The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 2 (of 4)Crooke, William
History
The tribes and castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume 2 (of 4)
Crooke, William
Caste -- India -- History; Hindus -- India; Tribes -- India -- History
=================+========+=========+=========
District. | Mahra. | Bhoksa. | Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 599 | | 599
Morâdâbâd | 8 | | 8
Allahâbâd | 92 | | 92
Tarâi | | 1,208 | 1,208
+~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~
Total | 699 | 1,208 | 1,907
=================+========+=========+=========
1. Bhot, Bot, Bhotiya [66]—(Sanskrit, Bhota).—A tribe originally of
Hill origin. In the Panjâb, those who in the Spiti and Lahûl Districts
returned themselves as Bot, merely imply that they are Tibetans. The
proper name of the tract of Chinese territory, which we call Tibet, is
Bodyul, or Bod land, and the people Bodpas, corrupted by the Indians
into Bhotiyas—a name now applied to the Tibetans living on the borders
between India and Tibet, while the people of Tibet Proper are called
Huniyas, and the country Hundes. Boti is the name for the language, and
Bot for the people; but they rarely apply it to themselves. “If they
did,” says Mr. Diack, “it would be like a Panjâbi describing himself as
an Asiatic.” There they consist of four classes—Jocho, Lonpa, Chhazang,
Loban. [67] In these Provinces a tribe of the same name is found in
small numbers in the Kumâun Division. There they usually call
themselves Raghubansi Râjputs, and trace their origin to Bhutwal in
Nepâl. They fix their emigration into Northern Oudh in the reign of
Nawâb Asaf-ud-daula (1775–1797). They now present a curious instance of
a tribe of non-Aryan origin, who have in a very short time become
completely Brâhmanised. Among some of them the rule of exogamy is that
they do not marry their sons into families to which, within the memory
of man, they have given daughters as brides. But others have adopted
the complete Hindu law of exogamy, and the creation of a full set of
Brâhmanical gotras is probably only a question of time.
[Marriage ceremonies.] 2. These are of the usual Hindu type. When the
bride’s palanquin arrives at the house of her husband the gods are
worshipped, and then she is admitted into the house. Some rice, silver,
or gold, is put in the hands of the bridegroom, which he passes on to
the bride. She places them in a winnowing fan, and makes them over as a
present to the wife of the barber. This ceremony is known as Karja
bharna. A man can have three wives and no more. The wife of the first
marriage is the head wife, and she receives by inheritance a share
one-tenth in excess of that given to the other wives. Marriage is
generally performed under the age of fifteen, but no special age is
fixed. No price is paid on either side. Concubinage and the levirate
are allowed. There is no form of divorce, and though a man or woman is
excommunicated if detected in illicit intercourse, they can be restored
to caste on giving a tribal feast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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