­ in-law who become fairly old simply sit at home and Sister's son Bhaltcha keep the children whereas the daughter-in-law goes to Brother's son Bhatija work. In cases where the mother-in-law is physically fit Natni to work, she shares the work with the daughter-in-law. Daughter's daughter Quarrels ::l.re rare. Son's son " Nati 29

Son's wife .• Baku foods nor are any foods prohibited. A woman in Husband .. Douka advanced pregnancy is given whatever she desires to eat. A special celebration known as Wife Douki Sidhori takes place in which friends and relatives Bridegroom Dulka Douka of the household are invited for a feast. In the feast Bride Dulki Douki all kinds of delicacies are prepared and the expectant Head of the family.-The eldest male member of mother is given all these to eat. Sidhori has a twofold the household is usually regarded as the head of the ~ignificance. One is to let the pregnancy be known family. On him falls the entire burden of running and the second explanation is that if the mother the family and arranging marriages, etc. The family does not get the food she desires during pregnancy, also takes its name after the head, e.g. Raru's family the child will long for it all through life. or Shiv's family and SQ on. The head is called the In the Bilaspur District Gazetteer the following M ukhia of the house. Respect for the elders is description occurs: "The word Sidhori comes from still intact in this village. the word Sidhor which signifies the 'craving of a The daily life of vill,,\gers usually runs a monoto­ pregnant woman' and the food is supposed to satisfy nous course. The various life-cycle rituals bring this."l Description of the custom is not found in about a break in this monotony. The birth and the Raipur District Gazetteer. Russell has described marriage rituals are participated by all members ofthe the custom of SadhrJ"uri in his description of the caste. In the case of a death in the village the whole 'Ahirs' (Rawats) but the custom is found to be village becomes one. followed by all castes in this village. The birth of Life-cycle ritua1s.-The life-cycle of individuals a male child is of course an occasion of greater joy in India ordains a number of rituals from birth to but nobody becomes disappointed if a female child death. The rituals differ from caste to caste. The is born. A male child is referred to as baboo and the Ii fe-cycle rituals as they are found in the five castes of female child as ,zoni. Birth custems follewed by this village are described here. different castes are described here separately. There are no rites or ceremonies attendant on a Kewat.-Birth customs of the Kewats are not girl attaining the age of puberty. When asked about described by Russell and Hiralal in their description this matter, a girl of 13 to 16 is usually referred to as of this caste. The relatives usually called at the time Bane samajhdar 1.0 ge he (has begun to understand of delivery are the mother of the woman, her elder well,. The phrase used is clearly an expression that sister, brothers and husband's sister. The delivery signifies that the girl has attained puberty. The takes place either at the father's house or at husband's. corresponding reference to males is Bane mechha There is no separate house fer this. The mother or age he (moustaches have appeared). mother-in-law, as the case may be, assists the village midwife, meM'ai1t, in the delivery of the child. Wom~n during menstruation are referred to as Approximate expenditure at the time of delivery Chhua baithe he (she is separate). No particular varies from house to house depending on the economic tab~10f)s are attached to a menstruating woman status of the household and it ranges from Rs. 3 to except that she should not enter the kitchen. When Rs. 15 in this village. Birth of the first child is a w-Jmm has conceived, the expression used with celebrated better than subsequent births. Usually refcren:::e to her is " Okar pair Mari he" (Her legs are no difference is made between the birth of a male and heavy). that of a female child. Cncilption.-The villagers are aware of the biological basis of conception but they believe that The Kewats of Raipur are averse to a delivery mere biolog:cal union does not bring about concep­ taking place in the hospital or with the aid of the tion. It is only when God wills that a woman gets a Government nurse. They still stick to the custom child (Bhagwa/t dehi tabhich hot he) and when talking of inviting the dai or the meltrai1t for getting the about the number of children they say "Bhagwan child delivered. But the Kewats of Bendri said that atek-atek de he" (God has given such and such there is no such prohibition on admitting a woman number). in the hospital. Khetaha's wife was taken to hospital on a cart because the case was a complicated one and 'Pregnancy i., detected by the stoppage of the the dai could not have done anything. monthly periods. The pregnant mother is given the usual food. There <\Ire no compulsorily prescribed 1. Bilaspur District Gazetteer, p. 100. 30

The mundan and 'name-giving' ceremonies are sakhi)'. The old ladies, however, say that it may be performed on the 5th day after birth and these cere­ possible for elXperienced eyes to ascertain the sex of monies are known as Chhathi. After the 5th day on the child in the womb by the way in which the Monday or Wednesday the relatives and friends of the pregnant woman walks. If she throws the right leg household assemble and after the ceremony enjoy a forward, the child may be a male, but jf the left leg feast. No ']Jandit is necessary for the ceremony. is thrust fa ward more than the right, the child may be The expenditure at the feast also depend6 on the a female. economic status of the household and on the number of members assembled and it usually ranges from The relatives called at th~ time of delivery are th3 Rs. 20 to Rs. 30 now. woman's m')ther, elder sister, bothers and husband's sister. The birth of the fiL;t child, irrespective of selC, A'll1ng the Kewats and Raw

\Vhen a person dies, the siyan or the old member In the R~wJ.ts, the lit Itwlct It ani 'natne-;ivlng' of the family, male or female, puts some mark on the ceremonies are joined and these ceremonies take place body, either with oil and turmeric or with soot. on the 5th day after birth. Monday and Wednesday The dead body is buried with this mark on same part are supposed to be ausp;clous days. No consultation of the body. When a child is delivered and bathed, is made from a pandit. The mundalt and name­ the siyalt looks at his body and sees for some mark on giving ceremony is called Chhathi. After the the body. For example, when' A' died in the family child's head is shaved and the elders give it the name, live years ago a black line was put on his leg. When a feast is given. The names of the childr"n 'ire now child births take place in the family subsequent to given after Gals and deities, and modern names like this death, they try to see if there is some mark on the Premnath, Veena are not uncommonly found. Names leg. If it is the same as was put on the body of 'A', based on days of birth are also common like 'Itwar i­ it is said that the jiv of' A' has returned. Itwarin', that is, those born on Sunday, or 'Budhiyarin' that is, born on Wedne"day, etc. This practice is not followed by the Kurmis, the Brahmins or the Pankas. Brahmin.-The first birth takes place in the fa­ ther's house and subsequent births tab place in Rawat.-The first birth takes place in father's husband's hOUSe. There is no separate house or hut house and subsequent births in husband's house, maintained for the purpose of delivery, but one of but there is no strict rule observed on this point. the rooms of the house is used for this purpose. Regarding birth-customs, Russelll says: "Among The relatives usually c:111ed at the time of delivery the Rawats of Chhattisgarh, when a child is shortly are the mother of the pregnant woman, her elder to be born, the midwife dips her hand in oil and presses sister, brothers and husband's sister. The first birth it on the wall and it is supposed that she can tell by is an occasion of greater joy and the celebration of the way in which the oil trickles down whether the the birth of the first child entails more expenditure. child will be a boyar a girl." Enquiries in this village In this village this expenditure ranges from Rs. 100 do not support this and the ladies say that the oil­ to Rs. 200. There is more expenditure on the dipped h3.nds are pressed on the wall with a prayer birth of a male child. The child's aunt (father's t.o Parvati to unloosen the 'knot' (Jaise ganth la sister) is usually given some present either in cash or bandhe.l~s, vaisney khol de, Parvati Mala). According in kind. to them, it is not possible to ascertain the sex of the child in the womb. Nobody can tell what lies hidden The name-giving ceremony of the child takes in a dark roo'ffi (AndM~a,. kotha ke bat la kon batawe place on the 10th day of birth. The panrlit (purohit) ascertains the auspicious day with the help 1. The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, RusseU and Hiralal, Vol. II, p. 27. of a panchang. This panchang is published from 31

Raipur and it is th') Raipur Dev Panchang. Wednesday The mlmdan or jhalar utarana ceremony is and Ftiday ar~ ,'egard~J as au,picioU5 days for this generally done i 1 s9me s3.crei place (te}rath). No ceremony. At this ceremony, th~ presence of Mama particular ausp:cious date is selected for it and no ,.m9ther's brother) and Bua (father's sister) is special feast is arranged. The Jhalar utarana necessary. The ceremony is celebratel with a ceremony is done within five years of birth and feast afterwards. whenever the fam:ly happens to visit some te3rath. The mundan or 'shaving of the head' of the Pank-a.-The birth ceremonies of the Pankas are child takes place when it attains the age of three years. the same lS in other ca,tes. The mumlan cenmony Friday are regarded as Monday, Wednesday and take, place Ln; day.:; :tfte: the birth, on Monday or auspicious days for mundan ceremony. At the Wednesday which are regarded auspicious days. mundan ceremony the presence of any relatives is The nam3-giving ceremony al·;o takes place on the not cons idered nece;;sary. same day. Th~ sacred-thread ceremony in the case of boys Marriage customs.-The villagers as a whole tak~s place in the lOth year. The auspicious date is practise got or gotra exogamy but they do not determined by the pandit. At th~ sacred-thread marry outside their caste. If a man or a woman seeks cer ~mony (J aneu) all relatives on both the father's and a spouse outside his or her caste, then he or she is mother's side are invited and people of all castes in made an outcaste and his or her parents or relatives the village attend th~, ceremony at the Brahmin's hav~ to give a feast to the cJ.ste m~mbers. Marriages house. A madawa or shed is erected for this pur­ are usually arranged by elders in the family. Except pose. The barber shaves the whole crown of the the Brahmins, all other castes practise the choori child's head. He is th,"n bathed and new cloth is form of m3.rriage al;o. This m1.rriage is not the given to him. Then he stands in the madawa regular form of mar,jage but is resorted to in three anl receives alms from the people. The priest then cases: recites the Gayatri mantra in his ear and sacred­ thread is Pllt on his body by five Brahmins. R~. 500 (i) when a man or a w.)man fail> to marry at to Rs. 600 are ea:;ily spent in this function. the proper age and d~veJop3 intimacy with some penon; Kurmi.-Russell and Hiralal in the description of the Kurmi caste have given in detail the customs (ii) when a woman leaves her husbanl and followe 1 at birth, treatment of mother and child seeks another man; and, and ceremonies after birth. In this village, how;ver, (iii) when a man or a woman after getting there are only two Kurmi families and a study of the widowed, seeks an3ther partner. cUitoms is not att..~mpted here. MARRIAGE RITES In the KJnnis, d~livery takes phce at th3 hus­ band's house and the relatives invited at the time of Kewat.-Marriage rites of the Kewats have not delivery are mother, sister, father and husband's been described in any book and as such it cannot be sister and husband's sister's husband. Brother is ascertained now, whether they have undergone any aLo invited but he mayor may not come. In case of change. The rites in this caste are not so detailed both the families in this village the mother-in-law as those in the case of Brahmin and Kurmi castes. witJ. the as:;istance of the village midwife Mehrain As against a priest in the Brahmin and Kurmi wedding delivered the child. Whereas in other ca;tes described the Kewats do not employ one. Furthermore, there above, it W.lS th ~ wJ.nai1's m3ther w:n hal d~livered is no sacred post or kham in the madawa round which the child. the couple is required to move. Name-giving ceremony takes pllce on the 12th Marriage-age for boys and girls is generally 15 to day after birth and is called barhi. All the days except 19 years, but there are cases of early marriage::; also. Sunday are supposed to be auspicious for this and the In case a girl is married before she attains puberty, auspicious date is fixed in consultation with the she goe; to her husband's place for a day or two an] '/Jandit. The presence of any relation during the then comes back to father's place. The gawan ceremony is not compulsory and the ceremony is ceremony or the returning of the wife to the husband's celebrated at a re:lso:1.abl~ expense of Rs. 20 to place does not take place till she grows up. There is to Rs.25. no particular custom for a boy or a girl to marry a particular relative. Polygamy is practised in the of respective side embrace one another and caste and in Bendri village 4 men have two wives each. the bride's people invite the boy's party to come to the Widow re-marriage is permissible in the caste and place of marriage. The party goes to the bride's house is looked upon with approval. Close blood relations of with the accompaniment of gania-baja (the band lather and motl'ler's side (up to three generations) played by the members of 'Ganda' caste). Thereafter, arc avoided. The marriages are arranged by the 'touching the mlfriage shed' (madawa chhuna cere­ elders and there i;; thought no necessity to ascertain mony), the marriag:::-party is fed. Since the two sides the wishes of the young people to be married. have not yet been united in a matrimonial alliance, this fe3.st is kn )wn as D14rbhatta, i.e. cooked rice The marriages of the Kewat may be divided into follGwing types: from a distance. By the time the party finishes dinner, it is usually late night. (i) Reguhr marriage or Bihaw. Next morning the marriage party assembles (ii) Widow re-marriage by choori. below the madawa (shed) constructed in th3 bride's (iii) Elopement. house and the people from the two sides sprinkle (iv) Paithoo marriage or marriage by intrusion. turmeric, colour and oil on one another. This (v) Barandi marriage. sprinkling, etc. is known as H ardahi. The bride and bridegroom do not tab any part in this colour­ Re~ular marriage or Bihaw.-The marriage throwing ceremony. is arranged by elder members of the families without consulting the boy or the girl. Marriage celebrations After the colour-throwing is over, the bride and take place in the house of the bride. No priest is bridegroom are brought to the madawa and they go consulted for fixing the auspicious day of marriage, round the two pairs of bamboo sticks fixed at two etc.; the guardians of the boy and the girl settle it places. This going r )und at this stage is known as themselves. Kunwari-bhanwar. In the Kewats, two bhanwars take place. The other bhanwar known as Bihati~ Marriage celebrations in the boy's and the girl's bhanwar takes place subsequently. houses start 3 to 5 d lyS before the marriage actually takes place. Some ladies in both the houses go in a Sihce the colour-throwing ceremony is quite a group to the fields singing some songs and bring earth boisterous affair, a subsequent bath becomes neces­ from there. This rite is known as chulh-mati. sary and people from the two sides go to the tank or This eanh is used in the fixing of poles, etc. of the river for washing. While going to the tank a compe­ marriage-shed. The bridegroom and the bride are tition develops between the two sides in recital of painted with oil and turmeric by five married women. verses and giving a fitting answer to the verse question This rite is known as Tel-chadhana. Before the or taunt which the other side poses. Most of these bridegroom's party starts, the bridegroom puts verses amount almost to obscenity. This competi­ on new clothes namely kurta, yellow turmeric tion in verse recitation is known as Kahra. After coloured dhoti, white turban and the marriage head­ return from the tank, lunch is arranged. gear of chhind (Pho enis acaulis) leaves. Then the party starts on foot with the bridegroom and the items After some post-lunch rest the party again comes of food, etc. on a bullock-cart and reach the girl's to the madawa. The bridegroom is fully decorated village. One or two people going in advance intimate and similarly the bride, fully decorated in her bridal the girl's side of the arrival of their party and the dress, is brought to the madawa. In madawa, people from the girl's side receive the bridegroom's pair of bamboos are fixed on ground at two places and party in the outskirts of the village. After reception, it is these pairs of bamboos which are known as the called parghani, the younger and experienced people matlawa and they sub3titute the magrohan of a display some games of skill and a sort of competition Brahmin and the kham of Kurmi marriages. When is held between the boy's party and the p~ople from the party as,embles beneath the madawa. mariawa· the girl's side. Some of these games involve skill todana (breaking, the marriage-3hed) takes place. at lathi, lifting a water-vessel with teeth, breaking a This ceremony consists in the bridegrooms, felling s )me coconut on one's head, etc. Significance of parghani mango-leaves from the roof of the shel and shaking appears to be in giving some rest and entertainment to the two pairs of bambo03. The peopl ~ arc not ab' e the marriage party before they go to the bride's to offer any explanation as to the significar.c' of this ouse. After the display of skill is over, the members rite. 33

After the madawa-todana rite is OVer, the bride and term and the barandi a girl who has been married. the bridegroom are seated on small woo len seats~ but has not liv~d with her husband." known as peedhas, which are of about 12" X 8" dimen· sions. Five to seven elderly persons from b:Jth the Rawat.-The Rawatmarriages have also not been sides then tie the ends ofthe bride and bridegroom's described in detail in any work so far. The folloNin~ cloths in a knot. After the knot i5 tied, the bride_ extract is taken from the description of an Amr'::; groom put, vermilion in the hair-p3.rting of the marriage given by RussellI : bride. Vermilio.1 is a symbol of marriage. After "The Jharia· and Kosaria Rawats of Chhattisgarh. vermilion is put, the couple get up and take seven employ a Brahmin only to write the lagan or papet> rounds of the two bamboo posts. This parikrama fixing the date of the wedding and the ceremony is. of the posts is the final binding ceremony of the mar­ conducted by the sawasins or relatives of the part ies. riage. Next day morning the m3.rriage party departs In Chhattisgarh the bridegroom is dressed as a girl to to the bridegroom's village with the bride. be taken to the wedding...... Widow re-marriage is. Widow re-marrlage by choori.-It is said permitted and a widow i> expected to marry the younger brother of her deceasedhusband.... Divorce is that a woman gets married only once. The caste t freely permitted." however, looks at widow marriage, with approval bu~ the marriage in such Cas::S is not at all celebrated In Rawats, marriage takes place at an early age with any ceremony and simply consists of the man and before the age of puberty. Polygamy is permissi­ offering bangles to the w)man to wear. This is ble but polyandry is not permitted. A woman may known as chJori-paharana. It is customary for a of course leave her husband and take another husband; widow to marry th" younger brother of the deceased but she cannot keep two husbands at the same time .. husband. This custom of the Levirate is "held Widow re-marriage is permissible and usually the by some sC;lOlars to be a reminiscence of polyandry."l younger brother of the deceased has the first claim on Elopement.-When a man and woman fall in the widow of his brother. There is no rule that the love' and do not see any chance of their union b3ing girls should marry a particular relative. The degr2es. approved by the society~ tLEoY simply run away. of relationship avoided in marriage are the cl?3e relatives of moth~r's and father's side up to 3 Paithoo marriage or mzrriage by intrusion.­ generations. Sometimes when after b3ing in love for some time~ Among the Rawats, 6 types of marriages can be the man backs out, the wcrnm simply walks into his distinguished. The;e are : house and declares him tc te her husband. It is usually resorted to when an unmarried woman or a (1) R::gul1r Marriage or Bikaw I widow has an illicit connection and becomes pregnant. (a) Bade Bihaw. The society is not altogether against the sY3t;m ani (b) eMote Bihaw or Theeka Bihaw. approves of it by slying Paithoo baith ge he. (2) Barandi marri'age. Barandi marriage.-In this marriage a very (3) Paithoo marriage. young widow is sought by another man. When a (4) Choori marriage. girl, married very young, becomes a widow, she is (5) Elop"ment. regardd as gool as a virgin. The marriage is (6) Abduction. solemnised in a very simple maimer at the girl's house. Full ceremonies cannot take place because, as R~gular marr1age.-R~gul:tr marriage is kno wn already observed earlier, it i's believed that a woman as Bihaw. No other form of marriag~ is rererred to can be married only once with full ceremonies. The as Bihaw (corruption of the Hindi word Byah system of barandi marriage has bee 1 described in the meaning marriage). Th~ regular marriage is arranged 2 Bilaspur District Gazett ;er und.;r another C.l.ste by the elders without consulting the boy or the girl;,. and it is as below : It is of two typ~s dependilg on whether the boy.'s· party goe; to girl's hous3 or whether the girl's party "Widows are either known as barandi or randi .. goes to the boy's. In the former cas~, the marriage the randi being a widow in the ordinary sense of th e is known as Bade Bihaw. This i; the common form

1. District Ga.zetteer, Ra.ipur, 1909, p. 116. 1. Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces, Russell and) 2. District Gazetteer, Bilaspur, p. 95. Hiralal, Vol. II pp.26-27. 34 of marriage. But in cerhin families and usual'y in feet with milk by the parents of the girl and some those where the girl's father is poor, the girl goes to the other very close relatives. Then the boy and thti boy's house and the marriage is celebrated there. girl take seven rounds of the wooden pole and the This is known as Ckhote Bihav or Theeka Bihav. marriage is solemnised. No priest officiates at the marriage; but it is conducted by the Suwasa and In arranging a marriage, boy's guardians go in Suwasin. The normal expenditure in the Rawat search of a girl for him and meet the girl's father. If marriage is Rs. ISO to Rs. 200 on each side but he is willing to give his daughter in marriage to the it is always slightly more on the bridegroom's side. lam ily, the marriage is settled and the boy's guardian ~omes back after some time with the lagan. He Theeka Bihaw follows the same rites except that brings the lugda (sari), polka (blouse), kangha the expenditure of feeding the relatives, etc., has not {co mb) and jundra (hair ribbon) for the girl and to be borne by the girl's father. Ars a roei which are prepared out of rice flour mixed with gur. The girl's father then sends word to his The Barandi, Paithoo and the Elopement marriages Tela tives and acquaintances who are known as of the Rawats follow the same rites as have been des­ cribed under the Kewat caste. Hence they are not ; l7; 'H and also arranges for them a feast consisting of chicken or goat and liquor. Even when prohibi­ being stated again. tibn has been imposed, It is not difficult to procure Choori marriage.-An unmarried man or a \Yid­ :liqu or from Raipur. The parihas then partake of ower may keep a woman as his wife by choori form the feast and settle the date of marriage. When the of marriage. It is known as choori pahira Ie he. barat comes to the girl's house, he has to feed them Choori marriage is performed with the consent of the and his relatives. But where the girl's father is poor caste-panchayat. When a bachelor wants to marry and he cannot spend much on the marriage, he along a widow by this form of marriage he first performs the with his daughter and very close relations goes to the ceremony with an earthen pot, a bamboo basket or boy's ho J.se and the marriage expenditure is then borne a dagger and taking the articles in his hand he walks . by th e boy's guardian. round the marriage post. This is considered to be When the barat comes to th~ village, it is received real marriage, as everyone should be properly married

house and buy the best bullocks he can afford .••• No various presents from the relatives of the bride's penalty is imposed for allowing a girl to exceed side in a ceremony of Pa'IJ paMarna. the age of puberty before marriage." Divorce is permitted in the Kunnis. If a married The Kunnis also follow a practice of exchanging woman leaves her legally married husbani and takes gitls between two families. This is known as another husband, the former husband is entitled to gurawat and lneans that the sister of the bridegroom receive some amount in compensation. The CJm­ is married b the brother of the bride. When such pensation is known as Bihati. marriages take place, the ceremonies are not very The Kunni require the assistance of a priest in expensive since the marriage has been purely an the performance of marriage ceremonies, whereas exchange. the Rawats do not need him. Then again the brid~ The Kurmis look with approval on widow re­ and the bridegroo!ll in the Kurmi caste have to take marriage and widow re-marriage was found to be seven rounds of the sacred pos t in the madawa customary in both th~ households. It is not cus­ (mandap). Going round the saGred post is not tomary for a widow to marry a particular relative. practised by the Rawats and the ,Kewats. The Marriage i" prohibited between members of the god Marna ceremony also suggest3 more affiliation ~ame section and between first and iecond cousins with the higher castes than seen among the Rawats en the mother's side. Marriage of a man with his and the Kewats. wife's sister during her lifetime is forbidden. Pankas-In the Pankas, marriages are arrang~d In the Kurrnis, the boy's father goes to the girl's by guardians without consulting th~ prospective housC) and makes an offer for marriage. The accep­ bride and bridegrcom. Blood-relations up to 3 tance~ of the offer by the girl's father is indicated generations are avoided in marriage. The marriage by a rupee and coconut which he sends to the boy's age for both males and female~ is 15 to 19 years. house. The next ceremony perforrn:od is the gda Pankas approve of widow marria~e and polygamy Marna or 'filling of the lap' of the girl. The rela­ is also followed in the caste. tives of th 0 boy go to the girl's house and put som e sweetmeat, a coconut and a rupee in her hp. Th~ The marriage takes place in the bride's house ceremony i3 m~ant to induce fertility. Th3 boy and is conducted by the mahant of the panka caste. ard girl then, s~ated together on a wooden plank, About Rs. 500-700 are easily spent on the marriagei tcuch the feet of elders. but there is n) cusbm of dowry-giving. The main role of the mahant in the marriage i.s to conduct The marriage party consists of relatives and . the chauka without which the marriage celebration friends. Sister's husband or father's sister's husband is not complete. The chauka cer"mony of the l~.Ust accompany the party. He is known as Pankas is described separately under the section on Derha. The marriage party is received out of thC) religion. village by the people from the girl's side ani there the younger members of tho resp~ctive parties display The marriage party goes to the bride's vlllage and, VlriOUS games of skill. Then the party com2S to as common in other Clstes of Chhattisgarh, is rece­ be madawa in the bride's house. The madawa ived outside th~ vi'llagein parghani. In the marriage is covered with mango or JamUlt leaves. which by party, presence of bridegroom's sister's husband and virtue of their remaining green for long periods, his father's sister's husband is compulsory. typify perpetual life. In t'~e centre of the madawa is put a small pole known as kham plinted with The parghani is as in other castes. When the turmeric and oil. This is prepared out of Doomer party reaches the mandap after rest, etc., the bride wood. and bridegroom are decorated in the marriage dress. It is significant that the marriage clothes of At the auspicious time, the bridegroom and the the couple are white and are not coloured yellow. bride, fully decoratei in the marriage dress, are No explanation is coming forward for the avoidance brought to the madawa. There they are seated of yellow colour except that it is said by the 'GUyu. near the kham and the ends of their apparel are But it appears that _this is simply an attempt to tied in a knot. Then they take s~ven munds of the create some distil'cction from other castes who wear Kham and take marriage. oaths. The couple receive yellow clothes. 37

The binding ceremony of the marriage is done Some notes on the mat'ria~e and divorce. by the mahant in tying the ends of the apparel system in the village.-In general, females prepon­ of the couple in a knot. No bhanwar' (going round derate over males in the population in the whole of the post) is done. After the mahanl performs the Chhattisgarh. But in spite of this preponderance of gath-bandhan ceremony, he blesses the couple and females, th~ male has to go in search of a wife and wishes them a happy, prosperous and fertile married the marriage negotiations start from the boy's side life. ' in the castes of the Kurmis, the Rawats, the Kewa ts and the Pankas. It also happ?ns that if the bride's Divorce is an accepted institution in the caste father is poor and is, not able to meet marriage ex­ and is due to a variety of reasons. In the Pankas, pemes, the boy's father or guardian bears all the and in other ca,tes also, divorce or separation is expenditure by holding the marriage jn his house. rarely initiated by the husband; because, if he is This kind of marriage is, of course, r~garded inferior not p!ea,ed with his wife or she is barren or conti~ to the one held at bride's place and is referred to as nually ill, then he can keep another woman in Chhote BilI.aw (inferior marriage). In th<; light ch'Jori form. This also is rarely dona among the of a dominant female element in the population, Panka3. But a woman runs away from h<;r husband seeking of the bride remains to be explained. sometimes for apparently no reason at all. Oace married, th ~ males seldom loave the wife When th,~ married woman leave, her husband anti practically in all cas~s the separation is effected and takes another husband, the first husband is by the wife. Even when tho wife runs away, the entitled to get compensation or bihati amount. husband tries his level best to get her back by persua­ If the ~ew husband of the woman do~s not give this tion and no stigma i; attached even when she has bihati amount easily, a caste-panckayat is called lived with another man. A wife is referred to ac; who prevail upon the man to settle this. After the mal (pro')erty) and when a man goes to the p~rc;on bikati amount is given, the first husband gives in wh1 has got his wife, he would say "Hamar malla writing that he received this and this amount and apis kay de" (Return my property). This word mal that he has no rightlon:that woman. After this, the is used in caste-panchayaf. and in C011rts too. former husband gives a sort of •funeral feast The wife is also referred to as Admi (malo) called marti jiti ka bhat. The feast signifie3 that by her husband and when asked about h<;r. he would

as far as the man is concerned, that woman is dead. say, tI More aami bhaga ge he" whic,_ would literally Chauka-arti follows this, feast. mean "my male has run away". Why this word is used is not easy to understand now; but it is a word Apart from the t~gular marriage, the Pankas also practice the choori form rof marriage. It is of common use among the cast<;s. a very simple c3remony and :the woman with whom Divorce is fairly common among the castes of 'l man has developei intimacy is simply given some the Rawats, the Kew'lts and the Pankas and especiallv bangles to wear and :she comes to live in his house. among the Rawats. h ninety-nine per cent of ca'ies The clwoyi form of marriage is usually done with the woman runs away because she falls in love with widow.i. another man. Most of such runnin~ away occurs at the time of Teeja festival in BhaaJn month; Elopement and Paithoo marriage or marriage by because at this fe,tival, it is a custom for a woman intrusion are not so common among the Pankas. to go to her father's place. Pre-marital and extra-marltal~sex-relations.­ Though during the survey, aU the households have This 'falling-in-love with other man' is very answered this question in the negative, there is natural in the social settings of the castes. A girl rre1son to believ ~ that pre-marital and extra~mari­ is married eady and after marriage she lives in her tal sex-relations are very common. Detailed en­ father's house and grows up. The segregation of quiries from vilbgers have not been made on this sexes is not at all rigid and she has complete freedom point for obvious reasons.l!Pre-marital relations are to go to the fields to collect cow-dung, to go to markets not viewed as seriously (unless the girl becomes and fairs. Naturally before she goes back to her pregnant) as the extra-marital sex-relations and legally married husband, the woman makes s:)me the latter, when detected, become disput3s to be frie:1ds in her father's village or in other nearby settled in the panckayat; feast-giving, ctc. villages an i i e is ve:y doubtf 11 whether she goes to her husband a<; a vIrgIn. With a male friend in Rawats.-There is no system of burning the dead another place, it is really difficult for a woman to live among the Rawat caste and the dead are buried in attached to her husband and she leaves him on the all cases. The period of mourning lasts for 3 days. slightest pretext. There is no rite for pinda-dan as in the Brahmins Living with another man is permitted by the and the Kurmis nor is the Sradh or Death caste and the choori form of marriage is prevalent. Anniversary customary. If a man has offered chooris to a woman, the society The dead body ie; bathed and anointed with does not see anything wrong in it. Of course, a turmeric powder and oil and new clothes are put Oihati wife enjoys more social prestige than the on it. It is said in this caste that an individual choori-wali wife. is anointed twice with oil and turmeric-once during Polygamy is permissible among all the castes marriage and the second time when he dies. except the Brahmins. and a man may have two or After the new clothes are put on the dead body, more legally married wives or may have one legally it is placed on the bier laid on a layer of paira (fodder) married wife and one or more choori-wali wives. and the near relatives and friends in turn C1rry But usually more than two wives are not kept. it to the burial ground. The digging of the grave Polygamy, apart from satisfying the need to accom­ starts after the funeral party reaches the place. Before modate more females in the society, also serves the grave is dug, sQme money, at least a copper an economic purpo<;e; that of providing the male coin. is placed on th~· place signifying that the land with a worker for his economic pursuit,;. has been purchased for burial. If a woman leaves her husband for another man, this other man has to give a compensation known The burial ceremony being over, the party goes as bihati and after receivin~ the bihati amount, to the tank and takes a bath and then returns the divorced husband gives a feast to his caste. This home. Other households of the caste then send food­ feast is known as Marti jiti ke bkat and signifies rations to the house of the deceased. which is cooked that for that man the woman, though living, has and eaten. This kind of food on the day of burial died. He is then free to seek another woman. is called Golhatthee. To accompany the funeral ceremony Is known as Kathee me jana. DEATH AND FUNERAL RITES The different castes in this village follow two sys­ After those who accompanied the Kathee tems of the disposal of dead body-that of burning send come rice, dal, etc. to the deceased's house, or cremation and that of burying. The funeral rites they get the nails of hands and feet cut by a barber are also as rigidly followed as other rites of birth and and the clothes worn at th~ time of accompanying marriage. are given for washing. This is known as Shudh hona or 'getting purified'. The members of the Kewats.-The Kewats always bury their dead. deceased's family get their hair cut on the third day Tn an cases the period of mourning is three days. and take a bath. The clothes are given fol' The dead body is buried with feet towards the south. washing and the hous'> is wa<;hed with cow-dung Russell's! description that "some clothes, cotton, and water soluti"n. The earth8n vessele; used for til and salt are placed in the grave, apparently as cooking are thrown away. The females of the a provision for the dead man's soul" is not seen in household accompanied by other females of the ca<;te thfs village. in the village then go to the hnk in a single line The funeral rites of the Kewats follow the same and there the bangle, of the widow are bnken. pattern as the Rawats, but the rite of bringing back When returning also they come in a single line. the soul is not observed among them. There is no This procession of the females in a single line for explanation from them for the non-observance of this a bath in the river or tank is known as Nahawan. rite but it may be due to the fact that fishing is the traditional occupation of the Kewats and naturally All the male members of the household younger the idea of the soul coming back in a fish is not attrac­ to the ~eceased get the hair, beard and momtache tive to them. clean-shwed; but if the father is alive, moustaches are not shaved. On the third day, a feast is given to 1. Tribes and CMtes of the Central Provinces, RusseU all the members of the ca<;te in th~ village in and Hiralal, Vol. III, 1916, p. 425. the nearby villages. After the feast pagbandhi ceremony is done through which the household Cremation.-After the dead body is ba.thed, it i~ and the caste-members select the new M ukkiya of anointed with oil and scent and new clothes are put the house in. the place of the deceased. The pagbandhi on the body after which it is placed on the bier. The ceremony can be described as the 'Investing of eldest son of the deceased or husband (if it is a married Turban' ceremony and is in token of recognition of woman) or in cases where they are not available, the the new representative of the household. Pagbandhi nearest relative keeps some fire in an earthen vessel is participated in by all the people assembled there and they give some presents to the person so elected. and precedes the bier. The bier is raised by the nearest relatives, but as it proceeds, other relations and Among the Rawats a special ceremony takes friends relieve them in turn. This is known as place on the third day of de::tth. This is known as Kandha dena. As the bier is taken to the cremation 'bringing back the soul'. . Russel}! ha3 described ground the people recite Ram nam satya hai, Satya this as below: bolo gatya hai. meaning that the name of Rama is the only eternal truth and salvation lies in speaking truth. "The women put a lamp on a red earthen pot and go to a tank or a stream at night. The fish are In the cremation ground the pyre is arranged and attracted towards the light, and one of them is caught the body is placed on it. Usually the clothes which were and put in the pot which is then filled with water. It put on the corpse when it departed from the house, is brought home and set beside a small heap of are taken off and it is sai d that the body came naked flour, and the elders sit round it. The son of the from Heaven and should go naked to Him. The person deceased or other near relative anoints himself who had brought the fire in the earthen vessel then with turmeric and picks up a stone. This is lights the fire. Lighting the funeral pyre is known as washed with the water frcm the pot, and placed Dah dena. on. the floor and a sacrifice of a cock or hen is made to it according to as the deceased was a man or After the body is burnt, the people go to the tank a woman. The stone is then enshrined in the house or river and take a bath. Going to ati-end the funera.l as a fami'ly god and the sacrifice of the fowl is repeated is known as Kath~ me jal'~a. These people then send annually. It is supposed apparently that the dead flour, rice and dat, etc to the house of th~ deceased man's spirit js brought back to the house in the and this food is cooked and eaten in that house. The household \\-here death has taken place does uot cook fish and then transferred to the stone by washing this with the water." jts own {"od that day. This pooling of rations from other houses and cooking of the same at the huuse of the deceased, is known as Golhatthee. The practiCe described by Russell is not followed by the Rawats of this village Who are of the fharia The remains of ,tha dead body, (i.e. bones), are sub-caste. According to them "bringing back the , . collected from the cremation ground on the third soul" ceremony is observed by the Kosaria and clay and the ash is thrown in the river or the stream. Kanoujia sub-castes. The last remains are taken to the river or Allahabad depending on the financial pc.::,ition of the household. Erahmins.-In the normal death, the married IhlS aM-Jn-visarja .., is perfOlmed on the 10th day. malts and females are burnt but the unmarried ones On thIS Il)th day, which is known as Daswan, puri­ on their death are buried. The infant children are ficatory ceremony is performed. The whole house is invariably buried. In cases of death by serpent-bite or washed with cow-dung and all members of the house­ by infectioU3 disease lIke cholera, the bodies are bu­ hold, who are younger to the deceased, get themselves ried but in abnormal deaths like suicide or accident shaved. If the father is alive, then the sons do not the bodies are burnt. The mourning period for father. get their moustaches shaved on the occasion. If the mother, husband. wife and married son is 10 days. deceased is a husband, the bangles of the widow are whereas for infant son. daughter. brother (infant or broken on this day. unmarried) and sister it is only three days. On the 13th day, the Terhi, a feast IS gIven to the household and other relatives and friends. After this, 1. Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India if the deceased is the head of the household, another Russell and Hiralal, Vol. II, 1916, pp.28-29. • ceremony follows which is known as Pagbandht.. Its purpose is to elect the new head of the hOU3ehold Pankas.-The Pankas bury the dead. The period and the person who is so selected gets a turban put on of mourning is 3 days in all cases. Essentially the his head. Usually the eldest son succeeds the father funeral ceremonies are the same as ~. mong the Rawats and the younger brother succeeds his elder brother. and the Kewats. The corpse is bathed and anoin'ed One year after the death, the sradh ana puJ(},­ with turmeric and oil and new clothes are put on the dati. ceremony is performed. The j»nd-dan is done body. The bier is decorated with banana leaves. in sume sacred place, usually Allahabad. The mango leaves and flower_,; and it is carried to the meaning of the pin i-dan is to join the soul of the burial ground to the accompaniment of music and deceased in the souls of the dead-elders (pitrl4s; of playing of jhanjh. The music consists in recitations the family and it is believed that till the pind-dan of poetry composed by Kabir. is done, the soul does not get any rest and cannot Some money or at least a copper coin is placed on join the pitras. the land before digg;ng the ground, as in th~ case of Kurmis.-Kurmi is the only other caste who burn the Rawats and the Kewats and the significance their dead. In normal deaths, married males and attached is the same. The dead body i" place:l with females are burnt wher~as unmarried ones are buried. A feet to the south and a coconut is placed with the young unmarried male may also be burnt. Infants are buried. In deaths due to serpent-bite and infectious body in the grave. After the funeral, the mourners bathe and then break a coconut over the grave and diseases and in deaths due to suicide and accident, the body is buried. The period of mourning is 10 distribute it among themselves. A lamp made out of and 13 days and in case of infants 3 days. wheat-flour is kept burning for 3 days over the grave. On the third day the purification ceremony is performed. The cremation ceremonies of the Kurmis are The house is cleaned and the earthen cooking ves3eb similar to those in practict.: among the Brahmins. The are ,hrown away. The women go in a single file to bier of a married woman with her husband alive is take a bath in the river or tank and there the bangles covered with a red cloth and all other corpses are of the widow are broken. They return home in the ~overed with white cloth. In the cremation ground, same fashion. The male members get themselves the pyre of a man is lit at the head and that of the shaved and those younger to the deceased get the woman at the foot. head, beard and moustache clean-shaved, If, In case of burial, the graves arc dug from north to however, the father is alive, then moustaches are south. Graves are dug on the arrival of the funeral not shaved but only trimmed. party to tht.: crem ... tion ground and not III advance as On the third day, the Chauka-arti pcoja is don: among the Christians aud Mohammedans. RusselJl and then the persons assembled partake of the feast. says, "It is consIdered to be meritorious to assist at a On the 10th day, a coconut is again broken over burial and thele is a saymg that a man who has him­ lhc grave. self c~nduct{;d a hunG red funerals will btcome a Raja in his next birth." The Kurmis of this village do 110t The Pankas, like the Kewats and the Rawats, do know this but say that It is everybody's duty to as,;ist not follow the annual death ceremony or the pind­ in the. uneral. Russell further staLs. that "when the dan, etc. grave has been filled in and a mound raised to m~rk Some further observations on the death the spot, edch person present makes five small balls of ceremony.-It is seen from the foregoing account eartll and places them m a heap at the head of the that the Kewats, Rawats and Pankas follow the burial grave. This custom is also known as Panah lakariya sysiem for the disposal of the dead body. In all these and must, therefore, be an imitation of the placing of cas es dig~ing of the grave starts after the dead body the five sticks on the pyre; its original meaning in the is brought to the burial ground. The graves are dug latter C3.S::: may hav~ b2en that the mourner should in the north-south direction and, in the interior are assist tte family by bringing a contribution of wood to washed with cow-dung. Among the Pankas,' pre­ the pyr '. As adt'"pted in burial, it seems to have no paration of the grave is more elaborate than among special sis-nificance ...... other castes. They first wash the grave with cow­ dung and subsequently with white clay. 1. Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Hussell and HiraJal, Vol. IV, p. 77. ' After the body is buried, the top mound is also a. Ibid, p. 77. washed with cow-duns and chhuhi and among the 41

Pankas, the shell of the broken coconut is fixed there like the fertile tree of Doomar always laden with in th ~ earth. fruirs.

Placinl1 the dead body.-A very peculiar cus­ It is also likely that the me of 'ficus' w.Jod may tom is observed in this village and that is the placing have something to do with the fertility cult. Hutton I of the dead body on the funeral pyre or in the grave. mentions that "It is probably en account of its milk­ The males are put on the chest, i.e. with face down­ like sap that the ficus is associated with fertility c:.llts wards and the females are laid on the back, i.e. with in Africa, Italy and New Guinea as well as in Assam face upwards. It appears that this system is also and Southern India .... " followed in the nearby villages, but nobody is able to God Bh ama or filling the lap ceremony offer any explanation or attach any significance to this of the Kurmis.-Before the marriage, in the Kurmis, system. The Brahmins and the Kurmis also follow the God Marna ceremony takes plac~ and consists in the same system of p acing the dead body while the relatives of the bridegroom's side putting some putting it on the pyre. No mention of this is found in sweetmeat, a coconut and a rupee. in h~r lap. Coco­ the Raipur Distr'ct Gazetteer, or so far as is seen, in nut is the symbol of a child and the symbolical mean­ RusseH'; 'Tribes and Ca~tes'. Other authors also ing of the ceremony appears to be the idea that the working amongst various tribes in th·s reg;on, viz. bride should have her lap full with a child, i.e. the the Kamars, the Murias, and the Marias, have not marriage should be a fertile one. mentioned this pr ctice among those'tribes. The Use of Jamun and/or mango leaves in roofing Brahmins of Raipur Town and those Brahm:ns also of the Mattawa.-The Jamun and mango tre~s are who still h"ld affiliation with Uttar Prade,;h, do not evergreen and the leaves of these trees do not dry up follvw this practice nor is the practice followed by the quickly. The symbol appe~rs to be perpetuation, Gonds and the Bhunjias of this District. continuity and stability of the union. A mention, however, appears in the Bila;pur Breaking of the Madawa.-The Kewats have District Gazetteer (p. 103) that "the Hindus bury the two b/ianflla,s in their marriage cer cmony One is corpse of a man face downwards and that of a woman known as the Kunwari-bhanwar or the 'virgin-rounds' face upwards", bu t no significance of the same has and the other which i; done after the party returns been advanc:d anywhere. from the tank is the bihati-bhanwar or the 'married­ rounds'. Before the second bhanwar takes place, Symbolical rite'> in the life-rituals.-An the bridegroom plucks SOme leaves from the roof of explanation of the various symbolical_ rites and cere­ the madawa, breaks some branche:; of the same and monies at the life-rituals may not be out of place here. also Shakes the two bamboo-pair posts. Then he The villagers practise these rites just as a matter of sits with the bride in between the two P.Jst3 and with course and because such practi:e has been hand2d the broken l~ave, and twigs and after the knot-tying down to th2m by their forefathers. They do not ceremony takes rounds of the posts. have any explanation to offer nor attach any signi­ ficance to these rites; but it appears that these rites This ceremony, it clearly appears, is a sex-symbol have some symbolicli significance and an attempt is and symbolises breaking the virginity, wit lOut which the marriage is not complete. being made here to explain th~ same. Burying the dead.-The females are buried or Use of Doomar (ficus) wood in the prepara­ burnt with the face up, i.e. lying on the back whereas tion of Kham or Magrohan in the marrial1e.­ the males are laid with their face down. This is a The Kurmis and the Brahmins prepare a 3-feet long peculiar custom and has no explanation. _ It is, of rectangular pc>st known as M agrohan or Kham and course, true that the chest region of the male and the round this post the bride and the bridegroom take waist region of the female take a longer time to perish their marriage-rounds (bhanwar). but the difference in posture does not help to quicken this process, if that is the idea. Doomar· tree represents perpetual life because it is always laden with fruits. New fruits cC)me in the It cannot be said with any certainty at pre,ent, tree before the fruits of the previous season have but it appears that this may also have some sex fallen away. The use of the wood of this tree is a symbolisation. symbol of this perpetuity of life and for fertile marriage 1. Census of India, 1931, Vol. I. Pt. I. Hutton. CHAPTER VI

VILLAGE ECONOM Y

R:ndri is mainly an agricultural village. The economic pattern of the Bendri population at the 1951 Census was as below:

Category Total Male Fe­ male

A '5ricultural classes Cultivators of owned lands and their dependants. 134 63 71 Cultivators of ur.owned lands and their dependants. Cultivating labourers and their dependants. 103 47 56 Non-cultivating owners. etc. and their dependants. 10 4 6 Non-agricultural classlJs Production other than culti- vation. 8 5 3 Commerce Transport Other services and miscellan­ eous sources. 7 3 4

It is seen from the above that 237 persons, i.e. 110 males and, 127 females, were dependant on agri­ culture either on owned lands or on unowned ones. In the Census of 1961 the village economy was reflected in the following pattern: 43

The total area of this village is 652'70 acres. tt1 Category T M F the Census of 1911, the Village Statistics at page 3 records the area of this village as 654'70 acres. This A. Total worke,s . 178 85 93 appears to be a cle(cal or printing error, because all Government Records show this area as 652'70. I Cult ;vators 113 56 57 Utilization of the area in the last ten years is shown in II Agricultural Labourers 31 14 17 the following table. It would show that the highest net area sown wa, in the year 1953-54. It shows III Livestock, Fishing, Hunting, ete. 27 10 17 further that double-cropped area has increased since IV Household Industry 1956-57 and that the practice of land being left fallow V Manufacture other than house- is on the decline. hold industry VI Construction' Lands in this village are under the command of VII Trade & Commerce Canal No. ~ of the Mahanadi Canal System. Area VIII Transport, Communication irrigated by wells is:very little, because there were two irrigation wells and they have also fallen in disuse. IX O~her services .. 752 The following table has been taken from the B. Non-workers 137 61 76 Records maintained by the Revenue Department. T = Total, l\!=Male, F=Female.

Area under CUltivation Uncultivated.A.. Area ___ r" --__ .A_ ------, r- Total Net area Current Old Pahad Street Total Double- Irri- No. Year Gro- BiR' Shrubs Under gated of Area sown fallow fallow yes tree (small water Cbattan and cropped abadl area area Ini. forest tree wells forest)

13 14 15 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

141'49 208'48 1950-51 652'70 411'41 28'68 62'19 109'38 37'07 3'97 223'82 1951-52 652'70 467'49 4'22 27'76 110'71 .37'07 5'45 170'll 218'54 1952-53 652'70 488'54 5'72 5'21 110'71 37'07 5'45 158'45 170'45 218'54 2 1953-54 652'70 496'54 6·22 2'04 43'63 3·H5 100'32 223'32 2 1954-55 652'70 496'07 27'30 2'91 43'63 3'49 99'30 186'77 212'41 1955-56 652'70 476'95 18'68 10'33 0'17 53'64 2'98 89'95 146'74 154'l1 129'03 208'12 1956-57 652'70 471'13 19'35 14'40 0'17 54'76 3'13 89'76 210'66 1957-58 652'70 469'11 11'84 24'31 0'28 54'68 3'61 88'87 141'44 lSO'77 211'70 1958-59 652'70 472'57 10'30 22'03 0'11 54'86 3'96 88'87 147'80 183'12 211'54 1959-60 652'70 474'15 8'90 17'93 0'11 54'86 3'96 88'81 147'80

Soil type.-Situated on a plain and on the bank Because of a good soil ani facilities of irrigation of a river, the village has a very rich soil which is through Government Canals, the cultivators sow both known as Kanhar. It is a black chy 'Soil, very the crops, i.e. the kharif and the rabi, which are known retentive cf moi3ture and is the best soil in Chhattis· as Siari and Unhari in the Chhattisgarh dialect. garh for wheat production. As a rice soil, it is apt Double-cropping is done over about 35% to 40% of the to suffer from water-logging; but as it grows excellent area. Details of soil are shown in the table below: second crops, it is certainly the m03t important and valuable soil. 4~

Embankment U n-::,mbankment Garden Land Soil Class .A. A. -A. ----. , f Tohl Gahhar Urkaha Urkaha Mamuli Tikra Bari Dry Bari Irri. Irri.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kanhar II 113 27 140 Dorsa I 44 78 95 38 16 271 Dorsa II 8 34 5 47 l\Iatasi 1 7 26 3 36 Pal Kachhar 1 11 12 Patpar Kachhar 2 2 Total 59 138 8 208 66 29 508

The embankment in the above table means that th ~ Settlement Mis!. in which village Bendri has been land which is embanked, and is brought under kharif incIu led under Settlement No. 77 of the Group cultivation; the unembankment means the lani med Kharoon Valley 51. Thi, Settlem3nt was carried on under the rabi crops. The table has been taken from in 1921 by Shri C. D. Deshmukh, them of the I.C.S. Form IV-B she>wing Soil Cla5sift~ation at present from Net Double- Principal Crops Year cropped cropped , A,, _____"-' Total Total ar ~a Paddy Kodon Urid, Kharif Rabi Moong 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1950-51 411 14l' 208 135 22 285 267 1951-52 467 170 232 116 5 390 248 1952-53 489 159 222 76 5 332 315 1953-54 497 170 222 112 3 375 292 1954-55 476 187 223 78 1 339 324 1955-56 477 154 214 112 373 258 1956-57 471 12) 209 54 292 308 1957-58 469 147 211 106 358 158 1958-59 473 151 215 65 1 313 310 1959-60 476 183 214 88 340 319

In the above table details of cropping in the last Caste ten years have been shown. This table is taken from Acres Form A of the Circle Note-book maintained by the 1. Brahmins Kanungo at the Tah,il Headquart~rs. 263'6t 2. Kewats 219'75 Though the village is a predominantly Kewat one, 3, Kurmis 1)'16 it is the Brahmins who own the major portion of the 4, Chhatris land. The ownership has nothing to do with caste­ 4'35 hierarchy but is due to the fact that the village was 5 Rawah 2'47 owned by the Brahmins before the Abolition of G. Pankas 0'64 Proprietory Rights, Total 503'01 Mmy of the big cultivators are non-resident cultivators and are known as PaM Kashtakar. According to the Titamma Register maintained by the Land Records Staff, the cattle strength of the Castewise ownership of land-holdings is shown in village in 1960-61 stood af shown in the following t'be statement alongside : table: Description Total Brahmins Kurmis Rawats Kewats Pankas

Plough (Nagar) 44 9 2 33 Carts 24 5 19 Plough Bullocks 48 16 1 31 Plough Buffaloes 43 10 39 Oth~r Bullocks 1 1 .. Other Buffaloes Milch Buffaloes 3 1 2 Milch Cows 85 23 2 2 56 2 Goats 44 8 36 Fowls 48 .. 7 41 Horses 3 1 2

and the Nagar passes through it. The upper portion The economic activity of the village centres around of the Nagaris of a smaller diameter than the lower agriculture, but except that the canal irrigation is end below the DanJ,i. A small wooden piece 1" to done, the agricultural practices have remained prac­ 11" thick at one end and slightly less at the othe(' t-ically unchanged. end and four to six inches long is used to keep the Agricultural implements.-Agricultural imple­ Nagar in place. This wooden piece is known as ments also remain age-old ones and are the plough Dab. At the upper end of the Nagar is fixed around (Nagar} and the sickle (Hasiya).Different palis of wooden small bar, 6" to 7" long, known as Pandki, the Nagar are known by different names. The and this serves as a handle to apply the pressule. wooden-shaft of the Nagar is known as iJandi. The lower end of the Nagar is bent inwards and to it At one end of it is fixed a wooden piece known as is fixed the Nagar-loha or the iron-blade. Klteela. At the other end of the Dandi is fixed the bent wooden portion known as Nagar. It is The Nagar is fixed to the attachment to which fixed by making a hole in the centre of the Dandi the bullocks are tied. The attachment consists of a beam of which the upper end is sawn in a curved .... \ I~._""".""">~,~~,,,,,,--, .. fashion and at the centre a small rounded portion of the shape of Siv-ling is made. This is known as Mahadeo. At the two extremes of the beam are , two holes in which are fixed the wooden rods known as p,ancharie. The Da1tdi of the Nagar rests on the central. node of the beam known as M ahadeo and it is tied to the beam with a rope round the Kheela. The fielJ is first ploughed after the first rain bill before the seed is sown the weeds and grass crop up. These are known as Karga. To kill this Karga arid for levelling the field, K'Opar is used. :Kopar is a flat smooth piece of wood measuring 8 to 10 feet in length. Through the centre of this is fixed the Dandi and at the other end of this Dandi is fixed another beam at right angles. At the two extremes

, ~ ' .. , of this beam ar~ twci wooden rods on which the bullocks are tied. For levelling the field and for NAGAR.

clearing the Karga, the Kopar is used and to provide pressure the person using the Kopar keeps standing Caste Total Total Chemical Other families area fertilizer manure on the Kopar. The Kopar has another variant. In held used in bags used in md!'. this the 8-10 feet beam has 10-12 woolen pieces fixed as nails or teeth. This variant of Kopay is known as Dantri because of its harrow teeth. The Kewat 48 219'75 71 1,235 Dalttri is used for puddling and thinning. Rawat 3 2'41 40 Both the Kopar and Dantri are used after the Brahmin 3 263'64 8 2H fields have been ploushed and there has been rain­ Kurmi 2 15'16 3J fall. Kopar is also used for levelling after the paddy Panka 12 has been sown and at this stage the levelling helps 0'64 to flatten all the surviving plants in the mud. the manure is carried in carts to the fields and Paddy is sown broadcast. Transplantation if left there in heaps. Soon after the first rain, the not practised. The fields are manured in the last fields are ploughed twice or thrice and KJpar or week of Mayor in the first week of June. The majo. Dantri is used for levelling and puddling. rity of the villagers follow the age-old system of Paddy is sown broadcast. When the plants are manuring and no compost pits were seen in the viI about 1 foot high, the land is ploughed which up­ lage. The cow-dung and house-rubbish is thrown roots many of the plants and covers some with mud. in the open pit about 4' in diameter and 4 to 5 This process is spoken of as 'thinning'. Five or si1c. feet in depth, Chemical fertilicer is used only by days later the plot is levelled by means of the Kopar. the Brahmins and the Kewats, Green manure is not This ploughing of the fields after the germination used by any of the cultivators. Use of fertilizer is has taken place, is known as Biasi. It has been sbown in the table alongside ; held to be a combination of an inferior m~ thod of

KHU.HRI. KAMRA AND SEEKA KHUMRI, KAMRA. AND SEEKA

(

KEWATS WEAVING THE FISHING NET tran~planting with a weeding operation. Twenty to take it seriously. lIe only knows to read the Sety~. twenty-five days after the biasi. the plants again narayan ki Katha, bllt has no knowledge of any scrip· come up and it becomes necessary to clear the field ture and his an~wers to some question) on ~uper of all the undesirable weeds and plants which come natural spirits, etc. were most flimsy. up. This is done by manual labour and the process is known as Nindai. Second weeding is again done Other Brahmins in the village are engaged in when the ears appear in the plants. cultivation.

The crop ripens in the month of October. A lturmis.-Traditional occupation of the Kurmis shower of rain before Diwali is very beneficial to the is agriculture and they are regarded as first-daB crop. Reaping is done with manual labour, using cultivators. As far as this village is concerned the sickle and the harvested crop is made into bundles and Kurmis have grown old; they do not own mu~h taken to the Khalihan. Threshing and winnowing land. is done in the Khalihan. The stalks (paira) is used Rawats.-Tradition:ll occupatL_;n of the Rawats as fodder to the cattle. is grazing the Village cattle and this traditional occu­ In this village early and coarse variety of paddy pation is faithfully followed in this village as this is sown, because the fine variety is a more risky crop. is table shows : of late variety and requires more labour. Household Total workers Total persons Other Kharif crops are Kodon and Raha,. The engaged in cultivation of Koaan is comparatively easier. The grazing, etc. seed is sown broadcast in thQrfields after the rains and the fields are subsequently ploughed. The A,}la, 1 6 2 pulse crop is either sown on the embankment!! or 2 2 2 together with Koaon in the fields. 3 5 2 The Koaon, Rahar, etc. are sown in comparatively Total , 13 6 poor class of land, known as Bhar,i. The paddy fields are likewise known as Dhanha. After the paddy ltewats.-The traditional Occup1.tion of the harvest is over, Ute,a crop, '.e. alsi, gram, tiwara, Kewats is fishing; but they have left their occupation etc., is sown in these fields. In the paddy fields other and taken to cultivation. Fishing is done only for Rabi crops are not sown, but in the case of BMr,; self-consumption and if somebody nets more than lands, Rabi crops like w:1e:lt, m3.s:)or, alsi, gram, etc. what can be consumed and thinks that going to town are s)wn. The Rabi crops are known as Unhari. would be worthwhile, then he sells the catch. Fishing Generaily, the wheat fields are not manured. has not been returned' as a. principal occupation even Traditional occupations.-The traditional by a single Kewat. occupation of different comm'mities represented in this Fishing occupation has been to a very great extent village is referred to in the literature as given in the replaced by vegetable cultivati_on and 27 people following table: returned vegetable cultivation as the principal occu­ Traditional occupation pation. Situated as it is on the bank of the river, vegetable cultivation is comparat;vely easy and Brahmi:ts Priesthood every Kewat family in Bendri (old site) has a bari or Kurmis Cultivation vegetable garden. Such vegetable gardens are not .. Rawats Graziers seen in·· Nawadih for lack of water-supply. The vegetables ar~ taken to Ganj vegetable market in I Kewats Fishermen I Raipur town after October and people like selling the \pankas Weavers t~an I vegetable there at Urla or Birgaon market Brabmins.-Only one Brahmin, Nizam Prasad, because they get better price at Raipur. ~rries on the priesthood, but his m:lin occupation is Asked as to why the traditional occupation of ficulture. H~ is th~ purohit of the village and Ashing is left, Shiv Kewat 9aid. that fishing was an •0 visits villages up to seven miles. Priesthood js unpredictable and uncertain economic flursuit . t a paying occupation arld NizaIll Prasad does nQt 'On some day when you <;anpot ~o out to market, 48 49

. \ \ " , \ " , \ \ \ , .' ,, . , •, I. \ . ,· . . ·, . \ " . '. \

VIL.LAGE 13ENDRI •

, , '<::-" ~.~ Ii] .: ">" ...... " .. ~ .'.:: ...... ,'"

"r~'~'''' ''Ad_OJ'' k ...... " 'F"Ank.~ o C; ... ,.... Io,a. I nJt g~t a'lyi:hing. What is the use in pursuing village street or lane and ther 2 is no particular custom this a:~tivity'. A'1')ther Kewat said. 'After working regarding lhe placing of the front door. Irrc.,pective the whole day SQ'nl~ti01es we get just enough for our of direction the fro:'}t door always face3 the road and, own c'Jn:;umption. But here in vegetable gardening a3 3ituated, m')st of th~ home3 in Junapara face east· and cultivation, there is a positive return. You w~st. work ani yn g;t. Y01H lab::mrs are n'Jt wa.,ted as Raipur District Gazetteer de3crib~3 villag(houses in fishing: in the District as below: It is for this reason that the Kewats have left "Every Chhattisgarh family, however poor, has fi'lhing and taken to cultivation and vegetable gar­ at least two separat~ huts, one of which serve, as a d;ning and now big fishi.ng nets are not seen in Bendri. cooking and sleeping pIac~ an1 the other as a store­ T_13 K~wats h1.vc gJt smlll nets w:lich one m'ln hou,>~ for grain or fuel, a place for pounding rice and can throw and thC!y g:> ou ~ fi ~hing when there is ,!lath­ a guest chamber. These huts are surroundel by some ing else to do or on the muket day at Urla or when kind of wall or h~dge. If the family is wc1l-to-do. they project a trip to Raipur. At other times the it has a large number of huts; and as the married females go to the river and try to catch what3ver m ombers incre3.s ~, i t bec·::>m~3 neces ,ary to increa,e they can for the meals. the number of sle~pii1g plac3S .•.•.•.•.•.• It h not Pankas.-The traditional occupation of the Pankas uncommon to permi't one or more farm labourers to is weaving; but the Panka. family here is that of the constru-::t th~ir huts within the family enclosure. village watclunan and he does not follow this occupa­ And an enclosure may thm contain only one family tion any more. or several distinct families, either cognate or unre· lated. Th~ hou:;e3 of Ian :le:i pr.:>prietoes wh) live Household industries, etc.-There is no other in their village, are now usually large and commodi· household industry in the village. The Kewats 0:15 .•.... Practically all the houses have a courtyard prepare their own fishing net, but they do not prepare which is kept clean and smooth ...•.•.• The walls it for sale. The net is prepared first by winding the of the yard which m1y be about 30' x 20' are of mud, thread and then weavjng it. For weaving they Use and ar ~ umally about 4' hig;l. They are covered bamboo sticks. Winding and weaving are done by with thatch in the rains. Most houses hava only a the males in their leisure time. gate of bamboos and the dOQrs are not secured by locks." Villaie settlement and dwellin~ plac ~s.-Total Except the cattle-shed, the houses in this vilhge• area of th~ village Bendri is 6.52'70 acr~s, but the total area un1~r Abatli (5:!ttl~m'!l1t) i5 only 5'45 hwe dO:)f3 mli] of WOJ1. No particular room is acres. On the basis of settlement arel, th~ density earmarked for a guest in the house. More or less of population per acr~ in the village is 53 p~rs)ns ev~ry hou;;e in Junapara has an enclosure or bari, but taking the total area into account the density of where vegetable, etc., is sown. The vill:lge has a population in the village comes to be 1 person in number of trees of munga. It supplies the house. every 2 acres. hold with the v~getable and al30 fetches good price from Raipur. Other trees in the village (old site) The village has two settlements-the original are neem, tamarind, an:! pJcpat. The p~epal trees settlement or the Junapara (Bendri proper) and are out,ide the villaJe a ld und.er both the tree; a deity has been instllled. On the banks of river. Nawadih. The latter para of the villag ~ was setthd t'le in 1949 because of the danger by the fhod in the old SMfJ-Ung is installed under the pe6t}al tre~ on a plat. s~ttlement. In spite of this danger, howeve', majo­ form and under the other tree is situated the rity of the residents have preferred to stay on at the M ata- tlewiJta. oM site and only 22 hou5::s have been comtructed in The Junapara of Bendei hls a CJmmon meeting the Na wadih area. N 3.wadih still lacks the appearance plac~ where the old and young alike ass~mble and of a village settlement. It gives a rather barren and s,)end their time. It is at this plac~ that th~ vi;itor deserted appearance, though 'th '! hoo ;es ther ~ are m ly sit and meet all the villa.gers. The meeting higger than thos'! in the oH site. Jun:lpara pre,ent5 place is nothing but a. little open space in th~ east ~f the sight of J. real villag~ ani on approaching it one village settlement and situated in it'> 11l3.rgin. Here realty fe~15 th~t he is r~1ching a village. ,stands a young bargad (Ficus hencalenst"s) tree and S1

..

No.Z3 Ni2:c.\m 'Pr..:\sC\d /3 ra.-h.,m t'n-

2& L Q ala .fc.cwcJ.-

Z3 Bakharrn.11 .l(~wo.l:

.K. u. ,. nt. 1. ~s Raf11din

~a S 0 11'\ 1"1 a-th (fla4"'~'"

34 Firansi ~

31 H,rc\Slns (jL~- 52 the village'; have constructd a high circnlar platform The foundation in Bendri has to be quite deep ani around it. NeJ.r from here is a Neem tree which also as much as about 4 feet. This is because of the kanhar serves as a place to sit beneath it. No such me~ting soil which doe; not offer good foundation. The phce as yet com~ up in Nawadih and there the people foun:iation is filled with mud or stone as the case may m ~et in th ~ c mrtya.rd of Raru Kewat or go and sit be. If the house is of mud, then lumps of mud are at Asaram Patel's house. placed one over the other on the wall and the w Jmen members do the planing. The mud is prepared by In general, the hoU3~s of all the communities are putting some pirousi or paddy-husk and then of the sam~ type. They are either made of mud or preparins the mixture with water. This process is stone and the roof is usually tiled. The doors are known as m::echana. Mixing of earth, pirousi and IJW and either there are no windows or very small water is done by women by foot. A litt1e more water ones. Th~re is no place i'n the house for bathing and is put fint and ilfter the fir;t mixing, itis left for no lavatory exists. In size, however, the houses of some time to dry. Second mixing is then done when (lifferent communitie3 differ. Th~ BLlhmins have the excess water evaporates and the mixture i; then big_,;er an 1 better constructed house; in Junapara. ready for use. In stone-walled houses, the stones The tiles for roofing are brought from Raipur or are laid one over anoth~I" and cemented with Kumhari village near Raipur. The cattle-sheds as mud. well as some of the living rooms are covered with Height of the walls in this village is aboul 6' and tllltching grass. M03t of the residents have their thickness is about a foot. There are two types of roofs: own houses. Eight households, however, live in in one type the tiling is done only on two sides and the rented houses and a nominal rent of Rs. 2 to 5 per roof slants- on the two side; from the central beam. month is paid to the owner. Th ~s i s the <;>rdinary type of roof as shown below. In the other type, known as Choukadi, the roof is on all Living conditions in the village are far from the four sides. The villagers opine that the choukadi satisfactory and most of the households I ive in one type of tiling is a better kind of roof but it involve; or two rooms. There is only one house in the whole more cost and labour. village w~lich h,].3 four llving ro 1m3, but the number of members in this household is 14. In general, about In the rainy s~ason the mud-walls are protected 3 persons live in one room which is 8-10 feet square by a mat of stems of rahar plant w Jven together in a criss-cross manner. This woven piece is known as and the living ~plce per m2)mb"r hardly comes to be Jhaltkari and it shields the wall from the showers 33-34 sq. fe~t. Every house has a separate structure fJr the cattle and this shed is con3tructed within the of rain. The roofs of the houses are repaired after the houses often by the side of the living room. The first one or two showers of rain. New plaster of mud cattle-sheds are by no means clean. is given after the rain is over. Th~ house-floor is washed with cow-dung and bord~red with solution of Construction of houses'.- No designs are pre­ white-clay. External walls are washed with white p3.re;,t b~fore coastructing a house and it is not usual clay after first giving them a coat of cow-dung solution. to consult a pri~st before laying the foundation. In The cost of houses in Bendri ranges from Rs. 100 ca3~S of sffi'lll and mud-w J.lled houses the h)usehoid to Rs. 4,000. Raru Kewat of Nawadih has the docs llOt engage any Ilbourer, but th~ member; them­ biggest house in the village and the cost of his house selves construct them. But in caseS of stone~walled approximates to Rs. 4,0)0. Asaram Patel has also a hous~s, assistance has got to be taken from profes~ional big house in Naw.1clih cooling Rs. 3,000. But leaving miseries or Ladiyas as they ar ~ called. these exceptional case; apart, the Kewats and th.;:

ROOF TYPES ROOF TILING

THE LONGEST STREET IN BENDRI HOL'SE OF RARU KEWAT (A HIGH INCO~E GROUP HOUSE)

STREET-SCENE OF NAWADIH <-----1' ----.....

Rawats have h:Juses of costs ranging from Rs. 100 to For protection against rain, the villagers use Rs. SO). One-roomed hO.lse of approximately 10' X 10' khumri which is a conical bamboo work and dimension and constructed of mud tabs about Rs. covered with leaves of t~ndu (Diospyros melano­ 100 for construction. xylon). The lewes are intersewn with the bamboo­ Household possessions.-Each house has two work. The khumri is put like a hat on the head, or three chulhas made of earth for co Jking. Rice but th~ traditional khumr' h"ls now got a is cooked in earthen pots and so is the pulse or dal. com:_Jetitor in the umbrella. There are five hous~­ The eating utensil is a big, deep bell-metalled plate holds in Bendri villag j where there are neither known as sekami or gamrhi; it is a shallow plate of khumris nor umbrellas. Forty households possess about 12" diameter. Dal or vegetable curry is hken in fifty-three khumris; and thirty-one umbrellas distri­ a small plate of similar shape made of bell-metal. buted into twenty-four households have been noted This plate is known as mal.ya. The dal or curry during the survey. Asaram Patel (Kewat) also possesses is stirred and taken out with a big spoon, called dua. a waterproof (rain-coat). There is only one torch It is made out of a coconut shell and fitted with a and one cycle in the village and both of these modern bamboo handl e. All these utensils are purchased items are possessed by Shiv Prasad Kewat. from the Raipur market. Dishes called thari are In the rainy season some of the villagers wear also used in some households, but for basi eating special country-made shoes known as chikhlahi. sekami is more convenient. juta (mud-shoe). It is in the shape of pump-shoe and is purchased by the people from U ria or B irgaon markets. As stated in a preceding reference, bhadai shoe is used on other occasions. Country blanket of black colour is also used as a protection in the rain. It is thrown on the back and tied into a knot in front. W car of this blanket is specially popu­ I ar with the Rawats.

Gorsi Haula The grain is stored in a big earthen vessel known as kothi. This vessel is mostly prepared by, the Water is stor ~d in e:uth ~n pots of black colour. wom~n ih th ~ hou ,e. For dehusking the paddy, the For bringing water from the river brass vessels known .. villagers use dTukt and almost every household has as hauZa "are used. Vess~l of a smaller dimension is simiarly called bauJi.. a dheki installed in One of the rooms. Dheki works on the principle of lever and the women press one There io; nothing in the sh \pe of fnrniture in the er~d of it with a foot and then relieve the pressure. h:>use;. The e-J-proprietor has ona or two folding and crude typa of chain. Visitors are offered cots to Food habits.-In general, the food habits of the sit upon. The cots are the same as seen elsewhere, but the people are more or less common. As elsewhere in the ;ize is so:newhat smaller. Dllring winter some fire rice-growing tract of Chhattisgarh. rice is the staple t>laced in an earthen pot is kept balow the cot for food of the people. The commonest preparation of warmth. This pot known a~ gorst is prepared b.~· rice is Basi which mean> 'left overnight'. In the the women out of mud. evening the rice is cooked and eaten with pulse and chatni or some vegetable curry. Usually the quan­ Oa'thG f2stival days like jawua,s or in marriage, tity of rice cooked is double the normal requirement mutton is prepared. Mutton is less eaten than for a meal. After the meal, the remaining portion chicken. Reason for this is purely economic one. of cooked rice is put in an earthen pot and covered The people, except the very old ones or the Brah­ with water. This cooked rice, soaked in water, is mins who do not undertake as lUuch labour as the left over for the night and next day in the morning Kewats and the Rawats, take 3 meals a day. In the the people eat it with salt and chillies mixture and morning is eaten the basi and the males go out to work. drink the water in which it is kept. It is said that In the noon basi is again taken either in the bolst is a very refreshing diet for this region and field itself or on returning home. In the night at about keeps the system cool. 7-8 p.m. they take the pej or rice-dal-curry. Another preparation of rice is pel. The rice is The diet necessarily predominates in starch and cooked in the same way as ordinary rice, but the water proteinous food as dal or meat or fish; but fat is con­ is not allowed to dry up completely so that the product sumed in a negligible quantity. Milk is given to the is a mixture of water and rice. The pej is eaten when hot children or it is converted into curd and is not taken and is given to the convalescing people. The food of by the grown-ups. Ghe.; is not taken at all except on the Brahmins of the village docs not differ in material the festival days or on the visit of some guest when detail from that OIf the Kewats and the Rawats and the host would say to his wife: "Dar ma gMv debe the use of basi is cOm'mon in their houses also, though (Put ghee in the pulsc). they deny it at such enquiries in order to show a higher social status. INCOME EXPENDITURE AND The pulses used are rahar CarlJar) , mooltg, , INDEBTEDNESS urad and masoor. Vegetables are grown in their Income.-Village Bendri has a predominantly gardens and not much is spent on vegetableso Whe agricultural economy and, in general, the greatest asking each other about the meal, the women invari­ income is from agricultural sources. After keeping ably say: Kq sag khaye has? (What curry have you the yearly requirements for consumption and the eaten?} In fact, this is the first question that a Woman seed for next year's sowing, the excess harvest is sold in this village and other villages of Chhattisgarh in Raipur Ganj marke~ and it is the income from this would put to the other woman on meeting her transaction that is regarded as income from agricul­ after meals. The Kewats arc a fishing community tural sources in this Surveyo The Kewats get subs­ and fish is a common item in the diet. They ordinarily tantia] income from their vegetable crops also. take the small fish chingri machchhi (shrimp or prawn) \Vorking in other's fields is another source of income. and keep the bigger fislles for salc. In the following table the average monthly income of the different communities is shown: Festivals bring about a change in the monotony of food. At the festivals or at the tiilnes of marriage, Income in rupees from the households prepare Sunhari which are the same ..A.. ""'\ as the puris, i.e. thin cakes of flour fried in oil. Commu- Agri- Labour Other Ser- Total The :flour used is wheat but ordinarily rice flour is nity culture sources vice also used. Bam is another common item of food pre?ared at the time of ~est~vals, etc. It is the prepa­ Kewat 675 1,940 995 490 4,100 ratIon of urad pulse whIch IS soaked in water, ground Rawat 30 260 60 350 to a paste and then small cakes of it are fried in oil Brahmin 545 75 100 720 Thethari is prepared out of gram-flour. Thegram-flou; Kurmi .. 100 15 115 is m:td~ into dough :vith water and salt to taste. The Panka 10 dough ls.then made m the shape of thin sticks as thick .. 45 60 115 as t~e llttle finger and the pieces of it, about 1 inch Gorkha 10 150 160 to 2111ches, ar"! cut and after giving them a little t . t Total 1,370 2,200 1,130 860 5,560 ool f b 0 • WIS , put III 01 or emg fned. T hethari can also be d pre- pare out of wheat-flour. K~urmi is prepared out of Expenditure.-The main item of e:x:penditure of the wheat-flour and sweetened WIth gur Little reet Kewats, Brahmins and Kurmis is over means of pro- . '. angu- I ar pIeces or rectangular one inch to two in h 1 duction, but among the Rawats the main item of expe- Ok c q stlC s are made and then they are fried in oil. nditure is over clothing. The following table illustra- tes the monthly expenditure of different communities: 55

Caste ,------"------"" Items of Expenditure Bnhmin Kurmi Rawat Kew3.t Panka

1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Conventional necessities 2'00 4'00 86'00 2'00 2. Intoxicants 2'50 3. Fuel and lighting 21'00 2'00 12'00 145'50 4. Clothing 45'00 10'00 40'00 492'00 4'00 5. Education 20'00 3'00 6'0') 6'0) 10'00 6. Medicines 9'50 2'50 5'00 102'25 S'OO

7. Over means 'of production 233'00 33'00 12'O~ 663'0] 1'00 8. Fodder 32'()l} 4'0 ) 9. Social obligation') 7'm 1'00 3'00 60'50 5'00 10. Other domestic utilities, 12-00 1 -()) 7-flO 13G-5) 5';)0 11. Dwelling uno 2-00 G-flO U)2-0) 2' )0 12_ Religious 1TllO 1'00 2'5') 27'50 2'00 13. Recr.:ation 2'00 14. Others 5'\)0 98-50 3'00

Though in a village, the residents have to undergo keep the re.quirement in advance, No indebtedness, quite an amount of hardship in securing fuel. therefore, occurs on that account, TIut on the Because of the scarcity oftrecs, fuel wood is purchased occasional celebrations like birth of a son or a and this purchase records the high expenditure under marriage in the family, purchase of plough, cattle this item, On the average practically nothing is or repair of the house, thc villagers have to take loan. speat on (recreation', The burden of debt in this village is shown in the statement below : Indebtedness,-Bendri is self-sufficient in the req uirement of its agricultural seed and the people

, No,of home- of house- Amount of Debt Balance b Total No, % of households holds in debt holds in debt debt since repaid ou tstanding Community 1958 at the time of survey

1 2 3' 4 5 G 7

Kcwat 48 14 29 1,842'00 240'00 1,602'00 Rawat 3 3 100 275'00 275'00 Brahmin 3 2 67 750'00 270'00 480'00 Kurmi 2 0 Panka 1 0 Gorkha 1 0

.,-·"tal 58 19 • 2,867'00 510'00 2,357'00 56

Yearwise burden of this debt of Rs. 2,867 is The villagers utilised this debt mostly for pur­ as below: chasing plough, cattle, cart or for repair of home. Celebrations like marriage and birth were the second important items on which the amount taken in debt Year Amount of debt taken was utilised. Approximately ten percent of the amount 'Was utilised on clothing and food. Utili­ 1958 500'00 sation of debt by the Villagers is shown in the below 1959 995'00 given statement : 1960 587'00 1961 785'00 Total 2,867'00

Households of the communities in debt I terns of expenditure Amount Percent r-,------~------~ Kewat Rawat Brahmin

Purchase of bullocks 1,450'00 SO'6 3 2 Marriage 750'00 26'2 3 1 Clothing and food 292'00 10'2 3 Land and house 220'00 7'6 3 1 Cart 100'00 3'5 1 To pay fine 30'00 1'0 1 Birth of child 25'00 0'9 1 Total 2.867'00 100'0 14 3

It would be seen from the Tables that bration of life~rituals; the Brahn:¥ns have taken debt the Rawats are the greatest in debt in asmuch only to purchase plough-bullocks and the Rawats as that all the three households in the village are have taken

Total house- Debt raised Debt raised Debt lrom Whether holds in 1 from vi.llage from Raipur outside the mortgaged Community . debt· itself tovvn J)istrict anything: house holds households households household or property

Kewat 14 11 1 2 Rawat 3 2 1 l" acres. Brahmin 2 1 1 Total 19 14 1 4 • Thus 70% of the debt is got from within the village. of debt is from outside the district, from nearby The debt is given by a Brahmin widow. Next source villages 01 Durg District. CHAPTER VII

Relieion~ Festivals, Rite~ Beliefs and duperstitions

Reli~ion.-The religion of a people consists of beliefs and rites. In villages situated within the influence-zones of towns like Raipur, these beliefs and rites necessarily undergo change and be~ause of adoption of new beliefs and new rites, the religion of a people now in such a village may not be able to give a correct pidure of the religious thought of each people or caste. People in Bendri as a whole believe in superna­ tural spirits. One such common spirit, according to them. is Raksa which haunts cremation and burial grounds and is seen in the form. of burning lights. It is said that sometimes the Raksa obstructs the path in the night and in such cases it is not safe to cross it. Other supernatural spirits which the vHlagers make out are Shaitan, Bhoot and Pret and among the female spirits Churelin and Pretin. But except the Raksa, they .are not able to give any description of these spirits and nobody in the village has any experience of spirits. It is vaguely believed that males dying unnatural death like by burning, drowning, etc. become P'ee. A woman dying untimely death becomes P,ett" whereas a woman dying during child-birth becomes ChuTelin. 50

Pe'Jple also believe in black art ~or eona and in Stltya Narayan ki PaoJa ha; become common in the the past th~re U5ed to b~ great number of tJnhins village and, apart from the Brahmins, the Kurmis, in the Chhattisgarh villages. The tonhins were the Rawats and th~ K ~wats have started holding considered to be responsIble for spreading diseases th~se Kathas in their houses. like cholera and smallpox. There are no tannins in village Bendri now, it is believed. Satya Narayan ki Katha is recited in a different way in the village. It is read out in a rather sing­ Omens and superstitions are commonly believed song manner with nobody understanding what the and the common superstitions in the village are : Pandit says but he emphasises the bad effects of re­ ( i ) If there is a hiccup at the time of taking fusing the Prasad and the good effects of holding meals, it is believed that somebody is the Katna. The Katha does not entail any big remembering. expenditure but can be celebrated within an amount (ii) While walking, if a stone is hit, it is believed of Rs. 5- or so. Since th~ Satytl Narayan Katha is that somebody has abused. a c)mmon Pooja allover, a detailed description is (iii) A sn~~ze at the time of setting on a jour­ not being given here. ney or starting a good work is taken to be inauspicious. Reli~ious cer~monial calendar.-Different castes in the village have different festivals which are (iv) Sight of a full pitcher in front while setting celebrated with great pomp and show by that caste. on a journey or starting a work is lucky. But everybody participates in the celebration of In addition to these superstitions which are common fe~tivals of other castes, e.g. ] awara, which is among other castes, the Kewa,ts hold another super­ essentially a festival of the Rawats, is celebratd stition. If, while they are going with their net for at Raipur in such a magnitude that villagers from f13hin;, som~body asks as to where they are going, round about come there and it becom~; a problem they take it to be very inlu3picious and return hom~· LJr those in charge of L'lW and O:der to maintain pea-::e and pr-.:vent anti-30cial crimes. Th 1 Poojas.-Because of the influence of the Brahmins and, it appears, because of the propaganda The religious calendar of different castes of the of the Pandit! to increas~ their clienteb, the village can be tabulated as under:

Calendar month Brahmins Kurmis Rawats Kewats Pankas

1 1 2 3 4 5 6

January Makar Sankrant February Sivratri March Holi Holi Jawara Jawara April •• Ram Navmi May •. Brat-Savitri June July .• Rath-Yatra August Hareli September October Diwali Diwali Goverdhan Jawara Pooja, Jawara. November December

Jawara.-jalllara is tho! important festival in the the festival in the village, but go to Raipur and spend villag~ being celebrated by the Kewats and the their time there. Rawat.,. Actually these people do not celebrate Russell! L:..., l:s :rib ~ 1 ] awara in his description ~cannot go them;elves, hire the barber's or waterman's o[ he K treni c t>t~ b~t th! K'l~mis in thi; village do wife to go for th ~m. The pot; are taken to a tank an 1 not celebrat ~ this festival and regard it as a festival of throw.l in, the s~alks of gnin b~ing k~pt and db· Raw~~; and K~w~ts. It cannot be state:! with any tributel as a mark of amity. The wheat which is certaint 1 whether d~nial of this festival as th~irs is sown i.1 Kunwar gives a foreclSt of the spring crops. an a:t:!mp': on t1:le part of the Kurmi3 to rise in caste­ A plant i~ puUe:! out and the return of the crop will hierarchy. The b;criptio:l of th~ festival as given be the same number of times the seed as it has roots. by Russell is reproduced here in extenso. The woman who get, to the tank first counts the numbe.- of plants in her pot an:! this give; the price "The sowings of the ]awaras. cornspon:lin~ to 0' whelt in rupees per mani. S lmetimes marks of the garden of Adonis. takes place during the first nine red rust appear on th3 plants and this shows that the days of the months o~ Kunwar and Chail (S~ptember crop will suffer from rust. The ceremony performed and March). Tha form~r i; a nine days' fast prec~ding in Cl.ait i; said to be a sort of harvest thanksgiving." the Dasahra festival and it is supposed that the Th ~ ab we description shows that]awara is Godles3 Devi w~s during thi; time employed in fight­ an agricultural festival but th~n why the Kurmis of ing the b:tfh.lo-l~mJIl (Bhain~asur) whom ;he slew on this village hav..! not returned it as theirs is a little the tenth day. The latter is a nine days' fast at the surprising. The]awara as celebrated in the village IS new year, precdihg th;~ triumphant entry of Rama des:::ribed below : into Ayodhya on the tenth day 0n his return from Cey­ bn (Lanka). The first period comes before the ]awaras are sown in the nam~ of th~ Devi in the sowing of the spring crop of wheat and oth ~r grains Navratra. Head of the househ::>ld keeps fast for the and the second is at the commencement of th ~ harvest day and takes only frui't in the evening. Akha"tl of the same CDp. In some localities the ] a7IJara arc ] yoU or perpetual light is burnt at the]awara in the also grown a third time in the rains, probably as a nama of D ~vi. preparation for the juari-sowings, as juari is planted Wheat, Gram, Urad, Paddy, RahaT, MasOOT# ]au, in th~ bask~t; or 'garden:;' at this time. On the and Til are sown in a pot full of earth and OVer this first day, a small room is cleared and whit~washed is placed the lighted lamp. Every night songs are and is known as Diw:1,~a or temple. Some earth sung in the praise of the Devi. 0 I the eighth day. is brought from the field; and mixed with manure the Pandit performs the Hom ceremony. On the in a ba;ke: and a mal~ m~mber of the fami'Iy sows ninth day sacrifice of a goat is made and only the wheat in it, hathing before he does so. The b3.sket is family members share the meat. If somebody wants kept it1 th ~ Diwala and the same man attends on it to give th~ meat to others also, he sacrifices another throughout the nine days, fasting all da.ys, and eating goat and the meat of thi; is distributed. After the only milk and fruit at night. •.•.. During the period sacrifice th 0 pot is carried by a married woman and of nine days, called the Navratra, the plants are to the accompaniment of music an 1 devotional songs waterc:l and long stalks spring up. On the eighth is taken to the tank. dlY, the Hom or the fire-offering is performed and the Gunias or devotees are possessed by Devi. On Some p>eople show some erratic signs which is the evening of the nihth day the women, putting on known as Devi Chadhna. They start beating their their best clothes. walk out of the houses with the pots bodies or pie:cing their tongues: it is said that Sakt' of grain on their heads. singing song; in praise of Devi. enters therr body. The men accompany them beating drums and cymbals. I t is out of the scope of the present work to des. The devote~s pierce their cheek with long iron-needles cribe the common fe,tivals of Holi. Di7JJali~ Sivralri. and walk in th~ procession. High-caste women who etc. FAMILY GODS AND DEITIES

Brahmin (3) Kurmi (2) Rawat (3) Kewat (48) Panka (I) Vishnu Bhagwan(3) Krishna Bhagwan(2) Dulaha Deo (3) Dulaha Deo (45) Satyanam Kabir (1) Dulaha Deo (2) Satyanam Kabir(l) Budha Deo (I) Saiti Deo (1) 1. Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, Russell and Hiralal, Vol. IV. p. 82-83. oU

RU'i3eli1 ha, d~scdb~d that I{urmis worship Satti Deo.-One Kewat famtly returned Satti Dulaha Deo. In thi; village, however, the two Deo as the family god but neither he nor auybody . Kurmi hmilies assert that their family god is Shree else in the village wa; able to tell any leseul or belief KrLhna. about this godling. It was said that this has come down from the elders but it was said that the worship Dulaha Deo.-DulahaDeo is th~ family god of the may have cJme down after some Sati event in that Kewats and the Rawats. According to Russell's family. Practice of Sat; amongst the Kewats is. description "Dulaha Deo is another godling whose however, very unlikely and, as far as the village is shrine is in every village. He was a young bridegroom concerned, the significance of Satti Deo remains who was carried off by a tiger on his way to his wedding, untraced. No other Kewat or Rawat family believes or.. according to another account, was turned into in Satti Deo. fa stone pillar by a fhsh of lightning. B~fore the Burha Deo.-One Kewat family stated Burha starting of a wdding pro:ession, th~ members go to Dulaha Deo and offer a pair of shoe, and a miniature Deo to be its family god. Burha Deo is a Gond godling and it is not known as to how it came to be pos: and marri 1ge crown. 0.1 their retur a they offer the family god of this particular household. Thero ~ coconut. Dulaha Deo has a ston~ and a platform is no image or symbol through which some coniec. to the east of the village or occasionally an image tures could be made nor does the family have any daman on ho~s2back .....• "~ idea of reverence for Saja (Boswellia serrata) tree I. In the Raipur District Gazetteer 3 Dulaha Deo is described as the deity of the Rawats only; but, apart Satyanam Kabir.-The Panka family belongs to from the Rawats, the Kewats and the Kurmis also the Kabir-panth sect; but there is one Kewat family believe in Dulaha Deo in this village. But nobody is also in thjs village which has adopted Kabir-panth as able to tell the details about Dulaha Deo. A very its religion. The Kabir-panth is the path of religion mixed-up and concocted story was told by one villa­ started by Saint Kabir who, ac:ording to Bishop ger. According to it, a young bridegroom returning Westcott. lived in A. D. 1440-1518, and, according with the bride was attacked by the Mohammedans to Crookes, flourished between 1488-15122• The during the Mughal Period but he fought valiantly and Pankas of Chhattisgarh subscribe to the Damekheda defeated the attackers. But questioned as to how branch of the sect. The Kabir-panthis do not touch then he became a godling and came to be worshipped, meat. fish and liquor and the identifying mark of the no answer was forthcoming. The story given by panth is the KantM or the nacklace of beads which Russell is the correct story; but the villagers do not they wear round their neck. remember it. The religious service of the Kabir-panthis is called Sacrifice to Dulaha Deo is made after marriage. Chauka or Chauka-tir,.. The name Chauka is The first thing that the bridegroom's father or guar­ in use because of the rectangular space marked out dian does after returning home is to sacrifice a goat for it with lines of wheat-flour. Usually the dimen­ or a cock in the name of Dulaha Deo and similar sacri­ sions are 5 to 71 feet square. In the centre is made fice is made on the birth of the first child, but not on j a pattern of nine lotus flowers to represent the Sun. subsequent births. It is said that the Brahmins also the Moon and the seven planets. At one corner of pay homage to Dulaha Deo, but, instead of slcrifices the Chauka is put a small hollow pillar of dougb they break cocon u t. serving as a candle-stick and a sjck covered with cotton-wool burns as a lamp. The image of Dulaha Deo is described as a rider on hor3eback made of clay; but no image is kept in this The Chauka ceremony is conducted by the Kabir­ village and th'! sacrifice is made in the name of the panthi mahant who is invit ~ 1 for th ~ ceremony godling. with his assistant known as diwan. There are many such subordinate mahants and they have got their separate jurisdiction. 1. Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces Russell and lIirJ.l:lI, Vol. IV, p. 82. ' 2. ItitJ. p. 82. 1. The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, RusseU and Hiralal, Va]. III pp. 102-103. 3. Illoipur District Gazetteer, 1909, p. 93. 2. [md, Vol. I, p. 232 (1916). MATkDEWALA

CLOSER VIEW OF SIV-LING

SIV-LlNG 61

bat they knoW no mDre than this and :;DmMimc~ In the ceremony, the mahant sits at one end and londly repea~ th~ name of any of these, e.g. Jai the worshipper, sit around. Bk.~j'ms Qr religious M ifhatleo Bhag or sometime3 they make reference compositions of Kabir are then sung and name of to all of these, t.g. Jai Shankar Bhagwan" Ganes" Kabir i3 repeated being counted on the Kat:thi Vishnu Parf)ati. or beads. Arti ceremony, same as in the Hindu poojas, is then held and ..,the mahant then breaks the coconut ani distributes it as prasad. After this a religious talk by the tn«.hallC follows. The next half of the ceremony consists in mixing the dough. on which the candle was burning. and the coconut and small puris are prepared. The mahan ha$ a number of betel-leaves known as 1!arwan" (message) from the Head Guru and also the c}tara nalfl.,.ita or the water in which feet of the Head Guru ha.ve been dipped. This charanamrita, par'IJJana and the small /JUris are then distributed by the manant. The Chauka CEremony is necessarily done at the tlme o(marriage and after death. But it rnay also I ,/ be got conducted at the time of child-birth. One Kewat has adopted Kahir-panth. He was N~"22 SAWANIYA initiated after one such Chauka ceremony and given Chaurasi Devi and Jaldewati.-RusseU has a mantfa (text for daily repetition) by the nwhcmt. mentioned that "the Kewats worship the ordinary Mata-Dewala.-In the old settlement, outside Hindu deities and believe that a special goddess. the village and under an old peepal tree, is built a Chaurasi Devi, dwells in their boats and keeps th m small one-roomed structure. This is known as Mota­ from sinking. She is propitiated at the beginning Dewala and some villagers (ilie Brahmins) referred of the rains and in time of flood and an image of her to this as Mriha:maya-ka-Mandir. This is evidently is painted on th.eir boats." an innovation and Mahamaya or no Mahamaya. the The Kewats of villa.ge Bendri have neVer heard vf structure represents the abode of village goddess who the name of Cbaurasi Devi nor had the oldest member is remembered only at the time of distress or at the ever heard his father referring to this goddess. The Jawara.. At other times nobody cares to visit the Kewats of Bendri do not have boats and it is, therefore, building for any offering, etc., and the Brahmins are likely that the description given by Russell may b

DANCES

SONGS

AND RECREATIONS

One of the many sad effects of urbani1zadon is in the slow decay of the indigenous modes of recreation, mainly the dances and the songs. As the Prime Minister, Shri Nehru once said: "A tribe which dances, lives". Decay of songs and dances brings about a stagnancy in the tribal and rural societies, because, urbanization, though i't kills the indigenous arts and aesthetics, does not offer any substitute. The above position is as true in village Bendri as in all the other villages. The only recreation that the people in this village know is to go to Raipur and see some saneema (movie-picture) or simply going about the town and be infected with the many viCes that go with the town­ life. And then back to the village, idle gossiping is the only mode of spendihg the time. At the tilne of our enquiry, it wa'i difficult to get a vi1lager who could recite a few songs, the dohas or the aaaarias. There were many who were too willing to recite a line or two of some film-music.

Leave apart the older people, the children too not have any facilitie; of proper recreation. Small children play with their toy bullock-carts and the girls simply play some kind of going in a circle. The adolescents simply ,it t09"ether apd have S01'Qe yile talks. 64

Da r.rJa.ndch is danced for practically the whole On the occasions of festivals, however, the village month in March. The beauty and the rhythm of jumps to life. In the month of festival of HoU, the this dance is slowly dying 'out and the villagers of young and old alike participate in the Dltn.da. dance Bendri cannot now dance it with the perfection which and, except the Brahmi'ns, all other communities take some village, in the interior can. part in it. In this village, it i3 celebrated with the Kewat ani the Rawat boy.:; ani men. It i3 a mens' dance. Another dona sung at the Da,nda-n.ach is: S:)me tW) or thre~ p30ple racite doha; or poems and, "Birij man basiya-Birij man basiya ko around the;e men, the participants in the dance fonn Gopin sang khele holi, gajab mar rasiya ho a ring, each with a small stick. Then when the' (0 the resident in the heart of Brij ! doha end", ea~h person starts moving to his right and left or right-about-turn and hits one another's stick in o the resident in the heart of Brij ! a very rhythmic sequence. The dance is arranged in You play holi with the Gopis, what to say of your merry nature)

The Rawat-nach.-In the month of October about the festival of Diwali, the Rawats engage in a dance known as Rawat-dance. They put on their traditional dress, the gaudy 'jacket' adorned,with belts of Cowrie in whi'ch ghunghroo (jingle rings) are tied and peacock~feathers fixed; the turban with peacock-feathers and in the leg they tie ghunghroo. With their lathi (stick) or the kub,i-lathi (bent stick) they go about in a group with ganda-baja for whkh they pay Rs. 10 per day. The dance is nothing but a haphazard and unsY3tematic sort of jumping to and fro to the accompaniment of music. The dance is interrupted when s:)mebody raises his stick and recites a doha or a passage and after the such a way that the sound of sticks hitting one passage is finished the entire group gives out a another comes as one sound. The dance can be illus· sound of no simultaneously and the dance again trated in diagram as above. The arrow;; indicate the continues. movements. In the movements they hit one another's The passages mayor may not signify anything sticks. The hit of sticks is shown by cross-mark in the and some of the expert Rawats compose these passages diagram. extempore. Some of these passages with their English On~ do 'Ja sung at the D:J,nda dance is given renderings are given here : here: (i) .. Ze "Chait Ayodkya janam liye Ram Hat gew, bazar gew, uhan Zanew chuchuwa (Chait Ayodhya birth took Ram) Dhar-bandh ke daiM lanew uhu la lege­ musuwa .... Ho." Chandan se potwaya dham (With sandal w lshe1 palace) (Went to market, went to bazar and Gaj motin ke chouk puraye brought ckuchuwa, (Gaj b~ads wit'1 designs laid) Brought a wife after catching her and tying her, ~but a mouse Sane kalas me diya jalaye." took her away.} (Lighted lamp in golden wick-stand). The song rendered in pros~ would be : (ii) "Jagannath ke pantk me Lamba ped khajoor. "The Great Ram took birth in the month of Chaghnewala chagh gais, gire so chaknachur.'· Chait and t:1e whole palace was washed with sandal­ [On the way to ]agannath Pur there is wood powder. D~signs were laid on the ground with a tall tree of Khajoor (date}. He who gaj mIJtis and hmp3 were lighted in golden lamp. well knows climbing can climb it; those who holders." faU, get bro!{en to pieces.] TWO RA WATS IN DANCING POSTURE

DANCING OUTFIT A RAWAT WITH PEACOCK FEATHERS AND DANCE DRESS A RAWAT IN DANCING DRESS

ARAWATIN HIS DANCING A RAWAT WITH DRESS, LOWER GARMENT KUBRI-LATHI IS CHARACTEF.ISTIC ..... " J

Jh an]

; ,

~. *,1. ,' ''',

,.;'

Mandare

Dho-lak

._ ...."" ,... "fl :

(v) "Chamra ghar ke cham chameta parrot is placed in a bamboo-basket and is covered T eli ghar ke keet with cloth. Then the women dance before this Ahira ghar ke kubri lathi parrot. Le danadan pe~t." The dance cons its of twa groups of females who sing and clap alternately. [The ch

Another suwa~song has been given by Russell wo man rna sochan lagi ho in his description of the Ahir caste. It is reproduced Bahini kaise ke rakho ehi garabh here: l Kans kutir habay ho "Oh, parrot where sRall we sow gondla grass Satputa Ram diye, sakal kas har liye and here shall we SOIW rice." - 0 bahinee mor, "We will sow gondla in a pond and rice in the Kaise he rakho ehi garabh la field. "With what shall we cut gondla grass Kans kutir to habay Ito." and with what shall we cut rice", (Deoki is pregnant. Her seven sons were killed "We shall cut gondla with an axe by the cruel Kans and she asks her sister as to and rice with a sickle." how she should protect this eighth son frotn the hands of cruel Kans.) The parrot is reierred to both as the SUflJana Songs from the Brahmins of the village.­ and as padaki. Actually speaking Padki is not When the barat (bridegroom's marriage party} comes the tef;m for parrot but refers to another bird to the bride's house to take the bride, the female and probably is a Chhattisgarhi term for pigeon. members of the bride's house sing this line : 'fhe parrot or the pigeon is praised and addressed as a bird who carries messages from a lover to his mis­ "Jabahi Gopal chale Madhuban ko tress. Ghar-angan na suhaya ju." Child... ,birth.-On the Chhathi ceremohyot a fieW RU9seW imparts the following signincance to the born child, the following song is sung in the Brahmin parrot-dance and the song and says that, "it is houses in the village: probable that the parrot is revered as a spirit of the forest and also perhaps because it is destructive to the "It Mathura, it Gokul nagari {!orn. 'the parrot is not, so far is known, associated Beech me Jamuna dhara hoy with any God, but the ~ndus do not kill it. In Deoki Rani J amuna me awe Bilaspur an ear of rice is put into the parrot's tnouth, Lalana karate snan hoy." and it is said there that the object of rice i~ to prevent (On one side is Mathura, lind on another side is the parrot from preying on the corn." the town of Gokul and in between flows J ainuna river. n~oki Rani ames to Jamuna and the young 1. Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, Russell and Hiralal, Vol. II, p. 33. one is takini bath in the river.) 2. Ibid, p .•3. 68

The fe3tivals ani joyous rituals of life bring occasions when the hum-drum existence gets a change. Since there is a conspicuous decay of ave.nues of recreation and enjoyment in the vlllagc, the cele­ brations are not held with that life and gaiety that is seen in some of the villages in the interior of Bindrana· wagarh, Dhamtari and Mahasamund Tahsils of this District. Giving a general description of the village­ life in the district, following mention occurs in the District Gazetteer and is aptly applicable to this village: "As for amusements, feast-days and holidays, they are simply days on which the villager eats more, drinks more, and makes more Ilois~ than usual. The essence of enjoyment for the individual is to be the member of a crowd and the larger the crowd the greater is his enjoyment. He, therefore. takes advantage of every excuse for a gathering f any kind, pays equal regard to Hindu and Mohammedan festivals and finds the same pleasure in a feast given at a marriage ceremony ...... "j

------~___._~ 1. District Gazetteer, Raip:u District, Vol. A, 1909 p. Ill. DHAPTERIX

COMMUNICATION, TRENDS

AND OPINIOI.VS

Bendri village is 9. miles from Raipur town as the crow flies but about 11 rrules through the road and track. The town of Raipur is seen from Bendri and the tower 0' the newly constructed College of Engi­ neering and the two chimneys of the Electric Power House conspicuously stand out in the horizon. Though situated So near and affected by urban contacts, the village is still a typical village; rather secluded and living its own life.

During the course of enquiry in this village, some off-hand but very significant remarks were heard. They signify trends of village thinking. Th(se will be mentioned later. Contacts with outside.-The, villagers both men and women go to Raipur to sell the vegetables, the fish or the grain. But apart from such business visits, they also go there for seeing saneema (motion-picture) or the 'exhibition' or 'circus', to attend the beautiful jawara mela, Rath-Yah'a or Moharram. Marriage parties go and come and the boys go to the Urla School. All such visits help exchange of information, valuable or otherwise. The centre of information in the village is the Kotwar who goes to police-stations and to Tahsil Office at Raipur and also Pandit Nizam Prasad who goes round to various vil1ages. Sat:ya Narayan Kalha functicn which is becoming more common in the 70

village is a collection of many short stories dealing When the photographs of ornaments were being with the lives of the people who neglected His worship. taken, some lady said to the one who was being pho­ Each story has one or more morals in it. The tographed: "Aankhi la tiptipa jhen, nahi to photu mil katha is heard as a story and does not appear to have andhri dikhbe". (Do not wink otherwise you will any refonnative value. look like a blind woman.)

The villagers, when asked about the Development About election, the remark was almost a sneer. Block functioning at Dharsiwa said, that no official When enquiries were being made about the house­ of that block has visited the village nor has any work holds and members etc. one young man Khedoo Kewat been taken up here. To get the supply of fertilizer said, "Are bhai, ye man election wala hen. AMi bane etc. the people go to Birgaon which is the head­ bane baat karhi, tahan Ie kaihi, ham ihan la khada quarters of the Village-Level-Worker. "This hoy han" (These people are electioneers. They will vi lage is a neglected Village and no officer ever comes first talk nicely and then say that they are contes­ here except the usual visits of the police constable or ting the election from this place.) the Head Constable", the villagers sadly remarked and when they came to know that I was a Deputy At the time of our enquiry, an investigator of the Collector, they were extremely pleased and said that it National Sample Survey had returned from village was the first time an officer :>f that rank had come to the Borjhara and was filling his schedules sitting in the village. Regarding the functions of the Develop­ house of Patel Asaram. When our people were asking ment Block, the people are not very hopeful and they about designs of tattooing etc. one woman said are not at all enthusiastic about it. Only the "Ye Sarka7 ham garib man la jiyan nai deye kotwar Brahmins and the Kurmi families knew that such ?eta pal he uhi la cti tati puchhe bar la aat he:­ an institution exists at Dharsiwa. They did not (The Gov~rnment will not let us poor people live in know anything about the aims and objects of peace. This Kolwar brings all sorts of people here Community DeVelopment or the Five Year Plans. who pester us with such meaningless qt'1estions). The villagers in fact seem to be bewildered at the stream of enquiries nmde from them and very recently When our party reached the village and photo­ in the past five or six months, eight enquiries were -graphs of houses and streets were taken, two ladies made from the people, s~arting from the Census House­ were heard joking with each other and saying, isting, Census enumeration and revision rounds, "Filim wala man age he. Ab tor Photu kheench ke preparation of Panchayat electoral rolls,. General rola sanima me legahi". (The film-peopb have come. Election electoral rolls, cattle census, National Sample They will take your photograph and recruit you in the Survey, Socio. Economic Survey enquiries and our film). They thus knew that a motion-picture is enquiries. The anger of the lady, therefore, filmed and that good-young faces are recruited. appeared very genuine and justified. CONCLUSION

Situated under the very shadow of the growing Town of Raipur, village Bendri is still steeped in rural sleepiness. But this is as for the economic system. Urban influences are positively breaking the social ties but have not been. able to induce an awareness for development. Inter-caste distinctions are, of course, as rigid today as they were fifty years ago. But a noticeable feature in this village is the attempt by every caste to rise in the social-hierarchy. The Kurmis have adopted many of the rites and customs of the higher castes to show their elevated position; the Pankas do not take food with anybody and they deny their ever having any association with the Gandas whom they regard as a very much lower caste. The Kewats lnd the Rawats both regard themselves as higher than each other. The younger generation of the village does not seem to know the structure of the caste they belong to. They do not know any of th'! GiHs or their totems and significance. The older people as well know hardly the names of three or four Gots and their explanation is that in arranging marriages what they require is to know their own Got and that is all. This is certainly not the picture in a tribal village, where more or less all the older people know the caste-structure in its entiret". 72

In religion, worship of the caste-deities is almost slowly glvmg place to shirts and kU1tas. Use of dying out and is now confined in making sacrifices blouse is becoming mere popular among the women. on ~ome occasions. Even those who pay homage to Mill-cloth has to a very great extent substituted the Dulaha Deo, Satti Deo or Burha Deo do not know handloom. any legend connected with those deities. They remember Though all these changes are coming, the village these names simply because their fathers remembered is still clinging to the age-old mEthods in the means of it. They do not know, for example, that the image production and agriculture. Transplantation or the of Dulaha Deo is that of a man sitting on a horse or Japanese method of cultivation is not followed, nor that the place of_Burha Deo is in the 'saj' (Terminalia are improved techniques and implements used. The tomentosa) tree. The Kurmis, though they pay younger generation, on whose shoulders lies the future, homage to Dulaha Deo at the time of marriage or on do not seem very keen for development. They seem the birth of first child, feel shy of admitting Him as the to be averse to labour and would pass days together family deity and return Krishna Bhagwan as the in idle gossiping and smoking, but will not put some family deity. The PooJa of Satyanarayan is being stones on the slushy village-streets which become so adopted under the influence of the Brahmins. It inconvenient in the rainy season to walk. appears, however. that the village is slowly forgetting the family deities and it will not be long when the There are many avenues in which development Dulaha Deo and Satti Deo will not be remembered. of this village can be taken up. Use of green manure. Probably Vishnu Bhagwan or Krishna Bbagwan may chemical fertilizer, improved method of sowing and use take-up the place vacated by these age-old family deities. of improved implements can be introduced in the field of agriculture. The Kewats have almost left A very great role of religion in the tribal and rural their traditional occupation-fishing, because, for the societies lay in the fear that it held in the minds of individuals, it is not paying at all. If they are induced people, for example, it is believed that if such and ,such to join together into a society and pool their catch for bad deed is done, the Burha Deo or the Dulaha Deo being s(!lld at Raipur, fishing would not be so unproduc­ would get angry and the anger would result in such and tive as it looks today.. Village well which presents a such consequence. This fear helps to regulate the very unhygienic and unsanitary appearance can be code of conduct in the rural and tribal societies. almost immediately taken-up for improvement.· rt cannot be visualised whether the Vishnu Bhagwan - PaVing of village streets and improvement of cattle­ and the Krishna Bhagwan would be able to play this. _ sheds, technique of compost manuring are the minimum role as effectively as the Burha Deo, DuJaha Deo -~ items in which development by inducement and cons and the like. tant persuasion can be attempted. Dances and songs which were the mainstay of All said and done, Bendri is still a real village rural recreation and healthy recreation, are fast dying I t is still a way of life, inspite of contact and communi­ out. Nothing is coming up as a substitute. The cation. Cultural-lag is, of course, noticeable. For younger generation have more liking towards t?e development of this village on proper lines, we cann

APPENDIX 1 SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY. MADHYA PRADESH

1. HOUSEHOLD SCHEDULE- 1. (1) Districts 1. (2) Tahsil 1. (3) Police Stations 1. (4) Vill<\ge 1. (5) 1961 Census L. C. No. of Village. 1. (6) Patwari Circle No. .'. (7) R. I. Circle

2. I NVESTIGATOR- 2. (1) Period ofInve)ltigation From To 2. (2) Name 2. (3) Designation 2. (4) Department.

3. INFO,RMANT- 3. (1) Name 3. (2) Age 3. (3) Date of birth 3. (4) Relationship to the Head 3. (5) Caste/Tribe 3. (6) Literate, Yes/No 3. (7) Educational Standard, if any 3. (8) Sex, Male/Female

4. HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD- 4, (1) Name 4. (2) Caste and Sub-caste/Tribe and Sub-tribe, Clan 74

5. HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION- 5. (1) Total Members-

Economic Age at Actual Religion: Marital- Status: Status: last Birth- Caste/Sub- Hindu: H; Single: S; Married: Earner: E day in Caste/TribeJ Muslim:M; S.No. Name Relationship Sex M; Divorced or Earning complete Sub-tribe~ Sikh: S; Remarks with the M/F Separated: D; Dependent: years Clan if Christian: C; Head Widow/Widower: ED; Depen- different Parsi: P; w. dent: from Head Specify for D. of the House- others hold

------. ~~ ~--- _-- -5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 - 5.11 ------~ ------,--,-~ ------(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) -.....- ~------_--- --.- ...... ,_--

6. HOUSE_OWN (0); RENTAL (R).] Number of Houses under ---- Occupation 6. (1) Accommodation-

Number of Rooms Use Approximate area in sq. ft. ~-~_----1 - 611 Living and Sleeping .. .. 615 612 Cooking and Storing .. .. 616 , 613 For Cattle and other Live-stook .. 617 614 For Non-residential purposes .. 618

.. Lavatoey and/or Bath-room .. 619 .. Varandah .. .. 6110 Openspace .. .. 6111 Total area of Household .. 6112

If. most or all of the area used for non-residential purposes is not distingUishable as such write ND.

If there is no separate Lavator,y or Bath-rooni-

6113 Which place serves the purpose of a Lavatory

6114 How far it is from the House .. :Miles Furlongs- l I 6115 Where do they bathe? .. .. 6116 How far it is from the House ..

6117 Is the house part of a building (P)? or a whole P/B building (B) I 75

OWN (0) f ___1 RENTAL (R) ,_I___ _

I 6. (2) Structural Details-

Height Width 6.21 How many years ago ~- constructed? 6.22 Size of doors l I 6.23 SiZe of windows Component I Material mainly used Roof of rooms .. .. 6.24 Walls of rooms " .. 6.25 I Floor of rooms .. .. 6.26 Roof of Varandah .. 6.27 Door of Varandah - 6.28

6.29 Is open space (compound), etc., paved? Yes/No 6.210 No. of stories other than ground-Hoor ? I ,

6.211 ApprolKimate present value of the house with plot? I Rs ...... I

MAINTENANCE

6.212 Is maintenance like white washing, etc., done regular~? Yes /No. 6.213 If r€€ular, how much expenditure is incuned? I Rs ..... ,

6.214 If the house was completely reconstructed during the last 25 years, how many tiines was this done? I I

SKETCH OF THE HOUSE 76

7. AGRICULTURE. If family is not dependent on Agriculture, enter a cross.-- ]

~7~.~(~I~)~H~0:ld~i:n:g~ ______~ __---- __------__------Acres 7.11 Total Area Acres 7.12 Total Irrigated Acres 7.13 Total Food Crops Acres 7.14 Total Com mercial Crops 7.15 Total Fodder 7.16 Total Uncultivated Fallow Land Acres. 7.17 Total NulIlber of separate plots in the holding

7. (2) Crops Grown Last Season-

Name of the Crap Area in Output 10 Period (Actual month) acres mds.

7. (3) Cultivation Methods-

7.31 (a) Quantity of chemicalfertilizers used

7.31 (b) Quantity of other fertilizers used 1,======' 1 ! 7.32 If irrigated, source: Well/Tank/River, etc. I r 7.32 Is the source of irrigation owned? YesfNo.

7.34 Means of transport used for cultivation -

7.35 Any modern implements used (Please describe below) :_ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7.36 If improved seeds used, since when? 17

7. (4) Live-stock and Poultry 7.41 Do you have any cattle YesfNo 7.42 If yes, please give the following details :- Cow.. Dry Milch Bul!s .. Breeding Stray Bullocks Ploughing Carting Stray Buffaloes (She) .• Milch Dry Buffaloes (He) .• Ploughing Carting Stray Pigs Others Poultry

7. (4) Payments and Rece~pts-

Cost of Income Amount of Rent rece- from produce Land Rent paid Cost of cultivation ived or value Revenue or value of borne by sale of pro- retained for Ho1ding Area (acres) culti'Vation of crops duce in case consumption. paid crop share landlord, shared given if any of cultivation

Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. (Mds.) (Rs.) I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 J 10

Holder-cultivator

- I Tenant-at-will I -

Landlord (rent receiver) I I I I I I \ -- I

Total ..

f 78

7. (5) E.nploymentin Agricult?re-

Hired workers Hired workers Hi"d , Wockingwho', j casuallywoc_, en- of Wo""ng Part-/ throughout season engaged part- I Remarks No. time, during the time, during Not working gaged season (whole time) time through- I the season out the season (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Maltls .•

f

Females ••

-

Total ••

---_--..

8. OCCUPATIONS OTHER THAN AGRICULTURE-

Occupations Details -- (I) (2)

No. of members of household engaged-

Males Females

DJration (months in a year) Actual period:

Distance from home to place where occupation is carried on (In miles and furlongs).

Value of implements and equipments owned ..

Value a.nd Hire of implements a.nd equipment, etc., hired- Value

Value H ire 19

8. OCCUPATIONS OTHER THAN AGRICULTURE-

Details 0ccupation

(1 ) (2)

ApprOXimate annual cost of repairs to imple­ ments, etc.

Value of output (Rs.)

Place where marketed (if Urban: N).

Distance (in miles)

No/e.-Where occupation is casual, enter "C." All occupations should be entered in respect of males and females: in case of the latter occupations like that of "Dai" should be mentioned.

9. FOOD HABITS: 9. (I} Materials used-

Annual requirements Annual reg,uirements Value Value Type Actually Otherwise in Remarks Type Actually Otherwise in Remarks purchased obtained Rs. purchased obtained Rs.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (l) (2) (3) (4) (5) 9.11 Cereals: 9.14 Meat: 1 1 2 2 Total 3 9.15 Fruits 4 1 5 2 Total 3 Total 9.12 Pulses: 9.16 Spices. 1 Condiments,etc. 2 1 3 2 3 Total .. Total 9.13 Sugar or 9.17 Salt molasses 9.18 Fuel

Total IG. TOTAL

9.(2) Types of food ta.booed or prohibited-

9.21 Number of Vegetarians in the household Males Females (1) (2) (3)

N.B. -(Vegetarians are those who do not eat m~at. fish or eggs). Is vegetarianism traditional among Males/FemaJes/ Special Groups? If so, describe. If non.vegetarian. does the household eat-Matton-YesfNo. Fish~Yes/No. Chicken and other birds-Yes/No. 80

9.(22) What particular types of food are prohibited? Among cereals, Among pulses, vege- Among Why Amo~ Why Why Why animals birds Eggs tables, oils etc. --3--- 1 2 4 5 6 7 8

1. I

2.

3.

4. I II 5.

9.(31) Food routine (ordinary). 9.(32) Food routine (Festivals)

Timers of princi- Items Time of day Items in the meal, if taken Name of Festival pal meals 1 2 3 4 5

Morning-

(Before 10 a. m.)

Noon-

(After 10 a. m. but before , 3-00 p. m.) I I I I I

Evening- I

, (After 3-00 p. m. but before dark night).

9. 4. Plea.se describe method of making three usual items of food commonly eaten and two principal items of festival food. Ordinary food Festival food

Item No. I-Name Item No. I-Name Method of preparation. Method of preparation.

Item No.2-Name Item No.2-Name Method of preparation. Method of preparation.

Item No.3-Name Method of preparation. 81

9.5 Beverages-

9.51 Common Beverages. if any Name When drunk Whether purchased Cost If made at Home. (like tea etc.). Rs. how? - (1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 9.52. Liquor types- I 1. I

2. r 3. I 9.53 Water- Source Distance

How ta.ken: Natura.l condition/bailed/after keepin~ for some time in pots. 9.6 Utensils-Total No.

Made of Metal Made of earth Made of wood

Names of Metals Kacha/ Pucca Others

Is there any prohibition of metals/wood/earth from use in making utensils? If so. give details and explain why the prohibition ? 82

10. DRESS AND ORNAMENTS.- 10. (I) Dress: Ordinary-

Details D~scri p- Numbers Value Length Stitch- Home tion of of ing made Mill Kbacli Material Season Average Remarks Gar-ments quantity char- Summer! life of a of cloth ges Cotton Silk Wool Winter Garment used (1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (101 (11) (12) (IS) (14) (15)

MALE Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear FEMALE Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear GIRL Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear BABY Uprer Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear Umbrella Khllmri R",incoat

.Vote.-Social restrictions, if any, on use of particular h~a1-wea.r:- ---- Foot-wear Body-wear

10. (2) Dress: FestivaIs.-

(I) (2) (1) (4) (5) (6) (7) (a) (9) (10) (11 i (12) Occasion (14) (15) (13) 1ULE Uppe~ Garments LoNer Garments Head-gear Foot-wear 10. (2) Dress: FesUvals ..------(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) Occasion (14) (15) ------(13) FEMALE Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gea, Foot-wear GIRL Upper Garmonts Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear BABY Upper Garments Lower , Garments Head-gear Foot-wear

------10. 3 Dress: Social-Custom- ---- (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11 ) (12) (13) ( 14) (15)

BRIDE-GROOM Marriage Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear BRIDE Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear ANY OTHER RELATIVE Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear MOURNING WIDOWER Upper Garments Lower G'7uments Head-gear Foot-wear S4

10. 3 Dress: Soclal--Custom-

(1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) ( 11) (12) (13) (14) (15)

WIDOW Marriage Lpper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear SON Upper Garments Lower Garments Head· gear FOO'_wear OTHER RELATIVE Upper Garments Lower Garments Head-gear Foot-wear

10. (4) Ornaments.- Description of Material gold, silver, brass, No. Value Maker, Caste I From where procured Use Remarks Ornaments copper, iron bronze, bell- Tribe (Distance) metal, glass nickle, etc. (1) (2, (3) (4) (b) (6) (7) (8)

From head to foot

Male

Female

Boys

Girls 85

(1) TATTOOIN..i:- (3) Any ornament prohibited for- Who does .•.•.•.•• Ca.,te /Tribe .•...•.•• Sex .•.•.•.•• (a) Widow...... Clan .• ' •••.• '" Villages ...... (Distance) (b) Unmarried Girl...... Subject .•.•.•.•••.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•...•.• Age .•.•.•••.• (4) Is there any.social prohibition- Different Designs: Sketches- (a) for a man/woman to use any particular ornament Imporla~cB of Tattooing:-.. •.•...... •.. • •••••.• Any particular metal ••••••.•.. Se>cial .• '.•. , .•.•.•.•.•.•.• (b) If yes, why? ...... Decorative .•••.•••••••.••• (0) If the same be violated what repurcussion would (2) Any compulsory ornament or sign for a m'lrried woman .... there be ? •.•.•.•.•••

10. (5) Bedding.- From where Material used, Last purchase made Details of bedding articles, No. Cost procured (of what rope Remarks (distance) is made of) No. Amount (1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (Including cot, carpet. matress, bed-sheets, pillows, wrappers, quilt. mosquito-net, etc. etc.) 11. (1) RELIGION:- 11. (3) Observances- (1) Preparation before the festival day ..••••.• S. Calendar Occupation. A~sociated God/Gods Dance No. month Functions and Festivals propiti- and fair (2) How is the day settled .•.•.•••.•.•.•• , •• Operations observed ated associated (3) Details of ceremony ..••...•.•....•••••••. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 11. (4) Family Gods- 1. 2. (1) Names .•••.•••.••••••• 3. (2) Of which Gods idols are kept ••••••...•.••• 4. 5. (3) Name of shrine frequently visited, location, 6. distance, etc. 7. 11. (5) Description of changes in the last generation 8. (25 years) in the observance of festivals.- 9. 10. Ca) Which festivals are not now observed .•.••••• 11. 12. (b) Particular aspects in which festival procedure ------has become less/more elaborate ..•.•••. 11. (2) Who propitiates? (A) Brahmin Priest/Caste (0) Change in dress worns ...... Priest- (d) Change in cost ..•••••••••••••••••••••••• Name...•.•...... Caste/Tribe .••.•••••••••••••••• (e) Any charge in grams plased on occasion of COst ••••.•.•...•.....•••.••••• particuiars festivals ...... ••

------12. CULTURE- 12. (1) Principal Dances.- Participation Limited to Festival Duration Male Female Boys Girls Family Caste Tribe Village __(~1~) ____~(2~) ____(3) __--~(~4)~---(~5~)----(6~) ______~(7~) ______~(8~) ______~(~9)~. ___~(~10~) ____

12. (2) Principal Musical instruments used- 12.(4) (I) Are religious gatherings frequently held (1) Names ...... for 'Kathas discourses ? (2) How made or where obtained? (3) Approximate cost 12.(4) (2) If yes, how often? (Draw sketches) 12. (3) Principal sengs sung (Please give text of 12.( 4) (3) Principal stories related other then those two songs with meaning- relating to Ramayan and Mahabharat ?

12,(5) Common superstitions (Omens, Taboos. Mean­ ings of Common inhabititions like "somebody is thinking of you when you cough", etc.). 13. EDUCATION: 13. (1) Ed ncational :;tan,'ards in the houseuold:-

S. Name of the member of the Standard up to which Age No. household studied Technical/General Craft-based Sex Remarks

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) ,------(7)

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

H.

10.

II.

12.

Abstract-

Males .•...•..•..•..•• Females...... • • • . . . • . .. • •..•• Total Number of household members ......

~umber of illiterates ...... •.....•.•...•..

~Ulllber of just-Iitera.tes ...•.•.•••••.•.•••••.•......

:-lumber of well-educated (general, capable of reading Newspapers) ......

::-lumber of technically educated ...... •......

Number of those who have received crafts-based educa- tion ••••••.•.•••••••••

Number of children receiving education ......

Number of children not going to school ...... •....

13. (1) Number of household members who have relapsed into illiteracy after having become literate?

Causes .•...... ' .. , ...... 87

14. SOCIAL BACKGROUND AND ATMOSPHERE- 14. (1) Caste: Its restrictive character- (a) Caste/Tribe in the village with which household will sit and eat...•••.••••.•

(b) Castes/Tribes in village from which it will take water ...... •...... (c) Castes/Tribes in vlllage from which it will take. 'Pacca' food like sweets, dry, fried 'Channa' etc.•••••••••••••• (d) Castes/Tribes in village from which it will take 'Kacha' food like boiled rice, boiled 'Dal' etc ...... (Against each item above, please underline each caste/tribe, from which it would not have taken the item concerned 25 years ago). (e) Castes/Tribes to which household will have no objection to give girl in marriage ••••••.... 14. (2) (a) Does the practice of concubin age eJtist Yes/No. in the family? (b) If ever practised, when given up ? ..•.. (c) Social attitude Disapproving/ Approving.

14. (3) Commensality in use of Water/FoodfSmoke- For first birth- (1) Father's house? Drawingwaterfrom the Using the Smo- 'Kacha' 'Pacca' same well same king Food Food (2) Husband's house? 'Ghaat' For subsequent birth- (1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) (ii) Is. it the same place as in the case of first birth ? Upper Caste (iii) Does the birth take place in the same house itself or in a separate hurt? Lower Caste (iv) Did any birth take place in hospital? (v) Who delivered the last child? 15. THE LIFE CYCLES-­ (1) Mother and other relatives only ? IS. (1) Birth.- (2) Mother-in-law and other relatives only? ('l) Method of ascertaining pregnancy, ...... (3) Either (1) or (2) with the assistance of a 'Dai' ? (b) Food for the pregnant mother- (4) A 'Dai' or a male attendant only? Articles of food prohibited Articles of food compulsorily prescribed (5) A nurse in a hospital? 1. 1. If a. 'Dai' attendant, give the following detaiJs- 2. 2. Sex CastefTribe; Sub-CastefSub-Tribe Whether :l. ;{. occupation 4. 4. traditional Yes/No. 5. 5. 1;;. (1) (c) Describe any celebration/customarily held to celebrate the expectant motherhood (like 'Godbharna') .•......

List of relatives usually caIJed at the tinl~ of deli very.- 1. 5. (f) Approxima.te expenditure on actual delivery ? 2. 6. 3. 7. (1) Fee paid to 'Dai' or Male attendant •••••••• 4. 8. (2) Other expenditure .•....••.. (e) (i) Where does the birth take place? (3) Total ...... 88

15. (g) (i) Is a feast usually given on the day of birth or a few days afterwards? •••••.• ,. Yes/No (ii) Did you give a feast at the last birth? •• Yesl No (iii) If yes, approximate expenditure? Rs .••••••

liv) (a) What is the difference, if any, between the First Subse· Dille­ amounts spent on celebrating first birth and birth quent rence subsequent birth? birth

(b) What is the difference, if an between the Male Female Diffe­ amount spent on Male-Birt and Female- Birth Birth rence Birth?

(c) Explain differences in Ca) and Cb) above.

(d) Give details of any traditional payment To whom? Amount made like 'Nazarana' by the father of new (Landlord, child. Brahmin, etc.)

(h) GivCl details of presents customarily made To whom Amount by tID family of the child to the others made? (whether or not for services rendered),

(i) Give deta.ils of presents customarily received Received Amount by the child or family of the child from from others.

(jl Describe the manner in which priest-whether Brahmin or of some other caste or of same castel tribe-is associated with birth and connected ceremonies

16. NAME GIVrNG, ,f MUNDAN" WEARING SACRED THREAD CEREMONIES.-

What rela- Feast given Role of Presentation, A brief Who ascer­ What Omens At what age tions are If given, Brahmin rewards, etc., description hins the are observed of the boyJ compulsorilY' appro xi­ or other if any of the date and for selecting girl is the illvited- mate cost Priest ceremony how? the dates? ceremony Role of Mo------Made Reed. Which are held (if ther's bro- GivenJ Cost to from the auspi- different, ther and Not cious dates? why?) Father's sister given of the child 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Name giving

Mundan

Wearing of Sacred Thread 89

17. ]\IARRIAGE- Now 25 years ago 17. ( I ) Age of marriage­ ( i) For woman (ii) For man (iii) In case of woman, is it after the attainment of puberty? 17. (2) (a) Is it customary for a girl/widow to marry a par­ ticular relative (iike father's sister's son, etc.)? (b) If yes, which relative? (with probable ex­ planation). (a) Is it generally followed as custom in the house­ Yes/No. hold? (d) Is it customary for a boy to marry any pa.tt Yes/No. cular relative (like mother's brother's daughter)?

(e) Is this custom followed in the household 1 If yes, name of the rela.tionship. (j) Is polyandry/polygamy customaril<1 followed in the household? Yas/No. (g) If any particular method of securing a bride is common in the household, please desoribe viII., Marriage by elopement, seduction, abduc. tion, intrusion. (gI) Is widow marriage customary in the household. Yes/No. If yes, name. Social Attitude ..•• Approving/Disapproving. (h) Are there any pre-marital sex relations Cus­ tomary? (i) What degrees of relationship are avoided in marriage? (j) If marriages are arranged, who initiates and conducts the negotiations? \k) What is the usual composition of 'Baarat' party lMention in particular relations who custo­ marily arc invited). (ll (a) Boys/girls select their own match with the approval of guardians? (b) Do guardians select the match with the consent of boys/girls. (c) Do guardians select the match without consent of the boys/girls 17. (3) Marriage Customs:- (i) Where does the marriage Bride's place, usually take place? Bridegroom's place, Temple. (ii) How long after marriage does 'Gauna' takes place ? (iii) How long after marriage does actual union takes place ? (io) Expenditure on marriages:- Ca) On functions before marriage, (b) On marriage ceremony, • (0) On functions following marriage.

(v) Usual range of- From Rs. ToRs. (a) Bride price: Virgins Widow Cb) Bridegroom price: tc) Manner in which paid: Cd) Who receives the bride price: Virgin Widow 90

17. (4) Marriage ritual and its description:- (b) Who officiates? What he is paid ? (c) Describe briefly the role of the priest (and men­ tion in particular his castes, sub-castes or tribe, sub-tribe) . 17. (5) Caste: its exhibitionist character: (a) Are any caste-marks worn by- Men YesfNo Women YesfNo Boys YesfNo Girls YesfNo

(b) Please describe below each caste mark used (including material used, manner of putting it on oneself, etc.). ~ren Women Boys Girls Cc) If there is a method of wearing clothes peculiar to the caste, please describe for men and women separately (please descnbe method, colour, etc,.) (d) Describe the method by which women exhibit their marriage status (apart from marks on forehead). 11. (5) (2) Caste: Economic aspects- (a) What is/was the traditional occupation of the house- hold? (b) Does the occupation now sustain the household at a standard of living con­ sidered satisfactory ? 18. DISEASE AND SICKNESS-

Names of persons falling Details regarding atten­ Nature of illness, as Nature of treat­ Diet given (if S. sick for more than three dant who treated, if diagonised. ment (Do they normal, write 'N, • )lo. consecutive days in the other than qualified take injections?) otherwise give last year. Medical Practitioner. details). (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

18. (1) Nature of Medical Aid available- (a) Allopathic Ayurvedic Unani Homoeopathic Other (b) Distance of Medical Aid available from the village. (c) Were you ever re,quired to have a 'Baiga' Yes/No or 'Ojha' to serve you or any member of household? (d) If so, name of the 'Baiga' or 'Ojha', his caste/tribe and clan. (e) Nature of the treatment by the 'Baiga/Ojha'. 18. (2) How following diseases are treated­ (a) Cholera (b) Smallpox Cc) Ulcer Cd) V. D. (e) T. B. (f) High fever (g) Snake-bite 91

18, (8) Are there any occasions in your house­ YesfNO hold to propitiate God!Gods for curing the sick? If so, name the GodfGods and give details. Was anybody cured through 'Mantras' only? If so, give details. 18. (4) Annual Medical Expenses

19. DEATH, FUNERAL, PURIFICATORY CEREMONY- 19. (1) How is the dead body disposed of­ Ca) Normal deaths-

Male Female r-----A..----"'"' ,------''- Infant Married Unmarried Married Unmarried (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

(b) Serpant-bite (c) Infectious disease Cd) Suicide and Accident 19. (2) Who are the chief mourners? 19. (3) State the mourning periods for different relatives.­ (1) Father (2) :-'1 )ther (3) Husband (4) Wife (5) Son (6) Daughter (7) Brother (8) Sister (9) Others 19. (4) (1) Expenses before the disposal of the corpse­ (2) Expenses after the disposal of the body (3) Expenses for purification 19. (5) Disposal of Ashes!Bones, etc.- Ca) Do you customarily collect bones[ashes, etc. of the departed ones? Yes,'No Cb) If yes, how do you dispose them of ? (e) Do you offer 'Find' ? If so, where? Cd) E){penses involved 19. (6) Describe briefly the funeral ceremony (from treat­ ment of the corpse to offering of 'Piod').

20. DIVORCE-SEPARATION-IJ)ESERTION- 20. (1) Is divorce/separation an accepted institution in your Yes:No caste/tribe? 20. (2) Is there any case of separation of males in your YesfNo family? If yes, probable cause for separation­ (al for non-payment of bride-price (.b) mal-treatment by the in-laws Cc) continuous illness (d) indolance (e) barrenness!impotancy (J) adultry (g) others (b) At-will

20. (3) Agency s~ttling the dispute? Its composition? 20. (4) Amount of compensation paid towards aggrieved party? 2Q. (5) Process of separation? 92··

21. DESCE~T!I~HERITANCE AND SUCCESSrON­ (8) Who are the present traditional office-bearers in tbe village? (I) Draw a geneaology (a) Patel (2) What was the total property of your parents?- (b) Kotwar (a) Land Cc) Village priest (b) House (d) Caste priest (c) Cash (e) Others (d) Live-stock ( Draw a line of succession for each) (e) Others (9) How did they come to the present post (3) Who owns the parent's property? \ 4) How mnch of the property of the parents did you re­ (a) Nominated by the Government ceive? (b) Selected by the elders ( 5) What is your total property ? (c) If selected, describe the method ( 6 ) How would it be distributed (10) Who will succeed them ?- (7 ) What is the share of- (a) Customarily the son (b) Is it to be confined to any particular family/caste/ (a) Unmarried daughter? clan? (b) Widow (yours) ? (c) Any other deserving candidate? Gc) Married daughter? (11) What remuneration do the office-bearers get for their services? Cd) Issueless widow daughter living with parents ? (e) Issueless widow daughter-in-law living in her in- N affie of the office In cash/kind and who pays law's house? (1) (2) (f) Does the eldest son get any extra Patel If so, why and how much ? Kotwar Priest 22. HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY:- 22. (1) Income:-

(VIonthlyaver­ Serial Name of the Agricul- Ani'llal Crafts Services Forest Labour Others Total age) No. Earner ture Husban- Products dry (1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

22 (2) Expenses (Monthlyaverage)-

Conventional Intoxi- Fuel Over means Food necessities cants and Cloth- Edu- Medi- of Fodder Social Other Dwel- Reli- Recrea- Others (Tobacco/Pan Light- ing cation cines productions obliga- domestic ling gious tions !Bidi, etc.) ing tions utilities (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) i8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)

------~------~.------98

22. (8) (a) Household Debt-

Causes House Social How Purchase LiquorI obliga­ actually Serial Sources! Amount Terms Cons­ Food Intoxi­ tions utilized No. AgenCies Imple- Agr. Seeds/ Irriga­ truction/ cants (like mar­ mt;lnts Landi Bullocks Fertili­ tion Repair­ riages, Tools Recla- zers ing etc.) mation (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14)

------(b) (i) How much debt was raised in kind/cash: In Kind In Cash (ii) If raised from a person, name, caste and residence? (iii) Is he a professional money-lender? (iv) When was the loan raised? (v) Were you required to mortgage anything? (vi) If so, what? (vii) How much repaid:- Interest Principal Mortgage redeemed

22. (4) Household Credit- Loans Advanced-Cother than professional money-lenders) To whom Terms for How much received back Deposit When Why giving credit Name Caste Residence in the Remarks given Interest Principle Mortgage Bank redeemed (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) In­ Cash Kind 23. RECREATION

Monthlyex­ penditure over Serial Na,me of daily/weekly! Amount of Whether a If so, Radio! 'G' Frequency of No. monthly papers{ma- subscrip- member Remarks. monthly Phone/Musical visit to a Expenses for Other sub­ gazines subscri- tion of a Library subscription instruments, bed to Cinema/ sctiptions paid etc. including Theatre. etc. on charity, etc. repairs and licences (I) (2) (3) (4) (5 ) (6) (7) (8) 94

24, SPQRTS AND GAMES.-

Serial Age Sex Age Game Game Where Descriptio No. Group Limit :.Iaterial played and when

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Adult Male Female Both Non- Bo~ Adult. Girl Both

25. HOUSEHOLD LITIGATION- (a) Were you ever involved in Iitigation?-Yes/No (ib) If so, ...••..•..••••..••

N"o. of Cases Against Reasons for litigation Where settled in? If Pleader whom engaged, ------Name, Result Cost of Economic Social Personal 1'an- Court or Mutu- Caste litigation chayat ally etc. (1 ) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

25. (c) If convicted--5ocial repercussion in case of- (3) Is it compulsory to be a member of ...... •• Fine it? Jail (4) Were you/your family involved in .•.•.•.•.•....•• any case against Panchayat ? Warning (5) What is the outcome, if involved? .•.....•.•.•...• 26 (1) HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY- (6) Penalty, if any, for disobedience ...•...... •.. Ca) Do all school-going children attend of the verdict of the Panchayat ? the school? Yes/No. (7) What is your opinion about the (b) If so, Number ••.•.•.•...•.... Panchayat? (c) Do all members of the family have •....•...... (a) Should it continue? Woollen Rug/Pull-over/Quiltl? (b) Is it beneficial? (d) Do you and your family lun in Yes/No. debt? 28. ART AND DECORATION- (e) If so, why? (1) Enumerator should note the decorations of the Household and reproduce three COmmOn designs 26 (2) Do you havefhave not a too big/small/ ...... • below: adequate size of family in relation to your means of maintenance ? (2) Is any particular Significance attached to motiff ? 26 (3) If your family is too large-do you ...... (3) (Enumerator should note the carvings on the doors, wish to practise 'Family Planning'? Yes/~o. etc. and reproduce the designs, etc., below:) (If the wives in the household have not crossed forty-nve years of age). Who does the carving Caste/Tribe MotifI Any specific 26 (4) Whatis the ideal size of the family •...... ••.. rites preceding related to YOUT income? decorations. 27. FAMILY AND CASTE/TRIBE PANCHAYAT­ (1) Is there a Caste/Tribal Panchayat in the village ? (2) Are you a member of it ? APPENDIX II THE VILLAGE SCHEDULE

I ( j ) Name of Village'. (iii) What are the materials commonly used in the 1961-Census L. C. No. construction of houses (including huts)? For the walls, roofs, plinth. floor, doors, windows and (ii ) Name of Tahsil: 1931-Census L. C. No. ventilators. (iii) Name of District: 1961-Census L. C. No. (iv) Please choose at least three houses as typical o.f the. village for purpose of photographs, sketches, etc. (iv) Distance from Tahsil H~.: One of them should be a typical house of the more (v ) Distance from District H .1... : well-to-do section of the village. There is no objection to your choosing more than three (vi) (a) Name of Police Station: houses if you think that the variety of structure (b) Distance from Police Station: justifies it. For each selected house, take (in acres): three photographs-front view, side view and (vii) (a) Total area of the village general view and showing the house as a whole; (b) Area of abaili (in acres): with the assistance of the Bloc:k Overseer, please (viii) (a) No. of buildings: } draw (or get drawn) for each house three sketches: 1961 - Census one showing the internal arrangement of rooms, (b) No. of Census houses: figures. (c) No. of Census households: one giving the front elevation and the last giving the side elevation. These sketches have of (ix\ {a) Total popUlation: course to be drawn to scale and the important (b) Males: measurements (including, among others, those (c) Females: } relating to the position of the windows) must a11 be clearly shown. Finally, if possible, an ( x) (a) Location: Is the village situated on the plains! artistic sketch in pencil of the house may be or a plateau (rising ground)!on top of a hill in a added which should prominently bring out depression/on an undulating (uneven) surface ? characteristic or important features not brought (b) Please state why, according to the villagers the out by the photographs or the sketChes. In village came to be situated in this pa:ticular each case, details required for the identification manner. of the house must be given-number, name of head of household, location (if possible), etC. (c) Give a good topographical sketch (on a separate (v) (a I Is there any particular method by which the da~e sheet of paper)showing the location of the village­ on which the construction of a house is started IS the village itself need not be shown in the village futed? If so, please give details. If it difiers in any detail; a point or a cross will do but the from caste to caste or religion to religion, please surroundings may be shown as clearly as possible. give only: (a) the most common and (b) the most (xi) (a) Is there any legend associated with the origin peculiar. Please note how site is select~d and of the village? If so, please give below a brief what are the auspicious OIDens ObSl':lVt~ to version. If there are some differences in details commence the construction like day, date Slgns, in the versions given out by different persons, etc. these may be mentioned. (b) Is any ceremony performed at the time of co;m­ (b) Does the name of the village mean anything? Ii mencement of construction? If so, -please gIve so, what ? Why did the village get this name? details (again, if there is a lot of variation, the most common and the most peculiar). (c) In the name of the village, is there any peculiar (c) Is any ceremony performed at thc time . of suffix like' dih (iT)' or para (qn::r) ? Is this co­ occupying a new house? If so, please glve mmon in the area ? If POSSible, please give a short details. (If there is a lot of variation, the lEost list of other suffixes commonly occurring in the common and the most peculiar need alone be names of villages in the area. described). (fli) Are there an~ peculiar features in the houses of II (i) Please give a sketch on a separate sheet of paper particular castes/tribes in the village t Ii so, showing the lay-out of the houses in the village. please give details. If possible, the sketch should be to the approx. scale: 1H == 100'-it should be neither too big nor to III. Allricultwe: small and should ordinarily be as big as a foolscap No. of Population page (approx. 13~" X S~·). Roads, temples. (i) (a) households mosques or other places of worship, tanks in the Persons Males Females village and nearby, public buildings like Schools, Panchayatghars, etc. and all other important 2 3 4 5 features should be clearly, neatly and legibly ]. Engaged wholly in shown. You may. with the approval of the agriculture. Tahsildar. use the local Patwari or some other 2. Engaged partly in suitable official for this purpose but please ensure agriculture. that a good sketch is drawn. 3. Engaged wholly in (ii) Do you notice any peculiar features in the agmulturallabour. arrangement of houses ? - For example, are all -t. Engaged partly in the houses in a simple row either on one or on agricultural labour. both sides of a road? Or, are the houses of each caste in a cluster-mostly or wholly 1 Are the (b) (i) Cuttivati

If, however, different crops are grown one after the (d ) Shifting Cnltivalion; other in the same year in the same area, they may all be bracketeJ togcther):- (i ) Is shifting cultivation practised in the village:­ Yes/No. (ii ) What is the local name of such cultivation, viz. Bewar, Names of Crops 1___ l_-I---=--I--~--I-_4_I-R-es-t- Dippa, Jheem, etc., etc.

Area -and year (iii) Who practise shifting cultivation:- 1950-51 No. of Caste/Tribe House­ - Irrigated (i) IPersons IMales \Females hold lTnirrigated (u) 1951-52 (i) (iv ) How is the shifting cultivation practised-technique­ (u) ( v ) What do they grow in such fields? 1952-::3 (vi) In how many years is the first field sown again? (vii) Do they shift their families too as they shift their (i) fields? (u) (viii) What is the land revenue paid? 1953-54 (ix ) Is there any legal objection to such practice? (i) (x ) What is the attitude of the families practiSing/which (u) were practising such cultivation towards legal 1954-55 objections? (xi) What is the improvement in economic condition of (i) families once practising shifting cultivation which (u) have now abandoned it.? 1955-56 (e) Land tenures;-Please indicate the extent to which absentee landlordism or batai cultivation or any similar type (i) of cultivation by tenants at-will is prevalent. Why is this (u) practice resorted to even though it is illegal-is it because it is very profitable or is it because the owners for various genuine 1~)56-57 reasons (which should be explained) find personal cultivation (i) impossible? (u) (f) Agricultural techniques: 1957-58 (i) Use of fertilisers: (i) How many households use fertiliser? (ui In how many acres in the village? 1953-59 Total quantity used:- ( i) Ammo­ Super­ Others, Green (u) nium sul­ phos­ i. e., Com­ manure phate phate posted pet 1959-60 (i) 1956-57 (n) 1957-58 1960-61 1958-59 (i) 1959-60 1960-61 (rt) (U) Irrigation: (~i. Write a short note explaining noticeable trendsi n clIltivation in the village as exhibited in tlJ.is table. Additional area brought under irrigation during the I ast 5 years• . {(;) Total area 01 the village (in acres): (l ) Area under forest: Irrigated area in Acres (H ) Area unde:r current fallow: (H' ) Area under old fallow: 1956-57 (HI) Area (net) under cultivation (irrigated): 1957-58 t fI ) Area (net) under cultivation (unirrigated): 1958-59 (vi) Area (net) under shifting cultivation: 1959-60 (vii) Area under abad;: 196()..61 (viii) Area under the common usc of the villa.ge: Sources ofirril1ation: (ilt) Other area: 1956-57 1950-61 Tanks •. ( It ) Total: WeUs ( Iti ) Double-cropped area: Dams, reservoirs, etc. (ltii ) Triple-cropped area (ii) Have all'Y attempts been made to improve the breed Methods of Irri4atlon: of the cattle? 1956-57 1960-61 Field channels (Persian­ (ill) No. of bullocks castrated- wheel type) (b) No. of cows/she-bufialoes covered by Pedigree M OIIt ordinary Bulls/Bullaloes : Other methods (c) No. of successful cases of coverage under Artificial Crops irriaated:- Insemination Scheme-- Irrigated Irrigated Cd) Please note the reaction of villagers to abovlt Name of crop area in area in scheme. 1956-57 1960-61 (iii) Nearest veterinaey hospital: Distance. 1. Is it commonly used by the village: 2. (ill) Where do the cattle graze ? 3. Distance. 4. 5. Others ( II ) Is the pasture sufficient f ( vi) If not, how is it met ? (Hi) If there are any other improvements in ~echnique-­ ( vii) Is there village grazing fields? like. use of machinepY, better seed, transplantatlon, etc.­ kindly Write a brief note giving the relevant figures. {eliii) Is there any attempt for improved pasturage? (ill) Any other., re~l.rks (particul:u:ly touching on .tho '( h ) If yes, in how many acres ? pattern of cultivabon, ,. e., more horticulture or gardeDlD«. ( # ) What have been introduced for improved fodder, etc.), . . 11.6. 9.73; (g) Caltle: . Napier Grass, Luschan Grass, etc., in how many acres. (i) No. of houslluolds owning cattle for agricultural put:- pi) What is the reaction of the village. poses :- IV ladustl')': 'NQ. of households owning milch-cattle: (i) FaclOf'y Employme1il: No. of bulls in the village: (ill) Are there any people i. Ii. WIltig, who are employed ~o. of cows in the village: as-- No. of buffaloes in the villase: 'Workers in a fac'tor.y? If so, j>iease 'give detailS : No. of Hcusebold 'Males FemaJes Date of Loeation and Dis- engaged Wbat d oea Name of factory establISh- tance of factory the Factoy ment from tho village part-I FuJ] Part- / FuU part-I FUl1 I time time time time time. time

Location and (it) Names of Date of esta-. \ Distance of 1 Mines/ blishment Mines{Quar- _---y;::-:--:-=3!.:~::__;:;-~-.!~_=__:_-~ Quarries ries from the village

(h) How many among 1;"$8 people have some other v. Transpo:rt and Com!lllunicaticIl6:- occupation also like agriculture, household, industry etc.? Give details: (i) How_..is the village connected with the outside world? Subsidiary occupation No. of men No. of women (4) Distance by road to Tahsil Hq. 1. Agriculture Is it an all-weather road or a fair-weather road? 2. (b) How far is the nearest railway station? 3. Name of railway station: (c) How many of the workers shown in (a) above are How is it reached? skilled workers ? IV Industry-Small-scale: Cc) What is the means of transport commonly used? (ill) How many are employed in small-scale factorie& For short distances: owned and seen by others ? For long distances: Name of small-scale factory Number employed No. oi skilled (d) Please draw (get drawn) a. sketch of a buIloclt-cart Men Women workers (or other cart commonly used) giving all important measuremen ts. (b) Give in tabular form shown below details regardiDg (e) Nearest Post Office: , Distance: other crafts owned and ma.naged by the families themselves: How reached: Na.me of household industry/ Number employed Period in cottage industry. _ a year Nearest Telegraph o.ffice: Distance: Men Women for which How reached: ocCupied (f) How do marriage parties commonly.trayel ? 9S

VI. Trade and Commerce: (e) Is there a scarcity of drinkin~ water duritlgany ( i ) Nearest market place (wholesale) particular season? H so, please give de,aill Distance: ( iii) (a) Nearest Maternity Home: Nearest ma.rket (weekly ba.zar) Dil>tance: Distance: (b) Is there any dai in the villag~? Is she trained . Are there any shops in the village? ( iv) Nearest Small-pox Vaccination (',(Ontre: If yea, what ia the nature of shop? DistanCt': ( il) Plea.~ give a. d~ta.iled d~scription of the weights and ( II ) Is there any VaidyafHakim in the village 1 Is heran measures used in the village. All important weights they a/both registered medical practitioner/.i an:! dl ~c\it1reS sh Juld b~ illu3trated by diagrams. ( vi ) Is there any epidemic(s) !disease(s) that the villagea AtsC), giY~ th3ir eql.livalents in Ibs. (or ki1o~rams) usually suffer from? Any known reuonl ? or c",ic illo.b.~3 (:Jc lito3), or a.crOi (or sq. yds.). (vii) Is the village regularly sprayed with D. D. T.l (iii) Dl tilln wIn 3~1t tlnir projuc3 in the manii feel If so, date of last spray: that th~y get fa.ir prices? If not, what, according Wbat do the villagers think about these spray.l to tll,.ll, ar¢ tin IlClfl.ir pra;ctices? (uiH) th~re the (iv) Is thJre any c:)·()p}r&tiv~ m~rk~ting society in th(l Are a.ny public la.trine. in village? village? Is it fllnctioning etiectively? If not, why 1 How many? Who put them up 1 r CJ) What is the nu~b~r of traders in the village itself? Are they money-lenders also? What are the rates of Are they used? interest charged by them 1 Dt) they carry on the Are tbey prop~rly cleaned and tn:\intained 1 By whom? b!uin}H of bu:ling IItJn~y on pbdge of articles like ornl1ll:\en.ts. vessels,· clothes. etc •. 1 If so, give (i~) Comments on the general cleanliness of the ~ilIa.ge. detaili. (.¥) Is a bath taken regularly at l... a5t once a day by the VII. Health and Sanltatlon:- villagers? What is the common practice? Is any soap used? Yes/No. ( i) (a) Nea.rest dispensary: H no. with what do they clean their bodies and hair? . Distance: Do they apply oil on their bodies or hair? Yes/No.. (b) Nearest h03pital: H yes, after/before bath. . Distance: (-*"i) Is personal clothing washed eVl"ry day? If n()t;, Iii) (,,) WIla.t is the COMmon S()t1rc~ of drinking wa.ter how often? Is it also croned and pressed now and in the village ? then and. if so, how often? (b) How ma.ny houses h.ave wells of their own from (xii) (a) What is the manner in which a bleeding wound which th()y dr;\w their drinking water? . or cut is first treated by ordinary people 1 (c) How many wells for pllblic use are there in the (b) What is the manner, in whkh {"ver is fif9t village? , trpaten by orninary pe

VIII. Educatloo:- (a) Literates itl flillage:-- Age-groups Passed Pri· 5-10 11·-20 21--4() 40 and over A.ge group{ B~low Prirn"ry (5th elMS) marv but PassJd 7Ilatri­ Went to Col­ Del!ree Holder Standard not Matti- cUlation but lege but did or Holders of No. of illi­ cula.te did not go not secure qualification tcrat.e to College any degree equal to degrooi M. F, ------~M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. 5-10 ------11-20 21-40 4() and over

(ill) Are any newspapers, maglllliAt's. ('tc., lubscribed to B -G or brought regularly by any institution like a dub (i) 1. Nearest Primary Schools or Panchayat in the vdlage 1 If so, Kive ~tai)a, Distance, indicate approximllte exp('nditbre pl'r month/year incurred and state bow this mOtley is raised. 2. Nearest Middla School: Dista.l106. (0) Are any classes run for ad_Ita ,,. the Yillage or nearby? 3. Nearest Higll SchrX)1 : How ma.ny attend-men Of" .-om'·n s<'paratcly 1 Distance. For how long have these dUlleS been fllnning 1 4. Nearest Arts College: (vi) Please comment on the attit.de of th~ villagee Distance-. towards education. 5. Nearest Science College: (vii) Langlloge:- Distance. NamJ of language/dialect D()"s it havl' a Numhl'r of (~i) If the number of educated females is too low aa script? If so, speakers C"l:n,Hred to boy~. ca.\lses may be inquired to. which? (iii) In ea.ch case ab:)Ve. kindly mention the numbet 2 3 of b::>ys and Rirls fY{HIi the flill"ge attending the io.lltittltioll, under B ao.d G rellpectively. 99

IIX. Cute; ( ill ) Please gwe good photographs of the deity (at (a) P';:4t4Iilll-Caste-Ox"pation relationsllip : lea.st one front-view and one side-vkw). TIn t&iJI~ b~hh' stn",. dl\)lo.llo.~}: s) w)rbrs and 0.011- ( II ) Plea.se give a sketch on a separate sheet of paper "':>rlem sIu"Id In io.clu:hi in tlt~ figure3 given ;- of the interior of the temple showing the ,position of the idol with all the relevant measurements. Nam~ of Caste! Nilme of S()lely D~- I S:llely d:l- ( IIi) Please give two or three good photographs of th. Tribo C.. d. sub-Castel p~ndent on p~ndent OD temple in various aspects (fran t-view, side-vie.. , reli.Ciollj Bub-Tribe cultivation I agricultural etc.) labour {IISi) How is the temple managed and how old is it 1 'M, F.l-~F.- Is there any property a.ttached to the temple; if so, who manages it ? 2 3" 5 6 (uiii) Any ather interesting details: te) (i) Is th,r~ a:lY Clturch in the village 1 If ther& is, please give, to the extent applicable, the Dependent on Sooely De- D~PJndent on cul- sam~ information as given in rC5~t of the cultivation p~ndent on HOllsehold tivation and house- temple . .and a~ricult1l- Industry hold industry, Iii) now old is the Christian community in the rallabour Name ot the village, if it is ? industry Name of Household (4) Is th3re any mooque in the village? If there is, !in Industry similar details, to the extent applicable. as ill the case of a tern pIe. ----~ ----- (4) It may D~ that in the village yon have some place 01 M. F, M. p, M. P. worship which it is dUli ;ult to call a temple-particularly 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 in triba.l villages. If so, give a full description with photographs. (/) Please gin a full d~scription of two of the most 1m.. portant a'1ilu~l festivals with part icular rdtrcncc to D'!pendent Oil D~pendent on culti- Other details of tllJ l'!gmh. W:.Y3 and px:uliarities of celebration, etc. agriculture and vation agricultural occupation A s?,cial n)t~ may plea3e b3 made of Tribal Jatras, household in- labour and house- Comm~nal Shikars, etc. dustry. hold industry (C) Tatlooi,~g.-Plea.s3 give photographs and drawings of ._---_"-- -~----- thJ princip~l designs. Why it is done I Who does Nameot Name of th~m? What d~,s it cost? house- house- (h) SlipHstilions relating to: hold in- hold in- dustry M. F. dustry M. F. M. F. (j) Birds, ( v ) Months of the year, 15 16 17 18 19 2\J 21 22 23 (ii) Animlls, (vi) Hours of the day. (iii) Castes, (vii) Others, (iv) D1Y, of the week, (b) Casle and Education- XI. Pau:!llY.lts a:t:1 C ).t) ;nrati yes - ( $) (Tlt~ tatals m~st match with the total number of literates). (a) ( i) If there is a plnchayat in the village, give a brle1 d·~scription of its role and efiectiveness in the village. N 30m3 of Caste NalIl~ of Sub-Caste Number of literates (Ii) Who are the office-bearers ?-Status and caste, Is tlt~re a cJ.ste preference in the composition of M. F. the Governing Bodies I ~b} (j) If th~re is a Co-op~rative in the village. give si'llilarlya description of its role and usefulness. (ii) Wltich are th~ Castes/Sub-Castes/Tdbes/Sub-Tdbes that are keenest on education I Give facts in (Ii) Who are the oifice-bearers I Status and Caste­ npp3rt of your view, rs there a caste preference in the compoeitioD of the Governing Bodies? (m) Any ()th)r comIlDnts on th3 importance of caste In the. life of thJ villa.ge. (In particula.r. please XII. Cl)m'l1l1aIty Development; lnlllc&te the praient pl3ition rewarding 'untollC. Please give a short account of the progress .ade In the bility'J. " vUlage as a re~ult of the community project movement. X. Religloa:- In p:articular, what are the views of the leading villagen regarding thia matter? 41f) P•• l4li'lI: ReI"",-",, Fomale. XIII. Historical: Hiadll. (

LIST OF AGENTS FOR TEE SAlE OF COVT. OF INDIA FUBUfATIONS AS ON 31st DECEMl3ER 1962

(Reg,) Agra The Standard Book Depot, Avenue Road Vichara Shitya Private Ltd., Balepet (Reg.) (Reg.) National Book House, Jeeni Mandi Makkala Pustaka Press, Balamandira, Ghandinagat (Reg.) (Reg.) Wadbawa and Co., 45, Civil Lines Maruthi Book Depot, Avenue Road .. (Rest.) Banwari La! Jain, Publishers,:Moti Katra !:Rest.) International Book House (P) Ltd., 4-F. Mahatma (Reg.) Ahmedabad Gandhi Road •• (Reg.) Navakaranataka Publications. Private Ltd., Majestic Balgovind Kuber Dass & Co., Gandhi Road Circle (Rest.) Chandra Kant Chimanlal Vora, Gandhi Road (Reg.) New Order Book Co .. Ellis Bridge (Reg.) Bareflly Mahajan Bros., Opp. Khadia Police Gate (Rest.) Agarwal Brothers, Bara Bazar (Reg.) Sastu Ritah Ghar, Near Relief Talkies, Patthar Kuva, Relief Road..j (Reg.) Baroda Agartala Shri Chandrakant Mohan Lal Shah, Raopura (Rest.) Laxmi Bhandar Books and Scientific Sales (Rest.) Good Companions Booksellers, Publishers & Sub· Agent (Rest.) Ahmednagar Beawar V. T. Jorakar, Prop. Rama General Stores, Navi Path. {Rest.) The Secretary, S. D. College, Co-operative Stores Ltd. •• (Rest.) AJmer Book·Land. 663. Madar Gate (Reg.) Bha~alpur Rajputana Book House, Station Road (Reg.) Paper Stationery Stores, D. N. Singh Road (Reg;) Law Book House, 271, Hathi Bhata .. (Rest.) Vijay Bros, Kutchery Road (Rest.) Bbwbaneswar Krishna Bros., Kutchery Road (Rest.) Ekamra Vidyabhaban, Eastern Tower, Room No.3 (Rest.) AUgarb Bhopal Friends' Book House, Musll'm University Market (Reg.) Supdt., State Government Press Lyall Book Depot, :Mohd. Din Bldg., Sultania Road (Reg.) Allahabad !)elite Books. Opp. Bhopal Talkies (Rest.) Supdt., PriT'ting &: Stationery, U. P. Belghria Kitabistl>(], 17·A, Kamla Nehru Road.~ (Reg.) La.w Book Co •• Sardar Patel Marg, P. Box 4 (Reg.) , Granthlok, Antiqnarian BooksellE>rs &: Publishers Ram Narain Lal Beni Maaho, 2·A, Katra Road (Reg.) (24 Paraganas) , 5/1, AmlicaMukherjee Road (Reg.) Universal Book Co., 20, M.G. Road •• (Reg.) Bfjapur The University Book AgcI1cy (of Lahore), Elgin Road. (Rfg.) Wadhwa &: Co., 23, M. G. Marg (Rest.) Shri D. V. Deshpande, Recognised Law Booksellers, Prop. Vinod Book Depot, Near Shiralshetti Chowk. (Re&q Bharat Law House, 15, Mahatma Gandhi 'Marg •. (Rest.) Ram Narain Lal Beni Prashad, 2·A, KatTa Road (Rest.) BUmner AmbaJa Bhandani Bros. (Rest.) English Book Depot. Ambala CantF•. (Reg.) BUaspur Set)! Law House, 8719, Railway Road, Ambala Sharma Book Stall, Sadar Bazar (Rest.) Cantt. _ .. (Rest.) Bomba7 Amrltsar Supdt., Printing and Stationery, Queens Road The Law Book Agency, G. T. Road, Putligarh (Rf:g.) • S. Gnpta, Agent, Govt. publications, Near P. O. Charles Lambert &: Co., 101, Mahatma Gandhi Road Majith Mandi. (Reg.) (Reg.) Co-operators Book Depot, 5/32, Ahmed Sailor Amar Nath and Sons, Near P.O. Majitb Mandt (Reg.) Bldg. Dadar. (Reg.) Aaan4 Current Book Honse, Maruti Lane, Raghuna1.h Dadaji St, (Reg.) Tijaya Stores. Station Road, Anand (Rest.) C.rrent Technical Literature Co., (P) Ltd., India House, 1st Floor • • • • . . (Reg.) Ban~alore International Book House Ltd., 9, Ash Lane, M.G.Road _ •• " •• tReg.) The Bangalore ~I Practitioner, Co-op. Society Ltd., Bar Association Building , , , , Lakkani Book Depot, Girgaum tReg.) S.S. Book Emporium. 118, Mount Joy Road Elpees Agencies, 24, Bhangwadi Kalbadevi (Reg.) The Bangalore Press, Lake View MyS

Popular Book Depot, Lamington Road •• (Reg.) Tandan Book Depot, Shopping Centre, Sector 18 (Rest.) Sunder Das Gaian Chand 601 Girgaum Road Near Kailash Law Publishers, Sector 22-B (Rest.) Princess Street " , (Reg.) Callcut D.B. Taraporewala Sons & Co. (P) Ltd., 210, Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Road (Reg.) Touring Book S~_ (Rest.) Thacker & Co., Rampart Row •• (Reg.) Chhindwara N.Y. Tripathi Private Ltd., Princess Street (Reg.) LThe Verma Book Depot (Rest.) The Katllari Boak :!:'~i'ot, King Edward Road (Reg.) P.H. Rama Krishna & Sons, 141, Rajaram Bhuvan, Shivaji Park Road, No.5.. •• (Rest.) C. ]a.mnadas ~& Co., Booksellers, 146-C, Princess Saraswat Corporation Ltd., Palliarakav Road (Reg.) Street ...... (Reg.) Cuttac~ Indo Nath & Co., 24, Bhangwadi, Kalbadevi Road (Reg.) Press Officer, Orissa Sectt. (Reg.) MRinerva Book Shop, Shop No. 1{80, N. Subhas oad •• .• _ (Reg.) Cuttack Law Times (Reg.) Academic Book Co., Association Building, Girgaum Prabhat K. Ma.hapatra Mangalabag, P. B. 35 (Reg.) Road (Rest.) D. P. Sure Sons, Mangalabag (Rest.) I»:ninion Publishers, 23 Bell Building, Sir P.M. Utkal Stores, Balu Bazar (Rest. Road (Rest.) DehraDun Dowamadeo & Co., 16 Naziria Building Ballard State ..'.. ..' (Rest.) Jugal Kishore & Co., Rajpura Road •• (Reg.) National News Agency, Pa.ltan Bazar (Reg.) Calcutta Jugal Kishore & Co., Rajpura Road •• (Reg.) National News Agency, Paltan Bazar (Reg.) Chatterjee & Co., 3/1, Bacharam Chatterjee Lane (Reg.) (Reg.) Bishan Singh and Mahendra Pal Singh. :n8 Dass Gupta & Co. Ltd., 54/3, CoUege Street Chukhuwala (Reg.) Hindu Library, 69A, Balaram De Street (Reg.) S. K. Ll.hiri & Co. Private Ltd., C">llege Street (R~g.) Delhi M.C. Sarkar and Sons Private Ltd. 14 Bankim (Reg.) Chatterjee • • • • '.. ' •• (Reg.) J. M. J aina & Brothers, Mori Gate Atma Ram & Sons, Kashmeri Gate (Reg.) ~~:wman & Co. Ltd., B, Old Court House .. .. (Reg.) Federal Law Book Depot, Kashmeri Gate (Reg.) .. .. Babri Bros., 188, Lajpat Rai Market • (Reg.) (Reg.) Odord Book and Stationery Co., 17, Park Street... Bawa Harkishan Dass Bedi (Vijaya General Agen­ R: ~hambray and Co. Ltd., Kent House, P. 33, cies), P. B. 2027, Delhi Ahata Kedara, Chamalian Misslon Road E (tension • • •• (Reg.) Road (Reg., ~.C. Sarkar and Sons Private Ltd.• IC, College] quare •• •• •• u (Reg.) Book-Well, 4 Sant Narankari Colony. P. B. 1565, Delhi-9 (Reg.) Thacker Spink and Co. (1933) P Ltd 3 Esplanade Est . .,. (Reg.) Imperial Publishing Co., 3, Faiz Bazar, Daryaganj (Reg.) .. .. -- Metropolitan Book Co., I, Faiz Bazar, Delhi (Reg.) ~ma K. L. :.tilkhopadhaya, 6IIA, Ba.nchha Ram (Reg.) rar Laue.. .. •• •• (Reg.) New Stationery House, Subzimandi •• Youngman & Co., Nai Sarak, Delhi-6 (Reg.) K.K. R)y, P. RH No. 10210, Calcutta-19 (Rest.) Indian Army Book Depot, 3, Daryaganj (Reg.) Sm. P. D. Ut>J.:ihydy, 77, :;yruktaram Ba.bll Street (Rest.) All India Educational Supply Co., Sri Ram Universal Book Dist., 8/2, Hastings Street (Rest.) Buildings, Jawahar Nagar (Rest.) M);hrn B)ak D_;pJt, 9, Chowringee Centre (Rest.) Dhanwant Medical & Law Book House. 1522- 5aor and Co., 125, Canning Street (Reg.) Lajpatrai Market (Resto) S. Bhattacharjee, 49, Dharamtala Street (Rest.) University Book House, 15, U. B. Bangalore Road, Mllkherjee Library, Sarba Khan Road (Rest.) Jawahar Nagar (Resto) Current Literature Co., 208, Mahatma Gandhi Road (Reg.) Covt. Book Agency, 2646, Balimaran .• (Rest.) The Bnk DJpa3itory, 4/1 1'.bdan Street (1st Floor) (Rest.) Summer Brothers, P. O. Birla Lines .• (Resto) Scieatific B)ok Agency, N jtaji Subhash Road (Rest.) Universal Book & Stationery Co., 16, NetajiSubbash Reliance Trading Co., 43/A, Netaji Subhash Road (Rest.) Marg (Reg.) (Rest.) Chapra B. ~ath & Brod., 3.:1J3, Cha.rkhawa.lan (Chowri Bazar) Rajkamal Prakashan (PI Ltd., 8, Faiz Bazar (Res.) Alok Pllstak Sadan 1: .. (Rest.) Universal Book Traders, 80, Gokhla Market (Reg.) T

H:indu Sahitya Sansar, Nai Sarak {Rest,} Imphal lII11nshi Ram Manohar Lal, Oriental Booksellers " Tikendra &; Sons, Booksellela (Relit.) Publishers, P. B. 1165, Nai Sarak tRest.) K. L. Seth, Sllppliers of Law, Commercial" Tech. Jaipur City Books, Shanti Nagar. Ganeshpura (Rest.) Govt. Printing and Stationery Departmea.. Rajasthan •• Dhanbad Bharat Law HOllse, Booksellers and Pmblishers, hmag Co-operative Stores Ltd., P. O. Indian Opp. Prem Prakash Cinema. • • • • (Ret·) School of Mines (Reg., Garg Book Co., Tripolia Bazar (Rec.l New Sketch Press, Post Box No. 26 (Rest.) Vani Mandir, Swami Mansingh Highway (Rec.) Kalyan Mal &; Sons. Tripolia Bazar •• (Rest.) Dharwar Popular Book Depot, Chouri Rasta (ReI-) Ra.meshraya Book Depot, Subhas Road (Rest.) Krishna Book Depot, Chaura Hasta •• (Rest., Dominion Law Depot, Shah Building, P. B. No. 23 (Resto) &rnakulam Jawalapur Pai II; Co., Cloth Bazar Road (Rest.) Sahyog Book Depot Peroaepore English B()l)k Depot, 78, Jhoke Road •• ..J.. (Reg') Jamsbedpur G.y. • Amar Kitab Ghar, Diagonal Road. P. B. 78 (Reg.) Gupta StOtes. Dhatkidih •• {Rq., Sahitya Sadan, Gautam Budha Marg (Reg.) '>anyal Bros., Booksellers" Newa Agents. Bistapv . \larket (Rest., Goa J airam Sagoon Dlll)ud, Booksellers, Panjim (Rest.) Jamnagar Swedeshi Vastu Bbandar •• Guutur Ihok L~vers Private Ltd., Kadiguda. Chowrasta (Reg.) Jodhpur Gorakhpur Dwarka Das RaW, Wholesale Boob and News Agents (Reg.J Vishwa. Vidhyalaya. Prakasban, Nakhes Road (Rest.) Kitab Ghar, Sojati Gate •• (Rel-J Choppra Brothers, Tripolia Bazar (R4) Gaubati

Wokshada. Pustakalaya, Gauhati, Assam (Reg. ) Jabalpur Gwalior Modem Book House, 286, J awaha.rgaDf ( (Reg.)

Supdt.• Printing &; Stationery,M. B. Jullundur City Loyal Book Depot, Patankar Bazar, Lashkar (Reg.) Hazooria Bros., Mai Hiran Gate (Rest.) l4. C. Da.ftari. prop. M. B. Jain &; Bros., BookseUen. Sarafa, Lasbkar (Rest.) Jain General House, Bazar BansanwaJa (Reg.) University Publishers, Ra.ilwa.y Road (Resto) Gbazibad Kanpur Jayana Book Agency (Rest.) Advani &; Co., P. Box 100, The Mall (Res·) Hyderabad Sahitya Niketan, Sharadbanand Par" (Res·) Director. Govt. Press The Universal Book Stall, The Mall (Res·) Raj Corporation, Raj House, P. B. 200, Chon (Rest.) The Swaraj Book Depot, Lakdikapul (Reg.) Book Lovers Private Ltd. {Resd Karur Labour Law Publications,873, Sultan Buar (Rest.) Shri V. Nagaraja Rao, 26, Srinivasapuram (Rest. • HubU Kolapur Pervaje's Book House, Koppikar Road (Reg.) Maharashtra Granth Bhandar, Mabadwar Road •• (Reet.) ladore Kodarma Wadhwa &; Co .• 56, M. G. Road (Reg.) Swarup Brothers, Khajuri Bazar (Rest.) The Bhagwati Press, P. O. Jhumritelaiya, Distri~ Jladhya Pradesh Book Centre, 4 I, Ahilya Para (Rest. Hazaribagh (Reg., lo{:)jern Book House, Shiv Vilas Palace (Rest.) Kumta Navyug Sahitya Sadan, Publishers &; Booksellers 17,KhajuriBazar.. •• .: (Rest.) S. V. Kamat, Booksellers and StatiOners (N. Kaawa) (Reg.) [Iv]

Lacbow Musaouri Soochna Sahitya Depot, (State Book Depot) Cambriilge Book Depot, The Mall (Rest.J Balkrlshna Book Co. Ltd., Hazratganj (Reg.) HJnd Traders (Rest.) British Book Depot, 84. Hazratganj (Reg.) Ram Advani, Hazratganj. P. B. 154 (Reg.) M~affarnagar (Reg.) Universal Publishers (P) Ltd .• Hazratganj Mittal &. Co., 85-C, New Mandi (Rest. ' Eastem Book Co., Lalbagh Road (Reg.' B. S. Jain & Co., 71, Abupura (Rest·). Civil and Military Educational Stores, 106/B,Sadar Bazar (Rest.) Mu:zaffarpur (Rest.) Acqurium Supply Co., 213, Faijabad Road Scientific &. Educational Supply Syndicate (Reg.) (Rest.) Law Book Mart, Amin-Ud-Daula Park Legal Corner Tikmanis' House-Amgola Road (Rest.)

£adbJana (E. P.) Mysore

Lyall Book Depot., Chaura Ba%ar (Reg.) H. Venkataramiah & Sons, New Statue Circle (Reg.) Ilohindra Brothers, Kathcyri Road (Rest) Peoples Book House, Opp. Jagan Mohan Palace (Reg.) Nanda Stationery Bhandar, Pustak Bazar (llest.) Jeevana Pustalmlaya, 1254/1, Krisbnamurthipuram (Rest.) The Pharmacy News, Pindi Street (Rest.} News Paper House, Lansdowne Building (Rest.) Nagpu1" Madura! Supdt., Gon. Press & Book Depot •• Oriental Book HouSe, 258, West Masi street (Reg.) Western Book De~t. Residency Road (Reg.) Vivekananda Press, 48, West Masi Street (Reg.) The Asst. Secretary, Mineral Industry Association Mineral House (Rest,) Kathura Nandld (Rest.) Rath & Co., Tilohi Building, Bengali Ghat R. S. Desay, Station Road (Rest. Nanded Madras' I Book Centre, College Law General Books, Supdt., Govt. Press, Mount Road Station Road. (Rest.~ Ac:count Test Institute, P. O. 760, Emgore (Reg.) Hindustan General Stores, Paper & Stationery C. Subbiah Chetty & Co., Triplicane, Madras-5 (Reg.) Merchants, P.B. No. 51 (Reat.) K. Krishnamurty, Post Box 384 (Reg.) Presidency Book Supplies, 8, Pyerafts Roaii, New DeIhl Triplicane. (Reg.) Amrit Book Co., Connaught Circus (Reg.} P. Vardhachary & Co.,S,Linghi ChettyStreet '(Reg.) Bhawani &. Sons, 8-F,'Connaught Place (Reg.) Palani Prachuram, 3 Tycrafts Road, 'Triplicane (Reg.) Central News Agency, 23/90, Ccnnaught Circus (Reg.) South India Traders, Exporters, Imfortels, Agents Empire Book Depot, 278 Aliganj (Reg.) and Govt. Booksellers, Rapapettah (Reg.) English Book Stores, 7-L, Connaught Circus, NCBH Private Ltd., 199, Mount Road (Rest.) P. O. B.328 (Reg.) V. Sadanand, The Personal Book shop, 10 Congress Faqir Cband & Sons, IS-A, Khan Market, (Rest.) BUilding, 111, Mount R~ad New Delhi-I (Rego) Jain Book Agency, C-9, Prem House, Mandf· Connaught Place (Reg.) -E. N. Narimhe Gowda &. Sons, Sugar Town= ,I .. (Rest.) Oxford Book &. Stationery Co., Scinaia House (Reg.) Ram Krishna & Sons (of Lahore) I6/B, Connaught Mengalore. Place (Reg.) Sikh Publishing House, '-C, CODnaught Place (Reg.) tJ. R. Shenoye Sons., Car Street, P. &x 128 (Reg.) Suneja Book Centre, 24/90, Connaugbt Circus ••

Sharma Bros. 17, Ne\'V Market, Moti Nagar ( Reg.) Sinnar Aapki :Qukan, 5/5777, Dev Nagar (Rest.) Shri N. N. Jakhadi. Agent, Times of India, Sinnar, Sarvodaya Service, 66A-t, Rohtak Road. P. B. 252t (Rest.) (Nasik) (Rest.) H.~Chandson, P. B. No. 3034 (Rest.} The Secretary, Federation of Association of Small Shillong (Rest.) Industry of India. 23-B/2. Rohtak Road. The Officer-in-Charge. Assam Govt .• B. D. Chapla (Rest.) Standard Booksellers & Stationers. Palam Enclave Bookstall, P. B. No.1 (Rest.) Lakshmi Book Depot. 57. Regarpura (Rest.) Sonepat Pathankot United Book Agency (Reg.) The Krishna Book Depot. Main Bazar (Rest.) Simla Patiala Supdt.• Himachal Pradesh Govtj Press (Reg.) Supdt., Bhupendra Stat" Press Minerva Book Shop, The Mall (Reg.) Jain & Co., 17 Shah Nashin Bazar ( Reg.) The New Book Depot, 79, The Mall (Reg.) 1J' ,- tv Patna Srinagar The Kashmir Bookshop, ReSidency Road (Reg.) Supdt.• Govt. P~inting (Bihar) J. N. P. Aggarwal & Co .• Padri Ki Haveli. Surat Raghu ~ath Bhawan .. ( Reg.) Shri Gajanan Pustakalaya. Tower Road (Reg.) Luxmi Trading Co .• Padri Ki Haveli ( Reg.) Tuticorin Moti Lal Banarsi Dass, Bankipore ( Reg.) Shri K. Thiagarajan, IS-C. French Chapal Road Bengal Law House, Chowhatta (Rest.) (Rest.) Trichinopoly Pithorgarh Kalpana Publishers. Wosiur (Reg.) Maniram Punetha & Sons (Rest.) S. Krishnaswami ct Co., 35. Subhash Chander Bose Road (Reg.) Poona Palamiappa Bros. (Rest.) Deccan Book Stall. Deccan Gymkhana ( Reg.) Trivandrum Imperial Book Depot. 266. M. G. Road ( Reg.) International Book Depot. Main Road (Reg.) International Book Service. Deccan Gymkhana .• ( Reg.) Reddear Press & Book Depot, P. B. No. " (Rest.) Raka Book Agency. Opp. Natu's Chawl Near Appa Udaipur Balwant Chowke, Poona-2 ( Reg.) Utility Book Depot. 1339. Shivaji Nagar (Rest.) J agdish & Co .• Inside Surajapole (Rest.) UJJain Pudukkottai " Manak Chand Book Depot, Sati Gate (Relit.) Shri P. N. Swaminathan Sivam & Co., East Main Varanall! Road. (Rest.) Students Firends ct Co., Lanka (Rest.) RaJkot Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Gopal Mandir Road, P. B. S. M::>han Lal Doccabhai Shah. Booksellers and sub­ (Reg.) Kohinoor Stores, University Road, Lanka Agents. (Reg) (Reg.) Vizlana~ram Ranchi Sarda & Co. (Rest.) Crown Book Depot, Upper Bazar ( Reg.) ViJayawada Pustak Mahal. Upper Bazar (Rest.) The Book &: Review Centre. Eluru Road, Govempet (ReSt.) Rourkela Vezegapatam The Rourkela Review (Rest.) Gupta Brothers, Vizia Building {Reg.) Rewa Book Centre, 11{97, Main Road (Reg.) Supdt.• Govt. State Emporium. U. P. Vellore A. Venkatasubhan Law Booksellers (Reg.) Saharanpur Wardha Chandra Bharata Pustak Bhandar. Court Road (Rest.) Swarajeya Bhandar. Bhorji Market (Reg.) Govt. of India Kitab Mahal, J anpath. Secenderabad 1 Opp. India Coffee House, New Delhi. FOR LOCAL Hindustan Diary Publishers, Market Street (Reg.) Govt. of India Book Depot, 8, Hastings SALES. Street, Calcutta. . Bllchar High Commissioner for India in London, Shri Nishitto Sen Nazirpatti (Rest.) India Honse, London, W. C. 2. [vi )

LIST OF AGENTS FOR THE SALE OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PUBLICATIONS AS ON 31-12-1962 (On S and R Basis)

The Head Clerk, Government Book Depot. Ahmedabad. The Registrar of Companies. Gwalior. The Assistant Director. Extension Centre. Kapileshwar Road. Assistant Director, ElXtension Centre, Bhuli Road, Dhanbad. Belgaum. R~gistrar of Companies, Orissa, Cuttack Gandhi, Cuttack. The Employment OJIicer. Employment Exchange. Dhar. The Registrar of Companies, Gujrat State, Gujrat Samachar The Assi3tant Director. Footwear Extension Centre. Polo Buildill.g, Ahmedabad. Ground No. I, Jodhpur. LIST OF AGENTS FOR THE SALE OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PUBLICATIONS AS ON 31-12-1962 The O. lIe Extension Centre, Club Road, Muzaffarpur. (Railway Bookstall Holders} The Director, Injian Bureau of Mines, Government of India, SIS. A. H. Wheeler & Co., 15, Elgin Road, Allahabad. Ministry of Steel, Mines and Fuel. Nagpur. Gahlot Bros., K. E. M. Roau, Bikaner. The Assistant Director. Industrial Extension Centre. Nadiad. Higginbothams & Co. Ltd., Mount Road, Madras. (Gujarat). M. Gulab Singh & Sons (P) Ltd.• Mathura Road, New Delhi, The Head CleDk, Photozincogra phic Press. 5 Finance Road. Poona' LIST OF AGENTS FOR THE SALE OF GOVERNMENT Government Printing and Stationery. Rajkot. OF INDIA PUBLICATIONS AS ON 31-12-62 The O. Ilc Extension Centre. Industrial Estate, Kokar. Ranchi. (Foreign) The Director. S. 1. S. I. Industrial Extension Centre, SIS Education Enterprise Private Ltd., Kathumandu (Nepal). Udhna Surat. SIS Aktie bologat, C. E. Fritzes Kungl, Hovobokhandel The Registrar of Companies, Narayani Building, 2, Erabourne Fredsgation- 2 Box, 1656. Stockholm-I6 (Sweden). Road, Calcutta-I. Publication Division, Safes Depot, North Block, New Delhi. Th3 Registrar of Companies, Kerala 70, Feet Road. Emakulam. The Development Commissioner. Small Scale Industries, New The Registrar of Companies, H. No. 3-5-83, Hyderguda, Delhi. Hyderabad. The O. lie University Employment Bureau, Lucknow. The Registrar of Companies. Assam, Manipur and Tripura, O. lIe S. I. S. 1. Extension Centre, MaIda. Shillong. 'O.I/e S. I. S.1. Extension Centre, Habra. Tabaluria, 24 Parganas. The Registrar of Companies, Sunlight Insurance Building. O. C. lIe S. I. S. 1. Model Carpentry Workshop, Piyali Nagar, Ajmeri Gate Extension, New Delhi. P. O. Burnipur. The Registrar of Companies, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, Link Road, Jullundur City. O. C. I/e S. I. S. I. Chrontanning Extension Centre. Tangra 33 The Registrar of Companies. Bihar Jammal Road. PatnarI. North Topsia Road. Calcutta-46. The Registrar of Companies. Rajasthan and Ajmer; Shri Kumta O. Ilc s. 1. S. 1. Extension Centre, (Footwear), Calcutta. Pruad House, 1st Floor. 'C' Scheme, Ashok Marg. Jaipur. Asstt. Director, Extension Centre, Hyderabad. The Registrar of Companies, Andhra Bank Building, 6 Linghi Asstt. Director. Extension Centre, Krishna District (A. P.) Chetty Street, P. B. 1530, Madras. Employment Officer, Employment Exchange Jhabua. The Registrar of Companies, Mahatma Gandhi Road, West Deputy Director, Incharge. S. I. S. 1. Clo Chief Civil Admn. Cott. Bldg., P. B. 334. Kanpur. Goa, Panjim. Tile Registrar of Companies. Everest 100, Marine Drive. Bombay. The Registrar of Trade Unions. Kanpur. The Registrar of Companies, 162, Brigade Road. Bangalore. The Employment Officer, Employment Exchange, Gopal Bhavan.

GRPQ:=i89-Census-5-11-69-16.000.