Majhwar
This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly |
From The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India
By R. V. Russell
Of The Indian Civil Service
Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces
Assisted By Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner
Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.
NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh.
NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from the original book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot these footnotes gone astray might like to shift them to their correct place.
Majhwar
Majhwar, Manjhi, Majhia
A small mixed tribe who i. Origin have apparently originated from the Gonds, Mundas and ^^-^^^ Kawars. About 14,000 Majhwars were returned in 191 1 from the Raigarh, Sarguja and Udaipur States. The word Manjhi means the headman of a tribal subdivision, being derived from the Sanskrit inadhya, or he who is in the centre."^ In Bengal Manjhi has the meaning of the steersman of a boat or a ferryman, and this may have been its original application, as the steersman might well be he who sat in the centre.^ When a tribal party makes an expedition by boat, the leader would naturally occupy the position of steersman, and hence it is easy to see how the term Manjhi came to be applied to the leader or head of the clan and to be retained as a title for general use. Sir H.
Risley gives it as a title of the Kewats or fishermen and many other castes and tribes in Bengal. But it is also the name for a village headman among the Santals, and whether this meaning is derived from the prior signification of steersman or is of independent origin is uncertain. In Raigarh Mr. Hira Lai states that the Manjhis or Majhias are fishermen and are sometimes classed with the Kewats. They appear to be Kols who ' This article is based on papers by his Tribes and Castes. Mr. Hira Lai and Surai Baksh Singh, o ^ , .. ht -u - „ t . . , „ . ,' TT , • ' Crooke, art. Majhwar, para. i. Assistant Superintendent, Udaipur State, with references to Mr. Crooke's ^ Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. exhaustive article on the Majhwars in Manjhi.
2. The Mirzapur Majhwars derived from the Gonds. have taken to fishing and, being looked down on by the other Kols on this account, took the name of Majhia or Manjhi, which they now derive from Machh, a fish. " The appearance of the Majhias whom I saw and examined was typically aboriginal and their language was a curious mixture of Mundari, Santal and Korwa, though they stoutly repudiated connection with any of these tribes.
They could count only up to three in their own language, using the Santal words mit^ baria, pia. Most of their terms for parts of the body were derived from Mundari, but they also used some Santali and Korwa words. In their own language they called themselves Hor, which means a man, and is the tribal name of the Mundas." On the other hand the Majhwars of Mirzapur, of whom Mr. Crooke gives a detailed and interesting account, clearly appear to be derived from the Gonds.
They have five subdivisions, which they say are descended from the five sons of their first Gond ancestor. These are Poiya, Tekam, Marai, Chika and Oiku. Four of these names are those of Gond clans, and each of the five subtribes is further divided into a number of exogamous septs, of which a large proportion bear typical Gond names, as Markam, Netam, Tekam, Masham, Sindram and so on.
The Majhwars of Mirzapur also,, like the Gonds, employ Patharis or Pardhans as their priests, and there can thus be no doubt that they are mainly derived from the Gonds, They would appear to have come to Mirzapur from Sarguja and the Vindhyan and Satpura hills, as they say that their ancestors ruled from the forts of Mandla, Garha in Jubbulpore, Sarangarh, Raigarh and other places in the Central Provinces.^
They worship a deified Ahir, whose legs were cut off in a fight with some Raja, since when he has become a troublesome ghost. " He now lives on the Ahlor hill in Sarguja, where his petrified body may still be seen, and the Manjhis go there to worship him. His wife lives on the Jhoba hill in Sarguja. Nobody but a Baiga dares to ascend the hill, and even the Raja of Sarguja when he visits the neighbourhood sacrifices a black goat.
Manjhis believe that if these two deities are duly propitiated they can give anything they need." The story makes it ^ Crooke, Tribes and Castes of Beui^al, art. Manjhi, para. 4.
probable that the ancestors of these Manjhis dwelt in Sarguja. The Manjhis of Mlrzapur are not boatmen or fishermen and have no traditions of having ever been so. They are a backward tribe and practise shifting cultivation on burnt-out patches of forest. It is possible that they may have abandoned their former aquatic profession on leaving the neighbourhood of the rivers, or they may have simply adopted the name, especially since it has the meaning of a village headman and is used as a title by the Santals and other castes and tribes. Similarly the term Munda, which at first meant the headman of a Kol village, is now the common name for the Kol tribe in Chota Nagpur.
Again the Manjhis appear to be connected with the 3- Con-
Kawar tribe. Mr. Hira Lai states that in Raigarh they will
"v^|^h"the
take food with Kewats, Gonds, Kawars and Rawats or Ahirs, Kawars.
but they will not eat rice and pulse, the most important and
sacred food, with any outsiders except Kawars ; and this
they explain by the statement that their ancestors and those
of the Kawars were connected. In Mlrzapur the Kaurai
Ahirs will take food and water from the Majhwars, and these
AhIrs are not improbably derived from the Kawars.^
Here the Majhwars also hold an oath taken when touching a broadsword as most binding, and the Kawars of the Central Provinces worship a sword as one of their principal deities."'^ Not improbably the Manjhis may include some Kewats, as this caste also use Manjhi for a title ; and Manjhi is both a subcaste and title of the Khairwars. The general conclusion from the above evidence appears to be that the caste is a very heterogeneous group whose most important constituents come from the Gond, Munda, Santal and Kawar tribes. Whether the original bond of connection among the various people who call themselves Manjhi was the common occupation of boating and fishing is a doubtful point.
The Manjhis of Sarguja, like those of Raigarh, appear 4. Exoto
be of Munda and Santal rather than of Gond origin. fo""mism.
They have no subdivisions, but a number of totemistic septs.
Those of the Bhainsa or buffalo sept are split into the Lotan
and Singhan subsepts, lotan meaning a place where buffaloes
^ Crooke, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Manjhi, para. 63.
2 Ibidem, para. 54.
wallow and singh a horn. The Lotan Bhainsa sept saythat their ancestor was born in a place where a buffalo had wallowed, and the Singhan Bhainsa that their ancestor was born while his mother was holding the horn of a buffalo. These septs consider the buffalo sacred and will not yoke it to a plough or cart, though they will drink its milk. They think that if one of them killed a buffalo their clan would become extinct.
The Baghani Majhwars, named after the bdgJi or tiger, think that a tiger will not attack any member of their sept unless he has committed an offence entailing temporary excommunication from caste. Until this offence has been expiated his relationship with the tiger as head of his sept is in abeyance and the tiger will eat him as he would any other stranger. If a tiger meets a member of the sept who is free from sin, he will run away.
When the Baghani sept hear that any Majhwar has killed a tiger they purify their houses by washing them with cowdung and water. Members of the Khoba or peg sept will not make a peg or drive one into the ground. Those of the Dumar ^ or fig-tree sept say that their first ancestor was born under this tree. They consider the tree to be sacred and never eat its fruit, and worship it once a year. Members of the sept named after the sJiiroti tree worship the tree every Sunday.
5. Mar- Marriage within the sept is prohibited and for three nage generations between persons related through females. customs. o J. o Marriage is adult, but matches are arranged by the parents of the parties. At betrothal the elders of the caste must be regaled with cheora or parched rice and liquor. A brideprice of Rs. 10 is paid, but a suitor who cannot afford this may do service to his father-in-law for one or two years in lieu of it.
At the wedding the bridegroom puts a copper ring on the bride's finger and marks her forehead with vermilion. The couple walk seven times round the sacred post, and seven little heaps of rice and pieces of turmeric are arranged so that they may touch one of them with their big toes at each round. The bride's mother and seven other women place some rice in the skirts of their cloths and the bridegroom throws this over his shoulder. After this he ' Fictis irlonierala. and funeral rites. ous dance.
picks up the rice and distributes it to all the women present,
and the bride goes through the same ceremony. The rice
is no doubt an emblem of fertility, and its presentation to
the women may perhaps be expected to render them fertile.
On the birth of a child the navel-string is buried in front 6. Birth
of the house. When a man is at the point of death they
place a little cooked rice and curds in his mouth so that he
may not go hungry to the other world, in view of the fact that
he has probably eaten very little during his illness.
Some cotton and rice are also placed near the head of the corpse in the grave so that he may have food and clothing in the next world. Mourning is observed for five days, and at the end of this period the mourners should have their hair cut, but if they cannot get it done on this day, the rite may be performed on the same day in the following year. The tribe worship DCilha Ueo, the bridegroom god, and 7. Reiigi also make offerings to their ploughs at the time of eating the new rice and at the Holi and Dasahra festivals.
They dance the karma dance in the months of Asarh and Kunwar or at the beginning and end of the rains. When the time has come the Gaontia headman or the Baiga priest fetches a branch of the karma tree from the forest and sets it up in his yard as a notice and invitation to the village. After sunset all the people, men, women and children, assemble and dance round the tree, to the accompaniment of a drum known as Mandar.
The dancing continues all night, and in the morning the host plucks up the branch of the karma tree and consigns it to a stream, at the same time regaling the dancers with rice, pulse and a goat This dance is a religious rite in honour of Karam Raja, and is believed to keep sickness from the village and bring it prosperity. The tribe eat flesh, but abstain from beef and pork. Girls are tattooed on arrival at puberty with representations of the tnlsi or basil, four arrow-heads in the form of a cross, and the foot-ornament known as pairi.
Majhwar
(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
Groups/subgroups: Bode Majhwar, Majhwar [Madhya Pra desh and/or Chhattisgarh] Marai, Olku, Pathari, Tekma, Waika [W. Croolce] Surnames: Sai [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
- Exogamous septs: Baghani, Bhainsa, Dumar, Khoba, Lotan, Sinehan [Russell & Hiralal]
Armor, Arpatti, Dadaichi, Kargoti, Kariyam, Karpatti, Karpe, Koaichi, Koram, Kusro, Kussenga, Markam, Marpachi, Masram, Netam, Neti, Oima, Pandaru, Poiya, Posam, P urkela, Sarotiya Sindram, Sirso, Soima, Tekam, Ulan gwati [W. Crooke] Exogamous units/clans: Bhaisa (buffalo), Bharadi, D ang, Jhinga (prawn), Kachua (tortoise), Kahaya, Nag (cobra), Sahada, Velowa [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
