Rajput: Deccan
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Rajput
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 |
Rajput, Pardeshi, Kshatriya— a fighting, landholding and culti- vating caste found in all .parts' of the Dominions, but especially numerous in the districts of Aupngabad, Gulbarga and Raichur and in the Hyderabad city. Th' members of the caste claim descent from the r.ncient Solar and Lunar dynasties, who once ruled India, and form themselves into Smy^aoanshi (solar) and Chandmvanshi (lunar) races. There is also a race styled Agnikula- from having sprung from the sacred fire (Agni) which was kindled on Mount Abu by Agastya. Their traditions say that they came into the Deccan from Upper India, and the earliest settlers are supposed to have been soldiers with the Mohamedan armies that overran the Deccan between the thirteenth .and seventeenth centuries. It is known from inscrip- tions that a Rajput. family of the Chalukya tribe reigned at Kalyani, west of Bidar, on the borders of the Carnatic and Maharashtra, from the end of the 10th to the end of the 12th century. According to Sir Walter Elliot the Rajputs once possessed the whole of Maharashtra to the Narbada. Professor Wilson thinks they were also superior lords of the west of Telingana. Another branch of the tribe of Chalukhyas ruled over Kalinga, which is the eastern portion of Telingana, extending along the sea to Orissa. Their dynasty certainly lasted through the whole of the 12th and 1 3th centuries and perhaps began two centuries earlier.
Internal Structure
The Rajputs, as has been already said, are divided into two endogamous divisions, Smyabami and Chandra- hansi, the members of which do not interdine nor intermarry.
In addition to these the Rajputs use Brahmanical gotras, of which the following are given as specimens : — Haridwar, Sandilya, Bharad- waj, Kasyapa, Kausika and Parashar.
Where the original sections are held to govern intermarriage, the rule is that a man may not marry a woman who belongs to the same section as his father or his mother. A man may marry two sisters, but he must take them in the order of age and he cannot marry the elder sister if he is already married to the younger.
Marriage
Rajputs marry their daughters both as infants and as adults, usually between the ages of eight and eighteen. Polygamy is allowed without any restriction being laid on the number of wives. In actual life, however, it is unusual to find a man with more than two or three wives.
The preliminary negotiations leading to marriage are opened by the father or guardian of the bridegroom. If the father of the girl agrees to the match and it is found that the parties do not belong to the same section, an astrologer is asked to fix an auspicious day for the celebration of the wedding and preparations are made accord- ingly. A few days before the wedding, departed ancestors are propitiated with oblations and invoked in order to procure their blessing on the couple. After Dengan Barola has taken place, two earthen pots filled with parched rice and hung from the end of a bamboo pole are sent to the bride's house. Two days before the wedding, a mango post is planted in the courtyard of the house of the bride and an earthen vessel, filled with wheat and crowned with a burning lamp, is tied to the top of the post (Bohori). On the next day, or the day before the wedding, the bridegroom is smeared with turmeric and oil and offerings are made to Ganpathi, the deity presiding over success in, life. A part of the turmeric prepared for the bridegroom is sent for ^the use of the bride and the same cere- mon consisting of Ganesh worship, is gone through in her house. On the wedding night the bridegroom goes in pro- cession to the bride's house where, on arrival, he is received by the bride's brother and conducted to a seat under the wedding canopy. After his feet have been washed by the bride's brother, he is invested with the sacred thread by the officiating priest. The Brahman kindles the sacred fire (hom) near the wedding post and the bride entering, wqlks six times round the fire. At this stage the bridegroom, joins her at the request of the guests. On the consent of the bride's parents being obtained, the bridal pair take the seventh round, Brahmans reciting appropriate mantras in the meanwhile, after which the bridegroom ties the Mangal Sutra (auspicious string) round the bride's neck. This is deemed to be the binding portion of the ritual. Kanyddar^, or the gift of the bride to the bridegroom and his acceptance of her, and Kankanbandhan, or the tying of the thread bracelets on the wrists of the wedded couple, follow and the ceremony ends with a feast to the members of the caste.
Widow-Marriage
The re-marriage of widows is strictly pro- hibited among the Rajputs. Divorce is also forbidden and if a woman is taken in adultery she is expelled from the caste. In certain cases, however, where a married couple find themselves unable to live in harmony together, a separation is arrived at by mutual consent. In such cases the wife returns to her father's house and the husband marries again.
Religion
Rajputs are orthodox Hindus and worship all the Hindu divinities of the locality in which they happen to have settled. Special reverence is, however, paid by them to Durga, and Maha- laxmi, whose effigy, as seated on an elephant, they worship with a
variety of offerings in the month of BhadrapasJ (September). Brahmans are employed on religious and ceremonial occasions. If an epidemic of cholera or small-pox breaks out in the'family, the house-holders make offerings of goats to Mari Ai or Sitala.
Disposal of the Dead
The dead are burned in a lying posture with the head pointing to the south and the ashes are collected on the third day and thrown into the Ganges. Under the guidance of the family priest, Smdha is performad on the eleventh day after death, when oblations of rice are offered for the benefit of tHe soul of the deceased. On the 13th day a feast is given to the members of the caste. Sradha is also performed on the first anniversary of the death, when pindas (oblations of rice) are offered to the deceased, while the Brahmans recite mantras. On the last day of Bhadrapad, offerings of water are made to all deceased ancestors. Children under three years of age are buried.
Social Status
In point of social standing .the Rajputs profess to rank immediately below Brahmans and cannot take kachi, that is, food cooked with water from any one but a Brahman. In respect of diet, the members of the caste eat the flesh of the goat, deer, hare, pigeon and quail. Fish is lawful. Wine is supposed to be forbidden.
Occupation
The Rajputs regard Government service and the profession of arms as their proper occupations. Many have, however, taken to tillage and are holders of various land tenures.
