THE PEOPLE

CASTES

The Hindu community is found divided into many social groups known as castes. In keeping with the changes in Government policy, the Census enumeration has stopped to take cognisance of these groups since 1941. The Akola District Gazetteer published in 1901 has given a vivid description of the various castes. The total population of the district in 1901 was 754,804.

Among these the Kunbis were the most numerous forming 32 per cent of the whole. Marathas, a name sometimes used interchangeably with Kunbi, but sometimes distinctively, formed only one per cent of the population. Malis engaged like Kunbis chiefly in cultivation formed 7 per cent. Mahars support themselves chiefly by agricultural labour but also form practically in every village a sizable class of public servants. They amounted to 14 percent. Mangs who besides working as labourers supply most of the local musicians and midwives, formed 4 per cent, but both Mahars and Mangs sometimes hold land. Andhas are a comparatively aboriginal tribe and are found mostly in the hilly villages of the south. They constituted 2 per cent of the whole. Kolis who are early immigrants numbered one percent. These are all engaged mainly on agricultural work. The Brahmans of this part of India are found to be engaged in Government and private services, and are an educated class. They are found, to some extent, in almost every occupation. They amounted altogether to 3 per cent. All the Hindus together formed 87 per cent of the total. Muhammedans who undertake all employments but are often a poor community formed 9 per cent and the Jains made one per cent.

Kunbis : Kunbis have in their possession most of the agricultural holdings, their husbandry though careful and good of its kind, is extremely conservative and they are more chary than most castes of accepting new ideas. One may occasionally find a wealthy Kunbi who has taken to money lending. Kunbis are seldom seen in complete poverty, even though always ready to resort to the moneylender. Though they are now quite peaceful, in old days, the armies of Shivaji and of the Peshvas and Bhosles were recruited mainly from Kunbis and similar castes who took to war like life and this is the origin of the Maratha caste. However this may be, a similar process is now going on for the Tiroles, the higher division of Kunbis, to which most of the Deshmukhs and many of the leading Patils belong, are today on the borderline between the two castes. One means of social advancement is to claim a Rajput origin and the Marathas accordingly claim to be Kshatriyas while the Tiroles derive their name from Therol in Rajputana. The Kunbi is a worshipper of Maruti, Mahadev, Ganapati and Vithoba, especially of the first-named. He is also a firm believer in the efficacy of the omens and all manner of forms and ceremonies and is in great dread of ghosts.

Brahman: "The Brahmans of the district number 21,000 or three percent of the whole population. A two-fold division exists among them, one depending chiefly on their country of origin and the other on the Veda they follow, besides numerous minor distinctions. The great bulk are Deshastha Brahmans, natives of this particular country, but Konkanastha, Karhada, Gujarati, Marvadi, Telangi, and Golak Brahmans are also found and the Konkanasthas are increasing in number. Each of the four Vedas has its own followers in the different parts of India, but practically none are found in Akola district except Rigvedi and Yajurvedi Brahmans, the latter being more numerous. One small division of the Yajurvedis called the Taittiriya or Apas-tambha, do not intermarry with the rest of the main body but only with Rigvedis. With this exception, the members of different groups may all eat together but may never intermarry. Two further points of sub-division may be noted which do not break Soyarepana, the right of intermarriage-Rigvedi Brahmans are sub-divided into two equal bodies Shakala and Bashkala and Yajurvedi Brahmans are similarly divided into Shukla and Krishna. Most Brahmans are engaged in worldly affairs and therefore called Laukika or Grihastha, no distinction being recognised between the two. Another class called Bhikshuka consists of men who have devoted themselves to the study of holy texts and are therefore especially worthy of receiving alms, but they do not actually beg alms. The name Konkanastha refers to the Konkan, that is the west coast of India and includes the Chitpavans. The Karhadas derive their caste name from the town of Karad at the junction of the Koyna and the Krishna in Satara district. Gujarati Brahmans include the sub-division of water-carriers. Marvadi Brahmans are generally employed as the priests of Marvadi Banias. Telangi or Telugu territory actually enters Berar in the Yeotmal district. Golaks are Brahmans of illegitimate descent and are considered much inferior to the others. The Brahman is of course regarded with great, though, it is said, decreasing veneration His ideal differs, in some important respects, from that of an Englishman, and perhaps it has been somewhat coarsened during recent years. He is the most intellectual member of the community and often shows an admirable patience in his work, but perhaps when judged by a high standard, he seems to lack balance or even weight of thought-though in view of his wonderful traditions he is naturally not readily conscious of the delect."

Koli : The Kolis are to be found in numerous villages all over the north of the district, a settlement of them occasionally forming the bulk of the population and including the Patil. In the north-east of the Akola tahsil twelve very small villages are Koli settlements of this sort and are called as one whole, Barula.

The main caste of Kolis is said to include seven sub-divisions Kshatriva, Raj, Pan, Fisherman, Begging. Vatandar and Naik or Navik Kolis. Most of the Kolis in this District belong to what is called the Kshatriva division, though they are considered Shadras by Hindus in general. On the nay a child is born, sugar and betel leaves are distributed. On the third day a mixture of Kanis (Javari heads) and tak, (buttermilk) called penjan, is distributed to boys; on the sixth or seventh day, the period of impurity, comes to an end. Javal, the first hair-cutting, may be done at any time within five years. The age of marriage was from nine to 15 for boys and from live to ten for girls. The customs of Kolis are in general just the same as those of Kunbis. The different sub-divisions may not marry together though some of them take food from one another. According to some people the local Kolis came from the hills, according to others from the Pandharpur direction. Kshatriya Kolis are those who belong to Deshmukh, Patil or Patvari families, while the Raja of Javhar in the former Bombay Presidency comes from the raja or royal division. Pan Kolis are water-carriers and are only found further south. The fishing caste live by the sea and the begging caste near Manmad. Watandars are found in Jalgaon tahsil in Khandesh, doing village service but superior to Mahars. When a festival in honour of Mahadeva is held at Mahabaleshvar, the feast begins by food being set before two Watandar Kolis. Navik Kolis are boatmen and are chiefly near Pandharpur. The Kolis of the north-east of Akola tahsil worship two pirs who are buried at Govardha in Akot tahsil and Uprai in Daryapur tahsil. They go on pilgrimage to these tombs and the whole affair is minutely regulated. Firstly men and women buy new clothes, all of white, and don them on a Monday. Next, they call in a fakir who repeats sayings which they call mantras. Then they take two and hali cakes of wheat mixed with gur and ghee, and offer them (as naivedya) at home in the name of the pir and take food in company with the fakir. On the following day they set out for the tomb, which they must not leave till the buried pir himself gives them permission. This he does either by appearing in a dream to one of the members of the party, by letting loose one of their bullocks or by beating them in their sleep. He keeps them from a day to a week. Permission to go having been received, they give a rupee or two to the mujavar who is in charge of the tomb and offer the two and a half cakes already mentioned. To make the offering, tne whole party, men and women stand in a row praying to the pir, the men having to loosen their back folds, kasota, of their dhotars. The mujavar of the tomb returns small pieces of the cakes as prasad, a holy gift, the party distribute sweetmeats, prostrate themselves before the pir, lake their food and start for home. At every village on the back, the party halts; one member is left in charge of the cart, the rest take in their right hands sticks of the ber tree, coloured red, and in their left, pieces of dried gourd, and go to a few houses without distinction of caste, standing in the doorway. and repeating Dam, Dam, Shadal Sahebachi Gada, in praise of the saint Shadal, whereupon the householder gives them a handful of jowar. On reaching their own village, they do the same and fix a day for a ceremony called kundori, which must take place within three weeks. All the relatives, of the family are invited to this ceremony, udi, cowdung ashes, being sent with invitation. Every visitor brings garments such as a dupatta or Shela for the head of the family and a choli for the wife. A fakir who is present repeats mantras and kills a goat or two or even four for a great feast and the company eat its flesh along with bread made from the jovari collected on the way back from the tomb, the men eating first and the women afterwards. The head of the goat is not cooked but is placed on a stick which is coloured red with chalk, geru, and set up in the name of the pir. The white robes of the pilgrimage are then laid aside, to be used later, for ordinary wear, and the visitors go home.

Mahar: The Mahars of Berar belong to three sub-castes. Somonche, Ladvade and Andhvan of which the first-named are by far the most numerous, but in the largest villages, there are immigrants from the Central Provinces belonging to several other sub-castes. All Berari Mahars may eat together, but no one may marry out of his own sub-caste. They worship Bap Saheb and some local saints, often Muhammedan fakirs and swear in the law courts by the Black Dog, an oath the breach of which is supposed to be punished by outcasting. Their religious traditions are very vague and their practices are often dictated merely by common-sense. They have five principal holy places: Dombegir, Mehona, Wadegaon, Gavandhala, and Pimpardol, besides Muhammedan tombs at Shirpur in Bashim tahsil and Burhanpur to which they go on pilgrimage either on account of some sin or from pure religious feeling. The five places are said to be sacred to five gods, brothers, whose names were Dego, Mego, Dombya, Jhabrayan and Ajrayan, but it is not clear with which spot each god is associated. Dombegir is situated on the banks of the Godavari, near Rakshasaban. It is the most sacred place and is immediately connected with the worship of Bap Saheb, the Lord Father. Some Mahars say that the reason why they have no temples is that Bap Saheb forbids it. He dwells in the sky, not in any earthly building but the idea seems not to be common. A man who has returned from a pilgrimage builds a wall or a shed and sets up a flag, coloured red, white or green, and the Mahars of the village come to worship it. The pilgrim should not take food or drink from a woman for a month or a month and a quarter. Puja at the wall is done to Dego Mego, but thereby Bap Saheb also is honoured. A sacrifice of ud, frankincense, and of camphor, is made every day, but Wednesday is a particularly sacred day. Women take no part in worship or in the great pilgrimages, though they go to Shirpur with their husbands. If husband and wife are childless, the husband vows to give gold to God and sends it to the guru at Dombegir or to send the child on a long pilgrimage. Mehona is often visited on the way to Dombegir. The path to the shrine at Mehona passes along a dangerous ridge in the hills; formerly there was also risk from wild beasts. The pilgrim ties strings of nathe on a large rock called Dhondibali, visits the holy place stark naked, washes his face and hands and drinks at a jhira, a shallow well, dresses again and does tirth, bathing. Wadegaon is in Balapur tahsil eight miles south of Balapur. The sacred place is a rough platform with several tombs upon it, at the top of a high wall which was apparently built to strengthen the bank of the river. A guru who wears yellow cloth on his shoulders as insignia of office, lives here but also makes long pastoral rounds receiving such petty contributions as his people can afford. The guru and other Mahars of Wadegaon say that the principal tomb there which they call by the Persian name of turamat, is that of Dego Mego. This god was once a man with the power of commanding rain and thereby brought a grievous famine to an end. Previously, Mahars had received, haks, dues by custom only, but the emperor of the time thereupon made the claims definite and enforced payments. Rain about to fall is regarded as Dego and fallen rain is Mego. Of their places of pilgrimage, Gavandhala is in Khamgaon tahsil and Pimpardol is in Jalgaon tahsil of Buldhana district. The latter is at the end of a tank belonging to a large fort now deserted, parts of which look very old. Here, as at Mehona, strings are tied round a large stone by the path. People go on these pilgrimages at various times, but the great festivals are Akhaji for Mehona, Wadegaon and Gavandhala and Pola for Pimpardol; pilgrims reach Dombegir about a week after visiting Mehona. Akhaji is the great festival of the caste, but other Hindu festivals are also observed. The Black Dog seems to be an evil spirit but is a curiously vague conception. Some Mahars worship Khandoba or Bhairao who is attended by a black dog. The caste, though higher than Mangs, and some others, is a very low one and seems to correspond with the Pariahs (as the Mangs with the Chaklas) of Madras. A Mahar may not enter the house much less the temple of an ordinary Hindu, or use the same well, and the Kunbis of Wadegaon openly regard their holy place with amused contempt; but some say that the Mahar is the proper priest of Marimata. In every village some Mahars, by hereditary right, confirmed by Government appointment, perform numerous public menial services and are paid by contributions in grain, haks. They also remove the carcasses of dead animals and in payment receive their skins to sell. Their caste prejudices are few. but they are emphatically forbidden to touch either the wild or the domestic pig or the body of a dead dog, especially if it is a black one a sweeper may remove it. Mahars apart from the individuals employed in public service of the village, are almost always labourers though a very few are shop-keepers and still fewer land-holders. One of the latter, Janu Kachrya of Paras started a boarding house at Akola so that boys of the caste coming from the villages might have the benefit of the good schools at the headquarters. A night school for adults was also in existence at Akola for some time. The expenses of it were chiefly paid by subscriptions by men of other castes. No objection seems to be felt in any part of the district to Mahars being employed as yearly servants or being given any particular agricultural work. In some villages, however, Malis, or some sub-divisions among them and in some places, most Hindus, except Kunbis, are unable to work at the same plough with a Mahar. The position of Mahars has immensely improved in the last many years and they generally have a fair supply of ornaments usually oi glass and silver, but sometimes of gold. Widows must dress plainly, not wear shoes or an expensive sari and must remove the red mark from their foreheads.

Gondhalis: Gondhalis are scattered over the district. They say that about 100 families live at Tuljapur where there is a large temple of Devi Bhavani but none can be found east of Mahur on the Penganga and they are very rare in Khandesh. They are a caste of some slight dignity as it is their peculiar function, without the help of any other official, to offer a noisy sacrifice to conciliate Devi and avert smallpox. They do this for any one by whom they are summoned, but the materials of the sacrifice and their own payment vary somewhat according to the client. Some people have the sacrifice done just before marriage, seme soon afterwards and some when recovering from a disease, while very many people neglect it altogether; it is performed at the door of the house which is to be protected. The Gondhalis' account of their origin goes back to the stories about Parshurama. Sahasrarjuna, king of Mahishmati, coveted the wonderful cow. Kamadhenu, the granter of desires, given by Indra to the sage Jamadagni, and killed the latter. Jamadagni's wife Renuka mounted the funeral pyre and ordered her son Parshuram to avert his gaze till she was consumed, but he looked too soon and so part of her head was not burnt; he set it up at Mahur and performed the first gondhal.

Jhingabhoi: The Jhingabhois speak of themselves as quite a separate caste but art not distinguished in Census reports. Members of the caste say they have no fixed home, but divide themselves into small parties and wander about selling medicines, each party having a definite area assigned for its operations. Their chief deity is the goddess Katmaramma or Sarkaramma, but they also worship Mariamma or Matamma. They have no temple of their own but Hindus allow them to worship in village temples. They wear a top-knot, (shendi), and a moustache and a kind of goatee, but shave the rest of their head. They profess to be of Berari origin, but those interrogated, while understanding Marathi, speak Hindustani. Five days after the birth of a child, a panchayat of four is called and a name is given. The mother is supposed to be able to carry the child thenceforth as she goes about her ordinary work. Ten days after birth, the child's abdomen is seared with a heated needle, an unfixed number of lines is drawn, the object being to protect the infant from disease. The dead are not burnt but buried in a grave about six feet deep. The body is taken to the place of burial wrapped in old clothes and is buried naked, in a squatting posture, facing north, with the hands brought palm to palm upon the breast. The family are unclean for ten days. A silver image of the deceased about two inches in length is made by an ordinary village gold-smith and is kept by any member of the family and worshipped on the anniversary of the death. The spirit of the dead man attaches to this image as a shadow goes with a living man and the relatives are left in peace, but if the image was not made, the spirit would become a ghost (bhoot) and give all kinds of trouble to the living relatives. In each party, there is one family in which a similar image of Katmaramma is kept and if any member of the band thinks himself supernaturally afflicted he makes a small offering, the image is brought and the goddess is invoked to set him right.

Pal Pardhi: Men among the Pal Pardhis often wear numerous strings of glass beads (pot) around their necks. The headman (Naik) may also were a locket (tait), dedicated to Khandoba. Khandoba is the chief god and Mariamma, Mahankali and Bhavani are important goddesses. An educated Hindu considers these three as different incarnations of Parvati, wife of Shiva, but the Pal Pardhis think that they are separate goddesses. When a child, whether boy or girl, is five days old, its hair is cut and the cuttings are offered at some shrine of Khandoba. A boy's hair is cut once again when he reaches the age of puberty but a girl's hair is never cut again. A cock is vowed to Mahankali when a child is ill. Mariamma sometimes receives the sacrifice of a young male buffalo, but Bhavani's offerings seem not to involve the taking of life. Dasara is a great festival of the year. On that day, all married women have to undergo an ordeal to test their chastity. Three stones are set up so as to support a cooking vessel, karhai and a pice is dropped into boiling ghee in the karhai. A crowd of perhaps one to two hundred of the caste remain around the fire and the married women are called in one by one from a distance- Each woman has to take the coin out of the ghee and touch her forehead with it. It is believed that if she has been faithful to her husband during the year, she will suffer no harm but that otherwise she will be scalded. A naik of the caste says that at a recent Dasara gathering six out of about fifty failed to pass the test. They had not been suspected previously. Pal Pardhis do not eat flesh of cows, buffaloes, beasts of prey, or domestic pigs, but eat most other flesh, including that of a wild boar. At death they bury a body lying at full length on its back and lay upon it a new cloth of the value of five or six rupees, a large sum to the ordinary Pal Pardhi. A dead man who has not been properly buried, is liable to turn into a malevolent ghost (shaitan), and offerings have to be made and worship must be done to quieten him.

Bedar: Bedars and Berads according to the Census reports are the same and the bulk of them live in Akola tahsil. This identification was also made by Tod, but prominent Bedars say that it is a mistake. A distinction must also be made between Maratha, Telanga and Kannada Bedars. The leading Maratha Beuars say that it is a mistake to speak of Bedar as a caste. The name is merely a title. They say that the true Bedars belong to a caste called in Kannada, Bearadu; it was largely represented in the erstwhile Sholapur State, the Raja of which belonged to it; it was on the same level as the Maratha Kunbi caste. Colonel Meadows Taylor was in charge of Sholapur during the minority of the Raja; he gave the Bedars a character for bravery and chivalry, if also for lawlessness. It is said that the ancestors of the present Maratha Bedars entered military service and later joined the Pendhari bands. They were given their name because they were 'without fear'. Tipu Sultan converted some to Muhammedanism and others consented to eat in small parties out of one dish in order to divert his suspicions. Under early British rule, they were afraid to give a true account of themselves lest they should be punished for sharing in the Pendhari raids. For the one reason they were put out of caste by their old caste fellows, for the other they formally described themselves as Bedar Dheds (Mahars) and by other false names. They suffer the penalty that other Hindus are inclined to look down upon them, though in fact these Maratha Bedars are given spiritual instruction and admitted into the temples in a way always impossible to a Mahar or any one of similar standing; moreover, people of really very low caste who wish to enter police or military service falsely take the name which the true Bedars have made respected. This is felt as a great grievance, and the leading Maratha Bedars wish that the term Bedar should be dropped as a caste name. It is not possible to give a final opinion about the historical question involved, but there is no doubt that the Maratha Bedars include men of high character, ability and position. Besides these Marathas, there are Telanga and Kannada Bedars. The Marathas have a Brahman from northern India to officiate at their ceremonies, while the others call in a Jangam from the south. In the marriage ceremony, all three sub-castes follow the ordinary Maratha ritual, according to which the bride and the bridegroom stand on opposite sides of an antarpat, curtain. The priest recites mantras and concludes with the word savadhan (Be attentive) whereupon the guests throw rice or jowar dyed yellow on the couple. Cremation is said to have been practised at one time, but since going to the wars, the caste bury their dead. As soon as life departs, water and basil leaves are placed in the mouth of the corpse and it is washed with lukewarm water and covered with a new cloth. As it is taken to the burial ground, music accompanies the procession. The body is placed in the grave in a sitting position, facing the east and with its hands on the knees. When the grave has been filled in, the mourners go to a river and bathe and return to the house of the deceased and look at a lighted lamp and then disperse. On the third day, the grave is again visited and such intoxicants as the deceased used to drink are placed upon it. On that day, the widow is taken to the grave and her bangles and mangalsutra are broken; her top rings are removed and kunku is wiped off her forehead. On the tenth day, pindas, oblations are offered to the deceased. On the 13th day, a caste feast is given and some food is laid before a cow and some thrown on the roof for crows. Mourning for small children is observed for only three days. Most Bedars worship Devi and Mahadeva, but some are followers of Kabir who preached religious equality. Bedars eat the flesh of fowls, goats and the wild pig. Telanga and Kannada Bedars are given a low place among Hindus and are mostly engaged as daily labourers. Some Bedars, however, are engaged in trade and agriculture, while others form a considerable fraction of the police force in the district.

Kannadas: The Kannadas say that they came from Karnatak ten generations ago and were named after their country. They now speak Marathi as their mother tongue. Their chief employment is growing betel-leaves like the Banias, but they claim to be Lingayat Banias of the Panchama sub-division. Their septs are not identical with those of the undoubted Lingayat Banias and this throws some doubt on their assertion. Their betrothal ceremony, sakharpuda, consists of washing the girl's feet, applying vermilion to her forehead and giving her new clothes. It is performed in the presence of the Jangam, spiritual adviser, and is said to be inviolable. The favourite months for marriage are Magha, Phalguna, Chaitra and Vaishakha while Pausha is very inauspicious. The first day of the ceremony is called haldi, turmeric being then applied to the bride and the bridegroom. On the second clay, the bridegroom is carefully dressed, a bashinga a wreath of flowers is tied round his head and he sets out in a procession which the women of the family accompany to the bride's village. Her father is informed of their approach and comes outside the village to meet them. The parties greet each other with the word, sharnath and apply gulal, red powder and sandalwood paste to each other's foreheads. The procession moves on to the temple of Maruti, where the bridegroom bows before the image. The people of the bride's house then bring a pot of water called rukhmat ka ghara and he drops a rupee into it. Next, riding on a horse or in a palanquin, he comes to the mandap, marriage booth. Some one here drops on him from above the booth water in which turmeric has been dissolved and the marriage ceremony is performed according to the ordinary Maratha ritual. After this the couple are seated on an earthen platform where a brass pot full of water is placed. The guests pass one by one, dip a mango leaf in the pot and sprinkle water with it on the feet, knees, shoulders and then the heads of the pair, finally the parents come and drop a rupee in the pot; the whole ceremony is called kalashachadhane. On the third day, the ceremony of pai ghadi chauk nhan is performed. A cloth is laid on the road to form a pathway along which the mother of the bridegroom walks, to seat herself presently on a board. The mother of the bride then comes and washes her feet and applies vermilion to her forehead, repeating the action two or three times. On the fourth day comes the tambul ceremony, new clothes and ornaments being given to the bride and the bridegroom. Widow remarriage and polygamy are practised. On the seventh day of the birth of the child', the Jangam ties the symbol of a linga to its arm and the mother unties the linga and keeps it till the infant is able to walk. As in many other castes, a dying man is removed from his bed and placed on the ground to breathe his last. Immediately after the death, the corpse is placed in a sitting position against the wall of the house and cotton wool is placed in its nose and ears, after which it is taken into the courtyard and very carefully washed. Next, a silken cloth is thrown over it and a rupee, which becomes the perquisite of the Jangam, is tied to its frrehead and the Jangam worships the corpse and places the linga in its right hand. The dead are buried in a sitting posture, the linga being again worshipped at the funeral. After the grave has been filled in the Jangam stands on it and, blowing, a conch-shell, declares that the spirit of the deceased has reached Kailasa, the paradise of Shiva. The chief mourner takes hold of his hand to assist him to come down from the grave and without such help he would not come down. No explanation is given by the Kannadas of this custom, but perhaps the Jangam is supposed to have mounted to heaven with the spirit. The pollution of death lasts for one day only.

Gopal: The Gopals in the district are found mostly in Bashim and Murtazapur tahsils. Mr. E. J. Kitts wrote in the Census report of 1881 "Of the Gopals who appear to have entered Berar from Nimar and Indore and who from their occupation are sometimes known as Bonavalas, there are five distinct divisions, allowing no intermarriage and each having several sub-divisions. They are the Vir, Pangul or Pangoh, Pahalvan, Kham and Gujarati Gopals. The Vir, Gopals live in leaf huts, made from the date palm which they set up outside the village. They remain in one place for two or three years at a time and then move on. the Pahalwans live in small tents or pals. They are wrestlers and gymnasts. The Kham Gopals are wanderers hailing from the northern portion of Marathwada. They perform feats with a long pole. The Gujarati Gopals are the lowest division in the social scale. Other Gopals will not dine with them. All five divisions had the reputation of being confirmed cattle-lifters and occasional housebreakers. Gopals of Murtazapur tahsil are now partly employed as herdsmen but have not lost their bad reputation. They include exogamous septs with such names as Dhangar, Hatkar, Sonar, Yadav and Shinde, so that it is possible that they were formed originally of people from different castes, though now no longer admit outsiders. In the marriage ceremony, the bride and the bridegroom stand facing each other and a cotton thread is wound five times round the neck of the former and seven times round that of the bridegroom and at the end, jovari dyed yellow is thrown over the pair. Widow-marriage is allowed and a widow price of Rs. 40 to Rs. 60 is paid to the woman's guardian. The dead are always buried, the corpse being placed in a sitting posture with its face to the east. Mourning is observed for three days only and a caste feast is given on the third day. The Gopals begin to train their boys to acrobatic exercises from the age of seven, daily practice being given. The dress of the caste is like that of Kunbis, but Gopal women do not wear nose-rings. The women are tattooed with one dot on the forehead, one on the right cheek, and one on the chin. Food is taken from a Kunbi, Sonar, Sutar but not from a Teli or, Rangari. Ordinary Hindu festivals are observed. The special god of the caste is Khandoba whose aid is invoked at the beginning of a performance.

Pathrat: Pathrats are found chiefly in Balapur and Murtazapur tahsils. The name is really n contraction of Patharvat, a stone-dresser, and the caste is chiefly engaged in making small mill-stones or crushing-stones for different purposes. They have a legend that in old days, one father had five sons of whom the eldest took to dressing stones and became a Pathrat, the second to working in iron and became a Khati, smith, the third was a Carpenter, the fourth a Kasar or Tambatkar, worked in brass and copper and the youngest became a Sonar, a goldsmith. The story may be an exposition of the brotherhood of the arts or perhaps a record of the successive stages of their development. A widow-is allowed to take one husband but if he dies, she may not marry for the third time. No such restriction applies to a man. Among Kunbis and similar castes, a man can marry a cousin to whom he is related only through females but not an agnatic relative and can only marry the second of two sisters if it is the elder to whom he is already married. The Pathrats, perhaps on account of the difficulty of arranging marriages in a small caste, recognise neither of these restrictions. The age of marriage is from 20 to 25 for the man and from 10 to 15 for a girl. The dates for the different rites are fixed by a Brahman. The first day of the marriage is called haldi, because turmeric is then applied, and three ceremonies are performed upon it. At about noon, the families bring cotton stalks from a field and weave a tatti, set it up on five posts and scatter leaves of the jamun tree or umbar tree over it. This is called the toran tatti ceremony. Next comes the dev puja. In this the family deities, embossed on a piece of silver are worshipped, the sacred silver being washed and having sandal paste, rice and turmeric placed before it. Thirdly comes the jeonar in which the goddess Meskai is worshipped. For this ceremony, a lighted lamp is placed in a new bamboo basket at about sunset and covered with a few stalks of jovari and a blanket. An unwidowed woman takes the basket on her head and a brass dish with vermilion, turmeric and rice in her hand and goes to the place of worship, the father of the bridegroom taking an axe on his right shoulder and following her Next a goat is killed at the bridegroom's house and its flesh served up at a caste feast. Meanwhile a marriage booth is erected at the bride's house. The second day is called lagna, marriage. The bridegroom is first taken to the shrine of Maruti in his own village to worship there. Thence he goes to the village of the bride. A message is sent to the bride's father who comes out to receive him. The bridegroom, seated on a horse or bullock, is conducted to the marriage booth and the actual wedding is performed according to the ordinary Maratha fashion. On the next day, the mother of the bridegroom riding in a palanquin, visits the bride's house where the mother of the latter gives her a lighted lamp in an earthen pot. This lamp is kept constantly burning, day and night, and carried before the married couple, till they reach the house of the bridegroom. It would be very unlucky for the lamp to be extinguished for whatever reason. Divorce is said not to be allowed under any circumstances, but a woman found in criminal intimacy with a man of any caste whatever is permanently outcasted. A widow price in cash is paid for a second marriage. The dead are sometimes burnt and sometimes buried, the body in the latter case being laid on its back with its head to the south and feet to the north. Pathrats can take food from a Sutar or Kumbhar but not from a Teli or Dhobi. Imprisonment, the killing of a cow, or criminal intimacy of a man with a woman of another caste is punished by temporary outcasting, readmission involving a fine of some money. The chief deity is the devi of Tuljapur and the chief festival Dasara, but other gods and saints such as Daval Malik are also worshipped and other festivals observed. Implements of the caste are worshipped twice a year on Gudhi-padva and Divali padva. Pathrats have a great belief in witchcraft and often employ a jadugar. The males dress like Kunbis, wear sect-marks on their foreheads and are not tattooed. The women wear a choli tied in a knot in front and a lugde passed between the legs and tucked in at the back, one end being drawn on the right shoulder, but it is said that the tucking in of the lugde is a recent innovation. Women are tattooed with a crescent between the eye-brows and dots on the right side of the nose, the right cheek and the chin and a basil plant or a peacock is drawn on their wrists.

Lonaris: Lonaris are mostly found in Akot tahsil. Their traditional occupation was the preparation of salt from the wells in the Purna valley and they are sometimes called Mith-Lonaris, Salt Lonaris, though lonar itself means salt. If a man who has never been married wishes to marry a widow he must first go through a ceremony with a ring and if he should at any time lose the ring, funeral ceremonies ought to be performed. Divorce is practised upon a deed of separation being given. Lonaris take food from a Kunbi, but not from a Sonar, Sutar, or Lohar.

Miscellaneous: There are a few more castes. Hatkars follow as a rule the same customs as ordinary Hindu castes but do not shave their moustaches when a death occurs in the family. The only occasion when they remove their moustache is on a pilgrimage to the temple of Mahadeva at Mallikarjuna near Rameshvara in the extreme south of India. They never burn their dead but bury them, sitting with their hands on knees and facing north. In the south of the district are both Wanjaris and Banjaras. The two are absolutely distinct. Wanjaris are a single caste divided into four sub-divisions which intermarry. They are scarcely distinguishable from other ordinary Hindus in religion or customs but the men frequently, though not universally, wear sidewhiskers. They hold the patilki of 16 villages in the north of Washim taluka, all owning a kind of allegiance to a Naik, the Patil of Rajura. Cremation is practised in his family but memorials are erected to the dead. Banjaras are divided into twelve and a half sub-castes which do not intermarry. They are in many respects a peculiar people but cannot be described here. The name Maratha is given as a caste name sometimes, especially by families holding rights of deshmukhi or patilki. Such people almost always admit that there is no distinction of caste between themselves and ordinary Kunbis but that the different name is taken on account of their higher position. In a very few cases, however, they claim that the castes are distinct, sometimes explaining that the Marathas condescend to intermarry with Kunbis merely because their own caste folk are few in Berar. In one village men of some position said that they were Marathas and were accustomed to call themselves Rajputs but that they intermarried with plain Kunbis. The title deshmukh is sometimes given as a caste name or taken as a surname. Malis are very similar to Kunbis but are inclined to marry their children younger. The boy must be older than the girl and the ordinary age is from 10 to 12 for him and from five to seven for her, but the girl may be even one year old. Among Kunbis the marriageable age for girls is about fifteen. Malis generally refuse to work at a plough with a Mahar, while Kunbis will always do so, but Malis seem always to allow widow remarriage while some Kunbi families do not. Malis have the reputation of working very hard on irrigation land and making their wives and children work harder than other castes do. Members of one sub-caste of Kaikadis take up contracts of several hundred rupees for road repair and similar work and manage the carriage of material by means of droves of donkeys looked after by their wives and families; one may see a score or two of loaded donkeys in charge of a little boy and girl. The caste has a bad name, but Major E. J. Gunthorpe ('Notes on Criminal Tribes') wrote that in 1882 only a few of the sub-divisions were traditionally criminal. This employment may be of use to the others. A Muhammedan who had taken such a contract would in all likelihood hire grown-up Bhois with their donkeys or might employ carts which would clearly put him at a disadvantage. Bhois sometimes undertake brick-making on a large scale, willingness to use donkeys again giving them an advantage. Among Muhammedans, a few relics of previous faith can be found. In some villages, one deshmukh out of three or four is a Muhammedan and can even say in what reign the conversion occurred. In any case, he and his Hindu colleagues would probably admit relationship and at marriages in either families would be much hurt if they were not invited or manpan was not given to them or the spot of kunku was not put on their foreheads. At Balapur it would appear that some of Muhammedans were formerly Rajputs because the old women still wear the Rajput lehenga, petticoat, instead of Muhammedan paijama, trousers, and at Akhaji those families observe the Hindu custom of sowing dhan (grain) in a basket. A Brahman family near Balapur gives up one member is every generation to become nominally a Muhammedan in order to secure the inheritance of certain estate; the victim eats flesh like Muhammedan on one day but lives the rest of his life as a Brahman. Parties of Phase Pardhis still travel with thousands of snares for bucks, besides smaller snares; they callously keep alive but untended captured animals with broken limbs.

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