DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0315
CASTE IN RELATION TO RELIGION*
standing*. In some parts, for instance, he regularly wor-
ships Parameshwar, and, in other parts, he uses words
at the funeral ceremony which s.how that he recognizes
the existence of an all-powerful creator.1 2 Further, it was
the Chamar Rai Das, one of Ramananda's pupils, who
founded the deistic sect of the Srinarayani or Sivanara-
yani, into which many Chamars are initiated, whilst
others belong to the Kabirpanthi and Ramanandi sectsr
In fact, he is as strict a Hindu as his betters will allow
him to be.
(4) The last is a small group of half a million persons
and thirty castes, all of them of non-Aryan extraction.
They fall into seven groups : —
(a) Six tribal castes, all akin to the Central Indian
Gonds; they are the Agariya, Badi Nat, Majhwar, Pan-
kha, Parahiya, and Patari. So far they have evinced
little or no desire to have any dealings with Brahmans;
they have, indeed, priests of their own, called baigas, who
are mostly Pataris.
(b) Five tribal castes, akin to the Mundari tribes of
Chhota Nagpur, namety, the Dhangar, Khairwa, Kol,
Korwa, and Sahariya. They are in much the same case
as the tribes of the previous group; though a few of the
more advanced Kols are beginning to call in Brahmans of
an inferior kind to eat sacrificial food in their houses,
paying them to do so.3
(c) A third group consists of four tribes belonging to
the Dom race—the Dom of the plains, the Dharkar,
Basor, and Balahar. These are all the lowest of the low,
1 'Tuhi hai; tain ne paida kiya aur tain ne mar liya.’ ‘Thou art
He ; Thou hast made alive, and Thou hast struck dead. ’
2 All these are Vaishnava sects. The legend of Rai Das is a good
example of transmigration beliefs. One of the sect’s holy books, the
Santa Virasa, opens with the words ‘the love of God and knowledge of
him are the only true understanding’, which shows the nature of the
sect’s doctrine. For a full account, see Crooke, Tribes and Castes of the
N.-W.P. and Oudh, Vol. II, pp. 185-189.
0 In the famine years of 1907-1908 a Brahman constabie, who was a
noted shikari, took complete charge of the Kols in his circle, who pro-
vided most of his beaters ; I do not doubt that he, at all events, rendered
them many a little Brahmanical service, out of friendship for those
whom he openly called ‘his children’.
301
standing*. In some parts, for instance, he regularly wor-
ships Parameshwar, and, in other parts, he uses words
at the funeral ceremony which s.how that he recognizes
the existence of an all-powerful creator.1 2 Further, it was
the Chamar Rai Das, one of Ramananda's pupils, who
founded the deistic sect of the Srinarayani or Sivanara-
yani, into which many Chamars are initiated, whilst
others belong to the Kabirpanthi and Ramanandi sectsr
In fact, he is as strict a Hindu as his betters will allow
him to be.
(4) The last is a small group of half a million persons
and thirty castes, all of them of non-Aryan extraction.
They fall into seven groups : —
(a) Six tribal castes, all akin to the Central Indian
Gonds; they are the Agariya, Badi Nat, Majhwar, Pan-
kha, Parahiya, and Patari. So far they have evinced
little or no desire to have any dealings with Brahmans;
they have, indeed, priests of their own, called baigas, who
are mostly Pataris.
(b) Five tribal castes, akin to the Mundari tribes of
Chhota Nagpur, namety, the Dhangar, Khairwa, Kol,
Korwa, and Sahariya. They are in much the same case
as the tribes of the previous group; though a few of the
more advanced Kols are beginning to call in Brahmans of
an inferior kind to eat sacrificial food in their houses,
paying them to do so.3
(c) A third group consists of four tribes belonging to
the Dom race—the Dom of the plains, the Dharkar,
Basor, and Balahar. These are all the lowest of the low,
1 'Tuhi hai; tain ne paida kiya aur tain ne mar liya.’ ‘Thou art
He ; Thou hast made alive, and Thou hast struck dead. ’
2 All these are Vaishnava sects. The legend of Rai Das is a good
example of transmigration beliefs. One of the sect’s holy books, the
Santa Virasa, opens with the words ‘the love of God and knowledge of
him are the only true understanding’, which shows the nature of the
sect’s doctrine. For a full account, see Crooke, Tribes and Castes of the
N.-W.P. and Oudh, Vol. II, pp. 185-189.
0 In the famine years of 1907-1908 a Brahman constabie, who was a
noted shikari, took complete charge of the Kols in his circle, who pro-
vided most of his beaters ; I do not doubt that he, at all events, rendered
them many a little Brahmanical service, out of friendship for those
whom he openly called ‘his children’.
301