Labour communities Sholapur
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Labour communities Sholapur
This is an extract from a British Raj gazetteer pertaining to Sholapur that seems |
Labours
Labourers include six classes with a strength of 7416 or 1.4 per cent of the Hindu population. The details are:
Kalas
Kalals, or Distillers, are returned as numbering 125 and as found in the town of Sholapur. They are said to have come into the district from Lucknow about forty years ago in search of work. They are dark and strong. The men wear the top-knot and ear-knots, and the moustache and whiskers. They speak Hindustani, their houses are of mud and stone one or more storeys high, with flat or tiled roofs. They keep cattle and ponies, and their staple food is jvari, split pulse, and vegetables. They do not eat fish or flesh, neither do they drink liquor. The men wear a short waistcloth tucked behind, a coat, waistcoat, and shouldercloth; and the women, a petticoat or robe and a bodice fastened either at the back or in front. Their ornaments are generally the same as those of Maratha Brahmans, except that their nosering which is of gold with a couple of pearls fastened in it is so heavy that its weight is borne by a silk thread fastened in the hair. Some make and sell spirits, others are husbandmen, and others serve, as day labourers. They worship the goddess Satvai on the fifth day after childbirth, and clip the child's hair except its top-knot. The mother is impure for ten days and on the twelfth the child is named by a Brahman priest. They marry their children at any age but their girls generally before they come of age. They burn their dead and mourn ten days. On the tenth day they offer rice balls to crows and beg them to eat, and on the twelfth the caste is feasted. They practise polygamy but do not allow widow marriage. On the death of the husband the widow's necklace and nosering are taken off, but her head is not shaved, and she is allowed to wear bangles. A headman called either mukhi or shetya settles all their social disputes. They send their hoys to school but only for a short time and are a poor people.
Kamathis
Ka'ma'this are returned as numbering 214 and as found in small numbers over the whole district. They have come from the Nizam's country since the beginning of British rule. They are tall dark and robust, and their young women are goodlooking and healthy. A few speak Telugu, and the rest Marathi and write Balbodh. They are an active, hardworking, and frugal people. They are masons, husbandmen, gardeners, messengers, blacksmiths', carpenters, housebuilders, painters, stonecutters, shopkeepers, grain sellers, moneylenders, and moneychangers. Most of them are labourers, both men and women working for daily hire. Their houses are built of stone and earth with flat roofs. They keep cattle and horses but have no servants. Their food includes jvari, bajri, pulse, fish, and the flesh of goats and sheep, deer, fowls, and hares. They drink liquor and serve it to such of the guests as take it before sitting to dine. They give caste dinners on births marriages and deaths. The men dress in a round turban much like a Maratha Kunbi turban, a coat, a jacket, and a waistcloth. The women dress in a robe and bodice. Their boys are married between eleven and fifteen and their girls between nine and eleven. The boy's father sends a present to the girl's to ask if her parents will give their daughter in marriage. If they agree, a Deshasth Brahman is called, the horoscopes of the boy and girl are laid before him, and he calculates and says whether or not the marriage will prove lucky. Next day, if the answer is favourable, the boy's father with a Brahman and a few kinspeople, goes to the girl's and the Brahman tells them that the stars are favourable. The Brahman prepares two marriage papers or patrikas, fixes the marriage day, and leaves with a present of about 1s. (8 as.) from each house. Then the boy's father with his nearest kinsfolk and friends, and with the Brahman priest goes to the girl's and sits on a carpet on the veranda. The girl is called, the priest repeats verses, and the boy's father presents the girl with a robe and bodice and an ornament. The girl takes the present, goes into the house, dresses, and coming out resumes her seat. The boy's father fills her lap with fruit and dry cocoa kernels. He and his friends are treated to a feast of cooked rice with sugar, and return to their homes with a packet of betelnut and leaves. About two days before the marriage the girl's parents with music and friends go to the boy's with a present of millet gruel or ambil and offer it to little children. In front of the house a marriage hall is built and on one side of the hall an earthen altar is raised. On the wedding morning after the household have bathed, five married women are asked to a feast, and a wedding guardian or devak which consists of apta Bauhinia tomentosa, shami Prosopis spicegera, mango, and jambhul Syzigium jambolanum branches, is brought with music from Maruti's temple where a Gurav sits with the branches in his hands. Then with music they bring from the potter's eleven earthen pots and drop some grains of rice into each pot, sprinkle the pots with turmeric powder, and lay them before the house gods. The boy's relations present the girl with a robe and bodice, rub her body with turmeric, and fill her lap with fruit, cocoa-kernels, and rice, a feast is held, and the boy's relations retire. The boy's relations seat the boy on horseback and start in procession for the girl's. At the girl's door cooked rice and cocoanuts are waved round the boy's head and dashed on the ground.
The boy walks into the marriage hall and is seated on the altar. The girl is called and she and her mother are presented with a robe and bodice, and her father with a turban. The boy stands on the altar and the girl is made to stand before him face to face and a cloth is held between them. The Brahman repeats verses and the guests keep throwing grains of jvari on the heads of the boy and girl. When this is over the boy and girl are husband and wife. They are seated on low wooden stools near the altar and round their wrists threads are bound to each of which is tied a turmeric root and a marriage paper or patrika. The boy and girl then go into the house and bow before the house gods. A feast is given, betel is served, and the guests withdraw. Next morning the boy and girl are taken to the girl's and friends and relations are feasted. On the third day comes the sada or robe ceremony when the boy's father presents the girl with a robe and bodice and ornaments, and the girl's father presents the boy with a turban and waistcloth. The boy and girl are seated on horseback, taken to the village god, and brought back to the girl's house, where they bow to the elders of the family and to the house gods and the boy's parents take the boy to their house with the girl. The wedding ends with a feast or two at the boy's to the girl's friends and the untying of the turmeric bracelets and the marriage papers. Widow marriage is allowed. The man makes the offer of marriage, and the wedding generally takes place between ten and twelve at night in the presence of a few near relations. It is kept secret till next morning when a few kinspeople and friends are asked to dine. When a girl comes of age word is sent to the boy's and she is taken with music to the boy's house. If the family is well-to-do a wooden frame is built, if not, she is seated on a blanket in the house near the wall. She rubs wet turmeric on her hands and presses them over her back against the wall. On the fourth day the boy's mother bathes her, and, on any lucky day within sixteen days after she comes of age, her parents present her with a robe and bodice. The boy is also presented with a carpet, bedding, betel, a waistcloth, and a turban, flower garlands are put round his neck, and a feast is held. In the evening the girl prepares the bedding and presents the boy with betel packets, and both are taken to the bedroom and the door is closed. Either in the fifth or the seventh month of a girl's first pregnancy a feast is held, and her parents present the girl with a green robe and bodice, and green glass bangles. The boy's father takes her to the village god before whom she bows, he then leads her to his house, where a second feast is held, and she is presented with another robe and bodice. When the child is born a hole is dug, and, along with a copper coin, the navel cord and afterbirth are buried in the hole. The child is bathed, rolled in swaddling bands, and laid on the cot beside its mother. The mother is bathed, bows before the hole, and is laid on the cot. On the fifth the goddess Satvai is worshipped, and on a grindstone are laid the rolling-pin and the healing roots and herbs which are to be given to the mother. Cooked food, including rice, and wheat cakes and fruit and betel are offered, and the midwife is dined. At night a knife is placed under the mother's pillow and this ends the fifth day. On the tenth, the whole house is cowdunged, all the clothes are washed, and the mother and child are bathed. On the eleventh the mother and child are bathed and the cot is washed. On the twelfth the child is named and married women are feasted. The guests present the mother and child with clothes, lay the child in a cradle, and name it, wet gram is served, and the guests withdraw. After three months the father's kinsfolk present the mother with clothes, her lap is filled with rice and fruit, and her husband's kinspeople bring her to his house. Between the time when the child is three months and one year old a barber clips its hair and a feast is given. Until the mother is pregnant a second time, no top-knot is left on the boy's head. When she becomes pregnant she and the child are taken before the village god and a tuft of hair is left on the crown of the child's head. Near kinspeople are feasted on the spot, and they return to their homes. When a Kamathi dies butter is rubbed on his head and warm water is poured over his body, a silk cloth is tied round his loins, his body is sprinkled with redpowder and betel leaves, flower garlands are thrown round his neck, the Jangam marks the brow with cowdnng ashes, and the body is laid on a bamboo bier. The body is covered from head to foot with a white cloth, it is raised by four persons, musicians head the party, and the son walks in front of the bearers with an earthen firepot The Jangam walks in front blowing a conch shell.
The body is burnt, and the Jangam retires with a present of a couple of coppers. As soon as the body is moved from the house, the spot on which it lay is cowdunged, ashes are spread, and a lighted lamp is set close by and left for three days. At the end of the three days the ashes are searched for footprints, and the marks are supposed to be. those of the animal into which the spirit of the dead has passed. After examining them the ashes are gathered and thrown into the river. Mourning lasts ten days. On the thirteenth a feast is given to castefellows including the corpse-bearers, or, if the heir is poor only the bearers are asked. The Kamathis are Shaivs. The men mark their brows with ashes and sandal and the married women rub theirs with redpowder. They worship the ordinary Hindu gods, and visit Benares, Jejuri, Nasik, and Pandharpur. They worship the cholera and small-pox goddesses Mariamma and Pochamma, and Musalman saints or pirs. They keep the usual Hindu holidays. They wear neither the sacred thread nor the ling. During their monthly sickness the women are held impure for four days. Their priests are Deshasth Brahmans and they treat both them and Jangams with great respect. They have house images of Ambabai, Khandoba, and embossed plates or taka of their dead ancestors whom they daily offer flowers and cooked food. There has been no recent change in their beliefs or practices. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. They do not send their boys to school and are a steady people.
Khatiks
Kha'tiks, or Butchers, are returned as numbering 746 and found in large towns and villages all over the district. They believe they came into the district five or six generations ago. They are like Marathas and speak Marathi both at home and abroad. The men wear a short top-knot. Their houses are of mud and stone with flat or tiled roofs and contain brass copper and earthen vessels. They do not keep servants, but have sheep and goats and some cows and buffaloes. They eat fish and the flesh of goats and sheep and drink liquor. Their staple food is jvari bread, vegetables, and pulse. Except that they are neater and cleaner, their dress and ornaments do not differ from those of Marathas. They are hardworking and are more restless and active than other low class Hindus. They are fond of show and pleasure and are rather extravagant. Most are mutton butchers, but some trade in sheep and goats buying them in the Nizam's country and sending them to Bombay. Some are poor and live as labourers, but as a class they are well-to-do. Their trade is generally brisk and they have a fair income and often some capital of their own. Their women, besides minding the house, grind corn and help their husbands in selling mutton, and the children take the animals to pasture outside of the town. They worship the same gods as Marathas and their priests, whom they treat with no great respect, are Deshasth Brahmans. They keep the same fasts and feasts as Marathas, believe in witchcraft and sorcery, and have the same marriage and other rites. They have a caste council and their headman is styled a mhetre. They do not send their boys to school and are a well-to-do class.
Lodhis
Lodhis are returned as numbering 338 and as found scattered over the whole district. They are Pardeshis and are dark tall and strong. The men wear the topknot and earknots, and the moustache. They speak Hindustani at home, and Marathi and Kanarese with others. They live in thatched huts and keep cattle, sheep, and fowls. Their daily food includes jvaribread, split pulse, vegetables, spices, and oil, and, when they can afford them, fish flesh and liquor. The men dress in a shirt, a pair of drawers, a coat or a shouldercloth, and a turban or headscarf. The women dress in the petticoat and bodice, a necklace of black glass beads with a button or two of gold fastened to it, silver glass and lac bracelets, and bellmetal toe-rings. They are a hardworking people, but intemperate and improvident and wanting in courtesy and hospitality. They are cart drivers, thatchers, fuel-sellers, tillers, and day labourers. Their family deities are Ambabai and Khandoba, and they generally keep no fasts. They allow widow marriage, practise polygamy, and either bury or burn their dead. They mourn ten days, offer balls to the crows on the twelfth, and if well-to-do give a caste feast. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. A few of them send their boys to school. They are a poor people.
Pardeshis
Pardeshis, literally Foreigners, chiefly Brahmans and Rajputs from Upper India, and their children by local Maratha mistresses, who also call themselves Rajputs, Pardeshis, or Deccan, Pardeshis, are returned as numbering 3295 and as found in large towns and villages all over the district. They have come in considerable numbers since the railway has made travelling easy. They are strong, dark, and tall. Some of the men wear the beard and others whiskers; others again both shave the head and the face. They speak Hindustani with or without a mixture of Marathi. They live in ordinary houses and sometimes keep cattle and goats. They are great eaters, generally taking one very large meal in the afternoon. Their staple food includes wheat, jvari, split pulse, and butter. Their mistresses and their children, like Marathas, take fish flesh and liquor. They smoke tobacco and hemp flower, eat opium, and drink opium and hemp water or bhang. The men dress in a waistcloth reaching to the knee, a jacket, and a cap or turban folded in Maratha fashion. A few of them have North Indian wives, who dress in a petticoat and a bodice fastened either in front or behind, and an upper robe with which they carefully hide the face. Their mistresses and children dress like Marathas. They are proud, hot-tempered, clean, faithful, thrifty, obedient, strong and brave, and will face any danger to save their employer's life and property. They show no attachment to their illegitimate children and mistresses and often desert them and go back to Upper India, though they occasionally marry Maratha girls and settle in the district. Pardeshis take service either with Government or with private persons as messengers and watchmen and follow almost all callings. They keep sweetmeat, parched grain, and fruit shops, and are tillers, barbers, shoemakers, potters, washermen, milkmen, and labourers. The Brahmans act as priests to their countrymen. They are a saving people and are seldom in debt. They are generally Shaivs, but they worship all Hindu gods and goddesses and keep the regular fasts and feasts. On the birth of a child the mother is impure for twelve days. If the child is a boy, four or five musket shots are fired. On the sixth day Satvai is worshipped, generally under the form of a rupee. On the twelfth the child is cradled and named, the name being whispered into the child's ear by its father. When the child is five or six months old its hair is cut by the village barber, and the legitimate sons of Brahmans are girt with the sacred thread at the age of seven or eight. They marry their boys between twelve and twenty-five. They have a betrothal ceremony before marriage. At the marriage they rub the boy and girl with oil and turmeric at their homes, and as telsadas or oil robes, the fathers-in-law present the boy and girl each with a white cloth, ten and a half and seven and a half feet long. The boy goes on horseback to the girl's, and is there presented with a new waistcloth which he puts on. The waistcloth he wore before becomes the property of the barber's wife and she takes it. In the marriage hall a post is fixed in the ground and near it is set an earthen jar full of cold water covered with an earthen lid in which a dough lamp is kept burning. The boy and girl are made to stand face to face, a cloth is held between them, the priest repeats verses and the priest and the guests throw rice on their heads and they are husband and wife. The sacrificial fire is lit, and the marriage ends with the boy and girl walking seven times round the earthen jars. Feasts are interchanged and the boy walks with the girl to her new home. Pardeshis bum their dead, mourn ten days, offer rice balls on the eleventh, the mourners become pure on the twelfth, the sacrificial fire is lit on the thirteenth, and thirteen earthen pots each with a copper coin in it," a piece of white cloth seven or eight feet long, and a betel packet are presented to thirteen Brahmans, along with wheat, butter, and pulse. They have a caste council, send their boys to school, and are fairly off.
Raddis
Raddis are returned as numbering 2698 and as found over the whole district. They speak Telugu, live in ordinary houses, eat fish and flesh, and drink liquor. The men dress in a waistcloth, coat, waistcoat, and headscarf; and the women in a robe and bodice drawing the upper end of the robe over the head, but not pulling the skirt back between the feet. They sell scented oils, powders, tooth paste and frankincense sticks, and also cultivate. Their chief objects of worship are Ganesh, Ishvar, Jamblamma, Mallikarjun, and Vyankatraman, and their priests are Telang Brahmans. They marry their girls between eight and ten, are impure for twenty-one days after the birth of a child, worship the goddess Satvai on the third, and name the child on the thirty-fourth. They raise four earthen altars, two at the girl's and two at the boy's. At the time of marriage at the girl's the boy and girl are seated on low wooden stools set on the two altars, they are touched by an iron bar which is laid between the two stools, and verses are read over them by the priest. After an exchange of feasts the boy leads his bride to his house where they are again seated on altars. They either bury or burn their dead and mourn ten days, and on the tenth shave the chief mourner's moustache. They offer rice balls on the tenth and feast castefellows either on the twelfth or thirteenth. They send their boys to school and are a steady people.
