Pardhi
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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.
Pardhi
Pardhi, Bahelia, Mirshikar, Mog-hia, Shikari, Takan kaP
A low caste of \vanderin$T fowlers and hunters. Thev numbered about 15,000 persons m the Central rrovmces and Berar in 1 9 1 i , and are found scattered over several Districts. These figures include about 2000 Bahelias. The word Pardhi is derived from the Marathi paradh, hunting. Shikari, the common term for a native hunter, is an alternative name for the caste, but particularly applied to those who use firearms, which most Pardhis refuse to do.
Moghia is the Hindustani word for fowler, and Takankar is the name of a small occupational offshoot of the Pardhis in Berar, who travel from village to village and roughen the household grinding -mills when they have worn smooth.
The word is derived from iakna^ to tap or chisel. The caste appears to be a mixed group made up of Bawarias or other Rajput outcastes, Gonds and social derelicts from all sources. The Pardhis perhaps belong more especially to the Maratha country, as they are numerous in Khandesh, and many of them talk a dialect of Gujarati. In the ' This article is partly compiled ¥.\\.U' Bcrdr Ce}iS2is Heporf (i^>il), s.x\A from papers by Mr. Aduram Chaudhri Mr. Sewell's note on the caste quoted and Pandit Pyare Lai Misra of the inl^lr. (Jidiytr^s Lectures on the Criminal Gazetteer Oftice, and extracts from Mr. Tribes of the Central Provinces.
northern Districts their speech is a mixture of Marwari and Hindi, while they often know Marathi or Urdu as well. The name for the similar class of people in northern India is Bahelia, and in the Central Provinces the Bahelias and Pardhis merge into one another and are not recognisable as distinct groups. The caste is recruited from the most diverse elements, and women of any except the impure castes can be admitted into the community ; and on this account their customs differ greatly in different localities. According to their own legends the first ancestor of the Pardhis was a Gond, to whom Mahade'o taught the art of snaring game so that he might avoid the sin of shooting it ; and hence the ordinary Pardhis never use a gun.
2. Sub- Like other wandering castes the Pardhis have a large divisions, number of endogamous groups, varying lists being often given in different areas.
The principal subcastes appear to be the Shikari or Bhil Pardhis, who use firearms ; the Phanse Pardhis, who hunt with traps and snares ; the Langoti Pardhis, so called because they wear only a narrow strip of cloth round the loins ; and the Takankars. Both the Takankars and Langotis have strong criminal tendencies.
Several other groups are recorded in different Districts, as the Chitewale, who hunt with a tame leopard ; the Gayake, who stalk their prey behind a bullock ; the Gosain Pardhis, who dress like religious mendicants in ochre-coloured clothes and do not kill deer, but only hares, jackals and foxes ; the Shishi ke Telwale, who sell crocodile's oil ; and the Bandarwale who go about with performing monkeys. The Bahelias have a subcaste known as Karijat, the members of which only kill birds of a black colour.
Their exogamous groups are nearly all those of Rajput tribes, as Sesodia, Panwar, Solanki, Chauhan, Rathor, and so on ; it is probable that these have been adopted through imitation by vagrant Bawarias and others sojourning in Rajputana. There are also a few groups with titular or other names, and it is stated that members of clans bearing Rajput names will take daughters from the others in marriage, but will not give their daughters to them.
Girls appear to be somewhat scarce in the caste and a bride -price is usually paid, which is given as Rs. 9 in
Chanda, Rs. 35 in Bilaspur, and Rs. 60 or more in Iloshang- 3. Marabad and Saugor. If a girl should be seduced by a man fun^^^T of the caste she would be united to him by the ceremony of customs, a widow's marriage : but her family will require a bride from her husband's family in exchange for the girl whose value he has destroyed. Even if led astray by an outsider a girl may be readmitted into the caste ; and in the extreme case of her being debauched by her brother, she may still be married to one of the community, but no one will take food from her hands during her lifetime, though her children will be recognised as proper Pardhis.
A special fine of Rs. lOO is imposed on a brother who commits this crime. The ceremony of marriage varies according to the locality in which they reside ; usually the couple walk seven times round a tdnda or collection of their small mat tents. In Berar a cloth is held up by four poles as a canopy over them and they are preceded by a married woman carrying five pitchers of water. Divorce and the marriage of widows are freely permitted. The caste commonly bury their dead, placing the head to the north. They do not shave their heads in token of mourning.
In Berar their principal deity is the goddess Devi, who 4. Reiiis
known by different names. Every family of Langoti "
Pardhis has, Mr. Gayer states,^ its image in silver of the
goddess, and because of this no Langoti Pardhi woman will
wear silver below the waist or hang her sari on a peg, as it must
never be put on the same level as the goddess.
They also sometimes refuse to wear red or coloured clothes, one explanation for this being that the image of the goddess is placed on a bed of red cloth. In Hoshangabad their principal deity is called Guraiya Deo, and his image, consisting of a human figure embossed in silver, is kept in a leather bag on the west side of their tents ; and for this reason women going out of the encampment for a necessary purpose always proceed to the east. They also sleep with their feet to the east. Goats are offered to Guraiya Deo and their horns are placed in his leather bag.
In Hoshangabad they sacrifice a fowl to the ropes of their tents at the Dasahra and Diwali festivals, and on the former ^ Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the C.P., p. I9-
occasion clean their hunting implements and make offerings to them of turmeric and rice. They are reported to believe that the sun and moon die and are reborn daily. The hunter's calling is one largely dependent on luck or chance, and, as might be expected, the Pardhis are firm believers in omens, and observe various rules by which they think their fortune will be affected.
A favourite omen is the simple device of taking some rice or juari in the hand and counting the grains. Contrary to the usual rule, even numbers are considered lucky and odd ones unlucky. If the first result is unsatisfactory a second or third trial may be made. If a winnowing basket or millstone be let fall and drop to the right hand it is a lucky omen, and similarly if a flower from Devi's garland should fall to the right side.
The bellowing of cows, the mewing of a cat, the howling of a jackal and sneezing are other unlucky omens. If a snake passes from left to right it is a bad omen and if from right to left a good one. A man must not sleep with his head on the threshold of a house or in the doorway of a tent under penalty of a fine of Rs. 2-8 ; the only explanation given of this rule is that such a position is unlucky because a corpse is carried out across the threshold. A similar penalty is imposed if he falls down before his wife even by accident. A Pardhi, with Ihe exception of members of the Sesodia clan, must never sleep on a cot, a fine of five rupees being imposed for a breach of this rule.
A man who has once caught a deer must not again have the hair of his head touched by a razor, and thus the Pardhis may be recognised by their long and unkempt locks. A breach of this rule is punished with a fine of fifteen rupees, but it is not observed everywhere. A woman must never step across the rope or peg of a tent, nor upon the place where the blood of a deer has flowed on to the ground. During her monthly period of impurity a woman must not cross a river nor sit in a boat.
A Pardhi will never kill or sell a dog and they will not hunt wild dogs even if money is offered to them. This is probably because they look upon the wild dog as a fellow-hunter, and consider that to do him injury would bring ill-luck upon themselves. A Pardhi has also theoretically a care for the preservation of game. When he has caught a number of birds in his
trap, he will let a pair of them loose so that they may go on breeding. Women arc not permitted to take any part in the work of hunting, but are confined strictly to their household duties. A woman who kicks her husband's stick is fined Rs. 2-8. The butt end of the stick is employed for mixing vegetables and other purposes, but the meaning of the rule is not clear unless one of its uses is for the enforcement of conjugal discipline.
A Pardhi may not swear by a dog, a cat or a squirrel. Their most solemn oath is in the name of their deity Guraiya Deo, and it is believed that any one who falsely takes this oath will become a leper. The Phans Pardhis may not travel in a railway train, and some of them are forbidden even to use a cart or other conveyance.
In dress and appearance the Pardhis are disreputable 5. Dress, and dirty. Their features are dark and their hair matted and g°^jJ unkempt. They never wear shoes and say that they are customs. protected by a special promise of the goddess Devi to their first ancestor that no insect or reptile in the forests should injure them. The truth is, no doubt, that shoes would make it impossible for them to approach their game without disturbing it, and from long practice the soles of their feet become impervious to thorns and minor injuries.
Similarly the Langoti Pardhis are so called because they wear only a narrow strip of cloth round the loins, the reason probably being that a long one would impede them by flapping and catching in the brushwood. But the explanation which they themselves give,^ a somewhat curious one in view of their appearance, is that an ordinary dhoti or loin-cloth if worn might become soiled and therefore unlucky.
Their women do not have their noses pierced and never wear spangles or other marks on the forehead. The Pardhis still obtain fire by igniting a piece of cotton with flint and iron. Mr. Sewell notes that their women eat at the same time as the men, instead of after them as among most Hindus. They explain this custom by saying that on one occasion a woman tried to poison her husband and it was therefore adopted as a precaution against similar attempts ; but no doubt it has always prevailed, and the more orthodox ' Berdr Census Report (1881), p. 135.
practice would be almost incompatible with their gipsy life. Similar reasons of convenience account for their custom of celebrating marriages all the year round and neglecting the Hindu close season of the four months of the rains. They travel about with little huts made of matting, which can be rolled up and carried off in a few minutes. If rain comes on they seek shelter in the nearest village.^ In some localities the caste eat no food cooked with butter or oil.
They are usually considered as an impure caste, whose touch is a defilement to Hindus. Brahmans do not officiate at their ceremonies, though the Pardhis resort to the village Joshi or astrologer to have a propitious date indicated for marriages. They have to pay for such services in money, as Brahmans usually refuse to accept even uncooked grain from them. After childbirth women are held to be impure and forbidden to cook for their families for a period varying from six weeks to six months. During t^ieir periodical impurity they are secluded for four, six or eight days, the Pardhis observing very strict rules in these matters, as is not infrequently the case with the lowest castes.
Their caste meetings, Mr. Sewell states, are known as Deokaria or ' An act performed in honour of God ' ; at these meetings arrangements for expeditions are discussed and caste disputes decided. The penalty for social offences is a fine of a specified quantity of liquor, the liquor provided by male and female delinquents being drunk by the men and women respectively. The punishment for adultery in either sex consists in cutting off a piece of the left ear with a razor, and a man guilty of intercourse with a prostitute is punished as if he had committed adultery. The Pardhi women are said to be virtuous.
6. Ordeals. The Pardhis still preserve the primitive method of trial
by ordeal. If a woman is suspected of misconduct she is
made to pick a pice coin out of boiling oil ; or a pipal leaf
is placed on her hand and a red-hot axe laid over it, and if
her hand is burnt or she refuses to stand the test she is pronounced
guilty. Or, in the case of a man, the accused is
made to dive into water ; and as he dives an arrow is shot
' Hotnhay Ethnographic Survey, art. Pardhi.
from a bow. A swift runner fetches and brings back the arrow, and if the diver can remain under water until the runner has returned he is held to be innocent. In Nimar, if an unmarried girl becomes pregnant, two cakes of dough are prepared, a piece of silver being placed in one and a lump of coal in the other. The girl takes one of the cakes, and if it is found to contain the coal she is expelled from the community, while if she chooses the piece of silver, she is pardoned and made over to one of the caste.
The idea of the ordeal is apparently to decide the question whether her condition was caused by a Pardhi or an outsider. The Phans Pardhis hunt all kinds of birds and the smaller 7- Methods animals with the phdnda or snare. Mr. Ball describes their birds. "^ "^ procedure as follows : ^ " For peacock, saras crane and bustard they have a long series of nooses, each provided with a wooden peg and all connected with a long string.
The tension necessary to keep the nooses open is afforded
by a slender slip of antelope's horn (very much resembling
whalebone), which forms the core of the loop. Provided
with several sets of these nooses, a trained bullock and a
shield -like cloth screen dyed buff and pierced with
eye - holes, the bird - catcher sets out for the jungle, and
on seeing a flock of pea -fowl circles round them under
cover of the screen and the bullock, which he guides by a
nose-string.
The birds feed on undisturbed, and the man rapidly pegs out his long strings of nooses, and when all are properly disposed, moves round to the opposite side of the birds and shows himself ; when they of course run off, and one or more getting their feet in the nooses fall forwards and flap on the ground ; the man immediately captures them, knowing that if the strain is relaxed the nooses will open and permit of the bird's escape. Very cruel practices are in vogue with these people with reference to the captured birds, in order to keep them alive until a purchaser is found.
The peacocks have a feather passed through the eyelids, by which means they are effectually blinded, while in the case of smaller birds both the legs and wings are broken." Deer, hares and even pig are also caught by a strong rope with running nooses. For smaller birds the ' Jii>tgle Life in India, pp. 586-587.
8. Hunting with leopards. appliance is a little rack about four inches high with uprights a 'io.w inches apart, between each of which is hung a noose. Another appliance mentioned by Mr. Ball is a set of long conical bag nets, which are kept open by hooks and provided with a pair of folding doors. The Pardhi has also a whistle made of deer-horn, with which he can imitate the call of the birds. Tree birds are caught with bird-lime as described by Sir G. Grierson.^
The Bahelia has several long shafts of bamboos called ndl or ndr, which are tied together like a fishing rod, the endmost one being covered with bird-lime. Concealing himself behind his bamboo screen the Bahelia approaches the bird and when near enough strikes and secures it with his rod ; or he may spread some grain out at a short distance, and as the birds are hopping about over it he introduces the pole, giving it a zig-zag movement and imitating as far as possible the progress of a snake.
Having brought the point near one of the birds, which is fascinated by its stealthy approach, he suddenly jerks it into its breast and then drawing it to him, releases the poor palpitating creature, putting it away in his bag, and recommences the same operation. This method does not require the use of bird-lime. The manner in which the Chita Pardhis use the hunting leopard {Felis jubata) for catching deer has often been described." The leopard is caught full-grown by a noose in the manner related above.
Its neck is first clasped in a wooden vice until it is half-strangled, and its feet are then bound with ropes and a cap slipped over its head. It is partially starved for a time, and being always fed by the same man, after a month or so it becomes tame and learns to know its master.
It is then led through villages held by ropes on each side to accustom it to the presence of human beings. On a hunting party the leopard is carried on a cart, hooded, and, being approached from down wind, the deer allow the cart to get fairly close to them. The Indian antelope or black-buck are the usual quarry, and as these frequent cultivated land, they regard country carts without .suspicion. The hood is then taken off and the leopard • Peasant Life in Bihar, p. 8o. ^ See Jerdon's Maviinals of India, p. 97. The account there given is quoted in the Chhindwara District Gazetteer, pp. 16-17.
springs forward at the game with extreme velocity, perhaps exceeding that which any other quadruped possesses. The accounts given by Jcrdon say that for the moment its speed is greater than that of a race-horse. It cannot maintain this for more than three or four hundred yards, however, and if in that distance the animal has not seized its prey, it relinquishes the pursuit and stalks about in a towering passion.
The Pardhis say that when it misses the game the leopard
is as sulky as a human being and sometimes refuses food for
a couple of days. If successful in the pursuit, it seizes the
antelope by the throat ; the kepeer then comes up, and cutting
the animal's throat collects some of the blood in the
wooden ladle with which the leopard is always fed ; this is
offered to him, and dropping his hold he laps it up eagerly,
when the hood is cleverly slipped on again.
The conducting of the cheetah from its cage to the
chase is by no means an easy matter. The keeper leads
him along, as he would a large dog, with a chain ; and for
a time as they scamper over the country the leopard goes
willingly enough ; but if anything arrests his attention, some
noise from the forest, some scented trail upon the ground,
he moves more slowly, throws his head aloft and peers
savagely round.
A few more minutes perhaps and he would be unmanageable. The keeper, however, is prepared for the emergency. He holds in his left hand a cocoanut shell, sprinkled on the inside with salt ; and by means of a handle affixed to the shell he puts it at once over the nose of the cheetah. The animal licks the salt, loses the scent, forgets the object which arrested his attention, and is led quietly along again.^
For hunting stags, tame stags were formerly used as 9. Decoy decoys according to the method described as follows : " We ^^^^^' had about a dozen trained stags, all males, with us. These, well acquainted with the object for which they were sent forward, advanced at a gentle trot over the open ground towards the skirt of the wood. They were observed at once by the watchers of the herd, and the boldest of the wild animals advanced to meet them. Whether the intention was to welcome them peacefully or to do battle for their ' Private Life of an Eastern King, p. 75.
pasturage I cannot tell ; but in a few minutes the two parties were engaged in a furious contest. Head to head, antlers to antlers, the tame deer and the wild fought with great fury. Each of the tame animals, every one of them large and formidable, was closely engaged in contest with a wild adversary, standing chiefly on the defensive, not in any feigned battle or mimicry of war but in a hard-fought combat. We now made our appearance in the open ground on horseback, advancing towards the scene of conflict.
The deer on the skirts of the wood, seeing us, took to flight ; but those actually engaged maintained their ground and continued the contest. In the meantime a party of native huntsmen, sent for the purpose, gradually drew near to the wild stags, getting in between them and the forest. What their object was we were not at the time aware ; in truth it was not one that we could have approved or encouraged. They made their way into the rear of the wild stags, which were still combating too fiercely to mind them ; they approached the animals, and with a skilful cut of their long knives the poor warriors fell hamstrung. We felt pity for the noble animals as we saw them fall helplessly on the ground, unable longer to continue the contest and pushed down of course by the decoy-stags. Once down, they were unable to rise again." ^ lo. Hawks.
Hawks wcrc also used in a very ingenious fashion to prevent duck from flying away when put upon water : " The trained hawks were now brought into requisition, and marvellous it was to see the instinct with which they seconded the efforts of their trainers. The ordinary hawking of the heron we had at a later period of this expedition ; but the use now made of the animal was altogether different, and displayed infinitely more sagacity than one would suppose likely to be possessed by such an animal. These were trained especially for the purpose for which they were now employed.
A flight of ducks—thousands of birds—were enticed upon the water as before by scattering corn over it. The hawks were then let fly, four or five of them. We made our appearance openly upon the bank, guns in hand, and the living swarm of birds rose at once into the air. The hawks circled above them, however, in a rapid revolving ' Private Life of an Eastern King^ pp. 69, 71.
ilight and they dared not ascend high. Thus was our i^rcy retained fluttering in mid-air, until hundreds had paid the penalt}- with their Hves. Only picture in your mind's eye the circling hawks above gyrating monotonously, the fluttering captives in mid-air, darting now here, now there to escape, and still coward-like huddling together ; and the motley group of sportsmen on the bank and you have the whole scene before you at once." '
For catching crocodile, a method by which as already n. stated one group of the Pardhis earn their livelihood, a large ^5^^^°^^ double hook is used, baited with a piece of putrid deer's flesh and attached to a hempen rope 70 or 80 feet long.
When the crocodile has swallowed the hook, twenty or thirty persons drag the animal out of the water and it is despatched with axes. Crocodiles are hunted only in the months of Pus (December), Magh (January) and Chait (March), when they are generally fat and yield plenty of oil. The flesh is cut into pieces and stewed over a slow fire, when it exudes a watery oil. This is strained and sold in bottles at a rupee a seer (2 lbs.). It is used as an embrocation for rheumatism and for neck galls of cattle. The Pardhis do not eat crocodile's flesh.
A body of Pardhis are sometimes employed by all the 12. Other cultivators of a village jointly for the purpose of watching ^jo'^j,".^"^ the spring crops during the day and keeping black-buck out criminal of them. They do this perhaps for two or three months P'^"^'"^^^- and receive a fixed quantity of grain. The Takankars are regularly employed as village servants in Berar and travel about roughening the stones of the household grinding-mills when their surfaces have worn smooth. For this they receive an annual contribution of grain from each household.
The caste generally have criminal tendencies and Mr. Sewell states, that " The Langoti Pardhis and Takankars are the worst offenders. Ordinarily when committing dacoity they are armed with sticks and stones only. In digging through a wall they generally leave a thin strip at which the leader carefully listens before finally bursting through. Then when the hole has been made large enough, he strikes a match and holding it in front of him so that his features are shielded ' Private Life of an Eastern King, pp. 39-40. VOL. IV 2 B
has a good survey of the room before entering. ... As a rule, they do not divide the property on or near the scene of the crime, but take it home. Generally it is carried by one of the gang well behind the rest so as to enable it to be hidden if the party is challenged." In Bombay they openly rob the standing crops, and the landlords stand in such awe of them that they secure their goodwill by submitting to a regular system of blackmail.^ ' Bombay Ethnographic Survey, ibide?n.
Pardhi
(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: Bagri, Mogia [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
- Endogamous divisions: Haran Pardhi, Korchar, Mir, Pardhi, Phanse, Vaghri in Bombay (Khandesh) [R.E. Enthoven]
Chitewale, Langoti Pardhi, Pal, Phanse Pardhi [S.S. Hassan] Groups/subgroups: Chitewale or Phanse Pardhi, Pal or Longota Pardhi [S.S. Hassan]
- Subcastes: Bandarwale, Chitewale, Gayake, Gosain Paradhis, Karijat, Langoti Pardhis, Phanse Pardhis, Shikari or
Bhil Pardhis, Shishi ke Telwale, Takankars [Russell & Hiralal] Surnames: Dhugao, Islavath, Jognichowhat, Nukod, Shakthi [Andhra Pradesh] Dhadra, Dodhkia, Parmar, Solanki [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] Chavan, Dabhade, Powar, Solanki, Sonvani in Bombay (Knandesh) [R.E. Enthoven] Chauhan, Panwar, Rathor, Sesodia, Solanki [Russell & Hiralal] Chavana, Dongle, Jadhava, Kare, Pawar [S.S. Hassan]
