7. Criminal tendencies
Eighty years ago, when General Sleeman wrote, the Pāsis were noted thieves. In his Journey through Oudh[8] he states that in Oudh there were then supposed to be one hundred thousand families of Pāsis, who were skilful thieves and robbers by profession, and were formerly Thugs and poisoners as well. They generally formed the worst part of the gangs maintained by refractory landowners, “who keep Pāsis to fight for them, as they pay themselves out of the plunder and cost little to their employers. They are all armed with bows and are very formidable at night. They and their refractory employés keep the country in a perpetual state of disorder.” Mr. Gayer notes[9] that the criminally disposed members of the caste take contracts for the watch and sale of mangoes in groves distant from habitations, so that their movements will not be seen by prying eyes. They also seek employment as roof-thatchers, in which capacity they are enabled to ascertain which houses contain articles worth stealing. They show considerable cunning in disposing of their stolen property. The men will go openly in the daytime to the receiver and acquaint him with the fact that they have property to dispose of; the receiver goes to the bazār, and the women come to him with grass for sale. They sell the grass to the receiver, and then accompany him home with it and the stolen property, which is artfully concealed in it.
[1] Based principally on Mr. Crooke’s article on the caste in his Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.
[2] Quoted in Mr. Crooke’s Tribes and Castes, art. Bhar.
[3] Art. Pāsi, para. 3.
[4] Art. Bhar, para. 4.
[5] A pulse of a black colour (Phaseolus radiatus).
[6] These sentences are taken from Dr. Grierson’s Peasant Life in Behār, p. 79.
[7] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Pāsi.
[8] The following passage is taken from Mr. Crooke’s article on Pāsi, and includes quotations from the Sitāpur and Hardoi Settlement Reports.
[9] Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces.