The Meo
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
Caste No. 34
The Meos are the people who have given its name to Mewat or the hill country of Alwar, Gnrgaon, and Bhartpur. They are found within the Panjab chiefly in Gurgaon, though a considerable number have spread into the south of the Dehli district. They are all Maho medan, though, as will be seen presently, their religion is of a very impure type. They are so excellently described by Captain Powlett in his Gazetteer of Alwar, that I cannot do better that quote the passage almost in full, adding to it Mr. Channing's remarks upon it. Captain Powlett writes as follows : —
The Meos are numerically the first race in the State, and the agricultural portion of them is con aider ably more than douhle any other class of cultivators except Chamars. They occnpy about half the TJlwar territory, and the portion they dwell in lies to the north and east.
They are divided into fifty-two clans, of which the twelve largest are called ' Pals,' and the smaller ' gots.' Many of these are not settled in Ulwar, but would be found in Mathra, Bhartpur, and Gurgaon. Of the 448 villages belonging to the Meos the Ghisen'a clan holds 112, the BMnqai 70, the Landdtoat 64, the Na> 63, the Singal 54, the Dvlot 53, and the Fundlot 22.
It has already been set forth in the historical sketch that the Meos — for they no doubt are often included under the term Mewatti — were, during the Muhammadan period of power, always notorious for their turbulence and predatory habits: however, since their complete subjection by Bakhtnwar Singh and Banni Singh (during the first-half of this century), who broke up the large turbulent villages into a number of small hamlets, they have become generally well behaved ; but they return to their former habits when opportunity occurs.
In 1857 they assembled, burnt state ricks, carried of cattle, &c., but did not succeed in plundering any town or village in Ulwar. In British territory they plundered Firozpur and other villaees, and when a British force came to restore order many were hanged.
Though Meos claim to be of Rajput origin, there are grounds for believing that many spring From the same stock as the Minas. The similarity between the words Meo and Mina suggest that the former may be a contraction of the latter. Several of the respective clans are identical in name (Singal, Nai, Dulot, Pundlot, Dingal, Balot) ; and a story told of one Daria Meo, and his lady love Sisbadani Mini seems to show that they formerly intermarried. In Bulandshahr a caste called Meo Minas is spoken of in the Settlement report, which would seem farther to connect the two. However, it is probable enough that apostate Rajputs and bastard sons of Rajputs founded many of the clans, as the legends tell.
The Meos are now all Musalmans in name ; but their village deities are the same as those of Hinda zamindars. They keep too several Hindu festivals. Thus the Holi is with Meos a season of rough play, and is considered as important a festival as the Moharram, Id, and Shabrat ; and they likewise observe the Janamashtami, Dusehra and Diwali. They often keep Brahmin priests to write the pili chitti or note fixing the date of a marriage. They call themselves by Hindu names, with the exception of 'Ram;' and ' Singh ' is a frequent affix though not as common as ' Khan.'
On the Amawas, or monthly conjunction of the sun and moon, Meos, in common with Hindu Ahirs, Gujars, &c., cease from labour ; and when they make a well the first proceeding is to erect a ' Chabutra to ' Bairuji’ or ' Hanuman. ' However, when plunder was to be obtained, they have often shown little respect for Hindu shrines and temples ; and when the sanctity of a threatened place has been urged, the retort has been ' Tum to Deo, Ham Meo !' You may be a Deo (God\ but I am a Meo !
As regards their own religion Meos are very ignorant. Few know the Kalima, and fewer still the regular prayers, the seasons of which they entirely neglect. This, however, only applies to Ulwar territory ; in British, the effect of the schools is to make them more observant of religious duties. Indeed, in Ulwar, at certain places where there are mosques, religious observances are better maintained, and some know the Tcalima, say their prayers, and would like a school.
Meos do not marry in their Pal or clan, but they are lax about forming connections with women of other castes, whose children they receive into the Meo community. As already stated Brahmins take part in the formalnies preceding a marriage, but the ceremony itself is performed by the Kazi.
As agriculturists, Meos are inferior to their Hindu neighbours. The point in which they chiefly fail is working their wells, for which they lack patience. Their women, whom they do not confine, will, it is said, do more field work than the men ; indeed one often finds women at work in the crops when the men are lying down. Like the women of low Hindu castes they tattoo their bodies, a practice disapproved by Musalmans in general. Meos are generally poor and live badly ; they have no scruples about getting drunk when opportunity offers. The men wear the dhoti and kumri, and not paJamas. Their dress is, in fact, Hindu. The men often wear gold ornaments, but I believe the women are seldom or never allowed to have them.
To this Mr. Charming' adds : —
My own enquiries on the subject were imperfect when they were interrupted by my transfer from Gurgaon ; but they led me to a conclusion which I find has also been adopted by Major Powlett, that the Minas and Meos are connected, and I should bo inclined to add that both are probably representatives of the earlier non-Aryan inhabitants of the country'. In Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. N, page 76, I find it stated that Mewas o is a name given to the fastnesses in the Aravalli hills, to which Minas, Kolis and others make their retreat. Palis, on the same authority, the term for a community of any of the aborignial mountain races ; its import is a defile or valley, fitted for cultivation and defence ; and Pal is the term given to the main Sub Divisions of the Meos and also of the Minas. These latter, who in Gurgaon are known only as a body of professional criminals, were the original masters of the State of Amber or Jaipur, the Rajput kingdom of which was founded by Dhole Rao about A.D. 967 after subduing the Minas. Tod also states that in Jaipur the Minas are still the most numerous tribe, and possess large immunities and privileges ; formerly the tika of sovereignty was marked by blood taken from the great toe of a Mina of Kalikbo, another token, as I interpret it, of the ancient sovereignty of the tribe. Meos are often mentioned, although not in Gurgaon, as Mina Meos : and in the older Muhammadan historians and in Tod, I find expeditions against their country spoken of as expeditions against the Mawasat, and in later time as against the Mawas. These facts incline me to the belief that the Meos are such of the aborginal Mrna population of the Aravalli bills as were convert m1 to Muhammadanism, and that their name is probably a corruption of Mewasati or the men of the mountain passes. Perhaps other enquiries may be able to confirm or refute this theory, which I only put forward tentatively.
Besides these there is a thirteenth Palakhra or little Pill Pahat. The Pals which are strongest in Gurgaon are the Dahngals in the north of Nnh ; the Chirklots in the south-east of Nnh and in the country round Punahana; the Landawats, Dimrots, and Dulots in the Firozpur valley, and the Darwals in the country south of Nuh. These Meo sub-tribes still possess a strong feeling of unity and the power of corporate action.
The principal Meo sub divisions returned in Gurgaon are shown in the margin. In Ambala and perhaps elsewhere the word Meo seems commonly to be used as equivalent to Men or fislierman ; and it may be that some of the Meos re turned from other districts than Gurgaon and those bor dering upon it, are not true Meos.
See The Khanzadah
