Kapali
This article is an extract from
THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
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Kapali
This caste claims to be the offspring of a Karmakar and a Telin, or woman of the oil-making trade.1 In Hindi Kapali means sly, and, according to Forbes, is the name of a caste in Bengal, who sell vegetables. It is also one of the titles of Siva. The common derivation given by Pandits is the Sanskrit Kapala, meaning the head, or a dish. Whether any of these words be the correct origin of the name or not, it is certain that the caste is peculiar to Bengal, and that in Dacca, at least, it is quite distinct from the Kawali.
Like many Bengal castes, the Kapali have a vague tradition that their original home was in Upper India; but this tradition has never assumed a legendary form. The caste claims to be of higher rank than the Bhuinmali, Chandal, or Saha, and being descended from clean Sudras the pure Dhobi and Napit work for them. The Purohit, who is distinct from that of the Kawali, is a Patit Brahman. Their only gotra is Kasyapa; and the caste Panchait is presided over by a headman, called Mu'tabar. The titles found among the Kapalis are Manjhi, Mundle, Shiqdar, Mala, and Haldar; the families with the first three patronymics being regarded as higher than the others, while a larger sum is paid for their daughters.
1 According to others the offspring of a Brahman mother and fisherman father.
In Rangpur, Buchanan found the Kapali engaged in making umbrellas; but in Eastern Bengal at the present day they are weavers and cultivators. They chiefly cultivate jute (Koshta), preparing the fibre themselves, and manufacturing from it coarse canvas (Tat) for bags. Men and women weave, their loom being the ordinary native one, but clumsier than that used by the Tanti. Their shuttle is called Vaya, and they dispense with the reed (Shanah). They are also careful to explain that the shuttle is shot with the hands, as among the Tantis, and not driven by pedals as with the outcast Jogies.
The Kapali manufactures three kinds of canvas, the first, "Chala" being used for the carriage of rape seed; the second, "Chot" for packing goods; and the third, "Tat" being in universal demand for floor matting, for boat sails, rice bags, and bags for country produce generally. In Bikrampur a finer kind of canvas, known as "Vara-Vastra," is woven for the carriage of betle-nuts. The trade of the Kapali has of late years suffered greatly by the importation of gunny bags from Europe; but they always find a ready market for the sale of matting. Bamboo mats for floors are seldom used in Bengal, but canvas is laid down in every shop, and beneath bedding whenever the ground is slept on. On the Vijaya Dasami day of the Durga Pujah each Bengali shopkeeper, often including the Muhammadan, regards it as a duty to throw away the old matting of his shop, and replace it by new.
The Kapalis generally reside in villages, where they can cultivate jute, never in large towns, and would lose caste if they worked with hemp or cotton. Their occupation being different from that of the Tanti, the two castes live in amity with one another.
The Kapali is usually poor, but in former days several of them rose to be Taluqdars. In Dacca none possess land, but a few having relinquished their caste trade have become boatmen and Modis. The majority of the Kapalis are worshippers of Vishnu, and observe all the common Hindu festivals. They assert that they never taste spirits, but it is generally believed they do. Ganjha smoking, however, is common among them.
