The Gazetteers Department

Almost nothing of the Baluta system or the service of 24 kinds of village servants now remains though a full description of its functioning appears in the old Yeotmal Gazetteer as mentioned by Grant Duff. Among the highest of such was Gurav who acted as a priest in the village temples of Mahadev and Maruti. Me was held in almost the same respect as the Brahman because he imitated all the ways of the Brahman, including display of a sacred thread across his shoulder. There was the Josi who officiated at various religious or semi-religious ceremonies, kept the calendar for the observance of festivals and pointed out auspicious days by means of the knowledge of astrology he was supposed to possess. But for him the village community would be in the dark as regards the dates of festivals. The Bhumak was formerly the worshipper of village gods and deities and used to be generally a Gond and was retained by the immigrant Hindus as having a more intimate acquaintance with the deities of the soil, crops, forests and hills, to worship these on their behalf and to ensure that the earth and the seasons should fulfil their necessary functions in producing sustenance for mankind. He is now practically extinct.

Mahar.

The Mahar was the village watchman. He was known as a kotwar in a few localities. He received from half a maund to two maunds of jowar per plough of two bullocks and his food on four holidays. He patrolled the village at night and acted as a servant and messenger to the patel and often served as a referee on matters affecting the village boundaries. This was probably because the Mahars were residents of the country before the Kunbis came.

Another duty performed by the Mahar was removal of the carcases of dead animals. " The flesh was eaten and the skin retained as wages for the work." The Patel and his relatives, however, sometimes made a claim to have the skins of their own animals returned to them and in some places, where half the agriculturists were kinsmen of the Patel, the Mahars felt and resented the loss.

Another custom which occasionally obtained gave one quarter of the skin to the Cambhar and a half to the Patel. A third duty which fell into disuse long ago was the "opening of the grain-pits, noxious gas from which at times produced asphyxia. For this the Mahar received the tainted grain. The village Mahars also take the winding sheets of the corpses and the pieces of unburnt wood which remained when the body had been consumed."

Cambhar and Mang.

The Cambhar repaired the shoes of the cultivators and the mot or the leather bag for drawing well water. This he did in return for the annual contribution, but later he was paid for new shoes and new mots. In many villages, the annual contributions were paid by only those villagers who had wells. The Cambhar would not, however, repair shoes of 'impure' castes like the Mahars or Mangs but if they wanted a new pair of shoes, he did not inquire about their caste.

The Mang was the village musician. He played music on festivals and made a proclamation in the village by heating the tom-tom. Such proclamations were made when the village was to be cleansed or the revenue realised from cultivators or for announcing; the arrival of the vaccinator who was known to the people as "Devi-Doctor" or for the sale of attached houses and fields. He also castrated cattle in return for annual contributions of grain. Formerly he acted as the State hangman and his wife as the village mid-wife.

Other Village Servants.

The Nhavi carried (Mhali) was the village barber who shaved the villagers and the torch in wedding processions. In Wun taluka, instead of the fixed contribution, he received 20 lbs. of grain for every man who had begun to have his shave. He shaved the cultivators once in a fortnight or a month using cold water and his wages having been fixed he is said to have done his work in leisurely way.

The Warthi or washerman cleaned the clothes of the Patel and Patwari every day for which he got his food. He washed the clothes of other cultivators on festivals and at other times as required and received the ordinary contribution of grain.

The Pardhi or the Takankar used to mend the stone grinding mills by hammering the surface to roughen it when it was worn smooth. He was not found in all localities.

Fakir

Another village menial was the Fakir. In some parts of the district even some Hindus would not eat the flesh of animals unless their throats had been cut, while alive as in the Muslim usage. For this purpose the Fakir was employed, who went about from village to village to do the work. At the time of the jowar harvest, he sacrificed a goat on the threshing floor and was known as Munjewar, because in pre-Muhammedan days, he cut off the goat's head (munda).

Kumbhar.

The Kumbhar or potter supplied earthen pots at festivals and marriages, giving four or five to each cultivator. At harvest time he also gave each tenant a new vessel from which the labourers drank in the field. In return for this, he received a basket of jowar pods at harvest. For making his pots he takes the dung of horses and the ashes from cooking stoves and gets his clay free from the village land.

Thakur.

The Thakur acts as the village bard and genealogist. He attends weddings and sings songs known as kavit in praise of his hosts and family. The villagers often engage a Haridas for the four rainy months (Caturmasa) who expounds or recites sacred books to them. He is often a puranik who, by discussion rather than by recitation or sermonising, gives lessons in Puranas.

Public-Life.

Yavatmal has been known to be particularly progressive politically. An association known as the Yavatmal District Association has been in existence there for the last sixty years which petitioned, memorialised, urged, passed resolutions and agitated for the removal of public wrongs and injustices and redress of public grievances. The public-spirited lawyers of Yavatmal, with their leader the late Shri M. S. Aney, who practised as a lawyer as a young man were in the vanguard. These grievances or complaints pertained to the administration of the Revenue Police, Forest and such other departments of the Government as also the Railways and Post and Telegraphs. Before a branch] of the Indian National Congress became active and even distinguished itself in the ' Jungle Satyagraha' on the initiative of the late Shri Aney, the Yavatmal District Association was the only public body that carried on political agitation. This has made the district considerably politically conscious from the beginning of this century. Shri Vasantrao Naik who hails from Pusad in the district has been the Chief Minister of Maharashtra State for well over a decade. He has contributed immensely towards the enrichment of Public Life in the State and has sot a high standard of patriotic service.

TOP