Êtê pânch makârasyur mokshadâ hi yuge yuge.
“Wine, fish, flesh, enjoyment and cohabitation—these are the givers of salvation in every age.” For each of these there is a slang or technical term. Thus wine is tîrtha or “pilgrimage;” flesh, sudhi or “pure;” fish, pushpa or “flowers;” mudra is chaturthi or “fourth;” and cohabitation, panchami or “fifth.” Their principal form of worship is known as Bhairavi chakra or “the wheel of Bhairava;” and they assert that whoever takes part in it becomes for the time a Brâhman. A jug of spirits is placed within the figure of a triangle or quadrangle, and worshipped with the mantra, Brahm shapam bimocha tha—“O wine! thou art free from the curse of Brahma.” Again the secret form of the ritual consists in the worship of a naked woman, and similarly, a naked man is worshipped by the women. A vessel is filled with water and a large dish with meat, and the leader, the wine cup in his hand, says, Bhairavoham Sivoham, “I am Bhairava and Siva.” He drinks first, and all the congregation does the same. A man and woman stand [[137]]naked with swords in their hands, and are worshipped. The pair are supposed to represent Devi and Mahâdeva. Then follows indiscriminate license, and the subsequent ritual takes even more disgusting forms. To free themselves from the risk of subsequent transmigration, they perform a particular charm (prayoga), which consists in placing bottles of liquor at separate places in the house and drinking till intoxication results. The mantra of initiation is said to be Dam Durge namah, or Bham Bhairavâya namah, “I salute Durga. I salute Bhairava.” In Bengal they also use the mystic formula Hrin, Srin, Klin. Another of their mystic formulas is Hram, hrim, hrum, bagala muhhai phat swâha, or Hum phat swâha. The charm to kill an enemy is to make an image of flour or earth and stick razors into the breast, navel and throat, with pegs in the eyes, hands and feet. Then they make an image of Bhairava or Durga, holding a three-pronged fork (trisûl) in the hand, and place it so close to the image of the person to whom evil is intended that the fork pierces its breast. A fire sacrifice is made with meat and a charm recited, which runs—“Kill, kill; estrange, and make him hated of all; make him subservient to my will; devour him, consume him, break him, destroy him; make my enemies obey me.” At one time they were supposed to make human sacrifices to Kâli, and the records of our Criminal Courts show that such practices have not entirely ceased. In this they are closely connected with the Aghoris, who eat human flesh. One division of them the Choli-mârgi, make the women place their boddices (choli) in a jar, and thus allot them by chance to the male worshippers. Of another, the Bîjmârgi, the bestiality of the ritual defies description.
3. There seems, unhappily, reason to believe that this brutal form of so-called worship is spreading in Upper India under the example of Bengâli immigrants, who have introduced it from its head-quarters in Bengal. At the last census, 1,576 persons avowed themselves worshippers of the left-hand path.
Banâphar.—A famous sept of Yadubansi Râjputs confined almost entirely to the Bundelkhand country now included in the Allahâbâd and Benares Divisions. According to their own account they derive their name from their ancestor, a certain Rishi who used to live on the wild fruits of the jungle (vanaphala). Their original settlement is said to have been Orai and Chausa, in the Jâlaun District. The story of their emigration to Mahoba is thus told:—Two men of the tribe once went into the forest to hunt; their [[138]]names were Jasar and Sorhar. They came upon two buffalos fighting, and as they watched the combat two Ahîr girls came up, and by main force separated the furious animals. The Thâkurs were so pleased with the bravery and strength of the girls that they took them to wife. Their sons were the famous Alha and Udal, whose adventures form the subject of the great Bundelkhand epic. They are the heroes of the famous war between the Chandels and Chauhâns. In the course of this campaign the Chauhân chieftain, Prithivi Râja, conquered the King of Mahoba, Paramarddi Deva, or Parmal, as he is familiarly called by the bard Chand, and the later annalists at a battle at Sirswagarh, on the Pahoj, or at Bairagarh near Orai.[47] The names of the Ahîr girls, their mothers, are said to have been Devala and Brahma. When the Râja found that his men had contracted a low marriage with Ahîrins they were turned out of caste, and took service with Parmal of Mahoba.[48] At that time Mahoba was besieged by the hosts of the Râja of Jambudwîpa, one of the seven islands or continents of which the world is made up, having Mount Meru for its centre and including Bharata-varsha or India. The Banâphar heroes drove back the enemy, and were rewarded by the gift of an estate known as the Daspurwa, or ten hamlets. Subsequently two other Banâphar soldiers of fortune, Râma Sinh and Dhana Sinh, came to Benares from Chausa and took service with Bandâl, the Râja of Benares. They rose in his favour, and by and by proposed to him to attack and expel the Bhar Râja of Kantit, in the Mirzapur District. For this purpose they invited some of their relations and made them take service with the Bhar Râja. According to the stock legend which explains the conquest of the Aborigines by the Aryan invaders, they drugged the liquor of the Bhars and overcame them while sunk in drunken sleep. Thus Râja Bandâl acquired the territories of the Bhars. Bandâl conferred on the Banâphar warriors the villages of Râjpur and Hariharpur. Dânu Sinh succeeded Bandâl, and held Dhana Sinh in high favour. One day the Râja was at his devotions and a kite dropped a morsel of flesh on him, whereupon Dhana Sinh killed it with his arrow. This so pleased the Râja that he conferred more estates upon him. These have been gradually lost until the [[139]]sept now hold a very inconsiderable landed property in the Benares Division.
2. The Banâphars hold only a moderately respectable rank among Râjputs. In Jâlaun they will, it is said, take brides by the dola form from all the poor Râjputs of the District, and receive the bride price. They marry their sons to the girls of the Bais, Gautam, Dikhit, and Bisen septs. In Hamîrpur they profess to belong to the Kasyapa gotra, and give brides to the Gautam, Dikhit Bais, and Chandel, while they take wives from the Nandwâni, Bâhman Gaur, and Bais. In Bânda they give brides to the Dikhit, Gautam, Gaur, and Kachhwâha; and take girls of the Panwâr Bais, Dikhit, and Sombansi septs.
Distribution of the Banâphar Râjputs according to the Census of 1891.
| District. | Number. |
| Mathura | 8 |
| Farrukhâbâd | 3 |
| Mainpuri | 15 |
| Etah | 1 |
| Shâhjahânpur | 36 |
| Pilibhît | 8 |
| Cawnpur | 123 |
| Bânda | 510 |
| Hamîrpur | 828 |
| Allahâbâd | 340 |
| Jhânsi | 34 |
| Jâlaun | 722 |
| Lalitpur | 59 |
| Benares | 1,447 |
| Mirzapur | 191 |
| Ghâzipur | 629 |
| Ballia | 473 |
| Azamgarh | 35 |
| Lucknow | 1 |
| Râê Bareli | 2 |
| Total | 5,465 |
Banarwâr, Bandarwâr.—A sub-caste of Banyas found principally in the Benares Division. They have thirty-six sections, which are thus given in Mirzapur—Mâlhan, Sothiyân, Sanbhariya, Abakahon, Rupiya, Katariya, Patsariya, Thagwariya, Manihariya, Narihiya, Nakthariya, Khatwatiya, Khelaniya, Burbak, Manipariya, Jhatwatiya, Purwar, Deriya, Puriya, Kalyâniya, Dhângar, Sonmukhiya, Chaudhariya, Sethiyân, Bairah, Naiphiriya, Katholiya, Beriya, [[140]]Kakariya, Badana, Kasauliya, Lohkhariya, Panchlatiya, Dhenk, Bajâj, Motariya, and lastly those who have no knowledge of their gotra call themselves Akâsh Bhânwari. These sections marry indiscriminately. They are often initiated into the Râmanandi sect of Vaishnavas. To the East they worship, as a sort of fetish (apparently from some fancied connection of name), the bandi or chain worn by women on the forehead. To this on the day of the Nâgpanchami they offer prayers, cakes (pûri), usually one hundred and eight in number, and garlands of flowers. They worship Mahâbîr and the Pânchonpîr in the usual way. Their priests are Tiwâri Brâhmans who are said to serve the royal family of Rîwa. They make their living as brokers, and by selling brass vessels, cloth, money-changing and similar mercantile business. Those who live towards the North eat meat, but the others do not. Drinking is prohibited. They eat pakki cooked by Brâhmans, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas. They will eat kachchi cooked only by members of their own sub-caste. Some Brâhmans, and Kshatriyas will eat pakki cooked by them. Kahârs and Nâis will eat kachchi cooked by them.
Bandhalgoti; Bandhugoti; Bandhilgoti; Banjhilgoti.—A sept of Râjputs found principally in Sultânpur, of whose origin there are at least three different accounts. First.—Their own tribal legend, according to which they are “Sûrajbansi by origin and belong to the particular branch of the clan now represented by the Râja of Jaypur. About nine hundred years ago Sûda Râê, a scion of that illustrious house, leaving his home in Narwargarh, set out on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Ajudhya. His route lay across the Amethi Pargana, in the Sultânpur District, where, near the present village of Râêpur, half overgrown with tangled weeds and briars, a shrine of Devi suddenly presented itself to his view. The Bhars then held sway and few vestiges remained anywhere of Hindu places of worship; so the pious pilgrim resolved to tarry a while near the one accident had brought him to. Having performed his devotions, he lay down to rest, and in his slumbers saw a vision of the goddess of the fane, who disclosed to him the lofty destiny ordained for him and his descendants; they were to become hereditary lords of the territory in which he was then a temporary sojourner. Prepared to further to his utmost the fulfilment of so interesting a prophecy, he determined henceforth to abide in his future domains, and relinquishing his uncompleted pilgrimage, entered into the service of the [[141]]Bhar chieftain. His innate worth soon manifested itself in many ways, and secured his elevation to the post of minister. His Bhar master now designed, as a crowning mark of favour, to bestow upon him his daughter in marriage; but a Sûrajbans, though he might condescend to serve a barbarian, might not sully his lineage by a mésalliance, and Sûda Râê contemptuously refused the proferred honour. The Bhar chief, in offended pride, at once deprived him of his office and he returned to Narwargarh. But his mind was ever occupied with thoughts of the promised land; he collected a picked body of followers and marched against Amethi. The Bhars were defeated with great slaughter, and the Sûrajbans occupied their territory. Sûda Râê established a fort on the spot where he had seen the prophetic vision, and included therein the ruined shrine in grateful commemoration of the divine interposition of his fortunes which occurred there. After the lapse of a few generations, the line of Sûda Râê threatened to become extinct, for the sixth in descent remained childless in his old age. In the village of Kurmu, however, resided Kanak Muni, one of those saints of irresistible piety. To him Mândhâta Sinh poured out his tale of woe; and not in vain; for, by the prayers of the saint, a son was born to him, and was at first called Sutsâh; but when he was taken to be presented to the saint he was called Bandhu, or “who is bound,” and his descendants called themselves Bandhugoti, or popularly Bandhalgoti.”[49]
2. According to Mr. Carnegy,[50] however, they spring from a Brâhman, Chuchu Pânrê, and a Dharkârin or Dom woman, and their name is connected with that of the Bânsphor Doms. They worship as their tribal fetish the knife (bânka) with which Doms split the bamboo, and this they now call a poniard, the symbol of Narwar.