The art of the Rangrez differs considerably from that of the Chhīpa or Rangāri, the Hindu dyer, and he produces a much greater variety of colours. His principal agents were formerly the safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), turmeric and myrobalans. The fact that the brilliant red dye of safflower was as a rule only used by Muhammadan dyers, gives some ground for the supposition that it may have been introduced by them to India. This would account for the existence of a separate caste of Muhammadan dyers, and in support of it may be adduced the fact that the variety of colours is much greater in the dress of the residents of northern India and Rājputāna than in those of the Marātha Districts. The former patronise many different shades, more especially for head-cloths, while the latter as a rule do not travel beyond red, black or blue. The Rangrez obtains his red shades from safflower, yellow from haldi or turmeric, green from a mixture of indigo and turmeric, purple from indigo and safflower, khāki or dust-colour from myrobalans and iron filings, orange from turmeric and safflower, and badāmi or almond-colour from turmeric and two wild plants kachora and nāgarmothi, the former of which gives a scent. Cloths dyed in the badāmi shades are affected, when they can afford it, by Gosains and other religious mendicants, who thus dwell literally in the odour of sanctity. Muhammadans generally patronise the shades of green or purple, the latter being often used as a lining for white coats. Fakīrs or Muhammadan beggars wear light green. Mārwāri Banias and others from Rājputāna like the light yellow, pink or orange shades. A green or black head-cloth is with them a sign of mourning. Cloths dyed in yellow or scarlet are bought by Brāhmans and other castes of Hindus for their marriages. Blue is not a lucky colour among the Hindus and is considered as on a level with black. It may be worn on ordinary occasions, but not at festivals or at auspicious periods. Muhammadans rather affect black and do not consider it an unlucky colour. I have seen a Rangrez dye a piece of cloth in about twenty colours in the course of two or three hours, but several of these dyes are fugitive and will not stand washing. The trade of the Rangrez is being undermined by the competition of cheap chemical dyes imported from Germany and sold in the form of powders; the process of dyeing with these is absolutely simple and can be carried out by any one. They are far cheaper than safflower, and this agent has consequently been almost driven from the market. People buy a little dyeing powder from the bazār and dye their own cloths. But men will only wear cloths dyed in this manner, and known as katcha kapra, on their heads and not on their bodies; women sometimes wear them also on their bodies. The decay in the indigenous art of dyeing must be a matter for regret.
[1] Tribes and Castes, art. Rangrez.
[2] Peasant Life in Bihār, p. 101, footnote.
[3] Temple and Fallon’s Hindustani Proverbs.
Rautia
1. Origin of the tribe
Rautia.[1]—A cultivating caste of the Chota Nāgpur plateau. In 1911 about 12,000 Rautias were enumerated in the Province, nearly all of whom belong to the Jashpur State with a few in Sargūja. These states lie outside the scope of the Ethnographic Survey and hence no regular inquiry has been made on the Rautias. The following brief notice is mainly taken from the account of the caste in Sir H. Risley’s Tribes and Castes of Bengal. He describes the caste as, “refined in features and complexion by a large infusion of Aryan blood. Their chief men hold estates on quit-rent from the Mahārāja of Chota Nāgpur, and the bulk of the remainder are tenants with occupancy right and often paying only a low quit-rent or half the normal assessment.” These favourable tenures may probably be explained by the fact that they were held in former times on condition of military service, and were analogous to the feudal fiefs of Europe. The Rautias themselves say that this was their original occupation in Chota Nāgpur. The name Rautia is a form of Rāwat, and this latter word signifies a prince and is a title borne by relatives of a Rāja. It may be noticed that Rāwat is the ordinary name by which the Ahīr caste is known in Chhattīsgarh, the neighbouring country to Chota Nāgpur in the Central Provinces; and further that the Rautias will take food from a Chhattīsgarhi Rāwat. This fact, coupled with the identity of the name, appears to demonstrate a relationship of the two castes. The Rautias will not take food from any other Hindu caste, but they will eat with the Kawar and Gond tribes, at least in Raigarh. The Kawars have a subtribe called Rautia as also have the Kols. In Sir H. Risley’s list of the sept-names of the Rautias[2] we find two names, Aind the eel, and Rukhi a squirrel, which are also the names of Munda septs, and one, Karsāyal or deer, which is the name of a Kawar sept. They have also a name Sanwāni, which is probably Sonwāni or ‘gold-water,’ and is common to many of the primitive tribes. The most plausible hypothesis of the origin of the Rautias on the above facts seems to be that they were a tribal militia in Chota Nāgpur, the leaders being Ahīrs or Rāwats with possibly a sprinkling of the local Rājpūts, while the main body were recruited from the Kawar and Kol tribes. The Khandaits or swordsmen of Orissa furnish an exact parallel to the Rautias, being a tribal militia, who have now become a caste, and are constituted mainly from the Bhuiya tribe with a proportion of Chasas or cultivators and Rājpūts. They also have obtained possession of the land, and in Orissa the Sresta or good Khandaits rank next to the Rājpūts. The history and position of the Rautias appears to be similar to that of the Khandaits. The Halbas of Bastar are probably another nearly analogous instance. They were Gonds, who apparently formed the tribal militia of the Rājas of Bastar and got grants of land and consequently a certain rise in status though not to the same level as the Khandaits and Rautias. It does not seem that the Rautias have any special connection with the Gonds, and their acceptance of food from Gonds may perhaps, as suggested by Mr. Hīra Lāl, be due to the fact that they served a Gond Rāja.