Mahar
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From The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India
By R. V. Russell
Of The Indian Civil Service
Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces
Assisted By Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner
Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.
NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh.
NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from the original book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot these footnotes gone astray might like to shift them to their correct place.
Mahar
The impure caste of minials labours and village watchman of the Maratha country,corresponding to the Chamars and Kories of northern India.They numbeed nearly 1,200,000 persons in the combined province in 1911 and are in the Nagpur, Bhandra,Chanda and Warda Districts of the central Province ,while cosiderable colonies are also found in Bhandra ,Chanda and Wardha districts of the central Proinces while considerable and Betol.Their distribution thus follows largely that of the Marathi languages and the castes speaking it.I are not aware of any accepted derivation for the word Mahar.
dynasties.^ Whereas in support of Maharashtra as ' The country of the Mahars,' we have Gujarashtra or Gujarat, the country of the Gujars, and Saurashtra or Surat, the country of the Sauras. According to Platts' Dictionary, however, Maharashtra means ' the great country,' and this is what the Maratha Brahmans themselves say. Mehra appears to be a variant of the name current in the Hindustani Districts, while Dheda, or Dhada, is said to be a corruption of Dharadas or hillmen.'^
In the Punjab it is said to be a general term of contempt meaning ' Any low fellow.' ^ Wilson considers the Mahars to be an aboriginal or pre- Aryan tribe, and all that is known of the caste seems to point to the correctness of this hypothesis. In the Bombay Gazetteer the writer of the interesting Gujarat volume suggests that the Mahars are fallen Rajputs ; but there seems little to support this opinion except their appearance and countenance, which is of the Hindu rather than the Dravidian type. In Gujarat they have also some Rajpiit surnames, as Chauhan, Panwar, Rathor, Solanki and so on, but these may have been adopted by imitation or may indicate a mixture of Rajput blood. Again, the Mahars of Gujarat are the farmservants and serfs of the Kunbis.
" Each family is closely connected with the house of some landholder ox pattiddr (sharer). For his master he brings in loads from the fields and cleans out the stable, receiving in return daily allowances of buttermilk and the carcases of any cattle that die. This connection seems to show traces of a form of slavery. Rich pattiddrs have always a certain number of Dheda families whom they speak of as ours {hamm-a), and when a man dies he distributes along with his lands a certain number of Dheda families to each of his sons.
An old tradition among Dhedas points to some relation between the Kunbis and Dhedas. Two brothers, Leva and Deva, were the ancestors, the former of the Kunbis, the latter of the Dhedas." * Such a relation as this 1 This derivation is also negatived '^ Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hitidiis, by the fact that the name Mahuratta p. 338. was known in the third century B.C. ^ Ibbetson, Funjab Census Report or long before the Riistrakutas became (1881). prominent. * Bovibay Gazetteer, I.e. text and footnote by R. v. J. S. Taylor.
in Hindu society would imply that many Mahar women held the position of concubines to their Kunbi masters, and would therefore account for the resemblance of the Mahar to Hindus rather than the forest tribes.
But if this is to be regarded as evidence of Rajput descent, a similar claim would have to be allowed to many of the Chamars and sweepers. Others of the lowest castes also have Rajput sept names, as the Pardhis and Bhils ; but the fact can at most be taken, I venture to think, to indicate a connection of the ' Droit dc Seigneur ' type.
On the other hand, the Mahars occupy the debased and impure position which was the lot of those non-Aryan tribes who became subject to the Hindus and lived in their villages ; they eat the flesh of dead cattle and this and other customs appear to point decisively to a non-Aryan origin. Several circumstances indicate that the Mahar is recog- 2. Length nised as the oldest resident of the plain country of Berar °^-'^': ^ J dence in and Nagpur. In Berar he is a village servant and is the the Central referee on village boundaries and customs, a position imply- '^°^'"'^^^- ing that his knowledge of them is the most ancient. At the Holi festival the fire of the Mahars is kindled first and that of the Kunbis is set alight from it. The Kamdar Mahar, who acts as village watchman, also has the right of bringing the toran or rope of leaves which is placed on the marriage-shed of the Kunbis ; and for this he receives a present of three annas.
In Bhandara the Telis, Lobars, Dhlmars and several other castes employ a Mahar Mohturia or wise man to fix the date of their weddings. And most curious of all, when the Panwar Rajputs of this tract cele- brate the festival of Narayan Deo, they call a Mahar to their house and make him the first partaker of the feast before beginning to eat themselves. Again in Berar ^ the Mahar officiates at the killing of the buffalo on Dasahra. On the day before the festival the chief Mahar of the village and his wife with their garments knotted together bring some earth from the jungle and fashioning two images set one on a clay elephant and the other on a clay bullock. The images are placed on a small platform outside the village site and worshipped ; a young he-buffalo is bathed 1 Kitts' Berar Census Report (1881), p. 143. 132, MAHAR and brought before the images as though for the same object.
The Patel wounds the buffalo in the nose with a sword and it is then marched through the village. In the evening it is killed by the head Mahar, buried in the customary spot, and any evil that might happen during the coming year is thus deprecated and, it is hoped, averted. The claim to take the leading part in this ceremony is the occasion of many a quarrel and an occasional affray or riot. Such customs tend to show that the Mahars were the earliest immigrants from Bombay into the Berar and Nagpur plain, excluding of course the Gonds and other tribes, who have practically been ousted from this tract. And if it is supposed that the Panwars came here in the tenth century, as seems not improbable,^ the Mahars, whom the Panwars recognise as older residents than themselves, must have been earlier still, and were probably numbered among the subjects of the old Hindu kingdoms of Bhandak and Nagardhan. 3. Legend The Mahars say they are descended from Mahamuni, of origin. ^^Y\Q was a foundling picked up by the goddess Parvati on the banks of the Ganges.
At this time beef had not become a forbidden food ; and when the divine cow, Tripad Gayatri, died, the gods determined to cook and eat her body and Mahamuni was set to watch the pot boiling. He was as inattentive as King Alfred, and a piece of flesh fell out of the pot.
Not wishing to return the dirty piece to the pot Mahamuni ate it ; but the gods discovered the delinquency, and doomed him and his descendants to live on the flesh of dead cows.^ 4. Sub- The caste have a number of subdivisions, generally of a local or territorial type, as Daharia, the residents of Dahar or the Jubbulpore country, Baonia (52) of Berar, Nemadya or from Nimar, Khandeshi from Khandesh, and so on ; the Katia group are probably derived from that caste, Katia meaning a spinner ; the Barkias are another group whose name is supposed to mean spinners of fine thread ; while the Lonarias are salt-makers. The highest division are the Somvansis or children of the moon ; these claim to have taken part with the Pandavas against the Kauravas in the
- See article on Panwar Rajput. 5 Perar Census Report (1881), p. 144.
castes.
war of the Mahabharata, and subsequently to have settled in Maharashtra^ But the Somvansi Mahars consent to groom horses, which the Baone and Kosaria subcastes will not do. Baone and Somvansi Mahars will take food together, but will not intermarry. The Ladwan subcaste are supposed to be the offspring of kept women of the Somvansi Mahars ; and in Wardha the Dhfirmik group are also the descendants of illicit unions and their name is satirical, meaning ' virtuous.' As has been seen, the caste have a subdivision named Katia, which is the name of a separate Hindustani caste ; and other subcastes have names belonging to northern India, as the Mahobia, from Mahoba in the United Provinces, the Kosaria or those from Chhattlsgarh, and the Kanaujia from Kanauj. This may perhaps be taken to indicate that bodies of the Kori and Katia weaving castes of northern India have been amalgamated with the Mahars in Districts where they have come together along the Satpura Hills and Nerbudda Valley.
The caste have also a large number of exogamous 5. Exo- groups, the names of which are usually derived from plants, froups\nd animals, and natural objects. A few may be given as marriage examples out of fifty-seven recorded in the Central Provinces, though this is far from representing the real total ; all the common animals have septs named after them, as the tiger, cobra, tortoise, peacock, jackal, lizard, elephant, lark, scorpion, calf, and so on ; while more curious names are—Darpan, a mirror ; Khanda Phari, sword and shield ; Undrimaria, a rat-killer ; Aglavi, an incendiary ; Andhare, a blind man ; Kutramaria, a dog-killer ; Kodu Dudh, sour milk ; Khobra- gade, cocoanut-kernel ; Bhajikhai, a vegetable eater, and so on.
A man must not marry in his own sept, but may take a wife from his mother's or grandmother's. A sister's son may marry a brother's daughter, but not vice versa. A girl who is seduced before marriage by a man of her own caste or any higher one can be married as if she were a widow, but if she has a child she must first get some other family to take it off her hands.
The custom of Lamjliana or serving for a wife is recognised, and the expectant bridegroom will live with his father-in-law and work for him for a period ^ Kitts' Berdr Census Rc/ort, p. 144.
varying from one to five years. The marriage ceremony follows the customary Hindustani or Maratha ritual ^ as the case may be. In Wardha the right foot of the bridegroom and the left one of the bride are placed together in a new basket, while they stand one on each side of the threshold.
They throw five handfuls of coloured rice over each other, and each time, as he throws, the bridegroom presses his toe on the bride's foot ; at the end he catches the girl by the finger and the marriage is complete. In the Central Provinces the Mohturia or caste priest officiates at weddings, but in Berar, Mr. Kitts states,^ the caste employ the Brahman Joshi or village priest. But as he will not come to their house they hold the wedding on the day that one takes place among the higher castes, and when the priest gives the signal the dividing cloth (Antarpat) between the couple is with- drawn, and the garments of the bride and bridegroom are knotted, while the bystanders clap their hands and pelt the couple with coloured grain.
As the priest frequently takes up his position on the roof of the house for a wedding it is easy for the Mahars to see him. In Mandla some of the lower class of Brahmans will officiate at the weddings of Mahars. In Chhindwara the Mahars seat the bride and bridegroom in the frame of a loom for the ceremony, and they worship the hide of a cow or bullock filled with water. They drink togethei; ceremoniously, a pot of liquor being placed on a folded cloth and all the guests sitting round it in a circle.
An elder man then lays a new piece of cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup of the liquor himself and hands round a cupful to every person present. In Mandla at a wedding the barber comes and cuts the bride's nails, and the cuttings are rolled up in dough and placed in a little earthen pot beside the marriage-post. The bridegroom's nails and hair are similarly cut in his own house and placed in another vessel. A month or two after the wedding the two little pots are taken out and thrown into the Nerbudda.
A wedding costs the bridegroom's party about Rs. 40 or Rs. 50 and the bride's about Rs. 25.
' Described in the articles on Kurmi and Kunbi.
^ Loc. cit.
They have no going-avvay ceremony, but the occasion of a girl's coming to maturity is known as Bolawan. She is kept apart for six clays and given new clothes, and the caste-people are invited to a meal. When a woman's husband dies the barber breaks her bangles, and her anklets are taken off and given to him as his perquisite. Her brother-in-law or other relative gives her a new white cloth, and she wears this at first, and afterwards white or coloured clothes at her pleasure.
Her hair is not cut, and she may wear patelas or flat metal bangles on the forearm and armlets above the elbow, but not other ornaments. A widow is under no obligation to marry her first husband's younger brother ; when she marries a stranger he usually pays a sum of about Rs. 30 to her parents. When the price has been paid the couple exchange a ring and a bangle respectively in token of the agreement. When the woman is proceeding to her second husband's house, her old clothes, necklace and bangles are thrown into a river or stream and she is given new ones to wear.
This is done to lay the first husband's spirit, which may be supposed to hang about the clothes she wore as his wife, and when they are thrown away or buried the exorcist mutters spells over them in order to lay the spirit. No music is allowed at the marriage of a widow except the crooked trumpet called singdra. A bachelor who marries a widow must first go through a mock ceremony with a cotton-plant, a sword or a ring. Divorce must be effected before the caste pancJidyat or committee, and if a divorced woman marries again, her first husband performs funeral and mourning ceremonies as if she were dead. In Gujarat the practice is much more lax and " divorce can be obtained almost to an indefinite extent.
Before they finally settle down to wedded life most couples have more than once changed their partners." ^ But here also, before the change takes place, there must be a formal divorce recognised by the caste. The caste either burn or bury the dead and observe 6. Funeral mourning for three days,^ having their houses w^hitewashed "^^^' and their faces shaved. On the tenth day they give a feast ^ Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hindus, ^ In Berar for ten days-—Kitts' loc. cit. Berar Census Report, I.e.
7. Child- birth. 8. Names. to the caste-fellows. On the Akshaya Tritia' and the 30th day of Kunwar (September) they offer rice and cakes to the crows in the names of their ancestors. In Berar Mr. Kitts writes:'"^ " If a Mahar's child has died, he will on the third day place bread on the grave ; if an infant, milk ; if an adult, on the tenth day, with five pice in one hand and five betel-leaves in the other, he goes into the river, dips himself five times and throws these things away ; he then places five lighted lamps on the tomb, and after these simple ceremonies gets himself shaved as though he were an orthodox Hindu." In Mandla the mother is secluded at childbirth in a separate house if one is available, and if not they fence in a part of the veranda for her use with bamboo screens.
After the birth the mother must remain impure until the barber comes and colours her toe-nails and draws a line round her feet with red mahur powder. This is indispensable, and if the barber is not immediately available she must wait until his services can be obtained. When the navel-string drops it is buried in the place on which the mother sat while giving birth, and when this has been done the purification may be effected. The Dhobi is then called to wash the clothes of the household, and their earthen pots are thrown away.
The head of the newborn child is shaved clean, as the birth-hair is considered to be impure, and the hair is wrapped up in dough and thrown into a river. A child is named on the seventh or twelfth day after its birth, the name being chosen by the Mohturia or caste head- man. The ordinary Hindu names of deities for men and sacred rivers or pious and faithful wives for women are employed ; instances of the latter being Ganga, Godavari, Jamuna, Slta, Laxmi and Radha. Opprobrious names are sometimes given to avert ill-luck, as Damdya (purchased for eight cowries), Kauria (a cowrie), Bhikaria (a beggar), Ghusia (from ghus, a mallet for stamping earth), Harchatt (refuse), Akali (born in famine-time), Langra (lame), Lula (having an arm useless) ; or the name of another low caste is given, as Bhangi (sweeper), Domari (Dom sweeper), Chamra (tanner), Basori (basket-maker). Not infrequently children are named ' 3rd Baisakh (April) Sudi, commencement of agricultural year. '^ Bcrdr Census Report, I.e.
after the month or day when they were born, as Pusau, born in Pus (December), Chaitii, born in Chait (March), Manglu (born on Tuesday), Buddhi (born on Wednesday), Sukka (born on Friday), Sanlchra (born on Saturday). One boy was called Mulua or 'Sold' {nwl-deiia). His mother had no other children, so sold him for one pice (farthing) to a Gond woman. After five or six months, as he did not get fat, his name was changed to Jhuma or 'lean,' probably as an additional means of averting ill-luck. Another boy was named Ghurka, from the noise he made when being suckled.
A child born in the absence of its father is called Sonwa, or one born in an empty house. The great body of the caste worship the ordinary deities 9. Reii- Devi, Hanuman, Dulha Deo, and others, though of course ^'°"' they are not allowed to enter Hindu temples. They princi- pally observe the Holi and Dasahra festivals and the days of the new and full moon. On the festival of Nag-Panchmi they make an image of a snake with flour and sugar and eat it.
At the sacred Ambala tank at Ramtek the Mahars have a special bathing-ghat set apart for them, and they may enter the citadel and go as far as the lowest step leading up to the temples ; here they worship the god and think that he accepts their offerings. They are thus permitted to traverse the outer enclosures of the citadel, which are also sacred. In Wardha the Mahars may not touch the shrines of ]\Iahadeo, but must stand before them with their hands joined.
They may sometimes deposit offerings with their own hands on those of Bhlmsen, originally a Gond god, and Mata Devi, the goddess of smallpox. In Berar and Bombay the Mahars have some curious 10. Adop- forms of belief. " Of the confusion which obtains in [Q°"i°[^ the Mahiir theogony the names of six of their gods will religions, afford a striking example. While some Mahars worship Vithoba, the god of Pandharpur, others revere Varuna's twin sons, Meghoni and Deghoni, and his four messengers, Gabriel, Azrael, Michael and Anadin, all of whom they sa}^ hail from Pandharpur," ^ The names of archangels thus mixed up with Hindu deities may most probably have been obtained from the Muhammadans, as they include Azrael ; ^ Ben'ir Census Report, I.e.
but in Gujarat their religion appears to have been borrowed from Christianity. "The Karia Dhedas have some rather remarkable beliefs. In the Satya Yug the Dhedas say they were called Satyas ; in the Dvapar Yug they were called Meghas ; in the Treta Yug, Elias ; and in the Kali Yug, Dhedas. The name Elias came, they say, from a prophet Elia,and of him their religious men have vague stories ; some of them especially about a famine that lasted for three years and a half, easily fitting into the accounts of Elijah in the Jewish Scriptures. They have also prophecies of a high future in store for their tribe. The king or leader of the new era, Kuyam Rai by name, will marry a Dheda woman and will raise the caste to the position of Brahmans. They hold religious meetings or ochJiavas, and at these with great excite- ment sing songs full of hope of the good things in store for them. When a man wishes to hold an ochhava he invites the whole caste, and beginning about eight in the evening they often spend the night in singing. Except perhaps for a few sweetmeats there is no eating or drinking, and the excitement is altogether religious and musical. The singers are chiefly religious Dhedas or Bhagats, and the people join in a refrain ' Avore Kiiydni Rai Raja, Oh ! come Kuyam Rai, our king.' " ^ It seems that the attraction which outside faiths exercise on the Mahars is the hope held out of ameliorating the social degradation under which they labour, itself an out- come of the Hindu theory of caste. Hence they turn to Islam, or to what is possibly a degraded version of the Christian story, because these religions do not recognise caste, and hold out a promise to the Mahar of equality with his co-religionists, and in the case of Christianity of a recompense in the world to come for the sufferings which he has to endure in this one. Similarly, the Mahars are the warmest adherents of the Muhammadan saint Sheikh Farld, and flock to the fairs held in his honour at Girar in Wardha and Partapgarh in Bhandara, where he is supposed to have slain a couple of giants." ' Bivnbav Gazellecr,Giijarrit Hindus. and had been annexed by the Muham- 2 It was formerly suggested that the madan priests ; and the legend of the fact of the Mahars being the chief giant, who miglit represent the demon- worshippers at the shrines of Sheikh olatry of the aboriginal faith, being slain Iarid indicated that the places them- by the saint might be a parable, so to selves had been previously held sacred, say, expressing this process. But in
In Berar ^ also they revere Muhammadan tombs. The remains of the Muhammadan fort and tank on Pimpardol hill in Jalgaon taluk are now one of the sacred places of the Mahars, though to the Muhammadans they have no religious associations. Even at present Mahars are inclined to adopt Islam, and a case was recently reported when a body of twenty of them set out to do so, but turned back on being told that they would not be admitted to the mosque.- A large proportion of the Mahars are also adherents of the Kablrpanthi sect, one of the main tenets of whose founder was the abolition of caste. And it is from the same point of view that Christianity appeals to them, enabling European missionaries to draw a large number of converts from this caste. But even the Hindu attitude towards the Mahars is not one of unmixed intolerance. Once in three or four years in the southern Districts, the Panwars, Mahars, Pankas and other castes celebrate the worship of Narayan Deo or Vishnu, the officiating priest being a Mahar. Members of all castes come to the Panwar's house at night for the ceremony, and a vessel of water is placed at the door in which they wash their feet and hands as they enter ; and when inside they are all considered to be equal, and they sit in a line and eat the same food, and bind wreaths of flowers round their heads. After the cock crows the equality of status is ended, and no one who goes out of the house can enter again. At present also many educated Brahmans recognise fully the social evils resulting from the degraded position of the Mahars, and are doing their best to remove the caste prejudices against them. They have various spells to cure a man possessed of an n. Super- evil spirit, or stung by a snake or scorpion, or likely to be in danger from tigers or wild bears ; and in the Morsi taluk of Berar it is stated that they so greatly fear the effect of an enemy view of the way in which the Mehtars highly improbable that Sheikh Farld, worship Musalman saints, it seems a well-known saint of northern India, quite likely that the Mahars might do can ever have been within several so for the same reason, that is, because hundred miles of either of the places Islam partly frees them from the utter with which they connect him. degradation imposed by Hinduism. , „ ,, ^ ,^ D ^u • V „ f .,.u A^ rrom Mr. C. Browns notes. Both views may have some truth. As regards the legends themselves, it is "^ C.P. Police Gazette.
writing their name on a piece of paper and tying it to a sweeper's broom that the threat to do this can -be used with great effect by their creditors.^ To drive out the evil eye they make a small human image of powdered turmeric and throw it into boiled water, mentioning as they do so the names of any persons whom they suspect of having cast the evil eye upon them. Then the pot of water is taken out at midnight of a Wednesday or a Sunday and placed upside down on some cross-roads with a shoe over it, and the sufferer should be cured. Their belief about the sun and moon is that an old woman had two sons who were invited by the gods to dinner. Before they left she said to them that as they were going out there would be no one to cook, so they must remember to bring back something for her. The elder brother forgot what his mother had said and took nothing away with him ; but the younger remembered her and brought back something from the feast. So when they came back the old woman cursed the elder brother and said that as he had forgotten her he should be the sun and scorch and dry up all vegetation with his beams ; but the younger brother should be the moon and make the world cool and pleasant at night. The story is so puerile that it is only worth reproduction as a specimen of the level of a Mahar's intelligence. The belief in evil spirits appears to be on the decline, as a result of education and accumulated experience. Mr. C. Brown states that in Malkapur of Berar the Mahars say that there are no wandering spirits in the hills by night of such a nature that people need fear them. There are only tiny pari or fairies, small creatures in human form, but with the power of changing their appearance, who do no harm to any one. 12. Social When an outsider is to be received into the community all the hair on his face is shaved, being wetted with the urine of a boy belonging to the group to which he seeks admission. Mahars will eat all kinds of food including the flesh of crocodiles and rats, but some of them abstain from beef. There is nothing peculiar in their dress except that the men wear a black woollen thread round their necks.^ The women may be recognised by their bold carriage, the ' Kitts, I.e. 2 ihideni. rules.
absence of nose-rings and the large irregular dabs of ver- milion on the forehead. Mahar women do not, as a rule, wear the choli or breast-cloth. An unmarried girl does not put on vermilion nor draw her cloth over her head. Women must be tattooed with dots on the face, representations of scorpions, flowers and snakes on the arms and legs, and some dots to represent flies on the hands. It is the custom for a girl's father or mother or father-in-law to have her tattooed in one place on the hand or arm immediately on her marriage. Then when girls are sitting together they will show this mark and say, ' My mother or father-in-law had this done,' as the case may be. Afterwards if a woman so desires she gets herself tattooed on her other limbs. If an un- married girl or widow becomes with child by a man of the Mahar caste or any higher one she is subjected after delivery to a semblance of the purification by fire known as Agnikasht. She is taken to the bank of a river and there five stalks of juari are placed round her and burnt. Having fasted all day, at night she gives a feast to the caste-men and eats with them. If she offends with a man of lower caste she is finally expelled. Temporary exclusion from caste is imposed for taking food or drink from the hands of a Mang or Chamar or for being imprisoned in jail, or on a Mahar man if he lives with a woman of any higher caste ; the penalty being the shaving of a man's face or cutting off a lock of a woman's hair, together with a feast to the caste. In the last case it is said that the man is not re- admitted until he has put the woman away. If a man touches a dead dog, cat, pony or donkey, he has to be shaved and give a feast to the caste. And if a dog or cat dies in his house, or a litter of puppies or kittens is born, the house is considered to be defiled ; all the earthen pots must be thrown away, the whole house washed and cleaned and a caste feast given. The most solemn oath of a Mahar is by a cat or dog and in Yeotmal by a black dog.^ In Berar, the same paper states, the pig is the only animal regarded as unclean, and they must on no account touch it. This is probably owing to Muhammadan influence. The worst social sin which a Mahar can commit is to get vermin in a wound, which is 1 Stated by Mr. C. Brown.
known as Deogan or being smitten by God. While the affliction continues he is quite ostracised, no one going to his house or giving him food or water ; and when it is cured the Mahars of ten or twelve surrounding villages assemble and he must give a feast to the whole community. The reason for this calamity being looked upon with such peculiar abhorrence is obscure, but the feeling about it is general among Hindus. 13. Social The social position of the Mahars is one of distressing subjection, (jegj-adation. Their touch is considered to defile and they live in a quarter by themselves outside the village. They usually have a separate well assigned to them from which to draw water, and if the village has only one well the Mahars and Hindus take water from different sides of it. Mahar boys were not until recently allowed to attend school with Hindu boys, and when they could not be refused admission to Government schools, they were allotted a small corner of the veranda and separately taught. When Dher boys were first received into the Chanda High School a mutiny took place and the school was boycotted for some time. The people say, ' Malidr sarva jdticlia bdhar,' or ' The Mahar is outside all castes.' Having a bad name, they are also given unwarrantably a bad character ; and ' Mahar Jdtichd' is a phrase used for a man with no moral or kindly feelings. But in theory at least, as conforming to Hinduism, they were supposed to be better than Muhammadans and other unbe- lievers, as shown by the following story from the Rasmala : ^ A Muhammadan sovereign asked his Hindu minister which was the lowest caste. The minister begged for leisure to consider his reply and, having obtained it, went to where the Dhedas lived and said to them : " You have given offence to the Padishah. It is his intention to deprive you of caste and make you Muhammadans." The Dhedas, in the greatest terror, pushed off in a body to the sovereign's palace, and standing at a respectful distance shouted at the top of their lungs : " If we've offended your majesty, punish us in some other way than that. Beat us, fine us, hang us if you like, but don't make us Muhammadans." The Padishah smiled, and turning to his minister who sat by him affecting to hear
nothing, said, * So the lowest caste is that to which I belong.'
But of course this cannot be said to represent the general view of the position of Muhammadans in Hindu eyes ; they,
like the English, are regarded as distinguished foreigners,
who, if they consented to be proselytised, would probably in time become Brahmans or at least Rajputs. A repartee of a Mahar to a Brahman abusing him is : The Brahman, ^ Jdre Mahdrya' or ' Avaunt, ye Mahar' ; the Mahar, ' Kona diusJii neiti tmnchi goburya' or 'Some day I shall carry cow- dung cakes for you (at his funeral) ' ; as in the Maratha Districts the Mahar is commonly engaged for carrying fuel to the funeral pyre. Under native rule the Mahar was subjected to painful degradations. He might not spit on the ground lest a Hindu should be polluted by touching it with his foot, but had to hang an earthen pot round his neck to hold his spittle.^ He was made to drag a thorny branch with him to brush out his footsteps, and when a Brahman came by had to lie at a distance on his face lest his shadow might fall on the Brahman. In Gujarat" they were not
allowed to tuck up the loin-cloth but had to trail it along the ground. Even quite recently in Bombay a Mahar was
not allowed to talk loudly in the street while a well-to-do Brahman or his wife was dining in one of the houses. In
the reign of Sidhraj, the great Solanki Raja of Gujarat, the
Dheras were for a time at any rate freed from such dis- abilities by the sacrifice of one of their number,^ The great tank at Anhilvada Patan in Gujarat had been built by the Ods (navvies), but Sidhraj desired Jusma Odni, one of their wives, and sought to possess her. But the Ods fled with her and when he pursued her she plunged a dagger into
her stomach, cursing Sidhraj and saying that his tank should never hold water. The Raja, returning to Anhilvada, found the tank dry, and asked his minister what should be done that water might remain in the tank. The Pardhan, after
consulting the astrologers, said that if a man's life were sacrificed the curse might be removed. At that time the
Dhers or outcastes were compelled to live at a distance from
1 Bombay Gazetteer, \'o\. xii. p. 175. •' The following passage is taken from 2 ^Q^v.K.T<^y\ov\n Bombay Gazetteer, Forbes, A'asma/a, i. p. 112. Gujarat Hindus, p. 341 f.
14. Their position improving. 15. Occu- pation. the towns ; they wore untwisted cotton round their heads and a stag's horn as a mark hanging from their waists so that people might be able to avoid touching them. The Raja commanded that a Dher named Mayo should be beheaded in the tank that water might remain. Mayo died, singing the praises of Vishnu, and the water after that began to remain in the tank. At the time of his death Mayo had begged as a reward for his sacrifice that the Dhers should not in future be compelled to live at a distance from the towns nor wear a distinctive dress. The Raja assented and these privileges were afterwards permitted to the Dhers for the sake of Mayo. From the painful state of degradation described above the Mahars are gradually being rescued by the levelling and liberalising tendency of British rule, which must be to these depressed classes an untold blessing. With the right of acquiring property they have begun to assert themselves, and the extension of railways more especially has a great effect in abolishing caste distinctions. The Brahman who cannot afford a second-class fare must either not travel or take the risk of rubbing shoulders with a Mahar in a third-class carriage, and if he chooses to consider himself defiled will have to go hungry and thirsty until he gets the opportunity of bathing at his journey's end. The observance of the rules of impurity thus becomes so irksome that they are gradually falling into abeyance. The principal occupations of the Mahars are the weaving of coarse country cloth and general labour. They formerly spun their own yarn, and their fabrics were preferred by the cultivators for their durability. But practically all thread is now bought from the mills ; and the weaving industry is also in a depressed condition. Many Mahars have now taken to working in the mills, and earn better wages than they could at home. In Bombay a number of them are employed as police-constables.^ They are usually the village watchmen of the Maratha Districts, and in this capacity were remunerated by contributions of grain from the tenants, the hides and flesh of animals dying in the village, and plots of rent-free land. For these have now been substituted in
the Central Provinces a cash payment fixed by Government. In Berar the corresponding ofiicial is known as the Kamdar Mahar. Mr. Kitts writes of him : ^ As fourth bahiteddr on the village establishment the Mahar holds a post of great importance to himself and convenience to the village. To the patel (headman), patwari and big men of the village he acts often as a personal servant and errand-runner ; for a
smaller cultivator he will also at times carry a torch or act as escort. He had formerly to clean the horses of travellers,
and was also obliged, if required, to carry their baggage.^
For the services which he thus renders as pdndheivdr the Mahar receives from the cultivators certain grain -dues. When the cut juari is lying in the field the Mahars go round and beg for a measure of the ears {bhik paydli). But the regular payment is made when the grain has been threshed. Another duty performed by the Mahar is the removal of the carcases of dead animals. The flesh is eaten and the skin retained as wage for the work. The patel and
his relatives, however, usually claim to have the skins of their own animals returned ; and in some places where half
the agriculturists of the village claim kinship with the patel the Mahars feel and resent the loss. A third duty is the opening of grain-pits, the noxious gas from which sometimes
produces asphyxia. For this the Mahars receive the tainted grain. They also get the clothes from a corpse which is laid on the pyre, and the pieces of the burnt wood which remain when the body has been consumed. Recent observa- tions in the Nagpur country show that the position of the Mahars is improving. In Nagpur it is stated : ^ " Looked down upon as outcastes by the Hindus they are hampered by no sense of dignity or family prejudice. They are fond of drink, but are also hard workers. They turn their hands
to anything and everything, but the great majority are agricultural labourers. At present the rural Mahar is in
the background. If there is only one well in the village he may not use it, but has to get his water where he can.
His sons are consigned to a corner in the village school, and
' Bombay Gazetlecr, vol. xi. p- 73- ^ Ndgpw Setlletnent Report (1899), 2 Grant Duff, History of the Mara- p. 29. thas, vol. i. p. 24. VOL. IV L
caste.
the schoolmaster, if not superior to caste prejudices, dis- courages their attendance. Nevertheless, Mahars will not remain for years downtrodden in this fashion, and are already pushing themselves up from this state of degrada- tion. In some places they have combined to dig wells, and in Nagpur have opened a school for members of their own community. Occasionally a Mahar is the most prosperous man in the village. Several of them are moneylenders in a small way, and a few are malguzars." Similarly in Bhandara Mr. Napier writes that a new class of small creditors has arisen from the Mahar caste. These people have given up drinking, and lead an abstemious life, wishing to raise themselves in social estimation. Twenty or more village kotwars were found to be carrying on moneylending transactions on a small scale, and in addition many of the Mahars in towns were exceedingly well off. I. Origin
Mahar
(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.)
Surnames: Bag, Mahar, Mallick, Mehar, Naik [Orissa]
Hogragorhe, Madaom, Meshram, Shendey [West Bengal]
Abhang, Abne, Adhav, Adijadhav, Adsule, Aherrao, Ah ire, Andhon, Andvan, Auchat, Autakamble, Babre, Bachav, Bagad, Bagul, Bahelime, Baikar, Balhi, Balkamble, B ansure, Barke, Basede Bavan, Bavane, Bavcha, Bavise, Bayakar, Bayat, Bel, Bele, Ben, Bhagat, Bhalerao, Bhambhal, Bhede, Bhilang, Bhoi, Bhoir, Bholke, Bhosale, Bole, Bunkar,
Chandanshive, Chavan, Chelkar Chhettise, Chikane, C hitale, Dahane, Darule, Daule, Detge, Dharmik, Dharpavar, Dhed, Dive, Doble, Dom, Domb, Dukare, Gade, Gadre, Gaikvad, Gamre, Gardi, Garud, Gavasai, Gavase, Ghad shi Ghanvat, Ghadcamble, Ghode, Godivale, Godvan, Gondv an, Gopal, Gote, Hatavate, Hedshi, Holar, Huvale, Jadhav, Jhade, Jogti, Joshi, Junnare,
Kabule, Kadam, Kadvan, Kakate, Kakude, Kale Kamble, Kanoje, Kasare, Katre, Khandagale, Khandizad, Kharat, Kharode, Kharse, Kho sare, Khupate, Kochare, Kohale, Kolge, Kosare, Kudv an,
Ladav, Ladhan, Ladvan, Lakde, Lokare, Lokhande Maka sure, Malve, Mathkamble, Mehede, Mhasge, Mhaskate, Mohite, More, Murli, Nikumbh, Nirale, Nirmal, Pacharne, Pagar, Pakhare, Pan, Panya, Pardhe, Patekar, Pavar, Pokade, Pradhan, Pular Puravne, Ran,
Sadavarte, Sak pal, Salade, Saladi, Salve, Samidar, Sapkal, Sarvag od, Satpal, Shelar, Shelke, Shinde, Shirke, Silvan, Sirsalkar, Sisate, Sodjadhav, Soma, Somavanshi Somkamble, Sonaibalkamble, Sonavane, Sonkamble, Sonkavale, Surya, Suiyakadam, Suryavanshi, Sutad, Tadke, Talvatke, Tambe, Tapichere, Thorvade, Tilvan, Tizad, Umbale, Vadkar, Vagh Vaghchav re, Vaghmare, Vaghpanje, Vartak, Yadav, Yetum, Zankar [R.E. Enthoven]
Exogamous groups: Aglavi, Andhare, Bhajikhai, Darpan, Khanda Phari, Khobra gade, Kodu Dudh, Kutramaria,
Undrimaria [Russell & Hiralal]
- Exogamous sections: Awasrunle, Bhadarge, Bhaktya,
Borkutya, Chaudante, Chondhe, Dethya (Ladwan), Dhuldhawane, Dingarya, Durgya, Gaikwad, Ghonde, Han umate, Hatker, Ingole, Jiwanya, Jogadande Jondhale (Soma), Kambale, Karmanker, Khandare, Khillor, Kond agulla, Lambane, Lokhandya, Malkhadya, Mohaker (Winker), Mule, Nadya, Ondaker, Padd, Paddharya, Pa reka, Piprya, Piryadya Ramtakya, Sarode, Sonatakke, Taliwar, Teltumdya, Tumberya, Umrya, Wadhawe, Waghmarya, Zad ya [S.S. Hassan]
Gotra: Hogragorhe, Madaom, Meshram, Shendey [West B engal]
Exogamous units/lineages (vansa): [Orissa]
