Napit, Napita, Nai
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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Napit, Napita, Nai
The barber of Bengal differs in no respect from the barber of Europe. He is the same character now as he was when Maenas brought the first barber to Rome to shave the famous Scipio Africanus, and although he does not possess in India a shop where idlers lounge, and the plethoric are bled, he still retains the reputation of being loquacious, a retailer of scandal, and with an unusual amount of insight into character. Above all, he is a man of the world, full of anecdote and repartee, and, if rumour is to be believed, he arranges meetings between disconsolate lovers. Furthermore, he is very clannish, and an insult received by one is resented by the whole body, while melancholy indeed is the fate of a Hindu who offends his barber; the whole clan will refuse to shave him, and at last, driven to desperation, he is glad, by the payment of an exorbitant fee, to be restored to their good graces.
In Dacca, the Napit is a clean Sudra, condescending to shave Europeans and Muhammadans, but declining to draw his razor over the chin of the Chandal, Bhuinmali, or such like impure beings. He will shave a Saha, but will not pare his nails, and will not attend at the weddings of any but the clean Sudras.
In Eastern Bengal the Napits are all included in three gotras:-
Aliman, Kasyapa, Madhu-Kulya.
Seel is a title common to every member, but the polite term to address them by is "Nara-sundar." Many, who practise medicine, call themselves "Baidya."
Napits are generally Vaishnavas in creed, but a few worship Siv. They have no hereditary leader, but boast of very powerful unions, and a Panchait.
In every village there is a barber, and the situation often descends from father to son. In large towns they work independently, and there is no regulation against their following their occupation wherever they like. As a rule, the working classes only shave every eight days, but the higher ranks do so every four, sometimes every second day. In shaving every four days, eight anas a month is usually charged, and for a single shave one paisa, which also includes the charge for ear cleaning, nail paring, shampooing, and cracking each joint of the body. In the houses of the rich the barbership is often a hereditary post, as is that of the Purohit, Dhoba, and Dai, while he, as well as they, have free access to all parts of the house during the day. The barber pares the nails of Hindu females as well as males, and his presence is required at all domestic occurrences. The day a child is born he pares the mother's nails, and returns on the ninth and thirtieth days to repeat the operation. At the houses of Muhammadans he is only present on the sixth day, the Chhathi. For these services he is given pulse, rice, oil, salt, turmeric, and two paisa, the rich generally adding a piece of cloth and a rupee.
Yet, strange to say, the Napit also assumes a religious character at weddings, and no marriage is properly performed without him. While the bride and bridegroom are seated within the "Marocha," he approaches, and repeats what is called "Gaura Vachana," a story about the marriage of Siv and Parvati, having for its moral the duty of submitting to one another, and of bearing with each other's infirmities of temper.
In addition to all these vocations, the barber, like his European namesake of the seventeenth century, practises surgery, opening boils and abscesses, and prescribing in all forms of venereal disease. A considerable number of the native physicians belong to this class, and many of the inoculators of small-pox. When a member of the Napit caste wishes to study medicine, he is associated with a Kabiraj, who is then called "Adhyapaka," or tutor. The pupil is not bound as an apprentice, but he must obey his master as implicitly as the disciple his Guru. He compounds salves and simples, and daily receives instruction from his teacher. The Napits, who practise inoculation, are generally most reckless, spreading the disease without the slightest consideration for the unprotected. They possess a text book, "Vasanta-tika," but few study it.
Napits have the reputation of being thrifty and very acute, and many, plying their trade in Dacca, hold land in Tipperah, which is sublet to others. Every year they visit their homes, carrying thither their savings, and at leisure arranging all affairs for the ensuing year. Those who practise medicine often amass considerable wealth, becoming respected members of village society.
Barbers never cultivate the soil, or fish for a livelihood, and will not take service as domestic servants in the houses of the low caste or European, as the Hindustani Hajjam does. At the present day Napits are to be met with on the bench, and they also serve as Mukhtars, Wakils (attorneys), policemen, and watchmen.
The Napit is often an exerciser of devils; and if the newly born child has convulsions, or Trismus, he is called in, and performs the "Jharna-phunkna" deception, which consists in making passes with a Nim branch, while a Mantra, or invocation, is repeated without drawing breath.
The Napitni, or female barber, has no occupation in Bengal, as she has in Upper India.
No respectable Hindu female ever cuts her hair, except when she dedicates it as a votive offering to a deity, in the hope of curing her child of a dangerous malady. The hair in such cases is cut off and hung on a Nim, or Bat tree. There is a considerable traffic in hair between Calcutta and the eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal. A Mag considers that his good looks in a great measure depend on the size and shape of his top-knot, so, like the females of more civilized races, he braids false tresses with his own. It is generally said, but perhaps by libellers, that the poorer Muhammadan women part with their hair for a consideration.
