Hatkar: Deccan
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Hatkar
This article is an extract from THE CASTES AND TRIBES OF H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S DOMINIONS BY SYED SIRAJ UL HASSAN Of Merton College, Oxford, Trinity College, Dublin, and Middle Temple, London. One of the Judges of H. E. H. the Nizam's High Court of Judicature : Lately Director of Public Instruction. BOMBAY THE TlMES PRESS 1920 Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees |
Titles.— Naik, Rao
Hatkar, Bargi Dhangar — a cultivating and hunting caste, found in large numbers in the Districts of Parbhani and Nander ; they are also found in the Adilabad and Bidar Districts where, howeift^r, they are comparatively rare. Of a strongly built, vigorous frame and generally of a dark complexion, with a bold and haughty demeanour, the Hatkars show a marked difference from the Maratha Kunbis. Like the Welammas, they appear to be a foreign race, who immigrated and settled in the country in very early times. The armies of Shiva ji were composed of recruits mainly drawn from this caste and it is said of them, "The most trusted of Shiva ji's foot-men and, many of the bravest Maratha Generals, among whom the Holkars were the most distinguished, belonged to this tribe." The "Ain-i-Akbari" describes the Hatkars as being a proud, refractory and domineering race of Rajputs, living in the Basim Sircar and, with numerous armed forces, occupying the forts and controlling the surrounding districts.
Origin
The word 'Hatkar' is popularly derived from the Marathi ' hat obstinacy, and ' kar ' doer, meaning obstinate. This derivation appears to be fictitious and throws no light upon the origin of the caste. The Hatkars have no traditions of origin, and their original affinities and the time of their immigration are lost in obscurity.
Regarding these people Captain FitzGerald, once an Assistant Commissioner in Berar, made the following observations : —
" They (the Hatkars) declare that they emigrated from the north to this part of India many years ago, supposed to be some time prior to the Nizam becoming Subedar of the Deccan on behalf of the kings of Delhi. But the "Ain-i-Akbari" seems to suppose that the Hatkars were driven westward across the Wardha by the Gonds. The Hatkars are all Bargi Dhangars, or the shepherds with the spears.
The general idea is that, originally, there were twelve tribes of Bargi Dhangars, who came down from Hindustan, and that from them the country about Hingoli (the Parbhani District) was called Bar Hatti, which, the Hatkars say, is a corruption of the words 'Bara Hatkar', or the country of twelve Hatkars. At present there are only three families. To one or other of these families all the Hatkars about Berar, Hingoli, etc., belong. The names of these families or clans are: (I) Poli, (2) Gurdi, (3) Muski."
" The Hatkars say that they formerly, when going on any ex- pedition, took only a blanket seven hands long and a bear-spear, and that oi.^his account they were called 'Bargir,' or Barga Dhangars. They would appear to have been all footmen. To this day the temper of the Hatkar is said to be obstinate and quarrelsome. They will eat with a Kunbi.
Customs
The Hatkars bury their male dead, if death has not been caused by a wound in the chase or in battle. The corpse is interred sitting cross legged, with a small piece of gold placed in its mouth. .If a male Hatkar dies of a wound received in battle, or in the chase, they burn the corpse, the feet being placed toward the east, so that obsequies by fire are clearly an honourable distinction. All women who die in child-birth are burnt, others are buried.
"Widows may, on the death of their first husband, marry again by a pat marriage.
History
The Naiks of Hingoli and Berar were principally Hatkars. The duty of a Naik was to keep the peace and prevent robbery, but in time they became the breakers of law and the dakaits of the country. Some of them, about the year 1818, were very powerful. Nowsajee Naik Muski's army gave battle to the Nizam's Regular Troops, under Major Pitman, before Umerkhed. The Naik was beaten and he was besieged in his stronghold of Nowa, with a garrison of five hundred Arabs. The place was carried by assault after a very stout resistance in 1819. Nowsajee Naik was sent to Hyderabad, where he died.
" The power of the Naiks was broken by Brigadier Sutherland. He hanged so many, that the Naiks pronounce his name to this day with awe. To some of the Naiks he gave money, and told them to settle down in certain villages. Others, who also came expecting money, were at once hanged.
" Brigadier Sutherland would appear to have hanged only the leaders that did not come in before a certain date. In this way died Lachaman Naik, Gardi of Hatah, who was next to, if not equal in power to, Nowsajee Naik ; also the Naik of Jamb whose clan name is Poli."
Physical Characteristics
Most of the Hatkars do not permit the removal of the hair on the face. They are fine, able-bodied men, and have a most wonderful resemblance to each other, which may be accounted for by the constant exclusive intermarriage of I'iheir three great families. They are independent in bearing, pretentious in character, and are the stuff of which good soldiers are made. They inhabit, generally speaking, the hills on the northern banks of the Painganga. Their villages are placed like a line of outposts along our frontier with the Hyderabad territory."
This account of the caste is substantially correct to the present day. The Hatkars, although called Bargi Dhangars, have nothing in common with the shepherd or pastoral tribes who keep sheep and weave blankets.
The relations of the Hatkars with the Holer caste (the Dhers of the Carnatic) appear to bear a close analogy to the connections which the Welammas have with the Mala caste (the Dhers of Telingana). The Hatkars have the same section names as thfe Holers and should a Hatkar and a Holer, both belonging to the same family section, happen to live in the same village, it is incumbent upon the Hatkar to attend the marriage ceremony of the Holer and to tie the JeVa-deVal{ (a bunch of twigs representing the wedding deity) to the wedding post. &)nceming the Welammas, it is known that some of their families, especially those of the Rachelu section, have to pay the expenses of a Mala marriage before they celebrate their own weddings. The Welammas, like the Hatkars, have a fine physique, are endowed with vigour and energy, possess an arrogant and over-bear- ing demeanour and were once highly esteemed for their soldierly qualities. The points of resemblance between these two races are very striking, in the absence of any precise evidence, however, it would 6e treading on risky ground to ascribe a common origin to these two tribes who, at the present day, differ widely from each other in their customs, usages, and language.
Internal Structure
The Hatkars have no endogamous divi- sions ; but their exogamous sections are numerous, some of which are shown below : —
(1) Satapute, (2) Marke, (3) Devakate, (4) Katagunde, (5) Shirane, (6) Hakke,. (7) Mundane, (8) Mundhe, (9) Devare, (10) Navate, (11) Shilgar, (12) Shimpe, (13> G^ode, (14) Shinde, (15) Dhone, (16) Waghamode, (17) Suranare, (18) Salgar, (19) Doti- gandia, (20) Tarange and many others.
The section names (kulis) are formed after the model common among the Maratha castes. They are not totemistic, but a few of them are eponymous, the others being either of the territorial or the titular type. The section name descends in the male line. A man is forbidden to marry a woman of his own section. No prohibited degrees restrict him in the selection of a girl, provided he does not marry his niece, his aunt, or any of his first cousins, excepting the daughters of his maternal uncle and paternal aunt. The Hatkars permit the marriage of two sisters to the same man and also the marriage of two sisters to two brothers.
Polygamy is allowed without any limit being imposed on the number of wives a man may have.
Marriage
Both infant and adult marriages are practised by the caste. In fulfilment of vows, boys as well as girls are wedded to Khandoba, their patron deity, and are not allowed to marry afterwards. The girls are subsequently called murlis and become prostitutes, while the boys, under the name of Waghes, lead a depraved and immoral life. Adultery is regarded with abhorrence, and a girl committing an indiscretion is expelled from the caste.
The marriage ceremony of the Hatkars differs little from that in vogue among the Maratha Kunbis. On the conclusion of the preliminary negotiations between the parties, and on the nativities of the young couple being found to agree, an auspicious day is fixed for the performance of the wedding. The first ceremony, in connection with marriage, is Pamoate, or the distribution of pan (betel-leaves).
The father of the boy goes to the bride's house with some ornaments and clothes. In the presence of the caste people, invited for the occasion, these are presented to the girl by a Brahman, who presides over the ceremony ; pan-supari and sugar are then distributed. dakshana (the prescribed fee) is paid to the Brahman, and the assembly disperses.
Marriage booths supported on posts of umbar {Ficus glomerata), jambul (Eugenia Jambolana) and salai (BosWellia thurijera), are erected by both parties in front of their houses. To the salai post are bound the emblems of Deva-Devakalu, which consist of a wheaten cake and the twigs of five sacred plants, viT., maula (Bauhinia racemosa). mango (Mangrfera indica), hioar (Acacia leucophylea). saundad (Prosopis spicigera) and umbar (Ficus glo- merata), which are brought in procession by five married women from the Maruti temple of the village. Beneath the pandal is built an earthen platform, 8 ft. square and generally nine inches in height. This over, the important ceremony of Haldi is performed, at which the bridal pair, in their respective houses, are smeared with t'jrmeric paste and oil, and are bathed underneath the booth by five married women. The worship of the family and village deities, the per- formance of the gondhal dance (a kplachar) and the procession In honour of birs (ancestral spirits) follow in order and precede the actual wedding.
On the wedding day, the bridegroom's party, composed of friends and relatives, escort him to the bride's house. The bridal procession stops, first, at the Hanuman temple, where the bride- groom is given a formal welcome by the bride's father, and then at the entrance to the bride's house, where the bridegroom alights from the horse and is conducted direct to the wedding canopy. The bride is brought out and both are made to stand facing each other, the bride under the arboui and the bridegroom outside it. A curtain is held between them and the officiating priest, usually a Maratha Brahman, recites benedictory verses and blesses the couple, at the same time throwing turmeric-coloured rice on their heads. The assembled guests shower rice over them and the curtain is raised amidst the cheers of the men and the singing of the women. The bridal pair, who are after this seated side by side facing the east, are girt round seven times by raw cotton thread, care being taken that the thread does not touch their bodies. While this process is going on, the bride's father ceremonially makes over his virgin daughter to the bridegroom — this ceremony is known as Kan})dddn (the gift of a virgin bride). The girl's thread is then removed and tied to a wedding post. In the Kankana Bandhanam ceremony, a Warati, or a man of the washerman caste, fastens bracelets of woollen thread on the wrists of the bride and bridegroom. The bridegroom, thereupon, taking the bride in his arras, or by the hand, ascends the platform, where the pair, seated or% wooden stools, perform horn (sacrifice) and are presented with clothes, money, &c. The second day passes in feasting and sporting on the banks of a stream, where the newly married couple are taken in procession. The marriage generally ends on the third day with Sade, when wedding presents are given to the bride and the bridegroom by their respective fathers-in-law, after which the happy pair are conducted in procession to the bridegroom's house. The marriage expenses amount to from Rs. 100 to Rs. 500.
Widow-Marriage
A widow is allowed to marry again, but not the brother of her late husband. Except in the month of Pausha (December-January) the ceremony is performed on any date between sunset and sunrise. On a dark night, the widow bathes, puts on new bangles and toe-rings, and wears a new sari presented to her by her suitor. Seated side by side, the pair are married by a Brahman, who bedaubs their foreheads with kunkum, ties their garments in a knot and puts a mangalsutra (auspicious string of black beads) round the widow's neck. The essential portion of the ceremony is the knocking together of the widow's and her husband's heads. The rest of the night they pass together in the bride's house. Early next morning they bathe and stealthily repair to Maruti's temple, where they spend the whole day, returning by night to the bridegroom s house. The widow's children by her first husband are claimed by his relatives. Divorce is permitted, the divorced woman bemg allowed to re-marry by the same rites as a widow.
Religion
The religion of the Hatkars presents no features of special interest. Their favourite object of worship is Khandoba, to whom offerings of flowers and sweetmeats are made every Sunday. In addition to this deity, they pay homage to Bhairoba and the spirits of their departed ancestors, whose images they keep in their houses. They observe all the Hindu festivals, among which the Holi, or Shimaga, in March and the Dassera in October, are held in great importance. Deshastha Brahmans are employed as priests and serve the caste in their religious and ceremonial observances.
Child-Birth
The impurity of child-birth lasts for twelve days. On the 12th day after birth, the child is named and a feast is pro- vided for the caste people in honour of the occasion. A girl, on attaining puberty, remains in pollution for nine days.
Funerals
The dead are burned by the side of a stream, in a lying posture, with the head to the south. Some of the families of the Hatkars bury their dead, the corpse being laid in the grave with the legs crossed and the face turned towards the east. The prac- tice of cremation, as Mr. A. C. Lyall observes, appears to be of recent introduction and is gradually becoming universal among the caste. When a person is dying, a mixture of curds and Water is placed in the mouth, and after death the body is washed and, being wrapped up in clothes, is carried to the burning ground on the shoulders of his relatives. The chief mourner leads the funeral procession and fires the pile after the corpse has been laid upon it. After the pyre has burnt down he circumambulates it five times, bathes in a stream and returns home, followed by all the relatives. On the 3rd day after death, the ashes are collected and thrown into a stream and food is offered at the burning ground for the benefit of the deceased. On the same day, the pall bearers have their shoulders besmeared with ghi and a feast is provided for them. Sradha is performed on the anniversary day and in the months of Vaishakha (April-May) and Bhadrapad (August-September). Persons dying violent deaths are worshipped in the form of images which are set up in the houses.
Social Status and Occupation
In point of social standing, the Hatkars rank with the Maratha Kunbis, with whom they exchange kachi (uncooked) food. They eat mutton, fowl, lizards, hare, deer and fish of all varieties, but abstain from beef, pork, she-goats and the leavings of other people. In occupation, the Hatkars are culti- vators and hold land-tenures of different grades. They are patels of villages, deshmukhs, occupancy and non-occupancy raiats and landless day-labourers. The Hatkar males and females dress and decorate themselves like the Maratha Kunbis. The men do not wear the sacred thread. Their home language is Marathi.
