Nar, Nat, Nmtak, Natal

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Nar, Nat, Nmtak, Natal

This section has been extracted from THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. By H.H. RISLEY, INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE, OFFICIER D'ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE. Ethnographic Glossary. CALCUTTA: Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. .

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A dancing and musician caste of Eastern Bengal, whom Dr. Wise identifies with the Brahmanioal Kathak of Hindustan, mainly on the strength of a tradition that they first came to Dacca in the days of the Nawabs, Another theory of their origin makes them out to be the same as the Nmi who manufaoture lac bracelets. Ward mentions that in his day none of the caste were to be found in Bengal, and that the Brahmans trce their descent from a Malakal' and a female Sndra. 1'he modern Nata, not satisfied with this pedigree, claim to be the offspring of Bbaradwaja Mun! and a dancing girl, and assert that the Ga1}.ak Brahmans are sprung from a son of the same holy man, so the .l ars of Bikrampur affect to trace their origin to a dancer banished from Indm' heaven and condemned to follow his profession on earth. In Hindustlin tbe Katbaks still wear the Brabmanical cord and confer the ~slr-bad, or benediction, on ~udl"as; but in Bengal the Nars no longer do so, as the original settlers, being few in number, were obliged to take wives from mean castes, and became degraded. Although the N ar caste requires to support a Brahman of its own, the ~udra Napit and Dhoba work for it. The Nars have one gotra, the Bharadwaja, and their patronymics are Nandf and Bhakta, by which latter title the caste is sometimes known, but whenever an indi¬vidual excels in musio, he is dignified by the title Ustid. Like other ~udras, the Nars celebrate the sniclclha on the thirtieth day, are generally Vaisbnavas in creed, and have a Patit Brahman to officiate to them. They decline to play in the houses of the ChaJ;ld{ds, Bhuinmilis, and other low castes, and as their services are no longer required, bave ceased to perform before Mubamadans. The Hindu Nar occupies a position corresponding to that of the Muhamadan Blijunia, but the former is more sought after, as no Hindu will have a Mubamadan musician in his house if he can possibly avoid it.

When young the Nar boys, then called Bhagtiyas, are taught dancing, but on reaching manhood they become musicians, 01' Samparda, and attend on dancing girls (Baf), who are usually Muha¬madans. If they have no ear for music, they become cultivators or shop-keepers. In former days no Hindu girls ever danced in public, although dancers among the Bad-gar and other vagrant tribes were common, but at present Baistab!s and Hindu prostitutes are found among professional Nich girls. There has been a tendency within the last thirty years for the Nar caste to separate into two classes¬one teaching boys to dance and playing to them, the other attending the Muhamadall Bal. The latter class are the better paid and more skilful musicians, and a band (Sampardai) accompanying a popular dancing girl often earn as much as twenty rupees a night, while the former consider they are well paid if they get five rupees for one night's amusement. The musical instTUments generally used by the Nars are the Sarung), Behla and Ras! varieties of fiddles, the rrabla. or drum, and the Manjlra or cymbals. Nars treat their instruments with great veneration, and always, on first rising in the morning, make obeiance before them. On the ~r! Panoham! in Magh, sacred to Saraswatl, a Nal-" will not play a note until the worship of the goddess is finished. Like the ~ish! women, the Nar wowen will not play, sing, or dance in public, although at marriages of their own people they still do so. lt is currently believed that many Nars have of late years become M uhamadans, but this accusation is denied by the caste_ It is nevertheless true that when a Samparda falls in love with a dancing girl, his only chance of marrying her is by becoming a Muhamadan.