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This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in<br/>1916 its contents related only to Central India and did not claim to be true <br />of all of India. It has been archived for its historical value as well as for<br/>the insights it gives into British colonial writing about the various communities<br/>of India. Indpaedia neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this <br/> article. Readers who wish to add fresh information can create a Part II of this <br/> article. The general rule is that if we have nothing nice to say about <br/> communities other than our own it is best to say nothing at all. <br/>

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[[Category:India|M]]
[[Category:Communities|M]]
[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
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.

=Meo=

==Mewati==

The Muhammadan branch of the Mina
tribe belonging to the country of Mewat in Rajputana which
is comprised in the Alwar, Bharatpur and Jaipur States and
the British District of Gurgaon. A few Meos were returned
from the Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts in 191 1, but
it is doubtful whether any are settled here, as they may
be wandering criminals. The origin of the Meo is discussed
in the article on the Mina tribe, but some interesting remarks
on them by Mr. Channing and Major Powlett in the
Rajputana Gazetteer may be reproduced here. Mr. Channing
writes :
^
"The tribe, which has been known in Hindustan according
to the Kutub Tavvarikh for 850 years, was originally
Hindu and became Muhammadan. Their origin is obscure.
They themselves claim descent from the Rajput races of
Jadon, Kachhwaha and Tuar, and they may possibly have
some Rajput blood in their veins ; but they are probably,
like many other similar tribes, a combination from ruling
and other various stocks and sources, and there is reason to
believe them very nearly allied with the Minas, who are
certainly a tribe of the same structure and species.

The
Meos have twelve clans or pdls^ the first six of which are
identical in name and claim the same descent as the first six
clans of the Minas. Intermarriage between them both was
' Rajputana Gazetteer, vol. i. p. 165.

the rule until the time of Akbar, when owing to an affray at
the marriage of a Meo with a Mina the custom was discontinued.
Finally, their mode of life is or was similar, as both
tribes were once notoriously predatory. It is probable that
the original Meos were supplemented by converts to Islam
from other castes. It is said that the tribe were conquered
and converted in the eleventh century by Masud, son of Amir
Salar and grandson of Sultan Mahmud Subaktagin on the
mother's side, the general of the forces of Mahmud of Ghazni.

Masud is still venerated by the Meos, and they swear by his
name. They have a mixture of Hindu and Muhammadan
customs.

They practise circumcision, nikdJi} and the burial
of the dead. They make pilgrimages to the tomb of Masud
in Bahraich in Oudh, and consider the oath taken on his
banner the most binding. They also make pilgrimages to
Muhammadan shrines in India, but never perform the Haj.
Of Hindu customs they observe the Holi or Diwali ; their
marriages are never arranged in the same got or sept ; and
they permit daughters to inherit. They call their children
indiscriminately by both Muhammadan and Hindu names.
They are almost entirely uneducated, but have bards and
musicians to whom they make large presents. These sing
songs known as Ratwai, which are commonly on pastoral
and agricultural subjects.

The Meos are given to the use of
intoxicating drinks, and are very superstitious and have great
faith in omens. The dress of the men and women resembles
that of the Hindus. Infanticide was formerly common among
them, but it is said to have entirely died out. They were
also formerly robbers by avocation ; and though they have
improved they are still noted cattle-lifters."
In another description of them by Major Powlett it is

stated that, besides worshipping Hindu gods and keeping
Hindu festivals, they employ a Brahman to write the Plli
Chhitthi or yellow note fixing the date of a marriage. They
call themselves by Hindu names with the exception of Ram ;
and Singh is a frequent affix, though not so common as Khan.
On the Amawas or monthly conjunction of the sun and
moon, Meos, in common with Hindu Ahlrs and Gujars, cease
from labour ; and when they make a well the first proceeding
' A Muhammadan form of marriage.

is to erect a chabutra (platform) to Bhaironji or Hanuman.
However, when plunder was to be obtained they have often
shown little respect for Hindu shrines and temples ; and
when the sanctity of a threatened place has been urged, the
retort has been, ' Tuin to Deo, Hani Meol or ' You may be a
Deo (God), but I am a Meo.'

Meos do not marry in their pal or clan, but they are
lax about forming connections with women of other castes,
whose children they receive into the community. As already
stated, Brahmans take part in the formalities preceding a
marriage, but the ceremony itself is performed by a Kazi.

As agriculturists Meos are inferior to their Hindu neighbours.
The point in which they chiefly fail is in working their wells,
for which they lack patience. Their women, whom they do
not confine, will, it is said, do more field-work than the men ;
indeed, one often finds women at work in the crops when the
men are lying down. Like the women of low Hindu castes
they tattoo their bodies, a practice disapproved by Musalmans
in general. Abul Fazl writes that the Meos were in his time
famous runners, and one thousand of them were employed
by Akbar as carriers of the post.

Meo - Revision history

Pdewan: Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"| This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in1916 its contents related only ..."

Pdewan: Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|
This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in
1916 its contents related only ..."