Kurmi, Kumbi, Kunbi
This article is an extract from
THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
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Kurmi, Kumbi, Kunbi
This caste is one of the most widely scattered agricultural tribes in India, being, it is generally supposed, descended from a powerful aboriginal community, who retained a reapectable position even after the Aryans had conquered Upper India.
Kurmis never agree about the seven divisions of their tribe, and few can even give their names; but those met with in Dacca belong to the Ayodhya and Jaidwara clans, while the only other divisions represented are the Ghameta, Maghaiya, Kachisa, and Samsawar from Bihar.
The Ayodhya claim to be of the highest dignity and purest blood, coming, as their name indicates, from Oude, where they are usually cultivators, while in Bengal they enlist as sepoys, or constables. Their common title is Mahto, but of late years Rai and Singh have become fashionable. The Ayodhya never intermarry with other Kurmis, and widow marriage is strictly forbidden. The Purohit is a Sakadvip Brahman, and the Guru an "Atit," or Vaishnava mendicant. The majority are followers of Kabir, Darya Das, or Ramanand.
The Kumbin is unclean until three ceremonies have been performed. On the sixth day after birth the "Gulhatti Chhathi" is observed, at which the mother is obliged to drink rice-gruel. On the twelfth day the "Barahi," identical with the "Thal-vrata" of Bengali Muhammadans, is kept, and a feast provided for ten or twelve children. Lastly, on the twentieth day, the "Bisai" is celebrated, when the mother paints the well with red lead, draws water, and becomes clean.
On the marriage day an entertainment was formerly given by the bridegroom, but the expense grew so heavy that the Kurmis very sensibly determined on abolishing the custom, and now refuse to ask for, or give money, on such occasions.
To render thanks for the harvest already reaped and garnered, as well as to ensure an abundant crop next season, the Ayodhya Kurmis annually celebrate a harvest home in the following manner. In the centre of a piece of ground, levelled and plastered for the purpose, a lofty pole is erected to which the cattle are tethered, and made to tread the new wheat crop. This being finished, the pole is removed, and the hole filled with water, and the sweetmeat "Laddu" consecrated to Mahadeo, and Parameshvara, after which a feast (Jeonar) is given to the Brahmans.
The Jaiswara, less punctilious than the Ayodhya, are husbandmen, proverbial for industry and skill, who, from indulging in spirits, and from permitting their widows to marry, are degraded. In Dacca they are chiefly employed as constables, acting however, if necesssry, as coolies.
The Bengali Kayasth drinks from their vessels, and smokes their huqqas, but the Kurmi neither eats with them nor with the Koeris, Kandus, or Kahars, although he drinks from their water pots.
The majority of Jaiswara Kunnis are Panch Piriyas, eating any animal offered as a sacrifice to a Hindu deity, and at the same time keeping the Muharram, and fasting during the Ramazan; while a few are followers of Nanak Shah and Kabir.
At marriages the bridegroom receives presents from the father-in-law, and the Mandua or Marocha is constructed as in Bengal.
The same purificatory rites are performed after a confinement as among the Ayodhya division.
Finally, the Sraddha or a Jaiswara Kurmi is celebrated after thirty days, of an Ayodhya after thirteen.
