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Bhat

(Sansk. Matta, a title of respect, probably connected with bharti , a 'supporter or master '), a caste of genea logist and family bank usually sup¬posed to have sprung from the intercourse of a Kshatriya with a Brahman widow. Others believe them to be the modern repre¬sentatives of the Magadha spoken of in Manu, x, 17, as the off¬spring of a Vaisya father and a Kshatriya mother. Lassen regards this mythical pedigree as merely a theoretical explanation of the fact that the professional singers of the praises of great men had come by Manu's time to be looked upon as a distinct olass.l Zimmer, on the other hand, seems to take the tradition more seriously, and speaks of the Magadha as a " mixed caste, out of which, as we learn from numerous passages in later writings, a guild of singers arose, who, devoting themselves to the deeds of the Kosala-Videha and Kuru-Panchala, may have laid the foundation of the epic poems." 2 Other authorities say that they were produced to amuse Parvati from the drops of sweat on Siva's brow, but as they chose to sing his praises rather than hers, they were expelled from heaven and condemned to Iive a wandering life as bards on earth. Sir John Malcolm, Central India, vol. ii, p. 132, says :-" According to the fable of their origin, Mahadeva first created Bhats to attend his lion and bull; but the former killing the latter every day gave him infinite vexation and trouble in creating new ones.

Mr Nesfield’s theory

He therefore formed the Obaran, equally devout as the Bhat, but of bolder spirit, and gave him in charge these favourite animals. From that period no bull was ever destroyed by the lion. "3 In his brief view of the

caste system of the North-Western Provinces Mr. and Oudh, Mr. J. O. Nesfield propounds the original view that the Bhats are an offshoot" from those seculaJ'iseu Brahmans who lrequented the courts of princes and the camps of warriors, recited their praises in public, and kept records of their genealogies. Such, without muoh variation, is the funotion of the Bbat at the present day. The ancient epic known as the Mahabharata speaks of a band of bards and eulogists marching in front of Yuduishthira as he made his progress froID the field of Kuru-Kshetra towards Hastimlpur. But these very men aro spoken of in the same poem as Brahmans. Nothing could be more Datural than that, as time went on, these courtier priests should have become hereditary bards, who receded from the parent stem and founded a new caste bound together by mutual interests and sympathie." In support of this theory of the origin of the caste Mr. Nesfield refers to the facts that one of the sub-castes is called Baram-BMt; that some Gaur-Brahmans still act as bards and genealogists; that the Bhit still wears the sacred thread, and is addressed by the lower classes as MahUnlj-an honour generally only accorded to Brahmans; and lastly, that by an obvious survival of Brahmanical titles the Bhat's employer is called Jr:jman, 'he who gives the sacrifice,' while the Bhat himself is oalled Jctgwa, Jaiak, or Jaclzak, ' the priest by whom the saorifice is performed.'

Supported by Dr Wise

Strong testimony in favour of Mr. Nesfield's view comes to us from Eastern Bengal, where, aooording to

Supported by Dr. Wise. Dr. Wise, the Bhats repudiate the traditional descent from a Kshatriya and a Brahman widow, and olaim to be the offspring of the aboriginal Brahmans employed as ghataks or marriage-brokers by the other members of the saored order. They say that they retired or were driven to the borders of "Bengal tor refusing to accept the reforms of Balhil Sen. In Silhet the Rarhi Brahmans still eat with the Bhats, but in Daooa the latter are reokoned unclean; and in Tipperah, having fallen in rank, they earn a preoarious livelihood by making umbrellas. It is a ourious fact that the Bhat would oonsider himself dishonoured by aoting as a PU(jd1'i or priest of a temple, or as a purohit.

Further discussed

Admitting the force of this evidence, and fully recognising how d" 1 great an advanoe Mr. N esfield has made the traditional methods of dealing with such questions, I find some diffioulty in reconoiling his theory as stat ~~ above with the internal struoture of the Bhat caste. If the Bhats of the present day are desoended solely from a olass degraded Brahmans-if, in other words, they are a homogeneou offshoot from the priestly caste-how do they oome to have fL number of sections, whioh are certainly not Brahmanical, and whioh appear rather to resemble the territorial exogamous groups oommon among the Rajputs? Brahmans, however degraded, hold fast to their oharaoteristio series of eponymous sections, and I know of no case in which it can be shown that they have adopted section-names of a different type. On the other hand, there is nothing speoially improbable in the oonjeoture that Rajputs may have taken up the profession of bard to the ohiefs of their tribe, and thus may in course of time have become inoorporated in the Bhat caste. It will be seen that this solution of the diffioulty in no way oonflicts with Mr. Nesfield's view, but merely modifies it by introduoing a second factor into the formation of the caste. Mr. N esfield regards the Bhats as a homogeneous funotional group thrown off by the Brahmans. I look upon them as a heterogeneous group made up of Brahmans and Rajputs welded together into one caste in virtue of their exeroising similar funotions. I may add, however, that the inviolability of the BMt's person, whioh was admitted in Western India towards the end of the last oentury, makes rather for Mr. Nesfield~s view than for mine; while the theory of Roth and Zimmer, that the first germ of the Brahman caste is to be ~ought in the .sing~rs of Vedia times, may perhaps be deemed to tellm the same direction.

Internal structure

The sections of the caste are shown in Appendix 1. A man may not marry a woman of his own sectio-ll, nor anyone descended from his sister, paternal aunt, paternal grandmother, maternal aunt, maternal grandfather, and maternal great-grandfather (mother's mother's father) as long as any ;relationship can be traced. The endogamous divisions of the caste are somewhat obscure. Two sub-castes appear to be known in Behar-Rajbhat and Baram-Bhat. To these may be added • the Turk-Bhat, who are converts to Islam and perform the same functions in Mahomedan households as the Hindu Bhats for men of their own religion. The wives of Mahomedan Bhats sing in public on certain occasions. There seems to be no maJ.'ked differ¬ence of occupation between the Ra,jBhats and Baram-Bhats, but I understand that they do not intermarry. Regarding the Bhats of the N orth-West Provinces Sir Henry Elliot says :-" By some tribes the Bbat and J aga are considered synonymous; but those who pretend to greater accuracy distinguish them by calling the former Birmbbat or Badl, and the latter JagabMt. The former recite the deeds of ancestors at weddings and other festive occasions; the latter keep the family record, particularly of Rajputs, and are entitled by right of succession to retain the office, whereas the BirmBhats are hired and paid for the particular occasion. Jaga¬bhats pay visits to their constituents every two or three years, and receive the perquisites to which they are entitled. Aftel' having recorded all the births which have taken place since their last tour, they are remunerated with rupees, cattle, or clothes, according to the ability of the registering party." In another place Sir Henry Elliot mentions a number of subdivisions of the caste, which are

shown in a note in Appendix 1.

Marriages

Bhats usually marry their daughters between the ages of nine M . and twelve; but in exceptional oases, where arrwge. a girl's parents aJ.'e poor, it may happen that she is not married until after the age or puberty. The mar¬riage ceremony is of the orthodox type, and kanyadan, or the presentation of the bride to the bridegroom and his acceptance of the gift, is reckoned to be the essential and binding portion of the ritual. Polygamy is not supposed to be allowed, but a man may take a second wife if the first is barren or suffers from an incUl'able disease. Widows are not allowed to marry again, nor is divorce recognised. An adulterous wife is turned out of the caste and ceases thenceforth to be a member of respeotable society.

Succession

In questions concerning the devolution of property, the caste are guided for the most part by the standard Hindu law recognised in the area where they live; that is to say, in Bengal they follow the Dayabbaga, and in Behar the Mitakshara Oode. In one point, however, they observe a peculiar usage of their own. Where under the ordinaJ.'Y law a daughter's SOll would succeed, BMt custom holds him to be excluded by the nearest male relative of the same section. It is the more remarkable that this custom should have survived, as the Bhats are not governed by panchayat or caste councils to the same extent as the lower castes, and thus lack the most effective maohinery for preserving peculiar mages, which the courts tend on tho whole to destroy.

Religion

The religion of the Bhats of Behar differs little trom that of the average middle-class Hindu. Representatives of all the regular sects are found among their numbers, and the caste cannot be said to favour the tenets of any particular body. In Eastern Bengal, on the other hand, they are said to be mostly Sakti worshippers, and to be greatly addicted to intemperance. They employ Brahmans for religious and ceremonial purposes, who are received on equal terms by other members of the sacred order. Their minor gods are Bandi or Sanvardhir and Bariji, who are worshipped on the 22nd Sravan and the 24th Chait with offerings of he-goats, wheaten cakes, tiloi1auri made of rice and molasses, coloured cloths, and vermilion. The eatable portion of the offerings is divided among the members of the household. The dead are burned, and the ceremony of S?'fiddh is performed on the thirteenth day after death.

Social status

In point of social precedence Bhats rank immediately below Kayasths. They wear the sacred thread (Janeo),and Brahmans take water from their hands. Their own rules concerning diet are the same as are observed by the higher castes, and, like them, they will take water and certain sweetmeats from Kurmis, Kahars, and castes of corresponding status.

Occupation

The characteristic profession of the Bhats has an ancient and distinguished history. The literature of both Greece and India owes the pre ervation of its oldest treasures to the singers, who recited poems in the house-holds of the chief, and doubtless helped in some measure to shape the masterpieces which they handed down. Their place was one of marked distinction. In the days when writing wa unknown, the man who could remember many verses wa' held in high honour by the tribal chief, who depended upon the memOl'y of his bard for his personal amusement, for the record of his own and his ancestors' prowess, and for the maintenance of the genealogy which established the purity of his descent. The bard, like the herald, was not lightly to be slain, and even Odysseus, in the heat of his vengeance, spares the G.o£oo<) Phemius, "who sang among the wooers of necessity."l Possibly the duties of bard and herald may often have been discharged by the same person. However this may be, it is curious to find that about the middle of the sixteenth century the person of a Bhat was deemed in violable by highway robbers in Rajputana and Guzerat, so that a member of that caste could protect :1 caravan of traders from attack by threatening to kill himself if they were molested j while as late as

1775 many of them made their living by pledging themselves a hostages for the payment of revenue, the performance of treaties and bonds, and the general good behaviour of princes or private indi viduals. 2 In most parts of modorn India, except perhaps in Rujputana, the BMts have fallen from their former state, and are now the tawdriest parody on the Homeric ao~oo". Mr. Nesfield describes them as "rapacious and conceited mendicants, too proud to work, but not too proud to beg." Mr. Sherring says they "are noto¬rious for theil' rapacity as beggars, and are much dreaded by their employers on account of the power they have of distorting family history at public recitations if they choose to do so, and of subject¬ing any member to general ridicule." Dr. Wise's notes contain a telling sketch of the Bhats of Eastern Bengal :-" In January they leave theil' homes, travelling to all parts of Eastern Bengal, and, being in great request, are fully engaged dUTing the sub¬sequent Hindu matrimonial season. Each company receives a fixed yearly sum from every Hindu household within a definite area, amounting usually to eight annas. In return they are expected to visit the hOUSEl and recite Kavitas, or songs extolling the worth and renown of the family. Satirical songs are great favourites with Hindus, and none win more applause tban those laying bare the foibles and well-intentioned vagaries of the English rule or the eccentricities and irascibility of some local magnate. Very few bards can sing extemporary songs, their elIusions, usually composed by one and learned off by heart by the others, being always metrical, often humorous, and generally seasoned with puns and equivocal words. Their sole occupation is the recital of verses, unaccompanied by instrumental music. They are met with every-where when Hindu families celebrate a festival or domestic event, appearing on such occasions uninvited, and exacting by their noisy importunity a share of the food and charity that is being doled to the poor. Theil' shamelessness in this respect is incredible. During

the Durga Plija they force theil' way into respectable houses and make such a horrid uproar by shouting and singing that the inmates gladly pay something to be rid of them. Should tbis persecution have no effect on the rich man inside, they by mflans of a brass lata and an iron rod madden the most phlegmatic Babu, who pays liberally for their depal'ture. The Bengali Bhtit is as a rule uneducated, and very few know Sansluit."

At weddings in Behar it is one of the duties of the Bhat to march out several miles to meet the bridegroom's procession, bearing with him a letter of welcome from the bride's father, and to conduct them to the bride's house. For these services, and for reciting verses and making himself genel'ally useful, he receives presents of money and clothes. In some Behar districts and in parts of Chota Nag¬pur Bhats hold small parcels of land, usually about three or four bigluis in extent, rent-free under the tenure known as bluztottar. Such grants are mostly of rather ancient date, and are regarded with disfavour by the landholders of to-day, who look more to Government as the fountain of honour, and do not make much account of the Bhats. A few Bhats have risen to be zamindars or tenure-holders, but the bulk of the caste are occupancy raiyats, cultivating by means of hired labourers and disdaining to touch the plough themselves. The following statement shows the number and distribution of the Bhats in 1872 and 1881 :¬