PRG.l'U(N)1-
CENSUS OF INDIA 1961
VOLUME VIII
MADHYA PRADESH PART VI VILLAGE SURVEY MONOGRAPHS No. 3 DISTRICT BILASPUR, TAHSIL MUNGELI, VILLAGE TILAIBHAT
K. C. DUBEY DefJtlly Superillll..u.t 0/ CM1f4S Operllliouj, MfMlhya Prfllesh
PUBLISHED BY THE MANAGER OJ' PUBLICATIONS. DELHI.8
PI'Ic. IRa••• 45 aP. or 10 abo 5 cL or 1 • 61 c. PRINTED AT THE GOVERL'll\.lEN'T REGIONAL PRESS, MADHYA PRADESH, GWALIOR 1961 OENSUS PUBLICATIONS, MADHYA PRADESH ( AU the Census Publications oj this State will bear VoZtmll No. VIII·) '.
PART I . . General Report including Subsidiary Ta.~les. (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 Table,;) (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 VllI-A Admjnjstration Report-Enumeration. PARTVIII-B Administration Jleport-Tabulation. PART IX Maps.
CONTENTS Pages Foreword
Villaae Surveys in Madh"a Pradesh
Preface
Chapter I-General Description 3-5 Location of the village-Etymology of the viUage-name-ViUage-site and important landmarks -Extract from the Mahalwar A bstract prepared at the time of the Settlement. Chapter II-Demoaraphy 6-7 Population variation since 1901-Density of population-Sex-ratio-Marltal status-Size a,zd compositjOff' of the family-Caste and communities. Chapter III-The People ' 8-17 Account of the Telis in Literature-Endogaptous divisions oj the Tetis-The Rawats and tMfr Endogamous divisions-Rawat got-The Dhobis-Their mention in the Literature-tKshatri (CMatri) caste-The Chhatris in Chhattisgarh-Chhatri gotra-Bairagi caste-Characters of tJze caste-The Nai caste-Endogamous sections of the Nais-The Panka caste-So.me sayings about the caste-Sub-divisions of the Pankas. Chapter IV -Dress and Ornaments 18-24 Changes in dress and ornaQ'il,ents-Expenditure on clothing in different castes-DreS5 in different castes-Ornaments in different castes-Tattooing-:-Significance of ta,ttooing-;rhe mode afUl designs of tattooing.
Chapter V-The Social Str~cture 25-42 The fapzily-Size and composition of the family-Family types in the village-Intraja.,mity relatious -Husbanrl-'I1lI~fe relatioaship-Parent-child relationship-M other-in-la.w-daughter-in-law relationship -Father-in-law-dateghter-in-law relationship-Other relations in the family-Joking relationshiP -Some kinshiP ter,ms-Life-cycle rituals-Conception- Determination of sex of tM child-Birth customs of the Telis-Ofthe Chhatris-Ofthe Bairagis-Of tke Dhobis-Of the Rawats-OJ the Pankas-OftheNais-Marriage customs-Marriage customs of the Telis-Widow remarriage and Barandi marriage-Choori marriage-RecefJt attempts of the Telis to make improveme1Jts iI, their marriage customs-Marriage customs oj the Chhatris- OJ the Bairagis-Of the Dhob,'s-Of the Rawats-Regular marriage customs oj the Rawats-Widow re,marriage and Baral1di marriage-Elopement and runaway marriage-paithoo or marriage by intrusion-Divorce -Marriage customs of the Pankas--Ofthe Nais-The conception oj female beauty in the village -Causes of divorce-Death and funeral rites-Death rituals of the Telis-Beliefiu rebirth-Death rituals of thd Chhatris-Death rituals of the Bairagis-OJ the Dhobis-Of the Rawats-Of the Pankas-Of t~ Nais. Chapter VI-Village Economy 45-76 The livelihood classes in the village, 1951 Census- Category of workers and non-workers ill the village, 1961 Census-Land Revenue demand-Soil types-Soil classification of the village-The village cattle-Cattle diseases-Cattle statistics of the village-:Agricultural tools and implements-·Crops grown -Details of occupied and unoccupied areas-Cropped area classified according to crops Agricultural operations and mode of cuUi'IJation-iAgricultural statistics-Traditional occupations Village settieme1Jt and homesteads-Construction of houses-Cost of hOfmesteads-Living conditions -Household pussessions-Food habits-Beattn and hygiene-Body-care-Diseases-Income -Expetuliture-ltulebted1less-Yearwise burden of debt-castewise burden of debt-Source oj debt -Growth oj the Cooperative sociel!Y. Pages Chapter VIl-Superstition&. Religion aDd Festivals 77-86 Belief itl supernatural spirits-CommON S'UfJerstitioNs-Family deitt"es-Thakur Deo-Mahabir and Hanuman-Mata---'Mahadeo or Shankar-RadhaMishna-Kabir-Religious influences and religious groups-Religious calewlar-Holi-Hareli--Bhojli-Tija-Pola- Janmashtami- Dasahra -Diwali-Ekadasi-SatyanarayaH-ki-katha-Chauka. Chapter VIII-.Recreation, CommunicaUon A.nd Leadership 87-92 RecreatioNS-The Rawat Nach-Dadariyas-Games of children-Communication-Leadership -Trends and opinions-Group study-The sociallaws-, Village Jeuds and village leadership. Conclusion Blblloaraphy Appendix I Sanskrit and Hindi reJerences quoted in the mOf/,ograph. Appendix II 98-106 Tables I-XII LIST OF TABLES Table showing Pages 1. Population variation since 1901 6 2. Return of literates in 1961 Census 7 3. The number of households and population of the different communities of Tilaibhat 7 4. Exogamous divisions of the Tilaibhat Telis 10 5. Exogamous divisions of the Rawats 12 6. Exogamous divisions of the Dhobis 13 7. Exogamous divisions of the Chhatris 14 8. Exogamous divisions of the Bairagis 14 9. Classification of exogamous divisions of the Nais 15 to. Exogamous divisions of the Nais 15 11. Exogamous divisions of the Pankas 16 12. Monthly expenditure on clothing in different castes 20 13. Size of the family in different castes 25 14. Joking relationships 26 15. Some kinship terms 26 16. Marriage forms of Manu and those prevalent in Chhattisgarh 31 17. Livelihood classes in 1951 45 18. Livelihood classes in 1961 46 19. Land Revenue Demand 46 20. Soil classification 47 21. Cattle statistics 49 22. Agricultural tools and implements 49 23. Details of occupied and unoccupied area 52 24. Cropped area classified according to crops 52 25. Details of Kharif and Rabi crops 52 26. Quantity of chemical and other fertilizer used 53 27. Agricultural statistics 55 28. Traditional occupations 59 29. Cost of homesteads 63 30. Households having separate kitchen 63 31. N unlber of metal and earthen vessels in different castes 65 32. NUIDlJer of persons reporting themselves ill 71 . 33. Treatment of diseases 71 34. Number of faomi1ies requiring the services of Baiga 72 35. Births and deaths since 1956 72 36. Income-groups in different castes 72 37. Sources of income 73 3S. Items of expenditure 73 39. Yearwise burden of debt 74 40. Number of households in debt 74 41. Sources of debt 75 42. Growth of the Cooperative society 75 43. Y I!arwise recovery of loam obtained from the Society 75 44. Worship of various deities 79 45. Religious calender 84 2
LIST OF THE TABLES GIVEN IN APPENDIX II 1. Area, households and population. II. Population by age-groups. III. Size and composition of households. IV. Households classified by religion and community. V. Age and marital status. VI. Households by number of rooms and number of persons occupying. VII. Households engaged in cultivation, industry or business belonging to the household. VIII. Diet. IX. Staple diet and food habits of different communities. X. Distribution of· households by occupation, income and number of members. Xl. Indebtedness in different income-groups. XII. Indebtedness by cause. FOREWORD· Apart from laying the foundations of demography in this su'b-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 statistiCs attached, but usually witb just enough statistics to give empirical undupinning to their conclusions. In a country, largely illiterate, where statistical or numerical comprehension of even such a simple thing as age was liable to be inaccurate, an understanding of the social structur~ ~ essential. It W3S more necessary to attain a broad understanding of what was happening around oneself than to wrap oneseU up in 'statistical ingenuity' or 'mathematical manipulatic)n'. 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 effort s to the presentation of village statistics. This suits the temper of the times as well as our political and economic structure. For even as we have a great deal of centralisation on the one hand and decentralisation on the other, my colleagues thought it would be a welcom~ continuation of the Census tradition to try to invest the dry bones of village statistics with flesh-and-blood accoun~s 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 em the interpretation of statistics to find out how much of a Vi1lage 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 vi~es selected statistically at random. The selection was avowedly purposive: the object being as much to find out what was happening and how fast to those villages which had fewer reasons to choose cha.1lge and more to remain lodged in the past as to dtscover how the more 'normal' types of villages . were changing. They were to be primarily type studies which, by virtue of their nl1mber and distribution, wOl1ld . 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 selectiQn will. help to explaiD. •. A minimum of thirty-five villages was to be chosen. with great cale to rePresent adequately geographical, Occupational and even ethnic diversity. Of this minimum of thirty-five ,. the distribution \\-as to be as follows:- . (a} At least eight villages were.to be so selected Ulat each of them would contain one dominant community with one J?I'edominating occupation, e.g., fishermen, forest workers, jhum c:uItivators. potters, weavers, salt-makers. quany workeIs, etc. A village should have a minimum poplllation of 400l the.optimum being l;»etweeJl~500,and 700•. (6) At least seven villages were to be of numerically prominent Scheduled Tribes of the State. Each village could represent a particular tribe.. The minimum population should be 400, the optimum being between 500 and 700. Cc) The third group of villages should each be ·of fair size, of an old and settled character and contain variegated occupations and be, ii possible, multi-ethnic in composition. By fair size was meant a population of 5011-700 persons or more. 'The village should mainly depend on agricultoreand be sufficiently away from the major sourCes' of· modern communication such as the district administrative headql1arters and business centres. It should be 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 o~er means of modern c~unication, nearness ·to hills, j1lllgles anti major rivers. Thus there was to be a regional distribution throughout the State of this category of villages ..If, howeveI,a pam cl1lar distIict contained significant ecological variations within its area, more than one village in the district might be selected to study the ~pecial adjustment to them. It is a unique feature of these village sl1rveys that they rapidly outgrew their original terms of reference. as my colleagues warmed up to their work. This proved for them an absorbing voyage of discovery and their Infectious enthusiasm compelled me to enlarge the inquiry's scope again and 85afn. It was just as well cautiously to feel one's way about at first and then venture further afield, and although it accounts to some extent for a certain unevenness in the quality and coverage of the memographs, it served to compensate the purely honorary and extra-mural rigours of ( ii ) the task. For, the Survey, along with its many ancillaries like the survey of fairs and festinls. of small and rural industry and others. was an 'extra' over and above the crushing load of the 1961 Census. It might be of interest to recount brie1ly the stagEs by which the Survey enlarged its scope. At the first Census Conference in September 1959 the Survey set itself the task of what might be called a 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 animals and birds; markets attended; worship of deities, festivals and fairs. There were to be recordings, of course, of cultural and social traits and occupational mobiJity. 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 cu1turallife. It was now plainly the intention to provide adequate statmtical support to empirical 'feer, to appJ;"oaeh qualitative change through statistical quantities. It had been difficult to give thought to the importance of 'just enough statistics to give empirical underpinning to conclusions', at a timt; 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 Trivandrum (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 again recognised. This itself presupposed a fresh survey· of villages already done; but it was worth the trouble in view of the posslbilities that a close analysis of statistics offered, and also because the 'consanguinity' schedule re mained to be canvassed. By November 1961, however, more was expected of these surveys than ever before. There was dissatisfaction on thr one hand with too many general statements and a growing desire on the other to draw conclusions from statistics, to regard social and economic data as interrelated processes, and finally to exa. mine the social and economic processes set in motion through land-reforms and other laws, legislative and adminis trative measures, technological and cultural change. On tht' 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 t~ help to Superintendents 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 offering helpful criticism and advice which were much wt'lcomed by my colleagues. Finally, a study camp was organised in the last week of December 196.1 when the whole field was carefully gone through over apin and a prosramme worked out closely knitting the various aims of the Survey together.
This gradual unfolding of the aims of the Survey prevented my colleagues from adopting as many villages as they had originally intended to. But I believe that what may have been lost in quantity has been more than made lip for in quality. This is, perhaps, for the first time that such a Survey has been conducted in any country, and that purely as a labour of love. It has succeeded in attaininc what it set out to achieve: to construct a map of village India's social structure. One hopes that the volumes of this Survey will help to retain for the Indian Census its title to 'the most fruitful single source of information about the country'. Apart from other features, it will perhaps be .xmceded that the Survey has set up a new Census standard in pictorial and graphic documentation. The Schedules adopted for this monograph have been printed in Appendices I and II to the monograph on village Bendri (No.2) Vol. VIII. Part VI.
NEW DELHI: A. MITRA, The 24th Kay 1962. Registrar-General, India. VILLAGE SURVEYS IN MADHYA PRADESH In Madhya Pradesh, forty-nine villages were initially selected for survey on the basis of four main considerations. The first was that the caste structure of the State should. to the extent possible, be refiected in the villages taken as a whole; it was, therefore, required that the caste's indicated for a particular district should be dominant in th.e village/so The principal castes of the district were determined on the basis of the 1931 Census retmns as castewise or tribewise figares were not available in full for later censuses. The second, which was also sociological, 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 larger number of households in the desirable degree of detail. Second. the village should not have been already surveyed by a different agency. Though nonnally 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 po pulation size which also contained a large proportion of the members of a particular caste or tribe proved to be more difticnlt 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 bad no figures whatever to go upon so far as the 1960-61 distribution of the population amoDg 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 select~, 9 had each a dominant (scheduled) caste; 16 had each a dominant (sche duled) tribe; and the remaining were :n;tulti-caste and/or multi-tn1>a1 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 som.e 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 fad 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 geneTally that I came into the picture. I have also myself seen a few pf the (ii)
villages. 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.ll1icrocosmic but, still, costmic. 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, abandoned 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 ofter 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 'personuity' 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 I It seems to me that the Census Organisation should continue in coming cenSUSes to supplement their ttracrocosmic operations with studies of this kind-which together will 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 6f dealing with matters relating to these surveys fell on Shri 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 our particular tbanks7
Tilaibhat (Munge1i Tahsil. Bilaspur District) was primarily chosen in the hope of study ing the Tell (oilman) caste but, even though the population of the village is over 75% teli. the present position is that none of the 41 leli househOldS is engaged in the traditional occu pation. Economic forces have thus completely undermined the association between caste and function but the teU, for all that, is still a 'eU. The village lies far to the north-west in the relatively well-drained north-western part of the Soonath bas~ which ultimately feedS the River Mabauadi. But the situation of the river system is such that it is not of much use to Tilaibhat agriculture but, strangely enough, even the tanks in the village ate not used for irrigation in a region generally dependent on tanks for that purpose. Agriculture is thus in a primitive state and the absence of irrigation has impeded the extensive utilisation of chemical fertilisers. It is not clear that the possibilities of irrigation have been fully explored in spite of the fact that the rise in agricultural prices that has been a consistent feature of the last 10 or 15 years should by any standards be considered a very strong incentive. It cannot be said that the land holdings are very small either, considering Indian conditions; out of the 55 land-owning households, only 11 have 3 acres or less each. Awareness is rudimentary; there is hardly any appreciation of either the need for change or the necessity for change. In so quaggy an economic morass, it is hardly surprising to find that child marriage is frequent. In sharp contrast, the relation between the sexes are to a considerable extent free from inhibition. In Chha"ttisgarh. the rice-bowl of this State around the Mahanadi. there has been for long an excess of females in the population· but this has not resultea in any decline in esteem for the female sex which one would expect on the Shavian view that HIt is a womau's business to get married as soon as possible, and a manls to keep unmarried (iii)
as long as he can". (M4n tI1JIl Sflperm.(ln). Divorce is common and easy; so is marriage. Apparently, it seems also to be the position that the woman more often develops the desire for a different partner. What there is in the ethos of this region that produces this enigmatic (though not uncommon) amalgam of a potentially sprightly society and a sticky economy one does not know. Tilaibhat thus presents a difficult problem: the economy must be relent lessly shaken out of its depths without at the same time letting grow those rigidities and inhibitions characteristic of wealth and status; it is of course Dot suggested that, for the distant fear of these blEllIlishes developing, the pursuit of wealth be abandoned. In religion again, it is true that the traditional gods are giving place to gods of "higher' castes; alternativE"ly those latter are being added to the pantheon. But the basic outlook does not seem to have changed; for, this can be the only explanation for the people continuing to regard the tradi tional V (lidya as a dependable wonder-worker and the unlettered Baiga as a trustworthy intermediary between such gods as there be and themselves. Literacy is still at a very low level (7·7% compared with the State average of 17·1 %) and there is not a single literate person among women. Insularity and fatalism have combined to produce an outlook that appears to be not merely intractable but also peculiarly hostile to progress. A gigantic efiort in the field of development has to be undertaken here which must be truly based on the basic philosophy of the Community Development movement that the people's attitfllles must be changed and. their thoughts. geared to the tasks of development. The survey is a very detailed exposition of the people's attitudes, habits, and occupations. The personality of the village emerges with a fair degree of clarity and is typical of this region where it is only a relatively less unfavourable population-resource ratio that continues to protect the people in spite of very low levels of productivity. One also gets the not incorrect impression that we are here facing a cfll-de-sac with no obvious way out. Even though this is so, one should also remember that in Chhattisgarh there has been for long a tradition of enlightened leadership which one particularly observes in the cooperative movement and in the field of education. It is to be hoped that this leadership -an uncommon gift-will rise to new heights of achievement and awaken this listless mass to a DE'W sense of hope and a new sense of urgency.
BHOPAL G. JAGATHPATHI, Y ijaya Dashmi, 1885 S~ oj Censws OJeraNons. (Kartik 5: October 27~ 1963) Madhya Pradesh.
PREFACE
Perhaps the largest single contribution that Indian Censuses have made is to the study of ethnology and anthropology. Studies on castes started with the Census of 1872 but presented such problems that the Committee of Officers appointed to report on the prelimina ries of the Census of 1881 observed that preparation of tables and statements on castes and tribes was not the business of the Census. However, Sir H. H. Risley and E. A. Gait in the Census of 1901 and 1911 continued the legacy left by the Census of 1872 and the reports of those censuses shall stay for ever as classics in anthropology and ethnology. The Census of 1921 seems to have taken the same view as the officers of 1881,"but the Census of 1931, con ducted by Sir J. H. Hutton, again continued the c()urse started by Risley and Gait. The Census of 1941 and 1951 departed from the path and the Census of 1951 followed the policy laid down by the Government oi India that "caste-tables will no longer be a prominent feature".
Whether one likes it or not, caste has always been an important factor in the life of the Community and the Census of 1961 again undertook to study this aspect. Special tables have been prepared for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and the present monograph is also connected in a way with the same theme, i.e. study of caste.
Many changes are taking place in the country, social as well as economic. The urban and rural cultures are coming in more and more intimate contacts. As Mitra stat('d in his Tribes and Castes of West Bengal: "Whenever- two cultures meet especially on different levels, there is a tendency on the part of the lesser culture to work in two directions. A part of it is attracted by the superior culture and imitates it, advantage of which is ,taken by the superior culture to dictate its ter~s and transform the lesser culture graduaJly. The other and more conservative part is repelled by the danger of absorption, draws its horns in, and makes every effort to preserve its identity in tact by isolation, conservatism and refusal to have any truck with the superior culture. It thus lives like an island besieged by a sea. But an island is sometimes washed away or submerged.. "
Village studies have, therefore, been taken from these two points of view-study of castes living in those villages, and. study of culture contact from the social and economic standpoint. Vi11age Tilaibl;at, subject of the present study, has been selected for this surwy on three considerations. The first consideration is the caste-structure of the village. , Teli' (Oilpresser) caste which formed 7.2% of the population of Bilaspur District in the Census of 1931, is intendei to be studied in the District, and Tilaibhat with 75%. Teli popula tion provided an ideal subject. The second consideration is that this village is covered by a De:velopment Block and provides a study of the change in outlook in the villages being attempted by the blocks. The third consideration is the zone of urban influence. All these three considerations led to the selection of village Tilaibhat for the purpose of the present study and it has been de3cribed in these pages as it is.
Village Tilaibhat is one of the 49 villages which were initially selected for these surveys and I came into the picture after some preliminary informativn on the village had already been collected. This was done by the Development Block, Pandariya, and provided a base from which to start upon. It helped me to find out what the village was and what it contained. On the basis of this information and other published works on the castes and tribes, I prepared a questionnaire and sent -an investigator to the Village to collect information on that bas is and also according to the Household Schedule. Thus we were able to have a 'feel' of the village. if we can so term it. Four more visits were paid to the village subsequently before the draft was written. In the field-work, I had the assistance of Shri H. N. Pandey, M. Sc., Research Investigator. and 5hri R. C. Das, Sorter, both from my office at Raipur. Shri Das was found to be good at line-drawings and the drawings given in the monograph have been drawn by hi m. I had to visit the village and write the draft monograph ~hile I, as in charge of the Tabulation Office, Raipur, was in the thick of sorting of census slips and I am very happy to put on record that but for Shri J. P. Choubey and Shri P. R. Chandel, Tabulation Assistants, who managed the office in my absence, I would not have been able to devote undiVided attention to this mono graph. I am grateful to both of them for haVing spared me from the somewhat arduous task of supervision of sorting work. It must be made clear that Tilaibhat is the name of an actual village and the names of the persons described in this monograph are real names: I have not used any pseUdonyms. Secondly, in this monograph, the word 'caste' has not been used in the sense of the four va,fUJS or the four categories of Hinduism but just as a translation of the common parlance word jal (jats) which is an endogamous group dispersed over several villages. I am deeply indebted to Shri G. Jagathpathi, I.A.S., who Dot only guided the work from its very inception but also read the manuscript. I am also grateful to Dr. B. K. Roy Burman who offered constructive criticism of ~he monograph. I have been very much benefited by his advice. I am indebted to my colleagues and co-workers whQ have always been a source of inspiration and encouragement. I am also thankful ~o my colleague Shri P. K. Dixit for having read the prvof at 'Ule:final Stage.
DIlIMl 8mh JuJU 1963 K. C. DOBEY GLOSSARY Abadi The area reserved from time to time in a village in a non-urban area tor the residence of the inhabitants thereof or for purposes ancillary thereto. Admi Literally meaning 'man', is colloquially used in Chhattisgarh to rcfer to wif.~. e. ~. mor admi bhaga gis meaning 'my wife ha" run away'. Agni Fire. Ajwain A kind of aromatic seed. Ani A ritual in worship consisting in waiving a lighted lamp before the idol to the acCom- paniment of devotional music. A sura Demon; a form of marriage mentioned by the Hindu Law-giver, Manu. Babool Also spelt as Babul; Acacia arabica tree. . Bade osaka Hot water in which some plant roots are boiled, given to the moth:er of a new-born babe. These plant roots are known as Bade osaha. Badhai Also speIt Barhai; carpenter. Badhee Seed-loans given by substantial farmers to those in need, usually on 'the condition oC one and a half times return. Bakara It is a term denoting position of land. It means land down which the water ftOW3. Crops grown in Bahara fields are magnificent and secure against famine. Bahunta A silver ornament of the arms. Baiga Village priest, usually, but not necessarily. a member of :»ome tiibe. Bali Also spelt as Bari; ear-rings. Bandhia Field-embankment. Bara A food item prepared at the time of festivities. Barandi Child-Widow. Bardiha From Chhattisgarhi word bardi meaning a herd; herdsm_an, village:.grazier. Baretha Honorific term for washerman. Barhi Meaning twelfth, is a ritual in birth ceremonies. Barsi Meaning yearly; a death-ritual. Basi Meaning left overnight; is a common item of food in Chhattisgarh. It is cooked rice soaked and left in water overnight and eaten next morning as breakfast. Batki A metal utensil. Also known as Sekmi. Batua A metal utensil. Baybedu1tg SIJeds of a medicinal herb. Bhadai Country-made shoe for men. Bhajan Devotional songs. Bhanwar Going round the marriage-post; a marriage ritual. Bharawat An agricultural operation comisting in filling the' fidJ with water. Bhilawa Fruit of Sdmecarpus anacardiU1l1 tree. Bhoot Also spelt as Bhut; ghost. Bichhiya An ornament of the toes. Biht1llJ Means marriage. Usually used for regular marriage performed with due cet:_emonies, Biasi Also spelt as Biasie; thillning operations in paddy cultivation, Boomla Marriage compensation. Braktna A form of marriage mentioned by :\fallU. Chabutara Platform. Charkat Debauchee. Chatwar An agricultural implement. Chwuk A design made with flour during festivities. Chaupai The village meeting-place. Ch4ela A kind of food preparation, usually during festive occasions. Chhalla - An ornament of the finger. Chllai,masi Meaning sixth month; is a death-ritual. Chhaehi Meaning sixth; is a birth-ritual. Chhintl Phoenis SyZvestris shrub. Chhitaka Broadcast sowing. Chiklahi J oota Shoes meant for use during the rainy season. Chi/daM means 'mud' or 'slushy'. Chongi Leaf-pipe for smoking. Choora An ornament. Choori Glass bangles. ChoWPad An indoor game, chequers. Chulha Cooking hearth. C wUzlHmati A marriage ritual. Churel A malevolent female spirit. Chutki An ornament of the toes. Dab A part of plough. Dadariya Short couplets set to music. Dadlla See Darha. Dahrouri A food preparation during festivities. Dal Pulses. Dan . Gift. Dantli A part of plough. Dantri An agricultural implement used for puddling. Darha Also spelt as Dadha; a term of soil-classification meaning gently sloping land. Dautela A marriage ritual. Dheniri Husking-lever. Dhav Sanskrit word meaning 'to wash'. Dhobi Washerman. Dholak A musical instrument. Dholki Small Dholak. Dhona To wash. Dhmi A garment. Diwatl Meaning Minister, is the assistant of the Maha1.t of Kabirpanth. Doha The poetical composition sung by Rau1ats during their dance. Doli Part of a field. Doshdari A term used for menstruating woman. Dorsa A kind of soil which is a mixture of KaHhar and M atast. DouriChalaNl Threshing operation. Dua Ladle. Duggi A musical instrument. Dulha Bridegroom. Ekkaisa A birth ritual. FaIlla,. Betrothal. Fully An ornament of the nose. Gabhar A term used in Settlement denoting position of land. Means a Hat land. Gantlaha Kothi A kind of grain-bin. Gangajal Literally meaning Ganges wa.ter; a kind of ritual friendship. Gauna A ritual in marriage cycle. 3
Gavan Same as Gatma. Gedu Stilts. GOTsi An earthen receptacle.. G'Me Clarified butter. GhunghrM Jingles. Got Exogamous division. GotTa . Same as Got. Grana Planets which are supposed in Astrology to influence man's life. GTam devta Chief deity of the village. Gudi Village rest-house. Gur Jaggery. GurU Spiritual guide. HaldaTi Throwing of colours on the persons who constitute the marriage procession. Haldi Turmeric. Hamel An ornament of the neck. Hansiya Sickle. Home Also spelt as 'Hom' and also colloquially called 'Hoom'-meaning fire-offering; a com mon practice during ceremonial worship. Also performed symbolically by burning incense. Hara~ya An ornament of the wrist. Hardai A ritual in the marriage of Nai Caste. Harpa Footwear for women. Haula Brass pitcher. Hauli Smaller than Haula. Janta Grinding wheel. Jantwa Same as J arJIa. Jhakdi Also spelt as Jhankari. is a mat of Chhind leaves or stems of Rahar plant used to protect the walls from the direct showers of rains. Jhankari Same as above. Jou Barley. Juadi Yoke Jutai Ploughing. Kada An ornament of the wrist. Kahni An ornament of the wrist. Kalash Hollow-dough over which lighted wick-lamps are kept during religious worship of the Pankas. Kalar Liquor distiller and vendor. Kalari An implement used for separating fodder from the grain after threshing. Kali Name of a goddess. Kamarpata Waist-band. Kamra Chhattisgarhi word for blanket. Kanhar A black clay, very retentive of moisture and by far the best soil for rice because of its water-logging capacity. Kankhe pani Extract or decoction of FlacoTtia TQ:(Inondchi. KatJouji Earthen pan for cooking vegetable. Karahi Frying pan. Karyal Decoction of tender bamboo shoots said to be very nourishing and given to the mother of a new born babe. Kardhan An ornament of the waist. Katcha In connection with food, the term refers to 'not fried' ; in relation to houses it means 'mud-built house', in relation to well, the term means 'not lined'. ~ 4
Kttt1e,j A religious story. K fli'l"". A bedding equipment. Katon A utensil. K atpo:rt1thi A type of roof. Khtdi'ha" Threshing fioor. Kham Corruption of Hindi word 'Kka;mb'~ meaning post or pillar. Khara,;.ta A kind of broomstick. Khassif Itch, .eczema. Kheela Nail, a part of plough. Khero Exoga.mous sections of the Nai Caste. Also known as Kul. KhilwaH Also speIt Khil'l£'(l, an ornament of the car. Khfldri An agricultural implement. Khutnri Rain-hood .. Kh~,mJ A kind of food prepared during festivities. Kirat A tribe. Kirga A kind of grain-bin. KoZ A tribe. Konia A type of roof. Kopa., An agricultural implement. Kolwar Village watchman. Kudra An agricultural implement. Kul Same as Khero. Kunwar Hindu calender month corresponding to September-October. Also known as Asvina. Ku",hth Potter, maker of earthen vessels. Kurta Upper garment for males. LtJdoo Sweetmeat balls. La'; Also known as Lehi; is a method of soWing paddy. Lamba'rdti,,,· Headman of a village. Lwi Reaping operations. Lugda The garment for females. MadU.a Also spelt Mada'IJa, is a shed; particularly the marriage-shed. M ad'llla chhurul A ritual dwing· marriage. Magroha,. The marriage post. Mahw The priest. .I,{mian.· Literally meaning mother-water. Mal Meaning propertYi is used to refer to wife in ChhattL<;garh. Maliya A utensil. Mati·M a"CIJana' Preparing suitable mud for house construction. Mamuti Ordinary; a kind of soil which is best when unembanked. 'Mandai' A musical instrument. Mantra A sacred text or word. MtWitJ A malevolent spirit. Maf41 Goddess, mainly referred to the goddess of smJ.llpox. Mata:i A.yellow soil not retentive of moisture but with heavy rainfall giving a. far bettt'r outturn of rice than any other soil. Maya» A ma.rriage ritUal. Misai An agricultural operation. Motiyaii Young girl. damsel. MO'Ullr Village. 5
M"ndri Ring, a!l ornament. MU1lga Moringa pterygosperma. Muni Ascetic. Murra Parched rice. Nagmori An ornament of the 'lnns. Nain Women ot Nai Caste. Nagar Plough. Neetn M dia incUca tree. Nindai Weeding opera~iolls. Nistar Means easemen1s and swlt other rights as grazing, etc., which the village people !lave on government l,!-nd in tbe village. Noni A term of reference and address to ual'ghters RatndTt",. Singing the name and glories eA God Ram; devotional music. Randi Widow. Ranga A cheap alloy. Rishi Sage. Ropa Transplantation method of sowing. R·piYQ An ornament of the neck. Sabal Crow-bar. Sadh. Sage; a religious or holy man. Sahu Refers to Tl"li Caste. Salooka An upper garment for males. Samaj Society. Sam/Watlaya A religious body. San.vasi One who has renoWlced the W"dd. Sfl1'ai Shorea rob.sta tree. Sari A kind of roof. Sarpallcll Chairman. Sathalla A kind of game of cards. Sekmi Same as Batm. Seml"r Vermilion. Shauk Luxury; pleasure-tiking. Siyari Same as Khan/. Soneh Dry ginger. Soopa Winnowing fan. Sratlh Worship of ancestral spirits; feast given at the time oi death-anniversary. Suasin The ladies who assist in marriage rituals. SfIin Midwife. S1IIIhari Fried dough. Supari Betel nut. Sfltiya An ornament of the neck. Tabij Amulet. Taila Oil. . Tailika Of oil, cunnected with oil. Tailka., Oil-man. Talooqdar Holder of a dependency. Tangaf' 56-me as 0l'kha. T eell-do-panch A game of cards. Te6Hnasi A death ritual. Teel-lel A marriage ritual. Teerth Place of pilgrimage. Tel A marriage ritual. Tel c"'"dhana A marriage ritual. Thari Di~h. Tlaarkuliya A utensil. Thekedar A revenue lessee. Thethti A kind of food-preparation preparE'd at the time of festivitie!. Tija A festival. Tikra Lucal name fOI poor, highlying land. Til Seasamf4tn indicutn. Tilak l\1:uk put on the forehead. til-gtf' Til and jaggery mixture. Tilladtf Sweet balls made by mixing til in jagerry syrup. Toda An ornament. Tona Witchcraft. TriSfd Trident, a weapon of God Shiva. Ttflsi Basil plant, Ocymtfm sa;r·cttfm. Unhat'i Same as Rabi. Vaidya A doctor practising Ayurvedic system of medicine. Vairagya Renunciation. Vaishya A caste; trader. ....(J" tt. (... t/) o" .~ ') ,:, C!J ~:fIIoC=:;'_',.J ~ .:> " - - >O..(::l/~ !X o~ ..(~ ,_ en ~ '0 lI) IIJ Iy~ ~ ~ ~ ID b- vI" ... •... 1 >0 Q.", .. 6T oJ ~ ~L ~O -~ U II) ~ in Patwari Circle 32 of Revenue Inspector Circle Pandariya. In respect of Police jurisdiction, the village comes under Kunda Police-station. ~ Deve lopment Block, with headquarters at Pandanya, has started functioning for 3 years and village Tilaibhat is covered by this Block. Prior to the abolition of Zamindari in Madhya Pradesh, T~aibhat was a part of Pandariya Zamindari of the Bilaspur District. . Pandariya which was the seat of Zamindari. continues to be an important place for the inhabi tants of Tilaibhat. It is not only the headquarters of the Revenue InspectOr, the Patwari·and of the Deve General Descnpfion lopment Block: also it has a hospital, a W'eekly market and is the headquarters of the Forest Ranger as \\'ell as the venue of the Touring Talkies. illage TUaibhat (population 325), situated in The name Tilaibhat literally means "the open the southern part of Munge1i Tahsil of BUaspur V . groWld of Tells" or "the open groUnd of liZ (sesamum)" District of Madhya Pradesh, is the subject of the and evidently the name is related to the preponderance present Socio-Economic Survey. It is a medium of the Te1is in the village. Te1is happen to be numeri sized predo~tly Te1i (Oil-presser) village locate~ cally quite an important caste in Bilaspur District. 50 miles from Bilaspur town and 19 miles from Munge1i & per Census of India, 1931, Bilaspur District had a which is the tahsil headquarters. Situated about total population of 1,400,248 and out of this popula 3 miles from the all-weather Mungeli-Pandariya tion the Tells numbered 100,999 or 7'2 of the total road, the approach to the village is not easy. In % population of the district. There are many villages rainy season, the village can be reached only.?n in the district whose names are related to this caste. foot and, since the fields are all sown, the track lies Some examples are villages TjIsara, Tilkeja, Tilai in a zigzag manner over the field embankments. kunda, TilaikWldi, THaidand, Tilaipar, Tilaipuran, For Revenue administration, the village is included TUaikhami and Tilaipani, etc. 4 [VILLAGE The inhabitants have no definite idea as to when plain is singularly, destitutt' of shade. Like all tracks and why the :first settlement took place. They, where clearance has been going on, it has been cleared however, say that they have been here for about three too much. In the BeJaspore and Sheorenarain generations. According to them, the first settler PUrgunnahs there are a fair number of villages possess here was a Tell and, since before the settlement the ing more or less extensive mango groves, but in the ground was open bhala, the village came to be so :JI4oongeylee Purgunnah such villages are few and there named. A reference to the Village Lists of Bilaspur is consequently no part of the district which in the Districtl prepared at the Census of 1901 shows that hot weather months looks more bleak and desolate the. village did not exist in 1891 since no population or in which moving about is more trying and irksome." is recorded in 1891 Census. The Lists also show that in 1901, the number of occupied houses was Though much water has flown in the River Arpa 30 With a population of 124 persons and the Lambar since Chisholm wrote that the Chhattisgarh village ., MfllgfUM of the village was of Raj Gond caste. is not usually an inviting object of inspection, the position has not changed much, and village Tilaibhat It appears that this village came into existence which from a distance looks "enchanting" in the Ian- sometime in the period 1895-1900, because this was ':' guage of Chisholm, is really not so. The streets are a period of scarcity and famine in the whole district narrow and dirty and the houses are of mud. There and in the whole province, and Mungeli Tahsil was are no groves or thickets here and summer' months among the worst affected areas2• Large-scale migra are indeed a very trying time. tiOn had occurred and because of the famine and _JD.i&ration, Mungeli Tahsil returned the greatest The village-site gently slopes in two directions, decrease in the population in the Census of 1901'. three-fourths to the north and one-fourths to the Since the village is shown as not having any popula. east. A stream flows frQm west to the east in the tion in 1891 and the period from 1895 to 1898 was a north of the village and there are two tanks. The very bad period in this area especially, it woUld not bigger of these is the one in the west of the Village. be wrong to fix the age of this village as 61 to 61 It is surrounded by some trees and the most important years. This alsO _corroborates the villagers' idea that of these trees is a peepal (Fie ..s religiosa) tree. It they have been here for some three generations. is not only an object of worship itself, also an idol of God Hanuman is kept beneath it. This tank Writing a century ago about villages of Bilaspur is used for bathing and as a source of drinking water. District, Chisholm" had stated : "A Chhattisgarh There is a smaller tank situated south of the village village is not ordinarily an inviting object of inspec and it is used for bathing the cattle. It is also used tion. A cluster of mud-huts packed closely together by some villagers for bathing, but is not used fot with no kind of order or arrangement, and inter drinking water. . sected by na.rrow and circuitous paths which seem to have nO proper commencement or end. In most There are _in all three wells in_ ~e ~Uage. One cases 'distance lends enchantment to the View', of these wel1s is situated -"'ithin a-ho~- and the other for the best villages have then their baldness hidden two are situated on open space and available for water by clusters and groves of trees of varied tint and hue, supply to the villagers. These two wens are situated. peeping from Under which the most conspicuous on the two extremities of the village, one in the . east objects are not always the thatched houses of the and the oth~ in the west. One of these, wells is people but the whited spires or domes of two or three lined, tale other is katcha and the water of this ancient temples. Speaking generally, however, the katcha well is not used for cooking purposes. 1. Village Lists of Bilaspur Disrict, Census of India 1901 There is no temple or any other religious building pp. 192-193. in the village. The peepaZtree, the idol of Hanuman 2. Final Report of the Land Revenue S"ttlement of the beneath it and the stones representing Thakur Dev BiJaspur District 1904-1912. J. E. Hance, p. 58. serve the villagers as places of worship. There is no 8. IW4p.56. common meeting place like chauPal, chabtlta,.a, etc., 4. Report on the Land Revenue Settlement of the or any community centre. The tank-bank or the Be~ District in the C. P. 1868. J. W. Chisbohn, house of village Patel generally serve as places of p.4. meeting and exchange of gossip. views, etc. TILAIBHA T] . 5 There is no school in the village and the children Following note about the village occurs in the go to village Mohli, which is about 3 miles from here. Mahalwar Abstract prepared at the time of the last The Ilative means of transport is the bullock-cart but Settlement of Bilaspur District. it is rarely used for going to Mungeli or even to Pan dariya. The carts are used for carrying. the manure "Mouza Tilalbhat.- Protected theM/a"; village to the fields and for bringing back the harvested crop near the Mungeli-Pandariya road held by Teli. There or for taking the crop for sale to Mungell market. is a dispute between the lamfJa'l'da1' and share-holder The relationship of village Tilaibhat with other regarding the division of the village profits. Rela neighbouring villages is represented below tions between tenants and laf1l ba,da' are cordial The prevailing soils are K (mha, II and Do,sa I. There is some M alas. and a good Baha,a. Occupa tion is steady and cropping normal. Most of the fallow is in tenancy land said to be due to the poverty of a few tenants. The rice area has been considerably wen maintained and double cropping is steadily expanding. Tenants are. mainly Telis are classed A-I, :8-5,. C-21 and E-5, all but three are free from debt and the latter owe sums below Rs.l00. Seven are without plough cattle. Demand for land is keen and tenants are unwillinc to part with any of their fallow dods." ot the present century is shown in the table below : r------~ Year Total Male Female persons 1 2 3 4 190i 124 57 67 iSH i28 Not available 1921 isS Not available 1931 Not available 1951 254 U9 135 1961 325 100 159 Present SurVey 330 170 160 The total area ot., the vi1l~~ is 692'26 acres and th~ area under Ab~' (Village Settlement) is 3'51 ~es. If the density of the. Population is calcuiat~d with respect to the .tnta1 .. area of. the. yiUage, th~ it comes to approximately 1 per;;on ~n every 2 acres~ wher~as the denSIty in respect of the actual area under settlement is approximately 93 persons per acr~ or 61,520 persons per square mile. The census figures of 1901 and 1951 both show that the village had a preponderance of fem3.les over males. This ratio became inverted in the Census of 1961 OHAPTER" when 7 more ma.i~s have been recorded than the female populati9J:l. !he feature of excess of females is com mon to the whole of Chhattisgarh region. Whether this preponderance has something to do with hybri DEMOGRA~HY dization or whether it is due to some biological or die tetic factor or due to the fact of outdoor life of the women, cannot be stated till this problem is studied in some detail. The population statistics of 1961 show that in the age group 0-4 years, there are more males: in the age The village population, as arrived at the Census group 10-14 years the male and female p)pulation are of 1961, is 325 persons and according to the Socio equal; in the age group 15-44 veaTS, males are in excess; Economic Survey the population of the village was whereas in the age group 45 years and over, there are found to be 330 persons. The reason for this di1lerence more females. These are in confonnity with the general ii, firstly, that one household consisting of two persons features of age-cwn-sex distribution of the popula was not counted in the census enumeration because tion in these areas, i.e. there are more male children it was away from the village during the enumeration born, but th~ male infant mortality is also greater. period and, secondly, the census figures were obtained In the child-bearing age, i.e. 15-45 years, the males tend with respect to the sunrise of the 1st March whereas to be excess ~. 'because in this age group the female the Socio-Economic Survey was carried on some three death-rate is higher due to bad midwifery and post months later and three births had taken place in the natal complications, etc. Once this age is crossed, meantime. the females tend to preponderate over males in the age-group 45 years and over. This is more or less the TIle poplllation of the village from the begi.1ning picture presented by village Tilaibhat also. TlLAIBHAT] 7 The sex-ratio in the village population is shown in Literacy.-In this village there is no literate the table appended at the end of the Report and the woman and, among the men, the majority are just same is represented in the fmm of a graph be10w : litemte without having attained any educational standards; there is not a single matriculate. MALE. In the Census of 1901, there was no literate person in the village; in the Census of 1951, only one man was returned as literate; whereas in the present census 25 men have been returned as literates. The census figures of 1961 give ihe follow:vg :f.gures rfgarcliJlg Jitemcy in the village I --"------~ Malt'S F(rr.al~s I 2 3 Marital Status.-Marital status of the popula tion in different age-groups is shown in the table Illiterates 141 159 appended at the end. The table shows : Literates & educated 25 (,) Child marriage is quite common. In the Total 166 159 age-group 5-9 years, 19 males and 7 females are returned as married and in the age The results show that, in spite of the fact that the group 10-14 years, 12 males and 17 females children have to go to a school 3 miles away, educa are recorded as married. tion has made very great headway and from 0'4% in 1951, the literacy in the village in 1961 is found to (ii) Marriage at pre-puberty age is frequent. be 7'7%. In the age group 10-14 years, 6 males and 2 females are returned as unmarried against Caste and Communities.-Village Tilaibhat is 12 males and 17 females as married. predominantly a Tell (Oil-presser) vi1lage who live (iii) Marriage in any case takes place before 19 here with Rawats (graziers and herdsmen), Dhobis years. The statistics of marital status (washermen), Bairagis (religious mendicants), Kshatris. show only one male as unmarried. (Rajputs) and Nais (barbers). The caste-wise popu lation of the village as got from the mrvey is giVfJll (iv) The people remaining divorced or separated below: is not a common feature. It appears that people who are divorced get remarried and r-- --"------'""\ that is how they are not recorded as 'sepa Total rated' in the census. Caste No. of Persons Males Fem~ house- (v) In the age group over 60 years, widowed holds persons are more females. In this age group, 13 females are found as widows 1 2 3 4 S against 5 males. Tell 41 248 130 US Size and Composition of the FamiIy.-The Rawat 7 34 18 16 &ize of family in village Tilaibhat is represented in Dhobi 4 17 5 1'2 Table III appended at the end of the Report. It is Kshatri 3 12 8 4 seen that about 70% of the families are very small Bairagi 3 11 4 1 to medium size and only 30% are big or very big. Nai 1 5 3 2 Families with over 10 members are not seen at all, Panka 1 3 2 1 in any caste other than Teli, and among the Telis there is only one family of this size. Total 60 330 170 160 lation as being the Teli caste. In the Hindu caste hierarchy, the Telis have been regarded as a low caste. Manu makes the following remark about the acceptance of gifts by Brahmins from different castesl : " N a Ragyalth pratigrahlliyadraja"yapra sutitah sooltaekakradhuJajwatam wesheftaiv eha jeewatam: Dashsoonasam ehakram dashehakrasamo dhwajah Dashdhwajsamo wesho dashweshsamo nripah:' (Brahmin should not accept gifts from a Kshatriya and even from kings of other castes. He should also not accept gifts from a butcher, teli, distiller, or a prostitute.} OHAPTER "' (" The stigma of acceptance of gifts from a person of the Teli caste amonnts to ten times the sUgma of THE PEOPLE acceptance of gifts from a butcher; acceptance of gifts frOm a distiller (kalar) amounts to ten times AN ACCOUNT OF THE CASTES OF THE VILLAGE the stigma of accepting gifts from a Teli.") In his 'Ramcharitmanasa'~, Tulsidas makes a he Tclis who are the most important caste in this reference to Telis as follows : T village are numerically one of the major castes in Bilaspur District and, according to the Bilaspur Dis- "Je warttadl.am teU kumhara trict Gazetteerl, formed 8% of the population. The Swapaeh kirat Iwl kalwara. II first enumeration2 of thepeople which was carried out on the night of 5th November 1866 recorded (The poet talking about the characters of Kaliyuga 51,679,Telis in a total district population of 7,80,503. says that, in the Ka!i aeon members of depressed The Settlement of 1904-1912 describes' Telis as being classes such as Teli, Kumhar, Kirat, Kol and liquor- "general all over the district". In the Census of 19114 vendor also become sanyasis ...... ") the Telis numbered about 9,00,000 persons in the province, thus being the 5th on the basis of population. Im:)!n~ SltlSkrit literature the TeUs are regarded The 1931 Census recorded 7'2% of the d:strict popu- as of m'xcd origin. Sh lbdl-kalpadrum which is a 19th ce!ltury dictionary, regards the caste Clv"krin as equivalent to Teli and states that· 4 1 • Bilaspur District Gazetteer; p. 83. chakrin is a mixed and low caste. Mitramishra 2. Report on the Land Revenue Settlement .of the Belaspore District in the C. P. 1868; J. W. Chisholm; p. 40. 1. Manusmriti; IV Chapter; Slokas 84·85. J. Fin3.1 Report on the Land Revenue Settlement, 2. Ramcharitmanasa, Uttarkand, 99. dd.l.,,?u ilistrict; 190-1·1912; J. E. Hance; p. 74. 3. ct. Teli Ja.ti ka Itihas; Dr. A.S. Altekar; 1958; .,. 16 • .!. Tril>;)3 and Caste3 of C. P. and Bera.r, Vol. IV; Russell a.111 tliralJ.I, 1916; p. 542. 4. Ibid; p. 17. DOMRA RAt TELl WITH THE VILLAGE CHILDREN THE CHUDREN OF TrLAIBHAT TILAIBHAT] 9 in his book Anhikprakash imparts the same meanin The Teli are the occupational caste of oil-presser s to the word chakrin; but the correctness of this and sellers though "a great bulk of them has aban interpretation is very doubtful because Gautam doned their traditional occupation" 1. Hanc& re Dh.lrroasutra 1 regards chakrin as cartman and not marks that m.lny Telis in Bilaspur District "carry Teli. Brihatdhattna Purana in its Uttar Khanda on their traditional occupation of oil-pressing as a Chapter XIII mentions some mixed castes and secondary occupation, but they are primarily Taitkar (Teli} occurs as one of these mixed castes. agriculturists and are good and' careful cultivators. According to this Puran the Gopa are off-springs .of a Vaisnya father and 'Kshatriya' mother and The caste name 'Teli' evidently comes from the the Telis are the off-springs of Gopa father and Sanskrit Tailika or Taila meaning oil and this Vaishy.l Ill)ther. Oushnas Smriti 3 also regards w.)rd is derived from til or sesamum seed.' Telis as a mixed caste. According to this Smriti According to Russell and Hiralal the caste have the Telis are the off-springs of illicit relationship few traditions of origin and the usual story is between a Shudra father and Vaisnya mother. that "deleing Siva's ab:;ance thz goddess Parvati felt This Smriti says (22-3) : nervous because she had no door-keeper to her palace. and, therefore, she made the god Ganesh from the " VaishyaY.lm shuiratashcltouryat jatashachkreeti sweat of her body and set him to guard the southern chochyatc gate. But when Siva returned Ganesh did not T;lilpisl.~",~ je3WJe tu law:1..IJam s!zrawayanpulJah" know him and refused to let him enter; on which Siva was so enraged that he cut off the head of Shudrachar-shiromani4 , a book written by Shree Ganesh with a stroke of his sword. He then entered Krishana Shesha in the 16th century, states that the p3.lace, and Parvati, observing the blood on the off-springs of Kshatriya father and Vaishya his sword, asked him w!lat had happened, and re lluther w~re called Ugra and off-springs of Brahmin proached him bitterly for having slain her son. father and Shudra mother were called Parasav. Siva was distressed, but said that he could not The Telis were born as a result of the union of the replace the head as it was already reduced to a5hes~ 5 Ugra father and Parasav mother. Jatibhaskar But he said that if any animal could be found looking abo records this view. towards the south he could put its head on Gl.nesh and bring him to life. As it happened, a trader was 6 The Brahmavaivarta Puran in its 10th Chapter, then resting outside the palace and had with him an Sl1k.ls 97-93, regards Tdis as the fourth order of elephant, which was seated with its head to the south. mixed castes. In the view .of this Pural~a, the off So Siva quickly struck off the head of the elephant "prings of a Chitrakar and 'pro3titute' union were and placed it on the body of Ganesh and brought the Attalikakar; the off-springs of Attalikakar him to life again, and thus Ganesh got his elephant [(lI1nlJar union were KoZak and the off-springs head. Rut the trader made loud lamentation about of a K1trniJar father and Kolak mother were TeUs. the loss of his elephant, so to pacify him Siva made 7 Brahm~va.ivd.rta PLlran is also regarded as a recent a pestle and mortar, utensils till then unknown. b,:}ok written after the :!dvent of the :\'Iusli'm Rule and showed him how to pound oil-seeds in them and in India. Jatibhaskar~ has also quoted this view express the oi.l, and enjoined him to earn a livelihood for the origin of the Teli caste. in future by this calling, and his descendants after Narada Smriti9 says (Chapter I, Sloka 182) him; and so the merchant became the first Te1i. that some people should not be produced as witnesse s And the pestle was considered to be Siva' and in the court and the Teli caste occurs in this list the mortar Parvati." The Telis of village Tilaibhat are, however, unable 1. Ibid; p. 27. to tell any story about their origin, but they regard 2. Ibid; pp. 16, 30-33. this story as a probable origin of the caste. 3. Ibid; pp. 16.31,33-34. 4. Ibid; pp. 17-18. 5. Jatibhaskar; JW3.\aprasad Mishra; 1955, pp. 439-440. 1. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV, Rus'lell and Hiralal. 1910; p. 556. e. TeliJati ka Itih'ls; Dr. A. S. Altekar. 1958; pp. 18,34-36 • 2. Final Report on the Land Revenue Settlement of the 7. Ibid; p. 35. Bilaspur District, 1904-1412: 1 E. H"nce; p. 74. 8. Jatibhaskar; Jwalaprasad Mishra; 1955; p. 469. 3. Tribes and Castes in the C.P., Vol. IV, Russell and 9. Teli Jati ka Itihas; Altekar; p. 28. Hiralal, 1916; p. 543. 10 [VILLAGE The Teli caste is divided into three endogamous Out of the aforesaid gotras of the Telis of village divisions. The principal groups in Chhattisgarh Tilaibhat, the names Sonwani means gold water are 'Halia', 'Jharia' and 'Ekbahi' Telis. Most of and Arda~a means a kind of gra:rn. The origin the Telis in Bilaspur District are of the ']haria' of the ternns Sonkalihari and Kabor Bahra is ob sub-caste. It is said) that in all there are 742 scure and the villagers are not able to throw any divisions of the caste and Basorilal includes the light on the issue. Jharia, Kosadya and Halia TeEs in the "l'irnari' The Telis of this village, all of whom belong to division. the Jharia division, state that the use of ornaments All these endogamous divisions are again divided made of ranga (an alloy} is prohibited but some of into a number of exogamous septs called gotTas. them have been found wearing ornaments of this The number of sucIi gotras cannot be correctly metal. Similarly, though the Jharias are not per stated and 63 gotra-names have been collected from mitted to eat meat according to caste-rules, it is ··Sabu-Sandesh", a monthly journal of the Chhat doubtful whether this prohibition is respected in tisgarh Teli Society. practice. The Telis are very proud of the fact that the The Telis of village Tilaibhat are of the Jharia village' of Rajim in the Raipur District and the endogamous division. The name 'jharia' means Temple of Rajivlochan thereat are both based on jungly or savage,2 and may also mean 'local'3, Chi the name of Rajia Telin, a woman of their caste~ sholm has referred to this class as 'Jhirria' from According to the history compiled by Chaudhari Jharkund (the forest) and regards them4 as settler Basorilal 1, Secretary of the Teli Society, the Telis here: "while Chhattisgarh was still a wilderness and were originally of the Vaishya division of the Hindus~ have indeed been so long in the country that they have It is claimed that the name Tuladhar occurring in altogether lost count of the number of generations". Mahabharat epic refers to a Teli. Similarly, it is. According to Chj~hoJrn, the appelJaticn 'Jhinia' said that Jaychand, the King of Kannouj, had a invariably jndicates length of residence. Teli hero named Dhanu, who was with Lakhan Rana. The authenticity of the statement :rnade The exogamous divisions and number of persons in this little book cannot be ascertained since the in each of th(m frem among the Tilaibhat Telis are author has not given any source of his information. hown below: The book also says that Sir Risley thinks the Teli caste to be a puritive group which must have been recreated from the respectable class of Hindu Society r------..A.------~ because oil is used by all Hindus for domestic and Population ceremonial purposes. Manufacturing could only be o. ( r---- ..A.____ ~ carried by men whose social purity was beyond Name of gotra families Total Male Female dispute. The quotation given by Russell:! supports ,this statement. 5C>nwani 35 219 115 104 Recent pamphlet issued by the Tells of Chhattis Sonkalihari 4 18 9 ·9 garh records that the Telis have been victims of Arda'wna 1 7 4 3 oppression by upper-caste Hindus. They say that the Smritis and Puranas are evidences of this oppres ICahor Bahra I 4 2 2 sion. This statement is, of course, baseless because except the references already quoted above which Total 41 248 130 U8 regard this caste as of mixed origin, the ancient scriptures nowhere refer to the Telis. 1. Teli Bbaiyon ki Vanshawali; Chaudhari BasorilaJ, 1930; pp. 4-9. The pamphlet further states that in the confijct 2. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV, Russell and between Hinduism and Buddhism, the Telis supported Hiralal, 1916, p. 445. Buddhism and because of this sl'PFort they were 3, Final Report on the Land Revenue SettJ. mUlt, Bila~I 'Ill District, J .E. Hance, p. 74. 1. Te1i BhaiyoJl ki VanEha"iali~ Chnc1l.a1i Eafor~JaJ, }93r. ... Land Revenue Sett](ment of the Belasilon District 2. Tribes and Castes of the C,P., Vol. IV, RUSSl'D ar.d in the C. P., 1868; J. W. Cbisholm; pp. 52-53. Hira]a), 1916, p. 551. GOING TO FETCH WATER FROM THE WELL A TELl WITH HIS GRANDSON TIL:UBHAT] 11 m~de special victims after Buddhism was crushed. and all these three endogamous divisions have cer All these statements are unfortunately not supported tain exogamous septs with titular or totemistic by any relevant historical proof. All the same, the names. A complete list of such sections of the literature published by Chhattisgarh Sahu Sarnaj Rawat has not been compiled anywhere and unless has quite a wide circulation and, whether having any special investigations are carried out among the basis or not, the Telis regard themselves as descen Rawats, an exhaustive list of different gotras or dants from a puritive caste, probably the Vaishyas. these exogamous sections cannot be obtained. The Russell and HiralaF have given instances of Socia-Economic Survey of village Bendri in Raipur similar claims of the Telis of Mandla and Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh describes 22 gots of areas. the Rawats; but 3 more goe names are found from the present village. But whatever the Telis may regard themselves to be, they are considered a caste of bad omen. To Village Tilaibhat has brought out that in addi encounter a Teli in the morning is ~onsidered bad tion to the 3 endogamous divisions mentioned in for the whole day and si milady any stingy and Russell's and other authors' works, there is one unscrupulous person is referred to as Teliamasan or lUore division present' among the Rawats of Chhat the ghost of the Teli. Some proverbs have been tisgarh. This division is known as 'Desaha'. given by Russeua and these are: "God protect me Panch Rawat of this village states that he does not. from Tell, a Chamar and a Dhobi" ; "Where there is belong to the Jheria or Jharia section, but that he a Teli, there is sure t.o be contention"; and similarly. belongs to this Desaha group. As already stated "The Teli counts every drop of oil as it issues from this section has not b~en described by Hewitt, th~ press but sOQJ.etimes he upsets the whole pot". Sherring or Russell. Sherring!, however, mentions Desahas as a section of the Kurmis and describes Russel13 further states that "a good magician in them as a 'tribe in Chhattisgarh'. It is possible search of an attendant's spirit will, it is said, prefer that the Desahas may be an off-shoot from the to raise the corpse of a Teli who died on a Tuesday." Jheria section on account of some social accident. It is also said that rice cooked in a Teli woman's In any case this section is not as old as the Jharia skull under the baboot (Acacia arabica) tree and one. A mlre detailed investigation on the origin of given to a woman to eat, brings her under one's this section may bring out some interesting results. control. Another charm or supposed charm not mentioned in Russell's book is that the rope by which Except Panch Rawat, the Rawat caste of this a Teli hangs himself to commit suicide on a Tuesday is of great value and pieces of it given to a woman vj}}age belongs to the ]haria division and they are to eat brings her under one's control. This rope is divided into 4 exogamous gots-the Karayat, Kar also sa.id to be capable of curing rheumatism. sayal, Gautam and Kashi Sarwe. I t has already been described in connection with Bendri Report that the 'Karsayal' got reveres the deer (Karsayal The Tells are m~dium.-statured and medium... rn~ans a deer). The. Karayat got likewise reveres built p~ople with dark to wheat-colour complexion, the Krait and refrains from killing it. It is thus and in their appearance tliey are like ordinary like the Sarpa gol who do not kill a snake but Chh3.ttisgarhi villager. There is nothing in their whereas the Sarpa got do not kill any snake, the lOlk to distinguish them from the Nais or the Dhobis. Karayat gol m'ly kill all snakes except the Krait. R' 3. Tribes and Ca~tes of the C.P., Vol. IV, Rusell au 1 Hilldu Tribes a.nd Castes, Vol. IIi M.A. SnerriDg,. Hiralal, 1916, p. 554. 1879, p. 101. 12 In Tilaibhat, the Rawat family and persons The Dhobis have not been desci ibed in anv deta.il are distributed among the four gots as below: by Shprring1 who classifies them under "Traders, RAWAT Merchants, Manufacturers, Artisans, and other Hindu ,..--______. _____ ..A... ____. ______, Tribes" and describe;; them as "'Vashermen. The-y are called Warthis in Beral. They const,tute a com munity of upwards of 70,000 persons," Got No. of Population hOllseholds ,------"'- ~ According to Russell and HiralaJ', the Dhobis Persons lfales Females are divided into territorial sub-castes like Baonia and Beraria, :Malwi, Bundelkhandi, Nim·,tria, Kanan· 1{arsayal 2 12 6 6 jia, Udayapuria, Madrasi, Dharampuria and !'>o on. Kllrayat 3 10 5 5 These sub-castfB are all endogamous and each of . these is divided into a number of exogamous groups Kashi Sarw.... 8 ~ 3 Gantam 1 4 2 2 called khero. The Dhobis of Tilaibhat belong to I the Kanaujia endogamous section and according to Total 7 16 34 18 them they be10ng to iBarhar' exogamous group. The term khero is, however, not known to them. Dhobis (Washermen).- Dhobis are the profes sional caste of washermen. The name of the caste is An old Chha.ttisgarhi proverb ,;ays: "What will a derived from the Hindi word dhona (to wash) and the washerman do in a village whete the people live nakt~d." Sanskrit dhav (to wash). They are also called I t may be primarily due to thi-; reason that in Cl1hattis Baretha or Bareth which according to Russelll is "all garh, where the provision that the villager makt::: for honorific or complimentary term of address". In the clothing is not particularly liberal, the Dhobis partly Census of 1911, the Dhobis numbered 1,65,000 persoJl~ abandoned their hereditary profession and took to in the then Central Provinces. agriculture and other callings. In the Central Pro· 3 Jatibhaskar2 describes Dhobis as of mixed vinces Census Report, 1891, Sir Benjamin Robertson origin, as a result of union between a Ugra woman and writes of the Dhcbis a,> below: Vaidehak man. This book also regards the Dhobis "The caste large:y preponderates in Chhatti~garh, as the highest of the lower castes. The book says: a part of the country. where, at least to the superficial .. U gravaidehikabhyan eM jato ma1tjushasangyakah observer, it would hardly seem as if its services were Rajkah Shudrdtu hinah pralhamashch-antyajeshH cha." much availed of; the number of Dhobis in Raipur and (The off-spring of a Ugra woman and Vaidehak Bilaspur is nearly 40,000. In both districts, the man is known as M alljusk who is aJso known by the washerman is one of the recognised village-servant~. name 01 Rajah. He stands foremost amongst the but as a rule, he get" no fixed payment and the great lower castes.) body of cultivators dispense with his serviCes alto gether ...•.. It may, therefore, be assumed that in Though the Dhobis are regarded as the highest of Chhattisgarh. the B~reth caste ha<; largdy taken to the lower castes, the upper-caste Hindus do not take cultivation." water and food touched by a Dhobi. Hutton3 states: "One might have expected the wa<;,hennan's to be a In T ilaibh at , all the four Dhobi households are cleanly pursuit, but the fact that it brings him into primarily cultivators and follow their traditioml contact with menstrually polluted clothes is enough occupation as s:;ondary me~\nc; of livelihood. The to make him an out-caste no Jess than scavenger who village population is di'vided amon;,;t them as clien removes nightsoil or dead bodies". In the foot-note tele and they get a fixed amount per head for their on the same page, HuHon state,;: "This taboo is of services. The amount fixed in Tjlaibhat is Re. 1 per course worldwide. There can be little doubt. but the year per adult and Re.-/S/- per year per child. rea:,on why the adjectives 'bloody' and 'bleeding' are, Due to the:r long residence ill Chhattisgarh, the or till recently were, regarded as indecent in English Dhobis in Tilaibhat have forgotten and Jeft many of is because they have been used as swear-words with 1. Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, M.A. Sherrinl!", that particular association imp]ied." 1879, p. 120. 1 Tribes and Castes of the C.P.• Vol. II, ]916, Russell 2. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. II. Russell and • . a.nd Hiralal, p. 519. HiraJaI, )916; p. 519. 2. )atibhaskar, Jwalaprasad Misbra, 1955, p. 441. 3. Caste in India; J.H. Hutton, 1945; p. 15.'. 3. Census of India 1891, Report, C(\ntrlll PrOVince, p- 202. TIJ.AIHHAT~ 13 the rules observed by this caste elsewhere. For known a<; POl1wars, G3.hlots and othen, th~y tlm" example, the Dllobis who claim affiliation with Bundd introduced into their own ciominiom, and wh:> are khand and Uttar Prade"h do not eat fowl and the still found in considerable numbers as w.!aLhy and women do not wear glas;-bangle~. They worship powerful land-oWllHs." Ghatoia Devi and Kale-gore Dev. The Dhobis of RusselJl is of the opinion that "the bulk of the this vjllag~, however, do not worship these deities and Rajputs in the Central Province; -are of very impllre the women wear glass-bangles a:; other castes. blood. Several groups, such as Panwars of the The pop lJatiol of the D~obIs of Tilaiblll.t is Va~ngunga Valley, th'! Raghnvan~his of Chhindw:l.tJ shown in the statement below: and Nagpur, th:! Jadams of Hoshangabad and the Daharias of Chhattisgarh, have developed into DHOBI separate caste, and m1.rry among themselves." , ______._____ .A.. ______. -_, The Dallaria Rajputs have been referred to by PJpulation SherringZ as below : No. of r--______A.-~ house Per- Mal es F .:mal es hold,; sons "This tribe has two villages in Doorg Tahsil, ten in the Simgah Tallsil and eighteen in he Raepore Badhar or Barhar 17 5 12 Tahsil of Raepore." Now ' .... hether the Kshatriva caste in this village and nearby areas are the represen Kshatrjs.-TherJ are three hou,,_'hold, of the tatives of Dallaria. class or the Haihayas cannot be Kshatri caste in th;s viUage. The word Kshatri is a ascertai;ned ina study such as the preSl~nt one. Th~ corruption of the wnrd 'Kshatriya' which refers to Chhatris of this village, however, state that they the second rank in the Hindu social order, and the belong to the Haihayas group. caste is commonly referred to as Raj puts. The A detailed de~crjptjon of the Haihaivanshi Rajput caste has been described under Rajputs by Russell is given in "Tribes and Castes of the Central Provin and Hiralal, and R~jput, Kshatriya, Chhatri and ces" by :'le35T3. R.V. Russell and Hi rala}. The Thakur are put as synonymous ternlS by these authors. present village of Ratanpur in Bilaspur District was the seat of Haihaivanshi Kingdom or the Daks R ~gardin~ the K3jPUt<; of Chhattisgarh, HewiW hina K')shaJ. A~ history shows, this kingdom state;; tha.t they are "generally descendants of immi enjoyed a tranquil existence till A.D. 1740 when it gIant:; from the North." Sherring~ in h:s Introduc fell to the Maratha;;. In the Bilaspur District tory Note on the Tribes and Castes of the C:'ntral Gaz:!tteer \Vills3 states that "the only su-viving P·-ovinces and Berar says: repre-;entative of the Haihaya of Ratanpnr is a quiet, simple-minded Rajput who lives at Bargaon "Gradually the Aryans have encroached upon the in Raipur District ..•.. The Malguzar of Senduras claims G::md, ani oth~r aboriginal tribes, seizing patches of level c.:>untry, the valleys, the ferti1e banks of riVers, descent from the Ratanpnr family, but his preten tions are doubtful." On the basis of above statement :1'11 othJr de;i;-able tracts, over whiCh th]y have . xtended their jurisdiction and Government. For a by Wills, claim of the Chhatris of this village that they together with the Chhatris of Sc'udura, are long period, in some directions almost coeval with the descendents of the Haihaivanshi Rajputs, is very occupation of the earlier inhabitants, they have held doubtful. important districts, which have become famau.;; in Indian History for thl!ir connection with them. They "The Rajput., hav.· ~ot,as named after -'po bd')I1.ged, for the m'l,;t part, to various tribes of nymous saints exactly like th,~ Brahmin gotras, and R:ljpnt"i. For eX3,mple, the Rlihaya'i were, doubt probably adopted in imitation of the Brahmins. "4 lJ"s, ruling in the upper part of the Narbada Valley In this village ali the three Chhatri families bdong to in th·J ht ce~ltury of the Christian Era. They fotmed Bhatdwaj got,a aft-·r Saint Bhardwaj. ;~lliance with the Rajpoots of Malwa and Udaipur, ------I. Tribes and Castes of the C. P., Vol. IV, Russell and -,-----_._------Hiralal, 1916; p. 41 J. 1. Rep;)t"t on the La.nd ReVetlU\! Settlement of the Raepare 2. Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, 1879, Sherrjng, p. 96. District, 1869, J.F.K. Hewitt, p. 37. 3. Bilaspur District Gazetteer, Chapter II, C.U. Wills. 2. Hi!1du Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, M.A. Sherri:1g, 1879, 4. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV, Russeli alld pp.85·86. Hiralal, 1916, p. 4JR 14 [VILLAGE KSHATRI that the 52 dwaras (doo13) serve as exogamou'i r- sections. The Baitagis of village Tilaibhat belong to the Vai:;hnava Sampradaya. According to them the Population diff.rent akharas are 'Digambari', 'Nirmohi', 'Maha No. of r ~------~ ninnohi' 'Nirvanr, 'R3.manandi', and 'Nivyadit·. Person Male Female Name of gotra house Out of these six akharas only three occur in the list holds given by Russelli. Ramanandi is not actually an akhara but a sampradaya and the c1assification by Bhardwaj 3 12 8 4 the Bairagis of Tilaibhat regarding this is not correct. The akharas 'Mahanirmohi' and 'Nivy dit' do nJt Bairagis.-Speaking of Bairagis of Bi1aspur occur even in the additional list of three other akharas is District, Chisholm1 stated: "The Byrag~ls and given by Russell. About these akharas nothing Goshains are the representatives of the principle of known. Tilaibhat Bairagis belong to the Achutra exogamous division. The meaning of the word ascet:ci~m in th~ Hindo> system. There are more th.tn 11.0)0 persons of this class in th3 district but 'Achutra' is unknown. The Bairagis usually keep a they hav.'! fal:en away from the notion of self-sacri lilak on the forehead. Different sects have differ fice which originated the order and hold the proprie ent marks, and 1he one used in this village is cup shaped with a dot in the upper-middle part. The tory right of a considerable number of vl11ag~s .... Strictly speaking, they should not marry and are Bairagis usuaJly keep their hair long but this is not the case in ~ illage Tilaibhat. They wear white clothes expected in theory to remain like stoic~ of o~d models of manly purity. In pomt of fact, however, while and every Bairagi wears a necklace of tulsi (Ocymum sanctum) beads. maintlining the letter of th~ law, especially in all cases, where the inheritanc~ of property is involved, Russellz obs erves that the Bairagis do not, as a they utterly ignore its sp;rit and their monasteries ar.: rule, plough with their own hands. This is not found too o:"te:l den; of wickedness." to be correct at least in this village. The Bairagis foay that it is only thesanyasi who do not plough with their Sherring2 describe; th:m as "religiou; m~ndjcants. hands and that there is no bar for a Bairagi to do so. a much lalger community than the preceding one, Population of the Bairagis of this village is given (i.e. Jangam) and most num ~rOU3 in Chhatti;garh." The nam.: Bairagi eVidently appears to have come below: from the Sanskr it word" V ai,agya" m ~anin ~ renuncia BAIRAGI ~ignifi€s tion and one who is free from humin ____A._ pas:;ions. Russell hal given a detailed d~SCtip Exogamous No. of Popu1ation tion 01 the caste and th~ various sub· divisions or group house ~,-___A... ____ th~ s'Jmpradayas includ~ therein and di!tails about holds P. M. F. th se sub-divisions are also to be found in Wilson's "Hindu Sects" and Dr. Bhattacharya's "Hindu Castes and Se::t-;". According to RusselP. "a pIOpi!! Bairage is one whose principal deity is eithex Vishnu or Achutra 3 11 4 7 of his great incllnations, Rama and Krishna". The B3.iragi caste is divided into minor sects, Nais.-Jatibhaskar3 regards the Nai (barber) f1kharas and du:aras. Russell has not given a list of caste as a mixed one born with the union of Ksha tha exogamous divisions of the caste but he says triya man and Shudra woman. It also regards the Nai to be the off-spring of Ug7'a woman and Mil D,adh man. Another word for the Nai is N aPU or also 1. Report on the Laud Revenue SettleDlent of the Kuntal. B~l<1Sp()re District, 1868. J.W. Chisholm, p. 53. 2. Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, M.A. Sherring 1879 1. Ibid; pp. 100-101. p.118. . " 2. Tribes and Castes of the C. P., Vol. II, Russell and Hiralal, 1916, p. 104. a. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. II. Russell aDd Hiralal, 1916, p. 94. 3. Jatibhaskax, Jwalaprasad Mishra, 1955, pp..... 7. 416. TILAlBBAT] 15 There is only one Nai family in this village. the hair of the earth like the barber shaving a beard' 'Nai' is the occupational caste of barbers. The Russelll describes that in early times the Nai (barber) term N ai is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word must have enjoyed cons derable dignIty. "Upali the 11WPit and some also hold it to have come as a corrup barber was the first propounder of the law of the tion of the word snapitri (one who bathes). The Nai Buddhist Church." The importance of the 'Nai' in in no doubt a functional caste. In this village the the Hindu social organization is evident from the Nai is evidently a village servant and presence of a fact that he is necessarily required in the various life Dhobi (washennan) and aNai (barber) in the village rituals of many of the. higher castes. speaks about the organisation of the village society. Writing about the village servants and In Tilaibhat, the Nai serves the function of shav social characteristics in the Settlement Report of the ing the Villagers and attending life-ritual ceremonies Raiaur District, Hewitt! says: "Society in Chutees wherever required. The Nai in Tilaibhat belongs to gruh was probably never founded on a very finn basis Bhardwaj Khero or Kul. and except in the very earliest time the Talooqdar NAL or Dan and Byga were probably the only permanent -A-___ members of the community. The influx of Hindoo ,_'------immigrants has swept away both Talooqdars and Bygas Kheroor Population Kul No. of almost entirely, and has brought about some approach house P. M. F. to the north-west village system, though the here ho1d ditary organization of a Hindoo village has never yet been thoroughly established as a recognised institu tion in Chuteesgurh." Hewitt further states that the Bhardwaj 1 5 3 2 Nai or barber is a recognised member of the village staff and is found in most villages . Pankas.-There is one Panka house hold in the village-that of the village-watchman (or the KotflJa,). The Nai caste is divided into exogamous divisions The office of village watchman in Chhattisgarh is known as khero or kul and these exogamous divi accepted only by members of the Panka and Ganda sions are named after saints as· in case of Brahmin castes which are regarded as low castes and which in caste, or some Rajput castes or may also be titular the past were one and the same caste and have been and totemistic. described as sl1ch in the books by Reverend Sherring and Russell. Based on saints Based on Titular and tote Raj1ut clans mistic Probably the first r~ference of any importance of this caste occurs in the proceedings of the Ethnolo gical CommitteeZ of 1866-67 and it is reproduc d Gautam Naik (leader) below: "This race has exactly the same manne:s and Kashyap Surajvanshi Seth (banker) customs as the Gonds in their marriages and births. but differ in their religion and in their living; although Kosik Jaduvanshi Rawat (chief) in appearance thl'"y are very similar, they are consi Sandilya Solanki Nagesh (cobra) dered inferior caste to the Gonds, who will not eat Bhardwaj Panwar Bagh (tiger) with them; they dress in the same way, only the Bhadrawa (a fish) Punka wears a different kind of necklace-"kuntha". The barber's trade appears to be of great anti "The Kubeerha caste is the highest and will nei quity. In the description of this caste in the United ther eat nor intermarry with the people of the other Provinces, Crooke2 states: "The barber's trade is two. This caste too d:>es not drink spirits, eat pigs or undoubtedly of great antiquity. In the Verla we carrion-the others do." read 'sharpen us like the razor in the hands of the barber'; and again, 'driven by the win~ Api shaves 1. Tribes and Ca8tes of the C.P.• Vol. II, Russell and Hiralal. 1916. p. 1 • Report on the Land Revenue Settlement of the Raepore 2. Report of the Ethnological Committee on papera laid District. 1869, J.F.K. Hewitt. pp. 50-51. before them and upon examination of speCimens of 2. Tribes and Castes of the United Provinces, Art. Nai, aboriginal tribes brought to the J ubbulpore Exhibition para 5. 1868-67; pp. 91-92. 16 [VILLAGE Chisholml in his Settlement Report of 1868, In the notes appended at the end of his book. states that in the enumeration carried out on the Elwin1 writes that the Pankas are "a Dravidian caste night of the 5th November 1866, there were 72,912 of weavers anq village watchmen numbering over 2 Pankas in the Bilaspur District. Hea further des hundred thous:lnd in the Central Provinces, the cribes the caste thus: "Majority of them are culti majority of whom have become Kabirp.mthis. They vators though originally they all seem to have been are rather despised by the Gonds who like to make weavers and correspond with the Koree Tribe else jokes about them, but they are a very clever and where. As it is, a considerable number st:ill stick to alert people and with proper education would go far." weaving while others weave only during the intervals of field work The village-watchmen are usually of "The Gonds say of the Pankas that if a Panka the Punkah class and are then called 'Gandas' being can find a pumpkin, you WIll get no more work out of distinct however from the men known as 'Bujgurrya him that week." Gandas', the great musicians of Chuteesgurh." Some more such jokes about the Panka caste are Reverend Sherring' in his Hindu Tribes and given in Bendri Report. Castes describes the Pankas under the "Agricultural Tribes" and writes that "these are properly weavers, The Pankas are divided into 4 sub-divisions but although many still adhere to their hereditary Manikpuria, Saktaha, Bajania and Dom Panka and vocation, the majority of them have abandoned it for these sub-divisions are further divided into some agricu1 ture. They are a quiet and industri ous exogamous divisions. Russellz says that exogamous people, and in religion belong to the sect of Kabir septs are named "after plants and animals; as Tandia Panthis. They avoid the use of spirits and meat, an earthen pot, Chhura a razor, Neora the mongoose. do not marry their children until they have reached Parewa the wild pigeon and othLrs. Other septs are maturity, and bury their dead The Punkahs make Panaria the btlnger of betal-Ieaf, Kuldip the lamp bad cu1tivators and the villages of which they are lighter, Pandwar the washer of feet, Ghughuwa one proprietors are miserable in the extreme. The who eats the leavings of the assembly and Khet Gandas are said to be an off-shoot of the Punkahs." garhia, one who watches the fields during religious worship. II Russell has also named Sonwania or The Bilaspur District Gazetteer (1909) in the gold-water sept, Naurang or the nine-coloured and description of this caste gives the rhyme already Sati septs. quoted in the Socio-Economic Survey of village Bendri of Raipur District and which rhyme is: The Panka household of village Tilaibhat belongs "Pan. se Panka bhae to Manikpuria sub-division of the caste, but the hundan 1'ache shari1' exogamous sept to which this household belongs is not given in Russell's book. The sept of the Tilai age age Panka bhru bhat Panka is Binghia. This sept is, therefore, an pachhe Das Kabir." additional name in the list given by Russell. The This rhyme when rendmed into English would be: Panka population of Tilaibhat is given below : "The Pankas (Pani-ka) is born out of water and his PANKA body is made out of drops of water :. but there were Pankas before Kabir." Name of No. of Populatkn The Gazetteer further says that "the derivation Sept house r------A ,______which is of course fanCiful. appears to refer to the hold Persons Male Female story of Kabir having been found as a baby floating in a lotus leaf on a tank. The saying may be supposed to indicate obscurely that pri:or to the rise of Kabir, the Pankas were Hindus of low caste." Binghiya 1 3 2 I 1. Report on the Land Revenue Settlement of the Belaspore District, 1868, J .W. Chisholm, p. 40. 1. Leavesp.27. from the Jungle; Verrier Elwin'• 1936',. p 240', 2. Ibid, p. 49. 2, Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV, Russell and 3. Hindu Tribes and Casttes, VoJ.II,Shernng,1879. p.109. Hirala!, pp. 325-326. TILAIBHATJ WOMAN WEAJlING KII'NWA. RuP,"A ANt. MUNGAMAlA. 8A.JUIi BAT MALA. DHAPTERIV DRESS AND ORNAMENTS The saying that "what will the washennan do in a Chhattisgarh village where people live naked ?" is no longer true now. People have long since taken to salookas and bantlis and now shirts and hurlas are quite common men's wear in the village. Polka (blouse) has also become fairly . commo l1 among the women, and the young women almost invariably wear blouses while going out to the market etc. In the village-markets, there is quite a good number of hawkers selling readymade clothes and they seem to be having good business. Ornaments have always been a sign of richness and women wear as many ornaments as their economic condition permits. In ornaments, there is no distinctive Wear for the different castes. Culture contacts in the markets of Pandariya and Mungeli are now bringing about another factor of socio--economic significance. The women have acquired a passion for clothes and cosmetics used by women in the towns and, if the husbands are not able to fulfil this desire, they change husbands in the· hope of better results. Cham roo Rawat of the village sadly remarked that these days the number of women running away from their husbands is on he increase because "the girls are de;;irou5 of having flashy. urbani~sh clothes and face-powder, etc. so that they may look like city-girlrs. We cannot afford vILLAGR this and they seek other fellows." In making this Rawats.-The use of head-gear or a turban is statement Chamroo reflected the general picture common among the Rawats. They use a 3 to 4 prevailing in the rural areas situated on the fringes yards long white cloth for this purpose. For the of towns and in such places as Pandariya, Mungeli, upper part of the body, the men commonly use etc. This contagion has not infect~d village Tilai white or coloured saZooka (jacket), which is preferred bhat very much and Chamroo was not remarking to the white one. As the lower garment, dhoti particularly of this villa.ge. . In the statement below worn up to knee is preferred. Trousers are not the expenditure on clothing in different communities used in the rural areas; the people regard it as a is shown: . gannent not fit fol' the caste. Country-made shoes, called bhadai, are used by Total Monthly Percen- men. They do not keep more than one pair of such No. of monthly expendi- tage to Caste house expendi- ture on total shoes for use. These shoes are made by the country holds ture in clothing expendi shoe-markers and are purchased for 4 to 6 rupees in rupees only in ture the makets. The shoes are said to be very durable rupees and fit for rough use. Even these shoes are not used as common wear and the Rawats when work Teli 41 2,989 239 7'9 ing in the village or while grazing the cattle do not Rawat 7 369 31 S'l ordinarily wear them. They are only used on Bareth (Dhabi) .. 4 220 20 9'0 festive occasions and when going out. 3 151 10 6'6 Chbatri The women, as in the Teli caste, put on lugda. Baitagi 3 125 15 12'0 Polka (blouse) is kept as an item of luxury and Panka 1 69 6 8'7 occasional wear. Nai 1 50 3 6'0 Dhobis.-The use of pagree or turban is quite DRESS IN DIFFERENT CASTES conunon among the Dhobis; it is invariably worn when they go out. On other occasions, the cloth Telis.-N0 special head-gear is used by the used for pagree is loosely hung on the shoulders. Tells. They usually have a 11-2 yards long hand The use of shirts is more common among the men loom cloth known as panchha. This is kept on than salookas. The lower garment as in other the shoulders or is worn round the head somewhat castes is the dhoti. The Dhobis use country-made like a turban. It is wrapped round the waist when chappals as foot-wear. tb.ey take a dip in the tank. It is a very coarsely woven cloth usually pink-red in colour. The women wear a cheap and coarse type of mill made lugda and occasionally put on blouses also. For body-wear, salooka (jacket) is the common Brassiers are not used. wear but one or two shirts are kept in the house and Kshatris.-The Kshatris do not commonly wear these are worn while going out or in spare time. any head-dress. Old people do not wear even Older people are commonly seen wearing salooka salooka and are bare-bodied in summer months whereas among the younger generation, the shirt is and most of the rainy months. In winter, of course preferred. The shirt is purchased readymade from they put on shirts and salookas. For lower gannents. the weekly market at Pandariya. The lower gar they use dhotis. ment is the dhoti, 5 yards long; it is mostly miU made now. . The use of handloom dhotis is rare. The women wear coarse dhoti (lugda) as in other castes. Blouse is not a common wear with The women, as is common in Chhattisgarh, wear them though it is in more general use than among lugila (sarJ) up to the knee and throw one end of it the Rawats, Tells and Dhobis. over the shoulders to cover the upper part of the body. Polka (blouse) is worn by newly married Bairagis~-The Bairagi men do not put on women for some years regularly and, later, is worn turbans like the Telis and the Rawats. Old people only occasionally. The old ladies do not wear wear salooka and the younger people put on ready polka at all. The women have not yet started the made shirts. Dhoti, the lower garment. is worn use of brassiers. up to knee as in other castes in Chhattisgarh. The fODA RUPIY.. :> i. MUNDR' CM ....LL ... CHH .. U." _" A. .-,O ... A .... """TN TA.TTOO .lHUIIo1KA ALlPIYA. CHUR4 TILAI~HATJ Bairagis keep a separate dhat, to be worn at the time worn in the ear-lobes as shown in the diagram. Bali of taking meals. or rings are also put on in the ear-lobes. In the nose, fuUi is worn and the ornaments of the neck Women wear the sari down up to the ankles and are s""ya. It is a solid silver ring worn round the not up to knee like the Rawats and the Telis. They neck. The other ornaments of the neck is rupiya cover their head. Normally they do not put on which is the same as the COlIlIJ1only known hamel • .. blouses. It is only wora on festive days and when The rupiya (hamel) is either the King-George rupees going to other villages or markets. The new bride with hooks tied one to another with thread or usually puts on a blouse till she becomeS familiar silver cut and stamped in Urdu dialect. The name with the family. Brassieres are not worn. ,upiya in use in this village for hame l is explained by the fact that the constituent parts of panbs.-The Panka is the village watchman. it are either rupees or imitation-rupees. Ornaments He wears the violet-blue coat and waist-bel t given worn on the arm are the nagmori and bahunta. to him by the Government when going to t he Police Nagmorl is the serpentine silver ornament put on station or when some official visits the viI lage. Cn above the elbow and bahunta is the hollow silver other occasions he wears a kurea or shirt or salaD ka armlet. N agmori and bahunta are not worn together Salooka is worn when he is at home. The dhoti is because both are ornaments worn on the same part worn up to the knee only. Panka boys put on shorts of the body. Ornaments of the wrist are hara~a, and readymade shirts. The women wear luglla kada or choora and pata. The pata are the and blouse as in other castes. The luella is worn fiat wrist-bands used either by themselves or in up to the knee. association with kada on the wrist. Commonly Nais.-The Nai doeS not wear a turban for head two palas are worn on each wrist. Kalla are the gear. He uses a dhoti. as the lower garment and just round hollow ornaments of the wrist. H araiya is puts on a cloth or panchha on the upper portiOn another hollow ornament worn on the wrist. The substituting for shirt. The Nai has only one shirt difference between these ornaments is shown in the which he uses very sparingly. The women use diagrammatic sketches. Muntin (ring) is used in sari and blouse; the use of blouse is only occasional. the fingers. The ring used by the men is known as chhalla because it is just a ring. The muntiri is a Ornaments .-Ornaments are everywhere used ring with a rupee or an imitation rupee fixed on to display wealth, and. women, educated or uneducat. the top. ed, like to make a display of them. The women in village Tilaibhat are like women anywhere else in Kartlhan or waist-band is the ornament of the the world and like to get as many ornaments· as they waist. It may also be known as kamar-patta. The can. Ornaments serve the. villagers in their· crises kardhan used by men is just one single chain, whereas also and then they are pledged (pawned) to some the one used by women is many chains arranged money-lender for petty amounts. In general men together. do not wear ornaments. The ornaments worn by . different castes are the same and they are purchased Ornaments of the ankles are tada and jJaijan from the local jeweller of Pandariya. but the latter is very uncommon and only one pair of paijan was found to be in use. T ada are the Tells .-Some of the Teli boys and men wear anklets made of two pieces joined with a hinge at ornaments on the wrist, in the ear and around the one end and the other end is fixed with a screw. neck. Out of 41 Teli households, males wearing Paijan is a more refined type of ornament and ornaments were found in 10 households. The orna bichhiya and chutkis are the ornaments worn o~ ments for children are the same as for males. Bali toes. or the ear-rings are worn in the ear, tabij or the amulet is put around the neck, ka,dhan or silver waist-chain is worn around the waist and silver The fulli. (nose-piece), chutki (toe-rings), choora or wrist-band is worn in the wrist. Some muntiri (rings) and toda (anklets) are the common people also wear silver or copper rings in their fingers. ornaments which married women wear. Nagmori, The rings are called chhalla. and ihoora are also worn by married women. The ornaments prohibited for unmarried girls are fuUi. Women in all households have ornaments. Orna toda and hichhiya or chutki and the ornaments ments of the ear are known as khilwan. These are prohibited for widows are toda, luUi and bichhiya 2-t (VlLLAGS or c/l"tki (chhalla). The unmarried girls and widows not used dry as in urbanised areas, but a paste is cannot put vermillion in the hair-parting. The prepared with oil and then put in the hair-parting. vermillion is used by married women only. Tattooinll.-Tattooing is a common form of Rawats.-The use of tabij (amulet) by the body-decoration for women in the villages. The Rawats is more common and out of 7 households, Bairagis are of the opinion that Lord Krishna him 4 reported the use of tabij. The amulet is just self tattooed his consort Radha, and as such, this is worn as an ornament and does not have any magi an ornament (body-ornament) of the God Himself. cal or spiritual significance. Chura or the wrist It is also believed that this is the only ornament omament is also used but only one household re which is carried to the other world. The gold and ported ·tbis. silver ornaments are left here itself after death. Tattooing is done by professional tattooers who The Rawat women use the same ornaments as are women and are known by the name Dewarnin, the Telis but the number of ornaments in Rawats Godharin or Bhumnin. These women tattooers is not as large as in the case of the Telis. The orna belong to the nomadic caste of Dewars. Tattooing ments in use are sutiya, rupiya, haraiya, bahunta is got done by both married and unmarried women and pachhela. Ornaments prohibited for widows and to bear the expense of tattooing an unmarried and unmarried women are toda and chhalla. girl is considered to be a religious act. Dhobis.-Only one Dhobi household reported The professional tattooers come to this village ornaments for men. These are ear-rings (bali) and usually from the adjoining Mandla District and they chura (wrist-wear). Ornaments for women are the come here after the rainy season. This is natural same. Ornaments prohibited for widows and un also because tattooing during rains is not safe and married girls are the same as among the Rawats and may result in the spot becoming septic. the Tells. The tattooing compound is a mixture of the Kshatris.-Kshatri men do not wear ornaments juice of bhilausa (sem-ecarpus anacardium) tree and or tabii, etc. Women use the same ornaments. of soot. The skin is pricked with a needle and the Ornaments prohibited for widows and unmarried juice is rubbed in. The operation results in painful girls are the same as in other castes. swelling for some days and it is for this reason that the tattooing is done after the rains cease because Balrallis.-Bali (ear-rings) are worn by Bairagi in the monsoon there is danger of infection. men. They also put on a bead-necklace of tulsi (Ocymum sanctum) p1a.n..t. Women use haraiya, The designs of tattooing differ in case of married pachhela, rupiya and kakni. Ornaments prohi and unmarried women. In case of unmarried girls bited for widows and unmarried girls are toda, tattooing is done in the face at three places-below "ahunta, chhaUa and futti. the lip, by the side of nose and over the eye-brows. These designs are known by different names as . Panos and Nais.-Panka and Nai households below: did not report any ornament in use in this village. Ornaments prohibited for widows and unmarried Mutaki-One dot in the chin below the lips. girls are the same as in other castes. Panka men Purouni-One dot on the nose-tip or by the side out on kanthi or bead-necklace. of the nose. In general, use of ornaments by widows is prohi Bhursi-Three dots or one dot above the eye-brow. bited in all castes in India. Some ornaments like bichhiya, which are called chhalla in Tilaibhat, Married women get the wrist, arm and leg tattooed and fulli (nose-ornament) are prohibited in practically and the designs preferred are flower. geometrical all Hindu castes. Toda or the anklet ornament forms or trees and plants, etc. is also prohibited. Widows, however, may use wrist ornament like the silver choora and pata. Sendur or vermillion is a common sign of married women. The powder in use in Chhattisgarh is not of the vermillion colour but of orange colour.• It is 25 Size and composition of the family in vi1la~e Tilaibhat.-The majority of the families in village OHAPTER V Tilaibhat are of medium size, i.e. consisting of 4 to 6 members. The size of families in the different castes of the village is shown here : THE SOCIAL ____A. ~ Total Single 2-3 4-6 7-9 10 & STRUCTURE Caste No. of mem- mem- mem- mem- over families bers bers bers bers mem bers 8 7 ajumdar1 defines a family as "a group of Teli 41 3 4 19 Mpersons who live under the same roof and Rawats 7 2 4 1 are connected by nuclear and kinship ties and Dhobi 4 1 3 own a consciousness of kind on the basis of locality, Chhatri 3 1 2 interest and mutuality of obligations. It is a defen Bairagi 3 1 2 sive unit as well as an aggressive one, and its per Nai 1 1 manence is sanctioned by common property rights Panka 1 1 and residence under the same roof." He says fur ther2 "Indian family life has been characterised by Total 60 5 8 31 9 7 attitudes which are largely derivative. There exist Family types.-Normally a family is a group eloquent exa:mples of the sanctity of domestic life, consisting of the husband. wife, and their unmarried of such abiding relationship between father and son .. children, but in the village. cases of married children between brother and. brother, between man and wife, living with parents is quite common and similarly relationship not merely of consanguinity of kinships the widow or widower living with her or his son or territorial or totemistic, but durable and intimate sons is a common feature. Joint families, i.e. married in values and responses. Epics of all countrie brothers living together are also met with in the exaggerate war and conquest, clash of personalities village. and contact of peoples, but the Ramayana and the Mahabharat speak of such duties as are incidental Intra-familial relations.-The eldest of the to the Indian theme, man's absolute ideals, Rama's family is usually regarded as the head of it. The love for his wife Sita, the respect and obedience status of other members and the respect shown that a son should have for his father the sacrifice towards them generally depend on their respective expected of him and of a brother for a brother .... ages. In case the mother is the eldest member in That is probably India's chapter that is undergoing the family, she may also be described as the head, revision due to an orientation in the context of although effective authority is exercised by the eldest dynamic problems facing her today." male member. As the parents advance towards old Though, as Majumdar states, revision owing to age and the son comes of age, the effective autho~ new orientation in the context of dynamic problems ity passes to the latter. It is expected that the sons, is going on, the family in the rural country-side has to their wives and children' should remain obedient very great extent remained the same. Disturbance to the parents. Any default or reluctance in their in the family ties and relationship is avioded when behav our towards the parents gets the censure from the younger brother marries the widow of his deceased t he village community. If the disharmony is increas elder brother. The family in the rural areas of ed it may ultimately result in the disintegration Chhattisgarh continues to remain a biological, social, of the family. economic and functional unit. Polygamy is not Husband-wif~ relationship.-In spite of th face merely due to biological needs; it is gove med to a that females are in excess in this area, and it should very large extent by economic needs, as other mem be comparatively easier for a man to get a spouse, bers contribute to family income as workers. the husbands show great regard, consideration and leniency towards the wives and there is no case where 1. Races and Cultures ofIndia. Majumdar. 1958; p. 163. the separation proceedings are initiated by the 2. Ibid; p. 165. hl1sbctnd. If the wife has run away, the husband [VIllAGE tries his level best to get her back even when she has comes and the alld mother-in-Ia w becomes old, she lived with another man. A woman is referred to well knows where she stands. In old age, the mother as admi (man) and mal (property), e.g., mot tulmi in-law looks after her grand-children or simply keeps bhaga gis (my man has run away) or nun' mal &a a watch over the house. apis ka1 de (return my property). Father-ln~]aw and Daoghter~in-]aw relatlon Husbands are not expected to exhibit affection ahips.-No larda system is followed in the viii age, towards their wives in the presence of elders. In but the father-in-law and daughter- in-law maintain Tilaibhat, the position of women in the family is a respectable distance. She covers her head before better than in the families of upper-caste Hindus. him and does not laugh in his presence. In normal The women have relatively more freedom to express cases she would not talk with her husband before him. dissent or disapproval of any of their husbands' The father-in-law a1so reciprocates the respect and decisions. There are practically no cases of a man love. He addresses her as noni (daughter) or as th~ beating his wife. mother of her sou, i.e. Chait" ke flai (Chaitu's mother) and.so on. Extra-marital relations are disliked by the hus bands, but they show quite some consideration in Other relations in the family.-Brothers and this regard and try to suppress the rumours and inter sisters usually maintain cordial and good relations. nal adjustments are seriously sought of. Although Even when the parents are dead, the sisters visit the explicitly it is said that if the wife develops extra home of their brothers every year on the Tija festival. marital relations, she should better be killed than permitted to live, it is doubtful if this ideal is pract Uncles and aunts are respected in the same degree ised. Extreme cases go to the caste panchayat for as the parents. Grand-parents are respected for decisions. their age and for being the parents of the father. Cousins are regarded as siblings and addressed as Parent~chlld relatiol1shi p.-Parent-child rela brothers and sisters as the case may be. Male tionship in the whole Chhattisgarh is noteworthy in the love that is showered upon the children. Thete cousins, i.e. father's brother's sons are referred to are extremely rare cases of parents beating children kaka bath ke bhai. In some cases terms of reference and if anybody else has beaten the chil d the mother are also used as terms of address. or even the father of the child creates quite a scene. If and when a parent beats his child, a whole crowd Joking relationship.-Joking· relationships woul d assemble and ridicule the person for doing exist between the following relatives:- such a thing by saying ola mar da/be ka (would you Grand-father grand-daughter kill him), t01 hath 'Raise uththe (how does your hand lift to beat). Even if the parent has just given one Grand-mother Grand-son slap, the ridicule would be 'ho katek ma1e he (Oh, Younger brother Elder brother's wife how badly he has beaten the child). The result is that the parents show great laxity towards their Sister Brother's wife children and do not mind their bad manners Ii ke Woman Hu"band's sister's hus- smoking or abuses or sexual attention. band Man Wife's brother's wife But it is only the love that is showered upon the children. The children are not trained and guided Some kinship terms used Jn the TIllage by the parents in the tradition and culture of the caste and family nor in better manners. The educa Relationship Term of Tennof tive aspect is thus completely lacking and this is pr Relationship Term of Term of of first menstruation. A gIOwn-Up girl is referred to reference address as 11Coeiyari or as alga dar Ie he (has begun to cover her bIeast with an end of the ,,"gdll). Speaking Father's gister FuJu Dai Fry" Dal about the first menstruation of a girl, the people refel Mother Dai Da; to it in an indirect manner in the form of COllplrt as Mother's brother }'I[ama Mama below: Mother's sister Mausi Dai Mausi Dai Elder brother's wife Bhaftji Bhauji "Hardi ke rakba, baraha ke tl,1 Mot~ari ke jOb"f~, dongar kas bel." Elder sister Didi Didi Husband's brother (elder) Koorasasur The exact meaning of this couplet does not seem to be Husband's brother(younger)" Devar Bab., clear and it appears that the first line has no meaning at all and has been composed just to make a rhyme. Husband's sister (elder) Derhsas Didi The second line appears to point out that the youth Husband's sister (younger) Nallanda Noni,Bai in a grown-up girl deVelops like the creeper in a Sister's son Bhanja Bhanja, jungle. Babu Brother's son Bkatij Babu The taboos attached to a menstruating woman Brother's daughter Bhatijin Noni are the common ones, i.e. she should not enter the SOD'swife Bahu Noni kitchen 01 touch the clothes of other members of the Brother's son's wife Bhatij-bahu Non family. She is not allowed to take food in the uten sils of bronze metal. She is not allowed -to enter the Father-in-law Sasur Dada cattle-shed during this period nor can she throw the Mother-in-law Sas Dai cow-dung in the manure pit. She is also not allowed to go to the well to lift water from it. It is said that Life-cycle rltuals.-The life-cycle of the indivi a woman in her periods should not talk to any man cuals in India involves a number of rituals, ordain but as the elder peopJe say, this restriction is not ed by custom or religion. from the cradle to the observed by the younger people these days. A buri al grouild and though different castes ] ive toge menstruating woman is referred to as cMuye bar ther in the small compact areas of villages, and "limn he (not fit for touching) or chhua. baitlze he though there are no written codes for the performance (is sitting apart). She is also referred to as doshdari. of these rituall different castes follow rituals, which differ from one another fn some minor details. The It is believed that if while a menstruating womanr people themselves are now not able to explain the signi after the completion of her periods, is washing he, ficance of these rites and practices and follow them head and shadow of some man falls over her, the issue just because they were followed by their parents. that will be bom to her subsequently as a result of This ignorance about the significance and meaning conception in thilt month would be exactly like that of various rites is in itself an indication of setting man. Because of this belief, women are very careful decay and disintegration and, in this ciIcumstance, and do not let any man pass near them at the time. chances of adoption of alien rites and practices incre ase. It is very likely that the original caste-rituals Oonception.-The villagers ill Tilaibhat are have undergone modifications and the different aware that union of seKes is necessary for conception, castes have adopted some rituals belonging to the but they also hold that this phenomenon by itseJf higher castes or the numerically dominant caste in does not briIl8 about conception. The number of the village. The individuality of the caste is, however, cblldren a man will have is determined by· God and still persisting and the various life-rituals as practised whatever man may do. he will not have a child till by the ca.c;tes in this village ate described here. God gives him one. It is als 0 believed that the past There are no rituals on the boys or girls attaining deeds of persons determine whether they will or will thf' age of puberty nor is there any rite at the time not have chilOten. 28 [VILLAGE A pregn"tnt woman is refeued to as oka1 pai1 three miles away. At the time of delivery one or two bhati M (her legs are heavy). Pregnancy is detected elderly women of the house assist the paikMn. If by the stappage of monthly flow. It is believed by the parturition is delayed, then it is believed, that the the people that the Jump of flesh developing in the woman has been affected by some rona (witchcraft) womb during pregnancy upsets the digestive system and the Baiga is called who recites some mantra and the appetite is lost. The woman starts having over a glass of water and the same is given to the woman to drink. vomitting and nausea and she becomes lean and sickly looking. The knife for cutting the naval cord of the child is brought by the paikhin. It is not sterilised The villagers are of the view that prediction can before use. The placenta is buried in a corner of be made regarding the sex of the child in thc' womb the room where delivery takes place and fire is kept and that this comes out conect in quite a good number burning over the place for six days. Soon after the of cases. The signs in a pregnant woman \\hieb birth, some elderly lad"es examine the infant's body help in makmg this pred~ction are: for locating some marks by which they may associate it with some deceased member of the family. It will (a) If thewomanlooks sickly and becomes thin be seen later in the description of death-rituals, with sunken cheeks, then the child in the how some marks are put on the dead body before womb is a male. On the other hand if burial. In the body of the infant child some greenish she becomes fat and looks healthy, the chIld blue marks are invariably present and which come is a female one. up during delivery. It is these marks which are (b) If the delivery does not take place in the examined for the purpose of its identi1ication with ninth month, the child would be a famale some previous member of the household. because a lunale child takes longer time in The sixth day after delivery is known as chhathi. the womb. On this day the woman takes a bath in hot water in which neem (Melia indica) leaves are boiled. (c) If the woman puts more pressure on her Between the delivery and chhatki the new mother is right foot while walking, the child is a given some special preparations which are mostly male one and if she puts more pressure on liquid. Just before the placental cord is cut, cocoa· the left foot, the child in the womb is a nut and gUT is given to the mother to eat, but except female one. this for three days she is not given anything. even water, to eat or drink. After three days she is given Birth customs of the Telis.-The pregnant kankhe-pani, karayal and til-gur or til-Iadu. Kanllhe woman keeps doing various household duties till the pani is a decoction of Kankhe wood (Flacortia ram eighth month, but then as the time of delivery appro ondchi), sonth (dried jinger), baybedung, big cardamum aches nearer, she takes more and more rest. The first and turmeric. This decoction is then treated with birth usually, but not necessarily, takes place in her ghee, til and aj'Wailt and sweetened with gllr and is father's house. Among the TeJis a special rite is given for drinking. I t is said to be effective in pre observed. In the eighth month of the pregnancy, venting post-natal complications and it is believed that the lather and mother of the pregnant woman go to this liquid decoction has been prescri'bed by God her house accompanied by some other relatives. himself. Karayal is a decoction of tender bamboo Th~y take five kinds of sweet with them and in the shoots with water. This is also said to be very villag~ of her husbmi, th3 caste-people are invited nourishing. to partake of these. People of other castes may also be invited to this party, but women cannot partici After the chhatM, the woman is given the normal pate in the feast. After the feast is over, the men diet, but she cannot take the basi but only freshly folk enjoy themselves singing to the accompani. cooked riCe. The twelfth day after the delivery is ment of dholki-manJiTa. known as b4f'hi and it is on this day that the child is named. The names arc based on the days of the week During delivery, the village mid-wife called or season, e.g. Itwari, Budhwaro, Budhiyarin, ~aikhi" is sent for. Village Tj]aibhat does not have Chaitu, Manglu, Manglin, Sukalu, etc. or on God, any paikni" and she is called either from vtIlage and Goddesses, e. g. Rampyari, Bhagwandas, Prahlad, Mehli or from Simradabari, both of which are about Trilochan, etc. A ritual known as ekkaisa (literally TlLAlBHAT) 29 meaning twenty-first) is observed on the twenty-first pollution of birth. The payment made to suin is day after delivery. EkkaiSia is a purificatory ritual. generally Rs. 5 per case. As far as the people remem The house is washed with cow-dung and white clay. ber no case in the village has been attended by a quali The clothes are washed either by members of the house fied medical practitioner. No part of the house is hold by boiling them with water and washing soda or particularly reserved for purposes of delivery room. by giving them to the village washerman. The One of the I iving rooms of the house which has some father of the new-born babe gets his hair shaved. privacy is selected for this purpose. All the earthen vessels in the house are thrown away and replaced by neW ones. The woman also takes a Before the placental cord of the infant is cut bath and puts on new clothes. It is only after the mother is given cocoanut and gur to eat and i~ ekkaisa that the house is supposed to have become given water to drink. After this she is not given purified and the woman fit for entering the kitchen anything to eat or drink for three days. On the third or the cooking place. Till the ekka~a ceremony takes day liquid decoction of 'kankhe wood.' (Flacortia place the woman is supposed to be polluted and she can ramondchi) and ajwain, etc., is given to her to drink as neither enter the kitchen nor serve the food to any in the Teli caste. The chhathi ceremony takes place on the fifth day after birth. On this day the new body. born babe and,the mother bathe in hot water in which Ekkaisa ceremony has not been mentioned by some plant-roots are boiled. These roots are called Russell and Hiralal in their description of the Teli bade osaha. The clothes of the mother are given to the caste. Further, the observations of these authors washerman, the house is cleaned and washed with cow that "after the birth of a child, a woman is impure for dung and earthen vessels are replaced. Sweetmeats seven or nine days in Chhattisgarh, and is then permit prepared out of til-seeds and gur are given to the ted to cook". is not correct. because the woman can mother to eat, but she is kept on diet for eleven days. not enter the kitchen till the ekkaisa ceremony and is The diet cDnsists of rice and vegetabJ e curry of upposed to be impure for twenty-one days and not munga (drum stick) or soup of other vegetables. seven or nine days as mentioned by Russell and The rice is two or three years old. She 'takes this meal once day. Hiralal. a Birth customs of the Chhatri.-There are Twelfth day after birth is known as harM. only three households in Tilaibhat belonging to the On this day the father of the new born babe gets hi~ Chhatris. When various life-rituals and festivals are head shaved and from this day onwards the mother celebrated they invite members of Chhatri caste liv can take two meals a day. She can, however, not ing in villages Piparkhuti, Devgaon, Pandariya, take such foods as yet, as pej (rice gruel) or hasi Vijaytarai, Bhumiapara, Jhanki. Jeora, Khajri and (rice soaked in water overnight). The Chhatris also Pendri. These villages are from four to thitty miles observe ekkaisa on the twenty-first day but Whereas distant from village Tilaibhat. among the Telis the shaving, etc., and throwing of earthen vessels takes place on this day, the Chhatris There is no special rite associated with conception. do this on the Chhathi itself. On ekkaisa the A pregnant woman is provided with the variety of clothes of the woman and the child are given for wash food she craves for. She is given milk, ghee and gfl, ing and the woman and the child take a bath. The in plenty which are rightly supposed to give nourish birth-pollution is supposed to be completely removed ment and spirit. There is no special custom that on this day. the birth should take place in father's or father-In law's house. In the first delivery. however, it is Birth customs of the Bairagis.-The Bairagis desired necessary to invite the woman' 51 mother and siste-. do not observe ekkaisa and they require the assistance of a priest in the performance of certain birth-rituals. The mid-wife attending the delivery is known as As in other castes, the Bairagis also invite the mid-wife suin. The Chhatris of village Tilaibhat have a parti ~dai) from village Simradabri. Delivery takes place cular suin in village Simradabari who is the only m a room of the house and the placenta is buried mid-wife called by this caste. They do not invite in a corner of that room. The Bairagis do not exam' ne other mid-wives. The presence of win is absolutely the child for locating 'ancestral' marks as the Teli:! necessary and cannot be done away with because it do. The mother is given the same diet as in other is thought that it is only the suin who removes the castes, i.e. decoction of 'kankhe wood', etc. 30 [VILLAGE The sixth day a'ter birth is known as t;hh~thi. p~rforms kama. The birth-pollution is supposed to On this day a priest is invited. The woman is bathed be partly removed 0"1 the 12th day but the woman can in hot \ftter in which H8em-]eaves are boiled, and cook food only after the 21st day which day as in the house is washed with cow-dung. The priest, Telis and Chhatris is called ekkaisa. It appears that after consulting the position of the stars, gives a this ritual has been adopted by the caste from the name to the child. On this day the members of the Telis. Birth-pollution is completely removed after caste and other villagers are invited and a feast is ekkaisa ceremony. given to them consisting of sweets and suhari (ftour-cake fried in oil or g"ee). Birth customs of the Pankas.-Birth customs of the Pankas have not been described by Russell Barhi is observed on the 12th day aft~t birth. in his descripHon af. this caste. The Pankas call the On this day the house is washed, the woman and the mid-wife (tlai) from Simradabri. She helps in secur child are bathed; they put on new clothes, the father ing a safe delivery and in cutting the placental cord of the baby gets his hair cut and the wa"hennan of the child. She serves the new born babe and the takes away all the clothes of the mother and the child mother for five days. for washing. Till the 12th day the woman is supposed The Pankas celebrate the on the 5th day to be polluted. After this, she can enter th~ cooking chhathi room, etc., and also move about. after delivery. On this day the motherisgivencooked rice and soup of drum stick (munga) with thee. She BIrth customs of the Dhobls.-Birth customs is also given dried ginger and some other drugs in of the Dhobis have not b"!en described in Russell's a :nixture. The ba,hi ceremony is ordinarily cele book. The mid-wife {flail is called from village brated on the 12th day but sometimes it is also Simradabri who attends on the first day, the sixth celebrated on the 9th day. Birth-pollution is sup day and 12th day of deJivery. As in other castes, posed to persist ti1l21 days. On this day the ekk.aiBa the delivery takes place in one of the living rooms ceremony is observed as in other castes. The name and placenta is buried in that very room. The woman giving is done on the fifth day, i.e. on the chhathi. is given decoctions (extraction) of 'kankhe' wood, etc., The village Kotula, who is the head of the family for drinking. On the chhathi day, the house is gives name to the child. On the chhathi and buM cleaned, aU earthen vessels are thrown away and the days caste-people are fed. rope of the cot on whiCh delivery has taken place is Birth al<;o cut and thrown away. After the t;hhalM, customs of the NaJs.-The Nai also the mother can take cooked rice once a day as her depends on the dai (mid~"ife} from village Sirnradabti for service during child-birth. The food, etc., pres food. cribed for the mother is more or less the same as in Twelfth day after birth is known as b",h£ as in other castes and the chhathi, ba"hi and eBkaisa other castes and the birth pollutiOn is removed on are also observed si'nlilarly. The mother is given this day. The Dhobls do not observe ekkaisa as food on the sixth day. The woman's husband's the Telis and the Chhatris. sister or her brother's wife or any other woman of the caste, brings water from the tank. She is known Birth customs of the Rawats.-The woman as suasin. For bringing this water, she is given some g'les on working till the· eighth month. As the time rewards. This water is used by the new mother for of confinement come'> nearer she takes more rest. bathing. There is no particu1ar custom that the first delivery should take place in the house of the woman's father Marriaget-oCUstom8.-In the third chapter of or of her hmband. One of the living room serves for his great book, the Hindu Law-giver Manu lays down the dilivery and as in other castes of this village, the rules of marriage a:mong Hindus and in the 21st the mid-wife (tlai) is ca1led from Simradabri; Mter verse of this chapterl, he recognises 8 different fOt:Dls the birth some elderly persons of the house try to of marriages. These are B"ahma, DaifJa, A,sha, locate the ancestral mark on the body of the infant Praj",atya, Asu"a,Ganilharv4, RaksAasa andPaisat;ha and. through that supposed mark, they associate it forms. These different forms are described by with some ancestor. The woman is not given any M'ajumdar2 who says further that "Hindu Society solid food to eat till the 6th day but gets the liquid 1. Mamusmriti. Chapter III. Verse 21. decoctions of 'kankha' etc. On the barhi the Rawats 2. Races and Cultures of India, D.N. Majumdar, invit .. a Brahmin priest who names the child and also 19118. pp. 172-173, TILAlBHAT] 31 noW recognises only two forms, the BraMna and the These equations, however, have not been given Asu,.a, the highetr castes preferring the former, the here with an intention to connote any legal signi backward castes the latter, though here and there ficance as contemplated in Hindu Law of Marriages. among the higher castes the Asura practice has not For eXalIDple, the Choori form of remarriage is held in died out." The B,ahma fann of marriage of Manu the legal opinions to be a' B,.amn.a form of marriage, is that in which the parents invite a learned and vir in view af its being regarded as valid by the caste. tuous young man and make over their daughter to In a case under the Hindu Law, Justice Shevde1 him along with clothes and ornaments. As it is, stated: "the presumption under Hindu Law is this form consists in the parents arranging the that a marriage should be deemed to be in an marriage of the daughter with a man of their choice approved form and that a pat-mamage in Choori and ~!lebrating the. marriage at their house, and fOE or in any other fottn is no exception." giving presents to the bridegroom. In general, people practise got or goera exogamy but they marry endogamously within the sub-caste. The As",.a fonn of marriage of Manu is that where the relatives of the bride receive money from Marciage outside the caste results in the excommuni the bridegroom, i.e. in this marriage the major part cation of the· members, or imposition of fines on them. oi the marriage expenditure is shared by the bride 'Marriage customs followed by the different castes groom's side and it is the bridegroom's side who go in village Tilaibhat are described here. in search of a bride. Te1is.-Russe11 and Hira1a1~ describe the marriage In rural Chhattisgarh, however, in addition to customs ofthe Tel is a~ below: these two kinds of marriages of, Manu, there are present three of the other kinds of marriages described "The marriage of persons of the same sept and of by '\{anu as Arslaa, Ganrlhar'IJa, Prajapatya and first cousins is usually forbidden. A man may Rakshasa. Arshrl form of marriage is based on a marry his wife's younger sister while she herself is systelm of barter and as described by Manu consisted alive, but never her elder sister. An unmarried girl in the father of the bride receiving kom a young becoming pregnant by a man of the caste is married man a pair or two of cattle in exchange for his dau to him by the ceremony used for a widow and she may ghter. Now the barter consists in mutual transfer of be readmitted even after a liaison with an out. girls, i.e. girl of a house is married to a boy and the sider among most Telis •••••• The Halia Telis of sister of the boy is in exchange married to the brother Chhattisgarh, ]ike other agricultural castes, some of the girl. The Ga"aha1'fJa marriage of Manu is times betroth their children when they are five or marriage by mutual choice obviating the role of six months old, but as a rule no penalty attaches to pl.rents. The Prajapatya form is not attended with the breaking of the betrothal. The betrothal is any solemnity or ceremony, the bride is given to a celebrated by the distribution of one or two rupees young man of het' choice and the RaksAasa form of worth of liquor to the nei ghbours of the caste..... maniage is marriage by abduction often carefully Among the Jharia Teli the women go and worship planned and executed. the marriage-post at the carpenter's house while it is being made. In this sub-caste the bt idegJ oem In Chhattisgarh the marriage practices can be goes to the wedding in a cart and not on horseback equated with these fODIns described by Manu, e.g. or in a litter as among some castes. The Halia sub Binavor Baile Bihav Brahmafomn. caste can dispense with the presence of a Brahman at Gu,."wat Bihav Arsha fonn the wedding but not the Jharia." Choori;Bihavor PaithooBihav Praja;attya fonn The betrothal of children at the age of five or six Chhof,e millav Asura fom months is extremely rare now but the betrothal and marriage at the age of 4 to 8 years are fairly common. Choori Bihav and run away GanlharvtJ form There are many kinds of marriages recognised which marriage are: Bhaga jana Raksnasa form The Paisacna form of marriage is a very rare 1. Nagpur Law JoumaJ, 1948, p. 74. practice and such occurrences are extre'mely rare in 2, Tribes and Castes of the C. P. Vol. IV, Russell alld t'ural society. Hiralal, 1916, pp. 547-548. 32 [VILLAGE (1) Bihau or regular marriage. of the shed. The cDoking-room of the house is also (2) Widow remarriage and BaNnai marriage. washed with cow-dung and this earth. The cooking (a.) Choo,i marriage. hearth, chuZha for cooking purposes during the celebration is also made out of this earth. The next Reaular marriage or Bihav.-Regular marriage ceremony is known as tel in which the bride in her perfonned with necessary rituals is known as Bihav and house and the bridegroom in his are annointed with it is said that a person can be married only once, that is til-oil and turmeric. Before the 'oil-annointing' rite, to say the Bihav takes place only once in life. The the women go to worship the Gram-Devta or village match is arranged by the parents or elderly persons God whete they break a cocoanut. This rite is called without ascertaining the wishes of the boy and the mayan. After the mayan-tel ceremony, themarri girl. It is the boy's side which has to search for age celebrations start. a bride and not vice ve,sa in spite of the fact that women preponderate in Chhattisgarh. In the settle The next rite is known as lJald.ari in which turmeric ment of the marriage, the boy's father with some powder wettened with water is thrown on the people elderly persons goes to the girl's house and makes the assembled and especially on those who would consti proposal of marriage. If the proposal is accepted tute the marriage procession. The barat or the he returns home and soon makes a second visit with bridegroom's marriage party starts on the fourth a sari (lugaa) and other clothes for the prospective day for the bride's village. The party is accommo bride. These clothes are put on by the would-be dated in as many bullock-carts as the bridegrocm's bride who then touches the feet of the boy's father side can muster; for places connected by bus, and other elder members of her family. On the bus service is also availed of. same day another ceremony known as jalrlan takes place. In this the boy's father and girl's father In the birde's village, the party is received on exchange cocoanuts and the girl's father extends a feas the outskirts of the village in parghani and after to boy's party and some other caste members of the that they go and take rest. village. The jaltlan ceremony conc1udes and confirms the marriage negotiation. Distribution In the bride's house, beneath the marriage-shed of liquor, as described by Russell, 1 does not is put a post known as magrohan. The marriage appear to be in practice in this village. ceremony consists in the bridegroom putting vermil Han in the hair-parting of the bride seven times after An auspicious day of the marri age is fixed by the which the priest ties the ends of their apparel and they Brahmin priest. Invitation to relative and caste make seven rounds of ths magfohan. After the people is sent by giving one piece of tunneric and one bhanwar, the bridegroom again puts vermillion in the arecanut (haldi and supari). One of the persons hair-parting of the bride seven times and the marriage of the hOUSehold where marriage is to be is finalised. There is no system of fixing a dowry in celebr ated goes to the houses of the proposed in marriage. The prevalent practice is that the bride's vitees and giving them this arecanut and turmeric father gives her five utensils, some clothes and orna requests for their pres ence in the celebration. The ments and the bridegroom's father brings seven lugdas marriage celebtations start in both the houses with and ornaments like kafdhan,Julli, nagmori. etc., for her. the rite known as chulh-wt,A# which consists in four or five women accompanying the mother of the boy The marriage party is fed with Sflha,i, sweet, or the girl going to the field singing with a ligllted etc., and then the party returns with the bride. The earthen wick-lamp and bringing some earth from very n~t day girl's father goes to bring back his there. These four or five ladies who accompany the daughter. But if" she is married at marriageable bride's or bridegroom's mother are known as sflasin age, she is allowed to pass one or two days in the and they play an important PaIt in the subsequent house of her husband. Girls married at pre-puberty celebrations. age are brought on attaining proper age after the ga'lJan or gauna ceremony. The earth brought in the chulh-mati ri tual is mixed with cow-dung and with this the place of the marlwa Widow remarriage and Barandi marriage. (shed) is washed. It is also used in fixing the posts Russell and Hiralal say that "widow marriages "are permitted. In Chhattisgarh a widow is always kept if I. Tribes and Castes of the C. P., Vol. IV, Russell and in the family, possible, and if her late husband's Hiralal, 1916. p. 547. brother be only a boy she is sometimes induced to put on the bangles .and wait for him. If a barandi "Chhole umar mil bikaw kaltlian too/a !lOge 'Pi/an:, widow, that is, one who has been married but has not TOOTee man ke ma1t nahi awe dooseT kU1iya nihaTi Jived with her husband, de.'Sires to marry again out Ela samajll le7IJa ga, badke ladka ke sadi kaT lewa ga": of his family, the second husband must repay to (In child-marriages, it happens that on growing th; m the amount spent on her first marriage." 1 In tbi 5 up the boy looks smaller and the grown-up village and among the Telis the description hoI d wife does not like him : she starts l()()king good. As far as possible, the widows many the to other quarters. 0 my fellows, understand tms and younger brother of the late husband. This is thus the marry the boys when they grow·up.~ phenomenon of levirate. Scmetimes the disparity in age between her and her second husband is so great Another Teli poet bas spoken against the evils of that she seeks illicit relations with other man. choori form of marriage while praising widow remar riage and baTandi remarriage. This poem is in the The Bilaspur District Gazetteer describes a Chhattisgarhi dialect and is published in the organ of btwanli as below: the Chhattisgarh Sahu Samajz: "Widows are either known as baraHdi or ,andi, the ,andi being a widow in the ordinary sense of the "Kon chakns churl la bha,ya term and the bll1'antii a girl who has been married but kable chale he c/I",n ke cAal has not lived with her husband." Btldhwtl. baba mnan sab janat he Ibere is, of course, no bar to a widow or a btn'(llldi KalSe batawOtl ekar hal manying outside he family of her deceased husband, bu her new husband has to give the bihati R.skz mflns ke ',am vanshaj han (marriage eXFenses) amount to her deceased husband's TlImhoo man to kart "SCM' fami'ly. . J able chhaden ".,kaT Tasta Table· chal ge chun ke chal Choori Marria~e.-A woman who has divorced her husband or has b=en divorce i by him, or a widow Ham sab hogayr-n banthatlhaT or an unmarried worn 1D can be kept by a man as his Rand. BarandJ la choo,. paAsratnan wife after he puts bangles on her wrist. ChOC1i form Ye hat ay sundaT byoha, of marriage has a social sanction but now people Chhandwa ke CMOf1. paki,ay baT are gradually raising their voices against it. J at blla,e la khawathe !tar Recent attempts of TeUs to make improve Na" nan ma b'MW /laTke ments 10 IDlr.rla,ee ruhn.-Ot>p:>3ition to child beej chrm ke be. dethan maniage /is becoming stroD:ger because, according Fer atlalal mil jake ham to those opposing it, this marriage leads to moral RuJlSya paIsa la kho tlethan degradation of the caste. The reason, they say. is that on attaining ag~, the boy and the girl often do Ijjat bechal han beech baza,~" not like each other. In the book of geneology of thJ Telis it h stated3 that on 2-11-1929 there was (Who has introduced this choon form of marriage, an All-India Teli Conf::rence and it was unanimously. how long has this practice been in vogue. The elder resolved that marriages of boys below 18 years and people know it all, how should I relate it. We are the girls below 12 years should be prohibited. This descendants of the ,ishis and the munis, you people resolution has of course not been effective in pract:ce, also ponder over it. We have forsaken their ways and but the journal of the Teli caste in Chbathgarh is since then this chem fOIm is in vogue. m;king activ ~ propagand3 opposing child.marr;ag:s. Exttacts it01Jl a poem relevant in th;scontex1 arequot We are all degraded. We accept the widows and eel below. The poem is in Chhatt:sgalhi d:alect : barandis (child-w~dows) in remarriage by choon, this is a :line custom. But in accepting the divorced womeo 1. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV, RuE8ell and and women running away from their husbands in the Hiralal, 1916, p. 548. chom form of marriage, we degrade the whole caste. 2. Bilaspur District Gazetteer. p. 95. 1. Sahu Sandesh, Vol. I, No.5. 1960, p. 26. 3. Teli BbaiYOD ki VaJIIlhavaJj, Choudhary BasoriJal, 1930, p.38. 2. Sahu Sandesh, Vol. I, No. 12, 1961, p. 18. 34 [VILLAGE In nUlrtying the children at tender ages, we sow the The marriage procession is receiyed outside' the· seeds of choori and then, \ve go to the courts of law village by the bride's party which consists of her rela· and loose all OUf money. Not only that, we loose our tives but not her father. The party then comes to the prestige in the midst of market.) bride':; house where the bric1c:'s father puts a tilak 011 the bridegroom's forehead and pres.ents him one Such propaganda is slowly but definitely having rupee. This is kno\vu as paJlt(J(lYchal pooja. The effect. next ritual consists in the bridegroom touchi.ng the top of marriage-shed with a stick. In this ritual he Marriage customs of the Chhatris.-In the again gets a rupee and the ritual is known as tnadwa Chhatris the marriage rituals are more detailed than clzhuna. The uniting cerem,ony of the marriage, in other castes of the village. Usually it is the girl's· i.e. the bh,lItwar takes place in the night. The· father who goes to boy's house with the proposal of bride's party carries the articles to the marriage marriage and the betrothal is confirmed by the ritual shed and the bridegroom goes in a litter. As soon ofJalda1t. The presence of a Brahmin priest is necessary as the litter rcaches the bride's house, bride's mother on all occasions in the performance of rituals. Invi· puts a ring in his finger. The ring may be gold tation for muriagc is sent through a member of the or silver one, depending on the economic status of family who'gives one cocoanut, one arccanut and one the bride's family. At this time the bridegroom piece of turmeric to the invitee. has a right to make a dem:-lnd for anything from the bride's mother. The first marriage ritual is chulh·maii when the In the marriage-shed there is a marriage-post women in the boy's and girl's house go to the field kham -round which the couple make seven rounds to bring some earth from there. The presence of the while the priest recites mantra from the religious text. (Barber's wife) is necessary in this ritual. ,zai" In taking rounds the girl leads the boy. The bhanwar The women go to the field singing and in being over, the rdatives of the bride offer presents the field the n:li/~ digs the earth with the help to the brideglooln. of a crow-bar in which a new cloth containing a rupee is tied. After the ritual the cloth and the rupee 1£ the girl is immature, she does not live long in the are given to the nain. The earth thus brought from husband's house, but ret urns af ter a day or two. field is regarded as sacred and is used in washing'the Gau1Ia ceremony take.<; place when she becomes mature. hortse, making the c"hullva and in preparation of marri· age shed (madwa}. After the chulh-mati ritual, The community approyes divorce and 'hcori the priest is called. He takes one yard of white cloth fOIm of marriage. If a woman leaves het husband· and prepares a geometrical design {cha1,tk} on the and live, with another man, he h as to pay boonda cloth and with turmeric and rice he prepares symbols (marriage pI ice) to her legal husband. The amount of the nine gralMs. A cocoanut is put over the of the b~ onda is determi ned by the caste panchayat. cloth and the Gauri, Ganesh and other deities are invoked. After the invocation, the cocoanut, tur It is thus seen that the marriage customs of the meric, rice, etc., are tied in the same cloth and this Chhatris are more elaborate than other castes and it is hung in the madwa. appears that their appr oval of the divorce and ckocri form of marriage is influenced by association with Dautela is the next ritual and corresponds to the other communities of Chhat t j sgarh. maya1f ritual of other castes. The women dress them selves in good clothes and then take cocoanut, gu,. Marriage customs of the Bairagis.-In 'Tribes rice, gh!c, etc., in a dish to the village-God for worship. and Ca,tes of the Central Provinces,' Russel] and Hi.ra Family· deities are also worshipped likewise. After lar give the following description: "LaIge numbers the worship is over, the tel rite is observed. If the of Bairagis now marry and have children...... The 'bridegroom's mother is alive, she puts oil on the bride (ustoms of the married Bairagis resemble those of the groom's forehead under a curtain. If she is not alive, ordinary Hindu castes such as the KurmIs. They his elder brother's wife performs this ritual. During p::!mit divorce and Iemarriage of widows, ..... " the operation the bride and the bridegroom in their respective houses keep sitting with a cocoanut in their I. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol.. II, RUSSell and hands. The tel ri,tual is observed for five days. Hiralal, 1916, p. 104 TIL.-\IBHAT] 35 In villag~ TJ]aibhat there ar,~ three Bailagi hoOuse caste, the children of such woman by the Bairagi :holds which were formerly one household. The endoga husband are accepted as Bairagis becau e they say mous groups among the Bairagis ale the Deotalla and "the children are the seed of the Bairagis". the Kabirha, which are the religious groups. The former group comists of those who worship Hindu Gods and Widow remarriages are looked with approval as deities, and the latter group consists of persons who in other castes practising child-marriages. . :'1ave adopted Kabir Panth. Marriage customs of the Dhobis.-Martiage The Bairagis in this district now generally many customs of the Dhobis are not descrlbed by Russell. and in Til aibhat aU the three households have members The Dhobis strictly follow chUd·marriage and if a who ate married. BefOIe the marriage takes place girl is not married before she shows signs of puberty, ~ Bairagi must undergo the sacred-thread ceremony the parents become targets of ridicule by the society. without which he wiJ] not be entitled to many. But The general practice is that the girl is married before the sacred-thread ceremony is a part of the marriage she crosses her tenth year. With this strict rule ritual and is not held separately as in the Brahmins. present in the community, it is the girl's father who The sacred-tluead ceremony or yagyonpau:it·tlIuwan goes out in search for the boy. Usually this is not (upanayan) is held just before marriage in the house a difficult task as the community is a restricted one' of the boy and a Brahmin priest is called to conduct and the boy's party is only too willing to enter into the ritual. In details the ceremony is same as among the Brahmins. . negotiation. Mutual interchange of girls is also practised by some families, i.e. the girls marry each The Bairagis practise chiJd-matriage. The othcI'S brothers. The plcsence of a Brahmin is not marriage rituals run for 3 days and the presence of required in the celebration of the rituals. but some the Brahm!n priest for conducting the ritual is people now invite a Brahmin. Otherwise, in the normal cases, essential on all days. The first ceJebration as in other the Brahmin simply suggests the auspicious castes is teZ on which day oil is smeared on the bdde date for marriage. and the bridegroom by some women. The next The marriage rituals (If the Dhobis are, in general ritual is fflttYan, i.e. worship of the village.G(lds and, outline, the same as those of other castes. i.e. tel, family deities before the malriage ptocession starts fllayan, bhanwar. The boy and the gid are annointed or is received. After the ma,an, the bridegroom's five times with oil and turmeric. The tnayan party goes to the bride's village. rite is the same as in other caste,. In the bha1l18ar, the couple take only five round; and not seven as in In general practices of the Bairagis are the same as other castei. The marriage celebration also runs for of other castes. In the marriage shed-~a five days. This number five appears to be an auspi there is a 2 feet long rectangular post known as cious number in this caste in this village. kluzm or rnagrohan and the couple are required to take seven rounds of this after the ends of their· ~Pg3.Ie1 are tied by the prrest. In the Deotaba group MarriaAe customs of the Rawats.-Russell and 1 It IS the Brahmin priest conducting the rituals and in HiI alai describe the marriage customs of the the Kabirha group the priest of the Kabir Panth sect Rawats as below: (ma,hant) conducts the rituals. "As a mle, girls may be married before or after Since chiM.marriages are common the Baitagis puberty...... the Jharia and Kosaria Rawats of :lave anoth.er ritual gaVlan or gau~ or paellof4ni Chhattisgarh employ a Brahmin only to write the :vhen.the girl becomes of age. The boy accompanied lagIm or paper fixing the date of the wedding and the oy hIS father and other relatives comes and after ceremony is conducted by the stl'UJanns or leJatives staying for a day or two takes along the gill with him. of the parties. In Chhattisgarh the bridegroom is dr (ssed as a git] to be taken to the wedd :ng widow Sometimes the Baitagis keep women of other remarriage 15 permitted and a widow is often cxFected ~ · It is true that pre-puberty marriages take place go to the nearby fields and bring earth from there. aDd that the Brahmin priest is employed to fix the With th:s earth they wash the house and the place auspiciOus date of marriage. But Russens' statement selected for the marriage shed (manda;jJ). The earth that the bridegJ oem is dressed as a gil)to be taken to is also mixed with the earth which is used for fixjng the wedding is no longer conect and people at least in the shed-poles. this village do not know if such a practice was ever in vogue. In the Rawats the presence of a Brahmin is not required. at a1J anywhere during the ceremony and the Rawat marriages may be c1assifted into the rites are conducted by a group of five women known as fonowing ive types : susi". The suasin in the girl's house necessariJy (1) Regular marriage or bihav: include her sister-in-Jaw (brother's wife) and in the boys' house~ his sister is nec;:ssaxily one of the sa,mn, (eI) B4Ule billa". (b) ChholB bihav. After the chulh·mati is brought, the shed COIlS-< (2) Widow re~arriage by choMi. truction starts and the shed is covered with mango cal BtJraui marri age. or jamun (Evgenia jamboIana) leaves. On the day next to this, the would-be blide and the wouJd-be (4) Elopement or run-away marriage. blldegtoom in their respective houses are annointed (5) .P"it/wo marriage or marri age by intrusion. with oa and turmeric and the ceremony is known as Iel cluldll4,.a • Then the same day in the evening the RegUlar marrla~e or Bihav.-As in the Telis, suasins accompanied by the bI ide's and bridegroom's so in the Rawats. it is people of the boys' side who go mother (in their respective houses) go to the tank to the girl's house to request for her hand. The singing and the boy's and girl's mothers bring water proposal is· sent through some messenger and after from the tank in a pot. This pot is kept in one part of ascertaining· that the girl's father is willing to consi the shed with four earthen lamps lighted. Bringing der the proposal, the boy's father goes to the girl's in of the water from the tank ~s known as mal pan. house and talks it over with him. The prelimi (literally meaning ancestral water) and the place naries being over, he comes back and makes a second where th:s water is kept in the matlw" (marriage visit after a short time. He takes clothes for the girl sbed) is known as mara"".", AU the rituals are per and some sweet. The girl's father then invites his formed at mamtJ'''. caste-fellows in the village who partake of th~ sweets and the girl wears th~ clothes brought by him and Next rite is known as mayan, and this consists~ touches his feet. The acceptance of the sweets by the asin the Telis, in the worship of the village God and other members of the caste suggests that th~y also the family deity. After the mayan is over, people approve of the proposal. . of both sexes, if well-known to one another, forcibly put turmeric paste on one another's cheeks, etc. This An auspicious date for the maIl'iage is fixed by necessitates a bath and the party goes to tank en the Brahmin priest and this is the only role played route to which the men and women often indu1ge in by the Brahmin priest in a Rawat marriage. There cutting obscenejok=s and making retorts. No other are two types of bihau. One is bau bihav in which ceremony takes place on this day. The bridegroom's the bridegroom's party comes to the girl's house and house is busy with preparations for departure and stays there for 2-3 4ays and the marriage take; place the bride's people keep busy with preparations of there. But when the girl's father is poor and cannot receiving th~ gu~sts. undertake the expenditure of feeding the DlaJriage party, t he marriage celebrations take pJace i n the houSe Depending on thet oad to be covered, the mar iage of the bridegroom where the girl's father along with party starts e:ther at the break of dawn (r later. his relatives and the girl gee: and stay; and the The mamage party is rece:ved on the outskirts of ihe entire expenditure is then bome by the boy's father. village by the br.de's father and his party. The This type of marriage is known ai chhote "'ihav reception is known as l«rcAani. and after Ieception, (infetior marriage). the party is led to the place prepared for the:r rest. Usual1y the numbeJ of membeIs is so small that they The first marriage rite in the Rawats is the· keep sitt:ng and smoking under the marriage shep chulA·mati when the w()men in the respective houses or on cots outside. TILAIBHATJ 37 Tlw finn I binding marriage rites consist in the If a married woman is kept by another man, tying of the apparel-ends of the bride and bride then he 11;15 to ply a compensation to tile first groom by the sua'siltS after which they take SCVCIl husban.d. This amount i5 known as bOO1td,t (marriage rounds in the mad'i£'a. The Tite is known as bhlUl price) and its sih1'J1ificancc is that in a marriage war. the man has to ullclt~rgo quite some expenditure to secure a wif(~. Slw is 'property' and if she If the girl has not attained puberty, she returns runs away, her hus!Jand has a right to get the amount to her father's housc after spending just a day or tW() of marriage expenses from the man who keeps her. in her husband's house and she goes to live with him after she attains puberty. If she is already of age, Marriage customs of the Pankas.·-The Pallkas she spends a longer time with her husband before follow child marriage and approve of divorce returning to father's place. Where girls are not of and cltrori fonn of marriage. :lIarriages are arranged age, a ritual known as palhoulI·i, which is the sam~ as by the guardians of the boy and girl. The malumt or gawan or gafena of the TeUs and upper caste Hindus, the priest of the Kabir Panth sect conducts the ritual. is performed. Among the Pankas, the negotiations are started Widow-remarriage and BaratJdi marriage.- by tbe boy's side. The Pankas do not wear yellow clothes in their marriage celebrations. The Pankas do The caste approves of widow remarriage but, as in the not observe the mayan ceremony for the simple reason Telis and other castes, the widow remaniage is not that they do not worship any deity or God except· observed with any ritual, but only consists in the Kabir. man offering bangles (ckoori ) to the woman, Such maITiage is socially aCI.'.epted. In Pankas, tel ceremony takes place for 3 Jays and is called teen tel. The marriage party is received in Elopement or run away marriage.-Whcn a. parghall,i as in other castes. boy and a gi rl fall in love and do not see any chance of their being married in the normal course, they In the mandap (marriage shed) the mahant ties simply run away. Similarly, a married woman fall the ends of the apparcl-cnds of the bride and the ing in love with any other man simply rune; away bridegroom in a knot and the couple take five rounds with him and, accept lng his bangles,lives as his wife. . around the Mant. This is known as kunwari bhamJ.'ar. After tIus a second bhanwar also takes place. This is TLe society accepts this marriage provided it i~ knO\IIJIl as biltali MalttiJaT and consists of seven rOWlds. in the choori form. Divorc0 and remarriag(' are permitted by the caste Paithoo or marriage by intrusion. -\\"11"11 but, if a woman goes to live with another man in the after being in love, a man backs out, the woman ,"alk" life-time of her husband, then the man has to give into his house and declar <'" him to be her husband. bool£da to her husband. Nonnally, the deceased's This is adopted by widows who become pregnant younger brother ha.s a right to take his brother's through ,illicit relations or by unmarried women in widow as a wife, but if she remarries somebody else, the same circumstances. Such a marriag~ is kn()wn the younger brother of the deceased has a right to as paithoo bail he /te. receive the boond(l. Divorce.-The Rawat caste permits divorc,'_ Marriag,e cUstoms of the Nais.-Russell and The divorce does not im"olve any proceedings but, Hiralall describing the marriage customs of the Nai, in most d the cases, the woman just desert,; the !Jay: "The exogamous groups are known as kl,e"o or husband. This running away is usually a consequence kul, and marriage between me'rnbers of the same of the woman having fallen in love w;th another man group is prohibited. Girls are usually wedded between but it appears that the market of Pandariya and the ages of cigth ,tnd twelve and boys between Mungeli are bringing about an additional factor ahw fifteen and twenty. A girl who goes wrong before into play. Chamroo Rawat of the village said sadly ;llarriage is llnally t~xpelled from the caste. Tht.: that these day:; the women dc"ired costlier clothe" ,vcdding ceremony follows tll'.; ritual prevalent in the and cosmetic.;; to look like cit~· \Vome,1 and since the locality as described ill the articles on Kurmi and pear husbands were not able to fulfil this ucsir(l 1. Tribes and Castes of the C. 1'., Vol. IV, Russell an,! they [ul) away. Hiralal, 11)16. p. 263. 38 [VILLAGE !{unbi. At an ordinary wedding the expenses on the are. however, numerous cases of tIle women running girl's side amount to about Rs. l5O, and on the boys away from,their husbands andchoosing another man. to Rs. 200. The' remarriage of widows is per mitted •••••••••• Divorce may be effected at the People in Tilaibhat state that the following are the of separation: instance of the husband before the caste committee, causes and a divorced woman is at liberty to marry again." ( i ) If the wife is taller than her busband. In the marriage of the Nai caste, presence of a. (i~) If the partners are not able to adjust to eacb Urahmin priest is compulsory. The marriage cere otber. mony .consists of three rituals known as tel, ha"itai (iii) If any of the partner commits adultery. and bhanwa,. Before the tel ritual, the common (iv) If the wife is barren. ritual of bringing the sacred earth from the field (v) If the wife has some physical deformity or takes place. This, as in other castes, is known as r;hullHnati. Tel ritual is observed for 3 days. After incurable disease. God and the family deities are invoked, a ritual known ('In) If the wife has no, or very undeveloped, as l14rdai takes place. Turmeric powder is dissolved breasts. in water and kept in a dish. Hands are dipped in (v-h) If the husband is impotent. it and palm·im pression is first made on the back (viii) If the woman falls in love with another man. of the girl and the boy in their respective houses. (ix) If the husband is not able to satisfy the After this. persons having joking relationships make demands of his wife for clothes, ornaments, similar impressions on one another. etc. The marriage party stays in the bride's village for Out of the above causes, tbe last two are the most 3 days. The uniting ceremony of marriage is the common causes. If a man keeps another man's bhal1.lIIfU as in other castes. naarried wife then the first husband tries his level best to get her back. In such a case it is said that C"llceptloll of fe;nale beauty 10 the village. the other man has broken one's back" or has taken The opinion of the villagers of Tilaibhat regarding away one's property or has wrecked one's house their conception of beauty in a female would not be (IUlmar kaniha tod dees; hamar ghar fa ujad dees; out of place here. Everybody is unanimous in the view that fair complexion is a criterion'of beauty and a "'amar mat la le gis). fair complexioned girl is definitely more beautiful If a woman leaves her married husband and lives than a black complexioned one. It is also admitted with another man of the same caste, the other man good moral character is not necessary for that a a has to pay boonda or ma.rriage expenses to the legal .beautiful girl. Beauty and character are two husband. If a woman, however, lives with a man of .different things a.nd do not usually go together because other caste, she is outcasted and the legal husband is a beautiful girl is sought after for friendship by not entitled for the bocmtla. everybody. Theoretically boonda (marriage expenses) amount Breasts are regarded by all as another criterion of is admissible up to 7th husband. If a woman leaves beauty. A woman having well~eveloped breasts is her 7th husband and takes the 8th. then the 7th liked. even if she is lean and thin in body, but a fat husband is not entitled to boonaa. woman with big breasts is not liked. It is also held that wife should be shorter in height than her husband. A woman who goes on leaving husbands after -5ince ma.rriage takes place in childhood, the wife husbands is known as charkat and her social status sometimes is found to be taller on growing-up. In becomes very low. ,such cases, either a divorce is effected or the husband j,; t:le targ~t of ridicule in the village. Death and funeral rites.-Death al30 entails observance of certain rituals as necessary as in birth Causes of divorce.-In Chhattisgarh coun and marriage. a.nd as in birth and marriage, the ob try,;ide, case~ of divorce and separation are many. servance of these rituals also differs from caste to As stated earlier the men show great consideration caste. In this village disposal of the dead body may and leniency towards the wives and start the separaticm be by burning or burial. The death customs followed proceedings only under greatp.s;t prov xation. There by different castes in the village are described here. 39 DIACRAII SHOWINC ADMISSIBILITY OF BOONOA t HUSBAND 0 \ . ( ~ 2. -800NDA ~ .... -~ ~ 3. ·WOMAN COINe 'IO~ 40 YII.LAGS Death rituals of the TeUs.-Russell and HiralaI' for this difference in placing the dead body of the two give the following note on the customs at death in the sexes is available, but the practice appears to be a Teli caste: "The dead are either buried or burnt, general one. The Bilaspur District Ga~etteerl :,tates cremation being an honour reserved for the old. that "the Hindus bury the corpse of a man face down The body is placed in both cases with head to the wards and that of a woman face upwards".' The north and face downwards or upwards for a male or a practice of different postures in the two sexes was also female respectively." observed in village Bendri of Raipur District, also studied for Socio-Economic Survey. In Tilaibhat, the Telis cremate the dead except in cases of small children who are buried. The mourning The eldest son places fire on the Ilmeral pyre period for an adult lasts for 12 days and for children towards the head of the corpse. The people wait in it is 3 days. the cremation ground till the body is completely burnt. From the cremation ground they go to the As soon as it is learnt that the person is dying, he tank and after a bath return to the house of the is taken down from the cot and lain on the ground deceased in a single line with the person who had and ganga jal (the Ganges-water), t-ulsi (basil) lea lighted the pyre leading. The third, seventh, nineth, and milk and curd is put into his mouth. ...\ fter tenth and twelfth day after I leath, have ritual death the body is bathed and some mark are importance. made on some part with either ghee or soot. It is The bangles of the widow arc broken 011 the first believed that the person would be born again in the day on the banks of the tank. 011 the 3rd day, the same family later with the same marks on the bod y ~ ash of the dead body is collected from the l:remation The dead body is also slightly massaged with ghee, ground and is immersed in some river. A Brahmin in the limbs, forehead and chest. This is done by priest is called on the ninth and tenth da.y, and he women folk and it is believed that this gives rest to sprinkles ga17ga-jal (water of the Ganges) over the the dead person. Since the men accompany the persons of the deceased's household. On the 10th dead body to the cremation ground and perform day the Nai (barber) is called and all the near kin services there, the opportunity to massage and thus get themselves shaved. Caste people are fed on the serve the dead person for the last time, is given to the 10th and 12th day. Pollution is supposed to be women. removed on the 10th day. The bier is prepared with two bamboo-poles abon t In the first year of the death, the caste people are 7 feet long which are joined by cross bars and rope. fed in the th:rd and sixth month and after 12 months. As a rule, new clothes are put on the dead body but These feasts are known as feenmasi, chhabnasi and this practice is not observed by everybody. The baTsi. After baTsi ceremony, the soul is supposed first person to lift the bier is the eldest son or in his to be united with the other ancestral souls and in the absence, the brother of the dead person perfonns this month of keenwar on the pitTa moksha clmavasya, duty. When the body is carried, the people chant a common feast L'l given in the name of the departed. Ram nam satya hai, satya hai to gatya hai or HaTt bot Hari bot. Belief in rebirth.-The Tells believe in rebirth. Before the body is taken away to the cremation ground In a winnowing pan, some paddy is carried and some distinguishing marks are made on some part handful of this is periodically thrown over the dead of his body with soot or turmeric and it is believed body. that he would take birth in the same family with that mark present on his person. As described earlier, Before preparing the funeral pyre, a copper coi II the elderly females of the house examine the infant's is placed on the ground as a token of the price of thl' body to discover such marks. Actually speaking land. The two religious groups Deotaha and Kabirha the body of the new bom infant is so soft that a hold have separate cremation grounds. The dead bodv or press of a finger on any part leaves a dark spot on is placed on the pyre with head towards north and i~1 that part. In the process of the delivery also, some case of a male, it is placed on the chest. In caSe of such marks appear on the infant's body and sllch female the body is put on the back. No explanation marks are read hy the ladies examining the body· as ancestral marks. ____._. ______••w ___ 1. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV, Hussell auti o Hiralal, 1916, p. 551. I. Bilaspur Di;trict Gazetteer. 1'. 103. TILAInHAT] 41 Death rituals of the Chhatrls.-The Chhatris seventh, ninth, tenth, twelfth and thirteenth day. burn the dead body of adults and bury the chilEilren. the caste-people gather in the house of the deceased. Mourning period for adults is 10 days and for grown~ The ashes of the dead are carried to the Ganges if up children it is 5 to 7 days. For small children it is the people can afford it or they are immersed in any only 3 days. If the dead is a male, the corpse is nearby river. If the deceased person had no son. bathed in the cremation ground. The female is the daughter can go to the cremation ground and bathed in the house. After bathing the dead body. place fire on the pyre. oil and turmeric powder are put on the body. If the dead female is a widow, a borderless white saT; The death pollution is supposed to last for 10 days is put on the body but a woman whose husband is in case of adults and 5 to 7 days in case of children. alive, is adorned with all signs of a married woman, In case of Kabir Panthi Bairagis, chauka is arranged. i.e. vermillion is put on the hair-parting and a good In the first death anniversary, a feast is arranged saTi and blouse are put on the body. known as srarlh. After the barsi the soul of the deceased mingles with other ancestral souls and on While the bier is being carried, it is halted at four pi/;Tamok<;ha am7-vas:ya, five Brahmins are fed every - places and each time rice and wheat flour is put on year. "The Bairagis have a fairly good social position the gIOund. The fire for lighting the pyre is carried and respectable Hindu castes will accept cooked from home in an earthen vessel. Putting of rice and food from them". wheat flour at four places is known as pind. The Death rituals of the Dhobis.-Russell and Hiralal fIfth is put on the cremation ground itself. pinrl say! that among the Dhobis "the dead are buried The dead body is put on the -pyre with head to or burnt as may be convenient, and mourning is the north and five kinds of wood, i.e. peepal, mango, observed for 3 days only, the family being purified etc., and,.50me white flowers are put towards the head on the Sunday or Wednesday following the death". :lid'~. The wood and the flower are put in an earthen In this village the Dhobis cremate the adult and 'vessel and some money is also put in this. The body bury the infants. The mourning period for adults is of a man is put on the chest, i.e. face downwards and 10 days and for infants only 3 days. No mourning is of a woman on the back with face upwards. observed if the child dies before the barhi ritual takes The fire is lighted by the eldest son. After the place. For 10 days non-vegehrian food is prohibited. pyre is fully burnt out, the party goes to the tank for The Dhobis observe chhaimasi six months after death bathing. Before taking the dip in the tank, everybody and barsi is observed a year after. In the month of takes til (seasamum) seeds in his hand. They return kunwar dead ancestors are invoked in the pitTapaksha. from the tank putting on wet clothes and then disperse Death rituals of the Rawats.-Among the from the deceased's house. Rawats the dead body is buried in all cases. The All the caste-members of the village send some period of mourning for adults is 10 days and for food-stuffs to the house of the deceased and this children 5 to 7 says. No rituals or mourning period food is cooked in that house. Bangles of the wife of are observed if the child dies before the baThi takes the dead are broken on the 10th day on the bank of place. of the tank and the sari put on by her is given to the The dead body is smeared with oil and turmeric. dhabi. All ornaments are also removed from her Some distinguishing marks are put on the dead body body. On the eleventh day a Brahmin priest is ca.lled on some part and-the Rawats, like the Tells, believe who performs the pind-tlan ceremony. in rebirth in the same family. The ornaments are removed and new clothes are draped round the After six months the chhaimasi is observed and the dead body. If the person dying is a widow. her caste-people are fed. In the first death anniversary bangles are also broken, ,but if her husband is alive. a similar feast is again arranged. the bangles are not broken. Death rituals of the Bairagis.-Death customs The bier is carried to the burial ground by the son of the Bairagis have not been described by Russell of the deceased and other caste-members. In the and Hiralal who only say! that they "burn the dead". burial ground, the first stroke for digging the grave is Children are buried and adults are cremated. made by the son of the deceased. The grave is about )[ourning period lasts for 13 days. On the third, 6 feet long and 4 feet deep. A c~pper coin is put in as 1. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. II, Russell and 1. Tribes and Castes of the C.P.. Vol n, Russell and Hiratal. 1916. p. 104. Hlrata.I. HIS. p. 521. 42 [Vn.LACE a token towards the price of the land. The head of Un the 10th day after death, the chauka is arranged the corpse is put towards the north and if a male. and this is repeated on dthamasi and ba,s;. The the body is put with face downwards. A female chauka is a special religious ceremony of the Kabir body is laid with face upwards. Panthis and is described later ill detail. In the month When the body is lowered, the son puts the first of KU1tWar, the Pankas observe Pitra-pa ksha and feed handful of earth and then everybody puts a handful their caste-people in the name of dead ancestors. or two of earth and after this the grave is fully filled Death rituals of the Nais.-Russell and Hkalal in and well-pressed. Some earthen pots and cooked say! that "the bodies of the dead are usually burnt. rice are put beside the grave. In Chhattisgarh the poor throw the corpses of their From the burial ground the party goes to the tank dead into the Mahanadi and the bodies of children where they bathe and return to the house of the dying under one year of age were until recently buried deceased. From there the people disperse to their in the courtyard of the house. The per iod of mourn,.. respective places. ing for adults is ten days and for children 3 days. The tenth day of the death is known as dasa. On this day the kins of the deceased get shaved and The chief mourner must take only one meal a day. the clothes are given to the washerman, the house is which he cooks himself until the ceremony of the cleaned with cow-dung and if available ganga-jal tenth day is performed." (water of the Ganges) is sprinkled in the house. In Tilaibhat, the dead body is cremated if the person Death rituals of the Pankas.-The Pankas bury is married. Unmarried persons are buried.· The their dead. The period of mourning for adults is nine position of the dead body on the pyre or in the grave days and for children it is 3 to 7 days. If the dead is the same as in other castes. The practice of is less than 12 days old, no rituals are observed. throwing the body in a river and of burying the child The body is bathed and then carried to the graveyard ren in the courtyard of the house is not follow~d here. to the accompaniment of music, and paddy and money The period of mourning is ten days for the adults and is thrown over it. The music consists of the songs 3 days for children but this period of mourning can composed by Kabir. be lessened if the economic condition of the househeld Before digging the grave. some money is put on is bad. the ground as a token of price of land. The dead body of a male is put face downwards and of female 1. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV, Russell and face upwards as in the Telis and other castes. The Hiralal, 1916, Pp. 263-264. grave is filled by the son or brother of the deceased. The grave is then washed on the outside with cow dung. After a bath in the tank people return home. TrUIBltAT] 43 il -_ ~ ... 44 [VnLAGE .. _---- .... -- .. -~-~. --- , , o , , . i o. '"e .~ , , ,, . o , .I I •• , I, o \ ., ., . " \.,I , I "-',. , \ , o , , ., " .... ' .... . " . . . ~ ...... ~ C]:1l CHAPTER VI VILLAGE ECONOMY ike practically all other villages, village Tilaibha t L is mainly agricultural. At the Census of ,1951, the village economy was reflected in the following 'pattern : ----,_,._------~ Class Category Total Male Fe· male Agricul. Cultivator of owned tural land and their class dependants 238 112 126 Cultivators of un- owned land and their dependants 2 1 1 Cultivating Labour- ers and their de- pendants 55 28 27 Total 295 141 154 Non-agri Non-cultivating ow cultural ners and their de class pendants Production other than cultivation. 6 2 4 Commerce Transport Other services 3.lld misc. sonrces 8 4 .. Total 14 6 8 In the Census of 1961, the village ec()uomy was as . Soli types.-There are 3 main types of soil in the below;....,- village. These are known as Kanhar, Malasi and Do,sa. For facility of their identification, the Category Total Male Fe- different types are described here : male Kanhtlr.-It is a black clay. It is very retentive of A-Total Workers .. 203 103 100 moistur~ and is by far the best wheat soil in the area. As a rice soil it is apt to suffer from water-logging: I-Cultivators 179 90 89 ~t as it grows excellent second crops, it is certainly a II-Agricultural Labourers 19 8 11 very valuable soil-type. III-Livestock, fishery. hun- ting. etc 5 5 M atasi.-It is a yellow soil. It is not retentive of moisture but with heavy rainfall it gives a far IV-Household industry .. .. better out tum of rice than any other soil. It cannot V.... ~anufacture other than grow a second crop and when unembanked. it is fit household industry ... for little more than Kodo and requires long· resting Vr--COnstruction periods. VII-Trade and Commerce .. ., VIII-Transport and Commu- DOTsa.-As the name suggests, this type is a nication mixture 01 lannaT and matasi. It is a very good rice IX-Other services .. soil but gives only a moderate outtum of wheat. Some other tenus in the soil classification scbeme B-Non-Workers 122 63 59 would need explanation. These are Bahara, Gabhar, O,Ua or Tangar, riMa, Ma",uli bandhia and Dadha Total 325 166 159 (tlarha). These various terms are used to define the type of land and the positions which are most impor tant in rice areas. The total land revenue demand of village Tilaibhat M amuli-Best solls when unembanked, is Rs. 799-87, The Mahalwar Assessment Statement Tikra-Inferior soils when unembanked; also prepared at the last settlement showed the land poor hi,hlying land. !.evenue demand and this, as compared with the present day, stands as below: Gabha,-Flat land. B4hara-Land down which the water flows, i.e. As prior As at the hollowest part of the land receivin_' to last last 1957-58 1958-59 1959-60 1960-61 drainage from three sides • . $ett1e settle- / ment ment Darha or Dadha-Gently sloping land. Tanga,-Sharply sloping land. 220 220 682-1-3 682-1-3 682'8 685'96 Bandhia-Embanked ricefield. 111-6-6 111'41 111'41 113'91 Rasanha.-Land receiving drainage which flows no 220 793-7-9 193'49 793'49 199'81 from the village site. Gai,.mumkin-Unfit for cultivation because of The Census of 1951 and the present Census have streamcoUISe, etc. shown that village Tilaibhat consists of agriculturists The scheme of soil classification arrived at in the or agricultural labourers: either people are engaged village at the last settlement and at the settlement in these agricultural pursuits or they are non-workers. before that differ and both are being given here for Only 1'6% of the population has means of livelihood reference, The ideal wheat soil or Kanha1 is rare in other than cultivation. Agriculture is thus the focus the village and at both the settlements only 4 acres of around which the village economy revolves. :iuch soil were recognised in the village. Tn..UJIlUT] 47 Soil ClassUlcatJoD at last· Settlement Village cattle.-The village cattle are not particularly well-kept. Milk does not form an item Soil Class of food in the village and the neglect of the cattle r ..A. may be for this reason. The main value of the cattle Position Kan· Kan· Dorsa Dorsa Matasi Gair· seems to be in the supply of cow-dung which i~ used Class har har m'Um- as the main manure. The cattle of the village are kin I II I II I grazed by the Rawats and the village servant for the purpose is known as bardiha. The bardiha takes the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 cattle to whatever grazing ground is availab Ie. The area of grazing land available in the village is 86'38 Ballara 29 15 .. acres and there are in all 354 cattle including goats, as per the Titamma Record. The incidence of Gabhar 4 35 80 10 17 grazing comes to be roughly 4 cattle per acre which is Orkha 12 36 47 55 very high and accounts for the poor cattle-health. Mamuli 140 74 3 In the cattle shed the cattle are given straw of paddy Tikra 1 22 1 (paira). Speaking about the village cattle in the l Badi Dry 4 2 Settlement Report of 1904-1912, Hance had stated "The stunted growth and miserable stamina of the Gair-mumkin .. 1 cattle of Chhattisgarh are a bye-word throughout Total 217 l31 63 71 I the provinces. Under the system of cattle keep ing. " or rather cattle neglect, at present in vogue in this Rasanha 71 district, and in the Chhattisgarh Division in general. they are for the greater part of the open season turned out daily to graze in the charge of the village At the settlement made prior to the one shown herdsman or bardiha. In the hot weather when ~bove the soil-classification scheme was as below: there is practically no natural pasture to be had they are given, at night time, a quantity of rice straw just Soil Class sufficient to support life upon. Stall feeding worth Position the name is practically unknown...... The Class Kanhar Dorsa I Dorsa II Matasi heavy labour demanded from them at a time when their vitality has been sapped by the starvation that Rice La.nd they have undergone in the hot weather results in heavy mortality apart from the ravages of the various Bahara 29 forms of diseases (principally rinderpest and anthrax):' Gabhar B 4 Dadha 70 35 87 The various forms of cattle diseases recognised Tangar 7 1 in the village are Khurra. Galghot. Mata. Ektangi. Sonahi and Chhai. ~on-'ice La.nrl Bandhia 8 t Khurra.-This is a foot and mouth disease. The animal gets temperature and constipated stomach Ordinary 2 182 1 membrane gets congested, ulceration takes place. Tikra 103 11 . mouth muscles twitch, lameness and ulceration occurs Ga.rdao Land at the inter-digital places and shaking of legs occurs. Drv 2 The disease spreads generally at the end of winter Total 1 391 77 91 and the beginning of summer. It spreads quickly. Black-soil Gaurase .• Red-soil Gaurase .• Galghot.-GaLghot is the local name for the cattle disease 'lbemorrhagic septicremia·. This diseas'e There are no irriga tion facilities in the village and starts in the beginning of rains and if not checked in tIle peopl.e depcn'd entirely on Nature for the success 1. Final Report on La.nd Revenue Settlement of the or failure of the Crops. Bilaspur District, 1904-12, J.E. Hance. p. 21. t. NA,,4Q TILAIBHAT] time results in the death of the cattle within ~4-48 Agricultural tools and implements.-Agri hours. The symptoms of the disease are constipation, cu~tural tools and implements in Tilaibhat are age high temperature, difficulty in breathing, swelling of o'd ones and the same as anywhere else in an ordinary the throat and tongue and salivation. The symptoms Chhattisgarh village. The main among _them are: of difficulty in breathing and swelling of the Nagar (plough) and Hansiya (sickle). As per throat have earned the name "Galghot" (neck-stran records available. there are 45 Nagar in the village. gulation) to the disease. The various tools and implements in use in the Mata.-Mata is the local name for rinderpest village are: and cattle-plague. The disease can occur at any time of the year and takes a heavy toll of cattle life. r--'------~' -----~ The symptoms are high temperature, constipation, Local name English Purpose diorrhaea with blood and mucous, peculiar smell equivalent. in the cow-dung, pin-poip.t ulceration in the mouth Nagar Plough For ploughing the field at the junction of gums and lips. Kapar Planer For levelling the field Ektanei.-The disease called 'black-quarter' is Dantri Serrated \\0- For weeding operations known as Eklangi in this village. The disease affects oden plough young animals and kills the animal in 24-48 hours· As the name suggests, the most important symptom Sabal Crow-bar For digging is the lameness in the animal. Other symptoms are Khudri Shovel For digging an,1 n~· high temperature, swelling of the muscles of the leg. moving the earth The local treatment for the disease is to foment the fro:n the field swelling. This is done with 'sickle made red-hot in Ckatwar ~on-available For throwing the earth the hearth and touching the swelling with it. on embankment Sonabi.-No English term could be found for this Kudra Pick-axe For digging disease. The villagers state that its symptoms are Ilansiya Sickle For cutting the . crop salivation in the mouth and bad smell in the dung. The animal does not take any food. I t is a virulent NAGAR.-The Nagar (plough) consists of a. epidemic. 9' long wooden Shaft known as €landl. At one cnd Chhai.-The English name for this disease could of it is fixed a wooden piece 4" long known as not be traced out. It is said to be a disease of the kkeela. At the other end of the «andi is fixed chest region and the symptoms are stoppage of urine the bent wooden structure known as lIagar. In and bowels. The animal does not take any food. all this is about 4 to 4!' long consisting of a 2!, long portion above the dandi and a II to 2' long part below the dandi. The nagar is fixed by making a hole As per records maintained by the Land Records in the dandi and passing the nagar through it. Department, the latest statistics of cattle (i.e. 1960-61) The upper part of the 'lagar is of a smaller diameter stood as below : than the lower one. A small wooden piece, 1 to It" thick at one end and tapering at the other end and Bullocks ." 47 four to six inches long, is used to keep the !tagar ill Breeding Bull 1 place in the dandi. This wooden piece is known Cows 95 as dab. At the upper end of the I/agar is fixed a 9" long round woo!len bar to serve as a handle for Calves 114 applying pressure on the nagar. This portion is Buffaloes (He) 49 known as padki. The lower end of the '/(lgar Buffaloes (She) 4 is bent inwards and to it is fixed the iron-blade known Calves 13 as naga"':loha. Goats 28 The nagar is fixed to the attachment to which Horses .'. 3 the bullocks are tied. The attachment is known as Total 354 juadi and consists 01 a beam the upper end of Wllich 50 iV1LLAGE • KAL"II, a.6." • .,acA UftPlE~ENTS HARVESTED CROP LYING IN THE FIELD BRINGING THE HARVESTED CROP 1'1LAtB:a:AT] 51 has 3 ridges. the central ridge being known as maha as Unhari. The Kharif (siyari) crops are sown in .{eo. At the two ends of the bea.m. bullocks are harnes Asa"h (June-July), i.e. at the beginning of the rainy sed to the beam 'with tilC help of two attachm~nts Season and include : known as poncl~ari. The dandi of the 11alfar re!'lh; 011 the central ridge of the juadi and it is tied (a) U/t!tIa (Paddy-Oryza sativa L.) tu the.fuadi with a rope round thejuadi and khaila. (b) ll[,lkui (Maize). KOPAR.---](opar·is the implement used for planing (c) Kucla (inferior variety of rice- Panicwn meIi 1he field. and also for weeding operations. I t consists of a flat piece of woou auout 10' in length and l' wide. ceum L.) From the two cnus of the wooden ueam. two converg ing attachments are fixed. These are about 13' to 14' (d) Rahal' (a variety of pulse, Casanus indicus). long. At the converging end another beam is fixed (e) Til (Seasamum seed, jingili- Seasamum inji 'n which the bullocks are tied. cum). DANTRl.-Dwllri is a variant of kopar and is used for weeding operations as well as for thinning opera (f) IowaI' (Millet). tions. The implement is known as da1ttri necause The Rabi crops (Ulthari) include : of its narrow teeth. The daHl,i is also used for pud dling. (ft) Gehun (Wheat- Triticum vulgare). SABAL.-Sabal or the crow-bar is not very much (b) CllclIm (Granl- Ciccr indicum). u.,;ed in agri.cultural operations except to dig some (c) Batra (Peas). holes. etc., thruugh the embankment for passage of \vater. It is a 4 feet long bar with one end flattened (d) Tiw,a (Lathyrus sativa). and sharp. (e) J.fllsDor (a variety of pulse). KHUI)RI.-Kltltdri is the shovel and has 11 broad iron-plate attached to a wooden handle. The working Y) U,id (a variety of pulse- Phaseolus mungo- edge of the kh"dri is 6" to 8" long. It is used for var rodiatus). digging purposes. (g) ilfomlg (Green gram-- Phaseolus mungo), CHA1'WAR.-Chal'l£'ur isjust a wooden handle with a flat broad portion at one end. It is used for throwing (It) A/si (Linseed- Linum usitateiosimum), the earth from one place to another. It consists of (i) M irc;ha (Chillies). fnur and a half feet long wooden portion at one end and a handle at the upper end. (j) DlIcmia (Coriander), KUDRA.-Kztdra is the pick-axe. It consists of a :4f long wooden handle and a l' long and slightly . '111e most prominent Siycui crop is paddy and the bent iron piece fixed at one end of the handle. One important Unhari crops are wheat and gram. Some end of the iron piece has a hole in which the wooden poor quality of land requires resting for 3-4 years handle is fixed and the other end is pointed for digging for fertility recuperation. This lying-fallow is known operations. as padti. HAN";IYA.-H,ll&siYIl is the ordinary sickle con The last two Settlement Operations ill Bilaspur -;isting of a 6" long wooden handle and the bent sharp District were made in 1904-1912 and 1927-28. In iron-blade. the Mahalwar abstract prepared at the time of Settle ment of 1927-28, we find the cropped area classified Crops grown,-TiJen: are two main crops grown according to crops and also the details of area of the in the village. They are : Kharif and Rabi. The village. These statements are being reproduced Kharif crops are also better known in the village as here for the facility of reference with the last 10 years' Siya,i and the Rabi crops are similarly known statements which follow the Settlement Statements: [VILLAGB Details of area Cropped Area classlfted accordJnIl to Crops (From the ~1fQlttllfetlr Abstract /Jrapared at the time (Basel on the Mahalwar Abstract ;reparefl at fht time of Selt'lemenl) (l Sell l~".ent) , ______---A..- ___A ______---. ;---- At last At the In At last At present Description Settlement, Settlement 1960-61 Particulars settl~nt settlement i.e. 1927-28 (1904-12) (1927-28) 1904-12 1 2 3 4 2 3 Rice 220 217 320 Radon, Kutki, Rahat 156 123 76 • Occupied rrretl- Til Under crop 533 508 Sugarcane 4 Area in cu\t:- Fallow of 3 yrs. Other 2 1 20 vation and older . . 30 61 Total Kbarif 358 345 416 Total 563 569 Wheat 84 58 46 Castor Area out of cultivation, i.e. Gram 3 53 waste and fallow of more than Masoor 45 42 35 3 years 23 19 Linseed 41 61 42 Batara 39 31 10 Total area occupied S86 588 Urid. Moong 44 43 39 Other 3 15 38 Un,occupied area- Total Rabl 259 250 261 Groves Total 617 595 680 Tree forests Scrub jungle & Area double cropped 84 87 128 g~ 82 Net cropped area 533 508 551 Under water, . The figures relating to the revenue year 1960·61 hill '" rock and taken from the Land Records documents are a't covered by roads and below: buildings 24 21 K"",,!! CJ''!ps Paddy 320'17 acres Total area or "yan unoccupleCl 106 104 Maize 4'8 .. Kodo. Rahar. Til 75'55 .. Total 691 691 Kodo , . 5'33 ., Jowar 10'20 .. A rell. irr;/?afed- Total Kharlf ,. 415'33 acres From tanks Rabicrops Wheat 45'75 .. From other or Unhari. Gram 52'79 sources .. " Batara 10'40 .. Total Tiwara , . 27'50 .. Masoor 35'40 .. No. of irrigation wells 1 Urid 28'35 .. Moong 10'79 No. of artificial tanks 1 2 ., Alsi 42'42 No. of plough cattle 105 93 .. Dhania (Coriander) 8'12 ,- No. of she-buffaloes 10 Chillies .. 2'40 It Oth~r caW~ 228 TqtaJ ttp." • • , . 263'9, acre• HARVESTED CROP STACKED IN THE KIIALIHAN VILLAGE TILAIBHAT FROM THE WEST TILAIBRATJ 53 D011ble cropped area 127'52 acres It can thus be seen that only 18 mauni:; of chemica Single cropped area 551'73 ,. fertilisers are uSed for some 540 acres of area or Fallow-Current an average 1 maund over 30 acres. The chemicall .. -Old .. fertilisers have not been popular in the village and th e Wells-Pacca reason possibly may be in the non-availability of " -Katcha irrigational facility, Green manure has similarly Gair-mumkin land 14'90 acres not attracted any attention so far and the villagers Cultivable waste 3'30 .. have not been told and persuaded about the efficacy of green manure by any official agency. Grazing land 86'38 .. Total area of Village 692·]6 Other fertiliser used is the traditional cow-dung manure of no value. The villagers do not know the Agricultural operations and mode of colti method to prepare compost manure and the manure vation.-As with the agricultural implements. so they prepare in their open pits is of very little value with the mode of cultivation, the technique. of culti as a manure. The cow-dung and other rubbish from vation has remained .age-old. In his 'Hindu Tribes the cattle-shed is thrown in a pit of about 4' diameter and Castes'. Reverend Sherring' has put the Telis and is left open. Every cultivating household has in the description of 'Agricultural Tribes' and says one or. two such pits. Before the onset of rains, the that a large number of them "are engaged in agricul matter so collected in the pits is taken to the fields tural pursuits, in which they exhibit great industry in carts and kept there in heaps. and skill", But the Tells along with other castes in this village have not taken to improvements and The various operations connected with the culti innovations in agricultural pursuits. Hance3 had vation of paddy, as known in Tilaibhat are : Jutai remarked in the Settlement Report of Bilaspur Dis Boni, . Nindai. Biyasi, Nil1dai, Bharawat. Lu-/.i and trict: "The Chhattisgarhi cultivator is traditionally M isai. These are described below: and constitutionally lazy. The common reply that one gets if one advocates an increased output of energy Jutai (Ploughing).-Ploughing is done in the is 'who can take all that trouble' .... In short it is last week of May and first week of June. The plough hard to introduce improvements among a thriftless ing is also known as khurra, The purpose of khuTYa is unenterprising people who enjoy cheap land but lack to loosen and aerate the soil, Ploughing may be the necessary ambition to develop its resources." done two times. The following table shows the use of chemical Side by side with this operation, the cultivator fertilisers by different castes in the village : also repair the field-bunds. I -----.., Bani (Sowing).-Sowing is done after the first Quantity of Quantity of few showers. Three types of sowing are carried on Caste chemical other ferti in Tilaibhat : fertiliser Hsc:r used in used in mds. mds. (a) Chhitaka (broadcast), (b) Ropa (transplantation). Teli lSi 6658 Rawat 530! (c) Lai jatka ke bone (the seed is kept soaked in Dhobi 310 water overnigbt or for 48 hours and is SOwn Chham 180 after it shows germination). Bair~gi 50 The broadcast method of sowing is followed by Panka 100 majority of cultivators. Nai Nindai (Weeding).-Nindai is done in two stages 1. Hindu Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, M.A. Sherring, one before the thinning operations and the other after 1879. p, 103. it, Nindai is done by manual labour. and grass, ~. Final Report on Laud Revenue Settlement of BilasPQr weeds and other undesirable plants are separat~ District, ~90H9!2f J.E, ~Qce~ 1914. fl' 2.:J. fJ;om the fi.el THE THRESHING OF PADDY TlLAIBHATJ 55 Al;lrlcultu ral Stati!lltics ,----_- --'------!,..------:-~ N P "'..:I 1'1 .... .2 ~ Details of cropping; tiS ' ..Jo".._-----~ ' 1______~-"I.,.. o;.:p Xet Dl)ub Ie Principal crOps .;,.t cd ~ cropped cropped,-----"-----. ~::!~ ~ Q(: Q.1 area area Rice Kodo 'Vheat +-'~h >l._ !U -.,;l ~:::t'v ,::: d 7 II I:.! I "1.)j.-.'i I 4H :S-il 30'-' til :c7 .3 tr;1 'lou Hjl-:;~ ~~il 5I.'~ ISS 305 ii2 47 409 267 I'H2-5:l :'fil 515 l"" ~ 1~1 224 51, (11):1 I :':i:I-,:;~ ~il 514 78 .. HI J~l ~,:l ii7l) 1!'l;H-55 :IUZ 71i 5" ;\ il 111:2 (17" (011 1 iS5-50 .:;~II )Iii ;;41) 4.5 Xii 5:~~1 5~" Nil ~uu IHI ti75 1.l:i7-.5 ... 5'-10 5K5 till )j2 :HO S6 22 ),fil ti5N 195~-59 Nil 519 UI) :108 tI,; 27 ~il 415 2-14 1959110 5~h) Biasi (Thinning).-The field in which paddy the crop. The seed ~ep:lJ"ates front the stl'm jJj the seeds have already germinated is ploughed. This operation. The operation is also kllllWP as dOUfj uproots the plants and helps in giving proper space chrtlaJ1« and in common IanguL1g-e (lnt' would .;;av lor growth of snrvivoTS_ dOllri fhaial lip (drlllri is going on). Nindai.-Second nindai or weeding is done 20 After th(' threshing j,; OWT tlw stem-straw is or 25 days after bitl.~i. Whatever undesirable weeds, etc., take roots are removed by mannal labour. separated and the seerl srtt Ii ng on the floor is f('co\'cred. After this the men, standing Oil a high stool, fake 1he Bharawat (Filling the field).-After the seed seed in a winnowing pan (soopa) and slowly let it fall }las germinated well. the field is closed and the water on the ground. The brt'('7.f' spparatl's the seed from is stored. The paddy plants grow in water. pieces of straw, etc., which falls st·parately. A linal blow with the SOOp(I separates bst remnants 01' Luai (Reaping).-When the crop fully ripens straw. it is harve;;ted by manual labour. The operation is known as luai. Luai is done in the months of Kuar-Ka#k (October-November). The paddy is ~tored in the grain-bin constructed by the people at home. Two typf'S of hin,; are seen in Misai (Threshing).-Misai operation is done Tilaibhat. One i!l known as gand(lha kntki :\nt1 the jn the month of Fagun (March) consisting of separat other j~ known as kirga. The f:(('lui(ll1.fl kotki ing the straw, etc., from the seed. The place where is marle of mud and is maof' into ~J step,;. The misai is done is known as khalikall. The kkaliko1J is kotM is about 9' hig1] from the ground. It rl'sts on swept ana well-washed with cow-dung by the. women stanos of I r ht'ight. The kirga is made of' bamboo folk. Thf're is then fixt'd a pole in the centre. frame and is then Jllnd-pl:l-:tered. I t is ahollt 2' Thf! harvest is ;;pread an around and 2 or 3 bullocks :-ibove the ground and .53-' to Il' llig-Il. Tot:,1 height from are tied in a row around this pole and they trample the ground is thus about 8', ih~ btn; ar ~ c::m;tru:te:i in the :;afest ani one of Maho dlsease.-This is also known as Manu in the inn~r room;;s of the house .. They are regularly the village. It is described as a white insect which wa;;hed with cowdung. Houses of well-to-do affects the paddy pi ants. It is said to suck the milk people, like Ramprasad Teli and Chamar Rai Teli, of the seedling. The villagers break a cocoanut in have more than one such grain-bins in their houses. the field to propitiate the God to prevent the pest. In Tilaibhat the early and coarse variety of paddy The scientific name of Maho pest is Nephotettix is grown because the finer varieties are late-ripening bipunctatus. This ins:ct sucks the juice from the and require more care and labour. The October rains plant. are very necessary for a full harvest and since no irrigation facilities are available, the cultivators Bharbharba dlsease.-Bliarbharha is the green no not take any risk with the fine late-ripening variety rust which sets in the fields and retards the growth of of paddy. plant. Other kharif crops are kod(} and Tahar. Cultiva Fanfa (Locust).-Locust sets in the fields in tion of kodo is comparatively easier. The seed swarms and cuts the leaves of the plants. is sown broadcast in the fields after the rains and the Rokl (Wheat rust).-This is a disease of the field., are subsequently ploughed. The rahar (a wheat crop. Its effeCt results in the reddish colour variety of pulse) is either grown on the embank in the wheat and the wheat seed becomei inferior ments or together with kodo in tll_ fields. The fields in quality. with better soils are sown with paddy and are known Sambal Keera.-This affects the gram plants as dhal~ha fields. Comparatively poorer class of and cuts the leaves of the plants. This pest is known lands known as bharri are used for sowing kodo, etc. as gram caterpillar or Haliothis obsoleta. It eats After the paddy harvest is over the second crop of the leaves. alsi (linseed), gram and ti'IIJara are sown in the fields. These crops are known as ulera. Land-holdinas.-The following table shows the position of land-ownership in the village. There are The fields in which wheat is sown are not used for five households in the village who do not have any paddy. Wheat fields are not manured. land at all for cultivation. Six households have· Crop diseases and pests.--The vilJagers have taken land on "adhiya' from other people. In their own names for var ions crop diseases and pests. •adhiya' people take the land from other persons These local terms are described here as told by the and do all the agricultural operations, etc. The villagers. The diseases recognised in the paddy person owning the land gets half of the produce. crop are-Maho. Bharbharha and Fanfa. The The caste-wise ownership of land-holdi ngs are shown disease of the wheat crop is known as Roki and that below: in the gram is known as Samba! Keera. r Household having ,-- .A. no land below 1-3 4-7 8-10 11-15 16-20 above""" 1 acre acres acres acres acres acreS 20 acres Teli 1 ~ 11 5 6 2 7 Rawat 2 2 3 Dhobi 4 Chhatri 2 2 :Rairagi 1 1 ,Pnnku 1 Nai 1 Total 5 11 20 7 8 1 7 60 [Vu.LAGB. this gudi must have been outside the village and from another village. Not all the houses in the away from the houses because the villa ...ers never want village ha"e wooden doors: some houses have doors the visiting officials to be very near them. But now made of bamboo-sticks woven together. This woven that the village has expanded, some houses have been bamboo-door is made by the villagers themselves. constructed beyond the gudi alsO· and now the The door is known as pltarika and ther~ is a saying villagers have no enthusiasm left to construct a new common in this and other villages: gudi.. Even this g1uli is lying in a neglected condition. "jaisan je/,ar ghar duway C~nstruc~on Of house.-The Brahmin priest taisa" tekar pharika and Vlllage baaga are not consulted for selecting the jaisan jeka7 dai-dada house-site. The only consideration is that the site waisan okay larika" should not be far from other settled houses. Before digging the foundation, the worship ceremony called (~t\s the doors of a house are of the same quality thun is performed. A stone slab is kept and a and standard as the house, so the children are of the cocoanut is broken with the prayer to God that the same quality and standard as the mother and father.) construction may be quick and good and there may be no casualty in construction. When asked whether The houses of poorer people have the bamboO a chicken or goat sacrifice could be performed at the pltaTika whereas houses of comparatively well-to-do titl\! of tJum cerem:lny, the villagers say that they people have ~ure wooden doors. would not like to take a life on this occasion. There are three types of roofs. These are kno~vn as : Na layout is prepared first on the ground. The reason is that the designs of the houses are so simple (a) Sari, that layout is not ·necesSary. The foundation depth (b) Kat-parchlti, in this village is 2' to 2t '. The foundation ic; filled with earth. The earth for filling the foundation and (c) Konia. for constructing the wall is prepared specially. In the sari kind of roof, the roof slant" down Paddy-husk (pirousi) is mixed with the earth and the on the two sides, i.e. front and back, from the central two are well mixed with water. The mixing is done beam. It does not fall on the side walls. In the kat by trampling over by foot and it is known as mati parckhi type, the roof has hvo stages-one covers the machana. After the mixture is well ~ade, it is put room and the other covers the verandah portion or into foundation. The earth mixture for filling the another room-portion. In the ·konia type of roof. foundation contains more water than that used. the x:oof slants on all the four walls. Konia ·type of for wall construction. The earth mixture in the roof 1S the most expensive one because it requires more foundation is allowed to dry and then the construction timber. It is also a better protection to the side of the wall begins. walls. The three types of roofs are shown in diagrams In raising the wall, the members of the hClu!Ie in plan and elevation. holds do all the labour themselves and in normal When starting to live in a new house some cere cases do not employ outside· labour. The mony is performed. Oridnary people give a feast wall is constructed by putting lumps of earth to their relatives or caste-people .and well-to~o over one another and then properly planing them. people get a Satyanarayan-ki-katha recited and All the fOUl sides of the proposed room are raised pooja performed by a Brahmin priest. simultaneously. The wall is raised about a foot at one time and then it is allowed to dry. It is thus In the rainy season the side walls in a house having constructed in layers of a -foot or so. The walls are the sari roof are protected from the direct showers usually 6' to 7 feet high and about a foot in thickness. of rain by jllakar.li or jhankar which is a mat of Some small holes are left in the waIls to serve as win Tah", stems or chhind leaves woven together. dows. There is only one house in the village in the construction of a part of which bricks Were used. The house-wives take due care of the houses. This house is that of Ram Prasad Teli of the village. The floor is wen-washed with cow-dung regularly and bordered white with clay (chhuhi mat,). The A badhai (carpenter) is employed to construct the internal walls are also washed with clay. The exter door-frames and door-panes. The carpenter is called nal side of the walls is either left as it is or washed with TILAIBUT] The largest area of cultivable land is held by Ram Panka caste is that of profe;sional weavers. ·'But Prasad Teli of the village. He has 51'49 acres and this occupation is not followed by the one Pdnka . has 8 memb~rs in his household. Land-holdings of family here. The occupation now followed is that over 15 acre size p('r household are held only by the of Village-watchman. Telis and there are 7 Teli hOU'>fholds in the village who own more than 15 acres of land for CUltivation. Nai is the professional barbJr ca5te. The Nai in this .... illage carries on this occup\.tion as his sale mean') of livelihood. He is quite in demand and was invited Traditional occupations.-TraditionaI occupa~ to settle in this village some 14 years ago b2cause tions of the different castes in the village as referred prior to that people had no barber. This barber to in the literature are : formerly lived in village Kabratola. 10 miles away from Tilaibhat. He was requested by the inhabitants of the village to come here and was offered land for Caste TraditionaloccupatiOlj house-construction. He performs service in every household and yearly quota of grain from each hOU5~ Tell hold i'; fixed for him. He gets 10 kaJhas paddy p or male adult and 2 kalkas paddy per male Rawat Graziers child per year from each of the households for hi§ 5~rvice. The village barber has at present no Dhabi Washennen land for CUltivation but he is keen to get some Jand Panka \Vt!avers for agricultural pursuits. . Nai Barbers There is no Kumhar (potter) in the village arid the earthen pots are brought from Panuariya market. The people are very anxious to get some potter family Economic changes in the co.miry lJave forced the settled here who could meet the village demand of caste.; to leave these traditional occupations because earthen Ycs;els. But the main difficulty in this scheme in face of the growing competition fiOlll the mill is that the soil of the village is not fit for the manu- . ani factory products. the indigenous industries be,'ome facture of earthen vessels. less and less lucrative. The Telis have long since abandon~ the indig ..mous oil-mill. The Telis of the Village settlement and homestead.-The village say that five households in the villlge used to homesteads constructed by the different castes have this traditional industry of the caste but they in the village d,o not differ from one another. UsuaUy have abandoned this ior th;) last 15 year:; becau;e the homestead consists of two or more houses built it was not economic. They felt that th~y \\"ould be in a line or at an angle from one another. jIost quite willing to adopt the traditional occupation of the houses have a. 5cpJ.rate shed constructed if it bccJmes paying but thi" is not possible now as for the cattle by the side or near the living room. the mill-product is cheap,'r. Except one Bairagi and two Tell households, all the households living in Tilaibhat have their own halHes. The Dhobis practise their caste-occupation of Forty·nine houses in the village are 5 years and older. and 11 houses have been constructed or reconstructed washing cloth~ but this is not their tnl.in source of liVelihood as in case of Dhobis in the towns. In within 5 years. th) vUlag.~, s~ices of washerm~n arc required only The houses ill Tilaibhat are constructed on both in the birth. marriage and death when clothe') ar\! got the sides of two more or less par,tllel streets. These washed. The main source of livelihood of Dhobis two streets are joined by a north-south street ill the also is agriculture. western part of the village and another small street goes northwards from the longer street. The houseS The ca-.;tL'- . cCUpUiOll of the Rawats is cattle-...,Tl"aZ- face the street. Caste-wise segregation of houses is ing anJ hadsm,lnship but out of 7 Rawat tam; lies, not l1otic,~d in the village and houses of different only 2 families, i.e. those of l\Iayaram and Bhairam castes are all mixed-up. The people have made a depend 011 this occupation as the sole Ult·.i.\.ns of gildi or rest-house for visiting officials in the east of livelihood. They are the village-graziers or bard£h". the village. It is a one-roomed hut and there is Others IHWC bkcn to cultivation. no cot or a.ny furniture in the hut. \Vhen construct~.j, LVn,UGE L I. SARI • .2. KAT-PAIlltCHHf 3. KONIA ROOF" TYPES TrtAIBHAT] 57 • HOUSE. OF "AMPR"~A.D TELI_ I J OPlH SP.... Cl c•.. t c.. ., T T L E .. _-_.-:----_- , COOklNC SL £lPINC ROOM ROOM III v • Ii SLE£PIIHi R OPE.N RoO., III "D t "H ~. sLEEltrNC SPACE ROo,,", r L I ~ v IE T £ N R CUEST 'T A R STI;1IlE RoCtM N A "OCIM . D N .. C .. E !> PLAN TILAIBHAT) 61 HOUSE OF kARl eA' 8AlJilAC, '2..8IDE VIEW 2. FRONT VIE..,.. ~ COOIC.INC ROOM _ . 3. PLA.N "oJ UVING V~R"'NDAH 62 [VILU.GB ",------_.----_- HOUSE OF SAMLOO RAM Tr" _ 1. FRONl' ... IIW --__;,--v~ 2. FRONT VII. w I ' -- I CATTLIE.-, SHED ,I. Co ~Otc.'NC: ,Or-. IN L' VI.,C liGON S ..... c. aOO" TILAIBHAt] 63 red-clay. The roofs of the houses are repaired and Rs. 100 to Rs. 5,000. This range is a very big one retiling is done when necessary before the onset of in view of the size of the village. The b'gger houses rains. Houses are rep3.ired ani mui-plaster.!d after are all of the T dis. The Dhobis, Panka ani the Rawats the rains are over. have h~llse3 ranging in cost from about Rs. 3():} to Rs. 1,0:>:>. The cmt of the houses of the variotls Costs of the ho:nasteads in Tilaibhat. ca.stes in the village is repre3ented in the table below : Cost of tue h'):n~ste.li3 in the village ra.nges fro:n _------______-A ______~ House-cost in Rupees Caste 100 200-400 500-700 800-1000 1100-1500 2000 5000 Teli 1 4: 9 13 7 5 2 Rawat 2 3 2 Dhobi 2 2 Chhatri 1 1 1 Bairagi 1 I 1 Panka 1 Nai I Total 3 6 16 20 8 5 1 Livin~ conditions in Tilaibhat.-Living condi r--.------..A.------"" tion5 in the village are not entirely s3.tishctory. Household having Pra.ctically all the hOllS9S are ill-ventilatei ani ill r--.----~~~------~ Caste no separate separate lighted. Of course. the village houses are such that kitchen kitchen the ab3~n::e of winioN3 is nl) hin:lra.nce to cross vClltilation because there is alw lyS so:ne space between the roof and the walls and the bambol-thatch and Teli 30 11 tiles easily allow the sm'Jke etc.. to pass out. Rawat 6 1 But all the same presence of windows at the Dhobi I 3 proper level in til ~ wlll, m lk ~s a b g d ff.~rence in Chhatri 1 2 the ventilation and lighting of the rooms. The villagers Bairagi 1 2 have not constructed window3 at all or constructed Panka .. 1 very small sized windows for two main reasons. Nai 1 Firstly they just do not think that windows are necessary for better and healthier living and Total 40 10 secondly the presence of big windows would make the house so:n~ what unsafe. This table shows that the Telis, Rawats and the N ai do not usually have separate cooking rooms. Table VI given in the Appendix: shows the housing whereas the Chhatri, Dhabi, Bairagi and the Panka conditions in the Villa,lp.. It does not present any have 'separate cooking room 3. The position cor satisfactory picture as majority of the households responds with the general prevll~nt customs. The have one or two living rooms only. M:l.ny of h~ h)use Telis, tue Rawats and the Nai do not think that holds do not have a sepl.rate co:>:dng rOlm. After after cO:Jking. the roo.n or the plort of th~ room be the fo:)j is cO:Jkej and eaten, the sa!D~ rO::J.1l is used cO.nes p:>llutei and needs washing with cow-dung. for sleeping. etc. They just ren)ve the cO:J:(in~ uten3ils ani Ui;! ttu 64 1. CARVIt\lC ON TN" DOOIll·FRA.ME(pfAUKHAT) e. NAMA 2. CA_ It.) DIi~'c;~,,_ ON TM€ W..,.,· TILAIBHU] place for sleeping. But the Dhabi, Bairagi, Chhatri There are hard~ y any items for personal decoration and Panka feel that the co::>king pollutes· the room in the house. The comb and mirror are of course and one cannot sleep there unless the area is washed there but the mirrors are of the cheap variety and of with cow-dung or at least water sprinkled over the small size. place. This belief explains the table given above. The cooking utensils and water-pots, etc., are No motifs. etc., are found on the house walls. earthen and of metal. Cooking and eating utensils Females in some of the houses make some figures in the different communities are of the following on the walls with mud. But the figure docs types: not symbolize anything except decoration. Thes ,--______----A. ______~ figures in general are as shown in diagrams. Human :figures a.re also painted on some walls with cow-dung. Metal vessels Caste Earthen Total Brass Bronze Others Household possessions.-The villagers ordinarily vessels use cots for sleeping. These cots are very small in Teli 404 size as compared to the cots in towns and any person 109 187 184 33 of normal stature cannot sleep on them with legs Rawat 18 45 20 24 1 stretched. The usual size seen is 4t' X2r. Hemp Dhabi 6 31 10 21 rope for weaving the cots is brought from Pandariya Chhatri 10 26 15 11 market. Bairagi 7 34 16 18 The people do not use a pillow for resting the Panka Not available head. Kathri serves as the bed-sheet. Kathri is Nai 4 5 2 3 made up of oldlugdas (saris) sewn together and then It comparatively newer cloth is covered over it. Thus Water is brought from the tank or well in the it becomes about as thick as a woollen blanket. Coun brass haula. A vessel of a smaller size is called try-made blankets are used for cover during winter. hauli. The water is stored in black earthen pots In the rains and summer, part of the lugda of the or pitchers (matka.) females and the dhoti of the males is used as cover sheet. Cotton-quilt or mill-blankets are possessed Every house has two or three chulhas or ovens made «mly by Ram Prasad Patel but even in his house, of earth for cooking. Rice is cooked in earthen vessels. all the members do not have such blankets and they The brass vessel called batua may also be used for this ase the same country-blankets or kamra. purpose. The pulse may similarly be cooked in an earthen or brass vessel (batua). Vegetables are cooked The people in this village' and in other villages in karahi made of iron or in earthen kanouji. The also are not able to explain why the size of the pulse and curry is stirred and taken out with a big cots is so small. The reason is definitely not an spoon known as dua. It is made out of a cocoanut-shell economic one because bigger cot hardly costs anything fitted with a wooden handle. more. The reason probably is that in the absence of Eating utensils are thari (dish), sekmi or batki proper covering like a good blanket or qUilt, the (eating bowl), maliya or tharkuJiya (plate) and katori people are forced to sleep in a huddled-up posture and (plate). Sekmi or batM is a shallow plate of abou+ in this posture the present size of cot is quite satis 12/diameter. It is used for eating basi. Dishes on factory. Lying ~n this posture becomes a habit thari are also used for eating. The smaller plate of and the cot-size is, therefore, persisting. Even if bronze is the maliya or tharkuliya. a bigger cot is provided the people will still occupy only three-fourths of its length. Practically all the houses, except those of the Nai and other poor people, have in their hoase3 In winter gorsi is put underneath the cot. Gorsi the rice-pounding implemel1L knovvn as dhenki. is a bowl-like structure made of earth in which cow The dhenki is a wooden beam at the end of dung·cake fire is kept. This provides the warmth from which is fixed a wooden piece fitted with iron-ring. below. Gorsi is· also med to give fomentation to The dhenki works on the principle of lever. The children. women press one end of the dhenlli with the foot and 66 [VILLAGE 1. OESICH9 ~ .. THB WALL ". .1 a. GR41N.-BtN TILAIBHATJ 67 then relieve the pressure. Similarly practically every It would be interesting to note here the extracts. well-to-do house possesses the earthen grinding from some poems written about basi which is a com implement known as janta or jantwa. It is used t<» fnon food in the whole of rural Chhattisgarh. One poet ~ grind wheat or rice into flour. singing the glories of Chhattisgarh says about the hast'!:.. "Baltdoun CMattisgarh ki 'Basi' There are 17 bullock-carts in the village. In the houses possessing the bullock-carts, the cart S 68 [VILLAGE JANTVoIA 1 D.,EN Ka T1LAIBHAT:l. - ~ '\.V LOTA HANDlrA HAUL ... , ...... , [VILLAGE brought from Pandariya market. In fact the free they may cook bhat or pej also for the mid-day vegetable C'ler)' is regarded as a delicacy and the meal. In the night at about 7 or 8 P. l\I. the pej or women start their conversation with the kind of Mat is eaten with curry-dal or chatni. vegetable they haye cooked or eaten. The diet of the people in Tilaibhat necessarily During festivities, the food preparations are predominates in starch beo n5(> rice is the only d;iferent. The usual food is sultnari which are the same food taken. Dal or pulse i5 the only commOn protei ~,,; j>uri or luchi, i.e. thin cakes of flOUT fried in oil. nous food but po"Jrer people do not take it daily. Both the wheat and rice flour are used to prepare Meat is only occasionally eate:l. As stated earlier, sUIJ.'I7.ari. Bara is another common item of food at the taking vegetables is a deli:acy. The people similarly time of festivals. It is a preparation of urid pulse do not take the required amount of fat. Milk is WhlCh is soaked in water, ground to paste and small given only to the children and the sick, and the cakes of it fried in oil. normal adults take it only rarely. The sweets, etc., prepared in the village at the tmne The appetite of the people in Tilaibhat, as in of festivities or bought in the market are thethri, other villages also, is good. The quantity of cooked khurmi, ladoo and dahl'ozeri. ThetlJri is prepared out rice eaten by one person is undoubt~dly at least 3 of g-::am-flour which is made into a dough with water times the rice eaten by us. Of course, we take other and salt and chillies powder to taste. The dough is things also in addition like dal or vegetable curry. then made into thin sticks as thick as the little finger But ghren dal and vegetable curry, a villager would and. pieces of i: about l'to:2'long are cut and given a consume more bhat because of taste. littIe twist are fried in oil. Thethri is also prepared out (If wheat ilour. Introduction of regular proteinous food in the Khurmi i.s prepared out of wheat flour and sweet diet of the people would definitely improve the con e:1::j with gUY. Little rectangular pieces of one inch dition of the people. An avera.ge Chhattisgarh to ::wo inches long are cut and fried in oil. cultivator looks so small before his counterpart in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab because the latter consume Ladoo is m.ade of rice or wheat flour and sugar or regular proteinous foods; the former lives only on gwr. But a favourite sweet when in the market is starch. th~ muyra-Iadoo which is parched rice and gur syr'lp m3.de into balls. Flour of gram or tiwara made Health and hygiene.-The villagers of Tilai inco dOllgh and th~n fried after being passed through bhat do not observe any code of personal hygiene. OJ. sieve are also put in 5ur syrup and made into balls. Children are not given any training in body hygiene and body-care and cleanliness. Urbani Dahrouri is prepared of rice flour. The flour is zation and acculturation have introduced more made into dough and small cakes of it are fried in elaborate forms of dress into the villages but has not oil. The cakes are then soaked in a syrup of gur for taught that the clothes must be clecm. In Chhattis sweetening . .garh it was not very long ago that people lived The Bairagis are strict vegetarians and do not on very little clothing. The men wearing nothing on take any non-vegetarian food. The Dhobis and the the upper portion of the body and the females wearing T elis take non-vegetarian food but do not eat chicken just a lugda. Shirts and blouses have found places in and eggs. It .is, however, likely that some people rural life but the sense that these should be cleaned take this stealthily. There is no such prohibition in does not seem to have yet dawned on them. A the Rawat caste regarding chicken. The Panka is shirt is worn, taken out and worn again. It is put again a vegetarian caste because Kabir Panth does on occasionally and this appar~ntly is the only not allow meat-eating. Those Tells who have adopted justification for it~ being used without washing for Kabir Panth publicly refrain from meat-eating. The weeks and months. It is washed only when it be people are not able to say why chicken is prohibited. come,; absolutely unfit for wear. It is believed that regular washing reduces the life of the cloth and so In the village practically everybody takes 3 meals people prefer to wear them dirty and get infected. a day. In the morning is eaten the basi and with skin diseases. the males go out to the fields to work. In the noon time, basi is again taken either in the field itself or on BOdy-care.-Practically all adults bathe daily returning home. If the women in the house are in the tank. Hot water is not generally used evea /1 in the winter. flot water is used only by women r---·------..A... a.fter delivery. It is not necessary to take a bath during sickness or when one is not feeling well nor Persoll,; Percenta.ge is it necessary for the women to bathe before entering Community Total reporting of illness popula- themsleves cases to the kitchen. They can cook food without taking tion ill and going total po a bath but usually bathe before taking food. In to doctor/ pulation ;;:ummer, people bathe both in the morning and in vaidyafor l)le evening. treatment The use of soap is not common. They say that Teli 248 14 5.6 the usc of soap is a shauk (luxury). The soap used Rawat 34 for bathing is not a bath-soap at all but cheap washing Dhobi 17 soap purchased at 2 annas or so at Pandariya. For cleaning the head and hair, the women use Chhatri 12 2 16·6 chiktti mati (soft earth) or rakh mati (washing soda). Bairagi 11 1 9·00 The body is rubbed with cloth or a p:ece of stone. Nai 5 The tank is the place for bathing, however dirty the wa.ter may be. Panka 3 Clothes are washed after boiling them in water Total .. 330 17 5·15. with washing soda. They are given to the washer The people have the:r own medicines for various. man only after birth and death when ritual-purity diseases and go to the doctor only in refractory cases~. is required. For cleaning the teeth, twigs of Babool The treatment to var:ous diseases and ailments in the, or Neem (datoon) are used. But generally speaking village is descr;bed below : not much care is given to teeth, and surprisingly enough, teeth diseases are rare. Ears are never 1. Ordinary bleeding wounds. Earth, kerosene oiL. cleaned. Nails are cut only when the hair is· cut by the barber. 'Vomen use hot ash as depilatory. 2. Eczema, itch or other skin Turmeric powder. diseases. The people do not hesitate to put on dirty clothes. 3. Diorrhala, dysentry Aque camphor, a1'1;: When necessary, water is filtered through a piece of pudina, curd. ;;.loth irrespective of the fact that the cloth is very dirty. They spit everywhere-even in the kitchen. 4. Cough and cold Tea. 5. Fever Tea in which tulsi Diseases.-Common diseases in the village are (Ocymnr sanctum) stomach troubles, fever and cough. Venereal diseases leaves or ginger is seem to be rare and only one case has come to notice, boiled. that of a woman aged 30 years or so. For these diseases, people prefer to take sooji (injections) from 6. Scorpionbite and Mantra by B aiga. Pandariya. The Vaidya is also consulted by some Snake bite Doctor. people. The villagers believe in the cure' of' diseases and~ Fever is the most common ailment; this is expUlsion of 'malign spirits' by mantra. The personl natural also because the village surroundings are who knows mantra or this art is called Baiga. Sukaloo) ideal places for mosquito breeding and people do not Teli aged about 50 years is the village Baiga and he is use any mosquito nets to protect themselves. called in cases while the child is not suckling mother's milk or when children are ill and also when the grown On the whole, however, the villagers are healthy ups are ill and suspect the effect of some malevolent and do not become ill. The cases of illness, as com spirit. Scorpion b:!tes are also attended to by pared with the village population, are very few and in Sukaloo. It appears that Sukaloo has. quite an the last one year the cases of illness were only 17. . appreciable clientale in the Village. 72 Baiga is a common term in Chhattisgarh to des profession of B:liga is not a hereditary one. Sukaloo cribe a person who is supposed to know mantra, etc. Baiga of Tilaibhat does not seem to have undergone by which he cures the effects of malign spirits and any traming in his supposed art. He is known as snak es, scorpions, etc. These Baiga, have nothing Baiga simply because one of his relatives living in to do with the Baiga tribe of Mandla District. The another village is a Baiga. Teli, Rawat Dhobi Chhatri Bairagi Nai Panka N(). ()f families who ever required the services 33 6 4 3 2 1 I of the Baiga for a member of the household. No. of families who never required the services 8 1 1 of the Baiga. Total 41 7 4 3 3 1 1 Births and del.ths in the village from 1956 till the date of this survey are shown in the table below: .,-______.A.______...... Births Deaths Year r------A.-. r- Total ),Iale Female Total :Ylale Female 1956 16 9 7 -l 2 2 1957 16 8 8 6 3 3 1958 20 11 9 16 9 7 1959 15 9 6 9 5 4 1960 13 7 6 13 6 7 ~961 (till the date of survey) 10 3 7 9 7 :1 INCOME, EXPENDITURE, INDEBTEDNESS Ilncome.-Tilaibhat has a predominantly agricul position in the village. The ~ouseholds of different 'tural economy and in general agriculture is the greatest castes have been shown below arranged according 'source of income. Table X illustrates the income to income groups ; Income group in Rs. ----~ Caste Less than 25 25-50 51-75 76-100 More than 100 '~Teli 1 11 14 6 9 : Rawat 1 3 2 1 . Dhobi 2 :2 , Chhatri 2 1 . Bairagi 1 2 - Panka 1 -Nai 1 Total 2 20 22 7 TILAIBHAT] 73 The table shows that it is only the Telis who are in the monthly income group of more than Rs 100. As a whole, 70% of the households fall in the income group Rs. 25-75 per month. The table presented below shows the sources and monthly income of different castes : Income in Rs. from No. of Total Caste house Agricul- Aniinal Service Forest Labour Others Income holds ture Husbandry Products Teli 41 2;129 15 10 854 17 3,025 Rawat 7 194 11 10 138 1 354 Dhabi 4 191 23 6 220 Chhatri 3 135 22 157 Bairagi 3 114 1 18 15 148 Panka 1 36 33 69 Nai 1 50 50 Total 60 :1,799 :J7 116 :18 99:1 61 4,023 The average income per household is highest in The tables appended at the end of the report illustrate Te1i caste where it comes to Rs. 74 per month and the the income picture of the village economy in detail. lowest income per household is in the Rawat and the Nai caste where it comes to :as. 50 per household. Expendltare.-The table below shows the The Bairagi,. Chhatri and the Dhobi households have average monthly expenditure itt different castes in Rs 50-55 per month as average household income. Tilaibhat: Ineaste Item of expenditure in rupees Teli Rawat Dhobi Chhatri Baiiagi Panka Nai 1. Food 2,103 262 143 100 90 51 25 2. Conventional necessities 50 13 4 5 1 2 3. Intoxicants 7 4. Fuel and Lighting 150 22 14 9 3 3 3 5. Clothing 239 31 20 10 15 6 3 6. Education 1 7. Medicines 59 4 4: 5 2 1 8. Other means of productibn 9. Fodder 5 10. Social obligation 84 5 6 3 2 1 11. Other domestic utilities 82 8 7 3 2 2 12. Dwellings 132 17 12 12 4 2 2 13. Religious ceremonies 71 7 8 4: 1 2 1 14. Recreation 1 .. .. 15. Other 2 ., 2 T.otal 2~986 369 :I:J8 151 115 69 40 74 Apart from food, the items of expenditure in the are given to the villagers by the Co-operative Bank riIlage are conventional necessities, fuel and lighting. through the Co-operative Society in the village. clothing, social obligation, dwellings, religious ceremonies and domestic utilities. Out of these, The year-wise burden of debt in the village is as religious ceremonies, dwellings and social obligations below: are items over which expenditure may be required only once or .twice in a year. But the other items like conventional necessities, fuel and lighting, : ~. clothing and domestic utilities are items of regular Amount ..J expenditure. Year of debt taken in Rs. In conventional necessities, tobacco forms a major 1958 item. The people roll their own chongi (cigar) 510 which consists of leaves of sa1'ai (Shorea robusta) 1960 4,422 and tobacco. The tobacco is purchased from village 1961 70 Pouni and sa1'ai leaves are purchased from Pandariya market. On an average each .household spends Total 5.002 about Rs. 1~20 on smoking per year. Well-to-do people smoke 'bid.. Another important item of ex Caste-wise burden of this debt is not brought out penditure is on fuel and lighting materials. They in the tables given in the appendix and the same is have to pay a tax to collect fuel wood and they _ shown here: suggest that the government should make an arrange ment in which they are not required to pay to the Caste Total No. of Perceu- Amount contnctor for fuel wood. No. of J. house tage of of debt house- hold in household since 1958 It may be seen that there is no expenditure on holds debt.j( in debt to in rupees means of production, very little for cattle-fodder and total similarly practically nothing on education. households Indebtedness.-The real picture of village 53'6 4,433 indebtedness is not brought out in this enquiry. Teli 41 22 The people tell us only about the cash amounts they Rawat 7 2 28·5 250 have taken for social obJjgations, house constmction Dhobi 4 .. or religious ceremonies. But the real indebtedness, and the one whiCh ezplains Patel Ram Prasad's Chhatri 3 2 66'6 . 269 becoming the spokesman of the village, lies in the Bairagi 3 indebtedness connected with seed and food-grains. Fanka 1 ... Patel Ram Prasad loans out such requirements in - ballJi, i.e. he collects one and a half times the loan at Nai 1 1 100'0 50 the end of the harvest. In other seasons when he Total 60 17 45 5,OOl loans for consumption, he collects one and a quarter _:..i... times. This loan is liot acknowledged by the people Indebtedness by cause (Table XII) shows tha,! and cannot be ascertained exactly unless sustained the debt has been taken either for marriage celebration efforts are made. They fear that if they give out or for, land reclamation, purchase of bullock or land this ftgure Patel would not give them the loan. improvement. But in the case of Khorbahara. Na:i (Barber) the debt bas beeIl taken for food. Th~ also Tables XI and XII given in the appendix shows the economic condition of the barber ~ the illustrate the position in the village with regard to village and the reason why he too wants to be aD . indebtedness. The loan for purchase of agriCultural agriculturist rather than a village servant. ... cattle and for improvement of land is got by the villagers from the Co-operative and Land Mortgage The source of debt is the Co-operative and Land Bank at Bilaspur, but loans for marriages and religious MortgUge Bank, Bilaspur or some well-to-do villager. celebrations are taken from different persons, among In rare cases it is from a registered money-lender. whom Ram Prasad Teli is quite prominant. Loans The source of debt in the village is shown below: TltAIBIlAT] 75 Total No. of households raising debts from Caste· hoaseholds in debt r------,.Coop. and From the Outside the Outside the Land Mort village village but· district gage Bank itself within district Teli .. 2! 12 5 1 Rawat 2 2 Dhobi .. ' .. Chhatri 2 1 1 Bairagi Panka Nai .. 1 I Total 2'1 J3 5 8 1 This statement shows that approximately 50% advances the loan to the Co-operative Society in the of the debt in the village is now got from the Co-opera village. The bank advances loan of Rs. 40 over one tive and Land Mortgage Bank at Bilaspur and 50% acre of land. and the rates of interest are as below: from other sources. Within the village Ram Prasad Patel is the person who gives out this debt. In only 1. For Co-operative Society one case did the villagers go out of the district for a Short term 6% loan and that too was a nearby tahsil of D1l1'g District. Medium term 6i% Information regarding the indebtedness ill village 2 For Members - Tilaibhat was verified from the Co-operative and Land Mortgage Bank at Mungeli Branch. This branch of Short term 9% the bank was started in 1944 and a. Co-operative Medium term 9i% Society in Tilaibhat was organiSed in 1955. Th! year wise growth of the Co-operative Society The procedure of advancing loan by the Co-opera at Tilaibhat and yearwise distribution of lean is shown . ive and Land :Mortgage Bank is that the Bank in the Table below: r------' ~ , Year Shares Loan taken Short term Medium term. Purpose of loan inRs. loan in Rs. loaninRs. 1955 13 2,430 Purchase of cattle. 1956 13 1425 9S4 471 Do. 1957 18 2,349 1,572 777 Do. 1958 - 24 2,653 1,777 786 Do. 1959 24 2,012 1,144 868 Do. 1960 26 2,296 1,615 671 Purchase of cattle and fertilizer. 1961 27 2,350 2,350 Agricultural purposes 76 (VILLAGE The Co-operative Society in village Tilaibhat was The procedure of recovery of loan is that the short fonned in 1955 and was registered under Co-opetative term loan is recoverable in one yearly instalment. Societies' Act on 31st May 1955 and it has one Sar medium tenn loan in 2 or 3 instalments and the long panch. ODe seCretary and three Panchas. At present tenn loan in 6 instalments. The amount recoverable the office bearers are : from the village up to date is Rs. 2.025-00. 1. Sarpanch • • Shri Domara Teli It is to be noticed that the statement of debt 2. Secretary Shri Itwari Tell shown OD page 74 supra. does not corroborate the 3. Panchas Shri Sahoran figures got from the bank, e.g. the total amount of ShriLakhan debt in 1961 is shown by the villagers as Rs. 70 whereas as per the bank the loan advance is ~ 3.081. ShriDhanau The information from the bank is, however, to be The yea.r-wise recoYecy of this loan from the village taken as the reliable figure. is as below: Amount of Year recovery inRs. 1956 .. Il.ooa 1957 .. 1,912 1958 '0 •• 2.410 1959 3.153 196) .. 00 2,477 1961 00 •• .. 3,081 CHAPTER VII SUPERSTITIONS, RELIGION The religious life of any people is expressed in mani- festations in outward form, in beliefs and in rites. Durkheim. therefore, defined religion as composed of AND 'beliefs' and 'rites', beliefs about" sacred things and rites addressed to them. Mere beliefs do not consti tute religion, it is rites which make religion a living force .•...... Max Schmidt divided religion into its FESTIVALS component parts, into culius and "ites. By cultus. Max Schmidt means "all those acts by which men believe themselves to be brought into touch with the powers that are the objects of their religious faith 1"1 It appears that as compared with the religion in Tribal societies, the religion in villages like TiIaibhat is on th"! decline. As Durkheim stated: 'Mere beliefs do not constitute religion, rites are required to make it a living force'. In rural life today there is a divorce b~tween beliefs and rites and the rural religion as seen in Tilaibhat i, more belief and little rite. The result is that religion is no more a living force. Life, therefore, seems to have become a purposeless routine. Villagers in Tilaibhat are not atheists. On the other hand they are polytheists. They believe that the course of man's life is predestined by God and his "everything"-health, wealth, life and death depend tion of any of these. Raksa IS the supematurru pheno on the will of God. They have, however, no ide a of menon seen in the nights in the form of fiames of fire which glows, fliCkers and then flares up and glows what God is or of who among the various deities and again. It is then seen at some distance away and the divinities, is really the controller of man's life. same phenomenon occurs. Raksa is supposed to be a Bellef in supernatural spirits.-Practically all male spirit and is supposed to obstruct the way some the villagers believe in the existence of spirits and times. It is said that if a man is encountered by ghosts though none of them have any experience of 1'aksa he should return. Some raksas are believed encountering such spirits. They believe that the to be benign ones and if a man has courage, it is said, spirits Ihre in the burial and cremation ground and they will give him 1ight on the way on dark nights. that evil-mindEd people after their death become such It is believed that a Brahmin who dies without spirits. marrymg becomes a 1'aksa but members of other castes dying without marriage do not become "aksas They icentify many spirits, e. g., raksa, mas-an, but become bhoot. The ,aksas are supposed to Moot, pret, churel and pretin. But except that of dwell near the trees. Chamar Rai Teli of TiJai"bhat raksa, th ey are not able to give any precise descrip- claims to have sem a "ilksa spirit. He says that he saw 3 raksas glowing and going oft intermittently, 1. Races and Cultures of India, D.N. Majumdar, 195E1, p" 398. These 3 raksas then joined int) one. 78 [VILLAGE A little dilation on the subject of l'aksa would no (5) Empty vessel lying on the ground is a bad be out of place here. The l'aksas or the phenomenon omen. of burning lights are an established fact in rural Chhattisgarh and it would not be justifiable to (6) Empty vessel kept straight on the head disbelieve everybody. The lights are seen in out of the of a woman who is not holding it by way places and they are reported to be moving also. hand, is a good omen. Whether they are some kind of incandescent algae (7) Filled up vessel on the head of a woman or whether it is the presence of phosphorous near the is a good omen. cremation grounds or whether they are some superna (8) Deer going from left to right is a good omen. tural phenomenon is a matter for serious investigation. (9) Deer going from right to left is a bad omen. The famous hunter of man-eating tigers, Jim Corbettl , has mentioned in one of his books his experience of (10) Seeing crows cohabiting is a bad omen. similar phenomenon. He says in that book: "The High (11) Fall of a lizard on the left part of body is Priest was emphatic that the lights were an established a bad omen. fact which no one could dispute;...... in this (12) Fall of a lizard on the right part of body I was in agreement with him for I had seen them for is a good omen. myself." Whether the testimony of Jim Corbett is accepted by us or not, the phenomenon of l'aksa (13) Falling of the excreta of a bird on the b"ack is believed ih· the village by those who claim to have is a bai omen. seen it and also by those who have never seen it. (14) A vulture or other bird pecking a wound on It is said that in 1952-53, shortly before and during the the body; a very bad omen. small-pox epidemic, this phenomenon was very (15) Sneezing by somebody when starting for commonly seen and burning I ights used to be seen some work is a bad omen. here and there. But the villagers say that this phenomenon was not l'aksa but the De'IJi who was (16) If a cat crosses the path. it is a bad omen. giving warning of the approaching epidemic. (17) If a fox crosses the path, it is a bad omen. But if a thorn is put on the path, then one It is believed that people who die an untimely can safely go ahead. The putting of the death and have violent deaths like hanging, drowning, thorn on the path after the fox (jackal) etc., become Moots. Females dying during delivery has crossed, is supposed to nullify the bad become chUl'elin. It is held that sometimes this effects of it. chul'elin steals the basi from the kitchen and eats it. (18) It is believed that the me of an amulet would protect them from scorpion and Common superstltions •....,...Auspicious days, omens snake bites. and superstitions are very commonly observed thro ugh out India~rural and urban. The superstitions of (19) The eastern direction is believed to be the tribal people are different from those of others. holy and is a good omen. The wes~em All others follow more or less the sam3 superstition; direction is bad. While resting they do relate:! to the fall of a lizard or sneezing and so on. not keep their feet towards the east because In village Tilaibhat the super.;titions of the people ar ~ it is believed that the holy river Narbada the same as everywhere else. They are : is in the east. (20) Wailing of cows, dogs or the ji-chil'ai bird (1) Meeting a Brahmin is a good omen. at night is a bad omen. (2) Meeting a Teli is a bad omen. (This is the Family deities.-The deities and divinities opinion of other castes.) worshipped in village Tilaibhat are Dulha Deo,Thakur (3) Meeting a one-eyed man is a bad omen. Deo, Kankali, Ram, Krishna, Shankar, Hanuman. Radha-Krishna and Bhagwan. The presence of SO (4) Empty vessels kept slightly slanting on the many deities in the religious beliefs of the people head is a bad omen. suggests stages. Dulha Deo, Thakur Deo and prob ably Kankalin represent the age-old deities and 1. The Temple Tiger and More Man-eaters of Kumaon, Ram-Krishna, Bhagwan and Kabir, etc., are the deities Jim Corbett. 1954. pp. 132-133. adopted subsequently as a resJlt of cultural contact. THE GROVE IN WHICH THA~{uR DEO AND MATA DEWALA ARE SITUATED MATA DEWALA TIt:AIBHATJ Dulha Deo is the most popular deity among the is a sign of disintegration of their beliefs. The Dhobis people here and a similar survey of a village in Raipur have, for example, forgotten the 'Ghatoi'a Devi.' Districtl showed that Dulha Deo is the commone5t Lord Shankar, supposed to be the household deity of deity there, paid homage to by all caste~. In Tilaibhat, the Telis elsewhere, is not worshipped in this village all the castes except the Telis follow one or two deities. where the Telis pay homage to Dulha Deo and other The Telis, however, pay homage to a combina.tion of deities. them but do not know any myth regarding them and do not know any rite regarding their worship. Below are shown the family deities of different Their indiscriminate adoption of any and every deity castes in village nlaib'lat : No. of families worshipping the deity in Deity Te1i Rawat Dhobi Chhatri Bairagi Panka Nai Total No. of famUies 41 7 4 3 3 1 1 DulhaDeo 10 6 4 2 ThakurDeo 1 Kabir 7 .. 1 Dulha Deo and Thakur Deo 5 both Dulha Deo and Kabir both 9 Thakur Deo and Kabir 1 Dulha Deo, Thakur Deo and 1 Kankalin all. Kabir. Thakur Deo and Shankar 5 .. Dulha Deo and Bhagwan 1 Shankarji Dulha Deo and Mahabir 1 1 Mata ..~ 1 Krishna Krishna and Hanuman Ra~a and Krishna 1 It is evident from the above statement that it is village which returned Mahadeo or Shankar as the the numerically dominant caste, i.e. the Te1i which family God. Whether this is due to the fact of influ. shows the greatest vagaries in religion. Numerically ence of other castes or it is because the Te1is do not subordinate castes still cling to their old deities. have the oil-mill (consequently not worshipping Russell and HiralalZ observe that the Tells "especially Mahadeo) cannot be determined with certainty but revere Mahadeo or Siva who gave them the oi1~mil1". it appears to be more due to the influence of --ther There is not even one household of the Telis in the castes in the area. Dulha Deo has been described by RusselP as I, Socio-Economic Survey of village Bendri in Raipur District, M.P.; Census of India, 1961. a "Godling whose shrine is in every village. He 2. Tribes and Castes of the C.P.: Vol. IV: Russell and 1. Tribes aDd Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV: Russell aDd Hiralal; 1916. p. 549. HiraJal. 1966. p. 549. 80 was a young bridegroom who was carried off by a In T ilaibhat only one household ha Thakur Deo as tiger on his way to his wedding, Qr according to an the exclusive deity. There are 12 other Teli households other account was turned into a stone pillar by a :flash who worship Thakur Deo along with other deities. of lightning. Before the starting of a wedding pro cession, the members go to Dulha Deo and offer Thakur Deo is a protector God of the village. pair of shoes and a miniatur:' post and marriage crown. Regarding the etymology of the term, Grierson 1 On their return they offer a cocoanut. Dulha Deo has says: "The Aryan origin of the word Thakur has been , stone and a platform to the East of the village or doubted, but no other possible derivation has been occasionally an image of a man on horseback," proposed. The word occurs in late Sanskrit in the Describing the religion of the Tells, RusselP says: form thakkura. The form thakkura shows that the "In CbhattiSgarh, Dulha Deo is the household god of word has been borrowed from Prakrit. It has almost the caste, and he is said not to have any visible image the same significance as stha'Vira and is used as a or symbol, but is considered to reside in a cupboard respectful title." Fuchs states2 that the name in the house. When any member of the family falls Thakur Deo "is very common in Bengal and as far ill it is thought that Dulha Deo is angry, and a goat west as the Bllaspur District, probably the original is offered to appease hitn. II home of the Bhumia". Fuchs further says that the abode of Thakur Deo is in a tree. "A large stone In the Report of the Ethnological Committee2 , 1866, the following mention occurs: "As for Doola slab is brought and laid on the ground at the base Deo, so commonly mentioned as a ~avourite Gond deity, of the tree. On this slab another stone slab is placed he comes from Bunde1khund and is the apotheosis iil a vertical position and made to lean against the of a bridegroom (dulha) who died in the marriage trunk of the sacred tree." procession and whose untimely end so affected the people that they paid him divine honours." The Thakur Deo in village Tilaibhat is situated under the trees to the west of the village. The stones Captain Forsyth describing the religion of the are slabs but they do not present any arrangement as Gonds says' of the Dulha Deo that he is "the described by Fuchs and are laid without any design. apotheosis of a bridegroom. II Thakur Deo is a Bhumia deity. As Fuchs3 states : It appears, therefore, from the above that Dulha "When the Bhumia worshi p Thakur Deo, the Gond Oeo was introduced as a deity in these regions by the look on. They scarcely ever take an active part in a Gond influence in the past. Dulha Deo does not worship of this god." Bilaspur District has been have any shrine or chabuwra, ete., in the village. consi'dered by Fuchs to be the original home of the Some households, mostly the Rawats, keep an earthen Bhumias and one village in Mungeli Tahsil has the image of Dulha Deo, i.e. a rider on horseback. It name, Bhumiapara. It is, therefore, not unlikely appears very likely that before the spread of Kabir that this deity has been adopted by the Telis from the panthism. Dulha Deo must have been a very popular Bhumias and given the place of a family deity and deity in these areas and allegiance to this village God. deity is not confined in the Rawat caste only as is supposed4 but all castes pay their homage to him. Thakur Deo is worshipped when there is an illness The villagers of Tilaibhat do not know any myth or in the family or when any celebration like marriage_ legend about this deity nor is he worshipped regularly or child-birth takes place or when any desire has been· or with rites. fulfilled and any badna (promise) has been made to the Thakur De~. The worship consists of offering Thakur Deo.-Thakur Deo is another deity flowers and cocoanut and small flag, or, if economic worshipped in the village but he is very much less condition permits, sacrifice of a goat. Ramdhun is popular than Dulha Deo. Unlike Dulha Deo, his also sung near the Thakur Deo. Recitation of the worship is confined only to the Te1i caste and no other name of 'Ram' ne'lr the image of Thakur Deo speaks caste has returned Thakur Deo as a family God. of the Hinduisation of the worship rites. 1. Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. IV Russell aDd Hirala1, p. 550. ' I. Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. IV. G.A. Grierson, '2. Report of the Ethnological Committee, 1866, p. 10. 1906, p. 31. 3. The Highlands of Central India, .1. Forsyth, 1919; 2. The Gond and Bhumia of Eastern Mandla, Stephen p.120. Fuchs. 1960, pp. 383-3!W. 4. Raipur District Gazetteer, 1909, p. 98. 3. Ibid, p. 385. 81 \ MANABIA UtfDER A. PfRPAL '.'1 82 lVILLAGE SATYANARAYAN" PUJA· TILAlBHAT] 83 Mahabir or Hanuman.-Below the pupal Kawardha in neighbouring Durg District and Dama (Ficus re1igiosa) tree on the bank of the western tank kheda in Raipur District are strongholds of Kabir is placed a wooden club (gada) and a stone slab. Panth and the village Tilaibhat has been influenced This is supposed to symbolize the God Hanuman or by this sect to quite an appreciable degree. The Mahabir. After bath people pour water over the religious service, chauka cf the sect is described slab. On special occasions Vermillion powder mixed elsewhere in this chapter.) with oil is rubbed on the slab and a flag is offered. Religious influences and eligious groups. Mata or village Goddess.-The village Goddess It is seen from the foregoing description that there is or Mata is propitiated at the time of epidemics like some kind of admixture of religious beliefs and prao small-pox. In the year 1952-53 there was this small tices. This appears to be due to the infiuence of pox epidemic in the village resulting in a heavy toll various dominating castes and dominant religions in of children's life and then Mata was propitiated. the past. The religious illfluences in the village are She is also worshipped at the time of 'Bhojli' festival. shown in the diagram below : Allegiance to village Goddess is rare and her worship takes place only occasionally. She is symbolized by a stone slab with a trisu& (trident) placed near it. Mahadeo or Shankar.-Mahadeo or Shankar, according to Russell, is a God of special reverence for the Telis because He is supposed to have given them the oil-mill. In this village Mahadeo seems to have lost influence and now Shankar is regarded as family deity along with Kabir and Thakur Deo by only 5 Teli households. He is symbolized by a stone below the peepal tree on the tank. Radha-Krishna.-The Bairagis keep pictures of Lord Krishna in their houses. There is no image or temple dedicated to the deity. Kabir.-Kabir is the family deity of the Kabir panthis. "Bishop Westcott gives the date of Kabir's life as A.D. 1440-1518, while Mr. Crooke states that he flourished between 1488 a d 1512."1 "The religion preached by Kabir was of a lofty charac ter. He rejected the divine inspiration of the Vedas Out of 41 Teli households (248 persons), 22 house and th' whole Hindu mythology. He taught that holds (133 persons) returned Kabir as the family there was no virtue in outward observances such as deity either exclusively or in association with other shaving the head, ceremonial purity and impurity and deities. The allegiance to Kabir Panth has divided the circumcision among Muhammadans. He condemned Tells into two main religious groups-the Kabirha the worship of idols and the use of sect-marks and and the Deotaha. The former are supposed not to religious amulets but in all ordinary matters allowed worship any idol or image or any other deity and his followers to confornl to usage in order to avoid refrain from taking meat and other non-vegetarian giving offence. He abolished distinctions of caste. food, while the latter worship various deities and idols He enjoined a virtuous life, just conduct and kindly and there is no restriction on food. The divisions behaviour and much meditation on the virtues of are purely religious and not social because inter God. He also condemned love of money and gain."2 marriage between the two groups is permissible. The distfuction between the two groups is. howtver, not 1, Tribes and Castes of the C.P., Vol. I, Russell and well defined now. The Kabirhas worship icols, if HiraJal, p. 232. necessary, and do not observe the restriction on food 2. Ibid, pp. 234-235. 1. I"fra. p. 66. [VSUAS: Tbey stealthily partake to meat and ftsh. etc. It is. most popular deities do not require any partieular h:>wever, said that if the Gum comes to know of this. festival for their propitiation and are worshipped or he may ridicule, abuse and even beat the persons so invoked as and when necessity arises. The Kahil offending against the code. Panth, which prohibits worship of any idol, similarly does not ordain the celebration of any special festival. Reli~ous calendar.-It ha, been shown in the But the beliefs introduced as a result of inftuen<:e of foregoing that religious beliefs in the village have been . the upper Hindu castes require some definite celebra imported at least from four directions-the Gonds, tion. In the table below the religious ealendar the Bhumias. the Kabir Panth and the upper-caste observed in the village is given : Hindus. Thakur Deo and Dulha Deo who are the Occupations. func- Associated fes- God/Gods propi- Dances and fairs Calendar month tions and ope- tivals observed tiated rations 1. l\hrch Social Hoi. Holika Local songs. 2. August .. Agricultural HtII'el; Village God Bullock race competition. 3. August Do Bhojli Goddess Songs. 4. September Religious Tija Shankar Parvati Local songs. 5. September Agricultural PolatwPora 6. September Do janmflStmi Krishna Bha,ans. 7. October Do Daflhra Ram Ramleela. B. November Do Diwali Laxmi Bhajan 9. November Do EWasi Holi.-The Boli festival is celebrated by the pe0- In this festival. the cattle are fed with wheat ple in Tilaibhat as well though not with that violence 110m made into dough and they are also given salt. (literally) with which it is celebrated in some of the The btll'4iha or the grazier is also given a share of towns. The festival is celebrated in imitation of the flour-dough. The people also wash. the agri the upper-caste Hindus. cultural implements and perform a ritual worship in the cattle-shed of their house. Boli is celebrated on the' fullMmoon day in the The children bring out their bamboo stilts and month of Fagun (March). A. nrei s burnt in the night they play on stilts for a month or so and then immerse at one place and the next day men throw coloured them in the tank. water over one another. BhoJU.-BhoJU is celebrated in the month of SrafiJalf. The women sow wheat in a basket in Hareli.-Barel; is celebrated on the new moon their houses and I et them remain for seven days. day in themonthofSrafllanUuly-August). Tliefestival In this time the seeds sprout up. On the day next l appears to be an agricultural one. Fuchs describes to Rakhi day, the women then take their baskets Hareli a3 "something of a spring festiwl. After and immerse them in the tank. the dry months of the hot season the monsoon sets in; every tree and bush is reviving; all vegetation be Tija.-Tija is an important festival of the gins to bloom and blossom. The peasants have plou women-folk in rural Cbhattisgarh. It is celebrated ghed their fields and sown their seeds. Now the brown in the month of September one day before Ganesh nakedness of the fields assumes a green hue and soon Chaturthi. All the women go back to their parents' the young plants will sprout." house. The women keep fast on this day. Pol. or Pora.-Pola or Pora is evidently an agri 1. Gonda and Bhumias of Eastem Mandla, Stephen cultural festival. It is celebrated in the month of Fucha. 1960. p. 470. BJuulon (September) before Tifa. The children 85 purchase earthen or woodell toy-bullocks and adorn The poDja or the katha is a recitation Dy the Plllldi' these. The elder people decorate and worship their of a series of stories of persons who suffered because agricultural cattle and take them out in a procession. . of refusing or not partaking of the prasad and the The people prepare special food on this day consisting good resulting from accepting the pras(ld. The of thetnri-khurmi, bara, cheela. sU1Ihari, etc. pooja.is a cornmJn one and is not being described in detail. JanmutmJ.-janmastmi is the festival cele One story relates to a wood-cutter who on seeing brating the birth of Lord Krishna. It is especially a Brahmin performing this pooja asked from celebrated by the Ba.iragis who regard this as the big him the good results of it. After taking the prasad ges., fe~tival. They keep fast the whole day and he wished that he would also perform a similar worship Kri..:hna in the night. Pooja and that day he receive4""double the price for Dasahra.-DasahrQ is celebrated in the month his fuel wood. Another story Is that of a Vaishya of October to symbolIze the victory of Ram over who learnt this pooja from a king named Ulkamukh. the demon king Ravana. Som'c'. people sacrifice a He wished that he would perform this pooja when goat before Thakur Dco. he gets a child. Just after thiS his wife Lilawati conceived and in due course gave birth to a female Dlwali.-Diwali is celebrated in the month of child named Kalawati. But the Vaishya did not November rather but on a small scale. People fulfil the promise and postponed the pooja to the wormip the cow who is regarded as Laxmi. The occasion of his daughter's marriage. But even houses are washed and repaired. A statue is made . when Kalawati was married the Vaishya did not out of cow-dung and is called Gobardhan. In the fulfil this promi'se and, on a sojourn, he along with his evening the people light earthen lamps ·and also son-in-law, was falsely implicated in a theft. A indulge in a display of fireworks purchased from theft was also committed in his house and Lilawati Pandariya market. In the Diwali night and subse and Kalawati were reduced to pauper. One day quent nights some villagers also engage themselves Kalawati listened to the pooja in the house of a Brah in gambling. The Rawats go to all the houses in the min and when Lilawati heard of it, she was reminded vi~e in a r'ancing party and dance. In return of her husband's promise and soon promised to the they are given money or grain by the households. God Satyanarayan that she would preform the worship Ekadasi (Katrik Ekadasi).-Some people fast if her husband and son-in-law return back quickly. and worship sugarcane, guava and gram-plant. In the king's gaol the Vaishya and his son-in-law were released as a result of the King seeing a dream TilE POOJA A.ND CHAUKA in which h was ordered by God Satyanarayan to rdieve Satya Narayan kl Katha.-Satya N a,ayan ki Katha them. While the VaiShya was returning home the is being introduced in the rural area under the in God Satyanarayan in the guise of a satlhu asked tilem fluence of the Brahmins and in this village it is the the contents of the boat in which they were travellin~ Brahmin priest fromI Pusera who gets this pooja and the Vaishya replied that it was full of leaves and performed. The TeliS: and the Bairagis are the main straw. To his great dismay he discovered that the clients of this pa,,4it from Pusera. gold and silver in his boa!':had disappeared and' it was full of leaves and straw. Great sorrow fell On the day of the pooja the pandit comes in upon the Vaishya and seeing him in this condition the the morning to the village and prepares the prasad. satl1u4 returned and reminded him of his promise to etc., for the pooja. Normally the prasad, etc., is perform the pooja. The boat was again full of gold prepared by the households themselves. But in and silver and he returned home. His wife and this village, since the Brahmin would not take the daughter who were performing Satyanarayan pooja twasatl cooked by a Teli or a Bairagi, he prepares when they received information of his coming, left it himself. the poDja without accepting the prasad and because of this God Satyanarayan was enraged and the Vaishya In the pooja the room is \vashed with cow-dung and the son-in-law were drowned. The God appeared and then the Brahmin decorates a wooden seat with and told the ladies of the mistake th~y. had c0m banana lea'Ves and places it over a design (choNk) mitted. They then again made a promise- and the Vai prepared on the ground with wheat flour. He then places the image which he brings in his bag over thi!; shya and his son-in-law appeared again. Returnil¥ bome they perfonned the fJoo_ia \vith due rite!-! and seat. [VILLAGE cerem,mies and livel m:my long years !n this world. flour. It i,; then brought to the mallant who makes There are some one or two similar stories recited it into little pu,is or wafers. The maha"t has also. by the Brahmin pandit. a number of betel-leaves known as parwana or message which have been bles';etl by the Head Guru at After all the five stories are over, the hom is Kawardha or Damakheda. These are cut up into small performed. in which a fire is kindled at the place of pieces for delivery to each disciple and are supposed worship and a mixture of barley (jou), til, sugar and to be the body of' Kabir. He has also brought ghee is put into the fire to the recitation of some charan amnia or nectar of the feet, consisting mantras. The people assembled then partake of of water in which the feet of the Head Guru have the prasa4 and after some chat disperse. been washed. This is mixed with fine earth and Chauka.-Chauka is the religious worship of the made into pills. The worshippers reassemble, any Kabir panthis The Kabir Panth prohibits idol wor~ who may feel unworthy, absenting themselves, and ship and chauka ceremony consists in merf>ly each receives from the mahant, with one hand folded the recitation of songs composed by Kabir and of beneath the other, a wafer of the dough, a piece ot his teachings. Chauka is performed on all occaSions, the pa,wana or betel~leaf and a pill of the 'foot~nectar'. i.e. after birth, marriage and death and on the After partaking of the sacred food they cleanse their ulfilment of some wish. hands and the proceedings conclude with a substantial:..., meal defrayed either by subscription or by a well l Chauka has been described by Russell as below: t~do.. member." IfA Kabir Panth religious service is called chauka. the name given. to the space marked out for it The .""aham usually visits this village. once a with lines of wheat flour, 5 or 71 yards' square. year or more frequently if invited. He has an assi~ In the centre is made a pattern of nine lotus-flowers tant known as Diwan who always accompanies him. to represent the Sun, Moon and seven Planets, and In the chauka ceremony in Ti)aibhat 360 lamps are over this a bunch of real flowers is laid. At one comer lighted. These lamps are made of wheat flour made is a small hollow pillar of dough, serving as a candle wet with milk and ghee. The idea is that since there stick, covered with cotton~wool burns as a lamp, are 360 days in a year, the quota for the whole year which is fed with butter. The mahant sits at one end is completed in one day. (The villagers do not know and the worshippers sit all round. Bhajani or reli that there are 365 days iit a year.) There are 9 gious songs are sung to the accompaniment of symbols candie-sticks made of hollow dough. These repre by one or two, and the others repeat the name of sent the Sun, Moon and the seven Planets. These Kabir counting on their kant'M or necklace of b,eads. are known as kalash. The kalash is placed on rice The mahant lights a piece of camphor and waves it and kudai grain. About four seers of ~1w and backwards and forwards in a dish. This is called four seer;; of oil is used for the purpose of lighting tirli, a Hindu rite. He then breaks a cocoanut on the lamps, etc. The mahant is given a cloth to sit on a stone, a thing which only a mahane may do. The and the items put in the bhauka -like rice. flour, flesh of the cocoanut is cut up and distributed to wor ,ur, utensils, cloth, umbrella, shoe and money shippers with betel~leaf and sugar. Each receives belong to the mahant who takes them away on the it on his knees, taking the greatest care that none conclusion ofj the ceremony. The use of umbrella faUs on the ground. If a part of the coconut remains, and shoes, etc., in a reli'gi OU3 service is a very uncom t is kept by the mahant for another service .... After mon feature and has probably been introduced by the his the mahant gives an address which is followed mahants in the recent past to get their economic by an interval. Some little time afterwards the wor need;; fulfilled. shippers reassemble. Meanwhile a servant has taken the dough cancU~stick and broken it up, mixing it with fragments of the cocoanut, butter and more The person who convenes the service (chauka) gives clothes and money to his sister's son (bhanja) 1. Tribes and Castes of the C. P., Russell and Hiralal. also. It is thought that giving presents to the sis Vol. I. 1916. pp. 239-240. ter's son amounts to giving presents to 100 Brahmi~ 87 Conver~ati( n is a pastime with the villagers. They either assemble on the bank of the tank or more commonly in the verandah of Patel Ram Prasad and talk over many matters with chongi (smoking leaf-pipe) and bitlis. The conver3ation is seldom intellectual or serious and various subjects of day to-day life are discussed such as requirement of seed. success or failure of crops, rain, preparation of th;! field, cattle disease, quarrels, scandals and so on. When any of the villagErs goes to Mungeli or Bilaspu, be relates some of his experiences over theIe. CHAPTER "'" In the verandah of the Patel, some people pas their time playing the choupatl and t.he rest simply become the onlookers. There is only one choupatl RECREATIONS, board in the village and it is with the Patel Ram Prasad Teli. Some games of cards are also played in the village but as far as could be ascertained, gambling is not played except during Diwali festival. COMMUNICATION, The games of cards are very ordinary ones like teeff tlo-fJanch and sathalla. The teen-do-tJanch tame is played by three persons with a set of thirty selected cards. SathaUa is the game played by four persons with LEADERSHIP fifty two cards and the players form two pairs. The pair who makes seven hands is considered to be the winner and the losing pair shuffles the cards. Bhajans (devotional music) are occasionally sung and the songs sung are the poems of Kabir or dohas of Ramayana or some other compositions. The musical instruments are tlhola'k or mantlar and fluggi. In this village dholak is also known as ma",zu, but actually speaking, mantlu is not the appropriate word because mani41 refers to another instrument common in the tribal areas. DholaAi has a barrel-shaped structure and mandar has a cone-shaped structure. Duggi is the instrument Village Tilaibhat does not have many organized pastimes or iorms of recreation. Birth and marriage played with dholaki. rituals and the different festivals bring about a break in the monotony of life but even during these cele The Rawat Nach.-The Rawats jump to life in brations also, singing is the only item of recreation. the month of October, about the festival of Diwali. The Rawats engage in Rawat dance during Di"n4; They take out their colourful dress, the coloured but that is aU. The women do not have any recrea salooka and the courie-belt and peacock feathers tion at aU. They pass their leisure time in idle gossip, put on jingle-rings (ghunghroo) and taking the lat"; talking about the vegetable cooked or ornaments in the hand go on singing donas and dancing. 'Dance' or IIlOStly scandals and quarrels, etc. The men wouJd actually be a misnomer as appJied to the similarly spend their time iil idle gossip. The child sequence because it is nothing but a very haphazard ren have some games to play but these are on no and unsystematic kind of jumping to and fro. The organized lines. dow sung at the time of such •dances' mayor may The pastimes in which the villagers indulge are not have any meaning. Some of them are being given on page 89. as follows: ['fIU.AGE ; I []x } AA.- '~ .' ~ D rz I I-- - I - 1 .,. I I LI I IX' I J ] i 111><1 J-' 16 I - ~ I tx1 LJ I JX1 1 I 1- I I I !XI I ,~J 1-1 I- -- CHAU-AD TILAI'BRAT~ 1 . BkaHMee' ck ai-ayej' Nand ban ma Boys: SilJgee re bkata tedhi pagdee jkukale jaf£'alli pan mao BohR la ka,IWtJ1' (Nand is grazing she-buffalo in the forest; M or jat saga ke hote lower down your turban in your youth.) Bana lete jan'llJar 2. Ckhe,i charaye panrka bokra Girls: Singee re Mata goti marke balawe rawat chhok1a. Patal nerwwa (The white goat is grazing the she-goat. The Turee marike kanakhi Rawat boy is inviting by throwing a pellet.) Toora he marUf/ila 3. Ckkot~ ~ kera, batle he ke,i Boys: N awa re doliya Ramna11f, lela Saheb ckale lie beri. Boyela jeera dltan (The banana is small, the banana is big, Tor lamba he chundi Now . 'at your departing from this world, Kkopa ma beeda pan take th ~ name of Ram, 0 Saheb.) (Saheb is a term of addres:; among the Kabir Girls : N anm1tn Dcliya panthis.) Biyasi dale 4. ]kan ja re Ganga, jkall ja re tiritk. Nal1'f!an lie bihata . Man bodkna me bana le, mati ke murit. Ninasi dale . (Do not go to the Ganges, do not go to the (Meaning of all the lines of this dadanya is not very sacred places. Create the image of God in your clear. The boys sing in the first couplet that "the heart.) brinjals are carried in the kanwar. If you were of my caste, 1 would have made you my partner in life." mantliT kalask nahin 5. Futha 1 he To this the girls in their reply say soinething about M or aye Ganga baTu, darash nahin he. brinjals and tomatoes and say that 'the girl is winking (There i;; no pinnacle in the dilapidated temple. at the boy but the boy has not courage, he is exha 1 have a ritual-friend but 1 do not have his usted". The brinjals and tomatoes seem to havt> vision.) some symbolic meaning. In the second couplet the Dadariyas.- Dadariyas are the mainstay of boys say that the field is new and fine quality of paddy Chhattisgarh music. They are small two-line coup is sown. The girls hair is long and she has a betel in petscomposed by village geniuses, sometimes even her mouth. To this th gfr]'s reply that the field is extempore. Most of the datlariyas do not mean very small and biyasi (thinning operation) is done. anything in the sense that the two lines have entirely The husband of the child-marriage is so boring that different meanings or one line may not have any he brings sleep.) meaning at all and is composed just to make a rhyme. Some more dadaYiyas are : These dadariyas are sung at the time of marriages, "Tore balaye mai aye hon khaehit festivals, while working in the fields, while playing Tai p~de has palang ma, mail hade Iwn pachhit." and while returning from other villages or markets. Some of the i,aaariyas are in the fonn of questions [I have come immediately at your invitation but DOW and answers and one part is sung by the boys, the you are sleeping comfortably and I am stan-ling other part is sung by the girls in reply to the question (waiting) on the rear of the cot.] or the taunt made. The tladaritJas sung at the time "/hinee pickhouri chana ke bundki of marriage, when the boys in the bridegroom's party kala ma patew to karatew binati." taunt and make joke of the girls in the birde's party, ares metimesobscene and imply sexual significance. [Your pichkouri (shawl) is thin and has spots But as W.G. Archer says in 'Wedding of the Writers', like gram. If 1 could get you lonely, you would have in these sexual jokes there "is a release of repressed earnestly requested me to leave you.] energy which when applied to the marriage must "Tor ghar gayew, baithew macmya necessarily make it fertile." Baithan nahi payon chalaye akhiya." Some of the dadar;yas noted from village Tilai (1 went to your house and sat on th(· machiya. But bhat are given here : 1 had hardly sat, you winked at me.) 90 [VILLAGE "Pake he Boir halawon kaise village, however. remotely situated, is being affected par angna ma khacle, balafIJon kaise" by culture-contact and inter-communication of ideas. Village Tilaibhat which is situated only three [The .'boi" (plum-berry) is ripe, how should I shake the miles from the Mungeli-Pandariya road, six miles tree. You are standing in another's yard, how should from Pandariya village and 19 miles from Tahsfi I call you.) headquarters of Mungeli, can hardly escape from the changes and intrusion of new ideas and uChancli ke muntIn, utaron kaise communication. pardesia raja la balawon kaise." "isitors from outside like the Patwari, police constables and Priest Chinta Prasad are the sources (fhe ring is of silver, how should I take it out. How of information on varied subjects. The Patwari tells should I call my love from another village.) them of the changes that have taken place in the system of land-tenure in recent years. The informa Daclariyas are a pbasant music to hear in the tion imparted is, however, neither accurate nor villageuelds and in marriage celebrations and some adequate. The police constable tells them of the times when girls are singing unconcernedly in the crime or crimes that have taken place elsewhere in the fields, one is reminded of Wordsworth's uThe Solitary Police Station. Reaper": Satya Narayan ki katha is becoming more and "Behold her, single in the field, . more common for two reasons. Firstly, it seems to be due to the efforts of the priest from Pusera to expand Yon solitary Highland Lass I his clientele and secondly, the villagers see in the kallfa. Reaping and singing by hers3lf; an easy and unexpensive religious ceremony. The Stop here, or gently pass I kath4 consists of many stories dealing with the lives Alone she cuts and binds the grain, of people who worshipped Satya Narayan (The True And sings a melancholy strain; God) and also with the lives of those who neglected o listen I for the Vale profound His worship. Each story has one or more morals in it. Is overflowing with the sound." Though the katha ceremonies are becoming more common, it is doubtful whether they have any refor Games of chUdren.-The children also do not mative value. As already stated, while the intention have any organised pastime. In fact they have DO of the priest seems to be to get some more money, the organised pastime at all. At the time of 'PoIa' intention of the people is to perlonn a ceremony in a festival, boys and girls get the earthen toy cheap manner and feeling elevated by participation horse and bullocks to which they tie a rope aDd in religious worship prevalent among higher castes. ~. But this game is short-lived. Similarly short The villagers th~selves go out and make contacts~ lived is the game of getlee (wooden-stilts) which the The important places are Pandariya and Mungeli. boys prepare in July-August a'ld play with them for These visits and observatio'ls thereat are reflected in about a month. At other times of the year, the boys the following 'dadariyas' and speak of the influence of . sit i group with the elders a ld see them playing cards road construction : or c_pad or gossiping. They may also fonn their "Cycle chaZayc ,",Mil clharke own group and have some gossip. But that is all. Tola "at lee balayo1J lumrleel clharke" (A cycle is ridden by holding the handLe. • ... The girls and women have almost no pastimes. invited you in the night by lighting the candle and Topics· f the talks by women are simply the vegetables placing it as a sign.) th' y have prepared, their clothes, husbands and children or some village scandal. Feasts, festivals "NaUla f'e sadak, bichlutye gilt; and marriage are the only occasion which bring about DosltJari bar bhajeon karacl-chilti." some change in their monotonous life. (The road is new, the road-metal is laid on it. t COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP have sent a letter in post-card to the young girL) In the context of the present condition of the "Ga!Ve f'e tlongtw, ;hoclela gitti country. no village can a1Jord to live apart. Every Bara baj gaye Duoga tlede 'lII0 chhitti." TIL AlBBATJ 91 (I went to the quarry (hill) to break the stones. more likely than not, the official has some sinister It is now twelve O' clock, Time-keeper, now give a motives. break.) . . The questions which were put by them durina .. N allla satlak ma gtlllel ckuldya this Socio-Economic Survey were: '" Bane ,ahay Pantlariya. kho~a ma ,1Ipiya." ( i ) Why has only Tilaibhat been selected for (A chukiya is buried in the new road. Long live this study? Pandariya as long as we have money in the purse.) ( ii) Are we going to gain by such studies? Some of the villagers have acquired the habit of (iii) The Government never made this kind of tea-drinking from Pandariya market. The people inv~stilsation before. in taste tea the market at Pandariya and then slowly (if)} After all. how will the infonnation about become addicts· like Ram Prasad Teli and Khorbahra the tattoo marks on tbe bodies of our Nai. Water. milk, sugar and tea-dust are all put in women or their ornaments or the tlatlariyas a pot and boiled. Poorer people have heard about we say. be of any use to you? tea but have not tasted it so far. Drinking tea is ( v ) Will we get more land for cultivation? recognised as a sign of higher status. Some of the younger people have smoked cigarette (vi) Win we get timber free of cost as before for our agricultural implements and house con in Mungeli and Pandariya just to se~ how it fe::!ls but none of the elder people have smoked cigarettes struction? so far. (vii) Will we get some abadi land for house Thus visits of Government officials, markets at construction without going to courts time and again fruitlessly. Pandariya and Mungeli. visits to different villages m marriage celebrations. boys going to school and the The talks with the people showed that they are visits of the priest all help as media of communication. interested in their lands, cattle, tilnber requii:ements It is, however, noteworthy that the only Govern and hou~s. They are not interes~ed in anything else. Gomg to court for attending some case is ment agency which should have been the nlain agency regarded as a curse. They fear the police most. in communication. 'Diz. the Development Block at The most pressing demand, according to them. is the Pandariya. seems so far to have been ine1fective. facilIty for tiinber for agricultural implements This Bl~ has been in existence at Pandariya for the .1Ia,. and house construction and easy availability of fuel last three years and, as per aims and objects of without cost. such blocks. by now the Block officials should have been taken as the "friends. philosophers and guides" Some questions were put to the villagers when of the people. The picture presented is gloomy. they were sitting in a group and represented a good None of the villagers. except Patel Ram Prasad cross-section of the population. The reactions of (whose iilformatiOn is also extremely meagre). know the people towards the questions and their answers who or what the Block Development Officer of the thereto are very significant and are mentioned below; Block is. The saddest part is that the villagers do Q.1. Should a school be started in village not know even the G,am Sewak (Village Level Worker). Tilaibhat where chiidren may get education? The people do not know w'here BhrIaP is or what is (Reaction).-No keenness. It is not necessary. being done there. Q.2. Should a hospital be started in the village? Trends and opinions.-People in Tilaibhat Answer.-Getting treatment. in a hospital is very want to keep themselves as aloof from the higher costly. We cannot bring money for Govenunent officials as possible. The Patwari and injections. police constables are the only officfals they would like to come to the v1llage. This does not mean that Q.3. Should a Vaitlya be poated in the village? they are not hospitable. They would welcome any (Reactfon).-Everybody willjng. official, make arrangements for him, waft on him but Q.4. Should the village well be made pacGtJ , would like that he should go away as soon as posslble. The reason for this feeling is the)!" suspicion that (Reaction).-No eagerness or keenness. 1. Bbilai is the place where Bhilai Steel Project is situated Q.5. Should the village tank be repaired aDd .. a result oi Indo-Soviet TecJmical ~tiOJl, deepened ., 92 [Vn.LAGF (Reaction).-Everybody very keen and willing. boo1zda. In case of non-payment, the caste pan· Q.6. Should a police station be started in the chayat is convened for decision. village 0 t hat there may be no theft? Village feuds and village leadership.-The Answer.-We do not want police anywhere near Villagers say that they are a 'cold' people. They about. never get violent or quarrel. But it was not long Group study.-After the day's work the people ago that there was a dispute between a Bairagi and assemble in two or three groups to smoke bidi-cho1zgi a Teli regarding a house boundary. The village and spend their time in gossip. One group assembles elders tried their level best to settle the dIspute but in the veIandah of Patel Ram Prasad. Usually the failed. The difficulty was that the Bairagi was willing pastime is idle goss:p. The groups also d.scuss agri to compromise, but the Teli did not agree. culture, Pandariya market, attendance at court, But these are very rare case,. The villagers Ko,wa,'s visit to police station and information there~ usually respect the elders and especially Ram Prasad from, ra:n, marriage, running away of some woman Patel and Chammar Rai. Ram Prasad is the Patel and so on. The topic of discussion in one uch group of the village and is re3pomible for collecting land during the period of this enquiry was as below : revenue. The patwari and the police constable visi t* The wife of 'A' was not of a good character. Once ing the village meet him and he entertains them. she fought with her husband's sister and the quarrel He is the Sarpan,h of the Gram-Panchayat also. took a violent tum. They grappled with each other All these factors help him to be the leader of the and the woman cut her husband's sister's breast village and one whose word is respected. with her teeth causing a bleeding wound. The matter was reported to the poli ce, but a compromise was There is, however. an additional and a very strong effected later on. The woman left her husband and factor (though Ram PI asad would not accept it). has changed many husbands since then. She is a and it is that Ram Prasad gives loans of seed to the big debauchee now." needy. This loan is known as Barlhee. This dependence of the people on Ram Prasad for seed The social laws.-If a girl becomes pregnant appears to be a very strong factor, if not the only before marr:age, she is declared an outcaste by the factor. of his acknowledged dominance. caste panchayat. She is then free to. go anywhere or be anybody's wife. In the village nobody seems interested in the Panchayat or its activities, general election and poli But if the girl of some caste in the village esta blishes illicit relations with a Brahmin, or a Teli giTl tics, which party is in power and so on. They do not seem to know anything about the various big with a Chhatri (i.e. with man of higher caste) and projects being Teerth". then breaks that relation, she is not put out of the built in India as the "Modern, They are ignorant about Community Deve10pment caste. and the Development Block. They do not read any If a girl becomes pregnant before marriage and the newspaper or journal (except Ram Prasad who sub man responsible for pregnancy does not accept her scribes for Sahu-Sandesh, a journal of Teli caste) and as his wife, the chJd born is accepted by the girl's do not know about any provincial, national or inter parents. In the'r opinion ,the child cannot be blamed national activity going on. All they are interested for his origin. in is their agriculture and in idle gossip about this But if some person keeps the woman' as his wife woman running away or that beating her children, by choori marriage, he has to take this child also. and all they want is that they should get the timber The caste panchayat usually keeps quiet about for agricultural implements and house construction illicit relations of woman. In general, men are very when they need it and as they used to get before; lenient towards the'r wives and exhibit extraordinary they want the cases in court disposed of quickly and tolerance. The caste panchayat does not intervene that they should be left alone. for the simple reason that this is an individual affair The people want the minimum of facilities. They and the caste panchayat comes into operation on do not want a hospital but only a vaidya; they do the complaint of the husband. The proceedings not want a pacca well but the tank repaired; and they usually result in separation. do not want a school. It appears evident that a If a woman leaves her husband and lives as another tremendous task lies ahead in bringing about a man's wife, the man has to pay compensation or "change of outlook" in vi11age life and life-values. 93 But Tilaibhat has not remained static. It has llloved on with the tide of time and suffered the disintegration and dissolution as the village societies. are su:fferIng all over. The people do not know any legends about the origin of their castes, they do not know caste structure and they do not know more than one or two septs (got). Thi's is certai!nly an indication of decay of the social organisation. In dress and ornaments, many changes have taken place. People started putting on sufficient hand loom cloth long before; now the mill-cloth has substituted hand CONCLUSION looms. Pandariya and Mungeli-tallored shirts have to a great extent substituted the bantUs and the salukas. Wom~n no longer remain satisfied with what they have in the village; they like better clothes and ornaments and love a man more if he can give them more of these. Shirts and mill-made cloth appear to be loved mori3 than their counterparts of the past, i. e. the salukas and hand-loom tlMtiS. The shirts are washed much less and only when it is absolutely necessary. And so wi!' 1 more modern Of-late, in India, the attention of anthropologist:; wear has come the khassu (eczema and skin disease) and s:>ciologists, both Indians and foreigners, has been which were unknown to their ancestors. liirected to the study of our rural life. Srinivas's 'Mys~re Village', Dube's 'Indian Village' and Majum Decay and disintegration ic; seen most in the .iar's 'Caste and Communications in an Indian Vtllage' field of religion. As it is, the religion in the village are examples oi such studies. Papers on Indian is mere beliefs. Mere beliefs do not constitute a village Ufe have been edited and brought out as Mckim religion, it is rites which make religion a living force. }tarriot':i 'Village India.' , Ethnographic and Folk The Dhobis have almost forgotten their Ghatoia Culture Society's 'Rural Profiles' and Srinivas's Devi and Thakur Dev and Dulha Dev have, to a 'India's Villages'. A healthy controversy is going large extent, been replaced by Kabit. But it has over the tenn for the acculturative processes and not been a complete displacement, but a co-existence, difierent terms like 'Sanskritization', 'Secularisation', and Kabir finds a place in the household together etc., have be:!n put forward. It is not the intention with deities. Dulha Dev and Thakur Dev are slowly of this work to enter into this controversy and as such being replaced by Vishnu Bhagwan, Krishna Bhagwan these terms have not been used anyw~lere in this and Hanuman and the Brahmin Pan1it from the report. nearby village has successfully introduced 'Satya narayan' in the village. Old recre ltions like songs In the preceding pages has been described the and dances have died out but new re ~reations have silhoaette of a Chhattisgarhi village. It may be not substituted them. The village life has thus typical or atypical but it has been' described as it is. become very dull and monotonous. 'rilaibhat is neither an absolutely communicating village nor is it urbanised. Its communication with But whereas the village society is by itself forget the tahsil headquarters and the district headquart ting the old and trying to adopt th~ new in the socio ers is through the per30ns who occasIonally go to religious and cultural :fields. village economy is stag these places . and return from there. In spite of nant. Old methods, practices and implements are contact and communication, Tilaib~at still is a way persisting and cultivation practices and implements of life. The people still live more or less as they remain age-old. The people are reluctant to experi did before, they still retain their values of life. ment and innovate and there does not seem to be any [VIl.LA~E &gency to persuade them for this, to demonstrate to Credit Survey' Report. They sayl : "For one thin them the efficacy of new methods. Houses are the there is nothing yet in human history to disprove same in whi--:h probably the first Telf settling in just a'i there is nothing in it yet to demonstrate-that Tilaibhat lived. economic welfare in its highest sense cannot be achiev ed, even where it is most lacking, by the planned, deli The people do not know that there is a country berate and organized effort of a Government, relent wid~ community development movement ahd that less as to purpose but not relentless as to means, pro they have an agency in their midst representing this v.ded the effort is not only emotionally impelled but movement. They do not like Government officials, is scientifically guided:In this latter aspect, a whole they do not like electioneers; they do not like the apparatus of technique. knowledge and research. Gram-Panchayat. They do not Want a well, do not comparatively recent and painstakingly accumulated, want a doctor, and do not want a school. They want is available to Governments, if only they will make only th easy availability of timber for their imple use of it, through the development of the social sciences ments and houses; they want a vairlya and want to of economics and sociology and of the sciences no less get their cases decided expeditiously in the courts. than art of public administration. It is irrelevant whether economic good is or is not a lesser objective Out of this study emerge3 a rather sad picture than spiritual good. The fact remains that economic of Tilaibhat. The villagers do not have any idea good IS the highest practicable objective so far as and programme of development and regeneration Governments are concerned. In India, the process of on proper lines. Officials and non-officials have increasing and more equitably distributing the econo so far failed to gaitl their confidence and hav conse mic good must, on purely rational grounds, be con quently failed to evoke in them any initiative towards ceived in terms of rural India. various schemes. The villagers look upon every official move with suspieion. Even our inquiries "The larger thesis, in which our concrete recom were viewed with this suspicion. As somebody said: mendations can find place only as a part, is that ..the Gov.!mment is making this inquiry so that at any time they can take our land". The non-official3 what Ind.a most needs today is a comprehensive and from outside arC! also viewed with equal suspicion. determined programme of rural regeneration which has the ethical impulse and emotional momentum The people want to be left alone; they feel that they are happy as they are. They ask: "why should of its highest traditions; which has, moreover, the somebody e1se be interested in their development calculated design of a project that is scientifically and happiness and constmct schools, roads and wells conceived and scientifically organized; and which, for them, when they do not get the mo.. t necessary above all, attempts to render to rural India, in the requiremenis of day-to--day life." economic realm, those opportunities for growth and fulfilment which, without distinction between man Majumdar1 has stated that "the numerous and man, but with especial compassion for the weak empirical studies of culture chang e point to one and the disadvantaged, more than one religious important lesson: that an innovation-whether an leader at mor.! than one period of the country's idea, a tool or a bchnique-can be self-regenerative history attempted to render to the masses of India only if it is institutionalised." He further states: in the reabn of the spirit." 'For any change in the social attitudes of the backward, rural and tribal groups, it is necessary to start The study of village Tilaibhat, and various with a change in their cultural environment: that is prognlmmes of rural regeneration, somehow remind to say, technical improvement at the material pro one of a very significant remark by Hippolyte ductive leVel. and institutional change at the inter Taine: "We have been losing more and more group relational level, rather than any piecemeal the ability to look at things directly. Weighed down attempt at converting, reforming or educating by tedious, meticulous_ boo~-learning, we find individuals." ourselves studying not the obJects themselves, but mere representations of them, maps rather than Probably the most instructive and appropriate the actual landscape." a.dvice is given by the authors of the "All-India Rural 1. Caste And Communication in an Indian Village, 1. All-India Rural Credit Survey-the General Report 1958, D.N. Majumdar, p. 341. cabridged edition). 1956. p. 296. BIBLIOGRAPHY I. DOCUMENTS IV. BOOKS 1. Mahalwar Abstract prepared at the time of 18. Altekar, A.S.-1958 Te1i Jati ka Itihas. Settlement of the Bilaspur District. 19. Basorilal, Choudhari. Te1i Bhaiyon ki Bansha· 2. Circle Note Books of Bilaspur Tahsil. 1930. vali. 3. The Land Records documents, vi:., Khasra, The Temple Tiger and Tttamma, Jamabandi. 20. Corbett, Jim-l954 •. more Man-Eaters of II. JOURNALS Kumaon. 4. Nagpur Law Journal, 1948. 21. Crooke, W. .. Tribes and Castes of the 5. 5ahu Sandesh, Vol. I, No.5, 1960. United Provinces. 6. Do. Vol. I, No. 11, 1961. 22. Elwin, Verrier, 1936. . Leaves from the Jungle. 7. Do. Vol. I, No. 12, 1961. 28. Forsyth, J. 1919 . . The Highlands of Central Ill. REPORTS India. . 8. Report of the Ethnological Committee on papers laid before them and upon examination 24. Fuchs, Stephen, 1960 The Gond and Bhumia of aboriginal tribes brought to the Jubbulpore of Eastern Mandla. Exhibition, 1866-67. 25. Grierson, G.A., 1906.. Linguistic Survey of 9. Census of India, 1891, Central Provinces. India, Vol. IV. 10. Census of India, 1901, Village List Bilaspur 26. Hutton, J.H., 1945 Caste in India. District. '1:1. Manu .. Manusmriti. 11. Gorwala, A.D. 1956 . • All-India Rural Credit Survey. The General 28. Mazumdar, D.N., 1958 Races and Culture of Report {Abridged Edi India. tion}. 29. Mazumdar, D.N., 1958 Caste and Communica 12. Chishohn, J. W., 1868 Report on the Land tiOn ih an Indian Vmage. Revenue Settlement of 30. Misra, Jwalaprasad, Jatibhaskar. the Be1aspore District 1955. in the Central Provinces. 13. Hewitt, J. P. K ... l869 Report on the Land 31. Russell, R.V. and Tribes and Castes of Cen- Revenue Settlement of Hiralal, 1916. tral Provinces, Vol. I. the Raepore District in 32. Do. Tribes and Castes of CeIl theC.P. tral Provinces, Vol. II. 14. Hance, J. E.,1912 . • Final Report on the Land Tribes and Castes of ten,;, Revenue Settlement of 33. Do. tral ProVinces, Vol. the Bilaspur District, In. 1904-12. 340. Do. Tribe; and Castes of Cen tral Proviilces. Vol. IV. 15. District Gazetteer . . Raipur District (1909). 16. District Gazetteer . . Bilaspur District (1909). 85. Sherring, M.A., 1879 Hmdu Tribes and Castes, Vol. II. 17. Socio-Economic Survey of Village Bendri, Census of Indi~ 1961 (M. P.), K.C. Dubey. 36. Tulsidas RamcharitIWUW. APPENDIX I Sanskrit and Hindi references quoted in the Survey Report Page 8 Page 33 if i{(IIJ(rl(sn{mr: I ~m: '5(~~,1If"m-1 ~ ~ "IT fiIWq Cfi'('FI' ~"'fiI'~~ ~Ojq~ ~ .~~wmrq ~ C;: ldoqlifl:el1) ~: I ~ lA if; 1Vr ~ mit itliI6'f'Sleij) iroT ~~~mrJft 'Iq: 1Ic;~1I ~~~I ~ 'EIlm ~ m (Manusmriti, IV, 84-85) ~~if;~~~rftl Page 8 Page 33 ;ij- CI(OII'A M'~ ~, m "ifflmI' 'itt ~ ~ ~ orM;_;ff ~'T qf(f ~mff(~ ~'ij' Page 67 ~~-~'T=t~ ~G1 ~f~~ ~ or~ qm~ ~~m ~ ~ =«fij' ~ p ~5r lJR~ ~ . 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(!) 0 I ~;::lIleogCtl eo.u ..... 0..£ ~ , "tI I '+~ 0 (!) .S rn rn g .~ II) ,..., e<:l C'I C'I U """ - :>. ,c ~_,c ..... rn 'O~ ] !il .....(!) ~ 'S ] ~ GI CII GI .... ; ~ OC'l ,-, 0 0 0 "tI m 0 lQ ..... """~ C'I ,..., C'I ..... 0 """to_. C'I' ~ ~ !' - t:il r1J ~ H r1J ~ .§ .~ CII J i '0= "'"" ,Ef "d ,c~ ..sbD (!) ...... -.. 'Jl rn 00 .~ L.... ::! ..... (!) ~ a .....0 "tI rc::J § .gJ -- '0 cd .... ~ ~ ~ go o£ rn gj - ~ J-< "0 ~ ~ .... ,..c:::5 ,g ...... 0 !il ~ rd (!) IV , <: ] u I::l -~ I::l ,..c:: ~ ~ 0 "d 0 ...., 1-4 .... :.p ..... ::S 0 - '8 u § :>. :>. :.e -i ,.Q ,c ....rn ~ I CI) ~ 1:1 1 Een .... E .... e ~ I::l j 2 ~ 0 5 en rn (!) (!) ~ § 1 8 (!) F3 :;; ~ CI) gj d> l?f J-< ~ Ql ... '" ~ ..... Q) I .!:: "0 en .S ,..c::: h gj U j bD .a 0 :g .g gj ~ 0 ~ :3 ~..... 0 0 s:: ~ I- ~==.....- I:!:: ~ f;I:t ~ ~ en f;I:t I:!:: ..... ~ ~ ~ ---. .--.. ~ .--.. .--.. : Agra The Standarrl Book D<'p"t, Avenu(' Road (Rc,,!.; Vichara Shitya Privllte JJtd .. Balepet {Ili'g.} National Book HOIlSr., Jf'('ni 1\'I'andi (Reg.) Makkal& Pustaka Pn'~s. Bal:;rrsr.dira, C};andinager (l~q~.: Wadhawa anr'l Co .. 45, Civil LillI'S (Reg.) Marnthi Book Depnt, AVCTOlH" Foad •. (P',"i;.1' Banwari La1 Jain, Publi~!WTl'>, }.\cti l\atT .. !Rt:st.) Internationn] Book HOl!~c !P) Ltd., 4.F, Mahatn"3 Ahm ':lba~ Gandh; Road Balgovind I{1l1,,,,r Dass & Co., Ganr1hi nood (Re-g.) NavllkaraHltakn Publications. Pri"'llte I.tr1., Majestic Circle- (Roost,\ Chandra Kant Chiman:3l Vora. Gandlli Road (Reg.) New Order Book Co .. Ellis Bridge (Reg.) BareHIy (Rest.) Mahajan Bros.. Opp. Khadia Pollce Gate Agarwal Brothers, Bara 'Bazar Sastu Kitah Ghar. Near Relicf Talkies, Pattha:r Kuva, Relief Road. (Reg.) Baroda Agartala Shri Chsndrakant Mol,nr; Lal Shah, Raopur.a (Rest.; Laxmi Bhandar Books and Scientific Sales (Rest.) Good Corr.panicDs Booked]us, FublishHf 8:. Sub- Agent (Rest:! A.hmedDagar Beawar V. T. Jorakar, Prop. Rams General Stores, Navi Path. •• •• (Rest.) The Secretary, S. D. CoUtge. Co-operative Stores Ltd. •• (Rest.} A,lmer Book-Land, 663, Madar Gate (Reg.) Bhagalpur Rajputana Book House, Station Road (Reg.) Papel' Stationery Stores, D. N. Singh Road (Reg.) Law Book House, 271. Hathi Bhata (Rest.) Vijay Bros, Kutchery Road (Rest.) Bhubaneswar Krishna Bros., Kutchery Road (Rest.) Ekarnra Vidyabbaball, East un Tower, Itc(m" No. 3_ (R{~t,} Al14arh Bhopal (Reg.) Friends' Book House, Muslim University Market Supdt.• State Government Press Lvall Book Depot. Mohd. Din Bldg., Sultania Road (Reg.) A,Uahabad Delite Books, Opp. Bhopal Talkies (Rest.) , Supdt., Prirting & Stationery, U. P. Kitabist!.D, 17-A. Kamla Nehru Road.' (Reg.) Belghrla Law Book Co., Sardar Patel Marg, P. Box 4 (Reg.) Granthlok, Antiquarian Booksellf>r6 81: Publishers Ram Narain Lal Beni Madho, 2-A, Katra Road (Reg.) (24 Paraganas), 5/], Amlica Mukherjee Road (Reg.; Universal Book Co .• 20, M.G. Road •• (Reg.) BIJapur The University Book Ager.cy (of Labore), Elgin Road. (Eeg.) Wadhwa & Co., 23, lIf. G. Marg (Rest., Shri D. V. Deshpande, RecoJ<11ised Law Booksellers, Bharat Law House, ]5. Mahatrra Gandhi 'Marg •. (Rest.) Prop. Vinod Book Depot. Nt'aT Shiralsbetti (ho·",};;. (Rt>st·, Ram Narain Lal Beni Prashad, 2-A, Kat.,." Road (Rest.) HIbner Ambala Bhanda.oi Bro8 (Rest.) Englisb Book De-pot. Arnbala Cantt.~ •. (Reg.' Bllaspur Seotb Law House, 8719, Railway Road, Ambala 5harma Book Stall, Sadar Ba:rar Cantt. (Rest.) (Rest.; Bombay Amrltaar Sopdt., Printing and Stationery, Queens Road The Law Book Agency, G. T. Road, Pntligarb S. Gupta. Agent, Govt. publications. Near P. O. Charles Lambert &- Co., 101, Mahatma Gandhi Road, •• •• .. . Majith Mandi. (Reg.) (Reg.j Amar Nath and Sons, Near P.O.. Majith Mand; (Reg.) Co-opemtors Book Depot. 5{32, Ahmed Sailor Bldg. Dadar. (Reg.! Current Book HOllse, Maruti Lane Rag}mJj;.'l, Dadaji St. • ., •• (Reg.) Vijaya Stores,: Station Re-ad, Arn:d (Rut.) Current Technical Literature Co" (P) Ltd., India House, 1st F100r • (Reg.) Bangalore International Book Hou~ Ltd., 9, • 'A!>b Lan;,' M.G.Road _ ,. " •• The Bangalore I.e,a] Practitione-r, Co-op. Society rReg.) Ltd., Bar Association Building • • • . (Reg.) Lakkani Book Depot, Girgaum •. (Reg.) 5.S. Book Ernporillrn, 118, Mount Joy Road (Reg.) E]pees Agencies. 24, Bhangwadi Kalbade"i •. (Reg.) The Bangalore Press, Lake View Mysore Road, P.P.H. Book Stall, 190-13, Khetwadi Main Road •• (Reg.) P.O.~ 507 IBeg·) New Book Co., 188-190, Dr, Dadabhai Naoroji Road (Rell'.) [ii] Popular Book Depot, Lamington Road •• (Reg.) Tandan BooII: Depot, Shopping" Centre, Sector 16 (Rest.) Sun~er Das Gaian Chand, 601, Girgaum Road Near Kaila.sh Law Publi3hers, Sector 22·8 .. (Rest.) Princess Street ' (Reg.) " . Oallcut D,B. TaraporewaJa Sons II; Co, (P) Ltd•• 210. Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Road •• • • (Reg.) Touring Book Su.... (ReBt.) Thacker & Co., Rampart Row • , (Reg.) OhbjndwarB ~. )Of, 1'rip:1thi Private Ltd .. Princess Street •• (Reg.) The K>thari Book :r>';'iJClt, King Edward Road •• (Reg.) ~The Verma Book Depot (Rest.) P.H. Rama Krishna II; Sons 147 Rajaram ChocbJ.a I3huvan, Shivaji Park Road, N~. 5 .: ,. (Rest.) C. Jamnadas _&; Co., Booksellers, 146-C, Princen Saraswat Corporation Ltd., Palliarakav Road (Reg.) Street (Reg.) Cuttack Indo Nath &; C~:, 24, Bhan~adi. Ka.lb~devi Road • CReg.) Press Officer, Orissa Sectt. (Reg:) Mk~~a Book Shop, Shop No. 1/80, N. Subhas (Reg.) Cuttack Law Times •• (Reg.) .-\.cadell1ic Book Co., Association Building, Girga~~ Prabhat K. Mahapatra Mangalabag, P. B. 35 (Reg.) Road (Rest.) D. P. Sure Sons, Mangalabag (Rest.) Onlinion Ptlbli;hers, 23 B;ll Buildin~: Sir P.'M. - Utkal Stores, Balu Bazar (Rest. Road .. .. ••.• (Rest.) DehraDun OowamadeO &; Co., 18, Naziria Building, Ballard State ...... (Rest.) Jugal Kishore &; Co., Rajpura Road •• (Reg.) National News Agency. Paltan Bazar (Reg.) Oalcutta Jugal Kishore &; Co., Rajpura Road •• (Reg.) (Reg.) Chatterjee" Co., 3/1, Bacharam Chatterjee Lane (Reg.) National News Agency, Palta.:n Bal:a.r Dass Gupta & Co. Ltd., 54{3, College Street .•• (Reg.) BiShan Singh and Mahendra Pal Singh. 318 Chukhuwala (Reg.) Hinlu. Library, 6JA, B:>laram D~ Street (Reg.) S.K Ll.hiri &; Co, Priva.te Lti., C>lIeg~ Street (Reg.) Deihl M.C. Sarkar and Sons Private Ltd 14 Bankim Chatterjee • • • • .'.. ' (Reg.) J, M. Jaina It Brothers. Mori Gate (Reg.) Atma RaID &; Sons, Kashmeri Gate (Reg.) W. Newman &; Co Ltd B Old Court House Federal Law Book Depot, Kashmeri Gate (Reg.) Street ..' :'.' •• .. CReg.) Babri Bros., 188, Lajpat Rai Market ~ (Reg.) (Reg.) Odord Book and Stationery Co., 17, Park Street .• Bawa Harkishan Da.sa Bedi (Vijaya General Agea R: ~hambray and CO. Ltd., Kent House, P. 33, eies). P. B. 2027, DelhiAhata Kedara. Chamaliaa lfis310n R:>ad E ,tension ~. • •.. (Reg.) Road (Reg,) ~C. Sla.rkar and Sons P[ivate Ltd., IC, College 1 quare •• •• •• • .. (Res·) Book-Well,4 Sant Narankari Colony, P. B, 1565, Delhi-9.. •• •• - (ReB-) "Thacker Spink and Co. (1933) P. Ltd., 3, Esplanade Est •• •• ... _ (Reg.) Imperial Publishing Co., 3, Fail: Bazar, Daryaganj (Reg.) :Metropolitan Book Co., J, Fail: Bazar, Delhi (Reg.) ~na K. L. :\{<1kb.llpadhaya, 6IIA, Banchha Ram rarLane...... (Reg.) New Stationery House, Subzima.ndi •• (Reg.) Youngman &; Co., Nai Sarak, Delhi-6 (Reg.) K.K. R:>y. P. B:>~ No. 10210, Calcutta-19 .4 (Rest.) Indian Army Book Depot, 3, Daryaganj (Reg.) P. D. Uj,>l.ihydy, 71, Muktaram Ba.bll Street (Rest.) 510. All India Educational Supply Co., _ Sri Ram Universal B:)ok Dlst., 8/2, Hastings Street (Rest.) Buildings, Jawahar Nagar (Rest.) )l:Jhrn B:)Jk D3(>:)t, 9, ChollVl"ingee Centre (Relit.) Dhanwant Medical &; Law Book House, 1522. ::;.):)1 anJ. C> .. 12:;. Canning -;treet (R~g.) Lajpatrai Market (Rest.) S. Blla.ttacharjee, 49, Dllaramtala Street (ltest.) University Book House, 15, U. B. BangaloA Road, "lIt1kharjee Library. S:lrba Khan Road (Rest.) (Ren•• (Reg.) Jawahar Nagar Cllrrent Literature Co., 208, Ma.hatma Gandhi Road (Rest.) The Bnk O'p>;itory. 4/1 :\{l.iall Street (1st Floor) (Rest.) Govt. Book Agency. 2646, Balimaran •• (Rest.) SciHtific B»k Apncy, NJtaji Sllbha.sb Road (Rest.) SuID.IDer Brothers, P. O. Birla Lines •• UuiversalBook &; Stationery Co., 16,NetajiSubhash Reliance Trading Co., 43/A, Netaji Subhash Road (Rest.) Marg (Reg.) (Rest.) Chapra B. N"a.th &: Bros., 33J3, Charkhawa.lan (Chowri Bazar) Rajkamal Prakashan (Pi Ltd., 8, Fail: Bazar (Reg.• Alok Pustak Sadan (Rest.) Ulliversa.1 Book Traders, 80, Gokhla Market (Reg.) Tecb., &; Com:n:3rcial B:>ok Co., 75, Gokhla Market! (Rest.) Saini Law Ptlblishing Co., 1416, Chabiganj, Sapdt., Govt. Printing and Stationery, Panjab i Kashmeri Gate (Rest,) raill L3.w A.~ency, Fla.t Nil. S, Sactor N"J. 22 (Reg.) G. M. Ahuja, Booksellers &: Stationers, (Rest., Rl. n1. N"~w~ A.{e'lev, Bnksellers. S~ctor No. 22 {Reg.} 309 Nehru Bazar Universal B):)k Store, B.nth 25, Sector 22-D (Reg.) 3at :~brain & 3:>n3, 3UI Mllhs. Ali Ba.zar, Mori Gate (Reg.) (Rest.) Kitab Ma.ha.1 (Wholesale Div.) Private Ltd., E\"1~lish Bl:)k Shop. 3i, Sectllr 22-D (RssL ~ehta Bros., l.5-Z, Sector 22·B (Rest.) 28, Faiz Bazar. [iii] Hindu Sab.itya Sansar, N ai Sarak Impbal Munshi Ram :\hnohar Lal, Oriental Booksellers a: Tikendra 01; Sona, Booksellerl (Red.) Publishers, P. B. 1165, Nai Sarak tReat.) K. L. S~tb., Supplie~ of Law. Commercial 01; Tech. Jaipur CitJ' Books. Shanti Nagar, Ga.neshpura. (Rest.) Govt. Printing and Stationery Department, Rajasthan •• Dbanbad Bharat Law House. Booksellers and Publishers. ISIUlg Co·operative Stores Ltd., P. O. Indian Opp. Prem Prakash Cinema (Res-) School of Mines ,..-. ._ .. (Reg.) Garg Book Co., Tripolia. Ba.za.r (ReB·' New Sketch Press, Post Box No. 26 ,Rest.) Vani Mandir, Swami Mansingh Highway (Re,,) Ka.lyan Mal 01; Sons. Tripolia Bazar •• (Rest.) Dbarwar Popular Book Depot, Chouri Rasta (Res·) 1la.lJl.}shraya Book Depot, Subhas Road (Rest.) Krishna Book Depot, Chaura. Kasta •• • • {Rea") Dominion Law Depot, Shah Building. P. B. No. 23 (Res.. ) Jawalapur Pai 01; Co., Clotll .Bazar Road ~ (Rest.) Sahyog Book Depot (R-.) BeroMpore English Book Depot, 78, Jb.oke Road (Reg· ) Jalllshedpur - (Reg.) 0.7a Amar Kitab Ghar, Diagonal Road, P. B. 78 Gupta. Stores, Dhatkidih •• (Re8.) 5ahitya Sadan, Gautam Budha Marl (Reg.) <;al1yal Bros., BooImellers I: News Agents. Bistapv \{arket (Reat.) Goa Jairam Sagoon Dhoad, Booksellers, PaajilD (Rest., Jamnagar Swedeshi Vastu Bhandar •• tRee-) euntur Book Lovers Pri.vate Ltd., Ka.diguda, Chowrasta (Reg.) Jodhpur Gorakhpur Dwarka Das Rathi. Wholesale Boob and Ne.. Agents (R4II.) Vishwa. Vidhyalaya Prakashan, Nakhea Road fRest.) Kitab Ghar, Sojati Gate •• (ReI·) Choppra Brothers, Tripolis Bazar . {ReB.) GauhaU lIlokahada Pllst:a.kala.ya, Gauhati, Assam (Reg.) Jabalpur Gwallor Modem Book Houso, 286, JawahargaDJ Supdt., Printing oI;Stationery,M. B. Jullundur Ciq Loya.l Book Depot, Patankar Bazar, LaahkaI' {Reg.) Hazooria Bros.• Mai Hiran Gate (ReaL) H. C. Da.ftari, Prop. M. B. Jain 01; Bros., Boolr8eUen. Sarafa, Lashkar (&est.) J a.in General House, Bazar Bansanwala (Reg.) 'University Publishers, Railway Road (Reat.) Obazibad Kanpur ]ayana Book Agency •• 1':;"" (Rest.) Advani &; Co., P. Box 100, The Mall (Rae.) Hyderabad Sahitya Niketan, Sharadhanand Par" (Reg.) Director, Govt. Press The Universal Book Stall, The Mall (Reg., Raj Corporation, Raj House, P. B. 200, ChowJD ,Rest.) The Swaraj Book Depot, Lakdikapul (Reg.) Book Lovers Private Ltd. (Hest.) Karur Labour Law Publications,873, Sultan Buar (Rest.) Shri V. Nagaraj a Rao, 26, SrinivasapuralD (ReaL ) HubU Kolapur Pervajo's Book Houlle, Koppiku Road (Reg.) Mahara.shtra Graath Bhandar, Mabadwar Road •• (Rea,,) ladore Kodarma Wadhwa 01; Co., 56, M. G. Road (Reg.) Swarup Brothers, Khajuri Bazar (Rest.) The Bhagwati Press, P. O. JhUIDritelaiya. District Ma.dhya Pradesh Book Centre, 41, Ahilya Pula (Rest. Haza.ribagh (Reg.) ~!bjern Book House, Shiv Vilas Palace (Rest.) Kwnta Navy'11l~ Sahitva Sadan, Publishers & Booksellers, 1!7. KhajuriBazar (Rest.) S. V. Kamat, Booksellers and Stationers (N.ICaDam) (Reg.) [Iv] &8dalow Mu.so'Dl'l Soochna Sahitya Depot, (State Book Depot) Cambriilge Boo)1 Depot, The Mall (Reet. " Balkrishna Book Co. Ltd., Huratganj (Reg.) HInd Traders (Rest.) British Book Depot, 84, Hazratganj (Reg.) Ram Advani. Hazratganj, P. B. 154 (Reg.) Muzaffarnagar (Reg.) Universal Publishers (P) Ltd., Hazrat~anl Mittal c!I: Co., 8S-C, New l\!andi (Rest,; (Reg.) Eastern Rook Co., LaJbagh Road • B. S. Jain 8: Co., 71, Abupura (Reet'! Civil and Military Educational Stores, lOS/B.Sadar 'Bazar , (Rest.) Muzafrarpur (Rest.) Acq~rium Supply Co .• 213, Faija1.>ad Road Scientific & Educational SUJ'Ply ~Yl1dir.atE; (Rest.) (RC'II,:.l Law Book Mart. Amin-Ud-Daula Park Legal Corncr Tikmanis' House-Amgola Road C:Rest.; I.udhlana (E. P.) My-sore Lyall Book Depot., Cbaura Bazar (Reg.) H. Venkatarllmiah & Sons, New Statue Circle (Rt'g,j Uohindra Brothers. Kathcyri Road (Rest.) Peoples Book House, Opp. Jagan Mohan Palace (Reg.) Na.nda Stationery Bbandar. Pustak Bazar -- (Rest:) Jeevana. Pustakalaya. 1254/1, Krishn9murthipuram CRest.) The Pharmacy News. Pindi Street (Rest.) News Paper House, Lansdowlle Building (Rest.) Nal\pur IlladlU'al Supdt., Govt. Pless c!I: Book Depot Orienta} Book House. 258, 'West Masi S~e' (:Reg.) Western Book Depot. Residency Road (Reg.) Vivekananda Prees, 48, West Maid Street (Reg.) The Asst. Secretary, Mineral Industry Association Mineral House (Rest.) Mathura Nandid (ltest.) Bath ct Co., Tilohi Building, Bengali Ghat R. S. Desay, Station Road Nanded Madras: Book Centre, College Law General Books, Supdt., Govt. Press, Mount Road •. Station Road . (Rest.} • Account Test Institute. P. O. 760, Emgore (Reg., Hindustan General Sto~s, Paper c!I: Stationery C. Subbiah Chetty c!I: Co., Triplicane, Madras-S (Reg.) Merchants, P.B. No. 51 (Rest.) 1[. Krishnamurty, Post Box 884 • _JRi!g.) Pcesidency Book Supplies, S, Pyeraftl'l Roatl, New Delbl rripJicane. •• (Reg., Amrit Book Co., Covnaught Circus (Reg" p, Vardbacbary c!I: Co.~ 8, LiJJghi Chetty Street (Reg.) Bhawani c!I: Sons, 8-F, Conl1au~ht Place (Re~.) Palani Prachuram, 3 Tycrafts Road, Triplicane (R~) Central News Agency, 23/90, Connaught Circus (Reg.) South India Tl1Iders, Exporters, ImporteJS, Agellu Empire Book Depot, 278 AH~anj &lid Govt. Booksellers, Rapapettah .- ,- (Reg.) (Reg" English Book Stores, 7-L, Connaught Circus, NCBH Private Ltd •• 199. Mount Road (Rest.) P. O. B.328 V. Sadanand, The Personal Book shop, 10 CoDgRIII Faqir Cl'and & Sons. IS-A, Khan Market. Building, Ill, Mount Road ." (Rest.) New Delhi-l .. (Beg.) IIaIldya Jain Book A~ency, C-9. Prem House, Connaught Place (Reg.) ""K. N. Narimhe Gowda a. Sons. Sugar T01rIl (Rest.) Oxford Book 8: Stationery Co., Scindia House (Re,.) Ram Krishna lit. Sons (of Lahore) 16/B, Connaught llanaalore. Place (Re.g.) Sikh Publis'hilltr House, 7-C. Contlau~ht Place C1~eg.1 U. R. Shenoye SODS., Car Street, P. Boz (Reg.) as Suneja Book Centre, 24/[0. COI'l1alJ(!ht Circus .. (Bee·) United Book Agency, 81, Municipal Market, lIanJesbwar ConDaught Circu!! (Reg .• lIukenda~Krishna Marak. (Rest., Jayana Beok Depot, Chbarar,,'aJa Kuan. KuoJ Eagh (Reg.) Navayug Traders, Desh Bandhu Gupta, nOild, lI"rut Dev Nagar (Reg.} Saras"'ati Book Depot, J5, Lady Harding noad •• (Reg.) Bind Chitra Press, 'West 'Kutcbary Road (Reg.) The Secretllry, IndiaS! Met. Society, lodi noad ... (ReetJ Prakssh Educational Stores, Subhas Bazar (Reg.) New Book Depot, Latest' Books. Perjodical!, Loyal &ck Depot, Chhipi Tank (Reg.) Sty. a: Novelles. P. B. 96, Connaught Place (Reg.) Bbarat EducatieJlal Stores, Chbil'i Tank (Eest.) Mehra Brothers, 50-G, J{alkaji. New Delbi-IS (Reg.) Uaiversal Book Depot, Booksellers &\ lie"oS Ase.tE (Rest.) Luxmi Book Stores, 42, JaS!patb Street (Rest) Hindi Book House, 82, Janpatb (Best.) KOIlgi11J'. Peoples Publisbing HouSt' IP} Ltd .. Fani Jliansi Rd. (:Reg.) .ADasaDdhIlD, Minerva PreSf l!ujJdill¥ R. K. Publishers, 23, Beadon Pura, Karol BaCb (:Rest.) [tI] Sbarma-Bros.17, New Market}~otj Nagar ( Reg:) - SinDar Aapki Dukan, 5/5777, Dev Nagar •• - •• .. (Resd Shri N. N. Jakhadi, Agent, Times of India, Sinnar, Sarvodaya Service, G6A-I, Rohtak Road, p, B. 2521 (Rest'l (Nasik) {Rest.} H. Chand.on, P. B. No. 3034 (Rest.) The Secretary, Federation of Association of Small Shlllone (Rest.) Industry of India, 23-Bl2. Rohtak Road. The Officer-in-Charge, Assam Govt., B. D. Cbapla (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 Govt. Press (Reg.) Supdt., Bhupendra State: Press Minerva Book Shop, The Mall (Reg.) Jain &; Co., 17 Shah Nashin Bazar ( Reg.) The New Book Depot, 79, The Mall (Reg.) Patna Srlnallar The Kashmir Bookshop, Residency Road (Reg.) Supdt., Govt. Printing (Bihar) J. N. P. Aggarwal &: Co., Padri Ki Haveli, Surat Raghu ~ath Bhawan . • . ( Reg.) Shri Ga.ja.uan Pustakalaya, Tower Road (Reg.) Luxmi Trading Co., Padri Ki Haveli ( Reg.) Tutlcorln l\Ioti Lal Banarsi Dass, Bankipore ( Reg.) Bengal Law House, Chowhatta (Rest.) Shri K. Thiagarajan, 18-C, French Chapa! Roa.d (Rest.) Trlchlnopol,. Plthor~arh Kalpana Publishers. Wosiur (Reg.) 'Maniram Punetha &: Sons (Rest.) S. Krishnaswami Ii Co., 35, Subhash Chander Bose Road •• (Reg.) Poona Palamiappa Bros. (Reat.) Deccan Book Stall, Deccan Gymkhana (Reg., Trlvandrum 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. Nata's Chaw. Near Appa Udaipur Balwant Chowke, Poona-2 ( Reg.) Utility Book Depot, 1339. -Shivaji Nagar (Rest.) Jagdish &; Co .• Inside Surajapole (Rest.) Pudukkottal UJJaiD Manak Chand Book Depot. Sati Gate. .,_ (R~.) Shri P. N. Swaminathan Sivam &: Co., East Main Varanasl Road. (Rest.) Students Firendg &: Co., Lanka (llest.. ) RaJkot Cho~khamba Sanskrit Series Office, Gopal- Mandif Road, P. B. 8. Moban Lal Doccabhai Shah, Booksellers and sub (Reg.) Kohinoor Stores, University Road, Lanka Agents. (Reg_I , . , (Reg.) V"lanagram Ranchl Sama &:Co. (Rest.) Crown Book Depot, Upper Bazar ( Reg.) V1Jayawada Pustak Mahal, Upper Bazar (Rest.) The Book &: Review Centre. Eluru Road. Govempet (Rest.) Rourkela Vesea1apatam The Rourkela Review (Rest.) Gupta Brothers, Vizia BaUding (Reg.) Rewa Book Centre, 11/97, Main Road (Reg.) Vellore Supdt., Govt. State Emporium, U~ P. A. VenJratasubhan Law Booksellers (Reg.) Saharanpur Wardba Chandra Bliarata Pustak Bbandar, Court Road (Resto) Swarafeya Bhandar, Bhorji Market (Reg.) Secenderabad Govt. of India Kitab Ma.hal, Janpath, 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. SBchar J High Commissioner for India in. LondoD, Shri Nishitto Sen Nazirpatti (Rest.) India. House, London, W. C. 2. Date Loaned t LIST OF AGENTS FOR THE. SALE OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PUBLICATIONS AS ON 31-12-1962 (On S and R Baets) The Head Clerk, Government Book Depot, Ahmedabad. The Registrar of Companies, Gwalior. The Assistant Director, Extension Centre, Kapileshwar Road, Assistant Director, Extension Centre, Bbuli Road, Dhanbad. Belgaum. Registrar of Companies, Orissa, Cuttack Gandbi, Cuttack. The Employment 'O£Iicer, Employment Exchanp, Dhar. The Registrar of Companies, Gujrilt State, Gujrat Samacbar T:13 Assistant Director, Footwear Extension Centro. Polo Building, Ahmedabad. Ground No. I, Jodhpur. LIST OF AGENTS FOR THE SALE OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PUBLICATIONS AS ON 81-12-1962 The O. Ilc Extension Centre, Club Road, Muzaffarpur. (Railway BookstaU Holders) The Director, Indian Bureau of Mines, Government of India, SIS. A. H. Wheeler & Co., IS, Elgin Road. Allahabad. Ministry of Steel, Mines and Fuel, Nagpnr. Gahlot Bros., K. E. M. Roaa, Bikaner. The Assistant Director, Industrial Extension Centre, Nadiad, Higginbothams & Co. Ltd., Mount Road, Madras. (Gujarat). M. Gulab Singh & Sons (P) Ltd., Matbura Road, New Delhi, The Head Clerk, Photozincographic 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. lIe .Extension Cetztre, Industrial Estate, 'Koku, Ranchi. (Foreign) The Director, S. I. 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 BuUding, 2. Eraboume Fredsgation.2 Box, 1656, Stockholm-16 (SwedeDl. Road, Calcutta-t. Publication Division, Sales Depot, North Block, New Delhi. The Registrar of Companies, Keraia 70, Feet' Road, :EmakUlam. The Development Commissioner, Small Scale Industries, New The Registrar of Companies, H. ·No. 8-5-88, Hyderguda, Delhi. Hyderabad. The O. Ilc UniveISity Employment Bureau, Lucknow. The Registrar of Companies, Assam, Manipur and Tripura, O. I/e S. 1. S. I. Extension Centre, MaIda. ShiUong. The Registrar of Companies, Sunlight Iasurance Building, O. lIe S. t. S.I. Extension Centre, Habra, Tabaluria, 24 Parganas. O. C. Ilc S. I. S. I. Model Carpentry Workshop, Piyali Nagar, Ajmed Gate Eztension, New Delhi. P. O. Burnipur. Tbe Registrar of Companies, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, LInk Road, JuUundur City. O. C. lie S. I. S. I. Cbrontanning Extension Centre, Tangra 83 Tho Registrar of Companies, Bihar Jammal Road, Patna,.l. North Topsia Road, Calcutta-46. O. Ilc I. S. I. Extension Centre, (Footwear), Calcutta. The Registrar of Compa.ni~,;,Rajasthan and Ajmer: Shri Kumta s. Prasad H01I88, 1st· Floor, 'C' Scbeme, Ashok Marg, Jaipur. Asstt. Director, Extension Centre, Hyderabad. The Registrar of ComPanies, Andhra Bank Building, 6 Lingbi Asstt. Director, Extension Centre, Krishna District (A. P.) Chetty Street, P. B. 1530, Madma. Employment Officer, Employment Exchange, Jhabua. The Registrar of Companies, Mahatma Gandhi Road, West Deputy Director, Incharge, S. I. S. I. Clo Cbief Civil AdmD. Cott. Bldg., P. B. 334, Kanpur. Goa, Panjim. The Registrar of Compa.nies. Everest 100, Marine Drive, Bombay. The Registrar of Trade Unions, Kanpur. The Registrar of Companies, 162. Brigade Road. BangaJore. The Employment Officer, Employment ~e, Gopal Bbavan. GRPG-889-CeDBu&-5-tl:es:18,OOO.