which, since before Christ, has been settled round the Caspian. As White Hūnas, Ephthalites,' White Ughrians and White Bulgars, this white race were the carriers between Europe and East Asia; they were also the bearers of the brunt of the Tartar inroads. A trace both of the beautiful and coarse clans seems to survive in the complimentary Marwār proverb, Handsome as a Hūna,' and in the abusive Gujarāt proverb, Yellow and short as a Huna's beard.' Under its Hindu form Gurjara, Khazar appears to have become the name by which the great bulk of the sixth-century horde was known." Sir J. Campbell was of opinion that the Sesodia or Gahlot Rājpūts, the most illustrious of all the clans, were of Gūjar stock, as well as the Parihār, Chauhān, and Chalukya or Solanki; these last were three of the Agnikula clans or those created from the firepit, and a Solanki dynasty ruled in Gujarat. He also considered the Nāgar Brahmans of Gujarāt to be derived from the Gūjars and considerable sections of the Ahir and Kunbi castes. The Badgūjar (great Gūjar) clan of Rājpūts is no doubt also an aristocratic branch of the caste. In Ajmere it is said that though all Gūjars are not Rājpūts, no Rājpūt becomes a hero unless he is suckled by a Gujar woman. Gujarika dudh, nahari ka dudh; or 'Gujar's milk is tiger's milk.' A Rājpūt who has not been suckled by a Gūjar woman is a gidar or jackal.3 character northern The fact of the White Huns being tall and of fine features, 3. Predain contrast to the horde which invaded Europe under Attila, tory accounts for these characteristics being found among the of the highest Rajput clans, who, as has been seen, are probably Gujars in derived from them. The Gujar caste generally is now, India. however, no doubt of mixed and impure blood. They were distinguished in the past as vagrant and predatory marauders, must have have assimilated various foreign elements. Mr. Crooke writes of them: "The Gūjars as a tribe have always been noted for their turbulence and habit of 2 See article on Panwār Rājpūt, and 1 The Khazars were known to the Chinese as Yetas, the beginning of Yeta-i-li-to, the name of their ruling family, and the nations of the west altered this to Hyatilah and Ephthalite. Campbell, ibidem. 4 para. 1. 3 Campbell, loc. cit. p. 495. 4 Tribes and Castes, article Gujar, para. 12. The description is mainly taken from Elliott's History of India as told by its own Historians. cattle-stealing. Bābar in his Memoirs describes how the commander of the rearguard captured a few Gujar ruffians who followed the camp, decapitated them and sent their heads to the Emperor. The Gujars of Pali and Pahal became exceedingly audacious while Sher Shah was fortifying Delhi, and he marched to the hills and expelled them so that not a vestige of their habitations was left. Jahangir remarks that the Gūjars live chiefly on milk and curds and seldom cultivate land; land; and Bābar says: 'Every time I entered Hindustan the Jāts and Gūjars have regularly poured down in prodigious numbers from the hills and wilds to carry off oxen and buffaloes. These were the wretches that really inflicted the chief hardships and were guilty of the chief oppression in the country.' They maintained their old reputation in the Mutiny when they perpetrated numerous outrages and seriously impeded the operations of the British Army before Delhi." In northern India the Gujars are a pastoral caste. The saying about them is— Ahir, Gadaria, Gujar, 2 or,' The Ahir, Gadaria and Gujar want waste land'; that is for grazing their flocks. In Kangra the Gūjars generally keep buffaloes. Here they are described as "A fine, manly race with peculiar and handsome features. They are mild and inoffensive in manner, and in these hills are not distinguished by the bad pre-eminence which attaches to their race in the plains." Sir D. Ibbetson had a very unfavourable opinion of the Gūjars of the plains, of whom he wrote as follows: "The Gūjar is a fine stalwart fellow, of precisely the same physical type as the Jat; and the theory of aboriginal descent which has been propounded is to my mind conclusively negatived by his cast of countenance. the same social standing as the Jāt, or perhaps slightly inferior; but the two eat and drink in common without any scruple, and the proverb says: 'The Jāt, Gūjar, Ahīr and Gola are all hail fellow well met.' But he is far inferior 1 Description of the Kangra Gūjars by Mr. Barnes. Quoted in Ibbetson's He is of Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 481. 2 Census Report, para. 481. II SUBDIVISIONS 171 in both personal character and repute to the Jāt. He is lazy to a degree, and a wretched cultivator; his women, though not secluded, will not do field - work save of the lightest kind; while his fondness for cattle extends to those of other people. The difference between a Gujar and a Rajput cattle - thief was once explained to me thus by a Jāt: 'The Rajput will steal your buffalo. But he will not send his old father to say he knows where it is and will get it back for Rs. 20, and then keep the Rs. 20 and the buffalo too. The Gujar will." The Gujars of the Central Provinces have, however, 4. Subentirely given up the predatory habits of their brethren in divisions. northern India and have developed into excellent cultivators and respectable law-abiding citizens. In Hoshangābād they have three subcastes, Lekha, Mundle and Jādam. The Mundle or Shaven' are so called because they take off their turbans when they eat and expose their crowns bare of hair, while the Lekha eat with their turbans on. The Mundle are also known as Rewe, from the Rewa or Nerbudda, near which they reside. The Jādam are probably an offshoot from the cultivating caste caste of Hoshangābād of that name, Jādam being a corruption of Jādubansi, a tribe of Rājpūts. The Badgūjars, who belong to Nimar, consider themselves the highest, deriving their name from bara or 'great' Gujar. As already seen, there is a Badgūjar clan of Rājpūts. The Nimār Badgūjars, however, were formerly engaged in the somewhat humble calling of clearing cotton of its seeds, and on this account they are also known as Ludhāre, the word lodhna meaning to work the hand-ginning machine (charkhi). It seems possible that the small caste of Lorhas of the Hoshangabad District, whose special avocation is to grow san - hemp, may be derived from these Ludhāre Gūjars. The Kekre or Kanwe subcaste are the lowest and are of illegitimate descent. They are known as Kekre or 'Crabs,' but prefer their other name. They will take food from the other subcastes, but these do not return the compliment. Another group in the Sohagpur Tahsil of Hoshangābād are the Lilorhia Gūjars. They say that their ancestors were grazing calves when some of them with their herdsmen were stolen by Brahma. 5. Marriage. 6. Disposal Then Krishna created fresh cowherds and the Lilorhias were made from the sweat of his forehead (lilat). Afterwards Brahma restored the original cowherds, who were known as Murelia, because they were the first players on the murli or flute.1 The Badgūjars or highest branch of the clan are descendants of these Murelias. The caste have also a set of exogamous groups, several of which bear the names of Rājpūt clans, while others are called after villages, titles or nicknames or natural objects. A man is not permitted to marry any one belonging either to his own sept or that of his mother or grandmother. At a Gūjar wedding four plough-yokes are laid out to form a square under the marriage booth, with a copper pot full of water in the centre. At the auspicious moment the bride's hand is placed on that of the bridegroom, and the two walk seven times round the pot, the bridegroom leading for the first four rounds and the bride for the last three. Widows are allowed to remarry, and, as girls are rather scarce in the caste, a large price is often paid for the widow to her father or guardian, though this is not willingly admitted. As much as Rs. 3000 is recorded to have been paid. A widow marriage is known as Nātra or Pāt. A woman is forbidden to marry any relative of her first husband. When the marriage of a widow is to take place a fee of Rs. 1-4 must be paid to the village proprietor to obtain his his consent. The Gujars of the Bulandshahr District of the United Provinces furnish, Mr. Crooke says,2 perhaps the only well-established instance of polyandry among the Hindus of the plains. Owing to the scarcity of women in the caste it was customary for the wife of one brother, usually the eldest, to be occasionally at the disposal of other unmarried brothers living in the house. The custom arose owing to the lack of women caused by the prevalence of female infanticide, and now that this has been stopped it is rapidly dying out, while no trace of it is believed to exist in the Central Provinces. The bodies of unmarried persons are buried, and also 1 Cf. Krishna's epithet of Murlidhar or the flute-player, and the general association of the flute with herdsmen and shepherds in Greek and Roman mythology. 2 Ibidem. II RELIGION 173 of those who die of any epidemic disease. Others are cremated. The funeral of an elderly man of good means and family is an occasion for great display. A large feast is given and the Brahman priests of the caste go about inviting all the Gujars to attend. Sometimes the number of guests rises to three or four thousand. At the conclusion of the feast one of the hosts claps his hands and all the guests then get up and immediately depart without ceremony or saying farewell. Such an occasion is known as Gūjarwāda, and the Gūjars often spend as much, or more, on a funeral as on a wedding, in the belief that the outlay is of direct benefit to the dead man's spirit. This idea is inculcated and diligently fostered by the family priests and those Brahmans who receive gifts for the use of the dead, the greed of these cormorants being insatiable. 7. Re The household goddess of the caste is known as Kul Devi, the word kul meaning family. To her a platform is ligion. erected inside the house, and she must be worshipped by the members of the family alone, no stranger being present. Offerings of cocoanuts, rice, turmeric and flowers are made to her, but no animal sacrifices. When a son of the family dies unmarried, an image of him, known as Mujia, is made on a piece of silver, copper or brass, and is worshipped on Mondays and Fridays during the month of Māgh (January). On one of these days also a feast is given to the caste. Each member of the caste has a guru or spiritual preceptor, who visits him every second or third year and receives a small present of a cocoanut or a piece of cloth. But he does not seem to perform any duties. The guru may belong to any of the religious mendicant castes. A man who is without a guru is known as Nugra and is looked down on. To meet him in the morning is considered unlucky and portends misfortune. Sir C. Elliot 1 characterised the Mundle Gujars as "A very religious race; they never plough on the new moon nor on the 8th of the month, because it is Krishna's birthday. Their religious and social head is the Mahant of the Rāmjidās temple at Hoshangābād.” In Nimār many of the Gūjars belong to the Pīrzāda sect, 1 Hoshangabad Settlement Report, para. 16. 1 |