Nâik Banjâras. 13. In addition to the five main tribes described by Sir H. M. Elliot there is another which is usually classed as an offshoot of them, the Nâiks. There is a tribe of this name in the Panjâb. Mr. Ibbetson says that the [[161]]“headmen of both Thoris and Banjâras are called Nâik.” This, as we have already seen, is the name used for them throughout the Dakkhin and Central India. Mr. Maclagan[72] says:—“In Rohtak they are said to be a branch of Hindu Dhânuks, who come from Jaypur. They were also represented to me as an agricultural tribe of Râjputs. Mr. Fagan, who kindly made enquiries for me, says they may be taken to be Aheris, that they state that they were originally Râjputs, and have the same gotras as Râjputs, and that they generally act as village watchmen; while those returned at Fîrozpur were labourers on the Sirhind Canal.” They take their name from the Sanskrit nayaka, “a leader.” In the Gorakhpur Division, where they are principally found, they assert that they are Sanâdh Brâhmans, and fix their original settlement in Pilibhît. Polygamy is allowed; polyandry prohibited. They appear to follow the customs of orthodox Hindus. If an unmarried girl is detected in an intrigue, her parents have to give a tribal feast and a recitation of the Satyanârâyana Katha. A sum of money, known as tilak, is paid by the relatives of the bride to those of the bridegroom. A man can put away his wife for adultery by leave of the tribe or council. Such women cannot remarry in the tribe, and widow marriage is forbidden. They have the usual birth, death, and marriage ceremonies. They burn their dead and perform the srâddha. They employ Sarwariya Brâhmans as their family priests, and appear to be in all points orthodox Hindus. They are landlords, cultivators, and dealers in grain and other country produce.
The Mukeri Banjâras. 14. We have already seen that they claim to have originally come from Makka. Another story told in Mirzapur is that their ancestor was one Makka Banjâra, who helped Father Abraham to build Mecca; and that they emigrated into India with the armies of the early Muhammadan invaders. Another name which they arrogate to themselves is Ahl-i-Quraish, or that of the Arabian tribe, from which Muhammad was descended (see Shaikh). They have two endogamous sub-castes—the Purbiya or “Eastern,” and the Pachhiwâha or “Western.” The Purbiya Mukeris have two sections, Banaudhiya and Malwariya, which they derive from two towns named Banaudh and Malwar, in the Arrah District of Bengal. From this it may be gathered that their last movement was from East to West, and that they have forgotten [[162]]their real origin, which was probably from the West; the Malwariyas being from Mârwâr, and the Banaudhiyas from Banaudh, which included Southern Oudh and the Districts of Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Benares. The Pachhiwâhas are also divided into two sections, Khân and Shaikh. They do not, now at least, admit outsiders into their community. Marriage among them usually takes place at the age of seven. They follow the Muhammadan religious and social rules, and, of course, allow widow marriage. They have, however, the Hindu rules of succession to property. They are professedly Muhammadans of the Sunni sect, but they retain many Hindu usages. They worship the Pânchonpîr in the manner common to all the inferior Muhammadan tribes of the Eastern Districts; but they also make sacrifices to Kâli Bhawâni at the Naurâtra of Chait. They bury their dead and offer to them sweets (halwa) and cakes at the Shab-i-barât. Their occupation is grinding and selling flour and other provisions, and dealing in grain. They follow the Muhammadan rules regarding food, and drink spirits.
Other Hindu Banjâras of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh. 15. In Kheri they are known as Banjâra and Byopâri or “dealer.” They trace their origin to Jaypur and Jodhpur. They have three endogamous sections—Kora, Muchhâri and Miyân. They visit periodically a temple of Lalita Devi, at a place called Tilokpur, somewhere in the Râjputâna country. There also, when they can afford it, they get the birth hair of their children shaved. In Cawnpur they give their endogamous sub-castes as Râthaur, Panwâr-Chauhân, Gaur, and Kachhwâha, which are all the names of well-known Râjput septs. Their rule of exogamy is stated to be that they cannot marry within a family which is known to be descended from the same parents, or which can be traced to a common ancestor; nor in the family of the maternal uncle or father’s sister; nor two sisters at the same time; but a man may marry the sister of his deceased wife. When the bride is introduced into the family of her husband she has to cook sweetened rice, with which she feeds all the clansmen. A man may marry as many wives as he can afford to keep. There is no bride price, except in the case of elderly men, who have a difficulty in finding wives. Widow marriage and the levirate are both allowed under the usual conditions.
16. In Kheri at the marriage ceremony they place four pitchers (ghara) one on the top of the other in seven piles, and in the centre two pestles (mûsar), and a water jar (kalsa). Close to this [[163]]the Pandit makes a holy square (chauk), and performs the fire sacrifice (hom). After this the pair, with their clothes tied, walk seven times round the pestles, and the father of the bride worships the feet of the bridegroom and makes him an offering of two or four rupees. This is the respectable form. In the inferior form, known as Dharauna, the bride is taken to the house of the bridegroom, and the marriage is completed by a feast given to the brotherhood.
17. The funeral ceremonies are of the normal type. The Kheri Banjâras are reported not to perform the srâddha or to employ Brâhmans at death; in Cawnpur, on the contrary, they carry out the orthodox ritual.
Religion. 18. In Cawnpur they worship Hardeo or Hardaur Lâla, Zâhirpîr, the Miyân of Amroha, and Kâlu Deo, who is said to have a shrine somewhere in the Dakkhin. Goats are offered to Kâlu Deo and Miyân by any one but women. Sometimes only the ear of the animal is cut and a drop or two of blood sprinkled on the altar, and sometimes a cocoanut is substituted for a goat. In Kheri they are reported to prefer the worship of Bhagwân and Parameswara, and to be initiated in a temple in the Sahâranpur District. Their religious guides are Brâhmans of their own, who teach them only to worship Bhagwân and not to tell lies. They occasionally offer goats to Devi. They swear on the Ganges or by standing in water or walking through fire.
Social customs of Hindu Banjâras. 19. In Kheri they eat the flesh of wild pigs and goats, but not fowls. They drink spirits and use opium, and the hemp intoxicants bhang and gânja, freely. In Cawnpur they will eat kachchi and pakki with Brâhmans, and will smoke only with their brethren. Some of them are traders, and a few are now taking to agriculture, as the profits of the carrying trade are gradually becoming reduced.
Other Muhammadan Banjâras. 20. Those in Bareilly and Pilibhît say that they were driven there by Ahmad Shâh Durrâni’s invasion. They are divided into two endogamous sub-castes—Gaurithân and Baidguâr.[73] They follow the orthodox rules of the Muhammadan faith, and work as cultivators, carriers of, and dealers in, grain. [[164]]
Banjâras and crime. 21. In former times the Banjâras especially in Gorakhpur and the neighbouring districts, had an evil reputation for dakaiti and similar offences.[74] This is in a great measure a thing of the past. In recent years they have come under the notice of the police in connection with the kidnapping of girls. There can be little doubt that most, if not all of them, occasionally introduce girls of other castes into the tribe. Quite recently the police in the Agra District have found reason to suspect that some of them in the guise of Commissariat contractors carry on an extensive trade in stolen cattle, and are in the habit of appropriating and changing the brands on the so-called Brâhmani bulls which are released by Hindus on the occasion of a death.
Cattle trade. 22. One of the most important trades carried on in the present day by the Banjâras is that of the purchase and sale of cattle used for agricultural purposes. Cattle are largely bred along the Jumna in the direction of Agra and Mathura. These are bought up by Banjâras, who drive them in large herds to great distances about the time when the agricultural seasons are commencing. They sell them on credit with a promise of payment when the crop is ripe. At such times they come round to realise their debts. They seldom or never take bonds or resort to the law courts; but they appear at the houses of their creditors, and if not promptly paid, practise a form of coercion known as dharna, by encamping close to the house of the defaulter and using vile language to his womenkind wherever they venture to show themselves. This form of pressure appears to be effective with even the most callous debtor, and it is understood that they generally succeed in realising their money. This result is brought about by the popular fear felt for the Banjâra, who is a wild-looking semi-savage who can make his presence most disagreeably felt.