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Lalbegi

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A class of Mahomedan sweepers supposed to have come from Upper India, some with sepoy regiments, others as wanderers in search of work. Though styled Mahomedans, they neither practise circumcision nor abstain from pork. The Lalbegi are employed us sweepers in European households, and are always addressed as jama'dar by the other servants. They eat the leavings o£ Europeans, and drink any sort of wine or spirits. They will not, however, eat with the Raut, who in their tum pride themselves on abstaining from food thathas come from a European table. Nor will they touch a dead body. The religious rites of the Lalbegi are partly Hindu, partly Muhammadan. As with Mussulmans generally, marriages are arranged by an old woman who acts as match-maker. No kabin or marriage settlement is drawn up, but an ikra,' or bond is executed, in which both promise to love one another, and the bridegroom undertakes not to bring a second wife into his house. Previous to the wedding day the Khancluri ceremony is observed, as well as other Muhammadan customs) but the services of the Acharji Brahman are not required. Should the marriage be celebrated in the bride¬groom's house, a fee of twenty annas is paid to the panchayat; if in the bride's, only five annas. A few of the Lalbegi keep the fast of Ramazan, although they dare not enter a public mosque. Their funeral ceremonies are peculiar. The dead may not be buried in a Mussulman cemetery, but are consigned to the ground in some waste and jungly spot. The corpse is wrapped in five shrouds, a handkerchief is placed under each arm and in each hand, a khirqa or napkin is bound round the head, and a khirqa or bloure is put on the body. After the grave has been filled in, a cloth cover (pldd ka chadar) is laid over it, while four pieces of " Agar" wood are inserted at the corners and set fire to. The rest of the funeral ceremonies are strictly Mahomedan. For four days after a death a fire is not allowed to be lighted in the dwelling-house of the deceased, the family in the meantime receiving food from their neighbours; but on the fifth day a tray laden with betel-nuts and adorned with flowers is placed in front of the hut, and a feast is given to the whole tribe. The Lalbegis follow many Hindu customs, observing the Dlwali and the Holl as the greatest festivals of the year. On these occasions a mud image of a mosque with five domes is made, supposed to be a model of one still existing at Ghaznf, in KAbul, which belonged to L al Beg, the eponymous ancestor of the tribe. In front of the image a cock is sacrificed, and offerings of pilao, sherbet, and sweetmeats are made in his name. La! Beg is identified by Sir H . Elliot! with L :H Guru, the same as the Rakshasa Aronakarat; but in Benares2 he is confounded with PIr Zahr, perhaps the famous chistiya saint Sayyid Shah Zuhur. In the Panjab, again, Mihtars adore Lal Pir, or Baba Faqir, as the dyers do Pir 'Ali Rangrez, and the blacksmiths Hazrat Daud. It seems not improbable, therefore, that the Lalbegi, like many other triues converted to Mahomedanism, have adopted a Maho¬medan saint as their common ancestor.

Lalbegi

(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: Balmiki [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Subgroups: Balmiki, Begi, Sardar [West Bengal] Gaikwad, Kanderia, Phatrod, Sanakat, Sarwan, Surasw al [S.S. Hassan] Exogamous units/clans (gotra): Ahari (chande fish), Bhakta (Cherka Alu a kind of Yam), Bhiwal, Bhunih (sal fish), Chamaria, Dardapat/bag (tiger), Digar (tortoise), K otal (kon of grasshopper), Malik (Makar or shark Na yek (salfish), Pandit, Paremanik (Manik a kind of bird), a kind of sea mouster) [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Lineages (khandan/vansh): [Bihar and/or Jharkhand]