Magh
Contents |
Magh
This section has been extracted from THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
NOTE 1: Indpaedia neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this article. Readers who wish to add fresh information can create a Part II of this article. The general rule is that if we have nothing nice to say about communities other than our own it is best to say nothing at all.
NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all posts in this series have been scanned from a very old book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot scanning errors are requested to report the correct spelling to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.
Mag, the popular designation of a group of Indo¬ Chinese tribes, who describe themselves by the various titles of Maramagri, Bhuiya Magh, Barua Magh, Rajbansi Magh, Marma or Myam-ma, Roang Magh, Thongtha or Jumia Magh. Ooncerning the use and derivation of the name Magh there has been much discussion, and the question cannot be considered as having been finally settled. Wilson 1 followed by Ritter,2 Fr. Muller,s and Colonel Yule,4 defines it as name commonly applied to the natives of Arakan, parti¬cularly those bordering on Bengal or residing near the sea,-the people of Chittagong." Sir Arthur Phayre, quoted by colonel Yule, derives the name from" Maga the name of the ruling race for many centuries in Magadha (modern Behar). The kings of Arakan were no doubt originally of this race; for though this is not distinctly expressed in the histories of Arakan, there are several legends of kings from Benares reiguing in that country, and one, regarding a Brahman, who manies a native princess and whose desceudants reign for a long period." Dalton5 appears to take much the same view regarding the Arakanese as an outlying branch of the Burmese, and adding that the name Magh is pxclusively a foreign pitbet, unknown to the Arakanese themselves. Mantegazza G follows Dalton on the whole, but seems to look upon the term Magh as rather a tribal Dame than the general designation of tbe people who iubabit a particular tract of country.
Internal structure
In its actual use at the present day the term Magh includes three endogamous groups :' the Thongtha, Thongcha, or Jumia Magh; 8 tbe Marma, Myamma, Ro€mg or Rakhaing Magh;9 and the Maramagri, otherwise known as Rajbansi, Barua, or Bhuiya Magh. The first and second bave been described by Lewin under the name Khyouogtha or 'chiildren of the river,' a designation based upon locality and not COrrespooding to any real tribal distinction. Both the Jumia and the Roang Magbs probably belong to the same original stock, but the former bave so loug been settled in the Chit¬tagong country that they regard themselves as the aborigines of tbe Hill 'tracts, while the latter belong to a more recent stream of immigrants from Arakan.• The physical characteristics of both triues are unmistakea bl)' Mongolian. 'Their stature is low, the face uroad and fiat, cheekbones high and wide, nose fiat and bridgeless, I Glossary, S.v. Magh. 2 Erd-Kltnde, v, 324. 3 A lemeine Etlmograpl.ie, 405. 4 Anqlo-indian Glossal•Y. s.u. Mugg. s Etlmolog.'1J of Bengal, 112. 6 Studii wil'Etllologia dell'India, p. 331. 7 Hill Tracts of Cltitiagollfj. p. 36. 8 Some remarks on the defects of Captain Lewin's classification of the hill tribes into Khyoungtha and Toungtha will be found in the article on Chakma above. To those objection it should be added that the classes Khyoungtha and Toungtha do not appear to be mutually exclusive. Captain Lowin him elf states (p. 37) that" Khyoungtha means those wLo inhabit the hanks of mountain streams and support themselves by hill cultivation;" a nd if this definition be accepted, it is difficult to ee Low the line between the twO classe should he drawn. 9 Roang seem to be a corruption of Rakhaing, the indigenous name for the Alakan country or its inhabitants. .Arakan, agaiu, i the European form of RakLaing or Rakhang. Colonel Yule (Anglo•Indian GlOSsary, art. Arakan) thinks that we may have got Araltan through the Malay. but the early connexion of !.he Al nbs wilh ChiLtagong seews to justif-y the conjecture that the word May be simply Al-Rakhang. and eyes small with eyelids obliquely set j I while according to Lewin the men have neither beard nor moustache.
The Maramaori or Rajbansi Magh are of an entirely different type. They are supposed by Colonel Phayre to be " the offspring of Bengali women by Burmans when the latter possessed Chittagong j" and this theory of their origin is borne out by the fact that their exogamous septs are similar to those of the Thongtha and Marma. All external indications of their Mongolian descent have, however, been obliterated by generations of intermarriage with the non-Aryan Bengalis of Chittagong and Noakhali j and the Rajbansi Maghs, who are largely employed as cooks in Calcutta, have the glossy black complexion, wavy hair, and abundant beard and moustache which oharacterise the lower oastes of Eastern Bengal. It 'may be added that their somewhat insolent bearing and excitable manner of speech complete the contrast with the stolid, but amiable Mongolians, from whom they are remotely descended.
The septs of the three sub-tribes are shown in Appendix I.
Most of them, as Lewin has pointed out, appear to be the names of
the rivers on whicb the original settlements of the sept were situated.
They observe the simple rule that a man may not marry a woman of
his own sept, supplemented by a table of prohibited degrees, which
does Hot differ materially from that arrived at by the standard
formula already often referred to. In applying these prohibitions,
however, there seems to be some laxity where descent is tracel t
through female~, for I am informed that a man may marry the
daughters of his bther's sister and of his mother's brother-a
connexion which would not ordinarily be allowed.
Marriage
The Maramagri marry their daughters either as infants or as adults, and there is some teudency among them to regard the former usage as more 1'e pectable from the social point of view. Marmas and Thongchas adhere to the more primitive custom of adult-maniage, and more or less expressly tolerate sexual intercourse as one of the necessary incidents of prematrimonial courtship. Their marriage ceremony, says Lewin," "is distinctive and uncommon. On a young man attaining a marriage¬able age, that i , about 17 to 18, his parents look about for SOllie young girl wbo would be a good wife to him, unle s, as is more often the ca e, he has fixed upon a partner for himself. Having determined upon a suitable match, amale relative of the family is sent off to the girl's parents to arrange matters. On arriving at their village he proceeds to the house, and before going up the house ladder he gives the usual salutation, with both hands joined and raised to the forehead. 'O.qatsa,' he says, 'a boat has oome to your landing place; will you bind it or loose it?' A favourable response is given, and he then goes up into the house. On seating himself he asks, 'Are the supports of the house firm?' If the I The apparent obliquity of the Mongolian eye is due to a peculiar confor¬mation of the eyl'lids, and does not extend to the orbit itself. See Topinnrd, Elements d'tlnthl'opologie Generale, p. 998. z Hill T1'acts of C!.ittc:;.gollg, p. 49. answer is, 'They are firm,' it is favourable. and matters may then be more fully entered into. The affair is taken into consideration, and he returns to his own village to report good progress to the bride¬groom's parents, and to request them to fix a day for taking the omens. On the appointed day the parents meet, the young people being supposed to know nothing of all this. A fowl is killed by the fathers, its tongue taken out, and, accordingto certain marks thereon, the matter is pronounced good or bad.
The bridegroom's parents sleep for the night at the Louse of the intended bride, and all parties look anxiously for dreams by which to foretell the happiness or the reverse of the union. On going away, should everything be propitious, their intended daughter kneels at their feet for a blessing, and they present her with a new petticoat and a silver ring. Learned persons are then called in, who, by consulting the stars and casting the nativity of the parties, determine a favourable day and hour when the ceremony shall be undertaken. Meantime the parents on both sides prepare pigs and spirits, rice and spices, unlimited, for the marriage feast. They also send round to all their kith and kin a fowl and a letter giving notice of the intended marriage; in some places a pice or copper coin is substituted for the fowl. On the auspicious day, and at the hour appointed, the bridegroom and all his relatives set out for the bride's house, dressed in the gayest colours, both men and women, with drums beating before them. On arriving at the entrance of the village the female relatives of the bride bar the approach with a bamboo. Across this barrier the bridegroom has to drink a loving cup of fraternity, generally spirits. Should the females on the bride's side muster strong, the road will probably be barred five or six times before the entry into the village is fairly made. The bridegroom, however, does not drink all that is given him, but after taking the liquor in his mouth he is allowed to eject it again upon the ground. " In the village, on some open tud.y spot, a number of bamboo booths have been erected, adorned with flowers and green boughs, and filled with materials for feasting. Here also sit an oppositiun party of drummers, and mighty is the row as the bridegroom's party defiles on to this spot. A separate and specially beautified booth has been ereoted for the young lover and his parentE, and here they sit in state and reoeive visits from all the village. The bride in like manner, surrounded by her near relatives, sits in her father's house. The boys of the village, irrepressible as is the wont of that species, make raids upon both parties, for the purpose of chaffing and getting alternate feasts of comestibles. They also organize an amateur band of music, and serenade the bride towards evening with fiddles and flutes. Of oourse, all the girls of the village are congregated at the bride's fatber's house, and, as license and riot are the order of the day, the fun here grows fast and furious. Towards nightfall the bridegroom ascends to his bride's house amid a tempest of cheers and a hailstorm of drums. After this outburst a temporary lull ensues, to permit of the ceremony being performed. The bride is brought forth from an inner chamber in the arms of the women. On the floor of the house are placed water in jars, rice, and mango leaves. Round these a new-Sptll Cot.ton-thrl:'ad is wound and carried again round the two coutraoting parties as they staud opposite to each other. The 'poongyee,' or priest, uow comes forward; he recites some prayers ill a language that is not understood even by himself (probably Pali), and then taking cooked rice, a handful in each hand, he crosses and recrosses his arms, giving seven alternate mouthfuls to the bride and bridegroom; after this he takes their hands and crooks the little finger of the bridegroom's right hand into the little finger of the bride's left. The oeremony is then conoluded by more unintelligible mutterings. The bridegroom now takes the bride by the hand, and together they make the circuit of the room, saluting lowly the elder relatives of both families. They then sit down-the bride to the left of her husband, and their clothes are tied together. The weddiug guests then come forward and place at their feet, eaoh aooorrung to his or her means, some presents of clothes or household furniture. After this a saturnalia ensues, of dancing, drinking, fighting, and love-making. The bride and bridegroom are expeoted to sit up all night. I should add that the happy man does not consummate his marriage until he and his wife (sleeping apart) have for seven days eaten together seven times a day."
The bride-price among Thongchas and Marmas is said to be about Rs. 30. With the Maramagris, who as a olass are wealthier, the average amount paid for a wife is Rs. 60, which may rise to Rs. 80 if the bridegroom is of inferior status, as, for example, in the event of a Bhuiya Magh mtrrying the daughter of a Rajbansi Magh. The ceremony ill use among the Maramagris is of the same general character as that described above, the essential portion being the crooking together of the little fingers of the bridegroom's left hand and the bride's right, while the priest pours water over the hands thus joined. This is followed by sindul'dan or smearing vermilion on the bride's forehead-a form which appears to have been borrowed from the Hindus.
The Marma ritual is still more like that of the Thongchas, and does not include si'ldul•dan. In the course of the wedding the bride and bridegroom eat some curry and rice from th':! same dish, and what they leave is kept in a covered earthen vessel for seven days, during which time the married coufJle may not leave the village or oross running water. On the eighth the vessel is opened, aud ifmaggots are found in toe food it is deemed an excellent omen, showing that the marriage will be a fruitful one. Polygamy is recognized: a man may have as many wives as he ca~ .affor~ to maintain. The first wife, however. is regarded as the hlghest m rank. and takes precedence of all subsequent wives, who are expected to treat her with special consideration. In all the sub-tribes widows are allowed to marry again, and are fettered by no re"triotions in their choice of a second husband. No special ritual is crdRined for this purpose, and as a rule the parties simply go and live together as man and wife. Divorce is permitted, with the sanction of the tribal panchayat, on the ground of adultery or inability to live happily together. A written agreement is usually drawn up, and sometimes, when the authority of the panchyat is deemed insufficient, this" writing of divorcement" is laid before the Magistrate of the ditrict. Among the Thongchas th e parties give one another flowers, and after bathing go off in different directions, exohanging all kinds of abusive epithets. Divorced wives may marry again by the ritual in use for the remarriage of widows.
Religion
All Maghs are Buddhists of the Southern school, and regard the northern Buddhists of Tibet as wholly unorthodox. The wilder seotions of the Thong¬ohas, however, retain some vestiges of an earlier animistio faith, whioh bids them saorifioe oattle, goats, and swine, and make offerings of rioe, fruits, and flowers to the spirits of hill and rivel:. Among the Maramagris, on the other hand, the tendenoy is to follow after modern Hinduism, partioularly in its Tantrio developments, and to add the gross worship of Siva and DUTga to the simple observanoes prescribed by their own oommunion. It thus oomes to pass that while the Buddhist Plmngyis or Raolis are the reoognized priests of all the tribes, oonsiderable respeot is shown to Brahmans, who are frequently employed to determine auspioious days for partioular aotions, and to assist in the worship of the Hindu gods. Among the rrhongohas old women often devote themselves to the servioe of religion, and although not charged with speci.al ceremonial functions, are regarded as in some sense priestesses, and are called by the distinctive name lerdama.
Disposal of the dead
The funeral ceremonies of the Maghs are thus described by Lewin :-" When a person has clied, his relatives assemble. Some one of them sits down and commences to beat the funeral roll on the drum; the women weep and cry, and the men busy themselves, some in performing the last offices to the corpse, of washing, dressing, etc., while others go off to the woods and bring wood for the funeral pile, and bamboos with which to construct the bier. About 24 hours generally elapse from the time of death to that of cremation. In bearing the corpse from the house to the burning ground, if the deceased were a man of wealth or influence, the body may be borne on a wheeled car; all women also bave this privilege; the plebs, however, are simply carried to the funeral pile on the shoulders of their relatives. The procession is after this fashion :-First come the priests, if there are any in the vicinity to attend; they march gravely at the head of the party, bearing on their shoulders their curved palm• leaf fans, clad in their ordinary saffron -coloured robes, and attended by their disciples. Next come relatives of the deceased, two and two, bearing food, clothes, etc., which have been offered as alms to the priests on behalf of the departed. Next is borne the bier, carried on bamboos by six men, and accompanied by as many drUIDS as can be procured. Behind the coffin come the male relatives; and lastly, the procession is closed by the women of the village, olad in their best. The funeral pile is composed of four layers of wood for a woman, three for a man. The body is placed on the pile; the leading priest takes an end of the dead man's turban, and, holding it, repeats some passages of the law, four of the deceased's male relatives standing meanwhile at the four corners of the pile and sprinkling c a few drops of water thereon. The nearest blood relative, mille or female, of the dead man then fires the pile. When the fire is extinguished the ashes are scrupulously collected together and buried over the spot; a. small conical mound of earth is heaped up, and a very long bamboo pole, with an equally lengthy flag, is erected over the grave. On returning from the place all parties bathe themselves. If it is the master of the house who has died, the ladder leading up to the house is thrown down, and they must effect an entrance by cutting a hole in the back wall and so creeping up. The relatives eat and ill'ink, and each contributes according to his means to defray the expenses incurred. After seven days the priests reassemble at the house to read prayers for the dead."
In the case of priests and persons of high social position the corpse is dried or embalmed and kept for a year in a special coffin, while arrangements are being made for an elaborate funeral, which usually takes place on the 1st of Baisakh. A temporary pagoda is built of bamboo decorated with coloured paper and flags, and is set up in some open place faced by a row of bamboo cannon mounted on wheels, crammed to the muzzle with tightly-rammed powder and fitted with a long fuse. These cannon are presented by persons desirous of doing honour to the deceased, and it is deemed an act of great merit to send a cannon to the funeral of a Phungyi. On the arrival of the coffin a mimic conflict-a' tug of war'-takes place over it, the women pulling it one way and the men the other. According to another account the contest is not between the men and the women, but between the unmarried and married persons of either sex. The coffin is then placed in the pagoda, and the bamboo cannon are discharged in order of the precedence of those who presented them. Last of all the pagoda and coffin are burned, and a long bamboo, carrying a triangular flag forty-five feet long, is set up on the place. A funeral offering (lcongmu) of various kinds of food is placed on the ground on the eighth day, and this ceremony is repeated every year.
Social status
The social status of the Maghs does not admit of very precise definition, as the enti1:e community is outside of the regular caste system, and orthodox Hindus will take neither food nor water from their hands. In the matter of diet they are highly promiscuous, eating beef, pork, fowls, fish of all kinds, snakes, field-rats, lizards, and certain kinds of worms. Both sexes indulge freely in spirituous liquors. For all this they are not wholly free from prej udice as to the caste of the persons with whom they will take food; and no Maghs, except those who are fishermen themselves, will eat, drink, or smoke in the same hookah with members of the fishing castes, such as Kaibarttas and Malos, or with the Jugi caste of weavers. Tantis and Napits, on the other hand, are considered ceremonially pure, and Maghs will take water from their bands.
Occupation
The Thongcha sub-tribe live almost entirely by the peculiar method of cultivation known in Chittagong, Assam, and Northern Bengal by the name jhUm; in Burmah and Arakan as tungya; and in Chota Nagpur and the Central Provinces called daha or parao. Captain Lewin describes the system as follows ;¬
Jhum cultivation
"In the month of April a convenient piece of forest land is fixed upon, generally on a hillside, the luxuriant under-growth of shrubs and creepers has to be cleared away, and the smaller trees felled; the trees of larger growth are usually denuded of their lower branches, and left standing. If possible, however, the jhumia fixes upon a slope thickly covered with a bamboo jungle of the species called 'dolloo.' This compared with a dense tree jungle is easy to cut, and its ashes, after burning, are of greater fertilising power. Although the clearing of a patch of dense jungle is no doubt very severe labour, yet the surroundings of the labourer render his work pleasurable in comparison with the toilsome and dirty task of the cultivators of the plains. By his comparatively pleasurable toil the hill-man can gain two rupees for one which the wretched ryot of the plains can painfully earn, and it is not to be wondered at that the hill people have a passion for their mode of life, and regard with absolute contempt any proposal to settle down to the tame and monotonous cultivation of the dwellers in the low-lands. " The jhum land once cleared, the fallen jungle is left to dry in the sun, and in the month of May it is fired; this oompletes the clearing. The firing of the jhums is sometimes a souroe of danger, as at that season of the year the whole of the surrounding jungle is as dry as tinder and easily catohes fire. In this way sometimes whole villages are destroyed, and people have lost their lives. I have myself seen a whole mountain-side on fire for four days and four nights, having been ignited by jhum-firing. It was a magni¬ficent sight, but such a fire must cause incaloulable injury to the forest ; young trees especially would be utterly destroyed. Gener¬ally, however, by choosing a calm day, and keeping down the fire at the edges of the jhum, by beating with boughs, the hill people manage to keep the firing within certain prescribed limits. A general conflagration, such as I have mentioned, is of quite excep¬tional occurrence. If the felled jungle has been thoroughly dried, flnd no rain has fallen sinoe the jhum was cut, this firing will reduce all, save the larger forest trees, to ashes, and burn the soil to the depth of an inch or two. The charred trees and logs previously cut down remain lying about the ground ; these have to be dragged off the jhum and piled up all round, and with the addition of some brushwood form a species of fence to keep out wild animals.
"Work is now at a standstill, till the gathering of the heavy clouds and the grumbling of thunder denote the approach of the rains. These signs at once bring a village into a state of activity j men and women, boys and girls, each bind on the left hip a small basket filled with the mixed seeds of cotton, rice, melons, pumpkins, yams, and a little Indian corn; each takes c 2 a ' dao '1 in hand. and in a short time every hillside will echo to the 'hoiya,' or hillcall (a cry like the Swiss jodel), as party answer party from the paths winding up each hillside to their respective patcues of cultivatioll. Arrived at the jhum, the family will form a line, and steadily work their way across the field. A dig with the bluut square end of the dao makes a narrow hole about three inches deep: into this is put a small handful of the mixed seeds, and the sowing is completed. Ifshortly afterwards the rain falls, they are fortunate and have judged the time well; or (unparalleled luck) if they get wet through with the rain as they are sowing, great will be the jollification on the return home, this beiug an omen that a bumper season may be expected.
" The village now is abandoned by everyone, and the men set to work to build a house, each in his own jhum, for the crop must be carefully watched to preserve it from the wild pig and deer, which would otherwise play havoc among the young shoots of the rice. The jhums of the whole village are generally situated in propin¬quity: a solitary jhum is very rare. During the rains mutual help and assistance in weeding the crop is given; each one takes his turn to help in his neighbour's jhum; no hoeing is done; the crop has merely to be kept clear from weeds by hand labour, and an ample return is obtained. If the rain be excessive, however, the cotton orop is liable to be spoilt, as the young plants die from too much water.
" The first thing to ripen is Indian corn; this is about the end of .Tuly. Next come the melons, of which there are two or three sorts grown in the jhums : afterwards vegetables of all sorts become fit for gathering; and finally, in September, the rice and other grain ripens. At this time the monkeys and jungle fowl are the chief enemies of the crop. In the month of October the cotton crop is gathered lllst of all, and this concludes the harvest. 'l'he rice having been cut, is beaten from the ear in the jhum: it is afterwards rolled up in rough, straw-covered bales and cal'l'ied to the granary in the village.
I "The' dao' is the hill knife, used universally throughout the country. It is a blade n bout 18 inche long, narrow at the haft. and square and broad at the tip; pointless, and sharpened on one side only. The blade is set in a handle of wood; a bamboo root is considered the best. The fighti.ng 'dao' is differently shaped. Thi is a long pointle s sword, set in a wooden or ebony handle; it is very heavy, and a blow of almost incredible power can be given by one of these weapons. With both the fighting and the ordinary daD one can make but two cuts; one from the right shoulder downwards to the left, one from the left foot upwards to the right. The reason of this is that in shar¬pening the blade one side only gives the edge, slanting to the other straight face of the blade. Any attempt to cut in a way contrary to those mentioned causes the dao to turn in the hand on the striker, and I have seen some bad wounds inflicted in this manner. The weapon is identical with the "parang lalok" of the Malays. The ordinary hill dao is /1:enerally stnck naked into the waist•band on the right hip, but the fighting dao is provided with a scabbard and. worn at the wai t. The dao to a hillman is a possession of great price. It is literally the bread• winner. With this he euts his jhum and b"Jilds his bou es; without its aid the most ordinary operations of hill life could not be performed. It is with the dao that he fashions the women' weaving tool ; with the dn/) he fines off his boat; with the dao he notches a stair in the steep hillside leading to his jhum ; and to the dao he frequently owes his life, in defending himself from the attacks of wild animals."
Besides grain aud cotton, the hill tribes grow tobacco. This is planted principally in small valleys on the banks of the hill streams." In order to scare birds, deer, and wild pigs from the growing crop, a cleft bamboo is planted in the middle and connected by a long cane with the hut built for watching the crop in such a manuer that by pulling the cane the two halves of the bamboo can be clashed together and a harsh rattling noise produced. The Marmas and Maramngris have for the most part adopted a settled mode of life aud taken to plough cultivation. They also catch and sell fish, hew wood, dug-out canoes, and weave baskets and mats. The Hajbansi Maghs are accomplished cooks, and are largely employed by Europeans in that capacity. As a rule they take a keen interest in their profession, and it may be that their skill is in some measure due to their freedom from the sooial and •religious prejudices which debar other classes of native cooks from tasting the dishes which they prepare.
