Beggar communities: Sholapur
Contents |
Beggar communities: Sholapur
This is an extract from a British Raj gazetteer pertaining to Sholapur that seems |
Beggars
Beggars include thirteen classes with a strength of 8979 or 1.5per cent of the Hindu population. The details are:
Balsantoshis
Balsantoshis, or Children Pleasers, are returned as numbering twenty and as found only in Sangola. They look and speak like cultivating Kunbis, and do not differ from them in food dress or customs. They are fortune-tellers and weather prophets. They wander about the streets in the early morning, turn into some house, and shower blessings on the children always ending with Balantosh, Bless the babies. In religion they are the same as Marathas, keep the same fasts and feasts, and employ the ordinary village Brahmans as their priests. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. They send their boys to school till they can read and write a little. They are a steady class.
Bhats or Thakurs
Bha'ts or Tha'kurs are returned as numbering 544 and as found all over the district According to their tradition they were created from the sweat of Shiv's brow and were driven out of heaven because they persisted in singing Parvati's instead of Shiv's praises. They look like Marathas and speak Marathi. They are intelligent, patient, and hospitable. They earn their living by repeating the songs called banis and kavits, reciting stories, and begging. Children of seven and over help them in their calling. Their houses have mud and stone walls and flat roofs, and their house goods consist of metal and earthen vessels. Some have cattle and a pony or two. Their staple food includes jvari bread, pulse, and vegetables, and they eat the flesh of goats sheep and fowls, and drink liquor. The men dress like Marathas in a loin and waistcloth, a waist-coat, a scarf or turban, and a shouldercloth; and the women in the Maratha robe and bodice. They get many of their clothes by begging. Their customs are the same as Maratha customs. Boys are girt with the sacred thread at the time of marriage. They are Shaivs, worship the usual Hindu gods as well as Dhanai, Janai, and Jogai, and other early and village deities, and go on pilgrimage to Kharsun Shiddh in Mhasvad thirty-five miles west of Pandharpur. Their priests are the ordinary Maratha Brahmans whom they greatly respect. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. They send their boys to school till they learn to read and write a little and are fairly off.
Dasaris
Da'saris, or Slaves, are returned as numbering eight and as found wandering over the whole district. They are a dark tall people whose home tongue is Kanarese though they speak Marathi with others. They move from place to place and seldom own houses. They live outside of the village under canvas sheds or pals and have bullocks and ponies to carry their tents and house goods. Their staple food includes jvari bread and jvari cooked and mixed with whey vegetables and spices. On holidays they eat rice and wheat cakes with flesh and fish and drink liquor. The men wear short drawers reaching the knee or a short waistcloth, a turban or headscarf, a coat, and a blanket resting on the shoulders. Some wear a gold finger ring and silver wristlets. The women dress in a robe and bodice and have a number of gold and silver ornaments for the neck, nose, ear, wrists, and toes. They are a dishonest hot-tempered people and are generally under the eye of the police. They are beggars, musicians, and dancers, and their women are prostitutes. When they beg they wear bells round their feet and carry a dram and two metal cops or cymbals in their hands. Their family deities are Ambabai and Yallamma, and they keep no fasts. They have a priest or guru who lives in Telangan. On the fifth day after childbirth they worship the goddess Satvai, and their marriage ceremonies are like those of Marathas. They allow widow marriage and burn the dead. They settle social disputes at caste meetings. They are fairly off, and earn more by prostituting their women than by begging.
Dauris
Dauris, or the dour drum-beaters, are returned as numbering 968 and as found in towns and large villages. Their surnames are Jadhav, Mane, Povar, and Salunke. People with the same surname eat together but do not intermarry. The men shave the whole head, and wear the moustache, and some the whiskers and the beard. They speak Marathi at home and abroad, own mud houses with tiled or thatched roofs, and have metal vessels, quilts, blankets, mats, cattle, sheep, goats, and ponies, but no servants. They eat fish and flesh and drink liquor, and their food is jvari, split pulse, vegetables, spices, oil, milk, and rice which they very often take when starting on begging tours. They offer their food to their gods before eating and do not touch it till they have called on one of their Navnatha or Nine Saints, and blowing a small wooden whistle or shingi. They give feasts of rice, split pulse, and a liquid preparation of wheat which cost them about £2 (Rs. 20) the hundred guests. Both men and women dress like Marathas, the men in a Maratha turban or headscarf, a waistcloth, a loincloth, a coat, and a shouldercloth; and the women in a robe and bodice. They have the peculiar practice of hanging a wooden whistle about an inch and half long round their necks fastened to a woollen string which reaches to the navel. They are beggars, and beg and perform the gondhal dance with a daur drum in their hand. After childbirth the mother is impure for twelve days, and the members of the family for ten. They cradle and name their children on the twelfth. They clip the child's hair when it is a year old laying it in its mother's lap. Boys between five and six years old have their ears slit, and a ceremony called kanchiri is performed. The lobes of the child's ears are torn with a small knife and a clove-shaped gold or brass ornament is put in the hole. A woollen thread is worn round the neck, generally reaching to the navel to which is fastened a whistle or shingi made either oftakli wood or deer's horn, one and a half inches long, and as thick as the little finger. It costs a few coppers. Except that the girl is made to stand on a grindstone laid in a basket, and the boy facing her in another basket in which a coil of rope is laid, the Dauri's marriage customs are the same as those of Marathas. They bury the dead, carrying the body in a cloth or blanket slung on a pole resting on two men's shoulders, and repeating Shiv, Gorakh, Jade. They mourn three days and on the seventh or ninth give a feast called bhandara. They allow widow marriage. In religion they belong to the Nathpanth sect of Gosavis. They keep in their houses metal plates engraved with figures of Ambabai, Bahiroba, and Jotiba. Their priests are Maratha Brahmans, and they keep the usual Hindu fasts and feasts. Their religious house is on the banks of the Godavari and their teacher visits them once every year or two, when he is feasted and is paid 2s. (Re. 1) by each of his followers' houses. They hare a caste council, and send their boys to school for a short time.
Gondhlis
Gondhlis, or Gondhal Dancers, are returned as numbering 631 and as found in all subdivisions. They are a set of wandering beggars recruited from all castes, and are generally children offered to goddesses in fulfilment of vows. Their surnames and guardians are the same as those of Marathas and they look, speak, eat, drink, and dress like Marathaa. They beg and perform at the houses of Brahmans and other Hindus whose family goddesses are Ambabai, Bhavani, and Durga, either before or after a marriage or on the fulfilment of a vow. The men cover their bodies with shells and go begging with a thick lighted torch soaked in oil. They wear a long flowing coat smeared with oil and daub their brows with red-powder and on their heads wear either a long flowing turban or a cap covered with tassels and rows of shells. They are sometimes accompanied by one or two men who do not cover themselves with shells but carry a one-stringed fiddle or tuntune and a drum or samel, and metal cups or cymbals. They tie a number of brass bells to their feet, and, while singing, dance, and wave the lighted torch away from the house or shop, saying, May evil go and my lord be happy. [The Marathi runs: Idapida javo, maharaj sukhi raho.] Their customs are the same as Maratha customs and they worship goddesses more than gods. Their priests are ordinary Maratha Brahmans to whom they show great respect. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. They send their boys to school for a short time, and are a well-to-do class, making much money by singing lavnis or ballads.
Gosavis
Gosa'vis, or Passion Lords, are returned as numbering 1998 and Gosavis. as found over the whole district. They are divided into Bajaran, Bharathi, Giri, Kanphate, Puri, Sagar, Sarasvati, and Tirthashram, who have their religious houses at Allahabad, Benares, Dvarka, Giri, and Puri. Most of them are hereditary Gosavis, the children of wandering beggars, but they admit members of any caste and of both sexes. They are generally dark. The men wear the moustache and beard; some shave their heads, while others allow their hair to grow. They are generally emaciated and given to smoking hemp flower and opium, and drinking hemp water and country liquor. They speak Hindustani and a few know Marathi. They live in houses with thatched or tiled roofs, or in wattled huts on open spots near temples and ponds, and some have cattle, ponies, and dogs. They are vegetarians. Except a few traders who roll an ochre cloth round their heads, and dress in a coat and waistcoat, waistcloth, and shoes, the men wear nothing but a loincloth. Their women muffle themselves in an ochre cloth from head to foot and wear silver bangles on their wrists. They are sluggish, hot-tempered, and greatly feared as sorcerers. They are notorious as sturdy beggars and a few trade in cloth, pearls, and cattle, till, and are moneylenders and bankers. They are either Shaivs or Vaishnavs, carry images of their gods with them, and worship them whenever they halt. On the fifth day after the birth of a child they worship the goddess Satvai, and are impure for ten days. They shave their boys' heads, some invest them with the sacred thread before they are ten years old, and light the Bacred fire or hom. Their women are generally prostitutes and they are joined by women who have run away from their husbands. When one of the women wishes to marry the chief part of the ceremony is the exchange of necklaces by the bride and bridegroom. After marriage the woman wanders with her husband. Of the children some of the girls become prostitutes and others marry the boys belonging to the order. When such marriages take place boys marry between sixteen and twenty, and girls between twelve and fourteen. Their women keep by themselves during their monthly sickness. They bury the dead, dressing the body in an ochre cloth, and burying it sitting with a quantity of salt, and, on the head, bel leaves if the dead was a Shaiv, or tulsi leaves if a Vaishnav. They never mourn the dead. Their only funeral service is on the thirteenth a feast to castefellows including the four corpse-bearers. They allow widow marriage. They have a headman. In cases of disputes they go to Allahabad, Benares, Dvarka, or other places where their people gather and settle the disputes according to the opinion of the majority. Those who are traders send their boys to school for a short time, but as a rule Gosavis live from hand to mouth and are the most wretched class in the district.
Jangams
Jangams, or Lingayat Priests, are returned as numbering 3828 and as found in small numbers over the whole district. Almost all have come north from the Kanarese country. The men wear the moustache and top-knot but not the beard. Their home tongue is Marathi. Their houses are either of earth and stone, with tiled or flat roofs, or thatched huts, and they have copper and brass vessels, wooden stools, and bedding, and own cattle and ponies. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor. Their staple food is jvari split pulse and vegetables. They eat from separate plates, which they lay on low wooden stools called adnis, and are careful not only to eat every scrap but to wash the plate and drink the washings. Their caste feasts of gram cakes cost about £2 (Rs. 20) the hundred guests, and those of sweet milk £1 (Rs. 10). The men wear a waistcloth, a waistcoat, a cloth rolled round the head or a Brahman turban, and shoes; and the women wear the robe and bodice. Both men and women wear aling in a small box or shrine hung round the neck, bound round the upper right arm, or hid in the folds of the headcloth. Jangams are clean, sober, thrifty, even-tempered, hardworking, and hospitable. They are traders and shopkeepers, selling both by retail and wholesale. They sell almonds, sugarcandy, spices, cocoanuts, oil, butter, molasses, and drugs, and also beg. Their chief god is Mahadev, and they fast on Mondays Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as onEkadashis or all lunar elevenths and observe the usual Hindu holidays. After the birth of a child the family remains impure for five days. On the fifth evening they offer dough cakes to the goddess Satvai. They name the child, if a girl on the twelfth and if a boy on the thirteenth. Either on the fifth or twelfth a ling is brought by a Jangam and tied round the child's arm hung from its neck, or laid under its pillow. The Jangam is feasted and sent away with a few coppers. Their boys' heads are shaved for the first time when they are six months or a year old. They do not gird their boys with the sacred thread, and they marry their girls between ten and twelve and their boys between twelve and twenty. They rub them with turmeric daily for five days before the wedding and marry them on a lucky day fixed by the village astrologer. Their marriage guardian is a bunch of mango and jambhul Syzigium jambolanum leaves, tied to a post in the marriage hall. Their priests are Maratha Brahmans who repeat marriage verses and throw rice over the heads of the boy and girl. Feasts are held for five days, and at the end the boy takes the girl with him, and visits the village Maruti, and goes straight with his wife and relations to his village. After a week or ten days the girl returns to her parents. On Sankrant Day in January the boy's people send a present of a robe and bodice to the girl. They allow widow marriage and bury the dead. When a person dies redpowder is rubbed on his face, and he is carried to the burying ground in a blanket hung from a pole which is carried on two men's shoulders. On the spot where the dead breathed his last, a pot full of water is laid, and the mourners when they return from the burial ground bring in their hands a few blades of grass, throw them on the pot, rub their brows with ashes, and return to their homes. On the third day the whole house is cowdunged, clothes are washed, and the impurity is at an end. The chief mourner takes a cup of milk, and with friends and kinsmen, goes to the burying ground and pours the milk on the grave. On their return to the house of mourning a milk party is held, and a shraddhor mind-rite is performed at the close of the year. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. They fine offenders £1 to £2 (Rs. 10-20) and spend the amount on a caste feast. They send their boys to school till they can road and write a little, and cast accounts. They are a steady class, neither falling nor rising.
Joharis
Joha'ris are returned as numbering thirty-eight, and as found, in the towns of Pandharpur and Sholapur. They are said to have come into the district from Northern India during the times of the Peshwa. About twenty families numbering in all one hundred and twenty-five came in search of work and settled near Sholapur. They are divided into Agdode, Ardhaduba, Badgujar, Bam, Bhati, Bhayad, Dasivants, Digva, Gradria, Gaud, Gujar, Kapsya, Kativale Mathian, Pathivan, Rathod, Sarvativale, Shishode, Sonya Rathod, Sonya Phadya, Suni, and Thak. They are and look like Pardeshis and speak a mixture of Gujarati and Hindi. In food they are vegetarians. They live in houses with mud walls and flat or tiled roofs. Both men and women dress like Marathas. Most of the women wear silver ornaments, with a necklace of black glass beads with one or two gold buttons fastened to it. They sell pearls, corals, diamonds and other precious stones, and glass beads. They buy old gold and silver lace and embroidered clothes, burn them, and extract the gold and silver. Their women keep small haberdashery shops selling wooden and tin boxes, combs, glass beads of different sizes and colours, needles, thread, buttons, marbles, looking glasses, tops, whistles, dolls, and small brass cups and dishes. They worship Khandoba, Mahadev, Satvai, Vithoba, Vyankatesh, and Yallamma and other Hindu deities, and keep Sundays, Gokulashtami in August, and Shivratra in February as fast days. Their priests are Kanauj Brahmans, and in their absence the ordinary Deshasth Brahmans officiate at their houses. Women are impure for ten days after childbirth. They worship the goddess Sati on the fifth day, and name the child on the twelfth. A few wear the sacred thread and generally marry their girls before they come of age. At the time of marriage date leaves are tied to the brows of the boy and girl as marriage ornaments, and they are made to stand on wooden stools, face to face, and, after repeating marriage verses and throwing rice grains, they are husband and wife. The priest kindles the sacred fire and the boy feeds it with parched grain. Feasts are interchanged, and, followed by kinsmen friends and music, the boy starts with his bride for his home either on foot or on horseback. They do not allow widow marriage and practise polygamy. They burn the dead and mourn ten days, feed crows, and offer rice balls in the name of the deceased, the deceased's father, and the deceased's grandfather. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. They send their boys to school for a short time, and are a steady class.
Kolhatis
Kolha'tis or Domba'ris, Rope Dancers and Tumblers, are returned as numbering 161 and as found scattered in towns and large villages. They have no subdivisions and their surnames are Andhare, Jadhav, Pavar, and Sankeshvar, who eat together and intermarry. According to their story the founder of their class was a man who was named Nat or dancer and nicknamed Kola, born of a Teli father by a Kshatriya mother. They have no tradition about coming into the district or of any former home. Their chief settlement in the district is at Mankeshvar in Barsi. They are active and dark. The men wear the topknot, moustache, and whiskers, and a few the beard. Their home speech is a mixture of Marathi and Gujarati. They are a wandering tribe of tumblers and rope dancers. They are of bad character; the women are prostitutes, and all when they get the chance steal and kidnap girls. They are under the eye of the police. They make the small buffalo horn pulleys which are used with cart ropes in fastening loads. They also make hide combs and gunpowder flasks. Their women, besides singing, dancing, and prostituting make and sell rag dolls. Their daily food consists of jvari bread, split pulse, and vegetables, and they eat most kinds of animal food including pork, and drink liquor. Their holiday dishes are gram cakes, the flesh of goats and sheep, and liquor. They are a wandering people. Except during the rains when they generally live outside of villages, they have no fixed settlements and move from village to village carrying low mat huts with them. They keep donkeys and ponies which they use in travelling from place to place and generally have a watch dog. The men dress in a pair of short drawers, a jacket, and a tattered turban, and sometimes a pair of wristlets and a gold earring. The women wear a long rich robe worth about £1 or £1 4s. (Rs. 10-12) and a tight-fitting bodice worth 1s. 6d. (12 as.) and have gold silver and brass ornaments. On the fifth day after the birth of a child the mother is washed, the goddess Satvai is worshipped, and either wet gram or wheat is served to women guests and children. On the thirteenth the child is named by the village Brahman. The mother keeps by herself for a month, and when the child, if it is a boy, is a year or two old its hair is clipped, a sheep is killed, and the caste are feasted. As the boy's father has to pay the girl's father a dowry of £10 to £20 (Rs. 100-200), two families, if they can, make a double marriage and so avoid the expense. Two or three days before marriage a sheep is offered to the village god and the caste are feasted. Next day a marriage hall is built, two earthen pots are whitewashed and worshipped, and a bunch of mango leaves is tied to a post in the marriage hall called their guardian devkarya ordevak. The boy and girl are rubbed with turmeric at their homes and bathed by kinswomen who sing songs. On the marriage day the boy with kinspeople and music walks to the girl's and touches her brow with redpowder or kunku. The pair are made to stand on low wooden stools facing each other, and the Brahman repeats some words and throws grains of rice over their heads and they are husband and wife. No dinner is given, but large quantities of liquor are drunk. The women dance and sing the whole night. Next day the fathers knot the hems of their clothes together, and taking the boy and girl on their shoulders, carry them to the village Maruti before whom they bow. They are then taken to the boy's house, where the hems of the fathers' garments are untied and the boy and girl call each other by their names. A largo feast is held, and quantities of flesh and liquor are taken. When a girl comes of age she is called to choose between marriage and prostitution. If with her parents' consent she wishes to lead a married life, she is well taken care of and carefully watched. If she chooses to be a tumbler and a prostitute, she is taken before the caste council, a feast is given, and with the consent of the council, she is declared a prostitute. The prostitutes are not allowed to eat with other Kolhatis except with their own children. Still when they grow old their castefellows support them. They bury the dead, carrying the body sitting slung from a pole on the shoulders of four men. On the third day funeral ceremonies are performed, and a dish of rice, split pulse, salt, and oil is prepared. Six months after the caste is feasted on wheat bread and split pulse. They worship Ambabhavani, Hanuman, Khandoba, and the cholera goddess Mariai, but their favourite, and, as they say their only living gods are the bread-winners or hunger-scarers the drum, the rope, and the balancing pole. They do not send their boys to school and are a falling class.
Kudbuda Joshis
Kudbuda Joshis, or Kudbud-playing Astrologers, are returned as numbering 735 and as found wandering over the whole district. They occasionally come to the district from the Konkan and are a class of Maratha astrologers and beggars who wander playing on an hourglass-shaped drum called the kudbud. Their surnames are Bhosle, Chavhan, Jadhav, and Povar; and families of all these surnames eat together and intermarry. They loot and speak like Marathas, live in grass huts outside of villages, and keep cattle. They eat flesh and drink liquor and their staple food is jvari, vegetables, and pounded chillies, and they also eat the leavings from Brahmans' leaf-plates. The men generally wear a white turban and rather a long coat, a waistcloth, and mark their brows with white sandal. Their women dress like Maratha women, and except glass bangles have few ornaments. They wander from house to house and village to village beating a drum. They know how to read and write, foretell events by referring to a Marathi calendar which they carry rolled in their turbans, and tell fortunes from lines on the hands. Their women remain impure for twelve days after childbirth. On the fifth day the goddess Satvai is worshipped and a feast of wheat bread and pulse is given. On the twelfth day the child is cradled and named, and five married women are rubbed with turmeric and redpowder and worshipped. The guests are offered boiled wheat or gram and go to their homes. Four to six months after, if the child is a boy, except some left as a top-knot his hair is clipped. Among Kudbudas marriage is preceded by betrothal, the girl is presented with a robe and bodice, her brow is rubbed with redpowder, and feasts are given. On the marriage day the guardian or devak, which is the leaves of five trees or panchpalvis,is tied to a post of the booth along with a hatchet, two wheat cakes, and an earthen lighted lamp. A sheep is offered to the guardian and the caste is feasted. The boy and girl are rubbed with turmeric at their homes, and the boy goes on horseback to the girl's, where both the boy and girl are made to stand in bamboo baskets, half full of rice and a curtain is held between them. The Brahman priest hands red rice to all the guests, and chants marriage verses, and at the end along with other guests throws grains of rice over the couple's heads and the boy and girl are husband and wife. Kudbudas allow widow marriage and practise polygamy. They bury their dead, the body being slung from a pole carried on the shoulders of two men. On the third day wheat bread, rice, and milk are laid on the spot where the dead was buried. They mourn the dead ten days and feast castefellows on the twelfth. Their chief deities are Ambabhavani, Bahiroba, and Shidoba. Their priests are Maratha Brahmans to whom they pay great respect. They have no headman, but have a caste council which, punishes all breaches of caste rule by fines varying from 1s. to 2s. (Re. 4-1). They send their boys to school till they can read and write a little. They are a poor class.
Vaghyas and Murlis
Va'ghya's are returned as numbering thirty-two and as found in the larger towns. They are divided into Maratha, Dhangar and Mhar Vaghyas, of whom the Marathas and the Dhangars eat together but do not intermarry. The surnames of the Maratha Vaghyas are Chavhan, Dhaigude, Jadhav, Kare, and Sinde. Like Murlis, Vaghyas are children of Marathas, Dhangars, and Mhars whose parents have vowed them to the service of the god Khandoba. Both boys and girls are dovoted as Vaghyas; only girls become Murlis. Vaghya boys and girls can marry; a Murli cannot marry as she is Khandoba'a bride. Vaghyas generally marry into their father's caste, but there is no objection to the intermarriage of a Vaghya boy and a Vaghya girl. Their children are Vaghyas and marry with their father's caste. The child is always dedicated in Khandoba's temple at Jejuri in Poona on any day in the month of Chaitraor April-May. When parents have to dedicate a boy to Khandoba they go to Jejuri, stay at a Gurav's house, and tell him the object of their visit. The boy's father buys turmeric, dry cocoa-kernel, a cocoanut, some milk, curds, honey, sugar, a flower garland, and a nosegay, some sandal paste, and a turban and sash. Then taking the boy, the Gurav, Vaghyas, and Murlis go in procession with music to Khandoba's temple. At the temple the Gurav bathes and worships the god offering him the turban and sash and 2s. to £1 (Rs.1-10) in cash. He then marks the boy's brow with turmeric, throws turmeric over his head, fastens round his neck a deer or tiger skin wallet hung from a black woollen string and thrice throws turmeric and dry cocoa-kernel over the god, twice repeating the words Elkot ghe, that is O! Elkot take. All who are present in turn throw turmeric on the god and the ceremony is over. The Gurav is paid 10s. (Rs. 5) as his fee and 2s. 6d. (Rs. 1¼) as the price of the wallet and each of the Vaghya and Murli guests is presented with a copper. When the parents return home cooked food is offered to the house Khandoba and a feast is held costing 10s. to £1 (Rs.5-10) the hundred guests. Vaghyas are considered Khandoba's disciples, and Marathas and other middle and low caste Hindus bow down to them. They have to go to Jejuri once every three years. They beg loitering in the streets ringing small bells in their left hand, singing, and rubbing turmeric on the brows of passers-by. Sometimes a Murli goes with them. If the Murli is clever and goodlooking the people give, otherwise Vaghyas get little. Their religious, ceremonial, and social observances are the same as those of Marathas. They are a falling people. MURLIS, literally Flutes as if instruments on which the god may play, are returned as numbering thirty-one and as found over the whole district. They are divided into Maratha and Mhar Murlis, The following details apply to Maratha Murlis. They are like Maratha women most of them plain and somewhat harsh-featured, many of them pleasant-looking, and some of them handsome. Their home tongue is Marathi and their houses are of the better sort with metal and earthen vessels and cattle. They keep Vaghyas in their houses to dance, to take care of them, and as servants. They eat fish and flesh and are fond of liquor. They wear a flowing robe and a tight-fitting bodice; they mark their brows with red and turmeric powder, and wear gold and silver ornaments. Their special ornament is a necklace of nine cowry shells. They are clean neat and hospitable, but idle dishonest and given to drink. They are prostitutes and beggars, singing and dancing with bells in their hands. They generally go with two or three Vaghyas who beat small drums or dafris. The Vaghyas dance and if the Murli is handsome the entertainment is popular. The Murli sings songs generally indecent in praise of Khandoba, while singing she suddenly seats herself in the lap of one of the listeners, kisses him, and will not go till she is paid in silver. Murlis like Vaghyas are generally children whose parents have rowed them to Khandoba's service. Others are married women who leave their husbands and even their children, saying they have made a vow to Khandoba, or who are warned in a dream that they should be the brides of Khandoba not of men. Middle and low class Hindus respect and bow before the true Murli who was wedded to the god as a girl: they look down on women who leave their husbands and children to play the Murli. Girls whose parents have vowed them to Khandoba are married to the god between one and twelve and always before they come of age. When she is to be married to Khandoba her parents take the girl to Jejuri some time in Chaitra or April-May. They bring turmeric, dry cocoa-kernel, flower garlands, nosegays, a robe and bodice, a sash, turban, milk, curds, sugar, butter, honey, and flowers, and, with a Gurav priest and a baud of Vaghyas, Murlis, and musicians go to the temple. At the temple the girl is bathed, the god is rubbed with turmeric and the rest of the turmeric is rubbed on the girl. The girl is dressed in the new robe and bodice, green glass bangles are put round her wrists, and flower marriage ornaments or mundavals are tied to her brow. The god is worshipped, the turban and sash are presented to him, and the Gurav, taking in his hands a necklace orgatha of nine cowrie shells, fastens it round the girl's neck. This is called the gatha phodneor breaking cowrie necklace, and the Gurav is paid 2s. 6d (Rs. 1¼) as the price of the necklace. The girl is made to stand to the left of the god and the guests throw turmeric over the god-bridegroom and the bride crying out twice Elkot ghe, Elkot ghe, Elkot take, Elkot take. Her parents give the Gurav who acts as priest 10s. (Rs. 5), and each Vaghya and Murli who is present receives a copper. The bride and her parents retire and at their house give a feast to Murlis and Vaghyas. When a Murli comes of age she sits by herself for four days. Then she looks for a patron. When she succeeds in finding a patron, she calls a meeting of her brethren the Vsghyas, and, in their presence, the patron says I will fill the Murli's lap,Hichi oti mi bharin. The Vaghyas ask him what he will pay, and after some haggling a sum of £2 10s. to £10 (Rs. 25-100) is fixed. If the sum is £5 (Rs. 50) or over, half of the money goes to the Vaghya-Murli community who spend it in caste vessels and in feasts. With the balance the girl buys a robe and bodice for herself, and bedding. She sets up a bamboo frame, puts green bangles on her wrists, and, dressing in (he new clothes sits in the frame and has her lap filled by Murlis or if there are no Murlis by married women. She is taken to the village Maruti with Murlis, Vaghyas, and music, presents the god with a copper and a betel packet, returns home, and feasts her caste fellows. She lives with her patron fifteen days to a month, and afterwards, if he wishes to keep her, he settles with her at 16s. to £1 4s. (Rs. 8-12) a month. Murlis have house images, generally of Bahiroba, Bhavani, Jotiba, Khandoba, and Satvai. Their priests are ordinary Maratha Brahmans. They keep the usual Hindu fasts and feasts and settle social disputes at meetings of Vaghyas. They send their boys and girls to school and if not a rising are a steady class.
Vasudevs
Va'sudevs are returned as numbering seventy-five and as found over the whole district. They are dark tall and regular-featured, they speak Marathi, and their houses are the came as Maratha houses. They own cattle and goats and eat fish, fowls, and the flesh of goats, sheep, hare, and deer, and they say they used to eat the wild hog. They dress like Marathas, the women wearing the robe without tucking the skirt behind. The men beg dressed in a long crown-like hat with a brass top and surrounded with peacock feathers, a long white coat, and trousers. They dance and sing while begging, playing on several musical instruments, and blowing a whistle. They train their boys from infancy and by fifteen they are expert dancers and singers. Their house deities are Bahiroba, Bhavani, Jotiba, and Khandoba, and their priests are ordinary Maratha Brahmans. Their women are impure for seven days after childbirth. On the evening of the seventh they worship the village Satvai and become pure. They name their children on the twelfth and their marriage and death customs are the same as Maratha customs. They allow widow marriage, hold caste meetings, do not send their boys to school, and are a steady class.
