DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16243#0127
SOCIAL TYPES
93
widow marriage. With the advance of orthodox ideas that may
plausibly be ascribed to the extension of railways and the
diffusion of primary education it dawns upon some members of
a particular caste that the custom of marrying widows is highly
reprehensible, and with the assistance of their Brahmans they
set to work to discourage it. The first step is to abstain from
intermarriage with people who practise the forbidden thing,
and thus to form a sub-caste which adopts a high-sounding
name derived from some famous locality like Ajodhya or
Kanauj, or describes itself as Biydhut or Bcliutd, " the married
ones," by way of emphasizing the orthodox character of their
matrimonial arrangements. Thus the Awadhia or Ayodhya
Kurmis of Bihar and the Kanaujia Kurmis of the United Pro-
vinces pride themselves on prohibiting the remarriage of
widows and are endeavouring to establish a shadowy title to be
recognized as some variety of Kshatriya, in pursuance of which,
with singular ignorance of the humble origin of the great Mariitha
houses, they claim kinship with Sivaji, Sindhia and the Bhonsla
famity of Nagpur. In Bihar they have succeeded in attaining a
higher rank than ordinal Kurmis. Brahmans take water from
their hands; the funeral ceremony is performed on the twelfth
day after death, according to the custom of the higher castes ;
and kachchi food prepared by them is eaten by Kahars, Bhats,
and other castes who would refuse to accept food of this kind
from Sudras. They have abandoned domestic service, and the
wealthier members of the group exchange presents with the
higher castes and are invited by them to ceremonial functions.
But although the Awadhias have achieved complete practical
separation from the main body of Kurmis no one accepts them
as Kshatriyas or Rajputs, nor are they recognized by Hindu
public opinion as forming a distinct caste. In the Punjab Sir
Denzil Ibbetson* wrote in 1881 that the Gaurwa Rajputs of
Gurgaon and Delhi, though retaining the title of Rajput in
deference to the strength of caste-feeling and because the
change in their customs was then too recent for the name to
have fallen into disuse, yet had, for all purposes of equality,
communion, or intermarriage, ceased to be Rajputs since they
took to karewa or widow marriage. And the distinction
between the Jats and Rajputs, both sprung from a common
Indo-Aryan stock, is marked by the fact that the former
Practise and the latter abstain from a usage which more than
any other is regarded as a crucial test of relative social position.
* {Census Report, 1881, para. 446.]
93
widow marriage. With the advance of orthodox ideas that may
plausibly be ascribed to the extension of railways and the
diffusion of primary education it dawns upon some members of
a particular caste that the custom of marrying widows is highly
reprehensible, and with the assistance of their Brahmans they
set to work to discourage it. The first step is to abstain from
intermarriage with people who practise the forbidden thing,
and thus to form a sub-caste which adopts a high-sounding
name derived from some famous locality like Ajodhya or
Kanauj, or describes itself as Biydhut or Bcliutd, " the married
ones," by way of emphasizing the orthodox character of their
matrimonial arrangements. Thus the Awadhia or Ayodhya
Kurmis of Bihar and the Kanaujia Kurmis of the United Pro-
vinces pride themselves on prohibiting the remarriage of
widows and are endeavouring to establish a shadowy title to be
recognized as some variety of Kshatriya, in pursuance of which,
with singular ignorance of the humble origin of the great Mariitha
houses, they claim kinship with Sivaji, Sindhia and the Bhonsla
famity of Nagpur. In Bihar they have succeeded in attaining a
higher rank than ordinal Kurmis. Brahmans take water from
their hands; the funeral ceremony is performed on the twelfth
day after death, according to the custom of the higher castes ;
and kachchi food prepared by them is eaten by Kahars, Bhats,
and other castes who would refuse to accept food of this kind
from Sudras. They have abandoned domestic service, and the
wealthier members of the group exchange presents with the
higher castes and are invited by them to ceremonial functions.
But although the Awadhias have achieved complete practical
separation from the main body of Kurmis no one accepts them
as Kshatriyas or Rajputs, nor are they recognized by Hindu
public opinion as forming a distinct caste. In the Punjab Sir
Denzil Ibbetson* wrote in 1881 that the Gaurwa Rajputs of
Gurgaon and Delhi, though retaining the title of Rajput in
deference to the strength of caste-feeling and because the
change in their customs was then too recent for the name to
have fallen into disuse, yet had, for all purposes of equality,
communion, or intermarriage, ceased to be Rajputs since they
took to karewa or widow marriage. And the distinction
between the Jats and Rajputs, both sprung from a common
Indo-Aryan stock, is marked by the fact that the former
Practise and the latter abstain from a usage which more than
any other is regarded as a crucial test of relative social position.
* {Census Report, 1881, para. 446.]