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This article is an extract from
THE CASTES AND TRIBES
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H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S ..."

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This article is an extract from 

THE CASTES AND TRIBES 

OF 

H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S DOMINIONS 

BY 

SYED SIRAJ UL HASSAN 

Of Merton College, Oxford, Trinity College, Dublin, and 

Middle Temple, London. 

One of the Judges of H. E. H. the Nizam's High Court 

of Judicature : Lately Director of Public Instruction. 

BOMBAY 

THE TlMES PRESS 

1920 
***** 
''Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees '' 
''with the contents of this article.'' 
''Secondly, this has been scanned from a book. You can help by '' 
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the Facebook page, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com]. ''All information used will be duly acknowledged.''
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[[Category:India|D]]
[[Category:Communities|D]]

==Origin==

Dhangar — the shepherd and blanket- weaver caste of
the Marathawada, which comprises the Districts of Aurangabad, Bir,
Parbhani, Nander, Bidar, Usmanabad and a portion of Adilabad.
The name ' Dhangar ' is derived by some from the Scfnskrit word
' Dhenugar ' meaning ' cow-keeper'; but the etymology seems rather
fictitious, for the Dhangars have never been known to tend cows.
On the other hand, as shepherds, they form a distinct caste from the
Gaulis, who tend cows and other milch cattle. The Dhangars have
no traditions which will throw light upon their origin. In physical
character and customs they resemble the Maratha Kunbis, which
suggests that they are formed from them.

==Internal Structure==

The caste is divided into the following
endogamous divisions : Khute Dhangars, Bargi or Hatker Dhangars
and Jhade Dhangars. The Khute Dhangars are said to have received
their name from khutes, or the pegs by means of which they weave
blankets. Bargi or Hatker Dhangars are described in a separate
article. Jhade Dhangars are found in the Adilabad District. The
origin of the name ' Jhade ' is obscure, but the word is a general
term applied to other castes, such as Jhade Brahmans. The members
of these sub-castes interdine, but do not intermarry.

The exogamous divisions of the caste are of the Maratha type,
as illustrated below : —
[[File: dangir.PNG ||frame|500px]]
Marriage in one's own section, as well as in one's maternal aunt's
section, is avoided. A man may marry two sisters, and two brothers
may also marry two sisters. Adoption is restricted to the members
of one's own section. Outsiders are not admitted into the caste :
a socially degraded man is re-admitted on payment of a fine.

==Marriage==

Girls are married both as infants and as adults, but
the former practice is deemed the more respectable. Boys, but not
girls, are dedicated to gods or temples. A girl is sent to her husband's
house immediately after marriage, when presents of a goat and money
are made to her. Cohabitation before puberty is tolerated. Un-
married meg wishing to marry widows, are first wedded to a ring,
all the cereflionies of a marriage being performed on the occasion.
Polygamy is permitted, but is rarely practised on a large scale.

The marriage ceremony of the Khute and Khutaphale Dhan-
gars corresponds to that of the Maratha Kunbis. The marriage of
the Jhade Dhangars is celebrated at night and opens with the Mangani
rite (betrothal), in which the boy's father goes to the girl's house
and marks her forehead with a spot of red aniline powder and
presents h'er with a cocoanilt. Mothawida follows, in which two
wooden stools are placed side by side in the court-yard of the house,
covered with white cloth and decorated with designs of \unkum.
The girl and her maternal uncle are seated on them and the bride-
groom's father presents to her a sari, a choli, betel-leaves, areca nuts,
and dates. Previous to the marriage, Mari Ai or Angana Devi is
worshipped by sacrificing a goat to her, and a feast is provided in her
name. At night the gondhal dance is performed in the name of the
goddess Bhavani. A marriage booth is erected and a post, called
mundha, made of salai (BosWeUia thmijera), is planted to
the right of the entrance. Twelve earthen pots are brought
from the potter's house and two of these are filled with
water and placed near the mundha. The bridegroom is
bathed and is seated within a square formed by five earthen pots
encircled with white wool. This wool is subsequently removed and
fastened on the right wrist of the bridegroom. The same ritual is
separately performed by the bride's party also. Then follow, m
order, the worship of the village and patron deities, the carrying of
the bride enveloped in a blanket to the bridegroom's village, the
adoration by the bridegroom in the temple of the village Maruti
and, lastly, the wedding rite. The marriage dress consists of
garments dyed yellow in turmeric water, which had been previously
offered to the goddess. Just after the wedding, the pair are taken
by the Brahman priest to the earthen platform built under the booth
and seated thereon opposite each other, with a brass dish between
them. The Brahman ties their garments into a knot and the couple
exchange garlands of mock corals. After this, each parson present
waves a copper or silver coin, according to his means, round the
faces of the newly wedded couple and throws it into the ''dish. This
ceremony is called Sulagna. On the third day after the wedding,
Dandya is celebrated. A bride-price to the amount of Rs9 or
Rs10 is paid to the girl's parents. Among the Khute Dhangars,
a curious ceremony, called the Bir procession, is performed on the
haldi day. A man, possessed by a bir (spirit of an ancestor) fastens
round his waist all the images of the ancestors belonging to both the
parties to be wedded ; saris (female garments) are tied crosswise
across his breast and one shoulder. In one hand he takes a stick
and in the other a winnowing fan. He makes frantic gestures and
starts running, preceded by five men facing him and striking on the
fan with canes in their hands. The moment he reaches the temple
of Biroba, he lies prostrate on the blanket spread for the occasion.
Incense is burnt before him, whereupon he recovers himself, gets up
and returns home followed by all the men.

==Widow-Marriage==

Widows are allowed to marry again, the
ceremony of widow-marriage closely resembling that in vogue
among the Maratha Kunbis. Brahmans are not engaged as priest j.
Among the Jhade Dangars, a widow bride is more valued than a
virgin and a bride-price ranging from Rs. 25 to Rs. 200 is required
to be paid to her parents. Divorce is pemiitted in cases of adultay.
The Hindu law of inheritance is observed by the caste.

==Religion==
Khandoba is the favourite god of the caste and
I's worshipped every Sunday and on Sat (the light sixth of Marga-
shirsha) day, with offerings of sweetmeats. The implements of their
craft— scissors, ^eda, lavaki, nat and tulai—aie also revered on
Sat. Vithoba of Pandharpur is worshipped daily in every household.
The Adilabad Dhangars worship Khudban, in the form of a
wooden image bedaubed with vermilion. Other gods of the Hindu
pantheon are also reverenced by members of the caste. Ancestral
worship prevails, and no marriage is celebrated until those who have
died in the family since the last marriage are installed as gods in the
form of embossed plates. If any member of a Jhade Dhangar family
is killed by a tiger, he is worshipped as Waghoba in the form of a
stone set up on the boundary of the village.

==Child-Birth==

A woman after child-birth is ceremonially impure
for seven days. The child is named on the 12th day after birth
and on the 15th day the goddess Satwai is propitiated. At the
Divali festival, sheep are worshipped by the caste.

==Disposal of the Dead==

The married dead are burnt and the
unmarried are buried, with the head to the south. Mourning is
observed for three days. Among the Jhade Dhangars of Adilabad
the dead body is washed, taken outside the house and offered cooked
food. _When the funeral pyre is well ablaze, the coffin bearers and
other mourners bathe, go to a liquor shop and, crushing mahua flowers
{Bassia latifoUa) with their feet, drink liquor and return to the house
of the dead. Next day the mourners, men and women, go to the
cremation ground, taking with them one winnowing fan, three pieces
of bread and one earthen pot. They collect the ashes and bones with
the winnowing fan and throw them into the nearest river or brook.
They then place on the spot the bread and the earthen pot, which
is filled with water and covered with mango leaves. A small
hole is made at the bottom of the pot so that the water may trickle
out drop by drop and quench the thirst of the disembodied soul. The
widow of the deceased breaks off her bangles and lucky necklace,
and all return home after drinking liquor. On the third day after
death the chief mourner gets himself shaved on the cremation ground
and all, after bathing and drinking liquor, return to the house of the
deceased, where a sheep is sacificed. The head of the sheep is
buried under the spot where the deceased breathed his last and the
rest is cooked and eaten by the household members. The Sradha
ceremony is performed every year on the anniversary of death.
==Occupation==

The original occupation of the caste is grazing
sheep and goats, and weaving blankets. Some of them are culti-
vators. They deal in sheep and goats and their wool, and sell the
milk of ewes. They are often paid by the cultivators, who greatly
value the sheep manure, to have the flock penned on their farms.
They are also engaged as day labourers.

==Social Status==

The social position of the caste is just below
that of the Maratha Kunbis. They eat from the hands of Kunbis,
Malis, Hatkers, Brahmans and Komtis, while Hajams, Rangari,
Dhobis and other low castes eat kanchi from the members of the caste.
They eat mutton, fowl, fish and the flesh of deer, hare and some
birds, and drink spirituous and fermented liquors. The Dhangars
have a caste Panchayat. The headman is called mehetraya and
decides all social disputes ; he is especially honoured on a marriage
occasion with the present of a turban.

Dhangar: Deccan - Revision history

Pdewan: Created page with "=Dhangar= {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"| This article is an extract from THE CASTES AND TRIBES OF H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S ..."

Pdewan: Created page with "=Dhangar= {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|
This article is an extract from
THE CASTES AND TRIBES
OF
H. E. H. THE NIZAM'S ..."