12. The Chārans as sureties.
Such was the certainty attaching to the Chāran’s readiness to forfeit his life rather than prove false to a trust, and the fear entertained of the offence of causing him to do so and being haunted by his ghost, that his security was eagerly coveted in every kind of transaction. “No traveller could journey unattended by these guards, who for a small sum were satisfied to conduct him in safety.[22] The guards, called Valāvas, were never backward in inflicting the most grievous wounds and even causing the death of their old men and women if the robbers persisted in plundering those under their protection; but this seldom happened, as the wildest Koli, Kāthi or Rājpūt held the person of a Chāran sacred. Besides becoming safeguards to travellers and goods, they used to stand security to the amount of many lakhs of rupees. When rents and property were concerned, the Rājpūts preferred a Chāran’s bond to that of the wealthiest banker. They also gave security for good behaviour, called chālu zāmin, and for personal attendance in court called hāzar zāmin. The ordinary trāga went no farther than a cut on the arm with the katār or crease; the forearms of those who were in the habit of becoming security had generally several cuts from the elbow downwards. The Chārans, both men and women, wounded themselves, committed suicide and murdered their relations with the most complete self-devotion. In 1812 the Marāthas brought a body of troops to impose a payment on the village of Pānchpipla.[23] The Chārans resisted the demand, but finding the Marāthas determined to carry their point, after a remonstrance against paying any kind of revenue as being contrary to their occupation and principles, they at last cut the throats of ten young children and threw them at the feet of the Marāthas, exclaiming, ‘These are our riches and the only payment we can make.’ The Chārans were immediately seized and confined in irons at Jambusar.”
As was the case with the Bhāt and the Brāhman, the source of the Chāran’s power lay in the widespread fear that a Chāran’s blood brought ruin on him who caused the blood to be spilt. It was also sometimes considered that the Chāran was possessed by his deity, and the caste were known as Deoputra or sons of God, the favourite dwelling of the guardian spirit.