is covered with an earthen mound (samádh). There are no further death ceremonies, except that after a year or two a feast (bhandár) is given to the brethren. 3. The second disciple, Padma Achârya, had two disciples, Vana and Aranya, and Chetan Brahmachâri was their teacher. Their mode of life is like that of the Tîrtha and Asrama, but some of them have some property in Gonda and Bahrâich, which was granted to them by one of the Mughal Emperors. 4. Naratroka had three disciples Parvata, Giri, and Sâgara, and their teacher was Sarûpa Brahmachâri. The Barua, who are found in the Rohilkhand Districts, are said to be connected with these. 5. Pirthi Udra Acharya is said to have had three disciples, Ahoni, Bhârati, and Giri. 6. These ten sections, which are generally given as Tiratha, Asrama, Vana, Aranya, Sârasvati, Puri, Bhârati, Giri, Parvata, and Sâgara, constitute what is known as the Dasnâmi Gusâîns. The last Census classes under the head Gusâîn the Brindabani, Dasnâmi, Gauriya, Gokulastha, Niranjani, Râdhavallabhi, which have been separately discussed. 7. Gusâîns are both ascetics and family men; the former are generally known as Kutichâr, Asandhâri, or Mathdhâri, and the latter Grihastha. The head of the ascetic branch is called a Mahant, and he is generally appointed by the votes of his disciples (Chela).1 Mr. Sherring describes the mode of initiation as follows:"The candidate is generally a boy, but may be an adult. At the Sivarâtri festival water brought from a tank in which an image has been deposited is applied to the head of the novitiate, which is thereupon shaved. "The Guru or spiritual guide whispers to the disciple a sacred text (mantra). In honour of the event all the Gusâîns in the neighbourhood assemble together, and give their new member their blessing; and a sweetmeat called laddu, made very large, is distributed among them. The novitiate is now regarded as a Gusâîn, but he does not become a perfect one until the Vijaya Homa has been per 1 For the law on the subject see Genda Puri, v.s. Chhattar Puri, Indian Law Reports, Allahabad, IX, 1. The rule to be followed is that founded on customs and practice, which must be proved by evidence. 2 Hindu Tribes and Castes, I, 256. formed, at which a Gusâîn famous for religion and learning gives him the original mantra of Siva. The ceremony generally occupies three days at Benares. On the first day, the Gusâîn is again shaved, leaving a tuft on the head, (Chundi sikha). For that day he is considered a Brâhman, and is obliged to beg at a few houses. On the second day he is held to be a Brahmachâri, and wears coloured garments and also the sacred cord (janeu). On the third day the janeu is taken from him and the headlock cut off. The mantra of Siva is made known to him, and also the Rudri Gâyatri (not the usual one daily pronounced by Brâhmans). He is now a full Gusâîn or Vanaprasta, is removed from other persons, and abandons the secular world. Henceforth he is bound to observe all the tenets of the Gusâîns. The complete Gusâîns who have performed the ceremony of the Vijaya Homa are celibates. It is customary, therefore, for men not to perform it until they are forty or fifty years of age, as it involves the abandonment of their wives and families," Among the trading Gusâîns the Mahant of Mirzapur, who belongs to the Giri section, was for a long time notorious among the merchants of Northern India. Such Gusâîns have practically abandoned all claim to living a religious life, and exercise no priestly functions. When a Mahant dies his corpse is taken in a sitting posture to the Ganges, where it is bathed and barley is sprinkled over it. It is then inclosed in a stone coffin, which is taken on a barge to the middle of the river, and consigned to the sacred water. Distribution of the Dasnámi Gusáíns according to the Census of 1891. H Habashi: Habshi—(Arabic habash, "to collect or congregate"). -A general term for all persons of Abyssinian, Kâfir, or negro blood. They are Muhammadans. Their sections, according to the complete Census lists, show a curious mixture. Beside the Chauhân section we have purely Muhammadan names, such as Abbâsi, Hanafi, Sayyid, and Shaikh. Distribution of the Habashis according to the Census of 1891. Hâbûra.-A vagrant thieving tribe found chiefly in the Central Ganges-Jumna Duâb. The derivation of the name is very uncertain. It possibly means a "bugaboo" (hawwa, which is probably through the Prakrit the representative of the Sanskrit bhuta 'an evil spirit"), expressive ofthe fear in which they are held by their neighbours. Ethnologically the Hâbûras are no doubt very closely connected with the regular gypsy tribes of Sânsiya and Bhâtu; in fact there seems reason to believe that these have only become quite recently endogamous groups, and even now it is asserted that they occasionally marry. Though the Hâbûras are now in much a superior grade to the Beriyas, who live by prostituting their women, both the tribes have the same traditional connection with the old ruined city of Noh-khera to the north of Pargana Jalesar, in the Etah District, and many of the gangs who traverse that part of 1 Based on notes by Mr. F. W. Court, District Superintendent of Police, Aligarh, Babu Atma Râm, Head Master, High School, Mathura, and the Deputy Inspectors of Schools, Bijnor and Morâdâbâd. the country make their way to Noh-khera during the rainy season and there arrange marriages and other caste matters in a series of general tribal councils. Legends of origin. 2. According to one story their ancestor was a certain Rig who one day went out hunting and pursued a hare into the forest retreat then occupied by Sîta in her exile. She was so offended at the intrusion, that she cursed him that all his descendants were to be wanderers and live by the chase. By another account they were once Chauhân Râjputs who lived at Jartauli in the Aligarh District. They rebelled against the Emperor, and Alâ-ud-dîn sent a force to coerce them. They were defeated, and most of them had to take refuge in the jungle, where they lived on the game they killed. Meanwhile some of their brethren compromised with the Emperor and returned to their homes. They ascertained that one of their wild kinsmen had died, so they went to see his widow become sati. When she was brought out she saw a hare and immediately started after it with cries of hau! hau! whence the tribe was called Hâbûra. The respectable Chauhâns were so disgusted with her impiety that they excommunicated all the savage branch of the tribe, and they have remained outcastes to the present day. Tribal organisation. 3. They usually name four exogamous septs which are all named after well-known Râjput tribes- Solanki Chauhân, Punwâr, and Bhatti, also called Râthaur. The Census Returns give a list of sections which illustrate the mixed elements out of which the caste has been formed,Ajudhyabâsi, Baddhik, Bahâdsiya, Bahâli, Bahâniya, Bâhas, Banjâra, Banohra, Banwâr or Banwariya, Barchandi, Chauhân, Chiryamâr or "bird-killers,” Dâli, Dom, Gauriya, Hindubalana, Jadwâr, Kalkanaur, Kârgar or Kârigar, Khauna, Khaurkhâl, Lodh, Mardârbatti, Mârwâr, Nahâli, Nandak, Phârli, and Tahali. These septs are exogamous. In Bijnor they are said to have two endogamous subdivisions: those who wear a bead necklace (kanthi) and those who do not. According to another account their only rule of exogamy is that they do not marry blood relations, and it is very doubtful how far the sept system really prevails. There is some reason to believe that all or at least some of them practise a sort of group exogamy, not marry. ing in their own camp or horde. They have a strong tribal council (panchayat) under a president (sardár), who manages all caste business. |