Social customs. 8. The women wear nose-rings (nathya, phurhur), ear-rings (bâli), ear ornaments (karanphûl), bangles (chûri, kara), ankle ornaments (pairi, sânkar). They swear by the Ganges, Kâli-Bhawâni, and on their sons’ heads. They will eat almost any meat, including beef and pork, and all kinds of fish, but not monkeys, vermin, and the like. They will not eat other people’s leavings, nor food touched by a Musahar, Dom, Chamâr, Dhobi, Halâlkhor, or Dharkâr. Like all of the Dom race, they have a hatred for Dhobis, and consider them the vilest of all castes. They have the usual taboos. They will not touch their younger brother’s wife, their child’s mother-in-law (samdhin), nor will they mention their wives by name. The elder brother’s wife can eat out of the same dish as her husband’s younger brother; but no wife or younger brother’s wife will eat with a husband or his elder brother or father. Their salutation is Râm! Râm! and the juniors touch the feet of their elders. Women seem, on the whole, to be fairly well treated; but they are soundly beaten if they misbehave themselves. No one, not even a Dom or Mehtar, will drink water from their hands. They will eat food cooked by a Nâi or any higher caste.
Occupation. 9. They live by making baskets and other articles manufactured out of bamboo, and playing on the flute (bânsuli), or the tambourine (dafla), at marriages. Their women are midwives. [[228]]
Distribution of the Basors according to the Census of 1891.
| District. | Number. |
| Cawnpur | 42 |
| Bânda | 12,264 |
| Jhânsi | 7,912 |
| Jâlaun | 5,231 |
| Total | 25,447 |
Bâwariya.[113]—A hunting and criminal tribe practically found only in Muzaffarnagar and Mirzapur. Various explanations have been given of the name. Colonel Dalton would connect it with the Sanskrit barbara, varvara, which appears to be the Greek barbaros, and applied to any outcaste who cannot speak Sanskrit. Others take it to be another form of the Hindi bâola, bâora (Sanskrit, vâtûla, “inflamed with wind”). It is most probably derived from the Hindi banwar, “a creeper” (Sanskrit bhramara), in the sense of a noose made originally from some fibrous plant and used for trapping animals, which is one of the primary occupations of the tribe. The Bâwariyas in these provinces seem to fall into two branches—those resident in the Upper Duâb, who still retain some of their original customs and manners, and those to the east, who assert a more respectable origin, and have abandoned their original predatory life.
The Western Bâwariyas. 2. The best account of the western branch is that given by Mr. J. Wilson[114]:—“The Bâwariyas of Sirsa are divided into four sections—(1) the Bidâwati from Bikâner territory, claiming connection with the Bidâwat Râjputs, giving Chithor as their place of origin; (2) the Deswâli, living in the country about Sirsa; (3) the Kapriya to the west about Delhi; (4) the Kâlkamaliya, or “black blanket people,” who (especially the women) wear black blankets, and are found chiefly among the Sikhs of the jungle and Mâlwa country. These four sections do not eat together or intermarry; but say they all came originally from the country about Bikâner. They are most numerous in Râjputâna and the districts bordering upon it, but extend up the Satlaj to Fîrozpur and Lahore. The name of the [[229]]tribe seems to be derived from the banwar or snare with which they catch wild animals, but many of them despise this their hereditary occupation; and, indeed, it seems now to be practised only by the Kâlkamaliya or Panjâbi section. The Bâwariyas are seemingly an aboriginal tribe, being of a dark complexion and inferior physique, though resembling the Bâgri Jâts. Many of them are fond of a wandering life, living in wretched huts, and feeding upon lizards, foxes, and other jungle animals, but they say they will not eat fish. In other districts they are known as a criminal tribe, but here many of them are fairly respectable cultivators, some are employed as village watchmen, and many of them are skilled in tracking. They are divided into clans (got, nak) with Râjput names, such as Chauhân, Panwâr, Bhâti. The Bâwariyas who live among the Sikhs (Kâlkamaliya) wear the hair long (kes), and some of them have become regular Sikhs, and have received the pahul. The black blanket Bâwariyas speak Panjâbi, and the Bidâwati Bâgri; but they have besides a dialect peculiar to themselves, and not understood by the ordinary peasants. Bâwariyas consider themselves good Hindus, and say that regular Brâhmans officiate at their marriage ceremonies—the same Brâhmans as officiate for Jâts and Banyas. They hold the cow sacred and will not eat beef; they burn their dead and send their ashes to the Ganges. They are said sometimes to admit men of other tribes to their fraternity, and an instance is given in which a Banya for love of a Bâwariya woman became a Bâwariya himself.”
Manner of hunting practised by the Western Bâwariyas. 3. “Whole families of Bâwariyas come South in the rains for a lizard hunt, and may be seen returning with baskets full of their game, which live for days without food, and thus supply them with a succession of fresh meat. The lizard has a soft fat body and a broad tail with spikes along each side. He lives on grass, cannot bite severely, and is sluggish in his movements, so that he is easily caught. He digs a hole for himself of no great depth, and the easiest way to catch him is to look out for the scarcely perceptible air-hole and dig him out; but there are various ways of saving oneself this trouble. One, which I have seen, takes advantage of a habit the lizard has in cold weather (when he never comes out of his hole) of coming to the mouth for air and warmth. The Chûhra or other sportsman puts off his shoes and steals along the prairie till he sees signs of a lizard’s hole. This he approaches on tiptoe, raising over [[230]]his head with both hands a mallet with a round, sharp point, and fixing his eyes intently upon the hole. When close enough, he brings down his mallet with all his might on the ground just behind the mouth of the hole, and is often successful in breaking the lizard’s back before he awakens to a sense of his danger. Another plan, which I have not seen, is to tie a wisp of grass to a long stick and move it over the hole, so as to make a rustling noise. The lizard within thinks “Oh here’s a snake! I may as well give in,” and comes to the mouth of the hole, putting out his tail first that he may not see his executioner. The sportsman seizes his tail and snatches him out before he has time to learn his mistake.
4. “Again, a body of them, men, women, and children, go out into the prairie in search of game. When they have sighted a herd of antelope in the distance, they choose a favourable piece of ground and arrange their banwars, which are a series of many running nooses of raw hide tied together and fastened loosely to the ground by pegs; from the banwars they rapidly make two lines of bogies by sticking bits of straw with black rags tied to them into the ground at distances of a foot or two apart. These lines widen away from the snares so as to enclose a V-shaped piece of ground with sides perhaps a mile in length, the unsuspecting herd of antelope being enclosed within the V, at the pointed end of which are the snares. All this is arranged in a wonderfully short space of time, and when it is all ready, the main body of hunters, who have meanwhile gone round the herd of antelope and formed a line across the open mouth of the V, suddenly start up, and by unearthly yells drive the herd inwards towards the point. The first impulse of the antelopes is to rush directly away from their tormentors, but they soon come to the long lines of fluttering bits of rag which forms one line of the V. They are thus directed into the place occupied by the snares. It is interesting as one of the methods by which an ignorant tribe with the simplest means can by their superior cunning circumvent the swift antelope on his native prairies.”
Dialect of the Western Bâwariyas. 5. “The Bâwariyas have a dialect of their own, which has sometimes been considered a sort of thieves’ slang kept up to facilitate their combination for purposes of crime; but the great mass of the Bâwariyas in this district are not at all given to crime, and have no desire to conceal their dialect; moreover it is spoken most generally by the women and children, while the men, at all events in their intercourse with [[231]]their neighbours, speak in ordinary Bâgri or Panjâbi. It seems probable that it is simply the dialect of the country of their origin, kept up by them in their wanderings. I had not much time to make much enquiry about it, but was given the following as their names for the numbers by their leading men—ek, bai, tren, châr, pânch, chhau, hât, âth, nau, daukh, vik, (20) and the following words—khakhra for susra (father-in-law), khakhu for sâsu (mother-in-law), hândo for sândo (lizard), manukh (man), châro (antelope), haru (snake), laukra (fox), nauri (jackal), jamna (right hand), dava (left hand). Some of these words may be Bâgri, and they are not much to go upon, but the use of h, for s, and the peculiar kh for the Sanskrit palatal sibilant should afford some clue to the origin of the dialect; for this kh sound, like the Arabic kh in khâwind, is not found in any dialect indigenous in this part of India.” The numerals are obviously of Sanskrit origin, and so are most of the words—châro, harina; haru, sarpa; laukra, lomasa; nauri, nakula; jamna is the direction of the river Yamuna, Jumna; dava, dakshina.
The Bâwariyas of the North-Western Provinces. 6. A body of Bauriyas or Bâwariyas who were, many years ago, interrogated as to their customs and kindred, gave the following account of themselves[115]:—“The Mugîns and Baguras who reside in Mâlwa and on the Chambal river commit dacoity, burglary, and theft; they stick at nothing. They go in large parties (kâfila), sometimes as carriers of Ganges water, sometimes as Brâhmans, with the sacred string round their necks. The Hâbûras commit theft. The Gûjars call us Gidiyas, and the Jâts call us Bauris. Gidiya is merely a local name of our tribe; there is no distinct class of people of that name. The Sânsiyas are not of our tribe; they are a distinct class; they are thieves, but seldom ascend to dacoity—(this is certainly incorrect). The Kanjars are all thieves; they cut grass and make thatches, and bivouac in suburbs under huts of long grass (sirki), but always thieve. Our caste was originally Râjput, and our ancestors came from Mârwâr. We have seven clans (got)—Punwâr, Soharki, Dabas, alias Dâbi, Chauhân, Tunwar, Dhandara, alias Dhandal or Koli, and Gordhi, with the Châmi, making eight in all. Two or three centuries ago, when the Emperor of Delhi [[232]]attacked the fortress of Chithor and besieged it for twelve years for the sake of the Princess Padmani, the country became desolate, and we were obliged to emigrate in search of employment, and disperse. Those that came into the Delhi territory were called Bauris; those that went into the Gwâlior territory were called Mugîns and Bagûras. To the eastward they were called Baddhiks, and in Mâlwa Hâbûras. We are not people of yesterday; we are of ancient and illustrious descent. When Râvana took away the wife of the god Râma, and Râma wanted to recover her, men of all castes went to fight for him in the holy cause. Among the rest was a leader of the Bauris called Pardhi. When Râma vanquished his enemy and recovered Sîta he asked Pardhi what he could do for him. ‘Grant,’ said Pardhi, ‘that I may attend your Majesty, mount guard, and hunt in the intervals of leisure, and I shall have all that my heart wishes.’ The god granted him his request, and his occupation has come down to us. If any Prince happens to have an enemy that he wishes to have made away with, he sends for some of our tribe and says,—‘Go and bring so and so’s head.’ We go, steal into his sleeping apartments, and take off the person’s head without any other person knowing anything about it. If a Prince wanted, not the head of his enemy, but the gold tassels of the bed on which he lay asleep, we brought them to him. In consequence of our skill in those matters we were held everywhere in high esteem, and we served Princes and had never occasion to labour at tillage. This was before the emigration and dispersion of the tribe. We, who have come to the Delhi territory and are called Bauris, took to the trade of thieving. Princes still employed us to take off the heads of their enemies and rob them of their valuables. At present the Bauris confine themselves almost exclusively to robbing tents; they do not steal cattle or break into houses, but they will rob a cart on the highway occasionally; any other trade than robbery they never take to. They reside in or near villages under the protection of landlords, and while out for a long period at their vocation, they leave their wives and children under their care. They give them the means of subsistence, and for these advances we are often indebted to them three hundred or four hundred rupees by the time we return. When we are about to set out on our expeditions we get a loan of twenty or thirty rupees from the landholders or merchants of the place, and two days before starting we sacrifice a goat and make burnt offerings to the goddess Devi, sometimes to [[233]]her of the fiery furnace of Jawâla, in the Himâlaya, and sometimes to our old tutelary god of Chithor. We present sweetmeats and vow unwearied devotions if we are successful. After this we take our auspices thus:—We go in the evening into the jungle, and there in silence expect the call. If the partridge or jackal call on the left we set out without further ceremony; the bark of a fox even will do. If any of them call on the right, we return home and try again the day following. As soon as we get a good omen we set out. If we take it in the morning it must be before sunrise, and the fox, partridge, or jackal, must cry on the right to be good. If a deer cross from the left to the right it is a good omen. We have a couplet on this subject signifying that if the crow and the deer cross from the left to the right and the blue jay from left to right, even the wealth that has gone from us will come back.”