Sanaurhia, ChandravediJ
This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly |
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 a book. During scanning some errors are bound to occur. Some letters get garbled. Footnotes get inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot errors might like to correct them, and shift footnotes gone astray to their rightful place.
Sanaurhia, ChandravediJ
A small but well-known i. a band of criminals. community of criminals in liundelkhand. They claim to be ^^ derived from the Sanadhya Brahmans, and it seems possible that this may in fact have been their origin ; but at present they are a confraternity recruited by the initiation of promising boys from all castes except sweepers and Chamars ; " and a census taken of them in northern India in 1872 showed that they included members of the following castes : Brahman, Rajput, Teli, Kurmi, Ahir, Kanjar, Nai, Dhobi, Dhlmar, Sunar and Lodhi. It is said, however, that they do not form a caste or intermarry, members of each caste continuing their relations with their own community.
Their regular method of stealing is through the agency of a boy, and no doubt they pick up a likely urchin whenever they get the chance, as only selected boys would be clever enough for the work. Their trade is said to possess much fascination, and Mr. Crooke quotes a saying, ' Once a Sanaurhia always a Sanaurhia '
so that unless the increased efficiency of the police has caused the dangers of their calling to outweigh its pleasures they should have no difficulty in obtaining recruits. Mr. Seagrim ^ states that their home is in the Datia 2. Tradi- State of Bundelkhand, and some of them live in the adjoinine ^'°"^ °^ ' c> origin.
Alamgarh tract of Indore State. Formerly they also resided in the Orchha and Chanderi States of Bundelkhand, having six or eight villages in each state * in their sole occupation, with colonies in other villages. In 1857 it was estimated that the Tehri State contained 4000 Sanaurhias, Banpur 300 and Datia 300. They occupied twelve villages in Tehri, and an officer of the state presided over the community and acted as umpire in the division of the spoils.
The office of Mukhia or leader was hereditary in the caste, and in default of male issue descended to females. If among the booty there happened to be any object of peculiar elegance or value, it was ceremoniously presented to the chief of the state. They sa)^ that their ancestors were two Sanadhya Brahmans 1 This article is based principally on - Crooke's Tribes and Castes, art. an account of the Sanaurhias written Sanaurhia. by Mr. C. ISI. Seagrim, Inspector- ^ Criminal Classes of Bombay Presi- General of Police, Indore, and in- dency, pp. 296, 297. eluded in Mr. Kennedy's Criminal * Sleeman's Reports on the Badhahs, Classes of Bombay (\go?,). p. 327.
of the village of Ramra in Datia State. They were both
highly accomplished men, and one had the gift of prophecy,
while the other could understand the language of birds.
One day they met at a river a rich merchant and his wife,
who were on a pilgrimage to Jagannath. As they were
drinking water a crow sitting on a tree commenced cawing,
and the Sanadhya heard him say that whoever got hold of
the merchant's walking-stick would be rich.
The two Brahmans then accompanied the merchant until they obtained an opportunity of making off with his stick ; and they found it to be full of gold mohurs, the traveller having adopted this device as a precaution against being robbed. The Brahmans were so pleased at their success that they took up stealing as a profession, and opened a school where they taught small boys of all castes the art of stealing property in the daytime.
Prior to admission the boys were made to swear by the moon that they would never commit theft at night, and on this account they are known as Chandravedi or ' Those who observe the moon.' In Bombay and Central India this name is more commonly used than Sanaurhia. Another name for them is Uthaigira or ' A picker-up of that which has fallen,' corresponding to the nickname of Uchla or ' Lifter
applied to the Bhamtas. Mr. Seagrim described them as going about in small gangs of ten to twenty persons without women, under a leader who has the title of Mukhia or Nalband. The other men are called Upardar, and each of these has with him one or two boys of between eight and twelve years old, who are known as Chauwa (chicks) and do the actual stealing.
The Nalband or leader trains these boys to their work, and also teaches them a code vocabulary {Pdrsi) and a set of signals {tent) by which the Upardar can convey to them his instructions while business is proceeding. The whole gang set out at the end of the rains and, arriving at some distant place, break up into small parties ; the Nalband remains at a temporary headquarters, where he receives and disposes of the spoil, and arranges for the defence of any member of the gang who is arrested, and for the support of his wife and children if he is condemned to imprisonment. 3. Methods The methods of the Sanaurhias as described by Mr. of stealing, ggagrim show considerable ingenuity.
When they desire to
steal something from a stall in a crowded market two of the gang pretend to have a violent quarrel, on which all the people in the vicinity collect to watch, including probably the owner of the stall. In this case the Chauwa or boy, who has posted himself in a position of vantage, will quickly abstract the article agreed upon and make off. Or if there are several purchasers at a shop, the man will wait until one of them lays down his bundle while he makes payment, and then pushing up against him signal to the Chmiwa, who snatches up the bundle and bolts.
If he is caught, the Sanaurhia will come up as an innocent member of the crowd and plead for mercy on the score of his youth ; and the boy will often be let off with a {qw slaps. Sometimes three or four Sanaurhias will proceed to some place of resort for pilgrims to bathe, and two or three of them entering the water will divert the attention of the bather by pointing out some strange object or starting a discussion. In the meantime the Chatiwas or chicks, under the direction of another on the bank, will steal any valuable article left by the bather. The attention of any one left on shore to watch the property is diverted by a similar device.
If they see a man with expensive clothes the CJiauwa will accidentally brush against him and smear him with dirt or something that causes pollution ; the victim will proceed to bathe, and one of the usual stratagems is adopted. Or the Sanaurhia will engage the man in conversation and the CJimnva will come running along and collide with them ; on being abused by the Sanaurhia for his clumsiness he asks to be pardoned, explaining that he is only a poor sweeper and meant no harm ; and on hearing this the victim, being polluted, must go off and bathe.^ Colonel Sleeman relates the following case of such a theft :
^ " While at Saugor I got a note one
morning from an officer in command of a treasure escort
.just arrived from Narsinghpur stating that the old Subahdar
of his company had that morning been robbed of his gold
necklace valued at Rs. 150, and requesting that I would
assist him in recovering it. The old Subahdar brought the
note, and stated that he had undressed at the brook near the
' Mr. Gayer's Lectures on some ^ Report on the Badhak or Bagri
Criminal Tribes. Dacoits (1849), p. 328.
cantonments, and placed the necklace with his clothes, about
twenty yards from the place where he bathed ; that on returning
to his clothes he could not find the necklace, and the
only person he saw near the place was a young lad who was
sauntering in the mango grove close by. This lad he had
taken and brought with him, and I found after a few
questions that he belonged to the Sanaurhia Brahmans of
Bundelkhand. As the old Subahdar had not seen the boy
take the necklace or even approach the clothes, I told him
that we could do nothing, and he must take the boy back
to camp and question him in his own way.
The boy, as I expected, became alarmed, and told me that if I would not send him back with the angry old Subahdar he would do anything I pleased. I bade him tell me how he had managed to secure the necklace ; and he told me that while the Subahdar turned his back upon his clothes in prayer, he had taken it up and made it over to one of the men of his party ; and that it must have been taken to their bivouac, which was in a grove about three miles from the cantonments.
I sent off a few policemen, who secured the whole party, but could not find anything upon them. Seeing some signs of a hole having been freshly made under one of the trees they dug up the fresh earth and discovered the necklace, which the old man was delighted to recover so easily." Another device which they have is to beat the Chanwa severely in the sight of a rich stranger. The boy runs crying and clings to the stranger asking him for help, and in the meantime picks his pocket. When the Sanaurhias are convicted in Native States and put into jail they refuse to eat, pleading that they are poor Brahmans, and pretend to starve themselves to death, and thus often get out of jail. In reply to a letter inquiring about these people from the Superintendent of Chanderi about 185 i, the Raja of Banpur wrote :
" I have to state that from former times these people
following their profession have resided in my territory and
in the states of other native princes ; and they have always
followed this calling, but no former kings or princes or
authority have ever forbidden the practice. In consequence
of these people stealing by day only, and that they do not
take life or distress any person by personal ill-usage, and that
they do not break into houses by digging walls or breaking door-locks, but simply by their smartness manage to abstract property ; owing to such trifling thefts I looked upon their proceedings as a petty matter and have not interfered with them." ^ This recalls another famous excuse.
1 J. Ilutton, A Popular Accoutit of the Thugs and Dacoits and Gang-robbers of India (London, 1S57).
