7. Shoes
In view of the fact that many of the Mochis were Muhammadans and that slippers are mainly a Muhammadan article of attire Buchanan thought it probable that they were brought into India by the invaders, the Hindus having previously been content with sandals and wooden shoes. He wrote: “Many Hindus now use leather slippers, but some adhere to the proper custom of wearing sandals, which have wooden soles, a strap of leather to pass over the instep, and a wooden or horn peg with a button on its top. The foot is passed through the strap and the peg is placed between two of the toes.”[5] It is certain, however, that leather shoes and slippers were known to the Hindus from a fairly early period: “The episode related in the Rāmāyana of Bhārata placing on the vacant throne of Ajodhya a pair of Rāma’s slippers, which he worshipped during the latter’s protracted exile, shows that shoes were important articles of wear and worthy of attention. In Manu and the Mahābhārata slippers are also mentioned and the time and mode of putting them on pointed out. The Vishnu Purāna enjoins all who wish to protect their persons never to be without leather shoes. Manu in one place expresses great repugnance to stepping into another’s shoes and peremptorily forbids it, and the Purānas recommend the use of shoes when walking out of the house, particularly in thorny places and on hot sand.”[6] Thus shoes were certainly worn by the Hindus before Muhammadan times, though loose slippers may have been brought into fashion by the latter. And it seems possible that the Mochis may have adopted Islām, partly to obtain the patronage of the followers of the new religion, and also to escape from the degraded position to which their profession of leather-working was relegated by Hinduism and to dissociate themselves from the Chamārs.
[1] This article is partly based on papers by Mr. Gopal Parmanand, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Saugor, and Mr. Shamsuddīn, Sub-Inspector, City Police, Saugor.
[2] Brief View.
[3] Bombay Ethnographic Survey Draft Monograph on Jīngar.
[4] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Mochi.
[5] Eastern India, vol. iii. p. 105.
[6] Rājendra Lāl Mitra, Indo-Aryans, vol. i. pp. 222, 223.