Dhimal
Contents |
Dhimal
This section has been extracted from THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
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Origin
Dhemal ,Dhemal a non-Aryan tribe of the Darjiling and Nepal Terai, olassed by Fr. Muller as Lohitio. They belong to the same main stook as the Kochh, whom they resemble closely in features and com-plexion; and, like them, are rapidly losing their tribal identity by absorption into the large and heterogeneous Rajbansi caste. Rajbansis, who pretend to be Kshatriyas, strenuously deny that any such process is going on, but a shrewd observer! of social changes assures me that" any Dhimal can become a Rajbansi at any time if he is only prosperous enough," and instances are known in which a fee of Rs. 600 has been paid for this privilege. Formal promotions of this sort are, however, exceptional, and the average Dhim,H who aspires to social elevation transforms himself into a Rajbansi by simply assuming that title. To this .movement rll.ther than to any lack of vitality in the race we may attribute the fact that, while in 1847 Hodgson 2 estimated the number of the Dhimals at 15,000, no recent census3 shows any approach to this figure, and they seem likely to disappear altogether as a separate tribe within the next generation. Already, indeed, they affect a dislike for the tribal name Dhimal, which is now used only by outsiders, and prefer to call themselves by the modern title of Maulik. They have no traditions of their own, and look upon themselves as the original inhabitants of the tract of country where they are now settled. The scanty legends ourrent among other races regarding their origin are noticed in the article on the Mech tribe, with whom the Dhimal are associated by the Nepalese dwellers in the Terai.
Intenal structure
The Dhimal are divided into three classes-Agnia, Later, and Dungia-the members of which are not absolutely debarred from intermarriage, thought the Agnia Dhimals deem themselves superior to the other two classes, and as a rule marry within their own group. Marriages also occasionally take place between Dhimal and Rajbansis of either sex, but in such cases tho Rajbansis usually have to abandon their own caste and mol them elves in the Dhimal community, giving a feast to the pancitayat by way of entrance-fee. There are four exogamous septs-Chonga, Dauwa, Kauwa, and Ranga. Prohibited degrees are reckoned by the standard formula down to seven generations on the male and three on the female side.
Marriage
Infant-marriage is almost unknown among the Dhimals, and is practised only by the few well-to-do families, who strive to imitate the customs of high-caste Hindus. Among the main body of the tribe youths between the ages of sixteen and twenty marry girls from tweIve to sixteen. Courtship is unrestricted, and the young people usually settle their own love affairs without the intervention of parents or guardians. It occasionally happens that a match affecting the pro-prietary interests of two families is arranged by the fathers of the I Mr. W. B. Oldham, Bengal Civil Service, late Deputy Commissioner of Darjiling. 2 Essa:ljs, i, 115. 3 They numbered 873 in 1872 and 662 in 18 1. couple concerned, but as a rule the first step taken in the direction of marriage is for the girl to go off one evening with the man of her choice and quietly establish herself in his house. At this stage her paTents come forward and demand a settlement of the bride-price (chumna) , which formerly stood nt Rs. 11, but now ranges from Rs. 20 to Rs. 80, according to the attractions of the girl and the value which her parents set upon her lover. The amount, however, is not paid, or even finally settled at once; the bride must first pass through a period of probation, extending often to a year or more, during which time her capabilities as a housewife are supposed to be tested. If she gives satisfaction, the bride-price is determined and paid, and the marriage formally celebrated. If she is rejected, the man with whom she eloped is bound to maintain her and her childlen; but instances of this very rarely occur. The procedure, however, is by no means uniform in all cases. Very commonly the marriage takes place a month or so after the elopement, while the question of bride-price stands over until the young woman's tlue value has been ascertained by the working test of domestic life. Dhimal seem, however, to regard marriage as a form of minor importance. I know of a young Dhimal who took a girl to his house some three years ago. The two live happily together, and she has borne him a child, but the marriage ceremony has not yet been performed, owing probably to the parents being unable to agree about the bride• price. No social stigma attaches to the girl's position, and the women of the village receive her on equal terms; but she is not entitled to serve boiled rice to guests invited on any ceremonial occasion. From this curious laxity in ordering the relations of the sexes it follows of course that intercourse previous to elopement or marriage is tacitly l'ecognised. But if a girl becomes pregnant while still in hel' parent's house, she is expected to disclose the name of hel' lover, and to plevail upon him to marry her or at least to take her to live with him.
The marriage ceremony has evidently been borrowed from the Hind.us. Its essential portions are the standard rites of satpalc or canying the bride seven times round the bridegroom and smearing vermilion on her head (sindurdan). The village bnrber attends to shave the front half of the bridegroom's head; the caste guru usually a Rajbansi, mutters gibberish which passes muster as sacred texts, and the proceedings are completed by the assembled guests showering paddy, dub grass, sandal powder, and water on the heads of the married couple.
Polygamy is permitted up to a supposed maximum limit of three wives, but the tribe is a poor one, and very' few Dhimals can afford themelves the luxury of more than one wife. A widow may marry again, and is in no way restricted in her choice, except that the second marriage must take place from her parent's house and the prohibited degrees binding on her before her marriage may not be infringed. Sindurdan and the resumption of the massive shell bracelet, usually three or four inches wide, which distinguishes a married woman, are the essential portions of the ceremony in use. Traces of Hindu influence may be discerned in the tendency to think less highly of a remarried widow than of a woman, whether married or not, who is cohabiting with a man for the first time, and is therefore eligible for marriage by the full form. Divorce is permitted on the ground of unchastity with the sanction of the caste panchayat, and divorced wives may marry again under the conditions applicable to widows. A man who seduces a married woman is supposed to bs liable to repay to the injured husband the bride-price given for her when a virgin, and the panchayat may be called upon to enforce this obligation by the various forms of social punishment which they have at their command. The tribe knows nothing of the Hindu systems of law, and the devolution of property is regulated by a tribal custom of their own, administered by the village council or panchayat. Sons inherit by equal shares; failing sons the uterine brethren divide the property; next in order comes the wife, then the daughters; and next to them the cousins of the deceased.
Religion
In the forty years which have passed since Hodgson published his Essay on tile Kochh,, Bodo, and Dhimal Tribes, the Dhimalshave made a marked advance in the direction of Hinduism. They now insist upon describing themselves as orthodox Hindus, and among their favourite objects of worship arc Chhawal Thakur or Gopal Thakur (a form of Krishna), Obnitan, and Nitai (Ohaitanya and Nityananda, the great teachers of Vaisbnavism), the Salagram or fossil ammonite, and the tulsi•plant (Ocymum sanctum). In the Darjiling Terai Dhimal temples may be seen in which Krishna is the central figure, having Ohaitanya on his right hand and Nityananda on his left; while the sacred tulsi is planted in front of the bamboo hut which contains these images. No better illustration could be given of the distance which separates the Dhimal Religion of to-day from the simple Nature-worship dcscribed by Hodgson, to which temples and images were alike unknown. The river-deities of forty years ago seem entirely to have lost their hold on the people, who no longer mention them among tho regular gods, though it is possible that they may still drag on an obscure existence as patrons of the village or the household. From the precinct of the recognised tribal pantheon they have been expelled beyond hope of recall by Kali, Bisahari, Manasa, Bura Thakur, Mahamai, and other colostial personages borrowed from the Hindu system. These adopted gods, however, are worshipped on just the same principle as the spirits of flood and field, whom they have displaced. None of the esoteric doctrines of liiuduism have accompanied the new divinities, who are propitiated for the avoidance of physical ills by much the same offerings as were presented to their' predecessors. Thus, to Ohhawal Thakur and Chaitanya plantains, milk, and parched rice are offered; to Kali, buffaloes, goats, and pigeons; to Bisahari, goats, pigeons, and clucks. In this melange of Vaishnavism and Saivism the functions or priest are usually discharged by selected members of the Rajbanf'i caste, called Bamans, to distinguish them from the degraded Brahmans who are occasionally called in to assist in a specially important aot of worship. These men, though belonging to the class of Barna Brahmans and serving the lowest castes of Hindus, would not deign to attach themselves regularly to the Dhimal tribe, and it seems likely enough that the whole of the Dhimals may be absorbed in the Rajbansi caste without ever reaching the dignity of having Brahmans of their own.
Funeral
Among the Dhimals of the present day the Hindu practice of cremation, unknown at the time when Hodgson Funeral. wrote, is fast displacing the more primitive usage of burial. The Agnia Dhimals, indeed, who rank above the other sub-castes, are said to owe their name to their adoption of the custom of burning the dead. When burial is resorted to, the corpse is laid in the grave face upwards with the head pointing towards the north. A meagre imitation of the Hindu ceremony of' Sraddh is performed, usually on the tenth day after death; but the practice in this matter is by no means uniform, and some prefer the third day, some the seventh, aud others again the thirteenth. A feast is always given to the relatives and friends of the deceased. Offerings for the benefit of ancestors in general are made in the month of Kartik (October-November).
Social status and occupation
Standing as the Dhimals do outside the regular caste system, . . their social status cannot be very precisely defined. They abstain from beef, snakes, rats and similar Vermin and eavings of other people, but eat fowls, pork, lizards, and all kinds of fish. Rajbansis will take water from them and smoke in the same hookah, but all other castes regard them as unclean. Dhimals in their turn profess not to take water from the Mech tribe, from Mahomedans, and from the large group of semi-Nepale e castes, vaguely termed Paharias. Cooked food they will take from a Rajbansi or from a member of any higher caste. Agriculture, fishing, and pasturing cattle are their chief occupations, and a few work as coolies in the tea gardens of the Terai or carryon a petty trade in the commoner sorts of food-grain. In former years they were greatly addicted to the jhum system of cultivation, but the limits within which. this is possible have been greatly curtailed by the development of forest conservancy. and Dhimals residing in British territory have for the most
part taken to regular plough cultivation. In the Darjiling Terai a few of them are jotdars under a ten years' settlement, the bulk of the tribe being ordinary raiyats or landless day-labourers. They still retain the nomadic habits noticed by Hodgson, and large numbers of them will at times desert their villages in order to settle in some locality better suited to their peculiar mode of life.
Dhimal
(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
Synonyms: Dhemal, Jharwa, Maulik [West Bengal] Sub-tribes: Agnonia, Dongia [H.H. Risley] Surnames: Dhimal, Mallik [West Bengal] Exogamous units/clans (thar): Aghonia, Aghonia, Bangmalia, Ding, Dhimal, Dongia, Tengmalia [West Bengal]
- Septs: Chonga, Dauwa, Kauwa, Ranga [H.H. Risley]
