II OCCUPATION 431 Chhipas worship their wooden stamps, first washing them and then making an offering to them of a cocoanut, flowers and an image consisting of a bottle-gourd standing on four sticks, which is considered to represent a goat. The Chhipas rank with the lower artisan castes, from whose hands Brahmans will not take water. Nevertheless some of them wear the sacred thread and place sect - marks on their foreheads. tion. The bulk of the Chhīpas dye cloths in red, blue or black, 5. Occupawith ornamental patterns picked out on them in black and white. Formerly their principal agent was the al or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia), from which a rich red dye is obtained. But this indigenous product has been ousted by alizarin, a colouring agent made from coal-tar, which is imported from Germany, and is about thirty per cent cheaper than the native dye. Chhipas prepare saris or women's wearing-cloths, and floor and bed cloths. The dye stamps are made of teakwood by an ordinary carpenter, the flat surface of the wood being hollowed out so as to leave ridges which form either a design in curved lines or the outlines of the figures of men, elephants and tigers. There is a great variety of patterns, as many as three hundred stamps having been found in one Chhipa's shop. The stamps are usually covered with a black ink made of sulphate of iron, and this is fixed by myrobalans; the Nilgars usually dye a plain blue with indigotin. No great variety or brilliancy of colours is obtained by the Hindu dyers, who are much excelled in this branch of the art by the Muhammadan Rangrez. In Gujarat dyeing is strictly forbidden by the caste rules of the Chhipas or Bhaosars during the four rainy months, because the slaughter of insects in the dyeing vat adds to the evil and ill-luck of that sunless time.1 1 Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarāt, p. 178. 1. Origin and traditions. Chitari, Chiter, Chitrakār, Mahārana. —A caste of painters on wood and plaster. Chiter is the Hindustani, and Chitari the Marathi name, both being corruptions of the Sanskrit Chitrakar. Mahārana is the term used in the Uriya country, where the caste are also known as PhālBarhai, or a carpenter who only works on one side of the wood. Chitari is further an occupational term applied to Mochis and Jingars, or leather-workers, who have adopted the occupation of wall-painting, and there is no reason to doubt that the Chitāris were originally derived from the Mochis, though they have now a somewhat higher position. In Mandla the Chitrakārs and Jingars are separate castes, and do not eat or intermarry with one another. Neither branch will take water from the Mochis, who make shoes, and some Chitrakārs even refuse to touch them. They say that the founder of their caste was Biskarma,1 the first painter, and that their ancestors were Rājpūts, whose country was taken by Akbar. As they were without occupation Akbar then assigned to them the business of making saddles and bridles for his cavalry and scabbards for their swords. It is not unlikely that the Jingar caste did really originate or first become differentiated from the Mochis and Chamārs in Rājputāna owing to the demand for such articles, and this would account for the Mochis and Jingars having adopted Rājpūt names for their sections, and making a claim to Rājpūt 1 A corruption for Viswakarma, the divine artificer and architect. PART II SOCIAL CUSTOMS 433 descent. The Chitrakārs of Mandla say that their ancestors belonged to Garha, near Jubbulpore, where the tomb of a woman of their family who became sati is still to be seen. Garha, which was once the seat of an important Gond dynasty with a garrison, would also naturally have been a centre for their craft. Another legend traces their origin from Chitrarekha, a nymph who was skilled in painting and magic. She was the friend of a princess Usha, whose father was king of Sohagpur in Hoshangabad. Usha fell in love with a beautiful young prince whom she saw in a dream, and Chitrarekha drew the portraits of many gods and men for her, until finally Usha recognised the youth of her dream in the portrait of Aniruddha, the grandson of Krishna. Chitrarekha then by her magic power brought Aniruddha to Usha, but when her father found him in the palace he bound him and kept him in prison. On this Krishna appeared and rescued his grandson, and taking Usha from her father married them to each other. The Chitaris say that as a reward to Chitrarekha, Krishna promised her that her descendants should never be in want, and hence members of their caste do not lack for food even in famine time.1 The Chitāris are declining in numbers, as their paintings are no longer in demand, the people preferring the cheap coloured prints imported from Germany and England. customs. The caste is a mixed occupational group, and those of 2. Social Maratha, Telugu and Hindustani extraction marry among themselves. A few wear the sacred thread, and abstain from eating flesh or drinking liquor, while the bulk of them do not observe these restrictions. Among the Jingars women accompany the marriage procession, but not with the Chitāris. Widow-marriage is allowed, but among the Mahārānas a wife who has lived with her husband may not marry any one except his younger brother, and if there are none she must remain a widow. In Mandla, if a widow marries her younger brother-in-law, half her first husband's property goes to him finally, and half to the first husband's children. 1 The story, however, really belongs to northern India. Usha is the goddess of dawn. VOL. II 2 F 3. Birth and childhood. 4. The evil eye. takes her first husband's Formerly if a wife mis If she marries an outsider she A pregnant woman must stay indoors during an eclipse ; if she goes out and sees it they believe that her child will be born deformed. They think that a woman in this condition must be given any food which she takes a fancy for, so far as may be practicable, as to thwart her desires would affect the health of the child. Women in this condition sometimes have a craving for eating earth; then they will eat either the scrapings or whitewash from the walls, or black clay soil, or the ashes of cowdung cakes to the extent of a small handful a day. A woman's first child should be born in her fatherin-law's or husband's house if possible, but at any rate not in her father's house. And if she should be taken with the pangs of travail while on a visit to her own family, they will send her to some other house for her child to be born. The ears of boys and the ears and nostrils of girls are pierced, and until this is done they are not considered to be proper members of the caste and can take food from any one's hand. The Chitāris of Mandla permit a boy to do this until he is married. A child's hair is not shaved when it is born, but this should be done once before it is three years old, whether it be a boy or girl. After this the hair may be allowed to grow, and shaved off or simply cut as they prefer. Except in the case of illness a girl's hair is only shaved once, and that of an adult woman is never cut, unless she becomes a widow and makes a pilgrimage to a sacred place, when it is shaved off as an offering. In order to avert the evil eye they hang round a child's neck a nut called bajar-battu, the shell of which they say will crack and open if any one casts the evil eye on the child. If it is placed in milk the two parts will come together again. |