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H. E. H. THE N..."

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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 '' 
''sending the corrected version/ additional information to '' 
the Facebook page, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com]. ''All information used will be duly acknowledged.''
</div>
|}
[[Category:India|D]]
[[Category:Communities|D]]

==Origin==

Ancient authorities ascribe the origin of the Kolhatis
to a liaison between a Shilindhru man and a Kshatriya woman. Their
traditions say that they originally belonged to Northern India and are
akin to the Bowries, the Kanjars, the Waghris and other Northern
India tribes. According to another account, they claim to be
descended from Khatri women who were degraded for sexual indis-
cretions with lower castes. Very little is known, however, regarding
their origin and the etymology of the name they bear. They are
divided into three sub-castes : (1) Pal or Kane Kolhatis, (2) Dukkar
or Potri Kolhatis and (3) Dombaris. They are found in all the
Districts of the Marathawada. The Pal Kolhatis are a wandering
tribe, living in portable huts made of rousa grass, and carried from
place to place on the backs of donkeys. The men are lazy and
slovenly, while the women are smart and good-looking ; many of
them lead a life of prostitution and support the men. The Dukkar
Kolhatis are a fine, manly people and derive their name from their
occupation of hunting wild pig and breeding the domesticated pig.
They are a settled class, cultivating land and serving:' as village
watchmen. The Dombaris are a branch of the Domars of Telingana
and are inferior to the other two sub-castes. The Pal and Dukkar
Kolhatis speak a mixture of Gujerathi and Marathi, whereas the
home tongue of the Dombaris is a mixture of Telugu and Canarese.
Internal Structure — The exogamous sections of the tribe are
of the Maratha character, such as Gaikwad, Sinde, Pawar, Jadhava,
Andhara, Kachare and the like. Intermarriage within the same
section is prohibited. A man may marry two sisters and two uterine
brothers may also mcury two sisters. Marriage with a sister's
daughter is allowed.

==Marriage==
Girls are married either as infants, or after they
have attained puberty. Sexual intercourse before marriage is tolerated
and condoned by a small fine. If the man with whom she has
associated be of her own caste, she is married to him. Married
girls live a very virtuous life but those who are likely to develop into
good athletes are dedicated to the god Khandoba : these remain
unmarried and become prostitutes. The ceremony of dedication is
as follows. A pandal is erected in front of the hut and an image
of Khandoba is installed in it. The girl, bathed and ornamented,
is made to stand before the deity and bhandar (turmeric powder) is
thrown over her. Goats are sacrificed to the god and the caste
people are feasted in honour of the event.

The marriage ceremony is simple and is performed at the bride's
house. The bride and bridegroom are seated side by side and their
garments are tied in a knot by the bride's mother. Women sing
songs and one of the men beats a dholak (drum) all the while.
Brahmans have, in recent years, been employed as priests and the
ceremony is being elaborated into that current among the Maratha
Kunbis. The father of a girl receives a price for her, varying from
fifty to one hundred rupees.

==Widow-Marriage==

Widows are allowed to marry again, but
divorce is not recognised. If the couple disagree and cannot live in
harmony, the husband abandons his claims over his wife, on recover-
ing the price he paid to her father. Adultery is severely punished
and the delinquent woman has her head shaved and her tongue
branded wijh hot gold.

==Religion==

The chief deity of the Kolhatis is Khandoba, to
whom offerings are made on Sundays and on the light 6th of
Margasirsa (December). They worship Hanuman, Tuljapur Bhavani
and other gods of the Hindu pantheon. Among their minor gods are
Mari Ai (the deity of cholera), Mhasoba, Jotiba and Bahiroba,
propitiated with sacrifices of goats and fowls. They observe the
Hindu ffstivals and make pilgrimages to sacred places. They have
a strong belief in sorcery, malevolent spirits and the evil eye. They
also worship Muhammadan Pirs.

==Disposal of the Dead==

The dead are buried with the head
to the north and the face upwards. The body is washed and carried
on a bamboo bier to the burial ground. No regular Sradha is per-
formed in honour of the deceased ; but, on the 3rd day after death,
food is cooked in the burial ground and, after a portion of it has been
offered to and touched by a crow, the mourners eat the rest and return
home. Ancestors, in general, are propitiated on the last day of
Bhadrapad and on the light 3rd of Vaishakha.

==Social Status==

The social rank of the Kolhatis is very low.

They eat from the hands of all castes except Nhavis (barbers), Parits
(washermen) and castes inferior to these, while no one, except a
Mahar or a Manga, will eat from their hands. They also eat the
leavings of Brahmans. Their touch is not regarded as unclean and
they are allowed to draw water from wells used by the higher
castes. They eat mutton, pork, fowl, all kinds of fish, rats and the
flesh of carrion, and are addicted to strong drink. The Dukkar.
Kolhatis are said to add beef to this diet.

The Kolhatis admit into their community members of castes
higher than themselves in social standing, and the person thus
admitted is required to eat the flesh of the pig with his adopted caste
brethren.

==Occupation==

The Kolhatis pursue the same occupation as the
Domars of Telingana. The Dukkar Kolhatis are reputed to be
inveterate criminals and are vigilantly watched "by the police. Girls
of higher castes are often kidnapped and trained as prostitutes and
acrobats. Kolhati women are expert in tattooing. Some of the
settled classes have followed agricultural pursuits, but 'ihey never
work as farm-labourers.

Domara-Kolhati: Deccan - Revision history

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

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