The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 3

3. Social customs

The Kewats worship the ordinary Hindu deities and believe that a special goddess, Chaurāsi Devi, dwells in their boats and keeps them from sinking. She is propitiated at the beginning of the rains and in times of flood, and an image of her is painted on their boats. They bury the dead, laying the corpse with the feet to the south, while some clothes, cotton, til and salt are placed in the grave, apparently as a provision for the dead man’s soul. They worship their ancestors at intervals on a Monday or a Saturday with an offering of a fowl. As is usual in Chhattīsgarh, their rules as to food are very lax, and they will eat both fowls and pork. Nevertheless Brāhmans will take water at their hands and eat the rice and gram which they have parched. The caste consider fishing to have been their original occupation, and tell a story to the effect that their ancestors saved the deity in their boat on the occasion of the Deluge, and in return were given the power of catching three or four times as many fish as ordinary persons in the same space of time. Some of them parch gram and rice, and others act as coolies and banghy-bearers.⁴⁶⁷ Kewats are usually in poor circumstances, but they boast that the town of Bilāspur is named after Bilāsa Keotin, a woman of their caste. She was married, but was sought after by the king of the country, so she held out her cloth to the sun, calling on him to set it on fire, and was burnt alive, preserving her virtue. Her husband burnt himself with her, and the pair ascended to heaven.

Khairwār

[Authorities: Colonel Dalton’s Ethnology of Bengal; Sir H. Risley’s Tribes and Castes of Bengal; Mr. Crooke’s Tribes and Castes of the N.-W.P. and Oudh.]

1. Historical notice of the tribe

Khairwār, Kharwār, Khaira, Khairwa.⁴⁶⁸—A primitive tribe of the Chota Nāgpur plateau and Bihār. Nearly 20,000 Khairwārs are now under the jurisdiction of the Central Provinces, of whom two-thirds belong to the recently acquired Sargūja State, and the remainder to the adjoining States and the Bilāspur District. A few hundred Khairwārs or Khairwas are also returned from the Damoh District in the Bundelkhand country. Colonel Dalton considers the Khairwārs to be closely connected with the Cheros. He relates that the Cheros, once dominant in Gorakhpur and Shāhābād, were expelled from these tracts many centuries ago by the Gorkhas and other tribes, and came into Palāmau. “It is said that the Palāmau population then consisted of Kharwārs, Gonds, Mārs, Korwas, Parheyas and Kisāns. Of these the Kharwārs were the people of most consideration. The Cheros conciliated them and allowed them to remain in peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sargūja; all the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained military service grants of land, which they still retain. It is popularly asserted that at the commencement of the Chero rule in Palāmau they numbered twelve thousand families and the Kharwārs eighteen thousand, and if an individual of one or the other is asked to what tribe he belongs, he will say not that he is a Chero or a Kharwār, but that he belongs to the twelve thousand or the eighteen thousand, as the case may be. Intermarriages between Chero and Kharwār families have taken place. A relative of the Palāmau Rāja married a sister of Manināth Singh, Rāja of Rāmgarh, and this is among themselves an admission of identity of origin, as both claiming to be Rājpūts they could not intermarry till it was proved to the satisfaction of the family priest that the parties belonged to the same class.... The Rājas of Rāmgarh and Jashpur are members of this tribe, who have nearly succeeded in obliterating their Turanian traits by successive intermarriages with Aryan families. The Jashpur Rāja is wedded to a lady of pure Rājpūt blood, and by liberal dowries has succeeded in obtaining a similar union for three of his daughters. It is a costly ambition, but there is no doubt that the liberal infusion of fresh blood greatly improves the Kharwār physique.”⁴⁶⁹ This passage demonstrates the existence of a close connection between the Cheros and Khairwārs. Elsewhere Colonel Dalton connects the Santāls with the Khairwārs as follows:⁴⁷⁰ “A wild goose coming from the great ocean alighted at Ahiri Pipri and there laid two eggs. From these two eggs a male and female were produced, who were the parents of the Santāl race. From Ahiri Pipri our (Santāl) ancestors migrated to Hara Dutti, and there they greatly increased and multiplied and were called Kharwār.” This also affords some reason for supposing that the Khairwārs are an offshoot of the Cheros and Santāls. Mr. Crooke remarks, “That in Mīrzāpur the people themselves derive their name either from their occupation as makers of catechu (khair) or on account of their emigration from some place called Khairāgarh, regarding which there is a great difference of opinion. If the Santāl tradition is to be accepted, Khairāgarh is the place of that name in the Hazāribāgh District; but the Mīrzāpur tradition seems to point to some locality in the south or west, in which case Khairāgarh may be identified with the most important of the Chhattīsgarh Feudatory States, or with the pargana of that name in the Allahābād District.”⁴⁷¹ According to their own traditions in Chota Nāgpur, Sir H. Risley states that,⁴⁷² “The Kharwārs declare their original seat to have been the fort of Rohtās, so called as having been the chosen abode of Rohitāswa, son of Harīschandra, of the family of the Sun. From this ancient house they also claim descent, calling themselves Sūrajvansis, and wearing the Janeo or caste thread distinguishing the Rājpūts. A less flattering tradition makes them out to be the offspring of a marriage between a Kshatriya man and a Bhar woman contracted in the days of King Ben, when distinctions of caste were abolished and men might marry whom they would.” A somewhat similar story of themselves is told by the tribe in the Bāmra State. Here they say that their original ancestors were the Sun and a daughter of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, who lived in the town of Sara. She was very beautiful and the Sun desired her, and began blowing into a conch-shell to express his passion. While the girl was gaping at the sight and sound, a drop of the spittle fell into her mouth and impregnated her. Subsequently a son was born from her arm and a daughter from her thigh, who were known as Bhujbalrai and Janghrai.⁴⁷³ Bhujbalrai was given great strength by the Sun, and he fought with the people of the country, and became king of Rāthgarh. But in consequence of this he and his family grew proud, and Lakshmi determined to test them whether they were worthy of the riches she had given them. So she came in the guise of a beggar to the door, but was driven away without alms. On this she cursed them, and said that their descendants, the Khairwārs, should always be poor, and should eke out a scanty subsistence from the forests. And in consequence the Khairwārs have ever since been engaged in boiling wood for catechu. Mr. Hīra Lāl identifies the Rāthgarh of this story with the tract of Rāth in the north of the Raigarh State and the town of Sara, where Lakshmi’s daughter lived and her children were born, with Saria in Sārangarh.

2. Its origin

On the information available as to the past history of the tribe it seems probable that the Khairwārs may, as suggested by Sir H. Risley, be an offshoot from some other group. The most probable derivation of the name seems to be from the khair or catechu tree (Acacia catechu); and it may be supposed that it was the adoption as a calling of the making of catechu which led to their differentiation. Mr. Crooke derives their name either from the khair tree or a place called Khairāgarh; but this latter name almost certainly means ‘The fort of the khair trees.’ The Khairwās or Khairwārs of the Kaimur hills, who are identified by Colonel Dalton and in the India Census of 1901 with the Khairwārs of Chota Nāgpur, are certainly named after the tree; they are generally recognised as being Gonds who have taken to the business of boiling catechu, and are hence distinguished, being a little looked down upon by other Gonds. Mr. Crooke describes them in Mīrzāpur as “Admittedly a compound of various jungle tribes who have taken to this special occupation; while according to another account they are the offspring of the Saharias or Saonrs, with whom their sept names are said to be identical.” He also identifies them with the Kathkāris of Bombay, whose name means ‘makers of katha or prepared catechu.’ The Khairwārs of Chota Nāgpur have everywhere a subdivision which makes catechu, this being known as Khairchūra in the Central Provinces, Khairi in Bengal and Khairaha in the United Provinces. This group is looked down upon by the other Khairwārs, who consider their occupation to be disreputable and do not marry with them. Possibly the preparation of catechu, like basket- and mat-making, is despised as being a profession practised by primitive dwellers in forests, and so those Khairwārs who have become more civilised are now anxious to disclaim it. Sir H. Risley has several times pointed out the indeterminate nature of the constitution of the Chota Nāgpur tribes, between several of whom intermarriage is common. And it seems certain that the tribes as we know them now must have been differentiated from one or more common stocks much in the same fashion as castes, though rather by the influence of local settlement than by differences of occupation, and at a much earlier date. And on the above facts it seems likely that the Khairwārs of Chota Nāgpur are an occupational offshoot of the Cheros and Santāls, as those of the Kaimur hills are of the Gonds and Savars.

3. Tribal subdivisions

Colonel Dalton states that the tribe had four subdivisions, Bhogta, Mahto, Rāwat and Mānjhi. Of these Mahto simply means a village headman, and is used as a title by many castes and tribes; Rāwat is a term meaning chief, and is in common use as a title; and Mānjhi too is a title, being specially applied to boatmen, and also means a village headman among the Santāls. These divisions, too, afford some reason for considering the tribe to be a mixed group. Other occupational subtribes are recorded by Sir H. Risley, and are found in the Central Provinces, but these apparently have grown up since Colonel Dalton’s time.

The most important group in Bengal are the Bhogtas, who are found, says Colonel Dalton, “In the hills of Palāmau, skirting Sargūja, in Tori and Bhānwar Pahār of Chota Nāgpur and other places. They have always had an indifferent reputation. The head of the clan in Palāmau was a notorious freebooter, who, after having been outlawed and successfully evaded every attempt to capture him, obtained a jāgīr⁴⁷⁴ on his surrendering and promising to keep the peace. He kept to his engagement and died in fair repute, but his two sons could not resist the opportunity afforded by the disturbances of 1857–58. After giving much trouble they were captured; one was hanged, the other transported for life and the estate was confiscated.” Mr. Crooke notes that the Khairwārs since adopting Hinduism performed human sacrifices to Kāli. Some of our people who fell into their hands during the Mutiny were so dealt with.⁴⁷⁵

In the Central Provinces there is a group known as Sūrajvansi or Descendants of the Sun, or Janeodhāri, ‘Those who wear the sacred thread.’ This is the aristocratic division of the caste, to which the chiefs and zamīndārs belong, and according to the usual practice they have consolidated their higher position by marrying only among themselves. Other groups are the Duālbandhi, who say that they are so called because they make a livelihood by building the earthen diwāls or walls for houses and yards; but in Mīrzāpur they derive the name from duāl, a leather belt which is supposed to have been the uniform of their forefathers when serving as soldiers.⁴⁷⁶ The Pātbandhi or silk-makers, according to their own story, are thus named because their ancestors were once very rich and wore silk; but a more probable hypothesis is that they were rearers of tasar silk cocoons. The Beldār or Matkora work as navvies, and are also known as Kawarvansi or ‘Descendants of the Kawars,’ another tribe of the locality; and last come the Khairchūra, who take their name from the khair tree and are catechu-makers.

4. Exogamous septs

The tribe have a large number of exogamous groups named after plants and animals. Members of the mouse, tortoise, parrot, pig, monkey, vulture, banyan tree and date-palm septs worship their totem animal or tree, and when they find the dead body of the animal they throw away an earthen cooking-pot to purify themselves, as is done when a member of the family dies. Those of the Dhān (rice), Non (salt), Dila (plough) and Dhenki (rice pounding-lever) septs cannot dispense with the use of these objects, but make a preliminary obeisance before employing them. Those of the Kānsi sept sprinkle water mixed with kāns⁴⁷⁷ grass over the bride and bridegroom at the marriage ceremony, and those of the Chandan or sandalwood sept apply sandal-paste to their foreheads. They cannot clearly explain the meaning of these observances, but some of them have a vague idea that they are descended from the totem object.

5. Marriage

Marriage is either infant or adult, and in the latter case a girl is not disposed of without her consent. A bride-price varying from five to ten rupees is paid, and in the case of a girl given to a widower the amount is doubled. The Hindu ceremonial has been adopted for the wedding, and an auspicious day is fixed by a Brāhman. In Bengal Sir H. Risley notes that “Remnants of non-Aryan usage may be discerned in the marriage ceremony itself. Both parties must first go through the form of marriage to a mango tree or at least a branch of the tree; and must exchange blood mixed with sindur, though in the final and binding act sindur alone is smeared by the bridegroom upon the bride’s forehead and the parting of her hair.” As has been pointed out by Mr. Crooke, the custom of smearing vermilion on the bride’s forehead is a substitute for an earlier anointing with blood; just as the original idea underlying the offering of a cocoanut was that of substitution for a human head. In some cases blood alone is still used. Thus Sir H. Risley notes that among the Birhors the marriage rite is performed by drawing blood from the little fingers of the bride and bridegroom and smearing it on each of them.⁴⁷⁸ The blood-covenant by which a bride was admitted to her husband’s sept by being smeared with his blood is believed to have been a common rite among primitive tribes.

6. Disposal of the dead

As a rule, the tribe bury the dead, though the Hindu custom of cremation is coming into fashion among the well-to-do. Before the interment they carry the corpse seven times round the grave, and it is buried with the feet pointing to the north. They observe mourning for ten days and abstain from animal food and liquor during that period. A curious custom is reported from the Bilāspur District, where it is said that children cut a small piece of flesh from the finger of a dead parent and swallow it, considering this as a requital for the labour of the mother in having carried the child for nine months in her womb. So in return they carry a piece of her flesh in their bodies. But the correct explanation as given by Sir J. G. Frazer is that they do it to prevent themselves from being haunted by the ghosts of their parents. “Thus Orestes,⁴⁷⁹ after he had gone mad from murdering his mother, recovered his wits by biting off one of his own fingers; since his victim was his own mother it might be supposed that the tasting of his own blood was the same as hers; and the furies of his murdered mother, which had appeared black to him before, appeared white as soon as he had mutilated himself in this way. The Indians of Guiana believe that an avenger of blood who has slain his man must go mad unless he tastes the blood of his victim, the notion apparently being that the ghost drives him crazy. A similar custom was observed by the Maoris in battle. When a warrior had slain his foe in combat, he tasted his blood, believing that this preserved him from the avenging spirit (atua) of his victim; for they imagined that ‘the moment a slayer had tasted the blood of the slain, the dead man became a part of his being and placed him under the protection of the atua or guardian-spirit of the deceased.’ Some of the North American Indians also drank the blood of their enemies in battle. Strange as it may seem, this truly savage superstition exists apparently in Italy to this day. There is a widespread opinion in Calabria that if a murderer is to escape he must suck his victim’s blood from the reeking blade of the dagger with which he did the deed.”

7. Religion

The religion of the tribe is of the usual animistic type. Colonel Dalton notes that they have, like the Kols, a village priest, known as Pahan or Baiga. He is always one of the impure tribes, a Bhuiya, a Kharwār or a Korwa, and he offers a great triennial sacrifice of a buffalo in the sacred grove, or on a rock near the village. The fact that the Khairwārs employed members of the Korwa and Bhuiya tribes as their village priests may be taken to indicate that the latter are the earlier residents of the country, and are on this account employed by the Khairwārs as later arrivals for the conciliation of the indigenous deities. Colonel Dalton states that the Khairwārs made no prayers to any of the Hindu gods, but when in great trouble they appealed to the sun. In the Central Provinces the main body of the tribe, and particularly those who belong to the landholding class, profess the Hindu religion.

8. Inheritance

The Khairwārs have now also adopted the Hindu rule of inheritance, and have abandoned the tribal custom which Sir H. Risley records as existing in Bengal. “Here the eldest son of the senior wife, even if younger than one of the sons of the second wife, inherits the entire property, subject to the obligation of providing for all other legitimate children. If the inheritance consists of land, the heir is expected to create separate maintenance grants in favour of his younger brothers. Daughters can never inherit, but are entitled to live in the ancestral home till they are married.”⁴⁸⁰

9. The Khairwas of Damoh

The Khairwas or Khairwārs of the Kaimur hills are derived, as already seen, from the Gonds and Savars, and therefore are ethnologically a distinct group from those of the Chota Nāgpur plateau, who have been described above. But as nearly every caste is made up of diverse ethnological elements held together by the tie of a common occupation, it does not seem worth while to treat these groups separately. Colonel Dalton, who also identifies them with the main tribe, records an interesting notice of them at an earlier period:⁴⁸¹

“There is in the seventh volume of the Asiatic Researches a notice of the Kharwārs of the Kaimur hills in the Mīrzāpur District, to the north of the Son river, by Captain J. P. Blunt, who in his journey from Chunār to Ellora in A.D. 1794, met with them and describes them as a very primitive tribe. He visited one of their villages consisting of half a dozen poor huts, and though proceeding with the utmost caution, unattended, to prevent alarm, the inhabitants fled at his approach. The women were seen, assisted by the men, carrying off their children and moving with speed to hide themselves in the woods. It was observed that they were nearly naked, and the only articles of domestic use found in the deserted huts were a few gourds for water-vessels, some bows and arrows, and some fowls as wild as their masters. With great difficulty, by the employment of Kols as mediators, some of the men were induced to return. They were nearly naked, but armed with bows and arrows and a hatchet.”

In Damoh the Khairwārs are said to come from Panna State. During the working season they live in temporary sheds in the forest, and migrate from place to place as the supply of trees is exhausted. Having cut down a tree they strip off the bark and cut the inner and tender wood into small pieces, which are boiled for two or three days until a thick black paste is obtained. From this the water is allowed to drain off, and the residue is made into cakes and dried in the sun. It is eaten in small pieces with betel-leaf and areca-nut. Duty is levied by the Forest Department at the rate of a rupee per handi or pot in which boiling is carried on. In Bombay various superstitious observances are connected with the manufacture of catechu; and Mr. Crooke quoted the following description of them from the Bombay Gazetteer:⁴⁸² “Every year on the day after the Holi the chūlha ceremony takes place. In a trench seven feet long by three, and about three deep, khair logs are carefully stacked and closely packed till they stand in a heap about three feet above ground. The pile is then set on fire and allowed to burn to the level of the ground. The village sweeper breaks a cocoanut, kills a couple of fowls and sprinkles a little liquor near the pile. Then, after washing their feet, the sweeper and the village headman walk barefoot hurriedly across the fire. After this strangers come to fulfil vows, and giving one anna and a half cocoanut to the sweeper, and the other half cocoanut to the headman, wash their feet, and turning to the left, walk over the pile. The fire seems to cause none of them any pain.” The following description of the Kathkāris as hunters of monkeys is also taken by Mr. Crooke from the Bombay Gazetteer:⁴⁸³ “The Kathkāris represent themselves as descended from the monkeys of Rāma. Now that their legitimate occupation of preparing catechu (kath) has been interfered with, they subsist almost entirely by hunting, and habitually kill and eat monkeys, shooting them with bows and arrows. In order to approach within range they are obliged to have recourse to stratagems, as the monkeys at once recognise them in their ordinary costume. The ruse usually adopted is for one of the best shots to put on a woman’s robe (sāri), under the ample folds of which he conceals his murderous weapons. Approaching the tree in which the monkeys are seated, the sportsman affects the utmost unconcern, and busies himself with the innocent occupation of picking up twigs and leaves, and thus disarming suspicion he is enabled to get a sufficiently close shot to render success a certainty.”