Mali Gujarathi: Deccan
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Mali Gujarathi
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 |
Mali Gujarathi — a vagrant group of beggars singing songs and exhibiting painted scrolJs representing the scenes of holy places and rivers and the exploits of _Puranic heroes and gods. Both men and wor.ien have a Gujarathi cast of countenance which suggests the view that they are a degraded offshoot from some respectable caste of Gujarath. Mali Gujarathis themselves say that their ancestors were originally Malis and were cut off from the parent stock for some social offence. They have no fixed habitation, but wander from village to village begging alms and carrying their household articles on the backs of bullocks. The women wear langas, at petticoats of Marwcuri fashion, and bangles of pewter or horn on their wrists.
Internal Structure
Mali Gujarathis have no endogamous divi- sions. Their exogamous sections are mostly of the territorial type. A man may not marry a woman of his own section or of the section to which his mother belonged before her marriage. He may marry two sisters at the same time. Polygamy is permissible, but is usually found to be too expensive.
Marriage Girls are married either as infants or adults between the ages of ten and thirty. Sexual licence before marriage is tolerated and condoned only by a nominal fine. A good deal of sexual laxity prevails and, within the community indeed, the idea of sexual morality seemj hardly to exist. If, however, a girl becomes pregnant before marriage, arrangements are made to get her married as early as possible. The customary bride price paid for a girl is supposed to be ten rupees, but the amount is liable to vary according to the means of the bridegroom's parents. The marriage ceremony is very simple. After the bride price has been paid and the small-pox goddess, Sitala, has been propitiated, the bridal pair are besmeared with turmeric and oil in their own houses. On the wedding day the bridegroom is taken, on the shoulders of a male relative, to the bride's house, where a marriage shed supported on two post* is erected. Outside the Mandap a square is formed by placing an earthen pot at each corner and a fire is kindled in the centre. The bridal pair throw ghi and ' jav ' (barley) on the fire and walk round it four times, the bridegroom leading the bride in the first two rounds while in the last two the bride leads her husband. This is deemed to be the binding portion of the ceremony. A feast to relatives and friends on the part of the bride's father concludes the marriage. A widow is allowed to marry again and it is considered the right thing for her to marry her late husband's younger brother, even though he is younger than herself. Her choice of a second husband is, however, unfettered ; but in the event of her marrying an outsider, she forfeits all claim to the custody of the children she may have borne her late husband or to a share in his property, which goes to his children or, failing them, to his brother. The price paid for a widow bride is supposed to be forliy rupees. The ceremony in use at the marriage of a widow is comparatively simple, consisting of seating the bridal pair side by side, tying their clothes in a knot and making their foreheads touch seven times. I his ceremony is called Natra. Divorce is effected, with the sanction of the Panchayat, on the ground of the wife's adultery or barrenness, or for incompatibility of temper. If a wife deserts her husband, her parents are required to pay to her husbemd Rs. 55 for the expenses he incurred at her marriage. On the other hand, a husband claiming a divorce has to pay Rs. 12 to his wife. Divorced wives are allowed to marry again by the same form as widows.
Inheritance
In matters of inheritance and succession Mali Gujarathis are governed by customs of their own, by which the sons, however few, of one wife take a share equal to that of the sons, however many, of another.
Religion
Mali Gujarathis profess to be Hindus, but they do not employ Brahmans for religious and ceremonial observances and the functions of the priest are discharged by selected members of their own community. Their favourite object of worship is Sitala, the goddess presiding over small-pox, who is adored at weddings and on occasions of sickness. When cholera breaks out they appease ' Mari
Ai ' with a variety of offerings. They occasionally pay reverence to Thakurji and other greater gods.
Disiposal of the Dead
The dead are burned, the ashes thrown into a river and the bones buried, but no regular Sradha is performed and the only funeral observance consists of a feast given to the brethren by a man's heir ten days after his death. Children, under three years of age, are buried.
Social Status
The social status of Mali Gujarathis is low and they are said to eat 'the leavings of all middle classes of Hindit Society. Men, women and children beg alms, singing songs in public to the music of a stringed instrument.
