Panka.[1]—A Dravidian caste of weavers and labourers found in Mandla, Raipur and Bilāspur, and numbering 215,000 persons in 1911. The name is a variant on that of the Pān tribe of Orissa and Chota Nāgpur, who are also known as Panika, Chīk, Gānda and by various other designations. In the Central Provinces it has, however, a peculiar application; for while the Pan tribe proper is called Gānda in Chhattīsgarh and the Uriya country, the Pankas form a separate division of the Gāndas, consisting of those who have become members of the Kabīrpanthi sect. In this way the name has been found very convenient, for since Kabīr, the founder of the sect, was discovered by a weaver woman lying on the lotus leaves of a tank, like Moses in the bulrushes, and as a newly initiated convert is purified with water, so the Pankas hold that their name Is pāni ka or ‘from water.’ As far as possible then they disown their connection with the Gāndas, one of the most despised castes, and say that they are a separate caste consisting of the disciples of Kabīr. This has given rise to the following doggerel rhyme about them:
Pāni se Panka bhae, bundan rāche sharīr,
Age age Panka bhae, pāchhe Dās Kabīr.
Which may be rendered, ‘The Panka indeed is born of water, and his body is made of drops of water, but there were Pankas before Kabīr.’ Or another rendering of the second line is, ‘First he was a Panka, and afterwards he became a disciple of Kabīr,’ Nevertheless the Pankas have been successful in obtaining a somewhat higher position than the Gāndas, in that their touch is not considered to convey impurity. This is therefore an instance of a body of persons from a low caste embracing a new religion and thereby forming themselves into a separate caste and obtaining an advance in social position.
2. Caste subdivisions
Of the whole caste 84 per cent are Kabīrpanthis and these form one subcaste; but there are a few others. The Mānikpuria say that their ancestors came from Mānikpur in Darbhanga State about three centuries ago; the Saktaha are those who profess to belong to the Sakta sect, which simply means that they eat flesh and drink liquor, being unwilling to submit to the restrictions imposed on Kabīrpanthis; the Bajania are those who play on musical instruments, an occupation which tends to lower them in Hindu eyes; and the Dom Pankas are probably a section of the Dom or sweeper caste who have somehow managed to become Pankas. The main distinction is however between the Kabirha, who have abjured flesh and liquor, and the Saktaha, who indulge in them; and the Saktaha group is naturally recruited from backsliding Kabīrpanthis. Properly the Kabirha and Saktaha do not intermarry, but if a girl from either section goes to a man of the other she will be admitted into the community and recognised as his wife, though the regular ceremony is not performed. The Saktaha worship all the ordinary village deities, but some of the Kabirha at any rate entirely refrain from doing so, and have no religious rites except when a priest of their sect comes round, when he gives them a discourse and they sing religious songs.
3. Endogamous divisions
The caste have a number of exogamous septs, many of which are named after plants and animals: as Tandia an earthen pot, Chhura a razor, Neora the mongoose, Parewa the wild pigeon, and others. Other septs are Panaria the bringer of betel-leaf, Kuldīp the lamp-lighter, Pandwār the washer of feet, Ghughua one who eats the leavings of the assembly, and Khetgarhia, one who watches the fields during religious worship. The Sonwānia or ‘Gold-water’ sept has among the Pankas, as with several of the primitive tribes, the duty of readmitting persons temporarily put out of caste; while the Naurang or nine-coloured sept may be the offspring of some illegitimate unions. The Sati sept apparently commemorate by their name an ancestress who distinguished herself by self-immolation, naturally a very rare occurrence in so low a caste as the Pankas. Each sept has its own Bhāt or genealogist who begs only from members of the sept and takes food from them.
4. Marriage
Marriage is prohibited between members of the same sept and also between first cousins, and a second sister may not be married during the lifetime of the first. Girls are usually wedded under twelve years of age. In Mandla the father of the boy and his relatives go to discuss the match, and if this is arranged each of them kisses the girl and gives her a piece of small silver. When a Saktaha is going to look for a wife he makes a fire offering to Dūlha Deo, the young bridegroom god, whose shrine is in the cook-room, and prays to him saying, ‘I am going to such and such a village to ask for a wife; give me good fortune.’ The father of the girl at first refuses his consent as a matter of etiquette, but finally agrees to let the marriage take place within a year. The boy pays Rs. 9, which is spent on the feast, and makes a present of clothes and jewels to the bride. In Chānda a chauka or consecrated space spread with cowdung with a pattern of lines of flour is prepared and the fathers of the parties stand inside this, while a member of the Pandwār sept cries out the names of the gotras of the bride and bridegroom and says that the everlasting knot is to be tied between them with the consent of five caste-people and the sun and moon as witnesses. Before the wedding the betrothed couple worship Mahādeo and Pārvati under the direction of a Brāhman, who also fixes the date of the wedding. This is the only purpose for which a Brāhman is employed by the caste. Between this date and that of the marriage neither the boy nor girl should be allowed to go to a tank or cross a river, as it is considered dangerous to their lives. The superstition has apparently some connection with the belief that the Pankas are sprung from water, but its exact meaning cannot be determined. If a girl goes wrong before marriage with a man of the caste, she is given to him as wife without any ceremony. Before the marriage seven small pitchers full of water are placed in a bamboo basket and shaken over the bride’s head so that the water may fall on her. The principal ceremony consists in walking round the sacred pole called magrohan, the skirts of the pair being knotted together. In some localities this is done twice, a first set of perambulations being called the Kunwāri (maiden) Bhānwar, and the second one of seven, the Byāhi (married) Bhānwar. After the wedding the bride and her relations return with the bridegroom to his house, their party being known as Chauthia. The couple are taken to a river and throw their tinsel wedding ornaments into the water. The bride then returns home if she is a minor, and when she subsequently goes to live with her husband the gauna ceremony is performed. Widow-marriage is permitted, and divorce may be effected for bad conduct on the part of the wife, the husband giving a sort of funeral feast, called Marti jīti ka bhāt, to the castefellows. Usually a man gives several warnings to his wife to amend her bad conduct before he finally casts her off.