The Ghirath, Bahti and Chang
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
Caste No. 29
The Ghiraths fill much the same position in Kangra proper and the hills below it as do the Kanets in the part to the east. With them I have included the Bahti and the Chang, as it appears that one and the same people are known as Ghirath in Kangra, and as Bahti in the eastern and Chang in the western portion of the lower ranges. All three intermarry freely, and are considered by Mr. Lyall as identical. In the Amritsar division all the Ghiraths except 128 were returned as Chang. The Jalandhar divisional office took the three names together. The Ghiraths of Kangra and Hushyarpur are thus described by Mr. Barnes : —
My previous remarks (quoted on page 251* under the head Rathi) will have introduced the reader to the Girths. They form a considerable item in the population of these hills, and in actual numbers exceed any other individual caste. With the Girths I have associated the few Jats that reside in this district, and the Changs, which is only another name for Girths, prevalent about Haripur and Nurpur. They amount altogether to 111,507 souls. The Girths are sub divided into numerous sects. There is a common saying that there are 360 varietie- of rice, and that the sub-divisions of the Girths are equally extensive, the analogy arising from the Girthn being the usual cultivators of rice. The Girths predominate in the valleys of Palum, Kangra, and Rihlo. They are bound again in the ' Hul Doon,' or Haripur valley. These localities are the strongholds of the caste, although they are scattered elsewhere in every portion of the district, and generally possess the richest lands and the most open spots in the hills. The Girths lielong to the Sudra division of Hindus, and this fact apparently accounts for the localities wherein they are found. The open valleys, although containing the finest lauds, are also the only accessible portions of the hills. The more refined castes preferred the advantages of privacy and seclusion, although accompanied by a sterner soil and diminished returns. They abandoned the fertile valleys to less fastidious classes, whose women were not ashamed to be seen nor to work in the fields, and the men were not degraded by being pressed as porters.
The Girths are a most indefatigable and hard-working race. Their fertile lands yield double crops, and they are incessantly employed during the whole year in the various processes of agriculturc. In addition to the cultivation of their fields, the Girth women carry wood, vegetables, mangoes, milk and other products to the markets for sale ; many sit half the day wrangling with customers until their store is disposed of . The men are constantly seized for begar, or forced labour, to carry travellers' loads, or to assist in the various public buildings in course of construction. From these details it will be perceived that the Girths have uo easy time of it, and their energes and powers of endurance must be most clastic to boar np against this incessant t oi l.
To look at their frames, they appear incapable of sustaining such fatigue. The men are '• short ill stature, frequently disfigured by goitre (which equally affects both scxes, dark and sickly in complexion, and with little or no hair on their faces. Both man and women have coarse '• features, more resembling the Tartar physiognomy than any other type, and it is rare to see a handsome face, though sometimes the younger women may be called pretty. Both sexes are extremely addicted to spirituous drlnks. Although industrious cultivators, they are very litigious and quarrelsome j but their disputes seldom lead to blows ; and though intemperate, they are still thrifty, — a Girth seldom wastes his substance in drink. In their dealings with one anotner they are honest and truthful, and altogether their character, though not so peaceable and manly as the '* Kathi, has many valuable and endearing traits. The Girths being Sudrasdo not wear janco or thread of caste. They take money for their daughters, but seldom exchange them. The younger brother takes his brother's widow; if she leave his protection, he was entitled by the law of the country to her retitution and under us he should at all events receive money com pensation.
The Ghiraths are said to be of Rajput origin by mixed marriages or illegitimate intercourse, but I have no trust worthy information on the subject. They are essentially agricultural, and the proverb says : — As the rice bends '* in the ear the Ghirath lifts his head.'Their social position is low. You can no more make a saint of a Ghirath than expect chastity of a buffalo/ and they practise widow-marriage, for You can't make a Ghirathni a widow, any more than you can turn a hill buffalo into a barren cow.
The Ghn-aths have returned few large sub-divisions. The eight largest are given in the margin. Bluird wa] is another Brahminieal gotra, and probably returned through misapprehension. Chhabru is found only in Hushyarpur, and Chhora and Bhattu only in Kangra. The others occur in both districts.
