Lonari: Deccan
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Lonari
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 |
Lonari, Lonmali, Lonkar — lime and charcoal burners, who are mostly to be found in the Districts of Parbhani, Bhir and Aurangabad of the Aurangabad Subah.
History Except for the vague account 'that they were created by Mahadeva for the purpose of manufacturing salt, they have no traditions respecting their origin. The earliest mention of their name occurs in the Mahabharata, where Vidura advises Dhritarashtra to act like a Malakar (maJi or gardener), who grows trees and eats fruit, instead of like a Lonari, who bums trees and prepares charcoal. Some authorities say that they are the offspring of a Kaivartaka father and a Jadhika mother. The members of the caste hold themselves to be a branch of the Maratha Kunbis, separated from the main group by reason of their having adopted the profession,, of lime burning. They further add that they occupy a degraded position, because they are associated with the donkey which carries broken lime-stone to the kiln for burning. It is said that the sheori tree (Seshania cBgypUaca) is held in the greatest reverence by all members of the caste.
Internal Structure
The Lonaris are divided into two sub- castes : (1) Lonaris and (2) Kadu Lonaris, or the illegitimate descendants of Lonaris. These two classes interdine but do not intermarry.
The following are some of the exogamous sections, which would appear to be the same as those of the Maratha Kunbis.
(1) Dagde (8) Satpute
(2) Dhokkat (9) Tambe
(3) Balanker (10) Landage
(4) Khandekar (11) Jhadge
(5) Sinde (12) Gargunda
(6) Dhone (13) Murge
(7) Gavane (14) Kavale
(15) Muthekar (18) Wangdare
(16) Khade (19) Adane
(17) Karande (20) Ingale.
As a rule, marriage within the section is forbidden. A man is not allowed to marry the daughter either of his maternal or paternal aunt. He may marry the daughter of his maternal uncle. The marriage of two sisters to* the same man is permitted. Two brothers may marry two sisters.
Marriage
Girls are married both before and after they have attiined the age of puberty. Sexual intercourse before marriage is punished by a nominal fine. If a girl becomes pregnant before marriage, her paramour is compelled by the caste council to marry her. Her children are, however, ranked among the Kadu Lonaris. Sexual indiscretion with an outsider is punished by expulsion from the caste. Polygamy is permitted without limit, and poverty is the only restriction to the number of wives a man may have.
The boy's father goes to select a suitable bride for his son. When the girl is approved of, and both parties are satisfied as to their respective selections, the caste people meet and celebrate the occasion with a drink at the expense of the boy's father. This cere- mony is known as Khushali. The horoscopes of the betrothed pair are compared by a Brahman astrologer and an auspicious date is fixed for the performance of the actual marriage, which is solemnized under a booth erected at the girl's house. The deva devaka, or marriage guardian deity, consists of panchpallaci, i.e., leaves of the mango (Mangijera indica), jambul (Eugenia Jambolana), umbar [Ficus glomeraia), shami {Prosopis spicigera) and rui (Calotropis gigantea). The maniage ceremony corresponds precisely with that current among other Maratha castes. The bridegroom is taken in procession on a bullock to the bride's house. The bride and the bridegroom are made to stand face to face on bamboo baskets, a curtain is held between them and the officiating Brahman recites mantras and throws turmeric-coloured jaWari grains on their heads. The curtain being withdrawn, the bridal pair exchange garlands of flowers and are encircled with cotton thread which, formed into thread bracelets, is tied on their wrists. This last rite, which n styled Kankanbandhan, is regarded by some to be the valid portion of the ceremony. In the opinion of others, Saptapadi, or the seven rounds which the bridal pair take round the sacred fire (homa), makes the marriage irrevocable.
Widow-Marriage
A widow is allowed to marry again, and her choice of a second husband is unrestricted, provided she avoids the sections of her father and her first husband, and observes the prohibited degrees. The ritual is very simple. Late on a dark night, the bridegroom, accompanied by a few of his friends, goes to the bride's house, where the principal members of the taste Panchayat have already assembled. He takes his seat upon a low wooden stool placed inside a square marked out with grains of wheat. The bride is brought in by widows and seated by his side. After puja has been done by the priest (Brahman) to Ganpati and Varuna, represented by a betel nut and a water pot, respectively, the clothes of the couple are knotted together and their heads are brought into contact. They make obeisance before the famil); gods, the priest and elderly relations, ?fter which the knot is untied. Very early next morning, the pair go to Maruti's temple, where the widow is concealed till evening, in order that her unlucky face may not be seen by virgin wives. The proceedings end with a feast provided by the bridegroom.
Divorce
Divorce is permitted on the ground of the wife's adultery or bad temper, or the husband's impotency or ill treatment. A divorce bond is drawn up, and attested by the caste panchas, and their sanction to the act being thus obtained, the woman is driven out of the house. The husband recovers all the ornaments he gave her while she was his wife. Divorced women may marry again by the same ceremony as widows.
Inheritance
The Lonaris follow the Hindu law of inherit- ance. It is said, however, that an extra share is granted to the youngest son.
Religion
In point of religion, the Lonaris are orthodox Hindus, worshipping the regular gods and belonging to the Warkari, Saiva or Vaishanava sects, according as to whether they observe the cult of Vithoba, Mahadeva, or Vishnu. Khandoba, whose principal
shrine is at Jejuri in the Poena District, is their favourite deity, to whom offerings of flowers, yellow powder (hhandara) and sweets are made every Saturday and Monday. The god is worshipped with great pomp annually on the Sat holiday, which falls on the 6th of the light half of Margashirsha, when goats are sacrificed to him and Waghes, his special devotees, are feasted in his name. Mari Ai, the goddess presiding over cholera, and Sitala Mata, the goddess of smallpox, are propitiated with a vaViety of animal offerings, when these epidemics break out in the family. The worship of animistic objects, such as the Jobra on Nagpanchami, or the 5th of Sravana (September), tuhi plant or sacred basil (Ocimum sancium), the lOadh or banyan [Ficus bengalensis) and the pipal {Ficus religiosa) is relegated to women. The members of the caste observe all the Hindu festivals and make pilgrimages to Pandharpur, Alandi, Jejuri, Tuljapur, and even to Benares if means permit. Desha^tha Brahmins are employed for religious and ceremonial purposes.
Disposal of, the Dead
The dead bodies are disposed of either by creation or burial. Persons dying of cholera and smallpox, women in child-birth and children under three years of age are buried. When burial is resorted to, the corpse is laid in the grave in a lying posture, with the head pointing south. In the case of cremation, the dead body is placed, face upwards, on a pyre made of dung cakes or faggots, which is ignited by the chief mourner. The ashes are collected on the third day after death and thrown into a sacred stream. On the 10th day, Sradha is performed and balls of rice are offered to the departed spirit. On the thirteenth day, a feast is given to the caste people. Libations of water are poured in the names of the manes of departed ancestors on the 3rd of Vaishakha and on the last day of Bhadrapad. Mourning is observed 10 days for the near agnates. The son of the deceased or, if there is none, the chief mourner, shaves his moustache.
Social Status
Notwithstanding that they boast of their descent from the Maratha Kunbis, the social standing of the Lonaris is just below that of the latter, who will neither eat nor drink wiih them. Their degraded position is due, as has been already men- tioned, to the fact that they use donkeys for carrying their burdens.
They drink country liquor and eat fish and the flesh of ^oats, sheep, fowl and hare, but abstain from beef and pork. They do not eat the leavings of any caste.
The Lonaris have a caste council, presided over by a headman called chaudhari. All questions bearing on the social usages of the caste are laid before them for decision, and disregard of their orders may, in extreme cases, be punished by excommunication. Ordinarily, however, a fine is inflicted, whfch is spent in giving a feast to the members of the caste. The members of the caste do not wear the sacred thread. '
Occupation
The traditional occupation of the caste appears to have been that or lime and charcoal burning, and cement making, to which they still adhere. A nodular lime-stone, called kankar extensively found in the black soil of the Parbhani, Bhir and Aurangabad Districts. The stone is broken into small fragments ; alternate layers of wood and these fragments are laid in a circular brick kiln, with a hole at the bottom for the introduction of fire, and the kiln is left burning for nearly a week, at the end of which period the lime is removed. The fuel generally cons'sls of wood and charcoal, and is used in the proportion of 40 maunds to every 75 maunds of lime-stone, and the yield is about 50 maunds of well- burnt lime. The mode of preparing charcoal is to set on fire a heap of wood, and, after allowing it to burn for some time, to quench it either by water or by heaping earth upon it. The woods of the babul {Acacia arahica), tamarind (Tamarindus indica), k.hair (Acacia catechu) and other hard-wooded trees, yield excellent charcoals for domestic purposes, while those of bamboos and the stems of palmyra leaves, are said to furnish the best charcoals for ironsmiths. The lime and charcoal thus made is sold in the bazar. A few of the Lonaris have taken to cultivation, holding lands as occupancy or non-occupancy raiats and working as agricultural labourers.
