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This article is an extract from
THE CASTES AND TRIBES
OF
H. E. H. THE NIZAM..."

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=Are Katika=
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%">
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 '' 
''with the contents of this article.'' 
''Secondly, this has been scanned from a book. You can help by '' 
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the Facebook page, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com]. ''All information used will be duly acknowledged.''
</div>
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[[Category:India|A]]
[[Category:Communities|A]]
==Origin==
Katika, Lad Kasab, Kasai, Suryachelad, Arewaru,
— a small Marathi-speaking caste of butchers fouud in almost all the
districts of Telingana. Katika,' in Telugu, means cruel and
refers probably to the profession of the caste as bfttcheu, while the
prefix Are (Sansk. Arya ) is the generic name by which all the
Maratha castes are known to the Telugu people. Some derive the name
Katika from the Sanskrit word kartak, a knife. Arekatikas are
also called Lad Kasebs or Lad Butchers, the term ' Lad ' being a
variant of ' Lat ', the ancient name of a portion of Modern Gujarath,
from which these people are supposed to have come original lyV The
members of the caste dignify themselves with the title o Suryache
Lad' (Lads descended from the sun), claiming Surya, or the sun, as
their progenitor.

Regarding the origin of the caste a variety of
legends are current. According to one, they trace their descent from
Dharma Vyadha,' who, in some Pouranic time, supplied meat and
mutton to the people. Another legend makes them the offspring of
one Vithoba, who was ordered by the gods to kill a sheep which had
sprung from a mole-hill and caused annoyance to the Sun god.
Vithoba carried out the orders immediately and was rewarded for
the act with a knife, a wooden block, and a tripod. Vithoba cut
the throat of the sheep and found in it a shaligmm (fossil
ammonite), which he used for a weight.

==Internal Structure==

The caste has two endogamous
divisions— (1) Sajjanam Katika, or Suryache Lad, (2) Barki, or
Adjath Katika, who are illegitimate descendants of the Sajjaeam
Katikas. The members of these swb-castes neither take food together
nor intermarry. Besides these, there is one more division called
Kurma Katika, who are doubtless men of the Kurma caste, following
the batcher's calling. the Katikas say they have only one gotra,
'Ramashata Rana,' which is obviously inoperative in th<; regulation
of their marriages. Their section names show a curious mixture of
wo types ; the one borrowed from the Maratha Kunbis before their
immigration into Telingana, and the other adopted from the Telugu
castes after their immigration.
[[File: are.PNG ||frame|500px]]

The are tree (Bauhinia racemosa) is regarded with great
reverence and a branch of it is worshipped as deoak (marriage guard-
ian) in Jharriages. A man is prohibited from marrying into the
se2tion, or outside the sub-caste, to which he belongs. He may
marry the daughter of his maternal uncle, paternal aunt, or elder
sister. He may also marry two sisters, but two brothers cannot marry
two sisters. Outsiders are not admitted into the caste.

==Marriage==

Infant marriage is practised by the caste. A
girl attaining puberty before marriage is excommunicated. Girls are
not offered to temples or trees. Polygamy is permitted to the extent
of two wives. The maniage ceremony resembles that of the Telugu
castes in general. Some of the rites, however, deserve notice. Two
branches, one of the saundad or shami tree {Prosopis spicigera) and
the other of the are (Bauhinia racemosa), are tied, each with
a sweet cake, to the western corners of the booth and on
its top a winnowing fan is placed. Previous to the wedding, a
picture of the goddess Bhavani of Tuljapur is painted on a wall,
and a lamp, made of a piece of cocoanut kernel filled with oil, is
placed, before it, the wick in the lamp being re-trimmed by a stalk
of jawari (Indian millet). This ceremony is called Tel Chadhai.
At the time of the wedding, the girl only is dressed in new clothes,
while the boy appears in his old clothes, except for a new head-dress.
After Nagvell}}, the bridegroom is made to' slay a sheep an4 the
bride to gather green herbs in which she finds a nose-ring previously
Ridden.

Widows are allowed to re-marry and divorce is permitted.
They follow the Hindu law of inheritance. In default of male
issue, females inherit.

==Religion==

The Are Katikas are all Vibhutidharis
(Saivaits) and mark their foreheads with round spots of red aniline
powder. Ellamma is worshipped on Sundays and Tuesdays, when
they observe a fast. Pochamma, and other malignant deities, are
appeased in the month of Ashadha (July- August)' with offerings of
sheep and fowls. A man of the Kummara caste 1% engaged as
priest at the worship of these goddesses, while the sacrificial animals
are killed by a Muhammadan butcher and not by a member of the
caste. Narsinha and Mahadeva are also held in great reverence.
Brahmans are employed in marriages and Jangams at funerals.

==Disposal of the Dead==

The dead are either buried
in a sitting posture, facing the east, or burnt in a lying pasture with
the feet to the north, according to the custom of the family of the
deceased. In cases of cremation, the ashes are collected on the third
day after death and thrown into a river. Ten days' mourning is
observed for the married and three days for others. On the 3rd, 5th
and 10th days after death, birds are fed for the benefit of the soul of
the deceased and Brahmans and Jangams are given rice.

==Social Status and Occupation==

The occupation of the caste is that of selling the flesh of sheep and goats. They also
manufacture liquor and sell it. Some have taken io agriculture.
They eat the flesh of sheep, deer, hare, fish of two kinds and
drink liquor and shendi. They do not eat the leavings of any caste.
They have a caste Panchayat with a chowdhari at its head. Social
disputes are referred to this council for decision.

They eat from the hands of Brahmans, Komtis, Baljas, Kapus
and Munnurs, while Balijas, Kurmas and Goundalas eat kachi from
them

Are Katika: Deccan - Revision history

Pdewan: Created page with "=Are Katika= {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"| This article is an extract from THE CASTES AND TRIBES OF H. E. H. THE NIZAM..."

Pdewan: Created page with "=Are Katika= {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|
This article is an extract from
THE CASTES AND TRIBES
OF
H. E. H. THE NIZAM..."