CHAPTER V
The Lower Classes of Sudras. — Pariahs. — Chucklers, or Cobblers, and
others equally low. — Contempt in which they are held. — Pariahs
strictly speaking Slaves. — Washermen, Barbers, and some others. —
Disrepute into which Mechanical Skill has fallen. — Nomads and
Vagabonds. — Gypsies. — Quacks. — Jugglers. — Wild Tribes, &c.
We have already remarked that amongst the immense
number of classes of which the Sudra caste is composed, it
is impossible to give precedence to any one class in par-
ticular ; the natives themselves not being agreed on that
point, and the social scale varying in different parts of the
country. There are certain classes, however, who, owing
to the depth of degradation into which they have fallen, are looked upon as almost another race of beings, altogether
outside the pale of society ; and they are perfectly ready
to acknowledge their own comparative inferiority. The
best known and most numerous of these castes is the
Parayer, as it is called in Tamil, the word from which the
European name Pariah is derived l . The particulars which
I am about to give of this class will form most striking
contrasts with those I shall relate subsequently about the
Brahmins, and will serve to demonstrate a point to which
I shall often refer, namely, how incapable the Hindus are
of showing any moderation in their caste customs and
observances.
1 The appellation Mahanuim is well worthy of remark. It is a com-
pound of two words — Maha great, and Nuvu, which undoubtedly is
the same as Noah. — Dubois.
49
THE PARIAH CASTE
Their contempt and aversion for these social outcastes
are as extreme, on the one hand, as are the respect and
veneration which they pay, on the other, to those whom
their superstitions have invested with god-like attributes.
Throughout the whole of India the Pariahs are looked upon
as slaves by other castes, and are treated with great harsh-
ness. Hardly anywhere are they allowed to cultivate the
soil for their own benefit, but are obliged to hire themselves
out to the other castes, who in return for a minimum wage
exact the hardest tasks from them.
Furthermore, their masters may beat them at pleasure ;
the poor wretches having no right either to complain or
to obtain redress for that or any other ill-treatment their
masters may impose on them. In fact, these Pariahs are
the born slaves of India ; and had I to choose between
the two sad fates of being a slave in one of our colonies
or a Pariah here, I should unhesitatingly prefer the former.
This class is the most numerous of all, and in conjunc-
tion with that of the Chucklers, or cobblers, represents at
least a quarter of the population. It is painful to think
that its members, though so degraded, are yet the most
useful of all. On them the whole agricultural work of the
country devolves 2 , and they have also other tasks to per-
forin which are still harder and more indispensable.
1 Parayen means one that beats the drum [parai).— Ed.
2 This is the case only in certain districts of Southern [ndia, such as
Chingleput and Tanjore. An appreciable percentage »>! the Pariah-,
has now migrated to the towns, where they serve as domestic servants
in European and Eurasian households.— Ed.
50
ABJECT CONDITION OF PARIAHS
However, notwithstanding the miserable condition of
these wretched Pariahs, they are never heard to murmur,
or to complain of their low estate. Still less do they ever
dream of trying to improve their lot, by combining together,
and forcing the other classes to treat them with that
common respect which one man owes to another. The
idea that he was born to be in subjection to the other
castes is so ingrained in his mind that it never occurs to
the Pariah to think that his fate is anything but irrevocable.
Nothing will ever persuade him that men are all made of
the same clay, or that he has the right to insist on better
treatment than that which is meted out to him 1 .
They live in hopeless poverty, and the greater number
lack sufficient means to procure even the coarsest clothing.
They go about almost naked, or at best clothed in the
most hideous rags.
They live from hand to mouth the whole year round,
and rarely know one day how they will procure food for
the next. When they happen to have any money, they
invariably spend it at once, and make a point of doing no
work as long as they have anything left to live on.
In a few districts they are allowed to cultivate the soil
on their own account, but in such cases they are almost
always the poorest of their class. Pariahs who hire them-
selves out as labourers earn, at any rate, enough to live
on ; and their food, though often of the coarsest description,
is sufficient to satisfy the cravings of hunger. But those
who are their own masters, and cultivate land for them-
selves, are so indolent and careless that their harvests,
even in the most favourable seasons, are only sufficient to
feed them for half the year.
The contempt and aversion with which the other castes
— and particularly the Brahmins — regard these unfortunate
people are carried to such an excess that in many places
their presence, or even their footprints, are considered
sufficient to defile the whole neighbourhood. They are
forbidden to cross a street in which Brahmins are living.
1 The Christian missionaries in India have done and are doing much
to elevate the condition and character of this class. In Madras city
there are now Pariah associations, and also a journal specially represent-
ing; Pariah interests. — Ed.
51
DEFILEMENT BY CONTACT WITH PARIAHS
Should they be so ill-advised as to do so. the Latter would have the right,
not to strike them themselves, because they could not do so without defilement,
or even touch them with the end of a long stick, but to order them to be
severely beaten by other people. A Pariah who had the audacity to enter a
Brahmin's house might possibly be murdered on the spot. A revolting crime of
this sort has been actually perpetrated in States under the rule of native
princes without a voice being raised in expostulation
Any one who has been touched, whether inadvertently
or purposely, by a Pariah is defiled by that single act,
and may hold no communication with any person what-
soever until he has been purified by bathing, or by other
ceremonies more or less important according to the status
and customs of his caste. It would be contamination to
eat with any members of this class ; to touch food pre-
pared by them, or even to drink water which they have
drawn ; to use an earthen vessel which they have held in
their hands ; to set foot inside one of their houses, or to
allow them to enter houses other than their own. Each
of these acts would contaminate the person affected by it,
and before being readmitted to his own caste such a person
would have to go through many exacting and expensive
formalities. Should it be proved that any one had had
any connexion with a Pariah woman he would be treated
with even greater severity. Nevertheless, the disgust which
these Pariahs inspire is not so intense in some parts of the
country as in others. The feeling is most strongly developed
in the southern and western districts of the Peninsula ; in
the north it is less apparent. In the northern part of
Mysore the other classes of Sudras allow Pariahs to ap-
proach them, and even permit them to enter that part of
the house which is used for cattle. Indeed, in some places
custom is so far relaxed that a Pariah may venture to put
his head and one foot, but one foot only, inside the room occupied by the master of the house. It is said that still
further north the difference between this and other Sudra
castes gradually diminishes, until at last it disappears
altogether.
1 Even to this day a Pariah is not allowed to pass a Brahmin Btreel
in a village, though nobody can prevent, or prevents, his approaching
or passing by a Brahmin's house in towns. The Pariahs, on their part,
will under no circumstances allow a Brahmin to pass through their
jxircherries (collections of Pariah huts), as they firmly believe that it
will lead to their ruin. — Ed.
52
THE ORIGIN OF PARIAHS
The origin of this degraded class can be traced to a very
early period, as it is mentioned in the most ancient Puranas.
The Pariahs were most probably composed, in the first
instance, of all the disreputable individuals of different
classes of society, who, on account of various offences, had
forfeited their right to associate with respectable men.
They formed a class apart, and having nothing to fear and
less to lose, they gave themselves up, without restraint, to
their natural tendencies towards vice and excess, in which
they continue to live at the present day.
In very early days, however, the separation between
Pariahs and the other castes does not appear to have been
so marked as at present. Though relegated to the lowest
grade in the social scale, they were not then placed abso-
lutely outside and beyond it, the line of demarcation
between them and the Sudras being almost imperceptible.
Indeed, they are even to this day considered to be the
direct descendants of the better class of agricultural
labourers. The Tamil Vellalers and the Okkala-makkalu-
kanarey do not disdain to call them their children. But
one thing is quite certain, that if these classes share a
common origin with the Pariahs and acknowledge the
same, their actions by no means corroborate their words,
and their treatment of the Pariahs leaves much to be
desired.
Europeans are obliged to have Pariahs for their servants,
because no native of any other caste would condescend to
do such menial work as is exacted by their masters. For
instance, it would be very difficult to find amongst the
Sudras any one who would demean himself by blacking or
greasing boots and shoes, emptying and cleansing chamber
utensils, brushing and arranging hair, &c. ; and certainly
no one could be found who for any consideration whatever
would consent to cook food for them, as this would necessi-
tate touching beef, which is constantly to be seen on the
tables of Europeans, who thereby show an open disregard
of the feelings and prejudices of the people amongst whom
PARIAHS AS DOMESTIC SERVANTS
they live. Foreigners are therefore obliged to have recourse
to Pariahs to perform this important domestic service. If
the kind of food which they do not scruple to eat lowers
Europeans in the eyes of the superstitious native, much
more are they lowered by the social status of the people
by whom they are served. For it is a fact recognized by
all Hindus that none but a Pariah would dare to eat food
prepared by Pariahs.
It is undeniable that this want of consideration on the
part of Europeans — or rather the necessity to which they
are reduced of employing Pariahs as servants — renders
them most obnoxious to other classes of natives, and
greatly diminishes the general respect for the white man.
It being impossible to procure servants of a better caste,
foreigners have of necessity to put up with members of
this inferior class, who are dishonest, incapable of any
attachment to their masters, and unworthy of confidence.
Sudras who become servants of Europeans are almost in-
variably vicious and unprincipled, as devoid of all feeling
of honour as they are wanting in resource ; in fact, they
are the scum of their class and of society at large. No
respectable or self-respecting Sudra would ever consent to
enter a service where he would be in danger of being mis-
taken for a Pariah, or would have to consort with Pariahs.
Amongst other reasons which contribute largely to the
dislike that natives of a better class entertain for domestic
service under Europeans, is the feeling that their masters
keep them at such a great distance, and are generally
haughty and even cruel in their demeanour towards them.
But above all things they dread being kicked by a Euro-
pean, not because this particular form of ill-treatment is
physically more painful than any other, but because they
have a horror of being defiled by contact with anything so
unclean as a leather boot or shoe. Pariahs, accustomed
from their childhood to slavery, put up patiently with
affronts of this kind which other natives, who have more
pride and self-respect, are unable to endure.
Under other circumstances, it should be remarked,
domestic service in India is by no means regarded as
degrading. The servant has his meals with his master,
the maid with her mistress, and both go through life on
an almost equal footing. The conduct of Europeans being
in this respect so totally different, natives who have any
sense of decency or self-respect feel the greatest repugnance
to taking service with them. One cannot wonder therefore
that only the very dregs of the population will undertake
the work.
54
OCCUPATIONS OP PARIAHS
But to return to the Pariahs. One is bound to confess
that the evil reputation which is borne by this class is in
many respects well deserved, by reason of the low conduct
and habits of its members. A great many of these un-
fortunate people bind themselves for life, with their wives
and children, to the ryots, or agricultural classes, who set
them to the hardest labour and treat them with the greatest
harshness. The village scavengers, who are obliged to
clean out the public latrines, to sweep the streets, and
to remove all rubbish, invariably belong to this class.
These men, known in the south by the name of totis, are,
however, generally somewhat more humanely treated than
the other Pariahs, because, in addition to the dirty work
above mentioned, they are employed in letting the water
into the tanks and channels for irrigating the rice fields ;
and on this account they are treated with some considera-
tion by the rest of the villagers. Amongst the Pariahs
who are not agricultural slaves there are some who groom
and feed the horses of private individuals, or those used
in the army ; some are in charge of elephants ; others tend
cattle ; others are messengers and carriers ; while others,
again, do ordinary manual work. Within recent times
Pariahs have been allowed to enlist in the European and
Native armies, and some of them have risen to high rank,
for in point of courage and bravery they are in no way
inferior to any other caste. Yet their bringing up puts them
at a great disadvantage in acquiring other qualifications
necessary for the making of a good soldier, for they are
induced with difficulty to conform to military discipline,
and are absolutely deficient in all sense of honour \
1 The Abbe is too sweeping in many of his statements about Pariahs.
For instance, in these days at any rate, the Pariah Sepoys in the Madras
army are extremely well disciplined, especially the corps of Sappers.
—Ed.
55
THEIR VICE AND UNCLEANLINESS
Pariahs, being thus convinced that they have nothing to lose or gain in public estimation, abandon themselves
without shame or restraint to vice of all kinds, and the
greatest lawlessness prevails amongst them, for which they
do not feel the least shame. One might almost say that,
in the matter of vice, they outstrip all others in brutality,
as the Brahmins do in malice. Their habits of uncleanli-
ness are disgusting. Their huts, a mass of filth and alive
with insects and vermin, are, if possible, even more loath-
some than their persons. Their harsh and forbidding
features clearly reveal their character, but even these are
an insufficient indication of the coarseness of their minds
and manners. They are much addicted to drunkenness,
a vice peculiarly abhorrent to other Hindus. They in-
toxicate themselves usually with the juice of the palm-
tree, called toddy, which they drink after it has fermented,
and it is then more spirituous. In spite of its horrible
stench they imbibe it as if the nauseous liquid were nectar.
Drunken quarrels are of frequent occurrence amongst
them, and their wives are often sufferers, the unhappy
creatures being nearly beaten to death, even when in
a state of pregnancy. It is to this brutality and violence
of their husbands that I attribute the frequent miscarriages
to which Pariah wives are subject, and which are much
more common amongst them than amongst women of any
other caste.
What chiefly disgusts other natives is the revolting
nature of the food which the Pariahs eat. Attracted by
the smell, they will collect in crowds round any carrion,
and contend for the spoil with dogs, jackals, crows, and
other carnivorous animals. They then divide the semi-
putrid flesh, and carry it away to their huts, where they
devour it, often without rice or anything else to disguise
the flavour. That the animal should have died of disease
is of no consequence to them, and they sometimes secretly
poison cows or buffaloes that they may subsequently feast
on the foul, putrefying remains. The carcases of animals
that die in a village belong by right to the toti or scavenger,
who sells the flesh at a very low price to the other Pariahs
in the neighbourhood. When it is impossible to consume
in one day the stock of meat thus obtained, they dry the
remainder in the sun, and keep it in their huts until they run short of olhcr food. There arc few Pariah houses
where one does not see festoons of these horrible fragments hanging up ; and though the Pariahs themselves do not
seem to be affected by the smell, travellers passing near
their villages quickly perceive it and can tell at once the
caste of the people living there. This horrible food is,
no doubt, the cause of the greater part of the contagious
diseases which decimate them, and from which their neigh-
bours are free.
56
FOOD EATEN BY PARIAHS
Is it to be wondered at, after what has just been stated,
that other castes should hold this in abhorrence ? Can
they be blamed for refusing to hold any communication
with such savages, or for obliging them to keep themselves
aloof and to live in separate hamlets ? It is true that with
regard to these Pariahs the other Hindus are apt to carry
their views to excess ; but as we have already pointed out,
and shall often have to point out again, the natural in-
stinct of the natives of India seems to run to extremes in
all cases.
The condition of the Pariahs, which is not really slavery
as it is known amongst us, resembles to a certain extent
that of the serfs of France and other countries of Northern
Europe in olden times. This state of bondage is at its
worst along the coast of Malabar, as are several other
customs peculiar to the country *. The reason is that
Malabar, owing to its position, has generally escaped the
invasions and revolutions which have so often devastated
the rest of India, and has thus managed to preserve un-
altered many ancient institutions, which in other parts
have fallen into disuse.
1 Things in this respect have, of course, changed a great deal for the
better since the Abbe wrote. — Ed.
57
PARIAH SLAVERY
Of these the two most remarkable are proprietary rights
and slavery. These two systems are apparently insepar-
able one from the other : and, indeed, one may well say,
no land without lord. All the Pariahs born in the country
are serfs for life, from father to son, and are part and parcel
of the land on which they are born. The land-owner can
sell them along with the soil, and can dispose of them when
and how he pleases. This proprietary right and this
system of serfdom have existed from the remotest times, and exist still amongst the Nairs, the Coorgs, and the
Tulus, the three aboriginal tribes of the Malabar coast.
This is, I believe, the only province in India where pro-
prietary right has been preserved intact until the present
day. Everywhere else the soil belongs to the ruler, and
the cultivator is merely his tenant. The lands which he
tills are given to him or taken away from him according
to the w r ill of the Government for the time being. On
the Malabar coast, however, the lands belong to those
who have inherited them from their forefathers, and these
in their turn possess the right of handing them down to
their descendants. Here the lands may be alienated, sold,
given away, or disposed of according to the will of the
owners. In a word, the jus utendi et abutendi, which is the
basis of proprietary right, belongs entirely to them. Every
landed proprietor in that country possesses a community
of Pariahs to cultivate his fields, who are actually his
slaves and form an integral part of his property. All
children born of these Pariahs are serfs by birth, just as
their parents were ; and their master has the right, if he
choose, to sell or dispose of parents and children in any
way that he pleases. If one of these Pariahs escapes and
takes service under another master, his real master can
recover him anywhere as his own property. If a proprietor
happens to possess more slaves than he requires for cultivat-
ing his land, he sells some to other landlords who are less
fortunate than himself. It is by no means uncommon to
see a debtor, who is unable to pay his debts in hard cash,
satisfy his creditors by handing over to them a number of
his Pariah slaves. The price of these is not exorbitant.
A male still young enough to work will fetch three rupees
and a hundred seers of rice, which is about the value of
a bullock.
But the landed proprietors do not usually sell their
slaves except in cases of great emergency ; and even then
they can only sell them within the borders of their own
country. In no case have they a right to export them
for sale to foreigners.
Each land- owner in the province of Malabar lives in
a house that is isolated in the middle of his estate. Here
he dwells, surrounded by his community of Pariah serfs,
who are always remarkably submissive to him. Some
land-owners possess over a hundred of them. They treat
them usually in the most humane manner. They give
them only such work as their age or strength permits ;
feed them on the same rice that they themselves eat ; give
them in marriage when they come of age ; and every year
provide them with clothing, four or five yards of cloth for
the women and a coarse woollen blanket for the men.
58
HUMANE TREATMENT OF SLAVES
In Malabar it is only the Pariahs who are thus condemned to perpetual slavery ; but then there are no free
men amongst them. All are born slaves from generation
to generation. They have not even a right to buy their
own freedom ; and if they wish to secure their indepen-
dence they can only do so by escaping secretly from the
country. All the same, I have not heard that they often
resort to this extremity. They are accustomed from father
to son to this state of servitude ; they are kindly treated
by their masters ; they eat the same food as they do ;
they are never forced to do tasks beyond their strength ;
and thus they have no notion of what freedom or inde-
pendence means, and are happily resigned to their lot.
They look upon their master as their father, and consider
themselves to belong to his family. As a matter of fact,
their physical condition, which is the only thing that appeals
to their senses, is much better than that of their brethren
who are free. At any rate, the Pariah slave of Malabar is
certain of a living, the supreme requirement of nature,
whereas the free Pariah of other provinces lives for half
his time in actual want of the meanest subsistence, and is
often exposed to death from starvation l .
It is indeed a piteous sight, the abject and half-starved
condition in which this wretched caste, the most numerous
of all, drags out its existence. It is true that amongst
1 The slaves spoken of here are not Pariahs but Cherumars, who claim
to be somewhat superior in rank to the Pariahs. From 1792 the East
India Company steadily endeavoured to emancipate the Cherumars. In
1843 an Emancipation Act was passed, but it was explained to the
Cherumars that it was their interest, as well as their duty, to remain
with their masters if treated kindly. ' Sections 370, 371, &c. of the
Indian Penal Code,' writes Mr. Logan in his Malabar Manual, 'which
came into force on Jan. 1, 1862, dealt the real final blow at slavery in
India.' — Ed.
59
PARIAH IMPROVIDENCE
Pariahs it is an invariable rule, almost a point of honour,
to spend everything they earn and to take no thought for
the morrow. The majority of them, men and women,
are never clothed in anything but old rags. But in order
to obtain a true idea of their abject misery one must live
amongst them, as I have been obliged to do. About half
of my various congregations consisted of Pariah Christians.
Wherever I went I was constantly called in to administer
the last consolations of religion to people of this class.
On reaching the hut to which my duty led me, I was often
obliged to creep in on my hands and knees, so low was
the entrance door to the wretched hovel. When once
inside, I could only partially avoid the sickening smell by
holding to my nose a handkerchief soaked in the strongest
vinegar. I would find there a mere skeleton, perhaps
lying on the bare ground, though more often crouching on
a rotten piece of matting, with a stone or a block of wood
as a pillow. The miserable creature would have for cloth-
ing a rag tied round the loins, and for covering a coarse
and tattered blanket that left half the body naked. I
would seat myself on the ground by his side, and the first
words I heard would be : ' Father, I am dying of cold and
hunger.' I would spend a quarter of an hour or so by
him, and at last leave this sad spectacle with my heart
torn asunder by the sadness and hopelessness of it all,
and my body covered in every part with insects and vermin.
Yet, after all, this was the least inconvenience that I suffered,
for I could rid myself of them by changing my clothes and
taking a hot bath. The only thing that really afflicted me
was having to stand face to face with such a spectacle of
utter misery and all its attendant horrors, and possessing
no means of affording any save the most inadequate
remedies.
Oh ! if those who are blessed with this world's goods,
and who are so inclined to create imaginary troubles for
themselves because they have no real ones ; if the dis-
contented and ambitious who are always ready to grumble
and complain of their fate, because perchance they have
only the mere necessaries and are unable to procure the
luxuries and pleasures of life ; if they would only pause
for a moment and contemplate this harrowing picture of want and misery, liovv much more gratefully would they
appreciate the lot that Providence has assigned to them !
60
THE PALLERS
As for myself, for the first ten or twelve years that
1 was in India, I lived in such abject poverty that I had
hardly sufficient means to procure the bare necessaries of
life ; but even then I was as happy and contented as I am
now that I am better off. Besides the consolations which
my religion gave me under these trying circumstances, my
reason found me others in the reflection that nineteen-
twentieths of the people among whom I was living were
bearing far greater trials of all kinds than any that I was
called on to endure.
Besides the Pariahs, who are to be found all over the
Peninsula, there are in certain provinces other clashes
composed of individuals who equal and even surpass them
in depravity of mind and customs, and in the contempt
in which they are held. Such, for instance, is the caste
of Palters, who are only found in Madura and in the neigh-
bourhood of Cape Comorin. The Pallers consider them-
selves superior to the Pariahs, inasmuch as they do not
eat the flesh of the cow ; but the Pariahs look on them
as altogether their inferiors, because they are the scum of
the Left-hand faction, whilst they themselves are the
mainstay of the Right-hand.
These two classes of degraded beings can never agree,
and wherever they are found in fairly equal numbers, the
disputes and quarrels amongst them are interminable.
They lead the same sort of life, enjoy an equal share of
public opprobrium, and both are obliged to live far apart
from all other classes of the inhabitants.
Amongst the forests on the Malabar coast there lives
a tribe which, incredible as it may seem, surpasses the two
of which I have just spoken in degradation and squalid
misery. They are called Puliahs, and are looked upon as
below the level of the beasts which share this wild country
with them. They are not even allowed to build them-
selves huts to protect themselves from the inclemencies of
the weather. A sort of lean-to, supported by four bamboo
poles and open at the sides, serves as a shelter for some of
them, and keeps off the rain, though it does not screen
them from the wind. Most of them, however, make for themselves what may be called nests in the brandies of
the thickest-foliaged trees, where they perch like birds of
prey for the greater part of the twenty-four hours. They
are not even allowed to walk peaceably along the high-
roads. If they see any one coming towards them, they
are bound to utter a certain cry and to go a long way
round to avoid passing him. A hundred paces is the
very nearest they may approach any one of a different
caste. If a Nair, who always carries arms, meets one of
these unhappy people on the road, he is entitled to stab
him on the spot 1 . The Puliahs live an absolutely savage
life, and have no communication whatever with the rest
of the world.
61
THE PULIAHS AND CHUCKLERS
The Chucklers, or cobblers, are also considered inferior
to the Pariahs all over the Peninsula, and, as a matter of
fact, they show that they are of a lower grade by their
more debased ideas, their greater ignorance and brutality.
They are also much more addicted to drunkenness and
debauchery. Their orgies take place principally in the
evening, and their villages resound, far into the night,
with the yells and quarrels which result from their intoxica-
tion. Nothing will persuade them to work as long as they
have anything to drink ; they only return to their labour
when they have absolutely no further means of satisfying
their ruling passion. Thus they spend their time in alter-
nate bouts of work and drunkenness. The women of this
wretched class do not allow their husbands to outshine
them in any vice, and are quite as much addicted to drunken-
ness as the men. Their modesty and general behaviour
may therefore be easily imagined. The very Pariahs refuse
to have anything to do with the Chucklers, and do not
admit them to any of their feasts.
There is one class amongst the Pariahs which rules all
the rest of the caste. These are the Valluvas 2 , who are
called the Brahmins of the Pariahs in mockery. They keep
themselves quite distinct from the others, and only inter-
marry in their own class. They consider themselves as the gurus, or spiritual advisers, of the rest. It is they
who preside at all the marriages and other religious cere-
monies of the Pariahs. They predict all the absurdities
mentioned in the Hindu almanac, such as lucky and un-
lucky days, favourable or unfavourable moments for
beginning a fresh undertaking, and other prophecies of
a like nature. But they are forbidden to meddle with
anything pertaining to astronomy, such as the foretelling
of eclipses, changes of the moon, &c, this prerogative
belonging exclusively to the Brahmins.
1 No native is nowadays allowed to carry arms without a licence.
But even now the Puliahs are forbidden to approach a person of higher
caste. They always stand at a distance of 20 to 30 yards. — Ed.
2 These are sometimes physicians and astrologers. — Ed.
62
BARBERS AND WASHERMEN
There are other classes too, which, though a trifle higher
in the Hindu social scale, are for all that not treated with
much more respect. Firstly, amongst the Sudras there are
those who follow servile occupations, or at least occupa-
tions dependent on the public ; secondly, those who per-
form low and disgusting offices, which expose them to
frequent defilements ; and, thirdly, there are the nomadic
tribes, who are always wandering about the country,
having no fixed abode.
Amongst the first I place the barbers and the washer-
men. There are men belonging to these two employments
in every village, and no one exercising the same profession
can come from another village to work in theirs without
their express permission. Their employments are trans-
mitted from father to son, and those who pursue them
form two distinct castes.
The barber's business is to trim the beard, shave the
head, pare the nails on hands and feet, and clean the ears
of all the inhabitants of his village. In several of the
southern provinces the inhabitants have all the hair on
different parts of their bodies shaved off, with the excep-
tion of the eye-brows ; and this custom is always observed
by Brahmins on marriage days and other solemn occasions '.
The barbers are also the surgeons of the country. What-
ever be the nature of the operation that they are called on
to perform, their razor is their only instrument, if it is a
question of amputation ; or a sort of stiletto, which they use for paring nails, if they have to open an abscess, or
the like. They are also the only accredited fiddlers ; and
they share with the Pariahs the exclusive right of playing
wind instruments, as will be seen presently.
1 This custom of shaving the hair from all parts of the body, for
ceremonies where absolute purity is required, is not peculiar to the
Brahmins ; it was also common amongst the Jews, for the same reason,
and was part of their ceremonial law (Numbers viii. 6, 7). — Dubois.
63
THEIR DESPISED CONDITION
As to the washermen, their business is much the same
here as everywhere else, except for the extreme filthiness
of the rags that are entrusted to them to be cleaned.
Those engaged in these two occupations are in such
a dependent position that they dare not refuse to work
for any one who chooses to employ them. They are paid
in kind at harvest time by each inhabitant of their village.
No doubt the contempt in which they are held by men of
other castes, who look upon them as menials, is due partly
to this state of subjection, and also to the uncleanness of
the things which they are compelled to handle.
The potters also are a very low class, being absolutely
uneducated.
The five castes of artisans, of which I have already
spoken, and also, as a rule, all those employed in mechanical
or ornamental arts, are very much looked down upon and
despised.
The Moochis, or tanners, though better educated and
more refined than any of the preceding classes, are not
much higher in the social scale. The other Sudras never
allow them to join in their feasts ; indeed, they would
hardly condescend to give them a drop of water to drink.
This feeling of repulsion is caused by the defilement which
ensues from their constantly handling the skins of dead
animals.
As a rule, the mechanical and the liberal arts, such as
music, painting, and sculpture, are placed on very much
the same level, and those who follow these professions,
which are left entirely to the lower castes of the Sudras,
are looked upon with equal disfavour 1 .
As far as I know, only the Moochis take up painting as
a profession. Instrumental music, and particularly that
of wind instruments, is left exclusively, as I have already mentioned, to the barbers and Pariahs 1 . The little pro-
gress that is made in these arts is no doubt due to the
small amount of encouragement which they receive. As
for painting, one never sees anything but daubs. The
Hindus are quite satisfied if their artists can draw designs
of striking figures painted in the most vivid colours. Our
best engravings, if they are uncoloured, or our finest
miniatures or landscapes, are quite valueless in their eyes.
1 Those who follow these liberal arts are treated with more respect in
these clays. At all events, they are not looked upon with disfavour.
There are now many Brahmins in Southern India who are professional
musicians, though they play on certain instruments only. — Ki>.
64
BINDU PAINTING AND MUSIC
Though the Hindus much enjoy listening to music, and
introduce it freely into all their public and private cere-
monies, both religious and social, yet it must be admitted
that this charming art is here still in its infancy. I should
say Hindus are no further advanced in it now than they
were two or three thousand years ago. They do not expect
their musicians to produce harmonious tunes when they
play at their feasts and ceremonies, for their dull ears
would certainly not appreciate them. What they like is
plenty of noise and plenty of shrill piercing sounds. Their
musicians are certainly able to comply with their wishes
in this respect. Such discordant noises are infinitely more
pleasing to them than our melodious airs, which possess
no charm whatever for them. Of all our various instru-
ments, they care only for drums and trumpets. Their
vocal music, too, is not a whit more pleasing to European
ears than their instrumental. Their songs are chiefly
remarkable for uninspiring monotony ; and though they
have a scale like ours, composed of seven notes, they have
not tried to produce from it those harmonies and combina-
tions which fall so deliciously on our ears.
Why is it, it may well be asked, that it should be considered shameful to play on wind instruments in India ?
I suppose it is on account of the defilement which the players
contract by putting such instruments to their mouths after
they have once been touched by saliva, which, as I shall
show presently, is the one excretion from the human body
for which Hindus display invincible horror. There is by
no means the same feeling with regard to stringed instruments. In fact, you may often hear Brahmins singing and
accompanying themselves on a sort of lute which is known by the name of vina.
1 Classes superior to the barbers and Pariahs also play wind instru-
ments at the present time. — Ed.
65
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
This instrument has a rather agree-
able tone, and would be still more pleasing if the sounds
extracted from it were more varied. It has always been
a favourite amongst the better classes ; and its invention
must date from an extremely remote period, for it is often
mentioned in Hindu books, where the gods themselves are
represented as playing on the vina to soothe themselves
with its sweet melodies. It is generally taught by Brah-
mins ; and as their lessons are very expensive, and they
persuade their pupils that a great many are necessary in
order to attain proficiency, it is obvious that none but the
rich can afford themselves this pleasure.
The vina of the Hindus is probably the same as the
cithara l , or harp, of the Jews, in playing which King
David excelled, and with which he produced those melo-
dies which soothed and calmed his unfortunate master Saul,
after God had given Saul up as a prey to his evil passions.
Besides the vina, the Brahmins have another stringed
instrument called Icinnahra, which is something like a
guitar, and the tone of which is not unpleasant.
The Hindus do not use gut for the strings of their in-
struments, as Europeans do. They would not dare to
touch anything so impure, for if they did they would con-
sider themselves defiled by the contact. To avoid such
a serious impurity they use metal strings.
I will now turn to the nomadic castes, which swell the
number of wretched and degraded beings amongst the
nation I am describing. Without any fixed abode, wander-
ing about from one country to another, the individuals of
which these vagabond tribes are composed pay little or
no attention to the various customs which are obligatory
on every respectable Hindu ; and this is why they are so
cordially detested.
One of the largest of these castes is that which is known
in the south by the name of Kuravers or Kurumarus.
This is subdivided into two branches, one of which carries
on a trade in salt. Gangs of men bring this article from
the coast and distribute it in the interior of the country,
using asses, of which they possess considerable numbers, as their means of transport. As soon as they have sold
or bartered this commodity, they reload the asses with
different kinds of grain, for which there is a ready sale on
the coast, and start off again at once. Thus their whole
lives are spent in hurrying from one country to another
without settling down in any place.
1 The Mahomedans of Northern India have a stringed instrument
known as cithar. — Ed.
66
WANDERING TRIBES
The occupation of the second branch of these Kuravers
is to make baskets and mats of osier and bamboo, and other
similar utensils which are used in Hindu households. They
are obliged to be perpetually moving from one place to
another to find work, and are without any fixed abode.
The Kuravers are also the fortune-tellers of the country.
They speak a language peculiar to themselves, which is
unintelligible to any other Hindu. Their manners and
customs have much in common with those of the wandering
tribes that are known in England as Gypsies, and in France
as Egyptians, or Bohemians. Their women tell the fortunes
of those who consult them and are willing to pay them.
The person who wishes to learn his fate seats himself in
front of the soothsayer and holds out his hand, while she
beats a little drum, invokes all her gods or evil spirits,
and gabbles aloud a succession of fantastic words. These
preliminaries over, she studies with the most scrupulous
attention the lines on the hand of the simple-minded
person who is consulting her, and finally predicts the good
or evil fortune that is in store for him. Many attempts
have been made to trace the origin of these wandering
tribes, who are to be found telling fortunes all over the
world. The general opinion appears to be that they origin-
ally came from Egypt, but this view might possibly be
changed if these Kuravers of India were to be closely
examined, and their language, manners, and customs com-
pared with those of the Gypsies and Bohemians.
The Kuraver women also tattoo the designs of flowers
and animals which decorate the arms of most young Hindu
women. The tattooing is done by first delicately tracing
the desired objects on the skin, then pricking the outline
gently with a needle, and immediately after rubbing in
the juice of certain plants, whereby the design becomes
indelible.
67
THE KALLA-BANTRUS
The Kurumarus are much addicted to stealing, and from this tribe come the professional thieves and pickpockets
known by the name of Kalla-bantrus. These people make
a study of the art of stealing, and all the dodges of their
infamous profession are instilled into them from their
youth. To this end their parents teach them to lie obsti-
nately, and train them to suffer tortures rather than divulge
what it is to their interest to hide. Far from being ashamed
of their profession, the Kalla-bantrus glory in it, and when
they have nothing to fear they take the greatest pleasure
in boasting of the clever thefts they have committed in
various places. Those who, caught in the act, have been
badly hurt, or who have been deprived by the magistrates
of nose, ears, or right hand, show their scars and mutila-
tions with pride, as proofs of their courage and intrepidity ;
and these men are usually the chosen heads of their caste.
They always commit their depredations at night. Noise-
lessly entering a village, they place sentinels along the
different roads, while they select the houses that can be
entered with the least risk. These they creep into, and in
a few minutes strip them of all the metal vessels and other
valuables they can find, including the gold and silver
ornaments which the sleeping women and children wear
round their necks. They never break open the doors of
the houses, for that would make too much noise and so
lead to their detection. Their plan is to pierce the mud
wall of the house with a sharp iron instrument specially
made for the purpose, with which they can in a few moments
easily make a hole large enough for a man to creep through.
They are so clever that they generally manage to carry out
their depredations without being either seen or heard by
any one. But if they happen to be surprised, the Kalla-
bantrus make a desperate resistance and do their best to
escape. If one of their number is killed in the scrimmage,
they will run any risk to obtain possession of the corpse.
They then cut off the head and carry it away with them
to avoid discovery.
In the provinces which are governed by native princes,
these villains are, to a certain extent, protected by the
authorities, who countenance their depredations in return
for a stipulated sum, or on condition that they pay the
value of half the booty that they steal to the revenue
collector of the locality. But as such an understanding
could not possibly be anything more than tacit in any
civilized country, this infamous arrangement is kept secret.
The culprits, therefore, can expect no compensation to be
publicly awarded them by the magistrates for the wounds
and mutilations which they may suffer in the course of
their nocturnal raids ; but these same magistrates will do
their best to screen or palliate their offences, the profits
of which they share, and will always protect their clients
from well-deserved punishment when they appear before
them in court.
68
THE KALLA-BANTRUS AS THIEVES
The last Mussulman prince who governed Mysore had
a regular regiment of Kalla-bantrus in his service, whom he
employed, not to fight amongst his troops, but to despoil
the enemy's camp during the night, to steal the horses,
carry off any valuables they could find amongst the officers'
baggage, spike the enemy's guns, and act as spies. They
were paid according to their skill and success. In times of
peace they were sent into neighbouring States to pilfer for
the benefit of their master, and also to report on the pro-
ceedings of the rulers. The minor native princes called
Poligars always employ a number of these ruffians for the
same purposes.
In the provinces where these Kalla-bantrus are coun-
tenanced by the Government, the unfortunate inhabitants
have no other means of protecting themselves from their
depredations than by making an agreement with the head
of the gang to pay him an annual tax of a quarter of a
rupee and a fowl per house, in consideration of which he
becomes responsible for all the thefts committed by his
people in villages which are thus, so to say, insured 1 .
Besides the Kalla-bantrus of the Kurumaru caste, the
province of Mysore is infested by another caste of thieves,
called Kanojis, who are no less dreaded than the others.
But of all the nomadic castes which wander about the
country, the best known and most detested is the Lambadis,
or Sukalers, or Brinjaris. No one knows the origin of this
caste. The members of it have different manners and
1 This, of course, is no longer allowed. The thieving classes have,
under a more rigid system of police, been compelled to take to more
lawful pursuits. — En.
69
THE LAMBADIS
customs, and also a different religion and language from
all the other castes of Hindus. Certain points of resem-
blance, however, which are to be found between them and
the Mahrattas, lead one to believe that they must have
sprung from these people in the first instance, and have
inherited from them their propensities for rapine and theft,
and their utter disregard for the rights of property when
they think they are stronger than their victims and are
safe from retributory justice. However, the severe sen-
tences that the magistrates have latterly passed on them
in several districts have exercised a salutary influence.
They no longer dare to rob and steal openly. But the
lonely traveller who meets them in some lonely spot had
better beware, especially if they have reason to think that
he would be worth plundering.
In time of war they attach themselves to the army where
discipline is least strict. They come swarming in from all
parts, hoping, in the general disorder and confusion, to be
able to thieve with impunity. They make themselves very
useful by keeping the market well supplied with the pro-
visions that they have stolen on the march. They hire
themselves and their large herds of cattle to whichever
contending party will pay them best, acting as carriers of
the supplies and baggage of the army. They were thus
employed, to the number of several thousands, by the
English in their last war with the Sultan of Mysore. The
English, however, had occasion to regret having taken
these untrustworthy and ill-disciplined people into their
service, when they saw them ravaging the country through
which they passed and causing more annoyance than the
whole of the enemy's army. The frequent and severe
punishments that were inflicted on their chiefs had no
restraining effect whatever on the rest of the horde. They
had been attracted solely by the hope of plunder, and
thought little of the regular wages and other inducements
which had been promised them.
In times of peace these professional brigands occupy
themselves in trading in grain and salt, which they convey
from one part of the country to the other on their bullocks ;
but at the least whisper of war, or the slightest sign of
coming trouble, they are at once on the look-out, ready to
take advantage in the first moment of confusion of any
opportunity for pillaging. In fact, the unfortunate in-
habitants of the country fear an invasion of a hostile army
far less than they do a sudden irruption of these terrible
Lambadis.
70
HUMAN SACRIFICES
Of all the castes of the Hindus this particular one is acknowledged to be the
most brutal. The natural proclivities of its members for evil are clearly indicated by
their ill-favoured, wild appearance and their coarse, hard-
featured countenances, these characteristics being as
noticeable in the women as in the men. In all parts of
India they are under the special supervision of the police,
because there is only too much reason for mistrusting them.
Their women are, for the most part, very ugly and
revoltingly dirty. Amongst other glaring vices they are
supposed to be much addicted to incontinency ; and they
are reputed to sometimes band themselves together in
search of men whom they compel by force to satisfy their
lewd desires.
The Lambadis are accused of the still more atrocious
crime of offering up human sacrifices. When they wish to
perform this horrible act, it is said, they secretly carry off
the first person they meet. Having conducted the victim
to some lonely spot, they dig a hole in which they bury
him up to the neck. While he is still alive they make
a sort of lamp of dough made of flour, which they place
on his head. This they fill with oil, and light four wicks
in it. Having done this, the men and women join hands,
and, forming a circle, dance round their victim, singing
and making a great noise, till he expires.
Amongst other curious customs of this odious caste is
one that obliges them to drink no water which is not
drawn from springs or wells. The water from rivers or
tanks being thus forbidden, they are obliged in a case of
absolute necessity to dig a little hole by the side of a tank
or river and take the water that filters through, which by
this means is supposed to become spring water.
Another nomadic caste is that of the Wuddars, whose
trade is to dig wells, tanks, and canals, and to repair dykes.
They, too, have to travel about in search of work. This
caste is also much despised. The manners of the individuals composing it are as low as their origin, and their minds as
uncultivated as their manners. Their extreme uncouthness
may, perhaps, account for the low estimation in which they
are held.
71
THE PAKANATTIS
In Mysore, and in the north-west of the Carnatic, another
caste of nomads is to be met with, known as Pakanattis.
They speak Telugu, and originally formed part of the caste
of Gollavarus, or shepherds, and were agriculturists. They
took to their present kind of life about a hundred and fifty
years ago, and like it so much that it would be impossible
to persuade them to change it for any regular occupation.
The cause of their secession from the rest of their caste
was that one of their headmen was grievously insulted by
the governor of the province in which they lived. As they
never received any redress at all commensurate with the
affront, they determined to avenge themselves by deserting
their homes in a body, and thus bringing all the agricul-
tural work of the country to a standstill. From that time
to this they have never attempted to return to their former
mode of life, but are always wandering from place to place
without settling anywhere. Some of their headmen, with
whom I have conversed, have told me that they number
about two thousand families, half of whom wander through
the Telugu country and the rest through Mysore. The
headmen meet from time to time to settle the differences
which frequently arise amongst the members. However,
the Pakanattis are the quietest and best behaved of all the
wandering tribes. They are kept in excellent order ; and
though they always go about in bands, theft and pillage
are unknown amongst them, and if any of them are found
guilty of either, they are severely punished by the rest.
They are all most miserably poor ; the better off possess
a few buffaloes and cows, the milk of which they sell, but
the greater number of them are professional herbalists.
They collect plants, roots, and other things in the different
countries that they wander through, such as are used for
medicine or dyes, or for salves, &c, for horses and cattle.
These they sell in the bazaars, and the little money that
they thus earn helps them considerably. They supplement
their livelihood by hunting, fishing, begging, and charlatanry.
72
NOMADIC CAMPS
All these tribes live entirely isolated from the rest of the world, with whom they hold no communication, except
in order to obtain the bare necessaries of life. They lead
for the most part a pastoral life, and their headmen occa-
sionally possess considerable herds of eattle, consisting of
bullocks, buffaloes, and asses. They travel in bands of ten,
twenty, thirty, or more families. They shelter themselves
under bamboo or osier mats, which they carry everywhere
with them. Each family has its own mat tent, seven or
eight feet long, four or five feet broad, and three or four
feet high, in which father, mother, children, poultry, and
sometimes even pigs, are housed, or rather huddled together,
this being their only protection against bad weather. They
always choose woods or lonely places as sites for their
camps, so that no one can see what goes on amongst them.
Besides their mat tents and the other necessaries for camp-
ing, they always take care to be provided with small stores
of grain, as well as with the household utensils necessary
for preparing and cooking their food. Those who possess
beasts of burden make them carry the greater part of their
goods and chattels, but the unfortunate wTetches who have
no other means of transport are compelled to carry alj
their worldly possessions, that is to say, the necessaries
for housing and feeding themselves. I have seen the
husband carrying on his head and shoulders the tent, the
provisions, and some earthen vessels, whilst the wife, her
body half uncovered, carried an infant on her back, hanging
behind her in the upper part of her cotton garment ; on
her head was the mortar for husking the rice ; while follow-
ing her came a child bending under the weight of the rest
of the household chattels.
I have often seen this sad spectacle, and always with
deep feelings of pity. Such is the kind of life which many
Hindus are accustomed to, and which they bear without
murmuring or complaining, and without even appearing
to envy those whose lives are spent in pleasanter places.
73
NOMAD SELF-GOVERNMENT
Each one of these nomadic tribes has its own habits,
laws, and customs ; and each forms a small and perfectly
independent republic of its own, governed by such rules
and regulations as seem best to them. Nothing is known
by the outside world of what happens amongst them.
The chiefs of each caste are elected or dismissed by a
majority of votes. They are commissioned, during the
time that their authority lasts, to enforce the caste rules,
to settle disputes, and to punish all misdemeanour and
crime. But however heinous offences may be, they never
involve the penalty of death or mutilation. The guilty
person has only either to pay a fine, or suffer a severe
flogging or some other corporal punishment. Travelling
ceaselessly from one country to another, these vagrant
families pay no tax to any Government : the majority
possess nothing, and they have consequently no need of
the protection of a prince to guard them against spoliation.
Further, they have no claims to take before the courts,
since they administer justice themselves ; and being with-
out any ambition, they ask neither pardon nor favour from
any prince. All these nomadic tribes stink in the nostrils
of other Hindus, owing to the kind of life which they lead,
to the small esteem in which they hold the religious practices
observed by other castes, and, lastly, to the vulgar vices
to which they are enslaved. But the heaviest indictment
against them is their excessive intemperance in eating and
drinking. With the exception of cow's flesh, they eat in-
discriminately of every kind of food, even the most revolt-
ing, such as the flesh of foxes, cats, rats, snakes, crows, &c.
Both men and women drink to excess toddy and arrack,
i.e. the spirit of the country, and they will consume every
kind of liquor and enervating drug which they can procure.
The majority of these vagabonds live in a state of ex-
treme poverty. When no other resource remains to them
they beg, or else send their women to earn their livelihood
by prostitution.
Among the degraded beings who form the dregs of
society in India must be classed the jugglers, the charlatans,
mountebanks, conjurers, acrobats, rope-dancers, &c. There
are two or three castes which practise these professions,
travelling from country to country to find patrons or dupes.
It is not surprising, with a people so credulous and endued
with such a love of the marvellous as the Hindus, that such
impostors should abound. They are regarded as magicians
and sorcerers, as men versed in witchcraft and all the occult
sciences, and are viewed with fear and distrust ; while the
hatred in which they arc held is much greater than is
74
JUGGLERS AND QUACKS
accorded in Europe to people of the same description.
Some of these charlatans carry on a trade with a credulous
public in quack medicines and universal panaceas. They
may often be heard in the street haranguing the multitude
and extolling their wares. They even surpass our own
quacks in effrontery and barefaced imposture. Others are
conjurers or acrobats ; and both one and the other perform
really astonishing feats of legerdemain and agility. Euro-
pean jugglers would certainly have to lower their colours
before them.
The best known of these castes is that of the Bombers or
Dombarus. To the earnings which the men make by their
industry the women also add the sums that they gain by
the most shameless immorality ; their favours, if such a
word be applicable, are accorded to any one who likes to
pay for them. However, in spite of all this, the Dombers
lead a wretched life ; and their extreme poverty is caused
by their boundless intemperance. They always spend in
eating and drinking much more than they actually possess ;
and when all their means are exhausted they have recourse
to begging.
Other troops of vagabonds of the same class adopt the
profession of travelling actors. I once met a large party
who were representing the ten Avatars (or incarnations) of
Vishnu, on which subject they had composed as many
sacred plays. The greater number of them, however, play
obscene and ridiculous farces in the streets, with boards
and trestles for their stage ; or else they exhibit marionettes,
which they place in disgusting postures, making them give
utterance to the most pitiable and filthy nonsense. These
shows are exactly suited to the taste and comprehension
of the stupid crowd which forms the audience. Hindu
players have learned from experience that they can never
rivet the attention of the public except at the expense of
decency, modesty, or good sense l .
1 At the present time there are many Indian theatrical companies
formed somewhat after the fashion of European companies. Their performances, too, have improved a great deal since the Abbe's time. — Ed.
SNAKE-CHARMERS 75
Some Hindu jugglers turn their attention to snake-
charming, especially with cobras, the most poisonous of
all. These they teach to dance, or to move in rhythm to music ; and they perform what appear to be the most
alarming tricks with these deadly reptiles. In spite of all
their care and skill it sometimes happens that they are
bitten ; and this would infallibly cost them their lives, did
they not take the precaution to excite the snake every
morning, forcing it to bite several times through a thick
piece of stuff so that it may rid itself of the venom that
re-forms daily in its fangs. They also pose as possessors of
the secret of enchanting snakes, pretending that they can
attract them with the sound of their flutes. This craft
was practiced elsewhere in the very earliest times, as may be gathered from a
passage in Holy Scripture, where the obstinacy of a hardened sinner is likened
to that of a deaf adder that shuts its ears to the voice of the charmer. Be that
as it may, I can vouch for it that the pretended power of Hindu snake-charmers
is a mere imposture. They keep a few trained tame snakes, which are accustomed
to come to them at the sound of a flute, and when they have settled the amount
of their reward with the persons who think, or have been persuaded, that there
are snakes in the vicinity of their houses, they place one of these tame
reptiles in some corner, taking care not to be observed. One of the conditions
on which they always insist is that any snake which they charm out of a hole
shall not be killed, but shall be handed over to them. This point settled, the
charmer seats himself on the ground and begins to play on his flute, turning
first to one side, then to the other. The snake, on hearing these familiar
sounds, comes out of its hiding-place, and crawls towards its master, gliding
quietly into the basket in which it is usually shut up. The charmer then takes
his reward and goes off in search of other dupes
1 Even to this clay there is a class of village servants called Kudimis,
whose business it is to collect medicinal herbs and other plants that
might be required by the people. These Krtdijnix arc also professional
snake-catchers, and are supposed to possess infallible antidotes against
snake- poison . — Ed.
76
JUNGLE TRIBES
I will now give some particulars about the wild tribes
which inhabit the jungles and mountains in the south of
India. They are divided into several castes, each of which
is composed of various communities. They are fairly numerous in many places in the Malabar hills, or Western
Ghauts, where they are known by the generic name of
Kadu-Kurumbars. These savages live in the forests, but
have no fixed abode. After staying a year or two in one
place they move on to another. Having selected the spot
for their temporary sojourn, they surround it with a kind
of hedge, and each family chooses a little patch of ground,
which is dug up with a sharp piece of wood hardened in
the fire. There they sow small seeds, and a great many
pumpkins, cucumbers, and other vegetables ; and on these
they live for two or three months in the year. They have
little or no intercourse with the more civilized inhabitants
of the neighbourhood. The latter indeed prefer to keep
them at a distance from their houses, as they stand in con-
siderable dread of them, looking upon them as sorcerers
or mischievous people, whom it is unlucky even to meet.
If they suspect a Kadu-Kurumbar of having brought about
illness or any other mishap by his spells, they punish him
severely, sometimes even putting him to death.
During the rains these savages take shelter in miserable
huts. Some find refuge in caves, or holes in the rocks, or
in the hollow trunks of old trees. In fine weather they
camp out in the open. At night each clan assembles at
a given spot, and enormous fires are lit to keep off the cold
and to scare away wild beasts. Men, women, and children
all sleep huddled together anyhow. The poor wretches
wear no clothes, a woman's only covering being a few
leaves sewn together and tied round the waist. Knowing
only of the simple necessities of existence, they find enough
to satisfy their wants in the forest. Roots and other
natural products of the earth, snakes and animals that they
can snare or catch, honey that they find on the rugged
rocks or in the tops of trees, which they climb with the
agility of monkeys; all these furnish them with the means of
satisfying the cravings of hunger. Less intelligent even than
the natives of Africa, these savages of India do not possess
bows and arrows, which they do not know how to use.
77
THE KADU-KURUMBARS
It is to them that the dwellers in the plains apply when
they require wood with which to build their houses. The
jungle tribes supply them with all materials of this kind,
in exchange for a few valueless objects, such as copper
or brass bangles, small quantities of grain, or a little tobacco
to smoke l .
Both men and women occupy themselves in making reed
or bamboo mats, baskets, hampers, and other household
articles, which they exchange with the inhabitants of more
civilized parts for salt, pepper, grain, &c.
According to the people of the plains, these savages
can, by means of witchcraft and enchantments, charm all
the tigers, elephants, and venomous snakes which share the
forests with them, so that they need never fear their attacks.
Their children are accustomed from their earliest infancy
to the hard life to which nature appears to have condemned
them. The very day after their confinement the women
are obliged to scour the woods with their husbands in order
to find the day's food. Before starting they suckle the
new-born child, and make a hole in the ground, in which
they put a layer of teak leaves. The leaves are so rough
that if they rub the skin ever so gently they draw blood.
In this hard bed the poor little creature is laid, and there
it remains till its mother returns in the evening. On the
fifth or sixth day after birth they begin to accustom their
infants to eat solid food ; and in order to harden them at
once to endure inclement weather, they wash them every
morning in cold dew, which they collect from the trees and
plants. Until the infants can walk, they are left by them-
selves from morning till night, quite naked, exposed to
sun, wind, rain, and air, and buried in the holes which
serve them for cradles.
The whole religion of these savages seems to consist in
the worship of bhootams, or evil spirits, which worship they
perform in a way peculiar to themselves. They pay no
regard whatever to the rest of the Hindu deities.
Besides the Kadu-Kurumbars there is another tribe of
savages living in the forests and mountains of the Carnatic,
and known by the name of Irulers, or in some places
Soligurus. Their habits are identical with those of the
Kadu-Kurumbars. They lead the same kind of life, have
the same religion, customs, and prejudices ; in fact, one
may say that the difference between the two tribes exists
only in name.
1 These transactions are now regulated by the forest laws. — En.
78
THE MALAI-KONDIGARUS
In several parts of Malabar a tribe is to be found called
the Malai-Kondigaru, which, though as wild as those men-
tioned above, has perhaps a little more in common with
civilized humanity. They live in the forests, and their
principal occupation is to extract the juice of the palm-
tree, part of which they drink, the rest they sell. The
women climb the trees to obtain it, and they do so in
a surprisingly agile manner. These people always go about
naked. The women only wear a little rag, which flutters
about in the wind and most imperfectly covers that portion
of their bodies which it is supposed to hide. During one
of the expeditions which the last Sultan of Mysore made
into the mountains, he met a horde of these savages, and
was much shocked at their state of nudity ; for, however
depraved Mahomedans may be in their private life, nothing
can equal the decency and modesty of their conduct in
public. They are horrified at word or look that even
verges on indecency or immodesty, especially on the part
of their women. The Sultan therefore caused the head-
men of the Malai-Kondigarus to be brought before him,
and asked them why they and their women did not cover
their bodies more decently. They excused themselves on
the plea of poverty, and that it was the custom of their
caste. Tippu replied that he must require them to wear
clothing like the other inhabitants of the country, and that
if they had not the means wherewith to buy it, he would
every year provide them gratuitously with the cotton cloths
necessary for the purpose. The savages, however, though
urged by the Sultan, made humble remonstrances, and
begged hard to be allowed to dispense with the encum-
brance of clothing. They finally told him that if they
were forced to wear clothing, contrary to the rules of their
caste, they would all leave the country rather than put up
with so great an inconvenience ; they preferred to go and
live in some other distant forest, where they would be
allowed to follow their customs unmolested. The Sultan
was accordingly obliged to give way.
In and around Coorg is another tribe of savages known
by the name of Yeruvaru. It is akin to the Pariah caste,
and is composed of several communities scattered about
in the jungles. These people, however, work for their
79
THE YERUVARUS
living, and make themselves useful to the rest of the popula-
tion. They leave their homes to get food from the more
civilized inhabitants of the neighbourhood, who, in return
for a small quantity of rice given as wages, make them
work hard at agricultural pursuits. The indolence of these
savages is such, however, that as long as there is a handful
of rice in their huts they absolutely refuse to work, and
will only return to it when their supply of grain is entirely
exhausted. Nevertheless, the other inhabitants are obliged
to keep on good terms with them, because they perform
all the hardest manual labour, and because if one of them
was affronted or thought himself ill-treated, all the rest of
the clan would take his part, and leave their usual abode
and hide in the forest. The civilized inhabitants, to whom
they are thus indispensable, would not be able to persuade
them to resume their work until they had made friendly
overtures and agreed to pay damages. These wild yet
simple-minded people find it so difficult to procure the bare
necessaries of life that they never even think of small
luxuries which most other Hindus are so fond of, such as
betel, tobacco, oil to anoint their heads, &c. They do not
even appear to envy those who enjoy them, and are satisfied
if they can get a little salt and pepper to flavour the taste-
less vegetables and roots which form the principal part of
their food.
All these wild tribes are gentle and peaceable by nature.
They do not understand the use of weapons of any sort,
and the sight of a stranger is sometimes sufficient to put
to flight a whole community. No doubt the climate in
which they live is in a great measure responsible for their
timid, lazy, and indolent character. They are very unlike
the savages who people the vast forests of America or
Africa, inasmuch as they do not know what war means,
and appear to be quite incapable of returning evil for
evil. For, of course, no sane person believes the accusa-
tion brought against them that they can injure their
neighbours by means of spells and enchantments. Hidden
in thick forests, or in dens and caves in the rocks, they fear
nothing in the world so much as the approach of a civilized
being, and far from envying the happiness which the latter
boasts of having found in the society of his fellow- men, they shun any intercourse with him, fearing lest he should
try to rob them of their liberty and independence, and lest
they should be condemned to submit to a civilization which
to them is only another term for bondage.
80
At the same time, these wild tribes of Hindus retain
a few of the prejudices of their fellow-countrymen. For
instance, they are divided into castes, they never eat beef,
they have similar ideas about defilement and purifica-
tion, and they keep the principal regulations relating to
them.
Suggested Further Reading
|
Source:
Hindu Manners, Customs And Ceremonies by the Abbe J.A.Dubois. Translated from the author's
later French MS and edited with notes, corrections and biography Henry K. Beauchamp, Cle.
Fellow of the University of Madras J Fellow of the Royal Histrocial Society, member of the
Royal Asiatic Society with a prefatory note by the Right Hon. F. Max Muller and a portriat.
Third edition, Oxford, 1906. Printed at the Clarendon Press by Horace Hart, M.A. Printer to
the University. This work has been reformatted and
rearranged at Hinduwebsite.com by Jayaram V for reader's
convenience. |
|
|
