Birth ceremonies. 6. When pregnancy is ascertained the caste men are assembled and some gram and wheat boiled with molasses is distributed. Contrary to prevailing Hindu custom the woman is delivered on a bed with her feet turned towards the Ganges. The midwife is usually a sweeper woman, and after delivery her place as nurse is taken by a barber woman. When the child is born molasses is distributed to friends; and women sing songs and play on a brass tray (thâli). On the sixth day (chhathi) they worship Sati, and throw a little cakes and incense into the fire in her honour. On the twelfth day the mother is bathed, and seated in the court-yard inside a sacred square (chauk) made by a Brâhman, with wheat-flour. He then names the child, and purifies the house by sprinkling water all about it and reciting texts (mantra). The caste-men are feasted, and the women sing and dance. This is known as the Dashtaun. But if the child happen to be born in the asterism (nakshatra) of Mûl the Dashtaun is performed on the nineteenth or twenty-first day. Leaves of twenty-one trees or plants, such as the lime, mango, siras, jâmun, pomegranate, nîm, custard apple, etc., are collected. They also bring water from twenty-one wells, and little bits of lime stone (kankari) from twenty-one different villages. These things are all put into an earthen jar which is filled with water, and with this the mother is bathed. Grain and money are given to Brâhmans, and the purification is concluded. If twins are born, the father and mother sit together inside the sacred square on the day of the Dashtaun, and the Brâhman ties an amulet (râkhi), made of thread, round the wrists of both to keep off ill-luck.
Adoption. 7. On an auspicious day selected by a Pandit the father of the boy makes him over to the person adopting him. The adopter then dresses the boy in new clothes and gives him sweetmeats. A feast is then given to the clansmen. The child to be adopted must be under the age of ten.
Marriage ceremonies. 8. The marriage ceremonies begin with the betrothal, which is finished by the boy eating some betel sent to him by a barber from the house of the bride. It seems to be the custom in many cases to betroth children in their infancy. Then comes the lagan, consisting of cash, clothes, a cocoanut and sweets sent by the father of the bride with a letter fixing the marriage day; inside this is placed some dûb grass. The Brâhman recites verses (mantra) as he gives these things [[44]]to the boy seated in a sacred square, while the women beat a small drum and sing songs. This goes on the whole night (ratjaga). Next follows the anointing (ubtana) of the bride and bridegroom. During this time the pair are not allowed to leave the house through fear of the Evil Eye and the attacks of malignant spirits. On the day fixed in the lagan some mango and chhonkar leaves, some turmeric and two pice are tied on a bamboo, which is fixed in the court-yard by some relation on the female side, or by the priest. He is given some money, clothes, or grain, which is called neg. Then a feast of food, cooked without butter, known as the marhwa, or “pavilion,” is given to the friends. The bridegroom is dressed in a coat (jâma) of yellow-coloured cloth, and wears a head-dress (maur) made of palm leaves. When they reach the bride’s village, they are received in a hut (janwânsa), prepared for them. The bridegroom’s father sends, by a connection (mân), some sharbat to the bride, and she sends food in return: this is known as barauniya. After this the pair walk seven times round the sacred fire, and a fire sacrifice (homa) is offered. Then follows the “giving away” of the bride (kanyâdân), and the pair are taken into an inner room, where they eat sweetmeats and rice together; this is known as sahkaur, or confarreatio. A shoe is tied up in cloth, and the women try to induce the boy to worship it as one of the local godlings. If he falls into the trap there is great merriment. The knot which has been tied in the clothes of the bride and bridegroom is then untied, his crown is taken off, and the marriage being over he returns to the janwânsa. Among poor people there is no lagan and no betrothal. Some money is paid to the bride’s father, and the girl is taken to her husband’s house and married there. No pavilion is erected, and the ceremony consists in making the girl and boy walk round the sacred fire, which is lighted in the court-yard. Girls that are stolen or seduced are usually married in this way, which is known as dola.
Disposal of the dead. 9. Rich people cremate the dead; poorer people bury, or consign the corpse to some river. The dead are buried face downwards to bar the return of the ghost; the feet face the north; some bury without a shroud. After cremation the ashes are usually taken to the Ganges, but some people leave them at the pyre. Fire is provided by a sweeper, who gets a small fee and the bamboos of the bier as his perquisite. After the cremation is over, some on their way home bathe, but this is not essential. After they bathe [[45]]they collect a little kusa grass and throw it on the road by which the corpse was removed. Then they throw some pebbles in the direction of the pyre. The popular explanation of this practice is, in order that “affection for the dead may come to an end” (moh chhût jâwê); the real object is to bar the return of the ghost. On the third or seventh day after the cremation the son or person who has lighted the pyre shaves; then he has some large cakes (tikiya) cooked, and some is placed on a leaf of the dhâk tree (butea frondosa), and laid in a barley field for the support of the ghost. The clansmen are feasted on the thirteenth day; thirteen pieces of betel-nut and thirteen pice are placed, one in each of thirteen pots, and this, with some grain, is divided among thirteen Brâhmans. Then a fire-sacrifice is made. There is no regular srâddha; but they worship the souls of the dead collectively in the month of Kuâr, and throw cakes to the crows, who represent the souls of the dead.
Ceremonial pollution. 10. The death pollution lasts for thirteen days; after child-birth for ten, and after menstruation for three days. The first two are removed by regular purification; the third by bathing and washing the hair of the head.
Religion. 11. Devi is their special object of worship, but Mekhâsur is the tribal godling. His name means “Ram demon,” but they can give no account of him. His shrine is at Gangîri, in the Atraula Tahsîl. He is worshipped on the eighth and ninth of Baisâkh, with sweets and an occasional goat. An Ahîr takes the offering. Zâhir Pîr is the well known Gûga. His day is the ninth of the dark half of Bhâdon, and his offering cloth, cloves, ghi and cash, which are taken by a Muhammadan Khâdim. Miyân Sâhib, the saint of Amroha, in the Morâdâbâd District, is worshipped on Wednesday and Saturday with an offering of five pice, cloves, incense, and cakes, which are taken by the faqîrs who are the attendants (mujâwir) at his tomb. They also make a goat sacrifice known as kandûri, and consume the meat themselves. Jakhiya has a square platform at Karas, in the Iglâs Tahsîl, at the door of a sweeper’s hut. His day is the sixth of the dark half of Mâgh, and his offering is two pice and some betel and sweets. These are taken by the sweeper officiant. They also sometimes sacrifice a pig, and the sweeper rubs a little of the blood on the children’s foreheads in order to ward [[46]]off evil spirits. Barai is a common village godling. He is represented by a few stones under a tree; his offering is a chhakka or six cowries, some betel and sweets, which are taken by a Brâhman Panda. This godling is the special protector of women and children. His days are the seventh of the light half of Chait and the seventh of the light half of Kuâr. Mâta, the small-pox goddess, and Masâni, the spirit of the burning ground, are represented by some stones placed on a platform under a tree. They are worshipped on the same days as Barai by women and children, and a Brâhman takes the offerings. Châmar also has his abode under a tree, and is worshipped on the first Monday of every Hindu month. His offering is a wheat cake; and a ram is offered in serious cases, and consumed by the worshippers. When cattle are sick or lose their milk, a little unboiled milk is poured on the shrine. Bûrha Bâba has his shrine at Chândausi, in the Khair Tahsîl. His day is the third of the light half of Baisâkh, and he is presented with cloth, betel and sweets, which are taken by a Brâhman. Sâh Jamâl, who appears to be one of the Pânch Pîr, has a shrine near the city of Aligarh. The offerings here are taken by a Muhammadan Khâdim.
Patron Saint. 12. Vâlmîki, the author of the Râmâyana, is a sort of patron saint of the tribe. According to the Aheriya legend Vâlmîki was a great hunter and robber. After he had taken many lives he one day met the saint Nârada Muni in the jungle. As he was aiming his arrow at the Rishi, Nârada asked him if he knew what a sin he was committing. At last Nârada convinced him of his wickedness and tried to teach him to say Râma! Râma! but for a long time he could get no nearer it than Mâra! Mâra! (Kill! kill!) Finally his devotion won him pardon, and he became learned enough to compose the Râmâyana. Hence he is the saint of the Aheriyas.
House worship. 13. Some make a house shrine dedicated to Mekhâsur in a room set apart for the purpose. Women regularly married are permitted to join in this worship, but unmarried girls and karâo wives are excluded. The sacrifices to these tribal godlings are done by some member of the family, not by a regular priest. In the case of Miyân Sâhib and Jakhiya they sometimes release the victim after cutting its ear; in all other cases the animal is killed, and the flesh eaten by the worshippers. Most of their festivals are those common to all Hindus, which will be often mentioned. There is a [[47]]curious survival of human sacrifice in the observance at the festival known as the Sakat Chauth, when they make the image of a human being of boiled rice, and at night cut it up and eat it. They venerate the pîpal tree, and have a special worship of the âonla (phyllanthus emblica) on the eleventh of the light half of Phâlgun. Women bow down before the tree and offer eight small cakes and water at noon. At the Nâgpanchami women draw pictures of snakes on the walls of their houses and throw milk over them. Men take milk to the jungle and place it near the hole of a snake. Their favourite tattoo mark is Sîtâ ki rasoi, or a representation of the cooking room of Sîta, which is still shown on the Chitra Kûta hill. Their chief oath is on the Ganges, and this is made more binding if the person taking it stands under a pîpal tree or holds a leaf of it in his hand.
Social rules. 14. They cannot eat or drink with any other caste; but they will eat kachchi cooked by Ahîrs, Barhais, Jâts, and Kahârs; they eat pakki, cooked by a Nâi, but he will not eat pakki cooked by them.
Industries. 15. Their industries are what might have been expected from their partially nomad life. Like the Musahar of the Eastern Districts they make the leaf platters which Hindus use at meals (see Bâri). They also collect reeds for basket-making, etc., honey and gum from the dhâk and acacia, which they sell in the towns. But the business which they chiefly carry on is burglary and highway robbery, and they are about the most active and determined criminals in the Province. A band of Aheriyas, arrested for committing a highway robbery on the Grand Trunk Road, gave the following account of themselves to Colonel Williams[36]:—“Our children require no teaching. At an early age they learn to steal. At eight or nine years of age they commence plundering from the fields, and as opportunities offer take brass vessels or anything they can pick up. So that by fifteen or sixteen they are quite expert, and fit to join in our expeditions. Gangs consist of from ten to twenty. Sometimes two gangs meet on the road and work together. I have known as many as forty in one highway robbery. Our leaders (Jamadâr) are elected for their skill, intelligence, and daring. A good Jamadâr has no lack of followers. The Jamadâr collects his band, gets an advance from Banyas to support his followers during the expedition, which money [[48]]is repaid with interest, and our families are never allowed to want while we are absent. We assemble in the village and start together, but disperse into parties of two or three to avoid observation, and generally state that we are Kâchhis, Lodhas, or even Râjputs, going to Benares on pilgrimage. We do this as our tribe has a bad name. We also avoid putting up at sarâis, and generally encamp 100 or 200 paces from the high road to watch travellers, carts, and vans passing. We all carry bludgeons, rarely weapons; one or two in the gang may have a sword. Our mode of proceeding in highway robberies is to look out for vans, carts, or camels laden with cloth: finding such as are likely to afford a booty, the members of the gang are warned to follow. The most expert proceed ahead to fix a spot for the attack. We have followed camels for three or four days before an opportunity offered. We commence by pelting the guards with pieces of limestone (kankar) or stones. This generally causes them to fly; but, if not, we assemble and threaten them with our bludgeons. If they still resist, we give up the attack. We, however, rarely fail, and at the first shower of kankar the guards all fly. If any of our gang are captured, it is the business of our Jamadâr to remain at hand, or depute some intelligent man of the band for this special duty: no expense is spared to effect their release. We find the Police readily accessible. If separated, we recognise each other by the jackal’s cry; but we have no peculiar terms or slang to distinguish each other. We take omens. Deer and the sâras crane on the right, jackals, asses, and white birds on the left, while proceeding on an expedition, are highly propitious. Unfavourable omens cause the expedition to be deferred until they become otherwise. On returning, if jackals, asses, and white birds appear on the left, or deer, sâras, or owls on the right, we rejoice exceedingly, and fear no evil. Some of our Jamadârs are so brave that they don’t care for omens. We dispose of our booty through middlemen (arhatiya), who sell it to the great Mahâjans. Of course they know it is plundered property from the price they give; and how could we have silk and fine linen for sale if not plundered? Our zamîndârs know we live by plunder, and take a fourth of the spoil. Sometimes they take such clothes as suit them. On returning from a highway robbery we use great expedition, travelling all night. During the day the plunder is concealed in dry wells; we disperse and hide in the fields. Two or three of the sharpest of the gang go to the nearest village for food, generally prepared food. We soon become [[49]]acquainted with all the sharp men on the road. One rogue readily finds a companion, and we thus get information of parties travelling and suitable booty. Though we pilfer and thieve wherever we can, we prefer highway robbery, as it is more profitable, and if the booty is cloth, easily disposed of. Always thieves by profession, we did not take to highway robbery till the great famine of 1833. Gulba and Suktua, Baheliyas, first opened the way for us, and taught us this easy mode of living. These two are famed men, and resided near Mirzapur, in Pargana Jalesar (now in the Etah District). The Baheliyas and Aheriyas of Mirzapur soon took a leading part, and were highly distinguished. They are noted among us as expert thieves and highway robbers.” Since this was written the Aheriyas have begun to use the railway in their expeditions, and are known to have made incursions as far as the Panjab, Central India, Bengal, and Bombay. The Etah branch of the tribe is under the provisions of the Criminal Tribes Act. Curiously enough they have escaped record at the last Census.