Johari: Deccan
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Johari
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 |
Jouhari, Javheri, Rammayye, Manyafi — a very small caste of pedlars, jewellers, and lapidaries, found in the Districts of Parbhani and Aurangabad, and also in some parts of Telingana.
Origin and Internal Structure
They say tbey came from Malwa, but the date of their immigration and their original affinities are lost in obscurity. However this may be, their physical features, which markedly distinguish them from the Marathas, the peculiar formation of their exogamous sections, their employment of Kanojya Brahmans for religious and ceremonial purposes and their marriage customs, give ample proof of their Northern Indian origin, and it may be reasonably supposed that a long residence amidst an alien people has entirely cut them off from the parent tribes. They have no endogamous divisions, while only a few of their exogamous sections can be ascertained. They are shown below.
(1) Digwa. (5) Bhatti.
(2) Mahaisma. (6) Shishoja.
(3) Kapasha. (7) Gonda.
(4) Sony a.
The Shishoja, Gonda and Rathod sections are common to them and to the Rajputs. The origin of the remaining sections cannot be traced. The law of exogamy is practised by the caste. A man may marry two sisters, provided he marries the elder first. Girls are married either as infants, or when they become adults, between the ages of seven and twenty. If an unmarried girl becomes pregnant, she is called upon to disclose the name of her lover and, if he belongs to her caste, he is compelled by the caste Panchayat to marry her. Adultery with an outsider incurs expulsion from the caste. Polygamy is permitted and no theoretical limit is imposed upon the number of wives a man may have.
Marriage
The initiative towards marriage is taken by the father of the boy, who selects a suitable girl for his son and makes the first proposal towards the settlement of the match. After the hor95copes of the couple have been found to agree, and the wedding day has been fixed, a feast (bhandara) is given by the boy's father to his relatives and friends in. confirmation of the betrothal. Prior to the, wedding, Guru Nanaka, Balaji, Khandoba and Tuljapur Bhavani are honoured with a "variety of offerings. On the day before the wedding, both parties, in their respective houses, are smeared with turnieric paste and oil. After the bridegroom has been taken in procession •^e the bride's house, the couple are seated side by side, facing the east, on two wooden stools, the bride being to the right pf ,the bridegroom. Ganesh, the deity which presides over success ini life, is worshipped and the garments of the couple are fastened in a knot by the officiating priest, who is a Kanojya Brahman. The sacred fire, or horn, is prepared and, before it, is performed the Kanyadan ceremony, which consists of the formal gift of the bride by her iather to the bridegroom and his formal acceptance of her. The family priest auspicious mantras and at the end of each manfra sprinkles rice on the heads of the couple. There- upon the bride, followed by the bridegroom, walks six times round the sacrificial fire, keeping it on their right. After the couple have resumed their seats, they solicit the permission of their parents, the family priest and the members of the Pancha^at, to make thd seventh round and, on permission being obtained, they circumam- bulate the fire the seventh time, the bridegroom on this occasion leading the way. This last round, which forms the essential portion of the ceremony, entitles the bride to sit on the left of her husband.
Widow-Marriage
A widow is allowed to marry again, but she may not marry her late husband's younger or elder brother. In other respects, no restriction is imposed upon her in her choice of a second husband, provided she carefully observes the law of exogamy. On a dark night, the bridegroom goes to the bride's hpuse ; both are seated side by side and their garments are knotted together by the officiating Brahman ; this concludes the ceremony. The whole of the next daj^ the couple pass in cpnc^almepf, and at evening they visit the village Hanuman's temple, after which they return to the bridegroom's house. A feast to the relatives and friends ends the proceedings. A bachelor cannot marry a widow or a divorced wife, unless he is previously married to a rui plant (Calotropis gigantea).
Divorce
Divorce is granted by the caste Panchayat, on the ground of the wife's unchastity or barrenness. If the divorced woman marries again, her first husband is entitled to recover from her all the money he spent on her marriage as a virgin. Sons by a widow, or a divorced wife, and those by a virgin wife all share equally in their father's property.
Religion
In point of religion, the Joharis profess to belong to the Nanakashahi sect, and pay reverence to Guru Nanaka, the great founder of the Sikh religion. In honour of their guru they make pilgrimages to Nander, and other places sacred in the Sikh religion. They also pay devotion to Balaji of Devalagaon, Khandoba of Jejuri and Bhavani of Tuljapur. The minor gods they appease are Mahalaxmi, Sitaladevi, Hanuman, and other local deities. '
Disposal of the Dead
The Joharis generally burn their adult dead, but occasionally bury them if they are too poor to bear the cremation expenses. The corpse of a male is covered with a cloth and taken to the place of cremation. A dead woman, whose husband is alive, is rubbed with oil, bathed and dressed in a green sari. In the case of a widow the body is clothed in red. The ashes are collected on the third day after death and thrown into the Ganges, or any stream that may happen to be close by. Mourning is observed ten days for adult agnates, and three days for children. On the 12th day after death, Sradha is performed and the caste people entertained. The ceremony is repeated every month during the first year, but subsequently only once a year. Offerings to deceased ancestors, in general, are made on the third day of the light half of Vaishakha (May) and in the dark half of Bhadrapad (September).
Social Status and Occupation
Socially, the caste ranks higher than the Maratha Kunbis, and will take cooked food from Brahmans. They drink spirits and fermented liquors and eat fish, fowls, goats and deer. Men wear the sacred thread. Women are dressed like, the local Kunbi females, but are prohibited, by a tribal custom, from wearing toe-rings.
The original occupation of the caste is believed to have been trading in chinaware, but, since the decline of the trade, they li*ve been dealing in jewellery, selling pearls, corals and other jems and
glass beads of a variety of colours. A few have, of late, taken to agriculture, holding land on small tenures. Some are engaged as confectioners and personal servants.
The Joharis have a Cciste Panchayat which settles social disputes and decides questions of caste usage.
