Latest revision as of 16:42, 5 September 2023

[edit] As in 1916

From The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India

By R. V. Russell

Of The Indian Civil Service

Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces

Assisted By Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner

Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.

NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh.

NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from the original book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot these footnotes gone astray might like to shift them to their correct place.

[edit] Gondhali

A caste or order of wandering beggars and musicians found in the Maratha Districts of the Central Provinces and in Berar. The name is derived from the Marathi word gondharne, to make a noise. In 191 i the Gondhalis numbered about 3000 persons in Berar and 500 in the Central Provinces, and they are also found in Bombay. The origin of the caste is obscure, but it appears to have been recruited in recent times from the offspring of Waghyas and Murlis or male and female children devoted to temples by their parents in fulfilment of a vow. Mr. Kitts states in the Berar Census Report^ of 1 88 1 that the Gondhalis are there attached either to the temple of Tukai at Tuljapur or the temple of Renuka at Mahur, and in consequence form two

1 This article is compiled from and Pyare Lai Misra, Ethnographic papers by Mr. Kesho Rao Joshi, Clerk. Headmaster, City School, Nagpur, 2 Page 67.

subcastes, the Kadamrai and Renurai, who do not inter- marry. In the Central Provinces, however, besides these two there are a number of other subcastes, most of which bear the names of distinct castes, and obviously consist of members of that caste who became Gondhalis, or of their descendants. Thus among the names of subcastes reported are the Brahman, Maratha, Mane Kunbi, Khaire Kunbi, Teli, Mahar, Mang and Vidur Gondhalis, as well as others like the Deshkars, or those coming from the Deccan, the Gangapare,1 or those from beyond the Ganges, and the Hijade or eunuchs.

It is clear, therefore, that members of these castes becoming Gondhalis attempt to arrange their marriages with other converts from their own caste and to retain their relative social position. There is little doubt that all Gondhalis are theoretically meant to be equal, a principle which at their first foundation applies to nearly all sects and orders, but here as elsewhere the social feeling of caste has been too strong to permit of its retention. It may be doubted, however, whether in view of the small total numbers of the caste all these groups can be strictly endogamous.

The Kunbi Gondhalis can take food from the ordinary Kunbis, but they rank below them, as being mendicants. The caste has also a number of exogamous groups or gotras, the names of which may be classified as titular or territorial. Instances of the former kind are Dokiphode or one who broke his head while begging, Sukt (thin, emaciated), Muke (dumb), Jabal (one with long hair like a JogI), and Panchange (one who has five limbs). Girls are married as a rule before adolescence, and the cere- mony resembles that of the Kunbis, but a special prayer is offered to the deity Renuka, and the boy is invested with a necklace of cowries by five married men of the caste.

Till this has been done he is not considered to be a proper Gondhali. Celibacy is not a tenet of the order. The remarriage of widows is allowed, and the ceremony consists in the husband placing a string of small black glass beads round the woman's neck, while she holds out a pair of new shoes for him to put his feet 1 In the Maratha Districts the term Ganges sometimes signifies the Wainganga. VOL. Ill L

into. The second wife often wears a small silver or golden image of the first wife round her neck, and worships it before she eats 'by touching it with food ; she also asks its permission before going to sleep with her husband. The goddess Bhawani or Devi is especially revered by the caste, and they fast in her honour on Tuesdays and Fridays. They worship their musical instruments at Dasahra with an offer- ing of a goat, and afterwards sing and dance for the whole night, this being their principal festival.

They also observe the nine days' fasts in honour of Devi in Chait (March) and Kunwar (September) and sow the Jawaras or pots of wheat. The Gondhalis are mendicant musicians, and are engaged on the occasion of marriages among the higher castes to perform their gondhal or dance accompanied by music. Four men are needed for it, one being the dancer who is dressed in a long white robe with a necklace of cowries and bells on his ankles, while the other three stand behind him, two of them carrying drums and the third a sacred torch called dioti. The torch -bearer serves as a butt for the witticisms of the dancer. Their instruments are the chonka, an open drum carrying an iron string which is beaten with a small wooden pin, and two sambals or double drums of iron, wood or earth, one of which emits a dull and the other a sharp sound. The dance is performed in honour of the goddess Bhawani.

They set up a wooden stool on the stage arranged for the performance, covered with a cloth on which wheat is spread, and over this is placed a brass vessel containing water and a cocoanut. This repre- sents the goddess. After the performance the Gondhalis take away and eat the cocoanut and wheat ; their regular fee for an engagement is Rs. 1-4, and the guests give them presents of a few pice (farthings). They are engaged for important ceremonies such as marriages, the Barsa or name - giving of a boy, and the Shantik or maturity of a girl, and also merely for entertainment ; but in this case the stool and cocoanut representing the goddess are not set up. The following is a specimen of a Gondhali religious song

Where I come from and who am I, This mystery none has solved ; Father, mother, sister and brother, these are all illusions.

I call them mine and am lost in my selfish concerns.

Worldliness is the beginning of hell, man has wrapped himself in it with- out reason. Remember your guru, go to him and touch his feet. Put on the shield of mercy and compassion and take the sword of knowledge. God is in every human body. The caste beg between dawn and noon, wearing a long white or red robe and a red turban folded from twisted strings of cloth like the Marathas.

Their status is some- what low, but they are usually simple and honest Occasion- ally a man becomes a Gondhali in fulfilment of a vow without leaving his own caste ; he will then be initiated by a member of the caste and given the necklace of cowries, and on every Tuesday he will wear this and beg from five persons in honour of the goddess Devi ; while except for this observ- ance he remains a member of his own caste and pursues his ordinary business.

[edit] Gondhali: Deccan

Gondhali — a class of Marathi beggars, musicians and dancers, to be found in all the Districts of the Marathawada, but especially in the District of LJsmanabad. They take their name from their professional dance, gondhal, the word being probably derived from the tumultuous row (Marathi equivalent — gondhal} which the Gon- dhalis raiijp while performing the dance. Their traditions say that they were descended from the sage Jamdagni and his wife Renuka. According to another account, they are identical with the Maitriyas of olden times, who were regarded as the progeny of a Vaidehika father and an Ayogava mother.

[edit] Internal Structure

The Gondhalis are divided into two sub- castes : Kadamrai and Renurai, who neither intermarry nor eat together. These two classes are distinguished from each other by their distinct badges (^ mendicancy, the former wearing a garland of cowrie shells, and the latter a vweath of cowrie shells alternated, with small silk tassels. Both are devotees of Bhavani, the consort of Shiva, the Kadamrais begging at the feet (Marathi — k.adarn) of the goddess, which privilege is said to be denied to the Renurais. There is a third class of Gondhalis, called Akarmasis, probably the illegitimate offspring of the above mentioned two sub-castes.

The Gondhalis have the same exogamous sections as those of the Maratha Kunbis, from whom they seem to be separated by reason of their having adopted the occupation of begging.

A man may not marry a woman of his own section. He may marry the daughters of his sister, his father's sister and his mother s brother. Polygamy is permitted, there being no rule to limit the number of wives a man may have.

[edit] Marriage

Gondhali girls are married either as infants or as adults, between the ages of three and sixteen. A father receives for his daughter a price which is said to vary from. Rs. 25 to Rs. 200, according to the means of the bridegroom.

The marriage ceremony extends over five days and comprises rites which are in vogue in the Maratha castes. On thff first day, the bride and bridegroom are smeared with turmeric paste and oil, in their own houses separately. After this the bridegroom is conducted, in procession, to Hanuman's temple, worships the god and returns, bearing the Deoa\, i.e., the leaves of the mango, saundad (Prosopis spicigera), palas (Butea jrondosa), umbar (Ficus glowerata), and mi {Calotropis gigantea). These are ceremonially tied to one of the posts of the wedding booth. Bhavani and other tutelary deities are propitiated with sacrifices, and relations and friends are feasted in their names. The second is the actual wedding day, when the bridal pair are made to stand face to face, either in bamboo baskets, or on leafy plates, and are sprinkled over with grains of rice by the priest. The remaining three days are spent in feasting and merrymaking, and in the performance of such rites as are of minor importcince.

Widows are allowed to marry again and divorce is recognised by the caste.

[edit] Religion

The principal deities of the Gondhalis are Bhavani of Tuljapur and Renuka Devi of Mahur, in whose honour they cele- brate, with pomp, the festival of Navaratra, which falls in the month of Aswin (September-October). On the 1 0th of Aswin, a Horn, or sacrificial fire, is ignited, oblations of liquor are offered and goats are sacrificed to their patron deities. In the month of Asadha (June- July), Man Ai, Pochamma, Sitala Devi, and other animistic deities, are honoured with sacrifices of goats. Besides these, the members of the caste worship the greater gods of the Hindu pantheon and observe all Hindu festivals. Brahmans are engaged on ceremonial and religious occasions.

[edit] Disposal of the Dead

The dead are either buried, or burnt, in a sleeping posture with the head pointing to the south ; the Sradha is performed on the 10th day after death. Ancestors in general are propitiated in the month of Bhadrapad (August- September) with oblations of water. Spirits of ancestors, especially of female ancestors,' are appeased with sacrifices and offerings of flowers and fruits.

[edit] Child-Birth

A woman after child-birth is regarded as impure for ten days and it is said that during the period of her lying-in she is not allowed to sleep on a cot, because their patron deity, Renuka, sleeps on a cot at Mahur. On the fifth day after birth, Satwai, the guardian of infants, is worshipped with offerings of dentifrice and food. A girl on attaining puberty is held unclean for three days.

[edit] Social Status

Socially, the Gondhalis rank below the Maratha Kunbis.. They eat the flesh of deer, fowls and fish and drink spirituous and fermented liquors. They do not eat the leavings of other castes.

[edit] Occupation

The Gondhalis are professional mendicants. They sing and dance to the music of a drum, cymbals and a tuntune (a fiddle) and solicit alms from door to door and from village to village, in honour of their tutelary deities, Renuka and Bhavemi. But they are particularly engaged for the performance of the gondhal, a tumul- tuous dance in honour of Devi Bhavani, celebrated at the marriage ceremonies of the Maratha Brahmans and other Maratha castes. On these occasions, the Gondhalis, a choir of five men, are entertained at a feast by day and at night, at ten, they commence the dance, after having worshipped the goddess and her lord Shanker, who is repre- sented by a metal pot containing water, betel leaves and areca nuts, topped with a cocoanut. Both the deities are installed on a low wooden stool, covered with a bodice cloth, decked with beauti- ful designs in turmeric and ^an^um, and overhung with garlands of flowers suspended from a tripod of three sugar canes. The puja con- sists of the offerings of flowers, the waving of lamps fed with ghi and the burning of incense and camphor and is held by the principal member of the household. Each gondhal is opened with the cries of ' Udeh, Udeh ' (victory to the goddess) and begins with an invocation to Khandoba of Jejuri, Tukai, Yamai, mother Bhavani (Ai Bhavani), and other minor and greater gods. One of the band holds in his hand a lighted torch (the emblem of the goddess) and the precentor, clothed in a long oily gown, and wearing cowrie shell necklaces and jingling anklets, smears it with sandal paste and kunkuw and makes a low obeisance before it. To his audience, composed of men and women of the household and outsiders, he relates stories from the Rama^ana and other mythological stories, singing and daiicing, all the while, to a drum, cymbals and fiddle, played upon by his three companions, who stand behind him. Often he enlivens his narrative with humourous episodes and ingenious jokes which he plays upon the torch bearer. The performance is occa- sionally kept up till the small hours of the morning. The gondhal ends with a supplication for blessing to the goddess Bhavani.

A few of the Gondhal is have now settled down and taken to agriculture.