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THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CULTURE |
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SCHEDULED CASTES
OF THE SCHEDULED CASTES: Bhangis work mainly as
scavengers in Municipalities. Traditionally Cambhars are leather
workers. Dhors are tanners; Mahars are village servants doing all
types of low manual work; Mang-garudis was once a criminal nomadic
tribe, and Mangs who include a number of subdivisions work as
cattle-dealers, cobblers, rope-makers, musicians and snake-charmers.
Bhangis.
Bhangis or nightsoil men are returned as
numbering 441 in Kolhapur district and are found in towns and cities
where they work as scavengers in municipalities. They have two
endoga-mous divisions among them as (1) Muslim Bhangis and (2)
Kathevadi Hindu Bhangis who are called ' Halalkhors'.
In 1947 [Social Survey of Kolhapur City. Vol. III,
p. 215 N. V. Sovani.] in Kolhapur city there were about 75 families
of the community with a population of about 300. About 40 families
belonged to the Malkane Panth and were natives of the Kolhapur
territory. The rest were called Pardeshis, who belonged to the
Lalvili division and were recent (1905) migrants from Gujarat
brought from Bombay to break a local strike. Bhangis speak an
incorrect Hindustani at home and Hindustani and Marathi outside.
They live in houses which are very simple, mainly tin sheds, built
away from other caste Hindu localities. In Kolhapur city they live
in Municipal chawls built at different places. Both males and
females smoke tobacco. With the introduction of prohibition the
habit of drinking which was fairly common had to be given up.
In religion Bhahgis are half Muslims, half Hindus,
repeating prayers from the Koran and at the same time worshipping
Hindu gods. Pardeshi Bhangis maintain contact with their native
villages and often visit them. Marriages, however, do take place
locally as well as outside. Almost all from the community keep to
their traditional occupation of scavenging and sweeping. The
Pardeshi Bhangis have no Pancas. [Social Survey of Kolhapur
City. Vol. III, page 215 N. V. Sovani.] They elect a
covdhari, a jamadar, a patel and a pyada
from among themselves for settling caste disputes. Among the local
Bhangis the office of Meheter and Gadkari were
hereditary. They settled caste disputes, marriages etc. and imposed
fines for misconduct. Recently, however, the younger generation has
tended to disregard these traditional hereditary caste elders.
Bhangis rank as the lowest of all Hindu castes. Literacy among them
is very low; there is no improvement in the old method of scavenging
and hence other Hindus never try to mix among them freely for any
purpose, social or religious.
Chambhars.
Cambhars (leather workers) are returned as
numbering 19,089 and are found generally in every village in the
district. They claim descent from Aralaya, one of the sons and great
worshippers of Siv, who incurred siv's displeasure by making a pair
of shoes of his own skin which he presented to the god. As a
punishment he was doomed to be a cobbler for life. They have no
memory of any former home. In Kolhapur district they belong to two
divisions, Haralis and Cevalis. Though they neither eat together nor
intermarry, these two classes are similar to one another in every
respect. As a class Cambhars are fair, middle-sized, a little
round-shouldered, and weak, with large gray eyes, gaunt cheeks, thin
lips, and lank head and face hair. Their women are well built with
regular features and often not very dark skinned. They speak Marathi
and live in one-storeyed houses with mud and sun-dried walls and
tiled or thatched roofs, with a small open veranda and courtyard
where they tan hides and work in leather. Besides their working
tools and a store of hides, their house goods include metal and
earth vessels, quilts, low stools, and blankets. They rear cows and
buffaloes and poultry. Their staple food includes millet bread,
pulse, and a pounded mixture of onions, garlic and chillies. They
eat flesh except beef and pork. As a class the main business of the
community is to prepare boots, shoes and sandals, etc. In villages
Cambhars are to some extent engaged in tanning business also. They
prepare leather bags, purses, belts and other petty leather
articles. A few earn their living as husbandmen. Cambhars worship
all Hindu gods and goddesses, chiefly Mahadev, Vithoba and Yallamma
and keep the usual feasts and fasts. Their priests who are Brahmans
name the lucky day for marriages and conduct the ceremony. They make
pilgrimages to Singanapur in Satara, to Yallamma in Belgaum and to
Jotiba's hill in Vadi-Ratnagiri nine miles north-west of Kolhapur.
They have a religious teacher to whom they pay a yearly money
tribute but whom they do not ask to settle social disputes which are
referred to Pancayat (council of elderly castemen). In
Kolhapur city (1947) the majority of the community was found engaged
in the traditional occupation of making leather goods. The heads of
15-20 families were working as clerks or teachers in Government
offices and schools; some were in the local police force and some
had been recruited in the army during World War II. The whole
community acted as a Pancayat (caste council), enforced caste
customs and rules and punished offenders by fines, excommunication
etc. The community was generally very poor, educationally backward
and literacy was very low.
Mahars.
Mahars are returned as numbering 1,01,720 and
are found in considerable numbers all over the district. The
community has no memory of any former settlement. In the older
generation the names in common use among men are Kondunak, Limbnak,
Masnak, Ramnak, and among women Bhimi, Jji, Rani, Taini, and Yelli.
Like South Konkan Mahars the men take nak, apparently a
corruption of naik (leader), after their names. There is
documentary evidence to say that in the Maratha regime Mahars took
part in battles and showed good fighting qualities.
Social Organisation.
Of the many divisions into which Mahars say they are
divided, thirteen are represented in Kolhapur. They are: Andvan
(virgin-born) Beles (broom, basket and mat makers) Jhades
(sweepers), Ghadsis (musicians) Ghatkamblis, Gondvans, (beggars),
Hedsis, Kabules, Kudvans, Ladvans, Pans (flute-players), Sonkamblis
and Saladis. These divisions once neither interdined nor
intermarried but the restrictions are now relaxed, though to some
extent, they may be observed regarding marriage. Within these
divisions the community had two endogamous divisions, namely Bhat
and Dhegu-megu. The Bhat used to preside over marriage, funeral and
other social ceremonies and also served as messengers carrying news
of social incidents to relatives. The ancestors of the Dhegu-megus
were said to have brought megh (rain) by prayer and they were
gurus (teachers) of the community. Both these divisions now
identify themselves with the community and intermarry. There are
also a number of exogamous divisions known as Kuls (surnames)
in the community, some of which are Abbute, Ambedkar, Gayakwad,
Ingle, Jadhav, Kamble, Pawar, Vaghmare etc. A caste organisation
presided over by a panca called mehatar once closely bound
together the members of each endogamous division. Breaches against
caste rules were punished by putting the offender out of caste. A
nimb twig was thrown on the offender's house and all were
enjoined to keep aloof from the offender's family on pain of losing
caste. These caste organisations have now become loose. Mahars were
once held to be impure by caste Hindus. The village barber would not
shave them nor were they allowed to draw water from the village
well. Such inhibitions which the community once had to suffer along
with other ' untouchables' have now been legally removed by specific
provisions in the Constitution of India.
Except those living in the villages bordering on
Kannada country who speak Kannada, most Mahars speak an incorrect
and oddly pronounced Marathi. When a Mahar meets a man of his own
caste he greets him with " namastu" (a bow to you); to others
he says, "johar". They are generally dark with irregular
features and flat noses. They live in the outskirts of towns and
villages in special quarters known as maharwada, generally in
untidy and ill-cared for houses of sun-burnt brick or stone and mud
walls and tiled or thatched roofs. Mahars once considered it wrong
to live in a house for which rent has to be paid. In villages the
men dress in a loincloth or waist cloth, a blanket as a
shoulder-cloth, a coat or smock and a Maratha turban. The women
plait their hair in a braid which hangs down the back and wear the
full Maratha sari (robe) without passing the skirt back
between the feet and a coll (bodice) with short sleeves and a
back.
Religion.
Mahars consider themselves as Brahmanic Hindus. They
cannot tell whether they are Bhagvats or Smarts. Some Mahars have
Brahman Gurus; some have also gurus (teachers) of their own
caste. Some who are followers of Cokhamela (varkaris) wear
necklaces of tulsi, beads and make periodical pilgrimages to
Alandi and Pandharpur. They worship all gods and goddesses, their
favourite deities being Bahiroba, Khandoba, Mhasoba and Vithoba.
Their peculiar deities are Mari-the cholera goddess, Pandhar-the
village site goddess, and Thal- the settlement place spirit. They
also worship their ancestors' brass images as house gods, and they
have generally faith in soothsaying, sorcery and witchcraft. Some
Mahars have recently adopted Buddhism as their religion.
Customs.
Like all Hindu communities in the region, Mahars
worship Satvai Goddess on the fifth day after birth. A few spots of
sandal and turmeric paste are daubed on the wall near the mother's
cot and are offered worship. The woman is held impure for eight days
after child birth and the naming ceremony is held on the ninth day.
When the child grows old, its first hair are clipped by the maternal
uncle.
Marriage within the same kul and with
mother's sister's daughter or sister's daughter is not allowed. The
custom of giving dowry to the bride is current in the community, but
now-a-days the parents of the girl offer dowry to an educated or
well-placed boy. On the day before the marriage day the boy is
rubbed with turmeric paste and bathed, and his kins-people and
friends take the rest of the paste to the girl's house, rub the girl
with the paste, and present her with a sadi and a few
ornaments. On that day a sapling of mango or saplings of Saundad,
Apta, Umbar and Kalamb or Jambhul as per family custom are brought
by the elder sister and her husband and then tied with wheat bread
and an axe to the muhurta medha. The marriage ceremony
takes place generally at the bride's place and the bridegroom goes
there in a procession. At the time of marriage, the bride and the
bridegroom stand in bamboo baskets filled with grains and with a
grinding stone in it, or on pats (low wooden stools) with a curtain
of cloth held between them. Formerly a person of the bhat
sub-division of the community used to preside over the ceremony.
Now-a-days he is often replaced by an elder or an educated person.
He chants hymns, throws rice grains over the couple and removes the
curtain. The assembled also shower rice grains over the couple and
the bride and the bridegroom then garland each other and they are
wedded. Divorce as well as widow marriage is allowed. However, a
widow is not permitted to marry a member of the deceased husband's
family.
Mahars bury their dead and mourn for three days. On
the third day the chief mourner shampoos the bearers' shoulders and
gives from food before any one of the family eats, and while the
bearers are eating every one leaves the house.
Occupation.
The hereditary occupation of the community is
village service and skinning dead animals. They act as guides and
messengers to public officers travelling on duty, call landholders
to pay the land assessment at the village office, watch boundaries
and the village office, repair the cavdi (village office) and
Ganvkusu (village gate) and sweep the village roads. To carry
cowdung cakes to the burning ground and to dig graves is a part of
their duty to the villagers. Most of them enjoy a small Government
payment, partly in cash and partly in land. The chief source of
their income is the balute (yearly grain allowance). [The
chief dues for Mahars' services to the villagers allowed by the
Muslim and Maratha Government were; Sitadevi or a port of a
standing sugarcane crop; village or town gate offering; Holi
food offerings on the full-moon of Phalgun; bendur grain
gifts on the full-moon of Ashadh hides of dead cattle;
hat-shekno (hand warning), a money gift for watching the fire
made for boiling sugarcane juice ghar-takka (home-money),
money paid for digging graves, grain lying on and about the thr
shuig floor when the floor is used for the first time, grain at the
bottom of a pev (grain pit the rice strewn on the two low
stools which are set for the bride and bridegroom; a yearly pair of
sandals for watching the village or town gate; rukka
(marriage gift,, including two coppers in cash, a piece of
cocoa-kernel and a handful of rice; oti-pati (lap-tax) that
is handfuls of grain put into the laps of Mahar women at the first
treading of the grain; money thrown into her platter when a Mahar
woman comes to wave a lamp round the head of the bride's or
bridegroom's mother; madhe-pade (carcass-tax);
Manguli, that is gift for winding a string round the village
on the no-moon of Ashadh and of Kartika
ran-sodvan (forest-leaving) that is grain ears given to
Mahars on the first cutting and stacking pendha (straw); and
lagin takka or (marriage-rupee) that is 4 as.
given to the village Mahar when the booth is raised.]
For their private services they are paid in cash or,
what they like better, in cooked food. Of recent years complaints
have arisen in villages near large centres of industry that mahars
have been so depleted in numbers by migration to cities as to leave
an inadequate staff for village requirements. As unskilled labourers
they are employed in large numbers. In villages some are husbandmen
and a few are bricklayers. Now-a-days with pieces of waste land
assigned to them in villages they have proved good agriculturists.
The community is making good progress in education and many have
found employment in various branches of Government service.
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