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

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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 
***** 
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the Facebook page, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com]. ''All information used will be duly acknowledged.''
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[[Category:India|B]]
[[Category:Communities|B]]
Bhadbhunja, Bharbhunja — a grain parching caste, found in
almost all the Marathwada towns and the Hyderabad city. They
are divided into two classes : — Maratha and Pardeshi. The
Maratha Bhudbhunjas are, no doubt, recruited from among the
Maratha Kunbis, whom they resemble in appearance,, customs,
and habits, and consequently require no special description. The
Pardeshi Bhadbhunjas, as their name denotes, are outsiders, having
come into these Dominions from Northern India, especially from
Cawnpur, Mathura, Lucknow and Bareilly. They are supposed to
be descended from a Kahar father and a Shudra mother, thus ranking
among the mixed castes. The Bhudbhunjas are not to be confounded
with the Halwais, or confectioners, who make and sell sweetmeats but
do not parch grains.

==Internal Structure==

The Bhudbhunjas are divided into
the following sub-castes : — Shri Basant, Barelikade, Kandu,
Chaktaina, Kaithwar, Guryar, Bhadesia and Kanaujia, who are
strictly endogamous. All Bhudbhunjas style themselves as Kanojia
and allege that they have only one gotra (section) Kashyap. This is
of course taken as an ornamental appendage and is inoperative in
the regulation of their marriages. No information is available as to
the precise form of exogamy practised by the caste.

==Marriage==

Girls are married both as infants and as adults
between the ages of twelve and sixteen years. In the case of adults,
sexual intercourse before marriage is tolerated, and may be atoned
for by payment of a fine to the Panchayat. If a girl becomes
pregnant before marriage, she is called upon to disclose the name of
her lover, who is compelled to take her to wife. Polygamy is per-
mitted up to a limit of two wives ; but in practice a second wife is
taken only in the event of the first being barren or suffering from an
mcurable' disease.

The marriage ceremony is of the type in use among Jaiswar Teli
and other Northern India castes of the same social position. The
initiative is taken by the father of the bridegroom, who employs emis-
saries to settle the match. If the terms are agreeable to the bride's
parents, the marriage is at once agreed upon and the occasion is
celebrated by a feast to caste panchas and other caste brethren,
when liquor is provided by the father of the bride. On an aus-
picious day, a booth, supported by five pillars, is erected at the
bride'4 house. At the foot of the central pillar are placed leaves
of the mango and urnbar {Ficm glomerata) trees, with an earthen
pot of water»topped by a constantly burning lamp fed with oil or ghi.
Near the lamp jav grains are sown on a small earthen mound raised on
the ground. On the wedding morning, a man is sent with a present of
unhusked rice to the bridegroom's house, and the bridegroom's
party have it parched, the women of the house singing songs at the
time. At night, the wedding procession starts from the bridegroom's
house and on its way to the bride's makes a halt at a well. Here
the bridegroom dismounts from his horse and goes seven times round
the well, accompanied by five married females whose husbands are
living. Every time he passes his mother, who is sitting on the rim of
the well with one foot hanging over the edge, he touches her head. On
the completion of the seventh round, he goes to her and pretends to
suck her milk, promising, in the presence of the deity presiding over
water, that he will never abandon her. The procession then
resumes its march towards the bride's house. On arrival, the bride-
groom is conducted to a seat under the wedding canopy. Here the
bride joins him. Kanyadan, the gift of the bride to the bridegroom
and his acceptance of her, takes place, and the bridal pair wear
paper crowns on their heads and iron bracelets on their wrists. Horn,
or sacred fire, is made, round which the bridal pair, with
their garments knotted, walk six times. This is followed by
Smdmddn, when the bridal pair are seated side by side covered
with a sheet of cloth, and the bridegroom takes a small cup of
vermilion in his left hand and with his right han3 smears the colour
on the parting of the bride's hair. This done, the bridal pair make
the seventh round. This seventh circuit round the fire
is deemed to be the binding and essential portion of the
marriage ceremony.

A widow may marry again and the ritual in use is less meagre
than is usual among other widow-marrying castes. A Brahman is
employed to recite mantras and sindur (vermilion) is besmeared on
the forehead of the widow. She is not obliged to marry her late
husband's younger brother, should such a relative exist, but in
practice it is usual for her to do so. If she prefers to marry an
outsider, the members of her late husband's family may laim
custody of her male children by him.

==Divorce==

Bhadbhunjas allow of divorce for adultery with a
member of the caste and permit divorced wives to marry again. A
woman who has a liaison with an outsider is excluded from the caste.

==Religion==

In matters of religion, the caste seem to belong
to the Saiva sect and worship Mahadev and his ' form Bhairava,
Kanojia Brahmans serve them as priests and, if these are not
available, local Brahmans are employed for religious and ceremonial
purposes. Among their minor gods are Khandoba, 'Narsoba,
Hanuman, Bhavani of Tuljapur, and the animistic deities of
Pochamma, Mariamma, and Maisamma. They observe all the fasts
and festivals of local Hindus and make pilgrimages to Tuljapur,
Pandharpur and Alandi.

==Disposal of the Dead==

The dead are burnt in a lying
posture, with the head pointing to the north. The ashes are collected
on the third day after death and thrown into the nearest river or
stream. Bodies of persons that are unmarried are buried. Mourn-
ing is observed nine days for females and thirteen days for males.
On the tenth day after death the chief mourner shaves his head,
bathes and offers ten pindas, or oblations of rice, for the benefit of
the soul of the deceased. On the eleventh day the chief mournei
entertains the relatives of the deceased and other caste brethren at a
feast and on the 12th day he is presented with a turban by his caste
people, who raise a subscription for the purpose. Ances-
tors, in general, are appeased* in the month of Bhadrapad
(September). Brahmans are called in to conduct the funeral
ceremony .
==Social Status==

Among Upper India castes the Bhad-
bhunjas hold a social position which may be said to be respectable.
On this side of the country they eat food cooked by a Brahman ;
while no caste except the lowest unclean classes eat Kachi from their
hands. All castes, including Brahmans, eat sweetmeats prepared
by a Bhadbhunja. The members of the caste eat mutton, fish, the
flesh of deer and hare, and indulge freely in strong liquor. They
do not eat fowls.

==Occupation==

Bhadbhunjas believe the parching of grain
to be their original and characteristic occupation. Some have
enlisted in the native army and a few have taken to agriculture.

The actual work of parching grain is usually done by women.
The process is a simple one. A clay oven is built somewhat in the
shape of a bee hive with ten or twelve holes in the top. A lire is
lighted inside and broken earthen pots containing sand are put on the
holej. The grain to be parched is thrown in with the sand and
stirred with a flat piece of wood or a broom until it is ready. The
wages of the parcher vary according to the quality of the grain,
millet costing half an anna and gram three-quarters of an anna per seer.

Bhadbhunja: Deccan - Revision history

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

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