The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume IV | Page 3

mould their vessels on a stone slab revolving on a stick and
not on a wheel; while the Chakere are Kumhars who use the wheel
(chak) in localities where other Kumhars do not use it. The Chhutakia
and Rakhotia are illegitimate sections, being the offspring of kept
women.

3. Social Customs
Girls are married at an early age when their parents can afford it, the
matches being usually arranged at caste feasts. In Chanda parents who
allow a daughter to become adolescent while still unwed are put out of
caste, but elsewhere the rule is by no means so strict. The ceremony is
of the normal type and a Brahman usually officiates, but in Betul it is
performed by the Sawasa or husband of the bride's paternal aunt. After
the wedding the couple are given kneaded flour to hold in their hands
and snatch from each other as an emblem of their trade. In Mandla a
bride price of Rs. 50 is paid.
The Kumhars recognise divorce and the remarriage of widows. If an
unmarried girl is detected in criminal intimacy with a member of the
caste, she has to give a feast to the caste-fellows and pay a fine of Rs.
1-4 and five locks of her hair are also cut off by way of purification.
The caste usually burn the dead, but the Lingayat Kumhars always bury
them in accordance with the practice of their sect. They worship the
ordinary Hindu deities and make an offering to the implements of their
trade on the festival of Deothan Igaras. The village Brahman serves as
their priest. In Balaghat a Kumhar is put out of caste if a dead cat is
found in his house. At the census of 1901 the Kumhar was ranked with
the impure castes, but his status is not really so low. Sir D. Ibbetson
said of him: "He is a true village menial; his social standing is very low,
far below that of the Lohar and not much above the Chamar. His
association with that impure beast, the donkey, the animal sacred to
Sitala, the smallpox goddess, pollutes him and also his readiness to
carry manure and sweepings." As already seen there are in the Central
Provinces Sungaria and Gadheria subcastes which keep donkeys and
pigs, and these are regarded as impure. But in most Districts the

Kumhar ranks not much below the Barhai and Lohar, that is in what I
have designated the grade of village menials above the impure and
below the cultivating castes. In Bengal the Kumhars have a much
higher status and Brahmans will take water from their hands. But the
gradation of caste in Bengal differs very greatly from that of other parts
of India.

4. The Kumhar as a village menial
The Kumhar is not now paid regularly by dues from the cultivators like
other village menials, as the ordinary system of sale has no doubt been
found more convenient in his case. But he sometimes takes the soiled
grass from the stalls of the cattle and gives pots free to the cultivator in
exchange. On Akti day, at the beginning of the agricultural year, the
village Kumhar of Saugor presents five pots with covers on them to
each cultivator and receives 2 1/2 lbs. of grain in exchange. One of
these the tenant fills with water and presents to a Brahman and the rest
he reserves for his own purposes. On the occasion of a wedding also
the bridegroom's party take the bride to the Kumharin's house as part of
the sohag ceremony for making the marriage propitious. The Kumhar
seats the bride on his wheel and turns it round with her seven times.
The Kumharin presents her with seven new pots, which are taken back
to the house and used at the wedding. They are filled with water and are
supposed to represent the seven seas. If any two of these pots
accidentally clash together it is supposed that the bride and bridegroom
will quarrel during their married life. In return for this the Kumharin
receives a present of clothes. At a funeral also the Kumhar must supply
thirteen vessels which are known as ghats, and must also replace the
broken earthenware. Like the other village menials at the harvest he
takes a new vessel to the cultivator in his field and receives a present of
grain. These customs appear to indicate his old position as one of the
menials or general servants of the village ranking below the cultivators.
Grant-Duff also includes the potter in his list of village menials in the
Maratha villages. [5]

5. Occupation
The potter is not particular as to the clay he uses and does not go far
afield for the finer qualities, but digs it from the nearest place in